The Starlit Archivist
In the hushed gallery of the Ravensfield Collection, a singular tapestry commands solemn regard—a relic woven at the behest of King Edward IV, an artifact that narrates a fragile truce between realms in an age long past. The Three Realms Tapestry, a masterwork of thread and story, captures with delicate grace the tenuous unity and unspoken fissures between humans and magical beings during the Middle Ages, most profoundly felt in Great Britain where the veil between worlds breathes thin.
At its base lies the Otherworld—the subterranean cities of the Tuath Dé Danann—rendered in shadowed hues that seem to pulse beneath surface threads. Above this stretches human dominion: sunlit villages and tides of mortal lives stitched in earnest detail. Crowning the piece is Faerie’s resplendent kingdom, its renowned flower-shaped palace home to Ethereal Monarchs whose gaze lingers beyond time’s edge. Intertwined roots and branches arc across all three portions—threads binding realms through the emblematic Tree of Life—whispering of shared essence amidst division.
Even those ethereal fae who oft derided human craft as crude paused before this creation with unexpected reverence; its fine artistry transcending mortal bounds. Yet beneath celebration’s veneer lurked chaos—a gathering convoked by royal summons unraveled swiftly when cups brimmed with enchanted wine. Some scholars surmise fairies’ subtle mischief wove truth into libations, compelling confessions unchecked by discretion.
Drunkenness unveiled whispered scandals: King Edward confessed an affair with Elderflower, noble among Queen Titania’s retinue—a revelation igniting fury not from jealousy alone but from long-smoldering wounds wrought by his rejection of Titania herself. Meanwhile, Mórrígan—the Phantom Queen of Tuath Dé Danann—voiced bitter reproach toward both man and fae for historic refusals to aid against ancient enemies known as Fomorians, a grievance extending beyond Edward’s own lifetime. In retaliation, he denounced conspiracies laid against his throne amid England's War of Roses.
Tempers flared until finality was driven forth: sword raised high to rend this emblematic tapestry into three shards — each ruler returned their fractured fragment representing their realm—and so parted once more.
Centuries hence would see two pieces reunited under Treaty’s hand when Faerie and Otherworld coalesced at Ashenvale. The third fragment endured within British Royal custody until 1880’s dire hour when Queen Victoria allied with fae to halt Elder god Thurgoth's resurgence. Triumph restored by magic’s kiss from Titania herself mended what was broken once more; gratitude reframed as renewed trust gifted back through tapestried legacy.
"It transforms memory into mythology, making archaeologists of us all." Dr. Meridian Cross, Temporal Anthropologist
In 1939 this storied work joined Ravensfield Collection through H.C. Ravensfield as recompense for safeguarding treasures displaced ahead of war’s shadow—a symbol that even amid manifold fractures there endures hope born from convergence.
> “We come together, and we come apart. > But as long as enough of us wish to put away our differences > and protect the beauty and wonder in our world, we will be saved.” > > — H.C. Ravensfield
Here lies not merely fabric or tale but living nexus where realms brush faintly—and where old wounds beckon new understanding beneath threads spun long ago into enduring lore.
