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Young Writers Society


Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 13)



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Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:29 am
Shady says...



Spoiler! :
Name: Kieran Waif
Age: 10
Pronouns: he/him

Appearance: Dark skin, dark eyes, and black hair that he keeps cropped fairly short. Only about 5’ tall and slender, though he’s – very slowly – beginning to develop more defined muscles. He usually looks generally unsure of himself but tentatively happy if it seems appropriate for the situation.

Image

Personality: He’s a little guy with a big heart that has been hurt one too many times. He’s anxious and quiet around new people, but talkative when he’s around people he’s comfortable with (though there aren’t many). However, he’s more confident when he’s around Jerica because he knows that no one would dare lay a finger on him in her presence, and that even if anyone did try anything she’d throw someone through a wall before she let them hurt him. He knows he’s completely and totally safe in her presence and is emboldened by that fact, though that fuels him to be on his best behavior rather than complacent. He’s a puppy that is eager to please anyone and everyone, but is fiercely loyal to Jerica and would do absolutely anything she asked of him, with no exceptions.

History: His parent were immigrants to the Capitol City of Atraya but died when he was eight years old. With no family in the area and no acquaintances willing to take him in, he was turned out to the streets. He managed to get by through a combination of random acts of charity from strangers, odd jobs, and theft.

A few months ago, he was in the market attempting to steal apples from a merchant. He grabbed the wrong one and sent the entire pile cascading down upon him, and he was accosted by a soldier before he was able to make his escape. Jerica happened to witness all this and took pity upon him and rescued him from the soldier and his arrest. She then spontaneously decided to take Kieran on as a squire and took him back to the palace to train under her.

He’s been with her ever since, spending his days split between reading, writing, arithmetic, foreign language lessons, and training. His archery skills are coming along nicely and he’s learning swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat, though both of those are lacking.

Strengths: Loyal, bright, determined, ambitious, friendly
Weaknesses: Timid and unsure of himself, avoids conflict


"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]





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Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:36 am
Shady says...



Spoiler! :
Name: Jerica Ainsley
Age: 15
Pronouns: she/her

Appearance: 5’9” tall, well-muscled and heavier than she looks. Pale skin, black hair that she always keeps tied back, green eyes. When she’s hanging around at home, she wears loose tunics and trousers but when she’s acting officially as Governor’s Assassin, she wears a tight-fitting black tunic and pair of trousers that show off her muscular physique. She usually has a dagger tucked in her belt and has a beautifully-crafted hand-and-a-half custom sword she wears when in the public eye and uses for her official duties. She also wears dark eyeshadow and bright red lipstick when performing a public execution but thinks it’s stupid and actively resists wearing it, so it’s sporadic.

Image


Edit played around with Hero Forge and came up with a cool dynamic pose :')

Image

Personality: Brash and confident, at least on the surface. She stands tall and always keeps her chin lifted, looking anyone and everyone squarely in the eye, with no ostensible sense of deference whatsoever to anyone other than her uncle Derik. She’s quick to anger and doesn’t hesitate to get in the middle of a fight, be it verbal or physical.

That’s the only side of herself she lets most people see. It is, however, a mask to cover the fact that she’s anxious and never feels good enough. She’s passionate about righting wrongs, especially against people who have been systemically wronged, and always stands up for people against their oppressors, even at great personal cost to herself.

History: (I am doing her in canon here because I’m not sure what equivalents would be with the Governors of Austraka, but we can fudge it to make sense in this story)

Jerica, as she was led to believe, was the daughter of the Crown Prince of Atraya. Both of her parents and most of her extended family were killed during an attack by an As’veri on the Royal Picnic shortly after her birth. Her uncle Levin, the king's youngest son, took the throne at seventeen, having no grooming whatsoever to assume such a role. Soon thereafter Lord Biryn came to the palace and began mentoring him, leading to the two of them coming up with all sorts of nastiness together.

The public believes that her extraordinary fighting ability comes from being “marked” by the As’veri during the picnic. There are rumors galore regarding her, which they all actively encourage in order to make her seem scarier – Biryn and Levin so that they get more renown for having her under their thumbs, and Derik because he believes it’s a deterrent to anyone trying to hurt her if they’re scared of her. One of the prominent rumors is that she explodes when she’s killed.

In reality, she’s a lab rat for an experimental new serum Lord Biryn developed in an attempt to develop an elite force of soldiers that were stronger and faster and better than any other in the realm. That, paired with a rigorous training regime, led her to become a fearsome warrior from a very young age.

When she was eight, a physician trainee gave her the full adult dose of the serum when her body wasn’t accustomed to it, and she briefly lost control of her body and began hallucinating. During this episode, he approached her and she lashed out in fear, which broke his nose and in a freak accident ended up with him dying. From that moment on she was regarded as a threat and put on an even more rigorous training regime.

Lord Biryn coerced her into performing her first execution when she was eleven, and when she was twelve, she officially took the title of King’s Assassin – a role created specifically for her. She’s been acting as King’s Assassin ever since, getting progressively better at it the older she gets.

Secrets:
- She’s a science experiment (not marked by an As’veri as publicly believed)
- She has dyscalculia
- She has endometriosis

Spoiler! :
Based on length and detail, would you like to take a guess which one of these three is my protagonist xDD rip Kieran and Yeona, my underdeveloped children

"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]





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Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:04 am
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Ljungtroll says...



(She looks great!!! I can't wait to meet her!)

Narfi was missing completely. He was nowhere to be seen.
"Anytime is good," Tomhas replied. "Anything to get out of this keep!"

(Also I see what you did there and let's one hundred percent use the word eidolon to describe ghosts now)
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin

Formerly RavenLord, formerly GrandWild
she/her





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Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:09 am
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Shady says...



(Thanks!!)(and hahaha glad you approve xD I am only like 83% sure I used it correctly but hey it's a bounty y'know?)

Ky glanced around when she realized Narfi was gone. Why? When? Wasn't he supposed to be staying with her? How strange. She hesitated, glancing back at Tomhas. Probably best to get out of the Keep then, right? If Narfi wasn't around to be sure Michael wasn't, either. "Now, then?"

"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]





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Gender: Female
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Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:10 am
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Ljungtroll says...



(For sure. It sounds very elegant at any rate!)

"Sounds good to me." He looked down at his clothes; he'd changed into a lighter outfit. "Let me get my riding outfit on and then we'll go, okay?"
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin

Formerly RavenLord, formerly GrandWild
she/her





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Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:13 am
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Shady says...



(heheh)
(also I am not tryna dig for compliments lol but just wanted to be sure you saw the other two profiles too? It's weird when they're on separate pages so just wanted to be sure ^^ I dropped them all in the discord too so they wouldn't get lost!)

"Sounds good." She nodded, stepping back to lean against the wall rather than his doorframe so that he'd be able to shut his door. Where had Narfi gone off to so suddenly?

"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]





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Gender: Female
Points: 2094
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Sun Jul 31, 2022 12:41 pm
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Ljungtroll says...



(I just saw them! They're gonna bring a lot of spice to this rp; I'm so excited! The hero forge thing looks amazing, too.)

"I'll meet you downstairs, okay? How about you find us an escort?"
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin

Formerly RavenLord, formerly GrandWild
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Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:20 pm
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Shady says...



(Thanks! Hero Forge is still making Yeona look white — but imma keep playing around with it. But I decided to try Jer instead when I got frustrated and I’m super happy with her!)

“Wait, what?” She furrowed her brow. She didn’t like the sounds of that at all. That sounded both like she would have to ask for a favor and also enter the barracks. She hated the sounds of both. “How? Who?”

"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]





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Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:27 pm
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Ljungtroll says...



(Delicate Features is usually the best bet there; it's hard to find a good one though)

"Uh, probably Bay if he isn't busy, or just a couple guards. Maybe Sera and Rickard would like to come too?"
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin

Formerly RavenLord, formerly GrandWild
she/her





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Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:32 pm
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Shady says...



(Thanks for the tip ^^)

“Oh, um…” she nodded. “Okay. Can do.” Didn’t want to, though. That seemed terribly awkward — bothering the two people she’d only just come from bothering. Not to mention having to go to the barracks alone… or would Captain Bay be back on the wall by now? She didn’t know.

"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]





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Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:34 pm
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Ljungtroll says...



He grinned. "Okay, great! See you then." He closed the door.
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin

Formerly RavenLord, formerly GrandWild
she/her





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Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:37 pm
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Shady says...



She sighed a little once he did and turned back down the hall, defeated. She’d go ask Sera first; that seemed like the least intimidating half of what her father asked of her. She started back towards the infirmary.

"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]





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Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:39 pm
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Ljungtroll says...



Narfi still didn't reappear.
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin

Formerly RavenLord, formerly GrandWild
she/her





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Gender: Other
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Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:43 pm
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Shady says...



He was an odd one. She’d need to think about him more. It didn’t make sense to her why he’d have met Sera in life. She would have believed he felt like he knew her if he’d been around watching her and Gaius and Tomhas after his death when they were all children. But he said he was alive. And she didn’t feel like that lined up. Perhaps she’d figure out a nonchalant way to ask Sera; she didn’t know about the ghosts — perhaps she wouldn’t find it suspicious. At least at the very least she wouldn’t know what was suspicious about it like Gaius would.

At the same time, why would Narfi lie to her? Why not just admit he wasn’t alive? That didn’t make sense. And it also didn’t make sense how agitated he’d gotten about her. Why should he care about his nephews’ best friend?

"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]





User avatar
112 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 2094
Reviews: 112
Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:48 pm
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Ljungtroll says...



Sera was still in the infirmary; Rickard had joined her and they were chatting quietly.
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin

Formerly RavenLord, formerly GrandWild
she/her








Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.
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