I'm running COS for another group, which means new art! One for when they meet Doru, and one for after he's had a bath and changed into clean clothes.
I changed Doru quite a bit from my last two runs, but that didn't change the PCs decision to spare him. I have never had a group actually fight him.
This party has also decided to bring Doru along with them in hopes of meeting the miracle healer in Krezk. Maybe vampirism can be cured, and Doru's soul saved.
(The soft lighting. The warm colors. The cheek nuzzling. Ismark's floofy hair. Doru's smug grin. I love them your honor.)
Street lamps spot the cobbled road, and overhead, the sky is clear. Numerous stars wink down. Doru tilts his head back and smiles up to them, feeling surprisingly at ease.
From the corner of his eye, he catches Ismark staring over Soris’s head. He quickly diverts his gaze, but it’s too late.
Doru grins. “Oh no, you don’t.”
He rounds behind Ismark, leaps onto his back, and hooks his legs around Ismark’s waist. Ismark catches him—like he’s always done—and Doru drops his arms around Ismark’s neck. Soris laughs while Escher scoffs to hide a smirk.
“Thinking about me, golden boy?” Doru goads.
“Seems I’m always thinking about you, unholy terror.”
“Oh yeah? What's it this time?”
He feels Ismark tense before he says roughly, “That I... I’m glad you’re happy.”
An ache squeezes in Doru’s core. He sets his chin atop Ismark’s head and breathes in the hearty scent of the blood rushing through his skull. “You could be happy, too, you know. If Bildrath’s still giving you a hard time, just say the word, and I… I’ll…”
“You’ll what?”
“I’ll hide cups of milk around his store in places he’ll never find them until after they’ve soured. Then his store will smell as wretched as his attitude.”
Ismark laughs, but Doru can tell it’s half-hearted. “I wish it were that simple.” He sighs.