#› and we all have so many faces‚ the real self often erases ❜ ❨meta analysis❩

[lightdevour]

a wip. nowhere king

edlendír sometimes manifests ... whatever that is... you know, mononoke forest god life-death walking thing ... accidentally warps someone’s soul by being too close and saying words ... suddenly he knows your true name and you better run before he makes it so that u can’t ... 

[lightdevour]

something something the elktaur species in general were the equivalent of like what people saw elves in middle earth as; ethereal and wise and honestly sorta haughty and closed off — which influenced this specific centaur species to adapt to ... uh. keep some of that and toss other parts away.

elktaur herds travel around at the orders of the tree shamans to basically tend to the forests (except boreal forests, because they’d never agree to that ever). they practice a druid style magic, as opposed to “traditional” centaur magic, and they don’t really make sparkles. however, their forests are filled with “fairy-lights” which is like having fireflies around in a very cool atmosphere, but really it’s just fragments of light; that’s their version of sparkles. 

they often feel pressured to fulfill that role as a wise being, so they basically gain as much knowledge in as many areas as possible. they also are known for being “unnaturally conservative” by centaur standards. they’re more prone to wearing some form of clothing while around other centaur species or humans.

but on their own, away from other centaurs or humans, elktaurs become ... like way less obnoxious birdtaurs. they’re the masters of the vibe check. they act like millennials, full of memes, and they really like exploring and just going on runs through the forests. and clothes sure aren’t required when they just decide to play around. 

basically, it isn’t necessarily ... surprising that edlendír ended up feeling like he had to be HUMAN, because elktaurs already feel pressured to act a certain way. 

[lightdevour]

❛ Iris

        › botanical asks. ❨ @lovedefiant ❩

› 𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙨 :   𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙮 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙙 ,   𝙬𝙝𝙖��� 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙚 ? 

cool so you’re going for the angst right off the bat huh, love it. 

essentially, the only people edlendír would say he’s ever lost are uh. himself and his lover — and of course that first part has a bunch of complexities. i can’t actually answer this without addressing exactly what happened with ed’s split, because the majority of his personality remained in the elk, while his ambitions became the general. 

and yeah, you could ask: how on earth did someone like the general come from edlendír, who only wanted to be with the person he loved most? and the answer comes down to “the general is the manifestation of all of the hurt from the prejudice ed faced in his original body” whereas the elk was “the manifestation of longing and loneliness”, which made it easier for the elk to become someone like the nowhere king, and for the general to become... well, the jackass that he was. 

beyond that, “edlendír” had, for all intents and purposes, ceased to exist, because neither the general or the elk is actually edlendír, but fragments of his being ( which leads to the whole issue of edlendír has to take the punishment for the awful things his fragments did, where he had lost control of the outcome because he Didn’t Exist As Himself, but that’s also another post ). 

to the elk, edlendír would want to offer comfort; “i never meant for you to endure all of that loneliness, but it isn’t right to make others suffer, too.” a compassionate, but realistic message of the fact that it was the elk who became the nowhere king. that trauma does not give any person the right to hurt others or to take away their identities, too. 

to the general, edlendír would ... honestly not want to go there, because the general was a reflection of every other prejudiced human being who thought themselves higher than centaurs of any type. “you were wrong, i am your equal and just as worthy of respect, just as deserving of opportunity, as a human being. i am not lesser because of who i am, and to pretend so is to be ignorant and selfish.” he’s right, too. 

most importantly ( in his mind ) is his lover. the mysterious woman who captured his heart a lifetime ago. who he yearned to be with and to whom he brought pain, even if that was never his intent. “even if it no longer exists, thank you for loving me. i wish i had seen it earlier. one day, i hope the world is as beautiful as it was for you the day we first met.” sure, ed wasn’t really There for any of the shit that happened, because the general is ... not nearly as much of him as the elk. and neither are the whole person. still, he understands that the reason all of that happened was because he had been completely blind to the fact that maybe, she would love him regardless of who he was. he didn’t give her the chance to love him as the elktaur, and love must have trust. for as much as he did adore her, he never trusted her to love him fully. horse is right on that one; that’s not love. but understanding consequence and letting go? accepting judgement even if there’s flaws in it? telling her that she’s free? it was his way of saying that if nothing else, that was the form of love. he loved her enough to let go. to no longer interfere regardless of what came next, and for the “hard work” he put in to be with her? letting go is such a huge step. edlendír knows he fucked that one up. he would never put her in a position where she’d have to see him try to crawl back to her, because she deserves better. something about “those who do wrong can still love.” “people are complex, not wholly good or bad, because there are so many factors.” and the likes. 

from the outside perspective, the person edlendír should also say is most important is himself. his entire self; but he won’t see it that way. because he sees himself as everything wrong with the elk, the nowhere king, the general. he sees himself as the root of this — and while that’s true, it does not make him inherently evil, which is the point he’s missing. but he should say to himself “doing wrong is wrong, but it isn’t a reflection of your fundamental self. unforgivable sin, irredeemable action, does not mean a person can’t continue to try.” 

so, that’s that :) 

[lightdevour]

AN ATTEMPT AT SOME SORT OF SENSIBLE TIMELINE FOR CENTAURWORLD ( with plenty of tolkien adjacent vibes )

no, none of this lines up with the human world nor should it. tldr the gist is ... centaurs age weird, everything is weird, we don’t know how time passes between centaurworld and the human world nor do i want to work that out. the shamans are basically the five deities of centaurworld and this place is way more intense than it seems right off the bat

THE FIRST AGE / AGE OF THE SHAMANS [lasting 600 years FA 1 - FA 600] 

FA 1

by the lore, the creation of centaurworld by methods that no one really knows. 

the first shamans come into being ( suntaur, moontaur )

the first centaurs are created 

FA 60

the tree shamans are planted as seeds

FA 80

the first elktaurs are created by the tree shamans

FA 177 

the whale shaman is created

FA 199

johnny teatime is created 

FA 302 

judge jacket is created

FA 509 

waterbaby is created

FA 600

the end of the first age. the suntaur and moontaur pass their power to the five shamans

THE SECOND AGE / AGE OF THE RIFTS [lasting 451 years SA 1 - SA 451]

SA 1

the rift between the worlds opens for the first time 

SA 323

caithiel is born

SA 440

rîniel is born 

SA 451 

end of the second age

THE THIRD AGE / AGE OF THE PLANET [lasting 532 years TA 1 - TA 532]

TA 1

the first beings from the human world pass through the rift into centaurworld

TA 160 

guskin the gophertaur is born

elior is born

TA 166 

airiwendë is born

TA 188 

malthathar is born

TA 193

edlendir is born 

othanil is born

TA 197

alalmië is born

TA 210

many alliances with human kingdoms are made

the city around the rift thrives

TA 230

edlendír meets and falls in love with the mysterious woman 

beartaur is born

TA 231

edlendír splits himself into the elk and the general by accident 

the general marries the mysterious woman

the general imprisons the elk

TA 241

the elk escapes and returns to the rift

TA 245

the first minotaurs are created

TA 246 

the elk turns fully into the nowhere king

the minotaurs lay waste to many human lands and centaur lands

the general and the nowhere king do battle

the mysterious woman destroys the key, trapping the nowhere king in the rift and closing the rift between the worlds 

the great war is placed on hold ... for a long time lmao

TA 340

the city around the rift floods

TA 477

zulius is born

TA 480

wammawink is born

glendale is born

TA 483

ched is born

malandrew is born

TA 485

durpleton is born

wammawink’s village is destroyed by remaining minotaur armies

the lost forest is created

TA 495

splendib is born

TA 528

horse enters centaurworld

[ centaurworld s1 ]

TA 530

horse and rider reunite 

horse accidentally frees the nowhere king

horse begins her recruitment campaign for a centaurworld army

[ centaurworld s2 ]

TA 532

the great war resumes 

[ s2 e8 ] 

end of the third age 

THE FOURTH AGE / AGE OF MORTALS [the current age, still going (post war) FO 1 - FO ???]

FO 1

the general dies. 

the nowhere king dies

the great war comes to an end

FO 4 

horse becomes the 6th shaman

rider begins to display magical traits 

durpleton begins rehabilitating minotaurs 

[lightdevour]

ok ok i can’t believe i never addressed this, but i have to talk about uhhh the whole “first spell” thing which does happen for every centaur. 

as in, they’re not born knowing how to or even being able to use spells. if what wammawink’s herd says about it is true, first spell is sorta like. hitting puberty, which means before then, young centaurs are uh. well, pretty defenseless aside from whatever they have from their animal counterparts. durpleton says that first spells come with “mood swings”, and everything else points to it being something like a right of passage out of childhood and into whatever the heck they call what’s next ( maybe adolescence, but centaurs honestly age weird and so do other animals; let’s keep in mind that an elk calf can stand 20 minutes after being born, human babies don’t walk until into their first year, and they’re unsteady at that, too! ) 

i did mention elk magic being different from the “traditional” magic seen in centaurworld; far less sparkles and comedic-soft magic, and a lot more of the “serious” magic, as in no, edlendír can’t alter his body, he definitely can’t do the hoof thing, at best he can make slight alterations to the color of his coat, but most of that is also influenced by the seasons. and that’s not because ed is the least magically inclined elk in his herd, it’s because NONE of the elks can do things like that. but they CAN make forests from barren lands and clean polluted rivers and the likes. they can perform advanced healing spells and create powerful bounded fields, for lack of a better term. so their first spells are obviously more along those lines. 

edlendír’s first spell came in the form of flowers that bloomed around him when he was happy, which is a fairly standard for elks. this also came right before the first spring where he grew antlers, lining up with the whole “entry into adulthood from childhood”. the “least magically inclined elk” issue is more around the fact he can’t create the powerful barriers and he needs to actually put herbs to use to perform any healing spells, and he’s basically working at least twice as hard as the others to heal barren lands. it isn’t that he CAN’T perform magic, he’s just not. skilled at it without the equivalent of assistive devices. 

this clearly ends when he becomes the nowhere king, because the nowhere king can look at any entity, know their true name, and command their souls to warp thus warping their bodies. on that note, the elk only used the key until he became the nowhere king fully, because as time went on, he didn’t need the assist to perform forbidden magic like that. hence, he didn’t need to smash beings together to make minotaurs, unless he wanted to get amalgamations of multiple beings ( like the ones seen in the final battle ) 

anyway that’s that thanks for coming to my tedtalk

[lightdevour]

𝐃𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐔𝐋𝐓 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐓

you are an easy person to get along with (40%).

Risk-taking is the propensity to engage in risky behavior for the sake of experiencing thrills. People high in this trait impulsively seek sensations to overcome boredom, and often get pleasure from shocking others with their adventures and stunts. Risk-takers often make those around them ill at ease since their actions may have consequences for others as well as themselves. 

Suspicion is the tendency to harbor a strong and unreasoning distrust of others. Suspicious people often question the motives of even those who act loyally and devotedly toward them. Such people are often reluctant to open up to others and may interpret kind-hearted gestures as attempts to deceive them.

[lightdevour]

something something edlendír but sometimes he has that multi-tone voice thing going on, because in the end, he really did fuck over his soul. also it adds to the eldritch :) because he did sound distinctly different as the general, as the elk-turned-nowhere king, and it’s the reminder that yeah, there are some wounds so deep in his soul that they’ll always be there. 

it’s also a dead giveaway as to who he is; as in life never goes back to normal for edlendír, and he has to find a way forward. 

[lightdevour]

ok i should mention the other ... magic part of basically any good lore of mine ( and a hot concept overall ) which is “true names vs spoken names” 

as in, the general idea is ... a true name is basically the name of your soul. each soul has a unique true name. a spoken name is the name you tell other people, basically. but, to give your true name to someone is a very deep form of trust, because people can fuck you over if they’ve got your true name. a true name is born into the soul, no one really knows who hands those out. 

the concept of true names vs spoken names is far more common among magical beings than humans, as in centaurs all know their own true names and have spoken names, but not all humans know their own true name. 

edlendír’s true name is öresthalíon, and he has only ever given this name to one other person ... the woman he fell in love with. which was his way of saying he would give anything to her, because he just handed over control of his SOUL. love how the guy can give up his soul but can’t muster the courage to say “i love you” 

anyway, the elk and the general also share that true name ... because they may have different personalities, but they are made from the same soul. they’re made from edlendír, so they have edlendír’s true name, too. 

imagine finding out you married the elktaur who vanished because when u say his true name ur human husband sorta short circuits ... 

[lightdevour]

ok so essentially edlendír’s magic ended up ... like the forest god in princess mononoke. while he doesn’t have the connection to the trees like caithiel or rîniel, he gained a huge influence over the forests he travels to. similarly, left over from his time as the nowhere king, there’s always the risk of “accidental minotaur-ing” someone, because it isn’t just a fusion gone wrong, it’s an infection of the soul. edlendír likes staying away from most people because of that. in the end, at his core, he’s a gentle soul. frightened with -9 self esteem, and self hatred so deep it’s toxic enough to destroy 2 worlds. 

but he never wanted to hurt anyone. he’s living with the guilt of two evils; two monsters. one made of pride and bigotry, the other made due to trauma and loneliness. both who allowed countless lives to be lost or ruined — 

but, the general was also a human, so all of edlendír’s magic is ... the nowhere king’s magic. and basically soul-manipulation is a terrifying power. it’s part of the toxicity of the nowhere king; the ease with which he can bend anyone to his whim — it’s not wrong that he fed mental poison, because he DID. anyway, edlendír is a gentle soul with a horrific primordial evil level power, as well as some form of command over the life and death of the forests. it’s the whole ... forest god steps somewhere and plants bloom and when it leaves, the plants die. he can create forests easily and can destroy them with a single breath. also edlendír hates that he has these powers. 

before being the nowhere king, he was ... fairly un-talented in magic. he worked with his hands for a reason, but did simple spells using herbs and crystals and candles; he practiced a lot of druid-style magic, but he wasn’t nearly as powerful as literally anyone else in his herd. those powers remain even when he comes back ( stitched together by the key ). 

sometimes when he’s really worked up, sad, angry, his eyes will glow that sickly green and his coloration becomes ashen ... in the daemon ardyn izunia style, it’s sorta like that. but his shadow definitely becomes that of the nowhere king, and the primordial sludge is left behind if he ends up running off ( which often he does, because he just wants to be alone when it hits that point ) — it fades and does no real damage though. as in, edlendír has to lash out and infect something by being in contact, anything left behind if he leaves is harmless because he ISN’T the nowhere king in the same way as he was before. but he still is??? 

as time goes on, he gains more control over all of that. the corruptions come to an end when he comes to terms with the fact that yes, in the end those parts of him did these wrongs, but he can still move forward and make the right choices. he starts to use that power to heal on that primordial level. 

tldr, edlendír went from mediocre druid to forest god, and it’s a lot.

[lightdevour]

ok ok post on the other members of edlendír’s herd :) 

CAITHIEL, the herd leader, known as “daughter of the earth” or “wisewoman of the deep forests”. she’s been around for a long time, no one has ever asked exactly HOW long, but she has spoken of forests that no longer exist. that, and the tree shamans treat her truly like a daughter so UH. 

RÎNIEL, caithiel’s daughter. blessed(?) with clairvoyance, if her mother isn’t around, she is “the voice of the trees”. using rîniel as reference, yeah, it can be assumed caithiel is a prime example of Centaurs Live A Really Long Time Because They’re Magical (and elktaurs continue to be the equivalent of the middle earth elves)

ELIOR, a skilled healer, and edlendír’s father. similar in personality to his son, he’s humble and incredibly wholesome. although, unlike his son, he was wary of humans and worried quite a bit about his son’s fixation on them. 

AIRIWENDË, edlendír’s mother. fun-loving and curious, her son really takes after her in that regard. she had a little apothecary with elior in the city around the rift before ... well, everything went to hell. 

MALTATHAR, OTHANIL, and ALALMIË, i don’t know how to describe them in any other way but “they’re like libra from fe:a, but also if instead of being really reserved, it’s time for a dank meme all the time”. as in, yes, they are skilled in combat, because clearly there are some ... things ... that are dangerous in centaurworld. maltathar was also edlendír’s best friend and saw him as a little brother. othanil had a ... habit of teasing edlendír and it’s because he’s the same age as ed ... who he calls “eddy” all the time. alalmië is ... she’s also got an energy similar to waterbaby, but she’s the youngest of the warriors. 

[lightdevour]

THE MUSE AS MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. ( © )

𝙑𝙄𝙊𝙇𝙄𝙉. black coffee,   perfectionist,   early mornings,   winter, precision,   a bit of a show - off,   always trying to improve,   does not know their limits.

𝘾𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙊. gentle hands,   warm smiles,   autumn evenings,   long showers,   old parchment, comfortable silences,  wants to make everyone happy,   content with what they have.

𝙁𝙇𝙐𝙏𝙀.   daydreamer,   an early bird,   gentle smiles,   sunrises,  spring days,   tea,    always trying to improve themselves,   small acts of kindness.

𝙏𝙍𝙐𝙈𝙋𝙀𝙏.   red lipstick,   loud music,   will fight you,   quick temper,   confidence,   bold colors,   stargazing at midnight,   euphoria,   uncontrollable laughter.

𝙋𝙄𝘼𝙉𝙊. monochrome,   clean lines,   clean hands,   perfect posture, �� biting sarcasm,   emotionally cold,   late nights,   sees the world as black and white,   a little lonely.

𝘾𝙇𝘼𝙍𝙄𝙉𝙀𝙏.    tired eyes,   very caring towards loved ones,   long naps everywhere and anywhere,   soft melodies,   sad songs,   summer,   longs for peace.

𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙋.   sunny days,   lazy mornings,   golden, soft voice,   lullabies,   surreal dreams,   lives in their own world,   a strange kind of wisdom,   likes to be alone.

[lightdevour]

... considering he was sorta slapped back together and one of those parts was a primordial terror ... i like to call this “pseudo-divinity” in the sad way, because the catch was “if the general dies, the nowhere king dies and vice versa” but the mysterious woman put him back into One Person which negates that condition so ... now it’s 

all the memories of the elk/nowhere king AND all the memories of the general AND edlendír trying to reconcile his nonexistence for all that time by merging that together which is very stressful, on top of the knowledge that he fucked up badly on all fronts and the person he adores no longer loves him and part of the nowhere king’s constant existence stems from all the grief, which ... is now slapped back in One Person

edlendír exiled himself from the human world and basically isolated himself in centaurworld, living the survivalist life. those who do see him ( humans or other centaurs, since the worlds are connected again ), aren’t sure what they’re seeing, because he gives off the mononoke forest god vibe: really fucking ominous, but not inherently evil, but not guaranteed to be benevolent. he’s trying to find himself, and after that, he thinks he’ll have the ability to really decide what to do next, but he’s gotta ... do a lot of soul searching. 

he leaves healing herbs and potions at the doors of people who suffered in the war in both worlds ( this is the only time where he goes to the human world, and it’s always in the middle of the night where people are sleeping ), because it’s the least he can do, and he knows he should do more, but he also can’t properly work to atone if he hasn’t properly gathered himself together. and part of that is accepting things on a fundamental level, which isn’t easy, because all of this mess was never what he wanted, so he has to reconcile all of that. 

so basically there’s the ... idea of this blog lmao 

[lightdevour]

something something while the tree shamans attended the hootenanny, the elktaur herds didn’t, because ... the tree shamans knew that the nowhere king was really edlendír, and while there were different elktaur herds, they all knew each other ... and some of them knew edlendír as a gentle and shy rift worker and they couldn’t guarantee that they’d be able to fight him because of that. 

not that they wanted the nowhere king to keep doing horrible shit, but what if they hesitated? what if it caused other people to get hurt? 

that and uhhh caithiel and rîniel knew what would happen in the end. 

all the way to him returning to the person he was ... except with some primordial power as essentially a curse :) 

[lightdevour]

edlendír is a type 4 and its just ... yeah 

Fours are self-aware, sensitive, and reserved. They are emotionally honest, creative, and personal, but can also be moody and self-conscious. 

Withholding themselves from others due to feeling vulnerable and defective, they can also feel disdainful and exempt from ordinary ways of living. 

They typically have problems with melancholy, self-indulgence, and self-pity. 

At their Best: inspired and highly creative, they are able to renew themselves and transform their experiences.

Basic Fear: That they have no identity or personal significance Basic Desire: To find themselves and their significance (to create an identity)

dang. call him out won’t you.

[lightdevour]

❛ lavender?

      › botanical asks. ❨ @lovedefiant ❩

› 𝙡𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 :   𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙚’𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩 ?  𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙣 ,   𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙜𝙤 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 ?

ok this is a tough one because of how edlendír has dealt with society as a whole. it’s shown that many humans aren’t that nice to centaurs; he sings about how humans don’t really see someone with like ... complex thoughts, that humans don’t take centaurs seriously because they’re DIFFERENT. because of how they look, even if otherwise there’s no difference. ed works?? to make a living??? he has a BOSS, guskin is his BOSS, it’s literally like any human with a job, with a boss? but of course, humans and centaurs are also said to “agree on very little” per his OTHER song ( which loops back to this dude has a goddamn job, he’s a functioning member of a society ) — so he’s ... got trust issues with humans there. 

but, his relationships with centaurs aren’t always the best, either. he doesn’t like their humor ( his own is way more morbid ), but it isn’t that he doesn’t take them seriously. in fact, he’d be more willing to trust a centaur than a human, because centaurs are often very honest with each other. it’s part of being a centaur; they really can’t hide their true self, because they’re prone to oh, bursting into song about what the heck is going on. 

anyway, the answer is “not easy” overall, but it’s not about the other person, it’s about ed’s own experiences. so him being closed off about a lot of things ( except when he also does the ... very expected centaur thing and just heckin dumps everything he’s feeling, sometimes in song format ... ) is just ... it’s not you, it’s him. 

then, there’s the matter of broken trust. and that’s a person to person basis thing. some people, ed will basically decide “oh they never actually broke my trust ahah”, prime example being the woman, who even as the nowhere king, he says he forgives. even smothered in hate and sorrow, he forgives ( even though she’s done nothing wrong; she DIDN’T make him into what he is, he did that to himself by NOT COMMUNICATING ) ... but like ... ok actually she’s the only person he will forgive without question, everyone else ... he just gets really ... withdrawn from, which makes it really hard to mend broken trust. that shit goes both ways, too. but, time and effort and giving him space to process things, and in times where he’s also broken another person’s trust in him, in time he will muster up the courage to try to right his wrongs. 

at his core, edlendír is kind and doesn’t want to harm anyone, and he wants to learn to trust and forgive, but he needs time to grieve and process and also come to terms with his own issues, too.

[lightdevour]

i wanted to mention edlendír's herd! they're a group of druids and they're incredibly chill. they live in a forested area not too different from the area waterbaby lives in. they're one of very few "traditional" herds that lacks their own shaman, hence their defaulting to relying on the tree shaman when it comes to something that would require a shaman.

they're open and accepting and they do let other centaurs from outside the herd live in the community if they need to?? like ok they're not wammawink level on diverse herd, but still.

at its largest, the herd numbers at about 25. they're also not the only elktaur herd by far, because centaurworld is big and so there's plenty of space in general for the various types of centaurs!

they know from the tree shaman what happened to edlendír, and that really saddens them, because he was someone gentle and kind — and they know that if ever he regained his senses, he'd be devastated. so, there's always a space there for him to come back and heal ( they have methods of "soul soothing" ); it's just a question of whether or not he comes back