Three Twisted Knots

From Friðrós:

Over the years, I’ve learned to anticipate some things about Her Fae Majesty’s habits and movements. For example, when we return from the Great Faire, there will be an influx of new ideas, imported items to integrate into the existing landscape, and it doesn’t surprise me any more.

But when she declared herself in love with the permanently eclipsed, yet still bright sky of Memento Mori, and asked me to make it so in Awenia — well. That was something new. Now, of course I know how to alter the light on a temporary basis; this is basic glamour. It’s the alteration of the moon, and the (relative; I know she’ll change her mind eventually) permanence of it that I struggled with.

It took me two months to prepare. Obviously, I wasn’t working on it full time; I still had to install new items that HFM insisted must now be in the Realm, negotiate with the demifae about the possibility of new standing stones in the Sacred Grove (they’re for the idea, but only if the stones glow; I am against glowing things in general; it’s a whole thing), and mentor some of the students HFM has taken on and then of course assigned to me.

On top of all that, sometime during the Faire, I seem to have caught the attention of a large, fluffy cat. HFM seems to recognise her, and she does have this odd ability to go sort of thin at times, as if she’s not wholly in the same reality I am. She informs me her name is Slaine, and I have no choice now but to love her and take care of her.

But more about that shortly.

I started from a very murky and foggy background; the idea was to clear it and use the fog to form the shadow against the moon.

‘That looks awfully dramatic,’ said Slaine. ‘You look like you’re about to do an epic disco dance.’

I sighed. ‘I kind of need to concentrate here, cat,’ I said. ‘I’m sure you think you’re helping.’

Slaine chucklehissed. ‘Not at all,’ she said. ‘But seriously, if you had a wand or something, you would look much more legit magical.’

I backed out of my stance. ‘Slaine, huldufólk do not need wands, or focii of any kind. We are magic, kind of like the demifae, only with larger footprints when we care to leave them.’

‘I’ve seen the demifae use wands,’ she asserted.

‘Yes, well; some of them have affectations like that. Will you please either help or hush, so I can get on with this? The Queen is still in New Jyorck for summer theatre fest, and she’s off to the Fringe after that, but she will stop here in between those two things, and if I haven’t accomplished this, I am toast.’

She wrinkled her leonine nose. ‘I,’ she declared, ‘do not like toast. Therefore, I will help.’

It seemed counterproductive to tell her I had been speaking figuratively, so I just nodded. ‘Line of sight or touch; your choice, but no more spurious remarks. Just back me up; Clutie’s got the demifae helping from the Grove, so I think that here in the Book Forest I’ll have enough energy to accomplish this.’

Slaine dropped down onto the floor of the book forest’s one large structure and padded over to me. Her silky coat sparked with power. ‘Right; go time.’

The next few moments were a blur: wow, questionably corporeal and possibly not plane-bound cats are powerful, just so you know.

I had to grab one of the stone supports to keep my balance, but as I looked out across the Book Forest, there it was. ‘Will you look at that,’ I breathed. ‘We did it!’ I sent a little psychic message to Clutie, thanking her and the demifae for their energy and help. ‘Well, why don’t we take a walk over into the Pangurlands? I’ll get you a treat.’

Her only response was a loud purr.

As we crossed the bridge into the Pangurlands, Slaine could contain herself no longer. ‘When are we getting to this treat? We’ve been walking for ten years, and I will lose all my — did those stone cats just turn and bow to acknowledge me?’ She licked a paw and slicked her ruff down a little.

‘Nope; they turned to acknowledge me,’ I said. ‘The guardian cats and I have an understanding.’

She sniffed. ‘If you say so.’

‘Look,’ I said. Just wait here, and I’ll head over to CatFé Nation and get a treat for us.’

She jumped up onto the table, but I could hear her muttering something about how ‘for you’ always changes to ‘for us’ when you’re dealing with pesky bipeds.

‘I heard that!’

I put the tray of generously sized sushi rolls down on the table. ‘Look; I’ll light my pipe, and you can have first pick. You probably don’t want the avocado; that’s the green stuff. But if you’d save me a little piece of salmon, I’d be grateful.’

‘We’ll see,’ Slaine said as she surveyed the feast. ‘I’m an obligate carnivore, you know.’

‘You cats,’ came a deep gravelly voice I recognised, although in a smaller body this time. ‘Always going on about being obligate carnivores, as if that somehow makes you special.’ Myrkandraum dropped lightly onto my shoulder, stared over my head at the cat. ‘It’s just that you don’t know how to properly digest vegetables, not to mention the appalling lack of “sweet” sensors,’ he said. ‘Not that I have a lot of those, myself, but I can recognise them at least. I suppose I should be grateful you’re not as stupid as a dog.’

Slaine stared up at Myrkandraum. ‘She told me you were massive! You’re barely half my size.’

Myrkandraum clacked his beak. ‘Prone to exaggeration, tick.’ Clack. ‘Exaggerated sense of own strength, tick.’

Slaine scoffed. ‘You can’t even see me, can you,’ she said, more than a little nastily.

‘I hate it when you kids fight,’ I said, glad there was a generous helping of cannabis in the pipe bowl. ‘While you work out your differences, I’m going to see how the rest of the Realm looks in the new light.’

‘But, don’t you want your fish?’ Slaine sounded shocked.

‘I’ll have the avocado when I come back; I know you don’t want it. You and Myrkandraum can fight over the salmon.’

Slaine hissed softly, still staring at the raven, unblinking. ‘She really did say you were bigger.’

Myrkandraum laughed. Still sounds like a frog with a megaphone. ‘Would you like me to become larger, little kettlingur?’

That shut her up. I laughed to myself as I walked away for a little bit.

I love passing through the Pangurlands until I get to the Tree. The Shrine Tree, that is. The cats, of course, claim it, but all of Awenia knows it’s our heart as well. So much strength and energy flows through those branches through to the roots, and that gives us all the magic we might not have been born with.

I have no idea how many cats there are in the Pangurlands. The legend says it’s where the souls of all compatible cats go when they pass through the Veil, and they do seem to change every day. Each of them seems to find a spot they love on the tree’s root (cats are calmed by magic, of course), but sometimes it seems as if there are three or four of them there at once — hang on. Perhaps that’s why Slaine appears to be inhabiting multiple planes at once. I don’t mean that perhaps she’s passed beyond the veil; I’d sense that. I mean that perhaps she is somehow needed in several places at once. Hm. Surely she’s not that important to the lives she touches? I will have to think on this.

I will also have to give the Sacred Grove’s refurbishment some more thought. I love this space, and I’ve attended many ceremonies and rituals here, but the demifae are right: it could use a little bit of a lift. For something like this, I will have to go through Her Fae Majesty, because she has the final say over what happens in the Realm’s power points, so to speak. She and the Realm have a symbiotic relationship, so anything that affects Awenia’s spiritual centre must be approved by her.

The Grove has a wonderful spiritual echo ambiance, so I was able to cast my consciousness back to the edge of the Pangurlands. I chuckled to myself to find that Myrkandraum and Slaine were still trading insults. They seem likely to become fast frenemies, which is about as positive as one can hope for a raven-cat relationship.

I made a quick circuit through Awenia Town and slipped into the Book Forest via the bridge behind TAC’s house. She’s never there any more: what’s up with that? Her Fae Majesty says that the Book Forest is her favourite part of Awenia, but if you press her, she says that about every part of Awenia; you just have to ask her about it. Even though the new light meant it appeared to be night all the time, the sky was clear enough that I could make out the airshp, hovering above us. I once asked Her Fae Majesty why she had an airship in Awenia, of all things. She said something vague about if the portals were down and she needed to get somewhere but not in a hurry — and then came out with what I think must be the real reason: a friend of hers made it and she loves to remember her friends. When HFM first talked me through the history of Awenia as she created it, she said it started out as the Book Forest and a single statue. I admit I wasn’t sure about the Book Forest at first: I couldn’t fathom why anybody would want to create a forest out of items that had once been trees. Maybe that’s why she sent me to live on its opposite edge. My proximity to Lady Mystie notwithstanding, I love my house and it’s given me new appreciation for the Book Forest itself, since I’m walking through there every day for one reason or another. That central structure comes from the same Realm where Her Fae Majesty acquired the original root cuttings that became our central tree, The Shrine Tree. I didn’t even notice the lanterns were exactly the same until someone, maybe Clutie, pointed it out to me.

So, the Book Forest and a single statue? Given how many statues there are in Awenia, it might be difficult to figure out which one came first.

It’s this one, of course, The Last Hope, our Harper against the darkness. Queen Gwyneth says quite a lot of this decision was down to The Author, but the hard and fast rule is that the statue and the Tree are the twin energy satellites around which Awenia revolves. While the Tree is our power, The Last Hope is our creative spirit. And you can see a relatively new addition here: the Harmonious Bard came to us last year, to help The Last Hope harper keep her music fresh. Her Fae Majesty informed me that the decision to bring the Harmonious Bard home to Awenia also came from The Aughor. I admit, I used to be confused about the difference between Queen Gwyneth and The Author. When I mentioned my confusion, she said, ‘So am I,’ so I try not to worry about it now. If the Queen is confused, it’s OK for me to be confused, as well.

Did I just actually say that? It occurs to me that I have changed a little bit over the past few years. I guess that’s to be expected: time passing and all that — but when all is said and done, I feel a lot less opposed to Her Fae Majesty in general than I used to. I think part of the reason is that despite my annoyance with her general air of lunacy and impracticality, Queen Gwyneth has taught me a lot. Sure, it took me months to figure out how to do it, but I put that shadow in front of our moon.

The little tattoo on my stomach reminds me that I am my own entity, separate from the Queen who has taught me so much. There have been times when I have struggled to separate myself, because the Awen Queen’s magic is heady, creative, overpowering.

When I got back to the table, Slaine had scarpered. ‘How did you two get along?’ I asked Myrkandraum.

‘Well as can be expected,’ he replied. ‘I acknowledged her power; she acknowledged my power; we agreed not to eat each other.’

‘A milestone of diplomacy,’ I said.

‘Don’t mock me, missy.’

I reached up to give his beak a little tap; he mimed biting my finger off. This is how we are. ‘Have I done it?’ I asked, and I gestured at the sky. ‘Have I become a creatrix?’

‘There is no end to that road,’ replied the raven. ‘You do not become a creatrix and then stop. You keep becoming a creatrix. The only real lesson is to continue.’

I thought about that for a minute. ‘Every day is a school day,’ I said lightly, quoting Her Fae Majesty.

‘Just remember that your school is the whole of creation,’ said the raven. ‘And while I know it must be hard for you to tell the time of day with this new sky, it’s almost bed time. Shall we walk home?’

I laughed. ‘I’m going to be the one doing all the walking,’ I said. ‘You’re going to ride on my shoulder and complain the whole time.’

‘You see?’ There came another one of those gravelly, foghorn chuckles. ‘You do learn.’

There is something magical about walking home through the Book Forest. And to look back at just the right moment and see the Shrine Tree lanterns lighting the Grove and the Pangurlands — well. I feel so grateful to be here, in this Realm, in this time. Gratefulness is something I’ve learned over the last few years, as well. I even (don’t tell her!) feel a little grateful to live just across the way from Lady Mystie. Although… that donkey of hers is a menace.

Just before we reached Birki House, I climbed up onto the rock shore so I could look across to the central Book Forest. ‘I wonder,’ I asked Myrkandraum. ‘Now that I feel so comfortable here, so at home — is that an omen that I will have to leave it soon? Am I ready?’

He scoffed. ‘You think you’re ready to return to Ísland? This,’ and he gestured with a wing, ‘is one Faerie Queen’s isolated Realm, with a tiny population all working together. Can you see how different that is from your homeland?’

I sighed. ‘So I will never be ready? Is that what you’re saying?’

‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘You will never be ready. Then again, no-one ever is. Reflect upon the night you have made, and consider whether, when we met, you would ever even have attempted such a change, even in a small, isolated Realm such as this.’ He fluffed his feathers as we crossed the threshold into Birki House. ‘You can make a house. You can change the colour of night. You can put a shadow in front of the moon. How could you ever be ready to do that? No-one,’ he repeated, ‘No-one ever is.’

Notes & Credits:

(Sponsored items as always are noted with a “*”)

Featured:

• The Earthy Eyeshadow: Hesumbra, Revenne Eye Makeup.* Available until tomorrow — that’s Saturday, the 18th of July — at The Wasteland. After that, it will return home to the Hexumbra Main Store.
• The clear, but not pale, blue eyes: Also, Hexumbra, Cameron BOM eyes. These are available at Crowdemic until the second of August.
• Friðrós’ not-so-subtle but perfectly matched lip stain: Aleo Hexumbra, Dahlia Lip Stain*. Available at the Hexumbra Main Store.
• Myrkandraum* and Slaine*, expertly portrayed by CKit Falconry’s Animesh Raven Shoulder pet and Brown Tabby Maine Coon Cat. Both are available at the CKit Falconry Main Store.
• Friðrós’ absolutely over the top dramatic ears: Quills & Curiosities, Preyseeker Ears. These are available at the Quills & Curiosities Main Store. Not only are the bodaciously long and pointy, they’re animated. And they come with two sets of jewellery! Fully EvoX compliant.
• Bindrune and Not Like You tattoos: Safe For Mortals, creativity bindrune and not like you. More information on how to get items from safe for mortals is coming soon.
• Nails: Eventyra, Norse Spirit Nail Gacha (only for Maitreya), Vegvisir Visions. These are available at the Eventyra Main Store, and there’s a fatpack available if you prefer not to play gachas.

Other Fancy Stuff:

• Hair: No Match, No Recall
• Face Vegvisir Tat: Sehas Tattoo, custom
• Eyebrows: Frisbey, Thora – Botanical Eyebrow Pattern
• Signature Ring (every narrator has one): On A Lark, Codex Ring
• Necklace: Oblivis Solem, Mysterious Medallion
• Chest Vegvisir Tat: Reviver, Vegvisir Nude
• Clothes & Boots: Art & Ko, Willow Set
• Leggings: Una, Eliza Leggings, Grey
• Friðrós is styled on a Maitreya LaraX Body and a Lelutka EvoX Avalon Mesh Head. Her skin is DeeTaleZ, Bjoerk in Celtic, additional freckles are from Ophilis, and her lashes are the Void Demure Lashes.

On The Set:

Seriously? There’s too much to mention, especially when we get into Book Forest territory. But here are some very important bits:

• EEP: Fallen Gods, Memento Mori Sky
• The Shrine Tree: The Looking Glass, The Shrine Tree. A one-of-a-kind item acquired at the Fantasy Faire Live Auction in 2019. The large gazebo (landing point) and bridges were part of this auction package, although I believe you can buy the bridges at The Looking Glass’ Main Store.
• The Last Hope: Death Row Designs, The Last Hope Statue. A two-of-a-kind item acquired at the Fantasy Faire Live Auction in 2016.
• The Harmonious Bard: HarshLands, The Harmonious Bard. A one-of-a-kind item acquired at the Fantasy Faire Silent Auction in 2025.
• The Awenia Airship: Rivendale, Dr Roseler’s Airship. It’s at the Rivendale Main Store.

All photos taken on location in Awenia. Come visit!

NB: All items noted above, as well as every other Fantasy Faire Auction item I have ever acquired, are available for anyone to see, enjoy, photograph, dream about, and write stories around in Awenia.