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!
Being with the claw outside of Elderkeep was more freeing than Ermir could have ever imagined. The air was fresh, there was no stench as Ciel swirled around the air. There were birds, insects, animals, it was a freedom that for now he could only dream of. Because he had left his kids behind, and despite the great company part of him was still worried about those he had left in the city, especially little Nikita.
Ciel was on his shoulder, and they were both happy, worried of course, but the fresh air had them in a good mood. Eventually in a lull in the conversation he offered Kezia a hand up. "Let's go stretch our legs a bit, I think there was a stream a little back?" He had enjoyed spending what felt like borrowed time with her. Especially as this plan started to grow, Ermir wanted to spend as much time as possible with those he cared about.
Leaving the city… if it could really be called that… had been nerve wrecking. But now out in the open? Kezia had practically been floating on a cloud since they had found a place to make camp for the night. She sat at Ermir’s side, not over crowding him but lingering close, making it easy for either of them to reach for the other if needed.
Small conversation was had, but eventually it sort of faded out and Kezia was shifting almost uncomfortably when Ermir stood. Her eyes looking up to him as his hand extended for her. She took it happily, slipping her small hand in his much larger one. “That sounds refreshing.” She smiled, already working to tie her curls up on her head as they walked for a moment, before she’d turn to him.
“Do you think we will really get a lot of Dresmondi out?” She asked, brown eyes curious as to his thoughts.
No matter how close Kezia had inched towards him during their journey he wouldn't have felt crowded. Her presence was always welcome, and he made that clear, brushing her fingers, smiling, in anyway he could. It was a gift to have an old friend back, someone to lean on again and share things with that he didn't with anyone else. That he couldn't because it might burden them or worse change what they thought of him. But Ermir shared everything freely, despite knowing that nothing was permanent in Elderkeep.
Pulling her to her feet, the larger Dresmondi nodded and laughed. "This whole day has been refreshing." This is how they were all supposed to live. How everyone in Dresmond was meant to be.
And so with her question he nodded. "I know we will." He trusted Zevran's plan, and he trusted the group that had trekked out to the middle of nowhere. They just needed to have a little bit of faith and luck.
Refreshing it was. There was something about slipping back beside other Dresmondi, not having enchantments all around them, that reminded her of the old days. The way they were with one another, the way that they could slip into ones bed and the next morning not worry about jealous feelings or a consuming need to smother another.
While she did feel closer to Ermir than ever before, he was freeing to be with. He was a comfort she had long forgotten and only found once again when she came across him in the tavern. His tavern to be exact.
“You sound so sure,” she said it with a smile, glancing way up at him from her small height. “I like that confidence.” She confirmed before she’d let Geb and Raiden down to the ground to bounce and curl and chatter away with one another. Making her have to side step them a few times as they played. Ciel more than welcomed and even encouraged to join. “It makes the idea of walking into this easier.”
This was all that Ermir knew. People coming and going in your life, although the Eldouir reign had changed some things, there was enough death to feel the constant change. That's why this was going to work. That's why this had to work, because clearly no one else was going to stick up for them.
"We're a strong group." Of course that was mostly because they had to be. Kezia with her own battles, Luka with hers, Zevran slugging through it all. They had all committed to ending this, and so they would strike hard. Maybe he was fooling himself into his confidence, but that's not what it felt like.
Ciel joined the other dyrs, as although he loved to perch on Ermir in Elderkeep there was plenty of free space out here. Space to play, curl up, not have to worry about getting stomped on or killed. "The walking together will make it easier." Not just the two of them, but the group, all looking to meet the same goal.
A strong, but broken group. She knew that each of them had wounds that scarred each of them. Hers had been brushed away, no longer visible except for the few at the base of her hairline on the back of her neck... but the mental scars were deeper. Ermir wore his as well, Luka seemed to have her own and it was why Kezia was constantly getting the side eye. Zevran... he had his that he covered up with trying to lead them through what was right.
What they all knew was right for them to do, even if they were terrified of what the outcome could be. She walked a little faster, her legs trying to draw them quicker to the water. As if it might wash away the darkness that clouded their thoughts. "Do you think if we stand up to them, that others might see it and join us?"
Long legs keeping up with her quickened pace, it was nice to stretch his legs. The journey out had been long, but that was the best part of it. Years of the cramped space made him savor every second, especially as he strode towards water and another chance to let himself forget the worries that would soon consume them all.
"I think some will. And there will be other's who try to protect the Eldouirs." It wasn't their fault, but years of this had made a lot of the Dresmondi forget who they were. Forgot the freedom that was past the circle of caravans. "And eventually we will save them too." Part of Ermir hoped that if he said the words it would speak them into existence. The shear thought of them giving wind beneath everyone's wings.
She liked the lift to his voice as he told her that he believed they would save more than the ones who’d be lost from here on out. Her own hope was that as well, but she had seen first hand the way that Dresmondi didn’t want to bend in Arynn Frey. The difference was, they at least had some freedoms in Arynn Frey. This new Dresmond (she needed to find a new name for it), she felt like they had none.
As the water came into view, there was no hesitation, reaching for her shirt, she stripped free of it. Not an ounce of shame, because she truly had none. “We just need to figure out how to separate the strong ones from the others… I feel like we could pick them off one by one if we got them separated.” She mused, working on her next article of clothing.
Back in Elderkeep, Ermir had gotten used to keeping all his clothing on, but out here? With Kezia? He was free to be the Dresmondi that he had been. Not burdened with two dyrless children and a city that needed help. A city, it seemed ridiculous out here. "Are any of them weak?"
Taking his clothes off, shirt first and then the rest he couldn't help but appreciate Kezia's less than clothes body. "Those gifts are ridiculous." Dealing with a man who could manipulate your blood didn't seem easy on any level.
Weak? “No,” she answered, a soft sigh leaving her before she looked up at him, shedding her last article of clothing. “But they are no gods. They bleed. And I think we all should remember that.” Herself included.
There was no shame as she looked him over, a faint smile lifting her face before she started backing towards the water. “Some of them do what we do, controlling elements…” she paused, smiling brighter. “But let’s be honest, nothing like us,” Geb heard them and playfully rumbled the ground under their feet. “They wanted Dresmond because we are also powerful. Why keep us as soldiers and train us?”
The water was cool as she started to wade into it, pausing when it reached her belly button and she curled a finger at him so he’d join her. “I think we sometimes forget it.”
Ermir definitely agreed on that matter. Those with elemental control were nothing like Kezia, Eirwen or he would be. They were one of the element in a way that was entirely different. Part of their consciousness, not something to control. ”they could never dream of the connection we have.” Adeline popped up in his mind, the less superior version of the ice dresmondi currently at his tavern.
Following her into the water he smiled. ”How could I forget now?” Because looking at her made it overwhelmingly clear how power they all were
Watching his mind turn at the thought that she put out there. They really wouldn’t understand that connection, to have another conscious part of themselves that made them better. Kezia couldn’t imagine her life without Raiden… and now Geb. Her eyes flashing to the bank where the dyr’s were with Ciel. Geb on his back, curling his long tail around the other dyr as he wiggled around. Raiden was currently trying to catch a rogue butterfly that was going by.
There was an excitement in her as he entered the water behind her, following her deeper. She sank further, more for his sake than her own given their height difference. Sinking to almost her shoulders. “You alone are powerful Ermir. Don’t forget that. The influence you have here.” She let her eyes move towards where Elderkeep was. “Well, there.” The people he has helped, surely they felt some sort of connection to him. Like they owed him for the kindness he’s shown them over the years. Her hands ran across the top of the water, watching the liquid fly over her hands.
“When this is all over,” she was dreaming, she knew. A sad smile crossing her face, “I want to be able to teach the newly named to work with their dyrs again.” It was almost impossible now, especially with the medallion missing. “Though I suppose it won’t quite be like that.” She looked up at him and gave a faint smile. “The possibilities of a future give me hope.” She shook her head with a laugh that suggested she knew it was ridiculous. But it helped.
Wadding into the depths of the water, Ermir was glad for the cool water. As well as happy to pick up the pace to get a little closer to Kezia. Height difference not so noticeable in the water.
”I just hope it’s worth it.” Shaking his head he smiled. ”Scratch that it will be.” Make the confidence into reality. If any of this was going to work they all had to be ready. Maybe having a little fun would help.
Nodding, Ermir thought that it would be a valiant effort, and not easy by any means. ”I know plenty of Dresmondi who would be lucky to have you Kez.” Not his children, not yet, maybe someday.
She opened her mouth to correct him, but when he smiled and sounded more confident, she beamed at him. Swimming closer to him, "That's more like it." She knew that the confidence could be for nothing in the long run, but she had to believe that it was worth something. The more confident that they were, the stronger the belief. The stronger the belief the more the dyrs went along with it. The stronger the pair, the stronger the power. She had spent many years teaching this.
Dresmondi were units. They were not meant to be alone.
She steadied a hand on him so she didn't have to tread water as much as she used him to hold her steady and keep her head above water. "Someday," she murmured. "I hope I am lucky enough to have them." All of the Dresmondi, Ermir's children included. And who knew, maybe one day, Kezia would have her own. Though those days seemed to be running out on her. After all this time, she thought, perhaps, something within her was broken.
Which is why she gave so much of herself to the others.
Ermir was still standing on solid ground, one thing that helped with his height, although he was fully submerged. It wasn't that he wasn't confident, certainly he had plenty of time to build that up in the city that should never have been.
Wrapping his arm around her waist, making sure that Kezia was steady, he smiled and nodded. "You can start when we get back you know, not with all of them, but hopefully after this plan there will be more." As long as everything went to plan anyways.
"We'll have to go and try to find the Medallion too. Little caravan trip?" He knew it seemed to be a thing of the past, but it was also the only way to get Dresmond's strength back.