Jude wouldn’t claim to be strongly religious, for that would be a lie. He knew the gods existed; he knew that they pulled their strings and conducted their plots before a backdrop of eternity. Yet, so rarely did they stop to consider the individual creature, unless they were somehow special or unique to the deity. It wasn’t something that the ebony stallion was upset about, no, there were more things upon this earth to focus his rage on. The almost childish obliviousness was, however, of an interest to Jude — the pegasus felt a strange competitiveness when it came to the favor of the Eternals, and when the chance to be one of Vespera’s chosen, no longer one of Vespera’s many, Jude leaped at the opportunity.
He was young, yes, and relatively unprepared; but both Elena and Florentine had had little choice in the settling of the Dusk crown upon their heads. Jude had flown through chaos deeper than what could be found in the halls of a palace, no matter what sorts of nonsense the nobles felt the need to stir up. He was a man of purpose, and purposefully would he preside over his home.
What changes could be brought forth upon the wings of a goddess’ endorsement? The stallion could create new medicines, could revive the rich culture of Terrastella, could change the whole world for the better. Teeth clenching with the strength of his conviction, Jude adjusted the set of his large feathered wings at his sides and set his shoulders before stepping out of the gathered crowd. Muscles rippled along his back and rump as he moved, honed from his continuous training and the constant, low-level exertion of holding his wings along his ribcage. Yet, he was slight, his diminutive stature not at all kingly — not that such a thing as paltry as height could prevent the medic from gazing skyward toward his Goddess and calling out to her.
“Vespera, I ask that you look upon me and judge me fair. I wish to lead and nurture our people.”
She had asked of strength
Would she find his own lacking?
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About the RPer
What is your OOC name? Eris, queen of run-on sentences
25
Yes. Cerridwen held position as Spring Empress on Site-That-Will-Not-Be-Named for about 6 months before I left the site due to ethical conflicts. In addition Camdis Lohir, if any of you remember, also held the first Night Court Regent position before life got in the way of my activity.
The main thing that I enjoyed is that it gave me (and my characters) a motivation and purpose on-site, which really motivated me to be more active and post more often. I loved being able to be an active part of the site’s lore and getting to work with members to help their character’s plots or ambitions come to fruition. I’m a helper by nature, so being in a position of power of sorts allows me to help get the ball rolling IC with more ease and believability. I also really loved to have the opportunity and IC capability to meet most if not every character in the Court.
What I wasn’t a big fan of was how intimidating it can seem at first, getting adjusted to expectations and trying to make sure I am caught up on lore — which I know Novus has a lot of. It also can be difficult to traverse certain events or interactions that may go against a character’s personality or nature, such as Cerridwen being forced to battle for her throne, or Camdis not being an absolute POS sadsack and needing to clean himself up. It can be hard to find ways to do that that are believable IC sometimes.
Yes :)
So golly this one is hard because there are a lot of things, but mostly how open the site has become to changes and reviews and critiques. I feel like this blossoming acceptance of having more polls and discussion and suggestion-based changes is really going to forge some strong bonds between current members, be more welcoming to new members, and steer Novus in a direction that is going to make it even more stand-out. I’m not much for change (blame my Taurus moon ay), because it can be a little scary, but I’m always glad to experience new things and I think we have some great minds here that are primed and ready to make some super cool improvements to our little corner of the internet.
Sovereign Questions
Jude is first and foremost, committed. As a Halcyon combat medic, while he may not have seen too much of combat thanks to the peace begotten by Terrastella’s previous Sovereigns, the position doubtless requires those who carry the title to remain active in their training at all times. This purposeful dedication paired with Jude having been born as a Dusk native would result in a longstanding and unwavering loyalty to his throne and his kingdom. He may not be the life of the party, but he is fair and pragmatic, and I believe would continue Terrastella’s reputation for quiet stability. I’d like to address below how Jude’s personality, morals, and intentions align with that of the Court.
Secrecy and Shyness - While the stallion is not what one would call quiet or passive, he is subdued in his shows of emotion and subtle when necessary. Having treated patients with wounds and prognoses of various severities, Jude is capable of evaluating when and at what pace certain truths must be divulge, if at all. Concerning shyness, the medic couldn’t be accurately described as such; however, he admires the tranquility that the trait brings to mind. It is not often that one born for the chaos of a killing field finds a cool quiet to shelter in, but amid shy fellows and friends, that is exactly what is offered — the safety of silence and gentle presences. Jude strives to surround himself with those that possess the same sense of careful tact when it comes to information dissemination as he, which leads into...
Modesty - Jude, embodying the aforementioned traits in the secrecy category, is also rather spartan in his mannerisms and living style. The stallion, having been raised amid the strict order of the Halcyon unit, has made it a point to bring the frugal tactics of the military into his every day life and surroundings. Flamboyance has never fit over the medic’s bones, and he cannot imagine it could ever make a home of him. That is not to say that Jude is not proud, he is indeed very proud of both his and his court’s achievements — but it is a pride of a quiet sort; one to hold close to his heart and make no spectacle of. After all, medics do not do their duty for recognition, they do it because they care.
Which brings us to...
Caring and Loving - Jude considers these values to be two halves of the same coin, seeing as they both have to deal with how we extend service to others. Jude is a firm believer in the concept of service and how it manifests. In Vespera and her teachings, one may find the undercurrents of service in each of her decrees and actions. Jude attempts to mimic this constant manifestation of service through acts of love, care, and charity. Gruff as he is, the stallion is not cold, and he is not without the knowledge that it is not only caring for one’s nation that brings about prosperity, but loving one’s brethren as well. Love and care however, when freely given, are potential weaknesses to be exploited. Thus, we find in ourselves experiencing...
Fearfulness - Fear is somewhat of a tool to be used, but only when the fear is born of respect, else the foundation of the emotion crumbles to aggression and senselessness. Jude understands that fear lurks in the shadows deepened by Vespera’s soft twilight, understands that it is an inescapable part of evolving as a prey animal and of being mortal. It is unnatural to feel no fear, and thus, fear is a healthy tool against that which would harm or disrupt one’s ability to engage in love, care, modesty, secrecy or shyness. In growing to respect and utilize fear as a motivator and self-inspection device, Jude believes that one may become a student to one’s own terror and thus learn to empathize with both oneself and their surroundings.
Overall, Jude would slide into place as sovereign of Dusk with new ideas and hopes for change, but while possessing the emotional intelligence to implement these changes in a healthy and effective way. Kindness may not be worn upon his sleeve, but it thrives in him and manifests in a way that I believe would be extremely beneficial to the culture of the Court. In addition, Jude’s above attributes and his commitment to Dusk’s continued safety and success would assist in providing dynamic and interesting new relationships with other courts.
So I have only a few rough ideas right now, and I’m sure applying them is going to change them a little bit, but here they are—
The Explorer’s Guild
Jude recognizes that illnesses and their symptoms can evolve and worsen, and thus, the notable healers of Terrastella must rise to this challenge. As sovereign, Jude would like to form a subgroup of gatherers and curious-minded individuals to go into the world and find new plants that are both poisonous and beneficial. The Explorer’s Guild sounds nice, but I’m not sure if that name will really stick. The first task concerning the Explorer’s Guild (or EG) other than finding the personnel for membership, is building relations enough with the other courts to allow Terrastellans into their borders to discover these plants. There is potential for EG cells to be established across courts, if the sovereigns and denizens wish, though the main base of operations and command would be Terrastella’s hospital. After that is achieved, Jude would like to look into commissioning a contingent of Dawn scribes and scholars to assist the healers and doctors and chemists of Terrastella in testing and documenting the effects of these new flora.
Other courts are welcome to send their warriors or injured or even their healthy to the Hospital to assist in these medical breakthroughs. This is a fully consensual situation and there would be strict rules on informed consent concerning the testing of these new methods and medications. These patients as volunteers wold receive a small sum of signos as compensation (tied to post count per thread of volunteering, i believe)
Festivals
If the below suggestions don’t hit the happy spot for people, then I’m happy to brainstorm other ones!
**Ilati festival - place removable and non damaging platforms and walkways through the swamp, the area is lited by lanterns, people can dress up as Ilatians with paint and bones and feathers. There is touring the swamp and dancing and offerings of wildlife friendly foods for the animals there, to honor the memory of those who came before them and helped to define Dusk’s culture.
**Halcyon festival - to honor the stallion that saved Terrastella’s princess, a three day festival. Three days of feasting and reveling.
The lover’s walk; couples and friends have one half of the pair start at one end of a hedge maze, the other at the other end, their goal is to find each other in a marble gazebo at the center lovingly dubbed “the Temple” there they are showered with flowers dipped in colorful dyes, so that their skin is painted with the outline of the blossoms
the Halcyon races; On the second day, there is a flighted race and a footrace, each contestant much race their competitors around a track designed for the occasion set just outside of terrastella’s walls in the prairie (while carrying a healing herb)
The Rising — A breakfast feast set to start at the break of dawn on the last day of the festival with Dawn Court citizens especially welcomed. This breakfast is to remember and give thanks for the time lost on both sides of their silly little cold war, and the lives lost within the Lover’s Temple.
The Resting — A dinner feast set to start just as Dusk begins on the last night of the festival, to mark and appreciate the grand peace that they were all gifted thanks to the healing power of the herb Halcyon gave his life to deliver.
I don’t think I would change any present rules, I think they are all very fair and good. As far as activity, I’ve been toying with the idea of a “Letters to the Sovereign” sort of thing, or “Letters to the Regime” if the regime is into it. Doves trained to deliver letters to the royal aviary can be given letters with suggestions, complaints, information, etc, and will be read and assessed. Or maybe we can do an IC event where people can help Jude train the doves and build the aviary and whatnot so that we can have a working mail system in Terrastella’s capitol. Other subsequent events (if the initial gets good response) can maybe start expanding it throughout the entire territory. This would be so that entire threads could be written in a sort of letter format and it could help bring more activity, seeing as we don’t often get to write pure dialogue. It might be a fun new way to get in touch with our characters without having to *yet again* describe the color of the sky or what time of day it is or how the grass smelled — not that thats not fun, but sometimes you just want to write a letter to your crush instead of walking to their house ;)
I think I did this right? Hope so.
