#askelska

[loominggaia]

A picture for the homie @razzek, who requested Elska and Ginger hanging out!

Elska is really getting the hang of this "being friends" thing :)

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Read the Series

[loominggaia]

This is Evan and Elska lol

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Read the Series

[loominggaia]

Which fgg is the most attractive

I think that's all a matter of personal opinion!

...But let's be real, we all know it's Elska. B)

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[loominggaia]

Looming Gaia au idea: Elska becomes a Prime Soul, aka her soul no longer requires a physical body to manifest herself into the world, and she is driven entirely by pure willpower!

Also gives her the benefit of moving at supersonic speeds and punching/kicking down mountains and castle walls with ease, as she’s no longer constrained by a physical body. While immortal, it’s only in the same sense Nymphs are, meaning she can still die in combat permanently. (Good luck for anyone trying to kill her though!)

How does Drifters Hollow and the Freelance Good Guys react to Elska’s nigh unimaginable power, and how does Elska utilize them?

Interesting concept! I've never heard of this before. I'm guessing this basically turns her into Superman?

Elska is exactly the type of person who shouldn't have this much power. Her intentions are always righteous, but she tends not to think through situations very well before she acts, so I imagine she'd cause a lot of destruction in a short amount of time, and many innocent people would probably get caught up in the chaos.

Her first order of business? Destroying Evangeline Kingdom. Like, literally ripping through its armies and smashing all its castles to rubble. She would do this to liberate the slaves, but she wouldn't realize the severe ramifications of it. All the global economic chaos, famine, wars, refugees, orphans, death, and so on...

Evan and her other crewmen would beg her to leave Evangeline alone, but in true Elska fashion, she would accuse them of being cowards and wouldn't take their advice. With this kind of power, they'd never be able to stop her.

I think all the Great Kingdoms would have to assemble some kind of task force to take her down. They'd send their best mages and warriors. But she would do so much damage to Evangeline Kingdom by then, the whole world would be reeling for a long time afterwards.

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[loominggaia]

For Elska, what was you like when you were a child. I bet you were also cute too.

I actually have some concept art of Elska as a child! This is how she appeared in the beginning of "To Fight the Fog".

This is her and her father, Eindrid. Elska hasn't changed much over the years. As a child, she didn't have any friends her age and mostly kept to herself. She was a quiet girl who expressed herself more with actions than with words. She never whined or cried, but would throw angry tantrums whenever she was touched. That meant she didn't like hugs or having her hair brushed, so even though long hair was customary in her tribe, her father cut hers short until she was old enough to brush it herself.

Instead of running around with her peers, she would spend playtime collecting things like sticks, rocks, and feathers, then arranging them by size and color. She figured out how to make her own weapons and tools at a very young age, while her peers were still learning from their parents. Elska got frustrated when her clanmates tried to help her with anything. She just seemed to learn skills faster on her own.

Her clanmates were such communally-minded people and didn't understand her independent ways. They often blamed her behavior on the early death of her mother. The only person who seemed to accept her quirks was her father, so she spent most of her time with him.

She had many aunts who tried to raise her after her mother died, but they all tried to force her to be someone she was not. Eindrid allowed Elska to be herself. He didn't push her to make new friends, didn't criticize her strange behaviors, and when she was older, he didn't force her to marry the man he set her up with. Losing a parent is hard in the best of cases, but in Elska's case, she lost more than a father. He was her best friend and biggest supporter.

The day he died was the day Elska officially considered herself an adult, because she knew the only one left to look out for her was herself.

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[loominggaia]

...Elska did not see another centaur here. Only two-legged peoples, drinking and laughing and shoveling through a feast. At the head of the table was a large and muscular man, fair of skin with short-cropped hair. His face was dark with stubble, hairy arms marred with old battle scars.

    This was the man Frederick spoke to in some gibberish language—Universa, Elska assumed. The man seemed dismissive as they spoke back and forth. Then Frederick returned to Elska with a frown.

“Who is that? What did he say?” queried Elska.

    The little centaur replied, “That’s the captain. Um, he says he’s not to be bothered during dinner. If you want service, you gotta do the paperwork and leave it in the box by the—”

    Anger surged through Elska’s veins. She nearly trampled Frederick as she stormed towards the captain. One moment he was laughing as he raised a stein of beer to his lips. Then he jumped with a start, spilling his drink on himself when Elska slammed a severed head onto his plate.

    “You will help me now!” she bellowed. “I am from Loreham! My entire village was enslaved by whoever these cretins are, and if they are not stopped, it is only a matter of time before they march this way and enslave you too!”

-Just Elska being her iconic self in “To Fight the Fog”

When Karen decapitates a guy, throws his head on the counter and demands to speak with your manager...

[loominggaia]

Now that you bring it up, does Elska wear horseshoes? If yes, who in the village is brave enough to install those for her?

Good question! Elska hails from a stone-age village, so horseshoes were not a technology known to her until she came to Drifter's Hollow.

This has never been addressed in the series (at least not yet...) but I could see her being interested in the idea of horseshoes once she learned about them. Anything that makes her more efficient at kicking ass is appealing to Elska!

But yeah, because of her sensory issues, actually getting them on her is the tough part. She tends to go to Philippa for advice, and I could see Philippa getting her in touch with Dr. Che. He could mix up a harmless medicine to tranquilize her just long enough for the farrier to do their thing.

Balthazaar has just the right combination of bravery and stupidity to give it a try. He did tend a farm for a while and he apparently takes care of the FGG's horses, so I imagine he might have some horseshoeing skills.

Balthazaar gets some extra pocket change and Elska gets metal feet. Best of all, she didn't feel a thing. Win/win!

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[loominggaia]

What if Elska actually met her mother? And found out her mother is exactly what she thinks and more! Like a MASSIVE, older more badass version of Elska, able to rip dragons heads off bear handed and solo armies? And what if she’s nothing like Elska expected like her being small, frail and not a warrior at all? How would Elska react to meeting her mother in both scenarios?

That's an interesting thought! We don't know much about Elska's mother except what her father Eindrid has said about her. Here's an excerpt about her from "To Fight the Fog":

“This,” began Eindrid, “is the fog. It never leaves and there is no way around it. When our people go through it, they do not come back.” He looked down at his daughter, face stony and grim. “People like your mother.”

“Mother?” Elska gasped, whirling around to face him. “I had a mother?”

Slow and sullen, Eindrid nodded. “She was fierce and strong,” he said. “Loyal. Stubborn. The finest hunter our village had ever seen. She was back to the forest just a week after your birth. Refused to stay down, refused to be cared for.”

He turned back to the fog. A deep crease carved itself between his ashen brows. “The hunters tell me they were attacked by wolves. Someone was badly wounded, and then the wolves fled into the fog. But your mother was overcome by her longing for vengeance, too stubborn to let them escape. No one could stop her. She disappeared through here,” he pointed to the trail, fading into the whiteness, “and she still has not returned.”

Elska stared at the trail in disbelief. Eindrid had never spoken about her mother before today. She was cared for by the midwives of the village until she refused their milk. Then she was left with her father, and she had been in his care ever since.

“She fell off the world,” Elska said quietly.

Eindrid simply nodded, let out a hum. A long silence passed. Then his daughter turned back to him and asked, “What was her name?”

“Her name was Jorun.” Eindrid kneeled and took a lock of his daughter’s hair between his fingers, admiring it solemnly. “You look very much like her. Long hair of gold and eyes of blue, just the same. You will be big and strong as she was, but I pray you will not be as foolish. The thirst for vengeance is a curse. Never forget that.”

So, we know Jorun shared a lot in common with Elska both physically and mentally. I think Elska would really look up to her and admire her a lot, but once she got to know her, the traits she used to respect would start to frustrate her. Jorun shared a lot of Elska's flaws, particularly the way she rushed into situation without thinking.

Once Elska saw this behavior mirrored back to her, she would recognize it in herself and become frustrated with her mother for it. She wouldn't love Jorun any less, but she wouldn't hold her on a pedestal like she once did either. She would finally see her mother as a person instead of the god-like being she envisioned in her head.

And if Jorun turned out to be small and weak...

Initially Elska would be disappointed. I think eventually she would come around to respect her mother, just not for the reasons she thought she would. Elska would learn that there are more types of strength than physical, and that there is more to admire about a person than just honor and courage.

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