04-15-2018, 11:42 PM
hold me in this wild, wild world
'cause in your warmth I forget how cold it can be
'cause in your warmth I forget how cold it can be
The first to speak after Brennen is Klaudius – Brennen turns to him, and begins to answer with, “Yes, of sorts,” but because he speaks slowly and deliberately, that’s all he has time to answer; the answer is truly much longer and more complicated, but clearly nobody has the patience (or the interest) in the rest of the response. Krone steps forward into the silence he leaves with his consideration, and admits her faults, but ends in proposing that if she wins the vote, she will abdicate in favor of her yearling daughter. He doesn’t bother to give his thoughts on such a foolish action – he has the confidence in his success that only thorough preparation can give, and doesn’t believe it will come to that. But if it does, a yearling girl is even easier to depose than her mother.
Kori and Galilee are the first to vote; Kori from the position he has taken at Brennen’s shoulder, and Galilee from the edge of the group where she has taken their young and exhuberant daughter to keep her out of the midst of what might very well become chaos. Brennen holds his silence but his blood thrums with the excitement of now being the moment their world changes; into this excitement Scorch pours her scathing remarks from across the group and while he doesn’t laugh out loud (that would be incredibly uncouth, in this serious moment), he can’t help finding her gaze with his own and giving a quick little grin, because she has voiced his very thoughts on Krone’s suggestion.
The next is another dissenter – the stallion that Brennen has seen around only in the embrace of Krone, and from all reports from his new Brothers, the only newcomer their queen has bothered to greet in months. He questions Brennen’s right to nominate himself and the bay warrior takes a deep breath, the thrum in his blood suddenly becoming a boil, but he doesn’t have to say anything in response – his daughter Bristol, ever with the heat Brennen conceals, takes down Durotan with a short and scathing remark that momentarily makes him wonder if maybe she’s secretly Scorch’s daughter, and not Prague’s. Dismissing Durotan as unimportant and obviously not even interested in seeing sense, unlike Klaudius who had at least asked an intelligent question, Brennen turns to his left after Leilan speaks to murmur a quiet response, “That is one of the things we shall all decide together, once this is settled.”
Another descendant of Scorch herself speaks, offering a vote, and at this point Brennen knows they’ve won. The only non-brother adult left in the Kingdom is Kylin, and he does not see her amongst those gathered; her vote would not be enough to turn the vote in Krone’s favor anyway. Krone, too, can read her defeat in the cards, and he observes the tears forming in the – former – queen’s eyes rather dispassionately. If he had kept the brothers outside of the Kingdom, if this should have been a surprise, he might have felt worse; but as the secret grew older and bigger, it had been under her very nose for the discovering, and she was not present enough to discover it, and that has lost her a good deal of his respect. A Queen may cry over many things – but not like this. She walks towards him and he is curious – will she attack him? He meets her hateful gaze and could certainly see her doing so; the jewel between her eyes glints almost mockingly at them, and finally a little bit of his frustration with her slips through in his response; “King.” A single word in rebuke to what she whispers in his ear, as if the Brothers standing at either of his shoulders can’t hear her.
The bay-and-green mare gathers her children and makes to leave, and he calls after her, “This is not an exile. Nobody is demanding that any of you leave.” But it is Klaudius’ words that drive him to true ire, pinning his ears and snaking his head out, this time a clear threat instead of veiled one. The first real sign that he is more than Brennen, the disappointed Ischian; he is Brennen, the respected warrior and not to be trifled with. “My daughters are not an iota ‘less’ than any man. I dare anyone who thinks they are to try their mettle against them. They do not need me to defend them, though I will to my dying breath.” He raises his head and his voice to the whole group, “The Brotherhood has always been defined by more than just our gender; we live by a code of conduct and a personal discipline that will define us again, whether we choose to allow women to hold rank or not. If you cannot understand that, you are welcome to leave now.” His bright amber gaze swings ‘round to encompass all of those gathered, inviting them to challenge him (the foolish path) or to take their leave (the wise path) if they cannot heed his words in this.
Cagney’s calm and wise words from the back bring Brennen back to himself, and he takes a deep breath and puts Klaudius, Krone, and Durotan from his mind. Now he smiles at the mostly-familiar faces around him and turns his mind to the things they must decide as a Brotherhood. There is, after all, no rest for the weary. “Brothers, and sisters. Welcome to the new Ischia. This is possible because of our hard work and your trust in me and I will do my best by all of you, and I trust you will all do our best for your new Kingdom family as well. I know many of us are weary from preparing for this moment, but we have a few things to discuss before we can rest, so bear with me please.”
He turns to search out Scorch again, and gives her a nod; a more formal greeting than if they were in private, but this is a formal situation. “We are Allied with Nerine. Going forward, we will support our sister-Kingdom in many ways, and they us in return. When we go out to show ourselves to the world in stealing and challenging, any overtures towards the Nerinians will be for practice, and friendly only. We will need to make visits to the other Kingdoms to discuss our relationships with them very soon in the days that follow. I will be going to Nerine and Hyaline, but I will need volunteers to bring the news of change to Loess, Sylva, and Tephra, and bring back news of their Kingdoms so we can decide what to do about the rest of them.” He pauses to wait for volunteers, and then goes on.
“As a Brotherhood, we have several other important decisions to make, on which I would like to hear your opinions. First, Hestia and I would like to take suggestions on new titles for our bonded Kingdoms. They are what remains of the Amazons, and much of Beqanna knows of them as such, but we have never had such a title and she wishes to move past their history into their future. If you can think of names for our respective orders that are appropriate, please suggest them. Second, we must decide the role of women in our Brotherhood. As I said before, we have always been defined by more than just our gender, and some women have risen to rank within our order on occasion in the past. We must also consider that Beqanna herself has made her opinion clear on exclusion before when she struck down our homes for the harsh lines we had drawn between good and evil, and mythical and non-mythical. The Brotherhood will welcome some women into its ranks, but I would hear your opinions on how we decide which women – and men, for that matter – are worthy of holding which ranks and positions of power within Ischia.”
Here, he can’t help but look around for the powerful women in his own life who surround them – Galilee, powerful in her own way with the way she excels at raising their children; his daughters, all as good or better at their chosen skills than his sons; Scorch, with power written into every line of her body despite it’s strange and naked appearance. He has never doubted the power of women. “Third,” he continues to number his list so as not to forget anything, “There is the matter of the code the Brotherhood has always lived by, which is something that general was unspoken. No more – we will be formalizing it, and refining it, so that we may have it always close to our hearts as well as be better able to speak of our Brotherhood and what it means to outsiders. So I would hear from each of you what is important to you, or what the Brotherhood should believe, and so forth, so we can come to some sort of agreement together. Once we have all had our say, our thinkers and diplomats will meet to formulate a few different options for exact wording, and we shall then vote on it.” He is every inch of a King and leader, but his style runs about as far away from “dictator” as one can get; this is what it means to be a Brotherhood: to work together.
“Finally, while I hope to get to know each and every one of you personally, for now I will need some of your pity and assistance in that area. Please let me know your name if we have not met, and how you feel you can best serve Ischia. We will start with a warrior and a diplomatic caste, but any who have a specialized set of skills should also make that known to the group or to me, so that the right place can be found for you .”
Kori and Galilee are the first to vote; Kori from the position he has taken at Brennen’s shoulder, and Galilee from the edge of the group where she has taken their young and exhuberant daughter to keep her out of the midst of what might very well become chaos. Brennen holds his silence but his blood thrums with the excitement of now being the moment their world changes; into this excitement Scorch pours her scathing remarks from across the group and while he doesn’t laugh out loud (that would be incredibly uncouth, in this serious moment), he can’t help finding her gaze with his own and giving a quick little grin, because she has voiced his very thoughts on Krone’s suggestion.
The next is another dissenter – the stallion that Brennen has seen around only in the embrace of Krone, and from all reports from his new Brothers, the only newcomer their queen has bothered to greet in months. He questions Brennen’s right to nominate himself and the bay warrior takes a deep breath, the thrum in his blood suddenly becoming a boil, but he doesn’t have to say anything in response – his daughter Bristol, ever with the heat Brennen conceals, takes down Durotan with a short and scathing remark that momentarily makes him wonder if maybe she’s secretly Scorch’s daughter, and not Prague’s. Dismissing Durotan as unimportant and obviously not even interested in seeing sense, unlike Klaudius who had at least asked an intelligent question, Brennen turns to his left after Leilan speaks to murmur a quiet response, “That is one of the things we shall all decide together, once this is settled.”
Another descendant of Scorch herself speaks, offering a vote, and at this point Brennen knows they’ve won. The only non-brother adult left in the Kingdom is Kylin, and he does not see her amongst those gathered; her vote would not be enough to turn the vote in Krone’s favor anyway. Krone, too, can read her defeat in the cards, and he observes the tears forming in the – former – queen’s eyes rather dispassionately. If he had kept the brothers outside of the Kingdom, if this should have been a surprise, he might have felt worse; but as the secret grew older and bigger, it had been under her very nose for the discovering, and she was not present enough to discover it, and that has lost her a good deal of his respect. A Queen may cry over many things – but not like this. She walks towards him and he is curious – will she attack him? He meets her hateful gaze and could certainly see her doing so; the jewel between her eyes glints almost mockingly at them, and finally a little bit of his frustration with her slips through in his response; “King.” A single word in rebuke to what she whispers in his ear, as if the Brothers standing at either of his shoulders can’t hear her.
The bay-and-green mare gathers her children and makes to leave, and he calls after her, “This is not an exile. Nobody is demanding that any of you leave.” But it is Klaudius’ words that drive him to true ire, pinning his ears and snaking his head out, this time a clear threat instead of veiled one. The first real sign that he is more than Brennen, the disappointed Ischian; he is Brennen, the respected warrior and not to be trifled with. “My daughters are not an iota ‘less’ than any man. I dare anyone who thinks they are to try their mettle against them. They do not need me to defend them, though I will to my dying breath.” He raises his head and his voice to the whole group, “The Brotherhood has always been defined by more than just our gender; we live by a code of conduct and a personal discipline that will define us again, whether we choose to allow women to hold rank or not. If you cannot understand that, you are welcome to leave now.” His bright amber gaze swings ‘round to encompass all of those gathered, inviting them to challenge him (the foolish path) or to take their leave (the wise path) if they cannot heed his words in this.
Cagney’s calm and wise words from the back bring Brennen back to himself, and he takes a deep breath and puts Klaudius, Krone, and Durotan from his mind. Now he smiles at the mostly-familiar faces around him and turns his mind to the things they must decide as a Brotherhood. There is, after all, no rest for the weary. “Brothers, and sisters. Welcome to the new Ischia. This is possible because of our hard work and your trust in me and I will do my best by all of you, and I trust you will all do our best for your new Kingdom family as well. I know many of us are weary from preparing for this moment, but we have a few things to discuss before we can rest, so bear with me please.”
He turns to search out Scorch again, and gives her a nod; a more formal greeting than if they were in private, but this is a formal situation. “We are Allied with Nerine. Going forward, we will support our sister-Kingdom in many ways, and they us in return. When we go out to show ourselves to the world in stealing and challenging, any overtures towards the Nerinians will be for practice, and friendly only. We will need to make visits to the other Kingdoms to discuss our relationships with them very soon in the days that follow. I will be going to Nerine and Hyaline, but I will need volunteers to bring the news of change to Loess, Sylva, and Tephra, and bring back news of their Kingdoms so we can decide what to do about the rest of them.” He pauses to wait for volunteers, and then goes on.
“As a Brotherhood, we have several other important decisions to make, on which I would like to hear your opinions. First, Hestia and I would like to take suggestions on new titles for our bonded Kingdoms. They are what remains of the Amazons, and much of Beqanna knows of them as such, but we have never had such a title and she wishes to move past their history into their future. If you can think of names for our respective orders that are appropriate, please suggest them. Second, we must decide the role of women in our Brotherhood. As I said before, we have always been defined by more than just our gender, and some women have risen to rank within our order on occasion in the past. We must also consider that Beqanna herself has made her opinion clear on exclusion before when she struck down our homes for the harsh lines we had drawn between good and evil, and mythical and non-mythical. The Brotherhood will welcome some women into its ranks, but I would hear your opinions on how we decide which women – and men, for that matter – are worthy of holding which ranks and positions of power within Ischia.”
Here, he can’t help but look around for the powerful women in his own life who surround them – Galilee, powerful in her own way with the way she excels at raising their children; his daughters, all as good or better at their chosen skills than his sons; Scorch, with power written into every line of her body despite it’s strange and naked appearance. He has never doubted the power of women. “Third,” he continues to number his list so as not to forget anything, “There is the matter of the code the Brotherhood has always lived by, which is something that general was unspoken. No more – we will be formalizing it, and refining it, so that we may have it always close to our hearts as well as be better able to speak of our Brotherhood and what it means to outsiders. So I would hear from each of you what is important to you, or what the Brotherhood should believe, and so forth, so we can come to some sort of agreement together. Once we have all had our say, our thinkers and diplomats will meet to formulate a few different options for exact wording, and we shall then vote on it.” He is every inch of a King and leader, but his style runs about as far away from “dictator” as one can get; this is what it means to be a Brotherhood: to work together.
“Finally, while I hope to get to know each and every one of you personally, for now I will need some of your pity and assistance in that area. Please let me know your name if we have not met, and how you feel you can best serve Ischia. We will start with a warrior and a diplomatic caste, but any who have a specialized set of skills should also make that known to the group or to me, so that the right place can be found for you .”
hold me in this wild, wild world
and in your heat I feel how cold it can get
and in your heat I feel how cold it can get
BRENNEN
The Short because I love you guys and I know this is a monster post
1. We're Allies with Nerine - friendly challenges and steals only. For now consider Hyaline friendly also!
2. We need volunteers to go scope out the other Kingdoms. No promises to be made, just visits.
Nerine -> Brennen plus Trekori/Belgaer
Hyaline -> Brennen plus Volunteer
Loess, Tephra, Sylva -> Need volunteers
3. We are looking for nifty titles! Kinda like the Jungle were always the Amazons, but maybe matching titles for our new matchy Kingdoms of Nerine and Ischia.
4. We need to discuss and decide what we're doing about mares - all opinions are welcome, but keep in mind some mares will be allowed to hold rank so we need to account for this
5. I'd like us to formalize their code of chivalry/code of conduct/whatever. Suggestions encouraged!
6. This is also an ACTIVITY CHECK. Please let me know where you'd like your characters to be placed in the castes/ranks.
7. I know this is a lot to get into our posts IC so while continuity is great, I'm more worried about getting the ideas out there for us to consider. The absolute minimum I need from you guys is the activity check part so I'll have the new ranks board ready to go when the board leadership changes.