#these are technically artfight refs | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

montgumery · 4 days ago

Text

corrupted commander

i'm finally finished with her artfight ref T-T decided to ditch the charr anatomy a little and use the style I use for my other anthro characters and it was so much easier but I wanted to ramble about some of her backstory and the way she uses her revenant powers so I'll have something to put on her artfight page. there is a lot of writing so be warned

---- Before personal story She starts as a warrior, the legionnaire of the Bringer warband, fresh out of the ash legion's fahrar. Their first assignment is unglamorous, almost a decade of service around various rear-guard positions. By the time the call finally comes to head for active combat, they are all eager for a true fight.

The warband numbers fourteen charr, enough that they're sent to muster on the plains of Fireheart rise, joining the Ash Legion's endless assault on the Citadel of Flame.

(Ashbringer is now around twenty five, having left the fahrar at sixteen.)

The siege on Ebonhawke is still grinding on, Kralkatorrik is still slumbering beneath the earth. Ashbringer and her warband are simply one of many others attempting to fight their way into the citadel and become a godslayer- by defeating the Flame imperator, Gaheron Baelfire. The first taste of true combat is intoxicating, a chance to put long trained skills to use. The warband makes a name for itself as incredibly dedicated, willing to take on missions that are little more than deathtraps.

There aren't many of the Bringer warband's original fourteen left by the time orders come through to finally go after Baelfire himself, but Ashbringer isn't troubled. There's plenty of recruits looking for a chance to go on the mission that will surely get the warband's name interred in history as the final destroyers of the Flame legion.

Ashbringer is twenty nine by the time she and her warband, now twenty strong- (only six of the old fahrar band remain) slip into the citadel. Some walk in brazenly, wearing flame legion colors, others follow Ashbringer in through secret places, crawling through tunnels long-ago carved by lava. All of them are armed to the teeth, thinking eagerly of the hero's welcome they'll get if they can make it back to the Burnt Hollow.

When the warband makes it to the ritual chambers, everything starts to go wrong. These rooms were supposed to be empty. A place for the charr posing as flame to regroup with the rest of the warband, before the final attack. What they don't expect to find is a group of howling Godforged, quite literally burning with destructive zeal.

The fight is short and vicious, chanting shamans twisting the very air of the caverns until it flickers with heat, the ritual words burying deep into Ashbringer's mind. Enchanted flame melts armor to little more than slag, sparks dancing in the eyes of her former bandmates as they are consumed, twisted by Gaheron's might- flesh and bone reduced to fuel.

Ashbringer can feel the change wrought by the shaman's power, fur, skin, and muscle sloughing away as her arms ignite, the strength of the Baelfire ritual touching her down to the marrow. She tries to save her bandmates, reaching for the closest charr covered in hungry fire. But the corruption is stronger than he, and Ashbringer is forced to put him down, standing with the tattered remains of her warband.

In the end, they are saved by a blood legion raiding party. An insult. As they are rescued, the warband's second-in-command, Grania Sorrowbringer makes it clear that Ashbringer will remain legionnaire only over her charred corpse. She should've stopped them going in without more backup, should've sent in a scout before the entire wabrand was trapped in the ritual chambers-

Ashamed, having lost the trust of her warband, Ashbringer resigns, handing Grania the position.

Left as a gladium, prepared to leave the legions completely and search for something to rid her of the ritual power she'd gained, Ashbringer was approached by Torga Desertgrave with an offer. Join one of the orders, act as an informant, and the legions keep you on your feet and fighting. With no other real option, Ashbringer accepted. It's better than sleeping in gladium canton, especially with the very visible effects of flame legion magic- even wearing gauntlets, firelight still shines through the metal, the ends of her horns glow like dying embers.

She manages to work her way up to the rank of Lightbringer, spending twenty years running camps, running occasional missions on behalf of the Order of Whispers.

---- Battle of Claw Island

Ashbringer proves herself in the battle to reclaim the island, avenging her apprentice, Tybalt- She's learned to use the power Baelfire's ritual grants her, even though she's no shaman, dealing the deathblow to Blightghast the Plaugebringer.

By this point, she's about 50ish, (around almorra's age) having spent most of her life up to this point in the order of whispers, with occasional visits back to the citadel to report in. She has been keeping tabs on her old warband, which is slowly rebuilding- she is on semi decent terms with Korud Blightbringer, one of the younger members recruited just before the attack on the citadel. Korud was badly injured, but survived uncorrupted leaving active duty to become a primus soon after.

She knows he's had a cub, Olskin, that's a few years from leaving the fahrar, and feels responsible for him. (Olskin is born five years after Ashbringer leaves the warband, and is 15 by the time she forms the pact.

---- more corruption info less detailed story

From there, the story progresses mostly as normal, (I've still never played through lws1 T-T) though Ashbringer is partially corrupted the whole time.

the corrupted portions of her body are hot enough to be a uncomfortable against bare skin/cloth, something thicker like leather or even metal is ideal.

since there isn't a ton of lore on how the flame legion magic really works, my headcannon is that the ritual is usually a gradual corruption from all the ambient flame magic in the area, combined with the users already being shamans. after ashbringer and the warband were ambushed, the magic that had already leeched into the ritual chambers after many decades of spells there was prime for corrupting.

ashbringer was just unlucky enough to survive the shaman's attempt to use her as fuel and get corrupted instead lol

As to the corruption's effect on her mind, she becomes much more ferocious and single minded. She's honestly not the best actual leading figure in terms of listening to her allies. It's also difficult for her to leave well enough alone to the point where she's up with the pact fleet during the attempt to take on Mordramoth and subsequently lost in the wastes for like weeks after the crash.

it's around this time when her revenant powers start messing with her, and i also want to talk about that >:D

---- ashbringer's revenant magic!

I really love the skills and stuff you get from the renegade stance + it's charr themed, so that's probably the base legend she'd channel, but I also thought the idea of two channeled legends like with vindicator was super interesting, and I didn't want to go with the "speaking with dead warbandmates" route since the important characters are alive now!

(the old timeline had so many issues guys good lord olskin for example was born like five years after his parents died i was struggling.)

for the two legends, I wanted Kalla Scorchrazor since she's in complete opposition of the flame legion and the legend for renegade stance, but I also wanted to tie in one of the old flame legends to add to the corruption angle and the influence it has on her, so I picked Bonfaaz Burntfur, the summoner of the Searing.

Bonfaaz never speaks with Ashbringer, since he's such an ancient spirit, (and she's female.) She does gain his grudging respect bringing down Balthazar, as a charr slaying a human god, even a rouge one, is enough to impress. (again, no actual words but it's clear to both charr involved what happened.)

The Baelfire ritual is the only reason she's able to use his spirit at all. The scraps of power she does have access to is the ability to summon small pieces of the searing (basically replacing the citadel bombardment skill with small searing crystals, using the same idea of a portal through the mists grabbing them.)

More about the searing powers: she generally doesn't summon them at all (excluding the first time) until after Balthazar's death, where she's tempted to use the power more- surely even this is worth it if it helps end the dragon cycle. (she has issues with "the end justifies the means" thinking as the story progresses)

Especially since the high legions are distrustful of searing magic, after the association with the titans.

(Efram considers using a searing crystal to blow up a supply depo a war crime in the IBS, but I'm not sure if that's because it's searing crystal or if it's because it was used on a fully staffed supply depo? I'm assuming a mix of both.)

after so much time away from the legions, (everything before IBS) even with Marax's influence as a staunch legion charr, she starts to care a little less. get a little more risky with her power, not bothering as much with keeping the searing part from her companions. the hunt for kralk is a whole thing.

I'd have to make a whole seperate post for IBS, since that is a mess for every oc involved omg

kinda a general downward slide, going straight from the mess that is the Icebrood saga to another world ending threat, especially after aurene goes to rest after EoD finishes. I haven't played the story stuff after EoD yet so I'll have to see what she does with it but with Marax in tyria and aurene sleeping probably nothing good

#charr #gw2 #gw2 charr #guild wars 2 #ashbringer the sly #it's literally 12:00 in the morning why did i stay up so late writing this #anthro #artfight ref #<- technically since i am not going to make a full ref image T-T

26 notes · View notes