#And became one of my Grimalkin species

[the-friendly-warden]

I dunno if these guys will eventually get their own blog or not, but I got the idea of a necromancer becoming allies with a warden, then I remembered a character I created in high school, Mezrith, a melanistic deep elf necromancer who was also a vampire and his familiar a white cat he creatively named "Cat". So he's been reborn, and has been adopted into a warden pride.

You can interact with them and ask them questions if you want!

Voryth is actually Zylarath's sire.

Seraphis: Usually fairly lazy, but can be very aggressive and territorial like a normal warden. His colors are more towards greens. He will sometimes try to challenge Ophelion for leadership of the pride, but always fails. The big, powerful old warden can easily kick his ass to the surface and back again any time he tries. This never seems serious, and they always get along just fine after one of these noisy spats

Ophelion: Incredibly old and powerful. Thick in build, tall and muscular. The long bone growths denote his age and power. Ophelion is surprisingly patient, especially with Seraphis. His power is immense. Ophelion can flatten most other wardens simply due to age, experience, and size. His territory is vast and well established, and very healthy. He's a good pride leader, looking after Seraphis and Voryth and keeping them safe. He's sired cubs with both of the smaller wardens, though the pride doesn't have any cubs currently.

Voryth: Fairly chill. They may be where Zylarath got their friendly demeanor from. Voryth does have the natural territorial nature of a warden, but they generally don't really care too much. They leave all that stuff up to Ophelion. They very much look up to the big warden.

Mezrith: A deep elf who grew up in a viciously abusive home, seen as cursed due to a birth mark on his chest (Not shown, he keeps it covered). He was seen as a bane on the family he was born to, and his brother, Triew, was especially nasty to him. He ran away from home and took up studying necromancy when he was around 12 years old. He learned a lot as he grew, but he ended up getting exposed to the blood of a vampire, which caused him to turn. This angered him because it made necromancy MUCH harder. He found notes about wardens, and decided to try to seek out the sculk, to see if he could learn how their sentinels worked. If he could figure out how to harness sculk spores to animate corpses, it would take far less energy and he could get his vengeance. He eventually encountered Ophelion, who sensed that the deep elf was hurting and had been through a lot of pain and strife in his life. The big warden decided to adopt the elf into his pride, despite Mezrith being in the equivalent of his 30's. While he wasn't so sure at first, having a found family that treated him well made him feel a lot better. He ended up deciding against seeking vengeance because he realized it wasn't worth it. His family was cruel and chaotic, they'd have their own downfall given enough time and he would be thriving with his familiar and his new family. He's generally quiet, cranky, is not fond of people at all. He gets along well with the three wardens, though has a special bond with Ophelion.

"Cat": This is not her real name. Cat is a grimalkin, a creature that can be compared to a sort of fae cat. They are shapeshifters, able to take a human form, highly intelligent. They always have split tails and are poly-dactyl. Cat, of course, is not her real name. She posed as a normal cat to give Mezrith comfort when he was with his abusive family, and once he was away from them she revealed her true nature, shaking off the glamour spell that cloaked her. She decided to keep the name "Cat" because she found it amusing just how "creative" Mezrith was at naming. She's spoiled, can be sassy, confident, and not at all afraid of the wardens. Grimalkin are fierce and proud creatures, and incredibly powerful in their own right. She has a special bond with Voryth, often sitting on their shoulder. She is known to sometimes flirt with the warden in her human form, because seeing them get flustered amuses her. She's a bit of a trickster. She loves food.

[kingforevermore]

meta on Evan being half humanfolk, half grimalkin. How he feels about it and how others feel about it. 

Readmore because of length and images. Mentions of prejudice 

As mentioned in my previous meta on Evan’s feelings on his father and Mausinger - I headcanon that Evan is the first halfling to be born into the royal line of Ding Dong Dell. The line has been purely Grimalkin until Evan, who is half humanfolk. This would make him the first King of Ding Dong Dell that wasn’t a Grimalkin had he been able to truly take the throne. Mausinger also falls into this category aswell, being the first and only mouse to ever be on the throne. 

While I also headcanon that Evan grew up spoiled and naive to extent of the prejudice between Cats and Mice, he definitely was aware of the predudice as a whole. If only because his father constantly mentioned it. His father would say that his birth was the mark of change for Ding Dong Dell, he would urge Evan to take a broader look at the citizens - trying not to focus on their species but look at them as just people, just his citizens - all of which he needed to care for when he became ruler.

The relationship between Grimalkins and Humanfolk are on better terms than the Grimalkin’s and Mousekind may ever be. They’ve been living in peace for hundreds of years now.

This being said, his father marrying and having a child with a human was unheard of - and the royal family did get a lot of backlash from it. Mostly from the older folk in Ding Dong Dell, Grimalkins   mostly but also some humans. The only reason the rants and raves died out was because of Evan’s mother dying during childbirth (another headcanon but we can assume this is what happened as his mother is completely out of the picture). 

Pity is the only reason that the discussion died out - in the public eye. There were definitely whispers. Definitely things a child would overhear. Evan knew that there were people in the castle itself that would call him a ‘half blood’ - he would get upset over this but his father would comfort him. Which is why Evan feels so strongly about the whole Mausinger betraying his father deal as explained in my other meta. His father is NOT the kind of person who would judge someone based on their species, and while it took Evan a while he finally started to see this way as well.

It’s because of his father that he is proud of being of two different species. He’s proud to be who and what he is because he is the embodiment of his father’s ideology. It’s something he’s learned to work with and use as an example for others. It’s another reason why he goes out of his way to invite people of all kinds to Evermore - because he wants EVERYONE to live happily ever after. No matter who they are or what species they are. Everyone is welcome in a kingdom where even the King is of multiple species. 

He thought he had gotten over the negative feelings associated with being mixed. As he grew up the whispers started to die out and he thought he was truly over his insecurity. But then the Prince of Wraiths comes into play from the DLC, and he repeats the very phrases Evan overheard as a child. They’re being said to his face - infront of his trusted comrades. He faltered, if only for a moment. If anything the fact that the Prince of the Wraiths calls him a false king gets to him more than the half blood comments - but the fact that it was said to begin with causes a lot of feelings to bubble up to the surface. 

He’s quick to repress these feelings any time they come up. He trusts his father’s words and ideals over some jealous or hateful words of another. This doesn’t mean it doesn’t effect Evan on a normal basis. 

Now for how others feel about it, most in Evan’s inner circle - and in Evermore in general, don’t question it. It’s not seen as odd to them and Evan is thankful for this. Roland of course had some questions, but he is forgiven as he’s not from a world that Grimalkin even exist. Some of the doctors in evermore ask more practical questions, on if Evan knows if he gets sicknesses that both humanfolk and Grimalkin would get, or one over the other, etc. The only one who seemed confused by it was Leander - but keep in mind that Hydropolois was closed off for 300+ years, so the last he had heard of Ding Dong Dell was when the feud between mousekind and grimlakin was at its peak - when only Grimalkin were allowed on the throne. But once he gets caught up to speed in what has happened in the world while he’s been closed off in his own country - he does offer an apology to Evan and expresses condolences for his father’s death.