#orvyn

Most travelers arrive in Orvyn seeking the tea.

Few expect Nayveen.

The towering snow leopard chimera can often be found carrying fresh blends through the lantern-lit streets of Silvershade, her satchel heavy with herbs gathered from the surrounding mountains. While visitors speak often of her gentle nature and impossible memory for names, they speak even more often of Vex.

The white raptor is rarely more than a few steps from her side.

No one remembers when he first appeared.

Only that one day he was there.

Watching.

Waiting.

Staying.

Some claim Vex can sense ill intent before a word is spoken.

Others insist he simply dislikes strangers.

Nayveen has never confirmed either rumor.

She only smiles, pours another cup of tea, and reminds guests that kindness costs far less than regret.

"Vex doesn't judge people," she once said.

The raptor fixed a traveler with an unblinking stare.

Nayveen paused.

i WOULD choose asja cause she's the favourite but... well you saw how long the other post is LOL

1. What was the original thought that led to the creation of this character?

I actually originally made Orvyn for an assignment. the task was to write a short story about the battle of hastings, and i ended up using the basic idea of "knight who bonded with his horse thinks on the impending death of not only himself, but his loyal companion that had no choice to begin with". then i got DEEP into the elden ring brainrot spiral and thought about writing my own fic, and coincidentally, i had that knight oc just hanging out right there, with no other purpose...

2. How long was the process before the character reached its final version? (or a version that would be clearly recognizable as the character?)

Lowkey, I've only just become REALLY happy with him very recently. for the past two years he's always felt a bit off to me but i landed on it a few weeks ago: he's not a flawed enough person! i need my blorbos extra shitty! my morgkisser is terrible. asja isn't terrible but she's got a whole bunch of issues. orvyn was just too normal for me to properly enjoy

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The two Grand Paladin candidates stood on a huge stage, hands behind their backs, feet shoulder-width apart, chins held high and proud. They had already given each other their congratulations and well-wishes, but knew only one of them would be walking off this stage with a third star on their rank. Before them sat the cheering soldiers of the Prime, who were ready to see a new Grand Paladin take their place today. Everyone was dressed in their formal uniforms--paladins wearing their sharp, wrinkle-free army-green uniforms with the magi matching them in their navy-blue uniforms. Looking across the crowd, there were huge groupings of green or blue, but occassionally there was a bit of mingling of the two colors. Standing at every entrance and patrolling around the room were the Deathwatch Guardians in their obsidian-black armor.

The Dealer walked out onto the stage, flanked by a pair of Guardians who made him look tiny. There were few moments where the Dealer did not wear his costume and wore his official uniform instead. This was fortunately one of those moments. Unlike his subordinates, the Dealer’s uniform was cool grey, with his rank stiched onto each of his shoulders. He chose a simple column of four stars for his insignia, much less grandiose than the stars and bars his subordinates chose (that he helped design). Behind the Dealer walked out Synoth, also flanked by a pair of large Guardians. His uniform was just a slightly lighter blue version of his subordinates’. The Dealer walked up to a podium on the stage,

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for attending this ceremony today. Three days ago, we held a general vote among the entire Paladin Corps to select their new Grand Paladin. Two days ago, we had the first count of all the votes, where Archmage Synoth certified the results. Yesterday, we had the recount, where I certified the results. Today, I am here to present our new Grand Paladin.” The Dealer turned to Orvyn and Sheamus. “Grand Marshall Sigurd Orvyn, Grand Marshall Keaton Sheamus, please step forward.”

The two of them stepped forward, saluted the Dealer, and shook his hand. He turned back to the audience, “And now, the moment you have all been waiting for!” He held up his hands and put one on their right shoulders. A bright light shone underneath his palms. A dramatic pause. The Dealer pulled his hands back and turned around, a pair of banners unrolling behind him.

Grand Paladin Orvyn was greeted with a roar of applause. The Dealer didn’t even bother with announcing his name; he already knew they would be excited. He looked back and saw Orvyn and Sheamus shaking hands once again. He stepped aside, “Would you like to make a speech, Grand Paladin Orvyn?” Orvyn graciously accepted and stepped up to the podium,

“Thank you! Thank you!” He raised his hands, calling for the crowd to calm down. “Thank you, everyone! I could not have made it here without you. And today, we make history. Today is a new beginning for the Prime! We may have lost Grand Paladin Mira, may her spirit lay at rest, but I assure you that I will do my best to honor her memory and carry out her vision for this rebellion! We will stand in fear of no one--not Retribution, not Alexander, not even the devil himself! We will stand strong and united with our brothers-and-sisters-in-arms, and we will bring down the terror of the Black Empire! For the Dealer!” The crowd joined him once again, “For Synoth! For Orvyn! For Ellis! FOR THE PRIME!” The crowd broke out in cheers and applause, and Orvyn looked to the Dealer, who was nodding in amusement.

“Well, Grand Paladin Orvyn,” he shook his hand again, “I look forward to working with you.”

***

A heavy stack of papers fell onto the Dealer’s desk. He looked up at the stack, and then up to Orvyn, who dropped them. “Oh, you were serious about the restructuring thing?”

“Absolutely, sir. The Paladin Corps needs a facelift. We’re much larger than the force you and Mira started with. We need to adapt to the times.” Orvyn stood at attention with his hands behind his back.

“At ease, Grand Paladin,” the Dealer started to thumb through the thick document, “And, for future reference, there is no need to be so professional in my office. Not while we’re alone, or in the company of Synoth or Ellis, anyway.” He saw a chart and started to look at it intensely. After a few seconds, he nodded and continued looking through the document. “You managed to get this done in three days?”

“No sir, this has actually been a project of mine for months now. I intended on presenting this final copy to Mira, but then, well--”

“Yes, that’s unforunate.” The Dealer started scratching the back of his neck, “Am I reading this correctly, Orvyn?”

“What, sir?”

“You want to break off the Deathwatch Guardians from the Paladin Corps?” He looked up to Orvyn concernedly.

“That is correct. I think Deathwatch would be more effective at their jobs if they didn’t have the unnecessary overhead of having to constantly report back to me or one of the Grand Marshalls while they’re conducting their investigations.”

“I see,” the Dealer was now invested in the document, “Well it’s a good thing you’re Grand Paladin. Mira could never have gotten this kind of change passed.”

“Sir?”

“Don’t worry about it. Some of these we can push through review easily enough. Others will take a little more work,” he opened up to the proposal to split the Deathwatch from the Paladins, “Don’t hold your breath for this, however.” Orvyn nodded and the Dealer went back to reading, “Is there anything else, Orvyn?” The Grand Paladin shook his head, “Well don’t let me keep you. I’m sure you’ve got a lot of acquainting to do with your new office.”

Orvyn nodded and started walking out, “Thank you, sir.”

The Dealer waved, not looking up from his reading, “No problem.”

Orvyn stepped out of the office and walked down to the hall. He saw Ellis the Damned walking towards him, engrossed in some kind of report. The death knight almost didn’t notice Orvyn, who was saluting him. Ellis slowly returned the salute, “Grand Paladin Orvyn, congratulations.” He offered his hand, and Orvyn took it. “I don’t know if you’ve made my acquaintance before, but I’m--”

“Not to be rude,” Orvyn interrupted, “But we all know who you are, Ellis.”

“Oh thank Iblis,” Ellis was immediately relieved, “I hate all the damned pleasantries that come with a change of command. I can’t wait to see what you do with the Paladin Corps, Grand Paladin.”

“Actually, I wanted to know if you could help me with that, Ellis.” The death knight was intrigued, “I just submitted my proposal to restructure the Paladin Corps to the Dealer, and I was wondering if you could help me design the new training regimen for the lower ranks. I think your expertise would be invaluable.”

Ellis was quiet, unsure of how to respond. “I’d love to help you, Grand Paladin, but I’m afraid your subordinates will not be as open as you are to the idea.”

"You’re right, they won’t just listen to Ellis the Damned,” Orvyn shrugged, “But they will listen to Sur Paladin Ellis.” Ellis was once again stunned. “I included a special provision for your position in my proposal to the Dealer. He has it right now, if you’d like to talk with him about it.”

“I-I’ll be sure to talk with him about. Thank you, Grand Paladin.” The two saluted again and went their separate ways. Grand Paladin Orvyn was ready to move forward into a grand new age for the Prime.

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Orvyn had spent all week preparing for this day. Now it was only him and Sheamus. They had both been rocked by the news that Orvyn had secured the second nomination, but Orvyn couldn’t let himself grow complacent. Although not the best paladin, Sheamus was no fool. This final speech was all they had left. The both of them would be onstage at the same time, and one after the other would deliver their final calls for the other paladins to vote for them.

The only thing said about this vote was in hushed whispers. For a vote like this, distribution of propaganda was strictly forbidden across the entire Prime. In his homeworld, the Dealer had witnessed the effects of foreign interference in elections in his own country and others. The propaganda ban, along with a much more limited communications network, allowed for the Prime to keep elections like these as “pure” as possible.

Although nobody wanted to be caught talking about the vote, one name kept coming up more than the other. They quieted as they saw him walk by, and paid him the respect due to the Grand Paladin. Everyone knew and agreed that the vote was just a formality; the Grand Paladin had already been chosen.

Orvyn and Sheamus stood just offstage, watching their various peers and subordinates cast their early votes. Kalman came out and gave a glowing speech in Orvyn’s defense. Hugues, the flippy-floppy kinda guy he is, came out and offered an endorsement for Sheamus (although, in fairness, it was possible that for once Hugues had an opinion of his own). A few Marshalls walked out and offered their endorsements for Orvyn. Several Lieutenant Marshalls came out and gave pep talks in favor of Sheamus. Soon the trick-and-pony show was over, and the Dealer walked out on the stage.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the Paladin Corps, thank you for attending tonight. You have heard for weeks that Grand Paladin Mira is dead, and we waited much longer than we should have to hold the vote to bring you your next Grand Paladin, who will lead the Corps in a new direction as we move forward into a new age ahead of us. In our vote, we found ourselves at an impasse, and we have brought you your candidates. Tonight is their one and only chance to convince you why they should be the one to lead you and succeed Mira as our new Grand Paladin. Please welcome to the stage, Grand Marshall Sigurd Orvyn!”

A roar of thunderous applause rocked the room. Orvyn walked out, waving to the crowd before him. He walked up to the Dealer, saluted him and shook his hand, and took his place.

“And now welcome Grand Marshall Keaton Sheamus!”

The applause, while still loud, was noticeably quieter than it had been just moments before. He too waved, saluted, shook, and took his place. Silence overtook the room as they waited.

“Grand Marshall Sigurd Orvyn, you have been nominated by your superiors to take up the mantle of Grand Paladin Mira. Now you stand before those you will lead. I give you a chance to convince them why they should follow you if you were to become Grand Paladin.”

Orvyn cleared his throat as the Dealer stepped aside. “Brothers and sisters, fellow paladins and priests, allies of nonmagical nature, I come to you today to ask that you consider my proposals for the future of the Paladin Corps. I would say that we are the backbone of the Prime, but that does not encompass our role in this army. We are the armor that keeps this army’s heart and mind safe. We are the muscle that pushes this force to move. We are the Light that helps us see through the darkness. We hold the weight of our allies on our shoulders, but we cannot keep doing this alone. I worked with and beside Grand Paladin Mira. I watched the stress she went through doing everything she had to if this machine were to keep running smoothly. That will not be my future. I will ask our allies to step up and carry their fair share. I will push for an expansion to our officer posts, allowing for more movement upward in the ranks. This is not a promise I will make you now and do nothing about later. If I become Grand Paladin, then on day one--the same day I am promoted--I will have the proposal ready and on the Dealer’s desk. I will not wait for the opportune moment; this is a change we need now!” The audience started to clap for him, but Orvyn raised his hands, calling for silence.

“Now, I will be honest: I’m not going to make the choice you all always agree with. Sometimes you’ll see the things I choose to do and you’ll think that I am weakening our position in this army, or that I am too easily bowing to the demands of the magi. After all, I make it no secret that I believe the Deathwatch Guardians should be as autonomous as possible, and I am not completely against the idea of breaking them into their own branch. I am an active advocate for the loosening, if not complete abolition, of the promotion ban on nonmagical soldiers. All of you who vote for me today will make your decisions knowing these things. All of you who vote against me know these things. But you will also know that I will not make choices that put us beneath another branch. No paladin or priest under my watch will feel as though he or she is lesser than a mage, or a ranger, or a rogue. We are their equals, as we have been, and as we always will be. We are the Paladin Corps, strong and proud, and no one can take that from us! For Iblis!” The crowd joined his chant, “For The Dealer! For Mira! For Synoth! For Ellis! FOR THE PRIME!” The whole room broke out in cheers and applause. It was almost as if Orvyn had already won.

The Dealer took center stage again and brought everyone’s attention back to himself. “Thank you, Grand Marshall. That was very inspiring.” He walked over to Sheamus, “Grand Marshall Keaton Sheamus, you have also been nominated by your superiors to take up the mantle of Grand Paladin Mira. You too stand before those you would lead. I give you a chance to convince them why they should follow you if you were to become Grand Paladin.”

“Thank you, General,” Sheamus looked over the crowd, silent for a moment. “Friends, allies, I stand before you today to ask that you consider what Grand Paladin Mira wanted when she helped to found this army. She had a vision of what we would become. However, she could never achieve her vision, because she was held back by her pride, her position, and her place in our history. Mira’s vision was that we’d be an unstoppable fighting force, the likes of which has never been seen before. We were to be stronger than the Army of Man, who failed to defeat Retribution so many years ago. We were to be stronger than Retribution’s army, which oppresses us to this day.

“But we cannot be stronger if we carry all this extra weight. If we shoulder the burden our allies will not, then we cannot achieve Mira’s vision for our future. I shall achieve Mira’s vision by cutting loose the chains that hold us back. I will push the responsibilities we do not need to carry onto our allies so that we may refine ourselves to become a much stronger fighting force. I will not sit idly by while we work harder than our allies for less recognition. Under my watch, those days will be over! For the Dealer! For Mira! For Ellis! FOR THE PRIME!” As with the applause earlier, the cheering as Sheamus recited the chant was noticably quieter than Orvyn’s had been. The Grand Marshall looked confused for a moment until the Dealer came back to the forefront.

“Thank you, Grand Marshal. Ladies and gentlemen, you have heard the appeals of both of these fine candidates to become your new Grand Paladin. I now leave it in your hands to determine our future--your future. We shall count every vote we receive from now until nightfall, and in three days we will have your new Grand Paladin.”

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Mira sat in her office quietly, unconsciously drawing circles on a scrap piece of paper. Her long, light brown hair draped over her shoulders was held out of her face while she leaned on her left hand. Her eyes were glazed over as her gaze was fixated on yet another piece of bureaucratic nonsense. Mountains of paperwork surrounded her–a few finished and unfiled, some started but unfinished, most not even looked at. Mira had always been against all of this nonsense, but the Dealer had insisted that the bureaucracy would deter their subordinates from abusing their positions and authority. That had never actually happened. Instead, well, this happened.

She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. It felt like she had been at this for hours, but she knew it had only been about thirty minutes. Or–maybe it had been an hour? It turned out she was bad at keeping time. She dragged her hands down her face and pat her cheeks. Okay, it was time to get back to work. She scooted her chair back in and picked her pen back up. What was this about exactly?

It was a CR-18–virtually a waste of her time. Who filed this one? Captain Parker. She frowned; that was a name she saw often on these citation reports. Too often. What problem was he complaining about this time? It looked like the offending soldier was a Private Chip, who was caught awake after curfew. This was the Private’s second offense (did she already sign off on the first CR-18? Had she gotten to it already?). Mira quickly scribbled in the “Officer’s Notes” section of the form that the Private was to receive a verbal reprimand and “signed” the form (if anyone could actually read it, they would easily tell that whatever she wrote was not her name). She sighed and put the paper in a pile that she assumed was full of finished papers. Although, if the papers were finished, why were they still here?

She grabbed another piece of paper and started to look it over when she heard a knocking at her office door. “Just a minute,” she called out loudly. She pulled a thin hair tie out from her desk drawer and pulled her hair into a ponytail as she stood up. Mira grabbed the army-green jacket hanging off the back of her chair and slid it on. She sat back down and brushed her bangs out of her face. “Come in.”

“Grand Paladin,” a tall dark-skinned man stepped into the small room. He saluted her.

“Marshall Orvyn,” she returned the salute and he stood at attention. “You can relax, Orvyn. What can I help you with?”

“Grand Paladin, I had a question about the promotion boards coming up.”

“Marshall, I feel like I know where you’re going with this, but I have to tell you that I am currently not at liberty to discuss the promotional boards with any of the candidates. If we discuss the boards, their results will be jeopardized and potentially found invalid. Please wait until after they have concluded to discuss them with your superiors.”

“That’s the problem, ma’am.” Mira looked at Orvyn curiously, “I’m not nominated to move up.”

Mira dropped her pen, “You’re not what?”

“I was with Marshall Brynn when he received his nomination papers. I asked the courier if I was going to get one, and clearly, I don’t have one now.”

“Brynn got one?” The confusion was clear on her face, “Marshall Brynn is an idiot–why did he get a nomination?”

“I was hoping you could answer that question for me, ma’am.”

“Who nominated Brynn? I didn’t sign off on that. That is not what it said on the paper I turned in.”

“With all due respect ma’am,” Orvyn looked around at the papers littering the office, “Are you sure?”

Mira shook her head, “The Dealer doesn’t allow Synoth or me to handle critical information like that without his direct supervision. He’s the one who turns it in.” Mira suddenly picked up her head, “Which means he would know who changed the nominees.” She stood up and walked to the door, “Let’s go find him.”

Orvyn followed closely behind his superior. Mira was walking almost too quickly for him. She looked back and noticed he was slightly lagging behind her. She stopped and looked at him, “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I nominated you twice.” She…blinked at him? “The Dealer was not happy when I did that.” She motioned for him to keep following, and they eventually ran into the Dealer.

“This is the Dealer,” she told Orvyn, “I’m not sure if you’ve met him before.”

“Sir,” Orvyn saluted.

“Marshall,” the Dealer returned the gesture.

“General.” Mira’s voice was firm. The Dealer swore under his breath.

“What did I do this time?”

“Marshall Orvyn here was not selected to go up for the next promotion boards.” She crossed her arms and glared sternly at her superior, “Do you have any idea why that could be?”

“Promotion boards?” The Dealer shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe the nominees haven’t received their papers yet?”

“The papers were delivered today. The idiot Marshall Brynn received his, despite not being nominated.”

“Okay, well first things first, it’s probably better that our subordinates don’t hear us badmouthing their peers. Second, I don’t know why you’d think I would know anything about your nominations being changed.”

“Because I checked to make sure Marshall Orvyn was on the list. Not only did I make sure he was on that list, I made sure he was _first _to go through the boards. So if anything changed, it would have to go through you. So, what change did _you _authorize?”

“You should already know that anything having to do with promotions is handled by you and your Grand Marshalls. So what that means if you didn’t fill out the form, then one of them did.”

“But sir,” Orvyn spoke up, “Anything like that requires a signature from all affected parties. I didn’t sign off on anything that would remove me from the promotion boards.”

“I was about to get to that. I think we need to go to Records and find out what’s going on.” He led them down to the records room. It was a plain, small square room with a rectangular frosted window in the back. The Dealer walked up to the window and knocked on it. It opened up slowly and they saw the young Private waiting for them. “Yes, hello, I’m looking for a–” the Dealer started waving his hand, trying to think of the form code.

“PPF-1822 and a Revised PPF-1822. We’ll also need a CR-22 with ID number 241866,” Orvyn helpfully added. The Dealer pointed at him,

“Whatever the Marshall said. Whatever the latest filed PPF-1822 and RPPF-1822 were, also his Citation Report. Please be quick about it.” The window shut quickly and they could hear the Private scurrying around behind the window. After a few minutes, the window opened back up and the Private held out a manila folder with “FOUO” stamped on it. The Dealer took it and the window shut again. He opened the folder and looked over the two Promotion Forms. Nodding, he almost didn’t notice the window open again. The Dealer took this second folder and looked at it. He nodded gratefully and the window shut.

“Alright, so here’s the first PPF I had you sign, Mira.” He gave her the form, and Orvyn looked over her shoulder. “And here’s the revised form.” As they looked at the second paper, the Dealer opened the second folder and looked at the form inside.

“Someone forged my signature,” Mira’s jaw fell slack. “One of these sons of bitches forged my signature!” She looked about ready to fly into a rage but suddenly found her voice lost.

“In. My. Office.” The Dealer dropped his hand and looked seriously at the two of them. “We will talk about this there.”

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Orvyn and the Chickenfox do crossover cosplay to celebrate the upcoming Valor hardcover book! YEEE!!!

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