The bog was always silent in the witching hour.

There was flurry of activity, every now and then - small animals lurking in the underbrush, hidden by the mist that crept along the soggy marsh ground of the Hauntwoods. There were the branches of the leafless, dead trees that clicked and skittered together whenever the wind blew in. Faint, but ever-present traces of life that still felt muted, even in the early hours of the morning. No human dared lurk here, save the spirits that floated just out of the corners of one’s vision, or the occasional unlucky traveler that was whisked away by a ghost or swamp creature.

Everything was silent, and still.

Until Morrigan Moonweaver came stomping on the marsh, running like the devil was on their heels and intent on stealing their soul.

Well, perhaps it would be more accurate to say they were being chased by a couple of drunken thugs, but who was bothering with semantics, really? No one would be able to call them out on embellishing a story a little. But that would come much later, after they managed to escape the clutches of the three muscular, enraged villagers that were currently pursuing Morrigan and wielding improvised weapons like they held a grudge match. What in the world were they even upset about? It wasn’t even Morrigan’s fault this time!

… Okay, so maybe they’d cheated at cards a little.

Scratch that, they’d cheated at cards a lot.

Rather blatantly, in fact.

But for entirely justified reasons! It all started when they arrived at a local tavern earlier that night while stopping in the marsh on their way back home to Zeinav from Moonglade. They were utterly bored out of their mind, desperate for some kind of entertainment, when a miracle happened. A bunch of drunk guys playing cards, talking about some kind of magical treasure in the haunt! It was entirely possible they’d been talking out of their ass, but Morrigan was so utterly bored out of their skull that they thought they’d melt if they didn’t find something fun around here. So they threw their hat in the ring, wagering a small bit of coin in exchange for the location of the treasure.

And then maybe they fixed the cards so they would win.

… Then it turned out one of the guys wasn’t as inebriated as Morrigan thought and was coherent enough to catch Morrigan swapping out a winning ace from his hand into their own.

If one stopped to think about it, though, Morrigan was doing them a favor. That treasure would be better served in the hands of someone who would actually use it - vis a vis a hack desert wizard alchemist who was always looking to expand their repertoire. And if you thought about it even harder, that made Morrigan a good Samaritan, considering they often used their fake-magic and skills to make people smile. They were a good citizen doing a good deed!

Those delusions were not shared by the drunkards that would most certainly kill Morrigan if they got the chance.

Morrigan just couldn’t let them close. They had to… keep running.

Gods, how long had they even been at this?

Long enough that their legs were beginning to burn from the effort, but saving their beautiful face from getting marred by the broken scraps of metal and improvised clubs those guys were wielding was a pretty damn good motivator. And so Morrigan had no choice but to keep running through the marsh, looking for some place to hide. There had to be some giant damned bush, or a particularly large tree to duck around, or something!-

That was the precise moment Morrigan collided with something large.

And metal.

And promptly fell flat on their ass with a SPLASH into the swamp, so disoriented they saw stars. When they opened their eyes, rubbing at the side of their head, Morrigan noticed… armor? Some kind of knight? Those guys were supposed to be noble, right? Honor-bound to help those in need and all that! At last, a sliver of hope - it looked like the cruel gods had granted Morrigan a miracle! Never above begging and pleading for their life when the situation called for it, Morrigan lunged forward and grabbed onto the knight’s leg, giving the stranger the most pitiful, watery expression they could manage, not unlike a bedraggled kitten.

“Please, good sir knight, you have to help me! I’m being attacked by vicious village savages!”

Blue Raspberry walked through the marsh, trying their best to avoid sinking down into the mud and getting stuck like the last time they'd been here. Now, it was even harder since they'd gotten denser and heavier. Their heavy metal armor also didn't help at all with the problem. They'd already had to pull themself out a few times now. Actually, that was what they currently needed to do. With their legs sunken down into the mud all the way to their knees, they were preparing to extract themself, when they suddenly heard some noise from behind. The wet squishes of muck beneath feet. And it was fast! Was someone running behind them? Is there some-

Bang!

They felt something impact lightly against their back and heard the splashes of them falling to the ground. Yeah, there was something behind them after all! And it ran straight into them! Their legs still stuck and unable to turn around, they turned their torso around instead, turning it a full 180 degrees to look down at a purple Tiefling man who was dazed for a moment from smashing into the knight. Behind them, a couple more people were running through the swamp toward them. When the Tiefling regained his senses, he suddenly wrapped his arms around Blue's legs and begged for help.

The drunken villagers didn't care at all about the presence of the knight, completely intoxicated and dead set on beating the cheating bastard to an inch of his life, they ran right up to the two with their weapons at the ready. One man swung a metal pipe down, but blinked in surprise as the weapon suddenly stopped before it hit the man in the head. He looked up to see it had been caught between two metal-plated hands.

"Hi! Could you ple-" Blue's words were interrupted as the man suddenly let out a stuttering scream and convulsed for a second before launching backwards and landing in the much with a splash. Another drunkard ran forward and stabbed at them with a pitchfork, but the weapon was deflected to the side by a swing of the pipe that was still in one of the knight's hands. "Hi, could you-" The second man suddenly convulsed the same as the first one had and fell backward, unconscious.

Blue looked down to the last one still conscious beside them, the purple Tiefling man wrapped around their legs.

"Hi! Could you give me a hand getting out of this mud? I can't help you fight some vicious village savages from here!" They asked friendlily, not knowing what a vicious village savage was or where they were right now, but they'd help this guy fight them anyways!

---

Bull's Strength
Disjoint
Steel Catch
Crackling Structure

The swampy forests of the Marsh Flats don't bring much joy to Astrid Stormstone. They're dark, hard to navigate, and sometimes occasionally explode when the conditions are right (and of course, the right conditions involve having something explosive catch the methane-thick air ablaze). It's not all bad though; the terrain causes enough of a challenge, most of which she can overcome simply by flying.

Last time she was here, she was just passing through and dragging Kvasir home to Zeinav from Moonglade. The time before that she fought in the pits with Vikram... That's a thought she tries not to let linger. This time she's around looking for the old orphanage where she and Blue Raspberry met Melodia, hoping to find something to help Melodia manifest on her own at home. It isn't so much her sole purpose for coming to the Marsh Flats, though, it's just a detour while she also searches for information about the Mystical Archive for the Mage's Guild. Even if she doesn't get in because of her ties to their rival the Fighter's Guild, she wants to do something to help Cantio. Really, she should probably go home and let things settle, but instead, she's out in the world doing things on her own. 

At least, temporarily. 

In some unmarked village deep in the Hauntwood, she stayed in an inn to rest only to hear a ruckus outside. An angry group of villagers is chasing someone into the woods. She doesn't get a look at whoever they're chasing, but this kind of thing is a perfect distraction so she doesn't get lost in the rabbit hole of quiet loneliness. Luckily, she didn't doff her equipment, so she whips her freshly enchanted cape around her and teleports right outside, startling a couple of people in the streets. Then she takes off running after the villagers. 

---

Ahead of her, Astrid hears a loud metallic bang followed by desperate cries for help. When Astrid arrives on the scene, she sees the drunken villagers engaged in combat with-

Wait, that's a familiar suit of armor. 

"BLUE?!" Astrid cries in utter surprise. The villagers between her and the armored fellow whip around to see the girl who's followed them.

"Wha? Where did you come from, girl!?" One of them shouts, pointing their improvised weapon at her. 

"Well, I was followin' ya ta catch whatever criminal ya were shoutin' about," she says, pushing the weapon away without any interest in it. "An' makin' sure nothin' in the swamp ate ya... What's goin' on here?"

"This charlatan cheated us out of our coin!" the villager shouts, pointing at the cowering purple tiefling. Astrid looks past them and finally gets a good look at the conman wrapped around the ooze knight's leg. Her face immediately drops. Out of all the people in the world that could have possibly been in the middle of the Hauntwood at a tiny village conning swampmen out of their coin, somehow she is the least surprised to find Morrigan Lieweaver drenched in muddy water. 

"Oh," is about all she can muster for a good minute. It's obvious that she's considering helping the villagers beat up the conman, but that would upset Kvasir. She has a better idea. "How much coin did they swindle outta ya?"

"A month's wages!" 

"I'll get it." It's not Astrid's place to judge them for that, she's simply here to get their coin back, so she tromps over to Morrigan and Blue Raspberry and looks up at the knight. "Not sure what yer doin' trekkin' through the swamp, but I'll take this one off yer knees."

When she looks down at Morrigan, there's a shadow cast over her face and the most devious grin the girl has ever put on. Somehow her pronounced canines look especially prominent and menacing in conjunction with her silhouette adorned by horns. "Hi Morrigan," she says in a sickly sweet voice.

Astrid reaches down and grabs Morrigan by the shirt and frees their arms from Blue Raspberry's leg. Then she flares her wings out and leaps a good fifteen feet into the air, turns the con artist over, and shakes them by their ankle until coins rain down from their pockets over a dry patch of land for the villagers to collect. The drunkards immediately dive down to collect their money, and Astrid looks down at Morrigan. 

"What d'ya have ta say fer yerself?" 

---

Displacer cloak - Blink
Bat Wings [post 1/3]
Bull's Strength 

Had. Had that knight been facing the other way just a second ago?

No, Morrigan’s mind must have been playing tricks on them. They’d had a few drinks back at that tavern, after all, and then the running probably hadn’t helped any. The knight could have been some weird monster under that suit of armor for all Morrigan cared if it meant they were going to get saved. And by god, that knight was beating the shit out of them like they were nothing. Two of them were already unconscious and the knight hadn’t even broken a sweat!

“Yes! Get them!” Morrigan screeched, still clinging to the knight’s leg, every bit the picture of a wilting damsel in distress currently very much enjoying watching those drunk thugs get walloped by this guy. The drunkards had been nearly taken care of, when all of a sudden, a startled cry cut through the air, catching everyone’s attention and bringing this farce of a battle to a halt. The voice sounded almost familiar, ringing a bell in Morrigan’s mind, but they couldn’t quite place it. And why the hell were they calling out colors? Morrigan followed the sound of the voice, peering around the side of the knight’s leg, when they spotted a small figure bounding up to the group…

Oh, dear gods.

Not her.

Anyone but her.

But the gods, apparently, had heard quite enough of the charlatan’s incessant whimpering and pleas for help that night, because while they’d sent Morrigan Moonweaver an angel in the form of a knight in glimmering armor, they’d also sent a devil in the form of a horrible little prepubescent girl who seemed to take personal delight in making Morrigan’s life a living hell.

They were so startled by her sudden appearance that for a moment Morrigan was convinced that this was nothing more than a vision, a figment of their imagination. It had to be. After all, shouldn’t she be off with her hot witch grandma and her adoptive dad up in… wherever the hell she lived? Yeah, she wasn’t really here. Morrigan was just having some swamp hallucination.

And then one of the still-conscious drunkards started actually speaking to Astrid Stormstone and any hope that the tiny little terror was simply a dream shattered.

“Oi! It’s not even like I had to try that hard to cheat when you were half passed out in your drink!” Morrigan protested before they could even think about the words that were leaving their mouth, or the people that were listening. “I mean…” They glanced at Astrid, hastily amending their statement. Backtrack, backtrack. “I didn’t even cheat! You lot were so sloshed you started seeing things and got paranoid!”

Astrid Stormstone, unfortunately, didn’t seem to believe them in the slightest. There was a dangerous look in her eyes when the thugs mentioned that Morrigan had managed to win an entire month’s wages. Which - really?- it didn’t feel like all that much when they’d won the game. “Lies! Lies and slander!” They protested, but then Astrid Stormstone approached the knight they were still hidden behind, a horrifying look on her face that said Morrigan was about to face her judgment… and her wrath.

Morrigan Moonweaver did not fear any singular god or man - not truly. They’d faced down the likes of Kasra, Red Rogue thieves, angry mobs, and information brokers. All of whom were leagues more powerful than them. And none of them had ever been able to strike true, genuine fear into Morrigan. But in that moment - that one single second - they feared Astrid Stormstone.

Ginma, I am so fucked.

That was their last rational thought before gravity gave out from under them and they were hoisted into the air by tiny, vengeful, vicious little hands. “Ack- hey, watch the shirt, little lady!” They protested, kicking their legs and waving their tail uselessly in the air while they tried to escape her grasp. And then, as if this humiliating situation couldn’t get any worse, Astrid Stormstone flipped them around until they were dangling upside down and shook them like a dog flung around a chew toy grasped in its maw.

Unfortunately for them, they hadn’t had time to fully tuck their winnings into their pouch, so their solars had been tucked into their loose pockets, leaving ample fortune to rain upon the knight Sir Blue or whatever the hell his name was, as well as the drunkard villagers. The remaining men that were awake dove to collect the fallen coin from the poor, unfortunate Morrigan pinata, while they were still being held upside down by Astrid Stormstone. The blood was beginning to rush to their head now, making it difficult to think.

But they were still awake enough to petulantly cross their arms, tail swishing back and forth like an annoyed cat. “Joke’s on you, I wasn’t even really in it for their money, anyways. Those guys had some information about a magical artifact buried around here that I was after. They can have their wages, no big deal. It was all just a bit of harmless fun. Now will you put me down now, little miss Astrid Stormstone?”

Blue looked up at the shout of their name from a very familiar voice.

"ASTRID?"

They raised a hand to give a wave, realized they were holding a metal pipe in it, and waved their other hand instead. They hadn't expected to see her at all, but of course they were always happy to see their best friend! She didn't exactly seem happy to see the man currently wrapped around the ooze knight's legs though for some reason.

After a short conversation with the man's friends, she offered to take the man off Blue's knees and pried the purple Tiefling from their backwards legs. She hoisted him up into the air where she shook him like Cantio would sometimes take the rug outside and shake the dirt from it. That's a weird way to greet someone. They did seem to know each other though. Maybe it was like one of those secret handshakes they'd heard about. They should come up with on they could do with Astrid! It sounded fun! Maybe not this one though...

Coins plinked off of Blue's helmet and pauldrons, a couple managing to fall into the gap in the top of their cuirass and disappear into the armor. The villagers grabbed the coin quickly, paying the knight no heed as they recovered as much of their wages as they could.

When the coin stopped falling, they seemed satisfied enough to leave. Either that or they just didn't want to deal with this anymore. The knight defeating two of them while barely moving was one thing, but now there was a little girl with a devil's horns and wings treating the Tiefling man like a ribbon. Nope. It was time to leave. A couple of them lifted the two unconscious ones onto their backs and ran off. They didn't even bother picking up the fallen pitchfork or asking for the pipe back. Well, it was Blue's now. They shoved the metal pipe right down into the gap in the top of their cuirass.

"Astrid! What are you doing here? Can you help me get out of this mud? Everyone else kept ignoring me when I tried to ask! Can you believe it? Is this guy your friend?"

With Morrigan freed of their coin and their dignity, they remain adamant that this was all part of some grander scheme. She could put them down, but it sounds like they have information about something she was also looking into. "Stealin' from people's a bit of harmless fun, is it?" she asks with a challenging smirk. "So's hangin' ya on a tree like laundry out ta dry. How d'ya feel about that?" 

“It wasn’t like they were going to do anything with that money except blow it on more spirits!” They protest, tone strained as if they were stamping down their mounting nerves and nausea from being suspended upside-down for so long. “What’ll it take to get you to put me down? More money? Chocolates? … Kids like candy, right?” Their eyes light up as an idea occurrs to them. “Oh - even better! I could take you to find this treasure myself!”

"Now yer talkin'." Astrid flips the tiefling over to grab the back of their shirt then lands on the ground. She sets Morrigan down just slightly in some swamp water but in a spot that might make it seem like she intended to set them fully on dry land. "There ya go." It's just condescending enough to be grating.

Satisfied with the amount of chaos and with the villagers gone, Astrid looks over at Blue Stuckberry. "Aye, I can help ya!" she says cheerfully, hopping back into the air to avoid the swampy waters and getting stuck herself. Taking Blue's hands, she tries to pull them out of the muck but only ends up stretching their blobby limbs somewhat. That's not going to work.

The winged half-dwarf hovers in the air scratching her head for a moment before she decides to just land and grab one of the knight's greaves and pull it out with all her might. With a schlorp, it frees itself. She of course, sinks into the mud with the effort. Still, that shouldn't be a problem. She has the ooze put their free foot on her knee, and she works the other foot from the mud until it's released. 

Now what? 

Astrid decides the best option is to cheerleader-throw the knight over to the dry spot beside Morrigan. It's clunky, but it works well enough.

Now that she's good and stuck, she tries to free herself. Best not to waste time. The dark purple cloak on her shoulders shimmers, and suddenly Astrid disappears and reappears behind Blue and Morrigan. After folding her wings under her cloak, she shakes her boot to get some mud off of it, flinging bits on Morrigan whether intentionally or not.

"What the heck are ya doin' out here anyway?" she asks, looking to her ooze best friend. "They probably weren't ignorin' ya. They were just real mad, and this one wouldn't have been able ta help ya out even if they wanted ta." Astrid jabs a thumb in Morrigan's direction. "We've met before. They're Kvasir's... not-theyfriend. Wouldn't call us friends, though."

---

Bat Wings [post 2/3] - ended early.
Displacer Cloak - Blink

This was it.

This was how Morrigan Moonweaver died.

At the hands of some maniac who shared the same proclivity for tormenting others as her grandmother did, while lacking any of her coy subtleties. While Morrigan was not above groveling for their life - as they did while Astrid Stormstone threatened to hang them from the tree branches like some woman’s wrinkled blouse - but that didn’t mean it wasn’t utterly debasing.

So this is what my life has come to. Appeasing some psycho ten year old with promises of sweets and magical riches untold just so she and her knight friend don’t throw me to the wolves.

At least she seemed interested by the offer, enough so that she abandoned her mission of cruel and unusual torment to flip them around and drop them back on the ground.

In the water.

“Oh, come on, there was no way that was an accident.” Morrigan groaned to their utterly uncaring and unfazed audience, who had already moved over to the stuck knight in the mud. Blue, they thought she called them? And what kind of name was Blue anyways? It was just… a color. “So you two know each other then, great. What a wonderful, heartfelt reunion- waitwhatthefuckareyoudoing—!”

They had to scramble away to avoid getting squished to death by the giant suit of armor currently hurtling in their direction with the force of a speeding comment. Astrid Stormstone wasn’t just out to humiliate them, she was out to murder them!

They pulled themselves to their feet, brushing off gunk and grime from their jacket and shirt in a thoroughly useless manner, considering it would probably require a miracle to clean these damned clothes. “I beg your pardon.” They sniffed. “I’ll have you know I am quite capable of lifting this…” They turned to the knight, “What did she say your name was again? Blue?” Eh, it didn’t matter. “Just hold still for a moment, if you’d please.”

They reached for their bag and downed a potion from a small, crystalline flask before cracking their knuckles, shaking out their muscles in preparation, and moved over to lift up the man in the suit of armor over their head.^[1] The good news was that they did manage to do so, albeit with incredibly shaky arms and great physical strain. The sight was definitely far less impressive than their boasting implied and likely only served to lower Astrid’s estimation of them, but none of that truly mattered in the face of proving a point. Morrigan flashed Astrid Stormstone a smarmy look, twig-arms trembling from the weight. “See…? Perfectly capable of… hff… lifting him.”

And then they placed him back on the ground before their poor little body gave out from under them.

“Sorry about that, friend!” They offered their hand for the knight to shake. “Many thanks for your assistance in dealing with those men. My name is Morrigan Moonweaver - enchanter, diviner, godslayer, creator of miracles and maker of elixirs most wonderful.” They resisted the urge to roll their eyes at Astrid’s introduction. “And this one is right, if not over-exaggerating. We share a mutual acquaintance and have met once before, but our path to friendship is… filled with many hurdles.”

They shot her a sour look.

“But that little incident is all water under the bridge now, isn’t it? We’ve all made up and everything is now peachy keen and wonderful as we go on that treasure hunt, yes?”

---

1. Bull’s Strength Potion

Blue Raspberry flew through the air and landed clumsily next to Morrigan, splashing some more mud onto their armor and the skittering Tiefling's clothes. It was especially clumsy since their legs were still backwards. Their armor was already covered in so much mud, Blue didn't really mind the mud splashing onto them at all. When they regained their balance and turned their torso back the right way, Blue turned around and was about to give Astrid a thumbs up, but she suddenly vanished and reappeared behind them. They turned to her again and gave her the thumbs up.

"Thanks!" Blue didn't question the teleportation at all. Astrid always seemed to have learned new tricks or gotten some new equipment whenever they met up again. The thing that surprised Blue was that this guy apparently wasn't her friend.

"Wait, if you're not friends, then why do you have a secret handshake? What's a not-theyfriend? Is that better or worse than a best friend?" They'd never heard of a not-theyfriend before. Where on the scale of friendship did it fall? They knew Astrid was their best friend, but where was that on the scale? There was a lot to learn. Wait, who's Kvasir? Were they Astrid's friend too? How many friends and not-theyfriends of Astrid's did they not know?

The ooze was brought back out of their confused thoughts by Moorigan asking their name and for them to... stay still while they picked them up? Well, okay. They didn't see why not!

"Yup, Blue! Blue Raspberry!" Blue said while hitting their fist to their chest with a clang. "Uhhh, okay! Sure!"

The knight let Morrigan sweep them off their feet, one hand under their knees and the other under their back like the knight was a princess. Well, try to. Even with the aid of whatever they just drank, the high density ooze in heavy metal plate that was nearly a foot taller and twice as wide as them was far too heavy to lift. Blue's armor vibrated as Morrigan's arms trembled and they weren't even a foot off the ground. They started to feel bad for the Tiefling. They'd never met someone so weak before. They should help!

A blue-scaled snake tail slithered out from under their chain skirt and pushed against the ground as subtly as they could manage. Slowly, Morrigan lifted them higher into the air as the tail supported the weight for them.

"Look Astrid, they're doing it completely by themself, right? They're so strong!"

---

Prehensile Tail

Morrigan's insistence that they're oh, so powerful only makes Astrid look even less impressed with them than she's ever been. She watches the con artist down a potion then still struggle to lift the admittedly heavy knight above their head. "Uh huh... Very strong," she muses, an eyebrow arched with her eyes looking bored. "Last time I saw ya, ya could barely help Kvasir stumble over ta the couch. S'pose ya could do just about anythin' if ya had the right potion fer it, though. Bit of a tail supportin' ya don't hurt either, now do it?" Her eyes glance down at Blue's tail then back at Morrigan before they finally look like they're going to collapse.

With Blue back on their feet, she looks at her ooze knight best friend. "Ya don't hafta try an' make 'em look good," she says, a smug look crossing her face. "Though, I s'pose they could always use the help." 

If Morrigan's introduction were anymore over the top, she'd lose her composure (as if she has any left). "Godslayer?!" she cries, clearly stifling a laugh. Her fingers pressed to her lips, she turns to Blue Raspberry with eyes glimmering with absolute glee knowing that Morrigan is totally full of it, and she can prove it. "D'ya recall seein' Morrigan in the weird spacetime dimension fightin' Ziev with us?"

Astrid turns back to Morrigan with an even more devious look in her eyes. "Well, I s'pose if ya were there, then ya musta met the cult leader Scern, and ya definitely musta learned his magic spell! It goes a bit like this." 

Is Astrid going to use extremely powerful and draining magic just to make a fool of a charlatan? Yes, yes she is. 

With the snap of her fingers, red chains made of lightning burst forth from the swamp and constrict around Morrigan. Astrid does what she can to hold the spell back, mostly intending to give Morrigan a bit of a fright with it. Now that they're thoroughly made a fool of and can't escape, she looks back at Blue Raspberry. 

"Right, so ta answer yer question, that wasn't a secret handshake, I was just loosenin' the coin from their pockets fer the villagers," she says, completely ignoring Morrigan for about thirty full seconds at least. "As fer Morrigan, they're smitten fer Mister Kvasir, but neither of 'em will admit it, so they're basically boyfriends but Morrigan's a they like you so they're theyfriends, but they're not theyfriends because they won't just go on a date or whatever."

She almost finally gives Morrigan the time of day again, but she remembers to explain the concept Blue's probably not familiar with. "Oh, boyfriends or girlfriends or theyfriends are like... what people are before they're married. So like... ya know how grandpa Bellighul and grandma Kamille look at each other? Morrigan and Kvasir do that, but they're in... what would gran call it... they're in denial!" 

NOW she looks back at Morrigan. An absolute terror.

---

Scern's God Killer - 1/topic

“A… handshake? We don’t have a - whatever.” This guy didn’t seem to fully even understand what was happening right now, considering he hadn’t even blinked while Astrid Stormstone shook them down and made it rain with their hard-earned coin. “Alright then, Blue Raspberry,” And they weren’t even going to examine where in the world that weird name had come from, “Up you go!”

They managed to support the knight in the suit of armor for all of a half a second, while Blue Raspberry praised them for being strong - rightfully so!- before they had to put the guy down. Morrigan crossed their arms, feeling pretty good about themselves…

Until Astrid Stormstone opened her big, fat mouth and pointed out that Blue Raspberry had been helping them all along. Their face turned a deep shade of violet, balling their hands into fists at their sides. “Someone’s snarky because dad didn’t pack a juice box with their lunch this morning.” Any further quips were cut off by her sudden, shrill screech as she tried not to piss herself laughing at the godslayer title. Alright, hyuck it up little miss Stormstone, wait until you learn that I’ve actually gone toe to toe with A deity and come out victorious…

Wait.

“You were there at the Arid Mesa?”

Morrigan had made it there, of course. Fought off those damned cultists, only to be denied entry to whatever magical force had stolen their adventuring companions. They’d been stuck wandering those godsforsaken ruins until, all of a sudden, an army of people had appeared from out of nowhere, bloodied and fatigued, and Morrigan had only a second to hide and listen in while that strange man spoke.

Morrigan had heard everything.

They knew that those adventurers had just escaped Ziev’s clutches.

They knew that the gods were dead.

But the fact that they’d been denied part in that fight for the fate of the world - that the powers in play had decided that Morrigan was unworthy of battling the accursed deity while deciding that a literal child could challenge the gods - stung more than anything.

“Of course I saw Scern.” Morrigan wouldn’t give Astrid Stormstone the satisfaction of knowing that they’d been punted from that door like the world’s most pathetic football and had missed everything. “But I didn’t feel the need to learn his stupid spell. I don’t need to rely on the magic of others to-“

That was when Astrid snapped her fingers and the world crackled with arcane energy, red lightning burst forth from the marsh and wrapping around Morrigan, binding their arms to their sides and holding them in place. They gasped as pain wracked them, a burning sensation where the chains touched them, until it was all they could feel. Morrigan inhaled sharply, attempting to purposefully harness that strange phenomenon that happened to them occasionally… when their body absorbed magic of its own accord. But try as they might, they were too distracted by the burning pain to harness it.

It figures the one time I want to actually want to use this horrible, unwanted ability, it doesn’t even work!

They wriggled, panic beginning to set in from being restricted for so long, unable to move. “Astrid Stormstone… this isn’t funny.” They warned between grit teeth, sounding far less amused than they had earlier. “Let me go right now.”

But she’d already turned away from them, speaking with Blue Raspberry as if Morrigan wasn’t even there.

“We’re not boyfriends! And I am not some smitten lovestruck maiden! I’m not even sure where you got that delusion stuck in your head that there are romantic inclinations on either side, but it simply is not true.” The rattling of chains increased as they began to thrash as much as they could within the confines, but the haze from the pain was beginning to get to them, and the restricting feeling was crushing their lungs-

They needed to get out now.

“Okay, okay, I yield! Whatever, you win, just let me go, right this instant!” Their voice bordered on frantic, eyes narrowed as they glowered at the little hellion, looking more pathetic than ever, before turning to Astrid’s friend. “Get her to release me, please!”

Please. An uncharacteristic word for someone like them. Some might even argue that Morrigan didn’t even know what the word meant… and almost more surprising was that they’d said it to some smarmy, snot-nosed brat and her knight friend. But this time, she’d won. Whatever.

"Aw, you told them!" Blue said sadly, their tail slumping to the ground behind them and splashing a little more mud onto Morrigan without them noticing. They didn't want Morrigan to find out, that's why they tried to very subtly hint to Astrid not to say anything, but she must not have noticed.

"Hmmmm..." Blue took a step closer to Morrigan and took a close look at their face.  "I don't think so. I think I would have remembered if I saw them since their outfit's so patterny and colorful and glittery. Maybe they looked different? We both looked pretty different in there, right?"

When the chains of red lightning suddenly bound Morrigan, Blue was less horrified by a person being put through such torment and more astounded by Astrid having learned such a strong spell after only seeing it once. Also, it looked like she'd adapted it a bit! Scern's chains hadn't looked so lightningy, but these definitely fit Astrid more.

"Ooh! It looks like the Arculia's lightning!" Blue pointed to the chains while looking cheerily at Astrid, their tail swaying behind them.

They stood with a hand to the bottom rim of their helmet as they listened to Astrid spill all of the tea on Morrigan and Kvasir's not-relationship relationship, and Morrigan arguing about it, nodding along. It was a very thorough explanation that even the ooze could understand. When the explanation was complete, they put smacked their fist into their open hand. "I understand! They're not family that wants to be family! Like Melodia and Cantio! But they don't know it! Got it!" They exclaimed proudly, happy to have connected all the dots finally. Gosh, this relationship stuff was complicated! They hadn't even realized people could be in love and not realize it! Now they just needed to figure out what The Nial was and how to get out of it!

They looked at Morrigan pleading from within the lightning chains and felt a bit of pity for them. That looked like it hurt. They didn't know them that well, but they still felt bad for them and didn't think they deserved this. (They did, but Blue didn't know that.)

"Astrid, they yielded. And they said please. Could you let them out now?"

“Aye, there ya go, ya’ve got it!” Astrid says, giving the ooze a proud grin. Finally, Morrigan begs to be release, so she waves her hands and dismisses the magic holding them in place. It’s not like she intended to leave them in that position forever, especially with something as powerful as the spell can be in the wrong hands. Is she in the right to have used it on a friend’s future-significant-other? Definitely not, and it was certainly a bit cruel, but honestly, Morrigan has been a jerk, so they kind of deserved it.

With Morrigan freed of the chains, Astrid goes over and helps them to their feet, dusting them off and checking them for any grievous injuries from the chains. They seem… fine, but if they complain, she will offer up her one healing item. All this time in the Consortium, and she still hasn’t gotten any healing potions. She should get some of those!

“So, what’s this yer lookin’ fer? Cause I’m lookin’ fer a special somethin’ too,” Astrid asks. Then she looks at Blue with a quizzical expression. “And what’re ya doin’ all the way out here?”

“I don’t know where you’ve even gotten the notion in your mind that we are romantically inclined in any way.” Sure they might have lived together in Kvasir’s apothecary, and they each had their own apprentices that occupied the space too, almost in the way a family might - but that didn’t mean anything? Astrid Stormstone was just some delusional kid who didn’t know anything, and had now spread such ideals to her friend, and Morrigan was hopeless to dissuade the idea. What am I, chopped liver?

Finally, after enough begging, Astrid finally released the chains keeping Morrigan secured to the ground. The heat from the flames dissipated at once, leaving Morrigan to stagger up to the two of them with only a couple of light burns that had… much to their horror… had singed the tips of their hair. Perhaps, for a moment, one might look at them and feel some kind of goodwill for the pitiable creature. Perhaps they might even feel compelled to lend their healing capabilities to patch up the light burns. But any of that goodwill would immediately evaporate as Morrigan bent down and scooped up a bit of swamp mud before lobbing it right at Astrid Stormstone’s face.

“Ha! I was only pretending to be scared so that you would release me! Rule number one of the trade - use every tool at your disposal, and you, little Miss Stormstone, have just fallen for one of the classic blunders! I have emerged victorious this time!” They reached for their bag and pulled out a small vial of red liquid before downing it the way one would a shot glass of liquor.^[1] Their surface wounds began to close up, leaving them to throw the bottle on the ground triumphantly as if smashing it would prove their point. Only, it just kind of landed in the mud with a soft plink, not really shattering at all.

“Huh. That was kind of lame.”

But whatever! They’d gotten out of those hellish chains and were now free to wreak havoc once more. Their completely unjustified bravado, however, waned as they remembered exactly what they had been chased all the way out here for in the first place. They shifted their weight, pulling out an elaborate, lavender and black lace beaded fan before delicately fanning themselves.

“Truthfully, I didn’t get much from them before they started unjustly chasing me.” They said with a pointed look that read, bet you wish you hadn’t scared them off now, huh? “But they spoke of this… building, out here in the Haunt that had some kind of treasure that a woman had left behind before she died.” Including rare magical artifacts. “But the building got submerged, swallowed by the depths of the bog. So no one can truly get down there to find what lies beneath.” Except, of course, one mischievous charlatan who happened to have an elixir for just such an occasion.

“But what kind of special something are you even out here looking for?” They wrinkled their nose as they stared at Astrid. What the hell could possibly hold her interest out here? Some kind of magical toy?

---

1. Minor Health Potion

Blue shrugged. "Oh, nothing special really. I was just out exploring. There's a lot of dead stuff out here in the swamp just lyin' around!" Blue said with a short chuckle and patted the front of their cuirass with a few clanks. It would be easy for Astrid to pick up their extremely subtle way of hinting that they were running around eating the corpses they found stuck in the mud. They didn't really have any special goal in mind when they came to the Marsh Flats, unlike Astrid. But food was always on the ooze's mind and they didn't like to waste opportunities to eat.

"What special something were you out here looking for? I can h- ah!?" Blue's offer to help look for whatever Astrid was searching for was cut off as a glob of mud suddenly splatted across Astrid's face.

The knight stood in stunned silence as they looked at Morrigan proudly proclaiming that they'd won something and drinking a potion that made the few minor burns from Astrid's spell heal. What... What were they talking about? Why did they throw mud on Astrid's face, did they want her to attack them!? Blue hardly listened to a word Morrigan said as they were too preoccupied being worried about what Astrid was about to do next after receiving a face full of swamp muck.

Blue reached a hand into the top of their cuirass and pulled out a towel and offered it to Astrid, hoping they weren't too mad. They'd barely met Morrigan and they didn't want to see them die already. Kvasir would definitely be sad if his not-theyfriend theyfriend in The Nial died.

---

Space Pocket

Watching Blue Raspberry pat their belly, Astrid knows immediately that the ooze has been looking for a snack, and she's about to ask exactly what that is when-

SPLAT!

Mud hits Astrid in the face at close range. Well, this wouldn't be the first time someone's flung mud at her. If she didn't need her eyes closed to avoid getting disgusting swamp mud in her eyes, she'd be blinking slowly, trying to process what just happened. 

Morrigan Hellraiser really just did that. 

Honestly, she deserves it after using her spell to prove a point, but what's even better is Cantio's words playing back in her head not to stoop to someone else's level. If Morrigan wants to act like a child, then she'll let them act like a child all by themself. 

Astrid completely ignores their rambling about victories and only responds with, "Sure was," when they say something was lame. Not that she could see what exactly they were talking about, but simply insinuating that their lashing out at a literal child was lame is perfectly good enough for her. The tool at her disposal is letting the "magician" completely flop in their victory.

Blue offers her a towel, pressing it into her hands, and she wipes her face with it so she can finally see. "Thank you, Blue," she says as primly as she can. Two can play at this game, Buttface Pantsmaker. When her eyes are clear of mud, she opens them and sees Morrigan fanning themselves like a maiden. "Ah, copyin' Cantio, are ya?" Astrid snarks as she rubs mud from her hair. "I knew ya couldn't do much of anythin' original."

But she continues on as if nothing happened just now, simply allowing an uncharacteristic air of calm fall over her as she cleans up and gets the mud out from under her cuirass. "I'm out here lookin' fer an orphanage," she says. "An' while I'm at it, I'm lookin' fer somethin' ta help me da get inta the Mage's Guild so the folks at the Academy will give 'im the time of day finally. They've been a real pain in the rear, and I wanna help 'im. Besides, gran and granda are part of the guild, and I figured I could check it out too."

Astrid of course fails to mention that she's steering clear of the Fighter's Guild after The Incident.

She takes a bit of a pause upon hearing the description of the building Morrigan is looking for. "The place I'm lookin' fer is half underwater," Astrid says with a furrowed brow. Maybe they're looking for the same place? Maybe the artifact is what helped Melodia manifest on her own??