so I said a long time ago that I wouldn't revisit the unsundered world and all that because I hit a narrative brick wall with paris' ancient, but that all changed when I made andromache a co-wol, and thus decided that she would be the original azem
enter apollo and dionysus, two sisters who would eventually become andromache and paris in the current timeline and with their own goody bags of lore under the cut:
apollo–
older sister of dionysus, who would become the new azem when her mentor venat retired
she and her sister were orphaned at a young age, and it was during venat's travels that she discovered the little foundlings. against the better judgment of her peers, venat elected to take the children back with her to amaurot to be raised as her proteges
apollo was exceedingly bright as a child, both emotionally and intellectually. she was a prodigy in creation magicks and an excellent fighter
got to knew hades and hyth at an academy for young amaurotines to hone their magicks, but she didn't consider them close friends of hers
once she grew older, she came to meet hyacinthos, hector's unsundered self. apollo fell hard and fast for him, but hyacinthos took a while to realize she had feelings for him
apollo wasn't a stranger to anyone, but she had a one-sided rivalry with hyacinthos' childhood friend thamyris. thamyris also had romantic feelings for hyacinthos, but they were never reciprocated
her relationship with her sister dionysus began to strain once they both became of age. while apollo still cared for her, she never understood why dionysus grew to have such disdain for her
while they were both prime candidates, venat ultimately chose apollo as her successor
azem tended to follow the rules, but she would march to the beat of her own drum, which landed her in hot water most of the time with the older members of the convocation
she and hyacinthos wished to spend the rest of their lives together, but it came to a bloody end when hyacinthos was murdered in a jealous rage by thamyris, who by then became the next halmarut
distraught and overcome with grief, apollo desparately wanted to bring hyacinthos back. but the underworld was a dangerous place for any living being, on top of the laws of amaurot forbidding anyone from bringing back the dead, whether they chose to die or not. hades, the new emet-selch, refused to help her as it would disrupt the natural order of the world
just before the final days tore apart their home, apollo defected from the convocation and went rogue. she ventured into the underworld herself to bring back her beloved, only to be overwhelmed by the current and become unraveled into the aether
before she died, apollo recorded her memories into her soul crystal so that whoever would find it would find a way to save them both. her soul crystal, the original azem crystal, was then lost in the aetherial sea after the world was sundered. it would eventually find its way into the hands of her many reincarnations, including andromache's ancestor, the zodiac brave known as penthesilea
apollo's soul crystal would only resonate with her reincarnation, otherwise it became a family heirloom of the tatlonghari's for the next few centuries until andromache became its owner
now imbued with the memories of her ancient self, andromache gained an obsessive desire to reunite with hector, thus fulfilling apollo's wish to never part from him again
dionysus–
younger sister of apollo, was passed over in favor of apollo to earn the seat of azem
while just as talented as apollo, dionysus could never outdo her sister. for that she was always considered second best
she would try to perform better than apollo in many things, but it was never good enough to dionysus. this would make her relationship with her mentor strained
dionysus was apollo's shadow, and she wasn't keen on making friends as a child
dionysus was the opposite of her sister in terms of personality: where apollo was cordial and lively, dionysus was broody and standoffish
when venat chose apollo to be the new azem, dionysus begged her mentor to reconsider. from then on, dionysus considered apollo her most bitter rival
despite her hatred, apollo looked after dionysus since they were young, and dionysus relied on her older sister. but once she became romantically involved with hyacinthos, dionysus grew jealous of the man for taking away her sister
rejected and dejected, dionysus joined the words of lahabrea to become a keyward of pandemonium. she never took a subtle approach to fighting like her sister, and her level of ferocity made her a prime candidate for being a keyward
during that time, dionysus fell out of contact with her sister and was unaware of her plans to rescue her beloved from the underworld
when the final days came down, dionysus was thrust into her sister's shoes to be the new temporary azem. apollo never returned from her descent into the underworld, and the convocation branded her a traitor
emet-selch, secretly mourning the loss of apollo and guilty over not helping her, created an artificial azem crystal for dionysus to use. it recorded her ascension ceremony, and dionysus imbued her own magicks into the crystal (aka her summoning spell), but it wasn't used for very long. dionysus created her own spell in the vain hope of bringing her sister back, but apollo was dissolved by then
now becoming something she always wanted to be, but ultimately wasn't ready for, dionysus struggled to take on the responsibilities her sister once had. on the opposing side of her mentor, dionysus couldn't perform her duties and ran away from the horrors of the final days
after the world got sundered, dionysus would reincarnate into paris and would become andromache's first child. the two of them repeated the same mistakes as they did when they were whole. paris didn't realize it then, but they inherited dionysus' resentment and inferiority complex when it comes to their mother andromache
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WoL Think Thonkers
#1 Where is your Warrior of Light from? What was their home like growing up and what set them out on their journey?
Tsuna was born sometime in 1545, 7 years before the fall of Doma. Once she was old enough, she often helped her mother in the shop due to her father being away on sea voyages more often than not.
Her mother was kind but strict-- guilty of imparting onto her child the ideals of her people who shunned the outside world, and avoided conflict at all cost. Tsuna grew up on her bedtime stories of the world beneath the waves, and of the Ruby Prince-- a half-Au Ra man who was born without scales. Their village in Yanxia was fond of her mother, and helped her raise her only child.
When Doma fell, and the Court was dissolved, its servants and the surrounding villagers were displaced or taken as conscripts.
Left without a mother, and her father missing, Tsuna was smuggled into Kugane by a family friend where she would be taken in by an Okiya inside the Sanjo Hanamachi as a perceived orphan. For thirteen years she trained as a maiko, and graduated at twenty.
She threw it all away after being asked to entertain a couple of Garlean soldiers from the embassy. Sometime during the evening, she received her first Echo-- flashing back to the day her mother was taken away. The same soldier who broke into their village home was sitting next to her.
She killed him in a crime of passion. The second life she took was self-defense. The crime forced her to flee or face persecution, (not to mention the political implications of a citizen of the neutral facing Kugane committing a crime against the embassy) and so she fled onto the first boat that would take her-- to Eorzea.
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20 – Hamper
wc. 729 | Shadowbringers | verse ft @pocket-cat 's Ulan
Thancred is suspicious, and frustrated by the actions of their fellow Scion. Ninira is frustrated and mostly unable to be bothered. They have bigger things to worry about.
Sorting the miscellaneous screws, washers, bolts and whatever other bits the Eulmorans had clobbered together to assist with the Ladder repairs was far from the most demanding of tasks she had ever been assigned, but for good reason. She had been ordered to leave the reconstruction efforts to the others and for the most part she was willing. Construction and heavy lifting were well outside her wheelhouse, and Y'shtola had snapped at her when she had offered to help reanimate the Golems whenever they arrived. Yet there was only so much relaxing she could handle, especially with Vauthery’s twisted Mt Gulg looming on the horizon. So she did menial work on the days spent at the Ladder’s base, counting supplies, helping with ledgers, or like today, sorting.
She sat off to the side of the yard, perched on a crate, a box of miscellaneous bits at her side, dropping the pieces of metal into separate buckets at her feet. The mindlessness of it was pleasant in a way, she was helping but she could let her thoughts wander her—a shadow fell over her and she looked up, tipping back the brim of her hat.
“Need a hand?” Thancred didn’t wait for a reply as he took a seat beside her reaching to pick up a handful of screws and nuts.
Ninira didn’t protest, but also didn’t welcome the gesture. They sat in silence the only sound the clinking of metal as it dropped into the buckets before Thancred eventually spoke up.
“Ulan is off today.”
It wasn’t a question. It was a fact but Ninira answered anyway. “Yes.”
“Using that time to seek him out.”
Ninira withheld a sigh. “And?”
“Does that not bother you, Ninira? Even in the slightest?”
Did it bother her? She no longer knew. It was far from the most pressing of her worries these days. “Does it matter?”
Thancred shifted in his seat. She could tell he was looking at her but she didn’t turn to meet his gaze. “What of the things she tells him during those moments? How much is she sharing? Think of what she could hamper by divulging our plans.”
Ninira scoffed. “What plans? Nothing we’re doing is secret. We’ve made plain our intentions, even if we hadn’t they would be obvious. He’s stated his position as an observer–”
“You believe him?” Thancred sounded insulted.
“He’s not interfered yet.” She finally looked at him. “And he did help save Y’shtola.” She added pointedly. Thancred’s brow furrowed.
“So far I believe him. But–” she added as Thancred opened his mouth to presumably argue that point. “I do not trust him. I think there is a difference.”
She dropped a screw into one of the buckets. Butitng heads with Thancred like this frustrated her. A few moons prior, back on the Source and she would have identified him as one of the Scions she was most comfortable with. But the First had changed him, changed them all, and Ninira was still working her way through those changes. He was trying through, so Ninira sighed and did her best to try in return.
“I know you’re bothered by Ulan’s actions. You have every right to be. I also know you're just trying to watch our backs and look out for us all. It is appreciated.”
She looked at him pointedly. “But this isn’t Ryne making a silly choice, uncertain in the world, and needing guidance. Ulan is an adult, her actions and her choices are her own. None of us can make her do anything she doesn’t wish to.”
Metal clinked on metal as she continued to sort. “I can’t fathom what she seeks out Emet-Selch for, what they possibly could talk about. However, that’s her choice and her business. Until the day comes where her actions cause harm, or she chooses to raise steel against us then I’m not bothered. She can do as she pleases.”
Thancred was quiet for a while, absently watching the few other Scions that were around today as they went about their work at the base of the Ladder. “I will never forgive myself if something happens because I was negligent.” He spoke barely above a whisper.
“It will be fine, Thancred.” She reassured him, pausing in her work to look up at the looming cliffs above. “We just have to stop Vauthry. What could go wrong?”
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