Terrarium WingsBrittle ThingsMy ImaginarySanctuaryPart Of My Glass Wings Series

Terrarium wings Brittle things My imaginary Sanctuary Part of my Glass Wings Series

The Runes of Maar

Since @innerchorus had asked about more details of the rune system in Maar and I wanted to do a post about it, I have decided to, well, make a post about it lol.

Warning: long post

First, let me give you a general, alphabetic list of all the runes that are used in Maar.

Algiz - shielding

Ansuz - divinity, mental stability, communication and speech

Berkana - birch

Dagaz - new beginnings and transformation

Ehwaz - horse, transport

Eihwaz - death

Fehu - wealth, abundance, livestock and positivity

Gebo - gift, exchange and generosity

Haglaz - hailstorm, cleansing and destruction

Isa - ice, delay, self-control and frigidity

Inguz - home, news and fertility

Jera - harvest

Kenaz - torch, passion, inspiration and creativity

Lagaz - water, river, lake or renewal 

Mannaz - man

Naudit - need or distress

Othala - inheritance

Pertho - luck or fate

Raido - ride, wheel or journey

Sowilo - sun

Tiwaz - sacrifice, fairness, balance

Thurisaz - masculinity, courage and empowerment

Ur - valor, fortitude, strength and stability

Wunjo - joy, satisfaction, goodness and fellowship

All of them are used in the general day-to-day prayers and special rituals. Everyone of these runes represent a deity in the Maaren pantheon (I will probably do a seperate post about that as well). All citizens of Maar have a rune as a necklace around their neck that represents their tutelary god/goddess (for example: Azar's tutelary god is the god of war “Tiw” and her rune is tiwaz). At a certain age (probably around 11-15, sometimes earlier), children have to go through a ritual that lets them meet the gods of the pantheon and the gods decide which of them will be their protector and the one that should be represented by this child. They then get their rune-necklace and are allowed to choose if they want a permanent tattoo of their rune (or something else) or just the necklace. Some do as it is believed to amplify the effect/power of their rune. If you want to give somebody else the powers of your rune or the protection of your own tutelary god to somebody else, you hand them your necklace to wear and say a prayer to your god (no ritual needed, the prayer is enough). The necklace has to be worn at all times normally and if the original rune is not returned, a new ritual has to be made so the effect can be transferred to another rune stone. 

And these are the runes that actually have confirmed magical force (since Maar is a young country not everything is explored and/or researched to the fullest).

Ansuz - communication

Raido - teleportation

Kenaz - produces light

Haglaz - conjures up a Hailstorm

Isa - produces ice 

Ur - makes you physically or mentally stronger for a short time

Thurisaz - generates strong outbursts of power

Algiz - conjures up a shield/barrier for a short time

Ehwaz - summons a horse

Mannaz (or Eihwaz, have yet to decide) - summons the dead and gives them the ability to come back alive for a short time (only works if the dead person feels as if they still have something left unresolved in their life)

Lagaz - conjures up water/rain

healing rune pending

Everyone in the army and navy need to be able to use at least the basic runes to a certain extant aka. communication, teleportation, producing light (not complitelly sure about this one) and healing. They train from a very young age but everyone of all ages can be accepted (if your health is fine in older age you will also be accepted) into the army/navy.

On how the runes work:

I will not say too much here on how they generally work since in chapter 3 the soldier with the scar (Pavle) will explain it for me (could this be considered a spoiler?). 

But what I will talk about is how to multiply the effect or the strength of the effect. (I already made a comment about it under this post but I will just copy-paste it here again.) So if you want the effect to be stronger, you need more of the same rune stone. But one person can only use two to three stones at the same time so if you want to, for example, heal more than one wound in one go or conjure up an actual storm and not a cough of wind you need at least two to three or more people to do so. It depends on skill levels though (so squires and students are not allowed to do that without strict supervision) and only the priests/druids (name pending, suggestions welcome) are actually allowed to use that many or more at the same time since it takes a huge chunk of stamina and energy. Very dangerous in the midst of war and very easy to misuse and abuse for power (only in emergencies allowed for everyone). So Maar is very strict with who and how to use the runes with magic force. That's why they are mainly used for battles and only the teleportation rune is allowed to be used by a tiny selection of merchants (for example, merchants who sell merchandise lthat needs to be kept fresh, for example). That system is the only way so far to keep the abuse of the runes under control and is obviously not really fair. It currently is being researched more by a specific team directly monitored by the King and the highest priest/druid/whatever and new laws are being created, but not passed, left and right. 

Again, Maar is a young country and has to figure shit out on the go - it is probably in its early/mid teenage years, if you will. This issue will probably be resolved in a few thousand years, so my AU doesn’t really touch that much on it (probably will integrate the problem when we are in Gilan). But I love little tid-bits from outside the story that might never come up - it just makes the world feel even more alive and a little bit more real! 

Also: every rune has a small side effect, so that they are not that op, lol. One will be explained in chapter 4 by, again, Pavle.

So, I think that is what I generally wanted to tell about the runes without being too spoilery (if there even was anything to be spoiled lol). If there are any more questions: my inbox is looking very empty so feel free to spam me!

More Picrew Firelight AU characters! Have the "royal" family of Maar - the current as well as two versions of Eldar.

From upper left to lower right:

Crownprince Aleksi, Queen Serrilda, Dowager Queen Moja and Farzin, the Elvenking.

And the two versions of Eldar, the Fireking - I can't decide between white or red hair. Which one looks best?

Ashaya backstory revamp

Ever since classes started again I have been consistently unable to either draw or write, and it's frustrating me a lot, so I'll just have to settle for making AU posts.

Andragoras and Tahamenay's child, that has not changed.

Given to some family in the Tabaristan region (formerly known as Mazandaran in ancient times), who were given hush money in exchange of raising them.

Ever since she was young, Sherine has noticed that she is... different.

Her parents leave her out. Her siblings pick up on that and leave her out too. Her parents don't treat her the same way they treat their other children.

Besides which, Sherine is not dumb. She realizes pretty quickly that she looks different from the rest of her family. Face too pointy. Hair too light.

People say she's a beautiful child.

Her parents seem determined to prove them otherwise.

Sherine is given more chores to do. Given plainer clothes. Made to stand behind her siblings at any given event.

She cries. She screams and struggles and stomps and yells in hopes that they'd listen, they'd know, this is unfair, she's their daughter too, isn't she? Sherine is—

Sherine is not dumb.

Sherine knows that whatever she is, she doesn't belong here.

People say she's a beautiful child.

Her family says she's nothing but trouble.

She wanders her hometown, sneaking off from doing chores at home. Spends her days scanning the faces of the townspeople— the merchants, the neighbors, the strangers, even the slaves. She looks and looks and looks, for any hint of similarity, any bit of resemblance, anything that might echo back to what she sees in the mirror, in the waters, every day.

Sneaks out of her house, flits from street to street, in a desperate bid to find someone, anyone, with some iteration of her features hiding amongst the crowds.

Stalks the family of that jolly grape seller from a couple blocks over, because they were light-haired like her even if the shades don't even come close to matching.

Hers is always different.

Hers is too peculiar.

Ivory-blond with rosy tips, hair of an outsider.

Mama beats her and sends her to bed without dinner.

Curling up in bed, hungry in a way that no amount of food would satisfy, Sherine thinks.

She doesn't belong here.

She isn't a child of this family.

She doesn't think she's even related to them.

Where are her parents?

Did they die? Is that why papa and mama take her in? Because they knew her parents?

Except, really, they mustn't have loved her parents, whoever they were, because if they did then surely they would treasure Sherine too. Right?

Right?

If they died and nobody here loved them, then why is she here? Wouldn't she have been put on the doorsteps of a temple or taken from the streets by... by...

She'll never get the image out of her head, a slaver, flogging a young boy barely older than her.

She's seen them, on her escapades, prowling the streets sniffing around for any abandoned baby by a roadside or in an alleyway.

She shudders thinking about it. Mama always says one of these days she's going to sell Sherine, too.

She's scared.

She doesn't know.

Whatever the case was, she was unwanted in some way. Is unwanted, right now in this present she lives in, unwanted by this family, unwanted by whoever decided to leave their daughter on this doorstep.

She clutches her aching stomach.

She doesn't sleep.

Day by day, night by night, she prays what little words she manages to remember.

Prays to be loved.

Prays to be found.

Prays to be...

To be...

There's a tale in this town.

If you wander deep into the woods, you'll find a dilapidated place.

They call it a temple. That's stupid. The building looks nothing like a temple.

Those who wander in, they say, come back wrong.

Come back days, months, years later.

No matter how long they take, they don't look a day older.

They were playing, her siblings and the other kids, they play, but she never gets included. They get mean when she tries. They always give her whatever's the worst.

She runs.

She runs and runs and runs until her legs burn and there's no air in her lungs.

She doesn't notice the butterflies frozen in air.

She doesn't notice the sudden stillness of the trees after a certain point.

Not until she trips.

There, on the ground, stained in mud and dirt and snot and tears, she curls up like she always does at night.

She's so hungry.

She hears their voices, a couple bushes over, arguing about the prey they were supposed to hunt.

They don't find her.

She bolts upright, startled, nerves tingling with something she doesn't know what to name.

She looks around.

Silence and stillness.

She should be afraid, she thinks. She should try to leave. To go home, to go find those dummies who didn't even see her when they were nearby.

But she thinks of their meanness, of mama's anger and papa's weird stares, of the prowling slavers wandering the streets.

Just a little bit, she thinks. Just a little longer. Just a little bit of peace. She'll take the beatings later, she'll deal with that when they catch her.

That's right.

She just has to not get caught for a little while longer.

[brain juices running out so this will be reverting back from story mode to summary mode, augh]

Anyways, she spends a long time (to her) in the woods and doesn't really notice that the sun isn't moving in the sky bc she's a little kid and she's too busy rolling around and having fun until she falls asleep out of exhaustion (both physical and emotional, since all the shit she went through finally caught up to her in a safe moment)

(you'll notice that in the story/narration part “Sherine” refers to themselves by she/her bc at the time they hadn't had the chance to realize y'know, the gender stuff)

Sherine wakes up, finds that it's night, and she can't find her way back.

(the haunted area actually booted her out so she's in a different spot of the forest)

Kid has an epiphany of sorts.

“She can't stay here.

Not anymore.

If she's so unwanted anyways, what harm would it do for her to disappear?

For her to leave?”

So she does.

Anyways, it's night, Farangis (with some clan adults) is wandering the area for a reason I have yet to fully decide on.

They meet.

Sherine is absolutely taken by this gorgeous lady.

One long conversation later while Farangis does her best to clean the kid up, it's abundantly clear that Sherine is Not Okay.

So they get taken!

And Sherine gets to chop off their hair and choose a new name.

But until she settles on a proper name she chose for herself, their temporary name is Ranna.

Sherine has a complicated relationship with girlhood because of the toxic standards that were forced on her by their “parents”.

Anyways that's how Ashaya comes to join the clan!

What I imagine a young ex-Sherine to look like as she leaves with Farangis.

Fun fact, Areyan is usually a sweet and gentle kid but for some unknown reason he and Ashaya regularly gets into fisticuffs.

They're 7 when they join the clan. Farangis is 15, she'd just come of age.

At some point I kinda wanted Ashaya and Alfarīd to have met in their younger years but I don't see that working out w this trajectory sooooo... oops.

Anyways, a look into Ashaya's trauma! Where their lack of hope and faith in the world stems from. I somehow couldn't get into it in the narration but her family house could own slaves, maybe, (still she gets made to do chores bc Double Standards), and on her escapades to find her parents or relatives in the town she gets to see a whoooole lot of violence thrown at slaves and poor commoners and it always stuck w them.

She tries questioning it once, they got punished.

Kinda echoes Alfarīd's hopelessness in the nation too, she did say in the manga “there's no point to restoring the nation, it'll just make new nobles and new slaves” and it's an attitude Ashaya holds, too.

It'll be up to them to find that hope again. Alfarīd would be the one to eventually give back hope to Ashaya, but for that she herself will have to believe.

Unlike in canon I don't really see Alfarīd coming to believe in someone changing the system, rather that there's something worth living for even in a broken world. I think she'd have an attitude like that. It just fits her.

(I'm reminded of the song Kamado Tanjirou no Uta from the AU playlist, and that one video from Hello Future Me about the Ghibli movie The Boy and the Heron.)

(“We did not choose this world. But we must live in it.”)

To elaborate on why Ashaya lost faith in the world, it's smth like, if something so terrible and hurtful like the slavery system is allowed to exist, if nobody batted an eye at the abuse she went through, if nobody thinks to hold abusers accountable, if people are rewarded with brutality for their kindness, then... there's nothing worth saving here.

In addition to their own abuse they also saw others being abused, remember that the clan is made up of runaways and hurt people and abandoned people and victims and survivors— almost nobody who comes to the clan... came from happiness.

Is it any wonder that their faith was broken?

In contrast, let's look at Alfarīd. Protective instincts, strong sense of justice, responsible if a bit chaotic, remember how in the manga Alfarīd urges Estelle to remember the women and children and injured they'd saved? That they must think of, that they must protect, instead of thinking about the King?

Alfarīd, I think, abhors the system, but still sees people and things worth protecting anyways.

(and not to jump all over like a kangaroo but let's talk about Farangis this time)

She's an orphan. She entered the temple of Mithra after her loss. She was too talented. Too diligent. Too beautiful. People shunned her because of it.

And I'm willing to bet there's aggression and subtle bullying, too.

Look, it's a closed community. That sort of place gets rancid real fast.

(I would know. I myself was trapped in a prison of a boarding school where my suicidal ideation got wayyyyyyy bad.)

So, y'know, Ashaya-as-Sherine is a reflection of her days in the temple. That's why she has a soft spot for her.

Farangis is one of the few people Ashaya will listen to.

Anyways that concludes thus the post about Ashaya!

CANT SLEEP so have the besties ✨️

Long hair goten is best goten, change my mind 😤

Oh my god...

I forgot how annoying Alfarid was in the beginning! And how hypocritical. Dear lord above (or below).

I am so happy that she later has such a big character development. She now is one of my favourit characters. (And that is the genius of Arakawas writing! Or rather of Tanaka...)

I am continuing chapter 5 and am now where Narsus and Alfarid are at the village that go attacked by Team Zahhak.