They met when Sira moved to the Silvergrove from another village as an adult. She went to go get potion ingredients from the local gardener, Anthea, and was momentarily struck dumb when she saw the pretty pink flower girl. Anthea clocked it immediately and got also Mildly Flustered by the attention. Sira managed to recover her words once addressed, but she was a little stammery. Anthea managed to dodge stuttering, but she couldn't help the flustered grinning. After a couple more meetings as they both got better at talking to each other (including several visits Sira lowkey just made up reasons for) she was the one who asked Sira out. They are for once not idiots, so they got together with no major acts of stupidity. The worst part was before they were properly together when Verace hit on Sira and Anthea was So Dismayed. Verace was like you should have told me you were into her omg?? but luckily Sira just turned him down anyway, she's a lesbian. Also was probably keeping an eye out for Anthea at a public gathering when this occurred.
Her horns, as always should have wood grain type lines. Her staining is pink. I erred more on the side of pink with her because purples are my nemesis, being blue-yellow colorblind, but she would probably wear a mix of both regularly. I like the way the marks on her face turned out, other than that one on her nose should be more defined. The mark on her throat should be a full circle, though, with delicate lines leading to the waning moons on her shoulders, and waxing moon symbols on her thighs. Man, I should have put a flower in her hand, but I'm too lazy to go back and redo the screenshots. She'd be a florist if Moonshadow Forest had that sort of profession. As it is she's a general beautician and maintenance worker for the entire town, so she's simultaneously the most aesthetics-aware person you've ever met and the most down-to-earth gardener type you'll ever speak to.
Verace:
Notes:
Again, wood grain lines, his staining is pale blue. Ignore the growths around the base of his horns, too, they should be smooth, though the extra dimension down there is warming me up to the idea of Elaborate Horn Cuffs this bitch might wear if he ever gets married. His markings should be more defined, and he has a full moon mark over his ribs as well, for which he's more than happy to wear a cropped shirt to show off the edges. An awful flirt, often doesn't mean anything by it, but grows into a bit of a slut too.
So I've been catching up on your other TDP related stories. And with the small chance that this question may or may not send you into another Hero Forge spiral....
Have you given any thought to future Assassin kids? Aka, children of Ruthari, Andromeda/Elyrin, Ram/Astrid? I know Skor/Callisto are on the fence about having kids, so not sure if I can include them in this ask?
It did send me to HeroForge, which is part of why this one took so damn long to answer, lmao. A small part, anyway, I'm also just bad at clearing my inbox.
I've always had the thought Ruthari would try again now that Rayla's grown up, but it wasn't until this ask that I sat down to imagine what that kid would actually be like. Andromeda and Elyrin have twins right off the bat, a boy and a girl, and put a pause on any more for a while because two is enough to begin with, the elves don't seem to have large families. Skor and Callisto are definitely having at least one kid, I might stick them with just the one that formed in my head as I made her HF. I actually haven't considered Ram and Astrid having kids, I don't really have any thoughts on that front even after experimenting in HeroForge for a bit with the others.
The images of them came before their names. Ruthari's second daughter's name is Fyrenai (fear-en-ai). Androlyrin's kids are Talyr and Selai (sell-AY), and Skoristo's daughter is named Aria.
HFs under the cut:
Ruthari:
Fyrenai got Runaan's eye color and Ethari's eye shape, Runaan's hair and Ethari's brows, Ethari's jaw and Runaan's chin. She's heavily affected by growing up with Rayla as a big sister, takes after her in personality more strongly than either of their dads. She managed to tame a nightfox, shown here, which is something most people won't even try to do. She's got a knack for animals, though it's not the same as Ezran's empathy with them.
Andromeda and Elyrin:
Talyr:
Talyr took more after his mom, he'll be a warrior like her, probably going into the same profession the assassins become after being disbanded. He shares her aversion to covering clothes. Like both of his parents, he uses a blue horn stain, and I like these markings for his face.
Salei:
Salei (sah-lay) took more after her dad, in contrast, and became a bard. To separate her from her parents (who both use stringed instruments) she plays a pan flute. She should have smaller horns, especially at the base, and I'm strongly considering just making her match her brother, but I did hers first so I didn't think about it before. She's a softhearted soul who does her best not to live in constant fear for her more warlike family members, and clings harder to her dad as a result. She's just as fun-loving as he is, though, a bright spot in the dark.
Skoristo:
Aria is the daughter of Skor and Callisto, and her design was inspired in definite part by the girl from Lydia the Bard's music video for "RUN". Her name is derived from it too, being as close as I think a Moonshadow name would get to the Greek Ariadne, the princess who escaped the labyrinth. She's definitely growing into a warrior like them. She stresses Skor the hell out with her recklessness, he complains constantly that she's growing up just like Rayla, and he's never giving Runaan shit for his parenting ever again. Callisto is quieter about it but sets their mind to making sure she's prepared for Literally Anything, including training with magic.
The music video in question. I have also just now realized I used the same corset top for all three of these young women, but fuck, it worked so WELL layered with other things, it gave them all some of the delicate lines Moonshadow tend to have in their clothing that were hard to imitate.
Do you have any thoughts abt what Ram’s mother/Lyrennus’s wife was like?
Some!
She had to be an incredibly patient woman, in the sense that she could wait out Lyrennus' temper tantrums without giving way to them. That sullen glare that Ram gives out in the show is something he learned from her - she gave it to his dad whenever Lyrennus started losing his temper around her or their son. It got to the point that just seeing it was enough to make Lyrennus pause and think about whether he really needs to be that upset about something, and calm down unless it actually merited that strong of a reaction.
As for who she was as a person, Selene (my hc name for her) was a very sweet, kind woman with a spine made of absolute steel. She had all the love and patience in the world, but that patience also translated into being incredibly stubborn. She was a seamstress, which was how she met Lyrennus in the first place - she makes clothes, and well, everyone needs those eventually. She was the instigator of their relationship, catching a fancy for the elderly Keeper and pursuing a friendship with him, much to his surprise.
Her workshop was outside the house, so it was usually Lyrennus home with their son instead of her, after Ram could be away from her. She did have a spare room set up for work when she had to be home, though. She taught both her husband and son to sew, and Lyrennus took up embroidery as a hobby after she introduced him to it.
She always had a ready smile for everyone, and was quick with a laugh. She had the same kind of all-encompassing love and compassion that Sarai does - offering it to everyone in equal measure, until lines are crossed that she can't abide. She's much more quick to just write off the perpetrator as if they don't exist, though, mentally Ghosting them, rather than responding with violence. She doesn't have much active aggression in her, rather tends to just refuse to put energy into things she dislikes. It undercuts her husband's temper rather nicely.
HeroForge of her, extrapolated from genetic traits Ram has and Lyrennus doesn't, and just filling in the gaps with what I liked:
Ram got his eye color from her, along with her more rounded face shape and small brows. He actually takes after her quite a bit.
Does Ram still have his pride? Does he still talk to them?
Kept this in my asks because it was a backstory point I wanted to fill out eventually and hadn't yet.
Preliminary thoughts now that I've started on it though!
Ram had a fairly small pride, like Runaan did, just the three of them. All three of them were born the same year (there were enough kids for a few years stretch it just worked out best this way) so there's less of the "who's older" type bickering, though there's still teasing about it.
As of right now, their names are Verace (vur-AYS) and Anthea (an-THAY-uh). Verace is as queer as they come and an incorrigible flirt, he paints other elves' markings when they gain or change them (ceremonial tattoo artist, basically). He works as a courier as well, as those duties aren't an everyday sort of task. Anthea, in contrast, is a high femme florist who cultivates the flowers around the Silvergrove and helps with decorating and maintaining the village itself.
Ram definitely still talks to them, but they've had a few years of their different careers and diverging life paths at this point, and it's sort of like siblings who went to colleges in different states at this point. There's nothing wrong between them emotionally, but they don't see each other as often anymore, so they're not as up to date on exactly what's going on as they used to be. They're all still tight when they get back together, though.
Anthea and Ram are often united in their exasperation at how Verace tends to flirt with anything that moves, sometimes as if he barely realizes he's doing it.
Verace and Ram often just sit there in bafflement while Anthea lectures them on color schemes and how to cultivate a flower garden.
Anthea and Verace often share Generalized Concern for Ram's mental wellbeing. He gives them a lot of reasons to, to be fair. Of the three, he's the most chaotic and reckless. It's making this whole "big brother mode" thing he's got going on in Different Paths era real weird for him, he's never had to be the responsible one before.
I have . . . limited drawing skills (and frankly limited enjoyment of doing it) but HeroForge is amazing for giving a general idea of an appearance for OCs, so here's a couple I have already done.
Elyrin (Andromeda's husband the bard):
(just imagine his horns are solid and not slightly forked like that ok)
Sirius (Andromeda's brother/Rayla's friend, the mage):
I have headcanons about Rayla's pride of mooncubs (as in the pride she was a part of as a cub) and I'm consolidating them here so I have a post to reference their names.
Sirius: A young mage, the younger brother of assassin Andromeda (son of the late assassin Alcor). He was planning on becoming an assassin as well until Alcor died and he realized that would leave their mother (Miraa) alone. He's a compassionate sort much like Rayla, and most of their pride shares a love for musical games/singing together (he's a tenor). He's an illusionist who likes playing with what amounts to magic tricks, sparkling things to entertain children, and will likely become a teacher. He's the same age as Rayla, though his birthday is just over a month after hers in September.
Vela: A sharp young woman who's on a path to becoming a Forest Guide. Her elder cousin Vega is Ethari's apprentice (post-Runaan's supposed death). She's a year older than Rayla and Sirius and notably larger than either of them, built along thicker lines that speak to other elven blood somewhere in her family history though both of her parents are Moonshadow. She's got way less anxiety than Rayla and is fairly comfortable in her own skin and who she is. Forest Guides are essentially scout-guards who make sure the paths between villages in Moonshadow Forest are still clear and safe, and guide people down them to avoid any incidents with the more run of the mill menaces of the forest.
Hadan: A unique case of a rare Earthblood woman marrying into a Moonshadow family. He's Moonshadow (arcana don't mix even if the parents don't match, and children identify by arcana not blood), but built with the broad mass of a Drake Rider and with much more sharply curved horns than most in Moonshadow Forest. He's often quiet, relying on sheer presence and intimidation to do his fighting for him, but he's very capable and definitely plans to become a village guard. He also figured out several years before Sirius did that they were gay for each other and just kept his mouth shut and waited for Sirius to notice too. Part of it was nerves but increasingly as time went on he just wanted to know how long it was going to take. (seven years)
Altari: A bit of a himbo, Soren reminds Rayla of him. He's loud for a Moonshadow elf, a bit boisterous, and most likely to become an entertainer though he has personal dreams of being a teacher one day. He's overwhelmingly friendly to a point that he gets burned really easily when people don't return his energy, and his whole Pride is a bit protective of him as a result. Hadan often jokes that he somehow managed to steal the Earthblood hospitality despite the two being unrelated to each other (and Hadan's Earthblood ancestry is anything but hospitable).
(Bonus: Go listen to Pentatonix "Come Along" and imagine these five darting around the dangerous shadows of the haunted/illusion plagued Moonshadow Forest singing that together. Absolutely terrifying, they contribute to why their neighbors are afraid of them.)
(fic specific ages under the cut)
Different Path Taken: Sirius and Rayla are both 15, Vela and Altari are 16, and Hadan is 17. Rayla is starting her adult career at this point, and Vela has been a full-fledged Forest Guide for a year already. Altari and Sirius' apprenticeships started later in their lives, and so they're still apprentices. Hadan is also officially a village guard already.
Long Live The Kings: while the fic largely takes place in the same year, it's earlier in the year. Rayla and Sirius are still 14. Vela and Hadan are both 16, but Altari is 15. Rayla isn't a full fledged assassin yet; she and Sirius are still waiting for their staining ceremonies/coming of age ceremonies and aren't considered adults yet though the rest of their pride are.
I've had a crappy couple of days, I'm just playing on HeroForge instead of writing.
Ayuret touching Elathin's horns and getting him distracted in the wrong direction as she goes to hand him a gift, and Elathin just laughing at her antics because he may be blind but he Knows Her lmao. Ethari gets his sense of humor from both parents.
