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!
As was expected, the longer Kester spent in Elyusian, the more familiar she became with the city’s labyrinth of streets, particularly those around the library on which Kaveri was working. But as the days dragged on, the comfort of the relatively familiarity gave way to a sort of restlessness, and when she and Walnut were not running from fountain to fountain or spending inordinate amounts of time down by the sea, they wandered further and further in search of nothing in particular.
Today, however, what caught Walnut’s attention wasn’t a new fountain but a small group of people gathered off to one side. His curiosity, as well as some of her own, had Kester meandering over, and the river otter, who was laying across her shoulders, shifted so that he was perched on them instead.
Ow, Walnut. Watch my hair.
“Sorry!”
With his front legs resting on top of her head, he craned his neck to try to see over the crowd even as Kester approached from the side and began nudging her way through. What she saw immediately gained her interest. Kester didn’t know much about Arynn Frey’s military, but born and raised Dijila, she recognized a fighting style when she saw one. Because she didn’t recognize the man’s specific style of hand-to-hand combat, she was inclined to watch and see if she could learn something new.
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 Apr 6, 2023 14:55:58 GMT -5
The Prince was a Jack of all trades when it came to hand to hand combat, after all at sixty one he'd had a good lifetime to practice and learn many of them. Today he was teaching some Peacekeepers the art of 'The Drunk Arynnite style a delicate and very movement styled combat. Three against one seemed unfair when looking from the outside in but the Prince was faster then one assumed: his movement mimicked that of exactly a drunk person as he swayed and dodged kicks and punches thrown at him. Deflection of these punches were rerouted against his attackers leaving space for his own attacks. His body twisted in ways the standard warrior or soldier hadn't yet learned to bend to, yet when his open palms connected the force behind them was enough to send his "enemies" reeling. Even more impressive was his mix of aerial maneuvers, the small crowd was equally impressed by the Princes exposition.
It only took a few moments of watching for Kester to see why the man had amassed an audience. Three against one would be difficult for any warrior, but his speed and oddly flexible style of fighting allowed him to dodge and deflect most of the blows.
“Is he drunk?” Pushing against her head with his hands to stand more upright, Walnut craned his neck to try to get a better view.
No, no way. Look at how coordinated he actually is, even if he doesn’t look like it.
“Then why’s he moving like that?”
I don’t kn— Her words were cut off as the lone fighter suddenly flipped through the air. The stunt started a new wave of impressed murmuring that washed over the crowd, and Kester crossed her arms as she watched. We don’t do anything remotely similar to that. The observation came thoughtfully. How would you use ice to augment fighting that way? Already, they had both considered possibilities for the inverse question.
The river otter let out a huff and pointedly whapped her with a hand. “Are you really gonna make me think, Kessie? I just wanna watch the show.”
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 Apr 7, 2023 13:17:02 GMT -5
The Prince's demonstration went on a little longer, the other Peacekeepers were tiring. With their confirmed retreat the Prince bowed to each of his opponents, "Very well done, let's dismiss for the day shall we," with their dismissal the crowd seemed to disperse and the other Peacekeepers started to clean up the grounds around them, "No, no gentlemen please go about your duties I'll take care of tidying up here," the Peacekeepers looked a little stunned but Prince Akagi wasn't like most, he was still a Peacekeeper and he would see to his respected duties. Plus he wasn't done for the day he would see to his own personal training unaware he had a potential stranger watching.
As Kester and Walnut watched, the sparring drew to a close with the lone fighter bowing to each of his opponents in turn before presumably sending them on their way from the way they walked off the field. Sensing that the show was over, the crowd around them also began to disperse, but she lingered for a moment, eyes on the fighter. He didn’t seem ready to leave, nor did anyone else appear eager to approach him to start another fight. Very well then. Kester would.
With a glance around at the handful of people still standing around, she drew close enough to the man that she expected him to notice her presence but not so close that it would earn her a fist to the face out of shock. When he turned to her, she would smile and wave, and the river otter perched atop her shoulders would mirror her actions. If he didn’t look over to see her within a reasonable amount of time she would – awkwardly – clap her hands together a couple times to catch his attention.
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 Apr 23, 2023 9:11:51 GMT -5
Akagi was usually very aware of his surroundings, even when working on a deeply complex enchantment he was alert. He did hear the approaching of feet to which he lifted his head a smile on his face (he was always smiling), "Hello!" the Prince boomed tossing the woman a friendly wave and then bending a single finger to mimick a small wave to the small otter, "I'm Prince Akagi Llewellyn, come come," Akagi waved them over, "Dresmondi I assume? Did you enjoy the display?"
Although she should have expected that a fighter with that much skill would be well aware of her presence, it wasn’t so much that he had noticed her that had Kester pausing but rather the friendliness of his greeting. His smile was wide and his wave exuberant. The tiny finger wave to Walnut had the river otter patting the top of her head in excitement.
“Did you see that? He waved to me! With his finger!”
I did. And Walnut, please behave. He’s a prince.
“You’re asking me to behave? I’m the friendly one, Kes. I’m always well-behaved. You’re the one who’s trouble.”
When Akagi waved them over, Kester had approached, and she stood before the prince now, offering him a quick nod and a smile. She pulled out the notebook and pen she had retrieved from Kaveri and wrote out ‘Very much.’ With a weak voice that was breathy and difficult to hear, the Dresmondi preferred communicating via dyr when possible and by pen and paper when not. Then she decided to introduce herself. ’Kester,’ She wrote, pointing to herself, followed by, ‘Walnut,’ and another wave from the otter on her shoulders. ‘How do you fight like that?’
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 4, 2023 15:38:39 GMT -5
Akagi read the names and his eyes darted between the Dresmondi and her dyr associating their names with who she pointed to, he also noticed the difficulty she had when she spoke and it mildly alarmed him to the point of worry. Had she been born here and been an Arynnite she wouldn't have any defects such as the one he assumed she had, it was to late to fix it of course but already Akagi was wondering how he could construct an enchantment to at least remedy the situation. Never once did his smile falter as he quickly started digging through his bag on the ground, "Very well met Kester and Walnut! Well friends I've learned to fight like that because I've had," he paused to calculate, his arm was already up to the shoulder while for the most part the bag wasn't that big, "Close to forty six years of training! It's my own style of combat too, I call it the drunken Arynnite, the movements are fluid and meant for evading direct combat and deflecting an opponents energy and momentum against them, ah! Here it is," finally he pulled his arm back revealing a simple book of parchment and a black feather quill, "Looks simple but," he barely made a noise even though his mouth was moving and suddenly the quill began to write on the parchment: 'perhaps this will help you? you barely have to whisper and everything you say will write itself out...if you think it, it will do the same. The ink never dries up and over time the ink on the pages fade...I've never went past that page actually.'
The Prince handed her the items, "Give me enough time I can find a enchanted item that could perhaps at least give you a voice without struggle?"
He was pleased and of course wasn't aware if he had offered the woman which in all reality wasn't his intentions.
"Are you interested in learning some combat Kester? I am always eager to teach someone something!"
Wide eyes stared at the prince as he knelt down to fish around in the bag at his feet for something. By now, Kester knew that Arynnites had enchantments that let them do just about anything, but knowing and seeing were two very different things. His arm had fully disappeared into the bag, yet the sack itself didn’t look remotely large enough for such a feat to be possible. Vaguely, she was aware that Akagi was answering her question as he searched through his bag for whatever he was trying to find, but as distracted as she was, most of his response went in one ear and out the other. How did that even— Where did his arm go?
A number caught up to her, and she blinked. Had he said forty six years of training? He didn’t even look like he was forty six years old. Arynnites were a strange bunch.
Kester blinked down at the parchment and quill as he showed them to her, watching in amazement as the latter object skittered over the page. Reading that amount of text took her a few moments, but when she finished, she looked back up at the prince with a wide, genuine smile. She took the objects with care— then reality caught up to her. What could she offer the prince of Arynn Frey in return for such a gift? What did he want in return?
“You don’t have to,” Kester said by way of the quill. “This is more than enough, thank you. You’re very generous.” She didn’t need to find herself even more in his debt by accepting another enchanted item, one that he specifically sought for her. A brief pause. “If you would like to teach me, I would like to learn.”
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 14, 2023 17:27:06 GMT -5
Akagi had done made a commitment to himself to still look into helping Kester, it was his thing and he didn't shy away from innocent compassion just as he wouldn't see it as a future owed favor. Seeing she was genuinely appreciative of his gift the Prince turned to her request and thought of the proper exchange, he felt the Dresmondi were a bartering kind of people and the Prince would honor that:
"How about in exchange for the enchantments, I will train you in any and all styles of combat I know? Not just the styles but the conditioning one must find the fortitude to learn them, does that sound like a fair trade?"
At first, she hesitated. That still sounded like a trade heavily balanced in her favor - Kester would gain enchanted items and the prince’s wealth of knowledge regarding different combat techniques, yet she couldn’t see a clear way that he would benefit - but it was a deal that he had suggested. Evidently he was happy with forfeiting his time and energy to help her, and, well, she was interested in learning what he had to show her. Kaveri, she recalled, had mentioned that this man had helped him find the tavern when he’d been lost and likely drunk. Perhaps he was simply the kind of generous that only the Kushti knew?
At any rate, she could teach what she learned from Akagi to Kaveri, too.
That thought alone was enough to have her nodding her agreement. “Thank you,” Kester said, eyes on the quill as it danced across the page. “I would like that.” A pause. “How many different styles of combat do you know?”
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 20, 2023 17:02:53 GMT -5
"49," the Prince answered quiet proud of himself, "created three myself! Would you like to perhaps have a lesson now? I'm free and I have a extra set of these," he turned to a table with items on them, the items being the weight bracers, the same set Akagi was currently wearing if she took them she'd find they felt like normal bracers, "I have a private training yard we can go to as well, I've never had a pupil before my little brother was never much for the combative training so if I can say so freely I'm excited."
Forty-nine? Kester’s eyes widened as, already impressed, she considered Akagi in a whole new light. Smile widening, she nodded in eager agreement to his offer for a lesson now and turned to see the second set of bracers that he gestured to. With a glance at the prince, she took them in the hand not holding the quill and parchment, turning them over curiously to examine them before and turned them over in her hand curiously before looking back up at the prince with a smile. “Lead the way.”
As she fell into step beside him, she couldn’t help but find both his and Walnut’s enthusiasm rather infectious – not to mention her own anticipation at learning something new. “It’s been a while since anyone’s shown me any new fighting techniques,” Kester admitted. Between Coheed and the Eldouir, comparatively few Dijila and Adoi still remained, and both she and Kaveri were among some of the more skilled combatants. If anything, they would have taught the younger generations. However, the number of children and teenagers that never found their dyrs effectively rendered the joint human-dyr fighting combinations that they both knew useless.
Not to mention that they no longer had a homeland to protect.
Forcing a smile to her face, she shoved aside that particular line of thinking. “Your little brother doesn’t like to fight? What does he do instead?”
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 Jun 2, 2023 11:39:10 GMT -5
Akagi gathered all of his things. Excited? Joyous? Stimming? All good words to describe the Prince at the current moment, but they weren't perfect in the least as Akagi was all these things at once. He explained Sylas as they walked, "My little brother, prince Sylas, is well a bright and Gifted man when it comes to enchanting: not that I'm jealous but more proud Sylas from our current point in history is the first enchanter that can perform two styles of enchanting!"
As he said it his own voice grew in excitement, "In the entirety of our whole history I've never read of another enchanter with two style abilities, he's a genius and wonderful at enchanting so that's what he does is be brilliant," of course Sylas had his faults of course: moody, grumpy, afraid of touch, withdrawn, and hurtful sometimes, "I'm talented and resilient but no where near as smart."
They approached a door and the Prince pulled from his bag a white crystal as smooth as a pebble that had spent its entire life and formation under water ornate with little diamonds. They approached a standard looking door before the Prince used the key he snapped his fingers, "You'll need to wear this, on your finger, it bypasses my security."
Her dyr would be safe because when the Prince created his enchantment he had only factored in human life not an animal, so the item wouldn't freeze Walnut.
"Walnut will be fine by the way! What would have happened is you would have been paralyzed in place until I removed the affects, totally conscious just unable to move," he touched the key to the door and swung the door open, "This is my workshop, my humble abode," he entered in letting her take in everything. It wasn't a mess everything was neatly put away, organized, not a speck of dust or debris to be seen. A bed sat tucked in the corner completely made up to perfection, a nightstand beside the bed was the home to his grimores, and other small everyday used enchantments. He had a small training circle with a dummy. Weapons of all types decorated his walls and all of them were enchanted, several of them of his own creation while others were gifted to him.
Sylas. Kester had met him, and though the other prince had been nice enough, the difference between the one beside her right now and the one who had helped her find a fountain could not be more apparent. Akagi naturally had the same outgoing, friendly energy that Walnut and Kaveri both shared – the one that made him easier to talk to – whereas his younger brother had struck her as the type who found far more comfort in solitude than the company of others.
“I’ve met him,” She offered with a smile, reaching into her pocket for the coin with the Llewellyn crest on it. As she turned it over again in her fingers, she held it up to show Akagi, evidence of a claim that he likely wouldn’t have disputed anyway. “He gave me this, but I didn’t know he was your little brother – or that he was so smart. He didn’t say anything about that.” Of course, the Dresmondi was in no position to truly appreciate the accomplishment of mastering two styles of enchanting, but she could recognize the significance of being the first person in history to do something.
When they slowed upon approaching a nondescript door, Kester turned to look at Akagi when he handed her a ring with a smooth, white stone. After cautiously examining it for a moment, she slipped it on and followed him over the threshold – though the casual manner in which he explained his security system had her pausing to glance at him before looking around at his workshop. Perhaps it didn’t mean much to the citizen of a kingdom that enslaved a significant portion of her population, but being trapped in place, fully conscious but unable to move sounded horrible to Kester. What if someone stumbled into here by mistake?
“Everything is so clean.” Mildly impressed, her gaze found first the dummy in the middle of the training circle and the variety of weapons hanging along the walls. “Do you know how to use all of those?” With one arm, she gestured to the display while turning to note the bed in the corner and the books on the nightstand beside it. He slept where he trained? Efficient. She could appreciate that.