#sakkarathekeeper

[engineerzuleima]

who? @sakkarathekeeper where? trivia’s cove when? during the  road so far

Zuleima touches down on Trivia’s Cove on Cloudy’s back, humming distractingly as she pats the wyvern’s snout affectionately before dismounting. Working through the different flaps on Cloudy’s mouth, she frees the bag she had secured back in Eterna and nods a goodbye to the wyvern before turning and heading deeper into the woods, her humming turning progressively louder as she approaches Sakkara’s above. Sneaking on the Dúnedain is amusing enough, but she has learned to only do so at odd intervals, or the famous Sakkara of the Serpents would begin to expect the attempts. 

That would be far too boring.

So humming to make herself known when she didn’t feel like sneaking on the other it was. 

Making it to the Keeper’s humble abode, Zuleima rattled her knuckles against the frame just hard enough to be heard but hard enough to bring the structure down. Though, with the rackety feel of the entire abode sometimes she wondered how long it would last. 

“Do we need to do the dance of you pretending not to be home, scales?” She muses out loud, head tilted as she listens for the Dúnedain’s heartbeat. “I can hear you.”

[engineerzuleima]

The relief sweeps through her frame as Sakkara admits to a degree of knowledge higher than hers. Reading about dragons and learning their language is all well and good, but first hand experience would likely help a great deal when it comes to raising a dragon from infancy. Of course, that relief gets thrown out the window when it becomes clear that Sakkara had seen the hatchling and immediately decided that she had stolen it. Zuleima stares at Sakkara with a deadpan and raised brow. The message is clear. A simple ‘Really, Sakkara?’ hanging between them as she lets the silence drag for a long moment before sighing. 

“I did not steal a dragon’s hatchling, Sakkara really,” she sighs as she reaches down to run a finger over the head of the bronze dragon to soothe him now that he has begun fussing a little bit. “A dragon god gave him to me after we formed part of a ritual to purify them.” She pauses, considering. “Which sounds unrealistic, I am aware, but Fharzai can attest to the whole thing.”

Sakkara blinked at the sudden question and the relieved look on Zuleima's face. Was she in trouble? The druid frowned, her brows now furrowing as she nodded. "Yes... At least, a bit more than the average person." She wasn't particularly acquainted with draconic creature, as they were rare and faraway, but she'd seen them throughout her lives and learned. It was an odd question though. Sakkara never would have expected Zuleima to bring up dragons, despite the wyvern that she loved.

"Why do-" It was at that moment that the Keeper noticed movement within the sling that Zuleima was wearing. Her eyes settled on a small, scaly head peaking out and draconic eyes. Sakkara's own widened and she took a step back. "Tell me you did not steal a dragon's hatchling-" She couldn't imagine that the strigoi wouldn't have had a valid reason but it was still insane. How did she even manage to find it? Even if Zuleima hadn't taken the child, which was more likely that she didn't, then someone insane had to have passed it to her, right? "Who gave that to you?"

[incubusnero]

Person: @sakkarathekeeper Location: Pick wherever Sakkara would meditate He gets the idea of meditation, it's not he's against it. A lot of his free time is spent daydreaming so sitting on a rug cross legged next to a druid he's growing particularly fond of should not have been something difficult. It's all something that's supposed to promote focus and clarity, that whole song and dance. Instead he sits there feeling like an ass worrying about all of these new developments. Worst, Nero keeps thinking about the past, comparing memories to a potential future. It's not a completely uncommon occurence, he thinks he has 'mourning periods' between his little crushes. For some reason this one seems particularly sticky and so when he lets out a huff of breath he cracks an eye open and offers the druid an apologetic look. "I don't think I'm particularly good at this."

[alrikhart]

@sakkarathekeeper location: somewhere in the Lysaran wilds, looking at druid stuff notes: oh no his shirt's off

At another stop along the tour, Alrik knelt on a rocky outcrop that overlooked a settlement of old ruins and faded guiding stones. They hummed still with a faint life but existed far enough on the fringes of Lysara that, according to Fharzai, could no longer be used to access the Mist.

It had been some days since he'd dreamt and undergone Beowulf's trials, but the markings remained, his meteor hammer had changed, and Alrik was resolved to settle into his thoughts about all that he had seen. This path he walked was treacherous, but Fharzai had told him they were bound together by fate. This road through these stones, it had brought him before a trial already, Alrik intended to continue down this path and see where it brought him.

When thinking became too difficult to do, Alrik took to stacking, carving, or some excessively brutal form of training. At present, as he sat upon the outcrop, he'd taken the first as he stacked some of the useless stones that sat there and slowly built them into a cairn. Valr joined him, choosing to land nearby in a rare approach to ground level. Their love was a distant one, always watching, always present, and always ready. Both preferred it that way.

Crouched low, chest and feet bare, a brush of cold washed by, enough to raise the hair on the back of his neck as he looked toward the approach of a stranger. She carried a staff and held a distant but serious look in her eyes, above there circled a- a large, cold-looking bird of some kind. Alrik returned to his stones and kept his back to her.

[freydis-freydat]

Who: @sakkarathekeeper Where: Sakkara's Island in Trivia's Cove When: Several days after her quest through the Arches

Plans, as thin and insufficient as they were in their early state, were being laid to handle what needed to be done about the archfey that lay in wait for Freydis’ dying day. Tove had been clear when it came to Nintra; there was nothing to be done about her except to ensure that the fey was the first to die. There was nothing more Freydis could do at the present moment except assemble the allies who would matter most in this task and comb through ancient tomes to learn how to slay the archfey, let alone how to lure her into the material plane. But this was not the only instruction Tove had left Freydis with. Tove had imparted upon Freydis her belief that it was her destiny to return to the dead arches she had wandered in her dreams–and that it seemed these dead arches were somehow critical to the plight against the Dark One. 

Not days before, Freydis had met the odd druidic woman, Sakkara, who had spoken as if the stars had delivered a message or prophesied something having to do with her, with her purpose. Freydis hadn’t understood it then, and it barely made more sense to her now, but she knew her next step needed to be to beg for an audience with the Keeper in her home in Trivia’s Cove. Her initial contact with Alessia, Torsten, and Eivor had been eased by a sudden burst of adrenaline and duty, but as she prepared to seek out the guidance of Sakkara the overwhelm of the residual grief, fear, and loss from her trials in the Arches had a vice grip on her heart. She had thought that perhaps when she awoke she was made of stronger stuff than mere humans were made of, but she knew this couldn’t be true when her emotions still managed to take the helm and drag her down when she knew there was little time to waste.

Even so, she found herself on the shoreline of Trivia’s Cove, where Sakkara had promised Freydis could find her. She could feel her heartbeat in her throat as she looked at the sight of the island, first the lavish canvas tent made up of colorful textiles, the inside of it obscured by the midday shadows. The island seemed desolate yet ready to provide all one would need at the very same moment. And then, she saw the arch. It stirred in Freydis the echoes of her family’s screams as the Aetherons invaded, the fear that froze the blood in her veins at the sight of Kalf’s murderous gaze, and the sight of Tove slowly dissipating and fading away. The grief washed over her with the strength of an ocean riptide as the tide washed over her ankles. The arch was beautiful, quiet, and serene, still as a stone but so capable of having an impactful presence. Freydis could feel her pulse quicken as all the dead arch somewhere in Iskaldrik had shown her began to echo in her mind, the depths of her loss becoming unbearable anew and the weight of the mystery of what had been granted to her in exchange so heavy she felt like she could barely breathe.

[thequeendomhqinspo]

Queendom Text Posts + 2 / ?

@casimirnoctis @sakkarathekeeper @suyinskiss @vuldak-juneau @hiddenvaldis @elokian

[lilyliux]

Who: @sakkarathekeeper Where: Eterna, Queen Arethusa Mordecai's castle or alternatively separate noble quarters

The dream that she had awakened from lingered with her still, sunlight broke through the window pane and highlighted the particles of dust that danced in the air, lit up by a golden hour as the dust shimmered in the air. She had a cooling cup of tea next to her in a floral porcelain cup and she sat in an ornate armchair, gazing out at the bay below. She'd never be one of them, not really but she knew how to smile, dance and speak like them. She was invited to all the royal parties and charmed and fed the appetites of those who were wanting, she was grateful for her station, for the comforts that she had and the Harmonium that she attended.

Still she felt as if something new was beginning, that something old was awakening and she hung in the balance between the worlds. She had visited the arches when she was young and it's song had never stopped ringing in her ears. She had invited a druid that she knew who was wise beyond their years, it was as if she could remember what came before. A knock on the door signified Sakkara's arrival, Lily didn't wish for a servant to get it but in fact had excused them for the day to tend to their families. "Please, come in."

[sakkarathekeeper]

Date: Post the DnD session and the plot drop - a cryophoenix was rescued and a mage attacked on Lysaran soil in the feywilds, but also the Neptunalia festival is on the horizon Location: Eterna, Lysara Characters: @morijah-the-right & @sakkarathekeeper Notes: uwu

The owl perched on a branch nearby before flying to the ground. From there, the owl became a woman who smiled and inclined her head respectfully to the General. "My Lady General," Sakkara greeted her friend. A long time, the Keeper had entrusted General Morijah with much information about the druids of their Queendom and even volunteered to teach those in her army when necessary. Nowadays, Sakkara contented herself with showing up at random moments and regaling Morijah on information that she might appreciate for the safety of their kingdom. Or gossip. Sakkara didn't engage in petty gossip with just anyone, but she thoroughly enjoyed speaking with someone who always seemed interested in what she had to say. Someone who wasn't a druid for once. Someone who was friendly, older, wiser company.

"You look exceedingly imposing today." Sakkara could probably guess that it was the Aetherian mages that had taken over Iskaldrik the past few weeks, and perhaps that one was now found in Lysara. National security was at an all-time risk these days. But, then again, Mor also always looked so very imposing.

[sakkarathekeeper]

Date: FLASHBACK, about a century ago Locations: Astoria, somewhere outside and away from other people Characters: @phyrofwild & @sakkarathekeeper Notes: :'''

The days and nights were filled with learning. Phyr had long since finished lectures on the history of their kind and their language and now she watched while he perfected the techniques that would make him into a formidable druid. A pinnacle of their kind. To say she was proud of Zephyrus was an understatement. Throughout the years, her very first student had become like the younger sibling that she had never had in any of her lives. He was treasured family. Sakkara would have done whatever it took to see her mentee safely and happily succeed in this life, even surpass her one day. Like a mother, however, she feared the day he would no longer need her around. She had been a mother in one life, she knew the feeling far too well.

Every so often that fear would resurface. Underneath the stars, she watched Zephyrus so confidently and calmly complete the spell. The joy on Sakkara's face turned to sadness - it was very unlike her to look so forlorn after such a success. Trying to hide her emotions and also brimming with familial affection, the Keeper smiled and pressed a kiss to the side of his head. "It is perfect, Phyr," she murmured. "I don't believe I could have done it better myself."

[sakkarathekeeper]

Date: FLASHBACK, maybe a decade or two ago Locations: Feywilds, Lysara Characters: @casimirnoctis & @sakkarathekeeper Notes: that is her emotional support exile

Just outside Sakkara's tented abode, the night sang a lullaby of owls, crickets and crumbling autumn leaves. The only light that they had was the moon, the candles and fire of the camping stove that kept them extra warm. It was a beautiful evening but Sakkara knew that Casimir was going to enjoy only one or two these. He had work to get to in civilization nearby, work that the druid did not wholly agree with. But since the moment that the Keeper had met the young dhampir, something in her heart told her that he was important. When she read the signs of the runes, Sakkara was only further convinced of this and did all she could to treat him as such. With time, Casimir had even begun to matter to her in a more personal way. This poor child, abandoned by his own family for daring to have a different vision for his future. Turning one's back on violence, whatever their reason may be, was an honorable thing to do for their world.

"This tea will help you sleep soundly and wake up with a better head on those shoulders," she said, pouring the herbal remedy. "You're going to need it if you're to go out there in the morning and be so foolish. Again."

[sakkarathekeeper]

 “I am always surprised how gentle you are. How the brightest innovator of our age could still care so much for preservation and the simpler things.” She took in a deep breath. “I am the past, Zu. You are the future,” she murmured. “I am the one who is always meant to be there for you.” Her smile widened a bit. “And I am proud of that.”

@sakkarathekeeper & @engineerzuleima

[engineerzuleima]

“Now that is flattery I hear,” Zuleima muses, turning in the air and letting her hair fan underneath her, a smile of her own matching the druid’s. If there were blood still rushing through her veins, she is sure that she would be blushing at the compliment, as she had been prone to the condition back when she was alive. As it is, all she is left with is the feeling of unbearable fondness that she unmistakably feels whenever she spends too much time with the druid. “Few are those that would call me gentle of all things, and when they do they rarely mean it fully.”

Overtly sharp and critical, not very likely to compromise. Many terms can be used to describe her, but rarely can gentle be found amidst the bunch. 

“I am the present, Sakkara,” she refutes ever so gently. As a strigoi, she is a walking corpse, an expiration date hanging over her. There is no future for her but the one she doomed herself in her youth, and yet there is not a time where she regrets it. “We are to build the future together, hand in hand. Not any other way.”

The two women had been on the earth for over 2 centuries, yet neither looked over 30. And though Zuleima had walked this earth a little over a decade longer than Sakkara, the Keeper still had hundreds of years to count among other lives, other weary end-of-the-worlds that she had seen. In that sense, she felt quite alone, quite old and out-of-place. Some days it was difficult to hope for the best, to strengthen her tired heart when it was much easier to be resigned to the worst. When she spoke to Zuleima, she remembered what it was like to hope far more ardently. It gave her strength. Sakkara wanted deeply to hope, she wanted to have the sort of heart she'd had in other lives and wanted to continue to have - a heart that cared for as many people as possible and fought for them. But it wavered in this final life.

She was brought back to a semblance of who she wanted to be when she heard Zuleima speak with such hope and with charity. Sakkara smiled softly. She gazed at the strigoi with the sort of softness that was rarely seen in her eyes, especially since losing Zephyr to the Dark One's influence. "I am always surprised how gentle you are. How the brightest innovator of our age could still care so much for preservation and the simpler things." She took in a deep breath. "I am the past, Zu. You are the future," she murmured. "I am the one who is always meant to be there for you." Her smile widened a bit. "And I am proud of that."

[sakkarathekeeper]

Date: After the DnD quest with dragon god Location: Trivia's Cove Characters: @engineerzuleima & @sakkarathekeeper Notes: a BABY

Sakkara had not introduced Zuleima to Anivia, if only because she had been so busy. From a Neptunalia competition to the research needed to find any trace of the phoenixes, she had not been home often, and this was not a rare occurrence with Sakkara. The Keeper did not tell people where she went and often times she'd wound up sleeping in inns or on branches as a bird, far away from Trivia's Cove. She hadn't even had a moment to sit and spend time with her favorite strigoi, and she didn't expect Zuleima that day either. Sakkara had just only recently come home a few minutes ago. She had just set a tea to boil and set down her things. She was considering a flight to Eterna tomorrow, a chance to see both Mor and Zuleima, but her thoughts were interrupted by the beat of familiar wings.

Sakkara smiled and hurried out of the tent. Anivia was far away, unseen as she hunted for fresh food after the long journey. The Keeper was alone, save for two dragon flies that fluttered all around her as she watched Zuleima and Cloudy land. "Had you come just a little earlier, I would not have been here. Fate has given you good timing," she said with a smile. Sakkara then looked over at the wyvern. "Rest your wings, Cloudy," she said affectionately. "I will have a few uncooked steaks to give you today, if you'd like."

[engineerzuleima]

“Disappointing, but not entirely surprising,” Zuleima admits, suddenly all too weary as she thinks of what it’s to come. War is inevitable, she feels it looming in the horizon, the smell of gunpowder tickling her senses just as the smell of petrichor before the rain. There is nothing she can do to stop it, despite her years of experience. Instead, all that is left for her to do is to ensure that her people are ready, and so are the weapons that they will be using. “I must, if I want to lower the casualty rate and ensure the safety of the majority.”

People would die, she knows, no matter what she does, they will die. They always do. But perhaps her work will save one more person that could have been saved, perhaps the end of the war will not leave Eterna in smoking ruins, but her work will stand strong against any attack. 

Perhaps. 

“ ‘tis not heavier than yours,” she points quietly as she begins to hover and crosses her legs, remaining high enough to keep meeting the druid’s eyes. “It’s a burden we choose to bear, and if it means the tides are turned in our favor, I will wear it gladly. Do you need help with yours? You only need to ask.”

"They certainly will not," Sakkara assured, darkly. The Keeper did not want to think of how the stars warned of a terrible future ahead, but she couldn't help but think of it now. Zuleima, as someone who would stand firmly beside the Queen, would forever be intertwined with the fate of this Queendon. She instead shut her notebook and sighed, looking up at the strigoi. "... Will you be preparing for the day?" She wondered about what weapons someone well-versed in the ingenuity of Veilcrest technology could come up with. She knew they would be grand, she knew that pain was unavoidable. "It is you and those close around you who will help decide the fate of us all, you know."

She looked sympathetic, and also sad. Zuleima was an intellectual woman but she was also vivacious, creative and so full of life and hope. She had a good heart to accompany the great mind. As much as Sakkara wished that she could pull her away from all the responsibilities she made for herself, the Keeper knew that was not her place. Like Sakkara, Zuleima knew where she belonged. "That is a heavy burden to bare."

[engineerzuleima]

To be truly understood, beyond the common niceties and digging into your very essence, is far more difficult than most would consider. Ephemeral and fleeting as mortal life is, people desperately cling to notions such as love and companionship, throwing themselves headfirst into failed courtship upon failed courtship until they found the right one. Zuleima is far too methodical to use that method, her time spent on her work even before she had left Eterna. It’s not surprising, then, that despite her ample experience in pleasures of the flesh born from the typical hedonism of Veilcrest, she had never known love well enough to identify when the seeds are planted or when they bloom. 

For now, she merely enjoys her time with Sakkara, not knowing the name of the warmth on her chest when she looks at the druid. 

“Alright, alright,” she sighs dramatically, straightening up as her hands fall on Sakkara's shoulders and she squeezes affectionately before stepping back and wandering around the room, eyes flickering around curiously until they inevitably fall back upon Sakkara once she speaks. “I doubt that the Queen will trust them either. Theirs are the hands that broke the world, and they don’t seem ready to negotiate. And with the Iskaran refugees receding in our lands… Well, I don’t believe the Aetheran’s will leave well enough alone.”

Sakkara was not particularly affectionate, nor was she opposed to affection. She had been used to Zuleima's for a while now, comforted by mere touch because it meant someone had not grown weary of her, nor been daunted by the eccentric ways of Keeper. In fact, Sakkara had never really been able to get rid of the dhampir. She had tried, at least in the very beginning when she had nothing to teach or to tell Zuleima.

The druid had never truly loved in her past lives - not romantically. There were children and there were students, mothers and father's that she had loved. And friends. Lovers had always been fleeting, nothing to burn a mark in her soul. For someone so old and wise, Sakkara did not foresee any lasting consequence to the tranquility of the Engineer's company. How could nature and technology ever find themselves on common ground?

"I am determined to understand on my own," she replied with a tiny grin. As much as technology confused her and held little place in her life, Zuleima had instilled in her a never-before-seen interest in learning. When speaking of Aetheron, all amusement faded away from Sakkara's expression. "For every magical creature that they liberated, 10 more have been killed or found worse fates. The Aetherons... one could never truly trust them. Not even before their fall and resurgence."

[engineerzuleima]

“There are some that take it too far, I agree,” Zuleima muses as she rests her cheek on the top of Sakkara’s head in search of a more comfortable position as she glances over the druid’s work with keen eyes. It is an entirely different area of study than the one she has immersed into, but one that fascinates her nonetheless. The strigoi had never been one for druidic history, not until she moved to Eterna, so it is enjoyable to learn of what she had missed in her focus on her studies. “The Game is far too tiresome, for example. But I do believe a solid abode is not too much, or a proper sewage system.”

She wrinkles her nose at the last part, imagining how much Eterna would reek without it. 

“Shall I explain it again? I have heard the third time's the charm,” she teases quietly as her eyes follow the U shape of the runes, humming thoughtfully as she tries to identify them. It’s a fruitless effort, she knows, for all she knows about druidic runes she has learned from the woman before her and if Sakkara doesn’t recall the translation, there is little chance Zuleima will. Pursing her lips in thought, she blinks out of her reverie at the passing comment and raises her head from where it’s resting to peer down to Sakkara in interest. “If the matter with Aetheron is resolved, I don’t see why the new ruler wouldn’t allow a quick diplomatic excursion. After all, they will owe the crown so much by then, they will likely be unable to refuse.”

"Material and magical comforts are overrated," she replied, just another version of the same things she would usually spout in response. Sakkara had once been a noble lady in the kingdom of Astoria, another life ago, and the druid found more connection with the world around her in this way. Zuleima teased her, but Sakkara knew she understood. The dhampir had earned all the comforts of Court now but she devoted her time and energy to her craft - not to beauty and luxury. It had been one of the things that surprised the druid in the very beginning.

Sakkara managed a little grin and looked up. "Thank you. I'm still attempting to understand your miniature water purifier from weeks ago," she admitted. The druid did not like to show people what she was working on, even many of her students, but she knew Zuleima to be a kindred spirit of curiousity. She pushed over the notebook and showed the dhampir a page of runes inscribed one after the other, following the pattern of an upside 'U' along the page. "There used to be a beautiful temple in Iskaldrik with these runes... it's been so long, I cannot recall the exact translation." She sighed. "I still dream of returning one day. Perhaps I will ask Cloudy for a ride," she said, the latter being a joke. Wyvern enjoyed treacherous terrain, like those in the Deadlands or Iskaldrik, but Sakkara would never want to risk their draconic friend.