#ebonhawk

[commander-wame]

World Is Pine is ready 👍🏳️‍⚧️

[anghraine]

Meanwhile: I have so much I have to do, and so much I want to do, and suddenly my brain was possessed by an incredibly niche AU fanfic plotbunny.

It's not only for the Guild Wars video games (hardly the most popular series out there!), and not only GW1 fic in particular (the first game was on a far smaller scale than GW2 and had a much smaller userbase with maybe five fics on AO3). The fic concept specifically appeals to me as a way to unfridge Althea Barradin, an NPC I latched onto in 2005 out of all proportion to her screentime and frankly how well her lines were written. But it's not only that she's an underwritten GW1 character, or even just that she's one who only appears in Guild Wars: Prophecies—the very first GW game. She's actually only alive in the tutorial zone and is a mentor to PCs of one specific class that happens to be my personal favorite, mesmers (they're elegant spellcasters specializing in chaos magic, illusion magic, and other sneaky, unpredictable stuff).

There's a cataclysmic war crime committed against your people at the end of the tutorial, and a time jump to two years later, when you discover that Althea disappeared in all the upheaval and has not been seen since. You get a quest to discover what happened to her, only to find out that the answer is "dragged off and burned alive by the war criminal invaders." The worst resolution for my teenage pixel crush :( Anyway, you briefly interact with her ghost and gather her ashes to take to her father so both of them can find some kind of peace.

BUT

I sometimes think about how Althea's father (Duke Barradin) was originally next in line in the royal succession. He has already stepped aside for a popular war hero to become king instead when GW1 starts, and there's even a quest in the tutorial to make sure he and his people are faithful to the war hero king, Adelbern. At that point, Adelbern seems to be a good stabilizing authority figure after a lot of internal conflict, but he can be a bit short-sighted and self-aggrandizing in ways that become disastrous when his subjects are massacred in a massive magical attack that devastates the land and people (even GW2 acknowledges that this was so destructive that the aqueducts ran red with the blood of his people).

Adelbern is very obviously not equipped to handle the absolutely dire situation he ends up facing. He's already snapping under this incredible strain in GW1 and disowns his adult son (and it seems only child) for rightly questioning him, only to break even further when said son dies tragically. From what can be pieced together, he only went further downhill after that, becoming more unreasonable, absolutist, and desperate until he completely lost his mind.

Meanwhile, Duke Barradin—Althea's father and the guy who got skipped over for Adelbern in the first place—seems a far steadier and less egocentric figure. He gracefully accepted Adelbern as king before the game, and serves him with loyalty and discipline for the rest of his life, rather than taking Adelbern's ascension as a personal affront or holding a grudge or turning on him in the face of his own tragedies or anything. So I occasionally wonder what would have happened if Ascalon had kept to the traditional succession and Duke Barradin had become the next king, rather than Adelbern.

The cataclysm and invasion still would happen, but I think Duke Barradin would have been more resilient and less obsessed with his personal power and authority. He seems deeply fond of his daughter and I suspect wouldn't have disowned her over a tactical disagreement. Basically, from everything we saw of this guy, I think he'd have handled this situation a lot better than Adelbern—but this is such a niche scenario that requires so much information that I didn't feel like writing it.

But yesterday I was re-reading an idle post I'd made a couple of years ago that mentioned the concept in passing and suddenly realized that in that scenario, Althea would have been the heir rather than her canonical fiancé, Prince Rurik. Instead of tragic war victim Althea whose awful, awful death in an atrocity of war matters mostly because of how terrible her father and fiancé feel about it, she would be Princess Althea, the heir to a now desperate and struggling kingdom. We'd get Althea prioritizing saving her people above everything else, while Rurik gets the horrible death that illustrates the stakes of the war.

In a way, that would even make a bit more sense, logistically. In the game, Althea is a fancy illusionist strongly associated with her theatre just outside of Ascalon City, at this point the seat of Ascalonian power. Even after all this devastation, it took decades for the Charr armies to get far enough into Ascalon to seriously besiege it (before the remaining population was reduced to undying vengeful ghosts, too). It's not beyond belief that a warband could have reached the theatre, and it's also possible that Althea might have been in a more dangerous location at the time of the Searing, since lots of people were dragged off, including children. Just a bit odd in terms of where you would expect a fancy civilian noblewoman specifically to be, even a powerful and highly skilled spellcaster like Althea.

Rurik, on the other hand, is an intimidating warrior, and he's heavily involved with Ascalon's military, especially the Ascalon Vanguard that he himself leads. There's every reason for him to be fairly near the battle lines even without expecting the Searing. The fact that he's one of the main leaders of the Ascalonian military defense would hardly save him from being sacrificed in this terrible way.

(And this might still be a better end than the one he actually gets in canon, in which he's resurrected as an undead servant and forced to serve an evil lich until you kill him for good, freeing him. Getting reduced to ash by the Charr would at least spare him that.)

Despite a certain degree of pathos, though, Rurik was always a bit annoying IMO. He is a very archetypal honorable warrior dude, not as hidebound as Adelbern nor as blind to the reality of the threat they're facing, but his personal approach still tends towards an attitude of "if hitting my problems with my sword doesn't solve them, I didn't hit them hard enough." The PCs really have to handle anything that needs more diplomacy or subtlety.

Althea, though, is a very different kind of person—subtle, tricky, versatile—so I don't think a Princess Althea would necessarily be nailed to the same path as Prince Rurik is in canon. Mesmers in GW2 canonically use their powers of illusion to make themselves appear they're in a particular place when in reality they're skulking invisibly somewhere else, which could easily keep her from being an identifiable target where Rurik was striding around a snowscape with a giant flaming sword when he was killed. I don't think the premise requires Princess Althea dying the same way at all.

I can imagine, for instance, that the AU king might send a reliable, competent, and trusted figure like Althea to ensure the refugees get across the mountains, especially if he wants Althea "safely" out of the country. But as an illusionist, Althea could definitely take precautions that were not available to Rurik, and would be expected to do so.

So there's this whole "okay, if Althea isn't killed like in canon or even like Rurik is in canon, and I manage to completely unfridge her, how does her survival and the AU in general affect the GW1 plot? What is changed about the later canon revelations of what's going on in this era from Eye of the North and GW2?"

I don't have time for this and it's so incredibly specific that it's difficult to even explain to anyone else, but it's also possessing my brain ;_;

[commanderfloppy]

What? Me drawing a trending thing WHILE it is trending and not 2 months later???

When you're in the Whispers and have to snoop around in the places of higher ups, getting arrested is par for the course.

Tybalt is not looking forward to having to get bailed out by the Preceptors, Tori is used to this.

[skaald-of-the-hearth-fires]

@nyoka-gorefell

I'm going to take this opportunity to talk about Logan! Yeehaw!

I mained human so I kinda liked Logan. I've always been biased toward him. I didn't necessarily think he'd made the right decision, but I supported his right to make it. Like he said in the Dream-vision of him: you would have made the same choice, any of you, if the one you loved was in danger!

Basically, it was a bad spot all around. Lose-lose situation. He made the most of it. That was my view.

I'm planning a rewrite of Edge of Destiny (someday lol) to make it better + clearer what was going on with Logan + etc.

And I found something: the narrative in the book does not condemn or exalt either decision. Either decision would have been bad, no way around it.

One problem: that's not how books work.

The way the climactic decision-point works is that you make a personal sacrifice for the good, moral quality being extolled by the narrative. If the thing you sacrificed was, itself, considered good by the narrative, there would come a surprise twist that would mean the thing wasn't actually sacrificed, as a "reward" for making the selfless decision to uphold good and moral purity or whatever.

The problem with Logan's story is that neither option was presented as the 'moral, good' option. As Logan was leaving, Eir said "you have to do what is right," but beyond this, no indication is given to Logan which option is morally superior. You can? sorta? infer that of course the main conflict with the dragon is the preferred one. Rytlock and Eir's dialogue after Logan leaves also clarifies this.

But Logan himself was never presented with a clear moral dichotomy; he was merely given the trolley problem, which is bad however you slice it.

I bet Logan would have haters even if he'd stayed; Kryta would have fallen into disarray. The Ministry would have taken power. We'd have Caudecus in charge. Human/charr relations would heat up. We'd have the return of the White Mantle like snap, or else all-out anarchy. Humanity would be toast. Logan would get all the blame from the playerbase.

So in my rewrite of Edge of Destiny, I'm fixing the problem. I'm going to assign a clear moral status to each option, and make it clear where Logan stood on that moral issue when deciding. How did I pick which option was favored?

Easy. I look at the rest of ArenaNet's storytelling. Their centuries of lore and worldbuilding. The lessons of the other story arcs. Anet's message is consistently unity. Stand together. Stand strong. The races stand unified. The Orders stand unified. With unity, many impossible things [slaying an Elder Dragon] may be achieved.

So the preferred option, the morally good option according to the storytellers, was that Logan stay. Stand with his allies. Represent human/charr unity. Defeat an Elder Dragon.

And, somehow, Queen Jennah would survive, because love and protecting people is not morally bad. If Logan sacrificed the queen for the sake of the moral truth of the narrative, proving his selflessness and commitment to the ideal of the narrative, then the queen would survive to "reward" him for his virtuousness.

It doesn't seem in-character for Anet to write Jennah as a typical damsel-in-distress, hero-gets-the-girl type of story, BUT: he didn't. Logan DIDN'T choose the morally-good option.

Typical Corruption arc: hero begins with the ideal of the story (unity is good), then over time, some negative trait overtakes him. Greed, selfishness, over-protectiveness, whatever - and leads him to destroy everything he holds dear (Destiny's Edge; his broship with Rytlock; Snaff dying; Glint, hero of humanity, dying; Kralkatorrik surviving).

I think if the book had actually written Logan like this (with the base game of GW2 being his redemption arc), he would have a lot less hate. I think a lot of the hate comes from the fact that the Edge of Destiny narrative DIDN'T outright condemn Logan's actions. And even the base game is a bit vague.

Logan didn't get his comeuppance for his bad choices (beyond the queen ditching him a few years down the line, I suppose). That's where the hate comes from.

Because nuanced, flawed characters exist, and those are the best kind. I really like Logan's character. He's one of the most human characters in the game. I like that for him.

(Also, perhaps, some of the hate stems from the assumption that Logan was simping the whole time. I'd be fed up with him too, actually, if that were true. But the queen for sure returned his feelings. Logan was acting within the bounds of an established relationship.)

This has been

Character Study: Logan Thackeray (part II)

thank you for reading!

[ascalonianlightbringer]

A quick and 100% unbiased guide to Krytan-Ascalonian relations in GW2

[sunsrefuge]

🖊 for Vesnia!! (— @astralarias)

Ves!!! ♥ Vesnia lovemail!!!

She commonly visits Ebonhawke whenever she gets a chance to! She worked really hard on the Charr-Human Truce, and she still works to keep relations on a positive note! Of course, she gets a lot of looks, being a huge hulking charr in the middle of a pridefully-human city, but it's important to her! And she feels that it's important to highlight that charr can pass through peacefully, and even make friends in the city! ^^

[leafofkudzu]

Squad for the EU server party is up! If you don't end up on the right map, then /sqjoin or /whisper Ashelin Falstaff for a taxi invite! ♥

Slightly delayed post compared to usual, but hi hello and happy Spring, everyone! I hope the past month has treated you well, because the first Saturday of a new month is coming up real fast, meaning it's time for another art party hosted by my guild, [VS] Verdant Shield!

For those who aren’t familiar with art parties, they’re a concept carried over from Final Fantasy XIV - in-game get-togethers for artists/writers/creatives of all types to hang out, chat, and create together! Get your favorite character/look together, head to the location, find someone that catches your eye, and create! Afterwards, everyone posts their creations in a shared tag (ours is #VSArtParty) so others can see, interact, and share! Tl;dr: the ‘goal’ of an art party isn’t to be drawn, but to draw others, and share with the community!

Time and /squadjoin information is under the cut, but will also be posted again via reblogs as the squads go up on the day of the party!

Location Information:

While scouting out more Ascalon-aligned locations to even out the spread, I remembered this little corner of Fields of Ruin. It houses a grave of one of the characters from the Ghosts of Ascalon novel - and for trivia purposes, everyone who's done Icebrood Saga has met another character from that novel: Ember Doomforge! But this isn't about Ember, it's about Killeen, and her lovely little resting place protected from the Brand. It's very easily accessible just by scooting up the marked path from Tenaebron Waypoint, which is in itself up in the Northwest corner of Fields of Ruin!

Time & Squad Details:

As we always do, we’ll be having two parties - one on EU servers and one on NA ones - with an hour break in between. People tend to arrive early and/or jump between accounts as soon as the break comes up, so don’t be surprised to see tags and announcements going up ahead of schedule!

The first party will be on EU servers and begin at 9pm Central European Summer Time (aka 3pm Eastern Daylight Time or 5 hours before in-game reset). I’ll be hosting on my EU alt account, so to join either /squadjoin or whisper Ashelin Falstaff for an invite.

The second party will be on NA servers and begin at 7pm Eastern Daylight Time (aka 1am Central European Summer Time or an hour before in-game reset). I’ll be hosting this one on my main account, so to join either /squadjoin or whisper Beldahvia for an invite.

Closing Words:

My apologies yet again for a) being delayed in posting this, but also b) posting this in the dead of (NA) night - I've been a bit sick the past week and lost track of time, but we're here now! I do feel like a broke record every time I say this, but thank you to everyone who turns out to these events - you guys are what make everything so memorable and fun! Have a good rest of your week, and I hope to see you all there on Saturday! ♥

[merfolkplantgay]

Tyria Pride 2024 is coming June 22 and 23!

Hello one and all! Tyria Pride is returning to Tyria for the 9th time! Join us any time next Saturday and Sunday, June 22 and 23, on both EU and NA for an awesome event that takes us all the way from Ebonhawke to Rata Sum, while we raise money for a good cause!

You can also watch it on my twitch at twitch.tv/lelling!

More info below the cut

What is Tyria Pride?

Tyria Pride is a two-day in-game pride march from one corner of (core) Tyria to the other to show support both LGBTQ players and devs, and a fundraiser for Rainbow Railroad, a non-profit organisation which helps queer people escape state-sponsored persecution and violence around the world.

It's tons of fun every year, a ton of streamers join in so there are many ways to follow along even if you're not in game, music guilds hold concerts, and we have some pretty legendary giveaways! It's always blast!

For more info, check out the post on the official forums at tyriapride.com/2024

Fundraiser

Rainbow Railroad is a non-profit that helps LGBTQ+ people get to safety from countries where their lives are at risk. They've done tons of work all over the world, working tirelessly in places like Russia and Afghanistan, and have already sprung into action as a response to the death penalty laws in Uganda, where you could even get up to 10 years in prison if you don't tell the police your child is gay. Rainbow Railroad works tirelessly to save lives, and we're honored to support them in this cause!

To check out the fundraiser, go to tyriapride.com/donate

How to get involved?

There are so many ways you can help out - spread the news, tell your friends and guildies, if you use any social media, share the information, let people know where and when to find the event!

Another way you can help out is by donating in-game prizes! We incentivize donations to the fundraiser by raffling off legendaries, black lion skins, and even artists give away commissions! If you can spare donations, both in-game or out, let me know! My in-game name is Lelling.6795

You can also join us on the Tyria Pride discord for more resources and information: tyriapride.com/discord

[snoodls]

good luck on your journey. come home safe.

and when you find him, guide him home.

Ximone, despondent and beside herself, sends her companion hawk Sappho after her best friend Commander Yuri Six-cants, who is presumed dead and in the Mists. Pictured, in order: Ximone overlooking the Brand in Ascalon, relaying instructions to Sappho, reminiscing about younger days with Yuri after reuniting in Ebonhawke, Sappho appearing to a lost commander in the Mists, and Ximone wishing the people she loves would stop slipping through her claws.

These are my humble little pieces that I did for the Commander of Your Heart Zine! I'm so honored to be alongside all of those lovely and talented artists! ;m; <3 Yuri belongs to @1ore! Sappho belongs to herself!

[ohpollenpowder]

It's that time again!!! Or. Well. Near enough, time is flying, though! So mark your calendars for the pride walk!!! It's a fun two day event, walking from Ebonhawke to Lion's Arch on day one, then leaving Lion's Arch and ending at the gates of Rata Sum! All of this in support of Rainbow Railroad!! (Link not quite available yet with the community affiliation.)

I, myself, usually stream it!! Last year I was able to volunteer as well!! It's a really fun and enjoyable time, please come and join us! If you can't, feel free to spread the word!! Even if you can't come to both days or stay the whole time—the walk takes a few hours—come at least for a little while!! ♥♥♥

You can find out more information over here on the Guild Wars 2 forums. Or join the discord to stay in the loop!!!

[guildtree]

Gray-haired, all of five feet tall, and in her mid-50s, Rhea Ingull isn't what most people expect of an Ebon Vanguard warrior, especially in plainclothes and with her scars covered by a mesmer illusion. It's an open secret that she's the bastard daughter of the head of House Ingull, one of Ebonhawke's most influential noble families, who left home and joined the Vanguard when the birth of her legitimate half-brother meant she'd never see a scrap of inheritance. In her youth she was a metaphorical as well as literal firebrand, who won renown by killing the old Ash Legion imperator in a gambit so risky it could accurately be called a suicide mission. She lost an eye and gained a streak of white hair thanks to Malice Swordshadow, a tribune at the time, but came out alive and with the new nickname of the Badger thanks to her stocky build and sheer determination. It's the Old Badger now, much to her chagrin, and her reputation has shifted to that of a brutally intelligent and ruthless tactician. She likely saved Ebonhawke multiple times in the decade of so before the peace treaty, simply by out-thinking Bangar's brutal offensives and being willing to do whatever was needed for the sake of her city. After losing her lower right leg, she has officially retired, but that hasn't stopped Commander Samuelsson from bringing her in for "unofficial counseling," and Ebonhawke understands that should the city be under siege again, she'll be there drafting the war plans.

This decorated and brutal military history is balanced by a shockingly maternal outside life. Unable or unwilling to have biological children, Rhea has instead adopted a veritable menagerie of kids - a norn she found on the streets, Loretta, a runaway sylvari daughter, and an abandoned asura son. She loves all her children dearly and raised them kindly, even if they did learn basic combat techniques alongside their ABCs. Most strangers who meet her outside of the military think of her as a kind old lady - those in the know see her as the embodiment of the warrior-poet: speaking several languages, possessed of a great knowledge of literature and music thanks to her noble upbringing, and sometimes a little too wrapped up in the philosophy around war and death. She keeps herself sharp and presentable at all times, and whether it's navigating high society as a captain or cursing out new recruits as a drill sergeant, she always carries herself with intention. She was married once, before her husband succumbed to alcoholism, and now she lives with her younger children and the one living member of her old squad, Captain Phillips. History will remember the two of them as brothers in arms, or very good friends.

Rhea also had one other adopted child a long time ago, Laurel, who went missing in action and is now presumed dead. Whether her first daughter's death was her own fault depends on how you see it, and maybe more importantly, who you ask.

[khorren]

Once a bandit and general thievery annoyance of Ebonhawke, Alexis devoted her life to the teachings of Dwayna. A little bit of side activity with the Zephyrites, and later the Crystal Bloom, she always kept a little bit of Dwayna with her.

Of course she's still entilted to smacking things upside the head with a big hammer ^_^

[anghraine]

I am pretty hypocritical in my GW2 annoyances, in all honesty.

I was super irritated the other day by some guy ranting about how humans and the human gods were the worst thing that ever happened to the world in-story Because Lore (but a very, hmm, slanted perspective on the lore). Someone actually pointed out that the goddess Kormir became a god by basically saving the world and the dude reverted back to ranting about Kormir stealing the glory from the players blahblah and ffs it's 2023 and somehow Kormir Stealing the Glory discourse from 2006 is still a thing.

Now, do I cherish my eternal grudge over the thousands of civilians massacred in the Searing and in the consequent invasion, from the game released a year earlier? Well, yes.

IDK!! Trahearne discourse was just Kormir discourse 2.0 with less misogyny, but getting original flavor is just ... let her go, she's fine, she did her best and game mechanics aren't her fault. But I am solidly on team never forgive, never forget about the Searing and the invasion.

[mistfallengw2]

This is about to get rambly, but I headcanon that queerness is a completely normal fact of life in Tyria and that no one really bats an eye about whatever floats your boat, be it gender identity or who you want relationships with.

Labels are just vague descriptors for those who want to say “that specific thing” in fewer words. To an average person in Tyria it's like finding out there's a word specifically for “person who eats just vanilla and chocolate ice cream” and just going “oh cool that's me”, but they're rarely used in general conversation unless that becomes the topic of discussion and thus not known by many. Due to it being so normal, there might still be some general genuine ignorance about queer identities one hasn't experienced within their own social bubble, but it's not seen a big deal, while actually "challenging" others' existence is seen as a pretty scummy thing to do.

That said, of course different races and cultures had their own words for certain things and slightly different points of view: charr and asura are more culturally used to temporary/open relationships and even polyamory, due to their societal structure and lack of "marriage" in the human sense of the word; humans and charr are under societal pressure to procreate no matter who you're sharing beds with, because of their wartime circumstances; gender matters little in general, and gender-based discrimination is a thing only in specific instances/communities, usually in more "traditional" settings and often in negative ways, like the Sons of Svanir and the old Flame Legion; humans are the ones who most obsess about marriage, though often for reasons beyond simple romance; norn don't care who wants to smooch/marry who, as long as they're worthy of each other; sylvari are still relatively new to life, so they've been the more open ones so far; etc.

Also also, I headcanon that the Tyria Pride event is a minor festival that originated in Lion's Arch not long after its first reconstruction under Cobiah Marriner.

It's not known how it started exactly, but at first it was just a “let's celebrate different races working together as one" kind of event, rowdy, very pirate-y and held in the taverns and ships across town with little fanfare and plenty of drinking, and it became a recurring thing. Then, smaller celebrations of love started getting lumped in as couples (especially mixed ones, as Lion's Arch was the first place that officially recognized them) chose to get married at the same time of those events, and eventually it evolved and consolidated into an annual event sponsored by the city.

As the event grew in popularity, even non-residents wanted to join the celebrations, but only in recent decades it turned into a march across Tyria. First it started as independent groups in major cities (primarily Rata Sum, Hoelbrak and Divinity's Reach) organized themselves to follow merchant routes towards Lion's Arch, as their journeys evolved into smaller celebrations of their own before the big one at their destination. While unofficial, the numbers of participants in these extra marches swelled each and every year, and eventually they were counted as part of the event by most. Then, after the treaty was stipulated between the Legions and Ebonhawke, a big collective effort was made to connect all of those marches into a single one and extend it so that the event could start in the human city, and it got consolidated after the Pact's victory against Zhaitan proved once more the strength of all races working together.

Tyria Pride is still a minor festival by Tyrian standards, but even if not all can join the weeks of marching and partying across Tyria, it remains the biggest celebration of love in all of its forms and across all barriers.

[i-mybrunettelady]

a gravitational pull

Summary: Renira goes on a date with a very singular woman. Content warnings: sensuality/making out (M) Spoilers: None Note: Happy Lesbian visibility week! I may not be a lesbian but Ren is and I wanted to write this for ages now but just.. didn't, so here's one for a ship that could've been, but never was. Ft Babymander Nyra.

Renira doesn’t ordinarily meddle with targets that don’t concern her current mission. The Vigil, as far as her orders go, are allies and not people whose secrets she should be focused on. A secret here and there is fine, but there is a line that the agents can’t cross. Not when there’s General Soulkeeper and Warmaster Kernsson on sight as two high ranking officers. The Warmaster, maybe, if she were daring enough to attempt to spy on him again at such a time, but the General? 

She cannot risk it; not as a Lightbringer. Not when her squad relies on her in this way. 

Yet when Kernsson’s pretty apprentice starts chatting her up and asks her for a date, Renira is all too quick to agree. There is no shortage of pretty women, but there is a shortage of time. Now, after that whole business with Ajax Anvilburn is done with, she can take a break for one evening. It’s nothing serious, after all.

Then again, Renira does wonder if digging up info on your date before you even go out is standard practice for anyone who isn’t of the Whispers. Probably not. Alysannyra Ainsaph’s name has popped up here and there - starting with a file in bold, red letters called the Hero of Shaemoor. She has family here in Ebonhawke. And now, apparently, she has joined the Vigil and bears the title of Crusader. 

That’s where she makes herself stop. There need to be conversation topics. She cannot know everything in advance. 

“Nice dress, by the way,” Alysannyra says with a slight curve to the ends of her lips. “I see you’re taking cues from the locals.” She then pauses and joins her hands before her. Her lips, full and pink, are slightly parted. “I think it suits you, personally. We’d wear it belted in Rurikton, for the waist emphasis, but it looks good like this, I think. And I think the flower I chose works well with it? As if I’d known!”

Renira takes a deep breath. “Thank you,” she says and accepts the flowers - a vibrant yellow to match the pink of her dress, just as Alysannyra said - and gently holds them in her hand. Then Alysannyra offers her a hand and off on the streets of Ebonhawke they go. 

She looks good tonight. They look quite the pair, unintentionally so. The thought makes Renira smile. Nyra looks rather good in the traditional Ascalonian embroidered shirt and a jelek. The shirt is open enough to reveal her collarbones and the tightness of the vest makes her chest look pronounced. Her hair is long and loose, brushed but only barely, alternating between brown, red and blonde in the dying light of day. Her face is bare. 

Renira hasn’t seen eyes as blue in a while. Or maybe the lack of romantic attention in recent times finally reared its ugly head. While not that common, blue eyes aren’t exactly a rarity either. 

“Your hair changes color in the sunlight,” Renira says, by way of observation. Their footsteps fall in rhythm.

“Only the wisest of men know what my actual hair color is,” Nyra supplies, and lifts her eyebrows. “It has been foretold, certainly, that one who guesses it right will win my hand in marriage.” 

“Should I keep looking then?” Renira laughs. She likes the way Nyra talks. The dryness of her humor is refreshing. 

“If you like. I like to be looked at. If you guess right, you might get me to pop the question, Ascalonian style.” 

“Oh? I assume your heritage allows you for more insight on that particular topic than my few months of living here does?” Renira leans in - rather, down. Nyra’s hair smells of fresh herbs. 

Nyra lifts her head to meet her eyes. She holds her gaze. “I could show you, if you’d like,” she says. 

Renira hums. “There is time, Nyra.” She masks the extent of the excitement the response leaves in her. Nyra is a woman of the court, and she knows the art of conversation just as well as Renira does, yet not everyone acquires the charm needed to get to be as good as it can be. 

No, it’s not charm, not really. It feels like she has something of a gravitational pull that makes Renira unable to look away. The steadiness of her gaze, the warmth of her hand, scent of herbs and a hint of perfume, all coupled with her head held high, tempts Renira to bend down and kiss her then and there. When has she grown attracted to muscle on a woman? That is a new development. 

Not that she minds. 

Nyra’s smile is lopsided. “Enough time to squeeze a second date in?” 

Renira laughs. “Maybe. If I don’t make up my mind by the end of this one.” She pulls her closer. The eye contact breaks when she snakes their fingers tighter together and runs her nails over Nyra’s knuckles. “We aren’t even at the date location yet. The night is young.” 

And indeed, the sun has just set. The moon is just peeking through, an invited, observant figure to  the chatter of people and their joint hands. By the end of this, Renira thinks, she could have Nyra in her bed if she wanted to. And where would the harm be, if she has a willing participant? 

Nyra nods, pink in the face. “That is for you to decide, but in the meantime, I think a delicious meal awaits us.” 

And the food is good, admittedly, the kind both humans and charr would enjoy. Well done meat with kajmak, chopped onion that neither of them are touching, reflections of the bright yellow flower in the little rakija bottles. Turns out Nyra isn’t a fan of it. She takes one sip, swallows like a battleworn hero she is, and places it down with all the grace of a woman of the court. Renira downs hers in one chug. Nyra lifts a brow, as if impressed. 

And maybe alcohol did lower their inhibitions, but they’re kissing in a dimly lit street later, with Nyra on the tips of her toes and her hands around Renira’s shoulders. She’s a good kisser, it turns out. 

“Billiard rooms,” Nyra explains in between kisses. It’s a rather silly high society excuse to stare at people’s asses and steal a kiss. 

Renira slides her hands down and squeezes Nyra’s ass. She doesn’t need any overpriced rooms. “Were there any bets?” she asks, curiously. A part of her laughs, almost; is she as cocky as someone like Nyra can afford to be, to place a bet to be the best she’s ever kissed? She doesn’t voice it. 

There are many things she hasn’t been able to afford herself. There’s something so very aristocratic about the way Nyra carries herself, the way she grabs attention and stamps her seal all over it. Even now, red in the face, with lips darkened by kissing and lipstick, she knows she looks good, she knows the world should be watching her. 

Arrogance, Renira thinks. Arrogance that’s hardly ever faced a pushback. Arrogance that makes her want to fuck her against that very wall, in this very street. What a luxurious thing. 

“Nothing that went beyond tongues,” Nyra replies after a thought. “My parents have always been of the old, Ascalonian cut.” 

Renira tilts her head and licks at Nyra’s lower lip. “And you?” 

Nyra looks visibly distracted for a moment. “I’ve never been to Ebonhawke before,” she says. “Is that good enough?” 

“More than enough.” Enough to write in your file later. Tastes divine, is hardly in touch with where her parents came from. Looking to reconnect. Doesn’t care about the way things are done here. She places a kiss on her jaw. Nyra’s nails dig into Renira’s skin. She then kisses lower, to her exposed neck. 

Then, she then feels Nyra’s hands pushing her face away from her neck. Just as Renira was about to ask to leave her a little bite. Rude, she thinks and smiles. You arrogant, rude, sexy aristocrat. You just need to be in charge. Did the world see that? Or do you keep these things to yourself?

“I know a place where we can have more privacy,” Nyra says in a voice that doesn’t invite questioning. A command wrapped in a statement, and the quietness of the tone doesn’t take anything away from its force. She slides her hand down so it rests on Renira’s hip. “It’s not that far away. Come.” 

She then takes Renira’s hand and goes down the street, lipstick stains on her face and neck be damned. She walks like it all belongs to her, like she’s the queen of the fucking world, with her head held high. Without shame. Arrogant. 

Not arrogant. Proud. 

It takes Renira a lot to fall in love, but maybe this is a closer thing. Or maybe it’s the rakija, and the kissing, and the moon whispering in her ear, and the Ebonhawke and its pressing history and its proud descendant that’s holding her hand. 

Whatever it is, Renira slides into the night with her. 

It is, after all, a call she can’t say no to. 

[ascalonianlightbringer]

It's been a long time since I first fell in love with pre-Searing Ascalon in Guild Wars: Prophecies. But I'm still nostalgic enough that I periodically visit Ebonhawke just to go home to human Ascalon, and I loved this view of it :)