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anjaelle · 1 year ago

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Hello darling 💙

Would you consider writing for Count Vronsky from Anna Karenina?

Pairing: Count Alexei Vronsky x Foreign Socialite!Reader Warnings: Borderline Toxic Infatuation, Vintage Slow Burn, (almost) Infidelity Summary: A foreign born socialite/heiress visits a friend in Russia and meets a straight up demon. For @bettytaylorversion (AU where Anna doesn't go back to Vronsky and chooses to stay with Karenin.) Word Count: 2.3K a/n: I remember that Tolstoy made this character so straightforward that you can kind of play around with him as much as you like without changing much about who he is at his core. I can't be left to my own devices. That being said, I don't want purists yelling at me. So I hope everyone takes some of my choices here with a grain of salt.

--x--

Everything about Russia felt intimidating to you: the language, the size of the country, the power of its military, and the show of their aristocratic wealth. You were wealthy. But this was a different kind of wealth. You came to visit your close friend who was another socialite that you met through overlapping inner circles. It'd taken you a while to accept the invitation as you weren't sure how kindly they'd take to a foreigner.

You understood some of the language based on what your friend taught you, but you still weren't confident enough to converse in just Russian. Instead you opted for French, which seemed to work well enough. You knew your native language was a lost cause. While some people in the parlor were polite, others had no interest in speaking with you. A small number seemed interested in you and your home country. Or maybe they just noticed your Very New and Very Parisian wardrobe with your collection of gifted jewels. They decided you were important enough to talk to.

When she introduced you to Count Alexei Vronsky, an officer in the army, you felt her grip on your elbow tighten just the slightest bit. You knew about him. She told you all about his affair with the married woman from Saint Petersburg. You weren't sure how you pictured the man. She said he was handsome, but you lived in a world full of beautiful people. How much different could he be?

That was a terrible miscalculation. The minute he met you, he watched you with the intense interest of a fox stalking its prey. You felt your cheeks warm and your heart thud when he pressed his lips to your gloved knuckle. You averted your eyes when he rose from his bow, not really wanting to convey anything uncouth about the interaction.

The first time he found you alone, you were in your friend's library looking at a map pinned to the wall. He told you about every country he'd lived in, every country he'd traveled through, and which ones he'd be eager to see soon. When you pointed out your country on the map, he licked his lips and an easy smile graced his beautiful face.

"I suppose I have no choice but to come see you now." He said in his thick accent.

You realized, then, that he reminded you of angels you'd see painted on the walls of grand, gilded churches. You told him that you and your fiance would be happy to invite him to your engagement party.

"Hmm." he said, eyeing the map. "Fiancés..." he finished the statement in Russian, so you couldn't understand him.

Before you excused yourself to go find your friend, his fingertips gently grazed the back of your hand, stopping you in your tracks. "Your fiancé is incredibly lucky to have such a beautiful, clever woman."

The second time he found you alone, you'd been exploring the estate and decided to rest in the garden among the wildflowers. As you raised your face to the summer sun, he made his presence known by clearing his throat, causing you to jump to your feet in surprise.

"Good afternoon, startled rabbit." He chuckled, and you rolled your eyes at him.

"How long have you been standing there?" You warily asked, anxiously adjusting your skirts and brushing the grass from your hair. He cocked his head, studying you, "Long enough to notice that your beauty in parlor candlelight cannot compare to how alluring you are in the light of day."

It was interesting to see him dressed so casually compared to the night before. You wondered what he was still doing at your friend's estate when you knew he had a home of his own. You quickly glanced at her window to see the curtains still closed.

When you boldly asked him if he'd been watching you, something akin to amusement danced across his face, "You like the idea of that? Me watching you?"

"I have a fiancé."

He took a step closer, "That doesn't answer my question."

“You didn’t answer mine.” You countered, looking him square in the eye.

That wasn’t particularly ladylike, and you weren’t sure how anyone would react if they happened upon you and Vronsky standing so close in the garden without a chaperone.

As if reading your mind, he glanced down at your lips, then his eyes fell lower to your bodice. Your engraved gold locket rested on the top of one breast, with your fiancé’s initials glittering under the sun.

“I wasn’t watching you. I was…preoccupied.” His eyes met yours again and you felt like you’d been splashed with icy water. “Your husband—my apologies—your fiancé…he is a man of means? That necklace of yours is exquisite.”

You weren’t stupid. He didn’t care about the necklace. “That is a very inappropriate question to ask.”

“So he is not a man of means.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Who gave you that necklace?”

“Why does it trouble you to know?”

“You deserve a better one.” He murmured. You were unsure if he was still speaking about the jewelry. His fingers ghosted over the exposed skin of your forearm, "I could do that for you. If you wish." You took one large step back and glanced again at your friend’s window to find her watching you both suspiciously.

For the remainder of your stay in Russia, your friend treated you coolly. Though she was kind in private, she wasn't as warm in the company of others. Specifically, in the presence of Count Vronsky who seemed eager to appear more often during your stay and even more eager to get you alone. You reminded yourself that it was a temporary trip, and that you'd be back at your father's estate--and back in your kind fiancé's arms--in no time.

"It's truly fortunate that you're betrothed," your friend said as you gathered your belongings to meet the carriage in the courtyard, "or it'd be a shame to see your name added to the Count's incredibly long list of jilted lovers." There was an edge of bitterness to her tone, but you chose not to bring it up. Instead you marked it as an incredibly odd ending to an otherwise enjoyable trip.

A month later, you nearly fell down the stairs when your father called you down to the foyer to greet his newest client who arrived that morning from Russia. Count Alexei Vronsky bowed as you descended, but you could see the mirth dancing behind his eyes when he righted his posture behind your father's back.

"He says you spoke extensively about my craftsmanship. He felt compelled to come by the shop for his own fitting while he was visiting!" Your father exclaimed merrily, pulling you in for a kiss on the forehead, "My brilliant girl. This will do wonders for us. I knew I could count on you."

Sure, you had spoken highly of you father's tailoring and shoemaking, because as popular as your father was it never hurt to expand the reach of his influence.

That being said, you were sure Vronsky wasn't there for that conversation, and you never continued any form of contact after you departed Russia. You assumed he learned about where you lived through mutual friends. You swore under your breath when your father left you alone to get his sketches from his workshop in the east wing of the estate. Vronsky eyed you briefly, then redirected his interest to the art and artifacts decorating your home. Ever the son born of Russian ice and stoicism, he looked out of place in the warm atmosphere of the home you grew up in.

"Your country is beautiful," he said, arching a dark brow, "a bit too hot for my liking. Though, it is nice to see you in your natural element. I don't think wildflowers like you belong in the comparative cold of a Russian summer."

You felt like you were being tested, but you decided that there wasn't much he could do in the confines of your home. He was, after all, in your territory. Your shoulders relaxed and you chanced a small smile his way, "You'd be surprised to know how resilient I can be."

Surprisingly, he laughed, "I don't think I'd be surprised at all. I know you better than you think I do."

You felt like you'd regret it, but you decided to ask anyway.

"What do you mean by that?"

He began to stroll through the hall of your foyer, pausing every so often to examine a portrait or vase as you trailed behind him.

"You attended your fiancé's nameday feast a few years ago. Of course, he was not your fiancé, then. He was merely your father's apprentice and a quite talented shoemaker from my country who moved and quickly fell in love with...your country." He chuckled to himself at a joke only he seemed to know. "I remember you. I remember that you were an absolute vision in white, and you danced with everyone in the room. Though you were incredibly quiet when you weren't wrapped up in the melody of the orchestra." He glanced over at your confused expression, fighting a small smile pulling at the corner of his mouth, "Like I said: startled rabbit. Always quiet. Always watching. I remember the way your dress hugged the delicate slope of your shoulders, and the way your necklace caressed your neck. That may have been the first time I craved to exist within the confines of a jeweled pendant. And though I was otherwise...occupied with someone...I do remember the way you consistently laughed when he whispered things to you. A kind gesture, as he's never been that funny."

"So you know him. You were there that night." You whispered, feeling chills running up your arm.

"I was," he shrugged, stopping again at a more recent portrait of you and your father, "as was my duty as his elder brother."

You felt your heart stop in your chest and your brain short circuited. Your fiancé never told you about any siblings, let alone an elder brother. You knew your fiance's father was possibly dead, and that his mother raised him alone in Russia. Was he lying about his life? You weren't sure what was conveyed on your face, but Count Vronsky turned to address you directly.

"My father was not an honorable man. He forbade us from speaking to my half-brother or acknowledging him. Of course, Father is dead now, and God hasn't struck me down for disrespecting the wishes of a dead man. This also isn't the first time I've ever sinned." He grinned widely at you and took a step closer, though you were too shocked to move. "From the minute I saw you, I knew I had to have you. And every time I've seen you since, I regretted not stealing you away for myself."

"That doesn't make any sense..." you murmured, hiding your anxious hands behind your back, "I've never met you before. I'd know. I'd remember."

"You make your presence known at those silly little soirées the ladies have. I never stay for very long, but I've always..." he took another step closer and you realized you'd been backed against a pillar, "I've always noticed you. Dancing. Laughing. Drinking. Sometimes smoking. Does your father know you smoke?"

You glanced down the hall over his shoulder, and in a small voice that surprised you, you whispered, "I don't always do that."

"Mhmm." He reached out to run his warm, slightly calloused fingers along the chain of your necklace, stopping just before the pendant that rested in the valley of your cleavage. Your chest involuntarily heaved, and your knees felt weak, "What other bad things do you 'not always' do?"

You parted your lips to attempt something sharp, but instead you swallowed hard and said, "I'm to be married."

"But you are not married." He was so close, "Do you know how badly I've wanted to come see you since you left?" You could smell the sweet wine of your country on his tongue as he whispered lowly to you, "The thought of his hands on you made me want to abandon all of my obligations to cross the sea. Did you think of me?"

Your gaze fell to his lips, slightly stained red, and then back up into his piercing blue eyes. God, he was beautiful. He caught the action.

"You did."

"I didn't."

"Your eyes betray you, wildflower." His hand grazed your hip above your skirt, and his lips ghosted over your own, "I thought about you every night. I think about how you'd look spread out for me on those expensive sheets your father bought you. Waiting for me. And you're wearing that charming necklace my brother gave you while my tongue is deep in that sweet little--"

Footsteps echoed down the hall, and Vronsky swiftly turned away from you to examine the nearest vase again, as if nothing happened. You hadn't realized that your hands were grasping your skirt in your fists and that you were squeezing your thighs together.

You realized then that it'd been so long since you were last touched.

When your father entered the hall, he shot you a curious look before handing Vronsky his latest sketches.

"Here you go, young man. Let me know if these are to your liking. We can begin as early as tomorrow afternoon."

The blond shot your father a charming smile and bowed graciously, "Thank you for taking the time to help a stranger on such short notice."

The conversation sounded like white noise in your ears as you willed your heart to slow down. Even as you composed yourself and released your skirt from your hands, you still felt out of sorts.

When he turned to you and bowed again, he rose and allowed his eyes to trail down the length of your body.

"Always a pleasure to see you again."

#count vronsky #count vronsky x reader #aaron taylor johnson #atj x reader #it's taken me sooo long to edit and re-edit this i'm so sorry #thank you for waiting #jae writes

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rainbowd00dles · 8 months ago

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video transcription:

start by drawing a guideline.

on the guide, draw a series of squished circles slightly overlapping.

using an eraser that is about 2-3 pixels smaller than your drawing brush, erase half the inner circle alternating sides as you go down the line.

then erase the rest of the inner circles the same way, but in smaller sections.

adjust the size of the eraser depending on how thick you want the inner lines.

i hope this helps and i hope it's easy to understand! using chain brushes can be helpful, but they sometimes look too stiff, so i find doing it this way can look more fluid

Edit: I'm just using a basic round brush with min size up to 100% brush size varies depending on canvas size

#art tutorial #chain tutorial #drawing chains #chains #video art tutorial #art help #why do i always feel embarrassed showing how i work lmao #text is all you get bc i hate my voice #also i don't want people to laugh at my accent 😅

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mariacallous · 2 months ago

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The tragedy of New York Mayor Eric Adams, who’s facing a dizzying number of investigations targeting him and his inner circle, was foreseeable. Indeed, it was foreseen.

“We all know you’ve been investigated for corruption everywhere you’ve gone,” a rival candidate said to the then-Brooklyn borough president during a mayoral debate in 2021. “You’ve achieved the rare trifecta of corruption investigations.”

That didn’t deter Democratic voters, and Adams — an ex-cop and native son of the city who ran on his biography and a promise to restore public safety after crime rates and fears shot up during the pandemic — eked out a victory in the party’s closed primary, which made him a sure thing to be the city’s 110th mayor and just its second Black one.

nce that was official, Adams proclaimed himself the “future” and the “face of the new Democratic Party.” He also started publicly partying all night at clubs, sometimes with felonious friends, when he wasn’t talking about how God had told him 30 years ago he’d be the mayor in 2022 and should share that good news with the world — something he’d never publicly mentioned before winning the election.

The new mayor immediately brought in a crew of cronies with sullied records, including a deputy mayor for public safety overseeing the NYPD, Phil Banks, who’d abruptly retired as the chief of department in 2014.

Banks left that post about a year before it came out that he’d been an unindicted co-conspirator in a case involving two guys who went to prison for bribing the previous mayor. One of them testified they’d treated the police chief to plane trips around the world and the services of a prostitute when they weren’t smoking cigars and storing their diamonds in the chief’s office at One Police Plaza.

Banks, who’s denied any wrongdoing but says he regrets the association, had his home hit and his phones seized in the FBI’s synchronized early-morning raids last week. Again, he said through an attorney he’s done nothing wrong.

Those raids, though, are a sign that this new probe is far enough along for prosecutors to go public with it — and get a federal judge to sign off on their concerns that the deputy mayor for public safety and the police commissioner might destroy evidence if given the opportunity.

Last week’s raids were reportedly distinct from earlier raids of top Adams allies in two previously reported probes being conducted by two different federal prosecutors, who both needed sign-off from Justice Department bosses in Washington, D.C., to go after the mayor of America’s biggest city.

There’s the ongoing investigation into Adams’ travel and ties to Turkey, along with campaign cash that appears tied to the Turkish government. And the ongoing investigation into Adams’ travels and ties to China, along with campaign cash given through secret donors. The mayor had his cellphone seized by FBI agents last year as part of that case.

And now two new investigations that appear to be about influence schemes involving Adams’ appointees at the highest levels of his police department and administration steering public money to family members.

In just three years, Adams has bested his old corruption probe trifecta: There are now four separate, though possibly overlapping, federal investigations targeting his inner circle and the mayor himself.

No one has been charged with any wrongdoing in those investigations, and Adams says he always follows the law while asking the public to respect the process and withhold judgment.

New Yorkers might know more soon, as the feds have already impaneled at least one grand jury. With the city’s primary next June, prosecutors are up against long-standing Justice Department guidelines about not having cases interfere with elections.

But New Yorkers are already rendering a verdict in the court of public opinion. Adams at the end of last year hit the lowest approval rating ever recorded for a New York mayor as voters have been choking on all this smoke, also including the corruption trial of his former buildings commissioner, the guilty pleas from members of a crew including another ex-cop and old friend of the mayor’s for their own straw-donor scheme involving his campaign, and the guilty plea of a Chinese billionaire who also sneaked money into his campaign, as well as those of other American politicians.

Tim Pearson, another ex-cop and old friend of Adams’ who now runs a shadowy new mayoral oversight agency, also had his phones seized by the FBI last week. Pearson has been accused in multiple civil suits of ruining the career of a police officer who wouldn’t sleep with him and the supervisors who tried to protect her while hunting for “crumbs” of his own from city contracts. Taxpayers are covering his legal bills at the mayor’s behest and over the objections of the city’s former top lawyer, who was then pushed out.

So many of Adams’ problems seem to involve the gap between his mantra of “stay focused and grind” and his need to swagger and test limits.

Polling shows New Yorkers still like much of his agenda but don’t like him or how he’s executing it. He keeps repeating “crime is down” but not saying down from when or how much, and the data is mixed and most New Yorkers don’t really believe him.

It hasn’t helped that Adams’ police department is increasingly unhinged in its public communications, with one reporter at the cop-friendly New York Post getting attacked this week as a “f---ing scumbag” and the official NYPD account even giving me the wannabe Trump-y nickname “Harry ‘Deceitful’ Siegel” earlier this year.

No wonder Democratic challengers are lining up to take on Adams next year, assuming he’s still there, in what would be the first contested primary against a Democratic incumbent since David Dinkins upset Ed Koch in 1989.

Asked at a news conference Tuesday what he would do if he were indicted, Adams said he intended to remain as mayor and run for re-election before adding that he wouldn’t engage with hypotheticals.

The tragedy of Eric Adams is that he’s done this to himself.

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ethelcainlvr · 4 months ago

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Wicked Game Pt 2 - Armando Aretas

Armando Aretas x Black! OC (Helena)

Part 1

After each fight, he’d sit down at the bar, cuts and scratches littered on his face and arms, discoloring his perfectly tan skin.

They’d exchanged naught but a few words since he popped up three months ago, most of them pertaining to whatever drink he ordered, his low raspy voice sending shivers down her spine all the same.

That all changes one evening.

It’s a few hours before Spades opens for the night. Despite the fact that she’s off for the day, Helena makes her way through a back entrance. She waves to the bartender in her place once she’s inside, along with a few of the dancers she’s come to know, all getting ready for the long night ahead.

Javier’s “office” (she’s yet to see any work being done) is crowded like usual. His posse is gathered around the pool table, playing, drinking, talking.

Helena notices him first. His reserved demeanor is a stark contrast to the crew he’s with.

Helena watches Armando, settled on the arm of a chair right beside Javier. His eyes find hers quickly, as they tend to do, like he can sense her or something. He smiles, raising the bottle of beer to his full lips.

The sound of her own name breaks Helena out of her trance. Javier’s in front of her all of a sudden, blocking Armando from her view. He’s staring at her expectantly, a question in his furrowed brows, giving Helena the impression she’s completely ignored something he’s said.

“I got what you asked for,” she supplies, taking her best guess.

In lieu of a response he steps her out with her into the hall. The overlapping chatter and underlying music dim, and they're out of earshot of anyone still in the room.

Javier looks around the empty hallway, then stretches out his hand.

“What did you find?”

Helena places the slim thumb drive in his open palm.

“Everything you asked for.”

Javier closes his fist around the drive, rubbing his thumb across its surface thoughtfully as he nods, his sharp jaw flexing.

Helena’s come to know Javier as a relatively quiet man. Most of their conversations are just like this one, consisting of few words and many gestures.

“Thank you.” His voice is grim when he replies finally.

Helena’s good with computers. In a way that allows her to blur the lines between public and private information.

In places like Spades, to people like Javier, information is invaluable.

When Helena, a 23 year old grad student, moved to this city, she’d needed money badly. She was more than grateful for the job, but bartending simply didn't cut it, when you factored in school, and the medical expenses her type one diabetes racked up.

Watching the kind of people that flowed in and out of Spades, from low level drug runners to the most powerful politicians in the state, she’d quickly learned the signs of status, the value of taking in information from all around her, and how and when to use it.

Javier, with his similar skill of discernment, had quickly taken notice of her, and they soon fell into a simple sort of arrangement.

Cash, for information. Names, addresses, bank statements, even blueprints like the ones on the flash drive she’d just handed over. The most important part of this arrangement is that, however tempted she may be, she never asked questions, never asked what he needed the information for, who it was going to.

It kept her from falling in too deep, allowed her to keep what she did at this club in a small compartment of her life, kept her from having to ask herself the tough question of what exactly she’d be willing to do for money.

“He workin’ for you now?”

It’s likely the reason, when she asks this, Javier stops in his tracks and shoots her a quizzical look.

Helena has been around long enough to have somewhat of an understanding of how Javier operates. He keeps his inner circle tight, and from the looks of things, Armando has managed his way in, in just a few short weeks. She tries to convince herself this is the extent of her curiosity, but Helena doesn’t need to turn her head to know Armando is staring, she never does, and she’s felt his eyes on her for weeks. She wants to know why exactly he’s so interested in her.

She nods subtly in his direction for Javier’s benefit.

He glances inside, following her lead.

“Something like that.” He replies, as cryptic and dismissive as ever.

Helena takes him turning away as a sign the conversation is over and despite the fact that her question remains unanswered, she turns to do the same. She should have known better than to expect a straightforward answer from Javier.

She’s all the way by her car, after stopping to grab some things from her locker when she stops in her tracks.

There’s no reason, scientifically at least, that you should be able to feel someone looking at you.

And yet, inexplicably, when she turns around he’s there.

Leaning against the back wall of the bar, arms crossed over his chest.

There’s a beat. Just a moment of the two of them watching each other. Then he stands, nods to the right, and steps out of the light, gradually disappearing in shadow of the rapidly disappearing sun.

She waits until the curiosity overcomes her, before she follows him into the quickly expanding dark.

#writers on tumblr #armando bad boys #bad boys ride or die #bad boys #bad boys for life #jacob scipio #armando aretas x black oc #armando x reader #armando aretas #it’s been years Srry guys #bad boys fanfiction

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irvingcoded · 2 months ago

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freed some rambling litving thoughts from earlier off my priv and figured i might as well share them here as well... (transcribed below the read more + cleaned up slightly for readability!)

something about the li(t)ving dynamic to me is just so... LIKE jirv is probably one of the very few people on either ship who unreservedly seems to respect and value little's leadership and instincts (the amount of times the two of them exchange Significant Eye Contact alone...!) , probably in a big part because it seemed as if crozier during that period of time mostly relayed any real info/orders thru his inner circle which, of the lieutenants, only really included little (& jopson of course). compare that to how we mostly saw hodge & irv getting tasked with gruntwork and relatively simple errand boy tasks while little otoh regularly got shouldered with 3 lieuts worth of responsibility instead, INCLUDING having to basically be hodgson & irving's de facto command in lieu of crozier ever communicating much with either them directly or trusting them with tasks they'd absolutely have been capable of.

so anyway yes, imo jirv would very likely follow him anywhere if it came down to it. and as a ship i am always Thinking About like... sub top little and jirv very gently domming him by just being very nice to him and telling him how handsome and special and good he is, but also taking over the decision making if/when little is too stressed to focus... but at the same time still trynna encourage him to express what he wants and what he's thinking (yes yes, pot meet kettle etc) because maybe other people don't really listen to him or take him seriously enough but jirv does...

(& then also the reverse too because little is surely more aware than anyone that's kind of how crozier(/command in general) treats hodgson and jirving for most of the expedition as well)

AND YES MOST OF THIS CAN SIMILARLY APPLY TO ANY COMBINATION OF LIEUTENANTCULE TBH but thats why they're so great...!! they definitely share some overlapping weaknesses here and there, but put the 3 of them (or even just any 2 of them!) together and they balance each other out almost perfectly because when one of them is struggling then the other(s) can and usually will step up to compensate

#🍓#litving #nedving #jirv posting #gaz coming out of the well to share their meta #the transcription is a lil bit more elaborate bc i didn't have to constantly abbreviate everything to fight the character limit #anyway this is their dynamic. to ME

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talonabraxas · 7 months ago

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The Flower of Life

There really is some deep rooted symbolism behind this captivating image. Some say it’s representative of the union of the sacred Masculine and the Divine Feminine, the connectedness of all living things, and others see it as the cycle of life, death and rebirth. Let’s explore the depths of the topic.

Origins & Symbolism The origins of the Flower of Life trace back to the dawn of civilisation, where it is believed to have emerged as a symbol of cosmic order and divine harmony. Its precise origins are shrouded in mystery, with some attributing its creation to ancient cultures such as the Egyptians, where it was found in the temple of Osiris and said to contain a ‘secret code’ (underpinning the basic building blocks of the universe), and also the Sumerians, and the Greeks.

At its core, the Flower of Life is composed of multiple evenly-spaced, overlapping circles, forming a mesmerising geometric pattern reminiscent of a flower in full bloom. Within this pattern lies a myriad of geometric shapes, including triangles, hexagons, and pentagons, each imbued with its own symbolic significance.

The Flower of Life is often associated with sacred geometry, a branch of mathematics concerned with the study of geometric forms and their spiritual, philosophical, and symbolic meanings. It is believed to represent the interconnectedness of all living beings, the fundamental unity of existence, and the underlying order of the universe.

Spiritual Significance In spiritual traditions around the world, the Flower of Life holds profound significance as a symbol of creation and interconnectedness. It is often regarded as a visual representation of the divine blueprint of the cosmos, with each circle representing a stage in the process of creation.

Within the Flower of Life, one can find various sacred symbols, including the Seed of Life, the Tree of Life, all 7 Chakra systems, and the Metatron's Cube, each carrying its own symbolic meaning and spiritual power. These symbols are believed to hold the keys to unlocking higher states of consciousness, facilitating spiritual growth, and connecting with the universal source of energy and wisdom.

Healing & Transformation Beyond its spiritual significance, the Flower of Life is also associated with healing and transformation. It is believed that meditating upon the pattern of the Flower of Life can help to harmonise the mind, body, and spirit, promoting health, balance, and inner peace.

In recent years, the Flower of Life has experienced a resurgence in popularity, with many people incorporating its imagery into their spiritual practices, artwork, and jewellery. Its intricate beauty and profound symbolism continue to inspire awe and fascination, serving as a potent reminder of the interconnectedness of all things and the infinite possibilities that lie within the universe.

Modern Interpretations In the modern era, scientists, mathematicians, and artists have continued to explore the mysteries of the Flower of Life, uncovering new insights into its geometric properties and mathematical significance. Through computer simulations and mathematical algorithms, researchers have gained a deeper understanding of the complex patterns and symmetries inherent in the Flower of Life, shedding light on its underlying principles of order and harmony.

Furthermore, the Flower of Life has found its way into various fields beyond spirituality and art, including architecture, design, and technology. Its geometric principles have been applied in the construction of sacred buildings, the development of advanced engineering techniques, and the design of innovative products and structures.

The Flower of Life: Mysteries of Sacred Geometry:

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mafaldaknows · 2 years ago

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Forgot to add:

#inner circles overlapping #laying the groundwork #friendship is magic #blaze a fresh new trail #screw jolene #mafalda always looks for signs #we are all mafalda #tales from the charmiesphere

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statistically-spencer · 1 year ago

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Fortunate Dream PT. 2

Summary: Your dream of joining the BAU was becoming more and more real. How will you handle sharing a private jet with your favorite characters?

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!reader (eventual), BAU members x reader(platonic)

A/N: Sorry for the long wait on this one! I finished Calculus 1 in 4-weeks while also being in a musical so I ran out of time there for a bit. Enjoy!

w/c; 783

Part 1 here

As confused as you were, you were having a great time experiencing the relationship that dream-you had with the members of the BAU. Everyone seemed to like you just fine.

On the jet, you found a place to sit in the window seat on the opposite side of the isle, where Derek sat, leaving an empty seat next to yourself. Derek gave you an assuring smile. You wondered how many traits that you, and this version of you had that overlapped. Did the team know about your fear of flying? Did they know about your raging crush on Dr. Spencer Reid? Did they know that you had absolutely no idea what you were doing and that you totally should not be there right now??

Glancing up, you made eye contact with Spencer, who seemed to be walking suspiciously close to your row.

Oh.

You tried to act natural as he took a seat next to you.

You didn’t have to act natural for long, though, because in an instant the jet began to roll forward, faster and faster.

You swallowed deeply.

“Are you okay, Y/n? I know you never like flying but you seem like something is really off.”

“No, I’m okay.” You lied, “I’m just... I just didn’t sleep much last night and I’m really tired.”

“Oh, well you know, there’s no need to worry about turbulence. If anything, we should really be concerned about-”

“Spencer, no offense, but if you’re about to tell me about how what we should really be concerned about is the onset of a thunderstorm, contributing to the possibility of microbursts, I’d rather not hear it.”

You heard a chuckle and looked up to see Derek standing next to you.

“Oooh, she’s got you figured out, Reid. Better be careful.”

You blushed. You were only remembering something Spencer had said in an episode of Criminal Minds. Had that episode happened yet in this timeline?

“Oh no... I was just... I just don’t need to be any more freaked out than I already am right now.” You cleared your throat.

Spencer smiled at you, “We’ll be fine.”

You were trying to think of something to say to the man. Anything. This was your chance to talk to the love of your life and you were drawing a blank. You couldn’t think of one clever thing to say to him. You just kept looking up at him, and whenever you looked, it seemed like he was looking, too. Which was probably a good sign, right? Instead, it was mostly silent. With you making the occasional attempt to look fine whenever there was turbulence.

In the midst of everything, you forgot that you were, for the time being at least, a real FBI agent. And, you were in fact, actually dealing with criminals. However, those facts became extremely apparent when Garcia phoned in with details about the case.

It was hard to focus when Spencer was sitting next to you the entire time. Being so real. So cute. So... Good smelling somehow.

“-Well, we know hardly anything about the suspect.”

If you had been in a laughing mood after hearing all of the gruesome details of the case, you would’ve laughed at Emily’s statement.

“Male. Thirty-five-”

You froze, realizing that you and Spencer were saying the same thing.

“...Keeps within his inner circle.” You finished, looking Reid up and down slowly.

A quick glance around the jet told you that this was not an uncommon event. In fact, the knowing looks that were being shared by the rest of the team said quite the opposite.

Spencer blinked, trying to come up with more information.

“Also he definitely has children.”

“Obviously.” You blinked, looking around.

“I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

Luckily, the look on Spencer’s face wasn’t disgust like you expected. He looked... Proud? Happy?

Wait a minute. You were so caught up in information about the case that you didn’t stop to wonder how you came to that conclusion. Was that normal for you? Were you also a super genius? Perhaps. It was highly plausible, now that you were thinking about it. You were obviously young like Spencer was. Why else would you be on the team at that age? Huh. You liked being smart. It was cool.

“We’ll need to split up upon arrival-” Hotch interrupted your thoughts, “Prentiss you’ll be with Morgan, you’ll share a room at the hotel as well. And Y/L/N, you and Reid will be staying in the other room.”

Oh.

You stole a quick glance at Spencer. The over-confidence you had both been showing had disappeared in an instant.

“You got it, boss.” You tightened your lips.

Why would you say that?

#spencer reid x reader #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds fanfic #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid #fortunate dream #statistically-spencer #criminal minds dream fic

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wingedblooms · 1 year ago

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Flower of life

The flower of life is part of sacred geometry, which is the underlying form or geometry in nature (mindbodygreen). It symbolizes the balance of male and female energy in creation and contains the secrets of the universe.

The flower of life is another sacred geometric form. It is the symbol of creation. It is created by forming a circle then moving to the edge of that circle and forming another one. Each circle begins one radius away from the surrounding circles and is of equal size. (uoregon)

The striking visual is meant to represent creation, the sacred masculine and divine feminine, and cycles of life, death, and rebirth. Some believe the flower of life is also a key that can unlock hidden knowledge of time and space within its petal-like structures. (mindbodygreen)

“It is thought that the flower of life holds a secret within it—a circle, which in many cultures, is considered the 'zero point' or the 'origin' of us all," Dale says. "This is the Oneness that ties us together.”(mindbodygreen)

Sacred Geometry in the Maasverse

In the Maasverse, Sarah also uses sacred geometry to create balance between opposing forces and characters use this balance to channel power. Sometimes it’s a symbol, like the six-pointed star @silverlinedeyes highlighted in this post. She connected the six-pointed star to the three brothers and three sisters in theory because they bring together opposing forces—light and dark and female and male energy—and create balance.

“Ithan angled his head. “A six-pointed star,” he said. Like the one Bryce had made between the Gates this spring, with the seventh candle at its center.

“It’s a symbol of balance,” she explained, moving away a foot, but keeping the dagger at her side. Her crown of cloudberries seemed to glow with an inner light. “Two intersecting triangles. Male and female, dark and light, above and below … and the power that lies in the place where they meet.” Her face became grave. “It is in that place of balance where I’ll focus my power.” She motioned to the circle. “No matter what you see or hear, stay on this side of the candles.” (hosab)

When they come together, as we saw with Feyre and Rhysand in the original series, they may be able to channel their combined energies to achieve powerful creation or healing (e.g., reforging the Cauldron, creating a baby who’s named for a deity and is probably going to be unique, etc.). As Rhys said in acowar, the sisters are in his court for a reason, and Mor might have hinted this long before as @lesolehabitantdelalune pointed out in relation to the six-pointed star:

Mor stayed overnight, even going so far as to paint some rudimentary stick figures on the wall beside the storeroom door. Three females with absurdly long, flowing hair that all resembled hers; and three winged males, who she somehow managed to make look puffed up on their own sense of importance. I laughed every time I saw it. (acomaf)

The three Made sisters and the three winged brothers are all blessed by fate and seem to be even more important together. Six is a perfect number and seven—the point where they all meet—symbolizes completion.

So, how does this relate to the flower of life? The flower of life contains circles that create a six-pointed star (see below) and there is a circle in the middle where they all intersect.

Source: uoforegon

The flower of life also contains other symbols Sarah has used across worlds:

Throne of Glass Series

Aelin wore an amulet that warned and helped her when needed. It was called the Eye of Elena, which Manon corrects as the Eye of the Goddess. It is the symbol Blueblood prophets tattoo on their hearts to indicate that they are Goddess-blessed.

A large circle—and two overlapping circles, one atop the other, within its circumference. “That is the Three-Faced Goddess,” Manon said, her voice low. “We call this …” She drew a rough line in the centermost circle, in the eye-shaped space where they overlapped. “The Eye of the Goddess. Not Elena.” She circled the exterior again. “Crone,” she said of the outermost circumference. She circled the interior top circle: “Mother.” She circled the bottom: “Maiden.” She stabbed the eye inside: “And the heart of the Darkness within her.” (eos)

A Court of Thorns and Roses Series

The Bone Carver drew interlocking circles to represent the death-god siblings, two of whom were worshipped by the fae before they were trapped. Two out of three siblings helped Prythian in a bargain with Feyre and Rhys.

The Carver traced three overlapping, interlocked circles in the dirt. “You have met my sister—my twin. The Weaver, as you now call her. I knew her as Stryga. (acowar)

Crescent City Series

Bryce wears an Archesian amulet with entwined circles that keeps her hidden from those searching for the Horn.

Bryce zipped a tiny golden pendant—a knot of three entwined circles—along the delicate chain around her neck. (hoeab)

In the space between, I discussed all of these interconnected trios, including the sacred trio which I believe this all stems from (Mother, Cauldron, Fate) and the rose amulet chosen for Elain. Although it is not described in circles, Elain’s amulet glows with three colors—red, pink, and white—in the Faelight, mimicking Azriel’s observation that she glows like the dawn in the Faelight earlier in that scene. We don’t know if it contains any protective properties or whether it will even make a reappearance. But out of all the symbols we’ve seen with the divine number three, it is the only one in the form of a flower…except, that is, for the Cauldron.

The Cauldron as the Flower of Life

In hosab, the Under King hinted that Urd, the goddess of fate, might be Mother, Cauldron, and the Forces That Be all in one.

A pyre smoked atop a black stone altar in the center of the temple. A stone throne on a dais loomed at the rear of the space. No statues ever adorned Urd’s Temple—no depiction of the goddess had ever been made. Fate took too many forms to capture in one figure.

The Under-King rose, black robes drifting on a phantom wind. “I thought the Fae bowed to Luna, but perhaps you remember the old beliefs? From a time when Urd was not a goddess but a force, winding between worlds? When she was a vat of life, a mother to all, a secret language of the universe? The Fae worshipped her then.” (hosab)

As I’ve explained with help from @silverlinedeyes in this post, mother to all = Mother, vat of life = Cauldron, and a force = Forces That Be (which seems to be used interchangeably with Fate in acotar). Mother, Cauldron, Fate. Three interconnected parts of a whole.

If we’re to believe the Under King, the goddess of fate isn’t actually a goddess. It is the Cauldron, which moves like a force, is a mother to all, and possesses the secrets of the universe. The Cauldron is Sarah’s flower of life.

The Cauldron shattered into three pieces, peeling apart like a blossoming flower—and then she came. (acowar)

And it can be controlled through spells in the Book of Breathings. Those spells must be uttered by someone who is Made because like calls to like.

“When the Cauldron was made,” the Carver interrupted, “its dark maker used the last of the molten ore to forge a book. The Book of Breathings. In it, written between the carved words, are the spells to negate the Cauldron’s power—or control it wholly. But after the War, it was split into two pieces. One went to the Fae, one to the six human queens. It was part of the Treaty, purely symbolic, as the Cauldron had been lost for millennia and considered mere myth. The Book was believed harmless, because like calls to like—and only that which was Made can speak those spells and summon its power. No creature born of the earth may wield it, so the High Lords and humans dismissed it as little more than a historical heirloom, but if the Book were in the hands of something reforged … You would have to test such a theory, of course—but … it might be possible.” (acomaf)

The pieces of the Book seem to contain void, or cold cunning, and chaos.

Life and death and rebirth

Sun and moon and dark

Rot and bloom and bones

Hello, sweet thing. Hello, lady of night, princess of decay. Hello, fanged beast and trembling fawn.

Love me, touch me, sing me.

Madness. Where the first half had been cold cunning, this box … this was chaos, and disorder, and lawlessness, joy and despair.

Light and dark and gray and light and dark and gray (acomaf)

And these seem to be the same beings (forces?) that Apollion mentions in his own creation.

“Do you not know where I come from? My father was the Void, the Being That Existed Before. Chaos was his bride and my dam. It is to them that we shall all one day return, and their mighty powers that run in my blood.” (hosab)

If the Cauldron contains both Void and Chaos, which I believe it does as a bowl of life and death, then the Book of Breathings allows the wielder to control those forces. In the tog series, higher beings are forces that are part of the same consciousness. They are interconnected parts of a sacred whole. And we’re told early on, and repeatedly thereafter, that the Cauldron is the origin of everything.

Inside the Cauldron was nothing but inky, swirling black.

Perhaps the entire universe had come from it.

Azriel and Cassian tensed as I laid a hand on the lip. Pain—pain and ecstasy and power and weakness flowed into me.

Everything that was and wasn’t, fire and ice, light and dark, deluge and drought.

The map for creation. (acomaf)

Feyre put together the two pieces of the Book and as Amren predicted, there was a great, noticeable blast.

“You put the pieces together,” she clarified when Rhys gave her a questioning look, “and the blast of power will be felt in every corner and hole in the earth. You won’t just attract the King of Hybern. You’ll draw enemies far older and more wretched. Things that have long been asleep—and should remain so.” (acomaf)

So, it’s also probable an old and powerful enemy might come calling (ahem, Koschei and/or the Asteri). Does that mean someone might need to wield the Cauldron again, but to help and protect Prythian instead this time?

If so, that someone would need to be Made. All three sisters are Made, so I personally dream about all three of them wielding it together like the witches they are. But I also think it would make sense for Elain to wield it on her own or with her love interest. When she emerged from the Cauldron, Sarah described her appearance in detail—pale, delicate, beautiful, glowing.

More water than seemed possible dumped out in a cascade. Black, smoke-coated water. And Elain, as if she’d been thrown by a wave, washed onto the stones facedown. Her legs were so pale—so delicate. […] Elain sucked in a breath, her fine-boned back rising, her wet nightgown nearly sheer. And as she rose from the ground onto her elbows, the gag in place, as she twisted to look at me— Nesta began roaring again. Pale skin started to glow. Her face had somehow become more beautiful—infinitely beautiful, and her ears … Elain’s ears were now pointed beneath her sodden hair. (acomaf)

She has been described as wise, gentle, and kind, but doesn’t hesitate to do what is necessary to protect life and restore order, like a gardener whose glowing hands won’t hesitate to get dirty for a pretty result.

A Gardener’s Hands

It began with a cauldron. A mighty black cauldron held by glowing, slender female hands in a starry, endless night. Those hands tipped it over, golden sparkling liquid pouring out over the lip. No—not sparkling, but … effervescent with small symbols, perhaps of some ancient faerie language. Whatever was written there, whatever it was, the contents of the cauldron were dumped into the void below, pooling on the earth to form our world… (acotar)

Elain isn’t just connected to a flower amulet. She is a blooming flower in an army camp, a bloom of color and sunshine even in the middle of winter. She is Hope shining in the Void on the longest night of winter.

The River House had finally fallen quiet after the raucous Winter Solstice party, the Faelights dimming to cast little pools of gold amid the deep shadow of the longest night of the year. […] He knew he’d be swallowed by it if he went up to his bedroom, so he’d remained down here by the dying light of the fire. […] Soft steps padded from under the stair archway, and there she was. The Faelights gilded Elain’s unbound hair, making her glow like the sun at dawn. (Azriel’s bonus chapter)

Tell me, who is better positioned than the Cauldron-blessed gardener and seer to wield the flower of life? Sarah essentially set her up to defy Nesta’s command below, meaning she will not stay away from the Cauldron and might tend to a garden on a greater scale as a result.

“Why?” Elain demanded. “Shall I tend to my little garden forever?” When Nesta flinched, Elain said, “You can’t have it both ways. You cannot resent my decision to lead a small, quiet life while also refusing to let me do anything greater.”

“Then go off on adventures,” Nesta said. “Go drink and fuck strangers. But stay away from the Cauldron.” (acosf)

The issue, of course, is that the Book of Breathings is now in Midgard under the care of a sorceress whose past is a mystery and the name we know her under, Jesiba Roga, isn’t the only one she possesses. Now that the two worlds are connected, though, it seems like only a matter of time until the Book is (re)discovered. But will it find the right hands?

There are more immediate ways for Elain to defy Nesta’s order and engage the Cauldron even without the Book. In hosab, mystics combine energy from a male, female, and the space where they meet—both male and female—to achieve perfect balance. It is perhaps this balance of power that allows them to become the Eye of the Goddess, mapping the secrets of the universe and influencing others from afar. Mysticism involves achieving a higher level of consciousness and uniting with the divine. Similarly, the flower of life can be used as a tool for meditation and enlightenment.

Elain seems to have used mystic ability on her own when she located and appeared to the Suriel across the world, and it’s possible she could use Rhys’s orrery as to expand her map in future books. Since these are romance books, I think it’s important to mention that we’re told Azriel is fascinated by the orrery. And like a sacred vision as @offtorivendell, @merymoonbeam and @psychologynerd have pointed out, Feyre witnesses perfect balance between Azriel and Elain: her immaculate hand meets his scarred one in the space between where light and dark, life and death, and female and male combine.

Elain looked up at Azriel, their eyes meeting, his hand still lingering on the hilt of the blade. I saw the painting in my mind: the lovely fawn, blooming spring vibrant behind her. Standing before Death, shadows and terrors lurking over his shoulder. Light and dark, the space between their bodies a blend of the two. The only bridge of connection…that knife. (acowar)

Elain may not need anyone to navigate the space between with the Cauldron. But I have a feeling she will need something or someone to help keep her grounded as she expands her Sight and maybe even peers into Hel. If she does need to form a sacred trio to move beyond their world, then she, Azriel, and the Cauldron (which is both male and female), would suffice. As Feyre’s vision of the lovely fawn and Death seems to foreshadow, they would create perfect balance together. And maybe, just maybe, their bargain tattoo will represent that balance in the form of a blossoming flower where the Eye of the Goddess, her heart of darkness, remains half-hidden in the shadows with the secrets of the universe.

Read more about Elain’s arc and powers here.

#the cauldron as the flower of life #elain as its gardener #azriel as her groundskeeper #see what i did there?#😆😆😆#elain archeron #azriel #elriel #hosab spoilers #crossover theories #maasverse theories

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blodgmonster · 6 months ago

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Thoughts while rereading ACOSF. The first half of the book so that my post isn't a novel in itself.

-- Nesta falls into one of my favorite categories of female characters. Spiky, hurt, hiding their wounded hearts behind extremely high walls. I adore her. Always have. Even more now that we get her point of view. Though I sort of wish it was in first person like Feyre.

-- It's terribly ironic and funny that Feyre's solution to her sister spiraling out of control is to LOCK HER UP against her will. Gee, didn't someone do that to her and we all hated him for it? Who was that again? Oh, yes, Tamlin. "You will not be a prisoner" but there is like...no way out. Why doesn't the fae world have therapy?

-- "My Nesta. Elain will marry for love and beauty, but you, my cunning little queen...You shall wed for conquest." What the fuck was Mama Archeron's deal?

-- Mor comparing Nesta to Kier and the others in the Hewn City is bullshit.

-- Nesta's relationship with the House is so cute.

-- Nesta's self-hatred makes me cry. I've had the same thoughts that she's had. And when Cassian tells her that everyone hates her and it rings in her head like a bell...it's like a punch to the stomach.

-- Merrill is researching "the existence of different Realms -- different worlds. Living on top of each other without even knowing it....if it might be possible for worlds to overlap." Oh my God. "Some philosophers believe there are eleven worlds like that. And some believe there are as many as twenty-six."

Me:

-- "Maybe you'll become interesting at last, Elain." SICK FUCKING BURN, NESTA.

-- "I'm pissed off that you can't seem to believe even one good thing about her. That you REFUSE to fucking believe one good thing about her." Yesssss, Cassian. Where was that attitude in HOFAS when Rhys treated Nesta like SHIT and Cassian just...stood there and let him?

-- I know Nesta was drinking to excess, but so does everyone else in the Inner Circle. Hypocrites.

--' "Her trauma is..." Rhys's throat bobbed." Yeah, bud, yeah. Stop being a dick to her.

-- pretty fucked up that "you always have a choice" and "no secrets between us" Rhys won't tell Feyre about the risk the wings pose. Also, how is it that magic can REGROW WINGS, REVIVE THE DEAD, and heal someone who's GUTS ARE HANING OUT but a C section is beyond their healing capabilities. Make it make sense, SJM.

-- NESTA CLAIMING THE MASK, RASING THE LEGION, AND KILLING THE KELPIE!!! FUCK YES, LADY DEATH!!!!!!!

#acosf #a court of silver flames #nesta archeron #cassian #sjm #sarah j maas #acotar #sjm rereads

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y-rhywbeth2 · 1 month ago

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Elves: Pantheons

Link: Disclaimer regarding D&D "canon" & Index [tldr: D&D lore is a giant conflicting mess. Larian's lore is also a conflicting mess. There's a lot of lore; I don't know everything. You learn to take what you want and leave the rest. Frankly these posts may get updated now and then. etc]

Physiology and quirks | Names & Clans and Houses || Pan-Cultural things: Social life | Time and 'Growing Up an Elf' | Homes | Language | Art | Entertainment | Technology || Elven 'Subraces' still a wip || Philosophy and Religion & Pantheons || Half-elves | [WIP]

Right. Religion part 2: the bastards the pointy eared ones worship. Who needs this many gods?? This is one of those posts that's so long I got disoriented editing it, so it might be a touch messy.

Also it's long. L o n g.

The Sylvan Gods The og elven pantheon on Toril; Non-elven archfey warlocks may also get something out of this if you want a patron.

The Seldarine + The Asathalfinare The elven gods and the disagreements about them.

The Dark Seldarine The exiles and the pack of weirdoes they got grouped in with along the way.

(Corellon, Lolth and Eilistraee are cleric options in BG3 so in theory I should be giving them fuller write ups and they're only getting brief attention here.)

The Sylvan Gods (Seelie):

The original pantheon of the elves of Toril.

The fey and the fey gods have strong ties to elves and their ancestral gods as well, being cousins of sorts; while they share 'blood' with the elven gods, the first elves to come to Toril worshipped the Sylvan gods as their pantheon, not the Seldarine. Even in modern times many elves, especially the green and copper elves, live and worship alongside the fey as neighbours 'often [including] prayers to other faerie powers when worshiping the Seldarine.' Likewise the fey serve and worship the Seldarine as well as their own lords.

The Seldarine are strongly allied with and mingle freely with other fey powers, especially the Seelie Court, I haven't seen any specific mention of worship of the Unseelie fey who obviously are antagonistic counterparts in the fashion of the Dark Seldarine and the Seldarine, as well as being enemies to the Seldarine. I've seen no mention of any of the Dark Seldarine being allied with the Queen of Air and Darkness, the Unseelie Queen, so I assume that the elves in general, including dark elves, do not traffic with the evil fey. On the reverse, the Seelie fey don't seem to be actively opposed to the Dark Seldarine, although that doesn't mean they're on good terms.

The Seelie Queen Titania works closely with Corellon where their goals overlap, though Erevan Illesere is the closest aligned with the Sylvan Gods and may have actually given birth to one of them.

The two pantheons co-exist with perfect ease, and there’s not stigma against elves venerating deities of either pantheon and many elves include prayers to archfey while honouring the Seldarine.

Just like the Seldarine, the fey courts are technically the rulers of their mortal children and their primary concern is the wellbeing of their people and the realms they live in.

Elven fey heritage remains strong, and elves and fey both have a shared and vested interest in maintaining the magic and nature they live enmeshed in. But even the elves are generally barred from the inner circles of sacred fey matters and they don’t get invited to secret seelie court meetings on occasions where the archfey meet on the prime, although they do gather together for some holy revels like Midsummer.

4e and 5e ‘demote’ the fey deities to archfey, however the differences between powerful planars like archfey, archdevils, demon lords and deities is extremely blurred really. Some deities are exiled archdevils, Lolth is a demon lord and a goddess, Corellon can serve as the archfey patron to a feypact warlock, etc. Still, mechanically I imagine that in 5e a worshipper and servant of, say, Verenestra is going to be a warlock rather than a cleric on average.

The fey deities consist of the inner circle known as the Seelie Court and the allied gods who are not formally a part of the court but are still related, as well as the Torilian god Lurue.

This isn't all of them, but these were the ones who are classified as gods and whose lore overlaps with elves at some point:

Yathaghera. The Winged Queen [Lurue]

‘The Unicorn is a symbol of hope, joy, salvation, and protection for the needy, forlorn, and forsaken. Life is to be relished and lived with laughter. Quests are to be taken on a dare and gifts to be made on a whim. Impossible dreams are to be pursued for the sheer wonder of the possibility of their completion. Everyone, no matter how unique, is to be praised for their strengths and comforted in their weaknesses. Evil melts the quickest in the face of a rapier wit and unshackled joy. Search for the unicorn and in pursuit find happiness.’

Symbol: a unicorn, rampant against a silver crescent moon.

The goddess Lurue the Unicorn Queen’s elven aspect, also part of the Faerûnian pantheon, who is seen as the ruler of pegasi and unicorns on Evermeet. Believed to be a daughter of Selûne, Lurue is the goddess of talking animals, adventure and whimsy, an adopter of outcasts (and literal lost souls, Lurue is apparently known to seek those who die alone and faithless and take them with her in her wanderings around Toril), and she never abandons her faithful when they need her. Visitors from other DnD settings have thought her to be the Torilian aspect of the fey deity of the same nature, Eachthighern, or else his daughter by Selûne, but Lurue has no idea who that is and claims no relation.

Eachthighern, Lord of Unicorns and Pegasi Has a couple of origin myths, one of which is that he's Erevan's son. Eachthigern apparently has no presence on Toril, though sages familiar with other worlds have hypothesised in-universe that he is the father of Lurue or that the divine unicorn of the Moonshaes, Kamerynn is his Torilian aspect. The god is known to appear when fey and elven communities are battling against evil in order to heal their wounded. Torilian elves are aware of his existence, and believe that the unicorns of Evermeet are his descendants. Unicorns are sacred creatures in elven faiths, and harming or killing them is an act of sacrilige met with death. Those chosen by unicorns as riders are treated with religious levels of reverence.

Portfolio: unicorns, healing, loyalty and protection Symbol: a unicorn horn

Titania, the Faerie Queen; the Queen of Light; the Summer Queen Head of the pantheon. Titania’s known to come across as flighty and silly, which covers well for the fact that she’s the strategist of the pantheon. Perfectly calm and borderline impossible to piss off (succeeding is a Bad Idea). Known to take mortal lovers. Portfolio: magic, friendship, and the fey and their realms Symbol: white diamond, containing a blue star at its centre

Oberon, the Lord of Beasts A warrior and protector god. Possibly Titania’s consort, sometimes called a king, though he doesn’t actual hold the title and if he is with Titania it’s an open on-off relationship and both flirt with mortals. And anything else that catches their attention. Portfolio: nature, wild places, animals Symbol: white stag

Verenestra, the Oak Princess Goddess of dryads. Verenestra is vain and flighty and generally shuns the company of other powers of love and beauty; the elven goddess Hanali is the only one who has managed to coax her into friendly terms. Verenestra is known for seducing mortals (and then growing bored of them, though at least leaving them with some form of gift). Portfolio: dryads, charm, beauty Symbol: a silver mirror

Skerrit, the Forest Walker God of centaurs and satyrs. A hunter and preserver of a healthy balance within an ecosystem. Skerrit in particular is noted to have a cult amongst the Tel’Quessir. Portfolio: community and natural balance Symbol: an oak growing from an acorn

Emantiensien, god of treants The treant god is known to hear the music played by elves, and hears all the hidden knowledge of the world, remembering all he has ever learnt. Though it will take him a long time to translate them into a manner of communication mortals understand. He speaks few words, but what he says is worth listening to. Domains: treants, trees, deep and hidden magic Symbol: a pair of acorns

----

The Elven Pantheon:

The elven pantheon is the Seldarine – 'the Siblings of the Woods,' consisting of many elven powers, which in most traditions are led by Corellon Larethian. Some say Corellon rules with Sehanine as his consort and second in command, some say Sehanine is one of his daughters, moon elves say his consort is Angharradh who rules alongside him as an equal. Corellon's original consort was Lolth, who Corellon felt ruled with him as an equal and Lolth felt she was being treated as a toy kept in a pretty cage, and it certainly seems/seemed that Corellon’s heart lies far more strongly with his former lover than anybody else (Corellon’s feelings for Lolth were/are… a touch obsessive.) According to other traditions the Seldarine are all actually siblings. Some undercurrents, and a comment from Ed Greenwood, suggests they might be a messy polycule.

Not all elves worship or acknowledge the entire pantheon, nor do they worship them the same or place the same level of emphasis on them. These divisions exist both within larger cultural umbrellas as well as within house politics - some elven houses revere a larger pantheon, and others cherrypick who they worship sometimes to the point of henotheism. More obscure members of the Seldarine are occasionally remembered in specific locations or minorities, such as Vandria Gilmadrith, the other child of Corellon and Lolth who did not go into exile and serves as the elven goddess of vigilance and grief, only really invoked by the occasional mournful elf consumed by betrayal and bereavement.

Sun elves have a rigid hierarchy of gods with Corellon as king, with everyone else in their 'appropriate' rank: Sehanine, Labelas and Hanali being very highly regarded, while 'primitive' gods like Rillifane and Fenmarel go at the bottom of the hierarchy. (Erevan is classified as a migraine.) Lashrael and Felarathael, a pair of solars who serve Corellon, are worshipped by the Ar'Tel'Quessir as gods. -

Moon elves consider Aerdrie, Hanali and Sehanine as aspects of Angharradh, and view her as having equal importance to Corellon. Of these aspects they consider Sehanine Moonbow her primary aspect and moon elves are just generally very enthusiastic about her faith. -

Dark elven communities who worship the Seldarine will often include Eilistraee and Vhaeraun in their own localised pantheon, although the latter may be pacified more than venerated. They've also, historically, included deities less known on Toril like Vandria, Tilvenar/Darahl FIrecloak (god of metalwork, fire, earth and - according to them - subterranean lava flows), and Araleth Letheranil (god of twilight and light, specifically starlight, defender against evil forces, who really hates Lolth). Sehanine was also popular with the dark elves, pre-descent, possibly due to their moon elven ancestry. -

Green and wood elves acknowledge Corellon as the origin point of elvendom, and then completely side-line the entire pantheon including the First of the Seldarine in favour of Rillifane, Solonor and Erevan while focusing the rest of their attention on fey gods and other nature deities. -

Aquatic elves acknowledge that there are other gods, but past a token acknowledgement they worship Deep Sashelas as their patron and head of the Asathalfinare. -

Winged elves pay lip service to the rest of the Seldarine, but their faith is exclusively and deeply focused on Aerdrie Faenya, who they believe gave them their wings.

There are 28 deities total in the Seldarine. 11 are in the 'mainstream' Torilian pantheon who can generally be recognised by everyone, with an extra 3 who are local fey aspects of the Faerûnian pantheon and unique to Toril, plus a pair of twin solars who serve Corellon and hold sanctified status.

Sun elves ascribe the gods a strict hierarchy where Corellon rules over them with Sehanine as his consort and second in command. Moon elves place Angharradh as Queen of Arvandor, and place her and Corellon as having equal authority. Green elves don't really have any interest in Corellon and most of the pantheon at all, prioritising Rillifane and mostly worship the fey pantheon and nature itself. Dark elven communities that worship the Seldarine usually place them behind Eilistraee in importance. Aquatic elven religion is borderline henotheistic in its reverence of Deep Sashelas to the point of almost or entirely excluding the rest of the pantheon. Even within these umbrellas you can find diversity in beliefs and philosophy.

In truth the Seldarine are very loosely organised and most deities spending all their time seeing to their own goals and duties only really gathering and working together when something important comes up, and are loathe to make decisions quickly, devoting decades to centuries of debate and weighing the consequences and ripple effects of every potential choice.

Corellon, alongside Angharradh - either as a whole being or as Sehanine, Aerdrie and Hanali working together in unison - hold seniority and speak for the Seldarine, but there does seem to be something of a democracy going on.

Despite most elves being isolationists, many of the Seldarine are actually in favour of the elves embracing multiculturalism – Corellon takes an active personal interest in learning more of non-elven cultures, Angharradh encourages diversity as a strength, Sehanine and Labelas encourage reaching out to other peoples and fostering understanding and peace (a lesson Labelas learnt from pissing off Clangeddin, who is slow to forgive him despite his shows of contrition). Mortal elves aren’t all that interested in listening, on the whole. Sun elven religion continues to insist that preserving elven culture unchanged, and shunning all others, is a religious duty handed from on-high by the Seldarine. Despite frequently disagreeing with the elves’ decisions, the gods rarely intervene on the grounds of mandated free will (which applies to all deities, really).

‘There are some things the gods cannot prevent, for to do so would be to take all choice from the hands of their mortal children.’ - Angharradh

While often assigned a more frequent gender and pronouns, the Seldarine have no gender, or at least no consistent gender, for example Erevan has been credited with Loki-style shapeshifting parenting shenanigans. Nor, despite them being divine parents and progenitors of the elven race, are they considered mortal elves. Elves consider assigning the Seldarine genders, or depicting them behaving as mortals in the fashion of, say, greek mythology, as humans do with the Faerûnian pantheon, to be hubris and blasphemy – The gods are not mortal, and it’s wrong to try and narrow them into mortal perceptions. (Yet many elves have still managed to blaspheme, which is probably more of an out-of-universe writer bias thing/writers not all being on the same page. Again). Often the Seldarine prefer to manifest as natural phenomena or abstract concepts than humanoids: Colossal trees (Rillifane) and immobile tidal waves (Sashelas), clouds and storms (Aerdrie), azure moonlight or stars (Corellon)… Sehanine is particularly noted to defy attempts to define her with any form of description, let alone the physical.

It's believed that once natural features, such as trees, are old enough that they are capable of hosting the divine essence of the Seldarine, and elves pray by talking to the gods through them.

It has also been said amongst the various things that went on in 4e, but also by Ed Greenwood, that certain members of the pantheon are not the elven gods found in other worlds but elven aspects of the Faerûnian pantheon residing within Corellon's court.

'I envisaged Arvandor as being ruled by Corellon (holding sway over a fey court of elven deities and visiting mortal supplicants and elf spirits, in a vast forest dominated by trees whose leaves glowed a soft blue in moonlight). I saw Sune as dwelling on the plane, and welcome in Corellon’s court as Hanali Celanil, but possessing an essential personal nature disinterested in ruling, dominance, or authority.' - Ed Greenwood

If you use that; Corellon, Angharradh, Solonor Thelandira, Erevan Ilesere, Fenamarel and Shevarash are 'true' members of the Seldarine and others are fey aspects. It's likely that Ao's 'if a newcommer clashes with the porfolio of a pre-existing god then you have to fuse or else fight for the position' rule applied here, and that the Tel'Quessir brought worship of - for example - Sehanine with them and since a moon goddess position was already taken Selûne filled the Sehanine shaped space in their faith while the original elven goddess is actually hanging out on other spheres of existence.

The core elven pantheon of the Realms is as follows:

Corellon Larethian, First of the Seldarine

Sacred Mother and Father, the Protector and Preserver of All Life, Coronal of Arvandor, Creator of All Elves, Ruler of All Elves

'The Tel'Quessir are both wardens and sculptors of magic's end less mysteries. Through Art and Craft, bring forth the beauty that envelops and let the spirit gambol unfettered. The song of joy and the dance of freedom shall ever soar on the wings of those who dare take flight. Guard against the slow death of stultifying sameness by seeking out new experiences and new ways. Ward against those who seek only to destroy in their inability to create and commune with the natural and mystical world. Be ever vigilant in force of arms and might of magic against any return of the banished darkness, and also be strong in heart against the corruption from within which allowed the Spider Queen to foment the chaos and evil of the Crown Wars.'

Portfolio: Magic, music, art, craft, war, poetry, bards, warriors Symbol: Crescent Moon

Parent of elvenkind, patron of artisans and warriors, god of HIgh Magic (and magic in general). Corellon is usually the most revered of the pantheon in any elven community - dark elves obviously notwithstanding.

'While other deities may reflect the joy, delights, and accomplishments of the Fair Folk, Corellon stands as an ever-vigilant watcher over them. His life spirit flows from and into the elves and their lands, and while mortal elves daydream and enter the reverie, Corellon never abandons his watchfulness.'

He spends a lot of time wandering elven homelands and their borders disguised - usually as something like a pixie, or another small and easily dismissed faerie - to patrol for danger as well as observe mortal elves going about their lives, especially artisans and his own priests.

Corellon is soft spoken and noted to be 'always humble,' a description that may vary by the writer or be the result of harshly learnt lessons. He delights in learning new things - opinions and philosophies, techniques and arts - even in interaction with mortals, and is particularly keen to learn about the mortal cultures of the N'Tel'Quessir, who most of his children won't go near.

Corellon maintains friendships and alliances with leaders and members of multiple other pantheons as well as his daughter Eilistraee, and Mystra, due to his position as god of magic and the elven ties to the Weave making magic's health and stability a primary concern. His enemies consist of those who would cause harm to the elves.

His clergy serve as mediators in disputes amongst elves, as well as diplomats, and tend to either involve themselves heavily in the military or in artistic institutions.

Clergy: A 'handful of dark elves.' Sun elves: 33% Moon elves: 30% Green elves: 15% Aquatic elves: 10% Half-elves: 12%

Angharradh, The Triune Goddess

the One and the Three, the Union of the Three, Queen of Arvandor

‘Through unity and diversity there is strength. Be ever vigilant against She Who Was Banished and work together in defending the lands of the Fair Folk from those who would work evil. Celebrate the One and the Three for their collective purpose and individual expressions of life. Through the melding of widely different skills and interests, creativity, life, and artistry are nurtured and new ideas are discovered.’

Portfolio: spring, fertility, planting, birth, defence, wisdom Symbol: Three interconnecting circles laid out in a triangle that points down

The fusion of Sehanine Moonbow, Hanali Celanil and Aerdrie Faenya, who, according to legend, formed during Lolth’s banishment after her betrayal was revealed. The three goddesses joined their power to heal Corellon after he was injured as part of Lolth’s assassination attempt. She incorporates the dogmas, teachings and all the aspects of the three goddesses; an agriculture goddess, a warrior, an advisor. Individualism and community. Birth, life, death. etc. A handful of elves from all subraces find themselves called to Angharradh, however she is almost exclusively worshipped by moon elves. Sun elves place Sehanine in her place, and think the moon elves are just being careless (or blasphemous) with their religious lore. She isn't mentioned in any other elven traditions, and other elves have no idea she exists.

A priestess of Angharradh is also a priestess of Hanali, Sehanine or Aerdrie.

She is patron of a moon elven tradition of druidesses specialising in runic magic, who serve their family and communities as spiritual guides dispensing advice and blessings (agriculture, war, journeys, love problems, childbirth, marriages, etc).

Sehanine Moonbow, Daughter of the Night Skies [Selûne]

Goddess of Moonlight, the Lunar Lady, Moonlit Mystery, the Mystic Seer, the Luminous Cloud, Lady of Dreams

'Life is series of mysteries whose secrets are veiled by the Luminous Cloud. As the spirit transcends its mortal bounds and new mysteries are uncovered, a higher form is achieved and the cycle of life continues. Through contemplation and meditation, communion with the Lady of Dreams is achieved. Through dreams, visions, and omens revealed in sleep or the reverie, the Daughter of the Night Sky unveils the next step along the path and the next destination on the endless journey of mystic wonder that is life and death and life. Revere the mysterious moon, who draws forth tides or being from us all.'

Portfolio: Mysticism, dreams, death, journeys, transcendence, the moon, the stars, the heavens, moon elves Symbol: Full moon with moonbow

The primary aspect of Angharradh. In some traditions, particularly sun elven faiths, Sehanine is the consort of Corellon Larethian and the second in command. In others she's his child, and in others she's his sibling. She protects and guides elves in reverie and life's journeys and in death; governs divination magics and sends visions and omens of fore coming danger to elves; protects elven lands with veils of enchantments and illusions; 'protects against madness'; and is patron deity of moon elves.

Sehanine is 'cherished' by almost all elves, and believed to be embodied in the elven spirit with enjoins the People as a whole; 'the joy at the heart of the elven spirit.'

She is sacred to moon elves above all others, their devout reverence of her as a culture was what led to their name. She once saw similar devotion from dark elves, who came about from moon elves intermarrying with the green elven Ilythiiri tribe, though that's long gone.

While she is considered sacred to the moon elves above others, particularly as the guardian who watches over elves on journeys, she is also greatly revered by sun elves as the protector of elven homelands who keeps them hidden from the outside world.

Sehanine refuses to be defined by descriptions and almost never voices her opinion directly, preferring only to communicate via dreams, omens and visions.

She is known for her patient kindness and motherly habits and puts the most effort into reaching out to the Seldarine's most estranged members; considering EIlistraee an adopted child, coaxing Fenmarel back to Arvandor on occasion, and soothing Shevarash's temper.

As a god of death, she obviously has enmity with gods who tamper with it via undeath like Velsharoon and Myrkul. She tolerates careful exploration of white necromancy (geared more towards healing magic and soothing lost souls, plus the occasional animation of undead like baelnorn liches when such a sacrifice must be made), but has no patience for black necromancy and the torments it delivers on the souls it damns.

Moon elves: 54% Sun elves: 34% Green and wood elves: 5% Half-moon elves: 4%

With other elves and half-elves making up 1% respectively.

Labelas Enoreth, the Sage at Sunset [Lathander/Amaunator]

The Lifegiver, Lord of the Continuum, the One-Eyed God, the Philosopher

'The march of time is inexorable, but the blessings of the Lifegiver enable the children of Corellon to live long and fruitful lives, unmarked by the passage of years. Record and preserve the lessons of history, and draw lessons from that which has unfolded. In the end, the sun always sets before the next day dawns anew. When you follow Labelas's teachings, time is on your side.'

Portfolio: Time, longevity, 'the moment of choice,' history Symbol: a setting sun

It is believed that when the first elves were born that Labelas used his mastery over time to bless them with their long lifespans, decreeing that their physical forms would be untouched by the passing of time. He works closely with Sehanine, overseeing the passage of elven lives as they move closer to death and deciding when this life and time on Toril has reached its end (and then perhaps when their next life has begun - sunset to sunrise). He apparently traded an eye for the ability to see through time, and is believed to know the future and past of all elves and fey, is worshipped by sages, historians, librarians and is patron to sun elves who particularly revere him. He focuses not on individual lives, but on the 'transgenerational changes and the growth of learning and wisdom among elves.'

As with Sehanine, undeath is blasphemy to Labelas' doctrine and he hates Myrkul.

Sun elves: 40% Moon elves: 30% Wood elves: 12% Sea elves: 10% Half-elves: 7% Drow, Avariel and half-drow: 1%

Aerdrie Faenya, the Winged Mother [Akadi]

'The ever-changing reaches of the sky are the great gift of the Winged Mother. Take flight into her windswept embrace, and gambol amidst the everchanging clouds. Honor those who dwell with the Lady of Air and Wind and cherish the birds who dance on her tresses. In change there is beauty and in chaos there is the birth of new life. Ascend, soar, glide, dive, and ascend again and relish in the freedom that the Winged Mother bequeaths. The air is the breath of life.'

Portfolio: air, weather, avians, rain, fetrility, the avariel Symbol: the silhouette of a bird on a cloud.

Aerdrie is the flighty patron deity of the winged elves, and mostly disinterested in everybody else, though she does patrol the oceans around Evermeet in avatar form alongside her fellow deities, protecting the elves of the isle and has had to branch out and encourage worship amongst non-winged elves since the avariel are almost extinct at this stage. She is primarily worshipped by farmers and other elves seeking good weather.

Moon elves: 40% Sun elves: 38% Dark elves and half-elves: 8% Winged elves*: 4%

*While they worship her more than anybody else, the avariel are almost extinct.

Rillifane Rallathil, the Leaflord [Silvanus]

'The Great Oak draws energy from all the living creatures of the world and nourishes, sustains, and protects them from outside threats. Live in harmony with the natural world, allowing each living being the opportunity to serve out its natural purpose in life. As the Leaflord's countless branches, his faithful are to serve as his mortal agents in the natural world Defend the great forests from those who would ravage their riches, leaving only destruction in their path. Contest both the quick and the slow death of Rillifane's bounty and hold strong like the great oaks in the face of those who can see only their own immediate needs.'

Portfolio: nature, woodlands, druids, green elves Symbol: an oak tree

Guardian of nature and patron of the green elves, he is pictured in elven philosophy as a giant metaphysical oak tree within Arvandor, whose roots are part of every mortal tree upon the material plane. It is part of the ebb and flow of natural cycles and seasons, and sustains the world against disease, predation and assault.

Rillifane is the most grounded member of the pantheon, and spends most of his time navel gazing, preferring to let his priests get on with it without him pushing and prodding them. The only time he'll directly act on Toril is to intervene when an elven habitat is under heavy threat.

He contains multiple aspects as great spirits who usually take the form of great animals, which are worshipped by the green elves. It's believed that there is some holy connection between individual elves and one of these aspects, and that these spirits act as patrons, guides and protectors.

Green and wood elves: 52% Moon elves: 26% Lythari*: 8% Sun elves: 6% Half-elves: 4% Dark elves and others: 1%

Solonor Thelandira, the Great Archer

Keen-Eye, the Forest Hunter

'Walk in harmony with nature and oppose the efforts of those who would disturb her delicate balance. Preserve the wild places from excessive encroachment, and work with those who would settle the land to preserve the beauty that first attracted them. Hunt only for sustenance, culling the old and the weak from the herd so that all species may prosper. Like an arrow in flight, it is difficult to arrest the consequences of an action. Choose your targets carefully, for an ill-considered action can have a long-reaching impact.'

Portfolio: archery, hunting, wilderness survival, wood elves Symbol: a silver arrow with green fletching

Solonor concerns himself with maintaining a careful balance between settled interests and uncultivated nature; keeping the integrity of the natural world safe from careless exploitation while also seeing to the needs of people.

He guards the borders of elven homelands, alongside Corellon, Fenmarel and Shevarash, and works with Rillifane to care for the natural world.

Naturally, he's prayed to by hunters and rangers, and over the years some humans have also begun praying to him. Elves hoping to remain hidden in hostile territory also make offerings.

He's said to be the brother of Fenmarel Mestarine, and is noted to be kindred spirits with Eilistraee, which has been interpreted alternatively as them being half-siblings and/or courting.

He takes issue with senseless destruction and killing for the sake of killing, which has made him and Bhaal enemies.

Moon elves: 33% Wood and green elves: 28% Sun elves: 22% Half-moon: 8% Half-green/wood: 3% Half-sun: 2% Lythari: 3% Dark, winged and aquatic elves: 1%

Deep Sashelas, Lord of the Undersea

the Dolphin Prince, the Knowledgeable One, Sailor's Friend, the Creator

'Swim the great currents and the shallow seas. Exult in the everchanging beauty and life of the bounteous Undersea. Revel in the joy of creation and increase its myriad aspects. Seek not to hold that which is everchanging, but instead love the change itself. Seek out fellow swimmers who honor the ways of the Lord of the Undersea, and ally with them against those who see only the darkness of the deeps. Follow the way of the dolphin. Promote the use of the seas by all reasonable folk for all time to come; fight those who would hoard its riches or pollute its depths.' -

Portfolio: creation, knowledge, oceans, sea elves Symbol: a dolphin

Sashelas plays little role in the lives of most elves, since his interests lie almost entirely beneath the waves. For surface elves he's the patron of sailors, to whom they make offerings for safe journeys and protection against Umberlee (these offerings, thrown overboard, are collected by sea elves and put to use for the benefit of their community).

While a member of his own pantheon, Sashelas is also the head of his own pantheon of aquatic deities called the Asathalfinare: comprised of the likes of deities of merfolk, selkies, tritons, etc. He spends most of his time focused on the wellbeing of aquatic elven communities and creating new art projects like underwater cave systems chasing his whims.

He's notorious for being unable to keep it in his pants, much to the extreme annoyance of his wife and the great entertainment of the rest of the Seldarine, who view his marital drama as one of their favourite soap operas.

Only aquatic elves (and half-elves) are part of his priesthood.

The Asathalfinare, which is not given a whole lot of focus so can be covered here, consists of:

Trishina, goddess of dolphins, and Sashelas' consort. Eadro, god of locathah and merfolk. Persana, god of tritons. Surminare, goddess of selkies. Water Lion, who is just weird.

The gods cooperated for the strength of their respective peoples, and to organise against their common enemies in Umberlee and the sahuagin god Sekolah.

(As this post is long as fuck and the sea elves are basically never relevant I'm just going to leave it at that.)

Hanali Celanil, Lady Goldenheart [Sune]

the Heart of Gold, Winsome Rose, Archer of Love, Kiss of Romance

'Life is worth living because of the beauty found in the world and the love that draws twin hearts together. Nurture what is beautiful in life, and let beauty's glow enliven and brighten the lives of those around you. The greatest joy is the rapture of newfound love and the tide of romance that sweeps over those wrapped in its embrace. Seek out and care for love wherever it takes root and bring it to its fullest bloom so that all may share in the joy and beauty it creates. Always give shelter and succour to young lovers, for their hearts are the truest guides to life's proper course.'

Portfolio: fine art, artists, beauty, romantic love Symbol: a golden heart

Hanali's primary worshippers are artists (which for elves means sculptors more than anything else), bards, dancers, actors and lovers. While there's definitely a sexual component to Hanali's realm of influence, she is the goddess of love and apparently frowns upon empty hedonism.

Appropriately for a love goddess, Hanali delights in seeing love and affection growing between people and her avatar often manifests in secret to protect elven lovers from those who would tear them apart. Her clergy are also under instructions to protect and aid lovers, regardless of any social stigma.

Depictions of Hanali in religious art show her with one finger resting on her chest, pointing at her heart and the other pointing to one ear, indicating that she is 'ever receptive to the prayers of lovers.'

Hanali herself has had trysts with nigh every member of the Seldarine, though her strongest affections lie with Erevan.

Sun elves: 30% Moon elves: 28% Half-sun: 17% Half-moon: 15% Green and wood: 7% Half-wood: 2% Everyone else: 1%

Erevan Illesere, the Trickster

The Chameleon the Green Changeling, the Evershifting Shapechanger, the Fey Jester, the Jack of the Seelie Court

‘Change and excitement are the spice of life. Live on the edge, unbound by the conventions of society in a spirit of constant self-reinvention. Puncture the self-righteousness, sanctimony, and pretension that pervades orderly society with mischievous pranks that both amuse and enlighten. Inspire laughter and happiness, giddy silliness, and welcome release from care so that the routine of day-to-day existence does not become worn so deep that it grinds all the joy from life. Celebrate the spontaneous, and practice random acts of helpfulness.’

Portfolio: Change, Mischief, Rogues Symbol: Nova star with asymmetrical rays

Patron god of rogues and adventurers, elven high society sometimes struggles to understand - no disrespect meant - why they have this deity. Primarily worshipped by troublemakers and those elves bored with the slow pace of elven society.

Erevan has no attention span; he's 'utterly unpredictable'; would rather spend his time partying and drinking and can be easily bribed with wine; gives aid when and where he feels like it and quickly gets annoyed and starts ignoring people when they rely on his divine aid too often; and enjoys setting up pranks, especially if they illustrate the flaws of people or rain on the parade of those who think themselves more important than anyone else.

His flightiness and propensity for pranking his fellow gods has led the Seldarine to lose patience, so Erevan is usually found in the company of gods with similar senses of restlessness, chaos and fun (Tymora, Shaundakul, the gnome pantheon, etc).

The only consistent description of Erevan is that he always wears something green - other than that he's a shapeshifter who never looks the same.

The only thing Erevan takes seriously is bullying. He's protective of small, vulnerably elven communities, and always champions the underdog. When said underdogs are threatened Erevan's flighty love of harmless pranks immediately cease to be 'harmless.' His championing of the underdog also makes him Eilistraee's closest friend.

Moon elves: 45% Green and wood elves: 30% Half-elves: 15% Sun elves: 9% Other: 1%

Fenmarel Mestarine, the Lone Wolf

‘The world is a harsh and unforgiving place, with uncompromising demands on those who would forge their own path. Rely not on others for protection, for betrayal comes easily, but on you own skills and those taught to you by the Lone Wolf: the skills of camouflage, deception and secrecy. Follow the way of the Lone Wolf, for his is the path of self-sufficiency. Fear not hard work, for the fruits of your labor prove your worth to yourself.’

Portfolio: Outcasts, Scapegoats, Isolation Symbol: A pair of eyes in darkness

Fenmarel was once a lover of Lolth before her attempted coup, who was almost tricked into betraying Corellon on her behalf, but panicked and backed out. Out of guilt, and the belief that Corellon resents him for his affair, Fenmarel left Arvandor for Limbo in self-exile. His relationship with Corellon is strained, and he resents Lolth and extends this to the dark elves.

Fenmarel is bitter, sullen, hates company of any kind, and has no sense of humour, always expecting the worst. He avoids commitments, but does extend his patronage to elven exiles and outcasts who find themselves without a community, serving as their protector while he teaches them how to survive in the wilderness and how to lie and hide amongst hostile company.

Followers of Fenmarel are viewed with suspicion and hostility by other elves who encounter them, as their choice of god is itself an admission of great wrongdoing and there's a strong chance these elves were banished from their communities for serious crime/s.

Green elves: 53% Moon elves: 22% Half-elves: 10% Lythari: 8% Sun elves: 6% Other: 1% Fenmarel hates the drow, and probably doesn't accept any.

Shevarash, the Black Archer

The Night Hunter, the Arrow Bringer

'The greatest enemy of the Seldarine is Lolth, who sought the corruption of Arvandor and the overthrow of the Creator. The greatest enemy of the Fair Folk is the drow, the debased followers of the Spider Queen who long ago were enmeshed in her dark web. Redemption and revenge may be achieved through the utter destruction of the drow and the dark powers they serve. Only then may the joy of life begin anew. Hunt fearlessly!'

Portfolio: Vengeance, Military crusades, Loss, Revenge, 'Hatred of drow' Symbol: A broken arrow before a teardrop

Shevarash was once a mortal green elf, known for his carefree nature and love of life, whose family was slaughtered by drow during a historical event known as the Dark Court Slaughter. In response he prayed to Corellon that he would never to smile again until Lolth and every single drow was dead, and spent the rest of his life hunting dark elves. Instead of sending him to therapy, when he died Corellon had him promoted to god. Sages believe that Shevarash may have been deified as a sort of lightnign rod for the surface elves' hatred of their cousins, keeping them from reaching the level of hatred seen in the Crown Wars so that Lolth has less to work with in corrupting more elves.

Shevarash has been forced to play nice with Eilistraee and is forbidden to harm her followers, but he doesn't like it.

While a member of the Seldarine he's not that close to them. He views Fenmarel as a superior, Solonor as a mentor, and is receptive to Sehanine's attempts to comfort him and get him to calm down already.

His entire personality revolves around how much he hates drow and anything to do with them, which has earned him pragmatic alliances with gods who are opposed to Lolth and/or are in conflict with drow, but not much friendship.

Except Shar, who he's sleeping with for her ability to numb his pain, which is causing something of an ongoing freakout amongst his pantheon.

Green elves: 33% Moon elves: 32% Sun elves: 29% Half-elves: 6%

Naturally there is absolutely zero chance in hell that Shevarash is accepting dark elves as priests, even if any would apply. Half-drow also need not apply.

And the members who are Toril exclusive:

Khalreshaar [Mielikki]

'Intelligent beings can live in harmony with the wild without requiring the destruction of one in the name of the other. Embrace the wild and fear it not, because the wild ways are the good ways. Keep the Balance and learn the hidden ways of life, but stress the positive and outreaching nature of the wild. Do not allow the trees to be needlesly felled or the forest burned. Live in the forest and be a part of the forest, but do not dwell in endless battle against the forest. Protect forest life, defend every tree, plant anew where death fells a tree, and restore the natural harmony that fire-users and woodcutters often disrupt. Live as one with the woods, teach others to do so, and punish and curtail those that hunt for sport or practice cruelties on wild creatures.'

Mielikki’s elven aspect; according to the oldest legends she's a human druid who died defending elven woodlands from the encroachment of human civilisation and was honoured with godhood by Corellon.

After the Time of Troubles a different version of her story rapidly gained popularity, one that says she's the daughter of Hanali Celanil and Silvanus, a half-elven goddess. This version of her story is immensely popular with half-elves, who eagerly claim her as a half-elven god, while many 'trueblood' elves (yes, that's a term they use) 'dismay.'

Zandilar the Dancer [Sharess]

'Life is to be lived to its fullest. That which is good is pleasurable and that which is pleasurable is good. Spread the bounty of the goddess so that all may join in the Endless Revel of Life and bring joy to all those in pain. Infinite experiences await those who would explore, so try the new as well as savouring the old.

Sharess’ elven aspect. Once a goddess of the Yuir pantheon who joined the Seldarine, and later fused with the Mulhorandi goddess Bast to survive when Vhaeraun nearly killed her. In contrast to Hanali, who is romantic, enduring love, Zandilar is passion that burns bright then burns out.

Avachel, ‘Quicksilver’ [Hlal/Aasternian]

The elven aspect of the draconic deity of learning, invention and pleasure; a trickster and patron of copper dragons, Hlal, sometimes known as Aasternian, who found her way into the pantheon by association with her bestie, Erevan. The two tend to do each others’ pantheon’s heads in with their pranks and humour, and generally find each others’ company more welcoming. In her elven aspect Hlal goes by male pronouns more often than not, and is represented as a mercury dragon. His adventures with the Fey Jester are the topic of many elven legends. Followers are encouraged to wander and follow their curiosity, as well as always thinking for themselves. The worst sin one could commit is in not trusting in yourself and allowing another to determine your life and thoughts for you.

Lashrae and Felarathael

A pair of solars loyal to Corellon who serve as messengers, worshipped by sun elves as members of the pantheon.

Usually dispatched as divine messengers and guardians whenever Corellon needs to make an important pronouncement to somebody for whatever reason. Lashrae is extremely emotional in manner and behaviour; Felarathel is stoic and coldly logical, although he makes reassuring company apparently.

They're also known for putting people in enchanted sleeps, teleporting them miles away, turning them into woodland animals, or robbing them of memories. Usually hostile creatures.

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The Dark Seldarine

Not a pantheon in the sense that the other two are. The term is simply used to group together the deities most commonly associated with drow, none of these entities are allies*. Whereas a worshipper of the Seldarine can honour all the elven gods, the seelie court and any other deities relevant to their lives, a worshipper of the Dark Seldarine may find this a struggle as none of the drow gods want to share with each other. They can't even share a plane, with each deity living alone. The closest to an alliance in there is Selvetarm being enslaved by Lolth. *That said, Eilistraee and Vharaun are supposed to have worked out their differences and possibly even be friends by the time the 15th century's rolled around. It hasn't turned up on paper so far, but that's what was planned for them.

Lolth is the most powerful and infamous, and generally the only known drow deity to non-drow (and a great deal of her own drow worshippers, honestly). Selvetarm and Kiaransalee begrudgingly recognise her authority and serve her, while the twins and Ghaunadaur don't but lack the power to challenge her directly.

They're not hands-off gods. Eilistraee alone keeps her distance in order to afford her followers their freedom ('she acknowledges the need for individual drow to find their own path to redemption that heavy-handed interference on her part would preclude') and doesn't object to them worshipping other gods alongside her, but the rest of the Dark Seldarine demand 'absolute obedience and exclusive veneration in exchange for great power' and tend to show up in person and directly meddle a fair bit. If a specific church has control of a city then all other gods are off the table (Menzoberranzan is a Lolth stronghold; Llurth Dreier is Ghaunadan; V'elddrinnsshar is Kiaransaleen) When more than one church has significant presence in a settlement it usually tears said settlement apart due to the conflict.

The Dark Seldarine has origins in the War of the Seldarine when Lolth - then Araushnee, goddess of destiny and artisans and patron godess of the dark elves - attempted to stage a coup and claim power from her lover, Corellon (it was not a healthy relationship on either side). She was aided by their son Vhaeraun, who between one parent neglecting him and the other verbally and physically abusing him, resented them both enough to have no problem backstabbing the one and allying with the other with the aim to stab her in the back later. Eilistraee, trying to earn the attention and affection of both parents, was easily manipulated into becoming a pawn and seemingly assassinated her father. While Corellon was willing to overlook her part and Sehanine defended her against accusations of guilt, Eilistraee was exiled with her mother and twin both at her own request (because the dark elves would need divine aid to counter Lolth) and Vharaun's demand (to spite Corellon for favouring his sister).

The twins were permitted to simply leave, and Vhaeraun left with his unconscious sister to places unknown. Their mother, on the other hand, was transformed into a demon and banished to the Abyss.

Sages estimate these events occurred between -30,000 DR and -29,500 DR.

Eilistraee and Vharaun remained within elven knowledge and were worshipped for aeons. Araushnee worked her way to the title of Demon Lord in the Abyss, along the way picking up a drow necromancer from another world (Kiaransalee) and suffering the advances and then the enmity of the primordial evil Ghaunadaur, who - unbeknownst to Lolth - had also been cultivating worship on Toril since at least as early as -25,100 DR.

Lolth first noticed the existence of Toril in -24,400 DR after the incursion of a moon elf in the Abyss, and then turned her attention towards corrupting the elves to spite Corellon.

When, exactly these various deities began to be classified as a pantheon is unknown to me, but it was likely formed at some point during the Crown Wars as the Ilythiiri, formerly worshippers of Eilistraee and Vhaeraun - before the First Sundering and the Dark Disaster destroyed the twins' worshipper bases and took them out of the picture for eons - fell further and further under the control of the cults of Ghaunadaur, Lolth and Kiaransalee and started to build coherent religions out of these new deities (many dark elves died to divine smiting whenever their blind efforts to understand their new goddess offended).

With the Descent of the Drow and the dark elves splintering into various hostile factions and cities, worship of the Dark Seldarine has developed into countless different forms and all the religions (and the sects within those religions) view each other poorly. Lolthites, for example, claim that Lolth is the only true deity and that the other 'gods' are pretenders, the Seldarine in disguise trying to tempt them away with lies and trickery, demons in Lolth's service, and so on so forth... assuming they're aware that other gods exist.

Like the Seldarine, there are other dark elven gods, but I haven't heard of them on Toril so I'm assuming they aren't known or worshipped.

Lolth, the Spider Queen

Quarvalsharess, Weaver of Chaos, the Mother of Lusts, Dark Mother of All Drow, Demon Queen of the Abyss, Queen of the Demonweb Pits

'Fear is as strong as steel, while love and respect are soft, useless feelings that none can lean on. All drow who do not worship Lolth must be converted or destroyed. All weak and rebellious drow must be weeded out. All who impugn the faith must perish. Males or slaves of other races who act independently of Lolth's dictates (and those of her priests) must be sacrificed to Lolth. Those of the faithful whose loyalty is weak must be eliminated. Children are to be raised as loyal worshipers of Lolth, and each family should produce at least one priest to serve the Spider Queen better than his or her parents. Arachnids of all sorts are to be revered, and anyone who mistreats or kills a spider must die. '

Portfolio: chaos, spiders, evil, darkness, dark elves, (formerly: destiny) Symbol: A black spider with a drow woman's head Realm: 'The Demonweb Pits,' in the Abyss

Formerly Corellon's consort Araushnee, the Weaver of Destiny, patron deity of dark elves and goddess of artisans and fate who felt suffocated and resentful in her position and decided to stage a coup to claim power for herself.

The most well known of the Dark Seldarine and generally the only drow god anyone's heard of. A bottomless pit of sadism and ambition and all around terrible mother who enjoys terrorising everybody and watching the world dissolve into chaos and bloodshed for her own personal hunger games.

Zinzerena, the Hunted

The Princess of Outcasts

'Raise yourself up by bringing others down. Don't reveal your strength, or your hatred, until your victim is helpless. Don't strike until you have the advantage the only fair fight is the one you win. Once the trap is sprung, make time to gloat before the kill. The legs of the spider are made to be broken.'

Portfolio: Assassins, Lies, Illusion, Humiliation, Ambushes Symbol: A sword draped in a black cloak Realm: The Prime Material Plane

A mortal assassin of legendary skill whose power led her to the bottom rung of godhood (demigod), her divinity and portfolios were usurped by Lolth on Toril, but apparently Zinzerena has returned as an independent demipower due to the Second Sundering.

She is the token neutral god of an evil pantheon (Chaotic Neutral). Information on Zinzerene is hard to get, and the only source on her is from setting-neutral sources or for Greyhawk*, so whether this is accurate or not is hard to tell until - and if - any conflicting Realms-specific information overwrites it. *Zinzerena is not from Torilian drow stock, and it's believed that she was born on Oerth. Some stories claim that she's the demigod child of Lolth herself, hidden and raised away from the Spider Queen's sight until she was old enough to strike out at her mother.

Zinzerena's lore is taught from parent to child through folktales rather than in recorded formal religious texts: a hero to the common people who tricks her way into the ranks of the gods. All her tales seem to involve illusion magic. She is revered by the commoner and those even lower than them, those who toil and suffer under the tyranny of the noble houses and yearn for change.

While she preaches cruelty, such teachings are more in the spirit of surviving in a harsh world rather than cruelty for cruelty's sake.

Her ethos is not incompatible with Vhaeraun, though as a goddess of rogues she's likely to be seen as competition for the same followers and he may be more interested in keeping her down (as a goddess she will likely be more popular than him with drow women.)

Vhaeraun, the Masked Lord

the Masked God of Night; the Shadow

‘The shadows of the Masked Lord must cast off the tyranny of the Spider Queen and forcibly reclaim their birthright and rightful place in the Night Above. The existing drow matriarchies must be smashed, and the warring practices of twisted Lolth done away with so that the drow are welded into a united people, not a squabbling gaggle of rival Houses, clans, and aims. Vhaeraun will lead his followers into a society where the Ilythiiri once again reign supreme over the other, lesser races, and there is equality between males and females.’

Portfolio: thievery, trickery, drow poisoners and poisons, drow men, and ‘evil doings in the surface world’ Symbol: A mask Realm: 'Ellaniath,' on the prison plane of Carceri

'...why are things so cruel and divisive? Why isn't there more harmony, mutual enjoyment, and common growth in power? Why, after thousands of years, are we still all stuck in this one cavern, at each other's throats all the time when we could be great, rule a vast part of the Underdark, and all live like surface-world kings?' - The questions that earn you an audience with Vhaeraun.

His church is less like a faith and more like a resistance movement, he doesn’t care what you personally think of him and will lend his power to you so long as your goals of overthrowing Lolth align with his (don’t be rude though). Vhaeraunites are forbidden to interact with dwarves and gnomes for some reason (which Vhaeraunites have been known to ignore, maybe because the writers forgot about this?), though intermarriage with surface elves to bring them into the fold and alliances with the shadier side of humanity are relatively common, and Vhaeraun accepts converts from them. He and Mask often exploit their overlapping portfolios and masquerade as each other in an attempt to poach followers and usurp each others place. Vhaeraun in particular is trying to leverage it to spread his influence through human cultures and secure his people’s footholds. The two also count each other as allies, so it's not bothering them much.

His priests are split into two groups; Darkmasks and Masked Traitors. The latter is comprised of priestesses of Lolth who have secretly defected. Vhaeraun lends his aid so that they can go undetected within the hierarchy of Lolth’s church and serve as spies and saboteurs. Darkmasks are his more obvious priests who serve him openly; mostly drow, of whom all are male, with some humans, half-drow and elves (which does include women).

Vhaeraun himself has mood ring hair and eyes – they change colour depending on his current emotions. He’s vain and a bit hypocritical (he and his followers can use whatever underhanded methods they please to advance, but if you use them on his followers he’ll lose his shit and tear your neck out. Some of his followers say he is a caring god (to them)). He also has a bad temper and bears grudges a mile long, especially against his neglectful father, his abusive mother, Sehanine (who he failed to keep imprisoned), his son (who ended up being enslaved by Lolth), his sister (who was 'the favourite')... a lot of people.

Since the War of the Spider Queen – when he and Eilistraee sort-of ended up the same entity and apparently developed an ‘understanding,’ deep enough to even merit the term ‘friendship,’ - he has apparently softened a touch and encourages his followers to extend their reach by presenting themselves as helpful rather than as conquerors and rogues (even if they're only pretending to be 'good' as a mask to divert scrutiny from their less savoury activities) and he advises them to leave Eilistraeeans alone. Whether said followers are listening to those commands is another matter.

Eilistraee, the Dark Maiden

Lady Silverhair, Lady of the Dance

'Be always kind, except in battle with evil. Encourage happiness everywhere. Learn and teach new songs, dances, and the flowing dance of skilled swordwork. Promote harmony between the races. Befriend strangers, shelter those without homes, and feed the hungry. Repay rudeness with kindness. Repay violence with swift violence so that those who cause it are swiftly dealt with. Aid drow in distress and give them the Lady's message: 'A rightful place awaits you in the Realms Above, in the Land of the Great Light. Come in peace and live beneath the sun again where trees and flowers grow.'

Porfolio: song, beauty, dance, swordwork, hunting, moonlight, fertility and motherhood Symbol: a silver long sword against a full moon, with silvery filaments surrounding it in a nimbus Realm: 'The Court of the Dance,' in Ysgard

Token good party member. Eilistraee tries to be a caring mother figure to the drow, who she attempts to pull away from the Dark Seldarine's influence and put into therapy and PR schemes so that they can return to the surface and live peaceful lives.

Eilistraee is melancholy and brooding more often than not, kind natured but with a temper simmering under the surface. Happiness comes to her while watching musicians, craftsmen, and acts of kindness and love.

She tries to give her worshippers as much space and personal freedom as possible, and when those followers are harmed she will lash out. Not always directly, but Eilistraee often lends her aid to beings she favours in small, practical ways.

She has a bizarre aversion to clothes that we've all been judging Ed Greenwood for for years.

Selvetarm, Champion of Lolth

The Spider that Waits, the Spider Demon, Prince of the Aranea, Lord of the Venomire

'War is the ultimate expression of individual power, and only through battle and death can one realize the respect of one's comrades. Hone fighting skills constantly and teach those who will follow into the fray. Never give or receive quarter, and die amidst the bloodlust of battle against overwhelming odds. Cultivate as many different weapon tricks and combat manoeuvres as a spider has arms, and never fear that hidden venom, like a secret vengeance waiting to strike, will serve you ill.'

Portfolio: Warriors Symbol: Spider in front of a crossed sword and mace. Realm: The Demonweb Pits

Patron of drow warriors and a symbol of ultimate prowess in combat.

Selvetarm is the son of Vhaeraun and Zandilar, who attempted to seduce Vhaeraun in an act of intrigue that nearly killed her. Their son wandered the world alone, ignoring and seemingly being ignored in the conflict between the two pantheons he was born between and eventually came across a fellow outcast in the form of Eilistraee. His aunt successfully befriended him and hoped that maybe he could be part of healing the rift between dark elves and their cousins. Lolth thought so too, and also really didn't like the idea of Eilistraee having any allies, so she decided to ruin everything.

His grandmother convinced him that a demon lord, Zanassu (who just so happened to have pissed her off by claiming to have lordship over spiders) should be slain by him so that he could take the demon's essence, empowering himself and making himself more useful and more impressive to his aunt, whose approval he craved. Taking on Zanassu's essence, as intended, corrupted him into something malicious and destructive, and the battle weakened him enough that Lolth was able to step in and enslave his will to hers. She made him her personal bodyguard and slave.

Selvetarm is perpetually angry and spiteful. He hates everything that lives, and especially hates Lolth more than anything. The only good thing in the world to him is the skill of a trained fighter. He can be extremely patient if he really has to, but hates doing so and would rather just go into a raging murder frenzy. If called on by his priests he'll generally either manifest and deal with the issue himself or totally ignore the prayer.

His clergy are usually a minor subset of Lolth's clergy, being seen as her followers as just another demon under her command. More recently his followers have begun pushing back working on establishing their own communities independent of the Spider Queen. She isn't taking kindly to that.

Kiaransalee, the Revenancer

Lady of the Dead, the Vengeful Banshee

'Death comes to all, and cruel vengeance will be exacted on those who waste their lives on the petty concerns of this existence. True power comes only from the unquestioning servitude of the once-dead, mastery over death, and the eventual earned stature of one of the ever-living in death. Hunt, slay, and animate those who scorn the Revenancer's power, and answer any slight a thousandfold so that all may know the coming power of Kiaransalee.'

Portfolio: Undeath, Revenge Symbol: The hand of a drow woman, bearing many silver rings on her fingers. Realm: 'Thanatos,' in the Abyss

Kiaransalee was a mortal dark elven queen from a different world called Threnody who decided to start practicing necromancy and experimenting on the populace and was exiled by her husband and proclaimed drow. She responded to that by turning all of Threnody into an dead wasteland and then fled to the Abyss when the Seldarine informed her they were decidedly unhappy about that. Within the Abyss she garnered enough power to become a minor divinity, and met the exiled Araushnee/Lolth who forced her into vassalage. The two have a terrible working relationship, and Kiaransalee would love to rip the Spider Queen's heart out and eat it; to that end she beat the shit of the demon lord of undeath Orcus and stole his house, establishing herself as an elven goddess of undeath.

Her followers are few, mostly being found in small settlements and hidden enclaves and they tend to have a laser focus on the undead, usually becoming undead themselves.

She counts Jergal amongst her enemies, likely a combination of squabbling over closely linked offices and a disagreement over the role of undeath. (Kiaransalee, like most necromancers, sees it as mastery over death while Jergal is all about the nihilism and death of everything, undeath is just another temporary state and undead that exist without his permission/outside of his service are blasphemous).

Ghaunadaur, the Elder Eye

That Which Lurks, the Ancient One

'All creatures have their place, and all are fit to wield power. Those who hunt weed out the weak and strengthen the stock of all. Those who rebel or who walk apart find new ways and try new things and do most to advance their races. Creatures of power best house the energy of life, which Ghaunadaur reveres and represents.' 'The faithful of Ghaunadaur are to make sacrifices to the Eye, persuade others to sacrifice themselves to Ghaunadaur or in service of the Eye, further the knowledge and fear of Ghaunadaur, and in the end give themselves to Ghaunadaur in unresisting self-sacrifice. Priests of Ghaunadaur are to convert all beings that they can to worship Ghaunadaur. They must slay all clergy of other faiths, plundering their temples and holdings for wealth to better their own lot and to further the worship of Ghaunadaur.'

Portfolio: Outcasts, Rebels, Oozes, Slimes, Jellies, Ropers, Anything subterranean Symbol: An eye on a purple background Realm: 'The Cauldron of Slime,' on the Paraelemental Plane of Ooze

A primordial evil with dominion over oozes and slimes who has been plaguing Toril with his presence since the dawn of its existence. Ghaunadaur is am amorphous giant blob of dark purple covered in tentacles. Within Realmspace he also controls the cults of the Demon Lord, Jubilex, and the Elder Elemental God, Tharizdun, as these two eldritch horrors have no presence on Toril themselves.

It's believed on Toril that beings such as gelatinous cubes and mustard jellies were once sapient, but when Ghaunadaur attempted to usurp the newly-made Demon Lord Lolth by seducing her and she said she wasn't interested in fucking a giant puddle of slime he threw a temper tantrum and stripped them of all sentience for something to hurt, which destroyed his own power in the process since they were no longer able to worship him. Nowadays he's taking them from Lolth.

Ghaunadaur's behaviours and intentions can be impossible for humanoids to wrap their heads around. Ghaunadaur cannot communicate with words (or not many) telepathically communicating with blunt and simple messages of three words of less. Sometimes it sends its greatest aid in exchange for empty lip service and sometimes it eats those who pray to it without any warning. Ghaunadaur almost always appears in person when called upon by its followers. Its titular eye may appear on its altars, and making eye contact and not looking away fast enough causes a host of random effects like: dropping dead, going into a coma, rapid aging, going into a blind murderous rage against everyone around you, panic attacks and generalyl losing your mind in a manner similar to failing a Sanity check when playing Call of Cthulhu.

In exchange for whatever its giving its followers - 95% of whom are men, although Ghaunadaur himself doesn't care what your gender is - Ghaunadaur expects constant praise accompanied by being fed sacrifices, with the expectation being that in the end you will be sacrificed.

#long post #For the life of me I still don't know WHY you'd worship Ghaunadaur #WARNING: Small novel #When I said they had a stupid amount of deities I was not lying #Sometimes a DnD race can have too much lore #lore stuff #pointy eared stuff

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