#metharden

The following is an extract from “the travellers guide to the Fey Realms” by Willa Forsyth, an expert on the Fey and their customs:

…Most interesting about journeys to the Fey Realm are the souvenirs most folk return with. And I don’t mean trinkets or the like, nono. Many a traveller to the realm return with a gift growing within them.

Perhaps it was given through a trick of the tongue, good old fashioned wordplay weaving into their womb, a story growing into more than just words.

Or maybe it is some sort of pact, an agreement with a denizen of the realm, seeking power or an escape. A contract not read through properly, or the intended result was in fact an expanding womb. Of course, one must always read the small print in cases like these, for the Fey are always seeking to gain an advantage on you, no matter how amicable they seem.

And finally, another common cause is simple hedonism. Many courts of the fey realm indulge in their most carnal desires, and it is very easy to find oneself swept up in the action (as I can vouch for, having been in a few myself, but I shall save those stories for my memoirs…).

Regarding these causes, most important to keep in mind is the after effect. Though this realm runs parallel to ours, time flows far more freely there, meandering and running as free as a river. This magic leaks into anyone carrying a gift from the fey realm, and can lead to years long pregnancies, or going from barely expectant to crowning within a few short moments. It is a highly unpredictable effect, nigh-impossible to predict how it will affect you until you leave their realm. The only way to avoid it is to remain within the realm for the duration of pregnancy…

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Hope you enjoyed! Its been a minute, life has been very very busy and tiring but im back! With some more free time! Hopefully i can get into a posting rhythm now!

Thanks to @katealpha for somewhat inspiring this by pointing me in the direction of a certain character from “The Book of Unwritten Tales 2”.

Queen Almas Crown

Queen Alma Vitaedas, founder of the Vitaedas dynasty, and later venerated as Saint Alma, faced a problem early in her reign. She had ascended to the throne after leading her people to Victory against the (Fiend-king? Maybe), and had brought stability and peace to the realm.

But her advisors asked her to secure the bloodline, to marry and produce an heir. The new Queen had little intention of marrying, claiming her devotion was to her people, and her heart was given to the realm itself. She would not be swayed on this, despite their insistence that she find a suitor.

To dissuade her advisors from pushing her on this issue, the Queen sought the help of the High Priests of Leyeru, the Mother Goddess, to whom she had been a devotee her whole life. She asked for their help, to help her reach the goddess herself for a solution. Through prayer, the goddess answered her, and presented her with four gemstones, supposedly made from the Goddess’ crystallised tears. Each stone contained a dormant spirit, that the Queen could bare and bring forth into the world, giving her the children she needed.

She had the gemstones forged into a crown, and upon her coronation, found herself pregnant with her first child, a son. Over the next few years, she had three more children, and the Realm was secured for the future.

Passed down from monarch to monarch, the crown is a symbol of the thrones connection to the Mother Goddess, and its life-giving properties have remained a power of the crown ever since.

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Traerfon

(Tray-air-von)

Once a small fishing village, its position at the Mouth of the (name) river meant it fast grew into a bustling port city, one that has never quite stopped expanding, slowly growing and growing.

Perhaps stay for a few local drinks and gossip from the locals at the Gulls perch Inn, or if your tastes are rather more refined, the Apple Tree may be your tavern of choice. For the wandering traveller, superstitious sailor, or take some time to visit the Temple of Venyris, God of Luck to pray or leave an offering in their honour. For the more Academically minded, the Traerfon Academy is open to new students, and their library is well stocked with many tomes from around the region.

It may seem a simple town, but there are secrets beneath the cobbled streets, and beyond the palisade walls, like the Ancient Stones just north of the wall, or the strange relics that continue to be unearthed down in the Mines, theres a little more than meets the eye in this place…

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Dedicated to the God of Rebirth, pilgrims and travellers come to this place to pray for their next life to be blessed, to become a new person and see the world in new ways, through new eyes. Others come here out of desperation often come to this place to plead for the revival of their companions, their lovers and family, friends they cannot live without

The acolytes there are kind and welcoming, offering to host any visitors gladly with a warm meal and a cosy bed, and an ear to listen to their prayers or pleas, and to offer the gift of renewal.

The most sought after power of these Acolytes is their ability to bring back lost souls, and to rebirth them into the world. The soul must of course be willing, and some travellers are left being told that their lost companion is unable to return, their fate already braided into a new body somewhere in the world. But for those whose fates were ended early, the gift of renewal blesses those priests, and they channel that power through their bodies, carrying the lost soul within themselves, rebuilding them over the course of a few months, gestating a quickly growing child within them, and raising them after they are born as they rapidly grow to something close to when they died.

But beyond the gravid members of this temple, clad in flowing robes of many colours, shepherding wayward souls back to the living world, there is something stranger within its walls. Rumours speak of another service offered, a way to step between worlds, to choose to shed your entire self and not only be born anew, but to be sent far off into the stars, born upon some world or realm unheard of before.

But these are simply rumours. If this process were possible, who would be able to tell it, to say they lived through it? The Abbey offers its services freely and openly, why would they hide anything. The God of Rebirth provides its followers with these gifts, for its love for the peoples of the world. Question not why its true name is not spoken…

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Tryna get back in the swing of doing a little writing here, this piece was inspired by conversations with @thelouspicystash :)