#oc: Zara

[hiroshotreplica]

why does parallel canon seem so familiar?

[morrigan-sims]

The World

upright: achievement, sense of belonging reversed: lack of closure, emptiness

So, Zara finally got a tarot card, just in time for her official introduction in the campaign in a few weeks. It's wild to think that she's existed as a character for almost 1.5 years now, and that Rook still hasn't met her. (I mean, for him, it's been 3 years since he last saw her, so...)

The World card is super fitting for Zara, and I'm honestly shocked it took me this long to figure out what card to use for her?? Now that I look at it, there's not really any other card that fits for her.

The upright meanings (achievement, completion, sense of belonging, fulfillment, etc.) are all very fitting for her role in Rook's life prior to his (first) kidnapping by Wolf. The Tide Breaker was the first place Rook ever felt at home, and Zara was the first person to make him feel like his existence mattered, that he wasn't the good-for-nothing bastard his father always said he was.

The reversed meanings (lack of closure, feeling incomplete, emptiness) are fitting for her absence from Rook's life. He never got a chance to even say goodbye to her before he was captured, and that lack of closure has haunted him for years.

I don't know anything about her backstory (to be revealed soon), but the DM told me, after I picked the card, that it's super fitting to her backstory, too.

Some fun little tidbits of symbolism because I'm proud of them:

She's the mayor of a port city and a former sea captain. Of course she has maps of the continents/oceans around.

I placed her in the center of the map because she was the center of Rook's world for the six years he sailed with her.

On her left are things that symbolize her past (a spyglass, and scales to represent Wolf), and on her right are things related to her present (a ledger and a bag of coins).

The contrast between the worn-down walls and rug and the fancy desk is a nod to how Xen (the city she controls) looks lovely until you get to look a little closer, and then the flaws start to become more apparent.

[tag-of-light]

Long-distance Call and Playful Gossip

[pinelohearts]

blinded.

•••

“𝙰 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝙴𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝚆𝚊𝚛 𝙲𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝙰𝚣𝚊 𝚟𝚞𝚕𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚉𝚊𝚛𝚊 𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚋, 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝙰𝚣𝚊’𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙽𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑.”

•••

Pairing: Original Non-Binary Character/Original Female Character

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death

Notable Tags: war, angst, unhappy ending, romance

[memento-morri-writes]

More dnd writing because it's all I have but I here's a snippet from a vignette I did of Rook's past (from Zara's POV), because Rook and his mentors never fails to make me sick (/pos).

[transcript under the cut]

Taking a coin out of her pocket, she rolled it across her knuckles, back and forth. It gave her hands something to do, and prevented the urge to bite her nails, something she hadn’t done in years. Ten minutes passed, then twenty. Zara began to pace as Rook’s breathing grew shakier and the color drained from his skin. Where the hells is Jay? she wondered. The room was so quiet that she could hear every tick of the small clock on her bedside table, and each one echoed in her head. How many ticks does he have left? She didn’t want to think about it.  She’d had crew members die before, of course. You don’t go as many years as a captain as she had and never lose a soul. But all the others who had died had died quickly, in combat. She’d mourned for all of them, even shed tears in private, but there was something different about watching the life drain out of a person right in front of your eyes.

[lucin-kun]

The next generation of Elemental Masters

Disclaimer: I haven’t seen Crystalized and Dragons Rising yet

[sovhina]

Anotha one thank you for wip Wednesday just proof I’m working on the little floating heads for little character bios I promise I have ideas to go with my little heads I promise anyway eden is my version of a drow and zara is gonna be her gf one day and they don’t know it but they’re madly in love gay love wins oh yeah and Rome is there too

[dxwnfxll]

I love Fortnite

Needed to draw my ocs with Megalo Don

[neosquidbeak-askblog]

Hey Captain,do you think that scar us..Y'know,permanent?

[pal-yername]

i really like zara's starlight glam and to commemorate being able to wear it again i allowed her to build a snowman

[dorianpavus]

i was tagged by the lovely @alistairweekend to make some of my ocs in this picrew!! since i am drowning in ocs to choose from, i figured i would make dnd characters since that’s what she did <3

left to right, top to bottom:

archmage calypso fortuna, headmistress of the lotus conservatory, champion of corteria. devilsbane. all powerful magical philanthropist. worships the goddess of luck. closed off and hates being vulnerable but has a heart of gold. (divination wizard 19 / trickery cleric 1)

chloe d’amboise, insecure musical prodigy and student of the horizanos school for adventurers. born a tiefling to a human noble family under mysterious circumstances. kind of a fairy tale princess. hopeless romantic and hopelessly naive. (college of glamour bard)

ambrose, ambitious researcher and part time archaeologist. imprisoned in a strange world without stars, filled with ruins and mysterious ancient technology, he hunts down knowledge and craves answers. a drow astral elf seeking the secrets to the multiverse and kind of a twat about it. (knowledge domain cleric).

ophelia mordaunt, dhampir daughter of a drow necromancer and a vampire. if you ever wondered, “what if the briarwoods had a kid,” she might come close. monster hunter. haunted by her past. will she/won’t she kill her parents! stay tuned to find out. (oath of vengeance paladin)

tagging anyone who wants to do it. yeah, you. 🫵 feel free to tag me too, i love seeing ocs!! :’)

[hiroshotreplica]

do you ever just see one of your friends succumb to mind control again and all you can think about is how you could stop it this time? fun moment!

[morrigan-sims]

Pirate Outfts

I was bored, so I started trying some different outfits on Zara... The last one might be my favorite, if only because I already used another swatch of the first one for Wolf, and I can't have them wearing the same thing... But I also love being able to see all her freckles in the 2nd one...

[tag-of-light]

The leader and his favourite hunter | Fierce on the battlefield, smitten with each other, and doting parents to their children. A'dyalani taught Zara to use a bow, dreaming of the day she'd surpass her as a hunter, while A'vheo took Zeke under his wing, preparing him to one day lead the clan. Oh, how proud they'd be if they could see where their children would end up.

[spacey-png-art]

design for a character im making a mini comic abt for my comics class :)

[memento-morri-writes]

a small compilation of Zara talking to her young crew members.

She really does know how to handle each of them. Stern and authoritative with Garan to demand his respect, firm but gentle with Rook as a mentor and the first positive figure in his life, encouraging and comforting with Jay when she needs it most, helping her assuage her guilt... She really is an excellent captain, and there's a reason her crew respected her so much, even though she wasn't as big a name or as flashy with her power as Wolf.

[transcripts under the cut]

Image One:

Garan saw his opportunity and jumped in. “That son-of-a-bitch nearly killed me! He has no place on this crew. You sh-” Zara held up a hand to stop him. “It is not your place to decide who does or does not belong on this crew. I am the captain and my word here is law.” Garan opened his mouth but she kept going. “I will handle this. Go see Kholl to get your arm splinted. And while you’re down there, send someone up to take your place for the rest of the shift. And Garan,” she fixed him with her best commanding stare, “do not forget that on this crew you will treat your fellow crew mates with respect.” Garan looked as though he wanted to argue, but she held his gaze and he eventually moved off towards the hatch leading belowdecks. She could hear him grumbling as he went, and made a mental note to ask some of the other crew members what he was saying about this later.

Image Two:

Once he was gone, she turned her attention to Rook. He was looking at the floor now, and still hadn’t spoken. “Rook, what happened? You’re not usually careless with your knots.” When he said nothing she added, “You can be honest. I’m not going to throw you off the crew.” She paused. “It wasn’t intentional, was it?” He still remained silent, but shook his head slightly. Zara sighed. “You made a mistake, and that mistake hurt a crew member. That’s not something to be taken lightly. It wasn’t intentional, and no one was seriously hurt, which is a blessing. But you can’t take shortcuts when it comes to sailing, especially not the rigging. One mistied knot can cost someone their life, or a ship its mast.” Rook was still staring at the floor, not seeming to hear any of her words. Zara frowned. “Rook, are you listening to me?” 

Image Three:

“What’s going on? Will he be okay?” she asked, voice shaking. Zara forced her own voice to stay steady. “He was bitten by an Amaru.” Jay’s face fell, tears welling up in her eyes. “Kholl thinks he can pull through, though.” She handed Jay the list Kholl had written. “He said to give you this. It’s instructions for an antidote.” Jay froze, mouth dropping open in shock. “He wants me to make it?” She took a half-step back. “I- I’ve never done something like this, I’m not sure I can-” Stepping closer to her, Zara put an arm on Jay’s shoulder and squeezed gently, cutting her off. “Kholl has faith that you can do this. And so do I. Now, go, quickly. Rook’s counting on you.” Jay nodded. “Yes, captain.” She took off towards the ladder, nearly at a sprint, the instructions for the antidote clutched tightly in her hand.

Image Four:

Kholl seemed to recognize this and sighed, shaking his head as he left. As soon as he was gone, Jay turned to Zara. “It’s my fault,” she blurted out. “It’s my fault he’s…” she trailed off as her voice grew choked.  Zara gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s not your fault. Rook chose not to tell anyone he was bitten.” She shook her head. Rook was quick-witted and a fast learner, but gods he could be foolish sometimes, especially when it came to his own life. Jay shook her head. “You don’t understand. I knew he was hurt and I didn’t check the wound or send him to the infirmary. If I had…” Tears welled up in her eyes. “If I had known he was bitten, not clawed, he’d be fine now, right? And now he might die, and it would be all my fault.” “He told you it was a claw wound?” Zara asked, brow furrowing in confusion. Why would he lie about what had hurt him? “No, that’s why it’s my fault. He said it was just a scratch and I assumed he meant a claw.” “Jay, there’s no way you could have known what he meant.” “But I’m a healer! I should have looked at the wound!” “You are not at fault for his decisions.” Taking Jay by the shoulders, Zara gently pushed her towards the door. “It’s been a long day, and you’ve done a lot. Do as Kholl said and get some rest.” When Jay hesitated, she added, “I’ll tell you if anything changes with Rook.”