#godfrey calainon

[forgottenroderick]

OOC | Roderick & Event 5

idk how to title this bc like...basically summary thoughts/ideas now that we know the results of the tourney etc!! ok so like...the overall winners:

GRAND TOTAL FOR REWARDS:

Roderick Varmont: 600,000 crowns

Arthur Varmont: 600,000 crowns

Bran O'Connor: 330,000 crowns

Cathaoir Rith: 330,000 crowns

Finley Doyle: 300,000 crowns

Edmund Varmont; 300,000 crowns

Eoin Varmont: 300,000 crowns

Tristan Calanion: 90,000 crowns

Alaric Varmont: 60,000 crowns

Godfrey Calanion: 30,000 crowns

Sebastian Varmont: 30,000 crowns

ok so roderick feels that he knows what's up w ~everyone~ (godfrey: *looks directly into the camera*) in this roundup except BRAN O'CONNOR, CATHAOIR RITH, and FINLEY DOYLE who're all native peasant (lol) astairans who're all redoubtable warriors AND able to work together in a fighting unit to achieve a goal, and all of that comes together to make them highly sus!!!!!!! esp bc they're def all men ;DDDD

so yeah im def thinking there will be a looooovely lil gala to fete the winners in which they'll just happen to want to show bran, cathaoir, and finley smth realllllllly cool in the crypts cask of amantillado style ;DDDDD jk jk they're not getting bricked in but they ARE getting nabbed and questioned. ronana and kale are ofc prepared for that...do you think brigit would be prepared for some shenanigans of the type given her obv distrust of roderick?

either way, i feel like some rescue operation is probs planned and they'd probs take this bran guy w them (def would tho if they know its brigit but! even if they don't!) and yeahhhhh idk!!! but my point is i can def see where, given her winnings etc @forgottenbrigit might get roped into all of this mess alkjsdfajksdf brigit: 'i was just tryna save my home' ronan and kale probs: 'hey! same!' lakjsdflksjdfj

also if roderick ever learns that bran and brigit are the same person that right there will be cause enough for him to think her a witch alksdjfklsdjkjsdf he requires no further proof laksdjflksjdf that awk moment when you really ~are a witch but that's just a total coincidence that has nothing to do w any of the reasons why this dude is saying you are lakjsflkjsdfjk

also total sidenote but i would like to say that roderick isn't proud that every single one of his sons got rewarded. he simply expected that it would be so. and sebastian should be glad he's not in contention to be heir rn bc otherwise, having gotten the lowest, roderick would probs be mad at him. as it is...that's to be expected. but he ~is a lil miffed that he got beat out by a kolchean tristan: 'im literally part of ur honor guard. i fight for a living. sebastian doesn't??? also...im standing right here???' anyway sebastian's kinda spared bc mostly he's miffed at bartholomew for making their house look bad by not winning anything smdh alskjfskldjfksldf

[forgotteneabha]

OOC | Eabha & Event 5

no lie, eabha lowkey wishes, if she could have gotten away w it, that fiona and not cormac had been the one to enter in the tournament!! she would have gotten further than those funds could've done sm for calleary esp (hanthom is overall doing pr ok except that its being occupied etc but still!)

she's also disgusted the cormac bet big on cassimir and thus lost a tonnn of money lajskdfajdsjfk she's like idek how he does it he lost money just sitting in the stands lkjasdflkjsdfjk

anyway some stuff we wrote in replies etc:

Forgot to say…Cormac only betted on Cassimir <3 Eabha: you somehow just lost us even ~more money wo doing anything at all today except getting dressed…

eabha’d probs lowkey feel out alaric abt it and if he seemed receptive she’d be like ‘crazy idea alert!!’ real smoothie over here hasdfjsdf hers would be a blue silk ribbon depicting the arms of calleary

lizzysrps said:  @quillington sadfsajflsdkjf omg!!! Alaric would definitely wear Eabha’s...Kale may have asked Eabha ngl only to find she’d given her’s to Alaric and so instead would probably ask Isolda or Fiona

  @lizzysrps i gotta laugh bc ~both eabha and cillian like Y E S S S S abt how this turned out w their respective varmont alkjsdfakjsdf 

@forgottenfinnegan real talk, i feel like eabha and ofc fiona <3 have some actual weapons training…they aren’t allowed to enter. cormac, who is a danger to himself and those around him (but not in the way you want in this kinda competition) ~is allowed alkdsjfkjlds eabha: this whole situation is so unserious…

eabha is honestly super embarrassed that cormac 1) entered in the competition when everyone knew how that'd go and then 2) pulled out at the last moment w the stupidest reasons like....house calleary just looking like fools rn and that pains her ngl la;ksdjfkljsdf like it would've been ~more embarrassing if he'd entered and made a display of himself like he was def gonna do but like...if he was just gonna pull out w the stupidest excuse just...don't enter man!!!! its ~that easy slkdjfkalsdjfj honestly literally every single decision he makes as lord makes her cringe so hard alksjdflkjsdfj

she was def v pleased that alaric wore her favor bc surely that bodes well for their courtship!!!!! she, however, felt terrible when poor kale asked for it...and she had to reject him kljadsfjkkfjds but she was greatly relieved when he was wearing ~someone's at the tourney!!

i feel like hanthom used to always have these like...shipwright contests and ragattas in the summer so i think she's probs wanting to get @forgottengodfrey to agree to continue that ngl! they need the money from those prizes more than ever rn!! and honestly i think he'll consent its a good opportunity for him to find the best shipwrights etc while also garnering some popularity w the ppl etc aljsdfkljsdf

i think she's also hoping to sponsor a similar program at lorcan bc its ppl have def also been through it and they've got a whole lake so boats may be different etc but still!!! so she's def wanting to talk to @forgottenaine abt that and abt approaching rian abt it too! (eabha thinks hes more likely to hear aine out than her interloper sister) but i think she also wants to get allll her siblings actively involved in that, if it goes through!!! @forgottencormac @forgottenfinnegan @forgottenfiona she feels all three of them would benefit from more constructive, hands-on interaction w the ppl, tho in vastly different ways lajdfkjsdf idk how accurate that is but its the thought lakjsdfkjdsf and also her peadar and clea but ~that just bc they need smth fun and happy and exciting to look forward to after everything they've been through, poor beans!!! plus, she thinks her ~dad would've wanted to start teaching them abt making ships etc right abt now so she's taking it upon herself as his heir (cormac sure as hell aint gonna!) to do it in his stead lsdkjfakldsf

i think eabha's looking to ideally estbalish a kinda school of like...shipwrights etc so ppl of their culture can continue to do well even w/in the empire etc and she feels confident they've got the skills so they can attract ppl from across the empire to invest and enroll and thus help pay for the poor of astira to enter as well etc and yeah!! as we know, eabha's thinking is less that astaira can cast off the varmont shackles and more abt how astairan can survive ~within the empire and yeah!! here's another thought she's got re: that

[forgottenroisin]

OOC | Enneagram & Tarot Numerology

ok so i stumbled on [ this post ], which talks abt the enneagram as sort of a...numerological play on tarot! w rosie being, herself, a type 7, this applies to her, big time!! i also have been looking into the tarot of lfr a bit myself (v new to tarot but find it really interesting for character work!) -- partially bc of a planned graphic that lbr will probs never actually get done! laksdjfklsjdf -- and id def associated her a lot w the seven of cups, too, bc of the imagination kinda thing, but the pentacle suit, in general, w house malconaire (bc of the earth associations to both) and...anyway im getting carried away but yeah reading this i was like !!!!! bc character arc reasons and im kinda like 'does this work out for all the characters' and kdsljafsldkjfjdf

anyway...no reason at all... ;DDDD what're your malconaires' various enneagrams? and/or do you have any thoughts on what tarot card(s) might represent them/their journey (regardless of whether the numbers match up!)? also non-malconaire characters!!!! i love character analysis i wanna hear it all (and ~~~~maybe potentially someday possibly do a graphic which may never ever appear i don't wanna get any expectations raised...that one i did of the malconaires for christmas was smth id been meaning to do for atp literally over a year soooo yeahhhh l;akjsfkljsdjf)

also also! what do we think bran and sorcha's might've been?

also if you're interested, here's a chart abt this:

the enneagram only goes from 1-9 ofc but yeah!!

anyway, so below is pure speculation ok but like!!!!! i think this might kinda be a thing???

another example: i know lizzy said that @forgottenbrigit is an enneagram 8, and numerologically, 8 lines up w the card of movement and action and, in that way change, which is esp interesting bc lizzy has also mentioned that brigit really hates change, but also she's got the literal fire of the gods (seeress!) going and in that sense does have the power to help inact change, etc.

additional example: i also know that kate's said that @forgottenarias is a type 2, and that's the number in tarot numerology that deals w balance but also opposites, opposing ideas, harmony, duality, dichotomy, etc!! and she's literally a captive and a powerhouse; a princess and a bastard, all at once, not to even get into the romeo and juliet thing she and arthur (who is also a two!) are giving into like!!

idk its not ~not there ig is what im saying alkjsfjksdf i just like digging into characters tho so...ngl this is just...largely all an excuse to do precisely that bahahaha

so i haven't done ~all my characters enneagrams officially but here're the ones I have:

rosie: 7

arthur: 2

roderick: 3

eilia: 1

valentina: 3

undecided/vibes based/not official:

godfrey: 5/1

tristan: 1/9

eabha: 6/3

cormac: 4

ronan: 1/8

cillian: 4/7

saoirse: 8

rian: 5/6

amira: 8

[forgottenedmund]

ooc | Edmund & the Tournament

Edmund is definitely moody af throughout this entire thing!

It is coming right off of his conversation with Rose where he admits to being the one to have led/orchestrated the battle of Malconaire (so fun conversation for everyone!)

And he basically feels like he has lost her friendship at this point!?!?

I feel like he trained really hard for this, more of a distraction from his feelings than any real desire to win???

Also, I think he is tired of feeling like a failure all the time in the eyes of his parents and like his one (1) success he has is winning at Malconaire #whoops

In the end, he does win against Alaric in the on foot melee, which is honestly probably as good as he would ever get and he is proud of this win but it doesn't feel as good as he thought it would

Gets beaten by "Bran" in archery and then ultimately Tristan on the on foot melee, but as Bran wins the archery competition and Tristan is Tristan, he isn't too upset about this

Does also win in the team melee, but he also chalks that up to being on the same team as his dad

Probably doesn't go to any of the social events/parties surrounding this unless he has to and then he is a moody little prick the entire time

(I do have a headcannon that at least one of his maternal uncles told him that they were proud of him and it was the highlight of the week)

[forgottenrian]

OOC | Rian & Event 5

Name: Rian Stafford Participating Categories: Jousting, Archery, Melee (on horse) Skill Levels in the Following –

Melee (on foot): Level #2

Melee (on horseback): Level #2

Archery: Level #2

Jousting: Level #2

Overall: 8

JOUSTING

Rian Stafford (round 2)

Roderick Varmont (WINNER)

here rian first went up against godfrey and beat him! i swear, no one was more surprised than rian! he then went on to be defeated by tristan

MELEE (ahorse)

Rian Stafford (round 2)

Arthur Varmont (WINNER)

rian went up against an unknown first so once again, till there's an rper, im hc'ing that this was either bartholomew or eoin, and defeated them, only to be brought down by arthur

ARCHERY

Rian Stafford (round 1)

Bran O'Connor/Brigit Malconaire (WINNER)

rian let everyone down here by letting cassimir get through to the second round ;DDDD no but brigit deserved to kick his ass soooo maybe it was a good thing after all teehee <3

TEAM MELEE

Alaric Varmont (captain/rank 16/team 2)

Cassimir Malconaire (rank 12/team 2)

Bartholomew Varmont (rank 12/team 2)

Cillian Ormond/Cillian Frost (rank 10/team 2)

Rian Stafford (rank 8/team 2)

Roderick Varmont (captain/rank 14/WINNER)

Arthur Varmont (rank 17/WINNER)

Finley Doyle/Kale Brennan (rank 14/WINNER)

Edmund Varmont (rank 12/WINNER)

Eoin Varmont (rank 12/WINNER)

rian really contributed big time to this loss, i feel, w his overall score of ~8 so booooooo!

rian: 'i am a scholar, not a fighter!'

saoirse: 'don't sell yourself short: you're ~also a traitor!'

anyway, dnd rules, i feel like he flat out rolled a nat 1 and just tanked the whole thing alkjsdfajksdf

anyway alkdsjfakljsdf i do think this will all galvanize him to take up more training etc esp w his royal ambitions he will need to be a lil more warlike!!

some stuff we mentioned re: rian

rian wanted to request aine’s [favor]…but then he didn’t bc he chickened out. he requested @forgottenguinevere ’s but idk how that went

so, not being a winner ~or a ruler, i dont think rian scored an invite to valentina's terrible afterparty (honestly he probs lucked out there bc he def woulda gone bc ~networking) but i ~am guessing that these rumors abt malconaire ~will be reaching his ears asp which will probs sour his feelings re: a marriage or smth there bc garbhan raising a lil varmont aint a good look no matter what hes tryna pull off, in his mind, so he's probs all the more like LETS REALLY DIVE DEEP re: the lorcan connection, since as a stafford they're ~already ancient astairan blood etc and the malconaires are now part varmont (except @forgottenbrigit so she might still be on the table in his mind lajksdafjksdf honestly, sorry, brigit alkjsdfjsdf) so its lorcan full-throttle alksjdfjsdf

anyway, can def see him inviting brigit up to lorcan to stay for a couple months!! he does ~not trust valentina to watch over her stepdaughters anymore! better than brigit be safe under aine's care, as lady lorcan, and amongst her own folk!

[forgotteneilionora]

OOC | Eilionora & the Tournament

eilia may have fewer options and opportunities than most, but she hasn't been idle, either! as we know, @forgottenpercy was able to reach out to eilia and @forgottenarias on behalf of the rebellion, and eilia -- whose been chomping at the bit for an opportunity to strike out against roderick and help her people -- jumped at the chance!

i do imagine that she probably asked percy if he'd heard anything abt siobhan and was frankly disheartened to hear that he hadn't but she's tryna remain optimistic nonetheless!

swapping the trophies for counterfeits under roderick's very nose took some doing, but eilia was glad to do it, and her voluminous skirts were no small help in the matter, either. but more so she was happy to share her extensive knowledge of the citadel with them -- both for use in the heist and, doubtless, in the future!

re: roderick, she's tryna give everyone the impression still that it'll never happen but the worse things get the more and more she's despairingly realizing that that's a horribly real possibility. getting in w the resistance has given her a lil bit of hope that maybe!! things might go another way tho!! so she's probs seeming generally cheerier -- when asked she will say it was being permitted to go out to the tourney and be in the sunshine etc heehee

eilia is also formulating a plan of her ~own that she hopes to pass on to percy when she's got the details hammered out, but -- now that she has some access to the outside world and specifically forces outside of stafford, basically the plan is to to starve out the citadel, forcing roderick to rely on provisions from across the empire to feed himself and the ppl. now, she's aware that he can and will do that and w the harbor right there it'll be straightforward enough but it ~will make it difficult for him to press forward from outside of the citadel bc he'll still need to eat and if he leaves the coast that'll become a much more difficult proposition so!! its not gonna really materially change anything its just gonna make logistics tougher on him specifically in striking at the resistance

this will require basically blocking off hanthom and malconaire (iirc those're the two closest counties/breadbaskets for the citadel?) from stafford, but eilia has an idea for that too, w the coming of summer there's gonna be lotsa rain and if a couple of dams happened to ~*~somehow~*~ be popped up at strategic routes (esp bc we know a big, strategic river flows right by malconaire, for example!) a lot of flooding could fairly easily cut stafford off, and what w wild flood waters being difficult and dangerous to navigate even by boat and the citadel itself leaving precious little room for farming, well, looking to the rest of the empire to ship you stuff becomes a must

i ~do think @forgottengodfrey would (probs unwitting to eilia's plan frankly hahaha but even if he knew...) counter by sailing out into the sea, around, and coming to stafford by sea -- edmund's forces coming to the relief of the beleaguered city! -- but even so itd take time etc and yeah!!

meanwhile, she means to do what she can to discredit roderick's lords to him. he doesn't really trust her tbqh but this still won't be too hard bc roderick ~is paranoid akljsdflkjsdf so like you suggest smth bad????? he may dismiss it at first but its starts sorta weaseling its way in so like -- roderick, have you ever noticed the way aleksander looks at amira? roderick, have you ever noticed the way godfrey is always gathering more and more riches and power? etc...and i do think, having had the misfortune of him living in her house these past two years, eilia's def picked up on this by now lkjasdlfkjskdjf

now roderick's depending on ppl he doesn't trust and isn't really able to move deeper into astaira w/o them...its a lil thing but!! its smth!! and eilia means to give it a go lakdjsfkljsdf

eilia: maybe i lost the arms war, but im gonna ~win the psychological war if its the last thing i do!

(it might be!! lkajsdflkjdfj)

[forgottenarthur]

OOC | Arthur & Event 5

ok so, arthur's entry application:

forgottenarthur

Name: Arthur Varmont Participating Categories: Melee (on foot), Melee (on horseback), Jousting Skill Levels in the Following --

Melee (on foot): Level #5

Melee (on horseback): Level #5

Archery: Level #2

Jousting: Level #5

for a total of 17

GRAND TOTAL FOR REWARDS:

Roderick Varmont: 600,000 crowns

Arthur Varmont: 600,000 crowns

Bran O'Connor: 330,000 crowns

Cathaoir Rith: 330,000 crowns

Finley Doyle: 300,000 crowns

Edmund Varmont; 300,000 crowns

Eoin Varmont: 300,000 crowns

Tristan Calanion: 90,000 crowns

Alaric Varmont: 60,000 crowns

Godfrey Calanion: 30,000 crowns

Sebastian Varmont: 30,000 crowns

bc arthur won the melee on horseback AND was on the winning team for the group melee (he also ~would have won the jousts but he let @forgottenroderick win instead)!! congrats, kid!! also, and more importantly to him, he personally and publically defeated @forgottencassimir in single combat (while eithne watched! i will admit that part wasn't nothing to him either laksdjfkjsdf he might have moved on but eithne's good opinion on him still matters to him!! alksdjfsjkdf and he's learned from pops daddio that ~this is how you get ppl to think well of you lakjsdfkjsdf), not once but twice <333333333 thank you, google gods of the lists!! that was deeply satisfying for him i gotta tell you alkdsjfksldjfsdf

ok, so this is a basically a state secret to him a;lksdjfkjdsljfsd no one must ever find out this OR that he bet on edmund!! alsdkjfksjdlf but arthur plans to donate the entirety of his winnings to the orphanage @forgottenarias introduced him to at the beginning of the year (or whenever that was in our timeline idk) depending on how things go w team rebels idk if those winnings will go mysteriously missing or ~not but...given that he's frankly rolling in the dough, i think he'll donate 600,000 crowns there regardles

also what i wrote for the bets he placed beforehand:

arthur is betting on himself and on alaric and on sebastian. he also secretly sent out an agent to bet on edmund in the same category under an assumed but shhhh you will NEVER trace that back to him!!!! (me: this is the dumbest thing you've ever used ur power to do arthur i swearrr whyyy the stealth omg). if he'd known roderick would join he would've bet on him too but he was a surprise last minute entry sooo

so given the winnings, above, arthur cleaned up on his bets honestly!! tbh tho...i think when the varmonts are sponsoring an event thats basically wargames...betting on the varmonts is probs a good idea lakjsdflkjsdf

also re favors:

-arthur wanted to ask for aria's but probs asked cassandra instead but idk if she'd already given hers to cillian [she had as lizzy confirmed!]? if he got rejected there and @forgottenarias didn't offer? then he probs asked marian for hers [but she was holding hers for roderick bc she predicted he couldn't resist the glory of the tiltyard]

in the end, as kate tells us, aria impulsively and at the v last minute, gave arthur her red-monogrammed 'a' handkerchief to wear as her favor, this was a suuuuuper big deal to arthur w his chivalric code and he will treasure that forever and frankly it helped him on his journey to realizing that he has real and actual feelings for aria!!!!!! unfortunately he thought abt it too hard and convinced himself that she must hate him bc of the whole national conquest and bastardy and prisoner thing sooooo that's where we are on ~that lakjsdfakjlasdf

[forgottentristan]

OOC | Tristan & the Astairan War

ok so @forgotteneithne as promised a lil bg on our boy! this'll probs be an ongoing sorta thing esp bc i have a lot of hc's abt his bg etc and like??? weaving them together??? aldsjflkjsdf

ok, so since we know that stafford, lorcan, and malconaire were all kingdoms in their own right in ancient days, but are ~also within a day's walk of one another, i feel like they've all got some SUPER strategic significance going on, and so...i do think tristan may have hit lorcan later in the war along w @forgottenrian

some bg here! and corrent me if im misremembering anything? we know malconaire provides a lot of food to stafford and likely hanthom as well; stafford seems to command the sea; lorcan seems to have a mountain AND lake so that probs commands views and movement for quite a ways around!! we know @forgottengodfrey got into naval conflict w the callearies, that edmund hit malconaire, and that roderick took stafford. we also know that rian besieged lorcan but that it never fell iirc

we also know that the above are all far to the south of astaira, which is the largest country in the world, and that kil-kennar and calleary are all located in the north w the fens a bottleneck beneath them which you must cross to get north/south by land etc

ok so!! we know malconaire is landlocked and that there's a riverbend right there, and on the other side is another country that roderick had already conquered but we also know that, by the time you get down to stafford we're on the coast, along w hanthom! similarly, we know that in the north both kil-kennar and calleary are seaside, w kil-kennar high in the mountains and calleary a frozen waste situation. we also know that there's a bit of a bottleneck in the fens so if you're gonna be able to pass between them by land, you've got to go through the fens and, similarly, if you wanna hold astaira, you gotta conquer both north and south AND hold the fens so!! i think we're looking at a bit of split objective and, i think if there's one superpower roderick's army really has in spades atp its a nearly unlimited number of ppl roderick would consider effectively canonfodder ('most of you will die, but that's just a sacrifice ~i am willing to make!' - roderick, probably) whereas life is considered precious in astaira and i think roderick really just...exploited both sides of that

so!! my thought, without knowing really a single thing abt the ~center of astaira~ or really any of the other houses/places than we've talked abt is that like...i don't think ppl knew where roderick ~really was for awhile. i think he initially made a show of being south of the fens in order to sort of draw astairan forces ~there instead of meeting him in the north where he'd ~actually landed

now, how did he do this? in a word, tristan! while he kept several of his elite guard by him, disguised as someone else, he sent tristan, in command of some of his kingsguard, but largely ppl dressed up as them, complete w a decoy roderick, and a large army of disposable young men into the south to harry ppl there, and later meet up w roderick when he conquered the fens. ofc as we know, roderick got bogged (heh) down in the fens much longer than he intended, and by the end i do think the secret was v much out etc, but!! i do think that at least initially this ploy worked bc i do know that eilia was def like 'look if we can just capture roderick, himself, we can make a lot of headway in our war effort' AND tristan was comfortable w ships, being calainon/kolchean etc, and so rather than getting there by land, i think they probs sailed

A N Y W A Y!! if, north of malconaire, astaira continued to physically border somewhere...or even if tristan came on ships (i do think kolchis was largely getting by on trade by the end so i do think they had a v robust maritime culture of their own etc tho yeah i do NOT think roderick is much good w a navy hahaha i def think godfrey and/or bartholomew/eoin (given his own maritime connections re the callearies oops) were the primary point guys/admirals on most naval battles hence -- paired w edmund's success at malconaire and arthur's failure in kil-kennar -- godfrey getting hanthom/ciara -- also stole some ideas from the hundred years war and have some ideas abt ~that but that's for other posts hahah) but im guessing it would be a lil weird for roderick to arrive on ships but anywayyyyy!!!! basically i feel like tristan probs crossed over below the fens and rode around sieging the most important castles just beneath that for awhile making a show of his forces ~being roderick~

i do think tho that, w roderick tarrying so long in the fens, the plan to meet there got kinda...untenable bc you can't really have a large army just...sit, like...historically the way baggage trains used to work etc that just wasn't really an option (fun fact, that literally led to the end of ghenghis khan), i do think tristan was ultimately forced to drive south, and may have even gotten as far as lorcan before finally meeting up w potentially edmund in malconaire post battle of m, etc, to reinforce there and hold it, etc, w edmund presumably assuming command at that time?

i do have some hc's abt lorcan and rian and all the mess but ill leave that for now actually bc i really wanna talk abt the pyre walk

i ~do think the pyre walk was actually primarily done w before tristan met up w roderick but, and this is crucial, i do not think it was over

ok so i do think tristan had heard rumors abt that but ngl he had this idealized vers of roderick in his head that he'd long upheld almost like a prophet or a saint -- he's the guy that saved his family from starvation, that swept in and gave tristan a place of belonging when he felt adrift, that raised tristan in his new religion, etc etc etc, and yeah!! i think tristan spent years just sort of dismissing the bad stuff he heard

now, smth to note abt tristan is that he was raised in kolchis by his grandmother, a witch, godfrey, and amira, so his early life def highkey underscored that witches are to be revered!! but on the other side, when he was still pr young he was indoctrinated (and yes i do use that term v intentionally) w roderick's belief sytem and taught they were evil, so he kinda...internalized both messages and just!!! confusion!!!! basically, there's smth dark and evil in him (the evil of great calainon and witch-blood) but also witches are just ppl but they all have smth dark in them so they all have to fight harder than any other ppl to stay good etc, is sort of how he justified all these competing ideas to himself. but also he can't get behind burning ppl to death, even witches, but esp ppl who haven't been tried/done anything wrong, etc!!! and any time someone would tell him roderick was doing that he'd basically be like 'that's just anti-rdoerick propaganda' unfortunately -- it was not!!

ok so fast forward back to the pyre walk. tristan and his army have finally gotten word that roderick is close, have detached from edmund's forces (if them meeting up was a thing?) and have been riding for days to meet up w roderick, as originally planned, on the road to stafford, abt to hit malconaire -- and when they get there he's in the middle of this mass burning situation

tristan, immediately assuming there's some awful mistake and not seeing roderick, orders for this to be stopped but like...ngl these ppl are already on fire and are ~going to die atp but at least they don't have to continue to be ~on fire~ anyway, w the lord commander riding in the ordering a stop to this, some ppl object, but tristan's men do what roderick's soldiers do best and obey orders and all this causes a lot of hubbub. it gets back to roderick that ppl're putting out his fires and he is INCENSED and comes storming in to find its tristan. he ~immediately assumes the power of having been effectively roderick's decoy has gone to tristan's head and a HUGE fight breaks out between the two and still no one's completely sure who ordered what honestly laksdjfkljdsf tristan spends the rest of the night in the ~temple tent~ begging the god to tell him whats right. some of the fires are put out, but all those ppl are too far gone and roderick won't permit anyone else being freed. even the ones tristan managed to extinguish die anyway. the others that weren't put out die too. the god is silent.

roderick remains incensed all day and effectively convinces tristan that its his own evil, witch-infused nature that prevents him from seeing that pain here is a mercy in the afterlife, where their souls will already be closer to being purged and therefore more acceptable to the god. he sends tristan, himself, out w his men to rip up as many trees as they can find and build pyres. while he has tristan's men put ppl to death, however, he (probs judiciously), sends tristan to scout ahead at night so he's not there for that next night's fires, but he ensures that he rides past what's left of them on his way to meet up w roderick in the days that follow

finally, weeks later as they're closing on stafford, roderick commands tristan to attend him at night rather than doing his rangings and things. as usual, a mock trial is held. he tells tristan to prove that he's no witch, himself, and ready the first witch to burn. tristan does, but he secretly slips her some poison (he knows abt some of this stuff too just not nearly as much as either of his siblings...sidenote: he could probs pull off a juliet-style fake death tho... @forgottenpercy ...just saying... ;D that's not what happens here tho unfortunately...) which, if she chooses, she can use to hasten her death/deaden the pain. roderick is distressed, but not tipped off when she apparently dies of asphyxiation or smth before the flames even touch her.

i do also think asp he probs tried to help some of them escape but yeahhh they were surrounded by roderick's men and that didn't go too hot and then it was back to square one again

anyway, this goes on for a bit, and eventually roderick ~does pick up on the pattern that any time tristan is involved the victims die a lot sooner etc. he has tristan severely lashed (saying that this is a mercy, given what he's done errs on the side of blasphemy -- being both borderline witchcraft AND probs more importantly ;D a miscarriage of roderick's justice/questioning of his orders! -- enacted only for love of roderick's wife and child, instead of the much harsher punishment he deserved) and do hella penance for both his own and the souls he's now damned by refusing to allow them the mercy of mortal pain and thus instead condemning them to an eternity of immortal pain instead.

so yeah!! after that, roderick didn't really involve him much and they were v soon thereafter at stafford, anyway, and yeah!! tristan ~did perform pr heroically in the siege of stafford tho, once he'd recovered from his punishment, so roderick just sorta decided to overlook the whole thing and yeah!! his record ~before then had also been pr good, and his actions v honorable before he hooked up w roderick in the south, and while 'roderick' was besieging things in the south, roderick's conduct was notably chivalrous (bc it was actually all tristan's call and yeah) and that did good things for ~roderick's rep too and roderick will NEVER mention that but he was glad of it ngl!!

honestly, re: the pyre walk, tristan ~still doesn't know what the right thing to do was and feels guilty abt it no matter how he slices it! sure its wrong to question the god's own champion but also its objectively terrible to burn ppl alive?? but also?? poisoning ppl??? is not great either!!!! and sure his intentions, wishing to spare them as much horror and pain as he could, were good but also he still killed those ppl???? and also like...were any of them even witches???? and even if they were did they really deserve that fate??? did he blaspheme??? did he condemn them to eternal agony in the afterlife??? was it all the darkness in him feeding into some horror??? is that still clouding his judgment??? like no matter how he approaches it, tristan does not feel he did the right thing but also???? he doesn't know what else he really ~could have done???? he couldn't just let them suffer when he had a way of helping them find peace instead??? he couldn't have broken them out???? but even if he had could have, would ~that have been the right thing???? as a knight he's meant to protect the innocent???? but who even was that in this scenario???

more and more, tristan has been growing ever since then wildly disillusioned w roderick and his god and his rhetoric, and if he could go back and do it all again, well, he doesn't think he could stomach another burning, and frankly...i ~do think the next burning he sees (presumably the malconaire trial etc) ~will be his last straw w roderick and he probs ~will rebel

but yeahhhhh basically i think tristan has been through it and lowkey is still going through it, tho he doesn't talk abt it, and yeahhh this is one of the many reasons he defffff believes that hes not worthy of eithne, or any good, and also wants to do some sort of penance to the world for his actions but doesn't even know what he could do like??? its all??? just sm and he def still carries around the belief that there's smth darkand terrible inside him and he did indeed kill innocent ppl and???? like he had no choice???? and still tried to be as merciful as possible abt it all, its true, but he still v much did do that thing and yeah!!

so yeah eithne def still has plenty of reason to be pissed at him/sus of him bc it is just a matter of record that he participated in the pyre walk, and he wouldn't deny that he had either (i think tbh he probs assumes ppl know he was but yeah he does nottttt talk abt that time!!) but also probs wouldn't try to excuse himself either and feels her rage and fear re his particiipation there is competely justified, he hates himself for it too, and yeah!! this is what i meant when i said i didn't think hed been to the fens so yeah!! fun facts ig lakjsdfkjdsfkj

[forgottenamira]

OOC | Love Languages

continuing w this series...

5 love languages:

words of affirmation

physical touch

giving/receiving gifts

quality time

acts of service 

and here's what i said my initial instincts were re: my peeps...

Godfrey — appears as a words of affirmation dude but if he ~really loves you it’s acts of service!!

Tristan — acts of service he is literally a knight!! Send him on a quest!! He will goooo!

Eabha — bc of her ruling lady outlook she looks like acts of service but she’s really more physical touch

Cormac — giving of gifts

Ronan — acts of service!! I hope you like someone just wordlessly doing smth for you bc that’s what ur in for here bc sadly he’s pr rubbish at a lot of the others these days

Cillian — quality time

Saoirse — physical touch

Rosie — quality time

Valentina — receiving gifts

Eilia — words of affirmation 

Rian — quality time

Roderick — giving of gifts

Amira — tbd

Arthur — tbd

decided to finish up the fam even tho her last name is technically varmont these days...esp bc she and arthur are still???? so imma think out loud at you guys...amira is an enneagram 8 which means that she seeks to project strength (often by means of outright hostility) in order to avoid appearing/feeling vulnerable, which is what she fears. so!! expressing love of any variety, being inherently vulnerable, is really intrinsically scary for her and, given that she is obv not by any means a ~healthy example of a type 8, well, its complicated!!!!!! i feel like she's gotten it all twisted up inside of her alkdsjfskldjfdf this questionnaire is basically DESIGNED to give her an anxiety attack akldjsflkjsdlfjkdsf [ amira: I LOVE NOTHING *runs away* ]

anywayyyyyy she does love edmund, tristan, and godfrey (probably in that order!! her brothers are a lil tough to sort out tho bc she probs has more ~affection for tristan but more ~trust for godfrey so!! make of that what you will). honorably mention is the hubby: she's got smth deeply toxic w roderick where like...she lowkey wants to ~be him and he lowkey wants to devour her so!! this will mostly focus on the calainons as a result but we'll talk a lil abt roderick if he comes up too bc as much as she wants to deny it he's important to her too...but love is not the right word its more like mutual hate-obsession??? idk...its a mess

anyway, as with godfrey, amira is fully capable of ~faking any of these and can and wiLL use that to manipulate anyone...esp her husband, but im just focusing on the ~real thing~ here

words of affirmation

i feel like imma go down the line saying this just bc again ~vulnerability aint natural to her but!! neither are words of affirmation. this bitch will tell you how you've failed and disappointed her before she'd ever say i love you alkjdsflkjdsf weirdly tho?????? that's ~kind of~ a way of like...showing she cares???? like idk how to tell you this but the fact that you ~can let her down means you matter on some level to her????? so yeah 'you failed me' being amira for 'ily?' its more likely than you may think laksjdflksdjfsd

conversely tho...her ~not criticizing you probs means you're epic!!!! she's always looking for a way to tear other ppl down to make herself feel better and/or (if she cares abt you) to help you find out where you need to improve, so like if she can't even find smth to get on your case abt like damn!!!!!! well done!!!! *facepalm* so yeah either that or like...she did not notice you/cares so little that you're not even worth the effort of considering!!!!!

so yeah!! ur gonna get mixed signals from amira (roderick screams internally abt this any time he so much as ~thinks abt her he legit doesn't know where he stands w her) buT if ur someone she ~does pay attention to, such as her family members, and she's not on ur case she's probs happy w you!! or at least can't think of smth to criticize you for, so congrats!!

physical touch

ok so this might be the one?? i do think amira is a v comfortable in/w her physicality, yknow? and like lbr she 100% holds everyone at emotional (and probs physical!) arm's length pr much 24/7 but as i think of it, i can see where, if she's particularly pleased or just in a good mood for whatever reason, and if no one's there to observe!! you might get a quick touch to the cheek or press of the hand as she sweeps by. if ur really lucky you might even see the flash of a smile as she goes!!!

some circumstances that might induce this flash of affection: her coronation, the momentary triumph she felt at the death of elaine (before realizing she'd eliminated a potential son there only to elevate the daughter), realizing that marian was so terrified of her she felt the need to run away (another short-lived joy when she came back w a son amira: this is why this family cannot have nice things!!!!), learning that she was with child, bearing a son, arthur's butchery at kil-kennar and roderick's subsequent fury at that side of the family, etc.

giving/receiving gifts

here's another contender!! amira grew up in abject poverty and so being showered in goodies???? unbelievable dream come true!! she doesn't suffer from any of godfrey's need for practicality: her love of excess matches that of her husband! shower her in gold and jewels, wine and dine her on the most exquisite feasts from a world away! any and all luxury is deeply appreciated!!! and honestly?? she doesn't fully get that not everyone feels the same??? i mean on one hand she does but like...that doesn't make sense. she knows what its like to go without!!! surely no one can possibly want that!!!

part of this, tho, does def highkey feed into her wish to project strength and power!!!!!! amira is here to show offffff!!!!!! she wants you to see that she's basking in untold wealth and could use it to crush you if you come at her!!!!!!! and that her loved ones are similarly safe via power!!!!!!!!

not unlike marian, actually, amira spends a loT of time maneuvering for ~her family and allies to get their due -- while elaine's faction or certainly marian's might say that things should be divvied up by, say, individual brother, amira will argue (since she has only two and not seven) that the loot ought to be divided into thirds and from there doled out to each family. and she does this to prop herself up, sure, but she also does this out of love!!!!!! edmund does not have the sheer number of allies that arthur has, and so his need of wealth/wealthy supporters she perceives as greater, and so forth.

amira also views this as seeing to her loved ones' needs. when she rains tiltes and land and wealth upon them, she's caring for them, so this to her is ~also an act of service lakjsdfkljsdf

quality time

so we're back to me going hmmm idk that this is her thing!! like sure she doesn't ~mind their presence but like??? what you just...wanna be over there??? like...we could be conquering smth rn???? godfrey, you wanna read a book or, tristan, play a game???? what is the point?????? amira, whose only living loved ones all happen to be male: 'men are so emotional'

i do also feel like amira is pr closed off emotionally (ok, i ~know she is), and like she needs a break from being around ~anyone~ bc she's wearing that mask all the time and it is EXHAUSTING and this is less introversion as fully...dysfunctional ngl

when she's feeling more happy/settled tho you can def get her to agree to a chill hang out sesh if she loves you!! she wiLL be cheating when you play cards so she can swindle you and mock you for losing to her tho!! but this time good naturedly ladkjsfskjldf

i do feel like her inability to participate here does come out of, again, that fear that she's got constantly nagging her -- she cannot let down like that!! cannot rest that long!!! she's got to keep fighting fighting fighting!!!! u nfortunately like...this is the shit that she has in common w our buddy roderick likE this is the thing they're bonded toxically on like???? GOTTA RAMPAGE they feed e/o w that its super healthy /sarcasm

acts of service 

ok so as i mentioned above, her wheeling and dealing to get her loved ones titltes and honors and stuff is her being nurturing!!!! she would argue that she is GREAT at acts of service and does this all! of! the! time! this is however factually incorrect lbr she'd be annoyed if you asked her to pass you smth if she were in the wrong mood lakjsdfklsdjf like!!!!!! she's like 'i got everything i have -- and everything you have too -- by my own hard work. grab that pencil by your own damn self' to her four year old probably SCREAM but yeah!! if you ask ~her she does this alllll the timeeeeee!!! and fully believes it too!!!

so ive mentioned this a few times here and there but amira truly believes that she is the sole reason her family isn't starving rn and like she does everything for this family!!!!!! and none of them appreciate it the way they should!!!!1 but she's the ONLY one who sees the truth and isn't resting on her laurels and they just keep chomping at her going MORE MORE MORE and like...this is not true honestly but that's her perception of events and she's sick and TIRED of it!!! lakjdsflkjd but also she wiLL complain frequently but she will NOT eveR stop tryna advance her family!!!!! no matter how frequently she threatens to leave them on their own in all this lkajsdfjklsdf

[forgottenbrigit]

Eye on You | Brigit & Godfrey

This evening hadn't exactly gone to plan.

Brigit meant to keep an eye on each of her three sisters throughout the entirety of the evening, but between both their Astairan and Varmont connections, it seemed each of them had suddenly become three of the most in demand guests of the evening. Which meant that Brigit's plan of "staying together" had quickly fallen to pieces.

Just now, she didn't have an eye on any of them. She needed a better spot than this -- somewhere she could see down into the crowds. Perhaps then she still could manage to keep on eye on all of them, even as they went their separate ways.

Slipping away unnoticed from the great hall, Brigit tried a few empty staircases and hallways until she stumbled upon the same mezzanine where Cillian and Edmund had had their confrontation mere minutes ago.

Brigit had just found Rosie (speaking with Cassandra which while not ideal could have been much worse) and was keeping her eyes out for both Eithne and Aoife when she was suddenly aware that she was not alone.

Turning, she saw that a man was crossing the mezzanine on his way to the stairs and he had clearly seen her there. She couldn't remember who he was, exactly, but knew he was some sort of extension of the Varmont family. Wasn't he one of the Queen's brother's? Regardless, it was very likely he knew that she wasn't supposed to be here.

Brigit was less than pleased with this turn of events -- both that she had been discovered and that she now supposed she ought to say something to him. She wondered if her feelings showed upon her face?

It was then that she remembered she ought to courtesy and, easing into something that somewhat resembled one, she lowered her eyes, "Your Grace."

[forgottensebastian]

ooc | Sebastian & Godfrey

I get the feeling that Sebastian does not trust Amira at all (a big part of this is probably because of his mom, but she doesn't do much to dissuade the rumors about having a witch-y bloodline either) and I'm not sure he'd trust her brothers (especially Godfrey) I'm not sure what he suspects him of (i don't think even Sebastian knows tbh) but I do feel like he probably just has his guard up when Godfrey is around?

[forgottenroderick]

OOC | On Brigit's Winnings/Malconaire's Roads/Roderick & Malconaire

so, i have one pressing question @forgottencassimir: did cassimir fix the roads when he came to power? i am unfortunately not joking OR exaggerating when i say the whole fate of malconaire may lie in the balance here *facepalm*

ok so this thought is entirely predicated on like...idk that roderick would realistically ever notice finances in malconaire so long as, like, the ~public aspects are more or less maintained: roads are upkept, that sort of thing! and he certainly wouldn't be like WHERE ARE THEY GETTING THE MONEY if they are upkept when he returns to malconaire for valentina's party bc he ~did recently mention to @forgottencassimir that he expects to see road improvements etc after his carriage broke down etc so like...that being fixed suddenly, if it were, ~wouldn't surprise him bc he ~expects that he has only to say smth and then it will be done, right???

so!! it occurred to me that, like...since its @forgottenvalentina in charge i can tell you that, during ~her administration, while the ~specific pothole that took out roderick's carriage was certainly filled in on the ~double after that! -- honestly if nothing else my man @forgottencillian might've taken that one upon himself just bc like...we do noT need the emperor coming here unawares!!!! no thank youuu!!! his sons are bad enough!!!! however, he and the girls are all stretched sooooo thin that, while he'd def do his best to maintain the roads by himself if that's what it takes to keep roderick out, idk how doable that ~is for one dude while ~also maintain everything else at malconaire itself, etc, and it certainly wasn't on valentina's list of priorities!!!!! so yeah!!!! -- so yeah valentina did not fix the roads

basically....w @forgottencassimir having sort of started to come into his own power since last roderick was there do we think that cassimir repaired the roads?

i mention this bc, if he did, i think he may have inadvertently covered for @forgottenbrigit and her winnings...and thus lowkey for himself as well? ok so what do i mean? if the roads were, to roderick's observation, repaired the v next time he went to malconaire after he mentioned it to cassimir, he's like 'ok cool all's as it should be' and not thinking further on that one! However, if they're still pr ruinous, roderick's distinctly annoyed and ~now he's wondering why he's being ignored which'll mean he'll be launching secret investigations into malconaire

if he sees that its ~all poorly maintained that way, he's thinking malconaire's doing poorly and, while he must tread v carefully for reasons i outlined [ here ] re land changing hands etc, he'll be feeling this reflects poorly on ~him and is the opposite of his beliefs abt what he's here to do re: conquest, etc, and thus have him wanting to ensure improvements there -- whether by perhaps letting @forgottenmarian bend his ear a lil more re: change in leadership there or, more likely, by involving ~his officials in tryna get them better streams of revenue, perhaps by arranging cassimir and/or the girls' various marriages or, if things still don't markedly improve (bc by now he's seeing more than just the state of the roads, perhaps considering a change in leadership

smth else he might realize is that the og girls are servants there and he might expose that to help throw cassimir off his pedestal as well in therms of leadership change and simply betroth eithne or sonya to whomever he chooses as the next lord malconaire and justify it that way, saying cassimir was abusing his power etc and use that as justification, just as he has w ciara and godfrey and hanthom etc!

HOWEVER!! if he's investigating all this already and then suddenly, out of nowhere, w no revenue stream on cassimir's books, things just start magically improving in malconaire right after all the winning disappear, ngl that will def make roderick sus

if he does start to think that malconaire stole the money, at first he'll deffffff have his eye on cassimir ngl bc like!!!!!! a woman could never have pulled that off!!!!!! obv this is a man's work!!!!!!

this does two things for roderick in this situation! 1) it allows him to bring up cassimir on criminal charges and thus give legal reason for why he now must attaint him as a traitor etc and can now give malconaire to ~anyone of his choosing w/o stirring unrest amongst the lords of the empire and 2) allows him to publically prosecute the thief and thus restore trust in the public eye that the theft has been duly avenged by the gov/helps roderick as emperor save face re his own plan working just as intended etc (even if roderick knows cassimir didn't do it! but esp if he thinks he ~did) and thus pin the blame on someone for that

in the scenario where roderick ~doesn't believe cassimir really did, this lets roderick give malconaire to someone of his choosing while also lulling the rebels into a feeling of false security bc, well, he clearly collared someone else!! he is ~not onto them!!!! in the scenario where roderick believes cassimir ~did do it, he might frankly think that cassimir is a rebel alkdsfjklsdfj and is thus putting all kinds questions to him and possibly even wanting to get him to 'escape' and infiltrate and betray them since roderick thinks casimir's ~one of them lkajsdflkjsjdkfds

also he's still exposing the og girls as servants thing etc and doing everything to frankly blacken cassimir's name ngl he doesn't want ~any lords thinking this might happen to them if they're behaving but he ~does want to make an example of what happens to a lord who ~isn't behaving alkjsdfjsdf

HOWEVER, when roderick discovers the witchcraft he'll realize that cassimir didn't know what he was doing when he stole that money (either have to pretend to 'realize' this or actually come to that conclusion depending...and/or convince himself he believed cassimir was guilty the whole time and now emotinally exonerate him??? who knows lakjsfkjdsf) since he was bewitched lajdsfjkdsf so he'll be off the hook for that lakjsdfkjdsjkf (~all of cassimir's 'misdeeds' are ~their fault now btw!! including forcing them to serve him somehow alskdfjksldjfds)

also if there's a scenario where roderick's already given malconaire away when the witchcraft thing comes out then there's the drama over like...how does ~that lil bugaboo resolve laksdjflkjsdfkj we ~know picking a single heir to things when there're rival claimants is ~not his strong suit oops ;D alksdjflkjsdf jk jk that's a ploy/emotional thing which he probs won't feel re malconaire but still!! again there's the whole not upsetting the lords thing and yeah!! that'd be a big deal laksjdfkjsdf

(at present, id say the most likely candidates for receiving malconaire/replacing cassimir are @forgottenedmund given he's the conqueror there; @forgottengodfrey or @forgottenalaric if alaric requests hanthom/depending how that situation all goes down; alaric or bartholomew just in general bc trust etc; eoin as basically a wedding present for @forgottenguinevere if that betrothal does go through; or one of @forgottenmarian 's brothers, but who knows! roderick be changing his mind always alkjdsflkjdsf)

but yeah!!! if cassimir ~did fix the roads then roderick's not picking up on ~any of this but yeah it occurred to me that like...that's deffffff smth roderick wiLL be paying close attention to now that valentina's invited him to malconaire for her fete lajskdfkjsdjfksdf SCREAM

so yeah!! i just suddenly realized this and i was like 'omg' alkjdsfakjsdf anyway we can easily handwave it away and say cassimir got right on fixing those roads before roderick got there and thus roderick will never go down this path, but yeah this is smth roderick would do if they ~aren't alksjdfjkdsf man likes his orders OBEYED thank you alkdjsfslkjdfjsdf

[forgottenalaric]

ooc | Alaric & Godfrey

Alaric and Godfrey are best friends!!! tbh I feel like they compliment each other a lot and Godfrey helps Alaric to get out of his shell a little more and actually have fun sometimes!!!

However, I do think that Alaric has always been a little suspicious of Amira and her fam??? Like they never really sat right with Alaric and ngl I feel like he got close w/ Godfrey to try to see what he could find out about them but it kinda backfired and Godfrey charmed him into being friends????

I do think that Alaric kind of has a complicated relationship with Godfrey though, like he loves hanging out with him and spending time together, but I think he also knows that Godfrey will ride or die with Edmund and b/c of this and the fact that he does NOT trust Amira, I don't think he will ever fully be able to trust Godfrey and although he does let his guard down a little more than usual when they are together, he does censure what he allows Godfrey to know.

[forgottencassandra]

ooc | Cassandra & Godfrey

I don't think Cassandra sees the family lines drawn in the same separating ways as pretty much everyone else in the family does, and I kinda think she would see Godfrey as an uncle to all of the kids and not just Edmund? Like she sees them as all one family and not just the three different families that Roderick has?

I feel like Cassandra would honestly like him? Like she'd find him fun and enjoy his charm and charisma and tbh probably would have had a crush on him as a little girl if she didn't think of him like her own uncle tbh haha -- I also feel like she'd be excited to see him marry her cousin (and then he will truly be her cousin, as well) and I feel like she definitely ships them super hard haha

Ofc, this would also all depend on how Godfrey would treat Cassandra, too, because if he was dismissive of her or something, then she would probably hate him

[forgottenedmund]

Breaking Fast | Edmund & Godfrey

Spring was here and this morning Edmund had been grateful both for the sunlight and the warmth it provided. For the last few months, he and his uncle had risen before the crack of dawn to practice swordfighting, jousting, archery, and anything else that Godfrey felt could use some improvement. It had been cold and dark and brutal, but Edmund has risen to the challenge and now, he felt as though the seasons had rewarded him for his work. Now finished for the day, he and his uncle were enjoying their breakfast.

Edmund felt good after the exercise. He allowed his uncle to push him harder than anyone else, for he was truly the one person who he wasn't afraid to fail in front of. The measure of a man does not change if he falls, Edmund. What matters is what he does next. If he finds a way to stand again, he will be even stronger.

He was learning how to use his strengths to work for him -- not against him. His uncle was stronger and his blows could still knock Edmund to the ground -- but Edmund was faster and if he could anticipate his uncle's next move, he could stand his ground. He'd managed to beat him this afternoon, once, and while he felt proud for this accomplishment, he knew not to let it go to his head. He'd studied under his uncle for months now and had come to learn his style.

It would not always be his uncle who he would be fighting.

Despite this, he couldn't help but he couldn't resist the temptation to tease Godfrey about it, "You're getting older, uncle," He smirked, "It's a sad day for a man when he is beaten by the Raven Prince."

Edmund was not ignorant of his reputation. He'd heard what they'd used to say about him when they thought no one was listening. The Raven Prince had never won a tournament. He'd never even been close. The only times he'd ever advanced was when his opponents were woefully underqualified. Edmund suspected that they'd only won a spot in the tourney at all so that he might not loose every opponent he faced.

[forgottenroderick]

roderick will not be planning to participate in the event, this year, as he will be busy scanning the entrants for treason i mean *cough* entertaining his not!fiancee (eilia: that's *really* ok...pls go anywhere else) at the event akljsdfkjsdf he ~will however expect all his male family members to participate and distinguish themselves in at least one of the lists!! the only excuse is if they, like, are too ill to stand or smth!! he is noT here to be shamed!! and lbr there's a chance he'll be too overcome w it all and enter anyway!!

in addition to the show of goodwill, he's largely inviting the stafford ladies for the following reasons: 1) a public show of how little worried he is abt the riots etc!! 2) a public show that eilia is tacitly endorsing all his activities since she's there (eilia: this is NOT the case) 3) he thinks it may well draw out loyal astairans and legit this is part of the trap 4) if he ~does capture the rebel scum he'd loooove the staffords to be there to witness it to quash any rebellious spirit they seem to have been accruing!! 5) this whole thing is legit his idea of a fun date idea!! SCREAM how will she noT be hoplessly attracted to him when she sees how powerful and clever -- and fun!! -- he really is????

ok so i also wanted to give a list of my characters who will be joining the lists!

JOUSTING

godfrey calainon

tristan calainon

rian stafford

arthur varmont

ARCHERY

godfrey calainon

cillian 'ormond' (spoiler alert -- ~he def cannot resist this bait!)

MELEE

tristan calainon

arthur varmont

~~~maybes~~~

tristan calainon (archery)

ronan frost under an alias ofc (doesn't have a horse so itd be archery/melee on foot if he did join)

rian stafford (archery & melee)

roderick varmont (jousting and/or melee)

NOT PARTICIPATING

cormac calleary (he stubbed his toe one morning and saw a swan every morning after SOB)

UPDATE 03.01.25 / event #5

Guys, I have a new laptop and already everything is 1000% easier! And The Long Forgotten Realm is back! <33 I have gone through and updated the comment site, but please let me know if I missed anything over the last month and a half, if you notice it.

I promise that we will ~definitely~ have those new characters that I have been teasing for months now (facepalm) but I will wait until we are back in the swing of things again.

I also know that it has been a few months since LFR has really been active and I don't want to overwhelm anyone, either! If you'd like to ~stagger~ the return of your characters like we have done in the past with other RPS returning from hiatus, I'm okay with that!

If you are ready to bring back a character, reblog their character post from this site. I will also create a new post on the rp comments site that will only have comments posted between ~active~ characters. (The old post with all the old comments will remain up, as well.)

EVENT #5

As the last snows of winter begin to fade away, RODERICK VARMONT announces that a public tournament is to be held on the first day of spring. It promises to be quite the spectacle: with a large reward in gold to be presented to the winners. Jousting, archery, and hand-to-hand combat are amongst the categories and any man, regardless of rank, may enter.

It promises to draw a large crowd to the city from across the country and there shall also be markets and entertainments to divert the crowds.

As a sign of goodwill, he has consented to allow EILIONORA STAFFORD and ARIA STAFFORD to attend.

But there is more to this tournament than may meet the eye -- as Roderick means to use it to set a trap. The fugitives and the men who rescued them have evaded his men all winter and if they still remain in Astaira, he knows that whatever supplies they have will have grown thin over the winter. And as these men who so easily defeated his own are likely to be skilled warriors, he suspects that they shall see this as easy money. Roderick means to have his spies watch every contestant closely, in the hopes that he may discover their identify.

CIARA VARMONT suspects that her cousin may be setting a trap and has warned the resistance of this ... but will they take her advice?