Okay But Also

Okay but also

Working on the dragonfable campaign is making me want to start working on Velyn's story again,,, Idk I might write a little about their past and random shit throughout their life?? I just miss writing. The depression has been kicking my ass.

prince with a thousand enemies

Still Not Active

Clearly. But I have been working on the campaign that I run every weekend for my family! It's a homebrewed version of the world of Lore from DragonFable. Things have been going pretty alright? But I still have no idea where I'm taking the story so I'm trying to work on all that stuff today. Even when I don't have the energy to play that game, I'm still so obsessed with the world. smh

Speaking With Serenity

Velyn turned their attention to the table with the food on it once the townsfolk left. Serenity smiled and gestured toward it before turning to walk away.

“Wait,” Velyn said, “have you eaten yet?”

Serenity turned toward Velyn, “I haven’t, but that’s what I was going to go do.” She smiled again and Velyn couldn’t help but smile back.

“I would love some company and there’s a lot of food here, would you join me?” Velyn asked.

“Are you sure?” Serenity asked, “I wouldn’t want to disrupt your morning.”

Velyn pulled a chair out, then crossed to the opposite side of the table to sit. “I’m positive, it’d be nice to hear a bit about this place from a local.”

Serenity walked over to the chair Velyn had pulled out and sat down. The two began to eat from the arrangement on the table. Of the various meats, breads, jams and vegetables Velyn found that the simple bread was their favorite. 

“So,” Serenity said, “before you were a big shot hero, where’d you come from?”

Velyn rolled their eyes as they chewed on a bit of the bread, swallowing before saying, “I’m not really a big shot hero, I was just in the right place at the right time.”

“Alright,” Serenity chuckled softly, “but you still didn’t answer the question. Where are you from?”

Velyn spoke after another mouthful, “I guess I’m kind of from all over Greenguard. My dad traveled as a sort of guard for various merchant caravans and my mom made money doing repair work for the same caravans.”

“That sounds like an interesting way to grow up,” Serenity said, “were you traveling with your family then?”

“No,” Velyn shook their head and smiled, though to Serenity they still seemed sad, “There’s a cliff near Oaklore Keep that we would often camp on. I was taking my dad’s ashes there.”

“Oh,” Serenity said in a softer tone, “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“It’s alright,” Velyn smiled a big grin, “I know that I’m living in a way that would make my dad proud.”

“Did your mom come with you then?” Serenity asked, a bit hesitantly.

“Nah,” Velyn said, still smiling, “she settled down in Swordhaven. She runs a little repair shop there, doing odd jobs for whoever comes in. She seems happy as she can be, y’know? She pushed me to come on this journey in the first place.”

Serenity moved her left hand on the table and let it rest just on Velyn’s right hand. 

“You’re always welcome here Velyn,” Serenity said with a smile, “I’m happy we had this chance to sit down and talk. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll clean up here before I have to head up to the Guardian tower.”

“Oh, I don’t mind helping you clean up,” Velyn said a touch quickly, oddly very aware of Serenity’s hand on theirs.

“No, it’s okay,” Serenity replied, “I’m particular about how I like to clean the dishes.”

“Alright,” Velyn said, “In that case, what do you need to go to the tower for? Maybe I can help with that.”

“Oh!” Serenity said, standing up and beginning to grab the dishes off the table, “the inn has a bit of a ghost problem that I haven’t been able to deal with since I purchased it from the previous owners. I was just hoping that the Guardian’s would be able to help out.”

“I can help out,” Velyn said quickly, then mentally kicked themself for responding so fast.

“You can?” Serenity asked, almost dropping the plates she had picked up in her excitement, “oh that would be wonderful!”

Velyn found themselves heading upstairs a few moments later after they had gone and retrieved their sword. 

Oh I can deal with your ghosts! Velyn muttered under their breath, As if I’ve ever dealt with ghosts before. Why did I do that? Then they gave a little sigh. The first door on the right led into a broom closet, with nothing out of the ordinary inside. When Velyn entered the second door they found themself in a small room. A woman with long blue hair and an ornate blue dress stood inside. She turned to Velyn as they entered and spoke.

“Greetings traveler, have you come to rest at the inn?” She asked.

Velyn blinked for a moment before responding, “Uh, I’m sorry but, who are you?”

“My name is Mary Grey,” she said, “and I own this tavern. Or at least, I did? Things have become very confusing as of late.”

“You might be more confused than you think,” Velyn said cautiously, “The owner of this inn is Serenity and you look.. well, I can kind of see through you.”

“Ah yes, I often forget” Mary said before looking down at herself. There was a silent moment before she spoke again. “I died, didn’t I?”

“Looks that way,” Velyn said, shifting their weight uncomfortable, “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, it’s alright,” Mary responded, “At least I get to stay in the inn that my family built…and I have plenty of company.”

“Do you mean the guests?” Velyn asked, “or are their other ghosts?”

“Oh yes,” Mary said with a smile, “I feel more cognizant now that we’ve been speaking. There are other ghosts here.”

Suddenly her face fell as though she remembered something terribly sad. 

“What’s wrong?” Velyn asked.

“The sprints here are normally like me,” she began, “peaceful and happy to remain where they can roam in peace. But something has been calling them here.”

“Calling?” Velyn asked again, “What do you mean calling?”

“I’m not certain,” she spoke slowly, “all I know for sure is…Doom. Just the word DOOM.”

The two of them stood in silence for a moment, Velyn trying to understand what that could even mean. 

“I can remember who I am,” she continued, “most of the time, because I am still here in my home. But the others, the ones who have been called here, displaced, they grow angry. They lash out at the living as their minds fade.” 

Mary turned to Velyn, pleading with them, “Please help take care of them, I miss the peace of my inn before.”

“I will try my best to take care of them for you,” Velyn said, “though I’m not sure where to even start.”

“Thank you, traveler,” Mary said with a smile, “I would start in the attic. That’s where the soulkeeper resides. He is a powerful spirit that won’t go quietly, but when he arrived the rest of the spirits became agitated more frequently.”

Velyn nodded and turned to leave the room, but paused to ask, “Which direction is the attic?”

Prompt - "I never planned to stop making memories with you."

The sun had just begun to set over Falconreach and a dark mass of storm clouds loomed on the horizon. The usually cheery town was quiet this evening as the folk mourned the loss of one of their own. Behind the inn a remembrance ceremony had just begun to wrap up and people began to disperse, leaving Velyn alone with the newly carved statue of Serenity; The once owner of the inn, and Velyn’s wife of one year, three weeks and two days. 

“I,” Velyn began, but their voice broke and they had to swallow hard before making another attempt.

“Excuse me,” came a voice from behind Velyn, “I’m so sorry to bother you now, but..”

With a shaky inhale Velyn stood, then turned toward the speaker and smiled. 

“What’s going on, Spruce?”

“Oh!” Spruce gasped as the weight of the door shifted and almost closed on the green moglin.

Velyn quickly walked over and opened the door.

“Thanks Velyn,” Spruce said, looking up at the other, then into the Inn at the crowded common room. 

“It’s just, most of the peoples here, they lost their homes and, the inn’s one of the last buildings standing, but..” The moglin let out a sigh. “I’m struggling with keeping up with all the commotion and there’s another haunting upstairs.”

“Oh,” Velyn said, “I can help out with the haunting at least.”

“Would you please, Velyn?” Spruce asked, “I would be so grateful.”

Forty minutes later, Velyn stood scratching their head and looking around the attic. They had been searching everywhere but had yet to find any evidence of a haunting. 

“Am I just not looking hard enough for you?” Velyn asked, exasperated.

A small orb of bright white light began to swirl around Velyn, causing them to jump back and shout in alarm. They had drawn their sword but the orb practically exploded, blinding white light clouding Velyn’s vision. As the light slowly dimmed Velyn prepared to launch at their enemy but once they could clearly see the foe, the sword dropped from their hand.

“S…Se…,” they whispered, “Serenity..?”

There in front of Velyn stood the spectral from of Serenity, a small hopeful smile on her lips. She looked how she did the last time they had seen each other, before she had been turned into Caitiff. 

“I knew you could do it..” She spoke softly, smiling wider. “Now listen to me Velyn, before I go.”

Velyn dropped to their knees, right hand clasped tight over their mouth to deafen the sound of their sobs as they nodded.

“No matter how difficult things may seem, no matter the hardships life will put you through,” She began, “No matter how many people will depend on you, you will come through. Failing is a part of life, my love. Your mistakes shape you, but they don’t define who you will become. Because you, Velyn… are you. You are the hero. So don’t mourn the mistakes. Move on. Learn from them. And… Thank you so much for our time together… No matter how brief it was, it was the best time of my life…”

“I-” Velyn choked back a sob, “I love you so much… As a hero I’m supposed to try to always have a plan but… I never planned to stop making memories with you…”

“I know my little raven… I love you too,” Serenity said, her smile growing sad, “Don’t try to bring me back. Goodbye.” 

With that she faded once more into the small orb of light before vanishing from the room. 

Viern asleep and safe in Sunbreeze Grove recovering after having been changed into a monster against his will, suddenly cried out in anguish. Though Lady Elysia examined him as best as she could in his current state, she couldn’t find anything physically that could’ve caused the small dragon such pain.

Work sucks lmao

I still have the DragonFable brainrot and wanna write more but my time has been so incredibly non-existent outside of work that when I do have any time, I just vegetate because I'm so burnt out. Anyway, sorry guys, I have no idea when I'll get back to my larger fic but for now I'm thinking about doing small little one-off fics. Thanks for taking the time to read this. <3