Velvari

paladins of atypical gods. a paladin of the god of storms whose divine smite is a literal bolt of lightning from the heavens. a paladin of one of the gods of death who seems scary but just wants the dead to receive justice and comfort.

a paladin of one of the "darker" gods who sees themselves as responsible for those that other paladins wouldn't protect— those who are lost, those who maybe aren't innocent but who deserve compassion all the same.

hell, there's a god of thieves (and theyre chaotic neutral)! what does a paladin of the god of thieves look like— how do you have a stalwart defender of a group defined by its secrecy and fluidity? what are they defending— the right of thieves to exist? the value of individual moral codes over societal laws? the honor code of thieves? maybe they strike down "false" thieves, those in it for greed with no respect for the art of theft or the standards respected by other thieves.

and then there's oathbreaker paladins. i just think there are so many more interesting reasons to break an oath than "i didn't want to be good and help people anymore."

give me an oathbreaker paladin whose god commanded them to do something against their morals. who is now branded as a traitor to their god when really it's their god who betrayed them.

give me an oath of vengeance paladin who is tired, not as angry as they once were, and sick of bloodshed. who breaks their oath by sparing an enemy.

give me a paladin whose oath is noble but who is frustrated with the moral absolutism of it. who is sick of their power being dangled over their head, able to be taken away at the slightest mistake. a disciple of ilmater who has been told too many times to bear the suffering of others and for once wants to be cared for. a disciple of the god of fate, sick of being told that theirs and others' suffering is inevitable and unchangeable.

portrait of a bird woman / 150x150 / commissioned

made in aseprite

Tenna art by @9Aaaalt29 on twt

The crowd roared in confused enthusiasm as Tenna gave a gracious flurry of low-FPS bows, pausing only for the occasional stink-nose at his audience plants who weren’t throwing enough 3D roses.

Eventually, the room fell silent. It was Senshi’s turn to speak.

He puffed out his chest, took a long, sweeping look over the audience… and shook his head.

“I can see not all of you are eating properly.”

The crowd murmured with embarrassment.

“I don’t know who needs to hear this, but it’s time to take the turkey out of your icebox. I have seen the ingenious technology with which your people store food... and I have also seen the waste which results from such convenience.

“The food you take had a life. Beasts grew fat on the grass of the field, plants grew from the sun’s rays, and mushrooms grew from minerals in the cracks of caves. And yet, it sits in your iceboxes, collecting moisture until it perishes.

“Eat what is given to you. Because its life will make you stronger, too.”

Without another word, Senshi left his podium and stepped away from the stage. The crowd murmured in confusion. “Is he really like that?” somebody said. “I only remember reblogging the photosets of him tripping and showing ass.”

--

Back in the Green Room, Tenna wrung his antennas nervously.

“Y-y-you think they liked me!? They HAD to!! I mean, I don’t know what Asgore was thinking, getting that weird haircut and running that food waste campaign, but… YOU thought I did good, didn’t you, Kris?”

Laios nodded aggressively, a streak of blue face paint peeling from his forehead.

“You did AMAZING, Tenna! By the way, now that we’ve seen all your insider campaign secrets, do you have any more videos of Susie? Especially her tail... If I could get a look at that, I could finally tell if she’s a dinosaur or --”

THWACK. Fake antlers butted Laios’s head.

“LAIOS?? Weren’t we dressed up to help SENSHI???” Marcille hissed, gesturing awkwardly with her hooves.

Suddenly, Tenna turned to the two adventurers.

“Hey, WAIT a second. SOMETHING’s not right here...”

Laios and Marcille held their breath.

“Where the heck are my POINTS!?”

Just then, the door opened. Chilchuck took one step into the room, whistling and holding a large bag.

Everyone turned to him.

Chilchuck paused, took a step backwards, and closed the door.

“CHILCHUCK!!!” yelled Tenna.

“How come Chilchuck got to stay Chilchuck!?” yelled Marcille at the same time.

--

I know how it sounds, but like, bear with me.

I (28/F/former paladin), had been travelling with a cursed greatsword (Immeasurable/F/Sword) and was really into her for a long time. When we first met she told me she was the disembodied spirit of an ancient warlord and beamed images of a beautiful raven haired warrior in gorgeous blackened Gothic armor into my mind, she told me it was her true form and I was super into it so I forsook my paladin oath and we started hooking up

Early on in our relationship she was really supportive when I started to transition, telling me she was "nearing her apotheosis" as well. I didn't think much of it at the time, and dutifully listened to her when she told me to travel the kingdom and assemble the ritual objects for her ascension. There was a team of adventurers that tried to stop us and she told me to kill them but one of them was my former best friend Sir Roderick The Bold (25/M/Paladin) so I refused and only incapacitated them. She didn't like that and we had a huge fight about it after we'd left

Long story short after I'd done the ritual and assembled the artifacts she revealed her true form was a ruse and she was actually just a mass of tentacles and eyes (which I don't mean to yuck anybody's yum mentioning, it's just that tentacles don't really appeal to me lol)

She said she was going to consume the world, "starting with you" and that I had "outlived my usefulness". I felt really shocked and betrayed and helped the adventuring party that was following us around to defeat her and seal her back in the sword (which I left there), but I feel really bad about it

to start he reads between the lines and immediately clocks the issue with turning the glowstones blue. without the princess having to explicitly tell him.

his charm is off the charts here getting the princess to trust his plan and getting her on board to help him sell it. dropping a knee, all deference.... omg....

he shows a crazy amount of confidence to navigate a pissed off king (who has already yelled at olly for helping out the townspeople when the king is the one paying him). like olly's on thin ice here.

you wouldn't blame a witch for feeling nervous in this situation, for being intimidated by this powerful, rich king. however olly moves with confidence and ease. "this will suffice" is bold, assertive. like... hey, olly.... *tucks hair behind ear*

this grumpy old rich man is already pissed and olly's next move is to dance with his daughter lmao what an insane choice. like... he could just step on the stones and show her dad how it works but no he chooses to make it a show. a performance.

it works wonders and he wins over the grumpy old man AND charms the princess. his clever idea works AND he has the ability to sell it.

the princess is so won over by his intellect and charm that she's like pls stay forever. (very real of her.)

which is another potentially awkward social situation, but olly handles it with poise and grace. he denies the princess' request without offending her. they end up on the same side.

that olruggio of the torch mask is powerful as hell. he navigates multiple complex, potentially awkward social situations with grace and poise.

and then you compare chapter 39. olruggio with... this... olruggio.....

bwuH???? bnRGH!??!

whOoosh?

huh?!

ACK???!

listen, i don’t usually take commissions, but if someone’s gonna pay me to draw characters i designed..? i can be tempted.

qiflings band AU yayayayayayyy!!