Diving back into Rakha's story today. I downloaded the Basket Full of Equipment mod to potentially mess around with some new looks for her but I need to get it from the grove merchant and I can't go there without triggering conversation with Zevlor to set up the party, and I would like to go to Waukeen's Rest first for Extra Wyll Content. So:
Long rest
Waukeen's Rest
Zevlor/Halsin/Kagha etc.
Party
Let's get rolling. :D
Coming back to camp in the wake of the goblin adventures, Rakha is pretty worn out. The beast in her head got quite a bit of exercise with all of the death from the goblins and it is a straining experience, even when they were people she actually did need to kill. But Gale wants to talk before she can sleep!
Her attention is drawn first by the way the Weave is swirling around him, the way it always does when he is casting a spell. It's a different motion than occurs when she casts her own; his are more precise, more carefully defined. More localized, the effects not spilling out into the Weave further beyond.
Today, he is casting an illusion - a woman's face, long hair and slender neck, cupped in the palm of his hand. His expression is terribly sad as he looks at her.
Rakha eyes the illusion with mild curiosity, takes a step forward up to his side. "Pretty," she says, noncommittally.
Gale jumps; his hand falls to his side and the illusion fades. "Oh!" He flushes. "My, you startled me. I was... miles away."
He's embarrassed. She isn't sure why. Who is that woman? "Is everything all right?" she asks cautiously.
He smiles ruefully. "More or less. I was lost in... prayer, of all things." He makes a vague gesture with the hand that conjured the unfamiliar face. "Mystra," he goes on, "for indeed it was her image I conjured, commands all magic. Salvation - if such a thing exists - is hers to bestow, or withhold."
A strange expression crosses his face for a moment - something like fear, or grief. "And yet, even now - more than I fear losing my own self and soul, I fear losing my command of her art."
He sits down slowly on a stool near his tent, rubbing his jaw. "Magic is... my life," he says thoughtfully. He seems to be speaking as much to himself as to her, his gaze turned inward. "I've been in touch with the Weave for as long as I can remember. There's nothing like it. It's like music, poetry, physical beauty all rolled into one and given expression through the senses."
As Rakha listens to him describe it, she feels the odd twist of a slight smile on her lips. And for once, it is not the feral smile of the beast taking hold, but a true smile, an expression of pleasure. Gale has been very cautious around her, particularly since Alfira died, but what he is describing is something Rakha understands very well.
The sight of the Weave, its rolling colors and breathtaking energy, has been Rakha's first, truest - and in many ways, only - experience of beauty. And Gale understands this better than anyone.
He seems to register her change in expression, because his eyes clear and he looks up at her with gentle curiosity. "Is it the same for you?"
She does not have his command of words. If she did, perhaps she could describe something of what she sees in the magic of the world. But as it is... his description will suffice. "That sounds very familiar," she says quietly. "Yes."
He relaxes and looks somewhat pleased. There's a short pause, and then he says, somewhat hesitantly, "Perhaps we can share the experience by reaching into the Weave together."
Rakha blinks. This is not anything she expected, and it takes her a moment to decide how to respond.
Reaching into the Weave. He has just described how important his experience of magic is to him, and heard her agree and affirm what it is to her. And he wants to share it with her now.
This is a peace offering. A gesture of friendship from the man who has trusted her least, layered through the brightest thing in both their lives.
She finds that for a moment, she cannot speak at all. There's an odd tightness in her throat that has come from nowhere. When she does finally answer him, her voice feels hoarse, thick. "By all means."
"Then follow my lead." He moves to her side, lifts his hands, and she watches the Weave warp around him as he turns his wrists in a gentle arcane motion, conjuring a burst of pale light into the air in front of them.
His eyes flick to her expectantly. "Now you."
Her eyes drift half-closed. She does not know any name for what he did - but she can sense how it touched the magic around them. She can feel the nature of the spell even if she could not identify it. It is a binding, drawing the Weave tighter around them, pulling them into its fabric.
The movement comes to her hands naturally, imitating his gesture with a rougher edge.
[SORCERER] Imitate the gesture with ease.
There's a soft whump as the burst of power looses from her fingers, and she feels the bond that Gale began draw tighter around her. The magic ripples between them both, comforting. Safe.
Narrator: A familiar feeling - like a kind word and a kind touch at the same time. It's warm and comfortable.
Her heart rate feels like it has slowed from its neverending anxious pulse. She is still. She is at peace. It is not quite like the peace of her dreams of the guardian; she can still feel the muted background growl of the beast, the squirm of the worm in her temple. But it is the calmest she has ever felt in the waking world.
Gale smiles. "Excellent. Now repeat after me. Ah-Thran Mystra-Ryl Kantrach-Ao." The very air seems to rumble with the resonance of the words; she feels them vibrate along her skin, through her mind.
[ARCANA] You sense power in these words. Speak them deliberately.
There's another pulse of energy through them both as she enunciates each syllable carefully.
Narrator: Suddenly - the scent of rosewater and a sense of wellbeaing. A sliver of Weave that tastes sweet on the tongue.
She has never stood so fully inside the magic that drives her. For a moment everything else is forgotten, even the vengeful rage. She stares forward, her gaze unfocused, seeing past the world into the energy within it.
"Very good," Gale says softly. He too sounds dreamlike, lost in the moment. "Now I want you to picture the concept of harmony. As true as you can."
Harmony. It is not a concept she is deeply familiar with. All her instincts run towards destruction, towards conflict, towards the ripping apart of sinew and bone and soul.
Except this.
[SORCERER] Sink deep into your magic. It is who you are. It is home.
Another pulse. The Weave closes around them fully, locking them away from anything else.
Narrator: You see - or is it sense - the unmistakable presence of Mystra, the Lady of Mysteries. There's something like the anticipation of a kiss, then the pleasure of being cloaked in peace. You are safe. You are nestled in the cup of Mystra's hand.
She knows nothing of this Mystra. But she feels the magic all around her. She feels the peace and the safety and the comfort. And to her astonishment, she feels tears sprout in her eyes. She squeezes her eyes shut against them, baffled by the reaction, but she is sure Gale hears her breath catch in her chest.
He is watching her closely. "You did it," he murmurs. "You're channeling the Weave. How does it feel?"
[SORCERER] "Incredible," she whispers. Then, to cover the tight roil of emotion in her chest, a flash of equally uncharacteristic humor. "Though... of course, I could have managed it by myself..."
He laughs softly. "You're hard to please, aren't you?"
Narrator: The Weave connects you. The moment feels intimate.
For a long few moments she simply stands there, focused on the infinite depth of the magic playing along her skin. But she is conscious, too, of Gale's closeness. To bind himself into this fabric with her, even for these few moments, is an expression of unspoken trust. And she finds herself suddenly strangely afraid that, should she stay here too long, she will find some way to shatter that fragile trust apart. She knows she is capable of infinite destruction...
A satisfying end to a wondrous experience. It's time to let go.
Narrator: The Weave evaporates, and as it does so, you realize the night feels suddenly cold and lonesome.
"Oh..." Gale whispers softly, his head drawing back. "There it goes." A sudden deep sadness touches his gaze. "How easily things slip away from us, no matter how hard they were in the obtaining..."
He takes a step back, turns away towards his tent. "Good night. I enjoyed sharing a moment of magic with you."
She remains very still, her eyes half-shut. She has no words to articulate the cocktail of unexpected emotion that has been poured through her in the last fifteen minutes. She feels as if she should follow him, tell him he has given her a gift, that she is grateful.
Instead, she turns and walks away, and feels the Weave slowly shiver its way off her skin, drop by drop.
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What Kind of Love is Your OC?
was tagged by @simlit aka @lazysunjade and of course doing cause seemed fun !
Victor
Love as a Flaw
Cowering, your love hides in the dark. In shadows and under cover of night, your love runs from corner to corner, afraid to linger, afraid to be caught. Afraid, afraid, afraid of everything. When you fall in love, it is with alarm bells ringing. Your love is a mistake, a flaw in the code, a purchase you don’t remember making and desperately want to return. You didn’t ask for this. You didn’t want this. It’s a problem–– your problem ––and you would do anything to pass it off, burn it away, scoop it out of you with bare hands, or carved out with hooked knives before it can destroy you. Get it out, just get it out now. You don’t care who you hurt in the process, only that you can’t afford to be hurt first. Being loved by you is to be loved by a figment of the imagination. It is to be loved in halves, or not at all.
Archer
Love as Religion
Devotion, that is the name of your love. Your love is an act of worship. Your love is like witnessing the birth of Venus, like seeing the sun come alive, or the stars fall. When you love, it is because you have found God in a lover. You have found the meaning of life itself in the heart of the one you adore. They are everything to you; they are your Maker, and you are their lamb, their flock, their first and holiest worshipper. When you fall in love, it is as a baptism. You are born anew, made a believer in the divinity of the one you love most. Being loved by you is an ascension; it is holy and golden. It is all-consuming, and all-faithful, loyal as the dog. You will never, ever bite back.
I tag @latte-trait @morgynemberisagenderfluiddaddy @morrigan-sims @void-imp @zynoox and @simmingonthelow 🤔
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