illarian-rambling

[illarian-rambling]

Yay I was saying it right!

My question about Fdryx! ...How do you pronounce his name?

hi hi illarian! literally so late to this forgive me 🥲

f'dryx's name:

f'dryx's name is pronounced as the following:

'fi' as in 'fiddle'

'dri' as in 'drip'

'x' as in 'ks'

so all together it would be [fi-dri-x] or 'f'dryx'

thanks for the ask, ilia!

[illarian-rambling]

What would be worse- Vermir with a dragon, or Vermir with a mini Death Star?

Death Star, 100%

A lot of Vermir's weaknesses are in hand-to-hand combat. Illari technology isn't advanced enough for stuff like ICBMs or even any ordinance more advanced than catapults. She's out there leading her army because it's the best option she has.

But if she could just blast people from miles away? Everybody's fucked. The dragon would be cooler, but if she has a nuke, there's shit all anybody else could do. Neither options are good, but Death Star is worse.

Thanks for the ask!

[illarian-rambling]

does iva see ever reunite with his mother?

No, alas 😔

His mother, Idrin, isn't dead, surprisingly. She did run away though, but she left little Ivander with his father because she thought he'd be safer there than on the run. It took her a while, but eventually, she made her way to the island of Shuar. Why Shuar? Well, that's one of the few sites that the Flying City likes to dock. After years of waiting, Idrin managed to eventually make her way aboard her former home. She was welcomed back into the Pashan-Baijahreet family with open arms, though she told them next to nothing of her time on the surface.

Now days, Idrin has remarried and has other kids. She works as a powerful port manager and is happy in her new life. However, she does sometimes wonder about the son she left behind. She hopes he's doing well. She hopes her former husband treats him fairly as his firstborn heir.

In her heart of hearts, she knows she's wrong.

Thanks for the ask!

[illarian-rambling]

A Tragedy of Love, Death and Maggots, 21-B

Parts 1-15, G-Route, 16-B, 17-B, 18-B, 19-B, 20-B

“Doc? You're giving me a weird look.” She froze, as though picturing something horrible. Then she shook it away. “Come on, we've got no time to waste. The cultists will notice us here eventually, and without backup or my spear I'd prefer not to be there when it happens. Where is it, anyways?” 

Her fingers reached up touch the scar on her neck, and vague confusion passed over her features. “Say, did… Did Brett try to save me? For some strange reason I remember him. He was saying something about… Believing? Yeah, believing in me. Having faith that I would do the right thing.” 

She clenched Mrin's sword tighter. “Let's go. I've got to save him.” 

“Don’t bother. The cultists are all dead.” I barely closed my mouth on the remainder of that sentence. And your love, and mine, are dead too.

“What?” For a brief moment, her face lit up brighter than any memory of the real sun. It was one of the few times I'd seen her truly happy. Then it was gone under the clouds before a storm.

The storm, in this case, being telling her they were dead.

“But if the cultists aren't an issue… What happened?”

And the thunder was brewing. Still I couldn't bring myself to tell her in a way that did not involve tactlessly blurting it out. I was a Doc, for goodness sake! I needed some bedside manner.

“Let's take a walk, shall we?” I offered my arm to Athena. She glared at it like it was poisonous.

“Not happening, dude. I'm not going on a fucking stroll while Brett is in danger. Tell me where he is. If you're too coward to go save him, I will.”

I sighed. “You’re not going to be able to save him.”

“Doesn't matter. I'll try anyways. You've gotta try, no matter how impossible it seems,” she insisted.

It sounded like something a younger, less hopeless Doc would have said, and that upset me. “Listen here, kid. You can't save him. At all. You know why?”

She didn't, only staring at me with those dark eyes like a charred piece of wood, burnt to nothing by hopeless rage.

“He's dead. Both of them are.” I spat out the words with more vindictiveness than I should.

“No. You're lying.” She pressed her lips together and backed against the wall, chin raised. “You're a lying fucking bastard.” It was as though she could make it true simply by insisting.

She shook her head, tears brimming, the greatest show of grief that I would ever see from her. “They're here somewhere. They can't be dead. I mean, Brett and I-”

She didn't finish her sentence, instead sinking quietly to the ground. “They're alive. They have to be. They're safe and fine and this is just your stupid attempt to freak me out again.”

“They died and it was your fault, Athena. Do you remember that?” I tried to temper my voice, to deliver the news like she were the loved one of a terminal patient. But I couldn't. I was never that good of a doctor, and this was far too close to my aching, coward heart. “You ran up to the cultists without thinking, you got yourself captured, and they used you in their ritual.”

“Brett died trying to save you, and Mrin died successfully doing so,” I continued. “They loved you dearly, Athena. Enough to sacrifice themselves for you. And look how you repaid them.”

You could hear her little glass heart shatter. She stared at me from across the room, shaking her head in tiny jerking motions. Her breath came in shuddering gasps, like a woman about to have a heart attack. But those eyes of hers only hardened accusingly, as though I were the one to blame for this. 

I supposed I was. The thought came with a wave of guilt. Athena was just a child, after all. A hateful, murderous, torturer child.

“I'm sorry,” I said. “That was cruel of me.” I reached out to give her a hug. “We're all we have anymore.”

“Don't come near me,” she hissed, when I tried to embrace her. So I sat just out of arm's reach, staring at her. If it weren't for the lack of Brett and Mrin, we could have been recreating that fateful night when she ran off, right down to the forced coldness on her face. In a way, I could understand. I had spent my whole life trying to do the same, after all.

We waited there for a very long time, her and I, facing each other in matching positions. I wondered if she would cry, if she would reach out to me, if that facade of hers would freeze over. For a moment, I thought she would do all three, those black-as-night eyes of hers welling up while she unfolded herself.

But it was only to get up, and look down at me with that precariously balanced expression. When she spoke again, her voice was even. “Goodnight, Doc.”

With that, she left, retreating into the dark walkways of the cultists' home, just like she had done the first time. I was too tired to curse her out and chase after her again. Brett and Mrin had done that, and I knew where it had gotten them. So I wrapped myself in my bedroll and went to sleep, feeling oddly vulnerable all alone.

Taglist: @coffeeangelinabox, @dorky-pals, @calliecwrites, @kaylinalexanderbooks, @shukei-jiwa

@thewingedbaron, @pluppsauthor, @cowboybrunch, @wylloblr, @possiblyeldritch

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(Anyone else who wants to get added can tell me in the comments, pm me, or send me an ask about it!)

[illarian-rambling]

An animal killed with his hands... A christmas tree in the middle of the yard... I adore these two <3

I see your ask and I raise you- How do Sullivan and Royston celebrate holidays? Do they bother at all, or is it an excuse to be all romantic?

Hey @illarian-rambling remember the time you asked me a question and then something interrupted me and then the post wound up in my Draft Sematary and then I forgot about it?

Merry Christmas you filthy animal <3

Sullivan comes from an Irish-Catholic immigrant family, so for the first 15 years of his life celebrating involved going to Mass and getting new socks (huge. He's particular about his socks. Mom's socks kicked ass.) Then he joined the Army--in the 1850s when our boy enlisted, most (I need to do research but my pulled-from-ass estimate is 90%) of his comrades were Protestant. There was always a dinner and church services even during the Civil War. So until Book 3, his holidays don't involve Royston. (Not for lack of wanting, it's just Royston isn't allowed inside the fort.)

Royston is... Royston. He does not have much interest in holidays (see: his childhood) but he does like his partner-of-the-year giving him gifts and/or attention. Historically he has taken serious advantage of people during the holidays (see: Deputy Marshal Kavanagh) but that's coincidental, not him being a master con artist.

So let's talk about how they celebrate things as a power couple.

We're talking post-DMLS, which means chance of spoilers, so there's a cut.

Their first holiday together was New Year's Eve. They spent it upstairs in Royston's room at the boarding house Gott owns, so that set the precedent.

They missed 4th of July because of Book 2 Act 1 reasons.

Book 3 I'm estimating takes place between August and October 1873. So they will get a Christmas together after the shit ends.

Sullivan wants to decorate a tree. If they have a tree on their property he'd rather decorate the tree outside than cut one down to bring in, although it is the 1870s, so once the tree is done for they will cut it up and throw it in the fire (or whatever the fuck you do with pine. Royston can make a chair out of it. Point is the tree gets used, not dragged out to the curb.)

I'm leaning towards "Sullivan wants to decorate the tree outside." Royston doesn't give a shit. If that's what Sullivan wants, Sullivan gets a decorated outside tree.

Royston treats gift-giving like a competitive sport, so he goes out of his way to make sure he gives (or makes himself, or steals, ig it depends on his mood) Sullivan something he wants but won't go out and get himself.

Probably a really nice dartboard or chess set. Royston likes playing games with Sullivan, and Sullivan sees Royston's competitiveness as an invitation to big-dick it. Fun fact: Royston is better at throwing knives than Sullivan is, but because he can't see the fucking dartboard (he's getting old and needs glasses but won't go to an eye doctor) he can't hit enough bullseyes to beat Sullivan at darts.

Sullivan is more practical, but he's also sentimental. He will arrange for a photographer to come take their picture so they will always have an image of them when they were "young."

Okay, young'un. Perspective. Christmas 1873, they're 38 and 45, respectively. This is the only photograph they're liable to have, because daguerrotypes were slow and expensive. They're going to be together for the rest of their natural lifespan, because I'm their creator and I said so. Sullivan earned his stupid happy ending. When they're 68 and 75, aka about to fucking die, they're going to have evidence that they weren't always frail and losing their hair/teeth/erections/etc. 38 and 45, they still had all their hair/most of their limbs and teeth/the ability to fuck like middle-aged rabbits. Old dudes can have one orgasm every (hyperbole) three days. That picture says "One day we're going to be too old to fuck so it's a good thing I like you."

So on Christmas Eve the Hofers host dinner. Sullivan is asked to stay to exchange gifts bc he's the younger children's godfather. Royston will fuck off back home unless he's explicitly asked to stay. (Clara might actually. Sorry Hofie.) Once the kids are asleep they break out the booze, and once everyone is anesthetized it's, you know. Stumble home. Romance etc.

Other than exchanging gifts, I think Christmas Day consists of fucking, sleeping, and Royston going out to kill a wild animal for stew.

He's got a fucking problem. I let him kill one (1) turkey with his bare hands in a discarded draft of Book 2 because Sullivan was incapacitated, and now he wants to do it all the time.

[illarian-rambling]

Started Disco Elysium today. If this hoe ass detective and Kim Kitsuragi don't get to know each other carnally (and by that I mean form a warrior bond, united in a language beyond words) by the end of this game, I will be most disappointed

[illarian-rambling]

Going back to my Wings of Fire roots with this one, but here's @thecomfywriter 's Von Doro, mother of dragons :)

I should draw more dragons fr, this was fun

@amandacanwrite @elsie-writes @riveriafalll @kosmic-kore @kaylinalexanderbooks

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@leahnardo-da-veggie @mr-orion @televisionjester @ray-writes-n-shit @evilgabe29

@trippingpossum @tragedycoded @halfbakedspuds @ominous-feychild @cain-e-brookman

@wyked-ao3 @thecomfywriter @mysticstarlightduck @rumeysawrites @the-golden-comet

@cowboybrunch @gioiaalbanoart @theink-stainedfolk @sableglass @thelaughingstag

@finickyfelix

[illarian-rambling]

What is your most nosy kind of magic? (Like how do they spy on people or use their magic to learn gossip lol)

Given how nosy I personally am, magic can very frequently be used to spy on people 💀

Srcying is one of the big ones. This is a sorcerer-only spell. It basically lets the caster do a vague background check on someone. You can see social connections like a web between people, along with glimpses of their past. Many powerful sorcerers have scrying wards on their homes as a safety precaution.

Speaking of sorcerers, they also all have a passive sixth sense called arcane awareness. It basically just let's them see magic. When they look at regular people, they get a little blip, but for other sorcerers and divine Chosen, they can get an impression of the strength of magic. They can also see wards and runes, which appear as any number of classes of things - it's different for each sorcerer. Twenari sees them as woven tapestries, magic the thread. Djek sees them as pools of water, with different enchantments creating different sorts of ripples. Mashal saw them as snowflake fractals, all of the layers of arcana building on top of each other.

Other nosy ass spells include mind reading (which has more to do with delving into memories than anything else), dreamwalking (a Skysheerian spell that involves putting yourself into someone else's dream), observation wards (invisible security cameras, basically), and ephemerality tinctures (alchemy that lets someone walk through walls)

So, in short, there's a lot of ways to spy on someone with magic. Thanks for the ask!

[illarian-rambling]

How would the plot of MG change if vermir had a mechanical dragon??

Astra and Mashal are taking a fat L is what's happening lmao. They scraped by when it was just Vermir. But Vermir and a fuck-off dragon? No shot, no way, no chance in hell.

So what would happen if they lost that final battle? Well, Astra and Mashal would be dead, for one. Probably Avymere, too. Elsind is slippery enough to make it out, and the Devarises and Tomas were far enough back to make a run for it, but Marius is a goner for sure.

Uncontested, Vermir would make her way over to conquer Unity. However, her victory isn't assured yet, because Twenari wouldn't leave her city undefended. Behind the scenes (because this isn't their book), Izjik, Sepo, and Djek were told to hang back in case Twenari failed. Knowing that Vermir had a connection to End from what Astra told her, Twenari probably also put out a call to the All-Temple - where the actual, official Illarian Chosen live. I'm not sure if they would make it before Vermir conquered Unity, but the remaining Outcasts (assuming Twenari is too magically exhausted to teleport back right away) are there already.

So, that's the question, isn't it? Who would win in a stand-off between Izjik, Sepo, and Djek vs. Vermir and a damn dragon. Assuming they're smart enough to split her off from her army, the Outcasts would have the advantage of A) Vermir's shades flipping around when Izjik is near and B) Eikodoro is malleable only under certain sound frequencies. Sound frequencies Sepo knows because sirens are the only people who actually mine the stuff. So I imagine with Djek's audio illusions, they could rig a way to make the metal of her body less durable.

Vermir's advantages are threefold, in that A) The Outcasts have no way to bind her with divine magic, B) Fucking dragon, and C) This is happening, like, 20 years after the events of HO? Sepo ages like an elf, but Izjik and Djek are ready to retire lol, they've been doing this world-saving stuff for too damn long.

Honestly, I think it'll be a Vermir W if they don't wait for the Chosen, and with her rounding up sorcerers, I doubt they would. After the Chosen arrive, she's getting her ass beat, though. Evidence of her tampering with End is obvious enough for the Chosen to call in a smite, especially if Izjik can corroborate with Grand Priestess Daedryn Whitenight. I think it'd be an ironic end for Vermir - struck down by the gods she hates. Even so, the entire sorcerous population of Unity.... It's a heavy price to pay for the inclusion of a mechanical dragon.

Man, now I want a "getting the band back together" story about the older Outcasts going on one last big adventure. And more dragons. Thanks for the ask!

[illarian-rambling]

ALWAYS ❤️‍🔥💯🔥💕💪

WHOA!!!!! i love my friends' ocs

[illarian-rambling]

What magic has created the biggest imprint on your world and how?

Runes 100%

Between the War of Conquest and the new industrial era, runes have had a massive impact on modern Illaros. They allow for free energy essentially - an invention that seems commonplace to the people of Illaros.

Divine magic has also had a big impact, but in a less visible way. The reason End hasn't consumed the sun yet is because of divine magic. It doesn't have much to do with new tech or politics, but it's still massively important in simply keeping people safe.

Thanks for the ask!

[illarian-rambling]

What is the most helpful form of magic?

On a personal level? Probably sorcery

Yeah, you get a bad headache if you overdo it, and if you really overdo it, you might die, but in terms of being handy? Sorcery is the top dog. It's intuitive - no need for extensive schooling. It's instantaneous - you don't have to draw out a complicated rune or brew an alchemical potion. It's also not terribly rare. While there are under 40 Chosen in the world, sorcerers make up around 5% of the population. That's about the same number of people with depression worldwide.

Anyways, yeah, if you need some quick magic, sorcery is your best bet. Thanks for the ask!

[illarian-rambling]

What is the most common kind of magic you write?

Even though runes are by far the most common type of magic on Illaros, sorcery is probably the magic I write the most about. It's flashy, what can I say? Makes for cool fight scenes.

Breaking down the stats, 3/15 of my main characters are sorcerers (Twenari, Djek, and Mashal... kinda), plus 1 main villain (Vermir). 2/15 are good at book magic (Astra and Sepo... kinda. He only learns some in book 3). 2/15 use divine magic (Ivander and Rel). 2/15 are connected to End (Izjik and Anarac). This leaves 6/15 with no magic at all (Elsind, Avymere, Faalgun, Nyda, Kaulakri, and Pash)

So the ultimate takeaway of this is that the Starbreaker crew is just shit at magic, while all of the Outcasts have some weird arcane mojo going on.

Thanks for the ask!

[illarian-rambling]

actually now i’m curious

[illarian-rambling]

Oh yeah it's Mortal God day! @leahnardo-da-veggie tagging you cause you've actually read it lmao (@thecomfywriter also)

❄️12 Days of Christmas Ask Game❄️

Apparently, we're doing 12 days of asks? Well, I like asks, so yay!

The optional schedule:

14th -

15th - The Final Voyage of the R.S. Starbreaker

16th -

17th - Religion (worldbuilding stuff)

18th -

19th - Honor's Outcasts

20th -

21st - Rel's Haunting

22nd - Magic (worldbuilding stuff)

23rd -

24th - The Mystery of the Mortal God

25th -

Character info can be found here

This is by no means a hard and fast schedule lol. Ask me whatever you want, whenever you like. But if you do want to go by a schedule, you can use this one.

Any level of spoiler is on the table. Wanna know who dies? Ask away. Wanna know how someone spends their days post-story? I guarantee I have an answer.

Chances are, if you send me an ask, I'll probably shoot you one back lol. Tis the season and all that. Anyways, thanks for being the best mutuals around!

@amandacanwrite @elsie-writes @riveriafalll @kosmic-kore @kaylinalexanderbooks

@bard-coded @carrotsinnovember @patternwelded-quill @somethingclevermahogony @whatwewrotepodcast

@the-angriest-author @mk-writes-stuff @frostedlemonwriter @vyuntspakhkite-l-darling @watermeezer

@leahnardo-da-veggie @mr-orion @televisionjester @ray-writes-n-shit @evilgabe29

@trippingpossum @tragedycoded @halfbakedspuds @ominous-feychild @cain-e-brookman

@wyked-ao3 @thecomfywriter @mysticstarlightduck @rumeysawrites @the-golden-comet

@cowboybrunch @gioiaalbanoart @theink-stainedfolk @sableglass @thelaughingstag

[illarian-rambling]

(Gay voice #1) "And they were companions!"

(Gay voice #2) "Oh my god they were companions..."

[illarian-rambling]

Is there a magic ranking system? What are the ranks if there is? If there isn't one, how would you rank them?

Alas, there is no magic ranking system on Illaros. To someone from there, that'd be kind of like having a definitive science ranking - they all have different applications, so it'd be like comparing apples to oranges. Every type of magic has its own strengths and are rarely used in the same way.

That said! I'll quickly go over the strengths and weaknesses of each and then decide which I think is the coolest

Runic magic is wildly adaptable. It doesn't require any physical effort on the part of the wielder. Its applications are probably the broadest out of any type of magic. However, it takes a lot of study to master. It's also not the best in combat as writing a single rune takes minutes at the very least - days at the most.

Alchemy is similar to runic magic in that it requires no physical effort from the wielder. Its applications aren't as broad as runic magic, but unlike runes, alchemy can be used far more easily to directly affect the body. The downsides are that, again, not the most useful in combat unless you really know what you're doing. It also takes a lot of study and frankly it's far more dangerous to study than runes, given that a huge part of alchemy is hunting down magical beasts.

Sorcery is probably the most useful type of magic for combat. It's intuitive, it's quick (spells take no longer to cast than it takes to put your hands together), and it's more powerful on a basic level than book magic. However, sorcery also has adverse physical consequences for practitioners. Arcane exhaustion at best - at worst, sorcerers die to the arcane radiation in their blood. There's a serious cap on the range of application of sorcery due to this bodily limit.

Divine magic is the most powerful of all branches of magic. All it involves is asking for miracles. You don't have to study or put your health on the line. It's the only branch of magic that can heal. Despite that, its rarity is a downside. There are 32 (official) Illarian Chosen in the world, and maybe a handful of others from different pantheons. Also, the Chosen don't actually have any power for themselves. Their gods give them power. They're entirely at the whim of a higher being - which may be better or worse depending on the being.

So yeah, they're so different in application that I couldn't really rank them. On a combat scale, divine magic is the most powerful. On an innovative scale, runic wins. Sorcery is number one for simply the most fun. Alchemy gets number one in my heart, as my personal favorite.

Thanks for the ask!