The Wisteria Groves of Amorium are a sacred and life-giving place. The wisteria tree itself is considered a living representation of life and fertility, serving as a powerful symbol of the Alfar. Wisteria trees were brought by the ancient Tuatha from their home island of Avalon, and the trees have hence spread all over the continent of Beatha.
The tree is so important to the Alfar for it is one of the main food source and host plant of their offspring. During the earliest developmental instars, where Dokkalfar babies are naught more than overgrown caterpillars, they feed primarily upon the leaves and flowers of the wisteria. Not long after the babe is born, they are placed upon the wisteria to feed for the first time. The leaves and flowers themselves have the side effect of making the caterpillar babies mildly poisonous. Young Alfar will spend a couple instars here in the Groves, eating and developing until they are ready to cocoon. Adult Dokkalfar also like to consume wisteria, but more often in the form of the flowers pressed with water and sugar/honey, turned to syrup, and then added as a flavorant to sweet, fortified wines.
As such, the Groves are highly guarded and protected, as the young Alfar are vulnerable not only to the wild predatory animals of the Sidhe, but also mimics and parasitic fae that specialize primarily in feeding upon and taking the place of the young of other fae.
Dū-chara ('my friend', chara is the informal version)
Delacroí or just croí (meaning 'my heart' or 'heart', term of fond endearment)
Dhiā (a more casual honorific, used for non-nobility, similar to 'sir/ma'am', or 'mr')
Ros/RÍ (roughly translates to lord/lady, a very polite honorific, common component of dokkalfar given names.)
Croíram (similar to 'sweetheart' or 'sweetie', can be used fondly or sarcastically)
Rízadeh (roughly translates to monarch, emperor or king)
Azhdagan (dragon)
Raicleach (storm, specifically a tropical storm such as a hurricane. Sometimes used to describe someone who is 'fiesty' or 'passionate')
Iolar (eagle, general name to describe birds of prey)
An (meaning 'the')
Ap (meaning 'of')
Hylic (A word to refer to a 'mundane', someone who is not very magically inclined or attuned, often used in a derogatory fashion)
Slánai (savior or hero, with the implication of being in debt to said savior)
Ban ('ghost' 'departed')
Sidhe ('home', 'homeland', 'origin')
Heim ('kingdom', 'empire'', 'place')
Alfar ('the folk', 'People')
Dokk ('below' or 'low', with Dokkalfar meaning (The) Below Folk)
Ljos ('above' or 'high', with Ljosalfar meaning (The) Above Folk)
Meet Gwym ap Nudd (aka ser beefcake lmfao), High Myrmidon of the Unseelie Court of Amorium. Leader of The Wild Hunt, The Scorched One, The Stormbringer, Hero of Hosts.
dokkalfar are just. obsessed with wearing masks and headdresses. these accessories are symbols of status and power and job. they can be made from basically anything, but the most common material used for mask making is bronze, lacqured wood, tempered obsidian, or even grown and carved from mushrooms. these masks almost always cover the entire face, though sometimes you will see dokkalfar wearing less ceremonial ‘half masks’ during parties.
the dokkalfar’s most highly trained soldiers and guards are perhaps the imfamous mask-wearing dokkalfar, as their ebony-wood masks are crafted with enchantments to enhance their abilities in battle.
the masks themselves can be stylized with all sorts of horns and sharp edges, feathers, fangs. the expressions anywhere between a tight, neutral expression to theatrical, grotesque depictions of people, demons, animals, and monsters.
niantics, myrmidons, gentrymen, majors and generals are all members of the dokkalfar military that wear their own special masks to indicate their rank. they are often also painted different colors to further help differentiate the ranks of dokkalfar. masks with motifs of eyes, particularly a ‘third’ eye carved unto the forehead of the mask, are also often commonly seen among the apostles and magisters of amorium, as it is a representation of magical prowess and being ‘seen’ by the gods, a blessing or a curse.
masks that break into triple faces (called a ‘three moons’ mask or a ‘mithra’ mask, as it represents the phases of the moon and the many faces of their god, mithra) are only worn by the highest ranking members of the unseelie; typically the archon, the hierophant, the vizier, and the archmage are the only ones allowed to have masks stylized in this way.
nobility of the unseelie court also enjoy wearing highly stylized, personalized masks, which are also often imbued with enchantments intended specifically for the wearer. some nobility will have multiple masks for different purposes -- like a mask they wear when attending court within the sidhe, or masks they wear when attending court in other lands or when acting as ambassadors, masks they wear simply for the pleasure of it, masks they wear during rituals, masks worn during battle. just. masks for every purpose.
these masks are yet another example of the importance of apotropaic magic within dokkalfar society. they believe wearing these masks frightens and confuses evil spirits, as they believe that spirits will see mask wearing dokkalfar as one of their own and choose to leave them alone. they also use the masks for the sole purpose of instilling uncertainty and dismay into their enemies, and to protect one’s identity within times of danger or war.
for example, there are times where dokkalfar will often opt to switch out and wear eachother’s masks. they do this in order to further confuse their enemies, either on the court or within battle - so that a single dokkalfar cannot be truly picked out so easily from the swarm. it is also an effective way to protect more important members of their society during assassination attempts. many dokkalfar would jump at the chance to give their lives to save their archon, and so there have been points in history where a servant has worn the mask and garb the archon, and been assassinated in place of the archon themself.
there are also dokkalfar that use this mask switching as a form of magic, to bounce a curse intended for one person onto another who is better equipped to resist a curse and send it back to it’s sender.
here are some examples of the sort of masks dokkalfar like to wear under the cut (cw for scocophoba kinda. i dont even have a fear of being stared at and these masks still give me the heeby jeebies staring into my fucking soul):
happy summer solstice! the summer solstice is among the most important day among the dokkalfar. it marks the day where their power is almost at its complete zenith, and they become more powerful than their winter and spring seelie brethren as the sun makes its descent. during this time dokkalfar are full of energy and life, more amorous as their desire to reproduce is also at its height this time. however they are also even more aggressive and territorial as their thoughts shift from merely defending their foothold in the sidhe, to advancing outward. it is like this every season, the seelie and unseelie locked in a war influenced by the changing tides of the seasons, where one only really truly gains upon the other during the rising energy and climax of their respective seasons. during this time dokkalfar are faster, stronger, their senses and magic more potent, and their emotional and capricious proclivities high.
because of the dokkalfar’s aversion to most forms of wrought metal, they have to find alternatives in order to fuel the construction of their budding war swarm, their sky-scraping towers, extensive tunneling complexes underneath their cities, etc etc. they use materials like rock, limestone, wood, rubber, volcanic glass, pretty much any sort of natural material they can find, and that includes extremely strong chitin harvested from fungus farms buried deep within the undercity and spread throughout the sidhe.
the dokkalfar-svartalfar border city of myrkheim has a primary export of harvested fungus chitin, alongside precious gems and any other metals, ores and deep earth resources that the dokkalfar may need. the main agricultural colony of the sidhe, the dark fields or nidavellir, also tends to specialized fungal farms intended to be made into specific things.
the dokkalfar even enhance typically very fragile or brittle materials by mending them with this fungal chitin -- the most notable example being amorium obsidian or dokkalfar steel, which is volcanic glass hardened and reinforced with chitin. this makes dokkalfar weaponry not only unnaturally sharp, but also unnaturally strong for what it is made from.
