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!
Calanthe liked to think there was enough time in the day for her to do everything she wanted to. That of course wasn't the case, it didn't mean she was going to stop trying that easy though. No sir, she was a Blackwood at heart and by no means a quitter. Sure it would be good to focus on one thing like her uncle was teaching her, but she still wanted it all. Stress to her body or not, there were enchantments to deal with that anyways. Besides, one always needed to keep in peak physical condition anyways, so why not do so in a way that also helped her learn.
Running to the training ground, not for the fact she was late, as she certainly wasn't, but to get the blood flowing. She had seen her Aunt Calli do it many times so it had to be the right way. Just because her aunt wasn't her official instructor, that didn't mean she was going to stop noticing her idol. But today she was just looking for her instructor, who she spotted after a lap.
"Reporting for duty Sir Belcourt!" Formal? Absolutely, but Calanthe never wanted to make a bad impression.
The soldier's sole task of the day was training Calanthe, something he had been doing for a while now. He had been honoured when the Blackwood family had asked him to be her instructor and he had gladly taken the task upon himself, even though they had the incredible Calliope in their midst.
He had arrived shortly before he saw the black-haired woman run his way, raising an eyebrow at the sight. He knew her reasons for doing it, but it never failed to make him wonder if she ever thought about how amusing it was to bystanders.
When she formally greeted him, Clovis bowed his head slightly in response. "Lady Beckett, right on time", he replied, just as formal as she had been.
Calanthe didn't much care what others thought of her, unless it was her family. She was a Blackwood and she was starting to understand what that truly meant as she trained with her uncle. So running across the field and any looks she got meant little to nothing. If anything it made her smile, she was putting in the effort.
"Of course sir, wouldn't dream of being anything but." Smiling she stood ready, not sure what the plan for the day was but always planning to crush it.
In response one corner of his mouth lifted very slightly before returning to its original position. He had been enjoying training her. Calanthe always seemed eager to learn and to him, that was the best characteristic to possess. "Tell me, have you been training with your family in the meantime?" He looked at her, the pads of his fingers drumming a beat on the heft of his sword. "I was thinking we could do some sword fighting today, what do ya think?"
Calanthe had, no offense to her current instructor, wanted the best, her aunt. But apparently that might be seen a bit as favoritism or something. Turned out it was a good idea though, different fighting styles were always good to learn. "I've been trying, probably not as much as you'd like." She certainly didn't see the point in lying to her instructor, wouldn't do her any good and would be obvious in a few minutes.
"Lets!" Snagging one of the practice swords off the rack she wasn't going to waste a second. Swinging her sword a few times to get a feel for it and taking a breath she looked over at Clovis. "Anything specific with them?"
"Tsk." He picked up another one of the practice swords and inspected it for a moment to see what condition it was in. The young woman seemed eager to start their training, which pleased Clovis. She was ambitious but honest and hadn't felt the need to lie about how much she had been practicing, which was another thing the man really appreciated. It was a cliché, but he doubted there was anything he hated more than the act of lying. He had never understood the appeal of revealing false information. If you did - or didn't - do something, you should at least stand by your choice and to face the consequences.
"I was thinking we'd practice some more on blocking overhead attacks. You're not the smallest woman to wield a sword, but if your opponents are men, there's a fair chance they're taller than you and they'll use that to their advantage by trying to swing at you from above. Blocking an overhead attack is more exhausting than it seems, especially if it's done with a lot of force. You'll start to feel it in your arms after a while." He moved the sword to his right hand and prepared himself to take a swing at the dark-haired woman in front of him. "Once your arms are above your heart, it'll stop pumping blood to them, and they'll start to feel heavy. Combine that with the impact of a sword and before you know it, the sword cuts right through your skull. Now, we wouldn't want that, do we?"
He gave Calanthe some time to get into position before he put his strength into swinging the sword from beside him to above his head, making its way through the air towards the woman's head. If she wasn't able to block it, it would hit her head, or perhaps her shoulder, were she to dodge instead of block the attack. The swords weren't sharp so it wouldn't hurt her too bad, but the impact on her skull still wouldn't feel pleasant.
Calanthe hated to disapoint anyone, but luckily it seemed like it hadn't made her instructor too angry. Or maybe he was just good at hiding it. Either way she really couldn't do anything about it but move forward and learn. And it seemed that he had a rather interesting instruction in mind.
Raising an eyebrow at her instructor when she mentioned that men might be taller, she certainly begged to differ. She had her family genes and had shot up like a tree, surpassing a few of them to get close to her fathers height. She was barely shorter than her instructor in fact, but she supposed he had a bit of a point. Coheed especially was far taller than she'd ever be. "This would be a bit easier if you were a bit taller Cl- sir."
Still she got into position, arms above her head, sword at the ready. She was pretty sure there were enchantments she could come up with to prevent the blood from shunting in that way, but that was for another time. Now it was time for swinging. Easily blocking the first one, Calanthe was sure it was just going to get harder. Shoving his sword off to the side with all her effort.
Calanthe was indeed rather tall, but there was always a possibility she'd have to fight an opponent that was even taller. If that was the case, she'd have to be prepared for a scenario in which the opponent would try to use an overhead attack. Internally her remark made him smile, but his exterior didn't show any of it. "You're right, but I'm past wishing I was taller, Calanthe. It doesn't affect my combat abilities."
She easily blocked the attack, shoving his sword to the side. "Good", he said, bringing the sword back into position. "Now, tell me what you would use as a counter attack if this was a real battle. Just shoving the sword to the side and waiting for your opponent to strike again, wouldn't be a good technique."
"Wouldn't dream it would. My aunt's shorter than us both and could kick both our asses." Not loving to swear in front of her superiors she inwardly kicked herself. But it was out, and honestly it was the truth. So that was just going to have to sit there.
Calanthe smiled and nodded. "Try it again and you'll see." Smiling she put her sword up again. If he came again she would repeat the action, shoving his sword to the side and quickly bringing the hilt of her sword towards his face, moving away from the direction she shoved the sword at the same time.
He knew the young woman was right. Her aunt was one fierce lady and her height definitely didn't impact that. He didn't care much for swearing. Clovis knew it was just a way of talking and didn't bat an eye when people did so although he personally tried to refrain from cursing.
The man lifted a corner of his mouth when she told him to try again and see. "See, I like that", he said. Actions over words. Even in the scenario of training. He once more lifted his sword, striking it down at Calanthe. She shoved his sword to the side. He couldn't use his sword to block the approaching hilt so he used his forearm to prevent it from hitting it him in the face. While doing so, he swung his sword in her direction, aiming at her lower ribs.
Nodding her head, glad to have at least impressed him with her go getter attitude, Calanthe nodded her head and got to work. Because that's what Blackwoods did.
Grunting as she moved, the young enchantress was glad she had planed her movements carefully. Her swing had brought her in close and so she ducked around behind him following his swing and ended by trying to put her sword up against his ribs. She moved quickly as she had learned, not planning to give in fast.
As she ducked behind him, he used the swing of his sword to step out and turn around so he would be facing Calanthe again. He was able to prevent her sword from hitting his ribs and took a step back to create some distance between the two of them again. "Good", he simply said, satisfied with the way she handled the attack. He put the point of his sword down in the sand and leaned on the left of it. "What weapon do you prefer to use in combat?" It was clear that Calanthe knew her way around the sword, and perhaps they could switch to another weapon.
Calanthe was breathing heavy as her instructor managed to swivel away. This was why she still held onto the combat side of enchanting. While she wasn't nearly as committed as her aunt, she enjoyed it far too much to just let the skills slip away in favor of academics. "Thank you Master Belcourt."
Drumming her hand on the hilt of her sword, there was a weapon that Calanthe had recently taken an interest in. "I was wondering if we could work with the whip a bit more. I'm working on an enchantment for one." It was extraordinarily early in the planning stages but she still was always up for improvement if Clovis was willing to teach.
He raised his eyebrow when she mentioned a whip. It was a unique weapon and not something that he has used a lot before. "Well well, a whip? That's a surprising choice", he said, putting the training sword back on the rack where it came from. "What kind of enchantment are you working on?" Clovis looked at her, waiting for her response.
When she had answered his question, he would turn to head over to the equipment shed. The whips weren't just laying around outside, and he would have to look for one. Fighting each other with whips wouldn't be very effective, so he only brought one so Calanthe could practice on him.
Once he had found one, the man returned to his trainee, tossing it her way. "Let's see what you've got then."
"Have to always stand out. Seems like a good start." Smiling, Calanthe knew that she had to be the best to be a Blackwood. And if that meant experimenting with odd weapons that was fine with her. You couldn't be ordinary, and she planned to be extraordinary. "Put a little kick into it. Little bit of lightning."
Still it was something she didn't have a lot of practice with. They weren't common, and so it wasn't a surprise that it took a minute to snag one. But all the same if Clovis was willing to teach, she was glad to learn.
"Right." Flicking her wrist a couple of times to try it out she took a breath. "Any tips?"