#WELL‚ if you'll direct your focus back up to Libby the runemaster for but a moment...

[definitelyimportantpost]

Now, you might be thinking:

"Dip that's not a Troubadour why does she look like that??"

(Warning: Large amounts of text below, abandon all hope ye who enter here, yada yada yada)

That's because she's not a Troubadour! I lied! Lyris is actually a Hexer! And a Runemaster! But more than that, she's an experienced artist unlike a certain somebody.

So what exactly does this mean?

Well, although within the confines of the EOU's class selection, her gameplay role of supporting the party with buffs is that of a Troubadour, Lyris, rather than using the inspiring power of song and dance, uses a mixture of Cursemaking, Runemastery, and, indeed, her own art to empower her allies. Thus, I've taken to calling her a Pictomancer.

Now what exactly does that mean?

To explain, I ought to use an example. Take the humble Warrior Song, an emboldening bop which bolsters the abilities of a Troubadour's fellow battlers. While Lyris may use a skill of the same name, my sick and twisted cranium envisions vastly different goings-on than an especially strengthening song being sung.

See, the book Lyris holds in the image above is one of her sketchbooks. Within this specific textbook are various depictions of various monsters which reside within Etria's own Yggdrasil labyrinth (you're gonna have to use your imagination because I sure as hell am not drawing them). The particular drawing which concerns Lyris' recreation of Warrior Song's effects is her drawing of the Forest Wolf.

The Forest Wolf has a skill called Evil Cry, which raises the attack strength of all of its allies. Rather similar to Warrior Song, eh?

Though Lyris could hardly hope to muster a howl with such a helpful effect, she doesn't need to.

Though her Cursemaking abilities, Lyris can conjure up an illusory image of this Forest Wolf from her sketchbook, which will use its own Evil Cry to empower her comrades. But that's not the end of it—though the illusions she creates can mimic the use of a skill, its her manipulation of runic energies through Runemastery while the small spectacle occurs that bears most of the true supportive effect.

Does this mean that the illusions Lyris creates are near useless? Yes! Yes it does! But she's a sucker for theatrics (watch her summon an illusory double of one of dragon trio for Flame/Frost/Shock Fantasia), so she insists on their presence.

This combination of Cursemaking, Runemastery, and her own artworks is what forms the crux of Lyris' role in battle.

And it also explains why she looks like that! I did my best to incorporate aspects of both Runemasters and Hexers into Lyris' design. See the dress she's wearing? The same kind that Runemasters wear.

(Transparent, high-res EO4 character portraits are about as easy to come by as... something really hard to come by, so I ripped this one straight from the game. What can ya do? Incidentally, this specific portrait is another one of my EOCs. Everybody say "hi Libby!" I'll get to her someday.)

That chain and string around her waist? Quite similar to that which Hexers bind themselves up with. And that eye-shaped emblem on her sketchbook? The same one that Hexers wear above their bells.

(This is also the portrait Lyris uses in-game. You can sorta see where she got the hair from.)

And though it's easy to overlook, she wears a Hexer-style leg-cuff on her left leg.

(This portrait just so happens to be the one used by Isabell, my EO2U "Hexer!" Her class is a similar deal to Lyris'. I'll get to her in time.)

Only the one, though, not both. She can't levitate like full-time Hexers, and is thus hardly of the mind to bind both her legs together like one.

Lastly, Lyris has a sword! That sword in particular is my take on the Vorpal, which is the sword you get from the Reaping Shade's conditional drop (kill while arms bound) in the Emerald Grove. While the sword sees little use, Lyris keeps it on her person, per the insistence of her twin sister Katris—the EOU party's Protector—that she have something to defend herself with in any scenario wherein Katris is unable to.

Why'd I choose the Vorpal specifically?

No real reason, besides it being what she has equipped right now. It comes with +20 HP and +3 Agility! It's a damn good stat stick, if nothing else.

Okay I think that's all. Bye bye.

Now THIS is more like it! My Etrian Odyssey Untold Troubadour, Lyris Harper.