#seanchai

If you study languages, the name of my family's hidden festival—Haltija Dubh—should immediately give you pause.

Haltija (Finnish for spirit) and Dubh (Irish for dark) have no business being in the same sentence. You won't find this holiday in an academic textbook or a national registry. It is a specific, undocumented family oral tradition—and that is the beauty of a lineage of wandering Seanchaí (storytellers). You pick up real, grounded pieces of the world and synthesize them into your own mythos.

In Finnish paganism, a Haltija is often a protective spirit. Specifically, the Haltija of a home is believed to be the spirit of the very first person to ever build a fire in that location. They aren't demons to be banished; they are the foundation of the household.

When my Irish ancestor witnessed a Finnish man pouring drinks for these unseen houseguests, he recognized a parallel to the Celtic reverence for the ancestors. He saw a man who understood that a "tasty liquor" and a warm fire are only possible because someone else bled to build the house in the first place.

He brought that specific gratitude back to the Tavern. For 200 years, we haven't mourned our dead on this night. We strike a match, pour the dark liquor, and invite them to sit.

I have already made a post of Seanchai being potentially evil [x] but I found an article with the concept arts for the wraiths [x]. Apparently they were shared on twitter but, I don't have twitter so... Yeah once again something I didn't see.

To be fair, the final riders are looking quite similar to those concept arts. We mostly saw just two of them clearly. Eredin and Voleth Meir.

Here is their concept arts.

But there is another one we saw : Seanchai.

When I looked at the concept arts, one of them simply revived the memory of BO's introduction with double Jaskier.

He asked : what are you ?

They reply : I am many things, many faces, many places. [...] I have other faces if you prefer.

And they appeared as a strange armored man. That armored man is exactly one of the concept art. Also, for a bref moment, Jaskier's double has red glowing dot in his eyes. It happens just before he becomes the wraith. My photo is crap but I guaranty you this is clearly visible on screen.

So Seanchai is evil and manipulated Jaskier 😬.

The other concept arts under the cut, because they are cool.

Jaskier and Seanchai in

Jaskier: has it got any bards in it?

Seanchaí: Are you kidding? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giant monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles!

Jaskier: Doesn't sound too bad. I'll try and stay awake.

social distancing = a lot of time to read fanfiction instead of, um. working on my dissertation. i’m doing great!

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