A Memory of Jasmine

Searching for the unknown.

[s-u-m-m-e-r-]

[deborahvaldyr]

She still loved the view of the ocean from her home in Lion’s Arch, but the sight of mountainous cliffs dotted by lush vegetation could be equally as stirring and soothing all at once to Deborah.

[heartsnmagic]

[billionairestatus]

[impossimu-deactivated20180315]

I’m doing an awful job of keeping up with inktober. xD

Guild Wars 2 just released it’s new expac and my buddies all came back to bask in the glory… so I figured I’d paint their portraits. Hopefully this will be a series - I want to kind of review Saia’s impressions of everyone so I can get back into rp on the right foot. :)

THAT SAID. First up is @colanah‘s Debs. I don’t know if I did her justice. T_T She’s such a dope character.

[deborahvaldyr]

I saw a man staring at me from the corner of his eye.  Something about him struck me as familiar but I couldn’t place the face.  Not entirely.  The next time I looked, he was gone.   Some days later, I received a parcel in the mail, a leather-bound book normally given for portraiture.  Inside the plain cover, I saw my own features smiling back at me.

Suddenly, the face came to me and with it, a name.  The young man who had watched over my sister for some time as her guard.  He’d saved her life and for that, I still owed him thanks.  

Laughing aloud, I took the drawing upstairs to place it beside a small boat eternally sailing an ocean filling a single seashell.  Of course.  

Alex.

[deborahvaldyr]

~When asked how she managed to regain her figure after having four children, Deborah often smiled and said in with cryptic cheer. “Oh, I just dance a little.” ~

[one-and-only-beauty]

[deborahvaldyr]

And they lunched by the sea, watching as waterborne giants of wood and cloth dotted the horizon.  Deborah smiled and took Raban’s hand in her own before lovingly bringing calloused knuckles to a silken cheek.

[zoungama]

Lapping Tides

I grew up on the streets in Lion’s Arch. Back when it was a shithole pirate town made out of weathered wood we painted bright so’s no one could see the rot or the weevil holes.

Siah always said I was a lucky kid. She used to give me noodles from her Zumu’s table that she asked for specially. She left a while back, but she was nice and I still remember her.

Scarlet’s fuck-army of shitheads was something else. I think that was when I realized I was more than lucky. I was gifted.

Cause where we were hiding, we stayed alive. Me, and the others in the street that got away from the screwy plant people and krait and freaks. Like we didn’t just stay alive - everyone who was near me didn’t even get sick.

Come to think of it, I’ve never ever been sick.

Always figured it was the sea air.

Turned out I’m like, an elementalist. And the Priory teacher, Scholar Dimat, said I was pretty strong with the water element too. She had me close my eyes and shout words, and mist poured out of me. It was intense.

Those fancy Reachers have been giving me coin to keep them up to date on shit here. Ever since they all marched in, everyone, and drove out the invaders, and then had this like, super charity drive, and rebuilt the city to be all clean and stuff, there’s been a LOT of money coming in. 

I got mine.

These days, I got a job guiding ships through the harbour. Used to just lug crates on the docks for extra money until the port master realized I was a hydromancer. Now I get to make bags of gold making sure the big cargo ships don’t run afoul of the tidal shifts and the new sand spits under the bay.

Got new clothes.

Got a decent place to stay.

Heck, I might even stop shaving and grow a moustache or a beard and look really grown up and find me a woman. They threw me out of the brothel the last time I tried.

Might get a ship someday. Get gold and riches and silk and everything.

The sky is honestly the limit.

[ahrwit]

finally found Zoungama his faceclaim!

[deborahvaldyr]

“I’m telling ye, missus, we can’ get hire ons wi’ this young ‘un claimin’ the best ships hither an’ yon.  Ne’er heard o’ 'em ‘fore a handspan o’ seasons back but suddenly this Zoungama ( @zoungama ) in e’ery crows nest from Garenhoff t’ Rata.”

The older sailor who’d traded salt spray for quill and ink, squinted across the desk towards Deborah who was reading the latest reports on Drake Shippings earnings. Full lips curled downwards at the corners.

“The reports make it seem as if the boy’s Six-touched.”  She knew how superstitious sailors were.  It was second nature in a line of work where one could do everything right and still die.  Chance and all attempts to curry luck in any way possible offered small reassurance in a world that wasn’t giving such reliances willingly.  The ex-sailor grunted and scratched through thick stubble which had gone hoary with the years.

“Might be, might be.Ol’ friends say that minnow handles hisself like a seasons weather reader. Might be good as ye.”

Deborah offered a surprised grunt of her own at those words.  Matthias didn't offer praise readily.  More often than not, it was pried from the old man’s lips like gold from a miser’s fist.  She turned the report over and whistled slowly. “...he’s really getting this kind of pay?”

“Aye. Earning gold over silver from the telling. He’ll be set up pretty as her queenship soon ‘nough if he don’t piss or fuck it all away.”

She didn’t bat an eye at the sudden vulgarity. It was Lion’s Arch after all. “Seems he might be worth scouting...or at least, keeping tabs on.  Think you can handle that Matty?”

Rolling rheumy eyes, Matthias noisily rose with the crackle and pop of joints which had more to do with his retirement than a desire to leave the ocean’s briny bosom.  “Aye, I’ve a few what’s got eyes an’ ears still for the right price.”  At the door he paused to ask. “They jes’ lookin’ like? Not tryin’ t’cut competition are we?”

“No..it’d be a shame to ruin a possible acquisition, Matty. Just observe and listen for now.”

“Right ye are missus.”  and with that, his bow legged gait carried him away.

[iglovequotes]

http://iglovequotes.net/

[deborahvaldyr]

She loved the rain. It washes the world clean, dances on the skin and fills the air with new scents. Rain can be smothering, chilling or nourishing. Rain might fall gently or hammer the very earth in a furious deluge.  No two storms were alike and she loved that about them when gazing into the heart of a sudden shower.

Standing on the balcony with face upturned in welcome as the heavens wept through spears of muted golden sunlight, Deborah smiled.  Was there any weather as complex as rain?

[bevsi]

[deborahvaldyr]

((While the latter two drawings can be many individuals met during the course of RP, the first made me imagine a scene from the sisters’ youth.))

Kalonah gripped the spear tightly and asked her sister. “Are you certain we will not get into trouble?”

Deborah cracked a reassuring smile. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry so much, we’ll be fine.  Just remember what I told you.  Run out, wave the spear and cast illusions like crazy to distract them.”

“...why are you wearing the cloak though?” Came a faintly suspicious prompting.  Deborah had hoped not to be asked about the concealing covering.

“To hide more stuff under it!  If they see I have the cakes, we won’t have as many.”  This answer seemed to satisfy her sibling who nodded and they both snuck towards the kitchen from the practice room to begin operation, Sweet Freedom.  In an almost sullen tone, Deborah heard Kalonah whisper.

“Make sure you get the lemon cakes this time. The rest are too sweet and you know that I do not care for them.”  With a pointed glance from golden eyes, the pair put the plan into motion.

[samsaranmusing-deactivated20140]

[deborahvaldyr]

Her favorite time of year was when the jasmine was in bloom.

[normanikordei]

[drawingmodel]

Hair animation reference

[deborahvaldyr]

Her hair was growing a bit more since the children were born. Feeling a bit playful, Deborah thrust tawny fingers into a cascade of waves and curls, giggling to her own reflection as ebon locks bounced and danced much as their mistress did.

The clearing of a throat from the nearby doorway brought her attention to the mirth-filled gaze of her husband.  Without missing a beat, she went to let him share in her fun.

[igxbaddies]

[drawingmodel]

Face reference

[deborahvaldyr]

One day, Nolana is going to put the gifts from both her parents to devastating use.  Her brother Nolan will simply try to keep up with his beloved big sister.

[hipindie]

holidays

[memoryarchaeologist]

Being a hero doesn’t mean you’re invincible. It just means that you’re brave enough to stand up and do what’s needed.

Rick Riordan, The Mark of Athena (via memoryarchaeologist)

[yoursummerdreamz]

[deborahvaldyr]

Morning brunch in the solarium of Hawk’s Landing.  There’s nothing like the peace between children who’ve fallen asleep.

[indieteen]

[fearlessly-beautiful]

Yuuup

[curlyheadasiaa-deactivated20180]

[deborahvaldyr]

A sharp eyed look from a woman about to cut someone off at the knees.

Blood protects blood and she will safeguard her house and her family.