#hellfire heart

[heartcrystal2000]

WIP Whenever

Thanks for the tag, @tociminna!

This is from an upcoming chapter of Hellfire Heart. I need to get to writing faster before I run out of snippets to share 😅.

Slight content warning for a very small mention of addiction.

~ ~ Karlach’s POV ~ ~

Sunlight filters through the leaves overhead, dappling the forest floor. Birds chirp and bushes rustle, and I take a deep breath of leafy, green-smelling air. I trail a bit behind the others, watching as Wander leads the way like they’re following some invisible path. Wyll walks beside them, the two of them talking about hunting or foraging or some wilderness thing like that. Lae’zel is as stern and focused as ever, marching along like our simple search for food might as well be a military campaign.

This part of the forest looks different from the others, far from the banks of the creek where we found Scratch and that poor, injured owlbear with her cub, but also away from the perpetual stench of rot that hangs over the ruined town. Out here, it’s almost impossible to think that things aren’t looking up. I’ve got the sun on my face, friends at my side, and the other tieflings are finally safe, at least for the time being. Even the gnawing, itching cravings I get whenever I get close enough to Wander to sense the pair of soul coins in their pack feel a bit less awful in such a lovely place.

Speaking of Wander, they seem to have been in a much better mood since we fought off those Shadow Druids. Better than they have been since we met, I think. It’s nice, getting to see this side of them that’s wearing their horns with pride not so bogged-down by what those ignots at the grove think of them. Every once in a while, I catch them sneaking glances at their fancy new staff like they still can’t believe it’s real.

~ ~ ~ ~

No pressure tags for @quinthebard and @optimisticgrey as always!

[heartcrystal2000]

Love in Bloom: Chapter 4 - Trust

POV: Wander

Word Count: 1,120

Summary: On the way back from finding Kagha’s correspondence with the Shadow Druids in the Putrid Bog, Wander and Karlach have a talk about trust.

Author’s Note: Wander really doesn’t know what to do with their feelings, so these two are going to be pining after each other for a while 😅. Sorry this took me this long to update for such a short chapter, but I’ve got some other stuff with this series in the works!

Chapter 4 is here

First Chapter is here

Full Series is here

Taglist (feel free to ask to be added): @optimisticgrey @quinthebard

~ ~ ~ ~

Footsteps approach from behind me, fast and heavy. I look over my shoulder, tensing and reaching for my staff, only to relax when I see who it is. Karlach hops from dry patch to dry patch, humming to herself, seemingly unbothered by the hazardous terrain. I suppose she’s used to much worse. Gale and Astarion, however, are slowly slogging their way through the mud a ways back. Right, I should probably slow down for the city people.

Karlach catches up to me, matching my pace to walk at my side. It’s a routine that’s rapidly becoming familiar; nearly every time I’ve left camp in the last few days, she’s offered to come along, and I can’t say I’ve minded it. Seems like she really is making good on her promise to look out for me. It’s surprisingly comforting, especially in a place as twisted and foul as this.

After a few seconds of companionable silence, Karlach gives me a quizzical look. “You don’t trust easy, do you?”

[heartcrystal2000]

WIP Wednesday

Tagged by @optimisticgrey!

Here’s a snippet from part of my big post-game BG3 fics. It’ll probably be a while before I get around to posting any of it because I need to set up a lot of what happens in-game to contextualize it, plus allowing for people to get to know Wander as a character and how they relate to the rest of the party.

~ ~ ~ ~

Our bedroom is dark and quiet, illuminated only by the glow of Karlach’s engine and a small lamp by the entrance that someone else must have lit for us. Its light casts flickering shadows across the furniture and over the other tiefling’s body. She stands in the center of the room, shoulders bowed, glancing around warily.

I close the door behind us with a flick of my tail and a soft click. “Are you alright?”

She turns and looks at me, eyes wide and full of emotions that I’m far too tired to read. Dried blood still streaks across half her face, covering the new web of scars that radiates from her temple. “I… yeah. I will be.” She clears her throat, although her voice still comes out cracked. “So, you’ve been staying here?”

I halfheartedly hang my scimitar and sickle on the rack by the door. “Yes.”

“Big room for just you.”

“The others figured we would want to bunk together once we got you back. You can take whichever side of the bed you want,” I say. I pause for a moment. “….you do want to, yes?”

Karlach barely gives me the chance to finish the thought, crossing the room and taking me in her arms faster than I thought she could move in her current state, and suddenly I’m left with a taste of what it must have been like for her to hold someone for the first time after her original stint in Avernus. Even as exhausted, as caked in ash and blood as we are, it might be the best I’ve felt in a very long while. Judging by the shaky breath she takes, I’m guessing she’s feeling like that, too.

[heartcrystal2000]

State of Mind: Chapter 1 - Beast of Prey

POV: Wander

Word Count: 4,796

Summary: With a large group to feed and their ability to use magic impaired by the tadpole, Wander stresses over where their next meal will come from and whether or not to tell their companions about the impact their infernal nature has on their diet.

Author’s Note: It’s finally time for me to reveal some of Wander’s backstory! Like the rest of the party, they have their own trauma and mental health issues to deal with because of certain events in their past, and their burgeoning friendships with the others are a big part of how they learn to handle those better. This will be kind of a running theme throughout this whole series, but I wanted to write a fic or two specifically dedicated to exploring that. This chapter is set before and around the first two chapters of Love in Bloom.

Chapter 1 is here

Full Series is here

Taglist (feel free to ask to be added): @quinthebard @optimisticgrey

~ ~ ~ ~

The sun has finally dipped below the horizon, drenching the sky in shades of pink and purple. A little fire crackles in the center of the riverside glade we’ve set up camp in, casting light across the makeshift tents, and the rest of my ragtag little group seems to be settling in for the night. Lae’zel is sorting through the few weapons we’ve found, Astarion went off to brood in his tent, and Gale is looking through our supply packs, pulling out what little food and cookware we have.

Shadowheart presses her fingers to my forehead and murmurs a spell. “Feeling any better now?” she asks, stepping back.

My head is still pounding from the crash, to say nothing of that hrasting mind flayer tadpole, but less so than before. I reach up to gingerly rub the spot beneath my horn. It’s tender, but not agonizing, and my fingers come away free of blood.

“Yes, I think so.”

“Well, you should be alright then. Just try to take it easy, at least as much as you can under the circumstances.”

As she starts to walk away, I call out, “Thank you for taking a look at it.”

“It’s the least I could do after you got me out of that godsforsaken pod,” she replies, but the brief moment of openness passes. “Besides, we have a better chance of surviving this if we work together.”

[heartcrystal2000]

for the bg3 fanfiction asks 🩸🙏🪧🎸👑

Hi! Thanks so much for the asks 😁

🩸 Have you written—or would you write—something exploring the Dark Urge? How do you interpret it?

While I likely won’t do much writing on it (my current projects are already probably a bit overly ambitious), I’ve toyed with the idea of a version of Wander as the Dark Urge. They’d still be largely the same in a lot of ways, at least in terms of interests, habits, and personality—if not backstory—but a Dark Urge Wander would be significantly more vicious and cynical. But, ultimately, they’d still kind-hearted in a way that Bhaal’s influence would try and fail to suppress. They’d be on a resist/redemption path and would still romance Karlach or possibly Gale. For them, the Urge would manifest in a way that would make them feel and act much more animalistic and feral, tapping into both the loss of control that comes with it and the fact that they’re a druid.

🙏 Which god or goddess would disapprove most of your fic’s events?

Ooh, this is a bit of a tricky one. I’m still fairly new to the Forgotten Realms as a setting (BG3 is what introduced me to it, the DnD campaign I’m in is very homebrewed), so I’m not quite up to speed on all the gods and goddesses yet, but I love world building so I’ve been doing as much research as I can get my hands on. For my fics that are set during the game, I’d say that Shar is probably the one who’d be the most pissed about Wander’s actions since they played key parts in and were very dedicated to both lifting the Shadow Curse and to helping influence Shadowheart’s return to Selûne. This will actually be pretty important for a long-ish, very angsty fic set during Act 2 that involves Wander meeting a (temporary) unfortunate fate at the hands of the githyanki ambush. I’m less sure about who would be the most disapproving of my post-game stuff, and I’m not sure if he technically qualifies as a god, but I would guess that Asmodeus wouldn’t be happy about a bunch of adventurers threatening one of his archdevils.

🪧 Do you plot everything beforehand, or let the story evolve while you write?

While I do occasionally have a story spiral out into its own thing mid-writing, I’m normally very big on planning. I make very detailed outlines and, while it takes me a while to do that, I think that it makes the process of actually writing go much more smoothly. It also helps me plan out when and where to introduce and foreshadow certain events.

🎸 Do you listen to music while writing? If yes, which song perfectly fits your favorite pairing or scene?

Absolutely! I have an increasingly-long playlist of all the songs I associate with Hellfire Heart, which is something I like to do with all my writing projects. I don’t always listen to it while I’m writing (sometimes I need instrumental to focus better), I definitely use it to get in the mood for it, or just while I’m planning stuff. For specific songs, I’d say that She Lit a Fire by Lord Huron is a really good fit for Wander and Karlach’s relationship, specifically from Wander’s perspective. Another song—Blood Upon the Snow from the God of War: Ragnarök soundtrack—actually inspired the setting of the first part of my post-game fics, which takes place at the Spine of the World. Full disclosure, I haven’t played that game (yet at least), but I stumbled on the song on YouTube and it gave me such a vivid mental image. 😅

👑 How do you interpret Gale’s arc with the orb: self-destruction, redemption, divinity, or something else entirely?

This is a little bit of a tricky one to me because I feel like his arc can be so, so many things, which I love about it, but for me I’d say I write it mostly from a lens of self-acceptance. Gale strikes me as a man who is simultaneously very confident in himself (often to the point of arrogance) but also very self-conscious. He feels like he is his power, his magic, and while I think he loves magic for magic’s sake, he also feels like it defines his worth. If he can’t continually be more powerful, more knowledgeable, more magical, because if he can’t do that, then what is he? Who is he? I also think his arc is about unrestrained ambition, seeing as how that’s the aspect that God!Gale comes to embody, which is part of why I love his dynamic with Wander. Even platonically, the two of them are extremely close and he very much respects them and trusts their opinions. Wander, while they do have ambitions of their own, is still a very pragmatic and down-to-earth person, so they’re pretty good at helping Gale see more clearly when his head is stuck in the clouds. I’m very much looking forward to doing a second run as Wander to romance him!

[how--the-story-ends]

A Council of Regents

Cora entered her dressing room, bidding farewell to the ladies-in-waiting who typically accompanied her.  She had just set her state crown on the marble table in the center of her dressing room when she heard a rustle of curtain.  Quicker than a flash, she withdrew two ruby-studded daggers from beneath her gown, throwing one at the curtain and holding the other forward protectively in front of her.  While she had a panic button in her room capable of summoning guards, she was concerned that the crucial seconds it would take for her to turn around, exit into her connecting bedroom, and do so, would be enough for an interloper to turn into an assassin. And she had not gone through hell to get her throne only to be cut down in her dressing room. Her chances were best if she kept the attacker confined in this space.  For now that she knew they were there, she had no doubt she could win one-on-one. Before Cora could demand they announce themselves, a familiar voice drawled, “Ow, princess.  Is that how you greet an old friend?”   Cora’s heart stopped as she retrieved a second dagger, breathing slowly to calm herself as Raphael stepped out from behind the curtain.  “We’re not friends, Raph,” she asserted as she scanned the dressing room, “How did you get in here?” From Cora’s perspective, she couldn’t see a trail of broken glass, nor any dents in the wall.  So he hadn’t broken in.  Similarly, it was her own guard who had let her in.  She had recognized their faces, and they were alive and well.  Dressed in his standard black leather cloak, Raphael tilted his head as he mused, “No, I suppose we aren’t.  As for how I got in...Wonderland doesn’t examine its wine, does it?  Especially on unbirthdays?”  Cora sucked in a breath.  Of course.  A son of the Church would tamper with wine.  Every guard in the palace was entitled to a celebratory glass on an (acknowledged) unbirthday of one of the Royal Family.  Today, Cora had formally acknowledged one of her mother’s unbirthdays (partly to give Ardenzana something to do and stop trying to sneak into the throne room). Even the ones outside her rooms.  Though how had he timed it?  And, uncomfortably, Cora realized she’d have to start employing tasters.  She hadn’t wanted to reinstate the barbaric custom, but if Raphael could get into her personal quarters, she had a serious security problem. Echoing her thoughts, Raph stepped towards her, lifting a hand towards a curl that had strayed from her updo when she’d removed her crown, “It was too easy.  You clearly need someone to protect you.  You’ve got to be more careful, princess.”  His eyes glinted in the candelight of her chandelier, and it was only then that Cora saw the blood from the cut dripping down the side of his face.  The sight shook her out of her daze, and she raised the dagger to ward him away:   “Don’t touch me.  And you forget yourself- I’m a crowned queen.  I go by ‘Your Royal Majesty.’” Raphael laughed, but dropped his hand to his side.  Cora, still suspicious, kept her daggers raised, even as he simultaneously managed to respect and mock her all at once: “That’s true.  You are a crowned queen, Your Royal Majesty.  And everyone knows it.  That makes them interested in you.”

Cora digested his words as Raphael began to walk around the dressing room.  He honored her request to stay out of her space, but her blood began to simmer as he started to examine her gowns and jewels.  As if he had a right to be there.  As if he owned them.  As the simmering threatened to turn to boiling, she reminded herself that this was a game.  And as Wonderland’s queen, she had to win.  Raphael would not go through the trouble of breaking into her palace, drugging her guards, or hiding in her palace for a social call (not that he would be welcomed, either).  He would, however, deliberately pour salt on wounds and try to get a rise out of her while doing so.  She wouldn’t allow that.  Still, he couldn’t be here representing himself.  “Who are you here for?” Cora asked, making a mental note to get her ladies to call the jeweler and seamstress to melt down and deconstruct everything he touched. “I can’t just be here for me?” Raph inquired, laying a hand over his heart.  He leaned against her dresser and smirked.  Cora didn’t reply, instead staring him down.  Seeing she wasn’t going to engage, his smirk faded and he finally admitted: “I come on behalf of the Council of Regents.  They want to meet with you.” Cora ran through a mental list of every monarch and kingdom she knew, whether recognized under the Auradonian empire or not (for while Mal and Ben ruled as de facto emperor and empress over them, at least for now, they recognized the royal families of the kingdoms they absorbed).  None had regencies in place.  She had no idea what he was talking about.  “I’m afraid I don’t recognize them.”  At that, Raphael laughed, and this time his amusement seemed genuine, “Oh, but Your Royal Majesty,” he somehow managed to make her title sound like an insult, “that’s where you’re wrong.  You do know them, and quite well, too.”

“If I know them,” Cora riposted, “they can send an invitation, like everyone else, and we can schedule a time to meet, in their court or mine.” “They’re not like everyone else.  No heralds, no invitations, no etiquette like this.”   “If they don’t use heralds, what are you?” Cora raised the dagger again as Raph tried to step closer.  She could she, from his expression, that she’d touched a nerve.  While he tried to keep the smirk planted on his face, his eyes were bright with anger. She hadn’t meant to upset him- as much as she wanted him out of her palace -but she needed information.  And Raphael clearly was annoyed that not only did she not fall for his game, but that she was trying to end it early.  And worse...she’d done something else.  She’d insulted him, somehow- but she couldn’t figure it out. Though that was par for the course with him, and there wasn’t anything she could do about it now. A long moment passed, and finally, he said, “I’m a reminder.  About who you should trust.  And who you need to look out for.” Cora’s veins turned to ice.  Aloud, she asked, “And if I decide I want to meet with them?” Raphael shrugged, “Then you’re probably the only intelligent person with a crown right now.  See you around, princess.”   Then he lunged towards her and blew incense in her face.  Instinctively, she gasped and moved back- only to breathe it in.  Her world swirled around her as she fainted; the last sound she heard was him laughing as he escaped.