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!
After the rainy day, Ermir had been left with a bad taste in his mouth. He was better than the sulking man that had been in the bar that day. And while a few days hadn't totally turned him around, he was starting to compartmentalize again. Maybe not the most healthy way to deal with things, but there really weren't a lot of other options in Elderkeep. Couldn't exactly talk it out with anyone, didn't want to either.
All the same, his feet lead him towards the place he knew Xanthe worked out of. They had planned to work together on some projects, so this was just a follow-up on that. Nothing more, nothing less. Despite how Ciel rolled his eyes from the warm comfort of the large jacket pocket. No matter how many times he reminded Ermir that the leatherworker knew exactly what he was going through, the tavern owner just shut it down. Maybe Xanthe wanted to talk it out with someone, but he was all set.
"Xanthe?" Calling out as he approached the wagon, Ermir had no plans to sneak up on her. Ciel also reaching out to Savi. "You guys here?" His voice would reach a little farther than Ermir in case they were just close by. Ermir needed this and honestly, the dyr was more than a little desperate and it showed in his voice.
Xanthe was out back. Behind the place where she lived was where she did a lot of her work. Some hides were large. They needed to sit in the sun for a while, stretched out. She had a few she was working on now. Orders to ready people for the upcoming cold season. But the biggest piece was her focus and had been since Tribute was over. She'd been waiting for it to finish so she could start cutting the pieces out. Now she marked it with her chalk stick, making the outline of where she wanted to cut it. When she was done with this hide, it'd be a nice fur cloak. Something long enough to fit a man a little shorter than Ermir, but much wider.
So entranced was she in her work that she didn't hear the call, but Savi heard both. He sat by the back of the hut, watching her until the calls distracted him. "Xanthe, Ciel and Ermir are here," the maned wolf said, snapping her out of her nitpicking at the outline edges. She gave Savi a flat look, and if he had shoulders to shrug he might have. They wondered separately and together if Embric and Aine would be tagging along, too. Savi reminded her she was being a bit childish. Xanthe had shoulders to shrug.
A sigh, she put her chalk down and wiped her hands along her skirt as she walked around the shack. She saw Ermir and Ciel immediately, but they weren't quite in the right place. Xanthe and Savi lived beside an older Dresmondi woman in a run-down wagon, but at least it was a wagon. Six feet to the right of said wagon was Xanthe's home, if that's what you wanted to call it. "I'm next door," she said, reaching out to tap on the front door of her hut. She'd carved the word 'tanner' into it so people would know.
Sometime during the battles with Coheed, Xanthe and Elijah (her grandfather) had been separated from Embric and Koti. During the second battle Elijah had been killed and their wagon had been destroyed. When the caravans combined for safety, Xanthe had joined a small group of women and their children in their wagon. They'd split off when chaos ensued from the loss of the medallion, and were eventually picked off during the Eldouir attack. Of the women and children, Xanthe had been the only survivor of the group and the wagon had been destroyed. So she was forced into Elderkeep without one, and had built the little wooden shack with the help of some others. It was little more than two square rooms smashed together, bare and simple, but it sufficed.
Pushing her long hair behind her ears and crossing her arms over her chest, she looked at them. Savi stood next to her, more curious and less stubborn but allowing her to get it out of her system. "I haven't got anything to trade right now, but if you have hide and need something made, I should be able to get to it in five days or so. What do you need?"
Ermir turned, sheepish grin on his face. Of course he had messed up, that seemed to be a theme for him recently. Nothing he did was right, not according to Embric, not according to his own moral fiber. But that's what Elderkeep did, make you bend until you broke. And so the tavern owner was doing everything he could to not snap into a million pieces and scatter in the wind.
"I need to apologize." Rubbing the back of his neck Ermir would have loved to shove his hands in his pockets had Ciel not been comfortably dwelling in one of them. "I wasn't myself the other day. Didn't even bother to ask how you were after the Tribute, so don't worry about the trading." He had a hunting trip soon though, maybe he would have a good chance to work on some trading then. Something positive to focus on.
"See? He's come to apologize. Stop being so stubborn," Savi said, a little more demanding than he usually was. Xanthe might have turned to glare at him if her eyes weren't pinned to Ermir, trying to figure out if he was here of his own accord or because Embric had said something to him. Either way, he appeared to be more himself than he had been at the tavern, but that wasn't saying much. Really, Xanthe didn't know the man all that well. She couldn't keep assuming she did. Being Kushti didn't mean anything anymore.
Despite that heartbreaking thought, the edge in Xanthe's tone quickly disappeared. Her shoulders slouched and her arms dropped to her sides. "Come inside," she said, nodding her head toward the door of the hut, which she walked through second, behind Savi, and then held open for him. She motioned to a chair set up across from another, a simple wooden table between them. There were only two rooms in the hut, this main room and a second room to the right where she slept. Other than the table, chairs, and some shelving where food and water was stashed, everything else in the room was related to her work. Two makeshift dummies stood in one corner, both with leather garments in some stage of finish draped over them. Multiple sets of half-finished boots rested beneath them. A few stacks of folded furs and finished hides were neatly placed in an open, wooden chest, and on hooks on the wall hung her quiver, arrows, and bow.
Pouring them both a cup of water, she sat down across from him at the table. Savi settled by her feet. "You don't have to apologize for anything," she finally said, looking at the water in the cup. "I'm clearly okay. We don't really know each other all that well, so you're not obligated to tell me anything. Your business is your business and mine is mine. That's all. I shouldn't have snapped at you the other day. I guess I just forgot where we were." Elderkeep. In Elderkeep, it's every person for their self.
Last Edit: Dec 21, 2022 10:53:28 GMT -5 by Deleted
"Thanks." Following Savi and Xanthe, he bent to properly fit through the hut door. It was a similar feeling to the days in the wagons. His build less than an asset when trying to fit into small places, or blending into the crowd. Something that had unfortunate costs when you lived under those who had no morals. Something that kept circling in his brain like a vulture over carrion, a constant he couldn't quite shake.
Taking the cup with a smile and nod, Ermir looked around the place as he sat down. Xanthe had a nice place, not only indicative of her good work, but also her ability to stay under the radar, until recently anyways. That was a skill that was sink or swim, and Ermir had recently felt like he had rocks in his pockets.
"Maybe I don't have to, but I want to. If we lose our empathy then Dresmond and Kushti ways are truly lost." Taking a sip of his water, Ermir took a breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Embric often has good intentions but unfortunately his timing was a bit off." Not that it was his fault or anything, probably thought Ermir would be his usual self, but alas nothing ever seemed to go right in Elderkeep.
His words stung because they were true. Part of her was willing to accept that life was never going to return to the way it had been. It was easier to think like that. It didn't stop the suffering, but crushed hope felt even worse. The other part of her wanted so, so desperately to cling to those old feelings. To images of her grandfather caring for hurt people. To food being passed around without question. Ermir, in a way, felt like the only Dresmondi left who really represented the way of the Kushti. So maybe it had hit her that much harder when he'd been so cold.
"I understand what you mean," she said, crossing her arms instead of drinking from the water she'd been staring at. "But I wasn't being very empathetic either. I didn't know what had happened at tribute. I know now and I won't pretend to understand, but I shouldn't have pushed you. We all...deal with things differently." She rubbed her arms, a mixture of nerves and stress, and cracked a smile at his words regarding Embric.
"I think we're driving him a little batty," she chuckled quietly, more to herself than anything else. "He's desperate to protect us, and when we get hurt, I think he blames himself. This tribute was particularly hard, maybe for all of us." She finally looked back up at him. "And speaking of blame, Ermir, I hope you know...whatever happened, it isn't your fault."