Queen of Air and Darkness

[Wombat]

Man, now I am going crazy trying to find the lyrics to the Poul Anderson poem/song of the same name... my google fu is weak this morning...

 

[Evilhalfling]

This is great insperation for dying words should the PCs ever manage to kill my evil Fae queen, but....
whats a limbeck?

Her limbecks dried of poisons
And the knife at her neck,

Oddly it is used by Shakespeare.....

What potions have I drunk of Siren tears,
Distilled from limbecks foul as hell within,
Applying fears to hopes, and hopes to fears,
Still losing when I saw myself to win!

Edit:Its not just you Eridanis, its very evocative.
of course I have run well-liked adventures based on "Big Black Horse & a Cherry Tree" by KT Tunstall, and "Mirror in the Sky" by Dixie Chicks

 

[JBowtie]

When I saw this, I immediately thought of the the Merry Gentry books from Laura K. Hamilton. (The answer there is Merry's aunt Andais, ruler of the Unseelie Court).

I find her books to be good inspiration for a modern fey setting - I just wish the pacing wasn't so glacial. Mind you, its thinly disguised elf porn, so some people may find the Wikipedia articles easier to digest.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Thinly disguised?

 

[Brazeku]

limbeck is an abbreviation of alembic, which is an old alchemical apparatus used for distilling stuff.

 

[JBowtie]

Thinly disguised?

Well, you can buy it in a normal bookstore, in the fantasy section... rather than being an under-the-counter purchase the contents would lead you to expect.

 

[Cam Banks]

Martha Well's wonderful Element of Fire draws on the idea of the Queen of Air and Darkness. One of the protagonists, Kade Carrion, is herself the heir to the title and finds it a lot more than she bargained for.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[SPECTRE666]

Bump. THANKS GUYS.

 

[Quickleaf]

Epic thread necromancy!

I'm trying to track down some lore for adventure-writing purposes. It seems like there are two versions of the Queen of Air & Darkness? One as she is described in 2e Monster Mythology / Planescape and the other as Aurilandur the Frostmaiden goddess in Forgotten Realms? Is that right?

Also, any references to the river Afon Bhlu, the lake Cwm Glas, or the lost fey land of Ladinion in any books besides Monster Mythology? Maybe the Feywild book or a Dragon article? Many thanks

Legend has it that in the time before history began, dwarven miners had unearthed a ten-faceted black gemstone of dark beauty, innocently deciding to present it to the queen of the fey as a gift. The fey princess who would become known as the Queen of Air and Darkness remained in court on this particular day while her sister Titania was bathing in the waters of the river Afon Bhlu, which fed the lake Cwm Glas. The gem, which is whispered to have been the creation of the Dark God, slowly corrupted the princess, eating away her physical body and destroying her soul. Ultimately she left the Seelie Court, absconding with her precious diamond and the great treasures of her race in a black chariot that belched smoke and fire. Soon after, the mountain from which the diamond was unearthed exploded, destroying the primordial fey realm of Ladinion and decimating the fey people. Since then the Seelie Court has been forced to wander the planes, never again finding a permanent home.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Do you need an "official" Queen from D&D lore?

There are many historical queens, from wikipedia:

• A snippet of poetry in A. E. Houseman's Last Poems (1922), stanza III
• The Queen of Air and Darkness (1939), a novel by T. H. White, second volume of The Once and Future King
• The Queen of Air and Darkness (1972), a short story by Poul Anderson in his History of Rustum universe
• May refer to Queen Mab, a fairy most notably mentioned in the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
• A title of Mab, the Faery Queen of Winter in Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher
• Queen of Air and Darkness (Dungeons & Dragons), a deity in the Dungeons & Dragons game based on Queen Mab
• Queen of Air and Darkness, a character in the novel War for the Oaks by Emma Bull