#corelyn

[seafoamheart]

was bored so i made one of those straw.pages haha

some oc x canon art ig ⬇️

Corelyn (old oc of mine) x Stanley

[coreshorts]

Never

“Advisory: Vital signs are outside of accepted parameters. Stress fracture in left tibia requires rest. It is inadvisable to continue work functions at this time.”

The newly-repaired magitek bit chirped, as though it hadn’t laid in dust and dirt and sand for nearly two weeks, trampled by hapless adventurers and beasts alike before it was recovered. The woman it warned seemed more than content to ignore its warnings, standing over a nearly-completed project: the reforging and augmentation of a superior officer’s sword.

“Alert: Health advisories are programmed to repeat every thirty seconds until acknowledgement is received.”

“Acknowledged,” came the distracted reply. Corelyn’s right leg had begun hurting to match the left, having had most of her weight on it for hours.The other was splinted, having sustained a stress fracture in the past week, along with the innumerable other minor wounds inflicted during her time with Neilas.

“Bit, engage silent mode,” she said, and the circling contraption let out a soft click in acknowledgement.

With a sigh, she adjusted her stance, letting the blade sit on the workbench as she turned down the heat on Safehouse Aurum’s magitek forge. Reaching for the crutch that leaned against the wall nearby, she propped it under an arm and hobbled across the room and toward the bunks where her commanding officer, Centurio Aelius quo Sanguis, slept. The man had taken a nasty kick to the head that left him severely concussed during the fight with her former Tribunus and long-gone lover.

Try as she might, the guilt still ravaged her. If not for her, would he have still gone mad? It had all started because of her, had it not? Her father fell ill, and her mother returned home to tend to him, leaving an important project untended and without significant leadership. This had been moons ago, and even then, she knew something was wrong with Neilas. It had been years since she saw him last, since she ended their nigh-four-year relationship to run away with the military to far-flung corners of the star. His eyes had grown cold, his demeanour hard and conflicting.

Once Project Anima was complete, she knew him for the monster he had truly become. Constant torture was all she knew for moons, strapped to a machine that deprived her of her senses as she hallucinated, hours every day spent out of her mind and delirious. He spent so much effort on twisting her mind, making her fear him, making her terrified to disobey. He even drugged her, especially when in public, to make her more obedient and silent.

That had all come to an end when the Senator’s Ball was held in Castrum Aquilonis. After so much time spent garnering information in the time where she was not held prisoner, she had managed to convince him to attend with her. Through the drug-addled haze, she had slipped hints that she was in danger, adding to the suspicion generated by her frequent absences and strange behaviour. After a conversation between herself, Neilas, and the Primus Frumentarius in charge of the Fustuarium initiative, Zheng goe Diremite, Neilas stole her away in a fury, enraged by comments made. Not long after, he sent her back to apologise, ordering her to make a fool of herself in the process, to make herself look pathetic and worthless, because, he had said, she was. Cleverly, she stole away with a bug that she’d discovered in the gun he had “gifted” her, planting it in her dress’s collar.

After she had been discovered with a bug, she was held in what was officially indefinite detainment, but in an operational capacity, until Project Anima was released to her specifically for field testing, and then small-scale distribution. This had gone well for a moon or two, until Neilas showed up again, intent on either taking her or killing her - it hadn’t mattered at that point. Though she drove him off the first time, not weeks later, he tried again, his trio of Imperial Shadows making quick work of kidnapping her.

The week that followed was pain like she had never known, even following her escape from Carteneau. At random intervals throughout the day, the man would walk into the room in which she was held and would savagely beat her, torture her, break her in every way he could. Every time, he was angrier and more unhinged, until he began raving about the loss of his position, the trouble she had caused for him, how he knew he would be the Fustuarium’s next target. He hadn’t had enough time, he’d said, because she forced his hand, manipulated him. It was her fault that Zheng had been alive and was coming for him, that blood would be on her hands. She didn’t expect literally until he began beating her with his armour on.

When the day came that the rescue party arrived, more to take down a corrupt and insane former Tribunus than to rescue her, she’d found, Neilas had left her in a rage, hissing curses about them having been early, about his Shadows being dead or worse, and traitors, even amongst his own, adding to the sins she, herself, bore.It had gone past the point of intelligible, and in his rage, he had left her unbound and alone in that room while he and his men had engaged the Fustuarium. He left her alone and unguarded in his madness, and she took the opportunity. Though covered in blood, bruises, open wounds, and practically crawling on a broken leg, she made her way to the firs tplace that came to mind.

“I should... hope,” she said, wearily, her head still ringing from the beating she had only just endured, “that those out there... are who I expect. If so... come on in. Finish this. Kill him. Please.” She never thought she would beg for the death of the man she had once loved, but this wasn’t any way to honour his memory. She wasn’t even sure if he ever was who she thought, and she found herself questioning her ability to judge character. She used the announcement system in the control room to plead for help from those fighting outside. She couldn’t see or hear them, but not long after, she’d begun to hear Neilas’s frantic, insane screaming as he pounded on the door in a rage, as if to break through the magnetically-locked ballistic doors.

Explosions, fighting in the hall, vague yelling and banging on the door, and the sound and smell of fire overwhelmed her senses, and she succumbed once again to unconsciousness for a time. The banging on the door began again, though, and she was roused at the calls of familiar voices, yelling her name. Though she barely had a shred of strength, she opened the door... and in they came. She felt arms around her, and then...

In he came. A tall, wiry elezen in black, white and gold, sunglasses, and that silly, silly blonde mullet. She was hallucinating again from the pain. She had to be. She wasn’t though. He spoke to her, began to heal her. The pain receded just long enough for her to forget her injuries - to forget the leg that Neilas had broken in his rage, lashing out with a kick that sent her vision exploding into stars. She didn’t care. It was Aioux. Tears flooded her eyes, unbidden but unrestrained, and she began sobbing harder, only then realising she had been crying at all. She clung to him, mind very briefly unclouded, and she began to recognise the voices around her.

Iulius. Adelia. Aelius. Apollon. Aurelia - both Aurelias: her student, Iulius’s girlfriend, the young Lucius, and the self-titled Fabrum with whom she’d discovered a fleeting interest, Aurelia Domna. There were other voices she didn’t recognise, but then she knew the last: Zheng.

Orders were given to search the facility, to take every last bit of information available, then lock the place down indefinitely. It brought her back to her situation at hand: she was standing on a broken leg. She stumbled backward into the control room’s chair again, pain tinting her vision red and causing her consciousness to flicker. She vaguely remembered more healing... and then being carried away.

By the time she awoke, she was in the Safehouse again. In the Goblet, beneath the Gold and Glory company house where she’d begun to spend so much time, she was safe again. The throbbing pain in her leg assured her of that. Her hallucinations were always an escape from the pain; they had never borne it, and never so poignantly. She laid back, listening to the voices of those she had heard bells before - all gathered either in the bunk room or outside. Many people were, like her, in a bed, resting, Aurelia Domna in one just next to her. Outside, she listened to Iulius and his awkward dealings with his Aurelia. It was all so confusing and annoying to get them mixed up like that, she had thought, and she started to laugh softly, tears well in her eyes despite the humour.

She would have a lot of thinking to do, and a lot of healing, both physically and otherwise. But she was safe. And she would never let herself be swept up by some mad, corrupt villain again - she swore it.

Never again.

[elegant-etienne]

🎡 AMUSED

A raised eyebrow. A witty reply. A twitch at the corner of the mouth that threatens a smile. A broken-off laugh turned into a cough. Looking away, covering their mouth. A snort, a laugh that almost isn’t one because it’s not accompanied with a smile.

Usually there will be a willingness to participate, though, a joke in reply. While they dislike smiling or laughing in front of others, they don’t actively run from the situation.

Thanks for the ask @corescharacters ! 

[neurotic-knives]

Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood, The Story of Hali Naras

Beneath the cut is probably a very long story, detailing a lot of feelings and other things, including feelings, opinions, and experiences as told from my perspective. I will not be tagging certain people with whom I’ve since parted ways, both to prevent further conflict and spare them all the reminder that I exist within a shared space, especially as some have come to fear or are made uncomfortable by me for some reasons I wholly understand, but some that I still do not fully comprehend. For those people, if you see this post and choose to read it, I am thankful for the good times, and regret all the bad that has transpired despite them. I hope all involved here, friend or otherwise, can move on and enjoy Shadowbringers with nothing holding them back. I know that I will.

Near the end of Heavensward,

I returned to FFXIV after over a year of being gone. I didn’t leave of my own volition. I’d changed out my phone, and, with it, lost my authenticator. I had issues with customer service, then, and, instead of deactivating it like I had asked, they removed my payment info and said nothing more, essentially, as I put it “soft-banning” me from the game.

WoW had become a toxic place for me. The creativity and ideas that I had grown to love sharing with my friends had begun to be spurned due to several changes in leadership, some of whom were not used to my off-the-wall ideas and story arcs there. Combined with the rise of community groups like Failzeroth and the like, I had wound up seeing, as the Discord admin, that I was being talked about behind my back. People dithered on what to “do about [me]” because the ideas I had for my longest-running character, @titantechcorelyn, were viewed by the leadership at the time as “possible, but not probable” despite countless instances of proof in the lore, which I prided myself in knowing inside and out. I made the decision for them, and I left the game after getting sick of feeling like I was being swept under the rug.

At the time, my ex-girlfriend and roommate had a friend from work that we both got along with well who played FFXIV and got us both back into the game. After a couple of days trying again with customer service to get my account back, I was back in. Corelyn Rosefire, my main at the time, a Garlean defector who had long since taken refuge in Eorzea, was brought back into the spotlight, and I began trying to find RP again as I worked my way through the MSQ, preparing for the new Stormblood expansion.

Eventually, I reconnected with @danshadowsrp / @raptorswithlaszorz, who had been a fabulous and supportive friend for a very long time, since almost a decade ago when we met in WoW. He was the one who helped me ease into my transition and I owe finding my identity entirely to his help. He means a great deal to me, even though we don’t get to do much together these days.

Corelyn’s story moved forward slowly but steadily, and, eventually, I met Aegir, Bragi, and Araceli during a “Garlean Bar Crawl” RP. I eventually got Corelyn involved with their Garlean group, and a linkshell of Garleans at the time they were all part of. The frienship grew, and I began hanging out with them exclusively. They were great friends and I loved every moment we all spent together, hanging out and having fun.

Eventually, I was introduced the the Gold and Glory free company, which was still run by Jaliqai at the time, being a hunters’ guild full of Xaela and Miqo’te, yet that also played unwitting host to the “Not-Garleans,” Aegir, Bragi, and Araceli, as well as Araceli’s main, Lirilith. It was less than a few months in that Jaliqai decided the she no longer wished to run G&G, and passed leadership on to the Not-Garleans, who made a fantastic RP experience with their boundless creativity and inclusiveness. They invited me in, at that time, and I’d found my first real home in FFXIV since before, for the long time I’d played, I never really belonged anywhere. This felt nice. I had good friends.

G&G took off. There I met wonderful friends, some of which I still am happy to know, including Naoh, Keerith, Dato, and more. Soon, I decided to use that font of creativity within the free company to create a character that I had intended as an experiment: Hali Naras, my main character now known by the name Asashio no Haruhi, and the subject of this tumblr: an autistic Keeper of the Moon miqo’te of somewhat awkward height and build who, through the Echo, could feel out aether and tried to use that to copy spells she experienced or studied. She was meant to be something I had never done before: a character based on what was, overwhelmingly, a self-insert concept. Inevitably, she grew, and she grew fast. She was discovered by another of the Not-Garleans, their boss, Zheng. and, after helping with a job gone south, she was taken to meet the Crawfords, Aegir and Bragi’s personas for the new owners of G&G, played by an alt of Aegir’s and a recustomisation of Bragi’s main.

Things were off to a rough start, as, given the lack of a real event system, we used Grindstone rules for the most part, opposed rolls never quite working out for her. She was established very quickly as a fluke - someone who performed well when no one was looking, at first meeting, then proceeded to become a helpless, anxiety-ridden mess, incapable of really helping anyone, even herself. She was beaten, broken, and abused, time and time again, to the point where it sort of became a running joke. Aegir tended to play off on it in his comics quite a deal, picking on her from time to time, though usually just in good fun. I’ll admit a small bit of resentment over it since I had wanted her to start off as a somewhat competent, interesting character, but instead wound up with a woobie.

Hali liked to cook, as I do IRL, and so she found her niche within G&G thanks to some intervention. She would go on adventures to hone her skill and magic as much as she could, but her primary job was the overnight chef. She excelled there. My penchant for writing food porn got her far, there, and so we also decided to open G&G’s old tavern, the Bountiful Chest, back up. I took the lead on the project, creating a menu, helping to make the restaurant, and taking the lead on running things. The crew at the time was fantastic, Araceli waiting tables, Aegir and Bragi hanging about as the Crawfords, greeting people and overseeing operations, Hali cooking up a storm, and, as time went on, more and more people took part. It was a fun weekly thing - or semiweekly as my health began to decline due to a mixture of issues that I have only recently begun to have treated.

We began to network from time to time with the Outriders free company and with a storyteller, O’byahta, who was a big part of that FC, run by @glitterychaospersona and @superiorthaumaturge, along with a couple others at the time. Hali got involved in “Byahta’s Ventures” around the same time as she was scouted out by Aegir, Bragi, and Zheng’s “Immortals,” a sect of Thavnairian Blue Mages that were throwbacks to FFXI’s BLU. Hali faced a great deal of turmoil, but always managed to overcome it.

We had also, eventually, taken over the Garlean community linkshell, being heavily active with the Not-Garlean, networking with Corelyn and a multitude of others. We created what was called the Fustuarium, a group of Imperial special agents that would hunt down rogue elements, judge them, then either bring them back into the fold or execute them. We had many members join by being “re-acquired.” It was a lot of fun.

Through all I did in both the Fustuarium group and G&G proper, I was made an officer. I was never really asked if I wanted it, and likely would’ve asked not to be, but I accepted the role. I had taken such an active role within the FC, and loved the feeling of belonging to this wonderfully-creative group that ran immensely-fun events and came up with great ideas together, such as Iron Chef Eorzea, the Menphina Madness Blitzball Tournament, revamping the Golden Gala, and so much more.

Hali’s story moved on and on, eventually earning herself the title of Iron Chef, she went with the company to Kugane, was taught to become a shinobi, eschewed the blue magic of the Immortals, fought for her life with the Outriders at her side, became captain of Kugane’s Koban Crushers Blittzball team, and so on.

Eventually, through the Fustuarium group, @phantom-singularity was introduced to me and to G&G. I was leery of her at first, admittedly, as she was brought in by a member of the group, Otho/Odeai, for whom I really didn’t have much fondness. However, we began to talk in general, and then she DM’d me on Discord. Since that day, nearly two years ago, not a single day has passed where we haven’t been in contact nearly all the time we share awake. We fell in love, suffered together, visited one another, and eventually moved in together. If there’s anything I’m grateful for from this expansion, it’s her. If it were not for us starting RP between Hali and her character Dahlia @umbralhearts, I probably would not have survived the stress and abuse I had suffered over the course of the past few years thanks to, I have only recently discovered, a very abusive pseudo-relationship with someone we are still trying to escape.

As time went on, and Odeai continuously stirred shit up (eventually getting herself kicked from all those groups), I grew to greatly dislike her, especially as she was very much the catalyst that led to the awful witch hunt that was perpetuated against Dani. I won’t go into all of that again - the posts can be found on my main blog, @nierfenhimer, somewhere - but it was hell for us both. She wanted to have friends. I loved the friends I had, but they way it was all handled was, inevitably, disastrous, no matter how much I tried to stop it. Eventually, she left G&G and the Fustuarium. Not long after, I did, as well. Everyone was angry, everyone was hurt, and we all hated it. It was a nightmare come true for many reasons. There is still, today, especially after repeated similar situations on Aegir, Bragi, Liri, and Zheng’s parts with G&G, a lot of resentment between us all, I’m sure. What bridges were burned are likely gone for good. Everyone made mistakes. Following all of it, Dani and I became so stressed that we left FFXIV for a year, sacrificing the house that we had just gotten together for the sake of our safety and sanity.

During that time, Hali and Dahlia, who had been struggling together against a voidsent that possessed Dahlia, became embroiled in an awful conflict, eventually resulting in Hali’s death. Thanks to a combination of a great many things, Hali was resurrected when we returned. We left for WoW for a time, going back to my decade-long friends like @tyrellia, @kombink, @squishlecharacters, @aythala, and so many more. However, it didn’t last because, frankly, Battle for Azeroth turned out to be a dumpster fire.

It sucks, but today, I’m happy to have several great groups of friends. Dani and I joined the Outriders officially, along with Naomi and Otto, as well as Naoh and Keerith, who had gone there, Hali’s long-time rival and best friend, @trahventia, and more. We made new friends like @weaponskill, @deviltouched-xaela, and more. We reconnected with old friends from before we left such as @floating-city-of-nem and others. We made new friends. 

Even though I was unemployed on and off, going through hell on earth, and constantly unstable, Dani, along with the Outriders and my friends from the Retribution/TSV/Ashguard back from WoW were immensely supportive. The Outriders, over the summer of 2018, raised nearly $350 together to help pay for my name change as part of my transition. Today, I have a name to match my identity - one that I’m comfortable and happy to use - because of them. We’ve played countless games of D&D together, as well as other tabletops. We’ve had fun, and we’ve even had our share of drama, but we’ve made it through. 

Hali and Dahlia got married in-game, and we’ve come up with wonderful ideas, characters, and even ships together. Hali has since become a cyclone of chaotic life events, combining her shinobi training with abyssal magic as she’s embraced her inner darkness. We managed to reclaim a house for Hali and Dahlia and have since made a wonderful home together in the game.

Stormblood was an expansion where I truly let go of past hurts, in RP and otherwise, and found my niche. I found my identity, I grew up, I suffered immensely, but I learned, I fell in love, I had fun, and I let go of the things that had been holding me back as a person and from letting me truly have fun.

To all of you who were a part of my life, for better, worse, or both, thank you. Thank you all for everything you have been for me. To G&G for getting me involved, to the Outriders for picking me back up when that all fell apart, to the Retribution for taking me back for the short time I was back on WoW and understanding my propensity to disappear when life gets hard, to the friends, both old and new, that we have had, kept, and lost, and, most of all, to Dani, who I love without parallel and am happy every day I wake up next to you, no matter what trials we face.

Stormblood brought good and bad. It was truly a Storm of Blood. But it was good. It was amazing, and it was terrible all at once. I wouldn’t trade any of it for anything. I’m looking forward to Shadowbringers, and to experiencing it with all of you. We’ve all come a long way. See y’all on the other side. ♥

~ Asashio no Haruhi / Hali Naras of Balmung, Crystal DC

[superiorthaumaturge]

Knowing me, knowing you?

I was tagged by:  @amberspirited​

Relationship Status: Single

Favorite color: Red or Blue. I’m boring.

Lipstick or Chapstick: Chapstick

Last song I listened to: Enjoy the Silence - Depeche Mode

Last movie I watched: Thor: Ragnarok

Top 3 TV shows: Doctor Who, Twin Peaks, and Bojack Horseman

Top 3 Characters: Spider-Man/Peter Parker, The Doctor (all incarnations) [Doctor Who], and Bartimaeus of Uruk [The Bartimaeus Trilogy]

Top 3 Bands/Artists: The Doors, The Smiths and Abney Park

Don’t know 9 people, so the two people I know who haven’t been tagged yet: @lyrax123 and @corelyn-nierfenhimer

[couldnt-kir-less]

💺 : From across the drafting office, the sound of a chair moving across the steel floor approaches Adelia. It slows down, and, a nearly-empty glass of egg nog in one hand, Corelyn grins, her own chair slowly gliding to a halt near her. "You have been staring at that design with no progress for nearly a bell, Adelia," she says, smiling, "Give your mind a rest. Indulge me. Let us see who can reach the door on the other end of the room first."

She wasn’t as good with guns as she was with swords. At least... building them. Adelia was not skilled in shooting, nor was she skilled in swordplay. So her design for a healing gun was not coming along great. The prototype worked only once in a while and jammed way too much.A sigh escaped as she heard a chair moving towards her. It was somewhat late and she was surprised to see the blonde still there. But then, they were both prone to working late.

At the challenge, she laughed. Amethyst eyes looked at the distance she spoke of. Not too far and being that the Castrum wasn’t crowded... She nodded. “You have yourself a deal. I assume we aren’t allowed to use anything magitek to help boost our speed?” The question was more a tease; magitek powered chairs weren’t yet invented here.

[shkeitout]

naws next gen

nashrose

annabel katherine nash -  barbara palvin (jordanne)  — ship name: anbriel / twenty

noah benjamin nash - hunter parrish (sara) — ship name: noeline / eighteen

colt adrien nash - alex pettyfer (sara) — ship name: cashlyn / eighteen

sadie elizabeth nash - nicola peltz (jordanne) — ship name: jadie / seventeen

lola magdalena nash - sabrina carpenter (jordanne) — ship name: frela / sixteen

sallison

gabriel frederic nichols - shiloh fernandez (sara) — ship name: anbriel / twenty

maximillian nichols - daniel sharman (jordanne) — ship name: maxelle / nineteen

brayden pierre nichols - dan jeannotte (jordanne) — ship name: braydia / eighteen

henry dawson nichols - cody christian (jordanne) — ship name: cenry / seventeen

eloise marie nichols - adelaide kane (sara) — ship name: lise / seventeen

wesley leonard nichols - spencer macpherson (jordanne) — ship name: weslia / sixteen

frederic allen nichols - tom holland (sara) — ship name: frela / sixteen

lethan

campbell alastair nichols - vladimir ivanov (sara) — ship name: cambrey / twenty

jasper carson nichols - dominic sherwood (sara) — ship name: jadie / nineteen

isadora saskia nichols - willa holland (jordanne) — ship name: dexra / nineteen

madeleine blythe nichols - tuppence middleton (sara) — ship name: mezra / eighteen

jennifer dawn nichols - tuppence middleton (sara) — ship name: cennifer / eighteen

isaac nathaniel nichols - austin butler (jordanne) — ship name: cassac / seventeen

brenzie

ezra samuel archibald  - sebastian stan (jordanne)  — ship name: mezra / twenty

calvin tristan archibald - colton haynes (sara) — ship name: calvienne / nineteen

liam marcus archibald - matthew daddario (jordanne)  — ship name: lise / eighteen

charles lionel archibald - dylan o’brien (sara) — ship name: chara / seventeen

miranda primrose archibald - taylor hill (jordanne) — ship name: meverett / seventeen

leira

daphne annette grove -  merritt patterson (sara) — ship name: davan / eighteen

corey everett grove - ashton irwin (sara) —  ship name: corelyn / eighteen

barbara anne grove - katie stevens (jordanne) — ship name: chara / seventeen

lilou grove - madelaine petsch (sara) — ship name: lithan / sixteen

noeve

jacqueline blanche daniels - lucy hale (jordanne) — ship name: noeline / eighteen

jonathan clark daniels - amadeus serafini (jordanne) — ship name: lithan / eighteen

clara yvette daniels - stefanie scott (sara) — ship: cenry / seventeen

evelyn cosette daniels - dove cameron (jordanne) —  ship name: corelyn / sixteen

ophelia briana daniels - amanda arcuri (sara) —  ship name: weslia / sixteen

spaia

dexter xavier carmichael - will tudor (sara) — ship name: dexra / twenty

donovan louis carmichael - william moseley (jordanne) — ship name: davan / eighteen

cassandra faye carmichael - victoria justice (sara) — ship name: cassac / seventeen

noelle suzanne carmichael - danielle campbell (sara) — ship name: maxelle / seventeen

maisie

carter reeves - chace crawford (jordanne) — ship name: cennifer / twenty-one

nathan adrian reeves - jon kortajarena (jordanne) — ship name: natika / twenty

dalton joseph reeves - taron egerton (jordanne) — ship name: dacey / nineteen

ashlyn reeves - caitlin stasey (jordanne) — ship name: cashlyn / eighteen

falton

vivienne windsor - sarah bolger (jordanne) — ship name: calvienne / nineteen

nadia josephinie windsor - ana de armas (sara) — ship name: braydia / eighteen

lacey sophia windsor - emeraude toubia (sara) — ship name: dacey / eighteen

pharrison

aubrey linnea carlisle - stella maxwell (jordanne) — ship name: cambrey / nineteen

everett carlisle - grant gustin (sara) — ship name: meverett / twenty

sarcy

danika mae alcott - josephine skriver (sara) — ship name: natika / nineteen

[winterdeepelegy]

@thelittlemonkthatcould | @nebula1984 | @corelyn-nierfenhimer | @mugishalffull

“Abandonment,” Frost answered simply. “Once in a lifetime is enough.  I have what I need, and may I never be without it again.”

[fustuarium]

Weekly RP 7/26, 7/30

Corelyn MIA

Wednesday 26th July @8pm EDT

Location: Debriefing at Safehouse Aurum; Central Thanalan, near the Sultantree

Architectus Corelyn jen Bellor sent out a distress signal over the comm earlier in the day before being rather alarmingly silenced. After some digging, it appears, in light of new evidence against Tribunus Neilas sas Seles of the Xth Legion, the man has struck out at the woman once under his thumb. A man wishing for asylum from the mad Tribunus has agreed to hand over intel, and is to be met at the Sultantree by the Sagolii Gate, though it might be best to be prepared for the worst...

Curiosity Killed the Silver Couerl

Sunday 30th July @7pm EDT

Location: Northest Sagolii Desert, Xth Legion R&D Bunker

With new information coaxed from Neilas's team of Shadows, the exact location and a means of entry to the Xth legion's Research and Development Bunker in the Sagolii Desert have been revealed. With Corelyn's status entirely unknown, but her outlook particularly bleak, time is of the essence to storm the bunker and eliminate the fallen Tribunus before he can cause any more harm.

[coreshorts]

Wake

“Hey there,” were the first words she’d heard upon waking. They were tired, much as she’d felt. They were pained, just as she felt. They were sad, but she didn’t realise she was, too, until her vision focused through the haze. It took time, as if she was trying to pull a heavy blanket off with just her will alone. Her arms wouldn’t move, and neither would her legs.

“Calm, Star, calm,” came the man’s soft, but deep, voice again, and she realised she had begun trying to wriggle out of whatever held her down. As consciousness dawned on her, and her mind began to process what was happening, where she was, what had happened to her, she slowed and eventually laid still. It was for the better; moving hurt so very, very much.

Corelyn’s father sat in a chair in the room just beside her bed, peering at her with a wan smile that just barely held back the tears that he likely hoped were not evident in his eyes.

She opened her mouth to speak, but was met with rasping and pain that caused her to wince. She still had a breathing apparatus attached to her face and all manner of magitek devices hooked up to her, monitoring her and, she assumed other, newer parts.

Aeolus raised a hand to stop her and said with a sad smile, “No. Save your voice. Your throat was among the damage done. I wonder if you realise the extent of just what happened to you. Do you?” Though sounding curious, he held some hesitation in his voice, as if uncertain as to whether or not he wanted to go down that road so soon.

Corelyn shook her head slowly, silently, but her teal, eyes, hazy and still somewhat dim with weakness as she lay in that bed, spoke of a curiosity of her own.

The white-haired man paused, pursing his lips and running a finger over one side of his neatly-trimmed moustache to smooth it down before asking, “Are you sure you want to know? The last thing I wish to do to you so soon after waking is to-” He was interrupted by a frustrated sigh and an admonishing look. He smiled softly, icy blue eyes closing as he understood the intent in that familiar expression.

“When you arrived,” he began, the pain her father’s voice making it even more noticeable when it caught, forcing him to pause from time to time to collect himself, “You were... barely alive. We were informed by Lady Khaine - and your... companion unit, was it? - that you had been critically wounded by electrical attacks from an enemy spellcaster. Nearly a third of your skin, muscle, even some bone, she had said, was burned away, practically... practically melted, especially at your back.”

She became very suddenly aware that the bed on which she lay had an opening beneath the centre of her back, and she could just barely feel air on it. It was as if her nerves were dulled, though, her senses barely alerting her to things to which she wasn’t paying immediate attention.

Aeolus waiting until she was focused on him again to continue, “I was not told the... extent of your wounds until just yesterday. Your heart... began to fail not moments into the procedure and had to be replaced. The damage was... too extensive to salvage any of it, so you’ve... one of a number of supporting implants there now. Corelyn, forgive me. When asked if... if magitek augmentations were acceptable, I gave it no thought. I had already been panicked at the news, and I tho-”

Another sigh, but this time, she gave him a very tired, though mildly frustrating smile, mouthing a silent, Thank you. Aeolus felt tears well up in his eyes and took a moment to compose himself, dabbing his eyes with a handkerchief.

“Yes, of- of course. I... I should have known you’d have your mother’s stubbornness about it all, eh? Never say die,” he said, praise and pride in his tone, even as he took a shaky breath, “I can only assume you recall taking a strike to the back with another electrical spell, and... I will again assume that it was at close range, as well. Your... spine was fused from the spell, some of it even charred away. The nerves there were irreparably damaged, and it even damaged your heart and lungs. One of those is... is now partially augmented, as well. The other was replaced. As for your spine... that was augmented to prevent paralysis. Lady Khaine has outlined a rehabilitation program that should have you back on your feet soon.”

If she hadn’t been keenly aware of her heart’s replacement with a magitek simulacrum, she would’ve sworn it stopped then and there for all but the briefest of moments.

“Your... arms, neck and face,” he said, “Were also burned, badly. Thankfully, those... should heal with minimal scarring, as I am told, but... it may take time for you to be able to speak or use your arms again, as well. Your throat and musculature were severely damaged by the attack.”

Corelyn’s jaw set, and she could see in her father’s expression that it was obvious. He looked away for a few seconds and sighed. When he looked back up again, it was to notice her scanning the room silently with her eyes, as if searching.

“My Star,” he said softly, “Your mother... she left for Eorzea barely hours after you were admitted, “We thought you... dead. Since Carteneau. We were beside ourselves, and... well, your mother is as she will ever be: industrious and absolutely determined. She found your superior officer and spoke with him. I’m so sorry, Corelyn. If we had known about what happened with... Neilas...”

She visibly grit her teeth and looked away, making an uncomfortable rasping sound.

“Forgive me,” Aeolus said softly, wilting a bit in his chair, “You know everything, I take it. All of what you went through... Mister Diremite was very accommodating, I hear. Your mother is very impressed with the company you keep... and we are so proud of you - as are your comrades. When she found out that you had completed Project Anima, she could not longer contain herself. She stood there at the terminal weeping in... joy, in sadness, in so many emotions at once. We’re so very proud of you, Star.”

She felt tears welling in her eyes and did her best to blink them away, failing until the gentle hand of her father arrived, the man suddenly at her bedside, standing, and wiping them away.

He hushed her softly, comfortingly, saying, “’Tis alright, my daughter. You are home, now. Nothing takes your old man down so easily, you see? And I’m glad to see you take after me in that respect. You’re a Bellor - a core of cermet and a soul of gold - and you are your mother’s daughter too, with all of her determination and grace. You’re the best of your parents - our Star. Your mother plans to come home, soon, as well. So rest. Sleep away your ills, and Lady Khaine will make sure you heal properly and quickly.”

A small nod and an awkward sniffle around the apparatus in her nose had Aeolus smiling at her after, gently dabbing tears and otherwise away as she wept. It was silent, and it was hardly pretty, her face a mess of grafts and her body a pile of barely-functioning, angry pink limbs, but it was happier than it was sad. Her parents were alive and well, she had kept her Cohort from injury, even at great cost to herself, and she would be alright, even if she was a broken heap at that moment in time.

“Just rest, Corelyn,” the calming words came again, her eyes easing shut as the comforting thoughts and words took the pain, the anguish, and the frustration and laid them down, her consciousness slowly sinking with them.

[aiouxdauxbeaumont]

Dear (Someone you want dead)

Dear Asshole,

I don’t know your name, but I know your face. I’ll remember your face for as long as I live, and I’ll regret not putting a blade in your back when I had a chance. I know I’d be dead by now, but fuck you in specific.

I know you have Corelyn locked up somewhere in one of your fancy Castrums, I know your implied threat on her parent’s life is only good until she’s served her purpose. I know when she’s served her purpose, you’re going to kill her. I know that staying was her choice, but I should have put a blade in her before I left her to you.

I want you to remember your days are numbered. Use them wisely, and remember… if you touch a hair on her head, I will make you suffer before you die.

Sincerely,

Some Eorzean Savage

[lilbugprincess]

amg it's your birthday? FELLOW JULY BIRTHDAY HELLO

It was yesterday, mm~! Aahh, thank you!! JULY BIRTHDAYS!!!

[corescharacters]

18. Is there anywhere that your character would never dare to travel? Why?

Corelyn wouldn’t dare travel back to Eorzea if she had a choice. People there truly frighten her. Even the Imperial troops there seem to act strangely - far less rationally, especially - when stationed there for a long time. She’d certainly like to study the effects of the realm on the mind, but would certainly not like to go back any time soon.

[coreshorts]

Parental Supervision

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” came the voice of a woman in her late fifties. It was noble, almost regal in its tone and composure, but behind it was fear, and a bit of hope.

“Our daughter is dead,” she said, “She died at the Battle of Carteneau. ...what? N-no. They never found her body. No. I... Very well. Thank you.” Placing the receiver of the communicator down, Marcia kir Bellor stared at the desk on which it rested, a cup of tea sitting next to the magitek device, growing cooler as she leaned forward in the ornate, high-backed chair in which she sat. Her fingers steepled, and she looked up to the young Hyuran woman who stood attentively by the doorway.

“Marin, be a dear and fetch Aeolus,” she said pensively to the maid, “I would have a word with him immediately...”

When the man arrived, still somewhat pale and weary from moons of having been poisoned to keep him bedridden and invalid, Marcia did not smile. Though it was typical of her to greet her husband with cheer, even when she unknowingly delivered him the poison, masquerading as medicine, even when she feared she would lose him to illness, even when the Frumentarium had divulged the nature of what had transpired thanks to one Neilas sas Seles... she did not smile.

Aeolus paused at this, leaning on a gilded magitek cane-rifle which was his constant companion, even, to Marcia’s amusement, about the manor, and gave the woman a look, asking cautiously, “What weighs on you, my dear?”

“Sit, Aeolus. Please,” she implored silently behind steepled fingers, her thin, rectangular glasses sitting low on her nose, “You will be better sitting for this discussion, I fear.”

Obliging, he sat in the cushy velvet chair facing the other side of the desk on which the Lady Bellor had, as usual, every last paper and pen in perfect organisational order. With a nod of his head for her to begin, he raised his natural left leg and set the ankle on the knee of his prosthetic right, the cane resting across his lap.

“Aeolus,” she said, again calling him by name, “Corelyn is here - in the Capitol.”

His complexion became a dangerous shade of pale, and he slowly inclined his head, peering down the bridge of his nose at his wide, who could not make eye contact with anything but her desk.

A hand ran down his moustache to smooth it and he asked, his voice soft and catching, “Why? How? I- we... she died, Marcia. Our girl was lost in the line of duty.”

Marcia shook her head, gaze dark as it rose to meet Aeolus through those white gold-trimmed spectacles, and she said, “She is in a medical facility nearby, being treated for nearly-fatal electrical burns that she sustained during a combat mission. She was treated in Eorzea before her transfer here... but is, reportedly, to receive,” she paused, swallowing hard, “...extensive surgical reconstruction.”

Aeolus’s head lowered, eye wide. He ran a hand through his hair, shifted in his seat, took a long inhalation through his nose... and he found himself speechless. He gripped his cane and closed his eyes, likely to hide the tears that had begun to form. Their precious daughter, their heir, their star, was dead for years, or so they thought. They had been informed that, following the Battle of Carteneau, her body could not be recovered, like those of countless others, and thus, was presumed dead. They had mourned for years. Their business had almost collapsed until the War of Succession had begun.

In that time, Corelyn’s ex-fiance, Neilas Seles, a boy with whom she’d attended the Magitek Academy, and the two respected intensely for his ambition and cleverness, as well as his technological aptitude, had made himself available to them. At the time, he was enlisted in the Xth Legion alongside Marcia as an engineer, taken on as one of her Architectii. She regarded him as she would have her own child, and was so proud of him when he rose to the rank of Tribunus.

Their shock when they had found that he was behind a string of detestable crimes, including the poisoning of Aeolus and delivery of continued applications of the same, disguised as medicine to keep the Academy professor alive through his mysterious illness, did not even come close to this. Their grief at the news of his treachery and death was nowhere near this.

Aeolus’s long, withdrawn silence was interrupted as Marcia said, her voice unsteady, “We should go to her.” The man could only nod absently.

She could barely move, and so many parts of her were still numb. Those that weren’t lanced with pain, made her want to scream, but she knew she would have no voice to do so, so extensive were her wounds.

The last thing the Animatus could remember was watching a comrade’s spell fail, its aether drawn in by the Paragon they had fought. her heart had swelled with pride when she engaged the woman head-on. Her weaponry had likely saved the cohort considerable losses, and she took solace in that... until her anima barrier was broken, the crimson shield that had been drawing in the opposing magic failing as intense bolts of purple-white electricity surged though her. She remembered pain, the smell of burnt hair and flesh, and then, before she had a chance to defend herself, it repeated, and she knew no more.

When she finally awoke, it wasn’t much better. She couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. She was paralysed, trapped in her own failing body. What words she could rasp out were painful, bringing stinging tears to her eyes. She couldn’t see herself, but she didn’t need to. Those patches of her that hurt so intensely were, she surmised, where she had taken the brunt of the electrical spells, one delivered at point blank that she felt through her very heart. How was she not dead?

Her bit was by her side the whole time, she knew, switching in and out of Crisis Mode and chirping its proposals and reports at those caring for her until she was stable. That, of course, is how she knew she had been transported to the Capitol. All her friends, her cohort, left behind in Eorzea. How long would she be gone? The thoughts haunted her as she drifted in and out of consciousness.

At some point, though she was only scarcely aware of how long it had been, or when it was, or even where, she awoke to crying - two people, crying. Words were shared between sobs, and when she tried to question it, her pained squeak brought a woman to her side, makeup barely clinging to her eyes from her weeping.

“Corelyn? Oh, my star, my precious, darling girl,” she sobbed, not daring to touch her despite it clear in her face that she wanted to.

She recalled a voice - Zheng’s voice - from when she was given the report on her ordeals with Neilas not long ago, “They have not been told. It is safer, until we are sure his people are fully dealt with.”

Her parents were at her side, weeping for her. All at once, her heart broke and her mind screamed. They were not safe yet. Who told them? How did they know? She tried so hard to raise her hand, but what parts of her arm she could feel shot with pain that made her eyes slam shut, wet with tears of her own.

“No, no please. Don’t move,” her mother pleaded, “Just rest. Rest. Mother’s... mother’s here. You’ll be okay, sweetheart. I promise.”

“Marcia,” her father said softly, his hand appearing on her shoulder, soft, yet rugged features appearing over her from Corelyn’s perspective, his eyes, too, red and teary.

“I’m,” Corelyn rasped, just barely audible, “...so... sorry.”

Her mother’s weeping only worsened, and, Corelyn barely registered, grasped her hand. She couldn’t feel it. Her heart sank and she sniffled around the breathing apparatus she realised was in her nose. Was she that near death?

“Hush, dear,” whispered her father, “Save it for when you are recovered. We will have much and more to discuss, and I... for one, cannot wait for you to regale your old father with your tales.”

She smiled. It hurt. It burned, and it hurt, and she could barely take it, but she smiled. She mouthed a silent, ‘Okay,’ and closed her eyes. Silence took her, but the pain remained. Deep in her heart and her mind, the pain remained.

At last, she had been reunited with her beloved parents, but this was not - not ever - how she had imagined it.