Interfering With the Natural Order Since [Redacted]

So far there is not one chapter of Remembered Realms without a drow somewhere in it.

Chapter one: Kren Auzkovyn.
Chapter two: Veldrin and (briefly) Jezz Uloavae.
Chapter three: Mayae.
Chapter four: Tarlyn himself, and (briefly) Sannara.
Chapter five: Veldrin again, plus his dad.
Chapter six: Nathshalee herself, and the Kiaransaleen-wannabe.
Chapter seven: Dare and Sannara.

Further shenanigans are in the works for Grace and Theris and Ariel and folk as yet to be introduced (this being a Sweeping Epic and all), but still. Drow up to the eyeballs. Maybe I should give in and rename it, I don't know, "Remembered Realms: The Year of the Drow."

So I've been piecing together bits of history and modernized culture for my Forgotten Realms futureverse, which is also an opportunity to make even more hammerlicious injokes which may or may not ever see the light of day. I'm particularly proud of Rizzen Elfkin and Mirza of the Swamp.

So then I threw in Alindkach and Siora, a couple of gay Vhaeraunite poet-philosophers who live in Eryndlyn circa the events of the Lady Penitent series. Alindkach is a Masked Traitor who was converted from Lolthianism, possibly experimented with Ghaunadaur, pretended to be a priest of Selvetarm and eventually became a priest of Eilistraee, so he has quite a wide theological perspective. Meanwhile, Siora's concept started as a takeoff of some people's beliefs about lesbian relationships i.e. that they're somehow inherently purer and nicer than anything involving guys. Siora holds that given the ginormous gender bias of drow society, even apparent within the fluffyduffy Eilistraeens, homosexuality is the only way male drow can find Twu Wub and a partner who Really Understands them.

They're both dead by the time of Remembered Realms, but some of the characters have read their work in college or whatever. Oh yes, and they may or may not have had a relationship. And now they've taken over my brain. This is really not a good time to have a plotbunny invasion.

I've been thinking on this a while, and thought I might as well spit it out. What better place to do it than here? Note: vague floating spoilers for various Forgotten Realms drow books.

I've been working on giving some complexity to Mayae Veladorn, the reincarnation of Eilistraee in my fic "Remembered Realms." I'm trying to keep her from turning into a generic Fluffy Angsty Sue (though given that she's the reincarnation of a goddess it may be a bit too late for that), while drawing off Eilistraee's canonical traits, but now I'm wondering if my efforts are going too far the other direction.

( The other Artemis )