Following on from Antinomy93‘s excellent article on Thursday, I have a sneak peek to share as well. Thank you Achroma and Troy for passing this over to me. Without further ado:

This rather grand seat is known as Orium Throne, and I have been informed that this is the seat of the King of the Diamant Trolls.

I find the term Diamant Trolls particularly intriguing here. Is this a new Troll subtype, to go with Samr, Hulder, and Mukin? Diamant translates as diamond from French. Diamanté means jewel encrusted, which is already the look of the Brisgavi Samr Trolls. Maybe we’ll see a similar aesthetic with this new tribe?

The magenta hue of the throne matches that of the Orium in existing cards such as Orium Diamond and Orium Fracture, as well as the magenta coloured Orium Hex, suggesting that this throne may literally be made of Orium, rather than just being an honourific. It must cost a fair bit to construct. As a card therefore, I will expect it to have almost exclusively magenta shards, and cost at least 3 shards, maybe up to 5 if it’s a rare card. Perhaps it interacts with Diamant Trolls in some way like a Brisgavi Samr Totem or Lacringi Hulder Totem, or perhaps it finds/reveals a Diamant Troll much like Brisgavi Cave Dwelling or Lacringi Cliff Dwelling, or maybe it interacts with magenta shards in a similar manner to cards like Ice Falls or Water Fountain (though if it finds magenta shard cards you can be sure it’ll be used to find Cintimani Stone).

The throne itself resides atop rather cold and imposing rough hewn steps that appear not dissimilar to the stonework of the labyrinth. Perhaps the kingdom lies within or near the labyrinth?

Talking of the labyrinth, it’s intriguing that Greek myth has crept into Norso Planum, as if this isn’t simply the realm of Norse myth, but all myth. The Minoan labyrinth was constructed on Crete by King Minos to trap the Minotaur, the half bull/half man offspring of his wife’s affair with a white bull. It’s worth noting that, as with many classical myths, this was all Minos’ fault and his wife, Pasiphae, was an innocent victim, having been induced to fall in love with the bull by Aphrodite as punishment for Minos’ irreverant deeds. Go figure.

Unwilling to kill his adopted son, Minos had the craftsman and architect Daedalus and his son Icarus create a giant labyrinth to trap the Minotaur. Suspecting that they’d revealed the labyrinth’s secrets, Minos had the pair imprisoned, but they escaped using wings constructed of feathers and wax. Icarus flew too close to the sun, the wax melted, and he plunged to his death.

Much later, the hero Theseus slayed the Minotaur, and escaped the labyrinth thanks to a ball of yarn, given to him by Minos’ daughter Ariadne, which he used to find his way back. I really hope Ball of Yarn is an object in this set. And as a side-note, the ancient Greek word for “ball of yarn” is clew, which is where we get the modern word clue, which I think is a lovely piece of etymology.

Back to Achroma, one final piece of information I have is that this Diamant Troll tribe’s duty is to guard. Guard what exactly, I do not know. Perhaps something, perhaps someone. The entrance to the labyrinth maybe, to stop something getting in? Or maybe to stop something getting out…?

Regarding chroma vs achrom, I’m getting distinctly mixed messages with this artwork. It suggests to me a dark authoritarian kingdom, yet the reference to guarding and the lack of overt achrom colouring leads me to believe we’re looking at the neutral faction of the Monsters of Norso.

I’m looking forward to more sneak peeks and spoilers in the coming weeks. Thanks again to Achroma and Troy for giving this beautiful artwork to me so I could share it with the community.

---

Next time you’re ordering achroma products, please use the discount code dracotemple at checkout on the achroma webstore for 10% off all orders, including pre-orders. By using this code, you are also supporting me, as I earn commission on any sales using this code.