where we go to forget
For Juniper
Deimos Ignatius
the Resurrected Sword
Warden of Halo / Guildmaster

Age: 33 | Height: 6'4" | Race: Hybrid | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 14 - Strg: 72 - Dext: 72 - Endr: 73 - Luck: 80 - Int: 3
BELIAL - Mythical - Peryton (Blend) ZURIEL - Mythical - Unicorn (Healing)
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Posts: 6,553 | Total: 10,646
MP: 9824
#1
We're lost in the space between
who we are and all that we're trying to be

Terror and horrors bent, accumulated, in a myriad of ways. What once echoed along his nightmares had long since settled into his bones, so they were an outstretch of lines and figures, of scars and all their worn shapes, from loss and failure, to devastation and ruin. He could feel them keenly now, even as he laid his hands into the Stonesong’s shallow depths, even as he ached to crawl into its mass and simply bask in the water for half a second –

But there would be no bending, no breaking, no tying over. A clench to his jaw, and his hands cupped the liquid, bringing it to the surface of his face, his beard, striving to wash away the grit, the dirt, the earth, the multitudes of chaos from his features. From the shoreline, Zuriel and Belial were sentinels, and he the etched Sword, gathered by wits’ ends and not much else. A very long, slow sigh flickered and filtered through his lungs, and he didn’t know what to feel any longer.

Despair? Frustration? Rage? What if they all seemingly came together and he was just some cold, demolished being again?

Maybe it didn’t matter, and the reactions simply hadn’t collided through his head yet. Maybe they would align into sanctions and sectors and he could figure, parse, them out from there.

DEIMOS
Stop trying to show how to save our souls
It takes dying to know
How to live as ghosts
Juniper Dubois
the Amberwing
Diplomat

Age: 57 | Height: 4'8 | Race: Fae | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 3 - Strg: 13 - Dext: 14 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 15 - Int:
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#2


Juniper wandered along the Whispershore, unsure why she had come here today. She needed a place to think, a moment of peace and quiet to examine the burdens she carried, the moves playing themselves out on the chessboard that was Caido in the run-up to war. If she could only think hard enough, perhaps she could puzzle out a pattern that would keep everyone safe.

But she wouldn't get that time to think today; today a new piece waited on the board, unexpected and unpredictable. Spotting the Sword and his companions in the distance, Juniper approached cautiously -- the figure was too large to be Fae, and who knew who might show up in the Greatwood these days? Finally, she recognized him and called out: "Deimos? Are you all right?"

Something in his posture struck her as tired, if not more.
Juniper

"art nouveau winged fairy" by e³°°° is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit here


Deimos Ignatius
the Resurrected Sword
Warden of Halo / Guildmaster

Age: 33 | Height: 6'4" | Race: Hybrid | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 14 - Strg: 72 - Dext: 72 - Endr: 73 - Luck: 80 - Int: 3
BELIAL - Mythical - Peryton (Blend) ZURIEL - Mythical - Unicorn (Healing)
Played by: Heather Offline
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Posts: 6,553 | Total: 10,646
MP: 9824
#3
We're lost in the space between
who we are and all that we're trying to be

Eyes raised and stare out across the abyss, he remained crouched, quiet, contemplative. He didn’t know his next moves. Presumed it’d be to venture out along the void, out of woods and out of mountains and out of anything resembling shelter or sanctuary; try to instill his own somewhere else. Maybe that was where the heartbreak had woven itself in knots and tethers; because everything collided into something ancient, understood, ages and lives before, and now it had reared its head all over again. Nothing and nowhere.

Too absorbed, he hadn’t noticed anyone approaching, and if either of his companions had given a signal, a warning sign, it’d gone away from the notions and straight into the water’s rapids. Only his name barring any recognizable inflection brought him out of the reverie, shoulders squaring automatically, a strong, swift, shift in his turn, and he rose back up to his full height. “Juniper,” he nodded, respectful, recognizing the Fae from a year ago – bars and snow, talks of trials that had never come to fruition.

Only then did the question circulate back in his mind. “No,” he answered truthfully; since she’d asked and he obviously wasn’t. “Halo was invaded. It is a long story.” Then, wondering, pondering, if he was even welcome here either, he aimed to motion towards his bag, the unicorn, and peryton alike (Belial gave a trill of some eager greeting to the Fae regardless). “I can leave, if I am disturbing this place.”

DEIMOS
Stop trying to show how to save our souls
It takes dying to know
How to live as ghosts
Juniper Dubois
the Amberwing
Diplomat

Age: 57 | Height: 4'8 | Race: Fae | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 3 - Strg: 13 - Dext: 14 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 15 - Int:
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Posts: 417 | Total: 1,206
MP: 1749
#4


Oh, the invasion, of course. "Noah told me." Juniper might not have realized that Deimos had been part of the defending forces, but she should have. Likely she would have questions for him about the invasion, not to mention the coup that had preceded it, but first things first: "Are you hurt? Or your companions?"

Juniper's first instinct was to respond to Deimos's question with a shake of her head. "You aren't disturbing anyone here. You don't have to leave."

But, although she'd meant the words as she said them -- she had to, after all, being Fae -- she quickly began to wonder if that was the case. What consequences might harboring Deimos and the other former Halovian leaders hold for the Greatwood? And especially for its relationship with Halo now? Morgan was nominally neutral, even an ally of the Greatwood -- Deimos and the other usurpers were nominally traitors ...

Well, she didn't have to tell Deimos to pack up and leave right now. She would wait for his response first, see what he needed before deciding what aid she could provide.
Juniper

"art nouveau winged fairy" by e³°°° is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit here


Deimos Ignatius
the Resurrected Sword
Warden of Halo / Guildmaster

Age: 33 | Height: 6'4" | Race: Hybrid | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 14 - Strg: 72 - Dext: 72 - Endr: 73 - Luck: 80 - Int: 3
BELIAL - Mythical - Peryton (Blend) ZURIEL - Mythical - Unicorn (Healing)
Played by: Heather Offline
Change author:
Posts: 6,553 | Total: 10,646
MP: 9824
#5
We're lost in the space between
who we are and all that we're trying to be

Deimos felt like he might be dangling over a dagger’s edge, some raised devil’s backbone, waiting for another thing to drop out underneath him. He nodded distinctly at the mention that Noah had already told her about the invasion, and then hung his head, eyes shifting over granules of sand and stone, uncertain where else to go from here then. The next question left the same cranium shaking. “No.” Physically, no scars scorched. Mentally was a different story and aptitude, platitude, he wasn’t pressing into now.

He only raised them again, eyes and skull and all, when she surmised he didn’t have to leave. Mostly because the measures of politics gathered, all those machinations, all those quandaries, centering, striking against him. “I have been staying in the Wilds. Not here. I only came to-,” the reason didn’t matter, not really. But just so she realized the Greatwood wouldn’t be considered as harboring fugitives, rebels, or refugees, whatever they happened to have been deemed now. “Have you seen Hotaru here?”

DEIMOS
Stop trying to show how to save our souls
It takes dying to know
How to live as ghosts
Juniper Dubois
the Amberwing
Diplomat

Age: 57 | Height: 4'8 | Race: Fae | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 3 - Strg: 13 - Dext: 14 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 15 - Int:
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Posts: 417 | Total: 1,206
MP: 1749
#6


"I'm glad you're not hurt." Like everything else Juniper said, it was true. She respected Deimos, and whatever side of the Halovian struggles the Greatwood and its guardians ended up coming down on, she'd hope for a peaceful solution. Not to mention that if he had been injured, she would have faced the dilemma of deciding whether to offer or withhold material aid.

"The water is free," Juniper said: as close as she could come to welcoming Deimos to the Greatwood, under the circumstances. And since she couldn't invite him to stay: "I hope you're safe in the Wilds."

She shook her head, regretfully. "I've heard nothing of Hotaru. I wish I could help more."

A moment's pause, and then Juniper asked, "Would you mind speaking to me about what happened, if you don't mind talking about it? Noah gave me his account, but I'd like to hear more. Starting with the coup itself -- I still don't quite understand what happened there."
Juniper

"art nouveau winged fairy" by e³°°° is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit here


Deimos Ignatius
the Resurrected Sword
Warden of Halo / Guildmaster

Age: 33 | Height: 6'4" | Race: Hybrid | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 14 - Strg: 72 - Dext: 72 - Endr: 73 - Luck: 80 - Int: 3
BELIAL - Mythical - Peryton (Blend) ZURIEL - Mythical - Unicorn (Healing)
Played by: Heather Offline
Change author:
Posts: 6,553 | Total: 10,646
MP: 9824
#7
We're lost in the space between
who we are and all that we're trying to be

“Thank you,” came out of a grateful grumble, eyes downcast, a frenetic pulse beginning to thrum and drum within his ears. With nothing about Hotaru, he figured his stay within these folds of the tranquil river, of the peace and quiet, were at a justifiable end – glance going briefly to his companions, before his head tilted at the inquiry, and it was eventually raised back to look at the Fae.

Even if he couldn’t hear it in her voice, there seemed to be a judgment hanging over the throng; or perhaps it was the weight of his own consequences, bearing down, down, down on his spine and shoulders, and any more plausible weight would surely snap it in two. The Sword swallowed down all the bile threatening to reside and coil, standing straighter and taller than he felt. “Safrin made it clear that Morgan’s claim of neutrality would not last, given her relationship with Neron. She said Halo would eventually turn to the Voice, and gave the task of ensuring Halo belonged to the Old Gods.” And Deimos had tried, a little, to piece together the potential for swaying, but all he’d received were lies. “So we did that – peacefully, and Morgan was allowed to leave.” A poor call on their part; given what happened thereafter. The man paused there, waiting; uncertain of what else Noah had already pressed into the fold.

DEIMOS
Stop trying to show how to save our souls
It takes dying to know
How to live as ghosts
Juniper Dubois
the Amberwing
Diplomat

Age: 57 | Height: 4'8 | Race: Fae | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 3 - Strg: 13 - Dext: 14 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 15 - Int:
Played by: Bees Offline
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Posts: 417 | Total: 1,206
MP: 1749
#8


Juniper nodded to Deimos's thanks, listened carefully to his explanation. "Noah and Hotaru told me about Safrin's wishes. Was there no consideration of the idea that Halo might remain neutral, however?"

A naive dream, perhaps, but Juniper had somewhat hoped that somewhere in Caido -- even if it were not her beloved Greatwood -- might remain untouched by war. Probably Safrin was right; likely, a nominally neutral Halo would have truly proven more use to the Ascended. But Juniper could dream, right?

Eventually, Deimos had said: Halo would eventually turn to the Voice. Just how long was this war supposed to last?

And she had one more question, too: "How did you convince Morgan to leave?"
Juniper

"art nouveau winged fairy" by e³°°° is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit here


Deimos Ignatius
the Resurrected Sword
Warden of Halo / Guildmaster

Age: 33 | Height: 6'4" | Race: Hybrid | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 14 - Strg: 72 - Dext: 72 - Endr: 73 - Luck: 80 - Int: 3
BELIAL - Mythical - Peryton (Blend) ZURIEL - Mythical - Unicorn (Healing)
Played by: Heather Offline
Change author:
Posts: 6,553 | Total: 10,646
MP: 9824
#9
We're lost in the space between
who we are and all that we're trying to be

And here was the inquiry he’d heard all along, and from so many. Neutrality. The problem with its stance was that eventually, something would alter, something would bind, something would change. Like having one’s head buried in the sand, pretending that nothing was coming. Nothing would happen. Nothing could possibly occur that would morph and modify the course. So he would ask her in return – piercing eyes flickering back over, away from the water and away from the rocks. “Do you believe the gods would allow it to remain neutral? Any of these lands?” The Grounds had a stance. He figured the Greatwood had already long since forged their way to the Old ones. Or the fact that Safrin had ordered it, commanded it, told a much larger story.

As for convincing Morgan, he’d had virtually no part in it. That had been the weight of Hotaru and Noah’s tactics. He’d been ready and armed for something completely different. “Discussion. No harm came to her.” She'd likely had already been planning out a stage of what would thereafter by then - leaving with her head held high and towards the Fangs, to come back later and corrupt the foundations.

DEIMOS
Stop trying to show how to save our souls
It takes dying to know
How to live as ghosts
Juniper Dubois
the Amberwing
Diplomat

Age: 57 | Height: 4'8 | Race: Fae | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 3 - Strg: 13 - Dext: 14 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 15 - Int:
Played by: Bees Offline
Change author:
Posts: 417 | Total: 1,206
MP: 1749
#10


Juniper let out a long sigh. Deimos's question got right to the heart of the matter -- a heart that Juniper didn't want to face. He was probably right to believe that someone would have forced Halo's hand eventually -- neither the Voice nor the Old Gods could afford to let an entire region fall into enemy hands, not without fighting it tooth and nail. "Good point. Whatever mortals may desire, the gods seem inclined to push matters to a breaking point."

And Halo was the only region whose loyalty had still been in doubt, with the Greatwood long devoted to the Old Gods, the Grounds dominated by the Ascended, and Torchline's new Queens devotees of Safrin. Which brought Juniper to the present, rather than questions of who had done the right thing in the past. She would have liked to hear more of that discussion, get a better understanding of what words had sufficed to make Morgan leave her post -- and to leave her feeling so ill-used as to violently take it back. But Deimos seemed disinclined to give such details, so instead Juniper turned her attention to the more recent attack.

"So she left willingly ... and returned well-armed. With the Ascended in tow, correct? How did that unfold?"
Juniper

"art nouveau winged fairy" by e³°°° is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit here


Deimos Ignatius
the Resurrected Sword
Warden of Halo / Guildmaster

Age: 33 | Height: 6'4" | Race: Hybrid | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 14 - Strg: 72 - Dext: 72 - Endr: 73 - Luck: 80 - Int: 3
BELIAL - Mythical - Peryton (Blend) ZURIEL - Mythical - Unicorn (Healing)
Played by: Heather Offline
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Posts: 6,553 | Total: 10,646
MP: 9824
#11
We're lost in the space between
who we are and all that we're trying to be

Juniper’s sigh told more; the acceptance in the inevitable, the push and sway that mortals had, but only to a certain fixture and point. He could rampage after Halo time and time again, others could defend and claim themselves to be impartial and unbiased, hordes of impersonal and equitable means – but the deities had the final say. Frustrating, vexing, and exasperating on its own credentials; to be shoved either way. Hadn’t they’d been doing it all along though, pulled and entangled, ensnared and tethered, even if they couldn’t see it, couldn’t view it, until it was too late? The Sword had long since understood the assured ramparts; experienced as he’d been in times of war, battle, skirmishes, and crusades. Why his head remained out of dirt and sand and soot, but his shoulders drawn and heavy. “Were you there to hear the announcement?” He couldn’t recall, couldn’t remember – too many faces and fixtures in a crowd where a voice loomed from everywhere and nowhere, pressing time down their spines.

His own sigh filtered into the wake, and he walked over to the boulder Belial rested upon, leaning against it while he gained bearings and memories. “Yes.” Details began to pull, to press, behind his eyes, in the shades and shadows of a night that shouldn’t have happened. “Morgan and Nate came in riding a dragon.” Uncertain of who maintained the shift that had borne Sunjata’s image – he couldn’t offer a name in those regards. “Neron was also there. And I suspect Wessex,” with her swinging chakram, with teleporting abilities. “The dragon destroyed a tower of the Palace, while Morgan gave a hypocritical speech about how she did not intend to harm anyone. Noah and Hotaru surrendered in order to save the citizens from any further plight.” And that should’ve been the end of it.

Certain he wasn’t doing the tale any justice, the beast grabbed hold of some of the water, dragging it over in a graceful arc of power, conforming, twisting, and turning it into images of the evening – flying serpents, figures toppling, wakes that could’ve instilled a momentous fear in a community that knew exactly what dragons were capable of. “Then the Ascended tried to capture us.” Which would’ve been an entirely different story if they’d been successful – the Sword would’ve probably been tormented and tortured somewhere within a prison cell, alongside Noah, Ru, and Korbin. “Noah was supposedly hunted down by Nate, who also shifted into a dragon, and likely Wessex. He was injured, but still managed to evade them through the Climb. Hotaru and Korbin got away.” There, his eyes narrowed, a tilt of his head bringing him out of the next cycle of images. “I went to the Fangs portal, where Neron tried to stop me.” Which obviously hadn’t happened.

And then the water ceased its coil, returning to the ramparts of the river; uncertain of what else the Fae would like to hear.

DEIMOS
Stop trying to show how to save our souls
It takes dying to know
How to live as ghosts
Juniper Dubois
the Amberwing
Diplomat

Age: 57 | Height: 4'8 | Race: Fae | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 3 - Strg: 13 - Dext: 14 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 15 - Int:
Played by: Bees Offline
Change author:
Posts: 417 | Total: 1,206
MP: 1749
#12


"I was," Juniper said, remembering that announcement, the way it had made the bottom drop out of her stomach -- her wandering, afterwards, unable to face the idea of going home with that news. But she'd come around quickly, realized that if war was inevitable, they had to prepare. And it seemed that war was the gods' will; as little as Juniper wanted it, how could she fight the gods? Even considering as much felt blasphemous, not to mention pointless. "I had hoped otherwise, but it seems we cannot fight fate."

Juniper listened to Deimos' story, watched his illustrations -- impressive magic -- in silence, waiting for him to finish before she spoke. "I see. I fear it is my duty to speak to Morgan about this turn of events, to sound out where she now stands, but I will take great care in doing so."

She should probably consult with her co-leaders before heading into such danger. As a diplomat, she had walked into the lion's den -- Wessex's home -- with trepidation but with the knowledge that the risks she took would not harm the Greatwood, but as a leader, she needed to be more cautious. If Morgan took her prisoner ... It could spark the very war Juniper sought to avoid. Not to mention the consequences to the Amberwing herself. Maybe she should send a letter.

What else could she say in response to Deimos' tale? She couldn't speak of reinstating Hotaru and Noah -- committing the Greatwood to such conflict was the last thing she wanted to do. She couldn't even say she was glad that Deimos and the others had escaped, though overall she was, just for their personal sake. But she wasn't sure how it would affect the political situation ... Well, there was one thing she could add: "I'm glad there wasn't more bloodshed."
Juniper

"art nouveau winged fairy" by e³°°° is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit here


Deimos Ignatius
the Resurrected Sword
Warden of Halo / Guildmaster

Age: 33 | Height: 6'4" | Race: Hybrid | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 14 - Strg: 72 - Dext: 72 - Endr: 73 - Luck: 80 - Int: 3
BELIAL - Mythical - Peryton (Blend) ZURIEL - Mythical - Unicorn (Healing)
Played by: Heather Offline
Change author:
Posts: 6,553 | Total: 10,646
MP: 9824
#13
We're lost in the space between
who we are and all that we're trying to be

There was half an inclination for him to do just that (fight fate; let them bring about their own destinies), but he knew better than to dig into the battle. Not when it had hovered over the brim for so long anyway. Not when it had slowly been gathering roots. Not when it had punctured and pierced along the sidelines, flanking, closing, in. That Juniper had heard meant one less explanation, and he nodded his head in agreement – eyes lingering on a particular boulder while he parsed through his thoughts.

That the Fae intended to return to Halo, seek out Morgan, left a considerable grimace on his features. For her, perhaps, given everything that had occurred. Given that neutrality really didn’t hold a bearing with the Glacier; who’d strived to weaponize it with Ascended, as if that didn’t signify something else altogether. “Understandably,” and maybe Juniper would be capable of finding the truth in the bed of lies, or vice versa. “Her claims do not follow through on her actions.” Impartiality – while blending herself amidst the Voice’s constituents. The Old Gods and spirits and their distaste towards her. Intending not to assault, but doing so to her own people and home anyway. Which spoke louder?

His eyes turned back to the Fae when the other statement meandered within – and he could only nod. Perhaps some deserved more bloodshed, most nostably but he let that thought trail off in silence. “Is there anything else you needed?” came instead; uncertain, no more inquiries remaining. He’d said his piece.

DEIMOS
Stop trying to show how to save our souls
It takes dying to know
How to live as ghosts
Juniper Dubois
the Amberwing
Diplomat

Age: 57 | Height: 4'8 | Race: Fae | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 3 - Strg: 13 - Dext: 14 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 15 - Int:
Played by: Bees Offline
Change author:
Posts: 417 | Total: 1,206
MP: 1749
#14


If only Juniper had known how Deimos' thoughts followed her own. Perhaps a group of like-minded individuals could resist the gods where one Fae could not; perhaps she would have fought harder for peace if she didn't feel so alone in that fight. But she couldn't read minds, so Deimos' urge to challenge the gods' will went unnoticed.

"Everything points to her having sided with the Ascended," Juniper acknowledged, returning Deimos' grimace. "But if there is any chance of maintaining Halo's neutrality -- rather than losing it to the Voice -- I have to try."

Of course, the simplest way to get Halo back on their side would be to launch a second coup. But this one would no doubt have to be bloodier, and Juniper didn't want to see that. The last thing she wanted was for the Greatwood to swoop in as conquerors, to tell another region how to manage its affairs. Even if she didn't agree with how that management was going.

Juniper shook her head. "No; thank you for the information. You've given me a clearer understanding of what happened. Be well, Deimos; I hope we'll meet again, under better circumstances."

With that, the Fae took her leave.

- FIN
Juniper

"art nouveau winged fairy" by e³°°° is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit here




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