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 Titus Huxley on Dec 2, 2022 21:44:29 GMT -5
Titus was not really sure what the objective was, here, for Dresden. Maybe someone was going to come up behind him and stab him in the kidneys while Dresden distracted him?
It was probably better to deal with that when he heard footsteps or felt the steel, he decided, catching a blow with the back of his arm, his footwork quick enough to keep most of the blows glancing or misses. The man hit hard enough. Clearly not an amateur at striking, even if his decisionmaking was suspect.
Titus ducked under the hook and countered with a quick straight, aimed squarely at Dresden's solar plexus.
If you ever wanted to feel like a child fighting their much larger dad, Dresden would point you in the direction of Titus Huxley. He'd checked his pride at the door a long time ago. There was no room for pride for most people in the world. Only those at the very tip top got to hold onto that, at least that's what he thought. But this spar, both the sword fight and the hand to hand, had managed to dig up whatever tiniest little bit of Dresden's pride was left and smash it. At least it was gone now.
Every attempted blow was blocked or pushed aside, and before the fight had even began Titus was looking to end it, just as he'd done the sword fight. The hit to his solar plexus landed as intended and sent Dresden back down to one knee and gasping for air that had been pushed out of his chest. His whole torso felt like it was on fire, and for a few moments he could do little more than try to breathe.
When he finally got his breath back, he spat to the side, fell into the dirt on his ass, and laughed. Laughed as much as he could with what little bit of air he had regained. "You're real decisive, aren't ya?" He said finally. "And not much a talker. I prob'ly shoulda went that route, too, when my rumors come 'round. Guess it worked out for those ones 'bout you, but I can't keep my damn mouth shut, obviously." He laughed still, though it was more like a quick chuckle between pained winced and gasps. "For some reason when you deny it, people just assume you're lyin'."
Post by Titus Huxley on Jan 3, 2023 4:23:22 GMT -5
Titus straightened up, regarding Dresden, contemplating the words put forth.
"Prolonging a fight only leaves more room to fall," said the knight, after a moment. "And when I was in the Legion, time was something we could ill afford."
He walked over, listening to Dresden, thinking. He offered the man his hand, thinking about 'rumors'.
Someone had clearly been bandying about what he was wanting to do to Honora, so he supposed this was something he ought to address. For her sake. He offered Mister Drake his hand.
"But I think you have something else to talk about? Not here, though."
He took the much larger hand when offered and was brought back to his feet, leaning down slightly to brush himself off and then to rub his chest where he'd been hit. The fights hadn't lasted quite as long as he'd hoped, and he knew Titus was right. When it came to a real fight, when it came to a real threat, it was best to end it quickly. But this wasn't a real threat. Well, the fighting part wasn't.
"Might have," he agreed. "Just lookin' for an exchange of advice." He clarified, glancing around. The storage room, all too familiar to him now, seemed to stand devoid of other soldiers, so as he picked his sword up from the dirt and reattached it to his belt, he nodded his head toward it and hoped the bigger man would follow.
Once inside and surrounded by little more than wooden swords, dummies, and shields, he leaned against the wall. "So any truth to it, then?"
Post by Titus Huxley on Jan 5, 2023 23:58:50 GMT -5
Titus helped the man up and undid the ties on his sword in case Dresden was really out for blood or some kind of weird masochistic self-punishment bit. Or maybe he'd just fuck off and Titus could return to training. He wasn't sure of the man's motivations.
So he followed, thinking about 'exchanging advice'. Phrasing.
He looked around once they were inside quickly and looked over at Dresden Drake, raising an eyebrow slightly. For once, Titus' stoic countenance betrayed what he was thinking.
"I'm not sure why you're so concerned if I've been getting friendly with a Gifted," said Titus, "but yes, I am close to Honora Allemeade."
Titus had no idea why it had to be such a production, since he had made no attempt at hiding it from anyone but himself; yet there things were.
If Titus weren't a man known for being honorable, dragging him into the equipment room and letting on that he might know the mans secrets probably wouldn't have gone so well. Granted, if Dresden said the wrong thing, Titus could still very well haul off and knock him out. Buuut, he didn't think he'd kill him over it.
And anyhow, the answer given to Dresden's question was really all he needed. So much so that he could barely keep the smirk off of his face. "Honora Allemeade?" Dresden said, smile widening enough to show his teeth. "Well, that ain't what I expected to hear, so I'm guessin' this ain't what you're expectin' to hear, either. Those rumors ain't about you and Lady Allemeade, they're about you and Queen Illiana. That's what I was talkin' 'bout."
Reaching up to scratch his chin, Dresden shook his head, almost laughing. "Reckon that's the farthest thing from the truth, if you're already -- well, if you've already got your heart set on someone else. Unless you're the type to go for 'em both, but I doubt that."
Post by Titus Huxley on Jan 9, 2023 3:53:30 GMT -5
Titus didn't generally comment on things or pay mind to 'rumors', given that most of his true socializing was in very tight-knit groups that had little room to hide, if indeed they wanted to.
So when he'd fallen madely in love become smitten with Honora, he didn't exactly see it as something to hide, though he had not been open about it, as he never was with feelings.
And here was... some guy. Saying there were rumors about him and Iliana?
What the fuck?
"I'm sorry," he said, "someone thinks I'm involved with the Queen?"
Dresden couldn't help but to laugh at his reaction. The pain from the hit the man had delivered made him double over and rub the aching spot, but he laughed all the same. Maybe a release of tension, if nothing else. "Yeah, lotta people, I'm afraid," Dresden added when he caught his breath again.
"Been goin' 'round for a while now, that the two of you shut out a buncha other guards and spent some time alone together. Just what I heard," it'd been all some people could talk about for a while, and it hadn't really seemed like anything all that strange or important until Augustus had brought it up.
"Anyhow, reckon that explains why ya ain't done much to squash it all. Now that ya know, got any plans to do anything 'bout it?"
Post by Titus Huxley on Jan 23, 2023 19:44:19 GMT -5
Titus blinked a few times, baffled. He put his hands on his hips and opened his mouth to talk, then paused for a moment.
What the hell.
"No," he said, after a moment, shaking his head. "If I were actually involved with the Queen I assume the King would just have one of his witches turn me into a fine mist, or something," he said. Witches were much more upsetting than Gifted, since they all seemed to be able to do everything.
The Royal Guardsman looked confused for a few more minutes and then looked at Dresden, expression recuperating. "Why are you asking?" If Dresden had wanted to get battered around so badly it might have been a better idea to start with crazy rumors.
Dresden gave a nonchalant shrug to that answer, the slightest sideways nod of his head. "King ain't 'round much, is he?" Dresden didn't pay much attention to the royal family, at least he hadn't until his work with Augustus had begun. But it seemed like the King was only around when there was some big event, like the execution. Otherwise, did he spend any time with the Queen at all?
Holding his hands up, palms forward, he shook his head. "Just curious if you were gonna look for whoever spread 'em in the first place, defend her honor an' all that. Wasn't really somethin' that woulda worked out for me and Lady Kane, but I figure with you...I mean, had to be one of the other royal guards that spread it, don't ya think?"
He pushed himself off of the desk he'd been leaning on and rubbed his hands together. "Anyhow, prob'ly would be best to be real careful 'round the Queen from now on, just in case. Wouldn't want another round of rumors to give people the wrong idea."
Post by Titus Huxley on Feb 6, 2023 22:34:25 GMT -5
Titus, who was glued to the Queen's side when he wasn't subject to free time, was aware of how much the King was around or wasn't. Even without that, how invested in the King's presence Dresden Drake was would be of something to note.
Politics.
Titus would have to do something. More personal training sessions with the other Royal Guardsmen, then. Full contact. He then paused and his posture straightened a little.
Surely he'd misheard.
"Yourself and Lady Kane?" Titus asked. Sir Huxley had been a member of the Kane army for quite some time and held the family in high esteem.
If Titus hadn't heard the rumors about himself, it made sense he wouldn't have heard the ones about Dresden and Scout. But his emphasis on her name had him stopping short of passing the man by and leaving him to the equipment shed. "Yes, the Lady Steward," he said, the slightest shrug.
"Just more rumors," he said with a shake of his head. "Long story, but she was rightfully upset about an incident in a tavern the night before. Came to the courtyard while I was trainin', chewed me out. Didn't wanna seem like she was oversteppin', I guess, so she pulled me in here but some guys saw it and made it out to be more than it was." He shrugged again. "Not much different from what they were sayin' 'bout you and the Queen, ya know? Just a buncha guys with nothin' better to do."
Post by Titus Huxley on Feb 6, 2023 23:01:41 GMT -5
Titus' gaze had hardened while he listened--resembling the same look he had on his face when he was swinging that sword of his around.
"I see," he said, seemingly accepting this bit of information as a comparative rumor. "I fought under the Kanes," he added, before Mister Drake could march off to wherever, "they're a good army, and a better family. Keep an eye out for them when you can."
There. If Titus Huxley was to be political, he couldn't just batter this man over some rumor that the man himself had confessed to existing. That was improper in polite society, like many other things Titus was annoyed by. And there was a chance whatever rumor was much less than it seemed. But Titus had bled for the Kanes before and would willingly do so again.
So, Sir Huxley would settle for vague premonitions of violence rather than the outright act thereof. Dresden here had the kindness to inform Titus about some rumors directed towards himself, anyway, though now Titus was curious where he'd heard such things.
Dresden felt the change in demeanor immediately. He'd spent far too much time under the weight of the threat of violence not to know when it was more of a probability than a possibility. But it wasn't as if Titus was doing anything to hide it. Dresden kept his same, neutral expression all the same, only realizing the reason for the change when the too-large man admitted to having fought for the Kane family.
"I have nothin' but respect for Lady Kane and her family," he assured Titus, his tone light. "I'll be sure to take your advice to heart."
Once more he stepped toward the door that was being blocked by the larger man. "Sorry to have taken up so much of your time, Sir Huxley. Gotta get goin' myself, but I'm sure we'll see each other 'round, yeah?" He gave Titus a single nod, and if the bigger man let him by, he would exit the shed and find another group of legionnaire's to spar with.