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miirshroom · 4 months

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Elden Ring, Dark Souls, and the Sun God

Dissecting the names of FromSoft characters and locations for amusing results. "Ra" is an Egyptian god of the sun, and the use of this two letter word string shows up in some interesting contexts in FromSoftware's naming conventions. Heavy use of Wikipedia and Wiktionary.

Radagon = Ra Dagon

Dagon was a Syrian god of prosperity worshiped at the middle Euphrates who is sometimes incorrectly identified as a god of grain/agriculture (i.e. is actually grain AND a lot more). Dagon is also a name co-opted by Lovecraft for the fish deity in 'Shadow over Innsmouth'. It is thus implied that "Radagon" is a syncretization of Ra and Dagon, similar to how Ra was syncretized with Horus as Ra-Horakhty or with Amun as Amun-Ra during certain periods of history in Egypt.

Radahn = Ra Dahn (Ra, ruler of the world)

Dahn is an English form of the Scottish name "Domhnall" meaning Ruler of the World. There is an NPC in Dark Souls named 'Domhnall of Zena'.

Ranni = Ra nni = Rán Ni

Incredibly, there is at least one use of "nni" as an alternate spelling of a Sicilian word meaning "us" for the overall phrase "Ra us" (or with better grammar "We are Ra"). Which makes sense in context since Ranni's Age of Stars is about becoming a star and the sun is a star. Rán is Norse goddess of the sea, who catches men in her net and drowns them (and once loaned her net to Loki - who took credit for inventing the net). "Ni" can mean many things - in Welsh alone it means both "us/we" AND "not". In German/Norse it also means "not". "Ni" means "two" or "towards" in Japanese and "two" in Atong Indian. As a sum total, a name expressing a lot of duality.

In the languages of Malaysia and New Guinea "ni" means "water". It is also an abbreviation for elemental Nickel.

Raya Lucaria = Ra Ya Lucaria (Festival of the Grove in affirmation of Ra)

This one has layers. There's the interpretation above where "Lucaria" is a straightforward term borrowed from a Roman festival and "ya" or "ja" is a common word for "yes" in multiple languages. It is not farfetched to think that the institution originally had closer ties to the sun than the moon - there is a sun motif in the Debate Parlour, on elevators, and on the Telescope item. The Japanese Kanji blur together the words "Raya Lucaria" such that レアル` includes Rayalu and is pronounced more like "real". Despite there being kanji available for the "ya" sound.

One meaning of や (ya) is a specific nuance of "and", as in "the Academy of Ra and the Festival of the Grove, among other things". Another is the hiragana spelling of 矢, which can mean "arrow" or "wedge used to break hard objects such as wood or stone" - causing Raya to mean "Ra's arrow" or "Ra's axe/chisel", perhaps. Additional hiragana uses include 屋 (house), 八 (eight), and 輻 (spoke of a wheel), which has a great synergy with something I have been working with for a while. This being that Radagon's time at Raya Lucaria began during the eighth house of a zodiac wheel that describes the history of the Lands Between. Likely Scorpio, if the start point is considered to be Aries, although it could also be Leo from a start point of Capricorn (more on that in further names to follow).

Siofra = Siof Ra (Sheep Ra)

Acknowledging that that "síofra" is also an entire word meaning "changeling", "elf", or "weakling" in Irish, "siöf" is a word meaning "sheep" in the nearly extinct Germanic language of Vilamovian.

Yura = Yu Ra

"you Ra" is funny, but not very helpful. However, Yu the Great was a Chinese sage-king (more of a mythical figure) known for a great feat of flood control somewhere around 3000-2000 BCE

Eleonora = Ele Ono Ra

"Ele" means "firewood" in Abure - a language native to the Ivory Coast. In Finnish it means "gesture" or "sign". It is "eel" in Middle English and "oil" in Old English, and "she" or "wing" in Old French. Also has some associations with "hand" or "foreign person" or "country" in Turkish.

"Ono" is Czech for "id" of psychoanalysis (so called "the impulsive (and unconscious) part of [a] psyche that responds directly and immediately to basic urges, needs, and desires"). And in Japanese can mean "ax" or a pronoun for "oneself", or as a name means "small field". It is also proto-polynesian for the number 6.

So "Ele Ono Ra" is the "female sign of the unconscious desires of Ra" and also has connotations of firewood doused in oil.

Another potential reading is "E Leo No Ra". "E" is a very flexible sound that variously means "and", "the", "of", etc. It is the 5th letter of the Latin alphabet as "Leo" would be the 5th sign of a zodiac beginning with Aries. The full phrase might be "And Leo (5th sign of zodiac) not of the sun". Which - taken in combination with the use of "6" (matching 6th zodiac sign of Virgo) in the first interpretation - this gets into the really complicated thing where the wheel of Vedic astrology based on the position of the moon lags behind Western (i.e. Greek) astrology.

Zorayas = Zo Ra Yas

There are many ways to break up this name - but for simplicity I focus on the "Ra" version. "Zo" is a language spoken in Myanmar and India, but also the prefix "zo-" generally means "of or relating to animals" (derived from Greek). The most likely meaning of "Yas" in context is the Turkish "mourning" which was derived from proto-Turkish "damage, loss; shame". Therefore an overall meaning something like "animal of Ra's mourning".

In the Aleut (Alaskan area) language "Yas" can mean "reef of rocks at or near surface", and in Navajo it is a word for wet snow.

There are notable uses of "Ra" as a suffix showing up in Dark Souls. It is a game with the catchphrase "Praise the sun", afterall.

[DS1 & DS3] Astora = Asto Ra (Assisting Ra)

"Asto" is Latin and means "assist" or "assisting". Notable characters from Astora: Blacksmith Andre, Solaire, Fire keeper Anastacia, Knight Oscar, Undead Prince Ricard, Anri of Astora. All appear in DS1 except Anri who appears in DS3.

Anri is an anagram of "Rani" which is rather similar to "Ranni" and yet as demonstrated above there would be a significant difference between the declarative "Rán, i", and the more "yes, but also no" nature of "Rán ni".

[DS3] Shira = Shi Ra (Temporarily channeling the spirit of the deceased Ra)

"Shi" has meanings associated with death in both Chinese and Japanese. The Chinese version of "shi" is a "ceremonial 'personator' who represented a dead relative during ancient Chinese ancestral sacrifices". These are ceremonies with food and drink where the living worship the dead and the dead bless the living. On the other hand, there are a lot of Chinese kanji that are pronounced with "shi" with different inflections - could be that any of those is relevant.

[DS2] Nashandra = Nash and Ra (By the Ash Tree and Ra)

Could be a play on words here of "Ashen" tree, considering that the player character of the following game (DS3) is called "Ashen One".

[DS1] Capra = Cap Ra

"Cap" is an abbreviation derived from "captain". It is also the abbreviation of "Capricorn" - which is the chronological start of the zodiac theme used in most of FromSoft worldbuilding, as indicated in Armored Core V. The Capra demon is a humanoid with a bull head, which resembles Mnevis, the black bull god who was worshiped in Heliopolis and later assimilated as the "personality of Ra".

[DS1] Ciaran = Cía Rán = Ciar An

It's a Ra adjacent name. The meaning of "Cía Rán" would be something like "who is Rán?", where "cía" is from Old Irish. "Ciar" is a Spanish word meaning "to reverse the direction (of a boat)". "An" has entirely too many meanings, though a common one in French and other languages is "year". Which makes sense in the context that this this character is associated with the Artorius DLC about travelling to the past and the whole Souls series of games is about the Argo Navis sailing in search of the Golden Fleece (the story tied to zodiac Aries).

#Elden Ring #Dark Souls #FromSoftware Meta-Narrative #“Re” is an alternate form of “Ra” but I'm not going to get into that now #You can see mountains to the north of the Shaded Castle and did you know Astora is to the south of Dark Souls setting #May have missed some and there are other names with “Ra” embedded in such a way that it won't split out well #linguistic analysis

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kolak-magiya · 3 years

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Disclaimer: All names are of my own creation and are not to be considered canon characters in FFXIV.

Tags: tw: violence , tw: family death , tw: child death

Summary: An excerpt from Ryce’s past. (long post under the cut)

“There, that should be the last of it.”

Arasen dusted his hands off after setting down the last sack of rice that they’d traded with another passing clan. It was an easy deal made - they needed furs for the coming cold season, and in return, Clan Hotgo needed a food that was filling and easy to make. He had to admit, he was impressed that they’d even managed to get their hands on it, considering their nomadic lifestyle. Still, trade worked wonders.

A soft laugh earned the tall man’s attention to another male who sat nearby, also wiping sweat from his brow. “I swear, Arasen, I could watch you lift heavy things all day. Ye make it look so easy.”

“Well ye might not be so winded if ye’d listen to me. I did say that ye were lifting them wrong.” He easily shot back, placing his hands on his hips and quirking a brow at the other teen. Jakha, leaning back against a pile of rice sacks to rest, rolled his eyes with a smirk, even as Arasen took a seat next to him to also take a break.

“Guess you make a good point.” Jakha sighed, leaning up against the slightly taller male, pale orange eyes looked upward toward the matching sunset as his head rested against Arasen’s shoulder. “...Think it’ll be enough to get us through the cold season?”

“It’ll have to be. We’ve been smart about it before, I’m sure we’ll manage.”

“I dunno, with how much those twins of Kura’s eat, we may run out of stock ‘fore half the season’s pass.” He grunted with a laugh when Arasen elbowed him, but still smirked at the playful jest.

“Need I remind you of our midnight snack heists when we were kids? Heard your mother gave you quite the scolding when she found out.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Jakha shuddered at the thought, earning a laugh from Arasen.

Quiet fell upon them, then, as they looked upward toward the sky. All around them, their camp bustled with folks getting settled for the evening, finishing the pitching of tents and the starting of dinner fires. It seemed to be a peaceful evening thus far, and the sun sinking beyond the western mountains simply helped as the stars came peeking out.

Glancing down at his friend, Arasen couldn’t help but smile. He and Jakha had been friends since birth. As it stood, their births were just hours apart, with Arasen being older by just two. Jokes had been passed around that Jakha was so desperate to be friends, that he kicked his mother, wanting out. He never denied the joke, either.

They basked in the cooler evening air for a little while longer, before eventually they stood and bade each other a good rest. Arasen found his family-tent easily, his father outside making his final adjustments (of which he willingly aided), and his mother and sister inside preparing some food.

He greeted all of them with a gentle nudge of their heads, and allowed his ten-summer-old sister sit in his lap while their mother rested amongst some pillows and their father handed out their supper.

“I heard you oversaw the trading, son,” Kurome, his mother, spoke smoothly, a hand resting around her stomach, swollen with a third child that was due by mid-spring. “How did it go?”

“Well enough.” He answered after chewing some of his food. “Jakha and I had just finished loading everything into the carts before I returned. They were certainly generous with their trade.” He paused, frowning slightly. “I hope it doesn’t mean they’ll be short on food for the cold season.”

“They seemed sure that they needed the furs more than the food. They’ll manage.” His father, Torbei, responded curtly. Arasen supposed that it made sense, but he also didn’t miss the stern tone of his father. Showing compassion for other clans outside of trade was usually not considered at all. He’d always said that Arasen had a soft heart.

He was going to say something else, as he parted his mouth - only to jump when a distant scream pierced the quiet. All heads turned to the entrance of their tent, as more sounds began to join in a crescendo, until it became obvious what it was: The sounds of war.

Torbei rose to his feet and quickly made for the door of the tent, while Arasen urged Kiyo, his sister, to join their mother. By then, their father had already left the tent, and the shouting was apparent. Arasen needed no confirmation: They were under attack.

This wasn’t the first time they’d found themselves ambushed, whether it be from a different clan or some wild animals. That his clan survived this long meant that no attempts were successful. But when Arasen exited the tent, his eyes were met with a horrifying sight. Fires blazed from tents across the camp, screaming could be heard even from nearby as battle ensued. Though many were only just now gathering their bearings under the roaring voice of Atsuaki - the Hotgo Clan leader - and Torbei.

Arasen also joined the fray, running forward - weaponless - toward the first figure that he knew was not of his clan. Much to his horror, he instantly recognized the signs of Clan Dotharl. They weren’t too high in number, but were still widely feared for their thirst for bloodshed. They killed others for the sake and joy of killing.

They had the upper hand, having surprised the unsuspecting Hotgo clan. Arasen could already smell blood and rounding a burning tent, he could see a number of corpses and marked figures of his clan being cut down. Grabbing a blade from a downed figure and friend, Arasen let himself be driven by his rage. The blade sank into the form of the nearest Dotharl. Then another. And another.

Finally, he met up with his father, who bore his own battle wounds. The elder man pulled an arrow from his shoulder and threw it to the ground as a warrior from Dotharl charged. Torbei bellowed a shout as they clashed, but the Dotharl was no match for the elder Au Ra, as they were cut down with a swift blow from Torbei’s blade. Arasen felt his feet carry him toward the scene.

“Father-!”

Eyes widened as Arasen staggered to a halt. An arrow from the shadows came whistling through, piercing Torbei’s throat - then another meeting its mark on his chest. Another Dotharl, hidden in the shadows, emerged as Torbei toppled over.

A scream of rage belted out from Arasen’s mouth as he charged. The Dotharl moved to ready another arrow, but was found useless as the younger figure was upon him in seconds. A head rolled to the ground shortly after, but Arasen paid it no mind as he ran to his downed father.

The glint of fire off of another blade was his only warning, as he turned to another Dotharl figure snarling at him. She bore toward him with murderous fury - only to be halted by an arrow that pierced her eye. Arasen turned, eyes wide. Kurome scowled, and came forward to the clearing where she grasped her son’s arm. She was sporting her own battle wounds, though nowhere near dire enough to fear for her life.

Behind her, Kiyo kept a watchful eye, despite the fearful tears that rolled down her cheeks. Arasen couldn’t blame her, for even he had tears streaming down his face. Kurome’s own eyes were glistening as fires blazed around them, even as she refused to look at her mate’s still body.

“Arasen, you must take Kiyo and flee-”

“What!? Mother-!”

“I am not asking you, Arasen! I have lost my dear mate this night, and I refuse to lose my children! Go!”

Wide-eyed, and in shock, he could do little else but listen to her. Her usually soft-spoken and wise tone was wracked with anger and grief - but mostly fear. Seeing his mother like that struck him hard, but he took a moment to wipe his face, smearing the paint on his face; Then he moved past her, to grab his sister and.. he ran.

Despite his sister screaming for him to stop. He ran.

Despite the pain in his heart. He ran.

He ran for what felt like an eternity. All he knew was that he needed to get away. So he focused on running until the stars began to fade and the sun began its ascent in the East. When the familiar sound of the One River met him did he allow himself to rest.

“..I think this is a safe place to rest..” He muttered. Arasen looked downward to his sister, who had stopped crying just an hour earlier. “Kiyo I should check you for-...”

His feet stopped entirely, heart sinking into his stomach. How had he failed to notice the thrown-blade embedded in his sister’s chest?!

He felt the weight of his failure heavily on his shoulders. Arasen barely registered the ache in his legs as he sank to his knees, still clutching his young sister in his arms.

The heartbroken cry was hard to keep quiet, but thankfully the sound of the river would have covered it well enough. Even as he cried for hours, well into the late morning. Suddenly, Arasen felt so terribly alone. All he could do was look up at the morning sky - clear as though nothing were wrong. As though it would not soon be filled with clouds of smoke. He could no longer bear his clan name. What could he do now?

He decided first, to lay his dear sister to rest by the river. He knew he couldn’t remain here, lest he be found. So, after he was finished, he spent only enough time to wash the paint from his face, and the blood from his clothes. Then.. to the West, he walked.

If nothing else, he’d simply keep moving. It was all he could do...

Ultimately, a new life garnered a new name. He supposed Ryce would have to do.

#;Drabble #tw: violence #tw: family death #tw: child death #feel like this is a little rushed at the end but #I have dnd in 15 minutes so I had to finish it before then lol

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ferminoyq6206330-blog · 5 years

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aliras-eorzean-heroes · 4 years

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Arrival(Saphira)

Hear… Feel… Think… Wanderer of worlds…

Saphira’s head rung as she woke up on a rocking wood surface, squinting at the canopy of what seemed to be a strange carriage.

“You awake, lass?” She heard a male voice ask and she sat up, turning to see it was a grizzled man, skin tanned brown and hair and beard blond colored. His eyes were green and concerned as he asked. “Y’all right there, lass?”

Furrowing her brows and feeling some weirdness over her body, she nodded, before inclining her head questioningly.

“You were moanin’ somethin’ fierce for a while there.” He explained upon seeing her expression. “Feelin’ the effects of the aether, I reckon.” He then smiled gently. “You’ll get used to it, though, and au ra can adapt fairly quickly to it, don’t worry.”

She blinked, au ra? What was that? A small thump to her side had her turning her head and seeing a pitch black, scaly tail at her side, which was clearly attached to her. What the-

Then she remembered what happened before she lost consciousness. Reading from a tomb that strange girl helped her find, her siblings yelling for her, parents shouting as everything went white-

“Easy there girl, you look queasy again.” A hand rested on her shoulder, making her jump and her head snapped around to see a blond man, skin light and a odd tattoo on his neck, sitting by her with his brown eyes looking at her in concern. “You alright then? You were in a state for a while when I found you.”

She suddenly found herself thankful she was often considered the quiet one of her family and often didn’t show how freaked out she got over things, like her apparent change of race. “Y...Yeah.” Her voice was soft, meek as always as she frowned. “Found me?”

It made sense, she did seem to have opened a portal that yanked her and her family through to, she supposed it was another world judging by all she knew so far, but it was odd only she was found.

“Yep, found you in the desert, knocked out and clearly having some sort of night terror.” He nodded. “Couldn’t rightly leave a poor girl like that, so I carried you to the road before flagging down this carriage.”

“That man bloody ran right in front of the carriage, regardless if he scared the chocobos, just to get it to stop so he could get yourself and him on.” The grizzled man chuckled as the other grinned a bit sheepishly. “In all my years I’ve never seen that before.”

“Well when she’s in a easily preyed upon state and a bull’s eye for any amalj’aa…” He trailed off, shaking his head before turning back to Saphira. “Where are my manners? I already saved the fair mademoiselle and I haven’t even introduced myself! I’m Thancred.”

She felt her cheeks tint slightly at what he called her, but smiled and nodded. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Thancred.”

“You there- Halt!” She suddenly heard a voice shout from the direction of the front of the carriage, making her jump under the hand Thancred still had on her shoulder and tail lash against the bench.

“What’s this all about?!” She presumed that was the carriage driver speaking as she noticed some weird, big chickens for mounts walk up besides the carriage with riders in red armor atop them.

“Great…” Thancred groaned as she then heard a sword being drawn before another voice snapped. “Inspection! Men, search the carriage!”

Thancred, though for reasons she didn’t understand, was quick to put his arm over her shoulder, already sitting close to her as it was, and only had to slightly tug on her to get her to lean closer as a man came to the back of the carriage, presumably to inspect the cargo at the back.

“I’m just an honest peddler, friend. So, err…” The other passenger began, somewhat nervously towards the armored man. “Don’t be too disappointed if you don’t find nothin’, eh?”

“Mind your tongue, old man, lest I cut it out!” The armored man snapped at the grizzled man, and judging by the slightly angry growl Thancred let out, unheard by all but her because of how close she was, this was normal. Then, very clearly from where she was sitting, the man pulled a pouch off his belt before turning to the man on the oversized chicken behind him and said all too gleefully. “Sir, look! Somnus!”

“Honest peddler, was it?” The man on the oversized chicken seemed to mock. “Since when do honest peddlers deal in prohibited herbs? You’re in a lot of trouble, old man. You’ll rot in a dungeon until the ends of your days...” Then the man grinned. “Unless you can afford the fine.”

This wasn’t right, he hadn’t done anything and they were, they were blackmailing him into paying a fine like common criminals! Thancred’s arm on her tightened slightly as her shoulders rose, expression soured and tail twitched violently in expressing her anger.

“Heh, business as usual...” The peddler sighed as he looked at Saphira, just as she noticed an arrow sailing right for the carriage and the peddler’s back.

“Look out!” She cried out, a hand reaching out and pointing behind him, and the peddler moved just in the nick of time as the arrow narrowly missed his face by inches before it embedded itself in the carriage floor.

“Uwaaah!” The peddler jumped in his seat as she heard a voice from further away shouting. “Amalj’aa! Amalj’aa! To arms! To arms!”

She looked from where the arrow had come from to see another man in red armor running, being chased by what seemed to be lizard men of a sort, skin dark as onix.

“Seven hells…” The man on the oversized bird swore before looking back to the carriage. “Consider this a warning! Now go-All of you!”

The carriage took off with a start at that, Saphira jolting and bumping against Thancred’s chest at the unexpected jolt as she looked to see the men in red armor engage the ‘amalj’aa’ while they fled.

She strained her eyes to see what they were fleeing from, but with her practically being held against Thancred’s side it wasn’t easy and eventually she gave up straining her sight and peered up at the human man as her horn strangely enough bumped his chest. “Why did you do that?”

It wasn't that she was ungrateful for him seeming to shield her from the scrutiny of those armored men, she just wasn’t sure why he did it.

He tilted his head at her. “Those Brass Blades would have the shirt off your back if they fancied it, my dear girl.” At her confused blink, he furrowed his brow. “Those men were Brass Blades, you never heard of them?”

She shook her head, sitting up properly though he still had his arm around her shoulder as she scratched at her cheek, being startled when she felt something smooth and scaly under her fingers.

She noticed black onix scales in patches on her arm and hand as she lowered her hand slightly, like the ones she saw on her tail. She raised that hand to brush against her horn, that was different now, flat and curving back in a strange way-

Her ear was gone she realized as she traced the horn to it’s base, where she found it replaced her ear and seemed partially hollow, acting as her ear somehow? She looked to the other man on the carriage as he spoke and broke her out of her thoughts. “Like common bandits, the Brass Blades are, only less honest.” He laughed then. “Thank the gods for sendin’ some beastmen to the rescue, eh?!”

She blinked, noticing Thancred peering at her out of the corner of her eye before asking. “You sure you’re alright, miss?”

“I-Yeah.” She dropped her hand to her lap, swallowing as she resolved to check herself in a mirror or water to see her apparent new look in this world and freak out about it then. “Just, fine.” She exhaled, and she really hoped she wasn’t shaking, as she couldn’t tell. “I don’t know how I ended up in the desert, or really where I am, so I’m, a little disoriented.”

“We’re in Thanalan, on the road to Ul’dah.” Thancred answered her, watching her expression as she furrowed her brows.

“I’ve never heard of those.” She shook her head, peering around to see the landscape around them was of one of a desert.

“Where are you from then, lass?” The grizzled man tilted his head at her. “Oh, also, Brendt’s the name an’ peddlin’s me trade.”

“I’m…” Geez, could she really say she was from Faerun or Waterdeep? Did this place even have locations like her home city? Hells, she had nothing to lose other than getting odd looks. “I’m from Waterdeep.”

“Waterdeep?” The two men echoed, their tones showing they did not recognize what she said and Thancred shook his head. “I’ve never heard of that place.”

“Neither have I.” Brendt shrugged, peering at the girl. “You sure you ain’t mixing up Limsa?”

She shrugged, messing with her hands out of nerves. “I don’t know what Limsa is, so we’re equal in the not knowing regard.” She frowned, feeling much like a fish out of water.

“Hmm...” Thancred visibly thought to himself while Brendt seemed to fumble for a topic.

“W-Well, judgin’ by your strange garments, should I wager you’re one of them adventurers?” Brendt eventually managed to ask, referring to her outfit she had been wearing that was slightly ripped in places. From her climbing around and squeezing through tight spaces in some deep ruins mere hours from her perspective ago.

“Yeah, I had just returned from getting something from some ruins before I ended up here.” She shrugged, grimacing at the state of her clothes as she looked at them better. “Though I may need to acquire different clothes somehow, I had planned to mend these but since I’m far from home and without any money to get them mended I don’t think I can do that.”

“Perhaps I might be able to aid you?” Thancred began, smiling comfortingly at her. “I have a friend who often stays at my apartment when she’s in Thanalan and I’m elsewhere, so she surely has a few outfits she wouldn’t mind lending you if you would be okay with that? You could also stay there until you can afford a inn room as I have a guest bedroom.”

Saphira blinked, gaping openly at Thancred as Brendt chortled. “I think you surprised the poor girl to silence.”

Thancred grinned a little before looking back to Saphira. “Would that be okay? I can also show you to the adventurers guild if you wish.”

Saphira considered his offer, she was no more than a mere stranger yet he was willing to help her so much despite it.

After a moment, she smiled and nodded. “Please, I would greatly appreciate it.” At the smile she got in response, she felt her cheeks darken.

#FFXIV #Saphira Zelalin(OC WoL)#ffxiv thancred #thancred x wol #thancred waters #First snippet cause why not XD #And for reference this will have a part two #Mainly showing how Thancred found her cause I changed stuff and he has a reason for his offering to help her #Also any Zelalin that shows up #besides possibly one #are from a dnd world #Thank my naming my first chara after one of my dnd characters and here I am XD #Also holy heck Thancred I do not know if I wrote correctly so please feel free to offer advice on how to write him #Aliras writing #long post

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ask-de-writer · 7 years

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DARING DO AND THE COMPASS OF DISCORD : Chapter #6 : MLP Fan Fiction : WORK IN PROGRESS

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DARING DO AND THE COMPASS OF DISCORD

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

14144 words Presently written The story is incomplete

THIS A WORK IN PROGRESS

Because this is a Work In Progress, new writing or changes to older text will be indicated by BOLDFACE TYPE.

Writing begun 01/24/17

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Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights. They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact. They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

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For those wishing to read the story from the beginning, it starts HERE.

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Chapter 6 Farewell to Milestago

The lightly damaged Malachite was tied up to a dock while her damage control crewdogs were working to free the potentially deadly shell embedded in her superstructure.

While others were getting clear of the ship until the shell was removed, Withers wandered down to the crew quarters where the shell was embedded part way through a bulkhead.

One of the Damage Control crewdogs looked up from their efforts to loosen the shell from the petaled steel wall and said, “Sir, you should not be here. This is very dangerous. It could explode at any moment.”

Withers smiled at that and replied, “Not that shell. It is about as dangerous as a box of rocks. See that gap between the edge of the exploder fuse and the shell? It got cross threaded and failed to seat. Rupp RA250's are notorious for this problem. The RA series of shell can be fitted with two different exploder fuses.

“Bean counters always go for the RA2-L, like this one, because it is five copper bits cheaper. It is common for RA2-L's to cross thread like this. If they had got the slightly more expensive RA2-M, this shell would have exploded properly.”

The Crewchief observed thoughtfully, “Withers is not that common a name. I have heard of a Major Withers with many decorations. He held Grayshire pass against a two division attack with only a platoon. Are you that Major Withers?”

Withers nodded. “Indeed I am.”

The Crewchief stood back and told the others, “Withers here, besides what I mentioned, has qualifications in Unexploded Ordinance Disposal. Let him guide us. He knows more about this than we do.”

Withers stepped over to examine the shell closely. Nodding to himself, he commented, “Not too bad. I need a pin spanner with hardened pins and a non sparking mallet. Bronze or a big wooden mallet would be best.”

One of the crewdogs offered an adjustable pin spanner and told him, “We will have to send to Engineering for the hammer. We did not bring one up here. Didn't really look forward to hammering on a shell full of TNT or the like!”

Withers chuckled as he adjusted the spanner to fit around part of the fuse. A few expert raps with the bronze hammer on the spanner handle soon had the fuse loose.

Cradling the deadly exploder, Withers explained, “I am taking this up to the deck for Crowns Evidence. The rest of this removal will be pretty standard damage control work. I will leave it to you.”

Up on deck, he found Amber, Princess Luna and the terribly shaken Zebra Confederation Consul conferring over the battle and the port damage.

~~ ~~ ~~

Otar Stippen sat across the table from Celestia. From his cringing posture it was plain that the Zebra Confederation Ambassador did not like what he was about to say.

“First, Princess Celestia, I wish to thank you for allowing me to return to the Embassy and confer with my government. I understand that Princess Luna is now in Milestago, doing a personal survey of the recent damage.”

Celestia nodded, “She is indeed. The Das Capitin's fire sank a peaceful freighter, the Cormorant, at the dock. Our Repair Docks and the only dry dock in Milestago have been, for practical purposes, destroyed.

“Over one half of the docks and associated loading warehouses have been damaged. The civilian apartment complex was totally destroyed by blast and fire, which spread to three other residential buildings before it was contained.”

Otar swallowed hard and put his head in his hooves. “When I called my government, on the World Wide Magic Net, I spoke directly to Nils Downitall. I could not believe what I heard from him. He both contradicts himself and denies direct evidence.

“Nils denied that there was any attack on Equestrian soil by any ship of our navy. When I told him that the Das Capitin was grounded on a beach only seven kilometers from the harbor entrance, he immediately demanded that I have the ship returned to us.”

Almost sympathetically, Celestia inquired, “Did you see fit to mention that Das Capitin broke in half when she hit the shingle on a high tide at flank speed?”

Otar looked about at the modest ornamentation of the room and drew a deep breath. “Both our Milestago consul and I tried to tell him that. He would not believe us, even when showed realtime images of the Das Capitin wreck. Worse, he is blaming your coastal defense fortress for damaging the Das Capitin, which he insists, is not and has not been in Equestrian waters.

“In any case, collateral damage to your port is due to harboring the Malachite, a ship of the now proscribed Diamond Dog Enclaves. Therefore damage from a battle with her is not our responsibility.

“I have now said what I was required to say by my government. I should not say this, but I fear that we may have put a mad zebra in control of our nation.”

Rather grimly, Celestia agreed. “We have thought so for some time. Do you have any good news to give us?”

Otar smiled ruefully. “One small thing. I have managed to resolve the Morail Blum Fauntin mess. As your sister Princess did say, our own embassy files showed her to have been slain in the Discordian raid on her family farm. I still do not know why she dropped her studies and returned to her family farm but the records are clear that she did.

“The confusion that we all had was caused by a near identical Morail Ruby Drift. Oddly, Miss Ruby Drift is a zebra who was orphaned and, through strange circumstances, wound up being raised and adopted by the Diamond Dogs of the Ruby Drift Enclave.

“After I was done speaking to Nils Downitall, I put a call through to the Ruby Drift Matriarch. She confirmed that Morail was a part of their Enclave, an expert in mining explosives, and a drift supervisor. She has been with them since fillyhood.

“To make matters more complicated, she knew Morail Blum Fauntin, who also visited the Enclave frequently. I am told that due to their close appearance, they played many tricks on both the Enclave and the Blum Fauntin farm.

“Morail Ruby Drift is presently attached to Supreme Matriarch Amber in a staff capacity. My consulate in Milestago has met her. She is presently serving as a translator and liaison for the Diamond Dogs of the Malachite's crew. Most of them are presently involved in the rescue work in your port.”

Celestia paused and looked sideways at the zebra across the table from her. Carefully she said, “I will communicate that interesting information to my sister Princess. It will both please and sadden her. It appears that the two Morails played a trick on the University to cover Miss Bulm Fauntin's return to the Confederation.”

Otar nodded. “Such is our conclusion too.

“I have one other thing to offer. My government has forbidden either a formal apology or aid from Embassy funds in regard to this mess.”

He pushed a draft across the table to Celestia. “We, the Embassy and consular staffs all across Equestria, have raised this out of our personal funds. Please accept, not from the Zebra Confederation, but from the hearts of honest zebras and ponies who live with us, this money. It is 89,764 golden bits to use for the aid and assistance of Milestago.”

Celestia actually smiled as she took it. “Do you have a list of the donors, Otar? We should like to thank them for their good hearts.”

~~ ~~ ~~

Daring Do, Withers, and Morail were helping several Diamond Dogs to shift a fallen timber from a lavender pony trapped in the wreckage that had been his Chandlery business on the waterfront. Amber joined them, her strength giving them the needed leverage to free the injured pony.

They were joined by the Zebra Confederation Consul and three of his staff. They pulled the victim free of the ruin.

It was the Consul who told him, “Easy there, we need to get you onto this stretcher. A beam like that can do internal injury that you don't feel. We are taking you to the Equestrian Defense Bureau's field horspital.”

Amber, free of the need to help lift the beam, let it fall. She turned to Morail and grinned enormously. “I have just heard from Princess Celestia in Canterlot. Ambassador Otar, besides contacting his government about this mess, checked out what he had heard from his consulate here. They bought your story hooves, mane and tail!

“Besides their own documents, Otar contacted Matriarch Topaz of the Ruby Drift Enclave. She sensed that something was in the wind and confirmed that you have been in the Drift since fillyhood. That you have been a Diamond Dog all your life.

“Just to sweeten the pie, she told him about some of the tricks that you and Morail Blum Fauntin used to pull by looking so much alike and being friends.”

They all heard the voice, soft as a dream. Princess Luna had come upon them unnoticed. “What is this? Two of you, Morail? Is that how you were at the University and in the Confederation to be murdered at the same time?”

Noticing that the Zebra Confederation consul was coming their way, Morail sort of hung her head as she replied, “I am afraid so, Your Highness. We did not anticipate the Discordian attack.”

Luna bored in, as if somewhat irritated, “And that is also why you took Amber's offer of Diamond Dog citizenship? I mean, that you already were a Diamond Dog?”

Morail made a production of watching a seagull scooping up some of the bounty of dead fish floating near where high explosive shells had detonated. “I apologize for deceiving you, Your Highness, but yes. That was the reason.”

Amber grinned just a little. “I have attached Morail to my staff. When we came to Equestria for diplomatic reasons, I allowed her leave to visit her friend Morail Blum Fauntin at the Royal University.

“It appears that my Morail's education in the Ruby Drift was excellent. They pulled off the switch without any noticeable change in her grades.”

Withers pointed a hoof at Morail and said, “Not quite. Her already impressive shooting scores in the ROTC went UP. Especially with the MT84 portable automatic cannon.”

Amber “noticed” the Zebra Confederation consul waiting patiently for Princess Luna'a attention. She smiled and offered, “Consul Norin, I have been watching you and your staff. You are all doing a hero's job at rescue work. What can we do for you?”

Diffidently he said, “I hate to interrupt, but I wish to appeal Major Hoofinmaw's expulsion from Equestria. His arrest error while on the train was due to a bureaucratic error in the papers that he had.”

Consul Norin gazed miserably at the ruins of the Milestago waterfront and the collumn of smoke still rising back in the city's residential area. He added, “The Major was on the train to here when the attack happened. Since he got off the train he has been engaged in organizing rescue parties and clearing safe passage for emergency vehicles in damaged areas.”

Princess Luna regarded the Consul carefully for a few moments before stating, “While that all seems to be true, the paperwork to require his expulsion was already being processed. The offense was his witnessed attempt to kidnap Supreme Matriarch Amber of the Diamond Dog Enclaves.”

The Consul said quietly, “I am speaking out of turn and violating some of our laws to say this.” He stared about to make sure that he was not being overheard before going on, “The Major did that over protest because his family was threatened with kidnap or execution. I can provide you with proof but not now.”

Amber asked urgently, “Who ordered it?”

The Consul stated miserably, “Nils Downitall himself.”

Amber made a sideways face as she said, “I see that you are taking quite a risk for him. Can you reach his family without it coming to the attention of Nils or his government?”

“Yes. That is not hard, at least not yet.”

In a blunt voice, Amber stated, “Tell them to flee to the nearest Diamond Dog Enclave at once. We will take them in as refugees. If Equestria cannot take the Major in, have him go to the Chalk Hill Drift. It is the nearest Enclave to here.”

Turning to Princess Luna, Amber suggested, “I believe, Luna, that we need to recall my crew and get this expedition and the Malachite out of Milestago.”

Shortly the Malachite cast off and made her way out of the harbor and onto the high seas, headed for adventure.

(To Be Continued)

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#DARING DO AND THE COMPASS OF DISCORD #Chapter 6 #MLP Fan Fiction #Daring Do #WORK IN PROGRESS #written by De Writer

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renzanandsinghramananda · 7 years

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Kabbalistic Musings on "Life of Pi"

On the first page of the novel, Life of Pi, the main character, Pi Patel, states that one of his two academic majors was in religious studies, with his thesis focused on "certain aspects of the cosmogony theory of Isaac Luria, the great sixteenth-century Kabbalist from Safed." Luria, also known as the "holy Sri" (Lion), is still revered as one of the greatest of all Jewish mystics.

In the movie, Pi does not mention Luria by name, but he does say that he lectures on Kabbalah at the university. Given this reference (and a few others I will explain below), I feel justified in assuming that there are Jewish mystical themes encoded in the story, even though they are presented mostly in terms of Hinduism. As I am a visual-oriented person (one of my autistic gifts), I will focus primarily on the movie, while using the book for more background references as needed.

(Warning: If you read beyond this point, you will encounter spoilers, so if you have not read the book and/or seen the movie, stop here or proceed at your own risk!)

In both the book and the movie versions, Pi Patel's father owns a zoo, so he grows up with a lot of practical knowledge about animals. He is also very interested in religions. In addition to his mother's Hinduism, he also explores Christianity and Islam, finding truth in all three paths and combining their practices in his daily life. His brother ridicules him for this, while his father tries to convince him that "religion is darkness" and that rational thinking -- science -- is the way of "the new India." Pi replies with the words of Mahatma Gandhi: "All religions are true."

The book goes into considerable detail about the three theologies and the differences between them, while the movie relies more on visual scenes of worship to get this point across. The book has a poignant -- if hostile -- marketplace encounter, with Pi's three religious teachers each claiming him for their own faith. The movie leaves this scene out, perhaps because it might offend viewers, or else be over the heads of children in a PG audience. It is well worth reading if you haven't already.

Pi is especially puzzled by Christianity, because he cannot understand why God would allow his innocent son to suffer for the sins of the guilty. To him this makes no sense at all. The question of suffering recurs throughout the story. How can a God who loves us still allow us to suffer?

The shipwreck

Because of political changes in India (during the administration of Indira Gandhi), Pi's father decides to close the zoo, sell the animals, and move the family to Canada. They will travel with those animals headed for North America on a Japanese-owned freighter named the Tsimtsum. Which brings us to the second Kabbalistic reference in the story. Although Tsimtsum might look like a Japanese name, it is in fact Hebrew, and means "contraction" or "withdrawal." It refers to the teaching of Isaac Luria which says that, before the Creation, everything was infinite God-essence. In order for God to create the universe as we know it, God first had to create a vacant space -- a void -- for it to exist in. God did this by withdrawing -- contracting -- Him/herself. Within this void, God is hidden, allowing for free will and for independent creatures like us to exist.

That's all very interesting, but why did author Jann Martel name the ship Tsimtsum?

In a blog article on this topic, David Sanders quotes Martel on this question: “I wanted a representative scoop of religions in the book – Hindu, Christian, Islam. I would have loved to have Pi be a Jew, too, but there are no synagogues in Pondicherry [where the family was from in India]. So I chose Tsimtsum as the name of the Japanese cargo boat because, although it sounds Japanese, it is a Hebrew word.”

So my intuition was correct: Martel wanted to include Jewish mysticism in the mix, but like God in the cosmic tsimtsum, it is hidden. However, I think the symbolism goes deeper than that. Genesis says that the world was "void and formless," with the spirit of God moving upon "the deep," often visualized as a vast ocean.The Zohar describes Creation as beginning with a primal point (singularity?) within the void, which then expanded. When the ship sinks, Pi's world is contracted into a single point -- the lifeboat -- on a vast formless ocean, reversing Creation to chaos, so to speak. The graphics in the movie show this in several scenes, with Pi's boat a mere speck upon the ocean.

"As above so below" -- the clouds reflecting in the water make it appear as if the boat is in the sky

The movie also uses another common kabbalistic theme: "As above, so below." This is the idea that the physical world "below" is a reflection of the higher spiritual world "above." In numerous scenes we see the sky reflected in the water to the point that there is no horizon, no differentiation between the two. In the contraction of Pi's world, everything blends into one.

In one scene, Pi looks into the ocean and sees the whole universe reflected -- reminiscent of a childhood story told earlier by his mother, about how the Hindu god Krishna opened his mouth and the universe was seen within it. (The CGI graphics of the two scenes are very similar.) Once again, we are reminded of the spirit of God moving upon the waters in Genesis.

The voyage

Pi makes it to the lifeboat, along with four animals: a wounded zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a tiger named Richard Parker, a name he got through a mix-up of paperwork. There is a lot of focus on names in this book. Pi's first name is Piscine, from the French. But the bullies in his school take to mispronouncing it as "Pissing," so he re-names himself Pi. The Tiger was supposed to be called "Thirsty," but ended up as Richard Parker instead. In both cases, a less dignified name was replaced by a better one. In the Bible, a number of characters are given new names to reflect a new status.

The zebra and orangutan are killed by the hyena, which in turn is killed by the tiger. This leaves Pi alone with a vicious, hungry predator. At first Pi is terrified, but he soon realizes that he and the tiger must co-exist. He therefore works to establish his dominance and define their territories, using the methods of a circus trainer. Various interpretations for this relationship have been put forth, most centering on some form of the tiger being his animal self. This also fits with Jewish thought, where we have both a good side (yetzer tov) and a bad side (yetzer ha-ra.) One cannot destroy the bad side, but one can learn to control it, as Pi does with the tiger. In the book he considers various ways to destroy the tiger, but comes to realize that they need each other to survive. "My fear of him keeps me alert, tending to his needs gives my life purpose," he explains.

The carnivorous Island

One of the strangest episodes in Pi's voyage is the floating island full of meetkats. Safe by day, the island becomes carnivorous at night. This is so weird that many readers see it as pure fantasy. I would like to suggest it is a combination of reality and imagination. No, there are no ecosystems like the one Pi describes. However, there are many small islands in the Pacific, and floating islands of volcanic pumice -- some with trees -- have been reported. (Read more...) Carnivorous plants also exist in some places. So these elements do have a ring of truth.

By the time Pi gets to this island, he and Richard Parker are so close to death as to be delirious. In the movie they have just gone through a terrible storm where Pi cries out to God, "I lost my family, I lost everything. I surrender. What more do you want?" He has reached the depths of despair, the deepest dark night of the soul. He fully expects to die. So why couldn't there be a real island with some sort of animals on it, that Pi mis-remembers in this state of confusion? If you compare the images of the island trees with the banyans he walked among back in India, they are very similar.

Screen shot of The Island, enhance by me to make the reclining Vishnu shape stand out more clearly.

Another aspect of the island is mystical. In the beginning of the movie, we are told that the Hindu god Vishnu "sleeps on the boundless ocean of consciousness" and the universe is his dream. After Pi learns about Christianity, he thanks Vishnu for leading him to find Christ, and touches a small statue of Vishnu reclining. When we see the island from afar, it had this same shape, formed by the outline of the trees. This suggests the possibility that the island may be some form of miracle, that God is watching over Pi and Richard Parker even if hidden.

But although the island suggests sweet repose, it is a false peace. All that the island gives in the daytime, it takes away at night. And it is lonely. Pi could have stayed there forever, eating plants by day and sleeping with the meerkats in the trees by night, but it was an empty existence. When he finds a human tooth embedded in a fruit (which opens like a lotus in the movie) and realizes that some previous castaway had died there, he decides to leave and takes the tiger with him.

The two stories

Richard Parker walks off into the junge

After 227 days of survival on the high seas, Pi is washed ashore in Mexico. As he lies exhausted on the beach, Richard Parker walks off into jungle without even looking back The tiger is never seen again. This deeply saddens Pi, who even years later wishes there had been some sort of final look or growl in parting. In the book, during the first part about life in a zoo, Pi told the story of a black panther that escaped the Zurich zoo in winter and survived on its own for several months. Now we know this was to lay the groundwork for the possibility that Richard Parker also survives in the South American jungle. Still, Pi misses him.

Once back in civilization, parts of the voyage sound too strange to be true. The two Japanese insurance investigators don't believe him, and ask for an ordinary story to put in their report, one that their company will believe. So he obliges them and tells a more common lifeboat survival tale, one of treachery, murder and cannibalism, in which only he survives. In this second story, the zebra is a wounded sailor, the hyena is a barbarous cook, the orangutan is his mother, and he is the tiger. In its own way this tale is also hard to believe, because his mother and father can't swim, his brother refused to get up to investigate the loud noise, and all three were down below when the ship sank. Only Pi was on deck because he went up to see the storm.

So which story is true? In both stories the ship sinks, he loses his family, suffers for 227 days at sea and is the sole survivor. In the end, neither story explains why the ship sank. Neither explains Pi's suffering. Neither can be proven true or false.

Pi asks, "Which is the better story?" The writer who is interviewing him says that the one with the tiger is better. The Japanese insurance men apparently agree, because in the end, they include the tiger story in their report. As Rebbe Nachman of Breslov once said, "Not all the stories are true, but when the people tell them, they are holy." One cannot prove religion one way or another. Is rationalism really better than mysticism? What if life really is a random jumble of meaningless events? Can we live with that? It is the nature of human beings to seek meaning in life, to bring order out of chaos. Whether or not Richard Parker was real, without the tiger Pi would not have survived.

"Above all things, don't lose hope," said the survival manual in the lifeboat.

"Nver despair!" taught Rebbe Nachman.

The better story is the one with hope.

from Notes from a Jewish Thoreau http://ift.tt/2gRsTgN via IFTTT from CoscienzaSpirituale.net Associazione "Sole e Luna" via Clicca

#Sole e Luna #IFTTT #CoscienzaSpirituale.net Associazione

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