more crocs and butterflies over here because I feel like this image suits Davuna and Lialva
@justanartsysideblog and @feynites - regarding an earlier post about having a number of high-ranking followers of Ghilan’nain pursue Lialva, I’m going to offer up candidate #1:
Davuna - Ghilan’nain’s niece and chief researcher, designer and curator of marine monstrosities critters. She spends most of her time in and around the ocean at the edges of Imperial territory but occasionally surfaces to visit her parents and attend any kind of science symposium or conference that might be happening. If Lialva happens to be at such a conference, say, as an upcoming butterfly breeder who’s been invited to give a presentation, Davuna would be more than happy to show her around the city and introduce her to people.
She enjoys the conferences because they’re a chance for her to learn new things from the people most (usually) enthusiastic about the topic. And Lialva is completely charming - she unabashedly loves what she does and hasn’t picked up any pretentious academic nonsense. Davuna was not expecting to get hit upside the head with the “Oh no she’s cute” brick though. Normally she’s pretty good at talking to people and being an excellent listener and sounding board but she has to keep biting down on the urge to just blurt out that she thinks Lialva is adorable. It’s really quite distressing especially because the only “romantic” things she can think to say are cheesy lines from her father’s romance novels. (For his sake she won’t admit to ever reading them.)
After a few days of this and frantically asking her parents and Ghilan’nain for advice (which is an adventure in and of itself - Andruil chimes in at one point) she finally asks her out for lunch somewhere and tells her. Then she promptly turns bright pink and starts muttering about the weather. Ghilan’nain is in a corner somewhere observing this interaction and is honestly expecting her niece to start changing colors like an octopus.
Should Lialva return the sentiment and the pair begin dating or courting, it would proceed fairly comfortably I think? Though it would likely include such adventures as
I Know I’m a Marine Biologist But I’m Here to Study Butterflies For REASONS.
and
Come Look at All the Potential Butterfly Food Plants I have Over Here That Are A Complete Coincidence.
and also
Oh No! A Very Special Hedgehog Escaped Ghilan’nain’s Territory We Have to Go on a LONG Hike By Ourselves to Catch It Before Things Happen! (Nevermind that I Put It There Myself Conveniently Next to a Nice Pool.) Hey a Pool! We Should Go Swimming After Our Hike. (And if other things happen, well, other things happen. Yes there is a full-body blush to go with all those freckles.)
There might also be How Many Pearls Can I Cover My Girlfriend In Before It’s Too Much?
Let’s not forget Did That Person Upset You? They Will Have Nightmares For Months.
All in all, very cute, very fluffy.
Davuna does, however, walk a fine political line. There’s no actual PROOF that she helps people escape the empire and aids naval travel on the border but there’s the occasional whisper. Of course, there are lots of whispers of that nature about border territories in general and Ghilan’nain’s in specific. Some of them may be true, she will neither confirm nor deny.
Many thanks to @justanartsysideblog for this lovely portrait of Passion and @feynites‘ Thenvunin’s daughter, Davuna.
This portrait captures her really well. Her general vibe is sweet summer child of prickly and eccentric veterans but there’s something ..off.. and a wee bit disturbing too if you’re someone like Elandaris. Everything about this came out really nicely and I especially like that blue highlight on her shoulder. I feel like that’s a subtle indicator that there is something else lurking behind the pretty face. (She has been known to make her freckles glow - if people are going to comment on them anyway, they might as well have something to really be shocked about.)
Some of her story under the cut!
She’s generally a result of Passion and Thenvunin successfully raising a time-travelling angry Tabris and deciding to attempt making another kiddo. This requires Passion at least to be in a more stable frame of mind and so would only happen if she’s not currently working for Andruil. In modern AUs, the father is usually an anonymous donor.
Ghilan’nain may be unusually interested in her sister’s pregnancy and provides both her own medical expertise and the expertise of every healer she can get her hands on. Nothing is going to happen to this baby. Fortunately, nothing does.
She is a sponge for information and is curious about everything. She listens attentively to anyone going off about their professions or favorite things and stores trivia like a magpie.
Her first and favorite animal form is a giant crocodile and this change set off her interest in and studies of the ocean, strange as it might seem to most people. Ghilan’nain encouraged all her interests and as an adult she leads a research team posted on whatever bit of coastline Ghilan’nain has in her territory. Given the proximity to Nameless territory, she may or may not get herself in political trouble.
The easiest way to piss her off and be subjected to limb loss, nightmares about limb loss, and/ or yet more nightmares of too many teeth crunching on too many bones, is to insult her parents. She may be more approachable than they are, but her temper in some things is just as short.
Incidentally, @justanartsysideblog, how does Lialva feel about the ocean and about people who live in it? Asking for a friend! >.> <.<
