Low key been rejiggling some older characters, and getting a few older kids to 80! Meet a revamped Bairnwen, and Fionhuine, and the new kids Alasthaine and Mallaidnch
(top to bottom!)
Bairnwen is my oldest surviving character, and a wild card Pact agent with a penchant for pyromania and chaos! Shes based on trees struck by lightning
Mallaidnch is an AU Commander, she sacrificed herself early in the story to the court, and now has... so many issues. She uses ice instead of fire to create burns, and is generally kept as a terrible secret of the Pact
Fionhuine is a semantic mutation sylvari bounty hunter after serving in the Pact during Magumma, who's still being tweaked a lil - was my old canon commander.
Alasthaine is an albino sylvari warden. She got in contact with Elonian holosmiths as a way to make the sunlight she wasnt absorbing work for her. She is unable to photosynthesize
Where does your Commander come from? How did they grow up? Who influenced them when they were young and impressionable? What were their goals and aspirations? If they are Sylvari, what was it like waking up from the Dream?
Taihneford & Lasairlugh
The twins experiences in the Dream was simultaneously lonely and not - Ford and Lasair kept largely to themselves in a more secluded section, and spent the majority of their time rough housing, getting on each others nerves, and asking each other questions about what they saw in an attempt to figure it out. They focused more on what looked interesting, and didn’t socialize within the Dream because they simply felt they didn’t have to. Once the nightmare court attack, forming the Shadow of the Dragon, the Dream seemed to realize there was an extra in the dream, and caused the already split-in-the-pod twins to be separated.
As far as they’re concerned, everything hurt all of a sudden, and when they came to, there was one twin split down the middle where there should have been two. They more or less obeyed Caithe’s orders out of confusion and grief - believing the Nightmare Court to be responsible.
After waking, Ford was the more impressionable of the two, mainly doing as he was told and trying to fill everyone expectations of being a Valiant, as he grew int he Grove, he mainly tried to emulate the Firstborn who took him under their wing - Caithe, Trahearne, Malomedies and Khaedins mainly.
Lasair went the opposite route, and was very headstrong in comparison - she did as she deemed necessary, and was far more outspoken and whiny than her brother, and took more to Caithe’s teachings of just getting out there and exploring. The same Firstborn her brother formed bonds with Lasair had weaker bonds with, and she spent most of her time worrying them by never being where she was supposed to be.
Mallaidnch
Mally didn’t really have much of a different experience in comparison to most saplings. She was mild mannered, calm, empathetic and had a good head on her shoulders - she too, stuck to Caithe and the other Firstborn out of obligation for her Wyld Hunt, but found it easier to socialize with others than the twins.
She quietly admired Trahearne, the Pale Mother, and Caithe, as she grew, and tried to emulate the best parts of them into herself. This, unfortunately, indirectly led to her surrender to the Court based on self sacrificial ideals, where she became more bitter and aggressive.
Nerrdia
She had a relatively normal charr upbringing - in her farhar days, she was particularly strong willed and average across the board, so your typical charr cub, which kept any bullies away from her specifically, and the fact she wasn’t particularly easy to cow kept potential bullies away from her little band. She didn’t stand out aside from her fur colour mutation and the fact she was the younger sibling of that one charr teenager who was a pain in the ass.
She more or less was influenced by her warband and primus, and had dreams of being legionnaire or centurion, but was sort of directionless for a lot of her teenage years, where she began to understand the work more, and how complex every idea or dream she’d had as a cub was. She became more content to just slowly rise through the ranks in Blood Legion and grow alongside her warband, her only real change after having Ikaros was she wanted to push more to become higher ranked, or get her warband recognized of their deeds more for the sake of her cub.
How did your Commander feel about being chosen by Glint’s egg as its Champion? Were they excited? Honored? Concerned? How did the people close to them react to it? How is their relationship with Aurene, how does it develop? Did becoming Aurene’s Champion change them in any way, be it physically or mentally?
Taihneford
Ford was entranced by the egg. He’s a very paternal dude, so was instantly very protective of the egg, and being made champion only made that protective streak go through the roof. He spend the entire time after HoT huddled in the egg’s chamber - building a little shelter behind the waterfall and just awkwardly spending time with the egg and the exalted.
He and Aurene have a very relaxed parent-child relationship, that’s shifted into a friendship as she grew. He utterly adores her, and is always a little bit worried about her safety. Anytime he can’t see her he’s a little stressed, especially when they were in Elona, where he was constantly worried and on edge. All or Nothing was a gigantic blow for him.
He really misses having tiny hatchling Aurene around though, and defo has some empty nest syndrome
Lasairlugh
Lasair isn’t as maternal as her brother, but still adores Aurene - she was simply more forgetful about the egg until it hatched, and less stressed over leaving Aurene alone. She was more than happy to let Caithe be the parent and for herself to be the fun-aunt to Aurene - even if both parties refer to her as a mother.
She’s as protective as Ford is, but is far more relaxed, and concerned more about Aurene enjoying herself - especially after Vlast. She openly encourages Aurene to be as mischievous as possible
Mallaidnch
Mally was shocked to say the least. She’s not naivie. She’s aware that she’s more or less the Pact’s attack dog, and fully expects people and dragons to view her as such. SO having Glint’s egg chose her, had her worried but honoured. This only increased as Aurene was born.
She was actually a pretty good parent though, not too lenient and not too strict. She tried to let Aurene form her own opinions about things, and enjoyed bringing her new things to try, simply to see how different things would make her tick.
Being a courtier - everyone was incredibly suspicious about her and the egg being together, coupled with her history with Caithe and Trahearne and everything going on at the time - they genuinely feared she’d harm the hatchling, or try to turn it to nightmare. She didn’t, and it never once crossed her mind, but Caithe kept an eye on her.
To this day she views Aurene as her closest friend and her sanctuary and Aurene views her champion positively.
Nerrdia Hallowsong
Nerrdia’s an old hand at cub raising. Even if Ikaros is a bit of a wildcard and was technically raised by the Legions. She takes to egg raising like a duck to water, if not a bit absently due to her duties. Aurene and her are probably the least parental-child relationship out of my commanders. But they’re still incredibly fond of each other and Aurene does view her as a mother (and vice versa).
Nerrdia’s the most steady about being a champion, and Aurene appreciates that her champion’s solid and steady when she needs to be a bit wobbly in her younger years - even if Nerrdia does worry now and again.
Ikaros absolutely brags about the fact he has a dragon for a sister.
