I can imagine a scene ....
It's a typical day in Hell... hot, the air stinks of sulfur, and the job of guarding the portal to the first Hell doesn't get any more exciting. The guards stand at the portal, bored but attentive, as no one wants to endure the punishment that comes with being careless. So they stand there until suddenly...
the portal is almost pulverized in a huge explosion. A red mist slowly crawls across the ground, almost hypnotical. The guards who were pushed away by the explosion look at each other in surprise and then look at the mist.
Suddenly they see a large, dark figure emerging from the mist. It walks slowly out of the mist with a firm step. Now you can see the glowing red eyes and huge wings that folds over the shoulders like a cloak and caress the imposing figure.
A dark melodic yet menacing voice sounds and seems to paralyze the guards, breaking their will. "Where is my consort?"
"We don't know. Who is your consort? What does she look like?"
"The most beautiful creature you have ever seen."
The guards think briefly and hold out a Mephit to him. The figure comes closer and turns his head slightly to the side, looking closely at the Mephit's face...face to face, eye to eye... thinking. "No, that's not her. Sorry for the disturbance"
Ha ha, great story! I especially liked, “...face to face, eye to eye.... thinking.”
Although...
What if the constort was turned into Mephit and she is incapable to tell about it? Then it really needs to be face to face and checked out.
Tell us more about the Vampire Knight, that sounds very exciting. I like playing Paladin.
A
Vampire Knight is a humanoid warrior who is a loyal guardian of the Lord, but is not undergoing transformation into the undead. They retain autonomy, but gain powers from the vampire through the Ritual of Binding. This ritual is painful, unlike the Bride's ritual, but its peculiarity is that the vampire themselves do not drink the knight's blood, but infuse them with their own blood. A Vampire Knight is considered a True Vampire and has the appropriate class features, but they require practice to develop the power of the vampire blood flowing through their veins. A Knight only gains immortality when they reach level 18, not immediately like a classic Vampire. But they don't burn in the sun, but only have sensitivity to it - it interferes with attack rolls and checks, they get darkvision, it's a bit like the drow's sensitivity to sunlight, and they're also vulnerable to radiant damage and resistant to necrotic damage. I like this vampire knight ability like this (at level 20):
“Vampiric Ascension
Starting at 20th level, once in each of your turns when you use your blood magic, you can spend additional hit points up to your proficiency bonus to increase the Save DC of the spell or to gain a bonus on your spell attack roll.
In addition, whenever you cast a spell, you gain a number of temporary hit points equal to the number of hit points you have spent to cast the spell.
Finally, you no longer have to spend hit points to cast any spell targeting yourself of 2nd-level or lower. You can't have more than one spell active at the same time.”
The bond between the Bride and the vampire-creator is stronger and more romantic, it is exceptionally a love bond. In the case of the Vampire Knight, love is also often the reason for conversion, when a vampire falls in love with a warrior and offers him/her this variant, but in this case love is not necessary, but a certain amount of trust must be present for the warrior to receive this gift. Vampire knights are commonly part of large vampire noble clans, they are members of the clan, they are those who have shown an aptitude for the sword and martial arts since childhood. He-he, I just had that association when I was researching vampires in DnD, and I called my Tav a Vampire Knight, since she considered herself Astarion's shield and sword the entire game.
Eh, I'd love to be able to get down on one knee and kiss his hand in a chivalrous way, Astarion would probably relish that...
Before I forget ... where is Crimsom? Miss his funny stories and pictures. Hope he's well. Would have liked to hear more about his amazing first experience of romance with Astarion and his love for Dark Urge and Minthy.
Joining. I sincerely consider him one of the best post writers on the forum, whose texts were always really interesting to read.
Speaking of the cynicism thing.. One of my favorite quotes by Astarion that made me stop and think was when he scoffs at so-called 'heroes' and people who have a narrow view of 'good and evil' and 'right and wrong.' Things are usually not so black and white, they lay somewhere in the middle, in a grey area. Oftentimes a person on their high horse about something for example can no longer see nuance or grasp things from another's point-of-view.
+100
“Heroes are half the damn problem. Fools that believe in right and wrong - good and evil.” Yes, they are. I recognize Wyll and Karlach. Gale is more difficult - he can't be denied intelligence, and he's more of a hypocrite, but more flexible. And, unfortunately, that Astarion line fits not only the game world, it describes the realities quite well.
“Heroes didn't save me from Cazador: mind flayers did.” As well as their gods: “I tried them all. None of them answered.” And really, who Astarion and Tav should thank is the mind flayers. Without them, it would have been very, very bad.
I also like his line on this topic: “It's nice to see heroes are as awful as the rest of us.” (At Jaheira's house, after meeting her family). It was just really cute and funny, once again I couldn't help but laugh, Astarion's comments make everything better!
My favorite quotes about cynicism (I think Astarion would give approval):
“Cynic, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are not as they ought to be.”
Ambrose Bierce, The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary
“A sense of objective perception of reality is often called cynicism by people who do not possess it.”
George Bernard Shaw
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