darkwingphoenix
As an autistic person (Also the one who looked at Skylie for 2 seconds and said Me), I'd say Sygbarne fits low functioning autism pretty well! (Hedge says High Maintenance, me says Low Functioning... I guess we just learned different terminology? Still, Sygbarne fits)
Also, she specifically seems like my cousin, who's actually Low Functioning as well! Autism seems to run on my dad's side of the family. Although luckily for him, my cousin wasn't locked in a tower while quacks strung my aunt and uncle on.
I should also mention I have two cousins like this. Both on my dad's side, and both are cousins to each other. Both are pretty low IQ (I don't know how low, but definitely less than a 5th grader. Maybe)
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Thank you for your experienced input, this stuff is so valuable to me! If the shoe fits, then I will go ahead and say low functioning/high maintenance autism is officially Sygbarne's condition.
Story-wise, I need a condition that impairs her ability to learn language (so that she can't call for help or explain herself effectively) but still allows her to yell (to pique Blomi's curiosity). I need her to have poor control over her own behavior, so even once she's free from her tower, her rescuers have a hard time keeping her safe as they transport her somewhere where she can be taken care of properly (the main adventure of the story involves chasing after her as she gets into all kinds of trouble).
Sygbarne is not a bad person and she's not trying to be "difficult", she's just literally never been outside her tower before. She was born there and her parents intend for her to grow old and die there. I imagine the open world is equally overwhelming and exciting for her. I think seeing the world of Looming Gaia through her eyes would be super interesting, so I want her story to be focused around that concept.
Some form of autism with intellectual disability seems to fit the bill. If she has autism-related sensory issues, it may explain why she frequently runs away or attacks people. She's not malicious at all, she's just struggling with a health condition and never got the proper help to manage it.
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kast's situation is rather depressing... does he have any fond memories of his mother before her untimely death? for that matter, what kind of person was she?
Kast was too young to remember her. But that's probably for the best, because the way he imagines her is more flattering than reality. His family bends the truth about her to rewrite history and spare his feelings.
They say his mother was a high class theatre actress who loved Hestal deeply. But in reality, she was a lowly prostitute Hestal picked up at a strip club. It wasn't her personality that attracted him, but her looks and sexual prowess. She was actually a drunken mess of a woman. Hestal was willing to tolerate her raging alcoholism so long as she kept pleasing him in the bedroom. But eventually, the public disapproval of her became too much for his ego to bear, and he hired a hitman to poison her. Her official cause of death was attributed to alcohol, and no one really questioned it.
Did she love Hestal? Well, probably not...I mean, it's Hestal. He's an insufferable douchebag. I'd hate to meet the type of woman who could fall in love with him...
She probably saw him as her ticket out of poverty, and who could blame her for jumping on an opportunity like that? Going from prostitute to princess is a hell of a leap! Unfortunately her prince charming wasn't so charming after all.
You are an average Folkvaran family man. You wake up before sunrise and see your breath in the air. Horrified, you realize that you slept in for way too long. So, you jump out of bed and scramble to throw more wood in the fireplace before the fire goes out. Whew! Crisis averted. Now your children will not freeze to death or fall sick with plague.
This kingdom is too damn cold to rest!
Speaking of your children, you wake them up and help them get ready for school. There is "only" 6ft of snow outside, so off they go to the bus stop, where they board a covered wagon drawn by yaks. Normally they walk to school, but not in these temperatures.
It's -40f, so you don many layers of your thickest snow gear and head to work at the wood mill. You spend the next 10 hours cutting planks, and then you return home, cold and exhausted with lungs full of wood dust. Your chronic cough is getting worse and you suspect you might have lung disease, but you know your kingdom has signed the Nymph Pact, and so its primitive medical science can do little for you. You sip herbal tea and hope for the best.
One of your kids caught a rabbit on the way home from school. You cook it and eat together as a family. You burn a little piece of the meat to send it up to the stars, because you are a proud Sylvanist.
Right after you put the kids to bed, there is a knock on the door. You see a Folkvaran military officer, who solemnly informs you that your wife died honorably defending her kingdom from the Evangelite menace. Your stomach twists, but you show no emotion. You shed only a single tear, because it isn't proper for Folkvaran men to cry. You must stay strong for your children. They will need you now more than ever.
Your wife was once an Evangelite slave, who escaped her shackles and fled to Folkvar Kingdom to be free. But in order to gain citizenship, she had to either marry a soldier or become one herself for at least 5 years. You offered to quit your job at the mill and take up the sword so she wouldn't have to, but she insisted that she be the one to fight. She wasn't just fighting for Folkvar, she said...she was fighting for herself and everyone in Evangeline's shackles. She had bravely died for what she believed in, and though your heart swells with pride, it also breaks with grief, for she was just a few months shy of earning her citizenship. All your future plans have come crashing down.
You break the news to the children the next day. The little ones cry, but like you, your oldest son refuses to shed tears in front of others. He instead channels his grief into courage, grabs one of his mother's swords, and tells you he will slay a thousand Evangelites in her honor.
You know you cannot stop him, and you don't wish to. Years later he signs up for the military, and you watch him march away towards the setting sun. You cough into your hand. There is blood on your glove.
......what the hell does Centaur furniture look like?? You mentioned the trough toilet thingy, but what about normal sitting chairs or couches? Or beds. I assume Olof and the other Drifters Hollow Centaurs sleep on hair or something, but what about rich Centaurs like the Folkvaren Royal Family? (Ten bucks says Sygbarne has straps on her bed.)
That's a very good question, but the answer may disappoint you...centaurs actually don't use furniture! Well, they do, but not in the way that most other peoples do.
Chairs are not really a "thing" in centaur households. Some may own a few chairs or even a couch for their non-centaur guests, but the centaurs themselves just sit on the floor. When they go to restaurants, centaurs move the chairs aside to sit or lay down in front of the table.
The average centaur's couch is called a "sitting area", and it usually consists of pelts, rugs, and pillows arranged into a nest on the floor. Wealthier centaurs might have a large mattress to lounge on, while poor centaurs just use a pile of hay. The same principle applies to their beds.
I imagine the Folkvaran royal family sleeps on nothing less than the finest fur pelts and Morite silks. Due to this species' weight, bedframes are not very practical so they're rarely used. Instead, mattresses may be stacked on top of eachother for extra height.
A centaur's weight also means they can't just get any random mattress. They need one made specifically for heavyweight species, so it won't sag and go flat after a week. These are made out of tougher materials and are a lot more expensive. They also buy special tables that can withstand their weight when they lean on them, and that may be a taller height than standard tables.
Centaur dwellings in general have taller furnishings like cabinets and door handles. Doorways are taller, and so are the ceilings. Rooms tend to be spacious and open without much furniture, so they're not constantly bumping their big horse-asses into things. A standard human house would feel claustrophobic to a centaur.
As for Sygbarne...yeah, I can imagine her family strapping her down "for her own safety" (in reality, for their own convenience...). But since she would not have a bed frame, I think she would be strapped to the floor instead. I think her room would be sparsely-furnished, even by centaur standards. Her family's logic being: the less things she has, the less things she can destroy. She probably has a mattress and some toys, and not much else. Her other possessions like clothing would be kept away from her until she needed them.
Sygbarne's room would be pretty abnormal, but the rest of her family would have exactly what you'd expect from rich centaurs.
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Gultoppâs grandfather escaped Evangelite slavery and started life anew in Folkvar Kingdom. Gultopp spent his childhood listening to his grandfatherâs stories of injustice and hardship, and it inspired him to join the Folkvaran military as soon as he came of age. He proved himself to be a strong and capable soldier, working his way through the ranks until he became the High Kingâs top general.
Though he earned many medals for his acts of heroism in battle, Gultopp also lost many body parts throughout his military career. His eye was gouged out while defending a fellow citizen from a wild sabretooth, he lost his hand fighting off Evangelite invaders in Stonebirch, and both of his hind legs were crushed by a siege weapon during the Battle of Merrowville.
Still, he did not consider retirement an option, for he still had plenty of life in his veins and a strong desire to serve his kingdom. He developed a friendly relationship with the High King of Folkvar Kingdom, who later appointed Gultopp to take his place at the throne.
Gultoppâs political agenda is clear: take over Evangeline Kingdom using any means necessary. While he is generally praised for his strong anti-slavery rhetoric and patriotism, he is also criticized for being too militaristic, refusing to implement a decent welfare system for his people, and allying with the notoriously xenophobic Etios Nation.
QUEEN JUVELLA
Juvella is Gultoppâs first and only wife. She was born and raised in Stonebirch, where she worked at her familyâs lumber mill for many years. That was, until Evangelites raided the city and burned her familyâs business to the ground, slaying her father and brother in the process. Folkvaran troops were sent to take back the city and repair the damage, and Juvella immediately enlisted to join the fight. Stonebirch was in desperate need of medical personnel during this time, so she was assigned to tending the wounded, even though she had no experience in doing so.
Driven by a sense of duty, Juvella tried her best. Eventually Folkvar Kingdom prevailed and took Stonebirch back from the Evangelites, but not without heavy bloodshed. Juvella claims she was so overwhelmed with injured soldiers after the last battle that she nearly lost her mind. She voiced her worries to a handsome young soldier as she treated his wounds. The soldierâs name was Gultopp, and the moment she finished wrapping his severed hand, he stood up and began helping her tend the other soldiers around him.
His honorable deed inspired her, and suddenly all her doubts disappeared. She fell in love with Gultopp in that moment, later marrying him, bearing three children by him, and remaining by his side as he he took Folkvar Kingdomâs throne.
Juvella and Gultopp are largely on the same page in matters of politics, except when it comes to immigration. Gultopp streamlined his kingdomâs citizenship process shortly after taking the throne, so that anyone could become a Folkvaran citizen if at least one member of their immediate family served five years in the military. Juvella disapproves of this policy and believes the kingdomâs standards for citizenship should be higher.
Gultopp refuses to change the policy no matter how much she complains, so she has taken it upon herself to hire âenforcement squadsâ to patrol all Folkvaran holds. These squads are meant to collect extra taxes from non-citizens, including those still waiting for their approval. In reality, these squads have built a negative reputation for themselves as thieves and bullies, known by many as âJuvellaâs Gorillasâ.
PRINCE HESTAL
Hestal is the first-born child of Gultopp and Juvella. He has always aspired to be a warrior like his father was, but unlike Gultopp, he has never known true hardship. He was born into a life of privilege and has never had to work for anything. He claims to be an experienced veteran, despite never actually setting hoof on a battlefield.
Hestal married young against his parentsâ wishes, and to a non-noblewoman at that. He had one child by this woman before quickly tiring of her. He had her assassinated to avoid divorce and spare his image, then sent his son away to a boarding school in Clydera to get him out of his hair.
After this incident, Hestalâs parents promised he could rule the city of North Haze so long as he was married to the jarlâs daughter. Hestal agreed, and now he and his noble wife rule this icy, far-flung city together. Hestal knows that if something âunfortunateâ should happen to his second wife, his parents will rip the city away from him. He is known to embezzle tax money to pay for his wifeâs extra security, hiring everyone from mercenaries to mafias to see that sheâs safe wherever she goes.
PRINCESS SYGBARNE
The birth of a new prince or princess is a joyous occasion which is celebrated by the whole kingdom. When princess Sygbarne was born, however, no one was celebrating. She was the second child of Gultopp and Juvella, and the midwives knew immediately that she was not like her brother. Sygbarne was born with profound disabilities. Her parents were told that no matter how many years passed, no matter how big she grew, her intelligence would never surpass that of a toddlerâs. She would always rely on someone to care for her from birth until her death, and she certainly wouldnât be taking any thrones in her condition.
Gultopp and Juvella were shocked, at a loss for what to do. Gultoppâs whole political agenda was built upon concepts like âself-sufficiencyâ, and he publicly stated that people who were too disabled to care for themselves had no place in Folkvar Kingdom. He believed that his kingdom should not serve anyone who could not serve it back, and so he refused to implement any kind of welfare system.
Sygbarneâs birth did not inspire him to change his policies. Rather, Gultopp doubled down and told his advisors to lie to the people, announcing that the child was stillborn. The Folkvarans believed their new princess had died. In reality, her parents locked her away in a secret chamber of the castle, where only a few trusted personnel were allowed in to care for her. Gultopp refused to accept his daughterâs diagnosis, and started embezzling tax money to hire every quack doctor who claimed they could cure her condition.
Despite countless âtherapiesâ over the years, Sygbarneâs condition remains the same. Still her parents hide her away and refuse to give up until she becomes the person they want her to be, failing to understand that what she really needs is acceptance.
PRINCESS BLOMI
Blomi believes she is her parentsâ second child. Unbeknownst to her, she is actually their third. Her older sister has been hidden away in her own home all her life, and though Blomi often hears strange wailing coming from the walls at night, her parents assure her that itâs nothing to be concerned about. This answer is not enough to satisfy a girl like Blomi, who has been equal parts stubborn and curious since the day she was born.
Blomi is the apple of her fatherâs eye. While her two older siblings may have disappointed him, she has yet to do so and she works hard to keep it that way. She knows that if she stays on Gultoppâs good side, he will choose her as his next heir to the throne. Blomi hopes that one day sheâll inherit the castle, and then sheâll be free to unlock its many mysteries, including the source of the nightly wailing.
Blomi puts on an angelic act around her parents, telling them everything she knows they want to hear and giving them confidence that she will continue their agendas when she takes the throne. In truth, she doesnât really care about their agendas or the kingdom at all. Blomiâs desires lie no deeper than wealth, power, and popularity. She wishes to take elaborate vacations all over the world and do all the undignified things sheâd never dream of while her parents are still around.
You that Zareen regrets itâs former enslavement of the red elves, how do they regret it? As in the âour ancestors where monsters for enslaving themâ regret or the âour ancestors where cowards for not finishing them offâ regret? Also do you believe that if the Evangline slaves rebelled and took over that the evanglites hateful doctrine of âfae & gaians will enslave/kill all humans if we donât kill/enslave them all first!!!â Will come true as a self fulfilling prophecy?
Zareen Empire doesn't necessarily regret enslaving the red elves. What it regrets is giving them a giant landfill full of derelict machinery and scrap metal that the elves built up into the most technologically advanced civilization on Looming Gaia. Zareen Empire used to be top dog with all their fancy military tech, but now Damijana is giving them a run for their money.
By granting that land to the elves, Zareen shot themselves in the foot because they created a powerful new faction that they now have to share the continent and play nice with, or else.
See, the Zareenites never expected the red elves to get this powerful. They thought Damijana would just turn into a big anarchic slum and eventually burn itself out with famine or plague or something.
Little did they realize...hey, a huge chunk of those so-called "uneducated" red elves were forced to work in metal refineries, assembly lines, and tech factories. They had gained a lot of engineering know-how by doing the Zareenites' dirty work, and they understood the "useless" old machinery that the Zareenites had just carelessly tossed in this landfill for hundreds of years. The red elves were able to fix this tech using a blend of engineering knowledge and their own natural magic. Zareen Empire did not expect that, and now they're kicking themselves over it.
To the Zareenites, Damijana was a toxic landfill full of outdated garbage. But to the red elves, it was a goldmine full of free resources.
As for the Evangelites...
The stories "Unbreakable" and "Blue Boy" touch upon what would happen if Evangeline's slaving industry took a big hit. Kelvingyard was breached, slaves escaped in massive swathes, and a lot of those escapees joined forces and formed hostile pro-liberation factions. These factions roam around the Evangeline countryside, burning and pillaging slaveowners' properties and freeing their slaves, adding these slaves to their ranks and only getting stronger.
These liberation groups caught the attention of Folkvar Kingdom, who is now directly funding them to continue rampaging around and making problems for Evangeline Kingdom. The Evangeline Guard is already stretched thin from their war with Folkvar, and they're struggling to get these liberation groups under control.
If Evangeline doesn't neutralize these groups in time, they'll only get stronger and create a snowball effect, where they get so big that they tear the whole kingdom apart from the inside out. As of right now in the series, there is still time....but that time is running out fast. The liberation groups are only growing. The status quo of Evangeline Kingdom is in a very precarious place currently.
So yeah, there are currently bloodthirsty, pissed off fae/gaian ex-slaves rampaging around Evangeline Kingdom, killing every commoner they see. I could see this extreme attitude turning into something much scarier later if Folkvar doesn't step in and at least attempt to curb it. Folkvar is the one funding these groups, after all.
does hestal know that sygbarne is alive? how do blomi and hestal feel about each other? how does sygbarne feel about her situation? how would have gultopp handled sygbarne's condition had he not been a high king? why does juvella think folkvar's citizenship requirements should be highe? why hasnt gultopp forced hestal out to the battlefield himself? how does he and juvella feel about their grandson? WHATS GULTOPP'S FAVORITE COLOR?!
Here we gooooooo!
Q: Does Hestal know that Sygbarne is alive?
A: No. No one but her parents and a few select staff and doctors know about her existence at all. Even then, they may not know that Sygbarne is the king and queen's daughter. Gultopp may have lied and said she was some other relative or related to staff.
Q: How do Blomi and Hestal feel about eachother?
A: Hestal is quite a bit older than Blomi and doesn't spend much time at home (he's mostly running things in North Haze these days), so I imagine they just don't interact much. When they do, he acts like a typical assholeish older brother and teases her. Blomi just puts up with it and tries to act like the bigger person in front of her parents, but probably slips laxatives into her brother's dinner when he's not looking. That's just the kind of person she is.
Q: How does Sygbarne feel about her situation?
A: I'm not sure Sygbarne understands the scope of what's happening to her. She's spent literally her whole life locked up in one room, where she only sees the same small set of faces every day. She can see the world outside her window, but it has bars over it and she's never been out there. She doesn't know she has siblings. She knows she has parents and she's very happy when they visit, but they never stay long. She hates the doctors that poke and prod her and force her to take nasty medicines. She knows something is wrong with her life, she just doesn't quite understand what it is. At the very least, her parents buy her all the toys she wants and see that her caretakers are kind to her. If Gultopp and Juvella heard about any abuse going on (barring the medical experiments, which they believe are "helpful") they would absolutely flip shit and probably kill that caretaker with their own hands. But Sygbarne just wants her parents' love and attention more than any material object. They don't really know how to interact with her on her level, and they're too stubborn to learn. They think why should they change their behavior if she's the one who's messed up? So they try to change her to make her behave on their level instead. Really sad all around.
Q: How would Gultopp handle Sygbarne if he wasn't High King?
A: If he was a regular blue collar guy, I think Gultopp would've handled the situation much better. Definitely not great, but better. As the king, he has a strict political agenda to push and Sygbarne's existence throws a wrench in that. He can't just be like "rules for thee, not for me" and expect his people not to riot, so he hides her from them. But without subjects to appeal to, I don't think he would hide her. He would still make a lot of misguided attempts to "fix" her, but ultimately he would just do the best he could to keep her safe and happy. He would force Hestal and Blomi to care for her when he wasn't around. He would see that she was never unsupervised or left in an unsafe situation. He'd just work his ass off to pay for her snake oil treatments until he died.
Q: Why does Juvella think citizenship requirements should be higher?
A: Gultopp is highly focused on the military aspect of his kingdom. He sees every immigrant as a potential soldier, so he welcomes them with open arms. Juvella's concerns lie more with culture and society than military. She'd proud of her kingdom's unique culture, and she fears that too many immigrants will change the Folkvaran way of life, and that their old traditions will be replaced and forgotten. She wants less immigrants overall, and she wants them to be more assimilated into the culture when they do arrive. (Completely ignoring the fact that Folkvar Kingdom was built entirely by immigrants and refugees in the first place, but you know...xenophobes gonna xenophobe.)
Q: Why hasn't Gultopp forced Hestal onto the battlefield?
A: Gultopp did put Hestal through several years of military school and planned to make him a military commander...only to find out that Hestal really was not cut out for the job. Like, at all. He's an incompetent, arrogant goon, which is exactly the kind of person Gultopp does not want leading his troops. He knows if he put Hestal on the battlefield, the guy would cause more problems than he'd solve. So he just put him in charge of a small, rural city out in Frozen Hicksville that nobody gives a crap about and called it a day.
Q: How do Gultopp and Juvella feel about their grandson (Hestal's son)?
A: The fact that this kid exists at all brings them shame. They're embarrassed that Hestal knocked up a random prostitute, then quickly married her to save face. They're embarrassed that he then had her killed because he got bored of her and then begged them for money so he could dump the kid in boarding school for the next sixteen years. The whole situation just sucks and they'd rather not think about this kid any more than he does. Still, they pay for the boy's school, have him over for holidays, and are probably pretty cordial towards him. When he comes of age, they'll probably give him a chunk of money and send him to a foreign kingdom or something, because lord knows he ain't getting shit else from this family after he reaches adulthood. His father wants nothing to do with him and frankly, neither does anyone else. Hopefully he'll start his own family and make a happy life for himself one day.
Q: What is Gultopp's favorite color?
Red, of course! The color of life and death, and the official color of his kingdom.
