Malag Hla’Viir

CARRD | Profile | Pinned His face white in the moonlight, his hands raised in horror, glaring helplessly at the frightful thing which was hunting him down. "It seems to leave the darkness rather blacker than before." - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

[darkness-rather-blacker]

art by me

Malag of House Hla'Viir

Follows from @maudlin-bonny-boys | Drow | Gloomstalker Ranger | Dossier | Carrd | Hub Blog | Verses: D&D (BG3 Durge or AU, NWN AU), TES (Morrowind) | Independent | Multi-ship friendly | Semi-Selective | NSFW | Minors DNI | Written by Pallywaug (He, 30s, Queer) | Asks + DMs open

[ohisms]

✱˚｡⋆ ↪ 𝐀 𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐒 .    (  a collection of  action prompts.   feel free to reverse roles as desired. this prompt will be updated.  )

[ REDWOOD ] sender lashes out at receiver when it isn't their fault.

[ WILLOW ] sender embraces receiver in a moment of extreme distress.

[ PINE ] sender fervently resists receiver's attempts to comfort / care for them.

[ BIRCH ] sender finally ends a tense argument by reaching out to apologize.

[ POPLAR ] sender mentors receiver through learning a new skill.

[ PALM ] sender and receiver avoid / ignore the stresses of real life together.

[ ELM ] sender lends receiver aid in a time of urgent need.

[ MAGNOLIA ] sender, believed to be dead, arrives at receiver's door.

[ DOGWOOD ] sender gifts receiver a token of good luck / protection.

[ MULBERRY ] sender and receiver take a long walk through nature together.

[ HAZELNUT ] sender begrudgingly patches up receiver's wounds.

[ CAMPHOR ] sender suddenly pushes receiver out of danger's path.

[ CASHEW ] when they're finally alone, sender invites receiver to dance.

[ LAVENDER ] sender lays their head in receiver's lap and closes their eyes.

[ BEECH ] it comes to light that sender has betrayed receiver.

[ HIBISCUS ] sender invites receiver to go traveling with them.

[ HICKORY ] sender pushes receiver to admit that they need them.

[ MAPLE ] sender shakes receiver's shoulders, begging them to wake up.

[ CHERRY BLOSSOM ] sender revels in receiver's beauty, stunned.

[ JOSHUA ] sender offers receiver a safe place to hide / crash .

[ ASH ] sender and receiver become reacquainted after many years.

[ FIG ] sender, knowing receiver is hungry, pressures them to eat.

[ YEW ] sender beckons for receiver to join them in the water.

[ CYPRESS ] sender shamelessly flirts with receiver.

[ LINDEN ] sender cares for receiver, who took a hit to protect them.

[darkness-rather-blacker]

art by me

Malag of House Hla'Viir

Follows from @maudlin-bonny-boys | Drow Gloomstalker Ranger | Dossier | Carrd | Hub Blog | Verses: D&D (BG3 Durge or AU, NWN AU), TES (Morrowind) | Independent | Semi-Selective | NSFW | Minors DNI | Written by Pallywaug (He, 30s, Queer) | Asks + DMs open

[darkness-rather-blacker]

Reviving!

[shadovan]

He wasn't certain what his newfound companion was expecting, oblivious to the curiosity of transport. The next motion was none of those, though, and in practically a blink, he teleported them both, directly to the cobbled pathway right outside his tower.

It wasn't quite the standard of the mage towers of Waterdeep or Baldur's Gate, but more so a standard run-of-the-mill brickwork tower that sat atop one of the brisk mountain peaks overlooking the Neverwinter Wood. It was rustic and fit all the qualifications of being a lich's lair, yet still had an almost homey feeling. Aside from the layer of dust and clung in the corners.

"Here we are," Tareque chimed, lowering the wards and opening the front door. "It's not an inn, but comfortable enough, I suppose. And secure. If I recall correctly, that is the most important element, yes? In my years of experience, it is near impossible for someone to approach without being noticed in some manner."

Undead hunters, paid assassins, clerics on haughty missions to prove their devotion, he had seen it all in the time he'd been occupying the tower. For one reason or another, there always seemed to be someone set on destroying him.

[darkness-rather-blacker]

At first he thought it was the Blackness once again; the obscuring moments of no sight nor sound, thought nor memory. The thing that had begun for him after the maw of the Hells had swallowed up his lover. How long ago had it been now? Months?

But it was just a blink - some kind of spell, and they now stood (Malag stumbling on the changed ground under his feet.) looking up at the kind of tower that oft dwelled in Surfacer tales. In storybooks, they were always backlit by the hideous sun, fluffed like a cake against clouds. Thankfully it was night still.

He couldn't recognize it from above, but the Neverwinter Wood had been just where Malag had found himself when he escaped the Underdark. He'd spent some days camping and winding himself through the alien flora and fauna, trying to find a propelling purpose.

The tower was almost cheerful compared to the elegant violet violent-spiked edges of Viirin Manor.

"The ultimate high ground, as it were." He replied as Tareque relayed the advantages of his dwelling. He observed the interior, and wondered who built it. Humans? Elves? He did not recognize hallmarks of the joinery. Foreign mortises and tenons, the stacking of stone to make an archway. How novel.

[shadovan]

Tareque nearly laughed at the man's sudden change in demeanor. What had shifted his decision, he wonders? Desperation? Fear? Perhaps it was something more. Regardless, the lich wasn't about to pry more than what was necessary. Some matters were best left private unless freely told. -- Regardless of his earlier thought-detecting action, (though that had been more a safety precaution.)

All that aside, something about Malag also seemed exhausted. Whether that was physically, emotionally, or mentally, Tareque was unaware. Lich or not, it stirred something in him; not pity, not even protective. Maybe it was something that only made sense to him, as many things did.

"It is," he assured him, almost casually. "Well then, I say finish your drink and we shall depart."

Raising his cup, he downed the rest of his drink, then moved to stand on his own two feet. He held a hand out to Malag, waiting for him to take it.

[darkness-rather-blacker]

He mirrored Tareque again, finishing his drink. Blanching at first at his outstretched hand, but he’d touched it once already. He had nowhere lower to sink, so he took it again.

How did Liches go home from the pub? By bone horse? Shadowfell carriage? Or perhaps he could only trudge on foot in drunken shame, like the mortals did. Or… hover?

A chill crept across his back, stinging and striking his heart. Not from contact with the undead, but the threat which chased him still. Malag tensed his body and tried to ignore it.

“As you say.”

[rpdepartment]

simple yet specific relationships & reverse starters meme!

send one of the followings emojis or prompts if you have ideas for relationships & plots when it comes to our muses, but you don't know how to start! in return, i'll go through either yours or my prompts and try to send you something to work with your wishes! feel free to send more of them at the same time too!!

note: with "my muse", we mean the sender's

NEUTRAL

🙂 a simple first meeting should work

🤭 my muse wants to know yours better

🤗 my muse doesn't know yours, but heard of them /pos

🤔 my muse doesn't know yours, but heard of them and has no strong feelings about them. yet.

😄 my muse is related or friend of someone your muse is friends with

😕 my muse is related or friend of someone your muse dislikes

😍 my muse is related or friend of someone your muse loves

PLATONIC & FAMILIAL

🐶 they could be friends!!!!

🐺 they were friends in the past, but lost contact with eachother

🐣 they're family!!!

🐔 my muse is a distant relative of yours

🐴 my muse is a fan of yours

🦝 my muse is an old friend who yours didn't see in a while

🐭 our muses are online friends

ROMANTIC & SEXUAL

❤️ my muse wants to kiss yours (in a romantic way)

💙 my muse has a one sided crush on yours

💚 our muses are exes

🧡 my muse used to have a crush on yours some time ago

💛 my muse wants to kiss yours (mostly in a sexy kind of way)

💜 our muses had a one night stand

🖤 our muses are fuckbuddies

ANTAGONISTIC & NEGATIVE

🥄 my muse doesn't know yours, but heard of them /neg

🔨 they should beat eachother up

💣 my muse hates yours

🗡️ our muses hate eachother

🔪 my muse is scared of yours

⛏️ they were friends in the past, but they had a serious fight

🪓 my muse wants to kill yours

WORK & SCHOOL

📅 they're forced to cooperate

📋 my muse wants yours to work for them

📚 our muses know eachother from school

📊 our muses know eachother from work

📌 my muse works for yours

📭 your muse works for mine

📖 my muse is or was your muse's teacher

OTHER ODDLY SPECIFIC SCENARIOS

🍉 they should work together to beat someone else up

🍋 our muses are in a fake relationship

🍏 my muse needs yours to pretend to be their partner

🍒 my muse is famous, and i'd love to see yours reaction to see them

🍓 my muse is a troublemaker and yours find them after a fight

🍇 my muse is sad for any reason and crosses paths with yours

🍊 my muse catches yours doing something illegal

[shadovan]

"Did I ask for payment?" He sipped from his own drink -- more than a sip, actually, downing the contents before sliding the cup aside. It took an excruciating amount for him to actually feel the effects of intoxication.

"I also specialize in situations most consider dangerous," he insisted, ironically. "Eternity is terribly dull without exciting encounters to break up the monotony of it all." A transparent remark, but it was the truth, none the less. Curiosity and intrigue was what fueled him, and what better place to find that than inquiring with troubled strangers?

"Now, let's try this again. Is there something you need help with?"

[darkness-rather-blacker]

@shadovan

"So the payment is your entertainment." Malag's voice broke slightly with unexpected amusement. "I see." Rubbing his eyes, he took a drink too, and at nearly the same volume.

"Fine," the jolt of liquor seemed to help his focus, "take me to your refuge. As long as it's far from here." Chances were that he'd die, for what amused the undead more? At least it might be funnier than the death he was running from now.

[modifiedmonster]

Show, don't tell : Part 1

Directory Writing Masterlist Blog Etiquette Buy me a Ko-Fi?

[ Angry + Frustrated ]

Red face

Tensing up jaw/body

Clenching fists

Gritting teeth

Stomped feet

Rolling eyes

Crossing arms

Kick/Hit something

Eyebrows furl

Face crunches up

Tight lips

Narrow eyes

[ Happy + Excited ]

Laugh/Giggle

Smile from ear to ear

High tone in voice

Smiling/Grinning while talking

Heart Pounding

Clapping

Breathing deeply

Squeal/Scream

Talking fast

Contentedly Sigh

Tilted head

Hand clasped over mouth

[Bored + Tired ]

Pace back and forth

Sigh loudly

Blank face

Play with fingers

Staring off into space

Yawning

Fidgeting around

Leaning head on hands

Rubbing eyes

Droopy eyes

Dark circles under eyes

Complaining

[Sad + Scared]

Trembling lips/body

Tears in eyes

Bite Nails

Curl up/tuck knees to chest

Bite nails

Eyes burn/turn red

Stop breathing OR breathe fast

Lose appetite

Frowning

Darting eyes

Blinking quick or not at all

Pounding heart

© ModifiedUchiha 2023 ★ Feel free to use them for inspiration , but give credit if adding to a list ★

[shadovan]

His left eyebrow arched at what he'd thought was about to be a curt response, but he supposed it was the man's way of answering the question.

The waitress returned, placing the drinks in front of the two of them before departing again. Tareque waited until she was a distance away before speaking again. "I only ask because, if you are fleeing from someone or something, I have quite a gift at relocating people and covering trails."

He moved the brandy closer to Malag as he picked up his own cup, seeming momentarily thoughtful. "If that is not the case then... well, I am unable to assist if I am unaware of the details. If this even is a matter that requires assistance."

[darkness-rather-blacker]

Malag frowned into his brandy. The last time he'd drank was at a party at House Armgo. He wondered if they imported Heartwine around here.

He answered with his focus inside the brandy glass still, "seems dangerous to offer a stranger refuge. I haven't much to offer in return, if that's what you seek."

[mongrelsheart]

Malag redraw for 2024, reposted because I hated how his hair looked before.

[darkness-rather-blacker]

16. how skilled is your muse in the kitchen? what is the most complicated dish they know how to make?

Not at all, that's what the Surfacer slaves were for! Best he can do is hunt game and cook it over a fire. That counts right?

[rpmemes-galore]

random headcanon asks

1. does your muse enjoy watching the stars?

2. does your muse have any long-term, life plans?

3. how does your muse manage strong emotions?

4. how many blankets does your muse sleep with?

5. has you muse ever experienced sleep paralysis? 

6. what style of music does your muse like the most?

7. what’s the furthest from home your muse has traveled?

8. does your muse have any unusual fears? what are they? 

9. is your muse / would your muse be active on social media?

10. does your muse get sick often? what’s their go-to remedies?

11. is your muse quick thinking? are they able to focus when stressed?

12. what is your muse’s most helpful coping skill, healthy or unhealthy?

13. what is the strangest / least comfortable place your muse has slept?

14. where does your muse’s strength lie? physical strength? mental? emotional?

15. if your muse had the option, would they prefer to go to space or explore the ocean?

16. how skilled is your muse in the kitchen? what is the most complicated dish they know how to make?

[shadovan]

Even though he was the one who had ended up on the floor, Tareque noted how the other man still somehow looked more disheveled than he was. Whatever he was running from, even if it happened to be his own mind, he was doing so unsteadily.

He motioned to one of the waitresses, summoning her over as he glanced curiously at Malag. "A refill on my cup, my dear," he stated, handing her a few coins. "And something for my newfound companion, here. Perhaps some of the spiced cherry brandy." If that wasn't up to the other's tastes, they would find something else. He could only assume Malag knew nothing of the local drinks if he didn't even know where he was.

When the waitress stepped away, once again granting them more privacy to speak, Tareque settled into the seat beside this mysterious man. "Are you in danger?" he finally ask him, more quietly. "You seem haunted, if I may say."

[darkness-rather-blacker]

Malag stared ahead, lacing together his mauve fingers. "I am ill inclined to answer that in public." He scanned the patrons for suspicious faces, "perhaps you can deduce the answer for yourself, given my failed surreptitiousness." He wondered if it had been Malag himself who'd caused the Lich to trip. For all his training, he felt as coordinated as a china shop-charging bull. Something had been done to him...

[shadovan]

"A force of habit," he admitted, idly shrugging his shoulders. "The number of hunters and foolhardy clerics I encounter on the regular with intent to end me is annoyingly copious."

"A touch of a peek to make certain you aren't about to shove a blade to my neck hardly seems unreasonable. Whatever else I glimpse in the process is simply chance." It was a morally grey excuse at best, but what reason did the lich have not to be open about such matters? If the man wasn't intent to kill him, he had no qualms with expressing truths.

As much as he might have enjoyed prying into the depths of other's months, something about doing so to the fullest extent felt a bit too invasive for his liking. That wasn't to say he hadn't ever done so, merely that it happened infrequently, and typically to those intent on killing him.

"Might I buy you a drink in an act of humble apology?"

[darkness-rather-blacker]

The explanation was less than satisfactory, but he did take note of the fact that the undead thing had not been reading his mind moments before, when Malag had a dagger poking out of his sleeve. That might have been the better thought to steal.

He wanted to leave. His memory was slowly dripping back in; he’d run through the back door of the tavern to escape, but from what? A hazy image of his sister’s face came to focus. Could she really be here to nab him? Already? And why was he missing time so often?

“… Very well.” It might calm his fragile, nerves, if anything. Malag slumped into a chair and tried to look undisturbed.

[darkness-rather-blacker]

“👀”

From here from @shadovan

Get to know: Sure why not?

Befriend: I'd rather not

Date: I'd rather not

Make love with: I'd rather not

Hook up with: Convince me!

Protect: Convince me!

Help: Sure why not?

Stop: (I really don’t know what this one means??)

Kill: Sure why not?

[shadovan]

"Right now?" What a peculiar question. Fortunately, the lich specialized in peculiar questions. "You are currently at The Gilded Tavern," Tareque told the man, now looking at him with a newfound curiosity. While it wasn't terribly common to come across surface drow in the area, it also wasn't uncommon enough to seem suspicious.

"Just west of Helm's Hold," he added, in case that detail aided him. Perhaps he had just found the surface and hadn't regained his bearings? The possibilities were endless.

"Was there somewhere in particular you wished to be?" Tareque's head tilted a bit as he looked at Malag, then slowly drifted to sit back in mid-air while he crossed his arms over his chest. A perfect vision of relaxation.

-- Then he paused, eyeing the man with amusement. Detecting thoughts was a temptation he rarely resisted. "And... No. I am not a zombie. I am a lich."

[darkness-rather-blacker]

@shadovan

Malag prickled with embarrassment, and pulled a small book from his satchel and wrote down 'Gilded Tavern - Helm's Hold West'.

He was about to answer about where he wished to be, when he was startled away from his train of thought, again. Prickling with anger, this time.

Indeed, zombies did more shambling than... floating.

"Why bother asking any questions if you're going to just barge into my brain and find the answers yourself?" He recalled scattered dealings with Ilithid upon Matron's assignments. Apparently he had not yet escaped that sort of thing topside.

The urge to perform niceties to placate was a difficult defense mechanism to resist. It was easier with Males, and undead, it turns out. Easier to snap and turn sharply on his heel in the opposite direction.

[kraniumet]

meet cute: it's raining and I see your battered bleeding body lying in the mud and I kick it slightly to see if you're dead