#Máirin

[stardustedtea]

my fave sketches from my figure anatomy class taught by the epic Michael Hawthorne and modeling done by the lovely Máirin-Taj !! :D

•

(pls don’t gatekeep my content for having nude drawings so- !FAKE BODY!)

[condiscum]

So, y’know how the game tells us that one of the Firstborn was the inventor of the soundless meditations and the whole concept but then never actually tells us anything about them or shows them to us in any way?

Here’s Máirin.

Máirin found the empathy caused by the Dream to be intrusive and violating by its very nature. Being so closely tied to one another that you can sense into each other is an incredibly deep connection— which can be great, if it’s consensual. But if it’s unwanted, it’s invasive. You have no privacy to your emotions at all. She couldn’t articulate this for a long while, but as Mianach returned to the Grove with news of the other races, she started feeling envious. Why were sylvari alone given this sense?

It was when the Secondborn started awakening that the Firstborn discovered that there was much more variation in the experiences that define “Sylvari” than they expected. Among the “oddities” were certain Secondborn who awoke with hazy, distant connections to the Dream (like Ré) or low empathic levels (like Naeem). There was a fuss over whether they were “okay” or not. How to “fix” them. But, instead of worrying about whether or not they were broken, Máirin took them under her wing, and they slowly became a small island of misfit toys.

In time, she started working on ways to cut herself off from the Dream as well, creating the concept of Soundlessness. Eventually, she left the Grove entirely with her small flock to create a village where they could feel less othered. But, as we know, the Nightmare Court, which was founded just months prior, has continually found the Soundless villages to be vulnerable targets, and has destroyed at least one by the events of Personal Story.

After the first time their village was raided and destroyed, Máirin went to Niamh, who had just founded the Wardens- a decision she had come to based on both the capture of those Secondborn by the Asura and the formation of the Court itself- to protect the Grove. 

However, Máirin’s decision to cut herself off from the Dream and her siblings, along with shepherding a few dozen Secondborn with her out into Caledon, hadn’t gone over very well with most of the other Firstborn. Niamh in particular was pretty hurt and upset by this, so Máirin’s request for help was met with resistance.

In an argument that was as passionate as one between two noonblooms can be, Niamh insisted that the Wardens were too few to send outside of the boundaries of the Grove itself, to which Máirin retorted that Niamh’s decision meant s abandoning innocents that needed her help. Niamh finally stated that she couldn’t afford to waste time worrying about people who would put themselves out into danger because they were too stubborn to play nice with others.

Máirin, angry and hurt, left once more to her Soundless. They built a new village, but after just over a year passed, the Nightmare Court struck again.

In the wake of this second attack, Máirin was beside herself. All she had wanted was to create a place where Sylvari could be safe in who they are without the ideals of the Dream and the judgment of some Dreamers, but without twisting to the violent corruption of Nightmare which was always trying to seduce those who fell outside of the norm. Now, that place she had created for people to be safe socially was being proven repeatedly to be unsafe physically.

So, as the survivors huddled together away from the wreckage, she climbed up onto a rock to get their attention.

“Its not safe here anymore.” she said. “We’ve never had the numbers. I spoke to the Wardens. They say they’re too few to spare for those outside of the Grove. So, much as I hate to say this: Go back. They’ll keep coming. I didn’t want anyone to have to choose sides, but we’ve seen they’re relentless. You’ll be safe back home. Back with Mother. I can’t… You mean too much. Too much to throw your lives away out here. You’ll find your own paths in time, but… Until then, you have to stay safe. Promise me you’ll stay safe.”

And then she left. She walked off into the night, and she didn’t come back.

Of course, many of the Soundless adamantly refused to give up hope and rebuilt again into what we see today in Mabon.

Shortly after, Niamh had a change of heart as well. Feeling pretty guilty about how and why Máirin left, she took to stationing Wardens to patrol near the Soundless village on their routes.

There are only a few who know where Máirin is now. Mianach is one of them, but he’s sworn to secrecy. She’s off living in Kryta now, where she’s just another Sylvari to all who know her. She’s not a Firstborn. She doesn’t have the expectations that come with people looking to her for guidance, and she doesn’t have to feel like anyone is counting on her to keep them safe.

[yoru-jagers-werewolf]

Another poseable art doll, meet Máirin the werepup.

[anamsaorreads]

Challenge Your Shelf | August | 1. Ocean

The Black Book by Ian Rankin: Good place to dispose of bodies? Just finished this and it was lovely to be back in Edinburgh again (even if it was mostly the seedier side of the city).

Ar an gCiogríoch: Díolaim Litríochta ar Scéal na hImirce (Abroad: An Anthology of Literature on the Story of (E)migration) edited by Aisling Ní Dhonnchadha & Máirin Nic Eoin: This was the main text used in the “Theme of Emigration” module I took in the final year of my undergrad. I cried while cramming for the exam, partially because of stress, but mostly because it was the saddest thing ever: (As far as I remember) One man relocated to Utica, NY, bought a huge farm (for pennies), became fairly successful, yet didn’t even write home to Ireland for YEARS after leaving. It probably didn’t help that my brother had just recently emigrated. (At least the internet exists now. We communicate almost exclusively through emojis)

Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing by David Morrell: I don’t recall him mentioning the ocean but it has a lighthouse on the cover.

(I rushed into participating in this, better pics will come, probably, hah).

I don’t expect I’ll manage to complete every day of these August Challenges but I’ll give it a go!

[condiscum]

My firstborn chart got an update due to nerd shuffling!

Mianach and Máirin belong to @tricksterpale and myself. They fill the gaps left in the Canon story. Both have their own reasons for being absent from The Grove and Caledon.

Mianach is a traveler on a never ending Wyld Hunt to learn all there is to know and bring that knowledge back to the Pale Tree and deepen the Dream for their people.

Máirin founded the Soundless, and hasn't been seen since the second Nightmare Court raid on their village in 1306...

You can find transparent versions of my Cycle icons here, and can follow our collective nonsense at @legendsofthemists!