Orianna’s Prelude

(Story word count: approximately 5500 words. Estimated reading time: 55 minutes. CW: relationship breakdown, limb severing)

“So three… two… one… open your eyes!”

“So what is–A HOUSE?! A HOUSE IN GAUNTLGRYM?!”

“Yup! Took a lot of my winnings to buy but it should be the perfect place to settle down!”

“Oh my god, I love Dwarven architecture. This place is perfect Orianna. I love you.”

“Love you too Eirina.”

*****

Evening had descended across the town. Traders and adventurers poured into taverns to celebrate a good day’s work, looking to relax in good company and maybe hear a few stories along the way.

For some though, the setting of the sun meant chasing even greater thrills. Whilst some taverns served drinks, others served up excitement in the form of fighting pits, giving patrons something to watch and/or bet on. In particular, Raucous Rylie’s Riotous Rumble was extremely busy tonight, with a steady stream of spectators and competitors walking through the doors.

There were the usual adventurer-types that were looking to quickly find some gold to buy new weapons and gear, amateur fighters looking to establish a style or gimmick in the hope it wins them fights and followers, and experienced past champions, looking to crush all beneath them for the chance of holding the winner’s trophy aloft once more.

As evening turned to night, more and more competitors were eliminated until only four remained. A heavily armoured fighter looking to exhaust their opponents through superior defence, before landing brutal blows. An experienced craftsman looking to beguile opponents with their bespoke weaponry, aiming to catch them off guard through sheer surprise. A cleric aiming to spread their divine word through the glory of battle, with a side goal investing all winnings back to their temple.

And finally, there was an elegantly dressed young lady, named Orianna du Fior.

*****

“So, why did you pick the name you did? Don’t think I ever asked.”

“Well I wanted my new name to be something elegant something feminine y’know so I thought about it for a while and Orianna just kind of spoke to me.”

“That’s pretty straightforward, but why the du Fior part? Aren’t you worried about being mistaken for a noble?”

“That was a concern initially but I wanted to pick something that was truly mine and picking something with a hint of fanciness to it made me feel like myself for the first time in forever.”

“…how do you talk so much without breathing? It’s both concerning and adorable.”

*****

Orianna was most certainly the anomaly in this line up, as even the cleric and the craftsman were wearing significantly stronger armour than herself. Her armour was definitely sturdy and offered a modest amount of protection, but it seemed as if she had put more emphasis on her outfit than anything else.

A light green blouse with full, puffed sleeves ending in elegant cuffs with gold detailing laid underneath a darker green dress with apron-style straps, hands covered by soft leather gloves, more for form rather than function. The bodice of the dress was corseted with solid brown laces, two brown panels either side of the bodice providing contrast whilst also building up the forest colour palette. 

This bodice then extended into an A-line skirt enhanced by a massive, multi-layered petticoat, poofing out in all directions. The skirt was solid green, with gold detailing in the style of elven branches looping all around the hem, which was trimmed in brown velvet.

Beneath the skirt, Orianna’s legs were encased in light green tights matching her blouse leading down to what many considered impractical footwear for fighting, but for Orianna she would rather be seen dead than without a pair of high heels on. An elegant pair of four inch beige stilettos with anklets themed after roses wrapped delicately above.

Adorning her shoulders was her prized magical cloak. Fashioned after a capelet, the item also bore a minor colour-shifting enchantment that allowed her to wear it with whatever outfit and the hue would shift accordingly to be in perfect coordination with the rest of her attire. 

Some participants throughout the evening had put on war paint in an attempt to look intimidating, and whilst Orianna would call her extensive makeup routine something similar as a jest, the kind of makeup used only served to further disarm opponents. Orianna’s face was beauty incarnate: perfectly blended foundation, delicately pink painted lips, inky black mascara complimented by reddish violet eyeshadow. 

Vibrant orange hair was tied into two lightly curled pigtails, a dark green bow with gold accents adorning each one, side-swept bangs brushing lightly above glistening emerald eyes full of anticipation and excitement.

*****

“So you make all your money via fighting pits? Doesn’t that seem… kind of dangerous?”

“Well it kind of is but kind of isn’t cause you see I didn’t really have much I was good at growing up except when I got taught duelling that was the only real thing I could focus on for any period of time so it just kind of extended into a love of fighting.”

“Well, you won’t have to do it so much anymore. I can help out with keeping this place stocked.”

“Alright but I still kind of want to do it you don’t build up a collection of awesome ass weapons without wanting to show them off.”

“Just, please don’t overdo it. You mean a lot to me Ori.”

“You mean the absolute world to me Rina.”

*****

Outside of the waiting room the four remaining competitors were sitting in, Raucous Rylie, as she was known, was warming up the crowd. Being a tiefling, she was able to amplify her voice greatly, making her the perfect emcee for such an event. 

“What’s up chucklefucks?!”, she said with volume and gusto from her podium, wearing a fine dress shirt complimented by a tailored waistcoat, “we have only four remaining in the competition tonight and I hope you’ve all got your bets in because they are now closed!”. Some groans emanated from the audience as they realised their window of opportunity had passed them by.

“Tonight’s final will be done king of the hill style, with the top two contestants from the feeder series forming the first match. With that, please give it up for the cunning craftsman, Dimitri Powderkeg!”

There was a distinctly Dwarven chorus of cheers as they entered into the pit, wearing robust half-plate, but their armour was not the main event. The focus of their loadout were their interesting weapons, ranging from a crossbow enhanced with an automatic loading mechanism and a war axe modified to have a shoving edge designed to knock opponents over.

“And a usual face round these parts, you all know her, you all love her, please give it up for the beautiful brawler, Orianna du Fior!”

Whilst the dwarves were specifically cheering for Dimitri, everyone seemed to cheer for Orianna, who came skipping out of the waiting room before twirling and giving a light curtsy to her opponent, drawing her two elven rapiers and standing at first position pointing her weapons downwards.

“Alright you two, you know the rules and so do I,” Rylie said, “the first one to be knocked unconscious is the loser. And don’t worry, when I declare the victor I’ll get a healing word in at the same time.”

“You ready?!”

“THREE!”

“TWO!”

“ONE!”

“LET’S GET A RAUCOUS RIOT GOING!”

Dimitri instantly reached for his automatic crossbow and took aim down elaborate iron sights at Orianna, though once he saw his opponent was still standing in a straight-legged stance, he lowered his weapon with a quizzical expression. “Ey, lassie!”, he said, adopting a tone of both confusion and concern, “you did hear the tiefling right? We can start fighting!”

“Oh I know but I just wanna see what you’re capable of first so go ahead give me your best shot!”, Orianna said, smiling sweetly at her opponent and bouncing around gently on her heels. 

Still confused, but not one to disregard an advantage, the dwarf smirked before looking down the sights once more. “Alright, but be warned,” he said with confidence, “you heard the might of the dwarves behind me, and I will bring all of that might down on you!”

With a pull of the trigger, the custom firing mechanism within the crossbow whirred into life and let loose a torrent of bolts towards Orianna, several sharp-tipped projectiles approaching at high speed. Dimitri had aimed true, and felt sure they would hit their mark… that was until Orianna effortlessly parried all of them with her swords.

“Aww that’s cute I almost got hit there!”, she said in a gleeful tone. “Now let me show you what I’m capable of!”. Unfazed by the offensive capabilities of her opponent, Orianna skipped forward, effortless on her heels across the dusty surface of the pit. The dwarf was surprised, no one had the reaction speeds to deflect a full onslaught, but coming into melee was not a wise decision either.

Stowing their crossbow and instead brandishing their custom axe, he stood at the ready with the shoving side, aiming to force his opponent prone in order to quickly dispatch them. Though Orianna’s actions continued to confuse him, as she was not raising her weapons, still skipping forward.

Wary but prepared for the worst, Dimitri pushed forward with all his force, yelling with the ferocity of a mountain landslide only for Orianna to effortlessly sidestep past him without even blinking. “How sweet you thought that would work!”, Orianna said, giggling as she looped behind her opponent, “but now you can see what I can do!”.

And before he had time to react to yet another taunt, Dimitri felt several sharp points digging into his back, a rapid series of blows from elegant weapons being methodically stabbed through the weak points of his armour, weakening him significantly.

Caught off guard by the sheer agility of the beautiful fighter before him, a change of tactics was needed. If she was too quick to be knocked over, then depriving her of her weapons might be a viable option, such a move needed the right moment though, moments there were quickly fading due to how many blows Orianna had successfully landed whilst Dimitri had not landed any.

Soon a window opened very briefly whilst Orianna repositioned herself, and the dwarf launched forward with a hook on the pommel of his impressive axe, managing to latch onto the ornate hilt of each sword and throwing it to the ground. Orianna was quick but her physical strength was somewhat lacking.

“You let your guard down girlie,” Dimitri said, finally getting his own opportunity to taunt, “won’t get far without your weapons.”

“Well not those ones,” Orianna said, ruffling her skirt gently, “but I still got some of these stashed away!”. And with that Orianna drew bladed playing cards from within hidden pockets in her skirt, tossing them at Dimitri with a rapid pace. 

The first two cards bounced ineffectively off his armour, leading the dwarf to believe he had got the upper hand, but once he attempted to charge forward, a final card thrown flew at just the right angle to let the edge of the card slash his throat wide open. He stood aghast for a moment as blood began to pour from his neck before collapsing to the ground, gasps of the audience barely being heard off a bell ringing.

“And with that gnarly and bloody display,” Rylie said, a wave of healing energy rushing over Dimitri as she spoke, “Orianna du Fior wins her first match in spectacular style!”. The crowd burst into cheers and applause, Orianna’s reputation as a skilled fighter being on full display tonight.

*****

“And where have you been?”

“Sorry sorry sorry I wasn’t expecting the pit to go this late tonight I know we said we’d have date night but the finals dragged on longer than I was expecting due to some wizards spending all their time deliberating.”

“You could have left early? I got us a fancy bottle of wine and your favourite cake just for tonight…”

“I mean yes but I still managed to win! Look at this new trophy for my cabinet and it came with this decent sack of platinum too so I can make it up with another date later!”

“Yeah, that’s… that’s nice Ori. Would have been nice to have the effort tonight to mean something though. Still, we can share the cake I suppose.

“Yay! Oh I love you so much Eirina you’re too good to me.”

“Yeah, love you too.”

*****

Neck wound now fully closed, Dimitri stood up and walked over to Orianna, eyes wide in disbelief. “I thought my craft was at its peak,” he said, sounding somewhat dejected, “guess I still have a lot to learn…”

He went to leave the pit before getting tapped on the shoulder by Orianna, and before he could react after turning around, she had pulled him into a hug. “Your craft is excellent don’t be sad!”, she said, “if you have a shop I’d love to get some weapons made by you someday!”.

The dwarf smiled and said, “Aye, that’d be grand. I’ll get an address written up for you,” before leaving through the adjoining waiting room and joining the dwarves who had cheered him on above, toasting a good effort against a very worthy opponent.

“We’ll be taking a quick ten minute interlude,” Rylie said, pointing in two opposite directions, “you’ll want to get your drinks in now, next fight is set to be lit as all hell so you do not want to miss this!”

Orianna grabbed her swords off of the ground and sauntered back over to the waiting room, where a cleric just shrugged their shoulders at her due to the lack of wounds sustained, instead offering her some refreshments.

*****

“I was wondering when you wou-Nine Hells what has happened to you?!”

“Oh I’m fine Eirina there’s just a few holes in my tights a little bit of lacework gone from my dress and a compound fracture on my right arm.”

“And you walked home like this?! What if you had got ambushed?! I thought these places had healers around for things like this!”

“Oh this one did but the bloke looked a bit dodgy and I knew you’d be here and I trust you more anyway so help me please?”

“Fine, I suppose. Can’t sleep with someone when their bone is threatening to take my eye out.”

“Love you lots Eirina!”

“Love you too, damned fool.”

*****

Interlude complete, Rylie took her stand on her podium once more, now wielding a very large and fruity looking cocktail, somehow not spilling a drop despite her animated movements. “A fight pit pairing you all know and love is up next,” Rylie said, “speed versus strength, defense versus dexterity, beautiful to the girls versus beautiful to the guys. Who is who in that last one? That’s up to you to decide!”.

“Give a raucous welcome back to the pit for Zehalak Steelbender!”.

Quiet gasps and muttering spread as a towering firbolg entered into the arena through the side door, needing to duck down in order to get through. From head to toe they were encased in extremely high quality plate armour, very few gaps in protection showing to the average eye. But this was not where average eyes were looking, instead they were focused on the gigantic weapon now in play.

Whilst metal had provided the protection, it was nature that would provide the offense. The weapon bore similarities to a maul, with a large, fortified branch acting as the handle. This led into what was a massive segment of a tree trunk that had been sawed roughly at both ends, making it an unwieldy to use weapon, but dangerous if it managed to hit.

“And returning once more to try and take the top prize tonight, Orianna du Fior!”

The crowd returned to loud cheering and clapping as the girl skipped back into the arena, looking up at her opponent with a grin. “Hi Zelly!”, she said, greeting this towering fighter with a surprisingly childish nickname, “hope you’re all ready and fired up cause you still haven’t beaten me properly yet!”

What little of Zehalak’s face was on show betrayed his imposing image as he returned the smile to Orianna and saying, “I still beat you once little sproutling, it was just we both got our asses handed to us.”

“Can catch up some other time you two,” Rylie said, interrupting the brief exchange the two were having, “you’ve been around this circuit enough and been around here to know the deal, so I’m just gonna do the count, alright?”

“THREE!”

“TWO!”

“ONE!”

“LET’S GET A RAUCOUS RIOT GOING!”

Unlike her fight with Dimitri, Orianna took no time at all to get going. She started moving rapidly, darting back and forth between her opponent whilst circling them, her eyes analysing for any weakness or gap in the armour.

Zehalak on the other hand knew he did not have to use such tactics and instead began swinging with his mighty weapon, the size of which meant he could not attack with great frequency, as he needed to realign himself after each mighty swing impacted into the ground or missed.

This happened quite frequently, as whilst Orianna could not match in terms of armour, her speed and agility made up for it. She was able to effortlessly dodge out of the way of attacks before returning fire with a riposte, some bouncing effortlessly off the plate armour, but some managing to get a hit in through the smallest windows of opportunity.

The brawl continued like this for some time, almost turning into an aggressive dance of sorts. Both opponents took turns to lead the other in the hope of landing the perfect attack. Eventually though, a brief lapse in focus for Orianna allowed Zehalak to land his trunk maul squarely onto Orianna’s torso, impacting into her hard and sending her flying into the wall.

Her reactions came back to her quickly as she fell down, landing on one foot with her opposite knee bent down. What little armour she wore had protected her from any major damage, but she was severely winded and most definitely still feeling some pain from that blow. She also knew her opponent would not be waiting around, and so took time to formulate a plan of attack as she caught her breath.

Seeing his attack was successful, the firbolg took two steps back before launching into a charge, wielding his mighty weapon ready for an attack, but he hoped his momentum slamming into Orianna would be enough to finish her off.

This charge was exactly the moment Orianna needed, and with a second wind brewing after her momentary break she knew exactly what to do. With Zehalak rapidly closing in, she gripped her weapons tight and stared dead ahead. Still kneeling, she waited for the ideal moment to strike, which came in the exact second she was about to get rammed into.

Time seemed to almost slow down for the two of them as Orianna used her expert dexterity and smaller stature to slide herself between Zehalak’s legs, stabbing both of her rapiers into the popliteus tendons, an extremely vulnerable area on the back of the knee unprotected by armour. This sent Zehalak stumbling to the ground hard, plate clattering against plate as they slid across the surface of the pit.

Orianna strutted over to her now nonambulatory opponent and went to swiftly end the battle with a quick stab to the side to render him unconscious.

“I yield.”

With those words Orianna’s blade stopped mere millimetres away from piercing even more of the firbolg’s flesh, demonstrating absolute control over her weaponry. “Speed won out, but that play also required serious smarts. Orianna du Fior wins her second match!”, Rylie declared, as healing magic washed over Zehalak.

“Oh my gosh Zelly are you okay I’m sorry that was the best move I had in mind I hope I didn’t hurt you too much?”, Orianna said, going over to check on her acquaintance.

“It hurt like hell sproutling,” Zehalak grunted, bringing themselves back to their feet and patting Orianna on the head gently, “and that’s why you deserved to win. You used your smarts and overcame my strategy.”

“Next time I’ll get you! And that’s a promise!”

Finishing off her cocktail, Rylie continued on with proceedings, and said, “We only have one fight left tonight, and it is going to be a good one! Ten minutes once more to get the next round of drinks in before the grand finale!”

*****

“She’s covered in blood again. Why does she always come home covered in blood?”

“Eiriiiinnnnaaaaa I loooovvveeee yoooouuuuu!”

“Great. You are both covered in blood and drunk out of your mind. Do you have any idea how worried I have been?”

“It’s fiiinnneee I still won and I wasn’t out too late!”

“You were gone all night! Did you go to a pit a day’s travel away?”

“Bit of a trek but it was worth it god those people drink some strong stuff.”

“You’re never going to change are you? You’re always going to put what you love before who you love, aren’t you?”

“I loovee you Eirina…”

“That gives me an answer then.”

*****

“One fight. A chance for one to take it all.”, Rylie said, carrying a somehow larger and fruitier cocktail than the one she had last round. “Welcome back to the pit the multiple Riotous Rumble champion – Orianna du Fior!”

Pirouetting her way onto the field, Orianna was met with thunderous applause from the crowd. Dimitri and his band of dwarves cheered loudly for her, and Zehalak clapped softly from the sidelines, now wearing much more comfortable clothing.

“And now give a riotous welcome to a new face around these parts. They proved their divine power in the preceding rounds, but will the heavens have their back tonight? Entering now – Tarquin Palmerston!”

The cheers and clapping were quieter as this refined individual made their way into the arena. They carried themselves with an air of superiority, as if his work made him better than anyone he would face. He wore fine robes, befitting of his position, the silk seeming to glisten in what minimal light there was, a breastplate adorned with the symbol of his god secured tightly around his chest, a similar sigil was displayed on his shield.

What concerned Orianna was that he came in carrying only a dagger, and in her experience in fighting the faithful, they did not tend to deal in concealing their weapons. “Oh crap they’re a magic user,” Orianna thought to herself, “this is going to be difficult but I can make it work I have made this work in the past.”

“This is a tough challenge upcoming, but that is only going to make the entertainment greater! Are you ready?”

“THREE!”

“TWO!”

“ONE!”

“LET’S GET A RAUCOUS RIOT GOING!”

Knowing she needed to move quickly, but also very wary of what could be in store for her, Orianna advanced with both rapiers drawn and tried to quickly analyse her opponent’s weak spots. He needed his hands to cast spells, and his arms were left exposed by the breastplate, that was where she needed to strike.

But as she drew back ready to lunge, a sudden malaise came over her. Everything felt sluggish and generally not right. “I uh huh,” Orianna said, speaking quickly even whilst disoriented, “what are you doing to me?”

Tarquin smirked as he remained unmoved. “A simple curse spell my dear,” he said, his voice laced with condescension, “brutes such as yourself usually fumble when subjected to it.”

The taunt mildly enraged Orianna, and she attempted to launch into a flurry of attacks. Due to the curse though, her strikes were no longer the pinpoint accurate stabs she had done before. They were sluggish, sloppy, imprecise. Some managed to land, although all they did was leave surface level cuts on the skin.

“Pathetic,” Tarquin said, his words closing up his wounds as he stepped back, “I thought you were the best around these parts? Is this the best a legendary fighter can do?”

“You are really starting to make me mad you not very nice so and so!”, Orianna said, trying her hardest to shake off the curse, but her mind was scattered at the best of times, and trying to align it to reinforce her mental defenses was proving difficult. Nonetheless she still tried attacking the cleric, landing blows which were quickly healed off with more snide comments.

Eventually, Tarquin yawned, saying, “Alright, let me see what you can do,” and ended the curse. Feeling her energy and hyperactivity return, Orianna began an assault with her two trusted blades, starting up the combo of alternating stabs, finally feeling confident in this fight as her opponent started to take more visible damage.

Until suddenly she could not move at all, her body seemingly suspended in time. “Ugh, how drab,” Tarquin said, walking around his paralysed prey, “a legendary fighter with only two moves, stab and more stab.”

He healed off whatever wounds Orianna had to managed inflict as he circled back around to her front, holding out both hands and beginning to channel divine energy into them. “Witness the power of those above!”, he said, before the divine force pushed against and wrapped around Orianna, throwing her to the ground and leaving her severely bloodied, swords thrown to either side of her.

Members of the crowd gasped in shock and awe that such a fighter could be taken down to the ground. She was not out though, barely holding onto consciousness on the floor as Tarquin walked over to her, drawing his dagger.

“So sweet, so full of life,” he said, with a lamentable tone, “and yet, not knowing the fulfilment and joy that comes with being loved by something, or someone, greater than yourself.”

“Love…”, Orianna said to herself, as one of tonight’s roughest memories came back to her mind.

*****

“Hey Eirina I’m home! I know I haven’t been the best girlfriend lately due to staying out late shunting the responsibility of healing me onto you and coming home drunk but have I got a surprise for you!”

“I went to the market and got everything to make your favourite food I’ve got that wine you’re always going on about that you love and I had a special dragonchess set made custom to you and what you love!”

“…Eirina? Are you home? Oh I know you may be sleeping off the events of last cause I kept you up quite a bit.”

“Huh weird she’s not in here either… oh there’s a letter on the bed and it’s from Eirina!”

“Let’s see what she wants to tell… me…”

“…oh…”

“…I mean, like, I get it, but…”

“…damnit Orianna, why did you have to push her away too?”

“Gah, who’s open tonight… oh sweet Rylie is hosting tonight, fighting at her place should help me get my head clear.”

*****

“No matter,” Tarquin said, raising his dagger up, “magic brought you down, but my blade shall seal my supreme victory!”. With that he brought it back down with speed, intending to finish Orianna off. That did not happen, as Orianna parried his dagger with one of her own she had hidden on her person. It was expertly crafted, with a curved blade, almost reminiscent of a blade an assassin would use.

Pulling herself to her feet to the exclamations of surprise of the crowd, Rylie, and even Tarquin, who said, “Hm, no matter, you are still down a weapon and in bad shape.”

In response, Orianna pulled out an identical blade seemingly out of nowhere, or at the least no one was able to see where it was pulled from before it rested at her side. “You’re not the only one with hidden tricks,” Orianna said, “I’m going to enjoy this one.”

Tarquin huffed, and began to prepare another curse to hinder Orianna. She knew what was coming though, and did not allow him the time. Opening with a quick slice precisely along the wrist of her opponent, the spell dissipated as the pain took hold, followed by a diagonal slash against the lips to make it so getting out the words needed to heal was more difficult.

No time was left for Tarquin to even feel fear, as once Orianna had ensured no spells would interrupt her barrage, she began repeated, focused, precise attacks against the left elbow of her opponent. 

The first hit completely shredded his robes and left a deep gash on top of that.

The second hit right to the joint, exposing the space between the bones

The third and final hit cleaved effortlessly through that space, severing the arm and rendering Tarquin unconscious.

Silence fell amongst the crowd, aside from Rylie snapping her fingers down to the side to get some extra healers into the pit, carrying out both Tarquin and his amputated appendage, hoping to stabilise him and reattach the arm without too many complications.

“Well,” Rylie said, sounding almost out of breath, “it ended in a more brutal way than I expected, but it also proved why she’s the best around these parts. Friends and foes, give it up for tonight’s champion, ORIANNA DU FIOR!”

Cheers and applause rippled across the crowd as Orianna was helped out of the pit by another healer, gently tending to her wounds as she was brought up to Rylie, who was holding a trophy, the champion’s purse, and a sizable bottle of white wine.

“Was worried there for a moment sweetie,” Rylie said, rubbing Orianna’s arm gently, “it really looked like he was going to take you out.”

Orianna flushed red as this gorgeous tiefling fussed over her in a caring manner, struggling to get her words out as she said, “I… uh… bah… rah… wah… yeah… I h-hope he isn’t too hurt…”

“Ehh, I wouldn’t worry about it. My healers are some of the best, plus a twat like that kind of deserved a beatdown. Had no right to taunt you that personally.”

“Yeah that is sort of true he was kind of being a butt.”

“I know you’ll likely wanna go home, but my sister Kylie is hosting a late one tonight if you wanna join me over there, maybe even get a few extra rounds in?”

“I think it is most definitely home time for me I kind of wanna get a very long nap in.”

“Cannot argue with that one,” Rylie said, leaning in to give Orianna a quick kiss on the cheek, “stay beautiful princess!”

Rylie left the winnings at Orianna’s feet, smirking to herself as she heard the panicked, high-pitched noises of someone struggling to process that a cute girl just kissed them. Eventually though, she calmed down, picked up her prizes and left into the tranquility of the night to walk home.

“Going to Kylie’s would have been fun but given everything that’s happened tonight… I’m really not in the headspace,” Orianna said as she walked slowly through the streets, feeling a reluctance to go back to a place which contained so many complex emotions right now: shattered memories, painful new perspectives, and better times now lost forever.

She sighed deeply before continuing on her journey, before being stopped by a slightly tattered piece of parchment getting caught on her heel. “Oh gross gross gross!”, she exclaimed loudly as she put down her winnings to remove it, though she took pause once she saw the royal sigil of Bruenor Battlehammer on it.

“King Bruenor Battlehammer… expedition into the Underdark… representatives from the-please get to the point this is so incredibly hard to read-ooo adventurers are required to take part in a trial that ranks their combat capability. That sounds like a lot of fun actually and all this Underdark stuff would give me a chance to get out of the house and think things through away from it all!”

Picking her winnings back up, Orianna had a rejuvenated skip in her step. There was so much to consider, what weapons to bring along, what set of armour to use, what kind of outfit looks best in darker environments. She had an emotional minefield to navigate within her mind, but at least she could do it away from where it all happened and poke a lot of holes into demons for good measure.

Inspiration

So first off, this is tied for my longest work of fiction, Marieya’s Torment and this both clock in around the 5500 word mark. Though Torment could potentially end up longer as I do want to revisit that piece and bring it up to the standards I work to today… and fix the fact it was mostly written at 2am but that is a tangent of a tangent.

This piece serves as the introduction to Orianna du Fior, one of my more recent characters created for the second half of an Out of the Abyss game. Mechanically, Orianna is ridiculous, which I do want to go into at some point but that will likely be its own piece focusing on how she is put together.

In terms of character though, Orianna is a character who I designed to be both trans and lesbian from the outset. The trans aspect is covered briefly in the second flashback between her and her partner, asking how her name came about, whilst the lesbian aspect was highlighted when Rylie gave her a brief kiss.

And believe me, “panicked high-pitched noises” is the simplest way I could think of to describe the utterly insane vocalisation I produce when roleplaying as Orianna and she gets flustered by something.

A distinct character trait of Orianna you might have already picked up on is the fast she is a fast talker, and this is reflected in her dialogue. The main way this is conveyed is by the noticeable lack of commas present in anything she says, leading to her sentences flowing as one long block of text.

Yes this is exhausting to roleplay especially as I am also having to come up with what she is saying on the fly, but honestly I would not change this characterisation for the world, she is such a fun character to embody.

Though as with most of my characters, there is some tragedy to her, and for Orianna specifically, it is the breakdown of her relationship with her girlfriend Eirina. There are definitely some personal elements injected into how things broke down between them, and what pushed Eirina to finally leave for her own good.

What makes Orianna interesting is that when presented with the consequences of her self-destructive behaviours she… continued to cope using those self-destructive behaviours, rather than taking the time to reflect on what she could have done differently.

I definitely want Orianna to have to face herself a bit in the Underdark, and have her issues catch up with her one way or another to force her to address them. However that happens is not up to me, but I am interested to see how I can develop Orianna further down the line.

As with most of my stories, I enjoyed writing this. Even the flashback scenes, emotionally taxing as they were, were also incredibly rewarding to use as a framing device to tell a prelude story.