Howdy howdy! I'm an avid DnD enjoyer and I'm here to make art of my favorite little dudes and talk about these wild ass stories with y'all! [This is a side blog]
no because ayda aguefort is THE most character of all time. she’s black. she’s queer. she’s sexy. she has fiery tattoos. she lives forever. she’s autistic. she’s a librarian. she is trying her best to communicate to her newfound group of friends when she’s never been shown love before. she’s willing to kill for her gf. she has a weird relationship with her dad. she’s sexy (always). she is the moment.
saw this post by bookbell97 and like.......how could I not??
Captain K.P. Hob is…confused. Now that in and of itself is not unusual but it is usually a confusion caused by internal struggles. This confusion is stemming from more… external forces. In the days following his duel with Lady Wuvvy and then subsequently Prince Andhera, people have begun to look at him.
At first, he assumes it is a fluke. Hob is used to whispers and glances as he passes. At this point in his military career, he has become well enough known through his deeds on the battlefield and especially following the Goblin victory of the Unseelie Court. Following the war, he was paraded around from place to place, forced to dinners and parties to represent his court. He stood at attention and listened to the plans made for the Viscountess and Prince Apollo to be wed, ignoring the sideways glances from the members of his own and the other courts.
Something was different about the way the fey were looking at him at the Bloom, though. As he strolled throughout the grounds, completing tasks and errands to further his work and investigation, Hob would catch groups of fey staring and whispering out of the corner of his eye. When he turned to investigate further, the group would break into giggles and flit away in all directions. Hob was used to being laughed at—-his own court did it often enough—-but there was something different about the laughs he was hearing from these groups and for some reason it made his ears feel hot.
Before the duel, Hob was reeling. The embarrassment and shame spiraled through him at his perceived offense to Delloso de la Rue. He had found their eyes from across the lawn and could only see disdain waiting for him. It was strange to be hurt by someone who he barely knew but he channeled that feeling into his battle preparations and decided he would not give it another thought.
So Hob had fought, and he had fought well against Lady Wuvvy, a strong competitor to be sure. He took his lumps and cuts and bruises, prepared to finish the fight and to give Wuvvy the satisfaction she desired. It was going according to plan up until Prince Andhera of the Unseelie arrived.
Hob wasn’t sure he could get more confused and yet, here they were. Wuvvy stepped aside to allow the young prince into the duel. Hob chose a new weapon. For some reason there was a cloud just over the two of them and now everything was damp. He could feel the rivulets of water running over his fur and wetting his uniform, making it cling to him.
(He was not nearly in as bad of a position as the prince who wore thin, linen pants—- linen !)
The fight was actually for both of them in different ways. Andhera really showed how he had grown since the last time they had faced off. Hob felt a strange surge of pride when the prince was able to avoid his first grapple but then finished the fight quickly, easily holding Andhera up in the air. His ears twitched, picking up the whispers of the crowd catching words like breathtaking and incomparable and striking but was unsure of what was going on outside the dueling grounds.
With Andhera’s speech finished and Hob setting them back on the ground, it left the captain standing in the field with wet fur and a soggy uniform as the crowds dispersed. A young fey from the Sea Form Court approached him cautiously, a soft looking towel in their hands. Hob quickly slouched and attempted a smile, making himself look smaller as his size normally frightened many other fey. “I am in your debt—-,” he said, carefully taking the towel from their hands, mindful of his claws. “—-I’m sorry, I’m afraid I do not know your name.”
The fey’s eyes widened and Hob was afraid he had done something wrong until they seemed to shake their head and curtsied clumsily. “I am Tala of the Sea Foam Court.”
Hob bowed deeply. “Thank you again, Tala.” He tried for a kind smile again, carful not to show too many teeth. “The kindness of the Court of Sea Foam is unparalleled and you are a true representative of our gracious hosts.”
Tala had blushed deeply, letting out a strange noise that Hob might have mistaken as a squeak of fear if not for the shy smile they gave him. “It was a pleasure watching you fight, Captain.” They took a half step toward him, watching him closely as he toweled his fur. Hob tried not to show his nervousness at being observed so closely in all meanings of the word. Tala took another half step, smiling in that same coy way. “It was very impressive, you know.”
Hob cleared his throat, eyes darting around to the rest of the crowd. There were a few fey watching their interaction. “Yes! Prince Andhera was quite impressive!”
“Not really what I meant, Captain,” Tala had replied, inching ever closer.
It flustered Hob. He was so unused to this sort of close inspection from anyone outside of his court (in the Goblin Court, everyone climbs upon everyone else. Personal space does not exist). He leaned back slightly, trying to keep the space between them proper. “Um, sorry, what? I mean to say, I’m not sure exact—-”
Tala reached out and brushed an errant blade of grass from the sleeve of his jacket, fingers looking so small next to Hob’s thick arms. “The way you lifted the Prince with ease,” they say, fingers lingering on his jacket. “We all found it to be an interesting development.”
Hob was beginning to lose the thread of what was happening. He cleared his throat again, nearly lost for words. “I appreciate the support from venerable fey such as you.” He twisted the towel in his hands and Tala’s eyes flicked down at the motion. Hob looked around for some way to escape this interaction that he was sure to ruin with some sort of misunderstanding just as he had with Rue. “Ah—-I must,” he spotted Lord Airavis gesturing towards him from across the field. “There are matters I must attend presently, but I thank you again for the towel and the kind words.” He reached out with the towel, attempting to hand it back.
Tala shook their head. “It was a gift,” they said, “Something to remember me by.” They curtsied once again and Hob returned with a bow of his own. As they walked away, they turned to look at him over their shoulder with a smirk.
Hob had stood there for another moment, fully frozen with confusion. The Bloom is a strange place , he had mused. Thinking back now, he realizes that he had no idea how strange it would be yet.
The thing is, it kept happening . Twice on his nightly rounds he caught a group of young fey following him at a distance. Every time he turned to look, he would only catch a glimpse of them flitting into hiding places but he could hear them giggling quietly. Since the duel, he has been on the receiving end of many glances from the others in attendance, more than once a fey would approach him to start a conversation that Hob simply did not understand as there seemed to be no end goal. From what he knew of other fey, there was always an angle to what they did, nothing done without a reason behind it.
A fey from the Seelie Court had even invited him to breakfast after tucking a blue calla lily into the lapel of his jacket and presenting him with a beautiful, red apple. He had politely refused, citing important work for the Goblin Court that needed to be accomplished post-haste and the fey had shrugged, smiled in that strange way many fey seemed to do at the Bloom, and said, “Perhaps we can meet up somewhere more private before the Bloom ends, Captain,” before running a hand down his arm and turning to walk away.
Today has been even stranger.
During his sparring session with Andhera, a number of fey had tried to sneak in and watch the proceedings. Hob thought that the Prince would appreciate some privacy, especially to be seen with him of all people, and so had thought ahead to place various soldiers around the field to ensure that privacy. He could hear the disappointed groans and complaints from the fey as they were escorted away.
“It seems as though you have gained some fans after that duel,” Hob had remarked during one of their breaks.
Andhera had laughed loudly as they picked their wooden staff back up, giving Hob an odd look. “I don’t think it's me they are after, Captain.”
Hob hadn’t known what the prince had meant, but had grabbed his staff to rejoin him in the center of the sparring field, still puzzling.
And later after the hedge maze, Hob’s confusion continued to grow.
Somehow, the fey outside the hedge maze were able to watch the proceedings within—-or at least the moments the hedge deemed safe to share for which he feels an intense sense of relief that no one saw his hesitation before joining the goblin party.
Anyway, when he exited with the Viscountess and his remaining salt goblins they were immediately met with glances and whispers. Hob felt his fur bristle, sure that it was at the expense of the Viscountess but on closer inspection he realizes that none of the fey are looking at her and are instead watching him . His skin begins to heat under his fur but he continues walking with his head held high and Grabalba on his arm.
“ Do you think they’re…you know? ” he hears as he passes. Followed by, “ Did you see the way he talked to those goblins? ” and Hob feels the brush of guilt for speaking so brusquely to his men. He shouldn’t have snapped at them, especially with the rest of the Bloom watching. He has once again reestablished the fear he causes in others to be his ‘go-to’ move. Hob increases his pace to as fast as he can without making the Viscountess stumble as he tries to be anywhere but here.
Lord Squak Airavis, Earl of Perkersberg, watches Captain K.P. Hob closely for a different reason. Squak is always on the lookout for some new gossip or information he can employ to fit his own needs and he finds Captain Hob to be simply fascinating . At first the goblin was not even on his radar. Squak had many things on his mind to accomplish this Bloom and he did not think that a captain in the Goblin army would be of any use.
How wrong he was.
It began with the duel, of course. Squak was a pot stirrer by nature. He loved to make small things into big deals and when the news of the duel hit him, he knew this would be fun. Already in a good mood after his rendezvous with Theodore—-sweet, delicious Theodore—-Squak was practically floating (which he could actually do, thank you Grandfather in the sky who is definitely still alive) with the delicious drama he could manifest.
As the duel progressed——after his quick bardic inspiration to confuse Hob even more——he wandered through the crowd, listening in to quiet conversations and hearing many speak of Captain Hob’s physical attributes.
Now Squak was not blind and had already clocked Hob’s strangely attractive visage. There was something to be said for the way Hob always seemed to be in control, a stark juxtaposition to the rest of his court. Squak had discussed this with Chirp—-in length and detail—-what sort of things might break a man like Hob and have him give into his more Goblin-y instincts.
Regardless, Squak now saw an opportunity to unsettle the poor captain and he wasn’t about to lose it.
As he wandered, he began to send out birds that carried built-in phrases like The Captain is in breathtaking form today and What incomparable skills from the Captain, don’t you think? and His form is simply stunning, wouldn’t you agree? Soon enough the whole crowd was tittering and whispering as Squak faded back into the group, a smile on his face.
When the duel was finished, he watched a fey approach the captain with a beautifully monogrammed towel in their hands. They spoke to Hob as he ducked his head to meet them and Squak nearly laughed aloud when he saw the captain freeze, his brow furrowed in confusion. Hob clearly had no idea that he was in the eye of most of the Bloom now and there were fey in attendance that were even less subtle than the Lords of the Wings. Squak laughed quietly to himself, “Even better than anticipated.” He caught Hob’s eye and in a moment of kindness weakness motioned for the captain to come over, saving him from the wandering hands of the fey.
*****************************************
Hob feels like he was losing his mind .
He is just trying to fulfill his duties to his court but now it seems that he has become something of a novelty to the other fey of the Bloom. Now, this was not without its perks. Before the Bloom he had attempted many times to gather information about what happened with the Viscountess and Prince Apollo but almost never received a response from those he contacted. Here at the Bloom, however, he would seek someone out for information, they seemed almost too glad to take his meeting. It was helpful, but also slightly unsettling.
He decides to bring it up to Andhera the next time they spar together. The young Prince has become a friend to Hob since the duel and he trusts their counsel on matters pertaining to the Bloom and fey courts in general. The two of them plan to meet midmorning and Hob is finally going to get some answers (after a few rounds because he needed to work out the frustration of being so lost in what was going on).
Andhera’s skills are improving quickly. Hob is proud to see how much progress he has made even since the duel and when they took their next break, he tells the prince as much. Andhera laughs, a light sound that reminds Hob of dripping cave water. “Don’t let the rest of the Bloom hear you talking to me like that,” they say, jokingly. “People will talk and I think a lot of hearts will be broken.”
“I don’t mean to impose upon you or give you the idea that I—-” Hob pauses. “Wait, what does that mean, exactly? That ‘hearts will be broken’?”
Andhera looks surprised. “Well if people heard you talking like that to me they might assume that—- well, that we—-” he lowers his voice and looks around conspiratorially, “—-that we’re together .” Hob’s face must be doing something complicated because Andhera goes on, rushing to get the words out in that nervous way he has. “Not that I wouldn’t, it’s just that—-well, I think you might be a little out of my league, so to speak.”
And that confuses Hob even more . “Prince Andhera, I implore you to speak more plainly about that to which you are referring. I do not understand how anyone would consider that you might be interested in me, when in fact, it is you who is so much higher above my station.”
The prince looks at him strangely. “Hob—-Captain, have you not heard what has been going around the Bloom?”
Hob feels his confusion growing into anger but tamps it down because getting angry will solve nothing and will not explain the situation. “I have not,” he says, clenching a fist at his side. “I am not always adept with social situations and cues but I do not understand what is going on here at the Bloom and why everyone seems to be so—so interested in my affairs!” he growls. Apparently this had been bothering him more than he knew. He had made so many social errors already at the Bloom, namely showing an interest in Delloso de la Rue only to have his heart squashed into pieces.
This time, Andhera does not laugh. They look at Hob seriously, clearly seeing the distress in his features. “My dear Captain,” he starts, “are you really unaware that you are hot ?”
“Well we have been sparring and the sun is out and blaring today even behind your rain cloud and—-”
Andhera raises a hand to stop him. “No no no no. You misunderstand me.” He stops and thinks for a moment before continuing on. “Hob, the other fey here are…well, I’d say infatuated with you. They desire you. Do you understand my meaning?”
The world still spins but Hob feels frozen. Of all the answers he thought he would get, the idea that the attendees of the Bloom were physically attracted to him? Not even on the list. “Who would—why would—when—” he stutters and this time Andhera does hide a laugh behind his hand.
“Pretty much everyone…since you got here,” they say, patting a dumbstruck Hob on the back, pushing him to his feet for another round of sparring. “Face it, Captain,” they continue, grinning wide, “You’re hot.”
wrackingspelt is 3000% a potted plant that captain k.p. hob is writing all these letters to that he keeps in his little goblin house back home and tends to meticulously and he's saving the letters to read out loud to his little plant friend when he leaves the Bloom
