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 Rhedara Shannon on Apr 2, 2023 19:41:15 GMT -5
[for @torsten ]
It was evening and the sun was starting to go down. Rhedara was in what passed for a kitchen. The walls were made of questionably sturdy walls and the floor was dirt, unlike the rest of her landlady’s home which had slightly uneven wood planks that worked as a floor. Bette had been so proud when her husband had installed them, she’d cleaned them every day for nearly a year. Rhedara would know, she’d helped when she wasn’t at training.
By the time Rhedara was expecting Tor to arrive, she would be getting the fire going using flint and steel to get the job done. It was important for this potion that the fire be burning hot, so she had plenty of material to burn to get the job done. Tor, if he knocked on the front door would be greeted by a skinny older woman whose skin was more weather-beaten from years at sea than it was wrinkled.
“Yes?” Her voice was raspy as if she shouted more than she whispered, “Are you that friend o’ hers?” she would look the young man up and down with an appeasing eye and wondered if he was the one that had kept her out so late the night before the ball. The little chit had come back with two hickeys on her neck that were still fading. The old woman normally wouldn’t have worried about it were she any other girl, but Bette had known Rhedara since she’d been born and had been friends with her father, “Ye seem nice enough,” she informed him, “She’s in da kitchen in da back,” she pointed a bony finger at him as high as her arm could reach, “Don’t ye be gettin’ any funny ideas now, ye hear?”
He hadn't seen Shannon around at all in the last couple days but rumor had it that she'd been kicked. Tor made it to the address he'd been given and gave two short knocks at the door.
"I'm Torsten Mosse ma'am. She's more than a friend- Rhedara is like a little sister to me and she considers me a big brother." he responded proudly, liking their connection. The older woman looking over his height wasn't anything out of the ordinary and Tor was very used to it. Everyone except Othello, who was the same height, had done a double take at meeting him for the first time.
Tor instantly frowned at the woman's comment and what she was insinuating so he looked mildly offended at even the idea.
"No ma'am, I assure you that I do notthink of Rhedara as anything other than a sister." His face flushed for a moment.
That matter cleared up, he ducked to get through the entrance and made his way over to Rhedara carefully. His head barely cleared the ceiling by merely an inch. Any quick moves in the place, would be a head smack for sure!
"Is that you're grandmother at the door...?" His voice trailed off as he noticed hickeys on her neck and his eyebrows shot up into his hairline in stunned surprise.
Post by Rhedara Shannon on Apr 6, 2023 15:09:29 GMT -5
Bette raised an eyebrow at the young man’s protestations. A little too insistent on her being “like a sister” to him, “I see,” was all she said to him before she let the young man go on his way, “Young people these days…” she muttered under her breath as she returned to her chores.
Rhedara heard Tor before she saw him. She was still crouched by the fire by the time he appeared. She looked up and pushed her braid over her shoulder as she stood up to greet him.
“You mean Bette?” She looked at the doorway as if the old woman would suddenly appear there, “No, she’s just a family friend. Did—“ she stopped talking in response to his surprised face, “What?” She asked, aware that he was staring at what she thought was her face, “Did I smudge some ashes on my face again?
"No, not at all. There are no ashes on your face Miss Shannon. But you do however, have some very red bruises on your neck..." His brown eyes bored into hers, silently demanding an explanation.
Torsten said nothing else. He just stood there and waited for her explanation.
Post by Rhedara Shannon on Apr 6, 2023 18:18:24 GMT -5
Rhedara blinked, taking in how upset he look. Then she realized what he was looking at and blushed. She’d forgotten about those, and he’d just pointed them out…coming from Tor, it was almost worse than when Raff’s little sister had asked her if she and Raff had…frolicked.
She didn’t like the idea of Tor thinking badly of her…especially considering the week she’d been having. To be honest, it really wasn’t any of his business that she had the marks on her neck, and she considered telling him just that. She also considered just lying by telling him it was an odd rash. But she really didn’t see any point in lying to him.
“They’re love bites, Tor. No big deal,” there. As sweet as she could be about such a personal question.
Torsten cleared his throat uncomfortably and looked back at where the older women had walked from. That must've been why she'd looked at him like that and said what she did. He wasn't entirely sure what they were, but adding the word love to anything was enough of an implication.
"That older woman implied that we... I... did that to you. She told me not to get any funny ideas." His ears turned red as looked down at the floor and then the walls-anywhere but directly at Rhedara's neck and he put his hands in his pockets.
Post by Rhedara Shannon on Apr 8, 2023 20:04:17 GMT -5
Tor wore his discomfort like some nobles wore eye-seemingly bright clothes. Although she supposed that she would also look so uncomfortable if someone implied that she did anything indecent with Tor. Tor was a very good looking man—anyone with eyes could see that—but Rhedara didn’t see him in that way. She tried to hold back her grin, she really did, but it showed itself despite her efforts, a little snort accompanying it, “Don’t you worry about Bette! She’s a nibby-nose.”
She saw him looking anywhere but at her, so she wrapped her braid around her neck, “See? All gone. You can look at me now. It’ll be easier for me to order you around if you’re looking at me.”
Simply because of his height in the small room, there was absolutely no way he could completely avoid seeing Rhedara so he stopped trying. His dark eyes rested on her, his expression somber. Even though the older woman thought badly of him, there was nothing Tor could do to change her judgment. Like many things lately, the only thing he could do was continue to accept what ever was heaped on his shoulders, unbidden or not. Although he at least was still in the military, he wasn't entirely sure now that it was a good thing at all.
Rhedara looked irritated with his respectful gaze away from her so just stood there, unsure of what to do in the situation. She'd been kicked out of her career and now she was freely doing things that involved some blatant love bites displayed nonchalantly to the world. The woman had been chewed up and spit out by Nevermere, officially scorned and yet she still had an indomitable spirit that kept her sassy and smiling. What was her secret?
Brown eyes lingered over Rhedara's face, as if searching for an answer to that question. He moved to put his hands behind his back in an at ease position, still pensive and silent.
Last Edit: Apr 11, 2023 14:57:26 GMT -5 by Deleted
Post by Rhedara Shannon on Apr 11, 2023 17:03:17 GMT -5
Her smile fell a little at his still stern face. Had his opinion of her changed? Tor was a very upright man that stood by his convictions…maybe he found her activities unseemly? She thought he’d be curious about who she was seeing. Maybe it was something else?
She knew about the stricter schedule that all the soldiers had to follow now, so he must have been tired to say the least. He’d been her companion through their shared punishment that involved extra work with hardly any breaks at all. One of the few nice things she’d encountered about her removal was that she had been able to catch up on some much needed sleep...after a few hours crying and feeling sorry for herself anyways. But she wouldn’t admit to that to anybody anytime soon.
“How are things, Tor?” She tried to keep her tone light as she beckoned him further into the kitchen, “Have you been able to sleep at least?”
"So how do you do it? Keep your spirits up like that?" Tor asked at the same time Red asked her questions. He paused and flushed to the tips of his ears at the blunder. It took a couple minutes to figure out exactly who said what and he figured it was polite to answer her questions first. But his dark brown eyes lingered over how the ever present smile dropped quickly.
He shrugged one shoulder noncommittally, as there really wasn't anything to say about it. What could he reply? The same. He was the most singularly boring person on Terra Nova. With no life outside of work, Tor had nothing new of himself to talk about.
"I guess. I mean, yea, I sleep." his diction was just the slightest bit less precise than usual, denying a full truth to that answer. He thought it would be best to have Rhedara talk, since she had so much going on in her life. He couldn't even begin to imagine what was going on with all that unregulated chaos of a non-military life.
"You look like you're keeping busy so what are you working on right now?"
Post by Rhedara Shannon on Apr 13, 2023 8:25:12 GMT -5
They’d spoken at the same time, but Tor answered her questions first. There was definitely something off with Tor. She remembered how he laughed while they were on patrol even though they were both stressed out with hardly any sleep.
“Well, sleep is good,” she didn’t know what else to say. Maybe she could get him to relax enough that he cracked a smile.
As for his question…
“How do I keep my spirits up?” she was glad she didn’t come off as a frazzled mess even though she felt like one, “Better to face it smiling than crying right? Tears won’t help me,” she shrugged and walked to the table where she had everything set out for their brewing, “And it helps that that Captain Woodwick said that he would recommend me in the future if I wanted to enlist again when they rebuild the numbers…if I show improvement that is,” she took a deep breath and stretched her arms out in front of her as if they were stiff, “It made me so happy when he said that, but I’ve begun to wonder if I shouldn’t be a little offended that they’d only take me back because everyone else is dead, but,” she stared at the table, “someone like Captain Woodwick doesn’t give backhanded compliments right? He said that the way I handled myself during my dismissal told him that he thought I had what it takes to improve, so…I’m choosing to be happy even though I want to set things on fire because if I set things on fire, Woodwick won’t recommend me if I ever get to enlist again.”
She took a deep breath, “In the meantime, I’m looking for work. Bette’s generous, but not generous enough to let me live here for free now that I’m old enough to make money or ‘go marry a rich man’ as Bette keeps telling me to do.”
Another deep breath.
She looked again at the table with all the ingredients. She’d been spending a lot of time in this room, “Yeah, I’ve been brewing potions so I can try and relax,” she couldn’t spare money on booze at the moment. She needed every penny until she had an income again, “And you’re about to help me brew one. Remember the fortitude potion I promised you?”
Halfway through her cheerful talk he blanched, looking very distinctly uncomfortable at the words 'everyone else is dead' Offended?! Torsten was most likely going to be one of those dead bodies needing replacing. But nothing much seemed to bother her so Tor thought it was just like Rhedara to keep putting a positive spin on things.
"That's a positive outlook and it looks like you're keeping busy. And Captain Woodwick is a man of honor that keeps his word. I've never seen him be insincere." He watched her stretch out her arms, showing that she might've been sitting there for quite a while already. His dark eyes looked blatantly between the cauldron and her at the mention of setting things on fire. Miss Shannon definitely proved to be the impulsive type and he devoutly hoped she was kidding about that.
"Potions to relax? Wouldn't you be able to sell them for money? I don't really spend any of the money I make now. No need to when I just work and sleep." he shrugged dismissively.
"I do intend to pay you for the fortitude potion and the lesson. I'm ready to help." Torsten answered, hoping that might make her smile even more. She was a nice person and he hoped things would work out for her--and he was here to help with that, literally.
Last Edit: Apr 16, 2023 16:09:32 GMT -5 by Deleted
Post by Rhedara Shannon on Apr 16, 2023 16:07:31 GMT -5
“‘Positive’ is the word,” she said dryly, “It’s all I got right now,” she shrugged, “Well, that and Bette, but,” she lowered her voice, knowing the old woman was likely eaves dropping on them, “She’s a huge gossip,” She let her voice rise to a normal tone gain, “But I’m glad you agree that Woodwick isn’t the kind of person to go back on his word.”
She nodded her head at his question about selling the potions, “I can, and I plan to if it looks like I can’t find anything. It’s partially why I’m making so many while I have fresh resources,” it probably wouldn’t be enough, but it might at least keep the roof over her head, “But I have a little bit of a cushion…I haven’t spent my sign on bonus on anything yet.”
She shook her head at he offer of payment, tempting as it was, “I told you I wouldn’t charge you and I’m not going back on that,” she turned to check on the fire and saw that it the logs and sticks had caught as she wanted, “But if you insist, consider your labor payment. Making liquid courage is easier with two sets of hands. Do you know how to use a mortar and pestle?”
Torsten looked at Rhedara who appeared to let nothing be taken too personally. She was confident in her abilities and with the bonus as a good fall back, he could see why she wasn't too worried just yet.
"Well that's good you at least have a plan and a back up." He stepped toward her, expecting to be his usual draft horse self to haul heavy things back and forth and doing lots of lifting. Her small question had Tor blinking and he looked at her in total confusion.
"A what and a what?"
Mosse was something they put through service for his size and strength alone as his total reason for existing. He couldn't recall anyone asking him to do something that took thinking or knowledge. Or much conversation for that matter. It was all taking orders and draft horse work for his entire life. At twenty five, he should've made rank a couple years ago but not many people talked to someone Tor's size or asked anything more of him than obedient muscle. And the one time he wasn't silent obedient muscle, it had been so thoroughly smacked down that he hadn't opened his mouth on duty ever since.
Last Edit: Apr 18, 2023 16:35:54 GMT -5 by Deleted
Post by Rhedara Shannon on Apr 19, 2023 21:36:59 GMT -5
“Yup. That’s my backup plan,” she said that with a little less pep than she normally would have put in, “Whatever keeps me from working on a boat, right?”
Tor’s confusion brought a smile back to her face, “A mortar and pestle,” she grabbed the items in question off the table to show him, “This thing. You grind things like wheat with it to make a powder or just to make it a little smaller. It’s easy,” she moved the pestle in the bowl to demonstrate, “I’ll need you to help me grind these,” she gestured to the array of ingredients on the table, “so I can make sure the fire is burning hot enough,” it might have made more sense to have Tor keep the fire burning hot, but the hot fire was the most important part of the potion aside from her magic being added to it. She didn’t want Tor to loose his inhibitions because the fire wasn’t hot enough to properly make the potion, “Grind it all down as fine as you can then throw it in my cauldron,” she patted the cast iron pot on the table. It had been her mothers and was one of the things that she had kept after her death.