#gerathon spirit animals

[trash-gremlin]

actually back to designate exact species for all the great beasts and say what similar animals can and cant be summoned yayyyy

Briggan the Wolf - grey wolf, nominate subspecies: eurasian wolf (Canis lupus lupus)

can be summoned: red wolf (Canis rufus), domestic dogs (any breed) (Canis familiaris)*, foxes (genus Vulpes)

cant be summoned: tundra wolf (Canis lupus albus), arabian wolf (Canis lupus arabs), himalayan wolf (Canis lupus chanco) and other grey wolf subspecies under Canis lupus

*some argue dogs are actually a subspecies under Canis lupus but as seen in the books and game domestic dogs can be summoned so ive decided to include them as their own species. ive also extended this for all domesticated species as apparently a lot of experts disagree on whether they should be counted as their own species or a subspecies

Uraza the Leopard - leopard, nominate subspecies: african leopard (Panthera pardus pardus)

can be summoned: clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi), snow leopard (Panthera uncia), jaguars (Panthera onca)

cant be summoned: amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis), indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) javan leopard (Panthera pardus melas) and other leopard subspecies under Panthera pardus

Jhi the Panda - panda, nominate species: giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca melanoleuca)

can be summoned: red panda (Ailurus fulgens), literally any other bear (family: Ursidae) except polar bear (Ursus maritimus)

cant be summoned: quinling panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis)

Essix the Falcon - gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus)

can be summoned: anything else in the Falco genus

can't be summoned: the other three members of the hierofalco subgenus: Lanner falcon, (Falco biarmicus), Lagger falcon (Falco jugger), Saker falcon (Falco cherrug)**

**these were included because gyrfalcon has no subspecies but exists in a subgenus in the Falco genus called hierofalco, which contains only three other species. these species apparently readily interbreed and have fully fertile offspring. theyre also one of the only subgenus (the other being the hobby birds under hypotriorchris), all other falcons exist under the Falco genus

Arax the Ram - bighorn sheep, nominate species: rocky mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis)

can be summoned: mountain sheep (Ovis ammon), barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia), domestic sheep (Ovis aries)

cant be summoned: sierra nevada bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis sierrae), desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni)

Rumfuss the Boar - wild boar, nominate species: central european boar (Sus scrofa scrofa)

can be summoned: common warthog (Phacochoerus africanus), domestic pig (Sus domesticus), red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus)

cant be summoned: north african boar (Sus scrofa algira), Indian boar (Sus scrofa cristatus), central asian boar (Sus scrota davidi) and other boar subspecies under Sus scrofa

Dinesh the Elephant - asian elephant, nominate species: sri lankan elephant (Elephas maximus maximus)

can be summoned: african bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), african forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)

cant be summoned: indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus), sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus)

Suka the Polar Bear - polar bear (Ursus maritimus)

can be summoned: literally any other bear (family: Ursidae)

cant be summoned: there are no subspecies or extremely close relatives of the polar bear!

Mulop the Octopus - giant pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini)

can be summoned: literally any other octopus ever (order: Octopada, any family, any genus)***

cant be summoned: there are no subspecies or extremely close relatives of the giant pacific octopus!

***that is, if they can actually be summoned. there are no other cases of a non mammalian marine animal being summoned and mulop is an exception as no one is supposed to be able to summon the great beast species

Carboro the Lion - lion (Panthera leo)

can be summoned: mountain lion (Puma concolor)

cant be summoned: there are no subspecies or extremely close relatives of the lion!****

****a subspecies Panthera leo melanochaita does technically exist however experts debate over its validity due to the overlap with Panthera leo leo so ive decided to not count it

Ninani the Swan - mute swan (Cygnus olor)

can be summoned: black swan (Cygnus atratus), black-necked swan (Cygnus melancoryphus) and other swans (genus: Cygnus)

cant be summoned: there are no subspecies or extremely close relatives of the mute swan!

Halawir the Eagle - golden eagle, nominate species: european golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos chrysaetos)

can be summoned: bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja), wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax) and other "true eagles" (genus: Aquila)

cant be summoned: iberian golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos homeyeri), asian golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos daphanea), japanese golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos japonica) and other golden eagle subspecies under Aquila chrysaetos

Gerathon the Serpent - king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah)

can be summoned: ring necked spitting cobra (Hemachatus haemachatus), indian cobra (Naja naja)

cant be summoned: there are no subspecies or extremely close relatives of the king cobra!

Kovo the Ape - gorilla, nominate species: western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)

can be summoned: any subspecies of eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei), chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii)

cant be summoned: cross river gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli)

Tellun the Elk - elk, roosevelt elk (Cervus canadensis roosevelti)*****

can be summoned: european fallow deer  (Dama dama), red deer (Cervus elaphus), whitetail deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

cant be summoned: tule elk (Cervus canadensis nannodes), manitoban elk (Cervus canadensis manitobensis), rocky mountain elk (Cervus canadensis nelsoni) and other elk under Cervus canadensis

******the nominate species of elk is the eastern elk (Cervus canadensis canadensis), which is unfortunately extinct

and as a final note - just because its theoretically possible doesnt mean that it has or will happen, this was just an excuse to do a bunch of research and taxonomy is dodgy at best ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

the concept that the great beast species cant be summoned as spirit animals is very interesting to me, because in the game you can summon a red wolf when briggan is wolf. now obviously we can assume that briggan is a grey wolf so summoning a red wolf is theoretically possible, even if they look quite similar in real life.

but that brought me to the question, what animals could you summon that are similar to the great beasts?

assuming uraza is an african leopard, can you summon an amur leopard? these two are very similar and only really differ through their habitat. lets look at their taxonomy. the amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) and the african leopard (Panthera pardus pardus) are actually subspecies of the same species, with the african leopard being the nominate subspecies (repeats the species name as its subspecies, essentially the "default").

is being separated by subspecies enough? lets looks at the taxonomy for a grey wolf (Canis lupus) and a red wolf (Canis rufus). As you can see they are not subspecies but rather two separate species. using this i would conclude that animals must be separated by species (not subspecies) from the closest related great beast.

therefore, because uraza is the nominate subspecies for her species, it can be concluded that all great beast whose species contain subspecies would be the nominate subspecies and thus other subspecies such as the amur leopard can not be summoned.

this is also supported in books when abeke says that people can summon cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), but not leopards. cheetahs are not even in the same genus as leopards and all other leopards in the area are subspecies. other species of "leopard" (eg. clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi), snow leopard (Panthera uncia) and the jaguar (Panthera onca)) are all separated by a species if not more.

[bayofwolves]

Having some thoughts about the Great Battle, the one to end the First Devourer War.

Imagine if Kovo, Gerathon and the Four Fallen were so massive that they couldn't help but destroy some of their own allies amidst the fighting. Especially the two traitors, because we know their soldiers were disposable to them, but the Four Fallen as well. As Uraza tangles with Gerathon, her claws rake through scores of Greencloaks. As Briggan and Kovo lunge for each other's throats, Greencloak and Conqueror and animal alike are crushed into oblivion beneath the two giants' feet. Adding to the senseless horror of it all.

What if the Four Fallen had grievously wounded Kovo or Gerathon (or perhaps both), in such a way that the results are visible in the time of the Second Devourer War and strike fear in the hearts of their soldiers? I think it would be cool if the two traitors, despite having survived the event that eliminated the Four, are permanently disfigured and only dull echoes of their former glory. Can you imagine if Gerathon's hood was torn to shreds by Uraza, her once beautiful scales marred by claw wounds that Tellun cursed to fester and rot? Or if part of Kovo's face was mutilated by Briggan's fangs and covered in scar tissue, with Essix's talon marks stretching across his shoulders, bare where the fur never grew back? They lived, but at the cost of being forever marked by the brethren they slew.

They should have explained the Fall of the Four by establishing that a Great Beast can only be killed by another. Gerathon killed Uraza and Jhi with her venomous bite, Kovo ripped Briggan and Essix apart with his bare hands. No human blade could have felled them -- it was going against two of their own that resulted in their downfall. The fact it came to this is a great tragedy. Once, Briggan, Uraza, Jhi and Essix lived peacefully, even happily, with Kovo and Gerathon. They were brethren, forged by the same catastrophe; survivors who found comfort in one another (or so I like to believe). They would have walked beside each other for eons. They should never have met in battle. And when they did, they discovered they could destroy one another. This could be one reason as to why the remaining Great Beasts retreated into isolation and did not commune for hundreds of years -- perhaps, for the first time, they were afraid of each other.

In The Book of Shane, Shane reveals that Feliandor's grave is only symbolic because "when the Greencloaks had finished with him, there hadn't been enough left of him to bury". This might be one of the most haunting sentences in the series. In A Revised History of Erdas, they dismembered him and paraded his head around, then burned him to ash. Some say Tembo kept the skull and hid it somewhere in the newly built Greenhaven, but Tembo himself denied these claims. (Meilin once searched the castle for the skull, to no avail.)

I personally would have liked to know more about the genocide of Stetriol (if it truly happened) and who took over as ruler after Feliandor. All my thinking about it led me to draft some plans for a novella about Feliandor's successor and what happened in Stetriol after the defeat of the Conquerors. His name is Lysander. He is the cousin of Feliandor and the direct ancestor of the present-day royal family, including Shane. I'm still figuring him out, but I think y'all will like him.

I also think now would be the proper time to mention that in ARHoE, Essix gets a longer chapter where she bonds with a human like the other three. I haven't decided on the boy's name, but he is Amayan and has a jackrabbit spirit animal. He is bright, spirited and adventurous. The eldest son of the chief, but all of 16 at the war's end, he successfully convinces Essix to fight on the side of the Marked resistance. He is full of wonder and respect for nature, Essix most of all, and she finds herself warming up to him. She likes him enough to let him ride on her back and see the world he so loves from miles above, delighting in the way he spreads his arms and whoops into the wind. Essix, who is able to read souls, looks at him and sees something special in him. He is destined to do great things. This future of his is dashed when he dies in the Great Battle, though, cut down by some nameless soldier, just a boy with all the life and hope gone out of his eyes as Essix cradles him in her talons. She mourns him for a moment, then steels her heart and renews the charge.

[dark-night-star-light]

This was supposed to be a Talina post, but it turned into a fucking Talon backstory post instead. Whoopsie. It's long. Be warned.

Talon is Stetriolan. Naturally, this meant she joined the Conqueror army. But it's so much more than that.

Drina met her when they were seven. She was sneaking off during a royal procession in her honor (she was crown princess, which she was eventually knocked down from after she got bonding sickness) and Talon was there. Drina was intrigued because she'd never seen much of kids her own age besides Shane.

They stole food together. Drina had money, but who cares about that.

Talon's father had a spirit animal and the bonding sickness, and keeled over from it when Talon was ten years old.

Drina snuck out of the palace a lot to meet Talon, whose family was significantly poorer, and eventually started inviting her over. They grew up together, basically. Talon's family benefited a lot from her connection the the royal family.

Then Drina summoned Iskos, and it all went downhill. Screaming, crying, you name it, but the entire relationship went sideways. But Talon couldn't let go of her attachment to Drina.

Talon tried to teach Drina how to use a crossbow, but Drina was hopeless. Talon stopped trying to teach her when Drina almost shot the iconic Stetriolan throne.

Talon always saw Shane as an annoying younger brother, and treated him as such. She also taught him how to use a saber, and is the reason he's so good at it today.

Drina eventually begged Talon to join the Conqueror army, and Talon did it for Drina.

Yeah, Drina and Talon were kissing behind the scenes during the entire war, actually. This is canon, actually.

Talon became a double agent during the war. She pretended to join the Greencloaks after summoning her bird, claiming she bonded to it naturally. They believed her, and always seemed skittish around her, because bonding naturally meant they, the Greencloaks, the supposed protectors of Erdas, hadn't been able to protect her. Talon hated them, but pretend it was all fine and dandy.

She became friends with Keith. Who's Keith? Some guy. Shit fighter, he was. He eventually caught her sending letters via her bird to Drina. Fortunately for Talon, the letters were written in code, and they appeared to the layman as disgustingly over-the-top love letters.

Thus, Keith learns that Talon has a girlfriend. He is the biggest Talon-girlfriend shipper ever. Talon refuses to tell him who the girlfriend actually is, but lies and says she's Euran. Keith learns to make a shepherd's pie to impress the girlfriend for "when I finally meet her". He never does.

Talon is a trans girlie, by the way. In case you care.

Talon learns Drina got killed through Shane himself. He took it upon himself to tell her. He tells her that the sacrifice was worth it, and to come home for the final victory. It's through writing, so Talon can't decipher his tone.

Out of grief and rage, Talon recklessly tries to escape Greenhaven. Of course, she runs into Keith on the way out. He asks her where she's going, and she tries to knock him out. He's a better fighter now so he blocks her. She runs into the woods, but unfortunately Greenhaven's an island. That's not good for her.

She waits in the woods until Keith leaves, and hopes he doesn't hate her. But she has a feeling he already knows.

She sneaks onto a boat and eventually ends up back at Stetriol. Shane's there. They talk about Drina. It doesn't really help.

She sees Drina's dead body and now her entire purpose feels destroyed. Drina was the reason she joined the Conquerors and now she won't even be there to celebrate the final victory.

She tries to kill herself, but Gerathon herself stops her using the Bile-control. She thinks it's ironic that Gerathon killed Drina against her will but is keeping her alive against her will.

She sees Keith at the battle at the base of Muttering Rock. She feels nothing. He feels nothing. They fight like two soldiers on opposite sides, not two friends. But she can't help but notice that he doesn't make any truly dangerous moves against her. And she can't help but notice the same about herself.

The Conquerors lose. Talon doesn't care anymore. Shane does his best to keep her alive because he knows Drina would want him to. They eventually part ways.

. . . Until Shane hires her to the Redcloaks. She'd been noticing how her features were slowly warping, but she didn't take much notice. She just felt numb. Just nothingness.

Shane brings her back. Tells her that there's a new threat, and that they finally have a chance to redeem themselves. And that the real Drina, the Drina that existed before the bonding sickness and the Bile warped her beyond repair, would want them to. He begs her to do it for Drina. And he tells her about his conversation with Yumaris. She is the only one to know besides Anya, Yumaris, and Shane himself.

Shane didn't send her after Grif and Anuqi. She sent herself. Shane pretends to be annoyed, but in reality, he's glad she has some drive and is acting like her old self again.

She disrespects Shane in front of the other Redcloaks. A lot. She'll never see him as a leader, just as the annoying preteen that asked her what that painting in the palace was supposed to mean and flicked food at her across the table as a kid.

When she saw Keith on the mission with Grif and Anuqi, she knew that she had to make things up to him, and him personally.

After the mess with the Wyrm, she makes a journey to Greenhaven with Stead. Keith isn't there. So she travels to Amaya, where he's from, to meet him herself.

He has incredibly mixed feelings upon seeing her again. But he knows who the Redcloaks are, really. And he's wondered whether she'd be with them since he found out about them.

He's shocked at her transformation. Naturally.

Eventually they make up. They spar. He's better than ever.

When the Oathbound are hunting Greencloaks, Talon hides Keith with the Redcloaks. They almost find him, too. The irony in Keith pretending to be a Redcloak is not lost on either of them.

Once things settle down, Talon helps Keith find the two missing bond tokens in the sea near the Zhongese palace. Keith returns one and Talon returns the other, which symbolizes for how the Greencloaks and Redcloaks are really and truly working for the same side now.

[wynniewho]

Zerif is such an enigma, which is both great for fanfic writing purposes, and frustrating in regards to simply figuring out his character.

On one hand, he's opportunistic, has connections, and has some unknown motivation of having the world remember him. He also has a jackal that may or may not be bonded via the Bile (it's never really made clear, I don't think).

There's also the fact that he had all this information about the secrets of the Bile. The wiki says that Kovo told him about it, but surely Stetriol would have known that he stepped ashore long before he even reached Muttering Rock.

Which brings me to my own rewrite!

Personally, here is how I think Zerif's backstory and motivation is going to go so far:

Zerif and Olvan both join the Greencloaks when they summon their spirit animals. Overtime, they become renowned as heroes among the Greencloaks, rising above the ranks faster than most of their peers.

One day, Zerif is given a special assignment: protecting Gerathon. Unlike Kovo, the Great Serpent wasn't guarded by any Great Beast like Kovo was with Halwair. Furthermore, they (Greencloaks and Great Beasts) couldn't exactly leave the two Beasts alone on Stetriol alone; they may make another escape attempt! So, they assign the most capable of Greencloaks to guard her, hiding them away for the rest of their tenure.

But while some would it to be a great honor, being a part of such a massive secret, Zerif would feel quite the opposite. How could he be disrespected like this? Has he not done as he was asked, to the letter? Why should he be forced to sequester himself away, allowed to be forgotten, while Olvan, his inferior, takes the mantel of commanding the Greencloaks?

But he says nothing, and does his duty, hoping that it will be over sooner rather than later.

Gerathon proves to be more amenable than expected - well, as one can be, trapped in such a confined space for the rest of eternity. Zerif makes polite conversation, despite orders to never let the Serpent learn so much as your name. Eventually, she, too begins to open up, teaching him about her life before the war. About Stetriol. About Kovo.

And soon, a plan begins to hatch. A plan for Zerif to be remembered, forever and always.

[dark-night-star-light]

Adding onto this because I didn't address Tellun's freeing Shane from the bond.

So it's said that spirit animals are smarter than regular animals, so it follows that Bile-bonded animals are the same. This means that Grahv could've known that Gerathon, and in the end, Kovo, was the real reason for all his suffering. So I think he could've decided to fight alongside Shane at the Evertree, because he sees Kovo as a common enemy, and Shane as the slightly lesser evil. I have no doubts that he hates Shane's guts, but I do think he might've been able to put that aside to fight Kovo.

As I've already said, I think "fake" Bile bonds took a while to fade away after the Staff of Cycles (containing Gerathon's talisman) was destroyed. So after the Staff was broken, I think Shane immediately put Grahv back into passive state before the bond could completely break off. Shane canonically sees Grahv as a tool, to be summoned only when needed and otherwise kept tucked away in passive state. So Shane would have never summoned Grahv after that, and when the Bile bonds finally broke off entirely, Grahv would've been completely trapped in passive state.

Bottom line is: Grahv had his free will given back to him by Tellun, however his bond with Shane was still deteriorating over a period of time. This allowed him to fight by Shane's side of his own choice. After the Staff of Cycles was destroyed, Shane placed him back in passive state and never brought him out again. The bond eventually broke, leading to Shane's transformation.

I’ve recently realized something.

Meilin summoned Jhi with the Bile, right? But it’s clear she didn’t choose Jhi, and the whole thing with the Bile is that the human usually chooses which animal to bond with.

Which means that she summoned a “true” spirit animal with the Bile. The first person (known to us) since Feliandor to do so. I just thought that was interesting.

Huh! Somehow I always thought there were more but now I've racked my brain and ... yeah. An interesting parallel.

(You have to wonder how her dad & Sheyu thought it would go if she didn't summon a true animal. Would the Bile just pick whatever animal she was subconsciously most thinking about? The one she was standing closest to? Do you reckon the audience in attendance (or Lenori!) would see anything weird about one of the menagerie animals suddenly being a spirit animal?)

Another interesting weirdness about Bile bonds:

Tellun frees Shane from the Bile alongside Meilin on page 138 of The Evertree.

On page 160 of The Evertree, Tellun dies.

On page 165 of The Evertree, Gerathon dies.

On page 168, Shane still summons his animal to fight briefly alongside our heroes, and after that puts Grahv back into passive state to slip away.

So! So! There was a period of time after Gerathon was gone and the Bile theoretically held no power that Bile bonds still existed! Shane's bond still existed (for a while) after Tellun severed his connection to Gerathon! What was powering the Bile bonds? How did they work?

[king-shane-of-the-redcloaks]

Shane, he/him. I don't know how to make an intro post, so I just I guess tell you a bit about my life.

A little bit about me: I am turning into a crocodile because I went through a bit of a teenage phase where I drank the Bile, but I'm over that now. I used to be Stetriol's prince before I lost a world-wide war and became the single most hated figure on the face of the planet. So that was a bit awkward. But I'm trying to be better. I'm also trans and I have infinite saber swag.

A little bit about my family: They're all dead. My sister, Drina, was killed by her own spirit animal. My father killed his own spirit animal, and Zerif's spirit animal killed him. (Hate that guy. Boo!) And my beloved mother also eventually succumbed to the bonding sickness. My uncle, Gar, spent my entire childhood trying to wrest control of the throne and pretended to be bonded to my own unbeloved spirit animal. My family might be a tad bit cursed, but fuck it, we ball. She isn't really family, but my tutor, Yumaris, became a worm.

Miscellaneous little things about me: I hate the color purple (don't bring that vile shit near me), I hate that stupid trend of asking a loved one "Would you still love me if I was a worm?" because Yumaris loves to ask me that at the most inconvenient times (like when I'm giving inspiring speeches to my Redcloaks before an important battle), I have a weak spot for archers for some reason, I occasionally rub against trees to shed excess scales, I've recently developed a taste for bloodred jewelry, such as earrings and necklaces, and I tried to kill all the snakes in Stetriol once (I'm pretty sure it's possible, haven't you heard of that one Euran region that has no snakes whatsoever?).

Anyway, I guess I'm just trying to see if anyone relates to me or my experiences (I mean, we all make mistakes as teenagers, right?) so feel free to talk to me through the official Redcloak Ksenian crow messaging service. I want my Redcloaks to feel that they can criticize my leadership without fear, so I have decided that you are not required to tell me who you are.

DNI: Abeke haters, overly enthusiastic Greencloaks/Greencloak supporters, Kovo, Gerathon, Halawir, Oathbound sympathizers, Zerif sympathizers, and people who are assholes to my Redcloaks because of our transformations.

[orcaab]

Loss-A Spirit Animals AU fanfic

Aight, so this is basically a rewrite of Last Words and a part of Loss from The Burning Tide. It's a 'what-if' AU where Abeke dies instead of Shane. A little disclaimer before we begin, this write includes: -Violence

-Descriptions of blood

-Usage of swords and stuff

-Harm to both humans and animals

-It's pretty long

So if you are uncomfortable with any of those themes, I have to ask you to not proceed further. For all of you staying, thank you! Without further ado, let's get into it!

Loss

The Place of Desolation was an abandoned base, an unused snare for centuries, and now, it was the location of one of the biggest battles in the history of Erdas. The chilly air was filled with yells, cries, screeches, hoots, growls, roars, and clashes of metal on metal. A gust of sweet ocean air entered and exited Shane’s nose with every breath. The breaths were getting more and more rapid. Drawing his saber, Shane ran down one of the halls to meet the incoming array of Greencloaks.

Sliding the last few meters on the thin ice covering the cold ground, Shane’s saber caught one of the Greencloaks under the ribs, sending him toppling back into a rather skinny-looking deer. With a few quick strides, he joined Stead and Howl in the mass of people and animals. “Are these all the Greencloaks from the ships?” Shane yelled over the growing roar of battle, “Or just a part of them?” He hoped that the Greencloaks on the island were the only ones who would fight, their numbers were impressive to say the least, outnumbering the Redcloaks almost five to one, if you didn’t count the spirit animals. “We don’t know,” Stead yelled back, before ducking as a one-headed axe swung at his head. Quickly cutting the wielder on the shoulder, he turned to kick at the dog which was probably the man’s spirit animal. “We haven’t seen any others on the ships, but there may be more hiding, waiting.” The words escaped the young man’s mouth in a series of gasps, his ram pupils darted from side to side as he scanned the surroundings, before bringing up his stained longsword to point at three large animals in the near distance. A ram, a boar, a leopard… and something long and curved on the head of the ram, something that was curling around the horns of the oversized animal. A snake. A cobra. Gerathon. The Great Serpent. Great Shane thought, focusing on the nearing animals, Four of the infected Great Beasts as well. His hopes for the outcome of this battle seemed more and more like a far-fetched fantasy. If only they could manage to activate the snare, maybe it could hold back, or even stop the infected. It didn’t seem like an entirely reliable idea, but if Niri could still hear Takoda and the others underground, maybe she could find out something valuable.

Without any other response to Stead, Shane put his smooth wooden mask on and turned to find Howl trying to hold off the Greencloaks in a circle around him and Stead. He quickly ran to the man’s side, to help fend the Greencloaks off. They would have bigger things to worry about than the Greencloaks, and they needed all the room they could get, even with these powers, it was difficult to hold Great Beasts off. Shane’s saber came in contact with an axe at the same moment as Howl attempted to block it with his sword. Shane couldn’t stop his mind from replaying the battle at The Temple of Dinesh, the battle where he and Conor blocked a sword from Shane’s own soldier, to protect Abeke. The very Abeke who was now on this island, under his protection. Quickly shaking his head, he pushed the man with his shoulder, sending him off balance. There is no time to dwell on the past. Turning around Shane sheathed his saber, and prepared to meet the galloping Great Beasts. The serpent, he noted to himself immediately. He needed to get Gerathon off Arax, her reach was too big while on the ram. Uraza and Rumfuss split away from Arax to join the mass of Greencloaks, leaving him to charge forward. Shane waited for the ram to be a few steps away from him, before dodging to the side, Gerathon extending and lunging for the air where Shane was just a moment ago. With a slight push to Arax’s hindquarters, Shane imbalanced the ram, causing him to stumble, Gerathon uncoiled from his horns and fell on the ground. Arax tried to regain his footing, nearly trampling the serpent in the process, which got him a loud hiss. Arax charged at Shane again, this time, Shane grabbed the ram’s horns, digging them into the ground, Arax’s back bent unnaturally before the ram relaxed in an attempt to break free. Shane let go of the ram’s horns and scanned the ground to find Gerathon, but the snake wasn’t anywhere in his field of vision. Gasping for breath, Shane noticed Uraza attempting to catch Jolt, who was moving faster than any man should be able to. He also saw Worthy yelling something inaudible at Stead, who was jumping over Rumfuss, giving the boar cuts from a short dagger, while his longsword was sheathed on his back. Moving closer to them, Shane could make out what Worthy was screeching desperately at Stead.

“Don’t!” The younger boy was yelling “Stop! Don’t hurt him! Good lord, just listen to me!” Worthy’s tone was changing with every screech, from angry, and worried, to annoyed, and frustrated. Shane remembered that Rumfuss was Dawson’s spirit animal, Worthy’s younger brother. Pushing a pair of very confused-looking Greencloaks aside, Shane came closer to Worthy and Stead and tried to yell over the commotion. “Stead, keep Rumfuss occupied for now, it won’t be long.” Before he could look back, he felt all the air exit his lungs at once as something slammed into his side with an immense force. His head hit the ground hard, had it not been for the mask, then his eyes, nose, and mouth would have been full of dirt. Looking up, he saw two hooves coming up, and he immediately rolled, the hooves came down hard, sure to have shattered Shane’s ribs if he hadn’t moved away in time. Standing up, he saw Arax lining up to charge at him again. Shane readied himself and as the ram neared, he pushed one of the horns to the side, making Arax change course and run straight into Rumfuss. The two animals collided, the dirt flew in every direction, and the air filled with grunts and squeals of surprise. Shane heard a sigh of relief followed by a chuckle, which he assumed came from Worthy and Stead. A loud bird-like screech carried on the battlefield, Shane snapped his head in the direction of the sound, and he saw Jolt clinging to one of the small windows up on the fortress, his now torn cloak billowing in the icy wind of the island as Uraza stalked away below him. Shane saw Howl and Worthy running to his aid, but as he began to do the same, he was stopped by a cobra, the large snake stood up and opened her hood. The Great Serpent was formidable, even in this form. He remembered how large and terrifying she was as a Great Beast. Even now, she was just as deadly, she was faster and more agile. Backing up, he tried to avoid Gerathon entirely by going around her. The snake let out a monstrous hiss and slithered with terrifying speed towards Shane. Shane tried to pull out his saber to cut at the snake, but within mere moments the serpent lunged and bit his arm. With a gasp of shock, Shane grabbed the large cobra behind her hood, pulled her off, and threw her on the ground a few meters away from himself. Breathing heavily and quickly, he undid the clasps that held a piece of leather to his lower arm. Memories flashed through his mind, of Drina and her spider, Iskos, as Gerathon forced the monstrous arachnid to kill his sister. As he pulled the leather off, he saw his arm, his scaled arm, Gerathon bit him right where he had golden-green crocodile scales, the venomous fangs of the serpent didn’t pierce the skin. Shane sighed a sigh of relief and put the piece of leather back on. 

As he looked up, he saw Gerathon’s tail slinking away between a fighting Greencloak and a Redcloak. Shane looked back towards Jolt and saw Howl helping him down, while Worthy was grappling with a small woman who had some kind of elongated, hissing otter on her shoulder. Running to a large boulder, Shane jumped onto it, taking a few seconds to find his balance, he looked over the mass of fighters, and noticed a group of Greencloaks being forced to another part of the island by a stream of lava, Dinesh was being forced away with them. Looking to his right, he noticed Stead jumping in large arches around Arax and Rumfuss who were trying to charge at the man. But he didn’t see Uraza. His heart began to thump harder and harder in his chest, his thoughts were a mess. She could have gone to? Could she? Where is she? This isn’t Zourtzi. She can’t. Shane was so caught up in his worries, that he didn’t hear Stead approach or call his name. “King!” Stead was saying, Shane wasn’t sure how many times he said it. “Arax and Rumfuss ran away, for one reason or another.” Stead waited for a few moments, probably for Shane to give a reply, which Shane didn’t. Stead’s eyes narrowed in a worried way behind his white ram mask. “What is it?” He asked hesitantly.  “Uraza,” Shane replied, already looking for any openings in the wall of the fortress where Jolt was handing earlier. The short answer seemed to be enough for Stead because he nodded and let out a short grunt before stepping back.

“Try to follow her, I will try to hold the Greencloaks back for as long as possible, if we succeed or fail, I will find you and report it.” The man nodded quickly before turning, drawing his sword, and beginning to yell commands. Shane was grateful that the young man didn’t enquire any further on the subject. Jumping down from the boulder, he ran as fast as he could, faster than he ever ran in his life, towards the closest tunnel in the fortress wall. He tried to locate any growls or roars that could have come from the leopard. He couldn’t hear anything besides the sounds of battle outside the walls of the fortress, and he began to hesitate, what would he even do if he did find her? Fight her? Kill her, even? He wasn’t sure how far Abeke’s forgiveness would go if he killed her beloved spirit animal. Or how far the nations would look for his good intentions when they find out he killed one of The Great Beasts. Was he able to kill a Great Beast? He shook his head, he couldn’t think like this, he would die if he had to in order to save Abeke. Passing several openings, he slowed down where six passages met, looking around wildly, he ran up to one and went a few meters in before going out, and checking the other passages. It felt hopeless, how could he ever find a creature that was the exact image of stealth? Or her partner? As he went into the fourth passage he thought he heard Abeke’s voice. Without any hesitation he sprinted down the dark hall, Shane realized that it could lead to one of the balconies, overlooking the center of the structure. He slowed down ever so slightly as he heard Abeke’s pleading voice. 

“I don’t know what Zerif’s done to you, but I know you, Uraza.” The girl seemed to be sobbing while saying it. Shane rounded a corner and nearly tripped on Tasha who was lying on the stone floor, clutching one of her arms, blood oozing in between her pale fingers. As he looked up, he saw what he feared the most. Zerif standing on one side of the room, at the balcony, and Abeke in a corner on the other, being backed in by Uraza. The leopard seemed so distant, her violet eyes lacking the intelligence that he had seen countless times before. “Deep down, I know that you don’t want to hurt-” Abeke’s pleading was cut off as Uraza leaped for her, paws outstretched, sharp claws glinting, ready to kill. This time, Shane didn’t think about what he was going to do, he only knew that he needed to get Uraza away from Abeke, and he jumped. He collided with Uraza in the air, the impact was so strong it slammed him and Uraza into the wall. His mask came flying off. He tried to hold onto the back of The Great Beast, but it was so difficult, her fur was so soft and short, and it was impossible to hold onto it. The leopard rolled on the ground, trying to get the nuisance off her. In one of these rolls, Shane lost his grip and slid slightly on her, but it was enough for Uraza to grab his arm and sink her teeth into it. He yelled out in pain, letting go of Uraza with his other hand, dropping on the floor. The leopard shook him, Shane thought his arm was gonna get torn off, but after a few seconds Uraza let go, Shane tried to scramble away, to try and regain his footing again, only to feel a wrenching pain in the side of his ribcage. Going off balance again he hit the ground with his head, and his vision flowed before him, he tried to yell, but the leopard’s grip was too tight, pushing at his ribs, threatening to break them. And all at once, she let go and turned without giving Shane a second glance. 

He knew his wounds weren’t fatal, and he knew Uraza knew it too, why was she letting him go so easily? He took in a few shaky breaths, and then stopped as the realization dawned on him. The world seemed to go silent for the next few moments. He wasn’t the target, and he was never the target, Abeke was, she was the target in Zourtzi, and she is the target now, Uraza missed her before, and she isn’t going to make the same mistake twice. “No-” Abeke begged the leopard before stumbling back as Uraza lunged at her. Uraza grabbed Abeke right under the ribs, on the side of her stomach, and shook violently. Shane’s vision blurred with tears, this time he didn’t hesitate. He ignored the pain in his arm, and the pain in his ribs. Unsheathing his saber, he grabbed it with both hands, bringing it high over his head, and put it right through Uraza’s back leg. The metal blade came out stained in bright red blood on the other side of the leopard’s leg. Uraza roared in pain and agony as she dropped Abeke on the cold ground. Just as the leopard whirled around, Shane pulled his saber free of her leg, another loud roar escaped her as she limped away from him, leaving a trail of red blood on the ground. The leopard seemed to notice him for the first time then, and to notice Abeke, Uraza’s ears flattened and her eyes widened as she let out low moans directed at her partner, before she could make any other move, she disappeared in a flash of bright light, into her passive state.  The only signs of Uraza’s presence were a pool of blood, the red-stained saber, and Abeke’s still body. Shane dropped his saber, and went to Abeke’s side, dropping on his knees beside her body. He took her head in his hands and looked into her warm, brown eyes. All the sound from the world seemed to come back to him at once, the metal clashes from the Redcloaks and Greencloaks from the sides of the chamber, their yells, and Abeke’s heavy breathing. He tried to focus on her face, to make himself look at her, but he couldn’t suppress the tears, they flooded his eyes, threatening his vision.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry for everything.” Sobs tore from his throat in between the words. He wanted to say so much, to say how much he regretted the war, how much he wanted to make up, how much she truly meant to him, but the words didn’t come to him. He was supposed to die! He was The Devourer! She was one of The Four Heroes of Erdas, she didn’t deserve this. “I know… and I… forgive you.” Abeke was still willing to put her faith in others, even now. Her words came in short gasps, and they only made him sob harder. To Shane’s surprise, Abeke pulled him in for a hug, she felt warmer than the air around them, and Shane felt safe, for once. As Abeke pulled back, she tried to say something, but the words never took shape, she frowned and seemed to focus all of her energy on delivering a single message to him.

“Could you… promise… to protect them?” The words seemed to take a great toll on her. Abeke looked straight into Shane’s eyes, not many people did now, his eyes were inhuman, they were those of a crocodile. Without any hesitation, he nodded, he didn’t know who they were, maybe the other Four Heroes? The Greencloaks? The Great Beasts? Their summoners? It didn’t matter, he vowed to protect all of them, no matter the cost. 

With a final smile, Abeke’s eyes dulled, closed, and never opened again. Shane screamed at the top of his lungs, he couldn’t bear this, he was cursed and everyone who ever trusted him were cursed too, first his kingdom, his sister, his soldiers, and now Abeke. Were the Redcloaks next? His screams and yells became quieter and quieter, before he was quietly sobbing over Abeke’s lifeless body. He wanted to hit the ground, the walls, he wanted to let the world know how much it truly hurt, but whenever he opened his eyes, he just wanted to throw up, to see his friend so still, was sickening. He knew that there were Recloaks who were relying on him, and some who were watching him right now, but he didn’t care about his image, not now, he lost one of the most important people to him, how could he ever save the rest of them? Folding her green cloak under Abeke’s head, Shane brought his hands away from her, they came back red. His inhuman, clawed, and scaled hands weren’t tan with specs of gold and green, but red, blood-red. This was what he was, a killer, The Devourer, he led everyone around him to death. He heard a few grunts from one of the walls as Rollan broke free of his captors and came to sit next to him, the younger boy looked distraught at the sight of Abeke’s body. He didn’t talk, and Shane was grateful, he only laid a reassuring hand on Shane’s shoulder. 

[gamerbearmira]

Spirit Animals takes place is a world called Erdas, where a portion of the population summons spirit animals, magical companions whose power can be drawn on to provide boosted or unusual skills and abilities. In Erdas, there are fifteen Great Beasts - creatures that possess great magic and that are tied to no human. In fact, a spirit animal cannot be the same species as one of these fifteen. However, several hundred years prior to the series, two of the Beasts, Kovo and Gerathon, reveled against their brethren and sought to command all of Erdas, causing a great war. Four of the Great Beasts fought back, but tragically fell in battle. The series kicks off with these Fallen Four returning to the world - as spirit animals! But also returning are the forces of the Reptile King, aided by the power of Gerathon's talisman, and seeking to further the cause of the two traitors. The four children who summoned the Great Beasts must then work to defeat the Conquerors, and keep the talismans of the Great Beasts out of their hands.

Then they have to track down the summoned of the rest of the Great Beasts after those guys yeet themselves into a tree - but hey! At least there's no more bonding sickness, because a Great Beast with bonding sickness would be bad. There's already at least one au of it on ao3. Also, something weird has happened to some of the ex-Conquerors who had only the false bonds provided by the Bile...

And oh! What's this! A mind-control wyrm, how delightful. Oh, and it's very deliberately infecting the Great Beasts. That can't be good.

And once they beat that, then there's people framing their multinational organisation for the assassination of the emperor of Zhong, so now they have to find these four magic artifacts infused with the power of incredible bonds between human and spirit animal, and figure out who they're actually fighting, anyways. Also, yes, Worthy does have a tail.

so yeah, that's the plots of the three arcs, hopefully without giving too much away. It's fun! The idea of doing an AU that's spirit animals but Encanto popped into my head the other day and while I don't have many details I know Mirabel gets to summon one of the Fallen Four and Isabela gets to fill Worthy's role in the narrative, but ex-circus tiger instead of a black wildcat cause a) they don't live in Eura and the wildcat has no cultural significance and b) parallels!

Interesting⁉️⁉️⁉️ reminds me of a ton of fandoms mixed together and that’s so rad. Also the animals are so cool, story seems real cool, like the roles and stuff. Ex circus tiger, off topic, but that is so silly 😭 AND PARALLELS YEAHHHHHHHHHH

Assassins in this is WILD 💀💀🫢 love the drama tho

[bladealvis]

Gerathon’s the object of nightmares in this series, the serpent queen of lethality and destruction, and she WILL be petted

[violetwolfraven]

Reilin Headcanons

Nobody asked for this but y’all can’t stop me. Also I haven’t really read these books in a long time so idk how much of this lines up with the canon.

Rollan catches the feels for Meilin after watching her win that fight against that warrior who was twice her size on their first mission.

Tbh he kind of misses the fact that he does though because he doesn’t really know what love felt like.

Abeke notices before he does.

Tarik does too.

It takes Conor the longest but he knows before Rollan does.

Meilin realizes she likes him when he’s sick and dying in the jungle and she realizes how afraid she is to lose him.

Then Meilin almost falls down a crevasse in Artica and after Rollan calms down he starts think ‘wait what this isn’t hatred wtf is this feeling.’

Their feelings for each other only get stronger during and after the whole Fire and Ice mission.

After that mission Rollan is pretty messed up from his mother trying to kill him and kind of just shuts down

Abeke thinks he just needs space. Conor tries to distract him. Tarik tries to get him to talk but none of them can give him what he needs.

Tarik notices Meilin isn’t trying anything. She’s just keeping her distance.

He asks her why and she says that every time Rollan and her talk they fight so she doesn’t want to hurt him more.

Tarik tells her that maybe the fact that she’s so worried about hurting him is exactly why she’s the one who can help.

So Meilin just goes to where Rollan is sulking and tosses him a bo staff.

“What’s this for?”

“Get up. I’m gonna teach you.”

They don’t talk. Not really. But the others notice that Rollan starts snarking again. (This is when Conor notices.)

When Meilin gets forced to betray them, Rollan doesn’t really process it for a while but then suddenly one day he turns to see her reaction to a joke Conor told and it just hits him like damn he loves this girl.

Meilin tries not to think about Rollan while she’s captive but Gerathon’s already seen her thoughts. The snake knows how much she cares about Rollan.

This leads to her using nightmares of an injured or dying Rollan even more than Meilin’s other friends to torment her and try to break her.

After everything Rollan awkwardly asks if Meilin wants to stay in Amaya with him.

She wants to. But she knows that Zhong needs her as much as Nilo and Eura need Abeke and Conor.

Fast forward 10-15 years, and Rollan proposes to Meilin in the middle of battle.

Picture Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan’s wedding. It’s that. It’s literally that. Lenori or somebody officiates.

Later they do have an actual party mostly because Abeke and Conor were offended they didn’t get to be maid of honor and best man but it’s more of a Tea Ceremony because Meilin wants to be traditional and Rollan just doesn’t care.

To a lot of the public it’s kind of a scandal because the daughter of a Zhong general is marrying a street kid from Amaya.

But they’re both big heroes so nobody dares to say anything too big.

Rollan remembers how hard it was when he was a kid, so he and Meilin adopt a lot of kids off the streets. They take in 6 or 7 at a time and adopt new ones when the oldests grow up.

Some of the assholish Greencloaks are a little pissed that they never hand over any of their kids that summon spirit animals without question; they always make sure the kid knows potential consequences and makes their own choice.

Eventually they do decide to have a kid that will be theirs by blood. (Most of the kids they adopt are somewhere between 5 and 15, so they’ve never gotten to do the whole ‘baby’ thing.)

They have a son, and that son ends up with roughly 2 dozen older brothers and sisters, most of whom were in a gang at some point, (or still are) so nobody ever messes with him.

Their son’s name is Tarik. Rollan actually cries when he turns 11 and summons an otter.

[purple-raptor-blog]

SA Movie Hype Trash

This new movie franchise needs some hype so I’m here to do that! Here are some of my hopes:

- There will be a movie for each book, just like they did for Harry Potter. If they combine it all into one movie… I’m going to die.

- The animals will be in some really realistic CGI, just like what they did in the live-action jungle book.

Briggan has to look as real and epic as Akele, and imagine Gerathon looking like Kaa :3 And did anyone else imagine the Wyrm looking something like one of the rathtars from Star Wars: The Force Awakens?

-Another hope is that in that one scene in Fire and Ice when Suka crashes out from the underground ice city, it’ll look as awesome and fierce as when the Indominus Rex escapes her paddock.

- For the soundtrack, I personally REALLY want Hans Zimmer to do it. Here are a couple of his works, and I think that Rollan’s theme would be something like Jack Sparrow’s theme, and Zerif’s would maybe be like Blackbeard’s?

- The trailer should be really motivating and awesome because hey, anyone notice how small this fandom is? X,D

- They better not white wash the movies because that would just be…. no. Just no.

- The actors should probably read the books bECAUSE IF ROLLAN’S MOMENTS OF SARCASM ARE NOT ADDED IN PROPERLY, I WILL CRY.

- The screenwriter (John Fusco) wrote the script for the Goosebumps movie (haven’t seen it), Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (amazing movie), and a bunch of others which are apparently pretty good too.

- The latest news of the SA movie can be found on http://www.movieinsider.com/m14412/spirit-animals, which will apparently update the movie’s status whenever something new happens.

- Two years from now we’ll probably look back at this and either laugh at how bad these ideas are compared to the epicness of the actual movie(s), or we will cry because we wish this had happened. c,:

Anyway, if you are internally screaming right now, I hope that means I did a good job on this hype trash collection thing :,) Tell me what you guys think about these hypes, and please tell me if you want more! :D -Raptor

[bayofwolves]

I’ve been obsessed, obsessed, obsessed with Raisha for a while now. I know you’ve said little things about her in the past and i want to know what’s up with her/Gerathon if you’d be willing to talk about it.

I really like Raisha as a character, too! We know so little about her, but in my opinion, she's one of the most fascinating characters in the series. Unfortunately, she meets a sad end in A Revised History of Erdas.

All we know about Raisha post-infection is that she was present at the final battle in The Burning Tide, still under Zerif's control and in pretty bad shape. She vanishes off the grid after that, never mentioned again, not even in the concluding montage of Great Beast summoners reuniting with their fallen spirit animals. My retelling offers some closure, but not the good kind.

In my version of events, Raisha is flanking Zerif when he emerges from the ship with his Great Beasts. Zerif, in an act of cruel irony, saw fit to keep Raisha by his side even in her mindless, infected state. Shane, up in the archers' keep with Abeke, hardly recognizes the girl who helped steal Halawir months earlier. Later, she reappears to restrain Abeke when Zerif brings the defeated Redcloak forces to the Wyrm. When the Wyrm is killed and the parasites lose their power, though, Raisha collapses to the ground and doesn't get back up. The Wyrm had pushed her finite body to an extent that it couldn't recover from. Many people and animals in Zerif's army are the same; their possession eventually killed them. The Wyrm was a child playing with toys, the mechanics of which it couldn't possibly understand. Thankfully for it, its parasites could go on controlling a body in the event of an untimely death. Indeed, Stead raises the possibility that Raisha had been dead for some time, and the parasite was only animating a corpse.

Like I've said before, I didn't do this out of dislike for Raisha or anything like that. She was ultimately another victim of Zerif -- a young, lonely, impressionable girl he took advantage of -- and didn't deserve anything that happened to her. I'll always support AUs where she is alive and well. In my eyes, though, her story was always meant to end in tragedy. By the time she realized her mistake and reached for the light, it was too late.

Gerathon, after reemerging in Southern Zhong and feeling the loss of her human partner, disappeared into the brush and is currently at large. She is only an adolescent cobra at the moment, hardly a threat... but the Great Beasts are growing, and Gerathon's time will inevitably come again. (I like the idea of her becoming a maneater as she slowly regains her former size and power, terrorizing the locals and gaining a place in their legends.) Who knows how she feels about losing Raisha. I expect, under the excruciating pain that may one day drive her to madness, there is a sweet sense of relief.

[patriotismforstetriol]

Drawing a random scene from every Spirit Animals book

Part 10 (v): Tales of the Fallen Beasts: Betrayal

(Unleashed; The Trunswick Blade; A Chill Wind; Rebel Bond; Betrayal)

Unless the animal has committed crimes too, Raisha thought.

[dark-night-star-light]

what would YOUR spirit animal be

Honestly, I've never thought about it. I'm going to assume the canon rules apply, which is that you can't summon an animal that has a Great Beast version. I'm definitely leaning toward something reptile-ish because. I love dragons (my blog's name used to be "are there dragons" because that was my requirement for reading a fantasy series somewhat jokingly). Unfortunately, there are no dragons in Spirit Animals (in the mythological sense, obviously there's like Komodo dragons and water dragons and such). So I'm going for the next best thing. Snakes (not a king cobra though, since that's what Gerathon is).

Snakes are so cool. They have heat vision(!!!) so that would be super cool to experience. They also don't experience love the same way humans do, which might seem a bit weird to think about, but they will eventually come around to trusting you if you give them time, which I feel like is something that represents my personality. Probably would choose a hognose snake specifically, because they're so cute and their faces are shaped so friend-shaped!!! And they're burrowers so that would probably give me minor abilities with earth-shifting/sand-moving. So that would be cool. They also have a grand total of one (1) braincell, and while spirit animals are smarter than regular animals, I still think it would be hilarious to watch one act like its natural stupid self.

[bayofwolves]

have we ever actually figured out what it is they're doing here? what is the context for this epic scene? why are the infected great beasts not infected anymore? what's with the other animals? where are they going? why is gerathon a normal pitiful snake? why is there a random bald eagle? why are shane and abeke smack dab in the middle of it all? are they on a date? huh? huh?

[bayofwolves]

what if briggan was the leader of the great beasts instead of tellun...

ouughhhh. that would be so interesting

i don't particularly like the idea of the great beasts having a leader at all, which is why tellun will have no elevated status in a revised history of erdas. he's just famously the most mysterious and elusive out of all of them.

but briggan. imagine it. him failing to reason with kovo and gerathon. failing to convince so many of the others to fight alongside him in the first devourer war, because he's already let two of their own go astray. uraza, jhi and essix are the only ones he can rally. and then they die, briggan being killed by kovo himself as the ultimate act of betrayal. briggan watches his brethren go down beside him, feels the life leak out of him as his own brother rips him apart, and sees the full weight of his failures.

the deaths of the four fallen truly mark the end of the great beasts' fellowship. they go their own separate ways after the war is over, fading into mere legend until the four are born again. this time around, briggan rallies more of them.