#Individualists Tending Toward the Wild (ITS) | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

y-rhywbeth2 · 6 months ago

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Oh boy, this is long. This may in fact be a small novel.

Are these getting longer? At least the wood elves will be short. And then its the fucking novel that will be the dark elves.

Technically there are two subsets of 'wood' elf, but they overlap a lot. Wood/copper elves are a subgroup of green elves, in a way, but the copper elves being the result of sun elves and moon elves (and others) intermarrying with green elves enough that they produced enough of a distinct philosophical/cultural and ethnic identity to stand out.

The terms: 'sylvan elves' or 'forest elves' can be applied to both. Technically, so can 'wood elves,' but since the Or'Tel'Quessir became their own distinct branch it pretty much just refers to them now.

Subraces categorised as 'wood elves' are still finer boned than humans, but more substantial than those classified as 'high elves.'

Average Weight Range: 80 lbs - 240 lbs

Starting with the original wood elves; the green elves, who got fucked over by the world hard and who reading about makes me want to start hitting the writers with the book. I tried to find a balance between exorcising the worst of it without getting rid of the content, but I don't know how much, or if, that's possible to do. Still, the lore is the lore and that's what I'm compiling.

The People of the Green - Sy'Tel'Quessir

Green elves*, Forest elves, Sylvan elves, 'Wild' elves**

* Green as in greenery and forest biomes.

** Despite that being what most of Faerûn and the writers calls them; don't.

Hair: Ranging from black through the shades of brown, including copper, through to blonde. Lightens 'til it's silver-white over the years.

Eyes: Green, brown and hazel

Skintone: Sharing the copper hues of the wood elves, but also dark brown, so dark copper hues.

Average Lifespan: 450 - 850 years. But there has been at least one elf who was 1000 years old.

Patron Deity: Rillifane Rallathil, god of nature.

Other quirks: While they share the human level height range of other elves, green elves apparently tend towards being tall.

'Well we tried the whole building cities and nations and then everybody else came along and burned it all down (again, and again and again and again and-). Clearly that was a waste of time; time to embrace a philosophy of impermanency and fuck off into the remote regions of Faerûn and never talk to anybody ever again.'

The Sy'Tel'Quessir are perfectly happy as they are right now and are not interested in whatever you're selling. Get out, and don't bother coming back with a warrant; they don't care. (Although they have been forced to play politics with the outside world every now and again.)

The Road of Life:

Green elves largely agree with moon elves that one's life is a personal thing, that life in general exists to be enjoyed, and that one must walk ones path in life for for oneself (while also supporting others in your community, creating a network that supports everybody in living their lives to the full).

The joy of life exists in new things and the acts of change and creation, but not in stagnation - the world is ever changing and cannot be made static or controlled (trying begets tragedy).

Green elven life is heavily tied up with their spirituality and faith. One is guided through life by visions gained through communing with the (very large) pantheon of various gods, and although green elves are also guided by their druids, one's worship and relationship with the gods is also a deeply personal and individualistic thing.

Origin:

In -27,000 DR, 2,600 years before the arrival of the Tintageer refugees, the fey of Toril opened a portal to the Feywild, summoning elves loyal to the fey gods to the plane in an effort to counter the dominion of dragonkind by displacing them with the rise of elvenkind. These elves - who revered the natural world and worshipped 'fey spirits' and the likes of Titania and Oberon in place of the Seldarine and were nicknamed the Faerie elves by Tintageer refugees - were the people whose descendants would be known as the dark elves and green elves (Also the avariel and lythari migrated with them, I suppose, but this isn't about them).

They set out to explore and established the first elven settlements, and later became key contributors to the development of elven High Magic.

Of all the nations over the course of elven history, green elven nations were the least likely to commit war crimes - they had them inflicted upon them, instead.

Over the course of the Crown Wars, every green elven homeland was destroyed and at the end was a dark age they spent as 'fugitives, slaves, or rootless vagabonds' called 'The Wandering.' In the process the green elves lost much of the ancient lore that burned with their homelands, losing more as they moved their focus to the skills of day-to-day survival.

The constant destruction of their people and the destruction of the natural beauty of the world they had made their home, at the hands of dragons, at the hands of other elves including their closest kin, and then from orcs and humans, repeatedly, led the green elves to abandon the world at large.

They created the islands that would become known as Evermeet to escape the violence of the Crown Wars: They got colonised by Aryvandaar.

After the crown wars they founded Yuirshanyaar with the star elves: That got ruined by an invasion of Untheric humans, though at the very least external forces forced that to get better.

They settled the Chondalwood: the humans of Jhaamdath kept destroying the safety of their woods, ignoring their set boundaries and over-foresting in the name of their dreams of conquest. (The elves of the Chondalwood do get along rather well with the local ghostwise halflings who have a similar desire to be left alone - which is to say, both groups politely avoid each other.)

They lived in the forests around Amn and Tethyr (the Wealdath and Shilimista), and then were colonised by the human Shoon Empire, who enslaved them and tortured them in dark magic experiments. Then later down the line of history the human kingdom of Tethyr started an attempted ethnic cleansing of the elves following a failed attempt at building good relations, believing the elves had conspired to assassinate the king who'd brought in a golden age (technically it was a handful of elves who assassinated him, fearing future human abuse, this was not an official plan nor anything the elves of the Wealdath at large had any knowledge or part of).

The basic sum of green elven history is 'we build things and then outsiders come along and burn it down, usually while trying to torture and kill us.' As such the modern green elf has absolutely zero desire to ever interact with an outsider. They will see to their own, and everybody else can stay the hells away from them.

After the star elves and green elves settled in the Yuirwood, something like 10,000 years ago, the Seldarine came into contact with the local Yuir pantheon. The culture that worshipped these gods was long gone, and merged with the elven gods to survive. The fusion of Rillifane Rallathil and the gods Magnar the Bear and Relkath of the Infinite Branches saw the Leaflord - who had been moving away from his roots to become a more 'urban' god as the elves developed in that direction - revert to a much more wilderness-focused deity, who contained many animal-formed nature spirits that serve as his aspects and were also adopted into the worship of the Sy'Tel'Quessir and their later half-elven descendants (the Cha'Tel'Quessir of the Yuirwood) as their faiths and culture shifted to a more druidic tradition.

The constant loss of everything they've ever built, as well as observation of a history full of nations that rose and fell to changing tides, has led the green elves to become disillusioned with the notion of permanency, including static ordered 'civilisation' that causes so much pride and destruction chasing illusions. Rilifane's dogma of the natural cycles of change and death and rebirth, along with change and the creation of the new being seen as one of the joys of life defines the green elven mindset: Green elves, as a whole, find meaning in their current culture and have no interest in recovering or preserving the civilisations of their ancestors - an attitude that baffles sun elves to no end.

While green elves have retreated to Evermeet (or were there already) many remained on the continent to defend the forests from the spread of human industry and settling.

Society:

Green elf culture is similar to the moon elves; usually nomadic, highly-social and gregarious, fun-loving and constantly looking for an excuse to party and play with new things. (Considering that moon elves are another branch on the green elf tree and the many iterations of dark elves are also party animals, it's probably safe to say that raging parties are just a staple of elves in general). Hunts are a cause for throwing a celebration - usually an excuse for a celebration. Everybody, whatever their ability; the young, the elderly, the disabled, is given a part to play within their abilities so that all may feel they've contributed and share in the joy of success, and then they party. (Elders in general tend to be respected, and when one cannot work their family or community will care for them until they pass on.)

A non-green elf, outside of the very closely related wood elves whose territories often overlap with theirs, will never know this about them. Outsiders mostly only know them through rumour as the mysterious and hostile 'wild' elves who have lost all their fancy elven culture. Green elves on their end minimise all contact with outsiders, usually expressing undisguised hostility when forced to endure it, and prefer to be entirely uncontacted if they can. One invited into their settlements will find the locals pretending they don't exist (while guards watch every their move). Green elven population numbers are so low that they don't feel they can afford the risk of trusting outsiders and inviting more destruction.

Normally green elves will hide their presence from outsiders, preferably in a non-violent manner that won't draw ire and further invasion. Usually they do this by retreating to/remaining in hidden settlements or 'elf paths' in the canopy while the intruders pass through without noticing, or by enchanting them and leaving them on the outskirts of the forest with no memory of where they've been. If it comes down to it though, green elves are ready to kill.

'The elves dare not trust humans or other outsiders if they are to survive. They will kill, and kill swiftly, to preserve the safety of this last stand of their people.'

It typically takes decades or centuries of interaction to build the evidence to make a green elf confident that an outsider won't bring harm on them (even by accident). Once a green elf's affection is earned they near enough adopt their new loved one, sometimes a bit literally; tattooing beloved friends is a common way of showing acceptance and broadcasting that the outsider is trustworthy (the sight of authentic green elven tattoos on a non-green elf thaws the icy reception enough that you can expect that most green elves will greet you as warmly as their kin.)

Due to their isolationist policies, as well as being scattered all over Faerûn developed under different histories and surroundings, there are few sweeping statements that can be made about the structures of green elven societies. Some are nomadic, others are semi-nomadic and move from settlement to settlement, while others are sedentary - usually living in treetop villages, out of view of passers-by.

Most practice gender segregation. Where those who don't fit into the binary fit has never been discussed, but I imagine that also varies from place to place. Men and women, to varying degrees, undergo their daily lives and spiritual traditions separately. Power structures vary, with some being matriarchal, some being patriarchal and others being egalitarian in leadership or having men and women wield power over different aspects of life.

The pecking order of a green elven society ('gently established,' compared to the way non-elves consider and enforce things) does not apply outside of ones own. A green elf matriarch from, say, Shilimista meeting a young green elf hunter from Evermeet outside of each of their homes are strangers and will not have any form of ranking governing interactions between them.

Many green elves refuse to engage with items created by outsiders (especially magical ones) and the disaster they're sure to bring and have already brought with their creation (like metal, which was created with the deforestation and pollution of mining). Others refrain from mining, on religious grounds, but don't hold outsiders to the same standards and are cautiously willing to engage in limited trade (usually with other elves) for metal and sometimes interesting luxury items from outside their culture like instruments or clothes. Hostility and degree of isolation is another thing that varies depending on local history.

Some shared points:

Green elven life is no less steeped in the arcane than any other elven culture (save wood elves, who have little interest in the arcane) but they ignore the static and structures of wizardry in favour of the creativity and natural spontaneous magic of sorcery. Green elves have similar runic magic traditions to moon elves, although their traditions are not linked to Angharradh and are not necessarily restricted to women. In some places they may not be gender restricted and in others they are restricted to specific genders. A unique form of green elven magic involves storing spells in the skin in the form of tattoos, and often has a similar effect to a magic garment. For example; tattooing a haste spell onto ones legs or feet would have a similar effect to boots of speed. (The effect of the spells in question must target the person bearing the tattoo). Said tattoos also fade once the magic activates.

Green elves don't build architecture or tools to last. Generations faced with the destruction of knowledge and the pressures of survival without infrastructure, coupled with their faith shifting to focus on a druidic coexistence with nature (minimising disruptions for personal gain) has developed a culture of using only what materials they can find around them - wood, bone, leather and raw mineral that doesn't require mining. A good tool is a practical one that can be easily repaired on the go.

What permanence is permitted is when living things are part of the structure, such as still-alive trees (able to change and grow) shaped into buildings like the Eight's Tree: a sometime court, manor and guesthouse (that also serves as a granary and armoury for the community) hollowed into a giant oak tree, belonging to the Duke of the Eastern Wealdath.

Art and creative hobbies are beloved, but the folly of trying to trap the beauty of art and life locked in place is shunned, with the sole exception being their religious tradition of tattooing (an artform embraced by all elves, except drow, but none more so than the green elves). Permanent art like sculpture and painting is avoided (or perhaps destroyed or left to rot after its making), they don't generally bother with the written word, at most maintaining the stories that need to be remembered in oral tradition if they must be recorded at all.

Green elves have a similar competitive streak to dark elves; they don't shy from combat and enjoy martial contest. Unlike mainstream dark elven culture this doesn't get bloody (it can't anyway; green elves are too endangered to throw away their population). Raiding and mock-battles are a sport and a form of politics.

Funerary customs usually involve tree burials. For noble/well-respected individuals the ceremony involves using magic to encase the body in a still-living tree.

Following their philosophy of not holding onto permanence, it's common for green elves to reject the concept of monogamy. Considering the ancestral ties and other points of similarity it's possible that green elven marriages operate like dark elven ones; a marriage lasts for a certain span of time, lasting years to decades before expiring, leaving the partners to decide whether to renew the marriage or go their separate ways.

Animals are generally viewed fondly, and relationships with animals that can serve as guardians or aid with hunts like wolves and birds of prey (usually as druid and ranger companions) are deliberately cultivated.

---

All elves cultivate the natural environment around them for agricultural and construction purposes while keeping disturbances to the ecosystem to a minimum, but the green elves are particularly adept at it. The Wealdath, for example, is cultivated into something of a fortress:

The 'walls' surrounding the forest, known as 'The Shield,' are formed by dense, borderline impenetrable trees (some of which are actually treants who are perfectly ready to rip you limb from limb) behind and around which are entire areas of natural traps made of entangling thorns, fungi that emit spores that make humans ill, and a deliberately encouraged population of dangerous animals - all geared to keep outsiders out of their realm and far away from the elves. (Outsiders can stay in the plentiful 'upsun' parts of the outer forest - 'There, the forest is expanding by itself, sunlight is plentiful, and birds and small forest beasts are numerous.')

A series of roads connects the forest, allowing the elves fast and safe travel from place to place, known (to outsiders) as 'elf trails.'

'Barely noticeable to human rangers and druids, they have no names and often combine ground level and “uppertree” travel, running along and leaping from branch to branch. Uppertree routes cross over bogs, thorn-thickets, and beast lairs that the ground routes lead into, only to fade out in the very heart of danger. Swing-log rams and deadfalls are favorite trail traps.'

The ground level faux-trails trespassers might come across are marked with neon 'keep out' signs in the form of human skeletons pinned to nearby trees by arrows, enchanted to glow blue in the darkness.

The paths are dotted with hidden caches and natural shelters (caves, particularly sheltering trees, abandoned structures built by others), holy sites, and safe peaceful parts of the forest that are ideal for camping or foraging (foraging spots are also deliberately located, placed and cultivated, encouraging health and spread of desired resources; 'several ponds of drinkable water, edible berries in profusion at the right time of year, and small game in plenty.').

The tree-city of Suldanessellar is the largest permanent settlement consisting of ancient still-living trees with hollowed out living spaces within their trunks at 50-300ft above the ground, the higher the better (green elven architecture is 'inextricably part of the healthy trees that support them—an engineering feat that would baffle the best gnome architect.') Most residents are not permanent; the elves travel in family units or other groups through the forest, often coming back to the city to socialise or rest. It also serves as a neutral ground for green elven politics.

Swanmay's Glade, at the foot of Suldanessellar serves as a sometime trading point, since apparently merchants simply won't stop trying to barter for 'exotic wild elf goods.' '...some elves have come to hold the view that if humans are going to blunder into the Wealdath attempting to trade, they might as well be met here. And if they come to steal or slay, the Glade is as good a place to kill them as any.'

The village of Talltrees is the other, smaller settlement, also far above ground in the canopy. Human mercenaries burned it down in an attempt to murder all the elves there in 1364 DR (you know the drill by this point, I'm sure) though there was mention during the 14th century that the elves planned to rejuvenate the forest and start a new one. It also serves as a peaceful meeting ground for external politics.

---

While green elves would rather live in total isolation, sometimes proximity forces diplomacy. Usually in the form of: 'these are our boundaries, which you do not cross; you can go logging and hunting here, here, and here but nowhere else; and we will agree to trade with you on these neutral grounds and you will respect every single boundary we place upon you while in our domain. Trespassers will be shot.'

Green elves and their leaders may be involved with local human politics, even if their people are not.

Some will begrudgingly reach out to the likes of adventurers during times of dire need, and others will trade for resources unavailable or less available in their lands.

Visitors like traders who are permitted near settlements are to wait at a designated camping point to wait until an elf shows up to guide them to the 'marketplace,' which will usually be as far away from their actual settlement as it can get without making moving goods back and forth impractical.

'[Merchants] report that the elves desire finely made metal needles, fastenings buckles and clasps, pans, bowls, and weapons; cheeses, and durable, fine-woven fabrics in hues found in nature. In return, they trade fresh and ground forest herbs; edible forest mushrooms; delectable sweet jellies made from certain plants and leaves; potent berry wines; and a flavorful paste or spread. This “Wealdathar” is made from certain crushed and ground roots and berries, the flesh’ of quail and other forest fowl, and smoked forest meats. [...] I know of no human coming to harm from eating it, but there are some folk who swear it contains some secret ingredient that elven mages can use to control the bodies of anyone who's ever eaten Wealdathar. If so, the mages seem to be waiting for some future occasion to wield such power.' - Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate II

Diplomacy, as ever, changes by location:

On Evermeet they mostly shun their cousins unless required to band together for mutual defence, but are willing to mingle with them during festival times and are engage in trade with the moon elves for items like chainmail and musical instruments from other elven cultures. (Moon elves also tend to annoy green elves by trying their usual cultural thing of assimilating to and exploring other cultures without thinking things through, and in the process overstep the boundaries of the Sy'Tel'Quess and start appropriating their culture. Other elves in general tend to romanticise/fetishize the 'purity' of green elven culture, though the sun elves continue to be completely baffled by the notion of letting your ancestral culture fade into nothing without fighting for it, and may start trying to push it back onto them.)

The green elves of the Yuirwood made peace with the humans after banding together against mutual threats eventually formed a blended society. Their descendants are mostly of human and elven descent forming the half-green elven people known as the Cha'Tel'Quessir, who have made a place for themselves as members of Aglarondan society and their way of life is protected and respected.

Elves of the Wealdath have a long, long bad history with humans. In the late 14th century attempts on both sides to forge more peaceful relationships started up again, but they were still icy and probably still are.

'Anyone who thinks this is all “old dust history” is reminded of the Battle of the Burning, some twenty years ago, wherein an adventuring band decided to expand the valley they'd retired to by burning back the forest. All of them died, along with every local farmer and every last sheep, hog, and ox. Sorcerous rain clouds remained over the smoldering trees for months, and all of the human corpses and their livestock were left for others to find, bristling with arrows.'

Religion:

'The Great Oak draws energy from all the living creatures of the world and nourishes, sustains, and protects them from outside threats. Live in harmony with the natural world, allowing each living being the opportunity to serve out its natural purpose in life. As the Leaflord's countless branches, his faithful are to serve as his mortal agents in the natural world - Defend the great forests from those who would ravage their riches, leaving only destruction in their path. Contest both the quick and the slow death of Rillifane's bounty and hold strong like the great oaks in the face of those who can see only their own immediate needs' - Rillifane Rallathil's dogma

The green elven pantheon is a rather large one, compared to other elves'. A core part of the faith is that the world itself has its life energy, which is sacred, and gods representing that world (Rilifane, Silvanus, Mielikki) are worshipped alongside weaker powers that represent them, and - much in the spirit that the Seldarine are considered to be spirits of the world of Arvandor - local spirits are respected and made homage to - albeit not worshipped. The spirits of ancient trees are particularly venerated (though, again, not as deities) as sentient foci of 'good' natural energies. Elves may reverie beneath the shelter of the tree after asking a question of it and making an offering and can expect to see answering visions in their rest.

Individual elves tend to find specific spirits and divine servitors are more significant to their lives than others, and pay more attention to the omens and symbols associated with them.

While at least some of the green elves at some point rediscovered Sehanine after migrating to Toril, and have long since resumed the worship of the Seldarine, they continue to pay homage to the fey gods. While they recognise Corellon as head of the elven pantheon, they do not place the same import upon their creator that they do to Rilifane Ralathil, Solonor Thelandira (hunting) or Erevan Ilesere (fun, championing the underdog, and antiauthority - Erevan is noted to get dangerous when groups of sylvan elves are threatened). Those are near enough the only members of the elven pantheon they feel any connection to.

Druids serve as spiritual advisors to the community, sometimes leaders, but there's no calendar or set holidays or services, a green elf prays as and when the mood takes them.

Elven subraces

Link: Disclaimer regarding D&D "canon" & Index [tldr: D&D lore is a giant conflicting mess. Larian's lore is also a conflicting mess. There's a lot of lore; I don't know everything. You learn to take what you want and leave the rest. etc]

(Tel'Quessir only, we're not going into the non-Torillian stuff like snow elves or astral elves)

How many of these bastards could you possibly need, you ask? Well according to the writers there are never enough:

So lore dumps on Moon elves, Sun elves, Star elves, Wood elves, Green elves, Aquatic elves, Winged elves, Dark elves (and their infinite permutations), Lythari, Fey'ri, and Celadrin. And we're not going into the other tiny little pockets of culture like the Llewyrr or the Poscadari.

A brief talk about the mixing of subraces, and then starting the lore dumps off with the moon elves.

A note before going into it is that, obviously, elves can be descended from multiple subraces. Mechanically they will take after one parent, usually a mother. In appearance they usually favour one parent over the other, but they may have any mix of traits from their parents.

So a green elf (wood) and a moon elf (high) may produce a child whose 5e character sheet says either wood elf or high elf, with the appropriate stat bonus (3.5e would put them down as green or moon). It takes generations of mixing to produce a distinct subrace as the moon elves and wood elves have.

Canonically:

Shemmithil Maraphiir - better known as Ashemmi - is the daughter of a sun elven mother and a moon elven father. Mechanically she was a moon elf (and identified as one), and she had blonde hair and golden eyes from her mother.

Halanaestra, a tavern-master (barkeeper/pub landlord) on Evermeet is of mixed silver, green and sea elven heritage.

There's also an elven noble house (House Le'Quella) of mixed moon and green heritage.

As the offspring of an elf and a half-elf is mechanically classified as an elf in the Realms it's also possible for an elf to display human genes from a grandparent or more distant ancestor. (Or even a non-human non-elven ancestor).

Elven aging, in DnD baseline canon, features a lifespan of aprox. 750 years. That said, sources have varied and different elven subraces have different average lifespans so I'll mention them. It's also worth noting that these are average lifespans, and even the shortest-lived elven subrace (drow) are known to live into four digit numbers.

Obviously the lore presented is cultural norms and stereotypes, and individual elves may not fit the mould perfectly.

High Elves are sometimes referred to as Eladrin, which also happens to be the name for the closely related celestials/fey who dwell in the Feywild and Arvandor. Generally people just call them elves.

Calling a moon or star elf a high elf may cause confusion, as while there are three subraces that fall into the category it's also one of the terms used to refer to sun elves.

All high elven subraces share the same average heights and weights, standing on average about the same heights as humans (in contrast to elves of other worlds, who tend to be shorter)

Height Range: 4'5" - 6'6", averaging the same heights as humans.

Weight Range: 70 lbs - 250 lbs, lighter than a human of the same height and build - likely due to the comparatively physical fragility and 'delicateness' high elves are known for.

The People of the Moon - Teu'Tel'Quessir

Moon elves, Silver elves, Grey elves*

*A slur used by gold elves who consider them inferiors (and what an elf should not be).

By far the most likely to show ancestry from outside the moon elf gene pool. For example; while moon elven hair skews towards silver-white, they can be seen with hair of any colour.

Hair: silver, white, silver-white, white-blue, white-green, blue, midnight blue, black. Very, very early generations of moon elves had bright red hair, but that gene seems to have died out.

Eyes: Green, blue, grey, silver. A distinct trait of moon elves is that their eyes are always flecked with gold (which catches the light, giving the impression of literal gold or even stars).

Skintone: 'Bleached white' - also likened to ivory, alabaster and snow - with blue undertones, and an affect that's described as being like 'white marble' (which I assume is the blue pattern formed by veins under the skin where it's thin, but that's just my assumption.)

Average Lifespan: 500-900 years. Second longest lived of the elven subraces.

Patron deity: Sehanine Moonbow, deity of death, journeys, transcendence, dreams, mysticism, the night sky with the stars and moon. Moon elven religion is also the only one to officially include Angharradh in the pantheon.

Wandering party elves who may have to show up to work hungover. Individualistic, impulsive, flighty, fun-loving, hedonistic little bastards who tend to take risks and have a horrible ability to judge said risks: Do first, think later. Being alive is a delight, and the purpose of life is to enjoy it to the fullest (and to have the freedom to do so). If you visit Evermeet some of them will board your ship without warning on the way in and drink all your booze while singing bawdy songs. They tend to embrace change, delight in gambling, and see life as something to be enjoyed - other elves simply need to pull their heads out of their asses.

'Life is for the living and is best spent among the lively. Revel in variety and laughter, for all living things can learn and laugh with each other.'

Origin:

Moon elves are descended from the children of Sharlario Moonflower, an adventuring merchant from the Feywild (although his rival personally believed the man to be a pirate). He was staying in the city of Tintageer when it was destroyed by disaster and fled with the survivors to Toril. Said survivors became the gold elves, while he married a green elven priestess of Sehanine Moonbow. Their children inherited his white-blue skin and their mother's devout reverence for the Daughter of the Night Skies and were nicknamed moon elves as a result, they took to wandering as he did and served well as diplomats between the various elven people who had made their home on Toril.

(The Moonflower clan also went on to be the royal family as history progressed, and some sun elven reactionaries have never really forgiven the moon elves for that since that's their place.)

The Road of Life: 'The silver elves strongly believe than an individual must choose his or her path through life.' In the moon elven take on the core elven philosophy there is no one correct way to live life, and every individual must be free to find their own way and chose the path for themselves. It's not the destination that matters, but the journey.

Moon elves have a drive to seek excitement and new experiences; to see and do as much as they can within their lifespan, trying out new things and dropping them for the next as they go. They often spend the longest time in the first stage of the road, characterised by chasing impulse and entertainment, travelling and adventuring, focusing on themselves and their own interests rather than the community - and sometimes lapsing from the second stage (the mature stage where they focus on their society and their place in it) back to the first wanderlust stage in later life. There is no stigma against this however; it's their road to walk and they must walk it as they see fit.

Society:

Moon elves found outside of elven lands are transients, usually travelling in extended family groups. Of course, being elves, their idea of a brief stay has them hanging around in one settlement for years, sometimes several decades. They're likely to own houses and have jobs and long-term friendships before they decide to wander off again.

Their nomadic lifestyle often leads moon elves to pick up multiple languages over the course of their lives.

Due to their history of wandering and mixing with the people they encounter, their culture encouraging a love of fun and new experiences, and the presence of Angharradh in their religious beliefs encouraging strength in diversity, moon elves are the most outgoing and amongst the most open-minded and friendly elves (the others are the copper elves, who share their open-minded outlook but are more settled and reclusive). They do have conflicts - some moon elves are embittered by historical losses at the hands of humans; Evereska has historically been barred to any non-elves save Harpers and elf friends. And sometimes the friction between the clashing ideals of moon and sun elves, as well as their bad history, turns to real enmity rather than their usual 'disapproving family members' treatment. But the philosophical outlook moon elves have drilled into their head from birth, favouring individuality, generally leads them to be willing to treat people as individuals rather than members of their group.

Moon elven houses are the most likely to adopt non-elves into house membership, and often frown upon refusing to legitimise mixed children born to their house.

They usually happily integrate with their neighbours in whatever society they're staying in, though if they feel persecuted or othered they're known to respond by becoming the most obnoxious elven stereotype in order to annoy said neighbours. An elven household in a human city isn't going to have a bedroom and is liable to be covered in plants like some kind of greenhouse (these plants are actually edible - to the elven digestive system, at least), but assuming they like their guest they'll put the plants away and prepare a guest room while hosting. Sometimes the plants are enchanted to levitate to the rafters on command.

Fighters aren't uncommon, but moon elves prefer to approach conflict with a stealth-first mentality; moon elven stories favour heroes who outwit and humiliate their opponents with quick thinking and cunning.

Literature, song and poetry favours light-hearted with a focus on humour - especially dirty humour. They have their share of more solemn and tragic historical tales, but these things have their time and place and don't get the focus.

They like to party and all night revels are a common thing. Gambling games are also a staple of moon elven social life and getting dragged into games of kholiast (a very complicated card game involving dice and a deck of 1000 cars) is to be expected.

Pets are common, especially hunting dogs and birds of prey. They don't seem to care for horses though, preferring their own two feet. On the less common selection are blink dogs, pegasi, unicorns and dragonnes (cat-dragon things).

Moon elven culture doesn't encourage hiding or repressing emotion and many wear their hearts on their sleeves. They have a reputation for mood swinging, going from exuberant joy and merriment to 'the pits of despair and melancholy' and back again at speeds that non-moon elves struggle to cope with. Hiding or repressing your emotions is frowned on, and the stoicism practiced by gold elves is derided as a 'colourless' existence.

Customisation and self-expression in fashion is big. Makeup, especially eyeliner and eyeshadow is well loved. Piercings made of metal are less common, and bone - especially from a deceased loved one or revered ancestor - is favoured. If they use metal it's likely to be silver. Most moon elves having such pale hair means that temporary dyes see a lot of use, and they like painting their nails.

They also enjoy fussing over their hairstyles, and braids, ponytails and hair decorations like beads and wrapped wire are popular.

Some - though not all - moon elves have a tradition of body paint and tattooing in 'mystic patterns,' some of which were appropriated from green elven culture while others were maintained from their mutual ancestors. Body paint and temporary tattoos are far more common as their impermanence makes them more appealing: what if you change your mind about the design later, after all? You can change temporary designs as much as you like when you get a new idea and then put the old one on again later.

Almost as if they're making up for their flighty hedonistic ways, moon elves do take their oaths and responsibilities very seriously: an oath from a moon elf should be a binding contract, and oathbreakers are reviled as the worst sorts.

Adopting the local N'Quess fashions aside, traditional moon elven clothing is relatively simple but favours the highest quality material and construction possible. They enjoy embroidery and customising their own clothes, featuring patterns and beadwork and intricately carved stones. Some even add feathers. Where moon elves feel safe they favour bolder colours - cultural wisdom says 'brighter is better' and your peers respect you more the more ostentatious you go - but in places where they feel threatened they dress conservatively and tone it down to more earthen colours to blend in and avoid notice.

While they have the usual elven love of magic, and delight in experimentation and pushing the boundaries of the Art, moon elves despise black necromancy and its creations - likely a combination of their reverence for Sehanine to whose doctrine undeath is an abomination, and their love of life and freedom (to which undeath, a form of slavery and mock existence, is also an abomination). It is not taught or studied in Evereska, which may actually put them at a disadvantage when faced with hostile necromantic spells. Want to be an elven necromancer? Be ready to live alone.

They don't tend to make very good enchanters though, as few have the patience to sit around for ages doing all the long repetitive work that goes into making and enchanting a powerful item ('Sun elves in particular find this trait somewhat embarrassing' and moon elves respond by saying that think the sun elves' taking decades to make a single object is 'obsessive'). They usually make a bunch simple, weaker enchantments to-go.

Evereska, 'the Fortress Home,' and last major elven civilisation on Faerûn, located in the far North-East of the Western Hinterlands is a moon elven state. It does host sun and wood elven residents, but the city is still founded by and mostly populated by the Teu'Tel'Quessir.

The moon elven reputation for open-mindedness may find itself faltering there thanks to an extremely xenophobic noble population; half-elves are barred from certain privileges, such as membership at the Academy, without the backing of a high ranking elven parent and during the spellplage a rise in xenophobia saw many Evereskan half-elves leave the city. They prefer never to let dwarves of half-orcs in under any circumstances whatsoever. Said noble houses are ancient lineages and think moon elves not part of these esteemed houses are second-class citizens. Non-moon elves and non-elves can get fucked. As ever, Toril's nobility are a deranged world unto themselves and you can't really judge what to expect of a people by their rulers, nor what to expect of the nobility by looking at the average citizen.

(The moon elven noble houses of Evermeet tend to be friendlier.)

Religion:

Silver elves are pious as a people, and their idea of worship is (can you guess?) partying. You start a ceremony with a few moments of solemn prayer, the elven equivalent of an 'amen,' and then immediately start the revel. Festivals end when the last elf collapses from exhaustion sometime in the early morning after.

Sehanine Moonbow features prominently in their worship, and moon elves account for 54% of the membership of her church.

They are also the only elven subrace to remember the triune goddess Agharradh: the queen of Arvandor and a fusion of the deities Sehanine, Hanali Celanil and Aerdrie Faenya. Other subraces may find themselves called to her service but 93% of her total followers are moon elves. Sun elves are the only other elves who know who Angharradh is, and they dismiss her as moon elves misinterpreting Sehanine and consider her worship heretical (though they largely leave the moon elves be).

#A game: for every occurrence of the words 'wild' 'savage' or 'primitive' or where the appropriation of native american cultures appears #Hit the writers with the book #How do you include a bit about the green elves snubbing the moon elves for appropriating their sacred tattoos and then bold facedly-#-appropriate sweat lodges and spirit animals?#Am I being overly generous in reading criticism in that sentence?#long post #edgelord hours

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itsuki-minamy · 4 years ago

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PROFILE: SUOH MIKOTO

Translation: Naru-kun Raws: Ridia

Real name: Suoh Mikoto

Terms of address: King, Wild Beast Mikoto, King of Homura

[PROFILE]

Birthday: August 13, Leo

Blood type: B

Age: 24 (At the time of death)

[APPEARANCE]

Physique: 1.85 cm in height. A tough block-like body.

Face, hair: His eyes are sharp and intimidating. Reddish lion hair.

Attire: A jacket with fur, accessories (chains, bracelets), after Totsuka's death he wears an earring.

Personal effects: He usually carries cigarettes.

[HABITS, SKILLS]

· Makes eye contact with a calm and close person.

· The method of attack is a blow that hits with an overwhelming amount of heat.

[IMPRESSION, OTHER NOTES]

· The image color is "red".

· A "bad boy head" that contains the urge to explode. The need to destroy is still entering the work.

· The image of “a lion that went crazy” and “a bomb about to explode”.

· Image of "unstoppable".

[POSITION, OBJECTIVES]

King of the street gang team “Homura”.

He was a lonely person, but thanks to the overwhelming charisma of him, Kusanagi, Totsuka and a dozen other people, he became the head of the street boys. After awakening as the "Red King", the boys were drawn to Suoh and did an installation test to see if they could accept the "Red King" flame, and he welcomed everyone who passed it.

Suoh, who has a need to destroy, has been struggling to control his power since he woke up as the "Red King". Suoh's Weismann deviation was erratic, and the sword of Damocles had many scratches.

The shackles that signified his bindings were removed after Totsuka's death, and he held the sword of Damocles, which was about to collapse, pursued its ruin towards destruction.

[PERSONALITY, CONDUCT]

In normal times, he is quiet and lazy. There is no coordination, but if he is interested he can show a side that is an unexpectedly good relationship. Individualistic, annoyed by social restrictions.

Basically, he is not obsessed with it, and does not pay attention to details.

He became the "Red King" because he was chosen by the Slate, and he has no intention of acting as a "king". He believes that both he and those who follow him will live as they choose.

He is like a feline beast that sleeps normally and is sober during battle. Kusanagi said: "He was happy to have been born as a lion in the savannah."

Although he has the urge to destroy and the desire to destroy it, he acknowledges that he does not want to destroy his fellow Homura and has lived by killing the urge within him. He often has nightmares due to the need to destroy and a sense of crisis that his abilities could escape. He is vague about his future, which is to destroy everything, and when he is about to be swallowed by his own power, he stays in the room and enters a lethargic state where his senses are dull and he is overwhelmed by that urge.

While he felt a sense of comfort with "Homura", he was eager to burn everything. There was also a side that was thrown into thinking about the feeling of loss due to Totsuka's death that was also the brake on Suoh's need to destroy.

[FATE, ENDING]

He killed the "Colorless King" who had killed Totsuka, knowing that his sword would fall. On the brink of the fall of Damocles, Munakata killed him.

[ABILITIES, TACTICS]

He manipulates a powerful flame. He has a fearsome power of destruction.

Basically, he destroys disturbing things with just a few moves, but when he fights Reisi Munakata, he develops a fist fight that combines light movements and flames.

Since the bad boy is awake, the action is basically that of a bully with a fighting method.

[POWER]

A (King class)

[LIKES]

Sake and cigarettes. When he's in a good mood, he doesn't hate the noise his friends make.

[DISLIKE]

Be patient, annoying things. Social restrictions.

[HOBBIES]

None in particular. It is not a hobby, but sleep well.

[FASHION]

T-shirt, jeans, fur coat. He likes accessories.

[BODY]

A slim and muscular body. A boy with excellent muscular strength before waking up as "King", who naturally trained during repeated fights.

[INTELLIGENCE]

Instinct is often used before head. However, his intelligence is really high.

[BELIEFS]

Impulse. He hates being bound by the social framework.

He has an attachment for his companions, and uses the bar "Homra" as his residence, but he does not want to run his group as a "King". He recognizes that a team is also an aggregate of individuals.

Beneath the desire to destroy him, he thinks that he must protect his friends, but he is also eager to destroy everything and burn his life.

[RELATIONSHIPS]

[EARLY YEARS]

His parents died early. He was raised by his impartial grandfather when he was a child, but died when Suoh was in high school. Since then, he has lived freely with his inheritance.

[TIMELINE]

· 1988, Suoh Mikoto is born.

· 2004, he meets Kusanagi and Totsuka.

· 2007, Suoh awakens as "Red King", Kusanagi and Totsuka become the first members of his clan.

· 2009, Suoh makes Anna a member of the red clan.

· 2012, December, He is killed by Munakata after killing the “Colorless King” in the Gakuenjima incident.

[ATTITUDE AND THOUGHTS TOWARDS OTHERS]

[TERMS OF THE ADDRESS FOR HIMSELF]

The first person is "Ore" and the second is "Omae" and "Temee". A sloppy tone. He doesn't talk much.

[TOWARDS REISI MUNAKATA]

He calls him "Munakata" or "Omae".

He really thinks he's a bad guy, but he's the first one who has rivaled Suoh since he became "King", and they have the same fighting spirit. Although he did not like him humanly and never agreed with him, he was saved by the existence of Munakata, the only person who could see the same scene and did not risk being destroyed by his own power.

It is possible that he always had the vague idea that Munakata would give up on his Damocles, which could come to pass.

[TOWARDS ANNA KUSHINA]

He usually calls her "Anna" or "Omae".

She is the niece of Suoh's high school teacher, Honami Kushina. He saved her from the place where she had been treated as inhuman by being a Strain, and he decided to make her a member of his clan. He may not have left her at all, he feels a bit guilty for making her a member of his clan at such a young age.

Due to Anna's responsiveness and Suoh's compatibility, there is a great deal of communication without words.

[TOWARDS IZUMO KUSANAGI]

He calls him "Kusanagi" or "Omae".

They have known each other since high school. His existence is more than a friend, a brother. Suoh is on top of "Homura", but Kusanagi actually controls the organization, and since he is also living in the Homra bar, Kusanagi's head is not upright.

[TOWARDS TOTSUKA TATARA]

He calls him "Totsuka", "Omae", "Temee".

Totsuka was a middle school student, while Suoh was a high school student when they met. From that point on, he was good at swinging around Suoh with freedom and acting, ventilating Suoh, who tended to accumulate depression. After Suoh became "King", he was responsible for containing Suoh, who after his death was swallowed by his own power.

Totsuka is the bright and happy face of "Homura", and Suoh's container.

[TOWARDS YATA MISAKI, RIKIO KAMAMOTO]

He calls them: "Yata", "Kamamoto", and "Omae".

As children who love themselves, as relatives, he thinks they are cute.

[TOWARDS FUSHIMI SARUHIKO]

He calls him "Fushimi" or "Omae".

Fushimi's transformation does not recognize it as a betrayal. There were many children who were drawn to themselves and left.

#k #k project #k fan clan #suoh mikoto #profile suoh mikoto

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findingmyselfatm · 4 years ago

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hiii, i love your content <3

what would you say about an 8th house stellium in gemini?

8° Saturn, 22° Mercury, 25° Jupiter

thank you so much have a good day 🖤

:0 wow those placements! And thank you :) (and thank you for leaving degrees too!)

Stelliums are 3+ planets in one house or sign, and they represent in what area of life you have most of your focus on. In the 8th house, you put a lot of importance on rebirth, growth and truth. In gemini, this manifests in an intellectual, curious and objective way.

You're not afraid to dig deeper into yourself

Darker subjects may interest you (horror movies, criminal history etc)

You most likely keep your intelligence hidden, and tend to show it in private. People may go "you're smarter than I thought" a lot at you

You're probably a lot more enthusiastic in private as well

I'm sensing solo study sessions lmao- or if you prefer to work in a group setting, you probably prefer like-minded people with whom you can analyse and discuss theories and ideas

You value truth and having a clear perception of things, espeically with and Saturn Mercury in there.

Also, charming 👉👈- all jokes aside, you most likely are. Who can resist the gemini chart? In The 8th house too? Damn lmao.

You're probably less philosophical, but definitely interested by academic subjects.

Perhaps a little manipulative (when undeveloped)

Do I need to say it at this point? Smart as hell

Chaotic, but in a sexy way- ok no sorry, but for real! You're most likely very magnetic and lure people in with your intelligence and attitude.

Also cunning! 8th house is also about envy and revenge. You may be jealous of others' intelligence while overlooking your own.

Sometimes you can doubt your intelligence. Saturn in gemini makes you insecure about your communication skills and smarts. In the 8th house, Saturn can bring some fear if intimacy as well. You may not like to show off or boast. 8th degree is a scorpio degree, it symbolises death and rebirth. You may reinvent your beliefs and routine like crazy.

Mercury in gemini is at home. It works easily, it's in its purest form and expression. Very smart and observant, and detached in communication. In the 8th house, you like discovering taboo things and finding out how things work. I am also sensing an interest in tarot, astrology and other spiritual teachings. The 22 degree is a capricorn degree and it's also called the "kill or be killed" degree. Don't worry though, this only points towards enhanced rebirth and capricorn like realism. This placement is great for research and psychology!

Jupiter in gemini is definitely not in its home, Sagittarius, but this doesn't mean doom. Sagittarius is philosophical, expressive, social, wild, chaotic, and faithful. Gemini is chaotic, curious and wild as well, but this sign places a lot more trust on facts, more likely to think before it acts. That's why Jupiter is a little uncomfortable here. It's like bringing science and graphs into a church- but I believe this placement simply makes you want to make sure what you believe in is true. Your luck may be sudden, and it comes to you when you embody gemini characteristics (open-minded, factual, expressive etc.). In the 8th house, a HUGE wealth indicator! Also a lot of opportunities for expansion, esepcially academically. The 25th degree is an Aries degree. You are individualistic and dislike being tied down, bossed around.

Hope this resonated!

#astrology asks #jupiter in the 8th house #saturn in the 8th house #mercury in the 8th house #gemini stellium #8th house stellium #gemini mercury #gemini saturn #gemini jupiter

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grandhotelabyss · 3 years ago

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Yes, but one has to understand where to look. Liberalism is an aesthetic, not a body of doctrine; it’s literally a way of life. Anyone who tries to express it as a doctrine—Menand, say, or Rorty—ends up sounding stupid. And today’s current hegemonic left-liberals, who live it only as a body of insane and vapid dogmas, are frightening, contemptible. It doesn’t have a philosophical monument of the German or French varieties. Its monuments are Moby-Dick and Middlemarch, Ulysses and Invisible Man. The point of—you know it, you love it—Modernism’s Critique de Coeur was to try to talk academe out of applying theory to literature and instead start treating the literature as the theory, as a body of work you had something to learn from, something you could even turn around and apply back to the theory:

Following Vicki Mahaffey, I place Wilde in a lineage of anarchist radicalism that extends from the Romantic poets to contemporary theorists: “Like Deleuze and Guattari after him (and like Blake and Shelley before him), [Wilde] addresses social and psychological constraints in tandem; what he pursues in the name of individualism is an (impossible) degree of self-determination in which the self is free to develop its uniqueness unmarred by external circumstances” (Mahaffey 67). The Marxist critic would regard the individual’s desire for liberation without a revolutionary (read: violent) transformation in the collective to be false consciousness, exemplary of capitalist alienation and reification. But anarchist and individualist writers, including Pater, Wilde, Joyce, and Woolf, tend to locate utopia in a present space of consciousness and desire and to regard violent collective coercion as a transgression upon that space—that is, a threat to the utopia already present. If Jameson and Wilde seem to start from a similar place of longing for a richer way of life, and if both draw theoretical inspiration from Hegel, they come to very different conclusions about how to effect the changes they wish to see. [...] With its own radical hopes informed by theorists like Jameson, Foucault and Bourdieu, who share despite their differences an almost overwhelming sense of the shaping power of institutions, contemporary criticism tends to emphasize Wilde’s relative aloofness toward the constitution of his pleasures and interests by prevailing social forces. An excessive emphasis on institutional power, however, can become a self-sustaining paranoia about power’s omnipotence. Wilde’s countervailing conviction that the individual’s capacity for Aestheticist re-creation of the materials of social life can offer an important corrective to the excesses of such sociological determinism.

In retrospect, trying to talk to academe at all was my first mistake. Luckily, I wrote a much more fun book the very same year I finished my dissertation, my novel, Portraits and Ashes, in which this is all—I was going to say “spelled out,” but novels don’t spell anything out, not if they’re good anyway, so let’s say “dramatized.”

I saw a Tweet the other day by someone outraged at a mother acquiescing in her minor child’s adoption of the it pronoun on the grounds that the desire to validate identity must give way to a need to recognize mental illness, of which depersonalization is plausibly a sign. And “Wilde’s countervailing conviction that the individual’s capacity for Aestheticist re-creation of the materials of social life” has undoubtedly been twisted by current hegemonic left-liberalism over the last decade into a moralized surrender to the technocorporatist and medical-industrial assault on the individual, on the human person, under the illiberal and immobilizing sign of “identity.”

I wrote Portraits and Ashes the year before any pronoun use at all had become salient as a political issue or present to my mind; in the novel, a cult calling itself the Its threatens to swallow up the polity in an ecstatically anti-individual puritan collective that was probably sub-consciously my metaphor for online. I saw the depersonalization coming, and I tried my best to answer it, and It:

In those six months, she drafted and sold to a university press her second book: a creative piece, an artist’s book, that described radical and probably impossible artworks that would not, if realized, represent existing landscapes but rather create new ones, unprecedented and dangerous. A lake shimmering at a forty-five degree angle on a mountain’s slope, monstrously large orange fish dotting it here and there, hanging as if from their gaping mouths by the slanted, placid surface of the water. An open-air prison cage in the blazing heat of the desert full of parti-colored birds small enough to slip through the bars but too obscurely indolent to do so; the birds would die and be replaced from time to time. An art gallery that was also a meat locker, dim and frigid, the long rack-ribbed bodies and striated shanks dangling from hooks in dancers’ postures suggestive of a cattle ballet; after their tour of the gallery, the patrons would reward the artists by purchasing the choicest cuts of meat. A beach where each liquid wave that crested and spumed fell as a pane of crystal, smashing and scattering itself in glittery crystals across the shingle. A xeriscape where amid the spiny cacti and orange poppies and wine-stained yarrow grew the bodies of women, long and sinewy fragile-looking stalks with thoughtful faces, who survived on little and would accordingly live long.

Her fanciful little book won her plaudits from the coterie of artists and thinkers she most respected and earned her comparisons to certain revered intellectual fabulists. Somehow it also certified her as a brilliant artist even though she had scarcely made a work of art since deciding to get her Ph.D., because she had not changed her mind about finding the imitation of reality pointless and the creation of more reality almost impossibly difficult, a task with a failure rate so high and a risk of repetition so great that it should only be attempted once or twice a lifetime. Her book struck a compromise: she revealed her extreme and even occasionally murderous visions without inflicting them upon reality. In this, she aimed both to honor and to censure all those hard men of the twentieth century who’d mistaken their dreams for something that had to be done to the world by force.

#literary criticism #literary theory #creative writing #anarchism #liberalism

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leftpress · 8 years ago

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youtube

There’s Nothing Anarchist about Eco-Fascism: A Condemnation of ITS

By Scott Campbell - May 12, 2017 via IGD - https://itsgoingdown.org/nothing-anarchist-eco-fascism-condemnation/

- A LeftPress Newscast -

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crowsent · 5 years ago

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Harry Potter Wand Wood: Part 1

Wand Wood for all your Harry Potter needs. Flexibility affects how willing the wand is to learn and cooperate with its owner. More flexible wands are faster but less powerful, rigid wands are more stubborn but generally stronger. Wood traits come from canon with inferences based on cultural symbolism.

Wand Cores Part 1

Go wild.

ACACIA

Unusual

Tricky wands that often only work for its owner

Allegiances may be shifted if its owner is killed or defeated

Withholds best effects from all but the gifted

Ill-suited for flamboyant magic

Favours owners capable of using subtlety in their spells

Temperamental

Picky when choosing owners

Powerful

Difficult to turn to dark arts

ALDER

Favours considerate and helpful owners

Loyal

Well-suited for non-verbal spells

Best with owners whose nature opposes the wand’s

Stubborn

Well-suited for defensive magic

Offers protection from outside forces

APPLE

Uncommon

Ill-suited for dark arts

Favours charming, charismatic, or personable owners

Powerful

Recommended for owners with high aims

Favours idealistic owners

Most owners of apple wood wands are long-lived and well-loved

Most owners of apple wood wands tend to be able to converse with magical beings

Cooperative and gentle

ASH

Faithful and will remain attached to first owner

Stubborn

Picky when choosing owners

Considered a prestigious wood

Powerful

Ill-advised to be handed down as it will lose skill and power

Unicorn hair core heightens loyalty to first owner

Favours resolute and stubborn owners, but not arrogant ones

Easily turned to dark arts, though not naturally inclined towards it

Difficult to control and harder to master

Learns slowly but is dependable

Hard to personalise

ASPEN

White and fine-grained

Prized for its resemblance to ivory and stylishness

Incredibly well-suited to and is capable of astounding charmwork

Most owners have an affinity to be duellists or are suited to martial magic

Favours strong-willed owners with big dreams

Allegiance will be won over by stronger witches

Loyal only to the strong and determined

BEECH

Favours wise or experienced owners

Performs weakly for narrow-minded and intolerant wielders

Wide magical range

Capable of subtlety and artistry in spellcasting

Learns quickly and is steadfast

Adaptable

Offers those who master it extreme versatility and ease of spellcasting

Lustrous reputation

Prized for its agreeable temperament

Most owners are knowledgeable and open to new things

Slight affinity for divination

Picky when choosing owners

BIRCH

Has a bit of a “kick” when casting spells

Learns quickly but is fickle

Prone to accidents

Tends to be more flexible than other wood

Difficult to turn to dark arts

Affinity for healing magic

Protective

Favours light-hearted owners

BLACKTHORN

Unusual

Fit for warriors

Well-suited to martial and offensive magic

Powerful

Easily turned to dark arts

Favours strong owners

Faithful to a wielder it has bonded with

Not very suited for healing magic

Loyalty is hard-won

Protective of an owner it has bonded with

Takes initiative with spellcasting

BLACK WALNUT

Less common than standard walnut wood

Dislikes liars

Favours owners with good instinct and powerful insight

Stylish and handsome

Difficult to master

Attuned to inner conflict and dramatically loses power with owners who lie

If wand loses affinity for its owner, it must be paired with a new one to regain its prowess

Loyal to honest and sincere owners

Ill-suited to offensive magic and dark arts

Well-suited for charmwork

Flamboyant with a flair when casting spells

CEDAR

Owners tend to be perceptive

Favours loyal owners with strong characters

Protective

Well-suited to protective and healing magic

Cooperative

Faithful to its owner

Ill-suited to dark arts

CHERRY

Rare

Expensive

Highly prized in Japan

Powerful

Owners are recommended to have exceptional self-control and strength of mind

Volatile

Lethal, especially if paired with dragon heartstring

Wide magical range

Difficult to control

Takes initiative with spellcasting

Loyalty is hard-won

Slight difficulty in turning to dark arts

CHESTNUT

Curious and multi-faceted

Well-suited to herbology, care of magical creatures, and flight

Adaptable and fluid

Tendency to be fickle

Easily personalised

Traits vary depending on core and personality of owner

Favours unscrupulous owners if paired with dragon heartstring

Favours owners who are just if paired with unicorn hair

Favours stubborn owners if paired with phoenix feather

Allegiance may be swayed

CYPRESS

Associated with nobility

Favours brave, bold, and selfless owners

Ill-suited and difficult to turn to dark arts

Protective

Loyal to first owner

Affinity for protective magic

DOGWOOD

Quirky

Mischievous

Favours playful or adventurous owners

Capable of producing powerful spells in the hands of a clever witch

Noisy

Ill-suited to non-verbal and subtle spells

Loyal to first owner

EBONY

Well-suited to combative magic and transfiguration

Favours resolute, stubborn, and individualistic owners

Stylish

Ill-suited for healing magic

Allegiance is not easily swayed

Difficult to master

Somewhat easy to personalise

May be turned to dark arts, though not naturally inclined towards it

ELDER

Rarest wood

Associated with severe misfortune

Powerful

Favours strong owners

Allegiance easily swayed by stronger witches

Difficult to handle

Prone to accidents and rebellion

Excellent magical range

Easily turned to dark arts, though not naturally inclined towards it

Loyalty is very rarely won

ELM

Favours dignified owners with presence and magical dexterity

Consistent magic

Less inclined to create accidents or errors

Obedient

Cooperative

Elegant charmwork and spells

Prized by purebloods for their sophisticated reputation

Versatile

Easily turned to dark arts, though not naturally inclined towards it

Adapts to its current wielder

Loyalty is very rarely won

ENGLISH OAK

Loyal to its owner

Allegiance is usually never swayed

Owners are usually intuitive with an affinity for natural magic

Tends to be more rigid than other wood

FIR

Well-suited to the resolute and decisive

Poor tools in the hands of the hesitant and changeable

Favours strong-minded and focused owners

Affinity for transfiguration

Owners usually survive perilous situations

Picky when choosing owners

Loyal to its owner

Dislikes liars and deceivers

HAWTHORN

Contradictory and paradoxical

Favours intriguing owners commonly with a conflicted or complicated nature

Well-suited to healing magic and curses

May or may not be easily turned to dark arts

Difficult to control and harder to master

Unyielding

Badly handled spells are prone to backfiring

Recommended only for owners of proven talent and skill

Allegiance is hard-won

Fickle and capricious

HAZEL

Sensitive

Reflects owner’s emotional state

Responsive and cooperative

Will remain loyal to first owner and will refuse to work for others

Unique ability to detect water underground

Emits silvery tear-shaped smoke if passing over concealed springs and wells

Favours owners who understands and can manage their feelings

Precise

Absorbs negativity of its owner and unpredictably discharges it

Affinity for charmwork

Often wilts if owner dies and requires a core replacement for wood to be usable

Unicorn hair core at time of owner’s death will render the whole wand unusable

HOLLY

Rare

Protective against danger

Helpful

Patient

Favours owners that are adventurous or engaged in a dangerous task

Happily assists angry or impetuous masters

Picky when choosing an owner

Volatile when paired with phoenix feather

Loyal

HORNBEAM

Will remain loyal to first owner and will refuse to work well for others

Extremely-fine tuned and almost sentient

Favours owners with a fervent, pure passion

Learns quickly and adapts to its owner

Extremely easy to personalise

Becomes so attached and attuned to its owner that others will find it difficult to use

Adopts the morality and ethics of owner

Spell affinity will align to owner’s preferences and skills

IVY

Uncommon

Will remain loyal to first owner and will refuse to work well for others

Well-suited to potion-brewing, herbology, and subtle spells

Favours jealous and possessive owners

Prone to melancholy

Easily turned to dark arts

Volatile

Difficult to control

LARCH

Sought after for its reputation of giving confidence and courage to owners

Difficult to control

Favours owners with hidden talents or unrealised skills

Durable and patient

Picky when choosing owners

Loyal to owner

LAUREL

Associated with victory, fame, and success

Favours honourable and hard-working owners

Lethal when used properly to attain glory

Allegiance and loyalty can be swayed if current owner is negligent or lethargic

Will remain faithful to an owner with the right temperament

Refuses to work for others

Unique property of casting lightning if someone tries to steal it away from its owner

MAHOGANY

Protective

Well-suited to defensive magic

Affinity for transfiguration

Decent magical range

Adaptable

Easily personalised

Takes initiative with spellcasting

MAPLE

Favours adventurous and ambitious owners who explore and travel a lot

Grows lacklustre if kept indoors

Hard to personalise, but adapts and grows with its owner over time

Expensive

Picky when choosing owners

Durable and beautiful

Mark of high status

Affinity with natural magic

PEAR

Owners are usually popular and well-respected

Resilient and stubborn

Ill-suited and incredibly resistant to turn to dark arts

Loyal

Favours friendly and kind owners

PINE

Straight-grained

Fluid and open to be used in new and unusual methods and spellwork

Owners are almost always independent and individualistic

Owners are often but not always perceived as loners, mysterious, or intriguing

Favours creative owners

Sensitive to non-verbal magic

Reputed to detect and perform best for long-lived owners

Great magical range

Learns quickly and adapts to owner

Easily personalised

POPLAR

Favours owners with integrity and a strong moral vision

Consistent magic

Difficult to turn to dark arts

Affinity for healing magic

Protective

Loyal to owner

PRICKLY ASH

Affinity for healing magic

Well-suited to potion-brewing

Difficult to personalise

Not easily turned to dark arts

RED OAK

Well-suited to duelling

Handsome

Owners are usually hot-tempered and quick-footed

Takes initiative in spellcasting

Temperamental

Not easily personalised

Owners are usually good fighters

REDWOOD

Thought to bring good fortune

Favours resilient, opportunistic owners who have the ability to make right choice

In short supply

Restless and fickle

Ill-suited for wandless magic

REED

Tends to be more flexible than other wood

Protective

Incredibly loyal when paired with dragon heartstring

Adaptable

Favours bold owners and eloquent speakers

Noisy

Ill-suited to non-verbal magic

ROSEWOOD

Sweet-smelling and visually pleasant

Graceful and elegant spellwork with flair

Requires a delicate owner capable of subtle magic

Affinity for charmwork and divination

Ill-suited to dark arts

Loyal to first owner

ROWAN

Protective

Produces powerful and hard-to-break defensive charms

Well-suited for duelling

Said to ward off evil and protects against malevolent creatures

Ill-suited and incredibly resistant to turn to dark arts

Loyal to owner

Open to creative and new spellcasting methods

Picky when choosing owners

SILVER LIME

Unusual and attractive

Affinity for legilimency, divination, and seer work

Status symbol

Expensive

Not easily personalised

SPRUCE

Ill-matched with owners who are cautious or nervous

Takes initiative in spellcasting

Dangerous in the hands of an inexperienced wielder

Flamboyant and dramatic

Stubborn

Favours humourous or bold owners

Noisy

Ill-suited for non-verbal and subtle magic

Loyal to owner

SYCAMORE

Loses prowess if engaged in mundane activities

Unique tendency to combust if bored

Learns quickly

Recommended owners are usually well-travelled or adventurous

Adaptable

Favours curious owners

VINE

Uncommon

Attracted to personalities with hidden depths

Sensitive to possible matches

Favours owners with a grant purpose or strong vision

Tends to be more flexible than other wood

Difficult to personalise

Erratic

WALNUT

Versatile and adaptable

Favours intelligent and clever owners

Will remain loyal to owner and will refuse to work for others

Somewhat difficult to personalise

Once tamed, will perform whatever task owner asks of it regardless

Lethal in the hands of a skilled wielder

Wide magical range

No spell affinity

WILLOW

Uncommon

Handsome and sought after

Picky when choosing owners

Affinity for healing

Well-suited for non-verbal magic

Favours owners with some kind of insecurity

Performs delicate charmwork

YEW

Rare

Powerful

Affinity for duelling and curses

Well-suited to dark arts

Favours unusual owners

Difficult to personalise and master

Prideful

Loyalty is hard-won

Allegiance is very rarely swayed

Will never choose a weak or timid owner

Unpleasant reputation

Protective of owner

#crowsas writes #hp #harry potter #wand lore #hp headcanon #harry potter meta

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psychodelic-insomnomaniac · 5 years ago

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I'm curious on what your take is on Meowstic! Bruno protecting his den and everyone inside it, like if a much higher leveled pokemon ends up stamping through the area on a war path, yawn not working to subdue the other pokemon. After all, the wiki says Meowstic can lift their ears and use their power to destroy 10 ton trucks

(Okay this got kinda out of hand lol)

Yeah, I believe Meowstic are freakishly powerful. They, like most all Pokemon, only use a fraction of their power in trainer battles because trainer battles are understood to just be for sport. Trainer battles are mostly just friendly competition- no need to bring out the big guns for that. It’s a different story in the wild.

There’s a fundamental sex difference in Meowstic. Female Meowstic tend to be very individualistic, and a lot more competitive than their male counterparts. Females have a reputation for being highly aggressive and standoffish, so the more cuddly males are seen as being docile by comparison, but that’s not actually true. The truth is, all Meowstic have a massive mean streak, and the only difference is what sets that mean streak off. Male Meowstic are highly social, and *highly* defensive. They may be generally a lot more friendly than their female counterparts, but threaten one of their pack, and they turn into one of the most vicious Pokemon out there.

In the wild, Pokemon have their own sort of society figured out. They generally leave each other alone, and sometimes scrap for sport, but things are overall pretty peaceful. Sometimes, though, things get nasty. Some Pokemon are just violent, and fights can turn lethal pretty often.

The Banette probably thought she had an easy meal. After all, Leone- the only dark type- was out foraging, and that left only one psychic type to defend five baby Pokemon. She had both the type and the level advantage, but she hadn’t counted on one thing: resolve.

That little Meowstic fought like the devil. It’d tried to put her to sleep, at first, but she never slept, and the Sucker Punch she’d hit it with in retaliation had sent it flying, terrifying the five little ones that’d been surrounding it. The Emolga had flown off, disappearing somewhere out of sight, but that was fine by her. She’d never liked the taste of electric types, anyway- always left her mouth feeling numb. Grass was far better, and she’d been moving in on the Fomantis when the full force of a Psyshock sent her crashing to the ground. The Meowstic was back up, and it looked *feral*.

A distant part of her was jealous. She beat that Meowstic bloody, dealing double damage with every move against its weak psychic body and yet it still fought, pushing through the pain to protect its five little ones in the face of a monster. No one had ever loved *her* like that. She’d been tossed away and left to rot, and yet these five, useless little Pokemon were so *loved* that this Meowstic was willing to die for them. No, scratch that; she wasn’t just jealous. She was *furious*. She was going to devour every last one of these stupid little things- even the electric type- and she’d make the Meowstic watch. Love meant nothing in this world, and if she’d had to learn that the hard way, so should it.

Although, she might just end up killing it, first, because the damn thing refused to stay down, and she was really starting to get sick of being tossed around like a rag doll (even if, technically, she was one). She charged up a Phantom Force, ready to put an end to the struggling psychic type, when she felt something jab her leg. Poison coursed through her system a fraction of a second later, burning up nerves she didn’t have, and she staggered back in shock.

There, right by her feet, was the Nidoran, its tiny horn having been what stabbed her. It snarled angrily at her, stomping its little paws and growling as it placed itself between her and its bloodied guardian. She would’ve laughed, but before she could, she felt something brush up against her other leg, and the poison in her system abruptly increased, becoming painful enough to send her to the ground.

The Budew that’d used Toxic on her skittered back out of her reach, flinching when she screeched at it in a rage. She raised one arm towards the seedling, preparing to throw a Shadow Ball, but sharp little fangs sunk into the limb’s pseudo-flesh as the Growlithe lunged at her and used Bite.

She howled in pain, throwing the little bastard off of her and into a nearby tree, hard. It was low level, so it shouldn’t have been any problem, but the poisoning had left her weak enough that a dark type move of even that level was enough to cause some pretty serious harm. She seethed. How was this possible? It was one psychic type and a bunch of babies! She shouldn’t be forced to retreat from such laughably easy targets!

And yet, retreat was seeming like the best option. Toxic was a nasty move on its own, but combined with the Poison Jab from the Nidoran, it had become even worse. The poison in her system only grew stronger with every moment she spent not treating it. She had to retreat. Retreat, then come back later even stronger and rip these fucking brats to shreds.

She made it only a few steps away before Static hit her out of nowhere, paralyzing her. Even with her body stuck, her eyes could still move, and it was in looking up that she spotted the Emolga swooping down from the tree above. Looks as though she’d been wrong about it running away. Even through her paralysis, she tried her damndest to take a swing at the thing, but was sent to the ground by a Grass Knot from the Fomantis she’d tried to eat earlier.

From behind, she heard the rustle of grass shifting, and felt the world begin to hum. The woods around her trembled as if shaken by a storm as a high pitched ringing pierced the air, the sudden taste of ozone heavy on her mimicry of a tongue.

Psychic energy- more of it than she’d ever felt in one place before. It would seem the Meowstic was back up.

The last thing she heard was ‘boom’ so loud it would’ve shattered her eardrums if she’d had any, and the last thing she saw was the very world around her appear to warp and shatter in the face of the massive psionic energy blast that tore her to pieces.

An easy meal, indeed.

#jjba pokemon #GioGio's Budew Adventure

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dailyanarchistposts · 1 hour ago

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Anarcho-Nihilism and Informal Organizing

An informal anarchist organization flows like water and takes new forms according to the action it wants to carry out. —Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, Imprisoned Members Cell

Because of the unique conditions of the extermination camps, long-term, formal organizations were an impossibility. What arose instead were informal conspiracies of inmates that had one shared ambition: insurrection. What they accomplished was nothing short of miraculous: the two most successful uprisings to occur in Nazi camps and the liberation of some of the only eye witnesses to the horrors of extermination camps. They did this without political allegiances, without bureaucracy, and without deferring to history’s fabled “ripe conditions.”[225] Although the conspiracies that formed in Sobibór and Treblinka don’t necessarily reflect any sort of ‘ideal nihilist model’, they do resonate with the approach that anarcho-nihilists have taken toward organizing outside of conventional structures. Such organizations as the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire (CCF), the Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI), Wild Reaction (RS), and Individualists Tending Toward the Wild (ITS)[226] have played a significant role in the emergence of anarcho-nihilism as a widespread tendency, particularly in Europe, South America, and Mexico.[227] Although this text will not be offering any sweeping histories or critiques of these groups, I will attempt to use their words to briefly explore how it is that anarcho-nihilists have set about to organize themselves.

The CCF emerged in 2008 from a minority incendiary tendency in Greece: anarchists who were interested in autonomously attacking symbols of power but were dissatisfied with the lack of strategy, coherence, development, and perspectives that this level of improvisation and disorganization offered.[228] Without some degree of cohesion, they found, the incendiary tendency “risks fading into the randomness of events and limiting itself to occasional upsurges that lack planning and perspective.”[229] This perennial observation has led many group-weary radicals to rethink the concept of organizing. In one of their later communiques, the CCF reflects on this process in their own formation:

As anarchists, we often distance ourselves from the concept of organization because we equate it with hierarchy, roles, specialization, ‘you must,’ and obligations. However, words acquire the meanings given by the people who use them. As the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, we stormed into battle over the meaning of revolutionary anarchist organization.[230]

To combat a lack of momentum and visibility in their tactics, they took a new approach to organization and began launching attacks under the banner of the CCF, a network of informally organized cells that could conspire together and act with complete autonomy. From the beginning, the CCF placed a high priority on communiques as a way to collectively develop ideas and maintain momentum. Their initial wave of attacks on January 21, 2008 involved twelve bombings and arsons targeted against banks, car dealerships, and a state-run power company. A month later, fifteen more attacks followed (including an arson attack on the Associate Justice Minister’s office), which consolidated their presence as a “stable and coherent collective that promotes the destruction of power and society.”[231] In 2011, the CCF effectively merged with the FAI, an “informal anarchist structure based on revolutionary solidarity and direct action,” that had been working under a similar model since the early 2000s.[232] By that point, the FAI had hundreds of actions affiliated with its name, including the bombings of several European Union buildings, a police headquarters in Genoa, and a courthouse in Rome. Once again, communiques from each of these actions have served as a central medium for the exchange and development of ideas within the nihilist tendency.

The ITS, which emerged in Mexico in 2011 with a bombing targeted at a university’s nanotechnology department, approached organizing in a similar fashion: without “leaders nor commands,” ensuring that “the cells enjoy total autonomy in the attack.”[233] So vitriolic were the ITS against leftist organizations that in 2011 they sent an incendiary package (i.e. letter-bomb) to a Mexican Greenpeace office, declaring war against those who “only seek to reform the system and create alternatives”; who wage “hypocritical campaigns in ‘favor’ of the environment in order to gain public notoriety”; and who posture as being oppositional even though “everything that they defend is invested in the system.”[234] In contrast to the leftist approach, ITS insisted that “the best option to slip away from the system continues to be informal organization, meeting as individuals in affinity or alone, betting on insurrectionalist immediatism and the quality of sabotage, [and] rejecting formal organization.”[235] The ITS merged with a new organization in 2014 called RS, which maintained this informal approach: “RS does NOT have leaders or a fixed and absolute leader, we are NOT an army or Marxist guerrilla group, RS is composed of groups of individuals responsible for our own actions, who act according to their possibilities.”[236] Without bureaucracy, without imposed uniformity, and without appeals to public legibility, these informal organizations have inspired incendiary attacks and networks of solidarity around the world.

One of the aspects of anarcho-nihilism that makes this kind of informal organizing possible is the tactical freedom afforded by its rejection of all inherited programs, moralities, and expectations. It urges us to take ethical decisions into our own hands rather than appealing to any socially governed notions of right and wrong, thus opening up an infinite spectrum of tactical thinking that can more meaningfully interact with the particularities of our unique context.[237] Experimentation, then, takes the place of formulaic thinking in revolutionary struggle: “Rather than organization, then, in the present we might simply speak of experimentation, as the willingness of small groups of people to gamble on these admittedly slim possibilities with absolutely no guarantee of success.”[238] What we hope to find when we open up our field of vision like this is that anarchistic organizing doesn’t have to be a soul-sucking, bureaucratic affair; on the contrary, we might find that “we can organize ourselves, and that this capacity is fundamentally joyful.”[239] An informal organization like the CCF or RS allows space for individuals and affinity groups to act with unrestrained ferocity against systems of domination, while still being connected to a network of people who are interested in similar ideas and who can act in solidarity with each others’ struggles.

The groups that emerged in Treblinka and Sobibór were able to act with the sort of fluidity and tactical freedom that the Sonderkommando nearly surrendered in the presence of a formal, communist organization. Like the members of the FAI or the ITS, their unity as a group came solely from their joint willingness to attack the existing order. Though there is a great deal of nuance and complexity that should not be overlooked, the fact remains that the two most successful uprisings to occur in Nazi concentration camps happened in two of the only camps without formal organizations. This in itself should challenge anarchists and other radicals to deeply question the pragmatic function of organizations in our lives. While formal and sustained organizational methods can be useful for certain goals, we should remember that they are often structurally incapable of working towards moments of complete rupture. What they offer in terms of resources, visibility, and longevity, must be measured against the hurdles they often create between people and their insurrectionary desires. That being said, while the informal organizational methods being experimented with by nihilists are exciting and have clearly facilitated a great deal of incendiary action, they also carry with them inevitable shortcomings and pitfalls, not least of which is the sort of solipsism that results in a Greenpeace office getting bombed. And though informal organizational models may be able to mitigate the problem of collective responsibility, they will never be able to fully solve the problem. Just as the authors of Attentat become paralyzed by the “horror show” that would be required to violently confront the state, so too did the Fighting Group Auschwitz and other concentration camp organizations attempt to navigate the tension between attacking a dominant order and the responses this would provoke. Ultimately somebody along the line is going to have to make shady ethical choices, regardless of organizational model. Thus, while I think that stories of concentration camp uprisings can help us to develop a healthy wariness around the role of organizations, we must also stay vigilant to nuance. There are no easy answers to these questions. Without dismissing (or attacking) every formal organization we encounter, we can continue to experiment with non-hierarchical organizational forms that might facilitate, rather than defer, moments of liberatory rupture.

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all-things-are-nothing-to-me · 2 months ago

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But didn't ITS claim responsibility for random murders and used nazi logos at one point n shit? I ask bc from what I've read by them has not appeared to be fash but my friend is asking me. I don't know much about them

https://itsgoingdown.org/nothing-anarchist-eco-fascism-condemnation/

This stuff the quote in there from them

Sorry for the mucho texto in advanced. The random murders: yeah that was the indiscriminate attack era I was talking about. So in their early days their primary target was nanotechnology and people who worked in tbat field. As seen in all their early communiques.

Actually quick history on their ideologies. ITS was RS (Wild Reaction) before becoming ITS. And they were made up of former FLA/FLT (Animal Liberation Front & Earth Liberation Front) members. Members who became disillusioned with just property damage and followed the Ted K path. 2011 -2013 is the primitivist still fairly anarchist era. 2015 is when they start the pure misanthropy "all humans must die" indiscriminate attack era. They drop the anarchist label entirely. (The years aren't exact. They're estimates.) Also lots of the early members were indigenous, at least the one's in Mexico. And that remained an important aspect of them their entire existence. Cells existed in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Greece, Scotland and the USA.

I do think it's important to clarify this tho. The article you linked and most articles that called them eco-fascists, while having some genuine criticisms, were mostly in bad faith. They often call Ted K a fascist too, something he outright denied and criticized himself.

In their early days, they were definitely fanboys. But when they started advocating human extinction, they stopped being anything like Ted. Ted was very anthropocentric, humanities well being was his main concern, that and the destruction of industrial society.

Moving on to the second part. They never used nazi logos. That's the biggest bad faith and honestly racist critique about them. It comes from their second book*. *Two books, compilations of eco-extremist writings,published by LBC (rip lbc).

Their second book featuring this as the cover.

The lie of it being fascist imagery comes from Alexander Reid Ross and this quote in an essay about ITS.

Yes, technically, it is a swastika. But as most people know, the swastika was co-opted by the Nazis. This symbol is a Quetzalcoatl, the god of knowledge and learning. The cross in the middle represents earth. The Swastika shape represents both the 4 cardinal directions and the 4 seasons. Essentially, the symbol interprets as like "we learn from the land" or something along those lines. Which is why I say it's racist to purposely misinterpret their symbolism for your hit piece.

With that being said, ITS at this point was no longer anarchist. They were misanthropes. They celebrated natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and anything with high human casualties. Including fascist violence. Which yes is fucked up, but they weren't celebrating fascism. Fascism is very human centric, something they did not care for. I would link quotes, but they pretty much don't exist anymore since they deleted their blog after disbanding. I have one on my old phone from the interview, but idk if the phone will even power on anymore. But it essentially said they draw influence from many places, that does not mean they support those ideologies or groups. Which is true. In the second Atassa, there's an entire essay about MS-13, the street gang, and how we can learn from them. It talks about how in their early days they were very brazen, how members would tattoo the gang on their faces. But that came back to bite them in the ass so they started to try and blend in more with society. Something ITS members did great. In their entire existence, they had only 2 members get arrested, despite multiple murders being attributed to them.

One last thing. Along with the Quetzalcoatl, when they were still RS, their symbol was this

It's Chicomoztoc, the caves where humanity originates from. Because again, they were indigenous so they used indigenous symbolism.

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cruesins · 5 years ago

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FINALLY , these are some little somethings ! if you’d like to plot with either of these muses , please hit that like button ( don’t forget to check the connection’y thingies plz ) i’m not good with discord so i apologize for taking so long to respond to messages . happy day~ ( deni , she/her , gmt+9 , disc : gay fairy#6371 )

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐍

† ◞ 𝚒'𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 , 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 ; that there is ONYX SEO , notorious for being ( materialistic ) and ( temperamental ) , but there are times when he can be ( individualistic ) and ( optimistic ) . i’ve heard that he could pass as a KIM TAEHYUNG doppelganger , but i don’t see it . the ( twenty four ) year - old demi male ( witch ) has been in town for ( a year ) and they are a ( cashier at one man’s treasure ) affiliated with ( the blackwood coven ) . they tend to spark images of skyline views from a water tower , popped bubblegum & the feathered , frayed edges of well-loved tarot cards .

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲.

onyx swore when he moved to town a year ago that things would be different . he’d handle his deceased grandparents’ affairs for his mother , join a nice little coven , and most importantly : stay out of trouble . after That Day in jeonju , some peace and quiet in a podunk town was just what he needed . months have passed with few issues and onyx is basically a kept young man with a full-time job , a trailer to call home , and coven mates to call mentors as he learns to temper his ill-behaving , wild magic . recent discoveries in the creaking bones of his grandparents’ home re-awaken a curiosity about the power running through his blood , and this time , the cards he lives his life by promise a different ending .

𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬.

date of birth. january 29th , 1996 ∕ sun sign. aquarius ∕ moon sign. taurus ∕ chinese zodiac. rat ∕ character alignment. chaotic neutral ∕ personality type. enfp ∕ temperament. sanguine ∕ hometown. jeonju , korea ∕ sexual attraction. pansexual ∕ romantic attraction. panromantic ∕ home. huntington trailer park ∕ haunts. the swimming hole , lafayette cemetary , the scoop , big slice , wickery forest

personality. curious , naive , rebellious and intuitive . onyx grew up placing a lot of trust in his coven leaders and mentors , but has grown and more and more excited about the prospect of pushing his magical abilities to their limits . he trusts himself most of all , follows his gut and the way the world whispers to him no matter what others say ( and now those whispers say more , more , more ) he’s intrigued by other people and supernaturals . messy ------ impulsive , slightly erratic in the way he handles things . he’s made messes before and he’s bound to do so again . generous and compassionate , but confident to the point of vanity .

an elemental witch with ancestral legacies

came to town to handle his grandparents’ estate after they passed . they were estranged from his mother , so he’s learning a bit of familial history . they were ancestral witches , but fell out of the coven after dealing with demons to enhance their powers ( connections : demons , person who bought very recently bought their house / is buying their house now , townsfolk who knew them around town as the weirdos who went Hella Weird as they grew older )

very much tied to the earth , but is Tempted by the power ancestral magic promises . will discover a tome , spells , and more from his grandparents’ home that heighten that urge to explore magic ( connections : “guinea pigs” , a best friend / confidante , coven members who sense his distancing , tempters , clients for divination / herbal magic )

currently lives at huntington trailer park . big into plants and reptiles . spends a lot of time at the swimming hole , in the cemetery and anywhere that sells cheap food ( special notes : vegan , wears vintage only . talks to furniture and incredibly sensitive to changes in the weather and atmosphere ) makes herb-infused candles and tattoos temporary protective runes for extra cash . always has a tarot deck with him . ( connections : friends , neighbors , clients who either trust his witchcraft and those who just think they’re amusing him , fellow supernatural enthusiasts )

pulled a bill gates and dropped out of witch college , felt like learned more through personal trial and error . ( connections : more “bookish” witches , fellow coven mates , other witches he vibes with , “bad” influences )

wanted arcs : destruction , exploration , finding stability

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐈𝐓

† ◞ 𝚒'𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 , 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 ; that there is LILITH , notorious for being ( judgmental ) and ( aloof ) , but there are times when she can be ( maternal ) and ( generous ) . i’ve heard that she could pass as a MICHELLE PFEIFFER doppelganger , but i don’t see it . the ( unknown / sixty ) year - old demi female ( demon ) has been in town for ( three years ) and they are a ( principal at watermount middle school ) affiliated with ( lucifer ) . they tend to spark images of crushed velvet and dark lace , freshly rolled cigarettes , blood red is the new black .

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲.

cw : depression’y , kind of ??

immortality isn’t so heavy . days bleed into decades which bleed into centuries . maybe lilith’s known it all along , but she’s finally starting to look up and notice how the world’s passing them all by . after losing children and lovers , she’s settled in watermount in search of a peace of mind . she doesn’t know whether it’s the body she’s chosen to live in or what , but she’s just now starting to imagine what eternity may feel like ------ bleary , bland nothingness . same cycles every century . always the same problems , always the wrong answers . it hasn’t fucked with her groove before , so why now ? believing a taste of her old comrades may help awaken the desire to exist again , lilith’s settled in this small , creepy town and is hoping --- hoping --- the foggy streets will cure her of the blues .

𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬.

date of birth. unknown ∕ sun sign. unknown ∕ moon sign. unknown ∕ chinese zodiac. unknown ∕ character alignment. lawful evil ∕ personality type. enfp ∕ temperament. choleric ∕ hometown. depths of hell ∕ sexual attraction. pansexual ∕ romantic attraction. panromantic ∕ home. the village ∕ haunts. the town square , cafe on main , crimson , moonlight salon

personality. angry , weary , protective and territorial . whiskey grandmother energy . spent centuries as a young little sprite doing her thing and now she just wants to chill for a while . falls in love incredibly easy with innocent faces and is drawn to youthful energies . not a fan of noise or showy things , most comfortable taking naps in her home with her array of stray cats and house guests . plays favorites without a doubt . oddly competitive . loves being pampered . a little lazy , lethargy heavy in the bones . clicks her tongue disapprovingly a lot and has mastered The Stare . hates and loves people and thinks everyone’s an idiot . antagonistic as hell towards holier-than-thous . doesn’t have time for your shit and your problems .

lilith is actually a very good principal —— though somewhat disorganized , she’s managed to corral ( scare ) test scores up by 30% overall the past few years . she has the PTA in the palm of her hand and attends all of the after-school events ( though she’s likely to be spotted in heavy sunglasses in the smoking section ) ( connections : old students , current students , parents around town , fundraiser attendees and coordinators )

lives in a “haunted” old victorian . heavy drapes , wrought-iron fences , overgrown vines , close to a cemetery and with furniture that’s mostly covered in dust protectors . despite the taboo appearance , it’s a known safe place for runaways or misfit children who need a place to stay , regardless of affiliation ( connections : former house guests , current house guests , young demons she’s --- gruffly --- keeping an eye on , neighbors )

can change her appearance at will to look younger . normally does at clubs because its’ easier on the ears and eyes , but sometimes she just does it just Because ( connections : past lovers --- in this life and in the past --- her own demonic spawn , catfishes )

disappears back into hell when she’s in mourning , and she’s incredibly protective over her children ( even the ones she doesn’t like ) ( connections : hunters , Too Curious Humans , angels and nephilim ) she despises the angelic taint and curses heaven for all the pain they’ve caused her and her kind since creation .

wanted arcs : healing , empowerment , crusade

#hell.intro

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babybluesquid · 1 year ago

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Session 9, An Offensive Delivery

Our Players this Week:

Hog 112, they/them, Weapon Thaumaturge, skirmisher warforged, the leader of the inquisitives agency and founding member, tends toward practicality and following a command structure.

Vestige, they/them, Bones Oracle, warforged placed into a human body, a healer and the agency’s fleshborn face, remains on the periphery with an individualistic streak.

Strategy, it/its, Empiricist Investigator, officer warforged, an old model who’s seen much action and uses the tactics they learned back during the war now under Sharn.

Samanta, she/they, Swashbuckler Fencer, skirmisher warforged, a spotter during the war who turned to spying for one of Sharn’s criminal families before joining the inquisitives agency.

Mage, they/them, Universalist Wizard, living wand warforged, a young forged who was built after the Mourning, looking to find their place in the world.

——————

Remarkably, all the sleuths are still alive and the arsonists are defeated. Strategy sets to picking over the field. The enemy was a shifter, a dwarf two humans, a goblin archer, and the corpses seem to be a dwarf and a goblin as well. It collects a finger from one of the no longer immolating corpses, then locates six obsidian stones. Two were lodged in the foreheads of the corpses and they’re burning to the touch. The remaining were on the persons of the four arsonists and they whisper. The archer hasn’t got a stone on them. Looking through the arsonists’ bag of holding, it finds a severed goblin arm. Disturbing. Some arguing ensues over what to do with the bodies. They can’t be left, seeing as the arsonists use the dead as weapons. They resolve to collect them all up and take them to the Blackened Book, using Halt’s authority to bring them to the upper city.

The party splits up to complete the tasks. Hog goes to give Rattle Row a look over, it’s safe. Strategy, Mage, Shot, Halt, Ironskull, and Fredrick head to the drop off the corpses. Strategy warns the Blackened Boo to dispose of them, they’re dangerous even in death. Halt asks it for the obsidian stones for investigation, and it hands over one of each variety. The coppers have to return to work, but Shot opts to stick around till she can find her still missing friend.

Samanta and Vestige carry the prisoner arsonist back to the agency. Ventra’s there in the entryway, chatting up that changeling reporter Vil. Their eyes flit down to the unconscious woman Vestige and Samanta are carrying. “Inquisitive business,” Vestige says to preempt the question. “Will you be available for interview soon then?” They ask. “No, this’ll keep is quite busy.” The two forged carry the arsonist into the interrogation room and tie her up to a chair. She wakes. Eyes wild, she thrashes against the bonds, not giving up until the point of exhaustion. Vestige opts to give her the night to think things over before the interrogation. The others head back and set to repairing each other. Vestige sleeps. They dream.

Morning, Vestige reports to Hog 112’s office, “good morning.” “Good morning,” Hog replies. “You almost died in that fight there. How are you doing?” “Well, I’m not dead.” “True.” “You alright?” Hog asks. “I’ve had another vision,” Vestige reports. “I sense it’s not the happy kind.” “I don’t get happy visions.” “Ah, what was it about?” “I saw the figure made of shadows again. This time its quarry was Shadowblack. The setting was more familiar. I saw the Red Hammer. And then a celestial being with a flaming sword.” Hog muses on that, “well, this can’t have been something that really happened. Have you been able to talk to Shadowblack recently?” “No. He’s been missing.” “Were you worried before this?” Vestige’s reply carries anger, “I do suspect he’s dead now.”

That hangs a bit, Hog asks, “well, dead of what? Who would have any reason to kill Shadowblack? I mean, that was a strange fellow, but it just doesn’t make any sense to me.” “Sometimes going after our connections,” Vestige surmises, “first Clever, now Shadowblack. I’m thinking we’ve got ourselves a powerful enemy. Doesn’t seem to be Jack-in-Irons though.” “We’re under siege and we don’t know it.” “Seems to be so.” “Whoever it is, why would they come after us?” Vestige sighs, “I’m thinking we’re looking into something we shouldn’t.” “Yeah but what’ve Clever and Shadowblack got to do with it?” Hog’s frustration grows, “it’s not like Shadowblack knows anything about what we’re doing in here.”

“Well,” Vestige admits, “when I was looking into Shadowblack, trying to find him again, I met a forged who said that Shadowblack knows Aggregate.” “Aggregate, that’s that Blade, isn’t it?” “Seems so.” “Well, Aggregate sounded to me just like some kinda homicidal gangster. I dunno what that one could possibly have to do with some force of shadow,” Hog grasps for some understanding of the vision, coming up with nothing, “all kinds of strange things happening in this city recently.” “I don’t rightly know why my visions are filled with a shadowy figure,” Vestige agrees, “but I think that I oughta figure out who they are and put a stop to them.” “When we wrap up this case, we’re gonna look for them. You really think someone got to Clever?” “I think so. Don’t see any other reason I’d have a vision about her.”

Knocking. One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three again. It’s Jhaala’s pattern. “Well, nothing’s ever final till we find the body,” Hog says before going to their office door. It is indeed Jhaala, holding a box. “Someone’s sent us a box,” she reports. “Who?” Jhaala shrugs, nonchalant, “I don’t know, but it’s not a blast disc. Ventra performed detect magic on it. It’s clean.” “Should be safe then.” Hog takes it over to their desk and opens it up. They freeze. Then shudder. Inside is Clever’s head. There’s a note. “Tip for inquisitives,” it reads, “don’t snoop in on people who hire assassins - Slick.” Hog exclaims, “what scheme of Khyber is this?!” Then shuts the box. “Slick?!” The name’s familiar. That criminal from the papers. “Slick?! Well somebody’s getting their guts yanked out! Right Vestige, let’s go tell the troops!” Vestige nods affirmation and goes to gather the sleuths.

Hog’s still shaking when the group’s arrayed before them, but their voice is clear and commanding, “alright soldiers, Clever’s dead. We get her head in a box and somebody’s gonna pay for it. At the moment it’s looking like that Blade Aggregate’s at the center of all this, and it looks like they’re two steps ahead of us. From now on, we need to be careful cause it looks like they’re after our contacts. In this investigation, secrecy and care are the name of the game. When we find out who’s behind this, they’re gonna wish they went to Khyber.”

The hush wears off Strategy first, “from now on, we should stick together on our missions. If they’re coming after our contacts, they may come after us. They are waiting for an opportunity.” “If so, we might be able to turn it around on them,” Hog says. “I agree,” Vestige adds, “no more wandering off alone. That’s when Clever got picked off.” “Who’ll interrogate the prisoner?” Strategy asks. Vestige touches their dagger, “I’d like to take a crack at her.” “Strategy,” Hog says, “you go inspect Clever’s head.” “Alright,” it replies then turns to Vestige, handing them the arsonists’ bag of holding, “here’s the burning stone. If the cultist doesn’t talk, you can use it on her. The cultists might not enjoy being burned as much as they like setting fires. Mage and I can investigate the head.” “Mage is still a customer,” Vestige points out. Mage pipes up then, “I don’t mind.” “Besides,” Hog adds, “if Mage leaves now, they might end up a head in a box.” “Lovely,” they reply.

Vestige and Samanta go to the holding cell. The arsonist is there, awake and still but her eyes are still wild. Vestige approaches, arms cross, “you were gonna go burn down Rattle Row, huh.” No response. “That was stupid, that’s our territory,” Vestige continues, “you’re one of Jack-in-Irons’ fellows, right?” Still nothing. “What locations are you going after next?” When she’s still quiet, Vestige draws their dagger, “look, we killed your friends, and we won’t care much if we kill ya too.” Finally, she speaks, “pain cannot touch me now.” “I kinda doubt that. Your friends did die screaming. Why don’t we give it a try, huh?” The woman tilts her chin up and stares, “death will simply join me with the fire as I am joined now. It is no change in conditions.”

At that, Vestige cannot help but smile beneath their mask, “oh, well I’m sorry but you’re not gonna join the fire when I kill you. See, my magic’s from Dolurrh and if my touch kills you, that’s where you’ll go, same as any other person. Whatever little connection you’ve drawn with Khyber, it won’t be able to draw you in.” Her eyes widen, then narrow, “even that be the case, I will not betray the conflagration.” “We already know who your master is, and we already know where your base is. No reason to keep your mouth shut anymore. I’m thinking your little operation won’t last the week. Now, where are you gonna target next?” The woman grins, “attack’s commencing today, soon. Find out.” Vestige pulls off their mask, glaring at her hatefully. They call upon their will, reach out, and grasp her soul. They wrench it free. She dies. Samanta stares down at the dead arsonist, “better that you did it instead of I, less messy.” Vestige nods, replacing their mask, “let’s get this cleaned up.”

Meanwhile, Strategy’s investigating Clever’s head. There’s no damage done to it, well, aside from the fact that it’s now separated from her body. The cut’s relatively clean, but doesn’t match the Jack-in-Irons victims. Some other tool was used. It also can’t determine the time of death for sure. Vestige approaches to return the burning stone then. “Did she talk?” It asks them. “She said there’s gonna be another attack today,” Vestige reports, “but possessed little regard for her life so she didn’t say where.” “Did you kill her already?” “Yeah.” Strategy’s unbothered, “well, you need to get rid of the body.” Vestige nods.

Strategy proceeds to inspect the goblin arm from the arsonists’ bag of holding. This limb was removed with Jack-in-Irons’ typical precision. It then determines from the finger it took off the fire corpse that the bodies were perpetually burning, but not consumed by the flame. It seems the obsidian was the source of the fire and the force which animated the body. Thus, remove the stone, deanimate the corpse. Strategy alerts Hog to its findings and then the sleuths go to dump the arsonist’s body and the goblin arm in a lava pool to destroy the evidence.

Once again, it’s come to a race against the arsonists. With the Old Spook blocking their hideout, the sleuths gotta stop the ghost first. Hog 112 figures that burying Fenwell’s family proper will weaken the ghost enough to exorcize it without a fight. Mage and Vestige head to the necropolis to find a priest. They find Jaki, a halfling priest of Boldrei who agrees to help with the burial after Vestige impresses its importance upon him. Strategy and Samanta go back to Markden Fenwell’s house to search for anything else that might help. They find another child skeleton. Hog goes the the Circle of Seven to learn the occult rites necessary to convince the ghost to leave. The party reconvenes and brings the bones to Jaki to be interred in the City of the Dead.

Fallen, Markden’s territory. Hog begins to lay out the sigils and ritual components in the street. Vestige stands in front of them. The others hide behind corners and down alleys, weapons drawn and ready for if that Old Spook goes hostile. Markden appears. The air is still and cold.

Vestige approaches, “Markden Fenwell, priest of Boldrei, your family is in Dolurrh. It’s time for you to rest.” The ghost breathes out his response, “I can’t.” “We’ve laid your family’s bones to rest in the city of the dead,” they tell him. “And yet the Sovereigns didn’t stop the fall from taking them from me.” Seeing Vestige failing to talk to ghost down, Hog hurries to complete the ritual. They begin to chant in the secret words. The ghost begins to fade. Then remanifests! His connection seems tenuous, but Marken won’t be going down to rest without a fight. Hog drops their chant to shout, “your Sovereigns may not want you, but they’re gonna get you all the same!”

The inquisitives emerge from hiding, bringing weapons and spells against the ghost. To little effect! Hog makes a quick determination, “the energy of life will hurt it!” Their attacks slash through its form but it reincorporates with little damage. Marken target Vestige in particular, sending a confusing assault against their mind. Then, he punches Hog through, knocking them inactive. The rest hurry to attack, but most weapons phase right through it. They’re powerless to stop the Old Spook from also knocking out Shot. Strategy focuses, aims its war rod, and fires. The hit is direct. Markden Fenwell dissipates to nothing. Shaken by the encounter, it hurries to repair Hog. Vestige tends to Shot. Then, it’s on to take down the arsonists.

——————

Notables:

Vil, they/them, a changeling reporter who’s sticking their nose into the HF&A after Hog killed that werewolf. Hopefully they leave well enough alone.

#pf2e #pathfinder campaign #pathfinder story #my post #my writing #hf&a llc #eberron #ttrpg story #ttrpg recap #session 9 #dnd campaign #vestige #hog 112 #strategy #samanta #mage #warforged

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