Augus' Lake

"*Augus . . . it’s okay. I swear it. You’re not there anymore. There’s light. So much light. It’s afternoon, your lake is waiting for you, and no one here wants to hurt you.'*"
―Gwyn ap Nudd[[Unwound, Chapter 12: XII]]
Waterhorses typically only have one lake where they form an underwater dome at the bottom, within which they build their home, but Augus Each Uisge has had three primary lakes, and three temporary lakes. Augus' primary lakes were built as actual homes, while the temporary lakes did not have homes at the bottom, and were more like borrowed spaces to keep him healthy, used for digesting prey, and possibly to attract prey.

## Appears in

Major canon:

*Deeper into the Woods*

*Game Theory*

*The Court of Five Thrones*

Canon Extras:

*A Broken Feather, Straightened*

*These Troubled Times*

*Glass Bubble Dreams*

*The Ash and Gwyn Interludes*

*Unwound*

*All That We Were, All That We Will Ever Be*

## Augus' First Lake

Augus' first lake was located in Ethallas forest, near enough to the An Fnwy estate that he could hear the family going on hunts. It was where he and Ash Glashtyn were born. 'He’d had all his herbal stocks in there and ingredients he’d collected over hundreds of years, gifts from clients and the whole house designed to be a haven for him and Ash both.'

Augus said the clearing around the lake was similar to a room Gwyn had at his Seelie palace: huge, with open sky, 'the sound and scent of fresh, running water. A river bubbling to the left. Large oaks heavy with leaves were waving the tips of their branches as a brisk breeze whisked through the sky. He could hear the songs of birds he didn’t recognise, saw a family of large, violet squirrels chase each other up and down a tree trunk before disappearing into a hollow. A small, red fox watched him and whirled away with a flash of its tail. The grass was easily crushed under his boots, the ground itself soft enough to give as he walked on it. He saw outcrops of granite as he made his way down a thin forest path.' Augus also grew bluebells at his lake.

His home was under a green dome that kept it dry and protected. He had a foyer, which uninvited guests couldn't pass without his permission, and a narrow entryway 'where double doors opened out into a charmed foyer that allowed visitors to come only so close to Augus’ private living space.'

The floor had dark tiles. He had various rooms to assist clients in, including guest bathrooms, at least one of which had a shower and a bathtub. Augus' body care products were unlabelled and kept on moss-covered shelves. There was also an 'open plan area that contained a lounge, a generous kitchen space, [and] a very generous pantry where he did the bulk of his herb drying.' He also kept a fridge from the human realm there, alongside an easy to reach coffee table.

The home contained a 'large herbal room, boiling tubes set below steadily burning flames as he carefully added a pre-selected number of leaves to each one, making sure the colouration of the bubbling liquid was closer to bottle green than jade green. The room stank of heavy, acrid sap, but it wasn’t a scent that bothered Augus at all. . . . His rig of herbal equipment was a hodgepodge of items that had been purchased from fae who stole from the human world . . . Alongside that were fae inventions, and the purchased, expensive magic that kept machinery working when it was supposed to run on other fuels like petroleum or coal.'

Visitors could use a bellpull to sound a 'dull, low chime sounded throughout' the house, low 'enough to not disturb any clients he might be entertaining, but he felt it reverberate through his feet nonetheless.'

One of Augus' bathrooms was designed like a human realm bathroom. 'The room was tiled, its fixtures looked like stainless steel or chrome.' There was a large bathtub.

There was also 'a room that had bookshelves filled with books, an overstuffed sofa, a table with two chairs.' The room was filled with individually and carefully crafted furniture, and Gwyn surmised these were gifts from clients.

In the scene room where Augus first took Gwyn, Augus had 'a comfortable chair picked out with delicate green embroidery – a gift from another client'. 'It was a large room with no windows, metal and wooden beams arching across the ceiling, thick circular rings set deep into the walls, black chests of drawers everywhere, contraptions that all looked like torture devices. There were items of softness too. Handtowels and towels, a few tastefully woven rugs, unlit candles here and there'.

This lake/home was destroyed at some point after Augus abandoned it during his Kingship, and taken over by other fae.

## The Unseelie Court Lake

When Augus stayed at the Unseelie Court, and served as King, he used a lake at the palace for digesting food. Since Augus spent most of his reign in his lake, it's possible this Court lake was the lake he spent most of his time when he was King, as he also stayed away from his lake increasingly during the time he spent with the Raven Prince. This later passed to Ash when Ash became King, and he loaned it to Augus while Augus' second lake was being prepared for use. Tiny silver and gold fish, as well as jewelled crabs and eels reside in the lake.

## (Gwyn's) Lake in the Seelie palace

Gwyn designed his Seelie palace to match his tastes, and have 'a sense of the forest', so in one of the outermost circles he built a more forested area, which included a lake. 'The lake itself was enclosed within a space of trees and smooth, violet granite. The sky couldn’t be seen overhead, the canopy wove itself too thickly, giving privacy to him when he came here. The lake itself was deep, fringed with waterlilies and lotuses not now in bloom, with natural benches jutting out within the lake itself, and a gently sloping bank on one side, covered in moss and liverwort. It was an inviting space, a private one.' There was a bench set near the lakeshore, where someone could sit, partially submerged.

When Augus became healthier during his imprisonment, and spent more time with the lake, the lake and entire room it was in was transformed. 'It was lush, verdant. Lilies flowered in the water, and other flowers . . . blossomed nearby. Vines hung from the ceiling, the room was steamier and more humid than ever. The lake itself was half hidden by a screen of sedges, rushes and even a small tree with glossy, thick, dark green leaves. It was wilderness, smelling of loam, humus, chlorophyll. Tiny birds flittered through the undergrowth. A frog, jewelled with wet, brown skin and adorned with glowing brown eyes, croaked musically'.

When Augus grew enraged at being kept prisoner at the Seelie Court, he destroyed the lake, even beyond what it had been before Augus arrived. The foliage was destroyed and the lake itself was poisoned.

## Augus' Second Lake

Ash used his position as King to allocate Augus some land with a new lake. When Ash first took him there, weeping 'willows grew in a stand to the left, some branches long enough to stroke the water’s surface, sending out constant, small ripples. Water rushes grew healthily in several clumps, masking the frogs that croaked sedately within them. He could hear crickets, including a rare, fae species of golden cricket that sounded its dull, bell call. Tiny church bells ringing all around. It was green, not quite healthy, but certainly with the potential to be.' It was warded, but not fully safe, so Ash kept him from using it for a time, despite Augus' initial hunger for it.

When the lake was finally as safe as it could be, Ash gave Augus a box of borrowed energy to help build the lake up as Augus wished.

Augus made the home open plan and airy, possibly with thoughts of Gwyn. 'He chose huge vaulted ceilings, giant circular spaces and white walls with exposed golden beams, golden, gleaming planks of wood on the floor. The furniture curved itself into the walls: bookshelves and chests of drawers and a walk-in wardrobe that was generous as it had to be. There was still the hallway reaching off to the right that he’d always had, leading to other rooms. Guest rooms, client rooms, Ash’s room.

But his own master bedroom was no longer tucked at the very end of a hallway, hidden from all. He offset it back from the living area, an extension of wall shielding the generously proportioned bed from those who entered. The sheets, blankets, rugs, soft furnishings were fine, high quality, but they were natural fibres. Augus had become accustomed to cotton and wool of high grade, he’d become used to linens and the feeling of buckskin under his fingers. He used water-wicking fabric where he could, but there was less than he’d had in his previous home.

The large, arched stained glass windows of blues and greens catered to the murky beast inside of him. . . . [H]e lit the werelights. A golden-white glow inside, and bluer, eerier lights outside that lit the stained glass and cast dancing watery lights upon the floor so that even while standing on two feet, Augus could remember the lake around him.' He used the last of the energy to make a first aid kit and medical supplies.

Fish, turtles, and eels were in residence in the water. Augus later invited Gwyn to come visit, and Gwyn saw a large walk-in wardrobe.

After reuniting with Gwyn after Gwyn's demotion, Augus took greater interest in the lake, such as when he found a 'finicky' beech tree. He became more distant from it during *The Court of Five Thrones*, where it still felt alien, even when he spent time at the bottom to digest his food. Augus later admitted he avoided the lake because he was afraid of someone coming and taking him from it, as the Nightingale had.

## Augus' Lake in the Night Gardens

When Gwyn kicked Augus out of the Unseelie palace when Augus refused to explain what he'd done to the Raven Prince, and Augus tried and failed to re-enter the palace, the trows found him, and led him 'around the circumference of the Unseelie palace to a night garden which wasn’t accessible by other Unseelie fae, barring Gwyn and the Inner Court itself. It was one of a few private night gardens', which 'was large enough. It comprised of some forest, some garden beds of herbs, shrubs and flowers. There were sculptures. There was a bench. But there was no bed, no lake, no place to teleport. . . . It butted up against three private gardens, before blending into the forest of the Gwylwyr, which curved along the back end of the palace wall, all the way to the Gwylwyr Du, the lake he needed to teleport anywhere. He learned that the garden was large, but not large enough for his territorial instincts. There were some herbs and night-fruiting trees, but nothing like the actual herbal garden that Gwyn had created . . . There was a very small creek hidden well behind rocks and shrubs, the trickling water no wider than the length of his palm at the widest point. It sprung up from a small spring, and disappeared again two metres later. The water was fresh and invigorating, but there were no fish living in its depths, nothing that truly communicated anything of home to Augus.'

As time passed and Gwyn didn't budge and Augus only grew angrier, Augus discovered a small stream, which he explored with his water-finding senses, which led to underground caverns. Further enraged, he managed to crack the stone blocking the stream's path and create a lake that was 'four metres across, an almost perfect circle.'

## Augus' Third Lake

Gwyn sectioned off some Unseelie Court land for Augus, which was owned by a previous incarnation of the each uisge. It contained 'a wide clearing, turned around slowly, looking at the high canopied beech trees, the occasional oak, ash, rowan and yew. Broad leaves trembled in the gentle breeze. [The lake was] shored on one side with slate grey soil easing directly into lapping waves, and on the other side, a steep elevated bank that would make a good place to overlook his territory.' At Augus' invitation, Gwyn built a cabin aboveground, and Augus built a home in the lake. Augus' home there was again under a 'translucent green to keep the lake from touching and eroding the plastered place'. The home itself was similar to Augus' first lake home, but instead 'of tiles, he had wooden floorboards, lacquered to stop water damage. Instead of painted walls, there was a pale wallpaper. The furniture was a mix of those tasteful, matching items that Augus had found for himself, and then cushions and rugs and blankets that were bright, colourful, plush, and clearly Ash’s contribution. It smelled of drying herbs, of distillations, hydrosols, essential oils, tinctures.'

Augus had two workshops here he used for herbal work. One has a 'vaulted ceiling and an intricate mismatch of copper and bronze pipework designed to ventilate or provide humidity.'

Aboveground, Gwyn's cabin 'was made of wood, it had exposed beams, it felt cosy. In all other ways, it was more of a sprawling, open-plan manor. The narrow frontage was deceiving, as it pushed back deeply into the woods. It was screened at the front with trees and shrubs, so that it wouldn’t disturb Augus when he wanted a sense of solitude.' It also held furs, blankets, and a lot of furniture, and Augus started moving some items into it, including 'a large freestanding vase made of green, faceted glass. It caught the light that streamed in from skylights and painted the pine and furs with one of Augus’ favourite colours. There was a bookshelf of heavy tomes and herbals that Augus said he wasn’t using much anymore and needed to place in ‘storage.' Alongside cured furs, woven patterned rugs appeared on the floorboards in bright geometric shapes that looked like fall leaves on water, or the swirls of foam on a fast flowing river.' Gwyn theorized that Augus used Gwyn's cabin to experiment 'with more frivolous tastes. Everything beneath the water was spare, clean, carefully furnished. Augus also placed pot plants throughout all the rooms – vines and creepers, small squat Drosera with sticky-dew leaves that curled up hungrily when Augus fed them flies, and then flowers – bluebells, oddly scented poppies and more. Gwyn had cautioned he wouldn’t be there enough to tend them, but Augus – with whatever magic he had – kept them all flourishing.'

After the battle with Olphix, 'Gwyn’s cabin was sheltered from Augus’ lake with the trees and shrubs that had grown over years. . . . The trows brought him a table and big, comfortable chairs so he could sit down outside. They brought him a wooden swing . . . It was long enough for him to lie down on it and had reinforced cushions that could handle inclement weather.'

## Residents

* Augus Each Uisge
* Ash Glashtyn (Augus' First Lake)
* Gwyn ap Nudd (Gwyn's Lake at the Seelie palace, Augus' Second Lake, and Augus' Third Lake)

## Quotations

* 'The ability to turn any landscape into a lake when I am more powerful. . . . As for the lakes, I don’t realise I’m doing it, though I can consciously...direct it; that’s exhausting. I don’t like exhausting. But I always thought it was perhaps to make the lakes more inviting to human eyes, perhaps. A healthy lake is far more agreeable a place to seek fresh water, than an unhealthy lake.'
* 'What future? . . . The future where someone finds me for revenge one day and murders me? Or the one where the Unseelie Kingdom fails and I spend the rest of my life running? Or, perhaps in this ideal world of yours, the one where I have a lake again. A perfect, whole lake that is mine, and then what? What’s to stop someone else like the Nightingale coming along again? What’s the point? Whether I’m in this damned palace or in a lake or in a cell in the Seelie Court, what’s the point?'

## Trivia

* The Raven Prince knew of Augus' fears concerning his own safety at his lake, and crafted a charm for him to 'secure the territory of his lake and ensure no unwanted incursions can occur. Not even those of the Nightingale, should he return. Even [the Raven Prince] cannot break [it], once it is set.'
* Augus noted that his home resembles human realm homes because waterhorses are cursed to crave the comforts of their prey.

## Image Gallery

Fanart of Augus Each Uisge and Gwyn ap Nudd by artistjacksonford https://not-poignant.tumblr.com/post/169034413323Fanart of Augus Each Uisge in water by morbidlizard https://morbidlizard.tumblr.com/post/61508556028/sssooooo-while-wallowing-in-pain-because-of-myFanart of Augus Each Uisge by intheendlessbluewine https://intheendlessbluewine.tumblr.com/post/114234937984/my-still-favourite-waterhorse-because-the-otherFanart of Augus Each Uisge by eyslk-fala-iustig-blog-blog https://eyslk-fala-iustig-blog-blog.tumblr.com/image/80905257408Fanart of Augus Each Uisge from Game Theory Chapter 36 by kazechama https://kazechama.tumblr.com/post/74073432958/game-theory-chapter-36-by-not-poignant-the-eachFanart of Augus Each Uisge by eyslk-fala-iustig-blog-blog https://eyslk-fala-iustig-blog-blog.tumblr.com/post/84950211215/x-mrrrr-do-the-thing-dFanart of Augus Each Uisge by Bree Neuf/TolkienTrek https://tolkientrek.tumblr.com/post/123881014003/deep-by-bree-ruef-tolkientrek-featuring
## References

1. ↑ not\_poignant. “Game Theory.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 13 September 2013. https://archiveofourown.org/works/915296/chapters/1894662. Chapter 11: Abandoned.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 not\_poignant. “Game Theory.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 12 December 2013. https://archiveofourown.org/works/915296/chapters/2171754. Chapter 31: Aftermath.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 not\_poignant. "Deeper into the Woods." *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 31 March 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/3652500/chapters/8069799. Chapter 1: I - The Waterhorse.
4. ↑ not\_poignant. “Game Theory.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 18 October 2013. https://archiveofourown.org/works/915296/chapters/2002562. Chapter 20: Nightmare.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 not\_poignant. “Game Theory.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 16 December 2013. https://archiveofourown.org/works/915296/chapters/2184505. Chapter 32: Forest.
6. ↑ not\_poignant. “Game Theory.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 31 January 2014. https://archiveofourown.org/works/915296/chapters/2083339. Chapter 26: Family.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 28 August 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/10665527. Chapter 58: Hope.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 not\_poignant. "Deeper into the Woods." *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 19 April 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/3652500/chapters/8404240. Chapter 6: VI - The War General.
9. ↑ not\_poignant. "Deeper into the Woods." *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 5 April 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/3652500/chapters/8152002. Chapter 2: II - The Waterhorse.
10. ↑ not\_poignant. "Deeper into the Woods." *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 12 April 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/3652500/chapters/8263456. Chapter 4: IV - The War General.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 not\_poignant. “Game Theory.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 5 January 2014. https://archiveofourown.org/works/915296/chapters/2257937. Chapter 35: Release.
12. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 6 February 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/7205945. Chapter 29: Classless.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 not\_poignant. “Game Theory.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 18 January 2014. https://archiveofourown.org/works/915296/chapters/2310680. Chapter 37: Recovery.
14. ↑ not\_poignant. “Game Theory.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 7 March 2014. https://archiveofourown.org/works/915296/chapters/2655808. Chapter 44: Consultation.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 not\_poignant. “Game Theory.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 27 August 2013. https://archiveofourown.org/works/915296/chapters/1843591. Chapter 6: Retaliation.
16. ↑ not\_poignant. “Game Theory.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 22 December 2013. https://archiveofourown.org/works/915296/chapters/2204791. Chapter 33: Invisible.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 not\_poignant. “Game Theory.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 14 February 2014. https://archiveofourown.org/works/915296/chapters/2418299. Chapter 41: Faith.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 12 September 2014. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/5045072. Chapter 9: Amends.
19. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 3 October 2014. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/5297393. Chapter 12: Drown.
20. ↑ not\_poignant. “Game Theory.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 21 March 2014. https://archiveofourown.org/works/915296/chapters/2808781. Chapter 46: King.
21. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 12 February 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/7302011. Chapter 30: Gravity.
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 2 - The Seething Seas.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 22 May 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/8948719. Chapter 44: Nostalgia.
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 26 February 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/7541705. Chapter 32: Limbo.
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 not\_poignant. “Unwound.” *The Fae Tales Verse - canon extras. Archive of Our Own,* 8 August 2016. https://archiveofourown.org/works/7562599/chapters/17574652. Chapter 6: VI.
25. ↑ not\_poignant. “Unwound.” *The Fae Tales Verse - canon extras. Archive of Our Own,* 25 July 2016. https://archiveofourown.org/works/7562599/chapters/17251441. Chapter 2: II.
26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 not\_poignant. “Unwound.” *The Fae Tales Verse - canon extras. Archive of Our Own,* 28 August 2016. https://archiveofourown.org/works/7562599/chapters/18035983. Chapter 11: XI.
27. ↑ not\_poignant. "All That We Were, All That We Will Ever Be." *The Fae Tales Verse - canon extras. Archive of Our Own,* 18 August 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/40955040/chapters/103059351. Chapter 2.
28. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 2 - The Seething Seas.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 19 March 2020. https://archiveofourown.org/works/17959874/chapters/55596259. Chapter 28: Farewell.