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!
Post by Valeria Delaney on Oct 1, 2022 11:49:24 GMT -5
@berengar
She not long landed she had informed Ber when she set of when she was expected to land so he can come and meet her. However the past couple of days she been out at seas she been feeling bit sick which wasn't like her. It made it hard to carry out her times because she couldn't focus on her magic. However, she pushed through the sickness thinking it was a bug. However, she has a feeling it might be something more. She didn't want to get excited just yet because she might not be. Once over she was going to go to a healer and just have a quick check.
When landed as her partner in sailing the ship went for a walk again she commended the men to unload the ship of the cargo they brought in. She made sure that all the boxes and stock was counted for as she waited for Ber. Her uniform was starting to feel a bit tight on her as she placed a hand on her stomach. Could she be pregnant? it not unlikely she was late to her period, her and Keir been trying and trying they did. She was worried to say the least but she was looking forward to it if they are.
Once they had left the training grounds that morning, Ber had half expected Valeria to forget about her offer to show him around her ship. Though she had been very friendly and accommodating, he knew that officers were busy with matters far more important than arranging a tour for a curious soldier; as such, he had walked away considering the prospect of anything coming to pass as less of an expectation and more of a possibility. So it was with pleasant surprise that he received her notice informing him of her return and when and where he could expect to meet her.
The journey down to the docks was not one that he made with any frequency, but once he arrived, he could very easily pick out the ship that was hers. Men scurried around like ants, packing up and unloading boxes of cargo and supplies, and Ber did his best to stay out of their way as he approached. Standing as she was in plain view, with a hand on her belly, Valeria was not hard to find. “Welcome back,” He greeted her politely, hands behind his back. “How was your voyage?”
Post by Valeria Delaney on Oct 2, 2022 5:29:40 GMT -5
The boat Val had been on was a beautiful trading ship, not as stunning as the young prince's new boat but still stunning just the same. Plus Val knows that this beauty in front of her is trustworthy and will be able to go through any storm that is thrown in her direction. She might be a bit fusy about the condition of the boats that she set sail on. However it only because she want to be certain that they are the best that they can be. They have to be able to withstand it, she has to trust the vassle that she be able to carry her and her men to what ever destiny they are going to.
Valeria didn't have to wait that long till she heard Ber's voice. Her smile was still wide as day as she looked in his direction. "Hi Ber." She softly removed her hand of her belly. she was joyous, to say the least to start this voyage that her and Keir are going to be on. She don't know what his reaction going to be to her news but she know that he is going to be the most loving father to their children.
"The voyage went to plan, little to no problems along the way, like they was one little storm out at sea, but we manage to pull through it with no loss of live or cargo. Which is the main point." Val always worry about the safety of her men's life it her job to make sure that they are all safe. "How have things been here on land?" She asked.
“That must be a relief,” Ber said, glancing around the ship as he tried to imagine what a storm on the open ocean must be like. Occasionally, one rolled into Skia, all howling winds that rushed through the narrow stone streets as rain relentlessly pelted any unfortunate soul caught in its grasp, but even those who hadn’t found shelter in time could find some protection from the buildings themselves. With waves instead of walls, nothing would block the wind; the ship and those within her would be entirely at the mercy of the elements. Unless…
“Is there anything you can do to protect against a storm?” He asked curiously, trying to recall if there were any sort of spells witches could cast that would help in such a situation. “Or can you only take shelter and wait for it to pass?” Valeria asked about life on land, and Ber paused for a moment - “When did you leave, again?” - before offering a shrug. “You haven’t missed much. Everything has been business as usual around here, only it’s starting to get a little colder.”
Post by Valeria Delaney on Oct 2, 2022 17:47:02 GMT -5
She smiled softly, "Well we make sure that every thing is tied down and stored under the deck in time ready for us to enter the storm. With storms most of the time it really all hands on deck to try and keep the boat on desk but magic help to guide us in the right direction and to calm seas." She explained in simple terms. "Do you want to go on the dock?" She asked motioning to the plank that leads up to the ship.
She smiled. "Well I don't know when I next go out i might be off work for a while.." She give a soft smile. "But I need to talk to the captain commander about it first and get it all checked out before i am certain." Valeria explained as they move towards the deck. She was slightly disspointed to hear that not much happened. "There is clearly a chill in the air today. Nothing that a nice fish soup won't help fix." It was a common meal with fish being so accessible for all walks of life.
Sailing through a storm still sounded rather treacherous to him, but he supposed as Chief Petty Officer, Valeria would have had more than enough experience to take the danger in stride. Perhaps, to her, it was all simply a part of life on a ship. As she gestured to the plank, Ber glanced down at the piece of wood and nodded. “Alright,” He agreed and stepped forward. It was, after all, the reason he was here. As he boarded, a thought struck him. “Does your ship have a name?” That was something people did with their boats, yes? Give them names?
Upon reaching the deck, Ber glanced around curiously, but when Valeria spoke again, his attention returned to her. “Oh,” He said, somewhat confused as to why she seemed happy about not going out to sea again. “Is that… not a bad thing?” If he remembered correctly, the last time they had met, she had spoken quite fondly of her time on the open ocean and how much she loved it out at sea. To see her smiling as she told him that she might not be able to set sail again for an indeterminate amount of time was not something that he would have ever expected. “At least this past trip was a good one, then,” He offered. “And if you eat enough fish stew here, it will be just like being out to sea.”
Post by Valeria Delaney on Oct 2, 2022 18:42:25 GMT -5
She been through a few stroms over the years after a while yo kind of get used to the rain and rough wind and sea and accept it part of being out of sea, it didn't help the sickness though it made it worse. When he asked her the name of the ship "It is called the Half-moon." She smiled. "She a beautiful girl." She smiled as they walked up the plank on board. She lead him to the upper deck. Where the steering wheel is and you can see the whole ship.
"I love being out at sea and I will get back out there one day, it just." She looked down and placed and hand on her stomach. "I might be expecting a baby. And of course i can't really fully gp put protecting the sea well looking after myself." "Yeah after awhile the stew gets a bit fishy." he joked.
“Half-Moon,” Ber repeated, casting his gaze over the ship again. “She seems like a good, sturdy ship.” His attempt at a compliment, though given his general lack of naval knowledge, perhaps it wasn’t saying much. Any ship that was about to fall apart was not going to last long at all. He followed her onto the upper deck and looked around. Positioned as they were by the steering wheel, he had a good view of the entire deck, and Ber commented on it, asking, “Is this where you usually stand?”
As Val revealed her news, Ber ripped his gaze from the ship before him and turned to face her. “What? Since when?” He blurted, then blinked and remembered his manners. “Wait, apologies. That’s very exciting - congratulations.”And how do you know? He wanted to ask. A glance at her belly, where she was resting her hand, confirmed to him that she didn’t look pregnant, and in his experience, a large belly was the sole indicator of a growing bigger. Perhaps a woman would have a better intuition for these kinds of things. “Do you know when you’re due?”
Post by Valeria Delaney on Oct 4, 2022 12:19:36 GMT -5
Val looked at the ship looking at the vast beauty that she beholds. "She is sturdy, could make a thousand trips easily this girl. She truly a gem of it's kind." The way she talked about it was like talking about something important. For Val it was and you can see it in her eyes as they glisten from the pure joy talking about the boat. It like every day a girl's dream came true. Her dad helped her achieve her dreams bu encouraging her.
She laughed softly at Ber reaction. "No need to apologize you are allowed to be excited 'cause I am too." She smiled it was something that both her and Keir wanted children. To say there were going to be parents soon was beyound excitable. She looked at her belly when Ber asked if she knew when she was due. "Well, considering how small my belly is possible late Ver. I still need to see the healer and tell my husband, so this stays between us two for now please?" She asked.
He nodded his understanding, surprised and a bit flattered that she had told him even before her husband. “Of course,” Ber promised; he knew how to keep a secret. It still confused him a little how she could tell she was pregnant before even consulting a healer - definitely must have been some sort of womanly intuition - but the thought was soon chased from his mind by a different one. “Late Ver isn’t that far away,” He said, reconsidering his words even as they left his mouth. Ver was half a year away, but still, that didn’t seem like too much, right? Especially if she and her husband had to get ready for the baby. With his knowledge of caring for babies limited to that which he witnessed as a child himself, Ber could recall only the basics. They would need a cradle and clothes, or at least blankets to swaddle the baby in, but that was about all he could think off. Did babies need anything else? As far as he remembered, they mostly just slept, cried, and made messes. Though there was one thing they required… “Do you have any ideas for names?”
Post by Valeria Delaney on Oct 5, 2022 9:08:49 GMT -5
Val think it is sweet the way Ber was responding to, with the confusion on his face. It was so sweet. "yeah it doesn't give me and Keir long to get ready for the little one arrival. We have friends and family who support us and help us get ready for the arrival." Val was unaware the Ber has mat her husband when he was training the children in the military wing. "Plus if you have any questions please ask, i promise i won't take offense if you want to know something."
When he asked if she has any ideas for names she thought for a bit, "Well for a girl, I was thinking Ora, It was my mum's name she sadly no longer with us. for a boy i don't know i want to suggest something to remember Keir's Uncle who recently pass as I know how much Keir looked up to him, but we still have to talk about it. We have couple of months to decide on the names." She explained. "Like there no clear way we can tell if it a girl or a boy so we have to think of a couple that we might like."
Ber looked at her. Kier? Her husband, likely, judging by the way she spoke of him, but he had no idea who the man was. Only one Kier came to mind, and that was simply because he’d met the Royal Guard recently. But the military alone was inconceivably large, never mind the greater population of Skia, so what were the chances that they were thinking of the same man? And yet… the Royal Guard was a Delaney, so it wouldn’t be entirely surprising if he’d found an accomplished wife among the other soldiers. Kier Delaney. Valeria— Valeria— Had he ever gotten her last name?
He was pondering that as she told him her thoughts on baby names, until mention of this Kier’s uncle dying. If she did mean Delaney, had there been any deaths in the Delaney family recently? “A few months seems like long enough to choose a name,” He said politely, somewhat distracted as he remembered hearing rumors about the old Captain Commander being found dead not too long ago. As far as he knew, no one had ever confirmed it for the soldiers at his rank, and he wasn’t about to go up to Hadrian Usher and ask - but that man had been a Delaney, though Ber had no idea who his nieces and nephews might have been. Still, did she mean Kier Delaney, the Royal Guard who had roped him into teaching a group of kids? It was going to bother him now. Clearing his throat, he scratched his head and finally spoke up, “Um, sorry, but who did you say your husband was again?”
Post by Valeria Delaney on Oct 6, 2022 17:32:37 GMT -5
"Keir Delaney." Valeria smiled softly as she looked at Ber for a moment. "Have you mat him?" She asked. Like she knows when she was at work he spends time training or teaching the children, which she thought was the most sweatest thing ever. When he was busy teaching the children she sometimes sneak in to watch him before sneaking off before he sees her because she know if he saw her he would get distracted by her being there and we couldn't do that can we?
Oh. It was Kier Delaney after all. The realization felt… oddly monumental and inconsequential at the same time. On a practical level, it changed nothing, but on a more personal level, it was weird to consider the Royal Guard and the Chief Petty Officer leaving the castle at the end of the day to go to the same home. He had only ever interacted with them while they were at work; to think of them existing outside of those confines and to be faced with such proof of it simply felt odd in a way that he couldn’t fully justify.
Ber brushed aside his rumination. “I have,” He said truthfully. Though theirs had been a relatively short conversation, he respected the other man for both his obvious competence and the quiet, easy-going humbleness that had made him pleasant to talk with. “He seems like a good man. Friendly.” The Royal Guard who spent his extra time teaching the trainees how to hold a sword and clearly enjoyed spending time around children would undoubtedly be thrilled to find out he was going to be a father. At the thought, Ber couldn’t help but feel a little guilty that he had been the first man Val told, not Kier.
Post by Valeria Delaney on Oct 10, 2022 18:42:39 GMT -5
Val smiled widely when he said that he has mat Keir she know that she and Ber only interact with him on a work level but this isn't work related them interacting now. It just two people and she invited him on the boat as a guest as a friend. "yeah Keir is friendly." She smiled. She lead him to the main deck and through to her office that is just below the deck where the wheel is.
"This is where the magic happens. Well the navigation making sure that we stay on track and planning happens." She explained as she looked at Ber. "How is the Miltary going for you? Did you always want to be in the military growing up?" She asked.