This Needs A Second Opinion. Or A Third.

This needs a second opinion. Or a third.

Hey, would any Doom players like to weigh in on a cursed question?

Iota (Part 6)

The “place” Mardan was referring to turned out to be a cave covered by a curtain of snowy vines. Mardan pushed back the curtain and waved her luminous glaive around to light up the darkness.

“Just making sure no bears moved in since I left,” she said, looking back at the other two, “Normally, they wouldn’t be a problem. I like bears, and they like me. But with all the commotion going on, they might be spooked enough to attack us on sight.”

To distract herself from the fact that she was sitting in a damp, dark cave, Ashiko checked the time on her phone. Surprisingly, the cave had a good signal. Maybe even good enough to… 

Ashiko dialed up Prince Evander’s number and waited with bated breath as the phone rang back into her ear. The answer was what she had expected, but feared nonetheless: the automated voice telling her the prince’s number was unavailable.

“Can’t expect anything to be easy, can I?” she said to herself. She laid out the bedroll strapped to her new backpack and pushed it over to Sundara, who was trying to make himself comfortable on the stone floor, warming up beside a small fire Mardan had built. The light of Mardan’s glaive cast her shadow around the corner as she checked deeper in the cave for more bears. Wordlessly, he scooted onto the padded canvas and nodded at Ashiko in appreciation. Ashiko wrapped her winter cloak around her for extra warmth.

“Where to next?” asked Sundara, “You know these countries better than I do.”

“I’m going back to the Zausch Estate,” Ashiko said, “That’s where I’ll find my answers… I hope.”

“Where can we be safe from… those folks?”

“The Blitztruppen?” said Ashiko, “Once we get to Kustestade, we’ll be in their territory. We’ll want to get out of there as soon as we can. Flugstadt has a good airport. Once I’m finished at the Estate, we can probably hitch a ride out of there to… anywhere else, really.”

“Good,” Sundara said, “That’s a plan I can get behind.” He looked over to Ashiko. He was cold and damp from the heavy dusting of snow on his shoulders. “You wouldn’t happen to have another blanket for that bedroll, would you?” Ashiko unfurled her cloak and draped it over Sundara’s shoulders.

“It gets really warm,” she said, smoothing out the flag of Kustestade embroidered on the back. “By the way, I totally would have gotten myself killed back there if you hadn’t stopped me. I owe you one.”

“I’m sure I’ll owe you back soon enough.”

A bright blue light came around the corner. “Uh, guys,” said Mardan, “There’s something back here.”

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Next Chapter

Previous Chapter

How about a Wizard Staff that is actually a big magical stick bug familiar

[ID: a banner showing a white, blue, and yellow potion bottle against a dark brown background. The white text to the right reads “A Rival Most Vial: Potioneering for Love and Profit.” end ID]

A Rival Most Vial Excerpt: Ambrose Drinking Coffee

As a reward for getting through all my re-intro posts, here’s a new excerpt I haven’t shared before!

Description: Eli has finished his first step of the commission, and heads over to Ambrose’s to see if he needs help. He has a…moment he wasn’t expecting.

Word Count: 559

TW/CW: food (coffee), romance

“Ambrose?” [Eli] walked into the shop, making sure to clear his throat before he reached the workroom door. “Can I come in? I’m headed out soon, but I wanted to stop by…”

Ambrose’s shadow made a small jump, and metal thunked against wood.

“Um…” A muffled curse and swish of robes. “Yes. You may come in.”

Eli cautiously pushed the door open. This was not Ambrose at his best. His shoulders sagged, shadows weighed down his eyes, black ink was splattered all over his hand. As he ran his fingers through his hair, he left a splotch of ink on his forehead, highlighting how pale he had grown.

“Apologies,” he mumbled. “I know I said I would be done with this in six weeks. I really thought my last method would work, but…”

The vial suddenly weighed heavily in Eli’s pocket—he didn’t want to appear like he was boasting about his accomplishment while Ambrose suffered.

Keep reading

Yes, yes, I’m absolutely this way!

*achoo!*

(mollymauk): we should settle this like civilized adults.

(caleb): i agree.

(mollymauk): so, a rap battle?

(caleb): a rap battle.