The Unroyaled

The Unroyaled is an enby witch who lives somewhere hidden in the deep and high forests of the Molten World. No one knows where they live, but it is told that they live in the lushest forest, where life is teeming and thriving the most in all its beautiful, colourful, raw, ugly, unapologetic glory. It is so because the Unroyaled tends to it in all waking hours - depending on who is telling this story, the Unroyaled is either well-slept and well-fed in order to do this work, or they are tireless and unstoppable.

The Unroyaled is known to be the only potential ruler of the Molten World. Some believe that they live in such solitude from other humanoid species because they know this to be true and does not want the burden of ruler, or that it is because they are in such deep solitude that they do not realize they are the only one who could rule the Molten World.

The reason the Unroyaled is the only ruler for the Molten World is different depending on interpretation of the stories - for some, it is because they are the most moralled being tied deeply to the land and life on the planet. For others, it is because they are the only witch on the planet, and still others believe that they are the Umbra who caused the Melting and evolved into a witch and has lived ever since. There are still other reasons, depending on the person who has interpreted the stories.

There are some who believe that the Unroyaled caused the Melting so that all beings could live on and enjoy the surface of the Earth, but others do not believe they would cause so much death and be so humanoid-focused.

The legend of the Unroyaled existed ever since the Melting for this reason, coupled with the fact that the Molten World has never had one ruler.

The legend of the Unroyaled is common knowledge across the Molten Earth, especially after the Umbra's colonization journey.

There are many versions of the Unroyaled, but there remains the consistency that the Unroyaled:

• Is enby, slightly fem
• Lives in solitude in the lushest, highest forest of the Molten World
• Is surrounded by life, unforgiving and raw and tended by the Unroyaled with unyielding but quiet passion
• Is beloved, and the only rightful ruler of the Molten Earth, the only royalty that exists after the Melting

Variations include:

• their reasoning for living in solitude (is it because they know they are the ruler and a. Simply does not want the role, or b. Believes being the ruler would tarnish their own morals; or is it because they prefer it and simply does not know they are meant to be ruler; or still, are they biding their time for something?)
• Their home structure - a hut, a hole in the ground, a tree
• Having a distant lover, the fabled Knight of Engravings, who collaborated between two species who did not get along and was able to create beautiful metal structures (bridges, pillars, towers, etc.) by coming to understand the cultures of both species, out of a desire to represent what beauty it could be if the cultures worked together). Some variations include him as a longing that the Unroyaled has, others include him as a fact of nature itself that the Unroyaled is a creature like anyone who craves companionship and that the distance was a choice between them, still others think it preposterous to think the Unroyaled longed for or had time for a partner, and still others do not acknowledge the Knight of Engravings at all.
• Their ever-presence: Some believe they are all-feeling through all living things, and so one could communicate to them by interacting with living things, and in this way, the Unroyaled can judge one's goodness by how they treat the living things of the Earth. Some who believe this though, do not believe they have the time to judge goodness or non-goodness in people, only intention. Still others believe that the Unroyaled has no interest in this at all, even though they are all-feeling. Some do not believe that the Unroyaled has this power and is not keeping watch, since if they could, they would have taken on the role of ruler given the plight of the Umbra's colonization, pain of all things, etc., but then some argue that if they did know about all this pain, they would not do anything about it at all and therefore would not take on the role of ruler. Those who do not believe that the Unroyaled can keep watch on the entire Molten World either see them as a simple yet beloved creature of the Earth, and/or wish to honour the Unroyaled in a self-motivated way by tending to living beings indiscriminately.
• A small group believe the Unroyaled to be cowardly, isolating themself from their greater purpose despite the horror of the lived experience.

While it is mostly Umbrae who have their opinions about and spread the legend of the Unroyaled, many other humanoid species of the Molten World believe in an entity that watches over the living beings of the Earth. For some species, for example most cultures of tree-elves, this entity is more of a spirit that lives in trees, as trees are divine and all-seeing in their eyes. Different species of Hobbs carry the word of the Unroyaled, but not that they are a ruler of the Molten World, but that they are the protector of living beings. Pixies, the more mischevious Hobb species, have used the Unroyaled's ever-feeling presence as a way to keep species in line ("you better leave my clan alone or else SHE will know what you did.") It is possible that the story of the Unroyaked actually began from the mouths of the Hobbs, as they are quite invisible species and could have been among the first friends of the Unroyaled themself.

The legend of the Unroyaled is told through stories. For Umbra, there is text and reference to the Unroyaled in many pieces of literature. There is many pieces of art, text in other humanoid languages, etc. that depict the Unroyaled in different ways depending on the culture.

Often depicted as a great green being covering in life of all kinds, or a tiny witch creature, or anything in between.