#nevervember

It’s November very soon and I was thinking about posting a list of NWN/NWN2-centric general prompts for each day in November! (Get it? Neverwinter + November? Never-vember?) It’s tricky to figure out since not everyone has played both of the games and all the campaigns in them, so something more general you could choose from to create seemed like the best idea.

You can write the prompt. You can draw the prompt. You can do a combination of both. Comics? Hell yeah. Everything is welcome!

If you decide to do these, please feel free to tag me in each one you do so that I can give you reblogs.

This challenge is not in the least bit binding and it is by no means an obligation or a contest - you can do few, you can do all, you can even do only one if you want. It’s entirely up to you!

Prompts listed below (take artistic license in interpretation if you need):

Day 1: your hero's home in their childhood days

Day 2: Your character meeting your (personal) favorite party member for the first time

Day 3: Your character meeting your (personal) LEAST favorite party member for the first time

Day 4: Your character and chosen party members lounging about at camp or in a tavern

Day 5: An embarrassing situation during an adventure

Day 6: your character's final (or most recent) positive memory from their childhood home

Day 7: Meanwhile, in ____... (this is your chance to write/draw the "other side" or the "b-plot" while your character is off doing something else!)

Day 8: The most impactful event your character went through

Day 9: A party member finding a way to cheer up your character

Day 10: The moment your character formed a (romantic OR friendship) crush

Day 11: Something little-known about your character revealed

Day 12: Your character or a party member is caught red-handed! (By whoever you like, doing anything)

Day 13: Your character saying something they end up regretting later during an argument

Day 14: Your character in a lesser-known location in the games (because some of those places need a little more love) (from the illustrious malgriff)

Day 15: Bridging the gap between campaigns if you keep your hero through any of them (even the lesser-known campaigns) (from the ultimate jorvach)

Day 16: Your hero or one of their party members in therapy (from the fantastical fable sage)

Day 17: Wrongly accused of something they didn't do (you can go with the obvious or not if you like!)

Day 18: Long-term consequences (of politics, society, inter-personal relationships, etc) (from the beauteous the-great-elwisty)

Day 19: Your character stuck with the most annoying party member

Day 20: Unexpected middle ground

Day 21: "Just in case we don't make it-"

Day 22: If Volo (or a newspaper like faerunian TMZ) did a news report on something your hero did (inspired by the wondrous malgriff, songofmadness, and lergahin)

Day 23: Uh-oh! Your hero (or party members or both!) suddenly got affected by a curse which turns them back into children for a day. How do they react or cope? Who looks after them? (from the stupendous songofmadness)

Day 24: Doubts

Day 25: A diary entry or scene described from a side character of your choice (inspired by the glorious songofmadness)

Day 26: In ruins

Day 27: How one of your party members views your own character

Day 28: What happens to the characters long after the game has concluded? Are they still in touch with one another/are the events still relevant to them/have they moved on? (from the mysterious the-great-elwisty)

Day 29: How the adventure should have really ended

Nevervember 2025 day 4: Evil AU

Chapters: 3/3 Fandom: Neverwinter Nights (Video Games) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Daeghun Farlong & Knight Captain Characters: Knight Captain (Neverwinter Nights), Daeghun Farlong, Esmerelle (Neverwinter Nights), Shayla Farlong, Bishop (Neverwinter Nights), Shandra Jerro Additional Tags: Grief/Mourning, Chronic Illness, Childbirth Series: Part 1 of Nevervember 2024, Part 9 of All the Wrong Notes in Chorus

a/n Sorry, no proofreading again!

“I can’t believe you’re actually doing this,” said Qara. The little sorceress was standing a short way apart from the rest of the group, trying to pretend they weren't associates, and squeezing her pudgy hands in exasperation. “This is the most stupid plan I’ve ever heard.”

“That’s funny,” said Neeshka. “Because the last plan I heard about following an old tunnel into Blacklake, the people who tried it got washed away in a month’s worth of piss and cack.”

She couldn’t stand Qara. Lots of people couldn’t stand her, but in Neeshka’s case it wasn’t the random acts of pyromania that got under her skin. The girl could set fire to as many buildings and items of street furniture as she liked provided Neeshka wasn’t in them at the time. It was more the snotty confidence of the inbred aristocratic young miss who’d had a life of three set meals a day, warmth, soft beds, expensive clothes bought for her and no need ever to wonder what she’d have to do to get a hot meal.

“It almost worked,” snapped Qara. The red spots on her cheeks grew more pronounced. This is fun. “That was just bad luck.”

“No, it was definitely cack,” said Neeshka. “I mean, you smell like that normally so I guess you wouldn’t notice…”

“Good one, fiendling!” chortled Khelgar. He’d been friendlier since she’d pulled him out of the sewage run-off and led him to the nearest street pump.

“Would you keep it down?” Elanee hissed. “You’re disturbing him. He needs to concentrate.”

They were gathered next to a portion of the Blacklake wall where stone had been hastily replaced with bricks following damage during the Luskan siege. Just above the level of the grass a hole had been made in the brick, about one foot high and two across. When she’d knelt by it, she’d smelled the distinct Blacklake aroma of jasmine flowers, fresh mown grass, cypress needles and…what was that other thing?...oh yes, gold. Lots and lots of gold.

According to the story going round the used goods dealers, an enterprising young person had opened up the little passage to facilitate unscheduled nighttime visits to the wealthiest manors in the district, but had been thwarted by the wards. Luck hadn’t been with him anymore than with them. His subsequent arrival in Blacklake was through the main gate, escorted by guards and with his hand in chains and his ankles hobbled. Still, Neeshka tipped him a mental salute when she thought of him, from one expert in the craft to another. Admittedly to one who was rather less expert and now in jail.

She looked down at their new prize agent. “How can you tell? He always looks like he’s caught a wasp sting in his mouth and thinks only my blood will make the pain go away.”

The badger chittered at her then bared his sharp yellow teeth.

“Naloch was mistreated as a cub,” said Elanee. She narrowed her eyes at Neeshka, then looked back at the badger with her mammy’s-precious-furry-darling-face. “He’s just afraid you’ll hurt him, that’s all.”

“Afraid I’ll hurt him?” she demanded. “What about him hurting me?”

“Thing nearly bit two of my fingers off a tenday ago,” said Khelgar. “I respect his fighting spirit, but a dwarf has got to be able to pick up a pint now and again without checking for lurking badgers. And he’s dirty – my people love animals, and we keep their them out of our quarters. We have our space, they have theirs. That’s the way of things.”

Elanee’s lips thinned. It was the wrong angle and gone too fast to be sure, but Neeshka thought she glimpsed the druid rolling her eyes and silently mimicking Khelgar for the benefit of a solitary badgery audience. If she kept on throwing down the salt like this and working on her city-backtalk, then in three months she’d be performing for…maybe three extra badgers. They’d be enthusiastic ones though.

“What if this Aldanon person gets his throat ripped out when he unties your message?” said Qara, still hanging around, but maintaining a strict two-yard distance, as if she thought they were crawling with headlice. Neeshka didn’t know why she was still here; she’d done nothing but whinge the whole evening.

“Then we’ll need to find a new scholar,” said Elanee. She looked ready to stalk off and hide in a tree, which would put a premature end to their fourth attempt on Blacklake.

“You volunteering Tamin, then?” Neehska asked. Qara would never volunteer Tamin for any duty, however light, though the weasel’s tiny sharp incisors could be useful in all kinds of situations: if he was accidentally introduced to Khelgar’s beard while its owner slept was just one possibility among many. “Don’t think he could kill Aldanon, though his house could smell a bit funny for a while.”

“Tamin isn’t going near the Academy without me,” snarled Qara, hitting a new peak of contempt and indignation. “Some of the idiots there will have tracking spells on him. They’re too weak to attack me, so they’ll go for him. Cowards.”

Funny that. I mean, you only killed a load of them in the street. Can’t blame them for learning from their mistakes, though if they were smart, they’d hire someone with expertise…I bet I could do it. Dose of sweetwater in a drink, then pillow over the face till the job’s done. Leave the body someplace away from the Flagon.

Neeshka smiled. “So it’s gotta be Naloch. I hope he likes goose livers, because he’s getting a sackful of them if this works.”

Naloch stiffened, then made an odd chuck-chuck-chuck-chuck barking cluck, and scuttled forwards and through the hole.

Mask take me, the beast actually understood. I thought it was as thick as slabcake.

“You see,” beamed Elanee, “Naloch notices people being kind to him.”

*

Wafting through the burrow in the hard earth, mixed in with the jasmine flowers, the nearby earthworms, and the tang of horse manure, Naloch caught a trace of the most essential, delightful scent… It was better than the roasted hazlenuts he’d scoffed last night, filching the treat from under the nose of giant while his wolf dozed by the fire.

He knew his mother wanted him to find another giant, one with white fluff on his head and chin, who lived in a dwelling place a half-hour’s run from here. She was sending him pictures of it, sending pictures of the giant, and making bubbling fond noises so he’d know he was her favourite among all her giant children.

But the smell was there and coming from the other direction.

Somewhere closeby, there was a female badger who was ready to receive him.

Naloch chittered to himself. Turned north. Turned south.

The aroma filled his snout. Really, what else could he do?

*

Two hours later, and Qara and Khelgar had – separately – returned to the Flagon. It was pitch black.

Elanee was sitting with her back to the wall, next to the hole from which Naloch was expected to emerge victorious and lighter by one message cylinder. She was in some kind of trance.

Neehska had a bad feeling about how this plan was working out, even before they were surrounded by a dozen members of – not the plain old City Watch – but of the actual Neverwinter Guard. How they’d managed to get the drop on her was something she’d need to figure out real soon, right after executing her escape and going to ground in the docks. Urgh, execute. Not my favourite word.

A flunkey in a tunic of the Neverwinter Nine stepped forward. He looked vaguely familiar. Or maybe it was just the self-importance his kind all had in common. His eyes flicked over her, and seemed to linger on her horns and tail. Great.

“You are under arrest for loitering with intent to rob–” he began.