Mistic Pets

Welcome to Issue 39
Created by The Mistic Pets Team

Character Spotlight: Prince Arman and Princess Aisling
Written By gemajgall

The two benevolent rulers of the sprites have never been seen apart in their entire lives. For that reason, many have started thinking of them as a single unit. In fact, many people even have trouble saying “Prince Arman” without finishing by adding “Princess Aisling.” It may even be that they see themselves this way.

As the sprite kingdom is always ruled by a prince and princess in tandem, when fraternal twins were born, it was seen as a double blessing by Pandoria. Their parents, especially their mother who was the former princess, knew they would bring great prosperity to the kingdom. So they incubated them in the same blue iris; the iris symbolized wisdom while the color blue symbolized peace, virtue and dignity.

The effects of this decision became apparent when the twins were still young. Among their peers, Prince Arman and Princess Aisling demonstrated great decision making. They settled fights among their friends, shared food with their neighbors, and delegated tasks during the harvest festival. Before they officially entered adulthood, many sprites had already surrounded and supported them.

When their mother and her cousin, the then princess and prince, decided to retire, the sprite community unanimously nominated Arman and Aisling to take their places. Within the first year of their reign, their kingdom experienced great prosperity in trade and agriculture.

However, that winter was the harshest of the century. The snow easily piled higher than double the height of the tallest sprite. Powerful winds pushed the drifts under doors and down chimneys. Storehouse and much of the fresh water was frozen solid, and wood was difficult to find—most had already been burned.

But Prince Arman and Princess Aisling refused to get discouraged. They personally oversaw the delivery of care packages to their kin—even during howling blizzards. They opened their court wide to their whole kingdom during Mistmas so that everyone, sprite and pet alike, could celebrate. That night, they organized a single, bright Mistmas wish for all sprites—for laughter, joy and necessities to last until spring. As Aurelius's comet blazed its colors across the sky, everyone knew it would be okay.

Small miracles happened after that. A group of young sprite children, while making snowmen, came across a stash of Frozen Pine Pommes. One of the more adventures young men set out and was caught in a blizzard—he survived by finding an underground spring which was warmed from the Inferno Terrain. By telling others, he provided a supply of mineral water that the sprites still use to this day. Several wild Tarinooki, who had been shown kindness and saved from the bitter cold by the sprites, put their skills to work and painted the snow itself, providing color and lifting the spirits which encouraged them to look brightly despite those dark months.

That year, spring broke with a bright rainbow. To celebrate, the sprites wanted to hold a dance in Prince Arman and Princess Aisling's favor. But they humbly declined and instead turned it into a spring celebration, marking the end of the cold and endless white as well as the rebirth of hope.

However, things have not always been bounteous during their reign. One dark shadow has always lurked on the edges of their kingdom: King Mephitic and his imps. Many, many times the centuries-old rivalry between these two legendaries flared up, causing Prince Arman and Princess Aisling to mediate their people and struggle for peace. While many sprites enjoy returning prank for prank against the imps, the twins' personal method of dealing with their rivals has always been “kill them with kindness.” Of course, many times it became necessary for them to raise up their army and fight directly.

Given the situation between the imps, sprites, and recently returned humans, many sprites feel that the hope for peace is vain. When the long-exiled royal family returned to Mistic Kingdom and began expanding every known field of art, Prince Arman and Princess Aisling were quick to offer an alliance. This only increased the animosity between them and the imps, and Prince Arman once confided that resolving such discontentment is still a long way off.

Nonetheless, the twin rulers have become somewhat of a symbol of peace and hope among human, fey and kelpie cultures. Humans have even been known to make dolls or dreamcatchers of similar colors of the royals (blue, purple, pink, and green) and keep those by their beds to ward off nightmares. Fey, in particular, love to dwell in lands the sprites formerly cultivated because of the positive emotions imprinted on the planet.

When asked about why they had experienced such success, Prince Arman and Princess Aisling said this in unison, “Equality for all of Pandoria's creatures, a love of beauty and justice, the wisdom to use each day's blessings, and hope that we can make Mistica a better place.”

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