Personal Quest Solid Foundations
Vervain Calob
Huntress / Witch

Age: 44 | Height: 5'9 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 5 - Strg: 11 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 16 - Int:
COCO - Regular - Cloud Wyrm
Played by: Honey Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,328 | Total: 16,313
MP: 0
#15

"And we have done the same in return," Vai pointed out quietly to Rory, before glancing to Evie and offering the younger woman a smile that suggested she respected her even with her barbed tongue. Vai could appreciate honesty over everything, and ultimately if they were arguing then at least they were being honest. Not that she thought Rory's comments about Maea were particularly fair, but then everyone was entitled to their opinion.

"And yet here she is," she said. "For all of her flaws, for all of her negative points, she made this meeting and she stands here with an olive branch. For all your welcome and your help, you didn't." She shrugged, glancing now to the albino woman. "We aren't a big happy family. But there are things we can offer each other, and a council made up of both Outlanders and Naturals sounds like it will bridge the divide between us, rather than make it worse. If you'll have me, I'd be glad to offer whatever help I can."

vervain
well i'll rest my eyes
and i'll let the earth breathe
Roana Steadman
Soldier

Age: 35 | Height: 5'8" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 6 - Strg: 24 - Dext: 26 - Endr: 24 - Luck: 11 - Int:
Played by: Grant Offline
Change author:
Posts: 758 | Total: 5,479
MP: 0
#16
Roana could manage a pretty good poker face most of the time. She was a soldier and a duchess - facial expressions were everything at parties where people spoke a lot but said very little. But on occasion she simply couldn't help it. The words that tumbled out of Rory 's mouth, their meaning, made one such occasion. Roana openly gaped at him, appalled at what he was saying. Should everything he said be true, there were far kinder ways to get the same points across. Maea responded, and when her voice cracked, Roana placed a firm, comforting hand on her shoulder. Even if her own people did not have her back, Roana would. She had already faced one mob of them, and she would gladly take on many more for Maea's sake.

Fortunately Vai spoke before her, and Roana nodded in agreement with her words. "Quite the contrary, you've been very vocal about how much you know yet said terribly little and instead incited riots when you don't like what we do with that." Roana said calmly, gaze fixed on Rory. Evie wasn't really a matter of concern. She was young and snippy. But she hadn't begot a mob on ill-will alone. Rory had. "Maea is the one actually seeking peace and order. She is the one who has recognized how this animosity will harm all and serve no one. Despite her flaws, she has risen to the occasion as more a leader than anyone else can claim to rightfully be. She already knows she has my support...so the real question is if you will lay down your hate and assist, or continue on this warpath Rory?" she said, her voice calm and gaze steady. Frankly, he was the lynchpin here. If he would continue to oppose them, simply because there were Outlanders and he had some issue with Maea, there was little way they could succeed.

Rory was the only one putting up resistance now. Whether this ship sailed or sunk would weigh on his shoulders.



Roana joins, obviously.
Roana
You don't own me
Don't try to change me in any way
You don't own me
Don't tie me down cause I'd never stay
Leatherworker

Age: 36 | Height: 175cm / 5'9 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 3 - Strg: 16 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 8 - Int:
Played by: Neowulf Offline
Change author:
Posts: 397 | Total: 642
MP: 970
#17
RORY
He said what he said out of necessity, not cruelty: he said it because no one else was saying it, and desperately, it needed to be said. They needed to understand what they were getting into, for it had been clear that they didn't.

"Rory..." Maea began, and the look he leveled upon her was.. unyielding, yes, but not inherently aggressive. If it was challenging, it was only daring the others to leap to her defense; like said, he was not cruel. He did not enjoy dragging up Maea's list of non-merits. "My brother is dead."

And perhaps, perhaps, ever so slightly, his sharp edges softened. The set of his shoulders losing some of its rigidity, eyes mellowing as his chest and mouth moved in a small, small sigh.

And what he said, sleepless and haunted, was perhaps cruel. For what he replied was simply: "I know."

But Noah being dead now did not change the twenty-something years he had been alive. It did not change how most of the Naturals viewed Maea, and her circumstances. The tragedy might soften some to think kinder of her, but in the long run, he doubted it would have much bearing on their opinions of her as some form of leader.

He met her gaze steadily.

And, unmoved, he listened to what she had to say, wishing that he could burst into a violent storm, to disappear in the shriek of a strong wind and just get the hell out of there. He wanted to become a violent, faceless force of nature and tear the place up, then be gone.

Unsurprisingly, Sam was in. Rory didn't know much about the usually so quiet and withdrawn bookmaker, but from what he knew of old—information nearly a decade outdated—the man thirsted for the approval he would never receive.

Distantly, Rory wondered if he would merely be Maea's lapdog, or if he would figure out he had a voice and teeth of his own.

Evie's roundabout way of saying I'm in was.. again, complicated, tangling up the pathways his mind walked. He wanted her on his side, wanted her eloquence and her fire, wanted her to scorn this whole affair with him. Again, he found himself doubting, his index fingers running slowly and repeatedly on his arms.

"Yet here she is," he agreed with Vervain, his voice still even and calm, not afraid of yielding to that one point. He had said as much himself, hadn't he? That the things he had mentioned had little reflection on what went on in her mind?

He could appreciate the woman, for more reasons than merely saving his life. It ought to be she and Evie, Wessex instead of Sam, perhaps Amalia, since Jigano had wanted no part of a government, and likely for good reason. And someone less bullheaded than Roana—Ronin, his mind said treacherously, but Ronin had died. Rory reached up to rub his tired eyes with a thumb and middle finger.

And if Roana had not provoked him, perhaps the whole thing would've ended very differently.

Oh, riots huh? "It was the fastest way to stop you from committing a grave mistake," he finally said, not afraid of laying out the truth. "I asked you to leave, with little explanation, because the crowd was uneasy. I didn't want you getting hurt." Her fancy sword wouldn't matter much once she was surrounded and outnumbered.

But, oh, there were more jibes. Peace and order. Animosity. His hate? And dear Gods who never listened anyway: warpath?

Behind his hand, Rory laughed, the sort of helpless, deranged laugh of the sleepless.

It was better than the sharp carnivore smile his soul wore.

It amused him that she laid it all at his feet: the situation at the Spire, and the to-be-or-not-to-be of Maea's little council.

The sharp smile began to make its way onto his face as well.

How lovely and delightful that he was the enemy.

Whatever would they bond over, without evil, aggressive Rory around? Tea and biscuits? Sweeping floors? Perhaps they would start a choir. (It felt ugly, that thing blooming in his chest.) "Oh, I'm sorry if I was too busy preventing someone from possibly damning the rest of the world alongside us to make nice little meetings in rundown buildings," and his temper had begun to fray again, as evident by the snap in his voice. His eyes rolled onto Roana, darker now. "I don't hate. And what do you think I'll do, pick up a pitchfork and go all stab-happy?" He snorted. "If you want to put Maea on a pedestal for being a nice and productive counterpoint to my mad flailing, that's on you. Enjoy drinking tea and feeling important. But I'm not going to sit idly by and let someone rip up the Spire and let the Voice out. So if you'll excuse me, I have a 'riot' to go babysit."

And with a last lingering glance from his wild blue eyes he was gone.



Temperamental Rory's out. :c
as if you were on fire from within,
the moon lives in the lining of your skin.
Maea Valair
Hollowed Grounds Ambassador / Loreseeker

Age: 29 | Height: 156 cm / 5'1 ft | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 22 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 25 - Luck: 20 - Int:
Played by: Chan Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,023 | Total: 5,765
MP: 1897
#18
The silence that lingered after Rory's departure was heavy and painful. Maea stared long after his disappearing back, hoping despite herself that he might change his mind, return, that Jigano might show up after all... But when no silhouettes shadowed the entrance after a painful span of time had passed, Maea sighed and looked back at those who had chosen to stay. Loyal people, people who she felt like she could count on.

She would place her trust in the ones who showed up and stayed.

"Four out of five... is still better than I could have hoped for" she said, with a weak little smile. (Actually it was closer to three out of five, but since Vai had volunteered...) "Thank you, all of you, för your support. I know it might be difficult, but I want to proceed with this anyway. Despite everything, I don't think Rory will actively oppose us. Not unless we make a complete mess out of things, so let's not give him a reason, yes?"

If it ever came to that, Maea would gladly hand over this seat she had ended up on, and with a sigh of relief. But until then, there was work to be done. Taking another deep breath to ease some of the tension from her shoulders, she straightened and began to explain more in detail what she had in mind for this improvised government.

"I want to make this a Council, and I want to make it one where the will of the people has the ultimate say. As you've already noticed everyone who lives here have a strong will and dig there heels in if anyone tries to tell them what to do, so to eliminate that we, the people here, are going to be an interim government.

We will lay down the foundation, establish proper rules, consequences for those who don't follow them, enable fair trade and make sure that everyone is well fed and have a roof over their head... and then we hold an election. Those interested in running this region can volunteer, and every councillor who are elected get to vote on a Chief from amongst themselves so that there is one clear representative to make final decisions or act in a crisis.

As for right now...

Evie, your family is well known and respected. Can I please ask you to gather the support we need from the Naturals and the guilds? We will need funding and materials, and before we are properly set up it'll have to come from donations. You'd be a... liaison, I think it's called.

Sam, you know your way around the Atheneum and you know the minds of the shop keepers and craftsmen. Could you use the existing records and set up a basic list of laws and consequences? Nothing crazy, just common sense things like no thieving or killing people or trading unfairly... The more obvious and logical the rules, the better, as we can't start off by stepping on people's toes. Let's call you... legislator. Sounds impressive enough to make people listen.

Roana, can you find some suitable people to build a group of peacekeepers? Right now there is no one to uphold the rules we make, and without someone to enforce them it will only be so much hot air. But be sure to mix the group as much as possible... We can't feed Rory's cause by having only outlanders tell people what to do. In essence, you'd be a... judicator.

Vai... I know you'll be busy with your family soon, but we are going to need someone with a calm voice to mediate in any conflicts that come up. Could you try to calm this tension between Outlanders and Naturals? Everyone knows who you are, know you've run the Rathskeller and now run the Infirmary. If they'll listen to anyone, it's you. A proper diplomat."


Personally, Maea would have a rough job of keeping up with what everyone else was doing, to coordinate their work and ensure everything proceeded according to plan - and make decisions when things inevitably went wrong. They also lacked a fifth person, another voice to ensure that there would be no ties when it came down to votes...

"Also, I need your help in getting this house in order. It would be perfect to use as a base, but there are a few issues..."

Maea listed the things that needed to be accomplished to this end, and looked at the others with an expectant smile; they would get to decide which task was more suited for them and see it done. Maea would do whatever was left.

__________________

Please pick a task from the opening post, so that we can get the house functional and established as the headquarters!
MAEA
just a glimpse of truth
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
MIA - Regular - Ragdoll Cat
Played by: lancydulac Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,135 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#19
Maea's speech was optimistic, hopeful; for a moment Sam allowed himself to believe that this project could be successful, that he could be stood on the cusp of something exciting and new. Perhaps after his death people would remember him not for his shaking voice or unsure hands but his time as legislator (a term far too grand to sit comfortable on his frail shoulders).

"I will try my best to make them fair." He promised, the responsibility scaring him but the task itself interesting. He would need to really consider the subject of morality, something that he could spend a lot of time sat in the Atheneum stewing over by himself. His favourite kind of afternoon.

But it seemed his time as a lawmaker was to start by cleaning a floor. Humble beginnings, he supposed. Taking a brush and some soap in a bucket, he went to scrub at the floors, changing the colour from a dull grey to a more pristine cream.

--
Sam's cleaning the floor!
Sam
It's time that I let go
Of things I can't control
This path that I've taken
Is the only one I know
Vervain Calob
Huntress / Witch

Age: 44 | Height: 5'9 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 5 - Strg: 11 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 16 - Int:
COCO - Regular - Cloud Wyrm
Played by: Honey Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,328 | Total: 16,313
MP: 0
#20

Rory left and Vai's heart sank after him, but the witch was made of sterner stuff than anything words could break. And speaking of such, apparently Maea would make her a mediator - a mediator between two very, very volatile groups, given the past few weeks. Still, she couldn't help but smile (her sharp tongue had rarely been used to keep peace, but she supposed age had mellowed her), nodding acceptance of her role. "I'll do my best with them," she vowed.

As Sam went to clean the floors, Vai went to dust in the rooms he had yet to get to, so she wasn't ruining his hard work. Ordinarily she would have enjoyed investigating the hive of chorus bees, or the mystery on the upper floor, but in her current condition, cleaning was about as much as she could handle.



Vai tidies and cleans the rest of the hall while Sam tackles the floor!
vervain
well i'll rest my eyes
and i'll let the earth breathe
Evie Ignatius
the Evergreen
Warden of Halo / Apothecarist

Age: 34 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 8 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 20 - Endr: 30 - Luck: 30 - Int:
MICAH - Regular - Tide Jaguar
Played by: Brit Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,182 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#21
EVIE
there ain't no doubt in no ones mind
This was ridiculous.

What world was this where Maea was heralded as a leader and Rory was shunned as a shit-disturber. The urge to follow him as he fled had been strong, but the knowledge that if she did she'd be leaving their reprentation in the hands of someone who couldn't even withstand the sun without blistering, oh, and someone else who couldn't withstand the sun either. One couldn't lift a heavy rock, and although the other could, Sam was probably one of the people least well-suited to the task.

Amalia is going to lose her mind, Evie thought to herself, wondering if that's where Rory was headed right now.

As she was addressed though, Evie received some small sense of satisfaction that Maea pointed out her family, but did not say the same about Sam's. However her dark glee was short lived as Sam was given the title of legislator while she was just a liason. Biting the inside of her lip, she glanced across at Maea trying to determine if this was a slight or not.

"I'll be upstairs." She said non-commitally, moving towards where the chorus-bees had built a nest. At least that was something she could tackle, unlike roofs and doors and poorly formed governments.
that love's the finest thing around

Table by Sky!
Roana Steadman
Soldier

Age: 35 | Height: 5'8" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 6 - Strg: 24 - Dext: 26 - Endr: 24 - Luck: 11 - Int:
Played by: Grant Offline
Change author:
Posts: 758 | Total: 5,479
MP: 0
#22
Surprise, surprise, Rory was going to throw a royal hissy fit and stop out. Served him right for treating Maea so cruelly. Anyone with that much lack of empathy belonged as far away from power as possible. All he would do was use it to bully people into getting what he wanted.

But at least this meant they could get some work done. Roana considered helping with some of the construction tasks (which frankly she didn’t know much about) when she heard clawing and scratching upstairs. Hm. ”I will go look into that noise and ferret it out.” Roana said, glancing at Maea with a small smile. ”You’re better off without fair-weather friends like him anyways. Don’t let it get you down.” she told her quietly, as she might have told her sister in years past, before heading up to the third floor to investigate the noises.
Roana
You don't own me
Don't try to change me in any way
You don't own me
Don't tie me down cause I'd never stay


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)


RPG-D