#Grim is a grimalkin

[winterspellsfrozenkit]

Twisted Wonderland's Grim is a Grimalkin.

Okay TWST fandom, so today I was chatting away with another friend who plays TWST explaining that it's highly likely that Crowley summoned us due to the opening you get when you first start the game and she asked why he'd do that. And I said this without thinking:

Once I said that, it hit me: GRIM IS NOT NAMED FOR GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES, HE'S A GRIMALKIN.

Let me explain! (This is a long post, you've been forewarned. There is a TLDR at the bottom if you need it.)

So I like reading fairy tale books, retellings, etc., and I learned a long time ago during my high school hyperfixation on reading faery based YA readings about Grimalkins. What are Grimalkins?

Grimalkin (Also spelled Greymalkin) is an archaic term that was often used to describe cats; particularly haggard, female cats. Grimalkin, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, likely comes from compounding the words "Grey" and "Malkin". "Malkin" is a term with several meanings including: a low-class woman, a weakling, an untidy slovenly woman. It's also used to describe cats and hares.

Grimalkins were listed in Scottish legends as a faery cat that dwelt in the highlands, but during the 16th Century witch trials, cats became associated with the devil and witchcraft. Women on trial in Scotland were frequently accused of having a familiar, a ‘demon in disguise’, which was often a Grimalkin. One example of Grimalkins being tied to witchcraft and the devil at the time is William Shakespeare's play MacBeth, which shows the Three Witches who foretell Macbeth's future as having a cat familiar named Grimalkin. They're also in Louis Le Breton's Dictionnaire Infernal, which is a book on demonology.

So how does this relate to Grim?

Grim's design is heavily influenced by common media portrayals of the Devil with a pitchfork tail and fiery pointed ears that can look like horns at times.

One reason that fire is blue like Hades, Idia, and Ortho's hair is because thanks to the Pop Culture understanding of Christianity, people heard Hades and thought to equivocate him to Satan which is why he's the bad guy in the Disney movie, Hercules, when in the original myth, Hera is the one antagonizing Heracles.

Also, most of the fandom believes this creature in the pre Prologue scene when you first start the game, is Grim.

Just saying this looks a lot like different representations of devils and demons.

Note the human hands and clawed feet on this statue of Pazuzu.

And the incorporation of animal traits blended with humans

This is some concept art for Bald Mountain in Fantasia and I can see leathery wings like a dragon/bat, one has a snakey tail, and some have those human-like hands, but clawed feet.

As stated earlier, Grimalkins are tied heavily to devils and witchcraft and TWST tends to push this at us. For Halloween, while all the Dorms have different monsters such as mummies, ghost pirates, headless horsemen, but Ramshackle's Halloween outfit is this:

Not only that, but when we wake up, this is what Crowley says to us about Grim, when he finds us in the library after Grim cornered us, trying to get our robes:

Again, the most common familiar that people accused of witchcraft were said to have was a Grimalkin. A demon cat. This also ties into why we and Grim are put in Ramshackle Dorm.

Now, as some know, Ramshackle Dorm is based on the Haunted Mansion. But the Haunted Mansion had a specific haunt that was cut before the ride came out: The One-eyed Black Cat.

Now, if you don't know this cat, it's okay. He was cut before the ride came out. To sum up, X Atencio, the Imagineer who came up with the basic story ideas and the script for the rides of Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean, had many drafts of the Haunted Mansion's story. One of these cut drafts had a distinct villain character: The One-Eyed Black Cat.

Now, people might argue the Bride/Constance Hatchaway is the villain of the Haunted Mansion, but the One-Eyed Black Cat was different. In that draft, the Ghost Host would warn guests about the One-Eyed Black Cat and the One-Eyed Black Cat was specifically trying to attack/get the guests on the ride and detested mortals, especially happy ones. Guests would've seen signs of the cat throughout the ride as if he was stalking them (Think something akin to the little glimpses of Catnap as he stalks the player throughout Poppy Playtime Chapter 3). At the end of the ride, they would've faced the cat, who's face would turn into some form of human-esque skull like head.

Now the cat made it pretty far before he was cut, because we do have surviving sound outtakes of Paul Frees, the voice of the Ghost Host, saying "Except for that unnatural and dreadful one-eyed black cat" which implies he's not one of the 999 happy haunts, but something truly evil, like a demon.

Now, One-Eyed Black Cat's not mentioned in the Haunted Mansion ride, and there's an idea that his role was passed over to the Raven, another cut antagonistic character who would haunt the rider specifically, but was less unnatural than the cat, but the more likely reason is both the raven and the cat were cut due to the ride changing from story driven to an atmospheric ride. However, nowadays, you can find the One-Eyed Black Cat on the Composer's Crypt in Walt Disney World and as a statue in Disneyland's Haunted Mansion (Funnily enough, during the Haunted Mansion Holiday, the cat statue gets a black and white pinstripe bow...).

Now, this may be reaching, but Grim chasing the player throughout the school, trying to steal their robes because he wasn't allowed to attend NRC, feels like a reference to this possibly demonic cut cat character. Also, his smirk face does make one of his eyes look smaller than the other, kind of like the image on the Composer Crypt.

Anyways, back to Grimalkins. So besides being tied to the devil and witchcraft, Grimalkins were also known as Scottish faery cats. Why does this matter? May I draw your attention to these moments from Book 6 and Book 7?

(Warning minor spoilers)

Idia discussing what Grim is.

Idia and Ortho describing powerful magic cast on Grim.

And from Book 7 Chapter 106

Soi in Book 6, Idia notes Grim is some magical mix of direbeast and animal. In a lot of faery stories, faery animals like Grimalkins, Cat Sidhe, and Kelpies look very similar to normal animals, but they are distinctly a fae, which makes them much more dangerous to mess around with. Much like how Grim is not fully an animal, he's also part direbeast which, considering what has been mentioned in game about direbeasts, sounds like a distinctly magical species that is far more dangerous that regular animals.

Grim is also noted to fluctuate between full Phantom and absolutely no blot levels, but Idia does note a complex magical spell on him that later Papa Shroud mentions is very similar to Malleus's magical realm, which is a faerie spell... (Again, there's that faerie connection). Likewise, depending on the story context, Grimalkins can either be demonic familiars to witches (more akin to TWST Phantoms) or they can be faery creatures (more like TWST Direbeasts).

I've also noticed people point out some kind of connection between Malleus and Grim. There's a blog post by ventique18 does a really good job about pointing out the similarities between the two. Here's the link: https://www.tumblr.com/ventique18/721267245925400576/three-pronged-tail-bringing-back-the-grim-is?source=share

So perhaps one of the reasons for the tie between them is Grim is at least in part based on a Grimalkin, a faery cat, and Malleus is a dragon faery. With all these little things lining up, maybe Grim got his name in part from Grimm's Fairy Tales, but I really and truly do believe Grim is some form of Grimalkin and his name is more a reference to that, but whether he is based on the demonic familiar, faery, or BOTH, we shall see.

TLDR: I'm pretty sure Grim is HEAVILY based on a Scottish fae cat creature/demonic cat that act as a witch's familar called a Grimalkin because there's a lot of references that seem to point to that.

[blazefirefox]

yippee here's the second part of this!

here's the rules from last time

this includes some OCs that I have not revealed yet

this also includes scenarios from the DOAI sitcom au

this also includes ocs from my dear friend @mapalssyrup's au, Bleeding From Every Orifice (‼️which I do not own‼️)

the memes from said AU will be labeled with BFEO and the ones from the sitcom au will be labeled, well, sitcom au

when someone is labeled "Mortimer Gray", it was mortimer when he was human, and when it's just "Mortiemer", that's when he's veldigunified(tm)

same applies for Alex

good night tri-state area

[bobcat-pie]

You ever thought about how the statues of the great seven look like they might be... missing something?

How about this, have you ever thought about how each dorm is dedicated to one of the seven, but Ramshackle used to be a fully-fledged dorm, and it has nobody?

Well, what if I told you that there's a classic disney villain that everyone forgets, and it seems like he's been forgotten in Twisted Wonderland as well?

I'm talking about Chernabog from the Night On Bald Mountain segment of Fantasia (1940)

Never heard of this guy? Well, that makes sense. Night On Bald Mountain is barely a dozen minutes long (and difficult to market because Chernabog is literally a devil that summons ghosts and demons on Walpurgis Night.)

Let's look at some evidence!

Ramshackle dorm's interior wallpaper are primarily of a dark greenish-blue color. Most scenes from Night On Bald Mountain are greenish-blue and black. The color scheme fits.

Chernabog is notable for commanding ghosts and drawing them from their graveyards. You know what Ramshackle is full of? Ghosts! You know what Ramshackle's only lawn decorations are? Graves!

Only a few trees show up in Night On Bald Mountain, but they're all creepy and shaped similarly to the trees on Ramshackle's lawn.

All the buildings in Night On Bald Mountain are exaggerated pointy shapes, with many spires. That's also evident in Ramshackle's architecture!

Chernabog is notable for commanding ghosts and drawing them from their graveyards. You know what Ramshackle is full of? Ghosts! You know what Ramshackle's only lawn decorations are? Graves!

Only a few trees show up in Night On Bald Mountain, but they're all creepy and shaped similarly to the trees on Ramshackle's lawn.

All the buildings in Night On Bald Mountain are exaggerated pointy shapes, with many spires. That's also evident in Ramshackle's architecture!

As for why Ramshackle isn't tied to Chernabog now, and why he's not lined up with the seven greats, I think he just faded out of favor after everyone realized that arsenic-dyed wallpaper was a horrible idea and the dorm was condemned (but no one ever got around to demolishing it...)

So when somebody accidentally smashed his statue during a game of magical ultimate frisbee (it's a highschool, it happens), nobody replaced it, and so now there's a weird gap next to the King of Beasts.

There's something else I want to mention...

Chernabog is a demon that looks like this and controls fire of various colors, including blue.

Does that possibly... remind you of anyone?

[corporalkiheart]

I’m on a two-week study course which I can do from home and Grim is ecstatic and showing this by being very helpful (he keeps laying his head on my keyboard and I had to sacrifice my planner as his pillow). When I informed Caitlin of my woes she was unsympathetic to my plight.

[pangur-and-grim]

Pangur Ban (I think?) -> Pangur

Grimalkin -> Grim

Belphegor -> ???

Belphie!

my cats know their names and come when called (unless they're being rascals) so I wanted something short but audibly distinct from Pangur and Grim

[meteor-star]

Painted @pangur-and-grim 's pet sloth demon, Belphegor! Was originally trying to stick to a renaissance style (hence the outfit), but once i got to the eyes I stopped trying to stick to one style. Did a lot of experimenting with this to get the colours I needed. Fun fact, red is not a primary colour when it comes to paint, if you want saturated purples you need to use magenta instead of red. Works like a charm.

Acrylic on printer paper, approximately 7 in. by 7 in.

Bonus: Pangur's watchful eyes

Also, a fun aside, I also have a cat I named Grimalkin, had no idea until recently that their nicknames were short for the same thing.

[ihavetoomanyocsdealwithit]

So like, Grim right? He's still a bit of a mystery to us, but something just occurred to me, and maybe somebody else has pulled together this theory before but:

A grimalkin in a grey or black cat that is associated with fairies, devil and witchcraft and was notably used of a familiar. This is usually where the cats as familiar's idea comes from. No big deal, but the name is curious. Could also be association with Grimm's fairy tales, with them being 'twisted' versions of the original.

I want to focus on the Cat-Sith. A fairy creature that presents as a large black cat with a white spot on it's chest and was believed to steal a soul of a person before it could be claimed by the gods by passing over a corpse before burial. You basically had to distract or bribe the cat-sith in order to prevent it from doing so. You also couldn't have any fires where the body was, as it was attracted to warmth.

Grim passed over our coffin and cracked it open, out of all the coffins available. He stole our place at Night Raven College. He's primary magic is fire. We live in the dorm associated with ghosts and have a graveyard in the back. We are scrying through a dark mirror about visions that don't make sense of a past life. We have a ghost camera that captures a part of a person's soul and reveals their memories.

There are just too many things that make sense here.

I still think he's going to develop into a chimera, but it supports my theory that Yuu is dead in their own world. I know the game will probably end with them either able to travel between worlds via the mirrors and thinking it all like some elaborate dream, but if Disney took the darker route, there is nothing to go back to but another coffin.

[cathedralcomic]

Question! Are there, like cat equivalent to saints in Rhuneism? Or any other important figures in their mythology? Love the concept so far!! <3

i’m still ironing out the last details of their religion but an important figure is grimalkin, the mother of all cats. another (ancient) word for cat in cathedral is “grim” because of her. grimalkin, lyre (purgatory groundskeeper), time, and the universe are just a few of rhune and puck’s children!

[fowlblue]

I have been getting into DC a little bit more as I’ve been stuck at home a lot watching Batman… so I made a villain OC! Her name is Grimalkin and she’s a supporter of cursed kitty shenanigans.

I know, I know, Catwoman exists, but while the titular movie is… questionable, someone getting cat-like attributes courtesy of a mystical feline is fun! Especially is said individual remains a villain! In Grim’s case, after suffering an untimely demise, a cat spirit (similar to a bakeneko) offers her mystical abilities, including a set of nine lives, in return for serving as essentially the cat’s familiar! Think Klarion and Teekl, but in reverse.

Grimalkin works with the Circus of Strange, which in my own working has an additional animal theme alongside that of circus “freaks”. She’s the troupe’s man acrobat, but also functions as a hitman/guard during their heists, alongside the assassin Flamingo- they’re best buds and very close, so don’t separate them!

She’s blessed with feline agility, unusual strength despite her size, night vision and a handful of cat-like traits that serve her well in her crimes. Right and wrong mean little to her, and she enjoys causing harm for the sake of “the thrill of the hunt”. As her lives tick down, she becomes more and more animal-like- however, she’s discovered that she can turn back the counter if she takes a life after losing it, leading to her bloodthirsty habits in the first place. She’s also got a real bone to pick with the Falcone family- namely, Carmine himself.

[trading-card-abomination]

Grimalkins's progens, Grim and Hestia!

[findafight]

Miraculous au

"before I start it's important you know this wasn't my fault."

Well. His Kitty sure has a way of setting him at ease. "You know that's probably the quickest way to get me thinking it's definitely your fault?"

Grimalkin sighs and plops, not ungracefully, beside him. "It really isn't. There are few, if any, things I could have done differently to prevent this, Red."

Red Scarab raises his eyebrow. "Oh? And what is "this", kitty cat? Leaving me in suspense isn't gonna help you if it actually is your fault"

He rubs his face in his hands, pinches his nose too. It's a habit Red Scarab has watched him do a dozen or two times by now. He's frustrated and probably embarrassed. Damn. "My best friend knows who I am."

"what? How!? You know our id-"

"she figured me out!" Grimalkin doesn't even make a pun of it, his nose scrunched and cheeks red. "She just. I rescued her, and instead of calling me 'grimalkin' or 'grim' or even 'malkin', she says "bye, my actual real first name"! I almost brained myself tripping when I heard her."

Eddie tries to steady his breaths. Okay. Alright. He wanted to be the first to find out Grim's identity, wanted to maybe be the only one who knew, but fine. He could share. They could work with this.

"how'd she know? She see you transform or something?"

Grim chuckles. Which, rude. This is pretty fuckin serious, little kitty cat. "She said when she saw Grim on tv he seemed familiar, then he kept being familiar. How he moved, talked, smiled. Something niggling at the back of her mind when she saw the heroes of Indy. Then, when I rescued her, it clicked. Suddenly whatever magic the miraculous puts around us to conceal our identities faded, and all she saw was me, her best friend, in silly cat ears and a mask. Saving the city."

"I find the ears charming." Red Scarab finds them absurdly cute, actually. But flirting with his kitty is for later.

"thanks. And that's it. She just. Knew. Saw right through me"

"you trust her?"

Grimalkin nods. "More than anything. I doubt anyone other than her could figure me out, anyways."

"yeah?" A bitter swoop of jealousy tangles itself in Red's stomach. Grim's voice is filled with unabashed fondness when he speaks about this nameless girl. He trusts her more than anything. More than red?

"well," he starts, as though reading Red's mind "maybe the same as you. In regards to my own health and life. I dunno. It's different with you. You're my partner." And ain't that just the sweetest thing? Grimalkin might be in love with some other mystery boy, might be so close with his best friend she saw through ancient magic to his core, but whatever is between them is special. Is different.

Flying above Hawkins, their borough of Indianapolis, bonds them differently than the others. Sure, Grim has friends and a potential boyfriend (as much as that pains him to think of) in his civilian life, and even a best friend who knows about his secret, but they'll never be his partner. Never have the same connection to him as Red does, saving the city from a superviallian. Red Scarab will hold onto that and keep it close to his heart for a while.

Grim nudges their shoulders together. "I really am sorry, though. You deserve to know who I am too. R--my best friend would probably get along with you like a house on fire, I'm a little worried about you meeting" and there he goes, saying such nice things. Acting like them knowing each other's identities and being ingrained in each other's civilian lives is an inevitability. Eddie hopes it is. The people his kitty loves seem, from the sparse details he's shared, quite bizarre and friendly and lovely. They must be, if Grimalkin loves them so.

"yeah? Think I'd recognize you out of the mask?" He says, instead of I hope so, I'd love to, I want to see all of the people you love and love them too.

He laughs. "Probably not. Hopefully not. Don't think I could handle knowing more than one person can see through me so well."

"would you recognize me?"

"no." He says it immediately, and it hurts, just a little. Like being dismissed. (Grimalkin doesn't mean to hurt him, he knows. Thinks the flirting is just for fun, a game, and not Eddie desperately trying to win the heart of a man whose goodness and snark and exasperation and humour stop him short and steal his breath away.) "I don't think so. The Miraculi magic is supposed to protect our identities, and once someone knows, they can see the overlap. Only someone who really, truely knows you and is looking would be able to break it. It happened to me because we have legitimately thought about the pros of combining into a blob person. I don't think many people are actually like that. They certainly don't seem to get me and --and my best friend." He shrugs again. "I dunno. That's what it seems like, anyway."

Grim grins at him. "Wouldn't be very magic if I just saw you walk into work one day and blurt out 'Red Scarab? Is that you!? I'm the guy in a catsuit you beat up supervillains with!' Would it?" If that happened Eddie would probably name it the single greatest thing to ever happen to him, actually. Second only to finding Tikki in his backpack after Hellfire a few short months ago. But his kitty is a romantic, and if he wants a dramatic, heartfelt reveal, then Eddie won't push it. They've got time.

[grims-and-gobs]

Grimalkin and goblin history arguably begins during what the two species refer to as the Godfall, when the massive corpse of a celestial entity of unknown origin descended onto the planet and began to rot.

Goblins at this point in history were simple burrowing rodents. Their diet consisted primarily of insects and small fish, but they'd generally scavenge whatever they could get their little rat hands on.

Including the flesh of the divine.

Those that dined on the corpse were blessed with sapience, an event they refer to as the Awakening. And the more they ate, the stronger they became. The creature's very essence, what grimalkin and goblins now refer to as magick, began to permeate through their own flesh.

They were gods among mere animals.

But even gods can find themselves at the mercy of the food chain. Particularly persistent grimalkin, the goblins' main predators, could get lucky and snag an Awakened goblin or two. And as the goblins had gained awareness through the consumption of flesh, so did the grimalkin.

What follows is centuries of conflict. Nascent gods bestow fractions of their gifts to those who have not been Awoken. Fractions split down further and further over time. In modern times the gods are all but gone, but in turn every grim and gob has a bit of that original essence within them. Some more than others.

Whatever was left of the corpse after the Awakening began to rot at an accelerated, unnatural pace. The leftover essence seeped into the ground below, forming the natural rivers of magick that flow through the planet.

[unknown-writez]

The Traveler and The Jester

Chapter Three: The Summer Court

Part six

With a warning glare to grimalkin puck turned into a raven and flew beyond the trees. As soon as he left I plopped down next to the cat starting to pick the blue flowers from the grass to make a necklace. Trying to keep myself busy so I wouldn’t linger on the argument my anger simmered then slowly dissipated “you know despite how annoyingly hateful I find robin sometimes I must admit he has good intentions. you should not stay mad at him.” Grimm said walking in front of me. “I know it’s just so frustrating being helpless here. I hate not being able to do anything.” I said, trying to explain my feelings “That’s understandable. humans do tend to get messy when they are not in control.” girmm said with a soft tone “but you must push aside your pride. although it doesn’t seem this way goodfellow is putting a lot on the line trying to help you and he doesn’t tend to defy Oberon for just anyone. The last time he did something like this it was for someone he loved. Unfortunately for him the feeling was not mutual. she was in love with his ex best friend. He lost them both and he has been alone ever since.” Gimm continued trying to enlighten me on pucks past. “That sounds like a bad ending to a story.” I responded feeling bad for puck “yes. That’s why he is so protective over you.” grim explained convincingly and I felt a prang of guilt for being so mean. “You know for being a cat you don’t act like it very much.” I teased a little prompting the cat to say “if I have learned anything over time it’s that no one is who they appear to be. take goodfellow for instance in the stories he is just a troublemaker who only cares for himself but in reality he has complex emotions that drive him to be good.” “your right.” I responded having learned that lesson many times in the past.

[hysteriamodes]

The Gang

Grimalkin (12) also known as Grim or Grim-Grim. He is my first cat ever, I adopted him back in 2012. Big baby, super reclusive, and loves sunbathing. Grimalkin is easily offended and makes the best faces.

Oracle (6) completely blind. Oracle was adopted back in November 2022. Very sweet, surprisingly mischievous when she wants to be. Oracle became blind after losing her kittens during birth due to an eye infection. Her disability doesn't hold her back, she roams the home with no issues.

Morgan le Fay (2) the baby out of the gang. Morgan le Fay suffers from severe FOMO, she's gotta be involved with everything. She's gotta be right up in your face. Loves to talk, Oracle likes to tease her. She was adopted back in 2021.

Charlie (??) He was left outside my apartment complex before a mom and her son found them. He's part lop, so he has helicopter ears. She gave him up before Charlie came to me in 2020. Very friendly, scares the cats (except for Oracle) loves pets and hanging out. I'm still angry someone left this super docile rabbit outside to fend for himself.

Petra (not even a year) newest family member. Petra is very young, they're not sexed yet, so I have no idea if they're a male or female. Sexing parrots is expensive, so we'll wait and see by the time they're sexually mature enough to lay eggs or not. Petra is a very anxious little baby, likes to talk back, and tends to be very jumpy.

[englishmoribund]

The Enigmatic Grimalkin: Unveiling the Esoteric Significance of a Feline Figurine

Have you ever heard of the word "grimalkin"? This word, which is not commonly used today, has a long and fascinating history in the English language. In this blog post, we will explore the origins of grimalkin, its usage in literature, its etymology, and its figurative and literal definitions.

History and Usage:

Grimalkin is an old-fashioned term for a female cat, especially an old or ill-tempered one. The word is not often used in modern English, but it has a long history of use in literature, particularly in poetry and folklore.

For example, in Shakespeare's "Macbeth," one of the witches refers to her familiar, a cat named Graymalkin. Similarly, in the English nursery rhyme "Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat," the titular feline is sometimes called a "grimalkin." Other notable uses of the term include Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat" and Beatrix Potter's "The Tale of Ginger and Pickles."

Etymology:

The etymology of grimalkin is somewhat unclear, but it is believed to come from two words in Middle English: "grim," meaning fierce or cruel, and "malkin," a diminutive form of the name "Mary." The latter is thought to have been a common name for female cats in the Middle Ages, possibly due to the association of cats with the Virgin Mary.

Figurative and Literal Definitions:

In addition to its literal definition as an old or ill-tempered female cat, grimalkin has taken on several figurative meanings over the years. It can be used to describe a woman who is old, ugly, or unpleasant, particularly in appearance or demeanor. For example, "Mrs. Norris was a grimalkin of a woman, with a sour expression and a sharp tongue."

Grimalkin can also be used to describe a person who is cunning, sly, or sneaky, particularly in a negative sense. This usage is often associated with the idea of a witch's familiar, a supernatural being in the form of a cat that helps a witch carry out her magic.

In conclusion, the word grimalkin is a fascinating example of how language can evolve over time. While it is not commonly used today, it has a rich history in literature and folklore, and its figurative meanings continue to resonate with modern audiences. Whether referring to a cantankerous old cat or a shrewd and crafty person, grimalkin remains a powerful and evocative term in the English language.

[wizardofpalmsprings]

Excerpt from the personal journal of LightBringer Arasha Vihar -

CW: Discussion of Death and Grief

Summary: Cleric Arasha Vihar writes about her expereinces as a member of the Mistbreaker's Guild and reflects on the nature of life, death, and grief.

Death is a constant companion in this line of work. I have seen it on battlefields, med tents, and even in the quiet of private homes. You can’t save them all, try as you might; fate swings like a pendulum and lands you where it will. 

Perhaps more pervasive than death itself is the grief that follows. It haunts you long after the funeral rites have been said, tip-toeing around and touching you with its cold fingers as a grim reminder of loss. I am no stranger to it - it haunts the halls of my home and heart and may forever more. I blame grief more so for sorrow than death itself, for death is a part of the natural cycle and surely the grief that follows is as natural, though I cannot help but harbor resentment towards it. 

It comes for all of us in our time, though there are times when it feels unjust and unfair. So you fight back. “Rage, rage, against the dying of the light” they say. Never have I seen such a prime example of this as one Kallista Torment, who in her way chose to rage against an avatar of death that apparated after drawing a card from Mary Grimalkin’s deck. Hells have no fury like a barbarian faced with the possibility of death. She lives to see another day, retorting to Mary that the deck seems to have it out for Tieflings. 

There is another aspect to death that lingers in the back of my mind, the thought of forgetting. Some day, when the stories have been told, when the songs have all been sung, there will be someone to say your name for the final time before it is forgotten. 

In our excursion into the Mournlands (aptly named, I fear), we encountered a small stand of oak trees. According to other members of the party, it looks as though they were intentionally planted, but left to grow wild. In the center of this grove, there rests a headstone about ~4 feet tall. After some inspection, it became clear that there was Sylvan writing on it, marking it as the grave of a Dryad Queen. 

Who knows who laid her to rest there, who might have followed her or who she in turn may have worshiped (if she worshiped at all), but the roses that grow there tell me that she was loved. In spite of the space around her, how seemingly out of step with everything it is as it had not been there the last time a group passed the area, it continues on. Someone or something wished for her to be remembered, but who knows when the last time someone visited this place was. Who knows if her name is remembered. 

At that moment, I think of my brother. How would I feel if someone were to stumble upon his place of rest. Would they wonder who he was? Would they know he was brave? Foolish? That his sword rests upon the mantle of our fireplace and causes Baba’s eyes to well with tears when he looks at it? Would they be able to read his name? Would Snowdrops still grow there? To be forgotten is to die a second death. 

I say a small prayer at the grave and in some twist of fate, I discover a small charm in my pocket that allows for the casting of a spell that would grant us reprieve from the Mournlands during a period of rest. Perhaps the prayer did not fall on deaf ears and perhaps the Queen is remembered still. 

What awaits us further in the Mists, I cannot say. The High Mage is putting great faith in us on this endeavor, and that companions I find myself in the company of are quite skilled, though their social interactions occasionally baffle me. We met with some strange creatures with multiple mouths that made “gibbering” noises that were swiftly dealt with by the party. The ruins of a city linger in the distance, which means our destination might be “close” at hand. 

Light Protect Us.