#also the Isle of Man = not in the UK

[scavengedluxury]

Absolutely lol. But Norfolk is clearly Dutch and Norway deserves Aberdeen at least.

[blackhyena]

yayyyyyy my homeland 💖and also the best of them imo (YORKSHIREMEN DO NOT INTERACT) (jk please share)

[diejager]

Crow

Pairing: Monster TF 141 + Horangi & König x Eldritch horror!reader

Cw: blood, gore, canon-typical violence, injury, mutilation, tell me if I missed any. Wc: 1.9k

They hadn’t expected to have another specialist join them, none of them even knew what Price had in mind when he brought you in. You were normal in every way - as normal as a soldier could be - and unassuming under your dark clothes and gear. You smiled and waved when greeted, you took orders well and you spoke when spoken. You were like a ghost, there but also not there, invincible unless you made a sound or movement. Excluding all they saw in you, you were simply uncanny, with weird mannerisms and habits that made you seem inhuman - as inhuman as you could be to hybrids. 

The only words Price had given them before you landed were: “They’re good at what they do, just don’t cause any trouble, understood?”

They were vague and as unassuming as you first seemed, like any warning for any person that could easily become annoyed or mad. Ghost certainly hadn’t put much thought into it as he should. Gaz had elbowed Soap in an attempt at reminding the werewolf to heed their captain’s words. Rudy and Alejandro wouldn’t have to worry, they knew and learned the limits of any man’s patience, smart and intuitive. Horangi was as weary as he would with any new addition, eyes narrowed in annoyance and curiosity. Unlike any of them, König hid any emotions from his stoic face, shoulders broad and back ramrod that emphasised his height and broadness, he couldn’t be sure if you would be easy to ignore or irritable.

Granted, they all had expectations for you since Price seemed so proud and confident when you first joined them, acting like a child given his dream, famished to have you by his side as professionals as possible. Yet here you were, normal looking, of average height and average weight, and simply there. Although there wasn’t anything inherently abnormal to you, the simple presence of your being made their hair stand on end. There wasn’t any reason to be so frightened or chilled about you, you hadn’t done anything deserving of such fear and suspicion, and Price trusted you with his life. If he trusted you, then the rest could, no? After all, dragons are the most protective of monsters. 

As Price promised, you were good at what you did, never a flinch, never any hesitation, never a moment of weakness. You were too normal and good to be a human, especially not with the way corvids flocked to you. Ravens, crows, magpies and jackdaws followed you everywhere you went, simply standing or cawing around you as if you were a memener of their murder. Going to London would be dreadful with how many corvids called the British Isles their home, which - coincidentally - was where you lived. 

All but Price had a hard time forming a bond with you, your eerie presence made it difficult to relax, and apparently, you knew it as well, since they had an equally difficult time finding you on the base. If you weren’t beating a sand-filled punching bag, you would be at the shooting range, and if you weren’t there, then you’d be somewhere on the roof of a structure, taking in the cool, stormy air of the UK with your bird friends. 

You only smiled when they all blew up in cackles and jokes, never laughing with them or cracking your own jokes. Your voice never raised over a certain point, a murmur or a raspy growl. It was either human or inhuman to you. If Soap, Gaz and Rudy were having a hard time making you open up to them, then the rest would have an even harder time doing so. They were failing miserably. 

That was until Soap caught an airy chuckle from you when he passed Price’s office, the older man having probably said something amusing to you which had you laughing. And as loud and rowdy the werewolf was, he couldn’t stop himself from telling the others, his excitement and enthusiasm bleeding into the rest. It had somehow made them more determined to bond with you, you were, after months of work, a permanent member of Task Force 141. 

Unfortunately, the most they got were snorts and huffs, snorts from Ghost’s dark humour and huffs from Soap and Gaz’s poorly made-up jokes, theatrical performances of failures and defeat in the face of an unflinching and unusual being. Questions started piling up on Price’s desk, wanting to know if you were human, if you were a hybrid, if you were a monster, if you were even a living being seeing as you hadn’t taken a single breath or eaten (not that they’d seen you eat.). 

“That’s classified, ” Price stopped their musing with two simple words. “Unless they tell you themselves, I don’t think it’s any of my business divulging that to anyone.”

Price’s secrecy and respect for you only sowed the seeds of curiosity and intrigue deeper. What had you hidden from them that was so classified that Price couldn’t tell them? Even Alejandro didn’t have the clearance to dive into your files - not that there were any. The question lingered in their minds, unanswered and famished for one: What were you?

Somehow they’d gotten separated from you, being caught under heavy fire from Russian ultranationalists and backed into a building with most exits blocked or surrounded by the enemy. They worried about you, being left to yourself in a situation like this one was dangerous for even the most skilled and wary soldier. Whereas they all had their backs, one watching for the other, you were alone. And whereas you had the possibility of using your powers of shifting - if you were a hybrid or monster, they still hadn’t found the answer to that question - they were in the confines of a restricted building, letting loose would either damage the already-damaged-building or become a danger to their own teammates. 

Ghost’s fog was deadly. Soap could come under fire from them shooting. Gaz couldn’t fly freely in a tight place. Price’s fire could be devastating. Rudy couldn’t risk getting tired. Alejandro could be unknowingly shot by them. König was uncontrollable and unpredictable. Horangi was a danger to himself in the secret of darkness.  

They were fucked, caught in a dire situation that could mean the end of them, but regret and panic wouldn’t be of any use to them, they had to concentrate and wait for backup. 

“Backup from what, Price?!” 

What could possibly reach them in time to support them? They were too far in for any help to arrive quickly enough. The closest naval ship was thousands of miles away, the closest ocean was hundreds of miles away and any military support even farther. What would they even be waiting for?

“Cap! We can’t-”

A scream shattered the skies, howls of pain and panic filling the once booming sound of foreign guns. The sound of bodies being broken and bones cracking brought their attention elsewhere. The Russians weren’t aiming at them anymore, shooting at something bigger and more dangerous than any of them. They were looking at a creature that picked them off one by one, the shadow of a monster covering the white snow. The fear in their eyes tainted the sky as their blood sullied the fresh snow, turning white into red and pink.

Whatever that was was dangerous. The ability to rip men apart and incite terror into well-trained and hardened soldiers was anything but amiable, safe and good. Their bodies were tense, muscles contracted to move at the flicker of movement from the monster outside the building. Their weapons aimed towards the entrance, fingers laying restlessly on the trigger and shoulder screwed with suspense as the screams and cries slowly died down to howling winds in the night. 

Price raised a hand, holding them back from firing at the entity, they lowered their guns, following the captain as he walked towards the door. He hadn’t flinched or froze when clawed fingers gripped the wide opening, a giant, black hand cloaked with feathers. Another landed on the ground farther away, letting them see the blood staining the show, seeping from its fingers and dirty feathers. With a low rumble from the beast, it lowered its head to the doorway, where Price had stopped. 

He smiled at the gigantic head of a crown, its black beak sharpened with pointed teeth, as black as its skin and feathers. An oval eye blinked at them, white as the snow and piercing as the cold. It sent chills down their spines, ready to jump away if it attacked, but Price patted the skin under its eye.

“Thank you,” Price spoke your name so reverently, thanking it - you - with a grateful smile and proud eyes.

That monster - it - was you, the unassuming, perfect and eerie human. You, who was always around corvids, were one yourself, albeit a gigantic, crooked version of a crow. You crooned at Price’s touch, soft and loving like he was. You moved away from the entrance and they left. It was as if they walked into another world, blood, bones and guts littered the ground, as if a cat had had its fun with something breakable. Ghost and König thrived in this scene, the blood and gore feeding them. Unlike the rest that either recoiled or stared off, preferring to look at your bird-like form than the ground. 

In all your glory, you stood high and mightily, toppling over the trees by hundreds of metres. Covered head to toe in black skin and black, glistening feathers, you held your head high to look at the Russian field. Four horns curled over your head, sprouting from your crown and curling at the tip, they mimicked a crown of bone. Bones also grew from your back, the protrusion of your vertebrae growing along your back like a ridge, sharp and deadly, like the sharp-looking feathers that protected your back. If any of that were shocking then your second pair of wings would be frightening, an equally big pair of wings help support your weight on the ground, besides two legs, clawed perfectly to inflict lethal damage. And at the end of your back, a flared, serpentine tail with feathers curled upwards.

While Price acted with such ease and comfort around you, the rest simply couldn’t. If they were bothered by your presence before, now, after having shifted and showed your true skin, it grew tenfold, becoming unbearable and suffocating. You saw their discomfort, cooing at them before you shrunk, bone and feathers sinking back under your skin, your beak turning into the face they knew, but your white eyes remained. It was all knowing and powerful.

You were an Eldritch being, an all-knowing and powerful creature, perhaps one of the last horrors that lived. It made sense why Price was so trusting of you, believing you to be unable to betray them. Why he warned all of them to never stray into your hate and annoyance. Eldritch horrors, after all, were the strongest beings alive (if they could be called alive), old as aeons and unmoving by time. Dragons were second to them, the proud and respectable monsters knowing the worth of Eldritch creatures and respecting them. 

Everything fell into place. It clicked, why everything was simply so. Perhaps, after knowing your secret, you’d open up to them, let them in your colossal and dark and unbeating heart.

Taglist: @saelkie @yeoldedumbslut

[baddywronglegs]

England doesn’t have a North-South divide. But if it did have one, Cornwall would be in the North.

Now I’m not saying there isn’t a big geographical divide between like, Manchester and Canterbury, or that the country’s a homogeneous patchwork, what I’m saying is this divide isn’t north-south and thinking about it as such masks a lot of things.

Oh, and I am, for necessity of discussing this divide, going to be ignoring the Midlands. I hope you forgive me ignoring the deep cultural ties between Birmingham and Rutland.

Map Men made a video about the North-South divide in England (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENeCYwms-Cc&ab_channel=JayForeman), which focused on the line determined by Danny Dorling in 2008.

… Which isn’t a north-south divide. It’s a northwest-southeast divide, going up at more than 45 degrees – it’s more an east-west divide than it is a north-south. It also includes Wales in “the North” but we’ll get to that.

But it was a north-south divide he set out to find, so a north-south divide he sort of drew, excluding exclaves and enclaves where the metrics he was looking at would make that not a north-south divide.

Notably, several would seem to put the west country peninsula in “the North”… So what’s up with that?

(Dorling's full paper is here, and I recommend looking through the whole thing to see how he arrived at the divide he eventually concluded: https://www.dannydorling.org/wp-content/files/dannydorling_publication_id2938.pdf)

Anyway. This is what’s up with that:

This is a geological map of Great Britain (and the Isle of Man, which isn’t actually part of the UK or any of its constituent countries but I guess it’s here anyway.)

Here again, in the boundary between Jurassic and Triassic geology, is that diagonal line from the Humber to the Severn, but continuing past both. For convenience, here are those two lines superimposed on one another.

With Danny Dorling’s line (frequently following county boundaries or other administrative boundaries) in blue, and the geological divide in red.

One line was drawn in 2008, the other has existed over 200 million years.

This isn’t a coincidence – it’s the reason for the divide.

What made “the North” is the industrial revolution. And one thing that drove the industrial revolution was the mines: coal, iron, silver, tin, the rocks beneath our feet and the people who dreamed they were worth more than the people they sent into the dark to bring it into the light.

Towns grew around mines, from Walker to South Crofty, and more than just the mines defining them, it was the mines closing that would cement the divide.

“Byker Hill and Walker Shore, collier lads forever more”

“Cornish lads are fishermen and Cornish lads are miners too”

- Two folk songs about regional identity’s roots in its industry, from opposite ends of this dividing line

In the West Midlands, the Black Country didn’t earn that name with caviar; it, like Manchester and Leeds, reinvented itself when the industry collapsed: cities built in the brick ruins of the temples built to the exploitation of the workers, blackened by the smokes of the cremation of its labour industry. When the light catches the steel and glass just right, you can still see the ghosts.

Even the country life outside the cities is shaped by this geology: the terrain north-west of this line doesn’t lend itself to large, flat expanses of land for arable farming, and the divide is visible again when looking at agriculture:

With the majority of land south of the Jurassic-Triassic line being arable, mixed and market gardening, with a fair amount of cattle in the Cotswolds and Chilterns and along the north side of the Thames, and the majority north-west of it being cattle and sheep – which are almost absent from the south side of the divide with the exception of the Isle of Wight and therefore, ironically, Cowes.

Not all farming is the same, the yearly flow of labour and of marketable goods between livestock and arable having little in common beyond being intensive work out-of-doors and taking huge amounts of land to accomplish.

But one thing that also goes hand in hand with this is that sheep aren’t mostly farmed for their meat but for their wool, and what drove industrialisation in the Pennines was the steam-loom: the mechanisation and mass-production of wool.

(Incidentally, on this map arable farming and market gardening also correlate with several types of English traditional dance: Molly, Border an East Midlands and East Riding plough dances, which began as a way for seasonal farmhands to make ends meet by busking with menaces in the winter off-season, but that’s for a later Morris ramble).

But hang on, that puts Hull on the same side of the divide as Kent, not, for example, Liverpool. So what gives there?

The East Riding isn’t built on mining - a kid with a bucket and spade could find the water table in most of the county.

Hull, and other ports of Yorkshire with it, was built on whaling – and not many industries have collapsed harder than whaling. For once, the geography of the land has little impact on this, but the geography of the sea does:

Between England and the European continent is a shallower stretch of sea called Dogger Bank – named for the Dutch cod-fishing boats known as Doggers which fished on it. But shallow water isn’t great for whales. So where is there water good for whales?

Well, whalers from Great Britain would venture as far as the Antarctic ocean in search of whales, and often hunted off Greenland – but there was water closer to home where whales did and still do frequent:

(There is still whaling in the North Sea. Around 500 minke whales are killed by Norwegian whalers each year “in objection to” the global ban on commercial whaling.)

Outside of this, there’s also a divide between port cities dealing primarily in cargo or primarily in passengers, something which is somewhat evening out by one means or another, but here’s a current map of UK passenger ports and their passenger numbers:

Or at least circles sized to correspond to their passenger numbers - source with stats: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/sea-passenger-statistics-all-routes-2021/sea-passenger-statistics-all-routes-2021

Compare this with a map of cargo ports by load:

Source with numbers: https://safety4sea.com/uk-ports-record-steady-performance-during-2018/

Generally showing passenger numbers getting lower the further you get from Dover, but not the same correlation with cargo (Plymouth and Holyhead both bucking this trend at a glance).

So, if not “The North” and “The South”, what name does make sense for this divide?

I propose “the South” be known as Lloegyr.

These names still exist: Domnonea still exists in Brittany both as a name for that same region from which Brittonic settlers came to Brittany and an area of Brittany named for them, and in Welsh, yr Alban is Scotland, Cymru is Wales and Lloegr is England.

Wales isn’t part of “the North”. “The North” is part of Wales.

[yeetmeoutthewindowdaddy]

A deep dive into Zevlor's devotion (Part 2) Elturel's history and culture, the Hellriders, and Zevlor's paladin oath:

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR BG3.

These series of posts were originally one loooooong post— but apparently Tumblr has a character limit, and I found it; so now it's been split into several parts/posts.

(Part 1) Everybody hates tieflings, and how discrimination impacted a young Zevlor

((Part 2, this post, is for providing historical and sociological information on Elturel, paladins and their oaths, and the Hellriders. The third part is where the meat of my Zevlor analysis is.))

(Part 2.5)

(Part 3) Zevlor's actions during Act 1, an analysis of a man who is barely holding on.

(Part 4) Zevlor's actions during Act 2, an analysis of a broken man.

(Part 5) Zevlor in a romantic relationship.

(Part 6) Zevlor's actions during/ after the epilogue, not all endings are happily ever after— especially not for a tiefling.

(Part 7) Zevlor in a romantic relationship.

I don't think many bg3 players understand just how dedicated and loyal of a person Zevlor is. This ADHD hyper-fixation fueled multipart-thesis is meant to show how Zevlor's past is as tragic as any of the origin characters'/ Durge's. It's meant to show how horrifically broken Zevlor was when he "betrayed" the other tieflings. It's also meant to show that our beloved blorbo would probably be fervently obsessive if he was in a romantic relationship.

Most importantly: It demonstrates how our favorite man Zevlor was most likely a fanatical religious zealot my dudes. He was (probably) a part of the Faerûn equivalent of the Spanish Inquisition lite.

I have kept this as factual as I am able to. Please keep in mind that Baldur's Gate 3 plays it fast and loose with the DND/ Forgotten Realms canon and lore, on top of DND/ the Forgotten Realms itself regularly disregarding and changing it's own lore and canon. DND lore and canon as a whole is a mess. It has multiple universes that sometimes interact and are maybe separate from each other. Full disclosure; I've mixed 1e-5e lore together FUCK 5.5e, because parsing through what is currently considered canon is a nightmare. As far as I'm concerned, as long as a piece of lore was canon at some point in the past 50 years— it's fair game. @y-rhywbeth2 in this post has a more in depth disclaimer. Also please check out their headcanons and lore breakdowns, they're so good.

THIS PROJECT TOOK ME OVER A MONTH TO WRITE. I've tried to find all grammatical and spelling errors. I've tried to ensure that I've cited the correct sources in the correct places.

Before reading this way to long of a post please check out (the much more succinct) @gortashs-skidmark history of Elturel and Zevlor headcanons [alt].

______________________________________________________________

● (Part 1) Elturel's History and Culture:

[A/N: I refer to Elturel as a city, a city-state, and a realm. They don't mean the same thing, but I've used them interchangeably here because Elturel is simultaneously a city, a city-state, and a realm (known as Elturgard). Kind of similar to how the UK, England, and Great Britain are all used to describe the British Isles.]

Elturel was a port city located in the Western Heartlands along the Chionthar River.

"The river linked it... to Baldur's Gate on the Sword Coast... it was a center for agriculture and trade in the region, and was renowned for its elite mounted defenders, the Hellriders."

All Elturians were horse girls loved horses. Just as every child in Waterdeep leaned how to swim, every child in Elturel learned how to ride a horse.

"Elturians were practically raised in the saddle, learning how to ride and growing familiar with how horses behaved in any situation, even those that never became Hellriders. The downside was that, rightly or wrongly, some folk thought Elturians always smelled of horse."— https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Elturel#Culture_&_Society

Elturel claimed ownership over nearby cities and lands by declaring themselves their "protectorates"— thus becoming the realm Elturgard. (In other words they were holier-than-thou and patronizing in their attitude towards the cities they took over.)

"In the late 15th century DR, it was the capital of the realm of Elturgard... through a variety of excuses, Elturel had laid claim to the lands of its neighbors, placing them within "Elturel's Guard" as they called it... with the aim of bringing righteous judgment to all the Realms and "setting Faerûn aright"..."

Elturel was an authoritarian theocracy which was so pious that you could get into trouble for cursing in public.

"Elturel was known as a holy city... and it was ruled by its high priest, the High Observer of Torm… Even bad language and irreverent humor could draw the ire of authorities. Elturgard's laws were rigid, intolerant, and persecuted evil with inquisitorial zeal..."

Saying they had inquisitorial zeal was not a figure of speech, they actually had inquisitions.

"They ensured the city and countryside remained safe and well-policed... [through] rigid laws, intolerant attitudes, and inquisitions circa 1479 DR... Just rumoring about a possible band of thieves was enough to see one interrogated by zealous Hellriders."

Elturel had a 3 strike policy, where upon the 3rd strike a criminal would be sent to the mines— which never had a shortage of prisoners. (By reading between the lines, I'm assuming that the law did not have much nuance or account for the severity of a crime. i.e.: Littering 3x would get one sent to prison along side murderers.)

"Those who broke the law three times were sent to the Dungeon of the Inquisitor... they were punished and set to work mining tunnels. The inmate population was always being replenished."

They were even willing to risk a loss of trade revenue if it meant that outsiders wouldn't bring their immorality into the city.

"After the founding of Elturgard, the port officials who handled trade in the city... were overly righteous and handed exorbitant taxes and penalties to traders who showed even the slightest impiety, even banning them from setting foot inside the city. The caravans and riverboat convoys now feared to pass through..."

The official religion of Elturel was Torm, but almost any good or neutral aligned god was allowed to be worshiped.

"In the late 1400s, the city's official faith was in Torm the True, the state religion of Elturgard. However, the people commonly worshiped Torm, Helm, Lathander, Amaunator, and Tyr."

Baldur's Gate was a rivaling competing port city and moral antithesis to Elturel, who they were constantly on the verge of war with.

"Its chief rival now was Baldur's Gate... Elturel regarded Baldur's Gate as lawless and corrupt, and disapproved of its religious tolerance... There was much animosity between them… [but] neither was looking forward to an armed conflict."

Along with the city guard (more like a military than a city guard, but I digress) every citizen swore a magically binding oath, the Creed Resolute, to defend the city.

"...He [Thavius Kreeg] eventually made all Elturians swear the Creed Resolute, binding them by oath to defend the city... The Creed Resolute was a set of oaths and maxims sworn by the paladins of the Order of the Companion of Elturgard and the Hellriders of Elturel, and eventually all Elturian citizens... Citizens who were old enough to read were required to put a hand on the Tome of the Creed Resolute and recite the oath. Once done, their name magically appeared in the book, thus recording all those who'd sworn to follow the Creed."

Elturel's primary city guard/ military were known as

● (Part 2) The Hellriders:

Training started as young as 12. (Which is how old Zevlor was when he enlisted.)

"Enlistment and training could begin as young as twelve. People came to Elturel from other lands just to join the Hellriders."

They swore an oath not only to the defend the realm, but also uphold its moral codes of conduct.

"...Hellriders followed the Creed Resolute... This had them swear to serve the High Observer and the greater good, uphold Elturgard's law, and permit no difference in faith to come between them... among other codes of behavior. If a Hellrider overstepped the limits of law or proper behavior, their comrades would admonish them to "recall the Creed"."

Hellriders were revered— and as the protectors of Elturel they were held to an even higher moral standard than the average citizen. Children dreamed of becoming a Hellrider, but it was difficult to actually become one.

"It was said that every [child] of Elturel and the lands around dreamed of being a Hellrider some day. To call such a child a 'hellion' was... a compliment, marking one as having the courage and drive to ride the Hellriders' destriers...the Hellriders and the Companions were held in highest regard. Both inspired the people to be devout in both their faith and the pursuit of justice."

Hellriders were not only revered in Elturel, but in many other places too. They were more powerful than some other nations entire armies.

"...an elite cavalry unit who acted as the primary armed force of the city of Elturel in the Western Heartlands...The Hellriders helped Elturel establish and maintain civilization in these harsh lands. They were one of the most renowned and well-regarded military forces... For a city guard, they outmatched the armies of whole realms."

The Hellriders were named as such because of their loyalty to one another. They were family. **insert Fast and Furious family meme**

"The warriors were close-knit and exceptionally loyal, both to each other and to their commanders... It was said that a company of Riders had once ridden into the Hells themselves— namely Avernus, the first layer... to rescue one of their own, such was their great loyalty to each other... and from this story, the Hellriders were named."

Becoming a Hellrider was for life. They were the literal definition of ride or die.

"To be a Hellrider was a job for life, no matter how short it turned out to be... In the mid-1360s DR, there were no living ex-members of the Hellriders—too many had died in battle."

The only way to resign from the Hellriders was to be sent on a suicide mission. If they somehow survived the mission then they'd be publicly known as a deserter, considered a heretic, and subsequently banished from Elturel without a pot to piss in.

"Those determined to resign were given a final mission involving very difficult tasks, and even if they succeeded, and survived, they were stripped of their gear, exiled from the city, and named a heretic in the eyes of Helm, God of Guardians, for abandoning their post."

These are merely the conditions for an average Hellrider-- we haven't even touched the diehard paladin sect known as

● (Part 3) The Order of the Companion:

Before Zevlor's time in the Hellriders there weren't many paladins in their ranks.

"There were few paladins in the Hellriders. However, in the late 1400s, members of the Hellriders could aspire to join the Order of the Companion, a paladin knighthood..."

But by the time Zevlor joined there was the Order of the Companion. And they were religious fanatics. They didn't just swear an oath to the city. No, they went the extra mile by swearing an oath to Elturel/ Elturgard on their personal patron god.

"...A well-armored mounted knighthood of paladins who defended the city and wider Elturgard, swore oaths to the realm and shared its goals, even if the members did not all share faith in Torm. Courageous, righteous, and zealous, they were proud of their dedication to the cause of good, their clear morals, even their intolerance... Although the state religion of Elturgard was that of Torm, and they all swore oaths to the realm, the Companions themselves followed various different gods...Many of the Hellriders now aspired to join the Companions."

The Order of the Companion, despite being newer and thus having less established prestige than the Hellriders, were revered with an amount of reverence similar to the Helriders.

"In the late 15th century, Elturian citizens still often dreamed of joining Elturgard's paladin knighthood. This time, many succeeded. Inspired by the Hellriders and the Companions, the folk of Elturgard were typically devout in both their faith and the pursuit of justice. Both troops were loved and respected by the people... The Companions were seen as the undoubted champions of the people of Elturgard, with even the lowest-ranking ready to sacrifice their lives to protect them, and in turn the people adored them. Disrespecting the Companions and their Creed would incur the rage of the common folk."

I'm speculating here, but I would imagine that the former head Hellrider being a vampire lead to the Hellriders losing the people's unwavering trust. The Order members did not have this mark against them. Their PR was also probably boosted because joining the Order was easier than joining the Hellriders.

(They were maybe racists? Interestingly, on the wiki for the Order of the companion only humans are listed under the race(s) of those who are members.)

Also they were fascists. [A/N: In Faerûn choosing a patron deity is akin to choosing a political party.]

"The paladins swore to follow and uphold the Creed Resolute... {A/N: the same creed the the Hellriders later adopted and (along with citizens) swore to.} If one of the Companions... even questioned the policies of the realm (such as exactly why there was a temple to Bane in Soubar), their comrades would admonish them to "recall the Creed" and the matter was resolved."

The Hellriders and the Order of the Companion were not one and the same-- but they often overlapped (so much so that I have simply given up in trying to parse which is which), in a similar vein as the army and the marines. This reddit user described it best:

"Order of the Companion are Paladins. Hellriders is a general name for the Elturel cavalry. The Knights of the Companion are all Hellriders, but not all Hellriders are Knights of the Companion. It's a club within the club. Previously, Elturel was ruled by a "High Rider" who was the highest military leader of the Hellriders. After the Companion arrived, rulership changed to a "High Observer" who was the leader of the Church of the Companion..."

You may be wondering; what in the sweet hells is

● (Part 4) The Companion:

~50 years before the game Elturel was being swarmed by vampires after it was found that the (now former) leader of the Hellriders and the city itself, the aforementioned High Rider, was a vampire.

"...the High Rider himself was discovered to be a vampire, with a vast network of vampire spawn, charmed minions, undead allies, and sycophantic collaborators that surprised even the Hellriders. Now exposed, the undead infested Elturel..."

The Hellriders could do little to tide the flow of the undead.

"...and whatever victories the Hellriders won during the days, they lost sorely in the nights."

A priest of Torm (and later the ruler of Elturel) would perform a "miracle" and summon an entity known as the Companion.

"...Thavius Kreeg, then a priest of Torm, pleaded to any power to save his city, and... his reckless prayer was answered—by the archdevil Zariel with a deal to which he hastily agreed. Though the city would receive its much-needed aid, it would last but fifty years, after which Zariel would take the whole city and its people. Thavius also swore to serve her in all ways for all time..."

And so Zariel created the Companion— which was actually the Solar Insidiator that would cause the city to fall into Avernus (Hell).

"The Companion, also known as Amaunator's Gift, was a magical second sun that hovered over the city of Elturel in Elturgard… It was the symbol of the realm and of its defenders, the Order of the Companion. However, it was in fact the Solar Insidiator, a device created by Zariel, archdevil of Avernus, as part of a plot to trap and steal the city away to the Nine Hells."

The Companion was basically a 2nd sun that always shone in Elturel.

"The light of this second sun illuminated the land day and night, and suffused all of Elturel... it produced no heat. Creatures and things vulnerable to daylight in some way, or... destroyed by it, were... vulnerable to the Companion's light. Thus it prevented darkling races and monsters from assailing the city. Undead of all kinds found it painful or were even burned by it, while creatures of darkness could not even bear to look at the city."

AN:A tweet by Adam Lee, the lead creator of Decent into Avernus, confirmed that DiA took place in 1492 DR (the same year that BG3 is set in). Which seems to be a retcon of the previously canon year in which Elturel fell, 1494.

Don't feel too bad for Kreeg here, he's not like Wyll who made a selfless deal with a devil to save his beloved city and people. Kreeg was corrupt. He was why the people of Elturel unknowingly swore their souls to Zariel by having all citizens swear to the oath of the Creed Resolute.

"Taking the credit, Thavius was acclaimed as the savior of Elturel, and few would doubt his goodness or his intent. Only he knew the true origin of the mysterious second sun... [From this] Kreeg was raised to the position of High Observer himself some years later, following a crisis of leadership in Elturel and the unexplained but convenient disappearance of the likely successor, and his rival..."

Go read the wiki page on Zariel for her backstory and connection to Elturel and the Hellriders themselves, it's very fascinating.(LINK) Long story short: Fallen angel turned archdevil is salty about the Hellriders. She needs more souls for more power, and wouldn't you know it— there's a whole city that she already has some beef with she can claim from a desperate priest who's all to willing to sign it, and its people's souls, away to her.

That's it for part 2, I made (Part 2.5) Zevlor's Paladin Oath (link): because this post got too long.

Link to the other parts:

A deep dive into Zevlor's devotion series (master list)

[justforbooks]

Brian Murphy

Actor who became a TV star in the 1970s as George Roper in Man About the House and a spin-off series, George and Mildred

The comedy actor Brian Murphy was the mainstay of several hit television shows in which he was constantly outmanoeuvred by contemptuous and implacable women: Mildred Roper, Kitty McShane and Nora Batty were three of them.

The public image was of a ferret-faced and crafty-eyed loser, his thinning hair in a comb-over. Playing feeble, dim and cunning, Murphy specialised in a kind of low-level reedy grumble that could swiftly escalate into yelping panic. It was, however, somehow always clear that the weakness of his characters was firmly rooted in the strength and intelligence of his interpretation.

Murphy, who has died aged 92, became famous in six series of Man About the House on Thames Television, written by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke, which ran from 1973 to 1976. Man About the House followed the fortunes of three young people (played by Richard O’Sullivan, Sally Thomsett and Paula Wilcox) sharing a flat, with Murphy and Yootha Joyce playing George and Mildred Roper, who owned the house and lived below them. The socially ambitious Mildred was flirtatious and something of a predator, while the ineffectual and petty-minded George was clearly unable or unwilling to cope with his wife’s sexuality – though he could be seedily lascivious towards the younger female characters.

He and Joyce – who had been close friends since the 1950s, when both had worked for Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop company – were a glorious pairing, and before long became the show’s stars, leading to a spin-off, George and Mildred – also for Thames and written by Mortimer and Cooke – which ran for five series from 1976 to 1979. At its peak the show attracted up to 20 million viewers in the UK, making Joyce and Murphy household names.

When later asked if he felt haunted by the character of George Roper, Murphy was sanguine. “I’ve long since come to terms with it,” he said. “I had sort of made a name in theatre before George and Mildred came along, so the fact that I became well known to a wider audience just allowed me more opportunities in the theatre. They were pleased to have a ‘name’ on the bill.”

George and Mildred ended when Joyce, an alcoholic, died at the age of 53 in 1980, with Murphy at her bedside.

Murphy then took the starring role in two sitcoms, The Incredible Mr Tanner (ITV, 1981), in which he played an escapologist, and L for Lester (BBC Two, 1982), as Lester Small, a driving instructor.

In 1982 there came a personal stage triumph in Alan Plater’s On Your Way, Riley, in which Murphy played the music-hall drag star Arthur Lucan, who appeared on stage and film in the 30s as Old Mother Riley.

As a child Murphy had been taken by his parents to see Lucan and Kitty McShane (“Old Mother Riley and Her Daughter”) at his local variety theatre, and he loved them all his life. So he jumped at the chance and certainly rose to the challenge of playing Lucan in Plater’s play, first presented at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East. He was partnered by Maureen Lipman as Lucan’s wife and stage daughter Kitty. The play was later adapted for television and shown on ITV in 1985, with Murphy and Lipman again in the main roles.

On Your Way, Riley was a real-life, backstage tragi-comedy – George and Mildred without the easy laughs. Murphy, with tremendous grace and poignancy, sank to the depths of despair as a besotted old trouper in a relationship in which his much younger wife, tempestuous and faithless, flaunted her lovers in front of him. He also recreated Lucan’s slapstick routines with great fidelity. Lipman, too, was magnificent as the woman who despised Lucan as a man while acknowledging that as a performer he was “a genius”.

Murphy was born in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight, to Gerald and Mabel Murphy, who ran a restaurant. His two elder brothers, Ken and Eric, were killed on active service during the second world war. Brian was called up for national service in 1950 and worked as a clerk at RAF Northwood, near London, where he met another aspiring actor, Richard Briers, who also went on to be a television comedy star, in The Good Life.

When he was demobbed, Murphy studied at Rada and in 1955 joined Littlewood’s company in east London, appearing in Oh! What a Lovely War and Sparrers Can’t Sing. “She kept on casting me to play these funny old men,” he said. “I was young and not obviously good-looking, so it fell to my lot to impersonate old codgers.” He also played bit parts on TV in series such as Z Cars and Dixon of Dock Green.

Murphy married Carol Gibson in 1957 and the couple had two sons; as he approached 40, parts became scarcer, and at one point he considered giving up acting to become an insurance salesman. But then Man About the House appeared, and he remained solidly in work for the rest of his career.

In the 90s he was in One Foot in the Grave and had parts in The Bill, Casualty and Mrs Merton and Malcolm. From 2003 to 2010 he played the timid but devious Alvin Smedley in the BBC’s Last of the Summer Wine as a neighbour of the ferocious Nora Batty (Kathy Staff), taking the place of Bill “Compo” Owen, who had died in 1999.

Theatre included the title role in Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, by Christopher Bond at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East (1973); Soppit in When We Are Married, by JB Priestley, at the Whitehall theatre, London (1986) and Jim in Roll on Friday, by Roger Hall, at the Watford Palace theatre (1989).

In 2001 he toured as Al Lewis in Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys, with Ron Moody.

Two years later he was in the ITV comedy The Booze Cruise and in 2010 made an appearance in Hustle on BBC One. He continued working into his 80s, including appearances in Holby City and Casualty, and had most recently been filming for a comedy in late 2024.

His marriage to Carol ended in divorce; in 1995 he married the actor Linda Regan. She survives him, as do his sons, Trevor and Kevin, from his first marriage.

🔔 Brian Trevor John Murphy, actor, born 3 September 1932; died 2 February 2025

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[pvffinsdaisies]

Jersey Headcanons

(This is my initial list of headcanons I wrote for her, to help myself get a feel of her character and who she is. Development headcanons, ig you could say! A lot of these are more history based following my newer method of constructing OCs)

Jersey was born in the 10th century, alongside her twin brother Guernsey, when the Channel Islands were under Normandy’s rule.

Upon the Norman conquest of England, both she and her brother wound up spending more time Arthur, and they got along really well. So when the French conquered Normandy in the 1204, the Channel Islands remained loyal to England.

She did live with England for a while, but when Jersey became a crown dependency shortly after staying loyal, she officially moved out and have lived permanently on her own island since.

Her human name is Ophélie, but England actually calls her Ophelia. She recognises both variations as her name, and doesn’t mind being called either, but prefers Ophélie personally.

Ophélie found herself caught in the middle of many of France and England’s arguments growing up. Thanks to its geographical location, Jersey found itself as the frontline in many wars fought between France and England in the past. So, I think Jersey is surprisingly quite knowledgable on war, even though she’s technically never fought in one. It also means she knows a lot about both England and France’s fighting styles, strengths and weaknesses.

Ophélie identifies as a Christian, she follows the Calvinism branch, which became the main religion of Jersey when England split from the Catholic Church, and a bunch of French “religious refugees” immigrated to the island.

In 1606, Jersey’s government felt people were knitting too much and it was distracting them from working, and it was made illegal. However, knitting remains one of Jersey’s largest exports, and it is ofc the home nation of the iconic jumper of the same name. So, it’s fair to say Ophélie does a lot of knitting.

Despite being under the English crown, Ophélie herself has never felt all that English. She actually got along better with France up until the 1800s, when transportation improved, making it easier for people from the UK to visit Jersey. And the culture that was prior extremely influenced by France started to shift.

Jersey’s birthday in the 9th of May, the national day. The day when the Channel Islands became liberated from German occupation in wwii. The Channel Islands were the only part of the UK to have been invaded.

Ophélie is a beach girl, and she’s very rich. She resides in an old, fancy, quite large house which likely has a pool in the garden. I also think she owns a few beach huts that she rents out to her family and friends if they ever need it.

She loves surfing! Since the 60s, it’s been one of her favourite hobbies, it would’ve been South Africa who introduced her to the sport. If only South Africa were canon.

She has a little friendship group, she’s besties with the other crown dependencies- Guernsey and the Isle of Man. I like to think of them as their own trio, desperate from the rest of the UK. But I think she gets along well with other autonomous islands of a similar status, like Åland or the Canary Islands.

Jersey speaks Jeriais, French and English. Otherwise, that’s about it.

Ophélie is a bit of a picky eater, which is where her French side really shines through. She only eats the finest of foods, and she’s of course very biased towards seafood.

She can be a bit materialist at times. She isn’t a fan of cheap, in her mind, she just values quality! But it means handmade gifts might go under appreciated in comparison to a nice, expensive perfume.

She thinks cows are absolutely adorable, the iconic Jersey cow is of course her favourite. She doesn’t own her own herd, but she probably loves going to see some at farms.

She’s probably an Instagram it girl, posting pictures in her expensive, fancy beach outfits.

She loves relaxing on the see in a nice boat, she’s probably a good sailor herself.

[vestaignis]

Мир птиц в работах художника Джереми Пола.

The world of birds in the works of artist Jeremy Paul.

Джереми Пол родился в 1954 году в Ланкашире. Он сделал успешную карьеру в области морской биологии, прежде чем стал профессиональным художником. Его работа в области морской биологии привела его к жизни в отдаленные и красивые районы Британских островов. Именно когда он жил на западном побережье Шотландии, он начал серьезно рисовать. Он полностью художник-самоучка, работающий исключительно акрилом.

Сейчас художник живет со своей женой и двумя детьми на острове Мэн, а до этого много путешествовал по Индии, Африке, Северной Америке, а совсем недавно – по Антарктиде и Арктике. У Джереми было много персональных выставок. Его работы находятся в коллекции Художественного музея Вудсона в США и «Природа в искусстве», Международного центра искусства дикой природы в Глостере, Великобритания, где он является частью их программы проживания художников. Художник издает собственную серию гравюр с изображением дикой природы ограниченным и открытым тиражом. Так же его картины были воспроизведены на ряде почтовых марок, посвященных дикой природе. А в 2013 году вышла книга его картин с птицами.

Jeremy Paul was born in 1954 in Lancashire. He had a successful career in marine biology before becoming a professional artist. His work in marine biology took him to remote and beautiful areas of the British Isles. It was while he was living on the west coast of Scotland that he began painting seriously. He is a completely self-taught artist, working exclusively in acrylics.

The artist now lives with his wife and two children on the Isle of Man, and before that he traveled extensively to India, Africa, North America, and most recently Antarctica and the Arctic. Jeremy has had many solo exhibitions. His work is in the collection of the Woodson Art Museum in the USA and Nature in Art, the International Wildlife Art Center in Gloucester, UK, where he is part of their artist residency program. The artist publishes his own series of prints depicting wildlife in limited and open editions. His paintings have also been reproduced on a number of postage stamps dedicated to wildlife. And in 2013, a book of his paintings with birds was published.

Источник://www.jeremypaulwildlifeartist.co.uk/gallery/,

//creativeartworksblog.wordpress.com/2022/07/01/jeremy-paul-wildlife-artist/,

//www.icanvas.com/canvas-art-prints/artist/jeremy-paul?product=canvas&sort=popular,

//www.britishwildlifefinearts.co.uk/ourshop/cat_1438756-Jeremy-Paul.html,

//www.oscarsgallery.co.uk/Jeremy-Paul/C42-1-0.htm

[houseofbrat]

Well, well, well...

UK media still circulating stories about W&K taking a romantic holiday these days.

From 10 December 2024:

Princess Kate and Prince William plan to take a "romantic getaway" to a Cornish island after an "incredibly tough" year for the family, a royal insider has claimed. One insider told Bella that Prince William "wants to create memories with Kate, so he's planning a romantic getaway to the Isles of Scilly – one of their favourite places to escape for some quiet time together".

Now in the new year, Will & Kate allegedly are going to renew their vows but not on their wedding anniversary.

Despite all the challenges the Wales family has faced over the last twelve months, there may well happier times on the horizon for in the form of a "romantic" getaway. As reported in The Sun, William has been planning a much-needed treat for Kate, and plans to take her away on a romantic trip, just the two of them, giving the couple some well-deserved alone time, something that the report claimed Kate values above all else. "Wills is ever the romantic - Kate values their alone time, nothing is more special than having her prince to herself. So he's planning a romantic getaway - just the two of them - Wills has set the wheels in motion to whisk Kate away," a source was quoted as saying. The couple may also reportedly be poised to take this opportunity to do something seriously touching - renew their wedding vows. This year will mark 14 years since the couple said 'I do' in front of a packed congregation of 1900 guests at Westminster Abbey - and an estimated 36 million who viewed the ceremony on TV.

Lots of people are speculating about their marriage over the last year, and now stories about how they are SO SO SO IN LOVE!! with each other are getting published.

They're such a team that they're going to allegedly issue royal warrants together!

No Princess of Wales has ever issued warrants, but the pr around Will & Kate is that they are both going to do so, as Kate is lumped in with William every time royal warrants comes up for discussion.

However, it is not even known if William has the ability to issue royal warrants yet.

What's that first sentence of Richard Palmer's article from 2023?

Prince William is expected to be given the right to grant Royal Warrants to companies supplying his household.

William has to be "given the right" to issue warrants by the monarch, King Charles. He does not automatically receive the ability to issue warrants just by becoming heir to the throne.

All the hype about Will & Kate issuing royal warrants is just that.

HYPE!

Wake me when we get an actual announcement that William has the ability to issue warrants, or a public announcement that he has actually issued warrants.

Until that happens, it's all just hype coming from the KP comms team trying to make their boss look like a big man when he can't attend a state funeral in the US with fortress-like security.

It was therefore expected that Prince William, now the same ranking royal, would have travelled to Washington for the service in honour of the 39th president. But with his focus firmly on his family, he reportedly made it clear that he wanted to be with his wife on her special day to ensure it remains a family affair. Instead, Edward will attend the service - although he will not be accompanied by his wife Duchess Sophie. Other notable names who will be there to pay their final respects include all five living presidents – Bill Clinton, George W Bush, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Donald Trump.

[quintessbrit]

!! UK VOTERS - REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR PHOTO ID!!

This Thursday is the first local election vote in the UK in which you will need to bring a form of ID in order to cast your vote.

You’ll need one of the following types of photo ID to vote:

a UK or Northern Ireland photocard driving licence (full or provisional)

a driving licence issued by the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the Isle of Man or any of the Channel Islands

a UK passport

a passport issued by the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or a Commonwealth country

a PASS card (National Proof of Age Standards Scheme)

a Blue Badge

a biometric residence permit (BRP)

a Defence Identity Card (MOD form 90)

a national identity card issued by the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein

a Northern Ireland Electoral Identity Card

a Voter Authority Certificate

an Anonymous Elector’s Document

You can also use one of the following travel passes as photo ID when you vote:

an older person’s bus pass

a disabled person’s bus pass

an Oyster 60+ card

a Freedom Pass

a Scottish National Entitlement Card (NEC)

a 60 and Over Welsh Concessionary Travel Card

a Disabled Person’s Welsh Concessionary Travel Card

a Northern Ireland concessionary travel pass

The photo on your ID must look like you. You can still use your ID even if it has expired.

Please remember to vote if you can - and if you are able and want to get the Tories out - type in your postcode to tacticalvote.co.uk and they'll tell you who to vote for it get the Conservatives out!

^^this is especially important if you live in a critical area with a possible swing in leadership due to a marginal win prior e.g. I vote in East Cambridgeshire and I will vote for the Lib Dems as they came in a narrow 2nd place last time! Hoping they win this time!

[workingclasshistory]

On this day, 3 July 1918, a general strike began on the British dependency, the Isle of Man. Sailors, dockers, school workers, transport workers, shop assistants and others walked out on strike demanding that the price of bread remain at 9p – the same price it was in the UK, where flour was subsidised by the state. Previous agitation on the Isle of Man had pressured the local government to implement a subsidy as well for six months to match the price, amidst rising prices during World War I. But that subsidy just expired and the price was scheduled to be increased to 1 shilling (12p). Businesses that attempted to remain open were invaded by crowds of pickets and shut down. Fishing boats were allowed to dock, but fish had to be sold at prices set by a strike committee which was established by the workers. The strike committee also permitted shops in working class areas to open between the hours of 7 AM and 9 AM to allow people to buy food. On the second day of the strike, the governor approached the strike committee and offered them 10.5p per loaf. But this was refused. The governor then met with the legislative council, which caved in and agreed to restore the 9p price. As a result the strike ended on July 5. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/7941/Isle-of-Man-general-strike https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=654850353354850&set=a.602588028581083&type=3

[utilitycaster]

Reverse Hot Take ask game: a weird book you read as a child that many people don’t seem to know about?

Okay so I don't actually know what other people were into, reading-wise, as children; I was a child in the era of Peak Harry Potter who happened to also really love other fantasy, and for some reason I ended up reading a lot of other British fantasy which means sometimes I'm like "man I didn't know anyone else other than my siblings who was into this" and it's because it was a book series that was very popular in the UK and not the US.

ANYWAY I am on my way back from my childhood home where I was visiting family, and I was struck with a powerful desire to reread The Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper, which is influenced heavily by the folklore of the British Isles, especially but not limited to Arthuriana, and I feel like I haven't seen it talked about a lot and I don't recall much about it other than it was GREAT. Unfortunately I couldn't find it so I'll have to purchase or take it out of the library or something.

I read a lot of Arthuriana as a child, actually and didn't continue it into adulthood nor did I watch the BBC Merlin series, and I truly don't know why; I think I probably gave it up for Tolkien in my early teens and then I was in my asshole Only Sci Fi era for quite a while. Anyway, as a kid, I read most of a series called the Lost Years of Merlin but there was a really long period between two of the books during which I sort of aged out. I also read a bunch of books by Gerrald Morris, which were humorous retellings, and I feel like that neither of these series were something my classmates were reading nor that I've seen people talk about much online. I loved them both a lot and they very much influenced my fantasy tastes and aesthetic. Love a weird cursed forest.

[weirdowithaquill]

Traintober 2023: Day 17 - Holiday

How Sudrian Tourism has Evolved:

Sodor has changed majorly thanks to the publication of the Railway Series and the subsequent Television Series, both of which propelled the island and its railways from being just another part of the UK into a tourism juggernaut. But the fact of the matter is that Sodor did not immediately transform from being an insignificant island on the coast of Cumbria to one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United Kingdom overnight – so how did it all change?

To understand, we must go back to the 1500s, and the Protestant Reformation in England. At the time, Sodor was part of the English Crown – but far looser than its Irish and Welsh neighbours. Due to its small size, rough terrain and low population, King Henry VIII was far less interested in confiscating Catholic land on the island than its surrounding areas. This was in part due to the both Sir Geoffrey Regaby and Bishop Michael Colden, who managed to guide Sodor away from the Lincolnshire Rising and the Pilgrimage of Grace. Due to their remote location and general poverty, Thomas Cromwell never visited Sodor, and Cronk Abbey was never closed. For its part, St Luoc’s Cathedral at Suddery was ‘converted’ to a Protestant Cathedral in 1537, but continued holding Catholic mass. This was done by holding the two religious ceremonies one after the other.

As Sodor was now one of the few parts of the British Isles that had a Catholic church and direct line to the Papacy in Rome, it became an ‘underground’ tourist destination as a new British site of pilgrimage, frequented by Catholics looking to attend mass at the Suddery Cathedral. In return for continuing these ceremonies, Sudrians became more devout to the crown – in particular to Queen Elizabeth I, and by 1603 the Catholic mass had been all but forgotten. This did not end the attractiveness of Sodor as a religious destination, due to the caves of Saint Machan and several other holy sites that litter the island; the numbers were not large, but they did lead to a number of important connections, especially with Ireland, the Isle of Man and English ports.

The next phase of Sudrian tourism came in the 1860s, when the Skarloey Railway found the long-forgotten Skarloey lake and hidden hollow. Rather than explain it, I think I’ll just use the description that the Reverend Wilbert Awdry did:

“Spas were popular at the period and offered the possibility of a lucrative passenger business. Skarloey’s mineral springs and sheltered situation took hold on the minds of some members of the Board, among them Shamus Tebroc who conceived the idea of developing Skarloey as a spa. An hotel and a number of villas were built as a speculation, and the gravity worked incline which had been installed for the conveyance of materials was retained and up-graded for coals, merchandise, and passengers’ luggage.”

Skarloey became the first of the Island of Sodor’s tourist hotspots, especially due to its proximity to Culdee Fell and Saint Machan’s cave. The popularity of the spas was good for a time, but began to fall off as the bad fortunes of the Sodor & Mainland Railway continuously hurt the Skarloey Railway’s tourism campaign with delayed and cancelled trains, ratty carriages and even standoffish staff. This led to Skarloey becoming a local holiday destination instead, but even that began to slow down as WWII loomed.

On the other side of the island, the Mid Sodor Railway also began heavily advertising their railway to holidaymakers across the UK, but to a somewhat better result. The Isle of Man Steam Packet contract the railway picked up led to a large influx of tourists across the late 1800s and early 1900s, up until the 1920s. The railway’s ability to reach the walled city of Peel Godred and the cave of Saint Machan (via the Culdee Fell Railway) made it a very attractive destination for tourists, though this would change at the end of WWI.

The advent of relatively cheap international travel via ferries in the 1920s did a lot of damage to Sodor’s tourism economy, as their major markets in England preferred to travel to either the Continent or the Lake District – or even as far afield as the United States. Sodor instead switched to being primarily an agricultural and resource-extraction economy, with some manufacturing. This continued throughout WWII.

Which leads us to May 12th, 1945. The Three Railway Engines was published – in colour – in the UK. It achieved enough success to lead to the continuation of the series in 1946, and again in 1948, and then again continuously until 1972. These twenty-seven years’ worth of publicity for the island and its railways had a massive effect. Skarloey was rediscovered and the budget-conscience holiday maker of the 1960s chose it for its low prices, high quality, and picturesque scenery, turning around the railways needed to reach it. The Culdee Fell Railway also saw an uptick in traffic as the Peel Godred Railway brought in more passengers than the old Mid Sodor Railway had.

Furthermore, tourists came to see the engines, a phenomenon not seen before in the island’s tourism industry. Insignificant towns such as Dryaw, Brendam, Crosby and Glennock became infinitely more popular as the sites of incidents in the Railway Series, or as convenient locations to stay for travelling the island. The biggest success story of the island’s cities was Cronk however. Cronk grew massively from the tourism trade as the most central location on the NWR to reach the various tourist destinations of Sodor – even Awdry takes a moment to mention ‘The Crown of Sodor’ Hotel on Sigmund Street due to its prominence as a hotel on the island.

This large influx of tourists was however of a majorly local source – the UK, parts of continental Europe and a relatively low number from North America. It wasn’t until the advent of cheap international jetplane flights in the mid-1970s and the debut of the TV series on October 9, 1984.

This debut is what changed everything.

The Thomas and Friends Television series was an international success, with translations into a number of languages (eleven by Wikipedia’s count) and broadcast around the globe. This, coupled with the opening of an enlarged airport at Vicarstown (which had been constructed in 1941 by the RAF and expanded by Vickers in the 1960s. The airport itself had been bought by the NWR in 1982 (probably in anticipation of the TV series) and began receiving jetliners from across the world as early as 1986.

Today, Sudrian tourism is one of the largest income producers in northern England due to its international status crafted by the Thomas & Friends series. The island is a popular tourist attraction for both railfans and Thomas fans, as well as religious pilgrims, spa enthusiasts, hikers, ramblers and historians. The airport at Vicarstown has been linked into the NWR via a spur line, and more recently a number of signs on the island have been converted to include secondary and tertiary languages, for better interpretation.

Sodor reached its best numbers for international tourists in 2019, when over 1.5 million people visited the island, making it the third most visited tourist destination within England, beating out Birmingham. The secret to it’s recent further uptick in visitors is the opening of a number of museums, galleries and other cultural sites on the island, as well as a strong advertising campaign that focused on the island’s major tourist draws, which are:

The North Western Railway, Skarloey Railway, Culdee Fell Railway and Arlesdale Railway from the Railway Series book and subsequent Television series

A pre-Norman era Abbey at Cronk, one of the oldest of its kind in Britain

Suddery Cathedral, which continues to be one of the few remaining pre-reformation cathedrals in Britain

Several Norman-era castles, including a completely intact castle at Harwick

The Walled City of Peel Godred

The caves of Saint Machan

Culdee Fell

Henry's Forest National Park

Skarloey and its spas

Museums, galleries, and cultural centres

The Standing Stones of Killdane.

This advertising campaign brought a greater variety of tourists to the island, especially those from North America.

The island was badly affected by the advent of the Coronavirus pandemic, which saw the high tourist numbers of the previous decade prop by over eighty percent, which forced the island to once again consider restructuring their economy around agriculture, manufacturing, and resource extraction. This eventually was decided against, as tourist numbers have slowly picked back up through 2022.

Sodor has been greatly affected by its rise to one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the UK, including a number of hotels being built on the island – many of which are converted manorhouses – as well as several upgrades made to the transport systems of the island, with updated ferry services between the island’s major ports and locations in the UK and Ireland, as well as the railway building a special line to the island’s main airport, new tram and bus services within the major cities on the island. The island’s railway system has also seen upgrades throughout the latter half of the 20th century, including a third track being added to the mainline, new signalling systems and a number of extra connecting services to cities in the UK, such as Manchester, Birmingham, Carlisle and Preston.

Sodor has grown drastically as a result of its tourism industry and is today an international tourism hotspot. The island continues to be popular into the modern day, as a result of strong advertising and a pointed diversification of tourist offerings on the island to help the island’s tourism industry grow and bring in profits for the island’s people.

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[casputin]

14 hours left - make sure you take ID!

You’ll need one of the following types of photo ID to vote:

a UK or Northern Ireland photocard driving licence (full or provisional)

a driving licence issued by an EU country, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the Isle of Man or any of the Channel Islands

a UK passport

a passport issued by an EU country, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or a Commonwealth country

a PASS card (National Proof of Age Standards Scheme)

a Blue Badgea biometric residence permit (BRP)

a Defence Identity Card (MOD form 90)

a national identity card issued by the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein

a Northern Ireland Electoral Identity Carda Voter Authority Certificate

an Anonymous Elector’s Document

You can also use one of the following travel passes as photo ID when you vote:

an older person’s bus pass

a disabled person’s bus pass

an Oyster 60+ card

a Freedom Pass

a Scottish National Entitlement Card (NEC)

a 60 and Over Welsh Concessionary Travel Card

a Disabled Person’s Welsh Concessionary Travel Card

a Northern Ireland concessionary travel pass

The photo on your ID must look like you. You can still use your ID even if it has expired.

[houseofkirklands]

UK and Ireland headcanons

Ireland and England aren't brothers, not in the biological way

I have this headcanon about how the UK brothers were born and why Ireland and England aren't brothers

Due to the influence of some cultures I have the hc the Great Britain and Ireland were born and have biological parents and Northern Ireland who was born under special

circumstances

To put it short this is how I think they were born:

Ireland: Hibernia + Ancient Celt

Scotland: Britannia + Ancient Celt

Wales: Britannia + Ancient Celt

England: Britannia + Germania

Northern Ireland: He doesn't have biological parents, he was born under special conditions

Hibernia: She represented the island of Ireland before Ireland was born and he became the successor of Hibernia lands

Ancient Celt: Represented the celt people of Western Europe including Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of man

Britannia: Represented the lands of Great Britain before the Roman invasion

So the headcanon goes like this:

Ireland was born as Hibernia' successor and Ancient Celt son, then Hibernia passed away when Ireland was still looking like a very young child (1-2 years old).

Ancient Celt was with Britannia at this time but that didn't stop him to show care to his son with Hibernia so when she died, he took baby Ireland to Great Britain where Ireland will grow up and learn basic things that his father taught him, to come back to his lands (Ireland) when he is prepared, meanwhile Celt would protect the lands of Eire as well.

Celt took Ireland with him to Britannia and she took him as if it was her own child.

Then Scotland was born and Ireland, happy with the idea he was a big brother, he wanted to help "mum" Britannia with his new baby brother.

As soon as Scotland was growing up, Ireland took the big brother role so it was normal for the younger brother to call him brother, after all Ireland was living there as well and he called Britannia "mum" even though in reality she wasn't his biological mother

Britannia gave the love Ireland needed when he was a child to grow up and Britannia definitely made sure she would protect that kid with all her heart as well

Then Wales came too and again Ireland was again the big brother, young Scotland used to look up for him cause Ireland was learning a lot thanks to his parents and Alistair would go to his older brother to play, help dad with manual works or help mum with baby Wales, also Scotland would go to him when he was scared

England was born with a different father, Germania. He just tried to invade Britannia and it was too late when Celt tried to do something to protect her, England was born, Britannia told to her sons, he was just another member of the family and he needed the same care and she gave to the others but eventually and a bit after England was born, Britannia also died, leaving her sons with their father Celt.

Wales and England were too young to remember her at all, even Scotland was the one who got most affected by it was Ireland, he was the oldest, he was the first one that came to the family, Britannia gave him all the love he needed and he didn't know he had lost someone he used to call mother for the second time in his short life

Celt who was still around but knowing he didn't have too much time left, he told Ireland Britannia wasn't his real mother, that Hibernia was his biological mother but she passed away before Ireland could even know how to talk but Celts made sure Ireland could know both Hibernia and Britannia loved him so much, this is something that left Ireland shocked but he had every right to know this before his father was gone.

[pluralzalpha]

OK, what with the coronation coming up, I've seen quite a few posts about the UK, by people who don't quite understand the difference between the UK, Great Britain, England and so on.

Which is fair enough, because it is a bit complicated.

So here's some explanation.

The British Isles is a whole bunch of islands, but the main ones are those two big ones, Great Britain and Ireland.

Great Britain is divided into three countries: England, Scotland and Wales.

The island of Ireland is also divided. The northeastern six counties make up Northern Ireland, which is also sometimes referred to as Ulster, although the traditional province of Ulster is somewhat larger.

England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland make up the larger country of the United Kingdom, a sovereign state. The full name of the state is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but that's a bit of a mouthful, so generally it's the United Kingdom or the UK.

"Britain" can be used to mean either the island of Great Britain or the UK as a whole. Anyone from the UK is a British national (a Briton or Brit), although many Scots, Northern Irish, and some Welsh don't describe themselves as British because of their political position. There's a strong Scottish independence movement, and the situation in Ireland is complicated, to say the least.

It's very important to remember that England is not the same as Britain, Great Britain or the UK. It is merely part of it. A lot of people use England interchangeably with the broader terms, but this is wrong. Try going to Scotland and saying it's part of England and see how long it takes to get a smack in the face.

The rest of Ireland is an entirely separate country, a sovereign state in its own right. Its official name is simply Ireland, but it's often referred to by its official description, the Republic of Ireland (RoI) for clarity. It can also be called by its Irish name, Eire.

It's not unheard of for the Republic to be referred to as Southern Ireland, but this can cause a lot of offence, and in any case, it's by far the larger part of Ireland and actually reaches further north than Northern Ireland.

King Charles III has the title of King of the United Kingdom. The title King of England is archaic and hasn't actually been used for centuries. He is the sovereign of the UK and has nothing to do with RoI.

There are lots of smaller islands that are part of any of the five countries above, but there are also some more islands just to be confusing.

The Channel Islands aren't even in the map above, because they're closer to France, but they're often grouped in with the British Isles. The largest two, Jersey and Guernsey, are separate countries (Guernsey has some even smaller islands within its territory). They're what's left of the ancient Duchy of Normandy. There's also the Isle of Man, also called Mann, between Great Britain and Ireland.

These three are NOT part of the UK. They are Crown Dependencies, which means they essentially belong to the King, but have seperate governments. The UK has sovereignty over them though, and is responsible for their defence and representation internationally.

The UK and the Crown Dependencies are also legally known as the British Islands (not Isles, as this includes all of Ireland), but no one really uses this except in important international treaty stuff.

See? Perfectly straightforward...