< 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!
< first annual awards > The results for the First Annual Fortuna Year-End Awards have been posted! Go and take a look at who the finalists were, and who took home the big prizes!
< new default skin > Our new skin has passed the beta test, and is now the new Default for the forums! If you have any issues with this skin, send a PM or Discord to Mellie.
< 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!
Simon's sleep was not a restful one. Trapped in unconsciousness his mind was a swirling torrent of the visions he normally ignored. Snippets of the past, present, and possible futures played in a cacophonous montage, sometimes scenes he recognized from his own past and sometimes places far from here, with people he had never met. A woman with powerful wings storming out of a hall. His own father disowning him when he left school. A centaur and an elf walking through a forest. A woman exploding into light. A house collapsing in flames. A monstrous being laying waste to a village. A man skipping rocks on a still lake. Two women, covered in blood, embracing. A baby wailing in a crib as a man approached, raising a knife. An army marching across a barren landscape.
Consciousness did not come quickly. Like wading through a spider-eel's web, it was a struggle for every inch. Even as his body stirred his mind was barely catching up, but eventually he forced his eyes open and the first place they landed was on Endless's still-unconscious form. But he wasn't dead. He was so relieved he almost closed his eyes and went back under, but the fear of returning to the nightmare kept him awake. "Thank you Charlotte. Tehodis." He was still too tired to even be embarrassed about how woefully unprepared he had been. How he had almost gotten both of them killed. He would face that guilt, but not tonight. Tonight he was just happy they were both alive. "I really fucked up." Ok, maybe he would face a little of the guilt tonight.
Post by Tehodis Kitai on Oct 5, 2017 8:23:33 GMT -7
Tehodis was an expert at adjusting her own memories, and the fight in the swamp was no exception. Just hours later everything about the fight - the spider eels, the chilled swamp water, the mud between her toes, the magical wisp-arm - seemed like a distant dream. It didn't matter that Simon and Endless were still unconscious, because she could convince herself that they were just sleeping, and that the four of them were friends having a comfortable night in. Tehodis had gathered up pillows and blankets (with Kilik's help) and the four of them had cozied up in the living room with tea. Charlotte and her had spent the hours talking (as people do when they relax together), and the conversation had swiftly fallen away from the sordid events and into two (not-so) simple women getting to know one another. It turned out that just because someone spoke like an oracle, did not mean they had only popped into existence for a singular purpose. Charlotte had a life before her sponsors, and a life with her sponsors, and Tehodis felt honoured getting to hear about it, even if it was likely heavily censored for details.
It was all... Nice. Tehodis didn't often get to relax in this way, and even if she did, she didn't have friends that she could relax with. Even as Simon began to stir, Tehodis didn't quite feel like he was stirring from a venom-driven state of near-death, but rather he had just been sleeping. It was a nicer memory, the kind that Tehodis always preferred. She would keep it like that. Tomorrow when she was in Eersaeb she would only tell and remember this, this happy moment in a happy cottage after the horrible things Woodrow had done. And the only reason she would remember that was so that Charlotte's alternate vision wouldn't come true. Tehodis couldn't become the mother of Woodrow's children, of that she was certain.
It seemed like a struggle for Simon to wake up, and so Tehodis took to his side, replacing the cloth on his head with a fresh one from the warmed bucket they had placed nearby, and hoped it might help him come to. His eyes did eventually open, and he offered them a kind thanks, before stating how he'd... er... Messed up. The guilt was unnecessary in Tehodis' revisionist memories, so it was easy to comfort him, "It's alright. Everything's fine now, just relax. Can I get you anything?"
Last Edit: Oct 5, 2017 8:23:56 GMT -7 by Tehodis Kitai
Despite saving her life and everything, Simon still knew very little about Tehodis except that she was friends with Endless and the two of them had some life-changing experience together neither of them could remember. Something he learned now though was that she had an unbelievably comforting presence, and she was more comforting at this moment than his own mother ever had been. Strange things you think after almost dying. Almost actually, really dying. That was about as close as he'd ever been and the realization of it all was a little overwhelming. He knew that someday he would of course die because everyone did, but for the most part he had always felt fairly confident that it wouldn't be until he was much, much older. He made a lot of risks on a daily basis but maybe as a result of his divination he always had the overall feeling that he was going to be fine. He was legitimately shaken by the experience, and it was only made worse by the fast that it hadn't just been his own life on the line.
But again, Tehodis was a comforting presence. She had placed a warm cloth on his forehead and gently assured him everything was ok. She asked if she could get him anything. Just by her being there and saying that it actually helped him feel a little better. Maybe that was just the fact he was still half drugged by the venom. "What time is it?" It looked dark, but he couldn't be sure it wasn't just because he'd gone partially blind or something.
He felt a weight on his legs suddenly and grimaced, not in pain but rather embarrassment. Maybe shame. "Hi Kilik.." The cat walked up to his chest and sat down, right where it made it hardest to breathe, giving him a very unimpressed look. "Yeah I know. I know. I'm sorry."
Post by Charlotte Firiana on Oct 21, 2017 22:28:58 GMT -7
Charlotte held a small smile to herself as she watched Tehodis react to Simon's awakening with what could only be called motherly domesticity. Taking care of herself seemed to be a challenge for the woman, but taking care of others was something Tehodis was quite the natural at. She didn't let him have even a moment to wallow in his (honestly well-deserved) guilt before she was quickly making assurances and offering to do things for him. Honestly though, he had left the cottage woefully under-prepared. Charlotte would have thought him some ignorant traveler had she not known he made a home of these woods, so mere absent-mindedness was the only excuse he could have had. She glanced over at the sleeping Moonborn boy.
'An absent-minded mistake, hmm? I wonder why,' Specs remarked dryly, and Charlotte snorted and shook her head. She'd already seen, during her earlier glance through Simon's history, that Endless was clearly... someone of interest to Simon.
She decided not to call Simon out on his blatant mistake, however, leaving his care to Tehodis (and leaving the scathing guilt trip to Kilik), while she instead occupied herself at Simon's work counter. When she and Tehodis had returned to the cottage earlier, before the daring rescue, Charlotte noticed the potion Simon had left brewing. Specs's insight had informed her what it was meant for.
"This is almost ready," Charlotte called softly over to the alchemist, stirring the mixture in front of her a bit. "My sponsor, Specs, was kind enough to guide me through the process of completing it for you, once I noticed the flowers hanging out of your pockets. Good that he did; much as I may use them, potioncraft is an art I never devoted much education towards. But I was warned that this one would soon be useless if it wasn't finished, so I took that liberty while you were asleep. I trust that that is acceptable?"
She removed the brew from the heat at Specs's instruction, the only remaining step being to let it cool. With it set aside, she turned her focus back upon Simon and Tehodis. "And to answer your question, it is precisely 1:37, past midnight. Sojourn has left us, I'm afraid."
Charlotte was speaking to him now. She had finished the potion he had been making for Endless. "Yes, that's good, thank you Charlotte. Kilik wasn't any trouble?" Sometimes she was a bit of a troublemaker but he had a feeling after Charlotte and Tehodis saved his life she might have been properly behaved. She was likely saving all her sass for when everyone left and it was just him around so she could tear him a new one with her words. Speaking of the Grimalkin, she gave a haughty look at the suggestion and swatted his nose with a paw. He deserved that.
"Oh, a shame. Sojourn is nice," Simon replied when Charlotte mentioned the time and how her sponsor had left. Well, one of them. Apparently Specs, which was a new one to Simon, was around and seemed to be the one who knew what to do with potions. Simon thought maybe he and Specs would get along well, given that common interest. "The potion is for Endless. Could make one for you too Tehodis, if you wanted."
Post by Tehodis Kitai on Oct 22, 2017 18:39:12 GMT -7
Tehodis was relieved that Simon was coherent, just as she was relieved to simply be here. The cottage was warm, they were all safe, and Simon seemed genuinely thankful for the aid Tehodis could give -- all of it felt so right, in a strange way. Tehodis thought that it must have been because of how it reminded her of the witch's home in the Malscuri swamps, it was - what was the word? - nostalgia.
It was that memory - the memory of her witch, the old shambling cottage, the closeness the two had - that had called Tehodis' attention to the potion when they had come back. Charlotte was far more interested in the thing, particularly in sorting out how to finish it, and Tehodis was fine to leave it at that. She was actually thankful Charlotte hadn't asked her, worried to be caught in a lie, and how the Seer had instead allowed Tehodis to focus her energies on taking care of the two men. The truth of the matter was Tehodis did know the potion, vaguely. She'd never made it, but knew the different ingredients, and could tell that it was for memory, much like the candlestick Charlotte had given her. Tehodis could say that she wasn't ready yet to remember, but it was far more truthful to say she simply did not want to. Her nightmare about Tristan Cowell had been more than enough for her, thank you very much.
She busied herself with getting a fresh cloth for Endless while Simon and Charlotte caught up, and nearly froze when Simon offered her a potion as well. "No, no," She answered after a small hesitation. "I'm..." She thought as she walked to Endless what kind of excuse she could offer, and finally came up with one as she removed the older cloth from Endless' forehead, "Charlotte purchased me an object of magic for that. But thank you, Simon. Your kindness knows no bounds." It was true, so she didn't need to feel guilty for lying... But she did feel guilty for something, and it was nagging at her. She brushed wetted tendrils back from Endless' face to distract herself as she observed him, continuing the motions half-absently until she saw his eyelids flicker.
"Oh! I... I think he's waking up-- Charlotte?"
Last Edit: Oct 22, 2017 18:40:01 GMT -7 by Tehodis Kitai
Post by Endless Laeretti on Nov 8, 2017 15:14:18 GMT -7
Endless never had much awareness or memory of periods of unconsciousness; sleep always seemed as though it was just a blank, dreamless period to him, save for occasional instances where small, unremarkable ones rattled around in his head. Though those usually just seemed like thoughts that were on his mind during the day, rather than dreams. This time, though, was odd. Endless didn't think it was particularly usual for people to actively recognize when they were unconscious, but he found that he did. He remembered the shock of cold that permeated everywhere on his body as he fell into the pond, the suffocation of the goo blocking his face off, and then...
Then he was floating in the night sky. It wasn't the kind of experience he'd ever remembered having before, peacefully drifting through the stars while the moon watched over him above. The glow felt like it got more intense as he drifted closer to it, but then after a few moments, he started floating back downwards, the glow dimming. Eventually he was coasting along closer to the earth, just watching the sky and feeling peaceful, warm.
And then the glow faded altogether, Endless could feel something wet on his forehead, and his eyes were twitching open.
"Oh! I... I think he's waking up-- Charlotte?"
That was Tehodis' voice, and her image came into focus a moment later as Endless's eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room. Lila was there, as well, stepping over and inspecting Endless, and he could see Simon sitting on the chair across from him, the sight peeking out between the two women. He did not see anyone else, though, and so blurted out his first question.
"Who's Charlotte?"
And then, as though delayed, he blinked rapidly and became more alert. "W-we're okay, right? No injuries? Simon?" He locked eyes with the other man, looking him over. Simon didn't appear to be any worse for wear than Endless, and Endless certainly didn't feel as though he was missing anything. Arms, legs, check...
Lila laid a hand on his shoulder. "You are both just fine, now. Your companion and I were fortunate enough to arrive in a timely fashion, and were able to drive away the beasts. Though I'd advise against such reckless abandon in the future."
Well it's not as though Endless had tried to be reckless... that was mostly Simon, and Endless had just been trying to save him. He decided not to voice that out loud, though, not when he could see Simon making a disgruntled face at Lila's comment. Endless shot him a sheepish smile; they were alright now, and that's what counted.
Tehodis was still right there, though, looking at him with concern, so he turned his attention to her next and made his smile into a more reassuring one. "Thanks for saving us, then. Guess you didn't waste any time getting even, huh?"
Tehodis said she didn't want the potion, but before Simon could make any assumptions as to why she clarified that Charlotte had already given her some magical object for it. Before he could harumph about how magic wasn't necessarily any better than alchemy she thanked him and, here's the kicker, said that his kindness knew no bounds. He was incredibly flattered by that for about one second until he remembered that what she said was patently, objectively false. He wasn't a bad person, and he didn't go out of his way to hurt people or anything, but Simon didn't even pretend to himself that he was a genuinely kind or caring person. He was selfish, and a little greedy, and motivated much more by a desire to better his own skills and do things other people couldn't than by any notion of helping humanity. He'd made people pay a lot of money for things he could do for them, and he would do so again. The fact he hadn't asked for payment before saving Tehodis's life was not a testament to him getting more kind or generous but rather to how impulsive and shortsighted he could be when he let himself get distracted by things like a cute boy. Speaking of which, Tehodis announced then that said cute boy was waking up, and Simon simultaneously wanted to run over and make sure he was ok and also disappear into the chair he was sitting in and never have to face Endless again ever.
Endless asked who Charlotte was, but before anyone answered that he moved right into asking if they were ok. When they locked eyes Simon froze and was glad Charlotte spoke first, saying they were fine. Both of them. When she advised against being so reckless in the future Simon sucked in a breath and grimaced. He glanced over at Endless in time to see him look over and flash a smile, which he responded to by immediately averting his gaze. "Yeah she even finished the potion," he mentioned.
Post by Tehodis Kitai on Nov 10, 2017 5:59:56 GMT -7
It was an immense relief for Tehodis to see that, not only had Endless awoken, he seemed to be doing well. He wasn't lethargic, rather he was alert and immediately concerned about Simon. Charlotte chastised them (Tehodis made a mental note not to call her that out loud again), and Tehodis just smiled and shook her head. She left the cloth unattended on Endless' forehead and grabbed a glass with clean water from nearby.
"Guess not," She gave a light chuckle in response to Endless' statement, and held the glass up to his lips so that he could sip without much exertion. Tehodis followed Endless' gaze over to Simon as the alchemist spoke and smiled and her cheeks greyed with flush. She enjoyed hearing the compliments, but they still made her squirm.
Her gaze returned to Endless, and she was suddenly reminded of her conversations with him about Simon while he was imprisoned as Artemis White, and so she added: "But it's really Lyla you should thank-- And Simon. He called out to her with magic, and we wouldn't have known it was happening without their powers combined. Besides, from what we saw, it looked like Simon had managed to hold them off until we got there. Without him well... That's your hero."
Post by Charlotte Firiana on Nov 11, 2017 22:37:29 GMT -7
When Tehodis told Simon that she had no need of the potion he'd made, that Charlotte had already purchased her an item for it, well... That was certainly not untrue. Charlotte had indeed purchased that candle, initially intending to add it to her own stock of magical items, and had then given it to Tehodis for her use when she was ready. Ironic that she had bothered to do so when Simon was already preparing something for the same task, and yet somehow (despite them both being Diviners) Charlotte had failed to be tipped off to that fact.
But back to the heart of the matter. Regardless of the fact that Tehodis's words had not been untrue, the intent behind them was one that rang of falsehood. Charlotte could already tell well enough that, for the time being at least, Tehodis had no intention of using that candle for its intended purpose. Charlotte had seen earlier how the other woman had a deep-seated resistance to the notion of facing her own past, and she doubted that that had changed in the hours since then, even if Tehodis had witnessed for herself some of what she could do if she only let go of her fear.
But she would not say anything on the matter. She wanted allies, yes, and was trying to become a person who could be accommodating to them, true. But certain habits would remain as such, and Charlotte was not going to adamantly interfere in Tehodis's decisions if the kina woman did not want her to. She would have to come to terms with the matter of her memories in her own time.
When Endless awoke, quickly becoming frantic (and overhearing her name), Charlotte stepped over to him to diffuse his concerns, assuring him that he and Simon were both indeed doing fine. He calmed down after that, trading comments with Tehodis, and then she even went out of her way to paint Simon up as Endless's hero.
Charlotte rolled her eyes at about the same time as she heard Specs make a dissatisfied noise in her mind.
Simon had been needlessly reckless, and was the one who had gotten himself and Endless into the situation to begin with. Sure, he did a fine job of protecting Endless when things went south until Charlotte and Tehodis could arrive, but she'd still hardly call him the hero of that situation. But it was also fairly obvious what Tehodis was trying to do with that, made even more so when Endless cast his gaze down at his lap and flushed slightly.
"Well... thanks then, Simon," he said, sheepishly.
Ugh. Why are mortals so relentlessly fixated on love? Specs asked in her mind.
It gave Charlotte only the briefest instance of pause; she had never heard Specs, or any of her other sponsors, refer to other people as 'Mortals' before. They always just said 'people'. Considering how careful they were with their words, and how cagey they were about themselves, even just that was a nice clue to Charlotte as to who her sponsors might be.
She didn't think on it for longer than a brief moment, however, and was sure to keep the thought to herself, out of Specs's prying inner eyes, and instead simply answered the thought with one of her own, casually.
For many, it is regarded as the pinnacle thing to strive for. Companionship. Not to say I quite understand fixating one's life around the idea of finding someone else to match with.
'You'd better not do something so banal while I'm around, Charlotte. I won't be able to tolerate you.'
Charlotte chuckled as she stepped over to the counter and began pouring Simon's potion into a small cup. 'Specs, the day I become concerned with endeavors of romance, I give you and everyone else license to abandon me completely.
'Good.'
Charlotte stepped back over the trio with the cup in hand, and offered it to Simon. "Once again, potion craft is no specialty of mine. If there is anything more which needs to be done, do feel free."
In reality she knew perfectly well that it was finished; Specs had told her as much. But she also got the feeling that Simon wanted to be the one to give it to Endless himself. Specs made another disgusted noise.
Charlotte turned her attention back to Endless, whose eyes were now locked on the cup. She had to wonder what he was hoping to rediscover by using this. Endless was a curiosity to her. A Moonborn, rarest of the Lightborn varieties, was always spoken of (not always so kindly) as one who was meant to bring about great change wherever they appeared. Other times they faded into obscurity entirely, seeming even more scarce in the world than they truly were simply because they couldn't bear the weight of whatever responsibility fell upon them. Charlotte knew of only one other Moonborn in the world at the moment; Adria Tiira, the Artavian General. Many texts said that Moonborn seldom came about more than twice in a century, and if that was actually true, then meeting Endless was quite the unique experience.
What purpose waited for him? What events in his past had he forgotten, to require this potion? Had someone deliberately taken those memories, to prevent him from fulfilling his task? And... was he someone who would be able to lend aid to Charlotte, as another ally?
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