#katolis castle

[elvesdragonsanddarkmagic]

WIP of Katolis Castle

T-posing Callum for scale

[chocolatecake47]

Maybe with all the craziness that was this season nobody else is thinking about this but like the castle Burned Down. All of Callum’s sketchbooks full of drawings and memories of his mother and family are gone. All of Ezran’s childhood toys are gone. The wall with portraits of the royal family going back generations is gone. The home where Soren, Callum, and Ezran grew up has been burned down. The place where Harrow and Sarai fell in love. The place Ezran was born. The bedroom Callum and Ezran shared throughout their childhoods. The rooms they’ve probably had a million meals in. The gardens they’ve probably spent hours playing in. The last few belongings they had of their dead parents.  The hallway where they met Rayla. 

Houses may just be buildings. But homes are keepers and founders of thousands of memories and feelings and nostalgia and sentimentality and so much attachment. I was praying that a side character wouldn’t die this season, like Aanya or Corvus, but this is just as bad. Because the Castle is BURNED DOWN. GONE. DESTROYED. 

It’s devastating. Loosing your home like that must be utterly devastating. Everything has been lost.

And I cannot stop thinking about all of those sketchbooks that have been filled with millions and millions of Callum’s memories and drawings over years and years of hard work, creativity, and love. Drawings of Ezran growing up. Drawing of his mom and both his dads. Drawings of Bait. Drawings of Rayla. All lost to violence and destruction. 

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Brittle - a Narrative of Strength theory

We've all seen the explosion in the S6 trailer by now. Something very big is going BOOM.

And I think I know what it is.

See the ledge in the foreground of the above image? See the ridges on the green hills in the distance? We've seen this before.

I think this is the same ledge that Rayla sat on when she tried to cut off her binding ribbon back in S1.

Remember what she could see from that vantage point, in the distance?

In this recent theory post, I compared the Cosmic Order to King Harrow's Narrative of Strength - two versions of the same concept. And ages ago I had fun creating the theory that Harrow's Narrative of Strength is represented by his castle (Banther Lodge = Narrative of Love).

Lads, I've been thinking about Katolis Castle getting destroyed for five years.

I am so very excited right now. Do I still have time to fill Viren's old dungeon with popcorn kernels?

Speculation time: who blows it up, and how does Ezran handle losing all those chains of rulership?

[wheretwofacesmeet]

[stuck-in-jelly]

Rereading the Season 1-2 novelizations knowing the one I was most excited for has been canceled

[raayllum]

intention vs reception, and breaking the cycle

I think one of the best ways TDP talks about family / cultural dynamics is how things can be taken in ways differently than they were meant to, particularly when it comes to parents and children. Dynamics and interpretations are a two way street, and your reasoning for something may not be something someone else can see, and they’ll make up another reasoning for it on their own end.

We see this pretty specifically with Harrow and Callum.

Harrow puts up a distance because he 1) wants to honour Callum’s possible relationship with his deceased biological father and 2) likely feels guilty over Sarai, and Callum growing up in the shadow of that grief. 

H: Over the years, there have been moments where I let there be a distance between us. Because I’m your stepfather, I was trying to give you the space I thought you needed to love your real father, even though he passed away. Now I wonder if I should have held you closer. I wonder if showing you how much I loved you would have been okay, and would not have disrespected your relationship with him. Callum, I know I’m not your birth father, but in my eyes and in my heart, you are my son. I see myself in you. I’m proud of you. And I love you unconditionally. 

So we know Harrow had nothing but good intentions, but those moments of distance - of Harrow trying to give Callum more thoughtfulness, not less - led to Callum being insecure and distant over his spot in the family, doubtful that Harrow truly thought of him as his son, exacerbated by Harrow’s royal status that Callum was married into through his mother. This was never Harrow’s intention, but Callum responded to how he was being treated and then conjured up his own reasonings that made sense to him to explain it.

E: Callum, why don’t you just call him Dad? C: Because he’s the king. And I’m his stepson. E: I think he would want you to. If you wanted to.

Their full understanding of each other comes too late, but it’s no less meaningful for Callum. Even if discussing and getting there wasn’t easy. 

We see Ezran struggle with this too, of what to take from his father (“I just wish Dad was here - he’d know what to do, y’know?”) as well as what to leave behind (“I don’t want to be that kind of king”). Rayla has a similarly complex relationship with her parents. Is feeling abandoned how Lain and Tiadrin meant to make her feel in Bloodmoon Huntress? Of course not. Was the other side of that when Rayla makes her peace with it supposed to give her this highly dangerous risk taking personality where she’ll go off alone in misguided attempts to protect people? Of course not.

The same way that no matter how angry, Runaan never would’ve wanted her to be Ghosted (he tried multiple times to send her home). He took her off the mission to protect her, not because she was ‘weak.’ The same way that Runaan was the best of his village / culture - a brave and selfless man who wanted to protect his people - and yet could also be cruel and unyielding in the face of innocence that didn’t fit with his preconceived notions. Even the whole “do not show fear” was likely meant to be far more akin to “don’t let fear control you” but as always, cultures are made up of people, and people are flawed and varied in their interpretations, and how they manifest them: 

“It’s okay to miss them,” she said gently.

“But it doesn’t do anything.”

“Feelings aren’t about productivity or results,” she said. Maybe a little ironically considering she was a Moonshadow elf, he thought at first, or maybe exactly why, when she finished. “They’re just our responses. Our reactions. We can only control them so much. And Garlaff knows they aren’t always rational, even if they’re what we feel.”

“I thought Moonshadow elves were against letting your emotions rule you.”

“We are,” she said. “Because it’s about controlling how you respond in the wake of your emotions, but we cannot make ourselves totally unfeeling. No matter how much we may wish we could, sometimes.” She smiled sadly. “But we do sometimes work too hard to control how we respond, to the point of shutting them down. Some of us are better at that than others.”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” he said, his lips twitching upwards. “I’m engaged to Rayla.”

“Which is why if you can’t control it—if you miss someone, in spite of everything—maybe it’s okay. I’ve seen your fear and aspects of your grief rule you, Callum. I’ve never seen you treat anyone worse for it.”

“Yeah, well...” He turned back towards the window. He thought of losing his temper with Ezran at Katolis, or the Caldera; Rayla at the Nexus after Claudia (a grimace tugged at his mouth) told him about Harrow. “I’m a lot better at that than I was when I was a kid.”

—Chapter 11 of “If Time Is Money,” published March 2020

We see this play out with Lissa and her children in particular, even more than with Viren perhaps. Lissa didn’t mean to give Claudia the trauma she did. She was doing her best to do the right thing by giving her children agency alongside Viren, and then trying to help them stay together. But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t massive harm done anyway. 

And it’s these gaps in interpretation and intention versus consequence that make these dynamics real and viable and well, emotionally poignant. We can do massive harm to one another, even when it’s the opposite of our intentions (Viren and Harrow are a fantastic, mutual example of this, and so is Callum and Rayla’s post-TTM fallout). 

Because, especially as these child characters grow older, eventually what we do with those interpretations fully become our own actions. None of them have had to go down the roads they have. Yes, our childhood experiences and the choices our parents make effect us, but we also 100% have the power to make different decisions and grow beyond those interpretations. That’s what Breaking the Cycle is all about. But...

E: Because people are still hurting and they are still angry. We can’t ignore that, or pretend it will go away. 

And I also think this commonality of difference between intention vs reception, shall we say, is also why Harrow’s advice in regards to how to break the cycle and free yourself from the past emphasizes understanding and imagination.

H: Reject the chains of history. Do not let the past define your future, as I did. Free yourself from the past. Learn from it, understand it, then let it go. Create a brighter future from your own hearts and imaginations. 

Over and over, we see characters (mostly antagonists and villains, but not always) insist that things have to go a certain way. We have to do this. I have to do that. This is the way things have always been. We must prevent a terrible future born from apparent weakness. 

History - of our families, of our lives, of ourselves, of our communities - demand certain things, and we can be chained down by those things so easily out of obligation, or fear, or guilt, or trying to find some way to feel loved or important. But, in reality

You just have to be willing to imagine something new, that the cycle can be broken, that you can be something else than what you were. You just have to try - and it is never too late to start trying. 

[kilfeur]

On parle de souvent de Karim pour dire qu'il est rancunier envers Janai mais je trouve que les habitants de Silvergroove sont les plus rancuniers pour ma part. Rayla a ramené Zym avec ses amis à la reine des dragons. Et elle est toujours bannie de son village ?! Ethari semble être le seule qui vient la parler. Mais putain ! J'en ai vu des personnes rancuniers mais pas à ce point là !

Karim is often referred to as holding a grudge against Janai, but I find that the Silvergroove people hold the most grudges. Rayla took Zym and her friends back to the Dragon Queen. And she's still banished from her village?! Ethari seems to be the only one who comes to talk to her. What the hell?! I've seen people hold grudges, but not to this extent!

[dragonfly1302]

Me? Crying? Oh, I’m sorry, it’s just “you’re my daughter” got to me

“They’re all my parents” got to me

“Is that Katolis..?” Got to me

“Daddy I’m scared” got to me

“The castle is just a building, we have to save lives” got to me

“Take care of Hat” got to me

“Take my heart” got to me

[halyasgirl]

If I had to guess, I think Callum will immediately fly for Katolis in season 7, but if he is there for Runaan's fuller debrief...

Rayla: So... when I said Ethari was waiting for you, what I meant was, he thinks you're dead and has for the past two years.

Runaan: *pulling on literally the first shirt he can find and scrambling east toward the Silvergrove*

Rayla: ...And I'm Ghosted, and if you try to go home you may be too.

Runaan: *stares at her in horror*

Rayla: But we're not alone! We have Callum! He saved you! He's a ~mage~

(Runaan has not gotten the memo on humans and magic. Callum is also dressed exactly like Viren, and, to Runaan's eyes, looks just like the man who tortured and imprisoned him. Runaan is one wrong move away from snapping)

Callum: Hi, we've met. ...When you broke into our castle... to kill my family...

Runaan:

Callum: Also I pawned your husband's wedding ring and accidentally killed your dog. Is this a bad time to tell you I'm dating your daughter?

Runaan (holding it together only through years of honed self-control): *turns stiffly and walks into the trees. Moments later a flock of birds fly out, disturbed by a completely unrelated scream that rings through the woods*

[sorinethemastermind]

Soren's Story via Dragon Plushie

The first time we see the appearance of the dragon plushie, it's at the end of the season two episode "Fire and Fury".

Soren has just battled with Pyrrha, and we learn that it was one of his life goals to slay a dragon. Here we see him as a child playing pretend to do just that.

The next time we see the plushie is in the end credits of the episode "Dragonguard" in season three when he joins Team Zym at the Storm Spire. Here he's hugging the little dragon, and on the wiki it's specified that he is "hugging dragon plush after fighting it in Fire and Fury".

In Season Four we begin to see Soren's toy dragon appearing in the actual show, as seen in Viren's dark magic dream sequence. But it also returns to the end credits. In the Season Four episode "Drakewood" an adult Soren can be seen wearing his pajamas and hugging it to him.

This is the same episode in which Soren befriends his Drake friend and manages to escape the Pit of Despair.

After this, we don't see the plushie again until Season Six, where it appears in Viren's flashback sequence in the episode "Moment of Truth".

We then see, not Soren's plush, but another child's that is very reminiscent of his, in the episode "Well All Fall Down". It is in the arms of a small child, but is dropped as they are forced to flee the burning castle of Katolis. In the end credits, we see it again; charred and discarded in the ruins of the castle.

And again, beside a fallen sword in the rubble.

It might not be Soren's plush, but in an episode that features him so heavily, and especially his relationship with Viren, it feels like it can't have been an accident. Because this is an episode of loss.

His father. His home. His childhood.

[platinumrosetail]

Ok so interesting idea at least I think so.

What about a the dragon prince x sagua creator!reader idea?

The reader would be the creator of teyvat and its inhabitants on it, the reader decided to go to another world where the reader isn’t high regarded and didn’t create the world she went to, just to have some fun since she kinda gotten a bit bored with the same old, same old stuff in teyvat and needed a break.

She decided to work in a castle in a kingdom called katolis as nanny to the two princes, then getting a high position once the two princes grew up more to not need a nanny. She became great friends with the king and queen fast which lead to her getting those positions sooner than it probably would.

Viren, the high mage have a bit of rivalry between him and the reader though it’s more one sided as she doesn’t see him as a challenge considering who she is but she loves to tease the man when she can, unknowingly resulting in viren having a bit of attraction for her (I love drama 😂😁😈).

She will stay in katolis as the 3 protagonist go to xadia, mostly because she doesn’t want to ruin the kids fun plus she feels like she is needed in the castle anyway, what she doesn’t know is that she gains many male’s interest while staying in that world.

So what do y’all think? It’s still a work in progress but I would like to hopefully make it into a book or at least do some work of it on here (maybe people request things based on it? I don’t know about doing it on my own as I haven’t been doing stuff on my own considering I keep on switching which fandoms I want to do and end up deleting them and not liking them lol 😂😭), this will most likely have a female reader as I can’t really think of it with a male!reader this time sadly 😭 but that could change maybe? Anyway hope yall like it! I hope yall request for it as I think it’s a fun idea. Anyway hope yall have a wonderful day/evening/night!!

[elvesdragonsanddarkmagic]

Crowlord's Tower

[nasgard]

"You must make the sacrifice."

"So dies the Sun King"

I've been thinking about this. Aaravos guided Sol Regem to attack Katolis for no apparent reason. No one there was responsible for his imprisonment or the death of Leola. He aimed directly at Viren in that final attack and then he look satisfied and guided Sol Regem to retreat as soon as he realized Viren's spell worked. So, this attack seemed random and senseless but had some clear consequences:

It forced Katolis/Soren to seek help from the only person who could protect everyone from a dragon attack (funny how this keeps happening despite the general disdain for Viren and Dark Magic).

It obviously pushed Viren back into using Dark Magic.

It forced Viren to sacrifice his own heart, leading to his death and downfall (again).

It resulted in the death of Sol Regem

Of course, Sol Regem dies after the attack, but I don't think it was because of the arrow wounds; it was because Sol swallowed Pharos' corrupted body.

So... why make Sol Regem attack Katolis? How does that affect Sol Regem? If the goal was just to kill him, couldn't Aaravos have done it without attacking the kingdom? Unless the attack's target wasn't really Katolis or Sol Regem. In a way, the target seemed to be Viren.

So, what was it? Revenge for Viren abandoning him? Was Aaravos creating a situation where Viren could atone for his past mistakes? A final test for Viren to prove himself? Or some other hidden objective? Unless none of these options fit, and the show's writers just made it confusing.

But it's curious that the writers chose to make Aaravos say the name Sun King instead of using the Latin version, Sol Regem, making it easier for the viewer to associate this line to his line for Viren in the season 5.

yeah, there's still one more possibility, of course with the entire castle destroyed it was easier for Claudia to find Aaravos' prison and then free him. But that seems like such a boring reason.

[jelzorz]

184.

Ezran gets the message as Aunt Amaya and Queen Janai's wedding draws to a close. It's been a big day, joyous for the most part, almost-civil war in the middle notwithstanding (although that wasn't so bad either—Sol Regem had never appeared, and Queen Janai's forces overpowered Karin's easily in what must have been the quickest battle in history), so Ezran expects it to be from Callum, catching him up on whatever they've been up to, or Soren, writing to keep him up to date on whatever's happening at home.

It is from Soren, and it is news from home, but it's not good in the least.

It's four sentences, barely even a paragraph, Soren's usual untidy scrawl untidier still in the haste he must have written it in:

Sol Regem attacked. Castle gone. ? Casualties. Send help.

Ezran stares at it, unable to form meaning in the words because it can't be right, he must have misread it, there's no way—

Corvus swears. Queen Aanya gasps. The world speeds back into motion and Ezran sinks to his knees, his pulse rapid and thundering in his ears.

No. No. Katolis isn't—

"We need to get back," says Corvus distantly. "I'll get the horses. Gen—Queen Amaya, something's happened—" his voice fades as he hurries away, and then there's movement that Ez doesn't really register as Queen Janai starts ordering her men to pack supplies. Beside him, Aanya grips his shoulder and calls for her brother, snapping commands at the men around her before they start rushing off too.

"Hey," she says gently. "King Ezran, can you hear me?"

Ez opens his mouth and closes it, not quite present enough in his own mind to answer her.

"Ez."

His breath rushes in, and Aanya's face comes into focus before his, her eyes full of concern.

"Queen Aanya," he croaks. "I-I'm so sorry, we have to go. I have to get home—"

"I know," she says gently, her fingers tightening briefly around his shoulders. "I've sent a message to Duren for aid and supplies. My brother is rounding up our troops now and we'll depart as soon as they're ready. Can you stand?"

"I—" Ez breathes in again, but it's sharp and shallow, more of a gasp than a breath at all. His throat hurts. His eyes sting. For a moment, he thinks he might cry, but he's King, and he can't, he won't, not right now. He blinks furiously, his lungs tight. "Aanya—we?"

"Yes, we," she says. "We're coming with you. You need help."

"I havent—I can't ask—"

"Yes, you can, and you're not." She tugs him to his feet then, her fingers tight around his. "It's going to be okay."

Ez almost doesn't believe her. How can things possibly be okay at a time like this? But Aanya's hand is warm and firm, a comfort he hadn't realised he'd needed, and though her smile is pinched with worry, there is comfort in that too.

"Thank you," he mumbles.

"Don't mention it," she says. "Katolis has always been a friend to Duren, and friends don't let friends' kingdoms burn. Let's get moving."

Ez nods and follows, the world growing sharper and clearer with every step he takes. When he breathes in, he breathes in fully, and Aanya squeezes his hand once before she lets go entirely. She said not to mention it so he doesn't, but he thanks her again mentally anyway, eternally grateful that Katolis has a friend in Duren indeed.

[wheretwofacesmeet]

[tategaminu]

Good news: Rayla and Rancher are in Katolis so it means Callum and Rayla will be reunited soon in the case they get separated (a screenshot shows Callum at the castle)

Bad news: Rayla will get heart broken at seeing Katolis like this

Even more bad news: I have anxiety