#there's a good reason most of the charr she knows think of her as a cub

[gristlegrinder]

i got too embarrassed to write the tags i actually wanted to write in my tags on that rytlock poll i just reblogged, but. further thoughts on the matter from my first draft of my reblog before i deleted them.

id transcript / more readable version:

okay let me walk you through my math, because i’ve spent the better half of two hours thinking about this.

SO LIKE. ryland is around braham’s age. give or take two years in either direction. making him around 25 in 1334. we don’t have a confirmation on ryland’s age, but i’ve done my homework— and spent a frantic night trying to figure that out ages ago for an unrelated personal question.

(which is ‘how long has nicabar been with steel warband’? this is based on extrapolating that the last all-legion rally in grothmar probably took place in 1324, in the wake of charr-human peace treaty negotiations. i will spare you the details of that. anyways.)

that means rytlock has to be at least 45. i do not think he would have sired ryland younger than that. i think that makes the most sense in relation to ryland’s age, because not only is he rytlock’s oldest, but i also think he did sire him young because— *smacks chalkboard with my retractable pointer stick* rytlock and crecia’s flame legion reconnaissance mission!

i think they had ryland before they went on that mission, because crecia stays in flame for years after rytlock runs away with sohothin. (this is not in the screenshot to transcribe, but also in requiem: rytlock the way he talks about crecia suggests that he has literally not seen her, or at least been intimate with her in the same way, since she shanked him). (both of them) put (ryland) in the fahrar, go away, get the god’s sword. become a legendary (dragon)[sic]-champion killer by the time (ryland)’s ten. you know.

the other half of this is bangar, actually! bangar had to be old enough to have power in the legions, in order to take care of crecia and her dam in the way that he did. which suggests at least a 30-year gap between them, unless we think bangar was calling the shots around the blood citadel at age 20.

and bangar’s getting up there. he’s gotta have his meat cut up because his jaw’s not as good as it used to be. so, i think it’s reasonable to pin him down as like, mid-to-late seventies. (additional comment: you could argue that he’s older, but i’m going to play it fairly conservative— he’s old enough to begin having health concerns, perhaps influencing his sudden grab for additional power before it’s too late).

final answer: rytlock is around 45-50 by the end of icebrood saga! i may lean a little into the 48-50 range, just to give him a little bit of a buffer between like… graduating the fahrar and getting established with stone warband, and the baelfire mission.

sorry for the absolute onslaught of tags, OP.

[axe-trio-commanders]

I'm curious about Olirus! What's their Deal(tm)? (Also I would like to hug Zori. Not because of any particular reason but because I think she needs one)

- @fractal-quadrilioquy

Yesyes Olirus!! (sorry this took a lil, needed to get screenshots and also. Awakeness) So- Olirus Quickshot is one of my newer cats, and sort of like... I dunno, my most lowkey, normal-ish character...? Which is. Completely relative considering the nonsense everyone else gets up to, but here's the gist;

Olirus was, originally, just a pretty darned good sniper, originally working under Iron before joining the Vigil, primarily because she thought Almorra was just really, really cool the first time she heard about her, and Olirus really wanted to go all-in and fight dragons. She was pretty renowned for taking shots with pretty good accuracy for how many shots she could take, and how quickly- she's not an assassin, really, but she's good at taking out a large number of pretty long-range targets. So she joins the vigil, climbs a few rungs up the ladder, everything's going great! They actually defeated Zhaitan! Woo!! ....And then Maguuma happens, and- pending probably another post and a heavy TW- Olirus is suddenly Much Less Jazzed about the Vigil. Not that she things the Vigil is wrong, just... wrong for her. And her continued mental health. So, after taking the airship to Elona, Olirus just kinda... bounces, trying to just. Disappear in the chaos. She eventually finds a job as a guard for this exotic raptor racing facility, which is... well, it pays money, even if she doesn't like her boss very much. ....Until a group raids the place, she gets shot in the arm with a necromantic-energy-packed ammunition that is now attempting to slowly rot away her arm, and instead of, say, doing anything to help with that, her boss just fires her instead. So now she's slowly losing an arm, and doesn't have a job. So she does what any reasonable charr would do, which is steal her favorite raptor (Her name is Cherry) and book it again. (This is Cherry)

Eventually, she recieves help with the arm from... (admittedly I have this part less decided, so some necromancer/scientist someone who decides to be nice without immediate payment)- which stops the decay even if it won't heal the arm. It's still functional, though it is pretty smelly and she's worried it'll be more fragile than normal, so she's made a special glove to fit around it. At this point, she decides she's honestly done with any job involving having to use violence, and you know what she figures is the furthest possible thing from her prior occupation in the Vigil? Candy-making. She's going to make a candy store. And run it. And use the proceeds to take care of Cherry. And anyone who threatens her candy store, or the children who come to buy from it? ...Well, she does still have a rifle, and she isn't half bad with a pair of daggers, either. They just have fun themes, now.

(.....this character was at least partially inspired by the fact i thought you could flavor the azure railgun skin as mint-chocolate themed. Also I wanted a character I could just kinda fit into any au or rp space...)

[ratasum]

A little tale about Liath Slaughterclaw, the Beast of Ebonhawke.

She did not like being in human cities.

Liath was massive even by charr standards, and the streets made for smaller, squishier human frames felt almost claustrophobic. But she endured regardless, trying to move as quietly as she could behind her lifemate.

He knew an engineer in Divinity's Reach that had some things for him to look through, and Cassius - too soft for his own good sometimes, damn his charm - had asked her to come with him.

Good to walk, he'd told her.

She shouldn't have listened, but regardless of her feelings on the matter, she was here now.

They hadn't been there long. A couple of hours, at most. She had decided to stand outside the small home so as not to take up too much space, and the old soldier was trying her best not to look intimidating.

Not that it was doing much good. Between her size and her hard, worn face? She had frightened more than a few small children simply by glancing in their direction.

Human cubs were so jumpy.

But the longer she stood there, the more she felt that off sensation of being watched. Turning her head, she found herself locking eyes with a human woman, probably somewhere in her 40s. Wild dark hair framed her face, and she was watching Liath with wide green eyes, distracted from her conversation with two women walking with her.

Then, she said something to her companions and headed in her direction at a fairly steady clip.

Liath immediately tensed. She was used to this by now- the war was over, the treaty ten years in the past, but there were many who still remembered her all too clearly as the Beast of Ebonhawke. It stood to reason some would have made it here.

Even as she braced for the onslaught of angry barbs, however, they never came. Instead, the woman reached out to take one of her paws in her own much smaller hands, gazing up at her with wonder.

"It's you," she all but whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. "I know your face. I know it's you."

Perplexed, and a little taken aback, Liath's tail lashed as her ears tipped back, brow furrowing as she gave the woman a cautious look. "...have we met?"

The woman immediately nodded, her grin only widening at the sound of Liath's voice. "You wouldn't remember. I couldn't have been older than ten at the time! It was... it was a think thirty years ago, in the Fields of Ruin. We were escaping a settlement and when Mother saw a charr silhouette against the tent she was sure we were finished."

Realization dawned on Liath as she spoke and her eyes widened, turning her head to focus the good one on the woman, ears perking up. "...the refugee encampment. I told you to flee-"

"-because the warbands were moving! You could have killed us, but you... you let us go! Mother wondered for years why you did, and I... I said it must be because not all charr are monsters and I've learned I was right, as time's gone on. But I... I do have to ask, I-"

"I'm a mother." It was a simple enough answer, her paws shifting in the dirt in the discomfort of the late summer heat and the unusual confrontation. "I've many cubs of my own. Some of them are farmers, and tailors. Some are inventors and soldiers. If I'd let my warbands kill helpless woman and their own cubs... what sort of mother would I be?"

The young woman listened intently, and then she started to laugh, squeezing Liath's paw tightly as she beamed, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Yes. Yes, that makes sense. Oh, I'm so glad I've gotten to meet you after all this time- may I... can I have your name? Mine's Elsbeth. My wife and daughter are over there. I wouldn't have them if it hadn't been for your kindness."

For a moment, Liath considered how much information to give her. But finally she inclined her head forward, just slightly. "Liath. Just Liath is fine, Elsbeth. I'm... glad to see you thriving. And that you and yours made it safely to Ebonhawke."

Elsbeth seemed to consider her for a moment before moving in, hugging the massive charr tightly around her waist. For a moment, Liath stood awkwardly before sighing and curling down slightly, patting her back as the woman spoke. "You have no idea what you did for us that day. I only hope any one of us can repay your kindness."

A moment later, she was stepping back, sniffling and wiping her eyes with her palm before exchanging pleasant goodbyes. And as she hurried back to her family, Cassius was stepping out of the house behind her, giving a quizzical look after the human women before looking to his lifemate, a bemused expression crossing his scruffy muzzle. "Everything all right, Li? More of that Beast of Ebonhawke nonsense?"

"...no. Not this time, Cass." Sighing softly, she bunted her muzzle gently against the top of his head. "I'll tell you when we get back to the Black Citadel. Let's just say... it was a lot of old memories."

"Ah, I'll take your word for it, dear. Let's be off then!"

He was already chattering on about his invention as he started to walk, and Liath cast one last glance behind her before moving to follow him.

Perhaps Divinity's Reach wasn't so bad after all.

[sunsrefuge]

I send... more blorbo questions! Not for the ranking ask just in general for rotating your ocs in your head. Which animals if any do you associate with your beebs? Is it vibes, symbolism, astrological, appearance similarities? (@uselessidiotsquad)

I HAVE SO MANY OF THESE. THIS IS SUCH A CAN OF WORMS. THANK YOU !!! <3 <3 <3 GIVING U PLATONIC SMOOCHES AND HUGS AND BRINGING U BLANKIES AND SNACKS AND TEA !!!

Not everyone will have banners, but I'd like to use them for those that do !! ♥

Liifa - SNAKES !!! SNAKES SNAKES SNAKES !!! He LOVES reptiles, his favorite snake is the King Cobra, i NEED to get him the snake skyscale so so so bad !!! If this man EVER got a tattoo it'd be of a snake! he loves them so much! But also for vibes :) and symbolism!!!

Snakes have been associated with some of the oldest rituals known to mankind and represent dual expression of good and evil.

Liifa has always had this vibe of constantly balancing opposite energies: He's devout to Kormir and her teachings, and yet is bonded to the Binding, a book of Abaddon's. They have similarities in knowledge and secrets, but opposing energies in terms of intent! I also love seeing snakes on The World tarot cards, due to things like ouroboros and their symbolism involving shedding old skins and growing into a new one!! He's a very adaptive little man and i love him with all of my heart <3 <3 <3

Eliana - Dragonflies! her gun is even named Dragonfly in game :3 that's why im using this banner version kfjdhfkjd

Dragonflies symbolize maturity, growth, looking for deeper meanings, and living in the moment.

In a lot of cultures, they're also seen as good luck! :D the fun part is that while Liifa overtly adores snakes, Eliana's indifferent about dragonflies! Yet she gets associated with them a lot!! While trapped in Gandara, Aurene sends her a vision via a starry dragonfly landing at her window - and again! her gun!! is named Dragonfly!! I also love love love to think that she either has or gains dragonfly wings eventually, maybe when she gets connected to Aurene officially even, so they're things she can hide if she wants! but yes !!! Dragonflies !!!

Khozzak - White rabbit!! they symbolize good luck very often, and i think its funny given how many near-death experiences he's gotten out of!!!

White rabbits are symbols of love, tenderness, and inner power. In general, rabbits are considered lucky animals, but white rabbits are symbols of good luck and impending opportunity.

this started because his ears make me think of bunnies kfjshkfjsd the joys of asura <3 but !! he gets iced!! and ironically HAS the song White Rabbit on his playlist dkjfhkjdf Khozzak + bunny symbolism is just the gift that keeps on giving !!! he's got rabbit art on his pinterest board for these reasons too lmao kajshdks

Vesnia - BEAR CAT MODE !!!

Bears are large and powerful animals. They represent strength, protection, bravery, and empowerment. Both brown and grizzly bears are loyal mothers, fierce protectors, and strong warriors. Bears symbolize a connectedness with the earth, and a protective, strong energy.

Bears !!! Big fluffy momma who'll kill you for messing with her cubs :D she's very protective And very down to earth!! She's very very "talk things out first," which is... easy convincing since she's a max height charr and most people dont wanna provoke that, but ahgskfhg !!! alkhfalksjhfdsf !!! BEAR !!!

Qlikk - specifically Eastern Dragons!!!

In East Asian mythologies the dragon retains its prestige and is conceived as a beneficent creature. The Chinese dragon, lung, represents yang, the principle of heaven, activity, and maleness in the yinyang of Chinese cosmology.

he's a Celestial now too so like !!! listen !!! LISTEN !!! YOU GET IT !!!

Phoenix - ...do i gotta? like. you Know what i'm about to say.

The phoenix is an immortal bird associated with Greek mythology (with analogs in many cultures such as Egyptian and Persian) that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again. Associated with the sun, a phoenix obtains new life by rising from the ashes of its predecessor.

She has amnesia !! She's rising from her own ashes !! AND IN PATH OF FIRE !! SHE DOES SO. LITERALLY. YOU KNOW !!!! YOU GET IT !!!! and EVERY time she "rises" she just gets better and better at what she does !! she's HERE and she's STAYING and GOOD LUCK TAKING DOWN A PHOENIX !!!!

Bjiattu - OCTOPI !!!

The blue-ringed octopus is a symbol of transformation, resilience and power. It has been around for millions of years, adapting to its environment and thriving despite its small size.

hehe :) she. sharkrat !!! also Bjiattu's a ranger and her forever-pet (he's undead just like her ♥) is Mizzen, a blue-ringed octopus!!! Also all those stories of like, octopi getting out of their tank and throwing ONE bad shrimp from a whole bucket,, matches her level of pettiness <3 ksjfKFJHSDF

IM GONNA... STOP MYSELF THERE I THINK <3 AAAA I DO NEED TO FIGURE OUT MORE OF THESE BUT I LOVE !!! I LVOE !!! THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR ASKING !!!!

[rabbitgardens]

welcoem to my fuck house

Red | 21 | it/its | main blog

making this sideblog to meet people to play games with and justify my ffxiv subscription!

I dont have very much experience with mmos, and my histories with both gw2 and ffxiv are Falling Madly In Love With It Before Ive Even Beaten The Tutorial and Buying All The Expansions and immediately falling off because of some kerfuffle or another game catching my attention. But i wanna get back into them now!

this blog is a big fat work in progress so mind the dust, I’ll make a proper character list with art/pictures and shit Later

(current list under readmore!)

GUILD WARS 2 CHARACTERS

Revylin- it/any sylvari, cycle of dusk,mesmer. Just call it Revyl! My current main im using to relearn the game! Got converted to the nightmare court as a sapling for its higher than usual magical aptitude, had an Awful Time and was rescued by the Wardens before it could become a knight. Now travels around tyria pursuing a wyld hunt he cant remember (itll be fine!! itll come back to him itll be fiiiiiine) working as a dancer/storyteller before getting tangled up in the Plot

Irysel- she/they sylvari elementalist. max level commander from my original 2019 playthrough! idk if i’ll ever play her again but i remember having such a blast with elementalist i’ll probably try her again eventually

Rika Sunstalker- he/they ash legion charr thief. old dnd character made gw character! the campaign he was in stopped so now he only exists here! a gladium, formerly rika sunblaze, who got his warband killed?? Somehow??? and took the stalker name/joins a pirate crew of other disgraced charr to travel and see the world (still working his details out adldjd)

(I havent made these next few characters ingame yet, but plan to once im farther along!)

Irene- he/she sylvari, cycle of noon, guardian. Warden turned adventurer turned revyl's travelling partner (and eventual co-commander and lover!) Very devout dreamer with a strong sense of justice and desire (read: overwhelming uncompromising need) to be the pale tree's most devout, prized, heroic son. Travels around tyria working up the ranks of the vigil, trying very very Vewy hard to fuffil a wyld hunt she cant remember (all he knows is that it Must be tied to revyl. thats why she feels that way whenever revyl looks at her, right?)

-------------

Pyrotechnician Taz- she/mirror asura, college of dynamics, engineer. do not let her get in contact with revyl shenanigans will ensue

FFXIV CHARACTERS

Ciel D’luxe- he/they viera summoner/archer hes my little meow meow so full of problems. hes a drag queen. he has trust issues. hes trying to find love even though he thinks hes the wettest most miserable man in eorzea. his ex is hunting him for sport. the only reason he became a summoner was because he saw a carbuncle for the first time and Lost It. hes a bitch hes a lover hes my little booboo bear

(havent made these characters ingame yet but plan to!)

alta haragin- she/it au'ra pugilist/lancer (or pugilist/gladiator? i know i can technically have all three but shes gotta have two Mains yknow), Rapscallion Criminal turned pit fighter turned adventurer turned ciels girlfriend and co-captain of ciels adventuring party

drakaz verkach-he/him hroth hhhhheavy armor class of some sort. maybe he'll be the gladiator. the beavis to altas butthead. just here for a good time! please pay no attention to my myriad mental health issues/simultaneous identity crises

(this last guy is a joke character but i honestly cant gey him out of my head maybe ill make him a retainer like i wanna do with kaz)

nagayuki ittetsu-any pronouns au'ra(?) spellcaster who wants to ammase enough power to Become A Primal. he is always and forever getting tricked by ascians/beast clans/random fucking guys and gets Almost Murdered several times-

[ascalonianlightbringer]

Last time in the core GW2 story/headcanon liveblog, Tybalt and Gwen decided to try a dungeon pitch in and help Rytlock contain the ghostly upheaval caused by Eir's venture into the Ascalonian catacombs. Tybalt advised Gwen that Rytlock would remember she's Logan's friend, and find it suspicious if she was her usual pleasant self, so Gwen should be a bit prickly.

Gwen embraced the role of Prickly Ascalonian with enthusiasm as they ventured through the catacombs with two more Charr and a grumpy Asura from the Priory. After skirting various dangers, the group had just found Eir.

At this point, Eir bursts out, "Rytlock, what are you doing here?"

Rytlock, reasonably enough, snaps back, "I came to stop you from inciting a full-scale ghost rampage. What are you doing here?"

Eir explains that she's looking for Magdaer, the magic sword of King Adelbern. Rytlock says he destroyed it to create the Foefire. Eir thinks it survived and can be found.

Rytlock shifts his weight. Now even more clearly on edge, he says, "You are following a foolish human legend."

Gwen doesn't know this one, but she lifts her chin defiantly anyway. The walls feel a bit like they might crumble down on them all at any moment, and she keeps an eye out for any stray ghosts—her tormented people, she remembers. Adelbern had been driven mad by the brutality and atrocities of the Charr invasion, but he'd still unilaterally decided the fate of all his people without consulting them in any way. She's not exactly on his side, either.

Royals, she thinks, but here, it's an echo of her usual disdain.

Eir glances between Rytlock and Gwen, and says, "You of all people should know the power of legends. You bear Magdaer's twin, Sohothin. It was Rurik's sword."

To Gwen, Rytlock seems plainly defensive. "What if I do? Adelbern's sword is no more, just like his nation."

"Oh, have you managed to take Ebonhawke yet?" Gwen says sweetly. "I hadn't heard."

Both Eir and Rytlock look at her with some impatience. Eir seems a little amused; Rytlock points Sohothin right at her. Gwen looks back, unimpressed; she doesn't think he'd be stupid enough to kill an Ascalonian hero of Kryta in the catacombs, without any cause but words.

"Maybe I should gut you instead of Logan," he growls.

Gwen just looks at him, her head tilted a little. Tybalt coughs.

"I, uh, don't think that'd be a good idea, tribune. She's an advocate of the crown of Kryta, so it'd be bad for the peace talks and all, and I'd lose my deals with the fruit sellers in Queensdale—"

Rytlock scoffs, but when Eir clears her throat, he lowers Sohothin and turns back to her.

"Then let us go to the top of the stairs and see for ourselves," she says calmly.

Or at least, it seems calmly. Eir has a quiet charisma and assurance that Gwen likes. But after they fight off a bunch of ghosts, Eir moves forward to lead with Gwen and looks down at her.

"You're Logan's friend, aren't you?"

Gwen sighs. "Yes." After a moment, she adds, "He hasn't said anything against you."

Eir lowers her voice. "Perhaps I was unwise to come here."

Gwen is essentially thinking "no shit" but she gives the canon response, "Only time well tell."

Sure enough, at the top of the stairs, they find the broken remains of a sword, complete with ghostly trails. It doesn't look completely irreparable, at least if it were an ordinary sword; Gwen has a good eye for that kind of weaponry (i.e. she took weaponsmithing). Before they can go far, though, a ghostly lieutenant appears to defend Adelbern and the sword.

Gwen nearly takes a step back as the lieutenant orders them to leave and stop disturbing Adelbern. He follows it up with "You leave me no choice. Attack! Protect the king!"

This is a harder fight than most, but Eir's help makes it easier, and the Priory Asura is able to heal himself from a nasty-looking injury.

"Better get that looked at when we're done," says Gwen.

Eir is focused on the sword, and turns excitedly to Rytlock. "The broken sword! It's the twin to your own!"

Rytlock points at a tall ghost coalescing across the chamber. "Worry more about the sword's master. Look there!"

"I sense Sohothin's presence," the new ghost says, solidifying into the figure of an older man—already old, presumably, when he died. His crown proclaims his identity. "Rurik, my son! You've returned!"

Rytlock steps forwards. "Your son is dead," he says flatly. "So is your kingdom. Leave us!"

The Asura pipes up, "There is some debate about the continuity of—"

Even Gwen, who is annoyed that the Charr conveniently overlook Ebonhawke in their pretenses to total victory after spending over 200 years trying to destroy it, is like ... shhh.

The joy in the ghost's face vanishes, and his features twist in rage.

"Foul creature! Your entire race will pay! Even now, my champions prepare to invade the surface. You will fall before the might of Master Ranger Nente, deadly Kasha Blackblood, and the lovers, Ralena and Vassar. We'll destroy you as you destroyed us!"

"We're not destroyed," Gwen says quietly, but Adelbern is too focused on Rytlock to listen, if he's even capable of it.

"You frighten no one with your meaningless threats," Rytlock growls to the king. "We've killed you before; we'll do it again!"

Gwen, despite having no love for kings, glowers at him. Adelbern just bursts into a mad cackle before disappearing.

"Now you've angered them," Eir says.

"They were already angry," says Rytlock, with a brief glance at Gwen. "Now we must find his champions and silence them."

He does explain (for a Rytlock value of "explain") that killing "the Sorcerer King's" champions will bring Adelbern out into the open for good.

"Who was Kasha Blackblood?" asks one of the stranger Charr. "Sounds creepy."

"This whole place is creepy," says the Asura.

Even Gwen can't disagree there.

"Necromancy is disgusting. Kasha Blackblood was one of Adelbern's grotesque practitioners of the art," announces Rytlock.

Gwen rolls her eyes. To her surprise, though, it's Tybalt who breaks in this time.

"Can't say I know much about Kasha," he says, undoubtedly lying, "but that's a bit—um—well, I've got a friend who dabbles in necromancy, more than dabbles, really. A good friend, actually, a sylvari—"

"Sylvari are different," says the other unknown Charr.

Gwen is just wondering if Tybalt's "friend" is another Order member, and is surprised he'd mention them, if so. But he's engaging enough to have friends outside it as well, she supposes.

"You have to stay focused on her, not her minions," Rytlock carries on, "or she'll siphon your life away."

Gwen would be all for it if it didn't mean her life. And Tybalt's. Maybe the Asura's.

He goes on to explain that "the lovers" are Vassar and Ralena Stormbringer, a mesmer and an elementalist who were strong together, and thus should be divided for victory. Gwen actually has heard some stories of them, mostly because she was always interested in tales of great mesmers of the past, but she hasn't heard much. Rytlock concludes with a dismissive description of Master Ranger Nente.

"Nente was a ranger, a specialist in cowardice. He hid behind his pets and slaughtered my ancestors with arrows."

"It's so hard when people defend themselves from your massacres," says Gwen.

"Gwen," mutters Tybalt. She's not sure if he means to pull back or if it's just for show.

Rytlock also explains a little about Magdaer and how it was forged in Orr and Adelbern broke it to create the Foefire. One of the Charr asks what that has to do with the sword Rytlock carries.

"Sohothin is twin to Adelbern's sword," says Rytlock. "His son Rurik wielded it once. It's mine now."

"How did you end up with Sohothin?" asks the Asura.

"That's none of your concern," Rytlock says shortly.

They all examine the remnants of Magdaer before deciding to take the westwards route. They have to fight numerous ghosts on the way there, then arrive to find Master Range Nente on a pillar in a good-sized room. He immediately addresses Rytlock.

"Your desire to destroy still unsatisfied, beast?" he shouts. "Burning Ascalon not enough for you?"

Rytlock doesn't really give an answer to that, but says, "As long as you stalk us, we'll fight you tooth and claw."

You're the ones who've stalked us, thinks Gwen.

"By Melandru's will, I will rend you from this world, Charr!" says Nente.

If only.

But Gwen glances at Tybalt to make sure he's well placed. He is, and though the battle is much harder than any previous ones, they're able to defeat Nente.

"With valor, we have won the day!" cries Eir.

"Not yet," Rytlock tells her. "We need to find the other champions."

Without waiting for Gwen to take the lead again, he heads back to the central chamber, which has passages north and east as well. Gwen follows, with a backwards glance at the ghostly remains of Nente.

Under her breath, she mouths, Go in peace.

They end up taking the east route out of the central chamber, then heading north into what looks like a cathedral. The atmosphere, as usual, is eerie, with candles flickering and green light encasing the upper level of the chamber.

A ghostly woman materializes, as expected.

"Why are you here?" she asks, sounding considerably more sane than the other ghosts. "This is the land of ghosts."

"Stand down, specter. We seek only to protect the living," replies Eir, civilly enough.

Rytlock turns on Eir. "Don't chat with her, Eir! Dispatch her!"

Kasha immediately attacks, calling on ghosts to defend her, casting wells, and summoning minions that regularly throw people back. At one point, Gwen is launched forcefully by one she's fighting with her swords, all the way back into a glowing green circle so cold that she nearly drops her main sword. She has to scramble up and launch herself away.

Once Kasha is defeated, she snarls, "I curse you to the Mists!" as she vanishes.

Even Rytlock seems thoughtful as he looks at the spot where she had been.

"She fought well," he says at last. "Her trials over this world are over."

Gwen looks at him in very genuine surprise. She says nothing, but mentally files away the remark for consideration.

They briefly confer about strategy for taking down two champions at once, since Ralena and Vassar are the last, and Rytlock says they're more powerful together. Gwen, to his surprise, volunteers to distract Vassar; she's the most suited to countering another mesmer. Tybalt immediately says he'll help her, joined by the Priory Asura. The others will keep Ralena as far from Vassar as possible and take her out.

It goes basically according to plan, though even with Gwen's magic pouring through her swords and pushing him back, Vassar is a challenge, using her own tricks against her and some she doesn't even know. But between Tybalt, the Asura, her own power, and perhaps the blessing of Lyssa on her, Gwen manages to keep herself standing and Vassar at bay while Rytlock and the other Charr fight off Ralena.

They're still fighting her when Vassar goes down. Gwen, the only melee fighter of her group, spares a moment to make sure they've got the situation under her control, then gives a slight bow to what remains of Vassar. As she does, a slight glitter catches her eye—a pair of rings, by their size, clearly meant for human hands. She's still got enough of bandit Gwen in her to use clones to conceal her hand scooping the rings up and slipping them into her pocket. They're hot to the touch, but she doesn't care; she's seen the Charr systematically destroying Ascalonian artifacts on the way through, and they're not going to get everything.

She murmurs a benediction for Vassar's spirit, then joins the last of the fight against Ralena, who quickly falls to all of them.

With a trace of smugness, Rytlock says, "With all this death, Adelbern's blood must be boiling by now. Perfect chance to deal with him."

"Does he have blood?" says the Asura.

They brace themselves as they return to the core chamber, where Magdaer is still sparking. Adelbern is there, madder than ever.

"What have you done?" he howls.

"Your champions are gone, ghost!" snaps Rytlock. "Just like your son and your kingdom!"

Lyssa's tears, thinks Gwen. She supposes that's what she gets for thinking slightly better of him for a moment; she hadn't really expected him to taunt a ghost his people had driven to madness about the death of his son. Least of all when he'd looted that son's sword.

"We still hold Ebonhawke," she says stubbornly. King or no king, he deserves to know that.

Adelbern, again, seems not even to hear or notice her.

"I will have my vengeance!" he screams. "Join me in death!"

They don't, of course, though he is the most difficult opponent of them all. After he vanishes, the catacombs fall completely silent, and for a moment, they just look at each other. It's hard to feel jubilant—maybe even for Rytlock.

Eir gestures at the broken sword.

"Magdaer is shattered," she says, "but I know a blacksmith who can mend these pieces."

Rytlock whirls around to face her, and now he seems more angered than he'd ever been by Gwen.

"Did you really think that if you got me a sword you'd earn forgiveness?" he demands.

Forgiveness? Gwen thinks. For what?

"For you?" says Eir, sounding puzzled. "The sword would be for Logan."

Gwen starts.

"What?" says Rytlock. "Why would you risk our lives, my life, for that coward?"

"He isn't a coward!" says Gwen hotly.

"I thought it would heal old wounds," says Eir, though her resigned tone makes it clear that she's realized the truth. "It would remind you—"

Even Gwen is a bit puzzled by this line of thinking. She could see the idea of the sword winning Logan over, though Gwen doubts even so fine a gift would succeed, but as for Rytlock—

"Remind me of what, betrayal?" he snarls. "Pah! You've become a sentimental old woman. We're finished here!"

With that, he stalks away, a little belatedly followed by everyone but Gwen and Tybalt.

"I understand why Logan would hate Rytlock," Gwen says at last. "But why does Rytlock hate Logan?"

Eir turns to look down at her, and sighs.

"Mistakes from a lifetime ago, best forgotten. Rytlock's right. I've gotten too sentimental. Too weak."

Gwen's eyes widen.

"A long time ago, I led us into a disaster," Eir goes on. "He blames me. They all do. The thing is, they might be right."

"I'm sure you did what you thought was right," says Tybalt.

Eir just shakes her head. "Come, we should leave. Ultimately, this mission was a failure."

"It's not a failure," says Gwen, with a glance over at where Adelbern had materialized. "We gave these people some peace and made Ashford safer."

Tybalt gives a decided nod. "She's right."

"Yes, but I was stupid to think a sword could slice through the wall between Logan and Rytlock," says Eir.

After a pause, Gwen says, "Should we follow Rytlock and see where he's going?"

"No," says Eir. "He still hates Logan—and now he hates me. I should have left well enough alone."

------

And that's the Ascalonian Catacombs dungeon headcanon! Quite a bit of it comes from the canon dialogue etc, of course, but I wanted to go over it for story purposes anyway.

[mistfallengw2]

3, 11, and 13 for Aurelia!

OC ask game ✨

3. Are they an outsider? Do they feel like one?

She tries not to think about it much, but it's difficult not to feel like an outsider after going through things she's not even able to comprehend, let alone remember or explain. Heck, with the whole temporary memory loss, she felt like an outsider to herself!

As for actually being one... probably? It's hard to belong when everyone keeps putting her on a pedestal. She doesn't consider herself above others, only feels like a cat stuck on a tree too high to come down from, you know? -

11. Obligation or initiative, why do they do what they do? Is there something/someone specific that motivates them? (bonus: has their motivation changed over the years?)

All she ever wanted to do was to keep those she cares about safe.

Sometimes it's an obligation, sometimes it's on her own initiative, but that's the reason behind everything she did in the Legions and everything she has done and keeps doing as a Commander, Godslayer, Champion, Wayfinder or whatever they'll call her next. Always, from the moment she promised her sire that she'd keep her family safe, because that's all that matters. -

13. Is there anyone they'd like to be closer to than they are?

She has a vague feeling of not being there enough for everyone, but most of all? Tocchix. She wants to be closer to him, but... it's awkward.

For starters, what is he to her exactly? Her son was adopted by his family and is now his brother, so does that make Tocchix her son as well? That doesn't feel right, as she knows he had a mother he loved very much and Aurelia feels wrong to just... try and nudge herself into that role, especially when she wasn't that much of a "mother" to her own cub. And how should she even behave? She struggled with non-charr customs for a long time, and he's an asura raised by his father and his sylvari partner, there's no way she'd be able to fit into whatever idea of appropriate motherhood they'd have!

Still, Adamas had told her how he was the one responsible for pulling him out of his lowest point, so she's grateful to the point of being open to it, and over time she did start feeling mathernally protective towards the young asura, but at the same time he never overstepped boundaries with her, so she doesn't want to overstep either. Burn her, Adamas had to tell both of them to stop referring to each other with titles and formalities, it must be awkward for him too!

He's a kind, outward and solar kid who wants to help others and is good at what he does, she can at least quietly respect that, and he seems to get she what she means because he says her name without awkwardness for a time. And yet, when he goes through some heavy stuff that feels familiar to her in all the painful ways, she is one of the first to notice how much the light in his eyes faded away and he has closed in on himself, and she can't do anything about it. She wants to help him, but she just... doesn't know where to start, she's not good with words. And when finally she tries anyway, he rejects her offer to be an ear that could listen to him, she wasn't even able to say she'd help him go to the bottom of it if he asked. Her son's brother asks the Commander for space, and Aurelia gives it to him. And then too much happened for her to be able to be there.

Years later, she is thankful the light in his eyes came back, that he smiles as he leans against his brother, that he calls her by her name again.

[commanderthalys]

17 and 18!!

Thanks for the ask Anon, sorry this is so late 😅

You didn’t specify any one commander so I did everyone!

THALYS

17. What do they regret the most about their past?

Thalys has a lottt of regrets haha, i think the biggest one is actually becoming commander in the first place. The physical and emotional toll it took on her was too much for someone so young and she’s only recently started trying to unlearn a lot of behaviors that she hardwired into her brain because of it. The Commander consumed her and became her in many unsavory ways. She’s gotten a lot of good things out of it but on more than a few days she finds herself wishing she had never been more than a whispers agent.

18. What memory do they wish they could relive?

The day she first got to meet and ride a raptor! It wasn’t a remarkable memory but it’s one she loves dearly, it was just a good day with her friends, and it led to her absolutely falling in love with raptors and learning everything about them. She’s a dinosaur kid at heart, what can I say!

AMEL

17. What do they regret the most about their past?

Killing his best friend Gavin, who was practically his soulmate, his unspoken dearheart and best friend. He also generally regrets how he used to act when he was younger and still kicks himself for being such an asshole for no reason.

18. What memory do they wish they could relive?

Answered here!

NEIL

17. What do they regret the most about their past?

Neil’s usually not one for regrets, she does however always wish she had gone with Thalys and Amel to check out the disturbances that led into SoTO and the kryptis. Her friends were missing for months and she had no idea what was going on with them, only for her to catch up to them and find Thalys bedridden and with a missing leg while Amel was right by her side.

18. What memory do they wish they could relive?

Answered here!

NANA

17. What do they regret the most about their past?

Not telling Dauntus that she loves him. He was her sunshine and the only hope she ever had, one of the only kind people the entire Rage Warband ever knew. Those two were particularly close due to how early in the fahrar they knew each other, but when Dauntus’s terminal illness began affecting him as he was older, he was there one moment and gone the next. Nana had feelings for him but never confessed, and kept that with her her entire life. Only a select few know about it, Taimi, Almorra, and Aurene among them.

18. What memory do they wish they could relive?

The day the Rage Warband earned their reputation and respect by killing her Sire, who was a member of flame legion. Her entire life Nana had been treated very harshly for her natural lack of any claws and the fact that her father defected to flame legion when she was born. Victory in defeating him was both a sign that she belonged in the legions, and also meant that her warband would be less of a target, they all had disabilities that caused them grief from other charr growing up. And the party that night was legendary, or so Nana says!

QUILL

17. What do they regret the most about their past?

Even though it wasn’t her fault and purely an accident that no one could control, it was when Kralkatorrik killed Aurene the second time and then began branding the world, starting with Quill and then moving on to her closest friends in dragon’s watch. Quill wasn’t completely branded and because of her odd powers after coming back from Balthazar, she was flung into the mists and that was the last she saw of her world. She still blames herself for it and wishes she had been better, faster, whatever she needed to be to prevent that.

18. What memory do they wish they could relive?

Answered here!

[axe-trio-commanders]

Ok yeah I've got to infodump (and im. late because I wanted to draw enkkioh in her new outfit but have been too tired so;;; have old art and more recent screenshots for now)-

I don't really have a main at this point, I really do have 3 (as referenced in the blog title :3c They all did at least wield axes at some point) that sorta rotate in and out depending on who I'm thinking about the most at the time, for whatever reason?

But right now it's Enkkioh and I've talked about her probably the least anyways out of the three (Zori (charr soulbeast survivor's guilt incarnate baby) and Seremnis (smol uwu sylvari necromancer with simultaneous god complex and significant self-worth issues that i may or may not be sending on a multiverse adventure to see new york) being the other two)

Enkkioh is the third commander- Zori was the first, the actual 'Pact Commander', Seremnis was the second because Zori went AWOL during PoF (which is. its own post tbh)- and those two sorta co-commanded before a while, but a little after the Icebrood saga, Seremnis sorta officially got the title.

And immediately gave it to Enkkioh, because heck if she's dealing with that.

So, by EoD, Enkkioh is the official, by-title Commander- though Zori and Seremnis are still working closely with her pretty much up and until a few weeks pre-SotO, where Zori is just kinda... vibing, and Seremnis is off on Multiverse Adventures(tm).

But! As for Enkkioh's whole. Story, and whatnot, she had a relatively normal childhood in Rata Sum, decent parents, found a very lost charr cub who didn't have claws for some reason and decided that they were sisters now, learned everything through two years of Synergetics college with that charr before backlash over the cool new claws Enkkioh designed for her drove that charr out of the city (and then personal story based grievances and a rifleshot through a certain counselor's ear got Enkkioh banned from Rata Sum about a year-ish later).

And then, she joined the Vigil, got another dad, nearly lost him (but didn't- I decided he gets to live, actually. Zori and Seremnis get a grumpy war grandpa by proxy.) Most of her contributions there, beyond General Vigil Things, is she's the one who actually does the story dungeons to get Destiny's Edge back together (which. Man did that suddenly become extremely relevant very soon after she became commander, huh).

The next two expansions mostly consist of her aiding and learning from the pale reavers and sunspears, respectively, so she's sort of off the radar where the main story is concerned- the main two plot points there that lead to Seremnis and Zori actually knowing about her, let alone trusting her with the title (besides various Destiny's Edge members going 'oh, yeah, that one. I like that one.') are... well, this whole situation, and also the Icebrood Saga, where she gets a bit more directly involved by demanding Bangar's head on a pike.

(She also did a... fair bit of proving in EoD itself; both Seremnis and Zori were trying to take a backseat for the whole thing, but they aren't... very good at it- and Enkkioh isn't Aurene's champion, but... she was the one to finish the fight against Ankka while Seremnis was. Incapacitated (planning to write out some scenes about that later), and Zori was too busy taking care of her (read; panicking) to help; she was pretty directly involved in most things after that.) In general, though? Enkkioh is Synergetics smart, will learn from pretty much anyone who lets her (She's a warrior specc'd into first spellbreaker, then bladesworn), got into jewelery because she discovered putting certain magics into stones could make her punch harder- really most of her scientific knowledge goes into, essentially, 'punching harder'. She's not really fond of knowledge for knowledge's sake, and is less likely to give you a ten-page thesis on why you're incorrect than she is to punch you in the jaw (or the shoulder, if you're a friend) and call you an idiot. She also bites.

...And yet, somehow, out of the three, she's still by far the healthiest mentally- she already was when she got the position, and after learning more about... everything, with the other two commanders, it's something she's at least vaguely keeping an eye on in the interest of not being hypocritical- though she's ignoring her own tendancy towards violence. Some people need to be punched. Or bitten. She could use her words, yeah, she knows plenty, but they aren't listening and also this is funnier.

(She will use every opportunity possible to terrorize Phlunt with this information. Yes Phlunt, she is a Snaff prize winner and one of the most accomplished inventors in the Vigil, and yes, she just threw a pen at you and told you to eat her mist-forged socks. Suffer.)

Tell me about your Main!

I don't know if the folks who used to follow me when I first started playing back in like 2017 are still around, but long time real ones will remember Commander Day! I did it for about 2 years(?), and it was a day I invited people to reblog a post n infodump/share pictures of their gw2 main!

I'd like to do that again, so please tell me about your main!

I'll start:

Titania Oberonn! She just turned 6 ingame! :)

My mesmer Commander, Titania is actually the reincarnation of my Prophecies hero from gw1, Tiana! Froggish, blue, bisexual, iconic.

[yourplayersaidwhat]

Future candidate for the "Unconventional Food Choices" tag?

I’m in a group of Guild Wars 2 RPers who use a simplified D&D esque system for combat. We’re doing a small-scale campaign to help another player escort carts of goods from the main town to our guild hall. On the way, we run into a gang of bandits, trying to extort money from our group.

Our group consists of a Human Firebrand (Actual class-Guardian) who works with potions in her spare time, a Human Deadeye (a type of thief) who is starting his own workshop (the DM’s character), a Charr (think giant bipedal cats) Deadeye whom we don’t know too too much about, a Charr Berserker Scrapper (Basically an Engineer) who seems incredibly dopey from time to time and carries a giant, aura-ridden hammer (which he calls a Happer thanks to a typo his RPer made), a Human Berserker Guardian who claims to be a merchant, but is hiding a dark past, and my own character, an Asura (think incredibly short, technologically advanced goblins) Glass Cannon Mesmer (a type of Wizard who uses illusions) with a near-insatiable appetite due to a chronic illness. This trait comes into play during this story. Shortly before the encounter, the trait that signals a flare-up of my character’s illness activates, giving me a -1 debuff to all of her rolls that require modifiers.

DM: Roll for initiation. The two with the highest rolls will receive further instructions from me.

*everyone rolls*

Me: *rolls a 16*

Human Firebrand: *rolls a Nat 20*

Charr Berserker Scrapper: *rolls a 7*

Human Berserker Guardian: *rolls a 2*

Human Deadeye: *rolls a 15*

Charr Deadeye: *Rolls a 15*

DM: Alright, <Mesmer> and <Firebrand>, Roll for intimidation check. (Note: Intimidation uses your Harm stat in this system)

Firebrand: *Rolls a 3, adds 3 Harm modifier for a total of 6*

Me: *rolls a Nat 20, adds 4 Harm modifier and subtracts 1 illness-induced weakness (per trait) modifier for a total of 23*

Charr Berserker Scrapper (OOC): *proceeds to lose his shit, laughing his ass off* THE UNRIGGED INTIMIDATION 20!

Me (OOC): *chuckling like a maniac, as I had flavor text planned for this for a MONTH*

Human Berserker Guardian (OOC): wow

Me: *approaches the group, pauses to think about what smart-ass remark she’s going to say to begin, as she intends to intimidate through superior intellect. Proceeds to be interrupted by her stomach growling-MUCH louder than one would expect from a creature that’s about crotch-height on most full-grown adults!*

*entire group loses their shit OOCly*

Charr Berserker Scrapper: *chuckles loudly* <Mesmer>, WHAT THE HELL.

Human Berserker Guardian: *shocked and terrified by the noise* Oh….oh….oh my….

Charr Berserker Scrapper: *pats my character on the shoulder* That was Great. Pipsqueak.

Human Berserker Guardian: Yeah…yeah…yeah, <mesmer>, that was…cool.

Human Deadeye: *stands there dumbfounded* Ooooooookay……

Human Berserker Guardian: I should remember to feed you more, <Mesmer>!

DM: So her stomach just….roars like a T-Rex.

Me (OOC): YES! *still laughing like an idiot*

*The entire group loses their shit OOCly again*

DM: The bandits assume that they can just push <mesmer> over, but the sound coming from her startled the group to the point where they turned white in the face. Some of them, including their leader, proceeded to piss themselves.

Bandit leader: Er..you know what…we…we have to be some where. Excuse us. *Proceeds to flee, the rest of the bandits in tow*

Human Deadeye: Heh…well, that was a thing…Nice work, <Mesmer>!

Charr Deadeye: *while watching the Bandits run off* The hell happened? Those cubs just ran off.

Human Berserker Guardian: WOOOH! GOOD JOB <Mesmer>!

Me: *An odd mix of pride and embarrassment* What? That wasn’t me.

Human Deadeye: Ask <Mesmer>. She made them wet their pants.

Me: *Growing more and more embarassed, was unable to react properly to being called short by the Charr Berserker Scrapper, despite abhoring being called short due to unknown reasons* I told you I was testing out Scuffles… (Scuffles is a Golem she custom-built to help her get around more when her legs give out during an illness flare-up.)

One of the bandits: *from a distance away* Aw….they know that we’re scared!

Human Berserker Guardian: “Oh, really?” *smirks*

Human Deadeye: Welp…let’s get going then.

Charr Deadeye: So you’re saying our resident Asura made them run like chickens?

Human Deadeye: Yep.

Charr Deadeye: That’s pretty fuckin’ funny. Alright. On the road again.

Me: *sighs in relief when the praise/prying seemed to stop once everyone continued on.*

Charr Berserker Scrapper: So, <Mesmer>. Do you need some food?

Me: *Face completely red* Please.

Human Berserker Guardian: I was going to ask the same thing.

*The Charr Berserker Scrapper proceeds to give my character a piece of bread, which she hungrily devours. Sadly, it didn’t last long, as she passed out from hunger not a half hour later.*

[kerra-and-company]

Investigative Record 1

I noticed that there aren’t any transcripts of the logs in Scarlet’s Playhouse up on the wiki yet, and I had to go back and grab them for the achievement anyways, so...ye, there are transcripts of the two voice logs in that instance below the cut! :) I’ll see if I can figure out how to add them to the wiki, too, but at the very least they’re going here.

Please enjoy!

Log 1

(Scarlet is the only one speaking in this log.)

Day…What day is it? Argh, never mind that.

All of the supplies are in hand. Preparations are under way.

It took a little…convincing to get the dredge and the Flame Legion on good terms.

The dredge are stubborn. They want to feel valued. They want to feel needed. Vova was…picky with her demands.

Working with the charr made her nervous. The Flame Legion is known for holding a heavy hand over its people.

Tiny pests wiggling beneath sharp claws, waiting for them to drop…

Pop!

I don’t blame the moles, but I’m glad I didn’t have to take more extreme measures to get them in line.

After all, we’ve much to get done.

Note on tone: Scarlet sounds a little tired, and definitely much more serious than the tone she takes on during most of the battles with the Commander so far.

Log 2

(This is a conversation between Scarlet and Mai Trin, who for the purposes of the transcript will be referred to as S and M. And yes, I did just realize what that sounds like.)

S: Trinny, have a seat!

M: I take it your “talk” with Queen Jennah didn’t go as planned…

S: I’ve got a special assignment for you. The Captain’s Council in Lion’s Arch. I want you on it.

M: Seems reasonable—I’ll submit my bid now.

S: You know I love a sprinkle of spice, but I’m not joking. I want you on that council. We need an in.

M: And how do I manage that…?

S: It’s just like gardening. We need to remove our winter bulbs to make room for the roses of spring!

M: You want me to off a council member?

S: At your discretion, dear. Inspire one of the louts to take a vacation! I hear Maguuma is delightful this time of year.

M: I stopped a fight by shoving someone’s head into a keg. I don’t think I’m cut out for politics.

S: You’re adaptable, darling*. It’s just like steering a ship, but more elegant. All we need is one voice in the room. A strong voice to be heard, and yours can move a fleet.

M: Yeah?

S: What do you say, Captain Mai Trin of the Aetherblades? Up for the job?

M: Aye-aye!

* “Darling” isn’t part of the speech bubble that comes up in-game, but Scarlet definitely says it in the audio.

[queer-as-used-by-tolkien]

"I survived an abusive relationship" - Soulkeeper

Content warning for abusive relationships.

~oOoOo~

Years ago I observed that Almorra Soulkeeper had the name Soulkeeper before her warband was Branded. Clearly the name "Soulkeeper" is a reference to the event wherein she was not corrupted. Except that she had the name before that.

I've always wondered why, but it wasn't important. She could have had some other reason for naming herself Soulkeeper before that, or maybe it was just a dev slip-up.

BUT.

BUT I say I have figured out the real answer.

Bangar, proven and confirmed and hard cemented by his own actions, is an 'abusive boyfriend'. I mean, he killed his """fire and blood""", so there's that universally recognizable hallmark of an abusive boyfriend, but I'm not just talking about murder.

I have studied the types of "dangerous men to avoid" and the Dark Triad types of psychological disorders top that list: the narcissist, the psychopath/sociopath, and the antisocial personality disorder. All real, diagnosable disorders that I use for character development in my writing. Full disclosure: the boundaries between these three do shift every few years. At heart, though, it's still the same basic concept, and it's generally enough to label a person a "Dark Triad type" and be done.

But Bangar, in my observation, classifies as a Dark Triad type (Crecia specifies sociopath, but that distinction isn't super important). Certainly not a clinically diagnosed Dark Triad type, since he's a fictional character, but he fits the criteria for one.

Dark Triad types have a trick called 'trauma bonding', where they blend good and bad experiences; you have pain and pleasure at the same time, which dreadfully confuses your psyche. You're not sure what to believe; this creates a psychological illusion that you can't construct a reasonable internal narrative for why he does the things he does. This can also be seen as an intense form of apparent hyprocrisy.

With Bangar, this is most evident in the Darkrime Delves VotP and One Charr, One Dragon, One Champion, if you want to look at his own actions and words. (I won't get into that in this post.)

However, I will note that in the same conversation as some of these actions on display, is a direct accusation from Crecia during the Confer With Bangar achievements:

Crecia: What happened to you, Bangar? Were you always like this? Was I just blind to it? Bangar: "Like" what? "Blind to" what? Crecia: The hate. The sociopathy. Flames, you murdered Almorra! Bangar: She wanted to stop me. Crecia: She told you the truth! Time was, you expected that. From me at least.

Like I said, changing your narrative. Moving the goalposts. Disorienting the people who know you until they don't know what to believe anymore.

In the midst of this confusion, a trauma bonded victim chooses the "good" path and just suppress, ignores and forgets all the bad things. It's very destructive, abusive and hard to get out of. The Dark Triad types will cut you off or alienate you from your support network, making escape even harder. And if you do get out? Other Dark Triad types can tell that you've been in an abusive relationship. You're vulnerable to their tactics. They'll come hunting you like vultures to death. It's a fact that most people in abusive relationships get into one after another after another, no matter how many times they tell themselves they won't.

It's also a fact that, if you spend enough time around a Dark Triad type, their unpredictable behaviors and the trauma bond will cause you to start violating your own principles. Eventually, in extreme cases, you'll even adopt his mannerisms and act a lot like a Dark Triad type yourself, trauma bonding other people.

But Almorra Soulkeeper escaped this destructive cycle. She broke away from Bangar at some point after Ajax was born, freed herself from his grasp.

I think this is why she was so desperate to stop Bangar in Darkrime Delves; I've always thought she could have just gone along with it until the Commander showed up, but she knew that was far, far too dangerous, especially given her history and the likelihood of falling back into his traps.

And for that reason she was in extremely dangerous territory at the moment she first encountered Bangar in the Darkrime Delves:

Almorra: Bangar! Are there any more of you? The Vigil needs our - Bangar: Almorra...! What are you doing here? Almorra: Svanir kidnapped me and Jhavi. Slaughtered the others. They've surrendered to Jormag's whispers. Bangar: The Svanir are norn savages. Troglodytes. Nothing more. Almorra: There's no time for this. They still have Jhavi. Help me save the Vigil! Bangar: Yeah. [they get moving] Almorra: So many lives lost... all because of Jormag's seduction. Ryland: Imperator Ruinbringer has a plan to subdue Jormag. We'll bring the dragon to heel. Almorra, shocked: What did you say? Bangar: You heard him. I'm gonna become Jormag's champion. Bend it to my will. Almorra: That's not possible. Bangar: "There's no time for this." You want to save your precious Vigil or not? Almorra, reluctantly: Exit's up there...

He was already re-capturing her. Turning her own words back on her, blaming her for the situation, putting the pressure on her to get things done. Almorra might even have known it was happening - it's a possibility that she kept arguing with him on purpose to keep herself distanced from him, eventually escalating into a full-blown fight. She was panicking and trying not to fall into the same trap, especially since she knew that if she did, there was every likelihood she'd eventually be corrupted by Jormag as Bangar was bound to be.

But: all this to say, somewhere in Almorra's backstory, she broke out of Bangar's trap. She survived an abusive relationship. She was proud of that and took the name Soulkeeper to remind herself what she had avoided.

She confronted Bangar in Bound by Blood - that took guts, and she did it in defense of her people, the Vigil. She heavily avoided him and everything to do with him the rest of the time. She knew she was vulnerable. She didn't want to compromise her own freedom.

She argued, shouted, and outright engaged in combat with Bangar to keep from falling into his traps. She died rather than succumb to it again. Because we know that, above all else, Almorra Soulkeeper values freedom.

[axe-trio-commanders]

OC Interview: Zori Sunblade

Draw (or use an old drawing, don’t worry!) or take a screen of your character in an interview setting and make them answer the following questions!

INTRODUCTION

Can you introduce yourself?

"That, uh... depends- this isn’t going on public record, right? I mean- not immediately?” [redacted] “Okay, yeah, after my death is... well- no, maybe Seremnis’ death. Or whenever she wants- okay, give it to her after my death and she’ll- yeah. Okay.” Shuffling and creaking of leather. “Zori Sunblade, member of the Sun warband, magister of the priory, pact commander by title, uh... oh- leader of Dragon’s Watch. And uh. Charr. Ranger. Uhm... hi?”

What is your gender identity, orientation and relationship status?

“...Uh... I think...” mumbled “...burn me I hope I remember the meaning of these right, been a while-” regular voice “Uh- she/her... lady friends, so far, and- actually been married for a while.” [She shows of a ring around her left-hand ring finger. Its gem gives off a faint glow.] “Still sort-of figuring out what that means, but I think I’ve got most of it down.”

Where and when were you born?

"...I, uh... hm. Lend me some paper and quill?” [Paper and quill is lent.] “...So it’s... 34, and that was... 25, when I was...” [She nods and taps the pen affirmatively on the paper.] “1306 AE, at, uh... all I remember or have been told is growing up in a fahrar around Rin.”

What is your weapon of choice and fighting style?

“That depends. I can snipe pretty good with a longbow, but torch and axe are my go-to for close range... sometimes a dagger if I need to be a bit less conspicuous.”

Lastly, are you happy?

“...Well, that uh. That escalated quickly, huh?” laugh “Ah... sometimes. Sometimes... it’s- I guess I don’t clearly remember now if it’s harder than it used to be, but... I’m working on it.”

FAMILY AND FRIENDS

What’s your family like? What is your relationship with them?

“Dragon’s Watch is my family. As is my warband, Aurene... Canach’s in there somewhere, too. It’s... I dunno. Some of them... still look up to me, I guess, after everything- some of them know me to well, some of them... I don’t know. Warband’s... complicated, right now, and I’ll probably always worry about Aurene... the people that know the most want to help, I know they do, it’s just... it’s hard to believe things will get better sometimes.” laugh “Probably not the best thing to hear from the charr you’ve put in charge of saving Tyria for the past nine years, huh?”

Have you ever ran away from home?

“...I... I don’t know. Maybe that’s what I’m doing now- burn me, I... really don’t think I can go back to the legions now, regardless of if things are changing or not. Don’t really think there’s been another... place I’ve ever called home.”

Would you consider marriage or having children?

“I mean- kinda too late to have second thoughts on marriage, huh? Ah, not that I would. I don’t think I’d want to live without her at this point, being honest...” Tapping of claws “...Cubs, though... I don’t know. Not now, definitely. If I’m going to be taking care of cubs, It’s not going to be at a time where I can’t do it myself. Be there for them. Burn me, I’ve had far too many examples of what happens when you don’t.” Pause “...Have sometimes fantasized about a quiet house somewhere in the woods, though. Whenever the disaster’s over.”

Do you secretly hate one of your friends?

“...Why would you call them your friends if...? No, if that was even a question. I’ve made it very clear who I hate, and... burn me, I guess... yeah, the only one who isn’t dead is Phlunt. And... Bengar, probably. Not sure if he’s, uh. Stable, right now? Not- I mean I don’t go out and murder whoever annoys me, that’s not- it’s a short list. It’s a very short list. I’m not going to murder someone over, like... burnt toast or something. That sort of thing is reserved for endangering my family.”

Which friend knows everything about you?

“...I- mm... I... some of them know more than others. Definitely, people in my family know more than people outside of it- ...burn me, I... I think, alltogether, if everyone I knew pooled knowledge they’d have everything, but... not any one. It’s... it’s habit, I guess.”

ASKED BY FANS

“Please tell me you’ve filtered these beforehand.”

Are you literate? Have you been to school?

"Okay, good start, uh... I mean, I’ve been through the fahrar, obviously, and I’m also a priory magister- I learned a lot more about the... being literate there, but at this point in my life I’m writing-fluent in New Krytan, old charr pathfinding symbols, ancient orrian... in the process of learning a couple others, too. Can’t hurt.”

The eeriest prediction you made that later came true?

Snort “I’m not allowed to die. I mean- burn me, what else am I supposed to take away from the fact that I died- actually went-to-the-mists died, and got told by the messenger of a human god that I, of all people, could go back? Had to, in fact? ...Burn me, I should probably be happy about that, but. Implication’s aren’t great there.”

What is something you were embarrassingly late to realize?

“...That I’m... that there are people who’d miss me. Not- not miss the commander, but... I expected people would- mourn, write songs or whatever once I actually kicked the bucket, but it’s all a bit... hollow, when most of them don’t even know my name- and to some degree, that’s purposeful. They can- they can mourn the role I filled, the stuff I did, that’s fine, that’s not going to destroy them, not going to hurt for more than a... week, maybe. And everyone else- even the closest people- burn me I’m supposed to be dead. Not only was I, but there’s no- there’s no logical reason I’ve survived all this. Gods and Elder dragons have wanted me dead- entire factions, powerful people- I’m not allowed to die by- by fate, or whatever, but nothing else in Tyria wants me here, so I- you expect people to expect it, at least. To be prepared for it. I want them to be, for their own sake, but...” long sigh “...I... tried to get my warband to leave. Now that they knew... where I’ve been. What I’ve been doing, and... it really shouldn’t have been such a shock that they were worried about me. That... that they, and... everyone who knows how bad it’s gotten wants me to get... better. That I even have that option.”

Do you have mental health or physical issues?

quiet “...I don’t think any of us came out of this unscathed.”

What is your current main goal?

“...I think... I think I will just- just focus on getting better, now. I- burn me, it’s going to give me anxiety like nothing else to leave this to anyone, but I’ve- ...guess this is the first I’ll say it outside of closed circles, but I... I think I’m giving up the title of commander. I don’t think- that’s not going to mean I’m not around, I’m... probably not even leaving Dragon’s Watch, but... it’s time to hang the regalia up, at least. Leave the final say to someone else.” Laugh “Definitely not gonna miss the politics. May I never have to see Phlunt’s face again.”

CHOICES

Drink or food?

“...Oh, the hard questions are over now? Er- sort of? ...I mean, you need both to... live, so... Hm. I mean- I’ve had some really good food, Dragon’s Watch has one of the best chefs, but- if you’ve ever had an entire jug of water past the height of the moon, you know exactly my dilemma here.

Cats or dogs?

“This is what we call a ‘false dichotomy’. Both. Duh.”

Early bird or night owl?

“...I, uh. I’m not sure I’ve had a steady sleep schedule, for... five? Years? I guess if you do want to wake me up without either food or news of immediate disaster that needs fixing, I might consider physical harm, so... whichever one that is.”

Optimist or pessimist?

“That depends. On the subject of how good today’s food will be? Optimist. On Phlunt ever caring for anything other than his own pride and wellbeing? Pessimist.”

Sassy or sarcastic?

“...There’s a difference? Everyone I’ve met has both or neither.”

HAVE YOU EVER-

-been caught sneaking out?

“Nope. I was raised Ash, and I was good at it.”

-broke a bone?

“...I... I don’t think I have, actually. Probably got just about every other possible injury, but... not that yet.”

-received flowers?

“...I, uh. Eheh... The, uhm. The first time my, uh- now-wife sent me flowers, I... didn’t know what they were for? And sort of. Ate them.” pause “...They were... definitely not meant to be eaten. They were anonymous- she told me about it later- so I thought someone was trying to poison me until a close friend explained what getting flowers meant.” pause “...Burn me, I have no idea how long she was trying to flirt with me until I managed to catch on.”

-ghosted someone?

“...Have I mentioned the time I burned to death?”

-pretended to laugh at a joke you didn’t get?

“...Wait, that’s- that’s a thing? I could have been telling terrible, incomprehensible jokes this whole time and I have no way to even know?! I- ...no, I haven’t, I guess. I just sort of... sit there confused...”

“...That’s the last one? Really? Sort of an awkward way to end it. Well, uh... remember the release protocol we agreed upon. Whole buncha people are gonna be upset if you don’t- most of which know how to hide bodies. Not... not sure why I know so many of that type of people, to be honest with you.”

[ascalonianpicnic]

Hey! Y’all want a salty essay about the bullshit treatment Caithe gets from the fandom at large that compares Rytlock and Caithe’s characters? Cause I wrote one!

Warning: this essay is incredibly bitter and salty, and that bitterness and salt is directed at people who hate Caithe. I swear in it. I’m mean to Rytlock in it. I heavily imply people who hate Caithe are sexist in it. This was written in the middle of the champions releases, but doesn’t focus on s5 or past pof in general.

A morally grey assassin, jaded from a traumatic past who thinks they have to do everything themself to ensure it's done right. They had to kill someone close to them for the greater good, were deeply hurt by a former partner, no longer work with their old crew due to a tragedy they could not prevent and blame themself for. The two people they care about are their brother whom they love and understand despite his quirks and oddities, and their new young mentee who they have mixed feelings about and who they don't want to admit they care for for fear of losing them. They have a blood soaked past and make mistakes, but they're learning and growing thanks to their young mentee and the hard work they're putting in at reflecting on their past actions and accepting they don't have to bear the weight of the world alone.

Y'all would like Caithe if she was a man. She's built on several tropes so commonly seen in male protagonists and mentor figures. Mistakes she's made that people claim are unforgivable are made by other, less apologetic, male characters who are forgiven and still held in high regard. And I know these archetypes are popular among the guild wars 2 fandom, considering the high crossover with dragon age fans, and how many dragon age fans love Zevran the assassin who regularly hides his true feelings and bears so much guilt, and Duncan the former thief who sees little crime in what he views as rightful murders and views death as an acceptable cost to protect some secrets for the safety of the world. The guild wars 2 fandom in general would love Caithe so much more if she wasn't a woman. 

But because she's a woman, killing Wynne, killing a few courtiers during personal story, keeping the secret of the sylvari to protect her people from a massacre at the hands of the other races, and taking the egg to ensure it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands are all seen as unforgivable sins. She's learning and growing every step of the way. She's taken the time to look back on what she's done. She's apologized for not trusting and betraying the commander (who she has a complicated relationship with regardless of race, that person stole her wyld hunt because she was somehow not good enough to kill a dragon alone), she's learned she can rely on others to have her back and doesn't have to do everything alone, she's realized bloodshed isn't always the answer. She's come a long way, learned to let herself trust again, and is working so hard to grow. Yet loads of y'all still hate her for her past mistakes, and some of y'all think it's okay to wish death on her fucking openly with no warning. 

And yet, so many people who hate Caithe and wish death on her, citing her actions during Living World Season 2 and Heart of Thorns as the reason why, will in the same breath mention that Rytlock is one of their favorite characters in the game. As I said, y'all would like Caithe if she was a man. 

Rytlock has made the exact same mistakes as Caithe during the story. Alright maybe not exactly the same, but his mistakes parallel hers very cleanly. He isn't an assassin, but he is a born and raised soldier who has killed countless people in his rise to the rank of Tribune. He didn't steal an egg, but he did jump into the mists and free a clearly powerful and dangerous figure for the sake of getting his sword back. He didn't keep the secret of the sylvari, but he did, in fact, keep the secret of Balthazar. And he had his own mentee who he had a fraught relationship with. Let's take this one by one. 

If you play through the blood legion story on a charr, you probably remember overthrowing the legionnaire of your warband and taking over. In this segment, Rytlock not only encourages you to challenge your Legionnaire, he forces Urvan Steelbane to fight you. Then, at the end of the fight, he gives you the option to kill your superior. Rising through the ranks in charr society is a mixture of proving yourself a reliable soldier and proving yourself superior to your superiors through combat so you can take their place. As a tribune, Rytlock has risen high through the legion, spilling lots of blood and putting those around him at risk. It is noted that prior to his promotion to tribune, Rytlock got in serious trouble more than once for risking missions and endangering his own warband for the sake of his own fame and glory. While not an assassin, much like Caithe he has a very bloody history and a habit of trying to do everything himself  

One of the biggest events held against Caithe is when she steals Aurene's egg from the dying Master of Peace as he tries to give it to the commander. While especially true for the sylvari commander, Caithe has a lot of her own reasons for not trusting this incredibly important egg in the hands of the commander. At the same time, her calling as one of Aurene's guardians, her wyld hunt to protect this egg, and the poundings at her mind of mordremoth are all overwhelming her and leaving her confused. Feeling she has to do everything herself, as she often struggles with, Caithe takes the egg to protect it from falling in the wrong hands. She later admits this was the wrong move that put people around her in grave danger and risked the world and apologizes for it. The way Caithe acts about Aurene's egg is pretty similar to how Rytlock acts towards the sword Sohothin. The first time he sees it, he jeopardizes the mission he and Crecia are on to steal it, putting her in extreme danger and blaming her when she has to act to protect herself. Later on, when he loses the sword through a mists portal during a ritual to try and cleanse the foefire ghosts from Ascalon, he abandons the ritual, ensuring it fails, so he can pursue his sword, leaving the commander and the iron legion imperator to face the danger of Barridin's ghost army alone, much like how Caithe left the commander to face the Shadow of the Dragon while she fled with Aurene's egg. While in the mists, seeking his lost sword, Rytlock frees a very clearly powerful and dangerous figure (who we'll come back to) in order to reclaim Sohothin. Like how Caithe put the world at risk by trying to protect the egg alone, Rytlock puts the world at risk trying to reclaim his sword. 

Let's take a brief moment to talk about Caithe and Rytlock's mentees, before we get on to the biggest similarity the two share. Caithe's mentee, if she has one as it depends on the player, is the sylvari commander. The sylvari commander is a decently young sylvari, who only a few years earlier emerged with a parallel wyld hunt to Caithe herself. Caithe is a loner in general following the pains of Wynne's death, Faolain's abuse, and the breaking of Destiny's Edge. Now she's handed a youth who was created to help her with her Hunt that she was always told she had to do alone, basically saying she is no longer trusted to perform her hunt alone and now she has to train her replacement. She does seem to care for the commander, but the relationship there is always going to start off complicated, and it leads to her betraying the commander, leaving them to fight the Shadow of the Dragon, and taking the egg she doesn't trust them to handle. Later on, once she realizes her mistakes, she reaches out to the commander to apologize, and repeatedly puts her trust very clearly in them, acknowledging that she does need them and she did in the past. How that relationship ends is of course up to the player, but she makes an attempt at reconciliation after the fallout. Rytlock's mentee of note here is Rox. He takes her own as a promising young woman who he thinks would fit well in his warband and takes a hand in helping her train and find her place again in the legions. In order to join the Stone warband, Rox is given the incredibly difficult and definitely not soloable task of killing Scarlet Briar. Rox, when it comes down to it, chooses to put Braham's life and safety over dealing the killing blow to Scarlet herself, trusting the commander, whoever they are, and Kasmeer to get the job done while she stays back with Braham and Marjory. Following the victory over Scarlet, Rox is too afraid to face Rytlock. She didn't kill Scarlet herself, meaning she failed, and she's afraid Rytlock will kill her for it. This is itself a sign of a deeply unhealthy relationship between Rytlock and Rox. On top of that, Rytlock has as of yet never tried to reach out to Rox, to check up on her or apologize or do anything to repair the relationship between the two of them. (A note from replaying s2, Rox does join for the barradin keep mission with Rytlock there, but Rytlock doesn't really check up on her, and he sure as hell doesn't offer her the more than earned position on his warband despite everything.)

The last point is the one I believe I've seen held against Caithe the most. During Living World Season 2, Caithe keeps secret from the commander and from her own brother Trahearne that the Sylvari are purified minions of Mordremoth, leading to Trahearne's attack against the dragon ending in a massacre. Caithe, when she was incredibly young and impressionable, learned the truth from Wynne before having to kill her to keep Faolain from learning the truth as well. She has, for years now, been the only one to know this secret, and she believes that if it were to get out, the world would turn against the still young and fairly defenseless sylvari and slaughter them. As she sees it, she has to bear the burden of this secret alone, as she has to do everything alone. While dealing with her duties tied to Aurene's egg and struggling with the growing voice of Mordremoth as well, she may not even know of Trahearne's plans to fly an army into the jungle. She has every reason to keep this secret still, it's for the good of her own people. Yes it is a mistake, but she didn't know this at the time. She believes, as she keeps this secret, that it is the only way to prevent the sylvari from dying off as they're just coming into the world. She regrets the loss of life, but she can't go back and change it now. 

Now Rytlock also keeps a very important secret, from the commander and everyone else. He refuses to share details of what he saw and did in the mists during his hunt for Sohothin. While in the mists, Rytlock meets an old man in chains. The man, recognizing Sohothin in Rytlock's hands, unlit, says he can reignite the sword if Rytlock frees him. Rytlock accepts the deal and frees the man, returning Sohothin to its original glory and gaining access to a portal out of the mists that the old man makes. Now, Rytlock grew up while the war between humanity and the charr was still growing strong. He spent a lot of his early years in Ascalon, exploring the ruins, likely fighting humans trying to reclaim their land, and definitely fighting the ghosts of humans. That alone should have been enough for him to recognize the human god his enemies worshipped while waging war against him and his people. Beyond that, after Rytlock came into possession of Sohothin, he researched the sword's history. The sword, originally crafted and wielded by Balthazar, is one Rytlock is familiar with. It stands to reason Balthazar himself is at the very least a familiar figure to Rytlock. So when Rytlock encounters a large, powerful figure in the mists who recognizes Sohothin in a state very few have ever seen it in, and has the power to relight the flames that the god Balthazar had originally created, Rytlock has to know who he is talking to. He knows who he freed in exchange for Sohothin's flames. He may say otherwise, but there is no way he doesn't know who he freed in the mists. Even if we give him the benefit of the doubt and say he didn't know who exactly he freed, he still should have told the commander about the man with very powerful fire magic and the ability to make portals who he followed out of the mists. Rytlock caused the tragedy that is Path of Fire and almost caused the end of the world, because he decided to keep the fact that he freed Balthazar a secret from everyone until it was far too late and Elona was already burning. Caithe's secret may have resulted in the failure of the Maguuma campaign and the loss of lives of many soldiers, but Rytlock's secret resulted in the near destruction of an entire civilization and the deaths of countless innocents. 

Yet Caithe is still hated deeply for keeping a secret that she thought was for the good of the world, while Rytlock is quickly forgiven for keeping a secret to protect his pride. Rytlock has made all the same mistakes Caithe has and has arguably handled all of them worse, yet he is still a fandom favorite while she is hated by the community. It's pretty clear that Caithe isn't hated for her actions and mistakes. That's just an excuse. 

You would like her if she was a man. 

[commander-gloryforge]

🕰️🗺️ for Junko and 💍 for Rhea? (@speculist-rinthi)

HOLYHAUNT TIME !!! tysm !!! lesbian talk !!! lets goO!!!!

🕰️ Has there been an event that happened in your OCs past that affects their future or one that they think about still? Is this a bad event or a good one? What are a few of their childhood memories they can recall?

Junkos past relatively chill (unless i suddenly come up with a reason for it to not be chill, revenant related problems perhaps) but I guess the greatest shift in their life was when they met Rhea! Not only did they suddenly meet someone who could actually hear the echoes they had careried around with themselves their whole life, but Rhea also fueled their passion for music even more. That very first moment of meeting eachother, the first glimpse they got of her, thats probably a moment so important to Junko, something that they think about frequently, if they want to admit it or not.

For childhood memories, I think some key moments are things like getting their first bass, seeing a band they love, little things like that. One of their older brothers is with the pact and was there for the Zhaitan battle, so seeing him come back from that and celebrating the dragons death must have been pretty big! Youd probably expect the whole revenant echo stuff to be a big moment too but to be quite honest, Junko doesnt remember when it even started.

🗺️ Does your OC like going on adventures? Have they ever discovered something really interesting and significant or are they just too busy getting lost? Where is their favourite place they’ve been? Least favourite?

Junko always wanted to go out and explore the world! After all thats why theyre on world tour right now :D While the original plan for that tour was to see the world and relax a bit, and maybe sightseeing, things got out of hand and they ended up being a local hero helping the people they meet with the dangers the dragons and other terrors left behind. SO it's less "checking out these nice places <3" and more "yooo while i was hunting down the nightmare court we found this really sick cave! couldn't stay too long tho cause i got poisoned on the way in and Rhea was also on the verge of bleeding out, but we'll check it again some day :)"

One of Junkos favourite places must've been the black citadel and Charr areas in geneal as well as cantha. The citadel of its very cool badass metal architecture, and Cantha because- We'll they cant hekp but feel at home there. Like something flipped in their head when they got there. Meanwhile, their current least favourite place is Kryta, maybe just because theyre very sick of it :')

💍 Does your OC have a specific item that is priceless to them but may (or may not) be completely worthless to someone else? Is there a story behind this item or is it just because they like it so much?

Rhea likes to carry around some nice sharp looking things she finds! She likes little shiny pointy stuff :) also, she is a medium and comes across some haunted objects every now and then and decides to keep them for a bit to bring them to a place where the spirits can find happiness. a lot of the time, these objects are just little mundane things, junk items. most people don't even know that they carry a spirit in them, so when people see her carry around a vase for days they wouldnt know that theres a lost spirit sitting in there waiting to be carried to their favourite place or familys house.

and of course, this is Rhea we are talking about, and she definetly has some kind of gift from Junko that she treasures so deeply. Maybe its a piece of jewelry, some kind of ring or chain or something, but no matter what it is, it means the world to her and she'd just explode if she were to lose it- for rather obvious reasons <3

[ascalonianlightbringer]

Last time, Gwen arrived in the Black Citadel with Tybalt, and they managed to make their way through without casualties to anything except the composure and ego of an annoying former acquaintance of Tybalt's.

So they head out of the superstructure of the Citadel and into the village of Smokestead. It's still got the Charr aesthetic, but Gwen can see more sunshine, and to her astonishment, another human not far away—a merchant who looks at her with clear surprise before smiling. Tybalt says he has to talk to someone briefly and starts chatting with another Charr, and Gwen heads over to the merchant.

"I'm Jaspir Rykes," the merchant says. "It's great to see someone without fur."

"I'm Gwen," says Gwen.

The merchant gives a low whistle.

"Don't repeat that one too loudly around here. These Charr and their attitudes are something else. Only reason I put up with 'em is because they're so eager to buy my goods."

Gwen smiles back. In a quiet voice, she says, "I can imagine. Well, there are worse things than taking gold from Charr."

"Plenty," Jaspir says emphatically. "I come from Lion's Arch to trade here. Sure, it's a hop and a skip through the Asura gate, but the point is that most of my buddies back home won't set foot in this place. Too scared."

Gwen glances around at the forbidding metal structures and the Charr soldiers all around, and tries to ignore the twitching between her shoulder blades. "Understandably. But their loss is your gain."

"Sure is. Do you want to look at anything?"

Gwen takes the hint and buys some minor wares despite having very little money at this point. But she's ready to help other humans in Ascalon, especially those following her own ancestors' trade in the face of some very steep obstacles.

Tybalt is still talking, so Gwen stealthily eavesdrops on a sylvari who is babbling about metal!! cities!!! and how it speaks to just how strong the Charr are, to be so at home here!!! Gwen flashes a pleasant smile while basically thinking "fuck that" and rejoins Tybalt, who is wrapping up his own conversation with a scout. At last, they head out to the plains.

Gwen genuinely meant to stay close to Tybalt, but she hesitates as he steps onto the grass. Despite knowing better, it's been hard not to imagine Ascalon as the barren husk from her people's stories. He looks back.

"Are you coming?"

"Of course," Gwen says, but it takes an active exertion of will to force herself to set her foot down on the earth past Smokestead.

This, not the metal monstrosities, feels like Ascalon. Her own ancestors walked here, lived here, plied their trade here, experienced the joys and suffering of ordinary life here. Once, her family had a home. And it was here. She's nearly shaking as she hurries to catch up with Tybalt, and doesn't know if it's excitement at being there, rage at what was brutally taken, or just the general tangled emotions of being in Ascalon. She's blinking rapidly as she looks around at the tall trees and the grass. It's a relief that Tybalt doesn't say much and stays a little ahead of her—perhaps unnecessarily shielding her, but it means she doesn't have to put on a mask for him just yet.

As they continue, they receive some odd looks from various soldiers, but the company of a Charr seems to allay most suspicion. There are some pointed remarks within earshot. Some soldiers are talking near a barn about how they're fighting "the same filth" (Gwen: 🔪) they conquered centuries earlier (that's be news in Ebonhawke!) because they buried!!! Ascalon. Another says the king's men won't stay dead.

The first soldier: The fact that they exist at all is an insult.

Gwen doesn't look forward to fighting her people's ghosts, and she's sorry that they're trapped, but part of her is still like ... huh, good for the ghosts, then.

One soldier in reddish armor is talking about how he's not afraid of ghosts, and another one in more purely metallic-looking garb replies, "You should be."

Gwen represses a smile.

"Ghosts aren't dangerous," the first soldier insists. He glances around and at the sight of Gwen, squares his fairly impressive shoulders. "Especially not human ones."

The other soldier just ignores her. "Wait until dark. If you're still alive at daybreak, we'll see if you still think that way."

As they continue, Gwen hears someone pointedly talking about how the humans ravaged the land for centuries (internally: it was fine before y'all fucking seared it) but they'll reclaim it from the ghosts and have their homeland back (please, as if the Charr didn't steal it themselves in the first place).

She hurries to catch all the way up with Tybalt, who seems to be half avoiding the glances of other Charr, and half trying to guard her from them. But Gwen minds her manners, and strides alongside him as they leave the Gunbreach Hills behind and towards the ruins of the Barradin estate.

Tybalt, the friendliest face by far, looks over at her. "Well, here you are." He gestures broadly at the greenery around them. "What do you think?"

Gwen avoids looking at the ruins and says, "It's very beautiful." Carefully, she adds, "I can see why so many people have wanted to live here." Like Mother and Papa. "You before us, and the grawl before you, and maybe someone else before them. Who knows?"

Tybalt's expression is suddenly hard to read.

"The Priory people, maybe," he says. "But it's nice, yeah. A pity that..."

He doesn't finish, and she doesn't know what he was going to say—whether it was about Ascalonians, or the Priory, or his own dubious position among his people. She doesn't ask.

"Oh, look!" says Gwen, pointing. "There are blueberries here, too! Is it safe to eat them?"

Tybalt, back to his usual self, nearly laughs. "Yes, it's safe. Nobody's going to shoot you over a blueberry."

Cautiously, she takes off a glove and reaches for the berry. It doesn't look any different from in Kryta, but she still nearly shivers as her bare finger touches the leaves and berries of the plant. She tells herself not to show weakness in front of a superior and pops one into her mouth.

"Delicious," she says, and Tybalt does laugh then, and eats a few himself.

As they're making their way further north, approaching Lake Feritas, they see Charr fighting Charr. Gwen's kneejerk response (not aloud) is essentially "some problems solve themselves", but she quickly realizes some of the Charr are Flame Legion, the successors of the architects of the Searing. Her face hardens.

"We'd better help," she says. "Those Flame soldiers don't seem especially competent, but there are a lot of them."

Tybalt looks surprised. "You sure about that?"

She's a little concerned that jumping into open battle might look bad, but shrugs. "We don't want them to get a foothold here, do we? I can't think it'll be too hard with us along, and the Flame Legion aren't my friends or yours."

Also, her sword hand really longs to stab something.

Tybalt hesitates, then says, "Well, if you're sure."

She's rarely fought Charr before and makes mental adjustments as they hurry forwards—the heart's higher, she'll have to aim up, they may not be expecting chaos magic from any source, so hurry and blast it at them before they figure out how it works, remember to block attacks with magic, they're stronger than humans would be. But sure enough, she and Tybalt are much better and are able to clear out the Flame Legion without much trouble.

One of the Charr who was struggling to fight them off says triumphantly, "Well, this area is now Flame proof. Or Flame resistant, at least!" She glances between Gwen and Tybalt. "Didn't expect to see your likes around here," she adds to neither in particular, then looks more seriously at Tybalt. "I'll see to it that the brass is informed of your heroic actions."

He mumbles some kind of thanks, and once Gwen cleans her sword, they're on their way again. They fight more Flame Legion on the way east, and Gwen listens carefully as they pass by two of the legions' headquarters. In the Exterminatus Headquarters, the Iron Legion's base of operations, Tybalt is jumpy but able to excuse their presence with some explanation she doesn't bother listening closely to; she's paying more attention to the people around her. Someone's complaining about ghosts again—after all this time, they're still fighting off Ascalonians, and it's literally the same Ascalonians.

Pity you can't buy ghosts drinks, she thinks.

Tybalt settles down a bit as they keep going, and she looks at him once they're out of earshot.

"Seems like they know you there," she says.

"I've got some acquaintances," says Tybalt. "Not everyone's like my—like old Cornelius, back in the Citadel." He pauses, then blurts out, "This was my legion once."

He seems surprised at himself for saying it. Gwen's a little sorry for him—and sorrier when it strikes her that she's not the only one here without a home, passing through a homeland. Part of her is also a little relieved that she's not the only one troubled enough to let more things slip than they should.

"Cornelius was an ass," she says. "I'm glad you aren't all like that."

He brightens a bit at that. Gwen can't help wondering if he knew it'd be this uncomfortable to go back, for himself as well as her, when he offered to take her here. He could hardly be completely oblivious to that. And if he did know, as hard and painful as it is for her in some ways, it was kind to do this for her. Shockingly kind, really. Gwen studies him, trying to understand what she's missing. How did this legion turn out someone like Tybalt? Was he more like the others once?

"Me too," Tybalt says firmly.

Before they've gone much further, they essentially run right into ghosts, and Gwen is fighting them before she quite knows what's happening. But some of their cries make it clear that they're confused and traumatized about what's really going on and still think it's the days of the invasion. She's intensely sorry for them even as she cuts them down, and clenches her fist after sheathing her swords.

Be at rest, she thinks. At least for a little while.

It's not long afterwards that they encounter their first Separatists, who immediately descend on Tybalt only to look up in astonishment when Gwen blasts them backwards.

"Traitor," one spits.

"You'd know," she snaps back, and Tybalt and Gwen readily fight them off.

She's fought plenty of humans before. But not often other Ascalonians, and there's no satisfaction in it, for all that she dislikes Separatists. She does dislike them a lot, though. Pretty much any Ascalonian gripes with Krytan policy or the crown or the terms of the peace treaty with the Charr are easily dismissed as Separatist talk, so they're a convenient way to silence dissent among others who aren't indiscriminate terrorists. For all that they oppose the establishment, they're some of the most useful tools of it. She wonders if they know, or are even capable of knowing.

"I'm surprised they got so far into Ashford without anyone noticing," she notes.

"Magic, I bet," Tybalt says. "They've got lots of tricky spells and such, and it's not like they'd hesitate to kill anyone who did see them. They've got to have a camp somewhere here, but we—the legions haven't found it yet."

Gwen cleans her sword again. "Magic does have its uses."

"You don't mind fighting your own kind?"

"I've fought plenty of humans," she reminds him, a little disingenuously. "And Separatists are treasonous scum that make the rest of us look bad."

She doesn't say what she means by us; she figures it's pretty obvious that she's not talking about all humans. And she's kept her dislike of Queen Jennah pretty close to her chest, so she doesn't feel the need to tell him about her personal dissent, given the Order's (pragmatically understandable) support for her rule. It's difficult enough that he knows how much she's always disliked Charr, the people who slaughtered her parents and so many of her ancestors and people. Even if she doesn't dislike him particularly, and even if she has no patience for Separatist nonsense, it can't help but put a little distance between them. He's been pretty decent about it, all things considered—more than decent, in fact, by a long ways—but she doesn't want to push him further.

"Thanks for asking, though," she adds. "What's next? I've been hoping to see sunflowers."

They decide to sell the odds and ends they've accumulated, and they're near to Ashford Forum, so they head there and strike bargains with the merchants. Gwen actually gets better deals than she was expecting, and it's a relief to have some money in her pocket again.

It's while they're resting there and talking over the next direction to take that a Charr messenger comes running into the forum. Gwen glances curiously at the messenger, only to stiffen in surprise when the messenger looks around and then, upon seeing Gwen, runs straight towards her.

"Hey—" Tybalt starts to say.

"Human! Is your name—" the messenger says, and looks down at two sealed letters in her hand. Her expression shifts to a slight snarl. "Gwen?"

The forum has gone quiet, and nearly all the Charr in the busy forum are looking her way. A few actually seem nervous, and are peering quickly around, as if Gwen Thackeray's ghost might show up to cut them down at any moment.

Gwen sighs. "Yes. I'm Gwen Velazquez."

"Good. Had a time finding you." The messenger shoves the messages into her hand; they're each closed with a blank seal, and Gwen isn't sure what that means. Has it got something to do with the Order? Or is this about Deborah? Has she lost her all over again, or—but that'd have the seal of the Seraph, wouldn't it? And why would there be two messages?

"Ahem," says the messenger. Gwen looks blankly at her, then remembers the existence of money. Reluctantly, she reaches for her coin purse, only for Tybalt to drop a generous amount of silver into the messenger's hand.

"Thanks," Gwen manages to say as she breaks the seal on one of the messages.

"Yeah, thank you," Tybalt tells the messenger, but Gwen's too distracted to clarify what she meant. "Have—"

Without another word, the messenger lopes off.

"—a nice day!" Tybalt shouts after her.

Inside, the letter is dated over a week earlier, and addressed to Gwen Velazquez, Hero of Shaemoor, Advocate of the Crown of Kryta. She scowls slightly, only for the scowl to deepen as she glances towards the bottom of the letter for the signature.

Your Herald

The hell? She guesses that this is the earlier of the messages and had been intended to reach her sooner, but other than that, she hasn't got the slightest clue. As if someone like her would have her own herald—the very idea is laughable.

Still, she returns to the top and reads it properly.

Greetings,

We have not met, but I have long been a follower of your exploits.

Well, that's not disturbing or anything!

I am a collector of tales of great daring and heroism, and your name has come up increasingly in the stories that have been reported to me. I've spoken with your mentor, Logan Thackeray, and the suggestion was made that I contact you and add your stories to my collection.

Captain Thackeray was a member of an adventuring group known as Destiny's Edge. The were legendary heroes, but went their separate ways about five years ago, for reasons I have yet to discover—none have chosen to share that story with me. If you discover the nature of their separation, I would be most appreciative.

Ridiculous. As if Gwen would betray Logan's secrets to a stranger, even if she had some means of contacting or identifying that stranger.

Thank you for your help in this, and I will get in contact with you in the future, and hope to keep you in touch with the whereabouts of Captain Thackeray and the other members of Destiny's Edge.

Also disturbing! But potentially useful, at least.

Through this I will remain,

Your Herald

Tybalt says nothing as she reads, and at least pretends not to be reading over her shoulder, but rather is whistling slightly as he looks at some merchandise not far away. Without a word, Gwen hands the letter to him, which seems to break the quiet pervading the forum. Everyone goes back to what they were doing, except Tybalt, who quickly scans the letter.

"Interesting," he says. "Might be handy. Definitely creepy."

Despite herself, she smiles. "That one must have gotten to me late. I guess I might as well see what the new one says."

It begins, Hail, mighty hero!

Gwen sighs.

Destiny's Edge was a guild of legend, and it saddens me to hear they no longer wish to be together. However, I have heard through my sources that Eir Stegalkin has made a bee-line for the Catacombs beneath old Ascalon.

At that, she pauses. After the disastrous meeting of Destiny's Edge, Gwen skulked around long enough to hear Caithe and Eir mourning the estrangement of the guild members, and Eir said something about a plan or an idea. But what plan would involve the ancient catacombs here? They're the catacombs of Gwen's and Logan's people, not Eir's.

Maybe Eir's presence here is connected to something else; it's not like Gwen knows her, or much about her. But it seems an odd coincidence.

I don't know why she is going to that haunted ruin, the herald's letter goes on, as it is swamped with human ghosts, victims of the Foefire. More importantly, the Catacombs are in the heart of Ashford, which is now Charr territory—Gwen's fingers tighten on the letter—and Rytlock will not be happy with this particular Norn tromping through his territory.

Thought you might be interested,

Your Herald

Without a word, Gwen hands the second letter to Tybalt.

"Very interesting," he says after reading it.

He doesn't say anything else, and she can imagine he's not going to around this many listening ears. She tucks the letters away and makes sure her coin purse is intact, then he strikes out northeast from the forum and she hurries to keep up.

Once they're safely out of earshot, Tybalt says,

"Our friends and I have been very interested in Destiny's Edge for awhile. They had some peculiar people, sure, but ..."

Gwen very carefully does not smile at Tybalt, least Charr-like Charr ever, calling anyone peculiar.

"...well, effective ones. Once. I'm pretty curious about what Eir would be doing in the human catacombs."

"After they argued in Lion's Arch," says Gwen, "which I'm sure you've heard about, Eir said something about having an idea for bringing them together. This might not be related, but ..."

He gives a decisive nod. "But it might. It'd be good to know what's going on. Whether it's related or not, really. You know, we're not far from the Catacombs here."

Gwen eyes him warily. "You're not thinking of..."

"Only one way to find out what she's up to," he says cheerfully. He sobers slightly. "We can't sneak or trick our way through this one, though. Not with the ghosts. I hear there are are some powerful ones down there, too. Worse than Barradin by far. It's understandable if you're jumpy about them."

Gwen knows the stories of Barradin's heroics in life, and how he stepped aside for Adelbern only for the Searing to shatter Adelbern's mind. She knows Barradin lived to discover his daughter, Althea, had been burned alive by the Charr. She hasn't thought much about what he gets up to in death. But he'd been a noble man and she wishes he could find peace. As for those in the Catacombs, she isn't sure if she knows their stories or not—she knows a lot of the Ascalonian stories, but though it's unjust, nobles' stories get remembered and passed on more. But she bet these other ghosts are suffering, too, whatever their power.

"I'm not afraid," she says. "I'm just not sure our friends will like us barreling in."

"Ah," says Tybalt, lifting his paw, "but we're resting, aren't we? Not running errands for them right now. We can do whatever we like. And if it happens to be useful, well ..."

Against her own judgment, Gwen gives a low laugh.

"Never change, Tybalt," she says, clearly surprising him. "All right. Into the haunted tunnels we go."

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[Note: most of the non-Tybalt interchanges are taken from canon, though some (like Jaspir's) are slightly altered to account for Gwen's personality/presence. It's my headcanon-fic and I do what I want :D]