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Royals of the Marediterranean: Diana Lupa of Agrotera

     Agrotera, a small island to the far northeast of Echidna past the minotaurs of Minos, is home to a plethora of exotic flora and fauna found nowhere else. Civilized life is unheard of here; even the local Maenad deer folk remain nearly feral in customs and appearance even compared to their Whitethorn and Equestrian ‘cousins’. It is a place where the only law is that of the wilds, which is exactly the way one creature wishes it to remain. That being is known to those in the Marediterranean as Diana Lupa, the Supreme Huntress.

     Diana Lupa herself is said to resemble a large deer from a distance, preferring to keep herself away from the ‘corruption’ of civilized life. However upon closer inspection stories say that she has many vulpine and canine aspects as well. Her maw is lined with sharp canine teeth, her muzzle resembles that of hunting dog rather than a deer, and her ears pointed like that of a wolf. She also is said to sport a long bushy tail and patches of shaggy grey fur intermixed with the more typical browns and reds associated with a deer. Still, she is said to have very much a deer-like body and poise, along with even toed hooves instead of paws.

     To call her a ‘princess’ would be an insult to her, she considers any trappings of civility applied to her to be an affront to her position as the alpha predator of her island, even simply speaking the ‘civilized tongue’ is anathema in her eyes and she will rarely if ever speak in any known tongue herself. Other royals across the Marediterranean seem to barely associate themselves with her as a matter of principle, they consider her to be entirely too undiplomatic to be worth calling a ‘leader’ of any nation. Still, of those wild creatures inhabiting the island of Agrotera, Diana is about as close as it gets to a ‘royal’ figure, along with the Grove King Virbius (patron of the Dryad folk) and his consort Grove Queen Egeria (patron of the Naiads). 

     The latter two are relatively isolated within their own sacred grove cut off from the rest of Agrotera (tending to keep to themselves or among their plant ‘children’) leaving Diana as the undisputed ruler of the majority of the island. The Maenads both fear and admire her, she has been known to hunt them herself when the mood arises but also is known to protect them from predation by the more mindless beasts of the island, making sure that the cycle of nature remains in constant balance.

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New lore bits I’m playing with: - Arimaspi is one of a handful of ancient cyclopes who once terrorized the northern mountains of the world, among them are guys like Polyphemus and the Thunderous Trio, Arges, Steropes, and Brontes who are said to live in the wastes of Hyperion. - Polyphemus is the ancestor of all cyclops ponies. Once a ravaging monster like Arimaspi, Polyphemus terrorized the countryside of Etrotsci with no regard for manners or care for the smaller creatures around him. Until one day he fell in love with a beautiful mare named Galatea. Galatea however could not love the barbaric brute that Polyphemus was, so he changed his ways to a more civil and even mannered creature to be with her. Over time they had several children, who further mingled with various Etrotscan ponies until eventually the half-blooded tribe of cyclops ponies was born. Eventually however out of the natural fear and distrust for their barbaric ancestors other races began to persecute and drive away the considerably more civilized cyclops ponies until they fled across the seas and into the arms (hooves?) of the three gorgon princesses, who saw their plight and promised to give them safe haven for their undying loyalty.

- Also explanation for cyclops ponies’ one wing deal: When their faraway ancestor Arimaspi stole the Idol of Boreas it angered the Northern Wind whose pact was now broken with his Griffin wards. In retaliation, Boreas cursed those of cyclopean blood to never experience the joys of flight nor to ever taste his northern winds again. So from that day forward every winged cyclops pony no matter their heritage may only be born with a single wing, never a pair. Cyclops pony sailors also have the unfortunate tendency to never catch the northern winds upon their sails, so whenever a cyclops pony ship must travel north it must be rowed in that direction.

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♦

No one, not even Meddy herself is really quite sure exactly when Meddy’s actual birthday is, since she was born just a fair bit before written history much less an accepted calendar began and counting years would be tantamount to a normal pony counting how many minutes old they are lol

But the traditionally accepted birthday (and the one Meddy sort of accepts for herself) is on May the 8th, at least that’s when it’s celebrated as a national holiday on Echidna lol

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★

I’m guessing this was meant for Meddy? Well, one rather embarrassing secret is that she can neither read nor write modern Equestrian (aka English) >.

 Before she had a personal scribe she had Amani re-write her letters for her (being a Jinni Amani can speak nearly every known language whether it’s elemental or mortal) and before that, well… she kind of just winged it lol

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Neighbors of the Marediterranean, the Istans of Purrsia

Salvete Discipuli! As you may already know our wonderful island of Echidna is just one small state among a great many others within the borders of the Marediterranean Sea. However there are more than a few neighboring countries and regions that lie just beyond its waters. Today, I will be discussing one such region just to the south of Echidna, a curiously feline dominated region known officially as the United Istans of Purrsia but known more commonly as simply Purrsia.

 Purrsia itself is a moderately sized semi-arid region roughly 2/3′s the size of our island of Echidna, situated directly to our southwest and across the Fiery Sea from the deserts of Miraj. While not as sandy as its eastern neighbor, Purrsia features an elevated mountainous region to its northwest and a humid shrubby fertile plain intersected with various rivers within its center. Summers are generally very hot in Purrsia but are more dry in its mountainous areas while being more humid in its fertile plains. Winters vary more drastically from moderate within the fertile plains to incredibly cold with heavy snowfall within the mountains.

 Purrsia also has a rather unique political structure, with 20 largely autonomous provincial regions known as Istans. Each of these individual Istans is run by a governor-type figure known as an Istandar, and while there is a small central government for the purposes of inter-provincial commerce and defense, the real governmental authority in Purrsia lies in the paws of the powerful Istandar.

 Purrsia is a fairly unique location in that nearly every animal, from its citizens to its magical beasts to even its local fauna are some manner of feline creature. Among the intelligent members of Purrsia’s citizenry are the Sphinxes, Anzu, and Serpopards. Manticores, Snow Lions, and Phantom Cats are known to prowl the wilds, while more mundane species such as Lynxes and even common housecats populate the land.

 The Sphinxes of Purrsia are bipedal creatures not unlike the minotaur, except instead of a having the features of a bull their appearance is largely feline in nature. In addition, they typically have two small, slightly furry wings sprouting from their backs. Their appearance varies from Istan to Istan but the most common appear to be some sort of fluffy housecat looking variety as well as a subspecies eerily similar to the Lynx.

 Anzu are commonly referred to as “reverse Griffins” by those more familiar with their western cousins and indeed Anzu share a close heritage with Griffins as well as the Hippogryph. An Anzu’s appearance is similar to that of a normal Griffin, however rather than having a bird-like face with a lion’s rear end the roles are reversed with Anzu having a lion-like face and bird-like hindquarters.

 Serpopards are easily the most dangerous creatures in the lands of Purrsia as well as the most unique. They have the differing appearance of both lion and leopard depending on their region of origin, however the serpopard differs wildly from these mundane species thanks to its incredibly long neck. This serpent like neck is incredibly elastic, allowing the Serpopard to contort and coil its neck into places otherwise inaccessible by other felines. In addition, the Serpopard also possesses massive sabre-teeth similar to that of a Sabre-toothed cat along with an impressively elastic jaw structure similar to that of a snake. This makes the Serpopard a dangerous foe as it is capable of opening its jaw at nearly 90 degrees allowing it to clamp its large sabre-teeth down deep into their foes. They are also capable of using their impressive neck to flail and bash their head and massive teeth down upon their foes inflicting many gouging wounds rather than a single bite.

 Purrsia’s relations with the outside world is… rocky to say the least. piracy and lawlessness run rampant on its southern shore as the fractured nature of Purrsia’s political structure also make it hard for the Istans to police criminal activity between them. Few states are willing to directly trade with Purrsian merchants, however we on Echidna have been happy to welcome their trade ships (as we’ve been quite desperate to receive any sort of sustainable trade but that is a story for another time). You may see a few Purrsian sphinxes and Anzu prowling about the port markets and pedaling their wares there should you get the chance. I have heard their Purrsian rugs are absolutely incredible! And I suppose that will conclude our study into our Purrsian neighbors. Well until next time, Salvete Discipuli!

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♒ squiggles for Amani?

Well Amani doesn’t tend to keep too many secrets (not that she would they make for good pick-up lines lol) but Meddy has politely asked that she not tell her of the… “colorfully amorous escapades” she gets into with the rest of Echidna. Amani tries her darnedest to be discreet when it comes to fraternizing with the strictly single members of Meddy’s court (she doesn’t pursue anypony who isn’t also available and game for her shenanigans) buuuuuut it’s kinda hard to be discreet when Dextera carries her out of the servant’s quarters once every few mornings lol

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♡ - What, if I may ask, is a secret about Agrippa's love life? (Is it that he actually may have had one at some point?)

Well Agrippa tries very very hard to keep it a secret  while he’s on the job, but really he’s been happily married for 20 years now

In fact he’s married to Echidna’s chief architect (and the one who happened to design and build Meddy’s palace)

He’s not so much afraid that Meddy and his wife won’t get along as much as he is that they’ll get a long just a biiiiiiiit too well lol

Oh and she calls him Aggie (but if he ever heard the word come out of Meddy’s mouth he’d resign on the spot >.

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((Clean up rebagel))

“A map? Oh you mean a ‘guideline’? Never used the bloody thing, why would ya ever want to make this grand world of ours seem smaller then it is?”

-Frigate Sails

Read More

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((Clean up rebagel))

Rosabel: “There we go! Made sure to get one with all the important places marked.. for now. I can always fill in lesser towns and villages later for Broadsword and his friends.”

~~~

What’s this? You thought Ialtag was all by itself? No, no. There’s an entire country along with it. That little island’s just one small piece. 

Whitethorn Isles lie just off the Northwestern coasts of Shroudtrott, and are often hard to find in the thick mists around that part of the sea.

Rumor has it there be dozens of strange fae creatures living in these lands… looks like the twins were not the only ‘strange beasties’ to come from across the veil.

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((Clean up rebagel))

I have been curious as to the nature of the more unusual pest species of Echidna and its surrounding islands. Equestria has parasprites, after all...

They may look cute but don’t let their looks fool you, these pesky little creatures are one of Echidna’s biggest pests! While their name suggests a more aquatic origin these little guys are actually insects.((UUUUUUGGGGGGHHHH power went out twice today so didn’t get to this as fast as I would have liked lol))

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((Clean up Rebagel))

What's the deal with that Oracle? Is she a cyclops princess or something?

Ah, the Oracle! Well she is a very interesting piece of Marediterranean history.

I’m sure you Equestrians are no doubt aware of the process of Coronation, wherein an extraordinary mortal pony is granted the magics and abilities of all the Equestrian races, becoming an alicorn. Well, the cyclopes of the Marediterranean have a similar process known as Divination, wherein an extraordinary cyclops pony is granted the combined magics of their winged, horned and earthen bretheren, granting them the incredible power of prophecy. 

While the processes and end result of these two transformations are similar, they inhabit entirely different roles within their respective society. A Equestrian Coronation culminates in the formation of not just an alicorn, but a princess as well. A pony going through the Coronation process is expected to lead their people in whatever their particular field of influence happens to be, be it command of the stars above or within the hearts of her subjects. The Oracle however is not sought to lead us, but rather to discover truth. 

We look to our Oracles as bringers of truth and wisdom rather than as guardians or leaders such as princess Medusa. While certain powerful alicorns may possess similar visions in moments of great importance through the dreamscape, only an Oracle can delve within the realm of foresight at will, able to foresee even the most inconsequential detail. If a magical vision an alicorn may receive is but a single sentence in the long and storied history of a pony’s life, an Oracle is capable of reading the entire book cover to cover both forwards and backwards. However as any Oracle will tell you the realm of foresight is more fluid and shifting than one would suspect, akin to peering into an oil painting that never dries, and can be altered by one whose will is powerful enough to change the threads of fate. 

Typically only one Oracle exists at a time though there have been cases of 2 or even 3 Oracles given the right of Divination within the same period, and while they do live for significant amounts of time after their Divination they are still (somewhat) mortal. Curiously like alicorns the only known Oracles have all been mares, though whether a stallion is capable of Divination is still open to debate. In the current Age so far only one Oracle has been given the right of Divination, Oracle Gregoria XIV of Python, whom you may have seen conversing with princess Medusa.

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Monarchs of the Marediterranean: The Mistress of Typhon and the Oracle of Python

Salvete Discipuli! Today I will continue my lecture on the various other royals surrounding our quaint little island of Echidna! To our west lay two separate islands with two very similar names, however the cultures and peoples of these two islands could not be more different. I am speaking of course about the islands of Python and Typhon. You are no doubt already aware of the Oracle of Python, but let us speak first about the lawbringer known as Poena of Typhon

 Poena the Pursuer, Mistress of Typhon

 The infamous mistress of Typhon goes by many names and titles: Princess of Punishment, Mistress of the Flaming Lash, The Drakaina of Typhon, The Pursuer, etc. etc. All of them I’m afraid are fairly apt descriptions (though technically she is not a princess proper as she never claims to hold royal lineage). But before you feel -too- bad for the “citizens” of Typhon you should know a fair bit about the island’s history.

 After the collapse of the Echidnaean Empire long ago during the Age of Terror, numerous criminals and malicious monsters ran rampant throughout the Marediterranean, hellbent on causing chaos and destruction wherever they went. Try as they might to contain these dangerous beasts, the fledgling states of Hyperion and Etrotsci could do little as their dungeon cells filled with rogue chimera, hydra, and other sinister creatures. 

 In a last ditch effort to remove the ‘monster problem’ from their kingdoms, the leaders of these two states came up with a plan to dump these criminal creatures on the shores of the long forgotten and dreary swamp-lands of Typhon. Soon more and more islands throughout the Marediterranean began to dump their ‘problem’ creatures upon the island until it became a hub of scum and villainy.

 As the years turned to decades the chaos and lawlessness of the island continued unabated and soon threatened its nearest neighbor Python. But then one day, out of the murk of the deep waters of its central swamp arose a draconic looking mare whose eyes burned like hot coals and whose maw belched searing flames from Tartarus itself. This creature was none other than Poena the Pursuer, and she lived up to her title by rounding up every last beast and troublemaker on Typhon and bending them to her furious will. 

 To this day it is Poena and her Furies that maintain some semblance of order on the murky backwater of Typhon, and while her methods may be harsh none can say that those who fall beneath her whip do not deserve it.

 Her Most Esteemed Oracle Gregoria XIV of Python

 We have already discussed the Oracle’s relationship to the cyclops ponies of Echidna, but we have not yet discussed her relationship to her own island of Python.

 Python is more or less a theocracy governed by the Temple of the Cosmic Eye led by the Oracle herself. A curious aspect of Pythonian society is that stallions (or men-folk of any species) are absolutely forbidden to set hoof upon the island proper and must remain on one of the various barrier islands surrounding Python in order to do business there. The women of the island come from nearly all the Marediterranean species with cyclopes (in particular left winged cyclopes) and pegasi being the most common. The Oracle instructs these mares through her knowledge of the realm of foresight, and while she has no governmental authority elsewhere her word (as well as those of her predecessors) is considered sacred law on the island.

 Another curious aspect of the Oracle is her employment of the mysterious Inquisitors of Python. When the realm of foresight becomes to muddied or incoherent from the machinations of powerful magicks, she sends her trusted Inquisitors to root out the source of this obfuscation. These imposing individuals are always female cyclopes, and are adorned in ritual tattooing not found elsewhere that makes them appear as though they are some many-eyed creature. In truth this is merely a display of intimidation, a way for an Inquisitor to perhaps “scare the truth” out of some poor peasant.

 The current Oracle is a rather reserved and conservative individual, tending to keep to her own devices on the island of Python unless it’s a matter of grave importance. Few save for reigning monarchs have personally seen the Oracle, but she is still more than happy to dispense small amounts of wisdom through her acolytes for those pilgrims able to make the long journey to her Temple (or at the very least in one of the waiting abbeys on the barrier islands if you are a male). 

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A star for Amani!

 Well as a shapeshifting being of living magical fire Amani hasn't always made the clearest connection to what constitutes appropriate boy/girlfriend material (and yes she’s romanced both, gender has no real meaning to her so its less  biological compatibility/attraction more amusing character quirk lol).

Case in point, she once tried to date the ocean when she first saw it. The actual ocean. It took her two weeks before she realized the tide wasn’t just “playing hard to get” :P

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Hearts and Suns for Arachne!

When it comes to Arachne’s love life the secret is... that she has none lol

Weavers like Arachne are not permitted to... mingle in that way with others in spider pon society, at least unless they are a Warlord’s Consort. So Arachne grew up in a largely aromantic and mostly asexual culture as a result.

She’s JUST NOW understanding that two peeps can love and live together and make babby without being biggest and strongest peep thanks to the cyclopes but she still has a lot of conflicted feelings on the matter and isn’t -quite- ready for a romantic relationship yet, at least until she’s sure of exactly what kind of person she’s looking for.

As for the person who knows Arachne best, it actually isn’t Meddy but Amani that’s aware of Arachne’s secretive past life. Amani’s not going to air Arachne’s secrets out to Meddy any time soon (Her past isn’t exactly sunshine and rainbows either lol) but the two are comfortable enough with each other that they are able to confide in each other stuff they aren’t comfortable telling Meddy, mostly because they think she’s too sweet and nice to know about that stuff.

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♒ - What's a secret about her royal highness, Princess Medusa, that’s considered to be obvious?

Meddy has an obsession with putting honey on ERRYTHING lol and she doesn’t do a very good job hiding it. She just can’t stop with the honey covered nuts, honey covered cheese, honey tea, honey dipped grass… If you are what you eat Meddy would be a big ol’ jar of honey by now

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I summon a diamond at Meddy

Meddy’s horrible secret is that she eats people she enjoys wrestling of all kinds despite its quite un-lady-like reputation! She even has a xystus constructed near her palace that her aides think is a flower garden but really it is where she watches her favorite wrestlers train. She has a particular fondness for the masked mysterious variety who seem to be popular in the Macintosh Hills of Equestria, though she prefers traditional Equestria Games wrestling to the dolled up dramas of the more modern Equestrian Wrestling Federation wrestling.

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Monarchs of the Marediterranean: The Sun and Moon Monarchs

Salvete Discipuli! Something that seems to confuse foreign ponies visiting Echidna is the fact that while Medusa is princess of Echidna, she is just but one monarch in the Marediterranean. Among the many many islands and coasts that surround the Marediterranean are various nations and kingdoms each with their own unique cultures and customs but more importantly their own separate governments. Some of these such as Etrotsci are ruled by mortal committee rather than a single powerful monarch, but most follow the leadership of their own individual prince or princess. Below are but a few of the various other rulers representing their nations in the Marediterranean!

 Princess Argia of Spurta

 Contrary to the popular beliefs of most Equestrians, Princess Celestia of Equestria is NOT the only custodian of the sun that there is on our little planet. The duties of safekeeping the celestial bodies (and various other natural forces) falls upons a committee of various monarchs scattered throughout the world, each responsible for their own specific regions and time-zones. For the Marediterranean, that duty falls upon the Princess of Spurta herself. 

 Argia is infamous for having a bold, combative nature that compels her to challenge nearly every powerful individual she sees to personal combat. Nearly every morning the first thing she does is challenge Princess Celestia to a duel as the latter hands her the sun, which the princess of Equestria politely declines. Commanding the sun over the sky however is not some sacred duty for her as it is for others but rather a testament to her strength and power as princess of the greatest warriors on the Marediterranean, proving her might high in the sky where her enemies and allies alike can see it.

 Prince Hypnos of the Sleepy Lotus

 A humorous tale popular among the people of the Marediterranean tells of how the dopey dreary-eyed Prince of the Lotus Eaters managed to obtain the mightiest warrior in all of the Marediterranean’s hoof in marriage. Legend says he challenged the mighty Argia to a one on one duel at sunset upon the tiny island of Daphne promising that he’d “Melt her heart”. 

 The fiery and oddly naive princess of the Spurtans apparently took this phrase quite literally and when the time came for their duel dared him to perform this miraculous deed:

 “How do you think you can melt MY heart when it beats so close to the scorching fires of the sun each day?”

Hypnos responded with but one phrase:

“Marry me oh divine beauty, for my heart beats only for yours”

And true to his word, Hypnos did melt the heart of Argia that day, though not quite in the way that she had expected.

 Hypnos of course is the reigning Prince of Night over the Marediterranean, responsible for lifting the moon each night like his Equestrian counterpart princess Luna but also in charge of safeguarding the Marediterranean’s dream-realm. To this end he enlists the aid of the Lotus Eaters, powerful dream-walkers in their own right who allow the prince some peace of mind while he tends to more personal matters (being married to a great warrior sun princess can be quite demanding I’m sure). He is often a fair bit late when receiving the moon from princess Luna each night, which irks the Equestrian alicorn to no end, but being quite the romantic that he is he often pays special care to make sure the moon is as bright and beautiful as can be as it sails across the Marediterranean sky.

Of course here on Echidna we do not see the fruits of their labors but their relationship with our own princess Medusa is a tale for another time. Until then, Salvete Discipuli! (And for the record for those unfamiliar with Echidnaean salve is both hello AND farewell, like that Ponilulu phrase... What was it? Oh yes! Aloha!)