Land quest thread
@ Everclear I'm not sure where the last bit came from but I'm rolling with it XD
Beqanna
Assailant -- Year 226
"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
[private] A God's Creation [Everclear]
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D eiti A God's Creation | Carnage X Dynast Land quest thread @ Everclear I'm not sure where the last bit came from but I'm rolling with it XD *Kelpie Mimicry Traits*
-Enhanced Beauty, Finned tail(in water only), Sharp Teeth-
:|: Physical Appearance :|:
Black rainbow sheen scales, blue snake eyes
EVERCLEAR The relative peace of the world is a welcome respite, in Everclear’s mind. While calm and quiet are all he’d known before, even during the plague (he had not fallen ill or been a carrier of the disease, miraculously untouched), they are equally all he has ever strived to know. Conflict does not suit him. As such, he has always sought peace, has always sought to soothe the hearts of others when evil seemed to grip them too tightly. Perhaps it had been foolish of him to think himself capable of persuading such crooked wills to divert and reform – after all, it rarely seemed to work – but his efforts would never waver. It is all he has ever wanted since the day he’d come to serve Heaven’s Gates so long ago. To be worthy of the home he devoted himself to, to become the ‘angel’ that Spyglass had called him. Perhaps that is why the fairy-foal had given him the halo which now adorns him, a crown of light in the fading dusk around him. She hadn’t been able to help him with his larger desire of protecting his home, but perhaps she had started him in the right direction. If only she could have given him the full power, the true angelic strength to inspire others, to quell the anger and dispel suppositions of weakness that more invasive forces often harbored toward the Gates. Then, at least, he might truly be capable of safeguarding the kingdom as he so longs to do. For now, he is only left with these thoughts and hopes. He wanders the land alone, quieted by his contemplation and minor reverie of times long past. The sun has begun to settle for the evening, taking with it the general birdcalls and gentle winds to be replaced by quiet, breathy breezes and the soft chorus of the oncoming night. For a while the muffled padding of his footfalls in the sand is all he hears alongside the lapping of the ocean on the shore. The darkened beach around him is gilded vaguely with the golden light from his new ornament and the whisper of grasses moving in the salty dunes hardly catches his notice at all. It’s only when something larger and darker becomes apparent against the bluish backdrop of his surroundings that Everclear blinks and lifts his head somewhat. The figure stands alone and silent and for a moment so does he. While Myrna had told him that Beqanna seems to be resting peacefully at present, the wariness of darker times still lingers in the old immortal. Grim events have been triggered by seemingly idle encounters much like this in the past, but after a moment’s deliberation, the stallion moves forward slowly. Still alert, head up and ears forward (one occasionally turning to listen to his surroundings), he approaches the stranger with caution. “Hello?” he beckons gently, hopeful that this is perhaps an inhabitant of the Gates he hasn’t met yet, or an aspirant. “Lovely night we’re having…” The observation is not truly meant to start a conversation, but more to provoke any kind of response that may allow him to gauge the figure’s intentions. He remains alert but not overtly hostile, holding on to a nearly-naive hope that this is nothing more than another friendly encounter. EVERCLEAR If he could sense the shift in the mare, her internal struggle between beast and beauty, he may have retained some of his well-practiced caution. Having lived so long, he is not a stranger to wolves in sheep’s clothing (nearly literally, in fact) and he would have shifted his amiability to the side, shuttered in a separate bastion within a grander wall of vigilance. The moonless darkness, however, and her well-worn mask prevent his perception of any potential harm. She is but a wayward maiden along the beach; he is but a nightwatchman on patrol. The ocean plays their soundtrack, a steady gasp and sigh of waves against the shore, its faintly glittering surface yawning like a spectral void at their side. Everclear’s wariness lingers, foggy in his mind as he gauges this stranger’s intentions from her body language alone; his greeting is merely a verbal probe meant to engage and elicit some form of affirmation. Her response is neutral, though it is nothing overt enough to lead him into believing she carries ill intent with her. Still, her subtle shifts and the opaline luster of her scales leave him with that sense of uncertainty. At the very least she doesn’t seem hostile – her muscles do not flex as if preparing to spring at him – and her delicate face seems trustworthy enough in the gentle golden glow of his halo. He exhales gently and edges a smile to his lips, pressing a kindly expression through the apprehension he maintains. Undue judgment is not becoming of an angel of Heaven, he reminds himself inwardly, and if he were ever to become a true angel as is his desire, it would not be right to look upon others with such doubt before their purposes are known. So he nods to her, shifting his weight to relieve some of the tension borne in his back, and shares in her appraisal of the shadowed lands spanning north of them. “For me it is home,” he says rather plainly, obviously, and he snorts almost gruffly. “It is the kingdom that was once called Heaven’s Gates, long ago. These days it is known simply as The Gates.” He looks back to the stranger, a minor tilt bringing his gold-gilt brown eyes to study her again. “And my name is Everclear. May I ask yours?” @Deiti
05-21-2024, 03:56 PM
EVERCLEAR It is difficult for him to adjust to the reality that the kingdom no longer incorporates the heavenly aspect of its original name. He should not be surprised – Beqanna is ever-evolving, a constant shift and morph within its core like the molting of some giant reptile. And just like a reptile, it moved on, leaving its past behind for elders like himself to bear in remembrance, something fragile and unwanted and irrelevant. They had been angels back then, even himself – both an outcast and a reclaimer, an aspirant and a convert. The shadows of his past may have lingered in the eyes of some, but he had considered himself one of them, a seraphim among them, their leader with his resplendent queen. He had tried above all else to give them hope, to rebuild the wreckage of their home… but it all seems pointless now, no matter how much he wishes it were not so. The kingdom of Heaven had fallen, overcome by the wiles of the faeries, and is now reborn. Quiet, barren, peaceful, wanting… Therefore he corrects himself when introducing the kingdom to the mysterious visitor, this nameless creature who wanders the beach at night. He studies her now, still a bit off-put by her minimal answers so that he must rely on a nonverbal sort of communication. The twitch of muscle, the depth of breath, the shift of weight. Everclear can only try to match her, pulse slightly elevated in his apprehension. She has not returned to look at him, her bright blue eyes rimmed with the ethereal light of his halo fixated on the dark lands beyond as she dodges the question of her name. It’s then that he can see the pointed teeth in her smile, the predatory rows of a shark’s mouth, and his cautious swims back to the surface. Planting his weight evenly on his feet, he continues to watch her, unblinking for a moment. Her words are a bit odd in these times of quietude and even stranger for such a pliant setting, the calm beach in the empty kingdom. At first he believes he could affirm her question (‘have you ever tried so hard to be someone you were never meant to be?’ Yes, oh, yes.), but he does not have a chance as she continues. He tucks his chin, eyes and ears locked on to her until her voice lapses and he draws breath for an answer, gathering the words that will not have a chance to reach his lips. They do not make it to the tip of his tongue for, just when he finally blinks, she strikes. She twists and he brays, a hoarse shout smothering his impending response with the raw vocalization of surprise. She has moved too quickly, lashing toward his throat with those dagger-teeth and serpentine speed, silent and fierce. Everclear jerks his head upward, trying to rise into a rear to avoid the blow, but she has already come down upon him and her fangs snag against his dappled hide. The bloom of pain is lost beneath the heat of his blood rushing through the fresh wound, rapid as it flows to meet her hungry mouth. But his motion still pulls him free of her reach as he turns too, angling his forelegs to his right and toward the ocean. Reflexively, his body wants to spin and defend itself with a lash from his hind legs in an angered buck, but he refrains. Prancing slightly away from her into the fingertip-reaches of the lapping waves, he keeps himself facing her and tosses his head with a hardy snort. Adrenaline burns from the sudden release into his veins; his legs feel heavy but loose, his heart pounds madly in its cage. Beneath him, golden light dances erratically on the ripples of the water and froth that ring around his ankles. “Why–?” he asks hoarsely before he coughs, shakes his mane and lifts his head again. “Why have you come here with violence?” Clearer, this time. The indignance burns in his words, sharp and tangible as he scowls at her dark form in the moonlight. His throat is darkened now by the blood trailing gently down his neck and to his breast; warmed by his body but cooled by the open air, it is a discomforting stain to bear. But her words still linger in his ears, the talk of insanity and demons, and he exhales sharply. “If you are struggling, you surely need help.” He is still pacing slowly through the surf, circling her now so that she might not regain the upper hand. “But you should not resort to such monstrous tactics to redeem it.” His frown has softened now – it lingers still, but not as harsh as before. “This is not the place for such brutality and I am not a willing opponent.” He has always been, at his core, a peacekeeper. “Speak with me and I will gladly offer any aid you might require,” he finally stops before her again, a length or two out of her reach, and nods his head. The crimson at his throat gleams in the light of his heavenly crown. “But if you will not listen, I will not host company with such savagery.” A gentle threat, for he does not wish to use any sort of force against her, but his promise to the queen had been true: he would do what he must to protect his home. “Start with your name, and tell me what troubles you.” @Deiti |
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