First Things First, Lore Time!!

Alright alright!, here we go!

(Long, long text post after the cut)

First things first, lore time!!

All of this may change overtime as I make adjustments and figure out finer plot details, so don't take everything for being set in stone.

Anyways, my story for the Arcane Order is WAY different than the canon version we were given.

Beginnings

Starting with the main cast, Skrael, Bellroc, and Nari are given a bit of a different dynamic than shown in the show. Instead of just being a vague group of primordial wizards, they were born from the earth itself. Evolution plays out as it does in the modern science books, with the different eras and ice ages. The earliest plant life began about 460 million years ago, that is when Nari first appeared. Nari created new forms of life over a very long stretch of time, including the earliest forms of dinosaurs, and watching those dinosaurs evolve on their own. When they are wiped out by an asteroid, however...

That is when the second Arcane Order member would appear, around the end of the Cretaceous period about 66 million years ago. The recovery period afterwards is when Bellroc comes into the picture for the Arcane Order. They appear while the smaller mammals and rodents are running around and scavenging, trying to survive. (This is where they get their skull headpiece---It's a runt giganotosaurus skull! ((might change to be a juvenile allosaurus skull as well, or a Utah raptor))). From here on Bellroc is just kind of... there. They live throughout history until we get to about... 2 billion years ago.

2 billion years ago is when the first Ice Age began! Which means, you guessed it, Skræl appears! Before this time, however, Bellroc and Nari had grown into a siblings-like bond, with Nari guiding and helping Bellroc around the powers they now wielded.

They hadn't really been meddling in creation very much up to the point that Skræl appears, but afterwards, they start steering the course of the Earth, which includes the beginning of the human race. This is a post for another day, so let's just skip to the part that focuses the most on Skræl!

Skræl's lore / his role in humanity

From here, the timeline can get a bit muddy, since the Inuit and Norse and Norwegien groups of humans I have inspired his looks and lore from appear at about the 13th century, meanwhile toa Wizards dates the Killahead War at the late 12th century. I ask you ignore this hiccup in my storyline, please and thank you!

Anyway, Skræl had taken a liking to the humans who were choosing to live in his harsh arctic environment, specifically the several different Eskimo peoples, which include but are not limited to the eight Inuit groups (credit to this site for the information): The Labradormiut (Labrador), Nunavimmiut (Ungava), Baffin Island, Iglulingmuit (Iglulik), Kivallirmiut (Caribou), Netsilingmiut (Netsilik), Inuinnait (Copper) and Inuvialuit or Western Arctic Inuit (who replaced the Mackenzie Inuit).

Starting with his name, Skræl took his name off of the term that the Old Norse and Icelandic people had for the Inuit tribes, skrælingi or plural skrælingjar. From before this point, Skræl had just been referred to as North Wind by the other members of the Arcane Order and by any mortal/magical creature who knew of him. He chose to be referred to as a male a long time ago as well, simply to ensure that there wasn't much confusion amongst the humans whom he was spending more and more time watching and messing with.

Skræl had been meddling with humans for a very long time, since the first Ice age, and all of the time afterwards that there were ever any humans in his Arctic environment. He had taught the humans many different skills, and was sometimes worshipped alongside other deities by the Old Norse.

He often met with at least one or two elders of an Inuit group every few generations simply to talk and see them off into the next life. (Energy and souls can be reincarnated in my version of Trollhunters, which will leave interesting story options open for future use).

Because of Skræl's open enjoyment of the human race, you can see how I'm setting up the Killahead battle and the way he will react to being asked to meddle with such an important and fragile battle for balance. But that's for later.

Skræl's design inspiration

There are several different observable things to talk about in his design, so lets start with his head dress: the walrus skull.

The reason I decided upon a walrus skull rather than one of a caribou or mammoth or any other great beast is because of the Inuit legend of Sedna, the sea goddess. In the legend, Sedna has her fingers cut off, which then become all of the sea creatures of the oceans, which include things like whales, seals, and walruses. Before this legend came around, though, Skræl had been wearing a scimitar cat skull instead. He switched to a walrus to be more connected to the Inuit.

The second part of his design is his "cloak", which is really just a standard Inuit fur coat that has been cut down the middle like a jacket, and thrown over his shoulders like a cloak. He doesn't wear it like the mortals would because he, as a god, doesn't need to worry about freezing to death. I also just wanted an excuse to show off his tattoos, which may or may not be added. (I still have to find some good and credible resources and references to the meanings behind chest and arm tattoos for the Inuit, so only his face has any right now in the final art I've done for him. the only reason he's kept the two lines across the face is because they **allegedly** mean that he has killed a rather large or memorable whale).

The third part is his pants, which are the common pants of a Norwegian / Viking trousers. They are tied at the waist with rope and wooden/bone beads, because Skræl is just extra like that. The shoes/'shin guards' are also typical boots for Viking age Norwegians *according to my sources*, but I cut them off at the ankle so that he can be bare foot in the snow like the little maniac he is.

Speaking of little, I made him so much larger than he is in the cannon. Skræl stands at about 5'6" when standing up straight, and he's bigger physically, but still extremely lean. He has more of the native features of an Inuit (referenced from old photos off Google).

In a previous ask I sent to @ssiggss, I said that he has braids beneath the hood and skull, but now I'm not sure if I want him to be bald or not. Probably not, just to go the easy route, since I can barely draw loose hair as it is.

He has those little itsy bitsy horns on his head still, too. No lore reason, I just liked them in his canon design.

Skræl (and Bellroc's role) in the battle of Killahead, and a tease at the rest of the story!

Nari is the one who calls the Arcane Order together to discuss the issue of the balance within her domain, and urges them for help. Bellroc and Skræl are don't really agree with the idea of meddling in such a big event, considering they didn't help any of the other previous civilizations during things like the Ice Ages, Aztec empires, or natural disasters like Pompei.

They decline her request, and leave the Wild Wood.

Immediately, Nari is pissed off and tells them to help, but they still decline. Nari gives Morgana her power to be the Mother of Monsters, and meddles in the battle herself.

And then Skræ; and Bellroc disappear...

...until the time of Merlin's death.

Someone ask me about my version of Skrael PLEASE 🙏 I WANT TO RAMBLE ABOUT THIS LOSER