As I am taking it easy while I recover from a recent surgery, here's some busts I drew of my sylvari dudes. Been awhile since I actually played with my pens (besides quick sketches during breaks at work). Reinven, Brillven, and Harumen respectively (Haru's my fav of the three, love how his bark hair turned out).
Who is that knocking on Harumen’s door? No one good.
Warnings: idk man Mel’s just not nice
Meliwirth had, somewhere along the way, lost track of the time. The cheery glow of her inner arms told her that dawn was still distant - but there was no telling how distant. There was also no telling where she was, since she was so drunk she could barely keep ahold of the (empty, sadly) bottle she'd been carrying around, let alone put her one foot in front of the other AND keep track of the minutes as they ticked along. Drinking hadn't helped. Nothing had helped. She wanted - blearily, she glowered at the only house around, some big-ass fancy thing up on the hill, and then cocked her arm back to throw the bottle at it. It fell far to the side, smashing on the mossy stones; irritated, she drew her dagger and stalked up the walkway.
Harumen spent his night staring off into the night, his only companions the glow of the jungle and the rhythmic chimes of the crickets outside. While by day he enjoyed his work, keeping the homes of Astoria maintained, at night he embraced the solitude of his own home, shaped by his own hands. Was it a bit flamboyant? Of course, but his home was his sanctuary. He was free to do as he wanted in the quiet solitude. Or, at least, it was normally quiet. Yet the sound of a breaking bottle stirred Haru from his thoughts as he realized he was not alone "...Hello?" He nervously asked.
Meliwirth bared her teeth in something like a simile - so someone was home. She should have known, seeing the glow through the thin door, but she'd cut herself some slack. "Hey in there," she called back, her voice thick and slow, her hand unsteady as she reached out to test the resiliency of the membrane. She might could cut through it. "M'a bit lost.”
Harumen took his time as he approached the opening of his home, finding a woman standing there and evidently drunk. Of course, of all the luck. "You... You're lost?" He asked as if that was not clear. Well, the faster he sent her on her way, the better. "W-Well, are you trying to... get to Astoria? Or...or all the way to the Grove?”
Meliwirth's dagger was loose in her hand, hidden behind her back; her grip tightened when the door opened and a little man not much bigger than herself poked his head out. Easy. "Nah,” she said. "Nah, not lookin' to get anywhere. Where am I? Where's this?" She took a step closer, tempted to push him inside and bring her dagger to bear.
Harumen took a step back, a shiver running up his spine at the tone of her voice. Something was of about her, he could tell. He was not a social butterfly, but he was able to see that she was up to no good. Why else was she out at his house in the middle of the night drunk? But what could he do, just a man with a knack for growing and shaping plants? "I... um... if you j-just cross the bridge there, and walk down the path, you... you'll be in Astoria." Haru pointed behind her, to the bridge down the road. As if that was enough to send her on her way.
Meliwirth followed his arm to where he was pointing, then turned her grin back on him. She'd wandered right into the thick of the Wardens. That'd make this more interesting. Taking another step towards him, she made a wild grab at his arm and let her arm drop from behind her back, the blade catching the light.
Harumen, unfortunately, did not have good reflexes. He was unable to pull away in time, even though she was drunk, and shuddered as she gripped his arm. Once he caught sight of her dagger, though, his heart stopped. What was she doing? Was she trying to rob him? "H-H-Hey please... don't..." He tried to say something, anything, but the words were lost to him.
Meliwirth tittered to herself as her fingers closed around his arm; she squeezed until she felt his bark click in her hand. "Y"think – haha, you think, cuz you're right up under the Warden's noses, in this, this - is this just yours? Haha!" As focused as she was on him, she wasn't looking at her feet; the low threshold was only meant to keep out the rain, but it was high enough for her to catch her foot on. Yelping in surprise, she went down, close enough to clip him as she fell - her dagger went skipping off across the floor.
Harumen nearly shrieked as his uninvited guest tripped upon stepping into his house, losing her grip on him and tumbling to the floor. For a moment, he was unsure what to do. Did he go for the dagger that she dropped and attempt to defend himself and his home? Or did he run for the safety of Astoria and leave everything behind? Either was, he needed to act quickly, because she obviously intended to hurt him if she got the chance. So Haru made up his mind, making a break for the doorway and into the dark of the night.
Meilwirth waited for the floor to stop wobbling under her before she levered herself up with her palms and climbed to her feet with exaggerated carefulness. "Fuck," she hissed under her breath, her head snapping around to track the little pink guy, already down the hill. Her head was spinning but she darted after him and tripped again, her feet catching on the uneven stones of the walkway and sending her tumbling down the path. It got her to the bottom quickly but she laid there, stunned, for another few seconds before standing again. “You fucking - little -” Rage simmered
in her veins. "Little - M'gonna, fucking -”
Harumen glanced back to find that, unfortunately, his assailant was attempting to chase him down. In poor fashion, though, as she tripped yet again and fell. Had his life not been in danger, he would have laughed at her. At that moment, he picked up the pace, making a break for that very same bridge he pointed out earlier. Not without trying to talk sense into the drunk woman, yelling over his shoulder, "P-Please don't do this...I didn't do anything t-to you!”
Meliwirth laughed at that. She could taste sap – one of the falls had split her lip. “Not the point," she called back. Had the path always been this treacherous? Although she was fast, staying upright it was proving to be enough of a challenge that it slowed he down. She'd underestimated how drunk she was, but still, she could - gritting her teeth, she reached out for him. If she could just get her hands on him... She didn't actually need her dagger.
Harumen yelped as he realized that the woman was catching up to him. Why was she so determined to try and hurt him? He had done nothing but mind his own business his whole life, yet tonight was the night that luck was not on his side. Running with all his might, he hoped that his pathetic legs outran her drunken stumblings.
Meliwith's focus narrowed to the Sylvari in front of her; she knew the bridge was there, but the sudden tange of roots under her feet tripped her up again, and this time she went down hard. The impact knocked the wind out of her. Grimacing, she pushed herself up to her hands and knees. "Don't - don't fucking go to sleep, you -" Breathless, she shouted after him, her laughter following him even though she couldn't anymore. "Better get some guards for that f-fancy house!"
Harumen nearly tripped in response to her words. He had heard similar scorn towards Dreamers in the past, by those representing the Nightmare Court. So... was this stranger aligned with them. Her aggressive and nonsensical behavior made more sense, under that context She was looking to hurt him purely because she was able to. Which made her even more intimidating, and more dire to keep his distance from her. He was not about to let her corrupt him too. "Help!" He called out, hoping to get the attention of the Wardens. "H-Help me!”
Meliwith made it to her feet, finally, and stared after the Dreamer - he was past the bridge now, and the Wardens were not far. The world reeled around her. There was no way she could chase him further, let alone hope to fight off armed guards. Clutching her stomach, she turned and stalked away back up the path, pausing only to retrieve her dagger from the Dreamer’s house and dash a few things off the shelves before heading out into the darkness again.
