The set from 2020 is complete! Rather proud of all this work~
If you are curious as to the philosophy/lore behind the placement of each element, the explanation is below the cut!
Rings: There are 5 groups of elements:
Outer Elements: outermost 3, the triangle
Divine Elements: outer 8, held in individual circles
Chakric Elements: middle 6, the hexagon
Natural Elements: inner 8, together in one circle
Data: center
This organization reflects power (strongest ones are near the outside) as well as access to mortals (innermost are easiest to learn and control). This matches the world cosmology: the Core holds the natural, the Surface exists in 3 chakric planes, 8 planets hold the divine, and the barrier between the void and existence is composed of sound battling the silence with arcane words, giving name to all inside the universe. The Matrix of data is a virtual world, enclosed within the greater system but not quite subject to the same rules.
Natural Elements: The placement of the 4 classic elements are based on seasons. I chose to break from the classic rock-paper-scissors cycle to infuse my own connections.
South: Summer: Fire
West: Autumn: Air
North: Winter: Water
East: Spring: Earth
Those in between are like "fusions" of the 4 base natural elements.
Ice = Water/Air
Thunder = Air/Fire
Metal - Fire/Earth
Wood = Earth/Water
Chakric Elements: These magics that control the self are often associated with the 4 classic elements, often in this way:
Body: Earth
Heart: Water
Mind: Air
Soul: Fire
However, I have to adjust for the hexagonal arrangement since I also have Fate & Blood. There are also pairings within the category.
Body:Blood
Mind:Heart
Soul:Fate
With this, I can place Body and Mind next to Earth and Air respectively. I want Heart to be adjacent to Water, so it goes in the top left space next to Mind. Luckily, Blood is also tied to Water, and its pairing with Body means it goes perfectly in the top right. Soul is your abstract identity, while Fate is how your actions affect the world and vice versa. Soul is placed next to the abstract Mind, Fate next to the concrete Body.
Divine Elements: These are based on the 4 classic alignments: Light and Dark, Chaos and Order. Luckily, they are already associated with the 4 classical elements too:
Light: Fire (the Sun)
Dark: Water (the Moon)
Chaos: Air
Order: Earth
And like the natural elements, those in between the base 4 are like fusions of them.
Life: Light/Chaos
Time: Order/Light
Death: Dark/Order
Space: Chaos/Dark
Outer Elements: These were honestly difficult to arrange, but I thought that the elements the triangle touched/encompassed affected it. Void is placed up top since that point encompasses Darkness and lies next to Death and Space. The bottom left intersects Life and lies tangent to Chaos, while the bottom right intersects time and lies tangent to Order. The tangents push me to place the vibrant but noisy Sound to the left and the script-based Arcana to the right.
Data, being a synthetic and virtual element created from code, is simultaneously constrained by the laws of magic around it but also is separate from it, operating under its own rules which artificers can manipulate.
The Hidden 69th Element (NSFW): The element of Cum infuses this whole universe because a gay cursed meme-loving cumdump was the one who designed all this, and thus it pervades his work. Once can see its outline, faintly in the background,
-Theodred of House Eorl, heir to the Lord-Marshal of Anorien and Rohan
-Boromir of House Hurin, heir to the Lord-Steward of Ithilien and Harondor
-Aragorn Estel Thorongil of House Elendil Isildur Valandil Mirundil, heir to the Lord-Chancellor of Mirunien and Dor Rhunen and the thrones of Arnor and Gondor
You can read the first chapter of their story here on AO3
part-Easterling!Aragorn and part-Haradrim!Boromir, courtesy of the Miruinverse
(the red hair on Aragorn refers to historic descriptions of early Turkic peoples as often having red hair and also to fill out the trio of red brunet and blond for the inevitable throuple with Theodred)
Map of Gondor in the Mirruin-verse
An alternate history map of Middle-earth with many, many deviations from the main timeline, including but not limited to:
Aule attempts to counteract the loss of the Silmarils by creating the Auroras (Q. MĂrruinĂ«, S. Miruin/Gilruin), converting the flame of the earth into multicolored lights; Saruman of the Many Colors remains in Valinor to guide them like a lighthouse keeper
Orcs are adopted by Orome after some drifted away from Morgoth when the Moon first rose and they proved themselves to him; they call themselves Karngijak for they bleed red instead of black (which are called Goblins)
The Faithful are given seeds by the Feanturi (which includes Nienna); Elendil and sons all land together and create the Gondorian Tetrapolis; the planted seeds create trees that grant some people born in the city psychic powers.
Entwives live and green up what was once the Brown Lands
Rohan remains part of Gondor for fiefdom reasons; the kingdom is significantly more diverse with Haradrim prevalent in Harondor/Ithilien, Easterlings in Dor Rhunen, plus Dunlendings in Isendale
“When all hope is lost look toward the light.”
Stained glass commission for @orcanist of his tiefling paladin Fydes!
(more close-ups under the cut)
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