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 Aldrich Abbott on Jan 30, 2023 13:23:55 GMT -5
[For Zarha Sliva + open for other soldiers wanting to join]
Aldrich paced back and forth with a cigarette loosely between his lips. Occasionally he pressed them together in order to be able to take a drag from the thing, after which he'd nonchalantly blow out the smoke out of the left corner of his mouth. "C'mon now, I've seen my grandma do better push-ups than that", he thundered, sternly holding his hands behind his back. His sleeveless undershirt was stained with sweat and dirt from getting down on the ground to yell at the young soldiers. His boots made a loud, stomping sound on the ground before the youngsters that were doing push-ups. The sergeant then crouched down in front of a young woman, arms resting on his legs and his hands loosely hanging between them. He had taken another drag of the cigarette en blew out the smoke in the direction of the woman's face. "You, get up." He jumped back up again, walking away a bit before turning to face the soldiers again. "Who can tell me what Miss Whateveryournameis was doing wrong here, hmm?"
We won't call it quits. We'll call it the start.
Last Edit: Jan 30, 2023 13:25:12 GMT -5 by Aldrich Abbott
Post by Zarha Sliva on Jan 31, 2023 6:11:10 GMT -5
Training was her favorite time of day, getting stronger and fitting, using her skills to enhance her skills, so when it is needed which with all things going on it started to look like it might be soon. So any chance for her to train, she will drop everything as soon as the word 'training' is uttered. So when she had training with Aldrich her drill sergeant, she looked forward to it.
They was currently doing press ups, something she tries to do every single day. Be strong, using her muscles. 1..2.5.10..20 and so forth. She was in the midst of doing her press ups when she heard the sergant ask the whole group what the woman who was next to her was doing wrong. "Her hands were in the wrong positions Sergeant. causing her muscles to work twice of hard to make sit she doesn't hurt her wrist." It was straight forward to keep her wrist in the straight forward position she was taught. She was saying this well doing her own.
Post by Aldrich Abbott on Jan 31, 2023 15:05:07 GMT -5
He had asked a question, causing most soldiers to stop their push-ups for just a moment to look at Abbott. Apparently everyone was equally dumb because at first, no one opened their mouth to answer his question. The man was just about to make a witty remark when another young woman, the one right next to the one he was reprimanding, spoke up. The scruffy looking sergeant raised an eyebrow, sliding his foot beneath her and (softly) lifting her chin up with the tip of his shoe.
"We don't make eye contact while answering a superior anymore, hmm?" he asked in a patronising, condescending way. He then suddenly removed the support his shoe was giving her, possibly causing her to fall flat on her face if she wasn't prepared for it. "Even though she lacks the braincells to correctly communicate with me, Missy McMissface here is correct, which is more than I can say for any of you. I thought I told you to do push-ups, not swallow your tongue."
Kat was in the middle of drills with some of the older soldiers when she heard the familiar sounds of a lesson being taught. That was always far more interesting than whatever she was doing, and so she grabbed her canteen and moved to refill it but really just eavesdrop.
And it was a good thing, one of the drill sergeants was really going for it. He was a pain in the ass, what was his name.... Abbott. Sergeant Abbott, this was going to be good. So she lingered on the outskirts with a grin, trying hard not to laugh at the girl that had probably done nothing too wrong but was getting the shit end of the stick for her efforts.
When the sergeant lifted her chin up with the tip of his shoe Zarha tried everything she could to not pull away or to roll her eyes. She wanted to laugh at his attempt to try and patronize her. She hold her position as he kept his shoe under her chin. "I'm looking at you now Sargent." Her eyes tries to remind soft on him. Possible the other soldier would be all that they were sorry that they wouldn't do it again, but that mind set is silly.
When he pulled his shoe from under her chin she was prepared for it as she wasn't one to buckle.
Ber had just returned from patrol and decided to make his way toward the mess hall for some food when he stumbled upon the female Winters with - what would you know - a canteen in her hand. There was no real love lost between them, but the expression on her face had him slowing and glancing in the direction she was looking as he passed by her. He needn’t have bothered, for he recognized the drill sergeant’s voice a moment later. Ber paused and glanced toward the witch. “Looks like he’s in a mood today.” It was Abbott; he was in a mood every day. As he watched, the officer removed his boot from under Sliva’s chin, and the soldier rolled his eyes at the entire display from the safety of the sidelines. There was no love lost between him and Aldrich either.
Ber turned to move toward the mess hall again. He had better things to do with his time than watch the drill sergeant bully people, like go find something to fill his empty stomach and be grateful he wasn’t the one out there doing push ups until his arms fell off. “Don’t take too long refilling that,” He said, gesturing to the canteen in Winter’s hand. His pointed tone wasn’t outright hostile, but it wasn’t overly friendly either. “Some bitch might come up and take your spot in the training yard.” Or Abbott would see her lingering and decide that she needed to be on the receiving end of some shouting too. Either way, it was not his problem, and Ber had no intentions of waiting around until it became his.
Post by Aldrich Abbott on Feb 1, 2023 9:21:44 GMT -5
"Now's a little late", he responded, not even looking at her anymore. Instead, he had started pacing back and forth again and when he turned around, his eyes fell on two older soldiers that were looking at him and his group. With big steps, he made his way over to them.
"Reminiscing about the good ol' days, huh?" he asked with a grin on his face. Aldrich grabbed the canteen the woman was holding and put his cigarette out in it, leaving it to float in the freshly refilled water. "Why don't you two help me out a lil'. Go sit on the backs of those two girls. They need a little help understanding how tough it is to do push-ups the correct way." He wiggled his eyebrows at Stormcrest, recognising him from when they had met at the Midnight House.
Post by Rhedara Shannon on Feb 1, 2023 10:32:34 GMT -5
Much like Zarha, Rhedara was never one to pass up an opportunity to improve herself in any aspect of her life. Being a soldier, training and drills were a necessary evil to maintain and hone her skills. She was even one of those irritating people who liked the trainers and superiors that everyone else tended to dislike. She liked being pushed. Aldrich Abbott, however, was testing the limits of even her patience for bullshit.
When Abbott had been riding Zarha Sliva and the other soldier about their pushup form and manners, Rhedara had paused, holding a plank as she peeked at the debacle. Abbott was always a tough instructor, so she was sure they were all tired and sweaty. Rhedara herself knew that by the end of the training, she would be too tired to be angry. However, the site of his boot under Zarha's chin had her nearly biting her lip in frustration. Was that really necessary? She expected whoever to be leading the drills to be tough and mean, but something about lifting someone's face with a boot was just...demoralizing. He might as well have blown smoke in her face while he was at it.
When he called the other two soldiers over to sit on the two girls, she imagined, not for the first time, what curse she would place on him if she ever thought she could get away with it. As strong as she had become, she knew that she would be crushed under their weight if either of them sat on her. The curse would have to be subtle, if she could manage it. More irritating than harmful. Maybe cursing him so that his socks would constantly roll into the toes of his boots or maybe to croak like a frog when he spoke to a superior...she couldn't stop one corner of her mouth lifting in an amused smile at the thought of him doing that in front of someone like Woodwick.
Maybe, just maybe, @berengar wasn't completely boring, a grin starting to spread on her face and a witty remark was on her tongue when the drill instructor noticed them. And he oh so kindly put his smoke out in her canteen.
Kat was just about ready to 'accidentally' spill her canteen on his boots in shock. But then he came up with something fun. Sitting on her fellow soldiers seemed like a great time. And so she nodded her head with a smile. "Right away sir."
Moving over towards Zarha Sliva she winked at the girl. "Let's get to it then." And she moved to sit on her back as instructed.
It was if they had a sixth sense. All of the officers, it seemed, had a way of noticing him right when he didn’t want to be seen - though, granted, he never really sought their attention - and Aldrich Abbott was no exception. Before Ber could make a hasty escape, the drill instructor marched over to where he and @katerina stood, and the younger soldier prepared to hear the same rebuke he’d heard many-a-time from one Warren Woodwick about how the courtyard was for training, not standing around. The man in front of him, however, merely extinguished his cigarette in Winters’ canteen - Ber bit his tongue and glanced away in order to keep a straight face - and ordered them to help out.
Winters was quick enough to agree, but all Ber wanted to do was get some food. Abbott, however, had earned his reputation for a reason, and because sitting on someone’s back while they did push-ups was far preferable to having to do them himself with someone on his back, Ber swallowed back a sigh and concurred. “Yes, sir.” In pace with Winters, he made his way over to the newer recruits and stood by the other witch while his apparent partner-in-crime sat on Sliva’s back. With a somewhat apologetic shrug, he did the same.
Allbot is really annoying, Zarha just want to punch his face in soo much. However she cannot, plus she can’t seem like she was bend under his stupidity. So when he turned his back at her she rolled her eyes at him. It will take a lot for her to be broken, so if he think that he can lift her chin and have somebody sit on her back to be broken. Then he will be in a for a long day for him.
Zarha can train all day, like be fair she doesn’t need this training in her eyes she doesn’t need this training, she here every single day, training her body and mind. She will be training on her days off, she will be training either before or after her patrols, there wasn’t a day when she wasn’t in the wings training. Always ready to push herself more. So this training for Zarha is easy.
So when @katerina came to sit on her back, sh doesn’t need to be shown how to be push ups the correct way. So she prepared herself for Kats weight then goes back doing push ups. Determined not to be broken.
made by the wonderful Lyla
Last Edit: Feb 2, 2023 8:22:44 GMT -5 by Zarha Sliva
Post by Aldrich Abbott on Feb 2, 2023 10:10:57 GMT -5
The older generation of soldiers obliged, immediately making their way over to the cadets when he asked them to sit on their backs. He made a mental note of their participation. Unless he was to meet them again, he most likely would forget their face - especially Kat, given he didn't even now her name - but if he did meet them again and actually recognise them, their cooperation would play in their benefit.
Once they were seated, the trainees continued their push-ups. Sliva didn't seem to have too much trouble carrying Winter's weight, which actually pleasantly surprised Abbott. The girl was resistant to his nagging and didn't allow it to bring her down. The other girl... not so much. Not even half a push-up after Stormcrest sat down on her back, she collapsed. Breathing heavily, she looked up at the instructor who was looking down at her with a look of disappointment in his eyes. He managed to catch a glimpse of another cadets smile (Rhedara Shannon ). "Can you do better?" he asked, annoyed by the smile on her face. "Why don't you move over to her back instead, then?" He asked, redirecting his eyes to Berengar.
We won't call it quits. We'll call it the start.
Last Edit: Feb 2, 2023 10:39:10 GMT -5 by Aldrich Abbott
Post by Rhedara Shannon on Feb 2, 2023 13:22:55 GMT -5
The smile was wiped right off of Rhedara's face when Aldrich Abbott called her out and told @berengar to sit on her instead. She eyed Ber and knew she was going to be crushed. She cursed her lack of mass, her lack of height. Why couldn't she have taller, or at least bulkier people in her ancestery? Oh, she was going to curse Abbott. She was going to curse him good. It might not be that day, it might not be tomorrow, but it would happen. She would have to wait for the right moment.
If Ber obliged Abbott, Rhedara would brace herself for his weight. She would try to make eye contact with Ber and opened her mouth to say...nothing. She shut her mouth and inhaled through her nose, resigned. If Ber sits on her, Her arms will start to wobble at the weight. She surprises herself by completing one pushup before her arms give out. She'll slam to the ground and will cut her lip on her teeth, "Damn it," she hisses while touching her bleeding lip.
A voice from the past, seven years ago to be exact, scraped across his ears like nails on a chalkboard and he stopped in mid-stride. No. It couldn't be. Not... Tor swivelled his head and saw a group of soldiers laughing and taunting some people in a ring and he didn't like the ugly tone of it. Was that DI Dick? It couldn't be. He was tall enough to see from the back of the crowd and his eyes locked on that arrogant ass's profile. The loathing for that man was so strong, his hands trembled and he forced himself to walk forward anyway.
Aldrich had taught Torsten self control no matter how mad he'd become as a hormonal eighteen year old that was over six feet tall with way too much energy. The dirtbag had taught him that rain, cold and heat didn't matter when training needed doing. Tor didn't fail often when he was assigned a task in the years after that training and he had that colossal jerk to thank for it. He knew solidly that there was no escaping DI Dick-he was tenacious and there was no place for a man of 6'3 to hide, even in a crowd. Intead of trying to hide or avoid it, Tor boldly stepped toward the railing and rested a hand lightly on it, unable to take his eyes from the man he hated with every fiber of his being.
Kat thought that whoever she was sitting on had it too easy. She was smaller and lighter, and so it was time for her to actually prove herself.
Looking up at Officer Abbott she patted the back she was sitting on. "Sir, maybe a heavier weight for this one to make it fair like..." Her eyes drifted up and landed on none other than Torsten Mosse. Perfect. "Maybe him, sir?" Pointing up at the guy who was easily on her shit list, Kat hated to use the word sir so many times, but it would be worth it for this.
And who didn't like seeing an impossible challenge?