#esmp rivendell

[inbetweenhours]

Because I am obsessed with this one line from Battle Cries by The Amazing Devil and will continue to reuse it in artwork I of course had this though for using it in comparison to the twins of Rivendell, Scott and Xornoth. As I though more about the piece it evolved into a study of the cycle of corruption and hate between brothers within Rivendell’s leadership. This fight that was born in Rivendells foundation and which died only with the kingdom itself.

Doing this I managed to put a lot more thought into my actual ideas about how the majorly slumbering pantheon that the Stag Gods herald from operates its history especially. I revisited my concepts of Alinar and Cohnel, and I made sure to keep in mind the key differences in all the brothers relationships, as well as how the corruption and championship affected them. 

Below the cut im gonna ramble about the lore both canon and MOSTLY my won fanon that provides background to this piece and how it came together in my head :]

I am going to go through each set of brothers and describe their history. From their conception, to their finality, in the context of being a pair. 

The Stag Gods are unique in their conception. For the sake of ages they are affectively twins. The pantheon they hail from was born in the time after the titans fell. As Pixlriffs describes in his opening to season 2, mighty titans once roamed the earn and when they fell their bodies became the lands that empires now rise and fall on today.  The era of gods that Exor and Aeor were conceptualized in were some of the first creatures to evolve to inhabit the lands that these titans bodies became. The first stags, the first serpents, the first flora. The first seasons, of winter, to spring, and summer. Wilderness was born and from it rose divinity in its first era. That of the Stag gods.

When Aeor and Exor were young fawns they were nothing more than animal. Young and reckless, exploratory as they took on their responsibilities. Bringing order and chaos, winter and summer. A cycle  ever chasing one another. They were so different, but they were brothers. They could not be without the other, as is their cyclical nature.

They are affectively the same age. And they grew up in a time where they and the other gods were the only sentient life around. They are neither benevolent nor malevolent gods. No deity is, because those are mortal terms. Their understanding of mortality is comparable to human understanding of ants. They work, and they have built great things have systems. But everything looks so simple from the gods view. 

The gods take care of mortality in the same way a man may take care of his dog. The dog is loyal and loved and cared for, but it is still only a dog. When the corruption first rose it ugly red shades across the land the gods grew weary. It threatened their precious pets, destroying mortalities hard work and making them ill and crazed. So the pantheon banded together and supposedly defeated The Corruption. It took the full strength of most, and so most of the pantheon fell into slumber. The Stag Gods among the few who continued to stand.

The brother stags founded Rivendell high in the mountains, a place to protect and watch over the mortals they personally  had found preference in, the elven civilization. For a long time the elves worshiped both stags, but as time went on a preference for Aeor and his orderly ways grew. Exor grew jealous, and emboldened by the last remnant of The Corruption which has laid in wait for it time to rise again, he acted out. And as more and more conflict grew between the brother stags, the corruption took its hold in Exor, turning him cruel and greedy, and in turn twisting up all the gods followers as well.

We all know how this story ends. Aeor and his brother fight, divided finally, futile, by The Corruption, and Exor alongside his followers are banished to the mountain peaks to waste away in the caves.

Alinar and Cohnel are the next of the brothers. They are third generation Rivendells citizens. Alinar is older than Cohnel, by some years. They come from a comfortable family, nothing so noble, as the country  flourishes around them. They play together in the streets, Alinar leaning Cohnel by the hand too keep him from running off. The play in the snow and as thy grow older  dare to hike further and further into snowy peaks. Till one day they would discover the ruins of where Exors fanatics were one sealed away. 

Alinar would urge them to leave, taking Cohnel home. Enough warning in old tales told as bedtime stories enough to ward him away. But not Cohnel. Ever cursed with youthful curiosity he would return alone. And he would not be seem for many months. Declared missing Alinar would mourn, grow, and push himself to help others where he could not his brother. He would join the council leading Rivendell, where he would be in a position to see the rampant increase of missing persons. The unease and fear it drew throughout their kingdom.

And  under oath to protect the people Alinar would set out, meet his brother again on the battlefield. Now corrupted from his once boyish youth Cohnel is nothing of the baby brother Alinar once guided. Still, the boy has their mothers nose, and the same eyes. Alinar is weak in one moment and decides he cannot kill his baby brother. But he is a member of the council and a hero of the people. Aeor gives him help, guides him as his champion and  brings him to the conclusion of a banishment spell. So he does just that, never to see his brother again, and goes on to become the champion of Rivendell. Heralded as its first king.

The final set of brothers are best known I presume. Scott and Xornoth, twins of Rivendells monarchy. Xornoth is older, and that is important to me as I often debate giving them a real age gap but I will stick with the twins lore for now. Descendants of Alinar. As members of the monarchy these brothers lives are different to the others. They found more solace in one another as refuge from responsibility and ridicule from their parents. 

Both princes grew well educated, and with that they knew even more of their history than perhaps the general public were privy. Their ancestry, and that of the gods more available. Both were devout in their academics and their religion, as they were brought up to be. However a key difference was Xornoths ability to push boundaries, push questions. Always a thirst for more, more more- especially in the way of knowledge. They drudged up arguments with mere curiosity and while Scott entertained his brothers thoughts, he was much more well behaved. Not risking mentors or parents good temperament for answers when he could easily keep his mouth shut. 

Still, he encouraged Xornoth’s curiosity, even as it grew more fascinated with more forbidden insight. More curious to Exors scorned history. With so much historical documentation of devotion to Exor destroyed out of fear a long, long time ago Xornoth only grew more despertaly curious. And when they found note of old banished groups of ollowers in the mountains he pleaded with Scott for a coverup. 

Scott allowed it, the two sneaking away and Xornoth returning with an ancient tomb. Obsessive was what Xornoth was turning into, red glint in their sharp eyes growing more by the day till finally  something gave. Where there was once passive irritation and distain Xornoth grew quick to anger and  violence. Till finally the ysnapped, and in a late, fitful arguement with their parents they killed them both.

Scott had not an idea what happened. Not until he awoke the next morning to maids screams. His parents dead, and his brother gone- nothing more than a banishment sigil burned into their bedroom floor as indication to where they had went. Scott would be coronated, and with his kingship he only became more devout to Aeor. 

Scott believed his brother dead, and moved on for over a decade till the events of season one as we know it. Xornoths return, the understanding of what had happened to them. Being championed, and capturing his brother. Hoping dearly to find a way to undo Exors influence. Till finally out of time the two battle on Rivendell peaks, overrun with corruption.

Scott decides to be selfless, killing himself on the rune blade. and As he bleeds out Aeors presence withdrawals from him. As Aeor withdrawals, so does Exor. Until it is only Scott, delirious with bloodloss and pain. Until it is only Xornoth, finally in their right mind after decades of corruption and divinity puppeteering them. And they see their little brother, and know they had failed to protect him from themselves when they ran away. There is nothing left to be done as Xornoth moves to hold Scott in their last moments. Offering the smallest comfort as death takes them both by virtue of their connection.

The cycle of brother, loved and corrupted, which started in the seeds of their kingdoms foundation and that has withered with its end. It is all finally over.

[someoneihavelovedbutneverknown]

shhhhh no don’t cry i have a whole ass concept of how corrupt and elitist rivendell’s government was complete with some revolutionary figures, saints, and setting a church on fire

(somebody please tell me they want me to talk about this to them i’ve had this concept in my head since fucking forever)

[tenoart]

Finished this! Love him

[taiistired]

deer scott? something something empires idk

i should watch empires scott's s1 skin is so cute...

[doodle-list]

Okay this turned out a lot more anime then I expected kfgjkfgj  But woo! Another screenshot reimagine before the new year. This time post end dragon fight

[alaritheaurora]

This might be the funniest thing ever on the Xornoth wiki. Nothing like clocking into my 9-5 as Evil Chosen One

[theseusmc]

forwards beckon rebound

(orignal sketch and individual panels under cut)

the concept versus the finished piece is So Funny to me-

[bigsisterblue]

idk what im doing but lowkey kinda love it

[oleander-neruim]

A short comic of Rivendell's Winterfest preparations

Inktober Day 20: Frost

Watching Scott set up for Winterfest was a delight I won't lie

Overviews of the full comic, yippee

[cjskribblez]

The sun sets over Rivendell, a warm and aching call

[pixiemage]

I’m gonna throw this man out a window

[semicleanblanket]

i miss season 1 of empires

[simple-seranade]

which empires smp characters i project onto think should have religious trauma

both season one and season two because i think about this wayyyyyyy too much lol

so, without further ado:

Xornoth

this one is probably the most obvious of the bunch i’m going to list? imagine. you grow up learning about a pair of beings, one benevolent and one malicious. you praise the light and shun the dark, as all your family does. then, it’s revealed that you and your brother are part of a prophecy. the two deities you worship? yeah, they force siblings to be their champions, a fate that only ends in both their deaths. if they don’t, everything is destroyed. not only you have to perish, but so does your brother, who you care deeply about, because you’re kids.

that is already a lot to take in. what kind of god who loves you would force you to die? but then, you get told that you’re not even that. you aren’t the chosen of the light. you’re a child of the dark, and they immediately treat you as such. no matter how much you plead and pray, all they do is shake their heads and declare you too far gone. the god you worshipped hates you, and the evil you were taught to fear has claimed you as his own and you will never escape, instead doing everything you swore you would never do.

yeah. xornoth definitely has some trauma. but they’re not the only one, because…

Scott of Rivendell

yeah neither of the princes were getting out of this one unscathed.

the same things i said about xornoth apply, except everything changes. the people hail you as the one who will save them when the time comes, the one who will defeat the horrible evil. the evil who tucks you in when your parents are busy. the evil who plays tag with you in the palace halls and has snowball fights with you. the evil you call your sibling.

you don’t get to be a kid, because your god has chosen you to die. you don’t get a choice, but you’re hailed with the highest honor. you should be grateful, they say. but you don’t want the honor. you want peace. you want to not carry the world on your shoulders.

you want your sibling.

yeah being lifted up by a church can be just as damaging as being shunned by it, and we got both ends of the spectrum here! congrats, rivendell twins, now go get some therapy while we move onto…

Sausage of Sanctuary

sausage’s trauma is… different.

sausage has plenty of reason to be shaky in faith. his village was destroyed, he meets someone who looks exactly like the one he worships. it’s enough to shake anyone’s faith. is your god on that can respond? if so then why hasn’t she? you’ve been so faithful, so why are you hurting?

sausage’s trauma is less a direct result of the church and more of the terrifying ordeal of doubt. how dare you doubt that santa pearla is real and good. how dare you lose faith for even an instant. getting his memories back helps, but there’s still the nagging feeling he gets that he’s horrible for doubting that which brings so much joy. the voice hurts. praying sometimes hurts.

but something sets sausage apart.

sausage still believes. that’s a constant, no matter the hurt he suffers, he believes in Santa Pearla. he says his prayers, revels in her peace as he’s presented every reason not to. even after getting his memories back, his church stands. yeah, pearl was pretty powerful (oli has called her god before) but it’s… different. it’s faith. even though he knows he knows her, instead of being shaken, he’s solidified in it. because the world is good. santa pearla is good. people are good. he puts his hope in the good, even in the bad.

guess which one of these is most projecty lol

so yeah take my random ramblings about how different characters have religious trauma because i wanted to. sausage probably makes the least sense but i swear my brain has more reasons that don’t translate to words.

[tenoart]

Finally finished this Xornoth peice that's been in my back log forever - not enough fun designs for their demon form so here's take and some head cannons under the line

I like the idea he was the favorite kid who was expected to be the champion of Aeor when they and Scott were kids. Like Xornoth was the golden child, except he wasn't. He was trouble maker, charming and loved by all of rivendell but because every mistake he made was hidden and they got away with it due to being the expected champion; I like to think they got the fire powers from Exor but was born with nether plant magic, which would seem much more beneficial and charming in rivendell where there's already snow all the time making Scott's powers useless and seem like a bad sign.

I like to imagine this made Xornoth delusional as he got older, thinking they actually were meant to lead rivendell and be the champion of Aeor, but Scott stole his fate. That Xornoth thinks he's still the good one and this is all Scott's fault for ruining their fates. I feel like it's a fun motivation for them to despise Scott more and more. Also imagine he started to follow Exor out of curiosity, thinking he was so above it all that it wouldn't matter if he dabbled in it. Ie: Xornoth's Ego is their downfall while Scott's self loathing is his.

[euhezner]

King of Rivendell, ScottSmajor

EmpiresSMP Season 1

[mushrooms-soup]

i have somehow forgotten to ever post about my writing here, but the final chapter of “things that no one teaches you” is up! check it out if you’re a fan of scwhimmy, nonsexual intimacy, gratuitous snuggling and kissing, clear communication, guys who are creatures, or dorks being goofs!