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  [ASTERION] One year later -- Almost.
Posted by: Turhan - 07-04-2018, 09:29 PM - Forum: Archives - Replies (1)

bone to rune


The evening was cool as it exhaled into all the cracks and holes of his mask, the horns whistled at the tips, and his wild mane of prayers and spells rattled superstitiously as the prairie winds billowed through.  Every dusk was like this, and Turhan came often to do exactly as he was doing right now.  Basking under the twilight stars, following the various grazers until they led him home, to the swamp.  Turhan had adapted to his surroundings and had come to rely very heavily upon them in his old age.  With his mind slipping and his eyesight already gone, there was no betrayal in trusting the other animals that co-existed with him in the same plains and swamps. 


The wanderer rested patiently while buffalo grazed beneath the bright stars and sleepy dusk evening.  The grass moved like airy silk even in the dim light -- and Turhan did not need his eyes to see to know how beautiful all of it looked.  He had been doing loops for several seasons now and his habits were like that of a very senile dog who simply followed its master and waited for the next prompt.  Calves wrestled and cavorted about, their young voices making Turhan ache for a younger age when the Ilati had been circled together more tightly.  The old man shifted in the cool grass and gazed out over the open plains, but saw nothing but darkness and empty thought.


Another approached carefully from his left, in the pale glow of twilight Turhan seemed to be bioluminescent with a salve he mashed out of dank cave weeds.  Swirls, dips, and dots sprinkled an otherwise deep cinnamon-black body that dissolved into the ebbing darkness.  There was ritual pained onto his face with bone-white powders, striped most curiously with red and black slashes over his nose.  When he turned to glance over at the stranger, it appeared that the Elder had dipped his nose in bright blue and yellow paint.  Why?  


He couldn't remember.  


Lowani, Mlendo. He greeted in his own way, pirahna teeth sharp and bright and so terrible looking with the smile he offered.  The dead bird tied around his neck was interesting enough, but the deep, musty smell of copal and myrrh made breathing feel gritty with dust.  Or maybe he was simply that dusty with all the dustings of dry paint all over his body.  The wind shook at the strings of prayer bells and bird bones that were tied onto either side of his face, ribbons slapped and flittered and trilled whenever the breeze turned steady against them.  


"How can Ntaji envy us -- they are the ones that are free."  Turhan croaks, he pays more attention to them than he does himself or this stranger who stands beside him.  He is too old to be hostile.  Too close to the end to be afraid.  He is Vespera's now, there is no contempt within him to bother with his hidden prejudice against the Outsiders coming to him.   He sucks and chews and messes with his lips, his old decaying teeth hurt and are incredibly itchy and sore all the time.  The whiskered fool gives a rattling sigh and steps closer to the other horse, his resin powders almost suffocatingly thick between them even if it is just for a moment to ask him something strange, 


"Tell me about the sky -- won't you son?" 

T U R H A N
skull to dust



@Asterion    I belieeeve Asterion asked 'Giaccomo' if the buffalo envied them...

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  step up and LEAD [sovereign auditions]
Posted by: Random Events - 07-04-2018, 12:49 AM - Forum: Archives - Replies (7)

YOU HAVE UNTIL 11:59PM EST ON 07/25/18 TO POST YOUR APPLICATION!

searching the void







Upon the frosted peaks of Veneror and the stone pedestal that Tempus had erected for the Summit, they had all stood. Caligo had watched them from above, the chill of the night sky whipping her hair into a frenzy that none of them could see.

Her heart, guarded, had swelled as she looked down upon the Regime of her Court. As the massive trees that locked them in together receeded and freed all, she felt the tightness within her chest release. 

Her Children were safe.

Proud gaze shifted to the rest of her Children; they were as diverse as the stars and faceted gems that littered her pelt and hid away within her eyes. She admired them so, seeing a piece of herself in each Denoctian.. and it was then, as she cast her gaze upon the rest of her Children, that she looked away from the three of them. And it was only then that she lost them.



As the Summit had concluded, all of the Regimes had made their slow returns to their respective Courts. Caligo, bright and shining even though her skin was darker than any void or black hole, waited to greet them.

At the very North-most boundary she stood, her silhouette solid and unwavering, her eyes brighter than any galaxy as they stared off to the horizon peak. It was there she stayed for days, waiting for them. But hers.... they never came. 

And they never would. No dragons cresting through the clouds, no glistening white and gold scales, no rolling storms and ivory-kissed wings, no glittering gold and charismatic smiles. Caligo felt her heart break and crumble, her chest swelling. For the first time in so many years, the galaxies within her eyes glistened with the tears her mortal form afforded her.

But tears would not return them to her. Slowly, onyx hooves turned from the North-most border. They may be gone and she may not know where to, but the rest of her Children needed her more than ever now.



To the center of the Night court she returned, and in place of sadness was confidence and pride. Her lips settled into a fine, serious line, diamonds glittering and dropping off of her hide as she walked amongst the mortals.

At the center, she stood still with wild, violent hair that whipped around her, enveloping her form in a comforting void. She knew her Children would come, but this was not just for them. The voice called, booming across the entirety of Novus; its tone cool, solid, and firm.


WITHOUT FALSITY, I WILL SEEK YOU AS YOU SEEK ME

THOSE WHO HAVE NOT RETURNED ARE NO LESS SPECIAL TO ME,
BUT WE HAVE NOT THE TIME TO WASTE.

PROVE TO ME YOU ARE WORTHY OF WHAT I OFFER,
AND I WILL CONSIDER YOU, WHETHER YOU ARE A CHILD OF CALIGO OR NOT.

BUT HEED ME, FOR I KNOW MORE ABOUT YOU 
THAN YOU EVEN KNOW OF YOURSELF.


Prove yourself in front of those before you and Caligo herself, and you may just find yourself blessed by the Denoctian demi-goddess to rule in the stead of those who have left us. Let the trials begin.


Rules to Apply


Before filling out the form found at the bottom of the page, you must read the rules and guidelines below, as well as everything posted on this page! Please ask us if you have any questions or concerns at all!

  • Character Requirements:

    • You can audition both existing characters and brand new characters, however both are required to make an IC post responding to Caligo! This thread has been temporarily opened so that both OOC, pending, and accepted IC accounts may make their replies for the audition.

    • Anyone from any Court can apply.

    • Your character must be at least three years old.

    • You do not have to create a character account unless you are chosen. In the event that you are chosen as Sovereign, you will have 2 weeks to create your character's profile (it should be easy, since all of the information is already required to fill out the audition form).

    • You can try out with as many characters as you'd like! However, each needs a fully separate post and application in this thread.

  • General rules and requirements regarding Sovereigns:

    • Regarding Sovereign vulnerability: Sovereigns will be deemed Vulnerable if you make 10 IC posts or less per month (this means that it will be extremely easy for anyone to win a Challenge against you), and posted absences only make you immune for 2 weeks.

    • Sovereign activity requirements: To promote activity within their respective Courts, the Sovereign must setup 1 IC event every other season.

    • Once you are selected and your profile approved, your first duty will be to create a Court Rules thread in your respective Court forum. Read this thread for things you can do as Sovereign.

  • Regarding this audition:

    • All auditions are due by 11:59PM EST on 07/25/18. Novus-standard time is listed in the sidebar.

    • You must make an IC post replying to Caligo AND post the OOC audition form! Both must be included in the same post, with the IC post first and the OOC audition form underneath it.

    • Please, only reply to this thread if you are auditioning for Sovereign.

    • The IC post can have your own personal coding and art - but that will not affect the outcome.

    • All responses to this thread will be considered complete, whether they are actually finished or not. Please do not post Work in Progress auditions!

    • Please do not alter the OOC audition form itself. Although we love to see special coding and pretty pictures, we want to be as impartial as possible - and as much as we'd like to say we're fairly objective, special coding and pretty pictures can impress us! We want these to be bare-bones.

    • As you're filling out the audition form, pretend you're filling out an actual profile. Make sure you adhere to all Character Rules set out here.

    • We'll be judging on writing quality and how well your character fits into Denoctian ideals.

    • Each member who auditions will be awarded 100 signos (per member, not per audition)!

If you have read through the rules, understand the requirements, and still want to audition for Sovereign, please make an IC reply addressing Caligo and put your completed OOC audition form (below) underneath it!

Code:
<button class="acc_ctrl"><h2>Click here to see this character's OOC audition form!</h2></button><div class="acc_panel">
<div class="tcat"><font style="font-size:20px; font-weight:bold;">About the RPer</font></div><blockquote><blockquote>

<span class="sidebarheaders" style="font-size:12px;">Thanks for auditioning! Let's start with your name.</span>
What is your OOC name?

<span class="sidebarheaders" style="font-size:12px;">Great! How old are you?</span>
How old are you?

<span class="sidebarheaders" style="font-size:12px;">Have you ever held a Position of Power before?</span>
Have you ever had any characters in a leading position, on or off-site? What did you like about it? What did you not like about it?

<span class="sidebarheaders" style="font-size:12px;">What aspect of Novus are you most excited about?</span>
Tell us something that stood out to you when you read the Guidebook, or something about the site in general.

</blockquote></blockquote>

<div class="tcat"><font style="font-size:20px; font-weight:bold;">General Information</font></div><blockquote><blockquote>

<span class="sidebarheaders" style="font-size:12px;">Introduce us to your character. Who are they?</span>
Name of your character

<span class="sidebarheaders" style="font-size:12px;">How many years of life have they experienced?</span>
How old are they? Format like "Age [Year XXX]" - youngest allowed is 3 [Year 498]

<span class="sidebarheaders" style="font-size:12px;">We have to ask... what is their gender?</span>
What is their gender? Format like "Male [He/Him/His]"

<span class="sidebarheaders" style="font-size:12px;">Along those lines, who are they most attracted to?</span>
What is their orientation? Format like "Heterosexual"

<span class="sidebarheaders" style="font-size:12px;">What breeds run in their veins?</span>
What is their breed? If there are more than two breeds, please put the most dominant breed followed by "X"

<span class="sidebarheaders" style="font-size:12px;">Spectacular. How tall are they?</span>
Height in hands. Format like "16.0 hh" - make sure it somewhat aligns with the breeds you mention above! Must be between 8 and 21 hands high.

</blockquote></blockquote>

<div class="tcat"><font style="font-size:20px; font-weight:bold;">Appearance</font></div><blockquote><blockquote>

<span class="sidebarheaders" style="font-size:12px;">We'd love to see them, if they're not too shy!</span>
If you have any image references, link to them here - do NOT put image codes, just put the links.

<span class="sidebarheaders" style="font-size:12px;">They're gorgeous! How would you best describe them?</span>
Character appearance here. At least 200 words. Make sure you follow the Character Appearance guidelines.

</blockquote></blockquote>

<div class="tcat"><font style="font-size:20px; font-weight:bold;">Personality</font></div><blockquote><blockquote>

<span class="sidebarheaders" style="font-size:12px;">No one is perfect... what are their positive and negative traits?</span>
Name at least six positive and four negative traits.

<span class="sidebarheaders" style="font-size:12px;">They sound interesting. Would you mind expanding on their personality?</span>
Character personality here. At least 300 words. Make sure you follow the Character Personality guidelines.

</blockquote></blockquote>

<div class="tcat"><font style="font-size:20px; font-weight:bold;">History</font></div><blockquote><blockquote>

<span class="sidebarheaders" style="font-size:12px;">Here comes the best part! Tell us about their past... the good and the ugly.</span>
Character history here. At least 400 words. Make sure you follow the Character History guidelines.

</blockquote></blockquote>

<div class="tcat"><font style="font-size:20px; font-weight:bold;">Sovereign Questions</font></div><blockquote><blockquote>

<span class="sidebarheaders" style="font-size:12px;">Why would your character be a good candidate to lead that Court?</span>
Tell us why your character would be a good choice to be Sovereign of that Court. Match up their ideals and values with the Court and the Deity. 

<span class="sidebarheaders" style="font-size:12px;">What would be their goals as Sovereign? What would they do with their new power?</span>
What are your plans for the Court? What rules would your character set? Would they hold any events to garnish activity?

<span class="sidebarheaders" style="font-size:12px;">You've got us convinced. Is there anything else you'd like to add?</span>
Here's your chance to add anything else at all!

</blockquote></blockquote></div>

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  Watchman, what of the night?
Posted by: Raymond - 07-03-2018, 08:28 PM - Forum: The Night Markets - No Replies


Raymond had not visited the markets with the first influx of pygmy dragons, whose very presence was enough to inspire a chaotic flurry of activity amongst the stalls. Instead he waited for the rush to die down, for the dragons to disperse and settle into a more catlike rhythm of sleep and play and sellers and shoppers alike to return to their usual routines. Then, under a shroud of night that did little to dull the Denoctean people's spirits, the red stallion made his first visit to the market square.

The silver light of a waning gibbous moon, mirrored in glorious fashion by the replica shining back at it from below, cast Raymond in an ethereal silver light that softened the bright crimson of his coat to a more mundane grey-brown, and by such camouflage he was able to attract only perfunctory glances as he drifted through the market toward its glowing centerpiece.

He had seen exotic wares in his life. He had immersed himself into the goings-on of at least a dozen cultures that were not his own, and though none of the cultures represented here were ones he had encountered in his past wanderings there was still a certain familiar charm amongst all the strangeness.

But the moon-disc - perfectly spherical, perfectly following the waxing and waning of the actual moon, shining as though reflecting the sun itself - that was a sight to behold.

The late hour had seen a considerable thinning of the citizens milling about in the market, leaving the square surrounding the moon sigil almost reverently empty. A few pygmy dragons lounged irreverently across its silver-white surface and eyed him sleepily as he approached.

Raymond stopped just short of the sigil's edge, tilting his head in silent appraisal. Was this the work of the Night Mother, Caligo?

He had not seen her, or any of the gods, in flesh or stone beyond the various effigies dotted about the patron gods' respective dominions. He had not seen the fruits of their labor beyond the happenings upon the summit - until now, where the silence and closeness of night made the silver-white light fall all the more intimately across the planes and angles of his face. The red stallion reached down with a curious muzzle to examine the sigil, a warm plume of his breath cascading across its surface.

"What are you?" he murmured, and he wasn't sure whether he was addressing the moonlight trapped at his feet or the goddess responsible for it.


Raymond.
"he's an outlaw loose and runnin'," came the whisper from each lip
"and he's here to do some business with the big iron on his hip."


@ | an introspection

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  here there be monsters
Posted by: Jaxis - 07-03-2018, 02:22 PM - Forum: Archives - Replies (5)






JAXIS
HANDS STEEPED IN BLOOD

It had been months since she had strayed away from the heat of Solterra, trading desert dryness for the muggy air of the swamps in Tinea. Even in the autumn, it was hot, with heat rising from the boggy ground underhoof. Even the breezes of crisp autumn air did little to stifle the heat, and she found she was more suited for it. Jaxis had become an initiate in the Ilati, under the sightless gaze of one crazy old man named Turhan.

She would learn their ways, their poisons and their drugs, and use them on her own later. For now, she was more interested in learning about them and their ways entirely, to become one of them. So she had begun her life as one of them, wearing the shattered piece of skull she had found in the nest on her trial, a thin piece of bone leading up to her mane and weaving in to it with vertebrae bones that could not be seen, giving her the effect of the mask simply sitting in place on her face.

Sharp teeth rested on either side of her muzzle, long and aged, and her head bobbed as she paused her harvesting of specific flowers (she'd learned how since last time), and her head lifted.

On her back, Enyo shifted, large feet pressing claws in to her skin, though not breaking it. The creature was still young, though had grown since they had met in the short amount of time. She was already a few feet tall but still too small to keep up with Jaxis, so she had chosen to carry Enyo on her back. The dinosaur growled, jaw working open and shut as she rested clawed hands on her 'mother's' neck, gaining more leverage so she could turn.

Jaxis, for the most part, was unfazed. She blinked violet eyes as she heard steps, and gave herself a moment to breathe, leaning her head up and flicking ears forward. When the shadow came around the corner, a smirk pulled at mottled lips. "Eik." It had been a while since seeing the man, and now she towered over him at her grown height.

@Eik || !!!!  

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  a little iron left in us;
Posted by: Shrike - 07-02-2018, 06:28 PM - Forum: Archives - Replies (7)


It did not matter how many times Shrike witnessed her shield-sister’s rage; each time it was awful.
 
Not in the little-way of the word, used to mean inconsequential things, but in the archaic meaning. Awful the way a supercell was, awful the way a god was. The kind of thing to make you quake or pray or worship.
 
Shrike could not read, but she didn’t need to to guess the substance of the letter Calliope had received. The paint had kept her tongue and her distance as they traveled to Denocte together, following the cliffsides quick as a storm, but she was in far better humor than the unicorn when at last they arrived, despite the charred remains of a dragon’s foul work.
 
The dragon was gone, and so were its masters. That was enough for now. 
 
Soon after, they split ways; this was an anger that was Calliope’s alone. It was not for Shrike to witness (though a part of her wished she could).
 
And so she continued on alone, traveling beneath the gathering dark, away from the city and its maze of walls and peculiar weaknesses.
 
 
She is drawn as ever to the prairie, this one of rolling foothills and whispering grass. In a little hollow she beds down till morning, and she spends a lazy dawn exploring further. It is a lonely, windblown place, the breeze cool with autumn. Even after hours of wandering it, Shrike keeps expecting it to shift, or birth a monster from a jumble of stones. When it does not, she is both disappointed and relieved.
 
It is midday when she looks up from grazing and sees a red figure, bright as a blood-mark and as alone as herself. At first she only watches him proceed beneath a sweep of tumbleweed sky, but after a moment she goes to greet him.
 
If she is surprised to find Raymond here, Shrike says nothing of it. She only looks him over, her dark eyes gleaming bright as a bird’s as they travel from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail-blade. The paint wears no grin when she speaks, but it is there in her voice all the same. “No extra holes since the last time I saw you. I’m glad it went well.”
 
If he had survived Calliope’s wrath, than he must have had a good reason for acting as he did, and that was enough for her.




get your war paint on
let them know we're out for blood


@Raymond

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  no church in the wild
Posted by: Euryale - 07-01-2018, 05:37 PM - Forum: Archives - Replies (4)

the evening, descends. a penetrating chill folds across the barren, arma wilderness. its icy breath, hissed amidst the foggy deluge; ephemeral & labouring - coiling through wettish soil, with all the cold touch of a viper. the dewy rot of autumn, curls against musky pine. sweet, vehement smells, as spoiling flora gathers amongst sodden earth. of bones & feathers, pulled raw from angelic sinews. such scent of dark angels, passing through empty graveyards & engrossed cities. it rode the wind, upon tortured wings; cloying, in its sweet yet heavenly, calamity. where is your god, now?

an autumnal throne, swelling at the belly of the mountains. the moist foliage, whips amongst the decay. thick, wet red leaves shudder in the torrential salvo. they bristle, with an aching vigor. how they ravage the forests, unrelenting, in its savage caress. flowing, with rainwater down their jagged cliffside. a wreath of bone & cathedral aesthetic; and the desolate wild, in its rampageous worship, that lay so wickedly at her feet.

blood-kissed dahlia. such celestial curves, were soaked in the lush femininity of vermillion. euryale, in her serpents' allure; coils, upon the rigid summit. her rosey-flesh, bold against the tempestous shroud. manifests in their scarlet profile. her silhouette, breaks the skylight in their sylph-like invitations. a grisly, primal vision, both ethereal - tugging.  the carnal promise, of the gordon's fang-filled lips, all but possessed the feral edge of moonlight. effortlessly, curved, her lips whispered of delicate serenades. of hunger. madness. reaching deep, within the forest corriders; 'wayward souls, o, come to me'

on such an evening, she succumbs to wanderlust. euryale had left the lavished folds of her denocte bedroom for the restless, midnight air. her arrival in the court prior, were discreet. no kin nor relations to speak of. she slipped, silently, without word. retreating into the warmth of her room, of bone white decor, wrapped by thick, velveteen curtains. sprung upon the soft, chiffon lace of her nest; where wine & honeyed rosewater lay in abundance. & yet for all their materialistic comforts, for all their glamour, euryale preferred the wild.

so it is among the pines, her physique now melts into the void; following the pathway, upward. she savours the crisp tang of fall. she breathes in the evening air; a vaporous fragrance, rich in sickly aroma.  rain becomes the transient kiss, breathing down her neck & sides.  they mist above the curve of her spine. descending her body, as soft dew might travel down the stem of a rose. indeed, out here in the wild; with the soft drizzle of rain across her back, she finds temporary peace. a moment of tranquility. 

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  you flee my dream come the morning
Posted by: Jahin - 07-01-2018, 04:03 PM - Forum: Archives - Replies (1)



J A H I N - - -

He moves quietly in the dark, naught but a mere whisper to suggest his passing. Beggars and thieves thrive at this hour, crawling, swarming the back allies of the black city—he is most comfortable among the rotten, the forgotten. After all, if he is not one of the forgotten, then what is he? He navigates the winding maze easily, familiarly—a friend to the shadows that linger and to the dank places where not even the Solterra sun hits. He remembers a time when he was once a noble creature, a stallion of sunlight, a warrior of the dunes and the desert. Now he slinks the musty alleys like a sewer rat.

But if he was not here, wading among the sewer and the filth, he would be rotting in prison; a sad, pitiful death by any standard, not just the Davke standard. And so he continues with ease, with grace. His movements are fluid and elegant. There are guards at the sewer entrance, but he knows them well and they let him pass beyond the small gates without incident, a mere nod that does not quite meet the eye. Those who know, they see him as Davke. A savage. Unpredictable and wild. It works to his benefit and he does nothing to dissuade them from their beliefs.

He winds through the sewers, navigating blindly. He is as practiced as any rat in the maze beneath the city. Firelight does not guide him through the dripping tunnels—only memory and instinct. He soon arrives at another gated entranceway, and these guards too, let him pass. One is a female guard and he feels her gaze linger a moment too long on his skin, his scars. His indigo eyes do not meet hers. He continues on, now in the belly of the castle. He takes the servant passageways, where they scuttle out of his path with dipped heads. He winds ever upward, staircase after staircase, until he is in their lonely tower. The tower where his new life began. The windows are glassless—he can see the stars, the moon, can feel the cold night air on his face. Two maidens are there, and they wash him down briefly, removing the stink of the sewers and back alley until he is gleaming for his audience with the queen. 

He does not feel himself—will he ever again? But it does feel good to be clean, to be washed of the streets filth until he is only Jahin…scars and red skin and hair of fire. They braid his flame-touched hair, carefully, because they know he prefers it out of the way when things get…messy. And then they leave him, hurriedly they exit the tower.  And he waits, as he always does, for his queen. 

these scars long have yearned for your tender caress
to bind our fortunes, damn what the stars own ---

@Seraphina

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  demons that never disappear
Posted by: Eulalie - 06-30-2018, 11:03 PM - Forum: Archives - No Replies






Eulalie

LOOKING UP FOR HEAVEN
WAY DOWN  HERE UPON THE GROUND

She moved listlessly, robotically, weaving through the streets on subconscious memory alone. Her earth brown eyes look ahead but did not see, glassy and haunted. The thing she always feared had happened. The thing she prayed would never happen that night she saw him at the festival here, in this very place she called home, had come to pass. Eulalie had run into the man her parents had sold her to when she was young, out in the sands with nobody around to stop him or make him go away. His dark form was a shadow in her mind, a demon in her heart.

She walked, and she walked, with no direction in mind. Her steps echoed a lonely tempo through the empty late night streets, and eventually she found herself outside the library, wearily looking at its heavy doors. Finding she was not ready to return to her bed, to look at another and pretend to be strong when she felt like she had been dragged back to her days in chains, the ivory and gilded woman pushed her way through the doors of the library.

It was dim inside, lit only by a few stray candelabras on the walls. In her shock and stupor, Eulalie did not consider that there may be someone else inside. Someone who she knew worked late and often in the library, comfortable among the shelves and books.

She merely wandered through the aisles, dark, troubled eyes sweeping over spines without reading titles. There was nothing in this library for her but a hope of comfort, a temporary shelter from the truth that waited for her, scratching at the walls wanting to get in. Nothing was alright. Would it ever be alright again? Would he ever stop haunting her, now that he knew she was somewhere, living, going on? It was a crushing, suffocating weight, the thought that she might never be free of him.

The library became blurry as tears filled her eyes, warm rivulets running down her cheeks. Everything she had pushed away, everything she had paved over and left behind with her new life bubbled to the surface. Her fears, her worries, her dread, it all balled up and settled in her chest, sitting on her heart like an oozing, consuming black.

The first cry that escaped her was strangled, a breathless, desperate sound. It was as if all her demons were clawing themselves free of her skin, unleashing themselves. She first dropped to her knees, and then eventually laid the rest of the way down, her shivering, quivering legs unable to support the weight of her body. In that moment, Eulalie had never felt more alone.

"speech"



@Somnus
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  devil underneath your grin
Posted by: Eulalie - 06-30-2018, 08:59 PM - Forum: Archives - Replies (2)

Eulalie had taken her time preparing in the court before setting back out to the Solterra sands. Mors was not a friendly face if you didn’t know where you were going or what you needed to bring with you, to prepare yourself for. She was sure more than one soul had been lost out here, buried beneath the desert never to be found until one day the wind unearthed whatever was left of them. It was a cruel truth, but a truth nonetheless. The desert was an unforgiving place, indeed.

The ivory and gilded woman remember well, the first time she had ever passed through it. It had taken her days longer than it should have to get out. She had been weak with heat exhaustion, hungry, thirsty. It was a wonder she had survived at all, and Eulalie had been so lucky that Ulric had been camping in Viride, that she had happened to stumble into his camp where he could have helped her get healthy again.

Her body may have recovered within a few months, but her heart, her psyche, it had taken it so much longer. She may have eventually put the events of her past behind her but she had never forgotten them. Perhaps, she thought, she hadn’t ever truly gotten over them, had never truly gotten closure, as she recalled that night at the festival not so many weeks ago. She had seen his face and it had set her into a panic like she had never felt before.

It was something she never wished to repeat.

The sands seemed neverending as Eulalie pushed forward. Every step left her hoofprints in the sand, only to disappear as it shifted and danced beneath the touch of the autumn breeze. Despite the fall season, the desert was still hot, the sun blinding. The warrior hoped if she kept moving she could be closing to Delumine by nightfall than not. It would do her no good to be subjected to the elements for longer than necessary in her pregnancy. She was already constantly warm, like a little personal heater, and the sun beating down on her back did not help.

She could not wait to return to Dawn Court, to see Somnus, who had swept in on gilded wings and stolen her heart, and her friends. Given time to grow, Eulalie had created a well and proper home for herself, and that thought caused her smile as she walked along, thoughts occupied and attention drifting.


ooc: @Albrecht time to ruin this girl's day lol

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  chasing demons
Posted by: Eulalie - 06-30-2018, 05:35 PM - Forum: Archives - Replies (1)










Hope

begins in the dark.













There were so many demons living in this place, lurking in the shadows and the alleyways, beneath market stalls and behind doorways. If Eulalie had her way, she would never have stepped foot in this desert, past these sandstone walls, again. She would have stayed away for the rest of her life if it weren’t for the growing size of her belly. For the lives she would soon be responsible for. As foals it would be easy to keep them at home where they could be safe, but as they grew she would have less control over where they went and what they did.

She needed to lay these demons to rest if she were ever going to feel comfortable with the fact that her children may one day want to travel to this kingdom of sand and sun. If it were even possible that she would be able to, it could only be done by returning to Solterra.

So, yes, despite her pregnancy and the wicked, blazing sun, the ivory warrior had braved the sands she had once called home in order to, she hoped, find some peace of mind. Eulalie paused at the threshold of the court, wondering what had changed in the time since she had left but perhaps more so wondering what had remained the same. Her heart thudded wildly in her chest, her dark brown eyes slightly narrowed in the face of the light bouncing from the surfaces around her. After far too much hesitation, she made her way inside.

Things looked the same. The same buildings she remembered, the same darkened alleys contrasting against the same sunbleached exteriors. The same dragging, lurking, slithering bodies, sweat sheened and sharp eyed. The further in Eulalie ventured, the more her heart pumped, racing, running, taking flight from her chest and reaching up, up up, back home. Back to the ones she cared for. It took everything she had not to turn around and leave.

This was a place full of nothing but pain for her, and for many others as well. Despite the horrors she had gone through, despite the things she had been subjected to, Eulalie guessed there were others who had and would go through worse things. The difference was that she had won her freedom, she had escaped. If only, she thought, she felt the same bravery now that she had that day in the market.

Maybe then, she wouldn’t be so afraid.












@Seraphina <3


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