The way that Dariax is the only one to end up alone at the end of this.
Opal has Fy'ra; they have their deities. Morrighan has Cyrus's soul for a moment and a Matron for a lifetime. Dorian has the Bells Hells once more. But Dariax... for a while, at least, Dariax will have no one.
And it's in the way that Dariax won't realize at first that he's been abandoned.
Maybe he'll think he lost track of time. He'll go traipsing through town, asking about a handsome blue bard, trying to figure out what inn they must've agreed to meet back at for the night. Because they must have, right?
The night grows dark, and still no sign. He'll get sick with worry. He knows he's thick, but surely he would've noticed if something happened, right? He would've known if Dorian was in danger?
And then... I don't know what's worse from there.
What story does he tell himself, in the end?
That Dorian blames him for not being able to save his brother? No, no, Dorian was taken—because he would never have abandoned him, not when they were all the two of them had left?
Dariax has always known he was a lot to handle. He's been told how exhausting he can be. He knows he has never been worth sticking around for.
But he thought—
—he thought that maybe he'd done it right this time. That maybe someone would stay.
Eventually, Dariax stops looking. He greets isolation like an old friend.
He plays his new lute to fill the lonely silence, and it does not help.
the funniest way for dorym to shake out is for them to go on a date after this and a month later dorian's like "oh actually we decided we're both comfortable with an open relationship :) we both like dariax" and braius punches a hole straight through a wall
Hello my friends! Some of you may recall that just about 2 years ago now, I ran a series of polls for ships from Campaign 1, Campaign 2, and EXU Calamity that were not together at the end of their respective series. I excluded any Campaign 3 and modern era EXU ships, since at the time, those storylines were still open; Imodna weren't even together at that point. However, now that C3 has reached it's conclusion, I thought it was a good time to revisit the concept. I also didn't feature M/F pairings last time around and now is a good time to make that right too.
So! Let's get into the rules and paraments parameters:
The phrasing "non-endgame" was chosen as certain relationships present were together at some point in canon but are not longer (ex. Blumendrei) or there was an either mutual or one-sided attraction that did not result in a relationship (ex. Widojest). It doesn't feel right to me to simply call these ships "non-canon", though they are featured alongside plenty of purely fanon ships (ex. Verinwulf), so. Non-endgame. It's a little clunky, but it works.
I've reincorporated pairings from the first poll that lost in the very first round, potentially giving them an opportunity to shine further! Any ship from the first poll that made it further than that is not present this time around. These pairings are: Widofjord, Fjordwulf, Vaxmore, Fjolly, Jester x Reani, Polynein, Vexleth, Perc'ildan, Beaukeg, Vexahra, Beastrid, Beaureani, Polymachina, Beaujester, Lucigast, and Widomauk. Please do not ask me where they are.
Almost every ship will feature fanart of the characters in question, included of course with permission from the artist. Links to the original posts will be included and I highly encourage giving them some love if you vote! Any ship that doesn't have a piece of fanart has a little tableau designed in HeroForge by myself. Grogleth is the only exception, with a still from TLOVM.
This bracket is for fun. Ship hate will not be tolerated. You will be blocked if you act poorly in the tags.
Block “cr non endgame poll” if you don’t want to see this further!
Voting will begin this Friday, February 14th, at 3pm CST. All polls will run for 24 hours. The first round will take place over two days, split into Parts A and B.
Dariax doesn't search for very long. He's been here before. He knows what abandonment is when he feels it.
The first few weeks go by the same way. He wakes up, eats, wanders. Plays for coin in the busiest place he can find. Uses the coin to get a room and spends the rest on drink.
His fingers become practised, and the lute becomes second nature. He plays the popular stuff, the stuff he remembers Dorian playing, until he becomes so proficient that it sounds the same. That hurts too much, so he starts playing new songs.
He remembers what Dorian said about writing songs and gives it a try. He is an open book, so the songs are about... everything. Stories of what he's been through. Ballads about his old friends. And some rare, sad songs about his heartbreak. Those are the hardest to sing, but they are worth it when the coin starts coming in. Turns out, people love songs about being lonely, being abandoned, being a little bit in love with someone who doesn't love you back.
The songs bring more coin, which brings more drink, which combines with his natural charm to bring more attention. Dariax suddenly has admirers. The first time he wakes up next to one, he indulges in a fantasy of getting to know them, travelling together, laughing by a fire with a good meal. Then he remembers Dorian. He leaves before they wake up.
The weeks turn into months. Dariax stops going through the motions and starts to try and find joy in things. He drinks a little less and spends more nights with lovers. He sings louder and plays harder. He catches himself grinning as he fires up his audience. One morning, he takes his coin and treats himself to a shopping spree, thinking about what the coolest person he knows would wear. He gets a sheer shirt.
He thinks he understands why Dorian left. He didn't want Dariax. There was something wrong with him that even his best friend couldn't look past. He would have died for Dorian. He'd still die for Dorian. But even that wasn't worth keeping him around for.
He keeps a bottle with him for the nights when he sleeps alone. He hurtles from place to place, never staying long enough to get comfortable. At one point, a troupe of musicians asks him to join - he doesn't allow himself to fantasise about it, hitting the road in the early hours before any of them wake up. He knows he'd fuck it up somehow and get left behind.
He waits to forget how it feels to be part of something. The ache of loss goes down to his bones. The hurt and betrayal twists within him. The smile he wears divorces itself from his heart. He watches the crowd for fiery hair, a bleeding crown, a feathered cowl, a sunset cloak. He dreams of Cyrus. He tries to understand what happened sometimes, but it's not good for the vocal cords to cry before a performance.
I hope that when the Bell's Hells return next week Aabria stays on as DM. I want Dariax to meet the Bell's Hells. I want that diminutive moron to see short king Orym again and for there to be a little cattiness about who Dorian likes best now. I want low wisdom and intelligence Dariax to try to console the Bell's Hells about FCG.
I'd like to preface this by saying I am NOT mad at all that Dorian ended up with Orym, but I have to say, I will forever ship him with Dariax, that last scene omgg
