but if we bury what we dream —

— we're left with what remains

[onceawake]

contains fantasy muses from bg3/dungeons & dragons and dragon age. and any other fantasy media i get into and indulge with.

penned by micki, she/her. 1995.

muse page.

rules page.

quick note: literally don't be afraid to stick your head in my inbox or messages or w/e. I'm not going to bite you about it. anything in the memes tag is also fair game, I don't stop accepting them.

Dragon Age:

Sharrah Mahariel, HoF

Aera Lavellan, Inquisitor

Marian "Mair" Hawke

Shokraas, Vashoth Circle Mage

BG3:

Arrai, Swords Bard 9/Arcane Trickster Rogue 3, Mephistopheles Tiefling, default romance spawn-Astarion + a friend's bard, Kestra

Forgotten Realms:

Torwaen Ironfist, Drakewarden Ranger, Shield Dwarf

[onceawake]

everyone on goodreads is incapable of picking up the pieces and making their own connections.

anyway happy pride, i am handing you all both The Song of Shattered Sands and The Rising World.

[onceawake]

the inquisitor's horse.

Nehn'na'nan. Nehna. [again is vengeance / again your vengeance]

a bit of a shithorse, really — Nehna is finicky and known to bite people that are not Aera. The name was given tongue-in-cheek while she was a foal, having kicked several of Lavellan's herd-keepers for the crime of existing nearby.

Can be bribed, however, if one brings a suitable offering, though the bribe may still come with a nip to the fingers for your troubles.

[open image in new tab for full size: 2500x2500]

[delicatesquashblossom]

Ask not for whom the gurdy hurds. It hurds for thee.

[onceawake]

what kind of herb are you?

Cayenne

Everyone says that you're so bright, so loud, so much and maybe you are or maybe you're covering up that gaping wound in your chest with fireworks. Or maybe you really are so bright so warm so hot but sometimes you wonder if anything will ever be enough to soothe that aching burning cold fire in your chest. You don't know what it is, can't ever let yourself close enough to that pyre to know if it's anger or fear or loneliness or grief but it's there and if you're good enough, funny enough, bold enough, maybe you can hide it from everyone else. Maybe there's enough of you and enough of the world that you can outrun it forever, your own fire bright enough to put that wound to shame. Bright enough to prove to everyone, anyone, yourself, your mother, your father, your friends, your classmates, the world, that you're enough. You're enough. You're enough.

tagged by: @magusanima ! tagging: @bhaal1st, @keenminded, YOU 🫵

[onceawake]

for the last set of bingos, see this post. anyway anyone want a bardrogue tief i promise the dex isn't just for show

[onceawake]

horse has been conquered. time to work on aera's creature again.

[inevitableking]

Alistair isn't sure what he expected from her insinuations, but it wasn't for her to run full speed into the water in her clothes. Sure she'd thought to bring a spare set that he can now see resting on a rock, but he'd expected… what? Nudity in front of him?

His mouth opens and closes a few times as he looks for the words to counter her amused call. He was determined not to prove himself just another Chantry boy, but he wasn't doing a very good job of it.

"Right," he finally says, though it comes out more like a long exhale that's followed by an inhale for courage. "Being an adult. I can do that." He begins stripping, first the armor he still wears around camp after their last attack but then also all the padding underneath. The last thing he removes is his shirt, since he'd like something dry and he didn't think to bring alternatives.

She's all the way in the water now, having submerged and re-emerged somewhere further out, and though he assumes she's still wearing the wet clothes he's sure to avert his gaze. Now in nothing more than his breeches and smallclothes, Alistair steps out to join her.

Or he would, if it weren't so damn cold. "Maker's breath," he breathes as what feels like ice water kisses at his toes. "How in Andraste's name are you out there like this?" he calls, embarrassment forgotten.

[onceawake]

In the time it takes Alistair to shuck his armor, piece by piece, the other Warden has wriggled out of her now sodden tunic, letting the water tug it this way and that in her hands, twisting the sturdy fabric to help wash it clean. Bright hair rests over her shoulders instead, forming a flimsy veil of propriety — as if that had been something she was worried about to begin with.

"You should feel the rivers when the first thaw comes!" Sharrah calls back in answer — a cold that could drive even a bear back into its cave without sunlight. This was not nearly so cold, and one could easily find it more comfortable after a long day's march. Perhaps it was a touch chilly on first contact, but that was the joy of plunging in. A body grew accustomed to it much faster that way, and she almost relished the chill that sank in before it became comfortable.

She cannot help but to let her eyes rove over Alistair, taking in a form she had begun to become more familiar with over their time together, though usually decidedly obscured by garments. He wasn't bad on the eyes, truthfully. For a human.

He remains near the riverbank, and Sharrah pushes back towards it, shifting through the water with as much ease as one can when dragged back by waterlogged linens and loose hair. "Come in all at once. It will be easier, I promise."

[magusanima]

Well, she was awfully quick to douse his noble offer of protection, but that was simply her way, wasn't it? He talked and talked and talked and promised things endlessly (things he meant with all his heart, of course. But one would be apt to spread himself thin at times with all of this oaths) but she thought with practicality. That was how the Dalish worked, he knew that much. They could not have survived this long with knowledge alone, even with the raw power they possessed, mages were the same. One had to know when to allow others to perform their separate duties. One couldn't afford sentimentality when sense worked so much better.

Perhaps...he needed to improve that much about himself...but if it came down to it, he really would protect any one of them. The idea of losing any of their companions now after so many evenings by the fire, the trails they'd trekked back and forth across Ferelden...it was irreplaceable. He would give anything for them...

Sharrah included, even if she seemed avoidant to receive such care.

"I'd like to try the bow, if you're amenable." He confirmed, trying to search the other's gaze for any sort of refusal. He hoped he wasn't coming off too much like pleading child, but...

"I was ah...promised as a child that I would learn to defend myself with one, before all of the..." He paused, letting the smallest bit of mana warp around his fingers in a little display of frost. "You know. But it would be handy in a fight. I don't want to come up useless the moment I drain myself of mana..." It felt odd even mentioning something from his life before the Circle. Most people simply assumed he'd always existed amongst its walls but...Sharrah perhaps, was too much of an observer to believe that, he thought.

"Would that...I mean, could you make time for such a thing?"

[onceawake]

No fragile mage, he. Yet, by the same turn of the season, susceptible to overreaching and burning themself out, drawing on more magic than was wise. To have another option when magic must be preserved... it was not a bad idea. Even her own clan made use of their staves in close quarters, taking advantage of the reach inherent to a stick as tall as one was.

"You'll need a suitable bow." She answered after a long moment. "And the ability to draw it." Not to mention the ability to shape his own arrows if he takes to the weapon well enough. There is only so much luck one can have in scavenging used ones back, and more often she finds she has to simply replace the shafts in entirety, only able to save arrowheads.

Fortunately, there did not seem to be a lack of bows scattered about this battlefield, though the better question was of the craftsmanship... and whether or not they were in any shape to be drawn and used by someone that was not darkspawn themselves.

Then, perhaps, the apparent changes brought upon the Joining would help to make up for any lack Behni may have. Sharrah's own bow had become much easier to draw in the last few months, and she finds it tenable to hold it at full draw for longer than a heartbeat.

It is... an odd change.

"If both can be found, then, yes. We might find the time in the evenings, after camp's pitched."

[bitchi4mwillywonka]

dont worry, i'll be hot and funny again as soon as i'm done fighting for my life right now

[onceawake]

varric describing the hof in some questionable retelling, change my mind

[onceawake]

( chantry driven ) expectation vs reality.

[onceawake]

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR AURA?

Noir

drops of ink, eyeliner, crows, spiders, charcoal, painted nails, the night. your essence is noir: you see the world for what it really is and have the desire to perfect it. you embrace all of reality with zeal; there is an order to everything, even the thoughts that drip with darkness. your spirit is undeniable and some may call you quietly passionate or idealistic. you are the conquerer. you are the reformer. you find kinship in like-minded individuals of grey, ivory, amaranth, and hickory, who share your passion for betterment. you are also drawn to the creative magenta and indigo, who will help you grow and let go of your reservations that you must be perfect. however, you may struggle to get along with the philosophical personalities of navy and amber who seem aimless.

tagged by: @keenminded dealer's choice tagging: @bhaal1st :) and you 🫵

[onceawake]

also feel the need this evening to out sharrah again actually. there is another bastard in her collection of "men she finds hot"

[onceawake]

anyway something very funny to me about the hof swinging around that bigass sword to kill the archdemon. especiallllly if you weren't already a warrior hof

sharrah's rogue frame taking a swing with a sword the size of alistair's just to end the fight. shes done <3

[skydreamt]

the hero of Ferelden, a dalish elf?

[onceawake]

guys. fellas. stop believing everything you read. ( sharrah won't deny it though )

[onceawake]

warden card warden card—