< atton revisited > The information page for Atton has been fully revised and updated with the new map!
< updated calendar > The Fortuna calendar has been updated in the "Other" lore section! This includes a document which displays the calendar for you to see, making it much easier to understand.
< moving map > The first functional map has been released in the News section! This map is also interactive, allowing you to drag and drop between points in order to determine distances. This is the first iteration, and there's more and better to come!
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< human lore update > Humans have been updated with TWENTY-FIVE subraces/subcultures which add numerous options, and a little extra lore and flavour.
< magic lore update > Magical Lore has been enhanced with the addition of a post on Magical Education. From Beginner to Expert, this is how you learn the spells.
< a change to member groups > Member groups are now based on storyline! You can change your displayed storyline by editing the settings in your profile.
Welcome to the world of Fortuna, a land of fantastic proportions. This is an original fantasy roleplay that takes place in a world developed over nearly a decade of work and collaboration. We aim to encourage all participants to have a hand in the stories of the characters here, and the world around them. Your choices are key - so make them with pride. You decide who wins the wars, you decide who becomes King, the world is ours, and together we will bring it to life!
The 13th of the Scales of Judgement Evening at the Hermit's Cottage
With Charlotte and Tehodis poofed off to Boiss it left Simon and Endless, and the slightly peeved Kilik, alone at the cottage to catch up a bit. Simon felt a little bad for wanting to question Endless immediately regarding what he had been up to, since the boy had looked dead on his feet when he first got here, but he was so curious! And it was still almost moonrise, and he couldn't pretend he didn't want to see his eyes shine. He also wanted to make another pizza pie, but now probably wasn't the time for that. He wondered how quickly Endless and Tehodis had to leave tomorrow. Actually, he should probably just ask that. "When are you and Tehodis expected to return?"
Post by Endless Laeretti on Jan 13, 2017 22:58:31 GMT -7
Endless blinked at the simple question, because honestly he hadn't really given it much thought up until then. He stared at his lap with a furrowed brow as he came up with the most logical answer he could think of.
"Probably as soon as possible. Woodrow sent me just to make sure she would get help and be okay. I don't think he'd like it if we stayed any longer than we have to." He looked up again, quickly raising his hands in a disarming fashion. "Not to say we'll leave as soon as she gets back! Obviously I think a night of sleep is understandable, ahah. Besides, I guess it's not like he has any way of knowing when she's well enough to travel back. I guess it's fine as long as I just go back with her, whenever that is." Then, with a touch of moroseness, he added: "I don't know if he'll pardon my prison sentence for this. But if he doesn't, it'd only make it worse for me to not go back at all..."
At first, the way Endless answered that definitely made it sound like they should leave right away, though Simon thought even an important lord like this Woodrow guy should understand the need to spend the night. Not only because they were all totally exhausted, but because someone should really keep an eye on Tehodis at least overnight just to make sure that the curse really was finished. If in the middle of the night something bad started happening it would be a lot more useful if she was still with the people who could fix her.
His face must have been showing his disappointment though, because Endless raised his hands and said that he didn't meant ehy would leave as soon as she got back, and that a night's rest was understandable. Simon smiled at that. Besides, Endless said, it wasn't like Woodrow could know that she was well enough to travel yet. With what had happened to her, Simon thought the fact she was well enough to go walking through Boiss with Charlotte right now was verging on miraculous. Endless was sombre when he said that he wasn't sure if his sentence would be pardoned for doing this, but it certainly would only make things worse if he didn't go back.
"Yeah, I feel like going back is definitely the more beneficial option. And he's gotta understand that you'd need to stay the night, for rest and observation of the patient. And then in the morning we can have a nice big breakfast. I'm thinking pizza pie." He flashed a smile to show he was at least partially joking, but would also be totally willing to eat pizza for breakfast. Endless looked a little down so he hoped it would brighten him up a bit.
Post by Endless Laeretti on Jan 14, 2017 7:29:12 GMT -7
Endless's morose expression picked up a bit at the chipper tone in Simon's voice, and when he mentioned the pizza as a breakfast idea, he smiled, allowing himself to laugh a bit. "Got you hooked, didn't I? I definitely wouldn't say no to a pizza breakfast. I wonder if Tehodis and Lila have had it before?"
He sat up a little straighter. It was fine to just sit and enjoy this, for the time being, right? He might not get the chance again anytime soon. He wanted to make the most of this time with Simon again. And Kilik, he noted, seeing the cat pacing around their general vicinity, seeming grumpy. He realized she'd kinda seemed like that since he came out of the room to find Simon on the ground. She locked eyes with him as she passed, and he decided to lean down and slowly scoop her up, making sure she was okay with it.
When she didn't object immediately, he set her down in his lap and started scratching her ears. "Has anyone given you a proper thank you yet, Kilik? You definitely deserve one."
This seemed to have the feline preening with pride, exposing her neck a bit so Endless could scratch there as well. "Thank you, Kilik," he said. Then he glanced back up Simon, his expression getting a little tender. "And thank you, too. Again. But like... really. Thank you so much. I'm sure this was a lot of trouble... I could pay for the ingredients you used, if you want, too. Just, um, give me some time to come up with the money," he added, chuckling.
OOC Note: Lemme know if Kilik would have actually just swiped at him, hahah.
Simon was glad to see Endless perk up a bit at the mention of pizza. He was also glad to hear the endorsement for pizza for breakfast. They might have to go back to Submiere and in Endless's case potentially back to jail in the morning, but that was so far away from right now, they should take a moment to enjoy the fact that no one was actively dying anymore. It hadn't escaped Simon's notice that Kilik was still a little grumpy, and he had been meaning to make things up to her later, really. He was even prepared to sit through a tirade of insults about how stupid he had been, because he knew she was saving it all for when everyone left.
Endless also noticed, and he picked her up gently and put her on his lap so he could scratch her ears. Kilik of course loved it. She loved it even more when Endless said she deserved a proper thank you, and she may have shot Simon a pointed look at that. "I said thanks," Simon grumbled, though he was happy to see that Endless had perked her up.
When Endless shifted his gaze over to Simon, he didn't think he was imagining the way it softened a bit, and the whole look of him petting Kilik in a chair in his living room with that look on his face was just.. beautiful, really. He tried not to think about how domestic it felt, or how much he wished this was a regular afternoon and they were just hanging out, the two of them, with a fire in the hearth and tea and maybe some pizza. He pushed it all aside when Endless thanked him, really, and said this was probably a lot of trouble and offered to pay him for things. If he gave him time to come up with the money. "I take payment in pizza, and promises to come back some time when it's not a life or death situation, hmm?"
He couldn't deny that this whole thing had been a lot of work and a fair amount of difficult, but he wasn't going to say that. Besides, the most difficult parts happened after the bedroom door had been closed, and he wasn't going to go describe that to anyone. It had been a stupid risk, a potentially deadly one, and even though it had worked that didn't retroactively make it a good idea.
"Besides, if I made you pay back in money all the charms Lila and Tehodis ate through you'd owe me for life. Maybe longer," he joked with a wink.
Post by Endless Laeretti on Jan 14, 2017 19:36:47 GMT -7
"Pizza payments sound manageable," Endless said, giggling a bit with one eyebrow jokingly raised. "A nice alternative if I do say so myself. Although..." He bit his lip a bit, wondering if he felt brave enough to say something that was definitely borderline flirty, but went ahead anyway. "I guess if I had to owe anyone for my whole life, it wouldn't be so bad if it was you."
Kilik got up and left.
Endless blinked after her, his mind catching up with events a moment later to remind him that Kilik was sentient and likely thought that that was an entirely unacceptable thing to say and wanted no part in this. Looking at the way she marched away purposefully with her chin up in the air, Endless found himself breaking down into quiet, breathy laughs, curling in on himself as he did so. Maybe he was just way, way, way too tired, but somehow the idea of Kilik getting so fed up with him after one statement that she would, she would just, just, just leave in a right huff, it was...
His laughs picked up volume. Holy crap that was so goddamn funny to him.
Simon liked the casual joking, because it kept things light and not too serious, though it was probably obvious to any outside observer that it was mostly just thinly veiled flirting. Outside observer like Kilik, perhaps. When Endless laughed and said pizza was probably manageable Simon smiled brightly, both because of the laugh and because he really did like pizza, and the idea of making another pizza with Endless was really just A+. Simon did not, I repeat did not stare when Endless bit his lip, and if he subconsciously licked his own lips it had nothing to do with where his thoughts went right about then, no sir-ee.
When Endless replied that he supposed it wouldn't be so bad to owe Simon for life, Simon was frankly glad Kilik got up and left in a huff then because light joking was ok but Simon would have definitely responded with something much less light, much more flirty, and it would all be over. There was an untouchable line that he definitely would have crossed. The kind of line that would break their still-new friendship into one of two paths, and he wasn't ready for that. This was good. What they had was good.
A moment after Kilik hopped off his lap and started stalking away, Endless broke down into quiet chuckles which slowly grew into full out laughter and it was impossible to stay straight-faced because now it was impossible not to laugh too. The laughter was contagious, and even moreso when Simon thought about poor Kilik sitting here listening to the two of them. She was really racking up the things she would rant to him later about, he was sure. He could already picture it, really. Kilik heard them laughing and huffed even more, pouncing off to his bedroom where she would probably claw his pillow or something.
The laughter died down, eventually, and Simon found that it actually made him feel better than he had felt before. Got his heart going at least, and he was feeling less tired. Still tired like he could sleep for a week, but less bone weary. Maybe there was some truth to the laughter being the best medicine thing people always said.
Simon remembered that he had wanted to ask a question, before all this, and he waited for Endless to appear ready to talk instead of laugh before finally asking it. "How do you know Tehodis anyway? Besides her arresting you, of course."
Post by Endless Laeretti on Jan 15, 2017 18:00:52 GMT -7
Endless quirked his lips to the side thoughtfully at the question, tapping a finger at his chin.
"Well, it's kind of odd... around four years ago, I was sitting alone at the beach, you know? And then as I was getting ready to go home, she kind of just, ran into me? When I met her she seemed... really lost. Like she wasn't all there, almost. I was worried about her, so I offered to try and help her get home or something and then... I don't know. She and I went through something together. I know this might sound weird, but I can't remember any of it. She has the same problem, although when we reunited recently she didn't even remember meeting me at all at first. I just... I know we did something. Something that was significant to us both. But when we finished it, we couldn't remember it anymore."
He looked down at his lap, his shoes knocking together as he frowned. The frustration he started feeling was familiar; he'd often had this issue whenever his mind wandered back to this area. Trying to recall something he knew he should know and yet somehow having it lost beyond a hazy curtain.
"The worst part is I know that at one point I remembered some of it. Back when we had just done whatever it was. I could remember a parts of what we'd been through. But it's like, the more time that goes by, the more of it I lose. And by now I can't hardly remember a thing. Although... I still dream about it, sometimes. Or at least I think I do. I wake up some days feeling like I saw whatever happened. But it's never anything I can remember either..."
After a thoughtful couple of moments of silence, Endless found himself shaking his head, pulling his attention back to reality. "A-anyway, kinda got off topic there. Sorry if it's all really vague and doesn't make much sense. Point is, me and Tehodis had some kind of experience together some years back that we can't remember anymore. She kind of disappeared some time after that; we had been meeting daily at that beach ever since the first time, but then one day she just didn't show up, and I didn't see her again. And then, when I went to Submiere, the day that I left here? I ran into her again in Eersaeb, and helped her catch a pirate! And then she kind of remembered me again after that."
And then, of course, he'd confessed to an old crime and she'd done her duty and arrested him for it. Which, when he thought about it, still bothered him. It hadn't ever really stopped bothering him. He decided he had forgiven Tehodis, at some point during her daily visits and chats to him, of course. He didn't want to hold it against her for the rest of his life. But that didn't mean it didn't still bother him.
Who arrests their friend over one stolen loaf of bread in another country more than a year ago?
Endless was being really vague about how he knew Tehodis. Like, really vague. He said she ran into him on a beach and was really out of it, and then they had some sort of meaningful experience together that neither of them remembered afterward. Something significant to them both. He really seemed to stress that part, that it was meaningful. Simon had plenty of 'meaningful encounters' with people that he couldn't remember afterwards, or had only foggy memories of, but he suspected that Endless, dear sweet innocent Endless probably didn't mean the same thing by 'meaningful'. Then again, he could have pegged him wrong. He didn't usually, but he wouldn't ignore the possibility.
When Endless continued by saying he just knew it had been meaningful, and then said they had 'met' at the beach daily afterward for a while Simon wondered if he didn't have Endless pegged wrong after all. He had pulled his legs onto his chair, sitting cross-legged as he listened intently to the story and at the end he sat back and hummed, then chuckled a bit and cocked his head. "Sorry, I know that all sounded really serious and stuff but like, by 'meaningful experience' do you mean you slept with her? Because it really sounds like you slept with her. Not like there's anything wrong with it if you did, I'm certainly not one to talk, but if you did you shouldn't feel embarrassed to say so, y'know?"
Post by Endless Laeretti on Jan 16, 2017 1:00:59 GMT -7
Endless's eyes widened in what could only be called abject horror, his face reddened, and his jaw dropped open.
Did-! Did he seriously just ask that??? Immediately he was animated, waving his hands and showing a significantly higher degree of wakefulness on his face than he'd shown in the last hour.
"N-No!!! No, nothing at all like that!" His hands clapped to his face, dragging down a bit. "That's-! I can't believe you'd- No! No, I - seriously!? - I just...!" Then he pulled his hands away, his face flushed almost entirely pink now and a wild look in his eyes. "I'm not even-! I don't... uh..." He sort of just... trailed off at that, evidently about to blurt out something that he might not have completely comfortable saying out loud. Especially not a boy he thought was very, very handsome.
Instead he cleared his throat, still blushing and looking kind of disgruntled, eyes darting off to the side and brows furrowing, but notably quieter this time when he spoke again. "We just went somewhere. I don't know where. And neither of us remembers it. It was nothing like... like that, jeez Simon..."
He crossed his arms, his legs, and his foot started tapping restlessly against the ground. His crossed arms rubbed at the opposite biceps and he was looking literally everywhere except at Simon. Jeez, is that what Simon had been thinking this whole time? That he and Tehodis were, were some kind of, like, thing? Wow that was an uncomfortable thought. Matters of orientation aside, she was also a good seven or so years older than he was, which he knew didn't matter as much to a lot of people in Fortuna, but for humans it tended to be more of an issue. Also, she felt more like a sister than anything else.
A sister that arrested him, but still.
"A-anyway," he said, still flustered and getting to his feet. He felt like walking around suddenly. "What about Lila? What's, um. What's her story? Or, how you know her, or, whatever..." He definitely, definitely tried to make sure like he wasn't a little too curious now, his mind unhelpfully going to the same place now that Simon had spoken it into existence. Hell, he'd even gone and said "I'm certainly not one to talk," a moment ago, and Endless would be lying if he said that the prospect didn't suddenly worry him. It was... stupid, probably, but. Well. He'd maybe gotten his hopes up a little bit, last time, so...
Point is, he definitely, definitely failed, most likely, to actually sound as though he wasn't as curious about it as he really was.
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