#somheirle

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Trip Switch - Chapter Four (hoo boy.)

( 13,228 words) by charlie_c

(<< chapter one) (<< chapter two) (<< chapter three) Conlaeth deals with the fallout of her actions as Pact Commander in the Maguuma Jungle, and faces down some very real ghosts from her past.

1329 - Rata Novus Main Lab

The atmospheric buzzing ebbed immediately as they reentered the main lab, but even this change was disconcerting enough that Conlaeth’s pace faltered for just a moment. As Taimi passed her descending the steps, the asura cast a questioning look up at her, to which Conlaeth only uttered “don’t” under her breath.

Rytlock was at the far end of the entrance hall, eyes lowered as if he was observing the goings-on in the lab below. However as Conlaeth approached, she realized he was actually looking over a letter, which he promptly crushed into a rough ball and tossed aside. A small golem hurried over, sucking the discarded paper up into its form just as Conlaeth came up alongside the charr. “What was that?” she asked.

Rytlock started slightly, swinging his head around toward her. “Doesn’t matter,” he growled. “See? I can do it too.”

Conlaeth snorted, but she couldn't exactly argue the point. “Fair.”

[[read on AO3]]

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Trip Switch - Chapter Three (in which I take a hacksaw to the in-game dialogue in a desperate attempt to establish some narrative flow)

( 9,356 words) by charlie_c

(<< chapter one) (<< chapter two) Conlaeth deals with the fallout of her actions as Pact Commander in the Maguuma Jungle, and faces down some very real ghosts from her past.“Your order is only a few years old, I don’t see how you can afford to be so choosey.”

1323 - Vigil Hall, Divinity’s Reach

The recruiter laughed, a lively and not altogether kind sound, before she gave an exaggerated shrug. “You think we built a prime military force in a few years by just letting any old riff raff join our ranks? We don’t take just anybody, and we definitely,” she pointed a finger in Conlaeth’s direction to punctuate her point, “don’t take nobodies.”

Conlaeth set her jaw and held her tongue before she could say anything that would only further impede her goal.

She had left Lion’s Arch intentionally to shake her reputation, which had very quickly become more trouble than it was worth after the loss of the Splitblade --despite the best efforts of her surviving crew to circulate the true account, rumors abound about what sort of incompetence or willful bravado had sunk her ship. In Divinity’s Reach she had been able to put to use a few of her remaining contacts, as well as her knack for under the table business, but the human city had never quite treated her as well as Lion’s Arch had, or been nearly as lucrative. She had spent two years marinating in regret that warped into resentment, which she eventually turned on the easiest target she could think to blame: Zhaitan.

[[read on AO3]]

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Trip Switch - Chapter Two (because apparently this is an Ongoing Project now lmaooo)

( 7,478 words) by charlie_c

(<< chapter one) (chapter three >>) Conlaeth deals with the fallout of her actions as Pact Commander in the Maguuma Jungle, and faces down some very real ghosts from her past.

Ubon belongs to @drygrasses​

1321 - the Strait of Sacrilege, off the coast of Hunter’s Table

“The Vacant Heart is in sight, Captain, about five leagues out off the port bow.”

Conlaeth gripped the wheel and leaned back, peering across the length of the Splitblade. Beyond their bow she could see the long, fat body of the galley hunkered near the shore, and the jagged grey skyline of Orr rising up behind it. “Ready about,” she called, waiting as those nearest to her carried her order along the deck before she cut the wheel hard, turning across the wind to bring them inshore. It would still be a few minutes before they were close enough to drop anchor, and once she was certain they would keep their bearing she leaned forward, crossing her arms atop the wheel as she caught Khonn’s attention. She tilted her head to summon the asura closer, and once they were close enough for a candid conversation she lowered her voice. “Are we wasting our time?”

[[read on AO3]]

[antisocialxconstruct]

Trip Switch

(6,971 words) by charlie_c

(chapter two >>) (chapter three >>) Conlaeth deals with the fallout of her actions as Pact Commander in the Maguuma Jungle, and faces down some very real ghosts from her past.

---

There were still a few familiar faces in the city, but ‘familiar’ didn’t necessarily mean ‘friendly,’ and it hardly seemed to her like that should be enough to hold her there, when everything of consequence, from two separate chapters of her life, had been so wholly stripped away. And yet, the city spoke to a shared experience, something deep in the back of her mind that felt familiar. They were the same, perhaps, burned down and rebuilt, and even with the same roots and the same bones, circumstances had polished them both into something beyond recognition.

**note: A large chunk of this is a shorter piece of writing I posted previously, now with a bit more context, so if you’re reading and part of it seems familiar.... that’s why.**

Su Qinhe belongs to @drygrasses

The floorboards creaked under Su Qinhe’s heavy boots as the woman walked a circuit around the cabin, eyeing every trophy and piece of furniture as if she expected any one of them would prove to be a clever trap. Conlaeth allowed her to make her inspection for a while before eventually saying, “You can sit, you know. I promise you’re perfectly safe aboard the Splitblade.”

Su finally paused, and met her eye with a cold glare. “I’m sure you’ll understand if I don’t take your word for it. Your ship’s developed a bit of a reputation for killing its captains.”

“Well then it’s lucky for you,” Conlaeth replied, smiling evenly, “that she’s my ship.”

Su gave a dry and unimpressed chuckle, but she halted her inspection all the same and crossed the floor to stand before the low table at which Conlaeth had seated herself. “So tell me what you want,” she said, without any trace of preamble.

[[read on AO3]]

((EDIT: WHOOPS fixed the link so I should work on mobile now))

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also who’s ready forrrrr an overdue twitter dump holy shit

guest appearances by @dirtsalad‘s Braega, @shuuzaar‘s Fëhar, @ceruleansage‘s Melody, and @burntdoodlecorn‘s Ehlika (sorry I can’t tag your main for some reason >:/ )

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Dorito Ele aka Somheirle is only six levels away from 80 which means I guess I need to learn to draw him???

that hair style will be the death of me