#caiusaries

[bunnakit]

Wip game: The Lyrebird King 👀❕

ask me about my wips 🌸

aaaaa Dav bless you for this!!

so The Lyrebird King is my own original novel i'm working on and you can read the chapters i have finished so far here

it features Caius who was one of my D&D characters for an old campaign that actually helped me realize i'm genderfluid, so he's very near and dear to my heart. last year while working on the novel i had a gorgeous cover commissioned from the amazing artist Cameron McCafferty (who i originally saw during a fan art segment of Critical Role and decided to reach out to)

the novel takes a lot of inspiration from Fire Emblem: Three Houses (particularly Yuri of the Ashen Wolves,) Skyrim (Riften's Thieves Guild,) Dragon Age 2, and obviously Dungeons and Dragons. i've crafted my own little world with it's own Gods and religion (based around the Major Arcana in tarot.)

there's also a playlist for it here that helps me get in the mood to write them and sets a lot of the tone. (we have it all and dear wormwood are the perfect songs for the overall story, battle cry is aries' song, and dancing after death is caius'.)

the story features Caius and Aries, two societal outcases with secrets that run deeper than the Mariana trench. they begin a friends with benefits relationship while transforming a set of ancient ruins into a safe haven for those "othered" by society. Caius works to bring down the corrupt members of the upper echelon, spurred on by unknown motivations but with an obvious grudge bared. Aries is hopelessly loyal to Caius, wishing he could find a way to bridge the gap between friends with benefits into something more.

i don't have anything for chapter 4 just yet buuuutttt (and i've never done this before) i'll put some of my future notes below the read more (CONTAINS SOME HUGE ASS SPOILERS)

Caius' mother killed by the king's advisor

After finding her dead Caius stumbles home to Aries covered in blood ("is that all yours?! Caius why aren't you saying anything, what happened?") and for the first time he falls completely apart, wailing his grief and clinging to Aries for comfort

Aries holds him close "I've got you, I have you" and simply lets him cry and scream and process, but Caius changes after that, is cold and distant and terrifying in his determination. Aries swears he'll do anything to keep Caius from feeling this way ever again

Every time Caius spends a night or has a very intimate moment with Aries he taps over his chest, over his heart, 3 times before he leaves or goes to sleep

When Caius confesses he loves Aries, Aries says he knows and when Caius asks how he could possibly know that Aries says "you tell me every time you tap over my heart. I don't think you realized you were doing it, but you do it each time, carefully and thoughtfully, and that's how I know"