“Darling… Kiss Immediate”

WLC 2.F: Quest Complete

Ling follows Melandria through the dark and hollow castle. "So new idea: the sand outside is hot, so maybe we can try to create geothermal plants. I'll need to bring water, unless ya know of any sources down here."

Melandria shakes her head. "Just using magic. That's not dangerous, is it? Like the food?"

"Standard create water spells just convert vapor into liquid, safe to drink." Ling's eye light up. "A gate to the the Plane of Water! That's what we could use."

J: You were just filled with fantastic ideas, weren't you, Mum? L: Seems like it runs in the family.

As the two climb the stairs, Melandria asks, "Aren't elementals... extremely territorial?"

"Don't worry 'bout that," laughs Ling, "I know a girl." Ling straightens up. "The real probo is how the wildlife'll be affected. We'd need to raise natural defenses alongside anything we're growing." Ling thinks for a moment. "Thrashing worm-eaters might be a good deterrent."

"Giant worms do pass through this desert," Melandria nods. She leads Ling into a corridor. "We'll have to give this more thought. First, let's get everyone together."

Melandria knocks on a door. "Kirono, are you awake?" There is no answer. "Kirono, are you feeling well?"

L: Since I wasn't sure if Maraja had left already, I decided to use my wizardly cunning.

Ling stumbles into the door, pushing it open. "Oops, sorry, mate," she says, "I'm a clumsy b******d." Her eyes spy two figures lying in the bed. She recognizes one of them. "Good onya, Maraja!" she says too loudly, "I knew ya'd root her out."

"Who is that?" shouted the Shadow Queen, the darkness around her agitating, "Why is she in my house!?" Her fury awakening the duo.

L: I calmed her down and we sorted the details out for the plan later, but that's a yarn for another time. D: So Maraja and Kirono got together and you started a farm with a queen? J: Yes, yes, everyone lived happily ever after. The End. Now, how about I tell you a story, Dalini: a story about how I met the Shadow Queen. D: But what happened to the priestess and the tallgoblins. L: Kalyani went back home- J: And the tallgoblins are in my story.

WLC 6.1: A Scientist in Her Natural Habitat

L: Less than a year after the worm incident, I's in my lab working. Jevoi was off playing with Gank, when I had a visitor.

In the lab-cum-store sits twenty potted pepper plants across four tables with protective domes. Each table has the same arrangement of five different types pepper. Between each set, stands a different colored glowing crystal; between the tables, a cross wall containing safely coated lead plates.

Dr. Ling sits at her counter with a red pepper cut open on a tray, seeds carefully extracted in a pile. Her writing notes for each plant's current condition and exposure schedule next to it.

"After three weeks, the peppers appear to be unchanged externally under the red light," she mutters to herself, "But the seeds have grown in size. Taste testing will need to be redone."

She sighs, for she is unable to taste a difference in these supposedly hot peppers. The capsaicinoids have no effect on her, nor her current assistants, but to the mammals it was intended to repel, its flavor is valued highly. If the taste is too different, or worse, unpalatable, her work will never be accepted; it's already hard enough to assure most people that her food is safe. Sure, goblins will eat anything, but elves and dwarves? They have standards, traditions. No matter what affects she's had politically, she still had to fight for every plant, for every scrap of funding. Three steps forward, two steps back, until she dies. A never-ending-

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

The sudden rapping on her door awakens Ling from her thoughts. The stress is getting to her again. She walks to the door, preparing how she'll react. Is this for passage or medicine? 'Or maybe love?' hopes Ling. She opens the door slowly. "Who's it?"

Standing outside Ling's house is a uniformed gnome woman. The curly haired cutie is someone Ling vaguely recognizes, "Good eve~ning~, Dr. Ling," she says.

"Tanglepork?" Ling asks, "I already gave your boss my files. Did ya come just to come?" She licks one eye in her approximation of a wink.

"That's Deputy Tanglepork, now," says the gnome, gesturing to her badge. "I need to ask you a few questions; it's serious. May I?"

"Come on in, Porky," says Ling, "Need a break from plants."

Thanks for Looking at My Blorbo

This has been the first, and only, Mikado Monday. I don't think any other character is going to get this much love from me, but I'm thinking of who to post about next.

Mikado has taken back the Yugiri.

It can be hard to tell, since it's a palette-swapped nodachi, but if you look close, you can see the hilt is red.

WLC 4.1: Leaving the Past Behind

"Wait," says Jevoi, standing, "Are you telling me that we only started hanging out because my mum was paying you?"

Gank floats up to Jevoi, mimes the act of putting an arm over her shoulders, and laughs, "Ya think I was your friend immediately after I knocked ya out?" As Jevoi's face falls, Ganks continues, "I think ya know exactly when we became friends."

A little laugh comes out of Jevoi. "I think I do."

"Ripper," says Ling, "Now ya can leave."

"Do you think I'm going to leave just because we told a few stories?" asks Jevoi, stepping toward Ling.

"Do ya think I'm letting her leave just 'cause we did?" asks Ling, remaining on her chair.

"Family drama," mutters Gank, "I'm out." The ghost fades back into Jevoi's body.

"Why can't we go, Nana Ling?" asks Dalini, "I want to know what's going on."

Ling grimaces, then sighs. "I suppose," she says, looking at Jevoi, "That's really the only way forward."

"Great," says Jevoi, opening a magic gate beside her, "Come along then. You're going to love this, Dalini; I have so much to show you." She looks at Ling, who is slowly standing, and says, "And you too, Mum. Much to show you."

Dalini hops over to the door and Ling stumbles toward it. The wizard takes one last look at the ruins of her old home before following her family through the portal.

Was not expecting someone to draw a creature close to my heart as a heart.

🫀🦑

Does that make the twins a pair of sneasels?

Sneasler + Hsien-Ko

Curious design for Keiya. Is that Himika's face?

Evil Zone fan redesigns! This took a while, decided to wait just post them all at once. Enjoy!

MKDA has my favorite take on Reptile, even if it's because he was literally going insane.

I miss pirate Nitara too. There's absolutely room in MK for a pirate.

Vampires of the DA era are of impressive size.

WLC 2.C: DistrAction

The two duos, one metal-clad, the other leather, approach each other across the black sand.

L: By the way, they are Gish and her brother, Gash. They never told me their names; Melandria did.

D: Spoiler.

L: What? You should already know I talk to her; that's the whole point of the story!

"Why are you out here?" asks Gish.

"Where do you think you are?" asks Gash.

"Both questies: we're lost in the Underdank," says Ling, she gestures for Kalyani to answer.

"Quite," says the priestess, "If you could point uss in the directshion of the nearesst town, we'd apprecciate it."

"That symbol," says Gash, "That eyeball you're wearing... What manner of follower are you?"

"Do you know it, brother?" asks Gish. She reaches for her sword, but before she draws it, Gash answers.

"That's the Love God's Eye," he says, "So how do you serve her?"

"Oh, you know her?" asks Kalyani, fluttering her eyes. She slithers toward Gash. "Are you a follower too?"

"Brother," Gish voices tings with annoyance.

"Let him have some fun, mate," says Ling, scampering up to Gish, "Yous two alone out here?"

J: I should have known. You're a wizard, Mum; don't you have stories about succeeding through... you know, wizardry?

L: Magic isn't the only answer to problems, Jevoi.

"No, we-" Gish cuts herself off, "Why are you really here? What do you think you're doing?"

"What do you want me to do?" asks Ling, still sauntering forward. Lacking the ability to flutter, she quickly licks her eyes instead. At the moment, she has no idea where this will lead, but it is succeeding as a distraction.

Gish takes a step backward. Out of the corner of her eye, she spots Kalyani encircling Gash.

"Perhapss, we've not been honesst," whispers Kalyani, "The Goddesss ssent uss."

"Somebody needs our help," says Ling, "Is it ya?" Ling gets up to Gish's faceplate. "A big strong woman like you shouldn't be alone."

"I- I'm not," says Gish, "My brother and I-"

"Brother doesn't count, mate," says Ling, now fully confident, "Let's see those eyes of yours." Ling places her hands on Gish's helmet, who does not resist. Ling carefully remove it and looks upon Gish's battle-scarred tallgoblin face. "Looks like ya had some bark taken off, eh?" Ling gently traces her claw down the diagonal scars; they clearly came from a claw attack.

Gish face contorts. "Would- would you like to see," she says, struggling to keep her strong warrior demeanor, "My other ones?"

"I'd love to," says Ling.

L: Long story short: they let us into the tower and we kept them distracted for a bit.

Mourning Gecko (Picture from TheBioDude.com)

This tiny gecko is the basis of the main characters of Wizard Lizard Chronicles. While our protagonist is human-sized, these creatures are small enough to crawl on your thumb. They reproduce by parthenogenesis (mom lays egg, clone hatches), so they're almost entirely female.

Like other geckos, they can climb just about anything and don't blink. They can also detach and regrow their tails.