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crimeronan · 8 months

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I love political and tactical fantasy shenanigans so I'm very 👀 over that appearing in the princess luz au in some way. There's so much you can play around with, like the public opinion, who gets supplies for not just the castle but the civilians, or runs this or that, and how the different coven's are run (i read a v neat theory that the abomination coven has more opportunities because of Darius, for example), any new covenhead will have to untangle the mess and horrors of their predecessor, and bringing in new people to run a section or help support a coven that's surprise surprise being held together by string and luck because the previous head was incompetent or didn't care enough. Or both.

Like the plant coven's plantations that are mentioned once in Hunting Palismen that guard the remaining palistrom trees. That'll need to be dealt with so more witches can recieve palismen, and then they'll need someone to carve them(possible lead in to Hunter getting intrested in palisman carving? ovo CLAWTHORNE CLAN APPEARANCE MAYBE??). Not to mention the overhaul of the education system, of which TERRA is apparently in charge of, which explains a lot, actually. How many buildings on TBI aren't built to sustain the boiling rain and rely on magic or pure luck to stay standing because the construction coven either didn't bother to do their jobs or they simply couldn't because they didn't have the resources and time, so those who have the most money get priority?

Not to mention taking care of monsters! The empress coven can't be too different from the emperor's coven yet, so they're not very efficient(because they're a cult and that's how they function) and someone has to address that and Lilith is too used to the system to recognise the problems by herself. Maybe Luz makes it law that all coven's now must have a head coven and a vice head of sort, so all the power and decision making doesn't rest with only one person?

Sorry, I'm rambling, I just love this kind of stuff, I go a little insane over it. Adding on all the characters being very stupid or very crazy or both makes for a funny time.

YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH!! THIS IS ALL SO GOOOOD these thoughts are all so good. at first i didn't want to plot a big long story about what exactly luz does to solve some of these issues, bc watching and dreaming addressed everything so well... but the circumstances of this AU have changed enough that i'm getting invested anyway. like. how DO you dismantle an empire when you also have to pretend that that empire is normal and fine and that your fragile allyships with power-hungry coven heads are fine and that your so-called "divinity" isn't based on the bullshit lie of a genocidal colonizer. HOO BOY.

i love love love political worldbuilding fic that explores things like infrastructure and different political dynamics and schisms in fantasy worlds, that was ALSO one of my fave things when i would write homestuck ancestor fic. plotting out what a galactic war might look like and how resources were distributed and how empire weaponry could be commandeered and how propaganda on both sides would function.... MMM. my bread and butter

i think the thing i've put the Most thought into toh-wise is the abomination coven, simply because i am a darius girlie and think about darius All The Time. like i think that the abomination coven has opportunities because there's a lot of capitalist stuff going on, because darius has taken a very libertarian-seeming hands-off approach to running his coven. but you can't apply 1-to-1 real world politics to it because actually, darius """small government""" deamonne is letting people get away with having fake abomination coven sigils and repeatedly break the law and game the empire's systems... all under the guise of "i don't know anything about that. i'm just lazy"

i had Extensive palistrom tree lore (and tragedy) planned in the darius & prev gg fic i outlined, i don't know if i'll ever write it in full but MMM the palistrom trees and the bat queen are on my mind Constantly. also tucking these construction coven thoughts into my back pocket for later use because i hadn't thought much about the infrastructure of the isles' buildings but you're RIGHT. living in portland oregon there's CONSTANT vicious local debate about rebuilding our bridges and older buildings and coastal evacuation plans for when cascadia ruptures, bc most of that wasn't built with a 9.0 earthquake in mind. could definitely pull from. All Of That. LOL

#replies #toh #toh meta #i guess?#long post #princess luz AU #toh worldbuilding

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childlikegoblinqueen · 3 months

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Grimwalker Lore: The Boy of Clay and Bone.

Another in universe Grimwalker Scary Tale with an afterword by Flora D'Splora.

TW for gore and other nasty stuff.

THE BOY OF CLAY AND BONE

Once a married couple sent their only son to war. It was a demand of the ruling king that one child of every peasant family between age 12 and 21 be sacrificed to the service as a soldier.

They prayed every night that the Titan would grant his safe return – and one night a knock came to the door that they hoped was their child, but instead it was a castle guard.

“Your boy has been lost in his noble service to the crown.” The guard bowed their head and handed the mother a small blue stone. “In return the King offers you a gift.”

“We have lost our only joy in the world.” The father growled, “In a war we did not begin and the King repays us with a gemstone? The life of our child cannot be bought!”

“In return for your sacrifice, the King has given you a galderstone. It can be used to make your spells more powerful – or you may sell it for a sum that will grant you a life of luxury.”

The guard then drew three more spell circles, and out popped a box wrapped in gold, a box wrapped in silver and a box wrapped in a shiny red.

“So the King wishes to bribe us for our grief.” The mother sighed. “I suppose the three boxes are filled with gold, fine silver, and silk for fine clothing?”

The servant shook their head and gestured to the golden box.

“In this package, you will find the skeletal remains of your son. Bone of Ortet.” They said.

The servant gestured to the silver box. “In this box you will find the lungs of a stone sleeper.”

The Servant gestured to the ruby red box, “In this box you will find the scales of a selkidomus. If you head into the forest under the full mood and retrieve a branch of a palistrom tree, you may use the galderstone and these ingredients to recreate your lost child in the form of a grimwalker servant. But heed this warning. If you do so, you must add iron ore to the soil so its bile sac shrinks to the size of a goreberry. He may rise and look like your son, but these werms* are not true witches. It is forbidden by the rule of the land to raise one with magic like a true witch.”

“And if we do, will the King Strike us down?” The father asked.

“If you do, you will seal your own doom.” The servant replied. And with that, he turned and left the couple behind.

The couple mourned their child for three months and often passed their neighbors at market – many others had perished in the battle and it had become more common to see a family out for a stroll with a replica of their dead child in tow – nearly identical were many to the originals, though some variations did arise – but each one shared a particularly unsettling feature with the next. Each one had eyes as red as blood that glowed when it was dark.

After a while the couple relented. Overcome by the void of loss they harvested a palistrom branch and buried the galderstone along with a rib bone of their lost son and the other ingredients in the clay beside the grave they had made for the original.

But they had forgotten to add the iron ore as instructed.

After the allotted time, a hand rose from the pit of clay twisted as a rotten vine. It was followed promptly by a head. Then a body, full grown and naked and bathed in the full moonlight.

The couple were overjoyed! This creature had an uncanny resemblance to their son as he had been before death at age 13! The mother and father rushed to embrace the creature – but when it opened its eyes it locked the parents in place with a hypnotic red glare.

Without a second thought the creature ate them from head to toe and headed into town where it met a trickster kitsune* demon on his way to market to sell his wares.

“Well, what have we here?” It crooned. The creature just stared back with blank red eyes that the kitsune just knew meant this was a lost grimwalker. “So someone has misplaced their servant!” His tails waved with interest, “I’m sure you are needed around your master’s home for chores – but you have crossed my path and I know you will fetch a good price at the market.”

The kitsune waited for a word of protest from the creature, maybe a declaration of that its owner was down the road, but nothing came.

“Not a bright one I suppose,” The kitsune shrugged. “Well,they often prefer it when you creatures mind your voices. Submit to me and we will find use for you in the home of a wealthy noble.”

So pleased was the kitsune with its find that even its very keen ears missed the sound of the grimwalker’s growling stomach. The creature locked the demon in place with the magic in its eyes and ate it, leaving only a rib to pick the flesh out of its teeth.

Eyes redder than ever, the monster moved towards the walls of a castle garden. With magic from its cursed bilesac it summoned the ground below to form steps on which it climbed the wall in two leaps.

Now this was the king’s favorite garden where only the royal family was welcome – and on this night it happened that the young princess had snuck out to play amongst the red roses that bloomed only under a full moon.

Foolish was she that she defied the king the last three times he had caught her in his garden after dark – and so confident was she that her magic would protect her from harm that she barely flinched at the sound of footsteps that approached – until a savage roar filled the air.

The princesses head snapped up to meet two hungry eyes – red as the roses she loved so much.

“Hello,” she greeted. The creature didn’t answer as the princess made out the shape of its body. Now the princess had been sheltered and raised by a nanny of a daft stack of scary tales where girls such as she were spirited into the night by mysterious suitors – thus she could not sense the intention of the vile thing that approached.

“Why you’re just a boy!” She laughed. “And you are no older than I am!”

The creature cocked its head at her curious tone, it did not approach – but the princess closed the space between them. “Your eyes are the prettiest I have ever seen! Come into the light, I bet you are my one true love come to take my hand in marriage.”

And the monster seemed tame for the moment – and some may say that it was the princess’s gentle nature, perhaps her gentle tone, but alas – it was the smell of flowers that rendered the creature still, momentarily unable to smell the stench of its own rotting flesh.

But the princess laid her bare hands on its cheek and reminded it of its insatiable hunger, and it did not hesitate to leave her a pile of bones for her father to retrieve at sunrise.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

*"Werm" is an old Lovoeden word for "vermin", often associated with grimwalkers in the pre-Deadwardian times. Some texts suggest this term was used even earlier in reference to Basilisks.

** This tale is quite unfair to kitsune! We no longer see them as trickster demons. -- FLORA D'SPLORA

#the owl house #toh fanfic #toh grimwalkers #grimwalker #grimwalker biology #toh grimwalker #grimwalkers #tw blood #tw body horror #tw gore #tw horror #flora desplora

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marztheincredible · 1 year

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People on twitter are irritating and make me think the general populous lacks basic literacy skills…which is more than likely incorrect and instead those individuals without critical thinking skills just shout the loudest…

Anyway Question!

Because distractions from stupid people are nice.

It’s been stated previously that Palisman are connected to the Titan, due to them literally being grown out of its flesh and formed due to the natural magic of the Titan. (side question would the Titan be a He or an It if referring to the corpse…because it’s a landscape…but also the corpse of a once sentient…err partially sentient corpse…going to stop digging the hole here and wait for an answer)

And it has been established that the Titan still has SOME influence within the working of Titan’s Blessing. That Luz learning magic and glyphs the Titan sharing it with her. Not overtly or directly mind you but still. But Palisman seem much more important in Titan’s blessing and wild witch society than just being a pal for life. Like for instance the whole bit with the Necromancer having to beat the Palisman of a buried Witch in order to prove themselves capable and responsible enough to use the corpse. Assuming they went through all the proper rites with Necromancy and all. Which makes me think that Palisman are intrinsically linked to their witch’s magic, on a fundamental level, if they are able to puppet their witch and their magic from beyond the grave. (Although admit-ably we do not know precisely how the whole defending the grave situation works and if it’s a puppet situation or a the Palisman calling their owner back to life for a few moments as the two work together and test the Necromancer and I’m rambling.)

And even in canon we see bits that haven’t been explained yet but seem curious to me. Eda’s anime power moves when she fought Lilith over the bridge come to mind. Her magic “aura” was shaped like Owlbert her Palisman. Which is Interesting. What does that mean? Is is a reflection of how much of Eda’s identity is The Owl Lady or of how powerful her bond is with Owlbert, the only companion she has had constantly for years? WHO KNOWS! But this question is running away from me!

The question started out as Were Palisman instrumental in communing with the Titan? Or further a bond between Witch and Titan. But now I guess it’s more a question of Palisman??? Witches and Palisman and symbiotic relationships between plants (they are made of wood fight me on their categorization) and animals?

Anyway hi how you doing love to hear your thoughts

Palisman my beloveds!!!!

Like you said in Titan’s Blessing and here in some asks we’ve hit on some lore for these companions. So let’s recap and answer your questions as best we can yeah?

The Titan did have much more influence during The Savage Ages because he was Remembered. The connections Witches and Demons had with him were sacred and that connection deepens with Palisman. As Belos’ influence over took the Isles, The Old Ways we’re warped and dissipated, and in turn many traditions that sought and fueled the symbiotic relationship with the Titan dissipated as well. The Titan is being Forgotten and thus his Influence is too.

Palistrom Groves for some are considered holy grounds and were revered, as these were places where many would say they could hear the Titan speak to them as they found their tree to carve from. To have such areas where any Witch could feel that connection and hear the being they live on is a dangerous foil for the Emperor, who claims only HE can hear the Titan’s Will.

“Then the Palistrom wood became much too scarce. The Druids had all but disappeared and the self-proclaimed guardians of the Titan’s body were nowhere to be seen to guard the groves. Witches clad in white with vulture masks swept through every grove and chopped down each tree. From the ancient to the sapling, barely any Palistrom Tree was spared.” —TB Chapter 13: Into the Woods

When Palisman are carved by a Witch’s own hand the bond is formed. Literally and figuratively a part of their soul is intertwined with the Palistrom Wood to give their companion life and in turn connect with the Titan, just has he did when gifting his Children with magic all those years ago. A beginning to an end, the cycle begins anew.

“The Owl Lady carved Owlbert, as her hands worked, her magic weaved and her soul became Owlbert’s soul. She is his and He is hers. ” —The Bat Queen

For Witches who aren’t as skilled with their hands they turn to a Druid called a Spiritmender. The Witch still has the task of finding a Palistrom Tree that calls to them, but it’s the Spiritmender who carves their Palisman. It is a longer process, as the Druid takes the magic of Plant, Oracle, and Healing (in Coven terms) to carve and weave the Witch’s soul into Palistrom wood. Dell Clawthorne held this honored title. He isn’t called The Steady Shepard for nothing, he’s carved many Palisman in his youth and passed on the knowledge, just as his parents did, to his daughters.

“Hundreds of years ago Witches of old would pass through her woods, seeking a Palisman, if one did not have the skill to carve one, or the luck of finding a Druid with the honored title of a Spiritmender to make one for them.”—TB Chapter 13: Into the Woods

A Palisman can decide if they wish to find a new bond after their Witch dies. They can either be passed on from parent to child or Mentor to Apprentice. They can return to a Grove and be cared for until another Witch or Demon makes a connection with them.

And naturally, because Palistrom Wood is powerful in its own right having a Palisman gives you a boost to your magic. Two working as one.

#titan’s blessing #the owl house #toh #toh fanfic #fanfic #fic #toh fic #ask #also for Titan pronouns I like to think he can go by he/they/it

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i-am-a-scholar-of-magic · 2 years

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The Bat Queen Facts & Theories - My Thoughts

Introduced as early as episode seven, the Bat Queen immediately caught my attention as a well-designed character for “The Owl House.” With her angular features, long dark hair, fangs, bat-like limbs, reputed vast riches, and an accent that sounds vaguely Easern European, she struck me as an unorthodox but very clever homage to classical vampire tropes and cliches.

And yet, the series would come to reveal that she is so much more.

Over the course of the series, the Bat Queen would reveal herself to be not a demon, but an ancient palisman. She was carved for a giant’s staff, then broken and discarded. By her own admission, this occurred thousands of years ago, so long that she cannot remember the details of her owner, and since she has taken in and protected other discarded palismen of the Boiling Isles.

In season two, on the advice of Eda, the Bat Queen agrees to promote the adoption of her protected palismen to help them find new, loving partners. She reveals extensive understanding of her own kind in guiding witchlings through bonding with their best fit. She even shows personal growth from her hidebound protection of Owlbert, forging a cordial relationship with both Eda and Principal Bump and showing faith in Flapjack flying off alone with her blessing to join his chosen partner in Hunter.

A final revelation comes later in the season from Eda and Lilith’s father Dell, who reveals that since his injuries that prevent him from carving palismen, he has been working directly with the Bat Queen to restore the overharvested palistrom forests so that carving of new palismen can continue into the future. *This companionship with Dell may, in fact, be the reason the Bat Queen trusted Eda enough to care for her children.

Even with the lore surrounding the Bat Queen, there is much mystery remaining. Who was the giant that she was carved for? How was she able to reproduce? How did she become so wealthy? What great palistrom tree could she have been carved from?!

One theory that has popped up is the idea that the Bat Queen was the palisman for the Titan who comprises the Boiling Isles. I, for one, do not agree. Palismen tend to have a rough consistent size, barring Gwendolyn’s Hawksley who is much larger. Using Owlbert and Eda in the mugshot in “Once Upon a Swap” as a reference, Owlbert’s inert form appears to be about 10 inches high, compared to Eda’s height of 6.5 feet, or 78 inches.

That’s a ratio of 1 to 7.8 in height, palismen to owner.

Now, judging by the Bat Queen’s first appearance crawling through the door of the Owl House, her crouched stance still hides the entirety of the Owl House’s front door. Given that standard American houses have front doors of 80 inches, or 6.6 feet, the Bat Queen could be comfortably estimated at 7 feet tall, at least. That’s 84 inches! A comparison between her height and Luz’s adds further support to this estimate.

So, running with the 1:7.8 ratio and an estimated 84 inch height for the Bat Queen, that would make her giant of an owner 655.2 inches tall, or 54.6 feet! That’s 5 ½ stories! But as impressive as that is, the Titan is certainly taller than 55 feet. A more plausible explanation is that giants are a form of biped demon, as one seems to attend Hexside as seen early in “Escape of the Palisman.”

Where her children came from, it is possible that she carved them. Or, given how the first bat baby regurgitated its siblings, that she regurgitated them as well, perhaps after chewing palistrom wood.

Eda offers a clue as to a possible source of her wealth in her debut episode, citing “offerings” to powerful entities. Granted, she was referring to herself and the bat baby was not such an offering, but it is possible that an being as old and respected as the Bat Queen - who as a palisman may need no food or water to live, and thus has no real expenses - could accumulate great wealth with recurring offerings.

Finally, as to her size, we do not know how long the Titan has been dead or how long society has lived on it after arising from its muck. King’s book implies “eons” - an extremely long span of 500 million years, so it was likely poetic - but it is likely that in the early stages of society on the Isles, much larger palistrom trees grew, perhaps similar to the giant redwoods in California. Such a tree would have a trunk capable of creating the Bat Queen.

Whether or not these mysteries are meant to be unraveled, the Bat Queen remains a striking and fascinating character.

Thanks for reading! More to come …!

#the owl house #worldbuilding #urban fantasy #theorizing #analysis

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acaciapines · 5 months

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OH OKAY FAIR FAIR so how do palistrom trees bond to witches! How do they find their dæmons in this universe

How many palismen are carved out of one tree? Or is it just one? Because if it's multiple then that makes me think about them all loving all their witches and that fills my heart (reply via @nelvana)

combining these bc we'll get to the same answer...

so!!! this is! a very long answer actually i have so much lore about palistrom trees. im not going to tell you EVERYTHING here, since a lot of stuff you'd learn over the course of the fic, but i will tell you the stuff that is known pretty early on. under a cut bc i was not lying about the answer being long

for one: witches dont have daemons! witches have palismen, which superficially are similar to the daemons humans have but theres quite a few differences. surface-level differences are that palismen and witches dont have a range until they settle (so, they can go any amount of distance from each other and be fine), palismen have it a lot easier when it comes to changing forms (a daemon has to see the animal they want to turn into in person, a palisman can just see a picture or see another palisman being it), and palismen settle around 18-19 compared to daemons 12-13.

but the INTERESTING differences comes in with palistrom trees!

the thing that makes a witch different from a demon is that witches have palismen, and demons have Something Else. so, humans would be classified as demons, for example. (also witches are literally just very specialized demons shhhh). the way a witch gets a palisman is from a palistrom tree! wow.

when a witch baby is born, before the birth, the parent will feel an urging to travel to one of the palistrom trees. trees tend to be familial, so baby will probably share a tree with one or both of their parents, but not always. palistrom trees are limited in the number of witches they can support, which is usually how a baby gets a tree different from their parents--palistrom trees are connected via root networks and are capable of communicating amongst themselves, so a tree might say 'hey. one of my witches is having a baby and im out of room. please help.' and a neighboring tree is like 'do not even worry i GOT YOU,' and baby is born.

if there are no available palistrom trees baby is either miscarried or stillborn, based on how far along things are. trees CAN stretch themselves to support more witches to a certain extent but it does hurt them in the long run.

once at this tree baby will be born and WHEN baby is born, a part of the palistrom tree will break off, and become the baby's palisman.

palistrom trees grow out of Titan's Blood (concentrated Dust), and thus incorporate that Dust into their treestuff. so, a palisman is literally made out of treestuff, which has a Lot of Dust in it. this is another thing that makes them different from daemons--daemons are made out of only Dust, and so daemons dont actually appear until a human baby is a few months old (baby needs to create enough dust to shape into their daemon--little babies are followed around by Dust that becomes visible as a golden blob when theres enough of it, and by a few months they have enough Dust for the daemon to take physical form). palismen are with their witches from the start!

once born, the witch-palisman pair is not actually like, bound to their tree in the same way they are bound to each other. while the death of a witch or palisman will kill the other half, the death of a palistrom tree will NOT kill the witches attached to it, though they will feel its death as a loss. instead palistrom trees are more like...matriarchs? like, sources of knowledge and love and help if youre struggling--for example if a witch is hungry palistrom trees can give food, they can give their wood for homes or things like that, and in return the witch and palisman will nurture and care for the tree, allowing it to grow Even Bigger (these things can grow to be. massive)

historically witches tended to set up shop around their palistrom trees which is why towns tend to have palistrom trees at the center, and these places were very much community spaces--palistrom trees are very, VERY long lived (like, thousands of years, long lived), and they have no natural predators (basilisks were the only beings that preyed on them and they were. lets just say. wiped out </3 except vee hi vee my love vee. but basilisk lore is another thing lol) and while a sapling can only support like, 2-5 witches, the oldest trees can support thousands.

new palistrom trees grow out of places with high concentrations of dust, typically graveyards (another thing about palismen--they dont burst into dust when they die, they leave behind the body! that decomposes! and this dust breaks down in the dirt, and when theres enough of it....), and they're saplings for a really really long time. other palistrom trees will send resources to the sapling and witches will do the same in tending for them.

palistrom trees communicate to their witches in Vibes that witches and palismen understand as words. palistrom trees are also capable of adopting witches that were not born from them, or non-witches. trees can communicate amongst themselves, too. a witch-palisman pair isnt exactly connected to other witches who share their palistrom tree but its more like that sense of community. like, these are Your People, to a certain degree.

a lot of how ive written palistrom trees is inspired by studies done into like, tree communication and how trees can share resources and information with each other via chemical cues, just. yknow. magicked-out.

and that. should? answer the question? or create Many More so do feel free to ask for me to elaborate on something if youve got those!!!! i love these silly trees!!! they are so good!

#ask #the owl house #toh #i write #one day i'll make a tag for this au but not today lol #also yes i have a lot of lore for these trees. this isnt even all of it #just the stuff we either find our early on or isnt too much of a spoiler!!#more fun fact a huge chunk of belos's plan is cutting down palistrom trees hmmmm i wonder what that does w all this new lore #:3 #and a grove of palistrom to you

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