Hi hello I have been absolutely dying to know what’s up w shimmer (who is not shimmer anymore???) so if you needed an excuse to talk about your guys 👀 pls I’m so so curious
hiii!!! aaah i'm so excited to talk about this garnet's shimmer arc just came to a close last night and i'm VIBRATING ajnbfaslkdjf i'm gonna give you the long story long bc i don't think there's any other way to tell it really so i apologize in advance for this essay i'm sure it's not what you signed up for ;-;
quick TLDR; shimmer was a blight her goddess set on her after breaking her oath approx. 7 years ago in game, and is gone now bc garnet forgave herself and went home to lochton to face the consequences of her actions
garnet and her dad came over from the fire plane and landed in a tiny town on the sword coast called lochton. there, her father worked as a head of the house guard for the lord of the town, and garnet grew up along side the lord's daughter, afvari. their relationship eventually grew from best friends to lovers at some point in their teens, and garnet was eventually appointed to the guard with her father on specific detail to one princess afvari.
approx. 7 years ago in our campaign, there was a break in to kidnap afvari in the middle of the night. garnet, in an attempt to save her and get rid of the kidnappers, accidentally exploded with a burst of fiery anger killing everyone in the room. she was apprehended at the scene and put into custody. in her wait to be tried, fear overtook her and she ran from lochton, fleeing from punishment and fear of death for killing the lord's only daughter. the night she escaped, she went down to the town graveyard and saw shimmer for the first time: a spectral blue fiery form with bright yellow eyes, staring and watching, bearing a haunting resemblance to afvari. shimmer was a blight set on her from her goddess viridi, with whom garnet broke her oath of devotion.
for the next 3 years, garnet ran, taking jobs where she could but never letting anyone get close enough to know about her past, that is until she met marrow and valerius, and eventually a year later the rest of the forshtti guild with goose, grayson, and aegoth, among others. during their time together with the guild and getting closer, shimmer would attack whenever garnet would have that same "overkill" she felt that night she killed afvari. it injured several of her friends and in the end caused her to keep that wall up she had for years.
RECENTLY THOUGH!!! goose had made progress in getting garnet to trust in viridi's plan (he was a cleric of viridi), though not without their fair share of arguments about it. eventually shimmer spawned during a battle again and garnet's current partner valerius (in his pure angel form bastion, it's a long story don't even get me started) saw that unlike every time garnet had described shimmer to him, she didn't look like afvari; it looked like garnet, exactly how she was 7 years ago the night she ran. in talking with valerius, garnet realized the only thing to do to get rid of shimmer was to go back to lochton and make peace with her past, putting aside her grief and moving on as well as answering for her crimes. going back to town, she went to the graveyard and prayed for forgiveness and was confronted with shimmer as she always was, 25 year old garnet, scared and terrified of what she'd done. after a good conversation with her past self and reassuring that it does get better and the pain does go away, they huGGED AND IM CRYING NOW, but shimmer changed into a form of pure white light, the whip from hakim (evil god offering an oath of vengeance) shriveled at garnet's side and she was equipped instead with new armor, the "Breastplate of the Valkyrie."
the last line of the session and of the SEASON was in this moment and it's too good not to share so, directly from our dm: "instinctively, you know the command word, and as it's spoken two wings of radiant crimson light erupt from your back as the valkyrie of the forshtti guild takes flight, finally free of the weight that had grounded her."
adskjfhiua i hope this wasn't too long to read i could talk about it forever it was so so good, my dm did such a good job making this resolution so special. biiiiig chapter in garnet's life is over and i'm so excited to keep playing her with this new chapter ahead of her!!!!!
