#azata path

[laurelindis]

Iamith, @nnibarrel's azata commander from Pathfinder WotR My part of the trade^^

[nnibarrel]

Desnan adepts without context.

Thall: "…Still, I think they've been away too long. I've tried to trace the teleportation twice, and… uh… failed." Ilkes: "Surely you don't mean that we teleportedthe champion of the gods, the crusaders' Knight Commander, and our friend, to a random point in space? With no way of even knowing exactly where? Ilkes is clearly beginning to panic." KC: "That's exactly what you did, you dimwits." Aranka: "Commander! You're back! What was it like? Was it beautiful? asks Aranka with bated breath, as her friends erupt in cheers and whoops of jubilation." ... Thall: "Thall the Wallflower takes a deep breath to speak and says with all the determination he can muster, No way. I'm not teleporting our friend to an unknown destination ever again. We'll try once more if we improve the ritual to make it more predictable. But… to be honest… I'm not sure it can be done."

Aranka: "Wallflower, I've told you so many times, you have an amazing voice! So deep, so striking… I'd have you trained up in a snap if only you wanted to sing!" Thall: "Sing? Me…? Just… no. Besides, I don't like being on show like that. Oh, look, Commander is here! It's probably something urgent!"

Ilkes: "Don't you miss the city, Aranka? People used to pack into the square to hear you sing." Aranka: "Il, you're hilarious. Of course I don't! What Desnan bard would actually miss the city? It's here that I have all of you and a magic garden in the middle of the Worldwound. But even if I didn't have that, even I was entirely alone, I could always sing for the clouds and the wind!"

Thall: "I'd love to see what Aivu will be like when she grows up. Adult dragons of her kind possess unique abilities. That said, that story about being able to breathe candy is probably made up."

"All three Desnan adepts are busy. Ilkes is praying, Aranka is practicing a new song, and Thall is immersed in his scrolls, stealing the occasional glance at Aranka."

Ilkes: "I never thought I'd ever meet someone like Arueshalae. She's a demon who wants to be better, she's been chosen by Desna, and she's… incredible. The times we live in are terrifying, but when miracles like this happen, you just can't help but believe that hope is shining bright and the world is changing for the better."

Ilkes: "I-It can't be! Are we… flying?!" Thall: "More like floating. Wallflower is calm and collected compared to the others, but his eyes are alight in a way you've never seen before. Our Court is now a floating island." Aranka: "Oh, Commander, is there no limit to the wonders that happen around you and because of you?" ... Aranka: "I can't believe this is all for real! It's just awesome! But… Wallflower, please tell me you have a couple levitation spells handy for us to get down safely!"

Ilkes: "Who thought it was a good idea to hang a hammock at the edge of the ridge? And how are we going to prevent our brave gnomes from using it as a swing?"

[dujour13]

falling and/or breeze for the micro fic prompts :-D

Hello Kat! Thank you so much 💕 I chose breeze but I'm saving falling just in case.

Also on AO3

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In the lush jungle underbrush of the Mountains of Miraculous Monsoons crouches a terrifying creature: a wyrmling of shimmering purple scales, dragonfly wings and a mouthful of razor-sharp baby teeth bared in breathless giggling.

She knows her auntie will eventually find her and give her a tickling to within an inch of her life after that stunt bending a branch into the waterfall so that it sprayed the elder havoc dragon in her sleep, but for now she is well hidden, camouflaged among drooping purple blooms.

Something tickles her nose. She sneezes and sits up.

Not a flower petal or a butterfly, and luckily not an Elysian wasp. No, it is something else strange in the air, something new and dangerous and wonderful.

Music? Aivu cocks her head. Drifting on the breeze like fragrant pollen, musical notes so light and soft they make her sneeze again. Strings, she decides, like a harp but less harpy. Like a fiddle but less fiddly. Sad, but sad in a way that makes you want to fly into the wind. A melody of adventure from a faraway land!

Curious snout in the air, she follows the breeze out of the underbrush, over the river, down the mountainside a little way through a grove of mango trees, to a hidden pond where she sometimes plays with the talking, multicolored frogs. Only there are no frogs now. The pond has been replaced by a shimmering pool of gold and purple light, a sparkling mist rising off its surface in lazy tendrils.

The music sounds stronger here. It tugs on her heart until it almost aches, like taffy on her teeth.

But behind the music from the pool-portal there are other sounds—sounds of bad things. The roar and clash of fighting. People crying. People who need cheering up!

And in the midst of all that sadness someone playing music, the kind that makes you cry soothing tears until you hiccup and fall asleep and wake up happy again.

Aivu realizes with excitement she knows this musician. She doesn’t know how, because they’ve never met, but her heart is as sure of it as cake.

My friend!

[lukedanger]

So, I was curious as to how Azata's abilities would sync with paladin in Wrath of the Righteous if not for the Lawful alignment issue (turns out: surprisingly well thanks to paladin's naturally high charisma attribute!), and it ended up triggering Aivu talking to the player for the first time... leading to this:

The cute dragon is threatening the KC in the first meeting! Well, at least not being evil will be the easy part! As for being a teensy bit rebellious... does telling Konomi where to stick the Royal Council selling Mendev out to Cheliax count?

But what if the Knight-Commander's heart is to do Iomedae and her Hand proud? :(

[starlightcleric]

So, I'm on my third attempt at Azata, hopefully third time's the charm. I'm still trying to develop the newest as a character, but I feel like rambling about them. (picrew here)

Amie Verdier, NG tiefling Hunter from the River Kingdoms, follower of Desna. Romancing Lann. Amie was my second character ever, actually, after Lorraine. She was first a Ranger before I realized I basically just recreated Arueshalae so she got respec-ed to Nature Shaman and then Hunter. She has an elk named Clover. The idea for her game was to get as many companions animal companions as possible and then share out my Teamwork Feats with Life Bonding Friendship. But I've restarted her game like, four times? Eventually I admitted she just wasn't catching my interest.

Angelina Ylvaris, CN->CG half-elf Bard from Mendev, follower of Calistria. Romancing Daeran. Angelina was my depression game, where I was starting to want to play video games again but I wasn't able to interact with mechanics so I just went through the game exploding all the enemies with Toybox. She got up to the end of Act III, but I've kind of lost interest in her game because it doesn't have any mechanical depth and it reminds me of when I was in a bad place.

Delilah Fujimori, N kitsune Sorcerer (Nine Tailed Heir), fey bloodline, from ???, follower of Shelyn. Romancing Lann or Woljif. My newest addition, who is mechanics first and I'm figuring out her backstory as I go along. She's an Enchantment focused Sorc, and has a DC 20 Will Save for the cantrip Daze. Will eventually be adding Favorable Magic, Zippy Magic, and Best Jokes in here. It's been real fun early game, but I suspect it'll fall off late game (I can't see CC-ing Deskari, for example).

[brehaaorgana]

when you’re playing an azata path knight commander:

[laurelindis]

Happy birthday @nnibarrel ! Ramien is for you^^

[dujour13]

Owlcatober 18. Dancing lights

Part 1 of 2 of "Blue Skies Over Mendev" - also on AO3

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When in her unnaturally long life, Galfrey wondered, had the storms of chaos ever ceased thundering on her horizon? She squinted across the valley to the fortress prison of Threshold where it squatted atop the next ridge under writhing black clouds, bolts of Abyssal lightning flickering on her upturned face.

Could this truly be the end?

And she, no more than a spectator?

No—she must come to peace with it. She’d done her part all these hundred years and more. Worked until days and nights bled together into a ceaseless, weary march. Fought until her bones felt they would crack under the blows. The black blood of the balor Khorramzadeh stained her white-and-gold armor but even that felt like a trivial victory next to what the Knight-Commander faced even at this moment.

She could only hold vigil. Watch and hope.

If he failed and the Abyss was unleashed she and her armies would never have time to retreat; they would all perish here. Their lives, the future of Mendev and that of Golarion itself hung in the balance and all she could do was helplessly search the maelstrom over Threshold for a sign.

And pray. But she’d been doing that so fervently for so long it felt like empty, rote words now, a senseless child’s rhyme answered only with silence. The Inheritor had come down from the Heavens not to her, but to Siavash Mirani, some feckless Andoren diplomat with no title and no heroic deeds to his name, just a guitar and a charming smile.

And, she reminded herself, a genius for rallying the myriad forces of good to one final, triumphant push against the Abyss, guided not by careful planning but what could only be divinely inspired reckless impulse. So be it, she told herself for the hundredth time. If it was Desna’s star that guided them to victory who was she, the faded old Paladin Queen, to think she could outshine it?

She felt rather than heard them gathering, common soldiers and generals alike, shoulder to shoulder, all watching, all holding their breath, all daring to hope.

That was it, wasn’t it? Hope. After four failed crusades Galfrey herself no longer inspired such emotion. But Siavash did, rising from the ashes of Kenabres to victory after victory with his songs and his azata wings and his arms that embraced all, even those Galfrey’s Mendev had rejected and disdained.

And after all, she too dared to hope.

That was why she was here on the ridge rather than spending her final hours in her chapel tent in meditation. In tense and silent vigil she watched daylight wane, and by the time the baleful purple Abyssal lights began to soften she wasn’t sure if it was a trick of a mind deeply fatigued by decades of fighting. Of eyes that had hardly dared to blink in a century.

But she heard a murmur go up around her and felt a thrill in her heart such as she hadn’t since she was a blushing debutante.

No, her eyes did not deceive her—from Threshold there now grew a rosy hue like a spring dawn, lighting the angry clouds from below. The boiling storm began to contract and retreat, dark vapors dissipating on a fresh breeze.

A roar rose around Galfrey. Awed voices, so moved they could only moan incoherently.

Her eyes grew round and her vision swam; and suddenly, refracted through the pools of weary tears blazed a vast, glorious rainbow that split the night sky like a holy blade. Dazzled she squeezed her eyes shut just as her heart too squeezed with an ache that was deep and old and bitter.

Could it be?

Over at last?

“Inheritor.” Her breath rushed out in a sob.

If she weren’t the Queen she might have fallen to her knees as the rest of the crusaders did, but instead she stood rigid at their head, her breast rising and falling like that of a panicked bird.

And then Threshold lit up like an enormous Elysian beacon, beams of spring sunlight exploding from its walls, a shockwave of unearthly force blasting through the crusader ranks and nearly toppling her, and then like a gargantuan breath sucked back in, another shockwave blew through them from behind and nearly knocked them off the ridge.

Now the ridge and the valley all around her erupted into triumphant shouts and she felt her shoulders buffeted as crusaders surged forth roaring to greet the new dawn.

Something in Galfrey gave way then. Crumbled like a dam of sand.

Through her tears, the lights of Elysium danced.