Yankee

Forsaken

Agreed! I very much like everyone's characters and I can see some initial conflict becoming sort of a tight knit group.

A Game of Desire

@Sleip glad to see you back!

maybe this is too much but I'd like to gm a pokemon tabletop rp...

@Yankee it is! Whoops forgot to link it haha. Yay! I'm excited!

@vaguely

No worries! It's gonna take me a bit to read through the whole thing but so far I like the system.

maybe this is too much but I'd like to gm a pokemon tabletop rp...

Hi, I may be interested! I play Pokemon Tabletop Adventures very, very often so I'm more than comfortable doing a tabletop Pokemon. I haven't seen this system you mentioned but I assume it's this?

I'm going to give the system a read through right now! Your rough plot concepts seem really fun.

Yankee's Characters: Past & Present

Reorganizing . . .

Root River: A Wonderful Life!

---

^{❀ Spring 1 • Year 1 ❀}
_{Location: General Store}

---

After the rough wake-up call, the chime of the general store's doorbell and the soft music inside was quite nearly the most pleasant sounds Xavier had ever heard. He breathed in the various scents of produce and smiled lightly. At the counter the store's proprietor, the pink-haired Luna, was standing. Upon seeing her, Xavier's smile wavered just a bit. He wasn't very familiar with her, but after the few times he'd been in the store before he'd learned that she wasn't... the most friendly inhabitant of their little village. Still, she was the owner and there was no need to get on her bad side - not that Xavier wasn't a perfectly polite person either way. He gave Luna a small wave and quickly moved on.

Scooping up all the basics he needed for home - milk, eggs, bread, the like - Xavier moved on to the produce. He picked a couple of items up and tossed them in the cart before heading to the baskets of apples. He had a vague idea of what he wanted to do... maybe some turnovers or a pie... lost in thoughts, Xavier reached to pick up the nearest apple but his hand brushed something unusual. Upon closer inspection, his dark skin was tinted darker by...

"...soot?" Xavier brought his hand close to his face and gave it an experimental sniff. Indeed, it smelled like burning residue. Blegh. He glanced briefly around for something to clean his hand with, not wanting to wipe it on his nice spring outfit, when the black powder had a certain effect on him.

"...ah... ohno-achoo!" Like any good medical practitioner, Xavier brought his arm around to cover his face as he sneezed, but it was still enough to scatter more of the soot around the area. Those poor fruits and veggies! Nothing a little rinse couldn't fix, but the soot, though thin, was all over the floor and other shelves now too. How did this get here in the first place? he briefly wondered. Some local playing a prank perhaps? Either way, this wasn't really the time to speculate - he'd better let Luna know before she found out herself and possibly blamed him. Hell, she still might.

"I - I'm sorry, there was - there's ash and soot all over here," Xavier sheepishly informed the shop keep. He stepped away from the area but not before shoving a few of the sooty apples into his own basket to show poor Luna she wouldn't be losing a sale.

---

^@Inkarnate

World of Light

Word Count: 852 (+2 exp)
Level: 2 - Total EXP: 10/20
Location: Ancestral Farmstead
Stress Level: 35

Holding on to the Brachydios' back was proving to be one of the toughest mounts the Cadet had ever had. The monster was crazed, and between it's thrashing, it's roar, his allies' attacks, and the general confusion of the battlefield as a whole... well, it wasn't easy. Still, the hunter clung to it's scales and stabbed it for all he was worth. Even as the earth exploded underneath the creature and threw debris and whatever alien energy was filling the area up, cutting the Cadet's arms and face, he painfully hung on.

"Come on...!" he hissed, getting a little impatient at the Brute Wyvern's refusal to go down. He managed to land a solid blow to the Brachydios' eye, and seeing the monster stagger relieved the Cadet so much that he let his guard down enough for the sudden burst of wind from Euden's transformation to finally fling him off the monster's back. The red haired hunter was thrown a few dozen feet from the fight, tumbling backwards a few times before he ground his heel into the earth to get himself back upright. As he recovered, he surveyed the area - the first thing that caught his eye being the massive green dragon that was currently grappling with the brute. That's...? Is it that kid? Cadet thought briefly, having never seen Midgarsormr before. Considering it seemed to be pinning the Brachydios down, and Poppi and Peach who'd joined the fight on this side of the field weren't paying it much mind, he assumed that the dragon was indeed Euden. That power was the definition of Rad-alos, but now really wasn't the time to be asking him about it.

It seemed like the Brachydios' days were numbered, and Ace Cadet couldn't help but grin at the thought of a successful hunt. On the other side of the field, it seemed like things had been mostly cleaned up, but there was a troubling sight - injured squad mates, huddled together and relatively defenseless. At the moment it seemed that the danger was soon to pass, what with all of the husked farmhands seemingly defeated, the large monster behind him pinned and taking punishment, and the initial Thing nowhere to be seen... but it wouldn't hurt to check on them. There weren't any convenient felynes up here, so there was no telling what would happen if one of them went down for the count for good.

With a last look over the the two battling behemoths, the Ace Cadet sheathed his sword and ran over to the other side of the field. Yeah, he'd slayed plenty of Brachydios back in his own world, might as well let the others have this one! Cadet was covered in scratches, scrapes and scorch-marks, but all things considered he was relatively unharmed. It'd be Gargwawesome if I had some lifepowders right now, he thought as he approached his injured comrades, making a mental note to find the ingredients to make some later. For now, he took quick stock of the two closest to him: Tora and Bowser. They both looked to be in sorry shape, but the Koopa King had proven to be pretty resilient - and the Cadet only hand enough honey for one mega-potion. To Tora, then.

The Cadet fished the three jars from his pack, one filled with honey and the others with a potent healing fluid. He passed Bowser first, and noticed that he was carrying the two small forms of Jr. and Hat Kid. Darn, if only he had more potions to give the kids... but it'd probably still be more beneficial to offer it to their protector.

"Doing okay big guy?" Cadet asked, passing Bowser one of the potions, "the others have everything handled it looks like, so don't worry!"

If the King was feeling alright he could give the healing item to one of the kids, but otherwise it was out of the Cadet's hands now. He made his way over to Tora, easily dropping to his knees beside the shorter being and showing off the remaining two jars. Poor Tora looked pretty beat up, but that's what the potion was for. Cadet poured the honey into the potion vial and shook it vigorously before offering the now-improved drink to the Nopon. "Drink the whole thing at once and you'll probably feel a lot better, promise!"

For now, this was about as much non-combat support as the Cadet could offer. He was without his hoard of traps and items back home, but it was okay, he'd restock and make do! Just as soon as they got off this hilltop, that is. The hunter stood backup, intending on rejoining the final onslaught against the Brachydios if he could, when two writhing halves of something caught his eye. Beyond them, there were those two men - Franklin and Michael, one tending to the other. The torn up creature didn't look like it could do much more harm, but it was better safe than sorry, right? Ace Cadet jogged over to them, yanking his sword free of it's sheath and slicing the horse halves in order to finish them off.

What Are You Listening To?

Forsaken

Flick Ignatius

---

---

Flick Ignatius

---

---

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕊𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕪

ℕ𝕒𝕞𝕖: Flicker Ignatius
𝔸𝕝𝕚𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕤: Flick (preferred), Trailblazer
𝔸𝕘𝕖: 25
𝕊𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕤: Genasi (Fire)
𝔾𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣: Male
𝕆𝕔𝕔𝕦𝕡𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟: Wilderness Guide
𝔸𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥: Chaotic Neutral

---

---

𝔸𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖

ℍ𝕖𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥: 5'10'' (177cm)
𝔹𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕: Lanky
𝔼𝕪𝕖𝕤: Yellow, and they glow in the dark
ℍ𝕒𝕚𝕣: A fiery mix of dark and light reds. His hair is long and grows quickly, so he usually keeps it tied up as best he can. When he's excited or scared the tips of his hair flare up, making for wisps of flame that sometimes mess up his carefully crafted hair-do.
𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕟 𝕋𝕠𝕟𝕖: A warm gray that's also warm to the touch.
𝕋𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕠𝕠𝕤/𝕊𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕤/ℙ𝕚𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤: A mole beneath his left eye.
ℙ𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕊𝕥𝕪𝕝𝕖: Flicker is a jeans man, and most often he dresses in denim or animal hides, especially while on the job. Most of his clothes are hardy and functional, but Flicker does enjoy indulging in "frontier fashion" every now and then. Most notably he has a collection of different scarves - some simple, some with tassels, some in odd colors, all of them momentarily quenching his thirst for fancy.

---

---

ℙ𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪:

Helpful * Optimistic * Talkative * Opportunistic * Superstitious * Impatient

ℝ𝕖𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕤: Single

ℚ𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕚𝕣𝕖
What first impression do you make?

"Depends on who you ask. I've got lots of letters from happy people I've helped out, and just as many saying they'll never work with me even if their life depended on it - their loss, though! I'm sure most people would tell you I'm a nice guy... at least, I hope so."

What are you like in a high stress situation?

"I know I may look like a dashing hero, buuut I prefer to let others handle the stress-inducin' things. Gettin' stressed makes me nervous, and gettin' nervous makes me distracted. I can come through in a pinch but I'm just as likely to make a messy situation worse before I make it better."

What are your best and worst qualities?

"I'm friendly, I've got a pretty face and I can mix a drink pretty well - plus I really know my way around the area. Worst qualities though? Hm... I guess it's that I don't care where my money comes from as long as I get it. I'm no mercenary or anything but I know a fence or two."

What is something about yourself that you would never admit to anyone?

"Honestly? I'm afraid I'll spend the rest of my life doin' the same old thing, then die here. Alone. It'd be nice to see some other parts of the world - or least if I hafta die alone, it'd be in a big house with shiny things in it."

What are your dreams?

"I wanna leave this town behind, marry a rich and powerful woman, and spend the rest of my life not worryin' about my budget. I might be inclined to do charity if I don't have to spend the day working for myself."

How do you want to be seen by others?

"I'd like to be know as yer friendly neighborhood trailblazer and trendsetter, eventually. Kind of hard to do that second thing when yer just scrapin' by some months. Got a lot of clothes I bought off some travelin' merchants though, it's nice to turn heads."

How do you see yourself?

"Sometimes I forget I'm actually a Genasi, I was raised as a human by humans, so I see myself as a scrappy guy whose head sometimes catches on fire. Also... a diamond in the rough, I guess. I've lived my whole life toughing it out in the plains, so I'm ready to leave that behind soon and move to a fancy city."

Do you tend to make snap judgements, or stop and think about things?

"Snap judgements I'd say. When I'm in my element I hardly need to think about things, it comes naturally to me like instinct. You'd think I'm an earth Genasi instead of fire. When I'm out of my element, I guess I can panic a little and do the first thing that comes to mind."

What haunts you?

"I'm... ashamed, a little, about some of the things I did when I was runnin' with that gang. I never hurt anybody, but I did... turn a blind eye to people bein' hurt. I didn't like it, but I didn't do anythin' to stop it. To be honest I'm kind of afraid some of them will literally come back to haunt me, so I buy some hoodoo bags to carry around and keep in my house."

What is your philosophy on life?

"Pluck the Day, that's a sayin' I've heard before and like. When opportunity comes knockin' you answer. Sometimes that gets me into trouble, but it's more exciting living like that than takin' things slow, right?"

ℍ𝕒𝕓𝕚𝕥𝕤:

• Smoking
• Drinking
• Chewing
• Oral fixation in general
• Burning small things

ℍ𝕠𝕓𝕓𝕚𝕖𝕤:

• Taking odd jobs
• Socializing
• Window-shopping

𝔽𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤:

• Drowning (he can't swim)
• Spirits and the Undead
• Fizzling out

𝕃𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕤:

• Making people smile
• Wearing expensive clothes
• Being comfortable
• Food: any kind
• Exercise

𝔻𝕚𝕤𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕤:

• His current situation
• Buying expensive clothes
• Budgeting
• Assholes and know-it-alls
• Rain and cloudy weather

---

---

𝕀𝕟𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟:

𝔾𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕝 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕤:

• Navigation
• Outdoors Survival
• Tracking (animals)
• Skinning & Tanning (animals)
• Acting
• Cooking
• Socializing/Getting people to trust him
• Juggling

𝕄𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝/𝕊𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕪 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕤:

• Great Aim
  • Whether it's chucking a fireball or shooting a gun, Flick has particularly good aim. He isn't a trick shot or anything, but he very rarely misses a target.
• Dark Vision
  • As part of being a fire Genasi, Flick can see in sim light just fine, and in the darkness as if it were dim light, though he can't distinguish color in that situation.
• Fool's Luck
  • Not particularly a skill as much as just something about Flick that some people have noticed. Whenever he gets into a bad situation, somehow he makes it out. He's not always left unscathed, but he still has his life.
• Fire Magic
  • Flick isn't exactly in-tune with his elemental heritage, but he is capable of summoning flames in his hands. This is useful for easily making campfires, quickly heating things up, or even to toss at enemies. He can't make his entire body combust - besides his hair that reacts to emotions, he can only set fire to his hands and feet.

𝕀𝕟𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪:

• Coated nylon rucksack - as fireproof as it can get
• Single-Action Pistol
• Small hunting rifle
• Ammunition for said firearms
• Water canteen
• Bag of spirit-warding
• Compass (rarely used)
• Pocket knife
• Coated ball of twine - also as fireproof as they can get
• Cigarettes - a lot of them

---

---

ℍ𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪:

It was a disgustingly muggy day when a little Genasi infant was found by the human Joanna Ignatius. She'd been on her way home from a trek into the city of Forsaken for supplies, and found the baby halfway up the wooded trail leading to her family's property. Without a second thought she scooped the little one up and continued homeward. She put her purchases away in the modest log cabin and laid the slate-colored baby, swathed in scorched cloths, on her bed. Then, she went outside to fashion a makeshift cradle out of wood.

When her equally human husband Franklin returned home, he hung up the few animals he'd caught outside and found Joanna just finishing her project. "What, you want to try for a kid now of all times?" he joked easily, and his wife smiled mischievously back at him.

The went into the house and Joanna put the cradle down in her bedroom. She lifted the Genasi child up and placed him in the crib, her husband's eye wide with surprise. Then, the infant woke up with a sharp cry and a burst of sparks, startling the new parents. The looked at each other curiously.

"Takes after you I think," Franklin said, and Joanna laughed so loudly that the baby was shocked out of it's crying. After a few days of asking around town, it seemed like no one knew where the baby came from or who it's birth parent was. Rather than leave it to the orphanage, the Ignatius family chose to adopt it - they named him Flicker for the way his little flame hairs sparked up when he cried.

So Flicker grew up in the wild area outside of town with this human parents. They raised him kindly but strictly, as they considered him their own son. The Ignatius family were hardy outdoorsmen, who willingly chose to leave most of society behind. They made their own home and furniture, had a garden they grew crops in, and hunted animals for their meat, pelts and bones. These pelts were woven into clothes or sold in town - after all, it was hard to completely leave civilization behind. Flicker had a good memory, and growing up running around the plains and frontier made for good exercise. Eventually the young Genasi could practically navigate the terrain around his home with his eyes closed - and his racial darkvision paired with his glowing hair made the darkness of night a non-issue for him. For many of Flick's early years, he was perfectly content to follow his mother and father around the wilderness, hunting, exploring, and occasionally helping poor folks that got lost or stranded in the wide open area. It wasn't uncommon to find corpses out there, dehydrated or simply robbed. It was always a depressing event, but when they found someone still alive they carried them back home as quick as they could. Their genuine words of thanks made the whole family glad.

Yes, during his first decade of life Flick was more than happy to live like this. On his 11th "birthday," on a rare visit into town, the sweet sound of a jaunty piano floated out of the tavern. Flick wanted to check it out, and his parents let him - it was his birthday after all! Inside the tavern, people dressed in bright colors were singing and dancing merrily to the tune, drinks were being passed around freely, everyone was having a great time. For Flick, it was an amazing sight - especially when the group let him join in. The impromptu celebration in the tavern would become the first of many for Flick, who ended up quite enjoying the town's night life.

As a teenager, Flick's new found hobbies of smoking, drinking, and visiting the saloon a few nights a week was causing stress on the relationship between him and his parents. The Genasi would rather party than work, so he'd end up stealing cash from his parents, in turn making them work harder to produce pelts for sale. The excuse Flick used was that they so rarely used their money that they didn't actually need it, so why not let him have some fun with it instead? Money struggles led to Flicker moving out of his parents home for some time, and with the move, a revelation: to actually thrive in the city, you needed money. It wasn't like before when he lived carefree on the frontier with his parents and spent whatever cash he had on hand in the bar. Now, with the meager savings he'd taken with him, he could barely afford a room, let alone feed himself. Honestly? It sucked. So when a small gang rode through looking for young men to act as strong arms with the promise of being well paid, Flick signed right up.

Soon enough the whole gang knew that Flick wasn't quite cut out for intimidating people. He was tall, sure, and his head was at times wreathed in flames, but he had no impressive strength and was much more useful for keeping the gang on track through the frontier. Guiding them around, making sure they didn't get too far from a watering hole, and especially pointing out the best hiding spots, vantage points, and places to hide a body. Sometimes Flick could even use the social skills he developed during his frequent saloon visits to sweet talk the gang's way out of mild trouble. Since the Genasi shied away from more violent endeavors, "scout" became his main job. The few years living with the gang... also sucked. "Well paid" was an overstatement, and Flick was roughing even harder than when he'd lived with his parents. He pretended to be unaffected by the situation, but it was only a facade. Still, he did learn a thing or two about the real world - how one had to seize opportunity when it came to them, and get ahead of the competition. Do onto others before they do onto you was a frequent saying of the gang leader, though that was one Flick tried not to live by too much. He wasn't happy though, and one beating to be permitted to leave the gang later and Flick was back in Forsaken and reconciling with his family.

He was already a man now at 18 according to his human parents, though no one knew how long he'd end up living since his lineage was a mystery. Either way, Flick decided to continue living on his own. He'd experienced enough to get his head on right. He needed to make a living, so he took a job doing using the only skill he had that he believed was marketable: wilderness guide. Flick was hired by families that needed passage out of town, lawmen that needed guidance to possible criminal hideouts, and would-be hunters new to the area that needed to know where the best game was found. Sometimes he was hired by killers and conmen to help them hide out for a while, but these people tended to pay the least - or were the most likely to try and kill him and get their money back. He tended to try and stay away from criminal folk for a while after such experiences. The job was never as lucrative as he wanted, and during his down time Flicker tried everything he could short of bank robbery to make money - preforming in saloons, attempting to strike oil, courting rich single people to marry into wealth, panning for gold, learning from a alchemist to transmute minerals... hell he even used his good looks to try and get people to pay to sleep with him (to mild success). In the end Flicker became a well known face in town, with a mixed reputation and a modest savings. It wasn't enough to fund the lifestyle he knew he really wanted, one of fun and leisure. Though he'd matured over the years, deep down he was still that kid chasing a party. He still visited the saloon once a week to wind down, still spent some of his earnings on material things to make himself happy, but mostly he's stayed self sufficient enough to build up his cache for the day he can escape Forsaken... though the longer he waited, the more restless he grew. The only redeeming part of his situation, to him, was the fact that he could genuinely help people - another left over from his childhood. Seeing the smiling faces of the grateful people he helped always made his heart flutter. Still...

...when an anonymous letter addressed to Flicker turns up offering a great deal of money, how exactly could he refuse?

𝕊𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕪: Minimal two paragraphs consisting of at least four medium length sentences.

As a baby, Flick was left to die on the wild frontier around Forsaken, but he was adopted by two humans: Franklin and Joanna Ignatius. For the most part they tried to leave civilization behind, and raised Flick as their own son, teaching him all about how to live off the land. He was quite adept at finding his way around even as a young boy, and his affinity for navigating was a skill he would rely on in the future. Eventually after experiencing what city living had to offer, he grew discontent with the modest life he'd been living and tried to make a name for himself in Forsaken...

...it didn't go very well, he was naive at the time. There were responsibilities he hadn't accounted for, and in order to cover his cost of living he joined a small-time gang. He learned some life lessons while riding with them as a scout, but he made it out eventually. After reconciling with his parents, Flicker tried his hand at living on his own in the city again. He did much better this time, taking up a job as a wilderness guide for families, lawmen and criminals alike. He knew how to save money effectively, but his desire to live a life of leisure and not have to worry about spending pushed him to take on various odd jobs and at times indulge in buying expensive items. He's always been looking for that one big break... and now he thinks he's found it, in the mysterious letter instructing him to the Caraway Inn.

---

---

𝔼𝕩𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕤

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕣 ℚ𝕦𝕠𝕥𝕖: "When life hands you a cactus fruit, at least take the spines off of it."
𝔸𝕟𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔼𝕝𝕤𝕖: Flicker's special useless talent is the ability to blow smoke rings even when he isn't smoking. He can produce a small amount of smoke from his mouth at a moment's notice, perhaps due to his "inner fire."

Cardinal Rift

Rhy̢thmia L̛ap̢şe҉u͘s

Afternoon & Evening, Harrow's Tower Garden

---

^{Collab with @stone}

After the sisters settled into their room and Melodia expressed her interest in heading to the library, Rhythmia simply nodded and trusted that she would be alright between the Brothers in the tower and their own servants flitting about. Though most of them would be staying off site, there were a few that remained and explored the area. Vati, one of their most trusted personal guards, remained behind with Rhythmia though he didn’t look very happy about it. Both he and Rhythmia agreed that the other Lapesus Lord probably wanted to read in peace, so Vati didn’t put up much of a fight when Melodia waved him off, but the sour expression on his face remained.

Rhythmia laid down on one of the room’s two beds and closed her eyes, intending to lay there for the rest of the night. It was nearly fifteen minutes of listening to Vati huff, pace, and try and find something to do in the small space before Rhythmia sighed and cracked an eye open, tilting her head slightly to look at him.

“...Vati.”

“Oh! Uh, yes, Lady Rhythmia?” Vati paused in the middle of his restless walking, blinking at her.

“...get some air. It’s not every day you get to see places like this. Go do something.”

The young man looked a little torn, wondering whether he should stay and uphold his duty to protect the Lapeus twins (though one was currently away) or take Rhythmia up on her suggestion. After a moment his shoulders drooped slightly and he gave a little smile.

“...sure.” He gathered a few things and exchanged a brief goodbye with the room’s other occupant before shutting the door behind him. Rhythmia sighed again and turned over, trying to sleep the afternoon away. Her rest was spotty, she woke up every now and then and couldn’t fall deeply asleep. She supposed it was still the middle of the day, not really the best time to catch up on sleep. Still, she had no desire to explore the ground at the moment...

The coming and going of people throughout the residency level of Harrow’s Tower didn’t particularly bother Rhythmia, but something was slowly getting to her. An itchy, unpleasant feeling that gradually grew the longer she laid there while listening to people talk as they roamed the hall outside. With every back and forth of words and pass of footsteps, the unnamed feeling grew. At first, Rhythmia ignored it even as it scratched at her consciousness. Then, she tried to identify it. It had been a truly long time since she’d felt this way, so realizing what she was feeling took a bit longer than she would have liked.

Uselessness.

While her sister and her trusted guard were off learning, maybe making connections both good and bad, she was sequestered in her room. Rhythmia had no shortage of responsibilities back in Lapseus territory, whether it was assisting in governing affairs or “on the job.” Here, however, she was little more than protection and a second opinion. She took no issue with this fact, but it still made the grating feeling of “uselessness” arise.

Well, time to find something to do then.

The second Lapseus Lord made her way out of the room and the Tower as night fell. She roamed the grounds, avoiding all people she came across until eventually she arrived at the well kept garden area. The garden was beautiful- some plants carried a strong bioluminescence, bathing the garden in ethereal light. Rhythmia let herself enjoy it for a few moments - simply standing in the center and staring quietly at the flowers.

Minutes later it clicked in her mind that perhaps some of these plants might be useful for something other than pleasing the eye. Slowly, almost robotically, the deceptively young looking woman approached the nearest bunch of flowers and reached her flesh hand in to grasp one at the root.

“The Brothers won’t like that. They’ve already had to deal with the Immolis kids using the plants for dramatic effect.”

It was Alexander Reason, alone. He was still dressed in the horribly clashing outfit- suit, cape, and a top hat. The sound of his voice gave Rhythmia pause, though she didn’t turn around immediately. Her hand hovered on the base of the plant for what seemed like an achingly long time before she finally turned her head slightly to look over her shoulder at the young man.

It had been a while since she’d met any of the other house lords or heirs face to face - in public they tended to avoid her as much as she avoided them. Still, even more unexpected was not that the young Reason had approached her, but that he was without his fiancee or any type of guide. If she recalled correctly, this heir was blind. The woman’s eyes searched the garden seeking anyone who might have accompanied him, but finding no one. Ah. She sympathized with Alexander somewhat. In her youth she’d been blinded before replacing her damaged eye, it wasn’t a good experience but then again, Alexander had been born that way so perhaps he was more used to it.

Rhythmia did not voice any of these thoughts, of course.

Instead she studied the man quietly, enough time to make most fidget, before asking, “...dramatic effect...?”

“Whew. You talked. I was worried that I was just talking to the air again.” Reason laughed. “Yeah, dramatic effect. The kids were arguing and smashing flowers underfoot, burning them, and even freezing them. Definitely trying to show their angst and pain through displays of magic. Didn’t see it myself, obviously.” He shrugged.

What a waste, the white-haired lord thought. Ripped apart for no reason was surely a sad fate for any living thing. When she and her sister ripped things apart, piece by piece or limb from limb, there was always something to gain from it.

She turned to fully face Reason, letting her hand return to her side for now. Even blind, the man would be able to tell that Rhythmia wasn’t taking any particular joy in his humor at the moment. She stared at him hard, though it wasn’t a malicious look - she was simply trying to recall the name of Reina’s daughter who usually accompanied the masked Reason. House Young was so close with Lapseus too… oh, that was it.

“Christina?” a simple question as to the whereabouts of the tech heir.

“Ah, Tina? She’s off doing who-knows-what. Left me alone in our room, and I couldn’t really sleep, so I decided to take a walk. Get some air.”

Not even an acknowledging hum left Rhythmia’s mouth after Reason answered. She supposed the flower-scented air of a garden such as this would be nice even if one couldn’t appreciate the colors or arrangement of the plants. Rhythmia kept a puzzled look on Alexander for a few more moments before she turned away again, keeping half of her attention on the man and the other half returning to her original task. The Brothers that tended to the Tower didn’t concern her much. She plucked the most unfamiliar looking flower within reach, holding it tenderly as she examined it.

“Don’t have flowers like this... in Lapseus,” she murmured. House Young was a strong ally of her own house, and this man would be marrying into it. It might be best to try and get along for now, especially before such an important gathering. “Swamps, and dry fields.”

“Lapse- Ohhh... You must be Rhythmia Lapseus. That explains the- never mind. Yeah, the Harrow’s Garden is very unique. Everything here just bursts with life.” He smiled. “I’m sure the Brothers won’t mind if you pick that flower; they’ve got plenty to spare.”

Explains the what? she wanted to ask. Instead she quirked her brow slightly.

“You knew I picked the flower... but not who I was?” This amused her somewhat, and she hoped her identity revealed didn’t chase Reason away before she learned how that was possible.

“Life, Miss Lapseus. You seem to be missing some of it in key areas. You also disconnected some life from the rest of life all around us.” Reason gathered his cape behind him and sat down. "That’s all I can really sense, though. Just life surrounding me. It’s a beautiful symphony of energy. Rather like a crowd, but much, much more lethargic.”

‘Key areas’ indeed. His comment had Rhythmia glancing briefly down at her mechanical body parts, though she wasn’t sure that was exactly what he meant. Over the decades she’d learned that men, especially those of the South, whether they were kind or not, loved to speak poetically even when the situation didn’t call for it. Still, if he was being literal, it might explain his earlier words.

“Interesting,” that was all Rhythmia could think to say. Like the flowers, she had an inkling of an idea to bring Reason back with her to study. She wondered if Melodia, with her closeness to the Young lord and Alexander’s soon to be mother-in-law, knew about his strange ‘life sense,’ or if it was something common among the blind. Interesting, yes.

Something caught her attention, at the very edge of her vision. Someone was entering the garden- Lord Jevin Pachel, with a red-haired woman she didn’t recognize. Lord Pachel didn’t notice Rhythmia or Reason as he entered, his attention fixated on his partner.

“Who just came in?” asked Reason.

“Pachel,” she supplied, her voice a quiet tone as always. Since she didn’t know the woman he was with, she didn’t mention her. Rhythmia looked over at them to get a better look though she didn’t move.

“Just Pachel?”

“...woman, red head.”

“...Redhead? What’s she wearing?”

Why does it matter? Rhythmia thought, letting a sigh escape through her nose before she answered, “black, gold buttons. Pachel house crest.”

The blind heir cackled softly. “Knew it. He’s cheating on Alana. There were rumors that he was seeing another woman, but to think that she’d be a Northerner. I’ll have to pester Miss Dalris about this later. It explains why his views have been shifting these past few months.”

Simple adultery, how fascinating. Rhythmia rolled her eyes, letting Reason plot how he would let the news slip. She turns back to the flower bed, plucking a few more of different kinds. She glanced back over at Lord Pachel and his apparent mistress, wondering if it really was the reason his stance was beginning to change. If it was, well not that it was any of her business, but it would be a silly one. Listening to a single person over the heads of the three Northern houses, who’d been telling those in the South about their worsening conditions? Idiotic, maybe even a little shameful.

She left the two mageborn in the garden with a bundle of flowers clutched tightly in her hand.