Guild Wars 2 OC stuff: So I finally figured out the full body design for Vallotash (Mordremoth's Scion a.k.a. who Mourynn actually is) They're more or less the same person, but it's complicated, but leans more to Vall believing she's Mourynn and kind of is since she inhabits her body and memories, but is technically an imposter and is very depressed and in denial about it. Inspiration from Jahai Bluffs: "Are you a dragon dreaming that it's a hero? If you were, how would you know?" (also it's my tumblr banner lol) I'm still sketching out the origin story to explain how this happens, but for now here is this sketch bc I am happy with how this turned out and wanted to post it early. It's basically self preservation turned to parasitism to accidental death of host to unintentional identity theft out of guilt/tribute + memory absorption to make her think she's the sapling + amnesia about the whole event taking place over the span of a year stuck in the dream (to super condense her origin lore). I'll finish these sketches once I'm done her origin story pages, or if I get possessed to do it earlier bc I'm still happy with how this turned out and might want to keep working on it sooner, hehe.

Here is more sketches of Mourynn/Vallotash under the cut:

She has some simpler looks for when she's flattened down. She looks SO SILLY but I love it. Beware the Scion of Mordremoth: This freaking wiggly silly noodle thing. A terrifying menace!! Beloathed parasite daughter vine of the mighty Jungle Elder Dragon!! /does a snake blep (Also the first two head sketches I did of her from last year when she still didn't have a body designed yet lmao. I still have to figure out how large she actually is, as well as her colouration. She'll have to match Mourynn's, so she's gonna be a funny mix of the colours in the cool spectrum, which doesn't look very plant-like, but sylvari can be all different colours, and she has the whole poisonous/hallucinogenic thing going on, as well as some Soo-won influence bc she's based off a leafy sea dragon and is very attuned to water, so it kinda works yeah????) I also have no idea what her large chin whisker things are supposed to be. I just kind of made them up on the spot and fell in love with them, so they're STAYING, even if they make no sense. I mostly just love that they'd look so cool underwater and while glowing in the dark, and they are vaguely alien and jellyfish-like.

@sunsrefuge Your comments are always so cute and sweet and adorable!! ;o; (tysm!!!!) They always make me so happy, so I felt compelled to return the favour with Mourynn giving a lil' smooch in return to your newest magical rat fren <3 (I hope xey don't mind)

Caithe

Status: Best Friend; Mentor; Hero; Dream/Wyld Hunt Soulmate; Lover; Wife; (intermixed with a bit of awakening backstory) Ever since the earliest beginnings of Mourynn's long awaited awakening, Caithe was the first Sylvari she ever saw at the tail-end of her Dream as it began to fracture and fall apart, where the Shadow of the Dragon had began attacking the Physallus barrier created by Vallotash (Mordy's scion) which kept both Mourynn and herself isolated, cut off, and protected from the rest of the metaphysical plane. The Shadow of the Dragon, which had initially been kept out by the barrier, bided it's time, finally attacking as the Scion's last defences began to wane as she had gone dormant, finalizing the Metamorphosis, and the grafting and weaving of both Scion and Champion together into one being.

By this time as the Scion went dormant, Mourynn finally began to awaken, and the Pale Tree was finally able to see into her Dream now that the barrier was gone. Similar to the in-game intro, she was able to send Caithe in, seeing as they both shared the same Dream and adversary. If it wasn't for Caithe intercepting Mourynn's Dream, Mourynn would've surely perished due to her vulnerable and weakened mental and physical state (which will take months of recovery afterwards, due to her abnormal internal changes due to the Metamorphosis). It's due to this that she views Caithe in a heroic light, being the first person she'd seen and the first person who came to her rescue.

What isn't known to them is that they were supposed to experience the Dragon in the Dream together while they were both still in the pod. However, due to the Scion's interference, their Dream became fragmented and was split into two halves. _____

Upon awakening, Mourynn experienced "Dream Amnesia" (like what we have irl), which was an extra precaution triggered by the Scion for the sake of their combined protection, as any dream-link with any other Sylvari could expose them to the eventual realization of Mordremoth. Unfortunately what this also meant was that the year Mourynn spent alone and isolated in the Dream was hidden from her memory and forgotten (but is revisited later with Memory Seeds from the Scion), thus, she wasn't able to answer the dying questions the rest of the Firstborn had, as her survival was an anomaly due to her momentary death in the pod before the Metamorphosis took place. In addition to this, she couldn't actually remember her own name, let alone understood that other Sylvari just KNEW their names (and I'm still trying to figure out how she came to finally know her name, or if her original Firstborn name is lost to the Mists and she had to find/give herself/is given a new name/given a name from the Scion. Lowkey thinking of going with it deriving from literally "mourn" as she did actually die for a short period, but idk)

In addition to her having no memory outside of the Shadow of the Dragon attack and her very weak and frail state, it shed a lot of doubts whether or not she would actually be capable of sharing and partaking in the Wyld Hunt with Caithe. Caithe however, was patient with her, even if it was a little frustrating at times. She put up with her early naivety that a lot of newborn Sylvari often have, and was doing everything she could to help prepare her for their inevitable journey ahead. Unlike the others, she was able to pick up on her social cues and understood her distant and avoidant behaviours (being a loner herself and all), and over time was able to decipher her weird quirks, train of thought, and whimsical impulses (since being stuck alone in the Dream for so long gave her a peculiar frame of mind). _____

Once they are finally able to commence on with the beginnings of their shared Wyld Hunt (once Mourynn has had time to recover/adjust/acclimate to the outside world and discovers she has a Magic Deficiency™ and has had time to train and mature), they're both able to team up with Trahearne and the Pact in order to take down Zhaitan (with more involvement from Caithe than in game), however due to the trauma and dramatic situation Caithe is experiencing with Faolain, this creates a bit of a fragmented rift between the two (as Caithe is struggling hard with her own situation while trying to balance the one with Mourynn).

Mourynn feels lost and depressed whenever she's not around (Mourynn's a weeeee bit co-dependant at this time + technically all the time, but she gets better at coping with it as time goes on), as she'd grown so reliant on her (and admired her a lot) and felt more at ease in her presence. However she knew that she had to face the real world and the current state of things, but would still go back to help Caithe out with Faolain in Twilight Arbor (technically this is a 3 person ordeal as Mourynn is also involved with Faolain…).

In reality Mourynn is quite frightened (albeit curious and fascinated) with the world outside the Grove, but due to her unique existential status and constant struggle to properly connect with most people, she's on the constant search for some kind of comfort, especially as her mental state becomes more exposed to horrific and tragic events (which push her towards becoming the Lucid Dreamer, which start affecting her illusions and her unstable usage of Chaos magic). _____

Whenever Caithe is not around, she has to find other forms of comfort, and when she's unable to, she often vanishes somewhere to be alone, much to the dismay of her Pact comrades, planting a seed of doubt about whether or not she's right for the role. Trahearne thankfully reassures them of this, but the special link she shares with Caithe affects her deeply the further and longer they are away. While they are sharing their Wyld Hunt, Mourynn wants to do everything she can to not let her (or Trahearne) down, seeing as she always feels like she has a lot to prove, and she puts extreme amounts of pressure on herself, resulting in her extreme lack of confidence and self-esteem.

However she does her best to hide this, but it doesn't go unnoticed, making her especially vulnerable to certain individuals and situations. Despite Caithe often being away for some excursions, she's always in contact with her, leaving Mourynn feeling a ray of comfort and hope, saving all of her letters as something to look back upon whenever she's feeling mentally and emotionally unwell.

As time goes on and Mourynn becomes stronger and more capable, Caithe becomes more proud of her and is relieved, and with Caithe also experiencing a lot of loss and hardship during this time, the two of them often find themselves leaning on each other as each other's backbone. In a way, you could think of them as having a Symbiotic relationship of their own. _____

Once the Zhaitan is defeated and their Wyld Hunt had concluded, she ecstatic that they were able to achieve this together (but sadly didn't feel the relief or satisfaction like what was supposed to happen), but she still felt a deep saddened emptiness in her gut. One, being her unknown state of grief for Zhaitan from Vallotash's reaction to the death, and two, the deep dread and sadness she felt thinking their journey partnership was now over.

She didn't know what to do next and didn't want to part ways, but luckily Caithe was still going to be with her along the rest of their journey no matter where it took them around Tyria (aka I'm giving her more involvement in parts of the story where she isn't actually there because I CAN! :3), and even if she wasn't there, they would still reunite at many different times as a promise they would make (and also Mourynn was helping Caithe through her traumas and grievances as well, especially with the Faolain situation, as she's the only other person who understands this on a personal level due to their shared involvement).

Once this reaches the Aurene arc and the two of them basically become parents to little Aurene, they both experience vehemently hostile judgements from their companions AND Aurene's protectors "the Exalted", constantly finding themselves at arms with the beings that are supposed to be their allies, deeming the two of them as a threat (due to the backlash Caithe experiences from stealing the egg, and Mourynn being a literal Jungle Dragon as they discover the reveal of Mordremoth's Scion), they wind up having to protect each other as well as Aurene, and they both actually share the same destiny in being Aurene's Champion (Symbiotic Destiny, as Mourynn is also technically Vallotash's champion), and Caithe is the first one to come to Mourynn's protection and defence when she undergoes yet another Metamorphosis, as Vallotash awakens within her and changes her form into that of the Scion. _____

The rest from this point leads up to present day to the end of the Dragon cycle and Aurene going to rest. I think at this point they're basically considered "married" as Sylvari don't technically have this tradition, but it is basically just considered to be as such by context and everyone else who knows them. Even if they did it a "traditional" way, they'd just probably elope anyways >:3 loner depressed gfs for life &lt;3

Anything from this point on afterwards is basically wife status, but due to duty reasons, Mourynn still does Commander stuff, but she also has a lot of other side story stuff going on unique to her/their situation, as well as a lot of excluded Sylvari lore and just, more Sylvari stuff since there isn't a lot in game. .

<;- Back

How does Mourynn benefit?

Due to Mourynn's magic deficiency (due to being internally grafted with both of her halves being quite weak), she needs to gather magic from other sources, and also goes through periods of magic overload and magic drain, due to her body being somewhat volatile and unstable when not maintained.

Symbiosis is the main means where she's able to gain and process magic from various sources, processing them to be more "digestible" (akin to how Aurene filters, but more biological). The flowers and fruits that grow from her unique varieties of plants that she either shapes/forms on her own, or harvested from her various hosts.

However she refrains from harvesting from living hosts unless ABSOLUTELY necessary, as she can technically drain all the magic and life force from any living host if she so desired. This is one of many reasons that makes her "controversial" to the masses, and heavily scrutinized and feared by some. Many consider her just as much of a threat as other Elder Dragon's. Well.. at least akin to their Champions (as Vallotash is technically part of the same generation as Glint being a second generation) . <- BACK

How does it work? What are Dodder (Daughter?) Vines? The name by definition, while mostly true, is somewhat controversial as technically the process of Symbiosis requires magic-host parasitism. The Dodder vines (lowkey thinking of changing the spelling to "daughter" vines bc that's what I thought it was originally alsdjf) that weave throughout Mourynn's internal structure are magically applied and weaved throughout other living beings (and is how she essentially is grafted and grafts other things together).

The host benefits through gaining the "dragon magic corruption" that the vines provide, and while the host does technically benefit from this, they also become dependant on it, and are unable to return to their original selves due to how much they've changed internally and externally.

Dodder vines primarily work best on Mordrem hosts (or sylvari or other plant-beings, but primarily Mordrem), due to compatibility reasons being with Mordremoth's Scion (Vallotash) siphoning his magic and manipulating into her own. With this, Mourynn is able to "corrupt" other Mordrem, but only does so when absolutely necessary. This is basically how she gets her mounts, her minions, and how she's been able to "save" a handful of Sylvari who were struggling against Mordremoth's call. Reformed Mordrem will have their link to Mordremoth cut off and relinked to Mourynn instead, although it's much, much weaker, meaning they are more or less "free".

Symbiosis can technically be used on all other forms of magic, including other dragon minions. The visual effects will change and more accurately match the host (icebrood, destroyers, etc), but the benefits and downsides will be much weaker. It basically helps to pacify them and cut off their link from their respective Dragon. This can also be applies to other forms of life/magic outside of the Elder Dragons, but functions differently based on the context. . <- BACK