gruzeburya

[gruzeburya]

𓂃₊🌩️ 𝕻JO / 𝕸YTH VERSE. . . APPRENTICE OF THE WITCH OF BEASTS   𓆩 ' bane of jupiter, daughter of the sky

   ▍note:  this verse easily can work in times of antiquity despite the urban fantasy genre of the pjo series. i'm flexible with when the events of zoya's story take place and i am aware zoya's status as a child of one of "the big three" skews some of the in-universe prophecies. it isn't my intention to have zoya's presence in the story greatly affect the already established plot. i rather her arc unfold on the fringes of canon or just in another time entirely!

       zoya was a girl born into vengeance . . . it is the daughter of titans and famed witch,    circe who first learns of the conception of the child of jupiter beyond the eyes of the olympians.    forced into her exile on the island of aeaea by none other than the king of the gods himself —  the notorious enchantress hatches a plot to curse her adversary’s heir with the mark of a beast.    she tasks one of her handmaidens to pose as a nurse and slowly over weeks zoya’s mother sabina is tricked into drinking a magical draught during her pregnancy that will inevitably turn her daughter into a monster.    when zoya is born she is a happy and healthy baby but as years go by the solution within her festers.    it all comes to a head when her aunt is assailed in their home by valentin grankin,    a wealthy businessman who was making unwanted advances towards zoya.     after being invited over by none other than zoya's own mother.    she kills the man in the heat of her transformation into a dragon to the horror of all her witnesses.    

       forced to flee from her small village on the outskirts of moscow.    liliyana and zoya make a home for themselves in ukraine,    off the coast of the black sea.    it is there that zoya learns her aunt is a follower of the old gods and a practitioner of the goddess devana’s teachings.    this proximity to witchcraft was the reason for her aunt’s status as a black sheep among the family.    she begins to learn minor spell-casting as well as the usage of medicinal herbs and how to concoct poisons from flowers they grew in their garden.    by the day,    zoya’s aptitude for the craft seems to grow and her aunt recognizes that her niece’s power far exceeds her own.    unbeknownst to her that a god's power wasn't the only force at work within the veins of her niece.   

       it is liliyana’s prayers and rituals that bring devana to their humble home in her roman incarnation of diana.    at just twelve years old under the protection of the goddess and her huntresses zoya leaves home.    in her youth zoya spends quite a few years with the hunt but she never takes the pledge to officially become a maiden and huntress.     her time with the goddess and her followers is cut short when she is claimed by her father mid-battle and is subsequently taken to the island of aeaea as a means to keep her identity hidden.    unbeknownst to zoya her presence on the island is but another punishment for the witch as jupiter has learned of the blight she has put upon his daughter.   

       as the years go by,    zoya matures into her magic but she also makes a stranger of the beast within her.    repressing the dragon she turns to her witchcraft as a way to not only keep her inner monster at bay but also to keep her busy.    out of fear of her own barely contained violence,    she spends as little time as possible with the other handmaidens knowing an emotional spark may ignite her shift in form.    circe concurrently begins to get attached to zoya and she staves off the secret of the young witch’s curse knowing that the truth will drive her most promising pupil away.    this time of clemency only lasts until zoya turns nineteen.    this is when she uncovers the spell,    in one of the grimoires she is studying from,    that  same spell circe used to concoct the tincture which made her into the creature that she is.    

        from this point on she works tirelessly to find a means to flee from the island.    delving further into research about her dragon form she finds she has a kinship with the monster scylla as they are wrought of the same scourge.    she is able to communicate with the former nymph and when they reach an understanding they take an oath to form a tentative alliance.    true to their agreement the great sea creature leaves her haunting to wreak havoc upon the island and in the ensuing chaos the daughter of jupiter flees.    finding her way back to the huntresses they deliver her to camp jupiter in the following weeks.    her arrival baffles the senate with her sudden appearance out of seeming anonymity though praetor of the twelfth legion,    reyna knows of her briefly due to her stint on the island.   

   ⊹ SLIGHT VERSE DIVERGENCE ft.    @daylighter​

       when the young sorceress starts to grow suspicious of her witch mother’s intentions she begins to realize something is amiss with her apprenticeship.    amidst her doubts a roman son of apollo arrives on the island without circe’s notice to deliver a letter from his praetor.    he soon lets his true intentions be known;     that he wishes to recruit the daughter of jupiter to his own personal ranks.    having use for her skillset in the art of magic and mist manipulation .    she shows a bit of hesitance at first but is ultimately won over after kenneth agrees to the condition that her loyalty will ultimately remain to herself and not any legion or general,    if she chooses to leave with him.    still,    zoya does eventually come to camp jupiter yet under slightly different circumstances and accommodations.   

𓂃₊ VERSE NOTES

zoya's status as a dragon is a WELL-KEPT secret even in the verses where she relocates to new rome.    under no circumstances does someone know that her and the dragon are one and the same.    she always transforms in hiding and almost always under the cover of night! only after some plotting can this secret be revealed and even then the conditions are fairly strict.   

in regards to her relationship with circe…  zoya and her witch-mother have a very intricate and nuanced relationship.    it goes without saying that zoya was basically raised by her even if circe was effectively her jailer.    even after zoya learns that circe is responsible for her condition she still cannot entirely shake the love she has for her.    it takes zoya an immense amount of contemplation to eventually escape the island and find her own way in the world.    

in regards to her relationship with jupiter…    to put it simply zoya and her father are at odds.    while she may be of the most powerful of his demigod children he is also particularly resentful of her because she is a reminder of how he was bested by a witch.    he only claimed her as a way to keep her in line out of fear.    before arriving in new rome zoya's parentage is also shrouded in mystery.    she often claims circe as her blood mother and godly parent unless the truth has already been revealed.    

on a lighter note zoya has two ventus companions in this universe.    they are wind spirits who take on the form of a pair of white tigers named samira and nitya.  both animals have heightened empathy like zoya herself and can sense the 'intent' of those around them.    they are fiercely protective over her and typically don't let anyone get very close.    also due to their nature as venti they have some command over the weather and will call down lightning if they feel threatened in anyway.    both tigers are outfitted in silver armor to held them channel this electricity and make them effective conduits for their own power as well as zoya's.

[gruzeburya]

𓂃₊☁︎ A VICIOUS/EO VERSE. . . THE STORM WITCH OF THE EAST     𓆩 ' 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 

   ▍note:  it has admittedly been a while since i have read the villains books so there are bound to be inaccuracies here that i will probably go in and edit once i get around to a re-read. that being said i don't really plan on having zoya's verse interact with the overall plot of the books outside of her run-ins with EON which is still mostly classified information. this also means that zoya's main arc takes place in a post-vicious timeline after stell conceives of EON in response to eli and victor's appearances. 

   ⊹ CONCEPTION.  growing up in the rural russian countryside zoya is scouted as a figure skater by valentin grankin at the tender age of twelve.  coming from an impoverished home zoya's competition money is what kept her family afloat and she quickly becomes the main breadwinner within a few months of performing. grankin agrees to fund the young prodigy's education and training in what he sees as a sound acquisition. entering into a contract with the businessman zoya's unwittingly signs away her autonomy.  the partnership does not last long before grankin begins to expect unsavory favors from his investment. after he makes an advance towards zoya she kills him while squabbling to escape and has to flee her hometown as a result.

her aunt and adoptive sister come to her rescue at the rink. escaping in a car they are pursued by grankin's security detail and they run the family off the road during a raging thunder storm. veering off course the pursuit ends in a devastating crash seemingly killing everyone in the vehicle but that is not the case.  zoya dies with rain water in her lungs and rage in her heart and when she rises again she has the power of the sky at her behest.  lada garin, zoya's sister technically survives as well and is later rumored to be an eo on her own right.  the only victim that didn't rise again was zoya's aunt, liliyana 

   ⊹ GATHERING ALLIES.  as a teenager zoya survives off of secrets.  initially she couldn't find any subtlety to her newfound abilities.  she would bring rainy weather to notorious dry towns and violent winds to the most mild of villages. in time she learns that she can use her manipulation of atmosphere to bend sound waves and she begins to gather intel about other EOs via whispers. forced to move from place to place in order to avoid further suspicion this constant storming around earned her the title of burya vedma ( storm witch ).  this is when she meets david and genya two eos with an affinity for technology and disguises respectively. they had followed the gathering clouds towards her and the three from a tenuous alliance. 

   ⊹ MOVING TO THE U.S. zoya is nineteen when she finally catches wind of information in regards to lada's whereabouts.  rumors of a alleged pyromancer from her hometown fittingly dubbed, the firebird. at this point zoya has amassed a coalition of EOs… a small army of sorts. she has created a safe haven from them and swears to continue her mission to protect any EOs she comes across and keep their true identities masked from the public. she takes a fraction of her allies with her when she immigrates in pursuit of her sister.  she spends years on the hunt for information in her search she has amassed a network of EOs in the U.S. and internationally who become loyal to her cause.  the larger her legion grows the more attention she draws towards herself.  already EON agents are beginning to put out hits on her and others who are her close allies. 

𓂃₊ VERSE NOTES ( TLDR )

zoya's EO abilities encompass a broad spectrum of atmosphere manipulation. as i said above she is prone to using her powers in more subtle ways to help maintain her cover. such as employing acoustic anomalies to spy on her enemies and gather intel on EOs in the area. 

her more offensive skillset is reserved for emergency situations.  this is the customary calling of lightning, wind and rain. the more subtle way this skillset manifests is how the temperature drops whenever she enters a room and the heavy humidity that hangs around her sometimes in thick vapor. 

zoya's network of EO's can be considered somewhat of a rebel army. some of her contacts are more loyal to her than others. david and genya are her left and right hand when it comes to day to day operations.  david innovates so that their home base is kept up to date in terms of defense and genya assists in spy craft with her tailoring of the human face. base of operations is roughly on the vermont/new york border in the deep forest.

in her civilian life she is currently enrolled at state university in vermont as a graduate student studying meteorology and atmospheric physics. she still a skating instructor on the side at her local rink, which is more for her own fulfillment than monetary gain. she travels often so she is only a part-timer at her current college.

[gruzeburya]

▍note:  a fairly well established fact is zoya's mood directly affecting the weather but i do want to elaborate on the ways this manifests.    i think it's a common misconception that when she gets angry or experiences any negative emotion it starts to storm.    while this very well does happen from time to time it's important to account for just exactly what kind of storm is being called.    zoya delights in rain,    she loves the feeling of fresh water on her skin and humidity is her friend,    never her foe.    so here is a cheat sheet on reading zoya's mood according to the weather.    think of it as a very violent mood ring!

   ⊹ contentment / calm:    it's very humid.    the rain is coming down in a steady stream with little to no wind to be felt.    zoya stands in it when its warmer out she will be there for hours and let herself get soaked to the bone.    she is alone usually and her feet are bare.    the sky is a smoky canvas with wisps of white.     she likes to revel in this feeling because it is rare and it never quite lasts.    

   ⊹ elation / excitement:    it's windy,    maybe more breezy.    partly cloudy but it could turn to rain at any moment.    gales may congregate underneath her step; every movement she takes is light,    soundless.    if you look closely you will find she is barely standing on the ground at all and is being carried by the flow of wind.    her hair may stay in a constant state of partial suspension    ━    undulating around her in a flurry of dark curls.    

   ⊹ somber / grieving:    snowfall.    no matter the season it's quiet like the dead of winter.    the snow is ceaseless falling in full flakes at a rapid pace.    the accumulation is quiet and lethal with its swiftness.    it is the kind of weather that can bury you alive without a trace.    the thaw seems years away,    it's an endless world of ivory.    when the snow lands on the crown of her head it does not melt rather it gathers and wreaths her in ice.    

   ⊹ rage / jealousy:    the lightning is so close the boom of thunder begins to overlap itself.    the world is all sound and light.    the sky is dark as midnight and the wind is violent,    endless in its torrent.    it is pouring and the rain is tossed by the wind utterly horizontal in its path.    zoya is a conduit,    a conductor of electricity and the lightning sings through her.    she almost always is the dragon in this state breathing out distruction with each snarl.    her gaze hold so much voltage it is nearly impossible to look her in the eye without being blinded by the brightness.    

   ⊹ love / affectionate:    it's drizzling.    the sun is still shining but it is accompanied by a dusting of mist.    light is dancing between raindrops and there is refracted color everywhere.    a dusting of dew across the grass.    the world smells like dampened earth and each drop is a pearl in the dark sea of her hair.    she is in the garden here,    wildflower aroma permeates the atmosphere...    spring has arrived after a long winter.  

[gruzeburya]

 A DARK ACADEMIA/NINTH HOUSE ADJACENT VERSE... THE HOST TO THE DRAGON, A BREATH OF LIFE     𓆩 ' 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥

▍note:  while nh is the primary inspiration for this verse it can be easily adapted outside of that canon since i know very few people are familiar with it.    i am willing to tweak the conventions of said universe to make plots work definitely flexible when it comes to the loosely established magic system of the nine houses of veil.    

in a more true to nh setting zoya is a yale grad student studying botany/plant biology who was invited to join the aurelian house back in her sophomore year of undergrad.    she has been an active member since her induction,    frequently attending binding rituals and studying arcane texts alongside her coursework.    she is working towards her doctorate but her academic life is marred by growing financial strain as well as homesickness.    she is an international student from russia in a country she has only called home for the past six years.    

zoya's interest in magic starts off as a tame offshoot of her own studies for class.    one day she comes across a few herbal magic tomes in beinecke library while doing research for her thesis.    the rest is practically history,    as her intrigue spirals from then on.    once she is recruited into aurelian officially she gets her hands on certain cursed grimoire,    the song of storms.    said to house the greater demon juris,    a dragon prince of hell with untold knowledge and said to bring insurmountable wealth with him when summoned.    he had been sealed away for his volatility but zoya is drawn to the mystery this discovery presents.   

she keeps the grimoire for weeks,    a mere relic to add to her growing collection.    it is only when her aunt's illness progresses that she begins to grow desperate in attempting to break the binding spell placed on the text.    willing to commune with any god,    dark or light as a means to save her guardian's life.    one stormy evening on the roof of the aurelian tomb,    lightning comes down upon the earth and under the spill of witch's blood the spellbook is cracked open,    setting the demon free.    the recovery goes far from planned as the dragon takes up station in the body of zoya's thesis advisor.    

both demon and hedge witch form a tenuous alliance posing as mentor and mentee under the nose of lethe and the other houses of veil.    juris agrees to train zoya in his magical practices but his brothers in hell have caught wind of his release.    when the current lethe house coalition goes rogue and journeys beyond the veil several times they thin out the boundary between realms.    these crossings allow denizens of the underworld to run free into the mortal world,    dozens of underlings of infernal royalty out for a blood feud.    

caught in the middle of a battle between brothers it is not long after zoya comes upon her mentor half-dead in his office.    unsure of which creature or prince is responsible for the attack she issues the killing blow as a mercy.    in doing so she takes the dragon's essence into herself and all the power and station that comes with a disgraced throne in hell.    the after effects of such a merging is a slow onset of bestial tendencies.    the emergence of scales across skin,    of too sharp teeth,    of pale eyes slit to a reptile's narrow stare.    oh,    and she still somehow has to attend all her classes and make all her lab hours before the semester's completion!

[gruzeburya]

         AN ALTERNATE CRIME VERSE....      THE WITCH OF WHISPERS, WILL SEE YOU NOW      𓆩 ' 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘴

when zoya’s grisha power reveals itself to her on her wedding day in defense of lilyana instead of being rushed off to the capital she returns to novokribirsk with her aunt.   it is there that they formulate a plan to send her to os kervo to begin an apprenticeship with an herbalist there.   by the age of thirteen they have saved up enough money to send zoy.   a away and she begins her journey to the port city.   she does not last as an apprentice for long,    her eyes were always set on the true sea and where it could take her.   she began to save up money to book passage aboard a ship but eventually she grew impatient and at the rate she was saving it would be years before she could leave the city.   a year passes,    and when she is fourteen she finally builds up the courage to sneak aboard a trade vessel headed to kerch.   when she arrives in ketterd.   am she has the little money she has saved up and a collection of kerch words she had gathered from her instructor in os kervo.   it was scarcely enough to get her around but it was just the right amount for her to stay at a halfway house and gather her bearings.   

they begin to think her ghezen-touched...   two years have passed and she is a long-sought after asset.   this was not an overnight success though it had started as an accident after lingering around the exchange for longer than usual she had begun to hear whispers...    of the very interesting sort.   talk of shares and the flow of money none of it was luck though many of the traders spoke of it like it was such.   glorified gambling,    some men went to the tables in the barrel and others came here to these hallowed halls to do the same.    she was privy to where the kruge would land by using her summoning to manipulate acoustics she was able to find out what shares were being bought and sold long before anyone else.   in learning the value of the information she could provide she began to monetize her services under the guise of “financial advising”.   her business grew but so did the target on her back as she was a young girl living alone in a foreign city.   many attempts to kidnap her and force her to perform her services free of charge were made,    though unsuccessfully.   this is when she meets felix meijer,    a kerch merchant with ties to the zemeni jurda trade.   

enter,    the hidden sapphire of ketterdam.   she is eighteen and living in the meijer mansion in the financial district at the height of luxury.   in the years prior she had gotten close to the merchant in hopes to uncover the unsavory about his trade ties and it was not long before she did.   the grisha girl had found that he was selling the jurda he was receiving from overseas at a higher rate than agreed upon thus pocketing a hefty sum in his name while paying off his partners the lesser agreed upon percentage of the earnings.   zoya used this information as blackmail and in exchange for keeping meijer’s secret he would set her up in his home and give her the title of mistress.   this new status would allow her a certain degree of protection and let the other traders know that there would be consequences if harm were to come to her.   it gives her more freedom than a marriage and also allows her some degree of mobility in ketterdam high society.   she carries on this way for years no longer using her talents for anyone outside of meijer’s circle though she will consider lending her services to the highest bidder...   

⊹  CURRENT WHEREABOUTS:   zoya is in the process of cutting out the middleman.    her arrangement with meijer is beginning to prove more trouble than it is worth.    she currently is attending ketterdam university studying economics but also befriending the sons and daughters of merchants from all over the world.   this is also her way of beginning to establish her own network outside of the financial district.    she is finding a way to doctor meijer's will so all his assets will be left to her upon his death.    before orchestrating his murder she begins to blackmail the house staff and security with her gathered secrets slowly changing the loyalty of those in her direct environment.  

* IT IS IMPERATIVE HER STATUS AS GRISHA REMAIN A SECRET IN THIS VERSE OR IT RISKS TAKING DOWN THE WHOLE OF HER OPERATION.

[gruzeburya]

⊹  ZOYA & THE EARLY YEARS OF HER IMMORTALITY: previously i have said how i fully believe decades (  possibly a century out  )  from the start of her reign zoya would eventually abdicate the ravkan throne not to a child of her own but someone she believes is qualified for the job . because zoya’s entire arc is about learning that raw power cannot be unrooted from humanity she takes an active role in relinquishing some of her influence.  her immortal life is long one and while being queen of ravka is an important part to it i hardly think it is the end destination for her.  i think eventually she gives herself the grace and takes a step away from politics and diplomacy.  when you live long enough the concept of nations and borders becomes almost frivolous. it is something a queen who has ruled as long as she has would become desensitized to which would make someone else better suited to take up the crown  ━  someone with more skin in the game.

 she has always been a near mythical thing and her immortality beginning to truly show only makes her seem less human and more diety.  she knows the pitfalls of worship having seen what the people had done to alina in her martyrdom.  so in a sense she enters her ‘retirement’ era somewhere where she can embrace the dragon’s eye fully as she feels more kindred to past lives she embodies as the years go on.  i think she would make a life for herself in the sikurzoi mountains and nikolai would come with her.  this is a phase of her life that she spends most in her dragon form because that is when she feels closest to the earth and the sky  (  which coincides with the theory that dragons were actually the first squallers  )

on this note,  i have used the title moon-eater for zoya before and this is loosely based on the myth of the bakunawa from filipino mythology. the dragon is called this during her stay on the shu-han/ravkan border as her wing span seems to block out the moon itself when she takes flight.  the locals believe her a creature of eclipse and a bringer of storms but she is still mostly viewed as a neutral force   ━   not benevolent or evil she is simply nature running its course.  she stays in the mountains for quite some time debating whether it is time for her to do as juris once did and forfeit her life to bestow her power upon another.  

[gruzeburya]

⊹ A DECONSTRUCTION OF MOTHERHOOD. . . a meta in regards to zoya and her fraught relationship with motherhood: what it means to be someone's child and what it means to love someone like they are your own

before,    we can even speak about zoya's mother or perhaps those she may have maternal feelings for we gotta start at the beginning.    zoya grew up in poverty and it made her options for the future severely limited.    although,    what truly affected her outside of having next to nothing was living in a loveless home.    not only does zoya have an unrelenting drive for something more but she views motherhood and being a bride as synonymous. this path forward is something she views as inferior to the future she wants to seize for herself.    in actuality,    at this stage of life the choices are a nameless death or die with some semblance of glory.   

the first lesson zoya learns is to harden her heart. her mother is one who teaches her this as a child. this whole narrative of the bride, as i said before, falls into her narrow view of what it means to be a mother. a bride is the first stage in the softening of oneself. although zoya loves a contradiction because her mother was a weak woman but certainly not a soft one. she associates being wed with her first marriage ( or the sham of one ) when she was a scared child and she has not been able to disentangle those feelings since.

SABINA

she starved for love and approval literally and figuratively. in many ways it was zoya who took care of her own mother and not vice versa. falling into a caretaker role at such a young age fundamentally damaged the way she sees caring for someone else. it's no surprise, zoya pitied her mother even as a child she had more resolve than a woman who time had broken down. she agreed to marry an adult when she was only a girl to save her family. obviously she was so young and did not truly have a say in the matter but this still puts zoya into the role of breadwinner and the sole provider of her home at such a young age. her mother who should have protected her was leading her down the aisle like a lamb to the slaughter. there were safe people for zoya to rely on at this stage of life ESPECIALLY sabina who was willing to commit the greatest violence of all; utterly stealing her daughter's future for her own gain.

LILIYANA

no one had spoken up for zoya for the first 10 years of her life until her aunt stopped her wedding. this was the first positive adult figure she had ever encountered. of course, once zoya's grisha abilities are made known she has to part ways with liliyana shortly after reuniting. they are family but to say liliyana raised zoya from that point on is not exactly true. her aunt was the first to give her true unconditional love but this did not remove zoya from her caretaker position fully. when she arrived at the little palace she had her service stipend sent directly to liliyana. as much as zoya loves liliyana she cannot fight the age-old habit of showing affection through monetary support and gifts. this is not necessary bad in any regard it is just a lingering trauma response that still remains in a healthy relationship in her life.

that being said, zoya fully views her aunt as a guardian and parental figure. this essentially solidifies the importance of "found-family" for her. she learned the hard way that those who share blood do not necessary have one's best interests at heart. of course this only serves to destroy her ability to give and receive love more in the long run when liliyana ultimately dies along with expanding of the shadow fold. zoya retreats into herself fully in the wake her aunt's death. there is a very pessimistic part of her that believes she is being punished for being a girl with thorns and thus she grows her walls of briars higher. everything she has loved up to this point has been taken from her and she cannot help but feel responsible for it. so she guards her love and tries to keep it from spilling out... this of course backfires expeditiously.

NINA

enter nina zenik, a good portion of zoya and nina’s relationship takes place off the page but that doesn’t make it any less significant. when the two first meet zoya is a grisha instructor at the little palace and she frequently trains the younger children in combat. she is a terrifying teacher and there is plenty of gossip surrounding her methods of instruction but that being said she actually spends a great deal of time around young grisha, most of which are orphans or far from their families. nina is the first child she grows to care about and when she loses track of her on their scouting mission which ultimately ends with nina as a drüskelle prisoner she cannot forgive herself. even after she returns home she shows a great deal of distress with nikolai’s decision to send her back to fjerda to do more spy work. in an argument that is EXTREMELY reminiscent of a quarrel between two parents. it is apparent that zoya views nina as not just her responsibility but family as well.

in the final battle in rule of wolves zoya’s confrontation with the apparat directly calls into question her ability to be a mother, point blank. it is obvious to anyone who sees how zoya cares for nina to deny that they have a familial tie, one which zoya fiercely protects. the amount of grief and internal conflict she wrestles with in this exchange alone is a culmination of all her past experiences with motherhood, mothering, and the mother figure as a whole. her story is about love at the end of the day. coming to terms with the fact that she cannot help herself from loving and loving hard and it is okay for her to mess up in love. it is okay if she will never be a perfect friend. it is okay if she will never be a perfect sister. it is okay if she will not be a perfect lover…. and of course, it is okay if she will not be a perfect mother. lack of perfection does not mean lack of love. perfection actually has no place in love.

CONCLUSION

i am of the mind that zoya would be more inclined to adopt a child based on past experiences. as i said earlier in this post so many grisha orphans arrive at the little palace year after year. zoya feels a sense of kinship with them all and she used to have a hand in raising most of the children at the grisha school. what this means at the very least is that she is open to letting someone into her heart in such a fundamental way. before she could not even conceive of it because the fear of how it could make her seem weak. i also do think she sees nina as her daughter in many ways but it will never be the same as rearing a child from youth onward since their relationship did not evolve into more of this mother/daughter dynamic until later in life.

in regards to having a child of her own she is less open to this. considering she ends the series as queen of ravka the question of a line of succession would arise. if you have been here for a while you know that i am firm believer that zoya eventually abdicates the throne, similar to what nikolai did for her. the whole idea of a royal family basically ends with her. the crown would either pass to another high ranking ravkan official or the beginnings of a democracy takes hold and there is an election process put in place for who rules the country after zoya steps down. this is all a long way of saying of zoya would want to have a child on her own terms if that is something she decides on doing. it would likely be after she gives up the throne ( though there are some verses where this may differ ) and her partner at the time would not necessarily have to be someone she is married to but likely someone she has been with for quite some time. i think it actually would be fairly healing for zoya to have a child in any capacity because it would be a testament to how her love can cultivate and nurture someone. but she is also brutal with her love and i can see her doing the unspeakable for her child without a second thought so that is also something to consider!!

[gruzeburya]

 ⊹        inspiration  HEAVILY  drawn  from  slavic  folklore  more  specifically  bulgarian  myths  surrounding  the  lamia  and  the  retelling  of  saint  george  and  the  dragon  .  as  well  as  some  very  loose  influence  taken  from  romanian  scholomance  folklore  ,  the  weather-making  dragon  ismeju  specifically  

 within the confines of this au the fae are considered very very distant offspring of pagan gods across multiple pantheons although there are some exceptions, such as various minor gods even the aspects of some major gods are considered to be fae. they represent older powers enduring through they have shifted form significantly and even gained qualities of their own ( like the rule of truths and the power of names ━ though this is a principle that most gods still adhere to today ) the land beyond the veil is also know as the mirror realm, where the world seems to work backwards though it runs parallel to that of our own. there are no countries though there are borders to define sovereignties and courts.

 zoya is technically an unseelie fae and is a direct descendant of a union between a LAMIA MONSTER and the sky god PERUN. her bloodline carries both divinity as well as the wicked nature of the great serpent. she is the daughter of the drakon knight juris who served under the former unseelie queen before he defected to create a court of his own. the ethereal court : is for fae with more infernal qualities and animalistic features ━ they are typically reptilian folk, with an affinity for weather enchantments though they will allow other kinds of fae to swear fealty once trust is earned. the court's name is no coincidence as the confines of the ethereal lands are sky-bound ━ the kingdom is nestled atop high mountain peaks and in the clouds themselves. 

while not on the best terms with the other fae as a whole the court typically has the strategic advantage given its location. this is why it comes as shock when their king is found dead within the walls of the sky palace. struck down by poison delivered by a spy from the spring court at the command of their queen, elizaveta. it is revealed that elizaveta's prized general and fellow high fae had an affair with juris which was how zoya was sired. this dalliance was considered a direct act of betrayal to the crown and the spring queen's retaliation came in the form of regicide while zoya's mother is still at large. the single act calls into question zoya's legitimacy as an heiress to the throne as her people have no way of knowing if she has ties to the spring court because of her mother. members of her court speculate their princess possibly having a hand in her father's murder given her past violences though have no definitive proof of such.

in an effort to solidify her claim and birthright zoya agrees to go to war with the spring court in order to ascend to the throne AS QUEEN. currently, she is in the process of gathering allies, scouring the wild lands and seasonal courts alike but she is a young and tenacious monarch ━ and to many a symbol of unchecked power and potential ruin. while the ethereal court readies for war the other folk take note of their crumbling line of succession. zoya's kingdom is vulnerable on all fronts and even if she finds out the whereabouts of her mysterious mother it may not be enough to put the matter to rest without bloodshed. not to mention, zoya herself is a vengeful drakon with far too much magic at the tips of her fingers than she knows what to do with. a newly crowned sovereign entirely unchecked and brimming with fresh grief in her heart there is little she will not do in the name of her fallen father.

[gruzeburya]

META  :  FROM  TEMPTRESS  TO  SAINT     ━━━━     to  damn  her  or  exalt  her  ;  the  reclamation  of  storm  witch  

this  post  really  is  an  excuse  for  me  to  go  off  about  how  zoya  abhors  being  referred  to  as  sankta  in  any  capacity  but  it  really  shows  how  much  she  has  grown  to  accept  her  nature  that  she  feels  more  inclined  to  refer  to  herself  as  a  witch  .  she  identifies  with  that  over   any  kind  of  sainthood  the  people  of  ravka  and  beyond  try  to  assign  to  her  .  perhaps  people  aren't  ready  to  worship  a  figure  that  has  been  so  commonly  associated  with  chaos  and  evil  (  for  lack  of  a  better  word  )  but  zoya  knows  better  than  to  think  herself  worthy  of  a  pedestal  especially  when  people  have  made  it  a  habit  to  disgrace  and  kill  their  saints  .  i  don't  think  she  will  ever  move  past  that  need  for  the  fear  ‘  the  storm  witch  '  appellation  instills  when  it  is  heard  and  associated  with  her  face  and  iconography  . 

it  also  cannot  go  without  saying  that  zoya  is  the  only  saint  that  transitioned  from  her  witchery  into  exaltation  all  within  her  lifetime  which  is  a  rather  short  span  of  time  given  how  young  she  is   .  we  see  with  lizabeta  that  many  saints  before  her  were  not  so  lucky  and  ulla  is  one  of  the  few  saints  still  alive  but  she  and  her  saintly  counterpart  (  sankta  ursula  )   are  so  often  viewed  as  separate  and  not  as  one  single  entity  ━  there  is  also  the  fact  that  most  people  do  not  know  that  ulla  is  still  alive  so  her  public  image  is  not  exactly  subject  to  a  shift  like  zoya's  is  .  this  is  a  bit  of  a  long  winded  way  of  saying  that  ravka  has  no  issue  crowning  saints  but  it  does  take  issue  with  crowning  grisha  ,  especially  those  branded  as  witches  .

in  ro.w  nikolai  is  given  the  perfect  opportunity  to  abdicate  the  throne  to  zoya  only  AFTER  she  is  accepted  as  a  saint  for  her  mercy  towards  the  fjerdan  army  on  the  battlefield  .  this  is  a  game  of  optics  like  politics  tends  to  be  but  the  real  takeaway  here  is  zoya's  act  of  clemency  is  not  what  made  her  a  viable  queen  but  her  status  as  a  saint  that  truly  pushed  her  over  the  edge  .  just  like  with  alina  ,  being  the  first  sun  summoner  was  not  enough  ;  being  a  powerful  witch  ,  grisha  ,  or  anything  is  not  enough  .  a  grisha  queen  must  be  made  holy  to  rule  .  she  must  be  …  a  soldier  ,  summoner  ,  and  saint  ! 

there  is  a  great  schism  between  zoya's  new  public  perception  and  how  she  views  herself  .  storm  witch  will  always  capture  her  essence  better  than  sankta  zoya  of  the  storms  .  the  witch  is  not  well  loved  ,  the  witch  is  misunderstood  ,  the  witch  is  a  symbol  and  a  vessel  for  dichotomy  .  that  will  always  be  more  of  who  she  is  than  a  figure  worthy  of  worship  and  prayer  .  at  the  core  of  row  is  the  messaging  that  we  have  to  live  and  learn  to  accept  our  inner  demon  ,  our   the  inner  monster  .  this  is  a  theme  that  obviously  relates  to  nikolai's  storyline  but  zoya  as  well  .  she  has  always  been  seen  as  a  fearsome  creature  and  finally  she  becomes  just  that  and  it  is  suddenly  a  divine  act  . 

but  miracles  are  not  innately  sanctified  they  are  written  and  framed  that  way  .  earlier  in  the  same  battle  she  becomes  the  dragon  for  the  first  time  zoya  electrifies  a  whole  sea  of  soldiers  and  ends  their  lives  .  it  is  seen  as  a  devastating  course  of  action  and  even  genya  remarks  on  its  brutality  while  zoya  claims  it  as  a  necessary  show  of  violence  and  strength  / the  narrative  shifts  the  second  the  seed  of  sainthood  is  planted  in  the  minds  of  public  .  while  it  is  no  secret  that  being  dubbed  a  saint  is  of  no  interest  to  zoya  and  even  vexes  her  she  allows  for  that  belief  to  persist  because  of  the  access  it  gives  her  .  she  is  best  suited  to  be  queen  and  if  this  is  the  only  path  to  the  throne  ,  than  so  be  it  .  although  ,  i  believe  further  down  the  line  as  she  continues  her  rule  ,  unchanging  and  powerful  ,  the  title  of  witch  will  resurface  .  the  people  will  lose  interest  in  the  idea  of  a  saint  that  is  not  so  easily  martyred  ━  the  storm  witch  of  ravka  is  a  far  more  compelling  tale  and  what  is  ravka  if  not  a  country  ruled  by  stories  both  great  and  terrible  ?

[gruzeburya]

                            THERE ARE NO GODS IN THIS WORLD…          YET DEATH STILL IS DELIVERED FROM ABOVE     ⊹   affiliated with @voidya​   )

zoya was raised in the land of ‘rus in a small warn-torn state within ever changing borders.  in her dwindling village she was renowned for her beauty which brought about a proposal for her hand.   unwilling to be a bride so soon the engagement falls through when zoya finally retaliates against her controlling mother.   no longer able to support her family through marriage,   zoya disguises herself as a boy in order to make money while serving on the war front.  she serves until she is discharged after being injured on a scouting mission,  not by the opposing army but by an adult tiger while attempting to get several cubs to safety.  

at home,   her mother regards her with shame and her father does not partake in the verbal abuse but he allows it go on even so.  zoya’s only solace in this stage in her life is the magic lessons she starts up with her father brother,  her uncle dhej.  both suhm and dhej are speakers although suhm left the caravan to marry zoya’s mother,   sabina.  dhej is not a skilled speaker magician in any regard but he knew of the basics and could tell his niece had an affinity for the practice.   zoya does not get very far with her lessons when her village is attacked by a rogue vampire clan.   they decimate the entire settlement and zoya remains the sole survivor of the attack but she is no longer human.  when she rises again she is alone,   the vampire who sired her had unknowingly become her maker and left the young night child to her own devices.

with nowhere left to turn zoya eventually winds up on her aunt’s doorstep;  the only human who she knows will not turn her away no matter her state.   despite liliyana’s acceptance of her niece the same could not be said for the rest of the townsfolk.   when they discover that one of their own is harboring a budding vampire a mob begins to form soon after.  they march on the tiny cottage and attack during the daytime when zoya is unable to properly defend her family from harm.   in the heat of the afternoon sun she loses the only remaining relative she has and barely escapes the onslaught with her own life.  

alone in the world is when dracula himself happens upon zoya.  she is living high in the mountains attempting to hone in on her magic and a means to control the transformation aspect to her vampirism that allows her to change shape into a dragon.  In his travels dracula has yet to come across a vampire with such a skillset and he sees great potential in zoya.   he insists on taking her on as a protégé and she accepts his offer of guidance to better understand the extent of her power.   this is when zoya relocates to wallachia and takes up residence in the castle.   she studies under dracula’s instruction and the two form a close bond akin to that of a parent and a child.  lisa tepes is also quite taken with her, and the two spend many hours in the conservatory gardens together tending to medicinal plants and poisons alike.  when adrian is born zoya easily falls into the role of the elder sibling and while he eventually grows rapidly to be the same physical age as her,   she still treats him as the baby of the family.  

the death of lisa reshapes the family dynamic entirely.  when dracula begins his crusade against humanity and adrian opposes him it is zoya who chooses to side with her father in favor of human eradication.  although,  adrian’s imposed stasis does not sit well with her she allows it to happen for the sake of the cause.   in the war against humans zoya is one of dracula’s prized generals and her opinion is valued above all us.   unfortunately,   carmilla’s machinations escape her notice until it is too late and the castle is overtaken by both her army and adrian and his allies:   sypha and trevor.  unable to get between both her father and brother in their final encounter zoya takes to the shadows and when she reappears she is amongst the styrian quartet.  she is not in agreement with carmilla’s tactics but seeing herself as the true heiress to the dracula name she bides her time among the vampire queens.   during this time she forms a tentative friendship with lenore who she finds the most tolerable and clever of the bunch.  

OVERVIEW:  for the sake of not upsetting canon too much primarily i will either be writing zoya during her mentorship under dracula’s wing or during her time in styria while she is formulating a plan to,   essentially,   dethrone carmilla and take over her leadership position as zoya finds her rule to be far too unstable to last…  and it does not.  

[gruzeburya]

   ⊹      THE DRAGON’S EYE:   empathy explored through transmigration

as a warning,   before i get into the nitty gritty of this post there are MAJOR spoilers in here for rule of wolv.es so if you haven’t finished or made it to this point in the series and would like to remain unspoiled do not proceed further…   with that out of the way let’s begin.  

FRUITION:   zoya’s empathic abilities begin to manifest themselves a few months following her union with the dragon saint,  juris.   juris is not the first grisha to bear the title and form of a dragon.   when he trains zoya he implies that the dragon is not simply a state of being but it is also a mantle,   in a sense,   that is worn and passed through generations.   this is important to note because zoya’s empathy is not an addition to the presence of the dragon but the two are one in the same.   this six sense,   this heightened perception,   and emotional awareness of those around her is referred to as:   the dragon’s eye.   this is very similar to the concept of a third eye,   which is heavily entwined with both hindu and buddhist traditions.   the third eye is said to be located above the pineal gland which i am only bringing up because reptiles specifically use their pineal gland to sense light,  or in other words,   to help see.   the pineal gland is a dormant organ in humans…  but not in zoya.  

zoya’s killing,   and subsequent consumption,  of juris in the fold is zoya’s second death.  juris explains that the proper conception of an amplifier requires sacrifice from both parties involved.  when zoya killed the tiger as a young girl for its teeth,  a part of her perished in the process,   though at the time she was unaware of it.   this was not a proper union between souls and its imperfection is described in how zoya was only  allowed a fraction of the tiger’s power.   her second death,   the slaying of the dragon,   was one of totality.   there was a definitive ending of one life as she traversed into a new one with the dragon and all the dragons that came before him nestled into her shadow.   these past lives and their wisdom,   and immortal knowledge are the root of zoya’s empathy.   she is firmly imbedded to the making at the heart of the world   ━   she is thousands upon thousands of hearts dead and buried and renewed over and over again.  

IN PRACTICE:   this ability remains dormant at first,   with good reason.   the full scope of the sight would have driven her mad if she were to let in all her past lives at once.  it begins in glimpses into the strongest emotions of those around her:   rage,   grief,  blindingly bright bouts of happiness,   and the depthless pits of depressions.   without means for regulation it is the emotional stimuli around her that drive her into premature transformations.   the dragon is closest when the eye is open widest:   she grows teeth,   scales like armor,   wings that cut through the blades of her shoulders.   it is excruciating as she fights against the dragon’s eye;   it only results in her becoming more of a half-formed creature.  when she begins to allow herself to become more in tune with the internal wellbeing of those she shares her life with it is only then that she can reach a point of equilibrium:  the woman and the beast both become satiated through an act of mutual eating.

her act of mercy on the battlefield against the fjerdans is when she finally is able to conduct a fully balanced transformation;   whereby both the past dragons and the current zoya are in unison with each other rather than in opposition.   mercy,   benevolence,   and forgiveness is how proper mastery of her power is achieved.   she holds both ruin and revelation in her mouth;   both pardoner and executioner.   her status as a saint being solidified following this display of clemency is no surprise at all.   there is nothing people find more novel,   more divine,  than compassion from a force above that may strike you down.   the vengeful god that inevitably…   chooses forbearance.   thus the people give her a crown and they call her queen but her empathy is not a kindness,   it is a form of sapience.   a knowledge that comes from a degree of immortality.   she only choose mercy because she let go of her childish impulsivity but when she chooses violence now it is with all the ancient conviction of a primordial storm witch.   it is deliberate and it is final,  and in a way…   it is a justice.  

WITH REFINEMENT:   for the extent of empathic link itself there is no real limit to what zoya may access.   telepathic communication is reserved for when she is in her dragon form and is in no possession of a voice of her own so she may project her thoughts into the minds of others.   emotion,   in its rawest iteration,  is closest to her at all times.   she can easily sense how others feel about her but more importantly if she encounters an individual enough she is able to recognize their distinct emotional signature in a crowd of thousands.   every person has a different psychological threshold,  a  resting point when they are in a state of calm and composure.   for example;   if someone is prone to anxiety naturally and zoya is familiar with them she will be able to tell that this is a chemical imbalance rather than fully fledged panic because she is able to identify the root causes of one’s sentiments.   that being said,  this awareness should not be mistaken for mood manipulation.   she cannot calm a person or incite fear,   she is strictly a bystander in this process. 

it also must be noted that there is an element of memory retention to this skill as well.   certain emotions are firmly rooted in past instances,   facets to memory like trauma are deeply entwined with one’s individual history.   zoya can recall these instances,   usually unwillingly,   since they bubble to the forefront of a person’s psyche when they are having an emotional response to a catalyst.   zoya understands this to be an intrusion and as i stated above getting caught in a wave of nostalgia usually does not typically suit her interests.   when she gains the mental fortitude to combat it she typically bars this aspect to her empathy from taking hold  and hijacking her senses.   this gateway to memory is more commonly used to read the emotional history of places.   for instance,   if one of the dragon’s past incarnations had visited a building in particular years prior,   zoya may press her hand to a door or a wall and be able to see that landscape as it once was through her third eye.  if the pull is strong enough zoya can be whisked off into a vision from a departed era that highlights the potency of that tether,   if it was a great tragedy she will see those deaths,   if it was a joyous occasion,   she will witness that kiss.   when she fully unlocks the breadth of her empathy she becomes her own creation myth,   a genesis and exodus,   she is a series of infinite beginnings and cessations.

[gruzeburya]

 ˖⁺    WHAT CAME FIRST…                   THE DRAGON OR THE GIRL?   ⊹   affiliated with @wrrnth​​  )​

she is not always beneath a hill,  she is not always beneath the earth,   but there is always a sleeper…   the suli are not originally from hyrule,   they are not from this realm at all.   they were a group of oracles and seers banished from their world into this one before hyrule was even hyrule.   coming to settle in the lost woods primarily,   they were a nomadic tribe renowned for their fortune telling and magical wares.   to them magic was commonplace but in a kingdom where it was a gift seldom bestowed,  and in such a generous quantity no less,   the suli became outcast by the hylians.   relegated to the fringes they begin to settle in the desert by the gerudo valley.   at first,  the gerudo people are highly suspicious of the suli as they not only have men among their people but their magic is slightly different than that of their own magicians.   eventually tensions do settle and the two groups trade and mingle though they do not live under the same rule.

zoya is a fledgling mage at this time,   the dragon within her sealed away.  her prowess in ethereal magic makes her a valuable asset to the suli and by extension,  the gerudo,  as she frequently is called upon to summon rain for drinking water.   it is a quaint upbringing and she is a young girl who longs to see the sea and is ill-suited for the dry and barren landscape.   when passing bandits attack her village and her aunt and cousin are killed during the ransacking the dragon is released.  she devastates the enemy faction while also nearly leveling a neighboring gerudo settlement in the process.   hostility rises between the two communities again as the storm dragon is heralded as a suli blight.   in the night zoya is taken from her home and bound with magic,  the gerudo sorceresses seal her away in a tomb beneath a mountain.   there she is forced into a sleep like death…   this resting place will later be known as the desert colossus.  

centuries pass and the spirit temple is erected around the slumbering dragon.  zoya’s likeness is captured in the stone around her and carved into the hillside’s edifice.   this iconography becomes associated with the goddess of sand amongst the gerudo.   it should be noted,   that in the passing ages the gerudo people have mingled enough with the suli of the ancient times that the two factions have become one in the same.  zoya’s name is lost to time after generations of the suli slowly dwindling in size and becoming obsolete.  during the hyrulean civil war many traversed the spirit temple seeking out aid from the goddess in prayer.   some more ambitious individuals attempt to find the tomb itself but only one succeeds.  

during the events of ocarina of time,   nabooru awakens zoya from her sleep to assist in her rebellion against ganondorf.   during this time zoya is disguised as another gerudo warrior and the general’s second in command.  it is then revealed that the sorceresses twinrova,  kotake and koume,  are the very same sisters who sealed the dragon away originally.   when they are caught,   nabooru is brainwashed and zoya is held captive in the temple while the two witches prepare another binding ritual.   this is when link arrives to free nabooru and she awakens as the sage of spirit.   zoya in the process is also spared from a premature statis.  when ganon is defeated,   she remains with the gerudo and nabooru to help her rebuild their settlement after being under ganondorf’s rule.   it is there the dragon lives out the rest of this phase of her life before her next hundred year sleep.

IN SUMMATION:   zoya is not a reincarnated individual in the loz universe so much as she is a persisting figure throughout its history.   she appears in different forms with different epithets all throughout the timelines and is seldom seen for what she truly is;  a girl displaced tied to the fate of a world she does not actually belong to.  depending on the current state of the environment around her she can be either hero,  villain,  or neutral party. 

ASSOCIATED FIGURES / EPITHETS:  

historical figures or deities that zoya is commonly… and wrongfully,  attributed to throughout the ages

the goddess of sand,  the lunar queen,  the spirit of farore,  a facet of ganon himself,  queen of demons,  apprentice to vaati,  a remnant of demise,   queen of the great faeries,  the bakunawa

[gruzeburya]

      ⊹  LEGACY  OF  MIDNIGHT  :   endowed  with  the  evening  aurora  

primarily  in  zoya's  pj.o  verse  she  is  a  roman  daughter  of  jupiter  but  i  wanted  to  keep  her  somewhat  grounded  in  her  slavic  roots  hence  her  legacy  status  and  relation  to  the  zorya  .  she  also  has  ties  to  the  slavic  pantheon  through  her  adoptive  family  as  her  aunt  liliyana  is  not  only  a  follower  of  the  huntress  devana  but  also  a  caretaker  to  the  slavic  demigoddess  lada  garin  (  coincidentally  not  related  to  love  goddess  of  the  same  name  but  actually  svarog  ,  the  god  of  fire  )

˖ ⁺  𝗧𝗛𝗘  𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧  𝗙𝗢𝗥  𝗟𝗔𝗗𝗔  𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗡  𝗗𝗔𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗘𝗥  𝗢𝗙  𝗦𝗩𝗔𝗥𝗢𝗚

zoya  is  only  made  aware  of  her  legacy  status  after  lada  goes  missing  while  on  a  quest  to  return  the  winged  lion  ,  simargl  to  his  prison  in  the  sky  .   the  island  of  buyan  reveals  itself  to  her  in  a  dream  and  she  is  haunted  by  the  face  of  her  cousin  for  days  until  the  dream  reaches  back  and  she  seeks  passage  into  the  realm  of  all-weather  .

the  first  gods  she  meets  of  her  heritage  pantheon  are  the  three  brothers  —  the  north  , west  ,   and  east  winds  they  act  as  informal  guides  to  her  quest  and  offer  more  harm  than  help  typically  .  they  do  not  recognize  jupiter’s  authority  and  thus  have  little  respect  for  zoya  and  her  status  but  it  does  not  stop  her  from  threatening  with  her  power  .

keeping  simargl  confined  to  the  star  polaris  is  one  of  the  primary  duties  of  the  three  zoryas  of  the  dawn  but  the  midnight  sister(  polunochnaya  )  has  not  been  seen  in  centuries  .  upon  entering  buyan   ,   zoya  is  mistaken  for  the  missing  sibling  and  is  barred  from  leaving  the  island  until  the  lion  is  returned  to  his  confinement  .  being  that  simargl  is  a  fire  deity  as  well  ,  only  lada  is  capable  of  recapturing  the  beast  as  she  has  dominion  over  his  aspect  but  she  can  only  do  so  with  the  aid  of  a  zorya  on  her  side  to  quell  the  flames  when  the  time  comes  .  

it  is  revealed  that  simgarl  has  taken  zorya  polunochnaya  hostage  and  is  stealing  her  starlight  to  keep  his  fire  burning  .  lada  and  zoya  eventually  trap  the  god  in  a  glass  encasement  allowing  zoya  to  steal  oxygen  from  the  atmosphere  and  reduce  the  lion  to  coal  thus  setting  the  final  zorya  free  .

˖ ⁺  𝗕𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦  &  𝗔𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗘𝗦

the  diadem  of  garafena  :  garafena  is  the  great  serpent  guardian  of  the  precious  stone  , alatyr  .  this  is  a  gift  bestowed  upon  her  by  the  famed  monster   himself  as  zoya  had  to  bargain  with  him  in  order  to  cross  into  the  celestial  domain  .   she  brought  him  lightning  confined  to  dragon-scale  and  he  bestowed  upon  her  a  circlet  of  silver  beset  with  alatyr  .  these  stones  give  her  the  gift  of  healing  allowing  her  to  breathe  white  fire  that  burns  away  disease  and  infection  .  

blessing  of  the  mooneater  :  a  blessing  from  the  midnight  sister  herself  ,  often  nameless  and  referred  to  simply  as  an  eclipse  .  with  this  blessing  she  can  absorb  and  reflect  light  and  use  it  to  further  her  power  .  it  can  also  be  seen  as  a  curse  because  moon  eating  comes  at  the  risk  of  stealing  life  from  whatever  being  or  person  she  is  using  as  a  source  .   it  is  not  warm  light  or  anything  close  to  fire  when  the  energy  passes  through  her  it  becomes  a  cold  and  searing  force  that  seeps  through  her  skin  in  a  pale  radiance  .

[gruzeburya]

ON  ZOYA’S  HALF-SULI  HERITAGE  :  I  haven’t  made  an  explicit  post  about  this  since  for  a  long  time  i  was  gathering  my  thoughts  on  how  to  phrase  this  in  a  way  that  felt  appropriate  and  respectful  .  but  after  reading  rule  of  wol.ves  twice  over  and  processing  my  thoughts  i  don’t  write  zoya  as  “  white  passing  ”  ,  in  fact  ,  i  never  have  and  upon  reading  ru.le  of  wo.lves  i  was  surprised  that  leigh  made  a  point  of  drawing  attention  to  zoya’s  ability  to  pass  after  releasing  promo  art  that  depicts  her  VERY  clearly  as  a  brown  woman  and  also  after  the  casting  of   sujaya  who  is  also  very  clearly  south  asian  .  it  is  no  secret  that  leigh  retconned  zoya’s  background  in  the  duology  and  the  insertion  of  her  suli  heritage  was  never  going  to  be  entirely  smooth  but  this  choice  to  make  her  appear  white  always  felt  like  a  very  hollow  gesture  .  narratively ,   i  see  why  she  made  the  choice  as  the  resolution  of  the  duology  is  about  self  acceptance  and  embracing  one's  history  and  future  but  i  think  the  messaging  could  have  been  just  as  strong  if  zoya  very  obviously  appeared  suli  or  at  least  non-white  .

so  what  does  this  mean  on  this  blog  ?  zoya  is  very  clearly  a  poc  though  being  as  she  is  mixed  white  folks  do  not  always  know  she  is  suli  specifically  but  suli  people  themselves  could  clock  her  from  a  mile  away  (  as  they  do  in  canon  multiple  times  )  it  really  doesn’t  change  much  ,  since  as  i  stated  above  ,  i  have  never  written  zoya  as  a  “  white-passing  ”  individual  just  someone  who  is  very  guarded  when  it  comes  to  her  own  culture  .  as  someone  who  was  raised  outside  of  suli  traditions  she  doesn’t  always  think  that  it  is  something  that  belongs  to  her  and  her  rudimentary  grasp  on  the  language  only  furthers  the  alienation  she  feels  .  this  is  a  reclamation  of  self  and  this  relearning  of  her  own  heritage  is  something  she  is  currently  working  on  and  will  continue  to  work  through  .  it  is  part  of  the  process  of  learning  to  love  every  aspect  of  herself  which  falls  in  line  with  her  arc  in  the  duology  rather  perfectly  and  is  not  lessened  by  the  fact  that  she  looks  more  like  her  father  than  her  mother .

[gruzeburya]

⁺  A  SECOND  COMING  OF  THE  AVATAR  OF  BAAL-ZEBUTH                       (  ⊹   𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥  :  𝘵𝘩𝘦  𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵  𝘰𝘧  𝘵𝘩𝘦  𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦  𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯   )

 born  into  obscurity  in  the  backwaters  of  the  kingdom  of  redania  in  a  village  too  small  to  be  noted  on  a  map  .  under  the  light  of  a  rare  mid-winter  blue  moon  known  in  stories  and  myth  as  the  sapphire  moon  ,  zoya  nazyalenskaya  was  brought  into  the  world  an  infant  with  a  cry  like  a  beast  .  a  seemingly  ordinary  child  until  her  twelfth  year  ,  on  a  trip  with  her  father  in  the  northern  mountains  they  are  attacked  by  a  streak  of  white  tigers  and  it  is  there  that  zoya  assumes  her  dragon  form  for  the  first  time  .  she  appears  as  a  rare  draconid  ,  a  true  dragon  with  obsidian  scales  blacker  than  night  and  breath  of  lightning  rather  than  acid  .  a  thing  of  legend  seeming  to  be  the  first  and  only  of  her  kind  ━  pure  chaos  confined  to  flesh  and  bone  ━  she  is  perceived  as  a  great  evil  from  that  day  forward  .

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