#rihak

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another lineart piece from @gainstrive that i colored, this time of my boy Rihak! 

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thinking about one of my favorite Skydancer Things, sensing emotions. some skydancers are better at it than others, either at picking up emotions in the first place or interpreting them, and you’re generally best at sensing specific ones rather than the full spectrum - you might recognize emotions that you feel a lot yourself, or that you have practice sensing. i also conceptualize the sense as tied closely with a skydancer’s magic, and the way a skydancer senses emotions reflects that. for instance, my birbs: 

Surak: honesty/deception, regret, belief (cool, clear bells of truth, discordant notes of falsehood, the heavy weight of certainty in your bones)

Azeraik: very basic positive/negative surface emotions (a bright, cheery blaze; the sputtering hiss of sullen embers that can’t be coaxed to warmth)

Alieth: anger, fear, and sadness - but only when strong (quiet air whipping into angry cyclones, the stopped-breath shock of fear, friendly breezes so familiar they’re hardly felt)

Vaikarik: nervousness, earnestness (the lick of flames, dancing hotter as stress ratchets nerves ever higher; the earnest glow of honest support)

Shael: loneliness, need, insecurity (the hollow, echoing darkness of the truly alone; the faltered step of certainty lost)

Sadzhik: attraction, nervousness, contentment (warm washes of heady flattery like afternoon sunlight; prickling, tickling nervousness that turns to ripe, sweet anticipation at the right look or touch)

Kastra: worry (protectiveness that shelters like a mother’s embrace; the tug and twang that vulnerability plucks on unguarded heartstrings)

Senkar: (dis)trust, fear (the cold knife-edge of terror, pressed close against the throat; wariness that scrapes needles of ice down the spine)

Rihak: botched breed change (jagged crystals of blood and bone digging senseless, sourceless, in mind and mana)

Vintori: envy, greed, desire (the vicious pleasure of taking what others want; poison dragging knives through your veins when they get it first)

[wildewinged-fr]

well i’m gonna have to fuss with his outfit for the rest of forever but The Boy is all prettied up now. his name is Rihak and he’s having some difficulties with his magic, the poor thing

his beautiful wonderful art is by @gainstrive <3

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so anyway thanks to @skyspireclan's goblining ways rihak now matches his art perfectly

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basically rihak's deal is that he's a conman who used to be a nocturne but thought the whole skydancer emotion-sensing deal would be perfect for his line of work. figure out just what to say to put marks at ease, always know when someone's not buying what you're selling, avoid being double-crossed, etc. however he cheaped out on the scroll he bought (10 finger discount) and it happened to be crafted extremely poorly. it backfired spectacularly and basically started eating his magic. he's now trying to A) see if he can find a magical healer who can fix whatever's wrong with his mana stores before it kills him and B) deal with the really shitty and inconsistent extra sense he gave himself has he learned his lesson? no, not really