“To rise, first you must burn.”
― Hiba Fatima Ahmad
“I am a phoenix rising from the ashes of my pain and suffering. Today I am reborn, today begins my growth and change.”
― Kaitlin DS Cammie
“Sometimes you have to kind of die inside in order to rise from your own ashes and believe in yourself and love yourself to become a new person.”
― Gerard Way
“The phoenix must burn to emerge.”
― Janet Fitch, White Oleander
“My sun sets to rise again.”
― Robert Browning
“But the Phoenix is not remarkable for its feathers or flames. It is most revered for its ability to climb from its own funeral pyre, from the very ashes of its old charred body, as a brand new life ready to live again once more.”
― Courtney Cole, Every Last Kiss
“The phoenix hope, can wing her way through the desert skies, and still defying fortune’s spite; revive from ashes and rise.”
--Miguel de Cervantes
“And dawn will follow the darkness sooner or later. Rebirth can never come without death.”
― Robert M. Price
“The Phoenix must burn to emerge.”
-- Janet Fitch
What is dead may never die, but rises again, harder and stronger.
-- The Drowned God Saying
“As the legend goes, when the phoenix resurrects from the flames, she is even more beautiful than before.”
-- Danielle LaPorte
It was no random chance, no trick of fortune, no happenstance that Jewell, upon returning to RhyDin two years ago, had chosen to don the garb of a phoenix for a masquerade. She was the phoenix. She had burned upon the altar, turned to ash, and was now poised to rise again.
Only, no one ever told her how difficult the rising would be.
Days of the Phoenix
Moderators: Bailey Raptis, JewellRavenlock
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JewellRavenlock
- Legendary Adventurer
- The Empress
- Posts: 2473
- Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 5:26 pm
- Location: Little Elfhame, Old Market
- Contact:
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JewellRavenlock
- Legendary Adventurer
- The Empress
- Posts: 2473
- Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 5:26 pm
- Location: Little Elfhame, Old Market
- Contact:
August 2015 (RhyDin Standard Calendar)
Ta-Neer Manor
Ta-Neer Lands; Faerie
Summer was waning in RhyDin but it was at its height in Faerie when she returned. If it was this past summer or another summer, Jewell was not sure and didn’t ask. It did not matter. She had returned as soon as she could. Once Sapphire had departed, she had been ready to go. Ready to take up the good fight once more. Ready to soar.
She walked arm-in-arm with her grandmother through the gardens. It was no longer just a gesture of affection; the older woman genuinely needed to support herself with the strength of her young, fit, granddaughter. As they wandered along the stone path, the sun warmed Jewell’s skin but Lady Nerissa’s words left her cold. “Darling, you cannot continue to deny it.”
“I refuse to accept it. You can’t die. You can’t! You have a long life ahead of you still.” She squeezed the thin arm wrapped around her own, suddenly unsure of the truth of her conviction.
Her grandmother just smiled, “My dear, I am old, and you are not the only one touched by Conventina’s poisons.” She squeezed Jewell’s arm. “No, you are not. They have left a shadow upon my heart, and I am tired, my dear. So very tired. I long for the days of the past. I dream of your mother’s smile. Conventina’s laughter when she was young.” She paused and all was quiet for a turn around the flower beds before she summoned the strength to continue, her voice thick with sorrow. “I remember the Great Wars from my youth as well. What horrors they wreaked upon these lands! I am pleased that I shall never have to live through such terrible times again.”
Jewell was distraught. Grief and rage choked her words. “And Muirenn?” was all she managed to ask, her other questions dying in her throat: Who will take care of her? Who will make sure that those horrors did not happen again? Who will bring an end to all of Conventina’s wickedness?
“She will take my place when I am gone,” the lady replied calmly, “probably to the ruin of our fair lands and beloved people.”
Her teeth ground together in her usually pretty mouth, declaring her fury as she rose to the bait,“I will not allow it! I will cast her down.”
“And how do you plan to do such a thing?” Lady Nerissa asked serenely, untouched by her granddaughter’s dark humor.
“Once the council gives me back my magic, I can…”
“No,” Lady Ta-Neer interrupted with quiet authority. “It cannot wait that long.”
“Then I will convince them to shorten my term,” she countered confidently. Vengeance and a desperate longing collided, pushing her brazenly forward to the inevitable confrontation with her cousin. This was what she had been born to do, was honor-bound to finish. Her destiny. She would rise up and claim her rightful power. She would be made whole once more! Afterwards, she would have her revenge. Her cousin would die, and with her all of Conventina’s plans. Then, and only then, could her children rest easy in their graves.
It was easy to be carried away by such satisfying daydreams. “If even half of what I have heard of Muirenn’s doings are true, then the council will have no choice but to stand besides me. I will come before them myself if I must. Then, they will give me my abilities back. Yes, and once that happens, Muirenn cannot hope to stand against me. No one will be able to stand against me! I will be stronger than ever. I will become the council’s champion, and I will throw her down.”
Her wings were quickly clipped. “I am afraid not. The council has little love for you. Perhaps you are not the threat they believe you to be, but they truly fail to see Muirenn for the threat she will become. Even if she were to gather all of Faerie against them,” Lady Nerissa broke off with a sigh. “No, Jewell, they will never consent to give you your magic back.”
Ta-Neer Manor
Ta-Neer Lands; Faerie
Summer was waning in RhyDin but it was at its height in Faerie when she returned. If it was this past summer or another summer, Jewell was not sure and didn’t ask. It did not matter. She had returned as soon as she could. Once Sapphire had departed, she had been ready to go. Ready to take up the good fight once more. Ready to soar.
She walked arm-in-arm with her grandmother through the gardens. It was no longer just a gesture of affection; the older woman genuinely needed to support herself with the strength of her young, fit, granddaughter. As they wandered along the stone path, the sun warmed Jewell’s skin but Lady Nerissa’s words left her cold. “Darling, you cannot continue to deny it.”
“I refuse to accept it. You can’t die. You can’t! You have a long life ahead of you still.” She squeezed the thin arm wrapped around her own, suddenly unsure of the truth of her conviction.
Her grandmother just smiled, “My dear, I am old, and you are not the only one touched by Conventina’s poisons.” She squeezed Jewell’s arm. “No, you are not. They have left a shadow upon my heart, and I am tired, my dear. So very tired. I long for the days of the past. I dream of your mother’s smile. Conventina’s laughter when she was young.” She paused and all was quiet for a turn around the flower beds before she summoned the strength to continue, her voice thick with sorrow. “I remember the Great Wars from my youth as well. What horrors they wreaked upon these lands! I am pleased that I shall never have to live through such terrible times again.”
Jewell was distraught. Grief and rage choked her words. “And Muirenn?” was all she managed to ask, her other questions dying in her throat: Who will take care of her? Who will make sure that those horrors did not happen again? Who will bring an end to all of Conventina’s wickedness?
“She will take my place when I am gone,” the lady replied calmly, “probably to the ruin of our fair lands and beloved people.”
Her teeth ground together in her usually pretty mouth, declaring her fury as she rose to the bait,“I will not allow it! I will cast her down.”
“And how do you plan to do such a thing?” Lady Nerissa asked serenely, untouched by her granddaughter’s dark humor.
“Once the council gives me back my magic, I can…”
“No,” Lady Ta-Neer interrupted with quiet authority. “It cannot wait that long.”
“Then I will convince them to shorten my term,” she countered confidently. Vengeance and a desperate longing collided, pushing her brazenly forward to the inevitable confrontation with her cousin. This was what she had been born to do, was honor-bound to finish. Her destiny. She would rise up and claim her rightful power. She would be made whole once more! Afterwards, she would have her revenge. Her cousin would die, and with her all of Conventina’s plans. Then, and only then, could her children rest easy in their graves.
It was easy to be carried away by such satisfying daydreams. “If even half of what I have heard of Muirenn’s doings are true, then the council will have no choice but to stand besides me. I will come before them myself if I must. Then, they will give me my abilities back. Yes, and once that happens, Muirenn cannot hope to stand against me. No one will be able to stand against me! I will be stronger than ever. I will become the council’s champion, and I will throw her down.”
Her wings were quickly clipped. “I am afraid not. The council has little love for you. Perhaps you are not the threat they believe you to be, but they truly fail to see Muirenn for the threat she will become. Even if she were to gather all of Faerie against them,” Lady Nerissa broke off with a sigh. “No, Jewell, they will never consent to give you your magic back.”
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JewellRavenlock
- Legendary Adventurer
- The Empress
- Posts: 2473
- Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 5:26 pm
- Location: Little Elfhame, Old Market
- Contact:
October 2015 RSC
Temple of the Divine Mother
Old Temple District; RhyDin
The long search ended on a cobblestone backstreet in Old Temple, hardly wide enough for a horse and buggy to drive down.
Agitation and anticipation clenched her hands and tightened her muscles. Her whole body was coiled under the pressure, and her question came out too sharp as a result: “Now you’re sure this is the place?” Jewell looked to the dark haired, half elf girl at her side.
Janel licked her lips, looking up at the faded sign hanging over the splintered wood doors. “M’lady, the man you called The Vessel is within. Yet, I cannot know if he is truly the one you seek. What if the lady of the woods has lied to you again?”
“Then she will not live very long, will she?” Jewell countered with a smile which faded just as quickly as it flashed up when the girl looked away. Janel’s concern was valid; the lady of the woods had not been easy to work with or particularly trustworthy. Even finding her had been a feat unto itself, and the first name she had given them was a dead end. He was literally dead, rotting in a grave in the city cemetery. The name the lady yielded upon their second visit (under the threat of force from the petite and very angry Faerie) had lead them here.
The dilapidated building--propped up between its two neighbors--did not inspire confidence, but there was no time to turn back. Desperation drove her forward. She refused to start over again. The pursuit had taken too long already, and The Empress was not a patient person. Especially not in this matter.
“Temple of the Divine Mother,” Jewell read the fading sign for Janel since the girl was still just learning. ‘Which mother?’ she wondered to herself. To her companion, she instructed: “You stay here. You know what to do if I don’t return within the hour.”
She bowed her head. “If you wish, m’lady. But…” she hesitated a moment, “if I could be so bold, it would bring me great comfort if you would allow me to accompany you inside.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Jewell brushed off the offer with little regard for her feelings. She had not brought Janel along so the girl could hold her hand. All her hopes depended on this. Even if the man known as The Vessel was as dangerous as she had been told, she did not want anyone (even the well-intentioned seeker at her side) interfering.
Anxiety squirmed in her stomach as she approached the wooden doors, disturbed to see that they were inset with iron studs. No, Janel absolutely needed to stay outside. After all, someone would have to go fetch Ishmerai and bring him here if something went wrong. Jewell wondered briefly how furious her knight would be when he found out where she had been, why she had been there, and what she had been attempting to do.
She forcibly pushed such thoughts aside and took a steadying breath before she pulled open the iron-laden doors to the temple, the metal briefly singeing her skin. Jewell stepped inside and jumped when the door quickly closed behind her with a heavy clang, leaving her to the darkness.
Temple of the Divine Mother
Old Temple District; RhyDin
The long search ended on a cobblestone backstreet in Old Temple, hardly wide enough for a horse and buggy to drive down.
Agitation and anticipation clenched her hands and tightened her muscles. Her whole body was coiled under the pressure, and her question came out too sharp as a result: “Now you’re sure this is the place?” Jewell looked to the dark haired, half elf girl at her side.
Janel licked her lips, looking up at the faded sign hanging over the splintered wood doors. “M’lady, the man you called The Vessel is within. Yet, I cannot know if he is truly the one you seek. What if the lady of the woods has lied to you again?”
“Then she will not live very long, will she?” Jewell countered with a smile which faded just as quickly as it flashed up when the girl looked away. Janel’s concern was valid; the lady of the woods had not been easy to work with or particularly trustworthy. Even finding her had been a feat unto itself, and the first name she had given them was a dead end. He was literally dead, rotting in a grave in the city cemetery. The name the lady yielded upon their second visit (under the threat of force from the petite and very angry Faerie) had lead them here.
The dilapidated building--propped up between its two neighbors--did not inspire confidence, but there was no time to turn back. Desperation drove her forward. She refused to start over again. The pursuit had taken too long already, and The Empress was not a patient person. Especially not in this matter.
“Temple of the Divine Mother,” Jewell read the fading sign for Janel since the girl was still just learning. ‘Which mother?’ she wondered to herself. To her companion, she instructed: “You stay here. You know what to do if I don’t return within the hour.”
She bowed her head. “If you wish, m’lady. But…” she hesitated a moment, “if I could be so bold, it would bring me great comfort if you would allow me to accompany you inside.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Jewell brushed off the offer with little regard for her feelings. She had not brought Janel along so the girl could hold her hand. All her hopes depended on this. Even if the man known as The Vessel was as dangerous as she had been told, she did not want anyone (even the well-intentioned seeker at her side) interfering.
Anxiety squirmed in her stomach as she approached the wooden doors, disturbed to see that they were inset with iron studs. No, Janel absolutely needed to stay outside. After all, someone would have to go fetch Ishmerai and bring him here if something went wrong. Jewell wondered briefly how furious her knight would be when he found out where she had been, why she had been there, and what she had been attempting to do.
She forcibly pushed such thoughts aside and took a steadying breath before she pulled open the iron-laden doors to the temple, the metal briefly singeing her skin. Jewell stepped inside and jumped when the door quickly closed behind her with a heavy clang, leaving her to the darkness.
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JewellRavenlock
- Legendary Adventurer
- The Empress
- Posts: 2473
- Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 5:26 pm
- Location: Little Elfhame, Old Market
- Contact:
October 2015 RSC
Temple of the Divine Mother
Old Temple District; RhyDin
There was no need for Janel to seek out the Fae knight and bring his wrath down upon the Temple of the Divine Mother, although that would have been an awe inspiring sight. Jewell emerged from the depths of the strange temple in less than an hour, and without even looking at Janel, she took off down the street, practically running.
She stopped two blocks later, breathing heavily. Sweat stood out on her brow despite the cool, autumn weather, yet her skin was cold and clammy. Her mind was spinning. She wanted to keep moving, run further, but her body felt sluggish and out of her control. A scream was coiling in her chest, asphyxiating her, and before she knew what she was doing, her hands were scrambling through the pockets of her jacket, desperately searching for something.
“**** **** ****!” She cried, turning the pockets inside out. They were empty. She had stopped carrying around razor blades months ago.
Her hands curled into fists, her fingernails biting into her palms. It wasn’t enough. She needed pain. Real, physical pain to stem the rising tide of panic. Just when she reached for the knife she kept in the inside pocket of her jacket, Janel spoke up nervously, “M’lady?” Jewell froze, staring at the girl hovering at her right elbow as if seeing her for the first time. “Are you alright?”
Of course she had followed her. Jewell let her hand fall like lead to her side, almost glaring at the girl with her features all twisted up in concern. She hated her at that moment. “I’m fine. Just fine.” Silence stretched between them. Janel wouldn’t dare call her a liar, but The Empress was clearly far from fine. “Let’s just get out of here, okay?” She hadn’t put enough distance between herself and that unholy place yet. She could feel their eyes on her still, taunting promises on their lips.
They could fulfill her heart’s desire, but for a price. A dreadful, terrible price. Just the thought of it made her heart race even faster, the roar of her pulse in her ears deafening.
The seeker stayed faithfully at her lady’s side as The Empress stormed blindly past the small markets full of merchants selling amulets, idols, blessings, and curses. Their calls and prayers rang out in half a hundred languages, but Jewell couldn’t hear them at all. When they crossed the bridge into Dragon’s Gate, Janel meekly asked if they would be stopping at The Line for a drink, hoping to improve her lady’s mood. She just gave a firm shake of her head: no.
They were almost in Old Market when Jewell finally felt safe enough to stop. Only she couldn’t really stop. She paced a small stretch of the river promenade franticly. She moved in circles, making her companion dizzy. And nervous. The young woman was very very nervous.
“How much do you value your abilities as a seeker, Janel?” The Empress blurted out suddenly. She had forced herself to stop moving, but her body was now rigid, muscles coiled in preparation for fight or flight.
“My lady?” she asked, clearly confused.
“I mean.. if it was taken away from you, what would you do?” Agitation laced her tone as her fingers twitched nervously inside her pocket.
A furrow deepened in the dark skin of the seeker’s forehead. “I think I would simply wish to die, m’lady. My seeker abilities are everything to me now. Without it, what use would I be to you? To anyone? What purpose would my life have? I will never go back to the pleasure house! You have showed me that my abilities make me so much more than that, but without them, I would be nothing again.”
Nothing. Jewell nodded. That was what she had become: nothing. She gazed back over the river towards Old Temple. Surely, it was the cool breeze off the water that was bringing tears to the corners of her eyes. The desperation and despair of last spring was back. Only this time, it sang a different tune: “They will never consent to give you your magic back.”
never ever ever ever ever
Without it, she was nothing.
NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING
Jewell resisted the urge to press the heels of her palms into her temples to drown out the sound. She could feel the chasm yawning open at her feet again, threatening to swallow her whole. “And if it was taken from you?” she struggled to speak calmly. “What would you do to get it back? What would you be willing to risk?”
“Everything,” Janel replied unhesitatingly. “I would risk everything.”
The Faerie turned to eagerly search her seeker’s face. Was it true? Was getting her abilities back really worth everything? “What if it meant your life?”
In Janel’s sudden hesitation, Jewell had her answer. If the abilities weren’t worth her life, they certainly weren’t worth her soul.
Temple of the Divine Mother
Old Temple District; RhyDin
There was no need for Janel to seek out the Fae knight and bring his wrath down upon the Temple of the Divine Mother, although that would have been an awe inspiring sight. Jewell emerged from the depths of the strange temple in less than an hour, and without even looking at Janel, she took off down the street, practically running.
She stopped two blocks later, breathing heavily. Sweat stood out on her brow despite the cool, autumn weather, yet her skin was cold and clammy. Her mind was spinning. She wanted to keep moving, run further, but her body felt sluggish and out of her control. A scream was coiling in her chest, asphyxiating her, and before she knew what she was doing, her hands were scrambling through the pockets of her jacket, desperately searching for something.
“**** **** ****!” She cried, turning the pockets inside out. They were empty. She had stopped carrying around razor blades months ago.
Her hands curled into fists, her fingernails biting into her palms. It wasn’t enough. She needed pain. Real, physical pain to stem the rising tide of panic. Just when she reached for the knife she kept in the inside pocket of her jacket, Janel spoke up nervously, “M’lady?” Jewell froze, staring at the girl hovering at her right elbow as if seeing her for the first time. “Are you alright?”
Of course she had followed her. Jewell let her hand fall like lead to her side, almost glaring at the girl with her features all twisted up in concern. She hated her at that moment. “I’m fine. Just fine.” Silence stretched between them. Janel wouldn’t dare call her a liar, but The Empress was clearly far from fine. “Let’s just get out of here, okay?” She hadn’t put enough distance between herself and that unholy place yet. She could feel their eyes on her still, taunting promises on their lips.
They could fulfill her heart’s desire, but for a price. A dreadful, terrible price. Just the thought of it made her heart race even faster, the roar of her pulse in her ears deafening.
The seeker stayed faithfully at her lady’s side as The Empress stormed blindly past the small markets full of merchants selling amulets, idols, blessings, and curses. Their calls and prayers rang out in half a hundred languages, but Jewell couldn’t hear them at all. When they crossed the bridge into Dragon’s Gate, Janel meekly asked if they would be stopping at The Line for a drink, hoping to improve her lady’s mood. She just gave a firm shake of her head: no.
They were almost in Old Market when Jewell finally felt safe enough to stop. Only she couldn’t really stop. She paced a small stretch of the river promenade franticly. She moved in circles, making her companion dizzy. And nervous. The young woman was very very nervous.
“How much do you value your abilities as a seeker, Janel?” The Empress blurted out suddenly. She had forced herself to stop moving, but her body was now rigid, muscles coiled in preparation for fight or flight.
“My lady?” she asked, clearly confused.
“I mean.. if it was taken away from you, what would you do?” Agitation laced her tone as her fingers twitched nervously inside her pocket.
A furrow deepened in the dark skin of the seeker’s forehead. “I think I would simply wish to die, m’lady. My seeker abilities are everything to me now. Without it, what use would I be to you? To anyone? What purpose would my life have? I will never go back to the pleasure house! You have showed me that my abilities make me so much more than that, but without them, I would be nothing again.”
Nothing. Jewell nodded. That was what she had become: nothing. She gazed back over the river towards Old Temple. Surely, it was the cool breeze off the water that was bringing tears to the corners of her eyes. The desperation and despair of last spring was back. Only this time, it sang a different tune: “They will never consent to give you your magic back.”
never ever ever ever ever
Without it, she was nothing.
NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING
Jewell resisted the urge to press the heels of her palms into her temples to drown out the sound. She could feel the chasm yawning open at her feet again, threatening to swallow her whole. “And if it was taken from you?” she struggled to speak calmly. “What would you do to get it back? What would you be willing to risk?”
“Everything,” Janel replied unhesitatingly. “I would risk everything.”
The Faerie turned to eagerly search her seeker’s face. Was it true? Was getting her abilities back really worth everything? “What if it meant your life?”
In Janel’s sudden hesitation, Jewell had her answer. If the abilities weren’t worth her life, they certainly weren’t worth her soul.
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JewellRavenlock
- Legendary Adventurer
- The Empress
- Posts: 2473
- Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 5:26 pm
- Location: Little Elfhame, Old Market
- Contact:
October 2015 RSC
Down the street from Frank’s Fight Club
Badside; RhyDin
“And when he started crying like a baby because you stabbed him in the leg?” Jewell laughed, feeling giddy. “That was the best!” She ran the back of her hand across the side of her face to mop up some of the blood still streaming down it, wiping it off on her pants.
At the same time, Rayvinn used her thumb and index finger to check the placement of her nose, wincing momentarily as her pain receptors actually experienced the pain for what it was before the sensation became a convoluted mess of near euphoria and the desire for more. It was moments such as these that she had to mentally remind herself that sometimes pain was a reminder that she shouldn’t do X, Y, Z anymore despite what her broken neurotransmitters might be telling her.
A crooked grin spread over busted lips (thankfully she still had all of her lovely teeth!) at Jewell’s laughter. “So glad you approve. I think they need to name drinks after us...no. No, they need to name a fight move after you. Call it the ‘Empress Piggyback Nose Basher’ and if anyone can pull it off they get a free drink.” Really, seeing Jewell on the big guy’s back, holding on for dear life with an arm around his neck and using her free fist to bust his nose -- this was the stuff that amused Raye more than just about anything.
The Empress laughed again, poorly reenacting the scene with a few wobbly punches at the air before she gave up and reached out to steal the bottle of tequila from Raye. They should have grabbed another, but alcohol wasn’t at the top of the list when they were getting thrown out of the fight club. They were lucky they even had the one bottle after the chaos that had prompted their expulsion: big-man-back-riding, chair-to-face smashing, knife stabbing, punch-them-in-the-face, glorious fun. Too bad she was too dizzy to suggest they go get something else to drink. They really needed it to celebrate their victory in grand style!
At least Jewell thought they had won.
At the loss of the bottle of tequila, Raye arched a sharp ebon brow. She clearly had her priorities. “We need something stronger than this human excuse for liquor.” Light bulb moment! “Let’s go get some of your Fae wine.” Because yes, this is what they needed right now: more incentive to be riotous.
It really was. Rayvinn needed the external chaos to balance the internal craziness. She needed that pressure valve to regulate the flux of turmoil and havoc. The loss of Shadow still nearly immobilized her with pain whenever she thought of him and the only time she wasn’t thinking of him was when she was drinking, fighting, or engaging in other activities. She needed the risky behavior to obliterate the memories and maybe, just maybe, she would survive.
And Jewell? Every bump and bruise was cherished since panic always gave way before pain. This was exactly what she had been hoping for tonight. Getting smashed in the face by a chair hadn’t specifically been part of the plan, but it worked. She could barely think straight let alone worry over her failed trip to the Temple of the Divine Mother earlier in the day. “Too far,” Jewell complained about the idea of going to get better alcohol, although at some point they were going to need to go somewhere. Sitting on the street, bleeding out was not the best way to end their night.
“I know another place where we can rough up some guys…” she taunted her companion with her smirk. “If you don’t mind getting dirty, Empress.” Oh, was that a challenge? The Harbinger of Chaos knew how to get what she wanted and right now, she wanted reprieve from reality. It was nice to have a friend to share in the revelry.
“Hah!” Jewell laughed in the face of such challenges! She handed the bottle off after taking a swig from it and leaned her head back against the wall, a sigh escaping her lips (busted open and swollen on the one side as they were). It only took her a moment to really think about it before she grinned aside at Raye, “Sure. Let’s do it.”
[]A billion thanks to Rayvinn’s player for writing this with me <3[]
Down the street from Frank’s Fight Club
Badside; RhyDin
“And when he started crying like a baby because you stabbed him in the leg?” Jewell laughed, feeling giddy. “That was the best!” She ran the back of her hand across the side of her face to mop up some of the blood still streaming down it, wiping it off on her pants.
At the same time, Rayvinn used her thumb and index finger to check the placement of her nose, wincing momentarily as her pain receptors actually experienced the pain for what it was before the sensation became a convoluted mess of near euphoria and the desire for more. It was moments such as these that she had to mentally remind herself that sometimes pain was a reminder that she shouldn’t do X, Y, Z anymore despite what her broken neurotransmitters might be telling her.
A crooked grin spread over busted lips (thankfully she still had all of her lovely teeth!) at Jewell’s laughter. “So glad you approve. I think they need to name drinks after us...no. No, they need to name a fight move after you. Call it the ‘Empress Piggyback Nose Basher’ and if anyone can pull it off they get a free drink.” Really, seeing Jewell on the big guy’s back, holding on for dear life with an arm around his neck and using her free fist to bust his nose -- this was the stuff that amused Raye more than just about anything.
The Empress laughed again, poorly reenacting the scene with a few wobbly punches at the air before she gave up and reached out to steal the bottle of tequila from Raye. They should have grabbed another, but alcohol wasn’t at the top of the list when they were getting thrown out of the fight club. They were lucky they even had the one bottle after the chaos that had prompted their expulsion: big-man-back-riding, chair-to-face smashing, knife stabbing, punch-them-in-the-face, glorious fun. Too bad she was too dizzy to suggest they go get something else to drink. They really needed it to celebrate their victory in grand style!
At least Jewell thought they had won.
At the loss of the bottle of tequila, Raye arched a sharp ebon brow. She clearly had her priorities. “We need something stronger than this human excuse for liquor.” Light bulb moment! “Let’s go get some of your Fae wine.” Because yes, this is what they needed right now: more incentive to be riotous.
It really was. Rayvinn needed the external chaos to balance the internal craziness. She needed that pressure valve to regulate the flux of turmoil and havoc. The loss of Shadow still nearly immobilized her with pain whenever she thought of him and the only time she wasn’t thinking of him was when she was drinking, fighting, or engaging in other activities. She needed the risky behavior to obliterate the memories and maybe, just maybe, she would survive.
And Jewell? Every bump and bruise was cherished since panic always gave way before pain. This was exactly what she had been hoping for tonight. Getting smashed in the face by a chair hadn’t specifically been part of the plan, but it worked. She could barely think straight let alone worry over her failed trip to the Temple of the Divine Mother earlier in the day. “Too far,” Jewell complained about the idea of going to get better alcohol, although at some point they were going to need to go somewhere. Sitting on the street, bleeding out was not the best way to end their night.
“I know another place where we can rough up some guys…” she taunted her companion with her smirk. “If you don’t mind getting dirty, Empress.” Oh, was that a challenge? The Harbinger of Chaos knew how to get what she wanted and right now, she wanted reprieve from reality. It was nice to have a friend to share in the revelry.
“Hah!” Jewell laughed in the face of such challenges! She handed the bottle off after taking a swig from it and leaned her head back against the wall, a sigh escaping her lips (busted open and swollen on the one side as they were). It only took her a moment to really think about it before she grinned aside at Raye, “Sure. Let’s do it.”
[]A billion thanks to Rayvinn’s player for writing this with me <3[]
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JewellRavenlock
- Legendary Adventurer
- The Empress
- Posts: 2473
- Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 5:26 pm
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October 2015 RSC
Dockside Baronial Mansion
Dockside; RhyDin
“Are you a complete fool?” Ishmerai slammed the door to the Dockside Baronial Mansion’s living quarters behind him.
Jewell shot upright in her chair, the book she had been kinda sorta reading falling to her lap. “Excuse me?”
“The Temple of the Divine Mother? Have you taken leave of your senses?”
“How dare you!” she shouted back at him, defensive and surprised at this sudden assault. That didn’t take long, she thought. After explaining away the blood, bumps, bruises, and mild concussion she had gotten with Raye the other night, she figured she had a little more time. The knight had not been happy, but he had backed off. Apparently, Janel had proved neither loyal nor resilient when put to the question.
Ishmerai followed her thoughts easily enough, “Do not dare blame your seeker. She did her job. Have you forgotten it? These girls are here to protect your piece of the city and you.” He was angry enough to be pacing. “Fortunate for you that she had enough sense to tell me. What were you thinking! I mean.. what were you thinking?” He threw his hands up in the air. “Were you even thinking at all? How could you go to a place like that, Mira? They are a cult!”
Worse than that, she retorted silently. So so much worse! Slavers of souls. A truly insidious organization, and, by her own doing, she had fumbled right onto their radar. Goosebumps cropped up across her arms. “She shouldn’t have mentioned it. I didn’t do anything. I was incredibly practical and very much concerned with my own safety.” Her little frown turned petulant. “I just wanted to see if they could help me.”
“Foolish, headstrong, girl,” he called her not unkindly. His rage was clearly dissipating, leaving only concern. “Janel was very worried about you. She said you seemed to be taken by a fit of madness!”
It was true. The priests who served in the Temple of the Divine Mother had triggered something inside her: fear. Pure, cold, unrelenting fear. She had been mad with terror. Even now, when she thought about the price they requested in return for unbinding her, Jewell shuddered. In her moment of freedom, they would imprison her all over again. It would be just like those lost years in Faerie, only worse. The things she had done under the command of her family still haunted her. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to force the memories from her mind. She was not that person!
“Jewell,” his voice recalled her to the present. When she opened her eyes to look at him, they were swimming with tears. “Listen to me, please. You are happy here. I see that now. There is so much potential for you here. So much good you have done for others, for yourself. Forget this madness! Quit involving yourself in the affairs of Faerie. Value your own life, and stay here.”
“Without my magic?” she asked him miserably.
“If you must,” he replied sadly. “You still have your life. All the work you have done here. Your friends. Sapphire. Live for yourself and for them and be happy, Mira. I will serve you here until the end of days without ever a protest if you just forget this! Forget Faerie and all its sorrows. This madness will never end, but you do not have to take part. You are safe here.”
How quickly his rhetoric had changed since they had first arrived in the city together. Who had been the one to encourage her time and again to rise up and return to Faerie? Claim your rights! Fulfill your destiny! He had kept after her when all she wanted to do was forget. Now their roles were reversed. Now it was stay in RhyDin and live, Mira. Forsake everything you ever fought for, Mira. Forget the past and all the wrongs done to you, Mira.
“Forget Faerie? Forget honor? Forget my children?” she questioned him fiercely.
The knight was obstinate, “If it means your life? Yes.”
Dockside Baronial Mansion
Dockside; RhyDin
“Are you a complete fool?” Ishmerai slammed the door to the Dockside Baronial Mansion’s living quarters behind him.
Jewell shot upright in her chair, the book she had been kinda sorta reading falling to her lap. “Excuse me?”
“The Temple of the Divine Mother? Have you taken leave of your senses?”
“How dare you!” she shouted back at him, defensive and surprised at this sudden assault. That didn’t take long, she thought. After explaining away the blood, bumps, bruises, and mild concussion she had gotten with Raye the other night, she figured she had a little more time. The knight had not been happy, but he had backed off. Apparently, Janel had proved neither loyal nor resilient when put to the question.
Ishmerai followed her thoughts easily enough, “Do not dare blame your seeker. She did her job. Have you forgotten it? These girls are here to protect your piece of the city and you.” He was angry enough to be pacing. “Fortunate for you that she had enough sense to tell me. What were you thinking! I mean.. what were you thinking?” He threw his hands up in the air. “Were you even thinking at all? How could you go to a place like that, Mira? They are a cult!”
Worse than that, she retorted silently. So so much worse! Slavers of souls. A truly insidious organization, and, by her own doing, she had fumbled right onto their radar. Goosebumps cropped up across her arms. “She shouldn’t have mentioned it. I didn’t do anything. I was incredibly practical and very much concerned with my own safety.” Her little frown turned petulant. “I just wanted to see if they could help me.”
“Foolish, headstrong, girl,” he called her not unkindly. His rage was clearly dissipating, leaving only concern. “Janel was very worried about you. She said you seemed to be taken by a fit of madness!”
It was true. The priests who served in the Temple of the Divine Mother had triggered something inside her: fear. Pure, cold, unrelenting fear. She had been mad with terror. Even now, when she thought about the price they requested in return for unbinding her, Jewell shuddered. In her moment of freedom, they would imprison her all over again. It would be just like those lost years in Faerie, only worse. The things she had done under the command of her family still haunted her. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to force the memories from her mind. She was not that person!
“Jewell,” his voice recalled her to the present. When she opened her eyes to look at him, they were swimming with tears. “Listen to me, please. You are happy here. I see that now. There is so much potential for you here. So much good you have done for others, for yourself. Forget this madness! Quit involving yourself in the affairs of Faerie. Value your own life, and stay here.”
“Without my magic?” she asked him miserably.
“If you must,” he replied sadly. “You still have your life. All the work you have done here. Your friends. Sapphire. Live for yourself and for them and be happy, Mira. I will serve you here until the end of days without ever a protest if you just forget this! Forget Faerie and all its sorrows. This madness will never end, but you do not have to take part. You are safe here.”
How quickly his rhetoric had changed since they had first arrived in the city together. Who had been the one to encourage her time and again to rise up and return to Faerie? Claim your rights! Fulfill your destiny! He had kept after her when all she wanted to do was forget. Now their roles were reversed. Now it was stay in RhyDin and live, Mira. Forsake everything you ever fought for, Mira. Forget the past and all the wrongs done to you, Mira.
“Forget Faerie? Forget honor? Forget my children?” she questioned him fiercely.
The knight was obstinate, “If it means your life? Yes.”
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JewellRavenlock
- Legendary Adventurer
- The Empress
- Posts: 2473
- Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 5:26 pm
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October 2015 RSC
Dockside Baronial Manor
Dockside; RhyDin
“Mira.”
“Mira.”
“Mira, get up!”
“Hmrph,” she grumped over her shoulder at Ishmerai, a clear command for him to go away! Then she snuggled back into her blankets and hugged her pillow even tighter to her chest. This had become an almost daily battle between them over the last week or so. She knew it aggravated and worried her knight to no end, but Jewell couldn’t help it. She didn’t want to move. She was tired of smiling and laughing. She didn’t want to stay inside but she didn’t want to go anywhere either. She just wanted to sink into her mattress and disappear.
“Your first IFL duel is in less than an hour. You should at least get out of bed.”
“I don’t care!”
The knight sighed. “Yes you do.” No response. “Please get up? You will regret it if you do not go.”
“No I won’t,” she countered sullenly.
It was time for a different tactic. “That woman Kate you are supposed to fight may punch you in the face. I know you like that.”
Pause. “Maaaaybe…”
And now for the trump card. “I am sure Raye will be there. Maybe Kalamere too.” He paused a moment to let that sink in. “They will want to cheer for you and celebrate after you win.”
Silence
“Ugggh!” She shot up in bed, throwing the pillow at Ishmerai. “Fine!”
Dockside Baronial Manor
Dockside; RhyDin
“Mira.”
“Mira.”
“Mira, get up!”
“Hmrph,” she grumped over her shoulder at Ishmerai, a clear command for him to go away! Then she snuggled back into her blankets and hugged her pillow even tighter to her chest. This had become an almost daily battle between them over the last week or so. She knew it aggravated and worried her knight to no end, but Jewell couldn’t help it. She didn’t want to move. She was tired of smiling and laughing. She didn’t want to stay inside but she didn’t want to go anywhere either. She just wanted to sink into her mattress and disappear.
“Your first IFL duel is in less than an hour. You should at least get out of bed.”
“I don’t care!”
The knight sighed. “Yes you do.” No response. “Please get up? You will regret it if you do not go.”
“No I won’t,” she countered sullenly.
It was time for a different tactic. “That woman Kate you are supposed to fight may punch you in the face. I know you like that.”
Pause. “Maaaaybe…”
And now for the trump card. “I am sure Raye will be there. Maybe Kalamere too.” He paused a moment to let that sink in. “They will want to cheer for you and celebrate after you win.”
Silence
“Ugggh!” She shot up in bed, throwing the pillow at Ishmerai. “Fine!”
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JewellRavenlock
- Legendary Adventurer
- The Empress
- Posts: 2473
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October 2015 RSC
Dockside Baronial Manor
Dockside; RhyDin
“Mira, this makes no sense. There is no way the young man is a spy.”
She paced rapidly around the living room, bumping into the coffee table for the fourth time. The more Ishmerai disagreed with her, the greater her agitation. “You didn’t see him! The moment I tried to confront him, he fled. He’s guilty, Ishmerai. I just know it.”
“You confronted him about being a Faerie spy!?”
The look she levelled at him clearly read, “duh!” before she explained in a deliberately slow, condescending way, “Noooo. I confronted Bailey about something else, and he totally ran away like the guilty little sneak he is!”
The knight pinched the bridge of his nose. “How much sleep did you get last night?”
“Who needs sleep?” Her movements were erratic, fueled by late night drinking and fighting as well as early morning coffee. A lot of coffee. “I told Eva I wasn’t sure about him. Who knows what information he is feeding right back to Muirenn at this very moment? I have to do something about this. He’s going to poison everyone against me!” She had already seen it happening last night.
“You are paranoid and acting irrationally.”
She pointed at him. “You told me to be cautious!”
“Cautious, yes. This is madness, Jewell. What evidence do you even have against this young man?”
She perched on the edge of the sofa a moment as if she needed to stop moving in order to think clearly. She thought really hard. “I just have a feeling.”
“A feeling? That is it?”
“Ishmerai, the boy stinks of Faerie!”
“Mira…”
“And why else would he always be carrying iron?” The knight sighed in the face of her very refutable evidence. She popped back up off the couch, resuming her pacing. “Something just isn’t right here. He is up to something!”
“Not to destroy your stellar investigative work, Mira, but you are chasing shadows. No one in your family aside from your grandmother knows you are here. I have been as thorough as possible. Captain Strand and all his crew have so many misdirection spells upon them when they visit that they could never lead someone to you. Not to mention that the amount of iron in this place and all the work Guiscard has done to Little Elfhame also makes any scrying spells practically useless. Someone would have to know that you are here in order to have any chance of finding you.”
“On top of that, what Faerie or Fae do you know that could be carrying around iron without suffering harm?”
“Maybe he is just a glamoured mortal under their control! Did you think of that? Hm? Hm?”
“Mira, no one from Faerie is spying on you. And you of all people would know if he was under such an enchantment. You are terrific at detection.” Jewell turned away from him, unable to deny that truth especially when coated with such flattery. “You know you would. So please, do not worry so over this. Here in RhyDin, you are safe.”
Dockside Baronial Manor
Dockside; RhyDin
“Mira, this makes no sense. There is no way the young man is a spy.”
She paced rapidly around the living room, bumping into the coffee table for the fourth time. The more Ishmerai disagreed with her, the greater her agitation. “You didn’t see him! The moment I tried to confront him, he fled. He’s guilty, Ishmerai. I just know it.”
“You confronted him about being a Faerie spy!?”
The look she levelled at him clearly read, “duh!” before she explained in a deliberately slow, condescending way, “Noooo. I confronted Bailey about something else, and he totally ran away like the guilty little sneak he is!”
The knight pinched the bridge of his nose. “How much sleep did you get last night?”
“Who needs sleep?” Her movements were erratic, fueled by late night drinking and fighting as well as early morning coffee. A lot of coffee. “I told Eva I wasn’t sure about him. Who knows what information he is feeding right back to Muirenn at this very moment? I have to do something about this. He’s going to poison everyone against me!” She had already seen it happening last night.
“You are paranoid and acting irrationally.”
She pointed at him. “You told me to be cautious!”
“Cautious, yes. This is madness, Jewell. What evidence do you even have against this young man?”
She perched on the edge of the sofa a moment as if she needed to stop moving in order to think clearly. She thought really hard. “I just have a feeling.”
“A feeling? That is it?”
“Ishmerai, the boy stinks of Faerie!”
“Mira…”
“And why else would he always be carrying iron?” The knight sighed in the face of her very refutable evidence. She popped back up off the couch, resuming her pacing. “Something just isn’t right here. He is up to something!”
“Not to destroy your stellar investigative work, Mira, but you are chasing shadows. No one in your family aside from your grandmother knows you are here. I have been as thorough as possible. Captain Strand and all his crew have so many misdirection spells upon them when they visit that they could never lead someone to you. Not to mention that the amount of iron in this place and all the work Guiscard has done to Little Elfhame also makes any scrying spells practically useless. Someone would have to know that you are here in order to have any chance of finding you.”
“On top of that, what Faerie or Fae do you know that could be carrying around iron without suffering harm?”
“Maybe he is just a glamoured mortal under their control! Did you think of that? Hm? Hm?”
“Mira, no one from Faerie is spying on you. And you of all people would know if he was under such an enchantment. You are terrific at detection.” Jewell turned away from him, unable to deny that truth especially when coated with such flattery. “You know you would. So please, do not worry so over this. Here in RhyDin, you are safe.”
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JewellRavenlock
- Legendary Adventurer
- The Empress
- Posts: 2473
- Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 5:26 pm
- Location: Little Elfhame, Old Market
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November 2015 RSC
Dockside Baronial Manor
Dockside; RhyDin
The knight sighed heavily as he entered the room to find his lady sitting on her settee, staring at the ground. She was supposed to be fully dressed and ready to go; they had a meeting to attend! He was sure the client would not mind the Faerie showing up in the loosely tied silk robe she was wearing, but Ishmerai did mind.
He crossed the room to stand over her. “Jewell.” He never used her name! “Why are you not yet dressed? We are have to be there in twenty minutes.”
She sniffled, turning to hide her face from him. “Just go away, I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”
A furrow creased his brow and he perched on the fainting couch next to her, trying to get her eye. “What is the matter? Are you unwell?”
She took a shuddering breath, trying to hold it back, but it all burst forth with a sob. “I’m abandoning them, Merai! How… how can you ask me to keep doing nothing like this? How can I stay here and hide from these people?” Her voice caught after every word: “They killed my children.”
He sighed again, reaching out to put his arm around her. She quickly curled up against him, burying her face in his shirt so she could soak it with her tears. “I know, Mira.” He stroked her back soothingly. “I know.”
Dockside Baronial Manor
Dockside; RhyDin
The knight sighed heavily as he entered the room to find his lady sitting on her settee, staring at the ground. She was supposed to be fully dressed and ready to go; they had a meeting to attend! He was sure the client would not mind the Faerie showing up in the loosely tied silk robe she was wearing, but Ishmerai did mind.
He crossed the room to stand over her. “Jewell.” He never used her name! “Why are you not yet dressed? We are have to be there in twenty minutes.”
She sniffled, turning to hide her face from him. “Just go away, I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”
A furrow creased his brow and he perched on the fainting couch next to her, trying to get her eye. “What is the matter? Are you unwell?”
She took a shuddering breath, trying to hold it back, but it all burst forth with a sob. “I’m abandoning them, Merai! How… how can you ask me to keep doing nothing like this? How can I stay here and hide from these people?” Her voice caught after every word: “They killed my children.”
He sighed again, reaching out to put his arm around her. She quickly curled up against him, burying her face in his shirt so she could soak it with her tears. “I know, Mira.” He stroked her back soothingly. “I know.”
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JewellRavenlock
- Legendary Adventurer
- The Empress
- Posts: 2473
- Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 5:26 pm
- Location: Little Elfhame, Old Market
- Contact:
November 2015 RSC
RhyDin City; RhyDin
She liked the way the lights turned into a blur and then an endless stream of color as she picked up her pace from a slow jog into a run. In the hours past midnight, Jewell had the streets of RhyDin to herself.
As of late, she had developed a pattern: toss and turn in bed as sleep remained an elusive dream, get up, put sneakers on, and run the circuit.
Dockside. Old Market. Dragon’s Gate. Repeat.
She was stuck running in the same circle. She was stuck in RhyDin: incomplete, broken, living forever in fear of her family and things left undone and unfinished. The implications of this new reality were slowly gnawing away at her. They drove her out of the baronial mansion each night.
She had endured so much for nothing.
Vengeance sworn was beyond her reach.
Justice for her children was a dream unfulfilled and abandoned.
Jewell was sullen and spiteful, forlorn and depressed, bitter and angry. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any point in railing against Fate. That bitch never listened to her anyway. And since she couldn’t fight it, she took to the streets in a futile attempt to outrun it.
RhyDin City; RhyDin
She liked the way the lights turned into a blur and then an endless stream of color as she picked up her pace from a slow jog into a run. In the hours past midnight, Jewell had the streets of RhyDin to herself.
As of late, she had developed a pattern: toss and turn in bed as sleep remained an elusive dream, get up, put sneakers on, and run the circuit.
Dockside. Old Market. Dragon’s Gate. Repeat.
She was stuck running in the same circle. She was stuck in RhyDin: incomplete, broken, living forever in fear of her family and things left undone and unfinished. The implications of this new reality were slowly gnawing away at her. They drove her out of the baronial mansion each night.
She had endured so much for nothing.
Vengeance sworn was beyond her reach.
Justice for her children was a dream unfulfilled and abandoned.
Jewell was sullen and spiteful, forlorn and depressed, bitter and angry. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any point in railing against Fate. That bitch never listened to her anyway. And since she couldn’t fight it, she took to the streets in a futile attempt to outrun it.
-
JewellRavenlock
- Legendary Adventurer
- The Empress
- Posts: 2473
- Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 5:26 pm
- Location: Little Elfhame, Old Market
- Contact:
November 2015 RSC
Dockside Baronial Manor
Dockside; RhyDin
RhyDin was burning.
Instead of cowering in her room, Jewell bravely left the baronial mansion to face one of her greatest fears: insatiable flames.
She stepped into the middle of the street, arms raised into the air, and the fire whispering at her back, outlining her like the wings of a phoenix. And she was a phoenix. She was rising higher and higher every moment: above her fears and out of the ashes of failure.
She was powerful, whole, and complete.
For the first time in years, she called and the water listened. In the bay, the river, the pipes and wells. It heard her voice and rose at her command. It greeted her like an old friend, and like a maestro, she directed it where it needed to go.
Together, they tirelessly put out the fires that threatened her city, that threatened the ones she loved. She moved from street to street, building to building, district to district. She put out every single fire. She could not stop. Would not stop. Not when her muscles screamed for rest, when the flames burned her skin, or when blood like sweat poured down her face from the exertion.
It was the most satisfying, exhilarating night of her life.
And when she was done, she opened her eyes and winced against the bright morning light. It came pouring in through the open curtains, silhouetting the knight standing at her bedside, a glass of water in his hand.
He held it out to her as she groaned and tried to sit up. It felt like someone had taken a hammer to her head! “I feel terrible,” she groaned.
“Drinking two bottles of fey wine on your own will do that to you. You are lucky you did not drown.”
No, she wasn’t lucky. The pounding in her head was bad enough, but the emptiness in her chest was much worse. There was a hole still lurking near her heart in the place where her magic once resided.
She accepted the water from Ishmerai, but she did not drink. Instead, she stared at it intently, willing it to rise. Move. Dance. Jiggle. Something! In the end, all it did was splatter across the wall in a shattering of glass.
“Damn it all.”
Dockside Baronial Manor
Dockside; RhyDin
RhyDin was burning.
Instead of cowering in her room, Jewell bravely left the baronial mansion to face one of her greatest fears: insatiable flames.
She stepped into the middle of the street, arms raised into the air, and the fire whispering at her back, outlining her like the wings of a phoenix. And she was a phoenix. She was rising higher and higher every moment: above her fears and out of the ashes of failure.
She was powerful, whole, and complete.
For the first time in years, she called and the water listened. In the bay, the river, the pipes and wells. It heard her voice and rose at her command. It greeted her like an old friend, and like a maestro, she directed it where it needed to go.
Together, they tirelessly put out the fires that threatened her city, that threatened the ones she loved. She moved from street to street, building to building, district to district. She put out every single fire. She could not stop. Would not stop. Not when her muscles screamed for rest, when the flames burned her skin, or when blood like sweat poured down her face from the exertion.
It was the most satisfying, exhilarating night of her life.
And when she was done, she opened her eyes and winced against the bright morning light. It came pouring in through the open curtains, silhouetting the knight standing at her bedside, a glass of water in his hand.
He held it out to her as she groaned and tried to sit up. It felt like someone had taken a hammer to her head! “I feel terrible,” she groaned.
“Drinking two bottles of fey wine on your own will do that to you. You are lucky you did not drown.”
No, she wasn’t lucky. The pounding in her head was bad enough, but the emptiness in her chest was much worse. There was a hole still lurking near her heart in the place where her magic once resided.
She accepted the water from Ishmerai, but she did not drink. Instead, she stared at it intently, willing it to rise. Move. Dance. Jiggle. Something! In the end, all it did was splatter across the wall in a shattering of glass.
“Damn it all.”
-
JewellRavenlock
- Legendary Adventurer
- The Empress
- Posts: 2473
- Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 5:26 pm
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November 2015 RSC
Dockside Baronial Manor
Dockside; RhyDin
Reality
RhyDin was burning.
All over the place, the city was on fire, and Jewell had locked herself in her room at the baronial mansion. She was on the floor, back up against the bed, knees to her chest, the skirt of her dress balled up and pressed against her face.
The smell tickled her nose…[and] she became heart-renderingly aware of the amount of smoke in the air. They were burning it. They were burning her house to the ground! Coupled with the scent of smoke were several high-pitched screams that suddenly rent the night. Her children. They were burning her house to the ground, her children were still inside, and it was a struggle for her to even think of moving.
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. She was desperately trying to remember how to breathe and not sob uncontrollably every time she opened her mouth.
She needed to keep out the smell of smoke. She needed to block out a world turned red.
She was frozen in horrified fascination at the destructive power of fire and how quickly it could render the familiar unrecognizable. She had done many foolish things in her life, but never before had she run into a burning building. It was terrifying. Thick, oily smoke obscured her vision of everything, twisting it. Her eyes were already burning, yet she still tried to peer through the thick cloud to see what was becoming of the life she had built.
It was already in ruins.
It was happening again. They burnt the house. They stole her kids. Now they were coming for her, but she couldn’t face the flames.
She was too weak.
Dockside Baronial Manor
Dockside; RhyDin
Reality
RhyDin was burning.
All over the place, the city was on fire, and Jewell had locked herself in her room at the baronial mansion. She was on the floor, back up against the bed, knees to her chest, the skirt of her dress balled up and pressed against her face.
The smell tickled her nose…[and] she became heart-renderingly aware of the amount of smoke in the air. They were burning it. They were burning her house to the ground! Coupled with the scent of smoke were several high-pitched screams that suddenly rent the night. Her children. They were burning her house to the ground, her children were still inside, and it was a struggle for her to even think of moving.
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. She was desperately trying to remember how to breathe and not sob uncontrollably every time she opened her mouth.
She needed to keep out the smell of smoke. She needed to block out a world turned red.
She was frozen in horrified fascination at the destructive power of fire and how quickly it could render the familiar unrecognizable. She had done many foolish things in her life, but never before had she run into a burning building. It was terrifying. Thick, oily smoke obscured her vision of everything, twisting it. Her eyes were already burning, yet she still tried to peer through the thick cloud to see what was becoming of the life she had built.
It was already in ruins.
It was happening again. They burnt the house. They stole her kids. Now they were coming for her, but she couldn’t face the flames.
She was too weak.
-
JewellRavenlock
- Legendary Adventurer
- The Empress
- Posts: 2473
- Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 5:26 pm
- Location: Little Elfhame, Old Market
- Contact:
November 2015 RSC
Dockside Baronial Manor
Dockside; RhyDin
The knight startled her with his quiet approach.
She sat up, hastily wiping at her eyes to remove any trace of tears. She had been sitting in her room at the baronial manor for most of the morning, cheeked pressed to the cool glass pane as she stared out over the harbor. It was construed in a heavy mist. It made her think of a similar day years and years ago when she had said goodbye to RhyDin before fading right into that fog. She wondered if she could do it again and disappear forever this time. “What is it? Are they fighting in the warehouse again?”
“No. A message, my lady.” Ishmerai held out an envelope to her.
Jewell stared at the envelope, hesitantly reaching out to take it. Her name stared up at her in her grandmother’s wobbly handwriting. A knot coiled in her stomach. What could it possibly contain? Her death and doom? Surely nothing good. Lady Nerissa had already squashed so many of her hopes.
Or was she wrong. Could it contain an offer of salvation and the way out? Perhaps her dream the other night had actually been a Dream. The sudden hammering of her heart was deafening. It blocked out everything else: the sailors on the docks, whores calling out to those just turned ashore, the refugees downstairs in the warehouse. There was just the beat of her pulse, wild and erratic.
Ishmerai did not wait for her to reveal the contents, retreating out of the room as silently as he came. Their relationship had become strained once again as the knight watched her carefully, waiting for the moment she would fully self-destruct.
It hadn’t come. Not yet.
She tore right through the envelope, ripping apart the lavender-scented paper with trembling hands.
Come with great haste.
-NT
Dockside Baronial Manor
Dockside; RhyDin
The knight startled her with his quiet approach.
She sat up, hastily wiping at her eyes to remove any trace of tears. She had been sitting in her room at the baronial manor for most of the morning, cheeked pressed to the cool glass pane as she stared out over the harbor. It was construed in a heavy mist. It made her think of a similar day years and years ago when she had said goodbye to RhyDin before fading right into that fog. She wondered if she could do it again and disappear forever this time. “What is it? Are they fighting in the warehouse again?”
“No. A message, my lady.” Ishmerai held out an envelope to her.
Jewell stared at the envelope, hesitantly reaching out to take it. Her name stared up at her in her grandmother’s wobbly handwriting. A knot coiled in her stomach. What could it possibly contain? Her death and doom? Surely nothing good. Lady Nerissa had already squashed so many of her hopes.
Or was she wrong. Could it contain an offer of salvation and the way out? Perhaps her dream the other night had actually been a Dream. The sudden hammering of her heart was deafening. It blocked out everything else: the sailors on the docks, whores calling out to those just turned ashore, the refugees downstairs in the warehouse. There was just the beat of her pulse, wild and erratic.
Ishmerai did not wait for her to reveal the contents, retreating out of the room as silently as he came. Their relationship had become strained once again as the knight watched her carefully, waiting for the moment she would fully self-destruct.
It hadn’t come. Not yet.
She tore right through the envelope, ripping apart the lavender-scented paper with trembling hands.
Come with great haste.
-NT
-
JewellRavenlock
- Legendary Adventurer
- The Empress
- Posts: 2473
- Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 5:26 pm
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November 2015 RSC
Ta-Neer Manor
Ta-Neer Lands; Faerie
Jewell stepped through the archway, her face drawn and tired. The visit to her grandmother was not the fulfillment of eager expectations but of her last hope squashed underfoot. Lady Nerissa had failed to conjure up some miraculous way to get granddaughter’s magic back. Instead, the blows kept coming, and even a former student of Jake Thrash could only roll with the punches for so long.
Ishmerai took his place beside her as they wandered through the cool halls of the sprawling manor, leaving the open-air garden room where her grandmother lay sick and dying behind them. “How bad?”
She shook her head, glancing around to see if they had any company. The seat of Ta-Neer power rarely felt like a secure, safe place to speak openly. “They do not think she will last much longer, maybe several more turns of the moon at best. It is difficult for them to tell. You know how infrequently death visits us here.” It was true. Death did not often darken the doorstep of the Summer Court, but it was not this memento mori that had her looking so grave. “She did share something,” she hesitated a moment to find the right word, “interesting with me.” Jewell tried to inject levity into her tone with her announcement: “My dear Muirenn is going to be married soon! And I bet you will never guess to whom.”
“Cuán, brother of a the sadly deceased Lord Conrí who was killed most horrifically in some far away, mortal land.”
“How did you know?” she marveled.
“I am never idle when we are here.” He opened a door for her, and they passed together out of Lady Nerissa’s wing of the manor, walking along one of the main concourses. The affected levity dissipated quickly as they continued their conversation in hushed tones. “Mira, this is very troubling.”
“I know,” she looked aside at him, grim faced. The strings of fate were entangling her feet, tripping her up as they pulled her forward towards a day that felt more like a reckoning every moment.
“Have you truly had time to consider this? It seems quite fortuitous that this man just happened to form a union with your cousin who is um.. not your biggest fan, I believe the phrase is?” The knight shook his head. The colloquialisms of RhyDin still escaped him at times. “Clearly, Lord Cuán must be out for revenge for his brother.”
The lady rolled her eyes. She could put two and two together just as well as he could! “Then I should send him your way,” she hissed at him. “You’re the one that killed Conrí, not me.”
“Mira, be serious. You realize Muirenn must know where you are now. She knows you have returned to your city.” There went all her knight’s dreams of his lady laying low in RhyDin! Quite suddenly, her hometown had become as safe as a den of vipers.
“Yes.” The implications of Muirenn’s husband-to-be had not gone unremarked by Jewell, although Lady Nerissa in her weakened state had failed to understand: No magic, her enemies rising up in greater number before her, and her semi-secret hideaway revealed.
At the start, she had been so confident that this round of the game would finally be hers. Her time. Her rules. Instead, the rules kept changing and she was left as an impotent pawn. Bowing out of the game all together had just been taken off the table, so she would have to find another way to become an active player once more. Her throat tightened at the thought; the price to reenter was so high. No no no! she screamed inside. There had to be another way. Some way. Any way! She would find it. She had to.
Ishmerai interrupted her racing thoughts. “We should be expecting an envoy from her very soon. We will need to make plans.”
Jewell laughed bitterly, “Perhaps they will wish to present our future ruler with my head as a wedding gift!”
Ta-Neer Manor
Ta-Neer Lands; Faerie
Jewell stepped through the archway, her face drawn and tired. The visit to her grandmother was not the fulfillment of eager expectations but of her last hope squashed underfoot. Lady Nerissa had failed to conjure up some miraculous way to get granddaughter’s magic back. Instead, the blows kept coming, and even a former student of Jake Thrash could only roll with the punches for so long.
Ishmerai took his place beside her as they wandered through the cool halls of the sprawling manor, leaving the open-air garden room where her grandmother lay sick and dying behind them. “How bad?”
She shook her head, glancing around to see if they had any company. The seat of Ta-Neer power rarely felt like a secure, safe place to speak openly. “They do not think she will last much longer, maybe several more turns of the moon at best. It is difficult for them to tell. You know how infrequently death visits us here.” It was true. Death did not often darken the doorstep of the Summer Court, but it was not this memento mori that had her looking so grave. “She did share something,” she hesitated a moment to find the right word, “interesting with me.” Jewell tried to inject levity into her tone with her announcement: “My dear Muirenn is going to be married soon! And I bet you will never guess to whom.”
“Cuán, brother of a the sadly deceased Lord Conrí who was killed most horrifically in some far away, mortal land.”
“How did you know?” she marveled.
“I am never idle when we are here.” He opened a door for her, and they passed together out of Lady Nerissa’s wing of the manor, walking along one of the main concourses. The affected levity dissipated quickly as they continued their conversation in hushed tones. “Mira, this is very troubling.”
“I know,” she looked aside at him, grim faced. The strings of fate were entangling her feet, tripping her up as they pulled her forward towards a day that felt more like a reckoning every moment.
“Have you truly had time to consider this? It seems quite fortuitous that this man just happened to form a union with your cousin who is um.. not your biggest fan, I believe the phrase is?” The knight shook his head. The colloquialisms of RhyDin still escaped him at times. “Clearly, Lord Cuán must be out for revenge for his brother.”
The lady rolled her eyes. She could put two and two together just as well as he could! “Then I should send him your way,” she hissed at him. “You’re the one that killed Conrí, not me.”
“Mira, be serious. You realize Muirenn must know where you are now. She knows you have returned to your city.” There went all her knight’s dreams of his lady laying low in RhyDin! Quite suddenly, her hometown had become as safe as a den of vipers.
“Yes.” The implications of Muirenn’s husband-to-be had not gone unremarked by Jewell, although Lady Nerissa in her weakened state had failed to understand: No magic, her enemies rising up in greater number before her, and her semi-secret hideaway revealed.
At the start, she had been so confident that this round of the game would finally be hers. Her time. Her rules. Instead, the rules kept changing and she was left as an impotent pawn. Bowing out of the game all together had just been taken off the table, so she would have to find another way to become an active player once more. Her throat tightened at the thought; the price to reenter was so high. No no no! she screamed inside. There had to be another way. Some way. Any way! She would find it. She had to.
Ishmerai interrupted her racing thoughts. “We should be expecting an envoy from her very soon. We will need to make plans.”
Jewell laughed bitterly, “Perhaps they will wish to present our future ruler with my head as a wedding gift!”
-
JewellRavenlock
- Legendary Adventurer
- The Empress
- Posts: 2473
- Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 5:26 pm
- Location: Little Elfhame, Old Market
- Contact:
November 2015 RSC
Dockside Baronial Manor
Dockside; RhyDin
“This is madness, Mira! It smacks of desperation.”
“I am not desperate!” she smacked her hand on the table. “This is very well thought out. We will do everything we can to prepare. The girls will work around the clock. We will put up even more wards. We can hire some new people. I’ll even ask Kal to train more often with me--”
“Useless training.”
“--and see if Raye wouldn’t mind working with me as well,” Jewell finished as if he had not interrupted her. “I’ll be as prepared and as strong as I possibly can be without my abilities. Then she can make the first move. We can even go over every possible scenario you can think of if you want.”
“I do not like this. It is foolish.”
“Do you have a better plan?”
“I will kill her for you.”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Mira, she must be dealt with before she can grow any stronger. Waiting for her is folly. Let me strike the first and last blow.”
“No!”
“But Mira--”
“Absolutely not. I will not allow you to do this. No no NO!”
She couldn’t even let herself consider such an offer. Yes, it would take care of the problem, but it would also surely mean Ishmerai’s death. Jewell was highborn. When she killed people, it just meant exile and severe punishment. The Fae knight would never get off so easily. They were sure to make his end slow and awful just to torture her.
She thought of Sapphire and her mother, living in a world where Ishmerai had died long ago.
She thought about what it would mean if they knew she had sent him after Muirenn.
“What about--”
“No! Discussion over. We are doing it my way. That is final!”
“Why?”
“Because..”
“Mira,” he pressed her, refusing to relent, “why must it be done your way?”
She looked away from him. “It’s the only why I have a chance, Merai.”
“A chance for what?” He narrowed his eyes, “To get your magic back? Is that what this is about?” The flush that came over her face gave her away. “Mira,” he softened his tone, “even your grandmother said, ‘Not even if all of Faerie rose up against her.’ It will not happen.”
“She doesn’t know that! I have to try. This could be my only chance, Merai. Don’t you see? If I let you kill her. If I send some other assassin there after her, and then they trace it back to me? I will never get it back then. Ever. It had to be this way.”
They stared at each other for some time. “Fine. So we will wait for her here. And when this plan does not work?”
She looked very grave. She didn’t dare mention the alternative.
Dockside Baronial Manor
Dockside; RhyDin
“This is madness, Mira! It smacks of desperation.”
“I am not desperate!” she smacked her hand on the table. “This is very well thought out. We will do everything we can to prepare. The girls will work around the clock. We will put up even more wards. We can hire some new people. I’ll even ask Kal to train more often with me--”
“Useless training.”
“--and see if Raye wouldn’t mind working with me as well,” Jewell finished as if he had not interrupted her. “I’ll be as prepared and as strong as I possibly can be without my abilities. Then she can make the first move. We can even go over every possible scenario you can think of if you want.”
“I do not like this. It is foolish.”
“Do you have a better plan?”
“I will kill her for you.”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Mira, she must be dealt with before she can grow any stronger. Waiting for her is folly. Let me strike the first and last blow.”
“No!”
“But Mira--”
“Absolutely not. I will not allow you to do this. No no NO!”
She couldn’t even let herself consider such an offer. Yes, it would take care of the problem, but it would also surely mean Ishmerai’s death. Jewell was highborn. When she killed people, it just meant exile and severe punishment. The Fae knight would never get off so easily. They were sure to make his end slow and awful just to torture her.
She thought of Sapphire and her mother, living in a world where Ishmerai had died long ago.
She thought about what it would mean if they knew she had sent him after Muirenn.
“What about--”
“No! Discussion over. We are doing it my way. That is final!”
“Why?”
“Because..”
“Mira,” he pressed her, refusing to relent, “why must it be done your way?”
She looked away from him. “It’s the only why I have a chance, Merai.”
“A chance for what?” He narrowed his eyes, “To get your magic back? Is that what this is about?” The flush that came over her face gave her away. “Mira,” he softened his tone, “even your grandmother said, ‘Not even if all of Faerie rose up against her.’ It will not happen.”
“She doesn’t know that! I have to try. This could be my only chance, Merai. Don’t you see? If I let you kill her. If I send some other assassin there after her, and then they trace it back to me? I will never get it back then. Ever. It had to be this way.”
They stared at each other for some time. “Fine. So we will wait for her here. And when this plan does not work?”
She looked very grave. She didn’t dare mention the alternative.
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