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psychotic__Gal Vice Captain
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 Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 6:22 pm
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Daphne didn’t comment on Rosemary’s Slavic—didn’t ask what it meant. It was rhythmic. Familiar even though it’s language wasn’t familiar. The end soon revealed a familiar word anyway. A prayer. Had she ever heard Rosemary pray? Daphne couldn’t remember. Daphne’s fingers automatically lifted to her chest—touching the points of a modified cross. She had had to modify it after she turned. Intially, it had been a hard (and painful) discovery. Over time, the sigil had become tinged with sadness and a bit of bitterness. But, of course, habits were hard to break, and as much as one might try to avoid them…
Now, Daphne felt nothing about the modified symbol she signed upon her chest. Though mass, sacrament, and confessions were still sore points, she found ways to weave around her current (albeit minor compared to most)…limitations. Though she was seemingly immune to religious imagery, she never wanted to test that immunity. To see if she could develop it more. The risks were high and Daphne tended to be risk adverse. Daphne stepped into Rosemary’s arms with a hug—picking up on the not-quite-offering of physical affection ”Mm…” She answered when Rosemary finished her statement regarding familiars, ”I suppose the rabbits and crows came less dramatically. One day the crows just brough me things and I heard one call me family. One day the rabbits stopped running away…What was it like for you?”
Daphne stepped out of the hug as she watched Rosemary consider her final comment about the current mood of the house. Was Rosemary listening to everyone?
Rosemary’s words hit Daphne with relief. It was calm. They didn’t hate her. He didn’t hate her. “I’m glad.” She answered when Rosemary was done, “I didn’t want to have to leave again. I really like it here. I really like all of you.”
---
It was almost comical—Cian and Veni laughing over he situation that had occurred. Comical and tension-breaking. The house itself seemed to breathe again. Even as Veni’s voice grew tired and soft, the house was not disturbed. ”I understand.” Cian seemed to say without using his voice. He had experienced only a fraction of what they had here but those centuries with his maker…He shuddered. He understood. There were too few left of the truly old. A fight between any of one them (i.e. the old ones) would only bring ruin to all.
With Cian’s apology and Veni’s subsequent words written on the wall, Cian frowned. Why did he forget about the Queen’s influence over them all here? He stretched his neck. He would look through his ruins and glyphs before sunrise. There had to be something that could combat these feelings (Spoiler: there wasn’t). If only he understood Nefretiri’s abilities a bit more.
”Mm.” Cian said, unaware that his response echoed that of his mate’s ”It could be that they are like teenagers. I’m just glad this incident did not echo her early experiences. To be sure, it could have been more violent.” Cian played with the vial in his hand, rolling it back and forth, ”Still—I’d prefer Ma Jianshen did not use sedatives.” He held the injector and vial out for Veni to take, ”I am sure there are ways around its use.” While he spoke, another careful question appeared in the shadows. He thought carefully of how to respond before he signed it silently, angling his body to hide his signing hands. ”Sometimes. Mostly she allows freedom. If anything threatens to point out our existence, her leash tightens. If I don’t respond promptly to a summons, the leash tightens.” Cian sighed, hoping Veni could understand the (somewhat dated) ASL.
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Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2021 2:29 am
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Day 2 of story time.
Present Day
AKA avoiding the main story
(To answer a comment in your post; she never would have heard her pray before)
“I didn’t want to have to leave again. I really like it here. I really like all of you.”
Rosemary started to pay more attention to Daphne’s thoughts than usual, silently digging even the surface thoughts she tried to hide or hoped the vampire wasn’t listening to and would do this for a while. "Why would you...Hmm...you didn’t hear anything he said did you? He apologized for grabbing und hurting you und basically said zat he vill kick your a** in nicer language in a gentleman's dual next time eef no one objects before ze first blow lands."
I believe people call that setting a boundary these days, she heard Rosemary think.
She pulled Daphne back in by the waist as she seemed to continued on the matter of what it was like for her when she gained familiars. Last time it was bloody and the vampire involved was going to die either way. . "Dan und Daizy could haf easily been a casualty ze last time...however it iz possible zat it might haf saved them as well...I am not sure...
She had always thought it was because they weren't completely mad from his death...but that wouldn't have necessarily stopped her then because Nefretiri had told her to wipe him out which Rosemary took to mean progeny as well. "I felt compassion for ze first time in years zat day. Anyways I vent full mama bear vith BlackMN und no one vaz going to stop me except Nefretiri eef she forced it, but she for zome reason backed down und efen told me to get ze little fire disaster out of zere. Und long before zat...I squashed ze spider zat bit me. Zen later I sort of turned into and flew with the batz like un loon. It vaz one of zose silly I vant to fly away moments."
-------------------
“Are you referring to her early feeding experiences or interactions with other vampires?” She was more timid at first, but that could have been Rosemary and not timid enough for him to think that she’s been in really violent situations with others…so he doubted it was with other vampires.
Veni took the sedative back and rolled it in his hand as he continued speaking to not break the conversation flow while he payed attention to Cian's hands to catch what he was saying (btw unless he's spelling, ASL uses the full upper body and many deaf people make noises while doing facial expressions to help emphasize things *took some ASL classes in community college, out of practice and won't be able to understand or communicate anymore* razz ) "Perhaps, but a sedative seems to have been his best option without escalating it since she wasn't calming down."
A lot of solitary people were pounced on with shadow puppetry based on what he had read in the newspapers. Such as this common one, but man were they sloppy because it was the same area and no “animal” could be found. Some of it was still in the same country as them, but quite a bit further away. Veni noticed Cian's sudden change in body language. He apparently struck a chord with this so he decided to continue and feign ignorance at what he was doing.
"His options are more limited than ours. He is not so much stronger than her that he could simply intimidate her into backing down like Rosemary has in the past. Nor are his current skills (meaning vampire powers, not his technique which would have been useless if she had certain skills herself) good at easily restraining a vampire he doesn’t want to harm so close in strength to him." He'd have to stun them with feelings of torture for that but that was not really an option.
Finally something not so vague out of the old man and he didn't even have to ask for it! Veni had in truth been getting weary of giving so much information about himself, intentionally or unintentionally from Cian merely living there, only to receive so little or given some but always having to fill in the holes himself. Cian was now displaying even more discomfort as the little devil was now describing another even worse case that went somewhat unsolved that involved a frat house. "Fortunately humans have kept ignoring what’s in front of them. Like with that one incident a couple decades ago (not going to be date specific since I have pondered increasing the year of this scenario from 2013) a few hundred miles away from us in which a frat house was decimated by a "wild animal." Obviously a vampire...
This incident had been a little too close to Nefretiri's territory than she liked and she would have dispatched Rosemary or most likely Veni, as Rosemary was raising BlackMN at the time, or possibly go herself to make another example to discourage others from her territory because neither of them would be flashy enough (though Rosemary would have been close to gruesome enough) if the vampire struck again. Didn’t matter that obviously someone was trying to cover up a very sloppy situation.
"If you mean regularly on himself, he hasn't mentioned it. He's only mentioned using this once when he first got them and that was to see what the effects felt like on himself." Veni was grinning as he imagined Ma faltering from the effects.
Cian ran his hand down his face at this point from the wall shadows. Veni laughed to stop his surprised sound, happy that it was appropriate to what he just said aloud, as his own shadow displayed exaggerated surprise he felt but couldn’t act out at the moment, jumping a little away from Cian’s shadow with the words, THAT WAS HER?! AT HER AGE?! appeared on the wall. He mouthed, “nooooo, really?” (note not horrified, but that dumfounded type noooo thing people do.) Did Rosemary know about this he wondered. Surely she did with her telepathy and fear aura, but she claimed to really work at being polite once she started to accept Daphne more so possibly or had she just been silent about it?
The words suddenly vanished and the room became completely normal as the door to Ma's room opened and the occupants exited. One headed off to make himself a sandwich, while the other held a small box that he carried past them into the chamber Nefretiri was in.
“Jianshen, you’re not hunting tonight?” Her voice that feigned surprise could be heard by the two of them as she clicked off the TV.
“Laoming doesn't feel the need to Bixia, nor does this one wish to delay you.” Which was mostly true. Though he had concluded to do it more often again to better take care of himself before he went insane and disaster struck, he didn't mean every night.
“You’re hunting tomorrow night?”
“Mnn.”
“No, you’re not hunting enough…you will do it."
"Of course," said Ma wishing it was deer hunting season so he wouldn't waste the animal since the people he used to give it to in the off season were dead and he hadn’t been as prominent in the area to find someone else to secretly give such things to.
Nefretiri knew his game. That "of course" could easily mean he was merely agreeing to her words with no intention to carry them out the way she wanted him to. That and she knew he hunted wild game sometimes. "You will not hunt deer, pig, or any other animal that doesn't fully satisfy you."
"This one is trying to not do things he wouldn't want others to see," he reminded her in a calmer more neutral voice than he had last night when she presented him with his dinner.
"Don't talk back," she actually sounded cheeky with that instead of annoyed. "Better get it out of your system here, then risk an accident there (at his school). You will be completely satisfied before the weeks out or I will go out with you." She made it more of an order this time.
"As Bixia wish." He moved to the side table and laid out some paper, brushes, water pot, ink stone, etc. At this point Ma decided to get a little cheeky himself as he left the room to get and come back with a pulsing blood bag. Which he proceeded to bite into the now squirming pulsing lump after he sat down and began to prepare some ink.
“What in the twelve chambers of hell(1) is that?!”
Ma removed his lips from it, but didn't look up to respond, “a living blood bag from that Limbo this one mentioned to Bixia. It better than from blood bank.”
Nefretiri was making a face at the hideous creature, but she supposed that they probably had to make do with those for a time after the demon attack in the region. "...there might be something to that teenage like age phase...”
That got him to glance up from what he was doing. “Pardon?” Veni meanwhile was trying not to snicker in the next room.
1)History summary from the page. "The souls of dead Egyptians had to battle their way through the twelve chambers of hell, overcoming demons and monsters, crossing over lakes of fire, and finding their way past gates guarded by fire-breathing serpents. The path through the afterlife was violent, brutal, and dangerous. They could be killed in hell, and a death there meant an eternity in oblivion.
If they made it through unscathed, they would meet their judgement day. They would stand trial before the gods, who weigh their hearts against the weight of a feather. The worthy might go on to paradise, or even become a god – but the unworthy would have their hearts cast to the demons, torn to shreds, and devoured." https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-traditions/through-twelve-chambers-hell-afterlife-ancient-egypt-008228
In case you need it, here’s where they were talking about Daphne’s earlier experiences https://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?page=7&t=24142783#382289245 |
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psychotic__Gal Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2021 2:47 pm
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Day 2 of story time.
Present Day
AKA avoiding the main story
Location: At a property near Barton that is not THoR
“I didn’t want to have to leave again. I really like it here. I really like all of you.”
Daphne’s thoughts were not exactly linear. They were not exactly…exact either. Her thoughts at this point were images scattered across time and locales. Some were more graphic in nature—previous homes, previous hunts. One stood out in the visual onslaught. The massacre. Foggy Irish countryside, dirt beneath her bear feet, hunger so strong, shame and horror so crippling-- No. With the simple thought, quietly (but firmly) uttered in her mind, the image quickly disintegrated and went back into whatever hidden, locked vault in her mind that Daphne put the things that were too painful to experience. If she had a human heart, it would be beating out of her chest. Daphne was so intent on controlling her own vivid flashbacks that she didn’t notice Rosemary’s intrusion. Would she have felt it even if she hadn’t been actively trying to tame her traumatic stress response? Who knew. Rosemary was a master hand at her craft—a genius.
“He should not have apologized. It was my fault.” Daphne fidgeted, closing her eyes to regain her center. Rosemary’s telepathic thought helped. Boundaries Daphne could understand. Boundaries she could respect and not feel overwhelming guilt and shame about.
“I’m glad she didn’t force you. Without you, without her, we wouldn’t have all...well, us. You know, the house.” A small smile graced her lips. She laughed with Rosemary’s last statement.
Daphne’s grief and rage had disappeared. Her shoulders were no longer tense, her mind no longer heavy. It was good to have a friend. “Do you…Have things calm…Should we head back inside?” Daphne asked in a stutter.
----
“You know…I have never asked if she ever associated with others of our kind before this home. I must have assumed she never had joined up with others.” It was a conversation the Greek now realized he had to have with his mate. There were gaps in her history…gaps he was not able to account for despite his years tracking her. Did Daphne ever feel the same? “Feeding experiences.” He added to answer Veni’s question.
Cian considered the sedative and considered what he knew of his wife. He would have to make the order next time. Or allow the fight. Though he was a general taught to consider the strengths and weaknesses of his troops…Cian did not often think of Daphne as a fighter. He avoided it, really. Undisciplined and a risky eater but those were characteristics Cian could find endearing. It would behoove me to consider her an asset instead of something to protect. He wasn’t quite at the point of realizing just how condescending his thoughts about Daphne were…
These thoughts came after Veni’s consideration of Jianshen. Of the fact that Daphne neared his level of strength, "Mmm," He considered, "I must admit I did not consider her strength as I should have in that it would match his.”
Cian’s hand across his face hid the grimace. Gods on Olympus that had been horrific. It had been chaotic and messy and careless. He allowed a subtle nod to Veni’s astonished response. He wasn’t surprised Veni was dumbfounded—not really. Had it been someone else’s offspring, he too would have felt as Veni. “It is why she avoids a living diet.” He commented out loud, “Even her solitary kills needed…cleanup.” His own guilt and awareness crept up his spine. Though the emotions were familiar to the vampire, he was not comfortable with them. They were made worse when he considered what could have been had his maker been even a little more specific. He could have done many things different back then...he should have. He would have had it been an earlier time with a different child.
The words’ sudden disappearance from the wall combined with the sound and scent of those moving closer were Cian’s indications of the presence of the matriarch. He rolled his shoulders back, shoving the guilt back down from whence it had come.
"...there might be something to that teenage like age phase...” Cian met Veni’s barely contained snicker with a smirk. Of course she had been listening. |
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Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 6:41 am
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Rosemary's shoulder's slumped a little when said he should not have apologized. That would have been so hurtful to him if he heard that now. She had been paying attention to the whole incident the moment Daphne first shouted. She knew it was mostly Daphne’s fault, but the girl was still so internal she was missing outsider perspectives. "Zat doezn't matter, he had to at zat point. Think a little externally. Eef you tell him zat he should not have apologized to his face, it vill only further embarrass und now you vould unintentionally insult him. You do not tell Ma zat he should not do something vhen he allows himself to be humiliated because he thinks zat is ze best option to maintain ze peace. Nor do you ever mention zis incident to him or remind him of it outside of closed doors. Ze huzbands are at fault az vell.
“I swear Cian iz so deaf sometimes, he heard ze distress in your voice but not ze content of any of ze verdz. Vhat do you think it looks like to a protective husband who sees his wife on her knees with another man ofer her or any random person who misses ze first part for zat matter? Efen seen az hiz fault in opposite position. He doesn't see that Ma is trying to keep you from touching him, he only sees him touching you vhile you vere twitching. But he doesn’t realize it iz you reacting from overwhelming rat feelings because guess vhat Ma can do… Ma knowz it und backs off vhen Cian basically growled at him vhen he told Veni to move because Ma’s grip iz so gut zat he can neither telekinetically fling him aside or pry hiz hand loose zat vay.
Ma vas willing to lose face to save Veni's face zo completely he doesn't defend himself because ze huzbands could haf easily fought ofer zis eef he did. Zo since he managed to control himself und show he vaz not aggressive in zis, he managed to get ze high ground, zo he chose hiz verdz to set up ze boundary und make it clear zat next time it iz un dual between you und him.”
Rosemary was about to confirm that now was fine to go back in when Dan’s voice suddenly came over it. The two of them emerged through the property gate. Daisy was fanning herself while he held the gate open for her. “It had to be compassion. Word is Rosemary would have killed us and I believe it.”
Dan said this indicating that they had been listening as they drew closer for quite some time. At least after the point their names ewere mentioned. However his voice didn’t indicate that knowing this disturbed him at all. “So whatever we missed was Cian’s fault.” Of all the things Rosemary said that’s what he got out of it.
Rosemary had shifted uncomfortably and her grip tightened painfully on Daphne for a second with his statement about her and seemed taken aback by the next one. Ignore him. He’s not serious.
“Zat’s not vhat I intended for you to get from zat. Eet vaz all involved, like most accidents.”
“Oh don’t mind him, he’s just being an a**,” Daisy said while Dan said ‘you’re welcome’ with a bow and smart a** grin reminiscent to Veni’s.
Daisy peeked over the edge of a large (for her) folding fan with an ink painting of a tree as the main focus and full moon behind it and a landscape in background. It was meant to represent a tree from Ma’s memory that he used enjoy sitting under. The only color on it was from the red cinnabar seal paste of the red character and white character seal stamps(1) for the artist. On the other side was a poem;
獨在異鄉為異客
每逢佳節倍思親
舉頭望明月
低頭思故鄉 (2)
She put together some choice words she heard; humiliate, embarrass, husbands at fault (power over children), lose face, back off, humiliation…”When Cousin Ma backed off…did you hit his face Daphne?” Body language confirmed it for Daisy. Her eyes looked at her up and down. “Your hair and clothes are still so perfect save for a little dirt. Huh.”
1) Name seals
2) Poem on Daisy’s fan
獨在異鄉為異客
每逢佳節倍思親
舉頭望明月
低頭思故鄉
All alone in a foreign land,
I am twice as homesick on this day (festival).
I lift my head, the moon to behold, then
Lower it, musing: I'm homesick tonight
First part
All alone in a foreign land,
I am twice as homesick on this day (festivals).
This poem reflects the loneliness of a stranger living in a foreign land
Translation from
(For traditional text)
In depth explanation of poem
Second part
I lift my head, the moon to behold, then
Lower it, musing: I'm homesick tonight.
In China, the round shape of the full moon stands for union and family reunion. The narrator cannot bear the sight of the round moon any longer. That reminds him of the people and places he or she is separated from. In sadness, head bowed, the narrator is overwhelmed by grief and longing.
Translation from
In depth explanation of poem
Ma could have easily written this while living in Limbo or before that while he was living with his current family or even while in his original home region and feeling a longing for a time past…
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psychotic__Gal Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2021 6:48 pm
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Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2021 10:20 pm
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Day 2 of story time.
Present Day
AKA avoiding the main story
Location: At a property near Barton that is not THoR
Dan seemed to consider what Daphne said about missing the show. “I quite enjoy watching a show of adults bumbling and blundering, but I wouldn’t want to eat this melon.”
“It’s probably best we missed this one,” his sister agreed as he titled his head to look at Daphne through his lashes with an ill-boding smile and then he said, “the more interesting show was near the park.”
…which Rosemary initially found odd that they were not disappointed to miss out on that type of chaos.
I hate it when she acts fake, thought Daisy upon Daphne’s mood shift. This however didn't annoy her as much as the look of pity Daphne had given them the previous night. Rosemary gave the girl a warning look when Daphne didn’t have her eyes on the older vampire.
Oh, don’t you worry. The childlike vampire would go along with it... for now. She smiled with her eyes and tilted her head a little, fan still covering her nose and mouth. "Mnn! She gave an enthusiastic nod with the sound. This didn’t ease Rosemary’s anxiety. “It's my favorite!" She said adding some childlike excitement with squeakiness and the self-pleasure children have when someone acknowledges something they love to her voice.
She held the fan up with both hands to show it off and skipped closer to Daphne. It was now blocking her whole head since it was huge in comparison. She flipped it to show off both sides as she danced from one side of her to the other. She lowered it back down and grinned with a teheh and her eyes closed. Then she looked at the side with the writing and, as if she was reading it, in a somber voice said,
"Alone in this foreign land for this foreign guest,
I am extra homesick on this holiday.
I raise my head, the moon to see, then
Bow it, musing: I am homesick tonight."
(Decided to have her say it differently than the translation I chose in previous post. The first line is closer to a literal translation per character instead of leaving the stranger/foreign guest/foreign visitor implied as it was in the previous post.)
The small bodied vampire started to fan herself and fluttered her lashes as she said the last line while she observed the older women. |
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psychotic__Gal Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2021 10:15 pm
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Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2021 12:35 pm
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Eastern Europe / Eydís' Homestead
106-275 AD
Late Summer/Early Autumn
Dusk -- Day 2
Dusk broke like the dawn across Eydís’ homestead—but the moon taking her place in the sky rather than the sun. Eydís rose from the ground with the pale celestial. There were sounds of movement and activity outside. Already around the homestead, Eydís’ children and guests went about their business.
Eydís left her home, moving toward the erected building to her right. It was small. A temple. As she walked, her eyes never strayed from its entryway. The childlike vampire was not to be disturbed in this state. For her eyes only, spirits danced in her path, reveling in the fall of night. Creatures of the spirit realm took flight toward the dim stars. Eydís entered the hut, immediately falling to her knees before the alter. Her communion was in the language of her parents—something no one in the camp was quite old enough to understand. Throughout it Eydís was reminded of Zalmoxis…As she entered the spirit world, she walked the mist. She was barred from the lit entry ways. She was condemned to walk the shadows, silver bars literally blocking her entrance to those sitting in Zalmoxis’ light.
Eydís heard a soft voice before she was thrust out. ”Daughter of the moon...do not harden your heart against Zalmoxis this day.” Eydís’ eyes opened in a rush, glowing with an overwhelming ethereal energy. The shaman blinked slowly before saying a short prayer of thanksgiving to Bendis. It was rare for the goddess to speak. So rare it had only happened twice.
Eydís found the beautiful one in the meeting tent next to the fire. She made an effort to engage in the pleasantries one might expect…to stay present. But the ethereal glow in her eyes remained—though had dimmed.
“Last night you mentioned moon wolves. Can we recruit them or gain an assurance that they will not help the coming threat? One of the stories about Rome is that the founder Romulus and his brother Remus was raised by a she wolf...”
Eydís’ initial reaction was not one of pleasure. It rose in fear and anger. However… ”Daughter of the moon...do not harden your heart against Zalmoxis this day.”
Eydís swallowed around the lump in her throat. So this was the intent behind the goddess’ words—she had provided a warning and insight. It appeared to be in Eydís’ best interest to engage the wolves. ”We…The Wolves and my people…have not known peace for some time.” She closed her eyes with a sigh, ”Their god is also not one that looks favorably on the nightwalkers. Zalmoxis has banned our kind from his final resting place. It appears that the wolves share in his…aversion to our people. My goddess has requested I not be as unforgiving. We will try to make amends. I cannot promise they will be receptive.”
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psychotic__Gal Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2021 3:02 am
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Day 2 of story time.
Present Day (2014-2019)
AKA avoiding the main story
Location: At a property near Barton that is not THoR
(Would have been unfamiliar because it’s a Chinese saying….it’s basically eating entertainment. Seems to especially apply to enjoying rumors that aren’t necessarily true or enjoying something scandalous…basically similar to the eating popcorn gif, but slightly different)
“The artist combined two old poems when he made it,” said Daisy carefully closing her fan.
The two of them looked at each other with relatively wooden stares. How much did they want to play with her tonight? They didn’t, but she was making it too easy and they weren’t in the mood to disturb her fragile sensibilities. Both in part because they were trying to be nice and because Rosemary was there. The rejections that they could think of, including a simple ‘let’s go in,’ would probably only spike her curiosity. Is she really this dense? Help, they thought.
The two of them turned to look at Daphne with their identical deadpan stare and in unison opened their mouths to speak, but Rosemary said, “ve should head in. Nefretiri iz growing impatient.”
The two kids turned away from the women and unceremoniously headed for the entrance, but paused to hold it open for them. Veni side stepped with a smile, wrapped his arm around Rosemary’s waist, and leaned in to kiss her cheek. Rosemary flicked him away after allowing a peck.
Dan and Daisy moved past the lingering adults into the other room. Nefretiri was feigning impatience with her body language, going so far as to lightly tap her foot on the ground.
Jianshen had his cheek resting on his right hand as he was adding strokes moving only his wrist, elbow, and shoulder, very immersed in his ink painting. As soon as he noticed the two of them standing over him and watching him draw several strokes, he moved his brush away from his piece, fixed his posture, and automatically reached for two pieces of xuan (rice) paper that he held up for them as if he expected them to want to draw as well. Once they took it, he pointed at the extra brushes and unused inkstone indicating he didn’t want them to use his since he had it at the consistency he wanted and didn’t want to risk running out.
He switched his brush hand and wrote down some hanzi on a separate sheet that he had been jotting down some notes on such as 陰司紙. He switched his brush hand again and brought it back to his piece for once he started, he couldn’t easily stop without ruining the painting.
Once everyone seemed to be in their positions for the night, the final one entering with a sandwich and drink, the matriarch asked, ”are we ready?
(Don’t ask me what he wrote; I am still trying to figure that out myself… in case you missed it the brush started in his left hand, he moved it to his right hand to write down some words, and then switched it back to his left hand to continue drawing) |
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Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2021 11:55 pm
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Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2021 11:57 pm
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Marcus Claudius Caecus listened patiently to the update of what was happening in Dacia. Not that he really needed to listen, he could just as easily check in with anyone of his children. The humans in the rich fertile land of Dacia had been rebelling against the treaties and King Decebalus was the culprit. Thus, Rome had once again sent its army because the Dacian King had broken his peace terms with the Roman Emperor Trajan from the First Dacian War. This time around there were more skirmishes and losses amongst the humans.
Marcus saw this as good an opportunity as any to continue to take care of the nightwalkers of the region as the fighting seemed to be more spread out allowing them to blend in as they moved to cover more area. Some nightwalkers in the various countries had once been gods or a guardian deity in the eyes of the people and some of those had been obligated to protect their worshipers from the conquering humans.
This of course hindered their country’s progress and would draw attention to their kind in their country had he not mingled his kids into the armies to take care of such threats when they arose. As it was, he wanted the mortals of his home to think of them as more mystical fabrications to scare them, something generally unseen like the gods, and not a solid, tangible, existence.
Eventually he and his commanders decided that it would do them no good to trust the other nightwalkers to not interfere with human affairs and that it was just best to be proactively wiping them out. His own line was growing in numbers and they needed to expand anyways as there couldn’t be too many of them existing in a single area and the plentiful blood in war was very satisfying. This way he wouldn’t have to worry about them as they settled the other regions once the human wars settled, and he could more easily keep track of the happenings of the world. News traveled relatively slowly from great distances, but he could communicate with his chosen ones from hundreds of miles away with a mere thought.
Still the old one from Upper Egypt was an evasive thorn in their side, but so far inconsequential. Almost all of her people were gone. She was now a small group and thus difficult to keep track of as they could easily pack and leave an area. In fact she had been seen not even a fortnight beforehand in many of the places they cleared out. That much they had learned from the nightwalkers they snuffed out. So far her attempts to gain allies had been relatively unfruitful. None of those potential allies would have been sufficient enough to help her cause even if they joined forces.
She was also able to rise a bit earlier and lay later than his younger troops which made ambushing more difficult since he was mostly working independently of the humans. She might have even had him beat in that regard, but he didn’t know. She could entirely vanish from their radar if she chose, much like she had for about 100 years (1), since she went against their natural inclination to stubbornly cling to a territory and chose to be mobile. Why did she decide to show up again?
He thought about the information he was receiving; there was another old one in a remote area of Dacia in the general direction they thought the Egyptian was heading. This Dacian was perceived as strange by those who encountered her, eyes often appearing out of focus, and either had a decent sized family or mingled with others as the Egyptian ones had due to it being a country full of trade. She was also trapped in one of the youngest bodies he had ever heard for their kind save for the stories he heard from traders about the far orient and their very aggressive nightwalkers. Her perceived ancient status just proved that physical age didn’t matter for their kind except for maybe easier reach; they could still tear you apart just as easily.
The other of the old ones he knew of in the area was dragged to Marcus’ feet by some of the moon’s wolves with just enough silver in the chained net to not only make it uncomfortable in the lunar wolf’s grip, but also to entangle a nightwalker as he thrashed in his attempts to free himself. Had the chains more iron in it, the old one could surely free himself by either breaking it or warping his own body to fit through the little holes. So much strength in the body rendered useless against a metal considered so precious.
He thrust his gladius into his captive and waited until he saw blood pearl around its edge. He raised the sword to look at the crimson on it. The ancient one cursed him, probably, in a language he did not understand and finally looked at him. Marcus stared back as the two of them went still in a battle of wits as they locked eyes for several minutes. The Roman vampire was the first to move, bending over the still Dacian and grabbed his wrist through the chains bringing it closer to his teeth.
Several seconds later he dropped the injured wrist and stood, and paused in a contemplating manner and said, “hmm, interesting….”
He then decapitated the ancient one, body going limp before falling apart. He turned his back towards the dust and the other soldier he was just listening to and took a step as he put his hand behind his back in contemplation. One more left, but the details he knew were concerning…should he let it be and settle around her?
A voice deep inside him said to “keep going.”
He turned back around to face his subordinate and cleaned his blade as he said, “it appears the little one is the final obstacle before we can be assured of safely sweeping through Dacia. Don’t take her lightly. Festina lente (hurry up, slowly)”
1. Rome conquered Egypt in 30 BC after the annexation of the Ptolemaic Kingdom following the defeat of Marc Antony and Cleopatra in the battle at Actium. It is likely that it took some years for Marcus’ commander to reach Nefretiri’s territory as Upper Egypt is more southern….and he possibly hadn’t been so fierce in this endeavor at first. Nefretiri was probably used to seeing and accepting strangers because in Egypt “Its wealth was largely agricultural: Egyptian grain supplied the city of Rome. The country also produced papyrus, glass, and various finely crafted minor arts that were exported to the rest of the Roman empire. Its deserts yielded a variety of minerals, ores, and fine stones such as porphyry and granite, which were brought to Rome to be used for sculpture and architectural elements. Trade with central Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and India flourished along the Nile, desert routes, and sea routes from the Red Sea port of Berenike. Goods and cultural influences flowed from Egypt to Rome through Alexandria, which Diodorus of Sicily described as “the first city of the civilized world” in the first century B.C. Its great library and community of writers, philosophers, and scientists were known throughout the ancient world.” Roman Egypt | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (metmuseum.org)
Random Trivia: Orient and oriental is derived from the Latin word oriens meaning "east" and would have its first recorded use to refer to people from the east about 180 years after current RP date of 105-106 AD
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2022 2:46 pm
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Eastern Europe / Eydís' Homestead
106-275 AD
Late Summer/Early Autumn
Dusk -- Day 2
Eydís could not imagine the moon wolves allowing themselves to fall in line with a nightwalker—much less a stranger. They were fierce and territorial. They had only reached a truce after years of scattered scuffles. Eydís could still see the images of her wounded children when she closed her eyes. It was not loss she felt—rather, knowledge of the destruction the wolves could cause and the vehement, visceral hatred with which those canine eyes stared at Eydís’ kind.
The beautiful one in front of her contradicted that, but Eydís would have to put her knowledge of he pack aside in favor of Nefretiri’s knowledge of the still-faceless one they would fight against.
”The wolves must have been formidable against your cats.” Eydís said softly. The wolves hunted in packs…many of the felines who followed Nefretiri preferred to hunt alone. Eydís sighed, the decision made.
”Rescuturme.” The child-like vampire called. Rescuturme appeared in front of her matriarch almost instantly, ”Cotiso.” Her son was slower to appear, his smile infectious as he was unable to stop himself from greeting his family as he passed. Res turned her face from her maker and the other matriarch in order to roll her eyes.
Once Coti appeared in front of the two Queens, Eydís spoke again, ”We need to craft a message of peace.” Eydís’ choice of her children was not one that was made in random. Rescuturme could write and Cotiso was peace-loving. Together, they would craft a message that would be well-received.
“Of course, my lady.” Rescuturme’s head bowed, her loose tawny blonde hair dipping forward, “What will the message say and who will be the recipient?”
“The moon wolves.” Eydís’ lips tested the pack’s name, her lips turning down in distaste, “We will need them.” Rescuturme’s back was straight—ill at ease. She did not care for the idea of reaching out to those who her family had a tenuous relationship with—Ah. This explains Cotiso’s presence, She glanced to her brother. Cotiso appeared neutral.
“We will use red berry to write.” The amiable nightwalker finally stated, “Blood would send a message of war. Berry would be one of peace. You must not send Diegis with the message. He carries a scent of ash on him. They will see that as a threat. I will deliver it. But, mistress, you will sign it.” His scarlet eyes glanced to Nefretiri, “You both must sign it.”
Eydís nodded in agreement. She knew not of writing materials nor would she have paid much mind to who delivered the note. “It will be delivered tonight. Just before dawn. The meeting must occur no later than tomorrow evening.” Out of the corner of her eye, Eydís noted Rescuturme had not lost her tension. “You are dismissed.” Res and Coti left her sight—both moving with speed.
Several hours later, Eydís’ children returned with the hide of a doe hunted and dried several weeks before. The berry writing had dried in bright crimson red. Rescuturme held a wooden bowl of the ink. “Cotiso states they need to smell you on the message. You will need to put a print of your hand in the corners.”
“What does it say?”
Cotiso answered, “The human’s war has bled over. It will soon include us all. We need to meet tomorrow evening in peace.” Cotiso’s eyes looked toward the sky. The wolves might still be in their true forms tomorrow night…They would prefer that in any case. His maker was right. The meeting needed to occur tomorrow.
Notes!
Coti has the ability of amiability. Most people like him. It's similar to Daphne but probably not as subtle. Or something. I'm still working it out. Right now I can't decide if Daph is stronger or if Coti is. I'm thinking Coti because it's his only ability? idk. |
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psychotic__Gal Vice Captain
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psychotic__Gal Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2022 2:55 pm
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Eastern Europe / The Moon Wolves’ Camp
106-275 AD
Late Summer/Early Autumn
Mid-Morning -- Day 3
The doe’s pelt had come in the night—pinned to a tree just outside their territory. Two red hand marks, words not many of the wolves could read, and scent smudges marred its skin. The wolves had been agitated upon first seeing it. They had paced. They had growled and whimpered. No laws had been broken though—it was outside of their territory. Unless…
The pup’s head tilted even as her (human) nose sniffed up. The carcass had been long removed from its tree post. ”Is that blood?” She asked, failing at covering the excitement from her tone. This would give them invitation to finally hunt the blood-drinker.
”No.” the alpha female snapped, “It is red berry.”
The wolves were gathered around a central fire in the early morning light. Most wore their human skins under their leathers and furs—their true forms hidden from the light of day. The Dacian Moon Wolves. They would later be known by different names—werewolves, lycans. All would describe creatures unable to control their basest animal instincts. Perhaps it was a myth perpetuated by human jealousy and human fear of the unknown. Willful ignorance and secrets well-kept always made the best culprits to unspeakable acts. Little known was the fact that the alpha of this pack, his mate and his pup did not require the light of the full moon to show themselves…No, not even the blood drinker knew this secret. It was their most protected one.
So. It was berry… but WHY in Zalmoxis' name was it sent? Caecilia opened her mouth to ask.
”Go. Prepare the day’s tools now.” Tatiana ordered.
”But--”
”Go on now.”
”My love…” The alpha’s smooth voice was only matched in its intensity by his electric blue eyes, ”She will need to understand our warfare some day. She should star—”
”No.” The alpha female snapped, Caecilia knew if her mother had been in her true form, her teeth would have snapped at her father in warning, her ears would have been flat against her head, her tail would have been rod-straight. Caecilia looked to her father, her ears all but perked. He did not take challenges well. Would he fight her mother on this?
The alpha male gave a canine’s shrug and shook his head twice, defusing the tension. No; there will not be a fight about this… the pup sighed and walked away with a frown. Why should Everything be withheld from her?
No matter. Caecilia went through the motions of taking their tools from their resting place but she could still feel everything. To another the information would have been disjointed—jumbled conversation, sentences cut short.
”She could have easily chosen blood to write the note. Why b--” Cece moved from hearing range but she could still feel her mother’s mistrust and the would-be heckles rising. The pup moved quickly. She wanted to hear her father’s answer.
”…don’t know.” Aldric was saying, ”Her message was not one of war. Perhaps the berry was message in and of itself.” The pup read confusion as if it were a cloak on the alpha’s shoulders.
”That does not make sense with what we know of the blood-drinker.”
”Tati.” Her father was tired, ”The message read…” Cece moved from hearing range though she had tried to walk as slowly as she dared. The alpha female’s mood was shifting from mistrust to disbelief and surprise.
“…trust the message on the doe?”
“I am not sure if we can afford not to.” Resignation. “I know you have heard the strangers’ howls. You have sensed others are moving on our borders. No doubt they follow…” the alpha’s voice dipped so low Cece could not hear him.
Caecilia’s eyes narrowed Does this mean… Her mother put her thoughts to voice. “Will you go to the meeting?”
“We must.” Caecilia imagined her father’s shoulders shrugging again—but he felt at odds with his words. He felt.. “Caecilia. Your feet have stopped moving.” The pup cursed under her breath, a blush rising to her cheeks. As she walked away she knew. Her father would attend the meeting for whatever reason. The pup heard her mother start a sentence but she was caught listening once. She could not afford to be heard again.
today we say hello to the moonwolves! Caecilia (the alpha pup. preteen) and the alpha male Aldric and the alpha female Tatiana |
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2022 4:38 pm
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psychotic__Gal Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 11:21 pm
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Day 2 of story time.
Present Day
AKA avoiding the main story
Location: At a property near Barton that is not THoR
Jianshen paused briefly in his strokes when she approached, but then carried on as if she wasn’t there, painting with his usual neutral face in that perpetual shadow of a smile in the corner of his lips and brows but with his ears possibly a shade redder. He gauged that she wasn’t seeking to have an interaction that required his participation and continued, much like a person doing their job but with a display window for others to watch them work. The kids’ eyelashes fluttered as they glanced from one elder to the other. Daphne was gone by the time Jianshen gave a quiet chuckle and opened the candy wrapper with a very soft, “so shy, is it one of the Valentine’s days? Do I white day in a month?(1)” He placed the candy on top of the wrapper planning to eat it in a little while.
Dan’s nose wrinkled as he mimicked the bamboo strokes in Ma’s painting. “Always ignored by the ladies, am I not handsome too?”
Ma leaned forward, getting close with a more serious expression. He touched the boy’s cheek and moved his hand down to grip his chin between thumb and fingers, forcing the boy to look at him while he stared intensely at Dan's face until the boy looked a little self-conscious, to which Jianshen’s eyes tilted upwards, having apparently gotten the expression he was going for, and quietly said, “very handsome,” as he released him.
“You don’t count Tang ge,” said Dan still a little flustered.
Ma booped him on the nose with his blood-pop with an “Mn,” and placed it in his mouth as he continued to paint with a little more of a real smile than he had moments ago.
1) There are multiple Chinese equivalents to Valentine’s Day including May 20th because the “520” (五二零 wǔ èr líng) sound like “I love you” (我爱你 wǒ ài nǐ) in Mandarin (if you want to hear it, put it in translator as 五二零 ....... 我爱你 to get some pause between the two phrases), Qixi Festival celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh lunisolar month on the Chinese calendar (August 14, 2022 is when it happens this year), historically the Lantern Festival which happens on 15th day of the first month of the Chinese calendar (I believe that’s the day after the end of Chinese New Year celebrations) but it isn’t a romantic day anymore, and younger people (especially girls) do the western one of February 14th and from Japan comes White Valentine’s Day on March 14th which is where the boys reciprocate with their own obligatory candy favors to the ladies who gave them some from the previous month. There’s also probably some Limbo equivalents that he knows of as well. |
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