#but this was Gorrik's BROTHER

[icebrooding]

Commander takes Gorrik to Seaworld to destress after EoD. He also gets a Blåhaj because he deserves it!

#guild wars 2 #gw2 #gw2 art #kaushue #gorrik #honestly they are really good friends gorrik is like a brother to him #little brother even if he is technically older lmfao #gorrik just has that 'little bro must protect and cherish' vibes

[queer-as-used-by-tolkien]

Topical Character Study: Sacrifice (feat. Brother Cadfael, Thorin Oakenshield, al'Lan Mandragoran, Almorra Soulkeeper, Trahearne, Gorrik and Blish)

My new interest in the Cadfael Chronicles (I just rewatched ep 3 today; hopefully I'll be getting the books for Christmas) has made me do some thinking about the types of characters I get into.

I've described by 'type' as a collection of all the traits shared between the people I've become obsessed with. But Brother Cadfael not only defies a lot of these traits, but the ones he does possess are completely irrelevant to why I like him.

So now it's time to investigate more deeply, this time by reflecting on the places that have the most emotion surrounding it.

Brother Cadfael

I first became interested in Cadfael when he looked full in the face of a leper and did not flinch or look away. A minute later he was speaking of how God looks on the heart and not the external appearance. It takes a lot of self-control to keep oneself from having some reaction; when I saw it I thought he must be having a great struggle inside of himself to appear calm - I saw it not as a false mask, but as a sacrifice for the sake of showing love. I can't imagine how touched the leper must have felt, showing his old friend his marred face and having his friend accept him with as much warmth and love as ever before, if not more.

What really gets me about al'Lan Mandragoran is his fury when he finds the woman he loves is about to put herself into danger; the way he tries to restrain his expression of these feelings because he doesn't understand them (or doesn't want to feel them) but fails, because he does love her. And then, he forces himself to let her go anyway, because he knows she can handle herself. He doesn't let her go easily; but he lets her go because she has to, that is her duty and he understands duty. That is a sacrifice on his part, a sacrifice of his emotion for truly loving her and letting her pursue what she knows is right.

In addition and on a lesser scale - because there is not nearly as big a window into this part of his life than the other - his own dedication to his dead kingdom and his duty is staggering. There is no point where he regains something that he sacrificed for this mission to show how much he's lost for it, but he is a cold, hard warrior who has given most of his life to his calling. The Aes Sedai in his life are all afraid he will throw his life away following it, but that is his duty. I really wish we had seen him given his heart's desire so we could see how much he treasured the things he'd given up to follow his duty.

Trahearne

I first became interested in Trahearne because he died, because I had to kill him. But, upon further investigation, I liked him because of his dedication to Orr. It goes far beyond the fact that he's being forced into it (which some people prefer to emphasize); I think he really does love the land. He's made countless sacrifices for it; he's been alone all his life and never even made any progress.

And then the Commander comes along and doesn't see a terrifying necromancer or anything else people avoid him for, but instead a friend, someone to help and support, someone to encourage and uplift. Trahearne's response to this kindness, of having found someone who understands his dedication to his duty, shows me he has felt the sacrifices he's made for Orr and has done it anyway. It shows me he has decided to do his duty despite the discomfort and the pain, and that tells me that he knows he has chosen to do the right thing, that he believes in what he's doing, and that he won't waver when it gets hard.

This conviction is borne out in his last minutes of life, when he is fighting to prevent Mordremoth from returning to terrorize the sylvari - that was all he said. He didn't say 'I'm fighting for my mind and soul, please release me' - he said Mordremoth would come back. He didn't say 'I'm all but dead anyway, just kill me!' - he said his fellow sylvari would suffer. He didn't give up because it was hard or difficult; he had to die because it was the right thing to do, and he didn't give up when the Commander refused, but insisted anyway.

Thorin Oakenshield

What got me about Thorin is his insistence on doing his mission his way; he isn't going to let anyone else mess with something that is his responsibility. That is, in part, a flawed outlook, but it shows that he felt responsible for making sure the thing he was devoted to got done. At the end of the Battle of the Five Armies, after he has been mortally wounded, he staggers to an outlook to see how the battle is going. Only after seeing the victory in progress does he allow himself to literally collapse where he stands. In An Unexpected Journey, he is reluctant to trust Bilbo; this mission is important to him and he doesn't want Bilbo to mess it up. Only after Bilbo showed an understanding of Thorin's mission and the motivations behind it did Thorin welcome Bilbo into the Company. Thorin wasn't shy of rejecting a relationship that might jeopardize the mission; but once Bilbo proved himself worthy, Thorin embraced friendship with everything he had. Like with Trahearne, this shows me that he was putting the mission before his personal desires.

The tragedy of the dragon sickness was that it twisted Thorin's personality backwards: putting his personal desires (pride) before his commitment to his cause (regaining Erebor and restoring it to its former glory), and had to be bought into his former dedication by manipulating his personal desire for the Arkenstone. When he came back to himself, he returned to his former self and back to placing greater importance on his mission than his pride

al'Lan Mandragoran

What really gets me about al'Lan Mandragoran is his fury when he finds the woman he loves is about to put herself into danger; the way he tries to restrain his expression of these feelings because he doesn't understand them (or doesn't want to feel them) but fails, because he does love her. And then, Lan forces himself to let her go anyway, because he knows she can handle herself. He doesn't let her go easily; but he lets her go because she has to, that is her duty and he understands duty. That is a sacrifice on his part, a sacrifice of his emotion for truly loving her and letting her pursue what she knows is right.

In addition and on a lesser scale - because there is not nearly as big a window into this part of his life than the other - Lan's own dedication to his dead kingdom and his duty is staggering. There is no point where he regains something that he sacrificed for this mission to show how much he's lost for it, but he is a cold, hard warrior who has given most of his life to his calling. The Aes Sedai in his life are all afraid he will throw his life away following it, but that is his duty. I really wish we had seen him given his heart's desire so we could see how much he treasured the things he'd given up to follow his duty.

Gorrik (and Blish)

To me, Blish's sacrifice was compelling: he asked the Commander to leave him to die so that he could power the dragon tracker with his mechanical body. He had seen a greater purpose when he met Taimi and had dedicated himself to that.

Gorrik had spent a lot of time building a golem body for his brother. That was a huge sacrifice for him because then he had to look at his brother's mind trapped inside a machine - no easy thing for anyone. But he did it because otherwise Blish would die. When Blish did actually die, Gorrik's response was a heartwrenching whisper of "but I saved him." He'd sacrificed so much so that Blish would not die, but then Blish died anyway. Even after this, however, Gorrik, continued to aid the cause when he had little to no personal stake in it: he would continue the work his brother started.

Almorra Soulkeeper

Almorra founded the Vigil to fight the dragons. The Vigil's motto is some must fight so that all may be free. This inherently implies a sacrifice; some must fight - a sacrifice that might cost your life - for the freedom of those who do not fight. Not only is it a sacrifice, it's a sacrifice for people who are not, themselves, sacrificing.

She spent nearly ten years fighting dragons that weren't the dragon she had a personal vendette with. And even after that, she kept fighting. It was after she had proven this part of herself - that she would keep sacrificing, not for revenge, but because it was the right thing to do - that she finally lost her life. It was thought that she'd fallen fighting dragon minions, that Bangar and Ryland had come along after and given her the proper respect and buried her.

But then it was discovered that she had not lost her life fighting dragons, but defending herself from Bangar and Ryland - the people who should have been her allies, the people who, despite our animosity, we had thought would have shown her kindness. It was the most unjust death - the most pointless, meaningless death - because it was not a sacrifice for something she believed in, but betrayal from those who should have acted like decent people.

~oOoOo~

So it seems the central determining factor to why I like characters is the theme of duty and dedication - revealed through sacrifice. The degree of a person's dedication can be seen through the amount the person is willing to sacrifice in pursuit of it. Because the characters are giving a thing up, we do not see how much it meant to the characters unless we give it to them despite their sacrifice and see how much they treasure the gift.

(I did not include Forgal Kernsson on this list because his sacrifice and personality never triggered emotion in me; rather I came to like him through my own writing.)

#the hobbit #wot #wheel of time #gw2 #cadfael chronicles #sacrifice #character study #multifandom #al'Lan Mandragoran #trahearne #almorra soulkeeper #brother cadfael #gorrik #blish #thorin oakenshield #finally an original post! XDD #it's been a whlie #I wrote this up in a fit of procrastination #been meaning to write since Sunday but I #repeatedly kept scrolling until I reached my time limit lol

[ascalonianpicnic]

Is there a reason you don't like taimi/gorrik? just curious cause i haven't seen anyone else dislike the ship so i don't know if there's like, any specific reason to dislike it or not :o

yeah ok so uh, to start off, it's really personal. I have a really close relationship with my older brother, he's disabled and I'm autistic so like its a really similar dynamic to what Gorrik and Blish had, and Blish and Taimi were close friends with major crushes on each other.

and I don't know if you've ever been in a situation like that anon but all of my brother's closest friends and his ex girlfriends that I liked and his wife he married recently have All felt like extra older siblings to me. even though he and i have the same taste in women, all the girls he dated, despite being my "type", just felt like older sisters. So I literally can't read Taimi and Gorrik's relationship as anything but big sister and little brother because I've been in that position and the idea of having romantic or sexual interest in any of my brother's close friends and especially someone he had a crush on? is really gross to me

like those are siblings, that's a pair of asuran siblings what the fuck why are they dating they're siblings stop making the siblings date

its just gross to me and i hate seeing it and im not very comfortable with anet making it canon. i know its maybe just a me thing but it still makes me feel gross so like please tag it so i can blacklist it

#like if gorrik and blish didn't have a super close relationship? sure thatd be fine. but they did #and if taimi and blish hadn't been super close friends? thatd be fine. but they were #but having also been the best friend of an older sibling with a close younger sibling? #how can she look at gorrik and not immediately think 'thats a whole ass child thats my younger brother now too' #probably doesn't help that i read gorrik as 5ish years younger than blish and taimi #socks talks #i'm turning reblogs off for now because i dont want people to be weird about this

[ratasum]

PART TWO, ELECTRIC BOOGALOO. This one is from @commanderthalys's tag! Dunno who to tag for this one so whoever would like to do it.

-- B A S I C S

Name: Qirri Tinkerfirst / Qirri of Pazz

Nicknames: Qiqi

Age: 15 at the start of the personal story, 26 currently

Birthday: 213 Scion 1309

Race: asura

Gender: female (cis), she/her

Orientation: Demisexual Demiromantic

Profession: Dragonwatch Krewe chief, Snaff Savant, Dynamics alumni genius first grade, pain in Rama's ass

-- P H Y S I C A L A S P E C T S

Hair: white

Eyes: pink

Skin: white (albino)

Tattoos/Scars: visible injection scars on her arms from blood draws and medical injections as a child

-- F A M I L Y

Family: Pazz (father), Tixzi (mother)

Siblings: Izza (older sister), Pyrria (older sister), Rissia (older sister), Garrus (adopted brother/bandmate)

Grandparents: unnamed

In-laws and others: Ahlma (cousin), Silas Dreadpyre (cousin-in-law), Taimi (girlfriend), Zanthe (boyfriend), Gorrik (boyfriend), Zojja (mentor)

-- S K I L L S

Abilities: Talented engineer and golemancer, known for vast array of invented medical aids.

Hobbies: Naps with Taimi, baking/cooking with Zanthe, practical entomology with Gorrik, having tea with Yao.

-- T R A I T S

Most positive trait: Extremely intelligent, clever, fast learner, enthusiastic.

Most negative trait: Bull headed, workaholic, smart mouth, easily frustrated.

-- L I K E S

Colors: Blue and gold.

Smells: That ozone smell after an experiment, the ginger green tea Yao makes

Textures: Anything that isn't too rough; always wears a soft gossamer tunic under her leather gear because of that.

Drinks: Water, peach juice, melon soda

-- O T H E R D E T A I L S

Smokes: absolutely not

Drinks: no (it interferes with her medication)

Drugs: only the ones she's prescribed

Been arrested: once, by Rama, while unconscious, and she has NEVER let him forget it

#guild wars 2 #gw2 #gw2 oc #gw2 ocs #gw2 asura #qirri tinkerfirst

[guardian-instincts-bad]

okay none of this is new information but as usual i am thinking about gorrik and arenanet just. really never considered the timeline of his life and the implications of that at all, huh

like, okay, for eod you needed him to have a relationship to ankka and you needed ankka to have connections to the aetherblades, so you threw them both in thaumanova, fine

except. thaumanova. which blew up in 1324.

and no, we don't have a canon age for gorrik. but we know taimi's age, that she was friends with blish, and that blish is older than gorrik

now. taimi didn't know that the brothers had joined the inquest. which means either they'd kept it a secret from her, or more likely, it happened after they lost touch

taimi was born in 1313, meaning that the absolute oldest she could have been when she last saw them, is ten

now sure, taimi skipped a couple years, she's a prodigy even among asura - but age really matters when you're in single digits. for blish to be a friend, rather than a mentor, he can't be much older than maybe four years above her? i'd put that as the reasonable upper limit, they could be closer

(i'd also honestly guess that gorrik is a bit younger than taimi, given a) how much he looks up to blish, and b) that taimi prior to s4 only thought of him as blish's weird little brother, they weren't friends. and again, at that young, age matters - if you're 7, your friend is 10, and his little brother is 8 or 9, your first connection to him is probably not "oh, the little brother", because he's not little to you)

but assuming im wrong on all of that, just going back to our facts, that puts gorrik at the most about 2-3 years older than taimi

which means that the age we're looking at, for joining the inquest, thaumanova, all the stuff with ankka... he was somewhere between 9 and 13. could be even younger but im giving him the benefit of the doubt

gorrik says he never thought about ankka romantically and i believe him, but if there was ever anything there from her side, it was definitely a kiddie's first crush kinda thing, like oh we are a boy and a girl who are best friends clearly this is what romance means

because both of them were so fucking young

god knows spending her teenage years in the aetherblades was not great for ankka's everything, and by the time we find gorrik and blish in bug in the system, they've been working for the inquest for at least 8 years

that's almost half his life, at that point. working for an organisation that the thaumanova fractal and rata primus make incredibly clear does not value the lives of its workers in any way at all - they'll feed you to their latest experiment just for standing there, and gorrik wasn't just keeping his head down and going along with it, gorrik was actively sabotaging their research when he morally disagreed with it

(and this isn't even getting into why they joined the inquest in the first place, which i will bet anything i own on being because of blish's illness and needing the technology to save him)

and to their credit, i do think this comes across in bug in the system! because if you go back to early gorrik, first half of s4, having played through the rest of the story? the difference is shocking, like he is so distrusting and snide and defensive as hell of his brother, he talks like he expects you to attack him or blish at any moment

but then they never do anything with that ever again, and like, i love all the new gorrik content, genuinely i do, but arenanet there are layers to this character that you have entirely forgotten about, and god i wish we had a story that actually explored that

#my friends have heard me give this rant so many times already but tumblr hasn't! #so i need to post it bc it is driving me insane again #asura trio forever in my heart #also i've joked a lot about how funny it is that rama is literally the only npc in the gyala story who's not an engineer #rama also the only person in this mine (bar the commander) who isn't jade brotherhood former jade brotherhood or former inquest #even funnier when my commander is a former aetherblade #like hi rama sorry you are the only person here who can take the moral high ground ever #this is the demon mine of We've All Done Some Shit Okay Get Over It XD #gw2 #gorrik #ankka #taimi #blish

[elder-dragon]

Benedicuore | Master of the Forge

He/Him

1325 birth year - Cycle of Dawn

Engineer - Holosmith

“Dusk” timeline

A very, very unlucky Sylvari and the duskbloom big brother of Commander Lucilaeh. He supported her through Gavin's betrayal. After seeing the heartbreak her first Wyld Hunt led her to, he wanted the two of them to go off and be Soundless, but when she refused, he left alone.

As part of the Soundless village on the Weeping Isle, he was their main Engineer, having picked up some skills from memories of Asuran technology while in the Dream. He mostly built turrets and weapons for defending against Courtiers, but was ultimately captured by the Hemlock Coil group.

The main Courtier in charge of torturing him, Nepenth (who belongs to @/icebrooding), (un)fortunately had an unusual method of torture involving releasing his prisoners and hunting them down. It was on one such session that Ben escaped into the hands of a passing Charr, the Vigil member Severa, who updated him on Luci's exploits as the freshly named Commander of the Pact. Ben then joined the Pact through the Priory and would stay there until the Mordremoth campaign when he, like many other Pact Sylvari, were corrupted into Mordrem.

The next thing he knew was Luci taking him out of a cloning pod after Mordremoth's defeat. He'd spend the time from S3 to S4 recovering (and getting mild Bloodstone poisoning at some point, he's REALLY not a lucky guy but also THANKS SEIMUR) before officially joining Dragon's Watch. He would from then on be part of Taimi and Blish and Gorrik's team and very much crushing on Gorrik.

As of End of Dragons, he would mostly stay with Taimi and Joon while Lucilaeh was off saving the world one final time.

✿✿✿

Tags: Character / Inspiration

#beaarts #my character profiles #benedicuore

[commanderthalys]

More sad WLB thoughts, especially her and Amel during this.

She has hallucinations of him, those are really cruel. They start off normal, she’s wondering how he’s here, isn’t he with Taimi? And he reassures her, he kisses her very softly, and then speaks. He finds her annoying and a thorn in his side. He’s better than her at being the commander. He could disguise himself as her right now, and take her role, and no one would notice. She’s only ever been an obstacle when it comes to saving people, he can do it better without her. He keeps her around out of pity. The hallucination says this so sweetly, so tenderly, in a way that Amel never would.

So when she wakes up after attacking her brother and sees him sitting right by her, she doesn’t believe that’s him at first.

And it breaks his heart.

She wakes up and he’s so relieved to see her he doesn’t even care that there’s others around, he hugs her right there and kisses her, and she tries to escape him. Pushing him away, mocking him, scared that more cruelty will come from his lips.

It never does.

Amel’s biggest fear is rejection. He’s much better about it now, but in that moment, his best friend and partner physically tried to fight him to get away from him. That stung deep, and he left her alone for a bit, to calm himself, and let her breathe. They make up shortly after, and they don’t leave each other’s side for the rest of the mission. Amel’s also pretty pissed at Gorrik, having seen firsthand how badly the haze messed with her head.

#this episode has me torturing my poor salads #gw2 #guild wars 2 #what lies beneath #eod #thalys #amelarius

[mistfallengw2]

TIME FOR MORE BARELY COHERENT RAMBLES

On the topic of Aurelia being "not a mother but weirdly motherly" towards others, I want to point out that in her mind that means making extra sure they're looking after themselves (food, sleep, being safe), that they know how to fight just in case, that they can ask her to help with anything, instinctively prioritizing their well-being during combat, and of course awkwardly hovering around them if she feels like they could need help (words are hard so that's the next best thing). That's a given with Adamas and he's the only one she's forward about it (calling him son and so on), but what makes it extra amusing to me is that she ended up with more "kids" than expected by consistently acting like that regardless of her being Commander-levels of busy. [under readmore because it got long oops]

- Aurene is as close to a daughter to her as an elder dragon can, to the point she and Adamas (and Tocchix by proxy) refer to each other as siblings. Aurelia has complex feelings about it due to external factors (mostly self-doubt and such), but surprisingly she's overall okay with it, at least in private.

- Tocchix is in the previously mentioned awkward spot of being her son's adoptive brother, and she genuinely cares for him beyond what's expected in regards to Adamas's wellbeing. On Tocchix's side, things are similar and he admires her a lot, and he quickly settled on considering her extended family, akin to Alyt (who he calls his aunt for simplicity).

- Markus was the first to help her after she tumbled out of the Mists, and he did so in spite of her being almost feral due to the trauma of it all. In turn that sparked lots of motherly and protective feelings towards that kid who has now grown up into a fine Lionguard, but it'd be weird for a charr to consider a human like a son, right? As for Markus, you could refer to Aurelia as his mother and he'd need a few long seconds to register what you said (to be fair, for a long time he did want her to stay at the farm and become his second mother).

- Taimi jokes a lot about her acting like a mother and fretting about her health because it's annoying to her, but she also likes seeing Aurelia being a softie in general. To Aurelia, that's just looking out for her like anyone should (you gotta make sure all soldiers can keep up, especially if younger or wounded), and seeing her grow up in spite of her difficulties made her particularly attached to the young prodigy. She likes listening to her ramble about stuff beyond her ability to comprehend.

- Braham is in a weird spot, because she doesn't want to be Eir's substitute, but she does feel like she has to take on the role to make amends for failing to save her. Braham obviously had a lot to unpack in the mommy issues department, and Aurelia was "okay" with letting him unleash his grievances on her (something something she feels like Adamas should have done that with her, so that feels deserved in her mind), though she did draw the line when he put himself in danger. Now that things are settled, the dynamic is healthier and he does genuinely consider her as the mother figure that is there when he needs it, and jokes about it are not uncommon (picked it up from Taimi).

- All of the above's partners get gradually included in the motherly treatment by extention. It's in the name after all, you know, children in-law. Still, it's often done to a more awkward degree, because she's more intentional with it. Maeveryl likes her so they don't mind (HoT was a rough time, but in hindsight they appreciated her being realistic about things), Deryn thinks she's awesome (and she's used to having additional parental figures anyway), Huki was a bit intimidated at first but now thinks it's a cute thing (and pushes Tocchix to be more forward with her), Fynn and Kai find it funny (mostly because they can poke fun at Markus for it), Gorrik is Gorrik (Aurelia did try to show interest in bugs one time, and now he eagerly prepares lectures in advance). - Ellara called her mommy once as a joke and she never recovered.

#Aurelia is basically that “batman orphan birds” pic. I still need to draw her like that #rambles #Aurelia Dragonwings

[wisp-of-chaos]

Asura Appreciation Week - Day Two

Do you have an Inquest OC? @asura-appreciation-corner

I do have an Inquest OC! His name is Pwizz and he's a necromancer and interrogator. There's no keeping secrets from him and if you manage to withstand his torture with closed lips, well he'll just ressurect your body and force you to tell him what he wants to know, so don't even try resiting him.

He has some history with Dillyn (they were boyfriends, oh no) but later on had a nasty break-up, followed by Dillyn becoming Co-Commander with Rerki and Errube while Pwizz rose in the Inquest ranks.

He met with Gorrik and Blish and became a sort of older brother figute for them end ended up at Rata Primus, where he eventually met with Dillyn again.

He joined Dragon's Watch and assisted in the attack on Joko and tiptoed closer to Dillyn because he never really stopped caring & loving him.

And because I'm a sucker for happy ends, they get together again eventually, after all the drama and killing and near world destruction.

Why did he end up with the Inquest, you may ask? Well the short answer is: his parents. They always expected him to expell at everything, causing him lots of stress and trauma and he ended up running away from them, only to find himself in the welcoming arms of Kuda, his first friend who didn't push and press him to do things he didn't like/want to do.

She was the first person that acceted him for him just being him and when she asked if he'd liked to join her and her father in the Inquest, well why should he say no to his newly found family?

It took him a long while to break out of his mindset that nobody but them would ever accept him (Dillyn played a big role in that) but he eventually managed to change his ways and mindset and grew more and more uncomfortable with his job & position.

By the time Rata Prime happened, he was already planning on leaving the Inquest.

That's roughly all I have for him since he's rather new and not at all that fleshed out yet so things may change for him but that's the core of his character so far!

#random rambling #gaming #guild wars 2 #gw2 #AsuraAppreciationWeek #oc stuff #oc post #pwizz

[allthelittlecreepycrawlies]

Time for another incredibly indulgent post on the incredibly indulgent blog and if you didn't see this crossover coming already, you haven't been here long.

Anyway. Awhile back, I mentioned in an ask response that one of the stupidly indulgent things I would love to do is rewrite an old request to more blatantly be a crossover (since the only outside-one-canon character that appeared was my player character, it didn't much count, because she was easy to disguise), so here's an extension of the concept! (Also, most of my followers on this blog are from the MDZS side, so my GW2 reference links are for them. Cool? Cool.)

Gorrik and Taimi (the two pipsqueaks on the right) with assistance from a very understanding Commander and Shade (my sylvari twin girls) venture into The Mists to see if there's anything left of Blish's golem body that can be recovered for a memorial. They find the right area, but it's super wrecked from when Kralkatorrik arrived. Gorrik insists on searching anyway, and the others aren't going to tell him no.

Because the Dragonbrand in Ascalon and Elona didn't just vanish when Kralkatorrik died, I'm assuming his magic has some ontological inertia, so a Brandstorm kicks up while the small group is searching. Gorrik and Taimi get separaed from the Sisters and wind up getting tossed by the winds through a small rift.

Dazed, disoriented, and possibly injured, the pair drag themselves out of the bushes they landed in, only to find they've landed next to a hunting camp inhabited by a bunch of humans who look and dress somewhat similar to Canthans.

(cut to spare dashboard scrolling)

Either by magic or by sheer luck, there's (barely) enough language similarity for Taimi to (sort of) tell these strangers that they're not monsters or looking for a fight, that there's been an accident and they just want to go home.

The humans confer amongst themselves before one is sent off to grab-

"Reinforcements?" "Just their leader... I think. I hope."

Meanwhile, Nie Huaisang has been having a very weird week thanks to reports of strange purple lights and lightning in otherwise cloudless skies. Given the particular colors, he's still contemplating whether or not to contact the Jiang sect about this when a messenger arrives from the camp on the southeast side of the mountains, saying that two weird small creatures fell out of one of the holes made by the purple lightning and are asking for parley... sort of.

Curious despite himself, Nie Huaisang saddles up a horse and follows him back.

Those are indeed small weird creatures. But he's willing to hear them out, since they waited without trying to flee or attack his disciples.

It takes a combo of talking, little tiny glowing pictures coming out of the creatures' gauntlets, and drawing pictures on paper, but he manages to work out most of the story.

And... well... if anyone can understand being a younger brother desperate to bring even the tiniest piece of his big brother home, it's Nie Huaisang.

An arrangement is made where, as long as they don't make trouble and help with the unwanted light shows, Gorrik and Taimi can stay in a little-used room of the Unclean Realms while they try to find their way home or wait for rescue, since they're adamant that the Sisters will not just leave them.

And their conviction proves accurate. Only two weeks later, two more strangers arrive at the gates of the Unclean Realms. One woman(?) resembles a flower vine and the other the aftermath of a forest fire, but their faces are identical down to a mirrored burn scar.

Taimi and Gorrik are overjoyed and relieved to see them, and introduce the Nies to their Commander (the forest fire) and Shade (the flower vine), Cloeme and Sinnigia, who were assisted in getting there by Aurene, who is waiting to bring everyone home.

Nie Huaisang is caught off guard when Cloeme (having been told by Taimi) mentions his brother and the fact that Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao's fierce corpses are still trapped together in the coffin under the rebuilt temple.

"Would you like me to guide them on their way?" she asks, or he thinks she asks, since her and her sister's accents are even more difficult to understand than the creatu- asuras'.

"You... can do that?"

"I would be willing to try. I have some experience with the unusual when it comes to death," she says with a smile, prompting a snort from her twin and winces from the asuras.

"That's extremely generous of you, isn't it?" Nie Huaisang notes, unable to keep himself from being wary.

"Not at all. Your kindness-" Hahaha, when was the last time anyone called him kind and not in the 'too stupid to know better' way? "-means that we have two less names to memorialize. Two souls for two souls, hm?"

Well...

Well, then.

He's not so sure he wants to let Jin Guangyao move on, but if the Commander's "unusual experience" and the oddities of Tyrian magic can solve the problem he's found no solution to, who is he to look a gift horse in the mouth?

He takes the offer.

#mdzs #gw2 #crossover #ideas #nie huaisang #nie sect #gorrik #taimi #cannonballing into full-fledged I Do What I Want territory

[wisp-enclosure]

6, 7, 13 and 20 for the catrats! :D

6. Are they always on schedule or do they easily lose track of time?

Kudo is, as one would imagine for someone as high strung as he is, the punctual one of the two. It's almost as if he thinks being late would kill him (and given his past it might have been a possibility).

Lu though? Lmaoooo good luck. Time means nothing to Lu. She has to be reminded when to eat or else entire chunks of her day will be gone. She's been scolded by Kudo more than a couple of times about it. She can't help it, she's in the zone.

7. If asked to list a few fun facts about themself, what would they say?

Kudo will stammer a bit but be otherwise normal about it. He'll list his various intellectual accomplishments, some """fun""" facts ("I died once. That's interesting, I would imagine."), and very deftly dodge any reference to his lineage.

Lu has. Issues with her self image. Being a unique individual with wants and needs and dreams. So her facts are like, TECHNICALLY about herself but not. She'll talk about the specs of the things she's made which isn't really about herself.

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

Does each other count? Kudo, begrudgingly, would like to get closer to Gorrik, if only because he knows he and Taimi are a thing and as her pseudo brother/former guardian post-HoT he knows he will have to deal with that at some point. Gorrik can sometimes get under his skin sometimes, but it's mostly a Kudo's baggage thing because Gorrik doesn't like, shout from the rafters how much he hates the Inquest. Projection.

Lu meanwhile is cautiously curious about what Efram's got cooking up for Flame. Given that's where she was born and raised for a good chunk of her early childhood she's wary but...hopeful. He seems to have genuine intentions. And plus he's got a thing going on with her half-brother Gaius so. Somewhat of a similar situation that Kudo has with Gorrik.

20. Any song(s) that you feel represent your character best? (bonus: would *they* like this/these song(s)?)

Kudo's got a few songs I think represent him pretty good. The first is still feel. by half•alive. Recently I've been introduced to Explode! by Mother Mother and I think that fits pretty good too.

Lu's has been Silver Lining by Hurts for a pretty long time. Heavy In Your Arms by Florence And The Machine also but that's more "Lu and her feelings vis-a-vis Kudo" focused.

[brightwingedbat]

Commander Nastazya 27 - What Lies Beneath

(This story involves spoilers from Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons.)

(Also VERY LONG)

---

Commander Nastazya - What Lies Beneath - 1335 AE

It's a regular day at Commander Nastazya Ragewelder's home in Lion's Arch, sunny weather, a nice temperature. Both her and her mate Marcus Furyclash in their typical casual clothing, not doing much at all. Nothing could go better for them both, by all means they should be having a good time.

And yet…

Marcus' mind is still stewing on the thoughts of his brother Tantalus being alive, and how much he changed. How much he regrets not being there for him, and maybe he could've saved his brother from the life he was forced to live, a better life where the two of them could watch each of their sons grow. The thoughts echo in his mind as he gazes out to the sea from the breezy window.

Nastazya herself is still caught up in recent events, the shock of her kidnapped cub she rescued, and her old primus losing his tail and retiring. And then there's the thoughts of her wanting another cub, but unsure if she should go ahead, there's no telling what'll be in the future… Her role as Commander doesn't help with that either, it's still a hefty responsibility weighing on her.

They're both truly exhausted despite not doing all that much, and neither of them know what to do about it. That is until they both suddenly get a letter of invitation, from Rama of all people. It's an invitation to a party, seems Rama also has been finding the quiet a bit much lately and invited Dragon's Watch and other friends.

The two don't have anything better to do, plus it'll be a nice time to catch up with people again. They both agree to head on their way, but they do decide to go pick up some Ironbrew from the Black Citadel, a nice gift for Rama for setting up the party. Waypoint teleports and magic scrolls make for some quick travel.

---

The two arrive at the Red Duck Tea House in Cantha, and as they approach, hear Rama and Gorrik talk about how busy Marjory and Taimi are. On entering they realise that it's only Rama and Gorrik there, no one else has arrived. Curious, is everyone else really that busy?

Gorrik quickly greets the two when he sees them, but also comments on the two of them looking very exhausted. Strange, he thinks. Given the relative absence of world-ending threats he thought they would both appear far more relaxed, and yet that's far from the truth.

The charr simply brush it off, saying that it's nothing, just a bit tired after some recent events. They're sure the party will help ease their minds though, at least, they hope so.

Idle talks between the four reveal that everyone one else is too busy to be able to attend the party, despite all the food and drink Rama had ordered. It's just them, much to Rama's fierce disappointment. The gift from Marcus and Nastazya does help raise his spirits somewhat.

After a while of enjoying the food and refreshments, they finally bring to topic of the stack of papers on the table. Gorrik apparently sent in paperwork to start the Friends Detective Agency consisting of him and Rama, to the latter's disapproval of the name, but it's done now.

Aside from that, Gorrik gets a communicator call from Taimi, who apologises for not being able to attend the gathering. But she has news, the Jade Brotherhood have dug up something potentially very bad in Gyala Delve, which Gorrik calls an opportunity. The perfect time to gain some exposure as a detective company! Yao is also in the call too, and will be heading there.

Of course, the Commander and Lightbringer decide to also tag along with them. Things have been rather quiet for them, and they could do with the activity. That said, they don't seem all that enthused about it, something is making them hesitant… No point in dwelling on it further though, there's a problem and as always they're around to fix it.

They set off to the location of the mining trams at the east side of New Kaineng, but not before Marcus summons their packs of armour from a Mist rift, a small trick he's learned in recent time. Nastazya attires herself in her typical gladiatorial gear with her dual axes and greatsword, Marcus's gear is also mostly the same, but he has a new top similar to what Braham used to wear many years ago when they first met him.

Once at the trams, they take a lengthy ride to Gyala Delve, falling asleep during the ride at that too. They really must be exhausted…

---

On arrival to the jade quarries, they find not a single Jade Brotherhood member anywhere. Going further in they find Rama and Gorrik checking on an unconscious human. A short discussion on the place being essentially a ghost town, a scream interrupts them, immediately identified as Yao.

Nastazya and Marcus rush to the source of the sound, to find Yao struggling with a jade golem. A short bout with it allows Yao to get to fixing it up, they also tell the Commander that Chul-Moo is missing. The two charr split to question the Brotherhood around the quarry areas.

All information comes together as things are going very wrong, strange whispers, people acting odd. Very notably, a very thick haze within the mines. And once more just as they finished questioning they hear yet another scream, it's no shock to the two, they mutter complaints about do the Brotherhood all communicate by screaming?

Yao joins them too, together the three find Chul-Moo injured but awake beside a rock wall. As they're checking on him, a crazed Brotherhood member knows as Jin-Lee attacks them. Quickly, Nastazya and Marcus subdue the mad human, not that he's a match for either of them.

Once they're all safe, they talk with Chul-Moo about what's happening, and again it just adds more merit to the gossip of the other Brotherhood members. Yao suggests to Nastazya and Marcus about scoping out the inner parts of the mine, while also advising them about the Jade Bot filters available from the jade tech stands around.

Nastazya and Marcus decide splitting up and searching would do better than together, they have the communicators to keep in touch anyway if anything goes bad. And so, the charr delve further each armed with a jade tech scanner. Time to see what all this haze is about.

The air is thick within the massively open mines, and even more unsettlingly is the haze has an appearance not dissimilar to Void. Further scans find it composed of dragon magic like Aurene's, but with something else added to it… Gorrik confirms that Aurene says the Void is subdued, so whatever this is is something else, something wrong.

Curiously, Nastazya's breathing seems faster than normal and she starts hearing voices she shouldn't through the communicator when talking to Gorrik. Almorra Soulkeeper's voice, that can't be possible she thinks. Must just be static, can't be anything else. Marcus doesn't seem to hear any of these voices either, perhaps a merit of his experience as a Revenant.

Despite the voices, Nastazya continues the work, Marcus joining her once more as they test blocks of jade on globs of haze accumulating. Once done, they report the results to Gorrik who seems fascinated by them. Nastazya however asks Gorrik if he heard any other voices on their call, he assumes it might just be more Brotherhood interference.

Almorra's voice comes through the communicator to Nastazya's ears once again. "You… Always seeing monsters where there are none."

Ragewelder's ears flatten down and her breath halts, fear plain on her face. "I- I have to go." She mutters before putting the communicator away.

Marcus looks worriedly at his mate, a paw on her shoulder, she jerks up at the touch. "Naz? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing… Nothing. I'm fine." She responds with a slight heave to her breathing. Definitely not a good look for Furyclash to see.

"…You're clearly not, but alright. Let's finish up here first, this air here's real bad, might be that." Marcus says rather worriedly, he keeps close to his partner as he urges her to walk on further into the mines. He knows better than to try draw out an answer from her when she's like this.

"Y-yeah. Right."

---

The two travel deeper into the mines, meeting up once again with Gorrik, Rama and Yao. Plus Yao's jade mech Finn. As they go further in, with the help of Finn's explosives breaking down a rock wall, the group seem to be arguing amongst each other. Mainly Rama and Yao, while Gorrik tries to pacify them.

Marcus is too busy watching over Nastazya, until a demon ambushes them. Much to Marcus' horror, thanks to Mallyx in his head during the Void outbreak he's earned himself a deep phobia of the things. Ragewelder is quick to jump to the offense, removing the threat before it has a chance to hurt anyone, especially her partner who breathes a sigh of relief.

The attack manages to stop the arguing, which gives Gorrik a chance to ask Nastazya about the voices over the comms. She brushes it off, saying he was right about it just being interference while avoiding his gaze. The asura takes note of that, clearly she's not telling the truth.

Regardless, they need to continue further on, and encounter another odd demon with a void-like humanoid shape and white crackles around it. Together they all take it down, it seems to choke as it vanishes, with Nastazya taking a deep gasp of air at the same time.

When asked if she's alright, she mutters that it felt like she got the wind knocked out of her. Marcus doesn't waste a second to swap to Ventari in his head, administering a pulse of healing to his mate. A thankful nod from her, and yet more trodding towards the deepest part of the delve.

The tunnel opens up into a wide rocky area with three raised circular stone platforms in a vague mushroom-like shape, and above them swirls the unmistakeable energies of a Ley Line. Gorrik is quick to investigate, the jade this deep is absolutely thrumming with pure energy, charged by the Ley Line itself. The asura says he needs to get a closer look, which prompts Yao to get Finn to deploy a set of jade ziplines.

The moment they land on the first surface and walk forth, a hulking dark bipedal beast with a tentacled face and sharp claws appears. Rama immediately shouts out. "Oni!"

Suddenly it melts into a puddle of shadow, the puddles spread to each of the three stone platforms, a cloaked man rises from each. The same demon that vanished, but split apart. Gorrik claims it must be deceiving their senses and blurring reality, they have to split up to take it out. Rama and Yao head on to the other two platforms with Finn's ziplines, while Gorrik is aided by both Nastazya and Marcus.

The cloaked demon summons puddles of concentrated haze, bursting out in spirals around it. It focuses on repeatedly doing this over and over, while the three fighters all avoid the fierce, debilitating magics. Gorrik keeps up his holosmith defences, while Nastazya and Marcus go on an onslaught.

But just as they seem close to overwhelming it, their visions go darker, and suddenly they can only see the stone platform surrounded by the haze…

Nastazya's gaze darts around, Gorrik and Marcus have vanished… "Gorrik? Marcus?!" She calls out and receives no response, instead another being forms at the centre of the platform. Her eye widens in shock, a sight of someone long dead.

Forgal Kernsson, her partner in the Vigil, lost at Claw Island. The injured norn dissapointedly mutters. "You were special… one of the bravest warmasters in my order… Now that's changed, my friend."

"Wh-what…?" A slight sting to her heart, she shakes her head and quickly recovers her poise. "No, this is a trick. The demon's doing this."

More apparitions appear around the platform, slowly advancing towards Forgal in the centre. The haze seems to get thicker the closer they get, there's no doubt about it. Nastazya needs to protect him.

At the same time, Marcus also finds himself alone in a haze-filled platform. Going through much the same as his mate is, only this time he's given none other than Tybalt Leftpaw.

The disabled charr lays weakly at the centre, the same place that Forgal was. "You should be a little kinder to lost, broken things."

"Tybs…? But I am, I do care! I even lost use of my right paw like you!" Furyclash bellows out worriedly, it's now he notices the encroaching apparitions. "Kalla, you seeing this?"

The spirit's voice raises in his mind, serious given the matter at hand. (I am, but this doesn't seem right. I am using your eyes after all, if it's what you see, I see it too.)

"Yeah, it's not right. The demon probably, bastard. Gotta protect Tybs. Help me out here Razors!" Marcus calls, the spirits of Kalla's warband form to aid in fending off the monsters.

Clashing axes and greatsword, raining arrows and a spirit onslaught. Every apparition is reduced to dust, even though the two charr couldn't see each other, they were fighting the same opponents the whole time. The haze weakens, bringing them back out of the hallucination, with Gorrik successfully holding his own against the weakened encloaked demon. He's amidst shouting out. "Can you hear me? Yao wants you over on their platform. They need back up!"

Nastazya is quick to rush out a hissing remark, still focusing on the demon. "I know what you're doing. Using my mentor against me. You're pathetic."

Marcus keeps his muzzle shut, still getting his bearings after the shift back to reality. Kalla's warband dissipates back.

The asura ends up taken somewhat aback by Ragewelder's sudden outburst, he had been calling out to her the entire time with no response only to hear this now… "Commander? We'll talk later, I promise. Yao needs you now, okay?"

"Huh? Yao? Yes. Right." Nastazya snaps back from her rage, she glances over to the rather confused looking mate of hers. There's no time to question or answer, Yao needs help. "Let's go."

"…Uh, yeah." Furyclash feels much the same, no time to discuss. He soon follows his partner up the jade zipline to the jade tech engineer's platform.

"Help! I can't keep this up for much longer!" Yao shouts out desperately, they're barely fending off the demon's attacks…

"Sorry, Yao. Got out of sorts for a moment…" Nastazya utters apologetically, she and Marcus go to charge in to battle, but just as they get close they're drawn once more into the thick haze. Marcus and Yao vanish from Nastazya's sight, and instead she hears another voice…

"It's good to see you here." The silhouette at the centre of the platform becomes Eir Stegalkin, looking as wounded as she was before she was impaled by a vinetooth.

"STOP!" Nastazya inadvertently bellows out with a deep sorrow weaved in her voice. A harsh grimace forms upon her face as mordrem apparitions begin to appear, and go for Eir.

While she's fighting with all her strength, the illusory norn continues on to berate the Commander. "These people love you… You don't care…"

For some reason, these words bite harder than ever before. Ragewelder has to hold back her tears, she doesn't know why this is striking so harshly… "You know that's not true…" She utters mournfully, trying to keep her mind away from it amidst the demon's battle.

Marcus however only sees Yao vanish, but soon feels a pit in his stomach from the next sight. It's Nastazya, wounded and laying at the centre. "Naz-!" He calls out, but soon his attention falls more on the approaching demons. They're too fast, he needs to prevent them getting closer now, summoning the warband once again.

Nastazya hisses out hatefully, fangs bared. "Abandoning me once again, just like when you chased after Rytlock! Leaving me alone, to deal with everything myself! What kind of a mate are you?"

"N-Nastazya…?" This catches the revenant heavily off guard, his breath halts as he stares back at her. "But- But I- I didn't mean to…"

(Marcus, the demons!) Kalla roars in his head, pulling him back to the task at hand. He fires another volley of mist-rift arrows at a nearby demon, but he's losing concentration.

Ragewelder growls, glaring deeply at her mate. "You'll just leave me to die, like you did with Balthazar. You let him free, you killed me! I had to get myself back, and here I am about to lose everything again! It's all your fault! You could never protect me! Not even against Bangar!"

The words rattle Marcus straight to his core, tearing at him from within. "No, no, NO- I WON'T-! You're my everything, I couldn't bear losing you! I'll keep you safe, I promise! I promise! Please don't say this, please-!" He pleads with all his heart, tears already drip from his eyes, it's affecting his aim. Has Nastazya really felt this way the entire time? "I'm fighting, see! I'm still fighting for you!"

"For how long, until I die agai-" The voice is cut off as the haze weakens once more, Nastazya is standing with her greatsword heavy in her grip, an acute sadness in her eye. None of the wounds which were present to Marcus' eyes on her any longer.

Furyclash gazes in a heartrent expression, was that the haze doing that? Did she really say any of it? "Naz…?" He mutters out in a weak voice, looking on edge to burst into a sob.

Ragewelder isn't taking notice, recovering from her own experience. "I never wanted to hurt them. Eir…"

Marcus finds himself utterly silent, unable to act. Both he and his mate are stock silent. Only interrupted by Yao's next shout.

"Finn, shield Rama! Quick!"

"Defense engaged, The "Rama" has been shielded." The jade mech responds robotically, having jetted itself up to the final platform to set up the barrier. A massive wave of haze explodes from over it, with the shield breaking from the force, knocking the robot down.

"Commander, 'the Rama' could really use you over here!" The detective yells, having sustained some damage from the burst of haze.

Nastazya's focus goes entirely on Rama here, she quickly makes for the jade zipline up, rushing over to Finn and Rama. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" Her voice is on the edge of breaking, the haze is taking more of a toll on her.

Furyclash finally snaps to his senses on seeing her travel up to help Rama, he's not going to prove those words right. He needs to stay by his mate, he needs to keep her safe.

"Less apologizing, more helping!" Rama groans, before finally getting back to his footing with Nastazya taking the demon's attention.

"Do you see them, too?" Ragewelder asks, pure desperation in her voice. She needs an answer, this is tearing at her.

"Yeah. We're fighting them. What are you talking about?" Rama questions, all he's been seeing is the cloaked demon that originally split in three.

The haze starts to grow thicker once again, the others around vanish as a dreadfully familiar voice calls out. "I'm just passing through…"

"NO!" The utter pain that sparks through Nastazya's chest… A person to cut the deepest, an inspiration. A mentor. A friend. A hero. Almorra Soulkeeper.

"We need to talk… So many lives lost…" The wounded spectre hisses, glaring at the Commander.

"There was no other way…" Ragewelder's voice passes the point of breaking, this is getting too much, she can't hold it back any longer.

"I was nothing to you. You'll be the end of the charr!" More scathing remarks from Soulkeeper, made to cut into Nastazya's heart, to rive open her wounds.

Almorra was so much to her, the reason she got this far. To hear that from her, it's shattering. "That's not fair! I did everything I could! Almorra!" Her voice cracks as she shouts her old friend's name, tears stream down her cheeks. "I've put my all into doing what I can for everyone! All that I have! Everyone takes a piece from me- I DIDN'T ASK TO BE THE COMMANDER!!" She manages to bring forth her rage, her deepest rage against herself. And with it, strikes forth at the demons approaching Almorra.

Marcus isn't brought in to hallucination this time, he hears every word his mate speaks, and puts his all into trying to get her back. "Nastazya! It's not Almorra, it's the demon! You've got to snap out of it! Naz!" He calls and calls, but he's not getting through to her. All he can do is fight off the demons…

(The quicker we take this thing out, the quicker Nastazya goes to her usual self. Quickly, summon the- Demons!) Kalla's voice suddenly shifts, a most horrifying voice, deep and raspy. Unnatural…

Marcus, amidst summoning Kalla's warband, finds his fur stand on end. His ears flatten down and his tail curls beneath him. That horrible voice at the end… His eyes see what he summons, and it is not the spirits of charr. It is yet more demons, his wide eyes stare in pure fear. "No no no no no-!"

(You can't hold me forever, your body will be my vessel to take.) The venomous words of a great evil echo in his head, Mallyx the Unyielding.

Furyclash staggers back, holding on to his head, riving at it with both claw and metal. "NO! NO! GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" A streak of blood drips down his forehead, from none other than his own doing.

Rama stares at both of the charr, one is uncharacteristically fighting in a fit of melancholy, the other is literally clawing through his own skin. "Hey, what is going on with you two?!" He questions in an outburst, still struggling against the demon.

Yao and Gorrik both finish off with their split demons, arriving up to assist the others in the battle against the last. Yao approaches up next to Marcus, trying to rouse him from whatever it is he's doing. "Marcus? What are you-"

"STAY BACK!" Furyclash roars, backing away from the engineer. The demon's voice is echoing loudly in his head, threatening to take over, against and again. "Mallyx is in my head! It's not safe! RRRGH! GET! OUT!"

(YOU. ARE. MINE-!)

Furyclash snarls upsettingly, cowering away from his friends. He doesn't know what to do, he can't get it out. The voice is always there, digging in deeper, until…

(Marcus! Don't listen to it!) Mallyx's voice is torn away, replaced by another, a familiar voice…

"Wh-what…? That can't…" It manages to break him out of the hallucination, there's no demons he summoned, there's no demon in his head. Only… "Tybalt?"

(No fear, like you showed me on Claw Island! You can do this, I know you can!) It's clear as day, Tybalt Leftpaw, spurring him onward.

Back to his senses, he can't let himself fall to any more of the oni's tricks. "Right, Naz needs me." He glances to Yao, nodding affirmedly. "I'm good, oni messing with my head. An old friend snapped me out of it, now then…" He nocks an arrow, it soars accurately to one of the last encroaching demons, more accurate than he usually is.

(Perfect shot, just like me and my rifle!)

The felling of that demon reduces the haze once more, pulling Nastazya out of the hallucination. But she's still looking distraught. Fighting wildly, charging right at the now uncloaked oni. "No more, no more…!"

It stabs at Marcus to see her like this, he's never, ever seen her fight in such a desperate way. Not full of sorrow like this. "It's gonna be fine, Naz! I'm here!"

There's no response to him, she's locked away in a fierce onslaught. An effective one though, she's tearing away at the demon and barely giving it a chance to fight back. The beast learning first hand what happens when you enhance the emotions of a charr who fights with her rage.

With the other four joining in, it's a short matter of time before the beast is finally fallen.

And yet…

There's little time to cheer, as the oni floats from the floor and begins to recover all its wounds. Absorbing the ley line energies directly.

The others seem ready to fight once more, but not Ragewelder. She starts hyperventilating, the haze here is thick, she can barely breathe right. She falls to a knee, grasping her throat. And slowly, starts losing consciousness.

"Naz! Nastazya!" Marcus quickly runs to her side, holding an arm around her front, trying to prop her up. After the words he's been given from earlier, he's scared more than ever.

Rama doesn't want to take any chances here, he orders the others. "Let's get out of here! Now! The Commander's blacking out! We need to get her and go!"

Nastazya's hearing becomes fuzzy, as does her vision. The last things she hears, in the voice of Almorra Soulkeeper and Eir Stegalkin. (You haven't changed a bit. Killing and corrupting, it's what you were born to do.)

Her vision goes black.

---

Nastazya stirs, the light assaults her opening eye, and something tightly clenches around her paw. She glances over, to see her tear-filled mate's face. "…Marc?"

A huge gasp of relief comes from Furyclash, he immediately leans down over her, embracing around her. "Nastazya… I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry…"

"Wh- Hey, It's alright, I'm fine. See? C'mon." Ragewelder utters softly, trying to sit herself up, barely managing to get Marcus up too. She notices Gorrik, Rama and Yao are standing nearby watching too.

Truthfully, Marcus' apologies come from the blame thrown at him from the demon encounter, the failing to protect her. The demon was right, he did fail her again. "But I, I didn't protect you, again…"

"That… Don't beat yourself up over it. I wasn't much help, was I…?" She admits sadly, she can't look at him in the face, she barely noticed he was even there when Almorra showed up.

"Burn me, I could say the same here. That demon was…" Marcus shakes his head, he doesn't know what to say. He is at least gladdened his mate seems well.

At this, Gorrik clears his throat to get their attention. "Ahem, apologies for interrupting but- We were discussing what's next while Marcus was watching over you. Taimi called."

"And I'm still here!" She announces from the communicator without hesitation.

"Ah, yes. Well, Joon was angry, but thrilled about the energy source! We just need to lure that demon away, and we have some ideas! But they…" Gorrik hesitates, he knows the Commander won't like it.

Nastazya sits up properly, with Marcus beside her. Her brow furrows as she looks to the asura. "What is it?"

"We, uh… We're going to have to do some neuro-parasitological investigation, the demon seemed particularly attracted to you. Given it appears to prey on traumatic memories, this may be… Difficult." The asura admits.

Nastazya falls silent, she feels Marcus embrace her once again. Her tail swishes uncomfortably behind her as her ears droop. "…If that's what it takes."

Taimi speaks from the communicator once more. "Sorry, Commander. But it is important work. I'll fill Joon in. Keep us posted if you can. And good luck."

It's silent for a while after, Marcus finally speaks up, worried for his mate. "I think it's best if us two get back home, I want to keep a watch over Naz, away from this place."

Rama nods in agreement. "By all means, she inhaled a lot of that haze stuff. Probably better that way."

"Keep in touch, alright? Otherwise I'll get worried." Yao answers, a genuine concern in their expression.

"We will, I'll make sure of it. See you some time then." Furyclash gets himself up, then aids his mate to her feet as well. Her quiet is unsettling him, he's not used to this. "Naz?"

"…Let's go." She mutters, all of this has been too much, she doesn't want to talk.

Together the two set off, first to Arborstone, then the asura gate back to Lion's Arch. Their travel is some of the quietest the two have been while beside the other.

---

It's night time at Lion's Arch, Nastazya and Marcus are back at their home. They've been trying to relax the rest of the day, back in their casual outfits. But it hasn't been going well. Nastazya's mind's been stuck on the words the demon twisted, and Marcus can see it getting to her.

He doesn't know all of what she saw, she's not mentioned it. Not that he's mentioned what he saw either, he's too scared to.

The ocean waves and light sound of crowds from the outside fill the quiet, the two sitting side by side on the red couch.

At some point, it gets too much for Nastazya, she can't bear it. Her voice is light, her face scrunches in sorrow. "Marc… It's too much. I can't take those words anymore."

"Huh? What words?" He asks curiously, worriedly. He brings his right arm around her back, his tech paw on her side. "Tell me."

Ragewelder is quiet, but then the words burst through, loud and angrily. "I'll be the end of the charr, killing and corrupting is what I was born to do… Those voices were right, they all were! Bangar only went after Jormag because I had Aurene! We went into a civil war, lost so many of us and got us corrupted into frost legion all because I was the spark to the flame!"

Furyclash grimaces, that's what she's been tormenting herself over. No wonder she looks so distraught. He needs to try shift that mindset. "Naz, you know that's not fair on you, you didn't have any choice. Bangar's who mobilised them, not you."

She's not listening to it, the words are too strong. "But he only did that because of ME! We lost too many, Rytlock and Crecia lost Ryland, Ursa and Patia lost Maxim. I had to kill Elexus, even got Almorra killed! Who knows how many more warbands lost their families all because I'm this DAMNED DRAGON 'CHAMPION'!"

"Nastazya! That was all far out of your hands! You're not the one to blame!" Marcus finds his own voice raising, else he fears his mate won't listen to him. But it seems to just make things worse.

Nastazya growls harshly, not at Marcus, but at herself. All the guilt she has fit to bursting. "How the hell am I not to blame?! Everything went to shit all because of who I am, even before I was the 'Champion' I still got Faust branded! Tullia, Graw and Clio all died because I had to rush in to a brandstorm, all just to kill my own branded mother! I was always like thi-"

"NASTAZYA! STOP!" Marcus yells, utter sorrow laced in every word. He quickly pulls her near, nuzzled beneath his neck while he attempts to comfort her. Left paw brushing down the side of her neck and hair, he can feel her quiver as her sobs begin, and soon he shares in this. "Nastazya… Please… It's not your fault, it's NOT your fault… I don't know what you saw in that haze, but it twists you, twists what you know. Gorrik said so, when you were out."

"Marc… It- it was all so raw. I can still feel the impact, that those words were true." Nastazya mutters amidst her weeps, bringing a hand up to grip upon her mate's arm for support, for consolation.

"…The haze, it… made me think Mallyx was in my head, even saw Kalla's warband as demons. And that wasn't true." The next words, he's unsure to share. But if he can't do it, he can't expect his mate to either, so with a light-voiced tone he reveals. "…It also showed me you, you… blamed me for abandoning you to chase after Rytlock in the Mists. You blamed me for letting Balthazar kill you, and still do to this day. Is that… All true?"

Nastazya falls stock still, her cries catch to silence. Now she knows all of that is not what she feels, not at all. "What…? No. No, no, that's not true at all-! Why would you even think that?"

"Because the haze made me, just like it's making you blame yourself right now." His embrace around his mate's neck and back grows a slight tighter, his breath staggers followed by a sniffle. "You see? It's not true, you're not to blame. You aren't…"

Ragewelder is silent for a while, meekly nuzzling her snout in the crook of her mate's neck. "…Burn me, how the hell are we meant to get through this? It all feels too much. How are we-?"

Furyclash cuts off his mate's words before she starts falling into another spiral, he needs to support her above all else right now, he needs her support at that too. "We'll get through this, Naz… We always do, always have done…"

She starts falling into the despair again, just thinking about that demon's effects on her. It's debilitating. "…I don't know how much more I can take… It's always us- Every. Time! Why…? Why is it always me?!"

"I don't know… But what I do know is despite everything, we're still here. I'm still here, and I always will be here for you. Alright? You got that?" He tries to assure her the only way he knows how, his presence.

"…I got it. I got it." Nastazya repeats, trying her best to pull herself back. But her doubts are still strong. "…Burn me, I don't want to go back there. I don't want Taimi and Gorrik to rip these… wounds back open."

"I know, I know. I don't either. I wish I had an answer to all this, I wish I did. Whatever happens after all this, I'll do anything to make things better for you, whatever it takes." Furyclash promises, with all his genuineness. His mate is everything.

Nastazya at least feels a calm over her, gradually. Her arm moves to embrace her partner's side. "I'll hold you to that, so you better not leave me. Don't you dare ever leave me."

Marcus' voice is soft, he's glad, she's finally calming down. He knows exactly the right words now, the words to ease her. "I promise, I'll stay by you, no matter what."

A sudden memory, rushes right back. All those years back, in Maguuma Jungle. "…I remember those words, as clear as day. When you returned…"

"And I still mean them just as much as I did then. Always. No matter how much it hurts, I'll be there by your side to help, I'll be your pillar."

"…You are, and always have been the one that keeps me standing." Ragewelder mutters, a smile finally forms upon the side of her teary muzzle.

A tender quiet now envelops the two, nothing like the anxiety filled silence from before. They both know, as long as they're together, it'll all work out.

Just before the two head off to get ready for bed, there's one last matter to speak about.

(So, Marcus. When were you planning to tell me you and that warmaster got together?) The voice arrives in Marcus' head, Tybalt, seems the spirit has found a new home to hang out in.

"…Naz, there's one other thing I have to tell you." Marcus says with some cheer, he gazes cheerfully into his mate's eye.

"Hm? What is it?"

"When I thought Mallyx was in my head, I got snapped out of it by another voice. Turns out, when I was reaching out for a voice to replace him, I accidentally invoked someone new." Furyclash explains, he seems rather happy about this one to her though.

"Who is it to get you smiling like that?" Nastazya asks, her joy returning to her face.

"Tybalt Leftpaw." He announces, the smile on his face seems to spread wider with it.

Her eye widens, now that is a surprise. "What? Really?"

"Yeah, it's great, hearing his voice again. I've missed him. Somehow I'm a better shot with him invoked too, so pretty damn useful too!" A light chuckle from the male charr, his ears then prick up.

(Hey! Are you saying I wouldn't be useful without that? You got so mean…)

Marcus grins. "Just playing with you, Tybs."

"I suppose something good did come of us going down to that delve… How much does he know about us?" She questions curiously, she doesn't know anything about when she was out cold.

"Not much really, his memories are still just back from Claw Island. He's surprised I got together with 'That Warmaster.'"

"Oh, really now?" Nastazya hums, brushing her chin with a finger. "So he doesn't know we have cubs either."

(YOU HAVE CUBS?!)

Marcus grimaces, that volume was a shock to his head. "…He does now." He mutters, with a slight chuckle afterwards. He speaks back to Tybalt now. "Yeah, Vita and Galvar, they're four now. Good cubs, Vita can be a little menace. Galvar is a quiet boy. We should go visit sometime, you can see them through my eyes!"

(Ohh, this is so exciting! I bet they're cute!)

"The cutest cubs on Tyria, right Naz?" Marcus answers, smiling to his mate.

"What kind of mother would I be if I said no to that?" Ragewelder shakes her head, a light laugh escaping. "They are, the both of them. They're who we fight for."

(As you should! Ahh, I missed so much, being dead and all. But better late than never! Couldn't get stuck in a better person's head.)

"Aw, Tybs. You're gonna make my ears red." Furyclash brushes the back of his neck. "He says as we should, he missed a lot, but he's happy he's stuck in my head at least."

Nastazya crosses her arms, though she's still smiling. "Guess I have to get used to you not having Kalla around all the time, don't I?"

"I'll have her around now and again, don't worry about that. But…" Marcus sighs deeply. "I really missed Tybalt, y'know?"

"I know you did." She nods softly. "I'm glad you've found him that way, suppose I'll see how things go."

"It's gonna be great, I know it." Marcus soon finds himself yawning. "Ah, burn me. Think it's time to sleep. We'll talk more tomorrow, Tybs."

(You got it! We're gonna have so much to talk about. Ahh, you got old Two-tibs A'whisker excited even more!)

"Singe my whiskers, I almost forgot about that name." Marcus laughs cheerily. "Ahh, Two-tibs A'whisker and Bloodcovered Backstabbing Blackjack the Blade. What a pirate team we were."

"Marcus, bed time before you get stuck in another conversation. C'mon." Nastazya urges him, she's rather jovial about it thought. She's happy to see him so glad.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming." Furyclash grins toothily, before finally joining his mate in readying for bed.

They've still got some doubts and fears hidden under their skin, fear about the oni and how to deal with it. But that can come when it comes, better to keep their minds focused on other things until then. Together, they can keep going on.

#gw2 #guild wars 2 #charr #nastazya ragewelder #marcus furyclash #gw2 spoilers #writing #what lies beneath

[rata-novus]

re: my post about gorrik’s audio log last week (spoilers below)

so gorrik DID see blish, as he was before his consciousness was put into a golem body. but then he turned into a swarm of beetles that attacked gorrik. oh no..... this hurts my heart poor gorrik :(

the horror of seeing his brother whom he lost, paired with being attacked by something he undoubtedly loves (bugs/beetles) is just a double whammy of a gut punch. but yao was able to comfort & stay with him <3

#guild wars 2 #gw2 #guild wars 2 spoilers #will start tagging my reactions as #sleuthing a solution #if yall wanna block for spoilers #5 more audio logs and im already so upsetti spaghetti over this lol

[dizzymilo]

my predictions/ramblings

I would give a pretty penny to have the next round with the Oni result in the Commander becoming possessed and either Gorrik, Rama or Yao being playable to subdue our character. Speaking of potential rematches, I would love to see more characters to be used against the Commander to stack more trauma on them, like Trahearne, (and yes I know he’s used as a stand in for your mentor if you’re using a character that hasn’t chosen an order yet, but still, I want my Commander that’s done all of the personal story being sad over having to mercy kill their best friend/marshal/brother if you play sylvari.) Mai Trin, Blish, maybe even the elder dragons like Soo-won.

#gw2 #gw2 spoilers #eod spoilers #the commander #gw2 commander #gw2 eod #gw2 eod spoilers

[sylvaridreams]

Out here desperately blorbo posting about Gorrik in a non gw2 server. Come with me brother 🫴 come with me and look at Gorrik and his buges

[ratasum]

Honestly the more I think abt it the more it makes sense for Blish to have come back somehow. His consciousness was in that golem, and he and Gorrik were with the Inquest.

You can't tell me someone didn't make a backup. Hell, you can't convince me he wasn't making backups himself.

It does have some interesting ramifications because that means he MISSED god knows how much. He wasn't there for a ton of what he was there for. So he had to be caught up on events he was there for. It's awkward sometimes. But he trusts Gorrik, and the people his little brother has surrounded himself with clearly care about him.

So yeah maybe he had to be caught up and he's confused when people talk about things he was involved with wasn't involved with. But he's still Blish at his core and he's still going to help his little krewe wherever he can.

Also I think as of WLB he's in a bigger-than-average jade bot. Just floatin around with little hands to help out with things.

#bunny rambles #blish lives #it brings up some interesting angst potential too bc what is the meaning of being alive #if he can just be restored with a data crystal and a new golem #I'm screaming so much abt this rn because it just WORKS