#trahearne lives au ²

[faehrnem]

Over the years, Faehrnem's gotten self-conscious about his appearance and how scarred he's become due to his occupation. Poor guy feels like his body is falling apart, he deserves a smidge of comfort and reassurance 🥺

[ravens-lodge]

just necro boyfriends lost in the echovald wilds

[archesa]

Trahearne deserves to go full feral at least once. You know. As a treat.

[anwenevergreen]

Severed

Reality snapped around them and unfolded again in the shape of the aircraft's deck. Gasping for air, Anwen straightened and frantically looked around her, searching for her companions, relieved to find them all – disoriented but unscathed – on the floor around her.

“Brace yourself! It's gonna blow!”

The aircraft steered away, leaving the collapsing city far on starboard, as a blinding light engulfed the tetrahedron and a deafening silence shrouded the world around them before a thundering implosion. A hot dry wind swept the deck, a smothering scent of ozone drowning them before the salt and iodine from the sea returned, bearing a cold heavy rain and the constant whimper of the wind.

“Subtle.”, Sayida remarked. “I like your style, Commander.”

Anwen let out a breathless chuckle.

“Thank you. Is everyone alright?”

“I'm deaf.”, Braham shrugged. “But it could have been worse. Remind me again why I followed you through this?”

“Something about saving the world, I believe.”

“And destroying a good chunk of the bay at the same time.”, the corsair remarked. “You just won your friend the cactus quite a lot of money there, Commander! I never thought you'd manage to bring back everyone unscathed. Your new friend seems a bit disoriented, though.”, she noted, considering the sylvari, standing awkwardly apart from the rest of the group.

Anwen nodded pensively, the sudden weight of Braham and Meryw's gaze on her nape almost crippling.

“Meryw, would you escort our two guests inside? Taimi must be very anxious to meet them.”

“Dame Anwen... are you sure you’re alright?”

She let out a breathless chuckle. “No, but I will be... I must. I... owe him that much.”

She turned to Braham, his features drawn and his eyes darkened.

“Braham...”

“Go, now.”, the young norn offered with a forlorn smile. “I don't know what I would give for a second chance like this, Commander... so you better seize it.”

“I'm sorry. It's unfair.”

“Yes it is.”, he breathed shakily. “Life often is. So you gotta take what little it gives.”

Anwen nodded pensively and offered a reassuring smile to her shieldmaiden, who proceeded to escort the two rescued Inquest inside, where Taimi waited for them, while she crossed the deck to the prow and reached out to place her hand on Trahearne's shoulder.

A shiver ran him through at her touch, a painful confusion darkening his eyes and shadowing his glow.

“Everything is silent. The voice of Mordremoth is gone, but... The Dream–... Dear friend, you must tell me everything.”, he beseeched, turning a distressed glance to her.

“I don't know where to start.”, she murmured, a weight settling in her lungs as she struggled to breathe. “What do you remember? What's your last memory?”

“The defeat of the fleet, and... a prisoner caravan. Mordrems leading Destiny's Edge and myself into the jungle. They said Mordremoth had plans for us... What happened? Are Zojja and Captain Thackeray... ?”

“They're safe. We rescued them both.”

She took in a deep, quaking breath.

“We... defeated the dragon but... It came with a price.”

“Our people survived.”, he reasoned, a sudden dread overwhelming him. “Did our Mother...”

“She's alive.”, Anwen hastily reassured. “And, she was on the path of recovery, the last time I visited. But... The death of Mordremoth took a toll on her. On all of us...”

The evident relief on his face shattered her heart a little more.

“Trahearne, the attack on the Pale Tree, the loss of the Fleet, Mordremoth... That was three years ago. I searched for you after you disappeared. And I found you. But I was too late to save you. We defeated the dragon but... it had dug its claws too deep in you... it had claimed you as a Champion and... your last will was..." Her voice died in her throat. "You sacrificed yourself to destroy the dragon to the root... To save us all.”

An expression of grief and confusion shadowed his face, immediately enlightened by pensive resignation and relief.

“My greatest fear was to see my people in the clutches of this monster. If by my life, or my death, I could avoid it, I must not regret.”

She let out a broken breath. That sounded like him – of course it did! It was him. Except it wasn't... Trahearne was dead, dead by her hand, and yet he was here, right in front of her, breathing, thinking, remembering everything that made him who he was and... so confused, so pained, so forlorn that it broke a heart she thought his loss had already shattered.

He hesitantly shifted and reached for her, as if testing his own physicality, laying a warm, comforting hand on her shoulder. She blinked, furiously willing her breath to still as the pouring rain drowned away the tears burning her lids.

"Anwen..."

Her name was soft, almost silenced by the wind.

"If I... died", he hesitated, almost tasting the word as he said it. "how... How am I here? How did I return? How did I end up here, in... Elona?"

"The pod- ... The pod you were trapped into, it... served a purpose, other than to hold and detain. Mordremoth... We have found months afterwards that it had attuned Zhaitan’s magic... After the Pact defeated it, its domain was left unattended and the other dragons feasted on this magic, and claimed part of Zhaitan’s power to themselves."

Truth. Hardly ever pure and never simple. But it was a grounding notion. Familiar and reassuring, to see his interest piqued, his head tilt so slightly as his eyes lit with a spark of curiosity. She could have rambled on for hours, just to imprint this image of him, listening intently, his features drawn sharply against the setting sun filtering through the heavy storm clouds, his glow shifting with every touch of the rain.

“Mordremoth... used this to make his minions... turn our dead into soldiers for the dragon's army... and honed his power of creation to make his army undefeatable. Every time we felled one of his lieutenant, they reappeared, returned to torment those who had known them, the comrades who saw them die, who drowned in the guilt of being unable to save them... of having to kill them themselves..."

The last words turned to ash, the pain of burns never quite healed – scars that glistened and shifted on her skin where she had held him as he burst in flames – strangling her.

"When we entered the heart of the dragon's domain... we were faced with such clones... Logan... Zojja... And, now..."

His eyes darkened with clarity.

"Me..."

The sudden dimming of his glow filled her heart with dread.

“A weapon to a dead dragon... A revenant, come to haunt you..."

The Orrian had a saying – the dead return for either love or revenge.

"I am sorry, Anwen... I never meant to..."

"I'm not."

A gust of wind swept the deck of the aircraft, and a shiver ran her through even as she closed the gap between them.

“You haunt me, Trahearne – my every waking moment, my every dream, my every nightmare – ever since I lost you. Your absence haunts me. And if your presence must haunt me now, I will gladly accept it."

The words died on her lips... but he already knew.

"Anything rather than lose you again.”

Previous | Next (tbw)

[just-eyris-things]

Vent post. Because i feel like kicking a hornets' nest.

Honestly im just tired of how people will call someone ignorant/uneducated and will go for the throat for every little thing, while they themselves say shit like pierogis all the time. If you're going to point fingers at others, you yourself should be without fault.

The question is... can you?

[aetherblooms]

so i hear y'all like trahearne?

bonus silly guy:

[safewarmbubbly]

multiple comms ask -> 4, 9, 16 <3

Thanks for the ask my friend!

To first clear things up, they aren't really co-commanders, Cynthia is the Commander of the Pact, while the others are operatives, scholars, and soldiers for the Pact. This is all in my Trahearne lives AU

4. Did they have different responsibilities in the Pact? Cynthia was the Commander of course and left her position shortly after the death of Trahearne. Acantha would soon take over the roll, once a soldier of the Pact now the new Commander, taking very well to it. Warren and Theseus were scholars and soldiers on the ground back in Orr, with Theseus also taking part in a covert ops team akin to that of the Pale Reavers. Thalia was mostly covert ops, only taking to the frontlines in the last few weeks in Orr. As for my newest... Raven Soulspeaker has yet to be introduced, so I cannot say much.

9. Did any of them join the Shining Blade? Thalia did! Theseus was going to join but you know... the whole going on a rampage and getting many innocent people killed to take down a group of White Mantle cultists thing... Cynthia joined as well (going along storyline terms)

16. How effective are they as a team? Theseus, Thalia, Warren, and Acantha have worked together on quite a few occasions. Warren and Acantha teamed up to take out Theseus in his bloodstone crazed state, which worked out rather well despite how terrified she was as she held her ground. I'd say once they're in combat the group works quite well, Acantha shielding the group, Theseus shadow-stepping to the front lines and farther, Warren and Cavall picking off stragglers towards the back, and Thalia casting illusions to divert enemy targeting. Add Cynthia to the mix and you have such a whirlwind of agony for the poor souls who took them on.

[gristlegrinder]

lies down on the floor. the new kesha song works really well on my commander’s playlist

[archesa]

I have... a few ^^ And to make things simpler, 3 variations around different versions of the same Commander (Anwen) if she had chosen different professions.

Anwen Evergreen's verse(s)

In the main storyverse, Anwen is a guardian and when Trahearne asks her to kill him, she refuses. "Not if I can save you", she says.

When Mordremoth takes over Trahearne, she makes a desperate guess : that Elder Dragons, being these timeless, seemingly all powerful, everlasting beings, would be unable to comprehend pain the way mortals feel it. She has cut down Trahearne from the jungle, and freed him from the pod. Mordremoth's body is dead, thanks to their combined efforts to destroy its mind and the Pact's to uproot its Mouth and the very last of its essence clings to Trahearne like mistletoe. And she won't let it take root. So she uses both her fire and her healing powers to torture Mordremoth out of Trahearne. Overwhelmed by pain like it never could have known, cut from its realm with nowhere to flee, Mordremoth relinquishes its hold on Trahearne's mind in hope to gain full control of his body and defend itself from the fire devouring his host. Anwen corners Mordremoth's presence into a single point – Trahearne's arm – but the dragon defends itself, impeding her from using Caladbolg to permanently severe the dragon from his unwilling Champion and Vessel. The thorn sword is picked by an unlikely bearer, Canach, who cuts Trahearne's arm and kills what is left of Mordremoth.

Trahearne is scarred and weakened, but alive. His legs will heal with time — and the support of mobility aids crafted by Taimi – and he'll get a prosthetic for his arm – the pinacle of asura genius and exalted magic.

In the Blighting Pod AU, Trahearne dies in Maguuma and it's only several years later that Anwen finds in the depths of Rata Primus a laboratory where Inquest experimented upon Blighting Pods stolen from even the deepest reaches of the jungle. When this last pod blooms, she finds someone familiar awakening inside.

In a third verse, Trahearne has faith that, as a Druid, Anwen will find her way to reach through Mordremoth's defense and destroy it, so he decides to willingly accept the mantle of Champion the dragon wants to bestow upon him. For a couple of weeks, he leads the dragon's armies against the Pact, aiming for a stalemate – just enough victories to satisfy Mordremoth, while also leaving a breach for the Commander to exploit. The plan goes awry when, both as a reward for his service and as a barely disguised threat should he betray his master, Mordremoth has a gift delivered to his Champion – the one his first and foremost loyalty his to... the Commander.

From within the Heart of Thorns, they find a way to escape Mordremoth's watchful guard and lure it back to sleep, effectively leaving Trahearne in charge of its Domain.

(I don't know if I'll ever give any real attention to this verse, but it's where the Wintersday Miracle ficlet is set 😁)

Bonus round if I'm one day in the mood to make Anwen suffer : everything happens as in canon, until End of Dragons. And while purifying the aspect of Mordremoth absorbed by Aurene at birth and over the years, she feels the call of something familiar. Hiraeth. A deep longing for something long gone... (I have no idea how Trahearne would return in this particular instance but it would have to do with the facet of plant and mind, perhaps in the shape of a presence bound to the legendary weapons...)

And last but not least...

De Draconis Mobile

In this verse, Trahearne dies in Maguuma but his sacrifice doesn't suffice to destroy the seed of Mordremoth. The jungle dragon remains, weakened and dying, and is saved by a new Champion. (more on this later)

As for Trahearne, his mind, his soul retreated in the devastated part of the Dream overtaken by Mordremoth and burned to the ground by the Commander when he attacked the mind of the dragon. This is where Galaëd, under the guidance of Dairban's own travel through the Mists (more on that later), finds him and guides him back to life.

Hey question for the Trahearne lovers here

For those of you that have a Trahearne lives AU, how do you go about it? How does he not die? Feel free to ramble about it :)

[wilsons-journey]

July Tinapple

Engineer • Iron Legion • She / Her • 18 years old.

Future Commander in an alternative AU in which my other Charr don't exist. An AU that is closer to the original Story, yet with a small twist: She is the daughter of Tybalt Leftpaw.

She is also my go to replay the whole Story of GW2 again. Its ages since I last did it.

So you might see her grow in her role as Commander.

More about her under the cut: (Beware of long text / brabble)

July is a temperamental Charr with a short fuse. She lives in the shadow of her sire - getting reminded of his disgrace all her life. That's why she got the name Tinapple in her warband - just to mock her. But also as a reminder of where their roots lie. For July its a fuel to prove everyone she is better than her Sire. That she will never be a disgrace and serve the legion well. She works hard - extremely hard.

Even more when her Warband nearly got wiped during the Ascalonian Ghost attack. Only Maverick remained - her best friend, but also mate for a short time. Their relationship won't last long - it just didn't work out - a recurring theme in her life. But they stay best friends - even later on. Maverick is a person she loves to return to, when she want's to forget the weight of the world. He will never be a friend to talk to about heavy topics, but at least someone who knows how to distract her.

"Looks like failure runs in the family" - a sentence that makes July blood boil. She gets to hear that often after loosing a huge chunk of her warband. It slowly fades, after she proves herself over and over again. Granting her soon the title of Centurion. Her constant need to prove herself lets her slip into something, she actually never wanted to sign on. And she will be too proud, to admit that this title might be to much for her. She will become the Commander - a huge and important figure in the history of Tyria.

And it starts with joining one of the three big orders. But instead of joining Vigil, the order she actually wanted to join. She ends up in the Order of Whispers, where she gets reunited with her Sire. All because of an sarcastic joke and false pride, to admit she wanted to join another Order.

At first she is not happy to see her Sire. He despises him for all the trouble he caused her, for just being related to him. But she will warm up to him. Even starting to see him as a father.

Only to have him ripped from her later on. She will grow so unbelievable angry at this. Hatred against her Sire,... her father will once again boil up. Only to cover how hurt she is, loosing him. July always had problems to express her true feelings. She hides these behind a loud and rude mouth. She will rather yell at you, then admit she is hurt. Its easier. It always was.

She will channel all the hatred for the fight against the Elder-Dragons. She wants them dead - each of them. This might change when she finds an egg - forming a huge crack in all this hatred has accumulated all these years.

Some loose bits: (that might change with replaying the story)

Trahearne, he will play a huge part in her development. He can't ease her pain and the hatred she feels for the world. But he will become someone she looks up to. Someone she feels first sees her worth. Who is truly proud of her. Who believes in her. Despise all her flaws. (Imagine the heartbreak during HoT)

She has terrible anger issues. Something she has to work on for many years.

She is an emotional mess. And she does her best to hide this ugly side. Just as the anger that boils in her.

She is incredible talented in her craft as Engineer. She will take huge part in crafting weapons against Dragons and their minions. They will be effective and absolutely deadly.

Later she will definitely pick up on Jade-Tech

Yet during all the years as Commander, she constantly doubts her abilities. She fears she is not strong enough - especially when Rytlock comes back as Revenant. He is so much more powerful than her. All she can do is craft stuff. Maybe hit hard with her Hammer,... but thats it. Without her Gadgets she is nothing. This gnaws on her a lot.

At one point she might ask Rytlock to take over as Commander - maybe after HoT. Of course he will refuse.

She is friend with Kairo Windshear (Belongs to @brightwingedbat) We still have to figure out a lot. But so far it looks like their relationship is messy. They hooked up for a while, but like with Mav, - it didn't worked out.

She will pickup the love / fixation for apples from her dad.

July desperately seeks for a meaningful something / relationship. Something to hold onto - something that won't leave her and maybe see her. Not the angry mess - but also the person behind all this. Just,... a constant in her life. An anchor, to make her feel safe.

At this point of her journey I'm not sure if she will find it or how this will look like. Will she find a soulmate - as a everlasting friendship or love? Will she make peace with her role as Commander and start to thrive in this role? Will the sudden motherhood for Aurene bring her that? Or with own Cubs?

Who knows. At this point her pages are still blank. Its on her to fill these.

(While writing this,... Gw2 Story has so many moments where they give the Commander something and then its taken away. Even in a way Aurene. Man,... you can fit so much trauma in the Commander. July,... I'm sure you will do your best, but I already see a lot of suffering for you ahead. Good thing she is stubborn,...)

---

And bonus, some screens of her and Tybalt, shortly after their first meeting.

He tries hist best.

[m0r1bund]

shoulda never let you go (everybody knows, everybody knows) three years and baby, don’tcha know, it’s time to let it go

My piece for the Commander of Your Heart zine. This was such a blast to be a part of, getting to see everyone’s pieces develop over the last few months and learning about their relationships with their Commanders… I only started playing Guild Wars 2 in ~May of last year, and yet the community has been so warm and welcoming to this newbie. Thank you for bringing me aboard, it was a pleasure and an honor!

As for this piece… I originally wanted to do something saccharine-sweet for Valentine’s Day, but Heart of Thorns won in the end. It’s been living rent-free in my brain since @snoodls and I finished it last year. I’ve been acting accordingly normal e.g. constructing elaborate Trahearne AUs and putting Commander Yuri Six-Cants into situations, which is outside the scope of this description, but if you want you can see it all here.

YIPPEE

[archesa]

Happy anniversary, Æthnen!

Two years ago, today, I made this beautiful fern for my Trahearne lives AU and I've never looked back!

More pics and some lore and creation details under the cut.

The choice of face preset has been a real pain in the arse (Trahearne's facial features in creation mode when, Arenanet?!) and took a good long time staring at my Total Makeover Kits, but I'm quite happy with the result.

The loss of the dark thicker leaves framing his face to Mordremoth's corruption left furrows in their stead, and his once violet glow has turned golden due to the fusion with the dragon.

He lost his left arm to the dragon's possession and ultimate attempt on the Commander's life and arbours a complex prosthetic, a combination of asura and exalted technology fuelled and activated by his hard-earned control on the draconic magic that remained after Mordremoth's defeat.

Nightmares and draconic magic were not the only reminders he keeps from his possession - as the Dragon's unwilling Champion and Vessel, he retained some hold onto the Mordremoth's domain, and if the fact that flowers endemic to Caledon seemed to grow wherever he went was easy to ignore, the entanglements and coils of vines that armoured his necromantic minions called for some reconciliation with the darkest hours of his existence.

He also develops a strong bond with Aurene/ First, a connection through the energy he was once the vessel of, filtered and diffracted through a prism to allowed the Egg to hatch.

And an evergrowing attachment for the little dragon he and Anwen consider as their daughter.

He rarely - if ever - returns to The Grove after Maguuma.

It never felt like home to him, his heart turned towards the shores of Orr long before he left to complete his wyld-hunt, and the divide between him and his kin too deep already when the darkness shrouding him called to the deep ingrained fear of the dragon of shadow and death... irreconcilable now that his mere presence called the memory of the shadow of a dead dragon within them all.

To conclude... I really need to get back to writing for this verse as most of the development has happened in conversations between @lilypixy and I, in my head or via answers to asks, so... if I have as much time on my hands as I expect this week I'll try and actually finish one or two of these WIPs!

[archesa]

Thanks so much, they're perfect 😍🥰

Anwen with Trahearne for @archesa! thank you for commissioning me! <3

[silvesi]

*rotates a trahearne lives AU rly fast in my brain*

Sometimes a functional family can be you, your husband, a shitty little vampire you accidentally adopted 4 years ago, and-

elder dragon.

[faehrnem]

1 and 6 of the Commander asks? 👀

(( YEAHHH oh these are gonna be fun ones! ))

Which dragon scared your commander the most?

That's a great question to start off on, since ALL the dragons are terrifying in their own respective ways. For Faehrnem though, I think Zhaitan would be the one that stuck with him the most. As the first Elder Dragon the Pact took on, nobody knew exactly if it was even possible to take the dragons down, just that they needed to try. The anticipation and uncertainty would've caused a lot of stress on Faehrnem's (seemingly) young mind, and luckily those initial fears eventually turn into motivation to keep pushing on when the Pact manages to defeat Zhaitan for good.

Otherwise, Mordremoth caused Faehrnem the most mental trauma, while Kralkatorrik dealt the most damage by taking off Faehrnem's left arm. Kralkatorrik would've been the top contender if Aurene didn't come back after she shielded Faehrnem from the majority of Kralk's blast.

If your commander could revive one person, who would it be and why?

Now this is a really tough one. I don't want to go too heavy into Faehrnem's backstory lore BUT this question is answered in a few different AUs, and it usually depends on multiple pretty major factors before or if Faehrnem could even decide.

In most AUs where someone can get brought back, it's almost always his love interest WHICH is a pretty touchy subject for Faehrnem. For the most part, Faehrnem is more than likely to reject the idea of only bringing back one person when so many other lives were unnecessarily lost- because in his mind, it's too selfish and unfair of a choice just to save himself from the heartbreak. It has and can happen at least, and the person brought back is more often than not, Trahearne. (nobody is surprised lol)

[wisp-of-chaos]

Meet the OC - Solis Caecus

What is this? Another OC introduction? It's more likely than you think! (Someone stop me I have far too many of these little gremlins)

Anyway, as usual, OC lore under the cut my lads!

Solis is a OC from the Guild Wars 2 Game and part of the sylvari race.

Instead of being the Commander, she is a Second Born. Her Wyld Hunt is to travel to Elona and rid it from Palawa Joko's tyrannical rule, which is why she joined the Order of Whispers to get access to the Crystal Desert.

There, she lives under the guise of a Joko loyalist noble of Amnoon going by the name Njedah Salehi and gathers intel wherever and however she can to thwart his rule. She made quick friends with the remaining Sunspear's and is a honorary member of the Order of Shadows.

Solis doesn't have many friends end prefers to stick to herself as well as the shadows and illusions of her magic.

As a sapling, she was very self-conscious and insecure about her facial looks and tended to hide from her siblings in the Grove. Until she recieved a gift - an orrian mask enchanted with a concealing spell that allowed her to see through the metal while hiding her face from everyone else - from Trahearne which greatly impoved her social life.

Trahearne and Malomedies were the only two other sylvari she ever truly called friends and trusted enough to confide in.

Most of her early years in the Grove were spend learning and growing and consulting various Dreamreaders about her dream. In the end, it was Trahearne again who gave her the final clue to fulfilling her calling when he directed her towards the Order of Whispers; knowing that they possessed the knowledge and skill to pass the border to Elona without notice.

Solis was beyond happy to finally getting closer to fulfilling her Wyld Hunt and joined the Order; learning and rising among their ranks just as quickly until she was entrusted with the task to travel to Elona herself and work towards Joko's rule from within.

She has a deep rootes afscination for the starts and sky; likes to venture into the golden dunes of the desert on her own and enjoys her coffee as dark and strong as possible.

Solis never quite enjoyed the humid heat of the Maguuma Jungle and feels far more at home in the dry climate of Elona.

Over the years working as a spy, she gathered quite the collection of ancient artifacts (some of them were direct gifts from Joko for her deeds in his name) and poems, which she keeps with the intent to give them to Trahearne should they ever meet again.

Her favorite snack is Lokum (she enjoys all variations of it but likes the common, plain one with pistacios best) and she has a black cat called Bastet.

When she was born, she was called Caelis by the Mother Tree but later on given the nickname of Solis by her friend and teacher Malomedies and stuck to it. Only her most trusted allies and friends know her "true" name.

She war furthermore born with a male body but it never felt quite right to her, so she opted to become a mesmer and cover herself with illusions to make her appear more like her true self.

A very cute visual of her can be found here:

Done by a wonderful and dear friend of mine <3 (aka @unaarista)

(Note: this is her canon/main lore and doesn't account for any of all the funky little AU's I've made for her over the years)