renfew the red [ uʎʍɥɥ ] (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
whatremained) wrote2016-10-25 07:25 pm
whatremained) wrote2016-10-25 07:25 pm
notes on hhwyn, renfew, and some of the world
man do i need to edit this down someday
Renfew the Red is actually the Paragon of What Remains, Hhwyn [ pronounced hhew-in ].
tl;dr summary: Renfew is a benevolent-leaning trickster god trapped in a mortal body. He tried to help protect the heir to the empire from being possessed by a destructive force, only he done messed and is now stuck in there with the other two, trying to keep them both dormant and also very much separate. Currently wanders as Renfew the Red, an enchanter not-so-extraordinaire. Long story short, nice guy, tons of fun, still kind of a fuck-up.
- A paragon is basically a god formed around certain ideals and traits. Hhwyn is a strange case, having been created from the cast-offs of the other four paragons instead of existing at the dawn of creation. The story goes that the four original Paragons felt that being too mortal-like got in the way of remaining unbiased, of holding the balance, so they ripped those parts out and threw them down to the earth far below. But there, those pieces of the paragons refused to vanish into nothing, and instead came together into a new form, a new life, a new paragon, the Paragon of What Remains, of all that is discarded, everyone and everything that falls through the cracks. Some might call Hhwyn the child of the paragons, but the Paragon of What Remains hates that and claims to be their equal sibling instead.
- Initially, the parts of the paragons threw away were sealed in the depths of the planet for as long as it took them to create and build up their own perfect world. When Hhwyn finally broke free, they assumed that he must be a terrible monster, since he was (understandably) angry at being cast aside and trapped for so long. Stories tell that Hhwyn rampaged for an age, destroying the once perfect world with chaos and the very same aspects the paragons threw away (a lot of which makes people, well, people, so it wasn't actually bad if you ignore all the rampant destruction). The story goes that a great heroine finally slew Hhwyn's first form, the Beast with Ten Thousand Faces, and what was left was the pest they all know today and was eventually proven to be the fifth paragon. The truth isn't quite that clear cut, though...
- There is also an old story about how Hhwyn exists to remind the other four of what they lost, that one day they will have to accept what they have done or face dire consequences. As Hhwyn doesn't exactly care to make anyone face dire anything, well, they don't put much stock in it.
- Unsurprisingly, the other paragons do not trust Hhwyn all that much. Ki [ pronounced kh-eye ], Paragon of the Just, in particular, has it out for Hhwyn. However, Athro, the Paragon of Deep Shadows, was once known to be the most inclined towards accepting the fifth Paragon.
- The paragons use and are referred to as they/them unless they decide to take a mortal body for a time, then they will use whatever the borrowed form used before. In Hhwyn as Renfew's case, he/him.
- Without a mortal body, Hhwyn will appear as various ghostly red animals, but most often as a horned canine reminiscent of a maned wolf.
- Renfew takes his name from similarly named trees (renfew trees) that have brilliant red leaves. They are another symbol of Hhwyn and he often uses trees and red-leaved plants in his enchantments, for obvious reasons.
- There were four other paragons. Ki, the Paragon of the Just (justice, law, rule, nobility, warriors, the brave, the bold, element of earth), and Elusen, Paragon of the Bright Heart (healing, kindness, charity, good deeds, the humble, the devout, element of wind), Athro, Paragon of the Deep Shadows (secrets, mysteries, scholars, the learned, wisdom, element of water), and Meistrolgar, Paragon of the Great Design (hard-working, trades, craftsmanship, merchants, the stubborn, down-to-earth, element of fire).
- There are now only three other paragons, though, not counting Hhwyn.
- Hhwyn claims no element but borrows power and magic from everywhere. Paragon of What Remains covers, well, what's left. The wanderers, the lost, the weak, the cast out, of the long, dusty roads, and the dark, miserable alleys, of thieves and beggars and storytellers and layabouts. Followers of the other paragons often claim they are a trickster, but ultimately, they're a guide and a messenger. It's just not everyone can appreciate their sense of humor or what they have to say, okay?
- Currently, Hhwyn is trapped in a mortal body, going by the name of Renfew the Red, a (not very) humble enchanter. In truth, the body Renfew is trapped in is that of the emperor's son! He didn't intend for this to happen and had actually been trying to prevent him from being taken over by one of the more powerful remnants of the Empty One.
- The Empty One is what's left of the Paragon of the Deep Shadows, scattered into hundreds upon hundreds of remnants, insane bits of power that can possess and warp any mortal, possibly at any time. Not great.
- The name the Empty One (singular means the former Paragon) and the empty ones (plural means the possessed) was coined because the creatures the former paragon's power created seemed empty of who they used to be.
- But how did that happen? Well, a problem that comes up with the paragons is that when they share their power out to their Blessed (chosen servants to grant long life and great power to, who speak and act directly in their name), they themselves grow weaker. Not wishing to be any weaker than any other paragon, the agreement was they would all only have up to 72 Blessed. For some reason, the Paragon of Deep Shadows became unsatisfied with this rule and began shedding power to their followers, seemingly at random. The why is still not known, but the result certainly is: the more scattered their power became, the more unhinged, and that spread to their followers, down to the very last. Hundreds and hundreds of their Blessed lost control and were twisted into monsters, leading to eleven terrifying years of the other Blessed going to war vs these creatures, who had once been their friends and allies. The problem, however, was, that once defeated, the remnants would vanish, only to resurface again later, in yet another form. It turned out that the remnants were and still are contagious.
- The paragons worked out a way to detect and imprison remnants, a task that ultimately fell to Ki's Blessed. They've been working on collecting them all, sealing them away in one spot. This turns out to be a bad, bad idea since the remnants in close proximity begin reforming into a bigger, more intelligent remnant.
- Remnants can hivemind and form large, organized attacks when near one another. This is important because someone or something has been releasing remnants into areas for this exact purpose. This is what happened to the emperor's son, only in that case, someone released the large remnant from the sealed chambers below the palace.
- The large remnant attempted to take over the emperor's son, Iolyn [ pronounced e-yol-in ], but, unknown to nearly all, Iolyn was a Blessed of Hhwyn (these rarely exist, as Hhwyn does not typically feel the need for servants in general). Hhwyn intervened before the remnant could take hold, but could not remove it from Iolyn. Instead, they pulled all of their power back to trap the remnant, to keep it apart from what remained of Iolyn. However, this took so much energy that the paragon found they were just as trapped as the remnant.
- The Blessed who had witnessed this (there was always a number of them around the royal family) did not realize the remnant had been at fault but did assume Hhwyn stole the emperor's son.
- Considering Hhwyn's reputation (both earned and not), no one believes them when they try to explain. So, instead, they flee, becoming Renfew the Red until they (now he) can figure out a way to safely separate a mortal soul from the remnant and become a paragon again. He is now always on the run, unsure if there is anyone he can turn to for help.
- Power-wise, with most of his magic caught up in holding the remnant dormant, Renfew is more an enchanter than an outright sorcerer. Writs (pre-written paper spells) and devices rely chiefly on physical items and skill and only little bits of magic to make them run. For example, a writ for making a wooden table erupt into a bunch of branches (to entangle someone) or a sunglow (stored sunlight in glass or gems). He will expend more of his own magic on short teleportation hops, though, because sometimes walking is for losers.
- Only his enchantments don't always go as planned (think enchanting a pitcher to always be full of water but yeah ok it's that but also a geyser now?)...
- "Beware the man with three shadows" is what's been following him around lately, since, under certain lights, Renfew will have that many. Ki's Blessed are trying to track him through sightings referencing this.
- Another random note, the world was originally called Llyi [ pronounced lee-eye ]. About half of the story takes place on the floating continent of Llachar [ pronounced lya-char ], where magic vies with solar punk elements (lots of plants incorporated into things, wood, lights, sun worship, solar power). There's a lot of desert and jungle and grasslands in between. The capital and seat of the similarly named Llachar Empire (the one remaining government on Llyi) is the sky-city of Hul. It's called a sky-city because it is elevated between the four great towers of the paragons, over the Sunsight Sea, which is an inland sea. Also, you know, flying continent.
- Llachar is the one "official" bastion of civilization in this world. It was raised by the remaining paragons at the end of the eleven years of fighting. The war against the empty ones was considered lost and the twisted world below Llachar is now simply the Land of Deep Shadows, named after the fallen paragon. There are still people down there, abandoned and making a life of their own still, but there are also a plethora of empty ones and monsters still roaming the lands.
- Another fifty years have passed since Llachar was raised into the skies. Hhwyn has only been trapped in Iolyn's body for about a few months in most recent times.
- Hhwyn does not have a great tower in the sky-city. There are scattered shrines set up across Llachar, usually off of roads, in lost places, instead.
- Even as Renfew, Hhwyn can still hear prayers, though usually only nearby ones. These tend to pull him from his journey from time to time, though getting a wild-eyed enchanter instead of a god answering them is always an adventure for the person praying for help.
Renfew the Red is actually the Paragon of What Remains, Hhwyn [ pronounced hhew-in ].
tl;dr summary: Renfew is a benevolent-leaning trickster god trapped in a mortal body. He tried to help protect the heir to the empire from being possessed by a destructive force, only he done messed and is now stuck in there with the other two, trying to keep them both dormant and also very much separate. Currently wanders as Renfew the Red, an enchanter not-so-extraordinaire. Long story short, nice guy, tons of fun, still kind of a fuck-up.
- A paragon is basically a god formed around certain ideals and traits. Hhwyn is a strange case, having been created from the cast-offs of the other four paragons instead of existing at the dawn of creation. The story goes that the four original Paragons felt that being too mortal-like got in the way of remaining unbiased, of holding the balance, so they ripped those parts out and threw them down to the earth far below. But there, those pieces of the paragons refused to vanish into nothing, and instead came together into a new form, a new life, a new paragon, the Paragon of What Remains, of all that is discarded, everyone and everything that falls through the cracks. Some might call Hhwyn the child of the paragons, but the Paragon of What Remains hates that and claims to be their equal sibling instead.
- Initially, the parts of the paragons threw away were sealed in the depths of the planet for as long as it took them to create and build up their own perfect world. When Hhwyn finally broke free, they assumed that he must be a terrible monster, since he was (understandably) angry at being cast aside and trapped for so long. Stories tell that Hhwyn rampaged for an age, destroying the once perfect world with chaos and the very same aspects the paragons threw away (a lot of which makes people, well, people, so it wasn't actually bad if you ignore all the rampant destruction). The story goes that a great heroine finally slew Hhwyn's first form, the Beast with Ten Thousand Faces, and what was left was the pest they all know today and was eventually proven to be the fifth paragon. The truth isn't quite that clear cut, though...
- There is also an old story about how Hhwyn exists to remind the other four of what they lost, that one day they will have to accept what they have done or face dire consequences. As Hhwyn doesn't exactly care to make anyone face dire anything, well, they don't put much stock in it.
- Unsurprisingly, the other paragons do not trust Hhwyn all that much. Ki [ pronounced kh-eye ], Paragon of the Just, in particular, has it out for Hhwyn. However, Athro, the Paragon of Deep Shadows, was once known to be the most inclined towards accepting the fifth Paragon.
- The paragons use and are referred to as they/them unless they decide to take a mortal body for a time, then they will use whatever the borrowed form used before. In Hhwyn as Renfew's case, he/him.
- Without a mortal body, Hhwyn will appear as various ghostly red animals, but most often as a horned canine reminiscent of a maned wolf.
- Renfew takes his name from similarly named trees (renfew trees) that have brilliant red leaves. They are another symbol of Hhwyn and he often uses trees and red-leaved plants in his enchantments, for obvious reasons.
- There were four other paragons. Ki, the Paragon of the Just (justice, law, rule, nobility, warriors, the brave, the bold, element of earth), and Elusen, Paragon of the Bright Heart (healing, kindness, charity, good deeds, the humble, the devout, element of wind), Athro, Paragon of the Deep Shadows (secrets, mysteries, scholars, the learned, wisdom, element of water), and Meistrolgar, Paragon of the Great Design (hard-working, trades, craftsmanship, merchants, the stubborn, down-to-earth, element of fire).
- There are now only three other paragons, though, not counting Hhwyn.
- Hhwyn claims no element but borrows power and magic from everywhere. Paragon of What Remains covers, well, what's left. The wanderers, the lost, the weak, the cast out, of the long, dusty roads, and the dark, miserable alleys, of thieves and beggars and storytellers and layabouts. Followers of the other paragons often claim they are a trickster, but ultimately, they're a guide and a messenger. It's just not everyone can appreciate their sense of humor or what they have to say, okay?
- Currently, Hhwyn is trapped in a mortal body, going by the name of Renfew the Red, a (not very) humble enchanter. In truth, the body Renfew is trapped in is that of the emperor's son! He didn't intend for this to happen and had actually been trying to prevent him from being taken over by one of the more powerful remnants of the Empty One.
- The Empty One is what's left of the Paragon of the Deep Shadows, scattered into hundreds upon hundreds of remnants, insane bits of power that can possess and warp any mortal, possibly at any time. Not great.
- The name the Empty One (singular means the former Paragon) and the empty ones (plural means the possessed) was coined because the creatures the former paragon's power created seemed empty of who they used to be.
- But how did that happen? Well, a problem that comes up with the paragons is that when they share their power out to their Blessed (chosen servants to grant long life and great power to, who speak and act directly in their name), they themselves grow weaker. Not wishing to be any weaker than any other paragon, the agreement was they would all only have up to 72 Blessed. For some reason, the Paragon of Deep Shadows became unsatisfied with this rule and began shedding power to their followers, seemingly at random. The why is still not known, but the result certainly is: the more scattered their power became, the more unhinged, and that spread to their followers, down to the very last. Hundreds and hundreds of their Blessed lost control and were twisted into monsters, leading to eleven terrifying years of the other Blessed going to war vs these creatures, who had once been their friends and allies. The problem, however, was, that once defeated, the remnants would vanish, only to resurface again later, in yet another form. It turned out that the remnants were and still are contagious.
- The paragons worked out a way to detect and imprison remnants, a task that ultimately fell to Ki's Blessed. They've been working on collecting them all, sealing them away in one spot. This turns out to be a bad, bad idea since the remnants in close proximity begin reforming into a bigger, more intelligent remnant.
- Remnants can hivemind and form large, organized attacks when near one another. This is important because someone or something has been releasing remnants into areas for this exact purpose. This is what happened to the emperor's son, only in that case, someone released the large remnant from the sealed chambers below the palace.
- The large remnant attempted to take over the emperor's son, Iolyn [ pronounced e-yol-in ], but, unknown to nearly all, Iolyn was a Blessed of Hhwyn (these rarely exist, as Hhwyn does not typically feel the need for servants in general). Hhwyn intervened before the remnant could take hold, but could not remove it from Iolyn. Instead, they pulled all of their power back to trap the remnant, to keep it apart from what remained of Iolyn. However, this took so much energy that the paragon found they were just as trapped as the remnant.
- The Blessed who had witnessed this (there was always a number of them around the royal family) did not realize the remnant had been at fault but did assume Hhwyn stole the emperor's son.
- Considering Hhwyn's reputation (both earned and not), no one believes them when they try to explain. So, instead, they flee, becoming Renfew the Red until they (now he) can figure out a way to safely separate a mortal soul from the remnant and become a paragon again. He is now always on the run, unsure if there is anyone he can turn to for help.
- Power-wise, with most of his magic caught up in holding the remnant dormant, Renfew is more an enchanter than an outright sorcerer. Writs (pre-written paper spells) and devices rely chiefly on physical items and skill and only little bits of magic to make them run. For example, a writ for making a wooden table erupt into a bunch of branches (to entangle someone) or a sunglow (stored sunlight in glass or gems). He will expend more of his own magic on short teleportation hops, though, because sometimes walking is for losers.
- Only his enchantments don't always go as planned (think enchanting a pitcher to always be full of water but yeah ok it's that but also a geyser now?)...
- "Beware the man with three shadows" is what's been following him around lately, since, under certain lights, Renfew will have that many. Ki's Blessed are trying to track him through sightings referencing this.
- Another random note, the world was originally called Llyi [ pronounced lee-eye ]. About half of the story takes place on the floating continent of Llachar [ pronounced lya-char ], where magic vies with solar punk elements (lots of plants incorporated into things, wood, lights, sun worship, solar power). There's a lot of desert and jungle and grasslands in between. The capital and seat of the similarly named Llachar Empire (the one remaining government on Llyi) is the sky-city of Hul. It's called a sky-city because it is elevated between the four great towers of the paragons, over the Sunsight Sea, which is an inland sea. Also, you know, flying continent.
- Llachar is the one "official" bastion of civilization in this world. It was raised by the remaining paragons at the end of the eleven years of fighting. The war against the empty ones was considered lost and the twisted world below Llachar is now simply the Land of Deep Shadows, named after the fallen paragon. There are still people down there, abandoned and making a life of their own still, but there are also a plethora of empty ones and monsters still roaming the lands.
- Another fifty years have passed since Llachar was raised into the skies. Hhwyn has only been trapped in Iolyn's body for about a few months in most recent times.
- Hhwyn does not have a great tower in the sky-city. There are scattered shrines set up across Llachar, usually off of roads, in lost places, instead.
- Even as Renfew, Hhwyn can still hear prayers, though usually only nearby ones. These tend to pull him from his journey from time to time, though getting a wild-eyed enchanter instead of a god answering them is always an adventure for the person praying for help.