#charr get extra horns

[madame-cookie]

curly horns head item when?

[dissidiacloudstrife]

tagged by @mystery-salad (and requests one of my lesser known ones)

-- B A S I C S

name: Shanks Dancepants

nicknames: people who know him call him tapcat!

birthday: 1309 AE, In the summer time

race: Charr, formally Iron Legion

gender: whatever funny for a joke but uses he/him

orientation: gay

profession: traveling tap dancer! usually seen with the band Eavanass, but he isn't with them all the time

-- P H Y S I C A L A S P E C T S

hair: fur thats sosososos soft, nothing on top of scalp that's different from fur

eyes: green!

skin: medium ginger tabby fur with brown stripes!

tattoos/scars: scars on his paw pads from dancing so much, but nothing too bad! he does have an extra set of ears (the cat looking ones at the top!) and he also has very short horns!

-- F A M I L Y

parents: he was raised in a furar but doesn't consider his guardians his parents, and never cared for his actual blood parents!

siblings: no blood relatives as far as he knows! he considers friends he makes as found family

grandparents: N/A

in laws and others: N/A

pets: N/A

-- S K I L L S

abilities: fantastic tap dancer, or dancer in general! his interest and what he's the best at is tap however. he learned through a human he met in divinities reach! because of charrs digitigrade legs, and couldnt tap down on a heel, he uses his tail!

hobbies: he can sing pretty well! he loves busking still despite doing show gigs all over. out of that he loves reading, and finding new musicians to busk with.

-- T R A I T S

most positive trait: absolute ray of sunshine to be around. he enjoys making people laugh and smile, or just have fun. hes a wonderful entertainer to all.

most negative trait: if you see shanks, you probably wont see him again for a while unless he's doing a gig. he typically travels a lot, and doesnt stay in one place for long, but he does return a lot, but not in a timely manner unless he's under a contract.

-- L I K E S

colors: VERY bright colors, loves brass too!

smells: an old brass instrument, worn leather, old clothes

textures: honestly how soft his fur is

drinks: water baby, dehydration is no joke when dancing

-- O T H E R D E T A I L S

smokes: absolutely not

drinks: if he's going to the bar with people, he'll drink, and sometimes get drunk if he doesnt have anything to do the next few days

drugs: nah, not rly into it

been arrested: yep! by the iron legion specifically for not doing his military stuff. his human tap dance teacher bailed him out, using "his skills are necessary for my show." he's never been arrested since tho!

[commanderhorncleaver]

(@havoc-warband) Hi! Gaius' name is Horncleaver, and in the fic you wrote you show him cutting the left horns off two charr. Are a charr's horns significant in society in your canon? Does lopping them off symbolize something, or just Extra Spicy Defeat? How/why did Gaius start doing it?

Heya! I think the answer to this is surprisingly layered for Gaius, so I'm sorry for the massive ramble!

Firstly, like, I do imagine a charr's horns have some level of cultural importance--even if they're not especially vain (that we see in game) they're still people, right? They have things they find attractive, things about themselves as a group that they'd find physically important. We see that charr engage in acts of, erm, self-mutilation...? with their horns somewhat often, but we don't know why or how they decide to do so. But the point of the matter is that if you customize your horns, be it for practical reasons (like some of the horns we see cut short and capped) or entirely for aesthetic (there are many horn options that are entirely just like the one that seems to be Iron specific where they've put gears in there, or other forms of ornamentation), then I think there's definitely some level of Gaius intentionally damning the gladium he fights to Extra Spicy Defeat when you suddenly have no choice over this asymmetry other than to cut your other side to match.

As for why he started doing it, it stems from his own tenure as a gladium when he was in his early twenties. As you might guess, being introduced to the personal story as a soldier in his late forties and a higher-than-average rank, he's definitely someone who has no small amount of investment in what the Legions are doing. The problem is that despite his position and what he does and the fact that he's good at it... he's still Iron Legion, and that's not really what Iron Legion is about. While I'm not going to discuss his time as gladium here (because I'm working on a story for it rn ((passively, I've kinda hit writers' block)) the point is that he is someone who has suffered because of the system, but cannot imagine himself outside it. Because of that, he also... can't really imagine other people wanting to be outside of it?

End of the day, though, he began doing it as a way to establish an identity for himself when he got the opportunity to do so. Notably, when you walk into a fighting pit named Horncleaver, people tend to know what to expect. That tends to make it more entertaining when the gloves come off and you still live up to your name, right?

I'm aware that it's sorta a vague/self-inserty thing to do, but putting Gaius in the position of centurion in the legion that doesn't really care about frontline combat efficiency is an important thing to his character. He wants to climb, but he wants to do it here because of his attachments to Iron, even if he doesn't necessarily fit there, or if he'd do better elsewhere.

So this in mind, he's sort of doubly taking out frustrations on people who aren't involved.

It's heavy, and it's a lot, but eventually he gets to the point where he can acknowledge shit's kinda fucked, and that's the first step, right?

[havoc-warband]

i love charr and the fact that they have Two Whole Sets of horns. and ever since that one heart quest in Frostgorge Sound where you learn from the Kodan that they have two sets (of both horns and ears) is because it made them better hunters, i’ve been thinking.

Their shapes seem to serve different purposes, and this seems consistent across most horn sets. I’m gonna be using my five charr to demonstrate

Vik’s white horns - the upper, larger set goes back, protecting his neck, while the smaller lower set curves up and out, a facet that would put anything that Vik decides to headbutt in danger of getting stabbed.

Same with Yurmia - her neck is almost entirely protected by her long horns, and her lower set is again set more offensive - though in her case, they’re pointing almost too far back to be a danger to anything except something in giraffe-neck-strike range. You know, sideways headbutts?

Most fantastic example for the offensive-function-theory for the lower set - if Tavryn had nothing but her claws, fangs and horns to hunt down something, and it decides to charge at her, she simply has to move a little bit to the side and it would run straight into the points of her lower horns.

Siv’s upper horns aren’t a great fit for the defensive upper horn set theory, but they still do provide proctection. Her lower horns have the same offensive potential as Tav’s

And Akoviras (Spitehavoc)’s upper horns have the same potential as Siv’s upper horns, lower horns the same as Yurmia’s lowers

So my theory is that charr ARE made better hunters by their two sets of horns, but for a specific type of prey: large, aggressive prey! They need the defense for their necks and the extra offense in case their claws or teeth can’t get through thick hide. 

Taking this on a real tangent: they evolved to be social creatures, because a hunter who hunts such large creatures is most likely hunting for a whole tribe at once.

[ash-trash]

💗💥☀️🌙🌺 for all your ACTIVE RP charr.

Oh my! To keep this from going overboard, I’m going to keep this to Charr that are participating in active guild or open RP! Let’s get started...

Sela Lunarstep:

💗 Ramble a bit about this character!

Oh gosh, there’s so much to ramble about! Sela’s actually not my oldest EU character, she’s younger than Kurra by a smidge, but she’s definitely my favorite! She’s currently having a pretty rough go of it, but I really love thinking about her “private” life outside of Warband stuff - she gets into tussles, makes jewelry, all sorts of exciting things! :3c Sela’s name comes from, shocker, the Greek moon goddess Selene, while Lunarstep has changed a bit over the years. Originally, she was a shadowstep thief build, which is where the Lunarstep came from, but now it’s more of a... she’s always at the front of the pack, leading the charge, sort of deal. :p

💥 Are there any emotions your OC doesn’t know how to deal with, doesn’t understand or hates having to feel? Any reason behind this?

Sela is garbage at dealing with anything related to her own vulnerabilities and weaknesses, aha. She’s built up this huge facade of bravado that fixates on her being the perfect soldier and the best Legionnaire and so she has a huuuuge amount of trouble asking for (or accepting) help, or admitting that she can’t do something. Vulnerability is a big no-no and so naturally, although she does well with the more maternal relationships within her Warband, she really struggles with anything that veers towards the romantic. As far as hating to feel something, she hates to be embarrassed or humiliated, again related to her own pride and confidence.

☀️ How well does your OC take care of themself? Do they tend to put others before their own wellbeing and if so how often? What is their favourite way to pamper themself?

I’d say that she does a pretty good job of taking care of herself, but she absolutely puts others before herself. She prides herself on taking care of her warband and spoiling them and that often translates to making sure they get the lion’s share of the goodies while she scrimps. That said, she does have enough of an ego to feel that she “deserves” the good stuff, so she generally takes care of her own needs pretty well. Except sleep.

🌙 What are some of your OC’s favourites? Favourite food, colour, season, stuff like that! Give some general simple facts that tend to get overlooked!

Hmmm, stuff that’s overlooked... well, her favourite colour would be purple, season would be fall (she likes the milder weather and really enjoys the autumn leaves), flavorwise she loves spicy things (honestly, just because she’s trying to show off and be tough) as well as deep rich flavours... More obscure stuff might be: Her favourite time of day is late night, favourite bunk is the bottom one, favourite horn is her upper right one, favourite instrument would be the flute (she tends to prefer her music in the higher ranges - piccolo’s up there too!), and favourite cheese would be a nice heady parmesan.

🌺 What additions would your OC make to their body if they could? Lets say, if they don’t have a tail would they want one? Wings? Horns? Do they wish they could shapeshift?

Sela’s pretty happy with her body as it is, but there’s definitely a few changes she’d make. As much as they’d get in the way, she kinda wants bigger horns, and definitely bigger teeth. She’d love to be even more flexible than she is, and she’d like some extra muscle and definition to her legs. Wings would be nice, but definitely not all the time. Shapeshifting, of course! That would come in so handy!

Graf Towercleave (Yes, he still counts >.> ):

💗 Ramble a bit about this character!

Ah, Graf, my old man... Graf is definitely one of those characters with the most fleshed-out backstories, especially in how it affects him nowadays, and all the traumas and memories that come with it. I don’t remember the inspiration for his first name, but the second part was because he was originally designed to be a WvW Firebrand in his off-time (which... never came to fruition, oops), so Towercleave. I’m really excited to see the next step in his journey, though it coincides with my own journey in such a way that I do find myself getting emotional about the good-byes... ;w;

💥 Are there any emotions your OC doesn’t know how to deal with, doesn’t understand or hates having to feel? Any reason behind this?

I’d say that Graf doesn’t really do well with a lot of the “non-Charr” emotions/feelings: any sort of romance, faith, or selfishness. He’s learned to deal with them in others, to be sure, but they’re still fairly alien to him. I’d say that as far as things he experiences that he struggles with, it would be the trauma of his past - whether it’s something that he experienced in the Sieges, or in his time with the Vigil, he... doesn’t do well with being “scared”, or not in control.

☀️ How well does your OC take care of themself? Do they tend to put others before their own wellbeing and if so how often? What is their favourite way to pamper themself?

He does good at taking care of himself, though perhaps a bit more spartan than is strictly necessary, because that’s what he’s used to. He’s been a soldier his whole life, through and through, and he knows how important maintaining his equipment, including his body, is. He does a good job at keeping himself in shape and healthy, though perhaps to a detriment of not allowing himself many luxuries (except for warm baths, those are always welcome). Although he does consider others, he usually tends to leave them to their own devices, except when he decides they’re too young/naive/bullheaded to do it properly, such as a certain blue-haired warbandmate.

🌙 What are some of your OC’s favourites? Favourite food, colour, season, stuff like that! Give some general simple facts that tend to get overlooked!

Favourite food would be some good old traditional charr chow. Grilled meat, lots of special sauce, no fancy frou-frou to mess with it. Maybe some cheese. As far as colours, although most of his life tends to be filled with red, he’ll admit to liking a nice deep dark navy blue the best. The sea has been a rare treat for him, and he enjoys it when he can. Favourite season would have to be winter. Although he doesn’t care for the snow and cold and slush, he likes the way it makes the world slow down. He likes that everyone hates it together, I suppose. Some more obscure ones... his favourite flavour of pie is strawberry, his favourite place was a small grove in what is now the Dragonbrand - nowadays, it’s probably the Hero’s Canton, because it has the most nice memories without bad ones to taint it.

🌺 What additions would your OC make to their body if they could? Lets say, if they don’t have a tail would they want one? Wings? Horns? Do they wish they could shapeshift?

Honestly, he’d mostly just... fix his current one. Make it less old, less achy, less stiff. Shapeshifting and the rest of it sounds like a lot of faff. He wishes he had a third set of ears so he could hear humans better. Maybe another pair of arms to hold more things.

Naphtha Seizetar:

💗 Ramble a bit about this character!

But I ramble about her so muuuuch, FINE. For any newcomers, Naphtha was originally a villain in a Lunar plot that met a gruesome end, but I loved the concept so much that I had to remake her (a sort of AU, what-if-her-life-turned-out-different) as a good girl. I’ve actually got a sort of spooky story in the works with her (and at the rate I’m going it might be spooky season before it’s ever finished) that’s going to give her a bit of development with her magic because right now the poor girl is a dummy and would rather play with pressure cookers.

��� Are there any emotions your OC doesn’t know how to deal with, doesn’t understand or hates having to feel? Any reason behind this?

A lot of them, probably. Naph is a sweetie but she doesn’t do well with a lot of “serious” things. She likes being left alone to her own devices and is still getting the hang of the much-more teamwork oriented Seize group. So I guess emotionally, uh, things like teamwork and codependence and responsibility, whatever emotions those are. As far as hates feeling, she really doesn’t like feeling like she’s wrong (ironically). She doesn’t like feeling like she’s being irrational, or that she’s not justified in what she’s doing.

☀️ How well does your OC take care of themself? Do they tend to put others before their own wellbeing and if so how often? What is their favourite way to pamper themself?

She does not. Naph is the kind of gal that would go weeks without showering, live off of corn chips and stale marshmallows she found under the couch, and develop a 12 coffee a day habit so she only has to sleep once a month. Naph does not take very good care of herself at all, and she takes care of others even less. She’s not necessarily inconsiderate, she just... as above, doesn’t do well with the whole teamwork thing and kind of figures that she can take care of herself, so everyone else can too. As far as pampering herself, she rarely goes above what’s “necessary” as far as self-care, but on the rare occasion that she did decide to treat herself, she’d get a lot of fancy soaps and oils and just... go to town on her fur and spend like a whole day grooming and scrubbing and getting the years of grime out of there until she’s as soft and fluffy as can be.

🌙 What are some of your OC’s favourites? Favourite food, colour, season, stuff like that! Give some general simple facts that tend to get overlooked!

Favourite food would be mushroom anything. Probably her favorite ever is something she had in Lion’s Arch one time, some sort of pasta dish with mushrooms and squid ink - it was salty and savory and rich... Her favourite colour would be brown (well, she’d say black but as far as actual COLOURS), and her favourite season would be fall. She likes the spoopy season, and enjoys cronching the leaves. More uncommon things, her favourite shape is octagon, her favorite simple machine is the screw, and her favorite animal is the carrion devourer.

🌺 What additions would your OC make to their body if they could? Lets say, if they don’t have a tail would they want one? Wings? Horns? Do they wish they could shapeshift?

She would absolutely go all out and give herself big ol’ bat wings and like 3 more sets of horns and huuuuge fangs and way bigger claws and a pointy tail and SPIKES and probably a third eye on her forehead... heck yeah.

Elda Throatchop:

💗 Ramble a bit about this character!

Ahhh, Elda. I included her mostly because I wanted to talk about her and also she’s sort of gotten sucked into a few open-ish things lately so she totally counts >.> She’s another NPC-turned-character from Lunar’s Drizzlewood plot, this time a generic helper NPC that was supposed to get killed off but Lunar actually did well enough that she survived, and helped them through the final fight. Aesthetically, she’s actually based off of the Pokemon Obstagoon, which is where her last name comes from as well. Sort of. I’ve honestly had the idea for a Blood engineer in the back of my mind for years now and Elda is absolutely not that! She’s not at all what I would have made had I set out originally to make a Blood engineer, but I love her anyways and I’m really enjoying her.

💥 Are there any emotions your OC doesn’t know how to deal with, doesn’t understand or hates having to feel? Any reason behind this?

Elda hates feeling loneliness. She doesn’t mind being alone, and she can handle that just fine - she likes her private time to tinker or work on projects or test the latest whatever, and she probably does better on her own anyways, but she... needs to know that there’s people there for her if she wants/needs. She doesn’t like being isolated. As far as stuff that she doesn’t know how to deal with, probably regret? She’s so far operated on a kind of “live hard die young” sort of deal (and she almost did, dohohoho) and so when missed opportunities or regrets jump out at her, she’s not really sure what to do about it. It never spurs her to action so she’s kind of just left there staring at it like “so... what now?” and it kind of shuts down her whole mojo for a long time.

☀️ How well does your OC take care of themself? Do they tend to put others before their own wellbeing and if so how often? What is their favourite way to pamper themself?

Elda takes decent enough care of herself. Not exemplary (she’s not out here practicing yoga or getting enough fiber) but well enough! She eats regularly and gets enough sleep and bathes often, so she’s doing pretty good! Although she doesn’t regularly put anyone above herself, she would do it for certain people, like her friends or family. She values them and their role in her life enough that she’s willing to self-sacrifice to make them happy and keep them around. When she does want to treat herself, she tends to splurge a little on some shiny new tool or toy, often with the excuse that it’s for work and it’ll help her be more productive, but she knows that it’s just because it’s bigger and shinier and has an extra spanner or something.

🌙 What are some of your OC’s favourites? Favourite food, colour, season, stuff like that! Give some general simple facts that tend to get overlooked!

Her favourite food would probably be things that are kind of finicky and interactive, so poultry wings, or artichoke, or shellfish. She’s not really picky about flavours, though of course she likes things meaty. Her favourite colour is obviously red, though she’ll admit to a fondness for pink as well. She never understood why humans attach so much meaning to it - pink’s cool. Her favourite season is definitely summer - she likes the clear skies, the bright weather... More random stuff! Her favourite Bop-It command is Twist It, her favourite style of soda pop (if such a thing exists in Tyria, I dunno) is Dr. Pepper, her favourite sport is wrestling, and her favorite piece of clothing is her belt buckle, which is made from the melted down remains of her first gun.

🌺 What additions would your OC make to their body if they could? Lets say, if they don’t have a tail would they want one? Wings? Horns? Do they wish they could shapeshift?

Elda’s pretty happy with how she is, but given her choices, she’d like to be quite a bit taller and a bit bulkier. She wishes her teeth were a bit pointier, and she always wished she could grow a longer mane - she wants to have a big spiky mohawk too. As nice as wings or shapeshifting would be, it seems like having too many things would just get in the way.

[commanders-sole-braincell]

There are Charr 'too old to fight'? in the Black Citadel? Where on earth have I been? I know what I'm hunting down when I can next log on. But yes in agreement of the Charr having long lifespans! Imagine the disbelief Logan has when Rytlock off handily mentions his age, an age that's 'old'(like the 40s or something) for Humans but the prime for Charr. "You're that old?!" "What do you mean 'old'?!" OH! bonus points if it turns out Ryland is older then Logan. And we shall 1/ -Numbered Anon

that Charr having longer natural lifespans further makes the Olmakhan odder, we can sweep that under the rug of the Elders doing the thing were they've crafted their own story to tell Cubs (I think there's a term for it..) OH! Watch OS unintentionally crossing two races customs together, the Pact sees this, but instead of getting offended they find it comforting and start putting together the Pact's Custom. Oh...ohhhh... after seeing OS settle the 4 Legions down in 2/ -Numbered Anon

in Grothmur and calming ruffled fur between the 4 Legions, there's whispers of OS being in the running for Khan-Ur and OS may be old, but they're not blind or deaf, they hear and see the whispers passing between the Charr but they ignore it. Ignore until they are passing the Fahrar and a Cub looks up at OS with big eyes and asks if OS is going to be the Khan-Ur and stop all the fighting and OS's heart breaks because if there was one reason to be the Khan-Ur, it would be 3/ -Numbered Anon

to make sure no more Cubs die young but they feel their bones grind and their weapons feel heavy at their sides and then there's the shroud of the Judge that hangs over their shoulders, unseen and unfelt by everyone else, that gets more suffocating as the days pass, as they lose the extra time they manage to win. Canach gifts OS a cane and OS takes that gift and turns it on Canach by poking him and tripping him up. Having so many different people join the Warband 4/ -Numbered Anon

OS is a wizard with hair, OS took one look at Cree's growing hair and her want for it to be long and taught her how to plait it without any questions. OS lets Cubs weave bits of metal into their hair and even lets a Cub who pinched nail polish off of a Human that passed through paint their claws. During their rotation off of the front lines, OS would take a Fahrar group on an adventure that the Warband puts together with mock fights and trinkets for the Cubs to gather. 5/5 -Numbered Anon

if I remember correctly there are? I gotta visit the Black Citadel more often xD

(also, from my estimation, Ferro the butcher’s parent was at least 183 when he was born, so I’m taking that as low-key confirmed >:3c)

Maybe they split off from the Legions super early, or where just never apart of them (shoves legion stuff under a rug) and OOOOHH YESS, a couple of cross-species or raised cross-species Pact members especially appreciate it, everyone has little notes from what they want done tied to their armour after enough battles with the Commander happen.

and YES, there's small circles that want the Commander as the next Khan-Ur, bloodline be damned - they want to see peace actually come to the Legions, and not Bangar’s twisted peace. As the Judge bears down upon them, softly reminding them they don’t have the lifetime needed to accomplish that, they point more towards the younger imperators - of Flame’s empathetic leader, of Ash’s Malice who pushed for the truce, of Iron’s Smodur, who also bargained for peace, who proved he was willing to help with the fight with the dragons. They point to Crecia. And if they hit a few racist charr with their cane and twirl it as they wink at Canach, who’s to say >;3c

and YESSS, it’s common to see the OS braiding hair of charr of any ages, listening to their woes, being a shoulder to cry on, teaching what the farhar won’t. They offer sage advice, and encourage youngsters to help each other

They’re decorated in painted nails, trinkets across horns and teeth, even old tattoo’s. Gifts from their people.

[canid-slashclaw]

Pocket Raptor Surprise

The heat from the midday sun beat down relentlessly upon the parched soil of the Dry Step Mesas. Off in the distance, massive vines snaked their way up from a ravine that looked as if the surface of Tyria itself had cracked open releasing some ancient and malevolent force. For a certain pair of intrepid (and over fashionably-dressed) bounty hunters, such trivial things were the least of their concern.

Amalthia tilted her head back as she raised a metal canteen to her gaping maw then shook the container a few times before giving her human husband an apprehensive gaze.

“Kal?”

“Yeah, babe?” Kaleb replied as he noticed a decidedly scolding look on her face.

“Did you, like, happen to forget to bring some extra water rations after knowing full-well that we’d be trouncing around in a godsforsaken freakin’ desert?!”

“Um, no,” he said with a shrug. “Besides, wasn’t that your responsibility? You know-- taking care of provisions and all?” He, then, gestured to her with a pistol finger and wink.

His action only enabled his wife in unleashing both her inner, as well as outer, charr. “My responsibility? Are you freaking kidding me!? You damn know good and well that it is my job to maintain all the weaponry and your job to handle the other logistics… like keeping us fed and hydrated. After all, you are the chef de partie of our little outfit, right?”

“Woah, woah. Stop right there, miss pissykitty! Just ‘cause you have fangs, horns and a furry tail doesn’t automatically make you the only master-at-arms here. We’re a team, remember? It’s both our jobs to watch each others’ backs.” He stepped closer towards her offering his hand.

She looked away, bowed her head, sighed for a moment before looking back into his eyes then letting out a subdued growl. “Gah! You’ve got a point. Sorry, love. It’s just this heat is really putting me in a pissy mood.”

He gently clasped hold of her paw then gave her a kiss on her lower right ear. “I’m sorry too, babe. For being an idiot and all. Yeah. The forgetting the water thing? That’s totally on me.” Amalthia leaned her head into his, gave him a gentle nuzzle under his chin then licked him on the face. “Why yes it is. But I suppose I can find it in my heart to forgive you... this time. But piss me off again and you’ll find yourself greasing your own piston for at least the next six months.”

“Well that’s comforting to know. At least we can cling to each other until we succumb to dehydration and someone eventually finds our mummified remains lovingly wrapped in each others’ deathly embrace,” Kaleb said with a smile as he began to massage the back of her thickly muscled neck.

She looked lovingly into his brown eyes as a fangy smile flashed across her face. “Mister Grimwald – you have got to be the most wonderful bundle of human weirdness that I’ve ever come across. Okay… I think the heat is really getting to me now.”

“Why’d you say that?” Kaleb looked at her puzzled.

Her ears began to twitch. “Don’t you hear it? Oh wait… your hearing isn’t as sensitive as mine.”

“No. I do hear it. Oh wait… look!” He swung his head around suddenly then pointed towards what appeared to be a chicken-sized velociraptor. She turned and saw it as well.

“Hey little guy.” Kaleb reached into his coat pocket then pulled out a roll of dried meat as he began waving it at the small creature. The raptor cautiously backed away from him while making a high-pitched chirping noise. “I’ve got some jerky. Wanna try?”

Amalthia shook her head. “Um. I don’t think that’s a good idea, Kal.”

“Aww. C’mon, Ama. How bad can a little fella like this be?” Kaleb said as he pointed towards what appeared to be the creature’s nest. “Hey look. Eggs. If we take one each to nourish ourselves and save the rest, then maybe we can hatch them. Katie always wanted an unusual pet.”

His charr wife let out a more forceful growl this time. “No! We are not hatching anything that comes from this awful place. Remember why we came here -- for the bounties, right?”

Her husband huffed. “For the bounties. I got it. But, dammit Ama, we could raise a clutch of these and sell ‘em in Lion’s Arch for a fair amount of coin. I mean what kid wouldn’t want one of these for a pet?”

Shaking her head, Amalthia promptly reached into her husband’s rucksack then pulled out a field guide titled, Tyria’s Field Guide to Native Flora and Fauna Vol. IX. Using her long clawed index finger, she quickly thumbed through the pages until found what she was looking for.

“Let’s see. Raptors… raptors… Big, mean teethy, poison clawed… Oh. Here it is!” She looked up only to find that her husband had suddenly darted off towards one of the nests. As she watched him snatch up the eggs then put them into his rucksack, she began to read aloud what was in the guide. “Pauxillum fiken talus admorsus – or more commonly known as the Pocket Raptor, is a diminutive subspecies of the common featherbeak raptor and is almost exclusively found in the Heart of the Magumma Jungle and is… oh for Scorchgazer’s sake... are you even paying attention to me, Kal!?”

Her husband gave her a thumbs up even though he was still engrossed in gathering up more eggs from the nest.

“It says pocket raptors are vicious creatures that will bite your face off if half given the chance. So you’d better put those eggs back now before mamma comes back.” She angrily snapped the book closed then shoved it down into her pants pocket.

The mesa suddenly became alive with dozens of high-pitched chirping noises. As Kaleb stowed away the last of the eggs, he was immediately greeted by three more of the tiny raptors. Each of them tilted their heads trying to get him into their field of vision as they began moving towards him at an alarmingly brisk pace.

“Back away from them, Kal. Now!” Amalthia yelled just seconds before the trio lunged at her husband.

With reflexes rivaling those of a cat, Kaleb dodged the assault as the three little beasts leaped just inches above his face. Whirling around as fast as he could he pulled forth his revolvers, Sweet Pea and Lulu, then leveled the barrels at his attackers making sure that his wife was not in the line of fire. The bore of each pistol erupted in a plume of red-hot gas as two of the critters exploded into grizzly globs of flesh and guts; the demise of the third followed a split second later.

Amalthia drew a holosmithing sword from her waistband as her entire body became aglow in a brightly lit shroud of charged energy. Scores more of the creatures appeared from practically every nearby nook and cranny as they began swarming the couple from all angles. A series of deft swishes from her alighted blade reduced several of the vicious attackers to piles of dust as more of the ravenous critters quickly emerged to take the place of their fallen littermates.

“We’ve got to get the hell out of here!” His wife said as her energy shroud began to take on a faint red glow. “Either this asuratech, or my temper is gonna blow at any moment. And when it does, I promise it isn’t going to be pretty.”

Kaleb holstered his pistols then drew forth the greatsword that he had slung on his back. “Bob – time for some action!”

With a series of lightning fast strokes, Kaleb and ‘Bob’ managed to cleave dozens of the little beasts in two as he re-positioned himself in a back-to-back stance with his wife. Moving with an unspoken synchronicity, the husband and wife bounty hunter team hacked and slashed their way through the onslaught until they reached the relative safety of a nearby natural bridge.

Amalthia pointed towards a bluff in the distance. “Hey, look. A downed airship. I’m willing to bet there are some supplies up there, including water.”

Kaleb shook his head. “An airship? Damn, we must have overlooked it the first time around. How could we have missed seeing something that obvious?”

Amalthia laughed. “Because you, dear husband, were too damn busy picking up raptor eggs for your little pet menagerie.”

As the couple wandered closer, several figures began to emerged from atop the bluff. Clad in black and silver armor, the pair quickly realized the individuals were Pact soldiers who were most likely survivors of the airship crash.

“Ho there, stranger,” yelled the tallest Pact member who obviously looked to be a norn and, was in all probability, the leader of the group. 

After they met up with the surviving Pact members, Kaleb and Amalthia pitched in to help set up a makeshift camp complete with a mess hall and cooking station.  As Kaleb sat down and began guzzling down a huge stein of fresh water, the Pact leader sat down beside him and chuckled. “Word has reached my ears that your cooking skills are the stuff of legends. Thanks to you and your amazing, and also most unusual wife, my troops will enjoy the first good meal they’ve had in a good long time.” Kaleb smiled at the compliment. “Your ears wouldn’t be wrong. But the misses? She’s one helluva cook too, yanno. Not that I had anything to do with it, mind you.” The Pact leader let out a boisterous laugh as he gave Kaleb a hearty slap on the back. “By the spirits, you must be part norn. At least in heart anyway.”

“Chow had better be ready soon. Moog has been staring at me for the last hour. It is not that his staring alone that has me concerned so much as when he starts staring at the salad condiments then back at me that gives me some pause for concern. Not that I think he would actually do anything, mind you, but...” a sylvari Pact member said as he casually pointed towards his asura comrade.  

“Oh please. Just looking at you gives me indigestion. Where is our sustenance?”

“Say please.” Amalthia’s voice chimed throughout the tent as she walked towards the table carrying a pan of what appeared to be full of some type of fluffy yellow substance. “Be careful. It’s very hot.” Kaleb looked at his wife and beamed. “Damn, babe! I can’t wait to try it.” She smiled back, her fangs showing. “And I can’t wait for you to try it, my love.”

Once the portions were doled out, everyone in the camp ate heartily then thanked Amalthia for the delicious meal. She sat down beside her husband and nestled her chin atop his head.

The norn Pact leader looked at the unusual couple and commented, “that whatever it was, was absolutely amazing! What did you call it, again?”

Both Kaleb and Amalthia said in union, a frittata.

The norn looked dumbfounded. “Oh. It tasted just like eggs.”

“That’s ‘cause frittatas are made with eggs,” Kaleb pointed out.  Amalthia just nodded with a smiling closed-eyed grin.

“Oh. I see. That meal must have been truly magical because during the crash, our only container of poultry products was smashed against the rocks.”

Then it suddenly dawned on Kaleb. He turned around then looked his charr wife in her eyes then asked, “Ama?”

“Yes, Kal?”

“What did you use to make that frittata?”

She rolled her amber eyes, put a clawed index finger to her pursed lips then looked up for a moment before looking back at Kaleb. “Just what was on-hand. Why?”

“Eggs. Where did you get the eggs?” Kaleb demanded. The norn butted in. “Yes. Such a meal is deserving of a special name. Something memorable, something legendary!”

Amalthia scratched her chin for a moment before responding. “Something memorable... something legendary. Hmm. Let’s see -- I suppose the only thing one could possibly call it is...

...Pocket Raptor Surprise!”

[kianga-snowstorm]

The Charr Challenge

Here's a silly idea I had while chatting with a friend. Not sure if it'll work, but let's try this.

Log into Guild Wars 2 and take one of your charr to the Black Lion Aesthetician (inside the trade post) in the Black Citadel.

Try to adjust your charr's appearance to match your own in real life as closely as possible: gender, height, build, fur color, facial features, eye color, and hair.

For horns and fur pattern, choose anything that feels right to you.

Feel free to adjust the detail sliders as well, or leave them at default values (all centered).

Once you're done, change exactly one aspect from step 2 in any way you like. If you're male, you could change it to female. If you're skinny, you could make your charr extra chubby. But only change one aspect, and don't say which one.

Zoom in on the head, hide the armor, and take a screenshot of your charr. Try to match the perspective and crop below. (You can use ImageResize.org to crop your screenshot if you don’t have software for this.)

Reblog this post and add your own charr! Tag it with #charr challenge. (So people can filter the tag if this gets out of hand.)

Obviously, don't apply the changes to your character. Unless you really want to.

Don’t worry if you can’t get 100% accuracy - that’s the whole point. Remember to use your “wildcard”, and have fun!

[ascalonianpicnic]

Ooooooh!

Assuming the horns and heel spurs are keratin, I'd imagine it depends both on region and on legion on who keeps it. Like, regardless of legion, I can see everyone in the blood homelands keeping the heel spur for sparring and brawls, whereas in the iron homelands I can see most charr having it removed at some point sooner or later as it'd be an extra hazard and extra bit to get caught in the machinery everywhere. I can see blood being the most likely legion to just opt to keep it and iron being the most likely to opt for removal, with ash going with whatever is most popular in the region they're in, but leaning a bit more towards removal. This is all assuming there's no significant health benefits to keeping or removing the heel spur, though

do you think there’s any practice(s) in charr culture of removing the little heel claw/spur? Because outside of personal duels/scuffles, I can’t see it being useful towards anything, and more likely than not, a hinderance in terms of mobility/movement/clothing design. I’ve always considered it as some leftover from evolution of something that’s not really necessary in their current society, like wisdom teeth in humans

going further, is it a bone growth, or is it keratinous like claws and horns? (and are charr horns/claws bone or keratin? because their weird nails always look like bone protrusions on the in-game models, but some of the horn designs definitely look keratinous) If the heel spur is keratinous, removing it would be simple while the charr is a cub, like polling in horned ungulates, but if it is bone, it would be more difficult to remove and possibly have detrimental health side effects (more akin to declawing in cats)

[sunriseoverastorea]

Marea stands in the doorway to her balcony. Her shoulder rests against the stone arch, eyes fixed on the cliff wall ahead. Absently, she works at undoing her braids, long boughs of wavy black hair settling along her shoulders, pocked with leaves and dirt and tiny twigs. A soft rain falls over the canyons, pattering on the leaves of her potted trees, collecting in a puddle at the base of the stairs. She closes her eyes, and breathes. Her mind is quiet, calm, if only for a moment, for a minute, perhaps even an hour. She is alone, and she can pretend that her ducks are in an orderly row.

She is sitting on a window bench, clutching a notebook to her chest, and peering up at the outside world through gilded panes. The room is snug, warm and soft, a small crackling fireplace like music to her ears. Pops and hisses, all so clear in the muted library quiet. From the tower, it seems that she can see the whole city—the stubby, slanting roofs of shops and houses, miniature people hurrying through the snake-like streets, the flags on the outer ring whipping sharply in the colossus breeze. She presses a spindly hand to the window. At eye level with those flags, she can see the green mountains beyond the walls of Divinity's Reach, sprawling, weaving amongst each other, bonds greater than nature itself binding them into one being, until they fade to hazy blues, ocean waves against the gray sky.

She dimly hears the conversation behind her. Rajya skims over a book pulled from the shelves, her claws scratching against paper. A norn woman with an orange braid like rope speaks to her, a tone of reprimand in her voice, and a blue silk pouch in her hand.

“What were you thinking? Plucking some girl from the streets and taking her in. Rajya, this will not be received well,” the woman hisses, keeping her voice low, so as not to disturb a scholar across the room, who hunches over a desk, still as a statue. “Your landlord could increase your rent over this. The Priory is only willing to pay so much for a ramshackle--”

“Do you know what year this book is from?” Rajya interjects casually, turning the tome over in her massive paws. She can't help but sound like thunder compared to the whisper of pages shuffling. That is how it is, always, everywhere she goes. Footsteps that shake the ground, a voice like rumbling stones. Horns that get caught on doorways and broad, white shoulders, folded inward, as if they were trying to disappear.

“Do not ignore me!” snaps the norn, voice rising for just a moment. “I am trying to help you! As if you were not hated enough as it is, the humans will see this as you stealing one of their own.”

“She was an urchin. No one cared for her before. Why would they now?”

“Because humans are petty. As you very well know. Your life's work is a study in pettiness. How cruel we can all be to each other.” The norn's voice softens, a sympathetic smile gracing her statuesque face. “At least take the extra coin. You cannot feed the girl raw animal guts from the butcher's trash heap, as I know you are prone to eating yourself. Truly, it sounds like torture.”

“I do not take more than what I need,” Rajya murmurs, even the gentlest word like gravel underfoot. “And Marea seems determined to eat what I eat. She has been sick several times, but refuses the fruits I have offered her.”

The norn scoffs, shaking her head, and reaches up suddenly, hanging the pouch from Rajya's left horn before she can react. Rajya swings her head about in surprise, trying to see the offending money purse, but it eludes her.

“Fine—keep the urchin. And the coin. I will keep her company while you browse,” the norn obliges with a sweet smile, turning away and striding with practiced grace over to Marea. She kneels down on the floor before the window bench, at eye level with the skeletal little girl. “Miss—Marea, was it? Where are you from, Marea? Do you have any family?”

Marea sits back from the window, torn away from her blissful reverie with the distant mountains. She stares blankly at the norn for a moment, as if her mind were somewhere else entirely—but all of a sudden, her gaunt face lights up, pale gray eyes shining with curiosity. “I'm from here,” she says matter-of-factly, fingers twining and fidgeting in her lap. “I do, do have family—well, that's what they called themselves. I don't miss them, though. I like Rajya more. She's soft.”

The norn chuckles, flashing pearly white teeth. Marea absently reaches up, sticking a finger in her own mouth, prodding at her teeth, already beginning to rot, crooked and chipped.

“She does look soft, I agree. What do you have there?” The norn reaches for Marea's notebook, easily prying it from her fragile hands. She flips it open, to find page after page of sprawling cursive writing, wildly looping and elegant. She squints at it, starting to make out lines from an epic poem. “This is 'Captain Laine and the Endless Sea.' You've plagiarized it.”

Marea tilts her head, still with a finger in her mouth. “P—plaguh—plagiarized. I dunno what that is. I copied the story to practice writing. Rajya taught me all my letters a couple weeks ago.”

The norn raises her eyebrows in skepticism, but folds the book shut, handing it back to Marea. “And you already have hands that steady? Impressive. Do you like the Captain's tale?”

Marea nods eagerly, finally popping her finger from her mouth, and wiping it on her frayed dress. “Yeah! He goes on adventures, and he sees lotsa things. Rajya says I could go to those places, if I wanted to, some day.”

“Ah, yes. You're a little captain-in-training.”

“And those are my waves!” Marea smacks her hand against the window glass, gazing out at the mountains beyond the city. The norn looks out as well, face pensive for a moment.

“They are like waves, aren't they? Well, Captain Marea, I will leave you to your daydreams. See if Rajya needs me.” With that, the woman rises to her feet, and saunters off, vanishing around a bookcase in search of the charr.

Marea loses herself in the mountains once again. She can almost feel the rhythmic swaying of the sea, the tickling of white foam, the cries of the birds, and the crisp wind drawing goosebumps to her skin. She has never left the Reach, never seen a pond. But she dreams of the world beyond, a world which Rajya has so carelessly blessed her with. One day, her life was little more than the gutters slept in. The next, an endless sky paved the path before her, and there is certainty in her heart that some day, she can go anywhere, any way, she pleases. She can be free.

The memory comes and goes in a matter of seconds, and Marea laughs, striding down the stairs to her balcony, footsteps easy and agile on the uneven stone. She is not a captain—not by name, anyway—but she is close, now. She runs the crew, makes the contracts, follows the intel, calls the shots. Yet the shoes to fill are so big, her feet so small. She is drowning in the clouds of her dreams, floundering for purchase aboard the deck of her warship. She doesn't know what the fuck she's doing, who these people that she hired off the streets are. There are no words to adequately express her fear—the sensation of falling that suddenly permeates every waking moment, the lurching in her chest every time someone calls her name—so she screams.  

She shouts wordlessly into the silence, rain dripping down her face, and holds her head in her hands. Birds scatter across the ravine, startled by her fury. Her shoulders tremble. Her chest heaves. Freedom stretches across the heavy sky above her, far out of reach, lapping at the waves of distant mountain peaks she will never find her way to.  

[cerus]

Kotoza!

oh god i dont know what ask meme this is for or how i even lost it but now i feel bad and im gonna answer it as the most recent one i’ve done

What they smell like: tea? green tea, if anything. unsweetened. oh yk that Certain Smell that old books have? yeahhhh

How they sleep (sleeping position, schedule, etc): sleeps curled up (p much like the charr /sleep animation) with an extremely fuckt sleep schedule bc she just,,, forgets to sleep smH and then realises she’s been awake for like 23 hours and sleeps for a rly long time, no matter what time of day it is. also she’s one of those people that can just fall asleep literally anywhere

What music they enjoy: steve lacy???? solange??? something along those lines

How much time they spend getting ready every morning: Quite Some Time braiding her hair and she polishes the metal parts of her horns daily too + brushes her longer fur because she’s just that Extra abt looking nice

Their favorite thing to collect: books.. no surprise

Left or right-handed: left

Religion (if any): Absolutely No Thank You, Gods Suck And She Wants Them All To Die (fought against the flame legion a couple hundred years ago and has Feelings about the whole ordeal)

Favorite sport: what is sport… kick the ball…… score point…. yes…… win

Favorite touristy thing to do when traveling (museums, local food, sightseeing, etc): she would definitely be an art snob and visit lots of museums and galleries

Favorite kind of weather: she likes dry heat, but puts up with the snow in the priory begrudgingly

A weird/obscure fear they have: she’s extremely cautious around particular kinds of magic because she worries she could be banished to the mists again

The carnival/arcade game they always win without fail: the strength test hammer thing because she would cheat and pour a little bit of magic into it