so, we had the first player character deaths last session and @kasiael asked for a little insight of what our resident God / friend / boyfriend thought while Kethra died
here you go!
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They felt the earth rumble beneath their feet and heard people scream. Buildings crumbled; streets tore open. Rannok fell on his knees and held his head, lost to some unseen nightmares. Something had changed. Their friends had broken the barrier and unleashed magic. The whole city of Ostjoll seemed to be on its feet in an instant, ready to finally take back their home from the fallen Order of Bahamut.
“Zaos?” Hella got back on her feet, swords in hands and with sharp teeth gleaming in the darkness. “Be ready for a fight.”
Nodding, he stretched his shoulders and searched for his magic but found his heart missing a beat.
Sitting amidst hams, wheat and caskets of ales, Zaos felt her die.
Kethra.
With their connection severed, anger filled the sudden void in his chest.
“I need to go.” He gritted his teeth. “They’ll not take her from me.”
He’d not lose another love to the dark Queen and her little cult. They’d taken much from him throughout the millennials, love and hope, the best of him, forced him to hide and sleep and forget and lick his wounds like some wounded animal.
And Kethra was so young, so vulnerable, so wonderfully flawed and real. She deserved to live and witness the world change around her, with or without him at her side.
Zaos fought against the panic rising in his throat and the numbness, which made it so hard to move. He tasted blood in his mouth from biting his cheeks and tongue, while trying to control the urge to just withdraw again and sleep on the silver shores of his home.
A part of him was afraid of facing his old enemy, the giant black Dragon, which wings could hide the stars.
Hella looked into his direction, while pushing fallen crates out of her way. “We should have gone with them.”
“I know.”
But with the spell broken, Zaos felt more like himself, closer to his actual power. Magic sparkled around the edges of his mortal form and his eyes held a green glow. He would save her. Her soul still lingered close, not ready to part with her body.
He felt that her brother had fallen too and Zaos also saw Felicitas’ life dripping out. They’d faced an enemy too strong, too versed in her arts and with an army of undead at her side.
Selfishly, he’d always rescue Kethra first. She’d woken emotions long hidden and forgotten since seeing her face for the first time and hearing her pray at his temple. Her voice had called for him and lured him back into meddling with the world.
He'd not let go of her.
His fingers touched Rannok’s forehead and he let the man fall asleep, without dreams for once.
Full Name: Zaos AelarGender and Sexuality: He’s a gay boyPronouns: he/himEthnicity/Species: Wood elfBirthplace and Birthdate: Unknown. He has dead parents and he’s 19Guilty Pleasures: Sometimes he just eats plants.Phobias: He’s very skittish in regards to horror, so anything jumping out at him. Also, not being able to protect the temple he was raised in.What They Would Be Famous For: Famous healer, maybe?What They Would Get Arrested For: Eating the plants in someone’s gardenOC You Ship Them With: No one tbhOC Most Likely To Murder Them: ... Probably Moonflower or ElisgothFavorite Movie/Book Genre: He’s always a fan of a good tale.Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: The “bury your gays” cliche.Talents and/or Powers: He’s a cleric so he knows how to heal people. Also, despite how naive he is, he knows a lot of history.Why Someone Might Love Them: He’s adorable and inquisitive.Why Someone Might Hate Them: He’s too goddamn naive, and asks too many questions.How They Change: He grows up and sees more of the injustices of the world. Also probably learns to... not eat random plantsWhy You Love Them: Honestly, he’s one of my favorites to play simply because of him doing things one shouldn’t just to see what happens. However, he’s also just generally energetic and fun.
the ever generous @kasiael bought far too many coffees on ko-fi :P and will receive some stories during this year and probably the next.
She asked for the first meeting of two D&D npcs!
Fandom: Dungeons&Dragons homebrew campaign / Hella x Zaos
Rating: M (light gore, strong language)
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She was in deep shit.
Really, really deep, supernatural shit.
Hella hid behind some debris, hoping that the ghouls wouldn’t catch her scent.
Why had she managed to maneuver herself into such a tight corner? She should’ve waited for reinforcements. Some more members of their Blood Hunter order, ready to fight at her side.
Of course, she was young, barely 20, and a bit too arrogant, and she knew about that, but she also showed remarkable skills and control of her growing powers, so this should have been a standard job.
Her mentor Alarik surely would yell at her for acting brash and without thinking and make her read through volumes of monster lore with the idea of boring her to death.
Well, if she survived.
Death by ghouls or by books. Well, tough choice.
Right now the group of ghouls had followed her scent through some old, elven ruins. Lush and overgrown with greenery and flowers it seemed like a relic of better times. Nowadays frost covered most of her homeland. Was this place an old temple? Hella had sketched some of the runes and statues earlier, hoping that a wiser Bloodhunter could make sense of them.
All Hella understood were words about a forgotten, smaller deity granting blessings for a good hunt.
How ironic.
But some rich merchant had paid them a handsome sum to keep his business routes safe. Hella guessed that that guy wasn’t the brightest or most experienced. Dertona itself offered less safety and more snow, ice and gruesome nature combined with ancient monstrosities. Any merchant would be advised to settle down in the south, maybe near Ebrus.
Dertona never rewarded the soft or weak.
A ghoul growled and grunted right next to her.
“Fuck.”
Hella closed her eyes, wondering if she should let go and unleash her inner beast. Trust her inner monster to defeat other monsters. She’d been bitten two years ago and still faced problems controlling herself in wolf form, indulging a lust for blood and flesh. If everything went wrong, she’d slaughter the nearby village men by men.
She couldn’t risk hurting innocent people.
No. Hella pressed her lips together, suppressing another memory of slain people.
“Concentrate, breathe.”
Fleeing didn’t appear to be an option, neither did wolfing out. That left some bottles of alchemistic fire and her trusty swords.
Better fight them then. Night would soon cover everything in darkness, which only granted them more of an advantage.
“Need help?” A smooth voice cut through her thoughts and Hella flinched, cursing herself for not monitoring her surroundings. Quickly, she drew one of her swords and craned her neck to find an … elf?
Standing just above her, seemingly not a care in the world, features handsome and delicate. “What? Who… what?”
“Just a simple elf, wandering around and helping ladies in dire need.” He inched closer and Hella smelled herbs and salt on his clothing and skin. Elves were known for their sneaking skills, though it still amazed Hella how he’d manage to get close to her without alarming some ghouls.
Hella threw a bottle of holy water into his general direction.
It exploded against his chest, covering him in pieces of glass.
“Eh?”
“Just making sure you’re not one of them.”
He had the audacity to smile. “I’m not.”
“Fantastic. Then help me please.”
The strange elf nodded and grabbed her hand. He seemed stronger than his lithe build implied and pulled her to her feet. Never say no to a potential ally, as Alarik would say. Not to mention her own desperation at her less than stellar prospects.
Their combined motions attracted their enemies. A whole pack of fleshy, undead beasts, ready to tore their throats out and to eat their guts.
“Here they come.” Hella raised her swords, closed her eyes and concentrated on keeping her heartbeat slow and steady. Every mistake meant certain death and failure.
And she wasn’t born for failure.
The first attacker died quickly, sliced in half by her blade.
Her new ally preferred using a bow and killed the second with two arrows. He showed fantastic marksmanship and took position on some old stones. His steady aim helped keep some of the ghouls at a distance.
Hella never lost footing but pushed and sliced and relied on her years of training. Blood soaked the ground.
With him at her back, Hella found new confidence, a new focus flowing through her veins. Almost as if magic surrounded them both, vanquishing all her tiredness and somber thoughts.
She caught the elf’s gaze. “Only a few left.”
“After you!”
Hella used her own blood to further strengthen her strikes, cutting her skin above her wrists. Drops of blood danced on her swords as she killed another one.
One of them broke through. He collided with Hella, sending her straight on her backside, while moving far too close to the elf. Claws cut through leather and skin and the elf used a hidden knife to push it through its skull.
He patted the dead ghoul’s head. “Ouch. Not nice.”
“You’re okay?”
“I think so. Just a nasty scratch.”
“And your back?”
“It’s fine.”
The elf raised the corners of his mouth and inspected their fallen attackers. Some of his arrows seemed to be intact and he started to collect them.
With their enemies dead, Hella took a moment to inspect her unlikely saviour. Tall and slender with dark, longish hair and very grey eyes he looked so out of place and more suited to the crystal city down south. Not to mention that his tan skin spoke of other regions too.
Hella coughed to hide her staring and offered him a handshake. “Ah, thank the Gods. What is your name?”
“Zaos.” Unfathed by her inspection, he nodded and took her hand in his.
“Glad to have met you.”
Zaos laughed and it echoed through the ruins. “I’m sure it’s a pleasure.”
What an arrogant prick.
Hella moved a few steps away to clean her swords, trying to sound casual, while also luring him into sharing information. “And you from around here?”
“Yeah, here and there. I don’t exactly have a home?” His eyes wandered to the sky. “Not any more, so I prefer the road to actually settling down. I keep meeting interesting people.”
“I see.” Hella furrowed her brow. “A mystery then.”
Zaos smiled, eyes too bright. “A riddle, if you will.”
So, he wouldn’t share his story yet. Maybe he belonged to the forest and was a hidden beast as well? Or a part of the Feywild, which bled into her world from time to time.
Would alcohol loosen his tongue? Trying to get more information couldn’t hurt and he wasn’t hard to look at, which came as a bonus.
Hella patted his shoulder. “Care for some wine?”
“Is this an invitation?”
“Yes, follow me to my camp and have some wine with me. I can take a look at that scratch mark and hopefully you won’t murder me in my sleep.”
“I’d be grateful and don’t worry. In general, I don’t murder people in their sleep. I wait for them to wake up.”
Hella snorted. “Haha.”
“Lead the way.” Zaos bowed and something in his eyes reminded her of a wolf.
Video games unfortunately do not exist in Saterra 😔 In universe he enjoys playing a fantasy-world variation of poker. If he did exist in modern day, i KNOW he is a dishonored enjoyer. Also probably Hollow Knight.
🖌️ - Do they have any hobbies?
If you were to ask him this question, he would say that he enjoys people watching and board games. This isn’t necessarily a lie, but he secretly LOVES dancing and is actually quite good at it. He also had a phase in childhood where he was obsessed with sleight-of-hand magic tricks, and he is still excellent at sleight of hand.
The video was taken by my iPhone 7+. This is a live stream recording showing one of the Ferry's, the ( Madonna) at the port and on Lake Michigan. If interested in trying this system The Zao App. for your iPhone or Android and the cloud system ( Cloud View) contact us at [email protected] or our website at Midwestdigitalcorp.com
