#Iside

[citrusplasma]

Iside for @wildmelon cas game

[pier-carlo-universe]

A Ovest di Thule di Alberto Costantini: Un capolavoro ucronico che sfida la storia. Recensione di Alessandria today

Con "A Ovest di Thule", Alberto Costantini ci regala un avvincente romanzo storico che mescola magistralmente realtà e immaginazione

Con “A Ovest di Thule”, Alberto Costantini ci regala un avvincente romanzo storico che mescola magistralmente realtà e immaginazione. Pubblicato da Gilgamesh Edizioni, il libro esplora la possibilità che i Romani abbiano scoperto il Nuovo Mondo secoli prima di Cristoforo Colombo, attraverso la straordinaria vicenda del nobile romano Publio Valerio Hirpus. La trama. Il romanzo segue le avventure…

[madonnacelestiale]

La Madre generosa: dal culto di Iside alla Madonna Iactans

A cura di Lucia Arbace

Nel corso della visita al Museo Nazionale d'Abruzzo, ormai noto come MuNDA, non si rimane certo indifferenti dinanzi alle più autorevoli e maestose icone esposte. Stupiscono e affascinano soprattutto tre capolavori collocati nella sala del Medioevo, caratterizzati dalla severa e autorevole iconografia della Madonna come Regina che si sovrappone, nella doppia valenza dottrinale e devozionale, alla rappresentazione della Madonna del latte. Soprattutto la Madonna cosiddetta de Ambro e la Madonna di Montereale comunicano l'irresistibile fascino delle terre lontane, delle pietre preziose, delle stoffe e delle perle venute da Oriente, colpiscono per l'intonazione austera, la regalità della posa e l'essenzialità del tratto, trasmettono il carisma distaccato dell'amore vittorioso perché fuggente ed eppure appaiono così vicine, così umane, grazie all'ostentazione del seno, amorevolmente offerto al Bambino.

Pescara, 2019, Edizioni ZiP

ISBN: 9788897131212

95 pagine

Libro

https://www.academia.edu/95301877/Madonna_lactans_sovrana_Elena_De_Panfilis_ottobre

Approfondimenti

https://museonazionaledabruzzo.cultura.gov.it/presentazione-del-libro-la-madre-generosa-dal-culto-di-iside-alla-madonna-lactans/

https://storico.beniculturali.it/mibac/export/MiBAC/sito-MiBAC/Menu-Utility/Immagine/index.html_1475065464.html

https://museiabruzzo.cultura.gov.it/news/notifiche/la-madre-generosa-dal-culto-di-iside-alla-madonna-lactans/

#madonnacelestiale #beataverginemaria #auspicemaria #madregenerosa #cultodiiside #iside #madonnaIactans #madonnadellatte #abruzzo

[tremaghi]

Benvenuto Agosto!

Per 40 anni della mia vita é stato il mio mese preferito e già il primo di settembre iniziavo il conto alla rovescia dei giorni che mancavano al suo inizio nell’anno successivo. Per me era il sinonimo delle ferie, almeno due settimane di relax assoluto e non m’importava se le trascorrevo a casa, senza recarmi in alcun luogo di villeggiatura, l’importante era staccare la spina dal lavoro.Dedicato…

[dominousworld]

ISIDE

a cura della Redazione Antica dea madre egiziana, Iside è il prototipo di moglie fedele e madre fertile e protettiva.Associata all’astro Sirio, il cui sorgere segnala l’equinozio di primavera, ha coma simbolo la Luna e viene spesso mostrata incoronata da un globo lunare annidato tra corna di toro o di ariete.In origine maga mortale, è detto che Iside acquisì l’immortalità ingannando Ra, dio del…

[thousandisthemaximum]

10 album per capire In Memoria degli ISIDE

https://www.dlso.it/site/2023/05/29/iside-in-memoria-album/

[nienteedispeciale]

voglio troppo urlarla ad un concerto

[scienza-magia]

La magia nell'antico Egitto

La tradizione magica risale a tempi antichissimi. Non è certo la Grecia a custodirne i segreti originari ovvero quelli più lontani nel tempo. Per rintracciare una tradizione già consolidata di sapienza magica dobbiamo risalire all’antico Egitto. Dobbiamo dire che sulle rive del Nilo non esisteva nulla di simile alle religioni rivelate. In quei luoghi e tra quelle popolazioni i testi di riferimento erano costituiti da raccolte di incantesimi e formule magiche. Così accadeva nelle pratiche funerarie regolate da precisi rituali che dovevano garantire al defunto un viaggio felice e un felice soggiorno nella realtà che l’attendeva dopo la morte. Nella religione egiziana i sacerdoti maghi si appellavano al potere della parola e recitando misteriose formule magiche si proponevano di consentire alla divinità la più ampia possibilità di operare richiamandola sulla terra e più precisamente nelle statue. Di conseguenza tali statue diventarono non una semplice rappresentazione della divinità ma una dimora in cui la divinità raffigurata abitava e poteva agire. Pertanto nella religione egiziana gli dei non erano entità irraggiungibili. Al contrario essi erano raggiungibili se si conosceva il loro nome segreto nascosto sotto la coltre dei loro molti appellativi. I sacerdoti maghi che conoscevano il nome segreto delle divinità possedevano un immenso potere magico che permetteva loro di far agire le divinità secondo il proprio volere. Chi sapeva investirsi di tale potere sulla dignità e di conseguenza sull’ordinato svolgimento delle realtà umane e cosmiche era senza dubbio considerato nell’antico Egitto un sacerdote-mago. Dobbiamo dire che nell’antico Egitto alla base delle azioni del mago vi era l’idea radicata di una vera e propria “simpatia” cosmica. Per dirla in altro modo in Egitto era considerato mago colui che volendo interagire con le forze cosmiche di natura divina non si sottometteva a quelle forze ma cercava in qualche modo di controllarle. In una società intensamente magica quale era quella dell’antico Egitto il dialogo con le forze invisibili magiche nonché con le divinità era frequente appannaggio tanto dei sacerdoti-maghi quanto della gente comune. Nella religione egiziana Osiride e la sua sposa Iside rappresentavano la garanzia di una salvezza sempre possibile per qualunque individuo credente. Del mondo egiziano ogni essere umano si riteneva dotato di elementi vagamente spirituali quali “il doppio “ “l’anima” “lo spirito” “la personalità” i quali tutti consentivano di rapportarsi al divino in senso augurale tanto per il singolo individuo quanto per l’intero cosmo di affrontare con minor paura la morte momento essenziale della religione magica dell’antico Egitto. I testi sacri della religione egizia cui ancora oggi è possibile fare riferimento (i Testi delle Piramidi quelli del Sarcofago e del Libro dei Morti) sono tutti più o meno strettamente collegati con i riti funerari con il tema della morte. Sono libri magici ricchi di incantesimi e formule di parole segrete cui spesso si attribuivano incredibili potenzialità. A titolo di esempio citeremo le formule magiche racchiuse nel Libro della Saggezza di Thot. Tali formule dovevano consentire di incantare il cielo, la terra, l’aldilà, i monti e i mari. Ma se il libro di Thot con le sue misteriose e potentissime formule magiche rivestivano una grandissima importanza nella religione magico egiziana nulla hanno da invidiargli i molti papiri magici giunti fino a noi. Essi sono autentici manuali di magia costituiti da materiali diversi tra i quali prevalgono le formule incantatorie. In tali papiri magici si legge di scribi che pronunciavano formule sacre, di maghi che riuscivano a leggere lettere sigillate senza aprirle: di sogni e di presagi di sventura o di fortuna nonché di magie trasformatrici vendicatrici ma anche propiziatrici e difensive. Per fare un esempio gli antichi egizi erano soliti rivolgersi alle divinità per chiedere la salvezza di una persona morente. Ma ogni morte evitata ne comportava una sostitutiva quasi una, legge di compensazione e di equilibrio per evitare ogni inopportuna rottura dell’ordine cosmico. D’altro canto fin dai suoi inizi immemorabili la magia è sempre stata fondata su una sapienza capace di assicurare pratiche operative trasformatrici in sintonia con il fragilissimo equilibrio che tiene insieme tutte le cose dell’universo fisico e psichico, materiale e spirituale. Per le popolazioni situate nella valle del Nilo la magia era “heka “e la parola indica l’energia attiva dell’universo donata agli uomini dalla divinità per ristabilire gli scompensi e gli squilibri provocati dalle forze del male. Poiché le malattie indicavano una rottura dell’equilibrio organico la magia era anche medicina e il mago era anche medico. Nell’antico Egitto i sacerdoti maghi per mezzo delle pratiche magiche ottenevano l’aiuto divino là dove le sole forze dell’uomo risultavano insufficienti. Inoltre per mezzo della magia tali sacerdoti maghi giungevano anche a conoscenze altrimenti impossibili da ottenere relative al passato al presente e al futuro. Ovviamo dire che l’Egitto pullulava di ricorrenze specifiche magico religiose feste rituali e città sacre nonché di spazi e tempi più di altri adatti al culto magico. Pertanto la civiltà egiziana era una civiltà impregnata di spiritualità magico-esoterica. Dobbiamo precisare che al centro della religione magica egiziana si trovava per molti aspetti il tema della morte. Più precisamente vi era la ferma convinzione che la vita continuasse dopo la morte. Pertanto gli antichi egizi erano sicuri che vi era un altro mondo aldilà di quello dei vivi con cui era possibile entrare in diretta comunicazione. Tale mondo dei morti era un mondo altro dunque non diversamente da quello delle divinità che venivano come abbiamo detto in precedenza chiamate a essere presenti in casi di particolare necessità. Per fare un esempio concreto si chiamava in causa il mondo delle divinità quando si voleva conservare in vita una persona già quasi alle soglie della morte. In tal caso i sacerdoti maghi egiziani utilizzavano delle statuette raffiguranti una determinata divinità. Tali statuette agivano per una propria virtù magica sebbene alimentata da formule e pratiche rituali magiche. Dobbiamo dire che alcune invocazioni magiche utilizzate dai sacerdoti egiziani appaiono oggi assai curiose. Tali invocazioni prescrivono come utilizzare materiali oggetti parole allo scopo di convincere una divinità riottosa a farsi viva di persona. Spesso tali invocazioni alle divinità si concludevano con formule del tipo:” ti prego di manifestarsi a me qui stanotte, di parlare con me e darmi risposta veritiera sulla tal cosa intorno alla quale ti ho interrogato”. Ma a tale categorica ingiunzione alla divinità si accompagnavano da parte della persona che la invocava riti e devozioni particolari. Per fare un esempio concreto la stanza in cui si chiedeva la presenza della divinità doveva essere buia, pulita, aperta verso sud e purificata con acqua di natrom. Concludiamo tale articolo mettendo in evidenza che l’antica sapienza magica e egiziana era uno degli elementi caratterizzanti la natura profonda di quel popolo. Nell’antico Egitto infatti la magia appariva strettamente legata a una forma di religione essa stessa magica. Di conseguenza dobbiamo sottolineare che nel mondo dell’antico Egitto esisteva una sostanziale identità sia pure in una indispensabile diversità tra filosofia, sapienza, religione e magia. Prof. Giovanni Pellegrino Read the full article

[gelu-the-babosa-multiversal]

In the egyxos episode of air raiders tue part where Seth started to argue with Horus for being late, we finding out while horus was working seth had been goofing off eat sweet . I couldn't have been the only to punch Seth. I can all see iside giving Seth like dagger look

Oh absolutely! That was a jerk move on Seth's part and it feeds the idea that he was the traitor instead of Matt, you know *spoilers*

If Iside was in that scene then Seth would have been silent for the rest of the ep and not landed an eye on Horus. And buying a cake for Horus as a peace contact... to make sure Iside is no longer mad at him of course...

But I can't get that angry at him too... he is acting as if they were all in a school project and Horus forgot to do his part 🤣😂😅 I also wonder what flavor of cake Seth ate was?

[thedivinevera]

♡Black and blue♡

Dottore x reader, IL Dottore x reader, Zandick x reader, Dottore x fem!reader,

Harley Quinn & joker, acid scene from s*icide squad inspired, Insane x crazy in-love, one sided pinning in the first part, dottore is aware what he is, kissing, fluff ig, acid bath baby!

Tw: Unhealthy relationship, Dottore, crazy in-love, jumping to a pool of "safe acid" or Chemical thingy, the reader jump from the 4th floor, bad writing, bad grammar, some bad spelling incoming, a bit ooc of Dottore

How many thing can you pull just for him to realize, your complete devotion from him?... Do you think you can jump from the 4th floor of a factory and land to a pool of unknown chemical? risking your life just to complete his test? Do you think dottore is as crazy in-love as you?

“Question!” the Doctor shout, voice echoing in the factory, the only thing you hear is the bubble of acid, his voice, and you, breathing. The only thing you smell right now is the acid that you can see down there. You're in the exact location of the 4th floor of the fatui's special acid factory owned by one and only "the Doctor" you're with now. You stand there, stupidly waiting to for the crazy man, you loved so dearly to asked his question “Would you die for me?” he whisper into your ears, you can feel his breath on your face “Yes” you reply, eyes keeping a straight stare to his mask. You're insane for saying this but as the quotes said; "everybody is insane when they're in love" and that is what's happening right now.

After chasing Dottore in his factory after he leaves you alone, which everybody should be grateful for but not you, you put yourself in this scenario that can leave you with satisfaction or death and you choose this without thinking twice

“That's too easy,” he said, practically mocking you with that tone, “Would you—would you live... For me” his tone emphasizing the Live part. “yes” again but now louder “Careful... Do not say this oath, thoughtlessly” he put his hands in your chin and forcing you to look more to his mask, covered eyes “desire becomes surrender, surrender becomes—power!” he shout as he let his hands remove the loose hair from your face “You want this?” he asked “I do...” you answer “say it, say it, say—it, pretty, pretty, pretty—” he repeats showcasing his Insanity, maybe that would make you leave him, he said to himself

“please...” you begged, that's the last answer dottore needs to just send you off to death. For you its a gamble, he either save you or leave you, but for some it's an absolute Insanity.

You're crazy, dottore said to himself as you whisper, the last plea to his ears, not as crazy as him but crazy, crazy enough to love him truly that you would go overboard just to showcase a complete loyalty. “good.. then” he opened his arms signaling for you to jump on the bubbling acid, from the fourth floor of this factory, not expecting that you will do it, nor going for it but you did arms open as you let yourself fall to the acid, back first, you can feel the air blowing your hair and clothes, you can smell the toxic chemical down there, it feels like you're in a slow motion, everything feels ethereal and not even a ounce of regret is in your body then finally you succumb to the pool of chemical not thinking twice, you let yourself drown to the acid not moving completely, letting the chemical cover your entire body, this creamy, green colored toxin you let your body touch, just because you love this insane, murderous, fucking crazy, absolutely delusional, yet deadly handsome man, you let him order you to this insane things, just so he can see how many length your devotion can put you in.

As you let yourself succumb to the chemical, you have Dottore leaving you and letting you drown in the chemical and putting yourself to death but as he tries to leave something about him that makes him stop his track, something at the back of his head that keep telling to him that he couldn't let you die like that, he will regret it and HE WILL— REGRET IT. He grunt to himself as he removed his coat and mask, without thinking twice he jumped into the acid without hesitation, succumbing to the voice inside his head, letting the voice that he ignore to just control his body and blind his brain and let his heart that he never thought he still has, to take the lead

He swims to the bottom of the container taking your unconscious body above this pool of chemical. He kisses your lips, giving you air to breathe, as your eyes open you see Dottore, cover in the same chemical you're also covered with, now without his mask you can clearly see his ruby eyes. He Kisses you once again, you press yourself to his lips like it would be your last kiss “You are fucking insane, you know that?” he muttered “But I love it” he said as he gives you another tender kiss, completely taking your breath away, his sweet kisses are like a kiss of a devil. Absolutely divine, that is what you're feeling right now, you don't know what would happen next but you are more ready to take it, especially when it's from him. He pulled away his lips and laugh like a maniac he is, but that cut off when he pressed your lips to him, and his teeth eagerly bit the lower lip, letting yours and his tongue taste the blood. Love can make everybody crazy but he's more than crazy his fucking insane

[useless-latin]

laculatus, -a, -um, checkered, Isid.

[avirael]

The Frozen Lake

It was the third day since he had stopped feeling like dying.

About a week ago he had woken up from his far too lifelike fever dream and a few days later the last spikes of the fever itself had been gone too just like the hallucinations it had brought in his sleep.

He still had been sick though and welcomed Rael telling him to stay in bed until he was perfectly healthy again all too eagerly.

While he still sneezed every now and then, it was at least tolerable now, still annoying but he didn’t feel incredibly uncomfortable anymore.

That day, just like the last and also the ones before that, he had awoken late. Against Rael’s order to stay in bed he had found the courage to get up and take a look out of the window. It was a sunny day, which in Coerthas still meant that it was bitterly cold though. But the sun was shining brightly and already high in the sky too which meant it had to be almost midday. He had slept way too long again, way to many hours for a surprisingly dreamless sleep. Or maybe it was exactly the lack of dreams that allowed him to finally rest, after all in the past there rarely had been good ones…

For a moment he considered to go downstairs and ask for a late breakfast if that wasn’t too insolent given the late hour but then a knock sounded from the door.

Quickly he hurried back to bed, just in case it was Rael, but the person who carefully peeked into the room a few seconds later wasn’t a viera.

“Ah, you are awake! That’s good!”, Haurchefant exclaimed happily and brought a small tray with hot soup and also something warm to drink. “It is so late already, you must be horribly hungry. Alphinaud checked in on you earlier but you were still fast asleep and he didn’t have the heart to wake you.”

A little uncertain on how to answer to that, A’viloh just nodded. Haurchefant grinned, put down a mug on the bedside table and handed A‘viloh a comfortingly warm bowl filled with some rather delicious smelling stew.

Instead of fetching the chair from the small desk by the window, Haurchefant sat down at the lower end of the bed balancing the tray with his own lunch on his knees. Rael once told him that ishgardian society had an absurd amount of strict and antiquated rules and so A’viloh couldn’t help but wonder, that although it seemed like a very appropriate distance to him, in Haurchefant’s hometown the fact alone that he dared to sit on someone else’s bed was probably scandalous.

“I hope you don’t mind me having lunch with you.”, the Elezen asked as he noticed A‘viloh staring.

Quickly the Miqo’te lowered his gaze to his bowl of soup. “Not at all.”, he muttered and tried a spoonful of the food just to change the topic. “Mhh, this is very good!”, he mumbled, still chewing, surprised by how good this really was compared to the bland food and bitter teas Rael had usually brought him these last few days. It must have been the Viera’s way of punishing him for running away.

Haurchefant laughed and then for a while they ate in silence.

“You look a lot healthier already.”, the Elezen stated after a while with an amiable smile on his face before taking a sip from his mug.

A‘viloh shrugged a little embarrassed, since it had been his own fault that he hadn’t been well in the first place. “Only because all of you took so good care of me.”

Haurchefant nodded. “You know, you had us all horribly worried right?”

“Sorry about that.”, he said and guitily looked into his mug.

Curiously Haurchefant eyed him for a moment. “Why did you do that anyway? Run out into the storm.”

A bit surprised A’viloh looked up. Had they all thought he had done this on purpose? “There wasn’t a storm when I left! What do I know about weather? I didn’t expect it to start snowing, let alone that much!”

That made the Elezen chuckle again but he still looked at him expecting an answer.

“Still… why did you leave?”

“I assumed Rael told you…”, A’viloh replied not sure what Haurchefant wanted to hear exactly. He nodded. “Rael did. But maybe I want to hear it from you…”

A’viloh sighed. His plan hadn’t been very smart and he felt a little uncomfortable having to explain his reasons to someone else, when in retrospect it didn’t make much sense even to his own ears.

“You know the… circumstances under which we fled Ul’dah… I couldn’t… um… the fact that we didn’t even know what happened to our friends… I wanted to find out, because it doesn’t seem fair to me that we escaped while all of them didn’t…”

“Mhh…”, Haurchefant nodded thoughtfully but let go off the topic for now. Instead he asked, „And how are you feeling today?”

Somehow that question confused A’viloh even more.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a simple question, isn’t it?”, he said still smiling politely.

Of course it was a simple question. Just the answer felt unreasonable complicated to him. To make things even more difficult people who asked such a question usually wanted to hear “I‘m fine, and you?” or “Very good, thank you.” for an answer and rarely the truth. They certainly didn’t want to hear “A few days ago I was convinced I was going to die and honestly it wasn’t that bad, so now I‘m still not sure wether I am happy to still be alive or not”.

“Alright… I guess.”, he mumbled instead. He had never been a good liar and could only hope that this fact wasn’t too obvious for the Elezen.

“You know what?”, Haurchefant proclaimed after watching him thoughtfully for a second. “Today is a wonderful day. We should go for a walk.”

“A walk?!”, A’viloh exclaimed wide-eyed, as if he had just asked something unreasonable of him.

“Why not?”

A’viloh couldn’t think of a good reason why not, other than that he was supposed to stay in bed, so he shrugged.

“Where’s Rael?”, he asked instead.

Haurchefant smirked. “Do you need Rael’s permission to go outside?”

“Of course not.”, the Miqo’te protested. “But Rael will be mad if I run off again, especially against their orders to stay in bed.”

“Rael and Alphinaud went to the observatory earlier.”, Haurchefant explained. “We’ll be back before they are, I promise.”

What was A’viloh supposed to say against that and also against the expectant look on the Elezen’s face. He took another glimpse towards the window and decided that it looked nice enough to go outside.

“Fine.”

“Good!”, Haurchefant exclaimed happily and collected their empty bowls and mugs. “There should be warm clothes for you in the wardrobe. If you need anything else just ask someone. I’ll wait for you by the northern gate.”

After Haurchefant had left, A’viloh remained sitting in his bed for a moment longer contemplating on the Elezen’s question. Yes, he felt better again. But better in what comparison? Better than a few days ago when he had felt and also been half-dead? Though he didn’t feel sick anymore now, there still was a weigh on his heart. From his plan that had failed so spectacularly and even more so from the dreams he wouldn’t have minded to keep on dreaming forever.

Vehemently he shook his head and decided not to think about that now or he would just crawl back under the blanket of his comfortably warm bed again. Instead he got up and took a look into the wardrobe. Almost none of these were his own clothes of course since all he possessed were the ones he had worn on his body that day they fled Ul’dah. Very unsuitable for this climate. But neither did he see the borrowed clothes he had worn that night when he had tried to run away. Everything in here looked even softer and warmer like someone had wanted to make sure he was feeling comfortable. To his surprise the things didn’t look that much too big for him either, unlike his last set of clothes. Besides a few Hyur most people here at Camp Dragonhead were grown up Elezen but these clothes looked like they belonged to neither. Maybe it were clothes for Elezen children, he wondered and also thought that in that case someone must have brought them here just for him.

Grateful for so much effort he picked a few pieces and got dressed. Lazily he ran his fingers through his hair to get rid of the worst knots but the look into the small mirror at the washbasin, where his tired face stared back at him reproachfully, just made him sigh. Once he was ready he took the warm coat out of the wardrobe too and went out to look for Haurchefant. Just as he had said, the Elezen was standing by the gate that led to the north-east, towards the ruins of the Steel Vigil.

From afar Haurchefant already recognised the Miqo’te, his bright red hair a singularity among all the people living here. Pleasantly smiling as always he waved at him and A’viloh couldn’t help but smile a little too and wave back as he hurriedly walked towards him.

“There you are! I see the clothes fit you nicely.”

A’viloh nodded.

“They do. Thank you very much for these.”

Haurchefant dismissively waved with one hand. “It’s the least I could do…”

But he had done a lot more than that, A’viloh thought. “I think there’s more I need to thank you for. Rael told me it was you who saved my life.”

“Mhhh…”, Haurchefant tilted his head as if he wasn’t sure if this statement was entirely the truth. “Rael is too humble. They played a bit of a role in that too. After all it was Rael who noticed you were gone. And it was also Rael who didn’t leave your bedside and tried their best to heal you.”

A’viloh remembered waking up and finding the usually quite touch-averse viera cuddled up to him with a look on their face so horribly sad like he had never seen on them before. Rael had pretended it was nothing but it had been a very unconvincing performance. Asked about it Alphinaud had only offered a few sentences about how worried Rael had looked and how they had used all kinds of spells he himself had never seen or heard of before, all of it to try and save him. It had made him feel even more guilty for his stupidity.

So maybe Haurchefant was right. But still it had been him who had risked going out into the storm to find him.

“Anyway. I still want to thank you! Honestly.”, he insisted. But how honestly was it really?

Sure, he was glad to still be alive. After all his plan hadn’t been to run out into a blizzard and freeze to death, although some of them seemed to think that was the case. But once he found himself in this situation he had to admit that he had welcomed his fate rather willingly. A fact that shocked even himself a little looking back at it now.

“You’re welcome. After all you wouldn’t be any help to your friends frozen to death out there.”, Haurchefant joked with a wry smile on his lips.

“I guess not...”, A’viloh muttered, the topic of his friends making his mood visibly sink again.

Of course the Elezen noticed and his smile turned into a playful grin. “But I acted a little selfish too, you know? I think Camp Dragonhead is a lot friendlier with your company and I would like to have you and your pretty smile around a little longer.”

For a moment A’viloh’s eyes shot up to look at the others face before he quickly pretended that something somewhere a little bit to his left was a lot more interesting. Sometimes Haurchefant randomly said things, A’viloh hadn’t had the slightest idea how to react to. Not because he was that oblivious but simply because it puzzled him. Nonetheless the air suddenly didn’t feel that cold anymore on his face.

Haurchefant was always very kind to him. Well, he mostly was kind to everybody but sometimes he seemed to admire him especially. Him of all people, although there was nothing special about him. Haurchefant sometimes spoke of him like he was one of the greatest heroes of all time and it felt so ridiculous to him. He was just silly, cowardly A‘viloh! What had he ever achieved in his miserable life to justify such admiration? The people called him a Warrior of Light but wasn’t that some grand overstatement? Some days he thought all of this had been a horrible mistake. A great misunderstanding! Then he wondered how he had ever gotten entangled in this madness in the first place and also if he ever would get out of it again. But what else should he do with his life anyway...

While A’viloh’s brain still screeched in desperate search for a proper response, Haurchefant seemed to realise he had flustered him and glossed it over by gesturing to the gate.

“How about we walk a few yalms? There’s something you need to see!”

Still too dumbstruck to speak or to even wonder what the Elezen was talking about, A’viloh nodded and then proceeded to follow him out into the snowy landscape.

After a few minutes Haurchefant paused and took a deep breath. “Isn’t the air wonderful today?”

A’viloh followed his example, breathed deeply and let his gaze wander over the snow covered landscape with a few pines here and there and the mountains and ruins of the Steel Vigil in the distance. The air was cool and fresh, still cold enough that the warm sun couldn’t melt the snow. Instead the rays of sunshine made the scenery shine and sparkle as if everything was covered not in ice but in millions over millions of tiny diamonds.

“It is.”, he answered and smiled, surprised how beautiful this inhospitable landscape could be, before with a sudden spark of curiosity he finally asked. “Where are we going?”

“It’s not far anymore.”, Haurchefant said with a grin on his face and pointed into another direction. Shortly after and only a bit further ahead they reached a small lake.

As they got closer A‘viloh noticed that it not only was covered in a layer of snow and ice but also that quite a few off-duty soldiers, given the proximity to the camp he assumed they had to be, were standing right on top of the frozen lake. No, they were not quite standing. It looked more like they were dancing or flying maybe. More or less gracefully they moved over the lake‘s surface in fluid swift strides, some just moving in wide circles and other swirling around this way or that. A’viloh had never seen something like this and it looked strange and impossible but at the same time very beautiful to him.

The two of them had almost reached the lake by then, A’viloh a few steps ahead to get a better look at the wondrous people on the ice and he already wanted to ask how they did that, when his attention was drawn elsewhere by a curious squawking sound.

“Oh! Look at them!”, the Miqo’te exclaimed, his fascinated smile still turning a little brighter, as he gestured to a small flock of wild geese resting at the shore of the lake. With ruffled feathers they sat closely huddled together at the edge of the ice and suddenly A‘viloh couldn’t help but worry about them. They looked so unbothered by his presence, sleeping through the day and all the hubbub around them, looking all exhausted and frozen with their puffed up feathers. Like anything could happen to them and they wouldn’t even mind.

Strangely he wondered what he himself had looked like when Haurchefant had found him unconscious in the snow. He must have been a pitiful sight. Had the Elezen thought him beyond saving too, just like he himself had. What if he had found him a little later or not at all? Maybe that would have been better, a voice murmured to him just like it had so many times before and for a moment, tempted by the grief heavy on his heart once again, he almost believed it.

But no, he would be dead then and while he would have liked to imagine that this would mean he could be with his loved ones again, it was not exactly what either of the tribes he had lived with believed.

Vaguely he remembered his father working for hours, digging a grave at what used to be Wellwick Wood. An elderly woman too exhausted by their long journey, his grandmother if he remembered correctly, had died shortly after they had arrived there. With a sad smile on his face his father had explained to his children, who had stared down into the hole in the ground with confusion in their eyes, how by returning her body to the earth there could still grow new life from this death.

Or the drake tribe of the Sagolii Desert, who always burned their dead and left the ashes to be carried away by the desert wind, believing that it would make it easier for the deceased‘s aether to return to the Aetheric Sea and create something new elsewhere.

With a sudden sharp pain in his heart A’viloh realised that neither of the people he loved had gotten the burial they would have wanted for themselves. And neither had A‘viloh himself wanted to die in the coldness of Coerthas and be forever forgotten under a thick layer of snow and ice. He had thought about dying before but never had he been this close to it. For a second he wondered if this was something worth speaking to Rael about, but he wasn’t sure they wouldn’t misunderstand and get mad at him again.

“Why do you make such a sad face now?”, Haurchefant asked having noticed the smile slip from the Miqo’te’s face. But A’viloh just vehemently shook his head and focused on the geese again.

“They must be horribly cold.”, he wondered in a voice that suggested he already planned to take all of them to the safety of his comfortably warm room.

Haurchefant chuckled. “Don’t worry, they survived the storm out here after all. They keep each other warm, that’s why you‘ll rarely see one of them alone. A bit like you and your friends.”

“Maybe…”, A’viloh answered thinking about this comparison for a moment. “I just wish it wouldn’t always be me who needs to be taken care of. But as proven in Ul’dah and now once again I am simply too weak and useless to keep myself alive, not to mention anyone else.”

The Elezen’s face got a little stern as he folded his arms in front of his chest. “Don’t say that, I am sure it’s not true! This was just bad luck! You are neither weak nor useless!”

A’viloh shrugged. “But that’s how I feel right now...”

Slowly Haurchefant nodded before speaking again with a silent but determined voice. “Listen. I‘ll never forget how bravely you fought for Francel although you barely knew him. You could have gotten yourself in trouble with that and you helped him anyway.”

“It’s not like I did that on my own -”, A’viloh tried to protest but was immediately interrupted. “But you still helped! And I’m sure even without Rael you would have done so!”

Another shrug was all Haurchefant got in response, so the Elezen thought for a second before making an offer. “You want to make yourself useful, right? Get stronger? I could teach you how to fight like a real ishgardian knight, with sword and shield. Or we have some dragoons at Camp Dragonhead too! I’m sure there’s a lot you could learn from them.”

A‘viloh‘s face turned to disbelief. “I really don’t think I could fight with armor and weapons this heavy…”

“You can’t say so if you don’t try! And I have you know that dragoon armors are surprisingly light. How do you think they could still be this agile otherwise? Promise me to at least try training with them a little!”

He didn’t really want to agree to that. He knew he would make a fool of himself. But how could he say no with Haurchefant trying everything in his power to cheer him up. Weakly he shook his head and muttered: “Fine…”

“Perfect!”, Haurchefant exclaimed with a bright smile on his face. “I think an early reward for your efforts is appropriate then!”

Confused A’viloh watched him take a small bag off of his shoulders, which he hadn’t even noticed until now. For a moment the Elezen was busy undoing a knot before he opened the bag and presented to A‘viloh a set of two weirdly shaped blades attached to pieces of wood with leather straps. He had no idea what these constructs were meant to do and that was plainly visible on his face. “What’s that?”

“Ice skates of course!”, Haurchefant said as if that would explain it all but the Miqo’te‘s face remained clueless, so Haurchefant gestured to the lake behind them. “You attach them to your boots so you can walk on the ice like this!”

“Oh!”, A’viloh exclaimed as he understood what Haurchefant was planning. “I don’t think-… I mean I‘ve never-… You don’t really want me to step on that lake do you?��� The idea somehow scared him.

“Why not?”, Haurchefant asked for the second time today with this smile that made the question sound like a challenge.

“It’s just a bit of ice!”, A‘vi objected. “What if it breaks?”

The Elezen shook his head and proceeded to fasten the metal blades beneath his boots. “Ah, don’t worry. The ice is thick enough, it will take at least a few more days to melt.”

“I don’t know…”, was all A’viloh replied as Haurchefant pressed another pair of skates into his hands. But the Elezen remained determined and took a few wobbly steps through the snow and onto the ice. “See! I can stand on it and it doesn’t break! You are a lot lighter than me, so why wouldn’t you be able to?”

Oh, you don’t know my bad luck!, A‘viloh thought but Haurchefant didn’t look like he would take that for an excuse. Instead he stretched out a hand towards the Miqo’te. “Come one! Believe me, this is going to be funny!”

For a second A‘viloh pondered his options. The idea of nothing but a little bit of ice between him and the water still terrified him but Haurchefant seemed so excited about this and the other people actually seemed to have fun too. Maybe he should at least pretend to try... Reluctantly he sat down on a rock and tried to put on the skates just like Haurchefant had done a moment ago.

“The clasp on the back too. Make sure none of them are loose… Yes, that looks fine!”, Haurchefant helpfully explained. As A’viloh got up, he almost flopped right back down into the snow. It was a weird feeling to balance his whole weight on only two thin pieces of metal. As he carefully took the first few steps towards the lake Haurchefant reached out for him once more. “Here! Take my hand! I don’t want you to fall…”

Hesitantly A‘vi stepped onto the ice and immediately felt like the ground was being pulled away beneath his feet. He struggled for balance, feeling himself falling backwards, so Haurchefants arm was a very welcome thing to hold on to.

With a chuckle the Elezen tried to loosen A‘vi‘s desperate grip on his arm and instead took each of his hand in one of his own before carefully making slow steps backwards pulling A‘viloh over the ice, which A’vi could swear was making suspicious crackling sounds below them. There was no way to tell the blades beneath his feet not to move, so all A’viloh could do was try not to fall and plead to Haurchefant with ears flat on his head and panic in his eyes, as he slowly was pulled further onto the lake. “No, no, no. Take me back, that’s a horrible idea!”

“Calm down. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I promise.”, Haurchefant said soothingly and continued to explain to him how to move on the ice skates. And in fact the Elezen’s calm voice slowly made A’viloh feel less anxious. His hands, frantically clasping at Haurchefant’s, relaxed along with his legs. It was still a weird feeling to be standing on the ice but now it felt a lot easier to remain balanced. He glanced at the people around them while remaining as still as possible, studied their movements for a moment and then tentatively tried to mimic the way they slowly pushed their feet above the slippery surface. To his surprise he really moved forward without much effort and also without feeling the sensation of falling again, closer to Haurchefant who had steadied him with his outstretched arms so far.

“See! It’s not that difficult.”, he said while making another step backwards so A’viloh had to follow with another step forward. The Miqo’te, strangely excited about the fact that he was actually moving on these weird ice-blades, laughed happily. “You are even going backwards!”

Haurchefants laughed. “One step after the other. Let’s teach you how to go forward first, hm? I‘ll let go off one of your hands but don’t worry, I still got you. One feet after the other just like you did before…”

In fact it almost felt easier now that he could use one of his arms to balance himself. Very slowly at first they floated above the icy surface of the lake but soon A‘viloh got braver. Once he almost lost his balance but for a comparably tall and strong person like Haurchefant it seemed like a very easy task to keep a small Miqo’te on his feet. Almost falling had felt like a shock for a second but only moments later they were laughing about it and in the end A’viloh was surprised and also a little proud how quickly he had learned and how much fun this was.

He wasn’t sure how much time they spent there on the frozen lake but at some point a bell sounded from the nearby Camp. Startled A’viloh looked up (and almost lost his balance again). “How late is it? I’m sure you have more important things to do than this! I’m sorry if I’m keeping you from doing your work.”

But Haurchefant just laughed and teased, “What could be more important than prove to you that not all of Coerthas is a deadly wasteland trying to kill you? But I think we really should return soon. I don’t want you to get cold again and after all we also don’t want Rael to find out about this little excursion, do we?”

For a second A’viloh wished the viera could see him now and wondered what their reaction would be like. The thought made him chuckle.

And as they floated, one last circle around the lake, A’viloh couldn’t help but wonder that maybe it was happy moments like this. The reason he was still here. Moments that made his life worth living.

---

inspired by the poem The Reversal by Leila Chatti

[raffinthebox]

Hi again!

As promised, here we go with the second member of the party from the campaign I'm playing with my friends:

Iside Luctor (she/her) 3rd year Gryffindor

Campaign: A day at Hogwarts Mastered by: @all-unwoven

[pup-pee]

green lantern ((1996)) issue #82 i love u 4ever

[darkcat8]

Bastet flirting with Horus and Horus gets overwhelmed.

Also, Iside once told bastet that when horus was younger, he used to be incredibly ticklish

[fragilestorm]

melara: literally begging her family to help

her family in highgarden: