Novus
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Novus closed 10/31/2022, after The Gentle Exodus

Experience Earning  - Light up the night [summer]

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Azrael
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#1

Azrael walked along the mountain slopes, climbing upward to the place where he’d come from, long ago. Far from here, down along the beach, bonfires burn brightly into the night sky. From the mountains, he could still smell the burning wood and see the smoke trails and sparks which rose from their fires. He could still hear the music, muted but lively, and as he watched the event from the mountains, he could even make out the dotted appearance of equines on the beach, mingling and drinking as the festival carried on, late into the night.

A piece of him longs to be among them, with his touch along Elena’s neck, swaying to the music in a soulful and intimate dance. But his beloved had not found her way to the festival yet. Perhaps she had come to the mountains instead, where on another summer’s night, they had lain entwined with each other, staring at the heavens and letting the weight of the world fall away. For in Caligo’s peaks, Azrael found peace and comfort. In the quiet stillness of the night, he felt close to Caligo, as if he were meant to be in this place.

It hadn’t always been the case, for the shed-stars had called the mountains home long before the lands of Denocte. Long ago, the People had lived as close as mortals could, to Caligo’s stars. They had worshipped the heavens, oblivious to the plight of mere mortals, thinking themselves something more akin to gods or stars themselves than to creatures born of blood and bone. This would be their downfall though, for the shed-stars’ blood ran true red, not of light as they were told. On the day when fire came to their home, they had burned as mortals burn, too proud to heed the warnings which were foretold. It was a wonder that any had escaped.

It wasn’t the first time Azrael thought back to that night, with the flicker of fire in the distance bringing the memories to life. It wouldn’t be the last time either. But the memories were enough to drive him to the comfort of home once more, and as he drinks in the mountain air, Azrael finds his center once more. Upward he climbed, following a set of footprints not known, curious to know where they led. As he turns the final curve, he finds the source, pushing away the flicker of annoyance at the interruption in favor of the curiosity which ebbs toward the scholar.

His gaze falls onto Cicatrix, the beautiful soul with a star map painted across their body. Soundlessly, he makes his way forward, clearing his throat so as not to startle the stargazer with his approach. “I thought I might find you here.” He offers the stranger a bright smile, before standing beside them, turning his face toward the stars and letting the beauty of them steal his breath away.


Azrael
html by castlegraphics; artwork by magtox


@Cicatrix









Played by Offline Kaiju [PM] Posts: 33 — Threads: 10
Signos: 5
Inactive Character
#2





LET ME SHOW YOU
what you've been missing

This world is far from what they're used to. A place that lives and breathes magic, some individuals openly revealing it . . . Cicatrix is taken by both the skies and stars and the creatures that they walk among, their fellow brethren. Immortal as they are, they are also flesh and blood, unable to die by old age but they bleed just as any others do on this plane of existence. It's such a lovely thing to see, even if they do earn the spare glance here and there for their rather ... unusual ... visage. Their appearance is something that could have been considered a curse by many, but also simply something they've accepted. Towering, ethereal, with massive wings that would tuck away and hide against their sides, as well as the glimmering blue that sometimes leaks from their mouth and the hollows of their eyes. It isn't as if it's normal.

Perhaps that's why Cicatrix prefers to stick to the night time, basking under the stars. Being born under them and finding a solace in them over the centuries, looking up at the heavens as they changed and learning as much as they could. Here in Denocte, in Novus . . . it's something to relearn. A different land, a different sky. Cicatrix has never once questioned the changing heavens, they've only ever set out to learn about them every time they've changed. It's a familiarity in their bones, something echoed by the glimmering stars above and how they seem to always stick to their body. Carrying them like a mighty celestial deity that they could never possibly be ( not that they hoped to ever achieve something so far fetched ).

These are the lands of Caligo, however. A deity that sort of pulls at Cica's curiosity. Perhaps some day, they will find a sort of connection with Caligo, much like the denizens of Denocte, and that's why they've trekked up the mountain. While they could have flown, walking seems like a much more intimate activity, with their hooves delicately leaving behind marks in the dirt path that winds up to an open clearing under the summer night's sky. With their head back, it could have looked as if someone was simply basking under the moon and stars, if not for the lack of skin or muscle on their face. They can still see the stars above, see the familiar shine of some, the placements here and there reminding them of the place they had so long ago called home.

As they admire, they are aware of the sound of steps and a cleared throat. Turning their head, the cloak moves with them, and the shine of the halo is more prominent with their head down, casting the golden glow across the ground and around them, making them seem even more ethereal than it would in the daylight. "Hello, Azrael," they greet with a smile in their words. "They're so beautiful . . .even if some of them are unfamiliar here. It's as if the skies have changed with the lands." But it always seems that way. A new land, a new home, and the skies seem to shift and look a little different.



@Azrael












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Azrael
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#3

Azrael understood their affinity to the stars, for he too was drawn toward the sky with an inexplicable pull.  If he could, the shed-star would leap into the inky blackness, leaving this mortal world behind and becoming one with Caligo’s stars.  In death, the shed-stars are said to ascend once more to the heaven from whence they had come, each burning brightly as a new star in the sky.  He liked the thought of it, wondering if those who had perished on that fateful day, found their peace now among the constellations.  It was better than believing the alternative, that they had simply faded out of existence, their lives as inconsequential as an extinguished match, burning too fast before turning to smoke.

He stands quietly beside the stranger, both staring at the stars in silence, taking in the wonder of them.  There are galaxies to witness here, patterns in the sky which had been passed through stories from generation to generation.  He knew the tales, familiar as a mother’s song in his memory, but they did not stroke his curiosity tonight.  Instead, he flicks a glance at Cicatrix, seeing unfamiliar starfields on their wings and shimmering ooze where eyes might have peered from.  It is an appearance which could only come from a dream, far different than any other he had known.  But it does not bother the shed-star, his own frame glowing softly with the turquoise light of stardust, casting a blue light against the halo of Cicatrix’ golden shadow.

“Where is it that you’ve come from?  What is your homeland like?”  He is curious to know more of Cicatrix, and of what stories they might share.  In return, he shares the story of the People, his voice little more than a quiet whisper in the night.  “Though I call Denocte home now, it wasn’t always.  There was a time that the People lived deep in the Arma Mountains – into the wilds beyond Denocte’s borders.  Our land was at the highest point in Novus, where the stars were close enough to touch – or so it seemed.  It was a beautiful place, with temples of white marble and an observatory made entirely of silver glass.”  A lump formed in his throat as he thought of the beauty of home, remembering the many hours he’d spent there as a child, learning and growing under the tutelage of the elders.

“It is beautiful here,” he assures the scholar, “but nothing will compare to the skies over my home.  At night, they were painted with great streaks of stardust, a kaleidoscope of colors.  When the sun faded, we would turn down all the lights, so only the starlight would shine upon us… and it was always bright enough to see.”  He sighed, nostalgia clear as he reminisced on times past, before turning to his companion with a strain in his voice.  

“But now, that place is gone…  What I wouldn’t give to lay eyes on it once more.”

Azrael
html by castlegraphics; artwork by magtox


@Cicatrix









Played by Offline Kaiju [PM] Posts: 33 — Threads: 10
Signos: 5
Inactive Character
#4





LET ME SHOW YOU
what you've been missing

What a contrast the two of them make. Both are creations of the night sky, but one bears the golden light of a halo while the other glows like the steady blue of the moon. Heavenly bodies colliding in the form of gentle lights that dance between the two of them.

The question causes Cicatrix to lower their head from their stargazing, gently sliding their tongue against the inside of their teeth to hold the shimmering blue from leaking between the front at least. Instead, it runs in delicate rivulets from between the sharp teeth behind their front, gleaming and dripping to the ground under them, the shimmer fading rapidly as it sinks down into the soil. "My homeland?" It's been a long time since they've been asked such a thing. Before they can answer, however they are gifted the story of Azrael's home, and they listen with a slightly tilted head, showing their interest with small motions while their wings cup their sides. The sweep of their tail is quieted as it wraps around a hind leg, twisting down to the hoof where the strands tangle along golden dew claws.

Losing one's home is never easy, they know. They've seen many a fall of a home through their years, and can only solemnly nod toward their compatriot. "It's never easy to lose a home," they utter, and carefully, a front hoof flicks through dark grasses, turning their head away a moment. "It sounds beautiful, like my home." They begin to finally reveal at least a small fraction of their past.

"Sometimes it's hard to remember where I come from, it's been so long. But I remember the dusting of colors in the sky, the galaxies that shimmered and danced and gave way to beautiful stars at night. I did not have biological parents that I could recall, but I remember the ones that adopted me, and the home they showed me. Buildings of gold and white, vendors in streets selling beautiful trinkets..." The words trail a little, and Cicatrix draws in a breath to let it out in a soft huff of laughter. "It's a place that I remember the stars from, and it's so very far from here. But I've seen many places and many night skies before coming here. It's just as beautiful here as home, though. I know my home is long gone, but I am hoping to at least find a place to call home here." Their ears twist under their cloak, before releasing a soft breath as their head drops a little, just slightly.

"When you live as long as I have, you learn that things come and go, but it is all beautiful, and to appreciate what you had before, and what you have now. I think I would have liked to see your home, it sounds incredible." The smile is at least in their voice, tender and soft, and they slowly gaze back up to the stars. "Sometimes, however, I wonder if I will become one of the stars above, and see the world so far below. To dance with the celestials and enjoy the eternity that they offer." It would not happen for a long time, but it's something they can at least hold on to and believe.



@Azrael












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Azrael
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#5

He felt at ease beside the stargazer, finding a kindred spirit in them which he hadn’t felt in some time.  There had been other shed-stars to come to Denocte – yes.  But the shed-stars had never been a particularly close knit group.  The People had valued knowledge and fortune above all others.  Children were born, taken from their parents, and raised as simply another cog in the wheel.  Stories were passed, more out of necessity – to teach instead of entertain.  Youth were cherished, but as the continuation of a bloodline instead of the warmth of a child.  He had never been given the opportunity to know love and affection, never understood it, until he came to this place.

Denocte had given him everything he hadn’t known in his past life.  But there was still a piece of him which longed for the homeland he’d known and lost, most of all, for it’s closeness to the stars.  But they were warm and near here too, bright and shining as they always had, if not a bit further than he’d known them before.  “Your world sounds beautiful too – idyllic.  Were the stars different from what you see here?”

He watches as the heavens turn, as minutes click by.  They might have stood together for hours, each in awe of the way the starfields changed as dusk turns to night, night back to dawn.  Lazy clouds pass by in front of them, but he knows the patterns well enough to recite them from memory.  “Cepheus.  Carina.  Centarus.”  He whispers as he counts, taking in the beauty of them as if seeing them for the first-time all over again.  “I find the brightest ones each night, wondering all that they have seen.  Wars, the birth of nations, their fall....  They are three just there, forming in a triangle… Altair, Vega, Deneb.”  He pointes out the stars as if they are his friends, naming them with a fondness, his voice warm with wonder.

“The People believe that when you die, your soul ascends to the heavens and a star is born.  But I have seen a star die too… have held one in my touch.”  For in a strange and poetic turn of events, Azrael’s own glow had come from a dying star, clinging to him as a last beacon of hope in this mortal realm, passing on its light before it faded into the earth.  It was Caligo, he had decided, who blessed him with the starlight, and he whispered a prayer under his breath when thinking of it, a prayer that only the goddess could hear.

“What do you think they see, when they look upon us?  What would they wish for, if stars could dream a wish to life?”

Azrael
html by castlegraphics; artwork by magtox


@Cicatrix









Played by Offline Kaiju [PM] Posts: 33 — Threads: 10
Signos: 5
Inactive Character
#6





LET ME SHOW YOU
what you've been missing

They've not felt close to anyone in decades, or was it centuries? The years had bled together so much over their lifetime that it had become something of a fairy tale to them to ever be close to anyone again. Friends are hard to come by in a world that would look upon them and claim 'monster' simply from look. Here, it's different, and maybe it's a place to actually call home in some way. Even as a scholar, they can share the many stories of the worlds they've belonged to, the societies they've seen and the nations that grew and fell all in the span of their lifetime. Knowledge, they know, they can at least share, and perhaps find friends along the way. Azrael seems to be one of those friends.

Head tilting back, they gaze upon the stars, ears twitching back underneath their cloak, pinned down against skull and warm flesh alike. "Yes, and no," they answer simply. "I've been around lands that are far south of here, and far north. Places from the wildest dreams someone could think up. Some have stars that I do not see here, but perhaps that is just the position of the world, and how we move on. I've seen creatures from the stars, too. Deities that shine just as brightly and carry the coats of the cosmos on their skin." If they could smile, they would. As it were, it sounds like a gentle longing in their tone. A soft whisper and delicately held admiration. They are breathless at the thought of what they've seen, but they are always so entranced by the cosmos.

They draw in a breath, gazing from star to star. They've learned the names in many tongues but it's nice to hear them in a familiar one. Head tilting, the cloak around them seems to cling to their being even in the warm summer's eve, and they find it a comforting touch more than they would have normally. Sometimes, their head is far in the clouds, but a reminder such as the whispering cloak against their body also tells them of the tales of the earth. Anything with beauty always seems to grasp their attention, including the small flowers and shells in the oceans.

"I've seen stars be born, and stars die in the night sky, fading away into nothing," they admit, voice softer. Centuries of life along this planet only reminds them of that. "Where I come from, they would have called me a Star Walker still. One that has seen many things and lived for as long as they've known. They used to weave stories of immortals when I was but a foal. . . and I had always wondered what an immortal was. I always thought it was just a star . . . I did now know it could also be a curse." Perhaps it's a steer in a strange direction, as they gaze upon the stars. But it's something itching at them. Immortality sometimes feels like nothing but a burden in their life, and now, Cicatrix realizes just what comes with it at times.

Tilting their head away from the clouds, they bring themselves back down onto earth with their thoughts. "Stars? Perhaps they would wish to walk among us, and see us. I feel that maybe they would wish to be not so alone up there." Star Walkers, it was told, were nothing but solitary beings with their immortality, and not by choice. Cicatrix is realizing more and more that they've become what had once been nothing but a far fetched tale in their youth.



@Azrael












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Azrael
Guest
#7

When the other speaks of immortality as a curse, Azrael has to agree – for he too was an immortal being, one who would roam this earth long after the others had left their mortal bodies behind.  There was a certain sadness to it, paired with his longing to know the stars as intimately as he could – and he would dedicate his immortal life to their studies, watching the way the stars would be born and would die, watching the way the skies would change as seasons turned to years, and years to lifetimes.  Still, he knew it could be a lonely existence, taking solace in knowing Elena would be by his side (for at least as long as she would have him) – and infinity was far from enough time with her.

He smiles to Cicatrix, nodding understandably at his mentions of star walking.  Though Azrael had never been blessed to walk among the stars, he knew those who claimed to do so.  The People were granted many gifts, and some chosen ones had spoken of being transported in the cosmos – of dancing in the night sky with nothing holding their earthly body to this world.  It sounded like a beautiful experience, one he’d had a small taste of long ago, on the island.  Then, the starfield had been but an illusion – but oh, how beautiful the false-stars had been.

“I hope they are not lonely,” he whispers to the night, “ for there are many who gaze longingly skyward – many who wish and whisper with hopes that they will listen.  For myself, I know they have been a constant companion.  For you, as well, I presume.  For only one who knows the stars intimately could speak of them as you are now – as friends, and as something more than simple lights in the sky.

Please, stay and enjoy the night.”
 He nods to Cicatrix, turning toward the court once more and watching the residents within milling about.  “I should go, for someone waits for me, beside the sea.”  He thinks of his lover now, a soft smile on his face.  IT was good, Azrael decided, to have more than the stars to live for now.  He hoped Cicatrix would find his purpose here too, soon.  “Thank you for the company.”

And the shed star leaves the mountains, turning toward Terrestella, where Elena and her daughter waited in their home by the sea.


Azrael
html by castlegraphics; artwork by magtox


@Cicatrix









Played by Offline Kaiju [PM] Posts: 33 — Threads: 10
Signos: 5
Inactive Character
#8





LET ME SHOW YOU
what you've been missing

Lonely.

That seems to fit them all too well. Born of deities they had no idea about, only heard soft whispered rumors of them. Of their family that existed . . . of anything remotely like their father or mother. The stars had become home when the herd that had taken them in was warm and welcoming, despite how they looked.

Star Walker, blessed by the night skies and the creatures within the soft glows of a realm too far for anyone to truly fathom. Cicatrix takes in a breath, letting it out slowly and lowering their head, casting a weary gaze down at the ground under cloven hooves rather than the stars that brought so much hope above. Lonely is a word that impacts them more than they will ever admit. Sowing seeds in their veins that sprout vines, wrapping them in a tightening sensation they cannot shake.

"Companion... yes." Silent and lurking as ever above, casting their light to a world that would not appreciate them as much as those in the Court they have come to enjoy.

Cicatrix swivels their ears, and drops their head down once more, tilting a gaze toward the grasses underhoof and watching a delicate drip of blue.

Lonely.

"Goodbye, Azrael. Thank you for being here with me tonight." The curve of their tail wraps their hind leg, and Cicatrix is left to whittle away the hours of the night gazing out on the horizon with a blank stare, with no discernable thoughts.

Yes. They are lonely. They always have been, haven't they?


@Azrael
&& done







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