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!
Revna had seen her during the feast and had wanted to completely changed direction. But she had a job to do, finishing her work at the festival, being the eyes for the Priestess and figuring out who was a true Cambrian. And who needed to be dealt with. New wave of troops or not, they were meant to stay out of the religion, and if push came to shove Revna knew who was right. Spoiler, it wasn’t the male driven settlers.
After speaking with Stormcrest she had made sure to loiter enough, and eventually her eyes landed on the fair skinned brunette. Gliding over as to not spook any of these jumpy Nevermere soldiers, Revna had a smile on her face. ”Lady Norah,” Remembering the disdain the woman seemed to have for her own last name, ”it’s been a while.” She didn’t know if her presence would be a surprise, although considering the women were far better then the men of Nevermere she doubted it. Such a pity they decided to subjugate themselves to the continued undervaluing.
The morning after the less than tactful announcement, there was a strange buzz in the air. One that was of uncertainty and confusion, one where everyone seemed to be moving about but almost stiffly. What was this announcement that was yelled about the night before? What did it even mean?
Norah seemed almost unfazed by it, rather what had rocked her was the… conversation with Berengar the night before. Her mind still rocking between it and Hiems and blue eyes and the Nevermeran seaside… “Lady Norah.”
Dark eyes bounced up to the taller woman. “Revna,” she said her name with a familiarity that made the line between her brows smooth out. “It has, though I believe that’s only due to us having been rather busy around Cambria this Hiems,” she said, holding her gaze. “How are you?” Pleasantries, yes. It was a habit she had yet to break.
Revna still didn't understand why Nevermere folks felt the need to think so much about what they said. It was exhausting, and despite being here so often it appeared as though Lady Norah hadn't broken that habit yet. It was a shame, but there was still time. All the same, she could tell she had interrupted the woman's thoughts, and wondered what had her lost in the sauce.
"Busy as I'm sure you are with the influx of green soldiers." Nodding her head in Norah's direction she raised an eyebrow. "You seem distracted, one of them giving you trouble?"
The green soldiers. It almost made her laugh, possibly seen in the way her eyes narrowed slightly and her lips pursed just the touch that they had. Made more noticeable by the slight hollowness that had grown in her face during the Hiems season. "Hopefully you aren't giving them too hard of a time. They did just get here." She shook her head and brushed her hands on her stomach, as if dirt had somehow gotten on her.
"No troubles from them that are unexpected." She lied, she certainly had not expected to have to speak with Berengar. "But with all the new faces, it is something to keep an eye on. It's a lot easier when they understand how things are here, just as much as they are given a little leeway for not quite understanding the ways of your people." She offered a bit more, something easy for Revna to sink her teeth into and was a little more easy to talk about.
"Me? A hard time? Lady Norah you know I am such an amazing host." Of course she had pulled the prayer things already, then there was the whole figure out if any of them were going to be a problem thing. But otherwise, Revna was sure she was a great host while the priestess prayed. Being the second was exhausting, and she could see why Wren was such a bitch all the time.
Shaking her head she looked at the ground and bit her tongue. Nevermere had no right to come and go as they pleased and act like their culture was their right to know. This place was a sanctuary, all of it, and they were intruding. Even Norah, who didn't seem quite as bad as some of the others, was here by the grace of good will of the priestess. They couldn't lord the past over Cambria forever.
"I suppose we are just not used to so much interest in our sacred religion and practices."
Norah cut a look to her from the corner of her eyes, those dark ones tracing the profile of Revna's face as she did so. "Well now that I have been here a while, sure." She glanced around, looking over the groupings of Nevermeran's around. It was clear to any who paid attention the ones who knew Cambria and the new ones. "But you can be rather intimidating to the new ones here. The women of Cambria, stronger than ten men, can hear a pin drop from across the town. I think it's the confidence that you all hold. Different than those from back in Nevermere." She didn't know if she explained that it was the wildness about them that made them that much more intimidating but also alluring.
"I hope you don't take offense to this," Norah already was prepared that Revna might. "But with my time here, there is a lot of similarities between us all. When it comes to religion. Could it be that we have read different versions of the same book?" She raised a brow, as if encouraging the rebuttal to come to her. "Sure there are differences, but ultimately... could be seen as similar."
Revna laughed and shook her head, it was honestly sad that Nevermere men were not used to seeing women who were strong and spoke their mind. Part of her pitied the woman before her, seen as weak despite what was underneath the surface. "Well women are the stronger sex, I suppose I just show it in a way a Nevermere man has never seen before." Daring to speak out and not cow to their brutish ways.
"I cannot see how they are similar Lady Carter." She emphasized the woman's last name, the priestess had explained to her that women took the man's last name. A sign of them being property. "How women are treated makes our values incompatible in every way possible, unless things have changed since last I heard?" Tilting her head to the side, Revna thought it was a shame such a woman was born where she was.
Norah didn’t just mean the men, knowing that the witches were underestimated here as well. Their confidence was almost entirely different, and it was the women who did hold the edge in Nevermere… “I never said they weren’t the stronger ones,” she commented, “just… different than you. But still quite the strength in our own blood.” For they might not be able to single handedly lift boulders over their head or crush a man’s hand in one squeeze… but the magic they could conjure…
Wicked.
“Similar, but not the same.” She corrected gently, biting her tongue to remind Revna that they had made it past polite names at this point. Norah was just fine, but she could hear the slight shift in her tone. “We both look to a female goddess to worship, or for you all, the All-Mother. We believe the magic is in her and not in a male counterpart. We have prayers for blessings, we have sacred grounds. Different seasons come with different celebrations and gatherings.” Both brows lifted up, “What if our goddess and your all-mother were sisters?” She further theorized. “It’s an interesting thought, at the very least.”
”Its a shame you don’t use your strength Norah.” That was truly the difference in her opinion. A Cambrian woman would never let a man hold her hostage in a life she didn’t want. And yet it happened all the time for Nevermerean woman. Despite the fact that they could kill the man doing such things to them, they would always prefer to cower. It was unthinkable to Revna, how polite society made men more important than the far superior women.
The connections that Norah drew were all surface level. And if the two were sisters then clearly the women of Nevermere weren’t listening well at all. Surely a sister to the All-Mother would have helped them loose the shackles that bound them to men, she would have shown how weak they were being. So Revna put little stock into such thoughts, because no relative of the All-mother would allow such things. ”I can’t imagine it no.”
It was sad that Lady Norah couldn’t see the point sailing over her own head, but Revna could only say the same thing so many times. ”Do you plan to stay through Aestas and attend the festival in Coheed with us this year?”
”If I swung a sword around would you find me stronger?” She asked, tilting her head just ever so as the wind sent a chill rushing over them. While it wasn’t the biting Hiems cold, Ver didn’t come without her own bite. “Or joined you all for training one day?” Her strength was in her craft, not physical. Maybe that’s where she had misstepped when she had arrived.
Maybe she should show them that she knew how to handle a blade.
The mention of the Coheed festival had her pause. Would she be here by then? “I might be,” because she didn’t even know when she’d be able to return home fully. “I’m afraid I don’t know which festival this is of theirs.” For she had not been assigned Coheed except the one time she had to deliver the news about the Eldouir’s. “Is this the First Blood one?”
The point seemed to whizz right over Norah's head. Revna had never seen the women of Nevermere as physically weak, or even mentally weak. They just lacked a back-bone when it came to demanding what their strength deserved. "You are quite strong Lady Carter. But tell me did you chose that last name? Or did you forget your strength and let another chose it for you?" If the woman needed to be fed the point then she was fine with that. She didn't have to worry about polite society.
"But if you do want to spar, I'll never turn you down."
Nodding her head Revna licked her lips, her least favorite thing that the Priestess ever asked of her. But it was how they would make Cambria stronger, not weak like Nevermere wanted. "Yes, we all travel and participate in feats of strength and some of us make the next generation of Cambria and Coheed." It wasn't fun, but it was more palatable to only have to fuck a man once then live with them and become a tool for them to use and abuse.
The point didn't quite fly over Norah's head. At least, the point that Revna thought she was going to make. Her brow quirking on her face and tilting ever so slightly at what she took as a small jab towards being Nevermeran. "Traditions, Revna." The smirk was almost cold. "You can surely understand things that are just done because of tradition." Because of the two last names... Carter certainly didn't hold the weight that Prowze had. Prowze was a well known name, between her mother and father alone... and now because of Norah.
"But perhaps I should abandon the last name over all. Just keep it... Norah. The witch of Nevermere." She couldn't help but laugh. But then considered the next offer. "I might just take you up on it. It's been a while... as long as you don't try and completely break me." There was something dark in her eyes, as if daring Revna to do just that.
The thought of going to Coheed for something to watch them all try and prove who was stronger (Norah knew this was the Cambrian's clearly) and then to watch them fall into a simple primal act in the hopes of bringing a child... Norah found herself curious in a way that was like watching a carriage wreck and unable to look away. "Will you be a part of that 'some', going to participate in bringing the next generation of... both kingdoms forward?"
"Some traditions, ones that make sense. But not those that bind you beneath a lesser being." There were many things that Revna hated about Nevermere, but the men being above women was the biggest tradition that she would never come to accept. No matter how many men they sent to fuck them into submission. To try and make them the same boring women that cowed their heads in Nevermere.
Looking at Norah, Revna would meet the woman's eyes. "A fight with just Norah the witch would be something I would enjoy very much." Maybe it was possible for the woman to shed her trapping enough, but the Cambrian thought it would be a sunny day in Nevermere before that happened.
"If the Priestess decides I am best served in that duty then yes." Otherwise she would be saved another year, as she had for the last few. But she would follow whatever Isolde said, she knew the way to a better Cambria through the All-Mother.
While the idea of actually fighting a Cambrian should've made her want to back down, she instead gave a smile to her and yet latched onto rather the more interesting part of their conversation. The one that she let it pinch her brow in thought and then raised a brow at her. "So if the Priestess says it, you will have to fulfill that command.. but if it was up to you, I'm assuming you wouldn't." She stared at her for a long moment, as if trying to point out that they were not that different. The difference was a woman dictated her fate apparently.
Yet she couldn't help herself. Asking a question that she wouldn't dare ask someone so openly in Nevermere. "You enjoy the company of women over the company of men, in every aspect of life?" Her... polite way of asking if the things she had heard about the women here was true for her.