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!
He pushed off the tree and began pacing back and forth, one hand on his hip and one rubbing at the stubble on his chin. He had been so caught up on the idea of having to save Dresmond on their own, from the inside, that the possibility of leaving didn't sit right with him. Perhaps it made him no better than the others still within Elderkeep.
As he paced, he occasionally glanced at his friends. Ermir would surely have to stay, and Kezia would want to stay with him. Except... she already had connections to Arynn Frey and the Dresmondi there. It would make it easier to reach them.
He finally stopped, though he was frowning deeply. "I will come with you back to Nevermere and speak with your king."
Turning to the group, his features softening slightly, he sighed again before he continued. "It is up to the rest of you what you do. I am completely willing to go alone. I know you have connections to Arynn Frey, Kezia, but... I know you would not want to leave Ermir here."
He glanced at Luka, who was sure to be glowering from a corner somewhere at him. "And I think you know why it might be best for you to stay here as well." He didn't want to say it out loud, in front of these people who were still strangers, but bringing a red head along on this particular adventure might prove detrimental.
Watching the whole thing unfold, she remained silent and at Ermir’s side. The small Dresmondi keeping his hand within hers. And by the time the option to find help came up, her hand tightened its grip. Because the moment Zevran looked at her, she knew. She did have the rapport with the others in Arynn Frey. She had even held a seat as a voice for the Dresmondi people there, that meant that she knew more than just the Dresmondi. She knew Arynnites.
She could stay with Ermir. She knew she wanted to help protect him, even if he could handle himself. But leaving Zevran to be by himself felt even more wrong. When she could be useful. Staring up at the Dresmondi at her side, she studied his features for a few long moments. Before she looked to Luka. While the woman hadn’t been extremely welcoming, Kezia knew she’d protect her too. “I’ll go with you,” she answered, looking at Zevran and giving a quick nod.
It was an interesting plan. He didn’t much like it seeing as they had come out here for a reason but he also knew it would be better to have more people on their side. But with the tribute right around the corner he wasn’t so sure help would come in time. Ciel still felt like Luka was right and this was all wrong, whipping the air around all of them, searching for something, anything.
”I have to stay.” Squeezing Kezia’s hand he looked at the rest of the group, not loving the idea of being alone again. He had those in his tavern but it was different, and he certainly didn’t know how to lead on his own. Hopefully they would be back soon, and in time.
Luka didn’t like any of it. She didn’t like the way the Lorendalers-Nevermerans-Lorrymerans-*whatever* looked. She didn’t like the fact that Zevran was taking them back to camp. She sure as sands didn’t like that he was telling them anything. Everything. All the things.
She didn’t like it. At all.
Pacing in an arc around the outskirts of their camp, Luka kept one eye trained on the foreigners and another eye on the plains beyond. Watching for trouble. Grem circled overhead. He didn’t like it either, but he wanted to. He wanted to believe it was possible. That there were people in the world who thought this was wrong, who wanted to help. ‘Who wouldn’t?’ he argued, wafting above the spindly branches.
‘Most of Dresmond,’ Luka thought back at him, hard eyes cutting a sharp glare across the camp before she sputtered to a complete stop, the brim of her hat whipping as she whirled back to stare bewildered at Zevran and the Talking One.
They were talking about leaving. Leaving Dresmond. Leaving Elderkeep. Leaving Rabbit.
Under the brim of her hat, her mouth fell open. Eventually, a few angry words tumbled out after.
“How’re we even supposed to get back if you leave?” she demanded. Without Rune’s shadows or one of the creepy-pair’s holes, they were goners for sure. Still, she hurled her question at Zevran directly, wide eyes scrunched up with as much doubt as anger.
Zevran fully expected Luka's anger at the situation, and he couldn't blame her one bit. He met her angry gaze with a tired one, "We can travel back to Elderkeep together and I'll take you guys back inside during the night. Then we'll leave for Nevermere the next morning."
He looked between everyone, "Unless you think we should leave now for time. But I wouldn't know how they'd get back in Elderkeep. You can't just walk in and out like a regular city. I don't know." He scrubbed at his face with his hands.
"Or, maybe we should all just leave. Who cares if they realize Ermir is gone if we show back up with an entire army behind us."[/blockquote
Alys took a small shift towards Grant when she heard the anger in the voice of the woman hiding under her hat. As if she was going to protect him, her dark eyes narrowing in on her. Only for that small shot of surprise rushing down her spine as Zevran continued. Looking back at him with confusion as he explained they couldn’t just go in and out. “Why… why can’t you all just leave?” Clearly not knowing the fact that the Eldouir’s kept it locked down.
But losing days? “No, I think you all should come… if you can’t make it in on your own. You said it starts any day now.” She pointed out, adjusting the bag on her back. Alys wasn’t going to point out that she couldn’t promise an army, but she knew that she and Grant were potentially a beacon of hope. An army… a witch army.
”Some of us have children there. We can’t just leave on a whim like you might be able to.” Ermir was now firmly sided with Luka on this whole don’t trust them matter. How someone could think there was nothing holding them in a prison? It wasn’t something he planned to trust despite Kezia knowing them long ago. People changed in five years, that was something he knew all to well.
As the conversation volleyed between the two groups, Dresmondi and a Nevermeran witch with her lapdog, his mental lips pursed. This was.... hm. This was outside of just his judgment, especially this close to the Tribute. There were options though, several that came to mind. The information that had him pulling away was the witch being from Nevermere. Sent by Nevermere.
The fine mist slowly pulled back, inching away carefully to not tip off the dyrs or the witch's summons. He was cautious and careful, not overzealous, so though he caught snippets of statements in his retreat, it wasn't much. He made a note on his mental map of the kingdom in his mind palace where this place was, where the Nevermerans had made their camp, and continued to pull back. So once he was plenty out of range, that they were distant enough to be small chess figurines, Drystan was gone. Speeding across the ground in the same manner that he had left Elderkeep when he'd first seen the odd storm on thr horizon.
There was a bit of a headache developing in Zevran's temple, and he reached up to rub at it before turning his full gaze on Alys. He studied her silently while the rest of his group made their concerns known. He agreed with all of them, of course, but the prospect of having more than just their little group was too tantalizing to at least not try.
"We can't just leave because to them, we are their property. They know how badly they treat us, they just don't care. And they know if we leave, we won't come back and they lose their property." That was his best guess anyway. It wasn't like he really knew how other cities functioned either, but he knew it had to be different from this.
"Ermir is right, they need to stay here. We will just have to risk the time. Besides, I'm not sure it matters if we make it back before or after Tribute. It's been going on for years now, they can survive another."
He shifted, this time looking to Ermir and Luka. "This opportunity is too good to pass up. What could take us years to do could be accomplished much quicker if we had more help. We have to take this chance. Kezia and I will be fine."
He looked around the camp, "We should get packed up and head out though, it's a long walk to Elderkeep."
Alys shifted, her eyes cutting to the tallest one, knowing more than most what it was like to leave children behind. But she didn’t have to worry about her children in such a place. There would be a soft look on her face, one of understanding before she nodded. She was not going to press it, especially as she could practically feel the heated glare from the angry woman.
Kezia didn’t want to leave Ermir, the idea already making her curl closer to him. Her hand not tangled in his as already moving to lay against his stomach, fingers curling lightly into the fabric. “We will be as quick as we can,” she whispered up to him, a promise that she’d try to keep before she moved to start packing up the little supplies they had left.
Alys pondered for a moment. “Should we wait here for you?” She asked, before glancing towards where they had come from, “or should we come with you?” Not that she sounded thrilled about the last option but she offered…
Zevran also began moving to pack up his belongings, pausing only momentarily when Alys offered to come with them back to Elderkeep. He pointed in the direction that would lead them back to the city.
"You tell me. That is the way we will go to get back to the city. If that is the same direction as Nevermere then you might as well come with. If not, you can wait here. But we won't return until tomorrow morning, and we will need to sleep at some point as well."
Time was not on their side, but that wasn't an enemy they could really fight, so they would simply have to make the most of it.
Her eyes followed Zevran's finger, noting how it would take them further from Nevermere. Much further than she would have liked. Part of her wanted to push forward though, because then she could see it with her own eyes. But the way they had explained that people did not just walk in and out made her pause. She wasn't here to try and break the place, and she didn't know how many other's she'd be up against. She was powerful, yes. She had Grant, absolutely. But witches were strongest together.
Goddess, tomorrow morning. A frown settled over her features, clearly not liking the fact that she and Grant were going to be sitting ducks essentially. "From the tree line, can we see Elderkeep?" She asked, watching the whole group as they packed up their camp.
While she was not thrilled about any of it, nor was she unhappy with the fact that Ermir and Luka were going to go back... she had to bite her tongue. Could she blame them? Luka didn't trust anyone, let alone two strangers from another kingdom and then Kezia... who vaguely remembered one of the two. But Ermir... his children would keep him there in Elderkeep. If they could get them...
She knew it was too risky for the time being. So instead she offered one other thing, that had worked in the past for them. "I could tunnel you back in, and then collapse the tunnels behind us, like we were never there." She told the group, then looked to Zevran. "You'd just have to hid us tonight in the darkness." Because at least in the night time, the dark cloud around them wouldn't be noticed.
Zevran shook his head, grimacing. "The plains run up to Elderkeep, it was only the cover of night and Rune's shadows that allowed us to leave in the first place. It would be better for you to wait here."
He thought on Kezia's offer of tunneling them in to the city for a moment before nodding. It was arguably a much better option than sneaking in on ground. It could be quite easy to notice a roving shadow depending on light sources at the time. And it had worked for Bashir for a very long time.
"Sure. We can travel through what trees remain and then we can tunnel inside once night falls." He looked to Alys, noting her frown. "It's the only way. It's just how things are here."
She didn't like the idea of them leaving, especially Zevran. Something about watching him fade from her sight made her shoulders tense and she kept rolling her shoulders to try and shake the feeling. Like there was a magnetic pull to follow him. And yet, suddenly, a fog was suddenly lifted in her head. And a small, stunned laugh left her, as she realized that whatever it was that happened to her mind and wolf, had clouded her judgement.
"I can get you into Elderkeep and we can leave without you having to go all the way there and back." She immediately grabbed for the small pack at her waist, almost laughing at herself for forgetting such a thing. She pulled out four vials, holding two in each hand before she looked to Zevran. "How long would you say the trip is from the edge of the trees and Elderskeep on foot? Twelve hours? Eight? Four?"