#eluned

[makanidotdot]

ELUNE CONVO FIX IT part 2

part 1

there!!! i just think that's nice

also kept thinking this lol

actual reality of elune seeing the night elves and choosing to adopt them:

[ikleyvey]

Elune design, aligned with Winter Queen's but opposing her in direction. WIP

[nekrokatart]

Druid of the Dream ✿ Order Prints

[ashtarels-archives]

Ashtarel Moonshoal, Sister of the Shore 🐚 Artwork by Firbess

“Min’dorei na’di Lune rae Minn-sharas’shal, anu andas isil rae lura fal.” (Daughters of the Moon and Her tides of night, we are one with silver and sea.) - Binding words of the shoreside sisters, ancient Zoram

[deathbypixelz]

Tarinne visits a shrine to Elune to wash her wounds and seek healing and guidance following her escape from the Alliance outpost in which she was briefly imprisoned during the Third War [art] [one shot].

[muiri-noir]

blessing of Elune

[moonunwell]

I complain so much about world of warcraft but at the end of the day i would probably go back to playing it if they let night elves be paladins. I'm a woman of simple tastes

[wear-this-for-me-sweetie]

Velma by Elune Cosplay

[transient-host]

Thoras'bindel: The Rite of Clear Mind

A mind assailed by troubles is as threatened as a body assailed by blades. Submerge thyself in bless'd waters, cast off thy burdens, and emerge renewed.

The waters of a moonwell are known to have healing properties for body and mind alike [1]. Thoras'bindel focuses on the latter, aiming to ease a troubled mind by encouraging a state of meditation and calm introspection. The rite is traditionally overseen by a priestess, with a small number of participants.

The rite begins with the lighting of the incense, the first step of four. The incense itself is made of purple lotus and mageroyal, both plants native to the regions surrounding Ashenvale. A total of eight of these incense sticks — representing each distinct phase of the moon — are placed equidistantly upon the periphery of the moonwell. Each stick is lit in a clockwise fashion, ideally with moonfire.

With the soothing incense filling the air, the participants can proceed to the second step. A simple green tea is prepared, and served in plain cups of ashwood. Before drinking the tea, all participants crush a single silverleaf in their hands, so that they may breathe in its calming aroma [2]. The remaining powder of the leaf is thus sprinkled onto the tea, which the participants then drink in unison.

Once the tea has been imbibed, each participant is encouraged to say a prayer. Each prayer is personal, and thus uttered in silence. It is commonplace to beseech Elune for clarity, guidance, and for the diminishing of one's worries.

At last, the fourth and final step of Thoras'bindel can commence. Each participant steps into the moonwell proper, and lowers themselves into the water. The participants breathe deeply, and thus float upon the surface. With the water in their ears, their eyes shut, and breath ing in only the scent of the incense, all other sensations of the world around them will seem a distant thing. It is at this step that they reach the height of calmness and introspection, with naught but themselves to occupy their senses. In rites with only a single participant, the overseeing priestess may kneel beside them, to keep their head above water.

The rite ends when the participants breathe out, symbolically shedding their burdens. This can only happen when the individual feels prepared for it - and in some cases, the sensory deprivation of the final step may continue for up towards an hour. In releasing their breath, they shall be submerged fully in the sacred waters. This cleansing without symbolises the cleansing within, fulfilled when the participant steps out from the moonwell, with a lighter spirit and an easier mind.

Citations and inspirations

[1]: Elegy by Christie Golden, p. 6. [2]: Elegy by Christie Golden, p. 15. Darnassian phrasing based on the Darnassian Dictionary Project.

[deadlake]

We're doing a timeskip in our Dnd Campaign so elune got a design upgrade! He's been through the wringer but the past few months were really important in giving him the pieces and motivation needed to stop being a disaster man and truly accept himself as a guy who does not like wearing pants.

[makanidotdot]

ELUNE CONVO FIX IT part 1

i did it i finished!! finished enough anyway

How about instead of Tyrande getting possessed by Elune, we actually got to see them have a conversation about why tf she won't let her kill sylvanas!!! And get some real payoff for all the "hmm something's off about Elune"!! And more!!

Warning this one is long and boring. part 2 is way better lol

sry she should more serious here but w/e we're just going with 'angy' lol

i think i drew these same poses in the sylvanas one lol oop sry my brain library is not vast

ok one thing i added at the last second was elune is like pulling from tyrande's personal elune power to get her real form back to properly tell winter queen to fuck off. and that's why tyrande looks like she has spider webs on her it's just glowy elune magic

and then winter queen does go fuck off bc i didn't want to draw her anymore

End of part 1!! Also when tyrande is watching elune and WQ yell at each other I imagine it like a kid watching their mom get in a fight at the grocery store or smt lol

[druidonity2]

Night Elf Warlock idea

[allycryz]

FFXIV Write #4: Reticent

A moment in the Fortemps library, set between 5.3 and 5.4

Haurchefant and Edmont

Haurchefant x WoL x Urianger x Thancred

Haurchefant looked inside the library, taking in the faces of those he loved. Nerys lounged upon a couch, nose in a collection of Thanalan folk and fairy tales. Thancred was using her lap as a pillow, his eyes closed, and his chest rising and falling in a soft, even tempo. Urianger had a stack of tomes by the picture window, the bright winter sun gleaming upon his silver hair and golden jewelry. 

And there was his father at his desk, quill in hand, tome open to the day's page. Their eyes met and a smile passed between them that still warmed Haurchefant's heart–to be acknowledged, to be seen instead of quietly pulled aside or ushered away. 

He could not say when exactly his father had begun trying to make up for mistakes with Haurchefant. Certainly he hadn't noticed until the day he had begged for Nerys, Alphinaud, and Tataru to be let through the Gates of Judgement. But as time had passed and with the blessing of distance, he could now discern it had started before that. 

“How fares this lovely bevy?” Haurchefant asked, voice hushed in deference to the readers and to Thancred who might be sleeping. 

“They are quite studious today,” said Edmont. “Will you be joining us?”

“Nay,” Haurchefant sighed. “Reticent as I am to leave, I've appointments to keep about town.”

“Reluctant,” Urianger said, lifting his head. His eyes twinkled. “Reticent pertains to speaking. Thou might learn such by joining us.”

“Ah ah,” Haurchefant wagged a finger. “My moon, my stars, we are not re-litigating this.”

“...He is correct.” Edmont ventured. His voice took on a teasing lilt even as his face betrayed a hesitancy. “About the usage.”

Haurchefant laid a hand upon his breast and swooned against the doorframe. He made sure to exaggerate his tone, inviting his father to join in the pantomime. “Betrayed by both my love and my father. As if practical usage has not added a second definition to the word!”

Edmont's laugh was a bark of obvious relief and Haurchefant grinned, something lightening in his chest. 

“Well” Thancred murmured, eyes still closed. “None of you are certainly embodying the first definition at the moment.”

“Apologies, beloved,” said Urianger to their clearly not sleeping lover. “We’ll debate this at another time.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” said Haurchefant. He cast a smile at them all, his gaze stopping at last on his father who nodded, his eyes soft.

[ashtarels-archives]

Delving into Blackfathom Deeps

An excerpt from Glory to the Queen Born of Stars:

"Of the wonders our queen brought to this world, perhaps none was so great as Lathar'Lazal. As masons constructed the temple, Azshara shaped the waters around it with the Scepter of Tides. She spoke the names of the rivers and the seas, and they moved at her command. Salt water from the roaring ocean and fresh water from the mountain streams trickled to Azshara's side. With the flick of her wrist, the queen partitioned them into great lakes that hugged Lathar'Lazal's sturdy foundation."

Architecture:

Blackfathom Deeps, as we know it today, was once called "Lathar'Lazal," or "Seat of the Sky" in Darnassian. Long ago, this was a temple to Elune built by Queen Azshara with the aid of Sharas'dal (her tide-scepter) in the ages before the Sundering. Pelagic imagery still endures in the architecture of these sunken ruins, described at one point to have contained "gem-encrusted bridges and effervescent lakes." Motifs of fish-head fountains, wave-inspired stonework, scale-like patterns, and ionic columns are repeated in the masonry and pottery of the forlorn halls. It is unclear what the seafoam-colored stone the temple is made of, though it is interesting to note that it almost bears a resemblance to a body of water's surface: like the way a pool shifts and shimmers with the light. Some kind of material borne of the sea, melded together with the queen's Sharas'dal, or a common mineral of the region? They could also simply bear cracks and signs of weathering considering the age of the temple, but watery stone would be fitting symbolically.

Azshara's Influence:

"Whenever she [Azshara] walked the bridges of Lathar'Lazal, nearby schools of exotic fish would array themselves in colorful patterns. She even kept a colossal sea giant bound to one of the lakes. She used her scepter to make him perform tricks and feats of strength, much to the delight of the watching Highborne. Curious night elves from the far corners of the empire journeyed to Lathar'Lazal to study the mythical creature and his habits."

Perhaps Lathar'Lazal was a bustling tourist attraction then in the days of the empire, both for education and entertainment. With such tourism drawn to the temple, I wonder if the nearby land/city of Zoram benefited from this economically.

The passage above seems to imply that the Highborne rather enjoyed the spectacle of the imprisoned sea giant, and this poses an interesting dichotomy to the original purpose of the temple: a house of Elune, simultaneously hosting a creature trapped against its will. Such an exhibition created by Azshara here speaks to her penchant for show and amusement, and possible disregard for the faith. If only a historical record existed of a priestess's personal journal or the like; and whether she would be disappointed with such behavior, or complacent in the suffering of other races/creatures as night elves often were during this era.

Tideweaver:

Queen Azshara, even before her naga transformation, always had a fascinating dominion over water, both with her scepter Sharas'dal and the Well of Eternity. Supposedly Xavius was the one who actually gifted the queen with this ornate weapon that later shaped the temple:

"A night elf named Lord Xavius presented the queen with a jeweled scepter, etched with delicate magical sigils. He promised Azshara that so long as she kept it close, it would bring her prosperity and great power. Azshara held the scepter aloft, and the jewels shimmered in the light of the moons like brilliant stars. The sight of the queen and her gift was so beautiful that it brought many of the attendant Highborne to tears."

An enigmatic man of terrifying skill and power, I do wonder where Xavius procured this weapon in the first place; as its design does not appear to be of Kaldorei craftsmanship. Perhaps it hails from the ancient jinyu culture, the primordial titans, or some other past world power. Examining its details, what do you think of Sharas'dal's origins?

"Queen Azshara's enchanted scepter afforded her great power. Imbued with the Well of Eternity's potent waters, it held sway over the rivers and the seas, aquatic creatures of all kinds, and the life energies that stirred within Azshara herself."

In the Tablet of Balancing Tides, it is stated that:

"The whispers of Elune and Neptulon play on the tides, their words etched in stone are a tribute to the balance of their power."

I find it interesting that Azshara utilized a form of magic half-intrinsic to the moon goddess. Did she derive some of her aquatic power from Elune, or use a different magick entirely? The descriptions of Azshara wielding the scepter use language that speaks to a command over water, rather than a unity with the elementals, spirits, and goddess.

This item's flavor text also mentions Neptulon--Elemental Lord of Waters--interestingly now a sworn enemy of Queen Azshara and her naga forces in the present day.

The Moonshrine Ruins:

This place supposedly once hosted a moonwell, with an area known as the Moonshrine. The foundations here might suggest that before the Sundering, Lathar'Lazal could have been built just upon the shores, or expanded out into the sea itself with the tides embracing the temple all around. Swimming beneath the waters of the Moonshrine, there appear to be large pillars supporting the walkways here; much like a pier.

The Inner Sanctum:

Crescent imagery is prevalent inside of the sanctum, as well as sets of 3 seats, perhaps symbolism of the triple moon (waxing, full, and waning or the maiden, mother, and crone archetypes) holding some importance in the rituals carried out here. These could also represent a large meeting space, high-ranking priestesses for ritual, a council of leadership, divisions of the temple, seating for observers, or something else entirely. They face partitioned rooms with crescent moon symbols.

If we look at the central dais of the sanctum, (Azshari statue and cultist altar notwithstanding) there is a raised platform with a pyramid-like structure carved into the ceiling. Perhaps a skylight once existed here to let in moonlight for lunar rites, or this area hosted something of great importance to be kept safe inside the sanctum.

The Moondoors:

The moondoors are an especially interesting piece, and the last apparent threshold of the Seat of the Sky. Upon passing through, there are only a handful of pillars flanking the sides of the cavern. They seem to accompany each other in pairs on each side - marking a possible entrance, exit, or some other pathway to the temple. While I am unsure of their true purpose or the mechanism to unlock them, the various square pieces are almost akin to a puzzle. This model is used in other Kaldorei architecture and I've long been intrigued by their possible uses. These moondoors are typically used as entrances to the tall, thin ivory towers of Kaldorei ruins. Perhaps Elunarian priests or arcanists weave (or wove) intricate spellwork rooted in the arcane, or the moon cycle in order to lock these types of barriers. What was intended to lie beyond them is anyone's guess: powerful artifacts, sacred relics, enshrined lore, or even concealed secrets.

"The Great Sundering shattered the glorious temple, sinking it beneath the waves of the Veiled Sea."

I hope you enjoyed these musings! There's something equally fascinating and solemn looking back at the remnants of the Kaldorei Empire - in the shadows of glory that once eclipsed the continent.

[kittycatkissu]

Rough concept for an illustration of Priestess of Elune AU Stella 

[melosjournal]

a young priestess and her silent goddess