The Blight

*'Even he didn’t go back to the Blighted land. It felt awful. There was something about what he’d done when he’d scoured out those landscapes in minutes or hours or days or weeks, that made him feel ill. He didn’t think it was superstition to call that land cursed.' - Augus Each Uisge*

## Introduction

After Augus became King of the Unseelie Court, he used his waterhorse abilities to create poison and dry up water, as well as his inner core of stillness, to poison and destroy waterways throughout the fae and human realms.

## Appears in

Major canon:

*The Nightingale and Terho the Mouse-Lad*

*Game Theory*

*The Court of Five Thrones*

## Details

When the Raven Prince pushed the Nightingale's attention towards Augus, to keep it off the Raven Prince, the Nightingale captured Augus and tortured him for a year in the underworlds. Augus was also corrupted by underworlds energy, and the trauma and pollution, as well as being left to suffer until the NIghtingale grew bored, rather than be rescued, along with Augus' promise to become King for the Nightingale, led him to work his way into the Raven Prince's Court and become his successor, all in order to enact revenge on everyone who had wronged him, and in part because underworlds poisoning encourages the victim to crave power. When Augus learned that the Raven Prince knew Augus was imprisoned, and did nothing to free him, though he could have, this only further enraged him. Augus attempted to destroy everything the Raven Prince held dear, and lashed out at the world, partially encouraged by the Nightingale himself.

The Blight destroyed much of the fae realm, leaving many homeless who were not killed outright. Even homelessness could be a death sentence, as those with a connection to a home territory often withered and perished, or were killed by other fae. Some fled to the Seelie Court for asylum, but even then, the need for a connection to a home territory made many go mad, and the stronger amongst them had to be put down by Gwyn, and other powerful fae, before the suffering fae hurt even more people. Blighted land became 'cursed', and abandoned.

#### Locations Destroyed by the Blight

* The Dubna
* Esgrettio
* Lough Gur

#### Fae Killed by the Blight (or abandoning their homes due to it)

* Alva Dubna Vajat
* Avia
* Dubna
* Galina Dubna Vajat
* Geroid
* Gulvi Dubna Vajat and Julvia Dubna Vajat's two unnamed sisters
* Imbris
* King Innokenti
* Maruta Dubna Vajat
* Oliver
* Olivette
* Pinion
* Tallow

Gwyn, Terho the Mouse-Lad, Ash Glashtyn, Gulvi Dubna Vajat, and an assortment of other allies banded together, first to defeat the Nightingale, and then Augus. Ash infested Augus with underworlds creatures, weakening him so that Gwyn could demote him. Gwyn then imprisoned Augus in the Seelie Court, where many fae across alignments demanded Augus' execution.

After Augus spent some time healing - both mentally and physically - and was returned to the Unseelie Court, he worked towards healing the Blight, by using his innate abilities to encourage water-based ecosystems to flourish, which would hopefully allow fae to return to their old homes, or at least allow fae to resettle abandoned areas. He also began recovering his old core of stillness that he'd left behind in these locations. Many fae still despise him for what he did, and wish him dead, or seek his death, and Augus dodged a number of assassination attempts during this time, including one that was actually successful (but temporary). Gwyn had Ash seek out the Soulbond, to bind Augus' life with Ash's, specifically to help offset assassination attempts, as Ash is beloved across alignments, and the love for him would hopefully offset anyone's desire to kill Augus.

## Quotations

* *'I’m going to…destroy you,’ Augus said. ‘I will take your Kingship from you, and I will-'*
* 'I shall be rehabilitating Unseelie land that was Blighted very soon. Within weeks,’ Augus said quietly, drawing their attention. ‘We’ll be gaining landscapes with fresh water back if I’m successful.’ ‘No one will want to live there,’ Gulvi said, sighing. ‘Everyone thinks the land is cursed.’ ‘They may think differently once they see it whole again and under the protection of the Unseelie Court. I have it on the authority of at least three displaced underfae families – they are willing to try their luck.'
* Augus: 'He could sense the moment he entered Blighted waters, as he teleported into the damaged lake. The water was sluggish, it didn’t respond to him as other lakes and rivers.'

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *Game Theory*, Chapter 41: Faith. Accessed 30 May 2021.
2. ↑ *Game Theory*, Chapter 33: Invisible. Accessed 22 May 2021.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 5: Unsolicited. Accessed 30 May 2021.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 27: Healing. Accessed 30 May 2021.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 33: Confession. Accessed 02 April 2021.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 *The Nightingale and Terho the Mouse-Lad*. Accessed 30 May 2021.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 *The Ash and Gwyn Interludes*, Chapter 2: Debt. Accessed 02 May 2021.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 *Game Theory*, Chapter 5: Status. Accessed 23 May 2021.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 15: Blight. Accessed 30 May 2021.
10. ↑ *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 16: Death. Accessed 30 May 2021.
11. ↑ *Game Theory*, Chapter 34: Brother. Accessed 30 May 2021.