VEX-254: 🎇Lance

DESIGN

• If the design is difficult, I can DM the Simple Ver.
• The dark fur colors are natural, not post-corruption.
• Beneath the feet, the 'yellow spots' are pawpads.

Interaction

• Lance dismisses their glitch halo, if they're talking to someone else. (It makes eye contact easier.)

• Clarence
Name Meaning: Derived from a Latin word, "clarus" meaning "Clear" or "Bright".

Lance's family (Verglas included) calls their full name, "Clarence".

Outside of the family, 'Clarence' had made acquaintances as a traveler. There were xyns who Clarence felt comfortable enough to see as friends.

But ever since 'Lance' stopped being a traveller, and instead trained to be a royal knight, they hadn't seen these same xyns.
Now, it's unusual for the vexyn to hear their full name by the current xyns who they interact with.

• Lance
"Lance" has been a nickname for some time, but it was rarer in the past than today. Now, they recontextualise it for the royal knights.
"Keep it short, keep it impersonal." That was Lance's first reasoning.

While a knight or knight-in-training may think of the pole weapon used in Lunerest, Lance was thinking of a completely different dimension, Earth. They were told an Earthian (Is that the right term?) story of a lancer by their best friend, who's a fan(atic) of said dimension.

• Storm Chasing
Every March (Rainbowstorm Renaissance)

• Reading
Favorite Genres: Adventure, Non-Fiction
Non-Fiction: Cultural Commentary, Environmental Science, Travel Guides and Travelogues
Artifact History (Former): Lance used to study the history, trades, and even myths of artifacts. But now they abandon this topic.

• Trinket Collector
Lance likes to visit the art market in the streets. They look out for local made trinkets, especially if they're moon-themed and they can glow.

• Interior Design
Since childhood, Lance continues to decorate hog their family home's attic.
Every moon trinket they buy or is gifted to, Lance is going to daydream about rearranging the furniture and decors to fit the new ones.
(Meanwhile, they flip-flop about calling this hobby a 'secret'. It's just too niche. They don't want to waste their peers' time.)

Most were Lance's odd jobs as a traveller.

• Gatherer
Lance used their incomplete knight training to help find rarer ingredients, and navigate tough environments.

• Harvester
Lance had helped the farmers, particularly those who owned expansive plots for their fresh produce. The vexyn had also cut down trees into firewood, and materials for construction work.

• Deliverer
Lance would help to transport items, short-distance or long-distance. They applied for the work during the festival's active periods.
For example, Snowlight Bash is one of the busiest, due to the high distribution of gifts and cards.

• Gemheart Faire (February)
Lance's birth month, but also the opportunity to visit family again. These reasons make the festival very personal to the vexyn.

• Lightning Faction: Lance can electrify themself. They're also immune to electricity from external sources, such as other lightning xyns, and thunderstorms.

• Moonreach
Lance and their parent's home.

• Valorise
An old home of Lance's parents. During childhood, the family would make annual trips to visit relatives.

• Pixiehome 
Lance visited twice, but they hadn't returned in a while.

• Wingfell

• Perilunal Plains

• Selune Woods

• Elysium Heights

❌Heartsong Isles
Lance halted their journey, even if it meant missing out on the beaches. The vexyn vaguely remembers that during childhood, a xynlet (who they used to hang out with) had a vacation in an underwater city.

❌Frostouched Pines

❌Corrupted Lands
Lance only heard stories, and even rumors of artifacts.

But, they never forget a memory when they rested on the treetops in Pixelhome. Only to be told by a local, that the vexyn was facing in the direction of the Corrupted Lands. The thought of being close by... It's uncanny, to say the least.

At the back of their mind, Lance ponders on the day when they may have to go there as a Royal Knight.

Food Taster: Lance is half-invited and half-hired by Verglas who contributes their food to festivals and other events.
Apparently, Verglas trusts Lance's analytical skills, despite the fact that the latter could think of better food fans than themself.

Pixiehome was Lance's first trip, so they didn't forget Lia's... scare. It's a surprise working together at Moonreach, their home. Impressively, Lia brings everything to the team.

• Pixiehome Encounter: Lance briefly met Lia.

• So Close Yet So Far: Lance was surprised to hear that Lia had already moved to Moonreach. The former returned home not-so-long ago. There would be a lot of opportunities to see each other again. But no, they hadn't.

• First Meeting: A xyn who Lance met at the Crystalnight Ball. The vexen feels guilty for coming into Lupin's space unprompted. But, at least there's an opportunity to work together.

Formerly a traveler, Fei's talks brought up Lance's past with clarity and joy. Once in a while, the vexyn's intrigued to hear her journey. It's a bit hard to make eye contact.

• Art Fan: Lance likes to take a look at Fei's works.

• So Close Yet So Far: Lance found it so funny that Fei confirmed sightings of the vexyn themself, and Lia coming to the same spots in Moonreach.

Nova was a gift from Lance's best friend. In hindsight, though, the vexyn was underprepared to start looking after a companion. It was a long time ago...

Despite the trials and errors, it's genuinely hard for Lance to remember their solitude, not without finding Nova bringing in more friends. It's like going back to a festival, but for companions.

Runaway: Lance almost lost Nova during a Brighthallow Festival. Ever since then, the vexyn tries to train Nova not to be far-off, and later other companions to to be each other's supervisors.

As if Brighthallow Festival continues to 'haunt' Lance (an inside joke), the vexyn was the target of this ghostle's mischief. Without knowing, Astro was on Lance's mane on the way back home.

Dance Partner: Apparently, Lance and Astro are fans of the same music. Everytime the vexyn skydances, Astro likes to do flips and skydives.

Verglas: "We're being played, Clarence."

Lance and Verglas found a musha eating one of the castle's gardens. This forced the royal chef to go shopping, leaving Lance alone to take care of the pest.

Now, Lance and Marble are each other's helpers. The vexyn checks where the other companions are at, while the musha gets delivered special orders from the castle.

Lance and their parents weren't expecting to get a fourth companion. But, Lance's older family relative wasn't able to look after their cupisaur, whose age is showing as well.

After joining Lance's family, Nebula becomes a parental figure to the other three companions. There are moments when Lance is feeling down, the cupisaur is by their side. The vexyn gets déjà vu now and then.

First Impression: As a vexlet, Lance was disappointed by the companion of their birth month. As a vexyn, Lance thinks that judgement was just unfair. Brat.