#thanat things

Did you know up until recently, and consider his age here, he would handle most things outside of like… The stuff in his bedroom, with a pair of gloves on. His germaphobia was really really bad. After Orfuse died he regressed a little bit, but now he’s doing better again! :)

UHM! He prefers his baked goods to be of the matcha variety.

Hm.

Send me a (🗣️) + two muses on my blog, and I’ll make them have a conversation whether they know each other or not!

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Fancy a trip to the past?

“You did what?” Anger so rarely enters your tone, it makes the sound of your own voice ring out in your ears. It feels foreign. Are you even angry?

Thanat doesn’t seem to react to your anger. He hardly registers that the two of you are even having a conversation. He has his back to you, focused squarely on the notes in his hands. “I threw her out. Sent her home.” His answer was so simple, not a care in the world beyond his nonsensical cure. You just might be the only person on Alternia that didn’t go starting fights with forces outside of anyones hands. The simplicity of his answer shakes something loose in your chest, and a growl begins to take its place. 

“Nehali took leave to spend time with him, Thanat.” You say, indignance mounting. “He wants to see her.”

“She was stressing him out, Aderae.” His response is chastising, he means to admonish you. He casts a glance over his shoulder to gauge your reaction, and your expression must betray you because he shrugs his shoulders before turning away again. “Do I need to throw you out until you’ve calmed down?”

“Do you suppose that you can?”

At your words, Thanat finallys sets the pages he was looking at to the side and stands, he is about a head taller than you. The distance never feels so significant than when the two of you argued.

When he turns to face you, the grimace he holds could get a man to jump out of his skin. Well, if the man was anyone other than you.

You blink back at him.

“You seem tired, Thanat. Have you slept?”

He pauses for a moment to get a real good look at you, you guess. The silence lingers for a while, he had such a way of making silences feel so uncomfortable. Heavy, even.

Your irritation continues to mount, but you’ve found a way to level your tone. Somehow.

He does not answer your question.

“You should take a break.”

Silence again.

“Thanat, this isn’t healthy.”

“Are we going to have a problem, Aderae?”

You roll your eyes as you take a step back, taking an opportunity to stare at him in a disapproving manner. But.. The anger never comes when you set your eyes on him. He’s disheveled, and sad, and scared. Aren’t you? You are. God, you are.

You take a deep breath as you move toward him again. Thanat Lycaon is a pain in your ass.

You wrap your arms around him and, before he gets the opportunity to protest, pull him into a tight embrace.

Very briefly Thanat goes rigid, then he relaxes against you.

One word prompt please specify muse

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The Corrupted, the Forbode, the Auigurer, the Deceiver. You knew all about them, didn’t you? The same as any cautionary tale from one's youth. Though, the layman would never take these stories for what they were, instead many treated them more akin to a fable. The moral of their story was not to mess with the unknown, to live within means that could be understood and controlled.

What fool would venture out into the dark arts to find their means anyway?

An idiot. A selfish fool, perhaps.

You hiss under your breath as the sigils already stenciled into your skin begin to burn, white hot pain that shoots up your arms and legs, disappearing with dull aches as they reach your shoulders and hips. It has its own heartbeat. It matches the cadence of your own.

Someone in hopeless, devoted love?

To the credit of one of the four, he only did what he did because he was tricked, blinded by the hope of returning a loved one from the brink. Been there, done that.

The Forbode and his quest for power, and his two flunkies meant very little to you when you learned of their story. Typical trolls really. Greedy, power hungry fools. They tricked the fourth into meeting his own undoing, didn’t they? A meet cute with perhaps the most volatile of Old Ones with written history? Why would Thazilis do anything but sow more destruction in his wake, you can’t help but wonder.

You always found that Skouro’s story was the saddest. Theurgist Emissary, a promising young supposed master of the dark arts and a true treasure to the Empire, turned the Corrupted by his own bleeding heart. What was it that they said it was? An illness staked its claim on his matesprit.

The same one that took hold of your Orfuse. He described it as slowly choking the life out of her, rotting her from within. As a result, the poor man threw himself into his magic, the same way you threw yourself into your science.

It turns out that neither would be enough, the sickness being battled feeling more like a curse, or perhaps a living breathing enemy with the ability to counter any and all attacks thrown its way. This sickness would always claim its bounty.

Is that why you are moving, painfully slow with the dull ache coursing through your body now, to grab the journal that contains the incantation you are meant to recite?

No, you think that if you tried anything more to prolong Orfuses suffering, Aderae would send you to a grave himself. It’s a wonder he hasn’t done so already.

You just want to … To help him find the other side peacefully. Just aid him one last time. You haven’t had a good days sleep in so long, you aren’t thinking straight.

A lesser known deity will see your pact, not Thazilis. Not like Donnie, the fool. He signed not just his life away with his pact, but that of the rest of the Skouro line. For who knows how many generations.

The consequences of your intended pact will never be so severe, not for anyone who is not yourself at least. Orfuse will have already forgiven you if he were against it.

You can beg for some more forgiveness as you lay him to rest.

"Is that so?" Thanat's smile is curt, leaving his lips to look as though they've melded into his face paint. Meetings between the two Lycaons were always tense, and he was almost positive the younger slouched in his seat to upset him.

He gingerly picks up the saucer that once accompanied Perseps tea cup, replacing his own for it after studying it for a beat. "You've joined the ranks of the immortal? Your status as a wayward spirit rendered null?"

"Yes. That is correct. Are you worried?" Persep watched his ancestor move with curiosity. As far as he recalled, his predecessor was quite the germaphobe. Didn't so much as shake hands with people if he could help it. "With me, our line will get the name that it deserves." Thanat only raises his eyebrows in response, taking a sip of his tea. "How does that feel, old man?"

There is a beat of silence. Thanat always made a point of making Persep stew in it whenever he talked like that.

"My opinion? Ah, well. I hear immortality comes with quite the set of perks."  He says finally, setting the cup back on the saucer that sat on the table. His attention was now on the saucer in his hands, turning it over as if to inspect it. "Some setbacks as well."

it takes a second, but Persep's eyes widen with realization. With a start, he moves to try and grab the plate back from him.

"I am speaking now, child."

Without so much as hesitation, he feels himself compelled to remain in his place. He even straightens out his posture. Thanat takes his eyes off the saucer in a gaze that pierces right through Persep, his features softening into a relaxed smile.

Here it is in a google doc if you hate reading the pink on my blog!<3

Your name is Zurven Saekul and things are going pretty good as far as it stands. It’d been a really slow day at work, so you found yourself busy stocking and reorganizing some of the shelves that lie behind the front counter.

Some of this stuff has not seen attention since Taital put it there, they’d probably be covered in a fine layer of dust if it weren’t for their meticulous upkeep. Thorough weekly cleanings meant that each aisle looked like the store opened up yesterday. But, still, some of it had to go. And since the store was so dead, and you were the only one actually in the store, it was your task. No problem! You always got to play keepsies with what needed to be thrown out.

You couldn’t really get into it, though, because there was a chime from the front door as someone entered. You’d just climbed up onto the highest shelf, too. Haha! Oops.

If he comes for me because you have me dredging up his past like this. But fine, I'll betray his trust just this once. Ugh, I wish Bee was here they could just info dump on you without me having to dig through all of this. One moment.

I don't think he's hiding it though, I think he's just old.

>More elevator music as Star once again shifts through a mountain of journals.

At least they didn't ask for Persep, I guess.

Ancestors, Ancestors. The spooky ones, specifically obviously. Good thing I made these piles Auigurer Deceiver Forebode Theurgist Emissary.... Lets see Hmmm. Ah. The Embalmer. Here we go. You are The Embalmer, it is a title that was given to you a couple thousand sweeps ago. It's actually very hard to put an exact pin in your age, but you're very old to put it bluntly. Oftentimes, though, you tell people to just call you Thanat. That is who you are. Allow me to rephrase, then. Your name is Thanat Lycaon, and you have a pretty healthy relationship with death. You spend much of your time tending to the dead, both in a literal sense and in a very metaphysical way. Though, we don't have to go into your status as a reaper. We are more interested in your past. Along with your hobby of caring for the dead, you were actually a very accomplished doctor! Your first matesprit passed away when you were both but 100 or 200 some odd sweeps old, which is a far cry from the age you are now-- Okay, fine I'll drop it. But buddy, you're ancient. He'd taken ill, and you fell into a frenzy trying to find a cure for his ail. The medical system for lowbloods up to this point was abysmal, so you'd known from the start you'd have to take it into your own hands. You were almost successful, until your moirail switched the medicine. Instead of curing your mate, his health started to decline much more rapidly than you could keep up with. Tale as old as time really. Moirail gets jealous of the time and energy given to the matesprit and the matesprit dies because of it. Tragedy ensues. Orfuse, the Evocator, had the unique ability to see the future. Upon reading the journals he left behind for you, you find that he'd known of his demise far before you even began courting him. He'd forgiven you long before his demise. Perhaps even before the two of you met. --

Here's a little mock intro I wrote for him once

I don't really have any pages for my ancestors because silly me thought I'd never like actually rp these guys -- I'm a liar and I lied to myself. Uhm.

Thanat is the ancestor of Persep and Aelium (the only Lycaon on my select page). He was a member of the church for a while, but dropped out of it shortly after he lost his faith in the mirthful ones. Which may or may not have something to do with a certain other well known clown literally killing three of it's priests, probably in front of him. That was never explored in canon, but I like to think that it's true.

He always had a sentimentality for the dead. In fact! He got into the business of it when he was seven sweeps old. Though he didn't worship anymore, he did continue caring for the dead of the Church so that they wouldn't bother him for not being devout.

Lets see.

Blah blah blah, you guys know all about Orfuse and his fucked up moirail, won't get into it a lot.

Because of his rapport with the dead, many Gods of Death were like "Hey, hello, hi Mr. Lycaon" twirls hair. "How would you like to serve me?" bats eyes. He was like uhm, no thanks that's kind of scary. (I don't want to)

Until. . .Orfuses passing, stricken with regret and grief, he was offered a deal he quite literally could not refuse

Which is what turned him into the Reaper we know today! He tends to the dead in more than just a physical sense (He helps usher them over to the other side!) He takes great care to honor last requests and unfinished business within reason. The last requests isn't his obligation to the universe, he's just like.. A really nice guy and does it on his own.

Because they are tethered to the universe Reapers are not allowed to hurt mortals. If they try it! They'll accrue the same damage that they inflict! Even if it's warranted. The damage isn't really permanent, but it will take for them the same amount of time that it would take the mortal that they hurt to heal. (Now if like say a moral hurt them for whatever reason, it would heal rather quickly. Because the former is a punishment for breaking the rules)

NOW if they try to kill the mortal, the mortal wakes up the next day like nothing happened and the reaper will get a nice permanent scar as a souvenir.

Anyway.

Only very few people know about the being an immortal agent of the universe bit, though.

Thanat is pretty well-known because of his willingness to provide service for any troll, be it burial, cremation, some other third fourth fifth thing.

It's also worth noting, only because it really didn't get brought up at all ever, but all of the trolls that he knew in his youth are also very sentimental toward the dead. Yes, including that one.

I reblogged his fullbody ref wip earlier... And here is the drabble from the first time that Thanat met Benjin, it didn't go well.

2/???

Hey if you’re confused, you should read Family Reunion first! :-) (click)

Here’s a google docs view, if you hate reading things on my blog!

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There is a beat of silence, Perseps words linger in the air and send a chill up Aelium’s spine. What even does that mean? He was having so much trouble understanding any of the conversation happening in front of him. There was so much happening, it was so much to swallow. Having just come to terms with his brother's death, to have him just walk into his life again and -- Well, he might as well be having this conversation in tongues! Aelium just could not wrap his mind around whatever this was.

He chances another glance at their ancestor, who from where Aelium is sitting, appears to be having a time of processing the information just the same as he.

Then Thanat bursts into laughter, it is the sort of laugh you hear when someone says the dumbest thing in the world and it very quickly replaces the silence. Now, Aelium wouldn’t liken this to the full of soul laughter that he’d heard just minutes prior -- No, this one had an emptiness to it, and it had an edge of contempt.