- Pronouns
- He/Him
well that's a terrifying development.
Dragon Harem Quest - Or: Saying You Were Gay Wasn't The Conversation-Ender You Hoped For
- Thread starter ZerbanDaGreat
- Start date
- Original
- Pronouns
- They/Them
The nice thing about blaming all your problems on dragons is that when you can beat a dragon to death all by yourself nobody will ever dare to contradict you.
Hmm.
I have to admit, I would not be entirely surprised if Takara chose to head back to Eldingar after this - both to check on Makram's health, and to apologize lest they escalate the conflict over the map to way more dangerous levels than they had already.
But, mmm, I expect they'll want more information on exactly what's causing the earthquakes and what Xiomara is up to as a peace offering.
Archeo Lumiere
The Prince's Archivist
- Location
- Lumiose City, Kalos
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They/Them
I'm... Pretty sure the map never reattuned to Takara. Xiomara is a potential romance option.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
egg confirmed. 10/10 would be stabbed by trans dragonslayer who could wipe out our entire family with just the one hand
- Location
- The Land of Many Bregrets
- Pronouns
- They/Them
To steal Omegahugger's quotes...
So map presence certainly indicates importance in some way or another but it's definitely not romance-only.
Quite why Eldingar 'needs' to find Xiomara is... certainly an interesting question. You could have spun it the other way 'round (ie 'hey Xiomara come meet a dragon that isn't a horrendous bilgepile and maybe re-evaluate your own self-image!') but from Eldingar's side of things?
She could cement/codify the whole 'wow how
TenfoldShields
Lounging on a Hoard of Words
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Hrm, two (or, well, a few) pretty useful tidbits about Petros here. He seems to have implicitly been born human or maybe just a regular minotaur (if those are things? Maybe, they might exist but I don't think it's super likely he was one), he eventually grew into his current demigod form, he's estranged from his family, he prrrroooobably grew up pretty -or at least comparatively- poor since "kid in a company town" isn't necessarily rolling in it. And he seems like he's more or less been on his own given the way his dot was kinda just wandering around. So like most of the options his backstory has a bit of implicit grimness to it.
He's also an A+ sweetheart and if you put him and Jun-ho together everyone in the spire would develop spontaneous diabetes.
t-pose to assert dominance takara
T-POSE TO ASSERT DOMINANCE
please
like datu's ever not up for some wrasslin'
Oh God rip Xiomara, she keeps almost making genuinely positive connections (she doesn't seem consciously cruel honestly, normally I mean dragon-hunting excepted, just really bad at emotions, expressing/feeling her own and registering/valuing other's) and then Something Fucks It Up. Her last near-one night stand accidentally trips a trigger about her parentage that makes her close the fuck up. Her pleasant dinner with a pilgrim turns out to be a scouting out by an asshole con artist fox. Like frankly it seems like she's not inherently opposed to the idea of any kind of friendship or relationship rather, just that she's used to be ostracized and is both violence-prone by nature and, as I said, sssuuuuper not-great at working with feelings.
Which mostly just means that she ends up clamping down harder it looks like and draws farther and farther away from other people. Also she's fucking terrifying in combat and I kinda wonder if she isn't, like, the map positing some kind of negative for Eldingar? Along the lines of "here is everything you don't want to be but could become" or something, idk.
Yyyyeaaaaaah the half-dragon-at-minimum shit is all but explicit at this point. Iirc Eldingar's mentioned before that it's really difficult to work magic on a dragon unless they let you and even then it's a struggle. They live and breath the stuff so it takes a lot of oomph to actually best them with it.
I feel both kinda gratified that Takara wasn't the one who fucked up Makram and find myself liking them a lot more actually. They read kinda as like...they think everyone has an angle and they're just trying to get theirs, and if you let yourself be vulnerable someone will just fuck with you. But deep down they aren't, like, actually that happy with who they are and what they've become. Takara seems to know that they've been pretty shitty, if they really didn't care than Xiomara's anger and Makram's shaming wouldn't find any nerves to hit. It wouldn't be information that mattered or hurt to hear. Their scene on the field after finding the map was a really good example of this with some of the context this update provided I mean. Just being bitterly furious with themselves for snatching a bad situation from the jaws of a good one while simultaneously patting themselves on the back for being so very clever but also just flatly not believing that they have a way back. Or any path but forward.
Also as a side note Makram having a bit more chill and actually using diplomacy as a direct result of dealing with Eldingar was a really nice touch.
Yeah I think there's solid odds at Takara showing back up at the lair of their own initiative or a fucking furious Eldingar tracking them down, either-or. Takara seems to think that the situation has escalated badly and they might be pretty cocky but idk that anyone but Xiomara likes their chances against an Actually Livid Dragon dedicated to hunting you down and Fucking You Up. 'Cause right now the way it looks, everyone's going to think that Takara did this to Makram. And thaaaaat's...
Yeah.
Ofc if Takara does show up -and I think there's good odds of that too- it'll probably be to try to make some kind of peace and work things out 'cause holy fuck Xiomara's getting involved with the metaplot and might hunt down our favorite foxie herself if she finds the inclination and sorting shit out regarding either is ideal.
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Wiadi
Uncompromising Radical Leftist
- Location
- Something Clever
- Pronouns
- She/Her
His horns vanished when he used the ribbon, so unless Takara was being a lot more approximate than they implied, I think we can safely assume "not a minotaur."
Imrix
Periodically Malevolent QM
It's a thin connection, but I am immediately put in mind of the Edgewood books.
Be honest Takara, would you want to?
Night's breath, he gets his hand sliced open but only even notices to be concerned when Takara cuts themselves. Petros is a pure cinammon roll who must be protected.
this is the most evil thing takara has ever done
why even live without 24/7 beefcake
Pffft. Amusing, but also has some interesting details here. I genuinely don't know if the map has reattuned to Takara at this point - I want to think it's still attuned to Eldingar, because that means Takara is still a possible romance, but it's possible that Takara has a potential relationship with Xiomara as well. They plainly like to love dangerously.
oshit
and now xiomara knows about us, at least in general
rip our hopes and dreams
So, takeaway; Xiomara is every bit as unstoppable as her reputation demands, Takara is not the cause of Makram's injuries, and indeed tried to minimise things. Cool cool.
I mean, that's what we thought before the interlude.
TenfoldShields
Lounging on a Hoard of Words
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Eldingar's dad iiiiissssss pretty much a big fat question mark and it's implied that Dragon Lucille Bluth might have done him in (or, at least, Eldingar really wouldn't be surprised). But like...
Remember waaaaaay back when when Eldingar was getting sloppy drunk with Jun-ho?
Chapter Fifty-Four - You Still Remember A Time When You Could Sleep In All Morning Because You Had Nothing To Do. That Was Nice.
ZerbanDaGreat
Daemon Noble of D E M O G R A P H I C S
- Pronouns
- They/them
"I- I wish you were healed, Makram!" you shout.
It doesn't have the immediate, dramatic effects you were expecting. Or hoping for. There's a pregnant pause where you're left just standing and waiting, heart in your mouth, as Makram's inner light flickers and he seems to struggle just to hear you. You almost shout your wish again, just in case, when all of a sudden his lamp erupts from the treasure pile behind you as if breaching the surface of a golden sea. It hovers stock-steady in the air, door flying open to expose the crystal inside as it shines brighter than ever. Makram's form dissolves, turning to a flurry of bright gold sand that coils and streams back home so quickly you could have missed it had you blinked at the wrong time. The lantern door shuts with a snap and the whole thing falls once more, bouncing off the sloped side of your hoard and rolling away. You scramble forward, foot-talons catching on loose coins and scraping across the stone, and snatch it up as if it were a dragon's egg heading for the edge of a cliff. You straighten, quickly checking it all over for any sign of damage, then clutch it close.
"Hey," says Jun-ho, touching your shoulder gently, and you almost jump all the same. You turn to face him and the others, still clutching the lamp. "Are you okay? Is Makram?"
"Y-yes. Yes, we're both okay," you answer authoritatively, after a false start. You glance down at the lamp once more. "The results weren't as, ah, dramatic and instant as I'd like but I've used my last wish to keep him alive. Returning to the lamp is just a defence mechanism - remember, you were there when I explained this last - so eventually he'll be just fine."
Presumably. Hopefully. Makram did seem quite... heavily damaged. Beyond the point of 'wounded' to 'broken' somehow, but-
"He'll be fine," you repeat. "Just you wait and see."
Datu lets out a low whistle, running one hand along his head-fin. "Damn, Eld. What'd you send him to do that he got fucked up so bad? Wasn't he just off to run errands or something?"
You grind the heel of your hand into one eye. You didn't even want to think about this whole Takara situation again. But you're the one who made the wish that put Makram in danger, explaining's the least you can do.
"I got robbed a while ago," you say. "Someone I met, Takara, turned out to be some kind of... shapeshifter, I never saw their true form but Jun-ho did. They helped me out of a jam, then came here and stole the map I told you about while I was still in town. I was- I thought I was willing to just leave it alone, since I still remembered the spots well enough to come find you two, but the thing is it's not just a map to boyfriends." You gesture in Abzu's direction. "Abzu said it points to what the owner wants and-or needs, and it just so happened that meant you guys at the time but I thought..."
You sigh. "I thought I needed it again. To see if it'd show me anything different. So I wished for Makram to bring me back the map and I thought that with a wish and time to prepare he could get it back no problem. I never thought Takara'd... hurt him like that."
"Nobody would've!" Jun-ho reassures you. "I mean, Takara beat us up a bit when they came for the map yeah, but the worst mark they left then was scratching Belial. Makram and I just got zapped by the paper tags they were throwing around and felt all woozy for a while. I don't get why Takara'd hurt him that bad this time either."
Datu shrugs. "Situation changed. They were already robbing a dragon, if they met you earlier they probably figured they could get in and out without pissing you off too much so long as they kept the collateral down. I'm guessing it was pretty implicit at the time you only wanted the map back, no 'hey Makram slap 'em around a little first'?" He leaves space for you to nod. "Probably already jumpy then, saw Makram coming after 'em as a sign you were escalating things in the customary dragon fashion, thought it was kill or be killed."
"Yeah..."
"Hey." Datu crosses the short span of stone between the two of you and claps you on the shoulder. You shoot a questioning glance, first at his hand, then at him. "Not your fault, alright man?"
"I never said it was," you reply. A short, bitter chuckle escapes you. "Do wish I'd come found you and Lyrros in the original batch, heh. Bet you could've stopped Takara cold in the first place and avoided all this."
"Maybe," Lyrros says. "But I think the most important thing to remember now is that you were not wrong to send Makram after your property. Quite beside the fact that it was stolen in the first place, if the map is anything like you and Abzu described, I can't think of a man alive that would have been willing to let a treasure like that go."
That's just it. Of course no mere 'man' would let something like that go, mortals always scrape for something to give them meaning in their short, silly lives. A dragon's meant to know what they want all the time, because what they 'want' is everything! Whatever crosses their fancy must become reality, taking certainty in the all-encompassing greed that is their right by power. Being willing to let Takara get away with it was one thing, but sending Makram after the map just because you didn't think you could go on without it? That was the real betrayal. Gods you barely even feel like a dragon sometimes, maybe Mother was right about you all along?
You need... you just need to be alone for a while.
"Thank you all for your concern but I'm fine," you say. "Whatever I decide to do next should wait until morning. Abzu, you can go back to your tower if you'd like, but we should talk about the lamps in the morning."
[Of course, Eldingar]
One by one they leave for their own rooms, down the stairs and out of sight. Jun-ho lingers the longest, offering to stay and talk about it with just a look. You shoot one back at him that you hope means 'thank you for offering but I think I should be alone for now'. However much of that he got he just nods, says goodnight and leaves. The solar-crystal torches high above you slowly dim, plunging the spire into darkness once more. In the monochrome grey light of your darkvision you slowly clean up your hoard for the umpteenth time, scraping the worst of it back into place with your feet or your tail, patting and massaging the pile into shape one-handed. You slowly crawl onto your golden bed and settle down into something approaching comfort on your stomach, lamp held out before you in both claws. You stare into it, as if hoping to see its inner light flare to life once more already.
"I don't... know what to do," you murmur to the cold, slumbering lamp. "I don't even know how I feel. Confused. Angry, I guess. Scared you won't come out again. Lost. I mean- I know what I should do. I should go after Takara again, harder this time. I've already shown them too much patience. They've crossed the line and I should be hunting them down, personally if I have to, and I'm just so angry at them I want to, I want to be there and yell at them and hit them and force them to tell me why they had to do this to me but... hah. But I know that if I try to handle this on my own I'll just mess it up too. I've already... I've already messed up too much."
You sniff. You scrub your snout with the back of your hand. Nothing more pathetic than seeing a dragon blubbering like some mortal with a dead dog. You give yourself a lot of leeway but that would just be the final straw.
Still no response from the lamp. It's finally the silent, pretty ornament you were hoping for when you first dug it out of the pile. You trace the planes and angles with your thumb-talon, just feeling the shape of it in the twilit gloom.
"I'm... I was scared," you say. "And angry. So scared you were broken and so angry at Takara for hurting you. Still am. And that would be normal but- but I think it's worse than before. It feels worse than when you blew up my gold, or when I lost all that money from my merchant house, or when Takara stole from me after that."
You blink once, twice. Rolling the shape of the words over and over in your head as if you were feeling out your own fangs in your mouth.
"I don't- I don't know what that means."
The lamp offers no explanation. You roll on your side and drag it against your chest in an armful of gold and clutch it tight. You're relieved when you finally manage to drift off to sleep.
When you wake up you almost expect to see him there. Hovering over you with that distantly disdainful look in his eye, making some comment about you spooning your gold like a child with a soft toy. But no. When you wake up you're still alone, grey morning light streaming in through the cavern entrance high above. You didn't even catch a glimpse of Belial in the night. You let out a soft sigh and lie still for a moment.
You'd like to keep lying there. You really would. But you already promised Abzu you'd be seeing them this morning, so you can't. You have to drag yourself off the pile, but soon enough you find yourself slowly padding downstairs to the second level and heading to Abzu's room again, Makram's lamp safely cradled in your arms.
You told them to make themself at home, and they have. The room's almost unrecognisable, almost every inch of spare floor-space taken up by some contraption related to alchemy or enchanting or tinkering with a couple bookshelves thrown in there for good measure - not enough, clearly, the still-made bed is piled high with loose tomes and scrolls. A pale cyan crystal sits within an iron bracket atop a plinth in the middle of the room for no reason you can fathom, but it's definitely magical in some capacity. The marid's corrupted lamp sits on one table in particular that's been cleared of all other obstructions, the brassy precursor-worked metals and oil-black creeper tightly wound through it under the scrutiny of some kind of ceiling-mounted magnifying scope. It has to extend quite far down to reach Abzu's eyes. You knock once in what you hope is a calm moment.
Abzu lifts the eyepieces from their face and looks - then double-takes when they notice it's you. They send the scope back up to the ceiling with a hard shove, whipping out a sign as they turn to face you. [Good heavens, it's morning already!] [How do you feel?]
"Like I slept," you reply, and set Makram's lamp down on the best patch of free space you can find a generous distance from the marid's.
[I'd offer to show you the 'special thing' you won in our bet but that was meant for less] [trying times >>] Abzu leans sideways a little to get a better look at your face. [How can I help you, Eldingar?]
"What have you been able to work out about the lamps so far?" you ask. "Anything from Maram's lamp that I might need to know for Makram?"
[I have learned a little more!] [And thank you for getting me this sample, it's really been absolutely fascinating.] [I asked Datu to fill me in on a few more details too.] Abzu beckons you to their side while they retrieve their notebook, and you unconsciously squat down to be closer to their level. They leaf through, seemingly just to refresh their memory, since they close it just as quickly and start summarising.
[I ran some tests, deep-level magical scans, that sort of thing.] [For starters, the marid's lamp is definitely still corrupted.] [Probably not to the same extent as it was in the temple, since it was immersed in a whole fountain of black water, but still enough to affect her mind.] [If she has regenerated by now, there's no guarantee that she won't just attack whatever she sees again.]
"Then what happens when she's ready to manifest again?" you ask. "Is this lamp a time-bomb now on top of everything else?"
[I don't think so,] Abzu replies. [A djinn's lamp is a safe refuge, but it's also a prison.] [I'd imagine why you don't hear about loose djinn just teleporting around the place, or why Makram stayed quiet in his lamp in your hoard for however long it is he was there until you found him.] [I don't think she can get out at all unless we let her out.]
"And you think you could do that? Safely?"
[It'd be more complicated than just opening the door to keep us safe from contamination] [But yes I think so.]
'Contamination'. That's a nice, neat, clinical word for it. You look at the lamp, infested by black creepers like a colony of fat-bodied worms gorged on ink, and you remember what it was like to be there. Seeing the marid in that state, dragging him closer and closer with black tendrils to finally free her, seeing those-
Visions. Voices. The ones that only you could see and hear. That Jun-ho didn't even though he was right there with you. The ones that made you feel so strange, made you snap at him over nothing because you just wanted to see, and then those tendrils sucking the life out of you even as they bound you and dragged you to your doom. You glance at Abzu and they look back at you, white paintblotch eyes wide and unconcerned. You wonder if they know that they're the elephant in the room. You wonder, based on how vague and forgetful they've been before, if you'd even get a straight answer or two if you asked. You hate this. You hate all of this. Ever since Takara you can't stop thinking, you're getting all suspicious and you can't keep your focus anywhere. Your head's getting pulled in six different directions and it's all just a tangle of the corrupted marid and Abzu and the dead sun on the lightless beach and Takara and Makram and that fucking party you keep forgetting and-
[Are you ok?]
"What?" you snap, eyes refocusing. Abzu recoils, just a little.
[Sorry, a bit of a dumb question
] they sign. [I know things are really tense right now and if I can help in any way, just ask, ok?]
"No, no, I-" you sigh, dragging one hand down your snout. "I'm sorry, thank you. Just distracted. Lot on my mind. This ritual, all these things you've learned about the marid's lamp. Are they applicable to Makram's? Could you bring him back out of his lamp?"
[Theoretically, but bear in mind he's not even had a day to finish reconstructing] Abzu points out. [Even if everything were in order, he probably wouldn't even be ready.] [Why? Why not wait a few days first?]
"Because... because the wish I used trying to fix him was my last one," you half-mumble, one hand seeking the other, talons twisting together. "He wasn't fixed right away so I don't know if it even worked. And if it did, I don't know if he's even coming back."
Abzu 'blinks'. Considering your words before they get to the signmaking. They settle for reaching over and squeezing your arm first.
[It'll be alright] they sign. [If there's a problem, we'll find out and we'll fix it. Okay?]
You nod numbly. Abzu lets go of your arm. Your gaze slowly sinks to the floor, head bowed as if it were being physically weighed down by everything on your mind. There's a sour, greasy, bitter knot in your stomach and the only way to untie it is to do something. Anything. The only question is what.
[ ] Try to resummon Makram early. If you don't check now you won't be able to stop thinking about it. You wished for him to be better, surely a good night's rest on top of that is enough. Right?
[ ] Try to resummon Maram. There's a risk she'll still be crazy and try to kill you. But there's a chance she'll be okay. She might be well enough to answer questions, explain what happened to her and the temple. Maybe help you save Makram too.
[ ] Tell Abzu about what you saw and heard in the temple. The voices that only you could hear at the shrine Jun-ho had a bad feeling about, the flashes of ancient stillness when the black water touched you. Maybe they can explain it better than you.
[ ] Ask Abzu what they are. Try to get some straight answers about what made them the way they are, if they're made of the same black water that corrupted Maram, if there's a link with the blood-curse that killed the Douglases, hell even the demonic essence Belial lives off is suspect at this point.
[ ] Try to cool off and just remember how to be normal before you do anything else. Spend time with one of your boyfriends and relax.
--[ ] Datu. Boistrous and endlessly energetic, like a Jun-ho with huge muscles. Maybe he can cheer you up.
--[ ] Lyrros. You haven't seen him for a while anyway, maybe you should get around to that. Admittedly that makes the idea sound less relaxing, but what can you do.
--[ ] Jun-ho. You've known him the longest after Makram, and only by an hour or two really. Maybe he's what you need.
[ ] Work on getting entertainment for the party. You've put it off long enough as it is, and while it won't be fun it at least shouldn't be all that demanding. You'll head into town, put out some feelers, probably talk to Amina about it, just boring business stuff.
[ ] See Mother. Ordinarily you'd rather pull teeth, but this isn't an ordinary situation. You, a Dragon, have been Slighted. Though you've bitten back the urge and buried it beneath obligations, you do desire retribution. She can help with that. If there's one thing you can be reasonably certain she'd help you with, it's finding Takara. Hell she might even be happy.
It doesn't have the immediate, dramatic effects you were expecting. Or hoping for. There's a pregnant pause where you're left just standing and waiting, heart in your mouth, as Makram's inner light flickers and he seems to struggle just to hear you. You almost shout your wish again, just in case, when all of a sudden his lamp erupts from the treasure pile behind you as if breaching the surface of a golden sea. It hovers stock-steady in the air, door flying open to expose the crystal inside as it shines brighter than ever. Makram's form dissolves, turning to a flurry of bright gold sand that coils and streams back home so quickly you could have missed it had you blinked at the wrong time. The lantern door shuts with a snap and the whole thing falls once more, bouncing off the sloped side of your hoard and rolling away. You scramble forward, foot-talons catching on loose coins and scraping across the stone, and snatch it up as if it were a dragon's egg heading for the edge of a cliff. You straighten, quickly checking it all over for any sign of damage, then clutch it close.
"Hey," says Jun-ho, touching your shoulder gently, and you almost jump all the same. You turn to face him and the others, still clutching the lamp. "Are you okay? Is Makram?"
"Y-yes. Yes, we're both okay," you answer authoritatively, after a false start. You glance down at the lamp once more. "The results weren't as, ah, dramatic and instant as I'd like but I've used my last wish to keep him alive. Returning to the lamp is just a defence mechanism - remember, you were there when I explained this last - so eventually he'll be just fine."
Presumably. Hopefully. Makram did seem quite... heavily damaged. Beyond the point of 'wounded' to 'broken' somehow, but-
"He'll be fine," you repeat. "Just you wait and see."
Datu lets out a low whistle, running one hand along his head-fin. "Damn, Eld. What'd you send him to do that he got fucked up so bad? Wasn't he just off to run errands or something?"
You grind the heel of your hand into one eye. You didn't even want to think about this whole Takara situation again. But you're the one who made the wish that put Makram in danger, explaining's the least you can do.
"I got robbed a while ago," you say. "Someone I met, Takara, turned out to be some kind of... shapeshifter, I never saw their true form but Jun-ho did. They helped me out of a jam, then came here and stole the map I told you about while I was still in town. I was- I thought I was willing to just leave it alone, since I still remembered the spots well enough to come find you two, but the thing is it's not just a map to boyfriends." You gesture in Abzu's direction. "Abzu said it points to what the owner wants and-or needs, and it just so happened that meant you guys at the time but I thought..."
You sigh. "I thought I needed it again. To see if it'd show me anything different. So I wished for Makram to bring me back the map and I thought that with a wish and time to prepare he could get it back no problem. I never thought Takara'd... hurt him like that."
"Nobody would've!" Jun-ho reassures you. "I mean, Takara beat us up a bit when they came for the map yeah, but the worst mark they left then was scratching Belial. Makram and I just got zapped by the paper tags they were throwing around and felt all woozy for a while. I don't get why Takara'd hurt him that bad this time either."
Datu shrugs. "Situation changed. They were already robbing a dragon, if they met you earlier they probably figured they could get in and out without pissing you off too much so long as they kept the collateral down. I'm guessing it was pretty implicit at the time you only wanted the map back, no 'hey Makram slap 'em around a little first'?" He leaves space for you to nod. "Probably already jumpy then, saw Makram coming after 'em as a sign you were escalating things in the customary dragon fashion, thought it was kill or be killed."
"Yeah..."
"Hey." Datu crosses the short span of stone between the two of you and claps you on the shoulder. You shoot a questioning glance, first at his hand, then at him. "Not your fault, alright man?"
"I never said it was," you reply. A short, bitter chuckle escapes you. "Do wish I'd come found you and Lyrros in the original batch, heh. Bet you could've stopped Takara cold in the first place and avoided all this."
"Maybe," Lyrros says. "But I think the most important thing to remember now is that you were not wrong to send Makram after your property. Quite beside the fact that it was stolen in the first place, if the map is anything like you and Abzu described, I can't think of a man alive that would have been willing to let a treasure like that go."
That's just it. Of course no mere 'man' would let something like that go, mortals always scrape for something to give them meaning in their short, silly lives. A dragon's meant to know what they want all the time, because what they 'want' is everything! Whatever crosses their fancy must become reality, taking certainty in the all-encompassing greed that is their right by power. Being willing to let Takara get away with it was one thing, but sending Makram after the map just because you didn't think you could go on without it? That was the real betrayal. Gods you barely even feel like a dragon sometimes, maybe Mother was right about you all along?
You need... you just need to be alone for a while.
"Thank you all for your concern but I'm fine," you say. "Whatever I decide to do next should wait until morning. Abzu, you can go back to your tower if you'd like, but we should talk about the lamps in the morning."
[Of course, Eldingar]
One by one they leave for their own rooms, down the stairs and out of sight. Jun-ho lingers the longest, offering to stay and talk about it with just a look. You shoot one back at him that you hope means 'thank you for offering but I think I should be alone for now'. However much of that he got he just nods, says goodnight and leaves. The solar-crystal torches high above you slowly dim, plunging the spire into darkness once more. In the monochrome grey light of your darkvision you slowly clean up your hoard for the umpteenth time, scraping the worst of it back into place with your feet or your tail, patting and massaging the pile into shape one-handed. You slowly crawl onto your golden bed and settle down into something approaching comfort on your stomach, lamp held out before you in both claws. You stare into it, as if hoping to see its inner light flare to life once more already.
"I don't... know what to do," you murmur to the cold, slumbering lamp. "I don't even know how I feel. Confused. Angry, I guess. Scared you won't come out again. Lost. I mean- I know what I should do. I should go after Takara again, harder this time. I've already shown them too much patience. They've crossed the line and I should be hunting them down, personally if I have to, and I'm just so angry at them I want to, I want to be there and yell at them and hit them and force them to tell me why they had to do this to me but... hah. But I know that if I try to handle this on my own I'll just mess it up too. I've already... I've already messed up too much."
You sniff. You scrub your snout with the back of your hand. Nothing more pathetic than seeing a dragon blubbering like some mortal with a dead dog. You give yourself a lot of leeway but that would just be the final straw.
Still no response from the lamp. It's finally the silent, pretty ornament you were hoping for when you first dug it out of the pile. You trace the planes and angles with your thumb-talon, just feeling the shape of it in the twilit gloom.
"I'm... I was scared," you say. "And angry. So scared you were broken and so angry at Takara for hurting you. Still am. And that would be normal but- but I think it's worse than before. It feels worse than when you blew up my gold, or when I lost all that money from my merchant house, or when Takara stole from me after that."
You blink once, twice. Rolling the shape of the words over and over in your head as if you were feeling out your own fangs in your mouth.
"I don't- I don't know what that means."
The lamp offers no explanation. You roll on your side and drag it against your chest in an armful of gold and clutch it tight. You're relieved when you finally manage to drift off to sleep.
When you wake up you almost expect to see him there. Hovering over you with that distantly disdainful look in his eye, making some comment about you spooning your gold like a child with a soft toy. But no. When you wake up you're still alone, grey morning light streaming in through the cavern entrance high above. You didn't even catch a glimpse of Belial in the night. You let out a soft sigh and lie still for a moment.
You'd like to keep lying there. You really would. But you already promised Abzu you'd be seeing them this morning, so you can't. You have to drag yourself off the pile, but soon enough you find yourself slowly padding downstairs to the second level and heading to Abzu's room again, Makram's lamp safely cradled in your arms.
You told them to make themself at home, and they have. The room's almost unrecognisable, almost every inch of spare floor-space taken up by some contraption related to alchemy or enchanting or tinkering with a couple bookshelves thrown in there for good measure - not enough, clearly, the still-made bed is piled high with loose tomes and scrolls. A pale cyan crystal sits within an iron bracket atop a plinth in the middle of the room for no reason you can fathom, but it's definitely magical in some capacity. The marid's corrupted lamp sits on one table in particular that's been cleared of all other obstructions, the brassy precursor-worked metals and oil-black creeper tightly wound through it under the scrutiny of some kind of ceiling-mounted magnifying scope. It has to extend quite far down to reach Abzu's eyes. You knock once in what you hope is a calm moment.
Abzu lifts the eyepieces from their face and looks - then double-takes when they notice it's you. They send the scope back up to the ceiling with a hard shove, whipping out a sign as they turn to face you. [Good heavens, it's morning already!] [How do you feel?]
"Like I slept," you reply, and set Makram's lamp down on the best patch of free space you can find a generous distance from the marid's.
[I'd offer to show you the 'special thing' you won in our bet but that was meant for less] [trying times >>] Abzu leans sideways a little to get a better look at your face. [How can I help you, Eldingar?]
"What have you been able to work out about the lamps so far?" you ask. "Anything from Maram's lamp that I might need to know for Makram?"
[I have learned a little more!] [And thank you for getting me this sample, it's really been absolutely fascinating.] [I asked Datu to fill me in on a few more details too.] Abzu beckons you to their side while they retrieve their notebook, and you unconsciously squat down to be closer to their level. They leaf through, seemingly just to refresh their memory, since they close it just as quickly and start summarising.
[I ran some tests, deep-level magical scans, that sort of thing.] [For starters, the marid's lamp is definitely still corrupted.] [Probably not to the same extent as it was in the temple, since it was immersed in a whole fountain of black water, but still enough to affect her mind.] [If she has regenerated by now, there's no guarantee that she won't just attack whatever she sees again.]
"Then what happens when she's ready to manifest again?" you ask. "Is this lamp a time-bomb now on top of everything else?"
[I don't think so,] Abzu replies. [A djinn's lamp is a safe refuge, but it's also a prison.] [I'd imagine why you don't hear about loose djinn just teleporting around the place, or why Makram stayed quiet in his lamp in your hoard for however long it is he was there until you found him.] [I don't think she can get out at all unless we let her out.]
"And you think you could do that? Safely?"
[It'd be more complicated than just opening the door to keep us safe from contamination] [But yes I think so.]
'Contamination'. That's a nice, neat, clinical word for it. You look at the lamp, infested by black creepers like a colony of fat-bodied worms gorged on ink, and you remember what it was like to be there. Seeing the marid in that state, dragging him closer and closer with black tendrils to finally free her, seeing those-
Visions. Voices. The ones that only you could see and hear. That Jun-ho didn't even though he was right there with you. The ones that made you feel so strange, made you snap at him over nothing because you just wanted to see, and then those tendrils sucking the life out of you even as they bound you and dragged you to your doom. You glance at Abzu and they look back at you, white paintblotch eyes wide and unconcerned. You wonder if they know that they're the elephant in the room. You wonder, based on how vague and forgetful they've been before, if you'd even get a straight answer or two if you asked. You hate this. You hate all of this. Ever since Takara you can't stop thinking, you're getting all suspicious and you can't keep your focus anywhere. Your head's getting pulled in six different directions and it's all just a tangle of the corrupted marid and Abzu and the dead sun on the lightless beach and Takara and Makram and that fucking party you keep forgetting and-
[Are you ok?]
"What?" you snap, eyes refocusing. Abzu recoils, just a little.
[Sorry, a bit of a dumb question
] they sign. [I know things are really tense right now and if I can help in any way, just ask, ok?] "No, no, I-" you sigh, dragging one hand down your snout. "I'm sorry, thank you. Just distracted. Lot on my mind. This ritual, all these things you've learned about the marid's lamp. Are they applicable to Makram's? Could you bring him back out of his lamp?"
[Theoretically, but bear in mind he's not even had a day to finish reconstructing] Abzu points out. [Even if everything were in order, he probably wouldn't even be ready.] [Why? Why not wait a few days first?]
"Because... because the wish I used trying to fix him was my last one," you half-mumble, one hand seeking the other, talons twisting together. "He wasn't fixed right away so I don't know if it even worked. And if it did, I don't know if he's even coming back."
Abzu 'blinks'. Considering your words before they get to the signmaking. They settle for reaching over and squeezing your arm first.
[It'll be alright
] they sign. [If there's a problem, we'll find out and we'll fix it. Okay?] You nod numbly. Abzu lets go of your arm. Your gaze slowly sinks to the floor, head bowed as if it were being physically weighed down by everything on your mind. There's a sour, greasy, bitter knot in your stomach and the only way to untie it is to do something. Anything. The only question is what.
[ ] Try to resummon Makram early. If you don't check now you won't be able to stop thinking about it. You wished for him to be better, surely a good night's rest on top of that is enough. Right?
[ ] Try to resummon Maram. There's a risk she'll still be crazy and try to kill you. But there's a chance she'll be okay. She might be well enough to answer questions, explain what happened to her and the temple. Maybe help you save Makram too.
[ ] Tell Abzu about what you saw and heard in the temple. The voices that only you could hear at the shrine Jun-ho had a bad feeling about, the flashes of ancient stillness when the black water touched you. Maybe they can explain it better than you.
[ ] Ask Abzu what they are. Try to get some straight answers about what made them the way they are, if they're made of the same black water that corrupted Maram, if there's a link with the blood-curse that killed the Douglases, hell even the demonic essence Belial lives off is suspect at this point.
[ ] Try to cool off and just remember how to be normal before you do anything else. Spend time with one of your boyfriends and relax.
--[ ] Datu. Boistrous and endlessly energetic, like a Jun-ho with huge muscles. Maybe he can cheer you up.
--[ ] Lyrros. You haven't seen him for a while anyway, maybe you should get around to that. Admittedly that makes the idea sound less relaxing, but what can you do.
--[ ] Jun-ho. You've known him the longest after Makram, and only by an hour or two really. Maybe he's what you need.
[ ] Work on getting entertainment for the party. You've put it off long enough as it is, and while it won't be fun it at least shouldn't be all that demanding. You'll head into town, put out some feelers, probably talk to Amina about it, just boring business stuff.
[ ] See Mother. Ordinarily you'd rather pull teeth, but this isn't an ordinary situation. You, a Dragon, have been Slighted. Though you've bitten back the urge and buried it beneath obligations, you do desire retribution. She can help with that. If there's one thing you can be reasonably certain she'd help you with, it's finding Takara. Hell she might even be happy.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Tell Abzu about what you saw and heard in the temple. The voices that only you could hear at the shrine Jun-ho had a bad feeling about, the flashes of ancient stillness when the black water touched you. Maybe they can explain it better than you.
- Location
- Ireland
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Tell Abzu about what you saw and heard in the temple. The voices that only you could hear at the shrine Jun-ho had a bad feeling about, the flashes of ancient stillness when the black water touched you. Maybe they can explain it better than you.
This seems pretty important, more than the potential links between Abzu and the corruption itself. Best to see if there's anything that can be done about it, or if it's hurting him more or anything like that.
Also damn, Eldingar needs a long, long break.
This seems pretty important, more than the potential links between Abzu and the corruption itself. Best to see if there's anything that can be done about it, or if it's hurting him more or anything like that.
Also damn, Eldingar needs a long, long break.
LupineVolt
Now with 200% more Puns
- Location
- Michigan
[X] Work on getting entertainment for the party. You've put it off long enough as it is, and while it won't be fun it at least shouldn't be all that demanding. You'll head into town, put out some feelers, probably talk to Amina about it, just boring business stuff.
I think we just need to try and get something done. Everything else is a work in progress, and if we keep putting this off to put out fires we may not have the proper time to prepare.
And then we may be eaten by nana.
I think we just need to try and get something done. Everything else is a work in progress, and if we keep putting this off to put out fires we may not have the proper time to prepare.
And then we may be eaten by nana.
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- Location
- United States
[X] Work on getting entertainment for the party. You've put it off long enough as it is, and while it won't be fun it at least shouldn't be all that demanding. You'll head into town, put out some feelers, probably talk to Amina about it, just boring business stuff.
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- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Mother would eat us before that - when she comes checking on our progress and sees - nothing.
[X] Work on getting entertainment for the party. You've put it off long enough as it is, and while it won't be fun it at least shouldn't be all that demanding. You'll head into town, put out some feelers, probably talk to Amina about it, just boring business stuff.
LaRed
Are you stupid or something
- Location
- Mou Ikkai hell
[X] Tell Abzu about what you saw and heard in the temple. The voices that only you could hear at the shrine Jun-ho had a bad feeling about, the flashes of ancient stillness when the black water touched you. Maybe they can explain it better than you.
TenfoldShields
Lounging on a Hoard of Words
- Pronouns
- He/Him
There's something really endearing about the two, like- I mean Lyrros is basically a gothy drama queen and Datu is kind of a meathead but it's really great how they're being supportive and not even, like, fucking around with how serious things are. God poor Eldingar, dude's just absolutely run ragged and chewed up and spit out. He's in pretty bad need of care from Someone but at the same time Iiii honestly don't know if anyone here knows how to handle him right now. Or how to pry back the scales and start dealing with the Literal Decades of Damage at the core. And right now Eldingar's closing up tighter than usual as a defense mechanism.
Which has the side effect of just making everything grate against each other.
[X] Work on getting entertainment for the party. You've put it off long enough as it is, and while it won't be fun it at least shouldn't be all that demanding. You'll head into town, put out some feelers, probably talk to Amina about it, just boring business stuff.
Llliiiiike most previous time-allocation Things we usually get two for the day I think. Unless we get interrupted by something or someone. It's a bit of an assumption but it's a risk I'm ready to roll with and like...basically I don't think Eldingar's really in a position to be vulnerable. The guy opened up a bit recently, from just having people around, and then almost immediately soaked a handful of bodyblows. His hoard being scattered, his merchant house being gutted, Takara robbing him, the Sunken Temple, Issachar bailing, Belial bailing, everyone in the Spire seemingly having a better time than he is with the arrangement leaving him out cold at the party he's more or less hosting, and now Makram being pretty catastrophically fucked up and even if he survives we might not be able to have the same relationship we used to.
I don't think Eldingar really wants to be around people right now, he's not in a capacity to supply emotional support and I'm honestly not sure anyone here knows enough/is capable enough to give it at the moment. While it grapples more with the metaplot I'm also unsure about the Make Us Whole Marker-shit. Or that Abzu will have any answers but the implication that they maybe-know-more and a promise to look into it. Not that it'd be useless just...that it wouldn't necessarily add a lot. Eldingar's worried about his kinda-boyfriend being kinda-dead, his capacity for caring about potentially setting scale threats is kinda fucked too I think.
SO
Numbers, paperwork, forms that have been sitting in our desk for ages and need to be filled out and errands we should've run last week. It's grey, dull, and ultimately toothless. And then? Once we put in actual effort to the project that Mother-legitimately-expects-us-to-fail-at-I-think. Wwweeeeeeeee
Go talk to Dragon Mallory Archer about Dealing With This Takara Shit.
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Madou Sutegobana
Autocorrupt has been disabled.
- Location
- Twin Realms Mandala
[X] Tell Abzu about what you saw and heard in the temple. The voices that only you could hear at the shrine Jun-ho had a bad feeling about, the flashes of ancient stillness when the black water touched you. Maybe they can explain it better than you.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Work on getting entertainment for the party. You've put it off long enough as it is, and while it won't be fun it at least shouldn't be all that demanding. You'll head into town, put out some feelers, probably talk to Amina about it, just boring business stuff.
Distract from how horrible everything is with work! No way that won't work
Distract from how horrible everything is with work! No way that won't work
TenfoldShields
Lounging on a Hoard of Words
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Thinking it over some more I do think that confronting Takara in whatever fashion it ends up being is probably...honestly what Eldingar needs right now, more than answers about the USS Ishimura or a potentially forced-as-fuck third wheel on a date-type thing. And getting some party shit in order so we can have Something To Show mother when we come knocking is a pretty crucial if probably inadequate to an extent (to Mother's extent) stepstone on that path.
Honestly I think at this point it's kinda inevitable that, after everything, Eldingar's going to melt down at least a little. And we're sort of in the stages of how to shape that and/or direct it.
Honestly I think at this point it's kinda inevitable that, after everything, Eldingar's going to melt down at least a little. And we're sort of in the stages of how to shape that and/or direct it.