The dance of magic along her bones was a caress that the slightly insane mare enjoyed. Faction stepped from the portal, her most cherished companion at her side as his glowing orbs took in the new world that they had arrived in. There was a new energy to the world around them, something that made the pair cautious as eyes took in the rocks around them. They were in a canyon, something that Faction had always avoided.
Lifting her head, she stopped a few feet from the portal. Sors stopped beside her, pressing his form against her leg as he searched for danger. "I dont see anything familiar... Where are we?" The canid remarked, orbs taking in the strange new world.
"I am not sure... Far from home it seems..." Faction murmured as she flicked her multi-hued tail and luxuriated in the warmth of the vivid sunshine. "What seems good is that I dont hear any of the dangers that were in our home... We seem to be far from that forest. Far from the creatures that killed you." She murmured softly, dipping her muzzle to ruffle what was left of his mane along his back. Sors had once been a typical maned wolf... Before the attack that had left him nothing more than bones in the forest. Now, pieces of chupicabra made his form different and unique, as well as the plant matter that was woven into his frame.
"It is unusually hot..." Sors remarked dryly, lower jaw dropping slightly as he shot a playful glance at his bonded. Faction snorted and nodded, her own acid green eyes dancing along the sands and rocks.
"The air is more dry as well... Hopefully your plants will not be compromised." She murmured, cautious eyes taking in his form. The canid shook his head and began to seek out water for the pair to drink. Faction followed him patiently, ears alert for any incoming presence that could cause harm to herself or her companion.
While the trees bowed to the Portal in Viride and the winds howled their hollow tune around the Portal in the Abigo Caves, winter's solid grip took an interesting turn within the Elatus Canyon. Snow and frost were a nearly unknown feature in most of Solterra... even when winter took its strongest hold. Even now, the windows howled in the canyon but snow did not dare to fall.
THERE IS A HIGH PROBABLITY FOR RANDOM EVENTS TO OCCUR IN [PORTAL] TAGGED THREADS ;)
The first of the Continental Portals opened wide at the Abigo Caves. Then, the next cleaved open within the Viride Forest. Now, the sandstone fell away to dust as the third one materialized within the old stone walls of the Elatus Canyon. Mild tremors - here for thirty seconds and gone just as quickly - made what little local fauna inhabited the canyon tuck their tails and run, scurry, hide.
Its center started as a crack in a massive sheet of stone that made up one of the deeper parts of the canyon. And as if Tempus himself had dug his hoof into the crack and twisted, turned, ground away mercilessly and then the sandstone around the crack began to break.
The rocks crumbled and fell, tumbling dangerously to the ground below — sending any curious, wandering Novians and wildlife scattering to safety. It did not take long for the hole to become something near-monstrous, as the wall itself was hollowed out.... and all that was left was the arche above the warping, pulsing center of the Portal. A Portal that led to a snow-dusted steppe and an expansive, vivid sky full of bright stars.
Just like the three Portals before this one: no harm would come to Novians should they choose to explore where this Canyon Portal took them... instead, you may just come face to face with some distinctly non-equine-like beings.
But unlike the local fauna you may be used to encountering... these non-equines - Cervines, in fact - were very clearly sentient and able to speak the same language as you, their equine counterparts. Their initial hesitation around you and all other Novians is just the same as your hesitation around them.
Why are they here, and where did they come from? — They could say the same about you.
How will you react and interact with them, if at all? — They may or may not feel the same about you, too.
Are they here to stay? — These questions boggle them the same as they do you.
... — Maybe you're not so different.
Earn EXP for your character!
This is an extension of The Portals board Year 506 Winter event. Seems multiple Portals have opened up - and not at the Terminus Shoreline, but rather within the continents themselves! There have been strange reports of odd, non-equine creatures passing through these portals, too...
YOU CAN EARN +2 EXP FOR PARTICIPATING To redeem the EXP once you meet the criteria below: Go to the Experience Updates thread and post a redemption for "Participating in Seasonal Portal IC Event (506 Winter)." Link to the Portal thread/s you posted in and THIS Portal info thread.
You can reply in this thread OR make your own exploring the Abigo portal - you must use the [Portal IC Event] prefix OR include [Portal] in your thread title!
Your character will need (4) posts in a thread started during the timeframe of that season's event. Any post started during that timeframe and completed within (2) months of that start date can redeem the +2 EXP.
Like other IC events, you can claim those (4) posts across multiple threads as long as they were all completed during the same (2) month period.
As the Portals will change on the first day of each new season, all threads started after that date will not count towards the 506 Winter season's IC Event.
Nature did not stop at the Original Portal located by the Terminus Sea... while this Portal that led to the Palace was found at Terminus' beach, nature and her wild magic burned through the fabric of time again. These successor Portals may not be nearly as grand as the Original, but they were still awe-inspiring.
the forests whisper, but something else hides behind the trees
THERE IS A HIGH PROBABLITY FOR RANDOM EVENTS TO OCCUR IN [PORTAL] TAGGED THREADS ;)
The second one — the first of the Continental Portals — that opened wide was at the Abigo Caves. It was not even a day or so after that the second one appeared in Delumine's Viride Forest. In the days prior, the fauna had seemingly vanished from the forest and the air was charged, heavy, and filled with static.
The center of the Portal was like a rip, as if a larger-than-life sewing needle had been shoved through the space between two massive trees which then bent, bark cracking, towards its center. The massive oaks and elms bent to the Portal, metaphorically forced to their knees as it ripped open. All trees within the surrounding half-mile leaned towards the Portal too, as if it was calling them, drawing them in.
The arch of this Portal was made from those two massive oak and elm trees; in a near-instant, vines had clamored up their length and twisted around the gnarled roots, bark, and dug their greedy tendrils into the hollowed-out knots.... The center warped and pulsed, humming with the steady thrum of nature's enchantments.
If you stared hard enough through the pulsating center of this Portal, you may just see something similar to the very Viride forest you stood in... but different. On the other side was an expansive taiga, this boreal forest filled with coniferous trees blanketed with heavy snowfall. The snow that led up to the Taiga's side of the portal was dotted with prints and tracks... both cloven and single-hooved.
Just like the Portal at the Abigo Caves, no harm would come to Novians should they choose to explore where this Viride Portal took them... instead, you may just come face to face with some distinctly non-equine-like beings.
But unlike the local fauna you may be used to encountering... these non-equines - Cervines, in fact - were very clearly sentient and able to speak the same language as you, their equine counterparts. Their initial hesitation around you and all other Novians is just the same as your hesitation around them.
Why are they here, and where did they come from? — They could say the same about you.
How will you react and interact with them, if at all? — They may or may not feel the same about you, too.
Are they here to stay? — These questions boggle them the same as they do you.
... — Maybe you're not so different.
Earn EXP for your character!
This is an extension of The Portals board Year 506 Winter event. Seems multiple Portals have opened up - and not at the Terminus Shoreline, but rather within the continents themselves! There have been strange reports of odd, non-equine creatures passing through these portals, too...
YOU CAN EARN +2 EXP FOR PARTICIPATING To redeem the EXP once you meet the criteria below: Go to the Experience Updates thread and post a redemption for "Participating in Seasonal Portal IC Event (506 Winter)." Link to the Portal thread/s you posted in and THIS Portal info thread.
You can reply in this thread OR make your own exploring the Abigo portal - you must use the [Portal IC Event] prefix OR include [Portal] in your thread title!
Your character will need (4) posts in a thread started during the timeframe of that season's event. Any post started during that timeframe and completed within (2) months of that start date can redeem the +2 EXP.
Like other IC events, you can claim those (4) posts across multiple threads as long as they were all completed during the same (2) month period.
As the Portals will change on the first day of each new season, all threads started after that date will not count towards the 506 Winter season's IC Event.
Arriving in a new land was always interesting, but Creamsicle had to admit, this was probably the most interesting land thus far that he had come across. He still did not know much about it, had yet to talk to any locals within the realm. He was tired from his travels but the thing is... Creamsicle almost always felt tired. Bone-deep exhaustion that no amount of sleeping could fix. He had decided to not dwell on it, not when he had new places to see and new horses to meet, but he was wary. And weary. Would this land be one of war and strife, or of kindness and compassion? A gentleman himself and a nomad from a war-torn country, Creamsicle could only hope that he would find only kindness here. However, he was aware that was a lot to ask. Most could not find it in their hearts to be kind, especially to those they did not know, and he was a stranger amongst a land of unknowns. This was why he had kept to himself for so long, just wandering the outskirts, using his judgment to do his best to stay away from the main territories. The claimed territories. He stayed where faint scents all mixed and mingled with one another, where no one scent stuck out more than the rest. And that was how he'd discovered this place.
It was beautiful here. Cold but beautiful. It must be winter in this realm. Creamsicle had lost track of time, of seasons. The days had all started to blur and blend together during his travels so he was thankful to have the cold to wake up him. To shake him free of the monotony of traveling. He approached the water with skepticism, worried that it would be too cold to enjoy. He was right about it being cold, the frigid waters enveloping his lower limbs with a sudden force that had him shivering, teeth chattering, but still, he pushed on. He felt drawn toward the archway he could see just ahead, though was worried he would have to end up swimming in order to get to it. Oddly enough, as he approached the archway, the water never got too terribly deep. He trudged through it, ears perked forward, legs numb from the cold. His breath misted in front of his nostrils with every breath, head cocked curiously. He could hear as well as feel some sort of hum, some sort of energy, from the archway.
Best not to get too close... But what was life without a bit of adventure, eh? Too curious to not investigate further, Creamsicle lept forward through the archway, some instinct telling him to close his eyes. He held his breath as well, releasing it in a gasp as he felt himself be pulled forward toward... toward what, he didn't know, but suddenly the crashing of waves could no longer be heard and the salty brine of the ocean was no longer surrounding him, lingering only on his pelt. Stunning, the cream-hued stallion slowly peeked open his eyes to look around him. What he saw was shocking. He thought, perhaps, that he must have fallen asleep at some point and not realized it and was now having a dream, for this was now the beachy area he had previously been exploring. It was something, somewhere, entirely different.
He stood now on the grounds of a mighty palace, expanding further than he could tell, towering high above him. The grounds surrounding the palace were just as mystical as well as ominous. Shocked by the sudden change in location, his limbs still damp from his frolicking through the water just moments ago, Creamsicle could only stand and stare at the structure before him.
The Palace hosted its parties and the rooms offered their food and their intrigue. For a moment it seemed the pulse of feral magic that flowed through Novus had calmed; as if the gods had stitched the seams so perfectly, so flawlessly, that it ceased to be a worry. It was as if Novians forgot that just a short while ago, the Terminus swallowed the Island whole in an act of wrath.
But Nature did not forget; when did she ever?
While the Portals that led to the Palace were found at the beach, nature and her wild magic burned through the fabric of time again. These new portals... they were dotted all over Novus - less grand, less imposing, more easily disguised in their surroundings... curiously, there seemed to be one in each of the main areas.
The first Portal appeared here in Ruris, at the mouth of the Abigo Caves.
the caves hold their secrets — but sometimes they sneak out
THERE IS A HIGH PROBABLITY FOR RANDOM EVENTS TO OCCUR IN [PORTAL] TAGGED THREADS ;)
The wind always howled loudly outside of the Abigo's yawning mouth, that was no unknown fact. But for some reason, during this year's winter.. its howl seemed that much more intense and otherworldly.
Should one look, it was not that easy to miss the massive Portal that had opened near the main mouth of the Abigo Caves' tunnel system. The edges of this portal were etched into the sheer, solid rock and the warping center had an intense pull to it that would draw the Novians in if they were not careful. The magic and electricity sizzled in the air, making hair stand up on edge and charged with static.
Looking into the Abigo Portal, it did not appear much different than if you were peering into the mouth of the caves themselves.... dark and hard to see much of anything, but the sense of foreboding and claustrophobia threatened to put its iron grip around your throat.
What lay on the other side did not seem particularly... different or magical but rather just a strange, unknown land. The 'end' of the cave — what was really the Abigo Portal — opened up into what appeared to be a rainforest - muggy and humid with an overbearing, dense tropical heat.
There was no immediate harm that would come to you should you pass through the Abigo Portal to explore the damp tropical forest - but you may just come face to face with some distinctly non-equine-like beings.
But unlike the local fauna you may be used to encountering... these non-equines - Cervines, in fact - were very clearly sentient and able to speak the same language as you, their equine counterparts. Their initial hesitation around you and all other Novians is just the same as your hesitation around them.
Why are they here, and where did they come from? — They could say the same about you.
How will you react and interact with them, if at all? — They may or may not feel the same about you, too.
Are they here to stay? — These questions boggle them the same as they do you.
... — Maybe you're not so different.
Earn EXP for your character!
This is an extension of The Portals board Year 506 Winter event. Seems multiple Portals have opened up - and not at the Terminus Shoreline, but rather within the continents themselves! There have been strange reports of odd, non-equine creatures passing through these portals, too...
YOU CAN EARN +2 EXP FOR PARTICIPATING To redeem the EXP once you meet the criteria below: Go to the Experience Updates thread and post a redemption for "Participating in Seasonal Portal IC Event (506 Winter)." Link to the Portal thread/s you posted in and THIS Portal info thread.
You can reply in this thread OR make your own exploring the Abigo portal - you must use the [Portal IC Event] prefix OR include [Portal] in your thread title!
Your character will need (4) posts in a thread started during the timeframe of that season's event. Any post started during that timeframe and completed within (2) months of that start date can redeem the +2 EXP.
Like other IC events, you can claim those (4) posts across multiple threads as long as they were all completed during the same (2) month period.
As the Portals will change on the first day of each new season, all threads started after that date will not count towards the 506 Winter season's IC Event.
A clamoring murder of crows roosted in the trees above my head. Mostly crows, but I guess there were some grackles, too; the red-winged blackbirds and their obnoxious, shrieking cries had all flown somewhere warm for the winter. They were gathered beneath the thick canopy, down below where the trees cupped and gathered the precipitation of the season. It was warmer here, beneath the trees, but not quite warm.
I was covered in scratches and sore from moving but I could not forget that I was being hunted. Making it to this depth of the forest was an amazing feat for me as it was. I kept hoping whoever was pursuing me would get lost in the trees, or think that I went a different direction; maybe up the Rapax and into another court.
The trees were odd here and I couldn’t put my finger on why until I almost ran smack into one which was shaped in a spiral and cut-out like a staircase. “Oh.” Up I went, no hesitation, and it was only when I’d reached the top and took a breath that I wished I hadn’t:
I knew that smell. It made me want to sneeze.
Old book dust.
Sure enough, here the trees all came together in some shape or form, like a vertical puzzle, and turned into branching hallways lined with shelves upon shelves of books. It was dusty, like no one had been here for a while, but I could take a look out a window-type porthole and see this place went on for miles. Maybe no one had been in this wing in a century, but someone had to know this was here.
It was The Library, obviously. Not a library but (narrator voice) The Library. Delumine’s pride and joy. Every noble aimed to have a personal collection that rivaled The Library. The boarding school I’d been locked up in for years was lauded as to have a base of knowledge comparable to The Library.
This time I did sneeze. A cloud of dust went up into the chilly air. The nightbirds made a distant soundtrack as they jumped and fluttered above the tree-made roof. Occasionally there would be a loud, echoing splat as one of them shit.
I wanted to leave but wanted to see at the same time. I don’t hate books, just being forced to read them, and I did come here of my own volition. My eyes scanned over the titles, leather covers, many of the words lost simply to the passage of time.
There was a loud thud that was not the noise of a bird shitting on the roof. I was so engrossed in looking at the books that I nearly jumped out of my skin. I turned to look over my shoulder, feeling that almost imperceptible change in a room when someone else enters, afraid, for a moment, that my pursuers had successfully pursued me.
“Who’s there?”
@Kaelix | "Speech." | thanks based Ralli for letting me learn how to do floaty background things from her work
When you make a mistake with metal,
you can melt things down and start anew
Iron always smelled like home. Even when it was mixed with all the dust and sweat of the proud Solterran heat. The clashing of bodies was a symphony unlike any other, as she set down the crown she often wrapped around her skull. She drew the cloak and hung it on a worn rack in exchange for a blade that was not her own. It belonged to a friend of hers who frequented her shop. Her skill was only slightly rusty, unlike the base of the once proud metal sword. The hilt was worn, and flakes of gold had begun to slough off. It floated away like her memories so often did. Cordelia's small frame emerged from the darkened halls of the colosseum.
She squinted as the bright light of day assaulted her eyes and began to glimmer from the blade of the sword. The bodies of soldiers in training clashed, and created a heartbeat that sounded along with the clang of armor and blades. This was home to her. The crimson ground did not perturb the small, unassuming adventurer. Cordelia began to warm herself up. Each movement fluid, as though the blade were both an extension of her, and her partner of a dance. Each movement was detailed and precise, even when the body of another drew close to her, she was in complete control of the old, rusted blade.
"I didn't see you there." She commented, as though she were anything but in complete control of this dangerous weapon. An apologetic smile crept across her face, and her eyes softened as they tried to adjust her focus from her practice to the equine near her.
When you make a mistake with metal,
you can melt things down and start anew
Winter drew around her like the cloak she kept pulled taut against her shoulders. In a way, it was dazzling like the memories of her youth. It was beautiful to look at but painful to touch. Frost crystals stretched across the thin planes of her lips and crawled across her chin like the snow on the mountaintops. Her lashes dusted off the remainder of the crystalline structures as she moved across Susurro Fields. These fields were the last thing that stood between her and Terrastella. Her journey was not fraught with danger and creatures lurking around every corner. It was days like these that made her yearn for the days of her youth. The days that she would pull some horrible monstrosity to its knees. Hardly anyone believed the tales of her life that she freely shared back in her tea shop in Solterra. They doubted her until they saw the way she held a blade as if it were an extension of herself. Until they saw the way she leapt with prowess and manipulated her body in response to a faux enemy.
That was the thing about hunters, the fire inside was hard to kill. Cordelia did not know of any other adventurers who ever truly retired. Even she found herself joining the troops on their rounds, or sparring. Small, unassuming Cordelia with a penchant for all things cute and fashionable. Dawn crested the horizon in no time, and its warmth crept across her skin offering a welcome reprieve from the chill. The city of Dusk stretched before her, it too yawned in the early light of day. Steam poured from the rooftops, snow began to slide from their gently sloping angles. Cordelia was the daughter of winter, and despite her fondness for the heat in her old age, she still loved winter. Especially when it came to teas. Winter was the best time for her little shop, and the most fun. She would go out and collect the flavours from herbs and plants that felt the most like home.
In no time at all, Cordelia found herself studying the available herbs and plants near the markets of the Dusk city.
As evening settles upon the proud desert city of Solterra, a hum of liveliness soon sweeps through the streets surrounding the Vogelstein estate. There is excited chatter spilling out into the city of the Sun about a celebration taking place. Entertainers begin their journey beyond the yawning doors of the ostentatious abode of the Vogelsteins. Caterers bearing extravagant food and drink come sweeping through the streets and into through the back of the looming estate. Lights flicker all across the courtyard of the house. It is illuminated by the magicians who have turned up to earn their coin. A grand banner made of spun gold and white ink with delicately written words that read “Welcome home, Jane” is sprawled across the entrance.
The Solterran’s are right, there is a celebration. A feast and welcome for the newest arrival of House Vogelstein, Jane.
But not all is pleasant… There is something strange afoot amidst the bustle of the celebration, for Caligo’s alleged touch is never very distant from this cursed noble kin.
There is a celebration happening to welcome the newest arrival to Novus’ House Vogelstein, @Jane ! This is strictly an IC party and everyone is welcome to join in whether you have a member or not. If you have a character in a specific position and would like for them to be hired for the event you all have my permission for that. Plots are completely open. The Solterran Vogelstein estate is completely open for characters to get together. During the event, there will be something sinister making an appearance, this will occur about two weeks (April 26th, 2021) after the event has started. Feel free to reply to this thread, or start your own. This event will NOT earn EXP, it is explicitly an IC party/event hosted by House Vogelstein.
Characters are free to notice the following strange things while at the estate:
☾ Doors that are slightly ajar leading to cold, empty gray rooms.
☾ A stale smell that lingers beneath the floral arrangements or scents of food.
☾ The feeling of being watched
☾ A shadow drifting through the corridors of the estate
YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FOND OF ME. I REPRESENT TO YOU ALL
THE SINS YOU NEVER HAD THE COURAGE TO COMMIT.
I have never wanted like this, not since childhood, not since I first saw fire and thought to myself, to touch it! to become the flame!, entranced by the brilliant flicker. Both within myself and without myself.
I have never wanted like this. To burn, to burn, to burn. I have never wanted to take a beautiful thing and burn it with me. For the first time in my life, I understand the appeal of sacrifice; of taking a white dove and slitting her throat, or laying a lamb at the priests’ temple bleeding down the marble steps, or a wild-haired woman at an altar before the sea. I understand what gods must feel when mortals offer the best of themselves, the innocent and the pious, for fair winds and fallowing seas. They feel like this.
Hungry.
Insatiable.
Destructive.
And, in this way, a little merciful. Let me gift you myself. Let me give you something extraordinary. Death in my arms.
There’s nothing like it. This I know, because last time I loved and destroyed. This time, I only want.
I walk into the palace of Solterra without opposition. By now, they are accustomed to my comings and goings. I visit their King, always, and rumors follow my entrance and my exit. I am a consort. I am hard-bodied and hard-eyed and pursued by whispers of, I would never have thought he was Adonai’s type.
There’s nothing left for me here but him. And I am not the type of man who can be made to stay for another. And yet, I am caught in a paradox; I also cannot leave the one thing that reminds me of… of gentleness. I am afraid. I am afraid of who I would become without this wanting, without the gentleness of his lyre, of his indigo eyes. You make me better, I want to say, and cannot, because even as he improves me I condemn him. I cannot leave without him.
And I don’t know if I will give him a choice. I can feel Damascus through our bond; he circles above the city of Solterra, breathing bright fumes. He dreams of the destruction of the city, but does not want it because I do not want it.
(Or do I? Is that a part of the wanting, too? To put a rift in history, to seal my name into the eons, unknown and unspoken but with an air of permanence?)
At this time of night, the palace is quiet. The guards stand statuesque in suits of armor, glittering with firelight. I am reminded of Pilate’s party so long ago; of the weapon’s room, Adonai and I’s reflections stretched thin in steel. Up, up, up I go; all the way to his chambers.
And once there, I hesitate. There is no undoing what I intend. And somehow, that grows within me even more voraciously. I understand, with sudden intimacy, the lioness that eats her own dead cub. I need it, I think. I need it.
Not him. It. All he entails.
“Adonai,” I say his name as I open the door, stepping into the luxurious quarters. The door to the balcony is open; for a moment I am afraid he’s gone, but a fire blazes in the hearth to keep the night’s chill at bay. I say his name again, more softly: “Adonai. Adonaiakis.” The term of endearment falls easily, sweetly. The door drifts close behind me.
Somewhere high, high above, I feel Damascus breath out a heavy sigh. The city will not burn tonight, but he wants it to.
“Adonaiakis,” I say again. Again, and again, and again his name falls from my mouth. Each time with more possession, with more force, with more honey sweetness. “I am leaving.”
There. The truth.
But the words do not sound like a truth. They sound raw with longing, with need. Not I am leaving but I am going, I am going, I om going where I must go and I step forward, deeper into the room. I find him on the balcony and go to him, step by step, until my mouth is pressed into the hollow of his throat. To accommodate for our difference in height, I very nearly kneel.
Subservience.
Are we not all subservient to our vices? To our addictions? Are they not the truth of power? I roll my eyes up, fringed by lashes, and look at him with unveiled longing.
