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!
Shadowing the ambassador of Arynn Frey was something Calanthe had been extremely excited about. And it had not disappointed, but she was starting to get behind in her studies which was unacceptable. So as soon as she was done writing out a couple of letters for the ambassador she embarked from the office, making her way to the library. She knew she had missed the last class of the afternoon by this point but she was still hopeful to either track down an older student, or maybe try to find her great-uncle and ask for another drunken lecture.
Luck seemed to be on her side though when she spotted a familiar figure. "Princess Ness!" She waved furiously at the woman. She was friends with Pietro, at least she was pretty sure she'd remembered her brother mentioning her, so she hoped the princess might be willing to let her pick her brain. Maybe not though, but she had to try after missing a whole day of lessons. "How are you?" Calanthe closed the rest of the distance between them with a couple of skips, pretty sure that Pietro had mentioned that she was pretty cool.
At long last, Ness was in her last months of schooling. It wasn't that she didn't like school--she did, of course...but sitting at a table with her nose in books felt so impractical after the time she'd got to spend in Lorendale, living among action. She'd adventured around all of Terra Nova enough to know that life was so much more than studying. An unpopular opinion in her kingdom, to be sure, so one she kept close to her chest. Ness found other ways to express it: taking breaks in the grasslands of Coheed rather than milling in the courtyard; things like that.
With classes for the day finished, Ness walked with a particular pep in her step and giddy rosiness to her cheeks. The world was her oyster now that she'd done her duty and showed up. Perhaps she'd stop by the palace for a bite before going to the Dresmondi camps to visit with friends...
Hearing her name called had her turning. Indeed, Ness was a friend to Pietro, and though she hadn't encountered Calanthe excessively, she considered the girl a friend, too.
"Calanthe!" Ness waved back, a friendly beckon to be joined. She smiled widely and would seek to slip her arm around the other woman's, a familiar and friendly way for the two to walk and talk. "Ready for a break. Where are you headed?"
Seeing Ness wasn't at the library anymore confirmed that she had missed all the classes for the day. It was unfortunate but clearly unavoidable if she was going to do anything but study with her life. And while she loved learning everything she possibly could she certainly wasn't ready to start drinking and spouting random philosophy like her great uncle.
Calanthe fell into step with Ness, linking arms with the young princess. She was now moving away from the library but that was okay for now. Certainly that place wouldn't go anywhere, and pouring over some old books could be done at any time. "Just got back and was going to try to catch come classes, but clearly I've missed them all for the day!"
"What about you? Anything more interesting than trying to catch up on what I missed?" Looking over she had a twinkle in her eyes, hoping this afternoon wouldn't be a total bore.
Ness had a vague idea of what is was Calanthe was doing. Apprentice to the ambassador, or something? An envious post, to be sure. When Ness traveled she did it of her own volition, hoping nothing she did kicked up unwanted dust. When Calanthe traveled it was on official business and carried an importance. She was a star. Ness beheld her with shining dark eyes for an admiring moment.
"The world is full of adventure." She returned, her eyes darting towards the closest people passing then, an air of mischief rising around her like a palpable aura. "We need only reach out and embrace it." She smirked a little and then bounced her brows. "Are you reaching, Calanthe?"
Adventure. Calanthe liked doing new things. There was a reason she had wormed her way to her current position, with her father's assistance of course. She didn't want to just stay in Arynn Frey anymore. It was the best still, there was really no competition, but that didn't mean there wasn't more out there. More to learn about and discover. But she wasn't sure if she was really reaching like Ness was asking her.
"I don't know. I thought I was." She always felt like she needed to live up to her father, aunt, and uncle. Maybe that was making her reach just short of adventure. Her smile started to match Ness, her mischievous mood contagious. "Happen to have a second for a boost to reach adventure?"
Ness eyed her friend, her smile persisting, even as Calanthe doubted and questioned herself. Her friend's heaviness should have been Ness, in reality, considering Ness was a princess...but she had long ago shirked the weight of expectation and taken to embracing...whatever she wished to embrace. Of course, she still knew the curtsy and the proper forms of address and all that jazz, but she had stopped letting them be her burden and learned to embrace them as surely as she did everything else in her left.
"I thought you'd never ask!" Her hold on Calanthe's arm dropped so that she took the other girl by the hand instead. She would seek to tug her along, picking up the pace until they reached the closest door. Out of her pocket came her key, and into the lock it plunged. After a quick turn she'd pull it out and open the door. Instead of looking into a closet they'd find themselves gazing into a forest.
Laughing as Ness started to pull her hand, she wouldn't find any resistance. Calanthe had been striving for greatness ever since she had been able to start studying. She had to. Being the best was a necessity, especially after what her mother had done. Become a Blackwood like she was meant to be. But it was a lot and sometimes it threatened to push her over the edge, maybe she just needed an adventure every so often like the young princess said.
Looking at forest she grinned and looked over at Ness, that was a nifty key, and she was going to have to ask about it. Not now though, it was time for an adventure. "Yes!" And with that she stepped through and into the forest, breathing in the smells and taking a second before looking at her partner in crime. "Where are we?"
Ness grinned at her friend and followed after her through the portal. They stepped into woods, and the door on this side of the world was the entrance to a rather crude hut. Ness closed it, then when she opened it again it opened into an abandoned little house used for relieving the bowls, not a hall in the palace.
"I'll give you two guesses." She invited, closing the door once more rather than using it, then turning to behold. While the building they had stepped from was whole, a scan of what was before them would show a combination of buildings and ruins.
Rolling her eyes Calanthe stuck out her tongue and laughed. Still she nodded her head and looked around pondering where they might be. The building itself wasn’t much to look at. Pretty boring and plain, but taking some steps forward it became a lot more interesting. Ruins of what must have been a beautiful place. Not a real city anymore though, and clearly abandoned. Moving forward a little more rather than staying in the boring room she looked back at Ness with wide eyes. This was awesome. ”Are we in Coheed?” They had a couple ruined cities if she remembered correctly, and the architecture looked about right. That side of things hadn’t really interested her until recently, and going to other kingdoms had started to spark that interest.
"Ding! Correct!" She surged forward, spread her arms, tilted her face towards the sky, and breathed in the crisp Coheed air. It wasn't any different than the air found in Arynn Frey, of course, but she liked to think it was. She liked to pretend it was an entirely different world.
"This kingdom is so refreshing." She sighed contentedly, then looked towards Calanthe. "Once you get past some of the cultural traditions..." she chuckled.
Letting her gaze sweep widely, she had never been to Coheed before. She had read about it plenty, seen the sketches and cringed a little, well a lot, at their cultural practices. Treating women like breeding partners and nothing else? Well until recently apparently. The new, what was it, Governor of Coheed seemed to be interested in changing that a little.
"I don't think I could get past the whole wild sex everywhere for a festival thing." It seemed distasteful. Every kingdom had their own thing, and she didn't want to diminish that, but it wasn't for her. "How close are we to Gilead?" Looking over at Ness she wasn't really sure Ness would know. That didn't make her any less curious about it.
Ness, instead of agreeing with Calanthe's statement, hummed a note and smiled widely, lips closed over her teeth, eyes bright.
"How do you know?" She asked after a pause, rounding on her friend with large eyes and a mischievous tone. "Have you ever had sex?" Ness hadn't. Clearly. "Have you ever watched sex?" Her brows bounced. She'd be interested. "Have you ever studied the difference between tame sex and wild sex?" Her eyes cut to the side and she said quietly to herself, "I'd like to know which is more enjoyable, and whether it depends on the partner or the circumstance or both..." She raised a hand to her mouth, her thumb and forefinger pinching her lower lip at the thought of it all. Then she glanced around them again.
Calanthe looked at Ness in surprise. Certainly she hadn't expected to talk about her sex life on this trip. Well the complete lack of one as it were. But she was absolutely certain that the first time she did it wasn't going to be in front of a crowd of people or in a pile. "Studied sex? What are you planning on using some binoculars and watching the festival for some research purposes?" Waggling her eyebrows she was sure that the princess had no plans of being that rash. "But really have you ever watched? Is that something we are supposed to be doing? I bet it would be fun."
The confirmation made her a lot more comfortable after all this talk about wild sex that they were no where near the densely populated part of Coheed. "So you just travel wherever you please, whenever you want?"
Ness chuckled breathily as she walked forward a little more, poking at some earth with her toe. Calanthe had a lot to say, and Ness was pleased to hear that her friend was eager to learn--to see--more, too. It wasn't so strange for them to be curious. They were scholars, as were all of Arynn Frey. Why should they spend hours pouring into the arcane and not give any time of day to the natural? Sex wasn't dirty; it was necessary.
"I do." She confirmed, running with Calanthe's final inquiry. "And as long as I don't get caught, I don't get in trouble. I always stick to the edges and," she shrugged, "it seems to work." She cut her gaze back towards her friend. "But on the topic of watching..." She'd move right up into Calanthe's face, eyes wide. "Do you know where we might?"
Calanthe tapped her fingers on her hips, certainly thinking about figuring out a way to get one for herself. She was innately curious, that was the Arynn Frey way. Otherwise they wouldn't be the scholars they were. Even about sex lives and where to watch said things.
"Well besides here..." Laughing Calanthe surveyed the land, thinking. "What about all those Dresmondi refugees? They seem generally free with things, and tents aren't exactly a great hiding place." Giving Ness a mischievous look she waggled her eyebrows. The thought that prying eyes on those who had fled their own kingdom wasn't a flicker in her mind.