#Celestial is not Empyrean to me

[mountainashfae]

OC Mannerisms: Aurien Florence

As tagged by @the-raging-tempest in the original template post. Finally getting around to this.

BASICS

- NO. OF SPOKEN LANGUAGES >> Sylvan, Skald, Varisian, Elven, Taldane, Celestial, Mwangi. In that order.

- TONE OF VOICE >> high / average / deep 

- ACCENT >> yes / no  Their roots in Sylvan definitely show up, especially since for most of their life that's what they spoke. RL equivalent of Welsh.

- DEMEANOR >> confident / shy / approachable / hostile / other

- POSTURE >> slumped / straight / stiff / relaxed Whether their posture is stiff or relaxed varies wildly by the context. When they are moving, they are fluid and relaxed. When they are still, they are stiff as ice.

HABITS

head tilting / swaying / fidgeting / stuttering / gesturing / arm crossing / strokes chin / er, um, or other interjections / plays with hair or clothing / hands at hips / inconsistent eye contact / maintains eye contact / frequent pausing / stands close / stands at a distance Their gesturing is a learned habit rather than a subconscious one. Their natural stillness does not fit the image of an approachable cleric they put on, and the conscious gesturing can be picked up by someone paying attention.

COMPLEXITY (Fill in the circle’s as you wish)

- VOCABULARY >> ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️ Picking up Skald and Varisian after Sylvan did good things for their vocabulary. Sometimes they revert back to the smaller vocabulary of Sylvan though.

- EMOTION >> ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️ Aurien wishes they could conceal their emotions better, but their appearance changing with their emotions gives them away.

- SENTENCE STRUCTURE >> ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪

PROFANITY

- FREQUENCY >> ⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️ They learned to use it more often while in the Shackles to fit in among the pirates, and some of that stuck around.

- CREATIVITY (in regards to profanity) >> ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️ The majority of their swears are in the Mwangi language, which is funny to hear up in Mendev.

BOLD THAT APPLY

arse / ass / asshole / bastard / bitch / bloody / bugger / bollocks / chicken shit / crap / cunt / dick / frick / fuck / horseshit / motherfucker / piss / prick / pussy / screw / shit / shitass / son of a bitch / twat / wanker

THIS OR THAT

straightforward or [ cryptic ] finding the right word or [ using the first word that comes to mind ] masculinity, [ neutrality ], or femininity [ formalities ] or with abrasiveness praise or [ equivocation ] frankness or [ flattery ] excessive or [ minimal hand gestures ] name-calling or [ magnanimity ] [ friendly ] or blunt

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

DO PEOPLE HAVE A HARD TIME HEARING OR UNDERSTANDING YOUR CHARACTER? almost always / frequently / rarely / never

DOES YOUR CHARACTER’S POINT COME ACROSS EASILY WHEN THEY SPEAK?  almost always / frequently / sometimes / rarely / never sometimes they purposefully obscure the meaning

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER INITIATE CONVERSATIONS? almost always / frequently / sometimes / never

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER BE THE ONE TO END CONVERSATIONS? almost always / frequently / sometimes / rarely / never

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER USE ‘WHOM’ IN A SENTENCE? yes / no / only ironically

YOUR CHARACTER WANTS TO MAKE A COUNTERPOINT. WHAT WORD DO THEY USE? but / though / although / however / perhaps / maybe

HOW DOES YOUR CHARACTER END CONVERSATIONS? walk away / ask if that’s everything / say that’s everything / give a proper goodbye / tell their company they're done here / remain quiet / they don’t

WHAT SOCIAL CLASS WOULD OTHERS ASSUME YOUR CHARACTER BELONGS TO, HEARING THEM SPEAK? upper / middle / lower

IN WHAT WAYS DOES THE WAY YOUR CHARACTER SPEAK STAND OUT TO OTHERS? accent  / vocabulary / tone / level / politeness / brusqueness / it doesn’t

Anything that wasn’t touched on?

Rotgut has a weird combination of Aurien's accent in Taldane and a Mwangi accent because that's a familiar. That's a sentient bird with a higher INT stat than Aurien. His "native" humanoid language is Mwangi because he's from the fucking Shackles and had to learn Taldane from Aurien.

Yes Rotgut and Aurien frequently bicker in Mwangi

Aurien very frequently avoids answering questions by giving answers around the question but avoiding the core of the question. Even when they're trying to be honest they end up doing this.

The tone and pitch of their voice changes slightly along with their emotions and appearance. Higher pitch with spring, silky smooth with autumn, slightly huskier with summer, and low and cold with winter.

[diona-98]

Rottmnt leo aus!

Time to tag the people 💀

(If you guys can't find your leo, just send me an ask then i will screen shot it for you!)

KL (Kid Leo): @angelpuns

EW (Empyrean Weeping): @cupcakeslushie

LS (Little Subject): @allyheart707

LM: SMB (Life Mission: Save My Brothers): @daedelweiss

TD (Tentative Devotee): @s0fti3w1tch

SL (Separated Leo): @dianagj-art

Gemini: @tangledinink

2AL (2 Arms Left): @intotheelliwoods

CAS (Cass Apocalyptic Series): @somerandomdudelmao

TMNT 04: @koolaidashley

Hidden Hero: @egg04

TN (The Night): @y0unginhumans

RR (Red Rover): @theserpentsnight

BS (Battle Scars): @kaysdenofchaos

EMD (Even More of a Disaster): @teaableu/@3lectricinsomnia

Totpocalypse: @pastadorable

TMNT Double or Nothing: @mobiitez

Addams! TMNT: @lackablazeical

NFOE (New Friends Old Enemies): @sunydays

Mertles: @qquewpp

The Kendra Childhood: @zeawesomeness

Unnamed Separated : @v-albion (lol, i know it doesnt have a name yet but still want to include it)

Wretched Little Pests: @abbeyofcyn/@noxvee6/@spacemimz

The 4 Servents: @angelosorangebandana

Cowboy leo: @rufwoof (idk if this is an actual AU but still want to include cowboy leo cuz i love him)

TMNT aberration: @probably-not-a-rutabaga

Celestial: @ashwii

Villainous Brothers: @signanothername

Mutant Manhunt: @baskeigh-ball

Is This Right?: @cruilty-ink (ink, im sorry but i accidentally drew him curse, i tried man 😭)

Battle Racing: @apollo-not-in-space

TMNT Redline: @0ddbugs/@coffinpal

ANLFM (A Ninjas Life For Me): @triona-tribblescore

[d3m0l1t10n-lvrs]

☀️🌙DCA AU nominations!☀️🌙

Note:If you do not want your AU to be in the DCA awards, please tell me so I can exclude them when I make the polls!

Polls will start tomorrow!

Inkdrop Literature by @d3m0l1t10n-lvrs (me!)

Candyland AU by @garbagechocolate

Fever Dream AU by @cero-sleep

Star Holder AU by @justaduckarts

Club AU by @spicymoonmenace

Celestial Merfolk by @bloo-the-dragon

Cowboy AU by @castercassette

Cherub AU by @starrspice

Accidentally undercover by @lavenoon

Merpirate au by @neonlazycat

Greatest Showman AU by @laurzzz

Biting the Hand that feeds by @xitsensunmoon

Crystal AU by @kandidandi

God AU by @empyrean-decay-god-dca @lab-labrava

Beings made of stardust AU by @maudiemoods

Familiar AU by @naffeclipse

Illusion of choice by @cero-sleep

Tumblr AU by @little-sw33tie

Deorum Reliquiae by @little-sw33tie

Hospitalized au by @bilolli

Fluffbear au by @bones-of-a-rabbit

Fairy au by @ayyy-imma-ninja

Lion King AU by @celticwolfie

Automation au by @betweenblackberrybranches

Dad au by @wakkodoodle

Kelpie au by @intistone

Hollow Knight AU by @intistone

[dartagnantt]

Lightspawn | Misguided Hostile Celestials

PDFs of this and more can be found over on at my Patreon here! I release everything for free, so your support makes this possible. I'm working on a new class for 5e and the Kickstarter is live! Support it here! I've also started making a new system based off of 5e, 6th Dawn! Become a patron and join the playtest.

Playing a bit loose with the theme here. Although these celestials can fly, so it's not that bad of an abuse. But the term applied to celestials 'empyrean' means 'of highest heaven' which sounds like it was born of the air to me :P

But yeah, this is the realisation of a desire for an 'evil' celestial. But because angels and the like tend to stop being angels and celestials if they turn evil, I had to interpret this differently. So instead, I went with a misguided celestial. Or for those who remember my cultist background might recall that one option for your cult was a 'rogue celestial' which could be interpreted in several ways but this is certainly one.

And now to plug my stuff. I release homebrews weekly over on my Patreon. Anyone who pledges $1 or more per post don't have to wait a month to see them, and also help fund my being alive habit.

At the moment, they have exclusive access to the following:

Aasimar Reborn

Harpies take Flight

Elemental Versatility

A Sense of Pride and Accomplishment

I also have three classes, and a splatbook over on DriveThrueRPG to check out:

The Rift Binder. A class specialising in summoning monsters and controlling the battlefield.

The Witch Knight. A class that combines swords and sorcery in the most literal way.

The Werebeast. A class that turns you into a half beast to destroy your foes.

d'Artagnan's Adventurer Almanac. A compendium of races, subclasses, feats, spells, monsters and more!

[miirshroom]

Test for Echo, Freud, and Elden Ring (Shadow of the Erdtree)

Thinking about how not all examples of fantasy stories come from books or film, sometimes they are found in song. Thinking about the lyricism of Canadian Progressive Rock band Rush.

If it wasn't obvious - the Shadowlands is a Freudian nightmare. The surrealism of Salvadore Dali was heavily influenced by Freudian psychoanalysis and the cocoon of the empyrean is staged to resemble Dali's work Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man.

Recently released Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon directly has an AC pilot named "Freud" whose emblem is a hand emerging from shadow holding a key (AC unit called "Locksmith").

And as it turns out, Neil Peart - lyricist for Rush - also was drawing inspirations from Freud while writing songs for Test for Echo (1996).

"I've always been curious about all religions, and the Totem idea came from the Freud book 'Totem And Taboo', which I ran across at the Chalet studio where we were working just in the bookshelf in the living room. I had been kind of rediscovering Freud by way of Jung and getting to understand the really deep stuff he was dealing with as opposed to some of the pop psychology that we were fed growing up, and I thought Totem And Taboo was such a beautiful title because it's what we fear and what we worship. Totem being what we worship and Taboo being what we fear. What a beautiful, embracing metaphor. At one time, the song Resist was called 'Taboo' because I wanted to have the two little set pieces of what we fear, and in 'Totem' I was just trying to appropriate all religions because that's what I found looking around at different religions and different systems, is that they all have something good. So I thought why not have them all? The 'Buddha smile' is a nice thing, and I'd like to have 12 Apostles...it's all great. It was really just a kind of tongue and cheek, all the good things of different religions." Neil Peart, Jam! Showbiz, October 16, 1996

The lyrics to the songs can be found here: https://www.rush.com/albums/test-for-echo/

It's a fantasy that people of all religions and esoteric beliefs would get together to craft their perfect god to fear and worship. Fortunately, Elden Ring is a fantasy. From the song "Totem", how many of the faith systems here can you spot represented somewhere in the game?:

I’ve got twelve disciples and a Buddha smile The Garden of Allah – Viking Valhalla A miracle once in a while I’ve got a pantheon of animals in a pagan soul Vishnu and Gaia – Aztec and Maya Dance around my totem pole I believe in what I see I believe in what I hear I believe that what I’m feeling Changes how the world appears Angels and demons dancing in my head Lunatics and monsters underneath my bed Media messiahs preying on my fears Pop culture prophets playing in my ears I’ve got celestial mechanics To synchronize my stars Seasonal migrations – daily variations World of the unlikely and bizarre I’ve got idols and icons, unspoken holy vows Thoughts to keep well-hidden – sacred and forbidden Free to browse among the holy cows That’s why I believe Angels and demons inside of me Saviors and Satans all around me Sweet chariot, swing low, coming for me

And then there's Resist, which has some Miquellian themes:

I can learn to resist Anything but temptation I can learn to co-exist With anything but pain I can learn to compromise Anything but my desires I can learn to get along With all the things I can’t explain I can learn to resist Anything but frustration I can learn to persist With anything but aiming low I can learn to close my eyes To anything but injustice I can learn to get along With all the things I don’t know

But neither of these songs were the tip off for why I thought to look more closely at this album. It was the Crucible Knights and Bloodhound Knights. They've always had the odd quirk of being named for geological periods. That's a lyric from the song Dog Years:

I’d rather be a tortoise from Galapagos Or a span of geological time Than be living in these dog years

Ironic that the tortoises in Elden Ring have no text option allowing them to be labelled appropriately, so the community has decreed them "dog".

There are other songs from this album that I can see represented in Elden Ring. The title song Test for Echo is about how people yearn for connection, but what the mass media landscape delivers is sensationalism and acts of violence around the world. In 30 years this hasn't really improved. A picture of an inunnguaq was selected for the album cover from fascination for the way that the simple stone structure provides evidence of the existence of other humans having travelled before through a desolate landscape. And as I have mentioned before, Radagon's story has hints of Narcissus and Echo.

This is bookended by the final song on the album Carve Away the Stone. The song suggests that like the Greek Sisyphus, all people are eternally rolling their own stones up a hill in the form of emotional baggage or other trauma. But people aren't static like a character from a story - they don't need to carry that weight forever. If you have the opportunity to shape your own destiny, why not take it? This would be related to the way that both Marika and Radagon appear to be carved of stone.

There's also the largely instrumental song that is second to last on the album and titled Limbo. It's implied to be vampire themed by one of the few vocal cut-ins being in a goofy vampire voice ("Whatever happened to my Transylvania twist?"). So like, Messmer the Impaler in the limbo-coded Shadowlands. His allusions to vampirism firstly being an epithet invoking Vlad the Impaler and also he has only false/closed eyes so he can't self reflect (one of the superstitions of vampires being that their reflection won't show up in a mirror because the mirrors in those days were polished silver). The archetype of the vampire in the Shadow is Jungian stuff and like I said - Neil Peart was thinking about depth psychology while writing this album.

For the rest of the songs the potential connections are more vague ("Time and motion / Flesh and blood and fire / Lives connect in webs of gold and razor wire" - Time and Motion) ("Gravity and distance / Change the passage of light / Gravity and distance / Change the color of right" - The Color of Right).

This isn't the only Rush album that I find possibly to have had some influence on the Radagon/Miquella/Mohg portion of Elden Ring. There's also the album 2112 (1976) back in Rush's earlier fantasy/sci-fi era, which introduces the Priests of the Temples of Syrinx - a kind of thought police represented by a red star - and mentions twin moons being in the sky. It was Rush's breakthrough album in America, followed the next year by A Farewell to Kings (1977), for which the notable songs include A Farewell to Kings, Xanadu, and Closer to the Heart. Also the album cover shows a puppet king slumped on a throne in front of a crumbling building. But again like with Test for Echo, one could imagine how all songs on the album might be combined to create an overall sense of time period.

I'm not making a case for FromSoft promoting Freudian pseudopsychology, for the record. All this psychoanalysis stuff is in the Shadowlands and nobody in the Lands Between cares about what's in the Shadowlands. It's in the past, dead and buried. You can no more decide the course of the future by replicating the past than you can create a sustainable global economy by learning economics through playing Elden Ring.

[katyspersonal]

Some more SOTE adventures! (Yes no work today)

1) I wasn't really sure what to do with myself for now since I prefer to meticulously explore corners of the map instead of going the 'straight road' (that's how I only got to Rellana later), so I went back to my sorry attempts to get down to that village-looking place down in Scadu Altus! And succeeded! Turned out it WAS the place that revealed more of Marika's backstory :') Bonny Vilage, where the potting is done!

(Also be careful if you are selling duplicates, it looks EXACTLY like Anastasia's butchering knife! Makes sense since both exist for the same purpose)

^ This weapon is found in a secluded building literally named Whipping Hut, also near the ghost that reveals the reasoning. I guess everyone and their dogs already got informed on the twist that the shamans stuffed in jars by Hornsent to become "divine" were Marika's village people, so I won't dwell on this. Also I assume the poison in question is that of giant scorpions since they're found in Belurat and close to this village? Old woman in Belurat also gives you scorpion stew if you speak with her wearing Lion Dancer's mask after reloading the area 🤔

2) There is shed snake skin in this place!!!

Really interesting 👀 It was also near a headless statue and I picked 'O, Mother' gesture from it

3) Cleaned the gaol associated with this area too! The boss was one of the "awful posture guys".. that turned out to be an awful posture girl x)

Yes, this boss interestingly was casting darkness all over the area, which is not something this type of enemy does! However, Lamenter also was using darkness if I remember correctly, and his mask says that the Hornsent were scared of this transformation and hid it away 🤔 This reminds me of those Omen Twins fought on the way to the Divine Tower of Morgott and Mohg, who were casting darkness. Basically I start to get a picture that there were things about Hornsent nature that even themselves were scared of! (Scared of the dark? Gwyn approves XDDDD) Just going to put a pin on that for later!

Also they better explain who the heck Labirith is later :/

4) More about this

Yes, I've finally finished grinding the full sets of both Horned Knights and Curseblades! Both sets include the bit about effects of the flasks lessening due to being nauseating! It is pretty clear by now that the Hornsent who currently exist don't know why Marika's people (her most loyal son more like) exterminated them, however their hatred and pain carries even onto their armors.

Have the Hornsent forgotten their history? But isn't the old woman in Belurat an Empyrean too? Would not she be old enough to remember why? Could the carried plot to butcher and """ascend""" the shamans have been not a common knowledge but only a doing of one like, cult within Hornsent? And yet the vengeance came for EVERYONE... Or Maybe Marika/Messmer never revealed who EXACTLY came after their kind for vengeance? Tea? (I'm gonna pick "cult" option for now.....)

5) SPEAKING OF OLD WOMEN,

I did not expect more Miriam info of all people!! @val-of-the-north you seeing this????Makes sense we found it in this building!

6) Yeeeeees I've met him when I went on another path from Bonny Village!

His hat resembles the statue we use to turn that Carian tower upside-down, where we fight Miriam again and in which we get to Ranni's quest secret place! And also unreal amount of wolves on the way to him and in his residence, who are carian symbol. So yeah this guy is 100% Carian!

7) He gave me a map and I'll need some time to figure out where the location is.. I could not use a simple map to save my life, just full topographic cretinism as usual!

8) This item is interesting though, as well as how his mansion is called Manus Metiyr! Manus means hand!

And there are giant fingerprints full of fingers on the overworld map, and those Fingercreepers, and Ranni's place had Cathedral of Manus Celes (celestial hand)...... things are starting to piece together 👀

9) Another mention-only character we will never see? :p Some engineer that created a gun that shoots magic!

That's it for now since I have to go.. But yes, now I am SUPER willing to know the deal with giant celestial fingers having once grabbed this land hfhgfhgh

[loneberry]

EARTH IS THE EMPYREAN

Three versions of "A Celestial Maiden's Song" (Japanese version, English version, choral version) from the Japanese animated film The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.

In the film, a maiden on the moon looks longingly at Earth in the distance and sings about what she misses--the birds, the bugs, the beasts, the flowers. The moon is gray, but the earth gleams blue with aliveness. The cold, celestial perfection of space is contrasted with the jagged, whirling fecundity of Earth, with its sorrows and joys.

The song of the maiden--it is a song of earth. I have been trying to write an essay about Earth as the empyrean, using William Shatner’s commentary on his trip to space as the point of departure:

“In the film ‘Contact,’ when Jodie Foster’s character goes to space and looks out into the heavens, she lets out an astonished whisper, ‘They should’ve sent a poet.’ I had a different experience, because I discovered that the beauty isn’t out there, it’s down here, with all of us. Leaving that behind made my connection to our tiny planet even more profound.”

If anything like an argument could be gleaned from the Collected Graces book I'm working on, it's an argument in favor of earthly grace, of a view of the created world as suffuse with God. (Hence, my interest in Sufi metaphysics.)

From my essay:

Grace, partly due to the influence of Neoplatonism on early Christian thought, has long been represented as a process of being ��drawn upward,” of ascending toward God, toward the plane of the “good” that towers over the created world below. Grace is a supernatural force that lifts one toward the divine good; it is the leverage point that Archimedes sought to hoist the world upward, infinitesimally small but enormous in the movement it makes possible. Grace is figured as a bridge between the transcendent plane and the earthly plane, between humans and God. Yet, rather than seeing grace as a bridge from the “city of Earth” to the “city of God,” from the created world to the uncreated (transcendent) realm, what if we recalibrated grace’s directionality, embracing a grace that moves from Earth to God and back to Earth: a bridge to nowhere.

*

English lyrics of "A Celestial Maiden's Song":

Go round, go round, go round, Waterwheel, go round

Go round, and call Mr. Sun

Go round, and call Mr. Sun

Birds, bugs, beasts, grass, trees, flowers

Spring and summer, autumn, winter, bring them all on

Spring and summer, autumn, winter, bring them all on

Go round, come round distant time, come round, O distant time

Come round, call back my heart

Come round, call back my heart

Birds, bugs, beasts, grass, trees, flowers

Teach people how to feel

If I hear that you pine for me

I will return to you.

[muralikesgames]

Thoughts on DD2 Maister Skills on Pawns

I really love the skills themselves, but I wish they would use them more sparingly and situationally. Inclination doesn't seem to affect their times of use, as they'll still choose to spam them or use them first despite better options available in their current kit.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the Pawn shenanigans coming from their comical AI. This also never stopped me from hiring said pawns because I would adjust myself around them. Still, I think it deserves some criticism.

⬇️Breakdown of my criticism⬇️

Celestial Paean (Mage): They would use it against a bunch of Phantoms even though a single High Empyrean would clear them immediately. I adore this spell and will never remove it from my mage because it's so good for spamming Wild Furie, but I just want the priority to be switched.

Riotus Fury (Fighter): They would unleash it on a single goblin that could have died in a simple sword swipe. Amazing in bosses and minibosses though.

Heavenly Shot (Archer): See above. Even worse if they miss their target.

Arc of Might (Warrior): See above. Funny enough, that has saved me a few times from a Dullahan grab, but that could still be done after some AI tweaks.

Meteoron & Maelstrom (Sorcerer): See above. Adding to that, they have a habit of canceling their cast if their target is killed.

Formless Feint (Thief): The only Maister skill without an active detriment due to bad AI. Perfect as-is.

⬇️Suggestions⬇️

Bring back pawn knowledge for non-boss enemies. I believe this may have played a part because I don't remember DD1 pawns doing such things as much.

Normal attacks and non-maister skills should be prioritized depending on enemy type, number and their health. Prevent them from using on smaller enemies like goblins and choppers unless they're a certain number of them.

All of these conditionals are technically in the game already, as Pawns can determine flying/grounded/specific enemies to use certain attacks, especially with Pawn badges changing their behavior.

Group and encounter difficulty conditions should technically exist too, as the dynamic OST changes depending on that. For example, Garm + small enemies encounter in Ancient Chambers will always play the Danger variant of the combat song (I'm lvl 99 and it still does). Perhaps this could be applied on Pawns to determine certain actions.

[blaiddfailcam]

Been thinking entirely too much about Sellen's dialogue regarding gold and glintstone.

"Glintstone is the amber of the cosmos. Golden amber contains the remnants of ancient life and houses its vitality, while Glintstone contains residual life. And thus, the vitality of the stars. It should not be forgotten that glintstone sorcery is the study of the stars and the life therein."

The distinction always intrigued me for how she attributes gold to vitality, whereas glintstone is "residual," hence the stone bodies of celestial beings. However, there's perhaps something to be said about her use of the word "ancient."

What if gold pertains to the past, whereas glintstone and the stars foretell the future?

Golden Order Fundamentalism was conceived to delve into the existing Golden Order, ascertaining the root of causality, while refraining from the risk of regression, the law that life seeks eternally to return to singularity. The Fundamentalists essentially follow the causal chain backwards to try and rationalize the Greater Will, and to preserve ancient traditions in perpetuity while pruning back any histories that could be deemed a sign of weakness—"for the perfection of the Golden Order." The foundation of Order itself is the "Elden Ring," which requires an "Elden Lord" to sit upon an "Elden Throne" to instill their vision. It'a an obsession with nostalgia.

Meanwhile, glintstone and the primeval current that bore it seem to pertain to visions of the inevitable, heartless annihilation of life. All of the astrologers who peered into the abyss were stricken by fear; the Eternal City was swallowed by despair made manifest in the form of Astel. Moreover, instead of pursuing a cycle of reabsorption into the Erdtree, the most obsessive of the glintstone scholars, the Graven School, fashion themselves into seeds of stars to be carried into an uncertain future. (Their primal glintstones, into which they pour their souls, even depict a fetus gestating at their core).

Essentially, the fate foretold by "golden amber" represents the past and its discernible, calculated effects on the living, whereas the fate of the stars is predicated on an unknowable destiny.

In fact, I feel like this could help explain just how Great Runes work, and why they appear to have been assigned to Demigods prior to the Shattering. Each Great Rune already existed as a piece of the summative Elden Ring, and each child of Marika/Radagon was born with the intention of fully activating the Elden Ring—by producing worthy heirs for its various aspects. Perhaps this could even explain how Radagon was able to gift Rennala a Great Rune long before the Shattering, even if it is indeed regarded a shard of the Elden Ring.

Of course, Ranni kind of threw a wrench in this whole plan. Her vision as an Empyrean was to usher the Age of the Stars, propelling the Lands Between into an uncertain future.

"To upend the whole of it, and rid the world of all that came before."

She rejected the Great Rune she was assigned (probably prior to the Night of the Black Knives), and slew one of Marika's chosen children, Godwyn the Golden, the firstborn of the Golden Lineage. Not only, his death brought the long forbidden Rune of Death back into the Lands Between, the primary sin that was sealed in a futile attempt to create Marika's eternal Age of the Erdtree. Despite her attempts to fulfill the Greater Will's destiny through the Elden Ring, the future still could not be swayed...

Will think more on this in days 2 come

[memoirs-of-a-sapphic]

12-15-23

Astronomy- the study of you

When I was a kid, perhaps twelve,  I learned astronomy; and oh, How my mind always dwelled On black holes and galaxies. Woe! My Roman empire, a hell, The things I'd never know.

I learned all the terminology- Stars, planets, moons, rings - I yearned for all the knowledge, For all of the forbidden things. But we keep them in the colleges - Behind a paywall, basically.

I longed to travel across the stars - Dwarves, comets, asteroids,  Red giants and white dwarves, Nebulae and meteors,  Black holes, beaming pulsars, Dark matter and quasars.

But all for naught, I had accepted I would never see these things. But then something unexpected,  Something I hadn't foreseen Happened when you, undetected,  Showed up and intervened.

You showed me a love so freeing - So beautiful and new- And, in your presence, your being, I suddenly saw anew - The sights I'd dreamed of seeing, I saw them all in you.

Stars dim when you smile, A sight so joyous to behold. Eyes beautiful like nebulae Of warm amber and gold. In your arms, I feel the sun Whose warmth you somehow stole.

Synesthesia, such and such, You trace lines along my back And I see galaxies in your touch. And I can't really keep track, But I do know this much- It's never just pure black.

Freckles on your skin - Stars and constellations - I trace along your arms Your scars, like comets, in rotation. I hold you close, can't let go - Can't handle separation. 

One night, before I slept, you said I'm the stars in your inky abyss. Truth be told that, to me, You are the entire universe; Painting celestial wonders With every touch, hug, and kiss.

And stars are in your blood,  Running through your veins. Galaxies are in your cells,  That which life sustains, Held together by the threads Of empyrean remains. 

I'd spent years fantasizing about life. What would it be like, to know All the secrets of the light, All the things we can't show? Exploring all of what's outside, All the things that glow.

Sitting here, reminiscent, Remembering what I used to do. And now I've found a secret, The final solving clue - Astronomy isn't just space, my love, Astronomy is the study of you.

-OvV-

Starting off strong with one of my favorite poems I've ever written.

aaaa

[thyunalloyed]

❛ the night is ever dark. i need the stars ... give me light. ❜

🇸​🇭​🇦​🇩​🇴​🇼​ 🇴​🇫​ 🇹​🇭​🇪​ 🇪​🇷​🇩​🇹​🇷​🇪​🇪​ 🇸​🇹​🇦​🇷​🇹​🇪​🇷​🇸 ​ - ACCEPTING.

❝ YOU HAVE LIVED IN DARKNESS for such time, poor creature. But look - the night is still alight with life. ❞

Miquella's white robe spills like a curtain from the steed upon which he rides, sidesaddle with his hands resting on his lap demurely. Tamriel is a place of beauty, splendor, and sin, each in equal measure. Glimmering auroras beat upon the planet from high in the stratosphere, the shimmering bodies of the divines represented in the dark curtain.

This night is vast and full of wonders! Let there be no mourning, no sorrowing; sorrowing is a thing that is swallowed up in love, and Miquella has long done away with trifles like that. And still, Miraak has asked a boon. Miquella grants it ; a murmuring incantation leaves him, following on its heels orbs of light like a crown of stars circling the Empyrean's head. Light. Blessed, pure light.

❝ Tell me of these stars, for they are unfamiliar to me. Please, ❞ Asks the Empyrean, waver of his voice melodic in its susurrance. These are alien constellations, a night sky that ne'er has he seen. ❝ Tell me of the constellations and the movements of the celestial bodies. Many earthly things might change in time, Miraak, but the stars are fixed and unmoving. ❞

A kindly hand brushes his sol aurum crown upon his head, the circlet of rareified light and quicksilver. Miquella thinks of his sinful, fallen world, and in him a resolve tightens against his diaphragm. The breath of his soul exhales as silvery mist in the cold.

[goddessrisen]

     for a goddess so revered by her disciples, the primordial being was not familiar with gentle emotions. she understood their fear and lust toward her. for how could such basic creatures be expected to do anything else? but the gentle, nigh reverent touch from the empyrean valkyrie? none had prompted such a visceral reaction as she. breath caught within her chest as emotion flared in response, confusion warred with desire. large, calloused hands, hours of intense training and skill evident, grasped her delicate one within. liquid silver glimmered with amusement as the valkyrie lifted the small hand, a reverent kiss pressed to the slender knuckles before a thumb traced the tingling sensation left behind. dark lashes partially obscured brilliant amber as the celestial sharply inhaled, plush lips parting as she studied the other.

  soft gestures + 18 / from verona! @strywoven

     " such dangerous games you play, dearest one. what is one to think when such soft affection is levied upon me? "   quiet, teasing laughter escaped as a breathless laugh as the goddess slowly tugged her hand free. manicured fingers grasped golden tresses, tugging at the roots as she encroached on the other's space. lips but a breath away as amber eyes locked with silver, a silent question held within.

soft gestures || accepting

[carcass-confessions]

i realized i never actually introduced my Main main arcane odyssey character. so heres Sasha Lionheardt (formerly known as Sasha Calding), theyre an ash warlock (formerly an ash/magma mage).

they are the leader (Celestial Cartographer) of the clan Stella Nautae, which is a group of adventurers dedicated to finding treasure, secrets, and aiding fellow sailors in ensuring safe travels. the clan tagline is Ut thesaurizare ab astris.

and this is sasha next to their second in command, Wendell Blaire, a tourmaline/glass paladin and Empyrean Navigator of Stella Nautae

ive had sasha since WoM, love them very much <3 even if they once were a criminal back when ash magic was first released on wom and i went crazy killing npcs. this character turned into a test for myself to try Not Committing Crimes and so far its been going well, but since theyre a severe glass cannon (125 power with 0 defense dont judge me i have no jewelcrafting stats on them) bounty hunting is hard so my current fame is only 75k.

this is me ship, the Curse of the Rose Dragon <3

also bonus, the fish tank, the sleeper shark is Chum, the jellyfish is Bethany, and the basking sharks are currently unnamed but rest assured i will give them twin names EVENTUALLY

[safrona-shadowsun]

💼

Send me   ‘ 💼 ‘   to hear a rumor about my muse from someone who works for / with them.

Rosselyn froze like a deer in the mechanohog headlights as she was set with the prying question, just as the celestial chimes rung her exit from the entrance of Empyrean Star Trades. "Rumors? Uhh..." the woman lingered on a nervous chuckle, tightening her grip on the leather portfolio held against her chest. "I dunno. I-I mean uhm. I don't really work a whole lot with Lady Shadowsun. She's...business, mostly. I mean Miss Wenne's more like t'chat about things and...well?"

Her rambling train of thought seemed to stop there, more uncomfortable by each passing second as she recalled snippets of conversation held between the sisters, conversation and words she often found herself catching in passing when none paid the unassuming like her attention. It was frank on Rose's face that she had heard much, but that she was not one comfortable sharing any of it as gossip. Especially gossip that could potentially make her lose a consistent job as a designer that she rather liked.

Rose shrugged into what would seem to be an apologetic decline, but she suddenly drew on a very basic observance. "Orchids!" The artist blurted out without much initial context, and then wet her lips to find words that actually supported sense. "Uh, I mean, she said she likes orchids? Didn't...really see she had some in the office though so I...uh, got her a little potted starter couple've Winter's Veils ago. She...she seemed t'really like them, but... I noticed she doesn't have it in the office anymore and didn't really mention it again. So I dunno if it's really true. Sometimes people just try to fill the air with words to get through a bad day, or they're kind of bad with flowers so..."

Rosselyn straightened as she reflected quickly on what her words could have sounded like. "I mean! Not that Lady Shadowsun is like that! She's really, you know. Punctual? ...Smart. And nice. And dependable, like all her couriers!"

Rose made a little waving motion of farewell, indicating she was quite done trying to navigate the social jungle.

{ @asharinhun , referencing @thefirstperished }

[thesnadger]

We're building a dnd character together.

Thank you tumblr for giving me reason to look up some of the Weirder celestial patrons.

[katyspersonal]

I think I like Zullie's theory more now! Yeah I am convinced. It is still hinted enough that Frenzy and Grace are two sides of the same coin (literal Chaos and Order) but given there is an actual figure representing opposites who happens to fold two fingers on one hand and three on another and the multi-armed horrors.. as well as them not matching... (It also reminded me of how Astel's front hands have 6 fingers but second row has 4 fingers! Fingers are also related to cosmos, so this might be a reflection of how the even higher plane beings that nobody saw yet work!)

It IS interesting how Three Fingers are so much smaller than regular Two Fingers, and Ranni's Two Fingers are much bigger, though 🤔 It could mean that whoever a deity the 'celestial hands' come from is not a singular.. But maybe it simply is/was multi-handed, and some hands are bigger than others? Bigger Three-Fingered Hand would mean appointing an Empyrean to destroy everything

@val-of-the-north