Recruiting Kaidan/The Vampire Reveal

Recruiting Kaidan/The Vampire Reveal

     Ravenna never planned to take Kaidan up on the offer to repay his perceived life-debt to her. She feels a bit differently now.      It’s not as if her thoughts on the subject have changed, necessarily. When they parted ways before, she had insisted that she had only done what anyone would do if they found another person in such a state. It was - she hesitates to say human nature, because she is not human, but common decency, she supposes. It was the right thing to do, she had thought then, and it’s what she thinks now. Kaidan owes her nothing. But things have gotten complicated. The Vigil knows.      Kaidan hears the door to the inn open, sloshing steps walk towards him. “Kaidan,” he hears, “Can we talk?”  Kaidan turns, and, soaking wet, with an arrow sticking out of her shoulder, and bloody in several places besides, stands Ravenna. Her clothes are soaked dark red and brown, and, despite himself, Kaidan swears at the sight of her. “Fucking hell, you want to talk?” “Yes,” she says, gazing at him with misplaced guilt, “Somewhere else though.” Ravenna watches Kaidan’s whole face scrunch, as he rises from the tavern bench. As they walk to the cemetery, Ravenna takes a pause to pull out and discard the arrow in her shoulder, and it leaves a large, gaping wound behind, but she doesn’t seem bothered by it. Rain is the only ambient noise to penetrate the weighty silence between them, but it is not uncomfortable despite the tension.      Ravenna isn’t sure what she’s going to tell him, but if she’s to die, she’d like to at least have a say in how.      Kaidan isn’t sure what circumstances may have brought her back to him, but he can see they must be serious. It makes him apprehensive, as the realization dawns on him that he has no way of knowing what he may be getting into.  “So, are you still being hunted by Thalmor?” Ravenna asks as she picks a wall, surrounding, but not part of, the cemetery, and hops onto it to sit. Kaidan leans back against it and crosses his arms. “Of course I am. If those bastards want something and think they can get it from me, I’ve no doubt they’ll try to find and capture me again. But you’re not just making smalltalk, are you?” Ravenna shakes her head. “No,” she replies solemnly, “I am not.” Kaidan sighs heavily. “Out with it then.” “I am being followed by an organized group as well.” “And I had put together as much. Who are they? What help do you need from me?” Ravenna looks anxious, and Kaidan thinks the expression suits her poorly. “I just need you to help me get away from them. Hopefully there won’t have to be any confrontation,” she picks at her gloves while she answers. “You still haven’t told me who these people are,” Kaidan points out. "You won't like what I tell you," is her reluctant and guilt-ridden reply. Kaidan furrows his brow, unsure of her, but nods for her to continue. "The Vigil of Stendarr are the ones hunting me," she finally answers, avoiding his eyes. "So you’re saying you worship Daedra?" he asks, and she flinches, face pained. "No," she begins, "I'm saying I am a vampire." "Shor's Bones, are you serious?" "Look, I understand if you can't help me because of that," she says defensively, shuffling away from him where she sits, nervous, "But I had no one else to go to. I have no one else."     Just like him, Kaidan thinks unbidden, remembering being trapped, cold and injured and alone in that prison, until Ravenna Rosewood walked in and got him out, no ulterior motive and asking nothing in return until now, when she, too must struggle against a group who wants her dead at best and has no one to turn to. No, absolutely not. He is not considering this. "Do you really think I'm about to save the life of something that feeds on the blood of the innocent?” "I don't feed on innocents. I want regular people to live their regular lives undisturbed. Improved, even, if I can help it. I only feed on bandits and criminals, other sorts who so often prey on the innocent. Not so different from bounty hunting you do, even." She does make eye contact as she explains that, and her face and voice are steady. She expresses no ticks that might indicate she's lying. Fuck. Dammit. "And if I save you now, how do I know after we part ways that I'm not releasing a monster into skyrim where I could have prevented it instead?" "You don't," she says, "just like when I freed you from the Thalmor I had no way of knowing if I was letting some criminal thug loose back into the world. Kaidan, awful people come in all shapes and sizes. Being good is not exclusive to being human, and likewise, being evil is not exclusive to being undead."      ... Fuck, is he really gonna do this? He thinks of all the people who he's been before. He has not been a good person. Does he really have the right to pass that judgement on her just for what she is, when he himself has probably been someone just as awful, or even worse? He scrubs a hand over his eyes. "Alright. Fine, I'll help," he relents. Ravenna's whole face lights up with hope and disbelief. "You will?" she asks, floored. "Yes, I will. Don't make me regret it." "Oh, gods, no. I'll be out of your hair as soon as this is over, you'll never hear of me again. I promise," she says hurriedly, and Kaidan thinks she'd do anything he asked of her right now, but frankly, he hopes she gets over it fast. Desperation suits her poorly as well. "Let's get moving. After I collect my things from the inn, we'll move out towards the Rift. I'm no fan of the Thieves' Guild, but they can probably hide you until the Vigilants are off your trail," he tells her instead.

this guy nailed it

So I just finished Inigo's quests and I brought all my followers along. Now I can't stop thinking about it-

Langley: I am your friend, Inigo

Inigo, referring to the ldb: I already have the only friend I need.

Lucien, offended:

Langley: Oh. I didn't realize you were... an item

Kaidan, harboring secret feelings for the ldb:

Langley: I continued to track you for years...

Lucien:

Langley: All this moron can do is collect eggs!

Kaidan being protective even though he knows full well the ldb could shout Langley off the mountain:

The ldb ranting, balancing halfway up a tree: I don't fucking trust this dude, guys. He's being a real pain in the ass, and what in Talos' name does he need this many eggs for-

Serana, who's only here because the ldb was supposed to take her to find Auriel's Bow:

meet Amoranth Thomas, the Apocalyptic World Tour’s number one Murder Mommy! She is a member of the wasteland’s biggest monsterhunting faction, the Order of the Purifiers.

pass the crab to your followers

Yo I had not expected the next installment to be such a monster of a post but man I’m gettin there >:| I still gotta add like one more chunk of text I wanna do

NEXT TIME ON DRAGONBORN Z

Ravenna will be revealed as Dragonborn! A bunch of old men will send her to a tomb for a fucking instrument! Party banter and shenanigans upcoming!

"Give me that," Kaidan hisses, snatching the map from Ravenna's fingers. "Wait, I almost-" "You almost got us there four times now. Divines, woman, how many times are you going to get us lost before you let someone else navigate?" a wee excerpt from the new Friendship is Magic team stuff I’ve been working on. Ravenna is still getting the party lost on the regular