RuneScape Forum Archive | Scions of House Arenar (RP)

Drahcir Evan

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“Hmph.” Reyner finally chimed in. He had spent the past several minutes as tense and still as a statue, poring over the section of the royal map which contained his native settlement. The level of detail was more impressive and intimate than any map he’d ever seen of the region. Yet, under the murky fog of ink-hewn forests around Wheelton lay a world that the lord was confident he could convey more accurately than the document. His eyes never left that section of map as he addressed the room.

“ My soul was that of a great warrior… One who had not the patience for the vapid debates of nobility.” he said, in a tone which made it unclear if he was feigning conviction.

“This one has the right of it.” he said, finally looking up to gesture toward Roland. “What secrets your father carried unto death won’t stop the fiend who killed him. If we’ve the means to track the amulet -” he glanced at Evalyne “-then that should be our priority.”

31-Mar-2022 00:41:49

Azi Demonica

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Ariadne’s theory glimmered hope within Dalhover’s troubled soul. As Leon said, if something stole The King’s soul, the magic had to have been performed by a Scion, and one who probably knew of the history behind the ritual and amulet…as a few past Scions tried then failed.

An unpleasant aura enshrouded the room, Rie lightly gasping. Not even Leon liked talking about some topics, let alone the tragedy if the Three Tenets were indeed undone. Regardless, Reyner remained firm and stoic no matter the topics, a sign of fortitude and discipline.

All the stranger, the Black Prince Himself couldn’t provide much information other than what he felt. Indeed, it was as if something sucked out The King’s soul without a trace, only to disappear. If reincarnation was indeed true, then could a past king desire to return to His throne? But The King was afraid, though what did he fear? Dalhover had a long career, though never really thought of Yareth as afraid of anything. How could a king possessing supreme power be afraid of anything?

But would a Scion lie? Or anyone else, really? Was there something in Dalhover’s failing memory that he had forgotten? Some sort of past blasphemy that led up to this? He didn’t even know why he considered the stone Flynn found to be so...forboding. He thought hard, unable to source where his paranoia rippled from, but although nothing came but wild speculation, he would soon share something.

When Roland touched his sword, Dalhover did not need to directly look to notice, quite experienced in sensing blades ready to leave their scabbards. Eyes unmoving, the Master of Defence discreetly slid his hand over his own sword--just in case. Roland and Gallus exchanged views, and things settled down once Leon barked at the tension.

Dalhover’s hand went off his hilt and his eyes scanned the map after Reyner. Could the killer, or cult, be somewhere out there?

05-Apr-2022 06:18:18 - Last edited on 05-Apr-2022 06:21:42 by Azi Demonica

Azi Demonica

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“The killer does not seem to have appeared in our midst,” Dalhover finally spoke. “The portal that claimed the Monarch’s soul did nothing else, and precisely performed its intent, without harming anyone else... Yet, cults have appeared. Hell, some have been around for hundreds of years. If the killer, or a cult, or a communion of cults, needed to remove the Scroll of Succession, and the Amulet of Inheritance, and even The King’s soul, out of our world, the Divine Barrier would falter...” Dalhover’s eyes ran up and down the map. “There are many ruins out there. I wouldn’t be surprised if some were as old as Aedus. Leon, do you know of any ruins that perhaps are like an equivalent of The Vault? Perhaps, Evalyne, Flynn, Roland, anyone...found ruins containing cultists? I feel that cultic powers must perform a ritual older than the Arenar bloodline to initiate their malevolence. I’d reckon that, if we find the oldest and newest cults worshiping false gods, we will get clues. How to find them, tho...”

Perhaps Reyner’s initial focus, the forests around Wheelton, foreshadowed something. The Lord of Wheelton was, after all, assassinated back then...

05-Apr-2022 06:19:44 - Last edited on 05-Apr-2022 06:36:56 by Azi Demonica

NotFishing

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The Meeting

Dalhover's words were met with a long silence.

"Age has finally claimed your wits, I see,"

Roland scoffed. Leon shot the young prince a sharp look.

"What?"

Roland asked.

"Over a third of Tavia is naught but ruins and wilderness. The odds that one of us stumbled across-"

"He might be onto something,"

Gallus interjected.

"What?"

"The cults. This could be the work of cults."

"You think some half-mad godlovers living in half-crumbled castles within monster-infested territory were capable of murdering our father?"

"They probably were,"

said Gallus,

"once. Who is to say it can't happen again?"

"The Lifebringer! The Monarch! Everything we have been taught!"

"And yet someone has done it,"

Derene said in an exasperated voice.

"At this point a cult in the woods is as likely a cause as any. But it's not those types of cultists who are truly dangerous, you know. The real threats are the ones who reside within our cities; those who meet in secret behind closed doors, who manage to get their hooks into members of high society. They have resources and influence, and would think themselves best-poised to exploit a Tavia without a monarch."

Beneath the gold, the Bitter Steel.

08-May-2022 23:18:46 - Last edited on 08-May-2022 23:19:24 by NotFishing

NotFishing

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"Intrigue,"

Roland snorted contemptuously.

"What are we to do, then?"

Gallus asked.

"Send troops through the high districts to start kicking in doors and searching homes?"

"No, brother,"

Derene gently corrected.

"That would only turn the innocent against us, and drive the guilty further underground."

"Then what are we to do?"

Roland demanded.

Derene set her gaze across the table to look upon Evalyne.

"We must assume they knew nothing of our sister's reappearance, for it was a well-kept secret until recently. Whatever plans they made could not have accounted for her ability. Use it, Eva. Find the Scroll, and the Amulet, and lead us to it."

Roland's lips curled into a grin as he too looked upon his younger sister.

"And I'll show those rats the fury of House Arenar."

Beneath the gold, the Bitter Steel.

08-May-2022 23:19:10

Fysyx

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Eva nodded solemnly.

“It is with a heavy heart that I say just because I can find them doesn’t mean I’ll be able to do so in a timely manner.”

Her gaze drifted away from the inquisitive eyes of her family. She hesitated.

“My power has always worked, eventually, but it doesn’t work in the same, straightforward way that most of ours seem to work. Sometimes I need to take breathers, or to approach things from a different angle. I find what I’m looking for, but it might not be fast enough for our circumstances.”

She turned to Leon.

“You’ve seen the Scroll and Amulet, correct?”

Eva glanced around the room, offering a request to everyone.

“I need someone to give me a drawing of what I’m looking for, something that can give me a guess at its size and shape, and color would help. If you can do that yourself, Uncle Leon, that would be best, but if you can assess someone else’s drawing as accurate, that’ll do just as well. Someone else should call the Royal Librarian to have them look for any books available on the artifacts. In the mean time, I should be shown to the Vault. Things so important kept in one place for so long tend to leave an impression of sorts.”

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09-May-2022 20:31:05

Apr

2016

Taleisin

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Chloelle stood silently to one side, the blood of her father now drying on her dress, skin and hair. Her eyes red-rimmed, and her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Around her, the voices of her siblings seemed to echo from a great distance, her mind elsewhere.

An image of a worn and shrunken hand lying upon pale covers, two small hands clutched around it. Wailing - cries for a mother who would never wake again. A surging mix of grief and anger welling up within a tiny form. Grief at losing the one person Chloelle loved more than anyone else in the world. Anger at the person who let her pass on without fighting for her life. The image transitioned into the scene of her dying father, and through the grief - a flicker of smug amusement mixed with anger at how easily he had passed on.

She quickly focuses on the grief she felt, and finally looked up to tune back into the conversation.

"I can make a sketch. It would not be so difficult. Uncle Leon can help me with any details I might miss,"

she broke into the ongoing discourse, her voice a little strained and hoarse.

"I want to help.

Everyone has the potential to be an asshat in a flower crown.

09-May-2022 21:10:50

Inferi

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This…was difficult. Ariadne wanted, wanted badly, to believe the same thing that Roland appeared to be clinging to, everything about the Lifebringer and what they had grown up learning, because to think otherwise was a dark area that was very much outside the realm of comfort. Yet, at the same time, what Dalhover had said could very well be a possibility. While she did know there were cults out there, they rarely did anything that would require her attention, and so dealing with them was not a common occurrence. It was a pity, really, since dealing with things like that was always a nice change from wasting time with corrupt nobility.

Derene’s point was something she had not thought about, though. Cultists among the nobility was obvious, or at least should have been, especially when she knew first-hand how corrupt nobles could be. It was impossible to think that there was not a single one who might have been able to be affected by the creeping evil, whether that be through a centuries-old family belief or through some more recent effect upon a single individual.

At the very least, they had at least decided upon a course of action. It was the one that had been clear from the beginning, and although she had not felt as though the discussion itself was a waste of time, there were others here who clearly did not agree. The best thing that the decision did, or at least seemed to do, was de-escalate some of the tensions that had been rising and hopefully they would be able to decide on a further course once they had something from Evalyne.

She had her doubts about that actually happening, though. There were too many people here that would want to work alone.

For now, she said nothing. Once they had a read on where they needed to go, perhaps she could stop her swirling thoughts for long enough to make a plan of attack, but for now the addition of the cults into the equation were making everything else just begin to spiral around in her head again. Done in by the dubious doings of destiny.

10-May-2022 00:41:45

Azi Demonica

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While Choelle sat, all she could do was listen as kingly blood dried, lost to unhappy memories.

Roland wasn’t pleased, though Gallus added to the speculations, while Derene elaborated on cultic possibilities. Indeed, the chances of stumbling upon cults amid ruins or deep in forests--unlikely. Yet, even when partly wrong and frail by age, sometimes, the roots of paranoid clutch onto a semblance of truth.

Ah, ha! exclaimed Dalhover’s thoughts upon the realizing that cults residing within the city were more plausible, something he hadn’t quite considered until now.

Amidst the tension, Ariadne was silent yet Eva was the key, something nobody else seemed to realize until Derene spoke. Though, how could anyone be blamed? It wasn’t everyday a lost princess returned in time for her father’s untimely death.

As truthful as always, Eva admitted she wouldn’t necessarily be able to find the relics quickly. She asked Leon how the items looked, that she should be taken to the Vault, and that Royal Librarian summoned for work--all a sound plan while Chloelle would draw the relic.

Dalhover slowly nodded, having some satisfaction that they were getting somewhere in this horrible plot.

13-May-2022 04:36:39

Mar

2023

Bluefirecan

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Adrienne clutched her arms around herself at Flynn’s words. They were anything but a comfort, and though she had occasionally wondered about the specifics of reincarnation, being confronted with the reality of death… well, it didn’t do her any favors.

The others continued bickering – a common sound amongst the Scions, even on a good day. Few of the siblings ever saw eye to eye, even fewer could say they did so regularly. Roland wanted to put Eva’s skills to use, which she warned may not be as useful as the group hoped.

Leon did his best to keep the siblings under control. He was right, of course – if the Scions let negativity tear themselves apart, that would be tantamount to letting this unknown enemy win. An enemy which, currently, seemed to be the work of some cult of a blasphemous god, or at least one of blasphemous ideals. Anything that would tear the current social structure, laid out by the Creator himself, could not be allowed to continue.

Luckily, Evvie was able to describe what she needed for the search efforts, and Chloelle offered her rather immense artistic talent to the cause. Adrienne was starting to feel just a bit out of her depth. Never before had she had to treat her peers as suspects in some world-ending plot, and she certainly didn’t have the martial training of so many of her siblings.

Rie reached her hand out to Ariadne’s and grabbed it. It was a small gesture, but one she’d done many times over the years. Her sister had always been the diplomat’s rock in situations like this.

“I know my skills aren’t exactly suited for this situation, but I… I want to help if I can,”

Adrienne said. She wasn’t talking to anyone in particular, and wasn’t speaking particularly loud to begin with – but it would be clear to anyone who glanced at her that the gears were turning in her head about how she could apply her abilities to assist in this endeavor.
I just play FFXIV at this point. DC: Crystal

22-May-2022 01:17:52

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Scions of House Arenar (RP)