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!
A day and a half. That's how long it had taken Octavius Wulfbrand to walk to his friend's house. He had to walk because he didn't own a horse and he hadn't been able to catch a wagon going that way at the time he was able to head out. So he had walked. All he had on him was leftovers from breakfast that morning wrapped haphazardly in a kerchief that ended up spilling into his pocket. He had hunkered down in the grass to sleep, not bothering with a fire because it was summer and thus warm and he trusted that his location would spare him the wrath of any night prowling carnivores. When the sun rose, waking him with a crick in his neck and a growling stomach, he'd journeyed on.
A day and a half. Grant had better pucker up when he saw him.
Along the way one of Octavius' boots had started to show its wear. He only had one pair besides the nice set he wore on duty, and after this little journey he had zero pairs. Sucked to be poor but what was a man to do? He had tried waiting around the castle to catch Grant but apparently the Delaney was not on a regular rotation anymore. Fancy that.
As Octavius took the final steps towards his destination, his eyes climbed the magnificent estate. He never would have thought he'd befriend someone from a family like Grant's, yet here he was. It wasn't his fault Grant was so easy to get along with (read: stupid like him). They were brothers in training arms, weren't they? Octavius certainly hoped so. It would be a bummer if it was all in his head and Grant turned him away at the door.
Post by Grant Delaney on Jul 5, 2022 21:40:48 GMT -5
A servant had been sent for Grant, telling him he had a guest. Again.
Grant was confused why the hell he was getting so many visitors in the final couple days before he shipped off, but he supposed it made sense. Maybe word spread he was getting kicked out of Skia (finally) for some mission? Or something. He wasn't sure. So he carefully avoided the rest of the proper Delaneys as he made his way to entrance of the Hollow and saw someone he hadn't thought about (without being annoyed and mildly jealous) in years.
The grumpy look that seemed almost alien on Grant's face melted away when he saw Octavius. He stepped out and threw an arm around his shorter friend's neck, laughing and putting him in a headlock.
"Look who we have here!" he yelled, jovial, using his free hand to drag his knuckles across Octavius' head. "Holy shit, I thought you were busy having the time of your life with a bunch of fair haired maidens up north!"
Post by Octavius Wulfbrand on Jul 5, 2022 22:03:23 GMT -5
Ah, there it was. A smile, a laugh, and a smell armpit. All was right with the world.
"Hey!" Octavius feigned an objection as his friend grabbed a hold of him, then proceeded to punch at Grant's ribs, if he could reach them, hard enough to remind his friend that he too was a man but gently enough to keep their exchange friendly. "They sent me home. Fair haired maidens couldn't hang, you know?" He said it grinning, mostly amused by how so very untrue it was.
Post by Grant Delaney on Jul 5, 2022 22:18:11 GMT -5
Grant took the hits without complaint. Proper roughhousing without needing to train was something he sorely missed in the last few years, having his best pal be Regan and the fights they usually got in were... well. Training, or with other drunks at bars. Grant was rather tired of getting yelled at for the latter, but he couldn't bring himself to be annoyed at Regan, anymore. Even for whatever dumb shit she very loudly admitted to.
He let go of Octavius and grabbed both his shoulders, looking him over. Judging from the tint of his skin, Cambria was another dreadful place filled with the sun. How awful!
"To hell with 'em," Grant said, before giving his old friend a proper hug. He pulled back enough to grin like a manic at Octavius. "You'll come back and they'll fall over their own feet at you. Absence makes the heart grow fonder or whatever," he said, before clapping his friend on the shoulder.
He looked the man up and down, then glanced around, seeing no means of transportation and returning his gaze to his friend.
Post by Octavius Wulfbrand on Jul 8, 2022 14:36:23 GMT -5
Octavius stood nice and tall, grinning as Grant looked him over. He flexed a little, if only to make himself appear a little better than he might otherwise. He wanted to show up and impress his long lost pal. He had only been eighteen when they were last together, after all, but now he was a strapping twenty-two. A full-fledged man. Able and ready to take a wife...
"Sure, let's pretend that's true." Octavius complied to Grant's words about absence and the heart and women of Cambria. If anything, he'd thought they were growing more volatile before he left, but he didn't say that. He didn't want to talk about Cambria.
"Uh," Octavius responded to his question, shooting a glance over his shoulder towards the door, weighing truth and circumstance to decide how he would respond, "I walked." He pressed his lips together firmly and nodded. But he didn't need Grant pitying his poor state and lack of a horse, so he attempted to keep out commentary on that fact by revealing,
"And I also met your witch." He angled his head as he said it, suggestively waggling his brows and grinning.
Post by Grant Delaney on Jul 8, 2022 20:43:50 GMT -5
Grant gave his buddy a light smack on the back of the head. "You're a soldier, just borrow one--" he began. Before he was cut off by mention of 'his' witch; then Grant's face went through a mixture of emotions. And given his limited capacity to feel them, they were easily displayed and then read, doubly so by a good friend. Amused and then annoyed and then fuming before just settling on kind of upset.
"Yeah, about that," he said, "not my witch anymore, actually," he said, leading the way to a sitting room so that if nothing else he could feed and water Octavius' horse while he bitched about being partner-deprived.
Post by Octavius Wulfbrand on Jul 15, 2022 14:42:26 GMT -5
Octavius, as the horse, would be pleased to drink and eat something. He was lowkey starving. Even though he'd grown up as a commoner they had always had plenty of food. The feeling in his stomach right now drove him to pity all those who didn't.
His face held confusion as he followed, his tongue slow to wag, sensing the sensitivity of this topic. Not his witch anymore.
"Damn, man, sorry..." Octavius raised a hand to the back of his head, itching idly, "Did she leave you?" He couldn't pretend to be surprising, having spent time with Regan, but he could feel bad. Then again, when he remembered the way she talked about Grant, he started to grow more confused. If he hadn't known any better he would have said she was in love with his friend...
Post by Grant Delaney on Jul 18, 2022 18:24:27 GMT -5
"She didn't leave me," said Grant. Which was sort of true? He wasn't even sure paired partners could do that without like, jumping through hoops. Probably a lot of them, especially given the ridiculous state Regan and Grant were in as a pairing up until the other day.
"She got a new job on the Royal Guard," said he, gesturing for his friend to sit. "So now I'm out a partner for the time being."
Sort of. An official, long-term partner, anyway. He had a feeling, by now, he wasn't going to even see Regan before he was out of Nevermere. And he didn't really need to explain that bit.
He stuck his head out the door and asked one of the help to fetch up some food for a wayward soldier, then dropped back in and sat across from Octavius.
"You know how it is, the King gives you a job you don't just say, 'no thanks, bud, I'm sorted right here'."
Logan sort of had and Grant wasn't sure how well that worked out, but that was another matter.
Post by Octavius Wulfbrand on Jul 19, 2022 15:09:44 GMT -5
Octavius heard the defensiveness in Grant's voice and concluded that she had definitely left him. Whether it looked like it does in a marriage or not, he had just been abandoned by someone important to him. He felt sympathy. Not empathy, as he couldn't understand his friend's circumstance, but his heart went out to him.
"Ah." He said mildly, not having anything else to say except sorry which he had already said. Octavius gratefully moved to take a seat where he'd been invited to, sinking onto his bottom with a contented sigh.
"Did you love her?" He'd seen the way she lit up when talking about him. He had naturally assumed...
Post by Grant Delaney on Jul 24, 2022 21:47:33 GMT -5
Grant stared at his friend, blinking. Oh. Well. That was a question.
"No, but," he began. He'd fallen in love once and that was another matter better left buried. At least according to the woman in question, and for once Grant was tempted to agree. So clearly he was not going to fall in love again, even if Kennet was trying her hardest to get him hitched.
"I dunno, I just got sent off to Lorendale and paired with her there. Since then we've been doing everything together, because, you know, pairing."
A servant came in with a platter of food and some drinks, setting them down and then making themself scarce. Grant opened his mouth and then remembered that the Ranger program was a very big secret and also possibly dead in the water. He poured himself a drink and knocked it back, gesturing for Octavius to dig in to whatever he liked.
"Plus there was the whole crazy rebellion type thing at the trial in Lorendale, five years ago," said Grant, latching on to a much more relatable shared bond. Or at least one he could talk about openly. "Kind of bond with someone when you fight those Eldouir fucking things and then carry bodies together."
Post by Octavius Wulfbrand on Jul 28, 2022 13:31:57 GMT -5
Octavius looked across the space at his friend, a shadow of sympathy in his eyes. He wouldn't say anything more on it, seeing how Grant wasn't all too eager to talk about it. Understandably so. Octavius didn't like talking about things that hurt him. Those were better left ignored.
"I get you on the pairing thing." He said, leaning back into the backrest and casually tossing his gaze around the room, not letting a somber attitude ruin the rest of this visit. "They just paired me up when I got back." He didn't sound thrilled about it but he didn't sound totally disappointed.
"A powerful witch, I must say, but you wanna know the worst part?" He hesitated to build the suspense. "She's married." Everyone knew the rumors about paired soldiers. So much for Octavius' luck.
Post by Grant Delaney on Jul 28, 2022 21:02:49 GMT -5
Grant relaxed a little when Octavius didn't pursue the 'Regan' subject any further. Or he might have started yelling and moping and he was really trying not to do that so openly especially with the Looks that Brenna Delaney had been giving him when he said he no longer had a partner.
"Oh yeah?" asked Grant, smirking and laughing a little. "Well, they're not always supposed to end in marriage, you know," he reminded his friend, shaking his head. "But that does make it a little weird, yeah. Who's your partner?" he asked, curious. He knew enough fellow soldiers that he might have been able to put a name to a face, but he was assuming he wouldn't really. It'd be something to add to the list of stuff to find out when he returned from Dresmond. Meet his buddy's new--or less new, by then--partner.
Post by Octavius Wulfbrand on Jul 29, 2022 14:37:28 GMT -5
"I know that," Octavius said quickly, his tone protesting Grant's assumption that he had made that conclusion for himself, "but I wasn't necessarily thinking about marriage..." Was it too much to hope for some chemistry? For long looks towards one another's lips in the midst of training? Perhaps the infrequent release of all that manpower? Okay, okay, maybe Octavius had hoped he would find a woman to love from the paired program. But he didn't dare admit that to Grant. Nah, he had to keep it casual.
"If you know her then you probably don't like her. Regan didn't." He didn't mean to keep bringing up Grant's past, but he'd happened to make friends with Regan too and learn things about her. "Katerina Winters." He watched his friend closely for any sign of recognition.
Post by Grant Delaney on Jul 29, 2022 19:49:06 GMT -5
Grant laughed a little, smiling at his friend. Yeah, well, maybe not everyone tried to get paired with a witch because they suddenly found out witches were even more terrifying than they previously knew. Which had been saying something, given that Grant grew up surrounded by them and his mother was likely the most terrifying one in Nevermere. Though that was mostly by her personality rather than raw magical prowess.
"You might be right," Grant acceded, taking a sip and then making a face. "Ah. Right, well, it's not that I don't like her, exactly," Grant began, thinking about this. "We got off on the wrong foot once years ago and she seems like the type to never forget first impressions."
Which was the opposite of dealing with Grant, really. That was around the time he fell in love, too. He was a grumpy boy then, even moreso than now.
"But yeah, I know her. Just. We're not real good pals. I know her husband and some of the family, and they're all good people. So I'm sure she is too when she isn't, you know, mad at you." Grant wasn't going to get his hopes up for Katerina taking a sudden shine to him. "So maybe just, don't mention me. Or mention that I'm a big idiot, she'll probably have to accept that!" It was true, after all.
Post by Octavius Wulfbrand on Aug 2, 2022 20:11:53 GMT -5
Octavius grinned at Grant. He'd already met his witch and had begun spending time with her. They were very different, but they'd found something of a groove and he could confidently say that he liked her. Not only did he like her, but he was starting to trust her.
"She has a temper." He agreed good naturedly, not expressing it as something to be changed, but actually celebrating it with his smile. "And," he continued, his grin fading into something more sincere, "she's misunderstood. Sort of." He shrugged a shoulder, tipping his head towards it, as was his habit.
"So...what are you going to do now? No paired witch. Just little old Granty..." he raised his brows and broke into a grin once more.