#I no longer have the ability to just go anywhere whenever I want regardless of distance or weather conditions

[inksandpensblog]

hhh

suddenly being without a car after becoming so reliant on one is suffocating

I’m bereft. I’ve lost an avenue of independence. I’m dependent again and it feels like dread.

[strawberryamanita]

I'm legally disabled. It's in the books that I am Unemployed Due To Disability. Regardless of how "normal" or "functioning" I appear in real life, I do have trouble doing normal things, such as keeping a steady job. If something bad happens tonight, there is going to be anywhere between cutting costs to and completely removing benefits that people like me need to get on in life, such as Medicaid and SSI/SSDI. I will not be able to provide for myself, and my family will struggle to provide for me. I already feel like dead weight when I'm not, and I'm horrified of that possibly coming true.

I've also had many struggles with my own reproductive rights. I have no plans of getting pregnant, but I suffer from menstrual pain that, without a smidgen of exaggeration(ask anyone in my family), debilitates me. It inhibits my ability to walk, stay awake, and function in general. I lose a quarter of my life to my BS endocrine setup, and while NY will thankfully be relatively safe for reproductive healthcare, the already slow road to a solution I've been on would get a lot bumpier if that bad thing happens.

And none of this is to mention my queerness. That's probably the easiest thing I can hide -- Lord knows a good chunk of people actively ignore it whenever I'm in a room -- but it still terrifies me that I could be a target of active violence if I let it slip to the wrong person in this hypothetical bad future. After a lifetime of my family worrying I'll get hurt in public just for existing, it would no longer be in vain.

I voted for the rest of the country, for the rest of the world, but I also voted on my own behalf. I just got the barest taste of freedom on my tongue, I don't want all this struggling to get here to have been for nothing.

I've spent the last 11 years supporting everyone else nonstop with everything I could. Do I ever get to matter with everyone else?

[dawn-of-tomorrow]

Wanshi/Banji : Fate (Voicelines)

Construct Acquisition: Nice to meet you, I’m Wanshi from the Strike Hawk squad. Is this gonna be another troublesome mission…? I’m so exhausted… zzz…

LVL Up: Feeling a bit more lively… I think.

Promotion: If this is how you show your approval, then, perhaps I can accept this.

Evolve: Looks like I’ll have to take things just a bit more seriously now.

Skill Enhancement: Reloaded, prepared, examined, hah-- about time I take a break and sleep.

Equipment: Accuracy, range, ammunition capacity… it’s a reliable firearm.

Added to the squad: Huff-haaaa… time to get back to work.

Appointed as captain: If you’re the Captain, then does that mean you get a longer rest time…? I see, looks like that’s not the case, huh.

Mission Complete: Hah… then, is it alright if I go take a nap now?

Daily Conversation 1: (Yawn)...

Daily Conversation 2: Is there trouble brewing again? Mn...(yawn)… Captain Chrome should be on standby back at base right now, and there ought to be about 5 more minutes left till the next mission starts.

Daily Conversation 3: Reclaim the Earth and defeat the Punishing. What a lofty goal, that is…

Daily Conversation 4: “As long as you have the resolve, then everything will go well”… From whom did you hear this? Kamui?

Daily Conversation 5: I think the location of the base’s break room is… yeah, I remember it now.

Daily Conversation 6: The “wish-granting machine” setting only works for children, you know. Are you a child or what?

Daily Conversation 7: You want to see how I look when I’m serious? It’d probably be for the best if you were to never encounter any situation where I have to give it my all, at least that’s what I hope for.

Daily Conversation 8: What? You want to know… if it’s possible for a Construct to see the Commandant in a dream? …Mn, yes.

Daily Conversation 9: Looks like we meet again, Commandant. Hm? When was that, you ask? It was last night when I was already in bed… ah, Captain, please stop hitting me, I was just kidding; I was talking about my dreams, we met in my dreams!

Daily Conversation 10: Presumably, a Construct has no definite lifespan, meaning that the emotional data within their sea of consciousness will only continue to grow and accumulate. It’s almost like a never-ending, infinitely-expanding dream… rather interesting, isn’t it?

Daily Conversation 11: It’s because of you that this foreboding world I keep waking up to doesn’t seem so bad.

Daily Conversation 12: What incredible recovery abilities… oh, no, I wasn’t talking about Liv; I was referring to you, Commandant.

Daily Conversation 13: … Since I’m usually lazy and listless, when do I usually get serious, you ask? Right now, I’m serious about you.

Daily Conversation 14: You are the beautiful eternal dream I have fallen into ever since the very beginning, and one I do not wish to wake up from. This isn’t an excerpt from anything in the Captain’s book collection, nor is it something I’m saying casually. … I’m completely serious.

Daily Conversation 15: Whenever you’re here… I don’t feel like closing my eyes at all, how odd.

Increased Trust 1: If there’s nothing else at the moment, then can I go to the break room now?

Increased Trust 2: How utterly troublesome…

Increased Trust 3: I can sleep almost anywhere, and at anytime, to the point that… (snoozes)

Increased Trust 4: Do you want me to pass this on to the Captain, or is this for Kamui? It’s for me…?

Increased Trust 5: Whenever I spar with the Captain, I can’t help but get serious, and as a result I end up burning through my energy consumption and get extremely tired afterwards…

Increased Trust 6: I’m truly grateful.

Increased Trust 7: Exhaustion? There’s no such thing. Regardless of how troublesome the problem or the situation is, it’s all just a matter of how time-consuming it is.

Increased Trust 8: Cuddling with you to sleep every day…? … Just how much has Kamui told you, honestly…

Increased Trust 9: Compared to reaching for such lofty ambitions, it’s far more difficult to protect the things you really care about. That’s why, Gray Raven Commandant, you really are incredible.

Increased Trust 10: What you give to me belongs to me alone. That’s why, please don’t give others the same thing.

Increased Trust 11: You look like you’d be perfect to hold close and sleep with… Hm? What’s wrong Captain? [You can’t go and say things like that]? It’s not like I meant anything strange with what I just said… Huh? What did I mean by strange? Well…

Increased Trust 12: What I want? Hm… A new pillow, eye mask, an enhanced version of my resting cabin, and… you.

Increased Trust 13: A wish-granting device, a place to return to (refuge), resting cabins… hah, these are all these features I’d like to add for the sake of a certain someone.

Increased Trust 14: The gift you’re giving me isn’t you this time either?

Increased Trust 15: I've finally found a reason to keep waking up from my lonely dream.

Increased Trust 16: My return gift is right in front of you. Yeah, it’s this tall, and this big… you can’t miss it, right?

Idle/Ignored 1: Zzz…

Idle/Ignored 2: Too tired to even move… eh? The Commandant as well?

Idle/Ignored 3: Seems like the Commandant is also the type of person who needs to take breaks on occasion.

Idle/Ignored 4: Tired? There’s still space left in Strike Hawk’s resting cabins. I won the right to use it for an entire year.

Idle/Ignored 5: I’ve made a recent discovery. Being able to quietly watch over you is also another effective way of rest and recharging myself.

Long time spent online 1: It seems like the Gray Raven Commandant is the same type of person that Captain Chrome is.

Long time spent online 2: How odd, isn’t being able to rest and sleep the best thing in the world?

Long time spent online 3: It’s time to go to sleep now, good night.

Long time spent online 4: Would you please dream of me…? Since you’ve promised that now, then isn’t it your turn to fulfill my wish from earlier?

Long time spent online 5: Have a good night.

Login 1: If Captain Chrome comes here, can you please tell him you didn’t see me at all? Thanks.

Login 2: “It is precisely because you are yourself that [you] are important; you are important, no matter what, even until the end of time.” ...Heh, it’s nothing. It’s just something I’ve read from one of Captain Chrome’s books.

Login 3: (yawns) Good morning, good afternoon, good evening… one of them’s bound to be the right one, yeah?

Login 4: Since the first thing I saw when I woke up was you, it looks like today’s going to be a good day.

Login 5: Maybe it’s not a bad thing to feel energetic and full of life on occasion, is what I just realized. The reason being, because then I’d be able to do and enjoy a lot more fun things together with you.

Login 6: What a wonderful dream. Well, it’s not entirely wrong either way.

Login 7: I’m having a good dream right now.

Login 8: Whenever I wake up, I see you; and even when I’m in my dreams, I always see you.

Long time offline 1: To think that I’m able to only dream of you… how troubling.

Shake 1: Hey Commandant, have you ever heard of the word “wake up”... hmm?

Shake 2: Medicinal malpractice is strictly prohibited, you know.

Shake 3: Alright, alright, quit fooling around now.

Continuous tap 1: Are you doing a physical examination?

Continuous tap 2: Huhm… please don’t cause a scene here.

Continuous tap 3: Behave yourself now.

Activity MAX: Now that I’ve rested up enough, I feel completely recharged. A bit unusual, but I feel like moving around more now.

Battle begins: (yawns) Let’s get this done quickly so we can go home sooner.

Battle 1: It’s time to sleep, you guys.

Battle 2: How fortunate you are to be able to sleep forever.

Battle 3: I will shoot to kill.

Ultimate: Shooting to kill-- close your eyes, and rest in peace.

Hit: I don’t plan on sleeping early this time.

Serious injury: Going to bed early… though it seems like I woke up a bit too early.

Unable to fight: It’s okay, I’m just… gonna get a good night’s sleep.

Support: Backup, assistance, aiming a killshot.

QTE: Let’s quickly deal with this guy, since it’s an emergency and they like to disturb other people’s sleep.

Battle end: Haah, how exhausting.

[moved-to-void-kissed]

"Avalon (Japanese: アーサー, Āsā) was a Special Rare Blade in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. They could grant tremendous power to their Driver Aline and her allies. Avalon used the light element, wielded a Glaive Dirk, and acted as a Healer in battle. He was renowned for his ability to crystallise ether and use it for multiple purposes, including healing Core Crystals.

After the events of Torna ~ The Golden Country, Avalon’s Core Crystal was passed down through Aline’s family as an heirloom known as the Brilliant Core Crystal, and was eventually broken 500 years later by the impact of a shipwreck in the mouth of the Urayan Titan. Sapphire ended up acquiring some of Avalon’s powers when fragments of the Brilliant Core Crystal entered her body."

Avalon is a Blade OC I created for Xenoblade Chronicles 2! They mostly came about as a way for me to provide reasoning behind Sapphire’s abilities, but I’ve now figured out a way to make them important and relevant by incorporating them into TTGC - including doing so alongside my other XC2 self-insert, Aline - so that’s been very fun to work on and use to develop them both! ^-^

(Please note that the image above isn’t accurate to their clothing, although it is accurate to their physical appearance, and was also not drawn by me; instead, it was created using a Picrew by Nase_Nikyuu, linked here! A lot more information about Avalon, their story, and how they might work in-game is under the readmore, if you’re curious!)

As promised, here is some more information about Avalon that isn’t just restricted to the Xenoblade Wiki’s structure (which is what I was trying to replicate up there above the readmore):

Just to clarify, Avalon is nonbinary, and uses both he/him and they/them pronouns interchangeably! ..I didn’t necessarily intend for his colour palette to have all the colours of the nonbinary pride flag on it - I picked the purple eyes and blond hair since I thought they looked neat on him, then only realised after the fact what would happen if I made his outfit mostly white with black accents (albeit the Picrew image doesn’t show that since it’s more for showing his physical appearance than his outfit) - but, that has also happened.

Avalon’s character:

Avalon is Aline’s first and only Blade during the time of TTGC. She awakened their Core Crystal unexpectedly after unearthing it in the middle of a crop field, and she did not realise she had the aptitude to become a Driver, so she picked it up without expecting anything to happen. Except it did. Oops.

Aline recognises that he is a very powerful Blade (not only because light-element Blades are so rare but also because of his special crystallisation ability), and so sometimes worries that her aversion to combat is holding Avalon back from his true battle potential. However, he seems content with taking a more supportive role, given his proficiency and role as a healer.

In terms of personality, I would say he is fairly calm, but determined to do what is right, and is protective of his teammates; I imagine him getting on well with Aegaeon in particular, but maybe not as well with someone like Minoth (which I suppose arguably makes sense, given that Minoth is dark-element which opposes Avalon’s light-element). Given my relative lack of knowledge about TTGC’s characters, this isn’t particularly set in stone.

Avalon’s ability - Ether Crystallisation:

As was mentioned before, Avalon has the unique power to crystallise ether out of the atmosphere in their local vicinity; these crystals are always white in colour, because of their status as a light-element Blade. This has many potential applications - for example, on a large scale, they could do this enough to create walkable platforms (possibly as a unique Field Skill that’s used similarly to the Ice Mastery bridges in the main game of XC2, but for TTGC instead?). They could also use the ether crystals as projectiles to attack with during Specials, or maybe shields to defend with in combat.

However, on a smaller scale, Avalon can also repair damaged Core Crystals by restoring the crystal, regardless of whether it is unresonated (so a fracture can be healed, allowing the Blade in the Core Crystal to be awakened again) or already-resonated (so an awakened Blade with a damaged Core Crystal can be healed, and although no such examples existed in his time, Blades whose Core Crystals had been eaten to create Blade Eaters can also be stabilised and further enhanced by his power.) This allows them to be a very effective and appreciated healer for the forces fighting against Malos, since they can heal both humans and Blades thanks to his ability.

(This is also the only aspect of Avalon’s powerful that Sapphire “inherited”, since she can’t crystallise anywhere near much ether as he could in one go, due to the source of that ability - i.e. Avalon’s Core Crystal inside her body - being incomplete and fragmented. Sapphire’s not a Blade, after all.)

Avalon’s fate:

Speaking of Avalon’s Core Crystal - which has a special name, the Brilliant Core Crystal (like how Kasandra’s is called the Lucky Core Crystal) - it is passed down through Aline’s family after her death because of the exploits the pair achieved together during the Aegis War. Whenever Avalon is awakened, their Core Crystal is shaped like a medieval sword on their chest.

The inheritance process continues for almost 500 years before the Brilliant Core Crystal is passed down to Sapphire’s mother, who does not have the aptitude to become a Driver. She was keeping the Core Crystal safe as a family heirloom, intending to let Sapphire try to resonate with it once she was old enough, but it ended up being destroyed in the shipwreck that caused Sapphire to wash up into the mouth of the Urayan Titan.

The Brilliant Core Crystal was shattered into fragments by the impact of the shipwreck, and Sapphire ended up being flung against a wall and landing on top of its shards. This caused them - and subsequently, some of Avalon’s power as a Blade - to enter Sapphire’s body and become integrated into her (essentially turning her into an unofficial/unintentional Blade Eater), and the enhanced regeneration that all Blades have allowed Sapphire to survive the awful injuries she sustained before Vandham and his crew found her and brought her back to Garfont Village.

Avalon’s hypothetical playstyle:

Avalon wields a unique weapon type, the Glaive Dirk. Essentially, it’s a long-bladed knife (i.e. a dirk) that can also turn into a spear (i.e. a glaive), because.. the pole is made of ether, or something. This was mainly just an excuse to classify them as a healer, since combat roles are tied to weapons in XC2 (and I want them to be a healer because of their unique power but also the fact that there are no light or dark healer Blades in XC2), but I didn’t think any of the pre-existing healer weapons really fit them. And it kind of makes them more special, which they deserve!

If he was playable in the main game of XC2, his animations would probably work like a mix of Megalance and some kind of one-handed Knuckle Claws (since.. too many other unique weapons use Twin Rings’ animations), with maybe different Drivers favouring either the glaive or the dirk aspect more for their Arts and auto-attacks (e.g. the taller the Driver, the more they use it as a glaive, since it’s so much longer?). A very versatile weapon because it’s essentially two pre-existing weapons from our world rolled into one.

In terms of their playstyle, Avalon would be more able and willing to take aggro compared to other healers, to fit the fact that they’re supposed to be inspired by an archetypal “knight in shining armour” despite not being classed as a tank (since.. their name is Avalon which is a paradisal island from Arthurian legend, their Japanese name is supposed to be read as Arthur as in King Arthur, and also they’re light-element).

I was thinking that maybe one of their battle skills would be some kind of damage absorption mechanic, so they actually have more defensive potential than their stats would suggest and there’s merit to them having aggro? Or maybe they provide a small constant healing effect to the party - it’d have to be small so as not to be too overpowered, but still enough to have a noticeable effect and improve party survivability while they’re on the field. That might make more sense, actually.

I think that’s everything for now, and if I want to add more then I always can later. I know I still need to figure out what their outfit would look like, possibly incorporating some kind of knight’s armour (though trying to do that without making it look tank-like and bulky will be tricky), but I wanted to post this now since it’s been in my drafts for a long time.

Thank you so much to everyone who has read this far, because I realise that I wrote a lot but it means a lot that you would read it all if you did so!

[sofee-d]

Memorable Birthday

Short Summary: Surprising your boyfriend on his birthday in a way he never expected.

Genre: Romance, fluff

Pairing: Lee Taeyong (NCT) x Fem!Reader ft. Mark & Johnny

Warnings: None tbh, fluff, lots of fluff, mentions of slight smutty content but pretty PG.

Key Words: Romantic dinner, friends to lovers, stable relationship, birthday surprise, silly & easy-going relationship, serious talk, confession, heart-warming

Word Count: 2758

࿏

It had been almost 5 months that you started dating Taeyong. You started off as friends and it took a while for both of you to come to terms with your feelings for one another and act on it. It was Taeyong who acted on it first. He ended up kissing you abruptly one day when you were helping him study English in your apartment. It was apparently Johnny’s idea, you found out later on. After pining after you for so long Taeyong decided to take matters into his own hands and follow Johnny’s advice to ‘’Just kiss her man.’’.

After that day the rest was history. Your inital worries about your friendship turning into a relationship were short lived because Taeyong was incredibly good to you as a boyfriend. He would text you constantly despite his hectic schedule and try to come and see you whenever he could. You expected things to be much worse. Like not being able to meet up often or even at all, but you could see how much he was putting in effort to be with you and it was so heart warming.

It was sometimes late night movie dates at your apatment, because he missed you in the middle of the night and he didn’t have an early schedule the day after so he would come over with a bunch of snacks with a goofy grin on his face and you would just enjoy each others company the whole night. Other times it would be him inviting you to the dorm, successfully being able to kick Johnny, Haechan and Doyoung to the 10th floor for a few hours because he wanted to treat you to a nice dinner he cooked for you. You would have to stop him when he got carried away though, not being able to get enough of your kisses. Those dates would mostly end with the both of you back at your apartment, limbs being all tangled up in the entry almost not being able to wait until you get to the bedroom.

You honestly felt like you couldn’t ask for a better boyfriend. You weren’t too different personality wise so when you had small disagreements or misunderstandings sometimes they were easy to fix as communicating with Taeyong was such a breeze, he was so caring and understanding. It had been amazing being with him for almost 5 months, even though neither of you uttered the big 3 words yet. You felt it through his actions and you tried your best to show it through your actions as well, it wasn’t that necessary to say it out loud.

Since you felt like Taeyong was the one taking care of you most of the time you decided to put in the extra effort to do something special for his birthday coming up. But there was one tiny problem. What kind of present were you supposed to get for your rich celebrity boyfriend? He could possess almost anything he wanted. So you started thinking about something different. Your aim was to totally surprise him and give him something unique. The idea that popped in your mind just 3 weeks before Taeyong’s birthday was singing to him. You weren’t one to keep secrets from each other however one thing you sucessfully managed to hide from him was your singing ability. At first you didn’t really mean to hide it, you were just shy and thought that you would never compare to your boyfriend who is a well known musical artist. So you kept it to yourself for a while and asked Mark and Johhny to keep their mouths shut for good measure. 

Actually your plan was not only just singing to him but singing to him while also playing the guitar. There was one problem in this scenario too however, you had no idea how to play the guitar. You learned some chords way back when you were younger, but you didn’t remember anything. So you dediced to get help from an expert, of course it was none other than your best friend Mark. When you came to him with this idea suddenly demanding him to teach you how to play the guitar in just 3 weeks, to say he was shocked would be an understatement. Though not guaranteeing you’d be able to play the song you picked properly in just 3 weeks, he agreed to help regardless, not being able to refuse favors coming from you.

The 3 weeks of learning the guitar with Mark and then practicing almost everyday at home was tough, not to mention you had to sneak around to keep Taeyong from finding out. Of course there was also Johnny and his big mouth too. But he actually managed to keep it a secret for longer than you thought, even helping you by making up excuses when Taeyong would get suspicious sometimes. Though it was challenging, the results were decent. You could play the first verse, the chorus and the bridge of the song you choose just fine, while also singing along. Mark was impressed how much you learned in such a short span of time and kept hyping you up to build your confidence while Taeyong’s birthday was getting closer.

When it was finally the day before Taeyong’s birthday, thankfully it fell on a Saturday and he typically didn’t have schedule on the weekends. All your plans were ready, for Friday night you planned a small dinner at your place with just the two of you, even attempting to make him a cake. Although it didn’t turn out too well visually, it still tasted good so you hoped he would like it. At exactly 12:00 AM it would be July 1st and you would take out Mark’s guitar from the place you hid it and sing him the song you had been practicing non-stop for the past 3 weeks. For Satuday, on his actual birthday you planned to have a picnic by a lake nearby during the day and celebrate at the dorm with the boys at night.

Your heart started thundering in your chest when you finally heard your door bell ring. He was finally here. You checked the table you put together one last time and made sure everything looked perfect, not forgetting to check yourself out in the entryway mirror and adjusting the blush colored silk dress that complimented your figure perfectly too. When you finally opened the door you found your boyfriend looking very handsome in a white dress shirt and his favorite jeans. He even styled his hair, matching the semi-formal occasion when you only asked him to have dinner at your place.

His eyes danced on your figure from head to toe immediately bringing a smile to his face as he said;

‘‘Wow babe! You look incredible. What’s the occasion?’‘ laughing a little slightly by the end.

Eyeing him disapprovingly you replied; ‘‘Well, I don’t know. You tell me Mr. Lee.’’

‘’You don’t look too shabby yourself’‘ you continued, letting out a giggle.

He gently grabbed your your right hand and made you spin around.

‘‘I don’t know what I did to deserve this...’‘ he said still not being able to take his eyes off of you while smiling sheepishly.

You replied by locking your lips to his. There was a slight urgency hidden in the kiss, not being able to meet up with him properly for the past 3 weeks made you miss him so much. You could tell that he missed you too when he wasted no time to grab your waist to pull you closer and deepening the kiss. You pulled away a little bit sooner than he would like and even though you didn’t want to and said;

‘‘Taeyong... We should have dinner first. And I have a surprise for you.’‘

After giving you a one last peck he replied while looking deeply in your eyes;

‘‘I know, I know. I just can’t help myself. I guess I missed you too much...’‘ 

‘‘I know baby. I missed you too. But it’s dinner time now. Come on.’‘ you cooed while pulling him to the living room.

His eyes landed on the dinner table you put together and he let out a small gasp while his hands going towards his mouth.

‘‘Did you make all this for me?’‘ he was examining the different dishes you cooked for him that he loved.

‘‘To be completely honest, I don’t think I can get anywhere near you when it comes to cooking. But I still hope you like them. If you don’t you don’t have to finish.’‘ you said getting a bit self conscious.

Because you weren’t really much of a cook. Taeyong was the one who cooked for you all the time. And the times he didn’t cook you just ordered delivery food. But since this was a special occasion you tried your best to cook some of his favorite dishes. 

Sensing your confidence faltering Taeyong quickly replied;

‘‘Of course I will love them. You made them for me after all. I will finish them all.’’ giving you a warm back hug and kissing your cheek.

One of the many reasons you loved Taeyong was his incredibly loving, supportive nature. Even if the food you cooked was terrible (which it wasn’t but) he would still try to finish it all with a smile on his face. And most likely the next time you attempted to cook he would teach you.

Taeyong enjoyed the dinner you cooked for him more than you expected. Even throwing a few compliments here and there and talking about how spoiled he feels. But as the dinner was slowly coming to an end you started getting more and more nervous about your little suprise. Clearing the plates on the table together and making room for the cake, it was then time to light the candles as it was almost 12 AM. Taeyong looked really happy seeing you even went the extra lengths to bake him a cake. You caught your hand holding the lighter trembling a little bit as all you could think about was the small performance you had been preparing for the past few weeks. Taeyong got the lighter from your trembling hand and looked at you with concerned eyes;

‘‘Babe, are you ok?’‘

‘‘Yeah I’m fine, let’s light the candles.’‘ you quickly replied back pretending to be ok.

He didn’t question you more while he finished lighting the candles. As the clock hit 12 AM you cheered;

‘‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!’‘

You could see the way his face lit up by the way he was gazing at you. Even though you told him to make a wish he shook his head and said;

‘‘I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday and a better girlfriend. What else can I wish for? I got everything I want right here.’‘ with his signature smile that made you melt.

You couldn’t help but smile back fondly at him as he blew his candles. Taeyong surprisingly enjoyed the cake too, asking you some questions about how you made it. But you could only think of the chords in your head, starting to get stressed like what if you made a mistake? You worked so hard to get it perfect, it would be a shame if you made a mistake while trying to do something nice for your boyfriend. The moment you dreaded finally came when Taeyong finished his cake and took his plate to put it into the dishwasher.

When he was in the kitchen you quickly took out the guitar you managed to conceal behind the couch by the very corner. Taeyong did a double take when he saw you with a guitar standing in the middle of the living room when he came back. His expression was a mixture of confusion and fascination.

‘‘Taeyong, this is my present to you.’‘ you said with a small voice, your nerves getting the better of you.

Closing your eyes, you started playing like the way Mark taught you. When the verse started, all of your nervousness from before faded away and your eyes fluttered open as you sang along. Just from the first few words you sang you could see how blown away Taeyong was. You gained even more confidence by seeing him just staring at you with an amazed grin on his face, like he was finding it hard to believe. When you got to the bridge, you deemed it the killing part because you were putting in more power to certain words and singing a bit higher, with more emotion. Taeyong continued watching you slightly dazed. When you finally finished, you stared at each other for a moment that seemed longer than it was. As if both of you were finding it hard to process what just happened. It was Taeyong who was quick to close the distance between you two and his lips were even quicker to meet yours.

Pulling back from the kiss he said;

‘‘Y/N I had no idea you could sing! This is crazy! How did I not know how talented you are!’‘ excitement and amazement was evident on his face.

‘‘Because I kinda hid it from you...’‘ you replied averting your eyes a bit.

‘‘You’re a real musician you know. And I only sing a little bit. I’m a total amateur.’‘ you continued.

He gave you a disapproving look and said; ‘’Nonsense. It was pretty amazing what you just did now. I think you are very talented. You can even play the guitar!’‘ he exclaimed.

‘’Well about that... I actually don’t know how to play the guitar... I’ve just been learning to play this one song for you for the past 3 weeks.’’ you admitted.

Eyes getting bigger once again he said; ‘’What? You mean you learned to play like this in only 3 weeks? And you learned it to sing to me?’’ smiling from ear to ear by the end of his sentence.

‘‘Yes, I learned it because I wanted to make you feel special for once.’‘ you replied back mirroring his smile.

Taeyong responded by tilting your chin up and connected his lips with yours. He was kissing you more passionately this time. Almost in a way to convey how you were making him feel. As the kiss got deeper by the minute he pulled back slowly to look deeply in your eyes.

‘‘I love you Y/N.’‘ he let out the breath he didn’t even realize he was holding and continued;

‘‘I haven’t said it until now because I didn’t want to burden you. I was worried of scaring you off. I thought you’d find it too early and the heaviness of those three words would ruin the playful, light-hearted connection we have going on. But I was wrong.’‘

‘‘I tried to show it through actions and thought it was enough. But right now, I realized it’s not enough. I am totally and utterly in love with you. So you’re stuck with me whether you like it or not.’‘ he concluded with a laugh.

Watching your boyfriend pouring his heart out to you with an intense passionate gaze was urging you to do the same.

‘‘Good. Because I’m totally and utterly in love with you too Lee Taeyong.’‘ you confessed chuckling a little, while holding him.

‘‘You know you raised the bar on the birthday surprises way higher now right?’‘ he said with a smirk, earning a light punch on his arm from you.

‘‘Maybe next year you could dance for me. I bet you’re good at dancing too.’‘ he suggested, expression turning devilish.

‘‘I’m not... But you can always teach me.’‘ you responded with a challenging smirk.

‘‘Right now, the only dance I want to do is the Devils Tango.’’ he said with a proud expression.

‘‘Taeyong! Oh my god, where did you learn that?’‘ you started laughing because it was ridiculous.

‘‘Come on Y/N you gotta admit it was kinda smooth. Doesn’t that mean se-’‘ he was about to say but you interrupted him by saying;

‘‘You won’t get any if you don’t stop talking about it like that though.’‘ trying to hide your laugh by turning back and walking away.

But your fake push & pull game was cut short when you suddenly found yourself in Taeyong’s arms being carried princess style.

‘‘I don’t think I can wait anymore.’‘ he said in urgency, lust evident in his eyes while carrying you to the bedroom.

Taeyong’s 25th birthday would surely be a time you would both remember.

[wizardofahz]

High School Reunion

A/N: Midvale is coincidentally set around the time Alex’s 10-year high school reunion would’ve been, so that’s when this is set.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Alex heads down to the beach.

Spending the night in her childhood bed and the emotional release of her conversation with Kara had been nice, but leftover pent up energy is making her restless. A difficult run in the sand should help.

It does at first. It’s been a while since she’s run on a beach. All her energy is spent on reacquainting herself with the lack of solid footing, the way the sand deforms under her feet, how much harder her muscles have to work to extract her feet and carry them forward.

Not long after she falls into a steady rhythm, Alex spots two women walking ahead of her. They’re going in the same direction as her, but she passes them easily.

The monotony of her physical movements allows her mind to wander. Inevitably her thoughts return to Maggie. Actually, no, not Maggie but the coming out journey she had helped along. Alex’s self-realization may have come in National City, but the signs had started here in Midvale.

Vicki hadn’t been her only crush, she’s sure. Over the past year, other memories have come back to Alex, puzzle pieces falling into place with a startling new clarity. Alex wonders how many she’s forgotten. Her mother hadn’t been surprised when Alex came out to her. Maybe she remembers more.

Eventually Alex decides to head back. At this point, she can run half the way and use the last half as a cool down walk.

The two women from before are still walking in the same direction. Alex glances at them, prepared to give a courtesy nod, but recognition stops that plan in its tracks.

It’s Josie.

And Vicki.

Crap.

After Kenny’s death, the friend bubble that had shattered so quickly around Alex hadn’t lasted much longer for Josie.

Except Vicki.

Vicki had been so unfailingly kind to and well-liked by everyone that she had the unique ability to stand up for anyone regardless of social status. And so she did for Kenny, Josie, and Alex.

Until Alex had screwed that up.

Alex hopes they won’t recognize her. She really doesn’t need this reunion now of all times.

No such luck.

“Alex?” Josie says as Alex nears.

Alex skids to a stop, momentum carrying her past Josie and Vicki, so they all have to turn to see one another.

“I didn’t think you’d come,” Josie continues.

Feeling more off-kilter than just her sudden stop can explain, Alex says, “I-- Josie, hi. Come to what?”

“The reunion.”

Josie’s words ring a distant bell though Alex doesn’t know how. She doesn’t really keep in touch with anyone from high school, though she sees the occasional update on social media. Maybe her mom mentioned it on a phone call. Either way, Alex has a vague recollection of hearing that her 10-year high school reunion is being held sometime around now. Apparently exactly now.

That also explains Vicki. From a brief moment of weakness when Alex googled her, she knows Vicki hasn’t lived in Midvale since she left for college either.

Vicki alternates between averting her gaze and shooting Alex odd looks. Once upon a time, Alex would’ve known what those looks meant.

“Oh, that’s this weekend?” Alex says. “Umm, I’m actually not here for that, just coincidence really.”

“Well, even if you hadn’t planned on going, since you're here, why don’t you drop by the reunion anyway?" Josie offers. “I’m sure we’ll be well-stocked with booze if nothing else.”

“I’ll think about it,” Alex says, her version of ‘thanks but no thanks.'

Josie seems to understand. “Either way, I’m glad we ran into each other. I wanted to say thank you and I’m sorry. The whole thing with Mr. Bernard...” She grimaces and shudders. “The more time passes, the grosser it feels. Thanks for ending it.”

“Just glad I could help,” Alex says. Maybe if Vicki wasn’t here, she’d ask how Josie is doing. But Vicki is here, which means Alex would very much like to be anywhere else. “I should finish my run before I cool down. See you around?”

Josie nods, looking a little lighter. “See you.”

Alex takes one last glance at Vicki.

The odd expression now looks like jealousy.

... 

Alex watches the waves crash into the rocks below.

As the water recedes, she hears the shuffle of someone approaching.

There are very few people who know about her hideout. It’s not the sort of place people find by chance. The rocky cliff face is sloped but occasionally steep. Getting to her particular little hole in the wall requires knowing that sometimes the best way across is going down then up.

Her father is MIA. Her mom wouldn’t know to come looking for her now. This area is remote enough that Kara typically flies, which only leaves--

Alex sighs.

“I’m not in the mood to fight,” she says.

“Me neither,” comes Vicki’s voice moments before she appears. “I thought you’d be here.”

“Shouldn’t you be with Josie?” Alex wishes she could sound calmer, neutral at least, but her voice comes out reeking of resentment. “Doing... whatever, walking? Something?”

“I’ll see her tonight,” Vicki says evenly, and Alex’s resentment grows. “I wanted to talk to you.”

Vicki tilts her head towards the empty space beside Alex, asking if she can sit. The cave can probably fit three or four people, but given the giant elephant in the room, the prospect of two seems cramped.

Alex nods anyway.

An uncomfortable silence settles between them until Vicki clears her throat.

“I wish I knew what to say sorry for,” Vicki says.

Confusion proves a preferable alternative to discomfort. “Why would you be sorry?” Alex asks.

“You know, when we were kids, I remember hearing a lot about heartbreak,” Vicki says, and Alex’s own heart convulses in her chest. “No one ever told me you could feel it as deeply with friends.”

Friends. Right.

“I missed you, you know?” Vicki continues. “In college and even now, whenever I learn something interesting but super nerdy, I think, ‘Alex would love this.’”

“Ouch?” Alex says--she's a nerd but is she that nerdy--but she knows what Vicki means. When reading feel-good stories on the internet, she often thinks that Vicki would do something like that.

Vicki smiles, a subtle quirk of the mouth. “Watching you with Josie just now... it seemed so easy. I wish I could remember why we fought. If I said something stupid or insensitive... I remember it was after your dad died and then Kenny.”

“What? No!” Alex says immediately. “At least I don’t think so. To be honest, I also have no idea what we were fighting about.” Then because she feels guilty about Vicki’s guilt, she adds, “I did sort of have an epiphany last year about why though.”

“Last year? That’s random.”

“Not really.” Alex's face is burning now. She wishes the cave was bigger, provided at least a facade of an escape. But then again, maybe with an escape, she wouldn’t be bringing herself to having this conversation. “I, umm, I came out last year. I guess I’m coming out again now. To you. But I-- last year I came out for the first time, and it sort of made me think about things, and I didn’t realize it at the time, but I think I had a crush on you, and I didn’t know how to deal with it.”

Vicki looks stunned, and Alex immediately regrets saying anything. All of her coming out experiences until now had been positive, but now Maggie’s story about her and Elisa is rattling around her head. Alex racks her brains, trying to remember if Vicki said anything in high school that even hinted at homophobia.

An even more panicked thought runs through her head. Alex is pretty sure she’s the stronger of the two of them. If someone is getting pushed out of this cave, it’s not her.

“You know what,” Alex says quickly, desperately retreating from that terrible thought. “We can forget I said anything.”

“No, I… Thanks for sharing. I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to,” Vicki says.

Relief floods through Alex’s body. It’s not enough to calm her pounding heart and twisting stomach, but it provides a moment of clarity. She’d been talking a mile a minute and given Vicki less than half a second to respond before she went into panic mode.

“To be honest, I think I’m more surprised that you had a crush on me specifically,” Vicki continues. “You’re such a perfectionist. That you of all people could think that I was worth crushing on... It’s kind of flattering.” She’s quick to clarify, “Not in a weird way!”

Alex laughs, shaky but sincere. “Well if it helps, I don’t have a crush on you anymore.”

Vicki nudges her leg against Alex’s. “My turn to say, ‘Ouch.’”

Silence settles between them again. Alex wishes she could say this one is less awkward than the previous, but they still have ten years of distance between them.

Again, Vicki is the one to break the silence. “So what brings you to Midvale since it’s not the reunion?”

“I’ve been going through--” Alex lets out a weary sigh “--something. I don’t want to talk about it, but Kara thought it’d be a good idea to get away from National City for the weekend.”

Vicki respects Alex’s wishes and pivots. “And how is Kara? Seemed like Supergirl also had it rough for a while.”

Alex thinks she could rival Kara’s super speed with how quickly she turns to Vicki. “What? Why would you--”

“I’ve never said anything to anyone,” Vicki says with her hands up, “but I grew up with you. It’s kind of obvious.”

“No.” Alex sinks her head into her hands. “You can’t know.”

“I think it’s kind of amazing,” Vicki continues, oblivious to the panic once again coursing through Alex’s veins, “you two saving the world together.”

“You don’t understand,” Alex chokes out. “Do you remember Rick Malverne?”

Alex knows she’s breaking confidentiality by saying this, but she needs Vicki to understand the scope of the problem. If Alex missteps, it won’t be a great solution, but J’onn can wipe Vicki too.

Vicki’s brow furrows in thought before saying, “He liked you, right? Used to carry your backpack or something?”

“He also figured out that Kara is Supergirl, so if he knew, and you know, then how many other people in this town know?”

“Okay, uhh, even if other people do, no one is going to--”

“Earlier this year, he kidnapped me.” 

“Oh my God.”

“He wanted his father freed from prison, so he went after me, said that if Kara didn’t break him free, he’d kill me. Nearly did too. But the point is that I can’t do that to Kara again.”

“What about you though? Are you okay?”

Alex looks down at the water below. The tide is rising much like the water in the tank. Alex shakes her head to wash the memories away.

“I’m fine.”

Vicki looks at her skeptically.

“I’m fine enough.”

“Well, if it helps, when I said it’s obvious, I meant to me.”

Alex shakes her head. “He knew because of that day on the beach. You know, when Kara saved that woman and her baby from the car? Our whole class was out there.”

“Yeah, but Rick moved away not long after, right? That’s one of his last memories of Kara, and it left an impression. No, hear me out. Everyone else who was there remembers her as that weird kid they picked on or avoided for years afterward. I’m pretty sure at this point the ‘weird kid Kara’ reputation is not the good kind of weird you’d expect to find in a superhero--no offense to her. It’s obvious to me because I know you, and especially in senior year after everything with Kenny, Sheriff Collins, and Josie, spending time with you meant spending time with Kara. I got to see her for the good kind of special that she is.”

“I don’t know.” Alex rubs her temples. She wishes it was that simple, but she doesn’t think it is.

“You know,” Vicki says playfully, sending off alarm bells in Alex’s head, “one way you can make sure is to come to the reunion tonight.”

Alex rolls her eyes. “I’d rather be kidnapped again.”

“Want me to sleuth around?” Vicki offers. “I may not be a super spy or whatever it is you do, but I’ve got skills.”

“No, we have other ways of dealing with this.” Alex makes a mental note to talk to J’onn. “And I was serious about the ‘you can’t know’ part. At the very least, you’re going to have to sign a lot of confidentiality documents.”

“Fair enough. Do I go to your office or something? Does that mean we’ll get to spend time together again? This has been nice.”

“We have another field office closer to where you live, not that I know where you live,” Alex adds quickly, but to her relief Vicki just laughs. “So, umm, maybe we could do something non-business related sometime?”

“I’d like that.”

[kindasadwriter]

This turned out to be way longer than I expected so I put a cut in.  Hope you like this anon! 

While he had no clue where you were he knew you were nearby thanks to Hattori’s absence.  The bird who had been loyal to him and only him for years developed a weakness for you at your first meeting, irksome at times but he had no right to judge considering his own feelings.  Though he couldn’t help but wonder if Hattori would be so enamored if you processed a different devil fruit power or none at all.  

He’d never get an absolute answer but he was fairly certain if you were anything other than a bird Hattori would be far less interested.  

Turning a corner to cut through a nearby alley Lucci’s frown deepened when he realized there was still no sign or trace of you.  If he was searching for anybody else he’d have more patience however this was you and it was very likely you were not only already aware of his presence but knew he was searching for you as well.  Which meant you were purposely avoiding him. 

Which was beyond infuriating.

Emotions aside, while the two of you have fought in the past he’d never managed to seriously injure you and during your more recent meetings he made no effort to do so.  If you noticed the change in nature you kept it to yourself, and if that was the case he was thankful for your silence as it kept his pride completely intact.  Regardless of what he told himself or how he looked at it, falling in love with an unaligned informant was embarrassing and dangerous considering his own occupation.  

There was nothing he could do though.  The government could try to send others but you were very particular with those you interacted with and rather than waste resources to find another lesion to work with you, it was easier to just send him.  

 Watching him from the sky you chuckled as Lucci continued to search for you.  You were well aware he knew you were here however revealing yourself like that was no fun.  Well that and it was strategic to remind the house cat that you couldn’t be found that easily, though you would admit thanks to his keen senses and Hattori’s infatuation he was the one that found you with the most ease.  Glancing at the bird that’d was peacefully perched on your shoulder, you could admit to yourself that you’d developed a sort of soft spot for the house cat over the past few years.  You had a hunch he’d developed something similar for you but he was a difficult man to read. 

Wings getting tired you glided down to a nearby building and transformed back to normal.  Wings turned back to arms and talons turned back to legs.  You’d consumed your devil fruit as a child and so your bird like abilities had become second nature.  Wanting to have some fun with him you found a nearby fire escape and stealthy made your way down to the ground.  Arguably you were putting yourself at a disadvantage considering Lucci’s power-both physical and devil fruit ability but the opportunity to sneak up on the man or at the very least surprise him was far too good to pass up. 

Spying on the spy, you followed him around careful not to make a sound.  Every so often Hattori would notice how close you were to Lucci and would try to fly back to the man but you made sure to keep the bird in place by using your left arm to anchor him down onto your shoulder.  If he were to return to Lucci no doubt he’d know just how close you were.  

Hattori really was a peculiar bird.  They had no devil fruit and yet they could find Lucci and yourself as if the two of you had trackers that led the bird to you.  At first you believed the bird to be a very realistic robot but an accident between you and Lucci proved otherwise.  You still felt a little guilty but time had healed the birds wounded wing and neither Lucci or Hattori seemed to hold a grudge over it.

As Lucci stepped out of an alley way and back into the public you let him get a little further before stepping out to continue your stalking.  Humming softly you had to wonder exactly what the man needed this time.  It hadn’t been all that long since you’d last met and it was rare for him to need more information so soon.  Had you unknowingly come across valuable information or had the house cat docked on the same island as you by chance? If it was the latter there was no guarantee he was actually searching for you right now and even if he was it was of his own will rather than orders.  

The possibility brought a small smile to your face.  So distracted by the thought your grip on the pigeon loosened and sensing the opportunity to return to Lucci and alert him to your presence Hattori launched himself off your shoulder and was back with Lucci in moments.  

“..Ah..” You observed as the man eyed the bird before turning his head slightly to look back and scan the area, “Not great.” You added as the two of you made eye contact.  

Well, this was fine too.  

Transforming back into your half bird form you gave the man a wink before taking off into the sky.  Regardless of where you went he’d be able to track you now so you might as well go somewhere more private to talk or fight.  Really you’d prefer the former but every so often he’d ask for information you weren’t willing to give the government and that’d result in a fight between the two of you.  Him trying to force the information out of you without killing you(because let’s face it you were a valuable resource) and you trying to push him back and look for a proper means of escape.  

Spotting a fairly secluded area you landed but didn’t bother transforming back.  It didn’t take much longer for Lucci to arrive.  

“Hey house cat.” You greeted with a smile.

His frown deepened at the nickname but he said nothing regarding it, “How long were you following me?”

Innocently humming you tilted your head to the side, “No idea what you’re talking about.” You replied, “I definitely didn’t follow you all the way from that restaurant, through the alley ways for a good hour or so and then through town for a little bit.”

Trying to keep his brow from twitching Lucci took a deep breath before letting out an exasperated sigh.  How was it one woman could be so irritating? Not wanting risk playing any of her games, both for professional and personal reasons Lucci cut straight to the point, “What do you know about the country of Dressrosa?”

Now that was a..complicated subject.  The country had changed drastically since Doflamingo took it over and getting information about what happened was..difficult if not confusing.  You’d visited it on several occasions but talking to people and some of the strange toys had only made things more confusing.  Stories seemed to contradict or end without reason.  Citizens had blank spaces in their memories, photos they couldn’t explain, and other odd occurrences.  

You’d wanted to go back to investigate more, simply to satisfy your own curiosity but the heavenly demon had sent you a very clear warning that if you returned to that country you wouldn’t leave it.  While you didn’t doubt your own strength you also weren’t foolish enough to put yourself in a situation where an entire island could be easily turned against you and so you’d taken his warning to heart and never returned.  

“Not that I doubt your strength but if you’re planning on taking a trip to Dressrosa I’d advice you to be more cautious than you were today.”

“Care to expand on that?” He questioned.

Not all that protective over Doflamingo or the country of Dressrossa you were happy to tell him a majority of what you knew, which unfortunately wasn’t nearly as much as you’d like.  The underground SMILES, green bit, Doflamingo’s odd rise to power, the human like toys, and the citizens odd behavior at times.  

Lucci wasn’t surprised by a majority of the information you gave as CP0 had already gathered the same though there were some loose ends that were tied up by what you said.  If he thought you were holding out on him he would’ve said something but by the time you finished talking you had an unsatisfied expression, it was the same look you had when he refused to tell you how he loss to straw hat.  Actually it was the same look you wore whenever you didn’t know as much as you wanted to, it was amusing and cute and at times it made him wonder if fate had originally intended for the both of you to consume the others devil fruit.  

“I thought you’d know more.” He finally said, earning himself a warning glare.  Shamefully and painfully aware that you’d probably been stalking him for quite some time before he found you he continued to push your buttons.  His words really weren’t all that insulting if you thought about it, the fact you knew anymore than CP0 was beyond amazing especially considering you worked alone for the most part(your only-ally other than himself to a degree-being the media that protected you and had far too much leverage over the government for anything to be done to you without facing a wave of backlash that), well you really were something else.  

“Well if it’s not good enough you can always go ask some other world class informant.” You snapped.

“I might have to.” He casually agreed.

Fingers involuntarily twitching, you took a step towards Lucci.  Jabbing your index finger directly into his chest you glared daggers as you spoke up, “I know for a fact there isn’t anybody else like me” You paused before adding, “Anywhere, Lucci.”

Were you defending your profession or simply stating a fact?  It was true for both but he wouldn’t admit it to you right now.  If he did your conversation would be over and the two of you would have to go your own ways.  It was impossible to avoid, the two of you really weren’t meant to be close or have any sort of relationship and yet you did.  Lucci still recalled the shocked looks and surprised tones when he returned from his first meeting with you.  He supposed he was lucky you took an interest in him because he’d gotten more information out of you than anybody else had and since then you’d become a part of his job to the government.  And what did you get in return? 

Looking up at the sky, or rather the news coo that had been circling above the two of you for some time he really couldn’t help but wonder.  He’d tried questioning you before but so far it had been the one thing you refused to answer him about.  Never the less, moments like this were more than enough for now.  This kept the two of you alive and allowed you to continue meeting and until he could find out exactly what your relationship to the media was, what you were getting and they had over you and you over them-there really was nothing more you could do.  

[benedictscanvas]

the future is bright (with you, my dear) - spencer reid x reader

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: Mentions of death, serial killers, the general criminal minds stuff but nothing graphic

A/N: Okay, so, confession: this is very self-indulgent! I’m not very well, but desperately wanted to get something out to you so I’m sorry if the quality isn’t up to scratch! But I just wanted to write something super fluffy and comforting that could just wrap me up in a nice soft blanket. Hope you enjoy! :)

---

(ways to say i love you) number 16 = “it’s okay, i couldn’t sleep anyway”

The ticking of the clock in the hotel room was unrelenting. It wormed its way into your brain and stayed there, until you were hearing it echoing in your head and you didn’t even know whether it was real anymore. Eventually, after minutes, hours, you didn’t know, you huffed as you got out of bed and took the clock off the wall, taking it into the bathroom and putting it in the tub.

When you returned to bed and you could still hear it, it was only a few minutes before you returned to the bathroom and took the batteries out. You threw them in the tub angrily and practically stomped back into your bed like a child might.

The case was slow. Agonisingly so. You’d been here for days and yet you still felt no closer to catching the unsub than you were when you began, despite having three more dead bodies left in the woods since then. Some of you were tired, some of you were cranky and some of you were just pissed off. You found yourself a mixture of all three.

It was all swirling around in your mind, and you could swear you could still hear that damn ticking, so you only heard the knocking the third time it happened and a soft utterance of your name accompanied it. You recognised the voice, and it was the only thing that had you hopping out of bed, grabbing your long cardigan from the peg and wrapping it around yourself, only wearing a tank top and shorts in the hot climate.

When you opened the door, Spencer was already halfway down the corridor.

“Spence,” you hissed, watching him wince and turn around, “Are you okay?”

“I’m so sorry, Y/N, did I wake you?” he whispered and you smiled as you shook your head, beckoning him into your room so you could talk properly. Rossi, who was currently in the pissed off stage of the case, would only come out of the room and glare at the two of you if you stayed in the corridor any longer.

Instead, he followed you inside, still murmuring his apologies even after you’d sat him down on the end of the bed next to you. You crossed your legs on the bed and wrapped your cardigan tighter around yourself against the chill of the cheap hotel.

“Spencer, seriously,” you said, resting a hand on his forearm to stop his mumbled rambling, “It’s okay. I couldn’t sleep anyway.”

He paused at that and tilted his head in that adorable manner he sometimes did.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, just can’t sleep. This case is…”

You trailed off but he nodded. He understood. He always did. People thought he didn’t always understand people, didn’t always pick up on things but in your experience? He picked up on your cues before anyone else, understood you better than anyone else. Best friends ever since you’d joined the BAU together, inseparable on and off cases: if there was anyone you wanted at your door when you couldn’t sleep, it was Spence.

“I know,” he said sympathetically, placing a hand over yours on his arm. He glanced behind him and looked back to you, a newly amused smile on his face, “Where’s your clock?”

You bit your the inside of your cheek.

“Never had one,” you lied, unconvincingly. It wasn’t your best work.

“All the rooms have one, Y/N,” he said, eyebrows raised as he stared at you. You muttered your answer incoherently, “What was that?”

‘It’s in the bath, okay?” you said exasperatedly, pouting, “That stupid ticking was driving me to distraction.”

He chuckled at you, shaking his head fondly.

“Of course it’s in the bath.”

“Anyway,” you said pointedly, “What are you doing awake? And here?”

His gaze was cast downward almost immediately, and you frowned. You squeezed his arm a little, because you were still holding onto it. You didn’t have the heart to let go, but luckily neither did he. It was nice to have a bit of human contact amongst all the human misery you saw day to day.

“I don’t know,” he said weakly, shrugging his shoulders, “I was just lying there staring at the ceiling and...well, I had a feeling you might be too.”

Now he was lying to you, but he was seriously trying to. It was a serious lie. Your frown only got worse, the lines of your face deepening. Now you did have the heart to, so you removed your hand from his arm and leaned back away from him.

“Spencer, why are you really here?” you said, the room changing all at once, but you added with soft eyes, “You never have to lie to me, you know?”

He was biting his lip and you just wanted to reach up and and pull it away from his teeth, run your fingers gently over his jawline, smooth out all the worry lines he’d gained since you met him. Sometimes, you wished he hadn’t seen everything he had seen, wished you could save him from it all. But sometimes, you also wished you could kiss him. Some things weren’t meant to be.

“I know,” he said guiltily, “Sorry. It’s stupid, though, and I don’t want you to think I can’t handle the case or that I’m not thinking clearly or-”

“I can guarantee that whatever your reason for knocking on my door, I’m not going to think anything like that. Ever, Spence.”

He looked at you with a look in his eye that you recognised as love. You knew it to be the completely platonic kind, but it made butterflies stir up a frenzy in your stomach regardless.

Ironically, platonic friendship was one of the furthest things from Spencer’s mind in that moment, but there was no way for you to know that.

“Okay,” he relented, “You know how me and Rossi went to the crime scene today? Well, when we pulled the sheet back from Shelly Peterson’s body there was a moment...well, it was such a stupid moment because I knew you were back at the station and we’d spoken on the phone not five minutes prior but-”

You sighed gently.

“She looked like me?” you interjected, nothing but kindness in your tone, none of the teasing he might have worried about or the wrinkled nose at the stupidity of his thoughts. None of that.

“She did,” there were tears gathering in his eyes and you had to will yourself not to cry right along with him, “A-and I just...I haven’t really seen you since because we were working on separate parts of the profile so I couldn’t sleep until I-”

He wasn’t finishing his sentences. It wasn’t unlike him sometimes, when he was a little shaken up, but it still worried you each and every time. You were so used to him being eloquent, beautifully so, speaking at a hundred miles an hour but still making more sense than people who spoke ten times slower. When he lost the ability to speak fully coherently, you knew he was really fighting an mental battle.

“Until you came and saw me?” you finished for him again, knowing he wouldn’t mind. They were words he couldn’t bring himself to say, but also ones that he needed you to know. You would happily say them for him if necessary, “Spencer, that’s not stupid.”

You had noticed your resemblance to the victim earlier that day too, but hadn’t said anything. JJ had given you a look but you’d brushed her off quickly, not wanting to draw attention to it in front of the team. They must have noticed too, it was hard not to, but nobody said anything. It went unspoken. For you, though, it had only been in pictures and you could imagine you might have reacted a little differently had you actually been at the scene like Spence.

“It felt stupid,” he said quietly, “I think Rossi thought I was losing it. I just kept...staring at her. And I knew she was Shelly Peterson, of course I did, but it felt like I was staring right at your dead body. Y/N, I don’t think I can ever do that for real. No, actually, I know I could never do that, I’m not capable, I think- I think it would kill me.”

His words were chilling. His voice got louder as he started finishing his sentences again. It was as if he was so determined never to have that nightmare become reality that he had to tell you now, he had to tell you right this second that there was no scenario in which you were allowed to die.

“Well, that’s okay,” you said confidently, not being able to help yourself when you reached up and took his chin between your thumb and forefinger, begging him to make eye contact with you, “Because I’m not going anywhere, Dr Reid, and neither are you. You’re not allowed to. I won’t have it.”

“But-”

“Nope,” you stopped him, because his thoughts were consuming him and you desperately wanted to bring him back to you, to this moment, here in the hotel room where the two of you were safe. Where the two of you were together. “Creating geographical profiles side by side, that’s how we’re going to live out the rest of our days. We’re going to go to crime scenes and trade theories away from the group if we’re not sure about them. We’re going to force each other to get a few hours sleep on the jet whenever we can.”

“Yeah?” his voice was still timid, but now it sounded like he was simply getting more overwhelmed with every sentence you spoke. You swallowed the sentimental lump in your throat and continued on, reluctantly letting go of his chin now that he’d dared to look at you.

“Yeah. We’re going to spend weekends together. In the park. At my apartment, at your apartment. We’re going to sit at our desks across from each other in the bullpen every day. Chat as we do paperwork. Get each other coffee. Eventually, I’m going to learn that however much sugar I put in will never be enough.”

“Would be great if you learnt that sooner rather than later,” he joked with a chuckle, even though there were more tears in his eyes. You swatted his arm playfully, your own choked laughter filling the small room.

“We’re going to be as old as Rossi one day, with a few grey hairs, and there will be new FBI recruits that ask each other in hushed voices, ‘Is that Doctor Reid and Agent Y/L/N? I’ve read all of their books!’ and we’ll sign a few of them if they’re lucky,” you explained, feeling a few tears of your own surfacing as you imagined Spencer with grey hairs around his temple.

You could picture him, years in the future, walking over to you on the jet and sitting down with that small groan that Rossi let out quite often when he sat down, a customary groan that slightly older people seem to do even if nothing hurts and nothing is stiff. Spencer would groan as he sat down and you would laugh at him, tease him for being too old for all this now, and he’d remind you of this very moment.

“We’re going to co-write books?” he said dreamily and you knew he was picturing scenario after scenario of your future now too. You hoped it might get the image of your dead body out of his mind, at least for a while, replace it with images of you laughing at his ridiculous philosophical jokes just because he thought they were funny.

“We are indeed,” you hummed happily.

“How do you make our job sound so...romantic?”

You hadn’t expected that, but you tried not to let it show on your face. Instead you just furrowed your brows in confusion and hoped he didn’t see the fear in your eyes at the prospect of being found out.

“Romantic?”

“Yeah,” he said, seemingly unfazed by what he was saying, “We have one of the worst jobs in the world, see more evil than most people will ever even hear about, but you make it sound like we’re going to live out this...romantic ideal.”

You took a deep breath.

“Our job is awful...basically all the time, I know. But I suppose, on the occasion that it isn’t awful, it’s usually either because we save someone or because- well, because you’re around.”

Spencer paused, staring at you and your gaze drifted down to his lips before snapping back upwards again. He saw that. Definitely. Your tone had changed, but he was the one who had mentioned romance, so you were only following his lead, you told yourself.

Was he closer than he had been a second ago? Your mind was playing tricks on you. When he spoke, his voice was breathy and barely there.

“Sounds pretty r-romantic to me.”

You held your breath.

“Is that a good thing?”

Please say yes. Please say yes. Please say yes.

“I think you missed some stuff out of our future,” he said and all you could think was that he hadn’t said no, not yet, and that if he was about to let you down gently then you weren’t sure you would cope, “I know we’re going to work together for the rest of our lives. Create profiles and catch killers and write books. But I’m also...I’m also going to love you for the rest of our lives. Do you think we could fit that in?”

You exhaled slowly, just so he wouldn’t hear how shaky it was. Your grin was infectious, clearly, because he was grinning too, you could see it through tear-blurred vision. You wouldn’t answer his question directly, he hadn’t answered yours after all, but you spoke up quickly to make sure he had no doubt about your answer.

“We could...go on coffee dates?”

“Movie marathons under mountains of blankets?”

“Kissing in the rain?”

“Kissing under the stars.”

“Kissing everywhere.”

“Moving in together?”

“Getting a dog? A cat?”

“Getting down on one knee?”

Voices growing softer and softer, the questions soon melted away into the dim glow of the hotel room and the future felt closer than it ever had before as you shared your first kiss.

(and your second, and your third, and your…)

---

tags: @justkurotingz @yes-sir-hotchner​

[holy-honeybees]

Snowdrift

AO3

Rating: T+ (for swearing)

Summary: Three friends and  their dog get lost in a snowstorm while investigating the paranormal. Amidst swirling flurries of white, some lose their way and get lost in their memories, others lose sight of their friends and loved ones, and an unforgiving winter quickly fills in the footprints one would follow to get back home.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter One

Chapter Nine

It wasn’t long before the trees had closed in behind them as Vivi and Mystery headed deeper into the dark forest. The blue-haired girl trudged forwards relentlessly, ignoring the snow that trickled into her boots, making her socks cold and wet. With the heavy canopy of clouds overhead blocking out the moonlight, the trees melted into the inky black night. The only source of illumination was the flashlight Vivi held, the white snow it reflected off of almost blinding in comparison to their dark surroundings. Normally she would have been thrilled to be exploring spooky woods in the middle of the night, but now, her sense of unease over her missing friend was only compounded by the unsettling atmosphere.

“Arthur!” Vivi called. Her words were quickly snatched away by the wind whistling between the tree trunks. Mystery quietly padded through the snow beside her, vigilantly observing his surroundings. He scented the air frequently for a trace of the missing mechanic, but all they had managed to find was their way deeper into the foreboding woods. She couldn’t believe how much things had changed since yesterday, feeling almost foolish for how they had frolicked and played in the snow which now seemed so menacing.  

“Arthur!” she cried again, hugging her friend’s abandoned hoodie closer to her chest. She could only hope that the howling winds would carry her words to the mechanic rather than further away from him.

“We’ll find him,” Mystery said, but Vivi could see how his ears were pressed back, flat against his head. A clear sign he was worried, despite his assurances.

“I know, I know…” Vivi said, trying to summon her confidence, “But what if we don’t? We have no idea how long he’s been gone. We don’t even know where to look. What if…?”

“It’s not like you to doubt yourself so much,” Mystery replied.

“It’s just…What are we even doing out here?” Vivi said, “We’re only out here because I wanted it to be like before. Before the cave. Back when our friendship was easy, when everything was easy. With road trips and ghost hunts that usually didn’t have any ghosts at the end and Arthur and Lewis were best friends and everything was okay. But it’s not okay.” Mystery regarded her thoughtfully.

“I too wish things could be different,” he replied, “I know our experiences have been very different over the past year, though painful for us both. It’s easy to look back on something to say it was okay then when it isn’t now, regardless of how true that may be.” By the faraway look in his eyes, Vivi knew Mystery wasn’t only thinking of the cave just then. She wondered, not for the first time, just how deep his roots with Shiromori had run.

“Not even I can turn back time,” Mystery continued, “All we can hope to do is to learn from that which haunts us and use it to keep moving forwards. While it won’t bring us back to yesterday, you may find yourself with a new kind of ‘okay’.”

“That’s just it,” Vivi said miserably, “I haven’t learned. I’m supposed to be the leader, but all I ever do is lead everyone into danger. First the cave, now this!”

“Don’t punish yourself for not knowing then what you know now. I have centuries more experience dealing with the supernatural than you do, extrasensory abilities far above your own, and I missed it too. Yet you don’t blame me.”

“No, I don’t,” Vivi agreed softly, “It’s just… Am I selfish? I know Arthur gets scared so easily, yet I’ve been pushing him to go on these ghost hunts for years. He and Lewis are still trying to get used to each other again, but now I’ve dragged them out to the middle of nowhere, just because the memories of what we were are so fresh in my mind and I want it back so bad.”

“I don’t think you’re selfish, no,” Mystery replied evenly, “Bold about what you do and don’t want. Passionate about the things you care about, including your friends. Exuberant in wanting to share what brings you joy with others. But you’re not forcing anyone to do anything or be anywhere they don’t want to be. They love you, Vivi, and Lewis and Arthur would do almost anything for you. They are capable of making their own decisions though. They want to fix this as badly as you do.” Vivi sniffled, blaming her runny nose on the cold and her stinging eyes on the wind that still whipped about.

“I can’t lose them again,” she said, “I just got back our memories together, I just got them back.”

“I know,” Mystery said, “And that’s why we’ll keep searching until we find him.” Vivi nodded vigorously in response, turning away from the kitsune to resume her scan of the surrounding forest.

Despite her earlier protests, Vivi was glad Mystery had accompanied her in the search for Arthur, his familiar presence comforting. She wondered if she would have been as open with her concerns had it been Lewis by her side. She was certain her ghostly friend would be supportive through whatever insecurities she voiced, but Vivi struggled to balance vulnerability and leadership. Sometimes it felt as if everybody expected her to be happy all the time. She was thankful that, frequently, she was, but sometimes it felt like she wasn’t allowed to not be okay. As if she had to carry on like nothing was wrong and be the same bold, brave, bubbly Vivi she always was. How could she be anything but when someone else needed her to be strong? Mystery was always there for her though, even when she couldn’t muster up her usual smile. Despite her outgoing nature, she had at times struggled to fit in and make friends, considered to be too strange or unusual. But Mystery would be at her side, ready to comfort her, whenever she felt sad or lonely. He was a great listener, even before she knew he could talk. She remembered hours spent quietly confessing her worries to her pet dog late at night, running her hand through Mystery’s fur as she talked, curled up on the couch with a mug of hot tea and B-rated horror movies playing in the background. Vivi shook her head, willing her focus to return to the task at hand. The harder she tried to pull herself out of her recollections though, the further she found herself sinking into them. She was back in her childhood home, curled up cozy and warm on the old couch in the living room, rain hammering on the windows as thunder rumbled in the distance. She hugged Mystery tight as she described her latest encounter with the mean girls at school, the static of the falling snow in the forest and the TV screen blending together.

---

“I know, and that’s why we’ll keep searching until we find him,” Mystery said as he continued to pad through the snow. He wished he could take more time to reassure Vivi. It was rare for her to be so plagued by self-doubt, but he too was worried for the mechanic. He hadn’t told the others, not wanting to frighten them further, but Arthur’s scent had already begun to fade by the time they had discovered him missing. Mystery couldn’t be certain how long the mechanic had been gone, but with the frigid temperatures, any amount of time could already be too long. I was so sure they were safe this time, he thought, I was so sure I would keep them safe.He wondered at what point he had come to care for humans so much. As a young fox kit, he held little appreciation for humanity and their short lives. Meeting Mushi and being bound to the service of the Yukino family had done nothing to change his mind at first, but over time, he’d gone from reluctant guardian to best friend of an excitable, blue-haired little girl. Mystery refocused his attention on his surroundings, straining all his senses for a sign the mechanic had passed this way. While the tree branches hung low with their heavy burden of snow, the kitsune had yet to see any that had been broken or left askew to indicate someone had passed this way before them. His sense of smell was overwhelmed by the color white, and Mystery had little hope of being able to detect the mechanic that way. Even Vivi’s presence, less than ten feet away, was clouded by the supernatural snowfall. His ears were pricked, but all he heard was the howling of the winter winds.

Mystery came to an abrupt halt as he realized that he was no longer hearing the crunch of snow under his companion’s boots.

He knew before he even turned around that something was wrong, but seeing the confusion on Vivi’s face confirmed it. Mystery wondered if she was having another memory lapse. While she had regained her memories, occasionally something slipped out of place. Sometimes she remembered things slightly wrong, or there was a blank space where there hadn’t been before. Despite her progress with recovery, Mystery knew it frustrated the blue-haired girl to no end. Still, the lapses were getting less frequent, and the problem usually corrected itself shortly after discovery with some gentle encouragement and prompting from her friends.

Something was different this time. Something was off.

“Mystery, where… Where are we?” Vivi asked, looking around with a puzzled expression. The fox spirit regarded her uneasily.

“Are you having a lapse?” He asked.

“I…yes? No? Maybe, I don’t know. What are we doing out here? How did we get out here?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Me and Arthur are getting together to plan Lewis’s surprise party. He’d be turning 23 this year, and after everything that’s happened, I think we deserve a break.”

Mystery remembered that night. It had been almost two months ago.

This wasn’t just a memory lapse, it was memory loss.

“Vivi, try to remember. Last week, you gathered everyone together to look into a new case—”

“Last week? But Arthur said the repairs to the van might take a month or more after we dealt with that creep with the tarot cards. He couldn’t have fixed the van already.”

“Vivi, it’s December,” Mystery replied. The color drained from the girl’s already pale face.

“No,” Vivi said, vigorously shaking her head, “No way. I can’t be missing that much time!”

“Try to remember. Last week, you met with Arthur and Lewis at the Pepper Paradiso to look into a new case to investigate. You and Arthur ordered milkshakes, and Cayenne spiked his with hot sauce again.” The kitsune told her everything he could about the week leading up to them wandering in the woods, hoping it would trigger her memories to return. He talked about planning and packing for their trip. Arthur seeing something in the road. The almost car crash, the snowball fight, and getting snowed in. Arthur going missing. As Mystery finished his tale, Vivi suddenly doubled over, her face screwed up in pain and her hands clutching her head. The kitsune was by her side in an instant.

“What’s wrong?” Mystery asked, alarmed, “Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m okay. I…remembered. Ugh, it feels like brain freeze but worse. Stabbier,” Vivi groaned, massaging her temples, “Mystery, what was that? That didn’t feel like a lapse, not a normal one at least. I didn’t just forget something about the cave or Lewis, that was a couple of months just gone.”

Vivi peeled her head away from her hands, looking up into Mystery’s face, her worried eyes searching his for answers.

“What’s wrong with me?”

“I… I’m not sure,“ Mystery replied honestly.

“It was so strange. One moment I was here in the woods with you, but then the temperature dropped suddenly, and it was like I was transported somewhere else. Back to my childhood home.” Even as she spoke, Vivi had a pensive, faraway look in her eyes, and Mystery feared she would slip away again. The choice he had to make settled like a lead weight in his stomach. Even with the possibility that Arthur could be only ten feet in front of them, he would put Vivi first, as painful as that decision was to make.

“We should return to the van,” Mystery said. Vivi immediately straightened at his words, glaring at the kitsune.

“Absolutely not! Arthur’s still out there, we can’t just leave him!”

“Vivi, something isn’t right, and I don’t know what it is,” Mystery said urgently, “I don’t want to stop searching either, but we can’t help Arthur if we don’t first help ourselves.”

“We don’t have time! He could be in danger right now, or hurt, or—!” Vivi cut off abruptly with a violent shiver, curling in on herself tightly with a gasp. As Mystery watched, a thin, silvery wisp escaped from the girl’s mouth, disappearing into the night. When Vivi lifted her head again, the kitsune saw that the furious expression she’d had on her face just moments ago had gone curiously blank.

“What…?” The blue-haired girl mumbled. She looked around at her surroundings as if seeing them for the first time.

“Vivi?” Mystery said, padding forwards cautiously. The girl’s eyes snapped to his as soon as she heard his voice, the beam of the flashlight moving to shine on him like a spotlight. Vivi gave a yelp of surprise when she saw the kitsune. Stumbling backwards, she tripped over the thickly piled snow and landed on her rear. She continued to scramble further away until her back was pressed against a tree, refusing to take her eyes off the large fox spirit before her.

“What… What are you?” She asked, her shock tempered by curiosity. The kitsune was frozen in his tracks, too stunned to answer. He’d always dreaded this moment. Worried that the humans he had come to love so dearly would turn away from him if they found out the truth, feeling frightened or betrayed. In some ways, the events of last year had been a blessing. The frantic situation between Shiromori and his own possession had left little time for hurt feelings to surface over his secret, and the joy of having survived and reunited had swiftly washed away the worst misgivings. At the time, Vivi had quickly accepted him for what he was and just as quickly moved on, more focused on his immediate well-being than long-held secrets. He wondered if she would be so blithely accepting this time. Mystery was so preoccupied with his thoughts, he missed the look of recognition that had settled on Vivi’s face.

“…Mystery?”

---

“What…” Vivi said breathlessly, “What are you?”

The large white beast stopped advancing toward her. Had she been standing instead of sitting in the snow—when on Earth had it even begun to snow?—her head would have been at shoulder-height on the wolflike creature. Condensation billowed out of its muzzle, and she could just see the razor-sharp teeth peeking out of its mouth. Its coat was plush in appearance, with a mane of red and black fur erupting from the creature’s head. On second thought, she decided it was more foxlike in appearance, with a narrow snout and long, fluffy tails. Tails? Kitsune, then, her mind helpfully supplied, drawing on the knowledge her granny had imparted with her stories about fox spirits. Despite the creature’s size and what she could see of its fearsome set of fangs, the kitsune standing before her wasn’t all that scary. It seemed almost sad somehow. The fox spirit’s ears were drooping, and his tails hung limp, swaying in the wind. Even his brow was pinched, giving him a worried expression that looked almost human. Vivi continued to scan the creature before her with her flashlight, pausing for a moment when the beam of light glinted off of a familiar golden tag adorned with a question mark.

“…Mystery?” She recovered from her shock quickly, and Vivi couldn’t help the grin that began to spread across her face.

“I knew it! I knew you weren’t just a normal dog. I knew you were special!” She gushed, “You’re a kitsune, right? What am I saying, of course you’re a kitsune! Just look at all your tails!”

“Vivi—”

“And you can talk! This is incredible!” Vivi struggled to stand up from the deep snowbank she’d fallen into, eager to get a closer look at her kitsune companion. She must have seriously spaced out to not realize how nasty the weather had gotten or how late it was. She always had been a little scatter-brained, but the news of her father’s new job and their impending move to Tempest or Cadence or whatever this new town was called had her even more distracted than usual.

“What else can you do? You have to tell me everything!” the blue-haired girl continued as she approached this larger, fluffier version of Mystery, “Well, maybe once we’re out of the cold. It’s freezing out here! Where are we anyways?”

“Vivi, you have to remember.”

“Remember? Remember what?” She was only half-paying attention, instead eyeing Mystery’s fur, eager to know if it was as soft as it looked. She paused when she saw a large scar on his side. It was almost completely obscured by his thick fur, but she was certain it hadn’t been there before. Maybe it only appears when he takes this form, she pondered with a small frown.

“We’re in Nebraska right now, on a ghost hunt. Lewis was driving the van when—”

“Nebraska? Ghost hunt?” Vivi repeated, bewildered, “What are you talking about? Who’s Lewis?” She was so confused. None of this was familiar or made any sense, yet Mystery looked stricken by her response.

“Look down at your arms,” Mystery responded, looking at Vivi hopefully as he padded closer to her, “That hoodie, do you recognize it?”

“What hoodie? Oh!” Glancing down, Vivi saw she was clutching tightly to an orange hoodie. She hadn’t even noticed she was holding it. She examined the soft fabric and its yellow star pattern carefully.

“The only person I know who would wear a color this bright is mom, but I don’t remember ever seeing her wear this,” Vivi replied. A heavy pulse had begun in her head, and Mystery’s intense, worried gaze was starting to frighten her.

“Vivi, you have to try to remember.”

“But I don’t know what I’m supposed to be remembering!” She cried.

Mystery bowed his head so he could look her in the eye. Then, in a voice she could only just hear above the sound of the wind, he began to speak. The kitsune’s voice settled into a steady rumble, the sound washing over her, as he recounted the last few years of Vivi’s life. Years she thought she had not yet lived. The kitsune spoke of a little town in Texas called Tempo, and the life Vivi had made for herself there. Everything Mystery said felt unfamiliar, like he was talking about someone else entirely. With every word, the pressure in her head built up more and more until it was almost unbearable. Her hands clutched at her temples, as if that would keep her skull from splitting apart. She wanted to tell Mystery to stop, but she couldn’t keep from grinding her teeth in order to do so. Vivi felt as if her head might burst at any moment. Still, the kitsune continued to murmur to her, his voice low and melodious, though it had taken on a frantic edge. He talked about the friends she had made, Arthur and Lewis, and how she had started her own paranormal investigation group with them, the Mystery Skulls. The kitsune spoke of the adventures they’d had together, and he only hesitated for a moment before he began to tell her of the cave. The mention of that fateful night felt like an icepick driven into her brain. With a cry of pain, she collapsed to her knees in the snow. She thought she heard Mystery calling her name, but she could scarcely hear him over the keening sound in her ears. With her eyes squeezed shut against the snowy landscape, she saw the last few years of her life pass before her eyes in flickers and bursts.

It was over mercifully quick. One moment, Vivi didn’t remember, and the next, she had. The excruciating pain that had accompanied the return of her memories was subdued to an aching throb, and slowly, the world came back to her. She first became aware of a cold, wet nose poking at her face. Opening her eyes, she blinked away spots as Mystery and the snowy landscape came back into view. Vivi didn’t think she’d ever seen him so worried.

“Are you alright?” The kitsune asked. She nodded her head wearily, letting out a shaky breath.

“I…I remembered,” the blue-haired girl replied.

“That doesn’t answer my question,” Mystery said softly. The fox spirit’s eyes were filled with such gentle concern, Vivi couldn’t help it as her lower lip began to tremble.

“I can’t do this, I can’t lose my memories. Not again,” she sobbed, her voice wavering as tears spilled down her cheeks, “What if… What if I don’t remember next time?”

“I will do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Mystery vowed, “But first we need to go back to the van. It’ll be safer there.” Vivi was caught in indecision as she looked down at the orange hoodie still clasped in her arms.

“But what about Arthur? We can’t give up on him. Not yet, not ever.”

“We’re not giving up on him,” Mystery soothed, “But if we endanger ourselves now, we may not be able to search for him later. We’re just returning to the van so we can regroup. Once we’re better prepared, we can resume our search.” Part of Vivi still wanted to argue. She couldn’t help but feel like she was letting Arthur down or leaving him behind. She knew the kitsune was right though. This new experience with memory loss was terrifying, and they would never be able to progress in their search if Mystery had to keep reminding her of who she was and what they were doing every step of the way. Wiping at her eyes with her mittens, she conceded defeat.

“Okay,” Vivi mumbled, trying to convince herself she was making the right choice, “Okay, let’s go back to the van.” Mystery gave a slow nod in response. He watched her intently as she climbed back to her feet, bracing her with his shoulder when she stumbled.

“Are you hurt?” He asked.

“Just a headache,” Vivi replied, rubbing at her forehead, “And a little dizzy.” The kitsune regarded her for a moment before lowering himself to the ground.

“Here, get on,” Mystery said. It was a rare offer from the fox spirit. His stubborn pride typically prevented him from even considering giving any of them a ride, not without a hefty amount of bribery or pleading first. Normally, Vivi would have taken the opportunity to tease him about it. As it was, she only nodded mutely and swung her leg over the kitsune’s back, storing her flashlight in her coat pocket. She was sure her lack of response would only worry Mystery more, but he didn’t comment on it as he stood back up from the ground with the blue-haired girl on his back. Vivi swayed as he did so, her head pounding. Her shivering increased as the already freezing temperatures seemed to plummet even lower and static began to encroach on her field of vision.

“Ugh,” Vivi groaned, “It’s happening again!”

“Hold on tight,” Mystery said, “We’ll be moving fast.” She buried her mittens into his thick white fur, desperately clinging to the kitsune’s back and the memories she could already feel sliding away. Mystery began to sprint back the way they’d come, agilely weaving between tree trunks that disappeared in a blur as they quickly lost the progress they’d made journeying into the woods. She could already see the clearing through the trees, and in the blink of an eye, they had left the forest behind and were dashing across an empty white field of snow.

“Hold on, Vivi!” The kitsune called over his shoulder.

The static in her vision worsened, and a painful shudder passed through her frame. She could just make out the shape of the van in the distance.

“Hold on!”

Then her vision whited out entirely and she knew no more.

[ask-hunterxhunter]

Can I get a request for yandere Silva, Uvogin, and Phinks?

Phinks has been done already, you can read it here.

  Uvogin

Uvogin is often described as animalistic and you need to know this is not limited to when he is fighting: This man is the sort of person who is fartoo connected with his most primal instincts. Normally, this is not exactly abad thing, but in his case, it is and it can easily become worse when he’s pushed into Yandere Valley, especially considering his personality,not to mention the “take what you want even if by force” mindset of the Troupeand how they already don’t exactly give a damn about who they hurt to achievetheir goals.

 While not one to beat around the bush or hide his interest once it isprovoked, Uvogin is not stupid and the Troupe is the only thing that mattersfor him, so he is usually careful with “normal” interactions and tends to preferone-night stands (far safer in his opinion and besides, he doesn’t have anyemotional attachments outside of the Spider and doesn’t care to have), meaning itwill be a surprise for him when he realizes he is thinking of you with far morecare than he’s used to and also more often… It would be easier if it was simplylust, but somehow, it doesn’t feel like that.

 Despite the initial surprise, once this starts and realizes it (whichwill be pretty soon), Uvogin won’t want to put an end to it or try to forget you(while, in fact, his obsession grows). It’s simply not in his nature. In fact,once he realizes he wants you, whatever past might be between you won’tmatter, even if you’re meant to be enemies or if you’re hunting the Spidersdown (in a way, in his obsession, Uvogin may find this exciting). Once he issure he wants you for life, he’ll also make his intentions clear.

 Hey, it’s not that you actually have a choice, but he thought you mightappreciate the pretense all the same. Sorry, sweetheart, he isn’t a chocolateand roses kind of guy, remember? When the Spiders want something, they take itand he’s no different.

 Despite the circumstances that led to you two meeting, even if yourealize the danger you’re in and decide it might be smarter to find a hell of agood place to hide for a while (hoping he’ll get over you or something), thiswon’t do more than buy you a few days. Going to the authorities and beingplaced in a safe house is useless just as well. The Spiders stick together and isvery likely some of them (such as Shalnark) will help him get to you if things geta little more complicated. While some stalkers may give up their currentobsession with time, this tactic won’t work with Uvogin. No matter where youare or the security you have, he will find you.

 Hey, if he has to kill (read: slaughter) some morons along the way, it’snothing that will keep him up at night. It will be a pretty gruesome scene andunless you’re unconscious, you’ll see it as he drags you along with him. On a note, Uvogin might not kill your family (at least not this time) or your friends (if he’s completely sure they are indeed just friends, thoughthe chances are not as good as with your family). Also, contrary to someothers, Uvogin won’t drag this “game” for longer than necessary or just take histime as he corners you. Yes, he is a predator and a hunter, this sort of thingis fun and all, but why waste time when you’re so close? Especially if you’vemanaged to stay away for what he deems to be too long. What may happen is that,when the perfect opportunity to get you comes, he will let you run -literally-and believe you’re safe before catching you. Uvogin doesn’t mean this as torture,it’s just that it’s too fun for him to let it pass.

 From then on, it’s hopeless.

 You can reason, cry, argue, or yell that this isn’t love, but Uvogin won’treally give a damn, even if he doesn’t enjoy to see you in distress (if hislevel of obsession allows him that, at least). In his mind, you can call thiswhatever you want, but he wants you with him, so that’s it. Besides, there aremany types of love, and this is the love of a thief. Get used to it,little love, because you’re not going anywhere. Note that Uvogin isn’tdelusional enough to insist that you do love him and just doesn’t knowit yet, but this doesn’t mean he will care whether kidnapping you was crossinga line or not. While won’t take pleasure or be indifferent to your suffering, itwon’t make him regret his actions not even for a moment. If anything, hemay point out that the sooner you get used to your new life, the sooner thingswill start to get better.

 He just knows he loves you and wants you with him, so what else matters?

 It’s pretty disturbing how Uvogin will act all nice and gentle when you’renot trying to escape even if you’re defying him (this if his obsession isn’t onthose hellish levels where the instability becomes far too intense for him toeven resemble who he used to be, in this case, it’s better to keep your mouthshut) and, surprisingly, for someone who can be so ruthless and brutal whenfighting, it’s unlikely Uvogin will be violent around you (well, with you). It’s not that his personality will change, but in his own way, he’ll be affectionate…

 Not a sight anyone who has fought him would expect and not that it makes thingsany better, no matter how much he says he loves you while dismissing how muchpain he’s causing you. Uvogin will often want you near him, wanting to enjoythe moments he has with you when he’s not doing some job with the Spiders. In thosetimes, if no one can stay back to what you, Uvogin won’t hesitate to force you insidea cage or place a chain around your ankle and locking you in your room. If youcry, he will just joke that he’ll miss you too, love.

 The rest of the Troupe is no better, either, but then again, did youexpect anything different?

 When you try to escape, Uvogin is likely to allow you to go until acertain point before catching you… It’s an interesting game of tag and whatbetter way to make you understand you can’t ever leave? If you keep insistingor if we’re talking about a rescue, though, it won’t be pretty… At all. Manyanimals get irritated with what they consider an invasion of their territory ora “threat” to their mates and, well, remember how Uvogin bit through a man’sskull once? Yeah, what happens will be along those lines and he won’t hesitateto make you watch.

 Or maybe you can try asking nicely for him to spare their lives?Maybe you can be kinder to him in return? Yeah, Uvogin won’t hesitate touse them as levarage to force you into showing him some affection, even if it’sfake (which he’ll escalate into an attempt at seducting you very soon).

 Of course, you don’t need to know he killed them anyway (or thatsome other member of the Spider did). Come on, you didn’t really expect them tolet someone get so close and just walk away, did you?

 Silva

Silva is not a man who has much of a care for morals and even in a normalstate of mind he’ll consider all the options he has to achieve his goalsand get what he wants. This relentness will only become stronger once hebecomes a yandere for you and while this can often be said for any Yandere, the fact that Silva already has this streak doesn’t mean anything goodfor you. Silva is already used to do disregard limits, already has connections and means, so he won’t hesitate when he decides to pursue you evenafter you’ve rejected his advances.

Not being an impulsive man, it’s unlikely that he’ll become obsessed withyou after a single meeting (though some interest might be incited), regardlessof how you first cross paths: Maybe he met you while chasing a target, maybeyou’re a friend of Killua and came with Gon, Leorio and Kurapika to rescue him,so on. Your following meetings might be brief, he may just hear something aboutyou, but eventually, he will find himself growing… Curious. He’ll then decideto find more about you whenever the opportunity arises, since there are very veryfew people he considers “interesting” outside of his inner circle. You don’t evenhave to be a Hunter for that to happen.

At first, it will be apparently harmless enough (for a Zoldyckassassin, it should be said): He may read about your work, or watch a match ifyou fight in Heaven’s Arena… In a sense, at first, his view will be completelyanalytic: If he watches you fighting, for example, Silva will first focus onyour style, your abilities, your strong and weak points (only later he’ll be focusingmore on you). It’s extremelly hard to say what he’s thinking, but there probablywon’t be any darker intentions just yet. Silva is truly just curious.

There will come a time when second-hand information won’t be as satisfyingfor Silva and he’ll decide to watch you from afar personally. It is nothing outof ordinary for him, after all, there have been times when he observed histarget for some time before killing them… Well… He knows he doesn’t want tokill you, but he isn’t that sure of what he wants with you either (at least atfirst) and this will frustrate him for a good while, as it’s rare for him toget confused or unsure of what he things or feels.

Watching you from afar, seeing you personally, seeing you smile tosomeone else, will change that. Silva will realize very soon that he wants you… He may take one or two days to consider the situation, to think about whatis happening and if this isn’t a passing idea or if he isn’t mixing things up(an irony, considering obsession isn’t love). In the end, Silva will decidethat while things did not start this way, it’s how they are now.

What about Kikyo, you ask?

It depends… We haven’t seen much of their interactions to be completelysure of whether or not there is actual love in that marriage. When it comesdown to it, there are two options: They truly love each other (as strange as itmight seem considering how this family is) or Silva met Kikyo, saw something inher that would be useful for the Zoldyck’s bloodline and manipulated her to thepoint she is completely devoted to him now (I’ve read somewhere Kikyo came fromthe Meteor City. If that’s so, then marrying a powerful, rich man with areputation such as Silva must’ve seemed a dream come true to her, so no wondershe would do whatever he desires). As such, there are also two options of howthings might work in this scenario: Either Silva would kill Kikyo and make itlook like an accident (which he would be able to pull off to the point even hischildren wouldn’t think otherwise) or Kikyo, due to her blind devotion to Silva,wouldn’t mind him having a mistress (which she would consider as a pet of sorts).

In a way or another, Silva won’t care about what he has to do to makesure you’re his, regardless of your (or anyone else’s) opinion on the matter.

At first, Silva will try more normal means of getting to you (courting you,we might say) since he’d much rather have you coming to him willingly, but itwon’t take long for him to determine whether this may get the desirable resultsor not (Silva is great at reading people and remember he won’t have problemswith “checking” on you to know how this idea is going). From them on, hisattempts will start to get unsettling, as there will be an undertone of threateven with the most innocent of gestures: It’s his way of telling you this isyour last chance of doing this the easier way. He’s being nice for now, butthis can change. While most guys may be somewhat insistent without it becoming harassment, it won’t be so with Silva. Long before the time comeswhen he warns you he is not taking “no” for an answer, you’ll alreadyhave the feeling you’re in serious trouble.

Silva has many means of getting to you: From kidnapping you when you’remost vulnerable, to threatening your loved ones to bribing policemen working onkeeping you safe to just hand you over… He has many options and he’ll know whichone works better depending on the circumstances. He will prefer to not involveyour family or closest friends, since it would be counter-productive in thelong run.

While with Illumi you at least can walk around the mansion and thegardens, it won’t be so with Silva: You’ll be kept in a room deep within theZoldyck estate and the only times when you’ll get out will be accompanied byhim, when Silva decides you need/deserve a walk around the gardens. As he willtell you with a smile, there isn’t any way you can escape, so don’t bother totry. Don’t worry, though, you’ll have anything and everything you might wishfor. And it’s true, Silva will have no problems with pampering you even if younever ask for anything.

Why are you surprised he knows so much about your likes and dislikes, mydear?

In a way, it’s not so different than it was with Alluka and, just like itwas with her, it won’t mean anything when you don’t have your freedom. Don’tbother asking for it either. Silva won’t ever let you go (and he will tell you thatquite clearly if it’s necessary).

While some Yanderes might at least feel bad about seeing you suffer,regardless if they understand the depths of what they’re doing and how terribleit is, it won’t be so with Silva. Oh, he knows what he is doing and he believes he loves you, he does, but he’s not a man to be moved by the suffering ofothers even if he claims to care for them. Your tears are just a necessary eviland Silva won’t let you go just because you’re crying. The most compassionate reactionhe may have is to just hold you close and start whispering how things will bealright once you realize how much he loves you.

One thing you should never forget, and that makes the situation evenworse, is that Silva is and always will be, a manipulator. Being theonly one who you have contact with (he may let the butlers serve you from timeto time, but they won’t be allowed to really talk to you), he knows theloneliness will end up making you talk with him. At first, it will be innocentconversation, nothing that appears to have importance…

But Silva will reach the topics of your “previous” life and twist thingsto his advantage. You talk of how you love your friends, how you miss them?Silva will lie that they haven’t even tried to rescue you or remind you of badtimes and arguments you had or anything else he can use against them (andbecause he stalked you, he knows quite a few things), slowly poisoning yourmind with doubts, while acting all sweet and caring.

Silva won’t isolate you just physically, but mentally and emotionally aswell, doing his best to convince you he’s the only one who truly loves you, whounderstands you. He wasn’t kidding when he said he wants to be the only one you’llever think about.

Also, while other Yanderes may truly want you to love them, Silva won’tcare as much. Oh, he wants you to love him, he does, but asfrustrating as it might be if it doesn’t happen, he will content himself withhaving you there. Besides, he knows it will be just a matter of time until yourgive in and accept the situation…

After all, it’s not like you can ever leave, is it?

[takingcourage]

A Sugar Touch

Pairing: Liam x MC

Word Count: 1,350

Summary: The royal newlyweds make up for lost time during a walk through Central Park.

Note: This story was written based on a request from @needalittlerain​ for the dialogue prompt, “Are you blushing or cold?” It ended up being very self-indulgent (and perhaps a little short! I haven’t had as much time to write this week as I’d imagined), but I hope that it’s enjoyable all the same.

Like so many other things, credit for the title belongs to Shakespeare. 

No one on earth would have recognized them. All of their identifying features were obscured, buried deep beneath endless layers of flannel and down.

“If we wanted snow, we could have gone to Lythikos,” Eliza told her husband, taking an exaggerated breath so that she could watch the cottony puff drift away from her lips with the exhale. In spite of her words, she couldn’t help the delighted smile that tugged her cheeks. There was always something magical about being back in New York City.

“We came here for more than snow, my love.”

Eliza warmed at the term of endearment, and she sought his gloved hand at her side. Fingers interlocked, they took several steps to separate themselves from Bastien and Mara. Though they were conscious not to turn any sharp corners or get too far ahead, the distance made their excursion all the more enjoyable. 

"We've already accomplished our purpose here," she reminded, thinking of the lengthy meetings they’d sat through that morning. As they took their first step onto the bridge, she tightened her handhold: experience had taught her just how easy it was to lose traction on the icy stones.

Liam's grip pulsed, and she slowed in time to see the slight furrow of his brow before they came to a complete stop at the apex. "That's a very small part of why we came to New York, and it has no bearing at all on the rest of our day."

"Then why are we here?" she asked, finding it impossible not to grin at the eager traces of silver in his eyes. 

His own smile soon followed, and he took a moment to collect himself before responding. “To make up for the last time we came -- the time when I couldn't get by with kissing you whenever I wished.” 

Distinct, unmistakable heat trailed over Eliza’s shoulders and unspooled low in her belly. "You're serious?"

"Utterly. You don't know the torment of not being able to kiss you freely in this city."

"I do," she admitted with a pang of recognition at past suffering. "And I agree that it's a fitting reason to stay in the city a little while longer." Latching both hands in the collar of his peacoat, she pulled him close enough to feel his heat, still tangible beneath the many layers of fabric. Smile broadening, she brought his soft lips to her own. "How was that? Are you satisfied?"

"Always, but somehow it's never enough. How do you do that to me, Eliza?”

She pressed her lips together, hanging onto the last remnant of their kiss for as long as she could. “Maybe another kiss would help you figure it out.”  

Liam’s head lowered conspiratorially, and she caught a glimpse of their bodyguards a respectful distance away. As she stood taller in her boots to meet him, his words tickled her ears and sent a shiver down her spine. 

“That was my intent. I have a whole list of sites within the park if you'll indulge me."

His aim shouldn’t have come as a surprise -- she’d lost count of the similar gestures he’d planned out in their time together. Still, the earnest admission was enough to bring a resurgence of the glee that she’d felt just on entering the hallowed ground. "I'll kiss you anywhere.” 

He tucked her into his side, close enough for their conversation to go unheeded by passersby. “We’ve kissed in fourteen different countries, did you know that?”

“I didn’t.” As she ticked through the list of places they’d visited, she was struck by how much of an undertaking that record must have been. Since their engagement and subsequent marriage, there had been no lack of kisses. 

“Rest assured, we’ll kiss in many, many more. But I think I’ll focus on our current setting first.” 

“What's number one on your list?"

“That bridge was, actually,” he admitted with a momentary chuckle. “As usual, you have an uncanny ability to anticipate my desires before I’ve said them.” 

“Then what about the second?”

Liam used his free hand to fish a well-worn map from his coat pocket, consulting it for a moment. “We’re nearly there.” 

She allowed him to lead the way, biting back her protests that she could guide him through most of the park with her eyes closed. Regardless of her own familiarity, watching him navigate his determined route made it seem novel again -- as if she hadn’t spent the better part of her first autumn in New York using this place to sate her longing for the native trees of home.

They wound their way into an alcove she knew well, startling an unsuspecting pair of lovers away from their hidden bench. Eliza mouthed a sorry as they crept further into the cultivated space, but paid them no further attention. 

“I’ve always loved this garden,” she revealed once she and Liam were more or less alone. “I did a lot of coursework here junior year when I didn’t have any Friday classes.” She caught his gaze. “You’re much better company than my books.” 

“I should hope so.” He tipped her chin forward with a knuckle, and her eyes fluttered shut in anticipation. 

The kiss started slowly, with an almost aching tenderness as his hand slipped beneath her scarf to cup her neck. Though she hated for it to end, she couldn’t help her sigh of contentment when he finally pulled away. 

“You have witchcraft in your lips, Eliza," he whispered, eyes still dark with desire. 

In spite of her own jumbled thoughts, she managed to hold his gaze. There was the expected glint of humor there, but she could tell that it was underlaid with sincerity. Her cheeks grew hot with realization. 

“Are you blushing or cold?”

“Both, probably,” she murmured as the words faded into a breathy giggle before she attempted to offer some explanation for her laughter. "When i was in theater, I used to claim that was one of the smoothest lines in all of Shakespeare. I never dreamed it would be used on me one day -- in his garden, no less!”

“Maybe I should use him on you more often...” Liam contemplated, brushing a smooth line over her eyebrow with his thumb.

“You’re smooth enough without his help,” she promised, finding her compliment interrupted by a tiny white dot that floated toward his cheek. Her brows arched in appreciation.  

“More snow,” he deduced, casting a keen eye over their surroundings. “This calls for another kiss.” 

“Liam!” But her protest was muffled against his lips. 

-----

They whiled away the better part of the frigid afternoon exploring the park’s attractions -- both well-known and forgotten -- and indulging in many kisses -- impulsive as well as planned. The sum total was almost enough for Eliza to feel guilty for subjecting their bodyguards to the display. Almost.

“Is your hot chocolate still warm?” 

“Barely,” she admitted, swirling the cup’s contents before she took one final sip. The sun had only started what was sure to be a hasty descent, yet already there was a profound chill settling into the air. “Where are we off to next? Are you going to spirit me away to the cove? My old bar? The Statue of Liberty?” She raised a suggestive brow at the final location. 

“Not tonight, though I do have reservations for an early dinner. After that, I thought we might start our journey home. If we make it out in time, we could spend all of tomorrow in Valtoria before anyone even realizes we’re back. I don’t have any obligations until Monday.” 

“That’s perfect.” Still clutching her near-empty cup, in one hand, she wound the other around his waist. “I’m always a little sad to leave the city, but I’m ready to be home again.” Passing through the park gates, she took a moment to contemplate just how much the concept of home had shifted for her in the past couple of years. 

“We’ll come back,” Liam assured. “I already have another list started for the next time we’re here -- perhaps in the spring?” 

[melsie-sims]

This challenge was originally created by Melsie-Sims on January 11th, 2021. Please use the #Among Us Challenge tag to share your progress! This challenge is inspired by the Human Enough Challenge by the wonderful @squeamishsims​! It’s meant to be a longer challenge spanning at least two generations so buckle up! 

To take part you will need Get to Work installed, as your main character will be an alien sim. Other useful (but not mandatory) packs include: City Living, Parenthood, Strangerville and University. Your challenge can be as story-driven as you wish, or not at all. The rules definitely allow some creative freedom. 

In the Among Us Challenge, your alien sim starts out on an empty residential lot of your choosing. The general premise is that their rocket ship crashed on Earth and they are now stranded, without the ability to communicate with their home-world.

With their rocket ship completely destroyed, they must adapt to their strange new surroundings and blend in with the townies. No one can know there is an alien among them.

Create an Alien in CAS and make them a Young Adult.

Their human disguise can have as many outfits as you’d like. Your alien’s natural form is only allowed to wear the alien bodysuit from Get to Work. Please use it for every outfit category. If you have custom content for alien suits feel free to use them. 

You have the choice between five aspirations: Friend of the World, Renaissance Sim, Soulmate, Successful Lineage or The Curator. Choose wisely because you’ll have to complete the aspiration for the challenge!

You must have aging on, but feel free to play on either Normal or Long lifespan. You can even edit your lifespan using MCCC if you’d like.

Start off on an empty lot. You can choose one from any world, but please be aware that you cannot move lots for the duration of the challenge.

Go into build mode and purchase the rocket ship (Steampunk Flyamajig) for 5,000 simoleons. It’s the only item you’re allowed to start with.

Once you’ve done that, use the cheat “money 0”. Oh yes, it’s that kind of challenge. You’ll have to make money by any means possible... but no cheating!

Now you’re good to go! 

Your alien cannot start rebuilding their rocket ship until they have 10,000 simoleons, handiness level 5, logic level 3 and programming level 3. It might take a while so they better make themselves comfortable... They’re stuck on this planet, they have no way to communicate with Sixam and they don’t have the parts to fix their damaged ship. It isn’t ideal, but their only option is to try and make a life for themselves here until they can go home.

Your alien sim cannot wear their disguise and may only use mean interactions with other sims until they reach charisma level 3. They just crash landed on a strange planet. They don’t know anything about the inhabitants. They are confused and scared. They must figure out the language and culture of Sims before they can properly assimilate.

Your alien sim can only eat quick meals until they’ve reached either gardening level 2 or fishing level 2. The quick meals are meant to be dehydrated food packets native to Sixam, which your alien scavenged from their ship. They don’t know if the food on this planet will be harmful to them. They must do research to find out.

If another sim sees your alien without their disguise, you must either erase their memory... or kill them. It’s your choice which of the two options you pick. Regardless, your alien’s identity must remain safe at all costs.

Your sim may reveal their alien identity to another sim without any consequences once they’ve become Good Friends with them. Be careful, if the relationship bar goes down too much they may become a threat to your alien’s safety. If the relationship goes below the Good Friends range, your alien will have to eliminate them. They’ve known your alien’s secret for too long. Their memory can no longer be modified without doing serious psychological damage. 

Please note, the above rule is actually from SqueamishSims’ Human Enough Challenge. I just loved it too much not to include it here!

Your alien sim can travel to lots in their own world, but if they want to go somewhere else they will have to pay 50 simoleons per visit. They don’t have the means to travel around! They must purchase a bus ticket or pay someone for a lift if they want to travel to other worlds.

Your alien can change out of their space suit and wear regular clothes when they’ve made their first 1,000 simoleons and reached level 3 of logic. At this point, feel free to give your alien a makeover. You can change outfits whenever you want after that without any limitations.

Your alien cannot have walls or floors anywhere on their lot until they’ve reached handiness level 3 and paid a property tax fee of 5,000 simoleons. They can only have one room to start off with. Your alien is starting from nothing and building from the ground up. They don’t have access to a contractor and need to learn about sims architecture.

For every extra room (i.e. a bathroom or a bedroom) your sim must pay 1,000 simoleons. Please subtract from your household funds using the “money #” cheat. Home-owning is expensive! Your alien sim is learning that the hard way! 

Your alien cannot use romance interactions until they’re at charisma level 5 and they have three Good Friends. At this point, your alien sim is probably still under the impression that they’ll be flying back home very soon. They’re hesitant to pursue a relationship with a human if it isn’t meant to last... 

Your alien can also be part of clubs when they’ve reached charisma level 5 and made three Good Friends. At least one of those friends must be part of the club your alien wishes to create/join. These sims know your alien inside and out and would protect them with their lives. They’re good people to have around.

Your sim cannot have a proper job until they reach charisma level 6 as well as handiness level 3 and logic level 3. This includes part-time jobs, odd jobs and freelance gigs. If your alien hardly has any social skills, how are they supposed to know how the economy works?  

Your alien can only get engaged/married once they’ve reached charisma level 8, logic level 5, rocket science level 3 and have three separate rooms in their house (see above for the house-building rules). Your alien is beginning to realize this might be a bit more permanent than they originally thought. They’re finally allowing themselves to fall in love and imagine the possibility of settling down.

Bonus: If you have City Living, your alien must attend the Romance Festival to learn more about the odd social construct that is marriage.

Have your spouse join either the scientist, secret agent, tech guru, astronaut, politician or military career. They’ve made it their mission in life to protect your alien sim and help keep their secret safe from potential foes. However, the new job comes at a cost.

Your alien sim is now on the government’s radar. They have a chance of getting imprisoned by scientists or S.I.M.S. agents! If your alien sim encounters a scientist, secret agent, politician or military staff you must imprison them in a 4x6 cell on your lot. Inside you may place the cheapest toilet, refrigerator, single bed and sink. They must remain there until their spouse has paid 10,000 simoleons for your alien’s safe return... and murdered the abductor(s) responsible. As this particular rule is a bit more dramatic, it’s totally OPTIONAL!

Your alien sim has to have charisma level 9, rocket science level 5, parenting level 3 and cooking level 3 before they/their partner can become pregnant. They must also have a proper kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom and nursery/toddler room. They must be on level 3 of their chosen career. Making a baby is the easy part. Being a parent is hard work, and your alien sim needs to be prepared!

If you have risky woohoo enabled and your alien and/or their partner becomes pregnant before meeting the requirements, please deduct 5,000 simoleons from your household funds. If you don’t have enough, sell items in your home until you’ve paid off your debt. Welcome to parenthood!

At least one child must be conceived in the rocket ship. You can’t have a challenge focusing on aliens without some rocket ship woohoo! Come on now!

Have your alien return to Sixam with their offspring, but only for a visit. They’ve spent such a long time on another planet and have built so many good relationships. They’ve decided they want to stay. 

Note: Your alien may have to return to Sixam a few times to obtain collectibles as those are part of the challenge.

To complete the challenge, one of your alien’s children must be a Young Adult. You can age up your toddlers when all of their skills are at level 3. You can age up your children and teens when they have an A in school.

Bonus: Send one of your alien sim’s children to university so that they can get a proper human education. It’s not actually part of the challenge. You’ll just have bragging rights. 

You can use reward potions and traits, including the Potion of Youth. You can use lot traits. Once you’ve unlocked the ability to join clubs, you can benefit from their bonuses. Is the challenge too hard? Are you struggling? Hahaha good!

Have fun! Feel free to @ me if you’re posting this challenge on Tumblr or making a YouTube series, I’d love to see it! You can follow me on Twitter or support me on Ko-Fi if you’d like. No pressure!

You’ve completed the challenge when...

Your alien has maxed out three different skills. One of them must be rocket science.

Your alien has at least 5 Good Friends, not including their children. Their spouse does count toward the total! Pets do not count!

They’ve completed their aspiration.

They’ve “repaired” their rocket ship.

They’ve been married and had offspring. At least one child must be conceived in the rocket ship.

They have a home worth 60,000 simoleons.

They have a top secret alien lab in their basement.

In the alien lab you must have at least one fang flower, one glow orb, one quill fruit, one unidentified fruit object, one blutonium, one solarium, one crandestine and one nitelite.

One of the children of your alien has grown into a young adult and visited Sixam to learn about their parent’s world.

If your alien passes away before completing all of the objectives, it’s up to their offspring to complete the rest of the challenge. 

[ichor-and-symbiosis]

Tell to me this: Jin figuring out his s/o has a smoking kink and watching him smoke makes them horny on main ?

im so sorry this is so late, i’m a roach ;-; 

A downpour of rain drenched the streets in reflective neon illuminating from fluorescent signs outside. The sun did not have a chance to shine through the storm clouds before nightfall. As such, with rain came a chilly breeze that snuck through the open window and sent a shiver down your spine. You would have closed it by now, but …

Nothing stopped Jin from having his daily smoke. You envied his ability to sit by the window in a flimsy tank top, completely impervious to the cold. He had a pensive expression as he looked out onto the street below, idly watching people hailing taxies and running from the rain. A trail of smoke billowed from his cigarette as he angled it past the ledge to flick away excess ash.

You could tell he was lost in thought. He did not even notice you when you sidled up beside him. “What’cha thinking about?” you asked, smiling apologetically when he jolted in surprise.

“Just some stuff,” Jin murmured, looping an arm around your waist to bring you closer. ”Nothing at all!” He grimaced and brought the cigarette to his mouth, taking a deep drag as he stared out into the rainy cityscape.

You stroked a hand across his chest and basked in his protective warmth, nuzzling your cheek along clothed muscle. The silence between you stretched on. Without thought, your gaze drifted to Jin's solemn face. Your thoughts started off innocent enough, worrying over the persistent dark circles beneath his eyes, the pallid color of his skin, the unshaven stubble on his chin, the stubborn frown —

And as he pursed his lips around the butt of the cigarette, your mind segwayed into another trail of thought entirely. Namely, the desire to trace the curve of his lips, poised around the cigarette in an all too familiar shape. A phantom sensation on your breast made your hair stand on end, and you pressed yourself flush against his chest in search of some friction for your pebbled nipples.

Jin was none the wiser regarding your motives. The tender way his arm wrapped around you made you feel at odds with the lust that had kindled within you, and the muted tone of his voice gave you pause. “You see how the street lights reflect off the pavement?” he mumbled, all quiet and raspy. "Kinda looks like there’s a whole other world beneath us. It’s all above us.”

You indulge him and glance out the window. The reflections flickered and danced from the deluge of rain distorting their image.

“Sometimes I feel like there’s another me down there. A Jin who has his shit together — he’s all fucked up — ngh — “ Annoyance. He shoved the cigarette in his mouth to hold the impulse at bay for a while longer and took an unnecessarily long drag. The end of the cigarette lit up in vibrant orange hues, and so too did a pulsing warmth spread throughout your nether region as you admired his rough features.

Maybe now is not the time, you chastised yourself. But it was always like this, wasn’t it? Getting too caught up in how handsome Jin was, especially during the most inopportune moments.

You had enough self-control to focus on what he was saying again. “You always harp on me for coming home all wet from the rain,” he randomly mentioned, cigarette hanging from his lips as he spoke.

“Only because I worry you’ll catch a cold,” you replied, and added in afterthought, “Then there’s your awful habit of walking around the house with your dirty shoes on … “

Jin chuckled dryly, a low sound that fizzed as quickly as the dissipation of exhaled smoke. “Whenever I go on these walks, the only people watchin’ I’m doing is down on the ground. At that other me.” He stamped the cigarette out with an air of finality and wrapped both arms around your waist to pull you in. You wished you could see what facial expression he was making, but you hugged him back regardless. “That guy always looks like he knows where he’s going. But I know the truth. Cause I know him — we’re the same fuckup — and the truth is that neither of us have anywhere to go.”

You gave him a moment to collect himself. Or maybe you were the one who needed to repress your sudden sorrow, because how could you stay strong for Jin when you were upset? Either way, you held on to each other like pillars of support, with you slipping your hands beneath his shirt and stroking his back, and him resting his chin on top of your head as he closed his eyes.

“We’re all just taking it one day at a time,” you quietly said. “Don’t let this weather make you gloomy, hun. You know I adore you and that I’m always proud of you.”

“ … yeah,” he muttered. ”No.”

You looked up at him, cocking a brow at his deliberate attempt to avoid eye contact. “You’re not a fuckup, Jin.” He grunted. “Would a fuckup have a beautiful woman in his arms who wants to kiss him senseless?”

Now you got his attention. Jin angled his head down and gave you a half-smile, unable to retain his sour mood. “If there’s one thing I got right, it’s somehow getting you to fall for a guy like me. Stay tripping!”

You smiled and stroked his sides, tracing the dips of his toned muscles. “I want a kiss, Jin.”

“My mouth is gonna taste bad, baby.”

“Let me be the judge of that.”

He grinned in earnest and scooped you up to sit on the ledge. Cold air hit your lower back, spurring you to cup his face and guide him down to your eager mouth. The first press of his lips against yours was sweet and simple. He was holding back, or perhaps teasing you. You prodded his mouth with the tip of your tongue, gliding it along his bottom lip until he relented and allowed you to slip inside. The taste of tobacco was immediate and overpowering, and when he tentatively touched his tongue to yours, your tastebuds were on fire from bitterness.

It was Jin. It was all him, the toe-curdling smokey taste, the soft groan he emitted when you deepened the kiss instead of pulling away, the protective embrace of his thick arms as they sheltered your shivering body from the chill, you were practically dizzy from how much you loved him in all his little ways.

The wet suctioning sounds of your kisses intermingled with the pitter pattering of rain against the window. It was almost relaxing, lulling you into comfortable leisure despite your burning arousal. Sometimes you just wanted to make out with Jin for hours on end. And when he kissed you like this, like he couldn’t get enough of you …

You could hardly breathe in your desperation to feel more of him.

Jin released your mouth with a wet pop, nipping your bottom lip before a hint of trepidation reared its ugly head. He pulled back and looked at you with mild concern, running his hands over the top of your thighs. “Did I taste bad?”

“I — “ You panted, feeling the saliva on your lips with each huff of breath. His lips looked so pink and puffy, and he had such a cute blush. “I don’t know.”

He blinked at you. “What do you mean?”

You gripped the front of his shirt, urging him forward again. “I need another taste to be sure,” you coyly said.

Realization finally dawned on Jin, this silly game you were playing. “Don’t encourage my bad habit like this, baby,” he snickered, caressing the nape of your neck as you tilted your head back willingly. ”Keep lusting for me, slut.”

Before he could apologize, you dove in for that second taste, and helped yourself to many, many more long after.

[holeinotomemind]

MLQC Fanfic: Hearts of Storm - Ch 1 - A New Mission

WARNING: NSFW/18+ fic. No smut in this chapter, but eventual smut, dub/non-con, eventual 3P, spoilers, long dragged out fic and angst. Not morally correct. Turn away if this is not your thing. Pairing: Shaw x MC, Gavin x MC, Shaw x MC x Gavin AO3 Link: [here] Summary: Thrust into a world where her friends no longer remembered her, Yui must navigate the familiar yet foreign Loveland City while she battles her sorrows of not having Gavin by her side. As the only person who remembers her, the bratty Shaw forced his way into her heart, becoming the light in her seemingly endless darkness. But when Gavin regains his memories of her, how must she face him with her newfound feelings for Shaw? Will things returning to normal thrust her life into even more chaos? Notes: [See full notes on AO3] Special thanks to Lutz, Sonicaj and Kinako for beta-ing. EXTREME SPOILER ALERT. Follows some canon events, but order and duration are changed and rearranged.

She followed him again today. Yui had been abusing her premonition evol these days, making accidental brushes against strangers whenever she can.

She would bump into as many passengers on the bus as she could without causing a scene, brushed her hand against the coffee shop staff as he handed her the coffee, even went out of her way to pet every dog in the park that would allow her to do so without biting her hand off.

She was being obsessive, she knew that. But that was the only way.

The only way she could try to catch a glimpse of him. Of her Gavin.

Each and every time she touched someone, there was a chance for her to see a vision. And for every vision she saw, there was a chance for it to involve the military.

And every time the military was involved, there was a chance that Gavin would be there, so she could go and try to catch a glimpse of him.

She didn't care if what she was doing was unethical, if every single vision she saw weighed on her soul, if arriving at every single possible incident meant risking her life. If she could see him, even for one single second, it would be worth it, even if he never saw her.

In fact, it was probably better if he never saw her. Otherwise, he would definitely have suspected her of being a spy again and he would have treated her the way he did last time.

She couldn't forget how cold his eyes were the last time they met, when he shoved her against the wall and placed those handcuffs on her. She could still remember the feeling of those cold metal digging into the delicate flesh on her skin.

She had never seen him look at her with so little trust in his eyes. Not when he was helping her reach the poetry volumes on the tall library bookshelves during high school and definitely not after they reunited when he transferred back to Loveland City as a police officer.

So, yes. It was for the best that he did not see her. At least that way, she could still imagine.

Imagine nothing had changed. Imagine he was only out on one of those missions where he could not contact her. Imagine that he would show up at her window some time tonight, asking her if she wants to go stargazing with him.

But she knew this illusion wouldn't last long. So far, her visions had only been of sightings of military investigations and other successful operations. But she knew that sooner or later she would see something bad, something preventable and she would have to try to intervene.

And then, she would have to stare into those cold distrustful eyes again. She would be forced to face reality.

The reality of Gavin no longer being hers. The reality of Gavin not knowing her as if she never existed in this dimension.

It hurt to remember how he questioned her intentions towards him. It hurt to tell him that he was her senpai and he barely believed her.

So she tried to forget reality, tried to imagine they were still living in their original dimension, where his eyes lit up every time he saw her. Where he touched her with so much gentleness that it made her want to cry. Where he would blush every time she mustered up the courage to tell him how much she loved him.

She knew she was being willfully in denial, but if that could stop the hurt in her chest for just one minute, she would gladly do so.

Yui turned her head up to the sky as she heard the sound of the blade of a helicopter closing in. Her hands pressed against the shop window of the cafe where she had been sitting in for the last three hours, waiting for this very moment.

As the noise grew louder and louder, the military chopper came into view. She held her breath, eyes glued to it as it hovered over the park a block away from the coffee shop.

The door slid open and a tall figure in dark military uniform came into view. His brown hair flying every which direction as the strong wind blew around him.

She watched as he quickly surveyed the ground, preparing to jump out of the helicopter.

Yui opened her mouth to silently mutter, "You look well today. Stay safe, Gavin. I miss you." And for that brief moment, her heart stopped aching.

He was gone from her line of sight the next moment, having jumped out and began to fly towards his destination.

She sat back in her chair, closed her eyes and convinced herself that was enough. Enough to support her through the next few days or weeks without spiraling into the endless abyss in her mind that was constantly threatening to drag her in ever since she came to this dimension.

She could now function until the next time she saw him again. And she was determined to function through this. Too much was at stake otherwise.

Black Swan was still scheming to turn everyone into an evolver, while non-evolvers were banding together to wage war against those with evol abilities.

She could not afford to sit back and wither away while watching the world fall apart. She had come too far to give up now, regardless of how much she wanted to curl up in a ball at the loss of everything and everyone important in her life.

It was the least she could do, when Gavin worked so hard to protect everyone, whether in this dimension or the last.

The buzzing sound of her phone brought her back from her thoughts.

"Hello, Shaw." She answered the phone without even glancing at the caller ID. After all, there was only one person left in this world now who would call her.

"You got the file?" Shaw yelled over the phone, the background noisy as usual.

Yui plugged one ear with a finger and pressed the phone closer to her other while turning up the volume. He must be at Live House with a live concert going on. She could hear loud music playing in the background and people cheering. Before she met Shaw, she always thought these live shows only played at night, but she was wrong. Apparently, they played whenever they wanted to.

"Yes. Where do you need me to go this time?" She asked with a voice loud enough for him to hear, but quiet enough that people from the cafe wouldn't be disturbed.

"Getting efficient, huh?" He said with a voice that was obvious he was smirking on the other side. "The amusement park."

She froze. She was ready to work, to gather intel for Shaw, hoping it would get her mind off of her current situation, even for a tiny little bit. But she didn't expect it to be at the amusement park of all places.

"What? Cat got your tongue?" He asked when she didn't reply.

"Does it…" She hesitated, not wanting to give Shaw the opportunity to learn more of her weakness, but she didn't know if she had it in her to go there. "Does it have to be the amusement park?"

"You think intel goes wherever you want it to go?"

She clutched her fist and sighed. He was right. The file he sent clearly indicated that someone was planning an attack. If SHAW said she could gather information at that location to prevent it, the suspects must have left a trail there and not somewhere else. After all, SHAW had never pointed her to the wrong location yet.

But she'd rather go anywhere but there. Send her to the headquarters of Black Swan for all she cared, just not the amusement park.

"Fine. You got me interested. What don't you like about the amusement park?" He usually didn't seem to care about what she does or does not want, but this intrigued him.

"Nevermind. I'll go. I don't want to talk about it." Her voice flat. She didn't want him to ask any further. She would rather face the pain herself than to expose more of her weakness to him. "Besides, you were going to have me go regardless, no?"

"You're no fun." He tutted at her. He paused for a second before resuming with a voice deeper than usual. "I bet it's because of him. You guys probably went on stupid lovey-dovey dates there and so you don't want to go back when he's not with you."

SHAW’s guess was dangerously close to hitting a bull’s eye.

She and Gavin did go on a date at the amusement park, but he was so stupid and so unromantic that he ended up talking on the phone the whole time they were on the Ferris Wheel. She got so upset with him she didn't even want to talk to him. Of course, they made up in the end, but that now-cute memory, as much as it pained her to remember, wasn't the one she was most afraid of reliving.

It was the wedding shoot. Gavin and her stood in for the 100th couple who backed out of the shoot last minute. Although they weren't truly getting married, the memory of her in the wedding gown standing beside Gavin in his blue striped suit, telling each other they were the only ones they ever wanted to be partners with in a wedding whether real or fake was too much for her to bear. It reminded her too much of what might never be if she wasn’t able to fix the situation of her not existing in anyone’s memories in this dimension.

Having to be back at the location that would force her to relive this memory, she wasn't sure if she could keep herself together let alone complete the mission.

But this was private. A memory she wanted to hold so dear that she did not want to discuss with anyone in fear of losing it just like how she lost everything else. It was an irrational fear, of course.

But with so much going on, she felt the need to allow herself to be irrational on this one thing.

She kept her silence, having already said what she wanted to say on the matter.

"Doesn't matter," he finally said, seemingly irritated by her silence. "You start tomorrow."

The line went dead. He hung up on her.

Loud thunder cracked through the air. She jumped at the sound and wondered why the weather was so strange in this dimension. It was a bright sunny day outside.

Yui shook her head and thought of SHAW again.

She didn't understand him. On the outside, he seemed like any other 20 year old little brat, without a care in the world and yet he was doing all these things to gather information and even had Black Swan and evol agents from the STF going after him. He even had connections to make fake identities that would pass most government checks for her. All signs pointed to him being a big player in these schemes everyone seemed to be weaving.

However, his attitude were also too laissez-faire, too chaotic. He wasn't like anyone she had known.

He was a leader, much like Victor, but unlike Victor who always had a clear destination, he may lead you in a wild goose chase for his own amusement.

He played, much like Kiro, but unlike Kiro who was like sunshine and puppies, he plays with you like a cat would a mouse.

He was mysterious, much like Lucien, but unlike Lucien who would always plan five steps ahead in everything, he seemed only to have an end goal in mind, making things up as they unfold.

And he was nothing like Gavin. In fact, other than his eye color, his jawline and the fact that they were both amazing bass players, he was the total opposite of Gavin. Where Gavin was gentle, SHAW was rough. Where Gavin always strive to do the right thing for the greater good, SHAW seemed to only do things for his own benefit.

But it didn’t matter what kind of person SHAW was or what his goals were. In this partnership, Yui and SHAW took what they needed from each other, that was it. Nothing more and nothing less.

Placing her cell phone in her pocket, she gently touched the ginkgo bracelet on her wrist before she stood up and walked out of the coffee shop. As cold air rushed at her face, she adjusted her winter jacket and pulled the hood over her head.

She had one night to steel herself from the emotional onslaught that was sure to come during the next few days. But she had agreed to take on the mission and she would not allow herself to back down or to fail it. She would give it her all, even if it meant ripping the still-open wound in her heart even wider.

Yui stepped forward with stubborn determination in her stride.

[crybabycounselor]

(TW for yelling and talk of child abandonment)

Elise never expected to actually go through with Driver’s ed, let alone actually pass the tests. She figured once she got past the written test, the fact she physically had to drive would foil her ability to pass.

But, to her (and, well, everyone’s surprise), she actually made it. Pratically with flying colors, as a matter of fact. The disbelief on her face was priceless when she was told to go get her picture taken for her Driver’s License, definitely one for the books.

Sitting on a bench outside of the building as Robin finally finished with her picture, Elise looked up at the sky as she fidgeted with her license.

“Man,” Robin sighed, “I can’t believe we’re actually done”

“Yeah, no kidding. Felt like it took forever to study and practice, then the actual driving test was like a blink,” Otis stated as he scootched over for her.

“I totally thought I’d screw up during parallel parking. They wound up having me skip it after a few goes since a lot of people avoid it, anyways,” Robin said, flopping on the bench as she flipped her hood over her head.

“Yeah, my mom said that happened to her, too,” Otis added.

Robin hummed before she leaned her head back and took in the sun.

As February was weaning out, Spring was begining to make itself known in Sleepy Peak. After a harsh winter that delayed school and work, the sun was back in swing, melting all the snow and warming the forests in anticipation of the new season.

“So, when are your folks coming to pick you guys up?” Robin asked, leaning forward as she checked her phone for any messages.

“My mom gets off in about 7 minutes, I think. She said she might be a little late, so who knows,” Otis stated.

“Ah, that sucks. What about you, Elise?”

Elise glanced over at her with a shrug, “David and Gwen are at work, Daniel’s not allowed to drive, so I wound up texting Cody”

“Woah, you texted him by choice? That’s new,” Robin said with a light laugh.

Elise rolled her eyes. “It’s better than walking. Besides, I wanna... talk to him... About stuff...”

Robin and Otis went quiet for a bit, before Robin finally spoke up.

“Is it about your perio-” "No, Robin.”

Robin shrugged, “different ‘stuff’ then, got it.”

Elise sighed as she unscrewd the cap from her water bottle.

Otis stretched in place, scuffing the heel of his sneakers against the sidewalk.

“Man, I can’t wait til spring break,” he states.

“Why’s that?” Elise asks.

“Well, now that we got these bad boys-” he holds up his license, “-we’re free to drive out basically anywhere. Except we uhh... Can’t get a hotel, not til we’re 18. But we can go basically anywhere regardless”

Elise hummed, “yeah, that’s true. I never really thought about the fact we can do that, now”

“Yeah,” he says. “We can drive to the movies whenever we want, late night gas station snack runs, drive out to go watch the sunset, we can even go into the city literally whenever we want!”

“Damn, you’ve got a point there,” Robin notes. “We could even go out camping if we wanted to”

“...Robin,” Otis says.

“...Yeah?”

“We work at a summer camp”

“But it’s not summer right now, is it?”

“That’s true,” he admits.

“I just can’t wait for the summer. I wanna give that Carnival another go,”

“Robin, you literally had a panic attack!” Elise stressed.

“Well, that was the old me. Besides, I didn’t even get to try all of the carnival food! I saw you guys hype up those corndogs, and I know I don’t like meat, but they just sound really good!!” Robin whined.

“...you can get corndogs literally anywhere. Even at the store. Although, they do taste better at the fair, I guess” Elise said with a shrug.

“Robin, you need to drive yourself to therapy,” Otis stated.

“Excuse you, I’ve been to therapy. I don’t like it, though. Sitting around and talking to a stranger about my feelings and trauma sucks. Besides, it’s easier to open up about that stuff with you guys”

Elise let out an “aww!”, and Otis simply rolled his eyes with a smile.

Soon enough, Robin’s dad showed up, later on followed by Otis’ mom, and evenatually, Cody showed up.

Rolling down the window, he was nicely dressed up. A nice business casual look, complete with a tie that probably took him longer than neccesary to put on. He had a travel mug in the coaster next to him, probably filled with coffee.

He looked... Professional, to say the least. As professional as her brother could manage to be.

“Hey, bugger. How’d the test go?” He asked, opening the passenger door (which was easy, dude has long arms)

Elise forced a smile looking at him. “It uh... It went great, actually,”

She dug out her brand new license, and his face lit up. “Oh my God, look at that! Congratulations, kid!”

He was being so nice, he looked... proud.

Her expression strained as she sat in the car, putting the license back in her wallet before she put it back into her backpack.

He pulled out of the parking lot, and briefly glanced over at her in the passenger seat. Her expression had dropped while he wasn’t looking, and he could sense something was off.

“Is everything alright?” He asked.

“I... Yeah. I’m just tired, is all”

He exhailed quietly, he could tell that wasn’t it. “No, seriously, talk to me”

She looked out the window, her fingers drumming against her backpack. “Well, uh...”

She didn’t know how to talk to him. She didn’t just want to be like ‘hey, you care more about your family that isn’t even all there yet than your little sister who you abandoned then stuck around with. Isn’t that fucked up?’

But it was how she felt. Lost and abandoned, but he was right there. He was in her life, but he didn’t want her there initially. She was simply just a background character in his new life, someone that was just there to be there.

He didn’t stay at camp for her, he stayed because he met a girl, then he dated her, knocked her up, and married her. Now he wants to play happy family while she’s just there?

She drew her knees up carefully, “Well, um...”

They reached a stop sign, and the road around them was basically empty. He could afford to stop for a moment, so he looked at her.

“Hey, it’s okay, I’ll listen”

She sighed. “I know you will, and... That’s kind of the problem...”

His brows raised, “what does that mean?”

“Well...” She sighed once again. “I don’t know, man! You’re confusing me! Over a year ago you didn’t really want much to do with me, then you meet Octavia, and since we were friends, you came back into my life, but... You don’t feel like you’re supposed to be my family anymore...”

His heart dropped. He went quiet as he pulled into an empty parking lot nearby, they needed somewhere to just stop. 

“I... I’m sorry you feel that way,” he stated quietly, unsure what to say in that exact moment.

“I... y-yeah...”

“You know I don’t mean for you to feel that way...” he said.

“I-I know... I think...”

The two of them went quiet, nothing much said for a good two or three minutes as they just tried to figure out what to say.

“You said... You said ‘we were friends’ when talking about Octavia... Do you not consider her to be your friend anymore?” He asked softly.

“I... I-it’s not like we’re not friends... We just... We’re not that close anymore, I guess...”

“Why’s that?”

“Because she focuses more on you, I guess”

“You ‘guess’ a lot, is that how you actually feel?”

She went quiet again, and Cody sighed into his palm.

“Octavia still loves you, did you know that?”

“I know... She likes a lot of people, though”

He puts a hand on her shoulder, “Elise, I’m pretty sure Octavia would lay her life down to save you if she could. You’re family to her”

Her expression fell again, and Cody pressed his lips together.

“A-And you’re my family, too”

Elise’s eyes started to gloss over and she looked away from him. His expression fell and he tried to scoot closer. “Come on, Elise, I didn’t mean it like that!”

“Th-then how did you mean it?” she asked, and her voice started to hic.

“I-I... I dunno... I wish I knew, honest! I...”

He went quiet again, palm pressed against his face to prevent himself from saying something to make the situation worse somehow.

Elise forced a sigh, probably to try and breathe the best she could. “I just wanna know why... W-why you were so happy to have dad’s side of the family back, b-but you can’t even call me family naturually!”

“Wh-what?” he asked.

“Your instinct was to say that ‘I’m like family to Octavia,’ not to the both of you. You gave up costudy of me, you only really refer to me as your sister, but do you even consider me to be your family?”

Cody’s mouth was ajar, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

“A-and now you’re having your own family with Octavia, and you’re gonna be a dad and suddenly your life is soooo perfect! And you’ve got his new job, and you never even bothered to tell me you got fired in the first place! I had to learn all of this from your wife.”

Yikes. That one hurt. His expression had fallen big time, and there was nothing he could do about it.

“I’m just... I’m just tired of being a secondary thought to you, man... What are you going to do if you and Parker get into a fight, are you gonna ditch him, too?”

“You know for a FACT I wouldn’t dare do that!” he screamed as he pounded his fist against center divider, and Elise quickly shut her mouth in a panic.

Elise cowared her seat, and the two of them went quiet again. Cody took a few shakey breaths as we watched Elise shrivel in fear next to him. It hurt to see. It hurt him to see that he did that.

“E-Elise... I-I’m sorry...” he states quietly. 

He isn’t sure what to say in this situation, he wants her to calm down, he wants her to stop looking so scared. He wants to see her smile like she did when she entered the car... But... She’s scared. And of him, no less.

She... She thought he was going to hit her. It didn’t help that he just yelled at her. His first instinct when he felt threatened was to scream at her.

“Y-You said we could talk...” She reminded him with a stutter.

“W-we can! We can totally talk! Please, talk to me-”

“You yelled at me! You said you’d listen, you said nothing about you yelling!!” Her voice raised. Her hands clenched into fists, and she feared having to actually use them against him.

But... She was prepared to do so. She wouldn’t let him run, and if she had to fight back, she figured she could manage that.

But Cody didn’t want to fight. Already, he wished he could take back what he had said. He felt horrible. 

“Listen, Elise... I didn’t mean to yell-”

“But you did.”

“I- I know... A-and I’m sorry...”

“Are you really sorry, or are you just saying that?”

“I... I really am sorry!”

“Last time you told me you were sorry was after you abandoned me. And now you yelled at me! When’s this bullshit gonna end, Cody?”

“What bullshit?” He asked with a strained expression.

“This bullshit about being my damn brother! You abandoned me when I was 14, man! You lost any rights to be in my life, but now that you essentially fucked your way back in through Octavia, you think we can just be a family again?”

“Please don’t bring her into this,” he asked.

“Why not? You were the one who started dating her!! You knew we were friends, I’ve known her way longer than you have!” she pointed out.

“She doesn’t have anything to do with this, Elise!” 

“But she does!! If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have you straggling onto me!! God damn it, Dakota, you’re smothering me!! Do you want to abandon me or not?! Do you hate me or not?!”

“I DON’T!” He yelled.

“THEN WHY DON’T YOU FUCKING ACT LIKE IT?!” She sobbed.

The car went quiet again. Cody didn’t dare say anything as Elise sobbed to herself. He wouldn’t bud in this time,  she needed to cry.

Truth be told... He wanted to cry, too. He was so excited when she’d asked him to pick her up from Driver’s ed, but it just turned into a shit show, and he deserved it.

It had been at least 8 minutes. He was surprised she could cry that long in a sitting without her voice going out. He felt like pure shit.

Cody looked at Elise finally, his hand gently hovered over her shoulder as he was unsure if she’d let him touch her.

“Listen... I... I think we should get some help... L-Like family therapy, or something. Or even seperate counseling, a-anything, really... I’ll admit... We-we do have some issues... And if I’m going to be a dad soon... it’d probably be best for me to get some of these worked on...” He stated, now looking away from her in shame.

She looked over at him quietly.

“I... I don’t want you to be mad at me forever,” he says.

“...I... I don’t know if I want to be mad forever...” she stated quietly. “I don’t like being mad...”

He sighed. “Thanks... Thanks for talking to me, at least...”

She went quiet again.

“...I know it probably doesn’t mean much right now, but... But I really am proud of you... U-um... Sis...”

Elise snorted.

“Wh-what was that?”

“You sound gay.”

“...Elise, my last ‘serious’ relationship was with a dude, you know that, right?”

“I know, I know. You just don’t say ‘sis’ a lot, haha...”

The laugh was so dry, like her voice was finally wearing out. She wiped her eyes, and her nose sounded stuffy after crying so hard.

He sighed with a light smile. “You want to go grab something to eat or drink? I think there’s a drive in down the street calling our name”

“...Only if you get me a milkshake,” she insisted.

“...Alright, I can work with that.”

Starting up the car, Cody looked straight ahead, and Elise seemed to settle quickly as she relayed her order to him.

While things between them weren’t the best, the future seemed to have a light in the end of their chapter’s dark tunnel.

[lucalicatteart]

- The various groups of Nanyevimi -

Just a post going over some of the different groups in the world (like the elven alliance, etc.). The more prominent ones will hopefully have their own posts eventually, but I thought it’d be good for now to have a kind of reference sheet on the various international organizations, clubs, political entities, etc. (at least those I’ve thought about so far, obviously there are a lot more not mentioned/created yet) that exist in the world, so that it’s easy to know what I’m talking about if they happen to be brought up later... Also includes a fair bit of random information about the world, parts of the magic system, cultures of different groups, etc. just because it is a mandatory requirement of my brain that I go off on at least 10 side tangents per post hgghh... 

(Actual info under read more, as usual ~..)

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Some of these I’m just copying and pasting their descriptions from this post here (link), but even those I may have modified slightly, and much of the info here is new lol.. And this isn’t very in depth, I’m really just kind of giving the shortest description possible. Some will be longer if I have more information known about them, and others will kind of just be tiny blurbs. 

I have two different categories: Species/Culture Specific Groups, and  Non-species/culture Specific Groups.  “Species/Culture Specific Groups” being   groups where basically you're likely only in this group if you're from a certain species or cultural background (which is often linked to species). These usually are made up of people from specific areas/species/nationalities, or have their membership limited to that. Then of course the “NON species/culture specific groups” are just groups that you can be a part of regardless of where you're born or who you are. You're more likely to actively have to join these rather than just being born into it as part of a culture or etc., and you being there generally has nothing to do with your background.

I’m choosing to categorize them this way I guess because I think about everything  from a character building perspective? Nanyevimi as a setting has things established in a certain way where if I wanted to make a new character, I could kind of just drop them anywhere on the map and already know a good bit about their background (the climate, what species they likely would be if they’re from a certain place, what cultural standards they’d be exposed to, etc.). I find having specific established details about the world makes it a lot easier to realistically build what people would be in it, or events (conflicts that may occur in an area due to pre-established things there, etc.) that can happen.

 Obviously from there you have to add variance and the world is still complex (even if you have two people you know are exposed to the same environment, they won’t react to it the same way, etc.), but I think building in that manner makes for a good base (especially for areas I’ve created the most about.. like for example, I could put a new blank character pretty much anywhere on the continent of Aviinine and immediately know what species they would likely be from out of the primary groups that inhabit the area, which culture they may have grown up in/been influenced by, what abilities it would be likely they have, the conflicts they may have been exposed to,  their likely diet/ daily life/ occupation (based on the government and how the specific country is run), etc. You have to tweak and add more later to have a well-rounded character, but it’s really convenient to have well established starting points and many background details of a character already filled in.)

SO, because that’s kind of my process of worldbuilding, I thought this would be an easy way to categorize groups, since if I’m thinking “oh I want this character to be in a group” or etc. I could easily just look and be like, okay.. what groups do they qualify for? Like a northern elf wouldn’t be a member of the Collection Of Southern Jhevona (or if they somehow were, it would be an interesting story in itself, how they ended up being there and working alongside such a faraway group), etc. I could classify the groups in different ways (by continent/area, by size/influence, etc.), but I thought this method makes the most sense for character-based stuff, which I guess is what I like to focus on lol... BUT ANYWAY , onto the actual post !!

( ALSO, I’ve added sections about where each of these groups are active, so here’s a world map of Nanyevimi (below) and here (link) is an actual explanation of the map and the places on it, in case you’re not already familiar. )

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-------------        SPECIES/CULTURE SPECIFIC GROUPS    ---------------------

The Collection Of Southern Jhevona:

Though the Jhevona as a species aren’t really represented by any one group in particular, and tend to live in separate smaller scattered territories without many allies, The Collection is probably the closest thing to a unified alliance of Jhevona that exists. Jhevona are thought to have originated from somewhere down in lower Nanyevimi, and many of the oldest, largest, and most powerful cities/countries/territories/etc. of them exist in that region. The Collection is basically just a group of these civilizations who formed a sort of loose alliance, usually for the sake of helping other Jhevona groups with trade or conflict.

The relatively small size of the species, their historical conflicts with certain powerful groups of elves (thus it’s easy for a conflict with them to end up impacting your entire reputation across many different areas, etc.), and other issues specific to them (like species wide problems with premature death, disease, and infertility due to higher levels of magic expose),, means that many Jhevona groups can tend to exist in a somewhat vulnerable state. The Collection seeks to… help them with that, lol..

While The Collection was started by and is mostly made up of only like five primary countries/groups/etc. of Jhevona, you don’t have to be a part of the organization to still receive aid and cooperate with them and etc. They form casual alliances and help out pretty much any group of Jhevona, regardless of if they officially join the collection or not (of course excluding like, if some random jhevona group was trying to start a genocide or something that obviously most jhevona wouldn’t be okay supporting lol). Really they just exist to help promote the interests and safety of their species as a whole, whenever and wherever they can, despite how diverse and un-unified most  groups of Jhevona tend to be.

The Collection is technically active across all of Nanyevimi, in that they sometimes send resources or representatives to all corners of the world in order to help with certain issues, but their main area of reach and the physical location of their operations is generally around the lower/middle half of Nanyevimi, around southern Estic Kfal/Nonvas Kfal, and some bits of Siryonla. 

There are no set uniforms or appearance for this group like there are for others, but it’s possible they could still be identified if they happen to have clothing or items adorned with the symbol they use to represent themselves, which is shown in this post here (link). 

(more info on the Jhevona species and culture HERE (link))  

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The Elven Alliance:

I’ve talked about them before in a few other posts lol, but this is basically the main influential group of elves in the world. About 10,000 years ago or so, many of the prominent elven societies at the time decided that it’d be helpful for them to all ally together and mutually aid each other (sharing resources, technology, giving money loans to smaller elven countries to help them build,  defense aid, etc.), so they formed The Alliance. Though, there were disagreements on a few big issues (notably the interpretation of the elven religion, but some other things as well, many more subtle underlying conflicts led to the formation of the alliance), so while it was initially meant to be for ALL elves (or at least claimed to be so), it ended up becoming more exclusive.

Now there’s kind of a pretty distinct cultural line between countries/groups/etc. of elves that are inside of the Elven Alliance, vs. outside of it. Any group of elves is still allowed to join the alliance at any time they want, but they have to meet certain cultural and religious standards, and must be approved by a vote of all current elven alliance nation representatives. There are about 38 countries/groups in the elven alliance at this date, though of course not all of them are the same size or have the same amount of political influence.

Since elves are the majority population in the world, and also most of the groups within the Alliance are like.. very big very rich very powerful nations, the Elven Alliance is probably the most influential group in all of Nanyevimi, at least in terms of global politics and trade. Though of course, Nanyevimi is so scattered and isolated, it’s kind of impossible for any one group to control too much lol.. Like, they’re the most influential compared to everyone else, but everyone else usually barely has any influence at all. There are still plenty of groups down south (most elven countries are up north or near the middle of the globe) that are entirely out of reach of the elven alliance, or at least can ignore them without much consequence. However if you live in or near the primary elven territories of the world (or if you are elven, even if you live far in the south), it’s likely their activities and policies have a much bigger impact on your life.

The Alliance is GENERALLY seen as neutral (depending on who you ask), though they do have a bad reputation in certain places due to various historical events (the fact that Fanyin is still allowed as a member of the Alliance just because they helped found it, despite the government of the country being  known as like.. a conflict-hungry dictatorship that has a ridiculous class system and no rights for like 50% of it’s citizens.. A group of Alliance allied scientists/mages almost killed the entire world by introducing a magic plague one time whilst trying to engineer biological warfare against a relatively small defenseless group of people over a religious conflict lmao… The primary technology that brought the Alliance to have most of it’s shared wealth and power (Iriminel crystals, which can be used to basically store magical energy as a power source) was later found to have been stolen from a group of Jhevona after they were murdered just because they wouldn’t agree to let a group of elves mine crystals from their lands.. you know, stuff like that..).

There are plenty of groups within the alliance who disapprove of the past actions of other alliance members, who work to do good across the world, etc. But people usually still end up questioning their intentions. There are so many moving parts and complex dynamics within the Alliance, it’s hard for people to have a concrete opinion on it as a whole (since most of the groups within it are pretty different from each other), but needless to say, their reputation across the realm can be quite controversial.

(side note: another reason that it’s so controversial is because the elven alliance is really one of the only places in the realm that a concept of ‘royalty’ is even a thing. Ideas of kings, queens, and royal families/upper classes, seem to have originated (at least in their modern form) actually in southern elven culture, which when they moved their way up north (in ancient times of course, not at all recently), northern elves kind of fell naturally into loving the idea of it due to the hierarchy that already existed in many of their cultures, even long after southern elves had abandoned it. Many northern elven societies leaned towards these systems, and then thousands of years later naturally moved towards allying together, with smaller alliances and groups of royalty supporting each other, until finally officially The Elven Alliance, which at it’s start was made up mostly of northern elven nations. 

This isn’t to say that monarchy or other similar systems have just NEVER existed before then and literally don’t exist anywhere else (northern jhevona are known to have similar systems also), but it’s definitely FAR less common outside of the northern elven sphere (at least in modern day, who knows what the hell was going on prior to 50,000 years ago since all history before that was lost). A lot of cultures in the realm have seemingly tended to lean more towards less centralized or more collective forms of societal and economic systems, so to people outside of the elven alliance, and outside of elven culture in general, it often seems bizarre, unfair, or just kind of silly. 

Anyway, because royalty is so rare, and a majority of the countries in the elven alliance have systems of rotalty, and that most outside of the alliance don’t, sometimes the elven alliance can become a figure that, in the minds of people, represents royalty itself. Thus any criticism of royalty in general, often also becomes a criticism of the alliance, even if the particular issue at hand doesn’t directly involve  them (though knowing them, they probably are involved somehow lol). The alliance becomes even more controversial, not only because of past actions, but also just due to what they represent in the minds of others. )

The Elven Alliance is active mostly in the northern half of Nanyevimi, as most elven countries/elven populations are located around that area (the northern borders of Estic Kfal/Nonvas Kfal and Siryonla). They have a VERY strong presence on the continent of Aviinine, seeing as that’s the home of the Fanyiniri/the country of Fanyin, and they’re one of the main alliance founders. Though the country of Asen (part of Aviinine) is now an independent nation, it was owned by the Alliance up until a few hundreds years ago, and the entire continent was owned by the ancestors of the Fanyiniri  (northern ancient elves) at one point. “Aviinine” does translate to something like “homeland of the elves” so I mean.. duh

There are no set uniforms or appearance for this group (since it’s such a huge, broad spanned thing, you’re not going to have like 40+ countries worth of people all in one single uniform lol) like there are for others, but it’s possible they could still be identified if they happen to have clothing or items adorned with the symbol they use to represent themselves, which is shown in this post here (link).

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International Union Of Non-Allied Elves:

Basically kind of like the Elven Alliance, except for … made up of elves outside of the Alliance. They function very similarly to how the Collection Of Southern Jhevona operate, in the sense that they basically are just a loose collaboration of elves who ally with each other for resources and protection, and really seek to help all elves in general. Unlike the Alliance, there are no guidelines or regulations you have to meet to join, or for them to come to your aid, basically any group of elves is welcome. 

(They actually existed before the Alliance was founded, though obviously weren’t referred to as ‘non-allied elves’ since ‘allied’ wouldn’t mean anything before the existence of the ‘alliance’.  There’s been a similar organization around for a while that ended up merging with the newer group (the non-allied union), so now they’ve kind of become one. So this group has kind of always existed in a way, especially to give elves better connection long in the past when they were more scattered loose groupings of people, but the non-allied union obviously became much more prominent after the formation of the Alliance, as their efforts were more needed. Especially as the Alliance got more powerful, and could use it’s influence over smaller groups of elves if they weren’t allied with/protected by a similarly powerful organization (like the Alliance showing up to a small elven country and being like ‘actually all the elven ruins here belong to us now because we’re the True Elves’, which on their own they maybe couldn’t defend, but the small city could summon people from the non-allied union and be like ‘hello 911 I am being bullied by ugly ass bitches with bob haircuts’ (ghgh this makes sense if you read further down, the military organization that serves the alliance has black bobs and eyeshadow as a part of their uniform).. ANYWAY)

Since there are no cultural or religious guidelines to join, non-alliance elves tend to have MUCH more variety in their religious practices, general daily life, diet, technology, customs, etc. since it’s not regulated by a central power like in the case of Elven Alliance countries. Though this does mean they generally have less cohesion, less stable defense/resources, and less sense of collective unity, they still usually stick together pretty well if needed.

Though you would think so, there actually isn’t much conflict between Alliance vs. Non-alliance elves. The only things would probably be religious disagreements (the alliance having adopted a new monotheistic version of the elven religion, while non-alliance groups still practice having many gods and are much more open to wide variations on rituals and interpretation), and also certain cultural disagreements (elven cultures in general tend to focus a lot on glorifying their own history, proud of the advancements of ancient elves and etc. etc. So BOTH groups want historical artifacts, ancient religious texts, etc.  But since the Alliance is the more powerful group of elves, they basically kind of get to hoard all of that stuff. Non-alliance elves end up weirdly distanced from their own culture and lacking any meaningful connection with their history, since Alliance elves have kind of taken control as the One Single Authority On All Things Elven and basically own nearly all historical records and information on the elven species. Which of course non-alliance groups aren’t always happy about, especially since some of them are not keen to just trust whatever historical ‘facts’ the Alliance puts out there when they’d rather just have access to the records or other resources that would allow them to explore the information for themselves).

But other than those two things, relations between The Alliance and non-alliance groups like the Union really aren’t too strained (of course this depends on the group). The Alliance generally also wants to support elves just because they’re elves, and at the end of the day, they want to help the success of their own species, so they rarely mistreat non-alliance groups, and if anything usually are overly welcoming to them, since they aim for all groups of elves to eventually join the alliance as well, and don’t want to scare potential members off lol. They’re actually known for reaching out to non-alliance groups, giving them gifts, offering them aid (mostly with no strings attached), but of course this is met with mixed reception, and sometimes suspicion.

The Union of non-allied elves pretty much operates around the same areas as the Alliance, as both obviously exist pretty much entirely among elven populations. The Union’s reach extends a little farther south, or even to the middle of the globe. Because the Alliance pretty much rules the north, non-alliance elves who don’t get along well with their practices (for whatever reason) tend to migrate further south, just so they don’t have to be near the influence of the Alliance. Though the official Union Of Non-Allied Elves is neutral towards the Alliance, and they generally get along, since the goal of the Union is to serve the elven people, they kind of exist wherever the people are. If a huge group of Alliance hating elves migrate down to the south, then the influence of the Union also migrates down south as well, since it basically just serves wherever it’s needed, follows wherever the elven people go. 

There are no set uniforms or appearance for this group like there are for others (again, way too broad of a group), but it’s possible they could still be identified if they happen to have clothing or items adorned with the symbol they use to represent themselves, which is shown in this post here (link).

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(also, random note: none of these names are like.. actually what they’re called in the species’ native language. I’m writing in english so for those that do have easy translations, I’m just using simple to remember English names but, they’d all have their own actual names for themselves.

Like for example “The Elven Alliance” in the actual elven language would just be “The Alliance” referred to as “Ane Kiivastye” or just “Kiivastye”. ‘Ane’ meaning ‘Those/they/a group of people’, ‘kii’ being a prefix to mean ‘inside/within’, and ‘Vastye’ meaning something along the lines of ‘grace/good faith/favor’. So basically ‘Those who are in grace’, implying ‘Those who have good favor with the gods’ , since one of the main reasons for the split was religious disagreement. Likewise, anyone outside of the alliance would be natively called something like ‘Ane Nekiivastye’, or ‘those who are outside of grace/those who do not hold good favor with the gods’.

So basically all the names would be different in the actual languages of the people I’m referring to, but I’m just using these since it’s much easier to remember and reference lol)

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Council Of Navyete:

This is the primary government of Navyete, the homeland of the Avirre’thel/vampires and where most of the members of that species live. I obviously plan on making a separate post about this sometime soon, so I don’t need to explain much lol.. Also just… the council system is really complicated and it’s going to be extremely long whenever I do explain it ghgjhgj…. But it’s basically just the main group of people who exist to make certain final decisions on law and policy and help with the functioning of Navyete.

There can be 600 - 800 council members at a time, who all specialize in particular areas, and also don’t have that much power. They exist more as a mediating group who can help other groups communicate with each other, represent their people when meeting with outside governments, resolve conflicts between groups who can’t resolve it on their own, aid in the ease of distributing resources, etc. They don’t necessarily rule anything, as much as they just help manage the whims of the country and try to keep things running smoothly. 

Ultimately the people hold a majority of the power (most actual decisions are made on a local level by smaller councils of the citizens who live in a particular area, or other affiliated groups (like if people do labor, they collectively own their workplace and make decisions and rules about it, generally having nothing to do with involvement from the higher council, etc.)) , The Council just kind of helps aid the citizens rule their own country, providing a bit of extra cohesion and organization so it’s easier for all these smaller governing groups to communicate between each other and do things collectively as a nation. 

Sort of like an actor having an agent that represents them and helps advise them and make connections for them and etc., but ultimately the main career moves and stuff are decided by the actor themselves. The Council would be an ‘’agent’’ and the “actor” would be the people of the country, who still handle most stuff as a collective but rely on the council for additional guidance and national cohesion where necessary.

Despite their somewhat smaller role in terms of actually controlling Navyete, since they do represent the entire country (like at meetings with foreign governments and etc.), and also because of the circumstances and purpose under which they were originally founded, the Council still is kind of seen as a symbol of Navyete and of the Avirre’thel as a whole, and are often interpreted as very significant. A version of the flag of the council is also the flag of the country (which is also often used to represent their entire species), and the people of Navyete are culturally generally proud of the progress their species/ country has made since their rocky beginnings, so they also see the Council as a positive representation of themselves, and kind of allow it to take on the symbolic meaning that it has.  

(for more information on the Avirre’thel , their info directory is HERE (link))

(Also, this group technically isn’t species specific. Though Navyete is an extremely homogeneous nation and all of the council families are of Avirre'thel origin, they do still regularly invite special advisors and etc. onto the council to help them make decisions. So, SOME of the members are actually non-avirre'thel, most prominently there are a good handful of jhevona on the council and some elves and etc., but it's MOSTLY avirre'thel and is still very culturally linked to them, so I'm considering it a species/culture specific group. Even if there could technically be an elf or jhevona on the council, they likely still grew up in Navyete and are a part of that culture.)

How the council is organized and ran and etc. is a lot more complicated (there are stringent regulations on everything, council members basically have to go through years of training starting from when they’re kids, all the different layers of local governments and how that system works alongside the council, the council’s meeting place is like a giant ancient city carved into the side of a mountain (it also has a sometimes frozen waterfall running through it lol), scheduled mandatory council meeting dates, how they make decisions and how the deliberation process of coming to a decision works, etc. etc) , but hopefully I can write something in more detail about it someday!  Just know that it’s all very complicated and annoying lol..

The council obviously exists basically just in the country of Navyete. Though since part of their job is to act as representatives of their people when negotiating with foreign governments/organizations/etc., they do occasionally send diplomats to other places. Their area of influence is mostly limited to Navyete though, since the Avirre’thel culturally tend to be more isolated and inwards-focused*.

* (In the sense of like, they don’t want to be a major country on the world stage, be the ~~Richest And Most Powerful~~ nation, spread their influence, etc. As long as their country is doing fine and they’re making the internal improvements that they need to make and etc., outside affairs don’t concern them as much. Contrast this to countries like Fanyin or Asen, where becoming a rich globally known area or being politically significant around the world is more culturally important to the people/the government of those lands, so they’re more inclined to try to get involved in the business of other countries/groups/etc. The Council will get involved with stuff when it NEEDS to, but they’re really not going around sending off diplomats across the world to meddle in foreign affairs or gain riches or  start useless wars or whatever lol**)

**(Which, just to clarify, they couldn’t go worldwide meddling even if they wanted to... Culturally most of the actual citizens of Navyete would be strongly against that. All the legal regulations on the council + Navyete culture in general makes a situation where.. council members are extremely aware that the general populace would not hesitate to overthrow the council or just kick certain members out in a second if ever necessary, so their attitude is always very like.. “damn.. we better all listen to the people and be on our best behavior.... Or Else”. The Council doesn’t have it’s own police force, they don’t own any resources themselves (they’re actually not allowed to lol, they don’t even own their homes/food/clothing/etc. technically, it’s just on loan to them which belongs to the country collectively), they don’t get paid much more than anyone else, etc. etc. so it’s not like they have much power to leverage, they can’t hoard resources or pay people off or etc. At most, they have intricate knowledge of how the country works and a good bit of connections, but so do a lot of smaller local government leaders outside of the council. 

Basically, the Council is only in place because the people find them genuinely helpful and they’re good at what they do. Were that ever like.. not the case, it’s set up so it’s pretty easy for everyone to just be like ‘Hmm.. I guess you’re not needed anymore then!’ and decide to remove members, reverse decisions, dismantle the council as a whole (though this would be a longer process than kicking someone out.. you can kick out a council member in like.. 2 days time lol.. While there are instructions and plans already in place for the process of dismantling/overthrowing the council system if needed, it would definitely be a years long transition and not two days hghh), etc. But ANYWAY!! My point is that, even if the council wanted to do some wild stuff like go start a war with elves or something, they wouldn’t get very far in the first place since the general population and broader localized community leaders of the people would step in almost immediately and be like ‘Actually, This Will Not Be Happening’ lol)  

There are no set uniforms or appearance for them, but it’s possible they could still be identified if they happen to have clothing or items adorned with the symbol they use to represent themselves, which is shown in this post here (link). 

THOUGH, it is required that when you’re on the grounds of the huge ancient building the Council uses as their home base/capital city/etc., you must be wearing traditional Avirre’thel clothing. It doesn’t really count as a uniform, since they don’t wear it all the time, and only do so when AT the actual meeting place/holding council, but it is at least a form of required clothing for them at times. (though everyone in the population probably wears their traditional clothing every once in a while, for events, celebrations, etc. so the Council mandatorily wearing it every few months when they meet isn’t unique or anything).  - For more info on traditional Avirre’thel clothing and what it looks like, you can go to this post here (link). 

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The Avii’da Vina:

The Avvi’da Vina (which literally translates to ‘children of ancient elves’ in avirrekava) are a small group of vampires/avirre’thel who wholly embrace the fact that the Avirre’thel species are technically the most direct currently living ancestors of ancient elves, and seek for this to be further recognized.  Members of the Avvi’da Vina firmly believe that the avirre’thel should still have a place within elven society, sometimes even moreso than any modern day elves, due to their unique connection to ancient elven history,, and that they should be recognized as elves (or at least some sort of subspecies of elves), rather than a different species entirely. The group is mostly made up of scholars, historians, or various other researchers, and seems to generally have the purpose of merely connecting and spreading information. However, it is often seen as a political organization, due to the implications of said information. Even if arguably they may be factually correct (though many elven groups have rewritten their histories to hide it, so some may still consider it factually false) and seem to only wish to spread this knowledge and follow through with the questions it presents, their ideas are very controversial among both elves and other avirre’thel alike.

I already have a post written about them HERE (link), so I won’t go over much detail, other than the brief description above. 

The Avvi’da Vina operate mostly just around Aviinine, though certain representatives of the group are known to travel far and wide for things like studying ancient elven ruins, speaking to different groups of elves about their information, etc. 

There are no set uniforms or appearance for this group, but it’s possible they could still be identified if they happen to have clothing or items adorned with the symbol they use to represent themselves, which  I was going to draw like some of the others in this post, but I forgot, and now I’m like going over everything to proofread it for a last time and don’t feel like drawing something else ghghgh, so I’ll try to go back and add it later. If I add other groups to the world, or create new info about any of them, I plan on going back to modify this anyway, so .. lol

Additionally, they often wear traditional avirre’thel clothing most all the time, to honor their heritage (and because their traditional clothing is pretty close to ancient elven clothing as well). But of course aren’t strict enough about it that they don’t wear other stuff when necessary (like having to dress elven to blend in in an elven city they’re handing out information in, etc.)

(Though it’s mostly avirre’thel, elves can also be members of the Avvi’da Vina, but membership would really be limited to only those two species. Like, there would be no reason for a jhevona to really join this group or something, since they have no personal stake or interest in whether avirre’thel are ever merged back into elven society or not, and if they did it would be a bit weird lol..like.. why are you so passionate about this when it’s not your business gfgh )  

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Syehtavaege'sa bi'gyanei:

A small group of about 25 individuals (not including the additional helpers that work for them and aid in leading people to them from location to location), who play a very significant role in Avirre’thel culture. Because Avirre’thel are inherently immortal and cannot die naturally*, one of the only ways that they die is by going to the ‘Syehtavaege'sa bi'gyanei’ and requesting to end their lives. This group has been around since the initial modification of the species (from ancient elves to what they are now) when they were originally modified in a pact with the ancient jhevona and made immortal. 

The location of the Syehtavaege'sa bi'gyanei are unknown. You have to go through like eight layers of asking for information before you can even speak with them (one person will tell you where to find the next person, the next person will tell you where a second location is to ask for the third, etc. and nobody in this line up knows all the information together (so the 3rd person you ask only knows of the 2nd person and 4th person, but not the 7th, etc.)), just to make things extra secure and difficult for anyone from outside to accomplish (like an elven spy or something). 

This is another reason why it’s a really big decision, once you start on the process you can’t really change your mind (once you’ve gone to a few locations, you know too much). And also typically why you have to do it alone, someone can’t go on the journey with you and then come back, since then they’d know too much (but, you can go as a group, some friends or couples choose to die together). Though, it’s said that there have been cases of people going on the journey to find the Syehtavaege'sa bi'gyanei and then returning, it’s likely they turned back at an early enough stage that it didn’t matter, or possibly had their memories wiped using magic of some kind. The first person you talk to, the start of the process, is openly known information and easy to access (obviously, otherwise it’d be like denying people access to their right to die once they feel they’ve lived a suitable life, which as people who will literally live forever otherwise, is an important choice for them to be able to have agency in (sometimes 15,000 yrs is just enough for someone and forcing them to go on would cause suffering for them)), but all the steps up after that are secretive, especially since nobody who makes the journey to death lives to tell about it. 

Obviously, how exactly the Avirre’thel are killed is kept as an extremely guarded secret as well. It’s thought that perhaps the Syehtavaege'sa bi'gyanei are capable of a special type of magic, or maybe are in possession of a magical item, something that allows them to actually kill Avirre’thel. Since the only people who have ever met them are now dead, there’s also a lot of strange theories and speculation surrounding them. While they do send out representatives to convey messages on their behalf (if needed, which is rare), they’ve never appeared to anyone personally (there is an old tale that one of the Syehtavaege'sa bi'gyanei was caught by a jhevona spy once (working on behalf of elves, of course) and promptly committed suicide using some sort of magic, to prevent their captors from being able to get any information out of them, but this is the ONLY instance of personal outside interaction with the Syehtavaege'sa bi'gyanei that is known, and it may be just a rumor). 

Some people think that the Syehtavaege'sa bi'gyanei aren’t fellow Avirre’thel at all, but are perhaps instead jhevona, or some other magical species that would be able to perform magic strong enough to break a powerful immortality enchantment. Some believe that it’s not a group at all, but is in fact just one person, the ancient jhevona who originally aided in creating the Avirre’thel, just counteracting their own magic to allow death to occur**. Some even think that the Syehtavaege'sa bi'gyanei may be an unknown species entirely, as they were supposedly made up of members of the original avirre’thel, they could be basically modified ancient elves (like the avirre’thel), but altered differently, maybe they’ve gained immortality AND kept their ability for magic in order to fill a place as unique guardians of the species, or perhaps even had their magic increased, some sort of immortal ancient elf/jhevona hybrids who have abilities and lifestyles atypical to most modern Avirre’thel. 

Though the most common idea is that, they are in fact just regular Avirre’thel (though of course older, some of the originals), except with access to a special ritual, or a spell, or some sort of enchantment, likely given to them by the ancient jhevona that helped form the species, which they can utilize to magically kill, despite not possessing any inherent magic themselves. It’s thought that they probably don’t even know how it works, they just remember all the steps and do what the ancient jhevona set up for them to do, which results in somehow making avirre’thel vulnerable enough to die. They may even be killed just with a knife or a poison or something, if all the Fancy Secret Ritual has to do is break the immortality enchantment, after that, the person could choose to die in any way they’d like, as they’d now be able to die by completely normal means. 

The Syehtavaege'sa bi'gyanei obviously only operate in Navyete, in a secret location, and make no contact with anyone outside of the country (they barely even have contact with anyone inside the country either lol).

There COULD be a uniform or set appearance for this group, but nobody would know it, since nobody ever actually has seen them (or all the people who have are.. dead). Any symbols or representative markings for this group are also either non-existent or unknown.

** (though in more recent times this rumor is less likely, as the original ancient jhevona they spoke to is still around and about, Avirre’thel have tried to contact them before and it’s now known they seem to be very neutral/uncaring for their role in the avirre’thel’s creation. Like most ancient jhevona, this one is very isolated, bizarre, only cares about what’s in their own mind, nearly completely detached from what’s going on in the common world, etc.  It’s unlikely that they’d be hanging around dedicating all this time to being some sort of a death god for them, when it seems like they could care less in the first place.)

*(note: Technically they CAN die in other ways, but it’s extremely difficult. Basically what keeps them immortal is their quick and flawless (meaning  it doesn’t go haywire and cause excessive growth/cancers) regeneration. An Avirre’thel’s body can reform itself from even the SMALLEST amount of residue. A drop of blood, a pile of ashes, a stray hair, etc. As long as there’s SOMETHING nearby that’s leftover for the original body’s soul to attach itself to, it will automatically latch onto that and regenerate. So if you had some sort of way to completely obliterate a person and wipe all traces of local matter away into completely nothing, then Avirre’thel COULD technically die by that method. But weaponry and magic like that just really doesn’t exist in Nanyevimi, so it’s practically considered impossible. 

The only other means by which Avirre’thel have died in the past, was a “magic plague” that happened about 9,000 years ago. Northern elves (with the help of a few Jhevona who obviously handled most of the complex magic) originally developed a ‘disease’ as a means for fighting war with the Avirre’thel (which the northern elves provoked in the first place, of  course.. the fanyiniri really are just like “I’m going to be a bitch and the second you actually call me out on it about it then i WILL orchestrate risky biological warfare and kill half of my own country as well because YES i DO only have one fucking braincell”), and were just as shocked as the Avirre’thel were when it was actually able to kill them (albeit slowly). Unfortunately, it was also extremely lethal to everyone else, and basically everyone on the entire continent started dying (elves, jhevona, avirre’thel, etc.). Since it got out of hand, a random group of a few ancient jhevona came out of hiding and ended up mysteriously doing.. something... to eradicate it, but because nobody even had any idea how it worked in the first place (it’s creation was a fluke), there is still a lot of mystery surrounding it and the exact ‘disease’ has never been able to be replicated. From what people know, it SEEMS like it somehow was able to infect... magic itself? As non-magical species were unaffected. But that raises questions about the nature of magic and how something like that is even possible. 

It’s also unknown why it affected the Avirre’thel, as a non-magical species, but the best guess theory is that because they’re TECHNICALLY still an inherently magical species (they’re just elves, but who had a few modifications and have a large-scale species-wide blood-linked enchantment set up to take their magic away and siphon it elsewhere, so live as a non-magical species in practice), they were still able to be ‘infected’. Since the species enchantment is what keeps them immortal, and enchantments are magical in origin, perhaps a ‘’disease’’ that affects magic would make it where that enchantment is no longer able to work properly, thus removing the source of their immortality. 

ANYWAY, so, they have been able to die in the past, and technically if you were able to destroy every bit of them completely they would die, but it’s SO unlikely and so impossible to happen, that functionally, their only method of death is to request to be ritually killed as described above.)

(random sidenote: The magic plague thing was something I had written into my world-building a long time ago, far before everything going on now. I just wanted to clarify that I wasn’t like, using the current pandemic as Cool Worldbuilding Inspiration Wow Stories About People Dying From Diseases And Plagues Are So Fun Hee Hee ! the timing of when I finally finish this draft may make it seem weird, but I’m pretty sure I’ve referenced it in posts a while ago before now) 

ALSO - further information about the name of the group! (since I bothered to make a language I might as well use it sometimes, but you can skip this section if that’s not interesting to you)

Here’s a breakdown of the name - ‘Syehtavaege'sa bi'gyanei’, which can also be called  “ Syehtavaege'sa tu bi'gyanei yrra “ more formally :  

gyanei - eternal/everlasting syehta - verb root for to have something, to be in possession of something, mostly abstract like to posses a quality yrra - added onto the end of something (usually name or title) to convey reverence/importance bi - thing that makes stuff negative (kind of like ‘UN’ in english, for example - happy > UNhappy, familiar > UNfamiliar, etc.)  tu - on the topic of/in relevance to/denotes what is being spoken about (kind of like “of” in english)

vaege - one of the rare two ancient verb endings (in addition to the typical six) that are in modern times rarely used for anything except emphasis. ‘vaege’ when added to the end of a verb indicates an action as constant and ongoing. So instead of present-positive ending, past-positive ending, past-negative ending, etc., this one is more like ‘constant-positive’. Like the difference between “She wears pants” VS. “She is always wearing pants”, etc. (and like most verb endings, ‘vaege’ can be shortened to ‘vage’ or even just ‘ge’, but in this instance, that would be seen as too informal/disrespectful since this is an official title/name of an important group)

‘sa - a suffix that makes verbs, adjectives, nouns, (really any type of word) into a personal descriptor. Kind of like ‘ly’ in english, except if you could add it to verbs and everything else too (’run’ + ly = ‘runly’ , and having that mean ‘someone who is running/a runner/etc.) It’s basically like ‘to exist in the manner of’ , so like -

bright + 'sa = brightly (to exist in the manner of 'bright') mother + 'sa = motherly (to exist in the manner of 'mother') verb for 'climb' + 'sa = climbly , person/ thing that climbs/ something that does the act of climbing (to exist in the manner of 'climb'). Though with verbs, the verb ending does alter the meaning, so if the ending is past negative (’did not climb’), then adding ‘sa would mean “person/thing that DID NOT climb”, or if future positive - person/thing that “WILL climb”, etc.  bird + ‘sa = birdly, someone/something that resembles a bird (to exist in the manner of ‘bird’).. etc. etc. 

So, now with all of that information - 

“Syehtavaege'sa tu bi'gyanei yrra”  =  (verb root for ‘to possess’)(constant positive)’(exists in the manner of) (in reference to) (UN)(eternal) (respect marker) 

meaning roughly:

“person/object/thing that permanently exists in the manner of possessing something (and what exactly is being possessed is >) that which is NOT-everlasting (and also this is important/revered)”

Translated into a way that would make sense in English/convey a similar tone, it could be something like: 

"Those who hold the non-everlasting", "Owners of permanence" , “Keepers of ending”, “Those who oversee finality”, etc. Meaning basically, people who guard and maintain the process of death, and are the Avirre’thel peoples’ only access to a final and permanent sort of ending. 

Which they could just have it be simple like "The Death Council", but this name was created by the original ancient-elves-recently-turned-vampires who were first creating the concept, so the language MUST be flowery and a bit vague, as is the true ancient elven tradition. This is something that comes up a lot in Avirrekava (the language of the avirre’thel) which is like.. modern terms tend to be more practical and straightforward the further they grow away from their ancient elven roots/influence, and so you can kind of tell when a place name or a concept or a title was invented a LONG time ago because it will be overly long and more abstract lol. 

A modern named city would just be something like “suitable trading place” or etc., but an older city established by some of the original avirre’thel would have a name translating to something like “homeland of echos, playing the everlasting world’s soft song” (basically there’s a waterfall nearby and you can hear the ~~worlds’ soft song~~ (flowing water) from the city lol..).

 A lot of early personal names are also long and you can tell them apart from newer ones (modern Avirrekava baby names -  Anhana, Ara, Ada, Viku, Nari, Tyara, Erivera, etc. OLD baby names - Ishimanare, Ye’isahana, Harivuyenia, Tuyakuhera, Anayaheiru*, Ibayamarinesi, etc.), some people still name their kids stuff like ‘Imaenasevayuni’ or something, but it definitely stands out. ANYWAY,  “~~Those who posses that which is non-eternal~~” JUST SAY ‘death bringers’ or something, stop being pretentious ghhghj 

*(the previously mentioned ’anhana’ (+ stuff like ‘anheru’ ‘aharu’ ‘anyeru’ ) is actually a modernized version of ‘Anayaheiru’)

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Council of Broader Siryonla :

Similar to the Collection of Southern Jhevona and the Union of Non-Allied elves, this is a group that seeks to represent the interests of all inhabitants of Siryonla. Basically all the governments and rulers and etc. from every little small island country in the whole of Siryonla communicate and coordinate with each other on a council. Since they’re usually such small, easily vulnerable populations, they figure it’s better to band together.  Though they all maintain their own agency and internal rules and stuff (like not all of them have the same type of government, economic system, culture, etc.), they still work together to decide certain things that will affect the entire population broadly, to guarantee to defend one another, and etc. Though there are a few islands/groups that are generally not present on the council because they prefer to be isolated or are still so hidden off from the world that they don’t understand the attempts at contact from those in the islands around them, the broad council would still likely defend them if they were to be attacked, or help them in any way they could, even if they’re not formally in the alliance since, they’re still part of Siryonla. 

Obviously the area of operation for this group is... the islands of Siryonla. Though they may send representatives to speak to foreign governments or something, pretty much all of their business is internal, just stuff like making sure everyone on all of the islands has enough resources, trying to neutrally settle conflicts between various island nations, etc.

There are no set uniforms or appearance for this group like there are for others (again, way too broad of a group), but it’s possible they could still be identified if they happen to have clothing or items adorned with the symbol they use to represent themselves, which is shown in this post here (link).

This isn’t a species specific one, but it is culture/area specific, since it obviously wouldn't apply to anyone who doesn’t live in any of the Siryonla islands. 

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Ehn-imkasyn :

The Ehn-imkasyn are a group specific to the Thastanri people (a subspecies of jhevona) that includes the Imkasyn, and also those who protect them, as well as general experts in dream/mind/soul magics. Kind of similar to how a group of craftsmen may get together to represent their trade and share insider crafting secrets and keep it alive/spread knowledge to younger generations and etc. Because their expertise in this specific style of magic is very significant (and protected) within their culture, they kind of group together to share knowledge among themselves and study/practice these forms of magic. Most Thastanri have to train and work to gain the good favor of the group before being allowed to join and be taught the more difficult/complex feats of magic by the group experts, but obviously Imkasyn are welcomed into the group immediately regardless of their training or etc., due to their unique abilities. 

There are a few different focuses of the Ehn-imkasyn, various areas members can specialize in, but they’re most notorious for their assassins/defense forces. Because of the Thastanri’s already existing inclinations towards highly advanced soul magics, their assassins basically just take this base ability and weaponize it. Using a rare subset of soul magic unique to only the Thastanri, they can have their soul leave their bodies and inhabit the dreams realms of others as they’re sleeping, genuinely affecting the mind and physical state of the person from inside themselves, without even having to do anything in the waking world (while you can’t physically hurt someone in the real world from inside a dream, you can compel them to harm themselves, in a barely awake state, kind of like sleep-walking).  

Dream/soul magic is already a thing that many advanced mages can use and on it’s own isn’t very novel, BUT, the difference is the exact techniques the Ehn-imkasyn use, unique specialized ways of accomplishing feats ‘normal’ dream magic isn’t capable of, the specifics of which have been passed down as an ancient art for thousands of years and are well guarded by them and can pretty much only be acquired by outsiders if they were to be allowed to train alongside them (which is nearly impossible due to how closed off they are). Mostly, the special thing is that they have somehow mastered the ability of having two souls in one body without one beginning to absorb the other, and without any damage or fracturing of either one, as well as being able to maintain their souls outside of their own bodies for an unheard of amount of time, and traveling around as just a soul without having to hop from body to body, etc. (this makes more sense if you read the post about soul absorption HERE (link), which goes over how that part of soul magic works, and could explain why being able to do what they do is really strange))

While all Ehn-imkasyn (and most Thastanri, generally) have a good understanding and use of dream/soul magics, the specific branch of defense forces are generally the highest trained/most-advanced, and are the only ones adept at finding such a variety of ways to effectively use it as a weapon without killing themselves in the process (remember, any soul magic, ESPECIALLY soul magic where your soul leaves it’s own physical form, is extremely volatile, and even people well trained in it are prone to getting trapped in other people’s dreams, losing their soul entirely (dying basically), suffering permanent damage, etc. The ability to hop in and out of dreamers’ minds, as well as induce various mental states and have a serious longstanding effect on things even outside of the dreams, AND do all of this easily/quickly without mistakes and without destroying your own soul is like.. extremely unheard of even among the most advanced mages. The Ehn-imkasyn’s branch of defense forces are really seen as one of a kind, using a level/method of that magic that you just don’t see anywhere else.)

And of course, as Jhevona cultures have a focus on preserving magic and not using it unnecessarily, the Ehn-imkasyn are also highly skilled in just regular physical combat, survival training, usually all have experience in medical/healing arts (both magic and non-magic methods), have advanced weapons training, etc. So like, mostly they wouldn’t even be in a situation that can’t just be resolved by them easily destroying enemies in a plain old non-magic way, BUT, if need be, they can indeed hop into your head and murder you from the inside out in like under 30 minutes so... also an important detail to consider. 

While the Thastanri (and most Jhevona cultures overall) are typically non-violent (so having an elite force of almost comically overpowered dream assassins sounds a bit uncharacteristic), the idea behind this is really just that they see it as urgent to have ways to protect Imkasyn. Thastanri culturally believe that, even though the significance hasn’t been proven or concretely discovered yet, the unique abilities of the Imkasyn mean something, and it will come into play at a later date, involving something extremely important on a world scale, thus they have to preserve their people (most importantly their Imkasyn) until that time. There are many prophecies and myths involving the importance of this in their culture.  So, especially now, in times of low population growth, or upheaval (like the not so distant past of people invading their lands to hunt dragons), a pristine ability to self-defend, and especially to protect the Imkasyn (since according to them, one day their significance will be discovered on a broad scale, causing people to hunt them as well), they see as very important to focus on, to prepare forces to defend themselves, now and in the prophesied future. 

For the Thastanri, it can be considered a rite of passage to train and try to join and learn the secrets and expertise of the Ehn-imkasyn, but it’s not culturally required or all that strongly expected of people. The Thastanri are known for this style of magic and definitely have a much higher than average amount of their population that’s highly trained in it, but it’s not like literally EVERY person in the entire subspecies is going to join the group or aim to become an expert. 

(for more information on the Thastanri/what it means to be an Imkasyn/etc., I have an info post about them HERE (link)) 

The Ehn-imkasyn obviously just operate exclusively in the area the Thastanri live in, which is a tiny secluded territory kind of around the southern coastal areas of Nonvas Kfal (which is where a lot of small scattered Jhevona groups tend to live). The Thastanri don’t communicate with outsiders (for reasons mentioned in the post about them), and though they do occasionally speak to other groups of Jhevona in the area, it wouldn’t be often or with such regularity that you could say the group really does anything anywhere but in their own lands.  

(Though occasionally people from outside lands will show up to the Thastanri’s territory and be like ‘omg I hear you guys have the skills to be SUPER good assassins, I am a big fancy king or whatever and will pay you a million billion everything to use your unrivaled expertise to assassinate my political opponent’, to which the Ehn-imakysn representative is usually just like “Hello friend, If you do not leave our lands immediately, you shall experience first hand just how good we are at killing people” hghhjjb.. OR, people may also come asking for defense, as the Ehn-imkasyn kind of hold the poison and the cure. In addition to being the worlds highest specialists in this particular brand of dream/soul magic, they also have developed various unique methods of protection against dream/soul magics. 

Enchantments which prevent magic from being used are obviously common in the realm (otherwise magic would instantly hold too much power over anyone who isn’t magic), things like making barriers around homes/areas, making one invincible to magic whilst sleeping/vulnerable, etc. But, since they’re still just enchantments, it would be technically possible for them to be broken by someone with stronger abilities than the mage who set them (if they’re also specialized in enchantment-breaking, which is rare and very difficult). Most preventative enchantments would work fine in like 94% of scenarios (assuming proper upkeep/recharging of the enchantment of course), but for royals or extremely advanced mages or something who REALLY want a layer of extra assurance, some seek out people like the Ehn-imkasyn. Normal ‘no magic can be done around me while sleeping’ enchantments are still quite protective, but the Ehn-imkasyn of course know specialized techniques centered specifically about preventing soul/dream magics, making it essentially impossible for others to enter your dreams, putting advanced barriers around the soul, etc. etc. 

Though again, even though they have such rare abilities that could possibly be in demand from a lot of people, they still generally refuse to help anyone lol.. So, for a lot of reasons actually, outsiders attempt to communicate with them, but these attempts are basically always rejected (unless it’s helping some other small group of local jhevona or something, but the Ehn-imkasyn see their purpose as far too significant, way beyond wasting time on foreign politics and assassinations and nobles and protecting random mages from having their dreams broken into, etc. And it’s not like anyone can force them to work for them involuntarily since... they’re super assassins lol.. Outsiders all kind of just have to walk away dejected and disappointed  ) 

The Ehn-imkasyn don’t have uniforms, or a representative symbol for their group, but they do incorporate the tradition of Jhevona eye markings as a means to distinguish themselves, They have special ones that look like this 

(Like most jhevona eye markings, the design can be on both eyes, but can also be on a single eye, just depending on the personal meaning to the individual)

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Vilheiiatheni Congregation:

The Vilheiiatheni Congregation is a religious group catered towards non-alliance elves. Since Elven Alliance nations generally intertwine their religion with their government, they don’t really have many independent religious groups, as usually religious leaders and royalty/government leaders are the same people (and also, religious beliefs and practices are regulated within the Alliance, so there’s not enough variance to warrant having separate groups anyhow). Elven groups outside of the alliance, however, generally have a lot more space for independent religious groups, and have more religious freedom in general to interpret the elven religion in different ways/practice different things, so this is just one of the main groups that exists.

The main purpose of the Vilheiiatheni Congregation is really just to study and document the religion and do various helpful things, kind of like a church mixed with a college?  On top of doing stuff like building/maintaining shrines, offering religious counsel, training people in their ways (I guess kind of like training someone to be a priest, but they don’t really have formal titles like “priest” in the elven religion), writing and distributing information pamphlets, creating religious goods (like special ornaments, candles, etc.), and diplomatically representing the religion (like educating others about it and etc.),, they also seek out ancient religious texts, preserve religious documents, translate ancient religious writings,  etc. 

Their official position is to remain neutral in terms of any conflicts between Alliance and Non-alliance elves, as their primary focus is merely to upkeep and spread information about the elven religion. They don’t entertain conflicts over which form of belief is the ‘One True Way To Believe’ or which gods are the One True God or which practices are The Good Perfect Correct Ones and which are bad or whatever, they welcome all forms and interpretations of the religion, and are merely just appreciative to be able to help others and spread knowledge about it. Because of this, they study really anything, and don’t discriminate when it comes to what subjects or sub-groups of the religion to focus on, they want to document EVERYTHING no matter what it is (even minor gods that some random village of elves made up and added to the pantheon, like.. yes. they HAVE to take notes on that.. rip to scholars who disregard anything that isn’t ‘’official’’ or ‘’canonical’’ enough but the vilheiiatheni congregation is different). 

Despite their neutrality, they actually do get into some issues with the Alliance from time to time, because the Elven Alliance loves to hoard information and religious relics and etc., since they think they should be the One True Primary Authority on the ancient/modern elven religion. There are occasional back and forths where each group will try to steal information from each other, or like scholars from both groups are rushing over to a recently discovered ancient ruin to try to make sure THEY’RE the one that gets there first, etc. lol  

Oddly, the Vilheiiatheni Congregation is somewhat allied with the Avirre’thel (so, the Council of Navyete), as the avirre’thel evolved directly from ancient elves and live on ancient historical land that was formerly occupied by them. Additionally, they’re immortal, so some of them still remember ancient elven traditions and stuff from like 25,000 years ago (like mentioned with the Avvi’da Vina stuff, some aspects of Avirre’thel culture are closer to ancient elves than modern day elves even are).  So, the Avirre’thel actually do posses a good number of ancient elven religious items, have ancient shrines built on their land, etc. They welcome the Vilheiiatheni Congregation to come and see them to study them, share old texts with them, etc.

This is also part of why the Congregation tries to remain neutral and would never genuinely ally with the Elven Alliance, even if they didn’t already have the occasional issue, since the Avirre’thel and the Elven Alliance DEFINITELY have big big issues, so the Congregation is careful about not pissing off the Avirre’thel by getting cozy with a group that’s previously terrorized them. Even though the Avirre’thel are technically no longer elves, they’re one of  the closest connections to living/well preserved ancient elven history that the Congregation has access to, so they find it essential to stay friendly with them. (at least until the Elven Alliance stops hoarding every ancient elven artifact it can get it’s hands on for themselves... which.. will never happen ghgh)

( Also just to note: The elven religion doesn’t focus on conversion, it’s seen as being for ELVES first and foremost, it’s not for anyone else and not anybody else’s business. They don’t need to convert random people into following it, unless they’re elves, and there’s rarely an elf that hasn’t been exposed to their own cultural belief system (unless maybe a rare case where an elf was adopted into another culture or etc.). Thus, they don’t operate like some other religious organizations in the sense of sending out missionaries or etc. They do have people who travel to spread information or help communities of fellow elves, but there’s no focus on conversion or assimilation, as they all basically believe the same thing anyway, even if there may be some local variations. 

The closest thing you’d get to stuff like that in the elven religion is maybe the very specific religion of Elven Alliance nations, and how they have certain standards that they want people under their influence to live up to (like recognizing Inaashi as the only currently living god, etc.), so they would maybe “convert” in the sense of trying to get other religious elves to practice the same form of religion they do. But in the sense of like, going on mission trips to convert outsiders or try to get other people who aren’t elves to join their religion, that would be seen as extremely strange and kind of improper. 

(Kind of like how Jhevona would never take their cultural custom of doing markings over their eyes and decide to invite some random elf or human or something to wear markings too (you can read more about this in the info post about Jhevona (here) if you don’t get what I’m referencing).. Because of the meaning of the tradition, it just doesn’t apply to outsiders, and it would make no sense for someone from another culture to adopt the practice. It’s explicitly linked to something unique about them as a people, so while they would maybe educate others about it, they would never invite an outsider to literally participate in it, since it’s just not for them and by definition it can’t apply to them. That’s kind of how most elves are about their religious beliefs.*))

(*which is part of why more strict religious elves (how the Alliance typically is) have additional issue with the Avirre’thel, since they don’t see them as elves anymore, BUT they still are living on land with ancient elven shrines, have access to insider cultural religious information, etc. To them, it feels like an invasion of their culture, like the Avirre’thel have access to things they shouldn’t have access to, because the elven religion is NOT for outsiders, only ‘’real elves’’, and the Avirre’thel of course are not and never have been ‘’real elves’’, therefore how DARE they have elven shrines on their land, etc. Sometimes this even goes so far as groups believing the Avirre’thel  should drop all mention of elven gods in their culture, return all lands with old shrines on them back to the elves, etc. etc. (This of course doesn’t acknowledge the fact that the land was given to them BY elves in the first place, that the original avirre’thel actually built most of the ‘’ancient elven’’ shrines themselves (back when they were still considered elves), etc. BUT anyway hghjbjh, the complicated back and forth between avirre’thel and modern northern elves on the continent is a whole other topic entirely lol)) 

(For more info on the elven religion, there’s a post HERE (link))

The Congregation is similar to the International Union Of Non-Allied Elves, in that it kind of just operates anywhere that elves are. Mostly in the northern parts of the globe, etc. They share pretty much the same area of influence. 

They also don’t have uniforms, but are known to wear white a lot, and may have clothing or items adorned with a symbol representing them, which is often these few ones (I didn’t draw these yet like some of the others in this post lol... maybe I’ll add this part in later)

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Jhenasainye:

A ‘’religious’’ group of avirre’thel who see ancient jhevona as similar to gods. After having an ancient jhevona alter their species and seeing the powers these beings are capable of, they revere them in a way, and frequently attempt to make offerings to them, keep track of them, and get into communication with them. Though, very little is known about the ancient jhevona (as most of them are in complete hiding/isolation at all times and have forgotten the rest of the world for the most part), so it’s incredibly rare and difficult to actually speak with any of them, and becomes more of a symbolic or intellectual pursuit than anything practical. 

The Jhenasainye also have a bit more of a scholarly/researchy sort of interest, rather than their ‘’’religion’’ being mystical or spiritual. They see the ancient jhevona as a pretty normal phenomena, nothing otherworldly, though they do still believe they’re worthy of appreciation and study, and that becoming closer to these beings and trying to harness bits of their powers could help improve society.  Jhenasainye don’t believe that ‘’gods’’ exist in the sense of there being all-powerful unexplained mystical beings roaming around, but they do still stand by the idea that someone who has the magical ability to transform living creatures, to grant blessings, curses, to change the entire course of history, to modify entire environments, etc. etc. is really functionally no different from a ‘’god’’, even if they technically were just born a normal person. 

Similar to the ancient elven shrines that remain around the land (though in modern times they’re less religious and more just used in cultural ceremonies or as community resources), there have been shrines built dedicated to a few of the main ancient jhevona the  Jhenasainye have identified/gathered information on so far, and people are welcome to visit them and try their luck at making offerings, asking for council, asking for blessings, etc. Though an answer is impossibly rare. 

The Jhenasainye mostly operate in the south of Navyete, and have a good handful of shrines and research centers clustered around there.  It’s a very small group and worship/preoccupation with ancient jhevona is seen as an obscure movement, but I’m counting them as a group that could be important to take note of, since they do have distinct views from the majority of the population, with their own individual goals and interests. 

(note: Though the Avan (a culturally distinct group of Avirre’thel) technically worship and are in communication with an ancient jhevona, they don’t count as Jhenasainye.  Jhenasainye seek out ALL ancient jhevona, and attempt to study and learn about them, try to talk to them, build shrines, etc. The Avan focus solely on their one ‘’God’’ and could care less about any others. The Jhenasainye also don’t acknowledge the ‘’god’’ that the Avan keep in contact with, as they see her as a bad person who’s just trying to manipulate a vulnerable group of people and start a cult. While they do respect all ancient jhevona, and are in awe of their abilities, etc.,,the Jhenasainye still acknowledge that at the end of the day, the ancient jhevona are just regular people, and thus can have personality flaws and negative intentions. The group thus doesn’t believe in interacting with ancient jhevona that are cruel, or obviously just trying to get something out of them. ) 

The main criticism of the Jhenasainye from other Avirre’thel, is that it’s dangerous to be trying to come into contact with such powerful beings. Even if the ancient jhevona are known to keep to themselves/seemingly mutually agree to keep out of the affairs of the rest of the world, making contact and asking for the influence of people who could probably evaporate their entire civilization off the face of the planet if they felt like it, might not be a good risk to take, even if every once in a while they meet one who’s nice. Though the  Jhenasainye trust in their own discretion and take care to be wary of who they attempt to communicate with, some feel that’s not enough. Supremely powerful beings may be handy to have ‘on your side’, and form positive mutual relationships with, but at the same time, the possibility of that benefit comes with a massive potential risk. 

Groups of Jhevona immigrants that live among the Avirre’thel  also often criticize the Jhenasainye, mostly due to the fact that, ancient jhevona are just.... normal jhevona. Ancient jhevona have been through tens of thousands of years of training, study, magic trickery (probably just a bit of illegal soul absorption, as a treat), etc. etc. and have, mostly through luck, avoided being killed by their own magic long enough to harness such an immense level of power, but they were still just regular jhevona once. There’s nothing inherently special about ancient jhevona, other than their abilities (and that their abilities somehow haven’t killed them yet), but genetically/physically/mentally, they’re just like any other jhevona. Most jhevona see ancient jhevona as... cool, I guess, but not anything different than they are. Less “oh! they’re like a god!!” and more “Oh! that could be someone’s great grandfather lol”. 

So because everyday jhevona view the ancient jhevona as ‘one of us, but just with a different level of power’, it can feel kind of bizarre to hear people go on about how the ancient jhevona are Gods and Immense Powerful Beings, building shrines, dedicating years to studying them, etc.. Though the  Jhenasainye are not the worst about this (they at least still admit that the ancient jhevona were normal people once.. some other groups in the world see the ancient jhevona as LITERAL gods in a mystical sense, and that’s often more obnoxious to normal jhevona), it can still feel othering to everyday Jhevona when people act like there’s such a huge inherent difference between them and ancient jhevona. Especially since, these people have relatives, and are real people, not gods that popped out of nowhere.

 While it’s not extremely common, and most ancient jhevona break off from their families/detach from the rest of society long before they’ve succeeded on their extended journey to gain so much power, there are plenty of living descendants of ancient Jhevona still out there in the regular population. That would be like, if your grandmother was REALLY good at something, like almost impossibly good, in the 0.000000000000000000000001% of the population, maybe at archery or something, and then because of this, people start building shrines to her, giving her offerings, calling her a god, acting as if she’s an entirely different class of creature from you and the rest of your family and is some freakish untouchable all-powerful god being, etc. etc. You’d just be like... well YEAH she’s really good at this and went through years of training, luck, etc. to get where she is but like.. that’s still just my grandma lol... 

(though in the case of ancient jhevona, they’re all pretty much 30,000 + years old, and average lifespan for jhevona is roughly 900 - 2,000 yrs depending on subspecies, so if you were a living descendant of an ancient jhevona, they’d be more like your great great great great great (add like 45 more ‘’greats’’) grandparent, rather than just your direct grandparent, and it’s highly likely you’ve never met them in your life and only know about them because your relation to them has been passed down in the family (or in rare cases, THEY approached you and informed you of your relation), etc. BUT you know what I mean lol) 

Some Jhevona are actually in the Jhenasainye though, but this is usually just due to the fact that it’s a good place to learn about ancient jhevona (something a normal jhevona would obviously possibly take an interest in). The jhevona members of the group may disagree on stuff like making contact, building shrines, supporting superstitions surrounding ancient jhevona, etc., and be more there just to borrow books and have a dedicated team to help in their own personal investigations. 

Anyway, the  Jhenasainye operate pretty much only in Navyete, though they may travel of course, to follow leads on the location of ancient jhevona, or gather information that could teach them more about one of them. They’re a small group with roughly about 1,600 members, though only 200 or so primary members which run things, do the research, build shrines, (the other 1,400 would be more like ‘followers’, I guess). They have no dedicated symbol for themselves, and don’t dress any particular way, though they’re also not hard to find, since they’re probably out around some of the shrines or research centers they’ve built, which aren’t secretive locations or anything. 

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Vura Isethagi:

A small lesser known group of Avirre’thel who refuse to follow feeding regulations* of their culture. They argue that since it’s the natural order of things they must do to survive, being a little more loose with how you gather or use blood is fine, and is no different than what other animals do (they always argue stuff like “Well would you tell a BEAR or a WOLF when, how, where, and under what conditions they can hunt and eat?? No! So why should WE be beholden to obscure ritual and unnecessary regulation when just doing what we must to survive!?” ....like.. sir, you are not a wolf or a bear, you are a humanoid being with complex thought who lives in a Society, please sit down ghgjhbjh). 

*(Since their species requires consuming the blood of living things to survive, of course they’ve built a lot of culture around it. There are rules of how to kill animals (or when not to), how to store blood, how to prepare blood, special containers for blood, etc. Especially when it comes to getting blood from actual humanoid creatures rather than just animals, there are a massive amount of laws and social rules in consideration of how it must be handled, how it must be gathered, compensation and agreements, etc. Blood is a very sacred thing in their culture, but especially the traditions/rules/laws surrounding it are taken extremely seriously, almost to a religious ritualistic superstitious extent (there are Special Bowls made from Special Materials which are the ONLY things humanoid blood is allowed to be contained in, making contact with humanoid blood outside of a feeding/bowl context is considered dirty, etc.). Like, gathering or storing blood incorrectly would probably get you more severe criticism and backlash than a violent crime in some cases, even if nobody was hurt by it lol. It’s like one of the few major things in their society where like, you’re free to disagree with anything and do whatever you want, BUT you have to follow the blood regulations, no question, no debate, and if you don’t then you’re a menace and endangering everyone and fuck you)

Though a lack of following regulations doesn’t inherently imply someone is part of this group. Plenty of normal Avirre’thel will be a little lax with one rule or do minor variations. Sometimes someone will use humanoid blood in a soup recipe (which is seen as horrifically disrespectful to the blood, you can only cook with animal blood, the blood of conscious humanoid beings has to be kept in it’s raw form always), they’ll store blood in a jar instead of the special bowls that are made exclusively to hold it, they may get blood from an unauthorized source (certain species of humanoid being are considered dangerous due to potential blood incompatibilities, and certain animals are protected due to maybe having an endangered status or being culturally significant, etc.), may accidentally kill an animal a little messily rather than painlessly (which is how you’re supposed to hunt for blood, if you must.. It’s recommended most people just buy it from stores nowadays lol). etc. 

So, all members of Vura Isethagi don’t follow blood regulations, but not all people who don’t follow blood regulations are members of Vura Isethagi .The group is about a lot more than just like.. occasionally killing an animal incorrectly or storing your blood wrong lol.

Their whole specific thing is that they think that regulations are holding them back. They’re not not following them just due to being lazy or accidentally forgetting a rule or something, they’re being very intentional in what they disregard and why. 

The Vura Isethagi believe that blood regulations are a way to keep their species from really prospering, that a lot of the disease and stuff common in the species is just because they’re not feeding adequately, and that they could be much more powerful if everyone wasn’t so stingy about getting their energy in (despite there being no evidence, scientific or otherwise, of this being the case literally at all, there being no difference in strength, or rate of illness between the two groups, etc). They think that many of the rules are baseless, and much of the limitations the species supposedly has are just myths created to keep them from being overpowered when they’re already immortal, because they would be too dangerous if they were always at their full strength and weren’t suffering from any illnesses or other issues.

At least, this is the type of half-reasoned excuse they usually give to people when questioned about it. Most Avirre’thel just see them as freaks who want a free pass to like... murder animals (and people) and have excessive amounts of blood (sometimes from species/animals that they shouldn’t even be consuming from the first place) while still being able to feel noble or good about it because they’ve come up with an odd justification for themselves. When you look at their claimed doctrine VS. their actions, you’d think they would do more to prove that they’re functioning better without regulations, to disprove and scientifically test the limitation ‘’myths’’ of the species, to study the effects of different types of blood and feeding styles to comparatively find which is most efficient, etc.... But, they do none of this. In practice, they seem to just kind of hang around relishing in their ability to do things which are ~~taboo~~ and feeling cool for Going Against Society, like a 9 year old boy gleefully smug after saying the word ‘fuck’ out loud for the first time and not being punished because nobody heard them. 

The Vura Isethagi were kicked out of Navyete about 500 years ago, and they now stay basically around the coasts of Iheolto Gari, on the entire other side of the world, so that the Council of Navyete doesn’t have the reach to come after them and prosecute them for their numerous murders and breaks of regulation. Iheolto Gari is essentially just dead land, since it’s so inhospitable barely anything can live there, but the very coasts are a little similar (though still 3x as deadly) to the cold climate in northern Navyete, so it’s at least kind of like what they’re used to back home. 

This group was at it’s height about 700 - 600 years ago, when it was still operating in Navyete, which is when it got most of it’s members. It used to be nearly 1000  of them, though today group members seem to be around 250 people. In current day, the Vura Isethagi are kind of just considered a weird cult of estranged Avirre’thel who live way in the butt ass middle of frozen nowhere and spend all their time like.. hunting down random people and animals and feeling super cool and Edgy about killing them to take their blood because they live so far away from mommy and daddy that they can’t be directly scolded for it. 

As long as they stay in Iheolto Gari, they’re safe for the most part (aside from attacks by the native wildlife), but as soon as they step foot in a place populated by other people (which they have to do sometimes, to hunt), the Council comes for them quickly, since they always have a small handful people out looking for them lol.. Because of elven propaganda, many groups may already have a somewhat negatively tinted view of the Avirre’thel as a people, which they actively work against.. So, to have some random Tee Hee I Can Kill For Blood If I Want To!! murder cult running around is obnoxious to them, even if it’s only a few hundred people. Because the realm is so isolated, a group’s encounters with the Vura Isethagi could be their first ever encounter with any Avirre’thel, which only would contribute to a wider negative image, and come back to hurt the rest of the normal Avirre’thel who aren’t even in the group. 

The Council (and most Avirre’thel people in general, culturally the Vura Isethagi are seen as offensive and annoying) just kind of wants to get rid of them as soon as possible. BUT, since Avirre’thel can only die through like one specific means, it’s not like they can just show up to Iheolto Gari and kill the Vura Isethagi. They’d have to restrain them all, literally bring them all the way back to Navyete (which could take months of travel), take them to the death ceremony place where the secret of how to kill their species is guarded, and have them all murdered one by one by the death guardian people.. which is... a lot of work. Especially since they have other more significant things to focus on at home, and even if it can be damaging to their reputation and contribute to elven alliance slander nonsense, they can’t really spare much resources to just hunting down idiot troublemakers like that. They have people positioned in a few cities near Iheolto Gari to keep an eye on (and capture the occasional members of) the Vura Isethagi when they can, but otherwise it’s something they can’t really do much about. 

(Also I talk about them like they’re just a silly joke, because their motivations are laughable, but they are like.. a group of hostile immortal beings who think it’s cool to murder people for the sake of trying interesting new blood and most likely participate in underground blood markets and etc. So, despite the light tone, they are kind of a serious group, or at least definitely people to be avoided. And though the Council obviously openly mocks them in a similar manner (avirre’thel culture very much employs the concept of brutally mocking your enemies until they just like die of shame and you don’t even have to fight them hgh), they do also recognize the seriousness of the issue and are trying to tackle it the best they can.. I don’t want to make it sound like ‘oh yeah just a silly little fun group of murderer hee hee~ maybe the council will get around to them eventually!’. People obviously recognize the importance. ) 

They have no uniform or representative symbol, obviously, since they’re trying to stay hidden from the Council of Navyete, and don’t want to be identified, as they’re currently being hunted lol..  

(sidenote: Though, there is a small group within the Vura Isethagi that use this an an opportunity to study the unique properties of blood, which most regular Avirre’thel would likely not pick up on. Probably about 75% of the Vura Isethagi are just hedonist opportunists who don’t like following rules, but 25% do genuinely try to learn things from their unique situation. 

So far, nothing too interesting has been discovered. The supposed ‘strength boosts’, extra abilities, or lowered rates of disease  that most of the Vura Isethagi claim to be side effects of feeding more loosely,  have still not been proven to exist. 

The only one thing of note, is that they’ve noticed that at times, you can glean small bits of information from blood. Like if someone speaks another language, and you have their blood, you may very vaguely recognize bits of it, etc. This is thought to be related to soul absorption, perhaps there are fragments of a person’s soul in their blood, or the blood is magically linked to a person’s soul (which could possibly explain why blood incompatibilities are a thing, despite structurally most blood not seeming very different from each other), etc... like many things to do with how blood works (and it’s possibly relation to magic, the soul, etc.) it's not  well understood. 

This doesn't affect normal Avire’thel, who may feed from humanoid beings consensually just every once in a while, since it's usually too small of an amount, and the occurrences are too far apart for people to notice**, whereas if you're taking in a lot of blood, and quite often, you're more able to become aware of correlations, like 'oh this always has x effect on me', etc. 

**(an Avirre’thel who chooses to intake blood of humanoid creatures  generally only feeds once every 4-9 months, depending on the strength of the blood in question. That’s the whole point.  If you have weak blood from a bird or something, that doesn’t sustain you much, so you’d need to come back and keep intaking it in doses probably once every few days. Whereas if you have ‘’stronger’’ blood, from an elf or human or something, just a small amount of it could sustain you for months, and then you don’t have to worry about consuming so often. It just depends on the person’s lifestyle and feelings towards feeding as a whole. For people who don't like consuming blood, or find it inconvenient, find it gross, think ‘eating’ takes up too much time, etc. etc. they can do so a lot less often if they take if from beings with more ''powerful'' blood, even though that has it's own weirdnesses and risks. )  

Though interestingly, similar to with soul absorption, these effects don't last forever. If you get information from blood, you don't retain it permanently (unless you write it down or something, of course.). Similar to how in absorbing souls, the material of the other person's consciousness is most prominent in the own absorbers mind WHILE the soul absorption is still in process (days - weeks), then slowly fades after. Though these experiences can have an affect on the personality of the absorber, and at times can seem as if the people have merged, or memories have carried over, the personality change is mostly mental trauma. While for a  short amount of time, the absorber may be able to speak the absorbed's language, know their full history, their thoughts, their fears, experience their traumas, etc. etc., this would be forgotten probably within a month or so (depending on the strength of the soul), unless it was written down (and people are generally shaking on the ground half on the verge of death with their skin peeling from toxic amounts of magic exposure while they absorb souls (usually why assistants or etc, are often hired to do spells that keep them unconscious the entire time), so I doubt someone absorbing a soul would be in much position to write out a full memoir or something lol). 

The information gathered when consuming blood is also far less prominent than in soul absorption, and is usually just vague ideas, faint familiarities, the ability to just KIND OF know things, or KIND OF understand stuff you wouldn’t normally understand (like knowing two people are related but not being sure how you know, understanding the gist of what a page in a book says despite not knowing the language or an exact word by word translation, barely recalling facts you never learned, somewhat intuitively feeling out the geography of an area you haven’t been to, etc.). Whereas in a full soul absorption spell, the absorber often completely feels as if the consciousness of the person they’re absorbing is living within their own, etc. (hence why it can be so traumatizing, especially if you’re absorbing someone with a traumatic or upsetting life, then being thrust with all of their memories, fears, emotions, etc. to relive in your head and experience all at once (though it should be noted that... you DESERVE IT !! FOR KILLING PEOPLE!! TO TAKE THEIR SOULS!!! lol, aw boo hoo, the murderer mage experiences secondhand trauma :’c  ). 

Anyway, this is the only remotely interesting effect that’s been noticed so far, and studied to some extent, while the Vura Isethagi feed in the way that they do. There are possibly other dynamics to this, or information that could help outline exactly what processes or properties of blood cause this to occur, but since only 25% of the group is even remotely interested in figuring any of that out, they don’t make much progress on their ‘’studies’’. )

(for more information on what soul absorption is and how it works, see the link to it given above, in the section about the Ehn-Imkasyn)

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Miliel-Sei

Basically the military of the Elven Alliance, their special guard. Though every individual country within the alliance also may have it’s own personalized defense systems and etc. in place, this is kind of like a large pool of people from every alliance country all together acting as a unified force, and just doing the business of the alliance, regardless of which country within the alliance they happen to be from. 

Though they’re a collective organization contributed to by many countries working together that’s merely contracted for work by the heads of the alliance and thus are officially “politically neutral”, obviously in practice there are still multiple reasons that a giant collective military force owned by many of the worlds primary powers can be like.. seen as.. Controversial. In some places though, they’re seen as a helpful and positive force*. 

 *(like for example, in Fanyin (one of the countries within the alliance), the current situation with their.. basically just dystopian society at this point, is that their own native military/police is FAR worse than the Miliel-Sei. The Miliel-Sei are actually welcomed there (by the people, not really those in power lol), since they work on behalf of the alliance overall, not just Fanyin, and because many countries in the alliance do believe that Fanyin should be... reigned in just a little bit, the Miliel-Sei presence there actually tends to be kind of mitigating and interrupting certain things that the Fanyin government on it’s own would do if it weren’t being monitored by them. Whereas like, to a small community of elves far in the south, they may HATE the presence of the Miliel-Sei, because they remember incidents a few years ago where they came in and used military force to steal resources from them.  So, they’re controversial to different groups across the realm for many different reasons. )

This group does have a uniform, it’s always this green shit adorned with the symbol for the elven alliance in gold (image below) -- 

Obviously the uniforms have a lot more details than I can convey with a 2 minute mouse drawn ms paint sketch, but it is an official part of their uniform that they all have short black bob haircuts (either as their natural hair, or worn as a wig in most cases) and dark eyeliner or eyeshadow smeared around their eyes. Not to make light of many factions of the Miliel-Sei getting up to some horrible actions at times but like... god... just imagine you're in an elven alliance city at night and the people who show up to arrest you are these complete doofuses with flouncy little bobs and the perfect war crime smoky eye ... THEY’RE the military??? that’s the vibe???. Questionable aesthetic choice on behalf of the dumbasses in charge of the elven alliance but okay.. It’s also not fair because they make it VERY hard to take them seriously when they walk around looking like that, but at the same time, they’re a highly trained military/police sort of organization and you kind of have to take them seriously in some instances... like.. come on.. you’re telling me you’ll arrest me if I laugh at you?? yet providing... such robust temptation...??

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Deinsas Oryen:

An organization of elves who are literally like... generic flat evil cartoon movie villain level in thinking that they’re the One True Group who should rule over the world and etc. (on the basis of the fact that certain branches of the elven religion state the elves were the gods Favored Creations, that the world was made for THEM, etc.).  Basically they just run around doing stupid evil shit and starting conflicts with people, they seem to REALLY want to start wars, and really like to destabilize areas for whatever reason. Though they have their ‘We Should Own The World And Therefore Can Mistreat Everyone Who Is Not Us’ message to stand by as a reasoning for their actions, many of the things they do just.. don’t really add up, and their constant trouble-making even when it makes NO practical sense to be doing so (or even ends up hurting them, doing stuff that should seemingly be against their own interests), makes them seem a bit suspicious...

They tend to be very very strict elven religious traditionalists who REALLY focus on the aspect that the gods made the world for them, that they are put here to protect and guide and lead others, that they are direct descendants of the gods while others aren’t, etc. To the surprise of no-one, they really “disagree with” jhevona and similar groups*, often trying to instigate conflict with them over seemingly nothing, but maybe some flimsy ideological disputes (though, they tend to really only start conflicts with Jhevona who live in areas with valuable resources....... hmm...). They also attack global cities from time to time, or any group which seems to be trying to connect the world, make travel easier, etc.. which they say is because they think all groups of people should be separate and elves shouldn’t mingle with other ‘lesser’ groups.  But, also... many of the organizations that aim to instill global learning centers, cities, interconnected travel roads, etc.,, also tend to want to make these resources free (the roads are free, the schools are free, etc.), and some of those resources end up passing through or very close to areas owned by the elven alliance, but..... that’s probably not connected..!

The Elven Alliance has no formal ties with them,  but (if it wasn’t clear already) they’re strongly suspected to be working for the Elven Alliance, kind of just as a hollow enemy that gives them something to look good against, basically just a group to start conflicts that conveniently benefit them, without it actually tarnishing the Alliance’s own name.  The Alliance publicly ‘disavows’ them, and has even started ‘wars’ with them before, especially since they can make a show of like “wow good thing we’re not as bad as THOSE guys!!! look at what THEY did! absolutely despicable!! good thing we’re SO much better, right?? and look, we’re even fighting against them! We are the good guys!!”. Though, it should be noted that not EVERY country within the elven alliance does this, and some seem to genuinely fight against the Deinsas Oryen, and are sincerely infuriated by them (so.. maybe they didn’t get the memo? There are smaller groupings within the elven alliance, so it would make sense that maybe it’s just a few countries working with the  Deinsas Oryen , and a majority of alliance nations genuinely have no idea it’s going on behind their backs**.... though..... you’d think they’d like.. catch on..).

But of course, this is all just a ~~~Theory~~~. The Deinsas Oryen is a fairly new organization (only existing for the past 150 years or so, and elven lifespan on average is like 180 - 300 depending on subspecies, so, that’s not THAT long for them), so they’re still able to remain fairly elusive. Sometimes people within the elven alliance try to capture higher ups/leaders within the Deinsas Oryen to learn more about them, but somehow they always ~conveniently~ get away. Though probably not a big enough thing to do something like fracture the Elven Alliance, within the next 20 - 50 years or so, it definitely stands to become a bigger conflict, especially if the ~~theories~~ about who the  Deinsas Oryen are truly working for are ever able to be confirmed, if more information ever comes to light. 

**(There are over 50 separate countries that make up the Elven Alliance as a whole, so of course not all of them will know everything going on within the Alliance at all times, especially if certain members are actively working to hide stuff. The Alliance has a.. questionable reputation, and tends to be known for it’s worst members and their actions (as it should be lol.. even if you didn’t personally cause a problem, you should be responsible for keeping your fellow collaborators in check), but a majority of the countries within it are fairly neutral. It’s not like all of them are wild oppressive dictatorships hellbent on doing Evil things and causing problems across the world, most of them are just average, most people living within Alliance countries are pretty content, and most countries within the Alliance don’t cause problems around the world (like stealing resources or antagonizing other groups).  While every country within the Elven Alliance has a responsibility to keep up with the actions of those around them (and disapprove of them or step into conflicts as needed), I also don’t want to make it seem like the Alliance is just a big mean hivemind with completely shared interests that agree on all things. When I say “a group is secretly working for the Alliance”, I don’t mean “every single member of the alliance was in on this and is actively participating in it”, I just mean “there are, at least two countries, within the Alliance, thus acting on the Alliance’s behalf, who are secretly working with this group” . Nations within the alliance can disagree with each other, be unaware of each others’ plans, etc. etc. etc. Hence, stuff like the Miliel-Sei being present in Fanyin to interfere with the government on behalf of the rest of the alliance, or things like a majority of countries within the alliance being unaware of what’s truly going on with the Deinsas Oryen. Anyway, idk,... the Alliance is a HUGE organization made up of a lot of moving parts, and from the way I talk about it, I don’t want it of be unclear, or seem like they’re just a weird hivemind or something.) 

 * (Surprisingly,  the Deinsas Oryen don’t dislike the Avirre’thel (a small deviation from their secret masters within the alliance, I suppose.). They actually welcome them, because of their ancient elven roots, BUT do believe that they should renounce their current culture (everything that evolved on it’s own after they split off from ancient elves) and adopt True Elven Ways Again, and then the Deinsas Oryen would be willing to ally with them, even overlook the non-magic and eating blood stuff, as long as they kind of ‘’reverted’’ back to a more Elven way of being. They see the elves as the gods’ chosen people, so by that means, they cannot deny those with elven blood, the Avirre’thel are still their brethren, even if ‘’mutated’’. At least in this one area, they make some attempt to be logically consistent with their supposed doctrine, even if just to look more legit and throw off suspicions. 

(Which is not to say that there are NO members of the Deinsas Oryen that legitimately believe in their ‘’purpose’’, some of the lower level recruits probably do, but a good 70% of them are being paid (or bribed) preetty well to be there, and take certain actions.... theoretically, of course, this is all just a ~~theory~~ of course, there’s no definite proof they work for people within the alliance, of course))

This group has no set uniform, but they do have a representative symbol which could be seen on clothing or flags, which is this - 

(similar to the symbol for the elven alliance, this one incorporates the symbol of Inaashi, but with some modifications ) 

The Deinsas Oryen operate basically anywhere that it’s convenient for them to, but their headquarters is a small portion of land on an island in northern Nonvas Kfal. 

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--------------   Non-species/culture Specific Groups -------------

Nanyevimi Global Representatives:

Like mentioned before, the entire world in general is VERY scattered, mostly made up of small isolated groups that kind of just mind their business. Most people just stay within their own territories and generally there isn’t a lot of global cohesion, for a lot of different reasons. But, groups like the Nanyevimi Global Representatives are some of the few that actually seek to better unite the realm.

It’s kind of just an alliance of a few different governments from various places worldwide, who seek to do things like: maintain trading routes that span the entire world, construct global areas where many different people can come together and trade/communicate, provide ease of access for those who seek to travel (like keeping international roads safe, giving out language learning resources and compiling info on local cultures, etc.), promote conflict resolution/peace and easy communication between various disconnected groups in the realm, sharing of technology and resources worldwide,  etc.  This is also the group that sets standards for/manages both Global Learning Centers and Global cities/areas in general.

Despite being able to accomplish a lot in the realm (even introducing one or two cohesive trade routes is a miracle, considering how isolated everything tends to be), The Representatives still really don’t have that much power. The governments that make up the group, while extremely varied (from all different species, areas of the world, etc.), really aren’t big political powers or anything. The group doesn’t have much wealth or influence, but simply gets by on being able to communicate goals and collaborate with others effectively. All of their projects are basically just people working together for their own benefit of their own will.

Like, instead of coming into an area with an army and being like “Hey, we’re making a trade route here, you idiots” and paying off/threatening a bunch of locals to let them do it.. It’d be more like, a handful of various diplomats show up and have a long talk with the locals about if they’d want a road through their territory, if so what it would look like, what area they’d be comfortable with it passing through, them explaining to the group what benefits they could see from it and how it could help them access more resources, etc., then all cooperatively working together and pooling resources to build it if enough people decide they’d like to, no use of force or monetary incentive required.  

So, they have a good bit of connections all across the realm and are very skilled at reaching out to groups and communicating in a peaceful and understandable way, but they’re not necessarily the most influential group around. Though, they are the only organization that’s even been attempting stuff like this, and the fact that they’ve been able to make the progress that they have (introducing  multiple global areas and learning centers, maintaining a few patches of neutral and safe trade routes, etc.) is considered by some to be impressive.

There are no set uniforms or appearance for this group like there are for others (again, way too broad of a group), but it’s possible they could still be identified if they happen to have clothing or items adorned with the symbol they use to represent themselves, which is shown in this post here (link).

( Information on what a global learning center is HERE (link), and information on the state of the world as a whole/what global areas are HERE (link). )

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Rivande:

A large network of travelers who specialize in exploring and building. They have 3 branches, land explorers, sea explorers, and specialized explorers (for distinct terrains like icy mountains, desert, etc.). They get hired by people to do things like transport goods through difficult terrain, guide expeditions of researchers, track down items or ruins in remote and typically ’’unreachable’’ areas, etc. Their primary specialty is just that they have the knowledge to travel to, or through, places that many others would consider too dangerous, impossible to navigate, or inhospitable. As they basically travel professionally, members of this group are always on the go, rarely ever in one area for too long. But, in down times (or when they haven’t been hired for much in a while), they’re also known to do random odd jobs, like basic construction work, bodyguard work, hunting, etc. 

The Rivande aren't necessarily allied with any one group (other than themselves, they focus a lot on internal unity and pooling resources/connections/etc. to survive as a collective), and just sort of serve their own interests and do their own thing. The group seems to consist mostly of people who wanted to get away from something and start a new life (people running away from debts, family situations, poverty, etc.), of course drawn to a situation within the Rivande in which they’re immediately taken in as family/part of the group, provided for, protected, and also extremely hard to track down,, so there is a strong inner-group loyalty sort of mentality going on, and it’d be quite rare for them to betray their own group members or have loyalties somewhere else,  work for a foreign government, etc. The Rivande will do jobs for pretty much anyone who will hire them, but they don’t play favorites, always remain neutral, will not take sides in anything, and at the end of the day are looking out for themselves and only themselves. 

This ‘we hold allegiance to no-one but ourselves’ neutrality mentality is also easier for them to maintain due to their situation, as they’re not very affected by the politics of anything going on in most countries, since they’re never in one place for more than a few days, maybe a week maximum. And even if a conflict made it difficult for them to find work, the type of work they do is unique, so there’s always something they could do somewhere, even if they have to travel a bit to find it. 

(This doesn’t mean people within the Rivande aren’t allowed to have opinions though, as they come from so many various walks of life, of course some probably on principle hate the people they have to do certain jobs for, or etc., but I guess the culture within the group tends to be more of a “suck it up and do what has to be done at the moment, then once we get the coin from these bastards we can vent frustrations and shit-talk them all night back at the inn their money bought us”, as well as maybe the occasional ‘’accidental’’ sabotage of a job, being obtuse or frustrating to work with ‘’unintentionally’’, losing cargo in an ‘’accident’’, that really obnoxious bigoted scholar from the group we were escorting through the woods died in a ‘’tragic accident’’, etc. 

It’s just that, their public reputation is ‘neutral’, they never complain outwardly, will accept jobs from literally anyone, and if they do vent some sort of opinion or frustration towards the people who hired them, it’s passive aggressive, in secret, or completely un-noticeable, since their main goal is pleasing the client and putting on a neutral face so they can get their money in the end, first and foremost. Most people who meet someone that works in the Rivande tend to describe them as cold, detached, highly professional, and very focused (like the “I’m just here to do my job and get out” sort of attitude), because they’re trained to put up with nearly anything and not reveal much to outsiders due to these neutrality policies... But, if you saw them like, in a comfortable setting just around other Rivande back in one of their hideouts or something, many of them would be completely opposite lol (ESPECIALLY after having to hide frustrations or parts of their personality all day, once they finally get back around people from their own group they can just let it all out.  This is also part of why they probably feel such strong bonds with each other, since the other Rivande in their group (usually 5 - 15 of them will be hired together for an average job) are the only other people they can trust and reveal their actual thoughts to, especially while traveling for weeks and weeks on a job or with a client, sneaking knowing glances at each other, gossiping behind trees for a moment before having to put the Neutral Face back on, etc.. but ANYWAY )

Though they don’t have a clearly known ‘home base’, or lands of their own necessarily, It’s suspected they have secret hideouts for their own communities in certain places, discreet undisturbed areas where nobody could ever come bothering them or  taking their resources. Since they’ve got expert experience navigating even the most impossible terrains, amazing map knowledge of nearly every area in the world (collectively of course, no one member knows everything, but if you have one person who knows the east, one who knows the south, all working together, etc.), it’s highly likely they could maintain a few hidden spots kept to themselves, that others couldn’t even find if they tried. 

To promote internal unity (and since pretty much everyone there is running away from something anyway), generally new members of the group are given a new name, and sometimes a new backstory, depending on the circumstances of their arrival (and exactly what they’re fleeing). Aside from a quick background check just to make sure they’re not letting anyone dangerous in (like rapists, repeated violent murderers (they overlook self-defense murders and other stuff like that), people in hate groups/bigots, etc.), basically anyone of any background/age/gender/etc. is able to join.** Though many aren’t, some people in the Rivande may still be attached to their cultural background, religion, etc., and this is generally allowed (like, they don’t ask people to stop being religious or denounce their past culture when joining). They’ll have you change your name, and maybe a few details about your story, but they don’t strip members of EVERY aspect of their identity. (Unless of course, members want to do so lol.. When you change your name, you’re free to make whatever background story you like as well, if you want to abandon every aspect of your old self, it’s a fine opportunity to, but it’s not mandatory at all). The only time they interfere with stuff like this, is maybe controlling who you’re around, or asking you to do certain things away from others.*

**(though obviously not everyone does the same jobs lol.. like.. technically an 8 year old orphan fleeing an abusive situation would be allowed to join, but they’re of course not going to have an 8 year old like, doing bodyguard work and hunting in the woods alone with a group of 40 year olds. It’s thought that most children and etc. instead just stay on some of the secret islands and other hideouts that the Rivande use as bases, doing various child appropriate tasks, and just focusing on training and getting an education so they can go on actual missions and do the same jobs as the others once they get older, etc.)

* (like if an Avirre’thel, as part of their species and culture, has to feed on blood, but they get put on a job assignment along with 2 fellow Rivande who faint at the sight of blood, they would maybe be asked to feed in secret or something, etc. But never to abandon doing it entirely) (this is a bad example since Avirre’thel like.. have to feed and it’s not something they could stop anyway, but you know what I mean lol). 

The Rivande operate mostly around the north, like the ports of Asen and Navyete and etc. in Aviinine, and the upper sections of Estic Kfal and Nonvas Kfal,, though they have traveled all over the entire globe for special assignments. There are currently about 1600 members in the group in total, around 400 general members (or multi-specialty people who move between groups as needed), 400 in the land explorer branch, 600 in the sea explorer branch, and 200 in the specialized branch. They have an incredibly strong sense of unity and amazing communication for such a large spread out group, so it’s thought that they must have pretty well organized structure and frequent ways to meet and communicate even over long distances, though they keep to themselves about the inner workings of the group, so nobody really knows for sure how they organize themselves.

This group has no distinct uniform, but their symbol is this  (it’s like.. a snake around a spyglass and the top of the spyglass has compass looking thing?) - 

They’re often given necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, or other jewelry with the symbol on it, to mark their entrance into the group and that they’re now part of the family, so you may be able to identify them from seeing someone wearing one of those. 

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Lir Imaeni:

A mysterious group of ‘blood hunters’ who are thought to orchestrate the largest underground ring of blood trading and etc. within the realm (for more information on  blood trading/collecting/etc., there’s a post about it HERE (link)). They mostly operate in global cities, since that’s where they’d have the most access to as many different varieties of blood as possible, but, global areas are also highly regulated and locked down, so they often are stationed like JUST outside the city boundaries, or some small town 40 miles away from one where there may be less stringent laws, etc. (as well as of course places like the country of Mippya, where laws protecting people from danger are fairly non-existent). The Lir Imaeni are also better able to get away with their illegal activities than a smaller group would be, since they’ve been at it for thousands of years, and thus have ties to many important “clients”, like groups of royals, or other influential individuals throughout the realm, who can usually pull strings to get them out of trouble.   

The Lir Imaeni does have a more ‘on the streets’ division (people who do the tracking, kidnapping, etc.), but a majority of the members are just dealers, who handle and package blood, and take it to whatever local underground marketplaces there are, or directly to clients.  Lir Imaeni roughly translates to something like 'unknown vendor' or 'absent merchant' or etc. (in midland elvish), coming from the fact that if their deals are recorded anywhere at all (usually they’re not), it's always under the name of 'unknown' or 'anonymous donor' or etc. By common people, they’re sometimes also referred to as “collectors” (like ‘Hey, I wouldn’t go home with that guy if I were you, I think he’s a Collector”), nickname origin being quite obvious (as they’re always ‘collecting’ people and blood). Though a more interesting nickname is basically calling them ‘Teapots’, coming from the fact that the word ‘Liramenii’ sounds similar to ‘Lir Imaeni’, and in modern general elvish, ‘Lirameni’ is the word for ‘teapot/clay or ceramic container to pour tea from/etc.’ 

This group doesn’t have a distinct uniform, or a symbol or anything to identify themselves with, obviously, since they don’t want to be known. The amount of members is unknown, but it’s through to be somewhere around 600 - 800, and they’re thought to also be led by a central leader, or maybe a small council of them, rather than all working in separate branches independently. Though there are many different independent blood dealers sketchily crawling around the realm, joining the Lir Imaeni grants you access to certain connections, reputation, and many amazing perks,, which seems to be mostly what keeps people interested in being a part of them (despite the fact that most blood dealers prefer to work alone or in MUCH smaller groups). 

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The Bryn:

The Bryn are one of the primary groups around Nanyevimi that exist to subdue people with magic that are causing harm, help non-magic people deal with magical issues, help those with undiscovered latent magic (which when left alone untrained, will generally end up killing the person or others around them, etc. for more info on latent magical abilities and the task forces that help with them, read this post HERE (link)), etc. Basically kind of like an all purpose magical response organization, primarily dealing with things that involve  issues of the dangers of magic, unknown magic, integrating (or getting rid of) magic in non-magic areas, etc. 

The group is pretty much just a bunch of mages (though they do they have to be well above average skill level so they can be effective against most magic users they receive calls about and etc., but it’s not like they’re all insanely powerful ancient jhevona or anything, just groups of fairly strong multi-skilled mages), but most of them also have social work training, combat and survival training, many have training in local legal systems or cultures, speak multiple languages, etc. 

Groups like these are reasonably common in areas populated by inherently magical species,  but tend to be more of a minor presence considering that if most of the population is magical anyways, they can probably handle magical conflict themselves.  So these groups tend to be most prevalent in non-magical areas, as groups who can’t use magic and have little knowledge of it are highly susceptible to magic crime, or even just non-malicious yet still unmanageable magic users (like individuals with latent magic) that the community  doesn’t have the resources to handle. The Bryn are one of the largest and most well known of these groups that operate in Nanyevimi.  

There are also many rogue people who do these jobs as well (a mage traveling around taking care of magic crimes and issues involving magic can be a decent living), but since the Bryn are a group with a known reputation and etc., some people find them more trustworthy, as they have higher ups/ people to watch over Bryn agents and hold them accountable if they handled something improperly, whereas random helpful travelers do not. 

Their organization is split up into a few different branches - 

General members - these people usually have multiple areas of expertise, and are kind of just dispatched wherever they’re needed.

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Crime branch - these people exclusively handle cases where crimes are being committed, like someone using magic to steal from unsuspecting non-magical groups, using magic to trick people, magic users harming others who can’t defend themselves, etc. (There’s also a smaller branch within this branch, which is like the Extreme Version where everyone’s a WAY higher level mage with advanced combat skills, they deal with the MOST serious or dangerous crimes)

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Accidents branch - These people deal with things that, aren’t necessarily illegal, but are still bothersome. Usually stuff like, a group of non-magical people accidentally stumbling into an enchanted trap that was set thousands of years ago and they don’t know how to release enchantments on their own, magical operations nearby a non-magical village having unintentional harmful effects to the people in the village, problems caused from accidental or unknown use of magic, etc. 

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Latent magic branch - This part of the Bryn deals exclusively in helping individuals with latent or unknown magical abilities (generally all young children, usually found in orphanages or other areas (like a child from a magical species accidentally ending up in a non-magic area with low magic-literacy, thus raised unaware of their abilities and nobody around could help them with it)). Because latent unknown/untrained magic can be extremely dangerous, it’s important to catch it early, and get the individual proper training, education, and ways to manage/control the magical energy they have. Members in this branch often specialize in child development, and have a focus on stuff like family counseling, communication/mediation between groups, etc. because they usually have to be right there in the middle of things while trying to help the child. 

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Communications branch - These are mostly people who organize and sort the requests for help, assign people to certain tasks, who run the group, etc. 

The Bryn don’t do these jobs for money, it’s all mostly volunteer work. Though some people do reward them for taking care of problems, or will offer them things for their help, pay is not a requirement.*(1)

“Bryn” means ‘guard’ or ‘protector’ in a far south jhevona language, which is where they get their name from.  They originated from the south, but now have small gatherings of the organization set up in a few main hubs around Nanyevimi. The Bryn do have uniforms to some degree, when they feel appropriate to identify themselves they may wear something like this (whoops, another thing I forgot to draw, I’ll try to put an image in here later).. or will have clothing/items with the symbol of their group on it, which is this - 

But many of the jobs they do also require them to not be recognized (like if hunting down a dangerous mage, you don’t want them to SEE you tracking them, or when showing up to an orphanage to try and rescue a child with latent magic but you know the orphanage owner is hostile, etc.), so they’re often not in uniform/identifiable in any way.

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*(1) ( This also isn’t very weird though, a majority of work done in all of Nanyevimi is not for money, necessarily. There’s no widespread currency system really, just a few in certain places, but it will vary by where you are. Like for example, to use places I’ve already written more about (countries in the continent of Aviinine)..

 Fanyin does have a strong broadly implemented system where most all goods/services are exchanged for money (which is a standard coin that’s used as the primary currency of all countries in the elven alliance). You can informally barter amongst friends or something, but every resource (food, shelter, goods, services) is tied heavily to having coins, and that is the only way to access most goods. 

 Navyete on the other hand, does have their own currency (a few various coins), but, this is mostly used for trade with outside countries just to have a more stable exchange rate (like, ‘this is worth 5 coins’ instead of ‘this is worth 14 cabbages, depending on the size of the cabbage, and also this and also this..’ ), but within the country, a majority of goods are bartered or just given for free collectively in the community. Citizens can trade currency if they want, but it’s extremely common to just bargain with people, or give stuff away. Many people in Navyete don’t even have money on them at any given time, since it’s not really needed, unless you’re planning on traveling or making a specific trade or something. There’s not as much of a focus on making money, since basic resources are generally free to access for most people (housing, food, healthcare, etc). And people who produce those things (farmers, builders, doctors, etc.) usually do them on a bartering basis, on commission from the government (which they would be given whatever they want in that case, coins, or some sort of bartered resource), or for no charge just because they want to contribute to their collective local community.

In Nanebae, there is no established country wide government, let alone a cohesive economic system or currency, so people kind of just trade for whatever they think is valuable, some currencies from outside countries, resources, services, mostly just bartering. People live in small clusters of communities and can generally gather and share their own resources among themselves. (this is probably how a majority of places in Nanyevimi are, like at least 50%). 

In Asen, it’s a little similar to Navyete, BUT with a bit more of a focus on a standardized currency. Like, a majority of dealings are handled with standard local coins, but it’s also incredibly common to just trade for things, or to have certain resources provided for free (mostly, depending on what it is. Definitely not as extensively as Navyete). 

So anyway, it’s not strange at all for the work to be done without payment or etc., depending on what area of Nanyevimi you’re in, they may not even have a standard currency to pay you with/be unfamiliar with the concept... I mostly just wanted to make note of it since it IS different, when in comparison to groups like the Rivande, who always want SOMETHING (usually currency, though they’d take something else valuable) in return for what they do, and wouldn’t ever take jobs just for the sake of them. )

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Itheminal’in:

Though they started out as a vigilante justice group that worked to overthrow the royalty of an elven country in Nonvas Kfal about 2,000 years ago, they’ve changed overtime, with various localized branches handling more personal cases, usually aiding people in small villages or etc. They’re kind of like..... firefighters + emergency medics + legal team + bodyguards + assassins + diplomats/negotiators + private investigators/detectives all combined into one? Obviously there are different sections of the group who specialize in different things, but in modern day, they basically just exist to help people, often as an alternative to the governmental options in the area. Like for example, if a nation has a notoriously corrupt police force or something, people could try to call on a group of Itheminal'in agents instead, who would then use their wide network and resources/skills to try their best to give the person aid. Most of what they do is like this, just helping people when those people have nobody else to turn to, or when the alternatives that ARE available to them don’t work for them for some reason. 

In many cases they do their job effectively and etc.,  but the organization is somewhat large at this point (at least for what they are, they operate pretty secretively obviously), so there are some concerns about local branches of the group over-reaching and stepping outside of the group’s main rules and virtues (like getting a little power hungry, or seeing themselves as Perfect Savior Heroes Who Can Do No Wrong). Thus, they’ve recently been limiting who can join, and also trying to prevent stuff like people acting 'in the name of the group’ without actually being part of the group. Because they have widespread credibility in certain places, some frauds use that to their advantage (lying to pretend they’re in the Itheminal'in when really they're just some random person wanting to cause trouble). Due to this they’ve also been looking into ways to clearly mark a person’s official membership, but each group within the group has different ideas (many of them still do spywork and infiltrate governments, so the mark can’t be something too obvious or identifying.. Basically, they need to be hidden and unrecognizable, BUT they do need a way for the right people to be able to recognize them when needed, so people in need can actually get reliable help, etc.). For now though, they don’t have any group symbol, or way to be identified. 

They operate all over the entire realm, but are concentrated more in a few areas than others. Generally they have the largest presence in places known for having corrupt or unreliable resources for their citizens, since a group like the Itheminal’in is extra needed to offer community aid and assistance to those in society that aren’t being treated properly, or are falling through the cracks.

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The name comes from the plant “Itheminal”, which used to be one of the most prized resources in the area the group originated, and was often associated with the rich and merchants. Itheminal is generally extremely rare/difficult to grow correctly or come across in the wild, takes forever to harvest, is extremely finicky,,  but can be used in making dyes/pigments, and also as an herb added to classical elven tea blends**. Since it was seen as a status symbol, royals would have entire teams on their staff hired specifically for the purpose of seeking it out for themselves, sending scouts to go on months-long trips in the mountains to find plants or seeds in the wild, sending spies to steal it from other royals, trying to monopolize and make sure THEY were the only ones who had it successfully growing in their private gardens, etc. Anyway, after a few of their first assassinations (as a young organization back when they were still government-overthrowing revolutionaries and not a more laid back group out in the field helping communities), they would joke that the royals had more people after them than they had out hunting for Itheminal, or that they were a more desired resource (rewards for capturing and turning in an Itheminal’in agent (especially if captured alive) tended to exceed those offered for giving Itheminal seeds/plants, both of which were ridiculously exorbitant prices). In addition to that, people in the group were also known to be a bit ‘finicky’ (uncooperative, difficult to get information out of) and hard to locate, so they named themselves after the plants lol. 

(**elven cultures, especially a long time ago but even today, have always been known for their teas. It’s pretty typical for an area to have it’s own tea blend, or a family (especially royal families can get pretentious and competitive about this, but everyone regardless of class probably has their own family tea recipe, the ingredients may just differ in price) will have their own special tea mix of spices/herbs/flowers/etc., etc. It’s also customary that many elven teas (probably a good 50%) have various mind altering substances thrown in (like an herb that causes mild hallucinations, the root of some tree that makes people a bit ‘‘drunk’‘, etc.). Ground itheminal leaves were always said to cause REALLY good emotional states when consumed, as well as vivid sights and pleasant ‘waking dreams’, so all the royals especially wanted it in their custom blends for tea parties (usually where the entire nobility gets together and everyone samples and shows off their custom teas they’ve been working on, so a tea with an amazing taste, smell, ‘‘mental effect’‘, or other aspect that has a positive effect on the consumer is more likely to win, and having the title of Best Tea at that years’ annual tea party was a very prestigious title (and still is, in some circles))

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Ostienache:

Not much is known about this group since, obviously they have a motivation to keep themselves as hidden as possible, but mainly they’re a vigilante justice organization of assassins. Similar to the original Itheminal’in, except if they had stayed primarily assassins and never branched out into doing community work. The Ostienache are even theorized to be a branch of the Itheminal’in who simply stayed the same as the rest of the group changed, but both organizations are so secretive that there’s no real way to confirm this (and vigilante justice groups aren’t necessarily a niche thing, it makes sense two could evolve independently on their own without having to be related). 

They mostly target those in power, but are known to kill random criminals as well on occasion, such as a local rapist from a small rural town or etc. It’s unknown how many of them there are, how they communicate, how they cover their tracks, how they choose their targets, etc. The only patterns that seem recognizable are that they’re open with signing their work (even though it may make more sense to be mysterious, they want it to be known that it’s their doing, presumably just to help build fear/merit and send a message, like “no this isn’t just a random murder, we’re an organized group and we will come For You’”), and that all of their targets are people who could justifiably be argued are hurting others (whether it be on a local level like beating their children, or on a broader level like committing war crimes or passing laws that lead to the harm of a large amount of people. They seem to focus more on the latter, but it seems like, if they just so happen to be in the area, they may kill a few smaller criminals here and there if the chance presents itself). 

Because they identify their kills,  their movements can be tracked to some degree, a few murders will happen in one area around the same time, then in another, etc., so it may not be a HUGE group (if they’re all apparently traveling together), but certain details of cases in the past have led people to believe that it’s at least  8 people, possibly 15 or more. Which is.. a really tiny group, and would seem insignificant, but their mention here is warranted mostly just due to how well known they are. I mean they are like.. literally out there assassinating kings and stuff, SO MANY people are after them. They’ve made enemies out of many of the most powerful groups in the world, even the Elven Alliance is aware of their presence and has discussed them before as a threat (since they’ve targeted a few members lol). And this notoriety  is only helped by how impossibly secretive they are, how little is known about them, how not even one of them has seemingly ever gotten caught, especially how they’re able to gain access to such high profile targets without ever being noticed, etc. With so many details of their organization being so mysterious, there’s plenty of room for endless speculation and fears to evolve, often turning them into more than they are, especially amongst the gossip of scared royals. (for example, some people theorize that they must be extremely powerful mages, and are probably using high level magics to do some of the ‘’impossible’’ things they do, others think that the murders are actually contracted out and not always committed by the same group of people but that the Ostienache are simply masterminding and telling random hired assassins who to kill and when, etc. etc.)

The group operates mostly around the north, like in Aviinine and around Estic/Nonvas Kfal (like most groups I’m mentioning lol.. since I started my primary worldbuilding with the Avirre’thel as the focus, the area with the most development is the north/around Aviinine, etc. There are tons of groups all over the world, but many of the ones in this post will probably function mostly in the north, or at least have it be plausible to come across them in the north, since that’s the section of the world I’ve developed the most about at this point.) . 

The Ostienache have no symbols or uniforms of course, as they don’t identify themselves, only their crime scenes. While the targets may be killed in various ways depending on what’s most convenient to the situation, they generally seem to keep it as bloodless/nonviolent as possible, and always position the dead body in a similar way, with it’s arms raised up hands covering the eyes (palms facing outward, with the backs of hands touching the eyes), and a white circle left on the chest (usually a ring of flowers, though sometimes a ribbon, salt, chalk, torn pillowcase fabric, whatever material was nearby). These are distinguishable from copycat murderers because the palms of the individual are always marked with some sort of unknown perfume/dye (it’s a dark teal blue color with a strange sour yet floral scent) type of substance, which must be personally crafted by members of the group, as it’s chemical makeup/fragrance are unique and have never been identified clearly/are impossible to replicate unless you know the secret formula/ingredients to make it. ). Like below - 

(also, you should be able to position a body this way but I think the arms need to be raised differently. I tried it out laying on the floor and relaxing my arms, and they only rest on the face this way if the arms are up more, so it should be more like this in the image below.. but, whatever you get what I mean lol )

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The Navigators:

The Navigators are a group of ‘’explorers’’ (hence the very clever name, they ‘navigate’, tee hee hee), with.. questionable motives. While they approach it from a scientific angle and claim that they’re making discoveries for the sake of studying the world, documenting what they find, etc., a vast majority of what they actually do seems to just be.. search around the globe to locate areas with potentially valuable resources, then attempt to profit off of those resources, usually by handing them off to someone else (like for example, finding an undiscovered mine, fighting the locals and taking it over for themselves, then selling it off to (or renting it out to) some royal family somewhere in exchange for a lot of money). Despite their foolish motivations (money, notoriety for discovering things, etc.), they have become known for being very good map-makers, and are responsible for charting a lot of routes and areas around the world that formerly nobody had any information about (except for the Rivande, who probably traveled through there long before the Navigators, but minded their own damn business about it and kept their knowledge to themselves).

It’s thought that some members of the Navigators genuinely believe they’re helping others or creating a better world, but many seem to be in it for personal  reasons, such as being The One who Discovered The Big Really Cool Thing And Is Now Famous For It. Even though they paint themselves as simply scientists and scholars, as many indeed are, it’s also evident that many of their actions are taken less in the name of science and more for the sake of fortune or fame. Legitimate scholars have wandered their way into the group from time to time, but generally left for obvious reasons, which has resulted in the only remaining members usually being people who are able to tolerate the values and motivations of the group, so basically it’s a bunch of REALLY annoying people who don’t think they're annoying because they have a ton of other annoying people around them to constantly stroke their egos and tell each other that they’re right (unless they’re infighting, which usually doesn’t happen when they have good leadership, but happens constantly the second that The Alpha Most Annoying Person isn’t there to wrangle all the other egotistical freaks in and explain to them that they can’t ALL be the smartest person on earth)  

Luckily, most cultures in Nanyevimi have no bizarre underlying psychological need to dominate others/hoard resources/get rich/take over lands, so in the grand scheme of things there are very few world wars or ideological things where people cause problems because they just can’t mind their own fucking business. But for some reason the Navigators sprung up somewhere one day and they bother people. Many see their goals as completely foreign and deranged, and they really only have the support they do because certain places take advantage of the opportunity of their existence (like people in powerful positions can use them to steal resources for them without the powerful people themselves having to look like the bad guys, etc.). 

The Navigators used to be far more prominent, but many of their most prolific members were killed in one event* about 200 years ago.  Since then, the group has still been recovering, but there were many scrambles for power after the head and many major players of the organization were lost. As you can imagine, many of these people are arrogant and riches/power/fame hungry, the reason they do this stuff in the first place .. so when the leader was gone EVERYONE was like ‘oohh I DESERVE TO BE THE NEW LEADER!!!! I am the most important and the most smart and rich and went to a fancy university for a very long time and am very good at making maps!!! I MUST be the one to attain this prestigious TITLE” and they nearly tore themselves apart. Unfortunately, things have managed to cool down and they’ve risen back to some level of prominence, but still are nothing like what they once were (they haven’t chosen a new ‘leader’ yet, and currently just work in a few smaller groups that communicate from time to time. How the organization progresses in the future will probably depend a lot on what leadership they eventually select for themselves and when). 

Though they’ve always maintained their contacts with many governments, especially groups like the Elven Aliiance (who are usually very interested in uncovering rare resources and things, if only to prevent other people from being able to use them, god forbid somebody invent a better technology and replace their famous Iriminel crystals** lol), they can also get into conflicts with them, since they’re arrogantly set in their ideals and refuse to bend to anyone else’s desires. They have a sort of self importance about their Values And Very Important Work, so it seems to be sense of pride that they won’t allow themselves to be ‘pawns of any government’ or whatever, even though they’ve still been known to temporarily forget about their Noble Goals, for the right price. 

Basically, it’s just a bunch of pretentious scholars, usually nobles or people from noble families, who fancy themselves adventurers because they think it’s a cool lifestyle, and discovering things can make you rich/famous. They do have skills/ scholarly merits, many are experts in their fields, especially at stuff like map-making and archaeology and geology and other Fields People Would Utilize While Traveling The World To Discover Old Ruins And Resources And Things, but because of the goals and reputation of the group, it does tend to lean towards.. a very particular personality type (usually know-it-alls that lack self-awareness and also cognitive empathy, are so dedicated to their Very Significant Purpose that they don’t care about anything else, they just want prestige and to feel important, regardless of any potential consequences to their actions.. the type of people who think that because they’re Very Smart, all of their opinions and feelings must be inherently correct, and thus cannot be debated. Is it a good idea to pillage these sacred ruins? Well, we feel like it is, and we are intelligent and scientific, so pillaging them is good for science, therefore yes it’s a good idea, and if you disagree, you’re just too uneducated to understand,, etc. etc. Which obviously also makes them hard to work with, even groups they’re allied with can’t fucking stand them sometimes lol.. ANYWAY)  

The Navigators operate all over the world, though they have a home base in northern Estic Kfal, which some stay at while others are out traveling. They don’t have uniforms, but they do have little badges/pins which they usually adorn their outfits with (since they’re all very prideful of their prestigious group membership and want to show it off), which would have this symbol on them - 

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*(Basically, like idiots, they started messing with the Thastanri after hearing of various rare resources that could be found in their territories. Though publicly, their Noble Motivations were to “”create better maps through this vast unknown portion of land, for the educational purposes of all””. They were in the land hunting dragons and ended up accidentally shooting a Thastanri out of the sky (in their natural form, Thastanri are one of the few subspecies of jhevona that are still born with full usable wings and tails and etc. so when they’re flying around, from far away they can resemble other flying creatures), which when they tracked where he fell (thinking they’d find a dragon they could sell the bodyparts of), and saw that it was just some random person, instead of even attempting to treat his injuries, they just assumed they were fatal and killed him to ‘put him out of his misery’ (more like, they just didn’t feel like dealing with him, saw he was too injured to fight back anyway, and being afraid that he would notify the others of their presence, took that opportunity to kill him like cowards.) And this was like, the 4th time they had been trespassing in their lands anyway. 

A few days later, a Thastanri assassin kidnapped one of the heads of the organization from their campsite in the night, studied them long enough to be able to shapeshift into them accurately (read the main post about jhevona to learn more about how shape-shifting works/the study it involves/etc.), assumed his identity and ran back to the rest of the group like “oh gosh! I’ve been lost in these woods for days! aa! .. oh, but while I was in the woods, I found this giant dragon’s nest! I didn’t get too close since I was alone, but if we came back armed, I think we’d be able to take them, and get actual EGGs! Nobody’s seen a dragon egg in hundreds of years since they started going extinct, this could be BIG and sell for a LOT of money!”, and invited all of their trusted companions along on a ‘dragon hunt’. They even waited a few days for some of the other elite members to get there, since it was such a ‘big occasion’, everyone wanted to be there fore it (mostly so they could brag about it, probably). 

Which of course, the Thastanri in disguise just led them into a brutal ambush, with all the other assassins (and a few dragons, who have the cognitive capacity to at least mostly understand the situation, and were fighting alongside them) waiting at the dragons nest. Most of them died there (about 45 Navigators), and a few others (like 5 or so) were taken back to the main living areas of the Thastanri to be interrogated, then slowly stoned/tortured to death by other members of the village who passed by on the street once they weren’t of any use anymore (basically they were left out in public tied up and unable to escape, so some threw rocks at them, some kicked them, some poured rotten food over them, etc. etc.).  

Falsely leading rogue “adventurers” into attacks under the promise of them finding dragons or other rare resources is a well known tactic among the Thastanri for getting rid of particularly bothersome people (they’re largely a very non-violent a peace focused group but I mean.. if you’re told to leave like 10 times and still show up.. at that point what do you expect lol), but it’s never been executed on that scale, and the Thastanri had never before disguised themselves AS members of another group/taken on the identity of other people before, since they generally show distaste for using that type of magic outside of utter necessity (like, only if you were being chased and running for your life or something).  So, even though in hindsight you could see that it was clearly a trap, the Navigators had no idea to even be suspicious, based on the information that they had at the time, and the unprecedented nature of some of the tactics used. 

There were still 300 members of the Navigators left, but since the 50 or so that were killed were the higher ups, people in leadership roles, etc., this is why it was such a blow to the group. Despite being the instigators, the Navigators still  have a grudge on the Thastanri over it (the Thastanri usually keep stuff like this a secret but they were specific to inform the rest of the group what they did, so they could take it as a warning and would maybe keep the hell away from them and the dragons, as the only reason they took such extreme measures in the first place was to set an example), but.. the warning did genuinely work (it’s abundantly clear that even a group of 40 Thastanri Ehn-Imkasyn could kill all 300 of the remaining group members without breaking a sweat, and though they won’t admit it, all Navigators are terrified to even go near those lands again. Anytime they’re asked, they make excuses or navigate around it “because the terrain is just better elsewhere” or etc.) lol

**(Though I haven’t made a full post about it yet, Iriminel crystals are a resource that’s used in much of the elven alliance cities as a way to store and channel magical energy, so that they can power things with magic in an indirect way (like, mages don’t have to literally be sitting there doing the work, they can instill their energy into a crystal with a mild enchantment on it and let it do the work for them, as long as they recharge it periodically). The elves themselves are unsure how they work (no surprise, it’s a technology they robbed from elsewhere and claimed as their own), but in the early days of the elven alliance, this was their claim to fame and how they rose to so much power, as they held complete control over this resource and would lend it to others in exchange for other things (Iriminel crystals have some sort of unique innate properties that make it able to hold magic this way. Even with enchantments and stuff, you can’t get the same effect out of a normal rock or other material). Many elven cities are still powered by Iriminel crystals, but of course since it’s one of the primary resources that the alliance has a monopoly on, they’ve been known to dislike the idea of competing technologies, or anything that could replace Iriminel crystal use. Plenty of places outside of the alliance also use Iriminel crystals to power things, but it’s always on loan from the Alliance, of course, so this technology can be seen all over Nanyevimi, except for places that disagree with/are hostile to the Elven Alliance (like, Navyete lol))

(additional note: Originally, the alliance were actually using the Iriminel crystals under the supervision of the people that seemed to have engineered them (an extremely secluded tiny group of a mysterious unknown subspecies of jhevona, living in strange ancient ruins, maintaining the caves in the south that the crystals come from). They only later ended up backstabbing the group and taking the resource from them, because apparently they weren’t being lent enough crystals fast enough, and thought the group was being stingy (hmm... maybe.. there’s a reason the crystals take a lot of time to build up a supply of...). But, the last members of the group refused to give out any information about how they work, so the alliance is kind of on their own. 

Because they still have no idea how these crystals work, and are not giving proper amounts of time between letting the crystals form and harvesting them, they’re gradually becoming less useful, weaker, and in shorter supply. Since they’ve been doing this for thousands of years already, eventually, possibly in the near future, this resource is likely going to be a lot less available to them, or even totally depleted, and they’re going to have to scramble to maintain their infrastructure. But they don’t know this gghgh... I am only telling you, the reader, because I am god of this world and I Know Things lol.. sucks for them anyway! Maybe if they had actually investigated more into the ancient ruins around the cave, or ... oh  i dunno, left members of the original group alive or listened to them.. they could have some information that would be helpful to them in this but, suppose the alliance will simply have to face the consequences of their thoughtlessness in the coming hundred years or so! ) 

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(also last thing to note: the Navigators and the Rivande run into each other sometimes (since they are both.. travel/exploration focused groups that operate in similar places), or occasionally the Navigators may even hire Rivande as escorts to help them through an area. While they have no outward conflict or anything, they are known to clash, mostly in a one-sided way (the Rivande dislike the Navigators, but not really the other way around). This is mostly because the Rivande want to keep information to themselves, while the Navigators want to make every discovery public and put it in a published book of maps (so it can be a threat to the Rivande’s trade secrets, and also just general privacy). The Rivande also believe in minding your own business, only ever respectfully passing through an area, but not interfering with anything, which the Navigators obviously violate constantly. 

While the Rivande greatly value collecting and (privately) documenting the knowledge of the world... using that information to intrude on locals, start land conflicts, hoard resources, etc. is seen as ridiculously irresponsible and mindless to them, and seems to go against the group’s internal doctrine (the Rivande are so private about how the inner parts of their organization function, nobody is sure exactly what the rules are, but there are thought to be some structured ‘’guidelines’’ for group members, what is expected of them, how they should interact with the places they travel through, etc.). They obviously aren’t the most moral group in the world (since they’ll work for anyone for the right price, even the Navigators), but they still have been known to get into disputes with Navigators from time to time, usually over stuff like that. 

(for example, a Navigator hiring a group of Rivande to help lead them through a ‘thought to be impossible to travel through’ sort of forest, but then the whole time the Navigator is like.. making maps, messing with shit, stealing things from ancient ruins they come across, etc. etc. , with the group of Rivande escorts attempting to stay neutral (like ‘okay, my job is just to get them from point a to point b, that’s it, it’s not my business what they do’), yet still getting increasingly annoyed the whole time underneath their customer service face. The group of  Rivande have to like, constantly bail the Navigator out of situations they get themselves into along the way just because they’re being nosy, messing with wildlife, antagonizing locals, etc,.. and it’s like babysitting a 5 year old with a superiority complex...Every morning the spot where they camp in the woods is pleasant.. until the Navigator wakes up, then the place falls silent as the group of Rivande realize yet again that they’re going to have to risk their lives defending this idiot all day, while he goes out of his way to seemingly get into as much trouble as possible... . He marks another note onto his map pages, taking their secret routes for himself.. He nearly gets the group killed (again), randomly attacking a giant animal because “ the fur looked valuable”.. He brags about being a scholar, that the group should feel safe with him because his superior intellect will protect them in any situation, then promptly proceeds to  ingest a plant he insisted wasn’t poisonous, forcing everyone to cut their travels short and stop for the day so he can make messy poops behind a nearby tree the rest of the night. The escorts whisper by the fire, considering just killing him in his sleep and reporting that an ~Unavoidable Accident Occurred~...... etc. etc. lol))

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Imin Amete: 

A group of mages that seek to educate people about magic, particularly in areas with low magic literacy (being unfamiliar with magic and how it works). Since many people, even magic users, understand magic to be dangerous, the Imin Amete sort of just go around trying to do public outreach, explaining that magic users are nothing to be afraid of, that magic is perfectly safe and fine, etc.

They’re very pro-magic, and tend to embrace any new magical techniques or technology that come along, want everyone to utilize magic, want to implement magic usage wherever applicable (like promoting that a city use magically powered street lights, rather than plain fire or electricity, etc.). When not  out in the world campaigning about how good magic is and serving as mage-advisors to people in positions of power (like local merchants or nobles or something who want to hire a mage to advise them on magical issues, etc.), the Imin Amete generally spend their time studying/practicing magic, and pride themselves on being experts in the field. 

Though a group to help with magic education initially seems like something that’d be be useful in the realm, the Imin Amete still receive a lot of criticism, mostly from other magic scholars, as they tend to downplay the dangers of magic, and seem to have an unrealistically idealistic conception of it. Many people in the Imin Amete are only moderate level mages, slightly above beginners, but definitely not experts, and certainly not capable of many types of magic. You can study forms of magic in theory, information in text books or gathered in the wild, but still not be able to utilize it in practice (due to lack of skill, or just not having the inherent magical energy level to pull off certain things). They talk theoretically about many things that they have no idea about personally, and tend to over-emphasize their own limited experiences (like “Magic isn’t harmful! Magic has never hurt ME, or anyone I know!”, disregarding the fact that they’re only capable of very low energy magics and thus less likely to be harmed directly or from magic exposure), etc. 

It’s sort of the same dynamic as like, real experienced medical doctors who have worked out in the field for like 45 years taking issues with weird health bloggers who have zero qualifications and the most basic (usually not fully informed) ideas about ‘medicine’ but go running around telling people that eating whole lemon slices will cure cancer or etc. Serious advanced mages who have had a lot of experience with magic are generally EXTREMELY aware of the risks of magic, they’e seen it many times first hand.. Even if the Imin Amete have good intentions, a bunch of novice mages running around telling people that there’s ZERO downsides to powering a city fully on magical energy, or that they shouldn’t worry about their children practicing with magic, or that exposure to magic isn’t actually as harmful as people say it is and etc. is just completely spreading misinformation. 

Despite these issues being pointed out to them, the Imin Amete are extremely beholden to their beliefs, almost to a religious degree, and kind of refuse to listen to what other mages have to say on the matter. They have deep philosophical justifications within the group for why everyone should be using magic, why it’s a good thing, etc. and believe that it’s heir duty to share their worldview. (While the Imin Amete are open to all species, it started as an elven group. In the traditional elven religion, magic is seen as extremely sacred and should never be feared or controlled, it’s supposed to be this amazing perfect thing that exists as a gift to improve the lives of everyone, was given to us directly from the gods, etc. etc. The Imin Amete have no actual religious affiliations, but if the people who founded the group hundreds of years ago just happened to be religious elven mages, then the groups’ philosophical devotion to magic makes a little more sense.)

They don’t cause much trouble, since they are always trying to be a ~positive force~ so focused on helping others, but they have been known to occasionally show a more sinister side when challenged, particularly when other mage groups denounce them/try to call out their misinformation, or when their own members leave (once you join, leaving the group is considering equivalent to abandoning magic itself, betraying the cause, etc., which is an ultimate offense. The exact punishment is unknown since many internal details of the group are private, but it’s assumed that someone would face consequences for leaving). But mostly, they have a very peaceful, loving, nurturingly informative vibe going on, so people generally consider the group quite harmless, despite the few... slightly suspicious undertones that pop up every once in while. 

The Imin Amete are sometimes also called The Siblings, because their structure within the organization is very ‘family - like’. Levels within in the group are like "child/my child" - outsider/not part of the group, 'younger siblings' - new entries, 'siblings' -those in the group long enough to be in the know but not hold much power, 'older siblings' - higher than that, 'cousins' - a little higher , 'paternals' - much higher ('paternal' here is just a translation, though in their language it's not gendered etc.), 'grandpaternals' - nearly highest , ‘The Caregiver’ - one who is beside the leader, ‘The Ancestor’ - the leader of the group, which is elected through unknown means but is thought to be selected democratically within the group. 

There are about 1,200 members currently. They operate all around Nanyevimi, but mostly in Nonvas Kfal, particularly focusing around areas that don’t know much about magic, or have a negative view of it. Their uniforms depend on their rankings, since each level of the group wears a different color, but they’re all adorned with their group symbol, which is this - 

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Mederin Viteliusem:

A group similar to the Imin Amete, but much more scholarly focused, and they actually have advanced level mages on staff, so their information is more accurate and educational (even if.. ‘yes actually, magic can hurt and kill you’ doesn’t necessarily comfort people to hear lol).  They have more difficulty with their community education/outreach, because they're so scholarly focused, they can end up overwhelming people with information, long bland boring pamphlets of text, alienating them by using large scientific/magic study terms, etc. They also just aren’t good at appealing to the masses since they don't have many charismatic people in the bunch, as the group pretty much consists of isolated nerds that do nothing in their free-time but scour through ancient texts all day. 

 Again similarly to the Imin Amete, the Mederin Viteliusem dedicate themselves completely to the field of magic, but they go a bit farther with it.  There are three classes of members.. 

“ke’meder” are the lowest ones,  just general members who help out and stuff and they don’t have many restrictions, aside from having to complete at least one knowledge trial a year to prove that they’re still seeking knowledge and learning (kind of like writing a big final paper in school or something, they work on learning about a topic all year and then report back to the higher ups explaining all that they’ve learned in a sort of presentation), and participating in the occasional group activity. Otherwise, they can come and go as they please and do whatever they want.   

“na’meder” is the rank above that, where you’ve learned a lot, and you must show a proficiency with magic, as well as do two trials a year or more. You also must abstain from outside temptations and dedicate yourself further (like for example, at this level you move into the place they live (it’s kind of like living in a monastery) and shouldn’t leave, except on magic study related business, since leisure activities (like going to get lunch with friends or something) are just a mindless distraction from your studies. etc. Na’meder also usually live on a stricter schedule, with designated study times and activities all are expected to participate in). 

 and “in’meder” are the top people of the group, they act like a council that makes certain decisions (approves or disapproves certain trials, they have the authority to change people’s rank in the organization, to send off chosen representatives or represent the group themselves, assign people to a certain area of study, they’re the people you give your trial presentations to, etc.). In’meder don’t do knowledge trials as often, as theirs are usually too ongoing and extensive (like “My goal is to gather evidence about what the source of all magic is and where it originates from”, which is obviously a long-term complicated investigation with possibly no answer that someone could spend their entire lives working on. Rather than smaller trials like “I’m going to spend a month among some blood magic users and observe them, then report back with my findings on how they utilize this little known form of magic” etc.). 

In’meder are the most restricted, in that they have a set practice schedule, must have extreme magical talent that they can showcase (even if it’s only in a certain area), have to allocate daily time to running the organization and helping the others in lower ranks, they have to have been with the organization for at least 40 years, must have dedicated their lives completely and wholly to the pursuit of knowledge (they must abstain from outside relationships and additionally are made infertile so they can’t produce children, often with as much of the genitals as possible being removed as well. They can keep children that they had before joining the organization and etc. but they shouldn’t spend much time with them, and same with family members (they basically have to act like they don’t have a family), must cut their ties with any other person or organization and religion (if applicable) so that they have no allegiances with anything else, etc.), they also all have to dress similarly, and abandon modifications of their appearance (other than ones necessary to survive or necessary for work (like going undercover)) so that they’re not beholden to their own bodies or etc. etc. etc.

Basically the idea is to have no motivations other than knowledge for it’s own sake, and specifically studying magic. Obligations to outside relationships, preoccupation with your own self image, alliances with outside political/religious/hobby groups, etc. all would possibly get in the way of that and make you lose your focus. In’meder can even only have 20 personal possessions total (not including their identical robes, and any things they use for their studies and etc., since the items in libraries or laboratories or kitchens or whatever are co-owned by the group and don’t count as personal possessions as they’re free for everyone to use, a single mat and a single blanket for a bed also don’t count, but if you want to add extra blankets or cushions or a pillow or etc. then it does count towards your total, etc.). It takes a lot of work, dedication, and sacrifice to be declared an In’meder, since you have to not only meet so many extensive qualifications, but then also live under tons of rules from then on out. 

Despite their rigid structure and complete dedication, the Mederin Viteliusem   still much more ‘’open’’ in a sense than other similar mage groups like the Imin Amete are. Even an In’meder can leave the group any time they wanted, with no repercussions or ill will. The Mederin Viteliusem think that to be TRULY dedicated to the study of magic, you do have to genuinely want to be there. If the person is just staying out of threat, or out of obligation, then their passion isn’t entirely in it, and this conflict would thus be distracting them from their studies (which goes against their ‘no outside distractions’ thing), so in fact they’d rather you NOT be there if you’re not into it, rather than forcing you to stay. Many small scale mage alliance groups like these tend to be quite exclusive, difficult to get into and difficult to leave, very cliquey and etc., and while the Mederin Viteliusem do have some fairly restrictive rules for members, it’s still voluntary to opt into, and they’re actually one of the more laid back mage organizations in the realm. 

(a bunch of people who have detached from their sense of self and ego, detached from wordly desires, removed themselves from social cliques or external alliances, etc. etc. obviously aren’t going to be like ‘OMG you’re leaving the group? this is def going to affect your social standing in the mage world!! we’re not inviting you to the parties anymore!’ or like ‘how dare you abandon our cause!!!’ or etc. since ... they don’t.. have a cause.. or parties.. it’s just PURE study for the sake of study, all other matters are irrelevant as far as the group is concerned. It’s a more chill group with less drama because there’s nothing to even have drama over in the first place, as all the attachments that could CAUSE drama are already supposed to be gone lol.  Which obviously there are the occasional academic disagreements, and some of the lower members are bound to still get caught up in stuff like group prestige, pushing their own personal philosophies, etc,, but  most of this doesn’t last long since the In’meder are usually just like ‘You Will Stop Getting Distracted With All That Shit” )

Mederin Viteliusem basically means something similar to ‘school of Vitelius’, named after one of the original founders, an ancient mage named....Vitelius. You can find them mostly around the north, though they take plenty of trips south to help educate people or travel to research sites, and their main headquarters/monastery sort of property is located in the mountains of Minam. 

They have no symbol for their group, or any custom uniforms, since they feel that would be an unnecessary distraction and an attachment to things (attachment to outer appearance and how the world sees you, attachment to a symbolic representation of the group rather than the group itself, etc.), but they do generally sport very simple clothes and hairstyles.  Though they’re free to wear whatever they want, due to the self-detachment and stuff they’re generally not the type of use clothing to ~express themselves~ and stray away from gaudy or attention grabbing things, usually. There are about 2,000 members of this group. 

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The Assembly:

The Assembly Of Safety And Protection Against Magics, or sometimes just called ‘The Assembly’ , is an organization that stands against the use of magic, and fights for legal restrictions on mages, or use the of magic in general. 

They try to attack mage schools, magical species, or other groups of mages sometimes,  but like.. this is people who don’t really use magic, usually trying to attack people who are at least vaguely proficient at it so.. it’s not often much of a fight lol.. There are some mages in the Assembly (they justify this by being like, “well sometimes you have to use the same weapon as your enemy to be equal! We only use magic temporarily to aid in our war against it!” etc.), but they’re mostly mediocre elven mages or something, since obviously a super powerful magic invested person isn’t going to join a group that wants them dead/their rights taken away.  Due to this, the Assembly are... usually just a minor annoyance in certain areas that can be easily dealt with nonviolently by just like.. running away from them, but they’re still very strong about their beliefs.

The most problematic thing they get up to is kidnapping children from orphanages and etc. who seem to show latent magical ability, and trying to kill them (or convert them to their side) before their magic can show up. Every once in a while, they can capture a mages by outnumbering them (there are certain items that inhibit the use of magic* (though ironically, they have to be enchanted to do this, so you have to be buying your anti-magic bracelets or whatever.. from.. a Mage), so non-magic users could potentially just, gang up on a mage, or sneakily knock them out, then disable their magic somehow, as a way of overcoming the power imbalance). Maybe they'll convince a government to ban public use of magic in an already predominantly non-magic area, burn down a small settlement of mages, get funding cut for a mage school, or scare a bunch of people in a rural village into thinking all magic is evil or something. They’ve definitely killed and harmed a lot of mages in their time, so it’s not like they’re just harmless, but they also have nowhere near the power and reach that they act like they have, and will literally never even come close to eradicating mages/the use of magic in any form lol. 

 Usually, they’re not powerful enough to accomplish their goals, and don’t do much damage overall, so most people only see them as a vague nuisance.  But, they ARE always trying to play politics, so it’s possible that at some point in the future, if they were to ally with a group that has a lot more power and influence than they do, they could become more troublesome and get farther in accomplishing their anti-mage/anti-magic-in-general goals. 

They operate everywhere but are most popular among human territories or among other non-magical species, since.. their presence literally wouldn’t make sense anywhere else. Like.. if you were in a place with a major population of magic species... literally every member of that species has magic capabilities, so being like ‘we should pass laws to ban magic users from entering the city’, they locals would just be like ‘okay... so ban.... the entire population? everyone? the whole ass country???’ ghgjh.. Though in some cases, they can have somewhat of a successful presence in minorly magical areas, since there are bigger mages to be the Bad Guys.

For example, they could maybe work in a predominantly elven area, since elves typically don’t have extremely strong magic. The Assembly there may focus not necessarily on getting rid of magic users entirely (as that would be.. the entire population), but more on banning advanced level magics, or putting restrictions on magic users who have more magical abilities than average (so, maybe not allowing jhevona visitors into certain areas in the city, as they’re born with higher magical energy on average and thus usually capable of more advanced magic, etc.). It’s still anti-magic, but a bit more lenient.

And then it just plain wouldn’t work for the Assembly to have a presence in a Jhevona country or something because... there’s nobody more advanced than them to be the Big Bad Magic people to be against lol.. There are definitely species and other groups with stronger inherent magic than jhevona, of course, but they’re usually small isolated species that nobody would know about anyway. (By far, jhevona are not the most inherently magical species, but they are the most well known and widespread out of the like, small pool of groups who are typically born with more inherent energy, which is why I often use them as an example in stuff like this, etc.). 

The Assembly COULD maybe get in with the angle of like ‘Well, we won’t ban magic use entirely, even advanced magic use, but it has to be done under certain conditions and used sparingly’, but... most of jhevona philosophy already follows that lol. Because they’re born with naturally higher magical energy, it’s also more deadly and dangerous to them, so most jhevona cultures from a young age teach children to never use magic unless totally necessary, preserve your energy, have complete  control, recognize the danger, etc. Despite being more inherently magical, jhevona societies typically lean more towards NOT using magic. It’s usually less inherently magical species (like elves, ythrili, etc.) that actually utilize magic the most often, since their lower concentration of energy to control/the fact that they’re using less complex processes when doing feats of magic, means it’s less likely to seriously injure or kill them, and they’re less likely to take the dangers of magic as seriously/be as fearful about it. 

ANYWAY.. so in places populated by higher level magic species, there’s just no way the Assembly would exist there, since they’d either be asking the populations to oppress themselves, or they’d just be preaching stuff that the population already knows and follows. So, they typically stay around non-magic places, or areas where the population usually only uses minor magics.

There are about 5,000 or so active members of the group in total, though there are other people that just help them or are affiliated with them/identify with their goals, despite not actually being a member. They have no uniform, but they do have a symbol you may find on their clothing to flags or etc., which is this - 

(that is supposed to be a bird, but I cannot draw birds, so .... ) 

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*(Enchanted items that prevent magic use are usually wearables (for obvious reasons, it’s a lot easier to affix to your target), typically bracelets, rings, necklaces, etc. Though sometimes can be larger stuff, like cages, boxes, or entire buildings (places with a barrier enchantment set up so that magic is prevented from being used inside.. many banks or areas that need to be protected have these, to prevent against magical thievery and such). 

The downside is, these enchantments are only as strong as the magic that made it. So your anti-magic necklace may work against an average mage, but for a really powerful magic user or something, they’d be able to break the enchantment and just take the necklace off (usually part of the enchantment is that it can’t be removed by the wearer), or use magic anyway while wearing it lol.

(Though, some high level mages do make magic prevention enchantments. It’s not like they’re acting against their own kind by making them, since there are actual good uses for them, such as protecting non-magic people from magical crimes, creating a protective barrier around important areas (which otherwise could easily be infiltrated through use of magic), keeping genuinely dangerous powerful mages from hurting others, etc. So it’s not like all magic-prevention enchantments are inherently weak or something. If they’re crafted by a really advanced mage, then they can prevent against really advanced magics. And while that’s less common (mostly just because it’s not common to be able to use high level magics without dying, so there aren’t many high level mages to go around in the first place), there are plenty of advanced magic users in the world who could make stronger protective enchantments for people who need them)

 The other downside to these though, is that just like all enchantments, it has to be recharged regularly (part of why magic is dangerous is because it’s just using energy to direct other energy really, but can’t operate on it’s own, it has to get it’s energy from somewhere.. and, sometimes it drains the wrong things.. like a person’s body, or...etc..). So in a group like the Assembly, full of mostly non-mages, who may not be as familiar with how magic works, and especially how enchanting works (it’s considered a more high level energy intensive form of magic, obscure/not commonly understood), they could plausibly like.. just forget that they have to recharge their bracelets or something, so then eventually the enchantment holding the mage that they just captured ends up wearing off, and the person can just... walk away lol.

 If you’re really serious about it, enchantments can be anchored to a person through something more permanent, like a scar or marking on the skin (or to their soul, but that’s such high level stuff you’d rarely see that since not many people would even know how), but this isn’t something you can just slap onto someone like a bracelet. You’d actually have to get the mage, physically bring them to someone who does advanced enchantments and soul magic (who would likely not agree to do what you're asking lol), pay for the procedure, then sit there for hours while they do some sort of binding enchantment, etc. etc. And even then, it’d STILL have to be equal to their strength or higher, AND would still have to be recharged regularly. There are some unique situations where this may be a better method to use, but generally just a basic necklace or something works best in terms of ‘ways to inhibit a specific person from utilizing their magic abilities for a temporary amount of time’. 

(also note: even through the most powerful enchantments, there is no permanent way to remove magic, or inhibit someone’s abilities fully overall. You can block it for a time with enchantments like these, or direct their energy elsewhere (a far more complicated enchantment to pull off), but there is no way to convert a magic person into a non-magic person. If there were, that might be one of the goals of the Assembly, but, I’m the world-building god, and with how my magic system works, I will let you know that it's impossible lol (though that doesn’t mean some people in the world couldn’t still believe it’s possible, like humans having some weird pseudo-science ‘feed this berry to a mage and it will stop their magic’ superstitions or something lol))

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Wyltenfer Couriers:

An organization of.. I guess.. information collectors? Or spies perhaps? They don’t work for anyone, or for any higher purpose (at least not one that’s known), they’re not hired to gather information for a specific government, cause, political reason, etc. they can’t even be hired, since they don’t take on tasks from other people in the first place, rather they find their own tasks/opportunities, then independently profit off of that however they can (such as like, finding out a significant tidbit of information about someone, then going to their enemy and offering to tell them what they know, for a price, of course).  

They basically kind of just wait around, sit in places and listen, talk to people, eavesdrop, investigate their own leads, then from there choose what secrets may be valuable. Every agent just goes scouting to find a lead for something, then they work on their own independent cases, ask for help from the group when needed (this is why they’re banded together in the first place, so their collective network of connections/resources/knowledge can spread wider and benefit them all better than just being on their own), then share any profits or rewards with each other as a group (if applicable.. sometimes they’re literally just nosy for free, and get no pay out of it other than The Drama Of It All). 

Since they’re essentially a group of professional blackmailers/secret sellers/information traders, they have to have a deep understanding of politics and the cultural/social workings of whatever area they’re in, especially knowing all of the various groups in the area and how they interact with each other. It’s mandatory that they’re charming, good at lying, at talking in general, being convincing, acting, and other things like sneaking around. 90% of the time, they’re probably out at various social gatherings, bars, events, really anywhere where groups of people congregate, so they can take notes and pick up as much info as possible (often they work in teams as well, like going to a royal party and splitting up the group, so there are people listening in all different rooms of the castle, etc.). 

 Sometimes a lead is nothing, and an agent just wastes time on info they THINK is important but really nobody cares about, but usually even minor situations get some amount of benefit, since at this point they’re pretty good at picking and choosing what matters most . They’ve built up a somewhat credible reputation (their information is pretty much always correct, nearly always at least somewhat as useful as they claim it will be to the person who buys it, etc.), but people also resent them for their secrecy. 

Because they refuse to work for anyone and choose to remain independent (only following their own personal leads and working on their own terms), and are also very good at what they do, various royals (or other people in power) are uncomfortable with the fact that some of the best ‘’spies’’ around don’t belong to THEM (they actually usually are in a subtle competition with hired spies, who swarm the same parties and etc. that they do, but the Wyltenfer Couriers often get to the information quicker, or end up with more valuable info than the others lol), so they can end up being targeted for seeming like a threat/uncontrollable variable (if people in power can’t have them on their side, they’d rather them not be around at all, etc.). But overall, for a pretty small group (it’s thought to be a network of only 40 or so people) they seem to do well for themselves. 

They operate around Asen, primarily in the global areas/big cities there, since that’s where the most Juicy Drama occurs. Though because Asen is close to many elven territories within the alliance, they do their fair share of travel to royal parties and stuff, as that’s a reliably lucrative venture they can do once in a while, if they get tried of hanging around the same cities in Asen for too long and need a ‘vacation’. 

They obviously have no way to identify themselves, because the whole point is going unnoticed. Of course, sometimes people they’re selling secrets to need to be convinced that they’re reputable before paying them, but they handle this in more clever ways than just like ‘well would I have this FANCY ENGRAVED RING if I were not from the group I say I’m from???’ lol.. , so there’s no need for outward identifiers, especially since they can be risky.

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The Grand Benevolency:

A mysterious group that seems to enjoy helping royals, world leaders, government officials, etc. The Grand Benevolency often gives gifts and trades resources and etc., but nobody knows where they GET these resources from, or even what they represent, why they’re giving them out, who they are in the first place, etc.. The group has been around for like 500 years on record, and they’ve never done anything like manipulate leaders, ask favors of the royals, use their positive influence with people in power to overthrow the government or bribe people to vote a certain way or etc.... they legit just.. exist..... and seem to like getting in the good graces of people in power.. but that seems to be all. People are rightfully suspicious of their motives, but they’re so unknown and haven’t ever given any indication of their goals despite it having been like 500 years now, so people are unsure how to really feel about it.

Nobody knows where they come from, it’s just like.. royals (usually who are in desperate situations/in need) will occasionally get letters signed ‘The Grand Benevolency’ , offering to help them with their issue for free.. then, they get help quickly and sufficiently, and then... simply never hear from the organization again (unless they need help a second time). The Grand Benevolency will sometimes send messengers or representatives to join royal courts or assist with things in person, but no actual leaders of the organization have ever made public appearances or made anything about themselves known. They seem to communicate exclusively through letters, messengers, and occasionally those in-person representatives. The representatives are always a bit odd, extremely secretive, and when they’ve been captured to be interrogated on rare occasion, generally kill themselves fairly quickly rather than give up any information. It’s also impossible to contact THEM (unless one of their representatives is around and you can send a message through them), The Grand Benevolency always has to contact you first. You don’t have to put in a request for help, it’s just that.. they somehow hear rumors that you need help, and offer it exactly when you need it, without any prior communication. 

Basically, everything about them is quite suspicious, but when you look at actual factual proof, they’ve literally never done anything sinister. They help openly, communicate warmly, send resources, offer aid, are extremely reliable, and rarely ask for anything in return other than the occasional thank you note or courtesy basket of flowers or something. They seem to just genuinely want to help others out of kindness, perhaps for the good of the world? Or just to better society? But then why are they so secretive? Why do they only help certain people? Why do the leaders never make themselves known? Why do they seem to want to get close to royalty and those in power? Why are the representatives so weird and willing to die for seemingly no reason? It’s like, they ACT suspicious without actually acting suspicious lol.. 

Nobody has ever seen the people actually running the organization, but they probably don’t have uniforms, and their representatives/messengers don’t either. They do have a symbol though, which is often used in the wax seals of their letters, or occasionally marked onto their messengers (like a little tattoo on their thumb, so you can see it as they hand you the letter), which is this - 

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Sevayan:

A guild of merchants who all collaborate with each other to pool their resources. They basically just ally to increase their collective bargaining power, like a workers union, except made of bosses rather than employees lol.. It’s mostly rich land owners and business people and etc. working together to make sure they still have a lot of influence and no government, royalty, legal system, or other organization can limit them too much . They’re controversial, since they can do a lot of good occasionally in opposing corrupt royals or otherwise affecting the government in a way that ends up helping the general population, but that seems like more of an accidental consequence than an intention, and they seem mostly out to help themselves. 

How someone views them is entirely dependent on how they’ve influenced the area. Some people are like “Oh thank GOD for the Sevayan, they forced the king to undo [insert some law or policy here] which made it so much easier for me to make a living and etc.!”, but then others are like “fuCK them, they influenced MY government to do [insert some law or action here] which made me further in poverty and started a civil war!!”. 

The Sevayan collectively hold a lot of resources, businesses, materials and etc. that people need, which is usually either good, or bad. Some royals and other people in positions of power see this as a reason to suck up to the Sevayan, to want to keep them on their good side and do what they want. Others, see it as a threat, and would rather control all of the resources themselves, or absorb the Sevayan into their government/royal court/etc., rather than having an organization with so much potential power operating independently of them. 

Mostly, they’re effective in elven alliance areas, or other places which practice systems of monarchy or dictatorships, oligarchies, or anything with nobles. They’re practically non-existent though in areas like, Navyete or something (where their government has so little power independent of the people, it’s not really an easy structure to be influenced by business leaders, and even aside from that, they’d have no use for rich land owners or people who control natural resources, since the resources/land/etc. in Navyete are all collectively owned anyway lol.. no ONE person, or small group of people, would be in charge to manipulate over it in the first place). Many southern elves and southern jhevona also have other systems of leadership that would be hard for the Sevayan to operate in. Some nothern jhevona countries do have forms of monarchy, and they get their hands in there just a little bit, but since many of the Sevayan are elven nobles, the cultural difference and suspicion they’re met with can be hard to navigate (boy, they try though). So, they operate primarily in the north, mostly with elves, and mostly only elves who have power structures aligned in a certain way, but really they can pop up anywhere that they see an opportunity and that it makes sense for them to be. 

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Caldienan: 

The Caldienan are a strange cult-like scholarly(?) organization from the northern mountains of Minam. They seek ‘The Ultimate Truth’ (whatever that means..), and feel that through specific training and mastery of “ancient forbidden magic” (whatever that means...), they’re going to discover a knowledge about the world that nobody else knows, and ascend to a form of godhood. They seem to see ‘godhood’ as similar to how ancient jhevona are, except that the ancient jhevona aren’t taking it far enough, and that eventually there’s a level of ultimate power ABOVE where they’re at, and at that point you’re like... so evolved or whatever that you can transcend the usual limitations of the world (whatever THAT means...). 

Most of this is based upon their belief that the confines of magic (the understood rules of how it works), can eventually be overcome at a point, if you just know the right way to do it. Kind of like how, the only reason cooking food is normalized, is because one day someone thought to combine food items with heat, and previously people were just living in a world where that wasn’t a thing. The Caldienan feel magical limitations are similar, in that they only exist because people haven’t been creative or exploratory enough in their methods, and are  limiting themselves, basically just by being stupid (this is one of those ‘WE are the only smart people, hee hee hee, everyone ELSE is just ignorant and doing things WRONG, once we make our discoveries you will all recognize our SUPERIOR INTELLIGENCE!!’ type of groups. Like not everyone is this way, but just the premise of the group itself tends to attract people who base at least some of their personality on how they know things others don’t/ have some super special knowledge which makes them cool).

They also believe that in ancient society (specifically, before the time gap where history was lost), people actually knew how to do a lot more than they do now. The Caldienan  feel certain magic knowledge was wiped away when much of history was lost, and that some of THIS knowledge in particular is the key to accessing a form of ultimate, unrestricted, magic use. Their theory is that magical limitations didn’t exist before, and everyone kind of just walked around being able to do whatever they wanted, that there were no differing levels of inherent magical energy, no souls or any system where people are limited by a certain characteristic, etc. Similar to today, magic was intention based, but it was solely intention based, so if you could think about it, you could do it. The Caldienan dream of  ”returning” to a world where nobody was more powerful than anyone else, and everyone, no matter their age/knowledge/level of experience, could just freely shape the world to their wishes without any restriction or magical energy/skill/ability imposed limitations. 

This is often their selling point to outsiders, the idea of a mythical ancient time where there was no hierarchy (since every person in the world would basically have unlimited power, nobody would ever be ‘less’ or ‘more’ powerful), no worldly limitations, and anyone had the ability to do anything. Which sounds great in theory, but their true motives are.. different, usually. The leaders of the organization are known to have slightly more selfish intentions, criticized for seeming like they don’t actually care about if anyone else gets access to this secret mystical state of unlimited magic, as long as THEY do, and they’ll sacrifice anything and anyone under them to do it. People are lured in with the promise of building a fanciful magic society with unlimited power for all, just to then be placed into a hierarchy with the heads of the group (usually more powerful and knowledgeable in magic than their recruits) asking them to risk their lives and go on wild artifact fetch-quests, while they themselves risk nothing... but ANYWAY..

(( ALSO, Sometimes this can skirt dangerously close to a “the world isn't actually real, it’s all in our heads and we limit ourselves and ultimately we need to realize that we’re in complete control, and reality is merely a construction of our minds/magic, which means that technically we have the capabilities to do ANYTHING!” type philosophy, which can also sound appealing to certain members of the group, but can lead to being used in a harmful way. Things like “if everyone is simply a magical illusion tricking themselves into thinking they’re real, technically we only die because we’ve convinced ourselves to!”, which the heads of the group can use to convince others to do risky dangerous things,  since if magic is based on intention, then if they just INTEND not to die and don’t “trap themselves into the limitation”, they will like... become invincible to damage during a deadly ritual.. etc.))

They base some of their beliefs about this on the workings of reality magics (more info about reality magic and how it works in the big post about magic, HERE (link)). When someone using reality magics crafts a pocket realm for themselves, they essentially control everything in the realm. If they want the sky to be pink, it’s pink. If they want trees or birds, then trees or birds exist. The only limitation for the appearance and weather and workings of their small realm is essentially, their own imagination. The Caldienan theorize that the entire world of Nanyevimi, and all potential realms no matter how big or small, operate similarly, in that actual laws of physics, reality, magic, etc. don’t exist, and are all malleable, as long as you have the knowledge to form them. They feel like, if people who use reality magics can have unlimited control of THEIR little pocket realms, why shouldn’t it be same for our larger collective realm?**

**(Though this is a simplistic understanding of reality magics that ignores a few key features, notably that reality magics users ARE limited in how they build their realm. The reason reality magics are so inaccessible and rare to like 99.99999% of the population is because of the MASSIVE amount of magical energy that is required to build, and MAINTAIN, one of these minuscule pocket realms. A reality magic user is not ‘only limited by their imagination’, they’re also held to the normal limitations and rules of magic, just like everyone else. If they don’t have the magical energy to conjure a tree out of nowhere, then they can’t put a tree in their pocket realm. There are other problems with this idea, and with a lot of the Caldienans’ ideas, but I just wanted to point this out, for fear of people who haven’t read my post on magic assuming that this is actually how it works or etc. lol.. While it is true that people can do whatever they want in their pocket realms, even having irregular laws of physics or etc., they still CAN’T escape some of the fundamental laws of magic, and it’s not like they just think ‘ah the sky will be pink!’ and it happens.. they have to like.. actually use magical energy and cast an action to make it that way.  

Despite their scholarly nature and intense study of magic, the Caldienan still have some warped beliefs about how things like this work (which is understandable, considering how rare reality magics are.. barely anyone even knows they exist, let alone understands how they work.).. i KNOW I’m the world-creator here and I should leave some Mystery and not step in and tell everything all the time but, I do want to just make it clear that they’re wrong, and this isn’t at all how magic works,  or how the world used to be prior to the time gap thing. There WAS some weird stuff going on back then, and it is magic related, but it’s ... NOT this type of stuff ghbjhbj.. Though, this being canonically untrue does not mean that they, in universe, believe it any less. In the world, they have no tumblr worldbuilding posts they can reference lmao, so they personally have no proof in-world that would sway their convictions. I’m just telling you that they’re wrong, so that nobody reading these gets confused ideas about the already kind of complicated magic system lol)

Most of the work that the Caldienan do, just involves.. hunting down old things, ancient buildings, books, artifacts, etc. They’re of course particularly interested in anything theorized to date from prior to the worldwide memory gap/history loss, and are known to REALLY go out of their way to get that sort of thing. They tend to cross paths with general magic scholars and other mage organizations quite often, who usually have a negative view of them, because of how rude they are to others lol. Anyone who’s been a magic scholar/researcher for more than 15 years has probably had at least ONE run in with someone working for the Caldienan , and it was probably a negative interaction, like having some of their ancient books stolen by them, or nearly being killed at the entrance of some ancient ruins by a member of the Caldienan who wanted to get them out of the way so THEY could be the first people in and take all of the Ancient Discoveries inside. The Caldienan don’t cooperate with other groups, and don’t share their discoveries under any conditions, so most other scholar groups find them annoying as they’re always excessively competitive, cut-throat, will steal artifacts from other researchers, will literally kill people just to get information before them, etc.

This is another thing that draws young researchers to the group, since they keep information gated behind rankings, levels, etc. Beginner mages who are extremely passionate about magic and especially the ‘Big Secrets’ about it that scholars still can’t figure out, will end up joining, hoping to be involved in all this cutting edge research the Caldienan claim to be doing, and have access to their Secret Library of documents, all of this information they’ve stolen from ancient sites, exclusive and hidden to anyone else outside of the group, etc. etc... Only then to be met with “Oh, well you can’t access this part of the library until you’re at THIS level” “No, only the highest ranking group members can read this”..

The student researchers of the group then have to do escalating levels of menial tasks, dangerous work, difficult research missions, carry out or participate in various dubious experiments, etc. etc., just to be able to actually have access to the Information*, or actually be allowed to study under a high-ranking expert, etc. Carefully timed rewards or rank-increases help them buy into the group structure and feel that it’s worth it, even if from the outside, it’s an obviously unfair set up, and the students would probably learn more just traveling around the world to research sites on their own instead of joining a secretive academic society where they have to exhaustingly labor for years just to gain access to One Secret Shelf in the Special Library, etc. 

(*this is often even information that THEY collected themselves.. Like they risk their lives uncovering some ancient text in a ruin and then one of the group leaders is like “Ok, thanks for that” and snatches it from them and puts it away, and they’re told that can’t even read what they just found until they get at least to the next ranking, duh!)   

The more controversial section of the group are the ones who focus on studying the limitations of magic, and practically applying possible ways to get around or overcome them. This not only includes stuff like intentionally attempting to exceed certain limits (like, trying to do an action that takes much more energy than you have, which, is known to quite likely kill or seriously injure people), but also delving into things which are technically possible (the known rules of magic themselves allow it), but which are culturally taboo (like.. using blood or live sacrifice, soul absorption, trying to revive the dead or create life, etc.), which obviously can involve some..... unethical practices (and a lot of lower ranking members of the organization unknowingly sacrificing themselves just for the research notes of the higher ups).

The Caldienan actually used to be a species specific group, in that it was really only popular among a small cultural group of northern elves* who traditionally lived in Minam, but has since evolved over the past few thousand years to incorporate other members as well, primarily many northern jhevona. (which is bizarre to see jhevona and elves working so closely with one another, especially in the north (which is elven territory, usually known to be a bit negative towards jhevona)). They welcome any new members from anywhere, though they do have an entrance exam and trials you have to go through first (just like any typical secret society), and one must be careful as to WHY they were accepted. Especially if you’re a talented magic user, they may only be letting you in to later use you as a pawn, or a participant in their ‘magic experiments’ (aka, sacrificial lab rat), rather than treating you as a genuine member of the group.

(*though these elves are actually unrelated to the major population of northern elves native to Aviinine. They may be distant ancestors somewhere down the line, but the ancient elves in Minam had a different culture, genetics, etc. than the old Vanyen** elves who’s descendants populate most of the north/Aviinine)

(**Fanyin used to be called Vanyen in ancient elven times, and was a primary elven civilization hub, so this is what I mean by ‘old vanyen’ elves. The group that modern northern elves (including the Fanyiniri of course), the Avirre’thel, many elves in the northern areas of Estic/Nonvas Kfal all descend from, etc.) 

The Caldienan mostly operate just in Minam, that’s where their headquarters is, and where all of the leaders of the group stay, but they of course send members all over the place on hunts for artifacts, knowledge, etc. There are probably 700 - 800 of them in total, and they have no known uniform or group symbol. 

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(also, as a side note - This is unfortunately kind of common for mage groups, though the Caldienan are definitely some of the worst. But even decent  collectives of mages, magic scholar guilds, etc. can tend to be a bit exclusive and cliquey, want to keep a bunch of secrets to themselves, take advantage of less experienced mages that are new to the group, etc. etc. Because a majority of the world population has either no magic knowledge/skill, or just the most BASIC knowledge/skill, studying advanced magic professionally as a lifetime job is really sort of a niche occupation, so there’s less options available. There may only be one single mage group around that’s even CLOSE to where a person lives, or plausible for them to go to, so a lot of beginners who aim to be magic scholars can end up being in situations where it’s like “well, this sucks, but it’s my only option, and I have to learn somewhere”. Likewise, the organizations can become more corrupt over time, because there’s not any other mediating force out there, like “Well, we’re the only option some of these people have, so they can just deal with how we run things, or have nothing at all”, etc. 

Though, this doesn’t mean that all magic education is this way. In societies where magical abilities are common, there are TONS of places where you can learn simple magics, tutors, magic schools, usually many elders in the community will act as teachers and tutor young kids for free, etc. Like, in elven or jhevona schools/communities, you’d just be taught basic magic as you’re growing up, and usually even slightly more advanced stuff if you choose to pursue it, etc. etc. Here, I’m specifically speaking about advanced magic, and the study of that magic, beyond what you could learn in your average school. There’s a big difference between being “someone who knows how to do magic” and a professional full time magic scholar/expert mage. Because higher level more advanced forms of magic are SO rare and inaccessible for most people in the first place, AND on top of that, the study of these types of magic/how all magic works is also an obscure and difficult field,, if your goal is to learn about that sort of stuff, you’re pretty much reliant on just having to find whatever experts you can and try to study under them, at least when you’re first starting out. 

So, your average mage in Nanyevimi would have probably no trouble finding easy access to a good quality non-exploitative magic education.. But, if you’re someone who wants to like, study the inner-workings of magic itself, learn advanced illusion magics, soul magic, various rare fields of study and expert techniques, etc. etc, it’d be difficult to find a place/group where you can research those things in the first place, let alone like.. an actual GOOD one...)

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(additional fun fact - The Caldienan used to have a second branch, down in southern Estic Kfal, a few thousand years ago when they were going though a phase of trying to expand their influence. One of the students they were experimenting on ended up going rogue, stealing the contents of their Secret library, killing every higher-up on site, and completely burning the headquarters down. While basically all of the other lower ranking members/students were left alive, since there was no leadership, everyone sort of just disbanded and went wherever, though some did flee up north to join the original branch of the group. The student who did this is now a highly advanced mage* living undercover doing independent magic research and other odd jobs on the side, actually not that far away from Minam (in Asen, in Aviinine). Totally random information, but since he’s in the main cast of characters for the game I’m making, I thought it was an interesting connection to bring up, since most of these posts are just informational and rarely are related to actual OCs or anything lol)

(*though not really by choice, as a lot of the inherent magical energy came from experimentation by the Caldienan in the first place, various forced soul absorptions and dangerous spells, etc. (read the post on soul absorprtion I linked somewhere above to explain how that whole process works, why it would absolutely suck to be like.. locked in a room on the verge of death for 2 weeks straight As A Fun Magic Experiment, against your will...like 30 times in a row hghgh.. snapping and killing your pretentious mage overlords because their experiments accidentally made you 10x more powerful than them is very valid lol). So, it’s not intentionally acquired power, or even a burden he ever wanted (the more powerful your magic is the more deadly/risky it is, and the harder it is to control/upkeep) but, he’s powerful nonetheless.)

They never attempted to re-open another branch anywhere else, since they didn’t feel they had the resources to allocate to that, and basically shut down their expansion goals to just stay in Minam. Even though it’s been like 1000 years, the Calidenan are still on the hunt for all of the stolen library books and artifacts, but since they barely have any evidence about the event except for the name the person was going by at the time, AND since it’s notoriously hard to track down... a fucking expert mage with shapeshifting abilities, that whole ‘retrieve the stolen books’ quest of theirs has been largely unsuccessful.) 

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Nanyevimi Medical Association: 

The Nanyevimi Medical Association is, as it sounds, a group unified in wanting to spread the science of medicine and health research. They follow both scientific (non-magic, like herbs, medicines) and magical (like healing magics, enchantments, etc.) realms of health study, though different portions of the group may specialize in one particular area over another. It’s basically just a collection of scholars, out to study medicine as much as possible (similar to how there are many mage groups wholly dedicated to studying magic, etc.). They sometimes do public outreach, advise governments or local medical teams on how to handle certain things, write textbooks, open medical schools in global cities, etc.

Though, similar to general technology, currency systems, etc.,, medicine in Nanyevimi is not very cohesive or centralized, and pretty much every little area does their own thing, so this group can face a lot of difficulties when trying to share information/unite varying schools thought in medicine, when there are so many vastly differing ideas out there. 

There are about 8,000 members of this group total, though they have different local branches centralized in a few main places across the realm, usually in global areas/cities, so they can reach as many different types of people as possible. There’s no uniform or symbol for the group at this time. 

(sidenote - there is a little bit of controversy about them... It’s kind of an old prestigious group with a history, since it’s been around over 9,000 years, thus everyone thinks it’s really cool and has ‘stood the test of time’ etc., but that also means that things have changed a lot through it’s history, and they have certain past associations forever tied to them that can make people uncomfortable. 

Though unconfirmed, there is some amount of evidence that the scholar who started the group in the first place is a notorious ancient jhevona mage*, known for generally unethical ‘’medical experiments’’, using magic in extremely dangerous ways for ‘’research’’, and writing scholarly texts under various fake names (as well as faking identities to teach at mage schools, speak at medical conferences, etc.) throughout the years. While he indeed has made a handful of ‘groundbreaking’ or significant discoveries, he’s also caused a lot of harm, not just with the experiments, but other schemes, conflicts within the broader medical community, etc.. So, despite his one or two positive contributions/ interesting ideas, the popular opinion is obviously to hate and distrust him, even among the most ‘morally lacking mad-scientist’ types of the community.  Basically anything associated with him is kind of poisoned (the books it was later confirmed that he wrote have been burned before, etc.).

Apparently he’s gone back into voluntary obscurity and nobody has seen evidence of his activity (lack of public evidence doesn’t mean he’s not still about doing things, though), but because it’s such a hostile reputation, that association with the group can be hard to shake. There are always various theories going on that the Nanyevimi Medical Association is still secretly run by him, or that they have communications with him, work for him, or that some of the evidence they gather/papers they publish are secretly from him (just writing under another fake name this time or something), etc. The official position of the organization is that it actually wasn’t even founded by him at all (there is no concrete proof, after all), and that any talk of their association with him, especially in the modern day knowing what everyone knows about him now, is just fantastical nonsense driven by people in the community who enjoy drama and giving things a more bizarre backstory than they actually have.  But.. that doesn’t keep some people from still being, a wee bit suspicious about the group, even if mostly unwarranted....)

*(All ancient Jhevona are fairly unknown, many people don’t even know they exist, but there are a few that have done things which ended up attracting attention in very specific communities. So like, people deep in the mage scholar world may be aware of an ancient jhevona that had surfaced in the past and was part of a mage college once (even if nobody else in the rest of the world knows of their existence)..  or like the Avan (a cultural group within the Avirre’thel), who are currently in contact with someone who’s thought to be an ancient jhevona, so obviously they’re very aware of her, and so is some of Avirre’thel society, but it’s not the like entire world knows of her existence, etc. So, it’s not common for there to be a ‘notorious ancient jhevona mage’, as a majority of ancient jhevona spend their lives in hiding/voluntary isolation, but, in very particular circumstances, occasionally, an ancient jhevona could be ‘’known’’ by a small and specific community of people, or have a reputation among them. In this case, this one ancient jhevona being known by a portion of the medical mage community, who probably hear rumors and stories about him while gossiping in medical school.)

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(???):

This ‘’group’’ is basically the only connection between the few currently living ancient jhevona (for an explanation on what ancient jhevona are, read the bottom of the page HERE (link)). Though they’re all rather isolated, and would never have anything as tight knit as an ‘alliance’, there is thought to be a very small group of 3 to 5 of them who travel around, keeping up with the others. They basically just keep tabs on their fellow ancient jhevona, try to get a bit of information on them, make sure none of them are interfering in world events or using their magic too disruptively, making notes and investigating when one of them inevitably dies in a magical accident, keeping track of highly advanced mages who are seeking to reach that level of power/are close to being considered ancient jhevona (thus adding them to the list of people to keep an eye on, etc.), on EXTREMELY rare occasion they also mediate between multiple ancient jhevona if one of them starts to have a problem with another (though again.. rare.. they all stay out of each other’s way), etc. 

The exact number is unknown, as they’re so detached from reality it’s generally impossible to track or perceive them (unless you’re also one of them I guess), but there are thought to be around 43 ancient jhevona currently living. And about 24 mages that would be considered on the threshold of power that could qualify them as being close to one. So this small group of 3-5 of them basically just roam about, keeping tabs on all 67 of those individuals, gathering info, etc. Which seems like an easy task, since it’s such a small amount of people but.. they’re also the most powerful (in a magical sense, not in terms of riches or political power, since they’re so far abstracted from society none of that is even a factor for any of them) individuals on the entire planet, who can do insane magics, half of them don’t even have concrete/consistent physical forms, some live in their own minds or manufactured realms and barely spend any time in the actual world, etc. etc. .. so like.... they can be a handful, and very difficult to track down lol.. plus the ancient jhevona that make up this group obviously have their own lives as well, so even though it’s less than 70 people, it’s a lot to manage.

Nobody knows the name of this group, or if they even have any sort of official title, since they’re not.. really.. a group, necessarily? It’d be similar to if you lived in a closed off little suburban neighborhood full of a bunch of eccentric rich people, and none of them really talk to each other, they all sit in their own houses all day working on ludicrous inventions or meditating for 7 days straight or etc and minding their own business, BUT, of course there are a few of them who are a little nosy or something and feel like having neighborhood unity could be a good thing, just in case it’s even needed to resolve conflicts or reign in one of the neighbors that’s getting a little wild or etc., so they start a little neighborhood watch committee, where them and a few of the other residents meet every few weeks for coffee and scones and just gossip and keep tabs on the other residents, and make decisions about any issues that might arise in the neighborhood. 

So it’s not really like a Formal Official Group, but more just a few Concerned Citizens who think it’s beneficial to know what’s going on in their own neighborhood and take notice of the activities of their peers, to an extent. These are also the only ancient jhevona that actually keep up with world events, just to monitor for any suspicious activity that seems like it could be caused by other ancient jhevona, or in extremely rare cases, things that they might need to use their collective powers to step into.*

*(like for example, if some group of people found out how to make a magic nuclear weapon or something, some ancient jhevona might get together to discuss it, and possibly destroy the technology and means for it’s creation. Even though it’s kind of a silent agreement that none of them should ever get involved in world events or try to influence stuff too much (as it could easily get out of control), they’re also literally the most magically powerful people in the entire world, so to some degree, in extreme situations where a truly MASSIVE number of people could die, they feel moral obligation to step in and help if they can. Though for like 75% of them, nuclear war could legit break out and they wouldn’t even notice because they’d be safe and secure living in their mind realms  where they’ve been detached sitting in their own dreams in a cave alone for the past 20,000 years, there are still a small handful of them that would feel it’s necessary to get more involved, in the case of exceptional scenarios lol). 

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And that’s about it! I’ll add more things in updates if I create more groups or anything! For now, I feel this is an okay amount to work with in terms of a kind of newer world that I haven���t done much in yet, other than constructing it lol. It’s not many, but it’s a good base to work with for knowing what organization might be where, who might have conflicts with another in a certain area, thinking of groups characters could join, etc. etc. Thanks so much for reading if you read this far! Also, always feel free to send in questions or anything if something I explained isn’t clear, or if you want to know more info on a certain topic, etc. 

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OH, also, here's a little additional part on the end, just for how to pronounce some of the names in the post, since I know a lot of them are random fantasy language words lol. You can go here, which is an unlisted video (at least it should be, let me know if anyone has trouble accessing it, I can double check the privacy settings), and listen to me saying these words out loud, in case you’ve ever wondered how they’re supposed to be said - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qarp9LnzpI

Then here’s the list of things I’m pronouncing (they’re also on screen in the video though, so you can read them there if you want)- 

Nanyevimi,  Avirre’thel,   Jhevona,  Aviinine,  Estic Kfal,  Nonvas Kfal, Iheolto Gari,  Siryonla ,  Minam, Fanyin,  Fanyiniri,  Asen , Ane Kiivastye , Ane Nekiivastye,  Navyete,  Avirrekava,  Avii'da Vina, Syehtavaege'sa bi'gyanei,  Imkasyn,  Ehn-imkasyn,  Thastanri Vilheiiatheni,  Jhenasainye,  Vura Isethagi,  Miliel-Sei,  Deinsas Oryen Rivande,  Lir Imaeni,  Liramenii,  Mippya,  The Bryn,  Nanebae Itheminal'in / Itheminal,  Ostienache,  Iriminel,  Imin Amete,  Mederin Viteliusem ke’meder,  na’meder, in’meder,  Vitelius,  Wyltenfer,  Sevayan, Caldienan

and then all the baby names lol just for fun--  Anhana, Ara, Ada, Tyara, Erivera,  Ishimanare, Ye’isahana, Harivuyenia, Tuyakuhera, Anayaheiru*, Ibayamarinesi,  ‘Imaenasevayuni’ , Anheru, Aharu, Anyeru

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Thanks!