Your OC as a gemstone/mineral/mineraloid etc.
was tagged by @cawyden-gaming - thanks for the tag <3
Doing this was interesting, since while there are historical, cultural, and mystical associations with different gemstones, there’s nothing so defined as the “language of flowers”, so researching wound up being a lot of looking through websites wanting to sell me jewelry and/or “magic crystals” and trying to see if there was any consistencies.
Once I got started, however, I didn't wanna stop, so you get 4 different OCs!
Euphrasie Pestorius Von Valencius (Rogue Trader) - jasper
The most obvious connection here is that jasper comes in a variety of warm, rich colors, which is what I see her wearing a lot of when I picture her.
On a more abstract level, however, jasper is commonly used for two very interesting things. Signet rings, which as a noblewoman and later a rogue trader she probably uses quite regularly, and heart scarabs (from wikipedia):
The function of the heart scarab according to Ancient Egyptian religion was to bind the heart to silence whilst it was being weighed in the underworld, to ensure that the heart did not bear false witness against the deceased, or to act in its place if necessary.
Euphrasie is a religious woman, devoted to her faith in the Imperial Cult, but weighed down with guilt for a specific incident in her past and thus I think the idea of “binding the heart to silence” would appeal to her - quieting her guilt over what she knows was the right choice and speaking for her in matters of innocence and justice.
Jian Celehwar (Craftworld Eldar) - pearl
Peals are often said to symbolize innocence, which is something that various figures in the story (Val, Aurelia, Derfan) notice and covet, either to have or to destroy/corrupt.
Pearls are also formed by introducing an irritant (a wound, if you will) into a living creature. Gradually, hard layers form over the irritating substance to eventually produce something strong (relatively speaking) and beautiful. And if I’m being a bit poetic and dramatic, that’s exactly what happens to her during Silver Ash and Bone, or at least what has begun happening.
Adelaide Heptakerus Von Valencius (Rogue Trader) - yellow diamond
(no art of her yet, sorry)
Diamonds have the reputation of being incredibly hard, and in a way they are. They’re the most scratch-resistant mineral we know of, and yet, they really are not all that durable. Hit one right and you can shatter it with a hammer, just like Adelaide is extremely tough in many ways, but also quite fragile. Diamonds, similarly, are both prestigious and “noble” and yet actually not nearly as rare as most people think - Adelaide is the top of the heap as a Rogue Trader, but has her origins as a Crime Lord and in fact even before the incident that put her on the streets, had merely wealth and no actual family name or prestige.
Color in a diamond is a sign of impurities in the carbon, which also kind of gets at her “impurity” in the Imperium’s eyes (interest in xenos and general apostasy from the Imperial Cult). I went with yellow simply because I thought it suited her.
Valthiel Aire (Dark Eldar Archon) - white opals
(enjoy some very old art of him!)
The white of a typical opal puts me in mind of his hair and his heraldry, while the myriad of colors within reflects his unstable identity and self-image. Some of the sources I could find suggest that there are mystical traditions of it enhancing emotional input, which further fits his sensitivity and changeability.
And, of course, there’s the fact that opals are often considered to be an unlucky stone, and while he’s been very fortunate in some respects, his life has had enough tragedy that I think “unlucky” fits here.
That was fun, thanks for the tag cawyden!
I'm tagging @redstairs, @kredous, @fourraccoonsinacoat (you might have already done it? can't remember), and @brightephemera .