#mage of the skywing elves

[wheretwofacesmeet]

[moon-sky-sun-earth-ocean-stars]

Tales of Xadia characters-Pyrda

Name: Pyrda Pronounce: She/her Race: Skywing Elf Profession: Rune Mage Information: Pyrda has passion for experiencing Primal Sources and collecting artifacts to shared them with the world. She's befriended with Easgann, thinking he might lead her to her dream of being a guardian of knowledge. *She has wings

[itsybitsybatsyspider]

I rewatched the Dragon Prince recently since season 6 is coming out next month (WOOOOOO) so naturally i had to put my most recent blorbos in a The Dragon Prince Au

second part :)

Dragon Prince au masterpost

(drawing notes under the cut if you wanna hear my rambling about the designs!)

Jack

so Jack is a Skywing elf mage-in-training because the power set of Sky mages seems to match Jack's powers the closest. They create gusts of wind, storms, can fly, breathe ice breaths, and frost touches. It was a tough choice between that or a Moonshadow elf, what with the whole invisibility thing, but i just can't imagine Jack not being able to fly :/

And even though most Skywing elves dont have wings, i gave him the wings because vibes and because i can

i did add some moon opal charms to his staff though, so he can do some small moon spells

Toothless

i wanted to adjust some of the details to Toothless's design because i didn't want it to be a 1-to-1 of his design in HTTYD. I noticed the dragons in Xadia all have snouts, horns, and muscled forelegs, and i tried to incorporate some of that to Toothless. With a narrower head and longer legs and more hand like claws.

I added more prominent scales, nose plates (like the storm dragons in TDP) and tried to add more horns to spots on his legs and wings.

I also made Toothless a lot bigger than he is in the HTTYD universe because those Xadian dragons?? Excuse me?? Even a common one is still pretty huge!

There's also a dragon that exists in the Dragon Prince universe called a Midnight Dragon, and it's connected to the Moon Arcanum! They're said to have pitch black scales and are sensitive to light, so i thought it was fitting for Toothless. There weren't any pictures of the dragon tho so i kinda just made the design as i went.

Hiccup

i tried using costume designs from both the first two movies, with the vest, the belts, and the pant pattern.

colors took me longer to figure out, because i wanted to have some red (like in RttE) along with the greens and browns. Overall though im happy with how it turned out!

I think Hiccup would be the son of Commander or General Stoic in the Katolis army some years before or during the events of The Dragon Prince/Mystery of Aaravos.

These designs are for early in the story, before Hiccup loses his leg and when he meets Toothless for the first time. Definitely thinking that him and his village are known for their handling of dragons and elves in the region and then Hiccup shoots Toothless down just like in the movie. But as they become friends, Jack finds them and misunderstands the situation and thinks Hiccup is going to kill Toothless.

So that'll be fun >:)

[hadesisqueer]

I appreciate The Dragon Prince because it gave me tragic antagonists or villains that I love (Claudia), villains that while I don't really like them I understand how they came to be and can feel a bit of sympathy for (Aaravos or Viren), villains I straight up fucking hate (Sol Regem) and villains that I don't really hate because when they appear on-screen I just sigh wondering how they can be so fucking stupid (Karim). They really give you everything.

No but for real, Karim's entire character arc consists of 'The risk I took was calculated but I am bad at math' because. He's so dumb. He keeps saying he wants to restore the Sunfire Empire to its former glory, but like-- how? What plans do you have for the future? Are you going to try to retake Lux Aurea? Because you can't. Oh, you want humans out? Okay-- how would that help to restore the former glory, though? You're just being a bigot?

The thing is that all Karim ever did was talk about his birthright —that's not even his birthright, actually, because he's the youngest sibling— and keep babbling about history demanding blah blah blah of people and how his sister wasn't a competent queen when actually it is the opposite. Janai proves, by allowing the architect to live while still giving her an according punishment, that she is a fair queen who chooses mercy and allows people to grow while still choosing justice; also, that she's more practical, because what good is a talented architect dead —who did something awful but still was sorta right about fire being dangerous around the camp— when you can just make her build a shrine so this kind of incident never happens again. Janai also had the Sunseed and plans to nurture it and help it grow, help her own people grow. She actually had plans for the future, and she had the patience necessary. She understands that you must learn from history but that it also doesn't define you, that you must not let it define you.

Karim doesn't get that. He was obsessed with history and the old ways. He didn't have any patience. And he didn't have any long term plans. Or even backup plans for when his plans inevitably failed, either! He was so convinced Janai would refuse his duel he was shocked when she actually fought him, and resorted to fighting-- with fire magic-- against someone who's fireproof-- again, no actual plan. He tried using an assassin to kill his sister, the actual person the assassin had a life debt to. He wants to steal the Sunseed, actively fucking over his people. When Ezran tells him to take his followers and start somewhere else, Karim refuses because he says he doesn't want crumbs off his sister's plate, but at the same time it's like-- that's exactly what you were gonna get, buddy. You wanna use Sol Regem to torch your sister's army. The only thing you're gonna rule over is the followers you have now plus what remains of Janai's, if they even accept you. So, yeah. Literally crumbs.

Also, again, he's so fucking entitled. 'What's rightfully mine' he's the youngest sibling, nothing is rightfully his, he's an usurper. Part of his demands being that humans leave and go back to 'their side of the border, where they belong', buddy, you'd be the king of the Sunfire Elves, not the King of all of Xadia. As king you could make humans leave your territory, but not Xadia. If a bunch of humans, hypothetically, befriended Moonshadow or Skywing elves and lived at the Silvergrove, or wherever the Skywing elves live, with them-- what, now you're gonna try to wage war against the the other elves, too, because they're not following your ways? You can threaten them with Sol Regem, sure, but also consider, because you didn't even consider it when you went to him-- he's an Archdragon, yeah, but the weakest of the Archdragons right now. Let's say Ezran and Janai follow through and give up and leave. They could go with Zym and head straight up to the Mushroom Mage and come back with Zubeia, the current Queen of the Dragons, right after she's done with her treatment. They arrive. Who's gonna win? A healthy Archdragon on her prime or an old, blind Archdragon that hasn't flown or fought in centuries? Also, once you give him the Sunseed he actually has no reason to be on your side, he already got what he wanted. Even if the Katolis thing didn't happen, he could've turned against you very easily. He likely would've done so.

He's an awful leader who doesn't actually care about his people. He disrespects other world leaders like Ezran immediately. He's an entitled, bigoted idiot who doesn't actually think things through and that actually makes him both incredibly annoying and very realistic, which actually makes me like him as an antagonist but still makes me let out a exasperated sigh every time he talks. Best part of him is that he's obsessed with going down in history as someone great when, with his actions, he's only going to pass down as the prince who tried to usurp his sister three times and failed the three times, each failure worse than the previous one. Lmao.

[colonelpancakes]

Watching the dragon prince season six episode four: The Starscraper. Under the cut as usual.

I love Callum but how is he not frozen solid. Those fingerless gloves may be stylish but they are NOT insulating. Give my boy a coat.

Ooh that’s a beautiful building. It does look a tad like a Minecraft beacon but, it's a very pretty Minecraft beacon

Callum, why would you just stick your hand in? For all you know it’s like a forcefield or something and it zaps you!

Okay, my question is what is the benefit of an elevator partially activating once you’ve read half the runes? That seems like a real safety hazard, like that seems like a magic bug that needs to be fixed.

Woah, wait a minute! Interesting, some of the Celestial Elves seem to have wings that aren’t bird wings. That one in the back looks like they have bug wings. Can that happen with skywing elves? I guess bugs are also flying creatures that inhabit the sky so that would make sense. Hmm… I wonder if you can get Mage Wing bug wings…

Aww. The leaflynx kitten is adorable but also the music is giving major flashbacks to the baby deer at the end of season two. Claudia. Claudia don’t you dare.

Also, glowing butterfly motif!

CLAUDIA NO.

Okay good. It seemed like her hand was almost acting out of her control, I wonder if this much dark magic is starting to like, impact her reflexes? Like she instinctively reaches for things even if she doesn’t consciously want to? Or maybe she’s just snapping herself out of it who knows.

“Are you feeling alright?” “No, I’m not. I’m so messed up, Terry. I’ve been stuck, just staring, for over an hour now.” Oughhh Claudia, honey. Its good that she’s at least able to admit she’s not okay, that’s a good start.

Oh, hey is Claudia starting to lean away from dark magic? Or, like, recognize that it’s not a good thing? That’s interesting, previously she’s been very adamant that dark magic is a good and useful invention, but now she seems to be realizing the negative effects it’s had on her? …Claudia redemption arc? 👀

Skjslkajfdkl that is the exact same face that she made at Zym when she first met him. Some things never change.

I love the little pose Callum does when he’s introducing him and Rayla, he’s so dorky I love him.

Oh my God that escalated quickly. Not a friendly lot got it.

No! Gosh dangit pearl stop rolling around!

CLAUDIA REDEMPTION ARC?! Let’s GO! YES GIRL! SELF-IMPROVEMENT!

I find it interesting how after losing her dad, Claudia turns to Terry, her only present loved one, for instruction. She needs someone to tell her what to do, she needs someone to do things FOR. She went from following her dad's orders to working to save his life and now she doesn't have him to give her direction, she looks to Terry. When was the last time she did something for herself without someone's instructions?

“Only you can decide the path you’re going to walk. You won’t be alone. I’ll clear out the thorny brambles if I see them, I’ll hold your hand as we trudge through wet, mucky leaves. But… you have to choose the way.” I love Terry so much he’s such a sweetheart. He clearly loves Claudia so much and he’s willing to stick with her through everything and anything, whatever happens.

Claudia... Again, it's interesting, how, because she doesn’t know what she wants for herself, she defaults back to finding what her dad wants, thinking that if she looks at him, she’ll find some clarity and she’ll suddenly know what to do. She doesn't know what to do without her family because she's been doing things for them for her whole life.

Aww. Okay, the leaflynx kitten is adorable but. Was I the only one alarmed by how big it is? Something about the perspective in earlier shots made me think it was a lot smaller somehow.

Also, I love the butterfly landing in Claudia's hair in the previous shot.

No, I think Callum has a point here. They did just drop you from the top of the tower.

Oh, hey! Kosmo has vitiligo! That’s cool, yay representation!

Also, I haven’t mentioned it yet but I love Sneezle’s hanging out in Callum’s scarf it’s so cute.

I love Sol Regem’s design he’s so big and menacing. Plus the lighting in this location is so beautiful, the way it illuminates him from behind like a dusky backlight is *mwah*

Sooo, what are we thinking Sunseeds smell like? ‘Cause personally, I’m thinking freshly popped popcorn.

Karim, man, he literally told you that his sight was unrelated to his lack of hope. I don’t know how you are surprised by this.

Sksjlfakj poor Rayla.

Ohh wow. This episode is really going off with the gorgeous scenery and lighting. The Starlooms are so beautiful and I love the name "starweaver spider".

Oh! So that’s what the bug wings are! That’s really cool and such neat worldbuilding.

Hey! It's the intro galaxy!

Okay, that sounds cool in theory but I feel like in practice being Timeblind would kinda suck. I feel like that would just be like. Too much information at any given time it’d be hard to make connections with other people or like, enjoy day to day life.

Continued in reblogs as per usual!

[xadian-daydreams]

What's been mentioned for the Dragon Prince Season 6: Book Stars so far...

Having listened and read a bunch of interviews, here's my collected notes (Updated for October 2023);

No current release date, but confirmed 9 episodes, same as previous seasons.

Seasons Four though Seven are all the Mystery of Aaravos arc.

While there's not going to be any real time skip between S5 and S6, there will be a small one within S6. Update - there's a few days time skip between S5 and S6.

Season 6 will be more mature to the point the age rating is increasing. It will also go into deeper emotional stuff - "fans should enjoy the breather before being emotionally wrecked by the next book."

(Most of) Episode 1 of season 6 was shown at NYCC 2023 panel. Notes on summaries people have posted here.

New characters to be introduced;

Astrid - voiced by Boone Williams - Female Celestial Skywing elf. She's mysterious and there's 'something cool' about her design.

Character based off Moonberry Surprise.

A new Startouch elf. Possibly the Merciful One (they/them) from the Sea of the Castout statues.

Upcoming for main characters;

Callum - every time you do dark magic, it becomes harder to come back from it. Info on Callum birth-father. (Callum and learning Moon Arcanum - Giehl's opinion is doesn't want Callum treading on Rayla's thematic territory and stealing her thunder). Rayllum note - how would Callum using dark magic affect the trust and friendship they've been building up?

Rayla - On the curse coins - too spoilery, so they won't answer questions related to that. On Rayllum note. Would Rayla do anything for Callum? And what would Callum call upon her to do if that was the case? Questions getting asked next season, just to make you suffer.

Callum, Rayla and Stella confirmed visiting the Starscraper.

Ezran - sticking to his ideals and pacifism will be tested. Rough and tough decision(s).

At some point Ezran and Callum will visit some 'weird' ruins.

Soren - has had lighter seasons so far, but is about to face darker questions. There is trauma that the writers haven't told anyone about that will come to light at some point. Soren is getting an opportunity to confront Viren about what happened at the Storm Spire (they did meet up in S4E7, which is covered in the short story Strangers, but writers felt it lacked the satisfaction needed, as neither really was in the headspace to talk), but uncertain if this is just a therapy thing or if Viren lives.

There's going to be a funny Soren and Corvus story later on.

Claudia - S5 she was under a lot of pressure, and it's not easing up. How will Claudia be impacted by Viren's decision - further into darkness or pulled back into the light? Claudia being willing to risk life and limb for her goal(s) - and then actually paying the cost of a limb - what does that mean for her and Terry?

Karim - is about to get in over his head. He doesn't realise the kind of alliances he's making.

Amaya and Janai don't get enough love in these interviews. 😢

Zym - Goes with Soren to find Zubeia. Spoiler indicates Zym has a heart to heart with her

Characters we'll be seeing more of;

Aaravos - there's a lot more of him coming in S6.

Kim'dael - 'big plans' that even go beyond the show, though specifically refused to answer if she'll met Rayla again (they met first time in Bloodmoon Huntress graphic novel).

More with the pirates and Scumport (however, Finnegrin while not confirmed dead, won't make a reappearance in S6/7). Scumport set up a bunch of stuff for going into season 6.

Kpp'Ar - confirmed there'll be more stuff about him in both S6 and S7.

Mukho - the mushroom mage, Earthblood elf who's a world expert mycologist.

More shadowpaw content.

Possibly Ellis and Ava briefly, but could be S7.

Lore -

The lore about Stars primal and Startouch elves and other mythology will be explored. How you kill a Startouch elf will be answered - including more info on Laurelion (mentioned in the Death of an Immortal poem).

(Going by how the graphic novels releases are generally introducing things that are mentioned in the next season, Puzzle House's emphasize on unicorns, and how there is a big bit of unicorn lore mentioned in the novels, is a good hint that this unicorn lore is getting explained in show too. But, just to clarify, it's not confirmed this is happening - however, it is a impactful bit of backstory and there's only 2 seasons left).

Most likely information about how Primal Stones are made - specifically how a storm was trapped from the top of Mount Kalik to create the Primal Stone Callum smashed. Ehasz mentioned that something brought up in the second episode will be expanded on in S6, and the info about the Sky Primal Stone is the only info that hasn't been addressed elsewhere from E2 that I could pick out.

More lore about golems (as in the rock guardians and Elmer)

Other notes;

Season 6 will have an explosive start.

Questions raised by Ehasz;

Was the dragang moving Aaravos's prison smart or would it have been safer to have left it? It's something they'll grapple with right away.

Is Aaravos being honest with Viren about what's going to happen? (I'm wording it as being honest rather than saying is he lying, as Aaravos's thing is manipulative truths and misdirections etc, rather than outright lies).

No context: 🔥 (Can't help looking at the use of explosive start by the NYCC notification)

There's stuff in Season 2 that will get explained in Season 6 - while they're not exactly clues, there will be referencing from S2.

Keep an eye on changes in the openers - they're continuing the hints - like when they swapped out Viren with Callum to let you know Callum and dark magic/Aaravos is going to be in the episode.

Season 7 will be Book 7: Dark.

The next graphic novel will be about "family and building trust." Update: Title Dreamer's Nightmare

Can young Ezran and Callum quell the brewing storm in the quiet town of Noct, or have bad dreams come to haunt for good?

Giehl says this story has Ezran as the lead character and the artist said they enjoyed doing the many animals.

There were hints dropped at NYCC 2023 that there may be other projects based on the Dragon Prince world, but they'll come under a different name. TDP will only be the 7 seasons. (Most hints I've seen suggest they may be working towards an Orphan Queen film/series, but it could also be a continuation).

Sources; Hot Brown Morning Potion Podcast E27 Reel James Season 5 interview with Aaron Ehasz AIPT Comics 'The Dragon Prince creators dish on season 5 post-mortem AnimationWorld: The Dragon Prince Season 5, a swashbuckling blend of design tricks and emotional turmoil Screenrant SDCC 2023: The Dragon Prince creators on taking the Mystery of Aaravos past Season 5 CBR: The Dragon Prince creators reveal the secrets of Season 5 and the road to Season 6 ComicBook: The Dragon Prince creators talk season 5 and entering the show's Empire Strikes Back era Game of Nerds: SDCC 2023 The Dragon Prince All Aboard for Season 5 Official Discord Season 4 Q&A NYCC 2023 panel Secrets in the Stars Random tweets and Discord stuff from the creators and official social media.

[orchid-merryweather]

Thinking about how both times Callum uses dark magic, he then connects to a primal source

First, in order to save a dragon, a creature of the sky, he turns chains into snakes, he then connects to the sky acanum

Then, while in a boat on the ocean (hear me out here folks), he uses dark magic, again turning chains into snakes to free himself, he then connects to the ocean arcanum

Makes me think about why/how humans have dark magic in the first place

Because I'd always thought that we were supposed to assume that Aaravos was the one that taught humans dark magic, in order to corrupt and control them, but I'm realizing that it's far more likely that someone else did

When Vieren, Claudia, and that one guy in the flashback with Sol Reagem use dark magic, they aren't doing it with good in their hearts and to achieve a net positive outcome. Vieren killed the king of the dragons. Claudia acted so violently towards that one dragon that it was 𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙙 of her. That one guy was defending a city full of innocent people that was clearly not his first use of dark magic and his soul was already corrupted.

They used dark magic in acts of evil and their souls became corrupted because of it.

Callum used dark magic as a last resort to save the lives of others. He used it in small amounts and with good intentions

I used to think that we were supposed to assume that Aaravos taught the humans dark magic. But, what if it was someone else? I still think it was a Startouch elf, I don't think that the power of dark magic could have originated elsewhere. I believe that some other Startouch elf gave the humans dark magic.

Dark magic, as was given to the humans, was not supposed to be used the way we see it used by Vieren and Claudia, but how we see Callum use it

I believe dark magic was given to the humans as a way of forming connections with the arcanums

Its purpose was supposed to be to help humans connect with magic, dark magic is a bridge between having and being without a primal source. The first use of dark magic and the following dark magic coma prepares the body for the use of magic which it is not used to

And when Callum has his dark magic coma, we see that a lot of his dream is sky/storm based alongside his rejecting of corruption

His rejecting of that corruption of his soul prepares him to use magic, and then all the weird sky/storm stuff is of course the building of his connection to the arcanum

I wish we could have seen Callum's pov when he used dark magic the second time. We know that dark mages only have the dark magic coma the first time they use dark magic, but we don't know how connecting to a second arcanum works. Did he have some weird dream first? Or did he suddenly understand the arcanum?

Of course, I could be overanalyzing this entirely, but I just don't think it's a coincidence that Callum's understanding of an arcanum and use of dark magic are never far apart.

Now for my prediction

Callum is going to understand the star arcanum. To do that, he first needs another instance of using dark magic

It's going to happen at the starscraper. It's going to be revealed that the Celestial Elves (an ancient sect of skywing elves for those of you who don't remember) are supporters of Aaravos. After finding out that Rayla and Callum are against Aaravos, and that they know where he is, the Celestial Elves lock them away, wanting to free him. Here Callum uses dark magic to get him and Rayla out, and being at this place that is clearly connected to star magic, he forms a connection to the star arcanum. We will also get to see what happens when a human connects to a primal source that isn't their first because we didn't get to see that in s5 with ocean magic

[raayllum]

This post from @imminent-danger-came got me thinking about the sun in TDP, well, and let's look into it

First things first:

The Sun in TDP is, currently, set in the most opposition to dark magic. Some of this is because the other primals are relatively unexplored (Earth), are thematically adjacent to dark magic (Moon because of death/deception, Star for obvious reasons, Ocean more recently) or exist on a meta level but not an in-universe one, i.e. Sky magic is set in opposition to dark / star magic through Callum ("my breath for freedom") but we don't know enough about Skywing culture / seen enough Skywing elves to know anything beyond him.

Meanwhile, the absence of the Sun is often seen as synonymous with dark magic

and/or is used to purify / hide and reveal dark magic within the text.

There is a reason, after all, that Karim believes if he can heal Sol Regem's eyes — if he can get rid of the dark magic — that it will let Sol Regem "convince [his people] that the sun will shine again." That Karim thinks "the sun will never shine again for me" is related solely to the physical affects of dark magic, and none of the emotions Sol Regem has felt ("I lost my hope long before I lost my sight").

We see this dichotomy of light being more good and nighttime/darkness being more bad even in S1, as Harrow and Viren hope to find the Moonshadow elves ("in the light of the day") before they become unstoppable / death incarnate at night and at the Cursed Caldera, in which Ellis asserts that come nightfall, "the nightmare is about to begin".

However, as you can probably already tell, this relationship of Sun vs dark magic as oppositional forces is already more than muddled just as the dichotomy of light = good and dark = bad in the show is, too.

We see this prominently with the repeated combination of corrupted Sun magic not only in the hearts of cinder spell that Viren used the relic and sun staff to create, but also in Claudia's continual wielding of the corrupted sun staff

and in Karim's employment of Kim'Dael. Karim just implied that humans allowed evil (dark magic) to flourish because they were weak ("You are lesser beings") just as Sol Regem believed, and it seems Pharos is thinking along the same lines here: isn't Kim'Dael "evil" because she uses dark magic too?

Because she's a Moon dark magic, and the opposite of the Sun and purity and light in every way he can think of, even when Pharos — a Sunfire priest who believes in Karim — has been corrupted and infected, too. And yeah some of this is to point out Karim being hypocritical and losing his way and inevitably things, such as him having the Sun Seed, are not going to go according to plan.

But I do want to take it one step further and say that the Sun — seeing a new day — is not necessarily void of dark or Star magic-y connotations, after all.

Whether it's the importance of the Sun's first light, spoken by mages who are either unknowingly (and likely to be) pawns of Aaravos

or that doing dark magic and playing into Aaravos' hands would've secured Viren seeing a new day.

Although dark magic is, seemingly, more associated with night because, well, darkness, obviously...

It's not just that the Great Orb was corrupted, but that Lux Aurea itself fell, giving way to corrupted creatures, infected by another combination of Sun and Dark magic

It's that dark magic, I think, grows and festers and consumes everything until light and dark — day and night — are synonymous with each other, until they become a singular thing like Aaravos. That there's no escaping it. There's no "choice".

Or at least, that's what it wants you to think.

[disappointingcabbage]

TDP Season 6 Episode 1 live reaction, spoilers under the cut

Who is this man crying?

What the fuck it’s Aaravos

Ok so Aaravos showing actual emotion was not on my 2024 bingo card

Genuinely why does his crying sound autotuned

There’s another startouched elf??? Who is she?????

Why is the intro still Viren getting statued??? He’s dead

Oh ok his statue got disintegrated

Yup he’s dead

Terry my beloved

O h n o he’s gonna find viren’s body

Bro why are you sobbing over this racist motherfucker

WAIT WHAT

HE’S ALIVE ????? WHY IS HE ALIVE????

oh no Claudia’s covered in blood

NOOO THE LITTLE MOTH GREMLIN SHE DID THE SACRIFICE

Oh damn Viren is fully redemption arcing and he has Regrets

“No parent wants their child to suffer for them” first of all tell that to Soren. Atone for your bullshit. Second of all you’ve clearly never met my mother

Ah shit Aaravos convinced Claudia to let him out

Viren’s actually putting his foot down and saying no. I never would have predicted this pre-s5 but now it makes total sense and I love that the writers are sticking with his character development

Oh ew this show is actually going to get me to like Viren I hate that

He’s going to Katolis to turn himself in. Based tbh.

Claudia what the fuck though like girlie your whole point of everything was to get your dad back and he’s fine now why are you still going along with Aaravos

Oof her voice acting in this scene is incredible though

Also she’s still missing that leg. I hope she gets either a cool prosthetic or an even cooler mobility aid.

Soren has opening blindfolded for some reason. The reason is either going to be A Secret Meeting for Very Not Good Ominous Reasons or something very funny

Based on the tone of the scene I’m assuming it’s the funny option

LMAO LORD BREADSANDWICH SOREN I LOVE YOU

Oh it’s just a season 5 recap in the high mage’s office

Oooh they’re deciding what to do with aaravos’s prison

I get he’s on the high council and all but why is Barius here???

Callum wants to destroy the prison, Opeli wants to assemble a multi-kingdom task force to protect it, and Barius wants to hide it

I’m with Callum or Barius tbh, the multi kingdom task force idea exposes too many people to potentially be manipulated by aaravos.

However, hiding it means that it can be found probably and exposes everyone who already knows about it to Aaravos, and destroying it runs the risk of freeing him accidentally.

Soren with the LOTR reference 💀

Rayla has the same issues as me with destroying it

Ezran has decided to hide it in katolis, smart choice

oh no, Zym’s sad about Zubeia

Callum wants to visit this ancient faction of skywing elves for info on A) yeeting the pearl out of existence and B) un-coining Rayla’s family (please let them out)

Callum is right to be afraid of aaravos manipulating him tbh

Awww one of the baitlings sleeps in Callum’s bed

Oh god aaravos nightmares oh FUCK WHY ARE YOU SLEEPWALKING

what the fuck what the fuck whY IS HE IN THE PEAR WHAT WAS THAT IMAGE OF AARAVOS YEETING THE PEARL F E A R

Rayla do NOT dismiss Callum’s concerns like that

“I have an idea” *fucking sprints away to enact said idea without elaborating* peak autism moment

I’m sorry, you want to stop aaravos with the power of pastries?

“Sometimes I wonder where my mom is too” SOBBING

awwwww bait has a little four poster bed that’s so cute

AHDIEJXIEKF BARIUS DID AN “is it real or is it cake” WITH A FUCKING PEARL DECOY IM WHEEZING

Ooh anti spell blankie

“I have my blankie 😎” Callum I would die for you

Soren and zym are going on a quest to find Zubeia and Callum and Rayla are going to see the Celestial Elves but more importantly, each questing squad is taking a baby bait with them!!

If the one going with Soren isn’t Hat I will be very disappointed

Claudia why are you ominously standing over Terry and trauma dumping

Claudia what are you doing with the staff

Claudia no please don’t hurt him if you hurt him it’s transphobic

Oh ok she’s just walking her toxic ass out of the relationship cool

Terry don’t wait for her she doesn’t deserve it

[aldanil]

My Skywing family from Val Celeste, a Skywing location I imagined exactly one year ago.

The Leader Arnensú, the High Sky Mage Lindwil and their kid Saelram.

I headcanon some Skywing have feathered ears.

That’s actually an old draw I’ve been blocked from finishing for months for I had no background ideas. (And to be honest, I still don’t, just added random stuff)

Some information: Masks is traditionally used by the Leader of Val Celeste as a crown. Others family also might have specific masks which are passed through generations some inspiration from Orlais

I created the name Saelram from Sael - wise in quenya, and Ráma who means wing. Saelram means the wise wing. Saelram is one of the blessed Skywing elves who inherited from a pair of wings, though their wings does not appear in the draw (as hidden by their blanket).

Val Celeste is located in the peaks of one of the highest mountains in Xadia. Skywing Elves from there lives in harmony with sky dragons, which they revere.

[wheretwofacesmeet]

[moon-sky-sun-earth-ocean-stars]

Tales of Xadia characters-Siftress

Name: Siftress Pronounce: She/her Race: Skywing Elf Living place: Innean Profession: Mage Information: She saw the fate of Innean few months before it happened with the help of her magic.

[itsybitsybatsyspider]

Hi!! I've got some questions for the dragon prince au because I absolutely adore it

Does Hiccup have the same ability as Ezran (talking to/communicating with animals) or something similar?

Also you said Toothless was a midnight dragon in your au would they be like night furies in the sense of being endangered or rare?

How/when does Hiccup lose his leg?

And if Jack is a mage in training, who's he training with?

@saturnniidae bestie, im SO GLAD YOU ASKED OH MY GOD! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I'VE BEEN WANTING TO RAMBLE ABOUT THIS!

In order:

Ooohhh that’s a good idea. I actually hadn’t thought of Hiccup being able to communicate with animals, but it would definitely be a fun thing to add! Maybe not to the same extent as Ezran’s abilities, but i think Hiccup would definitely be more in tune with animals and dragons than anyone else from Berk. Or at least, anyone who’s currently living in Berk >:)

Kinda! So i went through the different dragons listed to exist in Xadia and i was trying to find some kind of tie-in and similarities between the two universes. And the Midnight Dragon seemed to match Toothless’s description the best. They’re said to have pitch black scales, sensitive eyes, and are quite shy. Which i think Toothless matches quite well, minus the shyness, and being in another universe there can be some attributes that aren't One-for-One to the OG universe. Plus it's fun to mess around with concepts. And we haven’t seen a Midnight Dragon yet, in the show or otherwise, and since they’re said to be shy, it makes sense that they wouldn’t be out and about a whole lot. So i think they’re definitely a rare dragon to see. They also have a Moon Arcanum too, and that helps tie in with Toothless being a Night Fury :)

How does Hiccup lose his leg? No idea. Still working on that plot. There’s like several different scenarios im thinking of and i haven’t figured it out quite yet. But during the main part of the story he’ll have both legs. For now >:) (Also this takes place a few years before the events with Callum, Rayla, and Ezran. Jack is 17 and Hiccup is 18 and im currently working on incorporating the other characters from both franchises rn. TRUST ME I’VE BEEN THINKING! THEY HAVE NOT BEEN FORGOTTEN)

Who's Jack's mentor? Another great question that i haven’t decided on yet. I had the idea for Jack’s mentor to be Nightlight, but then i thought that if anything he’d be a Startouch elf and not a Skywing. And now i’ve been thinking ‘what if he was self-taught?’ Like he’d gather books and scrolls, and try to figure it out on his own. Maybe some help here and there from other elves, but it’s never been a formal education. Kind of similar to Callum in books 1 and 2. 

But yeah! This is what's been banging around in my head for two weeks so far. Thank you SO MUCH FOR THE ASK it is MUCH APPRECIATED!! Always love the chance to ramble about my au ideas and the thoughts behind them

If you got any other questions, feel free to send any more questions! I've be HAPPY TO ANSWER THEM!

[self-spaghettification]

Callum is going to learn Star Magic in Season 6

(or try to, anyway)

I have a theory on the order Callum will learn the arcanums—if he gets any more.

In the very first intro to the show, this is the order Aaravos mentions the arcanum in:

Sun, Moon. Stars, Earth. Sky, Ocean.

Callum connected to the Sky arcanum first, and then the Ocean. User raayllum compared him to Icarus, who flew too close to the sun and then fell into the depths of the ocean.

Adding onto that, I think Callum would get Stars next to symbolize another rise to great heights and then Earth as another crash. (I think that would be it but if they’re really going all the way then yes, next would be sun and then moon.)

To support the idea that Callum will learn star magic next, in the teaser for season 6, we see him blindfolded and freefalling, and the celestial elves in the starscraper are also blindfolded. It’s mentioned that star magic is the hardest to grasp and that celestial elves dedicate their lives to understanding the stars. So if anyone can teach him star magic, well…that isn’t an ancient manipulative startouch elf, it’s probably them.

Why would he seek to learn star magic, why now?

Most Obviously: Ambition as a Mage:

Callum has said he’s read up as much as he could on all magic and whenever he meets a mage he asks for their help learning that arcanum. IE: Akiyu.

The celestial elves may not be star mages (or maybe they are, who knows) but he will more likely than not use the opportunity to seek out an understanding of star magic while he’s there.

“It's protected by an ancient sect of Skywing Elves called the Celestial elves at the Starscraper, this unbelievably high tower, far, far north beyond the Frozen Sea.” - 5x05

2. Freeing Rayla’s Parents

“The spell is complex and it uses star magic so, to do it, I need these. Quasar Diamonds.” - 5x04

Since practicing star magic is key to freeing Rayla’s parents from the coin and that spell also requires the presence of 3 star magic gems, the quasar diamonds, doing the spell may require some understanding of star magic as well. The alternative may be dark magic and that would leave him open to possession by Aaravos and possibly harming those around him including Rayla.

That’s the third possible reason he would seek to learn star magic :

3. Protection Against Aaravos

if Aaravos is connecting to Callum’s dreams and posessing him via star magic, maybe in learning it he can figure out how to counteract it or use the bond with Aaravos to his advantage instead of only being the victim of it.

(insert images of use of star magic)

4. Sky and Stars close overlap

Sky and Stars share more traits in common than any other arcanum, and it simply makes sense that skywing elves and a primal mage who first connected to the sky would have the greatest understanding of it. It makes sense to connect with it more than others.

Vision is also used to describe Sky magic, and truth used to describe Sun magic.

5. Proving worthy of using the Quasar Diamonds and/or the Novablade

It seems hella unlikely these guys are just gonna want to give up their most prized and fiercely guarded possessions to some outsiders just because they asked nicely. They’re going to have to prove their magical capabilities and respect for their understanding of star magic, maybe even do trust falls or other rites, like that which we see on screen in the trailer.

In conclusion, I believe it will be key for Callum to try to learn more about star magic, by following the same rites the celestial elves do - getting as close to the stars as possible in the starscraper, becoming as secluded and distant from the rest of xadia as they possibly can (like the startouch elves do) cutting themselves off from one or more of their senses and presumably learning how to trust fate and understand it (freefall).

And if it doesn’t work out to learn star magic and Callum has to, once again, rely on dark magic when un-coining Rayla’s parents, well, things would not end well, ie: he would “play right into [Aaravos’s] hands”, possibly paralleling 5x08 but even worse, like Hanna Hoffer warned about 5x08 having “kiddie gloves on.”

So, I guess we’ll see :) (my bets are that it doesn’t work and everything goes to hell)

[kradogsrats]

Can humans connect to all primal sources while elves can connect to only one?

Well, let's look at the combined evidence:

Callum has connected to two primal sources, and they've been kind of arbitrary. Like presumably if he'd started with a Sun primal stone, he would have first connected to the Sun, since him having that primal stone experience is a not really insignificant part of him connecting to the Sky primal. When he connects to the Ocean primal, it's explicit that he has been focusing on it for a while, but I don't remember him expressing why he chose Ocean over others. Basically, I don't think there's anything preventing a human from connecting to any individual primal source.

We have never been told that elves cannot connect to multiple primal sources, only that they are naturally connected to one, and humans are naturally connected to zero. We were told that humans cannot connect to even a single primal source, but that was factually incorrect both past and present.

However, we have seen exactly one character in any canon material who is connected to multiple primal sources, and that's Aaravos. Startouch elves are pretty clearly something... else, so he's not really a representative sample of "elves."

Actually, in canon material, there are also very few magical artifacts that combine magic from multiple primal sources, and no known multi-source spells.

After Callum connects to a second primal, Rayla's reaction is lighthearted joking. Granted, there's a lot going on at the time, and she's the last person who would doubt Callum's ability to do the impossible, but I would expect her to acknowledge if that was something that no elf primal mage has ever done before.

Pyrda, one of the suggested player characters from Tales of Xadia (who are heavily implied to all be "canon" characters), is a Skywing elf mage "eager to experience a wider variety of primal sources" and who "believes her destiny lies in preserving the balance of magic." This could mean that her goal is to connect to other primal sources and learn their magic, or it could just be to study them and see other mages use them (or maybe someday try them herself with a primal stone). On her starting character sheet, she only has access to Sky magic.

The Tales of Xadia rules explicitly state that only human characters can be dark mages and only elves can be primal/rune mages, when discussing the character vocation—which is part of the character's background, describing essentially their career focus (i.e. are they a cook, a guard, a sailor, a mage, etc.). However, it doesn't say anywhere that vocations can't be changed as part of the character growth process, since character growth can include adding new distinctions and vocations are a type of distinction. Additionally, the actual mechanics of magic are based on a combination of a magical specialty and spell assets—for example, Pyrda has a Sky magic specialty and a Sky magic spells asset with two spells specified. Specialties and assets are also things that can be added via character growth, and there's nothing anywhere that says you can't add a Sky magic specialty to your human or other elf character.

And the Tales of Xadia rules have to accommodate Callum, because he literally has his own character sheet in there as an NPC catalyst. His vocation is "aspiring rune mage" and he has a Sky magic specialty and a Sky magic spells asset. The Tales of Xadia rulebook is pinned between s3 and s4, timeline-wise, so that's Callum at the end of s3 (his spells asset includes Manus Pluma Volantus). If a game started at the beginning of s1 with Callum as a player character, I would expect that his character sheet would undergo a few key shifts at moments of magic-related character growth: gaining the Sky primal stone as an asset, losing the primal stone as an asset but gaining the "aspiring rune mage" vocation, gaining the Sky magic specialty and initial Sky magic spells asset (with Aspiro and Fulminis), and finally improving the Sky magic spells asset with the addition of Manus Pluma Volantus.

Personally, I take the ToX rules as more suggestions about canon than necessarily 100% accurate reflections of it, because designing balanced game mechanics is very different from general worldbuilding. Also, ToX is very much written in a "do whatever the hell you want" way, strongly encouraging storytellers and players to expand or ignore things at their discretion.

Anyway, my belief is that elves can connect to multiple primal sources, just as humans can, but it's extremely rare. Elves are born with a connection to a primal source that they innately understand, and it's much easier and more worthwhile to focus on strengthening that connection than trying to establish another. (I also think it's harder for elves to connect to a second primal source than it is for humans to connect to a first one.)

Like, ignoring the whole discussion of talent versus practice, say you're a natural athlete—you're just good at any sport you try. You could pick one and with a reasonable amount of effort be Olympic-level good. At the same time, you're a really bad artist. It's not something you ever focused on, and maybe you're not a very visual person to begin with. There's absolutely nothing stopping you from working incredibly hard on being an artist, and you'd probably be able to get as good or better than someone who naturally has the qualities that make them good at art—but you still may never catch up to someone who has those qualities and has put in the same amount of effort as you have. Same thing in reverse—a naturally gifted artist who's uncoordinated and not very physical can train to become an athlete, and can conceivably become a good athlete (maybe not Olympic-level, but good). It's just... not a lot of people do that, because we generally like doing things we're good at and that are easy more than doing things we're not good at and that are hard.

There also don't really seem to be a lot of scenarios where an elf would be pressured by their community to focus on another primal source (the way that a child here in real life might be pressured by their family to be good at sports or math rather than art, or vice versa depending on their family makeup). We know... basically nothing about elf interbreeding, but it seems safe to assume that at least one parent would have a matching primal source connection with the child. Furthermore, most of the elf communities we've seen so far are very segregated, so you're just very unlikely to be part of one where you'd feel isolated because of your primal connection and pressured to pursue another. If you're a Moonshadow elf surrounded by other Moonshadow elves, and all the Moonshadow elf mages you know are Moon mages, and you're good at Moon magic because you have a Moon primal connection yourself... it just takes a pretty rare person to decide they want to be something completely different and put in the effort to actually make it happen.

I mean, heck, part of the reason Callum pursued his Sky primal connection so much was that he had experienced Sky magic and was good at it in a way that he didn't feel good about other activities. He could have stuck with his sword training and probably eventually gotten good at it (if he genuinely put in the effort rather than half-assing it because he's bad at it and hates it), but he didn't.

So basically I would say that yes, elves can connect to multiple primal sources, but it's a) hard, b) has few role models or societal pressures that encourage doing it, and c) most people just don't put that kind of effort into shit without quitting, whether because they're discouraged or because they have to do other things to survive.

[possumdrawsstuff]

GUYS

Okok so an ancient group of SKYWING ELVES with a SKY ARCANUM are living on the STARSCRAPER and protecting STAR ARTIFACTS with STAR CLOTHING and are very clearly either in kahoots or being controlled by STAR ELVES, not to mention that our two poor trauma babies, one of which is a SKY MAGE and is Lowkey getting controlled by a STAR ELF and they are going after the very things this tribe is protecting

IDK WHERE I AM GETTING W THIS BUT I FEEL LIKE THIS IS IMPORTANT