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 Kaalim Cyrilson on Oct 9, 2023 21:27:02 GMT -5
Kaalim didn't have enhanced speed and he was half way across Gilead training with the new wave of first bloods, but the runner Rian had sent for told Kaalim enough: there was trouble. Rian. Izen. Magda. Big level trouble and to say the former chieftain wasn't concerned was an understatement his heart was beating so fast the hammer of it in his chest echoed into the temples of his skull. Keeping the beast at bay that screamed just at the surface of his skin was a fight but he'd had years and years of keeping himself calm though the countless thoughts on his journey to his brothers tested that resolve.
The gaze that landed upon Magda Ivanova as she hissed at him was cold. “You never minded him gawking before.” Blue eyed hard as he pinned her to her spot beside him, daring her to step out of line. She might have been his wife, one he called his Chieftess… but only because he had given her such a role. And in this moment he needed her to remember that. She wanted to be his wife, she had to remember he was of Coheed raising.
But Rian had a question deep within him that he needed answered. Which is why they’d wait for Kaalim Cyrilson to enter. To see Izen Cyrilson standing before their chieftain.
Post by Izen Cyrilson on Oct 15, 2023 13:05:17 GMT -5
…what needs to be done…
Izen’s blood ran cold. The pulse that had formerly been racing seemed to slow. Time did, too. What needed to be done. What needed to be done?
He knew what he would expect if a tribe member did this to Rian’s wife: execution. Izen would not bat an eye. But…this wasn’t just a tribe member. This was Izen. Rian’s brother. Surely he wouldn’t…
But Izen observed the coldness as he spoke even to Magda, and he wasn’t so sure. Could Kaalim save him?
Post by Magda Ivanova on Oct 15, 2023 19:08:12 GMT -5
Magda flinched as if Rian had raised his hand to smack her. Whether her hurt was genuine or not was hardly the point. It showed nonetheless—though only for a split second before the black nothingness returned to her gaze. She stepped into Rian, gently laying her hands on his chest as she whispered in his ear flatly:
“Fine, I’m yours. Show him whatever you like. Let him have me too." She swallowed hard against apparent tears, stepping back and turning away as if to obscure them.
Last Edit: Oct 15, 2023 19:28:46 GMT -5 by Magda Ivanova
Post by Kaalim Cyrilson on Oct 15, 2023 21:22:23 GMT -5
Kaalim didn't have to wait for permission to enter he was shown directly inside even slightly pushing past the other warrior, three unhappy faces greeted him and his big brown eyes danced between all three trying to read the ro-....
...when they landed on Magda his jaw dropped, "what happened to her?" he asked to any of them to answer but these faces weren't just unhappy but anger and bitterness, Izen looked beyond worried which sparked a deep seed of panic within Kaalim couple that with the rage on Rians the mountain sized man grew tense.
Magda Ivanova’s words earn her a look that might have suggested she had yet to completely squash out the Coheed in him. His hands didn’t rise, he didn’t scream. But he stepped into her, his head angled to speak into her ear. Low and deep, “Do not question me in front of my men. Or you will find yourself where no one can see you. Need I remind you what soil you stand on.” What soil, not who’s.
Kaalim Cyrilson entered and Rian stepped aside. Letting him look over the scene before him. His rage, Magda’s battered appearance, and a wide eyed Izen Cyrilson. “If a man,” his eyes moved to Kaalim and held his gaze. As long as no one moved in the room to draw his attention. Mainly Izen. “Came into your home, found Ateppa, and proceeded to beat her and rape her. That the same man told her that he thought you didn’t deserve being chieftain,” even if Kaalim currently wasn’t, Rian knew that Kaalim would understand the implication. “Would there be any conversation?”
Last Edit: Oct 22, 2023 15:25:21 GMT -5 by Deleted
Post by Izen Cyrilson on Oct 22, 2023 15:21:20 GMT -5
Izen kept his eyes low and his voice silent when Kaalim entered. He wanted to be small, to be nothing, to not be in the room.
What Rian asked Kaalim, however, had Izen’s mouth parting, eyes growing wide, protest on his face. He hadn’t beat Magda. And he hadn’t said that about Rian being Chieftain. Where had he…? His eyes flickered to the woman at his side. She was a poison here among them, there was no doubt.
Izen turned a frantic, pathetic gaze to Kaalim. For being a strong warrior of Coheed, he certainly appeared as wimpy as a Nevermerean man now.
Post by Magda Ivanova on Oct 23, 2023 6:47:10 GMT -5
A cold shiver crept up Magda’s spine as Rian’s voice shuddered through her bones. Her inclination to bite back was buried. When her face tipped up toward his, her eyes had softened, as had her features. She’d become docile—or at least as much as she was capable of becoming (or feigning to become). Magda let a few silent tears fall as she nodded.
“Yours,” She leaned into him, resting a hand on his arm, “Forgive me, chieftain.” When Rian pulled away, it was this Magda that Kaalim would see: one trembling, with tears in her eyes and the dark, bruised outline of Izen’s hands on her skin.
It was Kaalim she’d look to now. Magda had worked for years sowing seeds of ring-fueled affection in his mind. They’d take root, and hopefully, those roots were deep enough to help her now.
Post by Kaalim Cyrilson on Oct 23, 2023 7:43:30 GMT -5
Kaalims breathing grew heavy as Rian spoke and soon a fearful rage rose up in Kaalims eyes the tattoos on his body seemed to lightly glow and his skin tinged a light gray but Kaalim kept the beast within at bay...for the moment.
With the question asked Kaalim cut earthy brown eyes at Izen, legit flesh and blood, "wh..what," he almost wanted to rush forward at Izen shake him a bit but there was so much conflict going on within Kaalim he remained where he stood, "what did you do Izen?!" part of him doubted little Izen would ever harm a woman like this even despite his mistrust of Magda but he also knew the caliber of their Father's heart and the thing he had done to Bryce (Cyril didn't participate nor did his sons) how Cyril viewed women in general.
He couldn't say the words but if this had been anyone of his wives...
"...I can't say the words but I know what I would have done," his fists clenched and released, "what have you decided Rian?"
Beat… brutalized… either way Magda now stood with dark bruises around her neck and her face. He had seen the blood. He had said he should have been chieftain… which meant he felt Rian unfit. If izen had been expecting Kaalim to leap to his side, clearly he’d be left wanting.
Kaalim was barely holding himself together. And Rian was no fool, he wasn’t about to willingly contain Kaalim within his home when he could rage out of his skin at any moment. “I think you already know.” His look was pointed, then he gestured to the door. “Leave us, unless you think you can control yourself.” He would give Kaalim that respect.
But once he decided, he turned to look at Magda again. And he offered her something he was almost positive he would never get. “He’s yours.” He held her dark gaze. “Have your vengeance, for it’s something many don’t get.”
Post by Izen Cyrilson on Nov 13, 2023 15:23:13 GMT -5
Izen could hardly believe what was happening. This wasn’t right. He was their brother, and both seemed to be turning their back on him. When did the word of a woman ever hold more power than that of a man? They knew him. But as his frantic gaze bounced warily between his brothers, he feared he didn’t know them. Not even Kaalim. Brotherhood was everything in Coheed…and they tossed him aside for a woman they had both slept with.
“This is witchcraft.” Izen said quietly, though neither had chosen to side with him. Izen didn’t know everything about Nevermerean witch magic, but, “She’s cursed me.” It was a quiet lament.
Post by Magda Ivanova on Nov 13, 2023 18:56:54 GMT -5
Magda’s eyes shone darkly, any light that might have warmed them long since extinguished. She wouldn’t recognize the twisted irony of it all—that she too had her body used to suit someone else’s ends, that she had once begged for mercy of one who wouldn’t give it. For she wouldn’t give it—not to Izen, not to anyone that threatened the place she’d carved out at Rian’s side and the future she envisioned for them. Magda had told Kennet once that she would never be at another man’s mercy—never again—and if that meant blood on her hands…so be it.
The witch who fancied herself chieftess murmured a curse that would paralyze Izen, even as she kept Rian’s gaze. Provided it worked, Magda would step forward and kiss Rian gently as if this were a tender moment to be shared.
“You can look away…” Magda would part from Rian and turn to Izen.
Post by Kaalim Cyrilson on Nov 13, 2023 19:28:31 GMT -5
"Dammit Izen! Dammit," Kaalim was impeccably split in two just as his heart and mind was, he felt Izen would have never in a hundred seasons do what he's being accused of but how Magda looked...the visual proof...no. He couldn't watch. With a defeated look cast toward Izen Kaalim turned and quickly left slamming the door so hard it would have to be replaced...
Post by Magda Ivanova on Nov 28, 2023 19:15:45 GMT -5
Whether Rian turned away or not, Magda wouldn’t know. She was a predator, focused on her kill, bloodlust shimmering in her eyes. There’d always been a darkness curled up in Magda. For a long time, she thought that hidden part was the broken, wailing girl who’d suffered things no child should have to endure. But now? No. That frightened girl had been consumed by an evil that had once been designed to protect her.
Magda hitched up her skirt and slipped a knife from a sheath on the outsdide of her thigh, as if she’d been anticipating this exactly moment. She’d come to a stop before Izen—poor, paralyzed, helpless Izen—with her back to her husband. Rian would see Izen’s face but not the smirk that alighted on Magda’s features. It was subtle, lasting only a moment, but enough for the stunned Izen to have confirmed what he’d already suspected: He had been tricked. They all had. And now…it was too late.
Cradling Izen’s head with what was almost tenderness, Magda would thrust her knife into his throat and turn, as if Izen were a lock an her knife a key. She’d keep the paralyzed Izen’s gaze, keeping her hand on the knife’s handle, letting blood gush from the wound, over her hand to drip down and pool beneath her. After a puddle had formed, when the light had started to leave Izen’s eyes, Magda would release the knife and bring her bloodied hand to her lips. She’d kiss her fingertips before pressing them to Izen’s mouth (if she were allowed to get that far).
Last Edit: Nov 29, 2023 7:08:50 GMT -5 by Magda Ivanova
Post by Izen Cyrilson on Nov 29, 2023 7:22:20 GMT -5
Magda would not have had an easy time of her murder, except her softly whispered curse took affect immediately, and he could do nothing. He couldn’t protest again. He couldn’t beg. He couldn’t try to stop it. Rian had chosen a Nevermerean witch he had known for a handful of years over the brother he had grown up beside. Izen had always been loyal. Cowardly sometimes, yes, but always loyal, especially to Kaalim and Rian. Yet now they had turned their backs on him. Not just him. Their people. Their culture. Their traditions. Their way.
A whimper escaped his lips. It was in vain. Magda was upon him. How could Rian allow this? Better death by his own hands than at those of a woman’s. Death at the hands of a woman was a most disgraceful death, and Rian had allowed it. It spoke volumes of what he thought of his brother. It was one thing to be angry about something someone had done. This? This was just spiteful. Izen’s children would forever be shamed. Even his brothers would wear this death of their brother as a point of shame. Coheed men lived and died by their honor, and in his last moments Izen had been stripped of all of his, all because Rian chose to love a witch.
Paralyzed, helpless, there was nothing he could do. The dagger plunged into his neck. He continued to stand tall, not out of strength but because of the paralysis.
Last Edit: Nov 29, 2023 7:37:26 GMT -5 by Izen Cyrilson