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haphazardly parked Vice Captain
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 Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 8:40 am
[ ARCHMAGE FEIRO ]
"Cali," Feiro began soothingly, reassuringly, wanting to defend himself and comfort her all at once because he knew how she felt and understood what she was going through. He was a Learner, after all, and it was their peculiar gift. But something stopped him - duty. He didn't need to defend himself; as First Learner it fell to him to conceal those things that had the potential to do more damage than it did good. As First Learner, he put the good of all before the good of his personal life and the relationships it included.
Feiro wanted Cali to know that he meant her no harm, but the First Learner was bound by duty to remain silent. And if Caleiil was to ever succeed him in his duties, she, too, needed to learn and fully understand the sacrifices required of the First... and most importantly, that he would never had told her this had it not been an absolute necessity. He would have kept the secret.
But still - quietly, very quietly, he murmurs, "It is not your fault; he's so much more than the man he was."
Then, in a stronger and louder voice -- "Come. We have a hard ride before us, and long."
And indeed it was a long, hard, and cold ride, mounted on horses whose strength was continually augmented by Feiro's spells. Eventually the magic would take its toll and the animals' lives, but the Learners' need was urgent and a pair of horses more expendable than the lives they would possibly save.
When the reach Coryyn, Feiro demanded audience with the king with all the authority of the Citadel's ruler, only to be denied. "The King is in the midst of an important trial," a guard informed him, stiffly.
"A pre-dawn trial?" the First Learner growled, uncharacteristically allowing his impatience show because of his fatigue. "Let is through, immediately," he snapped, passing byt he guard and gesturing for Cali to follow; their mounts were already being lead away by hostlers, though the horses were dead on their feet, and the hapless guard could do nothing but let the Learners pass.
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Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 8:57 am
[ KING MAHAERIN ] [ & co ]
"Prince Ærik, you will not leave if you are found guilty," the king promised in a low voice; Elsina swallowed hard and Queen Madi jerked more awake with a surprised, protesting but wordless cry. Even Princess Alloren turned her head to the side, unwilling to gaze at the Northern princes even with sightless eyes.
King Mahaerin could feel the tension in the room as well as any other, but his gaze remained stony. This was his duty -- to protect the Southern Kingdoms. "Perhaps Ser Perry lies, or tells the truth, or even simply does not know of what he speaks --"
The doors burst open and in entered a man dressed in a white robe belted with a red and black cord entered, followed by a Dhalvian woman dressed similarly but for a black cord.
"Uncle?" Elsina gasped in the common tongue of the southern continent, as King Mahaerin boomed, displeased, "What is the meaning of this, First Learner? How dare you bring her to my halls!"
"She is a mage of the Citadel," Feiro said coolly, unfazed by the king's wrath. "And a mage of the Citadel only; as to why we are here, perhaps my Second Learner could explain better," Feiro demurred, gesturing towards Cali to step forward and speak of the Storm King's mind control.
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haphazardly parked Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2011 9:44 am
[ AURORA ELA'DALEM ]
"Oh, fool." She spoke kindly, "You are so much more wise in your idiocy than even my husband's closest advisers." It was said that a child could see the truth in a matter because of the simplicity of their thoughts where an older, presumably wiser, man might miss it. If that were true then Fools would have to be prophets - a thought that she did not dismiss.
"You are right, of course. The prince would not be an appropriate ally... but maybe a piece."
She left the pantheon then, Fool in tow, and smiled knowingly when Hasif made his presence known by stepping into stride with both women. He was always near, always close, as the captain of her guard and she expected no less. "Tell me, Hasif, how loyal are your men?"
The man seemed to balk at the question, though he did hide it admirably. Aurora's eyes studied his as he spoke, measuring his answer. "Our lives are yours, as always, Most Holy of Stars." He said finally, and she believed him.
"Good. I want the Red Wives brought before me. Have them seen to my husband's audience chamber."
"All of them?" He asked, seemingly surprised at the request. It was no secret that Aurora had little taste and even less use for the women that shared the Storm King's seed.
"All of them. Have them escorted, two men for each wife, if you would. We have such important matters to discuss concerning my Reverent Husband that I would not want anything amiss to befall them."
"As you say, it will be done, Most Holy of Stars." Hasif said, dismissing himself to act out his orders.
"As I say." Aurora echoed with a smile, liking the sound of it very much.
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Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2011 10:06 am
[ SER STALWART ]
Ser Stalwart was growing more and more uncomfortable with the tensions in the room. It was true that he was no scholar, having learning his words and numbers late in his teens, and it was also true that his tongues were wanting. He was no wise man and no learner, but he did know other things. He knew the shift of weight from one foot to another before a man drew his weapon. He knew the cast of eyes, the direction they sought for truth and that for falsehood. He knew the crinkle at the corner of a man's eye for mirth and the line in his brow for anger, and he knew also the unspoken danger between men and swords.
While Elsina translated the spoken High Ro'gan, Stalwart read the unspoken conversation that transpired between accused Prince, King, Winter court and guardsmen, and then that between the Learners and Mahaerin. There was a noose about Aerik's throat, but the Prince thrashed wildly and was screaming his intent despite it. The Knight had not liked the Prince from the north and no familiarity had grown between them since their meeting, but Stalwart saw now falsehood in his eyes or his words. He did not need a translation to hear the sincerity, and the promise, that he spoke.
It was not his place to speak of such, however. In the Winter Kingdom it would be Mahaerin that decided, come what may of it. His duty was to Madeira, whom he had settled near enough to shield her if need be.
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Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2011 10:08 am
[ ARCHMAGE CALAEIIL ]
Calaeiil feels a chill settle on her as she steps forward. It's not the air, though it is cold to her violet skin and thin robes, and it is not the snow or ice of the kingdom, either. It's the eyes that follow her wherever she moves, eyes that are both accusing and cold. But it's not only pale eyes from the Winter court that glare at her, though there is no lack of them, but orange and red eyes burning cold as well. Whatever has transpired before their arrival is now interrupted, but she senses that this boy with strange eyes and his tall companion are no more friend to the King and his kind than she is... at least for the moment.
"My Lord," She began, her own Dhalvian accent making for exotic pronunciation of an unpracticed High Ro'gan, "The First Learner and myself come bearing dire news and in need of knowledge that only your people possess."
Her eyes are only for the King on his high seat now. "Blood magic, mind domination, has been found in the Southron kingdoms. We need your knowledge so that we may find a way to undo what's been done in blood."
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Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2011 10:18 am
[ PRINCE ÆRIK & FINN ]
What anger had filled him before swelled at the King's words. He was Prince of the North, Prince of Dragons; he would not be held against his will. His mouth had opened to say as much when the doors opened, admitting a man and... he cursed, quietly, as his anger became a simmering rage at the sight of violet skin and dark hair.
Finn watched his brother closely and a small chill of fear wormed its way under his armor at the sight of the woman and his brother's silence. Ærik was brazen, c**k-sure, loud and arrogant, but he was anything but quiet. This new anger that he felt from him was trouble... then he cried out, his voice shattering tension in the room as he felt Wynne's pain. He crashed to his knees clutching his shoulder where Shiva's sharp teeth had lashed out, finding a soft place in the elder dragon's armored hide, and ripped through tendons to free herself.
"Ærik!" Finn whispered in a hiss, but his connection to Wynne crippled him as his brother stepped forward.
Ignoring his brother, heat rising inside of him as he felt Shiva taking flight, Ærik whirled on the spot to face the Dhalvian speaker. "You!" He spat. "Is it not enough that your people rain lighting on my people and take our hatchlings, but now you, a woman, follow us here... and to what? Is this," He gestured angrily and blindly at the Knight that had accused him, "Your doing? Do you so wish to see the Dragon Prince's fury?!" He was snarling, fire running hot through his blood, and unaware that he had stalked half the distance between his brother and the Mages while he spoke.
"I should kill you where you stand for your crimes!"
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Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2011 10:26 am
[ ARCHMAGE CALAEIIL ]
Cali spoke before Fiero or Mahaerin could, turning to face the boy who spat and growled like a mirror to the dragon outside screaming her rage. His words hurt because they rang true; she was fully aware of the crimes that she had committed under the Storm King's control, and then in order to escape it, but she would not be scolded by a child.
"Yes," She admitted, "You should, but you will not." She was calm while she spoke, but faced his anger without yielding to it. "the things that I have done in my life are monstrous, though I doubt that you can even begin to imagine them. You think you know what my people are capable of because you see blood and death in your own halls, but you do not know. There are worse things than death."
A deep breath shuddered through her small frame, the act of breathing suddenly difficult enough that she might have fainted if not for the small amount of pride that she still clung to - had to cling to, lest it leave her as humiliated and tainted as she felt whenever she thought of her past. Still, she did not turn away from the Prince, or the King, but faced them both unwavering.
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 6:34 pm
[ SER PERRY ]
"I don't understand the intrusion," Ser Perry declared bristling, even though the princess Elsina whispered hasty translations to both him and the Talquisian queen's knight. "I seek justice for the destruction wrought upon my lands, vengeance for the death of my lord's gentle wife."
Princess Elsina did not translate his words; when Ser Perry looked to her with confusion, she was pale-faced and though there was a rigidness to her. She spoke a few, sharp sentences in High Ro'gan, reached for Queen Madeira's hand, and turned on her heel.
Prince Alordin called something out to her as she left the hall, but Ser Perry did not know what. A reassurance, perhaps, or possibly an order that went unheeded.
"Enough!" the king shouted one of the few words of High Ro'gan that Ser Perry knew. Mahaerin stood abruptly, his voice was as biting as the cold of the Winter kingdom. His words were punctuated by the great tail of Peloras as she slammed it against the floor.
Ser Perry stumbled a few steps.
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haphazardly parked Vice Captain
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haphazardly parked Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 6:45 pm
[ ARCHMAGE FEIRO ]
His niece, the poor girl, was awash in the emotions running rampant in the hall, standing stiffly. An unlearned Leaner still without the ability to pick and choose what she Learned, Elsina picked up all of the strong feelings ran hot in the midst of winter's court. Feiro would have to see she learned that eventually, as his brother was not likely to take the initiative in that respect.
"How dare you all," Elsina said, chin raised and proud; Feiro was proud of her -- her father might lament having reared such a headstrong girl, but the Frist Learner heartily approved of his niece. "Leveling accusations and insults like squabbling children. Is this not a trial? Are you not capable adults who can rein in their tempers and have a proper conversation? Come, Madi, let us return to bed. You will not be missing anything." She reached for the queen's hand and led her out of the hall.
"Princess," the prince Alordin called out apologetically, and then King Mahaerin's shout echoed through the icy hall. "Prince Ærik, calm yourself immediately," he ordered in a strong voice, with all the authority of a king who had reigned long years over men and dragons alike.
"Archmage Feiro, Second Learner, while I would defer to your knowledge on some accounts, but this is, as Ser Perry has reminded us, a trial between the Dartis of Amory and the dragons of the northern clans. "
Feiro nodded. "I understand, but if you could but let my Second speak, I believe she may shed some light on this situation, and prove it a misunderstanding with a common enemy at its heart. Calaeil?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 8:07 pm
[ ARCHMAGE CALAEIIL ]
Cali flinched once at the winter king's shout, but did not stumble or shy away. Feiro's voice added to her own courage. He would not have brought me here if it was not necessary, she argued with herself. All the same, she could not help but think of the late night in the tower, pouring over the tomes, and learning of the knowledge Feiro had concealed of the Storm King. All this time in the tower of Magi she'd learned to forget her past, but if she spoke now she'd truly be condemning them all. She might have had little sympathy for the years she'd been little more than a useful tool for the Storm King's reign, but had she truly become anything more. Even here she suspected that the information they carried could have served from any mage's voice, even Fiero's, but having her be the one to speak them was another use for her.
"You and this Ser have both been mistaken." Cali spoke, abandoning titles and court address for the sake of focusing on the language. It was a difficult enough language for her Dhalvian tongue without needing to remember proper methods of address. "It is not the Northmen who attack Amory, but enslaved dragons under the control of the Storm King. I had my own doubts that it would be possible since Dhalvian experiments on dragons in the past had been... unsuccessful, she hesitated then, knowing that King Mahaerin knew all too well the interest that Dhalvians had in dragons, "but after meeting this Prince of the North I now see how the enslavement is possible. The bond that joins the blood of dragon to that of the Northmen is the weakness that the Storm King has manipulated. By dominating the minds of the Northern clansmen he has control of their dragons, too, as Prince Ærik has kindly demonstrated for us."
The archmage breathed then spoke again, this time in common. "For this reason I also ask forgiveness for the Prince. I am well aware that my presence is not welcome and, though unavoidable, has set both his and his dragon's blood aflame. He does not have the same capacity for calm that you or your winter court do, your majesty." And, considering the accusations of the trial they had interrupted, it was more than understandable that the young Prince had already reached the limits of his small reserves of patience. She knew only too well what it was like to stand accused for the crimes of another, though she would not risk the Prince's pride by speaking for him in a tongue he could understand.
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 8:19 pm
[ PRINCE ÆRIK & FINN ]
"Ærik."
Finn's voice was a ghost, having found the strength to pull himself from his knees and reach for his brother again. He did not want to die here at the swords of the Winter court because of his brother's brash words, but more so he could not see Ærik condemned either. His hand found Ærik's arm and held strongly, fingers digging into the flesh beneath the tunic.
The pain was enough to cut through the red haze in Ærik's eyes, that and the reproach from King Mahaering... though it was Elsina's cutting remarks that sobered him the quickest. He had never been a student of words, knowing what to say and how to say them, nor was he a pupil of diplomacy, but under the weight of her disappointment he found himself wishing he could be. He only now realized the wound he'd caused to Wynne and he turned to Finn, apology in his eyes.
It would go unsaid for now, addressed only in his hand over his brother's, as he studied the Dhalvian woman. Her words were the most chilling of all. What she spoke of described the battle he'd fled, leaving those men behind to buy him and his riders time to find allies. A cold settled into his stomach, freezing the remaining flames of his anger and pride, like steel in his gut. The same men who'd remained to die for their Prince hadn't been killed at all... they were alive, mind slaves to this Storm King. With no honor to find in death, his people were trapped.
For the first time since leaving his home, Prince Ærik had no words or anger. Even if this woman could be believed, not only by himself, but by Mahaerin as well, it was not a truth that brought either hope or relief to the the Prince.
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Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2011 7:53 pm
[ PRINCESS ALLOREN ]
The edge in voices set Alloren on edge; she half-wished she her footsteps could have joined Elsina's and little Madi's when they echoed down the ice hall to eventually fade away. The anger - no, the disappointment, Alloren thought - did manage to bring some sense into everyones' heads. The Northern prince seemed to have controlled his anger, his breathing much less harsh and she heard the shift of furs and cloth when Finn released the hold he had on the headstrong prince.
But it was the female archmage's words that really unsettled Alloren -- the thought that the bond between a dragon and his or her rider was the source of a dragon's weakness... Dragons and their riders were supposed to lend each other strength. Riders weren't supposed to be the reason dragons ultimately fell to Dhalvian treachery.
Even her father had quieted at this, a soft, barely audible sigh escaping his lips. Her brother shifted uncomfortably beside her.
"Can the magic be broken?" Alloren asked the question that nobody seemed to want to. Her voice echoed off the cold walls, sounding uncertain and part-desperate even to her own ears. "It can, can't it?"
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haphazardly parked Vice Captain
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