Zephrun’s Imperium

Rose hung her head. She couldn't deny the truth of his words "Fine, I'll tell you." Only the basics, but I will tell you. "My parents abandoned me and my little brother when I was eight. My father had disappeared, so my mother dropped us off at our aunt and uncle's house and left to go find him. She never came back. And so, my aunt and uncle were forced to raise two extra children they barely had the money to support. I was largely neglected in the eleven years I spent living there. But the real problem was that my powers began manifesting and they terrified me. I had nightmares, fainted often, and claimed to see objects move on their own. My aunt and uncle thought I was insane and they locked me away." Her gaze hardened. "Do you have idea how badly they treat people who are unsure about their own reality?"

@Condensation @Channelknight Fadran

Greetings and salutations, people of the Shard! My friend Robin came to me with an RP idea that she wanted to flesh out and I think it is absolutely fabulous. It's sort of a Robin-Hood spoof, set in medievalish times. Life in the kingdom of Mendahar is unstable and members of court hide under a mask of paranoia. The citizens' loyalty is easily swayed and they haven’t been able to keep a king because of constant assassinations. The current king is very paranoid and has no issues with committing atrocities to protect his reign. It has become a tradition for kings of this land to hire noble ladies who are trained from a young age to be assassins and bodyguards. In addition to these King's Ladies, there is a mysterious dungeons master who has served the kings for as long as anyone can remember. She is referred to as "The Raven" and her identity is kept secret to everyone but the king himself. (She will be played by me) Court is a pit of vipers and full of enemies. As for the details of the plot... Our main character will be Robin herself: a King's Lady who ran to the woods after her whole village was massacred for her loyalty. When she turned in her father for acts of treason, the king brought death to the village where Robin and her father resided. The king seeks to hide her escape from the rest of court. Meanwhile, Robin and her friend Biana - another King's Lady defect - are trying to figure out who they can trust and who must be brought to justice. So, some ideas for characters y'all could play as: We need someone to play the king, but other than that, it's super open. Members of court would be fun, as well as castle servants. There could also be a foreign princess set to marry the king in order to legitimize his throne and hopefully produce an heir so that things might be more stable (this princess role has been taken by Connie). If you're more into the Robin storyline, Robin has a band of children and teens whom she saved from the village's destruction. Bounty hunters going after Robin would also be a great addition. In terms of magic... we want to keep things on the low down. There can be witches and soothsayers and whatnot, but I would try to keep any "magic" to fortune telling or potions and the like. Anyway, if there's any interest, anyone can join! I think this'll be super fun! If you post your character sheet, I'll add it to this intro post. Happy RPing! Character Sheets

Rose sighed. She wasn't angry anymore, nor was she particularly afraid. But she still wasn't about to tell Jahora her past. "I can tell you," she said. "But I see no reason why I should. Why are you so intent upon knowing? I don't understand."

Rose growled, and a desk in the corner began to rattle dangerously. At Jahora's words, however, she paused. Brother. Images and memories stirred in her head. Granite Oakenwey was a nice kid. He was an energetic fireball, but he was a sweet - if smart-alecky and a bit manipulative - little brother. He'd been annoying at times, growing up; his insatiable curiosity about what had happened to Mother and Father was frustrating. But he'd been Rose's only true family for most of her life. Until, that is, he disappeared. Abandoned her, just like Mother. In many ways, it was a far worse betrayal than what her parents had done. She'd seen Granite again, just weeks ago. He'd found Mother, like he always dreamed about, and he'd reveled in all the mystical secrets that had been revealed to him. Rose though... Rose had shied away from it. Buried it. The feelings were raw. And yet... What if Granite hadn't just left? What if he'd died? What if she'd truly been left alone? "That's... awful," Rose said. "I'm so sorry."

"Exactly," Rose snapped. "See? You don't care about me. The only reason you acted kind and nice to me was because you want to use me to help you extract revenge on a lass who was unfortunate enough to break your heart. I told you: People don't just help other people. They do it because they're going to get something out of it." "What the hell could you know about what I need?"

Rose sat up, exasperated. "Maybe I don't want you to know anything about me, hmm?"

Rose shut her eyes, pretending that her efforts to shut out the world were working. "Go away," she said. "You know nothing."

Every time I watch this, I laugh so hard.

Rose picked herself up, head hung with embarrassment. "I'm going upstairs..." she muttered, ducking out. It was like she could feel their eyes on her. She hated it. Each one of them would now spend the rest of the mission thinking of her as the emotional weak link. With a scoff, she went back into the room she'd slept in and sprawled out on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. The tears returned to her here. They were soft this time. Quiet. Like little droplets of rain, leaving trails on the sides of her face. She wanted to hide. To disappear. To fade away. To just... stop existed. A grim desire, perhaps, but... Storms, what a fool she was. She'd hardly spent a day with these people and had already ruined any chance of them seeing her normally.

Rose nodded absently at their remarks, her cries slowing. She had no idea how to react, all she knew was that she felt uncomfortable and didn't want anyone to look at her anymore. The anxiety did not help her tears, and she reached up to wipe her eyes again.

She shook her head, wiping her eyes and sitting up. She felt stupid for having huddled into a ball. She was pathetic. Get a hold of yourself, foolish girl. "People don't just do that," she said. "Don't just help. Especially not bounty hunters. I thought you were in the business of killing, not charity."

Rose looked up at the handkerchief warily, sniffing. I attack you and you're kind to me? What kind of a person are you? She took it, but his confusing kindness made her head hurt. "Why would you help me?" she forced out.

Rose caught a glimpse of fear in Jahora's eyes before her vision blurred with tears and her anger dissolved. And without the shield of anger, her fear was exposed. She couldn't form words anymore. The world echoed and spun. You don't have to be afraid. You're going to be okay. No one is going to hurt you. You're safe. You're not alone. Rose resisted. If someone wanted her to be calm, then surely she should be even more on-guard. But then she remembered Jahora's face. He doesn't want you to be calm so that he can hurt you. He wants you to be calm so that you'll stop hurting him. She turned, catching Kieran's defeated, tired posture. By the Almighty... She didn't want to hurt anyone! Rose got off of Jahora's chest and stared at her trembling hands, loathing herself. "Oh, no," she whispered, words hardly audible between sobs. "I'm sorry. I... Oh, Stormfather, I'm sorry..." Pathetic and defeated, Rose wrapped her arms around her waist and wept ugly tears.

Rose heart sighed with relief. The only people she'd ever met with magic were the people in her family. The family that she had rejected. It didn't matter to her that his powers were slightly different. It was just a relief to see another "normal" person - her family could never be described as "normal" - exhibiting superhuman abilities. He wasn't exactly like her, no. But he didn't have to be. That line of thinking, however, was quickly brought to an end, the mention of the cursed asylum devouring any feelings of vulnerability she might have been harboring. "I'll not talk about that place in the open," she said. "But you don't deserve to hear about it anyway." With the change in attitude, doubt began to seep into her mind. Just how "normal" was he anyway? Was her a Narrator like her mother? Was all of this set up? She started to panic, her breath shortening, her mind a frenzy. Jahora wasn't genuine. No one was like her, no one at all. She still trembled, but now she trembled with anger. Only one thing was for certain: If any of her worries true, he wouldn't betray their veracity to her easily. Part of her was thankful for the excuse to attack. Rose willed the chair Jahora sat in to tip over, murder in her eyes. Fueled by her fear-driven anger, her powers worked not just to tip the chair over, but to topple it, as if it had been thrown back by a person with thrice Rose's strength. This whole time she'd been holding back a storm, just waiting for it to burst. Well, now it had. Though she was quiet as she leapt up from her seat, her expression could make a child cry. Rose put her knee on Jahora's chest and knelt down to scream at him, her face close to his. "Who are you?!" she demanded, shaking him. "What do you know about me? You sought me out specifically, didn't you? Why? Tell me WHY!!" It felt similar to how things had gone down a few months ago, at the asylum. The walls had been closing in on her, the manacles on her arms biting into her flesh, the musky air choking her. And then, just as she'd thought her heart would burst from her chest from the speed at which it beat, things began to explode. All the emotion she'd held stewing within her released in a massive display of power. The shackles first, then the walls, utterly decimated but leaving her unharmed. Her mind had gone fuzzy during it all and when the dust cleared she'd been left there, in the middle of chaos. Free. Of course, she'd also been exhausted. It was no different now. Rose screamed at him, yes, but she also sobbed.

Heather waved weakly, hiding behind her hair. As she stood there, she tried to picture him as her father, like Star had hinted he might become. Star's relationship with him was obviously extraordinarily complicated from what she could see; she had absolutely no inkling just how serious her new step-mother was about marrying him. At the end of the day though, it would be Star's decision and Star's decision alone whether or not Pheonix became her patron. What Heather thought about it mattered very little. All that said... The word "father" brought intense feelings and memories to Heather's mind. Yet, this pale, skinny man seemed the antonym of all of them. Soft spoken, gentle, and... Father??? No. It just made no sense. She had absolutely no idea what to make of it. Heather's thoughts began to turn inward and she realized that she hadn't taken her steel eyes off of Pheonix. The moment she recognized it, she quickly turned away, embarrassed. Nobody wanted her unnerving eyes on them. Least of all Heather herself... She groaned internally, but then, remembering how much worse the pain had been without Star's miracle gel, chided herself. She deserved that pain. What right had she to complain about it, especially when Star had been so kind as to help her? She probably should have rejected Star's kind gift, but she was too much of a self-pitying crybaby to deny it. Ember knelt, prompting a grimace from Star. “Master Pheonix,” said the Destroyer with reverence. “Oh, Ember, honey, don’t…” She facepalmed, but stopped herself from saying anything else about it. “Uh, hello again, Pheonix. The girls wanted to meet you officially so… here they are, I suppose.” With big, glass eyes - childlike, really - Ember looked up. “You are the chosen one,” she said to Pheonix. @BringerofShadows

She hesitated. He's like you. You saw him move things. You can tell him. "I can move objects. With my mind. Little ones, if I focus very hard. But sometimes... sometimes it's bigger. I've... I've destroyed things. Whole rooms." She swallowed, paling. "You can really do it too?"