#fractalspades

[audaciious]

Sorry, @fractalspades ... I couldn't wait. So have an early Valentines Day gift of Faye smooching all over Arlynn. <3

[tnacious]

Fat tears trickled from the dark clouds as they watched the young woman crash through the thick brush. Briars and sharp branches reached out, snagging her clothes and scratching at her neck and face. A low sob from the sky, carried on the wind, swept through the forest, sending its creatures scurrying into their hovels. At this point, the rain started to pick up; its pattering on the ground matched Sylvi's quick strides.

"Ope!" Stumbling, she slipped on the slick leaves, their rustle almost like snickering. Catching herself with her fingertips, she kept her momentum and continued her run.

A monstrous shrill ripped through the forest like a live wire, nipping at her heels. Sylvi only looked behind her for a moment. The world flipped on her again and again, her backpack providing a bumpy cushion with each thump until she landed on her rump and slid down the hill the rest of the way.

"Ow..." Instinctively, her hand went to her head, feeling the beanie still secure. "All's well." Disregarding the stinging in her hand, she looked down the thin trail where a man stood. "Hello. Bad weather, yea? Careful out there." Sylvi spoke in broken Russian, dusting damp earth from the seat of her pants.

Plotted starter for @fractalspades

[adizzyingemporium]

@fractalspades (Kalais) | Starter

For years Charlie had allowed herself to be swayed by tales of grand adventures, she had an idealistic view that was befitting the honor code she maintained at all costs. If there was one thing that she had learned, it was that allies always had a way of popping up in the oddest of places. Yes, even the odd men that attacked the hero out of nowhere.

Some of the others were still weary of Kalais; Astarion and Shadowheart were the first two that popped into Charlie's mind. Yet she also noticed the way that Wyll seemed to keep a close eye on him. There were some hurt feelings as expected, yet Charlie proved to be the one that seemed most eager to welcome someone new to their little ragtag bunch of misfits. The bard turned fledgling paladin was a good soul, she never forgot but she was quick to forgive.

Charlie was also usually in the middle of the pack to, guarding the spell-casters with her shield and sword while belting out songs meant to bolster the spirit as her banjo remained forgotten on her back. They had already started to take the next steps after pushing their way through the underdark to make their way to this shadowrealm.

"That darkness spell you cast sometimes tickles," the words left Charlie out of the blue as she slowed down to keep pace with Kalais as they made their way down the winding. The last battle they had was bit of a hurdle, yet they were still going strong. Sniffing some, Charlie murmured, "makes me wanna sneeze."

[audaciious]

|| @fractalspades when your ex that ghosted you for a decade unleashed ancient gods that destroyed your favorite place so now you gotta cry on your future husband.

[audaciious]

Starter for @fractalspades for Kalais

"Come on, hurry before someone comes runnin' over to drag ya away on some new mission. I promise we'll be back before Elgar'nan or Ghilan'nain make any big moves. You need a break. I need a break," Faye said, wiggling her eyebrows playfully. Without wasting another second, she grabbed Kalais' hand with both of hers and walked backwards through the eluvian. It had taken time, peering through what few eluvians remained, to find this particular one. She'd only gone through it once before and only long enough to get her bearings before returning to the lighthouse to seek out Rook.

A familiar heat washed over her as she stepped into the lush, green forest, every part of her relaxing until she dropped Kalais' hands. She stretched out her arms and breathed in the earthy smell of the forest. Leaves whispered overhead as a breeze blew through the canopy, casting shifting beams of golden light on the ground. Birds flitted around the enormous trees, perching on ruins the land had slowly begun to reclaim.

"There's never been a place that has made me feel more at peace than the Emerald Graves." Faye closed her eyes as she spun in one of the beams of light, stopping when her back was to the eluvian nestled in a tangle of creeping vines. "It was one of the first places I explored after escapin' my father and where I returned after leavin' the Inquisition."

Faye opened her eyes and turned slightly to look at Kalais. Her countenance was that of someone who had never known an ounce of pain or worry. In the vast forest, she could at least pretend the world wasn't collapsing around them.

"Come on. There's somethin' I want to share with ya'," she waved before nearly skipping ahead, hands out stretched to caress leaves and rough, mossy bark she passed.

[audaciious]

Sorry @fractalspades but I cannot draw Arlynn without her velcro wife 😔

[galaxythixf]

@fractalspades said: ❝ how have you been sleeping? ❞ (Sova to KJ) I forget what this is from || Not Accepting

The bags under her eyes could answer his question quicker than any verbose answer she could have provided him with. There's hardly any indication that she heard him, lacking the usual bounce in her personality due to the intentional spike in focus. There's nothing particularly special about the gadget she fiddles with, fingers inspecting the frayed wiring for the hundredth time now due to the fumes she was working on having no slept in hours at this point, yet she insists she needs to push herself a little further to keep herself occupied a little longer.

Death had never scared her quite as much when she was attached to it because she was confident in the mark she had made on the world she was comfortable leaving behind. Not to mention, the possibility of being the one to defy it someday with her genius wasn't out of the question, but suddenly when someone she cared about took her place, her mind couldn't fathom the thought. It was hard enough trying to battle with Omega over the simple radianite dispute but to think they were vicious enough to storm them like that-

"Oh, you know, the usual amount." It's a poor attempt at her usual humor, lacking the wit she was usually so proud of. Klara kept her back turned to him, not dense or tired enough not to catch his concern but not motivated enough to assuage it well. "But progress isn't going to make itself—unless I program it to."

[audaciious]

Starter for @fractalspades for Victor

"Oh! They made a real patchwork of you, didn't they?" Sylvi's eyes trailed over his exposed torso, following the line of stitches that created a foreign map. "Do they hurt?" Her fingers hovered over his discolored arm where barbed wire coiled around it like a venomous serpent. What kind of monster would do such a thing to someone? It was no wonder the man had such melancholy eyes.

Withdrawing her hands, she interlaced her fingers and looked at his face. For someone who appeared to have been through something truly traumatic, he did not seem to hold much resentment for what had been done to him. Her equine ears swiveled slightly, flicking to the side, then forward.

"I can take any pain you have away. Well, physical pain. I, unfortunately, can't take emotional or mental aches." She smiled brightly.