#freckledmccree

this turned into a bit of Fjord friendship but I could not imagine you would mind lol.

This bedroom of the building Fjord has rented for them all to lay low for a while is smaller even than the one he had occupied at the outpost, and a far cry from the cool, dim room of his own now-empty home, but the ocean breeze that meanders lazily through the open balcony doors makes the summer’s heat almost bearable, and the linen curtains that it catches on shade the room from the harshest of the morning sun.

“You should change,” comes the whisper at his back, as he peers through the curtain into the narrow side street below, as bare arms snake around his waist, and he leans back into Caleb’s chest, humming softly and letting his eyes close for a moment.

“Into what? I have nothing here besides what I had with me in Aeor, and none of it is suited for the Menagerie Coast.” He has already shed his fur-lined cloak and mantle, and Caleb fumbles with the clasp of his outer robe, leaving him only in his base layer, and he is reminded again of how different the Coast is from where he has just left, where even one layer of wool is too warm.

“Jester is already planning a shopping trip, but you cannot wear this.” He tugs at the thick sweater that Essek still has not shed. He has abandoned a lot today, and he is not excited to lay himself wholly bare here, a final rejection of everything he has just left.

While he retains the clothing he wore before their hasty and unannounced teleport out of the outpost, he can pretend like maybe if he cast a spell, he could return, that things would be the way they were, even though he knows it’s not true.

Caleb’s arms wrap tighter around him, and he shivers as lips press into his hair. He has to wonder how a part of him can even consider that the way things were was preferable to this.

*I'm keeping track of a "it's weird it happened twice" counter for highly specific scenarios in the Nein and for some reason it's like.... 90% Fjord related

Ship It

What made you ship it?

Okay I made a comment earlier about not being great at multishipping but I think this might be an exception. Their dynamic is super fascinating.

Anyway, the moment I really started considering it was actually when they made that call about the ranger party outside of Aeor. You could really see in that moment that they understood each other and why the call they were making was necessary.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

This is another pairing that I think could probably really understand each other. And I don't think they would guilt each other either, which would be super comforting for both of them. I get the vibes that once they were committed, it would be for good, so they wouldn't have to worry about feeling judged.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

These two together would almost be too pragmatic and might have more potential for "evil" decisions than Shadowgast (this is something I just came up with out of nowhere so I'm not sure how committed I am to this part of the answer).

(regarding tags from here)

It does make perfect sense and I love it, but also I’m mad about it because gdi I want to know the things! Captain Fjord [REDACTED], tell us your secrets. You can’t remain unknowable forever!!

Okay but genuinely it is Amazing how little we know and have experienced regarding Fjord’s backstory, EVEN DESPITE the ENTIRETY of the pirate/Avantika arc. Like?? We still don’t know what his relationship with Sabian beyond him being the one to blow up the ship (and therefore technically he killed Fjord didn’t he? Even indirectly?) We haven’t even been to Port Damali! (Not counting the Cobalt Soul teleportation circles fiasco, of course.) Or actually met Vandran, and if that isn’t a whole other can of sea serpents.

@chiefoftherevolution also asked for this one! 

This fic has been percolating in the back of my head for a long time now, back when we were still in the thick of Pirate Arc 1.0, and were beginning to get a loose grasp on Fjord’s relationship to Vandran and Sabian. It’s ever shifting as we get more information about Fjord’s pre-shipwreck and pre-M9 life. The idea is that it is a series of snippets framed around the “Uk’otoa Words”, i.e. Potential, Watching, Provoke, Consume, Learn, Patience, Grow, Punish, and Return- not necessarily in that order. 

This fic is still largely based around some of my own head canons. I’ve always liked the idea of Fjord joining Vandran’s crew as a teenager, perhaps because I’m a sucker for a Treasure Planet-esque relationship for Fjord and Vandran, and also because I remember reading in the Player’s Handbook that half-orcs supposedly reach maturity at age 16. While I don’t necessarily buy that considering they otherwise seem to follow human aging conventions, I could see the Driftwood Asylum using that belief to put Fjord out earlier than they otherwise would. 

There was a period of time where I considered trying to write this in second person POV, but that is so difficult to do well, and doesn’t really lend itself to longform content. There was another period of time where I considered a non-linear timeline that jumps between Fjord’s childhood in Port Damali, his adulthood out at sea, and his time post-wreckage going back to Port Damali again. This especially so because I am a sucker for location as a character in and of itself, and I like the idea of things coming into full circle. It’s what the most interesting city in Wildemount deserves imo. 

The opening to the WIP:

The docks are a maze, seawater paths rounding senselessly round ships that seem to loom from every open nook and cranny. It would be easy for someone unfamiliar to get turned around, but Fjord has lived here all his life. He knows each ship like the back of his hand.

There is Stormlord’s Pride, captained by a proud dwarven man who ships out to Marquet every month, and shows preference to dock rats that bring him pastries. There’s The Hell-born Ranger with the garish paint job, that specializes in the transportation of live animals, and whose quartermaster leaves out extra food and water for the stray cats and dogs. There is The Angry Secret (ex-Navy ship, mean captain, but fair pay for loading and unloading), Melora’s Blessed (expensive, takes passengers to Tal’dorei and the reverse), The Serpent’s Descent (shady, pays well, but not worth the risk).

And then there’s The Tides Breadth, a newcomer, docked for the rest of the month, captained by a greying human man with a sword on his hip and a twinkle in his eyes.

The crews and dock workers know him well, at first as the wide-eyed kid with the tusks from the orphanage on the hill, then the scrawny green one who can’t lift much, but works harder than anyone twice his size. He is taller now, and the ships no longer tower like they used to when he was little, but they still feel magical in the near mythical space they occupy in his imagination. Each new ship looks like freedom to Fjord who is 15 years old and hungry for a purpose.

oh shit, i forgot about that!

but yes, i 100% support both fjord and keyleth in their endeavours to use water breathing magic to just, ignore their problems

make them go away

think about something else for a bit

there's always the ocean i suppose, though at this point that's not gonna help fjord avoid anything