[fic][odin sphere] Postcards From Titania
So anyone has ever talked to me about Odin Sphere has probably heard all about the stupid AU I have in my head that I refer to as the Not-a-dämmerung. Which is to say my big stupid 'what if Ragnarok DIDN'T come the way it was supposed to' AU-- incidentally this is not a spoiler. The game is called Odin Sphere. There is copious Norse mythology. OF COURSE RAGNAROK IS GOING TO HAPPEN. Except in these stories it didn't. Or rather it did but it didn't happen the way it was supposed to. Anyway, here. Have some fic.
"Oh, yes. I have heard. Everyone's talking about how Titania's gone to the bad. I will grant you things were quite troubling for a time, even before that day. Oh, which day was that? My, you must have been sleeping. The one where the skies darkened and the earth split, all manner of ghouls and ghosts crawled up from the underworld and it was all a great mess. You might have thought it was the end of the world. How could you have missed it? Ah, but the world is still here I suppose. And Titania, for what good it does us now. The old king died, then. I should think any good citizen would remember that. It was all up to Prince Cornelius to decide the new sway of things-and who is surprised it's all turned out so bad? The new king is rather... young, to say the least of it.
My, can you say things like that now? Before, if you said anything contrary about the Crown and they'd have you in the stocks for days. I'm impressed by the laxness of the city guard. But then I suppose one should not be surprised they've eased up. It would seem alchemists and magicians have set up shop on every other corner. You'd not have seen this in older times. It was quite unseemly. Now all the mothers are sending their boys and girls for apprenticeships to learn glamour and sorcery. I imagine that thin fellow by the butcher's a necromancer. You used to have to be very lost or very desperate to find the likes of those.
Far cry from that now, isn't it? And look at what they offer. Potions to warm the blood in the winter and light a room at night-whoever heard of anything being so easy? You can buy medicines and wards along with your bread and milk. If one is even buying anything so piddly with all the access to these newer delicacies brought in by those beasts the new king's invited into the land. One must wonder where they all came from. One must wonder what he was thinking. True, with his...condition it is supposed he might be inclined to certain whim but surely he might have shown restraint. All these cafes and restaurants. All these tailors and craftsmen. And all run by keepers that charge reasonable prices and stand on stools to look their clients in the eye. What of the days of the fetid butchers? The beggars in the streets? Now these miserable creatures are everywhere and everything is so very...pristine. Yes. You are absolutely right. Surely the Kingdom's gone to pot. Now what else may be done but to eat that braided pastry I see in your pouch-might you tell me where you bought it? Oh? Well, nothing for it. They are everywhere, after all.
But one mustn't blame the new king I suppose. He is young and inexperienced, and how good of him to save this city while it was so besieged. Not to mention his father was so adamant on his death bed that he rule. 'tis hardly his fault there were no other options. No, surely he is not to blame, awkward condition or no. Clearly, we must blame that Witch who has cast the Crown under her spell, who stands beside him and dares to do such wicked things as advise him on matters of policy. Whoever heard of a witch suggesting when it is the best time to build a dam and where never to cut down the trees! In olden days it was the wizard's work to do that. They threw down a number of strict laws and unequal taxes, took their coin, and did a very fine job of not telling the old king about any of it. The nerve of that woman, to use this kingdom so. And for the king to know all about it and have the chance to sanction it!
The end is surely near. One imagines there shall be an alliance with the fairies next... oh, no need to look so alarmed. Their queen would never stoop to that.
They are right when they say that Titania has gone to the bad. I suppose it is to be expected. And here I can't even find my favorite shop. It would have been right here, just past the Beggar's Row-they call it Napple Grove now? Such a shame-they hung mandragora in the windows; you would know it by the stench. Stewed Cubsbane's quite...pungent. Hm? You say it has moved to Main Street? You say that it is a school as well?
....tch. Really, that is too much of her. Spiriting places away like that, she is a wicked one. Ah, but might we mind what we say of her. I have heard the Witch has a brother. I have heard he is even more wicked than her. So perhaps we might be thankful that she has made Titania so unbearable. He might turn up as a guest, and then where would we be?"
"Oh, yes. I have heard. Everyone's talking about how Titania's gone to the bad. I will grant you things were quite troubling for a time, even before that day. Oh, which day was that? My, you must have been sleeping. The one where the skies darkened and the earth split, all manner of ghouls and ghosts crawled up from the underworld and it was all a great mess. You might have thought it was the end of the world. How could you have missed it? Ah, but the world is still here I suppose. And Titania, for what good it does us now. The old king died, then. I should think any good citizen would remember that. It was all up to Prince Cornelius to decide the new sway of things-and who is surprised it's all turned out so bad? The new king is rather... young, to say the least of it.
My, can you say things like that now? Before, if you said anything contrary about the Crown and they'd have you in the stocks for days. I'm impressed by the laxness of the city guard. But then I suppose one should not be surprised they've eased up. It would seem alchemists and magicians have set up shop on every other corner. You'd not have seen this in older times. It was quite unseemly. Now all the mothers are sending their boys and girls for apprenticeships to learn glamour and sorcery. I imagine that thin fellow by the butcher's a necromancer. You used to have to be very lost or very desperate to find the likes of those.
Far cry from that now, isn't it? And look at what they offer. Potions to warm the blood in the winter and light a room at night-whoever heard of anything being so easy? You can buy medicines and wards along with your bread and milk. If one is even buying anything so piddly with all the access to these newer delicacies brought in by those beasts the new king's invited into the land. One must wonder where they all came from. One must wonder what he was thinking. True, with his...condition it is supposed he might be inclined to certain whim but surely he might have shown restraint. All these cafes and restaurants. All these tailors and craftsmen. And all run by keepers that charge reasonable prices and stand on stools to look their clients in the eye. What of the days of the fetid butchers? The beggars in the streets? Now these miserable creatures are everywhere and everything is so very...pristine. Yes. You are absolutely right. Surely the Kingdom's gone to pot. Now what else may be done but to eat that braided pastry I see in your pouch-might you tell me where you bought it? Oh? Well, nothing for it. They are everywhere, after all.
But one mustn't blame the new king I suppose. He is young and inexperienced, and how good of him to save this city while it was so besieged. Not to mention his father was so adamant on his death bed that he rule. 'tis hardly his fault there were no other options. No, surely he is not to blame, awkward condition or no. Clearly, we must blame that Witch who has cast the Crown under her spell, who stands beside him and dares to do such wicked things as advise him on matters of policy. Whoever heard of a witch suggesting when it is the best time to build a dam and where never to cut down the trees! In olden days it was the wizard's work to do that. They threw down a number of strict laws and unequal taxes, took their coin, and did a very fine job of not telling the old king about any of it. The nerve of that woman, to use this kingdom so. And for the king to know all about it and have the chance to sanction it!
The end is surely near. One imagines there shall be an alliance with the fairies next... oh, no need to look so alarmed. Their queen would never stoop to that.
They are right when they say that Titania has gone to the bad. I suppose it is to be expected. And here I can't even find my favorite shop. It would have been right here, just past the Beggar's Row-they call it Napple Grove now? Such a shame-they hung mandragora in the windows; you would know it by the stench. Stewed Cubsbane's quite...pungent. Hm? You say it has moved to Main Street? You say that it is a school as well?
....tch. Really, that is too much of her. Spiriting places away like that, she is a wicked one. Ah, but might we mind what we say of her. I have heard the Witch has a brother. I have heard he is even more wicked than her. So perhaps we might be thankful that she has made Titania so unbearable. He might turn up as a guest, and then where would we be?"