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

The Vila Fairy

The Vila Fairy

The Vila is a Eastern Europe Fairy, who are often depicted a beautiful winged tiny women. They are often naked or dressed in white thin cloth with very long flowing hair which is usually white or silver. 
The Vila is also a shapeshifter and can appear as swans, horses, falcons and snakes. They can 
also shapeshift into Natural Phenomena such as a whirlwind, Thunderstorms, and earthmoving. 
The Vila live deep in the ancient forest and are fierce protectors of the forest in which they live.  They are also very protective of the trees, plants and animals that live within her forest. 
They are revered for their deep knowledge of herbal healing, and will use their knowledge of healing powers in the forest if the human or elf is worthy.
Now if any human were to do any harm to the Vila Fairy's forest or her Creatures she might lure them into a magic fairy circle. Once the human is been lured inside the circle they are joyed with other fairies to dance and they will dance to their deaths. 
Another's have been  killed by a natural landslide or drowning in a lake in the Vila Fairy's forest. 
Various stories are told about the origin of the Vila. Some have said that they are the spirits of women who are caught between this world and the afterlife because of their frivolous habits on earth. 
Others say they are spirits of betrothed young girls who died before the wedding night and were unable to rest quietly in peace on either worlds, so they became the Vila. 
This is a interesting fairy, I only found one image that was I thought was good for this blog. It was very difficult to find any in numbers like that of the original fairy. But I feel that's because it doesn't want to be seen or discover. I hope that you find this wonderful ting fairy as interesting and mysterious and fun as I did. 
I hope that you also enjoyed the one photo that I found.
The Artist - Ado Ceric 
Wendy  

Night - Gothic Gardens-2013

Night - Gothic Gardens

The Night Garden or Gothic is not about mystery, fear and wickedness. Now to some it might be, it just depends on the individual and their personal type of garden theme they are trying to make for themselves. 
There are some that may make their night gardens about mystery, fear & wickedness... But from the most part, I found that when it comes to the Gothic Gardens day or night - it is all about loving the dark, moon, stars and combining a variety  of shapes, plants, colors with shadows to the garden.
They are special kinds of flowers that bloom only at night and they release their perfumes into the

cool night air only in under the stars and moon. 

Tube Moonflower 

Evening time or even later into the night can be a wonderful time in your garden. You just need to find the right kind flowers, plants, foliage, and other Nature or Gothic themes, to ensure that your garden will be a special place at night too. 
When you decided to make a night garden, choose a place that is most visible when there is no light when the sunsets. You can choose a space only for your night flowers, while in another area of the garden you can put your daytime flowers and plants. 
The Moonflower is is born to glow in the Gothic night time - it opens

The Oenothera Moonflower - In its Yellow and Pink 

when the sun has completely  gone down and will stay open until sunrise. 
Each flower will only last for a day. So if this flower sounds intriguing  to you, it would probably be a good idea to plant quite a few of these beauty's .
The Moonflower is refer to a group of flowers that belong to the genus Ipomoea and get their name from their large, fragrant flower, which pop open at night. Moonflower is a lender vine closely related to the morning glory. although moonflowers do not have the hallucinogenic properties of morning glorying. The vine always coils clock wise even in the southern hemisphere. They come in a variety of colors some white, yellow, pink and silver. Most of the moonflowers all grow on vines. The best way for the Moonflower to grow is on either a trellis, fence and hanging baskets are great too. They say that some of these vines can grow up to 20'...
There is The Oenothera which is a beauty and comes in Yellow and Pink. These flowers are great for the late afternoon till early the next morning blooms.
The Yellow flowers are first to bloom into the twilight then the Pink there after. There are Purple ones too. These blooms would work really well in a Gothic theme garden with the purple colors. 

"Brandywine"Foam Flower Tiarella-Silvery Flower

When you make your night garden, try to add other type of plants that don't necessarily have to bloom during the night. You should also be aware of the blooming seasons to extend the beauty of the colors in your night garden. Historically white flowers weren't the favorite in the night gardens because they are to prominent, so instead you could choose silver colors if you like-
For a night bloom that doesn't shine too much as the pale yellows, whites, and pinks for a more Gothic feeling if that is what you are looking for in your night garden.

The Silvery fragrant flower of the Native ''Brandywine"Foam flower Tiarella - These are excellent for ground cover and they have shiny green leaves that turn bright Red in the fall. 
The Rhododendrons - Silver foliage - Blooms of Silvery White and Blue Tulip flowers-

These night flowers will get you that more Gothic look to your night garden, with their silvery bluish tulip flowers.  












The Black Knight Morning Glories -

These will look great in hanging baskets & fancy pots that you pick out special for your night garden.
















The Black Pansies -

This is another great flower for an Gothic theme garden.










The Dragon Coleus-

This is a great foliage that easy to grow & great as a ground cover. It's colors are deep purple's and blacks so, this to would be another great plant for a Gothic theme garden.


 




Black Tulips-

These beauty's would be another great addition to any Gothic garden that you make . They have Beautiful deep purple colors with black Gothic look-










1) Evening Primrose-

Evening Primrose is a plant from the Onagraceae family origin - which is indigenous to Northern America, but is now found in Europe, Asia, New Zealand and Australia too. The beautiful yellow beauty is named the Evening Primrose because the flower blossoms only at night. The plant is famous medically. Its seeds, leaves and oil of the seeds and root are used in many different medicines. It grow 3' by 5' tall Flowers are .078 to 2" wide.




2) Night Bloom Water Lilies-
 Night Waters Lilies are quite beautiful. And if you have a pond in your garden they would be a great addition to your garden. These are Tropical night blooms and as you can see in a pond like setting they are quite beautiful. The water lily of deep crimson red, pink and purple, would work very well for either a night or Gothic garden. The blooms will open in your pond with the dark cool evening breeze, bringing a beautiful mystery to your garden. And with the backdrop of the dark ripples of the dark water with these blooms floating in your pond, you will have a most special night garden.

3) Moon Flowers-

The Moonflower - flower name is Ipomoea - are called Moonflower because they bloom in the moonlight. These are beautiful flowers and come in Pink, Yellow and white. The flowers quickly open at night and last the entire evening. Then they will close when the first light of the sunrise touches the delicate petals.







4) NightGladious-

These beautiful blooms are a Creamy Yellow flower with the most wonderful spicy fragrance. It is usually grown in dense areas with heavy rainfall. These flowers are also found in late spring and early to late summers.
Its name comprises to two words-
Night and Gladiolus. Gladiolus is a word of Latin origin which means Sword. 
Parts of this flower is poisonous and can cause the skin irritation and allergic reactions... 
This flower is attractive to butterflies and bees. 

5) Four 0' Clocks-

These beauty's of the night blooming flowers are tender perennial flowers. They will bloom in spring and summer time. 
These tiny gem's are available in a number of colors ranging from red, yellow pink, blue and white. The need for full sun exposure to glow and start blooming at 4pm hence got their name-
They are excellent hedges and barriers for your night gardens. And have and outstanding fragrance when they open at 4pm. 





6) Saussurea Obrallata/ Brahma kamal-

The Saussurea Obvallata is also known as the Brahma kamal. It is a beautiful night blooming flower named after the Hindu God Brahma. It is native of China, India and Burma. It Blooms only Once a Year!  And it has many medicine uses. The flower grows in the high mountain tops and cold areas. The flowers heads are actually purple and are enclosed in layers of greenish - A yellow boat shape covers it in a papery subsists  in nature. Strange but beautiful.




7) Dragon Fruit Flower-

These flowers are native to Mexico and Central & Southeast Asian Countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia. They are also produced in Taiwan, Israel, and Southern china. Its plant has a Beautiful flower which only blooms at night.
The flower starts blooming around 7pm and will reach it full bloom and glory at 12-night. 
I would image it is quite a sight to see if one is so lucky to. But for all of us who can't see this gem of a bloom, I hope you all enjoy the photo.
These flowers give blooms against the it large deep green leaves which with its magnificent bloom flower it can be a stunning addition to your garden, along with its fruit too. Although it is a rare one. 

8) Dutchmans - PipeCactus-

This is my last flower that I found for you all for your night gardens. These large Epiphytic Cactus native from Mexico to Brazil. In nature the plant can reach up to 20' in height - The dark green branches are lanceolate, and can accumulate to 3' in length  to 4-5" wide. They are said  to be very easy to grow and when in bloom very showy as you can see in the photo's I've provided for your readers. 
The Flowers will open when in late evening and close at sunrise. Its best to plant in late spring toe early summer. The flower can grow up to be 11" long and 5"wide. And the blooms are very fragrant. 
Keep them in a greenhouse during the winter months.  

I hope all these ideas will help you create a wonderful night garden for you all on your own. Some of these flowers you will be able to find at your local nursery with plants and flowers. But others are probably too rare to find in any local nursery. I just thought it would be fun for you to see some of the beauty's that are out there. I have tried growing MoonFlowers once by seed and it didn't work out because of all the squirrels we have. The just dug them up thinking that was food. I personally would try the full plant if possible. 
Note.. None of these photo's are Mine.
Wendy.  

Magic of Photography 2013-1-[Photos around Kent Washington]

Magic of Photography 2013-1-[photos around Kent Washington]

Summer Time Play 

Spring Time

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Hawaii 

Purple Bee Balm 

Rosy - My Hummingbird 

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Arcata - The Marsh 

The Magic of The Redwoods 

 My favorite flowers 

THE RED BEE BALM

MY KATIE

I miss you Grandma!