#rysel

[where-skies-end]

there's a room where the light won't find you

holding hands while the walls come tumbling down

when they do i'll be right behind you

[where-skies-end]

rysel's tattoo, plus the lore behind it

so the Necessary Lore Bit :tm: is that in wob, it's considered a rite of passage into adulthood for palace elves to get a tattoo that symbolizes something important to them. in halios, this tattoo is left visible and considered a sign you're trustworthy, but basically anywhere else, it's considered deeply personal and is kept hidden, only revealed to those the palace elf deeply trusts

rys's is on his back, with the bird sitting below his should blades and the flower over his spine. tsaia's seen the top part with the flower, but she doesn't know there's more to it, and cyrael saw the whole thing on accident but he was chill about it because like. she saved his life despite loathing his entire existence, so he obviously trusts her

the bluebird symbolizes hope, while the violet symbolizes peace, tranquility, and healing. taken together, the tattoo represents how much he hopes he can find peace and healing

[bunsakashitafrancepaintings]

Streets in Lille France Watercolor 9" x 12"

[where-skies-end]

thinking about soft oc stuff tonight

rysel refusing to leave cyraels side after she's wiped out by the staff, swearing up and down its just returning the favor

tsaia coming in to check on them both

tsaia and rys trying to figure out how to hunt together, because there's two obligate carnivores (tsaia, cat and lavandula, gryphon) and a wood elf who's just fucking stubborn about wanting meat in her food

lavandula washing cyraels blood stained clothes in the little bit of water he manages to melt over a fire, using his magic to try and dry her cloak so she has extra warmth

taiga bringing food to cyrael and rysel while they're both asleep, and they wouldn't know who brought it were it not for a single blue feather

the horses huddled for warmth as they graze on whatever shoots of grass they can find, or later moss

Horizon, forever protective of his master, posting himself outside her tent and watching everything, Bentley curled up next to him. the dogs taking shifts watching over the tent where their people rest

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sometimes i like to think about the contrast between cyrael and rysel. like physically i made them look really different, but also in personality and how they respond to everything their lives have thrown at them

like rysel was initially meant to be a one off character who only showed up a few sections but i liked the contrast with cyrael he brought to the story so i kept him in and eventually developed him more and more so the contrast is by design but i'm in the mood to ramble

she grew up with very little stability. her parents were adventurers by trade, constantly moving place to place, she was just enough younger than her older brothers that she couldn't quite do the things they could either so she was just kind of left to do her own thing a lot, aside from time to learn how to wield a sword and a bow, make traps and whatnot. it was this being left alone and brushed aside that made her feel the need to prove she could do something useful, and led to her getting attacked by the bear. her parents dropped her with her aunts, who while they cared for her were not prepared to have a gravely injured, emotionally unwell child dropped on them by some random relative who refused to settle down and actually take care of said child. she goes into everything expecting the worst and expecting a fight, she's operating under the assumption that nobody will like or trust her, and her reaction to pretty much any situation is to fight her way out, even when it probably shouldn't be

whereas rys grew up with pretty much every aspect of his life being controlled either directly or indirectly by his parents, especially his mother. he wasn't allowed to be anything, he was expected to be perfect, and his best efforts were never good enough to get him ranked any higher in line for the throne than his actual baby siblings. he's operating under the assumption everyone's going to be disappointed in him, and he's doing absolutely nothing to prove them wrong, because why bother when the effort gets you nowhere anyway? he expects everyone to want to hurt him and most of the time he's just going to sit there and take it, and his few attempts to stand up for himself at the start are largely misguided because he does Not know how the real world works and that trying to pull authority figure card doesn't work on cyrael, who isn't even tied to a single kingdom.

and these two who have pretty much no shared experience or personality compatibility have to work together, because cy has to or she ends up back in prison and rys is at a point where he's going to do one good thing (find and save his sister) or die trying, and without her he most definitely would have died because he has no practical skill surviving or fighting in the wild

and in return after they learn cy is the chosen one, he's got to help her navigate her life flipping over and going from being a nobody to being a "hero," when she's fully convinced she's undeserving of the title. she doesn't know how to handle attention, especially positive attention, because she doesn't really get any

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pretty sure i'm late to this joke but i couldn't sleep last night and this was all that was in my head

[where-skies-end]

🕊️🌸