#dionys

I’m assuming you’re referring to the art that I posted on IG and Twitter and forgot to post here lmao.

So, Curse of Strahd.

Basically, Dionys finally got confirmation that a certain dark power that connected with him(when he multiclassed into Warlock), is Vampyr. And it seems as if Vampyr is setting him up to be their new champion, cause Strahd’s power is waning as the party makes their way through Barovia. He’s a very self-important prick, being a prince and also considering himself a champion of Corellon (the biggest Elven deity).

He’s had a bit of the complex through the entire campaign, feeling like the doesn’t have enough power to do things, or being told that he’s not good enough. (Though, mechanically it’s just that he didn’t have components or ran out of spell slots before he could revive certain party members, or just didn’t have high level spells yet). So when he found out that like, THE big bad evil power wants HIM, he’s started to go a little nuts and have a villain monologue out in the snow away from the rest of the party.

We’re nearing the end of our CoS campaign, so it’s very exciting :)

THE ESSENCE ROLLED HARD TO STARBOARD, causing the crew to lurch to one side as the old Ambassador Class vessel banked to evade the disruptor fire.

“Helm! Keep us out of their sights! Tactical, I need those phasers back online!”

The helmsman gritted her teeth. “Doing my best, Captain!”

“Repair crews working, sir,” came the response from the tactical station.

Dionys gripped the armrests of her chair as the old ship bucked hard under the Cardassian “True Way” ship's disruptor beams. “Aft torpedos, full spread! Fire at will!” The ship pitched down and Dionys felt her head go light as they “plummeted” relative to their axis. You couldn't really feel it, but Dionys could swear she felt when the aft torpedo launcher belched out a spread of five torpedos at the pursuing Cardassian vessel. The old Galor Class ship was likely not as recently retrofitted as the Essence, but her space frame was decades younger.

“Two direct hits to their forward shields, Captain! Main phasers are back online!”

Dionys grinned savagely as she stood and strode to the Ops station. “On my mark, all stop. Tactical, prepare a full spread of forward torpedos and all phasers. Mark.”

Her ship pulled to a dead stop in space as the Galor Class vessel swerved to avoid them, swinging into a tight s-curve around the Essence. Pulver didn't wait for the order. She let loose a barrage of phased energy and anti-matter warheads directly into the port of the Galor, still trying to turn and face them. There was a series of flashes as the Galor's shields put up a hopeless fight against superior fire.

The Galor replied with a few disruptor shots as she reeled, clearly reconsidering facing the other vessel head-to-head. Essence's shields burned and emitters screamed. Otohfroh furrowed her blue brow. “Shields holding at eighty percent, sir.”

Dionys smiled as her eyes watched the Galor beginning to turn tail. “Helm, Pursuit course. Keep us close, Auzrur, but not too close. Don't let them pull the same trick.” Auzrur smiled as she gave the impulse engines some lead and brought the bow to follow the Cardassian vessel.

“Pulver, keep firing, target her shield emitters. Let's see if we can bring this ship in.”

“Aye, Captain!”

The Essence continued to lash out across the cold of space with orange beams of phased energy, tearing away at the True Way ship's defenses. Her shields were the first to go, then her weapons, and, finally, her engines. Essence grabbed the vessel with a tractor beam, and Dionys finally relaxed enough to return to her seat. “Hail them.”

The Cardassian Gul's face appeared on the view screen. The bridge behind him sparked and shone red with emergency lighting. He scowled, with his chin still high and proud. Dionys kept her back straight. She hated the True Way and all it stood for, but she at least respected the pride of this commander. “Gul, you will stand down and prepare to be boarded. I believe the Cardassian Union would like a word.”

The gul sneered. “I believe you Federation types have a phrase. 'Like hell.'” Visual communication cut out and Dionys frowned. Otohfroh's eye's widened. “Captain, their warp core is going critical! They're scuttling the ship!”

Dionys shot to her feet and spun to face Pulver. “Cut the tractor beam! Helm, pull us away, full impulse!” The tractor cut off and the old vessel seemed to groan as Auzrur forced her well past her safety limits, trying to put space between their vessel and that of the suddenly dying Galor.

It wasn't enough.

The Cardassian vessel erupted in a growing ball of anti-matter fury and debris and the Essence's shields gave way to the sudden wave of hell that passed over them. The ship shuddered and tilted erratically, throwing crewmen all over the ship to the deck and into bulkheads. Lights blew and consoles erupted in sparks as EPS conduits burst. The chaos stretched for hours yet lasted only seconds.

Dionys clawed her way back into her seat. “Status report!” she bellowed over the collision alarm and tumult of bridge crew trying desperately to get their bearings again. “Status report!” she repeated, as much to settle herself as her crew.

Otohfroh responded first. “Hull breach, decks seven, ten, nineteen through twenty-one. Main deflector is off-line.”

Pulver shook her head as she glared down at the tactical console. “Shields inoperable. Weapons offline.”

“Helm isn't answering back, I have no attitude control,” added Auzrur.

Comms chirped, a strangely calm and pleasant noise in the disarray. “Captain,” began the CMO, “I've got at least eighty injuries reported, sixteen missing, ten known dead. I've designated Cargo Bay 2 as our secondary triage center.”

Dionys let out a heavy breath. That was a lot of dead for what was meant to be a simple mission, but in the post Dominion war chaos of the Cardassia Sector, even mundane patrols could become deadly. Dionys centered her thoughts on this, reminded herself of this, but resolved to read the list of casualties once the ship was stable again. “I want repair crews on those hull breaches and on the RCS system first. I'd like to not be venting air and spinning dead in space. Sensors?”

Otohfroh shook her head. “Heavily damaged, we might as well not have them. The windows might be more useful.”