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!
Wren had decided to lay low. Would she have been justified in burning Nevermere in Cambria to the ground? Yes, arguably. But she held her tongue, stayed in line, and went about business as usual. Mostly, anyway.
Coming to see Odina wasn't usual. She hadn't before--not under these circumstances. In the past when she'd come to see Odina it was with a cracked chest plate in hand or a dented shield. Today, the only cracks and dents were in Wren's confidence in those around her. Cambria was both a land occupied and divided, and Wren was still trying to determine where she stood in all of this.
Rather than scheduling a meeting with Odina, Wren jumped her. That is, she had picked up on the new governor's habits and movements and intersected her. Currently, Odina was likely on her way to walk the streets, if Wren had done her homework correctly. The leader of the Valkyrie appeared rather suddenly, not aggressively, but certainly a little slyly.
"Odina." She called, dipping her head, not a Cambrian salute but a physical communication of a kind of respect. Should the woman not immediately turn her away, she would draw in closer.
"I was wonder if we might have a word? I can walk with you..." She observed her sister with new eyes. Was Odina even her sister? A Nevermerean, apparently. But she had been raised among them. She knew their ways. How had Wren never noticed she lacked the tattoos?
Post by Odina Ellis on Aug 21, 2023 21:16:26 GMT -5
Odina had made a habit of being seen amongst the Cambrians and Nevermere soldiers, she wasn't going to sit in a tower or tent or her dwelling as the Governor. Was Cambria split? It was and she had to fix that, the ultimate fix she wished she had was to give Cambria back her freedom of Nevermere but alas that wasn't why she was here her nephew was protecting this land under decree and agreement of . She was here to bring the two together and she had her work cut out for her.
Despite being who she was Odina still hadn't neglected her sense of freedom she walked in a deer pelt dress, P'ol was walking beside her Mother in a bit of a skip. When she heard her name being called she didn't connect the voice but she and P'ol stopped turning their attention toward none other than Willa Wren.
"Wren...oh," she hadn't seen the blonde in so long she almost hadn't recognized her but Odina knew her, the Mace she favored so much had been made by Odina, "of course, let's walk? P'ol," Odina looked down at her daughter, "come," and all three continued continued their walk, "what would you like to talk about Wren?"
Wren nodded at P'ol, a girl she didn't know personally but surely recognized. Granted an audience, Wren fell into step, her nerves surging in her body. She wasn't a speaker. She wasn't a leader, really. Her headship of the Valkyrie was subject to her incomparable strength. Wren was a teammate, and ally that surely Odina wanted to have backing her--if she knew what was good for her.
"I must admit that I am not entirely confused about why Isolde was removed from her position." Likely not what Odina was expecting from her, but there it was. "But what I wish to know now is what exactly your agenda here is." She peered at Odina, hope in her eyes. Hope that the Cambrian-adopted Nevermerean would be true to the people who had taken her in and made her their own.
Post by Odina Ellis on Aug 28, 2023 11:37:07 GMT -5
Odina was glad Wren hadn't questioned the removal of Isolde, only a blind fool would question it what she had been doing to her own people was barbaric beyond words. Still Wren was a patriotic Cambrian the words were not lost on Odina even as the next question brought a pause in their walk, she sighed, "Is there anywhere we can go and speak in private...I mean private," Odina was hinting that perhaps a space not even those with Cambrian enhanced hearing could listen. It was time she let one of the truest Cambrian women know the truth, Rina would know soon but Wren...Wren just different compared to the others.
Odina's desire for true privacy raised Wren's hopes more than she could put into words. With a set of her brow she gave a firm nod and started to lead the way with their walk, assuming Odina would send her daughter away. Or did this daughter know? Whatever the case, Wren led Odina to the smithy. In fact, the very smith Odina used to work in. As they neared, the noise it was generating grew louder. There were two women beating away at metal, a roaring fire, a third woman feeding it...a lot of noise. Wren personally knew each woman and knew them not to be enhanced of hearing. Anyone listening in wouldn't likely be able to sort past the ruckus the smithy made.
Wren stopped in the center of it, having given the women present a look--many of Cambria respected her position--and looked expectantly at Odina,
Post by Odina Ellis on Aug 31, 2023 19:34:52 GMT -5
The sounds of pounding on metal, the smell of sweltering iron or steel heated to highest degree possible it all made sense this was the best privacy they could possibly afford. It eased her just a little. She didn't dismiss P'ol because P'ol knew all about what she was about to tell Wren, it didn't make things easier.
"Can I see your wrists?" if Wren didn't object Odina would hold hers up and grasp Wrens turning it until she saw the mark the runes all Cambrians received on their first blood, either way Odina would show her wrists and the lack of the markings, "I never received the enhanced runes Wren, because I am not a daughter of Cambria..not even half...my real name is Tara Ellis and my Father was the King of Nevermere before the arrival Cassians Father...I am the banished Princess of Nevermere..."
Post by Willa Wren on Sept 13, 2023 7:19:37 GMT -5
Wren offered her hands when Odina asked for them, watching as the other woman turned them to inspect her marks. There was more now, though they had been done in white that barely showed on her skin. They were the marks that made her even stronger, the one done to her by the Arynn Frey enchanter. She knew Odina didn't have the marks, and she'd seen her struggle with tasks that those with marks could easily do. In Wren's opinion it was why Odina crafted the best weapons. There was a finesse to what she did that only a weaker hand could attain.
At Odina's words, Wren's head snapped up. She didn't know much about Nevermere, but she knew that once upon a time they had stayed behind the mountains, keeping to themselves, and now they were everyone, like a plague upon the lands.
Wren was no calculator, and certainly not crafty. Her plans were simple and straightforward.
"Then," she said softly, "you plan to claim the throne and become queen?"
Post by Odina Ellis on Sept 16, 2023 19:46:54 GMT -5
Odina let the question linger in the air, because had she thought about it? Sometimes in the latest hours of the night when chaos always seemed to swell she did, had.
"Wren I have always respected you for how straight forward you are," she did finally speak and with the secret out with at least one woman who might respect her honesty Odina would tow the line, "I don't have an army...if any allies at all, Cassian I feel put me here to keep me out of the kingdom," even saying it out loud spoke to the piece of her that wanted revenge still (it never left just buried itself deep within) but it was only a half belief because the other belief was that she was put here for a purpose by her nephew it was conflicting, "so if I did have anyone that supported my name they would be in Nevermere...no one here trusts me here."
Post by Willa Wren on Sept 19, 2023 7:18:53 GMT -5
Wren was indeed straight forward, and she didn't know much about politics and plotting and all that secretive stuff. She preferred to draw swords and settle a matter on the spot.
"That could change." Wren returned quietly. "I am trusted, and if I back you..." she raised her eyebrows. She had no reason to think Odina might be an enemy. Wren would take her at her word for as long as she could, and then when she couldn't it would be in Odina's best interest to not be on the other side of conflict with Wren.
"If you became the queen, you could set everything right."
Post by Odina Ellis on Sept 21, 2023 18:22:40 GMT -5
Odina looked at P'ol who had wondered away to watch the other smith's work and the Princess thought about her other two daughters back in Nevermere, "If we do this Wren it has to be calculated and we will need help, I've been to Nevermere and it's army unleashed on us without doing this right will crush us," she looked back at Wren all just as serious as the Cambrian, "And if we fail my daughters will suffer, anything will be for nought...but if we do this right Cambria will be free of Nevermere rule. If you would like to trust me I can do something to earn that trust..."
Post by Willa Wren on Sept 25, 2023 8:01:59 GMT -5
Wren's heart picked up. This. This was it. Isolde had looked to Wren for salvation, but Wren now looked to Odina. Her green eyes flickered between the woman's, eagerly drinking in her words, choosing to believe what she said. Odina had no reason to lie to Wren.
"Our numbers can't hope to meet theirs." Wren whispered, "But if we work with others that seek liberation from their oppression..." She looked Odina over, taking in the entirety of the woman. "What are you proposing?" The plan. The trust. Whatever Odina had, Wren wanted to hear it.
Post by Odina Ellis on Sept 27, 2023 7:55:14 GMT -5
Heart pounding Odina did have a general idea, "First we need to try and keep the peace here, between Nevermere and Cambria, but we need to find a weak link within their soldiers and the Crown someone weak enough to be manipulated," she tucked loose dark hairs behind her ears, "and where does Coheed stand? Could we find someone within them that aren't happy with Nevermere occupation?"
Post by Willa Wren on Sept 28, 2023 6:20:28 GMT -5
Wren's gaze flickered between Odina's eyes, her mind humming (or hurting) as she exerted herself, straining to be useful for the woman before her. Their way out. Wren was not inclined to doubt the word of a woman. She knew her sex well. They were strong, resilient, and unbreakable. Had she been a woman who used her mind more often than her muscle, she might have given pause. She might have questioned this exchange. But no, Wren was in. All in.
"Rian Cyrilson." She breathed the name. "He told me himself that he is playing a part to get close to Nevermere in order to eradicate it. I..." She fell silent, suddenly hesitant to voice her disapproval. Apparently Odina had done the same thing. Well, Rian was in it for Coheed. Odina was in it for Cambria. Wren decided she didn't mind the latter circumstance.
Post by Odina Ellis on Sept 28, 2023 8:34:15 GMT -5
@rian, she committed the name to memory but she also didn't miss how Wren trailed off, "Do you not trust this man? Will this be something we have to tread lightly against? Is it his wife, Magda Ivanova? I have met her during my time in Nevermere, but I've heard things about her that calls for contempt of trust...I'm all in Wren...if you're with me, we can do this. We can have our homes again...ours.."
Post by Willa Wren on Oct 15, 2023 13:46:26 GMT -5
Wren believed Odina, partly because Odina was convincing, and partly because Wren wanted to believe her. She needed an ally in the coming war, and Odina was a perfect one.
“Anyone who can feign loyalty gives me pause.” She admitted. “I don’t know that I trust Rian, but regardless I think we can use him. His wife,” she shook her head, “not at all. She is for Nevermere through and through.”