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.
Our dearest and lovely admin welcomed her new baby boy, Jet, on Sept 7th! We're so happy for her and her family! Congratulations Mama!! Your boys are all so lucky to have such an incredible mom to love them! God bless!
MYLA: Myla did not wince when given the correction—an Eldouir would never—but she did not respond with her characteristic indignance. No instead she cast her eyes down and nodded grimly. Honora took Myla’s hand, and the Eldouir stepped closer.
Post by October Montgomery on May 20, 2024 8:26:25 GMT -5
ILIANA: The Queen was startled by Hiram's sudden rageful yell towards one of his own, reminding them all of his unhinged nature. She truly did not want to touch the man but hearing Honora's voice in her head made her feel that if she should choose otherwise that it would only make this worse not only for herself but potentially everyone else in the room. So with another moment of hesitation she stepped forward and accepted his arm, touching him as lightly as she possibly could as they made their way to the throne. Once they reached it she would move to step away from him as soon as the opportunity allowed.
OCTOBER: An odd sense of calm and ease filtered into October's senses and his hand naturally drifted away from his sword and he did not try to stop the Queen as she moved towards the Eldouir. Instead he followed along calmly as if he were any other Lorendale nobleman. Should Iliana make it to the throne he'd move to his normal spot behind and to the side of her.
Post by Augustus Rainecourt on May 31, 2024 20:21:48 GMT -5
Magic. A gift. Augustus moved to shieled others from the debris, but even in doing so recognized the field that sprung up around Iliana for what it was. He'd seen the gift use before, after all, as a creature of court. There was only a moment to be surprised. Just a moment...before reality came crashing back in as Hiram stood before them, offering Iliana his arm. Augusts reached for her, but before he could, she had accepted and followed Hiram in. He watched October drop his hand from his sword, the prince not considering that it was Honora's doing. Instead, he thought the guard recognized what he came to understand.
It did no good to fight; not like this. The best they could do was to maintain calm...lest the Eldouir strike out and kill them where they stood. The prince followed the queen, so long as none stopped him he'd remain close behind.
Post by Honora Allemeade on May 31, 2024 20:22:20 GMT -5
Steady.
Honora continued to coach Iliana, just as she always had, as if no time had passed and they were not standing on opposite sides of an invisible chasm. Hiram was a beast indeed; tempestuous, unpredictable. Her hand wrapped in Myla's she walked to follow Hiram, reasserting her hold of calm on her captives: Tybalt and October. The feeling would remain the same. One of ordinariness. That this was normal, mundane even, as any other visit from any other noble.
Post by Hiram Eldouir on Jun 2, 2024 12:38:59 GMT -5
Hiram grinned, self-satisfied, as the pretty little queen took his arm. Maybe he’d have her one day, squeeze that tender little body between his legs, get a taste of just what the Nevermerean king got. Maybe, maybe not.
When she was in her throne Hiram remained at the top of the stairs to it, one foot planted on the platform, the other one stair down. He leaned forward to set his forearm on his knee.
“Listen,” he said casually, eyes jumping to October and Augustus, knowing they were probably the ones actually calling the shots, “this doesn’t have to be a shit show unless your people do something stupid. You know that despite your best efforts you have nothing to stop me and mine. And see, I’ve only brought a fraction of my force.” He casually cast a hand at the motley crew of women behind him.
“Let’s cut to the chase, shall we? Give me Elena, and save your kingdom. Withhold her,” his eyes jumped to the men at her sides again, “and they die. First. Then,” he wrinkled his nose and cast a casual eye at the room around them, offhandedly saying, “it all falls down.” Hiram turned his gaze back to Iliana, not a trace of humor to be found.
Arynnite armor: The armor have two states: active and inactive. When inactive, they look like little more than ornate metal bracers, easily ignored. When triggered, the armor covers Tybalt and serves as an exoskeleton. It will protect its wearer from physical damage and is practically indestructible.
The armor has a certain "preprogrammed" purpose which is to protect its host. To do so, it reacts to heightened emotional states such as fear and anger, at which point the armor will trigger regardless of whether or not Tybalt wants it to or even if he's immediately aware of the threat. It has some degree of awareness and sentience although very basic and one which struggles to differentiate between enemies and friends. Whilst not actually in possession of a will, the armor can guide or direct its host in a specific action, much like a reflex.
The armor needs to be "fed" as Tybalt has discovered meaning that he must hold and absorb through touch certain metals such as steel, copper, iron and tin, a process which takes a few minutes. Without which, the armor will begin to weaken and become less effective until no longer able to manifest.
Perhaps its greatest weakness is that if being consistently bashed or beaten, it would begin to repair itself by using parts of the armor from elsewhere. For instance, if the wearer is being consistently hit in the chest, the armor will begin to pool away from other parts of their body such as the feet and hands, leaving them vulnerable.
Post by Tybalt Zane on Jun 2, 2024 13:54:10 GMT -5
In a few seconds, all Tybalt's anger, his planning vanished. It dissipated into a state of relaxed indifference. This was just like any other day in the world. The tension in the man's muscles would vanish suddenly. Leaving him wondering just why it was that he was holding a rock.
The commander would go back to being an idle spectator. Watching as Hiram accompanied the queen, and made his little speech.
Perhaps when the Eldouir made a very clear threat, something might ripple under the commander's skin. A feeling that something wasn't quite right, an uneasiness. That was all, it might not even last that long. He remained standing where he was, watching as long as Honora's hold over him was in place, he was just a puppet.
Last Edit: Jun 2, 2024 13:54:21 GMT -5 by Tybalt Zane
Blast Generation - Avalon is able to generate blasts of powerful, pressurized air at whatever she targets.
A pressure-force generates in her core that creates a blast. She can direct this blast at people or objects. This means that if someone stands in the way of the blast force, it will not go through the person but hit them instead. If someone knows about her Gift and is feeling heroic, they would be able to throw themselves between her and her target to intercept her attack. This would result in them taking the blow.
The force of power behind Avalon’s blast is determined by how much she “charges” the attack. Charging looks like her focusing contained magical power into her core that she then releases at will. An attack with lesser pressure will be generated and released in a single post. An attack with moderate power will be charged for one post and released in the next post. Her most powerful blasts need to be charged for two posts and released in the third. For context, the most powerful blast from Avalon can tear apart stone, earth, and sometimes even metals.
Apart from power, Avalon can also manipulate the size and precision of her attacks. Sometimes they are large and all-encompassing, like a hurricane, and sometimes they are small and specific, like the loosing of an arrow. She can release any size in a single post, and the wreckage it causes is then determined by how much power she charged into it.
Post by Avalon Eldouir on Jun 2, 2024 13:55:58 GMT -5
Yes. Elena. She wanted her sister. Hiram had listened, or maybe not. He could have just had the same ideas. With a grin on her face, she followed the convoy and stood nearby Hiram Eldouir who was standing on the platform. Iliana only had one good choice, but little did the Eldouir know Elena wasn't even in Lorendale. Little did they know Elena wasn't even alive.
Post by October Montgomery on Jun 3, 2024 13:02:49 GMT -5
ILIANA: The Queen had no doubt that Hiram would do what he threatened and she tried not to fear what she couldn’t control through her heart raced and her body grew cold as her palms began to sweat. Her eyes raked briefly over October before settling a moment longer on Augustus as if trying to discern if he had some sort of answer and then glanced at Cassian too. Maybe he would have some brilliant way to get them out of this safely.
Thought attempting to look calm and confident, she did take a swallow before looking back to Hiram and answering. “There is no need for such a threat, Marquis Eldouir,” she told him. “We will do as you ask. Elena is not here at the moment. She is being held in an Arynnite made prison. We only need to reach out to them in order to fetch her, is that amenable?” She asked, trying not to make any sudden moves in case Hiram thing she was trying to pull some trick and would suddenly attack.
OCTOBER: October was cognizant enough to recognize the threat and that caution should be taken and even action if they could figure out how, but he lacked the urgency or true concern that should have accompanied the thought. He didn’t even move back towards his weapon, instead he just watched with casual interest as if he were seeing a theatrical performance play out without the consequences being real.
Post by Augustus Rainecourt on Jun 3, 2024 18:36:14 GMT -5
Augustus stiffened next to Iliana, looking down on Hiram with open disgust. At the Eldouir's final words, he put his hand on his niece's shoulder in a protective gesture. It would remain there as she spoke and the prince's eyes scanned the crew assembled in the ballroom, including Honora Allemeade. She too would be subject to Augustus's evident distaste before his features smoothed and his eyes returned to Hiram.
Post by Honora Allemeade on Jun 3, 2024 18:36:44 GMT -5
Honora watched on, not focusing on the interaction between Hiram and Iliana and instead on the need to keep control of the tempers in the room. She was starting to feel the strain on her gift, though for now, she held steady as her hand stayed clasped firmly in Myla's.
Post by Hiram Eldouir on Jun 6, 2024 12:51:21 GMT -5
Hiram’s upper lip curled in disgust at the mention of Arynn Frey. He thought they had spanked that kingdom hard enough to keep it quiet for some years, but apparently not. Perhaps they were the ones that needed a lesson next.
“Make it happen.” He said, straightening, only to plop down onto the top stair. Clearly he had no intention of going anywhere. It distantly occurred to him that they may try to bring reinforcements…he pursed his lips.
“Actually,” he raised a finger, “we’ll be going there. Now.” He’d left the blood from the cauldron in it, so he needed new blood. With an impatient sigh he looked to Iliana’s escort party, the nameless guards whose significance didn’t matter until they did. Like now.
“I’ll only take enough to get us there.” He promised with a sinister twist to his lips. Unless stopped, he would begin to draw blood from any easy orifice that guards possessed. Noses, ears, wounds, privates of women—anything that had blood ready to shed. The amount he would take from the four (six?) would weaken them to collapsing, but they wouldn’t die. Once again, if no interruption was made to stop Hiram, the blood would pool in a great red orb above their heads, descending upon those he chose to teleport: Iliana, October, Myla, Honora, Avalon, and himself.
CN: The guards' hands would fly to their noses, eyes, wherever it was Hiram pulled blood from before they collapsed on the ground. The appearance of the great orb of blood was enough to rattle the crowd ever so slightly, many started to back away. As the blood started to fall, Honora's hold on Tybalt and October would lift, though each would have only seconds to respond before the blood scooped them up. Others not under her influence would have more time.
NOTE: To speed things up, I'm putting in the people who may want to respond or take action (though October and Tybalt won't have very long to act). If your Eldouir would do anything to stop Hiram or alter the course of events, let me know.
Post by October Montgomery on Jun 18, 2024 9:27:30 GMT -5
ILIANA: The Queen looked to Augustus at Hiram’s command to ‘make it happen’ but didn’t even have long enough to begin a command when the Eldouir changed his mind. Her eyes widened and heart raced at the bloody sight that befell her. She only managed to stand from the throne as October moved closer to her side before the blood was descending on them.
Post by Augustus Rainecourt on Jun 18, 2024 10:35:36 GMT -5
Augustus saw as they all did the great orb of blood that began to form and then descended upon the group. He watched on as it swallowed up his niece, not moving to grab her or stop the man who whisked her away. Was it that he was frozen? Was it that he saw no time to respond to the clear threat the Eldouir posted to the queen? Or was it something else altogether? No matter the reason, soon Prince Augustus would be the only royal left in the room.
Post by October Montgomery on Jun 18, 2024 10:38:36 GMT -5
OCTOBER: With his hold loosened from Honora, October only had a split second to come back to himself and his heart jolted as he saw the blood. The Queen was his only priority and he was quickly right beside her but only to soon be swallowed up in sticky, warm, red blood.