pharate - waiting to emerge

[Beqanna Fairy]

Beqanna is angry. For a half-dozen centuries zer children have bickered back and forth, and ze has finally had enough. Beqanna gathers them to zerself one midwinter day. They assemble in a semi-circle around their MotherFather, each looking subdued and rather shy. None of them look apologetic despite their crimes, and so Beqanna takes it upon zerself to punish them, to ensure that they know of their crimes. “I have allowed you governance of your own worlds, but you have disappointed me. What right do you have to discriminate?” Here ze looks to Desert, Valley, and Dale. “And you three – why do you think yourselves responsible for draining my magic from those who seek your shelter?” Beqanna’s flinty gaze settles on Falls, Gates, and Chamber. “And all of you –dividing yourselves? What are light and dark but two halves of a whole? I am ashamed” “I take back the magics I have given you. I take them all back.” Ze does so, pulling back the magic into the earth. Each of zer children will feel it, god and equine alike. They will feel a ripple in their spirits, an intangible something pulled out of them in all directions at once. They will not feel its absence because it has only relocated, drawn back into Beqanna’s heart. “You may have them back in time, but this time the division of power will be fair. You are siblings, and it is time that you act like it.” With one cool breath, ze strips Amazon of her tattoos. “Your followers make an oath, but they do not swear to the right gods. Take this, and raise him. His growth will reflect my pleasure with you.” A cub appears at the feet of Amazon, a jaguar that winds itself between her legs. Tundra is next, and his scars grow less distinct as Beqanna tells him: “Do not forget your origins. I will bring your ruins to light that your people might remember the past. They are but stones for now – they will change if you improve. Beqanna turns to the rest of them, and with a deep inhalation strips them of their power. “You have forgotten me. I will change the lives of your people to ensure that you do not forget again.” Beqanna is the earth and the sky and the water, and one by one ze alters the kingdoms. Some remain the same, others shift minutely. To Chamber and Valley ze gives a single seed, telling them to “plant it, and ensure that it grows strong.” To Gates, Falls, Desert, Dale she gifts zer waters. “Place these where you will, and protect them. Do not allow them to become dry, or suffer my displeasure.” And then, in a swirl of stars, Beqanna is gone and zer children return to the worlds they occupy, each to speak in dreams with the leader of their followers. They appear as the most awe-inspiring dream, each as individual as the horse they appear to. ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ Dale appears to Tiphon: “I have given you a gift. Drink from my pool in the hills and you will see your soul. Drink today and you will see only an infant, for my magics need time to grow. Your soul will be unreliable for a time, but eventually it will become what you need it. I take back my other magics in their entirety, save those that I think most useful. You, and leaders to come, will be immortal for as long as you sit the throne. The pool will give wings to two horses to create an airforce, and a horn to the leader of your army. Your peace leader may receive empathy from my pool, and their second-in command invisibility. Petition me, and I might grant something more.” And then they are gone. ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ In summary - ROYALTY: -King/Queen allowed immortality as long as they rule - non-genetic -King/Queen allowed one trait that is in line with the kingdom (ie Tundra ice manipulation, Desert's sand shifting, etc) ARMY: -Wings to maximum 2 horses to have "airforce" - non-genetic (allow license to make wings cooler, like butterfly wings, etc) -Horns to leader of the army - non-genetic (any horn is acceptable) DIPLOMATS: -Empathy to leader of the peace caste - non-genetic -Invisibility to second highest member of the peace caste - non-genetic All of these traits can be given without approval, except for the one king/queen trait that is not immortality. This trait must be approved by administration, and is contingent upon ruling. Kingdom granted traits will not be marked in the database, to show they are both non-genetic and disappear once that horse has ceased to serve in that kingdom. You may add them to your profile with the caveat that they're kingdom granted. Traits are granted by the magical entity's alliance with the king/queen, who has sworn to protect the magical entity while it's in its fledgling state. Because your kingdom's magical entity is still an infant it will take 6 months (2 RL years) for the trait to come to full fruition. If your queen/king possesses magic they may grant the trait themselves. All other kingdom granted traits are now completely gone (see directly below). ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ Beqanna will be roaming the Meadow for several weeks. If zer grandchildren feel too defenseless without the magics that zer children have now taken from them, perhaps they might seek zer out. Be warned, Beqanna is benevolent but not overly generous.

[Ramiel]

The mountains call to him, even in his dreams. Their voices combine into a sonorous bass that beats into the chambers of his heart. Even as he sleeps, the pounding is there. So many drums hammering, so many voices calling their urgent summons.

He stirs in his sleep nights after his coronation. He thinks he can ignore it, that it will go away if he doesn’t acknowledge it. Ramiel has no reason to believe that the mountains are actually alive after all. Sure, he has heard tales of the kingdoms drawing breath. His own mother had told him how the Dale had risen up and threatened Adolpha for not having traits, forcing her to leave her own birthland. But those are just stories meant to keep out the non-mythics. It’s unfortunate, this segregation, but the young stallion knows it to be a horse-made rule sustained from one generation to the next, not god-made or kingdom-made.

At least, he thinks he knows.

At first, he ignores the mountains and their siren call. But eventually, after nights without sleep, he can take no more. The young stallion rises from the ground (from the spot he had sunk into in exhaustion between the rising roots of an ancient tree) and sets off. The moon is pale in the sky above, casting a milky glaze over the tops of the trees and mountains. It’s almost as if they have been dipped in the remnants of a faded celestial body. It’s a strange light for an equally strange night; the world feels as if it’s quivering around him even though the place is still.

Ramiel climbs into the foothills and then the mountains. His breath becomes more labored with every step higher into the reaches, but he finds he cannot stop. Even if he wanted to rest, he knows instinctively that he couldn’t. The Dale moves him like a puppet. And if the river is the heart of the kingdom, it doesn’t want him there - it wants him elsewhere. It wants him in its uppermost places, its highest peaks; it draws him to its mind.

He is dizzy with effort and fitful rest by the time he comes to a halt. He’s not sure why he has been brought here at first. The clearing is large and filled with wildflower blossoms, but otherwise unremarkable. He frowns, thinks maybe he’s meant to go on. But the pounding feels so near now and his feet aren’t compelled to further motion – this must be it. And then he hears it, the bubbling of a brook. It’s hidden at first by all the foliage, but in just a few steps, the source of the sound becomes visible. A mountain pool in the middle of the forest. On the far side of the water, tree branches are suspended over the surface, silver gilded by the moon. He moves closer to the pool and the pulse that has driven him for days immediately stops. Serenity floods him then; the feeling that he is where he is meant to be – where his kingdom wants him to be – fills him.

This is the change, he thinks, his face peering into the depths of the pool. They had all felt it coming (in the Dale, certainly, and perhaps all across Beqanna). They had all known a new sun was dawning. The Dale hadn’t come to him in his sleep (not visually, anyway – not like his father) but it had its own way of revealing the change to its new king. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Ramiel registers that everything is different now. All of the kingdoms have been visited and gifted in some capacity. The pool is his immediate concern, though. It feels baby-new and ancient at the same time, immature and independent all at once. And although it seems wrong in this new-old sacred place, he takes a drink from it.

He draws long and deeply from the water, all the while searching for a sign. As he stares at the grey-blue surface, something finally begins to take shape. It’s hazy, and he blinks rapidly at first, wondering if he’s imagined it. But no, the image becomes clearer every second. He sees a white fuzzy lump, with no distinct appendages. Light flickers across the surface of the pool, making it hard to discern any other features. Ramiel forces himself to concentrate, to steady his breathing despite his growing excitement. The spring-fed pool has a purpose; clearly, he only needs to figure it out. As he calms, the white shape reveals itself even more. A dark, triangular face with black, beady eyes looks up at him. It seems to reach up then, extending its neck to the surface of the water. The greying stallion matches its movement but in reverse, lowering his muzzle and intending to meet it in the middle. But when he makes contact with the water, the image of the animal immediately disappears.

He leaves the pool shortly afterwards, feeling lighter than he has in days. Even though the image hadn’t lasted – that he hadn’t freed the creature from the water – he knew it would come back. He would, too. He’d visit the pool every day until whatever it was felt ready to emerge. When he had looked into the water, Ramiel felt like a part of him was coming to life. He felt connected to the animal already, and leaving it felt akin to abandonment. But sleep and responsibilities are calling. In the dark hours, though, he will come back.

r a m i e l

what a day to begin again