the gorgon
opening call
Her voice drifts like a lute’s song through the sleeping court.Solterra, she croons, sweet as a southerly wind. It is time to wake. At the edge of her words you catch the beginnings of a hiss—a hiss that tears at the curtains of your window, gullies at the edge of your bed. Wriggles, a siren’s whine, into the supple soft conch of your ear.
By the time you stumble out into the brightening streets, her voice swells the air like an avalanche.
The Court of Day is without Regent, without Emissary. A King, alone! She laughs; it is supersonic. Yet who is worthy? King Adonai, golden darling, cannot seem to make up his mind. There is the sound of an infant wailing somewhere far in the distance.
Wailing, and wailing, and wailing.
So he has awoken me to choose for him.
Are you worthy?
Tell me. Don’t be afraid. Are you worthy?
The Gorgon awaits those who think they are, at the gates of the castle.
You are amongst them, of course, and to your surprise there is already a sizable crowd straining against the castle's outer walls, gossip breathed out one mouth and into another as you push your way through the creaking gates to the limestone pedestal upon which she stands.
You tilt your head, taken aback. The Gorgon does not look like a gorgon. There is a dull red cloth wrapped around her face and neck, an inner embroidered lining casting half of her face in shadow. A string of beads—amber, by the way they are drinking the sun—slips over her wrapped neck, and small strips of paper covered in feverish runes rustle in the wind of late summer.
You step closer.
Her head snaps towards you, and she is already smiling. Even when you have said nothing.
You. Her smile splits her cheeks in two. Come closer, little mortal.
When you obey too slow for her liking, her scream startles a flock of crows into the sky.
Faster!
You have eight days to reply to this thread with your character's response to the Gorgon's call! Upon which you will be officially entered into the Trial, and the real fun can begin.
All those interested in the position of either Regent or Emissary — are you worthy?
Round 0 will close at 9 PM PST, February 7th.
All those interested in the position of either Regent or Emissary — are you worthy?
