#sammanar

[ludinusdaleth]

"There was this whole thing with a theatre - uh, and a hat? - some grand larceny, destruction of businesses, ruining of lives, pranks on figures of state, and I've never once held down a relationship - and there was my old cult? That sounds bad - it's all been blown out of proportion, I fear-"

The Tales of Exandria II: Artagan

[foxystories]

Small Artagan Comic and Oaths and Ash spoilers:

I know everyone knows this already… but Artagan is batshit crazy. I have been rereading the Artagan Comics and thought about the Oaths and Ash spoiler that apparently Morrigan was scared of Sammanar’s power… and they weren’t even there in person! Meanwhile Artagan sits in that trial, with the only other Archfey as powerful as Sammanar and the two are already pissed with him. And he doesn’t just absolutely not take them seriously but also actively infuriates both of them multiple times. (On accident? On purpose?Or is that all the same to Arti?) Also, he totally thinks he can talk his way out of this or just be on the run for forever. Anyhow, the two most powerful Fey are pissed at him but he’ll SURELY come out on top.

It also makes me wonder about how powerful Artagan actually is compared to Morrigan. Like that she is the more sensible one is out of the question. But Artagan is the “Lord of the Morncrown” and all that. I feel like there is a part there that we are missing. How did Artagan become so powerful? Are Fey born with a certain potential for influence and magic?

[itslovethatmakespeople]

i think the biggest problem with the idea to turn zathuda is that no matter how much zathuda and ludinus hate each other, zathuda (and sammanar and by extension the unseelie) want to use predathos to kill the moonweaver (& with what we're learning probably the arch heart too). zathuda mentioned that when they destroyed the malleus key ages ago...so idk how they're gonna convince them to turn bc they're also using ludinus in a way

the only thing would be to try to convince other factions of the unseelie??? ig but idk just some thoughts lol

[ludinusdaleth]

it is CRAZY how scared morrigan the fatestitcher is of sammanar's influence and cunning regarding deals. i loved seeing the fae politics in oaths but im also deeply excited for future unseelie involvement because sammanar has been even more looming than ludinus at this point. i dont even think they're scary for any centuries of planning they have, though i know they have that. it's more the coldness of them. the unfeeling and unrelenting nature that always presses in like the winter cold they reside over. a fae that casual & controlled (when fae culture largely centers on mercurial bursts), in power, is terrifying.

[ludinusdaleth]

a little detail i noticed during the confrontation between ludinus & the unseelie is that ludinus - titled the martinet, after a whip used for punishment - does not threaten the fae with personal retaliation or even a veiled threat of his army. he simply threatens them with the idea that they will still be under the sway of the gods. it's such a miss of a swing that it caught me off guard - he of all people understands vengeance and taking other chess pieces off the board when they dont matter anymore.

but you then realize that he, in all his power, is not potentate sammanar, ruler of the unseelie court. and even in his exandrian/ruidian control, hes lost his actual position of power in the empire; he is a grassroots rebel leader being allowed to organize by a higher foreign government (the imperium) and the last thread of his political position are less than 7 mages of the cerberus assembly who still follow him. and most of all.... he doesnt really expect to live through this. and even if by some miracle he did, it would be through using every ounce of his inner power that would burn out after. the reality is he has no fist to punch with anymore. and every one of his allies has a smirk across their face knowing it.

[ludinusdaleth]

Fun New Facts/Details About Artagan From His Comic Series

(spoilers for the tales of exandria ii: artagan comic run! this was such a (fey)wild ride to read 💚)

-this is the second comic to feature artagan with freckles & extremely expressive ears, and also portrays him with catlike eyes. he can also grow a tuft of a chin-beard! my bearded artagan agenda wins

-we know from egtw that artagan was originally banished from exandria for creating a cult around a whale carcass. we learn in this comic series he named said whale fucking mister demeanor.

-he has been to fey court 4,012 times, by his approximation

-if this wasnt a more blatantly obvious fact than "the sky is blue": artagan is bi/pan. but cannot in any capacity keep up any relationship.

-the first mortal he ever met and befriended was a human named gol. at first gol thought he was an angel or savior but by the end he felt artagan was a curse from the nine hells, for all the chaos & discord he wrought on his village, turning them against each other via pranks and then. whale carcassing

-want to know why arti hates the theatre? good news, we now know! he used to adore the stage before a few fae put on a play mocking his entire life. he interrupted, threw a fit, and said he'd improv his role, but was boo'ed for interrupting the show. so. he set the stage on fire. yes there was a kill count. no he does not care

-he has a unique relationship to keyleth. she's still pissed at him for killing vax, but she is the only one in the fey court hearings he trusts to help him escape - and she does, as artagan points out she owes him for vilya. she drags him through (literal) mud about his actions and does not hold back on how disgusting she thinks he is, but she snaps him into near-clarity, and she's surprised but accepts that humility.

-the term Jestie is canon. i win!

-this isnt a new fact but god. jester & arti love each other so much.

-keyleth & jester band together and are the only two to defend artagan in court, keyleth even going against vox machina's judgement. both acknowledge he has (indirectly) saved the world and shown kindness to them, and jester insists that he is changing (and artagan thinks, he is. he really, really tried to be good, for them. "oh, gals. i may not have always done good, but... those times, i really did. for them, i did."

-sammanar & elmenore are astounded anyone would defend artagan, but lower his sentence, from eternal imprisonment...

to mortality.

the end of the fourth & final issue stated to be continued at the end, so we'll see where this goes! i have only a rough idea where in the timeline this series takes place, post campaign 2, but this is definitely a new development i am curious to see if permanent. even in echoes of the solstice i think that canon can fit somewhat if we stretch it but i really dont know when this mortal stretch begins or maybe ends! either way, he's presently utterly terrified.

[foxystories]

Potentate Sammanar, leader of the Unseelie, is a bitchy queer icon. Here my proof:

From Artagan Comic Issue 1. See that hand? How they turn it outwards? That‘s super uncomfortable and only serves being EXTRA. And that „That‘s cute.“ Argh.

So disappointed we didn’t get to see more of them in c3 and curious what will happened when they eventually meet Fearne. That‘s going to be an entirely different trainwreck.

[foxystories]

I really love that the leader of the Unseelie is non-binary. Not only for representation reasons. It just seems like the fitting opposite to Elmenore. Like whether she is caring in a warm and motherly way (like in Calamity) or in this bitter and burning way that we see now, her whole thing is feeling. So of course if she identified with a gender, she would identify deeply and fully with it. But why should Sammanar do? Unseelie are a little off, often uncaring for things beyond their own concerns and ambitions. So why should Sammanar bother with any of the genders? Why should they bother with fitting into that? They are beyond that. Argh. These two are so very obviously Sun and Moon coded. You really don’t need their designs to see that. Sun not just like warm and nurturing and illuminating but also like dangerous, intense, like burning up and out, like blinding you. Moon not just like tranquil, perhaps even cold and distant, poised and glimpses of light in the darkness but like unpredictable, not bound to one state of being, like moody and the horror of seeing just enough to be absolutely terrified.