freya

for my oc Freya Ashriver, living as a professional rider at moorland stables and a marine biology student at jorvik city university. jorvik kinda lacks some world building to make it a proper society so I'm filling in the blanks

[im-kuku]

My version of Elizabeth Sunbeam when she first came to Jorvik

I drew her in a style that's slightly inspired by the og sso style because I'm a total suckeerrr for ittt (the inspiration is subtle but visible, imo, tihi)

In my headcanon she came to Jorvik somewhere in the 90s in her late teens; the in-game lore alludes to her escaping a tumultuous family life so this design is based on that

[silverkit]

PART 1

-> PART 2

[This is a collection of my Pandoria headcanons and homebrew worlbuilding. There is a lot of text, so prepare yourself.]

TIME

Explaining time to a pandorian is like explaining carbonated water to a fish; illogical, unneeded and it hurts their head. And believe me, I’ve tried explaining many times. Pandorians exist outside of time, but what does that even mean? They move and talk just like humans do, but once you enter their dimension… you wish you hadn’t. Your vision starts to swirl and legs begin to move in a zig-zag patten even though you’ve never asked them to do that. As a person used to being drunk on two bottles of mead, I find that experience quite familiar. Once you get used to it, it’s bearable. My many years spent in this dimension have somewhat adapted me to the environment, although it comes at a cost (see:  PANDORIC SICKESS).

Pandoria works on simple logic – if it can happen, it will. Which means, not simple at all. Although every being lives linearly, one might find themselves looking at a tree that has not been there before. Your friend is twice as tall as you, yet you are stuck as a teenager for another eternity. So on and so forth. My visits to Pandoria have been particularly confusing. As a being used to the frames of time, I’ve felt as though I spent two weeks walking around, yet when I came back my tea was still piping hot!

I’ve asked a fellow traveller, a witch searching for supplies in the pandoric wilderness, of what she thinks about this anecdote. She said “My only concern is to come back home before my ten year old kids leave for university”.

SPACE

Pandoria is ever changing, but it follows a general structure that the locals have named and written down. The maps are a crude representation of Pandoria; in reality it warps and bends and twists and pulls as each non-existing second passes. No living thing is able to capture that on paper.

The Islands –> space for all living beings. Much like planets in space, they drift in the infinite expanse of shining lights (I haven’t been able to deduce what the lights are. Are they stars? Other islands? The chaotic energy of Pandoria?)

The Infinite Down –> once you fall, there is no hope for you. You will fall for eternity or until your lungs give out. The difficult environment influenced several species to develop flight, such as flying manta rays, formless pandorians and shadow seekers.

The Space Between –> once you cross the portal to Pandoria, you need to pass through a foggy, deserted place. That is the Space Between. It acts as a gateway between time and space; a moment of complete stillness.

Navigating Pandoria is nigh impossible. Each island is moving around like a big, everlasting kaleidoscope. Every time you enter a portal, you end up in a different location. When you want to go back to the previous island, you might discover that there is an empty space left instead. No matter if you are human or pandorian, you are forever lost. That is why pandorians choose one of two ways in life; some stay in one place their whole life and others travel from island to island, never to return home. (I was relieved when I’ve learned that there is a free shelter system in Pandoria. I’m so happy I don’t have to abandon hot showers!) I call them the settlers and the drifters. Pandorians have their own names for them; the direct translation would be “the one who stays” and “the one who travels”.

It’s difficult to live in a place so chaotic, even for equally chaotic beings, but at least they get to choose their fate. Throughout my journey I’ve travelled to many cities and met many amazing people, but I am unable to return to them again. I feel kinship with the drifters, missing home even though you are doing what you love. When I finally came back to Valedale, I hugged my brother as hard as I could.

There is only one known way of going back to a specific location; the Keystones. They lead to one singular island. A rather unremarkable island on its own, but it has collected quite the collection of pandorian and human activity. No one knows why the Keystones were built. Fripp is being weirdly silent about it…

The “kaleidoscope” nature of this place has made communication nigh-impossible. Thus, the difference between the Islands’ scientific development is striking. You can travel from an Island straight out of a sci-fi book to a rural village. Drifters try to bring different inventions across the land, but there are infinitely more Islands than there are people. Traveling through Pandoria is like a game of roulette – you never know what you’re going to get!

PANDORIC SICKNESS

While exploring this realm is very fascinating, with each visit my health has been slowly declining. As of writing this, I am unable to return there ever again. Beings from Earth are not accustomed to an existence outside of time. Their bodies and minds deteriorate each time they think about the absurdity of breathing backwards. The pandoric sickness, as I have dubbed it, starts in the mind and travels through the nervous system until your entire body is completely covered in pink.

I've made a simple and effective list to make your trip suck a bit less:

First and foremost, it attacks your eyesight – eyes are windows to your soul and Pandoria wants to swallow it for breakfast. When you are overwhelmed, cover your eyes and pray for the best.

Direct contact with pandoric energy worsens the effects; just avoid touching anything you don’t know the exact properties of, otherwise your limbs will be next in line for amputation.

Avoid cuts and bruises, the sickness clings to open skin. Many people in contact with pandoric energy discover that their old scars have suddenly started to glow pink. You don’t want that to happen, trust me.

Remember to cover your nose when you venture into the wilderness. You can easily take care of a scratch on your hand, but you can’t sneeze out microscopic particles from your lungs.

Don’t eat unknown plants. Just don’t.

THE GARNOK CONUNDRUM

Garnok reigns terror on Jorvik and He reigns terror in Pandoria. Ever since the Dark Riders have started to raise Him from the dead, Pandoria got the short end of the stick. Islands upon islands have been sinking into the depths of the Infinite Down. What we know on Jorvik as pandoric cracks are massive tears in Pandoria’s surface. I’ve met many pandorians who fled to Jorvik in fear of being next. The soul crushing fact about that is; you can find your way out of Pandoria, but it’s impossible to return to your home island when you go back.

It’s been happening more and more in recent years. I hope the new generation of Soul Riders will succeed where we could not.

PANDORIA AND MAGIC

Have you ever wondered how magic works on Jorvik? Pandoria is the key. You see, many believe that magic appeared after Aideen’s arrival on the island. Whether that is truth or myth, there is no doubt that the magic we have today has roots in Pandoria.

When pandoric magic seeped into the earth, it started to adapt to the new environment. Nature and pandoric energy worked together to become something else. Nowadays, we can distinguish three separate sources of magic:

Jorvik’s native magic, used by the Witches, is Jorvik’s source of energy. It’s also the most capricious form of magic, as it requires you to study it for years before you can safely use it. It is, however, the most potent out of all of them. You can find sources of its energy in any plant or being on Jorvik. Therefore, it does not require a conduit, such as wands, like druid magic does. All knowledge about it is found in the Witches’ tomes, which are passed down from generation to generation. It’s nearly impossible to find one of those without repercussions. Thus, our understanding of this kind of magic is very limited.

Druid magic is sourced from pandoric energy found on Jorvik. In the early days, we’ve found that the leftover energy from pandoric activity is possibly harmful to the environment. Because of that, druids have developed a magic system that harvests it and stores it inside conduits, such as runestones, tablets, staffs and wands. It’s not pure pandoric energy, but a safer and more tame variant, thus it is relatively safe to use. It’s weaker than Jorvik’s native magic, but with a good rune combination you can achieve wonders. There are certain people who can use it without any tool, as their whole being is a natural conduit – those blessed with Aideen’s light. Horse whisperers and the Soul Riders are a prime example.

Pandoric magic is chaotic in nature. Not many people can wield it, only pandorians themselves and the most powerful of Witches, called the Vala, can harness its energy. You can counter it with a natural antithesis of chaos – a massive clock. I’ve learned that very recently.

I cannot end this section without mentioning the elephant in the room. We do not know what is Garnok’s power. We have tried to analyse it, yet it seems that He possesses a completely alien form of magic. This is not a good sign.

[starbornsoulrider]

extremely funny that the secret stone circle is RIGHT next to marchenghast like that. we’ve been having our little soul rider meetings and shit all this time while there was a Fucking War going on down the street. hey Fripp I know we’ve gotta kill Garnok or whatever but did you know there’s a unspeakably deadly plague infecting the forest right below your house

[butterfly-headquarters]

Working on the magic system and realizing

A. I can't keep Katja as the ice witch (I will keep the ice witch and maker her a new character and her and Katja being confused for one another will actually be a plot point)

B. Pandorian magic will be focused on shadow and light as well as the essence of beings (souls, minds, life energy or the lack thereof)

C. Earth magic is going to be nature/element based

D. Soul Riders and Dark Riders aren't opposites of one another they get their magic from the same exact circles, they simply use different parts of it

[freyaashrv]

wait, that last one...

Elizabeth training us (especially Alex) but never mentioning it or if she does, she's quick to shut it down and ask us to never draw for there again and villainizing this part of our power

then one day, we pull energy too quick and too messy while in battle and we end up mirroring a dark rider's attack. the dark riders scatter in shock, and we're flabbergasted, looking at our hands like we've never seen them before. what was this? our first instinct is immense guilt from using something, even accidentally, that Elizabeth said was horrible, like something dark tainted us for even being able to do it.

we spend a few days wallowing in this and training even harder to make sure this never happens again, but a tiny thought keep nagging at the back of our head. the dark riders had scattered so fast when we used that power... wouldn't it be such a great advantage to wield their own tricks against them? wouldn't it give us the ultimate power to finally end this once and for all, and finally get the peace we've wanted for so long?

the next day, we regroup with the girls and talk about with them. Anne's first instinct is to say no. she is, after all, a sticker to the rules. Alex agrees, being the closest to Elisabeth and not wanting to go against something that has been trained and hammered into her for years. but Lisa an Linda ponder in thought a moment. while being dangerous, it could be new tools in our belt against something we've never felt prepared for enough. the urge to change what has been a stalemate for so long wins after some convincing. we eventually agree to carefully train amongst ourselves first, to try out this new channel of power. Linda goes to the druid's secret library in Valedale to search for accounts of soul riders ever wielding dark rider powers.

I got so carried away lmao, not me using we/us pronouns for MC

I might finish this later lmk if it's of interest to any of you

[frnchbgtt]

girls like girls

I really like the old Alex skin, so I drew a mix of different updates <3

[freyaashrv]

another soul rider power headcannon (I'm on a roll) for Lisa this time

so Lisa's power is healing, and I don't think I can give her a physical ability the way I did for Anne and Linda without being redundant, so I thought about how to weaponise this. and. well, it's pretty hard to weaponise healing, but I found a way still. I think if she trained enough that she could be quick and precise, she could 'heal' stuff that shouldn't be healing in the enemy's body.

like, healing the divide between an enemy's eyelids, rendering them blind.

or, more long term and pretty fucked up, but triggering an autoimmune disease? your immune system trying to heal by getting rid of the bad cells but the bad cells are just your body's cells? not really useful in combat but that's akin to posing your enemy I guess. which I don't think she would do, really.

or, if we think about in reverse, if she can heal, can she take away healing as well? that would a hell of an edge. imagine being able to open your enemy's old scars, especially if they've been pretty badly injured? that's terrifying. I think if she could do that, she would literally never do that unless a last resort. that's pretty fucked up.

I mean, I'm giving them combat skills but they're too mushy to actually engage in combat so is it really any use?

[freyaashrv]

another headcannon about the soul riders' powers is about Linda's moon powers

the moon is all about the light, and her other power is ajout shedding light on past and future events. so to me, she can also manipulate light. technically it's kinda cannon because she can make or break illusions I think? but still thinking about giving it an offensive edge, I think she could use it to blind people to disorient them or stun them. like just throwing light at them laser style and the enemy shouting and grabbing their eyes in pain kinda thing

[freyaashrv]

I have a headcannon that Anne's sun circle power don't only give her the ability to open portals, but she can also manipulate the sun's heat.

she's more powerful on sunny days, and can't use this ability at night (but can still open portals)

I imagine her making boomerangs and blades out of pure heat and burning or slicing through anything with it.

it would give her an attack edge that would help Alex in times of need, and I think this ability matches her fiery personality

[raine-of-auroria]

Decided to fix a big problem with this year's Equestrian Festival

[nianianiarix]

Oh, and one more thing

[unstablestablegirl]

down bad for another blonde girl with weird ties to pandoria 😔

[drones-and-jorvikberries]

here's for all my jay enjoyers (me)

[freyaashrv]

my thoughts on the main story quests (spoilers: may 21 2025 update)

okay so this is just my thoughts kind of wilding all over the place in here but I hope you'll bear with me.

first of all : the shift in the narrative??!

Mr. sands' death, the way darko just fucking pushed him back into garnok and the portal?? the fact we can tell this is almost the end and I'm loving it, this has been going on for too long.

i LOVE that the dark riders just don't really answer to darko, and they don't listen to him. they were tied to Mr. sands and Mr. sands only, and we can only wonder why.

he was the one paying them, technically, so were they just doing it for the money and because they kind of loved being little shits, and he gave them the opportunity to do so while keeping them alive?

but it seems they actually want to set garnok free because they fought us when there was a chance it might be freed and the portal was open, but they didn't want to fight us anymore when the portal was closed with no chance to open it again anytime soon.

the nod between Katja and Jay when the portal was opening... I don't really know what to think of it, maybe they were just happy to free garnok, but I feel like maybe they have a plan together, and its first step is freeing garnok. not sure the others know about it. those two seem closer than the other dark riders, and I think nobody likes erissa. Sabine is a bit of a wild card. i think she might be the one that cares the least about garnok and all their evil plans to be fair, but maybe I'm biased because of the equestrian festival quests...

I would love for some type of revolution from the dark riders to happen, for them to decide it's not worth it without Mr. sands because darko is incapable of doing things right and leading them correctly, especially if they don't like him.

erissa is definitely batshit crazy evil. Katja and Jay are the smart, plotting evil type. Sabine looks more like I'm here because it pays the bills type evil.

sabine would definitely be the morally grey one to stop working for them first, I think.

I would also love for the soul riders to become a bit more morally grey too and emancipate more from the druids and fripp. especially fripp. I hate fripp. can you tell?

i hate that they just put everything on our shoulders and tell us, well, the fate of the world is on you! haha isn't that fun, you could be responsible for so much death if you don't work for us, so hey, can you train four times what the other soul riders do, then do all the work in missions, and risk your life everytime. everyone will die if you don't do what we say. isn't that fun? manipulating bitch(es)

I think the soul riders have already started to become a bit emancipated from the druid and I need them to continue in this direction.

also the quality upgrade in the animation is golden, you can tell they put so much work into this and as it comes closer to the end, it fits the story that we get more cutscenes with big things happening. all my love to the sso team making it happen, I'm sorry there's so much negativity on other platforms.

thanks for reading, I'll see you in the next one!

[fan-atik]

I also found it very striking that for this very important quest, for the first time, the soul riders have no "adult" guiding figures telling them what to do or how to do it. (Elisabeth is dead; Avalon and Evergray are gone; Fripp has disappeared; Rhiannon is nowhere to be seen). I really like this, because as OP said, I want the soul riders to become a more separate, morally grey entity, and the absence of the druids (and their implied choice to just leave these very young girls to do all the dangerous work) is prime opportunity to foster this.

I agree with OP's take on the dark riders too. For Sabine, every choice made on her, even beginning with her re-design (which made her infinitely more popular among players), with her roles in event quests, her banter/ chemistry with the MC, implies she will be the first to take a step toward the soul riders/ against garnok or darko (even if just working with our character briefly). Sabine's worldview that we see in the equestrian festival --"the world is such a dark place why does everyone pretend to be happy"-- is very understandable and leaves room for change or redemption.

We were introduced to Katja and Jessica/Jay around the same time if I remember correctly, and we often see them as a pair. The nod confirmed their relationship. When it comes to Erissa (who i have kinda mixed feelings about), I wonder how she will fit into the soul rider - dark rider dynamic, as she seems to not be included in the dark riders' "sisterhood" for now. It also struck me as odd that in our vision, the soul and dark riders were riding together in group, but Erissa was alone and approaching the group almost as an antagonist.

[onwardpasserine]

sometimes fine shii is a villain from a kids' horse game. and that's ok

(see my ship down the cut)

toxic horse queers

[nianianiarix]

Did anyone else notice the night sky is now darker? And that there are more shadows?

I'm starting to wonder if the game-breaking bug was caused by them updating the lighting?

Here are a few in-game photos with their dates, all made at night, stacked for comparison

And the full pictures, from 11th February 2025 at the Goldenhills Valley championship hub at 1:25AM vs yesterday, 12th March 2026 at the Silverglade Equestrian Center at 11:35PM

Edit: I opened the game and it looks it gets darker the closer to midnight you are! So now at 10pm it's like the same like before but the midnight gets way darker! And the stars appear like they're moving!

[freyaashrv]

that's awesome!

[wouldyoufuckthistaur]

i spent three hours turning my sso character into a centaur using only clip studio paint and a shitty drug mart rgb mouse [and a creative commons arena photo]

[freyaashrv]

my take on the galloper quests :

(feel free to correct me on what happened and share your opinion)

I see plenty of people sharing their thoughts on these quests shaming sso for victim blaming.

I'm confused because to me, Gunnar thrymsom is the right hand man to Jon jarl. he's a soldier, okay, and he gets his orders from Jon jarl. why do you paint him as a victim? other from a normal boss-employee power imbalance, he's a full grown man (at least in game). he can make his own decisions. he chose to comply with his orders, and he knew what he was doing was bad (I think?). so why didn't he stop? 'I was just following orders' isn't really really a valid defense when dealing with important stuff. and to me, smashing runestones counts the same as bombing a church or mosque iykwim, which is pretty bad.

maybe that druid's revenge in splitting his soul was too much, considering it wasn't going to bring the runestones back, but it was kinda justified. I mean, who wouldn't be angry at somebody barging into your house and smashing your most prized possessions? I do agree it was needless torture though.

to me, the quests were dealing with the effects of colonialism, of Europeans coming in to 'new' territories, acting like everything is theirs and disregarding the local populations and their beliefs, and maybe even current events in the 'soldier who only does what he's told to' (looking at you ICE officers/IDF soldiers/rememiniscent of nazis).

I'll redo the quests to make sure I didn't miss any important things, but there's my read on it.