Introductions to the characters of Ordeal of Murmurs
Machik
A man turned dog at a young age by the onsetting maledictions of the dead all-seers. Now barely spends time in his dog form as his human one is unstable and he's afraid he won't be able to return to it's already fragile state — forcing him to remain in it as to not lose more of himself than he has. Machik keeps to himself whenever possible, avoiding large crowds and sticking to places searched thoroughly by merchants in the cities, and incompletely by travellers seeking to explore areas untouched.
He wishes to sail the Western Seas, to see the Archipelago of the farthest continent South, Ehlsud. But these are still covets he is yet to bring to life, first wanting to find his named sister who, too, was turned by the malediction. And to turn back human.
Vayda
The last knight of the Susurration Order, in search of memories lost and hindered, going as far as The Crows Ravine to ask for guidance from The Council uninvited.
Vayda isn't left untouched by the influence the dead all-seers have spread upon the lands, and has since been losing her muscle. Her arm, both legs: one to its ankle and the other to the knee, have rotted away and are now nothing but bone.
Though she has come upon such areas and peoples who have been affected more greatly than she, she still mourns her loss of self in the harsh world she faces alone.
The Knight of Earthly Remains — Vaughan
The bone and clay armour knight of the House Ehliyr. He's under the Houses' knighthood, the Buried Rhizome, which serves, and lives, in the catacombs below the residency. The House Ehliyr practices Defilid magic, which inorganically fuses the dead-bodies of the knights and earthly wares that soon force them to unite.
Vaughan fell to the same fate almost 5 decades ago, slain aged only 41, since then, he's been knit together by the clay from the marshes, south of the Ehliyr lands, and his own bones and flesh. As well as the riches of the catacombs. His soul and muscle bound to the knighthood and those of the House of Ehliyr.
Irfan and Yaran
Irfan is a leper priest, who's slowly dying due to the onsetting curse of the sorcerers passed. He serves in a chapel of the Masfeh’thel Reliquary in the North-Western region of the continent. Though many have begun to leave the lands due to the spreading maledictions, Irfan and the chapels keepers continue to inhabit and care for the quiet convent and its records.
Yaran strictly follows the Masfeh’thel Reliquary's rules, his strive for knowledge and scriptures has left him to stay and tend to the almost empty walls, it's dying residents, and abandoned animals and land left by the people of the town. They try to maintain as much as possible, and constantly act as messenger as the scriptures are slowly being delivered down South to the less affected monastaries.
Yaran peels apple skins off with a black knife they claim is made of an ore that fell from the sky.
St. Morcant, St. Ade and St. Geue
Three of the fifteen wizards and all-seers of the Crows Ravine — they have sat at the seats of the high council since their 20th autumn. They are rid of their names - and must be referred to either by their status or Saint name. For every time a member dies, the rest of the council cuts their hair and lets it grow back out until the next death.
St Moracant — The Shoulders of the High Council — she’s one of the last known users of the fallen stars, an all-seer of the north.
St. Ade — The Ribbed Collar — the Neck of the High Council — mostly gets compared to the Barely Spoken wizard, for his power is much stronger than that of the actually chosen for the title.
Though the two have never met, The Ribbed Collar does harbour distaste and abhors the young wizard of gentle word, and lost carvings.
St Geue — The Jaw of the High Council — The youngest member of the High Council goes hand in hand with St. Quicwyn in many of the council's decisions and contemplations.
Here is an info-dump post on Faunus Jaune almost was before rabbit stuck for me, just ‘cause, I still look at some of them fondly and want to share ‘cause that’s how it be and I like Faunus...yeah.
Swan - Mute Swan Faunus I was taking inspiration from the story of The Ugly Duckling, as to mirror Jaune growing into himself, and eventually not feeling so outcast and alone anymore. He once had swan wings, until, much like his ears now, they were taken from him, and thus his new life as disguising as a human began.
Swan was the one that almost stuck, I had a few rps waaaay back on that old blog with this version, but, it was just an au at the time rather than divergence. I liked it, and I liked the premise of the story I took inspiration from, buuut it just wasn’t quite right, and thus, was scrapped.
Lion - Probably self explanatory, the cowardly lion finding courage, and so forth. Then ofc the knight resemblances to lions. Nothing too particularly interesting, and thus, it was scrapped very quickly. He had lions ears that were able to be hidden in his mane of hair during V1 - V6
Mouse - I didn’t have any particular story inspiration but, a mouse was supposed to represent him for the first few volumes; someone who was seen as weak and unfitting, someone who didn’t have confidence in himself, and though he wasn’t small, he sure felt it most of the time. The meek mouse, who along with lion, had little mouse ears. Mouse now, is what I equate to Oscar over Jaune, but, not really for the same reasons.
Deer - Deer, was supposed to represent Jaune as prey, to eventually become something more; to become stronger and more fierce and to not be second guessed. Because I equate Pyrrha to a lioness, Jaune being a deer around her also just made sense to me, as he’s learning from who was strong and fierce, because he too wished he was someone like that. As a deer, Jaune had antlers, but ones that he would cut / shave down every season they attempted to grow as to not have eyes upon him, and continue to assume a human life. I liked deer a lot, I feel like a deer fits Jaune fairly well-- a deer in the headlights sort of deal. Fawn growing into a full blown buck one day, when he’d finally let his antlers grow and realize how strong they actually looked.
Three of the council: St. Ade, The Neck of the High Council, St. Geue, The Jaw of the High Council, and St. Morcant, The Shoulders of the High Council
A place of the high word and old magic. Not many people travel to this closed-off city.
In it sits the council of the Fifteen. Delirious in their choices, they’re feared by the townsfolk and many of the people who live in those mountains, though their decisions are generally favourable.
Many kings send their best knights and messengers there to deliver the word to the council, who then decide the fate of many who live upon the lands beyond the horizon. There have been talks of whether or not they control more than the course of a decision but also history in itself, though that can be left out of the conversation as the oldest of the council has only turned 107.
The Crows Ravine also welcomes kings into its halls, for they come to gather all and every time threats from the distant North Ocean come or when the council has decided to host a gathering.
A place of rest, The Crows Ravine is also seen as the oldest cemetery on the continents.
The red earth that the resting place is erected on has been said to be raised blood of those first buried — to keep watch over those who come to lay rest after. Legend has it that there are many artefacts of old that have power above what can be preformed, and are rumoured to raise the dead and heal the living.
The burial grounds are to be entered only by the Head and both Hands of the council; they tend to the grounds and those buried. Any trespassers on these sacred grounds are to be executed in front of the high council and any leaders present, and left out for the entire town to see. Later the criminals are buried at the bottom of the mountain range.
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Beyond the Crows Ravine are stretches of untamed steppes and dark forests at the foot of the mountain pass that stretch over to the horizon's edge. The Eastern Wastelands boast nothing but bogs, sludge, and silt. Abandoned rock formations of old, and haze for miles on end that forces travellers to guess their times of day while making their way through the freezing marshes.
Even further east, there are also deep pools of dark and murky water in formations inorganic to these lands, and no trees to shield those wandering. Yet splinters of wood constantly get moved around by the strong winds, and if not careful enough, some may leave more than scars and scabs.
Yonder that none have come back, let alone to document the terrains of such lands that are yet to be beheld beyond the fog.
The last Pillar Gates at the edge of the Eastern Wastelands.
The last remaining Pillar Gate in the Wastelands The barren land beyond the gate is that of the dead; passing through as a living soul goes against nature itself. In between the pillars, one may witness a time they strive for but that wasn't, isn't, and won't be.
Children of foresight are, by myth, said to have inherited their visions from these gates. It states that if one such child passes through them, the power will be exchanged for something of significance, though that remains speculation as no child has set foot on the Wastelands.
Ywain, a follower of the Masfeh’thel Reliquary, and Eir, the last child of foresight.
These children are rare, and there has been no documentation of their survival past early pre-adulthood.
Many possess multiple eyes, usually up to three extra, while monocular vision has been sighted in less than a handful since the discovery of the foresight children. These children can sense and reenact coming events, as well as change their appearance to that of the one most longed for by the seer — though only in the eyes of the latter.
Many die of health complications, growing weaker and becoming almost paper-like in appearance, with frail, flakey skin and shallow breathing. In these times, they're more likely to give accurate and big prophecies that will occur in the future that aren't tied to their lifespan or those of the people around them. Many have prophesied of events that have come to be, of kings' failures and histories lost.
The most recent child of foresight in over 70 years, named Eir at birth, has been kept hidden by a follower of the Masfeh’thel Reliquary. Disguised as a traveller, the keeper of solemn words of the sinistral numen, they carry Eir over to the lands beyond The Eastern Wastelands.
There has been no prophecy foretold by any child that has not occurred in time present or departed.
small info dump on padme + her games/role as a victor & in the rebellion!
padme amidala grows up as a mayor’s daughter in one of the smaller district seven towns, based on the border of what was once oregon.
she grows up inquisitive about the world around her — she’s an only child and thus gets the best her parents can offer.
at fourteen she’s reaped for the 58th hunger games, and quickly becomes popular in the capitol for her wit, charm, and beauty. similar to finnick she gets many sponsors and gifts, but her mentor, tac, didn’t care as much as mags does, which meant not many of the sponsors wanted to deal with him in the long run (her mentor will be played by @meathungrylamb bc I drag birdy into everything I do)
during her games she becomes known for her kindness and reluctance to kill; she wins her games with no kills, a feat she considers a fluke. her arena was cold and barren, and she survived because of the similarity to her town’s climate.
padme wasn’t close to her district partner; she tried to be, but he was standoffish (for good reason), and they separated early on in their games. still, when she saw him during that night’s recap, she cried herself to sleep.
padme talked to the cameras often; it helped get her sponsors. about her day, about how she hoped everyone else was having a good day — it got less serious once she realized the capitol liked it.
she wins on the verge of malnutrition — a showdown was going on, once she didn’t have a hope of even knowing about, between the two male district one and two victors. the district one male survived, and, thinking he had won, didn’t tend to his injuries in time, instead waiting for the hovercraft. padme won once he bled out.
after her win, padme was placed in the victor’s village, centralized in district seven and far, far away from her home. her family could not move because of her dad’s position as mayor, and the only other person who lived in the village was tac, who didn’t really come out unless he needed to. this is when padme begins to realize how much she hates being alone.
she builds the district’s image from the ground up from then on — her first year as a mentor begins the next year, and she hits the ground running from then on.
her first victor (someone give me them I beg) is her pride and joy; she mothers them despite being probably relatively close in age. her house begins to be overrun with the slow trickle of victors district seven gets, and she has a room for each of them. more houses get built in the village and she’s happy.
padme often bounces between district 7 and the capitol, her work not done when games season ends. unlike finnick who is prostituted for his body, padme is prostituted for her mind (though there are many who would want her for the former, it shatters the illusion they build of her). her wit, intelligence, and maturity mean that capitolites put her on a pedestal away from her district — they expect them to be dumb, and padme’s mind amuses and intrigues them.
she hates this, of course, but it proves very valuable when the rebellion begins. she’s heard far too many things from capitol elites who think they’re simply taking the brain of district seven out for drinks. this makes her a key figure in the rebellion and she was heavily involved with the plan to ruin the quarter quell.
among the victors padme is respected even if she isn’t liked (similar to mags) — the work she does and the love she gives is clear. she’s one of the few mentors who struggles to detach herself from her tributes.
somewhere along the way padme becomes pregnant with twins and loses them (usually this involves anakin obviously LMAO), and coin often uses this as a point for promos, retraumatizing padme in the process. over and over again. I haven’t decided how she loses the twins, but it’s either from stress or forcefully via snow’s orders (as they were the product of an illicit relationship).
post rebellion padme goes back to district seven, to a cabin in the hometown she hadn’t been to in years. or she gathers up what’s left of her victors and stays with them; regardless, padme amidala will never be alone again.
conrad is the first-born child of adam and susannah fisher, and jeremiah’s older brother. the couple raised their children in new york, but every summer they visited cousins beach in massachusetts with their mother’s best friend laurel and her two children, steven and belly. despite being a few years older than the others, conrad had no problem hanging out with the group and even considered them family.
unlike his younger brother, conrad is known to be the silent, brooding and deep type. he’s an introvert and isn’t really outspoken. he rarely speaks, keeping most of his thoughts to himself. he tends to push away his loved ones which is why he can come off as an “asshole” at times. deep down he’s very vulnerable and despite sometimes hurting his loved ones unintentionally, his true intentions are to look out for those he cares about. willing to do whatever it takes to make them happy, even if that means putting his own feelings on the backburner.
he had a lot going for him when he entered high school. he was participating in sports and getting fairly good grades, but he gave up football after his senior year because it got “boring”, but really he quit because adam loved his success in the sport and at this point conrad knew about his father’s mistreatment towards his mother and wanted to distance himself from adam as much as possible.
in season 1, it’s obvious to everyone around that something is different about conrad. he’s different. sad. that’s because he found out that the cancer his mother fought years ago had made its return, but she wanted to keep it a secret. and so for the entirety of the season conrad keeps it to himself, allowing himself to suffer so that his brother, laurel, belly and steven didn’t have to. eventually, jeremiah and the rest of them find out and the season ends with them preparing for susannah’s potential passing.
season 2 only has 3 eps out right now, but it takes place a year later during the summer. susannah did pass away and so everyone is grieving and learning to move on without her there. it’s been especially hard for conrad who has always felt responsible for taking care of his family and feels like everything is slowly being ripped away. his mother, his relationship with jeremiah, and their home in cousins beach that is being put up for sell by an aunt of theirs who hasn’t been involved in their lives for years. the season is focused on everyone trying to save susannah’s home, but we’ll see how that plays out.
