Another long silence. "I've missed him," Tomhas admitted. "I don't like not having a brother. It doesn't sit well with a man as social as I am. And I want to see my nieces and nephews again. Mattathias, Marcella, Regulus, Adrian." He paused. "I wonder if she's found a name for herself yet."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"My niece. Cecily's daughter. She's called Adrian at the moment."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“Oh,” Ky said thoughtfully, putting the pieces together: niece. Adrian. “I hope she finds one she likes… it’s not fun to pretend to be a boy when you’re really a girl.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"No, it doesn't seem like it. I hope her father lets her be one someday. If not, I'm sure Gaius will take matters into his own hands. His patience is already wearing thin as it is."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“Hopefully so,” Ky agreed. She was getting such a conflicting view of Lord Ash. He seemed like both the villain, and not-that-bad all at the same time. A monster wouldn’t protect a little trans girl. But… but he would wage war on his own brother? It didn’t make sense.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(And I, the oh so brilliant storyteller, am coming to realize that I will have to change the canon of my actual novel because of that)
(There will still be war but the outcome will be different)
(Wanna skip or keep going?)
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(Aha that’s the ✨magic✨ of RP xD and if it’s any consolation I just decided to scrap a marriage that was a huge plot point in my novel so uhhh yeah >.> )
(And I’m good to skip, unless you’d like to keep going!)
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(I've got nothing of note. Would you like to go to Pratik and Utrid or to Gaius and Aleth? Gaius plans on asking Aleth to go along with him [maybe he already did] to see how he reacts to Tomhas's presence, just to make sure what's up with the guy.)
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(aha ~ d r a m a ~ I think that could be fun to get to, but I'm down for Pratik and Utrid if you'd prefer!)
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(No preference whatsoever! Would you like to skip to when he asks or skip ahead to when the two parties arrive?)
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(Maybe once they arrive? Aleth is just going to politely accept the invitation. He's not going to be pleased lol but he'll be able to hide that so it probably wouldn't be overly exciting for Ash haha)
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Gaius and his party of ten arrived in the ruins of Brant Keep promptly at midday and made camp near the doors of what had once been the main Keep. It was bitterly cold as always, and so Gaius had piled on some extra furs. When one of the soldiers announced someone had spotted Loquitur banners in the forest a few minutes from the walls, Gaius limped out with Sera, Captain Bay, and General Xander by his side. Emery hung back but stayed near, tasked with watching Aleth's reaction to Tomhas and Tomhas's reaction to Aleth. Everyone clustered around behind Gaius, waiting.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Getting dragged out of the nice, warm Keep -- just when the Lord would be absent and give him a chance to actually poke around, for once -- to go on a stupid exhibition to see the devil himself.
Godsdamn both of these brothers.
He'd see them both in hell.
But, of course, he couldn't say any of that. There'd be no point at all to have taken a beating that savage -- and made the journey whilst barely alive -- and lost two fucking toes, just to ruin it all now. No, he was going to do his part. And he was going to get his pay. And his servants. And then he was going to leave this fucking region and never go to the North again as long as he lived.
He prepared himself to be carefully impassive or maybe even a little nervous and scared when Loquitur came into view. He had no doubt they'd be watching his reaction -- so he of course had to pretend that he'd never seen the man before. He only hoped Loquitur would be smart enough to hold up the ruse on his end and wouldn't let his surprise show.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Tomhas had been nauseous almost since leaving the Keep, and it only grew as they rode closer to the ruins. When he saw the tops of the crumbling walls he almost stopped his horse and turned around right there, but then he looked back at his sister and kept going, gritting his teeth. A herald rode ahead to announce their arrival, and then they were through the gates. Tomhas almost couldn't believe how haggard his brother looked when he saw him. He was so thin--even more than when they'd parted. A tall skeleton of a man leaning on his long walking stick with a mangled right hand, dark hair already going white despite being a year shy of forty. Those same sunken blue eyes gazing coldly up at him with the same bitterness they'd had when the pair of them had fought those few months ago. That hadn't changed, at least.
Gaius felt a flicker of doubt in his heart as his little brother rode up on his Iron-mare. He looked well-fed and happy--well, not happy--and confident besides. He looked prepared to talk peace, which was not what Gaius had come here to do. A young girl rode a little behind Loquitur, and he looked her over warily. Who was she? She didn't look like an assassin, and fratricide wasn't Tomhas's sort of strategy. A ward, then? He waited for Tomhas to make the first move.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
