#crystal bloom

[vannahgw2]

WIP Crystal Trahearne ;)

[clemmykins]

"For five years I was part of a legacy, fulfilled after thousands of years. Now, with everything done the darkness finally sets in. What purpose is there now? ...Does it get easier?"

Darius is my baby boi and you can fit so much lore into this budding Courtier/Crystal Bloom I will probably infodump about him sometime

[scribesofcalamity]

We’ve come so far together, haven’t we Champion?

Finished commission piece for a friend! This was a very fun challenge 💙✨

[kilobytten]

Exceed.

[achromant]

the 2nd part of @mystery-salad's double commission!

[microdivinity]

crystal bloom 1/?

[queer-as-used-by-tolkien]

Character Study: Caithe

I'm just replaying the White Stag sylvari storyline.

I am struck by how much Caithe hates the Nightmare Court in combination with her Night bloom reservedness. It makes her seem almost cruel.

Caithe really does hate the Court with a passion. She said that they "stole something precious to me." That was Faolain, clearly - but that was twenty-three years ago, at least.

Caithe still feels so strongly about this that she just murders a Courtier we promised freedom to. And I understand killing Courtiers, but we promised to keep this one's secret. The level of hatred Caithe carries around can't be good for her - I imagine that's why, during the Claw Island arc, we see her possible future of falling to Nightmare.

Caithe would be a very scary Nightmare Courtier.

I almost want to write a fic about this, where Caithe does fall to Nightmare - a world where the player never brought Destiny's Edge together.

But I think saying that Caithe would accept Nightmare solely to be with Faolain doesn't do justice to Caithe's personality. Caithe absolutely has the potential to fall on her own. She is full of bitterness because of Faolain.

Caithe killed Wynne because of Faolain. We make a big deal over killing Trahearne, but then we forget that Caithe had to do something very similar - and Wynne wasn't just another sylvari. Wynne was one of the twelve Firstborn, the only people Caithe knew for two years. They were fellow Night blooms.

It must have pained Caithe greatly to kill Wynne, and she can lay the blame for that solidly at Faolain's door. No wonder Caithe hates the Court so much.

And yet, she loves Faolain still so fiercely. It's a beautiful contradiction that I want to explore deeper. I might write a fic about that. Caithe is so alone. She isolates herself. She carries Wynne's secret. She seems exceptionally close with the Pale Tree, and maybe even confides in Trahearne a bit, but otherwise she is alone. She has remarkable strength in not falling to Nightmare already, but I think she lives in a world of grey - and Mordremoth used that to his advantage.

Caithe has been remarkably transformed by Aurene, and we don't see her nearly as much anymore so it doesn't show - but she's happy now. She has a child. She doesn't mind that many of the main characters don't trust her - I mean, she was at Tarir, why didn't she show up in S4 with Taimi, coming after Aurene?

But Caithe doesn't care. She just loves Aurene. She was devastated when Aurene died, but not in the same way she was when she killed Faolain. Faolain, from Caithe's perspective, was tragic - the brightest of the Firstborn, she said, corrupted so soon and twisted into pain and suffering, and finally a victim of Mordremoth.

But Aurene was Caithe's child who was too young to grow up, and then she was dead. I wonder if there wasn't a spark of selfish relief in Caithe's heart when Aurene returned. I think I'm going to give my Commander a touch of regret that Aurene had to return to such a hard world, but by contrast, Caithe would have clung to her baby - the one who brought her out of her darkness and let her move on from Faolain.

Caithe stepped into a leadership role with the Crystal Bloom, and you can find her in Dragonfall worrying about how she's not a leader.

I laughed at her and compared her to Trahearne. She was definitely supposed to show up in the Icebrood Saga - there's a Crystal Bloom in Eye of the North saying she's not here - but all Caithe got was a DRM. I think Caithe should have been a supporting figure for Aurene, there to teach her how to be an adult now and how to be strong in the face of Jormag's temptations.

Because Caithe's story is one of strength, and carrying on through grief, and clinging to an ideal when all hope is gone, even through the darkest hour just before dawn, when all her fears about Mordremoth were coming true and Faolain had turned, a hope comes that she hadn't even looked for, possibly didn't even fully recognize while Aurene was still an egg.

Caithe's story is powerful and it's really sad how undersold it is in-game. She's a hero - an atypical hero, yes, and a dark one with darkness following her everywhere (she threatened to tear out that Courtier's tongue, I'm beginning to think all sylvari can be beautifully eloquent when speaking about graphic details), but a hero nonetheless, a spark of light shining from within the cloud.

Caithe represents hope in the midst of darkness.

[the-shiniest-plant]

Meet Fionnuala!

(Image: Newborn Fionnuala)

Sixthborn Sylvari

Cycle of Night

Has a pod-brother (Conleth/Sitheach, belonging to @moonlit-grove), loves him very much

Astoundingly Strong connection to the Dream, gets “Revenant” abilities from it instead of the Mists

Former Warden Captain

Specialty was covert ops

Led a raid into Nightmare Territory to get her brother back from Nightmare, succeeded

Recruited by Order of Whispers during Zhaitan saga, quickly achieved Slayer rank, did a very good job

Took a long time off to help care for Tree-Mom when she got hurt during Mordremoth saga

Fought in Dragonstorm

Got branded by Aurene (with permission)

Joined the Crystal Bloom after realizing it was one of her Wyld Hunts

Sprouted wings due to too much Aurene magic exposure, completely on accident

Was shiny then, but over time became EVEN SHINIER

Over time has discovered that she has strong compulsions to help people in need. When she asked why, it was explained to her that it’s part of her dragon corruption

She’s totally okay with that, it’s not much different than her strong connection to the Dream. It’s just one more voice in her head, nothing major, in her mind