The peace that formerly reigned in Terra Nova has eroded, now little more than a memory. War ravages the continent. Disputes divide kingdoms; ideals divide families. The quest for power consumes absolutely and indiscriminately. None are immune to its allure.
Who will rise and who will fall? Only time—and ambition—will tell.
UPDATES
05.26.2023
2 month character creation hold for all existing members begins 6/5/2023. Ended 8/5/2023.
10.29.2023
Change in how times flows. Was 4 IC seasons, now only 2 IC seasons per 1 OOC year.
5 whole years of Heir Apparent goodness! When I started the site, I knew I was hunkering down for the long haul, but I never could have predicted the numerous twists and turns this roleplay site has seen. Hundreds of plots, characters, and members have come and gone, all leaving marks on the site. I am so very thankful for those who have invested. Because you keep coming back, keep getting on, and keep writing, Heir Apparent has the legacy it does today. Three cheers to us!
Keion was running through the city, on his way to the training grounds. His boots carried him forward quickly and he was covering the distance in almost no time at all. He may no longer be in the cavalry, but he still took the time to train and keep his weaponry skills sharp. They were arguably more important now than they had ever been.
He started slowing to a stop outside the training grounds, seeing a group of soldiers gathered. His gaze quickly roamed the entire group, a smile creeping onto his face when he realized one of them was familiar, and it just so happened to be his sister. She seemed to be in her element at the moment and hadn't yet noticed his arrival, so he simply stood back with a smirk on his face and observed her training session.
Today, Calliope was observing her soldiers as they practiced in the training yard. This was one of her greener groups, who thought they were on top of the world and thought they knew better than their commanding officer because "oh, this is my family" and they were about to have a harsh lesson in reality. She could easily schedule them in for survival training in some of the upcoming rougher weather with one of her best taskmasters under her command.
She'd put one of her more veteran soldiers in charge, one Darmund Seire, and she could see that even he was getting frustrated with them. And when Darmund got frustrated, things and people usually went down hard. She could work with that and give the brats a wake up call because he was also her favorite sparring partner. So Calliope, with her hammer on her shoulder stepped in with an eyebrow raised as she stared down the greenies.
They quieted but she knew the look that some of them had. Being known for her hammer, meant that there were assumptions about how smart she wasn't, that she was all brawn and no brains so they could outsmart her. More importantly, they forgot she was Blackwood even after she'd earned the name. 'Beckett' was still the name she was referred to half the time.
"Well Beckett-"
Her voice and gaze were both sharp. "It's Head Blackwood, recruit. And you will follow orders. You have been assigned to Seire for training so you will listen to him. All of you. As it is, seeing as how you have wasted all of your time, his time and my own, you should reconsider if the Infantry is really where you're suited if you have problems with my authority. Report to Harbin in the mess. All six of you are on mess duty for the next week. You have until then to make your decision. Dismissed."
Her gaze was cold as she watched them leave the field before she turned to Darmund and as it was already near end of day, she clapped the man on the shoulder and dismissed him for the day. This was the one problem grouping so she'd been shadowing them and she had a feeling that none of them would finish out the week.
Keion had stood by and watched silently, watching his sister handle what turned out to be an unruly group of soldiers. He could not help but smirk a bit, remembering his days as the Head of Cavalry and the many times he had also been in this very situation. He found people often joined the military without understanding how much work it was, even if Arynn Frey had not properly been to war in many, many years. They still had to be prepared for that to change at any point in time. As the Blackwoods understood, that could be sooner rather than later.
When the group of soldiers departed he meandered up to his sister, the small smile still on his face. "Rough day at work, sister?"
Turning her gaze towards her brother, who she hadn't expected to see, resulted in the coldness seeping out of her eyes as she rolled her shoulders just the slightest bit. It wasn't rough so much as frustrating and it wasn't exactly something she could go about punching in the face. She wasn't a child anymore, and she'd definitely done more than punch her fair share of people and not just in the face.
"Eh, its not the worst. Young recruits with something to prove thinking they know everything." She didn't quite shrug as she propped her hammer up. "What brings you 'round my corner of the yard?"
He nodded in sympathy as his gaze was drawn back to where the recruits had disappeared. "As we both know, most of them will probably not be your problem for long anyway." He shrugged lightly, looking back at his sister as she shifted her hammer. He smiled and waved a hand around, indicating the training grounds. "I was actually coming to make use of the grounds. Been a bit since I did any actual training and I don't want to get too rusty." He smiled at her, clasping his hands behind his back in a relaxed stance.
She shrugged, well aware that more than likely all of them would drop or move to one of the other units before dropping. Wouldn't be the first time or the last. "If they want to crossover, I'll put a note in their files so the other heads are aware ahead of time at least. Which, you could have warned me about the amount of paperwork." She said the last bit with a bit of teasing as she cut a playful glare at him.
Then he mentioned training and not getting rusty. Calliope grinned. "What, meant to get here to have it all to yourself so I wouldn't see just how rusty you got?"
Keion chuckled, shaking his head. "There was nothing I could tell you that would've prepared you for the amount of paperwork involved in these positions. It borderlines ridiculous." That was certainly one good thing about leaving his position in the cavalry behind. He had much more freedom to work as he pleased these days and he quite enjoyed it. If only Solace had seen it the same way he had.
He pulled himself from his internal thoughts, processing his sister's words. His brows knitted together and he placed a hand over his heart in feigned hurt. "You think I would lose my ability to beat you in a sparring match, sister? You wound me." A smile slowly spread across his face as he shook his head at her.
Calliope outright laughed at Keion's antics, amused and happy instead of derisive like some might have expected. She hadn't always been able to beat Keion in a spar, not without some of the dirtier tactics she'd picked up from the various scuffles and fights in the streets and even then Keion would still beat her more often than not. Which she knew wasn't a reflection of her own abilities in the slightest and actually had her enjoying their spars.
Grinning, she made a show of wrinkling her nose at her older brother even as she set her hammer to the side. "I don't know, those training clothes seem a little... snug, Kei." Oh she knew she was poking the bear but what was a good scrap between siblings without some trash talking?
Keion's eyes widened even though he couldn't stop the bark of laughter that erupted from his mouth. "I beg your pardon! If they seem tighter, it is from nothing other than more muscle." He grinned mischievously at her, eyeing her up in an overexaggerated way. "Which you seem to have lost a bit of. Too busy pushing pencils these days?"
Even while he quipped back at her, he took a few steps back from her and raised an eyebrow. "I see only one way to settle this." He slid one foot back, resting his weight on it while bending his front knee a bit and raised his hands, watching Calli intently.
Oh he did not. Her eyes narrowed even as her grin widened. Did she start the trash talk? Yes. Was she going to take that lying down? Not a chance. "Oh muscle is what you're calling it now. Got it. " She poked her tongue out between her teeth at her brother for a split second before she bent her knees just slightly and rolled her shoulders. "I'll show you pushing pencils."
As Keion took a few steps back, so did she and move a little to the side so as to not run into her own hammer in case this turned into a full on scuffle in the dirt. Which there was a chance of that because they were both stubborn on a good day. For a moment there wasn't any movement and then Calliope moved. Seeing his arms up, she went in fist first at his side. There were some perks to not being as tall as her brothers, after all.
He reacted quickly to her, hunching his back to drop his arms and block her incoming punch. After blocking her punches, he reacted quickly, aiming for her exposed shoulder. He would hold back on the strength of his punch, not wanting to actually injure Calliope. She did have important work to do and it wouldn't look great if the Blackwoods were found beating each other up like children. He was only aiming to rough her up a bit.
Calliope wasn't aiming to hurt her brother, pulling her punches and dialing back her strength a bit. If they were at home, maybe she would have played less fair but they were in public and they did have reputations individually and as Blackwoods. As it was, she stepped back with movement of him catching her shoulder and using that momentum to get in a better position to sweep his legs. She didn't honestly expect to actually win out against Keion but she would certainly try.