the Rift


[OPEN] take this empty cup and fill it up [joining]

Vadim Posts: 106
Outcast atk: 4.5 | def: 8.5 | dam: 6
Stallion :: Hybrid :: 17.1 :: 5 HP: 64.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Vlasi :: Common Rougarou :: Water ali
#1
 Vadim

  hello teacher tell me whats my lesson

          look right through me
                                                                     look right through me

 

It hasn't been very long since Shadow's death, but in that short time Vadim has decided that he and Erthë needed to take their leave of the Basin. As much as Vadim enjoys the coolness of the north and the privacy of the small cave that he and Erthë had shared with Shadow he knows that staying would not be good. The girl blames herself for her mothers death and even though he's told her time and again that it is not her fault she hasn't seemed to accept it. He thinks that continuing to live in their cave will only be more pressing on the child's mental health and it is now his full responsibility to care for her, and he can only do what he thinks is best.

"This is the World's Edge." He murmurs to his child and he casts a glance down at her pale face. "The Moon Goddess rules here." It is truly the only bit of knowledge he has about the misty forest. He does remember some time ago, back when he followed in his brother's shadow, that there had been a rumored group of 'bad guys' that called the forest home. He's also heard in passing that the Edge is now more understanding of differences and that makes him comfortable enough to try to find a place among them because he knows that life as an outcast would be too hard for him and her.

Ahead of them the broken glass wall comes into view and Vadim stops, his eyes locked on it. It is a figure that he doesn't remember, but he can only assume that it marks the boundaries of the World's Edge. "Wait here." He says to his child, his voice stern enough to leave very little room for argument.  "Stay with her, Vlasi." He instructs his companion and the dog growls in response and turns her heads toward the foal, confident that the child would not slip away unnoticed.

Vadim steps over the broken wall and walks several steps into the forest and stops again. "Hello?" He calls and he waits for someone to come out so he can plead his case for joining them in their forest.


"."

ooc://
Vadim and Erthë want to join :D
Tamme, I tagged Phi because I kinda remembered something about her accepting him


Credits

@Erthë @Ophelia

Icon by Tay

Erthë Posts: 440
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 8.5 | dam: 5.5
Filly :: Hybrid :: 14,2 hh :: 3 years HP: 64.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Chan
#2
E r t h ë
"And now I wish to God that The earth would turn cold
And my heart would forget it's made of glass"


The voice of her father pulled her gaze from absent-minded vacancy and prompted her to actually look at where they were. Shrugging the ivory bow to a slightly less uncomfortable position the girl scrutinized the dense line of trees up ahead, trying to see what it was that made this place different from every other forest they had crossed on the journey south. At first glance it wasn't much at all that made it stand out. It was the same mixture of spruce, pine and leafy trees as in the Deep Forest, perhaps a bit denser and with darker shadows beneath the branches.

But as they slipped in beneath the canopy and the mist came creeping along, Erthë felt a shudder travel down her spine. Half pleasant, half uneasy, she could definitely believe her father's words; if the Dark Lady lived anywhere, it had to be here. There was a sense of mystery to these woods, with the soft shapes of rock and root beneath a thick layer of moss. If she pricked her ears, she thought she could hear the sound of running water, and though the birds had gone silent upon their arrival she remembered their melodic songs echo from a distance.

For the first time in what seemed like forever, a spark of interest entered her eyes. Her stride lengthened and became almost graceful - as much as any half-grown child could be, anyway - and it was with awe she studied the remnants of the glass wall, the glittering lumps and shards on the ground catching her attention just as much as the remaining structure. The shade was cool and soothing to her over-heated skin; the young hybrid didn't object when she was told to stay put, but rather continued to study the wall with Vlasi on her heels.

"I wonder how they built it" she murmured softly to the cerberus, stepping carefully among the sharp pieces of rubble. "Why did they raise it, and why let it fall apart? Do you think they can do other things too, besides walls? It's so pretty, glittering like ice..."

Sparing a brief moment the filly glanced up to make sure her dad was still there, she saw him stop a few strides ahead and call out into the silence. Pricking the small, woolly ears she tried to listen, curious as to who would come; maybe Tembovu, the kind giant from the Threshold forest? Or maybe the daughter of the kind healer, Miykael?

Though of course, it might be a stranger too. She didn't even know who all lived in this place.

"And all the pretty tulips would disappear
And never disturb me again"


~| Use of magic and violence is always permitted |~
~| Please only tag in opening posts |~

Random Event Posts: 1,286
Helovian Ancient
Stallion :: Equine :: ::
#3
Vadim has contracted GLL.

Tembovu the Elephant Posts: 805
World's Edge Captain atk: 7 | def: 9.0 | dam: 7.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 18hh :: 10 HP: 77 | Buff: SWIFT
Mbwene :: African Elephant :: Ashen smitty
#4
Tembovu
Thick ears prick as his large head raises to his towering height and his eyes probe the mist for the source of the voices. He hears a male voice, an adult stallion. A smaller, lighter voice follows the query into the fog. The elephant’s ears twitch in vague recognition.

Heavy hooves churn the soil, thick legs of ebony and cream making eddies in the mist. He steps on a lingering, large shard of sharp glass— though it melts to water before it can tear into the sensitive tissues of his hoof’s underside. It seems (after seasons of practice) that he has acquired some semblance of control over his Glazier magic. It was a skill so similar and yet so different from battling. Control, practice, repetition. And the multitude of glass provided plenty of all three.

He halts abruptly, the motion creating a slight opening in the fog. A silver unicorn with a unique dorsal stripe stood at the borders of the Edge. Thick nostrils flare— he smelled of the Basin. He knew that scent well (of cold and ice and snow) from Rexanna. Unease drifts through his barrel, for he has an inexplicable mistrust and dislike of the Basin (despite his lover residing there).

Deep blue eyes rest calmly, expectantly, on the stallion’s equally blue gaze. Were his eyes sad? Haunted, even? The stranger was so new, he could not tell. “Hello. I am Tembovu. Can I help yo—” his rumbling voice cuts off as he catches sight of a small, porcelain figure through a break in the thick mist. She was just beyond the stud, marveling at a chunk of glass wall that remained standing. “Erthe! What trouble are you stirring up?” His voice rolls warmly and humorously towards the filly.

He takes a sweeping step around the stallion, lowering his giant head to the little one’s level. “I see you have not yet been cured of the black lung, little one,” there was gentle reprimand and concern in his low voice.

The dim lighting of through the mist helped with the dull ache in his head, though thin rivulets of dried blood still stained the base of his ears.
Image // Coding


@Random Event - HFH, doesn't touch anyone or experience magic

Please tag Tembovu.

Vadim Posts: 106
Outcast atk: 4.5 | def: 8.5 | dam: 6
Stallion :: Hybrid :: 17.1 :: 5 HP: 64.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Vlasi :: Common Rougarou :: Water ali
#5
 Vadim

  hello teacher tell me whats my lesson

          look right through me
                                                                     look right through me

 

It is not long before someone makes an appearance, though it is no one that Vadim knows from past meetings or even in passing. The stranger begins to speak to him, but then is attention is drawn to Erthë and he steps around Vadim as if he were nothing more than a rock that lay in his path. This does not sit well with Vadim even though he's been accustomed to being summarily dismissed his entire life. Vlasi is not at all pleased with  what has happened, either, and she moves to stand in front of her master's child. Her stance is low and threatening, three sets of teeth bared and growls tumbling from three different mouths.

Though the stranger's voice is kind and not at all threatening toward his daughter, Vadim's protective nature draws him forward. In his irritation (and perhaps a touch of anger) at being ignored and a stallion that he does not know being so close to his child he unknowingly taps into his magic. The forest begins to melt away into a barren wasteland, but the illusion fades away before it is completed because Valsi breaks through Vadim's concentration. 'Stop!' She barks. 'Want to live here!' And the cerberus is right. The Edge is Vadim's first choice in where he wants to raise his daughter, but the first impression he's gotten has left him with a bad taste in his mouth.

Vadim copies the other stallion's movement from earlier and steps around him to position himself between his daughter and the stranger. His eyes are hard, his stance protective as he stands in front of Tembovu. "I am Vadim." He says even though he wants nothing more than to stand and glower. "You already know my daughter, it seems..." A fact that makes Vadim wonder how much else the stranger knows. "Her mother recently passed... I'd like to raise her here."



"."

ooc://
:: [ Magic: DarkxLight | Can create realistic illusory worlds ]
:: [ Restrictions | Takes immense concentration and lasts 15-30 seconds in battle ]

Credits

@Random Event -GLL @Erthë @Tembovu

Icon by Tay

Erthë Posts: 440
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 8.5 | dam: 5.5
Filly :: Hybrid :: 14,2 hh :: 3 years HP: 64.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Chan
#6
E r t h ë
"And now I wish to God that The earth would turn cold
And my heart would forget it's made of glass"


It took a while before the arrival of a third person managed to catch her attention. The approaching footfalls were far less interesting than the wall and the creeping mist, and it wasn't until a familiar voice reached her ears that Erthë turned her head, the chubby ears pricked in pleasant surprise.

She knew that person. The big body, the rumbling voice, those peculiar markings... there really was no mistaking that stallion for anyone else. Tembovu was one of a kind, and she was glad to see him. So, it seemed, was he upon recognizing her. He sidestepped her father like he was nothing more than an afterthought, and with mingled amusement and trepidation the filly eyed Vadim for a reaction.

A sideways glance, and the forest appeared to flicker and fade away, replaced by a dusty plain, empty and barren and deserted... only to suddenly reappear again, before her widening eyes. One of the amulets in her necklace flashed and felt burning hot for a second; Erthë barely registered it, too busy gaping at her dad.  

Did he do that? Really? Plain, quiet old dad who had been totally unremarkable all her life... Did he really have the ability to re-shape the world?

It was food for thought, something she definitely would have to think more about once she was on her own.

Right now, however, it seemed more prudent to pacify her irate father. On quiet feet the girl limped up to Vlasi and reached out a soothing nose to touch the growling cerberus' shoulder, then slipped up beside the father to press herself against his side in an attempt to pacify whatever anger that remained.

"It's okay, dad" she mumbled, managing a smile at her big-boned friend. It was little more than a twitch of the lips, far from the radiant, mischievous smile she had produced before, but it was the best she could manage right now. "I know him, he's nice."

Sniffling slightly Erthë looked past her remaining parent towards Tembovu, voice soft and quiet as she replied to his playful greeting.

"No trouble today, Tembu" she said, shrugging slightly. "I did get help, from Miykael... Guess it's not completely gone yet, is all."

She did feel much better; the lungs were pretty much clear by now, and the color of the slime was much lighter now. The peculiar colors about things had disappeared; what remained was something akin to a common chest cold, with the same dry cough that she'd had all her life.

Apparently, she was not the only one who hadn't been taking proper care of herself. Scrutinizing the stallion she spotted streaks of dried blood from his ears, and though it might just be her imagination the young hybrid thought he moved his head rather carefully.

"Maybe you should have someone look at you too..."


Leaning against her father's side she quieted as he spoke up. The mention of her mother sent a stab of pain through her, so physical it made her flinch visibly. The grief had in no way lessened as the days dragged by. Instead they only enhanced the absence of the raven mare, making their loss all the more apparent. Maybe it would have helped to cry, but Erthë had cried so much that her eyes felt hot and dry and her voice like a hard lump in the throat.

Closing her eyes so she wouldn't have to see Tembovu's reaction to the announcement she buried the face against Vadim's shoulder; clinging, like she never had before, now that he was all she had left.

"And all the pretty tulips would disappear
And never disturb me again"



@Tembovu

~| Use of magic and violence is always permitted |~
~| Please only tag in opening posts |~

Random Event Posts: 1,286
Helovian Ancient
Stallion :: Equine :: ::
#7
Tembovu and Vadim feel temporary relief from HFH & GLL respectively.

Tembovu the Elephant Posts: 805
World's Edge Captain atk: 7 | def: 9.0 | dam: 7.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 18hh :: 10 HP: 77 | Buff: SWIFT
Mbwene :: African Elephant :: Ashen smitty
#8
Tembovu
Thick, bleeding ears flick from the glimmering white filly to the three headed beast who protectively shifts before her. He is a ferocious looking Hellhound, to be certain— and makes even the elephant raise his head slightly. Generally, he does not find the companions of other intimidating, but three heads instead of one… well, that caused his dark, painful eyes to shift somewhat irritatedly back to Vadim.

Even the tribal-striped stallion was protectively moving between himself and Erthe. The antelope-marked behemoth opens his mouth to placate the aggressive actions of both father and companion. His initial reaction is annoyed empathy, for he understands the drive to protect a child.

But his mouth snaps shut as the Edge’s forest suddenly melts away to a foreboding wasteland. Ears pin flush with his head, eyes snapping entirely open from their slightly pain-creased squint. Giant head flies up as he glances around what briefly appears to be his old homelands— before the hallucination is gone.

Eye narrow on the father— he understood the need to protect Erthe. But attacking potential herd mate, unprovoked? “I would say the pleasure is mine, Vadim, but I’m not entirely sure that’s true. I should ask why you immediately attack the Glazier of the herd you seek to join—“ again his voice cuts off as he realizes the ache in his head has acutely stopped. Coincidentally when the hallucination appeared. His head raises, eyes no longer squinting against pain. And the drip from his ears has ceased. Confusion (but more importantly relief) coursed through him.

Only to be shattered as the pain returned tenfold, crashing through his skull with chaotic waves. Blood gushed from his ears that pin against his skull.

“At risk of sounding mad, could you use your magic again?” A pained, wry smile replaces the irritation that had covered his masked face, “I think— I believe it relieved some of this pain…” his voice trails off as Vadim explained the death of Erthe’s mother.

The elephant’s broad, pain-pinched face creases with concern at both the stallion and approaching filly. Empathy tugged his in chest, especially as the normally bright filly could barely muster her normal pluck as she approached and addressed him.

He intensely wishes now that he would have bitten his tongue earlier— a grieving father and daughter did not need an irritable stallion greeting them at the Edge’s borders. This cursed headache had him so prickly— he was not his usual, amiable self. “I am sorry for your loss, both of you— I know those words mean little in the face of such heartache,” he pauses, a knowing timbre in his voice.

A small, sad smile crosses his face as Erthe reveals she has been healed, and that he should be looked after as well. “I’m glad to hear that, little one,” his voice was warm and low, despite the lingering sadness in his painful face.

He turns his attention back to the protective sire, “I’m sorry for my less-than-warm greeting, Vadim. I am happy to welcome you and Erthe to the Edge.” He gently motions with his aching skull to a path leading beyond the chunks of glass wall, “Did you have a trade at the Basin that you wish to continue?”
Image // Coding


ooc| this post is all over the place, sorry XD
@Random Event -HFH, no magic yet
@Vadim

Please tag Tembovu.

Random Event Posts: 1,286
Helovian Ancient
Stallion :: Equine :: ::
#9
Vadim is cured of GLL!
Tembovu is cured of HFH!

Vadim Posts: 106
Outcast atk: 4.5 | def: 8.5 | dam: 6
Stallion :: Hybrid :: 17.1 :: 5 HP: 64.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Vlasi :: Common Rougarou :: Water ali
#10
 Vadim

  hello teacher tell me whats my lesson

          look right through me
                                                                     look right through me

 


It is only because Erthë assures him that its okay, that this giant that has greeted them at the Edge's border is nice that Vadim calms. He, however, grinds his teeth against one another as the stallion speaks and questions him. "Do you make it a habit of side-stepping strangers on your borders?" Vadim retorts and he narrows his eyes on the other stallion. Honestly, Vadim thinks that the stallion is lucky that he only created the illusion when he could allow Vlasi to attack. Then he wonders if an illusion can even count as an attack because he has done no physical harm to... Tembu, as his daughter calls him.

“At risk of sounding mad, could you use your magic again? I think— I believe it relieved some of this pain…”

It is then that Vadim notices the blood that drains from Tembovu's ears and for a moment he is tempted to refuse to use his magic again and let him suffer. But he feels his daughter pressed against him and he knows that he cannot set such a horrible example for her, so he concentrates and the forest around them begins to fade. This time, however, instead of a wasteland he dreams up a valley. Mountains on either side of them reach up toward the sky, the very tips concealed by clouds. Around them emerald colored grass sways in the breeze that Vadim conjures in this world. He holds onto it for as long as he can, but the amount on concentration it takes to hold onto his magic makes his own head begin to ache, so he releases it and the misty Edge comes back into view. "Did that help?"

By this point Erthë is clinging to his side like she had her mother's for so long, and Vadim speaks the terrible news to Tembovu. The apology he offers does little in the way to help with the grief they feel, but it seems that the other stallion develops some kind of understanding for Vadim and Vlasi's protective actions. His head shakes when he is asked if he has a trade in the Basin. "We were only visitors there." He assures Tembovu. "Shadow needed healing after Erthë's birth."

"."

ooc://
i know RE posted that they were both healed before this post, but i went ahead and used vadim's magic again since Tembovu asked c:

Credits

@Erthë @Tembovu

Icon by Tay
Ascended Helovian

Mauja the Frozen Light Posts: 1,392
Outcast atk: 6.5 | def: 10.5 | dam: 7.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 17.2 :: 14 HP: 79.5 | Buff: HUNTER
Irma :: Snowy Owl :: Terrorize & Diego :: Eurasian Eagle-Owl :: Rage Neo
#11
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,
"I remember you."

The voice that came out of the fog was quiet, and thoughtful—the stallion that followed worn-looking, like he had no real desire to wake up each morning anymore. The world was an empty place, barren and lifeless, and not even the odd dream-valley he had found himself in could faze him. Tall mountains pierced clouds, emerald grass swayed in the breeze, and the only thing he could think of was that it looked like the Aurora Basin without any snow whatsoever.

But it didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore.

So he stood there in the fog, white swirling about him like a cloak and a shield, and stared at those gathered. Erthë, he'd heard Maren call the orphaned child after Shadow's death. A stallion he had seen as a foal—a son of Paladin, and brother to Ophelia—but couldn't be bothered to recall the name of. He had a twin, dappled gray with red fringes, who had seemed the darker of the two at the time. This one certainly hadn't kept his bad guy ways, because unless Mauja was a moose, he was Erthë's father. And Shadow had certainly had wings.

Last but not least there was Tembovu, with an odd mixture of fresh and dried blood staining the sides of his head, and even though no one was busy murdering each other Mauja could smell tension.

To top it all off there was this three-headed dog standing in the middle of them, and he could only assume it belonged to Erthë's father. Mauja stared at him for a moment longer, but his gaze carried no weight—was blunt, dulled, empty almost. "You came here then, as you do now." Slowly, he looked about himself, at the fog curling around tree and rock and glass. It was oddly fitting; he had accepted the nameless man into his herd many years ago, saved Shadow from drowning on the beach, and witnessed her death. That it seemed they would now be the protectors of Erthë seemed.. fitting, almost; a circle closing, like so many other circles recently had.

His pale eyes drifted past the gray dun's body onto the small white girl clinging against his shoulder, as if it could somehow keep her from drowning in this blizzard. "Erthë," he simply said, before returning his gaze to the grown men.

What the fuck can I do for you today?

[ @Erthë @Tembovu @Vadim ]
du lät exakt som ismael.
angels, they fell first, but I'm still here

Erthë Posts: 440
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 8.5 | dam: 5.5
Filly :: Hybrid :: 14,2 hh :: 3 years HP: 64.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Chan
#12
E r t h ë
"And now I wish to God that The earth would turn cold
And my heart would forget it's made of glass"


The pity she had expected didn't come. At least, not in the way she had dreaded. There were no fake smiles and strained words; only a quiet sympathy that lured her out from the protective darkness against her father's shoulder and back into the conversation. The sharp words that passed between the stallions eased with the revelation of grief. Erthë breathed a quiet sigh of relief when Tembovu greeted them welcome, a soft smile thanking him where words failed. The display of balls and brawn was over, magic, though fascinating and entirely wonderful, had been set aside.

"Can I have a trade, Tembu?" she asked, now that she felt it was safe to speak up again. "And what's a glazier, is it fun?"

She was just about to follow Vadim deeper into the forest when a fourth voice added to the mix, breaking into the conversation like creeping ice. Turning her head her dual-colored eyes took in the tall, pale unicorn stallion that had been there on the Flats before, during and after the battle, whom she had recognized in passing in the Green Labyrinth and whose cold magic had done serious harm to a divine bear. Now, as always, his name remained a mystery to her. He on the other hand, seemed to be familiar with all of them. Even with her father, which was a first; Vadim had always given her the impression of being the eternal outsider, a perpetual stranger wherever he went.

The old man kept throwing surprises at her; Erthë wasn't sure how much she liked it.

With her attention trained on the frost-horned ghost, she nodded back seriously as he greeted her - how did he know her name? - and without thinking she left her father's side and limped up to him. Taking in the tired, worn look of him she reached out to touch a small, pink nose to his shoulder.

"Are you okay?"


"And all the pretty tulips would disappear
And never disturb me again"



@Tembovu

~| Use of magic and violence is always permitted |~
~| Please only tag in opening posts |~

Tembovu the Elephant Posts: 805
World's Edge Captain atk: 7 | def: 9.0 | dam: 7.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 18hh :: 10 HP: 77 | Buff: SWIFT
Mbwene :: African Elephant :: Ashen smitty
#13
Tembovu
The mammoth stallion noticed, with unease and suspicion, the reluctance with which the pale father used his magic again. He hoped it was from an inherent need to ration his magic— not from Tembovu revealing that it might help him with his aching head. He was willing to give the grieving father the benefit of the doubt (for now). But he would remember this, for an elephant never forgets.

The mountain-scape that grew around them and the breeze that ruffled the grass swept away the traces of of pain from his skull. A soft sigh of relief escapes him, blowing away the bad humor that irked him with this Rift illness. It was gone now, he could feel the sickness leave him, as his abdomen slowly unclenched its cramps. “Yes, it did. You have my thanks, Vadim,” his low voice answers his question. Though the ire had left him, he still felt a string of tension connecting the two stallions.

The white filly beside him was, truly, the only reason Tembovu felt pressured to lead him into the Edge— though he would be hard pressed to turn away a man who had just lost his mate, regardless if a foal was involved.

Mauja appeared them, speaking softly from the mists. The elephant nods his great head in greeting, but does not interrupt the spotted lead while he addresses Vadim. His voice nearly sounded disembodied, so toneless were his words. Tembovu’s ears, streaked with dried blood, perk towards his Queen. But, before he can study the reason for such lifelessness, Erthe draws his attention once again.

Dark blue eyes rest momentarily on the three-headed dog, before looking at the filly. A smile crinkled the corners of his eyes and drew up his thick lips, “A Glazier crafts and builds things for the herd,” he explains to the little one, “It can be fun, as long as the Moon’s magic doesn’t overwhelm you.” Indeed, the crafter magic at times chilled his chest. “And yes, you may choose a trade, Erthe. Though you’ll have to decide which one you like best,” he outright grins at the young one. “There are healers, spies, soldiers, and seers. Along with crafters, of course.”

His eyes sweep back to Vadim, allowing him to address Mauja however he saw fit. It was not his place to share nor explain the sorrows of others. And it was clear introductions were not needed, so he stayed silent.
Image // Coding

Please tag Tembovu.


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