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ثِتونج ځوېٓسِنہ ⟨th'Tundj Gwýsene⟩ — How Did We Get Here?

2024.05.15 17:23 very-original-user ثِتونج ځوېٓسِنہ ⟨th'Tundj Gwýsene⟩ — How Did We Get Here?

=BACKGROUND=

Gwýsene ⟪ثِتونج ځوېٓسِنہ⟫ ⟨th'Tundj Gwýsene⟩ /θɛˈtund͡ʒ ˈʝyːzɛnɛ/ (or "the least Germanic Germanic language") is a Germanic language descendant from Old English spoken in Nabataea (modern-day Jordan, Sinai, and northwestern Saudi Arabia). It takes place in a timeline where the Anglo-Saxons get kicked out of Britain by the Celts, therefore they sail all the way to Nabataea (I pride myself on my realism here) and settle there. Most of them eventually convert to Islam, and, as a consequence, Arabic becomes elevated to the language of academia, nobility, and poetry.
"English" as we know it still survives in-timeline as Englisc — basically Middle English with some modifications — spoken as a minority language in southeastern Britain (or Pritani as the Celts call it in-world).
==ETYMOLOGY OF GWÝSENE==
⟨Gwýsene⟩ ⟪ځوېٓسِنہ⟫ is derived from ځوېٓسِن (Gwýsen) + ـہ- (-e, adjectival suffix), the former from Middle Gwýsene جِٔويسّمَن (ɣewissman), a fossilization of جِٔويسّ (ɣewiss, "Geuisse") + مُن (mon, "man"), from Old Gwýsene יוש מן (yws mn, yewisse monn), from Old English Ġewisse monn.
⟨Tundj⟩ ⟪تونج⟫ is loaned from an Arabized pronunciation of Old Gwýsene תנג (tng, tunge) (from which descends the doublet ⟨Togg⟩ ⟪تُځّ⟫ /toɣ(ː)/, "tongue")
The Englisc exonym is ⟨Eizmenasisc⟩ /ɛjzmɛˈnaːsɪʃ/, From Brithonech (in-world Conlang) Euuzmenasech /ˈøʏzmə̃næsɛx/, from Middle French Yœssmanes /ˈjœssmanɛs/ (hence modern in-world French Yœssmanes /jœsman/ and Aquitanian (in-world) ⟨Yissmanes⟩ /ˈiːsmans/), from Middle (High) German \jewissmaneisch (hence modern in-world German *Jewissmännisch** /jəˌvɪsˈmɛnɪʃ/, Saxon Jewissmannisch /jɛˌvɪsˈma.nɪʃ/, and Hollandish Iweesmanis /iˈʋeːsmanɪs/), Ultimately from Middle Gwýsene جِٔويسّمَن (ɣewissman). Doublet of Englisc ⟨iwis mon⟩ /ɪˈwɪs mɔn/ + ⟨-isc⟩ /-ɪʃ/

=PHONOLOGY=

Consonants Labial Dental Alveolar Post-Alveolar Palatal Velar
Nasal /m/ /n/
Plosive/Affricate /p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /t͡ʃ/ /d͡ʒ/¹ /k/ (/g/)²
Fricative /f/ /v/ /θ/ /ð/ /s/ /z/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/¹ (/ç/)³ (/ʝ/)³ /x/ /ɣ/
Tap/Trill /ɾ/ /r/
Approximant /w/ /ɹ/ (/l/)⁴ /j/ /ɫ/
Vowels Front Central Back
Close /i/ /iː/ /y/ /yː/ /u/¹ /uː/¹
Near-Close (/ɪ/)⁵ (/ʏ/)⁵
Mid /e/ /eː/ /ø/ /øː/ /o/ /oː/
Open-Mid (/ɛ/)⁵ (/ɐ/)⁵ (/ɔ/)⁵
Open /æ/ /æː/ /ɑ/ /ɑː/
  1. Nonnative phonemes
  2. allophone of /k/ inter-vocalically & /ɣ/ before /ɫ/
  3. allophones of /x/ /ɣ/ near front vowels
  4. allophone of /ɫ/ when not near any back vowels and/or velar consonants.
  5. allophones in unstressed syllables
These are the phonemes of Standard Gwýsene, and, expectedly, they differ from dialect to dialect.
==EVOLUTION FROM OLD ENGLISH==
The Phonological evolution from Old English to Old Gwýsene are as follows:
From Old Gwýsene to Middle Gwýsene:
From Middle Gwýsene to Modern Gwýsene:
==DIALECT GROUPS==
Gwýsene has 4 main dialect groupings:
1- Southern Dialects
Spoken around in-world Áglästrélz /ˈɑːɣɫɐˌstɾeːɫz/ [ˈɑːʁɫ(ə)ˌsd̥ɾeːɫz]. Speakers of these dialects tend to pronounce:
Regarded as the oldest dialect by Gwýsens as it encompasses the original "homeland" (if we don't count the Anglo-Saxons that is). They're also considered the most "posh", and the standard accent is loosely based on the southern dialects.
2- Central Dialects
Spoken around in-world Keü-Nüvátra /keʏ ˌnʏˈvɑːtɾɐ/ [kɛɨ ˌnɨˈvɒːtɾɐ]. Speakers of these dialects tend to pronounce:
Central Dialects are considered posh by northerners and westerners, but not by southerners.
3- Western Dialects
Spoken in in-world Ettúr /ɛtˈtuːɻ/ [ətˈtuːɽ]. Speakers of these dialects tend to pronounce:
4- Northern Dialects
Spoken in in-world Ämma̋n /ɐmˈmæːn/ [(ʕ)ɐmˈmæːn]. Speakers of these dialects tend to pronounce:
==LEXICAL DOUBLETS==
The differing analyses of the Old English sequences /xe͜o xæ͜ɑ/ & /je͜o jæ͜ɑ/ when the change from /e͜o æ͜ɑ/ to /iɔ̯ iɐ̯/ was taking place led to:
For example, Old English heofon & geofon evolved into:

=ORTHOGRAPHY=

Gýsene uses the Arabic script natively alongside a romanization
==SCRIPT BACKGROUND==
Since Gýsen use of the Nabataean & then Arabic script preceded the Persians by centuries, the Gýsen Arabic script differs quite a bit from the Indo-Persian system:
  1. Rasm: Gýsens writing in Nabataean (& carrying over to Arabic) tended to follow Aramaic & Hebrew convention for representing consonants, while the Persian convention was derived from the most similar sounding preexisting Arabic consonants, leading to drastic differences in pointing convention (i‘jām). As Islam spread, the 2 conventions spread in their respective halves of the Muslim World: The Indo-Persian-Derived Eastern convention, and the Gýsen-Derived Western convention:
(Loose) Consonant ↓ Western ↓ Eastern ↓
//v// ⟪پ⟫ ⟪و⟫ ǀ ⟪ڤ⟫
//tʃ// ⟪ڝ⟫ ⟪چ⟫
//p// ⟪ڢ⟫ ⟪پ⟫
//f// ⟪ڧ⟫ ⟪ف⟫
  1. Vowel Notation: The western convention has a definitive way of expressing vowels when diacritics are fully written, while in the eastern convention diacritics often serve dual-duty due to limitations of Arabic short vowel diacritics.
==Script keys==
Romanization ↓ Arabic ↓ Standard Phoneme ↓
ä ǀ a ◌َ /æ/ (stressed) ǀ /ɐ/ (unstressed)
e ◌ِ /e/ (stressed) ǀ /ɛ/ (unstressed)
o ◌ُ /o/ (stressed) ǀ /ɔ/ (unstressed)
a̋ ǀ ◌́ ◌ٓ /æː/ (standalone) ǀ /◌ː/ (coupled with other vowels)
a ا /ɑ/ (stressed) ǀ /ɐ/ (unstressed)
b ب /b/ ǀ /v/ (intervocalically)
g ځ /ɣ/ ǀ /ʝ/
d د /d/ ǀ /z/ (intervocalically)
h ھ /ç/
w ǀ u و /w/ (glide) ǀ /u/ (vocalic)
z ز /z/
ch خ /x/
t ¹ط /t/
y ǀ i ي /j/ (glide) ǀ /i/ (vocalic)
k ک /k/ ǀ /g/ (intervocalically)
l ل /ɫ/
m م /m/
n ن /n/
tj ڝ /t͡ʃ/
- ¹ع /Ø/ ǀ /◌ː/ (post-vocalically)
p ڢ /p/ ǀ /b/ (intervocalically)
s ¹ص /s/
k ¹ق /k/
r ر /ɾ/ ǀ /r/ (geminated) ǀ /ɹ/ (post-vocalically)
s س /s/ ǀ /z/ (intervocalically)
t ت /t/ ǀ /d/ (intervocalically)
y ې /y/ (stressed) ǀ /ʏ/ (unstressed)
f ڧ /f/ ǀ /v/ (intervocalically)
ö ۊ /ø/ (stressed) ǀ /œ/ (unstressed)
- ء ǀ ئـ initial vowel holder
v پ /v/
th ث /θ/ ǀ /ð/ (intervocalically)
tj ¹چ /t͡ʃ/
dj ¹ج /d͡ʒ/
dh ذ /ð/
j ¹ژ /ʒ/
sj ش /ʃ/
dh ¹ض /ð/
dh ¹ظ /ð/
g ¹غ /ɣ/ ǀ /ʝ/
v ¹ڤ /v/
a ǀ ä ²ـى /æ/ (stressed) ǀ /ɐ/ (unstressed)
e ²ـہ /e/ (stressed) ǀ /ɛ/ (unstressed)
'l- لٔـ /‿(ə)ɫ-/
th'- ثِـ /θɛ-/
  1. nonnative
  2. only occur word-finally

=GRAMMAR=

Gwýsen grammar is extremely divergent from the Germanic norm, having been brought about by extremely harsh standardization efforts by the ruling class while backed by academia & scholars. It's heavily influenced by Arabic — being the encompassing liturgical, academic, and aristocratic language during the Middle to Early Modern Gwýsen periods.
==PRONOUNS==
\this entire segment will use the romanization only]) The Pronouns themselves have remained relatively true to their Germanic origins, apart from the entire set of Arabic 3rd person pronouns & the genitive enclitics. Gwýsene still retains the Old English dual forms, but they're only used in formal writing:
1st Person Singular Dual Plural
Nominative ih /iç/ wi /wi/ wi /wi/
Accusative mih /miç/ án /ɑːn/ ós /oːs/
Standalone Genitive min /min/ ág /ɑːɣ/ ór /oːɹ/
Enclitic Genitive -min /-mɪn/ -ag /-ɐɣ/ -or /-ɔɹ/
2nd Person Singular Dual Plural
Nominative thách /θɑːx/ gi /ʝi/ gi /ʝi/
Accusative thih /θiç/ in /in/ iw /iw/
Standalone Genitive thin /θin/ ig /iʝ/ iwar /ˈiwɐɹ/
Enclitic Genitive -thin /-θɪn/ -ig /-ɪʝ/ -iwar /-ɪwɐɹ/
3rd Person Masculine Singular Dual Plural
Nominative chá /xɑː/ chama̋ /xɐˈmæː/ chám /xɑːm/
Accusative hin /çin/ chama̋ /xɐˈmæː/ chám /xɑːm/
Standalone Genitive his /çis/ chama̋ /xɐˈmæː/ chám /xɑːm/
Enclitic Genitive -his /-çɪs/ -chama /-xɐmɐ/ -cham /-xɐm/
3rd Person Feminine Singular Dual Plural
Nominative hi /çi/ chana̋ /xɐˈnæː/ chán /xɑːn/
Accusative hi /çi/ chana̋ /xɐˈnæː/ chán /xɑːn/
Standalone Genitive hir /çiɹ/ chana̋ /xɐˈnæː/ chán /xɑːn/
Enclitic Genitive -hir /-çɪɹ/ -chana /-xɐnɐ/ -chan /-xɐn/
==NOUNS==
Middle Gwýsene inherited the Old English nominal declension, but due to merging & reduction of (final) unstressed vowels, all endlings were dropped except for the accusative & dative plurals which were later generalized. Middle Gwýsene also dropped the neuter gender, merging it with the masculine & feminine genders based on endings
Regular Noun Declension Singular Plural
Masculine - -an /-ɐn/
Feminine - -as /-ɐs/
This has been standardized to all nouns, with some ablaut irregulars:
"Man" (man) ǀ "Bách" (book) Singular Plural
Masculine man /mɑn/ menan /ˈmenɐn/
Feminine bách /bɑːx/ bitjas /ˈbit͡ʃɐs/
...and some nouns retain colloquial plural forms more reminiscent of their Old English counterparts:
"Tjylz" (child) ǀ "Chänz" (hand) Singular (Standard) Plural (Common) Plural
Masculine tjylz /t͡ʃyɫz/ tjyldan /ˈt͡ʃyɫzɐn/ tjylro /ˈt͡ʃyɫɾɔ/
Feminine chänz /xænz/ chändas /ˈxænzɐs/ chända /ˈxændɐ/
===Possession===
Gwýsene has two distinct methods of indicating possession dur to the dropping of the genitive case:
1. A loaned version of the Arabic construct state (present in the standard language, urban areas, and most of the Northern and Western dialects). the Arabic definite article (-الـ) was loaned with its use in the construct state into Late Early Modern Gwýsene as a separate "letter form" [-لٔـ] and prescribed by Grammarians ever since as a "genitive" maker. This method also assumes definiteness of the noun it's prefixed to; it must be prefixed to eneg ("any") for indefinite nouns.
Bách 'lgörel /bɑːχ‿ɫ̩ˈʝøɹɛɫ/ ("the boy's book")
bách 'l - görel book ɢᴇɴ.ᴅғ - boy
2. Use of a prefixed fär (equivalent to English "of", cognate with English "for") (present in rural areas and is generally viewed as a rural or "Bedouin" feature). This method does not assume definiteness, and a definite article is required.
Bách färth'görel /bɑːχ ˌfɐɹðəˈʝøɹɛɫ/ ("the boy's book")
Bách fär - th' - görel book of - ᴅғ - boy
==ADJECTIVES==
Much like Nouns, adjectives decline for number and gender:
Regular Adjective Declension Singular Plural
Masculine - -an /-ɐn/
Feminine -e /-ɛ/* -as /-ɐs/
\due to its similarity with the common adjectival suffix* -e, adjectives derived that way would not decline for gender in the singular
==VERBS==
Gwýsen verbs are the most mangled, both by Arabization and regular phonological development. Gwýsen word order is VSO. Due to pronouns coming after the verb, they merged with the preexisting endings and formed unique endings that were later generalized to standard verb declension (rendering Gwýsene a pro-drop language)
Present Verb Conjugation ---
Infinitive -en /-ɛn/
Present Participle -enz /-ɛnz/
Past Participle ge- -en /ʝɛ- -ɛn/
Singular Imperative -
Plural Imperative -on /-ɔn/
1ˢᵗ singular -i /-ɪ/
1ˢᵗ plural -swe /-swɛ/
2ⁿᵈ singular -tha /-θɐ/
2ⁿᵈ plural -gge /-ʝʝɛ/
3ʳᵈ singular masculine -scha /-sxɐ/
3ʳᵈ dual masculine -schama /-sxɐmɐ/
3ʳᵈ plural masculine -scham /-sxɐm/
3ʳᵈ singular feminine -sche /-sxɛ/
3ʳᵈ dual feminine -schana /-sxɐnɐ/
3ʳᵈ plural feminine -schan /-sxɐn/
the subjunctive is formed with a prefixed les- (if the verb is consonant-initial) or let- (if the verb is vowel-initial)
As a consequence to the fusional suffixes, the preterite suffixes completely merged with the present ones, so weak verbs need an auxiliary to indicate simple past, which segways us to-
===Auxiliary Verbs===
Most auxiliaries have 2 conjugations: an auxiliary conjugation & a standalone conjugation:
Sőn ("to be") Conjugations Auxiliary Standalone
Singular Imperative ső /søː/ ső /søː/
Plural Imperative sőn /søːn/ sőn /søːn/
Singular Subjunctive ső /søː/ les-... /ɫɛs-../
Plural Subjunctive sőn /søːn/ les-... /ɫɛs-.../
1ˢᵗ singular ém /eːm/ émi /ˈeːmɪ/
1ˢᵗ plural synz /synz/ synzwe /ˈsynzwɛ/
2ⁿᵈ singular érs /eːɹs/ értha /ˈérðɐ/
2ⁿᵈ plural synz /synz/ syngge /ˈsynʝ(ʝ)ɛ/
3ʳᵈ singular masculine ys /ys/ ysscha /ˈyssxɐ/
3ʳᵈ dual masculine synz /synz/ synzchama /ˈsynzxɐmɐ/
3ʳᵈ plural masculine synz /synz/ synzcham /ˈsynzxɐm/
3ʳᵈ singular feminine ys /ys/ yssche /ˈyssxɛ/
3ʳᵈ dual feminine synz /synz/ synzchana /ˈsynzxɐnɐ/
3ʳᵈ plural feminine synz /synz/ synzchan /ˈsynzxɐn/
There are 4 tense-related auxiliaries: Wesan (past auxiliary, "was"), Sőn (participle auxiliary, "be"), Bín (participle auxiliary, "be"), and Víden (future auxiliary, "will"):
Auxiliary Declensions Wesan ↓ Sőn ↓ Bín ↓ Víden ↓
1ˢᵗ singular wes /wes/ ém /eːm/ bí /biː/ va̋ /væː/
2ⁿᵈ singular wir /wiɹ/ érs /eːɹs/ bys /bys/ vés /veːs/
3ʳᵈ singular wes /wes/ ys /ys/ byth /byθ/ véth /veːθ/
dual/plural wiran /ˈwiɹɐn/ synz /synz/ bíth /biːθ/ va̋th /væːθ/
Singular Imperative wes /wes/ ső /søː/ bí /biː/ víz /viːz/
Plural Imperative weson /ˈwezɔn/ sőn /søːn/ bín /biːn/ vídon /ˈviːzɔn/
Singular Subjunctive wir /wiɹ/ ső /søː/ bí /biː/ víz /viːz/
Plural Subjunctive wiren /ˈwiɹɛn/ sőn /søːn/ bín /biːn/ víden /ˈviːzɛn/
===Stong Verbs===
Most of the strong classes remain in Gwýsene, albeit with completely unorthodox ablaut patterns. They've been re-sorted based on patterns that I've Grammarians have found. Strong verbs also never need the past auxiliary.
Type (Gwýsene) Corr. Type in Old English Present stem vowel Past singular stem vowel Past plural stem vowel Past participle stem vowel
I VII.c é /eː/ í /iː/ í /iː/ é /eː/
II IV e /e/ e /e/ i /i/ a /ɑ/
III.a I ý /yː/ a̋ /æː/ y /y/ y /y/
III.b III.a y /y/ ä /æ/ o /o/ o /o/
IV.a II.a í /iː/ í /iː/ o /o/ a /ɑ/
IV.b II.b a/á /ɑ(ː)/ í /iː/ o /o/ a /ɑ/
IV.c III.b é /eː/ é /eː/ o /o/ a /ɑ/
V.a VI ä /æ/ á /ɑː/ á /ɑː/ ä /æ/
V.b VII.a a̋ /æː/ i /i/ i /i/ a̋ /æː/
V.c VII.e á /ɑː/ í /iː/ í /iː/ á /ɑː/

=TRANSLATIONS=

==NUMBERS==
Number Cardinal Ordinal Adverbial Multiplier
1 A̋n /æːn/ Föress /ˈføɹɛss/ Mer /meɹ/ A̋nfélz /ˈæːnˌveːɫz/
2 Twin /twin/ Áther /ˈɑːðɛɹ/ Merdén /mɛɹˈdeːn/ Twýfélz /ˈtyːˌveːɫz/
3 Thrý /θɾyː/ Thryzz /ˈθɾyzz/ Thrémra̋s /ˌθɾeːˈmɾæːs/ Thryfélz /ˈθɾyˌveːɫz/
4 Fíwar /ˈfiːwɐɹ/ Fíradh /ˈfiːɹɐð/ Fírmra̋s /ˌfiːɹˈmɾæːs/ Fíwarfélz /ˈfiːwɐɹˌveːɫz/
5 Fýf /fyːf/ Fýfedh /ˈfyːvɛð/ Fýfmra̋s /ˌfyːvˈmɾæːs/ Fýffélz /ˈfyːfˌfeːɫz/
6 Sysj /syʃ/ Sysjedh /ˈsyʃɛð/ Sysmra̋s /ˌsysˈmɾæːs/ Sysjfélz /ˈsyʃˌfeːɫz/
7 Sévan /ˈseːvɐn/ Sévadh /ˈseːvɐð/ Sévmra̋s /ˌseːvˈmɾæːs/ Sévanfélz /ˈseːvɐnˌveːɫz/
8 Éht /eːçt/ Éhtadh /ˈeːçtɐð/ Éhmra̋s /ˈeːçˈmɾæːs/ Éhtafélz /ˈeːçtɐˌveːɫz/
9 Nygan /ˈnyʝɐn/ Nygadh /ˈnyʝɐð/ Nygamra̋s /ˌnyʝɐˈmɾæːs/ Nyganfélz /ˈnyʝɐnˌveːɫz/
10 Tőn /tøːn/ Tődh /ˈtøːð/ Tőmra̋s /ˌtøːˈmɾæːs/ Tőnfélz /ˈtøːnˌveːɫz/
==THE COLD WINTER IS NEAR==
‎‫بېث نيٓھ ثِوېٓنتِر ڝِٓلز، پِٓث ڝۊٓمسخى ستارم سنِوى. ڝۊم وِثنَن خُٓمسمين وِٓرم، برآثَرمين. سَلٓم! ڝۊم ھېذ، سېځّ ءَنز شّيٓڧ، ڧرِس ءَنز درېھّ. بېثِّس خُطَّمين. ھِپّسوى وِتِر، ءَنز زۊٓثِن، ءَنز مِٓلخ، بېثِّس ڧِرش ءُٓسڧرى ثِکآ. ءوٓ، ءَنز براث وِٓرم!‬
Byth ních thʼwýnter tjélz, véth tjőmscha starm snewe. Tjöm withnän¹ chósmin wérm, bráthärmin². Säläm³! Tjöm hydh, sygg ænz ssjíf⁴ ⁶, fres⁵ änz dryhh⁶. Bytthes⁷ chottämin⁸. Hevvswe weter, änz zőthen⁹, änz mélch, býtthes fersj ósfrä¹⁰ thʼká. Ó, änz brath!
be.3.ꜱɢ.ᴘʀᴇꜱ near ᴅꜰ-winter cold , ꜰᴜᴛ.3.ꜱɢ come-3.ꜱɢ.ᴍᴀꜱᴄ storm snowy . come.ɪᴍᴘ.ꜱɢ in house-1.ꜱɢ.ɢᴇɴ.ᴄʟ warm , brother-1.ꜱɢ.ɢᴇɴ.ᴄʟ . Welcome ! come.ɪᴍᴘ.ꜱɢ hither , sing.ɪᴍᴘ.ꜱɢ and dance.ɪᴍᴘ.ꜱɢ , eat.ɪᴍᴘ.ꜱɢ and drink.ɪᴍᴘ.ꜱɢ . be.3.ꜱɢ.ᴘʀᴇꜱ-that plan-1.ꜱɢ.ɢᴇɴ.ᴄʟ . have-1.ᴘʟ water , and beer , and milk, be.3.ꜱɢ.ᴘʀᴇꜱ-that fresh from ᴅꜰ-cow . Oh , and soup !
/byθ niːç θə‿ˈyːnzɛɹ tʃeːɫz veːθ ˈtʃøːmsxɐ stɑɻm ˈsnewɛ/
/tʃøm wɪðˈnæn ˈxoːsˌmɪn weːɹm ˈbɾɑːðɐɹˌmɪn/
/sɐˈɫæm tʃøm çyð syʝʝ‿ɐnz ʃʃiːf fres‿ɐnz dɾyçç/
/ˈbyθθɛs ˈxottɐˌmɪn/
/ˈçevvswɛ ˈwedɛɹ ɐnz ˈzøːðɛn ɐnz meɫχ ˈbyθθɛs feɹʃ ˈoːsfrɐ θəˈkɑː/
/oː ɐnz bɾɑθ/
  1. the words for “in” and “on” merged to än, which was kept for “on”.‬
  2. Gwýsens tend to use “brother” as an informal form of address‬.
  3. Säläm is only used by Muslim Gwysens. Christian Gwysens prefer Pastos /pɐsˈtos/ (from Ancient Greek ‬ἀσπαστός).
  4. comes from Old English hlēapan.
  5. comes from old English fretan.
  6. Drykken & Ssjípan are within a class of verbs that have a differing imperative stems than the usual inflected stems due to sound changes. In this case the usual stems are Drykk- & Ssjíp-, while the imperatives are Dryhh & Ssjíf. In the central and Low Northern dialects this particular /k/ => /ç/ is not present, and the imperative stem is also Drykk.
  7. contracted from of Byth thäs (“that is”)‬.
  8. from Arabic خُطَّة.
  9. from Latin zȳthum.
  10. contraction of old English ūt fra (“out of”).
submitted by very-original-user to germlangs [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 13:11 Fellow_Simon Unpopular Opinion[I think] Season 2 kind of sucks.

Unpopular Opinion[I think] Season 2 kind of sucks.
Reason why I kind of don't like s2 is because the amount of Petra favoritism in the fricking writing, I get it that Petra is fan favorite but Holy cow bro, istg all the choices is all about her. Also when Stella call out Petra have been living in Champion city, it felt like it's forcing you to be mad at Petra for living in champion city[which I don't mind] or something. And I hate that we didn't get more about Olivia and Axel, I really thought we're gonna get more screentime about them but no.
Anyways, the only thing I like is the new mechanics and the graphics is really so nice. I really like the boss fights ngl
submitted by Fellow_Simon to MinecraftStoryMode [link] [comments]

2024.04.25 15:30 OrzhovMarkhov A Three Houses Rewrite Concept (Part 6: Silver Snow, Blue Lions)

White Clouds (Black Eagles), White Clouds (Blue Lions), White Clouds (Golden Deer), Silver Snow (Black Eagles), Crimson Flower

Introduction

A concept for a Three Houses remake that (hopefully) solves a number of the issues some had with the game, enfolds characters and worldbuilding from the DLC and Three Hopes effectively into the base game, and creates an improved yet similar gameplay experience in the ways people enjoyed.
Base Gameplay Functions
Recruitment. At this point only your allies are in the monastery. During Chapter 12 you can still request students of the Blue Lions house join you on missions to build support, and the same with staff members who aren't technically recruited. Post-timeskip, recruitment is done on the battlefield or via paralogues.
The Calendar. You are given a new mission after completing an old one. You do not have to complete the mission before the end of a month. However, you cannot take more than forty-five days to complete any given mission. In addition, traveling over the continent map to missions, paralogues or side battles takes up time. While traveling you can miss holiday meals, holiday services, and birthdays. Students will still learn while traveling. Traveling through a green region takes 1 day. You cannot travel through silver or colorless regions. Battling in a silver region takes two days, turning it green after.
Group Tasks. There are more than three group tasks now. How many students you can assign at a time starts at two and increases with professor level, to four at D, six at C, eight at B and ten at A. The group tasks are as follows: Training Yard Management (Sword), Camp Construction (Axe), Fishing (Lance), Hunting (Bow), Night Watch (Brawling), Studying (Reason), Chapel Service (Faith), Armor Maintenance (Armor), Recruitment (Authority), Care for Horses (Riding) and Sky Watch (Flying).
Hidden Paralogues. Post timeskip, most paralogues don't simply appear on the map - they have to be discovered while conquering territory. Hidden Paralogues (which accounts for the majority of post-timeskip paralogues) ONLY APPEAR if a territory bordering them is green.
Side Battles. Post timeskip, the side battles are not named and set. Instead they're randomly generated based on the location they're in and the part of the story they're set during.
Ultimate Supports. There's a level of support after A that many characters can reach with others, not just Byleth. Depending on the pair, these are either S supports (romantic proposals) or AA supports (platonic endings). Those trigger ordinarily, through increasing support levels, except for with Byleth. Byleth can choose to give anyone they've reached A support with the ring, triggering their ultimate support.
Arcane Combat Arts. Arcane Combat Arts are the result of Relics or Mastery Abilities; they rely on a certain spell's uses and consume one when activated, as opposed to weapon durability. Each is tied to a specific spell.
Roster Revamp. If you choose Silver Snow in the Holy Tomb, Edelgard warps away - then, your students begin to discuss this new war. Most of them leave - your new roster, assuming you recruited Shez and the Ashen Wolves, is as follows: Byleth, Rhea (Archbishop), Catherine, Seteth (Wyvern Rider), Shamir (Sniper), Cyril (Wyvern Rider), Mercedes, Ashe, Manuela (Trickster), Flayn, Yuri and Alois.

Chapter 12: To War

Edelgard's forces are marching. Fortunately, it looks as though she and Hubert are the only former students present; the Blue Lion students have remained to fight alongside the Church, and while Rhea curses the Golden Deer for cowards they have every right to return home and stay out of this conflict. Meanwhile, the Church and its allies prepare for a war.
Paralogue 15: A Cursed Relic. Yuri and Shamir are discussing a Dagdan legend of plunder from Fodlan. Yuri seems particularly intrigued, then offhandedly mentions that he heard about something like that being brought in by Duke Gerth from Dagda, taken by Albinean pirates, and traded to Dominic. Baron Dominic is the green unit here, who is being attacked by monsters as Yuri seeks to reclaim the Fetters of Dromi.
A: Defending the Monastery. Exactly like Defending Garreg Mach, but the reinforcements are Dimitri for Jeritza and Felix for Hubert. Instead of being captured Rhea is injured and flees to the Kingdom just as in CF. Byleth falls just as in AM.

Chapter 13: Hunting by Daybreak

Byleth awakes and goes to the monastery, only to see Dimitri there. he whispers that he should have known Byleth would come to haunt him too - in his rambling, he also mentions that all his friends are gone, many serving the Empire, and Felix likely coming to put him down. Byleth tries to reach out to Dimitri, but he knocks them to the ground and flees. Byleth starts to follow only to meet Rhea, who came from her refuge in northeastern Faerghus on a feeling that something would happen. After a tearful reunion and Rhea asking if Byleth remembers anything, she laments that the monastery is fallen, claimed by bandits who soil its holy ground. Rhea asks if Byleth will help her reclaim this sacred place and restore it to glory, triggering the fight. Before the battle, however, you see (as you do before most battles in this route) students you can recruit talking to one another. You can recruit Shez using Byleth if they have at least a C support. You can recruit Felix using Byleth or Seteth assuming they have at least a C support with him.
After the battle, Rhea gathers the Church forces to her and announces that with Byleth returned, they have to push back against the Empire and its vassal states. Byleth adds, to Rhea's irritation, that they're going to try and keep their students safe. Rhea tells them, trying to be gentle, that the Kingdom is in ruins and most of their students won't be available. Byleth persists, and Rhea just shakes her head sadly and leaves.

Chapter 14: A King Without A Kingdom

The Western Kingdom and the Southern Alliance are under the sway of the Empire, and the students have become generals in their respective armies. The Church has reclaimed Garreg Mach, but it seems the Empire has heard - and they send forces to reclaim it: Randolph von Bergliez, Constance von Nuvelle and Thaddeus von Ochs. The Church has to stabilize the area around Garreg Mach before Randolph arrives to attack.
A: Defending Garreg Mach. Before the Imperial army arrives, there's a brief scene showing a student who can be recruited discussing with Randolph; in battle, Constance can be recruited by Byleth or Yuri if they have at least a C support with her. Randolph flees once defeated in this route, with Baron Ochs and (perhaps) Constance the only deaths.

Chapter 15: The Valley of Torment

After the monastery is safe, Rhea invites Byleth with her to the Holy Tomb. She asks if Byleth recalls the Red Canyon, and Byleth responds that they fought Kostas there. Rhea begins to choke up and asks Byleth to leave her in the tomb, which they obediently do, having the option to pause a moment outside which allows them to hear her weeping. Meeting with the other Knights, Catherine recommends meeting in the Valley of Torment, near Charon territory. Catherine interjects to mention that Rodrigue, who has been holding out against the Empire, will try and meet them there as well, with supplies and troops. Together, the Knights plan their next move.
A: Clash at Ailell. As the Knights mobilize to meet Rodrigue (who enters as a green unit but, if protected, becomes a blue unit immediately after the battle) word of their meeting reaches House Rowe. While the Rowe knights mobilize and catch a thief as well, the Knights enter the Valley only to walk right into an ambush. Hapi is recruitable by Byleth or Yuri if they have at least a C support. Ingrid is also recruitable by Byleth, Ashe or Mercedes if they have at least a C support. After the battle, Rodrigue mentions that forces in the Alliance seem to be gearing up to drive the Empire out of the Bridge of Myrddin. Catherine notes that if they strike quickly, they could sieze Myrddin themselves and use it to stage an invasion of Bergliez.

Chapter 16: The Rose-Colored River

Rumors reach the Knights of Alliance and Kingdom forces rallying behind Claude and Dimitri respectively. Byleth can suggest they help either or wait and let the three nations tire each other out; all students from the respective nation (or the Empire if neither is chosen) increase their support with Byleth. Rhea says instead they ought to take the Bridge of Myrddin and then use it to choke the Empire into submission. Seteth and Catherine agree that’s the best bet, and the Knights march on the Alliance.
A: Hidden Paralogue 5 - Heir to Albrecht. Shamir gets asked about a mercenary contract for a single job and suggests they all go check it out. Apparently a pricey bounty is in a local inn, and that could of course help finance the war. When the group arrives, however, it’s not a stranger but Balthus, fighting off several mercenaries. Upon realizing it, any recruited Wolves immediately advise to help him instead. If none are alive and recruited, Balthus calls out to Byleth asking for help. After the paralogue is completed, Balthus catches up to the army and offers to help them out in repayment.
B: Battle at the Great Bridge. Before the Knights reach the bridge, its defenders talk strategy. After the Knights arrive, they sweep the Great Bridge. Halfway through the battle, however, Ladislava enters as reinforcement - along with Lorenz, to his father's consternation. Lorenz and Ladislava fall defending the Bridge as Erwin promptly retreats, forced to give it up to Church control.

Chapter 17: Blood of the Eagle and Lion

The Empire, Kingdom and Alliance forces, all gathering to fight, meet at Gronder Field. The Kingdom and the Alliance don’t fight one another, focusing on the Empire, but Dimitri seems quite aggressive and Shamir reports that she actually overheard Alliance forces discussing destroying the Knights of Seiros after they swept through the western Alliance. It seems all three factions may come out as enemies.
A: To War at Gronder. While crossing the Great Bridge, the Knights receive reports that the Kingdom has managed to force a small force through the mountains, while the Alliance has crossed a sequence of smaller bridges in Ordelia. No one knows who can be trusted. Before the battle a scene plays, and Dimitri discusses with Sylvain and Dedue regarding his own state. Finally, the Knights deploy to fight forces of all three nations; they soon find the Alliance has soldiers out for their blood, and Claude opts to defend his people rather than let them fall to Rhea's blade. Dimitri will hear no reason, and of course the Empire wishes to stop all three from advancing. During the battle Sylvain can be recruited by Byleth, Ingrid or Felix if they have C support, and Dedue can be recruited by Byleth, Mercedes or Flayn if they've reached B support. After the battle, a cutscene plays. Edelgard and Claude meet while organizing a retreat. They drop their default lines (lovelier than ever, not so unfortunate) then Edelgard raises Aymr, only to pause as Claude stows Failnaught. She lowers her own weapon as Claude explains that after that battle, he's done with Fodlan. He mentions that despite what differences they may have, he doubts either he or Edelgard wants to see a world with Rhea regaining control, and in the interest of "a potential future favor" warns her that it seems like Rhea and Dimitri are conspiring together before he mounts his wyvern and flies off, leaving Edelgard to hurry south. After this scene, Dimitri approaches Byleth. Byleth can either order the Knights to take him in and care for him, or to leave him. If you leave him here, there's a brief few lines about packing up then a CG of Dimitri collapsed on the field while any recruited Lions lament his death. If you ask the Knights to care for him, there's a CG of Rhea embracing him while she orders them to do so without hesitation as a very wounded and weakened Dimitri thanks both Byleth and Rhea profusely. When he wakes up, there's a CG of all the recruited Lions and Byleth standing at his bedside, and he hoarsely demands to know why they wouldn't let him die. At that point Dimitri officially joins your army.

Chapter 18: The Resurrection of Seiros

After success at Gronder, whispers have spread across the land. People say Seiros has been reborn. They say that she lives on in Rhea, the Archbishop, and that she'll destroy the Empire. Rhea welcomes these rumors and dons the Seiros garb henceforth when she goes to battle, unlocking the Saint class. As an additional mastery reward, Saint offers a class-exclusive Arcane Combat Art: Immaculate Transformation, which expends a use of Abraxas and turns Rhea into the Immaculate One for three turns or until she uses her staggering blow. As the Immaculate One, she can attack at one to three range with her Crest Stone, can fly, and takes up nine spaces. She does only have her normal amount of HP but heals each turn. The Knights decide that they need to secure the Kingdom and Alliance, both of which, paying heed to the rumors, now have factions that may be willing to assist the Knights with their war. Rhea decides to head to Fhirdiad and Derdriu; Dimitri, or Yuri (or Catherine if neither was recruited) recommends taking the Silver Maiden instead, as it will allow them to hold the border with the Empire and is much closer to the monastery. Seteth advises taking Derdriu first; the Kingdom is in shambles and will pose little threat. So the Knights march on Derdriu.
A: Hidden Paralogue 2 - Forgotten Hero. As the Knights of Seiros touch upon the infamous Enchanted Forest of Mircea, a howl echoes through the sky. A soft sound of weeping permeates the fog, and Ashe recalls a legend of a lost Elite and a beast that wanders these woods. Rhea goes very silent regarding this legend, and Seteth tells Flayn to stay silent just as she seems about to speak. Upon arrival, the Knights find Marianne (a green unit) in the midst of a forest of monsters, talking to Maurice. Maurice has unique dialogue against Rhea, and once the paralogue is completed Marianne joins your army.
B: Capturing Derdriu. As the Knights arrive in the city, the Imperial army faces off against Erwin - who, after the fall of Myrddin, has decided that the Church might well be a safer bet for the Alliance than the Empire. However, after their standstill ends, an Imperial scout calls out to Monica with news that sends Gregoire scurrying - and a cutscene triggers. Almyran ships, massive 24-gun warships, crest the horizon to the sound of Citizens of the East. Cannonballs fly over the city - and hit the walls, constructed long ago, that protect Derdriu from flooding. Water sweeps through the city streets. A lone man on wyvernback flies to the raised outer platform and throws a handaxe at an Imperial archer preparing to fire, and Nader steps off and announces himself as the camera pans over the approaching ships, with wyverns, soldiers, and giant hawks waiting on deck. "My name is Nader the Undefeated, and this city is now under the protection of the Almyran Navy... under command of Prince Khalid the Immortal, heir to the throne." At the announcement of their commander the camera focuses in on the furthest ship - where Claude, Failnaught in hand, watches carefully. Then the cutscene ends, and Claude calls commands to the soldiers. Claude has unique dialogue against Byleth, Rhea and Cyril making his goals and intentions clear. After a long battle, the Knights drive out the Empire and protect Derdriu from Almyra... and now the time has come to turn their gaze to the far west, where Arianrhod awaits.

Chapter 19: Maiden of Discord

With the Alliance now firmly under Church control and safe from Imperial incursions, the Knights must turn their gaze westward. Fanning out through both Imperial and Faerghan Mach, they prepare to take the fortress city Arianrhod. Seteth confronts Rhea about what she intends to do once the war is over, with Catherine quick to come to her defense and Byleth asked to mediate. There isn't time to talk the aftermath too much, however; as Annette arrives to Garreg Mach, she mentions that her father is planning with some other Kingdom knights to stage a battle against the Empire at Arianrhod, and hopes the Church can arrive in time to help, lighting a fire under them to attack the fortress. Annette joins your army at the beginning of this chapter.
A: Hidden Paralogue 3 - Legend of the Lake. As the Knights pass Duval territory, Flayn mentions a curious myth about a saintly beast and a Sacred Relic. She tells Byleth, but advises them not to tell Rhea because she suspects she would be rather opposed to disturbing a sacred location for such a thing. Seteth is scandalized when he finds out, but admits that it could be good to go and speak to a certain old friend there. Rhea can't be deployed in this battle. Byleth gathers those they think should join in such an excursion only to find a giant turtle apparently blocking the way. Upon arrival, they find Linhardt (a green unit) who seems to have been curious about the same thing. If he survives the battle, he asks to join your army.
B: Hidden Paralogue 4 - Foreign Land and Skies. The Empire is well and truly entrenched in Brigid; The Church intends to go and see if the island nation can't be persuaded to their side. Failing that, they may be forced to put an end to the pro-Imperial dynasty and cow the nation into staying neutral. The battle layout and opening and arrival dialogues change based on whether Byleth has a B support with Petra, and she is resistant to the Empire at the beginning and when arriving; or whether Byleth does not, and Petra is openly on the side of the Empire and arrives as reinforcement. Either way, only Byleth can persuade her to join the Church, if they've reached C support.
C: Siege of the Silver Maiden. Arianrhod has long been a prize of the Kingdom, and the Empire won't let it go easily. However, some of the Kingdom's knights have organized a resistance! They attacked Arianrhod - and it seems Marquis Vestra, for inexorable reasons, attacked a faction within the fortress. The Knights of Seiros, reinforcing the Kingdom, are drawing quite a bit of attention from both the Empire and the Agarthans as they arrive. Gilbert can be recruited in this chapter by talking to him with Dimitri or Annette. Of course, Rhea and the Knights are able to expel Hubert, destroy Cornelia, and reclaim Arianrhod to defend the Kingdom in truth.

Chapter 20: The Impregnable Fortress

After establishing safe boundaries for the Alliance and Kingdom, Rhea decides that it’s high time to press southward to the heart of the enemy - and to destroy Edelgard once and for all. The first thing to do is seize Fort Merceus, in the heart of Bergliez, to advance from there into Hresvelg, where Edelgard rules.
A: Taking Fort Merceus. The battle is laid out exactly as it would be in Verdant Winds if Linhardt was recruited (in current 3H), with Caspar standing guard along with Jeritza. After Jeritza starts fleeing, however, reinforcements appear if Shez wasn't recruited. The commanders are defeated and the Javelins of Light fall as the Death Knight flees. Rhea has some feelings about them, of course, but tries to contain herself. Right now? They have an Empire to topple. And Enbarr is within sight.

Chapter 21: The Chaos of War

The Knights of Seiros, having taken Fort Merceus, march on Enbarr. Edelgard's decision to keep civilians in the homes is met with quite a bit of shock, including, if recruited, from some of her own.
A: Skirmish in the Streets. Hubert and the Death Knight stand guard in the city streets; Jeritza dies when defeated, as does Hubert. Afterward, there is nothing left save to make your way into the palace itself.

Chapter 22: As The Dead Demand

A: Clash at the Imperial Palace. This chapter plays out mostly the same as in Silver Snow. When Edelgard is defeated, a cutscene plays: if you recruited Dimitri, Edelgard steps back, panting, and raises Aymr to guard as he thrusts with Areadhbar. It's not enough, however, and the axe shatters and Dimitri successfully stabs Edelgard, who goes limp. He drops Areadhbar and falls to his knees, beginning to cry, then whispers, "what more do you ask." Rhea and Byleth approach, each putting a hand on his shoulder, and the scene ends. If not, then Rhea and Byleth both fight Edelgard for a brief period, then Rhea manages to claim the final blow, cutting Edelgard down, and the scene ends. After the battle, Rhea and a letter from Hubert fill in details regarding the Agarthans and Relics. Then it becomes clear exactly where the Knights must next go.

Chapter 23: The City Without Light

After Edelgard’s conquest ends, the Nabateans end up making one thing clear: the Agarthans, who were behind Nemesis, are ready to destroy everything once they set up their schemes. Everyone is in agreement: the Agarthans must be stopped. Rhea, Byleth, the Knights of Seiros, and whoever they’ve ended up recruiting from the other nations of Fodlan begin marching their way eastward, to fight Those Who Slither in the Dark.
A: Hidden Paralogue 4 - Into the Abyss (Shez). Shez approaches Byleth mid-travel. Byleth asks them what they’re doing and they respond, “oh, nothing. Just thinking how the time has finally come,” in Arval’s voice. Shez then grabs Byleth and teleports them to an empty void. Byleth prepares to fight Shez, who in turn raises their hands and says they don't know what happened. Epimenides appears and monologues about the fall of the Agarthans for a while and then tells Byleth and Shez that "the Fell Star" and "his worthless vessel" are trapped in Zahras forever. Byleth hears Sothis' voice, as if from afar, command them to kill Epimenides; once they do, for a moment, the form of a woman appears in a rift of light that deposits both of them at the very same place and time they started. Completing this paralogue unlocks the Asura class for Shez.
A: Stand Strong at Shambhala. This battle plays out much as in current Silver Snow; however, in the lead up, Rhea is more regretful, seemingly, of what happened to Byleth. Rhea seems eager to finally take her revenge, with Dimitri solemnly offering his support. The battle plays out the same. When Thales calls down the javelins, Rhea stops them, and when she lands, Byleth and Dimitri if he's recruited thank her profusely. There’s a brief moment after the battle where Byleth, shown by a dying Myson, gets the chance to use the Asclepius Engine and, rather than demanding they try to use it to call back Sothis, Rhea allows Byleth to choose a single unit that died over the course of the playthrough; in addition to all the dead units, Jeralt is an option, and if you choose Jeralt then you gain support with both him and Rhea and there's a CG of Jeralt hugging Byleth after emerging from the machine. Then, however, the Nemesis awakening scene plays out as Rhea, Byleth and possibly Dimitri begin discussing how to proceed with Fodlan.

Chapter 24: Following a Dream

After the Agarthans are defeated, everyone gathers at the monastery to discuss Fodlan’s future only to find that a man and an army of undead soldiers are tearing northward. Dimitri if he was recruited, Jeralt if he was resurrected and it isn't Dimitri, or otherwise Seteth - returns barely alive from trying to slow his advance. Rhea’s reaction to their return is grateful for Dimitri, relieved for Jeralt, and extremely relieved for Seteth, who she reminds she attempted to insist not go in the first place. Everyone agrees: they have one more monster to stop before Fodlan’s future is safe.
A: The King of Liberation. At the Tailtean Plains, Rhea makes note that this is where she slew Nemesis all those years ago. Finally, Nemesis and the Ten Elites appear, along with a few Agarthan mages. Lamine does something which covers the battlefield in sludge, though the rivers stop it from spreading too far.Thus begins the final battle. Nemesis and his Elites fight against the Knights of Seiros and the Imperial army to the sound of God-Shattering Star. After you destroy the Ten Elites and defeat Nemesis himself, the final cutscene triggers.
If you recruited Dimitri, then it’s Dimitri who rushes Nemesis, Rhea right behind him. Nemesis knocks both down and runs at Rhea only for Dimitri to throw Areadhbar and knock him out of the way. Rhea stands and Dimitri orders her to protect herself. She hesitates, then grabs his arm and orders him to do the same. As Nemesis swings again, the two make a united charge against him, Areadhbar to the legs and the Sword of Seiros to the head. Nemesis tries to parry Areadhbar and Rhea cuts his head clean off, with it flying in a wide arc to land on the grass as she turns and cleans her blade with a sigh.
If you didn’t recruit Dimitri but recruited Yuri, Rhea rushes at Nemesis only to be stopped by a hand on her shoulder as Yuri tells her not to rush in. Nemesis mocks her, and Rhea grits her teeth but holds back. Nemesis finally charges, just in time for Yuri to jump in front of him, warp out of the way as he swings and cut his hamstrings, leading him to fall at Rhea’s feet. Rhea drives the Sword of Seiros through his heart, killing him, before turning away with a sigh.
If you didn’t recruit your lord or Yuri, but resurrected Jeralt, then the hand on her shoulder is Jeralt. He tells her he wants a go at this so-called King, and swordfights Nemesis for a bit. Rhea yells for him to leave Nemesis to her, and Jeralt counters that she’d have to make him. Rhea goes as though to shove him aside, then hesitates. She waits a moment, then as Nemesis lunges, casts Agnea's Arrow, incinerating him right in front of Jeralt, who turns to her and thanks her as she simply sighs.
If you didn’t meet the conditions for any of the above, then Rhea rushes Nemesis only to be knocked to the ground and disarmed. Byleth blocks Nemesis’ sword before it can strike her, and Rhea stands in shock. Byleth knocks Nemesis back, turns to Rhea, and then just as Byleth is about to step back, Rhea does so, turning with a sigh as Byleth dispatches Nemesis.
After this, the appropriate S support cutscene plays, then Byleth and their spouse are standing close together for the final scenes of Rhea and, if recruited, Dimitri discussing changes to be made in the future. Afterward, if your spouse is Seteth or Yuri, they mention they aren’t sure if this will be a good idea, then a cutscene begins regardless of S support status. Byleth lays the Sword of the Creator in a shallow grave, then lies beside it. Rhea kneels as they close their eyes, cuts open their chest, and pulls out Sothis’ Crest Stone. Rhea immediately heals Byleth with white magic, and their heart begins beating as their hair bleeds to blue. They sit up and look to Rhea, who crushes the Crest Stone, then drops the fragments in the grave. Byleth grabs a shovel, as do Rhea, Seteth, and, if recruited, Jeralt and your lord. Then there’s a scene from inside the grave of dirt covering it up, and a long sigh and Sothis whispering “finally.” Cut to outside the grave; Rhea is crying silently and whispers “goodbye, mother,” before hugging Byleth, then it goes to the ending text and end cards. The ending crawl changes slightly, based on whether you recruited Dimitri or not.
Without Dimitri: A rising flame was alight as the flow of time carved a new history for Fódlan. The final battle was over, and Nemesis was destroyed, along with the Agarthans. After five and a half years of war, a new age was set to begin. The Empire, Kingdom, and Alliance were forever changed, many of their leaders gone and the rest stepping up with the help of the Church. The borders were reinforced by divine decree, and many policies the Church had once held sacred were reworked entirely. The church's new leader became a champion of the people, working tirelessly to help them overcome the horrors of war and to carve a path towards reconstruction. Just as Saint Seiros tended to those who suffered in wars of the past, Fódlan's new rulers, with her guidance, embraced their role as guardians of the continent and its people.
With Dimitri: A rising flame was alight as the flow of time carved a new history for Fódlan. The final battle was over, and Nemesis was destroyed, along with the Agarthans. After five and a half years of war, a new age was set to begin. The Empire, Kingdom, and Alliance were forever changed, many of their leaders gone and the rest stepping up with the help of the Church. The borders were reinforced by divine decree, and many policies the Church had once held sacred were reworked entirely. The church's new leader became a champion of the people, working tirelessly alongside King Dimitri of Faerghus to help them overcome the horrors of war and to carve a path towards reconstruction. Just as Saint Seiros tended to those who suffered in wars of the past, Fódlan's new rulers, with her guidance, embraced their role as guardians of the continent and its people.
[Silver Snow: End]
submitted by OrzhovMarkhov to FireEmblemThreeHouses [link] [comments]

2024.04.03 14:58 ariseis Erend: An Impassioned Defence

Look, I know that arguing for a pixel person is some simp shit, and I don’t care. I’ve written way simpier shit. I’m not proud. Or tired.
Erend is my favourite companion and you’re all doing him dirty. While I am the main writer of this dumpster fire, this was a collective effort so not all credit (or blame, if you’re so inclined) falls on me here.
Spoilers for both games, there is no hidden text here, enter at your own peril.
There will be no dunking on any other ships here, including the canon romance. There will be no “Aloy should be with X character instead” or “This character is stupid”—this sub does that shit plenty. There won’t even be a “ugh but Erend is so hot uwu.” This is to defend Erend from all this libellous slander some buffoons sprinkle over the community.
But shippers are gonna ship, and it hurts no one. All ships are valid. There are no Snapewives here. Let people ship and be merry, and if it’s not your thing, give yourself the space to bow out.
We just want to defend our boy from all this weird and undeserved hate he gets.
Some statements and comments are more prevalent than others. While more of them are inaccurate rather than vitriolic, there sure is vitriol to go around. Some people just… hate Erend? But here are some more common misconceptions and untrue statements about him, and how he ties to Aloy, and the rebuttals are backed up with links to the canon and the lore. We brought receipts.

“They’re more like brother and sistesiblings”

This statement is very odd. It does acknowledge that Erend and Aloy as being very close, which very much is the case. But most of the time in fiction, a brother-sister bond between two characters who aren’t related
  1. is established in childhood
  2. share some form of adult mentor character
  3. don’t ever have any kind of tones of attraction from either party. Otherwise people are just… friends?
But then one would have to acknowledge the possibility—not the guarantee, just possibility—of it developing further, perish the thought.
Erend makes passes at Aloy upon laying eyes on her. It’s not brotherly. There are also several lines and glances between them that are anything but brotherly, throughout HFW. More on that further down.
Also we seem to forget that… Aloy has a sibling. Beta. Technically her clone, but she explicitly calls Beta her sister. And hers and Beta’s dynamic looks nothing like the one she has with Erend.
At this point, to me at least, it seems the sibling-argument is only used when people cannot refute or deny how close Aloy and Erend are, but they need something to poke a hole in the ship with, and a sibling dynamic is simply convenient.

“Erend sees Aloy as a sister figure”

Even if that were true, Ersa was more than just a sister to Erend. She also seemed to be somewhat of a mother figure. Ersa raised Erend. We know Erend and Ersa’s father was some flavour of asshole (the wiki confirms it), and we know literally nothing about their mother.
But not a lot of little brothers will follow a sister the way Erend did with Ersa. Through war? Expatriating to another country? Please. Have you met little brothers? Not exactly paragons of obedience.
Saying Aloy is Ersa’s replacement doesn’t take in the scope of Erend and Ersa’s dynamic, and also isn’t applicable to the dynamic between Aloy and Erend here. For one, Aloy didn’t want anyone following her, and Ersa wanted Erend by her side every day (except for that one fateful time she knew she was walking into a trap). Aloy doesn’t raise Erend, he’s a grown man. Aloy isn’t his commanding officer but his friend. And she doesn’t have him by her side through every little thing she does, unlike Captain Ersa.
There is one person who very clearly wants to use Aloy to replace Ersa, and that is Sun-King Avad. Aloy even calls him out on it. Erend does not with one breath talk about Aloy replacing Ersa either as his sister, or taking over command of the Vanguard.
It’s pretty clear that Erend sees Aloy as some form of guiding star… but so do all of Aloy’s companions.
Why does Erend get flack for it, when Kotallo literally says he will give whatever is left of his life to Aloy? Because that’s some hard-hitting devotion right there.
Why doesn’t Varl get flack for it, when Aloy runs off on him twice (once after The Alight, and again in Meridian before reaching the Daunt) despite Aloy actively telling him not to follow her? Don’t see anyone calling Varl a creep the way people do with Erend, even after he says “You’re stuck with me like bark on wood.” Even though Erend is the one person who goes “let me help” and when Aloy says no, he sits the fuck down and goes “Are you sure? Fine, but the second you need me, I’ll be there, just be careful.”
That’s not to dunk on Varl though, or disparage any of Aloy’s companions. The problem isn’t who is or isn't devoted to Aloy. It is the inconsistency and double standard within the fandom where Erend is supposedly a creep… but everyone else is fine and dandy despite displaying more reverence than Erend, and/or disregarding Aloy’s nos.

“Erend is a drunk”

This tired old rag gets aired regularly, so let's explore, shall we? Erend is shown to drink or be drunk precisely 3 times:
  1. When Aloy reaches Meridian and finds Erend drunk, believing that Ersa is dead. Funnily enough, after her actual death, our boy is stone cold sober. Funny, that.
  2. When Erend is in Barren Light, after having his ribs near busted after his tussle with that Bristleback. You guys ever had, hell, not even broken, just *bruised* ribs? Shit hurts. In a world without opioids, I reckon a drink to dull that pain is permissible. He's not drunk, mind. Just sipping.
  3. When Aloy asks Erend for a drink before fighting the Zeniths. Considering how snarky Aloy is about (only Erend's) alcohol consumption, this is a pretty hefty swig to swallow. Aloy asks Erend for a drink, they have their little drink date, and Aloy's laugh bubbles out of her like sparkling wine. Neither of them gets tipsy, everyone’s just jolly.
When does the drinking ever actually present a problem, and not just something for Aloy to turn up her nose at? Erend’s supposed alcoholism is a massive Chekhov's Gun that never pays off, never leads anywhere. It is never detrimental in a pivotal moment, it never comes with consequences or a cost. He’s never too drunk to function. When Aloy needs Erend, or even just wants to talk to him, he’s straight as an arrow, pumped and ready. He doesn’t show up wobbly-legged and dull.
It’s frankly inconsistent writing to depict a character one way in the Base and another out in the wilds. Hey GG writers, if you’re here… Will this part of Erend ever actually lead anywhere?
Not to mention that actual drunks don’t ever talk about what drunks they are, the way Erend is written in HFW. Actual alcoholics don’t play up how drunk they are; they hide the bottle, drink in secret, and make a concerted effort to act sober when confronted, arguing with their whole chest and a slurring cadence that they are straight as an arrow, even as piss runs down their leg.
Aloy knows this too. She isn’t exactly the kind of person who invites a few too many people in. But Erend is now her right hand man after Varl’s passing. Would she choose a drunk as her right hand and confidante? Because I mean, Kotallo and Alva and the inimitable, super level-headed, calm Zo are both right there. But they’re not who Aloy calls after she leaves Tilda’s house. She calls Erend. Not even a group call.
Were Erend a drunk, he would not hold that position in her life.
Why does Erend talk about himself as a useless drunk then? It’s actually a very common trait in people who were abused children to talk ill of themselves.
Not to mention… Best girl Petra literally sits in a fucking pub all day, every time I go to see her, and I don’t see none of yous call her a drunk. But Petra and Erend are both Oseram! The Oseram drink! It’s a big part of their culture. And when they’re not drinking, they talk about drinking. Our beloved showmen in Hidden Ember do too. Stemmur even talks about how all the holidays in the Claim revolve around drinking and tapping the first kegs.
I think I know precisely why the audience side-eyes Erend for drinking but not Petra or anyone else: because Aloy turns up her nose when Erend does it. Then it’s a free-for-all. I can see why Aloy might not approve of drinking, given how Rost raised her, but she doesn’t treat every person around her drinking the same way. Once again inconsistent writing rears its head.

“Erend is Aloy’s best friend”

He sure is.

“Erend idolises Aloy/puts Aloy on a pedestal”

Erend is the only motherfucker who calls Aloy out for ditching her friends. They risked their lives to help her, even without her explaining how dire the threat really was. She needed help, and Aloy’s friends dropped everything they were doing and sprang into action. And after that, she didn’t say goodbye or thank you. I’d feel kinda used in that situation too.
He actually yells at her. If you choose the Heart option here, Aloy apologises and concedes it was wrong of her to leave. I dunno about you but I’d never yell at my idols. I may raise my voice in my violent overtures to reflect the ardour of my affections, but I doubt anyone would scold their greatest hero.
He’s the only one who calls her by her actual name and actively tells other people not to call Aloy by her epithets and titles because he knows she hates it.
Erend is the only one of Aloy’s companions who met Aloy while she was still an outcast, and he didn’t give a damn even after Aloy told him she was one. You may be tempted to go “Hey, what about Varl?” but worry not, I checked the canon.
Aloy met Varl after the Proving, after she was made a Seeker, and after meeting Erend, whom she met at the Blessing. Erend is literally Aloy’s oldest friend… bar like, Teb? Who wasn’t even in HFW and isn’t one of Aloy’s companions so like, does it count?
Also why do people love to say this of Erend, but not of Kotallo? Even though Noshir (bless you if you’re here, babes) will tell you he plays Kotallo as pretty fucking devoted to Aloy.
Not to mention all the pegs Varl had to dip during the tutorial of HFW, where he calls Aloy Anointed, knowing well she hates it.
Erend has a great deal of respect, loyalty and affection towards Aloy. But when he says “Now I see I was just lucky to get a minute of your time,” that isn’t a line meant to elevate Aloy to some unattainable, lofty heights fit for worship. It is a concession that he underestimated her. These two are not the same, and if one confuses apologies with worship or deference, if one thinks apologising is to admit inferiority… that says a lot about why people are so loath to apologise to anyone.

“Erend is stupid”

With my whole being, I beg to differ. Erend lacks self-confidence, and he talks himself down, but he is far from dumb.

“Aloy and Erend have no chemistry/He doesn’t have feelings like that for her”

Uh huh. I’m not gonna yap any kind of bullshit that Aloy is in undying love with Erend or anything. There’s no canon that says that. But allow me to remind you of the big, fat grin on Aloy's face when she sees Erend again. And Erend shouting her name like she's Christmas morning.
Erend and Aloy have some unique interactions that no one else has with her. Erend is an exceptional presence in Aloy’s life. He’s the only one of her companions she can play Strike with, even though we know at least Kotallo also plays.
She also picks Erend by her side to storm the Zenith Base, and Erend carries Sylens’ weapon on his back by her side the whole way. Why not Kotallo, who makes a whole thing out of having a strong back? And he still fights like a fiend with his new, shiny mecha-arm, and it should allow him to climb even better than Erend, arguably.
Erend is one of very few people who can make Aloy burst out laughing. Like, actually loling.
I’ve seen people say that Aloy has better chemistry with Petra, and I’m not gonna dunk on that ship, but… just for your consideration: when Petra asks Aloy for a drink, Aloy takes a raincheck. With Erend, she asks him.
Hyperlinks to video snippets of Erend and Aloy being cute:
  1. “All the way to Meridian just to see me?”
  2. “I’ll always have a minute for you… maybe even two.”
  3. This big-ass grin
  4. The Heart option after killing the Bristlebacks
  5. This look before parting for GEMINI. Everyone else looks at each other, but Erend and Aloy look at one another.
  6. That drink he promised back in The Embrace
  7. This evil quote that set my heart all aflutter because I BELIEVED and then my hopes were DASHED. Now this line was a joke! But the joke only works because of how Erend’s feelings are that bloody obvious. That’s the joke. Erend’s torch can be seen all the way from The Embrace, that’s why that is funny.
  8. This cute hug Aloy initiates, that goes into a wedding photo-looking shot. No one else hugging, all standing off to the side, pairing Erend and Aloy in a prolonged hug like that? If this shot was supposed to be platonic, holy shit did Guerrilla miss the mark on the visual queues.
There’s no use in speculating too much into Aloy’s feelings, because it won’t lead anywhere. People play with their own Heart/Fist/Brain options which alters the emotional facets too much for any conclusive or irrefutable takes, and people who have decided on their head canons will never be swayed.
But you know who does see specifically Erend’s feelings for Aloy? The Vanguard.
In HZD, the Vanguard have some pretty obvious observations about Erend’s feelings for Aloy, and nothing has changed in HFW:
  1. Here before the Battle of The Alight
  2. Aldur hates to interrupt the romance
  3. What Aldur has to say about Erend’s attention
Must have been some serious limerence, I daresay even yearning, for his troops to talk about him and Aloy like that, huh.
Individually, I’ll concede one could handwave the bond between them. If the ship were built on one instant alone, it would go into Pepe Silvia-territory. But all put together? Can you not see what other people are seeing here?
Also, if you want to see me tailspin into Pepe Silvia-territory for fun and profit, I will. Ask me about Erend’s missing boot.

“Erend is too old”

Erend is often described as looking like an old man, and thus being too old for Aloy.
John Hopkins who voices and is the face model for Erend is 49 or so years old (his birthday isn’t listed online so we can’t know for sure). Why his face model was aged down in HZD but not in HFW, only Guerrilla could tell you (fucking explain yourselves).
But John Hopkins is not the only actor way older than the character he plays. Ashly Burch is 33, whereas Aloy is 19 in HZD, 20 in HFW, and Beta is likely in her late teens (her voice being higher pitched and the way she yells “you don’t understand!” at Aloy implies late teen). Noshir Dalal is 45, and Kotallo’s age is vague but it seems the oldest he could be is 31, given he fought during the Red Raids. Erica Luttrell is 42, and Zo appears no older than her early 30’s. Varl’s wiki is blessedly clear-cut stating that Varl is 26 in HZD, but in sheer contrast I cannot find John MacMillan’s age for love or money. Given his 15-year acting career, dude is likely late 30’s.
Erend is one of the few characters whose age we know. The wiki places him in his 20’s, backing it up with what Erend himself says when first meeting Aloy: That he cannot recall a time before the Derangement. Seeing as the Derangement kicked off when the Extinction Signal came from Nemesis, the same event that sparked Aloy’s conception 20 years ago, that means Erend was likely a baby, a toddler or a very young child back then.

“Erend doesn’t deserve Aloy/Aloy deserves better”

Aloy is not a fucking prize to be won. What a gross and objectifying thing to say. No matter the ship. Seyka didn’t “earn” Aloy, and I doubt Aloy thinks of herself as doling out her love to whoever she deems most worthy, so why the fuck are the fans thinking this way?! She is not a prize earned by virtue. Do I really need to remind you that women are not a vending machine you put valour or virtue coins into until love falls out?
Like, do you walk around thinking you’re better than other people in real life? Do you tally up who may deign to gaze upon you? Do you think Aloy does that shit?
… Sylens, is that you?
Also, how incredibly reductive to say that Erend is inferior to Aloy. All of Aloy’s companions are extraordinary people, exceptional members of their tribes, each and every one. War veterans, scholars, high-ranking officers like marshalls and captains, Sunhawks, kings, shamans, chieftains, heroes, stark political voices opposing authority (I’m pretty sure Zo for example could’ve gone the same way Kalae did, the way she kept undermining the Chorus).
Erend is a war veteran, a personal friend to a king, a royal emissary, a high-ranking officer, and it seems he knows every curmudgeon in The Claim too.
If you can’t see the merit of a character, any character, even with all this information at hand, that isn’t a failure of the character or even the writers, but of the audience.

Why might you not like Erend?

You didn’t choose the Heart option when interacting with Erend

In which case, it is absolutely understandable that you wouldn’t see the affection that Aloy and Erend show one another. The Brain options are in general more on the neutral side emotionally, and the Fist options are downright wrathful at times, regardless of who you’re braining or…. fisting? But Guerrilla themselves have repeatedly said that there is no “true” or “right” option in these choices that are “more” Aloy, that they are ALL canon. While these choices do not alter key canon events, they can fundamentally change the emotional component of how the player is Aloy, and how the player feels moving forward.

Erend isn’t your flavour

I think there will always be a degree of self-insertion (not like that, pervert) with any character that we play in games. Even with protagonists like Aloy who are anything but a blank slate player insert. Aloy is decidedly not BG3’s Tav.
We can’t help it. There is no objectivity, there is no clean slate devoid of biases that is somehow The One True Pure Canon. And why would we need objectivity? In science fiction, the emphasis is in fact on the fiction half.
There is an inevitable self-insertism no matter what game you’re playing, or which character you’re playing as. You will always play the game as yourself, or the game becomes railroading and thereby boring.
Whether you're a gay gal or a straight guy, you may be either oblivious to Erend’s feelings, or maybe you do clock Erend’s feelings but he's not your cup of tea, so you handwave it and disregard it. I mean, that’s literally what I do when I don’t see the appeal of a ship, and the same goes for the Kotalloys, the Seyloys, the Niloys…
And suddenly, the character you’re playing now reflects you, the player. Whether we mean to or not, that is a bias. It becomes your head canon by default. Same as mine, which is in favour of Erend most of the time (I ship Aloy with multiple people as a form of character exploration). Same as you who ship Aloy with others or no one.
If you played the games, thinking that Aloy is too busy for love and now you wish Seyloy had never happened, that is your head canon. If you played the games with Aloy choosing Fist at every turn, that wrathful Aloy is now your head canon. Pretending we don’t have biases is silly and inaccurate.
And these biases sway our perceptions, and our choices in the brain/fist/heart choices. There is no true neutral objective route here. The devs have already said repeatedly that ALL options in those choices are canon. That includes the heart options wherein Aloy is a lot more tender with Erend than you may have seen. Go back and look through for yourself. There are videos aplenty of these interactions (or you now have an excuse to play the games again, oh noes, woe betide us all).
So if Erend isn’t someone you’d ever consider yourself attracted to, or close with, doesn’t have any bearing on whether or not Aloy does. No matter the player choice, Aloy clearly considers Erend important enough to be by her side through 2 games and take over as her right hand man. Aloy cares about Erend, and Erend cares deeply about Aloy. He went AWOL and left a king to be with her, without a promise of anything. It’s irrefutable. The player can’t kick him out. Aloy doesn’t keep Erend around out of pity or obligation, regardless of what the player thinks of him.
Erend doesn’t have to be your flavour. But Aloy keeps Erend around regardless, and I defy you to tell me she’s shitty enough to keep him around as a laughing stock and make everyone else look good.

“I just find him annoying”

That’s fine. You don’t have to like him, and you don’t have to ship it. Other people shipping it literally cannot harm you, even if they cared to. Strike true as the Ten and may the land bloom in your steps.

“People who ship them are delusional”

Well, yeah, it’s shipping? Shipping is kinda by default canon divergent? Do you need shipping explained to you?
Everyone who’s ever shipped characters will see reasons their ship is valid. Idk what to tell you. It’s for funsies. Same as playing games in story mode, whatever you need to do to enjoy a game is entirely valid. There is no heresy or orthodoxy here. There is no right way. It’s a fucking game.
The only way this ship would be truly, unhingedly delulu is if Aloy and Erend had never actually met. And I’ve seen people ship Kotallo and Talanah. And Fashav with… a frankly baffling amount of people? Nil, Kotallo, Aloy, Hekarro… Even though he died the same day we meet him and we never see him onscreen with anyone else. And guess what? That shit is fine too.
Anyway, this google doc is nigh on 9 pages long and backed up with links to video footage and wiki pages. None of this was pulled out of my ass. There is ample material here that speaks to why Erend’s character isn’t who he is made out to be by the people who hate him. I won’t argue for the ship, it’ll sail with or without you. Bully me if you want, it’ll only make me cum.

Dishonourable mentions

“Aloy is too busy for romance to begin with.”
Hate to break it to you, but clearly she isn’t.
Aloy is a goddamn human being. People have fallen in love during war through all eras. Why should Aloy be designated to be a virginal battle nun for the rest of her life? As if the poor girl doesn’t deserve happiness or a human connection. Shit, given that Aloy lives her life with the voices of the dead, and one foot a thousand years away from her own time, I say good for her for getting a real tether to her own time, instead of looking for ghosts.
Also, there’s often something vaguely misogynistic over the people who say that shit? No one ever tells male protagonists they’re too busy to find love. But for some reason, Aloy is just too gosh darn busy to get busy. She has better things to do than prattle with puny human relationships. Shame on you, shame on your family, shame on your cow.
“People who don’t like the canon romance are just homophobic bigots.”
Shut the fuck up. This is so tiresome.
The ship is fine and as a queer person I will say the rep is welcome, but I haste to point out that queer people are not in fact a monolith. Not all queer people have to like the same shit, and personally I think queer rep deserves better storytelling than how that patched arc came out. Even Ben McCaw admitted they had to add in filler lines to make it make more sense. The interview is here, McCaw’s full quote starts at almost exactly the 1:13:00 mark. McCaw mentions the adjustments made after playtesting at 1:14:00.
It’s so reductive and ignorant to think anyone who dislikes something is automatically a bigot. Only a Sith deals in absolutes.
A lot of people were hopeful for Aloy’s love arc, wished for it and wanted it to happen, wanted to fall in love alongside Aloy, and just didn’t. People not liking one arc does not take anything away from it.

Conclusion

Erend is not this old, idiot, alcoholic creep a lot of people make him out to be.
He’s been retconned a fair deal between the games, from his face model ageing like 15 years in 6 months, to retconning his relationship to booze, down to how Erend was very obviously written by different people depending on whether he’s in the Base or out on mission.
He’s adaptable, fierce, strong, loyal, boisterous. He’s overcome war and personal loss, trauma and abuse. He’s not what many people on this sub make him out to be. Fight me.
submitted by ariseis to horizon [link] [comments]

2024.03.31 03:26 Cute_Description_277 Petra can't run over a cow because her job won't allow it

Petra can't run over a cow because her job won't allow it submitted by Cute_Description_277 to VirtualYoutubers [link] [comments]

2024.03.20 03:26 MattWith2Tees OBSCURE Talkies! I've been slacking lately

OBSCURE Talkies! I've been slacking lately
"Rain Girl," need I say more? The creator didn't so why should I?! Petra, still feisty, pulls out a sword from who knows where. 3 is just a pomeranian with a knife, heckin startled, probably a good opponent for Petra if I'm being honest, my money is on the dog. Next slide: this is a picture of my dog, his name is Linkin Bark and he's a real good boy yes he is. And lastly we have this cow on a skateboard.
submitted by MattWith2Tees to TalkieOfficial [link] [comments]

2024.03.11 16:32 Thoroughfarez [For Sale] Whole collection 150+ Vinyl

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/185372vAKd1Bs4IFA07vcZPKwJJkCowFlgN8FccMoyBU/edit
$5 US Shipping for up to 3 albums. Texas Based. Mostly everything is sealed. Let me know you got any questions. Can provide any pictures needed. Paypal G&S only.
Artists for search purposes: A. Chal, Aaliyah, ABRA, Amy Winehouse, Allan Rayman, Arctic Monkeys, Audrey Nuna, Band of Horses, BANKS, Björk, BLACKPINK, Brandi Carlile, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Charli XCX, Childish Gambino, Chloe x Halle, Cults, D’eon, Dead Man’s Bones, Death Grips, Desire, Dua Lipa, Emotional Oranges, Erykah Badu, Father John Misty, Fiona Apple, FKA Twigs, Florence + the Machine, Flume, Frank Ocean, Fugees, Grimes, Haim, Ibeyi, Iggy Azalea, Jake Bugg, James Blake, Jesse Jo Stark, Jessie Reyez, Joji, Jorja Smith, Juliee Cruise, Jungle, Kacey Musgraves, Kali Uchis, Kilo Kish, Kim Petras, King Krule, Lana Del Rey, Lennon Stella, Lola Kirke, Lord Huron, Lykke Li, M. Ward, Maren Morris, MF DOOM, Madlib, MGMT, Miike Snow, Niki, Olivia Rodrigo, Orville Peck, Paul McCartney, Phantogram, Phoebe Bridgers, Poppy, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rich Brian, Rico Nasty, Rosalia, Sabrina Claudio, Santigold, Sky Ferreira, Slayyyter, St. Vincent, Sturgill Simpson, Suki Waterhouse, Summer Walker, Taylor Swift, TEEN, The Black Keys, The Veronicas, Tommy Genesis, Travis Scott, Washed Out, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
submitted by Thoroughfarez to VinylCollectors [link] [comments]

2024.03.06 23:10 Dependant_Ad8749_5 Lego Fortnite NPCs, Wildlife, And Bosses.

NPCs.
​
Aura
Beef Boss
Blue Squire
Brite Bomber
Cuddle Team Leader
Crystal
Hayseed
Meowscles
Peely
Polar Peely
Sparkplug
Sunflower
Raptor
Rex
Skye
Blackheart
Calamity
Fishstick
Frozen Fishstick
Mazy
Silas
Robin
Otls
Roan
Sprocket
Flint
Petra
Sally Salls
Salty
Snow Cap
Sawyer
Carl Reef
Gus
Slush
Yeti
Tabby
Llonbran
Nugget
Dana
​
Wildlife.
​
Chicken
Cow
Sheep
Mountain Cow
Ram
Scorpion
Spider
Stone Roller
Wild Wolf
Hermit Crab
Sand Roller
Sand Scorpion
Sand Spider
Sand Wolf
Blaster
Frost Roller
Frost Spider
Frost Wolf
Bone Wolf
​
Bosses.
​
Brute
Frost Brute
Sand Brute
submitted by Dependant_Ad8749_5 to AllThingsFortnite [link] [comments]

2024.01.31 21:32 Kamen-Rider-Artif What did you think of the Project SEKAI Colorful Live 3rd ~Evolve~ Concert?

Now that people have had a chance to see the performance from the 28th (and I've found time to do a write-up), I figured it'd be nice to ask what people thought of it, just like I did for the last one. Sorry if this gets a little jumbled folks: this is a full review, meaning we're in for a long ride.
Just note that the following setlist and comments are based on the night performance because that's the one I've seen.
Part 1: Journey
Firstly, it's nice to see that they're taking advantage of the digital broadcast to show off the holograms in 3D. It really does help you appreciate the choreography more when you can properly see their formations instead of only watching a flat screen. Furthermore, they put a whole stage setpiece with a display behind the members this time rather than only using the top and side displays, which is great for adding a bit more atmosphere to the dances. Don't have to divert your attention away from the performance to see the pretty animations, very nice.
As for the song itself, Starting from the second anniversary song makes a lot of sense. Plus, it's nice to start with all the units working together, unlike the others that just started with a single unit. I don't want to say too much about the choreo because it's the same as before, but it's still bouncy and energetic while properly showcasing everyone's personality. Glad to see everyone's in the right costumes as well - as you'll read later on, that's not always a given.
Once the dance and initial chat is over, Tsukasa rushes off stage and we're introduced to another neat aspect this show introduces: every unit gets their own stage. In this case, a stage that references Becoming Potatoes with a bit more theme-park decoration. Again, it's great to see the show trying to make itself a lot more visually appealing and atmospheric, it's a beautiful thing to see. Before we have time to admire it, however, we're thrown into our first unit song.
Part 2: Showtime Ruler
A favourite song of mine, and a perfect choice for getting the audience hyped with the number of calls and responses it has. I appreciate that they went with the proper costumes for the song instead of a generic set; controversial as they may be, they are beautiful outfits. It's just a shame that Rui doesn't get his hat.
If that isn't enough hype you up though, maybe the freaking flamethrowers will. I was honestly caught off guard when those things started going, but then it absolutely makes sense that a Wonderlands x Showtime performance would have that kind of insanity. Paired with the high tempo and the energy in the unit's singing, it's the best kind of chaos.
Fortunately, this is followed by a much calmer introduction to the cast, with red curtains behind them as if it were a real stage. After a song like that, it's nice to have a moment to breathe, even if Emu is as energetic as ever. It doesn't last long, however, for Emu and Nene then immediately start trying to summon aliens, because of course they would, leading to Alien Miku arriving to transform them into aliens too. As a costume transition, it certainly fits the quirky nature of Wonderlands x Showtime and with the red curtains in the background, it serves as excellent foreshadowing for what song is coming up next.
Part 3: Alien Alien
A song with surprisingly understated choreo, mainly focused on the hands and swapping places. It makes sense given the MV, but the difference is a little stark after something as crazy as showtime ruler. As a result, I don't have much to say other than using the costumes from All I Need Are The Things I Like was a decent choice given the space theming off that song. Not the strongest connection, but good enough.
Now then, if you thought that was the end of the storytelling, think again because the theatre suddenly decides that it's going to blow up in ten seconds. You've got to love a ten-second countdown that lasts several minutes. Thank goodness that KAITO and the audience are there to save the day by lending their power to one more song - meaning that they're about to perform their third when previous performances stuck with two. Interesting choice, but I'll mention it more later.
Part 4: Tondemo Wonders
The first song where you can really tell that the costumes really are audience choices. They don't fit the song at all. It's a bummer, because they're already on a negative for appearing in the previous live.
Shoutout to Emu getting cut off by the transition between units and stages. Poor Girl.
Part 5: Setsuna Trip
Now we transition to MORE MORE JUMP!, or at least half of them. Weird to start with only Minori and Airi, but that's alright. I will say, this is not a song I would expect to introduce idols, but I appreciate the variety. Plus, there's no strict pattern to the song presentation this time. That's good, keeps you on your toes.
One thing that Wonderlands x Showtime didn't prepare me for is for the girls to transition straight to their unit costumes once the song ended. A bit of a surprise after Wonderlands x Showtime kept theirs until the next song or changed off stage.
We have animations for the idol greetings! Even if its just their first name, it adds a bit of energy and it's real useful for the Virtual Singers, where we don't get to hear their intro as often to learn their calls.
MORE MORE JUMP has always been the most interactive unit, but it's always cute to see them playing with the audience. Glad to see the producers ramping up the interaction elements, it helps the immersion.
Part 6: IF
A magnificent song that I'm glad got in. I considered it one of Haruka's best from the moment it came out. From a performance perspective, however, it's mostly just an extended version of the 3D MV, so not much to talk about.
I won't say the same about the next one though. After all, the crowd already knows what's coming next just by seeing the formation the girls get in, lol.
Part 7: More Jump More
I'll admit, I'm surprised they went with this again. It feels like Cinema in the last Colorful Live, almost played out of obligation. Still, it's nice to see it given a unique costume this time. Weird how only Minori gets to wear a hat though, in this and IF. both berets too.
One more interesting thing to note, MORE MORE JUMP! waited until the end before giving their group intro. An interesting choice to save that for last, but it helps cap things off nicely, I suppose.
Part 8: ID SMILE
Now it's 25-ji's turn, and they come with an unusual choice of stage. The others went with their current game stages or something pretty similar, but 25-ji seems to be in some sort of ornate mansion with stained glass windows. Then again emptiness doesn't really make a good setpiece and it's a gorgeous stage, so I won't complain.
What I do find questionable is the costume choice for the song. I mean, everyone else is dressed for their best and 25-ji are in their pajamas. Does fit the cosy and fashion-based ID Smile though, so it gets away with it pretty well.
Lots of personality on display here. Mafuyu still needs to be coaxed into giving fanservice, Kanade needs a medical checkup after one song, MEIKO being ready to dip out the moment the song finished, miku needing to be taught how to hype up an audience. It's all great. Shoutout to how they made the audience practically demand MEIKO stay, only for her to walk off anyway. Our queen will not be manipulated or guiltripped, love it.
Admittedly, that bit with Kanade does feel a little painful given her voice actor's issues though. It's a nice way to transition into a two-person song, but it hits a little too close to home
Part 9: Gehenna
Love the powerful pair of 25-ji, so I'm more than happy with the song choice. At this point, however, I was a little distracted by the band shots. By now, it seemed that the camera only really focused on the keyboard with very few shots of the rest of the band. Weird.
Another strange thing, why was there no transition into the following song? The rest of the group and KAITO just waltz onto stage once the song finishes. it's like KAITO wouldn't sing unless they just got it over and done with, which -fair enough - is what his character is like.
Part 10: Samsa
Almost a given seeing how popular it was when it came out. I've got to say though, the character acting is wonderful in this; when Maufuyu screams Iyaiyaiya, she looks genuinely in pain. then again, so did the audience when Kaito decided to disappear once the song was done. Actually, 25-ji might be the group where the audience responded most emotionally. People sounded genuinely happy when Mafuyu admits she wants to keep singing before they leave.
Part 11: Ame to Petra
Vivid BAD SQUAD time now, and they start off surprisingly low-key with a normal intro before singing. nobody's done that yet and I figured they of all people would jump straight into a song. They're the first to reference the people watching the live broadcast though, which is neat. As for their stage, their background is based more on the original rather than their second stage. Probably made for better visuals, but I figured it was worth mentioning.
Song-wise, we start off with the boys, which is unexpected. So far, the leader's been present for each first song, so I thought we'd get the girls alone if anything. Even so, seeing them perform with Len was a blast, you can really tell they're going for that 'all or nothing' vibe.
Speaking of Len, it was kind of strange to see him in purple when the others are wearing their image colours. Weird colours aside though, it was cute to see him being treated like a little brother, even if the moment got overshadowed by Akito calling Toya his partner. I was sure my ears were gonna bleed from the fangirls.
I must say though, listening to what the whole group's saying after the song they took an interesting path with Vivid BAD SQUAD. Rather than purely performing, they're pretty much affirming their current story progression after learning the truth of RAD WEEKEND. It's real cool to see that being weaved into the concerts like this, it hasn't really been touched on before.
Part 12: READY Steady
Huh. Why are they doing this song? Nobody else is using their initial song. And the costumes don't really fit, they're wearing the dark suits from An's 'Light Up the Fire Event, they seem ridiculous being worn to a hype song. As a song and aesthetic choice, I just have no idea what's going on.
Hang on, they gave them mics. Alright then, Nice to see them give it a bit of variety so it's not the same performance entirely. the BAD DOGS didn't need mics when they were performing before, but let's not focus on that. Instead, let's focus on the flamethrowers! Love the return of the flamethrowers. Seems style is the main key here, given those and how the mics dissolve at the end for an admittedly cool finishing pose.
Part 13: Utsuro wo Aogu
Once again, there is zero transition into the following song. I guess KAITO doesn't need any introduction after that first time With Wonderlands x Showtime. he must've been forced to wait by the theatre kids. As for the dance, it's not what I'd consider the best closing song considering how calm it is, but it's still nice to see the more relaxed side of Vivid BAD SQUAD.
Part 14: Stage of SEKAI
Moving on to Leo/need, we start with a song where everyone begins looking at each other instead of the audience. I think that for a starting piece, that's a really nice touch because it gives off the impression that they were hyping or calming each other just before they began. For the group that emphasises the power of friendship, that's a very important dynamic to display and I love that it's there.
It's just a shame that Leo/need is still cursed with being unable to move. Having the newly implemented screen helps provide some dynamics to the performance, but that is offset by how they were given the most generic stage possible - a normal stage rig. The only plus side is that len gets to walk off to the right once, but that's really it for this song.
Once the song's over though, there is something that catches the eye - just probably not on purpose. It might just be me, but Honami holds her hands like she's holding sticks even when they visibly aren't there. Considering they're back in her hands a few moments later, I can't tell whether they were meant to be gone or not.
Let's not focus on the technical side, because Leo/need gets a band intro again! It's just a subdued as the first time they did it though, would've appreciated a bit more energy seeing how the actual band doesn't get one. Still, glad they're committing to the bit, and having Luka play a solo that transitions into Hello Worker is a really cool way of taking advantage of it.
Part 15: Hello Worker
It's hard to comment on the Leo/need performances because... so little happens in them. I mean, Saki has multiple opportunities where she's not playing and she spends them... rocking side to side. Come on, let the poor girl dance. Ichika and Luka get to swap places! Ichika is allowed to move! Why not Saki?
Part 16: The Wall
More costume concerns now, because it's weird seeing Shiho in pink. It stands out compared to the prior costume choices, which were either way more uniform with the others or in her standard green. Honami gets away with it because she's so obscured by her drums, but Shiho's too prominent not to notice it. Luckily, they found a way to distract you from that because they really turn up the fog machines for the chorus. We hadn't seen seen those yet, so they were a pleasant surprise.
Additionally, Shiho and Miku swap places, so I'm glad to see they really took the fandom joke as feedback and improved things. Especially with the 3D presentation, it does help liven things up. it's sort of like fighting game key poses: some distinct variety helps make things more memorable.
The biggest shock came after the song, however. Honami... stood up once they were done? Has she done that before? I thought she was glued to that seat.
Part 17: SEKAI
The costume transition has always been a rather smooth animation, so seeing Rin and Len mess up and make everyone cows was just hilarious. it came out of nowhere, loved it. Speaking of costumes, it's interesting how they each get unique costumes instead of a set. adds a bit of spice to the Virtual Singers who are mostly an afterthought in concerts like this.
As for SEKAI itself, it's sad to see this song demoted to Virtual Singer only, but they couldn't just leave it out. It's the main theme. Plus, having the Virtual Singers perform it adds the little variety needed to make its repetition more acceptable.
As for the choreo, I was pleasantly surprised to find it's actually mostly unique, which is very good. I could one hundred per cent see them rehashing the exactly same dance to fit in one more person.
Once said dance is done, however, we reach a bit of a strange point. Notably, the second half of the show is introduced as a special time rather than just a continuation, almost like a bonus. that makes sense given how everyone already performed three songs instead of two this time because they front-loaded them, but it marks how strange this latter portion is.
Part 18: Kashika
These last portions are going to be brief, because there's minimal interaction this time. The cast appears, they sing, they leave. It's a bit blunt compared to the other lives.
Part 19: Mr Showtime
Love the use of the jester outfits. They fit the playful tempo of the song great. Nene feels exceptionally sassy this time round - actually, everyone feels a little more fruity. Except for Emu, of course, who's an innocent cinnabun.
Part 20: TeraTera
Everyone's wearing such dark colours and then there's Miku in bright red. Girl, learn to coordinate.
Outside of that, there's one major thing I need to mention here. Everyone got mics on stands this time, so they're forced to stay still. that was a sad choice given how limited the movement of previous songs already was.
Part 21: Parasol Cider
A Surprisingly playful choice given the more powerful songs chosen for the rest of the section. Glad to see it though. Airi's songs are always a blast. Can't imagine dancing in swimwear though; feel cold just watching it.
As for the dance, love the arm swinging. it's so hilariously stupid, it's great. plus, it's the return of the smoke machines. Not sure why though - gives the impression of being underwater a bit more atmosphere, maybe?
The giggling at the end is so ridiculously adorable. It's like they just chose whatever they wanted to sing at the end as a joke. Especially funny considering how they're followed by something as serious as 25-ji of all people.
Part 22: Bug
Surprisingly choreographed. like, not just well choreographed, but choreographed at all. I figured this would be pure flailing, but it's very controlled. Kanade just looks so lost at times though. clapping along because Len and Ena are, standing in the middle of the stage doing nothing. At least try to do something, LOL.
Having mentioned Len, Len's rather playful in this. Honestly Expected them to either play up the sad Victorian child thing or the angry aspects of the song. He just occasionally raises his arms in that shy manner as a reminder.
On the technical side, there's some fun play with the light colours this time. That helps to really gets across that glitched and broken aspect.
Encore 1: I'm mine
My current obsession and for good reason too. There was no way they were missing out the only unit song the Virtual Singers have.
Props are needed for the sheer style surrounding how this song comes around. Having already said their goodbyes, the Virtual Singers are brought back to life through the power of desiring an encore materialising in their colorfes limited costumes - in the same pairs as the song as well. That's a nice touch to show how much our emotions are worth, plus it's nice to see it properly animated rather than just the singers returning on screen.
Encore 2: Neo
Naturally, we need to see the leaders one last time, and what better way than with the current anniversary song? With confetti, of course! What kind of celebration would it be without it?
Seeing how it's the final song, I don't have much to say other than it's curious to see Kohane paired with Kanade in dark clothes. I've gotten so used to seeing her in lighter colours or in an entire group of dark colours. regardless, the sheer energy of the song and atmosphere is more than enough to distract you from something as small as that.
and finally, we're done! Now, what do you think?
​
submitted by Kamen-Rider-Artif to ProjectSekai [link] [comments]

2024.01.09 08:25 Poison-Samurai 130+ Genshin Impact Features Ideas I want from Honkai (and other similar rpgs)

  1. pin icons type is very limited, it should be more
  2. anemo cc for ores
  3. auto loot for enemy drops
  4. wish pity counter and long wish history
  5. 3 star weapons from wish rewards types should be increased and ore/mats/mora/books should be added
  6. battle pass increase from 50 to infinite. may add mora/ores
  7. all quests should be voiced(optional to download data), other than archon quest
  8. increase ar level cap
  9. treasure compass cooldown
  10. improve shatter
  11. improve crystallize
  12. when big enemies(like ruin guard/drake) fall over you, you take damage
  13. amber,kaeya,lisa to be in limited banner as well
  14. 5stars with duplicate cooking passives
  15. gliding is slow even with gadget
  16. gliding controls can be improved especially in turning around
  17. stamina increase
  18. ruin sentinel shield fix
  19. exp overflow return like weapon xp
  20. andrius teleport
  21. dawn winery teleport
  22. toggle for 5star burst animation
  23. wish pity is too high
  24. quest outcomes based on your choice
  25. cutscene viewer to watch old events
  26. buy meat/fish/foul from npc
  27. exp from mobs is too low
  28. new type of stat for artifacts(like cd reduction,atk speed,mov speed)
  29. 5star versions of berserker,instructor,gambler... sets
  30. no sac polearm
  31. seed dispensary should be a passive
  32. seed dispensary cap limit
  33. equip more than one gadget at once(not changing wheel)
  34. toggle for turning off hud/ui elements completely
  35. not doing Question/answers
  36. lack of teyvat times
  37. dialogue frequency slider
  38. indivisual character voice changer
  39. traveller change element anywhere
  40. lack of shield absorb bar
  41. buff icons stack/duration
  42. combat log
  43. permanent test trials
  44. abyss cards
  45. food in abyss
  46. zoom in/out control in minimap
  47. mob enemy locations in minimap
  48. more skin
  49. trees that dont give woods
  50. better push notifications
  51. electro not countering hydro shields
  52. golden apple archipelago permanent
  53. better fishing
  54. waverider points not acting as waypoints
  55. in game event calendar
  56. artifact exp from teapot is expensive
  57. 2pc element resistance like lavawalker is garbage
  58. 5pc artifact system
  59. toggle for aim mode
  60. friend list cap
  61. no auto run button
  62. geo constructs destroying themselves instantly
  63. climbing on geo contructs should be toggleable during combat
  64. arrows not homing on the target you are aiming at
  65. auto attacks target is too much garbage
  66. enemy sound effects in library
  67. sayu passive for crystalflies is only one time in an area
  68. vv/instructoarchaic petra.... 4pc bonus should be off field
  69. some weapons passive should be off field
  70. burning reaction improvement
  71. qiqi/barbara/noelle energy generation and dehya off-field energy gene
  72. every type of element infusions for every type of weapons(except catalyst/bow charged)
  73. Character infusion to persist even after switching for characters like xiao/cyno/itto...
  74. PVP(with balance)
  75. guild system with raid and other things
  76. more side activities and minigames(basically from gta/yakuza/judgement/zelda/persona or just make cool events like fungi battle/hide&seek.... events permanent)
  77. Trade items/characters among players
  78. Older 5stars should be dumped into standard banners
  79. epitomized path for standard characteweapon banners
  80. standard characteweapon banner should be separated
  81. all 4stars should be obtainable from starglitter shop
  82. fragile resins from events
  83. primogems from expeditions(between 1-10)
  84. Skip dialogues/cutscenes
  85. Convert artifacts to exp directly
  86. Convert level up materials/talents to another
  87. Craft anywhere
  88. (weapon refine) - remove this
  89. Do weekly boss more often
  90. Farming materials should reset daily, not in 3 days
  91. More options in stardust/glitter shop
  92. Client side character switching from hsr - no ping loading delay(similar to any offline game)
  93. Toggle for dropping of artifact and talent in domain
  94. Option to change control layout for mobile
  95. Add hunters path and beacon of red sea in standard banner
  96. Iframe in fischl burst
  97. Daily commissions better improvement
  98. Limited time flagship Event Replayer for quests(no need for rewards)
  99. Event weapons buying from somewhere
  100. Expedition sending no. of characters and materials increase.
.
MAJOR
_____
.
  1. Max Resin should be 240 and resin should recover in 6mins. Auto capping resin after 240 upto 2400 (1 every 18 minutes)
  2. Simulated universe or more combat content or abyss floor 13+
  3. Good Crystal flies collector
  4. Craft artifact and choose main Stat
  5. 5star weapons/characters in starglitter shop or 5star chooser after 300wishes
  6. Indicate the chests/puzzles/challenges done in the area or show the remaining
  7. Artifact loadout
  8. Weekly/daily free wishes
  9. Free 5star character and weapons
  10. More mobile friendly(don't know how)
  11. Auto battle? Or attempt domain for n times
  12. Not mute traveller. With personality
  13. Better starting characters
  14. More weapons types and elements.
  15. More physics mechanics in overworld (just copy it from Zelda) with vehicle or horse
  16. More dungeons exploration with hidden weapon/gadget/artifact in overworld with more puzzle like zelda ofc
  17. Visit other characters anytime you want and chat with them with your phone
  18. Awakened form of characters
  19. Serenity teapot more features
  20. Better pet system(ex: animals/wild beast)
  21. Practice dummy with infinite health
  22. Birthday banner of characters - for example zhongli's birthday is December 31st, so for that one day there will be limited banner for him and his weapon.
  23. More weapons like sword of narzissenkreuz from quests and puzzles
  24. Limited Artifacts with fixed stats and substats(like atk sand) from quest and puzzles
  25. Client side battles like in zzz- even if ping goes high battles will be smooth(similar to any offline game)
  26. Add extra slot in forging
  27. Bounty improvement and auto continue new bounty
  28. Controller support for android
  29. more elemental reaction (like triple reaction or more) and elemental resonance buffs
  30. Start challenge quest timer after showing the path, not instantly
  31. Achievement tracker and wish pity list(similar to paimon moe) linked to hoyolab app
  32. Teapot realm currency indicator everywhere
.
Genshin is only hoyoverse's cash cow. They take profit from genshin and invest it in other games. If they implement these features in genshin, then the development cost will be too high but the profit increment will not be as high as that.
.
I am not saying to implement all these things but 5-6 things can be implemented which won't take that much cost and may attract some extra players to genshin.
Many people will agree with some of the ideas and while many will be disagreed with some other ideas.
.
Well hsr has many features because it doesn't have open world exploration like genshin. Turn based combat is only thing in hsr. And it's active player count is declining. Though Hsr gives them quite the revenue but not as much as genshin. So the devs give tons of features to attract more players to hsr.
submitted by Poison-Samurai to Genshin_Impact [link] [comments]

2024.01.07 04:34 Pure_Geologist51 Update on indoctrinating Ep 2: AAAA

Update on indoctrinating Ep 2: AAAA
  1. Chose to go with Olivia after 20 minutes
  2. She didn’t kill the disco cows 👍
  3. The old guy (at redstona) is old and is not gonna remember her blowing up his tnt launcher
  4. “Eligard is an ass”
  5. Olivia is a fan girl
  6. She screamed when Petra came back
  7. “I LOVE PETRA”
  8. She is incredibly worried that Petra is gonna die
  9. Still hate Igor
  10. I will die for Petra
submitted by Pure_Geologist51 to MinecraftStoryMode [link] [comments]

2024.01.02 20:53 Thoroughfarez [For Sale] Whole 150+ Collection Up for Grabs. Lana Del Rey, Kacey Musgraves, Frank Ocean

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/185372vAKd1Bs4IFA07vcZPKwJJkCowFlgN8FccMoyBU/edit
$5 US Shipping for up to 3 albums. Texas Based. Mostly everything is sealed. Let me know you got any questions. Can provide any pictures needed. Paypal G&S only.
Artists for search purposes: A. Chal, Aaliyah, ABRA, Amy Winehouse, Allan Rayman, Arctic Monkeys, Audrey Nuna, Band of Horses, BANKS, Björk, BLACKPINK, Brandi Carlile, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Charli XCX, Childish Gambino, Chloe x Halle, Cults, D’eon, Dead Man’s Bones, Death Grips, Desire, Dua Lipa, Emotional Oranges, Erykah Badu, Father John Misty, Fiona Apple, FKA Twigs, Florence + the Machine, Flume, Frank Ocean, Fugees, Grimes, Haim, Ibeyi, Iggy Azalea, Jake Bugg, James Blake, Jesse Jo Stark, Jessie Reyez, Joji, Jorja Smith, Juliee Cruise, Jungle, Kacey Musgraves, Kali Uchis, Kilo Kish, Kim Petras, King Krule, Lana Del Rey, Lennon Stella, Lola Kirke, Lord Huron, Lykke Li, M. Ward, Maren Morris, MF DOOM, Madlib, MGMT, Miike Snow, Niki, Olivia Rodrigo, Orville Peck, Paul McCartney, Phantogram, Phoebe Bridgers, Poppy, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rich Brian, Rico Nasty, Rosalia, Sabrina Claudio, Santigold, Sky Ferreira, Slayyyter, St. Vincent, Sturgill Simpson, Suki Waterhouse, Summer Walker, Taylor Swift, TEEN, The Black Keys, The Veronicas, Tommy Genesis, Travis Scott, Washed Out, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
submitted by Thoroughfarez to VinylCollectors [link] [comments]

2023.12.26 04:53 calbert1735 Since starting jigsaw puzzles Christmas of 2022 (after a decades-long hiatus), my family said it's much easier to pick out Christmas gifts for me. Happy Holidays!

Since starting jigsaw puzzles Christmas of 2022 (after a decades-long hiatus), my family said it's much easier to pick out Christmas gifts for me. Happy Holidays! submitted by calbert1735 to Jigsawpuzzles [link] [comments]

2023.12.17 01:41 A_Vespertine Stone & Shadow

Chapter One, Volume V of The Harrowick Chronicles
“Let’s address the elephant in the room first, shall we?” Ivy Noir asked, smugly perched upon the former Grand Adderman’s throne, her husband Erich seated to her left and her sister Envy to her right. “Does anyone in this hall think that I’m a traitor?”
It had never been uncommon for those gathered within the exalted Grand Hall of Adderwood Manor to be cowed into silence, but in the past, it had normally been either the Grand Adderman or sometimes the Darling Twins whom they dared not anger. Now, the Grand Adderman was dead, the Darlings were fugitives of the Ophion Occult Order, and Ivy Noir was to blame.
From a combination of her family’s intergenerational wealth and occult status, alongside her innate intellect and ambition, Ivy had advanced quickly through the Order’s ranks. When the Grand Adderman had threatened the life of her beloved little sister, she wasn’t long in concocting a scheme to take advantage of a conflict with the entity they knew as Emrys to ensure that the Grand Adderman’s days were numbered.
The question of whether or not that made her a traitor still hung in the air, as it seemed no one wanted to be the first to answer it.
“Oy, the Lady Noir asked you lot a question,” Fenwick stated, taking a step towards the assembly of Head and Elder Adderman before him. “We’ve had a bit of a shakeup of our upper management in recent days, and we’d just like to know if there’s anyone who feels that it may not have been entirely above board, yeah? Me personally, I was never all that close to the Grand Adderman. Never even knew his name was Grimaldus until Emrys blurted it out before he killed him. Who names their kid that, honestly? Who looks at a sweet helpless little baby and decides to call it Grimaldus? What are you expecting your kid to grow up to be with a name like that? Maybe not a spectral, undead occultist, necessarily, but it’s ominous, yeah?”
“Fenwick,” Ivy chastised him, though she sounded more amused than annoyed.
“Sorry, just thinking out loud a bit. Won’t happen again,” he claimed. He picked up a bound document of parchment and held it for everyone to see. “I trust you’ve all read your copy of the Covenant the Order made with Emrys? Any of you who sign your True Name to this will be bound by the Covenant and its mandates, and in return, Emrys will be oathbound to spare your life and pardon any prior transgressions! You will be free to return to your chapterhouses and run them as you otherwise see fit. That’s a pretty good deal then, innit?”
“You speak as if we should be grateful,” the mystical merchant Meremoth Mothman grumbled as he slowly rose from his seat. “That spoiled and pampered daughter of the arcane bloodlines conspired against the Grand Adderman, handed him over to our enemy to be murdered, surrendered to him on our behalf without any input from us, and we’re supposed to be grateful?”
“Do you then seriously think that our Order ever truly stood a chance in a full-on war with Emrys, or that the late Grand Adderman would ever have surrendered?” Ivy asked. “Most of us would have been killed and our Order obliterated, which is why you should be grateful that I overthrew him before it came to that.”
“You forfeited this mansion – our headquarters – and everything in it to Emrys!” the Baphometic Witch Pandora screamed. “The Reliquary, the Megalith, everything!”
“This is still our headquarters. This is still where members of different chapters will meet to collaborate and coordinate with one another,” Ivy assured her.
“Under your rule, backed by the power of Emrys,” Mothman objected. “You say you’ve brought us peace with Emrys, but it feels more like we’ve been conquered! We make a substantial number of concessions in this Covenant you agreed to, and as far as I can see Emrys didn’t make a single one. The only members of the Order who stand to gain anything from this arrangement are you and anyone willing to lick your boots!”
“Our surrender was unconditional because Emrys’ victory was absolute,” Erich proclaimed. “His chains are now broken. His power is unchecked. He slayed the Grand Adderman, the most powerful of our Order, with barely any effort at all! The Darlings fled rather than risk a confrontation with him! Had Ivy not accepted his offer of surrender, he would have burned this place to the ground and begun hunting you all down one by one. If that’s a fate any of you would prefer, you’re welcome not to join the Covenant. Anyone who wishes to survive will first and foremost surrender any contraband or fugitives as defined by the Covenant over to Emrys. Any information leading to the capture or demise of the Darlings in particular will be handsomely rewarded.”
“Does anyone here truly lament the ousting of the Darlings from our Order, or the death of the Grand Adderman for that matter?” Ivy asked. “The Grand Adderman was a tyrant, and the Darlings are depraved serial killers and cannibals! Emrys was a victim of the Grand Adderman, the same as many of us, and he has already proven himself far more reasonable and compassionate. Our Covenant with him will require that we become more reasonable and compassionate ourselves, something which I realize some of you may not welcome, but I think there are many more in the Order who would consider such reforms well overdue.”
“Will this include the banning of human experimentation and vivisection?” Crowley demanded through his gramophone horn, the disembodied brain bobbing up and down vehemently in his bubbling vat.
“…At a minimum, yes,” Ivy replied.
“Blast!” Crowley shouted, dejectedly sinking downwards.
“Surely Emrys does not intend to emancipate my workforce?” the revenant industrialist Raubritter asked. “They all consented to their servitude. I have all the contracts on file should he wish to review them.”
“Some of the specifics do remain to be worked out, but the bottom line is that Emrys will always get the final word,” Envy replied. “Raubritter, I would at the very least prepare your Foundry for an audit.”
“So in other words, all our fates are now Emrys’ to decide!” Pandora spat. “Where is Emrys now?”
“Outside in the Megalith, working on some spellcraft with his daughter,” Envy replied casually, an eerie hush falling upon the hall at this revelation.
“He… he’s here. Now?” Meremoth murmured.
“Of course. The manor and its grounds are his now, remember? We are all his guests, and as such, it behooves each of us to be on our best behaviour while we are here,” Ivy informed them with a sly smile. “If any of us were to cause a disturbance, or worse, during a visit, I don’t doubt that Emrys would be swift to put his house back in order.”
Everyone in the hall exchanged uneasy glances, most of them unsure of what they should do or, if they were, unwilling to be the first to do it.
“Right then, so who wants to come up and sign their chapter up for this here Covenant, then?” Fenwick asked, holding up the document in one hand and a fountain pen in the other. Those in the front row immediately bolted up to sign, with the rest of the hall queuing up behind them, however reluctantly. “Right then, that’s the spirit. Sooner we get the formalities out of the way, the sooner we can move on to punch on cookies. And yes, I’m afraid those are the only refreshments we have on hand at the moment. This meeting was short notice, and we’re a bit understaffed, what with the state of things and all. The cookies are from Sweet Tooth’s, but I made the punch myself. Well, I made it from concentrate, but that’s still effort. Always takes those cans of ice longer to dethaw than you expect or than you have, doesn’t it? You got to take a potato masher to it then stir it up until there are no chunks of slush left, it’s a whole ordeal.”
***
The Adderwood Megalith was not in actuality ‘outside’ the manor house, but was rather superimposed upon it. The Adderwood itself existed in a superposition of all its possible states at once, only reverting to a singular form when it was observed. Non-Euclidean trails winding through higher dimensions were never the same twice, and trusted landmarks were not always to be found. In one state the Adderwood held an Old English manor house the Ophion Occult Order had been using as their headquarters since the 18th century. In another, it held an ancient Megalith made by mighty and forgotten sorcerers. In others, neither of these existed, and an unlucky fool could wander the Adderwood forever without coming across them.
Emrys and his acolyte Petra sat across from one another in the Megalith, levitating cross-legged above the Sigil Sand as they telekinetically drew an ever-shifting mosaic of mandalas in it. Rings of black Miasma wafted up from these mandalas, retaining their forms as they floated higher and higher, creating a spiralling helix of stacked spell circles.
Despite not technically being in the same version of the Adderwood as the manor house, their supernatural senses meant that they were not wholly oblivious to what was going on there, either.
“It seems no one present feels the need to avenge old Grimaldus,” Emrys commented. “That’s the problem with ruling through fear. Your death is neither mourned nor avenged, but celebrated. I know my subjects celebrated when they thought I had died, and rightfully so.”
“You’re not that ancient Celtic warlord anymore. I’d mourn and avenge you, Emrys,” Petra vowed. “Though I suppose I wouldn’t have much company in that. Ivy and her inner circle are still the only ones genuinely loyal to us.”
“Which is perfectly understandable. I’ve been a bogeyman of the Ophion Occult Order for centuries. That won’t change overnight,” he said. “It will take time, and effort, but little by little we will gain the respect of those Adderman who can be reformed, and rid ourselves of those who cannot.”
Petra nodded absent-mindedly, the fate of the Order being of no special concern of hers now. She stretched out a hand towards the Sigil Sand beneath her, and a small host of shimmering scarab beetles surfaced at her command. One of them unfurled its wings and fluttered up to perch upon her extended index finger.
“They’re doing well here,” she smiled, inspecting the scarab as it crawled along her finger. “They’ve absorbed a lot of our power from the Sand, and they seem to have developed an affinity for me. With a bit of luck, I think I might be able to train them to take on a shadow form.”
“What about their Ichor? Is it still agreeing with you?” Emrys asked. “It is the blood of a Titan, after all. You’ve never absorbed the humours of something that powerful before.”
“It’s the blood of a dead Titan, so obviously he wasn’t that powerful,” Petra replied. “I only took a few ounces, anyway. Barely a fraction of a percent of a millionth of his power. The Zarathustrans each drank pints of the stuff when it was fresh, and they turned out fine.”
“They were made in their god’s image; you weren’t,” Emrys reminded her gently, the paternal concern obvious in his voice.
“I was made in your image. Do you really think that a few drops of stale Ichor is any match for The Darkness Beyond?” Petra asked rhetorically.
“Of course not, but you’re still very human, Petra. More than I am, and perhaps more than I ever was,” he answered her. “Even if the Darkness Beyond is untouchable, our physical incarnations are not. I tried to overthrow the gods when I first became one with the Outer Darkness, and it got me tossed into the belly of the World Serpent. I implore you; be better than I was, and don’t let your new gifts lull you into thinking that you’re invincible.”
“Okay dad,” she teased, but then suddenly grew pensive as the weight of his words sunk in. “I… don’t really remember much of my old life, other than how it ended. I don’t think I am that girl anymore, no more than you’re that warlord. The Darkness Beyond has made us both so much more, and now that your chains are broken it flows throw us stronger than ever. When I meditate, I can hear my twin hearts; the heart you gave me and the heart I took back. Two heartbeats make it kind of hard to forget that I’m not an ordinary human anymore. And the heart that Mary stabbed, the one that was transfigured into shadow by my own Miasma, I know that heart at least won’t be content until its lost humanity is avenged.”
Sighing, she glanced upwards at the towering spellwork vortex they had created.
“Do you think it’s big enough?” she asked.
“It was big enough twenty minutes ago. Everything since then has just been pompous overkill,” Emrys smiled. “If you’re satisfied with it, we can manifest it now.”
Still gazing skywards, she slowly turned her head back and forth, before nodding in approval. Emrys nodded in turn, and produced a deep purple rose from within his sable robes. He raised it to his face, took a savoury sniff of it, and then whispered a soft incantation before tossing it into the Sand below.
Before it even hit the ground, it disintegrated into innumerable desiccated fragments that became swept up in the Miasmal vortex. The vortex rapidly expanded outwards, growing to a diameter of over forty feet. The Megalith vanished as the vortex shifted into yet another version of the Adderwood where it could grow unimpeded. The vortex spun around faster and faster, its vaporous spirals growing thicker and more condensed until it resembled a small tornado. With a single thundercrack that echoed throughout the entire forest, the vortex solidified into a deep purple volcanic stone, leaving a thirteen-story spire in its wake.
The outside of the spire looked like blooming, thorny rose vines snaking around each other in a double helix. Windows and balcony doors were made of thinner, paler, and translucent segments of volcanic glass. At the very top of the spire was an observation deck capped with a stained-glass roof that made it look like a rose blossom with a tall, spiral steeple that seemed to be almost phosphorescent in the gleaming moonlight.
Within the spire, Petra and Emrys set their feet upon the ground and began eagerly appraising their creation. There was a single stairwell in the center, a spiral staircase along the side, corkscrewing all the way up to the top. Elaborate relief sculptures embellished the thick stone walls, illuminated by the strange, flickering light of violet salt lamps.
“Oh – my – god!” Petra gasped, spinning around in astonishment as she tried to take in as much detail as she could. “I love it! I love it!”
“Not a bad place to call home,” Emrys said as he nodded in approval. “I dare say it’s a bit of an upgrade from the old sanctum. Better than staying in Adderwood Manor, at any rate.”
“The Omphalosium! We have to check the Omphalosium!” Petra shouted excitedly, racing up the stairs and passing every chamber until she reached the very top.
Beneath the stained-glass ceiling of the watchtower room, the floor was bare except for a single pedestal at its center. Atop the pedestal sat a large sphere which somewhat resembled a celestial globe, comprised of multiple concentric crystalline spheres and bronze rings. Each slowly wobbled about on its own accord, the glowing stars and constellations shifting slowly as they did so. Surrounding the globe were nine complex dialling mechanisms that appeared to be some form of astrolabes.
Petra immediately ran straight over to the device, peering into the globe with an intense curiosity.
“Emrys? Emrys! Is it working?” she demanded eagerly.
Emrys calmly walked up to the globe, and gently set his hand upon it.
“It is,” he said with a satisfied nod. “The Adderwood has always been a nexus between worlds, but too wild and chaotic to be a true hub for wanderers. The Order never had the ability to realize the full potential of the Adderwood, and they bound my power to ensure that I couldn’t either. But now, every potential pathway that runs through the Adderwood is threaded through this spire. From this room, we can map them, direct them, choose which ones to bring to fruition, and which ones to cull. It can serve as a lighthouse to our allies, and a guard tower against our enemies. From here, we can travel the worlds, or bring the worlds to us.”
He spun the globe around, setting the astrolabes around it and the skylight above it spinning as well. The skylight lit up with constellations all its own, projecting them downwards into specifically carved glyphs in the floor. As the astrolabes locked into place, Petra noticed that nine arched doorways of intertwining stone vines lined the perimeter of the watchtower room, each with an astrolabe above it that spun in unison with one on the pedestal. When all the spinning finally stopped and all stood still, one of the doorways swung open, revealing an inky black portal of billowing mist.
The portal wasn’t open for more than a few seconds before a tall, hunchbacked being came striding through. Its head possessed only a singular, cyclopean orifice which held a glowing, wispy orb at the center of its skull. A pair of long, fanged tentacles hung down almost to its waist, sets of spiracles and tendrils running all along their length. It stood upon digitigrade feet and had seven clawed digits split between its two hands, one of which held an ornate staff. Its ostentatious robes and cephalopod-like skin were each a golden brown, and both shone eerily in the violet let of the spire.
“Mathom-meister!” Emrys greeted enthusiastically, gesturing proudly to all that surrounded them. “How did we do?”
The being slowly swivelled his head from one side to the other, his tentacles poised upwards like snakes about to strike. With his free hand, he reached into his robes and pulled out another astrolabe, waving it back and forth and reading it like a compass.
“The nexus is stable,” he announced, before moving on to inspect the pedestal itself. “Your Omphalosium is… crude, but adequate. The décor is atrocious, but that’s a strictly personal opinion and outside of my professional purview. You two followed my instructions as well as I could have hoped for non-Zarathustrans. Adderwood Spire should serve well as a base to explore this branch of the World Tree.”
“Hmmm. I’m not sure we want to call it ‘Adderwood Spire’, Adderwood being so strongly associated with the Ophion Occult Order. We want it associated with us,” Emrys said.
“How about ‘The Shadowed Spire’?” Petra suggested, briefly transitioning into her shadow form and appearing at Mathom-meister’s side. “Shadows are kind of our thing.”
“The spire is yours, as per our agreement. Call it what you wish,” Mathom-meister replied. “So long as you keep in mind that when we find the Darlings, while the honour of slaying them may fall to you, their playroom is mine. And that is a name I will most certainly be changing to one more to my liking.”
He began to telekinetically spin the celestial globe around and around, casting projections of rotating constellations onto the entire chamber.
“Magnificent. Truly Magnificent. You two have done me a great service,” he said, ravenously peering into the spinning globe. “With our combined knowledge and powers, we will tame the monsters that haunt these worlds. We will purge them of abominations like the Darlings, safeguard them from the encroaching Black Bile and other Outer Horrors, and ensure they are forever untouched by the festering rot of – ”
His monologue was cut short by the sound of tired footsteps and laboured breathing ascending the staircase. The three of them all turned to see an exhausted Fenwick forcing his way up the final steps.
“Bioelectrically enhanced physique, and she sends the portly bloke to climb to the top of the bloody spire. I miss the Grand Adderman already,” he panted, bending over as he tried to catch his breath. “… don’t tell her I said that. Oy there, you must be Mathom-meister. Fenwick Humberton, Arch Adderman, at your service.”
“Fenwick! Glad you didn’t have any trouble finding the place,” Emrys greeted. “I’m sure the reason Ivy sent you is because of your head for navigating the Adderwood.”
“True enough, true enough,” he nodded reluctantly. “Still though; thirteen stories, and no lift? You’re a monster. This has to be a violation of some kind of accessibility act. Anyway, Ivy wants you to know that we got all the Head Addermen to sign your Covenant, so the Order’s officially yours. If you’re done with the spire for now, she’d like you to come down and shake some hands, make a speech, do a Q&A, stuff like that. There’s punch and cookies, if that sweetens the pot. It is store-brand punch, mind you – ninety-nine pence a can – because nothing was going to be good enough for that lot anyway so why even bother? Might help to humanize you a bit, if you partake in the refreshments. Only time any of us ever saw the Grand Adderman consume anything was when he was sucking the essence out of a ritual sacrifice. I won’t miss that. They’d literally start to mummify before they had even stopped screaming. Nasty stuff, I tell you. Nasty stuff.”
“I suppose it would be a good idea to formally introduce ourselves to the chapter heads while they’re all in one place,” Emrys agreed.
“And I’m at least still human enough that I can’t say no to free cookies,” Petra added.
“What about you, Mathom-meister?” Emrys asked. “Would you like to join us?”
“The internal affairs of this middling cult you’ve co-opted are no concern of mine, and solid foods offer me no temptation,” he replied, gesturing with the fangs of his tentacles. “I will, however, accompany you as a display of our alliance to your underlings to help consolidate your power. And if – and only if – I deem it appealing, I may partake in this ‘ninety-nine pence punch’, as well.”
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2023.12.17 01:39 A_Vespertine Stone & Shadow

Chapter One, Volume V of The Harrowick Chronicles
“Let’s address the elephant in the room first, shall we?” Ivy Noir asked, smugly perched upon the former Grand Adderman’s throne, her husband Erich seated to her left and her sister Envy to her right. “Does anyone in this hall think that I’m a traitor?”
It had never been uncommon for those gathered within the exalted Grand Hall of Adderwood Manor to be cowed into silence, but in the past, it had normally been either the Grand Adderman or sometimes the Darling Twins whom they dared not anger. Now, the Grand Adderman was dead, the Darlings were fugitives of the Ophion Occult Order, and Ivy Noir was to blame.
From a combination of her family’s intergenerational wealth and occult status, alongside her innate intellect and ambition, Ivy had advanced quickly through the Order’s ranks. When the Grand Adderman had threatened the life of her beloved little sister, she wasn’t long in concocting a scheme to take advantage of a conflict with the entity they knew as Emrys to ensure that the Grand Adderman’s days were numbered.
The question of whether or not that made her a traitor still hung in the air, as it seemed no one wanted to be the first to answer it.
“Oy, the Lady Noir asked you lot a question,” Fenwick stated, taking a step towards the assembly of Head and Elder Adderman before him. “We’ve had a bit of a shakeup of our upper management in recent days, and we’d just like to know if there’s anyone who feels that it may not have been entirely above board, yeah? Me personally, I was never all that close to the Grand Adderman. Never even knew his name was Grimaldus until Emrys blurted it out before he killed him. Who names their kid that, honestly? Who looks at a sweet helpless little baby and decides to call it Grimaldus? What are you expecting your kid to grow up to be with a name like that? Maybe not a spectral, undead occultist, necessarily, but it’s ominous, yeah?”
“Fenwick,” Ivy chastised him, though she sounded more amused than annoyed.
“Sorry, just thinking out loud a bit. Won’t happen again,” he claimed. He picked up a bound document of parchment and held it for everyone to see. “I trust you’ve all read your copy of the Covenant the Order made with Emrys? Any of you who sign your True Name to this will be bound by the Covenant and its mandates, and in return, Emrys will be oathbound to spare your life and pardon any prior transgressions! You will be free to return to your chapterhouses and run them as you otherwise see fit. That’s a pretty good deal then, innit?”
“You speak as if we should be grateful,” the mystical merchant Meremoth Mothman grumbled as he slowly rose from his seat. “That spoiled and pampered daughter of the arcane bloodlines conspired against the Grand Adderman, handed him over to our enemy to be murdered, surrendered to him on our behalf without any input from us, and we’re supposed to be grateful?”
“Do you then seriously think that our Order ever truly stood a chance in a full-on war with Emrys, or that the late Grand Adderman would ever have surrendered?” Ivy asked. “Most of us would have been killed and our Order obliterated, which is why you should be grateful that I overthrew him before it came to that.”
“You forfeited this mansion – our headquarters – and everything in it to Emrys!” the Baphometic Witch Pandora screamed. “The Reliquary, the Megalith, everything!”
“This is still our headquarters. This is still where members of different chapters will meet to collaborate and coordinate with one another,” Ivy assured her.
“Under your rule, backed by the power of Emrys,” Mothman objected. “You say you’ve brought us peace with Emrys, but it feels more like we’ve been conquered! We make a substantial number of concessions in this Covenant you agreed to, and as far as I can see Emrys didn’t make a single one. The only members of the Order who stand to gain anything from this arrangement are you and anyone willing to lick your boots!”
“Our surrender was unconditional because Emrys’ victory was absolute,” Erich proclaimed. “His chains are now broken. His power is unchecked. He slayed the Grand Adderman, the most powerful of our Order, with barely any effort at all! The Darlings fled rather than risk a confrontation with him! Had Ivy not accepted his offer of surrender, he would have burned this place to the ground and begun hunting you all down one by one. If that’s a fate any of you would prefer, you’re welcome not to join the Covenant. Anyone who wishes to survive will first and foremost surrender any contraband or fugitives as defined by the Covenant over to Emrys. Any information leading to the capture or demise of the Darlings in particular will be handsomely rewarded.”
“Does anyone here truly lament the ousting of the Darlings from our Order, or the death of the Grand Adderman for that matter?” Ivy asked. “The Grand Adderman was a tyrant, and the Darlings are depraved serial killers and cannibals! Emrys was a victim of the Grand Adderman, the same as many of us, and he has already proven himself far more reasonable and compassionate. Our Covenant with him will require that we become more reasonable and compassionate ourselves, something which I realize some of you may not welcome, but I think there are many more in the Order who would consider such reforms well overdue.”
“Will this include the banning of human experimentation and vivisection?” Crowley demanded through his gramophone horn, the disembodied brain bobbing up and down vehemently in his bubbling vat.
“…At a minimum, yes,” Ivy replied.
“Blast!” Crowley shouted, dejectedly sinking downwards.
“Surely Emrys does not intend to emancipate my workforce?” the revenant industrialist Raubritter asked. “They all consented to their servitude. I have all the contracts on file should he wish to review them.”
“Some of the specifics do remain to be worked out, but the bottom line is that Emrys will always get the final word,” Envy replied. “Raubritter, I would at the very least prepare your Foundry for an audit.”
“So in other words, all our fates are now Emrys’ to decide!” Pandora spat. “Where is Emrys now?”
“Outside in the Megalith, working on some spellcraft with his daughter,” Envy replied casually, an eerie hush falling upon the hall at this revelation.
“He… he’s here. Now?” Meremoth murmured.
“Of course. The manor and its grounds are his now, remember? We are all his guests, and as such, it behooves each of us to be on our best behaviour while we are here,” Ivy informed them with a sly smile. “If any of us were to cause a disturbance, or worse, during a visit, I don’t doubt that Emrys would be swift to put his house back in order.”
Everyone in the hall exchanged uneasy glances, most of them unsure of what they should do or, if they were, unwilling to be the first to do it.
“Right then, so who wants to come up and sign their chapter up for this here Covenant, then?” Fenwick asked, holding up the document in one hand and a fountain pen in the other. Those in the front row immediately bolted up to sign, with the rest of the hall queuing up behind them, however reluctantly. “Right then, that’s the spirit. Sooner we get the formalities out of the way, the sooner we can move on to punch on cookies. And yes, I’m afraid those are the only refreshments we have on hand at the moment. This meeting was short notice, and we’re a bit understaffed, what with the state of things and all. The cookies are from Sweet Tooth’s, but I made the punch myself. Well, I made it from concentrate, but that’s still effort. Always takes those cans of ice longer to dethaw than you expect or than you have, doesn’t it? You got to take a potato masher to it then stir it up until there are no chunks of slush left, it’s a whole ordeal.”
***
The Adderwood Megalith was not in actuality ‘outside’ the manor house, but was rather superimposed upon it. The Adderwood itself existed in a superposition of all its possible states at once, only reverting to a singular form when it was observed. Non-Euclidean trails winding through higher dimensions were never the same twice, and trusted landmarks were not always to be found. In one state the Adderwood held an Old English manor house the Ophion Occult Order had been using as their headquarters since the 18th century. In another, it held an ancient Megalith made by mighty and forgotten sorcerers. In others, neither of these existed, and an unlucky fool could wander the Adderwood forever without coming across them.
Emrys and his acolyte Petra sat across from one another in the Megalith, levitating cross-legged above the Sigil Sand as they telekinetically drew an ever-shifting mosaic of mandalas in it. Rings of black Miasma wafted up from these mandalas, retaining their forms as they floated higher and higher, creating a spiralling helix of stacked spell circles.
Despite not technically being in the same version of the Adderwood as the manor house, their supernatural senses meant that they were not wholly oblivious to what was going on there, either.
“It seems no one present feels the need to avenge old Grimaldus,” Emrys commented. “That’s the problem with ruling through fear. Your death is neither mourned nor avenged, but celebrated. I know my subjects celebrated when they thought I had died, and rightfully so.”
“You’re not that ancient Celtic warlord anymore. I’d mourn and avenge you, Emrys,” Petra vowed. “Though I suppose I wouldn’t have much company in that. Ivy and her inner circle are still the only ones genuinely loyal to us.”
“Which is perfectly understandable. I’ve been a bogeyman of the Ophion Occult Order for centuries. That won’t change overnight,” he said. “It will take time, and effort, but little by little we will gain the respect of those Adderman who can be reformed, and rid ourselves of those who cannot.”
Petra nodded absent-mindedly, the fate of the Order being of no special concern of hers now. She stretched out a hand towards the Sigil Sand beneath her, and a small host of shimmering scarab beetles surfaced at her command. One of them unfurled its wings and fluttered up to perch upon her extended index finger.
“They’re doing well here,” she smiled, inspecting the scarab as it crawled along her finger. “They’ve absorbed a lot of our power from the Sand, and they seem to have developed an affinity for me. With a bit of luck, I think I might be able to train them to take on a shadow form.”
“What about their Ichor? Is it still agreeing with you?” Emrys asked. “It is the blood of a Titan, after all. You’ve never absorbed the humours of something that powerful before.”
“It’s the blood of a dead Titan, so obviously he wasn’t that powerful,” Petra replied. “I only took a few ounces, anyway. Barely a fraction of a percent of a millionth of his power. The Zarathustrans each drank pints of the stuff when it was fresh, and they turned out fine.”
“They were made in their god’s image; you weren’t,” Emrys reminded her gently, the paternal concern obvious in his voice.
“I was made in your image. Do you really think that a few drops of stale Ichor is any match for The Darkness Beyond?” Petra asked rhetorically.
“Of course not, but you’re still very human, Petra. More than I am, and perhaps more than I ever was,” he answered her. “Even if the Darkness Beyond is untouchable, our physical incarnations are not. I tried to overthrow the gods when I first became one with the Outer Darkness, and it got me tossed into the belly of the World Serpent. I implore you; be better than I was, and don’t let your new gifts lull you into thinking that you’re invincible.”
“Okay dad,” she teased, but then suddenly grew pensive as the weight of his words sunk in. “I… don’t really remember much of my old life, other than how it ended. I don’t think I am that girl anymore, no more than you’re that warlord. The Darkness Beyond has made us both so much more, and now that your chains are broken it flows throw us stronger than ever. When I meditate, I can hear my twin hearts; the heart you gave me and the heart I took back. Two heartbeats make it kind of hard to forget that I’m not an ordinary human anymore. And the heart that Mary stabbed, the one that was transfigured into shadow by my own Miasma, I know that heart at least won’t be content until its lost humanity is avenged.”
Sighing, she glanced upwards at the towering spellwork vortex they had created.
“Do you think it’s big enough?” she asked.
“It was big enough twenty minutes ago. Everything since then has just been pompous overkill,” Emrys smiled. “If you’re satisfied with it, we can manifest it now.”
Still gazing skywards, she slowly turned her head back and forth, before nodding in approval. Emrys nodded in turn, and produced a deep purple rose from within his sable robes. He raised it to his face, took a savoury sniff of it, and then whispered a soft incantation before tossing it into the Sand below.
Before it even hit the ground, it disintegrated into innumerable desiccated fragments that became swept up in the Miasmal vortex. The vortex rapidly expanded outwards, growing to a diameter of over forty feet. The Megalith vanished as the vortex shifted into yet another version of the Adderwood where it could grow unimpeded. The vortex spun around faster and faster, its vaporous spirals growing thicker and more condensed until it resembled a small tornado. With a single thundercrack that echoed throughout the entire forest, the vortex solidified into a deep purple volcanic stone, leaving a thirteen-story spire in its wake.
The outside of the spire looked like blooming, thorny rose vines snaking around each other in a double helix. Windows and balcony doors were made of thinner, paler, and translucent segments of volcanic glass. At the very top of the spire was an observation deck capped with a stained-glass roof that made it look like a rose blossom with a tall, spiral steeple that seemed to be almost phosphorescent in the gleaming moonlight.
Within the spire, Petra and Emrys set their feet upon the ground and began eagerly appraising their creation. There was a single stairwell in the center, a spiral staircase along the side, corkscrewing all the way up to the top. Elaborate relief sculptures embellished the thick stone walls, illuminated by the strange, flickering light of violet salt lamps.
“Oh – my – god!” Petra gasped, spinning around in astonishment as she tried to take in as much detail as she could. “I love it! I love it!”
“Not a bad place to call home,” Emrys said as he nodded in approval. “I dare say it’s a bit of an upgrade from the old sanctum. Better than staying in Adderwood Manor, at any rate.”
“The Omphalosium! We have to check the Omphalosium!” Petra shouted excitedly, racing up the stairs and passing every chamber until she reached the very top.
Beneath the stained-glass ceiling of the watchtower room, the floor was bare except for a single pedestal at its center. Atop the pedestal sat a large sphere which somewhat resembled a celestial globe, comprised of multiple concentric crystalline spheres and bronze rings. Each slowly wobbled about on its own accord, the glowing stars and constellations shifting slowly as they did so. Surrounding the globe were nine complex dialling mechanisms that appeared to be some form of astrolabes.
Petra immediately ran straight over to the device, peering into the globe with an intense curiosity.
“Emrys? Emrys! Is it working?” she demanded eagerly.
Emrys calmly walked up to the globe, and gently set his hand upon it.
“It is,” he said with a satisfied nod. “The Adderwood has always been a nexus between worlds, but too wild and chaotic to be a true hub for wanderers. The Order never had the ability to realize the full potential of the Adderwood, and they bound my power to ensure that I couldn’t either. But now, every potential pathway that runs through the Adderwood is threaded through this spire. From this room, we can map them, direct them, choose which ones to bring to fruition, and which ones to cull. It can serve as a lighthouse to our allies, and a guard tower against our enemies. From here, we can travel the worlds, or bring the worlds to us.”
He spun the globe around, setting the astrolabes around it and the skylight above it spinning as well. The skylight lit up with constellations all its own, projecting them downwards into specifically carved glyphs in the floor. As the astrolabes locked into place, Petra noticed that nine arched doorways of intertwining stone vines lined the perimeter of the watchtower room, each with an astrolabe above it that spun in unison with one on the pedestal. When all the spinning finally stopped and all stood still, one of the doorways swung open, revealing an inky black portal of billowing mist.
The portal wasn’t open for more than a few seconds before a tall, hunchbacked being came striding through. Its head possessed only a singular, cyclopean orifice which held a glowing, wispy orb at the center of its skull. A pair of long, fanged tentacles hung down almost to its waist, sets of spiracles and tendrils running all along their length. It stood upon digitigrade feet and had seven clawed digits split between its two hands, one of which held an ornate staff. Its ostentatious robes and cephalopod-like skin were each a golden brown, and both shone eerily in the violet let of the spire.
“Mathom-meister!” Emrys greeted enthusiastically, gesturing proudly to all that surrounded them. “How did we do?”
The being slowly swivelled his head from one side to the other, his tentacles poised upwards like snakes about to strike. With his free hand, he reached into his robes and pulled out another astrolabe, waving it back and forth and reading it like a compass.
“The nexus is stable,” he announced, before moving on to inspect the pedestal itself. “Your Omphalosium is… crude, but adequate. The décor is atrocious, but that’s a strictly personal opinion and outside of my professional purview. You two followed my instructions as well as I could have hoped for non-Zarathustrans. Adderwood Spire should serve well as a base to explore this branch of the World Tree.”
“Hmmm. I’m not sure we want to call it ‘Adderwood Spire’, Adderwood being so strongly associated with the Ophion Occult Order. We want it associated with us,” Emrys said.
“How about ‘The Shadowed Spire’?” Petra suggested, briefly transitioning into her shadow form and appearing at Mathom-meister’s side. “Shadows are kind of our thing.”
“The spire is yours, as per our agreement. Call it what you wish,” Mathom-meister replied. “So long as you keep in mind that when we find the Darlings, while the honour of slaying them may fall to you, their playroom is mine. And that is a name I will most certainly be changing to one more to my liking.”
He began to telekinetically spin the celestial globe around and around, casting projections of rotating constellations onto the entire chamber.
“Magnificent. Truly Magnificent. You two have done me a great service,” he said, ravenously peering into the spinning globe. “With our combined knowledge and powers, we will tame the monsters that haunt these worlds. We will purge them of abominations like the Darlings, safeguard them from the encroaching Black Bile and other Outer Horrors, and ensure they are forever untouched by the festering rot of – ”
His monologue was cut short by the sound of tired footsteps and laboured breathing ascending the staircase. The three of them all turned to see an exhausted Fenwick forcing his way up the final steps.
“Bioelectrically enhanced physique, and she sends the portly bloke to climb to the top of the bloody spire. I miss the Grand Adderman already,” he panted, bending over as he tried to catch his breath. “… don’t tell her I said that. Oy there, you must be Mathom-meister. Fenwick Humberton, Arch Adderman, at your service.”
“Fenwick! Glad you didn’t have any trouble finding the place,” Emrys greeted. “I’m sure the reason Ivy sent you is because of your head for navigating the Adderwood.”
“True enough, true enough,” he nodded reluctantly. “Still though; thirteen stories, and no lift? You’re a monster. This has to be a violation of some kind of accessibility act. Anyway, Ivy wants you to know that we got all the Head Addermen to sign your Covenant, so the Order’s officially yours. If you’re done with the spire for now, she’d like you to come down and shake some hands, make a speech, do a Q&A, stuff like that. There’s punch and cookies, if that sweetens the pot. It is store-brand punch, mind you – ninety-nine pence a can – because nothing was going to be good enough for that lot anyway so why even bother? Might help to humanize you a bit, if you partake in the refreshments. Only time any of us ever saw the Grand Adderman consume anything was when he was sucking the essence out of a ritual sacrifice. I won’t miss that. They’d literally start to mummify before they had even stopped screaming. Nasty stuff, I tell you. Nasty stuff.”
“I suppose it would be a good idea to formally introduce ourselves to the chapter heads while they’re all in one place,” Emrys agreed.
“And I’m at least still human enough that I can’t say no to free cookies,” Petra added.
“What about you, Mathom-meister?” Emrys asked. “Would you like to join us?”
“The internal affairs of this middling cult you’ve co-opted are no concern of mine, and solid foods offer me no temptation,” he replied, gesturing with the fangs of his tentacles. “I will, however, accompany you as a display of our alliance to your underlings to help consolidate your power. And if – and only if – I deem it appealing, I may partake in this ‘ninety-nine pence punch’, as well.”
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2023.12.17 01:36 A_Vespertine Stone & Shadow

Chapter One, Volume V of The Harrowick Chronicles
“Let’s address the elephant in the room first, shall we?” Ivy Noir asked, smugly perched upon the former Grand Adderman’s throne, her husband Erich seated to her left and her sister Envy to her right. “Does anyone in this hall think that I’m a traitor?”
It had never been uncommon for those gathered within the exalted Grand Hall of Adderwood Manor to be cowed into silence, but in the past, it had normally been either the Grand Adderman or sometimes the Darling Twins whom they dared not anger. Now, the Grand Adderman was dead, the Darlings were fugitives of the Ophion Occult Order, and Ivy Noir was to blame.
From a combination of her family’s intergenerational wealth and occult status, alongside her innate intellect and ambition, Ivy had advanced quickly through the Order’s ranks. When the Grand Adderman had threatened the life of her beloved little sister, she wasn’t long in concocting a scheme to take advantage of a conflict with the entity they knew as Emrys to ensure that the Grand Adderman’s days were numbered.
The question of whether or not that made her a traitor still hung in the air, as it seemed no one wanted to be the first to answer it.
“Oy, the Lady Noir asked you lot a question,” Fenwick stated, taking a step towards the assembly of Head and Elder Adderman before him. “We’ve had a bit of a shakeup of our upper management in recent days, and we’d just like to know if there’s anyone who feels that it may not have been entirely above board, yeah? Me personally, I was never all that close to the Grand Adderman. Never even knew his name was Grimaldus until Emrys blurted it out before he killed him. Who names their kid that, honestly? Who looks at a sweet helpless little baby and decides to call it Grimaldus? What are you expecting your kid to grow up to be with a name like that? Maybe not a spectral, undead occultist, necessarily, but it’s ominous, yeah?”
“Fenwick,” Ivy chastised him, though she sounded more amused than annoyed.
“Sorry, just thinking out loud a bit. Won’t happen again,” he claimed. He picked up a bound document of parchment and held it for everyone to see. “I trust you’ve all read your copy of the Covenant the Order made with Emrys? Any of you who sign your True Name to this will be bound by the Covenant and its mandates, and in return, Emrys will be oathbound to spare your life and pardon any prior transgressions! You will be free to return to your chapterhouses and run them as you otherwise see fit. That’s a pretty good deal then, innit?”
“You speak as if we should be grateful,” the mystical merchant Meremoth Mothman grumbled as he slowly rose from his seat. “That spoiled and pampered daughter of the arcane bloodlines conspired against the Grand Adderman, handed him over to our enemy to be murdered, surrendered to him on our behalf without any input from us, and we’re supposed to be grateful?”
“Do you then seriously think that our Order ever truly stood a chance in a full-on war with Emrys, or that the late Grand Adderman would ever have surrendered?” Ivy asked. “Most of us would have been killed and our Order obliterated, which is why you should be grateful that I overthrew him before it came to that.”
“You forfeited this mansion – our headquarters – and everything in it to Emrys!” the Baphometic Witch Pandora screamed. “The Reliquary, the Megalith, everything!”
“This is still our headquarters. This is still where members of different chapters will meet to collaborate and coordinate with one another,” Ivy assured her.
“Under your rule, backed by the power of Emrys,” Mothman objected. “You say you’ve brought us peace with Emrys, but it feels more like we’ve been conquered! We make a substantial number of concessions in this Covenant you agreed to, and as far as I can see Emrys didn’t make a single one. The only members of the Order who stand to gain anything from this arrangement are you and anyone willing to lick your boots!”
“Our surrender was unconditional because Emrys’ victory was absolute,” Erich proclaimed. “His chains are now broken. His power is unchecked. He slayed the Grand Adderman, the most powerful of our Order, with barely any effort at all! The Darlings fled rather than risk a confrontation with him! Had Ivy not accepted his offer of surrender, he would have burned this place to the ground and begun hunting you all down one by one. If that’s a fate any of you would prefer, you’re welcome not to join the Covenant. Anyone who wishes to survive will first and foremost surrender any contraband or fugitives as defined by the Covenant over to Emrys. Any information leading to the capture or demise of the Darlings in particular will be handsomely rewarded.”
“Does anyone here truly lament the ousting of the Darlings from our Order, or the death of the Grand Adderman for that matter?” Ivy asked. “The Grand Adderman was a tyrant, and the Darlings are depraved serial killers and cannibals! Emrys was a victim of the Grand Adderman, the same as many of us, and he has already proven himself far more reasonable and compassionate. Our Covenant with him will require that we become more reasonable and compassionate ourselves, something which I realize some of you may not welcome, but I think there are many more in the Order who would consider such reforms well overdue.”
“Will this include the banning of human experimentation and vivisection?” Crowley demanded through his gramophone horn, the disembodied brain bobbing up and down vehemently in his bubbling vat.
“…At a minimum, yes,” Ivy replied.
“Blast!” Crowley shouted, dejectedly sinking downwards.
“Surely Emrys does not intend to emancipate my workforce?” the revenant industrialist Raubritter asked. “They all consented to their servitude. I have all the contracts on file should he wish to review them.”
“Some of the specifics do remain to be worked out, but the bottom line is that Emrys will always get the final word,” Envy replied. “Raubritter, I would at the very least prepare your Foundry for an audit.”
“So in other words, all our fates are now Emrys’ to decide!” Pandora spat. “Where is Emrys now?”
“Outside in the Megalith, working on some spellcraft with his daughter,” Envy replied casually, an eerie hush falling upon the hall at this revelation.
“He… he’s here. Now?” Meremoth murmured.
“Of course. The manor and its grounds are his now, remember? We are all his guests, and as such, it behooves each of us to be on our best behaviour while we are here,” Ivy informed them with a sly smile. “If any of us were to cause a disturbance, or worse, during a visit, I don’t doubt that Emrys would be swift to put his house back in order.”
Everyone in the hall exchanged uneasy glances, most of them unsure of what they should do or, if they were, unwilling to be the first to do it.
“Right then, so who wants to come up and sign their chapter up for this here Covenant, then?” Fenwick asked, holding up the document in one hand and a fountain pen in the other. Those in the front row immediately bolted up to sign, with the rest of the hall queuing up behind them, however reluctantly. “Right then, that’s the spirit. Sooner we get the formalities out of the way, the sooner we can move on to punch on cookies. And yes, I’m afraid those are the only refreshments we have on hand at the moment. This meeting was short notice, and we’re a bit understaffed, what with the state of things and all. The cookies are from Sweet Tooth’s, but I made the punch myself. Well, I made it from concentrate, but that’s still effort. Always takes those cans of ice longer to dethaw than you expect or than you have, doesn’t it? You got to take a potato masher to it then stir it up until there are no chunks of slush left, it’s a whole ordeal.”
***
The Adderwood Megalith was not in actuality ‘outside’ the manor house, but was rather superimposed upon it. The Adderwood itself existed in a superposition of all its possible states at once, only reverting to a singular form when it was observed. Non-Euclidean trails winding through higher dimensions were never the same twice, and trusted landmarks were not always to be found. In one state the Adderwood held an Old English manor house the Ophion Occult Order had been using as their headquarters since the 18th century. In another, it held an ancient Megalith made by mighty and forgotten sorcerers. In others, neither of these existed, and an unlucky fool could wander the Adderwood forever without coming across them.
Emrys and his acolyte Petra sat across from one another in the Megalith, levitating cross-legged above the Sigil Sand as they telekinetically drew an ever-shifting mosaic of mandalas in it. Rings of black Miasma wafted up from these mandalas, retaining their forms as they floated higher and higher, creating a spiralling helix of stacked spell circles.
Despite not technically being in the same version of the Adderwood as the manor house, their supernatural senses meant that they were not wholly oblivious to what was going on there, either.
“It seems no one present feels the need to avenge old Grimaldus,” Emrys commented. “That’s the problem with ruling through fear. Your death is neither mourned nor avenged, but celebrated. I know my subjects celebrated when they thought I had died, and rightfully so.”
“You’re not that ancient Celtic warlord anymore. I’d mourn and avenge you, Emrys,” Petra vowed. “Though I suppose I wouldn’t have much company in that. Ivy and her inner circle are still the only ones genuinely loyal to us.”
“Which is perfectly understandable. I’ve been a bogeyman of the Ophion Occult Order for centuries. That won’t change overnight,” he said. “It will take time, and effort, but little by little we will gain the respect of those Adderman who can be reformed, and rid ourselves of those who cannot.”
Petra nodded absent-mindedly, the fate of the Order being of no special concern of hers now. She stretched out a hand towards the Sigil Sand beneath her, and a small host of shimmering scarab beetles surfaced at her command. One of them unfurled its wings and fluttered up to perch upon her extended index finger.
“They’re doing well here,” she smiled, inspecting the scarab as it crawled along her finger. “They’ve absorbed a lot of our power from the Sand, and they seem to have developed an affinity for me. With a bit of luck, I think I might be able to train them to take on a shadow form.”
“What about their Ichor? Is it still agreeing with you?” Emrys asked. “It is the blood of a Titan, after all. You’ve never absorbed the humours of something that powerful before.”
“It’s the blood of a dead Titan, so obviously he wasn’t that powerful,” Petra replied. “I only took a few ounces, anyway. Barely a fraction of a percent of a millionth of his power. The Zarathustrans each drank pints of the stuff when it was fresh, and they turned out fine.”
“They were made in their god’s image; you weren’t,” Emrys reminded her gently, the paternal concern obvious in his voice.
“I was made in your image. Do you really think that a few drops of stale Ichor is any match for The Darkness Beyond?” Petra asked rhetorically.
“Of course not, but you’re still very human, Petra. More than I am, and perhaps more than I ever was,” he answered her. “Even if the Darkness Beyond is untouchable, our physical incarnations are not. I tried to overthrow the gods when I first became one with the Outer Darkness, and it got me tossed into the belly of the World Serpent. I implore you; be better than I was, and don’t let your new gifts lull you into thinking that you’re invincible.”
“Okay dad,” she teased, but then suddenly grew pensive as the weight of his words sunk in. “I… don’t really remember much of my old life, other than how it ended. I don’t think I am that girl anymore, no more than you’re that warlord. The Darkness Beyond has made us both so much more, and now that your chains are broken it flows throw us stronger than ever. When I meditate, I can hear my twin hearts; the heart you gave me and the heart I took back. Two heartbeats make it kind of hard to forget that I’m not an ordinary human anymore. And the heart that Mary stabbed, the one that was transfigured into shadow by my own Miasma, I know that heart at least won’t be content until its lost humanity is avenged.”
Sighing, she glanced upwards at the towering spellwork vortex they had created.
“Do you think it’s big enough?” she asked.
“It was big enough twenty minutes ago. Everything since then has just been pompous overkill,” Emrys smiled. “If you’re satisfied with it, we can manifest it now.”
Still gazing skywards, she slowly turned her head back and forth, before nodding in approval. Emrys nodded in turn, and produced a deep purple rose from within his sable robes. He raised it to his face, took a savoury sniff of it, and then whispered a soft incantation before tossing it into the Sand below.
Before it even hit the ground, it disintegrated into innumerable desiccated fragments that became swept up in the Miasmal vortex. The vortex rapidly expanded outwards, growing to a diameter of over forty feet. The Megalith vanished as the vortex shifted into yet another version of the Adderwood where it could grow unimpeded. The vortex spun around faster and faster, its vaporous spirals growing thicker and more condensed until it resembled a small tornado. With a single thundercrack that echoed throughout the entire forest, the vortex solidified into a deep purple volcanic stone, leaving a thirteen-story spire in its wake.
The outside of the spire looked like blooming, thorny rose vines snaking around each other in a double helix. Windows and balcony doors were made of thinner, paler, and translucent segments of volcanic glass. At the very top of the spire was an observation deck capped with a stained-glass roof that made it look like a rose blossom with a tall, spiral steeple that seemed to be almost phosphorescent in the gleaming moonlight.
Within the spire, Petra and Emrys set their feet upon the ground and began eagerly appraising their creation. There was a single stairwell in the center, a spiral staircase along the side, corkscrewing all the way up to the top. Elaborate relief sculptures embellished the thick stone walls, illuminated by the strange, flickering light of violet salt lamps.
“Oh – my – god!” Petra gasped, spinning around in astonishment as she tried to take in as much detail as she could. “I love it! I love it!”
“Not a bad place to call home,” Emrys said as he nodded in approval. “I dare say it’s a bit of an upgrade from the old sanctum. Better than staying in Adderwood Manor, at any rate.”
“The Omphalosium! We have to check the Omphalosium!” Petra shouted excitedly, racing up the stairs and passing every chamber until she reached the very top.
Beneath the stained-glass ceiling of the watchtower room, the floor was bare except for a single pedestal at its center. Atop the pedestal sat a large sphere which somewhat resembled a celestial globe, comprised of multiple concentric crystalline spheres and bronze rings. Each slowly wobbled about on its own accord, the glowing stars and constellations shifting slowly as they did so. Surrounding the globe were nine complex dialling mechanisms that appeared to be some form of astrolabes.
Petra immediately ran straight over to the device, peering into the globe with an intense curiosity.
“Emrys? Emrys! Is it working?” she demanded eagerly.
Emrys calmly walked up to the globe, and gently set his hand upon it.
“It is,” he said with a satisfied nod. “The Adderwood has always been a nexus between worlds, but too wild and chaotic to be a true hub for wanderers. The Order never had the ability to realize the full potential of the Adderwood, and they bound my power to ensure that I couldn’t either. But now, every potential pathway that runs through the Adderwood is threaded through this spire. From this room, we can map them, direct them, choose which ones to bring to fruition, and which ones to cull. It can serve as a lighthouse to our allies, and a guard tower against our enemies. From here, we can travel the worlds, or bring the worlds to us.”
He spun the globe around, setting the astrolabes around it and the skylight above it spinning as well. The skylight lit up with constellations all its own, projecting them downwards into specifically carved glyphs in the floor. As the astrolabes locked into place, Petra noticed that nine arched doorways of intertwining stone vines lined the perimeter of the watchtower room, each with an astrolabe above it that spun in unison with one on the pedestal. When all the spinning finally stopped and all stood still, one of the doorways swung open, revealing an inky black portal of billowing mist.
The portal wasn’t open for more than a few seconds before a tall, hunchbacked being came striding through. Its head possessed only a singular, cyclopean orifice which held a glowing, wispy orb at the center of its skull. A pair of long, fanged tentacles hung down almost to its waist, sets of spiracles and tendrils running all along their length. It stood upon digitigrade feet and had seven clawed digits split between its two hands, one of which held an ornate staff. Its ostentatious robes and cephalopod-like skin were each a golden brown, and both shone eerily in the violet let of the spire.
“Mathom-meister!” Emrys greeted enthusiastically, gesturing proudly to all that surrounded them. “How did we do?”
The being slowly swivelled his head from one side to the other, his tentacles poised upwards like snakes about to strike. With his free hand, he reached into his robes and pulled out another astrolabe, waving it back and forth and reading it like a compass.
“The nexus is stable,” he announced, before moving on to inspect the pedestal itself. “Your Omphalosium is… crude, but adequate. The décor is atrocious, but that’s a strictly personal opinion and outside of my professional purview. You two followed my instructions as well as I could have hoped for non-Zarathustrans. Adderwood Spire should serve well as a base to explore this branch of the World Tree.”
“Hmmm. I’m not sure we want to call it ‘Adderwood Spire’, Adderwood being so strongly associated with the Ophion Occult Order. We want it associated with us,” Emrys said.
“How about ‘The Shadowed Spire’?” Petra suggested, briefly transitioning into her shadow form and appearing at Mathom-meister’s side. “Shadows are kind of our thing.”
“The spire is yours, as per our agreement. Call it what you wish,” Mathom-meister replied. “So long as you keep in mind that when we find the Darlings, while the honour of slaying them may fall to you, their playroom is mine. And that is a name I will most certainly be changing to one more to my liking.”
He began to telekinetically spin the celestial globe around and around, casting projections of rotating constellations onto the entire chamber.
“Magnificent. Truly Magnificent. You two have done me a great service,” he said, ravenously peering into the spinning globe. “With our combined knowledge and powers, we will tame the monsters that haunt these worlds. We will purge them of abominations like the Darlings, safeguard them from the encroaching Black Bile and other Outer Horrors, and ensure they are forever untouched by the festering rot of – ”
His monologue was cut short by the sound of tired footsteps and laboured breathing ascending the staircase. The three of them all turned to see an exhausted Fenwick forcing his way up the final steps.
“Bioelectrically enhanced physique, and she sends the portly bloke to climb to the top of the bloody spire. I miss the Grand Adderman already,” he panted, bending over as he tried to catch his breath. “… don’t tell her I said that. Oy there, you must be Mathom-meister. Fenwick Humberton, Arch Adderman, at your service.”
“Fenwick! Glad you didn’t have any trouble finding the place,” Emrys greeted. “I’m sure the reason Ivy sent you is because of your head for navigating the Adderwood.”
“True enough, true enough,” he nodded reluctantly. “Still though; thirteen stories, and no lift? You’re a monster. This has to be a violation of some kind of accessibility act. Anyway, Ivy wants you to know that we got all the Head Addermen to sign your Covenant, so the Order’s officially yours. If you’re done with the spire for now, she’d like you to come down and shake some hands, make a speech, do a Q&A, stuff like that. There’s punch and cookies, if that sweetens the pot. It is store-brand punch, mind you – ninety-nine pence a can – because nothing was going to be good enough for that lot anyway so why even bother? Might help to humanize you a bit, if you partake in the refreshments. Only time any of us ever saw the Grand Adderman consume anything was when he was sucking the essence out of a ritual sacrifice. I won’t miss that. They’d literally start to mummify before they had even stopped screaming. Nasty stuff, I tell you. Nasty stuff.”
“I suppose it would be a good idea to formally introduce ourselves to the chapter heads while they’re all in one place,” Emrys agreed.
“And I’m at least still human enough that I can’t say no to free cookies,” Petra added.
“What about you, Mathom-meister?” Emrys asked. “Would you like to join us?”
“The internal affairs of this middling cult you’ve co-opted are no concern of mine, and solid foods offer me no temptation,” he replied, gesturing with the fangs of his tentacles. “I will, however, accompany you as a display of our alliance to your underlings to help consolidate your power. And if – and only if – I deem it appealing, I may partake in this ‘ninety-nine pence punch’, as well.”
_____________________________
By The Vesper's Bell
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2023.12.17 01:34 A_Vespertine Stone & Shadow

Chapter One, Volume V of The Harrowick Chronicles
“Let’s address the elephant in the room first, shall we?” Ivy Noir asked, smugly perched upon the former Grand Adderman’s throne, her husband Erich seated to her left and her sister Envy to her right. “Does anyone in this hall think that I’m a traitor?”
It had never been uncommon for those gathered within the exalted Grand Hall of Adderwood Manor to be cowed into silence, but in the past, it had normally been either the Grand Adderman or sometimes the Darling Twins whom they dared not anger. Now, the Grand Adderman was dead, the Darlings were fugitives of the Ophion Occult Order, and Ivy Noir was to blame.
From a combination of her family’s intergenerational wealth and occult status, alongside her innate intellect and ambition, Ivy had advanced quickly through the Order’s ranks. When the Grand Adderman had threatened the life of her beloved little sister, she wasn’t long in concocting a scheme to take advantage of a conflict with the entity they knew as Emrys to ensure that the Grand Adderman’s days were numbered.
The question of whether or not that made her a traitor still hung in the air, as it seemed no one wanted to be the first to answer it.
“Oy, the Lady Noir asked you lot a question,” Fenwick stated, taking a step towards the assembly of Head and Elder Adderman before him. “We’ve had a bit of a shakeup of our upper management in recent days, and we’d just like to know if there’s anyone who feels that it may not have been entirely above board, yeah? Me personally, I was never all that close to the Grand Adderman. Never even knew his name was Grimaldus until Emrys blurted it out before he killed him. Who names their kid that, honestly? Who looks at a sweet helpless little baby and decides to call it Grimaldus? What are you expecting your kid to grow up to be with a name like that? Maybe not a spectral, undead occultist, necessarily, but it’s ominous, yeah?”
“Fenwick,” Ivy chastised him, though she sounded more amused than annoyed.
“Sorry, just thinking out loud a bit. Won’t happen again,” he claimed. He picked up a bound document of parchment and held it for everyone to see. “I trust you’ve all read your copy of the Covenant the Order made with Emrys? Any of you who sign your True Name to this will be bound by the Covenant and its mandates, and in return, Emrys will be oathbound to spare your life and pardon any prior transgressions! You will be free to return to your chapterhouses and run them as you otherwise see fit. That’s a pretty good deal then, innit?”
“You speak as if we should be grateful,” the mystical merchant Meremoth Mothman grumbled as he slowly rose from his seat. “That spoiled and pampered daughter of the arcane bloodlines conspired against the Grand Adderman, handed him over to our enemy to be murdered, surrendered to him on our behalf without any input from us, and we’re supposed to be grateful?”
“Do you then seriously think that our Order ever truly stood a chance in a full-on war with Emrys, or that the late Grand Adderman would ever have surrendered?” Ivy asked. “Most of us would have been killed and our Order obliterated, which is why you should be grateful that I overthrew him before it came to that.”
“You forfeited this mansion – our headquarters – and everything in it to Emrys!” the Baphometic Witch Pandora screamed. “The Reliquary, the Megalith, everything!”
“This is still our headquarters. This is still where members of different chapters will meet to collaborate and coordinate with one another,” Ivy assured her.
“Under your rule, backed by the power of Emrys,” Mothman objected. “You say you’ve brought us peace with Emrys, but it feels more like we’ve been conquered! We make a substantial number of concessions in this Covenant you agreed to, and as far as I can see Emrys didn’t make a single one. The only members of the Order who stand to gain anything from this arrangement are you and anyone willing to lick your boots!”
“Our surrender was unconditional because Emrys’ victory was absolute,” Erich proclaimed. “His chains are now broken. His power is unchecked. He slayed the Grand Adderman, the most powerful of our Order, with barely any effort at all! The Darlings fled rather than risk a confrontation with him! Had Ivy not accepted his offer of surrender, he would have burned this place to the ground and begun hunting you all down one by one. If that’s a fate any of you would prefer, you’re welcome not to join the Covenant. Anyone who wishes to survive will first and foremost surrender any contraband or fugitives as defined by the Covenant over to Emrys. Any information leading to the capture or demise of the Darlings in particular will be handsomely rewarded.”
“Does anyone here truly lament the ousting of the Darlings from our Order, or the death of the Grand Adderman for that matter?” Ivy asked. “The Grand Adderman was a tyrant, and the Darlings are depraved serial killers and cannibals! Emrys was a victim of the Grand Adderman, the same as many of us, and he has already proven himself far more reasonable and compassionate. Our Covenant with him will require that we become more reasonable and compassionate ourselves, something which I realize some of you may not welcome, but I think there are many more in the Order who would consider such reforms well overdue.”
“Will this include the banning of human experimentation and vivisection?” Crowley demanded through his gramophone horn, the disembodied brain bobbing up and down vehemently in his bubbling vat.
“…At a minimum, yes,” Ivy replied.
“Blast!” Crowley shouted, dejectedly sinking downwards.
“Surely Emrys does not intend to emancipate my workforce?” the revenant industrialist Raubritter asked. “They all consented to their servitude. I have all the contracts on file should he wish to review them.”
“Some of the specifics do remain to be worked out, but the bottom line is that Emrys will always get the final word,” Envy replied. “Raubritter, I would at the very least prepare your Foundry for an audit.”
“So in other words, all our fates are now Emrys’ to decide!” Pandora spat. “Where is Emrys now?”
“Outside in the Megalith, working on some spellcraft with his daughter,” Envy replied casually, an eerie hush falling upon the hall at this revelation.
“He… he’s here. Now?” Meremoth murmured.
“Of course. The manor and its grounds are his now, remember? We are all his guests, and as such, it behooves each of us to be on our best behaviour while we are here,” Ivy informed them with a sly smile. “If any of us were to cause a disturbance, or worse, during a visit, I don’t doubt that Emrys would be swift to put his house back in order.”
Everyone in the hall exchanged uneasy glances, most of them unsure of what they should do or, if they were, unwilling to be the first to do it.
“Right then, so who wants to come up and sign their chapter up for this here Covenant, then?” Fenwick asked, holding up the document in one hand and a fountain pen in the other. Those in the front row immediately bolted up to sign, with the rest of the hall queuing up behind them, however reluctantly. “Right then, that’s the spirit. Sooner we get the formalities out of the way, the sooner we can move on to punch on cookies. And yes, I’m afraid those are the only refreshments we have on hand at the moment. This meeting was short notice, and we’re a bit understaffed, what with the state of things and all. The cookies are from Sweet Tooth’s, but I made the punch myself. Well, I made it from concentrate, but that’s still effort. Always takes those cans of ice longer to dethaw than you expect or than you have, doesn’t it? You got to take a potato masher to it then stir it up until there are no chunks of slush left, it’s a whole ordeal.”
***
The Adderwood Megalith was not in actuality ‘outside’ the manor house, but was rather superimposed upon it. The Adderwood itself existed in a superposition of all its possible states at once, only reverting to a singular form when it was observed. Non-Euclidean trails winding through higher dimensions were never the same twice, and trusted landmarks were not always to be found. In one state the Adderwood held an Old English manor house the Ophion Occult Order had been using as their headquarters since the 18th century. In another, it held an ancient Megalith made by mighty and forgotten sorcerers. In others, neither of these existed, and an unlucky fool could wander the Adderwood forever without coming across them.
Emrys and his acolyte Petra sat across from one another in the Megalith, levitating cross-legged above the Sigil Sand as they telekinetically drew an ever-shifting mosaic of mandalas in it. Rings of black Miasma wafted up from these mandalas, retaining their forms as they floated higher and higher, creating a spiralling helix of stacked spell circles.
Despite not technically being in the same version of the Adderwood as the manor house, their supernatural senses meant that they were not wholly oblivious to what was going on there, either.
“It seems no one present feels the need to avenge old Grimaldus,” Emrys commented. “That’s the problem with ruling through fear. Your death is neither mourned nor avenged, but celebrated. I know my subjects celebrated when they thought I had died, and rightfully so.”
“You’re not that ancient Celtic warlord anymore. I’d mourn and avenge you, Emrys,” Petra vowed. “Though I suppose I wouldn’t have much company in that. Ivy and her inner circle are still the only ones genuinely loyal to us.”
“Which is perfectly understandable. I’ve been a bogeyman of the Ophion Occult Order for centuries. That won’t change overnight,” he said. “It will take time, and effort, but little by little we will gain the respect of those Adderman who can be reformed, and rid ourselves of those who cannot.”
Petra nodded absent-mindedly, the fate of the Order being of no special concern of hers now. She stretched out a hand towards the Sigil Sand beneath her, and a small host of shimmering scarab beetles surfaced at her command. One of them unfurled its wings and fluttered up to perch upon her extended index finger.
“They’re doing well here,” she smiled, inspecting the scarab as it crawled along her finger. “They’ve absorbed a lot of our power from the Sand, and they seem to have developed an affinity for me. With a bit of luck, I think I might be able to train them to take on a shadow form.”
“What about their Ichor? Is it still agreeing with you?” Emrys asked. “It is the blood of a Titan, after all. You’ve never absorbed the humours of something that powerful before.”
“It’s the blood of a dead Titan, so obviously he wasn’t that powerful,” Petra replied. “I only took a few ounces, anyway. Barely a fraction of a percent of a millionth of his power. The Zarathustrans each drank pints of the stuff when it was fresh, and they turned out fine.”
“They were made in their god’s image; you weren’t,” Emrys reminded her gently, the paternal concern obvious in his voice.
“I was made in your image. Do you really think that a few drops of stale Ichor is any match for The Darkness Beyond?” Petra asked rhetorically.
“Of course not, but you’re still very human, Petra. More than I am, and perhaps more than I ever was,” he answered her. “Even if the Darkness Beyond is untouchable, our physical incarnations are not. I tried to overthrow the gods when I first became one with the Outer Darkness, and it got me tossed into the belly of the World Serpent. I implore you; be better than I was, and don’t let your new gifts lull you into thinking that you’re invincible.”
“Okay dad,” she teased, but then suddenly grew pensive as the weight of his words sunk in. “I… don’t really remember much of my old life, other than how it ended. I don’t think I am that girl anymore, no more than you’re that warlord. The Darkness Beyond has made us both so much more, and now that your chains are broken it flows throw us stronger than ever. When I meditate, I can hear my twin hearts; the heart you gave me and the heart I took back. Two heartbeats make it kind of hard to forget that I’m not an ordinary human anymore. And the heart that Mary stabbed, the one that was transfigured into shadow by my own Miasma, I know that heart at least won’t be content until its lost humanity is avenged.”
Sighing, she glanced upwards at the towering spellwork vortex they had created.
“Do you think it’s big enough?” she asked.
“It was big enough twenty minutes ago. Everything since then has just been pompous overkill,” Emrys smiled. “If you’re satisfied with it, we can manifest it now.”
Still gazing skywards, she slowly turned her head back and forth, before nodding in approval. Emrys nodded in turn, and produced a deep purple rose from within his sable robes. He raised it to his face, took a savoury sniff of it, and then whispered a soft incantation before tossing it into the Sand below.
Before it even hit the ground, it disintegrated into innumerable desiccated fragments that became swept up in the Miasmal vortex. The vortex rapidly expanded outwards, growing to a diameter of over forty feet. The Megalith vanished as the vortex shifted into yet another version of the Adderwood where it could grow unimpeded. The vortex spun around faster and faster, its vaporous spirals growing thicker and more condensed until it resembled a small tornado. With a single thundercrack that echoed throughout the entire forest, the vortex solidified into a deep purple volcanic stone, leaving a thirteen-story spire in its wake.
The outside of the spire looked like blooming, thorny rose vines snaking around each other in a double helix. Windows and balcony doors were made of thinner, paler, and translucent segments of volcanic glass. At the very top of the spire was an observation deck capped with a stained-glass roof that made it look like a rose blossom with a tall, spiral steeple that seemed to be almost phosphorescent in the gleaming moonlight.
Within the spire, Petra and Emrys set their feet upon the ground and began eagerly appraising their creation. There was a single stairwell in the center, a spiral staircase along the side, corkscrewing all the way up to the top. Elaborate relief sculptures embellished the thick stone walls, illuminated by the strange, flickering light of violet salt lamps.
“Oh – my – god!” Petra gasped, spinning around in astonishment as she tried to take in as much detail as she could. “I love it! I love it!”
“Not a bad place to call home,” Emrys said as he nodded in approval. “I dare say it’s a bit of an upgrade from the old sanctum. Better than staying in Adderwood Manor, at any rate.”
“The Omphalosium! We have to check the Omphalosium!” Petra shouted excitedly, racing up the stairs and passing every chamber until she reached the very top.
Beneath the stained-glass ceiling of the watchtower room, the floor was bare except for a single pedestal at its center. Atop the pedestal sat a large sphere which somewhat resembled a celestial globe, comprised of multiple concentric crystalline spheres and bronze rings. Each slowly wobbled about on its own accord, the glowing stars and constellations shifting slowly as they did so. Surrounding the globe were nine complex dialling mechanisms that appeared to be some form of astrolabes.
Petra immediately ran straight over to the device, peering into the globe with an intense curiosity.
“Emrys? Emrys! Is it working?” she demanded eagerly.
Emrys calmly walked up to the globe, and gently set his hand upon it.
“It is,” he said with a satisfied nod. “The Adderwood has always been a nexus between worlds, but too wild and chaotic to be a true hub for wanderers. The Order never had the ability to realize the full potential of the Adderwood, and they bound my power to ensure that I couldn’t either. But now, every potential pathway that runs through the Adderwood is threaded through this spire. From this room, we can map them, direct them, choose which ones to bring to fruition, and which ones to cull. It can serve as a lighthouse to our allies, and a guard tower against our enemies. From here, we can travel the worlds, or bring the worlds to us.”
He spun the globe around, setting the astrolabes around it and the skylight above it spinning as well. The skylight lit up with constellations all its own, projecting them downwards into specifically carved glyphs in the floor. As the astrolabes locked into place, Petra noticed that nine arched doorways of intertwining stone vines lined the perimeter of the watchtower room, each with an astrolabe above it that spun in unison with one on the pedestal. When all the spinning finally stopped and all stood still, one of the doorways swung open, revealing an inky black portal of billowing mist.
The portal wasn’t open for more than a few seconds before a tall, hunchbacked being came striding through. Its head possessed only a singular, cyclopean orifice which held a glowing, wispy orb at the center of its skull. A pair of long, fanged tentacles hung down almost to its waist, sets of spiracles and tendrils running all along their length. It stood upon digitigrade feet and had seven clawed digits split between its two hands, one of which held an ornate staff. Its ostentatious robes and cephalopod-like skin were each a golden brown, and both shone eerily in the violet let of the spire.
“Mathom-meister!” Emrys greeted enthusiastically, gesturing proudly to all that surrounded them. “How did we do?”
The being slowly swivelled his head from one side to the other, his tentacles poised upwards like snakes about to strike. With his free hand, he reached into his robes and pulled out another astrolabe, waving it back and forth and reading it like a compass.
“The nexus is stable,” he announced, before moving on to inspect the pedestal itself. “Your Omphalosium is… crude, but adequate. The décor is atrocious, but that’s a strictly personal opinion and outside of my professional purview. You two followed my instructions as well as I could have hoped for non-Zarathustrans. Adderwood Spire should serve well as a base to explore this branch of the World Tree.”
“Hmmm. I’m not sure we want to call it ‘Adderwood Spire’, Adderwood being so strongly associated with the Ophion Occult Order. We want it associated with us,” Emrys said.
“How about ‘The Shadowed Spire’?” Petra suggested, briefly transitioning into her shadow form and appearing at Mathom-meister’s side. “Shadows are kind of our thing.”
“The spire is yours, as per our agreement. Call it what you wish,” Mathom-meister replied. “So long as you keep in mind that when we find the Darlings, while the honour of slaying them may fall to you, their playroom is mine. And that is a name I will most certainly be changing to one more to my liking.”
He began to telekinetically spin the celestial globe around and around, casting projections of rotating constellations onto the entire chamber.
“Magnificent. Truly Magnificent. You two have done me a great service,” he said, ravenously peering into the spinning globe. “With our combined knowledge and powers, we will tame the monsters that haunt these worlds. We will purge them of abominations like the Darlings, safeguard them from the encroaching Black Bile and other Outer Horrors, and ensure they are forever untouched by the festering rot of – ”
His monologue was cut short by the sound of tired footsteps and laboured breathing ascending the staircase. The three of them all turned to see an exhausted Fenwick forcing his way up the final steps.
“Bioelectrically enhanced physique, and she sends the portly bloke to climb to the top of the bloody spire. I miss the Grand Adderman already,” he panted, bending over as he tried to catch his breath. “… don’t tell her I said that. Oy there, you must be Mathom-meister. Fenwick Humberton, Arch Adderman, at your service.”
“Fenwick! Glad you didn’t have any trouble finding the place,” Emrys greeted. “I’m sure the reason Ivy sent you is because of your head for navigating the Adderwood.”
“True enough, true enough,” he nodded reluctantly. “Still though; thirteen stories, and no lift? You’re a monster. This has to be a violation of some kind of accessibility act. Anyway, Ivy wants you to know that we got all the Head Addermen to sign your Covenant, so the Order’s officially yours. If you’re done with the spire for now, she’d like you to come down and shake some hands, make a speech, do a Q&A, stuff like that. There’s punch and cookies, if that sweetens the pot. It is store-brand punch, mind you – ninety-nine pence a can – because nothing was going to be good enough for that lot anyway so why even bother? Might help to humanize you a bit, if you partake in the refreshments. Only time any of us ever saw the Grand Adderman consume anything was when he was sucking the essence out of a ritual sacrifice. I won’t miss that. They’d literally start to mummify before they had even stopped screaming. Nasty stuff, I tell you. Nasty stuff.”
“I suppose it would be a good idea to formally introduce ourselves to the chapter heads while they’re all in one place,” Emrys agreed.
“And I’m at least still human enough that I can’t say no to free cookies,” Petra added.
“What about you, Mathom-meister?” Emrys asked. “Would you like to join us?”
“The internal affairs of this middling cult you’ve co-opted are no concern of mine, and solid foods offer me no temptation,” he replied, gesturing with the fangs of his tentacles. “I will, however, accompany you as a display of our alliance to your underlings to help consolidate your power. And if – and only if – I deem it appealing, I may partake in this ‘ninety-nine pence punch’, as well.”
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2023.12.17 01:34 A_Vespertine Stone & Shadow

Chapter One, Volume V of The Harrowick Chronicles
“Let’s address the elephant in the room first, shall we?” Ivy Noir asked, smugly perched upon the former Grand Adderman’s throne, her husband Erich seated to her left and her sister Envy to her right. “Does anyone in this hall think that I’m a traitor?”
It had never been uncommon for those gathered within the exalted Grand Hall of Adderwood Manor to be cowed into silence, but in the past, it had normally been either the Grand Adderman or sometimes the Darling Twins whom they dared not anger. Now, the Grand Adderman was dead, the Darlings were fugitives of the Ophion Occult Order, and Ivy Noir was to blame.
From a combination of her family’s intergenerational wealth and occult status, alongside her innate intellect and ambition, Ivy had advanced quickly through the Order’s ranks. When the Grand Adderman had threatened the life of her beloved little sister, she wasn’t long in concocting a scheme to take advantage of a conflict with the entity they knew as Emrys to ensure that the Grand Adderman’s days were numbered.
The question of whether or not that made her a traitor still hung in the air, as it seemed no one wanted to be the first to answer it.
“Oy, the Lady Noir asked you lot a question,” Fenwick stated, taking a step towards the assembly of Head and Elder Adderman before him. “We’ve had a bit of a shakeup of our upper management in recent days, and we’d just like to know if there’s anyone who feels that it may not have been entirely above board, yeah? Me personally, I was never all that close to the Grand Adderman. Never even knew his name was Grimaldus until Emrys blurted it out before he killed him. Who names their kid that, honestly? Who looks at a sweet helpless little baby and decides to call it Grimaldus? What are you expecting your kid to grow up to be with a name like that? Maybe not a spectral, undead occultist, necessarily, but it’s ominous, yeah?”
“Fenwick,” Ivy chastised him, though she sounded more amused than annoyed.
“Sorry, just thinking out loud a bit. Won’t happen again,” he claimed. He picked up a bound document of parchment and held it for everyone to see. “I trust you’ve all read your copy of the Covenant the Order made with Emrys? Any of you who sign your True Name to this will be bound by the Covenant and its mandates, and in return, Emrys will be oathbound to spare your life and pardon any prior transgressions! You will be free to return to your chapterhouses and run them as you otherwise see fit. That’s a pretty good deal then, innit?”
“You speak as if we should be grateful,” the mystical merchant Meremoth Mothman grumbled as he slowly rose from his seat. “That spoiled and pampered daughter of the arcane bloodlines conspired against the Grand Adderman, handed him over to our enemy to be murdered, surrendered to him on our behalf without any input from us, and we’re supposed to be grateful?”
“Do you then seriously think that our Order ever truly stood a chance in a full-on war with Emrys, or that the late Grand Adderman would ever have surrendered?” Ivy asked. “Most of us would have been killed and our Order obliterated, which is why you should be grateful that I overthrew him before it came to that.”
“You forfeited this mansion – our headquarters – and everything in it to Emrys!” the Baphometic Witch Pandora screamed. “The Reliquary, the Megalith, everything!”
“This is still our headquarters. This is still where members of different chapters will meet to collaborate and coordinate with one another,” Ivy assured her.
“Under your rule, backed by the power of Emrys,” Mothman objected. “You say you’ve brought us peace with Emrys, but it feels more like we’ve been conquered! We make a substantial number of concessions in this Covenant you agreed to, and as far as I can see Emrys didn’t make a single one. The only members of the Order who stand to gain anything from this arrangement are you and anyone willing to lick your boots!”
“Our surrender was unconditional because Emrys’ victory was absolute,” Erich proclaimed. “His chains are now broken. His power is unchecked. He slayed the Grand Adderman, the most powerful of our Order, with barely any effort at all! The Darlings fled rather than risk a confrontation with him! Had Ivy not accepted his offer of surrender, he would have burned this place to the ground and begun hunting you all down one by one. If that’s a fate any of you would prefer, you’re welcome not to join the Covenant. Anyone who wishes to survive will first and foremost surrender any contraband or fugitives as defined by the Covenant over to Emrys. Any information leading to the capture or demise of the Darlings in particular will be handsomely rewarded.”
“Does anyone here truly lament the ousting of the Darlings from our Order, or the death of the Grand Adderman for that matter?” Ivy asked. “The Grand Adderman was a tyrant, and the Darlings are depraved serial killers and cannibals! Emrys was a victim of the Grand Adderman, the same as many of us, and he has already proven himself far more reasonable and compassionate. Our Covenant with him will require that we become more reasonable and compassionate ourselves, something which I realize some of you may not welcome, but I think there are many more in the Order who would consider such reforms well overdue.”
“Will this include the banning of human experimentation and vivisection?” Crowley demanded through his gramophone horn, the disembodied brain bobbing up and down vehemently in his bubbling vat.
“…At a minimum, yes,” Ivy replied.
“Blast!” Crowley shouted, dejectedly sinking downwards.
“Surely Emrys does not intend to emancipate my workforce?” the revenant industrialist Raubritter asked. “They all consented to their servitude. I have all the contracts on file should he wish to review them.”
“Some of the specifics do remain to be worked out, but the bottom line is that Emrys will always get the final word,” Envy replied. “Raubritter, I would at the very least prepare your Foundry for an audit.”
“So in other words, all our fates are now Emrys’ to decide!” Pandora spat. “Where is Emrys now?”
“Outside in the Megalith, working on some spellcraft with his daughter,” Envy replied casually, an eerie hush falling upon the hall at this revelation.
“He… he’s here. Now?” Meremoth murmured.
“Of course. The manor and its grounds are his now, remember? We are all his guests, and as such, it behooves each of us to be on our best behaviour while we are here,” Ivy informed them with a sly smile. “If any of us were to cause a disturbance, or worse, during a visit, I don’t doubt that Emrys would be swift to put his house back in order.”
Everyone in the hall exchanged uneasy glances, most of them unsure of what they should do or, if they were, unwilling to be the first to do it.
“Right then, so who wants to come up and sign their chapter up for this here Covenant, then?” Fenwick asked, holding up the document in one hand and a fountain pen in the other. Those in the front row immediately bolted up to sign, with the rest of the hall queuing up behind them, however reluctantly. “Right then, that’s the spirit. Sooner we get the formalities out of the way, the sooner we can move on to punch on cookies. And yes, I’m afraid those are the only refreshments we have on hand at the moment. This meeting was short notice, and we’re a bit understaffed, what with the state of things and all. The cookies are from Sweet Tooth’s, but I made the punch myself. Well, I made it from concentrate, but that’s still effort. Always takes those cans of ice longer to dethaw than you expect or than you have, doesn’t it? You got to take a potato masher to it then stir it up until there are no chunks of slush left, it’s a whole ordeal.”
***
The Adderwood Megalith was not in actuality ‘outside’ the manor house, but was rather superimposed upon it. The Adderwood itself existed in a superposition of all its possible states at once, only reverting to a singular form when it was observed. Non-Euclidean trails winding through higher dimensions were never the same twice, and trusted landmarks were not always to be found. In one state the Adderwood held an Old English manor house the Ophion Occult Order had been using as their headquarters since the 18th century. In another, it held an ancient Megalith made by mighty and forgotten sorcerers. In others, neither of these existed, and an unlucky fool could wander the Adderwood forever without coming across them.
Emrys and his acolyte Petra sat across from one another in the Megalith, levitating cross-legged above the Sigil Sand as they telekinetically drew an ever-shifting mosaic of mandalas in it. Rings of black Miasma wafted up from these mandalas, retaining their forms as they floated higher and higher, creating a spiralling helix of stacked spell circles.
Despite not technically being in the same version of the Adderwood as the manor house, their supernatural senses meant that they were not wholly oblivious to what was going on there, either.
“It seems no one present feels the need to avenge old Grimaldus,” Emrys commented. “That’s the problem with ruling through fear. Your death is neither mourned nor avenged, but celebrated. I know my subjects celebrated when they thought I had died, and rightfully so.”
“You’re not that ancient Celtic warlord anymore. I’d mourn and avenge you, Emrys,” Petra vowed. “Though I suppose I wouldn’t have much company in that. Ivy and her inner circle are still the only ones genuinely loyal to us.”
“Which is perfectly understandable. I’ve been a bogeyman of the Ophion Occult Order for centuries. That won’t change overnight,” he said. “It will take time, and effort, but little by little we will gain the respect of those Adderman who can be reformed, and rid ourselves of those who cannot.”
Petra nodded absent-mindedly, the fate of the Order being of no special concern of hers now. She stretched out a hand towards the Sigil Sand beneath her, and a small host of shimmering scarab beetles surfaced at her command. One of them unfurled its wings and fluttered up to perch upon her extended index finger.
“They’re doing well here,” she smiled, inspecting the scarab as it crawled along her finger. “They’ve absorbed a lot of our power from the Sand, and they seem to have developed an affinity for me. With a bit of luck, I think I might be able to train them to take on a shadow form.”
“What about their Ichor? Is it still agreeing with you?” Emrys asked. “It is the blood of a Titan, after all. You’ve never absorbed the humours of something that powerful before.”
“It’s the blood of a dead Titan, so obviously he wasn’t that powerful,” Petra replied. “I only took a few ounces, anyway. Barely a fraction of a percent of a millionth of his power. The Zarathustrans each drank pints of the stuff when it was fresh, and they turned out fine.”
“They were made in their god’s image; you weren’t,” Emrys reminded her gently, the paternal concern obvious in his voice.
“I was made in your image. Do you really think that a few drops of stale Ichor is any match for The Darkness Beyond?” Petra asked rhetorically.
“Of course not, but you’re still very human, Petra. More than I am, and perhaps more than I ever was,” he answered her. “Even if the Darkness Beyond is untouchable, our physical incarnations are not. I tried to overthrow the gods when I first became one with the Outer Darkness, and it got me tossed into the belly of the World Serpent. I implore you; be better than I was, and don’t let your new gifts lull you into thinking that you’re invincible.”
“Okay dad,” she teased, but then suddenly grew pensive as the weight of his words sunk in. “I… don’t really remember much of my old life, other than how it ended. I don’t think I am that girl anymore, no more than you’re that warlord. The Darkness Beyond has made us both so much more, and now that your chains are broken it flows throw us stronger than ever. When I meditate, I can hear my twin hearts; the heart you gave me and the heart I took back. Two heartbeats make it kind of hard to forget that I’m not an ordinary human anymore. And the heart that Mary stabbed, the one that was transfigured into shadow by my own Miasma, I know that heart at least won’t be content until its lost humanity is avenged.”
Sighing, she glanced upwards at the towering spellwork vortex they had created.
“Do you think it’s big enough?” she asked.
“It was big enough twenty minutes ago. Everything since then has just been pompous overkill,” Emrys smiled. “If you’re satisfied with it, we can manifest it now.”
Still gazing skywards, she slowly turned her head back and forth, before nodding in approval. Emrys nodded in turn, and produced a deep purple rose from within his sable robes. He raised it to his face, took a savoury sniff of it, and then whispered a soft incantation before tossing it into the Sand below.
Before it even hit the ground, it disintegrated into innumerable desiccated fragments that became swept up in the Miasmal vortex. The vortex rapidly expanded outwards, growing to a diameter of over forty feet. The Megalith vanished as the vortex shifted into yet another version of the Adderwood where it could grow unimpeded. The vortex spun around faster and faster, its vaporous spirals growing thicker and more condensed until it resembled a small tornado. With a single thundercrack that echoed throughout the entire forest, the vortex solidified into a deep purple volcanic stone, leaving a thirteen-story spire in its wake.
The outside of the spire looked like blooming, thorny rose vines snaking around each other in a double helix. Windows and balcony doors were made of thinner, paler, and translucent segments of volcanic glass. At the very top of the spire was an observation deck capped with a stained-glass roof that made it look like a rose blossom with a tall, spiral steeple that seemed to be almost phosphorescent in the gleaming moonlight.
Within the spire, Petra and Emrys set their feet upon the ground and began eagerly appraising their creation. There was a single stairwell in the center, a spiral staircase along the side, corkscrewing all the way up to the top. Elaborate relief sculptures embellished the thick stone walls, illuminated by the strange, flickering light of violet salt lamps.
“Oh – my – god!” Petra gasped, spinning around in astonishment as she tried to take in as much detail as she could. “I love it! I love it!”
“Not a bad place to call home,” Emrys said as he nodded in approval. “I dare say it’s a bit of an upgrade from the old sanctum. Better than staying in Adderwood Manor, at any rate.”
“The Omphalosium! We have to check the Omphalosium!” Petra shouted excitedly, racing up the stairs and passing every chamber until she reached the very top.
Beneath the stained-glass ceiling of the watchtower room, the floor was bare except for a single pedestal at its center. Atop the pedestal sat a large sphere which somewhat resembled a celestial globe, comprised of multiple concentric crystalline spheres and bronze rings. Each slowly wobbled about on its own accord, the glowing stars and constellations shifting slowly as they did so. Surrounding the globe were nine complex dialling mechanisms that appeared to be some form of astrolabes.
Petra immediately ran straight over to the device, peering into the globe with an intense curiosity.
“Emrys? Emrys! Is it working?” she demanded eagerly.
Emrys calmly walked up to the globe, and gently set his hand upon it.
“It is,” he said with a satisfied nod. “The Adderwood has always been a nexus between worlds, but too wild and chaotic to be a true hub for wanderers. The Order never had the ability to realize the full potential of the Adderwood, and they bound my power to ensure that I couldn’t either. But now, every potential pathway that runs through the Adderwood is threaded through this spire. From this room, we can map them, direct them, choose which ones to bring to fruition, and which ones to cull. It can serve as a lighthouse to our allies, and a guard tower against our enemies. From here, we can travel the worlds, or bring the worlds to us.”
He spun the globe around, setting the astrolabes around it and the skylight above it spinning as well. The skylight lit up with constellations all its own, projecting them downwards into specifically carved glyphs in the floor. As the astrolabes locked into place, Petra noticed that nine arched doorways of intertwining stone vines lined the perimeter of the watchtower room, each with an astrolabe above it that spun in unison with one on the pedestal. When all the spinning finally stopped and all stood still, one of the doorways swung open, revealing an inky black portal of billowing mist.
The portal wasn’t open for more than a few seconds before a tall, hunchbacked being came striding through. Its head possessed only a singular, cyclopean orifice which held a glowing, wispy orb at the center of its skull. A pair of long, fanged tentacles hung down almost to its waist, sets of spiracles and tendrils running all along their length. It stood upon digitigrade feet and had seven clawed digits split between its two hands, one of which held an ornate staff. Its ostentatious robes and cephalopod-like skin were each a golden brown, and both shone eerily in the violet let of the spire.
“Mathom-meister!” Emrys greeted enthusiastically, gesturing proudly to all that surrounded them. “How did we do?”
The being slowly swivelled his head from one side to the other, his tentacles poised upwards like snakes about to strike. With his free hand, he reached into his robes and pulled out another astrolabe, waving it back and forth and reading it like a compass.
“The nexus is stable,” he announced, before moving on to inspect the pedestal itself. “Your Omphalosium is… crude, but adequate. The décor is atrocious, but that’s a strictly personal opinion and outside of my professional purview. You two followed my instructions as well as I could have hoped for non-Zarathustrans. Adderwood Spire should serve well as a base to explore this branch of the World Tree.”
“Hmmm. I’m not sure we want to call it ‘Adderwood Spire’, Adderwood being so strongly associated with the Ophion Occult Order. We want it associated with us,” Emrys said.
“How about ‘The Shadowed Spire’?” Petra suggested, briefly transitioning into her shadow form and appearing at Mathom-meister’s side. “Shadows are kind of our thing.”
“The spire is yours, as per our agreement. Call it what you wish,” Mathom-meister replied. “So long as you keep in mind that when we find the Darlings, while the honour of slaying them may fall to you, their playroom is mine. And that is a name I will most certainly be changing to one more to my liking.”
He began to telekinetically spin the celestial globe around and around, casting projections of rotating constellations onto the entire chamber.
“Magnificent. Truly Magnificent. You two have done me a great service,” he said, ravenously peering into the spinning globe. “With our combined knowledge and powers, we will tame the monsters that haunt these worlds. We will purge them of abominations like the Darlings, safeguard them from the encroaching Black Bile and other Outer Horrors, and ensure they are forever untouched by the festering rot of – ”
His monologue was cut short by the sound of tired footsteps and laboured breathing ascending the staircase. The three of them all turned to see an exhausted Fenwick forcing his way up the final steps.
“Bioelectrically enhanced physique, and she sends the portly bloke to climb to the top of the bloody spire. I miss the Grand Adderman already,” he panted, bending over as he tried to catch his breath. “… don’t tell her I said that. Oy there, you must be Mathom-meister. Fenwick Humberton, Arch Adderman, at your service.”
“Fenwick! Glad you didn’t have any trouble finding the place,” Emrys greeted. “I’m sure the reason Ivy sent you is because of your head for navigating the Adderwood.”
“True enough, true enough,” he nodded reluctantly. “Still though; thirteen stories, and no lift? You’re a monster. This has to be a violation of some kind of accessibility act. Anyway, Ivy wants you to know that we got all the Head Addermen to sign your Covenant, so the Order’s officially yours. If you’re done with the spire for now, she’d like you to come down and shake some hands, make a speech, do a Q&A, stuff like that. There’s punch and cookies, if that sweetens the pot. It is store-brand punch, mind you – ninety-nine pence a can – because nothing was going to be good enough for that lot anyway so why even bother? Might help to humanize you a bit, if you partake in the refreshments. Only time any of us ever saw the Grand Adderman consume anything was when he was sucking the essence out of a ritual sacrifice. I won’t miss that. They’d literally start to mummify before they had even stopped screaming. Nasty stuff, I tell you. Nasty stuff.”
“I suppose it would be a good idea to formally introduce ourselves to the chapter heads while they’re all in one place,” Emrys agreed.
“And I’m at least still human enough that I can’t say no to free cookies,” Petra added.
“What about you, Mathom-meister?” Emrys asked. “Would you like to join us?”
“The internal affairs of this middling cult you’ve co-opted are no concern of mine, and solid foods offer me no temptation,” he replied, gesturing with the fangs of his tentacles. “I will, however, accompany you as a display of our alliance to your underlings to help consolidate your power. And if – and only if – I deem it appealing, I may partake in this ‘ninety-nine pence punch’, as well.”
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2023.12.17 01:32 A_Vespertine Stone & Shadow

Chapter One, Volume V of The Harrowick Chronicles
“Let’s address the elephant in the room first, shall we?” Ivy Noir asked, smugly perched upon the former Grand Adderman’s throne, her husband Erich seated to her left and her sister Envy to her right. “Does anyone in this hall think that I’m a traitor?”
It had never been uncommon for those gathered within the exalted Grand Hall of Adderwood Manor to be cowed into silence, but in the past, it had normally been either the Grand Adderman or sometimes the Darling Twins whom they dared not anger. Now, the Grand Adderman was dead, the Darlings were fugitives of the Ophion Occult Order, and Ivy Noir was to blame.
From a combination of her family’s intergenerational wealth and occult status, alongside her innate intellect and ambition, Ivy had advanced quickly through the Order’s ranks. When the Grand Adderman had threatened the life of her beloved little sister, she wasn’t long in concocting a scheme to take advantage of a conflict with the entity they knew as Emrys to ensure that the Grand Adderman’s days were numbered.
The question of whether or not that made her a traitor still hung in the air, as it seemed no one wanted to be the first to answer it.
“Oy, the Lady Noir asked you lot a question,” Fenwick stated, taking a step towards the assembly of Head and Elder Adderman before him. “We’ve had a bit of a shakeup of our upper management in recent days, and we’d just like to know if there’s anyone who feels that it may not have been entirely above board, yeah? Me personally, I was never all that close to the Grand Adderman. Never even knew his name was Grimaldus until Emrys blurted it out before he killed him. Who names their kid that, honestly? Who looks at a sweet helpless little baby and decides to call it Grimaldus? What are you expecting your kid to grow up to be with a name like that? Maybe not a spectral, undead occultist, necessarily, but it’s ominous, yeah?”
“Fenwick,” Ivy chastised him, though she sounded more amused than annoyed.
“Sorry, just thinking out loud a bit. Won’t happen again,” he claimed. He picked up a bound document of parchment and held it for everyone to see. “I trust you’ve all read your copy of the Covenant the Order made with Emrys? Any of you who sign your True Name to this will be bound by the Covenant and its mandates, and in return, Emrys will be oathbound to spare your life and pardon any prior transgressions! You will be free to return to your chapterhouses and run them as you otherwise see fit. That’s a pretty good deal then, innit?”
“You speak as if we should be grateful,” the mystical merchant Meremoth Mothman grumbled as he slowly rose from his seat. “That spoiled and pampered daughter of the arcane bloodlines conspired against the Grand Adderman, handed him over to our enemy to be murdered, surrendered to him on our behalf without any input from us, and we’re supposed to be grateful?”
“Do you then seriously think that our Order ever truly stood a chance in a full-on war with Emrys, or that the late Grand Adderman would ever have surrendered?” Ivy asked. “Most of us would have been killed and our Order obliterated, which is why you should be grateful that I overthrew him before it came to that.”
“You forfeited this mansion – our headquarters – and everything in it to Emrys!” the Baphometic Witch Pandora screamed. “The Reliquary, the Megalith, everything!”
“This is still our headquarters. This is still where members of different chapters will meet to collaborate and coordinate with one another,” Ivy assured her.
“Under your rule, backed by the power of Emrys,” Mothman objected. “You say you’ve brought us peace with Emrys, but it feels more like we’ve been conquered! We make a substantial number of concessions in this Covenant you agreed to, and as far as I can see Emrys didn’t make a single one. The only members of the Order who stand to gain anything from this arrangement are you and anyone willing to lick your boots!”
“Our surrender was unconditional because Emrys’ victory was absolute,” Erich proclaimed. “His chains are now broken. His power is unchecked. He slayed the Grand Adderman, the most powerful of our Order, with barely any effort at all! The Darlings fled rather than risk a confrontation with him! Had Ivy not accepted his offer of surrender, he would have burned this place to the ground and begun hunting you all down one by one. If that’s a fate any of you would prefer, you’re welcome not to join the Covenant. Anyone who wishes to survive will first and foremost surrender any contraband or fugitives as defined by the Covenant over to Emrys. Any information leading to the capture or demise of the Darlings in particular will be handsomely rewarded.”
“Does anyone here truly lament the ousting of the Darlings from our Order, or the death of the Grand Adderman for that matter?” Ivy asked. “The Grand Adderman was a tyrant, and the Darlings are depraved serial killers and cannibals! Emrys was a victim of the Grand Adderman, the same as many of us, and he has already proven himself far more reasonable and compassionate. Our Covenant with him will require that we become more reasonable and compassionate ourselves, something which I realize some of you may not welcome, but I think there are many more in the Order who would consider such reforms well overdue.”
“Will this include the banning of human experimentation and vivisection?” Crowley demanded through his gramophone horn, the disembodied brain bobbing up and down vehemently in his bubbling vat.
“…At a minimum, yes,” Ivy replied.
“Blast!” Crowley shouted, dejectedly sinking downwards.
“Surely Emrys does not intend to emancipate my workforce?” the revenant industrialist Raubritter asked. “They all consented to their servitude. I have all the contracts on file should he wish to review them.”
“Some of the specifics do remain to be worked out, but the bottom line is that Emrys will always get the final word,” Envy replied. “Raubritter, I would at the very least prepare your Foundry for an audit.”
“So in other words, all our fates are now Emrys’ to decide!” Pandora spat. “Where is Emrys now?”
“Outside in the Megalith, working on some spellcraft with his daughter,” Envy replied casually, an eerie hush falling upon the hall at this revelation.
“He… he’s here. Now?” Meremoth murmured.
“Of course. The manor and its grounds are his now, remember? We are all his guests, and as such, it behooves each of us to be on our best behaviour while we are here,” Ivy informed them with a sly smile. “If any of us were to cause a disturbance, or worse, during a visit, I don’t doubt that Emrys would be swift to put his house back in order.”
Everyone in the hall exchanged uneasy glances, most of them unsure of what they should do or, if they were, unwilling to be the first to do it.
“Right then, so who wants to come up and sign their chapter up for this here Covenant, then?” Fenwick asked, holding up the document in one hand and a fountain pen in the other. Those in the front row immediately bolted up to sign, with the rest of the hall queuing up behind them, however reluctantly. “Right then, that’s the spirit. Sooner we get the formalities out of the way, the sooner we can move on to punch on cookies. And yes, I’m afraid those are the only refreshments we have on hand at the moment. This meeting was short notice, and we’re a bit understaffed, what with the state of things and all. The cookies are from Sweet Tooth’s, but I made the punch myself. Well, I made it from concentrate, but that’s still effort. Always takes those cans of ice longer to dethaw than you expect or than you have, doesn’t it? You got to take a potato masher to it then stir it up until there are no chunks of slush left, it’s a whole ordeal.”
***
The Adderwood Megalith was not in actuality ‘outside’ the manor house, but was rather superimposed upon it. The Adderwood itself existed in a superposition of all its possible states at once, only reverting to a singular form when it was observed. Non-Euclidean trails winding through higher dimensions were never the same twice, and trusted landmarks were not always to be found. In one state the Adderwood held an Old English manor house the Ophion Occult Order had been using as their headquarters since the 18th century. In another, it held an ancient Megalith made by mighty and forgotten sorcerers. In others, neither of these existed, and an unlucky fool could wander the Adderwood forever without coming across them.
Emrys and his acolyte Petra sat across from one another in the Megalith, levitating cross-legged above the Sigil Sand as they telekinetically drew an ever-shifting mosaic of mandalas in it. Rings of black Miasma wafted up from these mandalas, retaining their forms as they floated higher and higher, creating a spiralling helix of stacked spell circles.
Despite not technically being in the same version of the Adderwood as the manor house, their supernatural senses meant that they were not wholly oblivious to what was going on there, either.
“It seems no one present feels the need to avenge old Grimaldus,” Emrys commented. “That’s the problem with ruling through fear. Your death is neither mourned nor avenged, but celebrated. I know my subjects celebrated when they thought I had died, and rightfully so.”
“You’re not that ancient Celtic warlord anymore. I’d mourn and avenge you, Emrys,” Petra vowed. “Though I suppose I wouldn’t have much company in that. Ivy and her inner circle are still the only ones genuinely loyal to us.”
“Which is perfectly understandable. I’ve been a bogeyman of the Ophion Occult Order for centuries. That won’t change overnight,” he said. “It will take time, and effort, but little by little we will gain the respect of those Adderman who can be reformed, and rid ourselves of those who cannot.”
Petra nodded absent-mindedly, the fate of the Order being of no special concern of hers now. She stretched out a hand towards the Sigil Sand beneath her, and a small host of shimmering scarab beetles surfaced at her command. One of them unfurled its wings and fluttered up to perch upon her extended index finger.
“They’re doing well here,” she smiled, inspecting the scarab as it crawled along her finger. “They’ve absorbed a lot of our power from the Sand, and they seem to have developed an affinity for me. With a bit of luck, I think I might be able to train them to take on a shadow form.”
“What about their Ichor? Is it still agreeing with you?” Emrys asked. “It is the blood of a Titan, after all. You’ve never absorbed the humours of something that powerful before.”
“It’s the blood of a dead Titan, so obviously he wasn’t that powerful,” Petra replied. “I only took a few ounces, anyway. Barely a fraction of a percent of a millionth of his power. The Zarathustrans each drank pints of the stuff when it was fresh, and they turned out fine.”
“They were made in their god’s image; you weren’t,” Emrys reminded her gently, the paternal concern obvious in his voice.
“I was made in your image. Do you really think that a few drops of stale Ichor is any match for The Darkness Beyond?” Petra asked rhetorically.
“Of course not, but you’re still very human, Petra. More than I am, and perhaps more than I ever was,” he answered her. “Even if the Darkness Beyond is untouchable, our physical incarnations are not. I tried to overthrow the gods when I first became one with the Outer Darkness, and it got me tossed into the belly of the World Serpent. I implore you; be better than I was, and don’t let your new gifts lull you into thinking that you’re invincible.”
“Okay dad,” she teased, but then suddenly grew pensive as the weight of his words sunk in. “I… don’t really remember much of my old life, other than how it ended. I don’t think I am that girl anymore, no more than you’re that warlord. The Darkness Beyond has made us both so much more, and now that your chains are broken it flows throw us stronger than ever. When I meditate, I can hear my twin hearts; the heart you gave me and the heart I took back. Two heartbeats make it kind of hard to forget that I’m not an ordinary human anymore. And the heart that Mary stabbed, the one that was transfigured into shadow by my own Miasma, I know that heart at least won’t be content until its lost humanity is avenged.”
Sighing, she glanced upwards at the towering spellwork vortex they had created.
“Do you think it’s big enough?” she asked.
“It was big enough twenty minutes ago. Everything since then has just been pompous overkill,” Emrys smiled. “If you’re satisfied with it, we can manifest it now.”
Still gazing skywards, she slowly turned her head back and forth, before nodding in approval. Emrys nodded in turn, and produced a deep purple rose from within his sable robes. He raised it to his face, took a savoury sniff of it, and then whispered a soft incantation before tossing it into the Sand below.
Before it even hit the ground, it disintegrated into innumerable desiccated fragments that became swept up in the Miasmal vortex. The vortex rapidly expanded outwards, growing to a diameter of over forty feet. The Megalith vanished as the vortex shifted into yet another version of the Adderwood where it could grow unimpeded. The vortex spun around faster and faster, its vaporous spirals growing thicker and more condensed until it resembled a small tornado. With a single thundercrack that echoed throughout the entire forest, the vortex solidified into a deep purple volcanic stone, leaving a thirteen-story spire in its wake.
The outside of the spire looked like blooming, thorny rose vines snaking around each other in a double helix. Windows and balcony doors were made of thinner, paler, and translucent segments of volcanic glass. At the very top of the spire was an observation deck capped with a stained-glass roof that made it look like a rose blossom with a tall, spiral steeple that seemed to be almost phosphorescent in the gleaming moonlight.
Within the spire, Petra and Emrys set their feet upon the ground and began eagerly appraising their creation. There was a single stairwell in the center, a spiral staircase along the side, corkscrewing all the way up to the top. Elaborate relief sculptures embellished the thick stone walls, illuminated by the strange, flickering light of violet salt lamps.
“Oh – my – god!” Petra gasped, spinning around in astonishment as she tried to take in as much detail as she could. “I love it! I love it!”
“Not a bad place to call home,” Emrys said as he nodded in approval. “I dare say it’s a bit of an upgrade from the old sanctum. Better than staying in Adderwood Manor, at any rate.”
“The Omphalosium! We have to check the Omphalosium!” Petra shouted excitedly, racing up the stairs and passing every chamber until she reached the very top.
Beneath the stained-glass ceiling of the watchtower room, the floor was bare except for a single pedestal at its center. Atop the pedestal sat a large sphere which somewhat resembled a celestial globe, comprised of multiple concentric crystalline spheres and bronze rings. Each slowly wobbled about on its own accord, the glowing stars and constellations shifting slowly as they did so. Surrounding the globe were nine complex dialling mechanisms that appeared to be some form of astrolabes.
Petra immediately ran straight over to the device, peering into the globe with an intense curiosity.
“Emrys? Emrys! Is it working?” she demanded eagerly.
Emrys calmly walked up to the globe, and gently set his hand upon it.
“It is,” he said with a satisfied nod. “The Adderwood has always been a nexus between worlds, but too wild and chaotic to be a true hub for wanderers. The Order never had the ability to realize the full potential of the Adderwood, and they bound my power to ensure that I couldn’t either. But now, every potential pathway that runs through the Adderwood is threaded through this spire. From this room, we can map them, direct them, choose which ones to bring to fruition, and which ones to cull. It can serve as a lighthouse to our allies, and a guard tower against our enemies. From here, we can travel the worlds, or bring the worlds to us.”
He spun the globe around, setting the astrolabes around it and the skylight above it spinning as well. The skylight lit up with constellations all its own, projecting them downwards into specifically carved glyphs in the floor. As the astrolabes locked into place, Petra noticed that nine arched doorways of intertwining stone vines lined the perimeter of the watchtower room, each with an astrolabe above it that spun in unison with one on the pedestal. When all the spinning finally stopped and all stood still, one of the doorways swung open, revealing an inky black portal of billowing mist.
The portal wasn’t open for more than a few seconds before a tall, hunchbacked being came striding through. Its head possessed only a singular, cyclopean orifice which held a glowing, wispy orb at the center of its skull. A pair of long, fanged tentacles hung down almost to its waist, sets of spiracles and tendrils running all along their length. It stood upon digitigrade feet and had seven clawed digits split between its two hands, one of which held an ornate staff. Its ostentatious robes and cephalopod-like skin were each a golden brown, and both shone eerily in the violet let of the spire.
“Mathom-meister!” Emrys greeted enthusiastically, gesturing proudly to all that surrounded them. “How did we do?”
The being slowly swivelled his head from one side to the other, his tentacles poised upwards like snakes about to strike. With his free hand, he reached into his robes and pulled out another astrolabe, waving it back and forth and reading it like a compass.
“The nexus is stable,” he announced, before moving on to inspect the pedestal itself. “Your Omphalosium is… crude, but adequate. The décor is atrocious, but that’s a strictly personal opinion and outside of my professional purview. You two followed my instructions as well as I could have hoped for non-Zarathustrans. Adderwood Spire should serve well as a base to explore this branch of the World Tree.”
“Hmmm. I’m not sure we want to call it ‘Adderwood Spire’, Adderwood being so strongly associated with the Ophion Occult Order. We want it associated with us,” Emrys said.
“How about ‘The Shadowed Spire’?” Petra suggested, briefly transitioning into her shadow form and appearing at Mathom-meister’s side. “Shadows are kind of our thing.”
“The spire is yours, as per our agreement. Call it what you wish,” Mathom-meister replied. “So long as you keep in mind that when we find the Darlings, while the honour of slaying them may fall to you, their playroom is mine. And that is a name I will most certainly be changing to one more to my liking.”
He began to telekinetically spin the celestial globe around and around, casting projections of rotating constellations onto the entire chamber.
“Magnificent. Truly Magnificent. You two have done me a great service,” he said, ravenously peering into the spinning globe. “With our combined knowledge and powers, we will tame the monsters that haunt these worlds. We will purge them of abominations like the Darlings, safeguard them from the encroaching Black Bile and other Outer Horrors, and ensure they are forever untouched by the festering rot of – ”
His monologue was cut short by the sound of tired footsteps and laboured breathing ascending the staircase. The three of them all turned to see an exhausted Fenwick forcing his way up the final steps.
“Bioelectrically enhanced physique, and she sends the portly bloke to climb to the top of the bloody spire. I miss the Grand Adderman already,” he panted, bending over as he tried to catch his breath. “… don’t tell her I said that. Oy there, you must be Mathom-meister. Fenwick Humberton, Arch Adderman, at your service.”
“Fenwick! Glad you didn’t have any trouble finding the place,” Emrys greeted. “I’m sure the reason Ivy sent you is because of your head for navigating the Adderwood.”
“True enough, true enough,” he nodded reluctantly. “Still though; thirteen stories, and no lift? You’re a monster. This has to be a violation of some kind of accessibility act. Anyway, Ivy wants you to know that we got all the Head Addermen to sign your Covenant, so the Order’s officially yours. If you’re done with the spire for now, she’d like you to come down and shake some hands, make a speech, do a Q&A, stuff like that. There’s punch and cookies, if that sweetens the pot. It is store-brand punch, mind you – ninety-nine pence a can – because nothing was going to be good enough for that lot anyway so why even bother? Might help to humanize you a bit, if you partake in the refreshments. Only time any of us ever saw the Grand Adderman consume anything was when he was sucking the essence out of a ritual sacrifice. I won’t miss that. They’d literally start to mummify before they had even stopped screaming. Nasty stuff, I tell you. Nasty stuff.”
“I suppose it would be a good idea to formally introduce ourselves to the chapter heads while they’re all in one place,” Emrys agreed.
“And I’m at least still human enough that I can’t say no to free cookies,” Petra added.
“What about you, Mathom-meister?” Emrys asked. “Would you like to join us?”
“The internal affairs of this middling cult you’ve co-opted are no concern of mine, and solid foods offer me no temptation,” he replied, gesturing with the fangs of his tentacles. “I will, however, accompany you as a display of our alliance to your underlings to help consolidate your power. And if – and only if – I deem it appealing, I may partake in this ‘ninety-nine pence punch’, as well.”
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2023.12.10 03:07 A_Vespertine Stone & Shadow

After the defeat of the Grand Adderman, Emrys consolidates his control over the Ophion Occult Order.
“Let’s address the elephant in the room first, shall we?” Ivy Noir asked, smugly perched upon the former Grand Adderman’s throne, her husband Erich seated to her left and her sister Envy to her right. “Does anyone in this hall think that I’m a traitor?”
It had never been uncommon for those gathered within the exalted Grand Hall of Adderwood Manor to be cowed into silence, but in the past, it had normally been either the Grand Adderman or sometimes the Darling Twins whom they dared not anger. Now, the Grand Adderman was dead, the Darlings were fugitives of the Ophion Occult Order, and Ivy Noir was to blame.
From a combination of her family’s intergenerational wealth and occult status, alongside her innate intellect and ambition, Ivy had advanced quickly through the Order’s ranks. When the Grand Adderman had threatened the life of her beloved little sister, she wasn’t long in concocting a scheme to take advantage of a conflict with the entity they knew as Emrys to ensure that the Grand Adderman’s days were numbered.
The question of whether or not that made her a traitor still hung in the air, as it seemed no one wanted to be the first to answer it.
“Oy, the Lady Noir asked you lot a question,” Fenwick stated, taking a step towards the assembly of Head and Elder Adderman before him. “We’ve had a bit of a shakeup of our upper management in recent days, and we’d just like to know if there’s anyone who feels that it may not have been entirely above board, yeah? Me personally, I was never all that close to the Grand Adderman. Never even knew his name was Grimaldus until Emrys blurted it out before he killed him. Who names their kid that, honestly? Who looks at a sweet helpless little baby and decides to call it Grimaldus? What are you expecting your kid to grow up to be with a name like that? Maybe not a spectral, undead occultist, necessarily, but it’s ominous, yeah?”
“Fenwick,” Ivy chastised him, though she sounded more amused than annoyed.
“Sorry, just thinking out loud a bit. Won’t happen again,” he claimed. He picked up a bound document of parchment and held it for everyone to see. “I trust you’ve all read your copy of the Covenant the Order made with Emrys? Any of you who sign your True Name to this will be bound by the Covenant and its mandates, and in return, Emrys will be oathbound to spare your life and pardon any prior transgressions! You will be free to return to your chapterhouses and run them as you otherwise see fit. That’s a pretty good deal then, innit?”
“You speak as if we should be grateful,” the mystical merchant Meremoth Mothman grumbled as he slowly rose from his seat. “That spoiled and pampered daughter of the arcane bloodlines conspired against the Grand Adderman, handed him over to our enemy to be murdered, surrendered to him on our behalf without any input from us, and we’re supposed to be grateful?”
“Do you then seriously think that our Order ever truly stood a chance in a full-on war with Emrys, or that the late Grand Adderman would ever have surrendered?” Ivy asked. “Most of us would have been killed and our Order obliterated, which is why you should be grateful that I overthrew him before it came to that.”
“You forfeited this mansion – our headquarters – and everything in it to Emrys!” the Baphometic Witch Pandora screamed. “The Reliquary, the Megalith, everything!”
“This is still our headquarters. This is still where members of different chapters will meet to collaborate and coordinate with one another,” Ivy assured her.
“Under your rule, backed by the power of Emrys,” Mothman objected. “You say you’ve brought us peace with Emrys, but it feels more like we’ve been conquered! We make a substantial number of concessions in this Covenant you agreed to, and as far as I can see Emrys didn’t make a single one. The only members of the Order who stand to gain anything from this arrangement are you and anyone willing to lick your boots!”
“Our surrender was unconditional because Emrys’ victory was absolute,” Erich proclaimed. “His chains are now broken. His power is unchecked. He slayed the Grand Adderman, the most powerful of our Order, with barely any effort at all! The Darlings fled rather than risk a confrontation with him! Had Ivy not accepted his offer of surrender, he would have burned this place to the ground and begun hunting you all down one by one. If that’s a fate any of you would prefer, you’re welcome not to join the Covenant. Anyone who wishes to survive will first and foremost surrender any contraband or fugitives as defined by the Covenant over to Emrys. Any information leading to the capture or demise of the Darlings in particular will be handsomely rewarded.”
“Does anyone here truly lament the ousting of the Darlings from our Order, or the death of the Grand Adderman for that matter?” Ivy asked. “The Grand Adderman was a tyrant, and the Darlings are depraved serial killers and cannibals! Emrys was a victim of the Grand Adderman, the same as many of us, and he has already proven himself far more reasonable and compassionate. Our Covenant with him will require that we become more reasonable and compassionate ourselves, something which I realize some of you may not welcome, but I think there are many more in the Order who would consider such reforms well overdue.”
“Will this include the banning of human experimentation and vivisection?” Crowley demanded through his gramophone horn, the disembodied brain bobbing up and down vehemently in his bubbling vat.
“…At a minimum, yes,” Ivy replied.
“Blast!” Crowley shouted, dejectedly sinking downwards.
“Surely Emrys does not intend to emancipate my workforce?” the revenant industrialist Raubritter asked. “They all consented to their servitude. I have all the contracts on file should he wish to review them.”
“Some of the specifics do remain to be worked out, but the bottom line is that Emrys will always get the final word,” Envy replied. “Raubritter, I would at the very least prepare your Foundry for an audit.”
“So in other words, all our fates are now Emrys’ to decide!” Pandora spat. “Where is Emrys now?”
“Outside in the Megalith, working on some spellcraft with his daughter,” Envy replied casually, an eerie hush falling upon the hall at this revelation.
“He… he’s here. Now?” Meremoth murmured.
“Of course. The manor and its grounds are his now, remember? We are all his guests, and as such, it behooves each of us to be on our best behaviour while we are here,” Ivy informed them with a sly smile. “If any of us were to cause a disturbance, or worse, during a visit, I don’t doubt that Emrys would be swift to put his house back in order.”
Everyone in the hall exchanged uneasy glances, most of them unsure of what they should do or, if they were, unwilling to be the first to do it.
“Right then, so who wants to come up and sign their chapter up for this here Covenant, then?” Fenwick asked, holding up the document in one hand and a fountain pen in the other. Those in the front row immediately bolted up to sign, with the rest of the hall queuing up behind them, however reluctantly. “Right then, that’s the spirit. Sooner we get the formalities out of the way, the sooner we can move on to punch on cookies. And yes, I’m afraid those are the only refreshments we have on hand at the moment. This meeting was short notice, and we’re a bit understaffed, what with the state of things and all. The cookies are from Sweet Tooth’s, but I made the punch myself. Well, I made it from concentrate, but that’s still effort. Always takes those cans of ice longer to dethaw than you expect or than you have, doesn’t it? You got to take a potato masher to it then stir it up until there are no chunks of slush left, it’s a whole ordeal.”
***
The Adderwood Megalith was not in actuality ‘outside’ the manor house, but was rather superimposed upon it. The Adderwood itself existed in a superposition of all its possible states at once, only reverting to a singular form when it was observed. Non-Euclidean trails winding through higher dimensions were never the same twice, and trusted landmarks were not always to be found. In one state the Adderwood held an Old English manor house the Ophion Occult Order had been using as their headquarters since the 18th century. In another, it held an ancient Megalith made by mighty and forgotten sorcerers. In others, neither of these existed, and an unlucky fool could wander the Adderwood forever without coming across them.
Emrys and his acolyte Petra sat across from one another in the Megalith, levitating cross-legged above the Sigil Sand as they telekinetically drew an ever-shifting mosaic of mandalas in it. Rings of black Miasma wafted up from these mandalas, retaining their forms as they floated higher and higher, creating a spiralling helix of stacked spell circles.
Despite not technically being in the same version of the Adderwood as the manor house, their supernatural senses meant that they were not wholly oblivious to what was going on there, either.
“It seems no one present feels the need to avenge old Grimaldus,” Emrys commented. “That’s the problem with ruling through fear. Your death is neither mourned nor avenged, but celebrated. I know my subjects celebrated when they thought I had died, and rightfully so.”
“You’re not that ancient Celtic warlord anymore. I’d mourn and avenge you, Emrys,” Petra vowed. “Though I suppose I wouldn’t have much company in that. Ivy and her inner circle are still the only ones genuinely loyal to us.”
“Which is perfectly understandable. I’ve been a bogeyman of the Ophion Occult Order for centuries. That won’t change overnight,” he said. “It will take time, and effort, but little by little we will gain the respect of those Adderman who can be reformed, and rid ourselves of those who cannot.”
Petra nodded absent-mindedly, the fate of the Order being of no special concern of hers now. She stretched out a hand towards the Sigil Sand beneath her, and a small host of shimmering scarab beetles surfaced at her command. One of them unfurled its wings and fluttered up to perch upon her extended index finger.
“They’re doing well here,” she smiled, inspecting the scarab as it crawled along her finger. “They’ve absorbed a lot of our power from the Sand, and they seem to have developed an affinity for me. With a bit of luck, I think I might be able to train them to take on a shadow form.”
“What about their Ichor? Is it still agreeing with you?” Emrys asked. “It is the blood of a Titan, after all. You’ve never absorbed the humours of something that powerful before.”
“It’s the blood of a dead Titan, so obviously he wasn’t that powerful,” Petra replied. “I only took a few ounces, anyway. Barely a fraction of a percent of a millionth of his power. The Zarathustrans each drank pints of the stuff when it was fresh, and they turned out fine.”
“They were made in their god’s image; you weren’t,” Emrys reminded her gently, the paternal concern obvious in his voice.
“I was made in your image. Do you really think that a few drops of stale Ichor is any match for The Darkness Beyond?” Petra asked rhetorically.
“Of course not, but you’re still very human, Petra. More than I am, and perhaps more than I ever was,” he answered her. “Even if the Darkness Beyond is untouchable, our physical incarnations are not. I tried to overthrow the gods when I first became one with the Outer Darkness, and it got me tossed into the belly of the World Serpent. I implore you; be better than I was, and don’t let your new gifts lull you into thinking that you’re invincible.”
“Okay dad,” she teased, but then suddenly grew pensive as the weight of his words sunk in. “I… don’t really remember much of my old life, other than how it ended. I don’t think I am that girl anymore, no more than you’re that warlord. The Darkness Beyond has made us both so much more, and now that your chains are broken it flows throw us stronger than ever. When I meditate, I can hear my twin hearts; the heart you gave me and the heart I took back. Two heartbeats make it kind of hard to forget that I’m not an ordinary human anymore. And the heart that Mary stabbed, the one that was transfigured into shadow by my own Miasma, I know that heart at least won’t be content until its lost humanity is avenged.”
Sighing, she glanced upwards at the towering spellwork vortex they had created.
“Do you think it’s big enough?” she asked.
“It was big enough twenty minutes ago. Everything since then has just been pompous overkill,” Emrys smiled. “If you’re satisfied with it, we can manifest it now.”
Still gazing skywards, she slowly turned her head back and forth, before nodding in approval. Emrys nodded in turn, and produced a deep purple rose from within his sable robes. He raised it to his face, took a savoury sniff of it, and then whispered a soft incantation before tossing it into the Sand below.
Before it even hit the ground, it disintegrated into innumerable desiccated fragments that became swept up in the Miasmal vortex. The vortex rapidly expanded outwards, growing to a diameter of over forty feet. The Megalith vanished as the vortex shifted into yet another version of the Adderwood where it could grow unimpeded. The vortex spun around faster and faster, its vaporous spirals growing thicker and more condensed until it resembled a small tornado. With a single thundercrack that echoed throughout the entire forest, the vortex solidified into a deep purple volcanic stone, leaving a thirteen-story spire in its wake.
The outside of the spire looked like blooming, thorny rose vines snaking around each other in a double helix. Windows and balcony doors were made of thinner, paler, and translucent segments of volcanic glass. At the very top of the spire was an observation deck capped with a stained-glass roof that made it look like a rose blossom with a tall, spiral steeple that seemed to be almost phosphorescent in the gleaming moonlight.
Within the spire, Petra and Emrys set their feet upon the ground and began eagerly appraising their creation. There was a single stairwell in the center, a spiral staircase along the side, corkscrewing all the way up to the top. Elaborate relief sculptures embellished the thick stone walls, illuminated by the strange, flickering light of violet salt lamps.
“Oh – my – god!” Petra gasped, spinning around in astonishment as she tried to take in as much detail as she could. “I love it! I love it!”
“Not a bad place to call home,” Emrys said as he nodded in approval. “I dare say it’s a bit of an upgrade from the old sanctum. Better than staying in Adderwood Manor, at any rate.”
“The Omphalosium! We have to check the Omphalosium!” Petra shouted excitedly, racing up the stairs and passing every chamber until she reached the very top.
Beneath the stained-glass ceiling of the watchtower room, the floor was bare except for a single pedestal at its center. Atop the pedestal sat a large sphere which somewhat resembled a celestial globe, comprised of multiple concentric crystalline spheres and bronze rings. Each slowly wobbled about on its own accord, the glowing stars and constellations shifting slowly as they did so. Surrounding the globe were nine complex dialling mechanisms that appeared to be some form of astrolabes.
Petra immediately ran straight over to the device, peering into the globe with an intense curiosity.
“Emrys? Emrys! Is it working?” she demanded eagerly.
Emrys calmly walked up to the globe, and gently set his hand upon it.
“It is,” he said with a satisfied nod. “The Adderwood has always been a nexus between worlds, but too wild and chaotic to be a true hub for wanderers. The Order never had the ability to realize the full potential of the Adderwood, and they bound my power to ensure that I couldn’t either. But now, every potential pathway that runs through the Adderwood is threaded through this spire. From this room, we can map them, direct them, choose which ones to bring to fruition, and which ones to cull. It can serve as a lighthouse to our allies, and a guard tower against our enemies. From here, we can travel the worlds, or bring the worlds to us.”
He spun the globe around, setting the astrolabes around it and the skylight above it spinning as well. The skylight lit up with constellations all its own, projecting them downwards into specifically carved glyphs in the floor. As the astrolabes locked into place, Petra noticed that nine arched doorways of intertwining stone vines lined the perimeter of the watchtower room, each with an astrolabe above it that spun in unison with one on the pedestal. When all the spinning finally stopped and all stood still, one of the doorways swung open, revealing an inky black portal of billowing mist.
The portal wasn’t open for more than a few seconds before a tall, hunchbacked being came striding through. Its head possessed only a singular, cyclopean orifice which held a glowing, wispy orb at the center of its skull. A pair of long, fanged tentacles hung down almost to its waist, sets of spiracles and tendrils running all along their length. It stood upon digitigrade feet and had seven clawed digits split between its two hands, one of which held an ornate staff. Its ostentatious robes and cephalopod-like skin were each a golden brown, and both shone eerily in the violet let of the spire.
“Mathom-meister!” Emrys greeted enthusiastically, gesturing proudly to all that surrounded them. “How did we do?”
The being slowly swivelled his head from one side to the other, his tentacles poised upwards like snakes about to strike. With his free hand, he reached into his robes and pulled out another astrolabe, waving it back and forth and reading it like a compass.
“The nexus is stable,” he announced, before moving on to inspect the pedestal itself. “Your Omphalosium is… crude, but adequate. The décor is atrocious, but that’s a strictly personal opinion and outside of my professional purview. You two followed my instructions as well as I could have hoped for non-Zarathustrans. Adderwood Spire should serve well as a base to explore this branch of the World Tree.”
“Hmmm. I’m not sure we want to call it ‘Adderwood Spire’, Adderwood being so strongly associated with the Ophion Occult Order. We want it associated with us,” Emrys said.
“How about ‘The Shadowed Spire’?” Petra suggested, briefly transitioning into her shadow form and appearing at Mathom-meister’s side. “Shadows are kind of our thing.”
“The spire is yours, as per our agreement. Call it what you wish,” Mathom-meister replied. “So long as you keep in mind that when we find the Darlings, while the honour of slaying them may fall to you, their playroom is mine. And that is a name I will most certainly be changing to one more to my liking.”
He began to telekinetically spin the celestial globe around and around, casting projections of rotating constellations onto the entire chamber.
“Magnificent. Truly Magnificent. You two have done me a great service,” he said, ravenously peering into the spinning globe. “With our combined knowledge and powers, we will tame the monsters that haunt these worlds. We will purge them of abominations like the Darlings, safeguard them from the encroaching Black Bile and other Outer Horrors, and ensure they are forever untouched by the festering rot of – ”
His monologue was cut short by the sound of tired footsteps and laboured breathing ascending the staircase. The three of them all turned to see an exhausted Fenwick forcing his way up the final steps.
“Bioelectrically enhanced physique, and she sends the portly bloke to climb to the top of the bloody spire. I miss the Grand Adderman already,” he panted, bending over as he tried to catch his breath. “… don’t tell her I said that. Oy there, you must be Mathom-meister. Fenwick Humberton, Arch Adderman, at your service.”
“Fenwick! Glad you didn’t have any trouble finding the place,” Emrys greeted. “I’m sure the reason Ivy sent you is because of your head for navigating the Adderwood.”
“True enough, true enough,” he nodded reluctantly. “Still though; thirteen stories, and no lift? You’re a monster. This has to be a violation of some kind of accessibility act. Anyway, Ivy wants you to know that we got all the Head Addermen to sign your Covenant, so the Order’s officially yours. If you’re done with the spire for now, she’d like you to come down and shake some hands, make a speech, do a Q&A, stuff like that. There’s punch and cookies, if that sweetens the pot. It is store-brand punch, mind you – ninety-nine pence a can – because nothing was going to be good enough for that lot anyway so why even bother? Might help to humanize you a bit, if you partake in the refreshments. Only time any of us ever saw the Grand Adderman consume anything was when he was sucking the essence out of a ritual sacrifice. I won’t miss that. They’d literally start to mummify before they had even stopped screaming. Nasty stuff, I tell you. Nasty stuff.”
“I suppose it would be a good idea to formally introduce ourselves to the chapter heads while they’re all in one place,” Emrys agreed.
“And I’m at least still human enough that I can’t say no to free cookies,” Petra added.
“What about you, Mathom-meister?” Emrys asked. “Would you like to join us?”
“The internal affairs of this middling cult you’ve co-opted are no concern of mine, and solid foods offer me no temptation,” he replied, gesturing with the fangs of his tentacles. “I will, however, accompany you as a display of our alliance to your underlings to help consolidate your power. And if – and only if – I deem it appealing, I may partake in this ‘ninety-nine pence punch’, as well.”
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2023.12.10 03:07 A_Vespertine Stone & Shadow

“Let’s address the elephant in the room first, shall we?” Ivy Noir asked, smugly perched upon the former Grand Adderman’s throne, her husband Erich seated to her left and her sister Envy to her right. “Does anyone in this hall think that I’m a traitor?”
It had never been uncommon for those gathered within the exalted Grand Hall of Adderwood Manor to be cowed into silence, but in the past, it had normally been either the Grand Adderman or sometimes the Darling Twins whom they dared not anger. Now, the Grand Adderman was dead, the Darlings were fugitives of the Ophion Occult Order, and Ivy Noir was to blame.
From a combination of her family’s intergenerational wealth and occult status, alongside her innate intellect and ambition, Ivy had advanced quickly through the Order’s ranks. When the Grand Adderman had threatened the life of her beloved little sister, she wasn’t long in concocting a scheme to take advantage of a conflict with the entity they knew as Emrys to ensure that the Grand Adderman’s days were numbered.
The question of whether or not that made her a traitor still hung in the air, as it seemed no one wanted to be the first to answer it.
“Oy, the Lady Noir asked you lot a question,” Fenwick stated, taking a step towards the assembly of Head and Elder Adderman before him. “We’ve had a bit of a shakeup of our upper management in recent days, and we’d just like to know if there’s anyone who feels that it may not have been entirely above board, yeah? Me personally, I was never all that close to the Grand Adderman. Never even knew his name was Grimaldus until Emrys blurted it out before he killed him. Who names their kid that, honestly? Who looks at a sweet helpless little baby and decides to call it Grimaldus? What are you expecting your kid to grow up to be with a name like that? Maybe not a spectral, undead occultist, necessarily, but it’s ominous, yeah?”
“Fenwick,” Ivy chastised him, though she sounded more amused than annoyed.
“Sorry, just thinking out loud a bit. Won’t happen again,” he claimed. He picked up a bound document of parchment and held it for everyone to see. “I trust you’ve all read your copy of the Covenant the Order made with Emrys? Any of you who sign your True Name to this will be bound by the Covenant and its mandates, and in return, Emrys will be oathbound to spare your life and pardon any prior transgressions! You will be free to return to your chapterhouses and run them as you otherwise see fit. That’s a pretty good deal then, innit?”
“You speak as if we should be grateful,” the mystical merchant Meremoth Mothman grumbled as he slowly rose from his seat. “That spoiled and pampered daughter of the arcane bloodlines conspired against the Grand Adderman, handed him over to our enemy to be murdered, surrendered to him on our behalf without any input from us, and we’re supposed to be grateful?”
“Do you then seriously think that our Order ever truly stood a chance in a full-on war with Emrys, or that the late Grand Adderman would ever have surrendered?” Ivy asked. “Most of us would have been killed and our Order obliterated, which is why you should be grateful that I overthrew him before it came to that.”
“You forfeited this mansion – our headquarters – and everything in it to Emrys!” the Baphometic Witch Pandora screamed. “The Reliquary, the Megalith, everything!”
“This is still our headquarters. This is still where members of different chapters will meet to collaborate and coordinate with one another,” Ivy assured her.
“Under your rule, backed by the power of Emrys,” Mothman objected. “You say you’ve brought us peace with Emrys, but it feels more like we’ve been conquered! We make a substantial number of concessions in this Covenant you agreed to, and as far as I can see Emrys didn’t make a single one. The only members of the Order who stand to gain anything from this arrangement are you and anyone willing to lick your boots!”
“Our surrender was unconditional because Emrys’ victory was absolute,” Erich proclaimed. “His chains are now broken. His power is unchecked. He slayed the Grand Adderman, the most powerful of our Order, with barely any effort at all! The Darlings fled rather than risk a confrontation with him! Had Ivy not accepted his offer of surrender, he would have burned this place to the ground and begun hunting you all down one by one. If that’s a fate any of you would prefer, you’re welcome not to join the Covenant. Anyone who wishes to survive will first and foremost surrender any contraband or fugitives as defined by the Covenant over to Emrys. Any information leading to the capture or demise of the Darlings in particular will be handsomely rewarded.”
“Does anyone here truly lament the ousting of the Darlings from our Order, or the death of the Grand Adderman for that matter?” Ivy asked. “The Grand Adderman was a tyrant, and the Darlings are depraved serial killers and cannibals! Emrys was a victim of the Grand Adderman, the same as many of us, and he has already proven himself far more reasonable and compassionate. Our Covenant with him will require that we become more reasonable and compassionate ourselves, something which I realize some of you may not welcome, but I think there are many more in the Order who would consider such reforms well overdue.”
“Will this include the banning of human experimentation and vivisection?” Crowley demanded through his gramophone horn, the disembodied brain bobbing up and down vehemently in his bubbling vat.
“…At a minimum, yes,” Ivy replied.
“Blast!” Crowley shouted, dejectedly sinking downwards.
“Surely Emrys does not intend to emancipate my workforce?” the revenant industrialist Raubritter asked. “They all consented to their servitude. I have all the contracts on file should he wish to review them.”
“Some of the specifics do remain to be worked out, but the bottom line is that Emrys will always get the final word,” Envy replied. “Raubritter, I would at the very least prepare your Foundry for an audit.”
“So in other words, all our fates are now Emrys’ to decide!” Pandora spat. “Where is Emrys now?”
“Outside in the Megalith, working on some spellcraft with his daughter,” Envy replied casually, an eerie hush falling upon the hall at this revelation.
“He… he’s here. Now?” Meremoth murmured.
“Of course. The manor and its grounds are his now, remember? We are all his guests, and as such, it behooves each of us to be on our best behaviour while we are here,” Ivy informed them with a sly smile. “If any of us were to cause a disturbance, or worse, during a visit, I don’t doubt that Emrys would be swift to put his house back in order.”
Everyone in the hall exchanged uneasy glances, most of them unsure of what they should do or, if they were, unwilling to be the first to do it.
“Right then, so who wants to come up and sign their chapter up for this here Covenant, then?” Fenwick asked, holding up the document in one hand and a fountain pen in the other. Those in the front row immediately bolted up to sign, with the rest of the hall queuing up behind them, however reluctantly. “Right then, that’s the spirit. Sooner we get the formalities out of the way, the sooner we can move on to punch on cookies. And yes, I’m afraid those are the only refreshments we have on hand at the moment. This meeting was short notice, and we’re a bit understaffed, what with the state of things and all. The cookies are from Sweet Tooth’s, but I made the punch myself. Well, I made it from concentrate, but that’s still effort. Always takes those cans of ice longer to dethaw than you expect or than you have, doesn’t it? You got to take a potato masher to it then stir it up until there are no chunks of slush left, it’s a whole ordeal.”
***
The Adderwood Megalith was not in actuality ‘outside’ the manor house, but was rather superimposed upon it. The Adderwood itself existed in a superposition of all its possible states at once, only reverting to a singular form when it was observed. Non-Euclidean trails winding through higher dimensions were never the same twice, and trusted landmarks were not always to be found. In one state the Adderwood held an Old English manor house the Ophion Occult Order had been using as their headquarters since the 18th century. In another, it held an ancient Megalith made by mighty and forgotten sorcerers. In others, neither of these existed, and an unlucky fool could wander the Adderwood forever without coming across them.
Emrys and his acolyte Petra sat across from one another in the Megalith, levitating cross-legged above the Sigil Sand as they telekinetically drew an ever-shifting mosaic of mandalas in it. Rings of black Miasma wafted up from these mandalas, retaining their forms as they floated higher and higher, creating a spiralling helix of stacked spell circles.
Despite not technically being in the same version of the Adderwood as the manor house, their supernatural senses meant that they were not wholly oblivious to what was going on there, either.
“It seems no one present feels the need to avenge old Grimaldus,” Emrys commented. “That’s the problem with ruling through fear. Your death is neither mourned nor avenged, but celebrated. I know my subjects celebrated when they thought I had died, and rightfully so.”
“You’re not that ancient Celtic warlord anymore. I’d mourn and avenge you, Emrys,” Petra vowed. “Though I suppose I wouldn’t have much company in that. Ivy and her inner circle are still the only ones genuinely loyal to us.”
“Which is perfectly understandable. I’ve been a bogeyman of the Ophion Occult Order for centuries. That won’t change overnight,” he said. “It will take time, and effort, but little by little we will gain the respect of those Adderman who can be reformed, and rid ourselves of those who cannot.”
Petra nodded absent-mindedly, the fate of the Order being of no special concern of hers now. She stretched out a hand towards the Sigil Sand beneath her, and a small host of shimmering scarab beetles surfaced at her command. One of them unfurled its wings and fluttered up to perch upon her extended index finger.
“They’re doing well here,” she smiled, inspecting the scarab as it crawled along her finger. “They’ve absorbed a lot of our power from the Sand, and they seem to have developed an affinity for me. With a bit of luck, I think I might be able to train them to take on a shadow form.”
“What about their Ichor? Is it still agreeing with you?” Emrys asked. “It is the blood of a Titan, after all. You’ve never absorbed the humours of something that powerful before.”
“It’s the blood of a dead Titan, so obviously he wasn’t that powerful,” Petra replied. “I only took a few ounces, anyway. Barely a fraction of a percent of a millionth of his power. The Zarathustrans each drank pints of the stuff when it was fresh, and they turned out fine.”
“They were made in their god’s image; you weren’t,” Emrys reminded her gently, the paternal concern obvious in his voice.
“I was made in your image. Do you really think that a few drops of stale Ichor is any match for The Darkness Beyond?” Petra asked rhetorically.
“Of course not, but you’re still very human, Petra. More than I am, and perhaps more than I ever was,” he answered her. “Even if the Darkness Beyond is untouchable, our physical incarnations are not. I tried to overthrow the gods when I first became one with the Outer Darkness, and it got me tossed into the belly of the World Serpent. I implore you; be better than I was, and don’t let your new gifts lull you into thinking that you’re invincible.”
“Okay dad,” she teased, but then suddenly grew pensive as the weight of his words sunk in. “I… don’t really remember much of my old life, other than how it ended. I don’t think I am that girl anymore, no more than you’re that warlord. The Darkness Beyond has made us both so much more, and now that your chains are broken it flows throw us stronger than ever. When I meditate, I can hear my twin hearts; the heart you gave me and the heart I took back. Two heartbeats make it kind of hard to forget that I’m not an ordinary human anymore. And the heart that Mary stabbed, the one that was transfigured into shadow by my own Miasma, I know that heart at least won’t be content until its lost humanity is avenged.”
Sighing, she glanced upwards at the towering spellwork vortex they had created.
“Do you think it’s big enough?” she asked.
“It was big enough twenty minutes ago. Everything since then has just been pompous overkill,” Emrys smiled. “If you’re satisfied with it, we can manifest it now.”
Still gazing skywards, she slowly turned her head back and forth, before nodding in approval. Emrys nodded in turn, and produced a deep purple rose from within his sable robes. He raised it to his face, took a savoury sniff of it, and then whispered a soft incantation before tossing it into the Sand below.
Before it even hit the ground, it disintegrated into innumerable desiccated fragments that became swept up in the Miasmal vortex. The vortex rapidly expanded outwards, growing to a diameter of over forty feet. The Megalith vanished as the vortex shifted into yet another version of the Adderwood where it could grow unimpeded. The vortex spun around faster and faster, its vaporous spirals growing thicker and more condensed until it resembled a small tornado. With a single thundercrack that echoed throughout the entire forest, the vortex solidified into a deep purple volcanic stone, leaving a thirteen-story spire in its wake.
The outside of the spire looked like blooming, thorny rose vines snaking around each other in a double helix. Windows and balcony doors were made of thinner, paler, and translucent segments of volcanic glass. At the very top of the spire was an observation deck capped with a stained-glass roof that made it look like a rose blossom with a tall, spiral steeple that seemed to be almost phosphorescent in the gleaming moonlight.
Within the spire, Petra and Emrys set their feet upon the ground and began eagerly appraising their creation. There was a single stairwell in the center, a spiral staircase along the side, corkscrewing all the way up to the top. Elaborate relief sculptures embellished the thick stone walls, illuminated by the strange, flickering light of violet salt lamps.
“Oh – my – god!” Petra gasped, spinning around in astonishment as she tried to take in as much detail as she could. “I love it! I love it!”
“Not a bad place to call home,” Emrys said as he nodded in approval. “I dare say it’s a bit of an upgrade from the old sanctum. Better than staying in Adderwood Manor, at any rate.”
“The Omphalosium! We have to check the Omphalosium!” Petra shouted excitedly, racing up the stairs and passing every chamber until she reached the very top.
Beneath the stained-glass ceiling of the watchtower room, the floor was bare except for a single pedestal at its center. Atop the pedestal sat a large sphere which somewhat resembled a celestial globe, comprised of multiple concentric crystalline spheres and bronze rings. Each slowly wobbled about on its own accord, the glowing stars and constellations shifting slowly as they did so. Surrounding the globe were nine complex dialling mechanisms that appeared to be some form of astrolabes.
Petra immediately ran straight over to the device, peering into the globe with an intense curiosity.
“Emrys? Emrys! Is it working?” she demanded eagerly.
Emrys calmly walked up to the globe, and gently set his hand upon it.
“It is,” he said with a satisfied nod. “The Adderwood has always been a nexus between worlds, but too wild and chaotic to be a true hub for wanderers. The Order never had the ability to realize the full potential of the Adderwood, and they bound my power to ensure that I couldn’t either. But now, every potential pathway that runs through the Adderwood is threaded through this spire. From this room, we can map them, direct them, choose which ones to bring to fruition, and which ones to cull. It can serve as a lighthouse to our allies, and a guard tower against our enemies. From here, we can travel the worlds, or bring the worlds to us.”
He spun the globe around, setting the astrolabes around it and the skylight above it spinning as well. The skylight lit up with constellations all its own, projecting them downwards into specifically carved glyphs in the floor. As the astrolabes locked into place, Petra noticed that nine arched doorways of intertwining stone vines lined the perimeter of the watchtower room, each with an astrolabe above it that spun in unison with one on the pedestal. When all the spinning finally stopped and all stood still, one of the doorways swung open, revealing an inky black portal of billowing mist.
The portal wasn’t open for more than a few seconds before a tall, hunchbacked being came striding through. Its head possessed only a singular, cyclopean orifice which held a glowing, wispy orb at the center of its skull. A pair of long, fanged tentacles hung down almost to its waist, sets of spiracles and tendrils running all along their length. It stood upon digitigrade feet and had seven clawed digits split between its two hands, one of which held an ornate staff. Its ostentatious robes and cephalopod-like skin were each a golden brown, and both shone eerily in the violet let of the spire.
“Mathom-meister!” Emrys greeted enthusiastically, gesturing proudly to all that surrounded them. “How did we do?”
The being slowly swivelled his head from one side to the other, his tentacles poised upwards like snakes about to strike. With his free hand, he reached into his robes and pulled out another astrolabe, waving it back and forth and reading it like a compass.
“The nexus is stable,” he announced, before moving on to inspect the pedestal itself. “Your Omphalosium is… crude, but adequate. The décor is atrocious, but that’s a strictly personal opinion and outside of my professional purview. You two followed my instructions as well as I could have hoped for non-Zarathustrans. Adderwood Spire should serve well as a base to explore this branch of the World Tree.”
“Hmmm. I’m not sure we want to call it ‘Adderwood Spire’, Adderwood being so strongly associated with the Ophion Occult Order. We want it associated with us,” Emrys said.
“How about ‘The Shadowed Spire’?” Petra suggested, briefly transitioning into her shadow form and appearing at Mathom-meister’s side. “Shadows are kind of our thing.”
“The spire is yours, as per our agreement. Call it what you wish,” Mathom-meister replied. “So long as you keep in mind that when we find the Darlings, while the honour of slaying them may fall to you, their playroom is mine. And that is a name I will most certainly be changing to one more to my liking.”
He began to telekinetically spin the celestial globe around and around, casting projections of rotating constellations onto the entire chamber.
“Magnificent. Truly Magnificent. You two have done me a great service,” he said, ravenously peering into the spinning globe. “With our combined knowledge and powers, we will tame the monsters that haunt these worlds. We will purge them of abominations like the Darlings, safeguard them from the encroaching Black Bile and other Outer Horrors, and ensure they are forever untouched by the festering rot of – ”
His monologue was cut short by the sound of tired footsteps and laboured breathing ascending the staircase. The three of them all turned to see an exhausted Fenwick forcing his way up the final steps.
“Bioelectrically enhanced physique, and she sends the portly bloke to climb to the top of the bloody spire. I miss the Grand Adderman already,” he panted, bending over as he tried to catch his breath. “… don’t tell her I said that. Oy there, you must be Mathom-meister. Fenwick Humberton, Arch Adderman, at your service.”
“Fenwick! Glad you didn’t have any trouble finding the place,” Emrys greeted. “I’m sure the reason Ivy sent you is because of your head for navigating the Adderwood.”
“True enough, true enough,” he nodded reluctantly. “Still though; thirteen stories, and no lift? You’re a monster. This has to be a violation of some kind of accessibility act. Anyway, Ivy wants you to know that we got all the Head Addermen to sign your Covenant, so the Order’s officially yours. If you’re done with the spire for now, she’d like you to come down and shake some hands, make a speech, do a Q&A, stuff like that. There’s punch and cookies, if that sweetens the pot. It is store-brand punch, mind you – ninety-nine pence a can – because nothing was going to be good enough for that lot anyway so why even bother? Might help to humanize you a bit, if you partake in the refreshments. Only time any of us ever saw the Grand Adderman consume anything was when he was sucking the essence out of a ritual sacrifice. I won’t miss that. They’d literally start to mummify before they had even stopped screaming. Nasty stuff, I tell you. Nasty stuff.”
“I suppose it would be a good idea to formally introduce ourselves to the chapter heads while they’re all in one place,” Emrys agreed.
“And I’m at least still human enough that I can’t say no to free cookies,” Petra added.
“What about you, Mathom-meister?” Emrys asked. “Would you like to join us?”
“The internal affairs of this middling cult you’ve co-opted are no concern of mine, and solid foods offer me no temptation,” he replied, gesturing with the fangs of his tentacles. “I will, however, accompany you as a display of our alliance to your underlings to help consolidate your power. And if – and only if – I deem it appealing, I may partake in this ‘ninety-nine pence punch’, as well.”
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2023.12.08 21:50 Thoroughfarez [For Sale] [For Sale] Whole 150+ Collection Up for Grabs. Lana Del Rey, Kacey Musgeaves, Frank Ocean

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/185372vAKd1Bs4IFA07vcZPKwJJkCowFlgN8FccMoyBU/edit
$5 US Shipping for up to 3 albums. Texas Based. Mostly everything is sealed. Let me know you got any questions. Can provide any pictures needed
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submitted by Thoroughfarez to VinylCollectors [link] [comments]

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