BOOK STARTERS VOL.21     THE PLAGUE     ALBERT CAMUS

"   i know. but it was still quite funny.   "           ansegar says, as he watched the other man stand up and begin cleaning himself off. a naughtier part of him wanted to knock the other off again with a swift swipe of his leg-- to show that warriors doesn't usually spend this much time grooming themselves in battle, and that they should accept the grime and dirt of it with honor. but he stops himself. perhaps later ...

"   please. that's nothing a little unicorn drought and dragon's blood salve can't cure.   "    he continues. admittedly, he's never met a changeling before. they were rare even in the night's watch. and looking at the other man now, he doubts a little facial scar would hurt his appearance. if anything, it might make him look better. walking back to the rack of weapons, ansegar skipped the swords and the daggers and instead picked up a staff.    "   how about this for me? no blade. no wounds on your pretty face. what about you?   "

"   you didn't have to knock me on my ass to prove your point.   "   although paric's tone is simply teasing. he grabs a hold of the man's hand and lifts himself up with some help. then he brushes his off, in case there are any leaves clinging there. the changeling's appearance means everything to him, so he also puts on a charming smile. that he at least knows how to do. this whole fighting thing, not so much.

“   do you think that wise? i might cut myself and my face is too pretty to be that intimate with a blade.   ”   he snickers softly, wondering if he can find a way to best him. hmm, which weapon?

if what he has read about royals and their peculiar lives,            he was sure that in some other time, or with some other royal, this would have been a capital offense: embarrassing a prince on another land, or dirtying their clothes by sending them tumbling to the ground. in the back of his mind, the young wolf was expecting some hidden executioner to come out of the grass or the rocks and hit him through the neck and his head will be rolling on the floor.

but then again, his brothers have also often told him of the relationship between vissai and feranthor-- how the kingdom on the mountains supported the establishment of the night's watch. not only as a group that will protect the kingdom from the dangers of the unknown. but also as a sanctuary for the lost, banished, or those with nowhere to go.

perhaps the royals of vissai are just different from the stories he read.

with another chuckle, ansegar then approached the prince ... unfastening the dagger that was hidden on his lower back, and handing it to him.    "   if you don't want to learn now, then at least take this.   "    he says, placing the dagger on the prince's hand before he could even say anything else.    "   it's not the most elegant looking. but it's made of drakon scale ... stronger than most metals of the earth. just whip it out and it should protect you from most things. you do know how to use a dagger, right?   "

with that, he then turned to the direction of the prince's ride.    "   alright. show me your mighty steed.   "

"i-..." dusting himself off with a petulant huff, he isn't very good at presenting himself as low-brow. he was decidedly a lover, not a fighter, but the importance of good self-defense training wasn't lost on him. "am fine."

exhaling sharply, he decides to salvage what was left of his ego, shaking his head. "i believe it prudent to return before dark. come, you can ride with me."

shengzhe

GLIMPSES OF THE PAST: a headcanon / prompt collection because sometimes it's not enough to write about your muse's past and how it affects them, you just gotta write a little scene. these prompts are designed to be a little writing prompt related to your character's past, essentially!

send FORGED for a scene from my muse's past that they think made them stronger in the long run

send REMINDED for a scene from my muse's past in which they encountered something that reminded them of a difficult experience / trauma

send CONFESSED for a scene from my muse's past in which they revealed a secret about themselves to someone

send TRICKED for a scene from my muse's past in which they misled, tricked, or lied to someone

send IMPRESSED for a scene from my muse's past in which they tried to impress someone, successfully or not

send ACHIEVED for a scene from my muse's past in which they completed / achieved something they were proud of

send CHANGED for a scene from my muse's past that represented a turning point in their life

send DIFFERENT for a scene from my muse's past that they feel changed their outlook / personality / etc, for the better or worse

send CRITICAL for a scene from my muse's past in which they thought about / were reminded of something they're insecure about

send SCOLDED for a scene from my muse's past in which someone told them off, justifiably or not

send STRAINED for a scene from my muse's past in which they interact with someone they have a difficult relationship with

send SOBBED for a scene from my muse's past in which they broke down in tears

send LOST for a scene from my muse's past in which they felt lost, literally or figuratively

send BLINDSIDED for a scene from my muse's past in which they were betrayed or shocked by what someone did

send INJURED for a scene from my muse's past in which they sustained a significant injury

send AFRAID for a scene from my muse's past in which they were scared / under threat

send HELPED for a scene from my muse's past in which someone helped / saved them

send CAUGHT for a scene from my muse's past in which they were caught doing something they shouldn't

send BLUSHED for a scene from my muse's past in which they received a compliment that really got to them

send VICIOUS for a scene from my muse's past in which someone said something cruel that really got to them

send SWOONED for a scene from my muse's past in which they were infatuated with someone

send PINNED for a scene from my muse's past in which they were stuck somewhere, literally or figuratively

send GRIEVED for a scene from my muse's past in which they had recently lost someone / something

send MORTAL for a scene from my muse's past in which they had a brush with death, either themselves or someone close to them

THE WALL AND WHAT'S BEYOND IT.

there are a lot of beliefs as to what the nature of the wall, and the war that resulted in the construction of it. some believing that it stood as a warning from the old gods, a blockade to make sure no one would ever come to their world, which is somewhere beyond it. while others see it as their way of giving them protection from the dangers of the unknown.

but the one that feranthor believes in, and what they have kept in their records is this: before the new dawn and the establishment of the kingdoms, a bigger and more ferocious war swept through the land that would be their foundation. a war of the supernatural beings that would shape the new world ... against monsters from the unknown lands. a war that spanned for centuries.

but during the heaviest and most difficult time in this war, the greatest of the high priests, sorcerers, giants, and other magical creatures banded together not to form an attack-- but to build the strongest defense line that they could conjure to save what remains of the land. this effort resulted in the building of the wall: 2000 km high, built with the strongest rock that they could dig under the earth, building it in just three summers.

once the wall was built, it made a significant move in changing the tides of the war for them. not for them to win instantly, but it gave them a chance to fight back. and watching their creation stand tall and strong against the strongest of forces gave them inspiration to fight harder, more defiant. when the war was won, the wall has became a pilgrimage site for a time.

it was the most important structure in all the lands, as it stood for the most important moment in their history ... where everyone worked together for the same cause. a sentiment the brotherhood on feranthor also shares. working together for the same cause: to protect the new kingdoms from whatever danger the unknown might bring them again.

song of achilles rp starters

by madeline miller. i altered some quotes so they fit better  ♡

❝  i saw then how i had changed.  ❞ ❝  name one hero who was happy — you can’t.  ❞ ❝  i feel like i could eat the world raw.  ❞ ❝  you are half my soul, as the poets say.  ❞ ❝  i have no need to forgive you. you cannot offend me.  ❞ ❝  i do not fear ridicule. i never have.  ❞ ❝  you have always trusted so easily; you have had so little in your life to fear or suspect.  ❞ ❝  do you hear me? please, say something.  ❞ ❝  your face is like quicksilver, always racing to something new. you unsettle me.  ❞ ❝  you do not give things up so easily now as you once did.  ❞ ❝  now i know how to make you follow me everywhere.  ❞ ❝  i would know your face in dark or disguise. i would know it even in madness.  ❞ ❝  there is no law that gods must be fair.  ❞ ❝  i have never seen anyone fight the way you do.  ❞ ❝  our dead come for their vengeance regardless of witnesses.  ❞ ❝  the sorrow was so large it threatened to tear through my skin.  ❞ ❝  when you die, all things soft and beautiful and bright would be buried with you.  ❞ ❝  you were always better with words than i.  ❞ ❝  i will never leave you. it will be this, always, for as long as you will let me.  ❞ ❝  you smile, and your face is like the sun.  ❞ ❝  i thought you were — something. you do not — you do not move like a human.  ❞ ❝  do you want to walk up to the woods?  ❞ ❝  you can’t be very wounded if you can stand for so long.  ❞ ❝  there are no bargains between lion and men. i will kill you and eat you raw.  ❞ ❝  we are like gods at the dawning of the world.  ❞ ❝  nothing could eclipse the stain of this dirty, mortal mediocrity.  ❞ ❝  i yearn for the darkness and silence of the underworld, where i can rest.  ❞ ❝  those seconds, half seconds, that the line of our gaze connected, were the only moment in my day that i felt anything at all.  ❞ ❝  you seem utterly unaware of your effect on the people around you.  ❞ ❝  it was almost like fear, in the way it filled me, rising in my chest. it was almost like tears, in how swiftly it came.  ❞ ❝  you are a weapon, a killer. do not forget it.  ❞ ❝  i have heard that men who live by a waterfall cease to hear it — in such a way did i learn to live beside the rushing torrent of my doom.  ❞ ❝  if you have to go, you know i will go with you.  ❞ ❝  there is no one like you.  ❞ ❝  we have given each other wounds, but they are not mortal.  ❞ ❝  and perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone.  ❞ ❝  who can be ashamed to lose to such beauty? it is enough to watch you win.  ❞ ❝  do not let what you have gained this day be so easily lost.  ❞ ❝  you have killed them and taken your vengeance. it is enough.  ❞ ❝  no man is worth more than another, wherever he is from.  ❞ ❝  strange that such a small kindness feels like grace.  ❞ ❝  you can use a spear as a walking stick, but that will not change its nature.  ❞ ❝  i cannot bear to see you grieving.  ❞ ❝  i remember little more than scattered images from my life then.  ❞ ❝  i would recognize you by touch alone, by smell; i would know you blind, by the way your breaths came and your feet struck the earth. i would know you in death, at the end of the world.  ❞ ❝  i see a dozen men here ready to leap on each other’s throats.  ❞ ❝  in my land a bow is marked as the weapon of cowards.  ❞ ❝  you may still make a good person.  ❞ ❝  you don’t bother to threaten me, yet. i should be worth threatening.  ❞ ❝  the memories well up like springwater, faster than i can hold them back.  ❞ ❝  i hoped that you would come.  ❞ ❝  the voices of the dead were said to have the power to make the living mad.  ❞ ❝  i have weathered the anger of gods before.  ❞ ❝  i thought of how many nights i had lain awake in this room, loving you in silence.  ❞ ❝  there is nothing in the world i want more than to know what you had not said.  ❞ ❝  you will never gain fame from your fighting. does this surprise you?  ❞ ❝  my mind is filled with cataclysm and apocalypse: i wish for earthquakes, eruptions, flood. only that seems large enough to hold all of my rage and grief.  ❞ ❝  i will not cry in front of you.  ❞ ❝  listen to me. you go too far in this. i will not be able to protect you.  ❞ ❝  there is no honor in betraying your friends.  ❞ ❝  i’m afraid I have been prompted by a rare stirring of guilt.  ❞ ❝  i promised myself that if i ever saw you again, i would keep my thoughts behind my eyes.  ❞ ❝  i did not want you to see my fear, though normally we kept nothing from each other.  ❞ ❝  gods and mortals never mix happily in our stories.  ❞ ❝  you will be dead soon enough.  ❞ ❝  you are destroying yourself. you will not be loved for this, you will be hated, and cursed.  ❞ ❝  you left yourself today. and now you are returned.  ❞ ❝  you are a better person than i.  ❞ ❝  whatever you do, i shall stand with you, as i always have.  ❞ ❝  you have looked at me a thousand thousand times, but there is something different in this gaze, an intensity i do not know.  ❞ ❝  my life is my reputation. it is all i have.  ❞ ❝  may i give you some advice? if you are truly his friend, you will help him leave this soft heart behind.  ❞ ❝  what are you thinking about?  ❞ ❝  even the boldest of people would whisper a prayer if they brushed against me.  ❞ ❝  the keen edge of my envy was like flint, a spark away from fire.  ❞ ❝  do you think we fight hopeless wars?  ❞ ❝  it is strange, that you would speak against betrayal.  ❞ ❝  if every soldier killed only those who’d personally offended him, we’d have no wars at all.  ❞ ❝  no one has ever tried to take something from me.  ❞ ❝  stay behind me.  ❞ ❝  will you help me put the rest of my armor on?  ❞ ❝  your face is blank and barren, like another language, impenetrable.  ❞ ❝  i am here because i believe that we will win. i am staying until the end.  ❞ ❝  your presence is like a stone in my shoe, impossible to ignore.  ❞ ❝  he is not worthy of you. he never has been.  ❞ ❝  will you tell me who hurt you?  ❞ ❝  it is like a nightmare; i expect, each moment, to wake to relief. but there is no waking.  ❞ ❝  i do not need to prove myself to you. to any of you.  ❞ ❝  you have always thought too much of yourself.  ❞ ❝  some men gain glory after they die, while others fade.  ❞ ❝  even here, behind the darkness of my eyelids, i cannot name the thing i hope for.  ❞ ❝  our joy is so bright we can see nothing else but the other.  ❞ ❝  you have a tender heart. an admirable quality, surely.  ❞ ❝  you are spring, golden and bright. envious death would drink your blood, and grow young again.  ❞ ❝  i will not be the raven on your shoulder all the time, predicting gloom.  ❞ ❝  you look different in sleep, beautiful but cold as moonlight.  ❞ ❝  when there is greed, there is hope.  ❞ ❝  i could have told you more, of the dreams that leave me bleary and bloodshot, the almost-screams that scrape my throat as i swallow them down.  ❞ ❝  you are angry, and not without reason.  ❞ ❝  you feel mislead; you were promised victory.  ❞ ❝  you know, it’s funny; i keep thinking i’ve seen you before.  ❞

EXT. MARKETPLACE. DAY           LIKE A CHILD WHO HAS TASTED FREEDOM FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE YOUNG MAN WALKS THROUGH THE BUSTLING CROWD. ON THE STALLS ARE ROASTING MEATS AND ENTICING PRODUCTS. AND IN HIS HAND, A SMALL POUCH OF MONEY GIVEN TO HIM BY THE PACK. HE WAS ABOUT TO APPROACH ONE OF THE STALLS WHEN HE HEARD THE FAMILIAR, INDIGNANT SQUAWK ...

"   gunna! ... no, you terrible girl.   "            ansegar says, as he weaved through the crowd, arms outstretched for his friend to perch on. perhaps it was the sound of the crowd that prevented her from hearing him, because she only faced him when he was already an arm's reach. he clicks his tongue in disappointment as she finally takes her place on his forearm ... quiet now, as if she wasn't just attacking someone a while ago.

ansegar couldn't even make an excuse for her, only letting out an apologetic chuckle ... and an equally apologetic smile.    "   i'm truly sorry about her.   "    he says, stroking the eagle's feathers to let her know he is here. and he is safe.    "   it's rare for me to go out into places like this. she was just being protective ... even if she doesn't need to be.   "

when gunna was finally silent, he puts his full attention to them.    "   anyway, i apologize again for that. are you alright?   "

open starter ... @colosseumbred

Bill Skarsgård in BOY KILLS WORLD (2024) dir. Moritz Mohr