#prized by the crafty and fleet of foot | tags and dash games

[izar-tarazed]

Send ✨ for Izar—an astrologer after all!—to assign your muse a constellation and read their fate from the stars.

(If you can’t see the emoji, send twinkling stars.)

[izar-tarazed]

Character symbolism - Flowers 🥀

(tag game by @rotten-pest)

Make a bouquet relevant to your character. You can use this list for inspiration.

Izar

campanula/bellflower ... a constant heart elderflower ... compassion speedwell ... travel, kindness and loyalty cornflower ... hope enchanter's nightshade ... sorcery Himalayan blue poppy ... potential and possibilities

Ensha

blackthorn ... protection, hope against adversity blue violet ... watchfulness nettle ... life and death; protection thistle ... endurance blue daisy ... long term loyalty astralagus ... your presence softens my pain Tagging @miseryscrowned @dragonskxn @clueless-tarnished @redliongeneral and anyone who wants to do this!

(tagged by @rotten-pest; thank you! this was so much fun to do)

[izar-tarazed]

✨

Send ✨for Izar to assign your muse a constellation and read their fate from the stars | still accepting

Frankly, it feels a little strange to do this for him of all people—the very person who made the pursuit of her profession outright impossible for so long, and who also happens to be a Carian. However, she doesn’t flinch at Radahn’s request, just asks the questions she needs to and scribbles some notes into her journal before actually getting to work. Astrology, at its heart, is science with a hint of magic and a dash of archive work; a strange overlap between ancient lore and crisp calculations and the sheer beauty of the night sky, weaving together into meaning and possibility.

‟This might not be anything new to you,” she mutters when she is at last ready to share her results, ‟surely you had somebody do that for you and your siblings back then? But of course, a lot has happened, and things may have been altered…”

She smiles as she presents to him a star map she has recovered from the Great Library itself.

‟Unsurprisingly, I’ve found that your constellation is the Steed. I’m sure you have seen it. From Liurnia specifically it appears to be very close to the horizon, and the tales I have found—mostly collected by Carian astrologers way, way back—claim this constellation is the soul of a noble steed so loyal to its master that it chose to outrun death itself by jumping up into the night sky. Some say its master is also to be found up there, the Warrior constellation which the Steed happens to be facing. I must say, I do wonder whether you heard this story when you were a boy, and thought of it when you got your trusty Leonard?

Anyway—the Steed is about persistence and the accomplishment of seemingly impossible things; I don’t think I need to spell out how this has manifested in your own life so far. Some writings stress how those born under this constellation’s influence are guided by their aspirations and convictions, just like the steed is forever galopping to return to its master’s side. Others stress the will to outrun doom and despair, or maybe their very fate. Even though there is, ironically enough, stagnancy in the eternal chase the Steed gives; even as it moves across the night sky, out of reach of whatever it ran from, it never truly advances… But then again, it doesn’t retreat, either. Two sides of the same coin, really.

There are, of course, more detailed factors at play for each individual soul, and specific stars within the constellation tend to be more meaningful than others. But I do think that in your case, the Steed is mostly about the potential to do what seemed impossible to do, and the strength we may gain from our convictions. I know you have never been inclined to just accept fate as it seemed written, always straining against it to the point where you would bring it to a complete halt. Here’s the thing, though—fate is never set in stone, and it’s meant to be fought for and pushed back against the way you have done so often. I know you’ve been in dark places, and maybe you blame fate for that. But with the Steed’s stars shining down on your path you are still meant to keep pushing forward. To overcome. And, this I believe with all my heart, to heal.”

[izar-tarazed]

✨

Send ✨for Izar to assign your muse a constellation and read their fate from the stars As well as she knows her craft—for after all, astrology is a kind of craft—, as much routine as she has by now with the essential steps of determining someone’s constellation before refining it all as she reads the fate proper… her results still surprise her.

And more so now.

It has taken Izar unusually long to get a hold of whatever the stars have in store for Sam. She has looked into a variety of star maps from different traditions, as she often does when it seems due; in his case, knowing his ancestry, she has gone through the meager notes she has gathered on Albinauric cosmovision, but there is little mention of the night sky in there.

And it’s not that her readings have been without result; it’s just… unusual.

She still seems a little bewildered when she sits down with Sam and unrolls her map, a wealth of loose pages and notes gathered within the scroll. There is the slightest furrow to her brow.

‟You see, there are many ways to look at the night sky,” she says, straightening paper and trying her best to sort the twirl of scribbled notes. ‟To focus on the stars is the most obvious, of course: look at what’s there, connect the dots with imaginary lines, spot figures and purpose between the pale silver spots. That’s how most constellations come to be. But there are some that are, well, the other way around. There’s patterns to be found in the absence of stars. The darkness, too, tells its tales. I’ve found your constellation to be one of these: the Hook. Not easy to see if you don’t know what you’re looking for.

But you’d find it to the east, one of those constellations that seem particularly far from us; and observing it over the course of the night, you’d see it move closer to the horizon, as if to dip into the sea. There are stories of old—as there usually are—of this Hook made of darkness that offers no guidance, and holds nobody’s lodestar within its silhouette. Some say it was left there after a battle so ancient that no one even remembers what entities might have fought, and for what purpose: discarded and forgotten. A battle, or a hunt. But others claim it is still in use. That it sinks down into the salty waves every time night comes to a close, and pulls forth the sun, piercing into it with the pointy end to retrieve it from beyond.

This, they say, is the reason why sunrise is gold mingled with hues of red: the sun bleeds a little when it’s pierced by the hook; it fights back as it’s pulled up, some days more than others.

…Of course, sunsets are red as well. But, erm… that is another story and shall be told another time.”

She pauses, tracing the form of the dark constellation with her fingertip, lost in thought for a moment.

‟Now what does the Hook mean, lightless, distant on the horizon, often overlooked among the stars and their light? We might think that without light, it serves no purpose. That it’s merely reminiscent of a long forgotten hunt where it failed to take hold in whatever beast it was aimed up. But no—there is purpose. Painful and piercing as it may be, but it pulls up the sun every day. Maybe this is what it was left for there. Maybe the sun is the ancient beast it was meant not to slay, but to snag from the darkness dawn after dawn? Maybe, of course, it isn’t even about pulling up the sun, but trying to hold it down? To make it bleed; to carve into its light and essence and turn gold to red for whatever reason? To slay it after all, always failing, and always trying again?

The Hook—both tool and weapon, depending on the hands wielding it—is about the impact and ambiguity of our actions and goals. It might bring the daylight, but it still hurts it; or it might manage to hook into the sun, and wound it, but the sun will still go up. It’s about making a difference from out of the shadows. I could slip in, of course, how it’s about persistence and all—alone, overlooked and so distant, the Hook is still there, unceasing in its efforts—, but that is a trait that many constellations share, whether they’re made of stars or of darkness. This is not what sets the Hook apart from them.

It’s about being what it is; being the way it is; a little crooked, not perfect in any way, but there, maybe spitefully so. Maybe painfully so. No mighty weapon; no rich tapestry of legend to envelop it. Just a hook, but fierce enough to sink into the sun, and spill blood for the world to see, remaining invisible in the process. I’ve seen you wield your fate like this hook, and you’ll continue to do so. You might hurt. They might hurt. Blood and sunlight; you can cause it both with what you have at your disposal, not regardless of who you are, but because of it.”

[izar-tarazed]

Make your muse a cat!

Tagged by @yellowfingcr (thank you! Was going to steal this as soon as I saw cat Heysel appear on my dash) to make cat Izar and cat Ensha, so here they are:

Tagging @miseryscrowned, @auspex-author and anyone who feels like doing this! Feel free to tag me so I see your cats.

[izar-tarazed]

✉️ !

Dearest Heysel,

greetings from Dominula! It’s a lovely spot—if you haven’t visited, you really should, I’m certain you would love it. The locals are very cheerful and friendly, maybe a little on edge when first meeting outsiders. But they’ve shown me a couple of their dance steps already and gave me a garland of dried flowers. Tomorrow they’re going to show us the windmills. Ensha claims something feels off about this place but it’s probably just that he doesn’t like his garland. I petted an adorable little dog and it did not bite my hand off. (Granted, it tried, and we may have overreacted a little in turn, but well. I’ll tell you all when we meet again; I’d write more but it’s getting a little hard to concentrate with all the screaming and I think I should probably go help Ensha. They seem somewhat... displeased since we killed the dog.)

Best wishes, see you soon

Izar (meme: send ✉️ for your muse to receive a postcard/letter from mine!)

[izar-tarazed]

🍁 - in an alternate scenario where izar/ensha pursued incantations instead of sorceries, what general class would they have chosen and why?

Send 🍁 + Any question you’ve been curious to know about my muse! Okay, this is fun to think about!

Izar would probably go either with the Prophet or the Warrior. Prophet is the obvious choice looking at the stats, starting with 16 faith, but the flavor of the class also being related to foretelling fate in some way would still fit Izar very well. Also, both Heal and Catch Flame are incantations I could totally see her using. (She is someone who likes to help and heal, after all, and she’s also fascinated by fire even though she never really emphasizes that as an astrologer—however, Ashen Izar in Dark Souls 3 is a pyromancer, so.)

Warrior would be a somewhat more flavor-based choice because Izar does have ties with the nomadic merchants (and the blue cloth vest is one of her favorites anyway; if she started as a Prophet, it’s probably what she’d replace the initial robe with as quickly as possible.)

Either way, incantations I could see her using in that scenario would be Giant’s and Black Flame ones and probably some Two Fingers healing ones. Maybe Elden Stars just for flavor. She’d mostly stay clear of Golden Order ones but still use Discus of Light.

For Ensha it would be either Confessor or Bandit. Confessor seems good both in terms of stats and flavor, given that confessors are spies and start with two incantations that are thematically very on-brand for Ensha: Urgent Heal (given that his armor and weapon are already all about restoring health) and Assassin’s Approach (the latter explicitly referring to assassins of the Roundtable Hold).

Bandit is what I actually chose for my Ensha run because it seemed best for the Dex/Arc build that Ensha is, and flavor-wise someone ‟who strikes for weak points” seemed fitting, too (but if we're making him go after incantations, I think confessor is perfect).

I think Ensha would go with several other Two Fingers incantations (Darkness and Shadow Bait come to mind, maybe Rejection and probably several of the buffs). For offensive stuff—instead of the gravity sorceries he uses—he might pick Bestial Sling/Stone of Gurranq, or maybe grab some of the red Dragon Cult Incantations because they fit his lifesteal fist’s color scheme.

[izar-tarazed]

🍁 + Had they given her the option, would Izar have spared any of the demigods?

Send 🍁 + Any question you’ve been curious to know about my muse! I think she would have preferred a different outcome in many cases, but thinking about it I realize that there are some she’d probably have slain regardless (she’d have a hard time forgiving Godrick’s grafting, for example, and when it comes to Radahn and his condition—base game, that is—, I think she’d consider killing him a mercy even regardless of him holding back the stars. She’d probably have gone after Rykard either way, too; she doesn’t care about the blasphemy, but both torturing and eating people isn’t exactly something she can easily forgive, either.) I could see her spare Morgott because even though she’s somewhere between indifferent and wary regarding the Golden Order, she could easily respect his commitment and devotion, and feel sympathy for what he has endured being an omen. Maybe Mohg as well; she’s rather repulsed by the whole blood cult thing, but taking into account his background, she might have stayed her hand. I’m on the fence about how she’d deal with Godfrey (if he still counts) and Radagon. She can’t really relate to Godfrey’s bloodthirst as a warrior and I think her perspective on Radagon is deeply influenced by her sympathy for Rennala (meaning she perceives him as someone who abandoned his family first and foremost); but neither would she consider reasons to kill, so she might have tried to settle matters differently with these two as well. (Also, she doesn’t go after Malenia. She simply has no reason to.)

[izar-tarazed]

99

(spotify wrapped top 100 ask)

(Dalriada from Hungary! Also adding the Youtube link for convenience. I think the only reason this track didn't end up higher on the list is that I tend to buy the songs I like a lot, and binge-listen to them on my trusted old-school mp3 player.)

[izar-tarazed]

small ooc ask game if anyone's interested:

send me 👁‍🗨 and I'll share something related to my translation work!

(like recurring challenges and difficulties, things I need to consider, etc. – if you have a specific question, you can send that as well)

[izar-tarazed]

** since this is everywhere on my dash, I made a version for Izar

[izar-tarazed]

✨

Send ✨for Izar to assign your muse a constellation and read their fate from the stars It isn’t unusual for Izar to spend quite some time on a request to read someone’s fate from the stars. After all, it’s not something to be done on the fly; single stars and constellations as a whole hold a vast array of meanings, their nuances determined by context, and since she wants her readings to be accurate, she’ll go out of her way to back them up with research and double-check her calculations.

Even more so if the request is an unusual one, as in this case, coming from a fire monk. Truth to be told, she has often wondered how relations were between fire monks and astrologers in that distant past where both groups would dwell on the Mountaintops; what they might have learned from each other.

‟You know,” she tells Laurentius when she finally returns with the results of her reading and research, her eyes alight with excitement, ‟I like to imagine that in the old days, fire monks would find their way to the Stargazers’ Ruins and ask about their fates, and the astrologers present there would be glad to provide answers. Of course, that’s all long gone and it’s almost impossible to find any kind of source from those times. I tried, though, because as obscured as it may be, that past is still part of the picture, and when I was trying to read your fate without taking it into account, something always felt off…”

She pulls a map from the pile of paper she has brought, sliding it over to him.

‟Turns out, the fire monks did have their own way of looking at the night sky, and a couple of constellations nobody else would consider; they’d connect stars overlooked, or grouped into entirely different constellations by others. It seems they’d focus on those with a hint of orange or red glow to them: stars they believed to bear an echo of the very flame they were guarding. I only found mentions of a handful of constellations, but in time, I might be able to figure out others… But still, once I considered this, it all came together. So, your constellation is the Fire Blossom: barely visible, I’m afraid, from Liurnia and its neighboring regions, but easy to spot from the Mountaintops. A small cluster of reddish stars—each named, I believe, after a particular Fire Giant, but we no longer now what tales might have been told about them—forming the pistil of the blossom, with other stars marking its petals.

It’s an interesting constellation, this one. There’s gentleness and promise to every blossom, but fire blossoms are also fierce and desperate; tiny flames struggling against a hostile environment. It’s about persisting in adverse conditions, or at least in a place one might not feel belonging to. It’s about maintaining a delicate balance—the smoldering must neither be too intense nor too weak, or the whole flower would burn to ash before long. A fire blossom can be plucked if one is careful, and put to use in crafting (if one’s ingenious)... or it can burn our fingers if we’re too careless and have those delicate petals crumble away under our touch.

The Fire Blossom constellation is about how maintaining this balance is possible, but nonetheless challenging. You probably know better than I would how this translates to your life; there are many ways in which it might manifest. I’d wager that trying to be gentle and helpful in a world that might rather require you to lash out like a flickering flame to defend yourself might be one of those challenges. Enduring somewhere out of place might be another one. Pursuing something—somewhere—that is both deeply tied to what and who you are, and yet seemingly out of reach, could be another meaning…

As for fate: I believe some may see the Fire Blossom as imbued with the prospect of failure, because what is fire if not destined to burn out eventually? What is a blossom if not something fated to wither? I’m not sure I’d agree with that, though. As I said, I rather understand this constellation to be about the struggle for balance. As long as that balance is maintained, there is no ruin; neither flame nor ash predominate. As long as there’s balance, there is life and warmth and potential, even with the cold ash always in sight. And there’s more power in gentle smoldering than consuming it all at once. It’s worth struggling for that kind of balance, and bringing together in oneself what might seem irreconcilable. Just keep in mind that it’s not meant to be easy.”

[izar-tarazed]

𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 ( 𝟓 ) 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐖𝐀��𝐒 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐓𝐎 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄

(tagged by @rotten-pest - thank you!)

Le Vent Nous Portera (Scala & Kolacny Brothers)

"Je n'ai pas peur de la route | Faudrait voir, faut qu'on y goûte Des méandres au creux des reins Et tout ira bien là | Le vent nous portera"

(I'm not afraid of the road | Would have to see and taste Meandering in the hollow of your loins And all will be well | The wind will carry us)

The original version by Noir Désir has accompanied me for many years and is one of my favorite songs of all times. This cover, for some reason, immediately makes me think of Izar and her journey.

2. Běžela jsem lesem (Vesna)

"Bojím se k vodě sama jít | Můžeš mě prosím ochránit" (I’m afraid to go to the water by myself | Can you please protect me)

This is one of the songs that just latched onto a loose headcanon and helped flesh it out: I had this vague idea that the ‟ancient king” and ‟lord of the lost and desperate” has in some ways become a mythological figure among the Nomadic Merchants. They believe that there is a protective figure carrying a guiding light that can be summoned muttering the right incantation when one has lost their way, and it would be something like this. (I think Izar learns this song at some point, but she doesn’t immediately understand what it is about; and for Ensha it just stirs some vague memories he can’t quite grasp.

(I listened to Vesna from Czechia a lot througout the last year! Honorable mention to Płakały.)

3. Korzenie (Echo Rodu)

By the way, this is the number one song of my Spotify wrap, which is wild because I bought the mp3 rather soon after falling in love with this song and have listened to it countless times from my mp3 player or laptop instead of Spotify.

I can say little about the lyrics (I understand very little of them, they’re Polish); this track is mostly a vibe thing that, to me, somehow is about the sense of wonder Izar feels when looking at the world around her.

Láska neumiera (Jana Kirschner)

A Slovak song so I looking at the lyrics can grasp some ideas thanks to my limited knowledge of Czech but again, it’s the music and the vibes for me. (The title means ‟Love never dies” and at some point she sings about seeing the stars in the sky.)

5. Te Sigo (Natalia Lafourcade)

Te sigo, por que en la ruta donde vas yo voy contigo...

(I follow you, for on the path you walk I go with you)

Just a sweet little song I remembered the other day. It’s all about staying by someone’s side and being happy in their company (your shadow | will not be shadow but light on my way) and I can’t help but think that it’s very Izar and Ensha coded to me.

(tagging whoever wants to do this!)

[izar-tarazed]

15 lines of dialogue

Rules: Share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture the character/personality/vibe of the OC. Bonus points for just using the dialogue without other details about the scene, but you're free to include those as well!

Tagged by @miseryscrowned (thank you!)

So here's some lines from Izar.

‟I’m not your enemy.”

‟If I wanted you dead, you would already be, and I wouldn’t have bothered to waste my fine ropes on you.”

‟I understand you might find it hard to believe, but I’ve fought enough battles out there to recognize a lethal stance when I see one.”

“I ’d rather travel alone. And I had other plans anyway.”

“I could really use your wits and advice right now.”

‟It’s just a mask, right?”

“Excuse me? This is all? I mean, is that a habit of yours? Going around and killing people, but it’s nothing personal?”

“Why should I have killed you? You’re not some monster in the wilderness.”

“Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”

‟Now let me have a look at that bolt, will you?”

‟Be… considerate, will you? I only have this one bottle.”

‟We have a mission? You’ve wasted my ink to tell me that?”

‟Dead kings tend to make things messy.”

‟I don’t even know if I want that throne.”

‟So … we go after the rune. Well then. Shall we?”

No tags, feel free to steal this if you want (and tag me so I'll see it!)

[izar-tarazed]

✉️ for solis and luna

Dearest girls:

sending you greetings from the Hinterlands! This really doesn’t look like a place you would expect in the Land of Shadow, right? It’s very lovely. I’ll pick some of those flowers and bring them along as a little souvenir for you! We might be able to make some nice wreaths. I have also seen a lot of baby fingercreepers—you know, those creatures that look like hands and can seem a little spooky. But the little ones are all adorable. I won’t bring one to the Hold, though, don’t even think about asking! Even if they would be a lot of fun to play with, they must remain here where they’re happy and with their family. There are also some very old ruins and a nice little village around here. Unfortunately nobody lives there anymore. (This is a normal thing to happen, don’t worry! Sometimes people just don’t feel like staying in one spot any longer and they just go elsewhere, happily and peacefully.) I hope you two are doing great. But remember, no shenanigans while I’m gone! We have to do those together! Hugs for both of you, see you soon!

Izar

(meme: send ✉️ for your muse to receive a postcard/letter from mine!)

[izar-tarazed]

✉️ For Mohg

Dear Mohg:

greetings from the Consecrated Snowfield, and thanks for recommending it as a destination. The landscape is quite lovely. A little colorless maybe, so to speak, and Ensha insists I tell you that he is not very fond of the temperatures (I don’t feel like any complaints are in order, to be honest; it’s exactly what one would expect from, well, a snowfield. We brought warming stones, so we’re mostly fine). I think it’s nice how there’s even some vegetation here. Ordina is very impressive in terms of architecture but I feel like the local Albinauric archers are still somewhat opposed to the concept of tourism. They’re also (unfortunately) extremely skilled. I still want to visit the wandering mausoleum before venturing on. Oh, by the way, we met one of your sanguine nobles! I hadn’t realize this was such a popular vacation spot for you dynasty folks. He sends his regards (I think). I’ll stop now because it’s a little hard to keep writing with all the snowflakes. Best wishes

Izar

(meme: send ✉️ for your muse to receive a postcard/letter from mine!)