Maybe you've already touched on this in another post, but Knight of the Thorn quest for Kerra (and bonus for Rhi as well, if you want)
Hi hi!! Sorry it took a sec for me to answer this; I did a Whole Lot Of Driving this weekend (for good reasons! I just had like Zero free time and this is a detailed answer asdlkjfs). But I can answer it now, so let's go! :D
I think the most I've touched on this in another post was when the ask game about what the boss fight for your character would look like--I talked about what the fight against Kerra as one of the Knight-of-the-Thorn echoes would look like. But I haven't actually discussed details for either of their quests beyond that, so:
Kerra
She really hadn't ever planned on taking up the sword at all. Her canon might be different from the regular game canon (in that Trahearne survives the end of HoT), but Caladbolg is still very much broken when she and everyone else reaches "Hearts and Minds".
After Mordremoth's death, Kerra has fulfilled her Wyld Hunt. Aurene hasn't hatched yet, so as far as she knows, she isn't Champion to anyone or anything, and her future is her own. She's in a romantic relationship, she's still the Pact Commander, she's healing from both physical and mental wounds, and she's on shaky terms with both her siblings--Caithe because of everything that happened with the egg, and Trahearne because of the sacrifice she was willing to make.
Her relationship with Caithe starts to mend once Aurene hatches. They're able to sit down and talk, with the extra motivation that Aurene would be much happier if they both got along. Her relationship with Trahearne is on shaky ground for longer than that, but after "A Crack in the Ice", she can't stand that being the case at all for any longer and goes and has (another) long talk with him.
I'm sorry that I hurt you, but I'm not sorry for what I did, and I won't lie and say that I am. I know I don't value myself enough, I know, and I'm trying. I know my flaws and I know my choices, and it may be hypocritical but I hate that you ever thought that dying was all you were worth. I love you, you're my brother, you're here and I'm so glad, and I am so sorry that I hurt you but I will never not be glad that you're alive.
I was already wounded and dying, and I'd made peace with that, but I hadn't made peace with losing you, with losing another sibling. I'd done my job and my duty, and it was never one I wanted, and you still had so much more to do; the safest choice was to let me go. I would never want to be the reason Caithe lost you, Rel lost you, the world lost you. I was angry because I was, and am, afraid; I love you, and you risk so much so often, little sister, and I never wanted you to risk it for me.
That conversation is the catalyst for Kerra reforging Caladbolg--because Trahearne gives it to her. It's not another obligation, it's a weapon for her to protect herself. It's a legacy, to be sure, and she does take on the Knight of the Thorn title, but she is bestowed that title by her brother, not her Mother. It's a concession and an agreement--there will be risk, and there may be sacrifice, but Kerra will never do any of it alone. (And it's another part of Trahearne stepping down from a job he took out of obligation to his Mother and the world by giving up the sword. Protection for one sibling and freedom for the other.)
Kerra still ends up working with Ridhais here--though it's in a slightly different context than canon, the other sylvari still has a pertinent Wyld Hunt to this situation and helps her reforge the sword. She spends time on this quest specifically in-between "A Crack in the Ice" and "The Head of the Snake", so in that time, she's in Maguuma for a bit finding sword pieces (and spending time with Aurene). And the first two parts of the battles of the quest go very similarly to how they do in-game! She fights Riannoc's echo in the swamp, then Trahearne's in the canopy of Maguuma. But the third is different.
She goes to a small homestead in Wayfarer Foothills where a family lives. There are three children, two to three years older than they were last time she was there, and two parents. She greets them and explains why she's there, and though they're bemused (and confused, too), they nod. And they go inside, and they watch the Pact Commander battle an echo of herself, one from a time when she felt small and broken and overwhelmed with grief and self-hatred, outside in the snow.
Kerra carries Caladbolg with her for the rest of the time that she's the commander--through the very end of EoD.
Rhi
When Kerra steps down as commander, it coincides with Rhi really...coming of age, so to speak. They're a big part of a lot of the events in EoD, from the original fight with the Aetherblades to the final battle with the Dragonvoid. They're not quite ready to strike out on their own yet, but they plan to do so within the next year, and Kerra offers Caladbolg to them. It's a passing of the torch--not of the job as commander, Rhi is very young for that responsibility and doesn't want it, but of this weapon meant (perhaps more than most) as a way to protect the one who carries it. And they accept.
Their first two battles mirror their mother's, in the swamp and the jungle. They meet Riannoc for the first time, and he might just be an echo, but he sees an echo of himself in them nonetheless. They see their uncle--younger, from years ago, back when he was a soldier--and he doesn't recognize them, not really, but the look in their eyes is familiar. And they battle their mother's echo, but it's not outside a hut in the snow. They've been inside Sun's Refuge, so they know a bit about Elona, but they've never been to the top of this tower before, with its ring of scorch marks and blasted stone.
This echo of Kerra is from the moment she died, when she was about to lose Aurene, when she was probably the most desperate she's ever been. And she recognizes, when Rhi manages to get through "round one", that she's an echo, because she's the only one of the previous Knights who's been through this specific process of attuning to the sword. She doesn't know who Rhi is, but she tells them that they remind her of someone--maybe a couple someones. And she smiles and tells them they're also entirely someone new.
They carry the sword proudly after that. It follows them onto the deck of a ship a year later--one on the sea, not the air--and they start their own journey of learning about the world.
Hello, for the NPC ask: any thoughts on Ridhais? For any of your characters who did the Knight of the Thorn quest, and bonus for any characters close to Trahearne (since Ridhais is supposedly one of Trahearne's guards for some time).
Ooh, Ridhais! Sure sure!! :)
Kerra's the one who goes through the Knight of the Thorn quest line, and though her canon differs in the sense that Trahearne is still very much alive post-HoT, I do think she would still have worked with Ridhais. And Kerra likes her! It's more of a friendship than any sort of mentor-apprentice thing, but Kerra really appreciates having the chance to help someone else who, like her, thought their Wyld Hunt was one thing and then figured out it was something else.
Rel would definitely know her as well, though they'd have more of a passing friendly recognition of each other early on than a close relationship. I can see them fighting together in Maguuma and becoming closer because of that, though not necessarily in the way of being close friends, just two people who understand each other very well.
Offering my sylvari Commander Ruadhán for character matchup since he could use more friends. Personality-wise, he is kind, compassionate and patient. He generally reads people and situations very well. He’s also fairly intelligent and great at strategic thinking. Despite some reservations, he's dedicated to his Wyld Hunt of killing Elder Dragons since he believes it's what's best for the world. He's often hard on himself and has trouble opening up because he doesn't want to burden others with his problems.
I will gladly give Ruadhán more friends!! :) And you probably know what both of these folks look like, but you get screens anyways, cause why not!
Kerra immediately came to mind because of Commander Solidarity Reasons, but I think they'd legitimately get along really well even without that. Her own Wyld Hunt was specifically to kill Mordremoth, but she's very familiar with mixed feelings on that subject, and she's been actively working to stop being hard on herself, so she's been there too. She'd love to sit and talk about things (or just sit), but she'd also be very willing to walk around Lion's Arch with him or something else in that vein, too!
I'm also going to put Nisha here, as someone who also understands the burden of expectations and is the monarch of not only "don't burden others with your problems" but "people shouldn't even know that you have problems because you have to be strong". Xe'd very much get it and would be glad to have a friend like him. And xe'd specifically be glad to have a sylvari friend outside of xyr immediate group who didn't think xem being basically-Soundless was odd (since it sounds like he wouldn't mind).
Hello, from the OC development questions I'd like to ask 3 and 12 for Kerra and 15, 19, 38 for any character you like. Thanks!
Thank you for the ask! :D Starting with Kerra:
3. How easy to annoy is your oc? Do they have common pet-peeves or are they stoic in response to everything? What is their reaction if the source doesn’t stop?
Kerra’s level of annoy-ability is heavily dependent on what else is going on in her life at the moment, which means it’s probably at its peak sometime during PoF/LWS4 and comes close during Icebrood. But, generally, she’s pretty patient and more likely to be calm/chill unless a) the thing annoying her crosses a line/is a solidly assholeish thing to say/do (such as insulting sylvari as a group, which becomes a HARD line for her right before HoT) or b) she’s just too stressed to deal with the annoying thing at that moment. If the source doesn’t stop...well, it depends on what the source is, but if it’s a friend/acquaintance/anyone who is someone she’d rather see alive than dead, she’ll 1) tell them to stop, 2) potentially snap at them if they don’t, and then 3) get out of the situation if she has to by flat-out leaving.
12. How skilled at lying is your oc? How frequently do they lie? For what reason? What situations would be the exception?
Kerra is a pretty damn good liar, but unless it’s a political event or a mission (either for the Order or once she becomes Commander), she tries to avoid it. Despite knowing how to lie well, her default setting is honesty, and she’s had enough experience with people close to her lying to her that she’d rather avoid doing that to anyone else if at all possible.
For the next three questions, the random thing picker gave me Pol, who’s probably the member of Ari’s warband I’ve talked about the least. And he needs more on-paper development that’s not in my brain, so let’s go!
15. If you had to choose a single object to act as a symbol for your oc, what would it be? Why?
Hmmm...this doesn’t say I couldn’t pick an animal (even though those aren’t objects and I’m stretching this prompt), so Pol gets either the black-and-white ruffed lemur or the Maine Coon cat! They’re both very fluffy like he is, for one, and black-and-white lemurs are pretty social, tending to live in groups. They also enjoy climbing (which he definitely does) and have comparatively weaker eyesight--if Pol had survived the Weylon Betrayal Incident, he would have eventually had to get glasses in order to read things (he is/was pretty decently farsighted, and it got worse as he got older). The Maine Coon comparison is mainly to the Maine Coons that I’ve met, which have been very sweet and curious but also definitely strong enough to whack you pretty hard if you cross them. (To be clear, I have never been whacked by a Maine Coon; they just have giant paws a;sjldf.)
19. If someone was describing your oc to someone who had never met them, what distinguishing features would they mention? How would one identify your oc in a crowd?
Look for the charr that’s strongly built and VERY fluffy. (It should be noted that he’s not the tallest charr in the world, but he’s on the taller side, so that can sometimes help, too.)
38. What signs tell that your oc is nervous? Do they fidget, is it in their expression or the way they say things? Or are they very skilled at hiding it?
Pol fidgets with his hands/paws a lot when he’s nervous, but he doesn’t usually show it. If he previously had his hands out in front of him and suddenly they’re nowhere to be found, he’s probably nervous. Expression and behavior-wise, though, he’s pretty good at hiding it.
Thanks for dropping by, great to see you! And sure, will do! :D
17. With both rifles and bows existing next to each other, what technology do rifles use? Flintlocks? Do they have magazines? Breach- or frontloaders?
Oh boy, I shall do my best here, though I know very little about the workings of rifles, so I'm most definitely going to be using Wikipedia! Let's see...one of the issues with flintlocks is that they can't really get wet or they won't work well since (as Wikipedia puts it) they rely on ignition to work. If there are Tyrian flintlocks, I feel like the current/most recent ones would use asuran magitech in order to ensure that they could spark no matter the weather. With regards to magazines, I think there has to be some sort of Tyrian equivalent. Human tech in general is far enough along for them to have developed repeating firearms, even if they do have magic to rely on (unlike us), and those require magazines. Same goes for breechloaders vs frontloaders--frontloaders are apparently the older style, and therefore likely do exist, but breechloaders are probably most common. Alternatively, since breechloading was only perfected/made more efficient in the 1800s-ish (for us, just to be clear), it might be more 50-50 than having one over the other.
(This also is making me wonder about how the rifle mechanisms of the different races differ. I bet there's a lot of variance there--asuran rifles use magitech, while human rifles are closer to the standard we see in our world. The charr are maybe the most likely to me to have magazines because of their emphasis on military tech. Norn rifles are optimized for hunting. And I have no idea how sylvari rifles would differ, if at all; probably also a combination of magic and practical since some of their designs utilize plants.)
