#But when Lynette brought them it was unlike anything before

[tiredaalienn]

The girlies I drawn for Valentine's day!! 🥺

[shalomniscient]

do you think kjsr would ever go see the house of hearth in the sevchisara dynamic? i see her more of as an awkward person around kids but i feel like she does have a soft side towards them. maybe interacting with the children lets her be more vulernable and heal her inner child. but she also might also be morally conflicted regarding the house of the hearth and it's system? would love to know your thoughts.

this is such a good question oml ,,,, ok so sara would definitely feel a certain extent of discomfort when she finds out what the hearth does. functionally the house is an institution that raises child soldiers; this fact remains true even if the house’s current methods are far removed from takayuki’s or crucabena’s. these children are still being raised for war, in the end. i think the only thing that could clear sara’s conscience at least somewhat is if arle confesses her true plan to sara—which is that she aims to completely excise the house from the fatui. iirc this was stated somewhere in arlecchino’s lore, that her true goal is to finally ensure that the house is only loyal to itself. whether she or lyney is the one who makes it come to pass remains to be seen. this knowledge would at least give sara the reassurance that arle does not plan on continuing the cycle, but as things stand now, she cannot fully break it just yet. it also helps, of course, that the house functions as an actual family. the children enjoy seeing their father, and are allowed their own space and hobbies, odd as they may be like that one kid who’s super into poisons. arle is very particular about preserving as much of the children’s childhoods as she can—she knows she cannot preserve all of it, but she tries anyway. above all, arlecchino cares. it is more than can be said for takayuki. in essence, sara would have her doubts about the house as an institution, but i like to believe that she has faith arle can turn things around for the better and make good on her word, based on what she’s seen already.

as for actually interacting with kids, sara’s definitely nervous at the start. i think it’s canon that the kids in inazuma find her at least a little intimidating, so she’d be very awkward first stepping into the house. but the children of the hearth are quite well removed from normal, and the younger ones would immediately start bombarding her with questions like, “what’s inazuma like?” and “do you really have wings? can we see?” and “how did you get so tall?”. the kids would definitely be eager to know more about this intriguing individual their father—who’s casually sipping a cup of tea by the fire—has brought home. the younger kids definitely treat sara a little like a jungle gym since she’s so tall and ridiculously strong. sara definitely has a soft side for kids; she doesn’t really know how to interact with them but she would never intentionally make a child cry. she eventually does start warming up to the kids, engaging a little more in their games. like you said, it definitely draws out her inner child, but she tempers that playfulness with caution; she makes sure none of the kids do anything dangerous where they could end up hurting themselves. if they played something close to a war game, sara would indulge a little in playing the role of general and the kids loooove her for it. the older kids would probably ask her for some combat tips, though more so the archers since the fontainian sword style is quite different from the inazuman sword style. sara probably has some heavy critique about lyney’s archery style… can’t blame him entirely though, because unlike lynette he couldn’t learn directly from arle. at least sara’s here now to give him and his other siblings who use bows some pointers.

speaking of the trio, they’d probably be a little suspicious of sara at first. but once they realise the kind of person sara is, honorable and honest to a fault, they ease up a little. of course, it takes some time before they really warm up to her, but they’re at least cordial. i think freminet would appreciate that sara is also the type to not bother with small talk; if they’re in proximity with each other the silence can be comfortable instead of awkward. sara probably feels a chill up her spine like a disturbance in the force whenever she’s near lynette and has her wings out. something something birds and cats…

[uniasus]

A Father’s Redemption

It’s Merlin Memory Month! Today, day 7, follows path one. And finally, Merlin shows up >.<

You might want to read a few other parts first.  Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

------------

News from the front came daily, and it was never good.

Essetir kept losing ground to Camelot, giving up land and villages to knights in red. Ealdor found its crops taken for the war effort, as well as its herbalist.

When they took him away, Hunith did her best to take up the post. Moved into his house. Read his books. Gathered the herbs she could.

She didn’t worry about Essetir’s knights dragging her to the front lines because no one would do that to a pregnant woman.

“You should be resting, not working,” Comwell said as he walked into the one-room home, baskets of herbs hanging from his right arm.

Hunith sent him a glare from where she sat with a young girl, wrapping her bloodied and blistered hands. With the men gone, they had pulled everyone they could into the field, even girls as young as seven. Her hands would be harshly callused before she was ten and the thought made Hunith’s stomach clench.

“I’m not doing anything strenuous,” Hunith told her old knight. “And have you seen Myddeth? She’s in the field harvesting what she can and she’s due in two weeks.”

Hunith finished wrapping the girl’s hand, patted the bandages, and sent her out the door. Only then did she give Comwell the glare she’d been wanting to.

“You can’t let our history judge what I can’t and can’t do. Yes, princesses do nothing but sit and eat while pregnant. But I’m not one anymore.”

Comwell sighed, already starting on tying up the bundles of herbs so they could dry. “I will always worry about you, Hunith.”

“I appreciate that, Comwell, but it’s not needed. Lynette fusses too. And I like the work, it makes me feel less separate from the village.”

Because it’d be obvious when they all arrived that Hunith and her party weren’t pheasants. Chainmail and horses, fine cloth and smooth hands. They’d managed to keep the secret that Hunith was Gedref’s sole remaining royalty. Instead, Ealdor believed her the daughter of a rich Gedref merchant who’d managed to escape Uther’s slaughter.

The town had slowly opened up to the three of them, but they’d been slowly accepted. Hunith’s new role as healer and Comwell’s status as the sole man helped greatly. Lynette’s own sewing skills had been less well received, but an extra set of hands was an extra set of hands.

Comwell hmmm, finishing up the hanging. “Have you heard from Balinor?”

Hunith paused in cleaning up her work area. As soon as she realized she was carrying, she’d tried to send a message to Balinor. It’d been months and she hadn’t heard from him. Or Subarra or Sir Lore.

She told herself it was because the letter got lost. The Essetir messenger she sent it with killed. Hunith refused to think of other reasons.

“No,” she told Comwell. “I have not heard from him.”

####

War came closer and closer to Ealdor and the conversation in town turned to thoughts of leaving. Ealdor used to be near the middle of the country, now it was but a half day’s ride from Camelot’s southern border.

Essetir was losing, and soon they would all be in danger.

“How well can you ride?” Lynette asked, bringing Hunith a cup of water.

“I have trouble standing up, Lynette. Besides, on what horse? The king claimed ours for the war.”

“We could buy Simmons’s.”

“No.” Hunith shot her former maid a disappointed look. “He needs that horse. All of Ealdor needs that horse.”

Lynette sighed. “The war is almost here, and you know what the rumors say the Camelot knights are doing. Burning towns. Murdering those who try to stop it. Ealdor isn’t safe anymore.”

“It’d be hard to find a place that is,” Hunith answered.

She should know. With Uther’s attention towards the war with Essetir, those with magic still left in Camelot had snuck out of the kingdom. As a princess, she had directed magical refugees south. As a herbalist knowing Carmarthen had closed it’s borders, all she’d been able to do was patch up their wounds, give them a place to sleep, and mention towns looking for able bodies. If you could work, most places didn’t care where you came from.

As always, she told them to hide their magic. Essetir might have accepted it, but opinion was shifting. Despite having magic on their side, the kingdom was losing. Magic’s trickery, of course. Uther, the rumors said, might have had the right idea.

“I lost Gedref,” Hunith quietly admitted. “I fled my home. Ealdor is just starting to feel like my second home. I don’t want to lose it too.”

“And your child?” Lynette asked. “It’ll have a better chance of living away from the fighting.”

“Not if I give birth while we’re on the road. We have a small store of things here. A forest to forage from if need be. There’s no guarantee of that if we move.” Hunith turned her gaze on Lynette, drawing on her old regal energy. “We’re staying.”

Lynette curtseyed and walked out of the hut.

####

Hunith woke in the night to the sound of someone breaking into her house.

“Who’s there?” she called out.

In answer, a small glowing orb of white light lite the room. The light hovered over the palm of a brunette haired woman, her fine dress in tatters and lips so red Hunith was sure they were bleeding.

“Did you need help going south?” Hunith asked. Grunting, she turned to swing her legs off the bed.

“No,” the woman said.

Hunith paused. She stared at the woman and the woman stared back.

“I wanted to see you,” she said, “not because I need your help, but because you have helped my kind and I wanted to thank you for that.”

“You’re welcome,” Hunith said. Something about the woman unnerved her. She radiated power unlike anyone Hunith had felt in over a year.

“But now that I’m here, something else has caught my attention.” The woman walked closer to Hunith, eyes flickering to her belly.

Alarmed, Hunith crossed her arms over the baby.

The sorceress laughed. “I will not harm him. I cannot harm him. That is not his destiny.”

Frowning, Hunith looked down at her belly. “I’ll have a son.”

“Oh, yes.” The woman sat down on the bed next to Hunith. She reached to touch Hunith’s pregnant belly but paused until Hunith gave her a nod. Her hand on Hunith’s belly was warm and tingly.

“You son,” the woman continued, “is destiny-touched. More than you, more than any I have seen Albion claim.”

Hunith sucked in a deep breath. She didn't want a destiny-touched son. She wanted him to have a peaceful life.

"Your husband's destiny," the woman went on, "Was wrapped in doom. He helped bring all this to past. But your son, oh he glows. He will lift us all up. And for that, I'll help."

The sorceress stood and Hunith wrapped her arms around her belly. She wanted to hug her son and at the same time shield him from the woman standing two feet away.

"Tomorrow," the woman said, "the tide of the war will switch. Essetir will win. And your son will be able to start the life he was meant for."

Then she was gone.

###

Three days later, Lynette burst into the herbalist hut, chest heaving. “Hunith!”

“I’m fine,” Hunith said from her chair by the hearth.

“Are you sure?” Lynette came in and started checking Hunith’s vitals. “Surely you felt that. The drain. Even if you’re okay, the baby?”

Hunith grabbed Lynette’s hand and placed it on the left side of her extended belly. “Feel.” From within, her son kicked.

Lynette sagged in relief. “When I felt someone pulling power from the earth, I was so worried. If they’re not careful, they can pull new life too.”

Hunith hummed. She hadn’t told her former maid or knight about the midnight visit from the sorceress. She hadn’t wanted to worry her friends. Now though, she suspected the woman was Nimueh herself. A High Priestess, highly trained and invested in Hunith’s son being born healthy.

“I’m fine. And, and Merlin is too.”

“Merlin?” Lynette looked up from Hunith’s belly to Hunith’s face. “You have a name?”

“I’m very certain he will be a son.” Hunith smiled.

“And why Merlin?”

“The birds have always been a symbol of prestige and authority, have they not? Belonging only to nobility. I, I can’t name him after my brother or father. It would be too obvious. But I can name him after the creatures that brought us all together and feature in my happy memories.”

Lynette sniffed. “It’s a fine name.”

With a soft smile, Hunith patted the side of Lynette’s cheek. “No go back to the fields. I’m sure there’s work for you.”

Lynette shook her head. “Large portions of our young crops have died, fuel for the spell cast not an hour ago. The harvest this year was already going to be small, but now it will be even worse.”

###

A week later, while Hunith screamed with labor pains, news came to Ealdor. The war was over a mysterious woman with great magical powers having sided with Essetir. No one knew her name, though Nimueh was whispered in the rumors, and she had disappeared after Camelot had agreed to terms.

Camelot kept it’s won land, having stolen almost half of Essetir’s. But it was required to share half of its harvest for the next year with the now smaller kingdom – a stipulation all assumed the sorceress would enforce.

What Hunith, Comwell, and Lynette waited for, the arrival of their friends, never came.

After the first three months of Merlin’s life, nursing him while looking out the window, Hunith gave up looking.

[livvywrites]

Metanoia Characters

So I just realized I post a lot about my various characters--mainly in the tags, but I’ve posted a few graphics--but I haven’t really shared anything about them! This post is still in development as of December 31st 2017, because I haven't finished uploading everything to WorldAnvil, but here is the list so far.

Now, Metanoia as a series deals with reincarnation, so for now I’m just going to share them as they are in the first book and prequels. So here goes. Each name will link to their article on World Anvil (though some don’t have one yet), so if you want to know more, click the link!

Without further ado, here’s Part I of Metanoia’s characters. (Gonna drop some link placeholders here...)

Part III

Part III

(Under a readmore because there are A LOT.)

The Mortal Council

(First Incarnations)

Alinora Mynerva

The protagonist of Metanoia. Alinora turned 17 on the day the war broke out, and she is now a 27 year old woman without a home, but the fate of the world at least partially on her shoulders. She is a woman without magic in a world that is filled with magic--in a world that uses magic for everything. She can cancel it out, if she wants, but while that helps her in combat and might help her open a locked door, it doesn’t help if she wants to light a torch or open a heavy door.

Grief, survivor’s guilt, and a sense of betrayal work together to force Alinora to create a shield around herself. This shield causes her to lash out when she feels like people are getting to close; to refuse help even when she needs it; and even to manifest self-destructive tendencies. She’s a good person; she desires to help the world as much as she can, to fix what’s been broken... but while doing so, she wants everyone around her to think that she is callous, cruel, and not worth caring for.

Talitha Jade

Side character/love interest. Talitha Jade is known across the world as the Pirate Queen. She was 19 when Kai’os attacked. It happened shortly after she ran away from home, her sister in tow. The news was devastating, especially since rumor had it that her best friend had been killed. She was now doubly intent on protecting her sister. Through a series of events, she ended up captain of a pirate ship. Two years later, she caught wind of a Resistance. Lynette, her sister, went to join, but Talitha was rejected. She didn’t take that too well, and set out to prove herself invaluable.

After rumors of a sword that could kill anything led her to a cursed sword, she decided instead to take over the pirate regime; which was once controlled by Hurricane Linley. She was named Pirate Queen due to the crown she had put on her head, and she rallied as many of them as she could to her cause. She then strode back to the resistance. Aishlynn, the resistance’s leader, could no longer deny her a place, and so she became its admiral.

Asa Veranus

Side character/love interest. Asa is known as the Grand Healer. He is one of the youngest fully trained healers in the world. He joined the Resistance after he brought its leader back from the brink of death. Prior to that, he had been hiding out in the woods with a group of Knights that had barely survived their guild’s slaughter. He knew that Kai’os would not hesitate to bring him in and bend him to his will, and he pretended to be nothing more than a lame hedge healer. But Aishlynn’s condition called to his empathy, and he had no choice but to reach out.

His job is to tend to the mortal council and Slaeyr’s health, a job which he perhaps takes too seriously. He’s prone to nagging and urging them to eat healthier, causing them to frequently be annoyed with him. However, there is no better healer around, and he has combat training on top of that, so they keep him around. (He eventually begins to grow up and become less nagging and more nurturing, but, well, that’s another story!)

Evander Lumina

General of the Rear Guard. He’s Talitha’s cousin. He joined the Knights when he was 15 and graduated from apprenticeship when he was 18, only a scant few months before Kai’os attacked. The fortress he was serving at was attacked when he was 19, and he hid out with a handful of survivors, including Asa Veranus, for the next year before they were found by the Slaeyr council. 

He’s kind and empathetic, still emotionally open despite the horrors he’s seen. His job is to guard the healers; the reserve soldiers; the injured. His people watch over the archers and the spellcasters as well. They serve as a shield more than they do a sword.

Ferris Ryder

General of the Main Guard. Ferris and his sister Bella were born into the Knights. Their parents helped to found the Syndicate, and left a legacy behind that their old friends--now the children’s guardians--did their best to see that the Ryder siblings followed it. Rather than drive them to succeed, however, both of them faced crippling doubts as to their self-worth and their ability to ever be as good as their parents. Ferris’s manifested in laziness. He had a passion for cooking and knitting, but tended to avoid any sort of physical exercise. He did eventually graduate into full Knighthood, but it took far longer than it should have.

It was on the night of his induction ceremony that the main fortress was attacked. He was knocked out and covered by rubble; the only reason he survived the attack. A few weeks after, the Slaeyr Council came riding through and found them, still collecting what was left of the Knights legacy before they moved on. Aishlynn offered them a job in the resistance, and they all eagerly accepted.  

Bella Ryder

General of the Vanguard. Unlike her brother, Bella’s doubts manifested in a desire to have as much fun as possible. She cast away the strict discipline of the Knights and became a party girl; wandering into redlight districts and everywhere she shouldn’t. She never got to be inducted into the Knights by the grandmasters, as the order fell before she could.

When the fortress was attacked, Bella turned her attention away from the fighting--unlike her brother--and instead did her best to save as many as she could. Trainees, recent inductees, servants, civilians... she hoarded them all in a special room in the basement, where the Knight’s secrets were kept. When the fighting was over, she believed her brother dead until one of the trainees found him. While Ferris desires justice, Bella desires simple revenge.

Aylin Frostmoore

Priestess of Hope. She was raised in a monastery, far from cities and towns, and high in the mountains. Her days were filled with quiet contemplation and studies, broken apart only for temple services.  From a young age, Aylin was plagued with visions sent by Hope herself. No one believed her; dismissing her as being attention seeking, and desiring fame. When she was sent a vision of a dark cloud that consumed a city near the Fog, she warned the priests, priestesses, and monks--but she was ignored.

As the dark cloud grew and grew, Aylin knew she could ignore it no longer. The final straw was when a traveler came to the doorstep and spoke of a great evil rising. She pointed out that she had warned them of such, and again, she was dismissed. So she left with the traveler, who had come to seek help, and was guided to the resistance.

Kathleen Gold

Merchant Princess, Quartermaster, and Accountant. Her father was a merchant prince. He had been funding a group similar to the resistance, but when Kai’os found out, he took out both the group and the merchant’s guild. Kathleen’s family was targeted, and it was only dumb luck that she wasn’t home at the time. She found her home in ruins and her family dead, and fled her hometown. She eventually found her way to Flint’s bakery, run by a group of former mercenaries, led by a Tauros. After hearing her plight, he agreed to shelter her, but Kathleen knew she couldn’t allow her father’s death to be in vain.

While working as a waitress in the bakery, she heard tale of a resistance forming to the west. She decided that she was going to go join up, but Flint had grown fond of her and didn’t want her off on her own. More than that, he couldn’t stand by and let this happen... so he followed.

Krushak Stonefist, aka Karl Stone

Ambassador. He’s an orc, from one of the wandering tribes in the middle of Eldora’s continent. The last person you’d expect to speak eloquent common--albeit a bit slowly and graveled--and to work as an ambassador. But he’s good at his job, despite the prejudices that surround him. He has brought the resistance many allies, and has even managed to unite the orc tribes under a common cause. 

Viviana Westerguard

Arcanist and former double agent. Viviana’s eyes are solid white; with no iris or pupil. Her memories are scrambled. Each day, she possesses a different set. For instance, one day she might remember the entirety of her life as a six year old, but nothing about being seven. The next day, it will be vice versa. The day after that? Half of each. Then different halves of each. Except with no discernable formula.

It’s obvious that she possess knowledge that most people have never even heard of, but where she trained, how she trained is lost to her. Her only member is a single piercing scream, and a dark chuckle that sounds a lot like Kai’os’s. He tried to manipulate her into thinking that he had saved her, and that she belonged at his side, but she betrayed him for Alinora. She fed Alinora information about Kai’os and his movements, before she was caught and Alinora had to rescue her. Alinora almost lost one of her shadows, Kato, in the process.