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 Hiram Eldouir on May 20, 2023 13:26:32 GMT -5
This was chaos. This was bloodshed. This was Hiram’s element.
The Eldouir had never felt stronger, never more in shape than he did now. As Dresmondi and Arynnites were killed, the red from their corpses staining the ground, Hiram’s blood sense soared, his manipulation of the substance peaking. So much red swam through the air, some from bodies, some into bodies, some through bodies.
He consumed dyr blood as he turned the blood of the masters on other Dresmondi. Though his hands held hatchets and no enemy stood about him, he swung them and he danced, sending out bursts of lightning and gusts of flame, having consumed the elemental creatures’ blood that allowed him to do both. A strike on that Arynnite’s head. A flame sent to lick the boots of the fleeing Dresmondi. In fact, in his dancing, he even made an effort to stream a taste of his own blood towards his mangled cousin—or daughter or whatever she was to him—a little pick-me-up to keep her in the game.
He directed his creature towards where Arynnites had come from, telling it to destroy the structures so that the doors of portals would be inaccessible. He’d witnessed the King of Nevermere use a portkey during his time as Commander often enough to know how the citizens of Arynn Frey got around. The eye needed a door. The summoned beast would seek to destroy all structures, preventing more from coming through and trap those present there.
Hiram would not rest physically nor in his magical assaults until every Arynnite soldier and attacking Dresmondi was dead. Only then would he let his hatchets hover low at his sides and watch the retreating Dresmondi return to Dresmond.
In possession of a magical necklace that wards off offensive magic attacks against him, a ring that allows him to suppress magic, and can turn into werewolf at will.
Post by Cassian Rainecourt on May 20, 2023 13:41:59 GMT -5
Perhaps unbeknownst to the queen of Arynn Frey, Cassian had already been contacted, and wasted no time in gathering forces.
With Hadrian Usher at the helm and Cassian’s key in the appropriate key holes, about 750 Nevermerean witches were deployed to the three cities of Arynn Frey—250 to each. It was the best they could do numbers wise on such short notice, but more soldiers and witches alike were being readied and prepared to send to Arynn Frey. Additionally, Akagi Llewellyn’s family was welcomed with open arms into the safety of the Nevermerean castle. Should Kimora see fit to send children and elderly, they too would be accommodated in the throne room.
Hadrian was to go to the queen and offer his support. They would rely on Arynnite technology to communicate with his field sergeants in the other cities.
[ One shot from Cassian; Hadrian will NPC the Nevermerean soldiers should the need arise. ]
Chaos was everywhere: at the Dresmondi camp, on the wall, in the cities, and in the palace. Kite had taken over as the tactical voice of Kimora Llewellyn , but Akagi Llewellyn and @calliope remained in the upset order. There were two royals giving orders, each, seemingly, with a military leader on their side. @bowen would receive Prince Akagi Llewellyn ’s orders to direct the royal family to the throne room—her majesty the Queen included. He would similarly receive Queen Kimora Llewellyn ’s orders to ensure the children remain inside the palace and be ready to evacuate. What Bowen decided to do with those orders was entirely up to him.
@akgai’s and Kimora Llewellyn ’s orders (via the Minister of Defense) were received at the battlefront with near uncanny concurrence. The troops that had been retrieving the canisters readily followed Kimora Llewellyn ’s orders to take them to the boats at sea, but would find a very different scene than they’d anticipated. @drystan ’s mist had been systematically smothering sailors in their path. Those who appeared on those ships would find them unmanned, the bodies of their brothers and sisters in arms draped lifelessly on the decks. The ships near the capitol city and those further out to water had been spared and would set sail to catch up to Azazel Eldouir and @drystan . Others would set sail from a port near the city of Ilianar to pursue @adeline and @alistair . The ships would sail at full speed to catch up to the Eldouir.
Kimora Llewellyn ’s second order was for the deployment of the artillery. @calliope had deployed the artillery near the start of the Eldouir’s assault, so this order was met with confusion. The Minister of Defense would find there was no artillery left to deploy. The Minister would relay that information to the queen, but it had already been made clear to the soldiers involved that something was wrong with the line of communication. For one reason or another, the queen was not receiving the intelligence of what was happening at the battlefront. Her orders were out of step.
The artillery that did remain also received word from Akagi Llewellyn and @calliope to focus their attacks on the monster at the camp. The distance between the artillery and the camp was great, as the camp itself had not been fortified. It was from what remained of the wall and Ilianar that the canisters and artillery would be fired, but the distance they had to cover was days worth of travel on foot. The attacks would be imprecise and not be close enough to the camp to do meaningful damage. The canisters would not reach unless troops moved from Ilianar toward the battlefront in the Dresmondi camp, which would take precious time.
Kimora Llewellyn ’s third order was to open a portal to evacuate the Dresmondi refugees. When given the order by Kite, a flustered soldier informed him that the evacuation had been underway this past hour but had all been abandoned as the front at the camp retreated. He gestured to the wounded soldiers that had already begun to retreat from the camp, the bedraggled Dresmondi that had pushed their way through to follow.
“It’s a suicide mission,” The soldier protested, “the camp is a loss.” But Kite insisted. The lone portal was opened and no more than a dozen soldiers had pushed through to the camp before the portal disappeared—the wagon on the other side crushed under the monster's feet. In that brief moment, those lucky enough to be still standing in Elysian would glimpse the carnage on the other side.
And what a scene it was. At Hiram Eldouir ’s command, the summoned beast directed its efforts to destroy the structures at the camp. It burned and smashed one wagon after another, crushing those trying to flee through the few portals that still remained. Fire was becoming an increasingly deadly actor, one wooding wagon catching onto another and going up like tinder. In a wild display of magic, Hiram Eldouir began to mow through the Arynnites and Dresmondi that still put up a fight. This hastened the retreat of the Dresmondi back to their homeland.
After sipping his healing blood, @yeva ’s strength would be restored. @donvan, who had paused to stare at the monster, would be brought back to earth when an Arynnite sword lodged itself in his shoulder. He’d have to continue his combat one-handed.
Throughout all of this, the destruction of the wall continued. @myla and Elena Eldouir ’s combined raw, destructive power would make them the fastest. They’d find themselves in sight of the lava monster Azazel Eldouir , their section of the destroyed wall meeting theirs. @alistair ’s explosion would ripple along the wall, causing more and more to fall in a chain reaction.
Many closest to the Eldouir on the wall had followed Akagi Llewellyn ’s order to retreat—grateful to follow the prince’s order to retreat and in doing so save their lives. The retreat continued; many soldiers that had been stationed on the wall or elsewhere drew back to the cities while some new troops were deployed. The end effect was a slow drain of forces as they fell back into the cities. Arynn Frey, after all, was not a kingdom accustomed to war. When given the order to fall back or stay and potentially die, many did what any would do: they fled.
20% of the wall remains standing.
GUIDELINES
- POST TIMING:You will have 48 hours to reply, so please plan accordingly and take posting order into account. We will not wait for your character, and if they are a central part of an exchange then they will still be factored into what is taking place. Their actions (or inaction) will be narrated by the CN. .
Seeing the destruction ahead, Myla would wear a smug smile. Not only had her and Elena Eldouir made fantastic time… but now they were in range of @drystan and Azazel Eldouir. Finishing the last part of the wall with an explosion that was left between them. “And here are the boys.” She chuckled as they grew closer. The two becoming four, Myla glancing around to see if anything caught her eye as she addressed the two.
“You two done here?” She asked, looking down their part of the wall…. Or lack of one. Perhaps pile of rubble and lava was a better description. “Elena and I were thinking about taking a trip…” she said it mildly, as if she should have been picking at her nail bed as she said it… if those eyes weren’t scanning the land and sea around them.
Last Edit: May 21, 2023 12:03:40 GMT -5 by Deleted
Post by Azazel Eldouir on May 22, 2023 8:01:38 GMT -5
As the two sections met and fell Azazel let out a booming whoop of triumph. There had been little distribution to their destruction and as the two girls met up with them he offered a heavy handed wave, remaining in his monster form for now but bending so he could speak to those closest to the ground.
“If the others had this easy of a time then we must be near completion,” he said, knowing exactly how destructive each of them were and thus why they’d been chosen to accompany Hiram on this venture.
He then turned to @drystan. “Do we just wait for Hiram then?” It would take plenty of time to try to move around the wall to aimlessly find the others and cutting through the kingdom wouldn’t be any faster nor more wise.
“Wait, what kind of trip?” He registered @myla’s comment.
The artillery members they were still faced with seemed to falter, confusion crossing their faces. It mattered very little to Adeline and Alistair, who would have a very easy time dealing with whatever remained of this unit once the confusion of conflicting orders set in. A few more explosions from Alistair and few well placed spikes of ice would see the unit cleaned up.
Turning their attention back to the wall, Alistair continued his barrage of explosions. Adeline looked ahead, noting that the wall turned sharply in the distance and cut in land, taking them away from the water. She frowned, unhappy with the separation, but then noted the ships that were also rapidly approaching them in the distance.
A smirk crawled across her face as she realized the fun she was about to have, and leaving Alistair at the base of the wall to continue his onslaught, she gathered ice around her, wrapping her legs in it, and propelled herself out to sea at great speeds. She'd sink down into the ocean, creating a tunnel to avoid any cannon fire, as she raced to meet the ships head on.
Once upon them, she'd send great walls of ice slicing up out of the water directly in front of the ships, giving them no time to avoid sailing into them. Raising herself out of the water in an ice cocoon, just enough so she could watch her carnage, the waters around the ships would quickly turn to ice as well, marooning them in place. Then, like a great icy kraken, the ice would crawl up and over the nearest ships, encapsulating wood and human alike, before it would constrict and begin to break the ships, and any sailors caught in it, apart.
Any that managed to jump overboard would find their feet hitting the ice shelves around the ships, and would quickly find themselves unable to move due to the ice that quickly shot up and over their bodies just as it had the ships, constricting around them until their bones broke and their skin froze.
Once those ships had been dealt with, Adeline would sink back into the water only to rise nearby the remaining ships and do the same thing, until all of them were just pieces of wood sinking to the bottom of the ocean. Only then would she return back to Alistair and what remained of their part of the wall.
Last Edit: May 22, 2023 11:45:38 GMT -5 by Deleted
His moment of distraction would cost him dearly, though he was too stunned by the sudden sharp pain ripping through his shoulder to make any noise as the Arynnite sword sunk into his flesh. His arm now hung at his side uselessly and the vain Eldouir glared down at the hole ripped into his armor as he felt wetness gathering beneath it. Completely ruined.
Enraged by the pain, the blood, and the hole, the Eldouir continued to fight those around him one handed, his years of leaning on his swordsmanship instead of his gift coming to light as the Eldouir continued to fight one-handed, just as vigorously as if he had both working arms.
Shrine Magic
Akagi wields a saga enchanted naginata, that when touched allows the wielder to cast bright red orbs that explode on contact. Akagi can cast single orbs or produce up to four orbs in a powerup to cast at once for a bigger explosion.
Post by Akagi Llewellyn on May 22, 2023 11:59:31 GMT -5
Akagi felt the time had come to allow his Mother full control this was her mess this was her ill illusion of what happened when kingdoms were caught with their pants down as the saying went, their clashing of orders had failed the Dresmondi at the camps and lives were going to be lost unfortunately. Had the defenses been raised and only rescuing missions on the ground they wouldn't have lost any ships, why were their ships?! The Prince was frustrated and he was going to resolve this, "The ships are lost for what?" he camly shouted at Bowen directing nothing but frustration aimed at his Mother, "They came for the Dresmondi and that silly wall, I want an emergency Cabinet meeting called post engagement Bowen. Continue to reinforce the cities NO more engagement with the Eldouir. None. You tell the Minister of Defense that NOW, they are to only engage the monster should it come for the cities."
Akagi would leave it to Bowen as he sought out his Mother.
Bowen knew well enough the pointed rage, and at whom it was pointed. Bowen had not given the orders that angered the Prince, in fact he had only done exactly as Prince Akagi had instructed, even before he had instructed it. So he did not take the Prince's rage personally. "Yes, sir, it will be done," he said, his expression and tone serious though his eyes sparkled as soon as he turned away.
As the two went their separate ways, Bowen grabbed hold of the nearest peacekeeper, tugging the man upward by his shirt with the hand not holding the looming poleaxe. "Where is the Minister of Defense?" He demanded, and the poor peacekeeper led the way. One of his own men joined at his side, one of the "ghosts" that the Queen herself had helped him to install throughout the cities and, indeed, in the palace. "Get Queen Kimora Llewellyn and Prince Sylas Llewellyn to the throne room. Have them thoroughly guarded. Everyone is to take orders solely from Prince Akagi Llewellyn from this point further. Do as the Queen asked with the children, however. Make certain they are safe. I will handle the Ministers." The man nodded and rushed forward to do as asked.
During the entirety of his walk, Bowen was swinging and twirling his poleaxe, so when he reached the room in which the other Ministers had been remaining, he had to do little more than jab the end of the poleaxe toward the Minister of the Defense. If it touched the man, a powerful blast would send him hurtling across the room. It was a clear threat. "Minister, I apologize for the use of such brutality," he said, looking around at the other ministers. "We must move to the cabinet room, the royal family is being moved to the Throne room, but in the mean time you should continue to relay only Prince Akagi's orders. All ships remaining should return to the cities. All peacekeepers should retreat to the cities. Our focus is on defending the cities, not the wall. Do not engage with the Eldouir unless absolutely necessary. Our focus is on rescue. Damn the wall." The remainder of the orders had been given out over the communicators, and @calliope would likely have heard them. She was in charge of those at the Dresmondi camp, and would know what to do with them.
"From this moment forward, Ministers, we relay and follow orders from Prince Akagi Llewellyn alone. Now, to the cabinet room with all of you."
Last Edit: May 22, 2023 14:59:45 GMT -5 by Deleted
He felt the soldiers that started to head to the ships and pulled away across the water, taking the several of the pendants he'd seen the soldiers using to communicate. They were light enough that it barely took any effort at all to form a finger and snag them from the bodies. Any one not dead as he moved, would soon find themselves smothered to death in his wake. The edges of his mist picked up the fleet of ships moving towards where he and Azazel Eldouir had been aiming for.
At the meeting point the mist didn't coalesce into a man, but it did thicken and curl around @myla and Elena Eldouir who would be the only ones to hear the considering hum from the mist that had curled up on to their shoulders.
"Well we do seem to have some sea-faring guests heading this way." The words were spoken from the mists around them as a tendril gestured to the direction of the ships.
Quietly, only in Elena and Myla's ears did he whisper "I can do my best to cover for you but he will seek you out sooner or later afterwards." A reassurance that he would do what he could for them regardless of what decision they chose.
The maw in her face stretched and stretched as she felt the blood rejuvenate her. The ends twisted up in a mockery of a smile as she started tearing through the camp again. Should she notice anyone aiming for @donovan's back, she'd pounce and continue on.
Oh the frustrations were mounting as the Minister of Defense Kite, who she never really liked to begin with, opened his mouth. The orders that were echoing down the pendants curled her fingers around the hilt of the hammer at her side before she forcibly relaxed her grip. She'd been giving those orders from the start via the pendants so she wasn't sure what was going on with that.
But then some of that frustration curled into confusion when @bowen's voice came across the pendant, then a darker sort of satisfaction as she heard him lay into the ministers before relaying orders. There was a reason he was her unofficial favorite of her Peacekeepers back in the day. Well, she had her orders from the prince via Bowen and she would follow them.
The orders would be relayed to her second, Harbin, who would track any other incoming information while Calliope focused on the carnage in the camp. The glimpse that was had before a portal nearest her was closed had shown fire and wreckage. So the orders came to use the acid to open up more holes in the wall of metal and get out. If it was possible to open a portal, then they were encouraged to do so. She continued to brainstorm and implement plans where possible to rescue refugees and soldiers as much as possible.
Post by Elena Eldouir on May 22, 2023 23:00:03 GMT -5
Elena was full of adrenaline as they reached Azazel Eldouir and the mist form of what they knew to be @drystan. Her heart raced and a gleeful smile rested on her lips. When her favorite @myla mentioned the trip to the boys and Drystan mistily pointed out the sailors and offered them support on their venture, Elena turned to Myla expectantly. She might not officially be a Queen anymore but Elena still loved and respected her opinion and insight.
"Wanna help with the ships first?" she asked with a sly grin.
Kaveri had no desire to continue trying to figure out what the peacekeepers were doing. Arynn Frey's precious wall, the one built on the backs of desperate Dresmondi, would fall and he would think little more of it. Instead, once back in Elyusian, the horses would be steered back toward the tavern in which Kaveri and @kester had been staying. If the Eldouir came into the city, so be it. When, and if it happened, Kaveri might bother to return to the fight. But as he let Nephys out of the wagon, all he could think about was going inside for a drink. Hopefully the barkeep hadn't fled.
The remainder of the return to Elyusian was spent in an irate silence, unified in their frustration against a common enemy of incompetent Arynnite leadership - for which their people and their labor would primarily suffer - and the monstrous redheaded family that had revealed it. Even Walnut had nothing to say, for though he gave the benefit of the doubt far more freely than Kester, he knew that there was a limit to what could be excused. And this mess? Far beyond it.
Though barkeep hadn’t yet fled, he looked on the edge of panic when he watched the four of them stride into the tavern, and Kester was not in the mood to coddle him. Once he poured them their drinks, she - by way of Kaveri - sent him on his way with a promise to not trash the place in his absence. He hurried out the door, and after a final glance around at the otherwise empty tavern, Kester took a seat beside @kaveri .
Since they’re out of combat and back in Elyusian, Kester and Kaveri will be continuing their conversation in the other thread to keep things here tidy and relevant to combat. If chaos reaches them, then they might jump back into the main thread.
Last Edit: May 23, 2023 11:53:24 GMT -5 by Deleted