The Necromancer and the Orchid Prince: Part 8

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Okay! The ‘bad end’ is here, with all the drama and suffering that entails. What, I cried myself to sleep for a week after I found out how HoT ends, I’m not gonna waste that emotion even if I’m going to fix it in the ‘good end’! I may have gone too far in the future since I don’t even know how PoF ends but I couldn’t let my poor boy be shattered forever. If you’re not here for sadness, then skip to the next chapter! : )

Caoilfhionn’s catharsis gets soundtracked to Petrichor by The Rise Undaunted and also to Answer by Bump of Chicken.

Contents:
– 1: Tiachren
– 2: Caladbolg
– 3: Canach

Part 7: The Bitter End

 

Part 8: The Strength to Live

1: Tiachren

He woke to find himself lying upon damp earthen ground, and sucked in a heaving gasp of air. How sweet it was, after such exertion! Even down here, where it smelled of decaying plant matter. He had truly pushed himself to the brink and it was good to wake and rest.

But Trahearne! He sat up, a little woozily as his sap took a moment to adjust its flow, and then pushed himself shakily to his feet. Continue reading →

The Necromancer and the Orchid Prince: Part 7

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The rest of HoT up to the final battle, but not the final moment. I’m writing two endings, a ‘bad end’ because I don’t want to miss out on the delicious drama that comes with it, and a ‘good end’ where Caoilfhionn overcomes even the final obstacle preventing him from being able to earn a happy ending. Schrödinger’s Trahearne, if you will. : P

Soundtrack for the Mordremoth fight is Between Heaven and Earth, both Rain and Thunder (although I think it’s actually the Storm track, not Thunder as it says in the video), though the only YouTube source I can find that has both also has Blue Skies and a Battle mixed in because they’re variants of each other. It’s all good!

Contents:
– 1: Farewell to Ruadhan
– 2: The Final March
– 3: Hearts and Minds

Part 6: The Agony of Hope

 

Part 7: Hearts and Minds

1: Farewell to Ruadhan

The Exalted allowed the Pact to rest at their city, and the army came in gratefully, eager to catch a bit of rest and a couple good nights of unstressed sleep after more than three weeks of constant fighting. The quartermasters and cooks got together to prepare a veritable feast, and morale was as high as it had been since they left Camp Resolve. The Priory members, naturally, rambled the city, asking questions of every Exalted they came across, and Annhilda had to caution them not to be annoying. Continue reading →

The Necromancer and the Orchid Prince: Part 6

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The first half of HoT, because doing the entire thing in one go was 45+ pages long and that’s a bit much even for me. (After editing it’s come down to closer to 40 pages but still splitting it up is probably nice.)

I did not kill off Eir, because she’s too cool to kill off like that; she deserved better even in-game. Can’t believe she couldn’t fight back even a little. I’ve been getting further into LW3 and I realize this is going to change Braham’s storyline drastically, but I don’t see a real problem with that yet. I guess it gets labelled ‘canon-divergent’ at that point.

Another canon-divergent bit: Malyck. I was disappointed not to see him again. But if he does come back in future story updates, I can always edit!

Contents:
– 1: The Agony of Hope
– 2: What a Lark This Is!
– 3: Eir
– 4: The Golden City

Part 5: The Dragon’s Reach

 

Part 6: The Agony of Hope

1: The Agony of Hope

He was numb as he knelt helplessly on the clifftop; before him flickered an endless sea of leaves and flames. His sap was frozen within his veins, his breath choked off in his lungs, and there were tears in his eyes. All he could do was stare in disbelief and fear. The Glory of Tyria was impaled in three places, held aloft by vines of the same girth as the Pale Tree, her lovely dragonfly wings shattered. She was lying on her side, no sign of movement on her decks, and the fire still burning within suggested that there were no survivors on her now. Continue reading →

The Necromancer and the Orchid Prince: Part 5

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Here comes LW2! Ugh it’s actually pretty well written in-game (some minor nitpicking about logistics aside) but it was actually a pain to write? It’s probably because I’m losing steam. I’ve started on LW3 in-game and so far that’s been fun! I don’t know if I’ll have the interest to write the sequel starring Damara just yet but if I decide I just don’t have the interest then I’ll put down my ideas at the end of the last chapter of this story.

With this chapter I tried to make clear more how the PCs are involved in the Pact in the Silverwastes. It felt a little in the game like the Pact Commander shows up well after Trahearne’s already got everything underway, which seems irresponsible. I also felt the final attack needed more explaining, it seems a bit hare-brained in game. Also on a character-driven note, Caoilfhionn cries when he tops but as a bottom he’s more mischievous. ;D I did use a soundtrack for the final dragon fight, Chasing Daybreak.

Thank you Tharash for beta-reading! “Can I call your plant romance ‘sappy’?”

I’ve been getting slowly more and more invested in Critical Role and I’m really upset about Molly, how dare he be so beautiful and fun and kind and also dead.

Contents:
– 1: A Leader Will Die
– 2: The Eternal Alchemy
– 3: Gathering the Cast
– 4: The Dragon’s Reach
– 5: The Silverwastes
– 6: Caithe
– 7: A Fleet of Airships

Part 4: The Day the World Ended

 

Part 5: The Dragon’s Reach

1: A Leader Will Die

Taimi was in a good mood as she puttered about Scarlet’s student room, rushing from object to object as quickly as her body would let her. “Do you realize the historical significance of this whole find?” She picked up a gear, turned it over rapidly, put it down and flipped through a pile of notebooks beside it. “Not to mention the salvage rights. I’ll be writing papers, treatises, and dissertations on this until I’m eighty!” Continue reading →

The Necromancer and the Orchid Prince: Part 4

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Bit of a shorter chapter, since when I can’t play LW1 myself it’s a bit less inspiring. I still recommend watching the 3.3 hour ‘movie’ on YouTube! Reading the summary on the wiki really helps bring home just how long it was spread out, though. It’s basically a year and a half before LW2 starts up.

The first part should be soundtracked with Our Shangri-La (although I think I’ve used it for another couple? I can’t remember who, though). I may have painted Southsun to be a bit more controlled than it really is… Exploring it alone as an elementalist is kind of torturous, and there isn’t actually a romantic hot-spring grotto somewhere (but there SHOULD BE). Besides, with what’s coming up, the boys need all the happiness they can get – GW2 is a very stressful and tragic game if you actually live inside it. The other soundtrack you need is Twilight of the Gods and I don’t think I need to tell you when to listen to it. XD

Contents:
– 1: Honeymoon
– 2: The Day the World Ended
– 3: Set In Motion

Part 3: Victory or Death

 

Part 4: The Day the World Ended

1: Honeymoon

Time passed, but hardly any of it was spent in idle contemplation. Caoilfhionn and the rest of Hope’s Legacy traveled Tyria, helping anyone who asked for it and putting down evildoers. They’d met so many new people, including Braham, Eir’s son, a passionate young Norn with a laugh almost as big as Rhyoll’s, and Rox, a kind Charr ranger; both of them had become very close with the guild, and though neither had been formally invited or inducted, they were as much Caoilfhionn’s companions as any of the others by this time. They were all pretty famous, and while not everyone was a fan of being recognized, Caoilfhionn thought it was nice. Continue reading →

The Necromancer and the Orchid Prince: Part 3

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Whoohoo! Progress is being made! This one is extra long (by 25%) because the 70-80 quests are actually really long! And copious amounts of fluff! Thanks again to Tharash for beta-reading and editing!

The most egregious thing that needed adjusting for me was the final boss fight, because Zhaitan goes down like a sad puppy in the game and… like… some Wyld Hunt that was. I wanted to stab the dragon myself, not watch it die by clicking the “shoot cannon” button over and over! (Also that dungeon is very slow and doesn’t have great pacing.) It was also fun to figure out how the different choices of mission could work at the same time! I also put in some cameos from other characters, some of them probably gratuitous.

Soundtracks used for inspiration: Fodlan Winds, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Let There Be Fire, Apex of the World, and also 打ち上げ花火 by Cellchrome (or Fireworks is what Google Translate tells me that means) which doesn’t have the studio version on YouTube, only live mall performances which are… not actually that great (sorry Cellchrome, you guys sound better on CD, I will buy all your CDs if you make them available in Canada, deal?).

I’m madly in love with Trahearne’s voice, help lol. How is it so deliciously yummy!? Cheers to Matthew Brenher for having such a magnificent voice. : )

I’m in game up to the end of HoT, so I’ll be writing at least up to that point.

Contents:
– 1: Strength of the Firstborn (Forging the Pact)
– 2: The Second Loss (Level 70 quests)
– 3: Comfort (The Battle of Fort Trinity)
– 4: Strike Boldly (Level 80 quests)
– 5: Love Requited (The Cleansing of Orr)
– 6: Victory or Death
– 7: Meet the Family (Basegame Epilogue)

Part 2: Hope’s Legacy Continue reading →

Trash-Hobo of Ishgard

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Couple years ago I purchased one of those awesome Kai-Arts figurines of Estinien from FFXIV, and it was pretty gorgeous when it came, but I couldn’t help but notice that the silver detailing was a bit dull and hard to tell apart from the rest of the armour. So I told my dad, who has a variety of metallic silver paints and offered to let me use them, including the Chromiest of Chrome paints (example) which I ended up using for all the bladed parts. The other silver details I used more normal model-car silver paints. With a black wash to bring out details it looks twice as fantastic as before! Click for larger pictures:

Continue reading →

The Necromancer and the Orchid Prince: Part 2

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This one goes up to the end of the level 60 quests, and Caoilfhionn is actually in-game half-way through the 80 quests. Zela, my main, is almost up to Heart of Thorns.

Reminder that ‘Caoilfhionn’ is pronounced ‘kee-lin’, though I’m strongly considering changing it to Caolán, at Tharash’s suggestion. Also Tharash edited the dialogue for his characters again, whoohoo!

Contents:
– 1: Raven’s Shaman (Level 40 quests)
– 2: Ghosts and Guns (Ascalon Catacombs)
– 3: Hope’s Legacy (Caudecus’s Manor)
– 4: Hearts That Beat (Twilight Arbour)
– 5: The Fall of Claw Island (Level 60 quests)
– 6: A Slow Blossoming (Level 60 quests)
– 7: The Marshal of the Pact (Level 60 quests)
– 8: Your Place is At My Side (Trahearne)

Part 1: A Valiant’s Quest

 

Part 2: Hope’s Legacy

1: Raven’s Shaman (Level 40 quests)

Returning to Lion’s Arch was less of a culture shock this time. Caoilfhionn knew what to expect, both from the surroundings and the people, and he didn’t so much as jump when a Norn staggered past him in the outskirts, waving a tankard and bellowing insults to everyone she saw. The centre of town was more peaceful, with more… ‘ordinary’ people gathering near the beautiful lion fountain. Now that he looked at the place from a new perspective, it was not overwhelming at all. People thrived here, Sylvari included. The gulls stirred his heart, the towers of masts and rigging, the slosh of the waves against the docks, the smell of seaweed. Continue reading →

The Necromancer and the Orchid Prince: Part 1

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So… I got back into GW2… to have something ‘new’ to play with Tharash (we actually played it a few years ago, but due to a glitch with a cutscene we stopped abruptly and never returned until about 6 weeks ago) – and… well… I fell in love again at level 60. So I wrote about it.

I wrote, in fact, 20K words (so far) of random fluff and adventure about my Sylvari knight, Caoilfhionn the Orchid Prince, and his falling in love with the “””creepy””” (charming, nerdy, awkward, adorable) necromancer Trahearne. Caoilfhionn is pronounced “kee-lin”, according to the internet, because Irish (one of the Sylvari linguistic inspirations, along with Welsh) is like that. If you’re Irish or familiar with it (I am not?) it is actually a feminine name, because I was going to make a female Sylvari, but I didn’t really like the female Sylvari voice (and it’s Jennifer Hale? But it just didn’t fit the aesthetic I wanted (speaking of voice actors HOW is Matt Mercer the male Norn PC? It sounds nothing like him! He’s so good)) or most of the default faces as much as I liked the male Sylvari voice (much sweeter! Even if it lacks energy a lot of the time) and default faces. And I still liked the name, and have no gender associations with it, so I hope you can forgive me for using it anyway.

I’ve completed the basegame story, up to Victory or Death, so please no spoilers, I like finding out Caoilfhionn’s reactions in real-time. Scenes skip around because the actual story of GW2 is… spotty in quality and pacing, and I didn’t feel it was worth the effort to fix everything, so you will probably enjoy this fic more if you’ve played the game than not. This section goes up to the end of the level 30 Sylvari quest, with hints of other simultaneous level 10-30 questlines.

This story involves Tharash’s input and characters so heavily that it’s very nearly co-written – at least, all the non-fluffy parts are co-written. I have a good sense for Sylvari culture, but for example all the Asura dialogue is by Tharash, because I haven’t a clue with those hilarious little twerps. As you might expect, he has no personal interest in a romance with Trahearne, so those parts are ALL ME. (also here is a picture of his immediate siblings!)

Caoilfhionn probably listens to a lot of Enya.

It’s a nice break from Murlesson’s story! I’m not editing this too closely, I’m not trying to push it to a higher level (like with SWTOR or MEA), I’m just having fun putting some OCs in a really neat world. And Caoilfhionn falls in love at first sight, because of course he does. Like, that’s actually a Sylvari thing. Continue reading →