#Talisman lore time

[blackberry-sage-tea]

"The Dalish gifted an Eluvian to the Grey Wardens so we can get in Weisshaupt" is just so emblematic of my problems with the game, because you can tell--it feels to me--that the thought process was "We need to have an Eluvian in Weisshaupt, Eluvians are an Elven(TM) thing, the Dalish are the Elven(TM) faction, so let's just say they were the ones who gave one to the Grey Wardens".

The Dalish have been established over all three games as a people who have spent the last thousands of years desperately scrounging for whatever scraps of their culture they can find, a struggle that has cost them dearly as typified by Merrill's plight trying to restore a single Eluvian which had previously Blighted two of her clan mates (an Eluvian that she can't open or use, and doesn't actually know what it's for by the end of her quest line). Multiple Dalish in Inquisition are killed trying to regain their history ("The Knight's Tomb") or trying to prove themselves by regaining even a talisman related to their culture ("Someone to Lose"). They are an insular and guarded people because outsider interactions frequently invoke a heavy toll in Dalish lives, up to and including entire clans. And yet, we are supposed to believe in a single throwaway piece of dialogue that in the 10 years between Inquisition and Veilguard, the Dalish have (offscreen) gained enough access to Eluvians as a piece of technology that they can afford to just "gift" one to the Grey Wardens without explanation.

There are constant revelations of this kind where pre-established parts of the lore are just thrown out the window. Things that had great emotional weight or impact in previous installments of the series are used for cheap thrills or plot-hole fills without explanation, justification, or even gravitas from the game. You have a moment in one of Emmrich's quests where you stumble through a portal directly into the Fade that Hezenkoss opened in Blackthorne manor, and you're tasked with closing it again. All of this is done entirely without the Anchor or even an implied blood sacrificial ritual, and it is never commented as anything particularly groundbreaking (when going into the Fade physically through tearing a hole in it was a Big Fucking Deal in Inquisition). You encounter a Compassion spirit in a side quest investigating the deaths of citizens in Tevinter who were murdered by a demon of Despair, and it is strong enough to not only retain itself through sensing the (unanswered!) suffering that these people experienced, but it also resolves to protect others to keep them from the same fate (when Cole was so traumatized by a single person's death that he completely reshaped his entire being around them). So on and so forth. Don't even get me started on Bellara's comment that the ancient elves "made most of their buildings in the Fade".

I'm not asking for someone to hold my hand and spoonfeed me information. I frankly don't care if an obscure codex entry, a reddit AMA question, bluesky tweet, or headcanon exists somewhere to patch in or bandaid over all of the jarring details like this, because it doesn't change the fact that the game itself should be doing this. The game itself should be taking the time to explain this in a way that is not missable, the game itself should be taking these things seriously, it should recognize when it is doing contradictory things and rush to justify itself accordingly, because these are things the emotional beats of previous stories hinged on. Like, when the game has Taash say a line like "The Qun isn't a prison, you can leave if you want", it's the responsibility of the writers to show that this is Taash being misinformed, not because I'm too stupid to headcanon that this is the case, but because this line is a symptom of how the entire game's writing seems to have forgotten about the Ben-Hassrath as a thing that exists in this setting.

Previous Dragon Age games are no stranger to "We quietly removed Solas' network of agents and spies offscreen"-style writing, but it usually didn't feel like a constant deluge periodically uprooting my emotional investment and immersion. There's only so much I can take in good faith before I realize that this game was just not written with any care towards ensuring that the worldbuilding made sense and felt right to the player, leading to awkward backpedaling in reddit threads like "no the Crows haven't changed as an organization, these are just the unique Good Crows and we forgot to mention it".

I just can't look past this shit anymore.

[starry-bi-sky]

mmmmmm read a disciple shen yuan/shizun luo binghe fanfic about two days ago where the first chapter was the Immortal Conference arc, and SQQ was the one who had to be pushed into the abyss (he was still the villain) except Luo Binghe was refusing and was like, lowkey losing his mind about SQQ being so close to the edge. SQQ ended up having to be the one to fall in himself because of the system's punishment system. The rest of the fic is leading up to that moment. But like, MMM i've been obsessively thinking about that first chapter for DAYS ever since.

now i've been in svsss for a grand total of *checks watch* a week. but god obsessed with that. I want to write/read a fic where disciple SQQ goes a little nuts down there. Like keep all of the things that make SQQ, SQQ, but just. Throw in a little bit more trauma in there. A little bit of a mental break. Let him go a little nuts as a treat. Just a tad unhinged. I wanna see him go, just a little, "god fuck it, i've tried so hard to change this shitty story's outcome and it feels like everything i've done has been for nothing. I'm going to die in this world no matter what I do, I've been doomed from the start, so might as well die the way I want to." and he just, breaks a little! Under all the stress.

He still retains the traits that makes shen yuan, shen yuan, like his overwhelming kindness. But he's just! yk. A little less patient. Paranoid. Jumpy. Colder. A little more aloof and closed off. A little more Shen Jiu. He's no asshole child abuser, but he was a Number One Hater in his past life and he's leaning into that old habit a little more now.

(On a totally coincidental not-at-all related note, there's not enough SJ-and-SY-are-the-same-people fics out there that i've found. This is totally unrelated...)

The Endless Abyss turns the mind into an over-sharpened blade, and SQQ is both fascinated and perhaps a little excited to explore a place that doesn't have a lot of info on it in the mortal realm, but still terrified out of his mind. And he's no Luo Binghe, he doesn't have the sheer brute strength and power to just bulldoze his way through, so he has to be a lot more sneaky and cunning if he wants to survive.

The fic itself role-swapped LBH and SQQ so that SQQ was the half-demon (which lowkey fucks) and LBH the human, but I'm equally-if-not-more obsessed with the idea that LBH remains the half-heavenly demon and SQQ the human. If only because I keep thinking about SQQ befriending some demons (particularly and specifically a group of succubi) and they grow very attached to this Human Cultivator so through magic plot stuff they create some kind of seal/illusion/talisman that makes SQQ appear as a demon because a human cultivator in the endless abyss may as well be the equivalent of putting a giant neon target on your back.

And iirc Shen Jiu was taught demonic cultivation by that one guy(?? i've only been here a week so im not caught up in ALL of the lore yet) so that could totally happen here.

(On the other end of the realms, poor Shizun Luo Binghe is just. losing his fucking mind over losing his most precious and beloved disciple. About .5 seconds from burning down the peaks himself. somebody sedate him.)

The Endless Abyss sucks and SQQ is having a really terrible time and can feel himself going lowkey mad, but also holy shit look at all this WORLD-BUILDING. look at all this flora and fauna, and oh if he had the equipment for it he'd be writing all of this down. ALL OF IT. He was kinda-sorta-already planning on never leaving the Abyss as some sort of fucked up self-exile and self-preservation thing, but now he might? actually just?? never leave if he can help it, like he lowkey likes it down here.

anyways the next time anyone ever sees SQQ again he's got hair so long its almost touching the ground and he's either in rags and half-feral or he's been completely dolled up by his adoptive succubi sisters and still about three seconds from biting anyone who tries to touch him. (he's also lowkey trying to book it back down to the abyss even if he has desperately missed all of his friends and shizun)

[assumptionprime]

I adore your take on DS2 and wanted to know what ur thoughts were on Elden Ring and/or DS 3!

(also I have been loving ur comics!!!)

First off: Thank you! Glad you like my comics! <3

I mentioned it briefly in the DS2 post, and it's been said by others, but Dark Souls 3 is about ending Dark Souls. And it does that very well. The "time and space is falling apart and that's why the geography is like that" that people sometimes say about DS2 is literally, textually true in 3. The Dreg Heap is a pile of other, older Dark Souls areas collapsing in on each other. This world has been going on and on, repeating and prolonging the Age of Fire that should have ended long ago, and it's just breaking down. You can't keep the same thing going forever, that's true in the universe of the story, and of a franchise of dark fantasy action RPGs.

It's kind of funny and also impressive that Miyazaki and the team hit that point, saying if they keep doing this it's going to fall apart, on game three of the franchise. There's so many series out there that will pump out game after game of the same stuff, to the point they stop numbering them and give them subtitles to hide the fact that they're on game 23 of this thing, and FromSoft said "three's our limit for this one" and gave us the greatest hits final bow before moving on to new different takes on their subgenre of games.

Enter Elden Ring! The game that got me into FromSoft games. Every time people talked about Dark Souls it was always about how hard they were, and the whole "git gud" mentality, which made them seem like they would 100% be not my kind of thing. But I am an absolute sucker for a fantasy open world, so I dipped my toes into Elden Ring, and really enjoyed it! Being able to just go exploring and do something else whenever I got stuck was a huge plus, as are spirit ash summons. The game is hard, for sure, but there's also a lot of ways to ease that difficulty (not eliminate it, but ease it (also there's no excuse to not have a pause button, that's stupid, don't @ me))

As far as lore and storytelling, Elden Ring has a lot of cool stuff (that's my wife Ranni, my cool witch wife Ranni) but I don't know that I have so definite a "take" on its story. It goes back to the Dark Souls 1 and 3 well of "some important shit happened, go kill this list of bosses about it" but I appreciate that you have a lot more choice in regards to your ending. It's not "link the fire or don't" it's "you're creating a new age, what do you want that age to be like?" with a few compelling choices and some evil bastard ones for fun.

Assorted side thoughts:

FP is better than spell uses. More convenient, more flexible, lets you focus on Mind to allow yourself to cast more spells.

All of my first playthroughs were sword and board, both because of caution going in and because I like the "knight with a sword and shield" aesthetic.

Related to the last point, Guard Counters are a great addition in ER, and the "Sekiro style block" crystal tear for the Physick in the DLC should have been a talisman or something permanent, to just make that a play style people can use.

The Alva Armor rules, 10/10 best fit in Dark Souls

I really like Shadow of the Erdtree, but it is the absolute limit on the current version of Souls-game mechanics. Not everyone is Let Me Solo Her, and between both the extremely punishing difficulty and the becoming more repetitive nature of a lot of the boss design, they need to change up the combat to keep things going. Sekiro seems to be a step in that direction from what I hear?

No boss fight in any video game has ever made me feel as cool as Slave Knight Gael in the DS3 DLC. It just worked for me on pretty much every level. The story, the music, the visuals, the difficulty. I can beat him, and it's hard but not a kind of hard that makes me angry at the game. Dodging in and out of his attacks, getting my own hits in, it felt like a kick ass dance of fantasy combat. It's peak.

[blender2902]

MARIKA NEVER ABANDONED MESSMER! (IN DEFENCE OF MARIKA PART 2)

Well it would be more accurate to say that they were seeing each other regularly until the shattering. I know I am not the first person to say this but I have not seen anyone make a dedicated lore post establishing a solid timeline with proper evidence so, I shall be the one to do it. My goal is to prove that Marika had contact with Messmer until she shattered the Elden ring.

Let’s first establish a general timeline of the events that are going to be relevant-

We know from gaius’s remembrance and Rellana’s lore that Messmer’s crusade must have begun sometime after 2nd Liurnian wars. The crusade must have begun before Radagon became elden lord as he removed all colosseum practices in his era as per the ritual sword talisman description and in the lands of shadow we find the dueling shield which says that these practices somehow remained in the shadow realm.

Now, whether the crusade took place before or after Godfrey’s banishment is unclear. I have seen many claim that Messmer knows what a tarnished is so the crusade must have begun after his banishment but then you are assuming that Marika abandoned Messmer as soon as she sent him there. If you believe that the YOU ARE DEAD WRONG! Two item descriptions refute this theory completely-

Black Knight Andreas spirit ash-

Focus on the line I have underlined, ‘flight from the Erdtree’. This description is straight up saying that during the crusade Messmer did go back home but then he was chased away

Don’t try to argue that the flight was the beginning of the crusade as it was commemorated which means that the crusade had the support of the erdtree at its beginning.

This means that the flight must have happened after the crusade began.

To further solidify this, the stone tablets at the specimen storehouse and the queen’s bedchambers are the exact same-

This is not a case of reused assets because these tablets are found nowhere else in the base game to my knowledge. Messmer must have brought these to Marika by himself. This also disproves the assumption that Marika wanted Messmer to be forgotten, since if she really did want that, she would have destroyed those stone tablets as well. Why does Marika want these tablets? Well, the answer doesn’t really matter but my personal headcannon is that Messmer found out that the jar innards are still alive and he told Marika so she started doing research in an attempt to cure them but it seems she was unsuccessful. Anyhow, what matters is that Messmer did return to her.

Here is how the timeline looks like now-

So now we know that the crusade must have started around the time Godfrey was banished but we still don’t know when the Messmer was sealed in the lands of shadow. Thus, we must look at another piece of lore from the dlc, the death knights of Godwyn. From what I have seen most people just ignore this part of the dlc lore, which is a shame, because this fundamentally changes our understanding of the timeline. The death knight armour says-

“Cadaver Surrogate” means a substitute for the corpse itself. What is this substitute? It must be what these death knights are guarding.

We don’t see this face in any other catacombs both in the dlc and in the base game. We find one of these faces in stormveil castle. Rogier straight up calls that thing a corpse-

All hints point towards those faces being the “Cadaver Surrogate.” This leads me to believe that the knights did not get to the realm of shadow through some ‘deathroot bulshit’ and got to the realm of shadow using those faces because these knights went there to specifically search for these. If they were transported to them, then it would make no sense to say that they went to search for them. Now, let’s look at some interesting enemies we find in these catacombs.

These guys belong to Messmer’s army. The black knights are right behind the fire knights when it comes to position in the army so it doesn’t make much sense that they would be here without orders. The shield those little guys drop literally says they are loyal to Messmer which means he must have ordered them-

We can argue that these guys are here just to protect the spirit ashes of Andreas and Huw respectively but there is one detail that goes against that, this stake of Marika here which is right before the Death knight boss-

Who could have placed this here? It must have been Messmer’s soldiers as I do not think the death knights would carry these around. Therefore, this heavily implies that Messmer sent these guys here to protect the death knights. The fact that these guys only appear in death knight catacombs but do not in any other mini dungeon further proves that. Now comes the question, why would Messmer send these guys here? His mission is to purge the hornsent not to help the death knights out right? Well, the only way we can make sense of this jumble is if Marika was the one to order Messmer to guard these knights. Remember, after Godwyn’s death, Marika is through with the golden order and has lost all faith in it. The golden order fanatics that hunt those who live in death use fundamentalist incantations which were created by Radagon not Marika which implies the stigma against them was Radagon’s doing not Marika’s. Therefore, it is well within Marika’s character to help these death knights out and send them to the shadow realm. Whether she was the one who came up with the idea of the “Cadaver Surrogate” I am not sure but that does not matter. What matters is that Marika let the death knights go to the shadow realm to accomplish their mission and asked Messmer to protect them. She might have thought that the death knights could revive Godwyn but that is a discussion for another day.

Even if you want to argue that the death knights placed this here, that still implies that Marika sent these guys there which means the Lands of shadow was not sealed yet.

This means that Marika had contact with Messmer AFTER THE NIGHT OF THE BLACK KNIVES which means Messmer was sealed AFTER GODWYN’S DEATH.

Here is the finished timeline-

To clear up some confusion about the sealing of the shadow realm and the timeline-

The shadow realm had two things happen to it-

The shadow land was veiled (the place was hidden but traveling there was possible): During Marika’s ascension to godhood she veiled the lands BUT THERE WAS STILL A WAY TO TRAVEL BETWEEN THE LAND OF SHADOWS AND THE LANDS BETWEEN which likely only she could access. The veiling must have happened before Messmer’s crusade because in the story trailer we see that Messmer is assaulting Belurat when the lands of shadow is veiled. Why do I think the place was veiled at Marika’s ascension? It is heavily implied that the Scadutree is responsible for the veil and the Scadutree avatar’s remembrance says-

The Scadutree is called the shadow of the Erdtree which along with the line from the story trailer ‘gold arose and shadow too was born’ implies that when the erdtree was born so too was the scadutree.

2. The shadow lands were sealed (all forms of travel were cut off): This, as I have proven in this post, happened after the knight of the black knives.

Many people have this notion that Marika shattered the Elden ring immediately after Godwyn died but according to Rogier’s dialogue, there was a period of time between the shattering and the night of the black knives. Messmer was sealed during this time.

Now there are several justifiable reasons I could give to Marika for sealing Messmer away but there is one that is supported the most. Messmer was sealed because in one of his visits the base serpent revealed itself somehow which caused the people to turn on him. Fearing for Messmer’s life, especially after losing Godwyn, she sealed him in the shadow realm where he would be safe.

Here is the evidence pointing towards this-

Let’s look at Andreas’s description again

Look at the part I underlined in yellow, Andreas somehow learned of Messmer’s serpentine nature. This serpentine nature has to be the base serpent and not the winged serpents for 2 reasons- 1) the winged serpents are visible on messmer at all times and 2) the winged serpents are depicted on the serpent crest shield so they must have been common knowledge. This implies that the base serpent was somehow able to reveal itself despite Marika’s seal

2. The Erdtree society hated serpents even before the crusade as we learn from the duelist helm description-

These colosseums existed during Godfrey’s era, when Messmer was living at Leyndell, which implies Messmer was never too popular among the upper echelons to begin with due to his winged serpents. The colosseum practices were removed by Radagon but the hatred for serpents must have persisted.

3.Correct me if I am wrong on this but the base serpent in the original Japanese description is called ‘malevolent serpent’ not base serpent. Either way it is called a piece of shit in every item description which implies that it is not necessarily impure but inherently evil which would only make people hate it more.

All this combined with the details about the timeline makes the set of events clear to me - After the night of the black knives, Messmer visited his mom again. During this visit, the base serpent somehow revealed itself to the public. This caused a massive uproar due the widespread hatred of serpents and the nature of the base serpent. All this pressure on top of the fact that Godwyn died made Marika fear for Messmer’s life, so she sealed him away in the shadow realm where he would be safe. Due to the widespread scorn for Messmer, the people would remove all traces of him from history. This would make for another motive for Marika shattering the Elden ring. This is just my speculation, so you can have your interpretation of events but I believe this is supported the most by facts and implications.

Some counterpoints I want to refute-

Why do Messmer’s armies in the lands of shadow ask Marika for a sign to end the crusade? Would that not imply that she said nothing to Messmer? -

Well, Messmer could simply have chosen to keep that business a secret and continue the crusade. When his armies got mad, he let them decapitate Marika’s statues instead of telling them the truth as then his secret would be known by even more people causing more rebellions, which he did not want as that would result in him killing more of his comrades.

2.Why does Messmer’s armor say that Marika wanted him to take the blame for the crusade? -

If this is what you think the armor description says then I have a lot to tell you my friend.

Let’s look at what it is actually saying-

What does this tell us for a fact? It tells us that Marika wished for Messmer to purge the hornsent. Now for some reason people think the ‘direct thy maledictions, thine ire, and thy grief towards me alone’ part means Messmer took the blame for the crusade. With all due respect, this take is just terrible for many reasons-

Why would he need to take the blame for the crusade? The only reason I have seen people throw around is that the crusade ‘became too violent’ which is stupid for 2 reasons- 1) the Land of Shadows (LOS in short) was veiled during the crusade as we can see in the story trailer so how in the almighty name of fuck would anybody know it was violent? ’Oh someone could have travelled to LOS and seen the crusade.’ Marika is the only person capable of allowing travel between the realms, why would she allow a random noble to go to the LOS which is literally the place where all manners of death wash up. Why would any noble want to wander into the LOS anyway like they would know that is the place where the hornsent reside, you know the race of people racist to everyone without horns. 2) Even if it was violent why would the people of the erdtree mind it? Like they are fine with butchering omen babies and stick their horns on a cleaver and all the fucked up bulshit happening to albunaurics at volcano manor (we do see tortured albunaurics at Leynedell right before the entrance to the sewers). If they are fine with these practices, why would they take issue with the race of horned people who made the lives of all those living without horns miserable? It’s just stupid, Messmer would not have to take the blame for anything.

Let’s translate what those last lines mean into simple english-

"Direct thy maledictions, thine ire, and thy grief towards me alone" means:

"Send all your curses, anger, and sorrow to me only."

If we were to consider that Messmer is speaking to the erdtree people then the first two words make sense, curses and anger, but then comes sorrow. What would the erdtree people be sorrowful of? Nothing! They lose nothing from the purge of the hornsent. Don’t say that ‘Oh they lost their sons who became fire knights’ They did not, they shunned them after scorning Messmer as the fire knights were chased due to their allegiance to Messmer.

This means they had no reason for being sorrowful before shunning Messmer. It is logically impossible for Messmer to be addressing the erdtree people here.

Who is he addressing then? The hornsent. He is asking them to curse him and not Marika. Why is that? Well, there is the dialogue of the hornsent grandam cursing Marika with ‘an omen’ which has some heavy implications which I will have to elaborate on in a future post but nonetheless Messmer is talking to the hornsent here not the erdtree people according to logic and evidence.

3. Let’s question the fact that it is Messmer saying those lines. We can clearly see the hornsent still curse Marika to hell. We can also see that Messmer’s armies have started to resent her and cut the heads off of her statues, which is in a way cursing her. Even Messmer himself curses her when he dies due to the influence of the base serpent. Nobody besides the hornsent is cursing Messmer in the game. All this suggests that Marika wishes for Messmer and his armies to direct their curses and grievances towards her and not towards Messmer. She is the more significant character of the two so this is very much a valid interpretation. You can disagree with this third point but I fell the first two are quite solid.

Ok that should do it for this talking point. If you are somehow still convinced Messmer took the blame for the crusade from the erdtree people then I am willing to hear you out though I think that is simply impossible.

3. Why does Messmer curse Marika with his dying breath? This would imply that she abandoned him, right? –

No. He curses her due to the influence of the base serpent. Messmer knew why he was sealed and was perfectly fine with it. However, when the Elden Ring was shattered, it was seen as a sign of wrath according to the wrath from afar description.

This would make Messmer have doubts which would turn into resentment. This resentment however, is overshadowed by his loyalty and love towards his mother as shown by him having only love and reverence when he speaks of her; her statue in his room is the only one with its head intact. He only curses her when the base serpent takes over. That thing is stated to be evil in multiple item descriptions as I have said earlier so it is not much of a stretch to assume that it would amplify any negative feelings Messmer would have once it takes over. I have also seen some people say that in the Japanese lines Messmer says ‘I curse you’, but the kanji of you he says is the most respectful one which suggests that he was fighting the base serpent for control. I could be wrong about the kanji but either way, what we gather is that 1) Messmer shows nothing but sheer reverence towards Marika before letting the base serpent take over him and 2) that the base serpent is called evil in all item descriptions which implies that it amplifies all negative emotions. This means Messmer was fine with being sealed until the Elden ring was shattered which caused him to have some amount of resentment. When he removed the seal, these feelings were amplified and he cursed his mother.

Other Interpretations I would like to refute-

Marika always planned to abandon Messmer because he was a threat to the Erdtree in one way or another- Impossible, as he returned home and was sealed after the night of the black knives. If she saw him as a threat, he would have been sealed right from the get go.

Marika abandoned him because the crusade got too violent- I’ll copy/paste my points from earlier, 1) the LOS was veiled during the crusade as we can see in the story trailer so how in the almighty name of fuck would anybody know it was violent? ’Oh someone could have travelled to LOS and seen the crusade.’ Marika is the only person capable of allowing travel between the realms, why would she allow a random noble to go to the LOS which is literally the place where all manners of death wash up. Why would any noble want to wander into the LOS anyway like they would know that is the place where the hornsent reside, you know the race of people racist to everyone without horns. 2) Even if it was violent why would the people of the erdtree mind it? Like they are fine with butchering omen babies and stick their horns on a cleaver and all the fucked up bulshit happening to albunaurics at volcano manor (we do see tortured albunaurics at Leynedell right before the entrance to the sewers). If they are fine with these practices, why would they take issue with the race of horned people who made the lives of all those living without horns miserable?

And that is the end of my post. If you disagree with anything feel free to argue. Do present your arguments pointwise

[plainandgeneric]

Tis the season of the spooky! I recently delved into a rabbit hole about the 僵尸 (Jiangshi) and 湘西赶尸人 (Xiangxi necromancer), both Chinese folklores regarding the undead. These are very underrated topics so I’ve found some fun info to share under the cut!

僵尸 (Jiangshi) directly translates to ‘rigid corpse’ (corpse with rigor mortis), but it’s better known as the Chinese vampire in pop culture. 

Jiangshi is an undead that sustains itself by consuming the energy of the living, and moves about by hopping (cause rigor mortis).

湘西赶尸人 translates directly to the corpse herder of Xiangxi. It is considered as a traditional witchcraft practice of the Xiangxi area, and thought of as ‘good magic’. According to traditional lore, families hire these necromancers so that their loved ones (usually people who died in war) could be returned and buried in their homeland, so to encourage the spirit to pass on properly. 

The stereotype of the undead in Qing dynasty officials garb was made popular by horror films and pop culture of the 80s. In traditional folklore, the dead are often clothed in black death shrouds or otherwise have their face covered by large hats. The yellow talisman in movies are depicted to render the undead docile. Here, it is said to be used to keep the spirit within the vessel of the body during transport (I read cinnabar is also used for this purpose).

The necromancer guides the dead with a bell. They would rest during daylight in lodgings specifically made to accommodate this, and only travel at night. This is to avoid frightening the living during day time. 

Of course, there is no verifiable proof for this profession, though it is speculated that some sort of performative corpse transportation existed in history that helped to generate this fascinating legend. The usual portrayal of raising the dead in pop culture is often seen as evil and malicious, so it’s a lovely change of pace to see necromancy depicted in a positive manner. 

[wangxianficrecs]

Confusion by Vrishchika

🔒 Confusion

by Vrishchika (@vrishchikawrites)

Not rated, 4k, Wangxian

Summary: Wei Wuxian wakes up in a strange place. Eight hundred years didn't teach Lan Wangji patience. Kay's comments: A short story of what would have happened if Wei Wuxian hadn't returned after thirteen years but instead thrown eight hundred years into the future. In that time, Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng amongst others have gained immortality and the world has long since changed its opinions about Wei Wuxian's cultivation and his role as the Yiling Patriach. I really loved that and I also really loved the lore the story wrote for golden cores and how immortality works. Excerpt: "Looks?" She glances at him, "Tall, decidedly underweight, pale, grey eyes, unreasonably long hair like in those period dramas. He asked me if my phone was a. talisman." Wei Wuxian mouths the new word, intrigued by it. "Er, yeah, actually," She says, "Pretty serious." She goes on to list his injuries again, "He was unconscious for a while. Healing will take months. He's on a significant dose of painkillers right now but seems pretty active and coherent- uh, sure I'll ask." She turns to him, "Tell me something only Lan Wangji would know?" Wei Wuxian arches a brow at the strange question and thinks back before his lips twitch into a wide grin, "He bit me out of frustration while we were trapped in Xuanwu's Cave." Lan-guniang looks very skeptical as she conveys that information. The faint voice coming from the phone changes and the maiden's expression changes as well. She glances at him with wide eyes and then nods quickly, "Yes, of course. Yes, he's in no danger. The most concerning thing is a surgical scar and the absence of his Golden Core, we wondered if trafficking-" She frowns and his eyes widen, "Yes… yes, I'm sure." Wei Wuxian waves his hand frantically only to wince when his sore body protests, "Guniang, wait! Don't tell-"

pov wei wuxian, canon divergence, time travel, fix-it, future fic, immortal lan wangji, immortal jiang cheng, post-canon, golden core reveal, golden core fix-it, love confessions, friends to lovers, wei wuxian has a new golden core, immortal wei wuxian, first time, first kiss, no jiang cheng & wei wuxian reconcilation, happy ending

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)

[rippleberries]

(Jeffrey teased this at Star Trek San Francisco)

Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Anna Lore, Nikki Hahn, and Anna Camp behind the scenes of HYSTERIA! (Photo courtesy Barbara Crampton)

[x]

HYSTERIA! Reunites RE-ANIMATOR Duo Barbara Crampton and Jeffrey Combs

Surprise! The legendary genre pair turn up to add some ’80s cred to Peacock’s new Satanic Panic series.

BY

PHIL NOBILE JR.

OCTOBER 18, 2024 6:00 AM

By now you’re aware of Peacock’s Hysteria!, and that it features Bruce Campbell, who’s been promoted heavily in the marketing of the new show (which dropped today). But turns out he’s not the only genre icon appearing on the series.

Early viewers of Hysteria! have been excited to spot among its ensemble cast none other than Barbara Crampton and Jeffrey Combs, playing a bit against type as suburban parents. Speaking to FANGORIA, Crampton says that “showrunner/creator Matthew Scott Kane is a big Re-Animator fan, and it was his idea to reunite Jeff and myself for the first time since 1995!”

The duo have of course appeared in various unassailable horror classics over the years, beginning with Stuart Gordon’s aforementioned Re-Animator and its follow-up, From Beyond. Placing the pair in an ’80s-set, moral panic horror comedy made all the sense in the world to Kane.

“I'm a very devoted genre fan. All of Barbara and Jeff’s work with Stuart Gordon is so near and dear to my heart that, when these two roles came up, they were the first people that came to mind,” Kane says. “It was kind of a pipe dream. It was like, ‘Wouldn't it be nice if?’ I never thought they would pick up the phone.” To his surprise, the pair agreed, and their devotion to their relatively brief appearance surprised the showrunner.

“We all got dinner with each other, and Barbara and Jeffrey were asking me, ‘What's my motivation here?’ and ‘Here's what I'm thinking for this guy.’ Keep in mind, they’re in one scene — a pivotal scene, one which sets up the entire series — but they're really drilling it into me in ways that no other member of our cast did,” Kane shares. “The night before we were shooting the scene, I got a text from Barbara that could have easily filled a column in your magazine,” he laughs. “It was enormous, and it was brilliant. She was bringing so much — not just to the character, but she was so intelligent in terms of checking out the entire script, understanding what the themes of the show are, and understanding how she could fit into that.”

The series focuses on a struggling teen band called Dethkrunch who, in the wake of their high school quarterback’s disappearance, rebrand themselves as “Satanic” to ride the wave of moral panic sweeping their town. It works until it doesn’t, and they soon find themselves the target of a literal witch hunt. The project, which also boasts Julie Bowen, Anna Camp, Garret Dillahunt, Emjay Anthony and Milly Shapiro among its cast, was instantly alluring to Crampton. “I read the first three scripts of Hysteria! when I was cast and they were all fantastic,” Crampton says. “Fun, spooky, dark and thrilling.” For Crampton, the gig offered other pleasures. “We were giddy with excitement for our parts… and costumes!” (Anyone who’s seen the sartorial choices in Jakob’s Wife or The Last Stop in Yuma County knows Crampton loves a bold wardrobe choice.)

Her co-star Combs was also easily sold, calling the project “a lovely experience… short but sweet.” Like Crampton, Combs was drawn to the quality of the material. “Matthew is a very gifted writer,” he says. “I was thrilled to be part of this, and it would be a delight to work with him again.”

Though the pair both appeared in last year’s Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls, Crampton and Combs shared no scenes together in that film, making this their first onscreen appearance together since 1995’s Castle Freak (where they also played a married couple). “It was an absolute joy to work on screen with Jeffrey again,” Crampton exclaims. “We play the parents to an important character on this show (you’ll have to watch to see which one!) and this lady is amazing. I just adore her!”

Casting the iconic performers, even for just one episode, meant a lot to Kane. “We wanted Barbara and Jeff there for a reason. We wanted them there because we're all huge fans, but also because we know they're great actors and that they can come in and deliver something awesome so that, if we get a second season, they can come into the fold and be more regular characters. If there's a reason to get us a season two, it's to get Jeff Combs and Barbara Crampton back on the screen together for more than just five minutes.”

As to what happens over the course of the series, Crampton is as excited to find out as we are. “I’ve viewed the first episode and it’s a blast,” she shares. “I’ll be watching and posting about all the episodes and enjoying the show along with you all!”

All episodes of Hysteria! are now streaming on Peacock.

[pinktrashgoblin]

So I was wondering, for the new au for Broken Melodies: Darker Paths. Is it going to be a new JSAB comic or was it just an idea for fun, what's the lore or story in Darker Paths if there is any?

Keep up the awesome work with your creations!

So first and foremost! I have no intentions of making Darker Paths a full-blown comic or anything. I do want to maybe make some mini comics relating to it, but if I ever do go any further with it it’ll likely be in the form of a fanfic with some drawings throughout. It was originally created for fun, but the possibilities for this alternate timeline version of the story are getting me thinking!

I do have some ideas for the story. Darker Paths falls more in line with the description of an alternate timeline rather than an alternate universe. The basic plot follows a world that has fallen into chaos as a result of a Corruption outbreak, similar to canon. However, a few notable things are different.

Sabre is OBJECTIVELY the villain. For reasons I can’t yet share due to spoilers, he eventually snapped and went rogue, using his powers to rule over the wastelands and what remains of civilization with an iron fist while continuing his search for the pieces.

Cuda is dead. This will be explained some time later. He follows the heroes around as a ghost for his own reasons, but his warnings do stick with them.

The canon heroes are still a group. However, they work less as a found family and more as a militaristic unit, carrying out smaller missions in their search for the pieces. As time goes on, though, they slowly start to question their leadership.

Cube never became Guardian. Her powers are accessed via a talisman she obtained as a result of being an apprentice to Sabre.

As you could probably gather, the Corruption has been ongoing for longer than it has in canon.

Lycan is still infected, but at this point is in a much worse state than he is in canon, on the verge of reaching the feral state of the disease. Part of the reason Blix still works with the group is because he hopes that by finding the pieces he can find a cure.

TL;DR: Darker Paths would be just as much about revolting against a tyrannical force as it would be about saving the world from the Corruption. Overthrow the government AND save the world? Why not!

And that’s all I could think of for now! Feel free to do whatever you want with these ideas and this AU, I’d love to see where y’all take it and it’s been super cool to see how interested y’all are in it! (This is not the first ask I’ve gotten about it!)

BM’s canon storyline is a lot more hopeful than Darker Paths lmao. But that makes this alternate timeline just as interesting to look into!

(ALSO TYSM!)

[emeraldspiral]

Something I wish they did more was having Dib try to combat Zim using magic instead of science. He did try summoning a demon to steal his soul in Mortos and in Mopiness of Doom he attempts to use a talisman from a wizard store in the mall, (which led to him giving up on trying to defeat Zim altogether). But we never really got to see Zim actually try to grapple with magic being used against him.

Normally Zim's knowledge and resources dwarf's Dib's when it's a battle of science vs science, perhaps no better illustrated than in The Wettening. But Zim doesn't know dick about magic or the supernatural, so he'd be way out of his depth trying to combat Dib if he ever found something actually effective he could use against him. You could have Dib use a protection spell that prevents Zim from harming him, or a curse that makes Zim unable to lie, recruit a ghost to harass him in his own home, take control of him with a voodoo doll, or magically summon fire and shoot it out of his hands. Lots of possibilities to keep him on even footing with Zim as their conflicts escalate.

I kinda like the idea of Dib becoming a super powerful warlock who still somehow can't get anything done because of how overwhelmingly corrupt and ineffectual the world around him is and who's also still desperate for approval that he never receives despite how outrageously accomplished and OP he gets. In a way, becoming even more like Zim, who absolutely has the resources to destroy the world, but has no idea how to use them effectively and constantly wastes them on petty skoolyard bullshit.

Either that or everything Dib finds that he thinks he can weaponize against Zim always comes with a serious design flaw or drawback that makes it functionally as useless as the Megadoomer's cloaking device. He studies mystic lore, learns spells, and collects ancient relics, building up this huge knowledge base and arsenal that's almost entirely useless bullshit. Over time he becomes super jaded about magic not living up to the hype. Like, not so jaded he loses the curiosity and enchantment that keeps him pursuing paranormal investigation, but he definitely stops getting excited about the latest source of "untold power" he hears about and approaches the legends with a lot more skepticism about what it can actually do.

[amplexadversary]

Something fucked-up just occurred to me.

Downfall, being a flashback, needed to have resolved in a way that lined up with the present. That means Ioun needed to be alive at the end of it, and Aeor needed to be swatted out of the sky.

I think that this tells the audience something about Asmodeus/Milo that no-one in-universe is privy to, barring the devil himself. His little scheme of trapping the Knowing Mistress in the crosshairs of the Factorum Malleus would have been written with a contingency to it, for both lore and character reasons.

Asmodeus wanted to test the Primes' commitment to their family, whether they'd *actually* save one of the Betrayers if they were threatened. He figured that the party would assume that anyone targeted by the FM would be a Betrayer, after Cassidia had told them about the safeguard against targeting the Primes. So he crammed Arcadia/Ioun into a talisman, took her place, and waited.

What actually happened in-game, where the the Archeart/SILAHA saved the targeted deity, gave Selena the opportunity to tragically seal the city's doom, forcing the Primes to ensure the destruction of the city. Asmodeus didn't have to do anything at that point.

From a straightforward point of view, this is the result Asmodeus would have wanted, though it's possible that he was hoping the Primes wouldn't have intervened so that he could further justify his resentment and hostility.

But if SILAHA had chosen to counterspell Selena instead? The FM would have targeted the deity in the talisman, and Asmodeus would have his "proof" that the Primes no longer cared for them.

This is probably not the outcome that Asmodeus truly wanted, but he may have been hoping for it, to validate his pain and justify inflicting more in return.

Since the Betrayers' entire stance is that the gods come before mortals every time, it's questionable whether Asmodeus would have intentionally endangered Ioun. Given both his motivation and the out-of-game need for the flashback to make sense, I think that Asmodeus was either relying on the safeguard to work, or had set up some contingency to release Arcadia before the FM fired.

Either way, had the party failed to "save" her, he could come in, lambast them over how little he now knows they care, and try to drive the Primes against each other to hurt them.

And, of course, ensure the destruction of Aeor, because fuck your beloved little mortals, traitors.

[corviisquire]

I’ve read the comments on my post abt soulsborne sleep token thing! Here’s some concept art I tried. More is on the way just… HW ew. Tagging people who were interested/encouraging this idea: @sleep-token @wingedinsect @moonchild-in-blue @foundationsofdecay @madsthenightowl @a-s-levynn

Undercut is me mindlessly rambling about what’s going on in my brain about this. Don’t read unless you like torturing yourself with reading.

I guess to start, I have only played Elden Ring (crucible knight more like crucible kill yours-IM JOKING), I’ve watched some lore videos on Elden Ring Bloodborne and DS1, haven’t played DS1 yet, and have all the art books except DS2 (cause nobody likes DS2). I’ve played very limited DND games. I’ve read lots of weaponry wiki pages but I have bad memory. If any information I say below is incorrect (like I say this sword is two-handed but it’s not or I misspell spauldor… spalder? Spauldron?) please correct me. I’m just using information I know and I’m always open to suggestions and feedback!

Random Lore Bits: Sleep and the Whale lived in peace but Sleep was always the higher deity. It created all that lives on the land and the TMBTE creatures. Sleep had many worhsippers but Vessel and the rest stood out. They were appointed as the highest knights of sleep. Vessel always had Sleep’s favor and therefore became Sleep’s vessel. Confusing I’m aware lmao. Sleep and Whale became enemies somehow and Sleep injured the whale, causing it to die. This time period before the Whale’s death was called Eden. NPCs speak of Eden all the time about how, “Peace and day has never been restored since Eden” “Eden is over” “If the whale were here, Eden would still be here”. All followers of Sleep become corrupt.

Bosses: Once killed, all bosses turn into statues and have branches grow out of them. They aren’t dead, just dormant. You can fight them again but returning to their fight area and making an offering of a certain amount of tokens. Once defeated again they return to being dormant. If you defeat all resurrected bosses (fought each one twice) you get smth called a Talisman of Blood (important later).

Regular enemies: Idk skeletons???? Giant birds??? Snakes???? Giant insectoids Idk bro???

Location: Like Elden Ring lands between, it’s called Fields of Elation. The capital city is either Nazareth or Jericho. I’ll try to incorporate Calcutta somehow. Geography is a mix of frigid coast, deep dark forest, large cavernous cave strictures, old ruined castles with mysterious rusty machinery inside, sparatic temples to sleep (all whale temples were destroyed), and the remnants of towns. Large trade road that goes through the entirety of the land is called the Path of Reason??? Idk bro I’m spitballing.

Currency: Tokens. Killing enemies and bosses earns you large amounts of tokens and like how runes work, you can level up you and your armaments with them.

Waypoints: Sites of grace, bonfires, more like RITUALS (I am not funny). I think calling waypoints rituals makes sense.

Flasks HP/FP: Estus Flask, Flask of Crimson/Cruelean Tears…. How about Flssk of H I G H W A T E R. Nah I’m kidding. No idea! Suggestions are open! I’m reading lyrics and nothings jumping out.

Incantations/Spells: Can be equipped to magic armaments and weapons! Kinda like you can choose between spell sword or just being a wizard.

Player Character: Tarnished, undead, hunter…. No idea what to call them. Robes and garments Very inspired by TPWBYT. Thinking the whale was an ancient god defeated by Sleep. Player Character is gifted with a certain power of the whale and was resurrected to defeat Sleep. Game opens with epic cutscene and player charter emerges from a cavern (TLYW) and goes through it before finding themselves on the coast of a freezing raging sea and an inviting forest. There’s probably one class you play as cause I’m lazy and you just collect armor and new weapons on the journey. TLYW style robes with greaves, hood, and gauntlets. Basic longsword.

Vessel: I’ve read the feedback and I agree that staff needs to stay. Live laugh staff. I’ve seen a few Elden ring builds where it’s right armament is staff for casting the long range stuff and left armament is a short sword, miséricorde (mercy dagger), scimitar(?), or other various short weapons. I like the image of this because I imagine him having somewhat light armor so if you’re far away, he spell. If you’re close, he stab. Spells are gonna be red. Change my mind. I like the Elden Ring boss Maliketh’s magic attacks so I imagine something like that. I imagine his boss fight starts with epic cut scene with him kneeled in a big arching cathedral temple type place and he’s like, “you seek to defeat the vessel of Sleep, foolish warrior? I have not known defeat against those of the sea nor those of Sleep” or some crazy bs like that. Half health, hands of Sleep show up and swipe and grab and Player Character. Just giant spindly hands that appear and float around. Attempts to break away form Sleep control but fails so that why he evil >:}

II: Dual wielding… what? No idea. I want him to dual wild some sort of straight weapon cause like drumsticks but honestly… sickles are so badass… Med. to light armor so he can move around a lot. Some sort of helmet with feather Mohawk. Boss area is probably in a fort outside of the main city. Just you and this guy. Get ready for a stamina check.

III: I’m torn between frenzied flame/black flame style magic user or spell sword. If magic, light armor. If spell sword, med. armor. Boss fight in a large old temple, candlelit and torn tapestries everywhere. Better have some fire immunity talismans on you.

IV: Halbert. All the way. Heavy armor my guy. Idk not much to say. Thinking banished knight ornstein inspo?? Boss fight Outside the gates to Vessel/Sleep’s castle. Vigor check time!!!

Chokehold: large dark cavern with webs strung about. It appears from above like, “A traitor to Sleep, hm? Pity. You seemed like you would be a good asset to the Vessel’s artillery.” Big axe time. High HP high strength boss. Vulnerable spot is probably its stomach area. Gives you armor, weapon, talisman, and incantation “Branches in a Flood” (roots sprout from the ground and entangle enemy).

The Summoning: Player probably stumbles upon the fight after meeting Aqua Regia and Granite. Mean killing machine. Idk what else to say erm… maybe player interacts with a sleep token symbol on a pillar with runes and it summons (pun intended) the summoning creature??? Stonehenge lookin boss area. Armor, weapons, talisman, and incantations are dropped.

Granite: Relatively peaceful NPC. Dialogue options are cool and it probably raises stats and alters your armaments. Quest line ends with Granite maybe just becoming dormant or it becomes a member of sleep again and sad boss fight initiates. Drops its armor, axes, root/weed talisman that increases stamina and immunity.

Aqua Regia: Chill and never ends in boss fight. Probably lets you summon them during other boss fights. Spear and sword. Gifts you new armor and talismans. Quest line maybe ends with them becoming too weak to keep battling and becomes dormsnt. You get their armor, spear, sword, rose talisman that raises FP, and a spell/incantation that shoots gold acid rays called Gold Rush or smth similar (Like Aqua Regia? Get it?)

Vore: Awesome boss. Inflicts poison damage for sure. I think we can all imagine how fighting Vore would be. In a poison lake haha it wants you to suffer. Armor, weapons, talisman, and incantations are dropped.

Ascensionism: Swords swords swords. Pulls a Starscourge Radahn and turns a meteor and player has to dodge lmao (cause yk ascending). Boss area is probably in a giant colosseum that’s old and crumbling. Armor, weapons, talisman, and incantations are dropped.

Are You Really Okay?: Player character pulls a stupid and decides to touch and inspect the strange incubator with a fetus inside and AYRO appears and is like “DONT TOUCH MY CHILD” initiate boss fight. Small castle is the boss fight area. Armor, weapons, talisman, and incantations are dropped.

The Apparition: Big guy, big hammer. Boss fight is somewhere in a forest clearing. No other ideas for it. Drops weapons, armor, talisman, incantations like everyone else.

DYWTYLM: Chokehold but with tiny dagger and looks like a giant engine. Probably shoots fire from the pipes on its body? Chokehold is PISSED if you defeat this guy first. Brothers fr fr. Boss fight in an old building filled with machinery. Speed is low but HP is super high. Drops armor, weapons, incantations, and talisman.

Rain: Your magic immunity better be HIGH. Renala style fight: Crazy hits, bad defense. Probably drops some crazy cool incantations, armor (really bad armor), and a talisman of fire immunity and raises your FP. Boss fight area is in a shiny crystaly forest area surrounded by weeping willow/wisteria like trees.

Take Me Back To Eden: The last boss before Vessel. Killer fight. Armor is also fire??? Difficult but probably super dope. Boss fight is in a SUPER large hallway in the castle of Sleep. Drops weapons, armor, talisman of resistance against airborne attacks.

Euclid: NPC that’s probably cranky and hesitant to befriend you at first. Still a follower of Sleep but respects the players fate to defeat the sleepmiester (I’m so tired bro—). Might fight you idk.Once dormant, drops and old mask of Vessel, a few incantations, and armor.

Endings: Endings one: You defeat vessel, sleep becomes dormant and no gods rule over the land. Creatures and vessels are resurrected. Endings 2: You defeat vessel and become the new Vessel of Sleep. No difference from first ending, you just chose if ya wanna be evil or not. Endings 3: If you acquire the Talisman of Blood, Sleep sees you worthy to fight them without using a vessel. Radagon Elden Beast situation. When you defeat sleep, the whale is resurrected.

[dalydily]

The Carian Siblings and Miquella - Part 3: Miquella's Lilies and Lux Ruins

For a while now I've been documenting all of Miquella's Lilies in the game, and one that I skipped past a few times was this one below:

At first I figured this was related to Godwyn via his Lore Monument. But like with EVERY SINGLE Lily in the game I decided to see what's actually here.

Turns out this Miquella's Lily is quite a distance from the Monument, to the point I would strongly argue they arent connected.

There's Stormcaller Church, but that contains only 1 spell and nothing else. Standing here I saw that the only other landmarks I could see was the Dectus Lift and Lux Ruins.

I also noticed that Leyndell was almost completely obscured by foliage and rocks, and even the path from the capital is completely hidden.

Just about the only thing to see here is the Lift and the path from it. To me it looks like this is somewhere Miquella and Malenia would wait to watch the Lift to see who comes up, perhaps to even see if they're heading to Lux Ruins instead of the capital.

If this Lily were related to Stormcaller Church it would be closer like with the Converted Fringe Tower or various spots around Caria Manor. In fact there is a Lore Monument related to the Second Defense of Leyndell that has a Miquella's Lily right in front of it.

Now looking at Lux Ruins we see that this place has 4! Only Leyndell, the Haligtree, Caria Manor, and the Perfumers Ruins boast more.

1 Lily is effectively inside the Ruins and 3 are immedietly surrounding it.

Why would Miquella have 4 of these Lilies here? What happened in his "youth" for him to have fond memories here? Theres 1 notable item here, the Ritual Sword Talisman. This item certainly means that Lux was one of many sites of ritual combat, similarly to the Leyndell Colosseum that has the Ritual Shield Talisman.

These ruins are also filled with Demi-humans and a Demi-Human Queen, who wields a Demi-Human Queens Staff. This is a weapon styled like a scepter fitted with Glintstone, and it was given as a peace offering. In fact all Demi-Human Queens have these staffs even if they don't actually drop them; its a distinct part of their moveset though only the Limgrave Demi-Human Queen drops one.

Both the Carian family and the Academy make equipment inlaid with Glintstone, so either of these 2 groups could have embarked on a large scale peace mission.

But given that the Carian's effectively controlled the Academy until relatively recently I argue that these peace offerings were done at the Carian's direction. That is, aside from the fact that the description says some (or all) at the Academy looked down on the endeavor.

What we have here then, on the Carian side, is a former ritual combat site right next to the gateway between Atlus Plateau and Caria Manor - Dectus Lift - and inhabited by Demi-Humans with whom the Carian's have a peace treaty.

Being a site of ritual combat in the past and those connections to Radahn aren't super apparent until getting through the Haligtree though, regardless of knowledge of the DLC.

In brief order, he idolized Godfrey who promoted ritual combat to honor the Erdtree - implied specifically the Erdtree not necessarily the Golden Order. The Crucible Knights of whom he and his family have in their service fought in said rituals and the Ritual Talismans resemble their weapons. Caelid has the arena which was likely more accessible in the past.

On Miquella's side, we have a spot he frequented to view Dectus Lift and Lux Ruins, his Lilies spread all over said ruins, and a race historically and currently oppressed by the Golden Order.

I doubt he'd any complaints about the history of ritual combat either. The Golden Order has far more terrible sins in its past, and continues to do even worse. Similar to some real world events, ritual combat didn't fall out of favor for moral reasons, but because Radagon (or more likely Marika through him) wanted to legitimize his own rule by distancing the new age from the previous Elden Lord Godfrey and the Golden Order's connections to the Crucible. This also had the effect of lowering the social standing of people connected to the Crucible like Cruible Knights and Misbegotten, if they weren't already on society's lower rungs.

When viewed in the course of normal gameplay I think this place is meant to be seen as a common meeting spot for the Carian family and the twins, or a place where the twins helped with the Carian family with official functions. Radahn specifically isn't an obvious factor at this point.

I imagine it would be quite a pleasant shock to him working with a family/political group that has little to no dogmatic prejudice against the underclass of The Lands Between. The Carians accept many species into their service, whereas Marika (or The Greater Will as one might be led to believe) has dictated who is and isn't possessed of Grace.

While I covered Lux Ruins first, the Carian ties to Miquella doesn't end here. I just think Lux is a slightly flimsy start for everything else.

[astralexpressarchives]

Dan Heng, the Imaginary, and the Lunarescent Depths

So I was recently discussing lore with a friend of mine and we came to a very interesting conclusion about Dan Heng that just makes a little too much sense for me to not make post about.

Dan Heng is an artist who uses the blood of Long to paint imaginary realms into existence and also Long is probably an Imaginary Aeon

Okay hear me out.

So everybody has the 4 star version of Dan Heng on their account. Everybody would have seen his ultimate ability and should be quite familiar with his line:

This sanctuary, is but a vision... Break!

The animation begins with a zoom in on his sphere - very likely the same sphere he uses in his Dan Heng: Imbibitor Lunae form for his spells. He closes his eyes.

Now, the camera zooms out quickly so that we can see the sanctuary that is but a vision.

Then he attacks the enemy, his weapon trailing black splatters of...

Ink!

Alright, now let me back it up a bit for a brief intermission and introduce you to the Judges of the 10 Lords Commission. The Undestroyed Notes makes this statement about the Judges:

A sister among the disciples once described to me one of the judge's brushes — it could write talismans out of thin air, which would make the written words come true.

Of course, we now know this is likely a reference to Hanya as her recent promo material shows her using a magic brush:

She specializes in reading the karma and sins of criminals, and records their crimes and punishments with the Oracle Brush.

It's unclear is this Oracle Brush is in fact the brush that can write things out of thin air, but it's worth noting regardless.

The point is that there is precedence in HSR for characters using brushes/painting/writing to make things real.

Back to Dan Heng, though. It doesn't stop at his 4 star variation, either. Dan Heng: Imbibitor Lunae's ultimate is a very similar story.

A zoom in towards his sphere, his eyes are closed - this time, the (drawn!) clouds are circling him.

Then a scene where the entire thing looks painted! But it doesn't stop there.

Dan Heng and Blade

Now, as with any analysis of Dan Heng, it's basically impossible to make one without also mentioning Blade since Hoyo is obsessed with them:

Blade's sword graveyard (the Hellscape, as he calls it) is very similar to Dan Heng's heavenly moon realm. I believe this is because these locations are mirror images of each other - that is to say, the mountainous area is a real location and one or both of their ultimates are mirror/s of this location.

Also note that he also accesses this location by "slicing" it out of thin air with his Blade.

Also note the drawn aesthetic of the spiderlilies, I think this is implying they are in another realm - same as when he is in his ult and the spiderlilies are projected on his attack! In that same scene, if you look very closely you can spot some lotus the water (extra credit to my friend for spotting this one!)

The realm keeping commission has this image of a dragon's face over the moon between two sets of mountains, one set is upside down mirroring the other set.

A few more examples of Dan Heng and Blade as mirrors:

Blade in the reflection of the water. Note the presence of the moon and leaves surrounding Dan Heng vs the Arbor roots surrounding Blade.

We also know the arbor roots are a real location because we fight Phantylia there beneath the Scalegorge:

The Azure Dragon enters through a circular cloud formation and arrives at the mountainous location on the Xianzhou.

Blade in his fansong shown at the circular clouds swapping identities of Blade vs Yingxing (this happens when he is "marastruck" as seen in his trailer). In his fansong, the clouds lead to the red moon.

This is important because Blade is the creator of Cloudpiercer - the weapon attached to the orb Dan Heng uses to paint his imaginary landscapes - and Blade also created the sword he uses that cuts open the portal to the hellscape. It's unclear if the connection is the weapons or something else, like Dragonheart theory would would mean Blade's blood contains Long's blood which could be the triggering tool.

Anyway, we know these mountains are a real location because Dan Feng was imprisoned there. I believe this location is the Lunarescent Depths Delve below the Scalegorge:

We also know there is a moon present at Blade's Hellscape:

Keep in mind that this splashart features the moon (piercing through the clouds, very subtle Hoyo), destroyed arbor roots, the sword graveyard, and the spiderlilies. Now compare these images:

This is the same area before and during/after the sedition. Note the arbor roots that were present in the reflection of Blade, the water, the chains, the moon (eclipsed, too) that he is drinking the power of...

To drive the point home even further, here's Blade seated during Kafka's companion quest, courtesy of my friend:

Doesn't that painting look... familiar??? Other than in this location, the painting only shows up in two other locations on the Xianzhou one of which is the Realm-Keeping Commission office (which is literally covered in Vidyadhara mountain references - seriously go check it out for yourself).

Hoyo is definitely hinting at something with this set up, lol.

Genshin

It's hard to talk about a Hoyo game without mentioning Genshin Impact. Honestly, a lot of the Vidyadhara story mirrors the story in Genshin, especially Fontaine, for example:

Special water, potentially people made of water

Water dragon making rain in idle animation

Small female child contained by local scientists might have the soul of a god or could be a scam

And more... but the point is people who play Genshin might be familiar with the story of the melusines who were created with the blood of a dead dragon and they live inside it's corpse and also one of them is a painter using the blood of said dead dragon and also fiction is real and they can enter it in an imaginary space?

Yeah... I think they might have copied that idea and applied it to Dan Heng, allowing him to paint using the special water (probably the Blood of Long) and allowing him to create imaginary spaces. "This sanctuary is but a vision" a vision he literally painted!

I swear I'm not crazy.

Long the Permanence

Now here's an additional theory I have about Long the Permanence.

Long could be an Aeon that exists within the Imaginary space.

By this I mean the reason noone has met him or knows where he is or what happened to him is because he's always been imaginary. His scions exist in the primary reality, of course, but Dan Heng's power comes from the Imaginary element in his Imbibitor Lunae form.

This is further supported by the fact that the moon in reality (outside of the mountain scenery) only shows up briefly at key moments for corresponding characters.

It shows up briefly in Fu Xuan's trailer when she recites lines from a poem about the moon but otherwise is absent. Note how she has Long's constellations on the back of her outfit and dragon heads on her tools.

Jingliu's power is also moon based and you also see the moon in the reflection of her ice/nearby water. The reflection of the moon is actually the real power behind her attacks and the moon that appears behind her is a mirage projected from the reflection (not the other way around!). And in the recent Jingliu Myriad you can tell at the start that the moon only just appeared because the moon flowers are only just blooming! IRL these flowers only bloom at night time, presumably in the moonlight, so the fact that they only just opened implies the moon was not present earlier in the scene. This is the same flower eternally bloomed on her shoulder.

Also note how both scenes where she is drawing upon the moon's power also becomes drawn in an inky art style! Just like Dan Heng.

I might stop here because this post is already very long but I might do a whole post dedicated to dissecting Jingliu's lore and symbolism in greater depth, especially as more Jingliu content is released over the coming days.

[deduction-substitute]

Hello mx Lucky guy poster can you show me the sacred texts (please explain misty mountains lore I want to know more about it /nf!)

Im so sorry im about to fuck this up because these shitheads have so many points of view of what they BELIEVE to be the truth and im too stupid

SO. Ill try to get into the important bits. Im so so sorry in advance

August was in a field trip with his other club members, Fernan and Moebius, but unfortunately got stuck in the fog

Bai Ze and Master Yin Yang have already expected his arrival due to them being in a loop, though theyre the only ones who remember anything.

Bai Ze is protecting a scroll thats passed down in her family, and she also has this altar lamp, but Master Yin Yang is conspiring with the mirror demon to get it; in return he will help the mirror demon escape the mountain. This is through the mirror demon assuming August's identity

There were three rules Bai Ze set in place to keep August safe but he was stupid/lh So he broke all of them. During this he also meets Paddle, a rosewood paddle who is now a spirit, and Crane, the embodiment of a copper crane who used to be Censer's subordinate

There was this fucking Battle of Changchuan but i dont?? Understand it?? I only know that the people included were Bai Ze, Censer, Crane and this "Three-headed one" but i have no fucking idea who thats supposed to be. There was an arrow that couldve gotten Bai Ze but Paddle took the hit, so he's very fragile now.

August meets Censer, embodiment of a Boshan Censer, who is also conspiring with Master Yin Yang but he's being manipulated. He tells August the "truth" that Bai Ze has trapped them all in the mountain and he tells him to rip off these talismans or whatever before this Ghost Festival to strengthen him (???????)

August has also been sleepwalking, taking off talismans because of Master Yin Yang's bell, I believe? It can control people with the sound

He meets Cierge, who is not of sound mind!! She has these dreams that seem to "foresee the future," but in the end its speculated that its memories from past loops which made her turn insane...she tells August to get the altar lamp so both of them can leave but Crane is like?? HEY why do you want to leave with him but not ME!! I also want to leave to see the outside!!

Anyways its almost Ghost Festival time so Censer tells August to rip off the talismans already so he does! But then stops and goes "you a fake ass mf 😭😭" and throws the boshan censer into the water. Censer cant move his vessel in his current state, so he decides "if im going down youre going down with me!!!" and grabs August's hand to tear off a talisman

What a romantic 😍 Holding hands...

August is like!?!?!? BAI ZE STOP HIDING THE TALISMANS R GOING TO GET DESTROYED!! She comes out of hiding and overpowers Censer, who PUSHES AUGUST INTO THE FUCKING WATER. While Bai Ze rushes to save him, Censer rips off the last talisman. What happens to him? "Any non-human creature which tears off a talisman by force will turn into dust."

Theres two endings to this!!

August wakes up and finds out Paddle rescued him, but the spirit unfortunately perished. He's given the altar lamp to get out but the light slowly starts to dim and he sees Master Yin Yang again

He figures out that Bai Ze and Master Yin Yang knew more than they let on and that theyre in a loop, showing that he's smarter than people give him credit for. He finds out Fernan and Moebius arent his club members and that his full name is August Fernan Moebius.

Master Yin Yang picks up the altar lamp, deems this loop another failure, and we're back to the beginning! August is fortunately alive but still stuck in the loop

Now, the mirror demon ending is what you get if you dont raise affinity with Paddle. This time Crane is the one who rescues him and Paddle is still alive, and "August" figures out that he should leave before tomorrow night's Ghost Festival

"August" meets with Master Yin Yang and gives him the altar lamp, which can disperse the fog and guide him to this mountain cave that has?? Scrolls?? OR WHATEVER?? Then the mirror demon finally leaves as "August"

There was something about a mountain god that was being sealed, which could possibly be the reason behind the fog, but im not too sure about that....

Sorry, I went haywire and Im not able to explain properly further than this...you can see the quality go downhill...im so sorry..

If anyone can better explain or correct me if i said something wrong...please do..

[catcas22]

Rennala’s Deception

            So this is something I’ve been turning over in my head for a while. This is going to be more of a narrative theory than a hard lore-hunting theory, but feel free to jump in if anybody sees something I missed.

Remembrance of the Rot Goddess

            Remembrance of Malenia, Goddess of Rot, hewn into the Erdtree. ... Miquella and Malenia are both the children of a single god. As such they are both Empyreans, but suffered afflictions from birth. One was cursed with eternal childhood, and the other harbored rot within.

            This seems to indicate that there is a genetic component to Empyrean status. That’s likely not the only factor -- most likely, all “children of a single god” are Empyreans, but not all Empyreans are “children of a single god.” But we can still confirm that Empyrean status is at least partially hereditary.

            We know that Ranni, the youngest child of Rennala and Radagon, is an Empyrean. By the time we finish the game, we, the players, know that she got it from Radagon’s side of the family.

            However... Radagon’s godhood(?) was a strictly kept secret within the world of the game. We get most of our direct information on Radagon from Pastor Miriel, and to hear him tell it, Radagon was just a guy. A general and a champion, yes, but it’s never suggested that he was anything more than a mortal man. In fact, Miriel seems to feel that Radagon married up when he married Rennala, and can’t fathom why he would leave her.

            So did it not raise any eyebrows when two (admittedly very talented) mortals had an Empyrean daughter?

            That was my starting point. And while I continue to believe that Rennala was mortal (possibly part giant, but still mortal), I don’t think that was the official story.

            I’m probably going to make a longer post on this later, but for now grant me the premise that A) sorcery originated in the Eternal Cities, B) the astrologers were descendants of the ECs who fled to the Mountaintops of the Giants after Astel ate their sky, and C) a contingent of astrologers eventually migrated to Liurnia, likely fleeing the early conquest of the Golden Order, and became the iteration of Glintstone Scholars we encounter in game.

            Again, probably going to do a longer post later, but for now I offer the location of the Stargazers’ Ruins, the Heretical Rise, and Founding Rain of Stars (all on the Mountaintops), and the Preceptor’s Set description.

Preceptor’s Big Hat

            Large hat with the movements of the stars drawn on the inside of the brim. Worn by the magic preceptors who served the Carian royals. ... Glintstone sorcerers are the descendants of astrologers, a fact that the Carians remain of aware of. Even if their fate has been long severed from the stars.

            Keep that in the back of your mind. Now, onto Rennala’s official origin story. A note -- all heirloom talisman descriptions cite a “legend,” or a “heroic tale.” I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of the lore gained from these talismans being either distorted or embellished, as legends and tales tend to be.

Stargazer Heirloom

            A talisman engraved with the legend of a queen. Raises intelligence. The young astrologer gazed at the night sky as she walked. She had always chased the stars every step of her journey. Then she met the full moon — and, in time, the astrologer became a queen.

Rennala’s Full Moon

            Sorcery associated with the Carian queen. Uses the caster as a vessel to incarnate a full moon, then sends it floating toward foes. ... Queen Rennala encountered this enchanting moon when she was young, and later, it would bewitch the academy.

Remembrance of the Full Moon Queen

            Remembrance of Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon, hewn into the Erdtree. ... In her youth, Rennala was a prominent champion who charmed the academy with her lunar magic, becoming its master. She also led the Glintstone Knights and established the house of Caria as royalty.

            So we have a young astrologer. Most likely, either she or her family line originated from the Mountaintops. She discovered the Full Moon, and used it to bewitch/charm the Academy. She was also responsible for raising House Caria to the level of royalty.

            A quick tangent -- the Carian Filigree Crest references multiple Carian princesses. Unless Rennala previously had other marriages with other children, Ranni ought to be the only Carian princess.

            However, if we assume that the Carian’s previously ruled a principality, not the entire kingdom of Liurnia, everything slots neatly into place. The Carians were one noble family among many, Liurnia split between the lot of them. They were a matriarchal principality, thus making the current princess the highest priority for the knights sworn to their house.

            Now back to Rennala... I don’t believe that the Full Moon was an outer god, or a sentient entity at all. I believe it is a school of sorcery developed by Rennala, building upon the foundation of Carian sorcery (just as Miquella’s holy incantations seem to build upon Golden Order Fundamentalism, while not being associated with any outer god -- future lore post pending).

            However, I think Rennala presented the Full Moon as an outer god. Picture this -- Marika makes her debut on the Mountaintops, driving the astrologers to flee to Liurnia. She then proceeds to hit the kingdom of the Crucible so hard that Uhl flees to parts unknown and Placidusax picks up his capitol city and absconds to another dimension. Marika then sets her sights on Liurnia, dispatching Radagon.

            At this point, Marika is fully leaning into her rep the God Queen. Her age is inevitable, no one can stand against her.

            Except for another Empyrean, fighting to usher in her own age.

            Rennala, the inheritor of a tiny corner of a fractured and disorganized Liurnia, declares herself the Empyrean of the Full Moon. An Arthurian figure, she unites the scattered houses of Liurnia, raises up an elite order of knights, meets the Hound of the Golden Order on the battlefield... And wins.

            Rennala is now de-facto queen of Liurnia. The Glintstone Scholars come aboard, the Lazuli Conspectus the first and the most loyal -- they even take up the techniques of her knights. But she knows that, having no true god of her own, she cannot stand against Marika indefinitely. She and Radagon manage to work out a compromise. For a time, it seems everything worked out.

            Then her daughter is born an Empyrean. An Empyrean claimed by Manus Celes -- the Hand of the Moon.

            Rennala knows she made the whole thing up. There shouldn’t be a lunar outer god. Did she Tulpa one into existence? Did it exist all along, and she’s been taking its name in vain all these years? Did Radagon know? Is that what the secret of the Preceptors was about?

            Regardless, now it’s after her daughter.

            Of course we know that Radagon was the true Empyrean. He did not need Rennala to produce Empyrean heirs. But Rennala doesn’t know that. Ranni is the youngest. Radagon left after he had his Empyrean heir. Suddenly, Rennala’s breakdown starts to make a lot more sense.

Queen’s Robe

            Robe indicating the highest order of sorcerer. Worn by Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon. When Rennala, head of both the Academy of Raya Lucaria and the Carian royal family, lost her husband Radagon, her heart went along with him. And then, those at the academy realized. That Rennala was no champion, after all.

Carian Retaliation

            One of the sorceries of the Carian royal family. Swing your staff to dispel incoming sorceries and incantations, using their power to retaliate with glintblades. This was the Carian royal family's secret means to prepare against the disloyalty of the academy. The moon and stars would one day go their separate ways.

            The Glintstone Scholars signed on with Rennala because they believed she could be their Empyrean champion against Marika. When she folded, they turned on her in an instant. The description of Carian Retaliation suggests that, to some degree, she always knew that this was a possibility.

            One cannot maintain a lie forever.

[soullessseraphim]

For those who asked :D

LORE DUMP ABOUT ARCANA OCS🎉

Liam (my mc)-°-o-°-o-°-o-°-o-°-o.

Liam is my mc, meaning he's Asra's apprentice, and so, a magician. While he's been following Asra's teachings faithfully, he's found a liking in forbidden practices, and therefore necromancy. The practice of necromancy is actually forbidden amongst magicians, mainly because it is a type of dark magic that feeds on the magician's life essence to be more effective (meaning it has been deemed highly dangerous), and so he has to practice in secret. Hence why his left arm is bandaged : due to his frequent practice, necrosis has started to spread onto him. However, it isn't organic necrosis, but magical necrosis, meaning it doesn't smell nearly as foul, doesn't deal as much damage as if it were organic, but also cannot be cured by amputation or by removing the source of the infection or the necrotic tissues. It also means that bugs and maggots are not something to worry about. However, Liam can manage to keep the progression of the necrosis relatively slow by regularly changing his bandages and dipping them in a potion ; in addition, he wraps talismans around his arm, to give himself more time. Because yes, if he continues practicing or lets the necrosis spread too much, he will be gone as fast as in five weeks (without the bandages or talismans).

But why does he practice then ? Well, Liam has not felt a call / wasn't drawn towards any other type of more conventional (and authorized) magic. While he isn't incompetent, he was lacking that intimate link necessary to specialize in certain fields of magic. However, with necromancy, he feels as if he has to furnish much less efforts ; everything just flows more naturally, and it just feels... right, somehow.

In the context of the game, during the various books, the love interest (Julian) once they learn about Liam's practices will try their best to persuade him to quit (to keep him from fucking dying, obviously), however the outcome of that persuasion will variate depending on the endings :

Upright ending : Liam will eventually give up necromancy, and actually find another field of magic he is drawn towards (that is actually not forbidden or dangerous) : Conjuring magic (I've played Skyrim, can you tell?), although he will as well dip into Voodoo practices (and other types of 'pagan' magic), though safely since he's going to be watched closely by the love interest and Asra (he's got friends on the other side now too- ok I promise I'll stop my references there) ; and so he lives happily ever after with the love interest.

Reversed ending : (now, I've not finished any route yet, and so I don't exactly know how accurate to lore this is, so it's very possible that all this might be... impossible. But I bend reality to my will and I do whatever the fuck I want, I'm an artist) Liam, devastated by having lost his love interest in some way, will fully give in to his forbidden practices, but to survive and save them, he will actually find a way to become the new patron arcana of Death (or at least a second one) and wage war on the Devil with his undead troupes, in order to free his beloved from their deal and set them free, and hopefully keep everyone out of danger in the process by making the Devil busy fighting skeletons. He will find a way to save (Julian) them.

Delicatessen-°-o-°-o-°-o-°-o-°-o.

Victim of the Red Plague, Delicatessen's original name is unknown. If he's being honest with himself, he's forgotten it. He was simply another patient with a number attached to him. Patient n°056. He was "lucky" being in the first few batch of the victims, because in his final moments, doctors still had the patience and strength to accompany him. However, he did not want this to be the end. He may not have a cure, but he had something much more unique and morally ambiguous means to survive : if he was dying, then he'd be reborn.

Long ago, his father had saved a noble's life. In return, he'd gotten this gift, and intricately carved golden needle, with a sort of tiny vial at the tip of it, which contained a crimson liquid similar to blood. It was quite obvious that once poked with the needle, the blood would be transferred to whatever was poked... There was a letter as well, with the needle, inside the neatly decorated wooden box :

"in your last hour, after the sun has set, stare at your reflection, for it is the last time you will see it ; let go of who you were, for you will wither away ; place the needle to your neck, and rejoice in the sacrifice, for you know it will allow you to be reborn"

He remembered his father telling him he refused to ever use the gift, for he thought it was more of a curse. Delicatessen doesn't want to live forever either. But he certainly doesn't want the Plague to be his end. And so, Delicatessen poked his neck with the needle, and opened his eyes again as the moon rose high into the sky. He then left the room he'd been left to die in, and went into the streets of Vesuvia, leaving behind him an impossible to solve mystery for the doctors : "the vanished corpse of patient n°056"

After the end of the Plague, a new, more discreet disease hit the darkest streets of Vesuvia : people who'd passed out drunk during the night would wake up with missing limbs, only to find them later all dried of their blood in the streets. Naturally, it frightened absolutely everybody. Taverns were forbidden to open at night and the civilians were highly encouraged to stay inside no matter what. It went on for months, and the culprit had been nicknamed Delicatessen, because of how it looked like they were considering people as meat markets. Patient n°056, now a vampire, actually stuck with the name, finding it quite funny and fitting.

But as violently as those horrendous amputation started, they stopped. Delicatessen had disappeared, remaining a mystery to Vesuvia. Deli (yes you can nickname him that) had actually entered a sort of slumber, hidden away, and he wakes up around the same time mc arrives to the Palace for the first time. But he didn't go back to his life of crime. oddly enough, he'd found a new passion (which he suspects he always had, but his transition to un-death and his time as a sick patient might have broken what was holding him back from actually doing it (moral compass)) : in his hideout, he experiments, stitching animal parts together to make chimeras. His first successful experiment is Eve, a cat to which he attached great bat wings. She's his most precious creation.

Baron Vultur-°-o-°-o-°-o-°-o-°-o.

Cursed to eat human flesh to survive, Baron Vultur is a relatively new face in Vesuvia. As a new courtier, he raises a few suspicions amongst the others : who the fuck is this guy and what the hell is he doing here? (he's just a lil guy) Hailing from abroad, Vultur had to flee his unfortunately crumbling kingdom, and so his previous Court. Nadia was kind enough to welcome him to the court, despite the initial disapproval of the other courtiers (how dare this guy bother our devilish schemes hrhrhrggrrhg) ; however, they quickly realized that Vultur might not be too much of a bothersome asset. As a demon himself, he actually has a few things in common with them. Like being kinda funky in the brain. Or having sharp teeth. But he's a lil fucked up, like all of 'em. Initially not very talkative and simply letting his new environment sink in, Baron Vultur eventually warms up to the other courtiers, having a few more affinities with Valdemar and Vulgora, with whom he hangs around more from then on.

As they grew more friendly, Vultur actually mentioned the lung surgery he went through, months back. His old kingdom now crumbled, it's only natural he has no doctor to have routine checkups with. And so he asked Valdemar who, to his surprise, accepted. However, the Quaestor did NOT expect Vultur's stitches to be so... uhm... it wasn't in a good state. They'd even commented "I don't know who was your doctor before, but this is butcher work", before proceeding to schedule an appointment with the Baron where they'd fixed the previous intervention's damage. And so, Vultur now has frequent checkups with them. It is also during one of those checkups that he was forced to explain his peculiar diet, since he'd gotten a rib stuck in his throat, and had asked Valdemar for help. He'd went outside that night, finding fresh corpses to scavenge on, and his demonic form for some reason had not thrown up the full skeleton. This is how it was brought to the Quaestor's attention that Vultur needs to consume human flesh to survive.

That does explain his carnivore like teeth. But what- who does he feed from? Baron Vulture actually attends weekly public executions, and once the crowd has cleared out, steals the criminal's body to feed off of it (whether it's during the daytime or the evening) ; sometimes he saves it for later, when he wants the meat cooked in a particular way, or just feels like eating a fancy dish. This is why servants have seen him in the kitchen a few times, making his own meals for dinners, instead of taking those already prepared. But he does like it raw at times ; Vulgora had surprised him devouring a piece of meat (which they didn't know was human, it was impossible to guess) ravenously, drenching his chin, neck and the collar of his clothes in blood once. That did stir unknown feelings in them.

But what about his demon form, then ? Baron Vultur actually turns into a sort of chimera : easily the most massive and imposing of the demon courtiers, he has a humanoid face, though he still has carnivore like teeth (just like in his humanoid form) ; he has panthera front paws ; vulture wings, hind legs, and tail, and a long feathery neck as well, like one of a vulture (because... because his name is Vultur haha get it ? Ok I shut up). He can actually fly, though due to his size, it would most likely get the attention of more than one fellow, so he doesn't do it often. (I actually plan on drawing it later jehehehejjehej)

___________________S_m_a_l_l___B_o_n_u_s___________________

Do they all know each other ?

Liam and Delicatessen actually came to know each other in one stupidly on time coincidence : they had both sneaked into Valdemar's dungeons. Liam needed a corpse for his necromancy practices, and Delicatessen needed blood to feed as well as surgical equipment. And Valdemar found the both of them. Stupidly on time coincidence I was saying. That means there are actually only two people that know of Delicatessen (and honestly maybe it's better like that). Baron Vultur does know of Liam, but isn't exactly invested in getting to know him too much, unless it's absolutely necessary.

Tag for those who asked🧡@lunumochi ; @mosssummoner Disclaimer ! : I haven't finished the first route yet, so if there are lore inaccurate infos, it's not on purpose and I apologize