#|spoirheas

[aurheatum]

and in giving you light she swallowed the moon

trickster mastery drabble words: 529

"Lady Seiros,” they beg her long after her mother has been returned to her tomb, “what does the Goddess call us to do now?”

She doesn’t, Rhea thinks. She’s dead because of you people and you ask for more? But Seiros is a prophet and already the scribes in Enbarr have written down every word that have dropped from her lips regarding Mother; hungry, the Elites who have turned in their “holy” weapons clamor for answers, for absolution. 

She has never learned how to forgive, but Rhea realizes she has become quite adept at lying.

And so she does. She and Timotheos work on the Book of Stars first, and there is something comforting in going back to these familiar figures. If she must share with the people her Faith (oh and she shares so much her stories, her memories, her blood itself) at least she has her celestial guides to bracket her. 

The Goddess now lives in the Blue Sea Star, she tells them. The Goddess lives in your hearts so long as you believe.

(Rhea is best, after all at lying to herself).

-

They know not what they do, Rhea explains to her brother when he refuses to follow her back to the mountains; oh, he laughs, oh sister look at their gold and their estates and the pieces of our family they hang above their hearths. They know well enough.

But he is wrong. When the first archbishop of Garreg Mach mourns the failure of the Rite of Rising it is her human bishops and acolytes who comfort her, not her apostles.

"Surely, if we create a truly pious land the Goddess will come back to her earthly abode. We will work harder, archbishop. Lend us your strength."

And so she does, putting the final piece of the monastery into place herself. She comes up from the Holy Tomb to her pilgrims and townspeople praying at the chapel and as the light comes through the stained glass windows it strikes her eyes.

There is a burning there, as she realizes she has more in common with these people than any of the remnants of her family.

-

The shadow library is her own idea, for she fears her flocks' intellect just as much as she respects it.

She does not regret continuing the teaching of magic across the land, for without it those not possessing crests would be in even more disparate circumstances. She simply had not expected an entire community -students, teachers-to-be, researchers all - to pop up however even if the Kingdom of Faerghus did ask rather nicely for the Church’s blessing before formally opening said School of Sorcery

When she visits to deliver said blessing the curriculum, the scope, the vision of it all nearly takes her breath away.

(What you gave them, you can take away she reminds herself when the burning in her eyes reflect only javelins this time).

“Wonderful work,” she tells them, “and we really should discuss scholarships for the Officer’s Academy as with so many young minds I know the Goddess could only ever be pleased, ah, but for now might I visit your library?

[aurheatum]

28. A memory that strains a relationship

meme

a memory that strains a relationship (1 of ?)

What was it about this latest vessel that had incensed her brother so?

Well, the blood magic obviously, using Dark rather than Black at that; and she could hardly explain herself by assuring him she had practiced the art to a point not even the Agarthans had achieved in their prime as doubtless it would only make him angrier.

Was it the curls so close to the Nabatean who lay under the lake and should have awakened by now he insisted, for mockery she had assured him had not been her intent. She had tried more human vessels before in the varied shapes and colors their mother had so loved she explained but for some reason or another be it a defect in her own magic or the needs of her blood it was always the ones who resembled her siblings and their mother as she remembered her that took to life more easily.

That is not the point, Rhea, he says hissing her newest name out between his teeth like a curse. Fine! she said. Fine then, tell me what is your point then. No, had come the reply. At this point I doubt you will ever understand.

And he had left as the others had to some mountainous place or barren land. Away from her and all she loved, all she had thought he loved as well.

She does not cry for she has work to do, and disappointment while hard to swallow is a taste she finds settles just fine in the back of her throat with all her other plaintive, unheard howls.

[aurheatum]

@iyusiia

Headcanon prompt / open

Despite clearly drawing inspiration from FE4 and its divinities, godliness in 3h is explicitly linked to motherhood in Fodlan (differing from Naga's depictions in both Archanea and Jugdral).

Sothis is above all the land's progenitor goddess - the emphasis on her femininity and maternal side explicit in the text that shows up in the Fodlan magic circle.

Image: the localized text (right) and a new translation (left) using the exact romanization and wording that shows up in-game whenever white or black magic is cast. Source.

Rhea wants her mother, the Goddess, back; this is the reasoning behind much of what happens in Three Houses, including Byleth's own origin. But does Rhea want to be a god, herself? Much less a mother?

I don't think so. She states at the end of SS "I wished desperately to be held in my mother's arms once more", very clearly placing herself in the role of child when it comes to Sothis (funny, she can only admit to this when she knows it is no longer possible).

Here's a much harder, question, then, is Rhea a mother despite her own wants? Let's dig in!

As her new FEH unit aptly puts (in both her Japanese and English title for it) Rhea is quite literally the matriarch of the entire Seiros religion. Even if it is, as hinted, based on what the Sothis religion looked like while the goddess was still alive it was created by Seiros, named after her, and has been strictly guided by the same archbishop for a millennia now.

She is also the creator of twelve living beings or vessels - ending with Sitri (and this is not to mention her altered golems, all named after people dear to her). Textually, there is no doubt that as a creator to one who "loved as a human" and someone who, to use an alternate translation of Sothis' magical circle, was indeed "a creature who possessed a heart", Rhea is a mother, even going so far as to say that is exactly how Sitri viewed her.

It is telling though, isn't it, the way she phrases it? While she acknowledges she was a mother figure to Sitri, and even admits to affection toward her* -- nowhere does she ever say she considers Sitri her daughter.

She would never truly be able to admit that, after all; to be a mother is simply not something Rhea can ever comphrehend because it would put her as equal to her mother ("I have only ever been acting as your proxy" she tells Byleth when still convinced they will awaken as Sothis).

And yet, despite it all, she has indeed become one in her single-minded pursuit to bring the dead back to life.

Post canon would she ever be able to come to terms with all this? That's a little bit out of the range of my portrayal I have to say, but probably only in her endings where she goes to live with Catherine in Zanado and actually has time time to unpack all of the lies she's told both the world and herself.

*I want to add that, in her own weird, winding Nabatean way, I do think Rhea at least considered Sitri to be family or special. I went into this more in another meta but never added what really sets it apart to me: the reason she gave Sitri a private open casket burial and preserved her body, in my opinion, is because this is something she never could do for the rest of her family (tfw ur either a pebble or sword). It is one of the highest forms of love an eternally grieving woman like Rhea can give.

[aurheatum]

rhea ur smelly and ur scented candles give me a headache

maybe if u offered people moms divine revelations instead of stalking off to be a grumpy mountain hermit people would care what u think

[aurheatum]

[ Spire ] - It’s no Goddess Tower, but it’s the next best thing. It almost rises high enough to make one believe freedom is at hand - but does that really matter when you’re here spending time with someone you love? Plus the view of the stars is gorgeous, and well worth the climb for any singleton too.

The sky is cold, and inhospitable to life Rhea knows - has known this since she first tried to fly amongst the stars and came back with hoarfrost scales. Holy things are meant to be worshipped, never to be touched.

That does not, however, keep her from wanting. A millenia has been unable to do such a thing, so it very well may be impossible.

Looking up from the height of the spirits' spire she can forget about impossibilities if only for a moment, and she can remember what it is to be in awe (which is as close to love as someone like her can feel surely).

The place is not exactly comfortable but it is certainly the best spot to stargaze from so she finds a spot and pulls her skirts around her, hesitating only a moment as she hears movement below.

"Ah," Rhea says standing, and shoots the student a smile in recognition, "Arval, yes? I had thought I might need to make myself scarce if any lovers thought it best to find reprieve here, but I sense I need not worry about that with you. Are you here to look at the sky?" A pause and she comes closer, offer, "would you like a hand up?"

guardian of starlight

[aurheatum]

rhea and identity. part 1: what’s in a name

Alright,  because I’m constantly thinking about her and why not! Here’s part one in a series about Rhea and her view of her identity and selfhood: focusing on her name and aliases throughout the years. 

spoilers for the entirety of three houses below :) 

As a preview part two and three will be on her role as a mother and then her role as a child in the story and psychologically. Both will probably be quite a bit longer than this one as here I’m covering stuff I’ve mostly talked about before, but good to have it in one place with citations, so let’s go!

An interesting tendency I’ve seen in fandom is to place Rhea’s role as Rhea, herself, the archbishop and Rhea as Seiros, the warrior and avenger, as diametrically opposed to one another. This makes a lot of sense as Crimson Flower - the one route where Rhea literally has any agency at all in part two of the game - itself uses this in both story and gameplay. Here when we meet Rhea on the battlefield at Taltean she is in the unique “Saint” class and her dialogue prior to being fought makes it quite clear that she has “become Seiros”.

Field of Revenge

Church soldier: Lady Rhea….

Rhea: Call me Seiros now.

Rhea: I am no longer the archbishop, but rather a warrior.

(later on in the final map Catherine also ends up correcting her speech and referring to her as “Lady Seiros”)

But hm. I wonder what difference in the CF route split led her to take on this persona? Could it have something to do with the fact she has once again come face to face with a human using Agarthan technology to infiltrate / sack her family’s tomb in aid of another who’s literally wielding her mom aka god as a weapon of war?

The one thing fandom overlooks is that from the few scant sources we have in canon Seiros is just as much a falsified identity as the current Rhea is, if not more so. You can see in the official FE3h character design breakdown that there is a note pointing to Seiros’s hair that has been translated as “her hair is dyed, but only the tips show another color” (source post for that here).

It is difficult to see in book scans available but thankfully her Fire Emblem Heroes art makes it even clearer that the light blond we see on Seiros isn’t her true coloring. Compare to the in game Saint model.

(slightly related: back when FEH seiros came out there was some fan pondering on whether nabatean hair darkens as the person gets older and i just think that’s really neat)

All of the references to her in The History of Fódlan and other church doctrine describe her as a saint and messenger of the goddess, but never otherworldly or inhuman. This combined with Rhea’s claim in VW that she “called herself Seiros” seems to make it clear that this was a role she took on after the Red Canyon Massacre had happened, most likely to hide her origin as the one survivor there and protect the other remaining Nabateans of the land from further scrutiny.

I actually think its quite creative that fandom has decided to use Seiros as shorthand for Rhea before she started playing at human, but I also think it is very haunting and deliberate that we do not know Rhea’s real name. Most likely not even Seteth or his brothers know it seeing as Rhea being the one surviving Nabatean from Zanado must mean they all met some time after the Red Canyon Massacre took place and most likely right around when Rhea became Seiros.

The only person who could possibly know Rhea’s true name is Sothis, and I think that’s important. I also think it is important to note that everything we know of the Seiros identity was created due to the trauma of Zanado’s destruction as it is pertinent to understanding why she falls back on it when she interprets events as repeating in Crimson Flower.

[aurheatum]

in time’s flow

[set not long after sigurd and arvis’s confrontation. toa adjacent but non-canon drabble.]

Magic not of Fodlan held a different aftertaste to it, and even visiting the cathedral days after the much discussed skirmish between a Judgralian mage and one of the Seiros knights Rhea can still taste it in the air mixed with the burning of incense.

The matter has been dealt with and punishments dealt but still Rhea stands where each man stared the other down as if to gain some insight into the events.

Despite her sympathy for Deirdre she does not care as much as a holy woman should, perhaps. She felt no obligation to help any of the players involved wash themselves clean of their sins but she thinks of time and obligations and the strange rumors in Abyss of the Professor who looks so like their fiery haired dark mage. But surely, they say, he and his wife are too young, too in love to have birthed such a boy as that (still consider the family history).

She cares neither for the truth of such rumors but it is the mention of warped time and misbefitting youth that has her stand face to face as if in conversation with the statues of her brothers who have long since abandoned her.

Macuil, who’s left handed sword could melt to the bone of the unworthy wielder and who’s right could knit the flesh back together again; and Indech, he of the Inexhaustible who fashioned new arrows from the air itself and who’s strikes flew faster than the wind.

Such abilities were paltry in comparison to the one who’s heart pulsed in time to the core of the earth and who’s divine will split timelines and built new realities.

“Mother?”

Rhea walks back to the center of the cathedral, breathing in the acrid scent of Arvis’s left over magic and the fear built into the stones here (Sigurd’s? Her own? It mattered little); and for a moment, looking up at the ceiling she almost expects an answer.

But miracles do not happen for Rhea. They have all dried up since him, but still she believes, still she knows her mother is here and listens.

“Was this your doing? I do not mean to overstep, but truly, do you still care for children such as these? Those not of your flesh and blood, those who would carve into it for a fraction of - ”

Rhea’s breathing has become haggard and she puts a hand to her chest to calm the burning there. No, the sins of these children in particular are nothing in comparison to those of the slithering, creeping monsters that still pour forth from the bowels of Fodlan like the insipid parasites they are.

This altercation had been a mistake, an unlikely one granted but nothing she and the others had not accounted for when the Officer’s Academy had been open to foreign lands.

“No, forgive me,” Rhea says, bowing her head, “if anything I am sure it is your power still slumbering within that vessel and Sitri’s influence there. She cared for everyone within these walls whether they deserved it or not and that child.... they are so like their mother.”

Rhea may not have the capacity to love like that but she could still care for, still oversee all of those in her safe keeping. Yes. She would do that.

“Please, continue to let us all at Garreg Mach keep you as refuge, great goddess. If you see fit to grant our new visitors your blessings I shall not intervene. I will protect them all, this time. I swear it.”

[aurheatum]

on sitri

Working on headcanons page and Sitri started to take over so she gets her own post! In a different format too so I can address the many thoughts I have *laughs*

 So canon does not give us much information about Sitri besides her being Byleth’s mother but what we know is:

She was the twelfth creation of Rhea’s in one of many attempts to bring Sothis’ soul back into a material form using the Crest of Flames crest stone.

She was born frail but with a soul of her own and lived for twenty or so years as a nun at Garreg Mach (she was born in 1139 according to her gravestone).

She fell in love with Jeralt during his time in the Knights of Seiros and twenty one years before the games events gave birth to Byleth and died during the process

I think a few things are important here. Firstly, that Rhea lies in the game. She lies a lot. But her lies are usually well scripted in the fashion of the Seiros scriptures. When it comes to emotional topics like her mother/the goddess and Byleth’s eventual awakening she actually lets slip an excessive amount.

“Just as the goddess blessed you with her own power... I, too, received her divine protection. Long, long ago. Though different, our fates are entwined.”

- A support dialogue (seiros who)

So when she says this to Aelfric when she asks him to stop in his attempt to bring Sitri back to life yeah she is probably just saying stuff as his immediate rebuttal implies.

But I find it harder to believe she pulled all of this out of nowhere as neither in the Japanese or English does it sound rehearsed (and honestly she probably wasnt going to tell the player at all but u know kinda had to in order to own up to stuff #smh)

“Sitri looked upon me as though I was her mother, and I wished for her to have a bright future... I would not have her buried in the cold, dark soil. Prior to her funeral, I arranged for a fake burial. Afterward, I brought her body to Abyss, where I would sometimes visit her.”

In fact, Rhea caring for Sitri as a daughter seems congruent across both the DLC and Silver Snow. Aelfric says that Sitri’s body was deep in the caverns of Abyss and that it was kept alone. If putting bodies in dragon cryogenesis was a thing Rhea did for all of her past vessels I don’t see why all twelve of them wouldn’t have been there.

Rhea speaking to Byleth in SS calls the vessels that came before them “failures”, a word that carries a lot of weight if you’ve played CF and I think that’s probably true so far as her other attempts go. She considered her other creations as failures when they were unable to revive the goddess’s soul and so got rid of them but Sitri was different, special to the point Rhea still wanted to see her even after her death.

We know from the Crimson Flower route that the one thing to make Rhea emotional and completely lose her head is the loss of her loved ones whether from more permanent causes or simply what she sees as abandonment. Her only true family left are Seteth and Flayn and it is only when they leave her that we get to see how much that means. She’s held herself above them all this time, so the fact Rhea admits that Sitri is a vulnerability of hers makes me think it is the truth.

Another hint as to Rhea considering Sitri special is this: while she may not have ever left the monastery Sitri was still walking around with the Crest of Flames in her fragile body for a decade. That certainly isn’t a very long time in Rhea’s perspective but based on how fiercely protective she is of her mother and her sheer desperation for Sothis to return there really isn’t a good reason for Rhea to have let Sitri live if she hadn’t become so attached.

She could have been working hard on the thirteenth vessel or trying something else with the Crest! But she didn’t because she knew that would mean losing Sitri which brings me to my final (and honestly most interesting re: viewing the game) point:

Byleth was the result of Sitri and Jeralt’s choices and had nothing to do with Rhea until Sitri asked her to help revive the baby. In fact, it isn’t hard to read between the lines and see Rhea really did not want to take the crest out of Sitri but did so under emotional duress.

There is a lot that can be said about how Rhea treats Byleth as an object, but learning that she really never wanted Byleth to live or even exist at all really puts it into perspective. Rhea says that Sitri “loved like a person” and in the Japanese implies that she, Rhea, learned to love her in the same way. Sitri though born as an empty shell became a fully formed individual and despite her intentions Rhea learned to love her for it.

And then she insisted on having Byleth who was just another empty shell, but this time an empty shell who took Sitri from her.

Rhea knows mcuh of design but she is never logical about herself and her own emotions. It’s one of the reasons I find her so interesting, because she wishes for control so fervently but cannot even keep herself in check. The cycle of trying to bring her mother back and finding only despair was halted when Sitri came into the world and brought joy instead. And then Byleth happened and they took Sitri away from her and then of course Jeralt ran off with Byleth and the only thing left that really mattered to Rhea: the Crest of Flames.

So yeah. As illogical as it may be I do think Rhea resents Byleth for their mother’s death and that she distanced herself from the child, well, at least until the Crest of Flames awakened within them.

I don’t plan on rping this without permission from any Byleth I interact with, of course, but I wanted to express that if Sitri comes up in any of Rhea’s posts she is looking at her as a mother who lost a daughter. I really like this for her, because it does not excuse Rhea’s previous experimentations and creating of life in eleven other literal people just to snuff it out but instead makes it even more horrifying in a way. Sitri is the only one of those Rhea considered her true child, after all.

(Rhea’s thoughts on motherhood would take another post entirely...)

[aurheatum]

⚔️- A memory about war

When she returns home to the Oghma Mountains, she does not return alone.

Hundreds follow Seiros off the battlefield, making a pilgrimage to land that they do not even know is sacred, that could never be theirs.

She hides away claiming oracular intent. Slips from the wrongness of the empty tomb through secret passages to places above. The humans below her make camp now, their laughter and sobs coming to her on the wind and Seiros feels -

"What do they want?" She snaps at Cichol when he finally joins her. Her tone is incredulous - impertinent as always, and her brother looking back, just seems tired.

"They simply want peace."

She stares at him. Stares at the flames from the campfires down below and feels her own passion go out. Still, she wants to say, they do not deserve it. But something stops her, perhaps Ceathleann still sleeping below might be listening. 

Instead:

"And they come to me of all people for it?" Her laugh is brittle, broken. She was born to be the goddess's blade, her swift judgment. She has never even known the word.

Her brother says nothing. Seiros misses Wilhelm starkly in the silence, her eyes coming to rest on an emblem of the empire below them.

"If I am to bring them peace I cannot be Seiros."

Weary but true, she is given her answer: "then become something else" .

[aurheatum]

tulip :   how does your muse view people in general ?  

so this is going to be long and full of headcanons! spoilers for rheas whole thing and the kusakihara's 10000.... year history crumbs for any who care

Okay so pretty obviously people come in two types to Rhea 1. Humans and 2. Nabateans

Humans first

For context, I tend to assume Rhea was born around the midpoint of humanity/agartha’s war against Sothis.

General timeline would be Sothis decides to have one (1) more mitosis baby > She puts the Torment in the Valley of Torment > Eventually humanity exhausts its nukes/agarthans retreat and Sothis gives up the last of her strength to heal Fódlan’s land

Strictly speaking we don’t know what Fódlan’s technology was like post Sothis going to sleep but I think we can assume it is about where 3H proper is just based on the particular technologies Rhea bans (no oil or electricity for u). I think that speaks volumes to how little Rhea trusts humanity and how foolish a collective she thinks them.

But then there’s Wilhelm.

“He saved me. Supported me. Gave his all to the cause of defeating Nemesis.”

Even after all these years Rhea still speaks of him like she owes him a debt. Fitting, since she would have met Wilhelm shortly after seeing the entirety of Zanado slaughtered by humans (sans nukes this time!) – and it was only with his help she was able to reclaim her mother’s bones.

(I think this was probably the most hopeful time for her: she would never have predicted that once her enemies were defeated the goddess simply wouldn’t return.)

And he’s certainly not the last in a line of humans she continues to trust. There’s Jeralt who would have basically been her son-in-law had Sitri survived, and Catherine who’s the sole person she relies on in the Crimson Flower route.

Two out of three of those humans first encounter Rhea-as-Rhea when she plays nursemaid to them. That, and the fact, in every route besides CF Rhea is willing to sacrifice herself just to prevent Garreg Mach from becoming another Zanado makes me think while Rhea certainly doesn’t entirely trust humans, she’s never been able to entirely hate them either.

Part of her putting her life on the line is absolutely because she thinks it’s what Sothis would do in her place, duty rather than sentiment. Largely she does sees the humans of Fodlan as her flock but the little details we get about her relationships with Jeralt and Catherine, and the simple fact she admits being archbishop is lonely in her teatime talk, makes it pretty clear that as foolish and ignorant as she thinks humans are she also cannot help but want to find companionship in them.

Rhea’s a fool too, after all.

And lonely! More on that in the next bit.

Nabateans

So the only surviving family members we know Rhea has are:

-Indech (currently chilling in a lake #respect)

-Macuil (got the hell out of Fódlan and became an angry desert hermit)

-Flayn (up until the last decade has been in dragon cryostasis)

and Seteth.

(The four apostles were also probably nabateans/their descendants based on Yuri’s backstory. Important to point out that Aubin would have been wandering Fódlan for some time before coming to save little kid Yuri and then peacefully dying.)

What do they all sans Seteth/Flayn duo have in common?

Oh, right. They all left her!

I imagine since Rhea is on her twelfth attempt to make a Sothis soul jar just twenty years prior to the game that this has been going on for… awhile. We know the apostles were involved in the founding of Garreg Mach, and I would assume the same of at least Indech if not Macuil. But bit by bit the years wore on them as did Rhea’s stubbornness and they went to go make the best of their long lives.

I think it’s important to note Seteth’s profile mentions he’s only come back to Garreg Mach recently ( I just double checked and it's legit the year after Jeralt sets a fire. Seteth is just the community pizza man gif.).** From a writing standpoint this is done to explain how and when Flayn awoke, and to give Seteth a reason for having no idea what or who Byleth is in the game proper until Rhea outright tells him.

But like. That’s the thirteenth vessel Rhea’s (albeit unintentionally) made. You really think that Seteth never knew about any of the others? I doubt it. He clearly disagrees with Rhea’s fixation on Sothis but continues to support her all the same.

Family means a lot to the both of them. Rhea especially.

I think she resents Seteth’s brothers for leaving, but I do think she’d welcome them back all the same, as for Seteth and Flayn: she may not say it but they mean more to her than anyone else, particularly in Seteth’s case because he always came back.

explains inoues banger performance here

**ok fire was 1159. Seteth comes back 1162. I still think Seteth pizza guy is funny and also a tldr of his relationship w rhea

[aurheatum]

20.  judgement  :  is your muse forgiving of themselves ? how about of others who wrong them ?

rhea forgiving of other people? ahahah na - rhea forgiving of herself? hahahaha.

The answer to both is no. 😔

I think the topic of forgiveness and how it relates to redemption is really interesting to explore in fiction, particularly because a lot of I would say irl knowledge of the meaning to forgive is based on stories whether those we well ourselves or those we are told.

For example: the idea that one needs to forgives someone to move on (there are plenty of other healthy ways of coping), or the addendum "forgiving is forgetting".

But you know, sometimes they have a point.

A story Rhea has internalized is this one: accepting something means you condone it. This isn't true but the fact that many people get through difficult times by turning to a higher power and the only god Rhea knows is the goddess incarnate who is her mother, who also was brutally murdered right before her eyes is something to take into consideration.

Even if someone were to say “okay yeah that was terrible but it still happened so just live and let live” she couldn’t do it. It was not just a crime against the goddess for Nemesis to take up his revenge quest against her and her children it was a crime against the laws of the world itself, a betrayal of the only true justice Rhea knows or recognizes.

Everything Rhea has done, everything that Fodlan has become has occurred so that Rhea can turn back the clock and make sure such a tragedy can never occur again because it shoud. not. have.

(Time and Rhea/Divine Pulse is a meta waiting to happen lol)

She is more understanding of conflicts outside of her own, as transient as they are. She absolves both Catherine and Yuri of murder and gave them a place to live. She takes in Cyril despite the possible political ramifications of that. But if any threatened her purpose? She would not hesitate to dispose of them.

And of course, there is no use in she herself as a person if she cannot become the tool that ushers in her mother’s awakening. But the fact of the matter is; if she does not do it, no one else will. So she digs, and digs, and digs.

(and ends up in a grave for it in crimson flower ofc)

[aurheatum]

"Archbishop." Soren approached her during a dance, ready to dance if need be but more interested in conversation. He politely folded his hands in front of himself.

"You are no mere professor, but as the highest authority of this monastery, you must be the most versed in history. I have a question, if I may take some minutes of your time- we could dance, if you wanted to." He paused before pressing on. "I was reading the other night and stumbled upon some legends of the Immaculate One. I suppose I was hoping you had more details about it- you see, the dragons back home on my own continent lived in isolation for centuries, cold even to their own kin, the other laguz. Did this one truly... protect and live among people? I find it hard to wrap my head around such a thing. I don't suppose there are older texts with more details than in the generic history books that you might've seen at some point... giving a better understanding of this legendary creature." He trailed off hopefully, innocent and curious as he could ever hope to be.

Spare forbidden old texts, Archbishop?

Rhea had somehow or another been pulled onto the dance floor for more than one song, an experience to be sure. The current reel was meant to be fast paced so that one partner might change to the other with ease and when Rhea next turned it was to see Soren of Tellius, waiting to speak with her if not to dance.

She was about to say they could go elsewhere if he preferred, assuming correctly that any question the young tactician might have would lead to a lengthy conversation but the subject in question – ah, she had not expected that.

The dance floor it was, then. They were less likely to be overheard that way. Rhea extended her hand to Soren in answer and carefully did not look for Seteth in the crowd, he was far too good at his job and had known her for long enough so she was not sure what he would see. She looked nowhere but Soren who in all likelihood would only see a slightly bemused archbishop pondering how to answer him as the music began again.

“I can tell you what I know, but as you must have discerned the Immaculate One is a legend. Quite an old one at that, and so fact and fiction have merged to the extent that not even I know how much could be considered true.”

There, that was the beginning of an answer. Perhaps not one satisfactory but Rhea was still pondering Soren’s mention of the laguz people. They had been of interest to her ever since the decision had been made to open the Officer’s Academy up, but it had been a personal interest and therefore she had abstained from becoming too involved.

The information she had gained certainly hadn’t put a lid on her interest, but it had confirmed something – it must just have been a coincidence. The laguz were said to be a people of shifters native to Tellius who came in as many varieties as the natural world had to offer. The Dragon Tribe was only one of many laguz families and they were not special in their dislike of the people they had once warred with, but the wars had been just that: skirmishes, certainly with their own history and trauma but also with a people who had very much survived them.

“I am not sure if it can even be called a dragon for it may have lived among humans, but it wasn’t one of them. They say it was a beast, a divine one, yes – sent by the goddess, but like any beast it clashed with humans though of course only those that opposed the Church.”

Their dance would soon come to an end and perhaps Rhea should have left it at that but as she stepped back to curtsy her eyes caught the light from where the chandelier illuminated the top of Soren’s head where his marking lay and at the sight of it and the brief lighter hue of that hair something twisted in her.

“I believe it is equal fear and reverence that has led such a beast to stay in the people’ s imaginations for so long,” she managed, stepping off the dance floor before adding: “while there are not many verifiable stories in the library there are several pieces of art that portray it and Saint Seiros.”

[aurheatum]

❝ no. i will not allow another tragedy to happen here. ❞

hello, hello! it’s nelfes back with everyone’s favorite archbishop. for all yall who’d like a spoiler free description just look below

The current archbishop of the Church of Seiro, Rhea as born as the last child to her people and as such has taken on a great degree of responsibility ever since youth. She aspires to be as a mother to the members of her community, at times stern and others kind. Her hope is for the Officer’s Academy to be a place of gathering for those in Fodlan and beyond who seek to make a difference in the world.

On previous threads and Unlocked 2021

Rhea will be back with her stats pre drop goddess willing however she does not in any great detail remember the events of Unlocked 2021. Particularly not Rion. Who’s that? Any inklings she may have of the time she dismisses as strange dreams.

This has mostly been done so 1. Rhea has less knowledge of how far the Agarthans have come in their technology 2. The potential crisis of faith (haha do u geti) knowledge of multiple timelines would cause her

However - I’m absolutely open to bringing over knowledge of interactions she had prior to the event or even muses who still remember Unlocked bringing up that it happened, always here for conflict! :^)

as for spoilers (and other tags/tws). spoiler tag is and continues to be ;spoirheas

i feel like mentions of seiros prob dont need to be tagged. i mean. we all watched the opening movie right?

i do plan to tag any specific references to her family and nabatea in general, however

i usually tag any triggers in her posts with the form “tw disassociation” let me know if anyone using different blockers prefers a different way

i dont anticipate too much intensity coming up but bc rhea is rhea and nel is nel there will be a good amount of fantasy dogma in her posts and musings on god/religion. if anyone needs that tagged i can probably come up w something!

that’s it. post will be pinned for a bit and then go back to being a general info page. 

[aurheatum]

19.  the sun  :  in general, how optimistic is your muse ? does your muse appreciate the small things in life ?

How optimistic is your muse? Does your muse appreciate the small things in life?

Rhea is in my opinion in the interesting position of being a highly determined and stubborn individual who is staunch in her ideals but who lacks genuine optimism. Her twin driving motivations of I cannot let the Red Canyon happen again and I will undo what Nemesis has done are the cornerstones of not just her own being but her entire worldview.

The world isn’t something to be experienced for her, it is merely a stepping stone toward what the world should and will look like. That probably affected her decision to create a monastic order in the first place and come up with something other than “worldly cares” because she truly does not see the point in creating connections in a world she’s only ever seen as transient and inherently duplicitous in nature.

Rhea keeps Fodlan in stasis and is in a kind of stasis herself in her time as an archbishop.

But while she may be an ancient being she’s also living and breathing and interacting every day so I do think she genuinely has likes and dislikes though she will deny it. In general she prefers animals to humans and I am writing a plethora of headcanons about the dogs and cats of Garreg Mach (laughs) because while she mostly lets them stay to themselves she has named every one of them. Just long lived archbishop things. :^)

I think the few activities similar to animal watching that she actually enjoys are ones she deems “safe” i.e. not probable to stir up powerful emotions or attachments. I like to think one of the reasons she treats Byleth in-game as a tool is because she grew to truly love Sitri, and felt guilty for that (for having a child when she was never a good one herself), so when Sitri died she just. Shut that empathetic part of herself away. I think it’s happened multiple times throughout the ages as she also seems to still feel something for Wilhelm despite all the time between them.

tldr; no, she is not an optimistic person but she is determined to a fault. The closest to optimism she has is her ardent belief that by bringing the goddess to Fodlan she really will be creating something better for everyone, not just her (though it of course a deeply selfish wish at the same time)

[aurheatum]

"Indeed," Rhea says, nodding at Arval's assumption, "though I have... taken to the festivities better than I first assumed, the stars have always been my most loyal companions in times such as this."

She does not speak of the comfort they bring her, spread out in familiar constellations despite the foreign magic heavy in the air but it is perhaps obvious - a weakness she is willing to admit, if only because it is a pious one.

Another reason she was here to look at the stars, so she would not loose track of time and so that just as they watched over her so she in turn might watch over her flock.

Once Arval accepts the offer Rhea does takes their hand, her own strength great enough that it steadies the other into easier access to the spiral; waiting just in case (and watching an orange bloom join her growing collection of enchanted flowers), Rhea leads them to the top where she had been taking vigil. As expected of Morfisian craft the top of the spire is large enough for an entire crowd of archbishops to sit down and watch the sky if they were so inclined, and so once Arval is free to settle themself as they so wish Rhea goes back to stargazing. "Though the Blue Sea Star can no longer be seen from our vantage point it gives me great comfort to know She is there. There is something lonely about the winter skies here... but the children up there who do hang on like the Water Dancer and Lion's Footman are all the more precious in their presence for it I think." Looking to Arval, she realizing she has been rambling a bit, and clears her throat, "and you? Do you have a favorite among the stars?"

guardian of starlight