#grismara

[zhakyria]

I had the chance to commission Kahl'ryn from @psychededoodle. I have no words for how much I love this. Everything, all the details, the expression, the scar, the cybernetics, everything is so well done!!

And with this amazing portrait - I'm gonna talk a bit about Kahl and what he is up to in my Arclight AU. So... some rambling thoughts under the cut. :)

For reference: The Arclight AU is a melting pot of various sci-fi franchises. Star Wars, Farscape, WildStar, Star Trek, to just name a few. However, the core of it is Star Wars. A lot of the universe rules are Star Wars rules - such as how space travel works and the Force.

The major players from Star Wars include: the Galactic Empire, the Mandalorians, the Sith Empire, the Chiss Ascendancy, the High Republic, and the Grysk Hegemony.

Much like swtor!Kahl, arclight!Kahl was born in the Sith Empire. His father is the (now former) Sith Lord Xhai'tan. He was trapped in a burning building when he was a child, which is how he got the burn scars. He joined the Imperial Academy and joined Imperial Intelligence upon graduating. Some of his first missions included hunting down terrorists and stopping Darth Jadus. For his double agent arc however, he didn't infiltrate the SIS.

In Arclight the Sith Empire is mostly at odds with the Dominion from WildStar. So, Kahl is tasked with infiltrating the Dominion and carrying out his mission there. The Star Cabal is still a threat and Kahl eventually dismantles it.

Now things really start to diverge. You see, most everything from Shadow of Revan onward doesn't happen. So how does my boy meet Theron?

I made the executive decision that since the Republic isn't the same Republic as in swtor and isn't the power in direct conflict with the Sith Empire, that Theron would instead be from the Dominion. ((I know, I know, not the best allegory if you know anything about the Dominion - like they live up to their name. Does make it way easier for Theron to defect though.))

Then I needed the catalyzing event. Enter the Dread Masters. They were imprisoned by the Dominion, but they escape but with Emperor Vitiate dead (did I mention that? no? So, yeah Emperor Vitiate does die, and after a short war between the Sith, Acina comes out on top and takes the Throne - this is also the time of Malgus's first betrayal,) they go rogue.

Kahl is called in to help with the situation by Lana and she eventually wrangles the help of Theron in tracking and defeating the Dread Masters. Much like in Shadow of Revan, Kahl and Theron grow close.

Then the tradegy of Grismara happens. For those unfamiliar with WildStar. Grismara was home to the Mordesh. A elf-like species who were masters of science, alchemy, and art. They were arrogant and proud, sure of their own superiority. That was until the Everlife Elixir, developed by their most lauded scientist became their curse. The Everlife was meant to give immortality, and they trusted Dr. Lazarin so much that it was distributed worldwide. Then the Everlife became the Contagion. Everyone (and the lore implies everyone) slowly turned into super aggressive mindless cannibals (basically zombies).

Grismara was a neutral world on the edge of Sith and Dominion borders. Both sides were trying to ally with them, but when the Contagion broke out - the Sith turned their back on the world and the Dominion set up a blockade and quarantined it.

Kahl and Theron disobeyed orders to try and help the Mordesh. During that terrible year long attempt at saving the Mordesh, Dr. Lazarin made a small break through. He created the Vitalis Serum, which delayed the effects of the Contagion, but also required frequent injections. The remaining Mordesh were trapped in a half-life. They no longer age (they got their immortality) but they also are unable to have children unless a cure can be found.

Kahl and Theron organized for the last of the Mordesh, to escape. Taking them to the Odessen Coalition. A small and new coalition of planets that came together with the help of Xhai'tan (Kahl's father) and Thrass (who is alive and rescued by Xhai'tan - That is another books of thoughts so if you are curious about how Thrass fits in here feel free to ask.)

With the fall of Grismara, Kahl and Theron defect and join the Coalition. Kahl eventually commanding a heavy cruiser as part of the Maarasu Nighthunters - the Odessen Defense Force division in charge of covert operations and missions that take place beyond the borders of the Coalition. It is Kahl who finds Thrawn and Ezra where they have been stranded for 7 years (again another book of thoughts that I can talk about later). Kahl then goes on to support Thrawn, Thrass, Eli, and the others Chiss fighting to save the Ascendancy.

I'll stop there but....yeah so lots of thoughts.....enjoy!

[stellaralchemist]

Karelia, Russia (Abandoned)

[wifecurse-blog]

[zenkovva]

Mordesh // Spellslinger // Exile

Wildstar

[fire-orchid]

Grismara Ghoulmane.

The Shadow of Bjora Marches.

[spinningtwingalaxies]

(While I was looking through some old WS stuff, I found a doc file full of prompts and responses that were written for an ask meme, and I only ever posted about half of these?! They were nostalgic and kinda funny to me looking back, so even though they refer to RPs of the long past and some of the stuff is probably outdated, I just decided to publish them as they were originally written. I even found the almost finished comic page that I had originally drawn to illustrate it, and colored it in now.

Idk anymore who asked what but I do remember that the prompts were originally about: “who is better at X, Zurije or Milos?”)

↱ Navigating roads : Milos

There has been at least one canonical occurrence of Zuri

a) getting lost in one of the biodomes of Farside and captured by the local Skeech tribe, then consequently had to be saved by her friends at Heroes for Hire;

b) trying to rescue the lost Amul from a pitch black cave in Wilderrun and getting lost herself after finding her so that Milos had to get them both out

but to be fair on Zurije, neither of these were navigation on an actual road paved by others. Nevertheless, Milos would probably win this round either way on the grounds of travelling around more on his own than Zuri.

Though I must also point out that if placed in the same vehicle, they exponentially reduce each other's navigational skills respectively.

❣ Styling hair : Milos

I have no idea where he picked up this skill. Maybe that granok girlfriend that cut his hair into a mohawk for the first time taught him some tricks. Maybe it has something to do with the many aurin in his life who needed help untangling their luscious manes. Maybe he was just naturally good at it all along.

≡  Ice skating : Zurije

As she comes from a rural, mountainous and cold area of Grismara, Zuri has every children's winter sport in her genes and it's also about the extent of what she misses about the weather in the "pocketful of frozen hell in a dainty snowglobe" that was her homeland.  

Milos has never ice skated. I can't wait for Zuri to find that out.

[datela-vodenit]

“This medallion has been in my family ever since my great grandfather. Every generation takes a photo of their family so that their children will know who came before them - carrying out their memory. I want you to have it... “You may not be my blood, Taren, but you have made me feel something that I thought I had lost with my parents on Grismara: That there was hope. Even if with all of our fights and misunderstandings, I’m proud to call you my ‘son’ and I wish to continue calling you so. I can’t wait to see what else you make of your life. Happy Birthday, kid.”

So this quote actually takes place on Taren’s previous birthday, but the aurin has made a habit of wearing this Holo-medallion in future years.  Also Taren-lore: He gets number sweaters every year from Mala that have his birthday age on them.

A little bit of personal life talk below:

So, 2 days left to log into Wildstar. I won’t make a repeat of my 1 year anniversary post, but I really am sad to see Wildstar go - wishing I had more time on it. But stories will continue, characters will live on, and it’s cliche, but Wildstar isn’t really going away - not if people continue being creative with WS’s world.

I will be honest, I haven’t been in the best of moods these past few days, everything is kind of falling a part for me this year. School’s closing for me, work has become EXTREMELY difficult with a glitchy computer (like that’s 3 weeks worth of work down the drain), and of course a game is closing down as a kick in the face. It’s just been really shitty. Even with all this happening, Wildstar and its community has gotten me through this. I haven’t been a part of it for long by no means, but I’m really genuine when I say I’m glad to have been a part of it when I could. No joke, I haven’t played a game that’s made me feel this way in years. There was potential in this game, but it just wasn’t followed through enough.

So these next few weeks are going to be the worst. I’ll be fine, just gotta rip it off like a bandaid.

Happy Birthday to this furry boy

Farewell to Wildstar

Hello to “Not gonna let the game closing stop me from making Wildstar stories” :)

[darktypes]

The End.

The sky was a lovely shade of orange.

The pinks, Lex had seen, and the purples for sure, but rarely had the Mordesh ever seen such a beautiful orange. Or maybe he’d never noticed before. Or maybe he was just in the right state of mind for an orange sky. It looked lovely.

The gunslinger stood for a little while among the knee-high grass, staring out into the horizon, letting his thoughts come and go as they so desired. He had nowhere in particular to be, save that Sezar was finishing up with a patient, and after that would come dinner, and after that...

Not much of anything. He hadn’t taken a job in months. It was an unusual state of being for him— the rapper turned space refugee turned bounty hunter, always on the go, always full of energy, had grown tired. Not in a way that had concerned him (though Sezar had fallen to worry, as he always did) but in a way that led to him staying home more. Playing with the dogs. Catching up on those books he’d been planning to get around to. Trying new recipes.

Was age finally catching up to him? He’d lost track of the years a long time ago, but it felt like it was finally time to start being Old™, or at least older, more mature, more grounded in some sense of worldly purpose. Even back on Grismara, this had felt like something far away and unattainable, that youth would always last forever, and in a way, it had... though not in the way Lex had expected or desired.

He was married now, after all. And so were his friends, and friends of those friends. Some of them were starting families, or making them, where and how they could—  pulling together the scraps of who all had come to Nexus looking for something better, stitching them together into something beautiful, something new. There wasn’t really anything like safety, or stability; not here, not now, or even in the foreseeable future, while the war still raged on. But people were finding something close to it, trying to make their way in this shitty, dangerous little world.

Even himself, Lex realized, almost idly. It wasn’t something he’d known he wanted, but he’d gotten it anyway. A reprieve. An excuse, or a blessing, to slow down, and to appreciate. No longer required to burn like a wildfire, or to live life at 100 miles per hour. There was time for meeting up with old friends in dingy bars; there was time for long walks through Thayd; there was time to watch sunsets and notice the colors he hadn’t seen before.

There was time for lots of things.

Idly, the Mordesh pulled out his communicator, pulling up the contact list to scroll through it. It’d gotten longer and shorter over the years, as lists like these tended to do, but there was still one name on there that Lex had never really brought himself to delete. He wasn’t sure if it would still work— there was a good chance it didn’t, and an even better chance that nobody would pick up. But he called it anyway, holding the device to his ear, letting the grass brush around his knees and the edges of his coat move in the breeze.

It rang and it rang, but there was plenty of time, and Lex was happy to wait.

[zhakyria]

New character! Meet Milanko, the second in command of Kahl'ryn's warship in my Arclight AU. He's a Mordesh. I am still working out other details about him. (Also need to name Kahl's ship). He's still adjusting to the Vitalis treatments, since it's only been a few years since the escape from Grismara.

[stellaralchemist]

Recife, Brazil - an abandoned train

[wormcurse]

Grismara and Vatanya

[rogerbriden]

OC Stats: Cap’n

I wanna do one for Cap just cuz...

OC Stats - Captain Yaedra (post Grismara)

💰  financial: // filthy rich / wealthy / comfortable / modest / poor / destitute 🏥  medical: // fit / moderate / sickly / disadvantaged / disabled (mentally) 👑  class: // aristocracy / upper / middle / working / poor / enslaved (jobless) 🎓  education: // advanced / post-secondary / vocational / secondary / primary / none / self-taught / other (military trained back on Grismara) 💣  criminal record: // yes for major crimes / yes for minor crimes / yes but wrongfully accused / none / has committed crimes but hasn’t been caught (he’s a mess)

FAMILY  —

🏠  circumstances: // orphaned / fostered / adopted / raised by birth parent(s) / raised by other relative(s) / other ☯  kinship: // close with family / not close with family / antagonistic with family / disowned / has no family / doesn’t know family / family is deceased 💗  relationship status: // married / divorced / widowed / in a relationship / it’s complicated / wants a relationship / doesn’t want a relationship / indifferent 🚼  children: // has at least one child / wants to have (MORE) children / doesn’t want to have children / can’t have children / indifferent 

TRAITS & TENDENCIES  —

♦  extrovert // introvert // balanced // contextual ♦  disorganized // organized // balanced // contextual ♦  close-minded // open-minded // balanced // contextual ♦  calm // anxious // balanced // contextual ♦  disagreeable // agreeable // balanced // contextual ♦  cautious // reckless // balanced // contextual ♦  patient // impatient // balanced // contextual ♦  outspoken // reserved // balanced // contextual ♦  leader // follower // balanced // contextual ♦  empathetic // indifferent // balanced // contextual ♦  optimistic // pessimistic // balanced // contextual ♦  traditional // modern // balanced // contextual ♦  hardworking // lazy // balanced // contextual ♦  cultured // uncultured // balanced // contextual ♦  loyal // disloyal // balanced // contextual

BELIEFS  —

🌟  faith: // monotheist / polytheist / atheist / agnostic / it’s complicated / other 🔮  belief in ghosts or spirits: // yes / no / not sure / doesn’t care 🌈  belief in an afterlife: // yes / no / not sure / doesn’t care 🌿  belief in reincarnation: // yes / no / not sure / doesn’t care  👽  belief in aliens: // yes / no / not sure / doesn’t care/ “WHY ARE YOU ASKING THIS?? ❔  philosophical: // yes / no / sometimes

GENDER & ATTRACTION  —

👤  gender: // male / female / nonbinary / genderqueer / agender / other 👀  attraction: // straight / gay / lesbian / bisexual / pansexual / asexual / aromantic / demisexual / not sure / other  💕  romantically: // adventurous / experienced / jaded / curious / neutral / inexperienced / naive / reserved / indifferent / repulsed 🏩  sexually: // adventurous / experienced / jaded / curious / neutral / inexperienced / naive / reserved / indifferent / repulsed 

ABILITIES  —

☠  combat skills: // excellent / good / moderate / poor / none 💬  communication skills: // excellent / good / moderate / poor / none 📚  literacy skills: // excellent / good / moderate / poor / none 🎼  artistic skills: // excellent / good / moderate / poor / none 🔨  technical skills: // excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

HABITS  —

🍸  drinking alcohol: // never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / to excess 🚬  smoking: // never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / to excess 💊  recreational drugs: // never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / to excess 🍰  indulgent in food:  // never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / to excess 💲  splurge spending: // never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / to excess (no money) 🎲  gambling: // never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / to excess (see above)

________ Cap’s also a mess and trying to figure out how to do this thing called, ‘acting normal’, now that his brain has been half eaten by the Contagion and he’s on day to day medication for everything else that’s wrong.

[pleasantcowboykid]

Kaamos: 11, 13 and 44. For Gypsum, 16, 21 and 42 please.

11. Do they have any vices? 

A tall, willowy, blue-skinned mordesh comes to mind.

Ever since being rescued from his debt to Dalca, Kaamos is incredibly careful about vice. He keeps himself on a short leash. But he’s relearning how to take pleasure in life, thanks to Rook.

13. Which of the 7 Deadly Sins best describes them? 

Kaamos is definitely Wrath. He has a lot of rage that he tries to tamp down with scientific reason and cool, impartial logic. He’s terrified of losing control the way he did after his first wife was murdered. There’s a metal node on the back of his neck that’s a constant reminder of what will happen if he does.

44. What’s one thing they wish they could do more often, but can’t? 

Kaamos would love to be able to travel, explore...even get absorbed in a really great book without having to worry about his vitalus. His reliance on the stuff is an eternal and tenuous thread that prevents him from ever relaxing. He longs for the freedom he had before Grismara’s fall.

16. Is there anyone who makes them feel inferior? 

Not especially. Gypsum is quite confident. But her mother could really grind her down. On Nexus, mostly everyone around her is smaller and softer, and it’s hard to feel inferior to someone you could break by sitting on.

21. What is something that causes them great anxiety? 

Crowds, especially in public places. Being seen as an authority on anything other than medicine. Trying to find men she won’t damage.

42. Are they comfortable with where they are in life? 

Gypsum is very comfortable. Once her baby is born, she’ll have achieved everything she set out do do when she left Gnox. All she really wants now is to find her One True Love.

[letiche]

Koschei concept scribbles. I absolutely adore trying to figure out what pre-contagion Grismara looked like. 

[aldridge-asset]

43: Undone, WildStar Rook

Brief warning: this does touch on miscarriage. She came to slowly from an exhausted doze, letting the tiresome myriad of thoughts bubble up from the back of the Mordesh woman’s mind. The mental storm was the last thing Rook wanted and yet she was alone to weather it – at least it felt like it. She knew Kaamos was there, having remained as close as possible. The mournful air about him seemed to make his slow breathing that much hollower. Occasionally he would lightly clasp her hand or smooth Rook’s messy crest of dry hair. Gypsum’s steps remained lively while she milled about Rook’s little alcove despite the Granok woman’s obvious worries. Regardless, Rook remained statuesque atop the borrowed bed fur from the shared lodge, eyes closed to drift in and out or feign sleep, on her side, curled in.…Perhaps if I stay like this, I will fade away.Kaamos had seen the furrow of Rook’s brows as she tried to banish the very idea. A timid, large hand smoothed down the side of her face, an ever present reminder it wasn’t just her that suffered so. Her pain was also his. She wasn’t alone despite the emptiness, what was missing from them.What ailed Rook during the entirety of the return trip back to Nexus wasn’t a new strain of Contagion. Deep down, she wished it had been. Anything other than the truth of what tormented the Mordesh pair now under heavy silences, shocked tears and speechlessness.Elenia had left a short while ago after delivering the horrid news; “You are having a miscarriage.” The enigmatic illness was solved, what sapped Rook of every ounce of energy for a handful of weeks revealed. She had been carrying – an impossibility made real and suddenly gone. Unknown until it was too late. Without hope of saving what could have been and what never had a chance with Rook’s state of halted Contagion advance.Two became three under the heady glow of towering Grismaran Primal Life crystals, only to become two again.When was the last time a Mordesh was born? A healthy, living child? When was the last time a woman of their people had been able to successfully conceive? Decades ago, according to remnants of smuggled records that came with survivors from Grismara and hush-hush hearsay of those that barely made it to Nexus. Rook was now part of a vast, aged statistic. A secretive tally among countless others from an era that shook the universe for a time. No one could ever know.Rook shuttered under Kaamos’ palm, burying her face into the heavy blanket. Quiet sobs grew into the return of their agony, enough to cause him to move from his seat with a graceful maneuver. Rook’s plea to unravel at the seams and collapse into dust and ash returned as he positioned himself to lay on the cot with her, anything to stop what consumed her so viciously. Kaamos’ arms pulled her close. She felt his body shutter with her, heard his breath waver alongside her own.The last thing she could recall was the blurry white of his coat before slipping back into restless, uneasy sleep.

[rrbobani]

(Pardon this inexperienced Wildstar player if they get lore details wrong, but...)

I was wondering how children were affected by the Contagion. Maybe because they were so young, they had more years ahead of them than the adults? I don’t know...

So I kind of played around with the idea and gave a timeline for Davvik and how the Contagion affected him throughout his life.

(Basic jist of Davvik’s story under)

Davvik was only a pre teen during the Contagion. When it came to the point where Mordesh were starting to turn ravenous, he only looked like he was ill rather than decaying - most of the other Mordesh children were like this too. Unfortunately, he had to put down his father who had turned ravenous, with his mother dying out of sorrow for the state of Grismara.

I like to think that after Davvik escaped Grismara that he was taken under the wing of a human and taught further with his alchemy skills and spell-slinging. Before he would be able to take the Vitalus Serum, he’d usually bandage himself up around his irritated and ripping areas on his skin. He gained a very testy mood over the years, but mainly knows when to hold back an outburst. Even if he can be unbearable to interact with, he never loses his focus and puts the mission first.

That’s mainly all I’ve gotten so far, perhaps things will change as I keep playing, but I’m having a lot of fun playing Wildstar - it’s definitely a recommendation!