#i also have some places in lore i just need to find dragons to fit u know. theres a few like . solid charactersi nmy head ive never found

[tillman]

if u wanna see my dragons btw smiiiiles at you huuuugely . also mutuals if u have frs lemme know i wanna go like all your dragons

[talenlee]

3e: Winners and Losers In Lawful Space

Planescape is a silly place.

Dungeons & Dragons is a wholeheartedly silly game, and it’s important to remember that what makes it silly is an expansive growth out of a particular root. It is a tree of many branches but thanks to the way that it encourages people to build their own things on top of it, it has become a sprawling kind of folk narrative and generally accepted consensus material that then a company comes along and tries to augment and supplement. Still, as much as a corporate mind is at the head of what gets published, what gets handed to that corporation is going to derive from the mind of a dork who likes D&D. To that end, D&D’s lore is a constant push-pull between the kinds of nerds who like organising lists and the kind of nerds who like to invent new types of dragons they want to have sex with and they’re all trying to integrate one another’s material because that’s how nerds demonstrate mastery over a topic.

The result is that D&D lore is composed of parts that neatly and smoothly fit together and parts that should be airbrushed on the side of a van, and all subjects exist in a space between those two points, on a spectrum. And nowhere is this more evident than in the way that 2e’s setting Planescape introduced elements that 3rd edition tried to hide.

Planescape, as a setting, exists very close to the ‘airbrushed on a Van’ side of things, and it’s extremely obvious when you look at its roots in 2nd Edition. In this space, much of what makes Planescape Planescape was codified. For those of you unfamiliar, Planescape is a setting made up of the idea of ‘planes’ as distinct, discrete universes with their own rules separated not by time and space, but just by barriers or magical boundaries. You know how Narnia is supposed to work, with the wardrobe? It’s like that, but there are a lot more wardrobes and they all go to different places. Think a sort of multi-level Isekai scheme.

Anyway, it’s a setting with like, multiple whole universe-sized worlds, that may or may not have planets inside them, some of which follow a very narrow set of identifying rules, like the elemental plane of Fire, which is full of Fire, or are just like ‘here, but a bit weird,’ like Bitopia, which is a whole plane that is mirrored vertically at a certain height. If you look up in Bitopia, you see another whole country up there – that’s why it’s called that. Also everyone there is bisexual.

Planescape sought to build out more of that structured universe and then in each structured space, fill it with interesting notions. But the structure is a little odd, in that it’s hard to make an infinite number of chairs organise neatly, someone is always putting out one more where they shouldn’t. That means there are tidy diagrams of the Planar cosmology, and then you look inside any of the bubbles in that diagram and find it’s full of gibberish.

It was in 2e that, as far as I know, we were introduced world-wise, to the characters of the Modrons.

There’s a whole writing form that involves referring to Modrons in deliberately obtuse ways, with Modrons being the individual, plural, categorical, and utility terms for this people, but what you need to know about them is that Modrons are weird lil guys that are made out of a basic geometric shape – pyramid, cube, dodecahedron, all the way up to sphere (or down to sphere, depending on who you ask). They are truly perfect Lil Guys, a byproduct of a plane of true law and order which doesn’t in any way cohere to what humans (the people playing the game) necessarily assume about law.

They make a lot of sense in a storybook kind of way where you don’t need to have big answers for what they are or how they work or even how their philosophical bias towards pure lawfulness works. In the world of 2ed, where sometimes things that sound like they should be well explained, clear rules are kinda yada-yada-yada’d in a space that you might imagine is flavour text, the Modrons left a bunch of questions unanswered and seemingly, that was good. It was good that they were heavily ambiguous because what was the life cycle of ‘an orb?’ Any answer made them less mysterious and pushed them away from the oddness that they represented.

Anyway, 3e was an attempt by a serious company to do serious things and that’s why when they went back to talk about the Creatures That Lived In The Lawful Planes, they came up with the Inevitables.

Inevitables are the demons of small minds, writ large. Literally, the point of an Inevitable is to be a Lawful Neutral version of a Demon, an entity that exists purely based on rules, coalesced out of a world made of rules, and with nothing holding them back from expressing that. Each of the Inevitables is meant to respond to a rule in the universe and then enforce it. They are self-appointed near-immortal construct cops, and they’re meant to oppose things and people that break the rules that they, specifically, are meant to care about.

These rules are completely out of whack, though, because one of them is meant to enforce say, justice, another the inevitability of death and another, the way the desert is a fixed ecosystem that nobody should try and change or interact with. And in that case, there are a bunch of plants that the Inevitables are going to have issues with, that don’t seem to be capable of forming complex political allegiances.

There’s a really interesting distinction between Inevitables and Modrons, to me. Modrons are weird and interesting but also, there’s nothing they can do that answers a question. Inevitables are a fun challenge that’s supposed to be present to oppose players or potentially be recruited into an adventure, but not for too long. But Inevitables, the 3e attempt to populate Lawful Planes with A Kind of Guy, sort of fell apart and are now more of a trivia question while Modrons have endured into 4th and 5th edition.

I don’t think there’s some greater, better reason for it or anything. I don’t think that Inevitables failed because they were Bad Design or something. But I do think that for me, the way that Modrons represented Weirdness was much more interesting than the ways the Inevitables sucked weirdness away with their simple, clear consideration of certain things as being part of natural reality.

After all: Inevitables would hunt down people who extended their lifespans because ‘everyone must die.’ But Inevitables were immortal. That’s a pretty interesting thing to juxtapose and maybe a character could struggle with that.

Or maybe they could make a big speaking trumpet and demand that everyone else refer to them as a Spokesmodron which is, in my opinion, much funnier.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[ceranovis]

So... the thing that IMMEDIATELY stood out to me in Fit's Dec 30th lore stream was the use of the nocom heatmap:

Like this is the exact version if the heatmap Fit uses in his 2b2t vid about the nocom exploit (which is a wild story in itself, please watch it if you haven't before).

But some musing about how nocom might be connected to the lore (which quickly spiralled into some theories about Madagio, the 2 Cucuruchos, and the eggs):

Nocom was an exploit that tracked players in real time, predict their movements, and allowed remote spying on physical changes to locations. Madagio being drawn in by the remenant signal of that could just be a nod to their interest in finding ways to collect information and why they would find Fit suitable for the job.

HOWEVER-- Nocom was built on a Papermc vulnerability that meant it could also work on other multiplayer servers that run it. While nocom was patched on 2b2t, that doesn't mean other servers have patched the vulnerability & the source code has been released by the creators. So Madagio could have been interested in going to 2b2t to get ahold of nocom to use on Quesadilla island so it could uncover the "secrets [it] must have at all costs"-- their POV when tracking down fit shows entity lines so they clearly have some tracking ability/tool.

Maybe they got the nocom code, but found they couldn't use it yet. It's been mentioned before that Fit tried hack clients on QSMP but they didn't work, and exploits get fixed pretty quickly to keep the server stable. Madagio said the only way onto thr island at the time was the Federation train-- presumably the Federation had thing heavily locked down and Madagio wouldn't be able to enter or run any sort of exploit.

2b2t's nocom was made possible because of social engineering-- Madagio could have hired Fit to collect information so it could find a way to successfully manipulate holes into the Federation's security and get onto the island/run nocom.

In the Dec 21st QSMP Info stream, Dark Cucurucho seems to be looking for something the Federation has hidden, and demands Cucurucho tell him where it is. Maybe Madagio is looking for the same thing? Nocom would theoretically allow someone to find hidden facilities/people anywhere on the server.

Where Dark Cucurucho seems tied to the Nether, and Cucurucho the overworld, its becomes pretty notable that Madagio has Fit go through a giant Ender portal.

Madagio being tied to the End also has some interesting implications if you think about the (ender?) dragon that supposedly inhabited the island & created the eggs. While the federation claimed the dragon left when the wall was blown up, there's no actual evidence it was there at the time. Perhaps Madagio is the dragon.

Fans seem to be interpretting the "i am a god" anagram of Madagio literally, which could fit with the ender dragon being a sort of godly being presiding over the End dimension.

BUT it may not be a literal dragon-- the eggs seem to be some sort of science experiements, so what if the anagram is a reference to a scientist playing god?

Maybe Madagio literally created the eggs from End-realm-DNA or something before fleeing/being kicked off Quesadilla, and the dragon story is just what the Federation made up to explain the eggs without having to bring up Madagio.

Maybe the experiements that led to the eggs were about opening up inter-server travel? Madagio said whatever made it leave Quesadilla also gave it server-hopping powers (powers which seems similar in reach to the Federation's ability to pull people to the island/send workers to other places).

The Federation can block interdimensional travel too-- we saw that with the Nether, which the residents eventually broke through with the train bug, implying hacks/bugs are needed to bypass Federation security.

Dark Cucurucho told Forever it wanted to leave, desired freedom, and that the Federation didn't want it to have that. Maybe the thing Dark is looking for is the thing that Madagio created that allows for interdimensional travel, which the Federation stole.

I think the only non-Federation example of cross-server travel we've seen is with the Watcher/Purgatory, but it may have actually been Dark Cucurucho who enabled that, not the Watcher. Aside from Dark being the one to give the residents their tickets to Purgatory via the dice game, Cucurucho claimed the recent security vulnerabilities were due to Dark, so maybe Dark found an exploit that allowed for limited interdimenisonal travel-- if it's tied to the creation of eggs somehow, maybe that's why there were 3 new eggs found on Egg Island?

The Unknown Egg diary Cellbit found could potentially be connected to Dark Cucurucho leaving & making contact with the Watcher prior to the purgatory arc, given the timing (about a month after the residents broke open the Nether, which may have created a door for Dark to get to the overworld despite Federation security and set things in motion). Maybe Cucurucho sent Cellbit to investigate because it suspected Dark was up to something? Cellbit assumed the egg's fate was the Federation's doing, but why would they send him to investigate it then? Maybe it was Dark making a cheap immitation of the Federation adoption center so it could travel, and then abandoning the egg once it had what it wanted?

Cucurucho also said that Dark didn't understand the potential of the eggs, which could explain why Dark would only be able to achieve limited travel.

[somewhatsentientspellbook]

With the announcement of S3 coming later this year, I thought I'd just put into the universe my predictions for how TLOVM S3 will work. I've already covered some of this before (see here for how A Bard's Lament has the same number of letters as there are episodes in a season), but now I'm in the mood to go into more detail.

My first thoughts were of what needed to fit into this season, namely, defeating the rest of the Conclave, vestige hunting, and individual character arcs. That's a LOT, but I think I've figured out how it COULD work.

Episodes 1-3 (Marquet / Glintshore)

Raishan has just revealed herself and needs to quickly gain VM's trust. She'll tell them Ripley was helping Umbrasyl with his vestige hunt and that she's gone to Marquet to track more down. This might be a good time for Percy and Keyleth to get some character development since Percy will be interested in taking Ripley out of the picture, and Keyleth will want to embrace R A G E for Raishan's involvement with Thordak destroying Pyrah.

Once they get to Marquet, Scanlan has the opportunity to reunite with Kaylie (since she and the troupe mentioned going there after Westrunn) and kick his character arc into overdrive. Scanlan will make his promise to Kaylie that he'll survive the crisis, and we'll probably get some J'mon Sa Ord and the Sandkehgs Hide scene.

Glintshore, the Anna Ripley fight, and Percy's death will happen in E3. This is simply because episode three has been chock full of depressing character moments for both S1 and S2 - so why shouldn't it also be the case for S3? It will also serve as a catalyst for Vex and Percy's official romance and potentially spook Keyleth and Vax into theirs as well. Scanlan will probably have a moment too, as he realises just how dangerous this quest will be. By the end of this batch, we'll have two (?) more vestiges with Whisper and Cabal's Ruin added to the roster.

Episodes 4-6 (Vorugal / Yenk / The Mansion)

The party will probably make a quick pit-stop in Whitestone where they'll find out the Conclave has expanded its efforts beyond Tal'Dorei, as Vorugal has demolished Draconia in Wildemount. Raishan will convince VM to go to Draconia with her to dispatch Vorugal. We might get more Exandrian lore to set up Wildemount for the M9 series as VM preps for the battle.

Scanlan received a key in the S2 finale that will likely come into play in E5 as either the key to his Magnificent Mansion or the Gate spell (both are iconic parts of the Vorugal plan). I'm leaning more towards the key belonging to the Mansion since they can rewrite the story to have Raishan cast Gate as a nod to how she freed Thordak. They'll summon Yenk so they can not only kill another dragon but also retrieve Keyleth's vestige. We'll get a really badass fight scene and character moments for a number of characters.

Considering how jam-packed the season will have been at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if E6 ends up being a cool-down 'filler' episode with character moments like Kima getting the Holy Avenger, the canon ball contest, and Percy and Vex's kiss in the woods.

Episodes 7-9 (Fire Plane / Earth Ashari (?) / Retaking Emon)

On the hunt for more vestiges, VM will probably head to the Fire Plane to recover the Plate of the Dawnmartyr with a cameo from Senokir. Still, aside from that, I don't know what the episode would consist of.

I also think this batch of episodes is a perfect place to slot in Keyleth's Earth Ashari trial, since it took place pre-stream and TLOVM seems to be hinting that Pyrah was her first trial. It would be really interesting to see how Keyleth's vision of her own death will be adapted considering how far into the Chroma Conclave arc it takes place. The trial would also give VM a chance to gather more forces for the coming battle.

Now, if the episode titles actually ended up spelling A BARD'S LAMENT, I would have absolutely named S3E9 'March to Emon'. This is where we get an Avengers Endgame-type moment of unity where all of VM's allies and the armies gather to take Emon back from Thordak. I'm thinking of appearances from Syngorn, the Ashari, Whitestone, maybe even J'mon Sa Ord sending some support their way.

Episodes 10-12 (Thordak / Raishan / Scanlan & Taryon (?))

We're in the final batch of episodes, and I feel like these are the simplest to lay out. It'll be boss battle after boss battle; the only question is how long each battle will take. Thordak will likely be kept to just E10, so that the show has ample time to handle the Raishan fight (since I tend to think of Raishan as the penultimate enemy from the Conclave).

Thordak dies, and in E11, the party battles Raishan in a brutal fight that does NOT kill Percy in the adaptation. I think him dying again would cheapen his death earlier in the season and take away from Scanlan's death in the same encounter. I really hope we get Travis breaking our hearts with "FIX HIM!" too. Now, I'd say the episode ends with VM taking Scanlan's body back to Whitestone.

In the season finale, Kaylie comes to Whitestone, and the party resurrects Scanlan. I think it'd be a unique change to the story (but not necessarily an unwelcome one) if VM was willing to just bury Scanlan, but Kaylie was the one who convinced them to try and bring him back. We get the absolutely gut-wrenching speech and his departure. The thing I'm wondering is whether TLOVM will simply end with Scanlan leaving and save Taryon's debut to S4, or if they'll introduce him in the final scene and leave us on a cliffhanger. My assumption is that the latter is the case since it's a very them thing to do.

With all that being said, I hope what I've written makes sense. It's been in my drafts for a good 6 months while I tried to piece together my theories, and I haven't exactly proofread it. Obviously, any number of things could end up being different, but this is just my take. I'd love to hear people's thoughts and theories that they've come up with themselves too!

[rukafais]

This is maybe a complicated question but what sources (which for this purpose includes both novels and sourcebooks) would you recommend for learning about drow lore?

For Forgotten Realms drow lore specifically... I haven't read all of it by a long shot! Keep in mind that Menzoberranzan is one of many cities while you read these!! I haven't gathered all information about what different drow cities are Out There, but out of what I've read, I would recommend:

Sourcebooks:

Drow of the Underdark (SECOND EDITION DND, this is the TSR one. You want the one written by Ed Greenwood, NOT the third edition sourcebook of the same name). Some of it is editor mandated (such as prosthetics) but it's still a pretty good source. Should be available on archive.org or floating around on websites, I don't know if you can actually pick it up physically anymore.

Menzoberranzan Box Set (AD&D box set): Available on archive.org if you can't find it elsewhere. No account needed. Explicitly expands on Menzoberranzan-as-trade-hub, more details about the Houses, etc., all things that don't fit in novels.

Underdark (3rd edition supplement) - Play supplement for the Underdark. Expands more on non-Menzoberranzan locations and Underdark adventures and resources.

Out of the Abyss (5e adventure module) - covers a lot of the Underdark, including Menzoberranzan. You get a snapshot of Menzoberranzan in 5e as well as a bunch of other Underdark stuff.

Novels:*

War of the Spider Queen (Dissolution, Insurrection, Condemnation, Extinction, Annihilation, Resurrection): Six books, takes place during an event called the Silence of Lolth. Varied perspectives. Gives different views of various parts of drow society.

Liriel's trilogy (Daughter of the Drow, Tangled Webs, Windwalker): Three books by Elaine Cunningham. Very different protagonist from Drizzt, gives some context and greater fleshing out of the conditions priestesses go through in Menzoberranzan.

Side stories: Rite of Blood (prequel), The Direct Approach (takes place mid-trilogy), Answered Prayers (epilogue). You can find Rite of Blood in Best of the Realms vol 1. Direct Approach and Answered Prayers are in Best of the Realms vol 3, which can be found online in (cough cough) places, I don't think it's in print any longer. Drizzt's books: The character that quite literally started it all in Forgotten Realms, at least as far as drow publishing history goes. If you're buckling in for the marathon: Here is a slideshow of what to expect, with a text transcription.

Here is a reading order.

If you just want a crash course to get basic Menzo lore into your face:

Dark Elf trilogy (Homeland, Exile, Sojourn only if you're invested in Drizzt's story because that's his story of how he gets to the surface). Generations (Timeless, Boundless, Relentless). Generations revisits the Homeland timeline from the view of Jarlaxle and Zaknafein, both characters you'll be introduced to in the Dark Elf trilogy. *There is also Lady Penitent, that follows on from the end of WotSQ. I have read it, but it's not included in my overview because it explicitly addresses drow lore about their origins that as far as I can tell has been retconned as the editions advanced. However, if you are interested in reading it regardless, it is a trilogy with the books Sacrifice of the Widow, Storm of the Dead, and Ascendancy of the Last.

Peripherals:

(insert screaming about polyhedron and dragon magazine, i haven't even begun to go through all that yet, but if you want another example of a 'good drow' in the 2e era that isn't Drizzt, I recommend Polyhedron 97 which you can find here, which gives an example in Dusk, a drow tutor.)

ANYWAY UHH hope this helps a bit lmao. There's so much! And a lot of it is not consistent between editions either!

[void-king-of-swingttv]

A Note on Elden Ring’s Flower Placement, and implications therein.

So Miquella, right?

Generally, we can assume that, wherever there are Miquella’s or St. Trina’s Lilies, they’re, 95% of the time, in places that are associated with the character or their stories.

There’s Miquella’s Lilies in the Village of the Albinaurics, Church of The Plague, the Haligtree, and a handful of places on the Altus Plateau.

But there’s one place where you an find some that doesn’t fit very well.

The Three Sisters area, just past Caria Manor. Specifically, on the path leading to Renna’s Rise.

Why would one of Miquella’s items, something that means he is likely associated with the area be doing there?

Looking elsewhere, there’s another flower, as well as a number of other items and statements the like Miquella to Castle Sol, where it’s heavily implied there was a ritual there that failed to bring a soulless demigod back to life, which is clearly Godwyn the Golden, the demigod slain in The Night of Black Knives.

No specifically, Miquella’s Lilies are found near RENNA’S Rise, which is where Ranni travels through on her quest to slay her Two Fingers, and banish the Greater Will. This is, oddly, VERY similar to what Miquella was trying to do with his Haligtree.

The Haligtree was meant to compete with the Erdtree, to be a place for those who were cast out by the Golden Order. Not quite as hands on as Ranni’s plan, but the spirit is the same. 

A New Order, free from the old.

Cut dialogue from Miquella himself states that he wants “All things to flourish, whether peaceful or malign.” The oppression and destruction by the Golden Order is antithetical to what Miquella wants.

Miquella’s got ties to Ranni, and her quest to banish the Greater Will, Godwyn, and the attempts to revive him, and there is a bit of a snag that I think I figured out, and that’s if he knew about Ranni’s plan to have Godwyn killed.

I think he did. I think he HELPED.

And he wasn’t the only one that did, and I’m not talking about Rykard and the Blasphemous Claw.

Now, Elden Ring is where Fromsoft has been trying to tie the lore in with mechanics and all that jazz together the tightest, and one thing that always threw me off if the NoBK. Godwyn, who dman near single-handedly ended the war with the Ancient Dragons, fought Fortisax and beat him so soundly the dragon became friends with him, so closely he dove into his death-dreams to try and salvage his soul from death (there’s no hetero way to explain that, Godwyn was plowing that dragon ass), and he was jumped, in his own home, by like 6 people with knives and they had to kill him at EXACTLY the same time as Ranni killed herself with the stolen Rune of Death all the way over in Liurnia.

Godwyn was the mightiest of the demigods. He was also the firstborn to Marika and Godfrey. He saw what the Greater Will ordered through his mother. He saw his twin brothers thrown into the sewers because they didn’t fit the mold the GW wanted, he saw the battle against Liurnia because the Golden Order demanded expansion, he saw his mother banish his father because she didn’t need him anymore after they’d won the last war before The Shattering.

For a man like Godwyn, who all the lore states was a kind man, who loved all and was loved in kind, who ended a war with mercy rather than bloodshed, to see all of that must have done more than broken his heart.

It must have shattered it.

So, after so many words, here is the big theory I’ve been building to:

That Ranni was not the only one behind the Night of Black Knives. That Godwyn worked with er to allow his soul to be broken by the ritual that night so Ranni could be free of The Fingers grasp on her destiny. That Miquella was the one tasked with bringing his soul back through the Eclipse afterwards.

And there’s more, stating the Black Knives would only follow the orders of Queen Marika, who, in exchange for immortality and eternal godhood, gave up all her control, gave up her autonomy, her twin sons so innocent and young, her husband, who fought his wars in her name and grafted the King of Beasts to himself so his bloodlust could be tempered. She who gave up everything for power that was not hers. She who Shattered the Elden Ring out of grief and anger at all she lost and all she gave up.

And so, one night, many, many years ago, a god, and three of her children met, and planned, and schemed.

[kenneth-the-mudmander]

Willow and Fairytales: Graydon and the Lindworm

Another very long rambly theory about Graydon

I've been listening to the Following Willow episodes on the What the Force podcast

For episode 4, when they are talking about Graydon, they mention how he mirrors fairy tale lore where someone is in a beastial form and must have their skin shed by another.

Its symbolic of returning to their humanity and often has romantic connotations. (They give the example of Belle's kiss transforming the Beast.)

Elora sheds Graydon's "skin" of possession, and he is magically transformed back into his true self.

Except, and this now starts my theory, Graydon is not fully turned to his true potential. He still wears the shadow skins of guilt, doubt, and expectations. She did not shed all his skins.

Which reminded me, specifically, of the mythology of the Lindworm.

In the story, a queen is trying to have children and goes to a witch for help. The witch tells her to do some stuff and then eat an onion. She does, but she also eats the onion skin, and her son is born a Lindworm.

Lindworms are often depicted as serpents or wingless dragons. Also, a lot of times are cursed princes. (The usage of the word worm I think is significant for my theory.)

The Queen hides her son away, but when he comes of age, he becomes hostile and demands a bride so that he may become king and claim his birthright.

It should be noted that in many versions of the tale, the worm has a brother who is already set to be married.

Many maidens are brought to the lindworm, but he either turns away or devours all of them.

Until the final maiden, a humble shepherdess, in her cleverness, puts on multiple layers of clothes and asks to play a stripping game with the lindworm. Telling him he must shed a layer of skin for every layer of clothes she sheds.

They take turns shedding skins, usually 7, until they are both at their final layers. At which point, the maiden takes a whip and beats the now pink worm until the final layer is gone and the true form of the prince is revealed.

Now, what this could mean for Graydon.

I think he is still in his lindworm form. He still has these shadow layers hanging over him, and if my theory about him being the Harbinger is true, then Elora needs to shed him of his final skin, or he will fully become the lindworm. Fully become the dragon. The Wyrm.

I've been really scratching my head on where Graydon's arc is going to go. Mostly for writing my fanfic reasons. But also, out of all the characters in the party, his is the hardest for me to place on the Hero's Journey.

One of my biggest theories is that he is a Dark Chosen One. He is the Harbinger. But! He's obviously a good person. So where does that lead him?

Well! There is a sub trope in the dark chosen one category called the Apocalypse Maiden. A character, usually friend or lover to the hero, finds out they are a key to the apocalypse. And either dies or is saved by the power of love to join the forces of light.

It fits Graydon's arc so well! Also, it pairs with the show subverting tropes. Where the princesses are the Heroes and the princes are the damsels to be rescued.

Now! Pairing this with the lindworm myth

I think for Graydon to turn away from his destiny, turn away from the darkness; he will need Elora. She will have to battle him to remove his final skin and finally have him be his true self. A sorcerer. A king. A friend and a lover.

Secondary thought:

Lindworm skin is believed to increase a persons knowledge of nature and medicine.

After Elora takes the curse from Graydon, shedding him of his skin, she leaves with a greater understanding of magic and alchemy.

Anyways, these are just some thoughts. Might be completely looking more into than I should. But some of y'all seem to like my rambles, so I'll just keep rambling, I guess. ^___^ Also, I may try to look at everyone's Hero's Journeys and Fairytale parallels if there's interest.

But, of course, I wouldn't have these theories without the What the Force Podcast, so please check them out if you haven't already.

[arkus-rhapsode]

So I’ve been having some thoughts about Fire Emblem Engage’s DLC and Their Version of Elyos

So I’ve kind of been sitting on it for a bit, but does anyone else kind of find the alternate world of Elyos more interesting than the original one?

Like okay Fire Emblem has done this to me twice now, where I sorta am coming to terms with the game I played and while there are parts (particularly the plot and world building) that I felt were under baked or not given the attention they probably should’ve, but  ultimately I come to accept that there was likely time issues and that the stuff that I like is outweighing the stuff I didn’t. But then just drops a DLC adventure that introduces a bunch of concepts and lore that feels like it should’ve been the actual plot or could’ve been incorporated into the main plot in some way beyond just bonus content (Yes, the first time was FE3H and Cindered Shadows). 

Look let me just put in this disclaimer right now, I like FE Engage for the most part. I like the characters and general tone of the game. The existence of Fell Xenologue doesn’t negate the enjoyment I had with what I was given, but man did it make me kinda wish I had a full game of this Elyos. 

I’m not saying that because it’s more serious and angsty and that FE needs to be grim and depressing, therefore it’s good or something like that. I just found that something about the FX version of Elyos felt more like a unified world and concept, with a conflict that was more than just “Fell Dragon back so bad stuff happening.” The world of Elyos is mostly a nebulous one, its a very bare skeleton as to keep things simple while also giving us a bunch of cool set pieces and maps while emulating on a bunch of “greatest hits of FE” moments. That is until we get to Brodia and Elusia. Up to the point, I was perfectly fine with accepting that Elyos is just generally a more peaceful place thanks to its structures with a pretty benevolent dragon god and twelves god-like rings. As opposed to places like Tellius, Valentia, or Fodlan, where the inequalities and injustices of their world inform and effect both the plot and characters. But then you get to the conflict with Brodia and Elusia and find out how long its been going on. And how despite Morion seeming like a pretty cool dad, he’s a pretty authoritarian King thinking it okay to conquer other’s land just for their religious beliefs. While Elusia is this kingdom of magic that has cultists and a royal court that plays mechavelian style game of thrones, A “snake den” as Ivy calls it, but are clearly pushing back against invading forces that run on a system of power over everything. 

Like excuse me, this this come from a different game? 

Im not saying that this stuff is bad or anything, but this feels like a completely different game’s worth of material that’s ultimately sacked and shelved because we have to keep going on our ring hunt. And then we just sorta assume everything works out because the Fell Dragon is a dick and that Alear unifies all the lords under them? Problem solved I guess? This was just a very disconnected feeling from the rest of the game. Where Lythos, Fierene, and Solm are all varying levels of chill. I guess it could fit more if it was “Elusia is the one bad guy kingdom and they first attacked Brodia and they’re defending themselves.” But no. They go out of their way to be like, “these two kingdoms fight with each other over stuff that goes beyond Emblems.” 

Then we get to the Elyos of the Fell Xenologue and yes, the general atmosphere is very dour and somber. But this clearly hostile world where all four lands are suspicious and willing to let the others die for their safety, feels a lot more connected. Plus, in this world, we have the context for the fact they were all unified once so now their breakdown after the death of the divine dragon and the balance of power of each land having a single Emblem, but all of them wanting the other for a different reason (like Brodia wanting it for security or Elusia wanting it for the divine dragon) feels a lot more cohesive and uniform. There’s even some stuff that can be fascinating like the Fell Dragons being born as twins. Imagine if Alear found out they were the Fell Dragon child by meeting their twin? I initially thought the twist of FX was going to be the one summoning the corrupted was Red Alear and in this world while Divine Alear died, as the child of Sombron and a fell dragon, they had a twin.

Its not just the world, but also to say some of its characters. The Four Winds felt a lot more organically included into the story with their introductions, unlike how Engage basically kept handing you three characters at a time and only really characterizing the lord that was part of them. People like the Yunaka chapter, because its just a focus on Yunaka. The map and small chapter about her serve as both a good impression of her and makes the player want to utilize her skills through gameplay. There are a bunch of characters who ended up becoming my favs like Lapis and Merrin, but their intros are really just standing there as their lord character gets the focus of that chapter, The Four Winds feel much closer to Yunaka with you only really getting one per country. So you don’t just get all four of them at once, and then when you have all four you have a pretty good idea of their dynamic and who they are. 

That’s not to say FX is without its problems. Like yeah I don’t think the Emblems being previous characters from other games doesn’t really factor into the plot. And while I like the Alternate Universe Royals, their personalities and pasts are just glimpses, not really fully fleshed out. But I’d still argue it did some stuff with that was more unique than in Engage like the corrupted Emblems actually able to talk and have some level of awareness even when they’re red. And something like Emblem Veronica actually being weaved in really well with the pacifist Diamant just using the power to summon heroes from other world so he doesn’t need to fight to be cool implementations of the Emblem. There was also just less Emblems which kinda made them seem more special and not just “they can get stolen from a vault.” And yes the Alternate Royals are only briefly seen, but I still think there is ideas and depth there that can be built upon.

And look, I get that Fell Xenologue is ultimately just a DLC episode. Its seven chapters with concepts that are not completely explored and exists to be a complete story that can be done and dusted with no real consequence for the actually main game plot. But again, I just felt very compelled by the plot that we got and wanna kinda see a whole game with a similar setting or premise. 

If you made it this far, I want to reiterate, I like Elyos of the main game just fine. I just felt as though the Fell Xenologue introduced me to a type of Elyos that could’ve been more interesting than the one we got. I wouldn’t have minded seeing some of these ideas being incorporated into the Engage world or even potentially in future installments of the franchise. It’s just something I’ve been thinking about for a while.

[tinnictheguardian]

Fell Xenologue & Engage World Building *spoilers, lot of spoilers*

Okay, so I just finished the Felll Xenologue, and I have thoughts on the world-building of Elyos.

Firstly, the good, I did enjoy the map design of the mission in the Fell Xenologue. The tactical gameplay is the best part of Engage, and the Fell Xenologue stays true to that. Also, the introduction of the Four Winds somewhat makes up for how terrible the Four Hounds were because the "hound" versions of them ended up being temporary.

We also got answers to the world-building of Elyos from the Xenologue. Because since I first booted up Engage, I have been wondering about the exact nature of the world we got dropped into because it feels so hollow. The Xenologue increased the feeling of hollowness, but at least I got some answers!

It seems that the background lore is that the Divine Dragons prayed for powerful weapons/allies to aid them in keeping Elyos safe, and the prayers conjured the rings and bracelets. I wondered about this because I thought they were constructed and "programmed" with the essence of the heroes. But it seems that the rings, bracelets, and time crystals are all conjured items and not constructs.

It also seems that Elyos is a world that cannot exist without a divine dragon. Because the most shocking part of the Fell Xenologue was that everybody had died and come back as corrupted. I am not sure how it happened, given that the Four Winds and even Rafal seem not to be aware of it. But given how the Divine Dragon's spirit was lingering, I am going to guess that Sombron died in Elyos, and his power spread through Elyos like a nuclear fallout that slowly killed everybody and returned them as corrupted. But because there was no Sombron, they retained their free will to an extent.

IF the Divine Dragon lived, maybe they could have used their Divine Dragon energy to nullify the Fell Dragon's energy, but that was not to be. But the fact that the three surviving winds didn't even think about sailing off to a distant land to look for a fresh start tells me that, unlike some other FE games, what you see is the extent of the world.

We know Pale Sands is a place, but the Winds don't even suggest going to Pale Sands and searching for life. Plus, even Nel repeatedly says that they are in an "empty world", and she apparently found the last four surviving humans to make into her knights, and the "army" she refuses to let (corrupted) Alfred join was literally the people we were seeing. While in most FE games, including Engage, it is implied that there is an army of everyday non-special units just off the screen and in the case of Three Houses, you could actually zoom in to see the other soldiers making up your army. But that goes to the hollow nature of Engage, where there isn't a lot of difference between playing the living version of the world and the dead version of the world.

I also can't tell how different the Sombron of the mirror world was from the Sombron of the main verse. Because the main verse Sombron was chasing the so-called "Emblem of Foundation" and the fact he could "hack" into the Rings of Elyos with command words because he was from a world that also had similar conjured items, and so he just could. But does that mean all Sombrons were from somewhere else? Or was this Sombron born into a fell dragon tribe and had different goals because if all versions of Sombron are from not Elyos and they all have the goal of finding the Emblem of Foundation, then corrupting Rafal ends up being an act of narcissistic cruelty, which I guess fits but isn't going to lead to discourse if you know what I mean.

Now, obviously, I know the Fell Xenologue is the way it is because the devs needed to give us an excuse to get 5 new units and also explain why the 7 bracelets ended up in our Elyos. We know the devs carefully thought about this because we find Emblem of Rivals just lying around in Somniel, and we find out that it was sealed away in Somniel. Also, someone was tracking character conversations with the Emblem Lords and confirmed that each lord gets 13 characters with whom they talk.

I read a comment on this subreddit that apparently the devs of FE: Engage said they wanted it to feel more like an adventure and less like war. I do certainly get that where the story is driven by your need to collect MacGuffins, and there is nothing wrong with that. It's just when the world isn't interesting, the Tempest Trial maps are static, I kind of feel that Engage is not going to be as beloved as other Fire Emblem titles. But it does feel like a transition title.

Maybe the future of Fire Emblem will be more adventures for MacGuffins and less about war to save your people. I don't have a problem with this, but I do hope that in the future, the world we are playing in feels more alive than Elyos.

That's all I wanted to say except one last thing: even evil, Alfred is a cinnamon roll!

[lairofdragonagelore]

Arbor Wilds: Temple of Mythal - Part 3

Main Quest: What Pride Had Wrought

The Temple of Mythal was a place of justice, where petitioners walked religious rites of passage in order to have their pleas for justice heard by Mythal. According to some, it is also the site of some mysterious religious artefact called the vir'abelasan.

This post contains the following sections

Entrance to the Temple

The Rituals

Ancient Crypts: Red Templar's way

[This is part of the series “Playing DA like an archaeologist”]  

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore]

Entrance to the Temple 

The entrance to the temple is enormous. Its door is waiting for activation via the rituals/puzzles. At its sides there are two gigantic, decayed mosaics of Mythal. In the small corridor of the door, there are four Dragon Myhtal statues. In the corridor, we find this curious vallaslin ink object that we had only seen it before in the The Lost Temple of Dirthamen.

The Rituals [Puzzles]

In this post, Diirthata-ma shows the name of the game files [I’m unable to have access to these by myself] which represent the puzzles. I thought it could potentially give us some hints about the statues used in them. So, the name of these ritual I use here were given by the game files.

Elgar'nan Ritual

The first puzzle, the easiest and shortest one, is named Elgar'nan ritual. It's decorated with archer statues [that by now I suspect we can consider them as Shadow Sentinels], and on a rail of one of the stairs that lead to the puzzle, we find a small Red inuksuk. So far, I still keep the interpretation that these objects are related to sacrifice and blood.

The entryway to this puzzle is decorated with a Sylaise's golden mosaic. I feel this is very fitting, since Elgar'nan is fury of great power [read the codices in the Temple of Mythal and in Vir Dirthara related to him]  while Sylaise is as brutal as him considering the only non-Dalish codex we have: Song to Sylaise. Both figures are entities of fury, fire, and wrath in some degree. Sylaise seems to be a bit envious or competitive even. 

Fen'Harel's ritual

The second puzzle, with a lever, is Fen'Harel's ritual. It’s a puzzle with two potential interpretations: One, ironically, is that this puzzle needs you to be trapped in order to solve it [as a meaning to represent how he sealed the others gods, including himself (Cole says the wold chew his own leg to escape), to save the world], probably a poetic twist implemented by the Devs than something that the original Elvehan would have considered in the creation of this ritual. Another interpretation [more in-game and more “Evanuris”] is that this is the trickiest puzzle because the lever, and thus it represents Fen’Harel in the sense that you need cunning to solve it. [Unlike what wiki says, you don’t need to fail first to solve it. It has several different ways to be solved without failing it, it’s just a matter of tricks.]

To no one's surprise, it has several statues of Fen'Harel, in sitting and howling position.

Dirthamen's ritual

This is the longest one, which needs you to jump across different levels of the puzzle. It starts in the part of the chamber decorated with Elven Owl statues, and finishes in the one decorated with Elven hart statues. Due to the fact this is a puzzle that represents Dirthamen, gods of knowledge and secrets, it seems to present a duality [owl and hart] as usually Dirthamen/Falon’Din seem to exist in the iconography. 

That the owl is present here, seems to have some reason: we have read in the game a codex saying that the owl could be considered the messenger animal of Dirthamen [as well of Andruil], but the hart seems to be a curious association. We know that the unreliable Dalish Tales relate hart figures with Ghilan’nain [for example, Ameridan did it in the DLC], and in the The Lost Temple of Dirthamen (Part 2), we find a red mosaic of Ghilan’nain [this association a bit more trustworthy].  In the codex Ancient Elven Writing [detailed and analysed in Ancient Elven codices, Temple of Mythal], there is a subtle relationship between Ghilan’nain and a servant of Dirthamen. 

Therefore, Dirthamen and Ghilan’nain may have had some particular kind of relationship which is not clear to define with the information we have in game. It could have been an alliance or a rivalry of some kind. Honestly, considering Dirthamen’s dual existence with Falon’Din, I would have expected this puzzle to have more visuals of Falon’Din, as all things related to Dirthamen have and vice-versa.

The entryway to Dirthamen’s puzzle is decorated with June's golden mosaic, which triggers the codex The Mystery of June, detailed and analysed in Ancient Elven codices, Temple of Mythal.

The only reason I can find to explain why two of these puzzles have entryways with mosaics of June and Sylaise, is because both of them have a portfolio of crafting in common. In the codices Vir Dirthara: Raising the Sonallium and in Song to Sylaise [detailed in Ancient Elven codices; Vir Dirthara and in  Ancient Elven codices, Temple of Mythal] we can see that Sylaise is also dedicated to some aspect of the arts of crafting or related to architecture. Both of them may have been responsible of the construction of many of these buildings, in my opinion. 

Once the puzzles are finished, the main door to the temple glows in blue and we are granted the access to the Petitioning Chamber.

Ancient Crypts: Red Templar's way

If we follow the hole on the ground left by the Red Templars, we have access to something that the game names “Ancient Crypts”. When we ask Morrigan’s opinion on this place, she says that it looks more like a fortress than a Temple.

The crypts present the most creepy murals from the post Nation Art: Elvhen

This place has decorations and structures similar to Dirthamen’s Temple or in general, similar to any elvhen crypt [like Dinan’Hanin]. As all elvhenan crypts, they are made with rough stones, and less decorated door frames and arcs.

The walls have these typical paintings. The only one I didn’t find is the Armoured figure from Nation Art: Elvhen.  We even find these reptilian drawings in the Temple of Mythal. This repetition in so many elvhen places makes me consider this as part of a lore we don’t understand yet, and not just a Bioware joke about krogans. 

From dozen and dozen of screenshots we see most of the object we have seen in crypt-like scenarios like the Lost Temple of Dirthamen: different inuksuit, urns, Elvhen funerary lid, generic dead bodies, and some Red inuksuk [I kept this cute one, so small].

It’s in the crypts where we find Untranslatable Elven Writing which is Abelas’ confession about how he and his people at the temple endure their duty.  Details in the post Ancient Elven codices, Temple of Mythal.

Ahead, we find another: Unreadable Elven Writing, which narrates about a unique and brutal weapon developed by Andruil, a golden spear. It’s not clear if this is like a codex that represents the main rival of Mythal. We can imagine that Andruil may have had a lot of resentment towards Mythal since they both fought and Mythal erased her memory of how to access to the Void [codex Elven God Andruil, detailed in Ancient Elven codices, Temple of Mythal].

One of the many chambers of this crypt has a pair of Fen’Harel statues with the painting of the elves in battle. This makes me strengthen the idea that this mural painting represents a Rebellion more than a battle. 

Next chamber, we find a broken Dragon Myhtal statue, with the painting of the dragon on the wall [which in several other situations seems to be a dragon that guides the painting of the elves ridding into battle] and in another section of the wall, we find the slaved elves, without face and heart.  There are more snuksuit and more paintings of elves with vallaslin.

In one of the darkest chambers, we find an isolated statue of a hart. 

Arbor Wilds: Temple of Myhtal - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

[mistfallengw2]

My thoughts about Forward and the new expansion announcement (not sure who wants to read my long rambles but I need to ramble anyway)

So, about "Forward"... it's bittersweet to say the least. Absolutely understandable that they want to get the overpowered god-like dragon out of the way for the next story, and if there's anyone who deserves a good fucking nap more than the Commander it's Aurene, but still, oof my feels. I really hope we'll see our dragon daughter again, this can't be the last time T_T At least it's nice that it's finally the year 1336 AE (the whole Gyala Delve stuff was in 1335 AE still), so we can hope that the Commander got to recover a bit from what they were going through before this drops on them.

As for the expansion, I'm actually a bit all over the place (in positive?). Like, I'm still hyped, but... I'll be honest, I liked the dragon cycle stuff, and the apparent direction of the story isn't exactly at the peak of my interests. It'll have to do a lot of work to get me (and my characters) invested as much as before, and I do hope it will succeed because it's looking simply gorgeous and fun. That said, having Zojja there is already a big bonus, and there are some potential storylines that could get my attention depending on where they go. Also I still want to bet that the big baddy is going to be a really fucked up Menzies (he's got his half-bro's laugh, aww), and the Kryptis are looking absolutely terrible in all the good ways. I do hope this expansion won't permanently alter old maps though, but since Garenhoff ain't looking that good after the boom... (at least keep it all in Kessex, since there's the ToM stuff already)

Game-wise, there's quite a lot of meat to this "mini" expansion! I'm not sure how to feel about the whole weapon thing, as it was interesting to have limited options (like how the engineer and warrior lacked "proper" magic so they made do with what they had) and eventually having ALL weapons available feels too much tbh (and a nightmare to balance), but I guess we'll see how it feels during this weekend's beta and I'm always ready to be positively surprised. As for the rest, it all seems interesting and potentially awesome, though I do worry it might end up being too much at once (I love Warframe, but their releases tend to be A LOT for more, and this feels a lil' too close to that in scope).

Honestly, right now I'm probably just a tad overwhelmed by the sudden info-bomb drop. With more teasers, previews and betas I'll likely find it a bit more familiar and comfortable by the time of the release.

-

Personal characters-wise, I hate having so much stuff up in the air.

The words Aurene used would absolutely be what Aurelia needed to hear, especially after adjusting to things post-Gyala. Rough, but doable at this point in time, since she's got her family and a lot of friends. No idea about my Herald of Aurene, Ethanryel, who is pretty much in the same position as Caithe, but Aurene's words would have been for them too so they may be more or less active depending on where the story goes.

For the expansion, Aurelia has tons of potential, especially if anything relates to what actually happened to her in the Mists (the story is technically written already, but I'm ready to change to more lore-compliant stuff and fill in the intentional mysteries if the shoe fits). As for others, again it depends on where the story goes in general. Most of my characters have taken advantage of the lulls in world-ending threats to live their own lives, so they might be out of the picture, but some might have big reasons to return to the active storyline if their "thing" is relevant (and I'm so hoping to give more canon attention to some).

[fr-thecollectors]

hhhh I keep making Whispering Forest lore more and more complicated aklsd;jlsk

I've gotten to the point that I've started developing different classifications for the forest's creatures??? I'm gonna need to find another new bio code for my dragons at this point just to fit everything oops (not really I love the one I use too much I'll just add another section ajskdl;jasd)

Energy Manifestations: General entities, often referred to as "spirits." the forest creates them to fulfill certain tasks (ex. [Torgin] is intended to draw others into the forest so they can be lost, [Castor] keeps the Mother away from Torgin so she can't shoo them away from potential victims)

True Spirits: Dragons (or other creatures) that have died within the forest, and now their spirits wander. true spirits come in different "strengths," and the older ones can often pass as dragons and interact with things with little difficulty. many of them have no memories of their lives. there's actually a true spirit who lives among the Collectors, albeit at the outer edge of their territory since Embra's warding magic makes it hard for [Tailais] to be too far in

Angels: not angel in the biblical sense, but rather guardians of various things. angels are tasked with a singular thing (or group of related things) to guard with their lives. they're often referred to as guardians instead. [Blitz] is an angel, tasked with protecting children. [Arahael] protects dragons from the forest itself and its manifestations. those who lose their keeps are instead fallen angels

Deities: Various gods. Some of them include [Mother Nature], the [world-creator], and the [heart of the forest]

Claimed: Sentient beings who have had their identities claimed by the forest. [Ellipsis] is a claimed. she has no memories of her past life, her name, her original purpose; now she serves as a wanderer. other claimed may trick others into going dangerous places, vandalize certain types of structures, etc. depending on what the forest required at the time of claiming them

Wanderers: Often claimed, though not all wanderers are. they're like reapers, finding and stealing souls and identities for the forest. the dream-siblings [Ricben] and [Kutta] are wanderers, who walk through others' dreams to steal them away; those who have their dreams stolen can never dream again, and many lose a part of themselves in the process. Ellipsis takes the souls of non-sentients and fuses them with those of a dragon. Oftentimes, the dragons become lost within themselves and begin to unknowingly serve the forest.

Half-Claimed: Those who have lost part of themselves to the forest, but weren't completely lost; be it from outside intervention, escaping, or making a deal with only part of their soul as payment, for some examples. [Darklight], leader of the Collectors, is a half-claimed; a result of his payment to an energy manifestation for his safe travel to the center of the forest. A number of other Collectors are also half-claimed for various reasons

Spirit-Touched: Those with unusual qualities that can't be explained away by genetics or mutations. It's believed their birth/hatching coincided with a spike in the forest's energies in the area, resulting in children with such qualities. [Senca] is a spirit-touched, having lionsnake qualities for no explainable reason. Special eyes are often also a sign of a spirit-touched, though the eyes can often be the only anomaly in such cases

Amalgamates: Dragons or other sentients who have had their souls fused with that of another creature or sentient. [Tages] had his soul fused with an owl's; [Lyndel] with a wolf's; and [Gharil] with a raven's. The trio also had their own souls partially fused so they're unable to get too far from one another; the fusion was interrupted by Arahael, making it incomplete and allowing them to keep their own identities

Wardens: Living statues, brought to life by various means - sometimes spirit possession, magic, or other means. They often guard entrances to places the forest doesn't want dragons to enter--though some wardens are benevolent toward dragons, suggesting that not all (or perhaps even any of them) are a result of the forest's energy and are separate from it. [Garland] stands in the middle of a bright clearing--the largest clearing in the forest. The clearing is in a state of eternal dawn, and endangered dragons can huddle at the feet of her statue; she'll shift to encompass them in her wings until the danger passes, then return to her original pose.

Watchers: Various types of flora that's more alive than it should be. They serve as the forest's eyes and ears. [Neorveinad] is a cluster of mushrooms that constantly change locations; they listen for others' secrets and then begin to whisper them to any who may hear them. [Snake] is a type of bush that grows in the forest; the Collectors named these bushes for the phrase "snake in the grass." Among the bushes' beautiful flowers, eyes also lay hidden among their thorns. They serve as the forest's eyes, and if a Snake is seen by an unclaimed dragon, it won't be long before the forest sends a manifestation after them

....I'm sure I'll add more as I keep working on bios, finishing projects, and expanding my lair....

[zaritarazi]

listen sometimes i watch skyrim lore videos because i find epicnate315′s voice and enthusiasm soothing and today in one of his older videos he mentioned something i had completely forgotten about in-game which is the group of bandits that specifically run a wolf-fighting ring and not to bring back this helnik au written for helnik week 2021 that takes place in the elder scrolls universe (skyrim specifically) but i just need to highlight a few things:

1. this au is actually delicious i might go back to it i love the idea of nina and matthias having to fight all those draugr in sarthaal especially since in tes canon most regular people have no idea that the dead very much do reanimate and try to kill you like, constantly. the idea of nina leading matthias into this at the very least to scare him and then they both get way in over their heads and have to claw their way out.... it pleases me

1.5. actually nina watching matthias use a word wall and having that same rush of jealousy but also kind of being a little awed by it and them having a Moment... also very good 

2. trying to figure out how to fit the rest of the crows & grishaverse into tes lore is a fun thing bc i’ve decided only matthias is from skyrim and everyone else has ended up (mostly in riften) out of bad luck- i like the idea of them mostly on matthias’ home turf, bc that’s kind of what they had to do with the ice court but this is on a much bigger and weirder scale

3. just thought of this the crows having to explore dwarven ruins together is thrilling to me

4. the crux of this universe is, of course, that matthias is the dovahkin and how that’s making him reevaluate war and the cost of it and the ideals of “skyrim for the nords” and all of that, but also i do so so very much love the idea of matthias like “uh dragons can wait we gotta go free the wolves” bc wolves don’t actually hold a ton of special significance in skyrim he’s literally just a Wolf Guy and making it everyone’s problem

5. okay also just thought of this but the fact that at some point each crow will end up with a daedric artifact and sort of lowkey have that dremora as a patron now and NONE of them are happy about it.... love that for them

[indigo-flightly-falls]

YES

(I'm assuming this is about the minecraft OCs)

Okay so I have a bunch so I'm splitting everything into three categories:

No story impact (mostly mob based)

Little story impact (minesonas that are basically ocs now)

BIG story impact (ocs that are inserted into canon)

Anyways, here we go!

No story impact:

These guys are mostly made up of some older ocs from summer 2022, all of which are based off certain mobs!

Some of my favorites are the following:

Endi, based off an enderman. This dude (gender neutral) is super fun, really sweet, and would kill a man for fun. They've never had a set gender, but they/he/she pronouns work pretty much all the time. Some fun deleted lore for them: he was suppose to be a recartnated Ranbulter. That storyline was scrapped but still, it was an important part of her backstory :D

Purple, who I really really need to rename lol. A bunch of these guys were based off dsmp characters and then got revamped. He/it for pronouns! He's actually dating Endi, and they've got a 'tired bodyguard X sunny charge' dynamic going on. Also he was a pirate for a while.

Candee, a rabbit/watcher hybrid! They're just chill. Like I don't have a lot put down for them story wise, but I love them sm.

Honestly most of these characters are just there. They've got some stuff going on but I don't really use them much more.

Little story impart: (note, these guys mostly started out a minesonas and now just vibe)

Indigo (she/they). My very first minecraft character. I was going to make a minecraft rp with my old irl friend. We planned out the lore as well. Here's a quick summary:

Indigo and Firefly founded a city in a ravine

They start building around and at some point end up in the Nether

They fucking get corrupted by the Warped & Crimson vines.

Cue a cult similar to the egg from dsmp.

They eventually get kicked out and fall victim to the corruption.

Indigo fucking dies from fall damage (cue username), Firefly goes nuts.

After that things got really muddled but I think Indigo got revived at some point.

There was a lot going on lol.

I think I wrote for her to have a crush on Firefly, which is weird because that would be basically me having a crush on my irl friend. I try to forget that.

Mostly she's been forgotten about, but I do hold a specially place in my heart for the memories.

Nothing (they/it). My newest minesona! They're what's called a polymorph, a being made of the void itself. They basically have no set form and like to shapeshift into whatever it wants!

So yeah, that's it for little story impact.

Now time for BIG story impact. (aka ocs inserted into canon)

Starting out I need to mention Starling. This dude cannot beat the Watcher allegations. Except he's actually not a Watcher lol. He's a violet backed starling hybrid with Starborn ancestors! Also he's like 10. Also he's adopted by Hels & Ex for some fun backstory lore.

Shelly (she/her), this one's actually a Watcher lol. She's like 9 and I love her dearly. She's just a kid who lives in Helscraft. I love her.

I actually think 90% of Helscraft fits in this area but I'm not listing them.

Elli! My newest character! They're a dragon hybrid! Specifically a slithersong hybrid. I created them less then 24 hours ago so not much to note.

Yeah I don't have much to say now. I'm gonna go find toh fics because I just watched the finale

[copperriddles-tales]

so I’ve been dragged kicking and screaming back into the vortex that is World of Warcraft just in time for Dragonflight. this side tumblr is a place for some stories and some memes.

If you’d like to read a bit about my characters, press on! If not, well, I think we’re all proficient at skipping dialogue.

⚙ Ivy :: plague gnome. tinker. hopeful codebreaker. ⚙ Nehelennia :: blood elf. paladin. anu belore dela'na. ⚙ Nosawi :: darkspear troll. druid. medic. ⚙ Alphonsine :: forsaken. priest. ““medic”” ⚙ Regs :: goblin. warrior. little league footbomb coach. ⚙ Roshala :: highmountain tauren. rogue. almost made it to Dragonflight undetected.  ⚙ Sevigny :: nightborne. monk. witchberry enthusiast. ⚙ Zioshelle :: blood elf. mage. selama ashal'anore. ⚙ Nanyang :: huojin pandaren. warrior. damn good cook. ⚙ Orizhki :: orc. mage. lok'tar ogar. ⚙ Lekwa :: darkspear troll. rogue. Griftah’s sworn enemy. ⚙ Ekinka :: mag’har orc. shaman. secret steamy romance novelist. ⚙ Taztha :: orc. shaman. pretty much 85% of Ekinka’s impulse control. ⚙ Vanaissa :: forsaken. warrior. forgefinder extraordinaire. ⚙ Rieusrobie :: nightborne. warlock. the Black Harvest’s next top model. ⚙ Izjo :: darkspear troll. monk. direhorn wrangler. ⚙ Zazie :: goblin. hunter. robosquirrel wrangler. ⚙ Schoenneau :: nightborne. priest. Xal’atath apologist. ⚙ Ashni :: vulpera. shaman. wolf-sister. ⚙ Hunzeli :: zandalari troll. paladin. Krag’Wa’s #1 fan. ⚙ Nikkia :: vulpera. rogue. treasure-hunter and/or thief (depending on who you ask). ⚙ Fyottha :: tauren. druid. Cenarion Circle’s literal greenhorn.

Ivy Copperriddle is a plague gnome tinker. She was found half-dead and heavily irradiated by a team of Horde investigators in the ruins of Gnomeregan, who were there for totally legit reasons that the Ironforge leadership never needs to know about. Ivy was injured and at an advanced stage of radiation poisoning, but she was stabilized by the team medic’s experimental serum. That’s a win for science! And, well, it left her amnesiac and with intensely green eyes, but that’s still a win! What’s that? You want to know wha-- Oh, no, you don’t want to know what was in that serum. Trust me, you don’t. Just be happy for Ivy. The team brought her back with them to Orgrimmar and she’s been putting her life back together ever since.

Gnomes like Ivy are usually referred to as “leper gnomes” in WoW lore, but that feels awkward to say in 2022. I’ve opted for “plague gnome” instead, reasoning that the experimental serum used to stabilize her condition could have been made from Forsaken research into various plagues and blights. I’ve also opted for tinker over tinkerer and tinkologist, but I have a simpler reason for this one: “tinker” is just easier to say.

… okay, so maybe things haven’t been that simple for Ivy. She’s been trying to recover her past identity. She’s been trying to help plan a wedding. She’s been trying to get her inventions to work out right (that is, with a minimum of explosions). She’s been trying to figure out where she fits in this new world: forgotten by the Alliance, adopted but not entirely trusted by the Horde, infamous among her neighbors for her laboratory’s nightly explosions. She’s been working up the nerve to tell her crush how she feels about her. And she’s been trying her best to decode a mysterious journal she had on her when she was found, though each success raises new, unsettling questions.

And now the Dragon Isles are awakening! How does a landmass awaken? Well ... uh ... I guess we’ll find out!

[paragonrobits]

some vague OC teams and minor characters I would be interested in developing, so I'm open to people sending in suggestions or vague concepts they think fit my criteria

bear in mind that the default assumption in my OCverse is that each team is functionally its own faction, and given the resources and enough followers, they are assumed to automatically start building their own kingdoms or empires as befits their particular ethics. (This does not necessarily involve invasion or conquest, as its quite possible to literally generate whole worlds out of raw magic, if you're powerful enough.) Therefore, the teams

Super Cool Rival Team: a team of friendly rivals to my main OC faction, and are functionally opposites to them in every way. As my main OC team favors aesthetics ranging from mad science with big clunky parts, spiky punk aesthetics, whatever 40k orks have going on, these guys are much more fashionable, streamlined and elegant. They're role models, while my main OC faction are a bunch of outcasts and weirdos that feel uncomfortably inferior around this bunch. As such, this group needs to have characters and concepts that contrast them; high fantasy archetypes and epic characters meant to be awe inspiring or just plain cool would work here; if my main OC squad are generally monsters, this group has epic heroes. They are professionals, by the book, and elegant.

Example creatures related to this group could include animals or creatures associated with regality, power, elegance and cool factor. Dragons, lions, griffins, particular breeds of dog, dolphins and elephants could be potential examples, whether as inspiration for chimeric creatures, or the team's members including humanoid variants of these creatures. They might also draw from elves, streamlined robots and so on!

(They likely shouldn't have domestic cats, tigers or tyrannosaurs or raptors invoked in their imagery, as these are all traits my OC squad has in general.)

Cutie Team: Another team of rivals competing for similar resources or adventure plot hooks (important artifacts, valuable magical lore, taking part in battle tournaments, ect), but rather than being cool and stylish foils, this team is specifically a harmless and cutesy group of friendly, positive heroes inspired by the tone of 80s cartoons like the original Thundercats and Transformers, with the recent She-Ra reboot and Steven Universe as other examples, as is the original Pokemon and Digimon anime; they're showy, colorful and full of friendship! This makes them a contrast to my main OC squad, who are rough around the edges and a bunch of destructive freakazoids.

Additionally, something about this team sets off false alarms for the OC Squad, whom largely come from dystopic or bleak origins that make them resentful of people whom they think had it all handed to them, or think this team seems like malicious villains putting on a positive front. They're not USED to people who genuinely are super positive and genuine about it, at least without ulterior motives. As their dynamic develops, they may become more protective of this squad, depending on the actual nature of their changing relationship. (The Cutie Team might actually be fans who look up to them, or were inspired to become adventurers because of them, which causes the team to reevaluate their impact on others, eventually leading to their decision to find a place where people like them can call home by literally BUILDING it.)

The OC squad has a large number of characters with parental themes; accordingly, the Cutie Team might be younger adventurers, potentially orphans who found magical power by befriending magical monsters or spirit creatures, and wind up getting adopted by the OC squad in some capacity. An alternative view might be that they're of similar age to the OC Squad, and their role is instead romantic in some form. (A mix of the two might also work; some members being younger and others being equivalent age or so?)

A major theme for this group could be 'cute and deceptively dangerous, in their element', or just cute and small things in general; they can incorporate aspects from things like snakes, ferrets, otters, mustelids in general, songbirds, cats and beetles. They might tend to be unusually short or small-sized in general, as a contrast to the OC squad generally being VERY large (ranging from 7ft to over twice human size).