Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"That's unbelievable!" Aurana said through laughter. "Did you get to go to the top of one? The view, Divines, could you see the whole world?"

Even Jatinha was placing close attention, even if Aurana was exaggerating possibilities.

"No, not the very top," Rhazii explained. "The branches are too sparse and the leaves still block out a lot." He looked to Jatinha. "Looking down from that high up makes you dizzy, though."

"I wish I could see them." Aurana's excitement made everyone giddy. "So what are the people like there? I read that there's a 'Green Pact' or something that means there's only meat to eat, is that right?"

---

Janius only responded to Kaleeth's suggestion with a apprehensive shrug. His mind was still occupied with his new idea. An idea that Kaleeth had already made him realise was half-baked.

"I just wonder if I can make a difference without going back at all, that's all." Janius avoided Kaleeth's eyes and idly rubbed his scalp. "I'm starting to suspect that my parent may not have come to terms with me being gone. If they're still not going to come to terms with it if I come back and leave again, then I want to try something more...I don't know, targeted?" He bared his teeth nervously and turned his eyes back to Kaleeth's. "I want to make them realise that doing all this to Aurana won't make me come back, and it won't make Aurana much safer. They have to be doing this for emotional reasons. I want to make them realise that."

His shoulders lowered with his outward breath. "But I don't know how."

---

Lunise evidently tried her best to remain composed. She rubbed her exhausted face in her hands for as long as Meesei spoke. How she answered afterwards was not the level and eloquent hum that her voice always had. It was a broken cry, muffled by her hands.

"I have killed Altmer for having those thoughts!"

The noise was jarring in the confined room.

"I killed them because it was a spit in the face against all we did, my friends and I. Say nothing of treason. It's how we all truly judged it." She pulled in a quick breath. "It was dancing on the graves of my friends who were killed taking the Imperial City. I cannot just turn around and do the same in one night of heated and foolish emotion! I cannot."

A streak of a tear glistened from between Lunise's fingers. Her voice lowered, still cracking. "I am falling, Meesei. I am falling and cannot see where I will land. Every foundation that I ever have built upon is crumbling away."

She sobbed in quiet wheezes, as if trying to cram them back into her lungs in vain. Her audible breaths inward were quick and choked. Her metaphor of crumbling had apparently fully extended to her outward appearance. The combination with her absent uniform rendered her entirely unrecognisable.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

I'm going to be interstate for a night and a day, flying out tomorrow. I've made it to the final round of interviews for a new job. Divinusians, lend me your good vibes!

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I'm flying out interstate for the final round of a job interview. I may or may not get posts in.

Wish me luck!

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I can't even imagine trees that high." Aurana was leaning forward. Julan quickly had her rapt despite of her previous sadness. "Jatinha's told me about the jungles in Elsweyr before, but even they didn't block all of the sky out, did they Jatinha?" Aurana held her head up to speak across the room.

Jatinha's eyes lit up in surprise. "Uhm, you could sometimes see the sky between the leaves. I do not remember seeing any with walkways and houses, though."

"They have them there as well," Rhazii added. "We've been there. There are smaller Khajiit that live in the forests. But they didn't have cities in the trees like the Bosmer. It's like The Bosmer controlled how the trees grew or something."

"Jatinha, Rhazii, come sit with us. It's awkward to call out to you from here." Aurana beckoned the young maid.

Jatinha raised both her hands and anxiously smiled. "I assure you, it is no trouble."

"Please? You look cold," Aurana insisted. "I don't want you to suffer. We're not at home, okay?"

Rhazii stood up from his chair. He stood a head taller than her, but he tried to be less imposing by staying in place and grinning. "We don't have maids, we have friends. Come sit by the fire. It's cosier."

Jatinha wasn't showing herself to be intimidated by Rhazii, but she looked back at him with ears back, peered to Aurana who was still encouraging her, and then closed her eyes. "If you all insist."

A few steps later and they were all gathered close to the fireplace. Rhazii put in a fresh log, releasing waving sparks, and sat down between Jatinha and the wall.

"So they made homes out of the trees and everything?" Aurana resumed their previous topic. "If they're so tall, how don't they fall over? do the Bosmer grow them into tall towers like on this castle? But wood? Do they have fireplaces?"

Meanwhile, Fendros stepped over to a wine cask and filled himself a cup to sip at. He turned to look at Ahnasha with another empty cup in his other hand, offering. On that side of the room, they could keep their eyes on the youths without being intrusive. The wine had been a long time coming.

---

Janius returned the hug, but kept his face in thought. "That's just it. They're probably keeping her to marry her off so she's never independent. I don't know if learning has anything to do with it. As for showing them I'm alive..." He sighed and pulled back against the wall again. "...I ran away. They would still hold that to heart, because I'm certainly not going to be staying home if I return to reveal myself." He tilted his head. "That's another fear I have about going back, really. They would probably see me running away as just another disappointment. Another betrayal. I don't want them using that as an excuse to control Aurana further." He glanced at the door to the dining room they came from. "She's already sneaking away on her own. Just like I did. She can't have gone without being caught sometimes. Perhaps they would just...bar her windows and door. Serve her slices of ham through a little hinged flap, I can't know what they'll do."

After a moment, Janius stared at the wall ahead and lowered his voice. "I appreciate your sympathy dear, I do, but...What your parents did, it's got me thinking." Janius looked at Kaleeth. "Your parents. They grieved for your brother -- They grieved for you, I still remember the day we left your home tribe." He looked down and curled his lips in. "Do you think, maybe, my parents would be less controlling if they grieved for me?"

---

About halfway through Meesei's answer, Lunise returned her face to lean on her palm, closing her eyes. She peeked one eye open when Meesei came closer and rolled the partly opened scroll shut on the desk. At the mention of worlds shattering, however, Lunise wrinkled her brow and scrunched her eyes shut until they were red.

She waited until Meesei was done. A deep breath went in through her nose and was slowly released from her pouted lips. The red shade faded from her eyes, for the most part.

"Champion. Meesei." Lunise spoke in a low monotone. "I have much experience in my role. I have lived for over twice your lifetime, building the Dominion. There have been moments like this where I have been treated as a friend and I always keep an arm's length from them. It is a means to prevent exploitation and abuse of such relationships." She lifted her head and opened her eyes, looking at the desk. Her voice quivered. "But I have never been in the situation where my own superiors have abused..."

Lunise sucked in another deep breath through her nose, catching herself. "It stands..." she said, pausing to keep her voice level and eloquent. "...That you cannot truly understand my situation. I do not want to try burdening your mind with it."

At her side, where the bound dagger used to be, Lunise's freely hanging hand was shivering.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

@Jarl Coolgruuf Fortunately for you, Slough and Farxus' lore isn't especially bulky. Slough is a character that has gone into obscurity due to her player leaving. We've kept her around rather than kill her off because she's fine as a passive character and is integral to the ongoing existence of natural life on Galbar. That, and killing her would be very difficult to justify on its own. As for Farxus, he has only had the opportunity for a few posts, so there's not especially too much to read there.

I mentioned the story consideration because of one thing that I tend to judge new Divinus characters on these days, and that's whether they'll be motivated to do anything once they've been born. We've had a couple of demigods that have just kinda faded into obscurity once they were born and I suspect that it was partly a sudden, overwhelming writer's block. Now, like I said, you don't have to have a solid idea of where your character is going, just as long as you have a general direction to head to see what happens. It's much more fun than becoming a passive character, believe me. Once you've got that general idea sorted, my confidence in your character will rise.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

@Jarl Coolgruuf I foresee Pelegath having a close association with Slough, perhaps even being the child of Slough. I also foresee interaction with Farxus.

Are you going to act upon these?

Also, you don't have to say exactly what, but do you have a general idea of a story for Pelegath to follow?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Aurana had to stop and think about her answer. She looked up at the ceiling for a while, still breathing through her mouth. "Well, I've only been able to sneak out into the city. I've never been out of Bravil. I've only read about it." She tried a smile for Julan. "You said you travel around, right? Maybe you could tell me about some places you've been?"

---

In spite of the stress he was under, Janius did let out a laugh at the comment on Leyawiin. If only it had been that simple.

"There's nothing like a hard tradition like that," Janius responded. His head rolled from side to side against the wall. "Although, father always held a high esteem for the family's legion roots. Warriorhood and all that, but...no, Aurana shouldn't just be forced into the fighter's guild like I was. They want an heir. They..." Janius stopped and lowered his chin.

"You know, I just realised something," Janius mumbled. "I don't ever remember seeing my parents cry. Angry, yes. Never crying. I only knew one grandparent, and even when she died, my parents didn't cry. I cried and was punished for it."

---

One of Lunise's eyes opened to peer at Meesei. She was beyond the pretence of hiding her troubles, though she remained looking annoyed. "Betrayed, champion. I feel betrayed. Because that is exactly what has happened."

Lunise looked down again. She then scrunched up her face and sat up to look at Meesei. "Why do you care, anyway? What business do you have in how I feel about all this?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Aurana sniffed her blocked nose, wiped her eyes, and breathed out through her mouth. "I don't know how long I'll have. A few hours? I might be able to stay all night if mother and father have gone to bed, but...I don't know."

"Um..." A reluctant voice chirped up from the door. Jatinha stepped forward. "I can tell you that they have retired for the night, my lady. I think it would be wise to head back after a time rather than sleep here, else they might find your bedroom empty in the morning."

"Okay," Aurana said. After another deep breath, she turned her head to face Julan, trying to smile through a visage clearly on the edge of crying. "I appreciate you trying to help me, Julan. It's rare enough that I get to go out and meet new people, and meeting more of my family is better still. You've been really nice to me. Thanks." She leaned in to give Julan a hug.

"Would you come and live with us if you're allowed to?" Rhazii suggested.

Fendros was quick to interrupt whatever response Aurana might have. "No, Rhazii, you know that's not our decision."

---

Janius ran his hands up his face and over his hair, pushing his hair back. "What a day," he breathed. "What an extraordinary, extraordinary day." All that he was hiding flowed out from his shifted demeanour; frustration, anxiety, and exhaustion.

"What they're doing to her is abhorrent," Janius answered, slumping against a wall. "And it sounds like something they would do, my parents. I have no reason to believe that her or the boys are lying about this." He raised his thumb and forefinger, almost touching at the tips. "Though I suspect that they had slightly closer contact to my parents than they are letting on." He waved the hand and shook his head. "That really doesn't matter at this point. I just..." He ran his hands down his face again. "I just don't know what to do. I have to admit that hearing all this on the same day as being told that we have to save the world by finding an axe and striking down a daedric prince is getting close to beyond reality." He ran to the end of his breath and breathed in deeply to calm down.

After a second, Janius looked at Kaleeth's face and gestured to her. "Say I was to try and convince them. How did your father convince your mother to let you keep training and going out and such?"

---

A considered moment passed before Meesei heard anything from the other side of the door.

"Enter," Lunise's voice was imperious as ever.

Upon opening the door, the first noticeable item was the candle lit on the desk by the wall. It was illuminating the satchel and a rolled scroll obtained earlier that day. The Thalmor documents. Curiously, Lunise was nowhere to be seen.

A cold unease traced across Meesei's throat, and then across her entire body, dispelling magic that was not there. Just as Meesei processed this, a sigh sounded from the air. Two footsteps tapped on the rug before an Altmer in a long night gown winked into vision, seated on the desk chair and leaning her forehead on her hand and her elbow on the desk. Her eyes were scrunched shut and sunken in swollen dark rings. In her other hand, clear to see, was a bound dagger. Her fingers loosened and it evaporated before it could fall onto the floor. Seeing Lunise out of her uniform was jarring and oddly sympathetic.

"Come in, champion," Lunise said. "I beg you do not mistake my rude measures as an insult. I do not imagine I would live for long with this knowledge without taking them."

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

@Obsidian To be honest, Vitrum (now Aeramen) does not have a huge role just yet. He's a metal djinn / combat teacher / defender of Galbar but he doesn't necessarily have to be the only one of his kind.

You could be similar to Vitrum but take a different path.

You could be one of Aeramen's students and leave the Hilt for your own adventures.

By the way, there aren't any actual deities that have a specific classical element in mind. Sure, Zephyrion and the djinnis have been dealing with that as a whole, but specialising in any particular one (earth, fire, water, air, [aether is arguably Ull'Yang's jam]) is still certainly a possibility.

From what I've seen, the gods we have take broad stuff to cover everything while demigods take narrow stuff to specialise more. Don't be afraid to put a unique spin on a subset of something we may already have.

Edit: Ninja's by Termite:

Language (Ink)... And what have you.

@Antarctic Termite

I see some is pumping the bilge of a Tounabar ship while it's still in the dry dock. HMmmm.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius and Kaleeth can have a scene in parallel to whatever conversation might continue in the dining room.