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!
Temperance was, at least, glad to know that her initial assessment of the woman before her was accurate. Short, sweet, and to the point. Beating around the bush and catering to some form of softness hadn't seemed like the way to go with a woman like lieutenant Brekker. Older soldiers (not that the woman looked older, but the title she had earned was generally earned through years of experience - Temperance remembered that from her mandatory six) often had little time for such platitudes as those often used when speaking of loss.
Her gaze on Ber had been noted, but that, too, seemed normal in a way. Even if it had an unnerving edge to it, and a darkness to it, it wasn't one that Temperance hadn't seen before. The discipline required for her position is what Temperance respected most. "I see. That's very good to hear," she said, turning to Ber with the slightest smile, before returning her attention to Bex.
"Then may I assume that he struggled with issues stemming from his home life, possibly his childhood? That is not uncommon, regardless of status. We're all subject to the whims of others at some time in our lives, and that leaves us vulnerable, doesn't it?" Her tone, while empathetic and soft, was still direct. "I ask all of this because I'd like to create a potion to help people, more specifically soldiers, who struggle with such problems. The more information I can gather, the better I can understand."
Upon this further questioning Bex took a moment to consider what she might saw about her partner. She absently lifted her hand to her mouth, her fingertips tracing slowly over her lips as she considered how to explain, or how much she wanted to explain. "Maximo had a challenging upbringing. A commoner and a poor one at that. Parents with far too many children and the inability to feed them all." It wasn't hard to hear the judgmental tone in her voice that people could be so uncaring or unintelligent to bring such a life upon their innocent children.
"It left him with a lot scars. Physically, mentally, emotionally. What the final straw was for him I can't be totally sure. Not when he'd escaped that life so long ago."
Ber shifted slightly at Brekker’s answer. Growing up a poor commoner without a lot of food had left him so horribly scarred that it was at least part of the reason her partner had killed himself? He could help but feel a little skeptical about that, if only because Ber had also grown up a poor commoner without a lot of food and he was perfectly fine. But in the end, Maximo had been a different man and a paired soldier. The lieutenant had known him, not Ber, so if anyone could point to what might have pushed him over the edge, it probably would be her.
A question struck him now as he considered that the other man had been a paired soldier. Not that long ago, Ber had spoken with Raff Terach about what it was like being paired, and the lieutenant had described a reality that ran entirely counter to every other bit of information he had been told about the witch-paired program. According to him, witches treated their partners like dogs and ordered them around even when they were fully human, because that somehow taught them how to control the werewolf, and inexplicably that treatment had inspired in Terach such loyalty that he wished he could have died in place of his witch, Merk. It had made no sense to Ber then, and it made no sense to him now. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t ask about it.
If Temperance had more questions to ask of Brekker, he would wait his turn until she was done. Otherwise, he would clear his throat and address the lieutenant himself. “I actually do have a question, ma’am,” He would say, a little awkward. “Unrelated to Temperance’s.” A brief pause. “What is training like for paired soldiers? Especially in the first few months.”
Temperance nodded as Bex spoke about her former partners upbringing. As she expected, the man had a challenging life. Many commoners were like that. The parents were encouraged to have many children to help them work, but while those children were too young to work, it was an extreme burden to take care of them. That role was often left to the oldest child, who became more like parents to their siblings than their actual parents were.
"Thank you for telling me, Lieutenant Brekker. I know it isn't easy to lose someone so close to you, but helping understand what made things end the way they did can help us prevent it from happening in the future, I hope." The words might haunt Temperance later, but with that, she found herself lacking for more questions. So when she turned to look to Ber and he seemed to have his own questions, she nodded. He'd spoken before of wanting to know about the witch-paired program, and if it was something he would be interested in. This did seem like the perfect time to ask, since the Lieutenant didn't seem to mind answering their questions. She herself was curious, so her eyes and smile turned back to Bex, awaiting the answer.
Bex turned her full attention onto Ber at his question. She liked that he was asking questions. She liked that he was interested. She had been keeping an eye on him because she had the feeling that he would be an excellent addition to the paired solider program. "Much of the training is the same as it is for you now, only now you're working together with a partner. It's important that a pair build a rapport with one another. It's the connection and loyalty of a pair that make them truly successful. The most common story between paired soldiers is how close they get with one another. Best friends, even lovers is not uncommon. It's a beautiful pairing built on trust, support, and devotion to the safety of each other," she began explaining though it was clear she had much to say on the topic.
"In battle it is the responsibility of the man, in either form, to protect his witch in order to allow her the time and space to use her magic the most efficiently. But the witch is just as concerned for the safety of her male counterpart. They protect each other and are devoted to each other in order to accomplish the task at hand." She never took her gaze away from Ber as she continued.
"The first few weeks are often physically challenging for the man and emotionally challenging for both pairs. Learning to use the curse of the werewolf is not easy. It's a painful process. But both members of the pair come out stronger for it in the end and it does eventually become more natural. Some men even feel the urge to shift as a need deep within themselves, something they need to be released into every now and then."
Although he couldn’t help but feel somewhat unnerved by the intensity of her unbroken gaze, Ber listened to Brekker’s explanation of the witch-paired training program. It was an overview but one that seemed far more in-line with what he thought he knew about the other branch of the military. Comfortably so. Not only did training that was much the same as his was now, only with a partner, not sound anything like the degrading experience Terach had described, but the soldier could also see how joint experiences like that built the camaraderie and rapport for which the paired program was so well-known.
Who was to say Brekker was any more credible than Terach? They were of equal rank and presumably comparable experience. Only one of them offered a familiar answer to Ber’s question, however, so he was inclined to trust her.
The apparent residual urge to shift was new and somewhat disconcerting, but if he was honest, the whole concept was disconcerting. To be utterly reliant upon someone else, not only for his actions in the moment but also to even tell him what happened afterward - none of it appealed to an orphan commoner who had fended for himself, trusted only himself, from a young age. But he had told Temperance he’d ask about it, and she could see for herself that he had.
Ber nodded. “Thanks for the explanation, ma’am,” He said, appeased, before glancing toward Temperance to see if she had anything she wanted to ask about with that.
"Yes, thank you for being so open with Ber about it," Temperance said in response to the gratitude Ber had shown. "And thank you again for answering my questions. I'm sure we've bothered you enough for today, I hope we haven't wasted too much of your time," still smiling, Temperance dipped into a polite curtsy.
Passing the basket off that she had been carrying to Ber, she smiled at him, too. "Take these. Melody sent much more than Constance would accept, and I know you prefer her cooking over mine." She said, teasing Ber. "I feel as if I'm holding the both of you up from your duties, so I'll be on my way. It was absolutely lovely to meet you, Lieutenant Brekker. Ber, remember to bring my bag back when you come by? And share some of those treats with your friends!"
Waving her fingers, Temperance squeezed Ber's arm lightly and disappeared into the crowd of people, heading back to her Greenhouse on the other side of Skia.
Bex didn't expect much of Berengar as she had dumped a lot of information on him, so a simple thanks was nothing more or less than what she has expected. As Temperance made her departure Bex offered a simple nod and watched her go briefly. She really was a lovely woman. Perhaps Bex might one day actually seek her out and get to know her a little better. She didn't know exactly how the two were connected, though behaved almost as if they were family.
With the woman gone Bex turned her attention back to Ber though her shoulders had softened slightly and her gaze was less intense. She paused for a moment, finding her words before speaking again. "I think you would make an excellent addition to the paired soldiers, Stormcrest. I've thought so for some time now. If you're at all interested, you can come and see me. You could shadow me for a day and I'll show you what it's like in person before you commit."
When she handed it to him, Ber obligingly took the basket from Temperance and weathered the subsequent mother-henning rather more sheepishly than he would have had Brekker not been standing there. While he had come to expect the apothecary’s unique brand of compassion, particularly with regards to him, receiving it in the middle of the military wing in front of an officer had an embarrassed flush crawling up the back of his neck. “Bye Temperance,” He said, not necessarily urging her to leave but not necessarily not doing so either. After putting the muffin he’d been holding this entire time back into its container with the others, Ber scratched the back of his neck and prepared to make himself scarce as well, but Brekker had other intentions.
Her words had a relative of the prior, embarrassed flush returning. “Oh,” He said intelligently, blinking as he registered the unexpected compliment. Commendation? Something good. “Uh, thank you, ma’am.” They only picked the best soldiers to be paired, didn’t they? A pleased smile ghosted across his face at what that must mean they thought of him, even if he wasn’t sure he was interested. But the offer to shadow Brekker for a day to at least learn more would have been foolish to turn down, so he nodded.
With everyone as busy as they were now, they both agreed to arrange a time after the gala. Surely then, everything would settle down.