# Queen of Air and Darkness



## SPECTRE666 (Sep 15, 2007)

Need some info on the Queen of Air and Darkness. Who is she? Who is in her court? Where is her domain? What is her history? THANKS!


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## sigma999 (Sep 15, 2007)

http://z11.invisionfree.com/Feybook/index.php?act=SC&c=3


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## freyar (Sep 15, 2007)

WotC's Fey Feature


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## Varianor Abroad (Sep 15, 2007)

It's a phrase from Shakespeare, so you're free to make up the members of her court as you will. She's often associated with the Unseelie Court as opposed to the Seelie Court (though in classic myth neither is safe for a mortal). For a great read and inspiration, I refer you to Emma Bull's _War for the Oaks_.


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## davidschwartznz (Sep 15, 2007)

Not Shakespeare, A. E. Housman


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## Varianor Abroad (Sep 16, 2007)

You learn something every day! (Which specific poem is it? Wikipedia doesn't say.)


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## Trouvere (Sep 16, 2007)

The third of the Last Poems - only three verses long.


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## Delta (Sep 16, 2007)

The first thing I thought of was the second book of T.H. White's _The Once and Future King_. The Wikipedia article on the D&D character says that's the source:



> The name comes from the title of T. H. White's Arthurian novel The Queen of Air and Darkness, the second volume in his work The Once and Future King... In White's novel, the queen of the title is King Arthur's half-sister Morgause. She is an amateur witch who enchants the young king into sleeping with her, producing the traitorous child Mordred.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_Air_and_Darkness_(Dungeons_&_Dragons)


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## Eridanis (Sep 16, 2007)

Trouvere said:
			
		

> The third of the Last Poems - only three verses long.



I think it's worth quoting in full here - only because, as a 14-year-old, this struck me as a particularly D&D-ish poem:

"Her strong enchantments failing,
  Her towers of fear in wreck,
Her limbecks dried of poisons
  And the knife at her neck,

The Queen of air and darkness
  Begins to shrill and cry,
`O young man, O my slayer
  To-morrow you shall die.'

O Queen of air and darkness
  I think 'tis truth you say,
And I shall die to-morrow;
  But you shall die to-day."


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## SPECTRE666 (Sep 17, 2007)

BUMP. Thanks for the replies.


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## Wombat (Sep 18, 2007)

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...


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## Evilhalfling (Sep 18, 2007)

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


			
				Eridanis said:
			
		

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





Oddly it is used by Shakespeare.....


			
				Sonnet CXIX said:
			
		

> 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 _


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## JBowtie (Sep 18, 2007)

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.


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## Patryn of Elvenshae (Sep 18, 2007)

*Thinly* disguised?


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## Brazeku (Sep 18, 2007)

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


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## JBowtie (Sep 19, 2007)

Patryn of Elvenshae said:
			
		

> *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.


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## Cam Banks (Sep 19, 2007)

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


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## SPECTRE666 (Sep 21, 2007)

Bump. THANKS GUYS.


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## Quickleaf (Apr 7, 2015)

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.


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## TarionzCousin (Apr 7, 2015)

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
> ...


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## Quickleaf (Apr 9, 2015)

TarionzCousin said:


> Do you need an "official" Queen from D&D lore?
> 
> There are many historical queens, from wikipedia:



Nice, I didn't know Poul Anderson used her too!

But yes, I was inquiring about the official D&D word on the Queen of Air and Darkness. It seems there is a Forgotten Realms version (Auril) who has since been cured of the corruption the taint imbued in her? At least according to the FR wiki?


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## TarionzCousin (Apr 9, 2015)

Quickleaf said:


> But yes, I was inquiring about the official D&D word on the Queen of Air and Darkness. It seems there is a Forgotten Realms version (Auril) who has since been cured of the corruption the taint imbued in her? At least according to the FR wiki?



I have always thought that the "Queen of Air and Darkness" referred to Mab as originally (extant) attributed to Shakespeare. To my mind, that is where Jim Butcher got Mab from for his Dresden universe.

I see that Auril has that title on the FR wiki, but I don't recall ever seeing her called that until 4E's Dragon #367 article:


> Shiverpine Forest
> 
> Creirwy Glade: Fey of the Shiverpine Forest revere Auril as the Queen of Air and Darkness, a malevolent faerie goddess banished from the Feywild at the dawn of time after a failed coup against the Seelie Court.


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