Truthfully, I’m trying to figure out Noah too. The first step is to have fun and be yourself, I’m pretty sure. ///^-^///b
For real though, on the eldritch horror front, I personally operate on the idea that he’s very powerful, but not well-practiced. What he’s shown so far is the result of a lot of trial and error and maybe a few scrambled minds, whoops. His games may be a little scuffed but that’s just part of the charm! His brand of magic! Or whatever this is! It’s fine, he’s got it under control!
Of course, he’s not that good at pretending to be a human, either. (A nonhuman character? Wanting more than anything to be considered human? Coming from me? How shocking! <- said while side-eyeing my WIPS) Most just assume he’s putting on an act, or he’s been working too hard, or any number of things that make more sense than ‘godlike being wishes to play D&D’.
Some have still managed to figure him out, even without special eyes. They might assume he’s ancient, or omnipotent. He can’t hear their thoughts, but he can tell when someone is internally yelling at him to quit reading their mind. It’s always only a matter of time before they turn on him, thinking he’s Up To Something Evil™. There’s surely no other reason something like him would want to keep mortals around.
So why hasn’t Nick said anything yet?
Bowing gracefully, then falling on my face,
-🐈⬛
I will place a pillow down to give your face a safe landing.
•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•
"Okay, you have to admit I looked pretty cool striking that dragon down," Sophist prattled on, adding dramatic flourish to his movements as the group kept walking.
Brent rolled his eyes and lightly shoved him, but any further words soon became drowned out by the rising of Nick's nerves.
Noah had looked at him today. No, not Noah. Whatever was pretending to be Noah. Whatever it was, it stared through his soul. He felt perceived in a way like when he gets too bored and watches an ant crawl across the ground.
Of course, there's a difference. An ant already knows its purpose. It already knows the direction its heading and what it will do when it reaches it. Still, there is something almost calming about watching something so simple perform a basic task.
He'd only rolled an 18. But the roll was stressful. It determined whether he had the strength to pull Brent from the lava or not. To say that he was grateful was an understatement, but after he saved his friend, that's when felt it.
Do ants ever know they're being perceived?
He tried to ignore it, to brush it off and celebrate his victory, but the feeling was so present, so bright in his eyes and in his mind that he couldn't help but shudder quietly.
All at once, the feeling vanished. Nick felt like he could breathe again, but he fell quiet for the rest of the game.
Maybe it was a blessing ants could only perceive what they're meant to. Having questions with no answers did nothing for his still-scrambled nerves, even as Brent's laughter cut through his thoughts.
Nick looked up as they were walking to see Vernias pouting. When they locked eyes, the shorter man lit up, though. "You don't think healing the princess was dumb, right Nick? She was injured! And we were supposed to save her!"
He tried to open his mouth for a witty retort, but nothing came out as he thought back to that intrusive feeling. Instead, he only shook his head and kept walking forward, causing the others to quiet down.
"Uh, Nick? You okay, buddy?" Sophist offered a bit clumsily.
Nick tried to laugh it off, but it came out halfhearted. "Yeah, just tired. I think I played too much and didn't touch enough grass today."
Vernias shot him a concerned look, but didn't press as Sophist continued rambling about the adventure from today. He couldn't know. None of them could know. Nick didn't want them to know.
Who was he to ruin games for his friends?