lolirock headcanons part 4:
(this will focus a lot on Ephedian life before vs. after the war, politics, and family for the girls. I reference some ideas from previous headcanons that you can find here.
tws for death, orphanage, war, politics, religion.)
After the destruction of the Xerisian royal palace, Talia hid among the rubble for a few hours until a rescue team (composed of emergency services and volunteer civilians and nobles) came. It took them a while to find her because she was small, skittish, and extremely traumatized, but a few surviving members of palace staff managed to draw her out. While the bodies of the King and Queen were recovered, Izira was declared MIA, leaving Talia as the only confirmed survivor of the royal family. She was taken in by a noble family and kept mostly hidden from Gramorr.
Politically, a lot of people were either confused on how she survived or wished that Izira had been in her place. Talia was considered as the spare in the “heir and spare.” It didn’t help that Talia did not seem to have a lot a raw magical power beyond her bracelet (at least, not compared to Izira.) Talia grew up feeling pushed aside, although her parents did love her. Her guardians tried to shield her from the backlash as best as they could, but kids are very perceptive!! Talia especially!!
And thus began Talia’s intense battle mage training, fueled by two parts self-worth issues, one part guilt, one part politics, and a heap of raw spite.
The sack of the Crescent Palace led to Auriana being grouped with several of her sisters and ladies-in-waiting as bodies were slowly identified from the destruction of the palace and the major city around it. She ended up staying with her aunt and uncle, and continued to go to school and train.
In my mind, the seize of major kingdoms went: Borealis (palace was destroyed, royal family escaped capture and relocated), Xeris (royal family decimated, power redistributed to nobles sharing the title of king regent until Talia was of age and a council in the major learning center of Xeris), Volta (Auriana’s aunt took up role of Queen regent), and finally Ephedia (became a state of tyranny as Gramorr’s forces invaded.) Calix managed to escape capture because of the strength and prestige of its military, that even Gramorr decided fuck if i’m touching that.
Several rebellion groups popped up over the years. Many were decimated early on when coups were attempted. But the strongest one was united of all the kingdoms against Gramorr’s ruling, composed of several elites, military strategists, surviving rulers, and close confidants of the Ephedian Queen and King.
Talia and Auriana both achieved Shanila young by universal standards, like around 10-11. I imagine the universal age is around 13-14, if magic is properly being exercised. Talia had been working her ass off with her magic technique, and Auriana has naturally high raw magic (her shields are incredibly strong.)
Talia wanted to join the rebellion ASAP, especially after she achieved Shanilla, but her guardians managed to stake her off until around 14, when she literally kept sneaking out. She met Auriana in training.
Around this time, magical jewelry/artifacts were being repurposed from symbols of royalty to battle.
Around when Auri and Talia turned 15, a public search for the Ephedian heir (who was previously thought to be captured along with the king and queen) began. They immediately volunteered (this was NOT a popular choice but they are little shits. extremely talented little shits.) and began searching along Ephedia for about a year until being sent to Earth.
Calix took in a lot of refugees. Them and Borealis entered a very tense truce after being in a minor civil war over resources. This is how Lyna and Carissa started training with each other.
Izira’s rebellion is a small sect of the main rebellion. After she, Lyna, and Carissa escaped, they tracked down a very disorganized camp by distress homing beacon. Izira’s ruling instincts of her youth took over and she ended up as a sort of leader? of the camp.
Lev’s family was bombed when Gramorr took over Ephedia proper. He generally lived on the streets, as he was a pretty stable magic user, but got into trouble with Gramorr’s army.
Praxina and Mephisto’s father was drawn in by dark magic and power, became one of Gramorr’s generals, and was eventually killed by Gramorr. Who knows why he took in his two young bastardized kids? Did he see their potential? Was it just convenient? Did he feel a smidgen of repressed guilt for leaving these two children orphaned? Who knows!!
(They didn’t really like their father anyways so. win-win?)
Morgaine got a lot of worship as a religious figure, but it really hyped up during war. She had already sacrificed her body and magically ascended herself to live in solitude and study. Nobody really knows why she did it! But she’s almost a christ-like figure in Ephedia, associated with butterflies and rebirth. Many believe that when she comes back to the mortal plane, Ephedia will be saved.
Nobody knows for sure if the Queen and King are alive?? It’s generally assumed so among the main rebellion given that they sometimes get tips from random sources (assumed to be the Queen’s men) but nobody has seen them. People have tried to steal the crown, but it repels anyone who touches it. Some take this as the Queen is alive and constantly retouching the spell, others believe that she’s dead and the spell is something that lived beyond her.
