Is there redemption for a coward? Caelius was not sure how his path had led him here, to the Drizzlewood Coast. It had been years since he had been among his own people, preferring the solitude of the road and the near-anonymity of one-off mercenary jobs. Yet, something called him to the Coast, to offer […]
[cw: gore] . . . He was sitting under a tree perched on the little outcropping overseeing the land below. Drizzlewood was a gorgeous place. A little damp, but wild and mostly untouched. Was mostly untouched. Now his people’s “ancestral home” was pockmarked by the ravages of war… and his own. Fiel was munching on […]
Why do you run Why do you not trust the world What of the fire inside you, the heart. Is there anything left B O O M The sniper aimed high, and for that she’s thankful. What she wasn’t thankful for was the sound that followed, causing Obon to cry out and drop a […]
[CW: gore] . . . The sound was crisp, sharp, and regular. Stab. Stab. Stab. The crunching of ice, the wet squelching and snapping, the cracking of stone, the soft humming of metal that sang with each impact… all of it, harmonizing with his rabid grunts. There was no point in doing what […]
Nik reported to the infirmary like the dutiful man that he was. Also, he’d known Ambrosine since they were young and she could read him like an open book, so there was no point in trying to be sly. Besides, he enjoyed not hurting. Her eyebrows winged up slightly as he graced her doorway–er, massive […]
The sisters returned, one in the arms of the other. Kolfinna may have been taller than Pyri but she had nothing resembling the warrior’s bulk, and the last few steps were stumbles. The two skyscales trailed behind them, too weary and cold and injured themselves to be of any help. Sentries from Jora’s keep shouted […]
As soon as Tove walked out of sight of the others, she fell to her knees and vomited bile and blood. Anaphora curled her neck over Tove worriedly, whuffling into her hair. Tove reached up and gave the skyscale a pat. “You are as bad as your mate, almost,” said a low voice. Tove would […]
((Just some warning of language and lightly implied gore and body horror. nothing too bad tho.)) Death didn’t have a smell. Death had many smells, coiling and twining in an odious miasma that weighed thick on the tongue as much as it lingered within the walls of the nose. It was the smell of […]
Wind cuts through the flaps of the tent and chills the air around her. It was warm enough both inside and out to keep the ice away, but the rain still stung enough. Why did it matter, it was common already. While Charr and people alike moved about outside, readying for a new push into […]
Tove kept it together by focusing on the injured sylvari, even after his transfer to the infirmary. Ambrosine was better with the ‘detail work’, but Tove’s magic worked better with sylvari and…well. She needed the distraction. But no patient needed attention forever, and eventually she settled the last vine in place and found herself standing […]
The Cathedral of Silence. Not so silent anymore, what with the rhythmic clatter of distant hammers, mingling with the soft droning murmurs of the supplicants. The old temple of Grenth was being rebuilt. Not very quickly –most of the money, resources and workforce available going to the everlasting War Machine up North, not to mention […]
“When I said take care of the animals or something, I didn’t mean literally.” Gal chuckled as she sat across from Adilia with her tea, stirring softly. “Yeah, well it’s about the only thing I’m good at right now….’less someone has a workshop I can take to, maybe read up.” “Didn’t you steal some books […]
“Tove asked me to seek you out, that we may reach out to Whispers contacts,” Ambrosine said as she sat down to tea with Xia. She couldn’t fully keep the smirk off her face. “Ah, so they haven’t sussed you out yet.” Xia saluted her with her dainty little cup. “I am the soul of […]
The house is quieter, more still. The warmth is gone here. The noise of papers flying, stories of science and magic and fighting, the voices…Gone. She was there, her things were there, but everything else, anyone else- Gone. Gal stands in the doorway and looks over everything, letting the thumb run over the scar once […]
Beregor Stonefist grumbled as he crunched his way down the hill in Bjora, from the basecamp set up by the Vigil. He’d worked with them before, many times, in his years with the Firstwatch. They were good people, all. But bad things were happening to them and he couldn’t stand for that. He normally found […]
A notice is pinned to one of the low-hanging branches of the undead tree, where it would be easily noticed by anyone who’d visit. It is hastily written. I’m going away. I don’t know when I’ll come back. For my own sanity, and for the safety of the guild, I must leave. But I will […]
His will pushes deeper in. In the vast, rotted realm of its spirit, Fiel digs. He sinks, as the blade of his mind cuts a path, and down he goes. Down, and down, and down… slowly spiraling into this dark maze, this diseased jungle. He cannot rush. It is too tempting to thrash, to cleave […]
The news comes at dawn. The way has opened towards the west, deeper into the mountains. Deeper into Bjora. Gather what you have and follow the commanders. Come to me.A bite down on the scar that remains on the lip, a push as the helmet settles in place upon her head. Around her they move, […]
“Are you mad.” “No. I’m going back.” Bristling. It’s about the only thing that comes to mind about the feeling that comes across her skin. Bristling, energy crawling under the layers and struggling to find its escape. It ran through over and over, and all it did was make her pace. Gal had locked herself […]
“What you can’t cleanse with fire, save with water.” It was a silly thing his father used to say when they cleared the fields for spring planting. Burn the brush. Water the fields. Till the earth. Wait for the storm. And Roderik thought maybe it was then he felt a strong interest in the dichotomy […]
They spoke quietly over Ambrosine’s desk in the infirmary. “…don’t feel guilty, Tove.” Ambrosine gave her friend a gentle smile. “I can throw my armor back on for this.” “But the babies-“ “Aren’t babies anymore, and they need a world to live in.” She reached across the desk and put a hand on Tove’s arm. […]
Fiel is sitting at the edge of the pool, chin in hands. Thinking. He is thinking back to moments earlier, when Riathan spoke of the North. Of Bjora Marches. Of Jormag. Of the Vanguard’s duties. Duties. His duties. What were they? Fighting for the Vanguard? His friends? His family? His people? The place he calls […]