Question of the Day!
What is your Warrior of Light's relationship with violence? How eagerly do they employ it?
(submitted by @ismene)
Orhen loves to fight, to spar, to test his might against like-minded warriors. It's part of how he keeps pushing himself to be better than he was before. Part of his vow to never let another loved one fall. But violence is not the same as fighting. Orhen isn't afraid to resort to bloodshed and violence if it means his own survival or the survival of those he holds dear. He hesitated once before, because he thought he could reason with the people that wanted him dead, and all it got him was a slain boyfriend. That was the first and only time Orhen snapped, flying into a full berserk rage as he clawed, bit, and ravaged every inch of whoever he could get his hands on. The Keepers that had slain his partner were nothing more than bloody paste on the dirt after he was done with them.
But that rage scared him. After he finished, he still felt empty, hollow, and alone - and now on top of that, he felt like a monster. He promised to himself and to the memory of his fallen love that he would never stoop to such mindless, senseless carnage again. Finndren wouldn't have wanted that for him, and he didn't want that for himself. So he backed off on fighting for a while, instead focusing more on his magic and honing his mind to a razor-sharp point to where he could make decisions with clarity, even in the heat of battle. His studies with the Monks of Ala Mhigo aided this, with their teachings of meditation and inner quiet. Soon enough, Orhen felt sure enough in himself to go back to fighting without fear of losing himself to the rage that lurked beneath. Even so, he understands that in order to truly defend those he loves, he's going to have to fight tooth, nail, and claw until his very last breath.
I took these shots two years ago as part of a "what if" divergent timeline, where Orhen never got over the loss of Finndren1 and remained a mindless berserker, ravaging across the land with just barely enough control of his aether to coat his fists in a dusting of magic.
You approach the hulking beast of a Miqo'te warily. He's adorned in furs and spattered with the blood of a fresh kill. He turns to meet you, his gaze wild and unrecognizable as whoever he once was.
For a moment, it almost seems as if he recognizes you... But whatever humanity was left in this man has long since left him.
He's ended enough innocent lives. You need to put him down both for his own sake, and for the safety of the realm.
He bellows out a challenging roar, recognizing that you mean to end him. It's almost as if he's inviting you to try, like he knows he needs to be stopped.
But you both know he's not going to go down without fighting until the last breath of life escapes from his chest. He stands, waiting for you to make the first move.
DUTY COMMENCED
(concept spoilers for shadowbringers patch 5.3 content in the footnote below the cut - do not read if you don't want to get spoiled on a concept introduced in that patch's dungeon because it's honestly kind of cool)
