i am a steel trap.

𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘊𝘈𝘕'𝘛 𝘏𝘈𝘝𝘌 𝘔𝘠 𝘏𝘌𝘈𝘙𝘛.

[magpiesglint]

I AM A STEEL TRAP CROWNED WITH A MAGPIE'S GLINT; NOT A WOMAN TO BE SAVED, A WOMAN TO BE SAVED FROM.

a friends only multi-muse featuring hc based canon characters & ocs. loved by nikita ;  21+. RULES. muses: freya njordsdottir (god of war), arlis jordayne (baldurs gate 3 pc/request only), celine marlow (the witcher 3 oc), keyleth of the air ashari (critical role), sidria trevelyan (da: inquisition). affiliates: @vaertein, @saovaene, @godefris, @viperidax

[darkgifted]

arlis jordayne: act i

[magpiesglint]

anyway arlis is now a d&d oc

[ofdruigh]

THE SUN SEEMS TO DIM, in the days surrounding saovine, as if laying itself to rest, too. there hang mists in the marshes, thick and full of voices. they accompany the witcher into the late morning hours. by noon she arrives at the city gates and gets lucky with the guard, a man who looks too small for his uniform and ducks under her gaze, allowing her in without further questions. stiff from the coming cold and a few days on horseback, brynn doesn't hurry. she tosses the stable boy an extra coin after she hands him the reins to lead her horse away and into better care for a while. in tandem with a sharp glare, it tends to work wonders.

there is a certainty in her step. for this year, she has a destination.

❛  indeed, all nine and a half fingers intact,  ❜ brynn returns with a small smirk. some tension falls off of her as if she had already shed her cloak. the invitation is heeded with a small dip of her head, though half done in order to avoid hitting it on the door frame.

stepping inside her home, the witcher studies arlis. her face, her figure, her movements. has she changed? has the curse drawn from her more? what is change and what the fading of her memory? she comes back into focus now, as if the mists parted around her. once she has unbuckled the belts that hold her swords' sheaths across her back and put them aside, brynn reaches to touch a gloved hand briefly against the woman's shoulder.

❛  what news? have you learned anything?  ❜

[magpiesglint]

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐒 only brightens to hear familiar voice and the faint shadows of doubt burst as the witcher steps through her door. there is always the embarrassing concern that affection will have soured with the months spent apart, that the eagerness she can barely keep sustained is not met and matched. for so many years now, her world has been a solitary one, admittedly clouded with occasional loneliness, but for a very long time indeed that had been preferable to someone leaving. the witcher only steps away must leave, and for longer than she'd wish, but brynn always has returned.

❝ good, ❞ arlis glances over her shoulder as she moves to throw stoke the small fire crackling in her hearth, her smile turning wry, ❝ i do happen to be quite fond of those fingers. ❞

dried plants and fresh petals, a forest of hues of green and browns, are carefully swept out of the way on her table to allow for twin swords. something in her stomach lurches to think of where their words must inevitably travel, and she decides a few more minutes without discussion of her are deserved. a quick sigh falls from her lips. ❝ i've learned more than i wished and less than i wanted. still, i have more answers than when last we spoke, at least. it's a dreadful business, trying to determine the source of what's wrong with you, but first you must tell me of everything. where have you been? what all have you seen? ❞

she sits now, chin cupped in her hand, and her smile reaches up all the way into her eyes. ❝ i'm glad you came back, brynn. ❞

[magpiesglint]

𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐃 for the first whispers of autumn after the long, stifling summers of the north. where some might find relief, respite even, in the cool mornings and the greying skies that hint at the winter to come. however, for so many years winter had meant the cold and the cold had meant danger to a girl with little by way of warmth and less still to call shelter. the instinct to fear the winter has never faded as a result but this year, the morning first arlis spies frost upon cobbled streets plucks a different emotion from her.

anticipation. no, something more than that, touched with joy.

it had been of the first things she'd learned, that witchers rest during the winters.

the days pass by both slowly and quickly, spurned on by her eagerness, until there is a familiar form at her simple doorstep and the dual gleam of swords catch in the pale afternoon light. immediately her gaze searches for new scars, any signs of fresh wounds gifted by either mere creature or monster, and finding none she allows herself to break into a grin. ❝ so far as i can see, it looks like your journeys have left you in one piece. that's something we should celebrate, if there's no contract or bounty to steal you away. ❞

leaning against the doorway, arlis allows the delight in her heart to settle into her dark gaze. ❝ i've missed you. come inside, we've much to discuss. ❞ @ofdruigh

[darkgifted]

[magpiesglint]

teeny tiny plotting call for arlis jordayne <3

[magpiesglint]

𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒 𝐉𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐓: 𝟏/?

[magpiesglint]

𝐀 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐒 feel strangely guilty only offering up the most useless of items they come across, the sort imbued with the kinds of spells whose use seems impossible to discern or possessing of such underwhelming magic as to be all but worthless. gale has never complained, of course. his usual reaction is overwhelming gratitude to the point of causing her to flush and she suspects this time will be no different, a tarnished ring held out carefully in outstretched palm.

❝ here, i suspect you'll be needing this before long. ❞ arlis offers it with a half-smile, the cadence of his requests now familiar to her. her gaze traces the faint lines of magic imbued into his cheek, delicate as veins. not for the first time, and what knows will not be the last, she finds that she pities him. ❝ it's a relief that your appetite doesn't appear to require anything of genuine value. ❞

her own predicament can mostly go unnoticed, announcing itself by way of nausea and crippling headaches that can be blamed on any number of things. if nothing else, she thinks bitterly, distantly, that is something to be grateful for. her head cants lightly to the side, assessingly. ❝ it hurts, doesn't it? when you consume something? ❞ arlis has always averted her gaze whenever it occurs because it seems somehow too personal, too intimate for her to simply stand and watch. however, the grimace that colors gale's features afterwards betrays its impact. her teeth pluck at her lower lip. ❝ i suppose there isn't anyway to minimize the pain, is there? ❞ @dekarsus

[darkgifted]

arlis + act ii details : part 2

[magpiesglint]

i am giving up on formatting bc im sick

[palespawn-s]

a rakish smirk crawls across his lips, illuminated by the orange glow of the campfire. he had been wondering how long it would take for the questions to prop up, abnormality begets curiosity after all. he couldn't fault her for that. however amusing it was in hindsight, how obvious he apparently is, astarion distinctly recalls feelings of fear and apprehension; as if walking on eggshells― one lapse in judgement, one slip up and he could have been dead. perhaps he could have relied on his companions, however, early days had been upon them. trust was still brewing between them.

“  it should have, but no, i was much too paranoid i'd be found out and staked through the ribs. silly me. clearly i was overestimating all of you, ” he watches, now with amusement, as she stokes the fire. her understanding is a miraculous thing, something he ought to cherish in the grand scheme of things. and he does, make no mistake. “  well, who knew you were such a pragmatist? you're right, of course. it hardly makes for a solid first impression. people either want to kill you or become you. the outcome is most always the same. ”

[magpiesglint]

𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐍'𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐒 to simultaneously annoy her and amuse her, a delicate balance that the elf seems uncannily adept at, and in turn her lips briefly quirk before settling into a firm line. ❝ believe it or not, astarion, i think we all might've been a bit distracted by the worms in our heads to focus too intently on you. ❞ arlis casts him a knowing look before leaning back, arms absently coming to fold over her chest. ❝ besides, we all seem to want to keep things to ourselves, don't we? gale's eager to chomp down on the occasional bit of magic, shadowheart's memory is more or less a blank slate, and laezel mostly just seems to find us all pathetic. if anything, you being a vampire is rather a lackluster reveal. ❞ bizarrely, all of this is spoken without any disdain from her. if anything, her tone seems to hint at affection.

perhaps that should worry her, but the list of things she must worry over has grown so long that there's hardly space for this strange moment of warmth.

for a long moment, her only response to his assessment is a quick exhale of breath, but arlis finally shifts slightly and flicks a thick braid over her shoulder. her gaze finds his as her voice shifts, softens. ❝ survival usually requires some measure of pragmatism. ❞

❝ you did what you needed to in order to survive. i don't begrudge you that, astarion, but so much as glance at my neck again and i fear you'll discover the extent of my empathy. ❞

[danielsarmand]

Davrin in Dragon Age: The Veilguard (2024) dev. Bioware

[beregosts]

[magpiesglint]

𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐒 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐋 that there isn't anything to be gained by following the line of inquiry that's been dancing on the tip of her tongue for two days now, but the quiet that pervades camp seems to be all but begging for something to fill it. prodding the dying fire to breathe renewed life into its embers, arlis finally turns her gaze towards the elf across from her. ❝ did it amuse you, astarion, that none of us could put the pieces together? about you? ❞ it's all painfully obvious now, enough so that she's embarrassed for not having recognized clear sign after clear sign. he had been strange, of course, but who amongst their little band isn't strange? ❝ i won't hold it against you if you were laughing once we were all out of earshot. ❞

for the all of the initial confusion of it, the panic followed swiftly by disbelief, she can hardly begrudge him his secrecy. they all have secrets of their own in varying weights and of varying degrees. her own, even now, coils in the pit of her stomach.

❝ for what it's worth, ❞ she shrugs loosely and absently tosses another log onto the fire, cupping her chin in her palm. ❝ i don't blame you not telling us. hardly the sort of thing you include in a first greeting, vampirism. ❞ @palespawn

[beregosts]

𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒 + 𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝟏 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄

[magpiesglint]

wb arlis jordayne