Apr 18
A gift for @vigilantdesert. You've been such a rock for me while my life is going haywire, and I wanted to draw one of your favorite characters to say thank you
❀ Comissions / Ko-Fi / Store / Bsky
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A gift for @vigilantdesert. You've been such a rock for me while my life is going haywire, and I wanted to draw one of your favorite characters to say thank you
❀ Comissions / Ko-Fi / Store / Bsky
INCORRECT QUOTES // @vigilantdesert ;;
( Send me 🗣️ (talking) for an incorrect quote of our muses )
"Urbosa, dammit, you were supposed to never mention the body again!!!!! That’s the last time I make you my accomplice!"
mum says it's my turn to talk about tloz / no longer accepting / @vigilantdesert, @mightiestbanana, @stygicniron, & @heartwilled
thank you all lots for sending these in ♡ it has been a very long while since i last got to talk about these games in this capacity, so please forgive the length of the rambles dumped under the cut!!
Lore lover (dealer's choice!)
The Loremaster's Archive || Always Accepting
@vigilantdesert Wildcarded and Opened the Worm Can That Is:: The Imperial House
As one might expect in any imperium, the Imperial House is central on both a political and social level. Sidhe's Imperial House is hardly different from this ideal, being the centerpoint for society and progress in their own empire. Social and historical eras shift around them, as they are the catalyst of the most change in their civilization. Without House Ariad, Sidhe would not be as it is in present time.
HISTORY x
House Ariad [pronounced Ar-ee-uhd] started somewhere between 1200-1300 years prior to present day. The exact dates and times are debated hotly in historical circles, given the nature of society in that timeframe to not write their own records.
The first to take the Ariad name was Shrayak the Stormbringer. He was the thirteenth pup born from the union between the War Goddess, Katya, and her Demon Lord consort, Manis. Having tried multiple times to quell the inherently genetic-bound violence that wracked the mortal people of the archipelago with her prior offspring, Katya bestowed Shrayak with a gift she gave none of her other children to tie the warring clans together: Shrayak became the first hinge-pin, the proprietor of the emotional Hivemind that ties all dominant-Sidhe together even into present day. Being the only one granted such a boon, Shrayak was able to tug the ethereal tethers of the hive to bring his peers under one emotion. However, this emotion was whatever he was feeling at any given time, as the concept of the hive was new and he had not been given the practice to control how he could use it. This was the start of what is commonly known in historical anecdotes and faint records as the True Ariad Lineage, later described as the Direct Lineage; it is believed Shrayak's twelve elder siblings died in various ways without descendants -or the descendants died out, there are many retellings- before he was released on the world. Shrayak was long before the imperium would establish itself and therefore, he did not use the honorific 'Emperor' in any capacity, though modern historians will still refer to him as such. He was the progenitor of The Upheaval Era, the archipelago's tumultuous beginnings unified under the glazed influence of whatever genetic demigod had control of them at the time. The Goddess blood was strong in the hinge-pins during this era and they themselves were prone to violence and madness, though they focused their progression in the south tropic region on swarming the people of their charge over neighboring territories and nations with seemingly no rational strategy. It was not until the eleventh generation, Torvul the Crested, that times changed and the Upheaval Era would begin to wane. Torvul was born into the downswing of the Upheaval's climax, having slain his father -the prior Ariad- when he refused to see the budding reason his son was beginning to develop. Torvul settled the self-destructive hive and the people with it, pulling them back to their own home. As this was still before any established societal hierarchy, Torvul did not use the 'Emperor' title in any way during the peak of his reign. Instead, he spearheaded building a central collective on the original archipelago, though records state he was still prone to fits of rage and occasional madness. However, he was the first to accept the title of 'Emperor', given to him from the priesthood that arrived from the Clouded Isle as he aged and tempered and as such, was recognized as the first interred into the newly-established family mausoleum on the grounds of the Clouded Isle under the new imperium.
It was Rakkon the Sparkeater who shifted the eras. The fifteenth generational Ariad entered the newly-established empire into The Middle Era, one of the more stable generations considering. He established a more centralized governmental body using the Imperial title as a foothold in the newly-forged political climate of the tropics to gain ground. He was the first to receive The Star as a sword, recognizing his sovereignty to the ever-elusive priesthood of the time and further establishing his influence among those who were his people. He was the first to legitimize a spouse, marrying a rural girl into his family to help keep him from the expected fits of fury and help make his decisions reasonable going forward. He was also the one who commissioned the Aeroglaive from the Clouded Isle in defense of his homeland and the peoples within. Though Rakkon is regarded as a stable Emperor in the early days, the Middle Era was full of highs and lows, order and chaos. Not all Ariads were reasonable, many were still victim to the bloodthirst that plagued their diluting Goddess blood. The Middle Era saw much expansion in their influence, but the society began to suffer and the people themselves grew low in morale with being stagnant or stopped entirely in their social progress. It made them targets of their neighbors and of those seeking revenge for past misdeeds, culminating in Zamnas the Knell, who sacrificed all he was to protect them when the Aeroglaive failed for its one and only time. The most notable Imperial figure of the Middle Era did not come until the very end, nor was she of the direct lineage. Styna the Willow was not born into the lineage. She was the first of the priesthood's Oracles to leave the Clouded Isle and marry into it as a part of connecting the God's Realm to the mortal one, starting the tradition of an Oracle spouse that would be observed for many generations yet to come. Instead, while her husband the Emperor -Kayjul the Abyss- began the largest expansion campaign that would write the Imperial Book of Conquest, Styna worked to improve the lives of the people in the capital center of the stabilizing imperium. Under her command, the bridged highways were built to connect the major islands of the archipelago. The Imperial Palace Complex and lighthouses were commissioned, the main Waterworks designed and built by her newly-instated Engineering Corps. Universities were founded, as were hospitals and libraries and temples, and the mint foundry was instated. The first iterations of the War Council began which lead into the foundings of permanent year-round agricultural and commercial districts. Under Styna's careful diligence and empathy for her people, the imperium left the turbulence of the Middle Era behind and launched into The Modern Era, the era that is the present.
House Ariad is the most stable it has been, the Goddess blood diluted to a point that the inherent need for rage and dragging the people into it is a thing of the very long-distant past. There are a few notable generations in the Modern Era that remind the lineage and their people of their ties to Katya. The forty-fifth Empress Matena the Matriarch, for one example, who was known for such an unpredictable temper that rumors still abound of her massacres leaving unaccounted-for stains in the main audience hall of the Imperial Palace. The most notable reign is not considered a reign at all, and not for its progression of the imperium as there was none. The Half Reign or Cursed Reign, one in between the forty-sixth and forty-seventh generation, was a somber reminder to both the direct lineage family as well as the people themselves that the only thing capable of ending the modern Sidhe Empire is Sidhe themselves. Although it was a brief blip in the long and storied history of the family and the imperium itself, the damage dealt by a mutant in the system will still taint historical records to help future generations avoid similar fate.
The current Ariad hinge-pin in residence is the forty-seventh generation, Fariah the Dawnbreaker. She is known for bringing the imperium from the lowest it had been since the Upheaval Era to the highest it has been since its founding, as well as being one of the direct-lineage who is closest to Katya's influence in the Modern Era.
MAKING AN IMPERIAL x -Puphood
Direct-lineage pups are a necessity in Sidhe society. The nature of the hivemind demands the need for a blood relative to continue being the hinge-pin. The Imperial House will rarely produce more than one pup to take the role, seeking to mitigate any ill will between siblings for the Heir Apparent title. During times of political or social upheaval, siblings may be born to ensure the hinge-pin stays in place in the event one of them dies, thus keeping the emotionally-charged hive in place. Regardless of one or more pups born to the Imperial family, the birth is celebrated as a continuation of the lineage across the Sidhe-controlled imperium.
Imperial pups are being trained from the moment they are capable of seeing their surroundings. One of Styna's many contributions to her future society is written directly into the walls of the Imperial Palace Complex. A young Imperial pup will always see the symbols and puzzles hidden in various parts of the decorative motifs, or playing blithely in brushstrokes of the many painted panels of folkloric stories around the Palace. They learn to understand these details as they grow, and the average Imperial pup will understand a small amount of them before they even begin to walk. These puzzles lead to various sections of the Central Imperial Library, where records and histories are kept to read and learn from, among the journals and tomes about the people themselves as a whole. The purpose of these is to force young pups to think about their surroundings and be vigilant to details many others may miss in the same stroke it leads one to learn about who they are and where they come from.
By the time they are ready for their tutors in general education at their fifth year, a young Imperial pup will be able to read at a level twice as high as their age, as well as understand anywhere between three to five languages besides their own depending on the sociopolitical shift of the neighboring territories. They are already aware of who they are supposed to be, having learned from both reading and watching their parents their role in their civilization, as well as the finer nuances of the culture and people as a whole. By the time they are five years old, they understand the gravity of their eventual role as Imperial and have likely sat in on public deliberations or daily War Councils. Their exposure to their people via representatives helps them understand how to emulate their people for the time when they will ascend and take the place of the prior generation. Once they begin higher learning, they will be presented as Heir Apparent to the people. At six, they begin formal combat training if they have not already started, as House Ariad takes its ties to their Goddess progenitor very seriously. To them, combat is an artform, and it begins with the basics to be merged with their own personal stylings later. They will also be taught the beginnings of their cultural blood magick, and their control of the hive will be tested and tempered alongside; the goal is to not strum the hive until necessary, as careless use of it can cause damage to the people. At eight, their education addresses statecraft, including subjects such as political sciences and economics. Usually, their combat teachings will include the classical dance styles that will help them form their own style later and more in-depth sparring will be more common. Generally, they begin learning stratagem and tactics during the sparring sessions, leading to joining their first campaigns under watchful eye at or around ten or eleven years. While they are not in charge of these events, their abilities and trainings will be assessed in true combat situations in order to focus and hone their aptitude later. Use of blood magick is approved and expected where it is applicable, another assessment.
-Adolescence
Following their first campaign, seen as a rite of passage into the next stage of their lives, community instruction begins as a regular part of their growing agenda. Learning what makes their culture and civilization function is an intrinsic part to the Imperial heir and how they will represent their people, and they are tasked between the next levels of book-born education with learning how each district of their imperium works. By spending a week or two doing community service in multiple regions on each of the thirteen mortal islands of the archipelago, not only are they given a sense of purpose in helping their people, they understand what each district and region does to aide the imperium's progress. This system will continue until they turn sixteen.
The sixteenth year is a turning point in their lives. As per the tradition started by Styna, the young heir will be taken to the Clouded Isle for the first time since their birth to meet who will be their future spouse. An Oracle of the same age or close to it who has seen the vision of their future together will be presented and will return with the family to the Imperial Isle. There, the young heirs will begin to conduct the daily tasks together in shadowing the Emperor and Empress, learning to work together as one entity. The Oracle will learn more about the mortal imperium in this time, alongside their eventual partner, to better their understanding of the world they will inherit. This will help both parties to assimilate their political styles and be a stable pair when they marry in the future.
Although they are meant to marry an Oracle by tradition, it is not always the case. Marriage is seen as political, the sharing of the burden of managing and representing the imperium. However, it is not unheard of for a young heir in the later years of their adolescence to marry their common people, or foreign political parties if it is for sound political reasons that further their civilization. The Sidhe people themselves have no qualms to genetic purity, after all, simply that the Aeroglaive has chosen the direct-lineage Imperial and that a blood heir is produced. The pragmatism of this practice helps keep the bloodlines from stagnating. Marriage is seen as a graduation into adulthood under normal circumstances. By the time the adolescent years begin to move into young adulthood, the Imperial heir has begun to see themselves as their own people. Tutelage education has since ended, they can hold their own in a viper's den via learning from their predecessors what can and cannot be used. By the time they are ready for marriage, they have already solidified in their minds that they are no longer an individual person but a composite, through trainings and teachings over their lives.
It is this understanding that is their milestone to ascension when the prior bond with the Aeroglaive is broken by death of the prior bonded or the Oracles of the Clouded Isle forcibly severing it, paving their way to coronation.
ASCENSION x
The symbol of an accepted Imperial of House Ariad is the Aeroglaive. Given its propensity to gain another segment with every generation to the family who binds it, it makes it the most articulated tool in the known Sidhe world. As a result, in their culture, only a mage powerful enough to bind and control it will be accepted socially as their acting Imperial. Since only the Ariad bloodline has bound the Aeroglaive, only one of the direct lineage can bind it to them.
The ceremony site for the binding is in Karaji, the capital city on the Cultural Isle and home to the temple pedestal that the sacred rite of ascension will take place in. The Day of Ascension is considered a holiday, and does not include coronation. The date for ascension is determined by the Oracles and distributed to the people. This is so that the common citizenry may come to bear witness to the heir proving they are worthy to their people.
The Heir Apparent will use a dagger made of obsidian glass given by the Clouded Isle's priesthood strictly for the rite, carefully dragging the sharp glass blade over a major artery they have chosen earlier to promote bloodflow over the Aeroglaive in their possession. Smearing blood over its surface helps open the channel wider as the full surface becomes a forcing point for one's will over it, reaching for the composite consciousness of the sacred tool to call its spirit into their command. Though there has not been a loss of life to this practice, there have been close moments in the past.
The connection is made when the heir's mind opens up and feels the residual emotion left in the Aeroglaive from generations prior. It has been described as a number of things, though lights in the eyes and a tension in the chest and around the ritual bleeding wound are most common. Once it is confirmed by the overseeing Oracle as witness that the new connection has been made, the heir exits the temple shrine to an elevated platform made specifically to display the last half of the ritual to the people who have been gathered for the event. Through a series of short performances, the Aeroglaive is manipulated in varying tiers of power as proof of their mastery over it and thus gaining the respect of their people before being labelled Imperial Apparent by the overseeing Oracle.
Once the ascension is over, the Day of Coronation is set by the Oracle for time to allow their new Imperial to recover from ascension, usually within two to three weeks.
CORONATION
The last week before coronation is hosted as a celebratory festival. While the Imperial Apparent will recover back in the Imperial Palace Complex, they will return to the temple pedestal in Karaji to make the ceremony itself more visible to their people who come to witness the coronation event.
The Imperial Apparent is bathed in purified water brought from the Clouded Isle by the attending priesthood, with prayers spoken over them and drenched in holy incense smoke to push away bad energy and cleanse them of their past impurities. The priesthood scrubs their body down rather than letting them do it themselves. It is considered a symbol between them that they are sharing the burden of the imperium they inherit with their people, and the priesthood is considered their people, an intrinsic caste that offers stability to their culture and civilization. The Imperial Apparent is clothed in white with accents in royal and red, draped in iridescent gossamer, embellished in gold with the sigil of Sidhe -thirteen stars, three in the middle and ten around them- as a symbolic seal of their future influence to be released by the Oracle performing the ceremony. A second shorter veil of silver organza is laid over this, embroidered with the Thousand Eyes to protect their halfway status from dissenters and evil eyes. With the Aeroglaive in hand, they are sent after all the blessings are in place to the platform on the pedestal they stood a few weeks prior to prove themselves.
A new Oracle is waiting for them with one of the forgemasters from the Clouded Isle. After kneeling and listening to the stories of gods and goddesses ascending to such hallowed status as monarchs and leaders at a volume all present can hear, the Oracle calls blessings of the figures to the new Imperial Apparent before releasing the first seal, the topmost veil. A reminder is issued in oath and pledge to serve first the people before they serve themselves, to see all under them as equal, as 'without people, principalities will fall'. Once the pledges and rules are accepted verbally by the Imperial Apparent, they are told to hold out their hands and accept their partner in all things. Here, they accept the ceremonial yatagan, a sword made from the meteoric iron of the foundations of the Clouded Isle, decorated in the symbols and prayers that make up their name. It is proof of their oath to their people, of pouring themselves and their everything into the upkeep and protection of the imperium. With the acceptance of the ceremonial yatagan, the Oracle draws back the last veil to the top of their head and drapes the symbolic chains and links embellished in peridot and padparadscha that is the crown over that.
With the announcement of a new Imperial to the lineage, another celebratory festival is held for the following week to congratulate the new Imperial. It carries on through the week simply because the emotion of joy does not wane in the hive so easily.
INFLUENCE x
The Imperial Family is taught from day one that they are the imperium.
Without them, the people have no voice. Without them, the people have no power over their own change. While they take heed and listen to their peoples' ideas and suggestions, they will focus more or less on what the imperium needs, with little yield on what people want. They are reminded of their constant position as the decision-maker, where all necessities are signed into or out of being. The War Council tells them what they feel is necessary for their specific regions, but it is their choice to go to these places and witness what must be done or not in that stead.
Their presence is nigh omnipotent in the imperium, as they are taught to believe only they and their equally-trained spouses can handle the burden of making decisions. All bureaucratic events are handled directly by the acting Imperial, from taxes to census to daily event agendas. All expansions are dealt with on a long preplanning process. Long past are the days that the Imperial waged war for the sake of waging war, now it is paperwork and careful socioeconomic planning that wages their wars. It is how they keep the people happy and non-violent, while proposing projects to further their society and communities. Regularly-scheduled community service reminds them of regional differences as they evolve and connect them further to their people.
It is always good that the Imperial should know who they are and who they will represent when it is time to stop thinking like a person and walk into vipers' dens as a nation. After all, they are the first most foreign parties meet when it comes to the imperium, and they are the first line of defense of their bastion of civilization.
for ˗ˏˋ @vigilantdesert ♥️
❝ 'Ey, Chief. If I said look at what the sand seal dragged in ━━ would ya get that I'm talkin' about me? ❞
@vigilantdesert cont'd from dash memery
"I can certainly work with that, darling~"
"Good! Now what the fuck is gender expression? Sounds like the gibberish that Vair's little friend Shanz likes to talk about."
@vigilantdesert -- ;
How long had it been since they'd been to Gerudo Village? Decades ago, Sypha had been the byproduct of a Gerudo sorceress who had left long, long ago and a human father, which had resulted in a child largely disconnected from their maternal heritage. Disconnected or not, the desert still held beauty. Palm fronds nodded in the dry wind as the morning bazaar unfolded like the wings of a bird of paradise, the villagers milling among foreigners peddling their wares from across Hyrule.
At one of the stalls, a Sheikah woman offered weapons and armor of Sheikah make, drawing the eye of the wizard. Strings of gossip followed before Sypha realized that the Chieftain herself walked among the wide aisles.
"Lady Urbosa, are you also interested in Sheikah wares?" Sypha chatted a little guilelessly, bowing differentially to the Champion.