#rethelion

[queen-scribbles]

Rethelion Solura, Knight-Commander of the Fifth Crusade ---

Ret's game might be done, but I still <3 her, so she gets a @commander-sarahs-art portrait. 👼

[queen-scribbles]

Your OC as a Forgotten God

If your OC was a forgotten god, which sacrificial offering would awaken them?

tagged by @valkblue to take this uquiz and use this picrew, going with WotR girls and tagging @eluvisen and @captainderyn

Rethelion (Elf Paladin/Warpriest, Angel Path)

your name carved into their skin

"i wanted you to know i was yours. so i gave you space beneath my ribs." there is no altar, no offering bowl. only skin. they etched your name where no one else could see, whispered it into the wound. you return through blood and obsession, a god reawakened in sinew and self-sacrifice. your name pulses under their skin still. this was never about belief. it was about belonging.

Trinne (Human Bard/Dragon Disciple, Legend Path)

silence, kept too long

"i never forgot you. i just stopped saying it out loud." some faiths are quiet. they did not scream your name. they whispered it into candlelight and let their mouths close around it like a secret. the silence stretched, but it was never empty. when they need you most, they do not shout. they just stop breathing, and wait. you are the pause between the lightning and the thunder.

[queen-scribbles]

You are no longer a grain of sand resisting the countless armies of the Abyss. You are something greater.

Wonderful art of Rethelion from @tadpole-apocalypse

[queen-scribbles]

OC Vibes Game

Tagged by @thewingedbaron (flattered I'm one of your faves, thank you <3)

Rules: Post Your OC and then 4 Random Pictures (or more) with no explanation to convey your characters vibe.

Vikkari Damson

Trinne Amell

Rethelion Solura

Zephyr

tagging @undyingembers and @dragonologist-phd

[queen-scribbles]

Owlcatober ~Forever

[WotR Rethelion, Act 5, 425 words] ---

"Still think I should have chosen someone from my 'own time'?" Rethelion asked, breathless and a hint smug as she traced Ulbrig's tattoos with a light touch.

He bellowed an equally breathless laugh. "No, no, I'm very grateful you didn't abide by my gloomy prattle." He ran his fingers through her hair, curling the inky blue-black strands. "You are far wiser than I."

She rested her chin on his chest, right over his heart, and smiled coyly. "A good thing to remember."

"Oh, all my days, warchief. "Ulbrig's hand slipped from her hair to carress her shoulders, run down her back, a golden shimmer of mirth in his eyes.

"That is a long time," Rethelion mused. She was quiet a moment, enjoying the tingle and lazy warmth of his fingers running up and down her back, then pushed up to look down at him, her hair falling in a curtain. "How long... how many days do you think you will have?" That was the side of things, initially, that had given her pause, rather than his displacement in time. She was, after all, still an elf and he a human. Or so they'd thought.

"Oh, quite a few, I reckon, with Aervahr in there," Ulbrig mused, smiling broadly. His eyes were gold again. He sat up, traced his thumb down her jaw to tease her lower lip. "Quite possibly forever. Or at least damn close. Why, dear heart?"

"I was going to live.... a long time alredy," she said slowly, distracted by his touch, "but with Iomadae's invitation to Heaven once we finish with the Wound, it may well be forever."

"And y' wondered how much of that we'll get to enjoy each other's company?" Ulbring chuckled.

"It would be a considerably more boring eternity without you," Rethelion murmured. Her finger sank into his rich, coppery waterfall of hair and she leaned in to kiss him, both humming appreciation as it deepened.

"Flattery isn't your usual way," Ulbrig mumbled teasingly against her mouth.

"Not flattery, truth." She held his gaze. "I would spend my eternity with you, Ulbrig Olesk, and be happier for it."

The fond wonder in his eyes would never get old, even if she got that eternity with him.

"And I can pledge you the same, Rethelion," he said, words solemn, eyes sparkling. "Eternity, and happier for it."

His hand slid to the back of her head, pulling her in for another kiss, and she went with alacrity. This seemed a superb way to start that eternity.

Or however long they got.

[queen-scribbles]

Owlcatober ~ Generations

[WotR Rethelion, Act 3, 605 words] ---

There is something familiar about her.

Rethelion pulled herself away from staring at the young human girl before her behavior crossed into something rude or unsettling. Ridiculous thought, anyway. She'd never been anywhere near this area, and it didn't attract people with the affluence for far travel.

"Were you lookin' at me?" Her puzzlings were interrupted by the source of them, standing in front of her with arms crossed and scraggly blonde hair falling in her eyes.

"I thought you looked familiar," she explained. "I am sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"S'okay," the girl shrugged. "Just not used to bein' noticed. But grampa's always sayin' strangers are just friends we ain't made yet."

"Wise words, for adults. I had a friend once who felt the same. But you should exercise care in who you trust."

The arms crossed tighter, her shoulders hunching. "My mama harps that every time I go outside. I know what I'm doing." She pivoted to stomp off, then paused and turned back. "Are you an elf? I've never met an elf. Grampa says they're very beautiful. With sharp ears."

Rethelion chuckled. "Thank your grandfather for me. And yes, I am." she gestured toward one of the market stalls. "And so is my friend Ember."

"Is that why your hair's blue?" the girl asked, forgetting her pique to step closer.

Rethelion nodded. It was so dark as to look black in most light, but the high full sun today was showing its more natural color.

"Can..." the girl hesitated. "Can you do magic?"

"I can." Rethelion tapped the Sarenrae emblem on her necklace. "Though that is more due to my faith than my heritage."

The girl nodded somberly. "Grampa fought in a Crusade, he met lotsa elfs and dwarves an' other people. He tells us stories all the time."

"He must have been a worthy warrior, to fight in one and live to tell the tale," Rethelion said.

A wrinkled nose. "Whenever Rudy or I ask if he's a hero he says he got lucky an' was just never near big fights. 'Lady Pharasma doesn't want me yet', he says."

"What is his name?" She knew too many noble souls who downplayed their role.

"Jaethin," the girl said, "He's tall, though Dad says he used to be taller. Always bald, though."

Rethelion tamped down the urge to throw her head back and laugh. No wonder this girl looked familiar. "Jaethin Catrele? You are Jaethin Catrele's granddaughter?!"

The cosmos did have a sense of humor.

The girl nodded, curiosity in her eyes.

Rethelion composed herself. "You know, as an elf, I am much older than I look. I knew your grandfather, when he fought in the Crusade. We were very good friends. and I can tell you two things: you have his eyes. And he may not have fought in any large battles, but he was a hero of several smaller ones. There are many who owe him their lives."

"Really?" the girl had gone starry-eyed, rocking on her heels. "Do you... wanna come say hello?"

Rethelion's brows arched. "He is near?"

She nodded vigorously. "Still helps in the tailor ship. Lives with me'n Mama'n Papa'n Rudy. Rudy's my brother." She slapped a hand to her boney chest. "Irena."

"Lovely to meet you Irena," Rethelion said with a smile. She'd lost touch with nearly everyone she knew from the Crusades, due to distance or death or both. It would be wonderful to find one again, particularly Jaethin. See what he had made of himself. Meet the rest of the family he'd built. "I am Rethelion and I would very much like to say hello to your grandfather."

[queen-scribbles]

Owlcatober ~Smelly

[WotR Rethelion, Act 3, 357 words] ---

"Whatever is in there, please tell me it is not for dinner," Rethelion wrinkled her nose as she stared askance at the bubbling, reeking pot.

"Don't be silly, girl!" Nenio said, enthusiastically poking the contents with a dowel. "Cooking is the paladin's job! This is an experiment!"

"On what?" Rethelion cupped a hand over her nose to cut down the odor. "What happens when you boil Ulbrig's mantle with lye and fish guts?!"

"No, but that is an idea!" Nenio scribbled it down, seeming unaffected by the pong emanating from her "experiment". "It would be interesting to see how the mantle reacts, what happens to the fur and if it changes color--"

"I think you would see Ulbrig change color before the mantle," Rethelion interrupted. "That's very important to him and I think he'd get a tad upset if you ruin it for curiosity's sake."

Nenio blinked. "So you wouldn't help me retrieve it from him, then...?"

"No," Rethelion laughed, shaking her head. "No, I will not going to help you take an item of personal and cultural significance from him." Might even warn him what you're thinking.

"Too bad," Nenio clicked her tongue and poked the pot again, sending another wave of odor into the air. "It would have yielded interesting data."

"You still did not tell me what this is," Rethelion said, though she was rapidly starting to not care, if it stank this badly. She might just want away.

"Oh, I want to do a comparison of demon skeletal structure, but before I can examine the bones I need all the fleshy bits off."

Rethelion stared at her. "You... are boiling demon bones?"

"Yes!" Nenio cocked her head. "So I would strongly advise against eating it for dinner, girl."

"Oh, no worry about that," Rethelion said dryly. "Make sure you dump that far away from camp when you finish."

"Of course!" Nenio nodded enthusiastically. "It will be interesting to see how the ground reacts to the runoff. Perhaps I will empty it in two locations to observe the differences..."

Rethelion smiled to herself as she walked away. She was glad Nenio was enjoying herself. She needed to find fresh air.

[queen-scribbles]

Owlcatober ~ Storm

[WotR Rethelion, pre-game, 215 words] ---

The howling wind and pouring rain did nothing to hide what lay outside the cave. Not with her sight. Peering out through the downpour, Rethelion could make out the bleached bones of some colossal creature, as well as the bloodstained ground and corpses scattered around it.

She paced the cave, irritated that this storm had sprung up now, here, just when she needed to examine the aftermath and determine her course. She needed to see who was among the slain, to lay them to rest and tell their families. She needed to know who had done this, who had killed a pilgrimage caravan with such indiscriminate violence. They would be found, and shown the justice of Sarenrae that balanced her mercy. A cleansing flame to cauterize the flow of evil.

But she couldn't do any of that stuck on this cave. Lightning cracked and Rethelion glared at the sky. Aside from delaying her search due to danger, this deluge was liable to wash away most if not all leads on the attackers. Cultists. Demons. Bandits. Whoever was responsible would get away with it if she couldn't find a trail.

Sarenrae, I seek only your justice on those who do harm! she prayed, but the clouds didn't break.

The rain continued.

And so did her vigil.