#bangar had it coming for him

[nurllius]

So I’ve been replaying the story and this whole chapter made me cackle thinking about what must’ve the commander been thinking while seeing Ryland’s memories. And it’s even funnier that that the commander mumbled things while they were in the vision.

[ratasum]

A bunch of you asked for it SO...

Eye of the North and Rhenn's very near death to Bangar shooting him with Braham's bow was indeed a huge shift in Kippa and Rhenn's dynamic. Before that point, she'd held back her magic significantly, and he'd always strived to protect her.

After all, when he died to Balthazar, she didn't have access to her full well of magic, and Aurene was still Baby. So any time she DID use her magic, it was outbursts or in limited amounts. Which is why she was struggling to heal him in EotN when they arrived.

As a result, she started reaching PAST what she allowed herself, deeper and deeper, until a dam broke. Everything she'd been holding back the ENTIRE 29 years of her life. And something SNAPPED. This little asura, completely unknowing of the kind of magic that was churning inside her, was just flooded with the dragon magic she had no idea she had, and all of a sudden, it was too much. Which is why Aurene intervened- it was too much for Kippa to control without the knowledge to do so. Linking her magic to Aurene's mostly by accident, but in a welcome respite, that let Kippa come down safely but not without consequence.

It happens in a split second. A blinding flash of light, and Kippa's just… floating. There's delicate shards of ice and crystal suspended in the air, Rhenn is healed, he's breathing… but everyone else is healed too. There's a distinct feeling of dehydration, like they'd just walked through the Crystal Desert for a day without a water flask. And there's a LOT of consequences to the immense, powerful, immediate healing she unleashed.

Depending on the severity of the injury, there's phantom pains. Aches. An almost hollow feeling. People brought back from the brink of death have haunting nightmares, INCLUDING Rhenn, that last a few days.

(And yes Kippa feels SO much guilt over this. She wasn't trying to drop a healnuke she was just trying to save Rhenn's life, and apparently grief and panic can do a lot of heavy lifting)

I don't think anyone's really mad at her but reactions vary. Some charr are outright distrustful. Some asura want to study her. The Crystal Bloom starts treating her as almost a saintlike figure.

And she does finally start learning to control and utilize the well of magic she has. By EoD she's much more in control, and a lot more confident.

Aurene does a lot to help her learn that having this gift isn't her fault. She didn't ask for it, and she didn't take it. Someone else gave it to her, and maybe it wasn't theirs to give, but it is Kippa's to use.

But where Rhenn had always tried to keep her safe before, Kippa has the power to protect herself now. She has access to her fire and earth attunements in ways she never had before. He's still commander, and still gets a lot of respect. But Kippa's something new. She has power that neither of them can fully comprehend, and the ability to fully defend herself if push comes to shove. Things she wasn't able to do before (hence why she didn't try to escape when she was captured along with Taimi in S4).

It doesn't change their feelings for each other, but it does change how Rhenn sees her to a degree. He's no longer her protector- they're equals in a way he hadn't expected. If anything, it makes him admire her even more, and levels the playing field as their relationship deepens and progresses.

[therealpactcommander]

Commander Week Day 1 - Race

“You are a norn of prophecy, but you are not yet true norn. Any can wear the wolf, but only true norn can become the wolf.” Wolf said to Braham. He turned to the brothers standing behind him- “With some exception.”

The comment was very obviously directed at Hunter, who puffed up his chest in pride. Thorne frowned, however- unlike his little brother, who made up for his lack of spirit magic by directly channeling Wolf as a revenant, Thorne did not have any substitute.

“Focus, Vætkisson,”

Thorne took a deep breath as he hyped himself up quietly. He was stronger now- he had more power, maybe now- just maybe- he could hold his leopard form for more than 30 seconds.

It had been over a decade since he last tried to become the leopard. He just hoped he remembered how to do it. 

He took another breath. Even ignoring the pain and fatigue it caused, it was always more of a process for him than most norn. For them, it was a fast blink of an eye- one moment norn, the next animalistic. He had seen it with Shamans, and when Braham had attacked Bangar and Ryland. For Thorne, it was a slow transformation that had been described to him as ‘horrifying’ and ‘disturbing.’

He would describe it as ‘painful,’ personally.

Thorne closed his eyes and took a metaphorical tug at the magic around him, just as he had felt himself do when he was a child. He felt the rolling shudder force itself down his spine and he let out an audible grunt of pain, squeezing his hands into a fist, but his nails had begun to lengthen into claws. He choked back another cry as he felt his bones lengthen and morph, feeling his fur spread to the rest of his body. 

By the time his face was deforming, he was screaming with the voice of a panther. It was just as bad as he remembered, despite his hopes.

Why was he doing this? To prove he could? To prove he was norn?

There he had been, writhing on the ground as he forced his body into his leopard form. Rough, scratchy yowls ripped from his throat, and by the time he had fully transformed, he was too exhausted to even do anything but lay there in pain.

“Commander? Thorne- holy spirits!”

Thorne tried to open his muzzle to speak as Braham ran up to him but all that came out was a pained sound. 

“Bear’s bloody nose, Commander, I-” 

Thorne finally gave up and instead pushed the energy away as much as he could, only for the process to reverse as he screamed. He had gotten better at that part at least, from how many times he had given up halfway through as a child. 

“Braham-” Thorne tried to rasp, before he started coughing blood onto the ground. 

“Holy shit,” The other norn wheezed. “Thorne- why- why did you do that?”

Thorne scrunched up his face. What was he supposed to say? Oh, I was jealous that you’re able to do the thing our entire race is known for being able to do.

“I just…” he coughed again, trying to make his voice more light. “I just thought I'd try again,” 

It was Braham's turn to scrunch up his nose. “Well, don't do that.” He huffed. “Come on,” He grabbed Thorne’s arm and pulled him up to his feet, supporting him to make sure he didn't topple over again. “You should get some rest.”

“I don't need-”

“Commander.”

Thorne sighed in defeat, gesturing at Ivory to tell her to follow. She hopped up to her feet and bounded over to follow them. “You know, I accepted an invitation for a couch to crash on, not codling.” 

“I feel like ‘needing somewhere to stay while I'm ill’ includes ‘codling.’”

“I'm recovering, not ill!” Thorne hissed, narrowing his eyes. “And I’m older than you.”

“We don't know that,” Braham said with a shit-eating grin.

Thorne blew out an angry puff of air as he sat down. “Well, we don't know that I'm not older than you, either.”

“Alright, alright.” Braham laughed. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” 

Thorne blinked for a moment, caught off guard by the question. “About what?”

“About trying to transform.”

“I already said, I just wanted to see if I could, now that my magic is being purified..”

“You’re sure?”

“YES, Braham!” Thorne snapped before he could stop himself. “I just- It’s hard being around other norn, okay?! Being the Commander only made me even more different than I already was and I just-!”

Thorne pulled away with a thrashing tail and a burning heat behind his eyes. “I’m tired of being strange! I just want to fit in with a homestead, even just for a little bit. Fuck,”

“I… didn’t think you were that interested.” 

“I- I wasn’t. Not until now. I…” Thorne sighed. “I guess I just want somewhere to belong now that Dragon’s Watch is… on standby. Spirits, that’s stupid.” 

“No, no, I get that.” Braham said quickly. “After Jormag went dormant, I felt like I couldn’t show my face anywhere. When we went up north, being called ‘Vowbreaker’ to my face didn’t help with that. It… it took a long time for me to be comfortable again. It’s not stupid, promise.”

Thorne sighed. “Right…”

“You’ll find a place, Commander. Just focus on not going insane first, yeah?”

Thorne smiled before he could stop himself. “Yeah. Yeah, alright.” He sat back down with a huff. “I’ll consider not going batshit on you,” He smiled.

“I appreciate it.”

“Don’t celebrate too soon, Eirsson. I may be weakened, but I can still put up a fight.”

“I’ve noticed. You’ve been hunting, right?”

“Hunting is easy. It’s the least I could do.”

“Hey, that’s something. Helping out the community,”

“Like I said, I’m trying to fit in.” Thorne chuckled. “Stop trying to make me feel better,”

“Is it working?”

“Eh… not really. Thanks for trying, I guess. I just don’t think this is something that can be talked through.”

“Well, I tried.”

“Heh. Alright.”

[wall-legion]

Winter's End

Garrus had been waiting for a moment like this to come up. It had been too long since he had last been up here, taking in the arctic air. The Eye of the North was well built, but the Shiverpeaks made their presence known by sending gusts of wind and snow against its walls hard enough to keep everyone close to the bonfires that burned day and night. Now two years later he had finally returned, striding past the various merchants and soldiers, nodding in response to the voices calling out "Commander" to him to acknowledge that he'd heard them all.

Another time he would stop and catch up and see how they were all faring. Today he had business.

He continued down the hallway to the antechamber where Aurene had held her court, so to speak. Nowadays it was mostly empty, save for him.

Bangar had been returned to the cell since he was released from Jormag's magic and fully healed. The legions had wanted nothing to do with him, for the moment at least, but Garrus was sure that they would be dragging his sorry ass to the Citadel soon to jail him there instead for the rest of his natural days. Not if I have anything to say about that, Garrus thought with a grim smile as he entered the chamber.

"Well, well." Bangar lifted his head, but didn't stand up. "The wonderful Commander Firstblood takes time from his busy schedule to grace me with his presence. What did I do to deserve a visit?"

"Wrapping something up." Garrus rolled his shoulders back, fighting the urge to wince as a joint popped in one of them. "Get up."

"Is that an order?"

Burn me, how did anyone ever take him seriously as an imperator when all he ever did was talk down to everyone he ever interacted with? Garrus bared his teeth. "I said, get up!"

Bangar staggered to his feet, but managed to regain his smug expression after a moment. "Yes sir," he rasped.

Garrus started circling the cage. "Sounds like the throat is still damaged."

"Yes, well, your precious dragon couldn't be bothered to heal me. Only the special few get her magic touch apparent-LECH-!"

Bangar's taunting was cut off by Garrus's hand shooting out between the bars to wrap around his throat, thumb pressed tight against the former leader of the Blood Legion's windpipe. The older charr desperately tried to dig his claws into Garrus's arm, but couldn't pierce through the leather and metal of his glove. "What a coincidence," Garrus growled, staring into Bangar's eyes as he spoke, "that you bring up Aurene's healing magic right now."

"Are you really... going to beat me... for shooting you?" Bangar wheezed.

"No, because that would be foolish." He watched as Bangar relaxed ever so slightly. "I'm going to beat you for what you did to Qirri. Then I'll shoot you for shooting me."

"This is about that rat?!" Bangar somehow managed to raise his voice.

"This is about my guildmate-" Garrus paused to drag Bangar forward, off-balance, to slam his head into the bars of the cage- "and about a member of my warband." He slammed him into the bars again, harder. "This is about a challenge to me as Aurene's champion." A third slam, resulting in blood starting to dribble from Bangar's nose. "This is about you being a coward, and a failure as a leader!" A fourth and final slam that rattled the cage, and split the browridge above Bangar's left eye, dropped the older charr to the floor of the cage when Garrus let go of his throat and stepped back.

"You didn't do half of what I did to that weakling..." Bangar froze when he looked at Garrus- or more at the bow he was drawing back.

"Look familiar?" Garrus asked. "The boy's got more draw strength than I thought he did. You were right to be afraid of him." Deep breath. Find your stance. Find your target. You'll only get one shot. "I hope you find something like peace in the Mists, Ruinbringer."

The bowstring sang out as he released the arrow, and a soft wet sound followed as it buried itself in Bangar's throat. Garrus walked back over to yank it free, staring back down at the former imperator until the light left his eyes.

He teleported himself home.

[thornethenorn]

Tagged by @violentnornography and I don't tag others because I have anxiety lols. Made myself keep the epic saga song choices to two or less

SIX SONG SOUNDTRACK GAME - THORNE VÆTKISSON

ππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππ

An Event that Defines their Past

Hartebeest - Yaelokre

Hazel beneath our claws As we wait for cerulean to cry Unsettled ticks run though time, Enough for the Hunt¹ to go awry Where do we go When the river's running slow? Where do we run When the acres turn green, And the cats² kill one by one?

How they see themselves

Unsweetened Lemonade - Amélie Farren

It's hard to finish sentences I'll sell my pride instead Cause it's easier to focus I'm just the price above my head People think I'm pretty So I'll buy a hotel room One bed trope without the tension The child and her groom I fucked the reaper³ Cuz’ I knew my time had come, Why can't you see? I didn't die at twelve I guess im here till ninety-three

How others see them

Different Beast - EPIC the Musical

He is a different beast now, he is the one who feasts now No more of us deceased, 'cause he won't take more suffering from you He is the man-made monster, he is the one who conquers You are a threat no longer, he won't take more suffering from you

Their closest Relationship (Platonic or Romantic)

I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE - Måneskin

I wanna be your slave, I wanna be your master⁴ I wanna make your heart beat Run like dollar coaster I wanna be a good boy, I wanna be a gangster Cuz’ you can be the beauty and I can be the monster⁵

A Major Fight Scene

Six Hundred Strike - EPIC the Musical

How does it feel to be helpless? (Argh) How does it feel to know pain? (Ugh) I watched my friends die in horror (Ah-ah) Crying as they were all slain (Ugh) I heard their final moments (Argh) Calling their captain⁶ in vain (Ugh) Look what you turned me into (Ah-ah) Look what we've become (Ugh, enough) All of the pain that I've been through (Stop) Haven't I suffered enough? (Stop) You didn't stop when I begged you Told me to close my heart (You) You said the world was dark (Monster) Didn't you say that ruthlessness is mercy upon our—

Ending Credits

What You're Made Of - Arrested Youth

I walk alone, down the street Don't need your prayer, no sympathy I wear my pride, round my neck So it's best you watch your steps 'Cause I've been up, I've been down I've been kicked at on the ground But I stand tall where I'm at Been to hell but now I'm back⁷ When death comes knocking at your door And nothing's left worth fighting for Say a little prayer and pull the rug Show me what you're made of Kingdom come is falling down No one's left to save you now Say a little prayer and pull the rug Show me what you're made of

References

1 - The event important to his past is The Great Hunt. The Hunt 'going awry' is representing the way he went from killing Issormir to becoming the Commander to hunt and kill elder dragons- specifically Jormag.

2 - Thorne is half cat. "One by One" refers to each Elder Dragon.

3 - "but losercat! Joko is a scourge, not a reaper!" Shut up shut the FUCK up

4 - Thorne's more intimate traumas certainly don't go away when he gets into a stable relationship, but he now has a healthier way of expressing it. He'd never be a top or dom tho.

5 - He's half cat and a murderer, making him a "monster." Especially compared to Yao.

6 - Commander.

7 - The Domain of the Lost. Could also be symbolically referring to any other traumatic event, like the Forbidden Vault, dying for 30 seconds in the Harvest Temple, nearly being killed by Bangar, being forced into his first best friend, finding his mother's murdered corpse, etc.

[adrisventari]

got a bit busy, but happy commander week! I've rewritten a few scenes from an Icebrood Saga fic I started writing in late 2020 (dear god), a selection that focuses on the charr race and Ariaami's relationship with her people. below the cut for your reading pleasure.

"Imperator Swordshadow."

"Tribune Veilkeeper. Good to see you."

Nobody had called her Tribune in quite some time, she was always the Commander, it made her feel fresh out of the fahrar.

"And you know you're allowed to call me Malice soldier, you've earned it."

"Of course, sir." Ariaami sat, her injured arm held close to her. It was in far better shape now, but the swath of brand scaring was jarring. There was almost a pulse to it, like the magic within was still alive, desperate for escape. She had been assured that it wasn't, but had elected to cover it anyway.

"Your arm?"

"Unfortunate consequence."

"Mm. Congratulations on the Kralkatorik kill by the way, you've done all of us a great service."

Ariaami waited for the acknowledgement that she knew, that it had been a family matter. A subtle nod to the General, a clever remark. But Malice said nothing.

"That was mostly Jodnil and General Soul-" Malice waved her paw, dismissive.

"It's all teamwork Veilkeeper." 

"Of course, sir."

So she didn't know.

"Anyway, what brings you to my office?"

"Checking in. I've got, time off." Malice chuckled lightly.

"That's a first. Your orders are as follows, go get some rest Tribune." 

"I-"

"You deserve it. Go on. The Keeper warband is in good hands with Legionnaire Blastkeeper. Besides, they're on a recon mission up north." Malice rested her elbows on her desk, thoughtful. "And you need to rest, that's an order."

Ariaami wasn't used to taking orders anymore, it has been nearly a decade of giving them. But she found herself nodding, standing, and leaving the Imperator's office. She wasn't good at resting, at sitting still, at being idle. At being back here, the Citadel was noisy, the air was smoggy. It didn't feel like coming back home, it never really had. Not since Barradin had killed all but the two of them. She missed the open air, unobscured by iron beams and smoke. Almost unintentionally, Maven materialized. The skyscale chittered softly, stretching her black wings to the clouded sky. Ariaami ran her scarred hand across the creature, before climbing into the saddle, and taking to the sky.

~

"Oughtta skin him myself, instead of waiting for Thackery to do it." Bangar paused. "You would be far more suited to be my eyes and ears. Our war-torn hero. So disconnected from her people. I could help you with that." The imperator's eyes were a faint yellow, almost white. Malicious, calculating.

"Not interested." 

"You can show yourself out then, Veilkeeper." 

Ariaami paused, her own eyes equally calculating, a lavender ice. She lingered, a moment longer than would have be respectful, and then turned on her heel, head held high.

~

BONUS TIME!!!

Thanks for reading! Here is a song from Ariaami's playlist that kinda fits the vibes of the day.

[antariies]

thinking about aurene again. she and harley have a much closer relationship than what’s shown in canon—the two are basically dad and daughter. and thanks to harley’s influence, his aurene speaks more casually and musically, jokes around more often, and loves to try new food despite not needing to eat anymore.

their closeness is a double-edged sword, however! in his efforts to give her the most loving and normal childhood he could, harley ended up coddling her too much. she’s still reliant on him after she ascends, and it comes back to bite her in the ass when he gets shot by bangar and has to step away for the rest of ibs. his absence is something neither of them anticipated or prepared for and now dragon’s watch is arguing over what to do without the commander and they’re looking to her for Elder Dragon Wisdom and she’s like “I DUNNO!!!! 😰 just because i can see every possible future doesn’t mean i know what to do with that information!! this is so hard i want my dadddd 😭” she’s immature and sorely ill-equipped to handle a civil war.

it feels so unfair. of course she’s not ready for this, she’s never had to be before! one second she was a teenager burning herself out with brazen heroics in lws4 and now she’s the elder dragon of prismatic light. aurene thought she would at least get a few years to ease into it. she and harley also both operate on different timescales compared to everyone else bc their senses of time are warped; harley’s due to being a chrono and aurene’s due to being an immortal dragon. who was Raised by that chrono. both of them are very ‘big picture’ thinkers!

so when aurene suddenly finds herself having to make these big decisions, she calls her dad consults her champion. harley’s advice is to use her future vision to compare potential timelines, see which one has the best ending, and reverse engineer it from there. on paper it sounds pretty good, but by the time she finishes comparing and actually chooses a future, she comes back to dragon’s watch like “OKAY, you guys need to convince smodur to—“ “aurene, smodur got sniped two weeks ago 🤨 he’s dead.”

she takes too long deliberating and makes bad calls that get people killed AND jormag is in her head. she might as well be down for the count as far as the fighting is concerned. @hawkepockets’s prem ikaros is there to fill in for harley for the rest of ibs, but it’s just a horrible time for everyone involved :-]

[margonite-seer]

More Nathan lore please. Give us the breacrumbs, the cake, five, six, SEVEN loaves of bread, the whole platter of pastries. Just lots of words about the pretty boy.

Oh my. You shouldn't have asked that. I have pages and pages about him. His complete biography is in progress and if you are interested in something here, I will tell you more! However, I can summarize the lore I have about him, in chronological order:

He doesn’t know his real birth name, origins, his age, parents, nothing. But he knows he was born sometime between 1304 AE and 1307 AE.

The only thing he has from his pre-orphanage life is a set of three floating stones a sylvari gave him to play with after he found him as a toddler alone on the street and then brought him to the orphanage. Nathan still wears those stones on his forehead as a token of focus (Glacial Eye helmet skin in-game).

In the orphanage, he was forced to learn physical fighting and fire magic because the priests thought he had been blessed by Balthazar due to how large and tall he was for his age, but he loved air and water magic way more.

When he ran away from the orphanage in his puberty, he lived on the streets and later got money and warm meals from prostitution. But that also helped him get a respectable spot in an influential mafia underworld family in Divinity’s Reach.

Once, a robbery of a perverted nobleman went wrong and Nathan killed both him and a few guards but got a nasty eye wound. It took so long to heal he got a nickname “Dark-Eyed Nate.”

This is supposed to be him at around 16-18 years old but imagine a younger face of course.

After years of climbing the underworld ladder, he messed up and knew other gangsters would come execute him. He prayed to Dwayna and promised her if he gets out of this alive, he would spend the rest of his life fighting and healing in her name. He survived and turned his life 180 degrees, becoming a priest of Dwayna. Healer water-air Elementalist, to be exact.

He came to help in Spirit Vale (raid wing 1) and directly joined the assault against the Bandits and then the White Mantle. The other raiders were my other original characters. Among them my Pact Commander Rhydderich with whom Nathan fell in love very fast.

He spent the years from the events of Season 3 to start of Icebrood Saga joggling between joining my characters on more raids, fulfilling his priesthood duty, and joining Rhydderich on some of his dragon journeys across the world.

At one point, he confessed his love to my sylvari but Rhy was still confused and in mourning Trahearne.

After Rhydderich got injured by Bangar in Bjora Marches, Nathan was able to tap into such depths of divine healing magic just to save him that he was promoted in the priesthood and became the third highest ranking person.

This is him in his new customized priest-of-Dwayna uniform that he started often wearing in combat in 1333 AE when he was 26-28.

But since then, quite a lot has changed:

The world events and shift in Tyria's magic made him want to start using his inner storm (in both the meaning of magic and the way he handles things) more often. When someone or something angered him exceptionally much, he just fried them. If the priesthood knew about it, they wouldn't approve.

After the Dragonvoid was beaten back, he and Rhydderich finally got together (!!!). They live together in a nice house in Divinity's Reach now.

He stopped faking the super old bruise, toning it down only to black eyeshadows on the eye lids. And in turn started usually covering up the very much real old tear scar.

He had an edgy phase with long hair and black clothes when not neccessarily on priesthood duty:

But it fit his uniform too, not gonna lie.

And lastly... the events of What Lies Beneath made him not so voluntarily unlock the fire elemental magic he had been bottling up since the orphanage and refusing to use it just out of trauma from the childhood and because it simply didn't go well with the priesthood's teachings of healing.

But the more detailed context, consequences and results of this, and his feelings about it, are all spoilers for the new post-EoD story.

In the meantime, have him looking not so cheerful (though determined) with to him very alien and at this point unfamiliar fire magic.

...and a new haircut and new armor because he changes his non-uniform clothes and general visage like I change my socks.

[mystery-salad]

YOU! gimme 6&7! 12! 16! for Matthias and Aildyn (@where-is-caithe)

💖💖💖 Matthias and @ascalonianpicnic 's Aildyn 💖 coming right up!

6. Did they chase after Caithe together or was one/were some on the airship with Trahearne during the start of HoT?

Neither was on the airship, they were both following Caithe (though with some severe discomfort. Matthias didn't like using the seeds to dig up an unsavory past...hits too close to home. And Aildyn has am awkward gistory with Caithe at that point) and while neither was comfortable with the chase, they both didn't really have wiggle room in it. Aildyn was still under scrutiny as a court spy who needed to prove their place in the pact. And Matthias had a very specific persona he built and has to upkeep to ensure no one finds any loose threads in his story. I feel like, even without the shadow of the dragon interrupting, one of them would've found a way to let her get away "accidentally"

7. Did all of them go into Mordremoth's mind? Did an extra NPC get left out or did two still go?

Matthias and Aildyn both went in, with just Canach! Braham and Caithe both lost people that were huge impacts on them, and that has emotional consequences. They wanted everyone going in to have as clear a mind as possible, and while Canach was still mentally fighting Mordremoth he didn't lost anything drastic to the jungle during the expedition. Not to mention Caithe doesn't trust Aildyn at all yet, so they would have made an awful set to send in together.

As Socks said, "Canach only speedrun any%"

12. Which one was shot by Bangar?

Matthias! And this was finally far into the plot enough that Aildyn knew they loved him. It was fucking devastating to see him get hit and immediately go down as the magic burst to life in the arrow buried deep in his chest. They were at his side and rode with him to aurene's pool. He woke up with his head in their lap...awkward considering the two have been at a point where they literally weren't even speaking outside of required work ._.

The arrow even gave a two for one death deal for him! Matthias is a warrior with the berserker spec, and with that natural internal heat he's been regulating his temperature much better up in the mountains than most others. It's hardly a concern for him until Jormag comes in with their freeze. But that arrow blessed with a fire magic strong enough to fell a dragon? It fucked up his magic real good, but subtly. When Frost Legion revealed their hand and the cold snap blew in, Matthias naturally compensated with upping his own warmth quickly. Which ended up shorting it out completely. Another snap of heat (much like when the arrow first hit him) released from his body, surging him up far beyond a survivable temperature, then plummeted down to freezing as his magic turned off completely. He was down as fast as the first time and had to be dragged back to the healing pool, for much longer to actually repair his magic now too. He's still a bit more cautious with it to this day.

16. How effective are they as a team?

Immensely!!! They may have their differences, they may have hated each other, they may have just started a barely functional relationship now, BUT the one area they never let this affect is their work. These are two people with everything to lose, if this job falls through. They both have pasts waiting to latch their teeth into them the moment they're not backed by a very large and dangerous organization. Whether they get along or not, this job has to work. And they are both immensely skilled fighters and have skills that compliment each other well. Things run so smooth with the two working together even if the team gets tired of the arguments and fights they have to endure in some meetings

[quintiliusheartripper]

pls show and tell me more about Octavos??? (@commanderhorncleaver)

Im going to be completely honest with you i do not know wben this was sent to me so i hope it wasnt long ago 😭 tumblr mobile on my new iphone (i used to be a android user lol but my dad gave me his old phone since my own broke) is weird

Anyway!!! Octavos!!!

A massive charr at 13ft, his whole bloodline is known for being monsterous sized gaurdians even from ancient times. He is one of my three grothmar born and raised charr (the other two being Vytt, quint’s father and Kytt who is uriahs father) who was given to an ash legion fahrar outside of the main city. It wasnt easy growing up, both because of his size in a place like the ashlegion but because his fahrar wasnt exactly the best. Like rylands there was a lot of abuse just to break the cubs down to be obedient and to harden them for the world.

Regardless hes always been quite a soft but extremely smart charr under his now threatening exterior. His mission for the ash legion after his graduation would be to infiltrate blood legion and root out or track any flame legion comings and goings within their ranks. Even better if he could get juicy tidbits on blood legion too. The best part is it was honestly easy because he just had to go in the ooze pits.

What he didn’t expect was the current imperators son to choose him. Thats right bangar chose him. It was definitely a double edged sword that octavos would have to dance around. Bangar in his youth likely wouldnt be any different from any other charr due to the fact theres still wars to be had against the humans and the flame legion. So i compensate in my writing by making him a little fucking nepotism asshole who would point out his fathers position anytime he wants something. Eventually bangar would realize that this massive charr wasnt as dumb as he pretended to be and they would eventually get into a very close, very casual, relationship. Afterall bangars one and true love is almorra but lets face it bangars the type to fuck others but be a pissy abusive baby when his girlfriend fucks someone else.

Anyway fast forward about ten years after, octavos has quite the dossier and has realized cracks and holes in grothmars defences. Octavos blends perfectly into blood legion, even getting the nickname The Devourer due to his appetite and eatting habits. But things start to get hot, literally, as some important players turn to the flame legion in secret. Plans are whispered among spies and defectors of a bombings and a invasion- the enemies exploiting areas octavos would have noted as weak points. He had a choice to either keep quiet and let it happen or come up with a plan to prevent it and come clean to the imperator about what he was and he did just that.

With the alarms sounded he gave the instructions on how they could prevent it, who to jail with hard evidence to back it up, and he helped lead something that would have had grothmar fall to the burgeoning flame legion.

Regardless bangar is extremely upset about the fact someone he was so weak with and shared so much to was a spy. In my head this plus almorra dumping him for a much nicer ash legion soldier is why he hates ash legion with a passion LMAO

I had done a tiny comic thing for charrtober. Id like to one day expand it more

But this leads to hims become a tribune for ash and head of defence for grothmar, appointed and suggested by the blood imperator. Bangar would soon rip his fathers throat out and become blood legion imperator and the two will instantly start butting heads. Octavos was progressive- he wanted reforms for fahrars both to make it so they were less abusive but so that the intergration of all the legions meant better teamwork. He would also advocate for the treaty and ceasefire as he put forth economic prosperity especially with trade relations and switching people to more important more dire circumstances like branded.

Octavos would eventually find himself in a odd predicament. He was the type who, when travelling the countryside, would help captured humans be able to escape especially if it looked like they werent soldiers. Usually he would buy them and free them. Sometimes he would even kill the charr if they were violent enough. Which he did upon meeting his future mate Silva. The human had known nothing but slavery under the charr (this is years 30-20 years before ceasefire) and upon seeing their violence octavos killed them, took the human with him, and told him to escape to the shiverpeaks. But silva was too scared to try and so octavos struck a deal that he could live in his house (something along the hillsides where the farmwrs are in grothmar) but would be called his slave untill he felt brave enough to go ahead and run. Silva would stay and while octavos would insist he didnt need to do anything silva would help feed octavoses pets and water his rooftop garden. (One pet is a tiny devourer he named Miss Pepper and a skritt named Biknip who was kicked out by the other skritt and just loves how big octavos is. So pet isnt the right word but everyone who sees him says hes octavoses pet) while octavos kept himself from acting inappropriate to someone he was aiming to help and save it was silva who fell for him and they would start a secret relationship in a age a human charr relationship was extremely taboo especially in grothmar. Dont be fooled by the fact he has a mate though. He has quite a few cubs who are adults by now and is still very sexually open to anyone who has the guts to ask him.

As years go by bangar appoints crecia and slowly but surely he loses his positions of power in grothmar. He and crecia are positive towards one another though, octavos sometimes giving tipsand even argued to bangar about the conditions for flame legions integration. He didnt agree to forcing the cubs to assimilate to blood legion as that will cause future animosity that they do not need. Like crecia they will always remember who theg were. He would again bang on about better fahrar structures and wpuld take the commanders and almorras side about aurene. He didnt want war anymore and instead wanted to see the charr become protectors, a spy network, and craftsman for the benefit for the rest of tyria. He would soon continue to butt heads with bangar even more as he railed on him about his failure to deal with the renegades that were hurting charr and foreigners. He would speak out against the antiforeigner sentiment since it rose to not just be about humans anymore. (He could understand that animosity. Like bangar he has seen what the humans can be capable and im still one to believe that while anet plays the humans in a good light due to gw1 i highly doubt the warcrimes just stopped at skinning a charr and wearing their pelts as armor . Or atleast i like to assume it was a lot more even in terms of the horror the two nations did to one another)

Renegades would plant a listening bug into a toy that octavos bought to give to biknip and soon bangar knew of octavoses illicit relationship that disgusted him. He gave octavos a ultimatum before the planning for the legion gathering truely came into motion. Retire early or have your mice killed. He retired, reluctantly. A part of him wishes he had stood up against him more. Maybe if he screamed more it wouldnt have came to civil war. His mate would soon live life as almost a werecharr, using magic. To go between human and charr. They liked the courage they felt as a charr but knew he was safe in octavoses arms even as a human. They would have a baby girl late in their life.

[ohpollenpowder]

For the Aurene ask meme: 1, 8 and 9!

lmao I realized as I got your ask that I failed to put my Champions in the tags. But honestly, they're only my Commanders anyway! So I randomized 1-13 and got Ryon!

1] How does the Champion feel about Aurene? Do they consider her a daughter, a sister, a friend, a ward, a burden, just a dragon or something else?

Aurene is his sister, the younger one wiser beyond her years and not afraid to tell him of it. And he's often listening to her with full attention, because he knows it's truth. Like I referenced here, she's been adopted into the Konu family by all of them. All three will fiercely fight to defend her, physically or verbally. The moments she was gone from them, the connection barely there, Ryon felt most bereft. It felt like his arm was cut off, because she was always there. The relief he felt when she returned always made him go clingy, in the sense that he was constantly by her side even if there were other responsibilities he needed to take care of. At least until she gently nudged him on his way, usually after a few hours of pampering and coddling.

8] Are there others who are close to her? What's their relationship with her and her Champion? Does it impact canon?

As mentioned above and in the link, the Konu sisters are close to her as well. They're not quite replacements for her Champion, but they'll do in a pinch. When she was smaller, they would often come and spend the night with her in the egg chamber, bringing her gifts and things of the "outside world." (They're the fault of the little collection of things in Sun's Refuge.) Shiori often has a multitude of questions for her now that she's the Elder Dragon of Crystal and Light, asking about all the things that might be. And probably asking if there's anything that could be a cure for Scarlet's Rattle—if any. Yunru has become her "personal bodyguard" even bullying the Crystal Bloom out when she's around. Ryon often has to usher her out or defuse the situation altogether between them. The eldest Konu is attempting to mom her because she sees a lot of Ryon there as well. And it makes her panic and worry. They throw themselves into danger to protect others without a thought to themselves. (God, I need to write out Yunru finding out Ryon has still kept dying. Maybe Shiori gets mad at him and blurts it out during a family argument. Or she uses it as a distraction, trying to get Yunru's attention off herself and Ryon is right there.)

9] Is there anyone Aurene dislikes? Why? Does she show it? Are they aware of it? What would have to happen for that to change?

I want to say she visibly had more dislike for Bangar, even before he became the mouthpiece for Jormag. Definitely more distrust. To the point she almost put someone else in charge of helping fight Drakkar. And then was horribly angry with herself for not doing so when it resulted in a near death for Ryon. She almost went to the site of the battle herself and often would mutter next to Ryon's bedside that she should've bitten that Charr's head off. A statement he admonished her for when he woke up hearing her mumble it once—justice and karma would get Bangar his due. His containment within the Eye of the North was…possibly a little less comfortable with her constant hissing at him as if she were still a little wyvern. But she'd still be as diplomatic as her feelings would allow her to be. Ryon's constant popping in to make sure Bangar was still breathing probably helped too. However, his current location and status is…unknown.

He was not—as mentioned in Janthir Wilds—in the hands of the new Blood Imperator, healing and awaiting trial. With Aurene gone, Ryon and Caithe both pleading lack of knowledge, his presence will be continued to be "missed" and is currently registered as MIA in the official records. Ryon has been pressured into informing Crecia of any news of his location upon learning it—true or not.

[ratasum]

Sometimes I think about how Gyala Delve was the moment where the final straw landed for Qirri on whether or not she could keep adventuring.

Qirri hit a wall because she took one of her lessons when Zojja was mentoring her too literally ("Just don't let people think you're soft—Rata Sum will eat you alive if you show weakness.") and was just.... making herself push through her actual debilitating disability and chronic illness and that bit her in the ass in Gyala. She was wearing a respirator at Garrus's insistence, and during the first Oni attack, her respirator broke.

Like Garrus, she experienced the terrifying hallucinations, but because of her underdeveloped lungs, there was a second side effect. She developed a nasty cough that lingered for days, and it got so bad at one point that it damaged her throat and caused her to cough up blood for a few days. It was a definite come to jesus moment for her.

The anxiety about it had started during IBS, after Bangar tried to crush her to death in order to "punish" Garrus. It took her weeks to fully recover, unable to help him as much as she wanted. She didn't have to be there, but she'd been pushing herself for so long that she didn't know how to stop. She even demanded of Zojja in the moment why she would tell her to not show weakness like that.

It just took for Gyala for her to get out of the habit of pushing herself so hard, because two brushes with death is too much for even the most stubborn little asura.

Ultimately, it comes down to her understanding her health isn't a moral failing. It's not a bad thing that she has to take breaks, that she needs mobility aids to reduce the amount of strain on her body. She built a wheelchair expressly because of the struggles she was facing.

There's no amount of pushing through it that will make you not disabled. You're only hurting yourself. She had to learn that on her own.

[quintiliusheartripper]

Before icebrood saga was announced i had made a tribune for ash legion who operated in grothmar who had a relationship with bangar ruinbringer and was the reason he hated ash legion. Cut to post icebrood saga and its still part of the ship except the series gave me even more to make the relationship dynamic juicy as they go from ride or die best friends with benefits to political opposite rivals locking horns, neither able to kill the other untill bangar leads the charr to renegades, jormag, and civil war.

The ash legion knew that the 13foot charr would be hard to hide on missions so they decided to write up a story for him and have him compete in the ooze pits for a blood legion warband. The main concern was the flame legion being bolder and they wanted someone to keep an eye on soldiers who were defecting in the blood legion. Unfortunately Octavos, a dependable and talented gaurdian caught the eye of the imperators son… bangar ruinbringer. Bangar was looking for new warband members after having a good chunk of his warband slaughtered in the human charr conflict and this charr seemed ideal. Octavos even had a blood legion dame who was a hero who sacrificed herself to keep a village safe.

Bangar didn’t expect a thing. Around the others he was considered a big dumb idiot who was great in combat. One who had a voracious appetite giving him the reputation of being called The Devourer for it (and the fact that while he wasnt a ranger he had a small pet devourer) but bangar could see through the fact he was more than just the dumb act.

(Going to be honest I noticed i forgot a speech bubble here commenting that the big guy shouldnt be quiet to fit in because he loves to talk.)

(Another panel i need to fix working in. Im using the old lore of only people related to the khan ur can be imperators. I wanted bangar to be a nepobaby in his youth who got his way because he was the imperators cub and soon to be the next leader. Plus it adds to the oldfashionedness of his future self if he was made leader through a tradition no longer practiced in the other legions)

And he will steal that canon in the future lol. Anyway the two become best friends with benefits and a much more benefitial and enjoyable loving relationship than what i imagine was the toxic love with almorra. . Lets face it i dont think bangar was ever truely loyal (but expects complete loyalty from his mate because hes a asshole like that) to almorra and had cubs with others (#headcanon for bangar being rytlocks sire but was looked down at first for being a runt and not almorras cub- and with that, ryland was his grandcub making it even more easier to influence him). Octavos is truthful in wanting to protect his home where he was born and about protecting bangar. They had not yet diverged in their opinions yet, still deep in the charr human war. A crack in bangar starts when almorra leaves him for some ash legionnaire, embers grandsire who treats almorra leagues better than bangar ever did. Cant trust an ash legion charr.

As years pass bangar becomes tribune, going up the ranks while his sire ages. Soon he will make the move to become imperator. But a new leader in the flame legion named gaheron comes to the scene and soon octavos finds out as a spy that the citadel is going to be bombed. Soon. He makes a snap decision going straight to the imperator to tell him the news and give him proof. The bombs are set and they need to be disarmed now! He doesnt even go to the ash legion first- grothmar has the men and resources to stop a slaughter from happening at the fahrar and legion sleeping quarters

But… (coming in a part two because tumblr only lets me post ten images)

Hey GW2 community!

I want to hear about your OC x NPC ships.

Tell me how they met,how their relationship developed, how they interact, their tragedies and triumphs. Do they have any kids? Are they just starting their relationship? I want to hear literally everything 💙

Bonus points for sharing art of your ship!! 👀���

[wall-legion]

Everything had gone completely wrong.

As soon as Rhenn was with Aurene and had undergone some healing, Iuno slipped away from the dragon chamber so she could let out the sob that had been threatening to rip her jaws open for over an hour now.

"Aeneas".

Burn her, she hadn't heard that name in so long that she had almost forgotten it had ever been hers! But Bangar, damn him, would have access to the logs where charr name changes were recorded: the logs that were traditionally saved for gladium, retiring and promoted officers, those names that would never be used again for new cubs because of some great shame their last bearer brought against thr charr... and her. The one of the first of her kind, Iuno hoped, a charr who refused her birth gender and who chose the name she would leave behind for her legacy.

And it was all likely through her own kin Ryland, son of her half-brother Rytlock, through their shared dam Liath Slaughterclaw. Iuno's next sob was colored with rage as it fought its way out of her throat. He would have told Bangar of her, if the imperator had not already heard of her from idle gossip: after all, a charr mesmer idly following behind an Inquest asura and casting spells at his whims did make one noticeable, after all.

She curled in on herself, letting the grief and anger swell up and out of her like great waves crashing onto an unprepared shore. How much time passed for her in this state was hard to say, as she was still close enough to Aurene's magical glow that nightfall was unnoticeable.

"Dear Iuno." Iuno lifted her head in surprise at hearing the crystal dragon's voice. She wasn't in Aurene's chamber- had she left Rhenn?

"Aurene..?"

"Yes. And to answer your concern, I have not left Rhenn. He still sleeps by me."

Iuno blinked in surprise. "Then you're... in my head?"

"We are mutually tied via our minds." There was an amused note in Aurene's voice as she continued. "Had you not noticed?"

Iuno frowned to herself, trying to think as quietly as possible as she reflected on how Aurene was turning out like Rhenn. "I hadn't. Is he healing all right?"

"He is. My champion will be well and strong by morning."

"I'm glad."

"I wanted to ask about you, however."

"...me?"

"Yes. You are upset. About more than just Rhenn."

"It's... an old hurt. And a long story."

"I would listen if you would tell me."

Iuno thought about it for a moment. "... someday. But not today."

"I understand." Aurene sounded slightly sad, though. "Come back when you feel ready, Iuno."

"I will. Thank you for understanding, Aurene." She allowed herself a few more tears before standing back up, drying her cheeks on the backs of her paws.

She was Iuno Wrathtalon, born of Liath Slaughterclaw, and she had been chosen by Rhenn to help him after he took the cuffs that suppressed her magic off. She was Iuno Wrathtalon, she had helped save the world, had helped to hatch a dragon, and by her dam's own tail she wasn't going to let some whelp that Bangar was fawning over for their sire's accomplishments tear her down. And she certainly wasn't going to let some second choice for imperator do it either.

[wordexpress]

Maha CM Shinde cried and said he will be jailed if he didn't hop over to BJP: Aaditya Thackeray

Shiv Sena MLA Santosh Bangar rejected Aaditya Thackeray's claims and said the fundamental reason behind the "revolt" against Thackerays was the alliance they had with the NCP and the Congress.

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray has claimed Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had come to his residence and cried that he will be arrested by a central agency if he did not switch over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), before revolting against the Sena leadership.

However, MLA Santosh Bangar from the Shinde-led Shiv Sena denied Thackeray’s claim and said there was no threat by the BJP.

The reason behind the “revolt” was Thackeray’s alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, Bangar said.

Union minister Ramdas Athawale also said the allegations against Shinde were false and the latter was a strong man and he would never cry.

Speaking during an interaction at a university in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, Aaditya Thackeray, the son of former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, alleged that 40 MLAs rebelled against the Sena leadership for their own seats and “money”.

“The current chief minister (Shinde) came to our house and cried because he was going to be arrested by a central agency, and he said ‘I will have to hop over to the BJP otherwise they will arrest me’,” he claimed.

“It was his good luck that they (the BJP) wanted to show this guy is the true Sena and we (BJP) will make him the CM,” the former minister said.

Defending his party’s alliance with the Congress, Aaditya Thackeray said he has learnt a little more about his grandfather than the “BJP’s WhatsApp university” is teaching.

“My grandfather (Bal Thackeray) had tie-ups with the Congress before. He had better relations with the Gandhi family earlier also. He had openly supported Pranab Mukherjee and Pratibha Patil (both former Presidents) openly when the BJP was putting up another candidate (during presidential elections),” he said.

On the other hand, the BJP formed an alliance with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) which “supported terrorists”, Aaditya Thackeray said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said Aaditya Thackeray’s claims were true.

The Rajya Sabha member said Shinde had even come to his residence in Bhandup area of Mumbai and made similar pleas and that he did not want to go to jail.

Raut said he told Shinde not to get scared and that they should stand up against injustice.

There were many Sena MLAs (among those who revolted) against whom probes were on by central agencies, he said.

“A similar thing is happening against the NCP,” Raut claimed.

However, Shiv Sena MLA Santosh Bangar rejected Aaditya Thackeray’s claims and said the fundamental reason behind the “revolt” against Thackerays was the alliance they had with the NCP and the Congress.

“All MLAs backed Eknath Shinde in this revolt. There was no threat (of central agencies) from the BJP,” Bangar said.

Meanwhile, when reporters asked Union minister and Republican Party of India (A) chief Ramdas Athawale in Pune about Aaditya Thackeray’s claims, he said, “Eknath Shinde is a strong man, he will never cry. The allegations made against Shinde are false.”