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OOC: Hello all, feel free to jump in if you want!
@Tembovu
[OPEN] Immortality is a concept.
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08-23-2015, 11:32 PM
OOC: Hello all, feel free to jump in if you want! @Tembovu
08-25-2015, 10:38 PM
The elephant had been- once again- surveying the broken glass wall in attempts to formulate the best plan of attack for cleaning it. Curse this wall and whoever had built it. And curse himself for wanting blasted job so badly. He contemplated it, the wall, his position in the darkness of pre-dawn. Was it best to replace the wall with spikes? Who would the other glazier be to assist him? What other projects to build? Perhaps holding cells over the cliffs… His musing were interrupted by the appearance of another equid. A true equine, without the superfluous ornaments of a horn or wings. This was the first he had seen of such in Helovia. His ears flick forward, perked and listening, deep blue eyes watching. The haze of inward thinking still gripped his brain, which was not quite ready to interact with others at such an early hour. So he took this time to study the approaching stud. The other carried himself with confidence of youth, yet did not have the boastful energy of young years. Age had not lined his face, dulled his eyes, or taken the purpose out of his step. A coat of rich brown, pure in the color, undiluted by any reds, gripped flowing sinew. Bold black points faded into the darkness that loomed around him. At his approach, Tembovu simply nodded his great head deeply in greeting. The elephant had not seen this stallion at the herd meeting, but that meant nothing since their ranks were so swiftly growing. He walked with such purpose that the giant wasn’t sure if he was apart of the Edge or not. Usually newcomers walked with uncertainty in their gait, or with questioning glances. These were absent in the equine before him. Really, the Edge (and all the herds) needed a way to recognize herdmates. Perhaps it was the soldier in him, but he had always been able to recognize the soldiers in his legion by bands placed above the knee on the forelegs. Perhaps something like that for the herd, perhaps glass bands… or trinkets around the neck, like those he had seen on some members at the herd meeting… “I apologize if I’m intruding.” The words interrupt his thoughts and answer his internal question. Not of the Edge. Interested? Wanting to look around? A spy? Again, his mind opted to wander instead of engaging with the handsome stud. Snorting roughly and shaking his massive head, he attempts to clear the distracting thoughts. “Morning to you, good man. I think you’ve caught me before I’ve fully woken up,” a small, lopsided smile crosses his face, “And no apologizes necessary- it’s a welcome intrusion.” He glances down the glass mess, and then back to the stallion, “I think I owe an apology for the state of our glass wall. It’s a slow project, cleaning it up. I’ve been working on it for a while, but it’s large. Even for me,” he chuckled as he found his tongue taking off without consulting his brain, now that it was finally mobile, “But I ramble on. I am Tembovu. What can I do you for?” His deep voice ended in a question as he cocked a hind leg in the growing light. ooc| @Achaius Sorry for the delay!
08-26-2015, 08:49 PM
@Tembovu No problem. Heading into 24h call at work tomorrow myself so will be out of commission for possibly 36h with sleeping/life included after work ends.
08-30-2015, 10:40 PM
He appreciated the reciprocated smile across the face of this Achaius- an interesting name. In Helovia, he had found that smiles from others are not always the easiest to elicit. So he appreciated them when they came easily. Deep blue eyes shift as the other’s stag’s hoof made a distinct sound of scratching glass as he unearthed it from beneath the soil. “Gods, it’s beneath the earth as well?!” Clearly, by the combination of dismay and irritation on the elephant’s face, this was a new revelation. “I suppose I should have known this. Sometimes I wonder if I missed the wisdom of my namesake, the elephant,” he shook his head at himself, and smiled ruefully at Achaius. “Apologies for my outburst. I might be at my wits end with this cursed glass,” and the glass beneath the stud’s inquiring hoof melted to water right then and there beneath Tembovu’s withering stare. A snort of surprise escaped him, “Well, I suppose that’s what is meant by ‘rank magic.’” His widened gaze meets that of the other’s once more. He shakes his head to clear the remaining fog, “Elsa? She’s a good sort, though I don’t know her well. However, I’d be happy to share the Edge with you,” his lopsided smile crosses his once more relaxed face. He turns slowly away from the wall, venturing towards a thinner part of the forest, motioning with his horn for the other stallion to follow, “I’ve lived here only a few seasons. Though I already find myself at home,” the warmth in his strong features were a confirmation of that. He studied the other stallion as the walked towards the cliffs. His face was polite- carefully so. Schooled into such an arrangement, not naturally relaxed into it. A soft sigh escaped his thick lips, he hoped the other might relax. “’Sisyphus’ you say? No, we did not have that legend in Dorobo- my old home. Nor here. What is it?” he answers the earlier inquiry as they walk. “You’ve not been in Helovia long, then, I take it?” He continues the chat. ooc| I hope you don’t mind him discovering some of his magic with @Achaius ! If not, just let me know and I will change it!
08-31-2015, 08:29 PM
OOC: Don't mind at all! More fun when you can have a little license, I should add a disclaimer I guess @Tembovu
09-05-2015, 12:46 AM
He chuckles at Achaius’s first words, “Indeed it is a useful trick,” he agrees with the quick-witted stallion. Ears and gaze flick between his companion and the path he wound through the trees, listening to his explanation of never-ending punishment. He smiled and winced at the question. ”The only punishment I endure is self-imposed,” he grinned lopsidedly at the other, ”I wanted a job, a purpose, so badly that I did not look before I leapt- amateur mistake,” and he outright laughs at himself then. The sound cuts through the morning’s calm and quiet, rumbling from deep within his barrel. His chuckle fades, as does his smile, “Yes. Dorobo is a long way off… A lifetime, it feels,” for the elephant had lived such a different life while in Dorobo as compared to Helovia. Here he was building, planning for a future. There he had been destroying, planning for the collapse of an empire. He hadn’t realized how taxing it was to be so ruinous until he came to Helovia. “Eclypse, you say? I’ve not heard of it, either,” he shrugs good naturedly, letting his brie gloom from thoughts of his past life fade, “Well, we’re all Helovians, now,” and he winks at the dark bay stud. His next question had him stumped, as they passed a great glass dragon with cracks running through it. A common ideal? He wasn’t sure. “I believe that’s an old sentry, but I could be wrong,” he nods his great horn to the elegantly ferocious glass creature, putting off an answer to the question. They continued their tour, and he contemplated the Edge as they neared the cliffs that begot the name. “A common ideal? I think we’re rebuilding, growing, and establishing one,” he pauses, “Though we should have one soon, for herd morale, I suppose,” he muses aloud. “Punished? The rest of them?” there is surprise in his deep voice as he repeats the question. “As in the whole herd? Gods no. What would give you that idea?” he looks carefully at the stallion, a touch of concern in his broad face. “Our Lady Moon, the goddess of these lands, went through a murderous phase some while ago. Though that time is past, and the members of this herd are not punished for it.” Perhaps he could have done a better job of explaining that. Ah, well, if Achaius wanted to know more, he would ask. Finally they breached the World’s Edge. They stood atop the cliffs, the calm sea painted in lavenders and blues with the dawn’s sleepy palette. Small puffs of white dotted the sea; small wave crests that were awake enough to whitecap. On the horizon a spout of whale breath could be seen spraying from the grey-blue water, “Welcome to the World’s Edge,” the grandeur in his deep voice matched only the scene before them. @Achaius Sorry this is crap. I wanted it up before I left. I didn't proof read u_u sorry sorry
09-05-2015, 10:32 PM
@Tembovu, hope you have enough to go on there. He's a bit distracted by pretty nature.
09-06-2015, 09:58 AM
och jag växte upp snabbt, från min barndom var det allt—jag föddes redan slagen då tänker du tyst och skriker högt, memorerar hela jävla monologen som skrevs för din inre röst,
Dawn was one of Mauja's absolute favorite times of day, and especially in winter. So really, the only thing ruining the moment was the fact that the winter season had passed (he frowned for a moment, because his memories from it were still a hazy, fractured mess). It was still beautiful, though—the way it crept from near-gray through pale blue into pastels, and finally .. the sunlight breaking over the horizon, a nearly painful glare skipping over the rolling backs of waves. He just wished it had been colder.. that the blue had been more like ice, the peach and rose of the sky just a hint paler, and the sunlight.. the sunlight in winter was magical, the moonlight in winter was magical, the—well, everything in winter was magical. But it wasn't winter anymore, and those precious moments of barely-above-the-waterline sunlight were fading with each beat of his heart. Soon it would be full-blown morning, and while the chill of night would linger a few more hours, it would give way to an early spring day. Hopefully, it wouldn't bring rain, so the damned slush of the ground would keep melting and drying up. (Did he mention that he hated fake winters? When it wasn't cold and snowy and crystal clear?) Mauja had just barely decided to figure out what to do with his day when some of his problems were solved for him. It was the echo of an echo, a voice that spoke words he could not pick out that drifted in with the morning breeze from deeper within the forest. Mauja's ears turned, until his entire head did, and in the distance he saw two shapes emerge: one the unmistakable figure of Tembovu, and the other... For a moment, Mauja's heart skipped a beat as he thought d'Artagnan? But there was no gleam of sunlight upon his glass horns, and the outline was a little wrong, his coat a bit too dark with not enough red in it... A stranger, then, padding out towards the Edge and stopping there, peering out. One black-rimmed ear turned back, then forward again. Well. Only one way to figure out who he was. He felt like a piece of a glacier breaking off when he finally convinced his cold legs to move, large hooves leaving dents in the semi-stiff morning slush. The closer he came, the more he picked out; the refined lines in the stranger's lightly dished face, the dreamy way in which he peered out across the waves.. Mauja walked along the world's rim with the ease familiarity gave, glancing down into the waves only once. A long time ago, when they had cried his name for a trial in this very place, he had contemplated whether he would have to leap off the edge in order to make his fate his own—but Kahlua had saved him, and in the name of the shattered Qian and the Edge she then ruled, absolved him of his perceived crime, and the trial had never come to pass. And that had been that, and no more had Mauja needed to contemplate a flight from these white cliffs. "Good morning," he called out, his light voice overriding both breeze and waves with ease. White head dipped in greeting to them both, the morning light glowing from within his eyes, and his dark lips curved into the small smile he had borne so often in his past. "Who's your friend, Tembovu?" Because if he wasn't a friend, well, Tembovu had wasted a great deal of time in which he could've simply chucked him off and into the ocean. [ My presence in the thread is likely to slow it somewhat but I hope you can bear with me :x @Tembovu @Achaius ] du lät exakt som ismael.
09-07-2015, 09:09 PM
“I don't know that we see much of the gods- though we certainly see more of them here than any other land I have journeyed through,” he pauses, thinking about the recent events in Helovia, “But, given our recently expanding borders, I think we might be seeing more of the gods, Moon Lady included, soon…” His deep timbre trails off as the he catches sight the speckled form of Mauja leisurely approaching the buckskin and dark bay duo. Though his gaze quickly snaps back to his equine compatriot who was advancing dangerously closely to the Edge’s edge, “Watch your-” he cuts himself off as Achaius arrests his hooves inches from the drop off. The elephant did not trust his massive weight to the crumbling white, limestone edges. So he hung back with his approaching King. A grin replaced his momentary anxiety, as he bobbed his loosely spiral spear, “Mauja,” he rumbles in greeting, “This is Achaius, who found me sorting the broken glass- or attempting to sort it,” he sighed good-naturedly. “Regardless, he seems like a good sort,” a sideways glance and smile to the sepia stud, “And Elsa suggested he tour the Edge before he joined. So, we’re touring.” He then swung his large head and deep blue gaze to Achauis, “This is Mauja, a leader of the Edge,” he glances, in hindsight, at Mauja- for the lead had been most evasive in revealing his rank when Tembovu had first accompanied him to the Edge. He momentarily wondered if he should not have introduced him as such. Ah well, what’s done was done. “If you’ve more questions about our herd, I think you’re in the right company to ask,” he grinned lopsidedly again and rested a hindleg. @Achaius @Mauja
09-08-2015, 07:32 PM
@Tembovu, @Mauja. I hope that reads a bit better than it felt to write. I had a very hectic, non-Achaius day at work.
09-12-2015, 11:05 AM
och jag växte upp snabbt, från min barndom var det allt—jag föddes redan slagen då tänker du tyst och skriker högt, memorerar hela jävla monologen som skrevs för din inre röst,
[ Don't worry about it ^^ And I'm nearly delirious with hunger so apologies :x ] Peace. How long ago was it that he had felt it? This.. quiet contentment, this lack of doubt, of questions with no answers—reprieve from the creeping anxiety, the gnawing stress, a kind of restlessness that used to lay like a thin film over his heart. And so far, to his amazement, this morning hadn't had any of that. It was just the sky and the surf and the cliff and three stallions standing by the edge of the world, wind tousling their hair with a feral kind of gentleness. No paranoia. No suspicions making his bones ache. No over-powering, deep, driving need to fix some shit in this fucked-up world, just—just a rare moment of undisturbed curiosity, of.. well, being in the moment. The d'Artagnan-esque stranger backed away from the dead-drop. Mauja kept watching him with the same light in his eyes, listening to the deep, comforting voice of Tembovu. Achaius—someone Elsa had found and asked over. Odd that the general herself wasn't here, but then again, Mauja knew what it was like to be busy, or anti-social, or a thousand other things that made you not want to act guide for a stranger. Even if doing it would boost your herd numbers. “This is Mauja, a leader of the Edge,” Tembovu went on, and the only sign he gave of disliking having been named by his title was a slight twitch by his withers. Oh, well. Everyone found out sooner or later—and "later" was sometimes at a herd meeting, where he would stand as the more demure White Queen while Torleik blared out his position with pride. It wasn't really that Mauja disagreed with being proud to be a King, it was more the fact that it wasn't how Mauja wanted to do things: wasn't how he had done things in the past, but the past was the past and it wasn't his fault that he had been thrust back into this position with company ... He shoved the thoughts aside. He wasn't going to let thoughts of Torleik sour his so far pleasant day. He nearly choked on his breath when Achaius suggested Mauja might like being addressed by his title. It took some effort to not—comically, though—yell NO in his face. It was the sort of thing that would, given enough time, make him casually flip out and distance himself. If Mauja wanted to lord over them, he would, uhh.. uhh... .. turn them into slaves, or something. "Please," he said, his small smile turning into a grimace. "Just Mauja." His ears flickered, blue eyes drifting between the odd pair. In hindsight, he shouldn't have "intruded"—should've just hung back, listening, watching, waiting. Now.. well, now he had to somehow be a part of the conversation. It was a bit odd to realize that he had no particular desire for that—that that all he felt like doing was resting his head on Tembovu's ass and just let the world play on without him. But finally, his gaze settled on Achaius. "And how do you find it so far?" Mauja might be a leader here—too aware of the competition in the Threshold, and Achaius might be a bargaining chip in the big game of Helovia.. but there were no traces of that in his voice, no measurement, nothing being weighed; just simple curiosity. du lät exakt som ismael.
09-14-2015, 02:20 AM
The elephant could not help but chuckle richly at the look on Mauja’s face as Achaius inquired about using a title for him. Tembovu has suspected that his king was not fond of designations, but now it was entirely confirmed. Vaguely, he wondered why this was- but shelved the question for another day. Still wearing a grin, he turned his gaze to Achaius, interested to see how the bay stud found the Edge. A question he had been asked earlier resurfaced and nagged his mind. “What brings the people at the Edge together… is there a common ideal?” He slides his eyes to Mau once more, “Achaius asked me earlier if we’ve a uniting idea for the Edge, and I couldn’t answer him,” he paused, thinking, “Do we?” hid deep voice was ripped away by a sudden, particularly violent gust of wind. His thick body braced against it, causing him to lean towards the newcomer, wiry coat brushing against his smooth bay one while his thick tail lashed at both their legs. He grinned his lopsided smile in apology, sidestepping away from him in order to give him room. Some men were so touchy about personal space. His movements brought him to brushing shoulders with his king, which the giant didn’t seem to mind. Re-cocking a hind leg, he relaxed once more in the company of such fine men. The Edge was attracting such robust and lively newcomers. His black tipped ears flickered around, listening and waiting for the others to speak. ooc| sorry for the shortness, I ran out of ideas ;_;
09-14-2015, 07:02 PM
@Tembovu, @Mauja Sorry! two 24h call shifts in the last 4 days kept me pretty busy.
09-19-2015, 11:30 AM
och jag växte upp snabbt, från min barndom var det allt—jag föddes redan slagen då tänker du tyst och skriker högt, memorerar hela jävla monologen som skrevs för din inre röst,
Observing had always been Mauja's game—reading every little shift in the plane of another's face, in their stance, in the swishing of their tail, the way their eyes moved.. he had always looked, and analyzed, and had given nothing away himself; immovable as a glacier, locking away the vastness of his mind beneath a small, pleasant smile and a curious light in his eyes. What little his body had moved had always been permitted, let out by choice rather than instinct. But now.. now, whenever those subtle gray eyes landed on him, Mauja was aware of how this had changed—how he had changed, tangled up in the mess he had made of himself. On good days, he just seemed normal. Mortal. On bad days.. on bad days, he was an erratic mess of signals, half-formed, stitched together body language conveying only pieces of a story, and eyes that were dead, or blazed with rage, or glazed over by tears. Emotion, fighting to get out through the cracks of his shattered armor. Still, the weight of Achaius' eyes was light, a feather's touch, the breeze itself—it wasn't quite something he thought of, something he noticed, just another testament of how he had changed. The tiny details slipped under the radar as he tossed and turned in the vice-like grip of life. “I like it,” he said, blunt in the way of honesty, and fixated his gaze on Mauja as he went on, about the drop into the sea, and the ruins of the glass wall. Mauja tilted his head to one side, held his eyes a moment longer, before turning to peer into the fog. "We hide," he said, softly, his voice a dramatic whisper twining with the strengthening wind, "within the fog." And his lips curved into a small, wicked smile, a flash of something going through his eyes as he turned to look back at the stallion. He wasn't sure what the bay had meant; was there something more to the words? Something elusive, that escaped Mauja's grasp? And if so, what had he just told him? That they hid some sort of darkness within the herd? "More surprises that way," he said, casual and flippant but behind the ice of his eyes he had weighed every word—wondering what he gambled for, and against whom, or what. But then the wind picked up, a howling gust that snatched the words out of Tembovu's mouth and nearly scattered them to the wind; the giant swayed, and Mauja braced, moving a single hind hoof with an air of not being particularly disturbed. Truthfully, he wasn't; the wind always blew here. Parrying it was second nature. But Tembovu had asked an interesting question, one Achaius picked up on, and once again Mauja regretted his decision to leave the safety of the fog behind. Like, what on earth was he supposed to say? He was still struggling with the idea of ruling here again and not running a party-crashing racist freak show. Did he have purpose? Did they have purpose? All he and Torleik had said was something along the lines of.. well, general acceptance. To suggest that a person united the herd, when most of it was simply inherited ... and religion, that was out of the question. Mauja had tried that a few times, and none of them had ended particularly well. And, if by some chance he would like to run some shady movement from the depths of the fog, well—it hardly was the kind of thing he would confess to someone he didn't know. So with a very faint sigh he shifted his weight to lean lightly against Tembovu. "Truth to be told, I think it is the land itself that unites us. I lead with a king not of my choice, and those under our protection are mostly the inherited remains of a herd that relocated." He offered a light shrug. "Helovia is not a kind place in which to deviate. Peace and acceptance is preached at every corner, and I have seen the rise and fall of many orders—racist bands, mercenary companies, religious orders... In the end, we conform to same gray, bland mass, where none steps out of line because if one does, the entire machine comes after you. In their self-righteousness they are blind and cruel. I wouldn't advocate for war or misery, but the hypocrisy I have suffered from them makes me sick." All the while he spoke, his voice was soft, and light, gentle in a way that was at odds with the words he spoke. "At some point in time, someone set a precedent that is now followed almost religiously, a norm for how to act, how to think, how to behave. It offers no true forgiveness." His gaze swept out to the Edge. "Hah. Listen to me ramble..." The Queen fell silent. [ @Achaius @Tembovu ] du lät exakt som ismael.
09-22-2015, 09:33 PM
Tembovu’s eyes shift from the white queen to the bay stallion. Achaius’s words balances the line between poetry, casual observance, and deep contemplation. So the elephant studied the man closely— no longer distracted by sleep or duty to entertain the guest. His gaze found quiet, introspective grey eyes full of thoughts, of uncertainty and decisions. Eyes of dissimilitude, of uniformity. Of black, of white— of grey. He blinks, sweeping away these introspections with his black eyelids. A quiet snort escaped him at Mauja’s dramatic whisper. Hide the elephant? In the fog? The only hiding the elephant could accomplish would be with their Moon Goddess’s personal blessing— and Tembovu highly doubted she would care so much. Given her mischievous and historically wicked nature, he was relatively certain he didn’t want her to care so much. “Definitely always surprises, here,” he agreed on a low murmur beside his Queen. A slight grin crossed over his muzzle as he thought of the surprise of Rexanna on the beach. That had been such good (great) surprise. He easily, contentedly accepted the slight lean of the Frozen Light against his shoulder unconsciously— though it brought his mind away from the beach to to the cliffs. Ears turn towards Mauja as he answers his own question. He is quite loquacious on the matter. Though his many words provide much enlightenment to the elephant—and he is glad for it. So Torleik was not his choice of co-lead? The large stallion shifts his weight uncertainly, rough hide rubbing against the smooth, spotted one. For some, unknown reason (most likely because of his familiarity with him), Tembovu inherently trusted his dotted leader. These are how seeds of doubt are planted— he recognized them well, for he had once made it his purpose to plant them. Squashing these errant thoughts, these weeds of doubt, he continued to listen. His head tilted ever so slightly at how contrasted the words were with their tone. They spoke of an ugly truth in a pleasant, conversational tone. His neck bent, turning to study the glacier as he spoke. Curiosity flashed through him. What made his queen speak in such a way? For the first time since entering Helovia, he felt an interest in the past. Coming here had always been about the future, about leaving behind his vengeance and past. But now… He angles his head and eyes towards Achauis, blue eyes studying and searching for a response to the small speech of the lead. The silence they fall into is oppressing, for some odd reason. At least the elephant finds it that way. “Acceptance is a ideal I can get behind,” he rumbles, bobbing his giant head slightly in affirmation of his words. “I can’t speak to religion or higher ordered doctrines,” a slight frown creased his masked brown, for those principles often are stepping stones to greed and corruption, “but acceptance seems acceptable to me.” He grins as his own corny, horrible joke— though at least he felt he had eased his own seriousness. @Achaius @Mauja Sorry I'm slow ;-; | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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