#just drow things

[drowxiv]

Don't blink

[ladymirdan]

So I started playing BG3

Friend:”Ohh, what companions are you picking?”

Me:” I'm only going to pick males since I play a male drow. I didn't crawl all the way to the surface to be bossed around by women.”

Friend:”You literally have Shadowheart and Lae’zel in your party?!”

Me:”Iblith doesnt count.”

*finding Minthara 20min later*

Me:” Yes, mistress, I will slaughter all the innocents for your pleasure. Step on me mommy”

Friend: “🤔”

[tragedysorbet]

At the Elfsong Tavern, After the Murder Tribunal:

Karlach: You *killed the Hollyphant*?!

Mal: He was a dick!

[drowxiv]

WIP WEDNESDAY

I've agonized over this for like 6 hours. I tried to find the "least dark" thing that was in a shareable state. Every WIP I have is only a first draft.

Beneath the cut I've hidden: extremely light mention of spice. Light combat. Swords. One mention of a very small and superficial wound with zero descriptors.

I likely won't participate in this often but I've mentioned my writing enough in tags that I should probably share a snippet-

In the Underdark there was no sun to mark the passing of a day, only an eternal night flecked with the colorful lights of bioluminescence and magic. The Drow city was densely packed into a large cavern, with eight noble houses rising like giant stalagmites, reaching towards misty clouds that formed and fell in a never ending cycle. There were certain hours when activity dwindled and the world felt quiet and the magical glow dimmed, but it never went out.

During such an hour, when the off duty guards were in the barracks beginning to reverie, Viedyn took advantage of an empty training hall. As captain of the guard he was expected to be the best of them and he kept his skills honed accordingly. In the absence of a proper sparring partner at such an odd hour he put himself through a series of drills instead. He enjoyed the familiarity of the repetition and the weight of his sword and shield in hand. The air itself whined as his blade skillfully cut through it. He threw his power behind every practiced thrust and slash, relishing the way it made his muscles burn. The wicked black armor he wore moved fluently with his body, the metal plates sliding over one another smoothly while his long black velvet cloak whipped behind him.

The sound of footsteps that were not his own halted his sword mid air. He diverted the momentum into a flourish and brought the weapon to rest at his side, turning to see that two guards had entered the hall. His chest tightened when he realized they both wore the crimson cloak of the Matron's personal guard. Neither wore a red crested helmet or carried the large black spear they would've had if they were on duty, but that did little to ease his concern. He held no authority over them, they only answered to the Matron. They had their own training halls and barracks so there were few reasons for them to be in his, especially at that hour.

The shorter of the two guards was unfamiliar to him, but he instantly recognized the taller one as Savri. She was as powerful as she was cunning. Weeks prior, she’d ambushed him in a dark corridor, slamming his back into a wall with enough force to knock the breath out of him before he could even draw his sword. He'd been uncertain of her intentions until her lips graced the edge of his ear and she told him exactly what she wanted from him. Her words were only accentuated by the press of her hand against the armor between his legs, catching his breath in his throat. It had almost unraveled him.

Now, facing the prospect of dealing two armored Matron's guards, he wished it had.

Drow society placed heavy expectations on him, especially as a noble born male, to oblige such requests. But in a society which values power above all else, there was nothing more intimate or dangerous than relinquishing that power.

Savri's previous attempt to claim him ended with his sword against her throat and the point of her dagger nestled between his ribs just beneath the side buckle of his armor. Equally matched. They stood in the corridor, breathless, locked in a deadly embrace and traded barbs so closely that they could feel each other's breath with every word. If she'd closed the distance between them and sealed her lips against his, he would have surrendered. Instead, she vowed to take him and he'd smiled wickedly and invited her to try.

Power and pride bound them both.

Viedyn watched impassively as the unknown guard barred the door, making it clear that his invitation had been accepted. The two approached him side by side, each resting a hand upon the hilt of their sword. They had worn their hair up, Savri's in a neat braid and the other's in a low bun, which told him they anticipated a fight. Against two he would be at a severe disadvantage. The training hall was wide enough that they'd be able to maneuver around him easily. Even with his skills and training he wouldn't last long once they managed to flank him.

He rolled his shoulders beneath his armor as they approached and clicked his tongue condescendingly. “My disposition must really gall you if you're reducing yourself to relying on assistance to take me, Savri.”

A dark smile graced her sharp features. “On the contrary, Viedyn, I enjoy difficult males like you because it makes overpowering them more satisfying.”

“Enough that you're willing to share?” He teased.

“If it achieves my goal." Savri replied with a hint of annoyance seeping into her tone.

Viedyn inclined his head in a mockery of a bow. “I'm flattered you would make such a concession.”

“Then drop your weapon and surrender yourself, I would prefer to take you unscathed.”

“No.” He wasn't intrigued enough to obey. As the first son of his house and the Captain of the guard, his obedience wasn't given freely. He was, however, intrigued enough to stay even in the face of certain defeat.

“You're outmatched.”

“I am.” Viedyn admitted coolly, raising his shield and sliding his foot back into a ready position. “But I would be remiss if I deprived you of the challenge you enjoy.”

“Fine.”

Viedyn lunged before either of them drew, slamming his shield into Savri, sending her stumbling back and buying him a few precious seconds to focus on the guard she'd brought with her. She was shorter and slighter in build than him but she was still highly trained. He swung hard and she drew just in time to block his blade. Steel screeched against steel as he pressed the attack. He had her in an awkward position with her blade still angled downwards from the draw and her arms trembled beneath the effort to hold him off. Up close he was able to study her face, it was one he'd seen before but he had no name to match it. Her dark lips were drawn back in a fierce snarl which bared her teeth and her bright red eyes seethed. He couldn't tell if she wanted him, or if she simply wanted the satisfaction of laying him out. Given her position and his, both were strong possibilities.

Footsteps to his left drew his focus and he saw the attack in time to raise his shield. There was a satisfying clang of metal and he felt the power of the strike reverberate through his arm. In the same instant he hooked the other guard's ankle with his foot and yanked hard, sending her stumbling backwards, granting him the opportunity to throw his weight into shoving Savri back with his shield before she could strike again.

“I thought you wanted me unscathed, Savri.” Viedyn taunted as he took up a ready position once more. Raising his sword and shield defensively.

“I said I would prefer it.” She corrected him.

They closed in on him in unison, Savri aiming low while the other went high, playing to his disadvantage. Viedyn dropped to one knee, slamming the bottom of his tall kite shield into the ground as he did so, ducking easily beneath it to deprive Savri of a target while he raised his sword and caught the second attack on the downswing. He sprung to his feet and used the momentum to force them back once more. It wasn't something he would've tried on a battlefield. In the training hall it was just risky and unexpected enough to be advantageous once, he wouldn't get away with it a second time.

He could tell Savri was pulling her strikes to avoid maiming him. A deflection off the top of his shield which could've sliced his cheek open stopped short, and a brief opportunity to skewer his thigh went ignored. The other guard was far bolder and he had to watch himself more carefully when she went on the offensive.

Savri went low and he smirked even though he was forced to jump out of the way to avoid her. She was likely trying to bait him into taking his shield to the ground again. The second guard took advantage of his abrupt change in position and pressed another series of attacks. One sent his sword wide and he was forced to take another hit against his shield. When he dropped the shield to engage her third attack he realized he'd lost sight of Savri.

The sting of a sword nicking the back of his leg let him know exactly where she was, and that she wanted him to know where she was. Her subtle way of taunting him.

With renewed urgency he pressed his own attack against the second guard, driving her back with a powerful strike, buying himself precious time. He twisted and caught the glint of Savri's blade out of the corner of his eye. Out of instinct he raised his shield and the strike glanced off but he didn't have time to answer her with an attack of his own before he had to turn once more. They were wearing him down quickly and his muscles burned from the exertion.

The second guard was already charging when he turned and he ducked behind his shield just in time to catch her blade against the top of it. In desperation he threw his shield arm wide, forcing her blade to follow and slashed at the same time, sending her backpedaling. He started to turn and froze when he felt the cold kiss of a blade against his throat. His cold blue eyes instantly flicked to the wielder and Savri greeted him with a satisfied smile.

She had him.

He remained still, closing his eyes for one long steady breath. When he opened them again his right hand followed suit, allowing his sword to drop to the ground with a loud clatter, acknowledging his surrender.

“There, that wasn't so difficult.” Savri purred in a dark and condescending tone. The edge of her sword ghosted over his skin with careful precision, sending chills throughout his body as she lifted it to the underside of his chin and pressed upwards. With regal grace, he rose to his full height and lowered his shield to his side, never taking his eyes off her as he did so.

[drowxiv]

[31] How hard it is for them to own up to their mistakes and wrongdoings? {Considering how largely unforgiving a matron mother could be of failure and how drow society by and large is set up as competitive, I'd imagine handling mistakes "correctly" is critical.}

Oh my god I was gonna save this for tomorrow but my hotel is so painfully dry that I'm holed up in the bathroom steaming it up with the shower and I've got stories!

Because YES! Due to the unique makeup of their society they handle mistakes VERY CAREFULLY.

Viedyn is skilled at this because he's been doing it the longest, he's good at being or PRETENDING to be charismatic, and he's an excellent strategist. So for a "small" mistake he'll usually come up with something he can offer that will smooth things over.

A quick example is a perceived "mistake" during a surface raid is suddenly excused when Viedyn reveals it was so he could procure the forgotten realms equivalent of "really good weed" for the priestesses of his house. Something a more powerful house would typically snatch up during a raid. Of course that wasn't really the reason but he lifted the jar as a backup plan if his insubordination was noticed.

Durafein will typically just eat the punishment. He becomes a bit of a masochist because pain becomes so familiar to him.

It's the "BIG" mistakes that are extremely tricky. The brothers do enjoy a small amount of protection because each of them is essentially a weapon the Matron has honed and she wields them as such. (Viedyn literally delivered the throne to her)

They're her only children - she was pregnant with Durafein when she used Viedyn to seize power because she was certain she was having a daughter and Lolth was on her side. (That's a whole other thing)

They know she PROBABLY won't kill them but the odds are never zero. So whenever they can they use "the buddy system" which can be as simple as "heads up, you're fucked, so think of something fast" or a lot more. I've got a story!

At a couple points daughters of "friendly" houses seek out Durafein as a consort. One of them is quite the schemer and sees a much shorter ascent to power if she can become a member of Durafeins house, ally with their Matron, and secure a powerful position. She wants Viedyn's position because Durafein is close to him and would be able to "free it up" while she essentially pitched her resume.

Obviously Durafein took serious issue with that proposal and turned on her instead. He showed up in Viedyn's office, with blood still on him, panicking, because that was one of the biggest fuckups he could make.

Viedyn, being the strategist, formulated a play. He'd take Durafein to the Matron herself to prevent her from having the time to summon an audience. Her sisters would no doubt call for Durafeins execution but the Matron wasn't likely to throw away one of her favorite weapons if she didn't have to. It was the only play they could make.

Obviously the Matron was enraged. But as Viedyn expected she was too enraged to call an audience or do anything else but brandish her snake headed whip.

Viedyn watched impassively as the punishment proceeded. When it went to an extent he felt was dangerous he said "That's enough." Which was already a risky thing to do. When she didn't even take notice of what he said, and kept her focus on Durafein, Viedyn stepped between them and drew his sword in a wide arc.

He meant to destroy her snake headed whip. But they're quite fast, and he only managed to sever one of the heads. For a moment none of them even moved. Viedyn knew he was fucked.

The Matron didn't even strike him with the whip first. He got a closed-fist punch to the face that dropped him. He managed to get his arms around Durafeins body and pull his brother against him to shield him before the whip struck again. Viedyn took the remainder of her rage but it meant both of them lived. Barely. But barely still counts as far as Viedyn was concerned.

From that point on, facing her whip gave Viedyn a bit of smug satisfaction because it was at least slightly weaker because of him.

[mystxmomo]

the way you write relationships is so interesting

this is a compliment

Thank you ...

Enclave is particularly interesting because she's purposefully being written to be very irrational in the kind of love she ends up falling into, no matter if its a relationship or otherwise. The is paired with the fact that she's someone who will excuse and enable a lot if she does like you (including when she herself it the target of torment), and given how quickly she becomes enamoured with concepts and people it is something she's frequently being tossed around by.

I personally as the writer think it's particularly interesting because it exists in stark contrast to the cranky, snappy personality that she otherwise carries, and how paranoid and distrustful she is of most people.

[drowxiv]

I didn't see the emoji ask game on your blog. So I'm just going to drop this "ask" to say your drow/duskwight have been so fun to follow along with. Your wonderful poses aside, I'm getting into playing a drow for the first time in a tabletop game with friends, despite not being very familiar with them (or D&D as a whole). I have used your writings as reference sometimes, when thinking about how my paladin (of course) would act/behave based on drow society.

Thank you for sharing your OCs with us.

I literally fangirl screamed over this, then sent a screenshot to the one IRL friend I gush about OCs with and WE fangirl screamed together. All to say - I REALLY appreciated it!

This also made me feel way better about a small info dump I was drafting for next week.

I'm HYPED to hear you're playing a Drow and I really hope you enjoy it! They CAN be quite tricky depending on their alignment but that's what I find fun about them!

I also answered publicly so I could add two things!

- my ask box and inbox are open for Drow ideas, questions, gushing, etc. I love speculating on how they may react to scenarios based on their alignment, religion, position in society, and ambitions, etc.

- I don't always reblog games! I participate when I can because it spreads joy and I enjoy learning more about OCs, but sometimes when I know I'm gonna be slammed IRL I won't reblog because I can't answer quickly. I've literally got a tab open on my PC to remind me to play with one more mutual tomorrow morning but I've gotta dive into work right after and it's gonna be a really rough day.

If I played an OC ask with you - you're ALWAYS welcome to play/ask the same thing right back at me even if I didn't reblog!

Not reblogging doesn't mean I don't WANT to play - I just don't want anyone to feel like their 'ask' wasn't good enough if I'm too busy to get to it. I've been there and it's a bad feeling wondering if you messed up.

[tragedysorbet]

Thinking about Mal in the Grimforge.

Hair all damp and tousled from the heat.

Blood spattered from killing literally everyone because Lolth Made Him Do It (tm).

Blind as a bat because he's got 40 layers of eyeliner on (that he insists is because the Day Star of the Surface World hurts his pretty eyesies) and it's been running as soon as they landed on the lakeshore