zevlor (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hellrider) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
nexus_crossings2024-08-11 09:29 pm
hellrider) wrote in nexus_crossings2024-08-11 09:29 pm
(no subject)
The new visitor to the Nexus has spent a while lingering at the sign, watching the video featuring Captain America for longer than most, letting it loop two or three times with an air of bemusement. It's a novelty in itself; moving pictures are not common in his world, but there's something in his gaze that suggests wry recognition. Takes a paladin to know a paladin, perhaps.
Of course, Zevlor is no longer a paladin.
If you've seen a tiefling before, the stranger's species ought to be easy enough to identify. His skin is a warm ruddy color that does not appear on a human, and there are odd ridges along each cheekbone. His eyes are yellow, luminous. In low light there appears to be an actual flicker of flames behind them. The twin horns on his head are spiky, quite long and backswept. It's easy to imagine him literally clashing heads with others like him, battling like rams.
Between all that, and the long spade-tipped tail, he cuts a distinctive figure. He won't thank you for mistaking him for a demon, but he won't be able to blame you, either.
"When I was a child, I was taught that when I failed at something, I was to get right back up and try again. It's good advice when you're a child, and your failures are low-stakes. But now I'm an old man, and a single mistake can cause...unfathomable loss." His voice, which was steady and calm at first, thins to a fine-honed edge at those last two words. Whatever's going on in his head, he's underselling it.
"And yet the state of my world is such that no one can sit on the sidelines now. Doing nothing would be worse than trying and failing again. I know that. So how do I force myself to get back up?"
((Loki-mun here! Spoiler warning: I am taking Zevlor from between Act 2 and Act 3 of Baldur's Gate 3 here, and also taking a lot of backstory from the Descent into Avernus book.))
Of course, Zevlor is no longer a paladin.
If you've seen a tiefling before, the stranger's species ought to be easy enough to identify. His skin is a warm ruddy color that does not appear on a human, and there are odd ridges along each cheekbone. His eyes are yellow, luminous. In low light there appears to be an actual flicker of flames behind them. The twin horns on his head are spiky, quite long and backswept. It's easy to imagine him literally clashing heads with others like him, battling like rams.
Between all that, and the long spade-tipped tail, he cuts a distinctive figure. He won't thank you for mistaking him for a demon, but he won't be able to blame you, either.
"When I was a child, I was taught that when I failed at something, I was to get right back up and try again. It's good advice when you're a child, and your failures are low-stakes. But now I'm an old man, and a single mistake can cause...unfathomable loss." His voice, which was steady and calm at first, thins to a fine-honed edge at those last two words. Whatever's going on in his head, he's underselling it.
"And yet the state of my world is such that no one can sit on the sidelines now. Doing nothing would be worse than trying and failing again. I know that. So how do I force myself to get back up?"
((Loki-mun here! Spoiler warning: I am taking Zevlor from between Act 2 and Act 3 of Baldur's Gate 3 here, and also taking a lot of backstory from the Descent into Avernus book.))