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I'M BIGGER THAN THESE BONES
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the witch in the west | open
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06-28-2016, 10:02 PM
please tag lourdes in all threads | force/magic permitted | permission required before serious injuries occur
06-29-2016, 08:23 AM
Syrena
let the water take me
This is not a place that is easy to leave. The siren knows this all too well, though she learned it far too late. Oh, if she had known, she never would have come. But there’s no warning that the border of Helovia will strip away all magic (and for a siren, magic is everything). You cannot leave Helovia and gain back all that you have lost. Once you are here, everything is gone. Once you are here, you start over from the beginning. Oh, you can leave, if you want. But why? Where else can you at least begin to earn back the things you have lost? This place may be a cruel mistress, but it offers tantalizing little prizes to keep stringing you along. Bits of magic - not even close to what she once could do, but better than nothing. Companions, with their own bits of magic. Items, some of them with magic of their own. Like the raindrop charm in her mane, that’s stained a chunk of her otherwise seal-gray coloring purple and pink. It is the only part of her that is constantly lovely. She is interesting to look at, at least. Patches of scales cover her lower legs and underbelly. Where she should have feathers, she has fins. Her skin looks like it belongs to a seal, always just slightly wet. In the water, she changes color, and feels more like herself. But then again, she was never a creature designed for land. The mare with the ghostly eyes and the floating head is also interesting to look at. Enough that Syrena goes over to the mare, having spent the better portion of an hour wandering the Threshold and avoiding anyone who didn’t interest her. She came here enough, but she approached less often. Most don’t interest her, though sometimes she forces herself to wander in someone’s direction just for the sheer fact that she should. Herd life is not her skill, but it offers her more than wandering Helovia ever did. “Hello,” she says, voice melodic but without emotion. It is not unfriendly, at any rate, which is saying something for the mare. “I’m Syrena, from the Hidden Falls.” And then she falls silent, waiting for the mare with the floating head (there’s a body back there somewhere in the shadows, but it is more fun to think of it as a floating head) to speak. "words" darya87 | larfsalot on deviantart @Lourdes  Please tag in all posts Magic use/power playing is okay, but check before serious injury/death Image by Reli
06-30-2016, 08:17 AM
@Syrena please tag lourdes in all threads | force/magic permitted | permission required before serious injuries occur
06-30-2016, 10:48 AM
"Not at all, actually, you're currently in what we call the Threshold. Welcome to Helovia." Dainty golden hooves pressed lightly against the soil and the gold-accented mare slipped from between thin trunks. Her tail curled and twisted in the air in a series of seemingly senseless patterns, though if one was to look closely, they would find that the intricate movements were more akin to that of a feline than that of an absentminded mare. The spines that adorned her back, neck, and skull glinted in the early-evening sun, each dangerous point belying the amiable nature of the creature they sprouted from. As she slowed to a stop, the final point in a triangle of equids, Ovidius did her best to clear her vision of the unruly lop of forelock she had been gifted. Head cocked, - the best way to prevent the wild mop from sneaking back into her field of vision - Ovidius' face was stuck in a mask of polite interest while her Aurelian eyes were alight with curiosity; who were these women? One, adorned with brilliant scales and a soft gradient of color, smelled of a herd (not that it would deter her in the recruitment process). Yet the mare with the ghoulish facial markings and wings was another story; there was something wild and mysterious about her scent, like incense upon an autumn breeze or spices scattered over damp earth. If she only had to pick one to follow her into the arms of the Unbound, the onyx hued lass would choose the latter. With a small nod toward each of the strangers, Ovi allowed herself a small smile, Daddy's and Ashamin's advice concerning diplomacy plinking about in her skull. "I'm Ovidius, I don't belong to a herd, though I have the privilege of surrounding myself with a band of likeminded and loyal individuals. If either of you would like, I would be honored to speak more of it to you?" Her voice was soft, unlike her usual self, but she had noticed that she didn't tend to be received as well if she tried to make friends right away. A small sigh, distance between fellow creatures was an exhausting principle. Guardedness was a terrifying habit. @Lourdes @Syrena Just to prove I'm not a runner,
I'll be coming with my guns up, Shooting at the moon to bring the sun up.
06-30-2016, 11:16 AM
Syrena
let the water take me
It would make her rather sad to actually hear someone say that she’s not frightening. She’s not, of course, but she was. Not that anyone knew it then, either. A pretty predator, the sirens. Full of false hopes and dreams, promising the world and then taking it away. Oh, she had been terrifying in those last moments of their lives, when they realized for that half second what was happening. It was a beautiful sight. But what was the point in killing now. She couldn’t feed on their souls anymore. Couldn’t live forever. She could kill and leave a mess behind and accomplish nothing, and Syrena, if nothing else, didn’t kill needlessly. The other replies with a name and a question. Ah, Syrena, you really as terrible at this. It really doesn’t cross her mind to think ‘Oh, maybe this person is new and I should explain something.’ It doesn’t cross her mind to start with pleasantries. The sheer fact she managed to offer an introduction is pretty amazing, and probably deserves an award. She’s about to answer and try to be useful (what a novel concept to the one nomadic mare) when another voice cuts through and explains it for her. Well, that works. She’s a little annoyed, truthfully, she could have answered the question asked of her. But mostly, she doesn’t care. It’s one less thing she has to do. She turns her head to find the source of that particular voice, and her eyes come to rest on a pretty little thing. So unlike Syrena, who’s large and gray and plain (except the scales and the fins and the color changing in the water, but on land, she will always feel plain). This one is dainty and pretty and gold and so very feminine. Not that Syrena isn’t, just in a very different way (and only when she cares to try, which only happens when she can get something from it). This one though is far more obviously dangerous, spines on her back and all. Interesting. Syrena eyes the mare for what might be a moment too long, though there’s no sign of actual interest on her face. Don’t take it personally though, there never is. “What she said,” Syrena says, trying her best to put something of a laugh into that phrase, though she probably mostly failed. “The Hidden Falls is a herd here, with a King and Queen and various different jobs and ranks within the herd.” She stops there, figuring it’s enough, and waiting to see what Lourdes was interested in learning more about. No point wasting her breath if a herd wasn’t for the ghostly mare. "words" darya87 | larfsalot on deviantart @Lourdes @Ovidius Please tag in all posts Magic use/power playing is okay, but check before serious injury/death Image by Reli
06-30-2016, 06:53 PM
@Syrena @Ovidius please tag lourdes in all threads | force/magic permitted | permission required before serious injuries occur
07-01-2016, 12:31 PM
somebody shine a light
I'm frozen by the fear in me
Years—and how the years had changed both him and the world. He still looked the same, tall and pale, regal, with only a handful more of scars to tell the tale of time. He still walked the earth with frozen hooves, and a frozen heart. But then, he had called his unicorn kin sisters and brothers, sounded them out on their racial preferences, and only brought home those who either shared his vision, or at worst, knew nothing of it but still bore a horn. Now... now, he was a sad, tired ghost, not at all the cold, but apparently charming, King he had once been. He didn't even know what he was anymore—Mauja, just Mauja, some relic of the past who kept showing up at odd times and either mocking someone (most likely himself) or bursting into tears. He should've died with the rest, and not returned to haunt Helovia time and again. Whatever. That was just the easy way out—disappearing. So, he sighed, long white tail slapping against his lean flanks. He still recruited for the same land, though. After some time, he had stopped believing he would ever come back to the World's Edge, but.. here he was, having made himself a place there once again, despite some.. turbulence on the way. “I like plants and having space to myself,” someone was saying nearby, and Mauja made a rather graceless entrance through a stand of bushes. In a way, he felt like he was long past the point of giving a damn of what anyone thought, and with only a brief look of annoyance he tore himself from the clingy bush's grasp. It looked only moderately mangled after he was free of it. "We have a garden," he said, his voice light, and inwardly he wondered what Alysanne would think of him using her (or, well, the healers'?) garden as incentive to recruit people. What if Alysanne didn't want anyone messing with her plants? Oh, well. Too late for that. He'd just have to fix it if the gray, nearly skull-faced mare decided to come home with him. "And a large, foggy woodland realm sitting atop high cliffs over the sea. Good for getting lost in, and avoiding others." Coming to a rest at what he hoped was a respectful distance he briefly bowed his head to adjust the leather bag he wore on one shoulder, a long crystal staff jammed in beneath it and balanced along his back. "I am Mauja, of the World's Edge." His blue eyes swept the party present, lingering for a moment on each of them, until they returned to their center of attention, nothing but polite curiosity visible in their depths. [ I'm sorry, this was awful, but I'm really tired. xD ] somebody make me feel alive and shatter me
07-05-2016, 12:01 PM
Alright, well it wasn't a complete disaster. Ovi resisted the urge to nod her assurance to herself as she was received by both mares with less-than-frigid reactions. The scaled mare revealed that she resided within the Hidden Falls, making the gold limned lass suck on her teeth for a moment while she tried to map out where, exactly, the Hidden Falls fell on the tentative map she had imagined of Helovia. Eyes narrowing ever slightly in thought, the petite dame was interrupted in her musings by the coffin-whisper voice of the newcomer. Plants and a space to herself, eh? Easy enough, we don't even have borders. Ovidius could see it now, adventuring all about Helovia with the ghoulish mare, discovering new plant species, learning how to make poultices and poisons and flower crowns. Then at night, the pair would split off, Ovidius to sneak and pilfer glass bottles and vials for her newfound friend, the Witch Lady to go off and brew her potions and eat unfortunate children or whatever she liked to do. Her grin grew, golden eyes alight with the possibilities and potential of an alliance with such a mysterious character. Lips parting, the tiny mare was interrupted in her monologue by a distinctively male voice. Raising her invisible brows, Ovi looked about, finding the culprit easily enough by his stature and white coat. Hmph, she thought, As if you could get lost in a herd that you can't even snatch a gold necklace from. Those mists are a joke. She thought back to her run-in with the grey mare and her many golden jewels, wearing them without an ounce of pride like a common hussy. The petite dame huffed at the memory, the area about her neck where the jewels would have lain suddenly cold. "On the contrary," Her little voice piped up, stretching to be heard first, "While the garden is there, it's very small. Also, the mists are easily traversed by those that know the land. You can wander all you want, but others' noses still work." She grimaced as she recalled spying the gardens as she snuck into the World's Edge, and how easily the antlered woman had tracked her through the mists. "The Unbound adhere to no set borders and only gather when they desire. All of Helovia and her plants remain open to us, and we respect one another enough to understand boundaries. You wouldn't be bothered by anyone else if you didn't want to." The tiny mare couldn't help but feel a bit smug at her response, knowing full well that Ashamin would have approved of her.. her... what on earth did he call it? Ah yes, tact. Remembering herself, Ovi nodded politely to the pale unicorn and edged a little closer to him, "No offense, that is." With a satisfied twist to her tail, Ovi waited eagerly for the scaled woman to present her bid. @Syrena @Lourdes Just to prove I'm not a runner,
I'll be coming with my guns up, Shooting at the moon to bring the sun up.
07-06-2016, 08:48 AM
Syrena
let the water take me
Recruiting really isn’t her thing. Come or don’t, she doesn’t actually care. Though she does appreciate that the mare with the ghost face (Lourdes) is to the point at least. No wasting time with pleasantries and pretty smiles. Not that Syrena has either of these things to even waste time with. No, not sure. She is entirely capable of pretty words and flashing those pearly whites. She used to do it all the time, used to lure her prey with the sound of her voice and a bat of her eyelashes. But what was the point now? She was no longer a huntress, merely one of the hunted. Another ghost joins their little group. Less little, more a growing party now. He just starts with an answer to the mare’s question, something about a garden and forest and fog. Basically everything Syrena wouldn’t have wanted. But then again, she’d been about as forthcoming as Lourdes had. She’d wanted water, and a space to hunt (which is basically akin to being left alone). Granted, she hadn’t known then that her powers were gone. Now she really just did want to be left alone. The mare with the spikes speaks next, revealing just a bit more of a spikey personality as well (haha, so funny…not). Syrena cocks a back hoof, swatting at a fly with her tail, looking vaguely uninterested in the whole thing but not entirely sure how one actually looks interested. Her ears are cocked in the direction of the conversation at least, eyes fixed on the group. That’s got to count for something. The gold little mare finishes speaking, pretending no offense at the end, which is crap if you ask Syrena. You don’t answer like that without meaning offense, and you definitely do say ‘no offense’ when you don’t mean offense. But whatever. It’s not like Syrena blamed her for the answer. It was entertaining, at the very least, and she almost likes the spikey mare (Ovidius). “We have waterfalls and plenty of water, and therefore, a ton of plants. And you can wander in and out of the Falls as you feel like it, so it’s not like you can’t explore Helovia for other plants. There are plenty of little nooks and crannied for privacy, though no one can promise you won’t be disturbed ever. At least in a herd, everyone learns to leave you alone when you ask.” She rolls her shoulders slightly, something of a shrug. Her voice is rather deadpan, just telling it like it is. She’d lived in a herd and wandered Helovia long enough to know how both of them worked, at least to some degree. “If you want to answer to a king and queen, pick a herd. If you want to answer to whatever the Unbound call their leaders, pick them. If you don’t want to answer to a damn soul, walk away. The Falls, for its part, could use some faces that want to work to make it stronger.” There’s power at the end of that, she thinks, but doesn’t add. Who knows what kind of power Lourdes was looking for. Perhaps, not unlike Syrena, it was a power that was harder to attain than just through a title. But it was a good place to start. "words" darya87 | larfsalot on deviantart @Lourdes @@Ovidius @Mauja Please tag in all posts Magic use/power playing is okay, but check before serious injury/death Image by Reli
07-06-2016, 06:29 PM
@Syrena @Ovidius @Mauja please tag lourdes in all threads | force/magic permitted | permission required before serious injuries occur
07-11-2016, 08:13 AM
somebody shine a light
I'm frozen by the fear in me
[ Sorry, my brain has decided it's a great idea to make me sleep deprived, and I always struggle to write then. :( Still am sleep deprived but here goes... ] It was a strange gathering, to be sure—then again, it had a way of ending up that way in the Threshold. "On the contrary," a well-spiked little mare was saying as his voice faded into silence; lightning-quick the beast inside of him struck, eyes switching onto her lithe frame. Black and gold (—fuck, death is black and gold), pleased as a cat, His pulse was thundering beneath his skin, a low roar at the back of his mind. What a little bitch he thought with growing anger—and what an idiot. "I suppose noses stop working outside of herdland borders," he conceded with a flick of his tail as Diego dropped out of the woodwork. Uncharacteristically, the owl settled on his head, sharp talons grabbing his forelock for purchase as his amber eyes spun. Mauja flicked his ears back, listening as the spiky mare went on, speaking of an outcast group—the Unbound. (And how do you know when to gather if you roam free? Who will heal you, when disaster strikes? Who will protect you, when the land rebels against you? When the darkness comes again?) Next to speak was the interesting, scaled mare. Her voice carried little inflection, her eyes much the same; he watched her with interest even as his owl stared fervently at Ovidius. What hid beneath the wet-looking gray of her skin? How come the water dripping down her neck stained her in shades of purple and blue? Was she just like him—filtering her emotions, but still having them? Or was she dead inside? Now wasn't the time to find out, and perhaps, he would never know, either. She came from the Falls, a place he had never visited, not since the days when it was still known as the Windtossed Foothills. A shame, that—he'd been on the borders once, depositing his damaged daughter, but he hadn't seen it since. The stranger remained to the point. Mauja's tail flicked again as his gaze settled upon her. Sadly, this was another of those 'or some such shit' answers from him, because he didn't have the damndest clue anymore. What was expected of anyone, really? Did he do what was expected of him? "Don't start trouble," he replied with a wry grin forming on his dark lips. "Attend the seasonal herd meetings." He shrugged. Was there anything else, really? "If you decide to follow a set path, such as taking up with the healers or crafters, you might be tasked with additional duties, though." One black-rimmed ear flicked, and something in Diego tensed for a moment, focused into a sharp, unseen blade. What are you doing? he asked the owl. Playing, Diego replied with smug satisfaction as he sent his magic towards Ovidius. [ @Ovidius - Diego is trying to flip some switches in her brain using Rage. Rage: elicit this emotion in bonded or some other by removing sensation of pain and sensibility ] somebody make me feel alive and shatter me
07-12-2016, 11:02 AM
Brow quirked at the snarky comment from her taller, ivory counterpart, forcing a sigh from the smaller mare. Oh, how dare me? Thought the tiny lass with exasperation, Where do I get off? Giving constructive criticism where constructive criticism is due? A low, snorting laugh gave voice to her displeasure; Helovia and its denizens, she was quickly learning, were lacking in both the humor and the amiability departments. The response from the scaled mare was much of the same, monotone and lacking in enthusiasm, lacking in anything that could be mistaken for a love of one's homeland. Ovi had to keep her eyes from rolling, had to resist the urge to snap at the surrounding Helovians, to scream at them and shake them. What were they doing? This was no way to welcome someone to their land, no way to offer a life within their borders. They were painting the magnificent continent in shades of gray, stealing the glamour and beauty from a wild, magical land, and squaring it up into little, torturously boring boxes. Clenching her jaw, her aurelian gaze drifting toward the owl perched upon the unicorn stallion's head, Ovidius made sure to swivel an ear in the direction of the ghoulish mare. The newcomer's words were laced with a fatigue that the tiny lass knew well. She also knew that with the lack of enthusiasm for anything in particular, her fellow equines should be thankful that their bids for the stranger's membership weren't falling upon deaf, exhausted ears. As her frustration mounted, Ovi watched the gods-be-damned feather duster upon the stallion's head. She bared her teeth at it, hoping that would be good enough to make the thing look away, or at least blink. She shuddered in spite of her annoyance, birds had always seemed painfully creepy to the gold spiked mare; their stillness, their creepy head tilts, how fast they insisted on breathing all the time. Ovi could feel her stomach twist, nausea threatening to overcome her senses. With a shake of her head, she swung her attention back to the matter at hand, though she was very well glaring from the anger echoing about in her skull, "The Unbound will expect that you live freely and fully, that you will expand your mind and find something you're passionate about and to pursue that passion. The Unbound will expect that you voice your opinions, your thoughts, your concerns, so that we may work toward a greater harmony together," Her lip curled, chagrin at her lackluster companions and their sorry bids for their homes climbing to endless heights, "We want you to grow and be glad among us, we want your company and we want your knowledge. We want to share our experiences with you while you gift us with your own." Her tail flicked, catlike against her flanks, as she spit out the last of her words, voice dripping with passion and animosity, "We want you to be able to make your own choices ungoverned by the pressures of others." Rounding on the white stallion, with his glass horn and his smug grin, with his pretty eyes and cruel heart, "And, sir," (She said sir, but goodness, did it give the impression she was saying something else) "If your glorified turkey could stop staring at me, it would be very, very appreciated." @Lourdes @Syrena Just to prove I'm not a runner,
I'll be coming with my guns up, Shooting at the moon to bring the sun up.
Syrena
let the water take me
She knows how it feels to just be done with conversation. The seal-gray mare has been spending far more time than she ever used to in the company of others. All of them where exhausting. It was hardly their fault (or hell, maybe it was their fault, but she’s trying not to think like that), but still. They were all impossible. They were not the sea (ah, there were a few exceptions to that in Helovia, at least), and they were not her siren sisters, and in the end they could never live up to Syrena’s expectations. The white stallion speaks up next, starting something maybe? She’s not actually sure. It sounds like an insult, probably. Ah, but Syrena doesn’t care, and she keeps her attention generally focused on Lourdes, and not on whatever what happening between the two white horses. See? This is why she doesn’t care. Okay, maybe she cares sometimes, but she definitely doesn’t show it and she definitely doesn’t invest much time into others because really, they kind of just waste that time. She lives for herself. Maybe it doesn’t seem like it, serving a Czar and Czarina, lashing trees together into a freaking roof, and all manner of other nonsense. But no one made her do these things. She chooses to do said actions because they further her goal of getting somewhere closer to the mare she used to be. Glorious, beautiful, powerful. She will never be a siren again, not really, but she can be something. In all honesty, if one of the outcast groups offered her a better option, she might take it. But the Hidden Falls needed help, and she did enjoy all the various pools it provided in return. So no, she doesn’t paint some beautiful picture, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t feel any of it. But it’s not for her to paint. The ghost-mare is damn well smart enough to paint her own picture, and make her own story. Syrena’s just here to offer the information. She’s not into actually recruiting, with pretty words and offers full of fluff and bull. “Pick a job, and do it, be it warrior or healer or whatever you want. Show up at meetings. I still come and go as I please, have been avoiding picking said job, and can leave when I want. You’ll have your freedom, so long as you don’t mind a few odd tasks thrown in there.” "words" darya87 | larfsalot on deviantart @Lourdes @Ovidius @Mauja Please tag in all posts Magic use/power playing is okay, but check before serious injury/death Image by Reli
07-12-2016, 05:35 PM
@Mauja please tag lourdes in all threads | force/magic permitted | permission required before serious injuries occur
07-13-2016, 03:14 PM
somebody shine a light
I'm frozen by the fear in me
The Unbound expected a lot of things, and, it seemed his little jab at her logic had not gone unnoticed. He wasn't sure why, but in some backwards way it pleased him to have annoyed her with as little as a few words and a straight face. It was beneath him, it was lowly, and it felt absolutely fantastic. She rounded on him, though, venom dripping from her voice. Sharp spikes aside, he figured it was her small stature that kept his heart from stuttering—had it been someone his size, would he have been as careless with provoking them? He didn't have any way of knowing, not really, merely kept watching her with a sort of mild curiosity in his sharp eyes. 'Glorified turkey'—hah. What an insult. He was tempted to ask the mare to, politely, request Diego look in another direction, but what did he have to gain by causing a scene here, really? He'd be discrediting himself as much as her, maybe himself even more, and there was still that matter to attend to... Save yourself for later, he murmured to the owl. Without blinking, Diego looked aside, severing the tentative connection between his and Ovidius' minds; the hammering, hot rage would recede like the ocean tide. The wet-looking mare's offer seemed an echo of his own, and his eyes lingered on her for a moment longer than was necessary before the newcomer stated her preferred profession, and made her choice. This hadn't been his worst Threshold incident, not by a long shot—licking sugar-ponies and standing up for pony rights both kind of beat this one, but it still surprised him when Ghoulface picked .. the Edge? Him? He never knew what they made their decision on; tales of the land, the feel of the name, the future, the recruiter? He had never been in the Threshold like this, he had marched into a Helovia rising from the ashes of a bloody war and had just decided he lived in the World's Edge. So if someone came for him here, what would he say? What would he do? What would he choose on? He didn't know, but it was an interesting question. Saving it for later, he turned his full attention to Ghoulface. "Of course," he rumbled quietly, shifting his weight and preparing to leave. "Let us go, then. And," his feet moved, his neck bent, and he peered sincerely at Ovidius. "sorry about the owl. I'd like to hear more of the Unbound some day." Then, with a flick of his long white tail, he was off to lead the mare whose name he didn't even know home. [ @Ovidius @Syrena @Lourdes ] somebody make me feel alive and shatter me | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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