"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
08-30-2017, 02:00 PM (This post was last modified: 08-30-2017, 02:08 PM by Leah.)
They didn’t learn. It almost shocked her how quickly they forget the lessons they had been taught. She’d taken their power, had stopped time, had reminded them time and time again that their power and their lands were a gift. They were her lifeblood though, and they drained her, bit by bit. It was no different than a broken bone or a missing piece of skin for them.
They bickered and fought and in the end, they relied on magic to do their dirty work. Oh, and how dirty it was. Vindictive and cruel on all sides, and she was done. There was no need for this. No need to rip each other to shreds when they should be working together, when they should be building Beqanna up. Beqanna had kept so much of the outside away from them, had kept them safe. No more.
She appears briefly in the middle of it all and the sky turns dark as she does. She is fully black today, in mourning for the land that was once such a beautiful place. ”Enough.” Her voice rings across the land, clear and impossible to miss. There is no more from her though, no explanation. They no longer deserve it.
The magic that keeps them safe drops away. The trees wither, the grass turns brown beneath their feet. In the distance, the ocean boils. ”Run,” she says. For those who are not close enough to hear, she sends the message again, sent like an arrow into their thoughts, their minds, the word bright and blaring.
Under its surface, an undersea volcano - ignored and unacknowledged - awakens. The surface of the water puckers, then bulges outward, a strange and terrifying mix of water and magma, an explosion set to do what they could not: to end things, once and for all.
They should run, but she doesn’t remove the wall. Let them deal with their own follies. Let them figure out how to save themselves.
Destruction is not enough.
It’s a thing he’s dealt, more times than he can count - in fire, mostly, but in other ways too, murder and mayhem and whatever else catches his eye. It’s a thing he savors, its own type of lifeblood.
But destruction, ultimately, is easy.
It doesn’t surprise him, that the fairies have taken this route, the volcano vomiting forth on to the land. It’s always easier, to break things, to ruin them. It’s what they’d done with his land - his creation - when he had left it in Pollock’s unworthy hands. They’d destroyed, sent it down into the sea.
(Not that he’s bitter.)
He should go, of course, light out for the territories as the ocean begins to boil, the distant cacophony of screams lighting the air. It’s none of his business, it’s not a land he knows, or cares for, or holds any ties to, save perhaps for a loose relation to some of its residents and rulers.
But as moths go to flame, the dark god goes to chaos.
Taiga is in chaos, water flooding in, hot and boiling. It hasn’t fully engulfed the sorry kingdom, not yet, but it’s fast on his way. The faerie’s warning stings in his mind like some insect, telling them to run.
Needless to say: he doesn’t.
Instead, the dark god - the contrarian - he creates.
He learns from their babbling thoughts that they have always loved the wolves, so what he makes is a mockery. He makes caricatures of wolves, things from fairy tales and nightmares, shaping them out of what Beqanna gives him.
Wolves of water, wolves of magma, huge and monstrous things who gibber and howl and give chase.
He laughs as he makes them, dozens of them, monsters as large as the horses themselves.
His creation, Beqanna’s destruction -- it all has the same effect for these Tagian residents, because they are the targets on all sides, here. The ones who do not obey the fairy, who decide to stand their ground for whatever stupid, noble, defiant reason - they are the ones the wolves chase, the ones whom he drives out.
Destruction is not enough. Nor is creation.
But together, they are beautiful.
08-30-2017, 02:04 PM (This post was last modified: 08-30-2017, 02:09 PM by Leah.)
OOC synopsis:
tl;dr - An underwater volcano went off, flooding Taiga, and Carnage joined in on the action, creating ‘guardians’ of lava and water who live in the destruction and will brutally attack anyone who tries to cross Taiga’s borders. Taiga is currently uninhabitable and may not be posted in. In one (1) Beqanna year, the land will be opened up as a general land for horses to post in, if they so choose. One (1) Beqanna year after that, we will decide if it will be restored as a kingdom, or destroyed completely.
Here’s why:
This situation has spiraled out of control, and the fairies have opted for the nuclear option. Gryffen was given permission to challenge for Taiga. As he prepared for the challenge, Ruan’s player, Toli, had to repeatedly go out of town, causing the challenge to be delayed. When it was finally issued, Ruan lost by default, in part because of a misunderstanding of the rules and timeline.
During this time, the officers received multiple complaints from both sides of this challenge. These complaints ranged from unfairness, to feeling targeted, to general frustration about how things were being handled. The officers worked together on a daily basis to accommodate all complaints. However, due to the escalating nature of the events, we also decided to implement the Cool Down, hoping players would take the opportunity to reflect.
During the interim, we also discussed changing the challenge rules. As we’ve seen before, the rules for kingdom challenges and takeovers are not crystal clear. Unfortunately, as we cannot anticipate what situations will arise, many of the challenge rules are made retroactively, in response to a situation that arose and caused problem. One of these rule alterations included the potential for immediate post-challenge mutinies, as it makes sense that most characters who lost their kingdom wouldn’t give it up easily. We decided we would allow players who lost a one on one challenge to be able to attempt to mutiny in response (in the spirit of ‘kingdoms do not have to accept a new leader.’).
Because these rules were not in effect at the time Ruan was given permission to mutiny, it was decided among the officers to give Gryffen two weeks to settle into Taiga and establish it as a kingdom, while Ruan could use this time to formulate an IC explanation for his default loss and begin to rally. Unfortunately, that time was not adequately used, and a mutiny post was posted without any real IC acknowledgement of Ruan’s situation prior to the post, as well as powerplaying, which caused the post to be deleted. This, too, sparked multiple complainants, and has led the officers to conclude that there is no way for this to wrap in a manner that is fair to all parties.
We as officers have spent hours trying to put out fires and to address issues in a fair and unbiased fashion, often sacrificing our own enjoyment of the game to do so. Almost every issue is addressed collectively, to remove the potential of any individual’s bias. However, this has reached a point where it is taking an inordinate amount of time to address these issues, and it is no longer feasible to let it continue.
The situation turned far more complex, bitter, and petty than anyone ever anticipated, full of extenuating circumstances and unprecedented issues that we had to constantly address on the fly. No single player is responsible for this, but no one involved is exonerated, either. These issues came from all sides, and from multiple players.
Furthermore, several of the issues dealt with during this time were messages from players regarding another player's’ character motivations or behavior. These issues were brought to us without any attempt to resolve it with the other player(s) first. While officers are always available to help and intervene as needed, if you're questioning another character's behavior, it's best to go to that character's player for discussion first, as they are the one who knows their character best, and will probably answer it better than we could. The only exception to this is if you have had a previous OOC issue with that player, or have otherwise been asked to limit contact.
We remind you, as we have many times before, that most of the players are adults, with families and jobs, who look to Beqanna as a stress reliever. This is just a game, and should be treated as such.
You are welcome to reply and describe your character's escape, or use this as an opportunity to maim or emotionally damage your horse. This applies to whatever timeline(s) your horse is currently honoring. However, any attempt to stay in Taiga will be met with death at the hands of the volcano or one of Carnage's guardians.
For the lands were not meant to be sucked so dry, that is not what they had been created for. So when the fairies came and deemed their home too far gone, Loey was not surprised. A twisted smile grew upon cracked lips as the message broke through her muddled thoughts. One word, two syllables, a straight shot through her broken heart.
"Enough."
It is the final straw for Beqanna. The lands had given them time to settle their dust, but it had only been kicked up ten fold, and the earth retaliated in reply. The ocean bubbled in the distance, a haunting sound that spoke of destruction and chaos. Sulfur choked the air and Loey found it in her to be afraid. A small flicker in the darkness that was quickly clapped out with the next word cutting into her brain.
"Run."
Despite all they had done, the Fairy was warning them. Giving them the option to run. but Loey knew just as well as the rest of them, there was nowhere to go. No place for her to run to after this. Even with all of her muscles screaming at her to just move she couldn't find it in her to actually do so.
The water was rushing now, hot waves of the liquid washing the land clean of all the sins committed upon it. But when she still did not move, when they did not move, the wolves came.
Great hulking beasts (created by the earth itself it seemed) came with snapping jaws and flashing talons. It is now that the fear engulfs her like the flame the wolves possess, hot tears of anger and confusion spill out of her auburn eyes, but movement does not come for many minutes.
And then she is moving, lanky legs pulling the dark mare through the dying woodlands. She sees others out of the corner of her eyes, she sees the wolves not far behind her.
She sees the water, hot and boiling, just asking for her to slip and fall. To be covered in it. For it to kill her just as they had killed the taiga. She lets out a defiant scream, running faster now. But the Fairy did not give them everything.
No. They had tried that, and mercy was far beyond their pleasure.
There’s a faint sizzling sound and soon a piece of the wall is exposed and opened. The wall rots and drips black blood as it crumbles in on itself. A mare stands before him, inviting and smirking at him in a knowing way. He is impassive, the red of his eyes cool. Flashing as suddenly the sky darkens more so than usually. The wind whips around him and he turns around to see what was happening behind him. Enough. A powerful voice that rings through the woods. He doesn’t see her, doesn’t have to. Beqanna’s fairy guardians come again, pissed. Not unusual when it came to him, he usually did something to upset them. Probably still not happy that he had murdered one of their friends…
The trees begin to twist and bow, the grass beneath his hooves withers and dies. There’s a sudden explosion as the water rumbles off Taiga’s coast. Run Says the dark angry voice. Of course he does not, not at first. He waits for just a few minutes longer. Waits long enough to see the Dark God appear. There is a glittering in the depths of ruby eyes, watching as he appears. Once long ago he had left Carnage a plaything at the edge of his cavern. Did he remember? Did he care? Probably not but he’s intrigued enough to stay just to see why he is here.
From the remains of the forest that was quickly being swallowed by lava and water, come dark bubbling howls. Not unlike those of the wolves that had once called this home long before he had taken it. A great fiery beast of a wolf, strange and out of place appears in the distance and for the first time in a long time, the red eyed stallion laughs. He laughs with mirth, with true humor. The madmen in him appreciates this great twist. While it puts a wrench in his own personal plans, they could always be brought to life again. There were always other kingdoms, perhaps one day the sea would retreat and he could start anew.
Had he not promised them chaos? Had he not promised to destroy? If only they had bent the knee, if only they had left. A shame for them but for him, he enjoys. He relishes in this chaos, this destruction. It was exactly what he had longed for but something far out of his physical and magical means. With a malicious grin he turns to once again face the nameless mare, daughter of the magician who held up the wall. Silently she urges him to follow. One loud piercing whistle escapes from his lips, hopefully loud enough for someone to hear. A final call to those that had followed him if they wished to continue doing so, perhaps giving them a way out. See, he wasn't completely heartless after all.
She urges him once more to follow. Without a final backwards glance, he does.
Gryffen
OOC: Spink gave me permission to take DW with him since their previous post neatly started right before this haha. Also, I'm cool with this. No hard feelings from me, maybe the timing wasn't right but who knows what the future holds! <3
Jah-Lilah had seen kingdoms crumble before, and she had a feeling this was going to happen. From her spot along the outskirts of Taiga, she could see it all. She'd only made a home here just beyond the border to be close to her mate and her consort, Circinae and Canaan, and she'd had a front row seat to the conflict, from humble beginning to tragic ending. A ruler overthrown, he'd been too confident, thought himself invincible. He was a naïve fool. The white wolf had come, bringing in his darkness and his filthy following. Jah-Lilah, once a seer and a sorceress, knew his presence was a bad omen. He was a smooth criminal though, Gryffen. Had taken over fair and square, and Jah-Lilah had to respect that. She didn't particularly like any of it, but she respected his careful planning and on point execution. A fairy arrives, breaking my firefly's chain of thought, and causing her to raise a surprised eyebrow.
The ethereal creature alights upon the land and Jah-Lilah's ears flick forward, eager to hear what she has to say. She speaks only two words and all of my girl's muscles tremble and twitch. The next thing she knows it's big explosions, cracks through thundering mountains. Everything around her shakes and moves like a thing possessed. All she can think about is Circinae, Canaan and the boys. She strains, eyes desperately searching for them. Everything around her is dying, and so is she. Her bond to the Earth-Mother is so strong, she can't help but ache as the trees and grass shrivel and pull away from themselves, overcome by darkness. She bolts forward as a mixture of water and magma from an underwater thing long forgotten floods the land. She cries out for them, her new family. Her voice is shrill, panicked. Then He arrives and suddenly she's lost her voice.
He descends upon the place like a cloud cover. His presence is smothering, not unlike the nightmare that was The Underneath. She'd only heard of him, never seen him with her own eyes, and he is everything the songs say he is. He is a grotesque combination of beautiful and repugnant, and his very appearance makes Jah nauseous. She breaks her trance and now knows she cannot stay here. She scrambles back, away from the barrier and away from Taiga, whinnying frantically. He calls forth his minions, mocking the pack of wolves that resided here for so long. They were exaggerated caricatures of those she loved most, and they infuriated her. However, my mare knows when a battle is lost, and Carnage and his canines stride forth with a confidence she herself does not have, and she gives them a wide berth. She paces anxiously, crying out from the bottom of her soul for her mates and their children. She couldn't leave until she knew...she had to know they were safe.
...I'll make it worth your while when I'm successful.
-Oh my love, don't forsake me; Take what the water gave me-
The earth rumbles her displeasure and, for the first time in a very long time, Corvus’ call rings out through the woods.
Shocked. That is what Circinae feels. Shocked that such enmity could tear apart life and limb. Shocked that the fey would go as far as destroying and entire land, rather than removing the few petulant ants who began such an uproar (she will never forgive them - Ruan, Gryffen - for what’s happened here today). Shocked that, of all the times he picks to return, Corvus chooses this one moment.
Instantly she shifts. The earth no longer holds her shape as she used to and the fawn-brown wolve’s going is slower than normal, hindered here and there by the ripping of mantle and the rush of boiling seawater. Eerie cries hover over the air to mingle with her son’s and Circinae trips, falls, rolls - but she cannot stop. Not now, when so much hangs in the balance of Life and Death’s fickle hands. She rises once more to bound ahead and then - like an answered prayer - he’s there. Her Corvus!
With wings pressed to his sides and eyes pining away for his twin, he makes the perfect picture of a healthy, misguided man. Just the wrong place at the wrong time. “Corvus!” She barks, slamming into him as the very ground beneath their feet tilts and shudders. With a shake she retracts, paws muddy from her run. “We’ll have time to find him later, love. I’m sorry but we’ve got to go.” She tells him with a rush of air and, bless her, she’s still smiling.
From out near the border comes a whistle, and another piercing cry - this one she knows is Jah-Lilah’s. To think that her beautiful copper mate might be there still, waiting for her and her boys, tears her apart. Without much thought she shifts, reaches out to curl her neck about Corvus in a protective grasp, and as the earth opens up beneath them to spill free steaming jets of water she rips through time to transport them both to the border, right next to Jah’s trembling body. “Go you crazy, wonderful girl! Go!” She screams and then they are flying again, spiraling through time and water until both land, sputtering, near a small puddle in the Forest.
Gasping, she trembles and pulls her son close. The destruction of her kingdom is earth-shattering, but the thought of her friends dying inside is more terrifying than anything. “You alright?” She whispers now that her voice is hoarse from terror. A few casual nods and then she’s back to watching the fall of their home; Taiga. “Jah will come, any moment now, she’ll come.” The pony-mare thinks with anguish.
And if she did not? “She’ll come.” Her heart hammers, even if her thoughts protest. Her vow to Canaan had not been for him alone - they were bound together now, the three of them, and it would stay that way. “She’ll come.”
Circinae
Corvus taken with Krys' permission, Crevan hasn't even returned so he's not involved <3 BYeeeee Taiga!
The jackal of Taiga was lurking as always. On this day near the only break in the twisted web of deadened trees and thorns. They came, just two, with vengeance. Crimson eyes followed there path and as words were shouted he crept even deeper in the shadows. Observing. That's when it happened. The ground gave way to fire and what still remained growing withered away. So much happened in so little time. All he did was grin that demonic grin. With a cackle rising in his throat he stepped back, cloaked in darkness, and disappeared thru the wall. Sylva was just outside the border so he snuck back into the canopy of autumn as he had once before...
Wanna play a game?
Ooc: See you all on the other side Mwahaahaahaha XD
08-30-2017, 04:12 PM (This post was last modified: 08-30-2017, 04:13 PM by Karaugh.)
Their meeting of kingdom diplomats had went... Deliciously. A dance for two of sorts. Well I guess could be more but... Nevermind.
In the midst of delightful pleasure there came a war cry. Enough. That's all that was said. All that needed to be said for her good time to be ruined. Crown twists to find the fairy fuming in mid air. With a quick flicker of her ear she looks back to Gryffen. Her voice still seductive, "Well that was fun. Perhaps if you find your way to Sylva I can give you a tour." Ebony lips were brought to the alabaster stallions cheek. Leaving a quick kiss before she turned to look at Dahmer. Her grin breaks to extend another offer, "Don't be such a stranger Dahmer. Come visit sometime." Her words lingered in her wake as a quick shift and she was gone(well not gone but unless you watched carefully she is too small to see)
He had known it was coming. He could have foretold it, clear as the changing weather or the coming of the dark. There was always a Reckoning.
But when the voice finally came, and he heard Enough, Deimos honestly wasn’t sure that he was ready for what happened next. The ground sank, crumbled beneath his feet, and it was with a curse that he watched for a second time the land sink below the surface of the sea… and quick on the heels, all those who dared call themselves residents of the trees. And when he heard the word, Run. it was for the first that a true sense of dread wracked his body. He watched the water plunge in massive waves as creatures were formed from the fire and the water. The wolves howled and the residents screamed.
And yet the son of Mars continued to hold the wall.
And when he saw the first bodies, he began to cackle. They were floating… their lifeless sackless bodies just floating there in the mire, the sound of the power and the anger causing Deimos to lose his mind in the absolute hilarity of the situation. They were dying…. And it was the fairies and the Gods who had caused it. Deimos rolls his head back and laughed… an angry, maniacal laugh that did not stop.
The thunderous push of the water held back by the Wall his magic had created… the final plunge of the Taiga into fire and mud and a storm created not by Gryffen, nor he… but by the fairies who had sworn to protect it. Who were the real villains… who were the real devils?
The irony was not lost on Deimos, and so he continued to cackle loudly, watching the nameless die in droves as they were consumed by the wolves, or drowned by the waves.
This place held no love for him anymore… And as the War Machine saw Gryffen carry off through a small hole in the middle of his wall, taking Ecco’s daughter with him, he laughed as he dislodged himself from his creation.
He did not stop laughing as the bramble began to crack and bend against the pressure.
He did not stop laughing as he once again took on the rather Ironic form of the wolves who were consuming the forest.
He did not stop laughing as those great wings he was known so well for reappeared from the shadow and myst.
And he did not stop laughing as he took off, flew up and over the wall..
The needless would die, and the cowards would run.
And the ones with no fucks to give would simply leave.
