#d&d crossover

here's my piece for the @drcriticaldicezine !!

I might have spent way too much time making a thing.

Let me know what you guys think. Also if anyone would be interested in a Linked Universe based D&D.

Class list here

Actually wrote something recently, so enjoy a Despair fueled nightmare.

Talana sang, smiling sweetly at a sea of faces. It was a masterpiece, a song of her own composition, and everyone loved it. She could see her parents, clapping in the crowd and beaming with pride. Kiredan was next to them, whooping. Everyone she'd ever met was gathered in the concert hall, cheering for her as she played.

She frowned. Josephine was sitting next to her brother, eyes shining with admiration. But how-

She faltered. Cullen rose at the back of the crowd, his face set in stern lines. Behind him, Leliana stood with her arms crossed, as her shadowy spies fanned out to surround the crowd.

"What is all the cacophony?" Cullen asked crossly, his voice echoing through the hall.

The spies started weaving into the crowd, closing in on Talana's family.

"No," Talana tried to call out, but it came out as a whisper. Her feet were rooted in place, ignoring her attempts to run forward. "Don't. Don't hurt them!" The lute disappeared from her hands.

Helplessly she watched her family, passively sitting with their eyes on her, as the spies slit their throats. She was screaming, reaching for them as they slid to the floor. Her knees gave out, the spreading blood reaching her and soaking into her pantlegs.

Their eyes, still trained on her, were now glassy and lifeless. She sobbed. The concert hall whispered away into shadow, the audience and the spies disappearing.

Finally, she could move. She crawled forward on hands and knees, tears and snot streaming down to drip off her chin as she reached the cooling bodies.

"Why didn't you stop them?" A voice cried out. Talana looked up. Zavala was there, looking furious and heartbroken.

"I- I couldn't, I tried-" Talana sobbed.

"Not hard enough," Zavala hissed. "Just like always. You didn't try hard enough when you were learning that transport spell. You didn't try when we searched for our parents. You didn't even try when the mountain exploded."

Talana flinched back, curling into herself. She looked down, seeing the glow of the mark on her hand.

A whip, snakeheaded and writhing, appeared in Zavala's hand. "Pitiful. Useless. Weak!" With each word, she lashed out with the whip, its fangs sinking into Talana and ripping out. "You've never done anything except get in the way!"

"Th- that's not true!"

"Isn't it?" Zavala said cruelly. "Without you, I could have been accepted by Qilué. Without you, I could have found Mama ages ago. Hells, without you, she probably wouldn't have even left!"

Talana noticed that there was no matching mark on Zavala's hand. Cracks splintered the darkness surrounding them. Dimly, she could hear howling coming through.

She heard a whisper, the voice too low to recognize, say, "Good. You've begun to recognize the nightmare. You can banish the despair demon, if you try. Use the mark."

Fangs ripped into her again, but this time she snatched her marked hand out and wrapped the whip around her arm, pulling Zavala towards her. "Liar," Talana hissed. "You *dare* to wear her face? To speak as though you know us?" The thing wearing Zavala's face sneered back.

Talana sent a pulse of magic through the mark, willing it to travel through the snake whip and into its wielder. Green light exploded, ripping away the mask and exposing a twisted, hunched figure. It screamed as the green light continued to rip through it.

It fled, and the cracked darkness shattered.

Talana shivered. She was alone, kneeling in a snowy expanse, the light of the Breach giving it an eery glow. A short distance away, pawprints led down. From here she could just barely make out the top of the Chantry and a few whisps of smoke rising.

She staggered to her feet, arms wrapping around herself, and began following the prints.

"Well done," came a whisper on the wind.

Chapter 38: Six of Wands

UPRIGHT: Success, public recognition, progress, self-confidence

REVERSED: Private achievement, personal definition of success, fall from grace, egotism

The Six of Wands wants to let you know that you’ve made it through some tough times (looking at you, Five), but you persevered and worked hard and now you should enjoy the success. Have faith in yourself and accept the pats on the back because you’ve earned them. It can also remind you that even if you don’t get the public accolades you were hoping for, you still succeeded and that, in itself, is a good thing.

Start from the beginning