#*drops angsty lore unprovoked*

[thunderboltfire]

Isaldian crew vs. attitude towards death and the concept of fate.

It occured to me that having a bunch of characters who regularly risk life and limb sort-of necessitates that they have some sort of attitude towards the perilous circumstances they face, and towards the fact they're often surrounded by death. The whole thing turned out to be pretty long (plus Theria's illustration turned out to be pretty gory), so I'm putting it under the cut.

(CW: Blood, CW: Gore)

Igna - Blaze of glory

Igna's acutely aware her line of work may result in a violent death. However, generally once she considers a matter or an ideal worthy enough, she's willing to fight for it, and by extension, die for it, if it comes to that. Her furious determination extends to the matters or life and death; if she is really set on defending something, or someone, she doesn't back down - even if she logically speaking should. Was she to willingly sacrifice her life, she'd want it to happen in a way that won't make her easily forgotten, and she'd want it to matter, or to make some sort of a difference. That being said, she definitely doesn't seek an opportunity to die with a bang. She would much prefer to live to see the end of the war and she is generally afraid of death, however her fear is fairly easily dulled by adrenaline and/or anger. Igna doesn't believe in predestination - but she believes in providence.

Argo - death behind a shoulder

It's very probable Argo has heard one time too much that he should not be alive. His very existence has brushed with death practically since he was born, and as a result he has a deeply ingrained attitude of someone who's aware he's living on a borrowed time thrice over. He believes that becoming a Wanderer, he pretty much signed up to a premature and probably gruesome death. This constant proximity to the perspective of his own demise has desensitised him, to the point that he appears weirdly calm in life-or-death situations. It's often read as though he doesn't really believe he can die at all, which cannot be further from truth. The weird atmosphere of his early life has led him to become a fatalist, and a pessimist - he's pretty certain he's going to die young, but having survived so many dangerous situations he just gave up on constant gauging when exactly it could happen. He has a pretty good self-preservation instinct that preserves him from immediate danger, but he easily takes up daunting tasks with a nigh suicidal courage.

Theria - deathwish

Theria has had a pretty active deathwish since the battle of Haergard. Like most shapeshifters, she posesses very quick regeneration ability, which makes her incredibly hard to kill. Her body can take a lot of punishment before she stops actively fighting, making her a terrifying juggernaut, in either her human or wolf form. She throws herself in the face of danger, almost taunting fortune to turn on her and finally strike her down. She doesn't go around in a blind self-destructive mode all the time, as she tends to her injuries and doesn't hurt herself blindly, but she's way more prone to take unnecessary risks than any other member of the team. Her ache after the loss of her mate and brethren has lessened with time, but she very much doesn't fear death at all.

Daen - the deathless

The Bloodless are notoriously hard to kill - they age very slowly, and like all magically altered humans, they recover quickly even from deadly injuries. Daen considers himself worthy of death for his past transgressions, but also he thinks of death as an easy way out of a proper penance. He is acutely aware that his skills, knowledge and experience makes him more valuable to the other people alive, and so he tries to keep himself in a good form to help others. He doesn't put himself (or others) deliberately in a way of senseless danger. Daen believes in a complete self-determination, interestingly at the same time he's quite religious.

Haart - the unwilling

Out of the whole team, Haart is the one that geniunely fears death. He has to face it pretty often, and deal it too, but that doesn't mean he's at peace with its perspective. He has a most acute self-preservation instinct out of them all, and the fact he's able to wrestle his fears into submission and head into fray over and over again is a testament to his resolve. He knows being a Scorchwielder, he has no other way to live, but he wishes a lot that he didn't have to do it. Having a pretty subdued role in a dwarven society as a young man, he wasn't raised to challenge status quo in any fundamental regard. Having witnessed a lot of senseless death, he thinks that the determining force of many aspects of life is sheer luck.