Wraithvine's Wanderings

Challenge #03958-J306: My Little Friends

My skin is too strong for their stingers to penetrate. They don't even try anymore now that they realize I am very gentle and won't hurt them. They never attack anyone who is calm and gentle, and never go after kids. My little yellow and blue protectors have kept many the overzealous paladins from taking my horned head. -- Anon Guest

[AN: I tried some elementary diving into the interwebs to see if this was in reference to anything, but I couldn't nail it down so... inventing a critter now.]

A Hellkin's average life expectancy is thirty-two years. That's not how long they can live, it's the average of how long they get to live. The polite way to phrase it is that their infant mortality rate is very high.

Lots of people share the opinion that only the desperate or the insane keep the devilborn in their house.

Skram was one of the ones lucky enough to remember someone who cared for him. Old Ren had definitely been in the 'insane' category. Ze had not named Skram anything more than 'baby child' or 'dear one' before some holy bigot slaughtered them as a witch. When the banishment spell failed, Skram earned his name from attempting to survive in the alleyways of the town.

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Challenge #03939-J287: Running Scared

Some monsters are deliberately spreading the lie that Wraithvine is hunting down and killing hell-kin, and other unwanted peoples, to "purify the world". That would explain why these poor people, whom they want to help, are so terrified of hir. It's time to put an end to the rumors so that those in desperate need can be saved. -- Anon Guest

Ouch. That had hurt. A lot. Wraithvine focussed on hir breathing and wondered, not for the first time, if ze really

Challenge #03927-J275: Visiting the Niblings

Wraithvine visits Amatu, the half-halloblood / half-hellkin that is his friend and adopted brother. Amatu has a wife, an adopted child, and a large family now. -- Anon Guest

Grey showed too early in mortal hair. Some lasted longer. Some were gone in a blink. For a friend and baby brother, it was... jarring to see snow settling on a far younger man's head.

Then again, everyone was younger than the immortal Wraithvine. Except a few other immortals, of course.

Baby Corbinian was

Challenge #03912-J260: Games That Neophytes Play

A giggling toddler swipes Wraithvine's hat when it was set on the ground. They run around camp trying to wear it and, well, be a typical silly, happy, toddler. -- Anon Guest

Certain happenstances are universal. If you have a less-than ordinary accessory and put it down, the nearest toddler is going to steal it for laughs. Cane? A toddler is going to take it and run away laughing. Cloak? The toddler is going to become the campsite blanket monster. Funny hat?

Challenge #03911-J259: An Interesting Question

A curious merchant asks Wraithvine and friends as they have joined the merchant caravan to the next town. "I know elves float and meditate instead of actual sleep as we know it, but what of elven infants, do they do the same?" -- Anon Guest

"That is a question I do not often face," said Wraithvine. "Most ask if the world is truly flat for us or whether we can actually drink wine and survive. Ignorant things. So thank you for a

Challenge #03907-J255: The Weight of a Conscience

A prisoner, not condemned to death, but rather to years of hard labor for the killings they committed, met Wraithvine while on their knees in exhaustion. With pain-filled eyes they asked the ancient one, "You ever feel pain for all the deaths you've brought by your hands?" -- Lessons

Wraithvine did not immediately answer the question. Ze made sure Hurgnath the Bloody Butcher had water and shade before ze asked, "Why did you kill people?"

"I never said I killed anyone," said

Challenge #03900-J248: Long, Long Memory

Sitting in a cavern waiting for a heavy rainstorm to pass so the large group can keep traveling, a child turns to Wraithvine and asks, politely, "what was your ma and pa like?" -- Fighting Fit

Wraithvine stared, not at the cavern wall, not at anyone here and how. Ze stared into centuries long forgotten and unnumbered. Back into the Age of Dragons and the Age of Gods, when the Elves were yet another scrappy little species trying their best just to

Challenge #03869-J217: Enlightened Self-Interest

Even elves can catch a cold. Wraithvine comes down with a bad case of the sniffles. -- Anon Guest

[AN: This hits different now that I'm in the process of fighting one of them off]

One of the undeniable rules of the world is thus: Elves do not sleep. Well. The adult ones do not. As an Elf grows to physical maturity, they learn and adapt to a discipline of meditation that puts them into a peaceful reverie. It connects them to

Challenge #03864-J212: To Cease Evil

A mummer kept a slave, beaten and terrified, in their tower. The slave thought this mummer was actually Wraithvine, for they did not know better. The mummer, outside the tower, was completely different from inside. Then the real Wraithvine heard weeping in the tower. -- Anon Guest

Would you choose to suffer for the betterment of the world? Would you sacrifice for people you've never met? Would you surrender comfort? Would you surrender warmth? Would you endure as much as you could

Challenge #03846-J194: Sharp Choice

A being tries to tempt Wraithvine with a special wish, a test. Their ultimate dream would come true. But is the cost of an innocent soul worth it? -- Anon Guest

Immortals are truly hard to tempt, especially if they've been at it long enough. The wants of mortality fade away as time renders them irrelevant.

Mortals die. Oceans rise. Empires fall. Change occurs and little can stop it. Wants fade away as beauty can be found anywhere, friendship is temporary, and

Challenge #03816-J164: Troublesome Oaths

During the day, they quietly shadowed Wraithvine's party where-ever the group went, the desire was only to protect them. During the night, they stayed up all night, guarding against any potential dangers. But it was not long before they collapsed from exhaustion. Sometimes, a person could care too much. -- Anon Guest

Wraithvine found Gruhaag on the second night. It wasn't as if she was trying to hide. Then again, it's difficult for a Bugbear to hide in most places when they

Challenge #03804-J152: Up For the Challenge?

Some giggling individuals who've eaten them plenty of times before, challenges Wraithvine to the equivalent of the Deathnut challenge. -- Anon Guest

[AN: I thought this was a thing I wrote about for a hot minute. You can imagine me frantically searching my archives for the thing. Anyway. Death Nuts are a brand of snack that include injurious amounts of capsaicin]

Allowing oneself to experience new things comes with its own risks. Since Wraithvine was gifted an eternal existence, ze was willing

Challenge #03762-J109: I Leave You...

An elderly dragon. A dragon so old that they could give Wraithvine a run for hir money for lifespan, was coming to the end of their life. They bequeath their entire hoard to Wraithvine and hir friends, to do with as they please. -- Anon Guest

Elves can normally live for two thousand years, give or take a handful of centuries. Dragons could live for many times that much. The death of a Dragon by natural causes is a rare and mournful

Challenge #03742-J089: Just Keep Them Occupied

A family begs Wraithvine to babysit two very hyper kids so they can go and gather in the crops. Normally the mother would watch the children, but she is feeling very ill. Needless to say, at naptime, Wraithvine has no problem getting the kids to sleep. -- The New Guy

[AN: My RNG gender picker wound up with "he/hims" all the way down, so it's Papa and Dad running the farm in this story]

The triplets were far too young to

Challenge #03739-J086: Better Than Waiting it Out

They are an immortal, and they have the gift of a healing touch. Their goal is to heal any and all who are in need and find medicines to treat the sick. They do not wish for thank yous, just to know lives are saved. They meet Wraithvine and ask that they may travel with hir a while, in their quest to aid in saving lives. -- Anon Guest

Bibrid had been pushing on the last rock in his way for a

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A 82-post collection

Challenge #03958-J306: My Little Friends

Challenge #03939-J287: Running Scared

Challenge #03927-J275: Visiting the Niblings

Challenge #03912-J260: Games That Neophytes Play

Challenge #03911-J259: An Interesting Question

Challenge #03907-J255: The Weight of a Conscience

Challenge #03900-J248: Long, Long Memory

Challenge #03869-J217: Enlightened Self-Interest

Challenge #03864-J212: To Cease Evil

Challenge #03846-J194: Sharp Choice

Challenge #03816-J164: Troublesome Oaths

Challenge #03804-J152: Up For the Challenge?

Challenge #03762-J109: I Leave You...

Challenge #03742-J089: Just Keep Them Occupied

Challenge #03739-J086: Better Than Waiting it Out