who? @farenduil where? farenduil's place when? after the autumn solstice
After the answering the call of the Wild, the door before her should mean nothing. It does not lead to an end, nor towards any sort of physical agony of the sort, and yet it is a looming creature she almost does not want to confront. Yet, what sort of Chancellor would she be if she were to allow a mere conversation to scare her off with her tail between her legs? A sigh leaves her lips as she raises her hand to knock on Farenduil's door, a second basket of the Autumn's Harvest floating next to her. With his change, she had not felt it safe for him to be welcomed to the yearly festivities, and yet his lack of presence had been painful. The least she could do is to offer more of the Harvest to ensure he knew that he was still welcomed to peruse the fields, even if they could no longer be his home.
"Do open, Farenduil, we have far too much to discuss," Robin calls through the door, even as she plucks one of the apples from the floating basket and takes a bite for herself. "The longer you take, the more likely the pumpkin spice ice cream tubs are too spoil, too."
"That is a relief," she sighs quietly, one hand raising to rub the bridge of her nose as a weight leaves her shoulder's at the admission of Tamlen's continued existence. With the weight gone, it is far easier to feel her exhaustion, the magic well that seemed endless running low. "I sent Inan to seek Aurora out, but I can go meet them and try to find Zahrya so that we are all in one place once you have fetched Tamlen." It's not ideal, to separate while weak and depleted, but it is necessary. And even with her reserves running low, she has been training under Rainer's tutelage for long enough that most of her previous flaws when fighting had been smoothed out. "Or do you have another plan?"
Laer stood, he hadn't felt this depleted in ages. Was this what mortality felt like? So sad, it made him feel even worse for these creatures. "I felt Tamlen's head get snapped off before he died." Laer rubbed at his jaw, "Fortunately he'll be fine." He placed his hands upon his hips as he gazed out across the city, in the far distance he saw the Pyramid and through his bond he sensed the celestial's presence there. "Already I can feel his magic returning to me and restoring my reserves." Laer looked around and some distance away he saw blue flames and explosions of cold and lightning. "Well," he pointed, "that'd be our Aurora. We'll have to reconvene once I fetch Tamlen, we'll reunited our bodies then." Zahrya had been surprisingly tight.
“And it only took you what? A few years to pay back?” The question is honey sweet, even as she sends the human a nod of acknowledgment and thanks now that she is no longer overwhelmed by the undead. It had been a brief moment of distraction, as she felt yet another eladrin die and become one of the undead, that had brought her to a pause, lowering her guard and putting her in danger. She would have managed, without Wade, but she is not ungrateful. Raising her hand to takes his, she shakes her head and smirks lightly. “Not by far, not until this thing has ended. You?”
“Now we’re even,” Wade practically hollered out amidst the screams of innocents and the vexing groan of zombies as they tore into flesh. He’d witnessed Robin become overwhelmed by a horde and wasted no time in going forward, knowing he was in debt to her. Their friendship had become more nuanced than that but he was always irreverently reticent, playing off his unfortunate appreciation for the autumn fey with sarcasm and short remarks. Wade held a hand out for her in finality, grinning, “Had enough of the fun yet?”
edeliexii:
But the specific community she’s discussing are the halfbloods. Granted, most of them probably wouldn’t want nothing to do with her after the transition, however Èdelie still stands proud as formerly being one. She adores their relatively small bond. What she didn’t like while being a halfblood is the constant confusion as to what to do and what not to do, or who she’s allowed to discuss her abilities with. There was no embracement; all that she’s known was self-taught or incorporated after the rarity of meeting one or two halfbloods throughout her lifetime. While thankful an obvious change is occurring, it shouldn’t take now for others to realize the detrimental harm embedded in past mistreatment of halfbloods. “I’m glad you’re able to acknowledge inclusivity is needed. It would’ve meant a lot to me had I still been one of them.” She doesn’t want anyone to think her fight for halfbloods equates to dissatisfaction as a fey, either. Losing former weapons such as sharing the tongue of animals may have been unfortunate, but taking the time to not only relearn that but the realm of feys has been treasurable. Èdelie doesn’t take of this for granted, using her free handle to fiddle with chocolate locks as her chewing slowed.
“I mean, hey,” Èdelie began to advise, serene at this point. “It doesn’t hurt to try. There’ll be no issue if clear communication is put in tact; age doesn’t really affect the matter at hand.” If halfbloods choose not to mingle with feys tonight, needless to say… Èdelie wouldn’t be surprised nor fault them considering the lengthy hassle to gain representation.
...
“Darling, I have a PhD in Governance from an American university. Equity and inclusion might not be a part of the curriculum exactly, but I wasn’t discouraged from taking the classes or doing my own research, I have seen the data.” And what data. The studies had not accounted for supernatural differences, of course, but it was a rather fascinating thought exercise to extrapolate from one to the other. Of course, she couldn’t make a one by one comparison, and there is many psychological differences based around immortality and the like, but there is no denying that diversity of thought lead to innovation. Romulus, the Tinkerer, many others embodied this realization, and supported her conclusions. Now, if only prejudices could be overcome. Sadly pettiness is rather common both amongst her kind and other species. Perhaps something to do with having so much power on their hands. Who knew? “It is kind of you to still think of halfblooded even now, not many else would have done it if they were in your place.”
“And try I will to talk to the halfblooded, I can promise that much,” she finally relents with a nod. She can do that much, after so many years away from the walls of Rome. “And to talk to those who are older, and yet, I cannot quite agree with you. Many of the older generation are rather adamantly against mortals and halfblooded alike.”
zahryaofspring:
Benevolence is in Zahrya’s nature, but even now he can’t tell if Robin’s hesitation is something to be cherished or shot down. He can’t see beyond the bounds of his vow. “I will show them no mercy,” he declares with an intensity that’s out of place given the tone of their chat, but he softens once again. “It’s not just the season, it’s you. These fields are only possible because this bounty is what your heart reflects. Charity is wonderful, but at some point we have to turn our gaze to ourselves.” As he strums, Zahrya thinks of the old days before humans became so plentiful, the days his kind thrived while he grew in the Labyrinth. They’d been shared with him and therefore he was able to idealize the era. Perhaps Robin could benefit from such stories. “There was once a time when no mortal king could accomplish anything without the influence of an eladrin. They worshipped us and in turn, we built their civilizations. Art, music, and magic, all gifts from us, but that has been forgotten. We are no longer bound by the senate and can once again expose our divinity to the masses, but we’re beyond the point where we could do such things without purpose. Testing the denizens of the mortal realm with the intention of subjugation would be the only way such an idea could work.”
...
“It’s a lesson I am beginning to learn, yes, but despite my growing lack of compassion towards most of humanity,” Robin says slowly, spitting out the word compassion as if it had rotten in her mouth, the resentment from recent events on her shoulders weighting her down but not to fully cloud her senses. “I cannot say that showing them no mercy is the solution, not when many of them are our allies. When many of them have laid with fey, or given birth to faiman children. Do the children do not deserve our mercy?” It’s a quick inquiry, and Robin wonders. Wonders where Zahrya would have fallen on the news of her brother’s exile to be with his human and his children, wonders if he considers those children worthy. “There is no denying that we are beyond humanity’s comprehension, that without us they would never have become what they now are. However, I must warn you Zahrya, humans have long desired to kill their gods, and the Eye has made that desire a reality. If you test them too harshly, too quickly, you will turn the same people who erased Alstroemeria from existence towards us, and we cannot fight a war in two fronts with our current strength. If we want to destroy the Eye, we must do it carefully, and only after can we be bolder.”
yaviefey:
-
“I think I’m in love with a fool who won’t love me back.” At least, not in the way Yavie wanted, not in the way that felt meaningful. How many year had it been? Several centuries, at least, they loved, they fought, they fought some more and now Yavie was here alone as he always was. “Do you think it’s possible to be in love with the idea of someone?”
...
“Of course,” she answers his question with no hesitation, countless examples found within literature springing to mind, and countless of her own experiences crowding her thoughts at the same time. Robin had always given love freely, but that didn’t mean she always did it correctly. “I have done it a couple of times, and while the experience still has worth — Well, it isn’t quite the same as falling for someone after seeing them for who they are. But don’t take me for an expert, I have yet to feel a love like the ones written about in stories.”
She pauses.
“Can I ask the name of said fool? Or would you prefer for it to remain in anonymity?”
"Now that is an understatement," Robin mentions with a snort, eyes falling away from the tower and upon Aurora. There is no denying that the magic surrounding her had changed drastically, that there is a difference on her bearing born both from that change and whatever she had faced in the Otherworld, but she can still see one of her oldest friends on her face. "Don't tell me the frost got your tongue? You are usually far wordier on these matters," she teases, before pausing. "If it is a matter of the Winter Court and not for my ears, I shall understand."
There is a pause, as Robin deliberates on Aurora's words, lips pressed together as she is considering her response. The matters of the Holt are not to be shared with outsiders, and speaking of the most unpleasant abilities the Fall provides— specifically if bolstered by the Holt's approval — should only be kept behind close doors, on a meeting with all the Chancellors so that she might not repeat herself.
"Certain cogs have been set in place, and the result is operating smoothly," she says with a simple shrug. "Any other information on that matter, is to be left to be discussing behind closed doors and in presence of the other Chancellors and the King."
"If you mean the change within me..." There were elves all over the Otherworld, all sorts. But the Lunar Elves had gone extinct, the last remnants of her ancestors swirling in song within the White Flame. Even Davhiera, elven in his own way and once fellow winter eladrin, felt different. There were many words for how she felt in her skin: proud that her ancestors had felt her worthy in any sense, thankful to be alive, curious to this newfound strength. But lonely and confused too. More conflicting emotions too odd and difficult to explain. "Strange," Aurora instead summarized.
She looked to Robin beside her. When once they were friends, even brief lovers, being more carefree juveniles felt like a lifetime ago. Fellow Chancellors couldn't be just friends, not with business and warcraft lingering over their heads at every given moment. "Autumn has come." As such, the Autumn fey would be at their strongest and essential to the fight, even more essential now because half of the mission had failed. While the tropes had brought back power, they hadn't any of the allies that they'd sorely needed to win. "How ready are we?"
"Good," Robin purrs, content on the confirmation. Another piece falling into piece, another siren to lure the unwitting sailor down to the depths. A hard job for the wolf before her perhaps, but one that must be done. She, herself, already has second thoughts about the whole matter, but war demands sacrifice, and her desire to destroy the Eye and get revenge for her brother had not diminished through the years. Instead, it had grown stronger, the rage too powerful to be contained the longer it goes unaddressed. "It will be my pleasure to work with you, Miss Titus. I will be keeping in touch, but if you are ever in need of my services, do not hesitate to find me in the Autumn's Field."
END
thegoodfellow:
“Splendid. I will work on this misdirection on my part too, but please do be subtle. Wade might not be the sharpest tool in the box but he is not an idiot either.” At least not most of the time, and she cannot risk such a fruitful connection into the Eye to be alerted that he is being used. The hunter had made his bed and then believed a mere apology would be enough to brush it all aside when he would never forgive the creature that had destroyed his family. “He has to believe that he has been forgiven, so that he doesn’t suspect anything we do. For that, if you currently have a good relationship with him, you might need to maintain it. Can you do that? Can you lie to him?”
It’s an intimating question as they carried on their affair under a cover of oblivion until the obvious couldn’t be ignored any longer and it fell apart from there. Love had never been involved but it had been a connection of some sort of intimacy and Flora had always been a compassionate, empathetic person so to look someone in the eyes that she cared for and to lead them into the jaws of a trap was a dangerous game but she was with the wolves and the war wouldn’t go away quietly. She had to do horrible things in order to survive and protect her pack. “I’ll do it, whatever it takes. I won’t allow my pack to be snuffed out and to live in metal cages for the rest of their days. It’s for the greater good.”
wintersaurora:
❅
Aurora takes the glass, silently grateful to have something to occupy her hands and to have something to burn her throat. She takes a sip as the other speaks, hesitating only when Fen’harel was mentioned. Her eyes fell. As she took the glass away from her lips, her gaze finally returned to Robin. “Please… I’ve always counted on you to speak your mind. Everyone else is walking on eggshells around me and I-” She sighed. “I understand. But it’s very difficult to try to come back to myself when no one else is doing it.” She ground her teeth nervously, turning away, pacing very slowly. “If it’s any comfort for you, Robin, I don’t think you’re a failure of a replacement. You’ve held your Court together. You’ve managed to despite never being groomed to do it, despite perhaps the worst travesties we have endured as a people in… millennia.”
...
“If you want me to speak my mind, then you are going to have to accept my kindness and empathy, neither of which are a weakness, as brief as they are, because ignoring tragedy does not help, and you know this,” Robin says pointedly, the allusion towards her own brothers demise vague enough that most would miss. Not Aurora, though, not when they had known each other for so long and the other was aware of the reason why Robin had become involved with the hunt for the Eye in the first place. “I have managed yes, but managing is not enough when we are facing our current threats. I have to do better, be better, but I lack the training and the person who could have trained me is a traitor and no longer part of the Court. Whatever legacy there is for the Fall Chancellor is one that I have to learn without training.”
Tati Gabrielle YOU | 3.07 — We’re All Mad Here