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libraryofcirclaria · 3 months ago

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08 September 1281

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Six: Meona Bell

I'm trying to piece together what happened since I last wrote. Everything Ivella told me when I first woke up in the University Hospital Wing made no sense to me. How Carter almost caught her...how she got away...her background...

I have somewhat of a vague memory of the Caucus Chamber. It was on fire. Or was it just smoke and sparks? Was that yesterday? Or was it last week? Or a month ago?

I know that Daniel Carter and Julian got into a fight? But why would they be hurling spellfire discharges at each other?

Or was it Kara Martins? Yes. I remember now. Carter wasn't there. Or maybe he was on the Dais. And then Kara lashed out at Julian. First, it was shouting. Then it was spellfire dueling.

Wait. No. Ceri Mains was there. And she attacked them both. She barged in. Either that or one of her cronies slipped into the Chamber among other Members. I don't remember Ceri emerging from the Audience Section though. She was just spontaneously there.

Ivella is telling me that the later in time I think, the worse it is. So I need to go back to the beginning, the morning of September 6.

That does seem clearer to me. So here goes, 1281 September 6:

Shortly after breakfast came a knock on my Guestroom Door. To my complete surprise, I saw standing at the door a very aged version of Daniel Orville Carter, himself.

"Meona now, is it?" he said. When I answered, he shook my hand and gave me a hug. "A very beautiful addendum."

"I didn't know you'd respond so quickly," I said.

"To what?" Carter said, finding himself a seat. "If you sent a message, I never got it. I was staying up the road from here since yesterday. I picked up on your name over the phone with Dungeonmaster Julian." Carter reached into his coat pocket and pulled out an envelope. "By the way, I also have an important letter from Miss Ivella; and I need to take this to Julian in person. As you can see noted, we are not to mention this letter to anyone but Julian and his close company. And no one but Julian may open this letter and read it."

"So you've come to get me to take with you to Julian?" I asked.

"You seemed to have read my mind," Carter said, standing up again. "I'm afraid I have no time for coffee and biscuits if that's what your plans were. We'll have that later."

The Campus Watch checkpoint was still up. In fact, they stepped things up by doing a more thorough search of our bags and persons. Within a very short amount of time, however, we were in Dungeonmaster Julian's Office, where Carter handed Julian the letter and ordered him to read it.

"Finally, a sign from her," Julian said grudgingly but relieved. "Right on the day of my big talk." But when he read, the look of relief fell from his face, which turned pale and blank. With his hand shaking, he handed the letter to me. "Meona. Tell me what you make of this."

I looked at the letter. Apparently, Ivella Ogden boarded an airship in Clareon, the capital of the Mid-Westerlies, and intended to ride a flight to Savel, from where she would take a cable train to Ereautea. However, the airship she was on experienced an engine failure, forcing them to make an emergency landing in the island-nation of Monassa. That was, of course, a customs nightmare for her, because Monassa has been an independent country since 1249. So she had to wait for a copy of her passport to be mailed to her.

In addition to that, there was also heavy traffic due to summer travels; so Ivella had to wait a week before finally boarding an airship back to Savel, putting her hopelessly behind schedule.

I read the second part of the letter aloud but in a quiet voice: "...However, Julian, you don't need to be afraid, and I'm saying this for two reasons: first, I know Mary Kormann very well, much more than you think. Despite her demeanor and appearance, she is very resilient. Ceri Mains is no match for her.

"Second, in watching and even involving myself in the protection of the Cabotton community during this uncertain time, I've been made aware, much to my surprise, that Ceri Mains actually has no intention whatsoever to harm Mary Kormann or otherwise infiltrate the Society, despite what certain media sources may say.

"I cannot explain why I am saying this in this letter because that involves disclosing dangerous information that I cannot risk being leaked in the unlikely event that this message gets intercepted, but I promise that I will speak with you when I finally arrive, at which point everything will make sense. In the meantime, I must ask something unusual of you. And that is to have, what you may deem, blind faith in what I've told you and to use your best judgement given the circumstances.

"I will hopefully arrive by this coming Sunday, September 9. Again, once I explain everything in person, you will be left with no more questions on the matter. Sincerely, Ivella Marie Ogden."

Julian shook his head. "That...this just...None of it makes sense," he said hysterically. "At all...I have to be on the podium in..." Julian paused and looked at his watch. "Ninety minutes!" Julian stood up and began to pace frantically. "Ninety minutes from this very moment! I have to reassure the Caucus that everything is going to be alright! And then I have Kara Martins and those other buffoons to deal with!" Julian snatched the letter from me, crumpled it up, and threw it at the wall. "That daft woman, Ivella! How could she say this!? How could she be in complete denial!?"

"She is running that darkfire sanctuary, you know. I'm afraid it's possible she may have been swayed," Carter said, and for a brief moment, I remembered back to when Julian had mentioned that diplomacy was questionable between the two figures.

"What do we do, Daniel Carter? Meona Bell?" Now there was desperation in Julian's voice.

"You're a Dungeonmaster now," Carter said. "Think!"

"Oh great!" Julian said sarcastically. "Thanks for your encouragement!"

"Let's talk to Mary Kormann," I said suddenly, standing up and lifting a calming hand to both of them. "Let's see if she has some words of encouragement to say...to the Caucus, I mean."

"You're starting to sound like Ivella now," Julian said accusingly.

"Do you have a better alternative, Mackwell?" Carter asked sternly.

Julian paused and sat back down. It seemed that he shrank and grew weaker. "Fine," he said. "Let's try Mary."

It was overcast and thundering, I remember. Small scattered thunderstorms was what the Weather Bureau called for. With that and the tight schedule, we made our way briskly to Mary Kormann's dormitory, located in Fleming House.

It was there where I met Dyla Cormick for the first time. She introduced herself and said that Mary was busy at the moment. Just then, Mary came out of her bedroom, accompanied by a tall and somewhat muscly figure named "Parker."

"Who are you to Mary?" Carter asked Parker. "Friend? Boyfriend?"

"Nah," Parker said. "Friend since childhood?"

"Who are you?" Mary asked, pointing at Carter and hiding behind Parker. "Are you a Ceri Mains thug?"

"Quite the opposite," Carter said. "I'm here to make sure Ceri doesn't get to you."

"Are you sure?" Mary asked. "I don't trust you."

Carter turned to me and Julian and said, "I'll remove myself out of sight for the time being. Call me when you're done."

I remember at that point wondering if Parker, himself, was actually a Ceri Mains accomplice influencing Mary. I almost tried to pull Julian aside to voice that concern but Julian was already in conversation with Mary. He was explaining to her how Ivella did not have answers yet.

"But she's aware of you and your safety, and is working on a solution," Julian concluded. "In the meantime, everyone else in the Caucus is scared too. We need to say something to them to make them feel better. Mary, what would you say right now to make them feel better?"

"Oh...well...I don't know...Let me think." Mary paused, sat down, closed her eyes and said, "Think...think...think..." repeatedly for the next few moments. "Oh I know," she finally said, springing to her feet and smiling gleefully like an eight-year-old. "I'd tell everyone everything you told me. And then I'd tell everyone how I have you and you and you and all these other friends to protect me." She pointed to me, Julian, and Parker when she said her last sentence. "It's just...I'm really shy..." Then she whispered, "I don't want to be on the Podium."

"You don't have to be," Parker said, gently patting her on the back. "Julian'll speak for you."

"Parker's right," Julian agreed. "I've got you there, Mary. Thank you for helping me figure out what to say though."

I called Daniel Carter back. It was twenty-five minutes before that meeting was due to start, so we set off, once again, at a quick pace.

On the way over, we talked about how things would go with this important moment. Before long, it was agreed upon that Daniel Carter, Dyla, Mary, and I would sit on the Dais by up in the front by the Podium while Julian stood and gave his speech. Meanwhile, Parker would be sitting in the Audience Section to give Mary encouragement with the presence of a friendly face.

I remember the thunder being a little louder and a little closer, though not as intense as the storm that destroyed that Great Oak Tree. Nevertheless, there were two reasons to hurry.

On the way over, we walked by a couple of Campus Watch Officers. No doubt, they were stepping up patrols since the news of Ceri Mains in Gentry County. It was all very scary for Miss Kormann, though, and I saw her flinch.

"Are those Ceri Mains thugs in disguise?" Mary asked.

Parker put a comforting hand on Mary. "Rest assured they are not," he said.

"And neither is Daniel Carter," I added. For a quick moment, I pulled them aside and flagged down one of the Watch Officers, who shook Mary's hand and gave a friendly reassurance.

"She thinks I'm one of Ceri's thugs," Carter added.

"Oh wow," the Officer laughed. "Carter's been here a million times. If he was an accomplice, we would've caught him by now."

It was when we entered the Side Hallways lining the Caucus, which was full and ready for Julian's big speech, when Daniel Carter bugged out.

"Gotta go," he said quickly. "Start without me. I'll join in the audience later."

Right when we needed his presence the most, I thought to myself.

Nevertheless, we entered the Chamber through the side door next to the Dais. The crowd fell to a murmur, expecting Julian to make his moment. Julian ascended the Dais first, then came myself, and then the other three.

"I'm okay with just Meona, you, and Julian," I heard Mary say. I turned around behind me. "Parker's not here but that's okay," Mary said to me.

That's when I realized that I did not remember seeing Parker since we were outside. But I didn't have time to think on that.

"Well, well, well. Look who decided to 'make a commitment' after all," someone said. I turned to the audience and saw that Peter Crane and Kara Martins were standing together in the front row to my left.

"Roll call!" shouted the Bookkeeper on the Podium now before I could say or do anything.

I never got a chance to know who the current Bookkeeper was or his name. He was clearly one of the professors, though, as a few Society Members are, and this one was nearing retirement.

I remember, now, whispering to Julian how they needed to change how that was done. The Dungeonmaster called the first 100 Members on the Roster; and as soon as 100 vote present, the session would begin. Julian was about to respond when a large clap of thunder outside startled the Caucus.

"Order please," the Bookkeeper said. When he finally finished, he yielded the Podium to Julian. And so Julian began his speech.

"I understand the fear, and yes it feels omnipresent," Julian began. "But rest assured, we, all of us, are constantly vigilant in protecting the Society given the situation. I have spoken with Ivella Ogden recently. She does not yet have a concise answer, but she has shelved all of her other commitments in order to focus on what is best for the Society-"

"Like what!?" Kara Martins cut in. And that was how it started. I'll never forget her shouting that, the sound of a few dozen Members shouting in support of her, and the Bookkeeper telling her to sit down and be quiet. She rounded on the Bookkeeper. "Oh so you're part of it too?"

"The Dungeonmaster is speaking!" said the Bookkeeper. "I said sit down and be quiet!"

"You and Ceri will not subjugate me!" Kara shouted, barging out into the Center Aisle. "You know about the thing with the Academy strike, right? All the faculty across all the schools are thinking of it as I speak! It's coming, I tell you! Now's the time for all of you to rise up too! Rise up and bring down these evil cronies!" She pointed at us as she said those last two words.

"Stewards! Take her away!" the Bookkeeper called amidst the growing tumult in the Audience. This turned into an uproar as the Stewards went in to take away Kara out into the Side Halls.

Suddenly, someone ran into the Chamber, shouting, "Ceri Mains has been reported on Campus!" This made the uproar in the Chamber turn into screams and panic.

"Order! Order!" the Bookkeeper shouted. "Everyone remain in their seats! This session is suspended until further notice! Stewards keep Kara in the Hallway once we resume!"

But those words were no good. Just at the moment, the Campus Watch arrived.

"Session will resume tomorrow!" the Bookkeeper shouted.

"This building's being evacuated!" an Officer called. "Everyone leave now!"

"Except you!" another Officer said, pointing at Mary. "We need to speak with you!"

Mary tried to squirm away. I tried to take her hand and calm her, but she took out a talisman and hurled a Stun Spell discharge at me. I did not expect that, but somehow I dodged that first hit and dove behind a seat. Campus Watch Officers tried hitting Mary with their rounds of Stun Spells but Mary had a good Shield Spell. Then she saw me and hurled another Stun Spell discharge, which hit me square in the face.

Next thing I remembered was waking up in this Hospital Wing.

"You were emotionally swayed, Meona," Ivella said to me. "You knew something was off with her appearance. She is a prodigy, this Ceri Mains, but disguise as a different person is not one of her strengths. You picked up on that, but you were under 'darkfire entrapment,' which dominated your emotions. And that inhibited your ability to act on what would have been your logical instinct. That is what I assume happened with you, anyway."

"You're not that far from the truth," I said.

So I learned from Ivella many things having elapsed since Thursday night. First, Ceri Mains, despite being surrounded by scores of Campus Watch Officers in that Caucus Chamber, managed to escape, and is currently at large.

And I still can't fathom the idea of Mary Kormann actually being Ceri Mains in disguise.

Second, Daniel Carter is in pursuit. I realized now that I was not the only one suspicious of that figure named Parker. It turns out that Parker was actually Kevin Mains, the cousin of Ceri Mains. Carter picked up on this on our way into the Caucus Chamber when Kevin Mains slipped away from us unnoticed. Carter noticed and went after him, which was why Carter had to leave us.

And they confronted each other. Apparently, Carter tried to stop him, but Kevin Mains turned around and struck him with a Stun Spell.

I thought back to the clap of thunder I heard during the roll call. Perhaps that's what I heard.

And apparently, Ceri Mains and Kevin Mains were, in fact, tied to the ongoing Weyne-North feud. I requested news periodicals brought to me so that I could read up.

So it began between the years 1200 and 1230 that both the Weynes and the Norths had moved out into what was considered the territory of the former nation of Wannonia as part of the big Combrian Settlement plan. There was a competition between the two families to have the highest value in property held, especially with land.

At one point, the Weynes bought partial farmland from the North family. On that plot was built a house at the end of a long driveway; this would come to be 1093 Cunningham Drive. The surrounding land was empty and remote but was eventually developed into the town of Orsbendock in the Province of Nintel. The driveway was converted into an actual street and the house became the address of 1093 Cunningham Drive.

So the Weynes built the house, hiring workers from the North family with the deal that the Norths would be allowed to live in that house for rent paid to the Weyne family. The Norths agreed to this. However, once the house was finished and they moved in, the Norths discovered that they had to share the household with Weyne tenants who claimed partial residence. Furthermore, rent was too high. As a result, the Norths handed a list of grievances to the Weyne landlords, who responded by deeming the North tenants to be a nuisance and evicted them.

The first Holz Finzi incident in the year 1237 left an opportunity for the North family to retaliate, because numerous members of the Weyne family had Involuntary Darkfire Conjuration Syndrome. The Norths convinced the surrounding community to label the Weynes and had the local government at the time blacklist them from their property holdings at the time and hand them to the North family. This gave the North family 1093 Cunningham Drive.

Then came the Retunian Revolution, which began in 1238. Once that war passed, won by the Retunian Republic, which established itself in place of the old Combrian government, the new government did away with "family condemnation," meaning that the Weyne family could regain some of their properties.

This did not include 1093 Cunningham Drive, however. That still remained under possession of the North family because in that time, there was a will written on it. The Weynes would have received it back regardless since they were technically the original owners, but the Weynes never wrote a will on it. And thus, 1093 Cunningham Drive became became a point of contention between the two families in the decades to follow.

By the 1270s and 1280s, the North family had members living in various locations throughout the Eastern part of Nintel, particularly in North Kempton, where they had particularly strong social connections; and they were quite the sociable family, apparently, having connections across all the places where they lived. Meanwhile, the Weyne family was more spread out, having residences in that same area but also in Gymia and Western Ereautea. Half of the Weyne family has the Darkfire Syndrome, half of whom reside in the Mount Carris Perimeter. And of the combined afflicted Weynes living inside and outside of the Perimeter, about half are in some way involved with the dangerous darkfire cartels.

The Weynes, like the Norths, are also sociable, but are popular with the marginalized Darkfire Syndrome demographic.

So tension had been building between the families over the past 100 years or so, but had been mounting especially between the 1250s and now. The Weynes had felt that the Norths would, at some point in the years to come, lobby both the County and Provincial legislatures to pass laws effectively bringing back "family condemnation." Though such legislation never materialized, many Weynes felt compelled to defend themselves by force, and began joining the community spellfire combat legions. Many of these legions, as we all know, charge tuition; and it's not cheap. Some of these Weynes turned to the darkfire cartel market to help pay for those training courses.

There was felt a mutual benefit there, however, because some Weynes decided to delve completely into the darkfire market, utilizing the skills gained in the legions. This would ultimately lead to direct involvement with Ceri Mains.

Meanwhile, the Norths were aware that the Weynes were arming themselves. And so the Norths, themselves, began training in community spellfire combat legions. The difference here, however, is that the North family is reputedly evangelist, and vowed never to involve themselves with darkfire, securing donations from churches instead.

Concerning 1093 Cunningham Drive, the North family apparently carved out a perpetual will, which ultimately played a role in sparking all the violence in the first place. This was written by Roseanne North in 1274, and was certified by a court of law and dictated that the deed to the house, upon death of the owner, who go to the husband or wife; if there was no living spouse, then the deed would go to the oldest son, or the oldest daughter if there was no son. If the married couple in question had no children, then the house would go to the oldest son in the "extended North family."

Richard and Roseanne North, husband and wife, inherited the house in 1243, after which the perpetual will was crafted at some point. In 1259, Richard North died, thus the deed went to Roseanne. Then in 1276, Roseanne North died; the house then went to her daughter, Bella North Kormann, who was married to Jon Kormann but was still considered a North under the will, and was eligible as Roesanne's eldest daughter since Richard and Roseanne had no sons.

Nonetheless, with Bella's last name being Kormann due to the marriage, this inheritance was the first in the North family history that handed 1093 Cunningham Drive to an individual whose legal last name was not North.

On 22 March 1281, Jon and Bella Kormann were both found dead at 1093 Cunningham Drive, with the cause of death determined to be poisoning. Their murderer is still at large, to this day, and has not been identified. Regardless, Jon and Bella, both 35 years of age at the time of their deaths, had no children, nor did they have a will prepared of their own; and thus the perpetual will had to be invoked.

But therein stood the conflict of interest. There had been a change in Nintel Provincial Law concerning the definition of "extended family," which took effect on 1 June 1276. Before that date, Nintel Law considered the term, "extended family," to mean all direct relatives, including one's first cousin or closer, with the same last name as yours, regardless of whether or not your descendent had a different last married name in the event they don't write a will themselves; therefore, under this version, the house was to go to someone in the North family.

The Province of Nintel was, up until 1276, the only Province in the Retunian Republic to have Provincial Law defining "extended family" in this way. This apparently caused a headache in court cases involving property disputes between parties in different provinces. So Nintel, under pressure from the other provinces as well as the federal government, made a change to said law, which took effect on 1 June 1276, to define "extended family" to mean all direct relatives including first cousin and closer of either you or your spouse regardless of whether or not you write a will, under the pretext that a perpetual will now applies to you and not the original author of that perpetual will. This would mean that the house, in this case, would go to someone in the Kormann family.

Again, this created a point of contention. But the ultimate controversy was this: Roseanne North wrote out the perpetual will in November 1274, before the change in Provincial Law was made and took effect. The change took effect on 1 June 1276. And then Roseanne died on 2 June 1276.

Obviously, this controversy could not be resolved without legal intervention; so a case was made to John Trayne, Arbitrator in service of Tradehouse County, who stated that the deed shall be signed over to Henry North, based on the notion that Roseanne had the earlier definition of "extended family" in mind.

However, the Kormann family disputed this, stating that since Roseanne did not have an actual individual in mind to receive the estate in the event of the deaths of Jon and Bella, the residence should go to Robert Kormann in adherence to the will based on the "extended family" definition in place after the 1 June 1276 change, since Roseanne died on June 2. This drew a rebuttal from the North family, stating that the will was signed on 18 November 1274, meaning that regardless of whether or not Roseanne intended a certain individual as a recipient of the estate in the event of Jon and Bella's deaths, the earlier law needs to apply.

Within his bounds in accordance to law, Arbitrator Trayne could not resolve this dispute, and was forced to turn the case over to court for a proper hearing and trial. The first of these took place in the Tradehouse County Courthouse on 14 April 1281, during which both the Kormanns and the Norths voiced their aforementioned arguments.

It was at this point that there was a big hole in the Provincial law revealed with no statement covering whether the law should interpret the will based on when it was signed or based on when the author of the will died. And apparently the gap was present in both the earlier and later laws. Judge Mervin Tame, presiding over this case, stated that every possible written statement by Roseanne that can be found must be collected and combined with witness testimony from both sides regarding interactions with Roseanne to determine what Roseanne had intended. The court was to reconvene on 18 April.

During the time that elapsed, Ceriph Wayne apparently approached Todd Buorning, Head Juror of the case; and there was a jury there owing to the intensity of the controversy. Ceriph had apparently promised Todd a good retirement if he promised to do everything possible to ensure the Jury did not side with the North family. Todd had sent a ticker message accepting the deal in secret; and Ceriph replied with an extended message of thanks.

This, neither I nor anyone else out there in the world would have ever known, had it not been for Todd's apparent absent-mindedness. This earned him the reputation these days as the "worst Head Juror in history." Upon receiving the ticker message of thanks from Ceriph, Todd had this stashed in his personal briefcase, which he accidentally left on a chair at a small cafe in one of the smaller towns in Tradehouse County. An anonymous person very much interested in this case, spotted the briefcase and the message hanging out of it, and had this message delivered directly to the Desk of Judge Mervin Tame, himself. Tame ordered the entire message exchange pulled from the wires.

And so on 18 April 1281, the court convened again. The Judge read the entire message exchange publicly and then subsequently ordered Ceriph and Todd jailed. He then dismissed the whole Jury and declared a mistrial, ordering a second retrial to be scheduled for October of 1282 and also ordering that 1093 Cunningham to remain vacant.

Rochelle North was, obviously, of the North family, raised by their ideals. However, she never "fit in" with the North family or their traditions, especially of their evangelist faith. She was always seen by herself and others as a "rebel."

At some point, she began a romantic relationship with Adam Kormann, who was close friends with Robert and Edward Weyne. Of that group, Rochelle was the leader; and they reputedly became involved in the illegal darkfire trade.

On the evening of 21 April 1281, they broke into the residence of 1093 Cunningham Drive.

Roger North, cousin of Rochelle North, had a completely different outlook, being truly loyal to the North family and their values. He was aware of Rochelle's plan and intended to confront her when she carried it out. Roger had two friends: Christopher Morriston and Charles Grodd, the latter of the two, may I mention, was a very close friend of Cray Fenton.

So on 21 April 1281, Roger, Christopher, and Charles went to 1093 Cunningham Drive and confronted Rochelle, Robert, and Edward. Suddenly, as all six individuals were armed and trained with spellfire talismans, all hell broke loose.

No one is sure what exactly happened but the end result was that the back add-on section of the house caught fire, warranting a call to the Fire Department. They extinguished the flames before too much was damaged. But the outcome was tragic; for they had discovered that Rochelle North, Roger North, and Adam Kormann were killed. Christopher and Charles were taken to the hospital but both survived and recovered. The same held true for Robert and Edward Weyne, but evidence emerged leading to the arrest of the latter two.

Thus the feud ignited. On 1 May 1281, the Weyne family struck back with a spellfire attack on a group of the Norths in a street battle in Orsbendock. Both sides suffered a few deaths while both Norths and Weynes, and their friends, were arrested.

The Norths retaliated on 7 May 1281, during which Tom North lured Casey Weyne into what she thought was a blind date starting on an airship leaving the Tradehouse County Airfield. As she arrived at the Airfield Tram Station, though, she was ambushed by North family thugs. She had brought Weyne family thugs of her own for precaution, but the fighting was intense enough and in a significant enough public space that the feud started to gain national attention.

Nevertheless, the violence spread. On 17 May, deadly fighting between the Norths and Weynes and their friends took place in neighboring Lyndon County. Between 18 and 24 May emerged reports of deadly fighting in Tradehouse County, Lyndon County, and Worden County. Between 1 and 8 June, the fighting spread to Torrens County and West Front County in Ereautea, and also to Shon County in Gymia.

On 11 June, Prime Minister Edward Jackson addressed the crisis, which now spread into Dearing County, and declared a national emergency, placing all the counties involved thus far under direct martial law to be administered by the Retunian Civil Guard.

And then, on 12 June 1281, Ceri Mains escaped. As it turns out, she was aided by Charles Kormann, based on a ticker message exchange pulled by the authorities shortly after the September 6 incident.

Neither he, nor Ceri, nor her other friends are to be found anywhere at this time.

<- 05 September 1281 <- || -> 09 September 1281 ->

#LOC-ThirdLevelSociety #LOC-TLS_FirstVersion #LOC-TLS-FirstVersion-6-MeonaBell

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f1rstwatch · 1 year ago

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SORRY IF I CONFUSE YOU WITH MY TAGS ON YOUR POST!

This is a "tagging my OCs" blog run by @sunstartle! I just like sorting, mostly. Sorry.

So, who are these characters?

Glad someone would definitely willingly ask that! The characters focused on here are from the FirstVerse: my superhero worldbuilding project that I’ve been working on for ~3-4 years.

I plan on doing something with it but that goal is a very moving target and I change my mind on it all the time. I'm mostly set on the fact that it will be something 3D, though.

The First Watch takes place on a fictionalized Earth in 2022 & revolves around the titular First Watch, a team of teenage superheroes who defend their city, Wynsbury, from evil, and especially from the supervillain organization the SeaSong Network.

It is largely unfinished, but if you are someone interested in specific worldbuilding details (I am very flattered!) my work-in-progress worldbuilding document can be found here. You can also find sketches, fun stuff, etc here!

MAIN CAST:

Annulet (16, she/her), professional anxious perfectionist & team leader of the First Watch. Her tag is #c.annulet.

180 (16, she/her), ball of energy with questionable decision-making skills & member of the First Watch. Her tag is #c.180.

Kudzu (17, she/her), cuttingly practical lone wolf & member of the First Watch. Her tag is #c.kudzu.

Sunstrike (15, he/him), slightly off-putting sweetheart & the youngest member of the First Watch. His tag is #c.sunstrike.

… & Nox (???, mirrored pronouns in universe & they/them in narrated text), their mandatory Little Creature Guy! Their tag is #c.nox.

MAJOR SIDE CHARACTERS:

Rowan (16, he/him), Kudzu’s adoptive brother & source of her powers. His tag is #c.rowan.

Fern (20, she/her), Rowen’s eldest sister & the unofficial second in command of the Woodfolke. Her tag is #c.fern.

Lull (16, they/them), chronic insomniac & chronic pessimist working part-time as a superhero for the Polis Guard. Their tag is #c.lull.

Dashtag (18, they/them in uniform only), overprotective adrenaline junkie & part-time superhero with the Polis Guard. Their tag is #c.dashtag.

Flashfire (18, they/them in uniform only), mysterious & often-gloomy part-time superhero for the Polis Guard. Their tag is #c.flashfire.

Siren (38, she/her), The Big Bad; the CEO of the SeaSong Network. Her tag is #c.siren.

Divinity (19, he/him), charming egomaniac demigod & semi-supervillain ‘unwillingly’ working for the SeaSong Network. His tag is #c.divinity.

Sly Fox (16, he/they), cat (fox?) burglar supervillain working for the SeaSong Network. His tag is #c.slyfox.

Lady Laia (~200ish at time of death, she/her, deceased), Holy One of Sonnets who died to win the Second Revolution on Fyolynd. Her tag is #c.laia.

Lord Azbithe (~20ish at time of death, he/him, deceased), Fyrefolke who died to win the Second Revolution on Fyolynd. His tag is #c.azbithe.

Noctim, the Kingslayer (~3000, they/them), Holy One of the Night. Killed their own brother. Their tag is #c.noctim.

OTHER CHARACTERS:

Polis Guard: Kinetika (x), Vivo (x), Scarlet Signal (x), Rover (x), Jamboree (x).

SeaSong Network: Micheal Smith (x), Quinten Bel (x), Mecha (x), Switcheroo (x), Vice (x), Versa (x), Myotis (x).

Misc: Ophelia (x), Thyme (x), Kindness (x), Sentry (x), Mahogany (x), Motiantoze (x), Nikian (x), Lyrian (x), Aularka (x), Hoka (x).

There are others! So many others that I do not have the energy to write out as such. If/when they get tags, they will be tagged as c-dot-their name, like the others!

RELATIONSHIP TAGS:

If a post concerns the relationship between two characters, I will be tagging it with a specific relationship tag to help filtering. Relationship tags will not be added if the post applies to both/all of the tagged characters separately, only if it specifically concerns their intrapersonal connection(s).

The vast majority of the relationship tags are PLATONIC!

Annulet & 180: #r.flipmoth . Annulet & Kudzu: #r.anzu . Annulet & Sunstrike: #r.dawn

180 & Kudzu: #r.flipivy . 180 & Sunstrike: #r.eightsun

Kudzu & Sunstrike: #r.solzu

Entire Team: #r.fw

Annulet & Micheal: #r.mothsibs . Annulet & Noctim: #r.nightmoth . Annulet & Sly Fox: #r.foxmoth . Annulet & Myotis: #r.batnmoth

180 & Lull: #r.technicolor

Kudzu & Rowan: #r.kudrow . Kudzu & Fern: #r.sprout . Kudzu & Rowan & Fern: #r.ivyleague

Sunstrike & Rowan: #r.woodsmoke . Sunstrike & Dashtag: #r.dashstrike . Sunstrike & Flashfire: #r.eclipse . Sunstrike & Dashtag & Flashfire: #r.takethree . Sunstrike & Divinity: #r.waxwings . Sunstrike & Sly Fox: #r.slysun

Rowan & Fern: #r.fernrow . Fern & Dashtag: #r.dashfern

Dashtag & Flashfire: #r.dashflash . Dashtag & Divinity: #r.angelchase

Flashfire & Divinity: #r.tropic . Siren & Divinity: #r.angelangel

Lady Laia & Lord Azbithe: #r.lazbithe

I will add any additional relationship tags as they come up / if needed!

FACTION TAGS:

If a post involves one or more members of an organization, the organization will receive an H-tag.

#h.firstwatch | #h.polisguard | #h.seasong

If a post directly concerns the organization itself, the organization will receive an O-tag.

#o.firstwatch | #o.polisguard | #o.seasong

OTHER TAGS:

#a.bestfit is for posts that I consider (subjectively) to be the "best fits". Not necessarily 'faves' but posts I find to be the most consistent with the tagged character(s).

POST SORTING:

Sorting tags are S-tags! They define the type of post and also how I am interpreting it.

#s.mine: Posts I have made / written myself; non-reblogs. Planned to be largely uncommon.

#s.myart: Again, not planning on posting much/any of this, but if I do, art I have drawn myself will go here.

#s.ask: If anyone sends asks here (which you are more than welcome to do!), they will be posted under this tag.

#s.info: Any informational posts written by me -- such as this one!

#s.ooc: Posts about writing, character creation, etc that I feel apply to the tagged character(s).

#s.fits: Posts that could apply to or be talking about the tagged character(s) and do not refer to anyone involved as fictional.

#s.ic: Posts I can imagine actually being written or said by the tagged character(s).

#s.aesthetic: Moodboards or general images fitting the aesthetic vibes of the tagged character(s).

#s.energy: Typically images of the unhinged variety that carry the energy or vibes of the tagged character(s).

And I think... that might be all! Thanks so much to anyone who actually read this and I'm sorry if this blog still manages to be a disorganized nightmare even with this system... lol.

#s.mine #s.info

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