#rowanmaxim

[blightedmikhael]

“It wouldn’t be religion if there wasn’t any conflicting feelings about it, I suppose,” he quips dryly. Frankly, as weighty as the inner conflict is, he wouldn’t have it any other way. For as much as he worships the One God, he also understands that ways of worship are ever changing. One only ever has to look at how Ankhuria’s worship of the One God have changed over the years to demonstrate that a stagnant religion is a dying one. Is for that very same reason that he dislikes the Astorian branch as endlessly as he does. They are stuck in their hatred of the world, poisoning it a little more with every day that passes. “I would appreciate it,” he says, relief dawning on him as a smile spreads through his lips. “That is very kind of you.”

"Well no, most people have conflicting feelings on religion." It's not a kind of assumption, it's fact. Even people who believed in whatever deity probably had doubts of some sort. Stubbing out his cigarette with his work boot, Rowan took a harder look at this guy. There's something about the way he talks that isn't entirely fanatical, he'd seen his share of whacko's waving their arms about and singing praises. Somehow this man seems more grounded. Maybe just a little delusional. "I know a lot of the churches around here." He points out, shrugging his shoulders. "I do art, the architecture is something I look at." One day he was going to sit down and write an essay on the reverence in which people designed their places of worship. "I could help you out."

[celayawitcher]

starter for @rowanmaxim.

where: the alley of the comedy keep idk

when: aventia is dead and gone

note: i love my comedy clown

Homeless again? Girl, the vibes are rancid. Despite the countless hours of culling darkspawn and fighting for Aventia, the city fell and masses of allies crumbled beneath their pull. Much like a dancer who'd dropped their craft, the moment she'd picked up a sword again Celaya had dashed intricately through the battlefield but it hadn't been enough, Aventia crumbled beneath their efforts and Celaya had no idea what step could be next for her to venture towards.

Rowan was a friend, in the loose term of the fact that he'd somehow trusted her for comedy advice, and yet the witcher found herself sitting outside the alley of the Keep hoping he had a set and that he'd soon come out for his habitual smoke. She probably reeked of blight and the blackened ichor of darkspawn but it's not as though she'd anywhere to go; Celaya may have fought for Araceli's home, but it did not fix the strain that what she was had caused.

The side door creaked open into the alleyway, nearly perfectly timed, Celaya sat on a wooden barrel of emptied mead as she tried to recuperate, "Figure out any new material yet?"

[ars-gratia-auden]

Who: @rowanmaxim Where: The Harmonium When: Present

The excitement in the air at the Harmonium was palpable–the agenda for the day was one much awaited by the students every year. Auden had not attended the Harmonium themselves, they’d found their education through apprenticeships across Avalon and in a handful of of other places, but they could relate to the young artisans who got to partake in the day. The elvhen would be leading their own workshop before the day was through, their first at the prestigious campus. It wasn’t that Auden hadn’t been invited before–they had; and had turned down the invitations in the past. It appeared that someone responsible for planning the day’s lineup had caught wind that Auden had set up a forge in the city, knowledge that stripped Auden of any good excuse to refuse the invitation to share their knowledge with the young creatives working on their studies. 

There were a handful of hours before Auden would begin their lesson, and they spent that time examining the famous, hallowed halls of the institution sketching some of the more notable features and details. When that became wearisome, they settled for people-watching. The younger students were made obvious by their lack of sash and anxious expressions. Those who were considered novices didn’t look like they felt much relief for surviving the first round of their many trials on their path to excellence. But it was one of the alumnus that garnered lasting attention from Auden. “I’m shocked to see they’d allow you to show your face here again, Rowan,” Auden greeted upon catching up with him on one of the main throughways between the many halls of the campus. He had told Auden a handful of stories of his transgressions as a student during his time at the Harmonium while he tattooed a great, skeletal viper on their arm some time back, its bony spine twisting loops around the limb. “And now you’re here as someone for these naive, young students to aspire to become? Or perhaps you’re crashing the event.” The words were in jest, which Rowan would likely interpret. 

[ryujinseaborn]

starter for @rowanmaxim.

where: theeeeee docks

when: after neptunalia

note: it will get BETTER

The crew spilled forth from the vessel known as the Leviathan; many would instantly gravitate towards any bar once shipments were docked, and numbers accounted for. Some drifted away from the work already, those of lesser importance who had not yet earned Ryu's respect nor attention. His eyes found, however, the same unruly haired man sitting with a smoke atop a barrel and Ryu finally had the sense to stalk forth, nodding in greeting, "What's been keeping you from hopping aboard and settling sail?" There's this demanding tone of curiosity as he looks the other over, it was clear whatever lurked out in the sea seemed to appeal to this one more than whatever he'd settled for here, but maybe Ryu was projecting.

[blightedmikhael]

It’s fair to say that Mikhael has not met a lot of other cambions. Overall, he could count with a hand the number of other cambions he had met in his entire life. Because of that, he tended to assume. Assume that other cambions used their abilities as much as he, that they trained to be able to switch between Infernal Sight and regular sight at a moments notice, that they checked the species of anyone they met just to ensure they kept an edge on the encounter. So he had presumed. And now he has to cover his ass, because clearly Rowan is not picking up what he had been trying to put down. 

“A bastard child of an Ankhurian spearwoman and an unknown father,” he says lightly, slowly sidestepping the secret he thought both of them knew they shared. “That's good. Religion can be a guide in times of struggle, and we are breaching those times as we speak.”

"Your origins being?" Rowan's not sure what makes him so curious about this quest of Mikhael's, but he feels compelled to help him. Granted, he feels compelled to help most people. But this guy had the kind of energy of someone a hero in a novel would meet on some grand adventure. Not like Rowan considered himself the hero in that situation by any means. "I've been here my whole life and I think people are fairly....Spiritual." Or maybe temples and churches had gotten an influx of people due to what had happened in Aventia. Which was actually rather funny when he thought about it, in a morbid kind of way. People always turned to prayer when something threatened their comfort, when it would benefit them. He thought it was rarer that people talked to some higher or lower power on a daily basis. Something tells him that Mikhael is one of those rarities though.

[elokian]

"Well, there was a short time when I was happy staying on the island. Getting drunk and fucking the mightiest men of legend used to be enough. I was a bit of a groupie in those days," he confessed with a chuckle. That era of Elokian's life was many lifetimes ago. However, Caribella's energy was infectious. Lying on the chest of a mighty Raider after fucking until the sun rose was when most got their stories of adventure and plunder. Elokian was no different, and eventually, the stories he heard were the very ones he wanted to tell himself. "But you can only hear a man prattle on about his greatness so much before you begin to wonder if you can have it as well. That's how it started for me, with the question. Once I wondered if I could be a legend too, that was it. I took what was mine and made sure that my status, my ultimate treasure, always returned to my hand no matter what. I'm the greatest because I'm always ready to fight to prove I’m the greatest."

He nods along as the captain talks, eyes on the masts of the ships coming into port and he gets it. The calling of the sea and all that wasn't something that could be learned or taught. For as easygoing as he liked to think he was, Rowan didn't think he could put his trust completely in just going wherever something took him, not really. It's not even that he doesn't like being on a ship, he did. It was what came afterward that made him nervous, somehow it always felt like he'd be turning his back on home. "And you've never wanted to do anything else?" He asks earnestly, resting an elbow on his knee and then his chin in his hand.

[blightedmikhael]

“You wouldn’t be the only one with conflicting feelings,” Mikhael huffs in grim amusement, the weight of his own personal worries heavy on his mind as he can’t stop himself from glancing back at the church once more. As much as he wants to believe that the One God will welcome him despite the stain that it’s his existence, doubt is a strong enemy. Always waiting at the side of his path, ready to trip him up and drag him down to the depths from which his father hails. “Thank you for the encouragement, but even if I don’t find it, I will find a way to pray. This is already a far better situation than in the last few months, so getting discouraged would be a disservice for the help the One God offered to ensure our survival.”

"It's all Sinarian to me." Shoulders raising in a shrug he doesn't think too much on what this guy is saying about anything regarding religion. "But I have conflicting feelings about myself and any higher power so...." Rowan lets the words hang in the air as he takes another drag from his cigarette and eyes the top of the church. It was kind of a bummer in a way, he did really like the architecture of them, churches. Temples and the like, they were buildings made with such care. "There's plenty of churches around here though, I'm sure you'll find one to your liking."

[blightedmikhael]

“Let’s see then,” he mutters slowly, a mix of tentative hope and mild resignation settling on his gut once Rowan reveals that there is one of such temples nearby. Rocking on his heels for a moment, he takes a breath and moves to follow. He is not hopeful enough to believe they will find a temple on the first day, but he is faithful enough to continue trying even if all he finds is disappointment. It’s what he owes to his God, and he will not allow his disappointment to stop him on this self-imposed quest. “Yes,” he admits softly. “I am well aware that it is beyond odd, considering my origins, but my mother raised me within the faith and I have seen the Great Ba’al in action. My faith comes from my foundation, and it is one of the things that has helped me realize that I am not an extension of my father’s legacy.”

Rowan looks to the list in his handwritten on a torn piece of sketchbook paper and crosses a couple of them out. They were looking for something old which meant chances are it would be prettier. Everyone was always trying to scale things down to make them look "clean", he never quite understood it. Minimalism was some kind of plague on art as far as he was concerned. "There's one not far." This is by far the strangest thing he's ever done to help anybody considering his own weird take on religion. Putting the note back into his back pocket, he nods his head, puts a hand in his pocket, and starts walking. "You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

[blightedmikhael]

“One following the Ankhurian tenets, yes,” Mikhael admits with a slight inclination of his head as he steps closer to the other cambion. It’s rare to see another of his kind, and part of him wants to drop the polite pretense that has become his mask in any encounter to vanish any and all doubt of his heritage, but he is too used to putting an air of pleasantness that he worries he has forgotten how. Instead, he smiles kindly even as his eyes keep being drawn back to the church behind him. “I have strong opinions of how Astoria handles the One God in comparison to Ankhuria, and I don’t think it wise for me to test my luck if I haven’t fortified myself.”

"No, no, just taking a break." Flicking ash onto the street, he looks from the end of his cigarette to the man and then again at the church. It's kind of funny how it is just a building and yet there's something about it that does feel fairly ominous. "You looking for a church then?" Rowan's curious now and he's got plenty of conflicting thoughts about religion, but he is always down to listen to other people's beliefs, their philosophy. Part of telling stories was also hearing them from other people, there were lessons to be learned there.

[elokian]

"No. There was a time when all I wanted to be was the fucker who punched the hardest. And I was." Elokian laughs because the days of simple desires where his dads' praise was his whole world feels like a lifetime away. "It's not something you want, it's something you become. Wanting the life isn't enough," he goes on to elaborate. "You have to turn your back on everything you knew and believed, prove yourself day in and day out, suffer and conquer, plus be prepared to die at any moment. That's just the bare minimum, and if you can't stomach that much you shouldn't even be having the conversation." Being a Raider wasn't a spectator sport, so he believed people like Rowan should never even ponder unless they were prepared to take the plunge. "The wrong person hears you asking questions like that and they may think you're one. Outside of Caribella an accusation like that could spell trouble. And only a true pirate would welcome trouble."

Person: @elokian Location: Thee Docks "Did you always want to be a pirate?" While the crew of Neptune's Fleet had been in his life for years, there were things he'd just never asked them before. He'd been a child once, wide eyed as he watched ships come in and his uncle point them out to him. Said uncle loved the pirates, he made a living traveling the isles and singing and telling stories and every summer he'd gather Rowan up and away from his deadbeat father and taken him along for the whole song and dance. It's where he'd met Robin the first time, they'd been just boys then, hadn't realized the kinship they'd shared over what they were just yet. Elokian was to Robin as Uncle Barnabas Maxim was to Rowan and he couldn't say he didn't hold a bit of affection for the captain.

[blightedmikhael]

“If your list is based in architecture, maybe,” Mikhael says thoughtfully, as he looks at Rowan. He is eternally grateful for the help, now more desperate for the opportunity to pray to his Lord than he had ever felt. Seeing an entire city fall prey to the Blight had been a shaking experience, and while he knows the One God has a plan for all of them, he still needs the reassurance of faith on moments such as these. “There are some design choices that are more likely to be found in Vanguard churches in contrast to the ones set before the schism. Newer buildings don’t have symbolisms alluding to the Great Ba’al, for one.”

Person: @blightedmikhael Location: Eterna notes: is it a flashback? idk

"Do we have a criteria?" He's got a list of churches he's seen around in his back pocket and he'd taken down little notes here and there. "Most of these are picked based on architecture, I'm not gonna lie to you." He was an artist, it's what this guy got for getting help from someone who spent time finding the details in everything. "But I'm sure we'll find you somewhere." It's not unlike him to aid someone new in town, in fact it's ridiculously on brand for him to be of aid to just about anyone.

[blightedmikhael]

Mikhael stands before one of the churches he had found in Eterna before he even realizes it, a persistent thought having sprouted as soon as he had arrived to Eterna and grown in the weeks since he had begun to settle. The journey from Iskaldrik to Eterna had been drastically different from all he had known, and it had taken far longer than he had expected. It had been far too long since he had gone to a proper service, and he was itching to participate in one, to be bathed in the Light of the One God by listening to his word. And yet—. Well, if he were to enter the church and find it a home for the Vanguard, he doesn’t think he could bear the disappointment. Not today.  Shaking his head, he turns to leave when a voice calls for him. Blinking in surprise at the unknown voice, Mikhael then at the fellow speaking to him and blinks again at what he sees with Infernal Sight. 

Huh, that is a first. 

“Perhaps, but I can’t quite bring myself to find out if Astoria’s rotten influence extends this far,” he admits ruefully before giving one last glance at the church and turning his full focus on his fellow cambion. “Apologies, was I in the way?”

Person: @blightedmikhael Location: outside the tattoo place, eterna "You goin' in or....?" The thing about art and storytelling and the like was that a lot of material came from people. There's a lot of inspiration to be taken from just watching everyone scurry from place to place while on a smoke break. This guy in particular looked either lost or perhaps longing, considering he was staring at the church across the street. It's a nice building, most places in Eterna are, but Rowan himself wouldn't know what it looks like on the inside on account of he doesn't really think it's his kind of place. "Contemplating some kind of confession?" He's half joking as he takes a sip from the waterbottle in his hand where he's posted up outside the shop.