#mcd ivan

The Phoenix Drop Guard

Hiii! Drew the full armor sets of the first few guards of Phoenix Drop we meet! The sword hilts contain the color from which rank they graduated the O'khasis Guard Academy, it's woven into the leather hilt once they receive their weapon.

(Color rank system inspired by this post by laurancezvahlslefteyebrow)

Gonna ramble under the cut hehe!

Alexandria the Steel Hammer

Diana the Wolf's Bane

Gavin the Frost Claw

Ivan the Obsidian Wrath

Ivy the Venom Scythe

Janus the Silver Death

Jeffory the Golden Heart

Katelyn the Fire Fist

Lilian the Umbral Tongue

(Last part, at least for now)

Ivy: Human Battle Master Fighter, Neutral Evil

Janus: Goliath Berserker Barbarian, Lawful Evil

Lillian: Changeling Lunar Sorcery Sorcerer, Neutral Evil

Ivan: Human Archfey Patron Warlock/Oath of Conquest Paladin, Neutral Evil

Amber: Human Thief Rogue, Chaotic Neutral

Kiki: Human Circle of the Shepard Druid, Lawful Good

Liochant: Human Oath of Devotion Paladin, Lawful Good

Hailey: Half-drow School of Divination Wizard, Lawful Good

Welcome to yet another shit post about this au I made up like 2 days ago.

So, I decided to have Zane be Zeus with the other Jury members as the gods in God Games. (Katelyn is already Athena)

I wanted to mostly assign them based on the argument made in God Games (aka would this be mostly in character for them?) Except for the fact that I don't remember too much about them... So process of elimination via poll it is!

That's right babey, we're doing a part 2! Because I went outside and sat in the sun but the brain rot still consumed as it does and I had premonitions about more of the Jury members. Before we discussed ones who were completely new, reworking characters from MyStreet into MCD. This time I want to take a closer look at three Jury members who we know were part of the Jury, but lacked on screen appearances, or depth portrayed in the appearances they got.

These are members who's stories are far more shrouded in mystery. Even the elements of it I know feel... incomplete. Because characters like lying to me and refusing to let me tell their damn story.

Let's get into it.

Lilian The Silver Tongue

That's right, she isn't going to be another scythe user, that's boring as hell. Let Ivy slay with that. Instead Lilian is a rather enigmatic member of the Jury because... She didn't go through the same process. Janus, Zachary, and Ivan were all members when Zane inherited the Jury, and everyone else went through the process via the Guard Academy. But Lilian...

Lilian was found by Zane. It was a routine trip to Nahkra, just checking in on the village so close to O'Khasis' borders. A simple trip, so he only took Janus with him. While the two were in the market place, Lilian called out to Zane from her barely functional stall. What mattered was that she had a deck of tarot cards on the table, and a peculiar look about her. [proceeds to pull out my tarot cards and do a divination or two]

She didn't know anything about Zane. Lilian wasn't from Ru'aun, she was a runaway from Gal'ruk. She didn't know about Zane, or O'Khasis, just that she saw a nobleman and his guard and had a distinct feeling about them. The reading she got of him was even more fascinating that her gut feeling. She didn't even know his name and he didn't know hers but she knew there was a great mystery in front of her.

The Seven of Cups, the Five of Cups, and the Reverse Nine of Swords. Over ambition, sorrow of a loss, and the potential for time to heal.

Zane was never superstitious, but he believed in the Divine. In other realms. In the supernatural. Who's to say a deck of cards couldn't be used to predict the future, or read the inner parts of a person? These cards were accurate enough to give him pause at the explanation. Enough to make him stop and listen to the odd hooded woman who was suddenly speaking words the public had yet to hear of. They didn't know Zane's brother was dead yet, or that he had inherited O'Khasis. But her cards knew his loss.

It made Zane pay to get a better reading from her. A deeper look into him, this time with six cards that he pulled himself at her instruction. She didn't know the question Zane asked the cards, but when she read out the result, it was chilling. The question was simple; "Will my father's health get better?" The answer?

Past: The Chariot, Reversed Queen of Cups. A successful, balanced, triumphant man comfortable in his life, and a beautiful but perverse woman, not to be trusted.

Future: Reversed Fool, Knight of Wands. A hasty and impetuous man will offer a key choice, and The Seeker, be that Zane or the subject of his question, will make a foolish and disastrous choice in response to this offer. Tread with caution.

Present Attitudes: Justice, Two of Swords. A well balanced mind, body, and heart will be key to future successes. If one can keep their mind open, emotions calm, and thinking balanced, then great fortune awaits.

Lilian never gave Zane her own analysis of it, just the meanings of the cards. She left it all up to his imagination. And this was before Zane wore a mask. Even if she didn't know what he was thinking, she could see the gears turning in his head. She could see his reactions. She was piecing together who he was through these cards. He left after her reading, in an unsure position.

It was days later, when Lilian was preparing to leave and travel to another city that Zane found her again. He asked her for another reading. A simple yes or no question he wanted answered. And due to her fascination, she didn't even ask for payment. She gladly did it for him. This is a reading he didn't even let Janus witness, asking that his back be turned, and that Lilian not give him any explanation. Let the cards speak for themselves.

The answer Zane got was unsure. But he acted upon it anyway. He asked, and the cards answered. Lilian was to be the newest member of the Jury of Nine.

"What in the name of the Divine makes you think I want that?"

Lilian's retort was the final nail in the coffin. She came from nothing, she was nothing, and came to Ru'aun for nothing. Zane could offer her a proper life, an identity, a purpose. She used those cards to learn about others so she could imitate being human, and her lack of knowledge was an advantage she was keenly aware of. One Zane wanted to understand how to utilize himself. He and Lilian went back and forth for a while, but in the end he convinced her. In the end, Lilian was the first member of the Jury Zane ever assigned, and he didn't even recruit her properly.

And she instantly joined the rank of his most trusted ally at the time.

Janus the Silver Death

Janus was a member of the Jury when Garte held control, yet before that he was always assigned to help Zane. When Janus joined the Jury, he was the youngest member, the first to be freshly out of the guard academy and into the Jury. Garte preferred to bring in already hardened veterans, but he saw a ferocity in the way Janus fought, and a willingness to kill when told to do it. He was loyal and fierce. But he was young, spunky, and in need of discipline.

As was Garte's at the time youngest son, a teenage Zane. So despite attaining the best position a guard in Ru'aun can attain, Janus was given the job of babysitting body guarding the youngest Ro'meave. Awesome. He was so happy about this and it did not piss him off at all. But in spite of a... let's say less than great first impression, Janus still took the job with stride, and put his all into ensuring that Zane would be trained properly in combat.

It uhhh, didn't go that way. Instead Zane was a nerd who learned about magic and relics n shit, and Janus couldn't really stop him, but he still wanted to do his job. He still wanted to help Garte in that goal of making Zane into a potential successor for him. Janus never verbalized any confusion as to why Garroth wouldn't be more fitting of this training. In achieving this goal, Janus just encouraged Zane's interest in well, whatever nerd shit Zane was interested in. He doesn't understand any of it but Zane's clearly passionate and makes a solid case for why this is useful knowledge to have.

And when Zane becomes High Priest while Garroth is off at the Guard Academy, he selects Janus to be his top advisor. Zane hasn't even inherited the Jury yet, but he and Janus have just been doing shit together for long enough now that it just makes sense. When Zane does inherit the Jury, when Garroth fakes his death and Zane is officially named successor, Janus becomes his most trusted ally. But why does Zane trust Janus so much?

Because he doesn't ask questions. Janus was taught to be devoted to a fault, to not question his superior, and to take what he is given. When Zane asks him to go pick up the order from the butcher, he does it. When Zane asks him to help him run scenarios of taking over villages through subterfuge, he does it. When Zane asks him to slaughter an entire village while holding a probably cursed amulet so it can absorb their remaining life force or power, he does it. Unlike Zachary or Ivan, Janus wasn't loyal to Garte for very long. He is loyal to Zane.

That's why he and Lilian share the title Silver. It's a sign of loyalty to Zane, as it's his favorite color. The two members of the Jury that Zane trusts to know him on any personal level are given this title in common, even before he fully trusts either of them. He makes it mean that. I firmly believe that Zane saw almost every other member of the Jury as a pawn, or outright disposable. But Janus and Lilian? Those aren't just Jury members. Those are Zane's friends. Zane's fucked up and evil friends. Zane's friends who would help him commit war crimes.

Truly the ride or die friends of all time.

And uhh, then there's this fucking guy

Ivan the... bitch

I don't actually have a funny clever name for Ivan, I just think he's a little bitch. A little warlock bitch. I think Ivan's sick warlock powers let him get into the Jury easier, but his bitchy cocky attitude did not exactly work well with others. He was a respected fighter, but didn't often play nice with other members of the Jury, particularly Zachary who he got into a lot of fights with, and later Ivy when she joined. He was infuriating to be around, partially because he's just a massive jackass, and partially because he's so good at what he does that he gets away with being a massive jackass.

I don't have a lot to say about Ivan, I will admit. I don't have some dramatic backstory, no deeper connection with anyone, no family that's being blackmailed. Just an entitled bitch of a man. However, I did have a really interesting take about his relationship with Lucinda.

Hear me out on this; Zane finds out that he's potentially going to have to marry the heir to Pikoro. Wanting to avoid the disaster that happened when they tried to ask Garroth to marry someone he'd never met, he sends Ivan undercover into Pikoro to learn more about Lucinda and report back to Zane about his findings. His job was to just observe Lucinda, maybe talk to her once or twice, figure out what kind of person she is and whether she's actually compatible with Zane, or if this marriage is really going to be a sham.

Ivan ends up seducing her and telling Zane that she's a disloyal harlot of a witch. Because Ivan sucks. But y'know, Lucinda doesn't know about any of this, and when Ivan disappears, he lies to her. He leaves Pikoro saying that he's going back to the Academy to be a teacher there, and promises to see her again. In reality he just goes back to Zane, back to normal life, only occasionally sparing a thought for the beautiful witch he met.

And when Zane disappears with Lilian, and the Jury starts to slowly disband itself, Ivan thinks of where to go. What does he want to do with his life? Lucinda.

Good choice honestly. Prick.

smile at me, there is nothing between us

read on ao3 here

Katelyn/Zane, Katelyn & Garroth | 3.1k words | Ballroom Dancing, Masquerade, Unresolved Tension, Stargazing, Childhood Friends, Birthdays