#genesis dragon species

[em-writes-stuff-sometimes]

Theory: The Connection Between Dragons and Valyrians in A Song of Ice and Fire

Okay, so this isn't a new theory by any means, but I'm into it and I wanted to record it somewhere so I could go back to it purely for my fanfiction writing purposes. I will be making reference to these ideas in my writing, so this isn't really anything more than an infodump for myself for what is essentially medieval smut masquerading as intellectualism.

The question on everyone's minds: why are Valyrians unique? What gives them the ability to ride dragons? Their appearance? Why the obsession with incest? And dragons - where did they come from? Why is there such a clear link between this subset of people and the occurrence of the giant winged firebreather?

I'm going to try to articulate my theory that ties some of the lingering questions together into a cohesive hypothesis. Stay tuned. Keep in mind, none of this is particularly profound or innovative, so please don't presume any motivation for this other than what I've explicitly stated; but I need a place to put it all or it'll keep swirling in my head.

Note: this commentary accepts and incorporates the show's decision to characterise Daenerys Targaryen as being immune to fire. Don't like, don't engage.

How might this theory be communicated in fanfiction?

The narratorial vehicle I'm using to at least partially convey this theory in-universe is Blood and Fire, a "fragmentary, anonymous, blood-soaked tome containing information about dragons", "sometimes called The Death of Dragons". It features in one of my chapters, in which my MC is gifted it by Daemon Targaryen - the ultimate intent is to have this reverted to the Citadel by the time Robert's Rebellion occurs. Though my MC will not understand the entirety of its contents, as I'm going to suggest that it's written in a proto-Valyrian language or thereabouts, what is going to be implied is information regarding the creation (and therefore destruction) of dragons.

The theory: centuries of magically-augmented atrocities in artificial selection

My theory is that ancient bloodmages conducted a series of magical experiments designed to create the ultimate supremacist society - to what end, I'm still fleshing out. I presume it'll be linked to the prophecy of the Prince Who Was Promised, and the imperative to begin constructing supernatural lineages that will contribute to the creation of the Azor Ahai figure. I may end up extrapolating on this at a later time. In regards to the experiments: I'm implying stuff like cannibalism, mutilation, bestiality, all sorts of fundamentally unnatural atrocities that are designed to subvert the natural order to use that power as a springboard for the genesis of new species.

Essentially, I posit that dragons are a cross between firewyrms and wyverns using blood magic; but in hand with this, Valyrian people are an artificial subspecies of human designed to preside over these draconic creatures, all in the name of building a civilisation with these creations at the spearhead.

I think it is likely that the first species interbreeding between firewyrms and wyverns were then mated to these Valyrian shepherds. I believe there were further interbreeding events from this common ancestor that streamlined into two distinct lineages; proto-dragons and proto-humanoid Valyrians. Of course, this involves a great deal of magic to MAKE happen, because I don't foresee these acts as being capable of producing fertile offspring in isolation. I think this might've been assisted by other rituals involving the aforementioned cannibalism, blood swapping (as in literally forcing draconic blood into human veins and vice versa etc.), and other atrocities. Crimes against nature require crimes against nature, and all that. Over time, the Valyrian humanoid became recognisably and functionally human, with notable elements in appearance that make them seem unearthly or otherworldly; concurrently, dragons are bred to be larger and larger, to be more responsive to commands, and such. It is also possible that further DNA was interchanged through other cross-breeding events to enhance certain draconic traits in the Valyrian humanoid, in line with the evolution of the 'modern' Valyrian dragon.

The geographical origin of dragons

I believe that these experiments were conducted firstly in the Shadow Lands of Asshai - explaining the existence of ancient dragon bones and eggs, or at least bones and eggs that appear of draconic ancestry - and then later moved in and around the Fourteen Flames, the "volcanic area" of the Valyrian peninsula. But of course, this gives rise to a potential discrepancy in historical data: namely, that dragons are said to have existed long before the origin of Valyria. I think this was the case, but that this doesn't necessarily refute the idea that dragons were a blood magic experiment planned concurrently with the creation of a dragonriding people.

Dragons feature in stories from the Age of Heroes, occurring from roughly 10,000+ years before Aegon's Conquest to anywhere between 6,000 and 2,000 years before the Conquest. I think that, owing to the lifespan of dragons and the degree of time it would take to produce a self-reproducing, self-sustaining, large enough specimen to 'complete' the experiment, it stands to reason that this blood magic project would have at least taken several thousand years to achieve, if not more. This isn't a hundred-year task; this is a long haul. It also stands to reason that specimens would have been released for 'testing' purposes, to see how they perform in the wild. This would perhaps explain how dragons are seen in Westeros, in Ib, and in Sothoryos - these may have been the proto-dragons created along the timeline of magical experimentation. Once released, it conceivably might have been difficult to have them returned, and so these proto-dragons were able to spread to other continents. I think these dragons would have been isolated events; as in, not the product of wild populations reproducing. At this stage, I believe this was not something the species would have been capable of. It is possible, though, that offshoot/s capable of reproduction might have unwittingly been created, resulting in a separate lineage loosely related to the deliberate construction of the Valyrian dragon.

Asshai seems to have the most concrete claim to the origin of dragons out of all creation myths; ancient eggs and bones are present in this land. The Asshai creation myth even supports my suppositions here, as it is claimed that "an unnamed people first tamed these dragons, brought them to Valyria, and taught the Valyrians their arts before departing from the annals of history". It is possible this is a reinterpretation of the notion that bloodmages begun their experiments here and relocated to Valyria later on.

Given the historical anecdotes made of wyverns, it is likely that procuring wyvern stock was not an impossible task for continental Essos. However, firewyrms are said to have originated specifically at the site of the Fourteen Flames, perhaps serving as an explanation as to why experimentation was ultimately shifted here. Furthermore, it seems possible that ancient bloodmages may have harnessed the fire from the volcanic chain to fuel and amplify their dragon creations, hence the movement. It may even be likely that the Fourteen Flames are a source of magical power in and of itself, given that it is noted in-universe by GRRM that there is something otherworldly and strange about them. It seems likely that the fires from this volcanic region were used to fuel the spells and rituals that created dragons and early Valyrians. Fire and blood.

When experimentation was finally complete and two races prepared to act out what may have been a deliberately crafted 'origin', the Valyrian peninsula would have been perceived as the best bet based on magical properties of the site and convenience. And thus came the immortal tale of how the Valyrians, "originally a community of shepherds", "discovered dragons" and "tamed the mighty beasts" before "establishing the city of Valyria and becoming skilled in both magic and metallurgy." The Valyrians even "told tales of themselves that claimed they were descended from dragons, and were kin to the ones they now controlled", further suggesting that this theory holds weight.

Why would this theory hold validity?

Again, I'm leaning into a tie with the Azor Ahai prophecy. I'm not sure how specifically, but that'll come in time I suppose. I may as well assume that there might have been existing political tensions with ancient civilisations, impelling a subset of bloodmages to take matters into their own hands and attempt to engineer an overthrowal effort. They might have even just decided "fuck it, let's see what we can do in the name of magic and science." It is even possible they were attempting to engineer some kind of great good or evil to appease a higher power; i.e. a desire to satisfy a benevolent or evil god for the purposes of religious devotion.

What world-building benefits does this have?

It serves as an explanation as to why some Targaryens in the showverse are fireproof. Namely, Daenerys Targaryen. If dragon genetics are in Valyrian ancestry - dragons being firebreathing and thus necessarily immune to flame - then it stands to reason that this particular trait expresses itself in the human bloodline.

It addresses the emphasis on Valyrian blood being a prerequisite to innate dragon-riding ability, save for magical intervention i.e. the Dragonbinder horn. Valyrians have shared DNA tied by blood magic and likely a ritualistic breeding of genes that call for a dragon's obedience to their humanoid overlords.

It answers how some Targaryen fetuses are birthed possessing dragon-like features, e.g. the scaled bodies or presence of wings. There is latent dragon DNA in Valyrians, and also possibly the expression of the abominable nature inherent to their bloodline.

It supports the existing preoccupation with incest (likely simply an imperative to keep Valyrian breeding strictly within dragon-riding populations before the Doom) in the Targaryen line. The bloodline must keep a large enough quota of dragon DNA to prevent it from being bred out, necessary for dominion over the dragons.

Dragons are intelligent creatures that can understand commands given to them. If human DNA is present, this helps account for these qualities.

Implications for the readers

There is a discomfort at play here, namely in that discussions of selective breeding and eugenics imply that there is an element of superiority in people of Valyrian descent. I too am uncomfortable with the idea that the ability to master a dragon requires belonging to a specific group of people in order to succeed at this. Assigning someone's ability to perform any action to an inherited quality rather than a practiced skill or individual determination goes against pretty much everything I and others believe about the way the world works. Essentially, this theory largely suggests that success is earned based on bloodline or connection rather than personal merit. And I do agree that this is a valid conclusion to make. But I would like to interrogate what this therefore means in the larger narrative at play in ASOIAF.

Firstly, ASOIAF is a subversive text; it is written in a way that challenges traditional fantasy tropes and even our own values as readers. I would argue that the incorporation of a theory such as the above serves to add further to this trend established by GRRM, thereby enriching any inclusion of this in a fanmade derivative of his work (i.e. fanfiction).

Secondly - what happens to Valyrians? What happens to the dragons? Do they 'succeed'? In short, no. The Doom wipes out the vast majority of this civilisation, including the dragons. What is left dies out within a half-millenia following the Doom. The dangerous thing about believing in one's innate supremacy is that they forget how tenuous that hold on power and dominance is. That, I feel, is a central theme to this theory and to ASOIAF at large. The Targaryens were so entrenched in their own arrogance, their own perceptions of 'purity' and dominion, that they failed as dragon-riders, as rulers, as representatives of a dying people, as humans. There are barely any who perceive them as anything other than monsters by the time we begin Game of Thrones. Putting all this effort into reinforcing some sort of species superiority only makes the fall all the more ironic. It serves as a reminder that you can move heaven and earth to make power, but you won't keep it for power's sake. There was no point to any of it - making the dragons, making the Valyrians, any of it. It was doomed to fail from the start because people always forget that you cannot win on the basis of 'blood purity' or 'dynastic lineages'. You demonstrate why you deserve to be a leader.

Thirdly - Nettles. I want to speak on Nettles specifically, as she's a character in Fire & Blood I love a lot and I'm getting increasingly nervous about the way some people are going to react when she arrives in House of the Dragon. Many people are attracted to Nettles's character because she's a distinct diversion from the Valyrian supremacy narrative. I agree. I also happen to think that this diversion is more powerful if one considers that Nettles isn't entirely separate from this narrative, but that she works within it to fundamentally alter what it means. Nettles is described as a dragonseed; dragonseeds are explicitly identified as being of Valyrian descent. Nettles is also common-born, brown-skinned, and notably different from the other dragonseeds. She claims Sheepstealer, a vicious dragon unclaimable by any other Valyrian or dragonseed, and she does this because she is arguably in a position to understand him the best - she befriends him by bringing him a slaughtered sheep each morning, appealing to his instincts and satisfying his need for sustenance. As a girl who'd only ever experienced the worst of humanity growing up, I believe she sees Sheepstealer and the way he lashed out at the world and simply did what she wishes someone would've done for her. Given her food. Given her space. Given her appreciation, free of obligations or transaction. She claims Sheepstealer; she manages to have Daemon Targaryen to fall for her (I don't believe they were platonic at all, nor that she deliberately 'enticed' him - I think he was just INTO HER and I support it); she alone escapes the fate of most dragon-riders and dragons of the Dance. She does it all without relying on any innate Valyrian-ness, even if she may possess this ancestry. It's not why Sheepstealer truly yields to her. It's not why Daemon is in love with her. She is Valyrian in the barest sense of the word, and it is because she isn't entrenched in the lie of her own supremacy that she is ultimately the character who survives. Stories don't always have to have clear-cut messages; characters don't always have to just be one thing. Nettles can be Valyrian, and Nettles can also be the representation as to why you cannot buy into the narrative of Valyrian superiority.

Conclusion

So... yeah. Use this if you want. Disagree if you want. I think it solves a bunch of problems I'd been facing when it came to rationalising not only why Valyrian lineage is intrinsic to dragon-riding, but why Valyrian characters we encounter in ASOIAF are so engaged in the narrative that they are intrinsically better than everyone else. And ultimately, why this narrative is doomed to fail from the start.

In short: Valyrians and dragons are the result of blood magic that was used to create a common ancestor, from which two distinct populations were selectively bred for using all manner of magical augmentations - the human Valyrians and the dragons we encounter in a traditional sense in ASOIAF. This was done over many, many generations, and likely incorporated some of the worst atrocities we can conceptualise. It explains why Daenerys is fireproof in the show; why dragon-riding is exclusive to Valyrians save for magical intervention; why Targaryen fetuses are sometimes dragon-like; why incest is practiced in the Targaryen family; and why dragons are both extremely intelligent and specifically beholden to the authority of their Valyrian masters.

If you have any thoughts, feel free to interact. No hatred, please. Keep it civil. Thank you very much for reading!

#house of the dragon #hotd #game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf #hotd writing resources #house of the dragon fanfiction #game of thrones fanfiction #a song of ice and fire fanfiction #asoiaf meta #a song of ice and fire meta #house of the dragon meta #game of thrones meta

[silent-dragon]

TWST OC Profile ~ Ryuu Aiuchi-Ash

Personal Info

Name: Ryuu Aiuchi-Ash

Nickname: Dragon

Gender: Male

Age: 38

Species: Human

Birthday: 6/17

Zodiac: Gemini

Height: 184cm/6ft

Orientation: Demisexual

Eye Color: Medium Brown

Hair Color: Natural Black

Homeland: Kingdom of Ash(Previously Interstate Hill)

Family: Prince Genesis Ash - Like Nephew

King Draco Ash - Sworn Brother

Kana Aiuchi - Adopted Niece

Twist of Kiryu Kazuma from Sega's Yakuza Series

Work Info

School: Night Ravens College

Occupation: Security Guard,Bodyguard

Other Info

Dominant Hand: Right

Favorite Food: Karaage Don

Least Favorite Food: Plain Coffee

Dislikes: Complex Technology,Difficult Cooking,Nosey People,Tigers,Too Much Violence,Aggression Actions Upon Feminine Individuals,Talking about the past

Likes: Bowling,Mini Car Racing,Suits,Karaoke,Gambling(Halfy),Protecting Something/Someone,Checking up on Genesis,Dragons

Talents: Martial Arts,Wrestling,Hand to Hand Combat,Hosting,Business Management,Mild Child Care

Unique Magic: Dragon Legend - Takes a lot of anger for Ryuu to feel at first but can borrow the power of a dragon to heighten strength & senses. Ryuu gains dragon-like features when like this temporarily.

Personality: Not a very talkative man as he often is quiet unless spoken to. He is kind and loyal greatly as becoming special to him means he will protect with life. Has an inner side that's very fun and into childish things since he missed out on this fun.

Facts: Ryuu dislikes talking about his past yet sometimes he will say vague things about it but never explain and will get annoyed if you ask him. This past is why he knows a rsa professor,Marin Takeda well enough. Only makes exceptions for her with many things.

Found a girl who was all by her self during his journey of finding a new home away from his past. Took time but officially adopted her as his niece rather then daughter. She about 10yrs old now and cooks better then he does. He opens up alot to only her.

Kana picrew

Drifted for a long time til found himself in a land that's air was hazy and full of dragons. Saved the life of a few on the road from being robbed. Discovered they were the royal family of this land.

Ryuu was rewarded for his deed by becoming sworn brothers with the king. Requested to be treated like a normal citizen still and has stayed living in the kingdom since then.

Has a soft spot for Genesis who has looked up to him for a while now being like an uncle to him and his brothers. He hopes there's a way he can help change the fate of Genesis and one of his brothers.

Rather be working at rsa cause Genesis is there but choose not to for a single reason most can guess why. Even at nrc memories of the past haunt him still but tries to ignore.

Will spend a free day bowling or doing karaoke by himself. Often thinks about inviting others..but thinks they may be busy.

Is not up to date on new technology stuff so those smart devices are wasted on him. He has his trusted old flip phone that he knows how to work best.

art credit

pose ref - utapri shining live - white day present Masato

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland oc #twst oc #nrc staff #oc profile #ryuu #yakuza game series

[claire-starsword]

Shining Force Country Guide Translation - Part 5/Final

I’ve been reminded that today (March 20th) is the anniversary of Shining Force’s original release! What a sweet time to be wrapping up this guide book, huh? this was in no way intended lmao i suck at remembering dates

say your final goodbyes to the species pie chart:

Prompt

Population: 1000 inhabitants GNP: unknown

Species Ratio:

Prompt is the country of direct descendants of the Ancients. Therefore the population is mostly human. The other species are impossible to identify, as there's no data on them.  They are said to carry the blood of the previous civilization in their veins.

____

The cradle of civilization that passes on the blood of heroes

A large country in the center-south of East Rune, in the so-called Old World. It is said to have been founded around 1000 years. The founders were the few survivors of the fall of the previous civilization, but the objective of this founding according to the Book of Genesis was "the succession line of the heroes entrusted with a duty to Dark Dragon's seal". It is unknown if this is true fact or not. Historians are stuck in a dead end on this research.

It is currently an extinct volcano, but Mt. Siglas has previously caused many disasters in this land. The reason Prompt's castle also got buried underground when close to its completion was also due to a huge earthquake. Going on a bit of tangent here, the Conga basin was also formed due to a caldera from an eruption of around 7000 years ago.

Metapha, floating at the southwestern coast, has been a prosperous place of religious cultural exchange, however due to Darksol's looming threat in recent years, relations with other countries have been forbidden. Many ancient writings relating to the previous civilization have survived in Metapha. Prompt historians are the ones most infuriated at the series of incidents with Darksol.

As the Ancients were a civilization of advanced scientific knowledge, their descendants are incredibly cultured as well, but live frugal lives in order to hide it. Once a theory became established that the fall of the previous civilization was due to their scientific advancements going rogue, this tendency became stronger, and their lifestyle has fallen to what could be called primitive. The sumptuary laws proclaimed by the current king, Grando Zussa XII, are likely another reason for this.

Their main activities are farming and hunting. Of course, because the land is bad, harvest isn't plentiful. Not much of their food comes from the agriculture.

-The country is within the jungle, and not even Runefaust can pinpoint its exact location. Had Darksol been able to find it, Prompt wouldn’t be able to exist as it is. He is perhaps more trouble than any volcano...

-The people of Prompt are said to keep a stylish appearance. The way you see them in town (with unshaved faces and naked chests) is somehow disguising their suits! ...or that's the rumor that goes around. No one has confirmed its authenticity. But, it's tough to picture a stylish image from that. Sorry.

i forgot to bring this up last time but it fits better here anyway. The event section for Rudo and Dragonia has something that stood out to me:

The destined duo, Cain and the protagonist, and Darksol’s scheme

Cain has been the great archenemy to the protagonist through the first half of the game, and finally the Shining Force fights the decisive battle against him in Dragonia. When Cain is defeated, his real face behind the mask is revealed... The truth is, Cain and the protagonist were both swordsmen sent to this world with the same mission. They were meant to join forces in fighting Darksol...

“Sent to this world” is some weird phrasing that is only used here from what i’ve seen, and reminds me a lot of their different backstory in the GBA version. Everywhere else they’re just treated as descendants of a family meant to tend to Dark Dragon’s seal, which is vague enough for either interpretation. So perhaps some idea of them being from the past was already kicking in the writer’s head.

Arthur is no longer helpful at this point, but thankfully, Torasu is, and brings up a lot of Prompt's lore in his HQ dialogue, including the romanization for the volcano's name.

He does not mention the king's name though, but here's the thing. The king's name is said even in the original game, and it's Kusko. The guide might have forgotten about it here.

A basin, geography wise, seems to be a dip or depression in the earth's surface. A caldera is a hollow formed by a magma chamber emptying after an eruption. I learned more geography through this guide than through all of high school.

Runefaust

Population: 2000 inhabitants GNP: 3450 gold

Species Ratio:

The huge amount of centaurs is because, much like Guardiana, the country was created mostly by knights from the previous civilization. The population used to be 2000 inhabitants but, since Darksol arrived the army has expanded. 8000 have joined in for military affairs. ___

The rampaging nation causing international distress

The country was founded around 800 years ago, to watch over the Gate of the Ancients to the south of East Rune, just like Guardiana. The founders were mainly knights from Prompt but, this region used to have many small countries and barbarians (people whose cultures had been completely ravaged by Dark Dragon), so establishing the country was extremely rough. After called their homeland for reinforcements countless times, they finally managed to take control of the many countries in the area.

Their political system is a constitutional monarchy, but the knights are extremely influential, and thus the royals' authority weakened little by little. The current king as well, Arc Rei Ramladu VI, just lends his approval to the authoritarianism of his chancellor Darksol. In recent years the army has expanded at a remarkable rate, conquering one after another the small countries surrounding it and taking over their land. Its territory is already three times larger than it was during the previous king's rule, and it quickly became a huge military power.

On the other hand, the agricultural economy it sustained before has collapsed, and it diverged extremely from Guardiana, though they once held the same goals. All that sustains its economy now is the exploitation of conquered lands, and the tyranny of Runefaust's army as it continues to raid country after country now shows even to the west part of the continent, beyond the Lunatic Ocean.

It once had the respect of other countries as a leading power of chivalrous spirit that valued the military arts, but as mercenaries continued to come in, it became a crude belligerent nation. It seems that the knights of the past were executed. There's nothing within the country itself that can curb its military expansionism now.

-Until not long ago there were many small neighboring countries. However, they were all destroyed and annexed into Runefaust. The menacing power of a military empire can be felt from the great wall surrounding it. One can't help but be impressed as well.

-In the peaceful time before Darksol arrived, the greatest entertainment were fighting tournaments from the knights, much like in its sister country, Guardiana. Since the country was more stoic than Guardiana, there were no other forms of entertainment to note.

The stage for the final battle, the Castle of the Ancients is like this

A castle of devils, or a holy land?

The place where Dark Dragon is sealed. It was originally a facility for extracting resources from the seafloor, made by the Ancients. Being a giant building with over 10 kilometers in diameter, it took 20 years for it to be completed even with the Ancients' scientific prowess. Created with the assumption that it would be staying underwater for long periods of time, it was designed to withstand over 1000atm of pressure, and its exterior is made of a special alloy with a ceramic coating.

As the Ancients saw their civilization fall, their repurposed this facility into becoming Dark Dragon's seal, adding the defense system led by Colossus, and then sinking it to the ocean's depths. After that, they wrote a manual for the control of the facility into a single flat metal piece called "the Book of Secrets". This is final stage of "Shining Force".

-The Gate of the Ancients. There was one to the west of the Guardiana Kingdom as well, but the one pictured here is the one west of Runefaust. Within them lies a mechanism leading to the castle.

-The place you arrive at upon warping from the Gate. Lots of machines can be seen in use. It shows the power of the ancient civilization.

-The interior of the castle has a plain design. But castles bring to mind the idea of defending from foreign intruders, and it does resemble the usual buildings in that sense. Within its depths will be the final battle...

#shining force #sf kouryaku no tebiki translations #ressurection of the dark dragon #shining series #sf max #sf cain #sf torasu #sf ramladu #so much of this book connects to the gba version that i was expecting some hint of narsha but alas #all i can think is that the woman had her head a bit too deep in propaganda like #are we sure runefaust was ever peaceful? or was it just making do #girl was like 'daddy you went too far this time' and there had been one year of conquest before that #i still love her narsha haters dni #also no indication of the royal family having special powers. i was a bit interested in that #anyway. hoo boy that was a ride #probably the last i'll posting about the og game in a long time #but i still have all gba hq dialogue to post so we aren't anywhere done with these characters #shining force country guide

[yanderefairyangel]

Elyos timeline vs Xenelyos timeline

I was bored so i decided to see how much things changed between the main Elyos and the Xenelyos 

and because spoilers ahead, see under the cut

1- Genesis vs Xenogenesis

Elyos was a peaceful lands until Sombron decided to go to war a 1 000 years ago. Chronogically, Sombron arrived in Elyos when he was a child and was taken by humans, but then Emblem 0 gone Sombron choosed violence and spent the time he was here growing and turn to conquest, making kids with Mage dragons. I guess that during his time here since he is as old as Lumimi this allowed people to make him the figure of the cult of Elusia for whatever reasons since Elusia seems to have been worshiping him for as long as he has been here but basically this means that Fell dragons don’t originate from Elyos but from whatever realm Sombron originates from, and Sombron is the sole survivor of his tribe in his world (unless there were others fell kids that survived and they were send into another world idk) whereas Divine one and Mage dragons are native species

Meanwhile XenElyos was a land without any dragon, until a dragon was born and then his descendence got splitted into divine dragons and fell one, making both species native to Elyos and originally of the same kin, which explain better why Xenobron might have been place as the same status as Lumera’s unlike in Elyos where we have to imagine how the heck was it possible for him to gain this much authority. It’s worth noting though that the Realms in Elyos exist as well, but reversed since the map is mirrored in it’s axis, and those realms have a different reputation : Firene is a peaceful land in Elyos but in Xenylos it’ a land of warior, in short they swaped with Brodia.

2- Emblems 

So the accessories and Emblems are different since Elyos was blessed with 12 rings whereas Xenylos was blessed with 7 bracelets. Unlike what was shown of our units, Emblem seems to be unique to their worlds, however the emblems all represent the same world.

Elyos                                                                                                     XenElyos

World of Fe1/Fe3 : Marth’s ring                                                        Tiki’s bracelet

World of Fe7 : Lyn’s ring                                                              Hector’s bracelet

World of Fe 9/10: Ike and Micaiah                                              Soren (yes 10 too since it’s older Ike that appear in Radiant Dawn even if it’s to represent Radiance)

World of Fe 13: Lucina’s ring                                      Chrom and Robin’s bracelet

World of Fe14: Corrin’s ring                                                       Camilla’s bracelet

World of Fe 16: Byleth                                                     Eddie, Dima and Claude

The others Emblem don’t have a counterpart to represent their world but Vero-chan being here to represent multiverse you could argue

3- War of 1000 : case of uchronie

In french we call uchronie a case of alternate history and here the war went way differently. But since it’s parallel world, the events took place in the same time in parallell fashion unlike a classical case of uchronie where it’s “what if things took place differently” in a universe independ, like that one Friends episode of what would have happened if Rachel married Barry and we aren’t in a alternate universe but just a bonus what if episode, so i think you get the difference now.

- Elyos was already peupled with Divine Dragons and Mage dragons since Sombron said that when he was a kid, Elyos was alreday full of it. In his world however, his entire kind as being slewed in a war to control Emblem rings against others dragons whose nature is not specified but seeing how Fell dragon were exclusive to his world and that Divine one are native of Elyos, I am guessing it was not Divine dragons. Sombron brought one of the ring of his homeworld with him, 0 emblem and they stayed together until villagers found baby Sombron and took him within, 0 Emblem left and Sombron went bersek, killed the village and then growing up decided to find a way to return to his world and reunite with 0 emblem. This happened a 1000 years ago, since Lumera and Sombron are of the same age, this means it happened when Lumera herself was very young. Then a 1 000 years later when Sombron and Lumera are both 2000 years old, Sombron started to wage war to get back the rings to open the world’s gate and to do date he mated with Mage dragon and had numerous children so many that he can’t recall the face and names of many despite being the one having given them their name. Overall he was in this world “close” to only 2 of his kids, being Alear and Veyle. By that time, Veyle was still very young and Alear was their last sibling alive since all of Sombron’s children perished in the war of 1000 years ago and that’s during this war that Alear was slayed by Sombron at the cost of sealing him. By that time Alear befriended Lumera and they had agree that Lumera could turn Alear into a divine dragon and adopt them, so in their “dying moments” Alear begged her to so and Lumera waited for them a 1 000 years infusing her essence, turning Alear into Pepsi protag. Also, chapter 24 proved that Sombron’s side had managed to get back a great number of rings, including Marth which was fighting by Alear side until Alear betrayed Sombron and stayed with Alear during their 1 000 slumber and that by that time Lumera was the last of her kind.This also means that Sombron was the sole representant of his kind and that all fell children are actually Mage dragon/Fell dragon hybrid. 

                                                         vs

- In Alternate Elyos, there was no dragon. Until a 1 000 years ago a first dragon was born. By that time, Sombron arrive in Elyos in the main world. Then this dragon had among his descendance Divine dragon and Fell dragon, meaning that in this universe Lumeralt and Xenobron are long distant relatives and that Fell dragon and Divine dragon are cousins species. Seeing how 0Emblem was an emblem ring and Emblem are uniques, this meas that Xenobron had different motivation (might make a whole post about it). Just like Sombron did a 1 000 years ago, Xenobron started a war against Divine dragon with his spawn which, because of his different genetics, are all born as twins. Meanwhile, seeing how the chronolgy is different, Lumeralt had a bioligical child with one of her fellow Divine dragon (idk if it was the one that was Lumera’s spouse in MGElyos though) that child being Altlear, however 1000 years ago, during the war, Sombron got sealed, Lumera died and Nil died too, leaving Rafal to switch places and according to Rafal, that happened when both were still children and unlike what happened in the main world, many others of the Xenobron children survived before the twins betrayed Xenobron to joined side with Alear (remember in the last CG Xenobron said that it had been sometimes since Nel and Rafal betrayed him) since there was a CG showing Nel killing at least 4 others fell children. This was after that they joined side with Altlear and Altear fought Sombron at the cost of their lives, which must have happened recently enough for Nel to still be deeply hurt by it. 

4 - The 4 hounds vs the 4 winds

Biggest changes are them. So let’s see.

Zephia vs Zelestia : Zephia was a powerful Mage dragon, so powerful that according to Mauvier, she could have remplaced Sombron and destroyed her own village, before entering Sombron’s side. She fought along side him during the war of 1 000 and was the one that founded the 4 hounds. This happened when Sombron was in slumber, as she also managed to get Veyle back once she met the Fell Dragon sympathizers that took her away when she was a sleeping in the temple. She mets Griss and Marnies as children and took care of them, along with Mauvier to “form a family”

Zelestia however, had a very different life. She for some reason that i think must be biological was way weaker than her Mage dragons fellow. In this world, Mage dragon refused to side with Xenobron (which can only makes me wonder how Sombron got to have stick to their side) which resulted in their kind being exterminated by Xenobron and Zelestia foind refuge by Lumeralt and Altlear side. Unlike Zephia, Zelestia meet with the other members of the 4 winds very late, Gregory saved her during a battle and Mauvier, founder and second in commend, was with Maddie when they encontered. 

Griss vs Gregory : Both were Elusian boys with neglectful parents. Whereas Griss got abandonned Gregory was sold to the worshippers of Sombron. Both had to go though the same ritual, expect that Gregory came to hate pain unlike Griss who become a masochist after experiecning it. Griss was taken care of by Zephia who was both a mother and elder sister figure to him, who still jad quite a sequels as apparently he was unable to speak for a long moments, whereas Gregory meet Zelestia during a battle where he saved her from a Corrupted. But both guys have strong bond with Zephia and Zelestia.

Marni vs Madeline: Marni was the daughter of a poor woman and had numerous brothers. Although she helped her mother took care of the household, the latter saw her of having no value explaining why she was longing for praise. Despite her efforts, her mother ended up abandoning her at a church of the Fell dragon. There she was raised by the clergy and receive the affection her mother never gave her and her abilty attracted the Fell dragon sect, explaning why Zephia took her with her. 

Madeline had a different alternate family. Rather than being the child of Marni’s mom’s double, like Altlear, she had a knight mother and knight father who served the Lumeralt party and had no siblings at all, in short she was a lonely child. She lost both her parents during the war against Sombron, but she was saved by Mauve who took her as her apprentice and according to Zelestia they looked like father and daughter. 

Mauvier vs Mauve : We all know Mauvier. He is a Firene native that moved to Elusia with his mother when his father died due to an illness and then they become member of Sombron’s chruch. Mauvier became a knight serving Veyle and grew found of her as he was the first person she met when she woke up. He doesn’t join Alear’s party until Marni’s death mainly because of Veyle, but seeing what Zephia did to her and how she killed Marni, he drew the line and join Alear. 

Mauve (that’s how I call Parallel Mauvier)’s origins are unknown but his Veyle dying sooner than in the MG, he had no other reason to stay as I suspect that Xenobron was the one to get rid of her and that he was just as dedicated to her than Mauvier to Veyle. He took Madeline with him and founded the 4 winds to protect the Fell twins but it doesnt change the fact that Zelestia like Zephia was the leader as Mauve left her the spot. 

6- Fell dragons vs Fell dragons

Strangely enough, the Fell siblings and the Fell twins don’t quite exaclty belong to the same species because of the difference. Sombron isn’t a native to his Elyos, meaning he can’t be a descendant of Lumera’s ancestor unlike Xenobron and Lumeralt so Fell dragon in MG Elyos have no link to Divine one whereas in XenElyos, Fell dragons are cousin species of Divine ones. After all the only reason why Fell dragon in our world could awake Emblems was because of Sombron having similar rings but Xenobron and his spawn would be able to do it just fine since they have a common ancestor to explain the why. That’s without taking into account the fact that unlike in Elyos where Sombron was the only pure fell blood, Xenobron could have mate with other of his fellow fell dragon seeing how there many others and no Mage dragon, and he killed them way before Veyle and Nel and Rafal were born so it’s more likely. Which makes it very weird because

Alear : Fell dragon turned into a hybrid Fell/Divine dragon

Veyle : Hybrid Fell/Mage Dragon

Sombron : pure fell dragon

The Fell twins : Pure fell dragon but their species is slightly different due to their origins...

If you noticed Veyle and the twins shared the common trait of having weird taste buds, something Alear doesn’t have anymore since Lumera messed their anatomy and seeing how Alear can use both invocations and prayers as well as having only one side with bed hair, being the red one, I guess this means there isn’t that much difference but when you compared Sombron’s dragon froms to the twins, the twins looked more like lizard which i think is because of that change of ancestor because some of the Lumera dragon from feature reapears through their own dragon form. And seeing how Xenobron had that quirk of having only twins unlike Sombron, I guess that’s also proof that Fell dragon in Elyos arent quite the same species as in the XenElyos

And that’s all I spotted for now. 

#fire emblem engage #fe engage #ever since engage i witnessed the consequences of having fell blood

[ahamkcra]

𝐑𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐧𝐲𝐫𝐚 𝐌𝐜𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠

Species: Dragon.

Rhaenyra Esme McKing is the daughter of Eddard Tate & Fraser McKing and younger sister to Jack, Ronnie, & Ethan. She was given her middle name: Esme, after her grandmother. She was conceived via a surrogate of a Witch in honor of Isobel. She was their little light, as her dragon power was literally as if she’d come from the sun itself. Ronnie practically raised her after Fraser died; always making sure she never got into trouble even though it practically followed her. After Calla’s death, Rhaenyra moved to England and ended up finding a job with ARCHIVE, a defense program for magical creatures. That had been her passion ever since she was six and fell into the River outside Genesis’ land, and was saved by Water nymphs in the forest. They’d gifted her a type of coral so she could travel and speak with them, and Eddard searched for his daughter for two whole days until she resurfaced. It was only due to Jack’s call asking her to come home and the blood rain warning that she did. She took her old room in the McKing manor and took the job at Oblivion working as a part-time bartender while also being his ace up the sleeve for power dealing.

[fumikomiyasaki]

💖

Genesis

Blind Date

A smirk left his lips as Julian met his blind date that day... red piercing eyes, a more serious stare, quite his type of what he usually pursues for sure... what surprised him more was to hear that he was apperently some kinda prince from a kingdom far away... he noticed while talking with him something odd about how he responded... but had the patience enough for it.

"So then Handsome... how about you tell me a little about yourself?"

"Hmm... I am more curious about you, you don't seem the typical demon."

"You would be correct but... lets say I don't like talking much about my species or anything.... I am more a guy that goes with the flow, loves to dance and have a good time. And I know how to make someone feel good around me.~"

His gaze was a little seductive at him but that stoic facade was hard to break or even crack... it was not that Julian didn't try to imply or flirt as hard as he could but even then the handsome man watched him on with a serious gaze.

Eventually he asked him about Genesis homeland and was a little be overwhelmed how passionate the man was about dragons as he suddenly had a light bulb appearing over his head.

"Say I have this friend of mine... not only is he a great dancer but a Celestial dragon all the same.... maybe you would be interested to meet him and see his dragon form?"

"A celestial dragon you say... it does get me curious."

"Then how about that... even if RSA and HSA may have a Rivalry we can still meet up in the nightlife so."

Julian leaned over the table and gave Genesis a small sheet of paper with a wink.

"You can call me up for arranging a meeting, alright?"

He was unsure if he fully convinced him but as hell he wouldn't try to win over someone this interesting... he has that stare that Julian know would giveh im some shivers so he hoped to at least try to keep him around.

#twisted wonderland oc #twst oc #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland ocs #disney twst #twst #twistedwonderland #twst ocs #twistedwonderlandoc #julian richter

[ithisatanytime]

Nosejob Polecat - Billions (Official Video)

 so the nephilim are only described briefly in genesis and then their descendants sporadically appear here and there, sometimes they are literally giants, so at LEAST two thousand years ago, man had recorded in the bible that he encountered another race of man similar but much larger and full of evil, and then years passed, we assumed it was legend, and then archeologists discover that man lived concurrently with other hominids with a much more robust bone structure, giants basically, but oh that was 200 thousand years ago minimum! and sure we share some dna with them but they died LOONG before people started recording there own histories. likewise the bible and literally every other ancient tomb of knowledge from every people scattered around the world, records stories of great fearsome lizards that roamed the land and ate people and shit, 2000 years pass we assume it was just legend, but then archeologists discover innumerable examples of gigantic fuck you lizards who easily could have ate people but that was MILLIONS of years ago, so theres no way any of those could have survived long enough to have human contact and we dont call them dragons anymore we call them dinosaurs tm.

 its my understanding of evolution more than anything else that makes me doubt the supposed age of the earth, and i do. evolution happens far faster than they are pretending like it does, and of course it fucking does if it were such a slow and near random thing theres no way that life would last on earth for a million years let alone three billion, evolution happens FAST and ill tell you the mechanism as well! when the environment should suddenly change, say a draught turns once lush plains into arid savannah and then desert, what happens to a population of animals? well they fucking die, but not all at once, some are more adapted to lasting with out water, some minority of animals, but its such a small group that remains that inbreeding is inevitable, no species becomes extinct without seeing its population shrunk until inbreeding is simply a mathematical fact, and inbreeding causes MUTATIONS, most mutations are not beneficial, but can you see how this speeds the process up? so their offspring will be slighlty better adapted to low water environments, and then on top of that, they will have much higher instances of FURTHER mutations, now most wont be beneficial, but the species is dying anyway and no longer adapted to its environment so big changes have to be made, wow this horse suddenly has humps or whatever.

 i could go even further and explain other mechanisms of action whereby natural selection is FAR LESS RANDOM than scientists currently believe. i believe in the genetic code are memes (you happy DAWKINS YOU MOTHERFUCKER!?) that get reused, shapes and forms, tissues, formations of tissues, that were lost but the ability to recombine them exists hidden in the background of the code, imagine taking over an old civil war era fort that was used to combat rowdy natives, and you see stretched out before the walls smooth stone flooring with peculiar little holes at what seem to be random intervals to you, no rhyme or reason to them about the size of apples each one, and about as deep as an apple is tall, you wonder and wonder, and lets say while you are wondering a man rides up on a horse and the horses hoof is caught perfectly by the hole and throws the rider to his death, eureka! right? the genetic code will be found to be just like this, memes hidden in the supposedly random noise. this shit hadnt been going on for no three billion years

#youtube

[dawnmarshalimekaraca]

Noah's Ark and The Moon - Research (1)

Introduction to new project

For this project, I was assigned to come up with a cult/religious group that is set on a spaceship 100 years in the past. I am using the story of Noah's Ark as my starting point as it suggests the idea of someone chosen by God for a a pivotal task, just as the leader of a cult would be chosen as the link between humanity and a higher power.

God's Reason for the Flood.

The story of the flood takes place in the chapters 6 to 9 of The Book of Genesis, the first book of The Bible . It tells God's decision to return the universe to it's pre-creation state when natural chaos and water were dominant due to humanity's wickedness, corruption and violence.

I find it very interesting how God decided that not only the humankind shall be erased and recreated, but all animals as well (aside from the ones on the ark) .

Since animals were not guilty of sin, the reason for why God might've decided to get rid of all life was due to people's use of animal sacrifices or just general violence set upon them by humans.

Fact vs Fiction- The Moon

Gods decision to flood the earth is a catastrophic scenario that would lead to the extinction to most, if not all life. However, a similar event could actually happen in our time and the reason for it could be tied to our moon.

Gravity is the one major force that creates tides. In 1687, Isaac Newton explained that ocean tides result from the gravitational attraction of the sun and moon on the oceans of the earth .

The moon’s gravitational pull on the Earth and the Earth’s rotational force are the two main factors that cause high and low tides. 

Without the moon, earth's oceans would have tides about one third the size that they are now, which means a lot smaller. This would greatly affect all life, both marine and terrestrial. Nocturnal animals and birds of prey that hunt during night time could become instinct due to the lack of darkness in which they are normally adapted.

The gravitational pull of the moon moderates Earth's wobble, keeping the climate stable.  Without it, we could have enormous climate mood swings over billions of years, with different areas getting extraordinarily hot and then plunging into long ice ages.

However, it has been stated that the moon is currently migrating away from us at a rate of 4 cm per year. Calculations of the evolution of the Earth/Moon system tell us that with this rate of separation that in about 15 billion years the Moon will stop moving away from the Earth.

The Moon Wobble

Unfortunately, we still experience floods today due to the combination of climate change, rising sea levels and the moon's gravitational pull. Some of the impacts this has on our lives include loss of human life, damage to property, destruction of crops, loss of livestock, non-functioning of infrastructure facilities and deterioration of health due to waterborne diseases.

It has been stated that the Komodo dragon, the world's largest lizard, is at risk of extinction due to the rising sea levels. Human activity such as deforestation only adds to the risk of this species going from vulnerable to endangered in the next 20 years.

This shows that science fiction movies about natural world catastrophise are not as far from the truth and impossible as we thought.

#Youtube

[vesperknight]

The final thing to catch you guys up is my MYO Spectral named Genesis! The feral form shown with him is a form he can turn into via a curse called Faeveil's Curse.

I honestly can't get enough of this boy already and he is already on the list of OCs I want to get a ton of art for if given the chance.

#spectrel #my art #vk art #closed species #faeveil curse #feral form #anthro form #dragon #double spectra #halo spectra #mane spectra #extra arms spectra #space dragon #Spectrel: Genesis

[serpentandthreads]

The Snake [Animal Archetype]

Snakes can be found all over the world, and as you may expect different cultures have their own perspectives on snakes. While modern people might use the term "snake" to describe a deceitful person, some people consider snakes to be wise and important beings.

TW: mentions of murder, rape and other potentially triggering topics

Snake in Different Cultures & Religions

Disclaimer: You won't find how all cultures and religions view snakes on this post, purely because that is a lot of research to be done and I do not want to make this post eight chapters long. Instead, I chose the religions and cultures I am most knowledgeable on (regarding snake symbolism) and knew people connected to the religions and cultures mentioned to avoid misinformation.

In Christianity: In Genesis 3, a snake is portrayed as a deceitful trickster. The snake had convinced Eve to disobey God's orders of not eating from a specific fruit tree. Eve later convinced Adam to also eat from the same fruit tree. God then banished Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden to prevent them from eating the fruit from that tree again. God also punished the snake that convinced Eve to eat from the fruit tree, cursing it to crawl on its belly and eat dust.

Snakes are also mentioned in the New Testament, with Jesus mentioning them as shrewd beings (Mathew 10:16). Satan is also identified as a serpent (Psalms 91:13), though some translations say dragon instead of snake or serpent.

In Norse Paganism: There are a few snakes mentioned in the tales of the Norse pantheon, but two of the most significant ones are Níðhöggr and Jörmungandr. Níðhöggr is a serpent/dragon that gnaws on the roots of Yggdrasil. There isn't too much information on the being, but some believe the creature's name is connected to the term nīðing, which is a dishonorable term used on those who are guilty of murder, rape and oath-breaking. Jörmungandr is also known as the world serpent, who is so large that he can wrap himself around the entirety of Midgard. It is said that during Ragnarok, Jörmungandr is killed by Thor. Thor shortly dies afterwards from Jörmungandr's venom. While we do have to take the Christian influence on what we know about the Norse pantheon into account, we could assume that serpents could have been viewed as chaotic, powerful and destructive beings based on what we do have documented.

In Kemeticism: There are many depictions of snakes (especially cobras) in Egyptian mythology. Many Egyptian deities are portrayed with cobras (such as Ra, Wadjet & Sekhmet). Snakes were portrayed as both good and evil beings, depending on the text. Wadjet is often represented as a cobra and was said to "spit fire" at enemies of the Pharaoh. It was also mentioned in the Book of the Dead that a spell was created to repel an evil snake from the Underworld.

In Hinduism & Buddhism: In Hinduism and Buddhism, there is an entity called the Nāga (literally meaning "snake" or "serpent"). Nāgas are said to take forms of serpents, humans or part-human and part-serpent. While it is said Nāgas are magical, powerful, potentially dangerous creatures, they do have more positive roles in Hinduism and Buddhism. Many Hindu deities are portrayed alongside snakes and Nāgas, such as Vāsuki (a serpent depicted to be coiled around Shiva's neck). There are also people in Hinduism who worship snakes. This is called Nag Puja, and the day devoted to the Nag Devta (the snake deity in Hinduism) is called Nag Panchami. In Buddhism, Nāgas are often portrayed as protectors of the dēvas (literally meaning "God", but also can be interpreted as demi-Gods or beings of high excellence). Dēvas are also celestial beings in Hinduism.

I want to take a moment to thank @rue-cimon for helping me out with the section on Hinduism and Buddhism, since they are more knowledgeable on those religions than I am.

Snake Behavior

As there are differing personalities and habits in different people, different snake species are known to have different personalities and habits. There are many people who are afraid of snakes (potentially an evolutionary fear, developed by our ancestors as a survival mechanism). Despite these fears and misinformation about snakes, snakes aren't out to unnecessarily harm people.

Snakes aren't likely to strike unless they feel cornered or threatened. They are more likely to flee from people than attack them, which is why the violent reactions people tend to have towards snakes are uncalled for. Coming from personal experience, so long as you stay out of their way and don't poke at them, they'll leave you be.

Now, that isn't to say all snakes have the same level of patience. I personally have experience with many different snake species, and I'll tell you that I'm more comfortable being around the venomous cotton mouth than the non-venomous banded water snake. Cotton mouths have been far more patient and chill than the banded water snake (these fuckers have some of the worst tempers, in my experience).

If you must remove a wild snake for one reason or another, I suggest either using a long stick to gently push and pick it up, find local snake removal services or call your local wildlife control services. Don't try to pick it up by hand if you have no idea what species it is, let alone how to properly handle one.

Going further into snake behavior, snakes are very in tune with their environment. While their sense of sight and hearing is limited, they have sensors that help them pick up on vibrations and tell them what directions odors are coming from. Snakes use their forked tongues to "smell" the environment around them, including detecting chemical gradients around them. I suggest doing research on this, because it's quite fascinating.

The final aspect of snake behavior I want to mention is the one most spoken of: shedding their skin. Snakes shed their skin regularly for a variety of reasons. The primary reason for snakes shedding their skin whole is to promote their growth, but shedding their skin also helps them remove any parasites they may have.

The Snake Archetype

Ultimately, how you view the snake in a spiritual sense depends on you. Your own cultural and religious upbringing may have influence and that is perfectly fine. The following is general symbolism that is overall mutually agreed upon.

General Snake Symbolism

🐍 Transformation

🐍 Cycles

🐍 Death

🐍 Rebirth

🐍 Power

🐍 Protection

🐍 Defense

🐍 Awareness/Self-awareness

🐍 Wisdom

🐍 Healing

🐍 Intuition

🐍 Magic

I also feel like you could break things down and consider the individual species, too. There are more than 3,000 species of snakes across the world. Different cultures, religions and regions are bound to have stories and folklore about specific species. I suggest doing research based on your cultural background as well as the folklore from the region you currently live.

#witchblr #witchcraft #folk witch #grimoire #book of shadows #animal symbolism #animal archetypes #spirituality

[surgeofsuren]

[JADE KINGDOMS👑] The prologue

100.000 years ago, the Primordial Dragon Vritra bore witness to the rebirth of the universe at the Needlepoint Origin. Alongside Garuda the Inorganic and the millions of pieces of the Distance Prime force, these three old forces were ordered by the Intrepid Soul to fill the empty universe with new life. The planet of the World's Bones, which was the Distance Prime's favorite world, was chosen as life's new home. Garuda shaped the physical forms, infusing them with their gift the Living Flesh, ordering the bodies to thrive constantly. The Primordial Dragon Vritra took parts of Thought, Memory and Emotion from his 99 fortresses and shaped them together as the Sentient Mind, forming the minds that would live inside the Living Flesh. The Distance Prime's gift was a subtle one, and offered its Bones so that life may always enjoy living upon it's back. To ensure life would not need to be afraid of it wanting to take back its gift, a piece of the Distance was sealed inside the World's Bones. As the ages past, life thrives and evolved. But with sentience came will and with will came choice. And it was the choice that often began the many flames of discord until the world eventually exploded in conflict. This infuriated Vritra, and the galactic serpent coiled around the World's bones and stole all the water from the planet beginning the disaster that was Vritra's Drought. The Drought was designed to take out all life, while slowly beginning the decay of the Sentient Mind as well, as the Dragon began taking back the gift so misused by the mortals. Garuda attempted to reason with Vritra, but the serpent broke the body of Garuda in many pieces, forcing the Inorganic to reel back and merely watch on quietly as his Living Flesh brittled and broke. For 40 weeks the Drought roamed free, ending the many species of the world until many had died out. But in the far West of the World two unlikely forces stood up to take back the planet. The first, was a young High Blood Priestess named Isolde, who took it upon herself to unseal the Distance from its shackles and seal the creature inside herself. Isolde of Beriach fused with the Distance Prime, becoming its first and only incarnation and turned her fury to the harried races of the world that invoked Vritra's wrath. As the skies darkened and Isolde began her genocide across the world by ripping the bones from the flesh of the lesser races, a second force rose in the far East. A kinder, tragic force that was Indra, a young human who could no longer stand idly by as his elders would do nothing to stop the chaos. Indra was but a mere child forced to be a man, and he took advantage of the chaos to slip into the temple of Garuda, and took a last gift of the Genesis Trinity for himself; A Stone Apple. Blessed with the organic base of Garuda, the boon of the Distance Prime and the neutral judgement from Vritra, Indra devoured the Stone Apple and ascended to temporary godhood. Indra ascended to the heavens, and Vritra had seen the young boy glitter with the gleam of the true Genesis Trinity, and met him face-to-face with his Vajra spears. Indra tore through Vritra's 99 fortresses and disarmed him from his Vajra spears, and with the same weapons Indra pierced Vritra's heart and broke the waters of the world free. Vritra's acidic blood, opalescent and gleaming, rained down on the already battered World's Bones damaging the planet further. Indra crashed back on earth, and turned to stone soon after, his duty done and payment for eating the Stone Apple coming to its close. But Vritra would not be undone. Its carcass dispersed in a myriad of light and from that light, using the remains of humanity as template, came the Vritra race who would become the new keepers of the Sentient Mind. Wanting to redeem their progenitor, the Vritra took the remains of the lesser races and offered them a home. That home was forged on the last continent on the World's Bones still lush with life; the Jade Kingdom. But the Primal Races were divided and torn still. Isolde of Beriach, now the new Distance and World's Bones incarnation, refused to heal the planet and kept the Lifeblood to herself. The Garuda race, born from Garuda's feathers and Living Flesh, rose to the skies and build their cities in the sky to stay clear from the Decaying Bones order Isolde had put in place over the dying planet. Garuda the Inorganic made a fatal error by cutting ties to the Living Flesh; without him to support it, it became a terrible curse. The bodies of the Garuda species would eternally morph into monstrosities, unable to die. The Vritra, the newest of the races, would learn too late their time as the Dragon still meant the Sentient Mind was being taken from them. Vritra's rampage had broken the Genesis Trinity, and its descendants would soon learn what his true plan was as the world heaved and cracked further.

#surenlicious #jade kingdoms #drawingwhileblack #artists on tumblr #original art #original characters #writing #My writing #my art

[therealvagabird]

The Zodiac of Auma-Maan

AKA: I made a star-sign chart! It references some occult setting themes I’ve used in several contexts. Feel free to find your astral avatar, as dictated by the ancient sages of the far galaxies...

Many species across countless reaches of time and space have crafted their own mystical star-charts to attempt to bridge the material and the divine. Yet the eldest and most powerful of all these zodiacs is held to be that of Auma-Maan, the star-cycle of the Ur-Aum, also known as the Dawn Celestials. Understanding of the Auma-Maan can enlighten one to many patterns within the fabric of creation, peeling back time and energy like the petals of a flower bud to expose the secrets within. To dissect the endless tessellations and trines of the Auma-Maan zodiac would be an infinite endeavor, and so what follows is the simplest form adapted for human use.

Jan 6 – Jan 20: Dormin, the Colossus

Lord of winter, Dormin bears similarities to legends of the Jotunn or other such elemental giants of Earth. He sleeps throughout the stellar cycles and is awakened only in times when all other things die or lay dormant. Thus is his warpath unchallenged when he arises at last in might. Those born in the time of Dormin are resolute and unflagging, with a fire burning ever in their chest, even if they appear outwardly stoic.

Jan 21 – Feb 3: Avaka, the White Horn

An omen of good fortune, Avaka is a mysterious being sometimes said to be bestial in appearance, though none know much more than that. Common traits of Avaka are the majestic horns it bears on its head, and that it moves like a rushing winter’s wind. Avaka appears to the worthy during their darkest times, glimpsed at the edge of one’s vision and thereafter forgotten, but forever imprinted upon their soul. Terrifying to the ignorant and the ignoble, Avaka is the enemy of evil spirits and inspires those born under it to be as enigmatic and powerful as it is.

Feb 4 – Feb 19: Vui Wanai, the Everborn

Sometimes called the “Fey” on Earth, Vui Wanai is the Ur-Aum representation of a “precursor god” to the Vuwana, the Everborn. The Everborn are a eusocial race of adaptable plantlike beings which were known at the dawn of time for their great magics, growing from among the youngest of the old Pentarchy into a powerful empire. Those born under Vui Wanai are attuned to nature and can never be cut off from it.

Feb 20 – Mar 5: Ka, the Leviathan

The great beast of the abyss, Ka symbolizes the unknown, the powerful and unfathomable forces of the outer dark, and the might of the gods. Ka is both a creator and a destroyer, and an aspect of the incomprehensible power of the tides of fate and nature beyond mortal skeins. To be under the dominion of Ka is to have the opportunity for untold power, but also for untold ruination – though fear of the unknown will never prove insurmountable.

Mar 6 – Mar 20: Akshia, the Vessel of Plenty

Likened to the cornucopia of classical myth, Akshia is a legendary invention said to hold the keys to true genesis. Akshia represents unfettered abundance, infinite resources, and boundless energy. It is associated with birth, creation, and life. Individuals born under Akshia can likewise expect bounty to flow their way and tend to have larger reserves of energy and good luck than most. Akshia is among the most powerful of the Terran signs and can be invoked for wealth and prosperity. The most powerful of races throughout history have placed the sign of Akshia upon the hulls of Genesis Engines as a point of ritual.

Mar 21 – Apr 4: Amon-Bal, the Horned Hearth

Incarnation of the home, the balance of nature and humanity, and the bounty of the divine. Most often represented by an ambiguous figure crowned with great, twisting horns, Amon-Bal has sometimes been mistaken for a demon or other fel creature of the outer dark. In truth, Amon-Bal stands for sustenance, fire, family, and other basic necessities which sustain mortal races long before they ever ascend to the stars. Those born in the time of Amon-Bal are often of temperate attitude and simple pleasures, but will not shy away from doing what is necessary to take care of them and their loved ones.

Apr 5 – Apr 20: Eanlil, the Egg

Eanlil is a powerful concept, representing dormant power which has yet to come into fruition. It mirrors the collective consciousness of sapient species, the biospheres of entire worlds, or the harmonic fields generated within the hearts of stars. Eanlil is perfect balance and unlimited energy, yet unborn and unrealized. The “Egg” which this astral avatar inhabits is the same type from which the Celestial Dragons were said to have been birthed. To be born under Eanlil is likewise to have limitless potential, and often a tendency to attract power in turn.

Apr 21 – May 4: Khar-Nin, the Primordial

Great beast of the deep earth, Khar-Nin is a personification of the raw forces which shape planets and entire terrestrial landforms. Khar-Nin embodies eternal change and the clashing powers of creation and entropy within the cosmos. While not so tied to life and the cycles of nature as some other avatars, Khar-Nin still grants those born under its sign the blessings of endurance and perseverance. The Primordial is strength, eternity, and power.

May 5 – May 21: Insar, the Demon

Insar is a distillation of all those traits which define demonkind, both positive and negative. Standing for selfishness, chaos, destruction, and mutation, Insar is also a patron to passion, survival, and change. Still, Insar is often regarded as one of the darker signs, and those who hold its power are said to be prone to demonic behavior in turn. None would deny the efficacy of such attributes, though one must always be careful that ambition is put towards constructive ends, and does not lead to ruination.

May 22 – Jun 5: Orhirat, the Eternal Serpents

Also referred to as the Orhirati in plural, this sign is oft represented by two snakes devouring each other in an eternal cycle. As such, Orhirat symbolizes rebirth and eternity, not unlike the ouroboros or the taijitu. Raw energy is held within the Orhirat, and it is often associated in turn with the Celestial Dragons and their boundless power. Those born under Orhirat are often subject to extremes of passion – love, anger, and the like. They attract energy and produce energy in great abundance, making them vivant and willful with the force of their personalities.

Jun 6 – Jun 20: Ohol, the Conquerors

Human interpretations of Ohol tend to evoke images like the Wild Hunt, great figures like Genghis Khan, or other ravagers which come upon galloping steeds and lay waste to their foes. Ohol is an elusive concept which contains many contradictory elements within it – pain and pleasure, love and tyranny, chaos and unity. A popular depiction of Ohol is a pair of beautiful yet terrifying riders on horseback. Those born to Ohol likewise can be prone to flairs of passion, great ambitions, and a love of life’s pleasures. Terran warlocks are fond of invoking Ohol for all manner of rituals, being that it is among the most powerful signs that can manifest on our world.

Jun 21 – Jul 6: Praven, the Mariner

Patron to the intrepid, the enduring, inventive, and the adventurous. Praven is an ill-defined figure who nonetheless seems to uphold many of the traits and skills lauded by seafarers, void-sailors, and all those who ply the treacherous expanses. Rewarding those of great skill and discipline with the boons of freedom and fortune, Praven is among the most powerful avatars which can be invoked upon Earth.

Jul 7 – Jul 22: Itamn, the Chitinous

A representation of the “precursor god” of the Kitan, another of the Pentarchy and considered among the most intelligent races in the cosmos, having long since ascended to a higher plane of existence. Itamn takes the form of a titanic, crab-like creature, and is a patron to science and arcane study. Those born in the time of Itamn are often highly erudite and adept in learning.

Jul 23 – Aug 6: Ekhissu, the Chimera

Embodying change, the power of the unnatural, and the complexities of opposites and the harmony and discord they bring in equal measure. On Earth, Ekhissu is often represented by the Greek chimera or the Persian lamassu, though more traditional depictions tend to bend the mind with their alien anatomies. Ekhissu shows the strength to be found in things which are not always considered “natural” and is a patron to science and invention. However, adversarial concepts war within Ekhissu. Those who can find harmony within themselves will find a wealth of creativity and focus born from the synthesis of their internal struggles, while those who fall prey to discord will become monstrous and unthinking.

Aug 7 – Aug 22: Sol Rosol, the Ruler

Depictions of Sol Rosol among Terran cults has diminished much since the ancient days. The visage of the Lion Lord was subsumed into more palatable sky-gods and humanoid avatars. Among the earliest humans who were made privy to the secrets of the Ur-Aum magics, Sol Rosol was regarded as one of the most powerful and fearsome avatars of all the celestials. Drawn as a great lion-headed warrior in solid armor, with the tail of a monkey and holding a flaming scepter, Sol Rosol stands for divine rule, tyranny, beneficent leadership, warfare, and peaceful prosperity all in equal measure. Those born under its sign are often destined to lead and can look to Sol Rosol for their providence.

Aug 23 – Sep 7: Anu, the Child

Representation of birth, beginnings, purity, curiosity, imagination, and innocence. Anu is often interpreted as the “child” to Panduma’s “mother”, though in truth Anu embodies the beginning of all things. The limitless potential and endless diverging paths which remain un-congealed with every new beginning are held within Anu, and it forms the start of all reality, just as entropy forms the end. Those born under Anu often maintain a childlike wonder throughout their lives, and may benefit from mental elasticity and curiosity even into their old age – the greatest boons of childhood.

Sep 8 – Sep 23: Panduma, the Mother

Aspect of fertility, love, and plenty. On Earth, Panduma is associated with mother-goddess figures and harvest matrons. To the Ur-Aum, Panduma is an embodiment of biological cycles, such as those expressed in reproduction, which are of obvious importance to all lifeforms, as well as the passage between life and death, which also maintains balance in the world. Panduma is a patron to civilization and order. Individuals born under this sign tend towards traditional values, loyalty to their families, and are rewarded for their hard labor with great bounty. Also one of the most powerful of the Terran signs, Panduma bestows the resolute with good fortune.

Sep 24 – Oct 7: Terthon, the Winged

Symbol of the air and the power of flight. Terthon is notable in that, within the rune-tomes of the ancient Pentarchy, Terthon is depicted as a divine flying machine as much as (if not more than) any biological winged creature. To beings like the Ur-Aum and the Ga-An, Terthon was a representation of their birthright, their mastery of the air. To other species, Terthon symbolized that which they coveted, and the promises of progress and technology. Invoking Terthon or being born under its sign grants lightheartedness, inventiveness, agility of both body and mind, boldness, and other virtues held both within the winds and by those beings which sail upon them.

Oct 8 – Oct 23: Volk, the Hunter

Patron of hunters, tamers of beasts, and the like. In Ur-Aum spirituality, it was the essence of Volk which compelled various intelligent species to tame other creatures rather than just slay them. Likewise, Volk grants power to those who hunt to survive or to fell terrible monsters. In this way does the great hunter symbolize balance in the natural world. To have Volk’s blessing is to likewise be given the guile, strength, and wisdom to uphold this balance. For occultists, one of the most notable spells of this sign is to summon the Hounds of Volk – terrifying beings from beyond the skein of the void, who nonetheless are beloved for their great loyalty and focus.

Oct 24 – Nov 6: Kur-Ana, the Abyssal

Precursor sign of the Anaman race, also known as the Nameless Things. Among the oldest races in the cosmos are the Nameless, who were spawned from the effluvium of entropy produced as a by-product of other life coming into being. Kur-Ana is a reflection of the virtues held within Anamani Annihilism, their sacred theology. To follow the tenets of Kur-Ana is to embrace pain over pleasurable distractions, to not fear the darkness and to feel equal compassion for all things. Some xenodaemonologists of Earth have posited that certain lessons of Annihilism were uncovered and embraced by the precursor cults of certain near-eastern religions, though these are just hypotheses.

Nov 7 – Nov 22: Nammu, of the Oceans

Sign of the oceans and all great waters, from the primordial puddles which later give rise to entire worlds of life, to the astral glaciers which hold within their hearts secrets incomprehensible. Of all the essences in existence, water is among the most powerful. Nammu shares traits with many sea gods of Terran lore, being both a bountiful provider and a bitter destroyer. Those born to Nammu’s sign often hold within them the strength of the sea, along with its deceptive nature.

Nov 23 – Dec 6: Zagaya, the Spear

Avatar of warfare and warriors. Long have been the millennia past since the Ascended have had to stoop to base warfare, but the struggle of conflict is never so far removed from the hearts of sapient beings. Battle is both an addiction, a lust, as well as a necessity at times – when horrors lurk always in the outer dark. Though mortal fighters may often prefer to trust in the strength of their own hands, or the favor of their personal conqueror-gods, Zagaya is always looking down upon them. To be held under Zagaya’s sign is to be a warrior true, even if one is so fortunate as to never know battle in their lifetime.

Dec 7 – Dec 21: Path, the Thunder Bird

Embodied by the lightning bolt, and herald of the storm, Path is a being of pure power and sometimes likened to the Celestial Dragons – most ancient and mighty of the primordial beings which shaped the cosmos. Path brings both destruction and creation, terror and exultation. Though not malevolent, all should be careful when dealing with the Thunder Bird. Those born during the time of Path are likewise noted for their sheer drive and natural ability in all that they do, no matter what stands in their way. Path is also among the mightiest signs to invoke upon Terra, due to our world’s astral positioning, and is considered among the greatest sources from which star-paladins can channel their power.

Dec 22 – Jan 5: Paramis, the Devourer

One of the darkest and most terrifying of the zodiac signs, Paramis is likened to the demons, the void-parasites, and the Hungering Blood. The house of Paramis is death, deception, and conquest. Paramis’ power lays in adaptability, using your opponent’s strengths against them, and always pursuing your own growth and empowerment. Despite this, Paramis is not considered “evil” in the confusing cosmology of the Ur-Aum, given that Paramis is held to be a tester, a tutor, an embodiment of survival, and one of the beings which brings about the end of kalpas. Paramis is also one of the most powerful signs that can be invoked on Earth and is a favorite of the most daring warlocks. To be born under Paramis is to have the will to survive at all costs, to fear nothing, and to crave everything.

#fantasy #sci fi #science fantasy #creative writing #star sign #zodiac #horoscope #occult

[silent-dragon]

TWST OC Profile ~ Genesis Ash

Personal Info

Name: Genesis Tiamat Ash

Gender: Male

Age: 20

Species: Ash Touched

Birthday: 11/8

Zodiac: Scorpio

Height: 220cm/7ft'2in

Orientation: Demisexual

Eye Color: Blood Red

Hair Color: Raven Black

Condition: Bilateral Deaf

Homeland: The Red Wood Kingdom of Ash

Family: King Ash - Father

Queen Ash - StepMother

Second Prince Ash - 1st Half-Brother

Third Prince Ash - 2nd Half-Brother

Twist of Guy Drakon Avari from Court of Darkness Otome

School Info

School: Royal Sword Academy

School Year: 3rd

Dorm: Armonye

Occupation: Prince of Kingdom of Ash,Blacksmith,Housewarden

Best Subject: Jack of All Trades

Other Info

Dominant Hand: Right

Favorite Food: Volcanic Coffee

Least Favorite Food: Cold Drinks

Dislikes: Winter,Rain,Being Late for Class,People who don't move lips when speaking,Being Seen as weak for his condition,Cold Coffee

Likes:Hot Coffee,Chess,Volcanos,Fire Magic,Dragons/Lizards,Caveats,Bookmarks,Vibrations,Collecting Dragon Figures,Petting Lizards

Talents: Magical Weaponry,Metalwork,Fire Magic,Dragon Taming,Royal Etiquette,Ballroom Dance,Hearing via Vibrations

Unique Magic: Classified due to Royal Status

Personality: Genesis is a very kind man,just very stoic. Always has a calm small smile on face no matter his mood. Is tough to befriend quickly as he has a wall up but overtime will come down and will see the fiery chill and loving side of him.

Fun Facts: Genesis hails from the Red Wood Kingdom of Ash,a land with an active volcano that's ash has affected the entire land's resources making trees wood red tone colors and probably has made the people go a little crazy. Dragons and lesser lizards live in this land due to the volcano so they are often seen being used as military mounts,workers,and pets.

Genesis is a rare hybrid from his land. An ash dragon is native to the land when egg is covered in the ash of the volcano for as long as it was in there. These dragons always have the same blood red eyes. It is very rare but for unexplained reasons some of the humans of the kingdom were born with the same eyes. These people have high elemental traits to fire magic,impervious to fire or heat,natural aura dragons like. One of their body senses is missing though as with Genesis his hearing. They are called "Ash Touched"

Genesis was born deaf and will react to very loud sounds as that is what he can hear mostly. Speech from people he can not, it just sounds like blabbing and must read lips or use technology messagers(smartphone,tablets,etc) with another to understand. He is very good at reading body language as well. His hearing aid helps make sounds less loud.

He speaks normally as was taught to since little but its very common for people to think he is mute as often he won't talk but is part of his stoicism. When he does speak its always a shock to people who didn't know.

Temporarily a student named Joshua Dustfinger has been assigned as his Valet to help him out with some tasks. Joshua is an unusual type of guy so he actually has been making things a little rough for Genesis as he counts on him to bring him food,clothing,waking up,etc. Often Genesis is stuck with him as he sneaks around and is weird when Genesis just wants to go to his room to rest. Still he is fine with him as he needs him.

Despite most of his yearmates being smooth clean of facial hair boys Genesis likes his beard and mustache alot. It makes some kinda swoon for him as he looks more mature though he oblivious to this. He just likes the look.

His calm expression never changes much even if he is in a foul mood but to know he is upset,scared,or etc an inanimate object will spontaneously combust into flames and it's usually an object near what is making him feel this way.

Has an entire blacksmith mini forge in his dorm room as he loves making metalworks and likes being in a very heated area for long periods of time. Often Joshua has to endure and go in the room to find him working on chain links or other things in nothing but a blacksmith apron and fire resistant pants/shoes.

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland oc #twst oc #twst fandorm #rsa dorm #rsa oc #armonye #genesis #Genesis Ash

[niuttuc]

So, there are hints that some of the land dwelling species of ocaelum might not have originated there, and that the life trees were possibly created to accommodate them. The PW guide doesn't actually know how this happened, but us there an answer?

There very much is an answer, and it involves more than just them. I'll keep the rest under a read more because it's definitely not common knowledge any planeswalker or even person on the plane would be able to glean.

The land-dwelling species of Ocaelum didn't use to live under Lifetrees, but the "Old World" they come from is misleading, it isn't another plane. They originate from the surface of Ocaelum, back when it was a thing. As far as how that happened, one would need to go back very far...

To the genesis of Ocaelum. The guide sometimes refers to the "sun below", the one at the center of the world that provides its warmth to the core and the lower waters, from which the Elder Smiths were born and draw their power from. Ocaelum also has a second sun, the sun above, that provides warmth and light to the surface world, much closer to what people are used to from other planes. The Depths were actually the part in-between, isolated from both suns' warmth and light.

Similarly to the sun below, Elder Dragons were born from the sun above, five of them, complementary to the Elder Smiths, their cousins. They cared for the surface world like the Smiths do for the core, and they might have grown the Elves of Ocaelum like the Smiths forged the dwarves. Back then, the Core extended through the land all the way up to the surface, and even though the Smiths themselves stuck closer to the sun below, they exchanged and had respectful relationship through elves and dwarves with their cousins of the air.

Until one died. Five powerful merfolks from the depths forged an uneasy alliance and managed to kill one of the Elder Dragons of the surface. Those five necromancers then raised the corpse under their thrall, and then, through it, started to steal power from the sun above and split it between each other. Those would use that power to become the Shiver of Kings, unifying all the Depths under their rule and forming an Empire. Despite their many differences over the centuries, they still need each other. One of them dying would release their part of the sun, and none of them know if they could hold to their part if that happened.

As the Shiver killed their brethren and stole the sun, the Elder Dragons felt it, of course. But not soon enough that they wouldn't be significantly weakened by the time they'd find and try to stop the Shiver. Or at least, that wouldn't be likely. So they did their best to save what they could of the surface, by entrusting it to their cousins and the sun below.

There was an exodus through the core and magic both, as the Elder Dragons created the first lifeseeds, and then poured the remainder of their life into them to grow them into the first Lifetrees in a timely manner. The four Councils, or types of Lifetrees are named after (part of the name of) the four living Elder Dragons that created them. The light of each lifetree contains, within it, a faint echo of the sun above.

The surface is now completely unlivable. Walled off by a few kilometers of ice at the end of the Depths and that cover any remainder there might have been of the world it once was. There's barely an atmosphere left, and it is definitely not a breathable one. The magic and leylines up there are long dead. Planeswalking there would trip the same kind of alarms and safety as planeswalking into a wall or in the middle of an active volcano, so as far as planeswalkers are concerned, there isn't a "surface".

Similarly, the upper tunnels of the core, the ones that go through the depths and formed the land above are flooded where they're not frozen and just part of the depths. Without enough warmth to keep alive the fungus, all the entrances let the water in. It is mostly stopped when you get deep enough that the sun below supports the fungal life, but what trickles down forms streams, waterfalls and river in the Core proper, and their sources of water. Spells to make ocean water drinkable are very, very, very common on Ocaelum, it's how all factions that need it get access to it.

The Shiver was too busy stealing the sun, reveling in their new power and conquering their empire to care much about the exodus, the ground waters were too bright and warm for merfolks to care about them anyway.

The Spires themselves know what happened, but elves, humans and coral alike are kept mostly in the dark. Their memories of the surface faded and that might be intentional, to avoid them going on a suicidal campaign against the Vhigg'ithu in vengeance. Some Voices might know the truth.

The Smiths are still very angry at the Shiver for killing one of their own, committing mass murder, stealing the sun and forcing their other cousins to kill themselves to save a little of the surface, and that sentiment is echoed among the dwarves, though very few dwarves know in detail what happened either. The Smiths don't confront the Shiver directly because they aren't sure they can win, with the Shiver having taken power equivalent to their own, and they don't want to risk them stealing the sun below as well should they fail.

The Viggs do as they do, the monarchs very much know what happened but getting information out of a Vhigg'ithu is already hard to begin with, to hell if they are gonna tell anyone how they gained their unmatched power.

The Family wasn't formed at the time, but some of their composing tribes had legends about the exodus and the Old World that were distorted and passed through the centuries.

#mtg #Ocaelum #the old world #sun #elder smiths #Vhigg'ithu #Lifetree #Shiver

[scarletarosa]

Ningishzida 

Mesopotamian god of the tree of wisdom

Ningishzida’s name means "Lord of the Good Tree", which is also known as “The Tree of Death”. It is this sacred tree that grants wisdom once eaten from, causing a “death” to one’s ignorance and a rebirth through knowledge. This tree is also an entrance to the Underworld, since wisdom comes from allowing one’s current self to die. Its sister-tree is the “Tree of Life” which is equivalent to Yggdrasil.

In depictions, Ningishzida is shown as either a large serpent, a serpent with the head of a man, a crowned man with snakes coming from his shoulders, or as a double-headed serpent that is coiled into a double helix. This last representation makes him the first appearance of the caduceus symbol, predating the one shown with Hermes and Asclepius in Greece. In another depiction, Ningishzida is shown beside the Tree of Death (a unique tree that is shown bearing some sort of fruit), along with two griffins, which are divine protectors. Ningishzida is also associated with dragons, the mušhuššu and balm. He is also referred to as a snake, (muš-mah, meaning “exalted serpent”). Due to these, he is moreso a serpentine-dragon, rather than just a serpent.

Myths: In mythology, Ningishzida is one of the deities thought to travel to the Underworld (Kur) during the dead seasons (mid-summer to mid-winter); the other deity being Dumuzi. These two gods are also featured in the myth of Adapa, one of the first humans. When Adapa is commanded to arrive before Anu, god of the heavens, after speaking a curse to break the south wind, he sees both Ningishzida and Dumuzi placed as guards for Anu’s celestial palace. As for Ningishzida's chthonic connections, a title of his is “gu-za-lá-kur-ra” (the chair-bearer of the netherworld). He is also the overseer for the twin-gods who guard the gates of the Underworld: Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea. An additional role of his is being involved with divine law in both the Underworld and on Earth, making him a guardian/overseer of many things.

The Tree of Death had also been linked with the serpent or dragon (winged serpent) for over 1,000 years before Genesis was written. In 2025 BC, the cup of the Sumerian King Gudea of Lagash showed two winged dragons holding back a pair of opening doors to reveal a caduceus of uniting snakes, the incarnation of the god Ningishzida, to whom the cup is inscribed: “Lord of the Tree of Truth”. In northern Babylonia the goddess who embodied the Tree of Wisdom was called the “Divine Lady of Eden” or “Edin”, and in the south she was called the “Lady of the Vine”, an understandable change of name given that the Sumerian sign for ‘life’ was originally a vine leaf.

Appearance: Ningishzida is an enormous serpent with yellow eyes and a body that is over 30 meters in length. His body is made out of black Sumerian syllables that shift all around his form, due to his power of words. He also has shimmering black plumes on his head and around his neck. While his form is that of a great serpent, he is a species of dragon and has similar abilities to them.

Personality: Ningishzida is reserved, serious, highly intelligent and wise, honest, diligent, intuitive, and deeply loyal. He is a highly respectable being and seeks to teach promising humans of true wisdom and knowledge. He has said that the path to true wisdom is a painful one and very few make it; yet those who do are fully reborn. Just like a serpent, they must shed themselves and become anew. Although the majority of humans do not impress him anymore; he wishes to work only with those who fully love truth and are willing to achieve spiritual evolution despite the strife it costs. He dislikes laziness, pretentiousness, cruelty, stubbornness, and those who prefer to believe lies in order to be comfortable. Ningishzida has also stated that he is neither Lucifer nor Satan, or any other demon; he teaches very similar things as Lucifer and is on good terms with him, but they are not the same. Overall, Ningishzida is a god of vast knowledge and wisdom who seeks to bring enlightenment to those who prove themselves worthy to him.

The Story of the Tree of Death: Ningishzida has described that the tree mentioned in Biblical texts is indeed his own tree, but the actual event was much different than described. He tells that when humans were being created, it was done so through guided evolution. The birth-place of the final result for humanity took place within several gardens full of life upon Earth, such as Dilmun and Eden (e-din: “the land between two rivers”; i.e. a location within Mesopotamia). When the humans were created within these sacred gardens, they were not actually created in pairs, but as large groups. This is because there is no possible way that two humans alone could populate the Earth. Once these humans were created, they were often visited by certain deities (such as Enki, their creator), as well as some dragons. The dragons are a race of beings who possess advanced intelligence and wisdom, many of them are also deities. These beings all came to the humans in order to teach them and show them how to become independent. One such mentor to the humans was the serpentine-dragon himself, Ningishzida, who guarded the Tree of Wisdom.

These gardens of paradise were select areas upon Earth that were enhanced with magickal fields due to divine pillars the deities had placed within. This caused the gardens to be otherworldly in their beauty, with plenty of food, water, and even luminescent architectures where the humans could live. The Tree of Death is a divine tree of otherworldly beauty that was projected into each of these sacred gardens, each one being protected by Ningishzida. These gardens were to serve as temporary dwelling places for the new humans, allowing them to be closely mentored until they were fully ready to become independent. Once a human made it far enough in their training, Ningishzida would allow them to eat from his tree and become truly wise.

However, the tyrant Aeon god, Jehovah, sought to take Earth as his own by manipulating mankind. He managed to convince many humans that they were being held captive in these gardens and that eating from the Tree of Death meant literal death, in order to prevent them from becoming wise. Due to this, very few humans got to eat from the fruits of wisdom. Thinking that their mentors had been corrupting them all along, the humans prematurely left from the gardens and convinced others to do the same. Once many had left, the humans gradually began to realize how difficult surviving on Earth actually was and tried to enter one of the remaining gardens. But in order to keep the humans inside this garden safe, the deities prevented them from entering and guarded the entrances with flaming swords. In a rage, the humans attacked the divine pillars of all the gardens, causing them to lose their magick essences. The gardens of paradise thus lost their power and became nothing but regular places of nature, eventually being absorbed into the rest of the landscape. 

Believing the lies of Jehovah that the fruits had condemned them all to a painful fate, the humans placed the blame on Ningishzida and the rest of the dragons. They raged at their old mentors and cursed their names. It did not take long until the humans began hunting down the dragons in order to kill them, though only succeeding a few times. This act of treachery greatly angered the draconic beings and eventually, they abandoned the humans to completely fend for themselves on Earth. All because of the coaxing of Jehovah, a long history began of humans portraying the dragons as evil and selfish, whereas humans are their victims. However, the humans who had remained in the gardens did not end up following Jehovah, which allowed them to pass down an actual record of the divinities and how Ningishzida represents truth. Unfortunately, a lot of the records were eventually destroyed by zealots and this act of giving wisdom was twisted into meaning something “evil” for many people. Overtime, this account was reformed and simplified into the Abrahamic texts (along with plenty of other Mesopotamian myths). The humans “Adam and Eve” are representations of humanity overall, and the giver of wisdom, Ningishzida, is portrayed as a devil.

Devotional actions: Ningishzida mainly prefers offerings of action over physical offerings. He can be honoured through actions such as gaining knowledge, overcoming your Ego so wisdom can develop, making mystical pilgrimages for enlightenment, seeking deeper meaning of yourself, and allowing the struggles of life to transform you for the better.

Offerings: lapis lazuli, amethyst, bitter oranges (signify the bittersweet taste of wisdom), snakeskin, desert sand, cedar trees, skulls (represent death), femur bones (contain the oldest tissues), Arab incense, incense of oud, amber, saffron, or saffron + rose

#ningishzida #the tree of death #tree of wisdom #garden of eden #mesopotamian gods #sumerian gods #draconic gods #serpent of wisdom #gardens of paradise #mesopotamian polytheism #sumerian polytheism #biblical #jehovah #the usurper #adam and eve #deity work #draconic work #spiritual evolution #illumination

[neokad]

Phantasy Star II - The 1989 JRPG that could

(This post is dedicated to @kuukigajan, my best friend, whom motivated me to post here again, so... I hope you'll enjoy this!)

This game. This freaking game.

I'm gonna say it right now: this post will contain massive spoilers about pretty much everything in Phantasy Star 2's story, so if you do plan on experiencing this game fresh, I strongly advise you to not read this post at all beyond the first paragraph, but... here's the gist of it: Phantasy Star II is one of the most important and groundbreaking JRPGs of its time, and I just did not believe this game was from 1989, at ALL. For that and a few other reasons, it has become one of my new favourite games of all time <3 

In fact, I do want to start with the one big flaw of this adventure so that I can just gush about everything else that's brilliant about PSII. I have to be honest: the dungeon design in this game is horrible. Now to be fair, it does make the many places you visit more memorable, but well... there's a rumor floating around that an actual trainee made the layouts for the dungeons - and since this game was a bit rushed for the Genesis's launch, the devs just didn't have time to replace the... stuff he submitted. And let me tell you, this rumor makes sense: PSII's dungeons are too big, too maze-like, too confusing and also FILLED with strong enemies. And in a game where you don't get a way to save anywhere until the midway point, it can make your adventure very frustrating and potentially grindy because of that... Now I wouldn't say that PSII's nearly as bad in this area as say, the original version of Dragon Warrior or ironically the first Phantasy Star, but the dungeons can totally make you feel like the game's harder than it actually is, at least without a map.

Thankfully, you should never feel bad for using any maps or guides with this game! The execs at SEGA at the time made the very smart decision to include a walkthrough with each copy of the game, including maps, tips, secrets and more! Said guide does encourage youto not look at it as much as possible but... it's totally fair to just use this, without any shame!

And that is a great thing, because... with you armed with this piece of paper, Phantasy Star II can finally show you its actual brilliance.

The game's plot starts off a thousand years after the events of the first Phantasy Star game. Since Alis and her party defeated Dark Force, the inhabitants of the Algol solar system - and its three planets of Palma, Motavia and Dezolis - have enjoyed relative peace. However, at a (to my knowledge) unknown point in time, a computer entity known as Mother Brain has started imposing itself onto mostly Motavia. This, over time, has actually given many benefits to the region: the once deserted wasteland was given rain, water and crops, so that it could finally host viable, comfortable civilizations. The citizens that lived here could finally ditch their (arguably) nomadic, harsh lives in favor of comfort, pleasant weather and more. And most importantly, Mother Brain allowed its citizens, save for a few, to ditch their current jobs and live a life of laziness, without any obligations or pressure to do anything other than well, existence. This is reflected many times during the game through NPC dialogue, too!

It is on such a setting that our protagonist, Rolf, wakes up from a strange nightmare. In it, we see Alis batting Dark Force and struggling in doing so, but as soon as he realizes this, Rolf wakes up in cold sweat. He then proceeds to calm his nerves, realizing that no such dramatic events could possible happen to him - after all, he and many others have been under the universal protection and care of Mother Brain, whom at this point, has provided all of their needs for centuries. He then gets out of bed and goes to the central tower, where we works as an agent in case some things do go wrong.

And gone wrong things have! His superior informs him that biological monsters, which had been created and bred in the Mota biosystems laboratory, have gone rogue and infected the regions of Motavia at a rapid rate. Because of this, Rolf is asked to investigate the cause of this phenomenon. Once he gets home to prepare for his journey, he is ambushed by best girl Nei, who has been rescued by him many months ago from the clutches of a serial killer. She does not want to be left alone anymore, and since she is also worried for Rolf's sefety, asks him to accompany him on the mission. Naturally, Rolf accepts.

Here, I do want to bring up Nei in more detail! She's in fact, the first of PSII's brilliant story-gameplay interactions, and here's why! Nei is in fact, a crossbreed experiment between a human and an unknown animal with cat-like features, but here's the thing: this said experiment was a failure. Because of this, Nei is only one years old, and yet her physical and mental age are progressing way more rapidly than they should. And you can feel this effect on the game itself: she needs way less EXP than any other party member in the game to level up, and because of this she will skyrocket in levels way beyond the rest of your crew... with a catch. Because of the nature of the experiment, the genetic code inside of her is slowly being messed up and corrupted, which not only causes her level ups to be less valuable than anyone else's, but it also becomes an important plot point later...  Unfortunately, despite her absolute cuteness, her status as a half-half made her a victim of bullying, racism and so much more, which is... pretty messed up to bring up at the time not gonna lie o_o

Starting up the journey, the party discovers that rogues have destroyed a neighboring city, and it just so happens that their base is situed at Shure, the first dungeon of the game . One assumption I like to make from this scene is that life has become so easy and careless on Motavia that people just went and did crime out of pure boredom, because life just wasn't thrilling enough anymore with Mother Brain doing everything it could for its inhabitants...

However, upon climbing said tower, Rolf and Nei find out multiple dead rogue bodies, whom have been presumably murdered by the many biomonsters roaming the place. They do, however, manage to find some dynamite and most importantly, a letter. This piece of paper informs our heroes that the daughter of a Darum, the very same person that tried to murder Nei months ago, is held captive in another tower, which explains why he turned to crime in the first place. They then decide to do the obvious, which is to rescue daughter Teim in her captivity location. Once they meet up with her, she explains her desire to talk to her father to set things straight and sway him from the life he's been getting into, as well as hide her from the surviving rogue members with the help of a veil. Our group manages to meet up with Darum, but... her daughter asks the party to stay put, as she does not want them to interfere with her as she explains things to her father. However, in the heat of the moment, she forgets to remove her veil, which causes Darum to not recognize her. In his confusion, he murders her own flesh and blood and sits there, stunned, as he watches the reason he caused many untold atrocities... wither away below him. Shocked and going insane by this situation, he sees no other way out... but to commit suicide with the help of a bomb.

It gets worse.

While this scene was tragic and brutal to say the least, it does allow Rolf to cross the previously guarded bridge where Darum was always located, which allows him to investigate his mission further.

I do want to make a sidenote here actually! Phantasy Star II does include eight playable characters, but unlike Rolf and Nei they do not join you at fixed intervals - instead, they will become available in your home town of Paseo once conditions are met. Sadly while they do have a recruitment quote, a few lines and a backstory, they do not have an impact on the main story in any way. This does blow as this means PSII does not have much in character development and interaction, but I did want to mention that there’s more to this game than just Rolf and Nei :P 

Upon exploring the regions of Motavia, the party manages to make its way to the Biosystems lab, and what they find here is horrifying to say the least. The lab is in horrible shape, with cracked floors everywhere. On top of that, there is no one inside the lab anymore, it being completely deserted, save for some horrible-looking creatures being kept insides tubes, decorating the now sinister looking building... Because of this, Rolf deems it safe to pick up the recorder inside the lab, to analyze it and try to find out just what exactly went wrong - if anything at all - to hopefully figure out why the world has been sacked by biomonsters. And sure enough, the gang make its way back to Paseo.  After handing over the recorder to the library located in Paseo’s Central Tower, it is now made clear: the biomonsters were caused by a large amount of energy used in a very short amount of time in those labs, causing them to mutate extremely rapidly. This had the predictable but unfortunate effect of ruining the natural order of the ecosystem, which is why these species are wrecking havoc without control. The librarian giving this information also makes the following connection: this outpour of energy must have come from Climatrol - another lab which regulates the weather of the terraformed planet so that it can sustain its new shape. Following this, Rolf and co. take a few steps to reach Climatrol - and I want to highlight a specific one!

The story somewhat pauses until then, but one of the dungeons you’ll go through is a garbage dump... and one of the treasures is a jet scooter you can use! Sounds cool, right? Well it is, but even such a cool object has been abandoned by the lazy society, since teleportation is much more convenient to them. I just thought it was a really neat detail, that’s all ^_^

Once making their way through the relatively normal Climatrol, something does wait for them at the top of the building... something... unsettling...

This is Neifirst. She was another failed experiment just like Nei, sharing the same biological data as her. However, unlike her sister, her creators tried to kill her on the spot due to her status. This made her enraged against the species that gave her life, and as an act of revenge, decided to unleash this bio catastrophy to slowly wipe us out. This is where another truth is revealed: Nei did not come with Rolf just to protect him, she actually wanted to put a stop to her sister, because while she did dislike being treated like a freak or a monster, she never wanted to hate her species as a whole... It remains that she still wants to stop her sister’s plans, and despite Rolf’s protests, the two engages in a fight. However, due to Neifirst being much stronger, Nei sustains heavy damage and is incapacitated. But, this is where the rest of the party comes in, and thus they finish the job and kill off Neifirst dead in her tracks, Rolf then quickly rushes in to his dear friend’s side, but as he does... it’s too late... Nei is dead.

This is yet another reason why Phantasy Star II is such an important game: it is, to my knowledge, the very first JRPG in which a major playable character dies permanently. Heck, Rolf even tries to bring her back through the local Clone Lab - because yes, citizens have access to eternal life by cloning their bodies until the end of time - but... since Nei’s genetic code was degenerating rapidly, they could not clone her body anymore. And, since Neifirst was also defeated, it is also impossible to get a fresh code back from anywhere in the world. Nei is dead. And you cannot do anything about it.

But don’t worry! It still gets worse!

But just as you’re about to find a way to fix this, it turns out that Climatrol has collapsed, which caused an immense flood all over the world. Since the government - and by extension, Mother Brain - isn’t happy about this, you are now considered a fugitive, a criminal. You are now the bad guy, and you are wanted for treason. 1989, anyone??

This is where the second brilliant story-gameplay integration of Phantasy Star II happens. Where until now you’ve only fought mutated monsters due to the outbreak, the government has now sent thousands of carious cyborgs and robots against you - and lo and behold, this is now the only thing you are fighting in both the overworld and dungeons, and the previous creatures are now nowhere to be seen. THAT’S REALLY SMART. Now sure, even if you are considered evil to many, you still task yourself with the task of unflooding the planet, and to do so you simply reactivate all four colored dams in the continent. However, upon reactivating the fourth one, your party is suddenly ambushed by a trio of robots sent by the cops, and this time? They succeed in capturing you. Your party is now sent in chains on a hovering satellite, as you are sentenced to slowly wither away and die in there without any trial of any sort, simply because you went against Mother Brain’s dear wishes...

But, something goes amiss. The sattelite starts to malfunction, and is now set to crash on one of the three planets of the Algol system. And despite you all trying to alter its course, it is too late. The satellite crashes onto Palma - the planet of the first Phantasy Star game - and it is gone.

That’s right! The planet in which many players took the time to save with Alis’s gang, to have a huge dungeon crawling adventure, the planet where you defeated Lassic in a glorious fashion. GONE. In only a few seconds. But... what about yourself? Well, you actually died! But a space pirate wandering close to the crash site pulled out your remains and cloned everyone’s body back to life... which makes you technically not yourself, and also dead, for the remainder of the game! ...May I remind you this game was developed in 1989?

Tyler the space pirate then escorts the zombie party back to Paseo, but not for long - you see, your commander, who hasn’t truly approved of Mother Brain’s actions against your group, allows you access to a spaceship. This is a big deal, because space travel as a whole has been banned ten years ago due to a major accident in which Rolf had lost his parents, and thus, the one stationed in Paseo is the last one remaining on the planet. But sure enough, Rolf takes the opportunity and travels to the ice planet of Dezolis, or Dezo.

And honestly? Even though this next part has nothing to do with the main story, it’s probably one of my favourites in the entire game. In this section, you simply must make your way through an abandoned space station, which has not seen use in years. At first, you’d think it was somewhat related to the spaceship incident, but as you explore this space station, you find a bunch of animals and newspapers lying around. You not only find some irrelevant ads about various products, but also news flash about a horrible gas spreading throughout the station, begging every inhabitant to evacuate immediately, which... definitively implies a very bleak fate to the place and its inhabitants o_o 

And on top of this unsettling setting, this is the first time you get to hear “Silent Zone”, my favourite track in the game. While the rest of the soundtrack is very upbeat, catchy and all around excellent, this track in particular is very... sad, desolate, lonely, in spite of it being just as catchy! It all combines for a brilliant example of “show, don’t tell” that really sets the mood perfectly to me <3

Either way, upon exploring more of Dezo - a frigid wasteland with few inhabitants - the party gets to meet up with Noah, a party member from Phantasy Star I! After reawakening from a cryogenic sleep, he then reveals that unlike Paseo and Motavia, Dezo basically never submitted with Mother Brain’s control and benefits simply because they did not want to live a life without any struggles. Unfortunately, this is also where you learn that Paseo came to terms with this *after* being to MB’s whims and as such, you can connect the dots and realize that the satellite crash was no accident after all... it was all planned.

Noah, however, knows about how deeply MB has ruined everything for the inhabitants of Motavia and thus tasks Rolf with collecting eight legendary ancient weapons all throughout Dezo, located within some ruinous, empty, cold dungeons which make for stunning atmosphere and presence, believe me!

Once that’s done, he then entrusts Rolf with the ultimate Sword and, thanks to kinetic abilities, sends him and his troupe to the space station housing Mother Brain. And once there, for the first time in centuries, a human being has met with Mother Brain.

And of course, the computer scoffs at those rebelling against her. She laughs at how they think they’d want a life with struggles, wtihout comfort, without anyone providing their needs, when work and hardship seems so uninviting on a desert wasteland like Motavia, or a frigid hell like Dezo. And yet, after a (pretty difficult!) battle, you emerge victorious! Or do you?

After the victorious outcome, Noah senses some additional presences beyond Mother Brain’s spot, and urges the party to investigate. And then... I don’t think I’ll even explain it in words. Please watch what happens. It is disturbing.

Yeah. We, the humans, were destroying our planet, Earth. Thus, we escaped through this spaceship to avoid extinction, and found the Algo system. It then, to our species, only seemed logical with so few numbers, to instead slowly weaken the population of all three planets with Mother Brain, making it then easy (although a very long process) to get rid of the population and start anew, even if it meant genocide. What I love about this twist ending is not only how it’s presented: the creepy music, the way you did *not* expect it at all, the number of humans on the screen at once, and so on... but also, how you don’t even know for sure how it ends. You don’t know if Rolf, Rudo, Amy, Kain, Hugh, Shir, Anna... if any of them survived. But it looks grim. It looks like we lost. And it looks like everyone we fought and tried to save... will rot until the final days anyway... Phantasy Star II... is important. Sure, I could talk about how the game is challenging due to how both your party members AND the enemies are very capable in battle or the stellar, catchy, memorable soundtrack...   but its story... is stunning. In 1989, we were still used to princesses being saved by armored heroes from dark dragons. We were used to things going all well in the end. But in 1989, Phantasy Star II taught us many things that would become staples in the future of JRPGs:  Yes, your cherished ones may die with you not being able to do anything about it No, you may not be able to save everyone you’d like to. Yes, your actions might make things worse for yourself and everyone else. No, things aren’t quite as black or white as they seem. And no, you might not always win. Phantasy Star II is a masterpiece. It’s a bit hard to approach this game today, but with a guide, this game is a must play. It’s unique. It’s ambitious. It’s chilling. And I adore this game to pieces. Thank you for reading, somehow <3

#long post #phantasy star ii #phantasy star #jrpg #sega genesis