Best Of

Very much focused upon the greater good and making the hard choices. A strong emphasis on seeing true and clear despite how murky a situation might be, and seeing into the hearts of others, and oneself. Righteous anger, but strictly controlled. Firmly believes in a philosophy of only unsheathing your blade (literally and metaphorically) when you intend to use it in earnest, lest it cheapen the blade and its wielder. Encourages His followers to stoke their anger, but shape it, and direct it outwards to those that deserve it. Your should be as the falling of a terrible star of judgement, etc. Make them dread it. Calm, composed, in control, though cool of manner in most situations. Warm, gentle and reassuring (if a touch formal and awkward at times) to His allies, a bastion of immovable resolve, a terrifying, implacable foe to His enemies. Cannot abide mortals that waver in their belief in the Light, or permit it to be diminished in any way. Is not swift to engage in battle, but when He does, His pragmatic, elegant brutality is infamous - He will sever and rip a foe into pieces with a blend of raging ferocity and surgical precision. Absolutely loyal, and expects the same of His followers. Similarly, He is extremely, single-mindedly vengeful. Rumoured to have some degree of prescience.

He'd certainly still be as devoted to Lantra as He was as a mortal, and relieved to finally be able to fulfil his vow to be Her Knight in a manner that is actually useful to Her, if She allowed Him to. I like to imagine His Order and Lantra's would work hand in hand often, and Terentia's, to a lesser degree. Would almost certainly stir up a great deal of trouble in the delicate power balance the Divines play within.

Tenets: Judgement, Vigilance, Wrath, Temperance, Reverence.

His symbols include an eight-pointed star formed from four overlapping blades of light, a constellation of stylised, vigilant eyes, a shield formed from swords, and a figure kneeling in reverence.

Allies: Lantra, Darvellan, Terentia
Enemies: The Traitors, Wyrden Divine, Li-varili, Lisaera

Godrealm: The Star-Fort Calvera, forged of blades of light. A massive, floating fortress that, on the outside, glows with a dreadful, cold luminescence, and is severely daunting to look upon. Within, though, an orderly, peaceful environment that is pleasantly warm and tranquil, with lush gardens, an abundance of martial-orientated areas and defensive emplacements, and is utterly free of shadows. The temple proper would be a balance of pragmatic functionality and elegant design, all graceful, faintly curving lines that sabers, soft gold or white marble, and a bunch of star motifs.

Order Beast: Siralii - Huge, quadrupedal entities strongly tied to the Light - Humanoid upper torsos, far too many eyes, long bodies, feathered/furred all over, halos, big clawed leonine feet, long tail, and a ton of wings, probably some glowing eye-markings in there. Think aesthetically along the lines of old testament style angels, the BE NOT AFRAID style that are, in fact, completely terrifying. Lovely singing voices, exceedingly good with the timid, children and so on. Horrifying, berserk rages where they sing hymns of damnation while ripping people into bloody pieces.

Priest NPC: Adrasiel, Sidereal Templar. Either an angel of some sort if I could get away with it, or a Trill that is infused very strongly with the Light and Aescuton's essence. Calm, measured and composed, Adrasiel is exceedingly good with people (to make up for Aescuton's failings with them) and has a natural gift at putting others at their ease, with their warm and graceful manner. Exudes a sense of patience and has a soothing air, unless you're an enemy, in which case they are very much the holy avenger type and will kill you as soon as look at you, and not in a particularly gentle way. Kind eyes, bright blue in hue, golden hair, deep bronze skin and fine, beautiful features.

(There's also a Maskbreaker AU I like to toy with, but that's probably for another time!)

2) Who would you cast as a voice actor for your character?

This is a really tough one for Avaris, since his voice is so weird. It's all layered and reverby so finding one example is essentially impossible. Think of a more natural sounding Reaper from mass effect, with a bunch of other voices harmonising on top in different pitches. A balance of deep, rich and higher, sweeter tones that harmonise and resonate with one another.

3) What would your character's "fall from grace" story arc be? If you're already a nefarious villain, what would your "redemption" arc look like?

Boy have I thought about this one a lot. The key thing to know about Avaris is that he doesn't believe that he is an inherently good person. He wakes up every day, and sits on his bed, and has to think for a long time on whether he wants to be good. It's a choice he actively makes every day. Is it still worth it? Is he making a difference, and should he keep doing it even if he doesn't change anything? Because he recognises that being good is hard, and he struggles enormously with anger and just wanting to tear down everything that's wrong in the world.

There's a lot of ways it could turn out, depending on a great many variables - But the fulcrum is always Lantra, because She's so central to who he is and how he defines himself. If She leaves for the Void again on a bad note with him (You are a disappointment, etc), then it'd be a slow, gradual degradation of his desire to be better, to serve the Light and ensure that good triumphs. He'd end up not evil, necessarily, but just a flat, apathetic shell of who he was that is bitter and resentful of people that have close ties to their Divine.

If She dies, then he forsakes all efforts at even trying to be good, and obsesses over doing whatever he can to punish who/whatever killed Her (or whoever he views as being the one at fault) in the most agonising, humiliating ways possible. Only vengeance. Then if he gets it to his satisfaction, there's nothing left for him, and he knows that what he's done would be a grave disappointment to Lantra, so he just...Ends.

The best one is if She somehow gets corrupted or goes darkside Herself. I've daydreamed about Magnagoran Lantra a whole bunch, and how that would impact Avaris. He'd quit Celest immediately and follow Her to Magnagora, but he would be absolutely miserable. He'd try his best to remain moral and righteous, despite following an evil Divine and living in Taint capital of the world. He'd be doing what he could to act as a beacon of light and strive to remind Lantra of who She was, to try and coax Her back from the darkness She's been swallowed by. Working in secret to save people from Her and the others (Think bringing prisoners meals in the dead of night, freeing them where he can, etc) and generally doing damage control as much as he is able without Her casting him out. Eventually, though, depending on how close he is to Her before Her fall, he'd likely start being warped himself - Just slowly. He'd be a little more crueler than necessary, at first, a little less caring about the suffering of others, and slides further and further down that slippery slope. Then you end up with dark knight Avaris, all black and flaking gold, broken halo, permanently red markings, etc. This version essentially never gets angry, because his anger is all outrage and righteous indignation. You hollow that out, and he's as cold and terrible as the light of a dead star. He'd stand at Her side and watch impassively as darkside!Lantra and whoever did terrible things to people, and not feel so much as a flicker of guilt, or concern. If She told him to do the most reprehensible acts imaginable, he'd be glad to do it - Because She is his Lady, and it might make Her smile.

4) What's your favorite lore "conspiracy theory" you have, or personal headcanon?

I have a pet theory that Eyos splintered into changelings! It would explain why the other Elders never found the sharded race, because they immediately chameleon'd into the existing ones and blended in.

5) What is your favorite god relationship? (Can be romantic, friendship, rivalry, random ridiculous pairing -- whatever!)

Maylea and Nocht, probably! They have such a fascinating dynamic, all that resentment and anger, but you can tell there's still something there in a lot of subtle ways. Delicious stuff!

Xiran said:

1. I wanna see Lisaera and Carakhan interaction (Moon and Ocean forces!), with Terentia commentary. 

(Just kidding! I would be glad to add commentary  )

Lantra said:

Haven't bumped this in awhile! Forgive any repeats, but below is inspired by recent Discord conversations:

1. Poof, Ascension still works like it did for Ayridion! When your character ascends and becomes a proper Vernal Divine, what are they like?
   
2. Who would you cast as a voice actor for your character?
   
3. What would your character's "fall from grace" story arc be? If you're already a nefarious villain, what would your "redemption" arc look like?
   
4. What's your favorite lore "conspiracy theory" you have, or personal headcanon?
   
5. What is your favorite god relationship? (Can be romantic, friendship, rivalry, random ridiculous pairing -- whatever!)

1.  Divine Problem Child, constantly skittering around and weaving new oddities and pockets of reality into place for fun and giggles.

2. Honestly have no clue.

3. Sentient peep chili.

4. Tzaraziko was actually a changeling and could just be lucidian/dracnari (or anything else) as was convenient.

5. The Clangorum/Agnomenon brotherhood. Thax was a good collab, but I want moar!

Lantra said:

Haven't bumped this in awhile! Forgive any repeats, but below is inspired by recent Discord conversations:

1. Poof, Ascension still works like it did for Ayridion! When your character ascends and becomes a proper Vernal Divine, what are they like?
   
2. Who would you cast as a voice actor for your character?
   
3. What would your character's "fall from grace" story arc be? If you're already a nefarious villain, what would your "redemption" arc look like?
   
4. What's your favorite lore "conspiracy theory" you have, or personal headcanon?
   
5. What is your favorite god relationship? (Can be romantic, friendship, rivalry, random ridiculous pairing -- whatever!)

1. I like something like the Kiakoda concept, a dissolution of self leading to existence as a spirit entwined with the wilde. A being of instinct that manifests avatars that engage in the cycles of nature, not quite on the level of the White Hart being connected to deer but like... playing the role of a deer, or a wolf, or hare. Perhaps one fragment spends time growing as a tree, etc.

2. Maybe Peter Capaldi but with a lighter accent.

3. Giving up on Nature basically. Losing the hope that Serenwilde can succeed leading to depression and apathy that it doesn't really matter so why not have some fun with X before the world burns.

4. Related to recent Seren things. Basala'oren Seren has been used all around the forest as a greeting, rallying cry, etc but the translation (awaken the shelter) doesn't always... make sense in those contexts. But since the vibrant spirit and particularly with what's just happened, my headcanon is that its a subconscious memory of past lives that we've latched onto because we're telling ourselves what we need to do.

5. I kinda liked the ending of Lisaera and Charune because it was just like "it was a thing, now it's over, and that's okay"

Lantra said:

Haven't bumped this in awhile! Forgive any repeats, but below is inspired by recent Discord conversations:

1. Poof, Ascension still works like it did for Ayridion! When your character ascends and becomes a proper Vernal Divine, what are they like?
   
   Ev would be soft spoken but with a deep voice. He'd continue his role as a solitary type, glimpsed occasionally between the trees of the Serenwilde, often heralded by an audible but invisible flap of great wings that trail behind him, melding with the ethereal energies and the spirit of the Land. He'd do his best to stay out of anything and everything, choosing instead to focus on protecting the Spirit of the Verdant Land from unseen horrors only dreamed of by the Shelterfolk.
   
   
2. Who would you cast as a voice actor for your character?
   
   I mean, at this point, Ev is drifting into Sir Ian McKellen territory.
   
   
3. What would your character's "fall from grace" story arc be? If you're already a nefarious villain, what would your "redemption" arc look like?
   
   Let's just say that @Rancoura would almost certainly know the whole story. Ev would most likely feel he had been betrayed and cast out, rejected by the Verdant Land. Cutoff from the only home and life he's ever known, and not by his choice, and having a strong dislike of city life, he'd probably end up in Glomdoring, fully losing himself to the deep and disturbing corruption of the Wyrd.
   
   
4. What's your favorite lore "conspiracy theory" you have, or personal headcanon?
   
   When curious were first introduced, I was convinced they were part of an event where, having been snatched up and obsesssed over by mortals, the curious would suddenly "activate" and attempt to take over the Basin.
   
   I still completely believe this, and am patiently waiting for it to happen. Chop chop!
   
   
5. What is your favorite god relationship? (Can be romantic, friendship, rivalry, random ridiculous pairing -- whatever!)
   
   Tae and Bollikin. They are ADORABLE.
   

I feel like I am becoming so cultured from people giving me food they design. All these things make google, so I have an idea... Learning about so much fancy foods.