[IC-Ish] [Snek] The Guard(s)’ Book

[pyrighteous]

Spoilers for Owl House Season 2 (and maybe some for S3E1 after 10/15 if there are tidbits to incorporate). Non-canonical and borderline fanfiction.

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VISIBLE CONTENT

[pyrighteous]

The first few pages of the book are the same as every other Coven Scout's handbook: index, basic rules, protocols, blah blah. This goes on for approximately five or six pages before the text changes from a printed manual to a handwritten story that has been carefully bound to match the rest of the book.

The manual picks up again for the last fifteen pages of the book or so. The very last five pages are all blank, save for four more perfect circles, one in each corner of the page. These are all also light glyphs, with the interior part of the design marked in invisible ink. A few have already been torn out and clearly used.

The handwritten pages are ... fanfiction! They tell a lurid (and improbable) tale of the forbidden romance between the Abomination Coven Head and the Bard Coven head. Apparently Devon Deamonne is quite the outrageous flirt compared to Alain Helicoverpa, an uptight bard with more pride than sense. The two used to be friends, but have since fallen into more of a vicious rivalry. Both are frantic to prove their worth to Belos, who is not yet Emperor.

This results in a short series of escalating conflicts, which then results in the two of them being assigned to a dangerous mission hunting wild magic at the summit of the left Knee. All goes well until the wild witch they're hunting uses ice magic to strand the two of them in an abandoned cottage. With barely any fuel, and only one bed, the two have to work together to stay warm...

The names - as well as the rivalrous relationship - are historically accurate. The rest ... is not. There IS a sex scene, but it's a tasteful PG-13 FTB type affair. The original text was written approximately two hundred years ago, based on the language used and references to popular books at the time; Belos has not yet made himself Emperor, but the Coven system is gaining traction fast. Some pages in the middle have been torn out and replaced in an attempt to "update" sections later on.

Weirdly, although the writing is competent (if not that great), there are several easy words that have been spelled incorrectly. There are also multiple epilogues that serve as mini sequels, usually 5-10 pages each.