[ VIDEO ] LOCKED TO EITHER COURT.

[fairyfoes]

SEELIE
[At approximately midday on the seventh, the lockets of all Seelie characters will vibrate. When they are opened, the following message will play:

High-Queen Solais is seated in her throne. While she is radiant, while light seems to surround her, she appears diminished. Her light seems softer, like it is being filtered through a shroud. The throne of High-King Ridire at her side is empty, his spear laying across it in two shattered pieces. Beneath it rests a blood-stained golden cloak.]

It is with a heavy heart that I must share this news. High-King Ridire - His Most Glorious, The Just, Lord of Light, and First Warrior of Glaschu - has followed his Avatar Clarisse La Rue - Marchioness of the White Citadel and Goldenspear - in death, just as she followed him in life.

[Solais stands. Previously hidden in her gown, it’s clear now that she is wearing a belt and sheathed sword. The sword is drawn, and the queen sets it on a cushion born by a servant. The gold and glimmer of her dress begins to fade, changing from bright to dark, mournful black. Across Glaschu and in other Seelie-controlled areas, bells toll.]

To honour his passing, we will set our swords aside for one week save for in great need. We will not wear the gold that he so favoured. We will remember him, the blows he struck and took for us, for our cause.

[Here she pauses, her strength seeming to momentarily falter before Solais pulls herself up taller.]

Remember our fallen King. Remember that all things must end so that others may begin. And above all, Look For The Light.



UNSEELIE
[It’s in the evening that each and every Unseelie locket will open no matter where they are across the Drabwurld. It is not Morla’s face that greets them, instead it is Reul. He is a dark figure, menacing still even when but a simple projection. Tonight he exudes smugness -- from the high tilt of his chin, to the way his eyes shine from behind helmet. It’s perhaps the closest anyone in the Drabwurld has come to his face and maybe some might now be wishing to never see the sight again.

Reul is a frightening sight, especially when pleased. ]

Greetings brothers and sisters; those who are my most loyal. [His voice is a calm baritone, a teasing lilt of delight if you listen closely. ]

I come to you with glad tidings this night: High-King Ridire is dead, slain with his wretch of an Avatar. Tonight we are not victorious, but we are blessed. He who would have us slain; he who would see us slaughtered is naught but a memory.

[It will become obvious now, that Reul himself is not holding the locket. It pans out now, revealing Reul upon his throne and beside him sits Morla, dressed decidedly in gold. There is something reminiscent of a smile that lingers on the edges of her lips; it's a tight thing, but present. Her hand sits atop Reul's armoured one, a rare show of closeness. It's fitting, this evening. ]

Tonight we celebrate. Tonight we cast aside our weapons and we wear gold so that we may honour such a worthy foe. We invited you to share this glory with us; intimately and with the passion we are known for.

[Morla says nothing still; she lets Reul finish. It's after that she lifts her chin, her voice steady:]

And after we shall shed our gold and let it burn in the fires most pure; we will take arms anew and begin again.

[And it's done. ]



MOD NOTE There will be no NPC responses to this post. Solais will not be taking any visitors. Unseelie… have fun at the orgy.

Comments

video, unseelie

[ofmyth]

[So Thor really doesn't like the look of his side's king. Hm.


But that's not what he wants to know.] What will happen to Ridire now? Where do the slain of this land go after their deaths?

video, unseelie

[heralding]

That's what I'd like to know. I've heard that shardbearers can return from the dead, but what of the monarchs? Something tells me it's different.

video, unseelie

[ofmyth]

If he is truly gone, will that not leave a vaccuum where once his power was?

video, unseelie

[heralding]

It depends on where you mean. A loss of power that great may leave open a gate to a world unknown. I've seen it happen when thousands of souls were sucked into the after life of my world—Valhalla. And I've seen it again there, numerous times. A loss of a monarch like these, if my suspicions are correct ...

We may begin to feel it in other ways.

video, unseelie

[ofmyth]

[The mention of Valhalla has him frowning at the locket- because she certainly does not look to be Aesir. The matter must wait though, as there are more important things to discuss.]

What do you mean?

video, unseelie

[heralding]

Although that woman Aphrodite was an idiot, she had one thing right: take a powerful being out of a place, and there are ripple effects. [Even if they aren't gods, though Lightning isn't so certain that they aren't.]

We may feel them last, but we will feel them just the same.

video, unseelie

[ofmyth]

[Thor scowls at her insulting his friend, but he will allow Aphrodite to fight her own battles and convince others of her worth.]

Then we should prepare.

video, unseelie

[heralding]

[Lightning catches the scowl, but she gives it no additional attention.]

The problem is ... what do we prepare for? We know little.

video, unseelie

[ofmyth]

What happened when you saw this last? Souls were taken into the void, and was there no way to fight against that?

video, unseelie

[heralding]

In my world, those people were dead. The bigger fault lied when the Goddess of Death died, enveloping the world in chaos so that there could be neither life or death as a result. People lived, sure, but they never grew older, never had children, never had much of anything to live for ...

They still did. No one is that easily beat down. But when they died—because, in time, that happens—their souls were seemingly lost until a special individual with a special ability could call upon them and guide them through a different process of rebirth on a new world.

I should hope that we aren't left like the people wandering on a timeless world, but it seems likely that it could happen.

video, unseelie

[ofmyth]

[He wants to ask what became of the Goddess of Death? How had she died?]

What happened? Do their souls wait still for someone to lead them on?

video, unseelie

[heralding]

No. A good friend helped lead them to the new world. I helped with the rest who remained. My friends and I were the final ones, standing at the brink of a new world's birth.

But then I was brought here, and I haven't been reborn. For now, I am trapped in the form I had forged myself into before that rebirth, and I suppose ... it's for the best. For now.

[Unlike before, there is some relief and warmth to her voice. She knows she saved those souls. But ...]

Except I stand at the end of creation again, and it's far greater than I ever imagined. Will the world we just created anew be swept away because of a loss here? Everything I've learned says that it will be. It's not a thing I'm happy to learn.

» video

[skjalf]

In truth, I know not. Thus, it is best that we employ all our strength and wit in order to stay alive so as we might never be so unfortunate as to be in a position to find out.

( Because honestly, she really doesn't want to be a guinea pig. Especially if nothing awaits them all in the end. )

video, unseelie

[ofmyth]

Is death truly so feared here?

[He's died multiple times.]

video, unseelie

[skjalf]

It is feared in my homeland, as well. Is it not so in yours, my lord?

( Plus, she has no idea where her soul would go were she to die here. Especially when her relaitonship with the Almighty is not as defined as it had once been. )

video, unseelie

[ofmyth]

The gods of the realm of Asgard know their fate- the honourable go to the halls of Valhalla, to feast in glory forevermore. [The dishonourable find their end in darkness and misery in the land of Hel.]

Do the gods of this land not have simliar tales of what awaits them?

video, unseelie

[skjalf]

Ah! You speak of the gods of the Northmen. One of them numbers among my ancestors. Might I ask: is that truly what occurs?

( She grows silent, then, and glances downward. )

One may lose their shard, and survive. But no one knows what happens to someone who should perish without one. I would not wish to be the one to discover it.

There exists a god of Death here, known as the Black Shuck. Those who are more wretched and foul than the orcs, he condemns to a terrible end. They may bid one person farewell, and then they are no more. Every October, there is a week-long night. It is His time, and masks must be worn so that He will know our likeness not if He should decide to chase us down later.

And in England, it is believed that Heaven awaits the righteous, while the souls of sinners are condemned to Hell for eternity.

video, unseelie

[ofmyth]

[Thor wonders if she means a god is one of her ancestors, or a northman? He'd not felt anything from her when they'd first met at the banquet, but he was coming to understand that anything was possible in this world.

He listens carefully as she shares about this world. There are stories around the universe of black dogs which represent death, but he'd never thought himself to ever become subject to one.

He'd like to know what fate the worthy have in this world. Are they under this Black Shuck's domain also?]

For the Aesir, it is true. I have been to Valhalla myself on more than one occasion. As to the fate of humans- [He shakes his head.] Such secrets are not mine to possess.

video, unseelie

[skjalf]

( A river goddess is apparently at the root of her maternal ancestry, and with the power she possessed even before arriving here; she can believe it. And on her father's side, Robert I of Normandy was a baptised Northman. She does not elaborate, because she is far too amazed to think of aught else but what he's just told her.

First Aphrodite. Now, a Viking God? She finds herself smiling, because this is now an established trend: all gods seem to be real. While her own very well might be, He has been eerily silent. )

But.. ( Oh, no. Her smile fades, as she processes what that means; not simply that he is divine, but that he has died. ) I am honoured, Your Grace. You do indeed seem valiant enough to have earned a place in that hall several times over.

( She keeps her sympathy and sorrow for the death(s) he has suffered private. It would not be his way to think of it as a sad thing, but rather a triumph. )

God has been silent since my arrival here, and even prior to that date. But I believe something awaits us after death here. If only for comfort's sake.

Re: video, unseelie

[ofmyth]

Thor, please. [Though raised to be king and lord of all Asgard, Thor does not wish for such titles from human lips. His is not their lord or master; nor does he have dominion over them. He smiles at her, reassuringly.] It is a challenge I face newly every day, my lady; to be worthy of those of have faith in me.

[There is a depth to his words, for he has spent lifetimes learning and relearning what worthiness truly is.]

If the Black Shuck sends some to a dark end, then there will also be a creature who judges the rightness of a person's heart. Your hope will not be unfounded.

video, unseelie

[skjalf]

( Her moment of stupefaction is prolonged, as she gazes at him wide-eyed for a while. Then, her smile returns again. The God of Thunder! A great hero, as she recalls. )

We are well-met, Thor. My name is Elizabeth. At home, I am a princess of England. Here, I am honoured to be considered your equal.

( Because he is divine and she is.. well, not so much, really. At all. Her features soften, then, and she nods. )

The White Hart, yes. I know not any of the Seelie legends attached to Him. But I think you are right.

video, unseelie

[ofmyth]

And you, Elizabeth of England. [He inclines his head, to the degree proper when greeting a princess. He's spent little time in England, but has heard it to be a great nation.

He has the feeling she is not from the modern England of the time he's from. Her manners and speech speak of an older time.]

Perhaps that is where I ought to seek answers. Stories of this White Hart and its role in the life and death of Drabwurld.

video, unseelie

[skjalf]

Please, call me Elizabeth. It is only fair. ( Her smile holds a hint of mischief for a moment, as she eases back into herself and regains her composure.

Tilting her head, she nods once. That is not a bad idea at all. Though.. )

I have heard troubling things, that He is not in good health. If that is true, I worry for the fate of this world. I would see that blasted void to an end.

( She knows what manner of balance the White Hart provides this land; integral, irreplaceable. Invaluable. )

video, unseelie

[ofmyth]

Of course, Elizabeth. [He smiles also, though it fades as he hears what she has to say next.

If the Black Shuck is the embodiment of death, then the White Hart is likely a symbol of life. If it's failing...] That is troubling indeed.

It seems we are beset by troubles on all sides, with little suggestion of how to make things well again. [Thor does not like that.]

video, unseelie

[skjalf]

I thank you. You have been kind to me from the first, and I appreciate it very much.

( He's also very handsome, which certainly does not hurt. Elizabeth can feel her own smile fade, matching his expression, as she nods gravely. )

Our mandate is to destroy the Void, and for that, we require shards. Which can only be gained from shardbearers when they perish or vanish from this world.

( She will not dare say it in this particular venue, but: she refuses that out-right. There must be a better way than this. )