#spiracorn

[phoenixwithapencil]

Spiracorn horns and tails make bank...

[raven-6-10]

@ertrunkenerwassergeist

Do you think there's a chocobo equivalent on Eos? Or maybe a spiracorn?

You are strongly advised not to feed the ducks in this pond.

[royalbratprince]

"...where am i...?" (From Prompto if thats ok!)

Hurt/Comfort Starters | accepting but sloooowwwww

"Oh, Prompto." So much sorrow and regret colored Noctis' voice, hands gentle as he felt around for any indication of other injuries. Head wounds bleed most of all, he tried to keep that in mind. He did. Breathing, calm. Calm.

"Don't move, okay? I'll get you healed up, I just gotta--" He swallowed, trying to wipe some of the blood away without actually causing pain. It didn't look good, and it turned his stomach a little bit, but that was partly because it was Prompto. "Gotta make sure you're okay. MT got a cheap shot at the end there." They hadn't needed a group of them dropped on top of a fight they were already having with some extremely territorial spiracorns.

Enough stalling. "Hey. Grab on to my arm, 'cause healing this is probably gonna suck."

[queenoffishingandcookies]

The Nox Fleuret’s Background / Oracle Lore + Ifrit Headcanon, I guess??

This is…a lot longer than I meant it to be.

THE HOUSE OF FLEURET BACKGROUND

As I (at least should have) mentioned before, Magic was more widespread during the era of Solheim and during the early years of Lucis before it was, well, Lucis.

Those with magic generally could only manipulate elements, or create low-level curatives (though this was also dependent on medical knowledge, the ingredients, and so on), and further abilities (absorptions, creation, outright healing, etc, were granted by forging covenants with Astrals or messengers, earning their blessings).

What set powerful bloodlines apart from everyday people who could manipulate elements or create curatives, were blessings or literally sharing blood with Astrals/messengers.

(Examples being Lucis Caelum’s being tied to both life and death through Bahamut and the Beyond, and then bound to Eos via crystal after the fall of Solheim).

I was thinking that, perhaps, the Fleuret’s were descendants of Ifrit. They had not been the direct blood of the god, had not ruled over Solheim - most of the direct bloodline had been killed off in the astral war, or by angry people afterwards - but they carried his blood, his flame, the spark of magic those of his blood always carried, and survived.

(Possibly thanks to aid from messengers + a certain snowy astral, but more on that later).

Also, Lunafreya is oft depicted with sun imagery.

To sum up my line of thought.

Ifrit = Fire

Fire = Sun

Lunafreya, an Oracle = Sun (fanart, logo)

Sun = Golden Light

Oracle Powers = Golden Light = Sun = Fire = Ifrit

Ifrit is the god of fire, the infernian - but he also is the god of sun, to me. The sun is fire, the sun is light - golden light, akin to the Oracle’s. Able to burn and destroy and renew and heal.

The sun and fire symbolizes healing in many cultures. In forests, fires burn down old trees to allow plants closer to the ground and unable to get sunlight through the leaves a chance to grow. It warms the ill, provides plants with the nutrients they need to grow, just as easily as it destroys (like Luna pushing Leviathan back in Chapter Nine).

So. The House of Tenebrae are descended from Ifrit. And if their chosen name, Tenebrae, is tied to how Ifrit’s own flame went dark and was doused in the Astral War…well, only the most avid historians may note that.

(Canonically, Bahamut imparted the Trident of the Oracle and the duty to commune with the gods upon them, but I like to think not all their powers came from him, and I…don’t know if it’s ever specifically stated that they did come from him?)

(Their bloodline and innate Magic, on top of their piety - survivors forming the Fleuret house often being priests/priestesses/Templars of the Astrals as they were from distant, not main bloodline, branches - had a hand in why Bahamut bestowed the title of Oracle upon the bloodline later when the starscourge starts getting worse and slumbering Astrals need to be called upon. More later).

(Though, in worlds where Ifrit’s rage, his spilled blood created the scourge, rather than the meteor or Bahamut meddling - and occasionally, between story ideas its origin does differ for me, bouncing around like a tv screensaver - makes for an ironic situation. I… now a burning need to try and make a comprehensive list of Astrals & messengers to try and picture dynamics…)

Additionally, a little bit of random trivia is, I think, this is why Spiracorns are also part of the family crest. Just me drawing connections where there are none, honestly.

Their horns kind of remind me of Ifrit’s and I find it interesting if he had two sacred animals - one for the sky (Phoenix) and the earth (Spiracorns) because the sunlight - fire, his element - touched both sky and land.

Also, with the similarity between Spiracorns and unicorns, you can’t tell me there aren’t stories of how they have (or had) magic, that their horns had curative properties.

THE BASICS OF FLEURET MAGIC

All members of Tenebrae have an inner flame, a spark of magic. This flame, golden and amber as the rays of the sun itself, represents both their magic and their life force.

It is a flame that always burns in their heart, casts long and dark shadows in their chests. It is their flame which is always shown to the outside world, while the shadows obscure their emotions and truths and what little makes them human - their emotions and thoughts, more than their bodies.

A representative of their life, as well as their mind, Fleuret magic is affected by their emotions and focus. The flame is fed and strengthened by focus, by pure emotion - but distress, upset, injury…dims and weakens their magic, if that makes sense. Likewise, fury and anger and jealousy can make the flame - their magic - unpredictable, uncontrollable.

Dangerous.

It will never go out, not unless they are dead, but if they lose control of their emotions, if a Fleuret does not take care to pay mind to their flame and magic - it can either grow so weak as to cause them pain and ensure they can’t properly utilize it, or so uncontrollable that they should not dare touch upon it in an populated area.

Like worshipping an astral or messenger, Fleuret’s must be dedicated in pursuit of controlling themselves - meditation, checking their emotions and regulating them, feeding and tampering the flame.

Its in this manner that their magic can also grow stronger, deeper - an infant’s flickering candle to a conflagration of an Oracle’s life force that swallows stars whole.

(There’s a reason why isolation and meditation are important parts of an Oracle’s training).

Similarly to Lucis Caelum’s, there is a cost of the magic running through the Fleuret bloodline.

When they heal, when they place the warmth of their magic over another person, they are - or at least used to - literally burning up some of their own life force, giving it to another to restore what they had lost, or using it to strengthen what is left.

The only reason they don’t often burn themselves out entirely when healing is due to a blessing from the Shiva, the Glacian. She saw the descendants of her beloved, as they stood against their patriarch to protect the innocent who had not earned the Infernian’s fire, and watched as they burned themselves out (trying to fight the darkness he might have created).

If the frost-kissed blessing painted their hair platinum as they aged, matched their eyes to the shade of winter’s ice reflecting the shades of the sky and sea just a smidge paler, it was only a side-effect and not an intention (not a claim).

But her blessing isn’t perfect. Fire will always melt and thaw ice and snow, eventually. A fire still grows dim, and every now and again, the blessing needs to…restore itself, basically. Similarly to how winter always returns each year.

And in the aftermath of healing a person, or fighting in battle, the flame grows dimmer and Shiva’s gilded shield of ice and frost weaker. It needs to be restored, hopefully by rest or light bathing - beneath the sun or moon, or by lighting candles in a room and meditating.

(Unlike a Lucis Caelum, those of the Fleuret line can restore their life force, put kindling on the flame….as long as they haven’t overextended it. Example being waking slumbering Astrals who function on entirely different levels of energy compared to normal mortals in what is probably very short succession).

The tradition of being priests and priestess and Templars to Astrals & messengers was as much a means of devotion as it was survival, and I’ll leave it at that.

Like the Lucis Caelum’s, they’d have a heightened awareness - a sixth sense of sorts - for illness. You could say their magic illuminates it. In equal regards, they can just as easily pinprick darkness - the starscourge.

And though that light fades eventually from the other person, though it can’t be shared in the way Lucian royalty does, in the time it lingers it lends a certain immunity to illness, better strength.

(Liable to change, don’t quote me on this. I’m still figuring things out, haha)

CHOSEN BY BAHAMUT

Now we come to why Bahamut chose the House of Fleuret to stand as Oracles of Eos, the mouthpiece of the mortals to commune with the gods, and the bastion of light which pushed back darkness while the star waited for the chosen king (and on and on it goes…)

They were one of the few bloodlines that were on par with his own.

At least, they were on par with the LC’s before the crystal was bestowed upon them, even if it was in different ways (since the astral parent of the bloodline, and therefore the innate Magic, was different).

Considering Bahamut was the only astral to retire to the Beyond, rather than slumbering on the mortal plane, he was probably the only one conscious when the starscourge (which, no matter how it started, had a definite hand in Solheim’s fall) began to resurge.

He saw how their light was able to repel the darkness, and - considering how the family resided in Salvus (Ancient Lucis of Ardyn and Somnus’ time) how they aided his bloodline in driving back the returning darkness, still very much the pious people they’d been during the Astral War.

By this point, (and in some worlds, he is unaware of the fact, while in others he’s meddling) he’s realized that the crystal is - instead of LC’s being bound to it near adulthood, distilling and merging the star’s lifeforce - the power of the beyond, of the elements, with his mortal offspring.

Should the darkness ever spread as it once did during Solheim’s fall and the war, Bahamut wanted to prevent it. Since Plan Number One had led to opposition from the other Astrals, that is where the prophecy comes in.

His descendants were not bound close enough to the star, did not have the power to yet purge the curse - and with the other Astrals knocked out, they could not lend the strength that had used up stopping Bahamut’s Blast Eos plan.

So. Why not, just…put his bloodline and Ifrit’s powers together. As the only astral awake, it was essentially his prerogative in preserving the star. Alone, neither would be strong enough.

Together, even if not now…eventually, and he would see to it, they’d be able to purge the star of blight.

His own power, so steadily bound to Eos through his bloodline, would do nothing to stir the slumbering Astrals. Besides, to awaken the Astrals with His own bloodline - who would surely only merge more with the land’s life force until their own was indistinguishable from it - would render his idea a moot point:

But Ifrit’s power - the variant of it that his children carried - the power of a dead astral?

That would wake them.

It’s a lot of moving parts and I’m not clear as I want to be in explaining it, sorry!

But, long story short:

- Bahamut puts LC’s in charge of Eos, gives crystal.

- Fleuret’s, survivors of Solheim and Ifrit’s descendants, are pretty prominent in Salvus (pre-Lucis)

- Starscourge returns. LC’s handle the daemonified, while Fleuret’s attempt to save those who can be saved.

- Bahamut notices and has an ‘Oh Shit’ moment.

- Since the other Astrals (plus his own bloodlines and the Fleuret and a great deal of messengers) had been against his destroy the whole star plan, he didn’t immediately go that route.

- Instead, taking notice (or having planned back) of the LC’s merging life force and Magic with Eos, and Ifrit’s descendants fighting darkness with his light, goes-

- Let’s put them together. If they can’t get rid of it now, then I’ll make sure they’ll be strong enough to get rid of it later.

- and he thinks.

- the scourge will need to be gathered in one place. Preferably, the power of the other Astrals, as well - who are knocked out (because of him).

- Have Ifrit’s descendants wake the others, his own descendant + Ifrit’s earn blessings, and destroy accumulation of scourge in one place.

- It is, by his decree (since he fucked up and Eos is so saturated with his presence and power via descendants it won’t make a difference) that the Fleuret bloodline is given the solem task of communing with the Astrals in times of peril for the people, of passing in the mortal realms words to the divine, and pushing back the darkness blight.

- because his descendants kind of can’t (not without expending a lot of energy or possibly starting another astral war by offending the other Astrals)

Yeah, this is also eventually how the prophecy comes to be.

And I have…Headcanons on that. (Ardyn was chosen king of Salvus, Which was Lucis-but-not-Lucis, but he was also to be the Sovereign of Scourge, The King of Daemons, Fallen Angel of Darkness Blight - you can’t tell me people didn’t call him an Angel, especially in wing AU’s of any kind - and it’s A Thing I need to outline more).

Basically, it all boils down to then having healing magic on par with the LC’s more suitable for dealing with the scourge, and they can actually wake the other Astrals without causing (immediate) massive destruction (most of the time).

The first of the Oracles being, of course, Aera Mirus Fleuret.

(In soulmate AU, Aera and Ardyn (and maybe even someone else who wasn’t born yet? Could be anyone. Cor. Regis. Hell, you could even try a more sane Besithia) and Ardyn having Ifrit’s spark on top of his LC magic and that’s what makes him chosen king of Salvus - and also, what later makes him Sovereign of the Scourge…CONSIDER!)

With the other Astrals fairly absent, being knocked out and all, it was probably Bahamut who - through visions with Aera and the oracles chosen after her - honed the more combative aspects of the Fleuret’s flame into a searing weapon against the scourge, rather than the warm restoration of healing.

The Oracle:

What sets the Oracle apart from other members of the Fleuret bloodline?

I’m so glad you asked!

A shit ton of training, that’s what.

Really, that should be its own post.

I know canonically only women are made Oracle, and seem to have magic in the Fleuret bloodline.

For my headcanon about Oracles, pick canon up, strangle it, and throw its body into the Regalia Type-F without letting saving. Try and fly to Pitioss Ruins and attempt land on the first run (and fail).

As seen way up above, all members of the Fleuret family have a flame, and therefore have magic. An Oracle is not always designated by the divine by birth - though it does happen on occasion (see: Lunafreya).

Instead, around the age of early adolescence (12–13), members of the House of Fleuret are judged by the messenger of the current Oracle and begin undergoing rudimentary training.

Some are predisposed to healing and soothing pain, while others are inclined to combat. Potential Oracles are selected from those who are either naturally balanced in using both - or make devoted attempts to do so.

Also, depending on how big a generation is, kids can just…opt out of becoming the next Oracle. If they’d prefer to be a priestess/priest/Templar, they’d be able to.

Training to be Oracle is rigorous, it pushes you to your breaking point (not that becoming any other positions listed above is any easier). Many, even other members of House Fleuret, can’t stand up to the pressure - not through any fault of their own, it’s just. That. Much. To. Handle.

The previous Oracles - and yes, I do mean plural, because training involves relics left behind by ancestors and Gentiana was able to deliver Lunafreya’s spirit to Noctis and I have Things About Oracle Training to think about when the two things are connected together - will convey on whether the Oracle-In-Training is ready for ascension.

Plus the messenger and current Oracle, if applicable to the situation.

Only one Oracle exists at one time, even if a trainee is declared ready and appointed as Successor Oracle to the public.

The next Oracle doesn’t publicly ascend until the prior is dead.

It can take years for a Successor Oracle to ascend - and Lunafreya, the youngest Oracle, spent four years in training from twelve to sixteen. And the only reason she could ascend right away was because her mother was…dead.

Training, when the previous Oracle is still alive, technically ends at the age of physical maturity, around twenty. That’s about eight years. After which, they take up duties similar to the actual Oracle, but don’t claim title until the previous one passes.

(Preferably, the Oracle handles matters of healing the ill and clearing away the scourge. The Succesor can be found in prayer on the Oracle’s behalf when they are away, also attending to the sick, performing funerary rites for the deceased…Whatever the Oracle isn’t doing at that time, really).

(Tenebrae, for all its peaceful and idyllic scenery, was surprisingly cutthroat in the past.)

Magic-wise: The Oracle is the pinnacle of Fleuret magic. I’ll explain the difference between healing/combative Fleuret magic in the sections separating the priest/priestess and Templars below, so I’ll just mention what makes the Oracle (or Successor Oracle) special.

- The Oracles, after so long in training, are really the only ones in the family where healing and combative magic is honed to such a fine point together that they are able to born out the starscourge without harming the person infected with it.

- This does come at a personal cost though. Whereas other members of the family might not need to restore Shiva’s Blessing (also known as The Glacian’s Shield), Oracles are at constant risk of burning themselves out depending on how bad the spread of illness is. It won’t kill them, immediately, but the ensuing exhaustion is painful. Ice baths almost nightly, regular undisturbed meditation…

- They can heal major wounds and also sooth severe illnesses that the others can’t touch upon - though illnesses aren’t immediately healed, depending on severity.

(example: Noctis post-Marilith. The Oracle would be the only person with fine-tuned Magic to remove the scourge without killing him in the process, and in any other person where it didn’t merge with magic, the procedure would have been painless. Similarly to his weak and damaged bones, the rehabilitation - at lot of his steady health in Tenebrae had to do with Queen Sylva).

- They can commune directly with gods, in person, and are less likely to die in the Astral’s trials because of pseudo-covenants/blessings imparted on them by Previous Oracles. If Lucis Monarchs can do it, Tenebrae can have something similar.

- long story short on a working idea: the Astrals aren’t awake, but they are aware on some levels - and each Oracle must seek approval through prayer and greeting the astral (not a covenant, not quite, but close to). Its not waking them, so it doesn’t take much energy more than a phone call.

- It’s just a sort of small factor that gives you a lesser chance of dying in a trial to earn a blessing. That acknowledgment of being one worthy to commune with them and not go crazy. Because Astral Tongue does make normal people who can’t understand it crazy over prolonged amounts of time, and also hurts the ears and head like hell.

- The price of the covenant, of waking the astral if necessary, is still said Oracle’s price to pay though. The price is an exorbitant amount of energy, of magic, of life. A straight punch to the gut and series of relentless after effects compared to the slow drain and relentless aftereffects Lucian royalty gets to deal with.

Non-Oracles | Priests & Priestesses:

- Though trained in combat, priests and priestesses are most often healers (though this differs from astral to astral and the regions they reside in). I generally see them utilizing polearms or ranged weapons (example: bows) when fighting is necessary.

- Not all priests and priestesses are from House Fleuret, but this is a list of what those who are can do compared to normal priests and priestesses (who arguably…don’t have magic in the modern era).

- Can’t completely heal the starscourge, but they can halt and repress it when the illness is caught in the early and middle stages.

- Can treat minor and mild injuries. Scrapes, puncture wounds. Can sooth pain of more severe wounds (like stabs wounds, or deep/open punctures).

- Where and when the Oracle can’t consecrate havens, a team of priests/priestess’s do so on their behalf. Havens last quite some time on their own, but it is also their duty to renew and sustain the Oracle’s enchantment on havens when possible.

(I’m sorry, but with those carvings on the havens, creating them had to have been a team effort, even if charging them with protective magic was apparently a single-handed one for the Oracle).

- furthermore all priests/priestesses have a duty to drive back daemons from areas. In the past, when consecrating havens or protecting villages, this is when (and why) combat training was used - though, primarily Templars fought the front line.

Non-Oracles | Templars:

I have less expansion on the Templars, bare with me.

They don’t have a set position/profession like a priest/priestess at a temple does, since it began as a term for male Fleuret’s with magic (in my head) and then for Fleuret’s who specialized in combative magic.

Most likely, they’d become military soldiers? Those in more distant branches may have chosen to work as hunters, or guards at a temple.

Actually, maybe that’s why temples or any areas of worship which have special guard forces call the the guards Templars? Homage to the Fleuret line.

After the establishment of the hunters, they’d probably relinquish field battles except in emergencies and only guard the areas of worship. Food for thought, I’ll have to come to this…

(Fun fact: at one point while I was thinking about this - prior to the above - they were like the hunters? Like, regions with temples had there own group of Templars and their duties were to protect and escort priests/priestesses and people from daemons. And then I remembered the hunter’s existed. Ha.)

- Traditional / ceremonial weaponry is a rapier. Any weapon goes, however. Some may prefer polearms.

- Combative Fleuret magic is less physical than one might expect. Weapons can become imbued with light and superheated when attacking.

- Similarly, can unleash beacons of light from weapon, and craft blades of light as long as they have enough time and focus. (Noct leaving holograms behind, but it’s the blade/ammo/part of the weapon that hits an enemy, basically, if that makes sense?)

These beacons can force back even an astral (Leviathan), and both the brightness and heat can be intolerable to enemies.

- It’s less of a shield, and more of a knockback attack, though. Best to dodge or block an attack if possible. If not, prepare beacon immediately, basically.

- an anchor, like a weapon, to channel the magic is preferable…but in emergencies, even something like a rock or metal scrap will do.

The Rarity of Male Oracles:

- Although men can become the Oracle in my headcanons, that doesn’t mean it happens often. Or that the public knows they are male (transgender characters in the past, for example).

- Because of the rarity of men holding the title, it’s a common misconception throughout Eos that the Oracle is always a woman.

- To be Oracle is a position, a duty, but it is not one’s gender.

Conclusion Thingy Separate from Headcanon rambling

Anyway, I’ve been writing since about 10:40 and it’s now almost 3:30 in the morning. I wanted to go more in depth about the Templars and male oracles but my brain is fried.

I hope this is somehow coherent? I’m going to go to sleep, and when I wake up, see if I remember what I wanted to add to the Templar and male Oracle sections.

Enjoy?

[hiddeneosbymrsflowerpot]

Are they being attacked by a giant mutant carousel horse?   No, it’s just Ramuh’s staff.

When you summon Ramuh he casts thunder, defeating your enemies but you don’t really get to see his amazing staff.  It’s decorated with a majestic unicorn/spiracorn head that sparks with electricity.  It’s pretty impressive and absolutely huge! All images copyright Square Enix Co Ltd.

[raven-6-10]

@ertrunkenerwassergeist

Can I borrow your headcanon? I think I will borrow your headcanon.

Also, add some stuff from myself.

I also thought that Galahd might be considered poor by outsiders because they don't like trading with them. The other reason is that Galahdians don't want to destroy the jungle on their islands, which forces them to adapt and do without certain things.

Like cars. Practically nobody on Galahd uses cars, not outside of big ports. And they are only used there to move stuff from and onto ships, and around the ports. Because for cars you need roads, which, well. First you have to cut down huge swaths of the jungle and dig up earth to get good foundations. And the islands are hilly/mountainous, so that's a big problem too. Then you have to lay down the asphalt, which probably would have to be imported from the mainland - it would be very costly. And that's not even getting into maintenance and into importing petrol to power the cars and so on.

Nope, Galahdians don't use cars, they are perfectly happy with chocobos and spiracorns for personal transportation through the jungle, and with shipping for moving goods. Both sailing between islands, and barges and boats that move on rivers and lakes.

Edit: In the cities and bigger towns, they also have trams and trains on raised railways (public transport ftw!) because they take up less space but can move so much more people. Plus with the raised lines, you don't have to worry about flattening the ground first, you just need good foundations for the pillars. You can have sidewalks underneath - walkable cities are a must on Galahd - or buildings, or a city park etc. There are solar panels on top for electricity, too.

Another thing is, not many buildings outside of ports have glass windows. Because big glass panels do not transport well if you don't have smooth roads. Small stuff like vials for labs etc. can be moved, but anything bigger than a jar is no-go. (In other news, Galahdians have lot of ceramics.)

Instead, think of traditional Japanese houses here - windows that look a bit like shoji, with paper or fabric screens, that let in light but keep the wind out. Wooden blinds carved in pretty patterns and nets to protect from animals and bugs.

Edit: In the ports though, they not only have glass, they have that fancy colourful glass that doubles as solar panels and it's everywhere. They love that stuff and are not ashamed to use it for their houses and public buildings and all kind of workplaces. Even the older buildings in more traditional style will have upgraded windows. Or maybe those ceramic roof tiles that have solar panels hidden between the layers.

Galahdians use a lot of solar power for electricity, both small villages and larger towns and cities. Very big on solarpunk, my Galahd. Bigger towns near the coast probably use wind turbines for the same, though they are always careful to avoid damaging coral reefs.

I just had a realization. All of Eos thinks Galahd is a poor nation. Like not every house there as electricity and running water kind of poor.

(Which is, in fact, not true, every Galahdian will tell you, safe for the weird people in the mountains, but they’re a crazy lot so they don’t count.)

It’s just that no one is interested to invest into Galahd because the land there will kill you if the citizens don’t do it first (which is mostly not true) and there isn’t anything there anyway they might want.

(The people tell themselves that with dread creeping down their spine. As if the Galahdians would tell outsiders about the treasures they hold.)

Galahd is not poor.

Its people are just not overly interested in traiding with outsiders. They have very long memories and are not overly enthusiastic to give something of theirs to Lucians or others. So they keep what they have mostly within their own economy.

And this is how Galahd is thought of as poor and its citizens as stingy.

[kicksnscribs]

will i ever use anything besides the symmetry tool ever again??

the answer is ofc i will once this thing stops being fun as hell to play with and work out artblocks :}

[mathclasswarfare]

Do you think they have Lisa Frank on Eos?

[raven-6-10]

No no no, you don't understand, @a-world-in-grey , Iedolas is not responsible for any of his siblings being dead. Seriously, just the goddamn irony of it. For once, he's not the one at fault.

Iedolas' generation of the imperial family went like this:

- Son #1

- Daughter #1

- Son #2

- Iedolas

- and then another 3 daughters.

The firstborn son died at 19 in what seems to be an actual accident. As in, nobody could possibly have actually managed to do that on purpose. What happened was that Aldercapts keep domesticated desert spiracorns for riding and he liked to race them with his friends. During one such trip outside the city, his steed got spooked by a snake and threw him off. The guy didn't quite break his neck but he was dead before the medical help could get there.

The second son was poisoned few years later, along with his wife. The perpetrators were eventually discovered to be from a minor noble family. They obviously were executed for this.

But!

Iedolas' father - let's name him Phoebus - did suspect they might have been a pasty for somebody else, so he had people still quietly investigating the entire thing. Which means that when a year later there was an attempt on Iedolas, it was successfully stopped and the assassin was caught for interrogation.

It came out that the actual brain behind both attempts was Iedolas' older sister and her husband. Both of them were executed for this, along with their allies, and the families of conspirators had to give hostages to the Imperial Family.

(Generally speaking, altering the line of succession to the throne without a due reason is considered high treason and punished with death of all involved. Not many would attempt it without certainty that they can succeed and get away with it.)

@a-world-in-grey

Right, after some deep diving through FFXV wiki and some research into hereditary titles, inheritance laws and various historical and fictional courts, I think I have a general idea of what I want the Niflheimr court in general and the Aldercapt dynasty in particular to look like.

***

Let's start with the inheritance laws.

I settled on agnatic-cognatic (male-preference) primogeniture i.e. the throne goes to the eldest son, then his brothers by order of age, then his eldest sister and so on. And since the Aldercapts don't have Bahamut artificially pruning the family tree to one child per generation in recent centuries, there are actually people related to the Emperor with a legitimate claim to the throne.

(Side-note: some pruning is still happening as a result of children competing for the throne. Iedolas' brothers and one sister had died before he even came to the throne.)

The issue here is that Iedolas is an ambitious man - even if he's not obsessed with reviving Solheim (at the moment) - and wants to leave a legacy. Which means he wants his heir to be his child/grandchild.

You raised a valid point about Iedolas having children before that point. Which. Uhmm. Canon doesn't exactly help here. The only thing we know for certain is that he had at least one son (b. 720 ME) who died at the earliest in 748 ME (because that's the birth year for Solara Antiquum) but was definitely dead when the game kicked off in 756 ME. Considering Iedolas is from Mors' generation that's kind of late to have your first child.

So!

I'm gonna make an executive decision here.

Iedolas did have children before that with his wife. Specifically two sons and a daughter. Possibly some grandchildren even. However they all died due to combination of illnesses, accidents and deliberate action. At that point he tried for another child with his wife, which canonically ended up with her death from childbirth complications within a year. In this au, the son in question was born early - resulting in underdeveloped lungs plus host of other health issues - and died as a young teenager due to pneumonia.

Hence, the order for Besithia to create an heir for him.

***

Situation at the Imperial court is surprisingly stable at the moment.

Just because the Emperor has no children doesn't mean he has no heirs*. The current heir presumptive is his younger sister but since she's rather elderly, the throne is actually probably going to be inherited by his great-niece. The woman in question is from a high-ranking house, married to a man from similarly titled house, has a range of useful political and military connections and a daughter of her own at the time of Prompto's birth.

(Iedolas had been planning to betroth Prompto to his great-great-niece and name the mother a regent just in case he dies before his son is an adult.)

So most of the politicking is currently about getting into the good graces of the imperial heiress and discrediting the rivals. The most opposition is from warmongers (Ulldor) as she's much less militant than the current emperor, so will likely focus on consolidating the imperial gains in Tenebrae and addressing social issues instead of continuing the conquest.

***

As for where that would leave Prompto (or whatever Iedolas would rename him)?

I'm headcanoning that Niflheimr royals don't introduce their kids to public until they are at least 10. Before that there might be rumours, especially if the Empress is obviously pregnant, but nobody will confirm anything outright.

There's a bunch of historical reasons behind that, but mostly it's very useful if you need to, erm, adjust the family tree.

And right now it means that Aldercapt still has time to get his kid back instead of writing him off as a lost cause and trying again or just formally declaring a new heir from among his relatives. Because nobody will bat an eyelash on the boy not being seen before his formal introduction.

If the Nifs actually recover him, he will be raised in a secluded estate on the outskirts of Gralea with staff being responsible for his upbringing and Iedolas visiting often to check on him.

***

*I was inspired by the House Arryn. Somebody once joked that even if you are five generations removed from lordship, you can still end up being the Heir Arryn. A peasant sneezes in the Vale and they've lost half their house members.

[underpixellatedstars-blog]

“only the horses” final fantasy xv taken with nvidia ansel

took this whilst traversing through the wetlands on a rainy day so I’m a little miffed by the lighting but I guess it adds a touch of drama. just a touch.

[helenawazhere-blog]

IGGY IS A SPIRACORN!!!!

HE IS ONE WITH THE SPIRACORN!!!!

GRAB LIFE BY THE HORN!!!!

GRAB THE SPIRA BY THE CORN!!!

GLADIO MIGHT BE A SPIRACORN!!!

IGGY RIDES SPIRACORNS!!! 😉😜😘

[amiscientum]

I’m going to need you all to caption this (I’ll be lucky if anyone reads this at all haha)... I have named this spiracorn “Prickles” just so you all now. 

[mzargentum]

The hunt is on.

[queenoffishingandcookies]

Tenebrae or the House of Fleuret’s coat of arms has a unicorn on it. You know what also is shaped like a horse and has a pointy horn on its forehead?

Spiracorns.

Now I’m thinking that in ancient times, Spiracorns were mistaken for uniforms. Maybe their horns were used in medicine or something?

That also has me thinking of a ffxv Last Unicorn sort of AU.

[raven-6-10]

@ertrunkenerwassergeist

An entire malboro, expertly stuffed and preserved.

A small book full of blackmail on royal ministers, dated to the reign of the Rogue.

Several folders full of watercolours depicting flowers and other plants, arranged in artful bouquets. (Consulting a book on Lucian Flower Language reveals that meanings start at insulting and go from there.)

A dozen clay jars full of ashes (chemical testing pending).

A canopic jar (full).

At least two scores of graffiti carved on the walls behind bookshelves, left by the builders.

A spiracorn's horn, carved into a music instrument.

A series of letters from Conqueror's brother-in-law to the Queen Consort. (Mostly complaining about how much her royal husband is irritating him.)

A half-burnt piece of vellum written in Sol, shoved into a crack in a wall. Translation reveals fragments of a poem about a healer king. (No matches among the known royals.)

Whose grave it was? Somnus' son or his mother? Or somebody else's entirely?

Remember the List of Thing Found in Mors' Desks? We should do the Royal Archive version.

First thing on the List: a series of letters from Lady Carmen Amicitia to Princess-then-King Lucia Luci's Caelum. (R-rated, never to be published in any scientific journal.)

Ohhh, what a fun idea!

R-rated love letter from Lady Carmen Amicitia to then Princess Lucia Lucis Caelum

at least three human skulls, one of which got decorated with jewels

way too many human finger bones to be comfortable

a poem about how nice Lord Lumen Scientia's ass was (author unknown, dated to around 270 years back)

building plans of Insomnia from Fabricas Lucis Caelum which had been thought lost (She was the 41st King of Lucis and planned the building of what would develop to be the outer wall of Insomnia. Most of her plans, including the ones found are very... out there.)

a construction plan and manual for something which is written in Sol (Later translated. It's a contruct for light effects for theater productions. Some people got very excited at first because they thought it was a weapon.)

a statuette of the Oracle King depicted as a woman (Oracle King is amab, though I headcanon she was trans. The statuette was a present from her Shield.)

the grave of a Lucian King (no one is quite sure whose it is yet)

Can't think of much else right now, though y'all are welcome to add to the list!

[lucianhuntress]

Beating the shit out of baddies!