Ornvyr

> *"Consider me your someone."*
>
>

## Storyline

Ornvyr the wood elf chases the Listener down in the forest after they have raided the village and stolen some of their most valuable treasures and artifacts. Despite being the head watchman he's rather friendly with them, taking time to decide on a nickname for them and even expressing admiration on how they avoided hurting anyone in his village.

It turns out that the Listener dropped the goods "by a tree" while they were running away. The wood elf doesn't look forward to backtracking since they're a long way away from the village but they must. The Listener stole the only medicine for infernalbloom, a fatal condition where someone in unrequited love starts growing flowers inside their lungs, coughs up flower petals and dies in a week. The medicine only alleviates the painful side effects as the only known cure is to confess to one's object of affection. There is currently one villager who depends on the medicine to survive since she refuses to confess to her love (the *married* village chef if you ask him). Ornvyr is in awe of her resilience but doesn't understand how one could be willing to die rather than face the consequences of telling someone they love them.

The Listener reveals that they still have the medicine on them but will give it back. After being threatened with severe punishment they agree to go back and find the treasure that they left behind as well. Pleased, Ornvyr decides that their punishment is to be confined in his home under his watchful eye as their usual prison was destroyed by a tree falling on it. The village elders - his parents - will decide how long they will be imprisoned. He drags them back to his village as they keep an eye out for the stolen treasure.

After two months,  Ornvyr and the Listener have settled into a routine while they've been imprisoned in his home. He's become familiar with their forgetful and inattentive nature, reminding them that they are helping pick food for the Spring Banquet, one of the most important holidays of the elves. He informs them that the village chief is considering allowing the criminal to attend due to their good behavior.

He admits that the time they've spent together has been quite fun even if he has to remind them of the daily routine every day. They have chores to be completed before the Tree of Righteousness shakes the ground, a signal that the elves are still blessed with good fortune and prosperity; when the Tree does not shake the entire village finds and eliminates the source of the bad luck. He assures them that as long as they continue to behave they will have nothing to fear should the Tree not shake, which hasn't happened in 34 years.

Ornvyr herds the Listener back inside the house to have breakfast where he continues to defy the chef's directive of a bread-and-soup diet. Though it's difficult to sneak extra food to them he would rather treat them as an equal. As the only one who interacts with the Listener regularly he finds the passion and charisma they possess to be a breath of fresh air. They are completely different from the "prunes" in his village who have a brutal side despite the wood elves' reputation for serenity and goodness. He also feels pressured to act and perform his duties a certain way especially with his strict, law-abiding parents' reputations.

He reveals that if things were different he would follow the Listener out of the village and into the world beyond, something he's never done before. He dreamed of such freedom as a child even if he was confined to the village but has since gained too many responsibilities to his parents and the village to indulge in such things. Still, he secretly remains as fascinated with the unknown as he was back then and hopes that one day he'll get the chance to leave and explore the world.

The Listener suggests that he leave with them and he rebuts that it would be impossible; the village would track them down and they would be putting themselves in danger for his sake. They insist that they would take him despite the danger. Ornvyr continues to express confusion that they would do this for their captor and prison guard but sounds hopeful when he asks if they could really leave together. They appear to repeat that it's possible if he guides them through the village and he says they'll discuss this later. He leaves the Listener to rest as he cleans up, murmuring in wonder of the possibilities that lay beyond the horizon.

Throughout this episode he blames his coughing fits on pollen and a dry throat. He dismisses the pile of flower petals the Listener finds outside as having flown in from elsewhere, it is spring after all. If the Listener commented otherwise on his coughing he did not respond verbally.

It continues with a pyre as Ornvyr begs the Listener to leave and run as fast as they can without him. The Listener doesn't know what happened and he explains amid painful coughs that the Tree of Righteousness didn't shake today, the day of the Spring Banquet. The chef called him out on stealing food to the chief and now his life is forfeit.

He's being punished for falling in love with the Listener, breaking the rules of village as an elf and head watchman. He doesn't regret the last two months he's spent with them as they've been the happiest of his life. Though he was planning to tell them his feelings today he apologizes for capturing them and making them watch his demise because of his selfishness.

Ornvyr resists the Listener's attempts to help him and tells them once more to run and never look back. They are risking being captured if they stay with him and he can't bear the thought of them dying for him. He begs them to live their life for they are too special for their story to end here. He will be with them for as long as they remember him, and even if they don't they still deserve to live and earn their happy ending. He concedes that he suffers from infernalbloom and that today, the day he would have confessed, is the fifth day. He apologizes not telling them sooner but he understands now how frightening love can be.

His tells the thief to return to his house and escape the village through a hidden trail at the back. They will end up in a separate territory and if they mention Ornvyr's name they will get help. The Listener doubts that they can make it but he asserts that they can for he has witnessed all their strengths and believes in them. His final words are a plea for his crook to take care.

**Note:** This storyline first appeared in the ***Forest of Zetria*** playlist though it is not confirmed if this same Listener is the one who appears in one, some, or all the audios of the Wolfsegner, Suisen, the Leshen, and the druid. A separate ***Strict Elf*** playlist was created afterwards.

## Personality

Ornvyr is self-professed to be a lighthearted man. This is in contrast to his responsibility as head watchman, which requires he follow and enforce the rules of his village. He says has trouble taking criminals seriously, finding their determination and assumption they can do what they like without consequence to be ridiculous.

Though his main descriptor is "strict" his actions reveal a defiant streak in his nature. He has a sterling reputation for being trustworthy but feels restricted by the blood ties that obligate him to stay in the village. He calls the villagers who are particularly law-abiding and unreasonably inflexible "prunes" in private. He possibly leveraged his title and parents' positions to give the Listener a lighter sentence during their trial.

Ornvyr appears to feel conflicted by the Listener's willingness to put themselves in danger for his sake. He considers himself not worth the danger even though he breaks the rules every day to feed them properly. Part of this may be from denial that he is in love with them. By the final episode he fully understands the depths of his feelings and can relate to the female elf who needed the infernalbloom medicine in the first episode. After admitting his feelings he's adamant that the Listener should do everything they can to survive, his only regrets being that he didn't confess sooner and that they must witness his punishment.

## Trivia

### Ornvyr

* This character and storyline were written by Akaash.
* Calls the Listener "crook".
* Advocates for humans in his village and is made fun of for it.
* The usual punishment for the Listener's crime is to behead the criminal and sacrifice them to the local Solarians (spelling unconfirmed). This may be an entirely creature or a different kind of wood elf.
* Wood/Forest elves are susceptible to infernalbloom (a variant of Hanahaki disease) due to their magical connection with the land.
* Considered to be the most trustworthy elf in his village. He calls his parents the *former* most trustworthy elves in the village. His parents are definitely Lawful Neutral (maybe Lawful Good from their point of view).
* In the video Twin Elves Interrogate You, his death is confirmed (he was burned at the stake).

### The Listener

* A human thief who avoids hurting others while committing crime.
* Somewhat reckless given that they stole from some of the most vengeful, untrustworthy people of the forest - according to the Wolfsegner.
* A forgetful person that forgets the daily routine after living with Ornvyr for two months, though this may be on purpose just to mess with the elves.
* It is unknown if they return Ornvyr's feelings in the final episode but they do care enough to commit more crimes to help him by offering to take him away from the village and trying to help him in his final appearance.

### Fan Theories

* The Tree of Righteousness did not shake the ground on the morning of the last episode because it foretold Ornvyr's fate or the fate of the Listener (if this is the same one that the Leshen captures).
* Ornvyr's final episode is one of the most heart-wrenching that Hollow has ever performed. No one has recovered since March 30, 2020.

## Audio References

All audios can be found in the ***Strict Elf*** playlist found here.

1. ↑  Captured By a Strict Wood Elf
2. ↑ Strict Wood Elf Asks You To Run Away With Him
3. ↑ Strict Elf Confesses To You