It’s early morning when the goose arrives, alighting in the center of the courtyard. For several minutes the bird sits and watches, observing the comings and goings of the Court, sticking out like a sore thumb in a sea of equines.
Until she spies the Sovereign.
She puffs up her feathers, dark eyes gleaming with anticipation in the early morning light. Her moment was now: her attention was on Florentine alone, her gaze zeroing in upon the flowery mare.
She is a common goose, her feathers bright and her eyes brighter, beak dipped in black. Her visage alone is not what captures attention: it's the way she watches the Sovereign, her confidence that she is more than an ordinary bird. She walks directly into Florentine's path and stops there, unmoving, giving the Sovereign a choice: change her path, or wait for the bird to have her say.
After a moment of staring her down, ensuring she has captured Florentine's attention, the goose speaks.
Not with the voice of a goose--but one of a God, spoken in the common tongue. And it sounds not like one voice, but several, perhaps even hundreds: young and old, a different version of the same voice for every age, speaking in unison across the yard and throughout the entirety of the Court:
“You will come.”
The parchment tied to her ankle comes undone by its own accord, invisible hands pulling its ends apart. It unfurls in mid air, hovering just before the Sovereign so that she and any others might read what is written within:
Now that I have your attention,
Your presence is required a week from today. I have cleared a section of Veneror Peak for us to meet.
Bring with you two others whom you trust. Do not think you can hide from me.
Go in peace.
There is no signature, no hint as to who wrote the letter... but something tells you this can only be the work of the deities.
Welcome to Novus’ first Summit! Your Sovereign is required to participate in this SWP. This will be a political meeting for the four Courts to come together on neutral grounds and discuss relations.
It is highly encouraged for the Sovereign to attend: be aware, Tempus will not respond kindly if Florentine is absent. It is expected for all members of the Regime to attend the meeting (@Florentine @asterion @cyrene) however, if one of more Regime members cannot attend, it is up to @Florentine to choose who to send to the meeting in their stead. Choose wisely!
Everyone else is allowed to post in this board and explore the area! Please be aware: the meeting area itself is currently sealed, and only the Regime and their chosen representatives will be allowed in! That being said, feel free to post threads wondering what the heck is going on! ;D
As for this thread: @Florentine has priority in replying. After she has, any other Court members are welcome to voice their thoughts!
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The meeting will start on June 1st and will last until June 14th. A new thread will be started giving more instructions for the Sovereigns at that time.
To tag this account: @*'Random Events' without the asterisk.
Please be advised, tagging the Random Event account does not guarantee a response!
i'm a pretty flower girl check out my pretty flower curls
There was a goose.
This was not the first goose that the Terrastellan queen had ever seen, but it was the first one in Novus. For a moment the queen simply stands, observing the silent bird as it drinks in her citadel and its bustling presence.
Slowly the flower girl steps on, her eyes peering beneath her fringe to watch the bird. Slowly, slowly its head turns and their eyes meet.
Oh there is nothing normal about this avian creature. There is nothing that is not magical in its eyes. Divinity drips from its gaze and dwells in every satin feather.
The flower queen is its prize, its target. Florentine knows it now as the bird moves, with a grace beyond any goose she had ever known. It crosses her path like a swan upon water and stops. The fae-girl pauses, a limb lifted, a heart stumbling over a beat. Her neck draws in, her breath fluttering in her nostrils. Into her chest her chin presses, her stature wary, her eyes bright like sun-caught gems.
Ever curious, her nape slowly extends. Oh how wide those amethyst eyes are! How curious as she reaches forward with soft lips to scent the air around this unearthly creature. There is ancient magic here. Oh it taste of the Riftland - of a magic both old and new. But there is no corruption here, no fetid black to taint the purity of this ancient power.
The bird speaks, and it is with a thousand voices and more – oh so many more! Florentine knows she might travel to the ends of time and still hear that voice echo on for an infinity. Her lips pull away, her chin snapping back into her chest. She shies with eyes wide and wild, though her lips begin to curl.
Ah, mysterious creature!
A parchment lifts between them and, enraptured, Flora watches the scroll unfurl.
A meeting.
The fae girl shudders, her petals already tugged loose by a wind that flies ahead of her to Verenor Peak. Those petals will herald her coming.
There is silence, for all have heard this voice and all eyes close enough have witnessed the words upon the page. “Why would I hide?” Florentine asks the bird softly, foolishly, for when she will ever not throw herself into mystery and adventure?
“My brethren will be there.” And there is no part of her that will renounce such a vow, for how can she, when she thinks that the gods have come at last!
But…
Will they taste disbelief upon her soul? They will find not even a shred of faith upon this child of Time.
She should be repentant… but she is only intrigued.
The morning had been quiet since she roused from her outdoor slumber. While the others rested behind their stone walls and locked doors, Calliope had bedded down in the garden between the trees. Even resting she was at guard, at restless as a lioness in her cave while a stormed brewed and boiled outside.
And so the moment Florentine descended the stairs for a morning stroll Calliope was awake.
Perhaps it was those old hunter instincts that told her to stay close, to do more than nod as the flower girl went about her way. Perhaps it was the way that the morning air felt charged and heavy. Calliope remembers the horrible things that come on breezes as thick as blood. It is a breeze of magic things, gods and other things that have always brought change and strife and sometimes war.
Calliope has ever been upon the wake of change, horn tipped and ready to swallow up all the terrible things that come with the price of magic and gods. The Riftlands had given them sickness and Calliope had given them salvation from their disease in death.
So when the goose lands and moves as no bird should Calliope is instantly alert for disease. She scours it's eyes for madness, its mouth for froth and all those dark feathers for patches of blood and baldness that should not be. Oh but when it talks, when it demands in a voice that knows no form that could hold it, Calliope does more than scour its face for sickness. She moves closer, pressing her shoulder to Florentine's warning her to be wise.
Her father was a fool too, eager to follow things he didn't understand in places he could not defend.
“Caution.” She warns in a whisper, loud enough for the bird to hear. Her lips are tight against Florentine where she whispers into her mane. That tip of her horn glints in the daylight, bare but for the silver twined around it. A relic from the Riftlands and a magic that knew no gods at all.
Without taking an eye off that strange, god-blessed bird she steps away from Dusk queen to move towards that mountain in the distance. Her steps are light and eager. Calliope has been too long without challenge, too long with only politics to fill the spaces around her. This at least offers danger.
The scar across her face stings when she smiles. A god-mark, given when she challenged a god who had only death and punishment in store for his mortals. Calliope remembers well the might and power of gods, how it could not cow her when there was righteousness to defend. “Prepare.” That smile never fades as she finally turns away from that goose, her legs carrying her towards Veneror.
Over her shoulder she calls out to Florentine and anyone else who gathered. “I will ensure the path is clear.” Calliope didn't need to say the words, the way she laughs and lets her legs slip easily into a run is clear enough.
She looks like a lion as she runs, belly low in the tall prairie grass, staking a poacher that has no idea the fate that comes from it.
As the masses gathered, coerced and guided by trepidation and curiosity alike in the arrival of their unprecedented visitor, Israfel and Solaris remained a stalwart, steady form in the crux of it all. The Warden’s vermilion eyes, burning and passionate and defiant, stared hard at the otherworldly goose. Oh, but this magic was a familiar one. She recognized it instantly, intimately. It was the same magic that had once flowed through her very veins, in the world of Helovia.
Godly. Spectral. Ancient.
Envy spread among the caution and flooded her veins with poison, her eyes narrowing. This beast was so much more than it appeared. The Sun Daughter lingered near Florentine, her queen, her friend, broad and tall and fierce, ready to defend the flower-fae at a moment’s notice.
Upon her spine, Solaris was a familiar, soothing weight. The massive Phoenix’s feathers were transitioning to a vibrant orange and crimson, her body growing hotter at the potential threat. Her flames were ready, poised, eager to ignite and defend Florentine, to defend their people, their home. Yet the Phoenix, attuned to such spectral and ancient energy as she was, knew that this massive, mystical goose did not arrive with the promise of destruction or pain. A messenger of the divines, really, for it could be nothing else.
’Peace, child.’ Solaris’ firm words were a comfort that echoed within her mind. Israfel felt herself calming immediately. The tension in her shoulders lessened, her posture slowly letting up.
The others of the Court who had gathered acted on their own accord, and Israfel paid them little mind. Calliope, one of their talented warriors, darted off rather suddenly with words of ’securing their path’. Israfel let her depart without even attempting to stop her. If that was what she wished to do, how she desired to expel her energy, to secure a road that may or may not be dangerous in the first place, then so be it. That was her prerogative. Technically Israfel could order her to stay and defend their home, for what if Florentine did not wish Calliope to leave their borders? What if her prowess was needed at home? Such eagerness could prove to be her undoing, but instead of speaking out, she simply let the dark warrior go.
’Never mind that she cannot even fly.’ Solaris muttered within her mind, and against her better judgement a sly grin quirked at Israfel’s lips. None of that, Solaris. You know better, you ancient beast. She is a proud, seasoned warrior. Let her do what she wishes.
The Daughter of the Sun’s rose-kissed lips were set in a perpetual frown, the fire pits of her eyes slowly trailing from the goose and the message it carried to focus on her queen. “Florentine.” A name, a statement. Little else needed to be said, but Israfel remembered an event not too far in the past that had damaged their relaxing friendship. Honestly, she still did not know where she stood with the Terrastellan queen, but Israfel hoped that Florentine knew that the Warden would follow her to the ends of the earth.
“Your orders?” No matter what they might be, Israfel would adhere to them. It was her duty, after all, as Warden. “Solaris and I will accompany you if you wish, shield-sister, or remain behind and tend to the people. The choice is yours.”
He was nervous and irritated, his anxiety spiking and soiling his previously relaxed sense of self, for he did not appreciate so many damn people showing up and ruining his morning sketching. The young warlock, a petite creature of bright silver and mixed taupe, went about collecting his sticks of charcoal and discolored parchments, uncaring if they grew crumpled or ripped in his haste as he struggled to put them back inside the satchel he had borrowed. It didn’t matter. They didn’t matter. They were just stupid pieces of paper anyway.
’It’s okay.’ Erd’s voice was an immediate, soothing balm in his ear, cooling over his growing panic like a water doused over raging embers. The effect was instantaneous; Ard’s body sagged against his brother’s solid, strong frame, relishing in the physical press of flesh against flesh. ’Just ignore ‘em.’
Just ignore ‘em. Ah, but that was always easier said than done.
Turquoise eyes, pupils blown wide from fear, stared out amidst the masses. Ard didn’t recognize a single one of them. Then again, it wasn’t as though they made a point of going out and greeting the other members of the Dusk Court. Erd had tried, but Ard had stubbornly refused; he had no intentions on making friends here. They weren’t worth his time. Erd was all he wanted, all he needed.
Having the warmth of his brother pressed so close to his side allowed for his panic to lessen and for his mind to clear, yet his eyes remained rooted upon the congregated members across the courtyard. What had happened? He was curious, yet not so much so that it urged him to do anything about it. Still. Questioning eyes sought out Erd, knowing that he did not need to speak for his brother to understand.
Whatever it was seemed important, because Ard truly doubted that everyone gathered around each other every morning. Then again, it wasn’t like they had much experience to go off of. The workings of Terrastella, of the Dusk Court, were still new and their policies were foreign ones. Maybe they did need to get out more in an attempt to understand their home. Maybe they didn’t. Ard was torn, but a part of him stubbornly repeated that he just didn’t care.
It had started like a peaceful, easy-going morning. The twins had left their shared room within the walls of Terrastella’s capitol to settle down together and watch the sun rise. Ard had wanted to sketch the scenery around them and who was he to tell his typically reserved brother ‘no’? So, together, they had laid down in a nice little secluded corner, relishing in the cool morning air, and watched the sun slowly break atop the horizon. It was peaceful and nice, allowing them to get some fresh air without being bothered, but that peace didn’t last.
Erd immediately recognized Ard’s distress as the courtyard erupted in a cacophony of noise and bustle. It was a subtle, eventual enough event, but still far too sudden for Ard when he had been so focused on his art. The older twin could not see what all the general hubbub was about from where they had gathered to watch the sunrise, nor did he particularly care to investigate quite yet, because it was clear by Ard’s wide turquoise eyes and parted lips, his expression a cloud of urgency and desperation, that his brother was ten seconds away from some sort of panic attack.
“It’s okay.” Quick, warm, and loving, Erd spoke quickly to keep his brother from having a full-blown meltdown in the middle of so many gathered people. “Just ignore ‘em.” From there, he shifted where he had been standing and pressed his left side up against Ard’s trembling frame, pressing his muzzle into the taupe waves of his twin’s mane.
Court life was, in a way, similar to the life they had shared in Vreis’ rebel camp. They were treated way better, but the hierarchy - or was it a monarchy? - was far too similar for either warlock to simply settle into this place with ease and welcome it as their new ‘home’. Erd was ready to go out and meet the others who lived in Terrastella, but Ard did not. His brother had always been a recluse, but he was trying. Surely not everyone here was cruel and manipulative?
Pulling back yet remaining side by side, Erd cleared his throat to catch his brother’s gaze. He flashed a grin, all bright and merry and innocent, and motioned towards the congregated group. “I know you don’t want to, but we should take a peek. Just to see?” His brother did not need to speak for him to know that Ard thought it a dumb idea, yet there was no sign of protest on his face or in his eyes. With a growing grin, Erd reached out and nibbled along his twin’s jawline before stepping closer, bumping the other warlock teasingly with his hip as he did so. Ard, inevitably, followed.
They reached the back of the gathering, but it was still impossible to see anything given their shorter heights. Eventually there was a break in the crowd, and Erd was able to make out the form of a large goose at the center of it all. It carried a message, but they were too far away to read it. Ah, well. Perhaps they’d figure it out in time.
Just plopping the twins in here so they can see what's up
I've gone a million miles
With the same crooked smile
The winds of change were blowing swiftly through the streets of Terrastella this morning – but not so much to stop Atreus from tending to the small garden he had begun days ago.
From afar the silvered man watched them gather, a pitcher held in the grasp of his magic as he poured its contents over the soil of which he had sedulously cared for. The bird had arrived only a short several minutes prior to Florentine’s own arrival, and at first he had paid it no attention. It was only when it failed to take it’s leave as more and more passed it by and he truly looked upon it that Atreus realized that this was no ordinary goose. No, it looked as though it had come with a purpose, odd as it was to think – it was just a vacuous bird, after all – and it seemed that Atreus wasn’t the only one to take notice of its unusual presence.
Florentine was its target, the Sovereign herself appearing at a total loss for words, and soon enough Atreus would be as well. For once goose and mare were facing one another, the avian creature opened its mouth and did the one thing that it was not supposed to do – it spoke.
More filter into the area at once. A woman of obsidian and ivory who seemed to know Florentine on a personal level – a pale lady whose flame burned as brightly as her fiery vermillion gaze – and two others who looked exactly like the other, painted by ash and snow. The latter pair looked particularly lost, curiously so. And so, gently lowering the emptied pitcher to the ground, Atreus moved to join them.
He came up directly behind the identical pair, aiming to sidle up right between them but even so, his eyes were focused on the commotion before them. “Just a peek, indeed,” he remarked as he looked on at the spectacle ahead, eyes of gold and wretched black peering over the gathered bodies before they finally fell away and looked to the twins, the corners of his lips turning up in the most mild form of a grin. ”What is all of this hubbub about? I seem to have missed out on something.”
And I always give you all you need
But I can see that you're dancing with the devil
be careful with that one, love, he will do what it takes to survive
Raymond. and at his feet they'll cast their golden crowns
when the man comes around
Raymond did not believe in Divinity.
Oh certainly, he'd had plenty of exposure to the gods and monsters of various cultures that one could hardly be honest in claiming that they didn't exist, but he had little patience and less respect for the edifice of organized religion. The power of gods comes from the masses: without them, even the greatest of deities is just some sad, infinite dude.
So when a most unusual messenger arrived, seeking out Florentine with singular purpose and through its sheer oddity attracting the attentions of quite an assortment of individuals, of course Raymond reacted. The sharp angles of his face offered not even the shadow of awe or reverence, reflecting only a chessmaster's analytical frown.
He eyed the flower maiden's reaction. This was quite the weight to be laid on such young shoulders, and while he has no doubt that she would try to do what was best, he would sooner trust a viper not to bite than feel secure in her ability to pull it off alone when she still had so much yet to learn. All rulers walk with a sword suspended overhead; few are not broken by its subtle and eternal threat.
Calliope, as usual, cut straight through the bullshit and took action as only she could, but it was Israfel he watched as the lady of lions made her swift and decisive exit. He had rarely seen the sun-bright mare or her mythical companion before, but he most certainly did not miss the sly expression that flashed across her face.
He blinked, then turned his attention toward Florentine. "Calliope is right. You should be careful where you place your trust." The red stallion glanced toward the few gathering nearby out of the corner of his storm-grey eye, one ear flicked their way and the other strained in the direction of Calliope's receding hoofbeats.
"Never underestimate the capacity for someone to mean you ill, even before the gods. Especially before the gods."
With another appraising look in Israfel's direction, Raymond turned toward the path that Calliope had beaten and took his leave. He did not answer to Israfel, or to Florentine - for the moment, his plans were his business.
aut viam inveniam aut faciam
05-30-2018, 05:24 PM - This post was last modified: 05-31-2018, 01:37 AM by Raymond
The Goose knew - somehow, some way, it knew. Knew that others would show, knew that @Florentine would accept. Did it know the outcome of it all? No. While she was certainly a messenger of the Gods, she was certainly no Oracle and could speak naught for them. Her voice was their own only when they commanded it, and only silence prevailed after the initial request.
Dark yet bright eyes were not unaware, though. They met @Calliope's head on, her unbreaking gaze still but not quite alarming. She saw the warrior's distrust, but she did not address it. What could she do that would convince them otherwise? For those that were skeptical, nothing would convince them.
Ahh... next, @Israfel - a woman that almost burned brighter than the sun itself. Intelligent gaze drifted to her, and to the fiery companion upon her haunches. There was no envy in the Goose's gaze - only curiosity and warmth.
Even those not directly before her did not miss her gaze. A long neck craned in the direction of the trio - @Ard, @Erd, and @Atreus - as they huddled off to the side. Curious, they were... except for the one. He seemed so unhappy. In fact, as did @Raymond.. The Goose's eyes regarded him with concern, although not for her own well being.
The crowd continued to grow, and the Goose knew her work was done. The message was delivered, and she knew that Florentine would pass it along and make the most just decision suited for her Court.
So for now, the Goose's bright eyes and darker than ink wings stretched, and she took to the sky. She was never far, though - as did the Terrastellan's cared for one another, somehow this Goose felt care for them too. She knew the Gods would need her again soon... and she committed to never being far away.
The Goose has left the immediate area of the Court, however she will still be in the vicinity of Terrastella in the event that the Gods seek her services once more.
Everyone is allowed to post in this thread, along with heading out to explore the general Summit area. Please be aware: the meeting area itself is currently restricted, and only the Regime and their chosen representatives are allowed in!
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To tag this account: @*'Random Events' without the asterisk.
Please be advised, tagging the Random Event account does not guarantee a response!
06-08-2018, 12:22 AM - This post was last modified: 06-08-2018, 12:22 AM by Random Events
