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!
Camus knew that there were elephants somewhere in Terra Nova. Unfortunately, he knew a great many of them were targeted for their tusks so that the rich folk of Lorendale and the other nations could offer themselves ivory items. He couldn't help but think that he would quite like to see them one day, if only he knew just where it was that they could be found. "That's a shame. We didn't have any in Dresmond either, at least not that I ever saw. I'd like to see some one day. So would Mercy." He spoke for the elephant, not because she had addressed him but merely because she'd expressed such a desire previously.
He paused, an understanding smile made its way onto his face as Devi spoke. "It's fine." He assured her. "I had a lot of questions to ask of your enchanters when I first got here." It wasn't quite the same of course. They used enchantments, there wasn't another living being attached to it (well, asides from the poor devils whose souls were harvested to be used). He hoped that he hadn't made things awkward by his previous response. "Neither of us took any offense." He considered the woman for a few moments before asking. "Did the queen send you or are you doing this of your own initiative?"
Over the course of his stay here, it had seemed that a lot that happened within the nation could eventually be traced back one way or another to its queen.
Post by Devi Talik on Aug 14, 2022 16:52:37 GMT -5
In truth, the flora and fauna of the world had never held any real interest to Devi. What fascinated her was not the natural world, but the capacity to bend it under the leverage of a keen intellect and a determined will. If there were elephants elsewhere in the wilds of Terra Nova, Devi hoped Camus and his dyr—Mercy, she reminded herself—might one day get their wish, but it was not one she could profess to sharing.
“If I happen to come across any in my reading, you shall be the first to know,” Devi assured the pair instead, confident she could do that much at least. Her shoulders sank in relief a moment later, nerves receding at the sight of the Dresmondi’s easy smile. “At the moment,” she explained, “I’m here of my own volition. But if you really are amenable to my research, I should like to request a formal writ of approval from the Queen. After all—” she grinned—“what we might accomplish here could mean finishing the wall in record time.” Pride filled her voice as she lifted her chin, looking to the where the wall reached for the clouds. A triumph of Arynnite intellect and Dresmondi sweat, and something truly magnificent to behold.
Camus wondered only briefly if the woman might have had alternative motives. If she succeeded, there could be no doubt that the Arynnite higher ups would appreciate her efforts, perhaps even reward her. It had been made very clear to the Dresmondi that this wall was to be an absolute priority. It would secure their safety as well as the entirety of Arynn Frey, in theory at least, forever and against all foes. No longer would they need to look to the horizon, fearful of redhaired demons of the hordes of Coheed. It was still over a year out even if they were being optimistic. If that process could be sped up, oh, there would certainly be rewards for whoever could achieve such a thing.
For his part, the senator would be content just to have his people released from this work which, to them, was unnatural.
"Well, we're willing to serve as guinea pigs within reason." As Camus understood it, it would take at least a little while for them to create the enchantments. Unless she'd come her prepared, he assumed that there would be at the very least a brief period of waiting. "I can only speak for myself right now but I'm sure that there would be others keen to speed things up a bit."
Post by Devi Talik on Aug 20, 2022 19:57:13 GMT -5
“It’s settled then,” Devi decided. “I shall write the queen the moment I return.” Relief flooded her chest. She had not realized just how much she wanted this, to do something that would be completely and entirely her own, something her sister’s name could not stain, something triumphant.
Her mind was already dutifully filing tasks into tidy lists, but there would be time enough later to attend to their contents. For the time being, Camus and Mercy held her attention, a fact that surprised even Devi. She had the dispensation she needed, at least from the Dresmondi. That should have more than sufficed, and yet, she lingered, curiosity narrowing her gaze as it slipped between the pair before her.
“This arrangement of ours,” she pressed, treading what she suspected might be a tenuous line, “it would be more efficient if perhaps I knew more about you, about your people and your dyrs.” She was, as previously stated, not especially preoccupied with the flora and fauna of the world around her. People so often eluded her, but if she was to amplify the magic of the Dresmondi dyrs, she would need to understand it. That alone was a feat that would take time and observation.
Camus nodded agreeably. As far as he could tell, this wasn't exactly going to be time consuming and he was always keen to be at the very least helpful when it came to those who were kind enough to offer them some shelter. Although he would certainly feel more confident about it once they had the green light from the queen.
"That might not be all that easy. You see... Even we Dresmondi don't understand everything about being a Dresmondi." He realized it wasn't a very clear, even comprehensible way of putting things. "We had our traditions and way of life but there was always a certain mystery about it. You can learn and study to do enchantments, we always just had our dyr. Even when I had the medallion, I didn't really know how to use it. Now it's lost..." There was a clear bitterness behind his words, regret and guilt. It wasn't quite the first time that the Arynnites had taken an interest in their Dresmondi guests and their magic, yet for all their centuries worth of knowledge and experience, they had never come even close to recreating the medallion.
"We got our dyr from the Cave of names. We fell asleep, buried in dirt and found ourselves in this... Place. Our dyrs would find us there and we'd wake up with them. If we did wake up at all that is." It must have sounded odd to those who hadn't lived through it. "The dyrs are the magical ones."
Post by Devi Talik on Sept 5, 2022 10:42:30 GMT -5
The fact that Camus had apparently been in possession of the fabled Dresmondi medallion was more than enough to ignite her curiosity. Devi’s eyes flashed with interest, eager to inquire after the object that was, supposedly, responsible for this connection the Dresmondi enjoys, this thing that linked them to the physical manifestations of their very souls. Her hand disappeared into the bag she wore over her shoulder, emerging a moment later with a small, leather-bound book.
She might have opened it, prepared to launch into a full inquisition, but something Camus said brought her up short. “And the ones who do not wake?” she asked, her smooth brow momentarily and uncharacteristically furrowed.
Last Edit: Sept 25, 2022 18:57:20 GMT -5 by Devi Talik
Camus waited for the next question patiently. His face would fall slightly at the mention of the unfortunates who never managed to wake up. "They don't wake and the earth claims them." For a few moments, the face of his son, the one who had never been named, flashed before Camus. He saw the boy hiding his fear behind a beaming smile and the confident boast that soon, he'd be back with the greatest dyr the world had ever seen. He shook his head, chasing the memory away. "We don't know exactly what happens. When you go into the sleep, you find yourself in this... Place. It's different for everyone. There you find your dyr. We think those who don't wake never manage to find theirs."
Post by Devi Talik on Sept 25, 2022 19:12:32 GMT -5
It was a small miracle Devi managed to suspend her curiosity long enough for Camus to finish speaking. Questions were practically tripping over one another in her mind, rushing to be voiced. How had they attempted waking the sleeping dyrs? What did they do with the bodies? What happened if a Dresmondi attempted the ritual without the medallion? How many Dresmondi never woke up? Half? Less than half? More?
“That’s unfortunate.” Devi frowned. She had never been particularly adept at navigating emotions, hers or anyone else’s, but she knew better that poke and prod at a loss she imagined the Dresmondi people felt rather deeply. For a moment, her gaze shifted, leaving Camus to study the ever-climbing line of the wall rather than risk her curiosity eventually overtaking her sensibility. “What was it like for you?” she asked a moment later, belatedly seizing on one of the details he had provided. “The place you went in the cave? Where you found Merci?” Her attention fell from the wall, returning to Camus before flicking to the dyr beside him. “That is, if that’s not too personal a question,” she amended awkwardly.
Unfortunate, yes. Camus bit his tongue for a moment. Most of the parents within the Dresmondi population had lost at least one child. Some were lucky and wouldn't lose any, others had watched all of theirs go into the cave and none of them return. It had been a part of their lives and not one that any of them questioned, much in the same way that a Coheedsman who brought a girl into the world had accepted that she would live the life of a human being considered to be little more than cattle.
Curiously, having to think about just where he'd found Mercy wasn't that much better. "For me? It was this barren, lifeless wasteland. It was like a desert. I remember the air burning." It had struck him as hell and left a lasting impression on the man to the extent that if he had a nightmare, nine times out of ten, it would take place there. "I think I was a little bit unlucky. Some of the other people I knew ended up in a sort of paradise." He hoped that was the sort of place that his son had found himself... "Nobody really knows why it's different for everyone or if it actually means anything."