Boudicca - Celtic Warrior Queen

Boudicca's - Celtic Warrior Queen
The Celtic were a race of tribal warriors whose history and influence can be traced back to 1200 BC.

to a period called the Bronze Age. 
They established themselves and their diverse culture all over Europe and into England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland. They had no real central government, in each of their tribal bonds, only their customs and religions, which included earthbound deities, demons and Sun Gods. 
It wasn't uncommon for Tribes to go to war against each other in the period of 1200 BC.   
Each Tribe was ruled by a King and his Queen. It was written in Roman history which stated that women often rode into battle alongside the men. It was Herodotus, an Greek Historian who named the warrior race the 'Keitoi' a name that was later shortened by the Celts.
The Celtic's and the Romans were at odds for centuries. Ever since a great Celtic army sacked Rome in the year 390 BC. 
This animosity followed the tribes even after they left European continent and invaded and established themselves in Britain. 
When Julius Caesar conquered the island in 55 BC, Britain officially turned to a Roman province. All British subjects falling under Roman law, for the next centuries and their relations between Celtic tribes and their Roman conquerors remained peaceful for a time. But like all good things in the Roman Empire and Julius Caesar - Peace did not last very long.  
In the Age of 43 AD., the problems and the peaceful times were coming to a end. 
The Roman colonisation escalated  in 43 AD. and the settlements and garrisons were established all over the countryside, including London or "Londinium" as it was known in the ancient times of latest invasion of a rich and powerful Celtic Tribe called 'The Iceni'. 
This Powerful Celtic Tribe called 'Iceni lived in the territories that are today called the counties of the Norfolk and the Suffolk. 
The King Prasutagus, ruler of the Tribe Iceni, and agreed to become a Roman ally but only if he was allowed to retain his territories. Following the King Prasutagus 's lead, several other Celtic tribes agreed to this same arrangement of their own Celtic tribes.
But as all this is going on, the most powerful of all the Celtic Tribes Kings dies suddenly. This was the  King Prasutagus ruler of the Tribe 'Iceni' - And his grieving Queen Boudicca and their two daughters, Comorra & Tasca.
This is when The Celtic Queen Boudicca - Started her legacy as the Celtic Warrior Queen-

When the King Prasutagus die, he had also written a will stating that half his kingdom and his wealth would go to Rome and the other half would go to his beloved Queen Boudicca and his two daughters as their rightful inheritance. 
But the Roman officials ignored the King Prasutagus wishes to his grieving Queen Boudicca and his two daughters. 
So the Roman officials ignored the King's Prasutagus written will of wealth, land and his kingdom and demanded that the Queen Boudicca hand over all wealth and territories.  When she refused, they proclaimed her as a unfit Roman ally and the Roman soldiers were ordered to arrest and flog the Queen Boudicca and brutalize to rape her two daughters.
Once she was released from the Romans and her daughters were returned to her side, Boudicca was not content to sit back and allow the atrocities to committed against her family to go un-answered. 
So this is when the Queen Boudicca became the Warrior Queen legend that was able to rally up an army of over 100,000 for her cause of saving her homeland tribe.
The Queen Boudicca rallied the support of her neighboring tribes, the Trinovantes and also a few other Celtic Tribes from the Northern areas, who thus far refused to blow to the Roman rule.

Within a very short time the Queen Boudicca was able to amassed an army of over 100,000. Her first target was the Camulodunum. A Garrison, relieved of the Roman Soldiers and theirs. 
Boudicca & her forces spared no one & she ordered the city and the temples to be put the the torch.  A Roman Torch. A Roman infantry of 5,000 was sent to deal with the upstart of the Queen Boudicca but they were also annihilated to the last man-  
Queen Boudicca's Bloodily rebellion moved on to her next targets which were - Londinium and Verulamiun and the surrounding Roman settlements, which were all systematically sucked out and burned to the ground.
While the Queen Boudicca continued her revenge against the Romans and the Current Governor, Suetonius, Galvanised, and army of 10,000 Legionaries  from the Roman army was marching to an area where they would have a tactical advantage over the Queens rebels. This would force both the rebels of the Queen Boudicca and her force's into a dense forest. 
The Queen Boudicca Rebellion began to fail~

The Boudicca Warrior was certain they would once again prevail over such a small Roman force - not only quickly but completely, but this would be her last conquest in battle with the Roman Empire. The last battle was a ragged one and it lasted all day. Boudicca would send wave after wave of her rebels against the Suetonius & Legionnaires. But it wasnt' working this time. The Romans were successfully repelling Boudicca rebels and herself. 
Eventually the Queen Boudicca and her remaining forces amidst their own trapped and their terrified families. 
The Romans began their own Slaughter of the Warriors, Women, Children and the elderly in which the carnage from which few would escape. It to was as bloody of a force as the Queen's was when she had her revenge against the Romans. 
But the

 Queen Boudicca and her daughters

Queen Boudicca and her daughters did mange to get away.

Queen Boudicca taking poison as a way of suicide 

The Great Celtic Queen Boudicca decided that rather than being taken back to Roman and than paraded before the Romans's Emperors as Political Prisoners - They choose to commit suicide.
So This is how the life of the Queen Celtic Warrior and rebel ended. 

The End of a Great Celtic Warrior Queen 

       

The Great Celtic Warrior Queen Boudicca

The Queen Boudicca was a great Warrior of her time and a great leader of women . I picked this 

image to show her beauty and strength that she had both as a mother, wife queen , warrior and a lead of a entire tribe ( country that was her King's) and she nearly was able to conquer the Roman Empire, which I feel that make Boudicca a powerful woman in history and one to not ever to forget. 
I hope like the beautiful images of this Grand Queen
Note: these images are not mind..
 These Artists  have depicted this great Warrior Queen  with great honor. 
Wendy 

The life of the Drow-2013

The life of the Drow

The Drow is one of my favorite magick creatures. Also the fact that they have such a dark history intrigues me even more. Coming from the fact they were once the beautiful - Yet dangerous Dark Elves, I think this is what draws me to write about them at least one more time. Maybe two! Besides I love the Artwork of the many Great Artist of today on how they all depicted the Drow. In this installment of the drow I hope to cover items that I might have missed in my other blog called Drow's.
Physical Looks ~
Drows look very much like the Dark elves but there are a few difference . All drows vary in shape

size, features, skin hue's (although most are very dark skinned-from their dark elfin kin) There are a few rare occasional drow that have the light blue, pale yellow & golden hue skin. 
Hair hue's are usually silver, white, Dark blue and Red. The Eyes are clearly usually Red! and tend to glow when their angered. But as in all races there's is always the exception the the rule. And the Drow has theirs to. There are some drow to have paler eyes such as light blue, lilac, pink and even silver. 
But if you ever see an drow with yellow eyes, it is certain that this drow has been either poisoned by some undetermined magic or the other which is the sign of either disease & sickness. Being that a drow lives in the Underdark, which is a very damp, wet and highly vaporous place with poison toxins in the air that they breathe. So it is my best bet to keep your distance if you ever see a drow with yellow eyes!
Now I have heard that drows have Blue/Purple eyes in the Dark Underworld too! But this is very

rare.  What this means,  if you're are curious - These drow are not what you might think! At first you might think since they have the rare eye color they would get better treatment.  Well this is not true. What usually what happens to these drow is, they are thrown into the pits of the Underdark to work under the Spider Queen's order's until they drop dead. There have been known to have halflings of drow and humans which I have heard to be quite beautiful, that is if they are lucky enough to escape the clutches  of the Spider Women.
Another interesting find, about the drow, is that within the Characteristics features is their teeth. They are either black, white or even purple. And their gums, tongue and throats are either red or purple. I thought this to be quite interesting myself.
Height~Age~Life~  
Compared to the other Faerunian elves, the drow's are quite a bit shorter but much stronger for their size. 

Females  of course are the dominant race in the drow so they tend to be a bit taller than the males standing about an average of 5' and much stronger in most cases. 
Males are on an average of 4'6" in height and are less stronger but there is the exception. But of course they must be under consisted watch by The Spider Queen's female guards. 
Talk about life spams, well the drow sometimes can live for centuries. This is far beyond any human or even some of their elfin kin. But given the type of life style that the drow lives and where the live, most don't have long life spams. The majority of the drow meet premature deaths and violent ones at best, as most are warriors and assassins in their society. 
As far as living as a drow, it can be a very hard life. Only the Royalty of the Spider Woman lives a happy life with all the privileges of being Queen. 
The average drow citizen in the drow cities that do survive the trials of their society and the horrors of the Underdark mishappening's can live for centuries; just like their Queen - The Spider Queen. 
Senses~Traits ~
The majority of the drow keep to themselves and to their own traits and traditions which they were

given to at birth. A lot of misconceptions and ignorance of the drow seem to surface in those times.
These elves had a different perception of drow and dark elves compared to the wood elves, moon elves, sun elves, star elves, valley elves, wing elves, silver elves, Lythari elves, forest elves. and unicorn elves. 
There are a few sub-races and others that dwell in different forms of the Underdark . These could be the Blood elves, Shur-drow,drow-human and dark elves to be a few. 
Other highly developed trait is their sense's- 
 Drows senses are highly more developed than their surface elfin kin. This is because of living in the dark cavern's of the Underdark for a millennium. 
Two examples of their keen sense of sounds: They have developed away of finding water deep in the earth by timing the echoes bouncing of the caves. Then from those sounds they are able to to detected the amount of running water they hear in the caves. 
They can also detected when there are rock shifts or collapses  in the rock formations, by listening for the natural movement and groaning sounds of unshaped rocks.  
These keen senses have given the drow a superior sense of hearing. 
Abilities~
The most distinctive feature of the drow, is the touch of the Lolth upon them. Just as Corellon cursed them and made them vulnerable to light ~ The Spider Queen gave the drow a blessing to counter act this giving the drow the power over darkness that all other races lack. 
This power can manifest in several ways. The most common being the ability to shroud enemies in a

Magical impenetrable darkness, usually called Globe Darkness - Debilitating Charm & the Faerie Fire that makes a creature an easier target. By encasing them in something that looks purple fire though causing no harm.
Most drow can use these abilities every so often and the power can tired them out slightly. More experienced and well - trained drows however learn how to cast both abilities separately. 
Yet others, particularly drow who are well - favored by the Lolth, can manifest another ability that both slows and impedes a foe while also making it more difficult for them to see some individuals learn to awaken. These powers further becoming  known as the curse born and possessing abilities that allow them to further their mastering the shadow power granted by the Spider Queen. 
Other drow's struggle to rid themselves of the Lolth touch and the dark power and instead seek the

God Corellon's aid eventually becoming the fey God's Crusader within the dark realms of their race, gaining the blessing of healing and light from patron of the elves. Either path may lead to great power and grant even more unique abilities to an individual drow. 
Psychology~ 
The Drow are taught from an very early age to trust no one, forgiving alliances only when they are confident they can out match their ally if he/she decides to turn on them. The inherent  pride in their own abilities  quite often leads to such alliances beings forged. 
Though they almost always end badly when one partly decides  the alliance is no longer convenient. Even drow who escape the cruelties of the Underdark find it more difficult to form long-term friendships than most of their cousin kin.
Most drow share a hatred of all other races, but the most hatred that runs deep for all drow is the Goddess Seldarine and the surface elves.   
Crafts ~

Poisons and toxins are some of the drows favors in making their most powerful magic poisons. 
One of their favor's is called the Knockout Poison, which is made from a slippery black fungus that only grow in a certain area of the Underdark caverns. They have other favored poisons too. These were made from purple worms, scorpions and all types of spider that roam all the caverns of the Underdark. 
Drows favor fast weapons like rapiers and will choose hand crossbows when possible. This is the best way to deliver their deadly poisons from long or even short distances. 
Religion~

Drow's Primarily worship the Dark Seldarine - That is The Deity Seldarine who was cast out and exiled to the Demonweb Pits. They generally worship the Goddess Lolth  (The Goddess Lolth is Seldarine when she was thrown into the demonweb pits and exiled there if you're curious). 
Drow as I said do worship the Goddess Lolth although those on the surface often worship Shar or Vhaeraun. There is a number of good Drow - And there are Good! drow's out there! that are on the surface that worship the Goddess Eilistraee.
Once again I've done another blog on the drow. I probably will do more I hope that you all will enjoy this one as well. 
Of course enjoy the amazing images of the many Talented Artist that have created such beautiful images of the drow that I come to love very much. 
Note - The Photos are not mine...
Wendy

The Leshy-2013

The Leshy

An Male Woodland Spirit of Slavic Mythology - Lesovik~ 

The Leshy is a male wood land spirit in the Slavic Mythology who protects wild animals, birds and the forest. They say that mass migration will happen of the animals, and birds of the forest is to be instruction of an Leshy, in order to keep them from harms way from predators. 
 The Leshy will protect all wild animals and the forest itself. Often it will lead humans astray to its cave in the deepest parts of the forest where it can make the humans sick and even in some stories to tickle them to death. These odd  magical creatures are known to have a mischievous behaviour and often takes the form of a peasant. Although they can be spotted because of their glowing reddish eyes. In their normal state it has a beard made of living grass and vines. He is often depicted with a tail, hooves and horns. They also have the ability to shrink themselves down to the size to a blade of grass or to the height of the tallest trees in the forest. 
The life Style of a Leshy~
Some of the Leshy's  traits are; they have horrible cries that they can make, to scare humans in their

forest that they protect. They also can imitate voices of people who are familiar to the people who wander around his forest and then lure them back to their caves, where Leshy's will tickle them to death. Kinda strange creature wouldn't you say? They say that these Mythology creatures aren't evil although they do enjoy misguiding humans and kidnapping young women. I don't know what they do with the young women? I didn't find that part out. So you can use your imagination on that.. Creepy I would guess! These woodland spirits also are known to keep grazing cattle from wandering too far into the forest and from getting lost too. I found out that if more than one Leshy inhabits a forest, they will fight territorial rights for that entire forest. The evidence of this would be huge fallen tree's scattered about the forest and large amounts of wild animals acting strange.
The Traits of the Leshy~

It is said that the Leshy has the ability to shape-shift into any form, animal or plant. When he's in the human form, the Leshy has many different looks of the Slavic Lesovik. I have described one version earlier. He has been seen as a peasant form, with glowing green eyes and his shoes are on backwards and in other tales he appears to visitors as a large talking mushroom. It just depends on the Leshy mood. 
If a person befriends a Leshy, the latter will teach them the secret of their magic. Farmers and shepherds would make pacts with the Leshy to protect their crops and sheep. The Leshy has many tricks including leading peasants astray by making them sick or tickling them to death. They are also known the hide the axes of woodcutters too, so that they cannot cut down his forest. Also if a Leshy crosses the path of a person in the woods, the person will get lost immediately to find the way out, you have to turn your clothes inside our and wear shoes on your opposite feet. 
I found this Oh, magical creature fascinating. It was quite different than your average mythology creature. 
 The Lyeshy by W.R.S. Ralston. ru. 
When the Lyeshy goes round to inspect his domains,
the forest roars around him and the trees shake. 
By night he sleeps in some hut in the depths of the
woods, and if by chance he finds that a belated traveler 
or sportsman has taken up his quarters in the refuge he had
intended for himself, he strives hard to turn out the intruder,
sweeping over the hut in the form of a whirlwind which makes
the door rattle and the roof heave, while all around the trees bend 
and a terrible howling goes through the forest. If, in spite of all these
hints, the uninvited guest will not retire, he runs the risk of being lost
next day in the woods, or swallowed up in the swamp.


 I hope that you find it interesting too. I found a few images from great Artist's that have depicted this creature what it might look like. I hope you find these as helpful as I did... Wendy

Cynthia's blog - fairies and me