What is Vashaun?

[Cerbolt]

I mean, if he's an artificially-grown biological body, which appears to be what he is (there was the implication that Varshan's 'big brother' got older and 'moved away', so it seems like they age), then that's basically Allagan cloning techniques by a different route.

I think the implication was they were put out to pasture so to speak.

[Cleretic]

I think the implication was they were put out to pasture so to speak.

Oh, yeah, this is absolutely what happened. But given the cover story is clearly working, and people only mention one recent predecessor, I figure that the body ages until they retire it. Otherwise either the body sticks around long enough that people notice it's weird how Varshan's brother didn't age, or they go through those bodies before signs of aging could appear, which would require a fairly suspicious amount of turnaround.

[LystAP]

He does seem to have a different personality. Unless Vrta is the first roleplayer in where he chose to give his more movable incognito til 6.0 self a different personality to help sell the lie? Were the others also named the same or do you think he came up with a list of names? Or maybe named some after past Satraps in honor of their service, but only after anyone who would remember said person was long forgotten? Kind of like how in the world of Valdimar Herlads have an option to be reborn as a companion, but only after no one would remember who they were.

He probably got used to roleplaying Vashuun to the point he automatically adjusts his personality when he is using the body. Just like how Emet-Selch has some 'Solus' quirks.

[Anvaire]

i think its more, that the puppet has its own distinct personality but when it is possession of the eye vtra can see and feel everything, communicating with the puppets own identity. This would explain the difference in behaviour between dragon and the puppet.

[Rannie]

He probably got used to roleplaying Vashuun to the point he automatically adjusts his personality when he is using the body. Just like how Emet-Selch has some 'Solus' quirks.

You know I like the this idea and can almost picture Vrtra holding a d20 and praying for a crit... don't ask me why...

[SannaR]

Didn't think we'd be getting more Vrashan. It's most likely that Vrtra's eye which allows their body to survive the few times they dipped their toes in the 13th. I wonder how much degradation happened to the body. Love how they still blink even when in the same room as Vrtra. I just hope that Vrtra needing to be I guess in a meditative state won't lead to a bad situation.

[Alleluia]

I wonder if this is the same child body from back when he first had it made?

Its a simulacrum, so it may not experience any normal biological function, including aging. Would explain why he felt the need to remove it from the public eye every couple years. Kind of a Highlander situation. After about 5 years of use he recalls the body and gives excuses to those that know him, then lays low for a year or so, the body gets a makeover with an aesthetician, and then the satrap suddenly has a new favored page running around again to replace the old one.

[MoofiaBossVal]

I wonder if this is the same child body from back when he first had it made?

During the Final Days in Thavnair, Vytra had Varshan reverted back into the eye and placed back in his (Vytra's) head. He has both of his eyes in the Thavnair dungeon. After the situation in Thavnair calms down, he removed his eye and had the alchemists reshape it back into Varshan, who he sent to Sharlayan to check up on the status of his people. Earlier on in Endwalker's story, the alchemists reveal that they had suspected that Varshan was connected to the dragon of Thavnair, because they reshaped a dragon eye into the simulacrum. So Vytra has probably been taking his eye in and out and has had his eye shaped into a simulacrum many, many times. The Varshan we see might be his preferred appearance, but is not the same simulacrum that he sent through the gate 5,000 years ago.

[KageTokage]

Considering how Hraesvelgr kind of dematerialized his eye and transferred it into us temporarily to aid in defeating Nidhogg, I feel like Vrtra probably does something similar with his puppets as opposed to having to resort to more physical measures.

I still can't help but feel like it's a rather...dangerous prospect to have a significant portion of his power detached from him, though; especially if there's a risk of his real body being corrupted by proxy if his vessel is compromised in this coming journey unto the void.

[Catwho]

I assumed that it was a very advanced mammet, not a meat suit. We know that mammets are not unlike golems - there is a "core" that contains the code for them to run autonomously, and in the simpler ones also serves as a power source. In more advanced magitek forms like those from the empire, they're capable of some level of pattern recognition (that's why Maggie "remembered" us - she had the core of a mammet, not the standard soulless servomechanism from the empire.) Thavnair was not actually at war with the empire, so the Thavnarian alchemists would have had access to similar technology, so that the puppets Vtrra used could advance more and more over the centuries.

A dragon's eye has more than enough power to power a mammet, even an incredibly advanced one.

Vtra probably just keeps replacing them with a slightly older model every half a year or so, changing so gradually that those who aren't in on the secret don't even notice that he suddenly grew 5 cm in the space of a week.