"Where brilliance is good and madness is better..."
Helovia Info
Helovia opened in February 2012! We are an active fantasy equine RPG
Where once the world narrowed into naught but gray dust and desolation, the gods called for life. Wielding the elements of fire and light, dark and wind, earth and water, spark and time, they have created Helovia. The realm is set within the mythical globe of Loorien, a planet rich with all variety of creatures and blessed with all manner of magic. Originally populated by nomadic, tribal characters, they've since grown into massive empires saturated with culture and history. Separated into four distinct segments of Helovia, called "The Regions," each band of horse strong enough and capable enough, took up the power and responsibility of leadership. Unicorns, old, wise and mysterious, took to the north, hidden in forests of mists and shadows and rarely making themselves known beyond their cliffs of the World's Edge. Equines, vast, organized and militaristic, split into two, one group went north to the Windtossed Foothills and the other group went south to the Dragon's Throat. Pegasus remained nomadic, making their homes in various parts of The Wilds in a migratory manner. For many generations, the land was peaceful and calm, but peace was never the way of the gods. With a clash of argument, war and bloodshed massacred Helovia, and in the aftermath, the realm was eerily quiet. Now, as newcomers sweep into this land, they are met with the lingering bitterness of the gods and the struggle to reclaim what was lost. Nothing remains safe or certain while sorcerers and soldiers alike brood and bide their time for revenge, honor and glory.
Site Wide Plots
Kaos :: The Beginning of the End ☼ - 6/2017 - Kaos placed Helovia in a time-bubble for a short period of time, but the Helovian gods are fighting back. But Kaos is powerful- far more powerful than anyone thought. This may be the beginning of the end of Helovia as we know it.
Kisamoa :: A New Kind of Kaos ☼ - 3/2017 - Kisamoa asks Helovians to help him restore the Spectral Marsh. Which side will you choose?
Invasions :: All Out War ☼ - 5/2/16 - New layout and the brand new invasion rules are up! Thank you for your patience and we look forward to getting started with this new adventure.
The Rift :: Gods Do Die ☼ - 8/2015 - Helovia Gods are saving the Rift from corrupt gods! Can Helovians band together against these foreign deities?
The Literal Ship ☼ - 2/8/15 - Oh no! You have to pair up for Valentine's day!
Sky Island :: Murder ☼ - 10/25/14 - Vesta has been found dead on the island, and the gods have called to you to solve the murder!
Sky Island :: Peace ☼ - 7/7/14 - An island has appeared in the sky! Clouds carry Helovians from the Veins to the sky.
Restoration :: We Welcome the Dawn ☼ - 9/21/13 - The sun has finally risen on this day, giving the land new light, but the Time God and the Sun God have yet to be seen.
Endless Night :: Broken Magic Plot ☼ - 8/30/13 - The earth god has returned and is walking across Helovia to heal the land. Every area can now be considered lush and prosperous, but the sun has still not risen.
☼ - 7/19/13 - The moon has risen in the sky, heralding the return of the Goddess of the moon. Lamp trees which light the paths have grown brighter, moon flowers which grow in dark places have begun to grow and prosper and the world is brighter, filled with a new hope.
Endless Night :: Dead Magic Plot ☼ - 6/22/13 - The gods of Helovia, in order to protect the world, have disappeared into the rift, leaving the world sunless, moonless and magic-less in their absence. Only the herdlands have a source of light, but lamp-trees with glowing leaves and branches sporadically line the popular roads and paths from place to place.
Doppleganger Plot ☼ - 6/20/13 - The God of Time is still struggling to close the rift though which the dopplegangers have come. He has requested that his brothers and sister assist in closing this hole, but without knowing why it opened, the task is proving difficult. Magic still remains faulty and hard to control, but the herdlands continue to be places of refuge for those who are fortunate enough to call these lands home.
ORANGEMOON cools off the lands with a a viscious force. Colder than normal, a sign of things to come during Frostfall, Helovia is bathed in a rich tropical lushness - albiet a cold one. The coastlines of the Dragon's Throat are pelted constantly by tidal waves, and the desert climate is humid but chilly. Ice begins to form early in the Aurora Basin leaving the winding trails slick and dangerous. The mists of the World's Edge coat everything in a glistening crystalline shine which encourages mould to grow everywhere. The Spectral Marsh is the only area which remains fertile, blissfully temperature and lush.
Cotm
Character of the Month for
June, 2017
WEAVER, Corporal of the Aurora Basin, is a relatively recent addition to Helovia and has taken it by storm. Branded with the seal of Death on her chest, intrigue and interest follow both her past and present. Though she is assuredly beautiful, her sometimes sharp personality reveals that there is more to this uni-peg hybrid than meets the eye. Proving herself able on the battlefield in the Basin’s warrior ranks, we can’t wait to see her test her mettle against the looming Kaos happenings! Congratulations!
Helovia RPG was created by Tamme and Blu and coded by Tamme also known as Schwartze. All coding, palettes and imagery are copyrighted to the website and are not for use outside of Helovia. Thank you to our ServerMaster for hosting Helovia. A special thanks goes to Neo for all of her coding help and fixing Tamme's errors, Boom, for her loyal service and creation of the Time God, and to Ali for her consistent contributions and dedication.
The early morning mist swirled around Evangeline's white legs as she moved quietly through the grove of willows. She had ended up there after her escape from the Edge and the hurtful things that Ruske had said to her. The mare had found a place under one of the many willows to rest while her dragon kept watch over her. "Going back?" He questioned to which Eva answered with a shake of her head before finally speaking. "No, not yet." It was in her nature to run away when things got tough. She had been running all of her life. The only time she'd ever taken a stand was in Isilme when the shades attacked, but even then she'd ended up running away.
Evangeline continued to walk and Tallis floated overhead on thermals. It was like a bad dream, the conversation playing repeatedly in her head. Perhaps they are happier without you. She frowned and wondered if it was true despite Tallis' continued assurance that it was not true and that Ruske was just dumb. If only that were true. Eva had not met a more intelligent stallion before in her life. She did find that with his intelligence came a certain lack for tact that she had overlooked for so many seasons until it was directed at her.
As her thoughts drifted back Tallis snorted and filled his bonded's head with the image of Ruske reacting to the flames that had licked at his hooves. It gave the dragon a feeling of self satisfaction that he had incited fear in the one who had hurt his bonded, but it did not give Eva any sort of satisfaction. "You shouldn't have done that." She whispered. "Why not. 'Uske hurt Eva.""It doesn't matter if he hurt me or not. Violence is never the answer, Tallis." She stopped and looked up at the dragon as he circled overhead. "It never does anyone any good."
ooc:// for my own timeline i'm placing this thread right between her two threads with ruske. she's passing through the grove and heading toward the deep forest.
From the Basin, the Bloodskald had headed southwest, rather aimlessly. It was spring, and he felt a sort of wanderlust take hold of him, forcing his icy hooves to tramp the dirt and grass and rocks and sand of Helovia. Back home, when spring came, they would travel to the other bands of unicorns and trade, swap stories, reconnect after the isolation of the harsh winters. Once, just before his home had been destroyed, he had traveled to their sacred temple and witnessed the sacrifices and rites of worship his people practiced every nine years.
That had been a happy spring. The air still cold, light snow still falling, but the streams and plants thawed and beginning to peak through towards new life. He'd traveled with his family, enjoyed the time spent with them, been surprised by their religious rites and the bloodshed involved, but it had been his life. It had been what he was comfortable with, defined who he was, what he was.
This place...it was certainly not home, but it was also not something else. It was not part of him; it held no deep significance to him. Perhaps that was because he had formed few indelible memories among the various regions, but everyone here was like him: an outsider - with the exception of the children born in this place, of course.
Torleik sighed, looking around. He'd wandered without consciously paying attention and now found himself in what appeared to be a very serene place. The trees hung their branches low, and the warm spring air was cooled here. The animals seemed to have fallen into a softer timbre of natural cacophony, and the picturesque lake coming into view seemed necessary to complete this place. But where was he? He'd never been here before. Irelyn was hungry and off hunting bugs and small vermin to fill her stomach, and in a way, Torleik felt blind. She often spotted oncoming others far before he could; without her, he was very much left to his own senses - which were inferior to his owl-griffin's in some many ways.
A voice reached his ears and the rabicano stallion turned, audits swiveling curiously. It was a female voice, but he heard no others. She seemed to be...talking to herself, perhaps? Torleik wouldn't judge for that. Gods knew he'd done that many times. As she finally emerged from the blanket of trees that hid her from his view, the stallion realized he had seen this mare before the last time he had wandered and discovered the massive glass wall at the borders of the World's Edge. However, he couldn't recall her name. She had been one to come forth and chastise that vamr Lace...
He'd never gotten the chance to properly, personally thank her, he felt. So, picking up his magical hooves, Torleik made his way towards the mare, catching the tail end of her conversation with herself. She looked up then, however, and so did he - and saw the dragon above. That was...unfortunate, he thought, approaching more cautiously. This woman had been discussing violence, likely with her bonded dragon, and that did not bode well.
"Violence is sometimes the only answer," Torleik rumbled towards her. "However an unpleasant answer it may be. We've...met before. At the glass wall. You were kind to me, when the others were not." He paused, looking over the equine in front of him. She had a simplistic, elegant beauty to the lines of her face and body, an appearance that was easy on the eyes. "I wanted to thank you for your defense; it was appreciated. I confess I did not catch your name then. I am Torleik," he offered politely.
@[Evangeline]
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OOC: Wherever it fits in your timeline! No worries. I'm putting this before Torleik travels further south to the rotunda and meets Brisa and Ophelia again. Also, tagging just in case. If you don't want me to in the future, just let me know. I don't mind being tagged either way.
Tallis did not agree with Evangeline that violence was never the answer and she could feel it because of their bond, but rather than argue with her he warned her of the approaching stallion. "Stallion. Black. Big." From above he could not easily spot the horns he sported and without that tidbit of information Evangeline's heart began to beat a little faster. "Roanne?" She asked him even though she knew that he would have said her friend's name if it was him. "No." Came the dragon's answer and she sighed quietly, her disappointment making her heart sink. She was beginning to think that she'd never find her friend.
"Violence is sometimes the only answer,"
Evangeline frowned and turned her head in the direction the voice had come from. She immediately recognized the stallion, though it had been an unpleasant situation in which she had met him. In all honesty she had been appalled by the welcome he had received from a herd that had claimed to want peace among species. "You didn't resort to violence in the Edge when you could have." Eva pointed out. She had been impressed by his control in the face of such an unwelcoming and hostile crowd.
The mare nodded her head as he introduced himself and admitted that he did not catch her name. "I am Evangeline.""The Pure." Tallis echoed and the mare rolled her eyes. "Evangeline the Pure." She said to appease the dragon. "Most just call me Eva. And you're welcome." She said in response to his thanks. "I'm sorry for the way they treated you, it was wholly uncalled for." That one situation had made the mare reconsider if she really wanted to live in the Edge. At that moment she'd never thought she'd ever been surrounded by a bigger bunch of hypocrites, but they seemed to have changed with the change in leadership. She could only hope that the change would be permanent.
Overhead Tallis continued to circle but he gradually dropped in altitude until he settled his weight on Evangeline's back. He chirped quietly as he clambered up her neck to peer at the stallion from between her ears. "His name is Tallis." She said. "He's been with me for ... several years now.""Hello.""He says hello."
The large stallion shrugged when this mare pointed out he hadn't become violent in the Edge when perhaps the situation called for it. "I said violence is sometimes the only answer. Rarely is that true - but it does contradict your absolute of 'never'," he clarified. She introduced herself as Evangeline, rolled her eyes and amended her name with a title, and he recognized the exchange between the bonded and their companion. "Well, in that case, I am Torleik the Bloodskald. But most simply call me Torleik," he returned with a small smile, mirroring her format of introduction to be slightly humorous.
"Not your fault, how they treated me - but I appreciate the apology all the same." Torleik glanced to his right as Irelyn mentally announced her approach by shrieking in his mind.
"SHINY!"
Wincing, Torleik snorted. "Irelyn likes your dragon," he said, nodding towards the creature that had descended and taken up residence on Eva's head, much like Irelyn often did on his. "She says he's shiny." His owl-griffin promptly landed on him and mirrored Tallis, climbing atop Torleik's dome and settling between his horns, peering curiously at the orange dragon on the horse across from him.
"Pretty..." she purred, her fluffy tail swishing in pleasure.
Evangeline told him Tallis said hello, and Torleik felt he should respond. He wasn't used to others' companions politely greeting him. Ophelia's, Tinek, had been more curious about the runes on his horns. "Ah, hello, Tallis. Tell me, what kind of dragon are you? I have met one other, and it breathed frost and shock," he said, awaiting an answer.
"You were surrounded." Evangeline said as he pointed out that sometimes violence was the only answer and while she didn't agree with him she was confused about why he thought that situation hadn't called for violence. "And they were getting more and more hostile toward you when you had done no wrong. What about that situation didn't call for violence?" Was it because there were so many of them and only one of him? He had been greatly outnumbered, but she had seen many situations before where, outnumbered or not, a battle had ensued.
He was right that it hadn't been her fault for the way he had been treated, but she still felt the need to apologize. Everything they had done, every word they had spoken had rubbed her the wrong way. "I don't understand their reasoning or their logic." She admitted. "I know there is or was bad blood between the herds, but that doesn't make everyone in the Basin bad." She frowned and shook her head. "If it makes any difference Lace is no longer a lead so if you should choose to visit us again you would probably get a better reception."
Torleik winced and Eva frowned, wondering what had made him do so. He explained that Irelyn liked Tallis, which left Eva confused until the griffin landed on his back. In response Tallis lifted his head up to look at the griffin. Evangeline winced this time as the dragon's claws dug into her neck as he stood and shifted his body until he was standing directly on her head, his neck stretching toward the griffin so he could get a better look at her. "Interesting." He murmured. "What is it?" Eva's ears tilted back and she resisted the urge to shake the dragon loose as his claws pinched her muzzle. "Get off." She told the dragon mentally. He sniffed at the griffin then took to the air only to land on Eva's back moments later.
The orange mare shook out her mane then looked at Torleik again. "He thinks she's interesting and wants to know what she is." Evangeline, herself, couldn't remember ever seeing a creature quite like her before and thought she was rather cute. As Torleik asked about Tallis the dragon clambered up Eva's neck again and watched the stallion from between her ears. "He breathes fire." She answered and, to punctuate her statement, the dragon blew a puff of smoke from his nostrils. "And only recently he's found that he can breath a cloud of toxic smoke.""You better not." She scolded as the dragon prepared to demonstrate that as well. "What does Irelyn do?"
05-11-2014, 11:46 PM (This post was last modified: 05-11-2014, 11:46 PM by Torleik.)
Torleik
A lone man loved by none:
How long can he live?
"Yes, I was," he agreed, listening to Evangeline continue assessing the situation, questioning how he thought that particular instance didn't call for violence. And for Torleik, the answer was so simple and so clear that he wished she could see in his mind why there was no way he could have let that moment devolve into a fight. Torleik smiled just a little, understanding how she could be confused; but he was not. "I could not have risked putting Irelyn in that sort of danger. She was but a hatchling, on her first real exploration around Helovia. I had to do whatever necessary to keep her safe, and Lace's dragon was a threat to that." Did it make sense to her now? He would have taken wounds and burns if it meant Irelyn would have been all right, but luckily it did not come to that, thanks to ones like Eva and Kaj.
Torleik shrugged a little as the mare mused aloud that she didn't understand their reasoning. "I was less offended by the assumption of my vile nature than by the continual abuse when I proved I was just wandering through, was too new to this place to know of their prior herd altercations, and found their wall to be a great marvel," Torleik stated. "But ignorance is blind, and fools even more so." His smile was tight now. "I cannot say I would have a reason to visit unless I was conducting business, but thank you, regardless."
Their companions caught wind of each other around that time, and Torleik was deeply amused as the dragon climbed rather gracelessly all the way onto Evangeline's face to cautiously, curiously inspect Irelyn. His owl-griffin gripped one of his horns for comfort and a firm anchor and leaned out a little herself, though her avian eyes could clearly see all the detail on Tallis already; they could do so from much further away as well. She flattened herself to Torleik's head a little when the orange, scaled beast suddenly took to the sky momentarily and landed on Evangeline's back. "Irelyn is an owl griffin. Part owl, part feline, I believe," he answered, inquiring then about Tallis' skills and taking a step back out of ingrained fear when the mare answered her dragon breathed fire. To make matters worse, Tallis puffed out smoke from his nostrils, and Torleik's ears flattened straight back to his thick skull.
Irelyn began to purr loudly in an effort to calm her bonded down, realizing that he was afraid of fire, and worrying that if she did that thing again where she suddenly dripped liquid flame from her body, he would hate her and fear her and never be close to her again. Torleik cleared his throat and glanced away, a little embarrassed by his inability to remain stoic in the face of a small but firebreathing dragon. "She's still young, so we aren't quite sure - but the other day, liquid fire fell from her talons, beak and wings. Luckily it rained and stopped any damage to the tree she was on and the grass below," he shared.
Torleik eyed Tallis warily. Not only could the dragon breathe fire, but a toxic cloud as well. That was...unsettling.
05-12-2014, 11:04 PM (This post was last modified: 05-12-2014, 11:04 PM by Evangeline.)
Evangeline
you always want what you're running from
"I see." Came Evangeline's answer as Torleik explained why exactly he could not have allowed that situation to end in violence. She understood the necessity of keeping a companion safe, she'd done things she never would have to ensure Tallis was safe when he'd been a hatchling. "Would have protected her." Tallis said as he watched the young griffin. "No harm come to her.""Tallis says he would have protected your Irelyn. There is nothing he hates more than a young companion being picked on by an older one." Evangeline said, though she knew the time had already passed and her assurance was probably worthless.
"Dragons are classed by color. The color of Lace's dragon is the bottom of the totem pole, so to speak. Tallis is somewhere in the middle. And then there are the silver, bronze, and gold who are the kings and queens. They all shove their weight around when the time comes and put each other in their place." So if the situation had called for it Tallis would have shoved his weight around and protected the young Irelyn.
"I have no excuse for they way they treated you other than ignorance." She said. "I found it hypocritical that a herd could preach peace and welcome you so poorly." She, herself, was not one to readily trust but even she could see that Torleik was simply marveling at the glass wall that Kahlua had built. Evangeline frowned as she thought the the glazier that had become queen. She was unsure if the mare was fit for the role because of how she had been so easily carried away by Lace's antics. She worried that it could happen again because of the queen being so impressionable. "I cannot say I blame you for not wanting to come back. I wouldn't either."
Evangeline's head tilted as Torleik moved backward when she spoke of Tallis' abilities. The puff of smoke didn't help matters any. "Tallis is no threat to you." She assured the stallion. "Unless you are a threat to me." She didn't believe that Torleik was a threat and neither did Tallis. The dragon had only been demonstrating his ability because Torleik had asked.
"She's still young, so we aren't quite sure - but the other day, liquid fire fell from her talons, beak and wings."
"Ohh." Evangeline murmured as she looked at the griffin. "That's .. interesting." And potentially very dangerous. "How did you come across her?"
The black rabicano stallion smiled slightly, gratefully, at this mare's dragon. "Thank you, Tallis. I appreciate the sentiment, and in the future, I will keep it in mind," he said quietly. Evangeline was right that the time for comfort had passed, but he could still be appreciative - and he was.
Eva began to explain that dragons were classed by color and that Lace's dragon was the bitch of the group, so to speak, while Tallis was in the middle and silver and gold dragons were at the top. "Like Ophelia's..." he murmured, remembering Tinek, the silver frost dragon he'd encountered before he'd acquired Irelyn. "That is useful information; thank you," the stallion responded. "I confess I know nothing about how Irelyn would rank amongst her species. I barely know what she is and what abilities she has," was his slightly abashed admittance.
Torleik merely smiled as Eva spoke again to the hypocrisy of the World's Edge, shrugging slightly. Irelyn took up purring softly atop his crown once more, seeking to stave off any stress or anxiety. Flicking an ear back at her, he gently rubbed one of hers with it affectionately in thanks. Curious about Evangeline's dragon, he inquired as to its abilities and put a slight bit more distance between himself and it upon learning it was a fire dragon. He was assured Tallis was safe as long as Torleik himself was no threat, and the dual-horned demon smiled a little ruefully. "I can assure you, I would no sooner attack someone that has done me a favor than I would attack a friend," he replied. "You have shown me kindness. I will repay it likewise."
The orange mare asked him how he had come across Irelyn, and Torleik's face became both amused and thoughtful. "I was exploring Helovia, trying to get to the Veins of the Gods to worship the Moon Goddess - my patron deity - when I found myself in Helovia's Heart somewhere along the trip. There was a turtle, and an egg, and many others. The turtle sent us on quests to prove we could take care of the abandoned babe once it hatched. I suppose I proved most worthy, as I was awarded the egg. About a month later, it hatched - or well, melted. Irelyn melted herself out," he chuckled, remembering the memory fondly and the way the cold little owl-griffin had climbed over his foreleg and snuggled up into his chest.
His eyes returning to focus after letting himself disappear into the past for a moment, he nodded towards her dragon. "How did you acquire Tallis?"
Eva had been hopeful that Torleik would be knowledgeable of his companion so she could learn from him but as luck would have it the stallion knew little about Irelyn. Maybe in the future he would learn about her and if they met up again she could have her questions answered. "Knowledge comes with time." She said with a smile, an ear flicking back as Tallis trilled softly.
He assured her that he was no threat and she nodded her head. She had suspected as much, but she appreciated the reassurance that came with his words. Tallis visibly relaxed and yawned before curling into an orange ball on Evangeline's back. "What are you so tired for?" She asked the dragon. 'Flying.' Came his simple answer and Eva gave a slight shake of her head. "You rode more than you flew." She pointed out and the dragon huffed. 'Silly Eva. Eva make good resting spot. Soft.' His eyes closed and he laid his head down. "Are you calling me fat?" Her head turned when Tallis didn't answer and she sighed, seeing that he was already asleep.
Attention was drawn back to Torleik when he began to answer her question of how he had found Irelyn. Eva, herself, didn't have much of a tale about how she'd gotten Tallis. It had been a little bit of luck on her part and generosity of the stallion that had given him to her. "That sounds like quite the adventure." She mused, laughing softly as Torleik mirrored her own question. "Tallis was given to me when he was still in his egg." She answered. "I was still living in my old home, Isilme, when I got him. I think I was actually being held captive by another herd." She couldn't remember who had stolen her that time, but she did remember being in the Oasis instead of her beloved Woodlands. "Steiner fought and won his egg in a competition and gave him to me. I still don't know why, but I'm glad that he did." She really couldn't imagine her life without the troublesome dragon.
"Can you hear her thoughts? Feel her emotions?" The orange mare asked, curious of how similar the bond between them was to the bond she shared with Tallis.
The stallion nodded. "It will help once Irelyn can explain things to me; as it is now, I must interpret what I get from her through our bond." The Bloodskald watched as the mare and her dragon had a moment, the orange beastie falling asleep on her back in moments. Irelyn was somewhat like that. She could find a place on his back and nestle in, seemingly napping a few minutes later. Mostly she liked to sleep on top of his head since she liked using his horns as bracers.
He relayed his explanation for finding Irelyn and inquired of Eva hers for Tallis, listening attentively. So she had come from another land, a place called Isilme - he'd never heard of it. Torleik smiled a little to himself when Eva stated she didn't know why the stallion in question had gifted her an egg with a companion in it. "We are rather simple creatures," the male offered. "He probably harbored some feelings for you and wished to give you something to make you happy in the hopes you would associate being happy with him." Torleik shrugged. That would be why he would give a gift such as that.
The mare asked if he could hear Irelyn's thoughts and experience her feelings and he nodded. "I can, as she can hear my thoughts and feel my emotions. I have found that I can dampen the open flow of information from myself to her if I concentrate on it. She is too young to control her thoughts and emotions, let alone our bond, so I feel everything she does," he explained. "I take it from your question you have the same experiences with Tallis?"
Her ears tilted forward as Torleik offered an explanation of why Steiner had given her Tallis' egg. His reasoning made sense and it made her feel bad that she had given him nothing in return. He had fought and bled for something to make her happy and all she'd done was thank him and heal his wounds. What could she have given him, though? She could not create anything and had no item besides the owl feather in her mane to give him. At that time the owl feather had been important to her because she'd found it with Validino and he'd stuck it in her mane. The realization that the feather still clung to the silken strands of her mane made her frown. She needed to get rid of it when she was finished speaking with Torleik. She wanted no reminder of the stallion that had started a family with her and left her behind.
The frown disappeared and Evangeline's expression returned to one of neutrality as Torleik began answering her question of his and Irelyn's bond. It seemed to be the same as her's was with Tallis. "I do." She answered his followup question. "When Tallis was young I would get flashes of color. As he got older he was able to show me scenery, other horses, animals." She smiled. "When he learned to speak it was hard getting him to stop." The dragon stirred as he slept on her back and eventually rolled so he was laying on his back with his belly up in the air.
"Its hard not being the only one inside of your head." She mused. "Sometimes I forget he's there until he comments on something that I'm thinking about, but I've never been able to shut him out of my head. I've tried but it only makes him upset." One thing she didn't like to do was make the dragon upset because he was a jerk when he was. He would pinch and prick her with his claws when she did something to upset him, but when someone else did he tried to set them on fire much like he had done Ampere and Ruske.
"When I first came back to Helovia I was assaulted in the Threshold by a pegasus mare." Eva said. "She didn't like the fact that Tallis and I are bonded and actually told me that I should kill myself. Have you had the misfortune of running into her yet?"
The Bloodskald noted the frown that painted Evangeline's face and his thoughts pressed him to ask what it was for. Politeness shut the gates on that road of inquiry; he didn't know her well enough to probe for what memories and musings lurked behind her visage. Not that it mattered much, as their conversation quickly and easily continued, the topic continually that of their bonded companions. Interesting, Torleik mused, that Tallis began with seeing colors. Irelyn had always been adept at transmitting images, even if they were fragmented and blurry - but perhaps that was because she was a bird of prey (mostly in nature, at least). He didn't know how dragons functioned or how they operated, if they thought and worked like birds, or if they were more like land animals equipped with wings.
"I've always gotten images from Irelyn, though they have gotten progressively clearer as the months have gone on," the stallion rumbled with a small shrug, and smiled when Eva said Tallis talked too much now. "She is surprisingly silent in my head - until she is not. That is the way with birds, though, isn't it?" They were utterly silent until they were screeching incessantly.
The dual-horned demon nodded at the mare's observation about no longer having solitude within their heads. "I feel her always, but then again, I was somewhat of a loner among my own people at home. I am used to utter silence in my own mind, so her small weight is noticeable." Torleik glanced at his bonded, watching her preen. "I don't try to shut her out so much as spare her the overwhelming nature of another's emotions. Adults can barely handle the verbal weight of them in relationships - what can a child do upon feeling those emotions as if the sensations are their own?" he queried. For a fighter, he had always been a thoughtful man and would have much preferred to be a scholar when he was young. But his build and the lack of such a position amongst his people forced him down the same path as every other male: warrior and a secondary occupation.
Torleik had taken to absorbing the orally recited stories around their campfires and at their Things and during their celebrations. If he could not be a scholar, he would be a historian of sorts. His silent descent into thought seemed to prompt a shift in conversation from Evangeline, and his eyes flicked up to her face when she asked about a pegasus mare who hated those that bonded to companions.
The look on his face conveyed the same emotion one might feel upon stepping in a disgusting pile of feces or decayed remains; the indignant rage of something so filthy touching you, yet the resignation that, dammit, you'd have to deal with it now. "Ampere." His voice was flat, hard-edged with derision. "I was chosen over her to take care of Irelyn. I would not be surprised if she holds a grudge. I shudder to think what she might have done with the egg if I hadn't managed to make myself a better option..." Torleik trailed, the thought unpleasant.
"She is surprisingly silent in my head - until she is not. That is the way with birds, though, isn't it?"
"I'm not sure." Evangeline responded, a smile curving the corners of her mouth upward. "I've never held a conversation with a bird before." That was only partly true, though. The Phoenix God in her homeland was a bird and she had spoken to him once. It was through him that she had been set on the path of healing and had made a name for herself in her home. Being recognized by him had given her the confidence she'd so desperately needed as a young and jaded filly. Everything in her life that she had accomplished since then she owed to the God.
"I felt Tallis' presence more when he was a hatchling and our bond was still new. I suppose now I am comfortable with him. He is just as much a part of me now as I am a part of him." She didn't always feel her ears or legs, but they were still there. Torleik spoke of trying so spare his Irelyn from the overwhelming nature of emotions. "It is good of you to spare her the distress that emotions often cause. I wish that I had been able to control mine more when Tallis was younger." Even now, though, her emotions could sometimes get the better of her and Tallis would become agitated.
"Ampere."
She could tell from the tone of his voice the opinion he held for the winged mare and it matched her own. At the sound of her name Tallis snorted and a puff of smoke drifted upward. "Irelyn is lucky to have you." She murmured. "There is no telling what would have happened should she have gotten her egg." Part of her suspected that the poor griffin's egg would have been abandoned and she'd have had to fend for herself and ultimately perish because no newborn was born with hunting experience.
"You don't," he snorted. "You talk at them and hope they listen, for the most part." Eva's assessment of the cognizance she possessed over her bond with Tallis was rather accurate, he supposed. Torleik was used to Irelyn being in his head now, even if he had not fully acclimated to sharing his headspace. He smiled, grateful at the compliment towards his choice on how to care for his bonded; the stallion thought of Irelyn as one of his offspring, and he sought to teach her as he would a child of his own loins. To know that someone else approved of his parenting...that made him feel validated in a way he had not experienced until now.
"Children are resilient. I am sure Tallis holds no ill will towards you for your struggles. You have taken admirable care of him otherwise," he returned before his mood darkened as their conversation shifted to that blue pegasus bitch.
Any memory of her was better left collecting dust in a dark back cellar of his mind.
The Bloodskald gritted his teeth together, jealous by the mere notion of that woman getting a hold of his beloved owl-griffin. "I do not often think on it, as it is a subject over which I become...irrational," Torleik growled quietly, glancing at Irelyn, who was curiously poke-poke-poking at his mind in wonder at his irritation. He quickly quashed it, not wishing to expose her to the idea that someone might have not loved her enough to keep her this early in life. "Let us...speak of other things. Tell me - what do you think of the land you call home here?"
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