• Eldritch Lore

Eldritch Lore, CA, MV, a very naughty pony, was the only child of Forbidden Lore and Parchment Tape, both archivists in the Arcane Helix. Her father, Forbidden Lore, was expelled from the Arcane Helix in 601 after being caught trying to steal a copy of the Scroll of Seven Secrets from Canterlot Tower; Eldritch always believed her father had been disavowed by the Younger Runes, who would become a lifelong enemy of Eldritch. Overweight, bookish, and afflicted with psoriasis, “Itchy” Lore was not a popular filly (Equestrian forensic psychiatrists attributed her later crimes to insufficient bellyrubs and ear scratches as a child), and her mother was usually too preoccupied with her career (which culminated in her appointment to the office of Grand High Conservator of the Arcane Helix in 607) to spend much time with her daughter.

In 622, Eldritch completed her education in the Helix’ college of alchemy (Custos Arcanorum et Magister Veneficiorum, thesis: “Alchemical Treatment of Dermatological Curses in the Pre-Classical Era”) and left the Helix a journeymare mage, as her enmity with the ruling Loremaster precluded an appointment to the junior faculty. Eldritch traveled the world in search of magical secrets, traveling gryphon lands for a decade before stealing a priceless tome from their treasury and fleeing the country. Her travels took her to the Reindeer kingdoms of the frozen north and many places in greater Equestria, before learning zebra alchemy during a sojourn with the Zebras - of whom she would always think highly, as they finally provided her with a cure for her hitherto-intractable psoriasis. It was shortly after, in 641, that Eldritch made her first visit to the Dread Dimensions, where she stole the Cloak of Calamities from Sautimendes [Bone Rumbler] the Terrible, the Shadhavar High Priest of the Almighty Slimefather. Eldritch ended up traveling the Dread Dimensions for several years, before returning to Equestria in 648, having amassed a spectacular collection of written materials and artifacts. Her success left the Younger Runes no politically acceptable choice but to acquire her collection by making her a Librarian-Elector of the Helix, which he reluctantly did. This made Eldritch eligible to be elected Loremaster in the event of a vacancy. (The Librarians hold a conclave to elect the Loremaster from among themselves on the death or debility of the incumbent, somewhat similar to cardinals electing the pope.)

In 650, a sudden outbreak of extremely fulminant pony leprosy affected the Arcane Helix, killing the Younger Runes unexpectedly at the relatively young age of 117, along with all of the Librarians-Electors except for Eldritch Lore, Curious Volume, and Quaint Volume. The resulting conclave of three unicorns unanimously elected Eldritch as Loremaster of the Arcane Helix with an unprecedented single round of voting.

Unfortunately, Eldritch's tenure as loremaster was not a success. During a confrontation between her remaining allies and the government, Eldritch accidentally banished the Arcane Helix along with herself and the Equestrian government forces to the Dread Dimensions. Her publication of the Equinomicon since her last visit having made her many enemies there, Eldritch was captured and killed by the Dread Pantheon.

At the time of her definitive death, Eldritch was pregnant by the Grand High Pastry Chef of the Arcane Helix, Tempting Truffles. Mother-of-the-Gills, one of the beings who participated in Eldritch’s execution, felt pity for the unborn foal and raised him as her own son. Eldritch’s foal, named “Adorable, Bilaterally-Symmetrical Quadruped” by his adoptive mother, grew up to be a well-adjusted and respected leader in his mother’s court, wedding a fish princess in 790 and becoming the progenitor of the Second Race of Sea Ponies, some of which later found their way back to the pony world. (And now you know. Note that the First Race of Sea Ponies went extinct in the late pre-classical period.)

Interaction with the Party

This is primarily meta-game information

Eldritch was a major NPC in several HICU-RPG one-offs or short campaigns. Eldritch was an antagonist in the Boreal Hearthfire one-off and Special Agent Shiny Buttons , a quest giver / supporting protagonist in Horn of Darkness and a prisoner/escort quest object in Prisoner of the Windy Castle. She was an unseen character in PRPG1 and a one-off about the Book of Horrors. Eldritch appeared in numerous flashbacks or dream sequences in PRPG2, and as an idol once worshipped by an extinct seapony cult. Her quasi-reincarnation Elite Librarian/"Princess Nova" was a major non-player character in PRPG2 and a supporting character in PRPG3.

CategoryUnicorns