Author Answers (June)

General

Heya! for the June author Q&A #tellmeeverything. For all the ros and side characters : whos an early bird, who could sleep forever, who wakes up but falls back asleep, who wakes up at a decent hour?

Hi, this is actually already answered here! I'm just going to copy-paste and add Briony, Halek, Croelle, Prihine, and Caine!

Blade’s functional on very little sleep (4-5 hours is good for him) and actually becomes uncomfortable if he gets anything like 8-9 hours… it feels over-indulgent and actually makes him a bit restless and weird-feeling! He likes to be up at the very crack of dawn, but I wouldn't call him a morning person... he's alert, but he doesn't actually start talking or acting like himself until late morning at the earliest. He can also stay up very very late and not seem to run out of energy!

Trouble is a morning person who’s quite chipper when he first wakes up. He’s good on around 6 hours of sleep: any less and he’ll just chug coffee and be fine, any more is nice, but he doesn’t need it to be himself! He wakes up at a decent hour, not super early but by no means late, either! Depending on the mood, he can stay up until the crack of dawn (partying) or likes to turn in early (chill).

Tallys is a morning person who also gets up at the crack of dawn. However, she likes her sleep and goes to bed earlier than most in order to get 8 hours. If she gets less, she’s still as composed as ever, but she’ll crash even earlier the next night to compensate!

Shery is a morning person who loves to be up in the quiet hours of the morning (isn’t it nice that the starting 4 are all morning people?) She can function on very little sleep but prefers at least 6 to feel good about her day and herself!

Riel is a night owl who stays up all hours of the night burning the midnight oil. He gets very little sleep (3-4 and occasionally with tiny power naps throughout the day) and functions perfectly well on that–you can’t tell the difference between him with 3 hours of sleep versus him with 10)–though this does result in dark circles under his eyes and his friends worrying after his health…

Chase is a night owl who stays up all night and sleeps during the day (usually early morning to late morning/noon). He loves his beauty sleep but doesn’t often get it: he’d prefer 8 hours or more but usually gets around 6 and is fine with that. He hates the afternoons and finds the after-lunch lull very boring, so when most people are taking midday naps, that’s when he’s stirring things up!

Red is a night owl who tends to become even more awake and alert at night. It’s impossible for him to fall asleep early (his head is crowded with thoughts from the day) so he’ll usually be up late reading a book to get sleepy or wandering around the compound grazing on snacks and etc! If he gets less than 6-8 hours of sleep, he’s an absolute shambling wreck who doesn’t want to talk to anybody until he’s had some coffee or a good hot meal in him. Even then, he still sort of looks like a zombie!

Ayla is a morning person who’s up at the crack of dawn and ready to pass out right around the time darkness falls. Growing up in the desert, she would actually have the reverse routine, where all of her stuff would get done at night and she would hide out during the day, but she resented not seeing things in the light and always takes advantage of the daylight now.

Halek sleeps ALL THE TIME. He is decidedly not a morning person--he basically just grunts at you and doesn't even really open his eyes fully until around 10--but I wouldn't really call him a night owl, either... he just loves to sleep! Afternoon cat naps, sleeping in during the mornings... he doesn't tend to go to bed early at night, though, so I guess that counts as being more of a night owl? Weirdly, he gets a lot of his exercise done at night: he sleeps so much during the day that he needs to get all of his energy out and exhaust himself in order to fall asleep at night! 10 hours is best for him! 😂

Briony is usually a morning person who's very cheerful and happy and chipper (annoying to the night owls) in the mornings, but she also doesn't like getting up early. A 9 o'clock or thereabouts wake-up time is perfect for her. Any earlier than 8, and she's exhausted, no matter how much sleep she got the night before. She tends to like around 7-8 hours of sleep but is just fine on 5. She gets nauseous if she gets any less than 5. She's always one of the last people to go to bed (aside from the crazy people like Red, Riel, or Chase, who just stay up) because she doesn't want to miss out on anything and has strong FOMO if she turns in early!

Lavinet is a night owl who sleeps in late (if she’s awake to see the sun rise, she becomes very depressed). She is not a morning person AT ALL and woe to any who encounter her when she’s forced to wake up early. (Legend says in the early dawn hours you may encounter a frazzle-haired, growling creature in the halls of the Shepherds’ compound.) She needs MINIMUM eight hours to function as a person but she prefers 10! Any less than eight and you can prepare for a meltdown to happen at some point–even days later!

Prihine is also very much a night owl (I'd venture to claim that nearly all aristocrats are). She can't bear to wake up before 11 AM and needs to get at least eight hours of sleep or she's shrieking about her eye bags (this was partly why traveling with her in the caravan, which packs up at dawn, was so difficult). She thrives at night and is quite energetic, but during the morning and throughout the early afternoon she tends to be more lethargic and sedate. She's a restless sleeper and wakes up several times during the night (she has undiagnosed sleep apnea).

Croelle actually doesn't need to really sleep, just like he doesn't need to eat fruit LMAO. He enters a state of stillness for 1-2 hours a night--3 if he's feeling spiteful--but he could go two weeks without sleeping before it started to eat at him. I'm just going to leave it at that... 

Caine is currently a morning person and is very energetic and raring to go as soon as he wakes up, but as he gets a bit older, the fear is that he's starting to turn into a night owl. He likes to stay up and try to see what goes on when he's supposedly in bed, and it doesn't really affect him at all... certain persons in the Order are like OH GOD NIGHTTIME IS THE ONLY PEACE I HAVE THIS BOY CANNOT START STAYING UP PAST NINE. He keeps startling Red in the pantry and asking Shery what are all those weird noises he hears coming from the recruits' rooms that he never heard during the day, and it's stressing everyone out. He can get by on 5 or so hours of sleep, but his wee little body really should be getting 7 or 8, so Shery enforces a strict bedtime curfew... for now.

If Caine had an entire day to do absolutely anything he wanted to do, what would he choose to do and who would he choose to do it with? 💗

Breakfast: chocolate chip pancakes with everyone, extra syrup!

Morning: ask Blade and MC to teach him how to fight with swords and magic!!!

Noon: Halek bakes him a chocolate cake. Riel stops making noises about vegetables!

Afternoon: he takes Dog out and forces MC to come watch him play the Rangers of Blest card game with his friends! Trouble and Chase or Briony and Shery can come too, but they can NOT waste his time by asking him to teach them how to play! If Trouble comes, he MUST give Caine a piggyback ride, but NOT in view of his friends! He may involve them all in a mud war with some other urchins!

Sunset: Dog gets to eat a T-bone steak while Caine enjoys a big sandwich with broccoli cheese soup!

Evening: Caine gets to sit with the adults in one of the parlors and play board games with them! But NO boring games like chess or whatever Red and Riel are always arguing about! Later, when the moon is out, they will go outside and catch fireflies, and Lavinet is not allowed to scream!

Midnight: Bedtime! MC must say goodnight to him (it's NOT tucking him in because tucking in is for BABIES) and tell him a story--a REAL one, not a made-up fairytale!

How flexible are each of the ROs? 

Extremely, almost freakishly flexible--can contort their bodies and fit into spaces they really shouldn't be able to:

Chase, Tallys, Ayla

Fairly flexible--can do fairly advanced gymnastics and acrobatics:

Briony

Flexible (more spry) enough in battle, but not particularly flexible otherwise (can do backflips and handsprings quickly, but can't bend or contort their body in more ways than average):

Blade, Halek

Not really that flexible at all (can touch their toes and stuff like that, but nothing particularly impressive):

Trouble, Red, Shery, Lavinet

As flexible as a bundle of dry sticks:

Riel

hey lena! I was wondering if you could share some fun facts about Pan and Neon. super excited to read WHABH!

Hi, thank you for your support of WHABH!! 💖 And sure, let's whip up some fun facts for them!

- Pan and Neon are childhood friends. Their parents are friends, and technically are also friends with Red's parents, so Red actually met them a few times as children (essentially on family vacation) before they all wound up at the Circle together. 

- Neon had a developmental delay in his speech where he actually spoke a kind of idioglossia--his own made-up language that wasn't quite gibberish, but was nonetheless fairly unintelligible to anyone but him, including his own parents. Strangely, it was discovered that Pan could understand and translate for him just fine starting at around age 5, and Neon suddenly stopped speaking that language (alongside what amounted to speech therapy) at around 7. 

- As a fairly young Shifter child, Pan used to abruptly turn into a weasel or a ferret and hide in hard-to-reach crawlspaces whenever he got scared or stressed. Neon actually started wearing a hat (which later translated into his characteristic helmet) so Pan could hide in it, though Pan stopped the whole hiding thing around 8 and doesn't remember doing it, so he actually doesn't know why Neon wears the helmet LOL.  

- Neon is aroace!

- Pan is allergic to blueberries!

- Pan was, quite obviously, a class clown who was always goofing around and giving his teachers hell, while Neon was a teacher's pet who liked to bring his teachers apples! There was always concern that Pan was going to "corrupt" the better-behaved Neon into being a troublemaker, but it came out that Neon was actually the one putting a stop to Pan's more harebrained schemes. 

- Pan was notorious for freeing animal specimens and keeping them in his room in the Circle. You literally could not walk past his door without hearing something squeak, chirrup, croak, or otherwise.

- Being a Shifter, Pan went through a lot of wild transformations as a teenager; it became a running joke that something about him changed every other time you saw him. In the morning he'd experiment with having pink hair, a mohawk, or a pierced tongue; in the evening, he'd suddenly be blond. This drove Red crazy because some random stranger would just walk up to him and start talking, forcing him to scramble to figure out if he'd just forgotten the name of an acquaintance, but it was just Pan expecting him to recognize him by his voice. 

* - I have a NSFW fact but it'll be down in the NSFW section.

- Both Pan and Neon actually had comparable grades and were generally high achievers, though nowhere near the level of Red.

- Neon has perfect pitch and plays several instruments, though he tends to prefer the drums. 

- Pan's favorite color is deep purple while Neon's is army green. 

How would the Ros react to an MC who ate like an animal. Like they dont even realize it until someone points it out cause that's how they always ate since they never ate with people before coming to Haven. 

I wanted to clarify, by eating like an animal I meant things like taking too big of bites, eating quickly and before they've eaten everything in their mouth, stuffing their cheeks and usually making a bit of a mess. 

This would be a little bit of a turn-off:

Blade, Tallys, Briony, Red

This would be a big turn-off/dealbreaker if MC wasn't willing to take constructive feedback on this:

Lavinet, Riel

They would not care at all and/or would joke about it:

Chase, Trouble, Ayla

They would initially not notice it but would gradually start to notice more over time and become a little bit grossed out by it before going back to tolerance again:

Shery

How strong are Briony and Blade at full strength in comparison to say a Kryptonian?

Hmm, interesting question! Neither Briony or Blade are anywhere near the level of a Kryptonian (assuming the Kryptonian is in a yellow sun system). Mainly, they're not invulnerable or invincible, they can't move as fast as speeding bullets (or fast enough to turn back time or whatever that whole spiel was), they do bleed and they can't get shot in the eyes and be totally fine, and they do get tired and worn down. Generally, if you force them to run out of magic or arma, they're in trouble, but they typically make it a point to finish you off before that can happen.

I would liken Briony closer to an Amazon like Wonder Woman than a Kryptonian. At full strength, she has a similar level of superstrength, and she is durable enough to get punched through a few walls or be at the edge of an explosion and come out the other side still standing. However, like WW, she's not bullet-proof and has to rely on speed or Shields or armor in order to deflect bullets; if you shoot her point-blank or snap her neck, she's going to die.

I'd put Blade slightly above the level of a Batman or a Nightwing, but with a little more of a superpowered slant/kick. He's deadly strong, fast, and has insane and honed skills and reflexes. When he's channeling his arma in certain ways, he also has the capacity to speed up his perception of time, create lightning and rupture organs, or keep his body running--even with broken bones--in ways that Batman couldn't. However, he's not punching clear through walls or lifting buses the way Briony could unless he really exerted himself, which generally his fighting style doesn't demand.

But neither of them are invincible/invulnerable, and their speed or durability can't match a Kryptonian's.

Hope that makes sense!

What type of best friends are the shepherds?

Answered here and here! We're only missing Briony and Halek, so:

Being best friends with Briony means having someone have your back no matter what. She's a ride or die bitch and she will ALWAYS defend you (sometimes slightly to the point of enabling). "Oh you shoplifted? Well capitalism and corporations suck, am I right?? You go, stick it to the man!! Tell me next time and I'll do it with you!! Oh you killed a person?? I'll bring the shovel!!" A friendship with her is very warm and sparkling and close; she's very affectionate both physically and verbally and is always going to praise you to the high heavens as well as constantly touch you, link arms with you, snuggle, and kiss your cheek. She wants to do EVERYTHING with you, and will even invite you to do mundane things like going to the grocery store together, and a best friendship with her means there are absolutely 0 secrets between you. You will not be compatible best friends if you plan on not telling her important stuff, because her feelings will be hurt unless you had good reasons for it. She trusts you implicitly and will do everything in her power to make sure you're happy, healthy, and successful!

Being best friends with Halek is a pretty chill affair. He's kind of the Ron Swanson type, like "I spoke only six sentences to that guy and he was my best friend"--he likes to sit in companionable silence or do chill activities together like watching the clouds or smoking. He can be sensitive at times in that he notices something's up with you, but he won't outright ask you about it; instead, he'll do something to cheer you up in his own way, like suggesting you go out for a meal together or dropping a packed lunch on your desk. You'll know you're his best friend when he actively seeks you out to spend (albeit quiet) time together and doesn't just wander off when you're alone in a room together. It's fairly obvious to people who know him well, but to outsiders, it's hard to see exactly how close and intimate the relationship really is!

how would the ro's react to mc turning into a vampire? Would they kill the mc? Try to find a cure or try to live with it? ( I'm on a vampire kick after all the vampire trailers from e3 )

I guess it depends on the specifics of MC's vampirism? Do their bites turn other victims into vampires? Does MC generally have control of themselves and the same personality, or are they just a bloodthirsty monster? 

I feel like none of the ROs would jump to trying to kill MC right away if they got bit. But it really depends on the specifics of the situation to know how they'd react for sure--most likely, all of them would focus on finding a cure first! None of them would be like "I guess this is just my life now!" without at least trying to find a cure first lol!

Hello! Could we get a small fact/anecdote about the childhood or teen years of the ROs? (Only for the F!ROs if it's too much to write for them all!)

Hi there, sure! 

Blade: there was one week--ONE WEEK--in his adolescence when he suddenly shot up like several inches overnight (not literally), making him quite clumsy. His feet felt too big and he kept knocking into things, whereas before he was quite adept at fitting into places and crawling around. Eventually he threw a pan at the wall and Gladius found him in the kitchen cursing the gods for "making him too big", which earned him no small amount of teasing until things leveled out...

Trouble: there were a few disastrous times in his adolescence where he decided to just buzz his hair to as short of a length as possible, so he had a little punk buzzcut!!! It definitely made him look like a surly thug and way older than he actually was, though, so eventually he learned to grow it out if he didn't want people throwing him out of their shops out of fear he'd suddenly start smashing stuff

Tallys: she was actually known as quite a bookworm and was not very good at archery in her adolescence (by Elf standards, which means she was still better than most adult Norms). She was actually teased a lot by the other children for having her head lost in the clouds all the time, so in a fit of pique, she demanded that the Master of the Hunt teach her how to shoot better. By the time she was done training with him and had showed off her new skills, she received one marriage proposal and another heartfelt apology written over five pages!

Shery: she was bullied as a child, so she would often escape the schoolyard by "going to her plinith (piano) lessons", which actually translated to sitting in an alleyway with a bunch of stray cats and feeding them once a day! She had all their names picked out and invented whole stories about their lives... Then one day she found all of the cats gone, because a lady down the street had adopted them! That lady invited her to tea, Shery accepted, and they're still friends to this day, and Shery still goes to help her tidy up her house every few weeks!

Riel: he wasn't allowed out of the house much on account of being sickly, but when he was 11 or so, he was accompanying his mother to a restaurant for lunch. He waited outside of a shop while she went in for an errand, and in doing so, he noticed a very derelict beggar beckoning him over. This made him very uneasy, since he'd never had any exposure to poverty before, but he answered because he was also curious and inquisitive. The beggar, who'd obviously noticed his fine, rich clothes, begged him to give her whatever was in his pockets; whatever he had, she pleaded, would be enough to help her for an entire week. Riel was too embarrassed to admit that his mother didn't allow him to carry any money, and tried to get around it by skirting the subject and refusing the beggar. But the beggar kept pleading and pleading, so Riel finally relented and handed her the only thing in his pocket: a perfumed handkerchief. The memory still makes him astral-project out of his body from the cringe. 

Chase: Chase was actually an expert tightrope walker when he was serving on his father's corsair ship. (There wasn't a lot to do for young kids during long voyages.) However, at some point he got clocked in the head with one of the masts, and he lost his ability to tightrope-walk for some reason. He can do most other things requiring insane balance, but he can't do tightrope anymore. Even trying makes him queasy like he's at sea again.

Red: when he was a gangly teenager, his sisters used to come up with all sorts of ways to prank him. One of their favorites was whenever he'd fall asleep on the family couch (which he would do a lot, with a book on his face). They'd basically dip his hand in paint and then slap his face with the same hand. (Doesn't make any sense because why wouldn't they just slap him themselves? It made sense to them.) To this day, sometimes he wakes up in a sudden jolt and unconsciously checks his hand to see if it's blue before falling back to sleep!

Ayla: there is an encounter that Ayla had when she was a teenager where she claims to have seen an animal that, to this day, no other person has ever seen before. It was in the depths of the Jalis desert, and it was an immense creature, sort of like a cross between a giant bat, dragon, and worm. Its roar shook the earth, and it spat acid from its mouth. Red is extremely interested in hearing more details about this and tracking down the origins of this monster, but Ayla is kind of proud of the fact that no one else can claim to have seen such a mythical creature. It's a mark of pride for her, to show off how well-traveled she is and the incredible things she's seen and done. (However, unbeknownst to her, the day before seeing the sand worm, she'd eaten berries that looked very much like sweet Yuli berries, but which were actually hallucinogenic Tana berries. So the whole time she thought she was seeing the sand worm, she was just lying in a cave, totally high out of her mind. She still doesn't know, to this day...)

Briony: she was much sadder and fiercer as a teenager than she is as an adult. Right now she's quite happy-go-lucky and laughs a lot, but as a teen she had a "fake smile" that was actually quite painful for her close friends to witness, because it constantly seemed forced or like a lie. She was also an adept flower-crown-weaver and would spend hours in the meadow, patiently and intently weaving flower crowns by hand. Strangely, she's too clumsy for it now!

Lavinet: when she was pretty young, she helped her father surprise her mother with a pet dog. They had been fighting, and her mom had always claimed she wanted a lapdog, so Lavinet helped her dad research breeders and breeders, pick out an adorable dog, fell in love with it, and went through all the trouble of keeping it a secret from her mom. On the day of the big reveal, Lavinet's mother tartly answered that she didn't want that dog, and that she'd rather have been involved in the decision and picking it out herself because it would have been her dog, and that they were going to return this one at once. Shortly after, her mother left their household, and this whole experience has subconsciously manifested in Lavinet's mind as a tendency to just make decisions without consulting others and deal with the consequences afterward... therapy would be great in Blest!

Spoilers

Will we ever get more info on the MCs birth parents? 👀

Yes, MC will uncover the mystery of their birth parents during the game, pretty unexpectedly and actually pretty soon!

Love the game! Spoiler question: when will MCs get to meet the Autarch? In general terms what will it be like?  I'm imagining a "Luke Skywalker goes to meet the Emperor" vibe as was seen in Return of the Jedi. Especially if MC has strained relations with the sun court. Of course, I imagine it would be different if MC is widely regarded as a hero.

Thank you very much! And this is SUUUUUUPER SPOILERS SO LOOK AWAY ANYONE WHO DOESN'T WANT TO KNOW A MAJOR PLOT POINT YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED: the MC does get to meet the Autarch, but not the current one... if you catch my drift. 😬 And it is not in pleasant circumstances, regardless of MC's overall reputation! 

What would have happened if one of the Shepherds had died in their Phantom Shore nightmares? Would it have been different than someone who wasn't physically in that realm dying in their dream? 

If the Shepherds had died in their Phantom Shore nightmares, it would have shut down their mind's defenses (because they would actually be convinced they were dead) enough for Quiial to invade, possess them, or trap them indefinitely in the Phantom Shore forever! It's fairly similar to if someone in Capra had died in their nightmare, though Quiial prefers to torture in a prolonged way rather than making someone go "blank" through their dream-death!

maybe a spoiler? i don't know but what is Prihine doing now? she doesn't have a husband anymore so does she takes his responsibilities or not because she was just his wife? or is she just at the suncourt drinking champagne or something?

The Minister and Consortium positions are not hereditary, so Prihine would not have become Trade Minister just because her husband (the previous one) died. That position would have passed to whoever the Autarch chose or whoever was already in line to take it over (usually a Sub-Minister--that's not the right word but I can't think of it right now--who was already serving under their predecessor, though not always).

Prihine is fulfilling her social duties as an attendant of the Sun Court, but she has actually been spending her time there using her position to campaign against corruption in the Church as well as (very subtly) more protections for Diminished, especially against abuse from Church officials. It's a very complicated political situation: given what she's been through, her voice would be most effective in a campaign against corruption among the Autarchy's politicians (like her late ex-husband), but doing so would instantly alienate her and make everyone in the Sun Court her enemy. So she's starting with the Church, having found some allies who agree that stuff going on in there can get a little bit fucked up (or who would simply benefit from seeing the power of the Church lessened), and her plan is to gather enough intelligence and resources to eventually start going after members of the Consortium. It's a delicate balance, because if it seems like she just got married, helped her husband get killed, inherited his wealth and influence, and then just started going HAM on her peers and ingratiating herself to the Sun Court, she could very quickly be thrown under scrutiny and suspicion. So right now she's playing it kind of dumb and making it look like she has a personal vendetta against people (like her husband's augur) who could have prevented or reported his strange behavior but didn't, and it'll likely escalate from there. It's going to take her years, though!

Could you please tell us who our mission partners will be for the rest of the chapters (7-11)? 

Hi, this question has been asked and answered several different times, including here:

Chapter 1: Trouble or Tallys

Chapter 2: Blade, Trouble, Riel, Chase

Chapter 3: Blade, Chase, Red, Ayla

Chapter 4: Blade, Halek

Chapter 5: Halek, Red, Ayla, Briony

Chapter 6: Briony, Ayla, Tallys, Lavinet

Chapter 7: Blade, Trouble, Red, Chase

Chapter 8: Tallys, Lavinet, Briony, +1 secret character (dependent)

Chapter 9: Shery, Riel, Chandry, Mimir

Chapter 10: Lavinet, Halek, Shery, Riel

Chapter 11: Everyone makes an appearance in this chapter, but most of it is dependent on your choices, so it's impossible to say for sure

Are drakes actually extinct?

Nope, but they won't be appearing in this game. They are actually buried close to the center of the earth (which is where they first came from) in deep hibernation!

I saw in a prior ask on Tumblr that Trouble makes the first move if we hit a certain stat. How about Blade and Chase? Who leaves it up to MC and who makes the first move? If duplicate, ignore me and don't even bother responding, I don't want to waste your time! (Am still going through old Tumblr posts lol.) 

Hi, here's the answer for Blade (and Trouble for those curious), but don't worry, I'm happy to answer! Uhh, how do I put this... when I've said "makes the first move" in the past, I've actually switched between "confesses first" or "makes a literal physical advance first", which are actually quite different from each other. All ROs will not kiss MC first unless MC telegraphs that MC wants them to (either passively/with verbal consent or by being the one to kiss them first), but some will confess their feelings before MC gets a chance to. Blade and Trouble both confess their feelings first after a certain point. Chase definitely makes the first physical move/telegraphs very clearly that he wants to have sex with MC first, but he waits until MC is very clearly interested back before initiating the actual first encounter. In terms of actually confessing, uhhhhhhhh I don't know how to explain his romance route without spoilers... he starts to catch feelings, panics, and does something to push MC away, and MC has to react a certain way in order for the romance to actually progress into something more, otherwise it will just stay a no-strings-attached physical relationship (if it continues at all). I guess, after that, he approaches MC and confesses first, but there's pretty much already an understanding that they both feel the same way, otherwise he wouldn't say it in the first place... I hope that makes sense!

Hi! I am super excited for Chapter 7! Is it possible to get a little peek about it? Like maybe why it's Chase, Red, Blade, and Trouble that get to do the mission?

Hi, I haven't written Chapter 7 yet, so I don't have any sneak peeks to show for it! Here's a tiny paragraph I have written in my notes:

"The place we're heading to is called Wallmire," Red says, not noticing Blade's look of annoyance. "Closed community. They trade with each other, hunt with each other, and study together in the confines of their village. Generally, no outsiders are allowed in--partly because it's smack-dab in the middle of the Bleakmoor, and that's dangerous territory. All swamp and marshland. No horses, and even the ahfuri can barely tolerate it."

[...]

"I understand it's been a high death count," you begin. "But why exactly are we sending in five high-ranking captains? Especially into such uncharted terrain and an unknown situation?"

"That's exactly why we're going," Blade says grimly. "We're a few of the only ones who can handle something like that." He shakes his head. "We suspect the cause of these slayings is at least a Cacophant-level demon. Half of Wallmire's population is dead. Half. That's more killing than most of the Faceless Lords combined."

"Though, granted, those bastards tended to thrive in situations where they kept their victims alive to feed on," Trouble puts in.

Blade waves him off. "We don't know what we're up against, that's true," he says. "But we know it's capable of killing a lot of people, and in ways we can't even discern yet. We've already sent two teams in to investigate--and they weren't green recruits, either, but experienced officers. We never heard back."

"So," Red says quietly, staring down at the paper, "that means it's time to send in the big guns." He glances around at the table; Blade and Trouble look serious, while Chase studies something on the ceiling while he spins around in his chair. "That would be us, it seems."

NSFW

sorta nsfw question? it's been mentioned that some of the ROs are kinda loud. so how would the ROs react to someone saying (after MC and RO had a "good night") something like "well seems like you had fun last night, we could hear you from x" or something like that? whos mortified, whos like meh, or like yeah we did, etc.. thank you! love the game and characters by the way!

Blade: *aggressively ignores the speaker or stares at them so coldly that they wither into themselves and slinks away* (he's not embarrassed, he just can't believe their audacity in bringing it up. go run 500 laps you suicidal maniac)

Trouble: he's like half-smug, half-sheepish. Like rubbing his red neck all sheepishly but with a shit-eating grin, "Oh, you heard that, huh? Heh heh, sorry about that..." 😏

Tallys: she just nods and deadpans, "Yes, MC is extremely proficient in bed." Total lack of embarrassment! If you want to listen in on them, that's on you!

Shery: she would DIE. she would want to pack up her things and flee the country. HOW IS SHE EVER GOING TO RECOVER FROM THIS. ENDLESS MORTIFICATION. NO ONE LOOK AT HER!!!

Riel: he gives a very cool "I have no idea what you're talking about" before launching into a thorough tongue-lashing about all the better things the speaker could have been doing rather than trying to make some dumb and asinine insinuation to him--

Chase: he winks and possibly even points the finger-guns with a click of his tongue. "You're goddamn right we did." That's his speciality babey!! And as he walks away the speaker mutters, "Shameless bastard..."

Red: he coughs, blushes, but otherwise acts casual and changes the subject smoothly, like, "Must have been an echo in the hallway, I think I heard something last night too. Maybe it was coming from that vent that leads upstairs? Oh wow what a nice day it is outside!"

Ayla: she smirks and is like, "Up yours, nosy. Why don't you concentrate on finding some ass of your own, huh?"

Briony: she blushes and stammers, "H-huh?? You heard--I mean..." And then when they continue to tease her, she launches into a frantic, poor denial of things, like "NOOOO I wasn't admitting to anything, I thought you were talking about something else, you surprised me with your sudden change in topic, I wasn't thinking!!" before finally hitting them on the shoulder and screaming out of embarrassment "STOPPPPP"

Lavinet: she just gives a cool, coy, catlike smile. "My dear, I haven't the foggiest understanding of what you're talking about. I was up all night... reading. And I never heard a thing." ♥

for last month about the butts and boobs, which one would the Hunter twins,Croelle and Gladius prefer and size?

Halek seems more like a leg man with a definite appreciation for butts. For legs, he likes them taut, lean, long, and muscled (he tends to prefer tall partners over short), or slim and elegant--he likes small, pert butts or slightly plump butts and dramatic curves, he's not really all that picky! He definitely appreciates boobs, but more as a source of his partner's pleasure rather than just on their own.

Naolin is shamefully interested in boobs. He pretends he's not distracted by them but he sometimes totally is and wants to self-flagellate in front of a statue of Narthax, something that causes his brother no small source of hilarity. Huge juicy tits just make him go 😳 and sometimes lose his train of thought mid-sentence...

Croelle's really more into necks, thighs, wrists, and hips/waists than anything else. Something about those areas drives him crazy and makes him want to bite. (Did I ever mention he's a huge biter/hickey/bruises from his mouth kind of guy?) I'd DEFINITELY say he's a thigh man, but necks really get him going, too. Uhh in bed I'd say he likes watching his partner's ass (particularly if his cock's pounding into it) more but sucking on and playing with boobs more. He doesn't really care about size, but I think plumper and rounder probably intrigues him more than bony or thin might!

Gladius is probably more into mouths than anything else LOL. If he had to pick, I'd actually say he likes boobs and butts equally. He likes patting and fondling butts absent-mindedly but hey, he's not picky, give them to him in equal measure! I think he likes larger, rounder boobs but slimmer, flatter butts!

*From the Pan and Neon ask:

- In the Circle, Pan was known for his supposedly legendary skills at oral. People used to talk about it in hushed tones of awe. 

Having any of the Ros ( crush stage ) had NSFW dreams about the mc? And if so how did they react when they woke up?

Blade: he's had NSFW dreams about MC that increase in frequency the more he realizes then tries to denies his romantic feelings and attraction towards her. Notably, the first time it ever happened, he woke up and spent five minutes staring at the ceiling and cussing viciously at himself; then he went to take a cold shower, but got lost in the memory of the dream so much that he accidentally turned it to hot and uhhh had to finish himself off anyway... THE SHAME. 

Trouble: he's had them APLENTY and he's always groaning and embarrassed but he really can't help taking care of the problem at that point... afterwards though he gets really awkward and sweaty and guilty around MC and avoids eye contact like they can see his sin in his eyes

Tallys: not only has she had sexy dreams about MC, she's entertained sexy thoughts about them and touched herself to them of her own accord! Zero shame about it, too!

Shery: she's had more suggestive dreams rather than explicit ones (okay, just one or two explicit ones) and always wakes up frustrated and aching. She typically doesn't touch herself because she's too embarrassed about the nature of the dream in the first place, and she gets super flustered and nervous around MC and turns beet-red for a few days afterward! However, this behavior builds up her sexual tension to the point where she starts acting really distracted and irrational until she breaks and has to take care of the issue herself, and by then it's still not really enough!

Riel: he basically never has NSFW dreams about someone unless he's already deep in a relationship with them (and they've had quite a dry spell, at that), so this isn't really a problem for him! He has more pine-y, romantic dreams when he has a crush that he quickly forces himself to forget on pain of cringe!

Chase: he typically doesn't like waking up hot and bothered--he generally makes a move on someone before it gets to the point of having longing NSFW dreams about them without an outlet--but it does happen if MC's put him on the chase for quite a while. Depending on how long it's been, he either just shakes it off and goes about his day, or he tends to pull a pillow over his face, whispers "fuck," and then languidly touches himself until his toes are curling. Kind of depends on his mood if he climaxes or if he sort of stops short and channels that frustrated energy into getting laid lol!

Red: he doesn't have NSFW dreams about MC unless they're exes and have already done NSFW stuff together. At that point, he tooootally reminisces in his dreams and then curses his body for being so treacherous when he's already seen where this road lies!! He doesn't feel any shame about it unless MC is like super not into him (at which point he wouldn't be having sexy dreams about them), but he is like "YOU IDIOT. YOU'RE IN TOO DEEP" rather than guilt or shame! He's sort of just accepted that sexy dreams are a fact of life (especially since he hasn't gotten any in a while) and tends to just "address the issue" and move on without letting it affect him too much!

Ayla: for whatever reason, she gets pissed when she wakes up from having a sexy, sexy dream about MC. She presses a pillow between her legs and squeezes it like she wishes she could be wringing MC's neck. She's not shy about touching herself, but she's just annoyed that her desire for MC is invading even her dreams, so she's not going to do it out of a sense of pride and defiance! She's all sexually frustrated and aggro and snaps at everyone, including MC, who's tempting her with their stupid face and their stupid body. She gets very frazzled and irritable until (to say it crudely) she finds some way to relieve herself of that tension!

Briony: she definitely has NSFW dreams when she's crushing on MC and even entertains similar thoughts and fantasies when she's feeling particularly frisky and needs to address it. She feels just the tiniest bit guilty, but it feels sooo good to pleasure herself to those thoughts that she doesn't feel too bad about it. It definitely heightens her sensitivity to being around MC, though, so if anything, it just makes her hornier for them and able to be turned on with just a touch or a look. She hides it fairly well, though!

Lavinet: she's a tiny bit prudish about touching herself--sex and sexual pleasure in her mind seems more reserved for partners as a mutual activity--and her erotic dreams about MC are fewer than they might be for others. Her dreams tend to be more romantic in nature, but when they do get steamy, they're more "candlelit romance" and suggestive looks and touches rather than just straight up doing it. She's generally able to wake up and go about her day as usual even when she had a NSFW dream without any really adverse effects!