#devana vessar

"A look into Ambassador Vessar's family and where they are now, by the Tal'Dorei Tourism Board"

Here's my piece for @artists-guild-of-exandria’s #TGTT (South) project! Got to draw Syldor, Devana and Velora (now all grown up!)

It felt like the last year was starting to catch up with her, Vex was just grateful that she could finally have some time to herself. The last year had been filled with more than enough stress. First, her father arranged her marriage with no input from her, which was not surprising. She knows that he'd been trying to get rid of her through marriage ever since she came of age. What's the point of having a daughter if you can't sell her for the best deal? Fortunately for her, being illegitimate and only half-elf deterred most of the eligible bachelors in Syngorn. That had caused him to expand to the human world, but nothing serious had popped up, at least until the De Rolo family of Whitestone.

This De Rolo family had been perfect, they were nobility in the far north and were completely alright with her background, she's sure father paid them an overly generous dowry to keep her far away. They had been a surprise for her as well, she'd never heard of a groom insisting on a correspondence just to see if they liked each other. Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III, or Percy as he wanted to be called, did admit that it was his mother and sister's idea, but he did like the idea of them at least being more than strangers before the wedding.

During their correspondence, he'd sent books about Whitestone and its history as well as some of the favorites of himself and his family, and she returned the favor. Once she'd written her consent to the match and the negotiations started, that's when the stress really started. Father must have been paying the mages a fortune for all the communications crystals he burnt through. From what she and Devana were able to overhear, the De Rolos were not letting him get away with any frugality. They were insisting that he help with all costs and he was not allowed to argue. Father was often in an even worse mood than normal on most days, even Devana wasn't immune from his temper.

Vax had been nearly as bad, his protectiveness had gone up to near possessiveness. He hated this whole situation and she was dreading being separated from him and Velora. From his letters, Percy didn't seem like he'd be too averse to letting them stay with them, at least for a time, or perhaps regular visits.

There had been some advantages, one being that she got a whole new wardrobe. Devana had worked some magic and Vex was able to have full control over all the clothes. They even had some clothes done in the De Rolo colors and some decorated with their family crest. It was one of the few times that Vex had been able to pick something for herself since coming to Syngorn.

The packing for the journey was organized chaos. The journey was only supposed to take two weeks, but with all the extra carriages, they had to travel slowly, and it took an extra two weeks. Let no one say that Syldor Vessar would let his daughter, illegitimate or not, go into marriage like a beggar. On top of that, Devana explained exactly what her marital duties would entail right before they left. She used books and drawings, needless to say, it took a while before both their faces went back to their normal skin tone once it was done.

The meeting with the De Rolos had been painful, everything that she'd been practicing to start with had died on her tongue. Percy was not what she'd been expecting. From his letters and own admission, she'd been expecting an awkward and maybe gangly youth. What she saw was a tall and pale man with white hair and looked almost statuesque, he was far from how he described himself in the letters. He wore glasses that would look silly on anyone else but on him, they highlighted his eyes. He was gorgeous and Vex didn't think she'd have too much trouble doing her marital duty. The thought of her marital duties with Percy made her go very red in the face.

His mother, Joanna, and sister, Cassandra, were very welcoming and steered most of the conversation. She had barely been able to say anything besides hello before they took her to her room. The wedding was set for two weeks to give the couple time to adjust to each other. Father had also wanted to finalize more details about their agreement.

THE LEGEND OF VOX MACHINA | Devana and Velora Character Designs

Summary: Vox Machina has saved the world and Vex has settled in Whitestone with her new husband to learn the finer points of running a city alongside Percy and Cassandra.

When Syldor decides to pay a visit, it’s clear that Vox Machina hasn’t quite finished saving everyone.

Rating: Teen+

Words: 33756

Warnings: Discussion of and reference to past and current abusive relationships.

AO3 Link

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Vex gets a little sibling time and talks about her current observations of her betroth

The private moment only lasted for a few minutes. A knock on the door followed with a warning before Vax and Velora came in.

"Hi Stubby, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," she said as she helped lift Velora onto the bed.

"He is very handsome, Vex. He needs to smile, though."

"You think so?"

"Yes, your babies will be so cute!" Velora beamed at her sister, not noticing the slight blush on Vex's face. Vax snickered, seeing her face, and Vex glared in return. Velora was the only reason she didn't throw something at him.

"I wonder if he's nice. He only talked to Father, but Father didn't look happy with what he said," Velora mused, not noticing her older siblings' antics.

"Father misspoke about their family, I wouldn't let that go either."

"How?"

"Percival explained in one of his letters that his Mother is the ruler of Whitestone. Most of the time, men are in charge, but things work a little differently here. But Father assumed that Percival was the ruler because his Father died."

"Oh," was all Velora said before she decided to explore Vex's room.

Vex realized that she hadn't looked around after entering. It was a lovely room, big with lots of space and lots of natural light. She had just realized how comfortable the bed was. She briefly wondered what Percival's room looked like or if they would get a new room altogether.

"Stubby?"

She turned to look at Vax, who looked a little anxious.

"Sorry, just lost in some thoughts."

They kept their voices low so Velora wouldn't hear. They loved their sister but she had yet to learn to keep confidences and often relayed conversations to nearly anyone who would listen.

"I asked what you thought of his lordship."

"Well, he readily corrected his mother's title, so that seems promising. He didn't even speak to me."

"That did earn some favor, any man who will defend his mother like that can't be all bad. He and his sister were very grave though. Like Velora said, no smiles."

"Hhmm"

"What exactly is the situation with their sovereignty? I'm assuming he explained it in one of his letters."

"His family has reigned for a little over two hundred years. The inheritance is actually gender-neutral,  so there have been a handful of female rulers. His mother was heir to the current line, she had an older sister but she died from illness young, and her husband was a second cousin or something like that. His grandfather arranged the marriage to combine the branches or something along those lines."

"Vex, come see!"

The twins looked to see their sister at the window seat. They shared a smile and headed to see what captured Velora's attention. The view was absolutely lovely; she could see some of the grounds that ended in the woods. The whole view looked like something out of a book.

A knock interrupted and servants filled the room with her belongings. They moved quickly and Devana came in just as they finished.

"There you are."

"I wanted to see Vex," Velora sheepishly answered.

All three of them just smiled at her innocence.

"Well, the servants are working on organizing your room but I told them to leave your toys. I expect you to keep them all in line while we are here."

"They didn't put Sir Baboon near Lady Badger, did they? They're currently in a terrible fight."

"Why don't you go see?"

Velora rushed out of the room, leaving her family to giggle at her adorableness.

Devana sat with the twins, looking straight at Vex. She knew that Vex would tell Vax everything, so there was no point asking for privacy. One of the few good things of the last year was that the twins had grown close with their stepmother. She wasn't their mother, for no one could ever replace Elaina, but there was a warmth between them.

"Well, my dear?"

"Well, what?" Vex knew what she wanted to know but the words wouldn't come out.

"Vex"

"There is nothing to tell, he didn't even say hello to me."

"Did he measure up to his letters? From the painting that was sent, I thought he'd be more boyish. At least he's very handsome."

"Between you and Velora, I think I have to worry about one of you stealing him. He is handsome, from the way he described himself, I had the same image from the painting but maybe a bit older."

"What happened with Father making that mistake with the titles? Doesn't seem like him, I would have thought he'd have memorized the whole family's dossiers."

"Most humans follow male primogeniture, and with the death of Lord Fredrick a few years ago, it seemed the nature assumption. Your father is in an uproar, especially with Lord Percival correcting him like that, his poor aid is going through the worst of it right now."

"It looks like he's used to having to correct people but I think it's a good sign of character that he won't let his mother be slighted like that and he held his own against father so easily."

"I agree and if you're both feeling up to it, Lady Joanna would like a private dinner with both our families. Dress is casual but make sure to wear something nice," Devana said that last part while giving them a look that said 'no antics'.

Vax and Devana got up to get ready. Before she left, Devana suggested that the new red dress, which she noticed had become a favorite of Vex's quickly. She also reminded her that red was a lucky color.

So Velora’s pure-heartedness towards them, hearing stories about the twins, being sad about them leaving--all that had to come from somewhere. And I think it came from Devana.

The twins know Devana so it suggests she was their stepmother for a time before they ran away (vs. meeting her for the first time in Emon during the pre-stream). The twins are warm with her. They greet her well, and it suggests a relatively good relationship between stepmom and stepkids. (Although... this opens up a can of worms of Devana knowing how Syldor views the twins and her staying with him). 

But anyway, Velora would’ve never heard many stories about Vex and Vax from Syldor, unless it was used in some sort of disciplinary manner. Any curiosity would have to be sated by Devana’s limited memories of the twins. And from that bloomed a love that only family could have. Which means Devana, to some extent for as short a time as she’d known them, loves the twins.

We never get to explore her as a character. She’s there to diffuse tension between Syldor and the twins on stream, but because she’s not directly related to Vex, we don’t see her react to the aftermath of Vasselheim and Vax’s leaving. We don’t see her react to Velora being returned or being told that her daughter had died.