#ailredlore

while ailred is good at things like chessboard and cards, his biggest "gambles" are tourneys. he is incredible at jousting and combat. pledging to no house but instead his religious order, he gambles to win pride and prowess attributed to his beliefs. the coin goes to alms.

#ailredlore

ailred has no relationship to house lys as he left it behind with aalis. he considers aalis a martyr of sorts, and finds ruminating on her (his own) upbring to be a sort of distant mortification of the flesh. that is until, in odynia, he meets a woman pretending to be the girl who died

#ailredlore

he has a natural, lily-like musk and black ink smell to his skin when enfleshed after feeding. otherwise he uses a woody oil in his beard and skin to compliment the smell of armor oil and parchment that usually clings to him. thurible smoke, too : he likes the scent of a chapel.

#ailredlore

ailred has always favored the weight of steel. the feeling of a hilt in his hand, the hiss of a blade when it is unsheathed, the cool metal of armor. he feels the same about chains, hooks. better yet, the interaction of these things with the body (entering, binding, cutting through)

#ailredlore ailred's relationship to the patron goddess is that of a knight and groom. so much so that his ideas of manhood, masculinity, and the like were predicated on the idea that if he wished to serve, command, and oversee the law of his goddess he could not maintain a body similar to hers.

#ailredlore #verrotlore

pregnancy as horror is a touchstone in odynia, especially in illsvale. conception, creation, these things stand in opposition and yet alignment with the plague of undeath that has warped the world. in illsvale, this is oft-centered around their tourney of torture.

45 minute writing sprint. unpolished.
ailred's forge.
cw : diy top surgery [ #ailredlore ]

The Ballad of Ailred Lys | Backstory | CW: Arranged Marriages, Noble Incest, Pregnancy] : Born into House Lys, Ailred was born and nursed on the burden of oath. From a lineage that prided itself on power more than love, he was brought into the world to serve as cudgel more than child. The Lysians were a people who had made their name in military strategy and advisory, having little acclaim or wealth of their own save for what counsel they could provide to higher, more industrious Houses. The bloodline produced powerful warmongers and knights, but more oft than not served as an incubator for the academic and politically minded. Each marriage was carefully negotiated, each child reared with incredible attention to detail as to produce the sharpest tool at the highest payer's disposal. House Lys was a nursery of consorts, counselors, and confidants - heartless, they made their history being any other man's left hand. Their touch was sought after - so prosperous the family was rumored to be inhuman, or have brokened deals with unseen forces. Mauhaut Lys was certain she would bring into the world another son, the third of her womb. House Seers had said it so when they laid hands across her belly, and so before her water could break she brokered her son's fate. He would wed into a house of high standing on the order of religion, masters of the word - cardinals, abbesses, theorists and ecclesiastical poets. He would have a wife that served him, that was devout and docile. When the midwife announced Mauhaut had given birth to a healthy young girl, all plans were upended and quickly restructured. The babe Aalis would be sent to ward with her eldest brother, who had taken head of a family driven by war. Knights, squires, cavalry. By her thirteenth year, she would be promised to her eldest brother after the death of his first wife.

Aalis was an emotionally distant, severe child plagued with visions. Observant, calculating, she performed her roles to absolute perfection. She shirked touch save for what she was conditioned to accept by the hands of her brother, and found true joy in reading and secret lessons with the House man-at-arms. Her duties as young lady were eventually honed in the armory. There, she became obsessed with the tending of plate and mail, of lance and halberd. She was a maiden squire, using her close proximity to violence to glean what should could from it. It became her fixation, her joy, her freedom. She tended her husband's armor with nigh-erotic fixation each time he returned from war, polishing it until her hands were made raw. Though as her first-blood approached, and the inevitability of child, the reflection she saw in the polished armor became more and more hostile. Having learned of her original purpose - born to be a man of devotion - Aalis devised a plan of escape with the help of her handmaid [whom she loved, fervently.] "Vanishing" during a lady's excursion to prepare her for conception night, Aalis ran with her favorite helm underarm. For a year, she remained holed and hidden away, reshaping herself into the dream the Seers once saw. Ailred was born at fifteen, his heart as sharp as a sword and his swords even sharper. For a year, he evolved into a squire before venturing forth, as polished as the silver baubles his lord brother used to dress him with. Having found the holy knights order as a skilled orphan boy, Ailred quickly devoted himself to the cause of knighthood. His devotion to combat, magecraft, and inquisition was unparalleled. He excelled not only in violence but chivalrous manner, becoming anointed Carnifex. Under his blade, many were forced to yield. Under his blade, his former House fell. Pits and gallows were adorned by his work. He collected heretics as jewels, finding intimacy in inquisition - asking questions, bending the body until it broke.

ailred backstory, summarized. [ #ailredlore ]