[ayiigoftheshadows]

Ayi'ig ~ A Satyr King's Funeral

Great Goddess, Mother of the Dark, grant me the blood of my enemies for drink and their living hearts for meat. Grant me the screams of their young for song, grant me the helplessness of their males for my satisfaction, grant me the wealth of their houses for my bed. By this unworthy sacrifice I honor you, Queen of Spiders, and beseech of you the strength to destroy my foes. - A prayer to Lloth

[nidhoggx]

Ayi'ig had slipped away, the Queen peering out at her newest trophy; gouged eyes and a lack of ears, it was a fitting demise for any who'd cross Ayi'ig. Nidhoggr was an inheritor to the more savory side of the Queen, she'd healed his mind when she'd owed the writhing beast nothing more than a look of distaste as she attempted to pilfer from the shores of Nastrond. In her debt, maybe, but the dragon would rather construe his loyalty as an unyielding reservoir of gratitude. Nid adjusted his armor, fastening braces upon his limbs until he found his progress adequate enough to focus on the Queen's regalia armor. This war was of pivotal significance, when the waters ran red with ichor, and the city had been destroyed, it would surely mark the end of the eladrin species and an insurgence of the drow.

"Of course it did," half-muttered as Nid slipped the cuisse of her armor past her foot to take residency upon her thigh, fastening it until it fit snugly. "They ensured this was one of the only options left," the fey had all but ensured their demise, spoiled children throughout the generations; greedy and entitled. Though he could not lie, the curses of his divine blood, Nidhoggr was deluded by the Queen's view regardless; for the dragon and his Queen, the fey had affirmed that this war would be the only way to settle this.

The greaves to protect her shins slipped on next and the Aspect took her revelation with an air of grace despite the blink of surprised concealed only by his position. "I didn't know we were to expect new heirs once this war was finished," anyone and everyone had heard the whispers of Meryasek's promised heirs, and Nid was foolish to have assumed that Ayi'ig would not take them on herself once she'd slaughtered their fathers first.

[ayiigoftheshadows]

Miscalculations weren't common, in fact, they were incredibly rare. Ayi'ig had been forced to beat Somniar until he fell unconscious after she'd learned that Meryasek had risen from the dey as a fey'ri. Had she known of his paternal ancestry then she'd have removed the King's head, not his heart, but then again the drow had always had a flair for the dramatics. Somniar had learned his lesson, he'd also thoroughly enjoyed it but Ayi'ig preferred not to think about that. One daemonfey was nothing though, even the addition of an aasimar did not make them a thread. A celestial child and meak inflections of ancient magic, flickering lights is all they were. Stars in the night sky, their light the last to know that they were dead until it was too late.

Nidhogg understood, Ayi'ig was not cruelty, she was consequence. That was the truth of all drow: death always followed life, and the closer you came to the light the greater your shadow grew.

"Heirs?" Ayi'ig laughed at that, bitter and dark. There was no real humour to it as the dragon finished attended to her regalia. Lightless and void of anything but contempt, she'd been gentle, and she'd been kind. Ayi'ig had named Aegnor her successor and her repayment had been heartache and betrayal. All the world on a silver platter, and he preferred instead to pitch himself as a loathed outside on a plot of dirth that in due time no one would care to remember. "No. I will bury those hollowborn infants in the farthest, deepest depths of the Abyss. I will make them curse the first kiss their fathers ever gave one another."

[ayiigoftheshadows]

@nidhoggx location: Court of Drow notes: Plot Drop 1, Day 1 (before the invasion)

The eladrin Revas' head sat on a spike outside her window, he was still alive in the most brutal ways imaginable, Death could be cruel like that, but at the very least the Queen had done herself the courtesy of gouging out his eyes. The ears were already missing, a trademark of their dear Inquisitor, she wasn't a sadist by any means, violent torture was... Mundane. She preferred to break a man down from his core, if only to put them back together again in a new light.

Nidhogg dressed behind her as she looked the creature over, her own armour laid to the side as she waited for the dragon to begin fastening it to her. The slip she'd been wearing had already been traded for the tunic as the great armies beneath the balcony amassed. Whispers had reached the spymaster's web of some power growing in the forest but Ayi'ig was not concerned, the brilliance of her council, the rawness of her power, and the weight of all those that they had brought under heel would be more than enough.

"It didn't have to be this way." The Queen remembered her conversation with Meryasek, "Had the King just given me his head, all this could have avoided." The selfishness of Titania and her children would never end. "Instead he took my son from me." And I will take everything from him. "He has children, did you know that? Twins. Hollowborns." How she would delight in raising them as her own.

[ayiigoftheshadows]

@octavianrising​ location: The Otherworld notes: when mommy met daddy

The presence of the phoenix was impossible to miss, formidable and powerful, the Queen crept from the court to meet him as he lurked about the trees and the dark. It was not hard to guess what it was that he was looking for, three hands had gone into the necronomicon’s creation: Tiamat, Ayi’ig, and Pythia. Crafted through the sacrifice of countless druids, Netellia’s mind had not been easy to break but the desire for power lurked in the hearts of all who’d had a taste. The necronomicon was not just a book, it was not just a grimoire, it was a connection to the very source of creation’s antithesis. The beginning of the universe and its end all wrapped into one, to have even a third of this wonder embedded in his flesh would have been more than enough to root itself into the archdruid’s mind. To corrupt that glorious purpose into something so absolutely delicious. 

The First was dead, or would die. Time was convoluted in that sense. Octavian could be useful in that venture, or perhaps he already was. 

“These woods are dangerous, you know.” Ayi’ig breathed, beneath them the ground itself protested in its own ethereal way, the harvest would continue for some time, but when it was done the realm would take a considerable amount of years to recover. “Even for creatures as powerful as you and I.” 

[ayiigoftheshadows]

xremusx​:

“Romulus.” He repeated the name with nothing but disdain. It hurt to think of his brother. It hurt to think back to how things had been and how it had all changed so quickly. The fight would not have started if Romulus had just listened to him. If they had just agreed on the same damn thing, they wouldn’t be in this position now. They would have been working together towards the same goal. Remus would look back on that moment for the rest of eternity and think about how things could have been different. It was too late for that now, too late for what ifs. The past was there for a reason and he would have to move on from it eventually. After he accomplished what he wanted to. “No. I want an army to take Rome. It was wishful thinking to expect a ‘yes’.”

To say her answer was surprising would have been a lie. Had it been him in her position, he would not have sacrificed the vampires he had worked with for someone else’s vendetta. He waited until she finished speaking, not daring to interrupt. His lips stayed shut for a moment even as she spoke her piece. “You want Trivia’s blood in return for Romulus?” He didn’t give it much of a second thought as he continued. “It will be done,” he stated with a shrug. There had been several solutions to his problem and this one seemed to work in his favor the most. “I’ll see that it is delivered to you promptly.” He could not hurt her himself, but he had an idea of who would assist him with this matter.

-

An army to take Rome, Ayi’ig wondered if he truly thought she’d conquer something for him and then not just take it for herself. There was too much light in the mortal realm, unfortunately. For the most part the fighting of the drow took place in the dark, it mattered little in the Underdark where night was eternal. That, too, was a problem that Ayi’ig would come to solve in time. “See that you do, I’ll be waiting.” The queen breezed with ease as she stepped back, slipped into the shadows and left the King of the terrors behind. Remus’ magic put him at an advantage over Romulus, though she wondered if he’d really be able to do it when the time came. Men were always weak. “He’ll be yours when it’s done.”

[ayiigoftheshadows]

inquisitcr​:

The alarms had gone off and his one job, the one thing she depended on him for had been in jeopardy. As soon as Somniar had noticed the disappearance of that eladrin, he had known the disappointment that would come to him. He lived to please Ayi’ig, willingly letting his mind be influenced by her. There was no need for it, but he wished to have her there. That was all he had ever wanted. When it came to disappointing her, nothing made him hate himself more. Nothing he could do or had done could make up for this. It was that fucking traitor. That was how they had weaseled their way in and taken Aurora and whatever other eladrin they wanted from them. He should have been watching more closely. He always had eyes in the sky, an ear in every alleyway where whispers could be heard. And they had made it a problem for him to not have an eye or ear on their escape plan. He had expected someone to come for her. It was a matter of time before they did, but he had assumed it would never actually succeed. When it did, he had only accepted the anger that would come from his Queen.

However, whatever anger radiated off of her could only fuel him. Stepping out of line when it came to her was not easy, but they were in her chambers. What could come of this other than what he so desperately desired? Her boot pressing into his back was…well, he was sure he couldn’t describe the feeling enough with words. There was depravity within every single inch of him. Nothing could stop him from what he inevitably wanted. Somniar had failed her though. He didn’t deserve her attention, but he would beg at her feet if she desired it from him. His tongue ran over his lips as she pressed harder, head turning slightly to the side. If there was pain she could give him, he was accepting it with open arms. Oh, how he so wished he could please her the way she deserved. And he thought she deserved everything. “I will do anything for you,” he breathed out through a heavy breath. “Please let me make it up to you.”

-

Ayi’ig pressed harder, the bonds tightened as a presence lingered in the corner of the room: watching them. Felandaris had a vested interest in this one, though the Queen could not imagine why. Somniar was aesthetically pleasing, but the only real thrill she got from him was watching him squirm beneath her as he was now. “We lost prisoners, prisoners we need for the mines.” Ayi’ig’s grip tightened, the amount of force she used increased, she pulled back harder and watched as the bonds that she’d conjured dug deeper into his skin. They were alive as serpents were alive, black as pitch, fangs where they were tied bit harshly into Somniar’s flesh. At this point she cared very little for what happened to the fey, so long as her own realm was secure they were free to die off in the forest. If they interfered with her plans, with her people’s safety and freedom, then that was a separate issue. “Fetch more. Humans, witches, druids - I don’t care who and I don’t care what. Find them, break them, reprogram them, and put them to work.” Ayi’ig’s grip tightened impossibly further, “Do not fail me again.” 

[ayiigoftheshadows]

melxmneme​:

When Melpomene stepped forward from the shadows of the trees, her bare feet striking the dead earth that now covered the dying faerie realm, not even the dirt shifted with her steps. The woman paid little attention to the drow that surrounded them, to the sister in her head that was begging her to leave, leave so they would have another chance – to save the drow, and save Ayi’ig. But Melpomene was tragedy, and this place was perhaps the best epitome of it. Tragedy leaked from every corner, from within the drow’s minds, from within their hearts – even the realm seemed to cry, dying like Hyperborea had all those centuries ago.

“They say that when the Mousai sing, heaven, the stars, the sea and rivers stood still. While the mountains themselves, so beguiled by the pleasure of it all, swelled skyward till, and only by the will of Poseidon, Pegasus struck it down,” her song was quiet, growing in tone until the drow around them were still, and it was only herself and her sister, aware of the happenings between the two. 

Her goal was the fey behind Ayi’ig, but she also knew that there was only so much that she could do without her and the drow queen laying waste to the realm once more. So Melpomene grinned when her song finished, bright as the sun to those around them, where perhaps only Ayi’ig herself was brave enough to step. “Sister,” she whispered with a smile, leaning forward now like she was ready to acknowledge what was said, “Do you want to know how you’ll die?”

-

“Not here,” Ayi’ig laughed, “not by the hands of an inflated God’s bitch daughter.” The drow mused, she did not just want Melpomene dead, she wanted her obliterated. The woman who’d bent and begged for salvation at the hands of Kthanid or any number of Melpomene and Mneme’s relatives were long gone. The person who remained was carved from anger and hatred, if Melpomene wished to bask upon tragedy then she needed to look no further than the land beneath the realm of Elysia. Her family’s legacy was written there, scribed in the bloody history of the elves. 

Through shadow and dark the beasts of terror that were held under Ayi’ig’s dominion were vast, each tamed and honed to the point of a blade. The drow were known for this, for the eldritch terrors that they could invoke, but none were quite so formidable as those that Ayi’ig held under her own rule. Regalia pitch as the sheen of shadow that permeated the spaces between the stars above him graced Ayi’ig’s features as a creature crawled out from beneath her, “I heard you were bested by my dear friend, that she cast you far from this place where you recovered in another of the far realms. Perhaps you’ve heard of my friend,” Ayi’ig breezed, the dragon took form, with wings that blotted the stars, it’s maw a set of teeth akin to an army of swords. “Níðhöggr.” The dragon from the endless realm of shadows colloquially called Hel, over the corpse shore the creature was known to feast on the oath-breakers. It reared its head and released a breath of fire like a hurricane, black as night that fell upon the light of the elf before her. 

[ayiigoftheshadows]

aegnorx​:

-

Armor black as night had been set aside, left to be cleaned of the Eladrin and changeling blood that had splashed across the surface of it. Aegnor had been hunting, as he had since Ayi’ig had made her stance in the Otherworld, in the courts that had once been home to the Eladrin. To Meryasek, who hated him just as much as Aegnor him. And to Farenduil, who clung on to some notion that the brother he had once known was still somewhere inside of him. But Aegnor was not the brother from their memories, he was no longer the Eladrin that they had claimed he had once been. A fact that he would need to prove to them, very soon.

In the meantime, he had found himself in the room that Ayi’ig had claimed, approaching as she stood at the balcony. His gaze fell to what he could see beyond, to the stars that he had only dreamed about within the Underdark, and to the forest that stretched to places that his golden eyes could not make out. For years, he had only dreamed about such sights, about such wonders. Memories slipped into the subconscious of a mind that was not his own, for when he woke each morning, it was to the darkness, to the ever encroaching shadows that had been his home for centuries. But not anymore.

“Unlike anything I could imagine,” he affirmed, his gaze shifted from what was finally theirs to the creature that had made it all possible. The mother that had chosen him, above all the others, above his sister, who had always seemed the heir to the kingdom that Ayi’ig had built for them. He watched her now, listened to her words and knew that eventually, everything that they had been fighting would indeed be theirs. “And if they should betray us, like that traitor?” Dirthara had been by his side for too long to allow this slight to go unanswered, and when given the chance, the moment, Aegnor would see to it that the creature did not go on breathing. 

-

It was true that their society was a matriarchal, women, it seemed, were possessed of greater strength and magic than the men. Lloth’s favoured, Aegnor stood apart along with few others. Perhaps his fervency towards the Spider God’s creed was what gave him such boons, not even Ayi’ig could say because she had not foreseen the determination in which Aegnor would implore amidst his ascension. In the end the decision for who would lead the drow’s vast armies was clear, her most loyal, her most trusted, her perfect son. The blackhearted drow who would someday be King. 

“Then they are for Somniar, the mindflayers, and the mines.” Ayi’ig said, their society was built upon the backs of those who’d once stood against them. Their minds broken, their faces blank, emotion and free thought had been stripped from them as they were hollowed into the defeated husks that built the drow’s considerable empire. The fey were fickle and petulant creatures, wasteful in their leisure through time, there was nothing Ayi’ig detested more than waste. “If possible,” she offered, for she knew how her song longed to butcher his once valued friend. Such was the depths of his greatness. Ayi’ig touched his cheek then, “if not, then you know what to do.” 

[ayiigoftheshadows]

meryasek​:

There was something to be said about messing with powers beyond one’s control. Luckily, Meryasek liked to pave his own way through it all. He was only spurned forward by the word No, as he’d always been, but even now, as his peaceful dream faded, Dareth and a child with black curly hair disappearing in the shadows, Meryasek wondered if this was simply going to be it. He felt his aunt before he saw her, like a presence of darkness that sent despair up his spine. There was no way of preparing for something like this, no way of fighting back – he felt muted, and rooted in place as the drow queen stood in front of him.

With no love lost between them, Meryasek met her gaze out of sheer stubbornness. But in the end, he was always just a child compared to her – a child compared to what he could be, perhaps. “I didn’t think we had much to talk about.” Mery was sure that Ayi’ig was beyond pleasantries, though what she wished for? Something to be questioned, maybe. There were fey that sat within her hands, ones that he cared for. Aurora? He wondered if she was alive, or if there was any room to bargain with a queen who only wished for subjugation. Spring no longer answered, everything within the dream was the queen’s domain, and Meryasek found his voice, “Is your kingdom everything you hoped it’d be?”

-

“More.” Ayi’ig said with an easy grin, “I thought we could come to terms.” The fey were few, the eladrin a dying breed as it was, time would do the part that the drow cared not for. Soon enough there would be none of Meryasek’s kind, Titania had seen as much, hence her departure from the mortal realm. So long as they remained there they would always be under threat, they would always have enemies, and Ayi’ig needed to do nothing to inflame that. The fey did a good enough job of it on their own. Theneras was proof of this. “I have your people, in my mines, in my cells.” Ayi’ig breezed, the work they were doing was important but temporary, besides, the mortal realm was rife with candidates - she didn’t need fey to continue the excavation. “Relinquish any ties to the court, vow that neither you nor your people will seek to return to it. Stay in your realm and I’ll release the eladrins back to you.” Ayi’ig was bound to her word, she offered it to the boy king now. 

[ayiigoftheshadows]

xremusx​:

Remus knew of who she was, of the drow that had inhabited the Otherworld long before he had even been born. There was something to be said about how he chose to wander the place. It would be his stomping grounds until he no longer was able to do so. Once he had accomplished everything he so desperately wanted to accomplish, then he would be free. Freedom always came at a cost though. Nothing had ever been easy in his life, but why would it have been? From the first moment that prophecy had been thrust upon him, he had not known peace. Things would be too boring if he had though. He was nothing if not interested in what could happen if he let himself become completely unhinged. Ninety percent there was good enough for now. 

He thought about his reasoning for being here in the Otherworld. Seeking her out had not been the entirety of his plan, but it was the one that mattered most. After much time spent wondering how he would get his revenge, the one thing he had not anticipated was needing an army. The hold Lilith had would not last forever and he planned on taking advantage when that time came. Remus eyed the drow, much stronger than he was. He always knew when his power was not going to help him. Whatever fight he could start here would not have been worth it nor would it be in his favor. There was one time where his thoughts had failed him. He would never make the same mistake again.

“Ayi’ig.” The name fell from his lips with nothing but darkness attached to it. His mind was already gone. What did he even have to lose? “You seem to be settling in just fine here.” Small talk was sure to get them nowhere, but he had used it as a segue to say what he needed to say. “I have a bit of an issue that requires an army I do not have. There was a time where I had nothing but love for vampires. I wish to dispose of them and any of your enemies in return for this…favor.”

-

“Romulus.” Ayi’ig said, she didn’t need access to the other’s mind to know that Remus wished to kill the brother that had first killed him. The magister was an imposing enemy, he had the blessing of Mars - a creature who was arguably as old as she. Just the same, there had not even been a whisper of the original in the mortal realm for thousands of years. With the magisters death, his chokehold on this place would lessen, while Ayi’ig cared very little for what happened to the mortal realm, it would serve Tiamat’s interests to weaken the forces that inhabited it. “You want my army so you can kill him.”  

She shook her head, “You won’t have it. I won’t risk the life of even a single drow for a vendetta between brothers. But, I can give you him. A life for a life, seems a fair enough exchange.” Ayi’ig said, there were keystones to this place, to the Otherworld that held more mysteries than there were stars in the sky. A piece of one dwelt in Remus even now, a fragment that was otherwise completely useless to her. “I want your friend’s blood, Trivia. You bring that to me and I will handle the rest. Your brother will be yours to do with as you wish.” 

[ayiigoftheshadows]

@melxmneme​ location: Outside the mines notes: Light Elf v Dark Elf

The muse was a minor Goddess and just the same she and her sister had proven themselves to be quite the nuisance. The tragic warrior had fought against Leviathan’s revolt, wandered the Otherworld for centuries following her defeat, and came to infiltrate Ayi’ig’s newly-minted Queendom all these years later. Truthfully the drow should have recognized the tactic for what it was, but upon hearing that Meryasek was so close to her borders she’d all but foamed at the mouth. Even more than she wanted a home for her people, she wanted that twink obliterated. Nothing would devastate Titania more than to learn that not just one, but all three of her precious sons had come to stand in Ayi’ig’s court. 

“That’s far enough, Melpomene.” The queen stated as she stood between the elf and the work camp that Melpomene had undoubtedly set out to infiltrate. The Otherworld behind her all but wept as trees were cleared away from the everchanging realm and the magic within was torn from the very fabric of the ethereal soil. There would be consequences for this, Ayi’ig was not so naive as to not recognize this, but they only needed enough to propel their plan forward. To fulfill her end of the bargain. 

Blades of shadow rippled through the sky, through the air around them as one after another formed, concentrating from nothing and honing to a razor sharp point. Drow encroached upon them now but she raised a hand to hold them back, the eldritch beasts all but salivating at the light elf that had wandered into the heart of the Queen’s realm. She would handle the elf alone. “Submit.” Ayi’ig said, “And I will let you live.” 

[ayiigoftheshadows]

@inquisitcr​ location: Queen’s Chambers notes: a treat, takes place after March’s full moon and aurora’s rescue

This insult could not go unanswered, the court was attacked by a bunch of foolish and brazen fey and lycans while a smaller contingency slipped past their defenses to rescue their chancellor. A number of other prisoners also escaped as well. The knowledge of the court’s structure and the surveillance patterns of the guard was easily thanks to that traitor Dirthara. Her heel dug into the back of the worm beneath her feet, crushing him would be easy, it might have even made her feel better but Somniar’s value could not be diminished. Not yet, anyways. He would have more opportunities to prove himself. 

Ropes of shadow coiled around Somniar’s frame, stripped bare as Ayi’ig pulled on her tether and tightened the bonds that much more as she kept a boot firmly planted on the man’s back. Somniar was a depraved creature, it was one of the things that she appreciated about him - it made him particularly effective at his job within the court. On this occasion though, he’d failed. “I did most of the work for you,” Ayi’ig said with a sigh, “insignificant worm. Failure. Cretin.” The Queen was displeased with the turn of events, fewer prisoners meant fewer people to mine the ore they needed beneath the Otherworld. The chords tightened as Ayi’ig pulled harder, the press of her heel on Somniar’s back more forceful as his back arched beneath the weight of the hold she had on him. This delay would not due. “Now, ask me how you can make it up to me.” 

[ayiigoftheshadows]

@aegnorx​ location: Court of Drow notes: view from the top, bitch

How many years had she dreamt of this world? Envious and gluttonous the Queen’s armies had consumed the Underdark, for her it wasn’t just a matter of survival, they needed to be ready for the day when they would make their pilgrimage here. In truth, Ayi’ig cared very little for the fate of the fey: save for Meryasek and Farenduil, the rest could be spared. Or at the very least, repurposed. They needed forces to mine the ore beneath their feet, and manpower to build the constructs amidst  realm that was forever changing. 

A blanket of stars opened above the court as she lingered on her balcony, her gaze cast upon the Court beneath her and the creatures that milled about. In the distance the Otherworld’s infernal forest seemed to stretch into eternity as her eldritch changelings lurched about in the shadows. They were digging in here, gathering precious materials that could only be found beneath the realm that ran in between, naturally, the spirits that inhabited this plain protested but in due time the nasty business of subjugating this end of the realm would be done. Then they could move onto others, a shadow to blanket the world, her people would sit at the pinnacle and nothing would threaten them again. 

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” She asked at Aegnor’s approach, the son she’d never really wanted but had grown to love just the same. He was strong, worthy, determined. Men, in general were weak and generally submissive, but he had an air of someone who was determined to consume the world. “Thousands of years I spent in the dark, we, spent in the dark.” Fighting tooth and nail to survive every day, one century into the next until none remained that could challenge her power. “Never again. I won’t let them take this from us.” It was her promise not just to Aegnor, but to her people as a whole. “When the work is completed below the Asphodel will have what they need, play nice with their coven until then.” 

[ayiigoftheshadows]

@meryasek​ location: dreamland notes: auntie meets nephew

Ayi’ig, Ayi’ig, Ayi’ig. How foolish these fey were to toss her name around as if it were nothing, divine blood flowed through her veins: equal parts terror and goddess. The closer in proximity she was to someone when they invoked her name, ultimately the more power they gave her to let shadows creep into their mind. A well-kept secret known only among a faithful few, Ayi’ig knew it was only a matter of time before the traitor Dirthara bled her foils into the eladrin court. Not soon enough though, it seemed. 

In the heart of her court, the sky opened and shone the stars above, the universe and the planets that circled the open air of the Otherworld in all its infinity. Deep within the fool fey’s forest, Meryasek slept and Ayi’ig invoked her power to descend upon the sleeping infant as he slept. Weaving her thoughts like a spider did its web, gathering power and shadow with every desire and letting herself sink and sink and sink into a pool of dark. Far away in the heart of the forest, one lone shadow stretched forth and from it crawled a spider. Inching her way along the prince’s chest, over his chin, and through parted lips 

As Meryasek slumbered in the arms of his warder, his peaceful dream was quickly overrun as darkness descended upon it. All things were gradually consumed until there was nothing but an eternal pitch brought forth by the shadow realm, from the inky black pool beneath the King’s feet, Ayi’ig, Queen of the Drow rose to stand at height as she looked down upon him. “Meryasek,”  Ayi’ig greeted, she could not bring herself to force a smile, for all her falsehoods suffering this much civility with Titania’s son brought her to her limit. She didn’t expect much to come from this, but Ayi’ig would extend an olive branch, give him the opportunity to save his people, and when he refused and everything fell apart the boy King would have only himself to blame. “We should talk.”

[ayiigoftheshadows]

xremusx​:

closed starter for @ayiigoftheshadows​

There had been a time in Remus’ life where all he had ever known was prophecy. He had been destined to do many things, but he had been stuck in the shadow of his twin brother for as long as he could remember. They had grown up together, suffered the same losses. That was all they had ever seemed to know. When they had gotten turned into vampires, the plan had been set into motion. They would build up an army to take out a mad man. Little did he know that he would be repeating history. Romulus had struck him down and made him look like a fool. He would not be made to live in his brother’s shadow any longer. Fate had chosen his death and he would make sure it didn’t happen again. Trivia had brought him back for a reason and he would never take that for granted. He would never let himself fall again.

The Otherworld was different now. Remus had found the place to be comfortable, a home away from home. He wasn’t here to take in the sights though. There had been a purpose for this visit. The eldritch horrors he would come across were only a stepping stone for him now. They gravitated towards him like he was a beacon, but he knew how to get past them. Well, most of them. It seemed the biggest horror of them all had found him. This was her home now, wasn’t it? He had no qualms about her making this place her own. It made no difference to him who ruled before, but he did indeed need an army. Perhaps a deal could be made to get that from her. A debt would most likely be owed, but he was willing to make that sacrifice to get what he wanted; to see Romulus dead and buried. Fate would have it that way. 

“I had heard of your presence here now. The fey are scrambling to piece things back together because of that.” He admired it. He wished he could have even the slightest bit of that for himself. Remus would take that from his brother’s cold, dead hands and laugh over the vampire’s grave when this was all over. If a debt was to be owed, then he would pay it back tenfold just to see that fate for himself.

-

This realm was hers now. From the court she would rule the Otherworld, her empire would extend and shadows would cover the realms that this place connected to. Heaven would kneel at her feet as Ulthar himself was made to yield, Elysia, would bend and all the Gods of creation would fall to horror. The age of elves and fey was over, the time of the drow had come and never again would they be forced to live below, forsaken from the sky or the light of the stars, the moons. Those who had wronged her would be made to suffer, Titania the treacherous snake would know pain as each of her children were ripped away from her, and Ayi’ig’s brothers, he father, they would know the worst suffering of all. This was her vow. 

Ayi’ig knew of the man who was fond of calling himself the first terror, the first of this realm, perhaps, but the Otherworld had known creatures like her for so long that it dated back to the cradle of creation. When life first fought to ignite its first spark in a tide of unwavering infinite darkness. Remus and Romulus, star crossed and destined to be eternally at odds. Their feud was the catalyst for so much, had one brother not slain the other then Ayi’ig would likely not be stood here today, watching from the shadows as he paraded about the Otherworld like a toddler stampeding through a prize winning garden. 

The world darkened at her approach, as if there could be no light but hers as color faded from the realm with every step. Ayi’ig knew of the terror’s power, she could feel it in him, writhing like a serpent. He would be useful, even if he stood with no force at his back Remus was a force of his own. “I have a name, Remus. At the very least you could use it.” The Queen offered, she required a life of her own, if he proved useful to her then she would do the very same for him. 

[ayiigoftheshadows]

wintersaurora​:

❅

There was no describing the pain Aurora was holding, the weight of a century’s worth of memories of a world unreal combined with the truth that she now knew. The pain was overwhelming, heavy unlike anything that she had ever felt before. Every single loss and agony that had been felt by the 500 year old relived and then amplified to the point where she could not abide her own body. Her existence - too much to bare. The fey clawed a hand over her chest as if she could just take her heart, rip it out. End it all. “No… please.”Aurora could barely breath, let alone find the strength to get up from where she was fallen, knelt to the ground. It all changed beneath her, disappeared into something else. And suddenly she saw Farenduil at his daughter’s deathbed. She let out a weak, broken sob at the sight. His pain, his loss. Emma’s pain, Emma’s loss. Her eyes fluttered shut as she wished to welcome whatever fury the Prince had in store for her. But when Aurora opened them again, she was still alive, still there. Her vision still blurred with tears.

Aurora believed in that moment that there was nothing left of who she was. She was not a broken thing, she was a shattered thing, never to be fixed. I’m sorry, she repeated in her head like as an ardent prayer. To Farenduil, to Emma, to Micah, to her fellow Chancellors, to her people, to her father, to her mother, to Marcus, to Aspen, to Aurelio, to a million other names that she had never forgotten… I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. She’d failed them all and in doing so she’d failed herself. Even as now the Winter Chancellor looked upon the beautiful Winter’s Mountains that she’d built and the place where she had left her people, she could not recognize it in the same way. She didn’t belong there. She belonged nowhere. 

There was a truth that she could not bring herself to tell Emma, could not even admit to herself. ‘The child should never have been born.’ The last thing Aurora had been able to understand from all that she’d done to try and help was the history of Maria Wright’s body. She had gone to the human in secret and had her memory taken of the visit before she left to keep her from worrying. But in that time, she’d recieved Maria’s permission and asked for Alzira to see what had happened to the human, to understand what had been done to her body with the curse. Alzira’s findings had been brought to every trusted healer that Aurora could find. Nothing had been done to the human’s body, nothing except strengthen and force the womb to take that which it couldn’t. Maria’s body shouldn’t have been able to carry the two twins to term. Aurora had barely been able to as a fey. In all her research, she had almost failed to see that only fey mothers had successfully brought any faiman twins into the world. Nature was correcting itself, taking away that which should never have existed in the first place. That was the truth of it, a truth that she’d refused to accept until that very moment that there was nothing but hopelessness left in Aurora’s heart. All was lost.

But Ayi’ig offered an alternative solution. This near divine being of untold power, one who could build about worlds and enslave the minds of thousands. If she believed she could fix it, she would. Wouldn’t she? “How?” Aurora whispered, and even the fey herself could not recognize the hoarse and broken timber of her own voice. “How would you fix it?”

-

Broken and bent, Ayi’ig took great pride in witnessing her handiwork firsthand. She’d done as much to Laer, destroyed him in a manner that was very similar to what had become of Aurora. Now neither would ever be free of her, every inflection of pain would invoke Ayi’ig’s name. And, with every ounce of cruelty that Ayi’ig was known for, she rose and smiled. “Actually, no.” She said instead, taking advantage of the fact that Aurora did not immediately agree. Naturally, the Winter fey would have questions, and her non response fit to nullify the agreement that was placed in front of her and then wrenched away just as quickly. The shadow realm fell away and they were in the grand hall once more. The prisoners looked on at the broken mound of a chancellor, the tears that streamed Aurora’s cheeks, the desperation in her voice. 

“That child is an abomination: her brother too. While saving her miserable life is well within my power, I won’t.” Aurora was decimated, The Inquisitor would have an easier time reprogramming her now. "Were she of different blood I might consider it, but I will stomp out every trace of Titania’s blood. Every inch of her until there’s nothing left of that wretched woman.” Ayi’ig gestured and the guards were upon Aurora at once, dragging her from the throne room and past the prisoners who’d seen her so thoroughly broken. “And her death will always be on your shoulders. Live well, daughter: you’ve a long life ahead of you.”

[ayiigoftheshadows]

wintersaurora​:

❅

Emma Wright, Micah Wright. By now it should not have been a surprise that the queen took every memory and pain inside her and held it out for her to see again. Everything that meant something to her. Aurora tensed a little, because these were children still here, no longer children. These were ones that Ayi’ig could harm as easily as she did the fey prisoners behind her if she truly wanted. With each word that the Queen spoke, dread crept up the fey’s core. The unshakeable feeling that her words and promises had a chance to be true, to be real. Aurora vowed it to the depths of her soul that it wouldn’t be, even then. But she was little more than a child in the face of little less than a god. She had no power to do more than watch in horror as the world slipped away into a few one. As Ayi’ig brought her to a place that was both heaven and hell, bliss and torture.

After all, there was perhaps no greater torture then to give happiness, then take it away. To dissolve all emotional walls and protection and allow for love and peace to grow, grow, grow and then turn into loss once more. Aurora was in panic and confusion for no more than perhaps a few minutes, at least that is for how long it felt. She had sense enough to collect herself for a bit, to rush towards the kitchen of the home and take a knife. With it she ignored the cries of those children as, with trembling hands, she carved out the letter ‘W’ into her arm. Wright. Wright. Wright. Remember Wright, remember your mistake, remember what you’d done in grief. Remember what had happened, what you’d endured. Without her magic, Aurora never would be able to heal the scar that grew there. But true to Ayi’ig’s word, a moment came when she could no longer remember what it was to fear war and grieve lost motherhood. When the absence of her magic became a nuisance that she couldn’t remember or care how it got there, not in the moment when she lifted her son from his crib and looked into those deep, brown eyes. When her daughter blinked those grey eyes at her… and there was no pain there, no sickness. She cried only for attention, for love.

They lived in a quiet village in Italy, but Aurora took them everywhere. She showed them the world and its all wonders, as well as it’s faults. When they went to Japan she thought of a demon, somehow, but the memory was fleeting. Each autumn was the most challenging, as her very soul seemed restless… as though there was something so very important she needed to know, needed to do. The scar on her wrist always bothered her, not in giving her pain but in giving her such a strange and sinking feeling. Things were wrong, some things were missing… everyday she felt it, everyday it was a panic in her chest as she woke up or fell asleep. But Aurora distracted herself. Aspen’s glowing health and her affinity for the water made her want to study environmental science, and she met a woman in college. Aurelio met a woman too, and his mother watched him give his vows on the alter of his wedding day. She held her children each time they laughed, cried. In every moment of pain and joy and success and failure. She held her grandchildren too. But Aurora did not age. One day far too early she said goodbye to her daughter. And then she held her son’s hand as his old and feeble body finally gave into age. The day after he passed, Aurora returned to that small village in Italy, that perfect hamlet. The house was quiet. Empty. There were tears in her eyes as her hand ran along the old bookshelf, thinking fondly of how Aurelio had replaced so many of the dusty old tomes with fantasy and science fiction novels. But there was still one old book there, one that she remembered she insisted they didn’t get rid of. She wondered why… it was so old. She slipped it out of the bookshelf and opened it. That sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach returned. Franticly, Aurora turned each of the pages but there was not a single one without ‘W’ hastily scratched in or scribbled onto the pages. Words that began with the letter W, elven symbols of those english words. Wolf came up most often, as though a part of her remembered Farenduil in the snow. Wolves. W. Wolves. W wasn’t for wolves.

Her heart was beating quick, tears in her eyes and trembling in her hands. When she looked up, Ayi’ig stood there and the book dropped to the floor with a dull thunk. “No,” Aurora whispered. All at once, the memories returned as she sunk to the floor, tears collecting in an unending stream. “…No, no… no… no.”

-

In the hamlet that had grown somewhat over the years, Ayi’ig found Aurora with tears collecting in her eyes. Broken as the painful truth worked its way back into her mind: she’d never gotten to raise her children, never watched them grow, never marked their progress through life like parents marked height upon a doorframe. The Truth was carved hollow and raw, barren and burdened under the weight of the anger that had grown in the place where love was meant to be, an insatiable desire for vengeance against an unfair crown that led her to strike out against a set of innocent twins. 

“Poor girl, my sweet daughter.” Ayi’ig cooed, weaving as she did a web about the other. “To think-” with a gesture the world that Aurora had known for the last century was gone and in its place came Emma on a deathbed, flowers laid about her as Farenduil wept on her bedside. A hateful gaze reared its hideous head as he wrenched his face from his daughter’s cold body, “that history is about to repeat itself.” “How could you do this?” Farenduil asked, he rose as Ayi’ig manipulated further the hurt and the hate in the Winter chancellor’s heart. “My daughter Aurora- my-?” There was too much pain in his voice to finish, only a flourish of magic as the weight of the royal eladrin’s autumn magic prepared to descend upon her, but the fall never came. 

They stood now in the snow, the hamlet that Aurora had created at the summit, her people milling about. Warriors and eladrin alike. “But it doesn’t have to be this way. Emma’s fate is not yet written.” Ayi’ig offered, “Yield to me. Your court. Your people. Lay down your arms and swear to never strike out against another drow.” The Queen of the Drow spoke, voice like poisoned honey, “Bend your knee to me and I will fix what you broke.”