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 Apr 6, 2023 13:15:02 GMT -5
[For @katerina]
Warren had asked him to meet with Winters, and so he would. By now he had heard about Fabian too. He'd make sure to offer his condolences before he got down to business, because getting the news that your husband decided to kill himself right when they were about to have a war definitely wasn't easy news. He'd keep his opinions about cowardice to himself, for it would not help a (perhaps) grieving widow.
The lieutenant made his way over to the office where the officers dat together. He knocked on the door, hoping Katerina would be the only one there. He didn't really wait before opening the door, he was still a superior. He peeked his head in the door and saw Kat in the office.
Kat was rarely finding it easy enough to slip into her new role. Parts of it were hard, it had been nice to have a pair to have your back, but she was used to having her own. And training to be a ranger was honestly the best thing ever. She was getting to learn new things about her magic, and explore her portals in a way she wouldn't be able to alone.
She had just finished lacing up her boots to head out when a knock came on the door, and the three others there all looked around at each other with some confusion. One offering a questioning come in as the door opened to reveal Lieutenant Abbott. A surprise for sure, but Kat went back to her boots before the man called her out.
"Of course sir." Finishing the loops she stood up and brushed herself off before getting up to follow Abbott. She was not a fan of how strict the military was about roles and shit, but she also had seen outside of Nevermere for the first time, and had started to realize why some order might be a good idea. Some.
Post by Aldrich Abbott on Apr 7, 2023 11:08:09 GMT -5
He was actually pleasantly surprised by the way Kat greeted him, and by the fact that she got up to follow him. He had been ready to ask her to come to his office so they could talk without disturbing the other officers, but she had done the thinking herself, and how silly and small it may seem, it made Aldrich like her more.
"It's nothing bad, Winters, don't worry", he said as they were walking down the corridor to go to his office. He kept looking forward, a serious expression on his face, but he did want to at least be a little reassuring. Everyone was on edge after the ball.
Once they arrived at his office, Aldrich would gesture towards the chair in front of his office. "You want anything? Water, whiskey?" he asked her while he poured himself a small glass of whiskey. Depending on her reply, he would just sit or get her a glass of whatever she wanted.
"How has the new title been treating ya?" he asked before leaning back and taking a sip of the whiskey, eyebrows rising behind his glass.
Falling into step next to Aldrich, she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at his comment. Whenever you said something like that it was usually the opposite. Something you said to make sure that a child didn't have a fit before you got to the bad news in a private place. But Kat didn't entirely care, surely it was too early for a demotion, or maybe they just realized a promotion was a mistake.
Sitting in the offered chair she relaxed into it. "Whiskey please." Surely it wouldn't be a surprise, he had been out with the rowdy crew only a few weeks ago. He had been handsy with one of the soldiers and gotten a smack, a memory that brought the corners of her mouth up slightly. Clearly he was a bit more put together when he wasn't too many drinks in at a bar.
"Going well I think, basically like rolling what I did in Coheed into Nevermere." Shrugging her shoulders, Kat thought she had done a good job there, or as best as she could with the limited time. Now she was working with far more competent soldiers which helped as well.
Post by Aldrich Abbott on Apr 7, 2023 17:44:17 GMT -5
He hadn't forgotten about that evening, but luckily - perhaps for the both of them - Aldrich hadn't heard the comment she had made in the tavern about him being handsy. He barely remember what soldier he had tried to get to dance with him. He had different things to worry about. So he poured her the whiskey and gave it to her before sitting down in his chair with a little grunt.
Aldrich nodded a few times. "Good, good", he said, only half-hearing what she said. He hadn't expected her to say anything else anyway. He doubted a new officer would come on and tell him they really weren't capable of doing their job. But he knew that Kat had been to Coheed, and he knew that that knowledge might help them here. "I am sorry to hear about your husband, officer Winters", he then said, making eye contact again and putting the glass down, as if that somehow made his words even more sincere. Because they were. Again, he couldn't imagine what it must be like to lose a loved one like that, although he did still find it a cowardly move. But for just once he would keep his opinion to himself.
"However, I didn't want to talk to you about that. Now Brekker is dead, there is nobody in charge of teaching the witches about their magic, and how to control it. Captain Woodwick and I were thinking about putting you in charge of that." He picked up the glass again and brought it to his lips but decided against taking a sip and continued to speak instead. "However, that would require a lot of discipline. What we don't want is having to fire or execute more witches because of not being able to control their temper. I want to put you on a trail period, and will be attending the trainings. You're a strong soldier and a capable witch, but we want the witches to be able to control themselves around stressful situations. We want them to curse the enemy, not each other and their male counterparts." He then took a sip. Kat was known for not being the easiest to obey orders, and putting her on the job was a risk. The question remained how calculated the risk was.
We won't call it quits. We'll call it the start.
Last Edit: Apr 7, 2023 17:45:35 GMT -5 by Aldrich Abbott
Kat was just doing her best not to let her personal opinions get in the way of her military career. Because while Aldrich was watching her, she was watching him. He only seemed to be partially listening when she answered a question. A question that he had asked her and she had given a well-thought out answer for. It was hard not to immediately stoop to the same level, but for now she just nodded as well.
And then he brought up Fabian. Wrong move. But she just gave a stiff nod to that as well, and swallowed the whiskey he had provided.
"Right, how is the trial going to work." How was this man going to properly judge her teaching magic. He didn't get it, would never understand. And yet he was going to tell her how to teach magic to her fellow witches. Fine. She could play by the rules enough.
Post by Aldrich Abbott on Apr 22, 2023 6:29:00 GMT -5
He wasn't going to be judging the contents of the magic training, because like Kat thought to herself as well, he didn't know the first thing about actually wielding magic. But he was going to judge how good of a teacher she was, what her methods were and how she would motivate the witches. To be able to teach something to someone, you needed the right attitude, and Katerina's attitude was something they were going to take a look at. He knew she was a capable and determined soldier and witch, and that would come in handy when teaching the younger witches about their magic.
The woman asked how the trial was going to work. "Well, I'll just be observing the way you teach them. The trial is more focussed on seeing if you're a good teacher, and if you can motivate the witches to work on their skills. If we're satisfied with your methods, we'll move on to asking some other witches to assist you with the training, and then we'll focus more on the magic-aspect of it all, with the help and judgement of said witches." If Warren managed to get Regan and Alys to help, they would have plenty of skilled witches to train the young ones.
This all was still incredibly annoying. Kat had already proven herself in Coheed but apparently that meant nothing to her superiors. So be it. But she wasn't about to change her methods to fit the mold of a boring drill instructor. That wasn't how magic worked, it was unpredictable and didn't follow the rules, one of her favorite things about it.
"Magic training is rather different than regular training, my methods might be different than your's would be to train a private with a sword. Is that acceptable?" Because if it wasn't they might as well end the conversation here and now. She wasn't going to change the way she did things with magic to please a man, even if they were her superior. She could just focus on the ranger program and ignore the rest if that's what Lieutenant Abbott preferred.
Post by Aldrich Abbott on Apr 25, 2023 12:07:04 GMT -5
He chuckled lightly. His training methods had been different from other's as well when he was still an active drill instructor. "That's fine by me. Captain Woodwick might have a different opinion, but we can certainly try a few trainings and see what he thinks. If anything, I'm curious to see your training methods. I know you've been in Coheed as well, so you certainly have the experience, and I don't know any magic, so I'm willing to work together." He was trying to approach everything and everyone in a new way now after the ball, and even though Kat and he didn't really have a problem before, he knew she could be a tough person to work with.
Well at least he knew he was clueless on the matter. They really needed to get someone good at teaching magic to make a judgement, but unfortunately this shake-up had them scrambling. Which had apparently left her amongst the few people to pick from. Fine, she could rise to the occasion, but she would do so in her own way. Strict rules didn't work with magic, and she wasn't going to bend to fit it into a mold. "Sounds like a plan then. When do we start?" If Abbott wanted to watch her work then the sooner the better in her opinion. Considering there were apparently witches running around cursing officers there was clearly a problem, and Kat would be glad to squash it.
Post by Aldrich Abbott on Apr 29, 2023 13:35:25 GMT -5
Even though she wasn't sharing her doubts and reservations regarding Aldrich, he could sense that Kat didn't really like him. He didn't need her to like him, but he did need her to listen to him and respect his orders. She didn't even need to respect him as a person, but he was still an authority figure. He was also happy to hear that she was eager to start the trial.
"We have a busy time ahead of us, so I'd like to start after the assessment. Immediately the day after, even. Does that sound good to you?"
Kat didn't like many people, and she didn't care if they liked her. This wasn't a popularity contest, and she showed who she was with what she did in battle. Or would. Nevermere seemed to be quickly approaching their first real one in a long time.
So she dipped her head. "Anything else?" Goddess she needed a drink to wash the taste of rules out of her mouth.
Finishing her drink in a gulp she put the glass down on his desk and made her leave. She had actual work to do, on her own magic. Tutors to help her work on the portals, but she also clearly needed to think about how to make her teaching more palatable. Or maybe not, her methods got results. Or talking to Faylin was maybe going to be a good idea, despite some lingering annoyance after the maze and ball.