Astarion is having waaaay more fun at the grove than he thought he was! He's a bit annoyed about being stuck in traffic, so to speak, but the rest has been a real treat for him!
Luckily no tieflings were physically hurt in her search, but some may have suffered some emotional damage during her interrogations --honestly I love the scene where she tells Zorru deadpan to bow. Brilliant.
The grove strikes me as this ancient place where nature has grown back in and has started to fold around it, which I figure is to be expected with druids inhabiting it. Shame they've let the place rot, though.
Dirge looks at Wyll, sees his fancy (if worn down) clothes, his clean appearance, the way he speaks, and he's like 'yup, Upper City gentry' which has got to sting a bit when you were raised in a literal sewer. Obviously, Wyll is a good guy and that will leak through into a certain half-drow's head eventually, but for now he's got years of subconscious resentment built up in thbe back of his broken brain.
I watched those kids fight the dummies and um, Wyll, you might not be the teacher you think you are (in fact I think he'd be great at it, I think they've only just started and time is of the essence). I didn't mean for it to happen, but there's a fair few hints of what Dirge expects of children, reflected from his own past, and um, none of it is great. I'm sure Bhaalists care little for the younger among them who cannot keep up -- everything has to die in the end, anyway, and maybe some of their more useless children just got a bit earlier than the rest.
Astarion just be standing back there with a bag of popcorn at this point istg -- I tried to have him be a bit serious but he refused. Having the time of his life.
Dirge's brain was pretty much in soft reboot mode from the time they rescued Shads to that night when he stepped into the river and the cold water shocked some sense back into him. He gets bits and flashes of the rest, but a lot of its whirled into just a mess of color in his head. And um, he might find he's a bit more familiar and comfortable with tadpole communication than the rest, once he's had a chance to relearn it.
And I get that Wyll's here, trying to do the right thing, but boy, your priorities are wrong -- fix tadpole THEN chase your devil!
I really felt for Doni, especially once I realized he's probably traumatized and maybe that's why he doesn't really speak, or pay attention. Also, tiefling tails are amazing but in game they're very much just there. Stiff. I don't subscribe to the thought of them being crazy flexible (like in some fanarts where they get kinks in their tail where it looks like the bones should be breaking) but if they're anything like animals, I imagine they'd show some emotion through the actions of their tails :3
' NO BAD DIRGE PUT THE KIDDO DOWN.' I lol'd hard -- kid got caught thieving, does not deserve full punishment? Dirge confus.
<3 <3 <3 I'm delighted that the scene came across the way I had hoped! Dirge did his best but having that slender little throat in his hands was a big temptation -- doesn't help that he knows very well how fun it is to snap spines like that goblin's earlier. Surely no one would miss this random orphan, yes?
Wyll is a bit tricky compared to the people I usually write, but it feels like he gets a poetry to his thoughts all on his own, and its a really fun space to explore. I thought it might be nice to see how the party is looking to fresh eyes as well :D Plus, lets be honest, they need a few more people with wilderness survival experience they're going to get themselves killed!
Im convinced now that Gale is the mother hen of the group when it comes to proper mealtime at least, and Lae'zel doesn't want to see her trainee's hard work go down the drain because he can barely handle a bowl of stew >:/ It's not like she actually has a vested interest and is starting to care about these faerunians, nope.
I wasn't sure if I should throw Saren in, but I figured Wyll had to have met someone somewhere who had a head injury at some point, and that would probably help him understand Dirge a bit better. Now, of course, what the rest of the group doesn't know is that it's not a regular head injury Dirge is dealing with (and its not just the addition of his urges either), but the rest of the group would probably benefit from some starting point of understanding.
I want a shirt that says 'Chew Ulcer' but I think people would misunderstand and stare at me very strangely xD
I've been wanting to avoid flashbacks unless they're part of a tadpole sequence or maybe other set circumstances, which is why there's that weird reverse overlap with Dirge going to sit down, talks with Ethel, Gale comes and joins, and then in the next scene Gale's still with Shads and hasn't gone to sit down yet, but I figured with Kagha/Nettie scenes we could have a few different perspectives on them -- Im so happy that it came across feeling natural, I was worried it was one of those jagged edges that wasn't going to feel right xD
Wyll's thinking the goblin camp is gonna be like 5 tents and maybe like 20 goblins and this is gonna be easy -- no one said anything about a whole colony of them taking control of an old Selune temple!
And Astarion wanted to bitch for his pov so I figured he should have the opportunity -- honestly, Cazador's palace looks awfully and dingy and the man obviously has no taste. Astarion and Shads even mention how awful it smells Dx It would be horrendous, I think, if the people who've gone through a nautiloid and a mind flayer colony are like "mm yes, this smells awful."
Early game Astarion must be just a bundle of nerves -- got monster hunter man joining the group, you got brain worms that will transform you into horrific monsters, and oh hey what if Cazador comes a knocking? Now he's just gotta retrain his brain not to refer to that creature as 'Master', anymore. Some days are harder than others!
What better book for two nerds (even if one is a secret nerd who likes to pretend he doesn't spend all of his time in camp reading books) to bond over than the monstrosity that is the eel book?
Astarion figures the statistics are in his favor! Certainly, nothing can go wrong with his amazing plan! (But wait till he gets a bite of that sweet sweet divine blood >)
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! <3 I had so much fun this evening I can't even believe, and its always a delight to see your take on things :D I really like discussing all these nerds and all their stupid antics <3 <3 <3
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KohKoh on Chapter 4 Mon 21 Oct 2024 01:04AM UTC
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