< 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!
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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!
Post by Tehodis Kitai on Dec 10, 2016 9:54:15 GMT -7
He seemed... More than a little uncomfortable at the prospect of a job, and even moreso about simply filling the report with his name. Her gut said to be suspicious, but her heart wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. She pursed her lips a bit as she thought.
"Anonymously?" She asked less to clarify, and more to just buy time to think. No one usually wanted to do thing anonymously unless there was someone looking for them - or they were a criminal themselves. She doubted Endless was a criminal, because he was Endless -- so she assumed he must be in danger. She would try and have him tell her though, instead of asking straight out. She continued: "I... I mean, I don't know if you can. I... Why wouldn't you want to take credit for it? Endless, they wouldn't force you into a job. They'd probably give you a sum of money, commendation from the feifdom, you'd be a hero. Lord Woodrow, I'm sure, would scramble just to shake your hand... Do you even know who you helped to capture?"
Post by Endless Laeretti on Dec 10, 2016 10:12:26 GMT -7
Endless was pretty sure that if Lord Woodrow was given Endless's hand, he would slap a manacle on it, rather than shake it. But that was besides the point; Tehodis wanted to know why he wouldn't want to take credit for what he did. He was, admittedly, a bit curious over the implication that he'd apparently helped capture someone who was a big deal. Or at least, that's what Endless assumed the implication was, what with how Tehodis had said it.
He breathed out slowly. "I know you've only just started to remember that you knew me... but can you recall at all a time that I ever gave you my last name?" he asked. It was an answer that sort of beat around the bush rather than getting to the point, but Endless still wasn't sure he even wanted to breach this. "Or... or do you remember that I..." He had to think about it himself for a moment, but surprisingly, he actually found that a small memory resurfaced as his mind traveled this path. He and Tehodis, and someone else, sitting in a room, and Endless laughingly explaining that he didn't have anyone waiting for him. "...Do you remember that I don't have a family, or anything like one?"
Post by Tehodis Kitai on Dec 10, 2016 10:19:03 GMT -7
She tried to remember, but nothing was coming to her. She remembered being bumped into. She remembered crying into Endless. She couldn't remember many details. She shook her head, "I'm sorry... Everything's pretty fuzzy. I don't know why... It's not like other stuff. There's a half of my life I don't have any piece of. And then there's the piece I do remember, which starts in Eleusia. And then there's... You're right in the middle of that. There's bits and pieces and--" She bit her lip as she thought again, catching onto the wrong wavelength. Her hands dropped off the desk and to her knees under it. One hand inched towards her rapier, though she didn't grab it, just kept her hand near. She wondered now if he might have something to do with her loss of memory. She wondered now if he didn't have family because... Because...
"Please don't tell me you did something bad to them, Endless. Please don't."
Post by Endless Laeretti on Dec 10, 2016 10:33:16 GMT -7
Endless felt his eyes widen significantly as Tehodis seemed to jump to the entirely wrong conclusion, a clear look of worry on her face that made him kick himself for not having the guts to just come out and say it.
"No!" he said, probably too loudly. He heard it quickly enough though, saw the flinch of surprise, then deflated in his seat. "I would never have. I couldn't ever have."
Endless dragged a hand down his face and took a deep steadying breath. How hard could it really be to just talk about it? ...Well, pretty hard considering he'd never, ever done so, not with anyone.
"I was just... I was only nine when it happened. I lived in Artavia back then. My parents were, uhm... They were inventors, and I guess you would say they were pretty famous."
He nodded, mostly to himself. So far so good. He wasn't falling apart yet, even if his voice was shaky. "I had five older siblings. I was the youngest, and they all kind of babied me a little," he said, laughing softly. "Especially my oldest brother. He practically never let me out of his sight. And he was such a know-it-all, but, I was happy, you know? I think we all were. We were all happy and we never did anything to hurt anyone."
He was frowning now, his eyes feeling cloudy. His hands were clasped in his lap, squeezing each other tightly. "We never hurt anyone or did anything wrong... so I just don't... I've never understood why..."
There was a moment of silence. He unclasped his hands and moved one up to clutch his scarf instead. His free hand was crossed over his chest and shoved into the crook of his elbow, his legs were tightly crossed, his whole seated posture was shrinking in on itself.
"They were killed. All of them. My mom hid me and I was the only one who made it out."
Post by Tehodis Kitai on Dec 10, 2016 10:52:04 GMT -7
"Oh..." She looked down and nodded with empathy. It reminded her of yesterday, with Vincent. They would be quite the trio, the three of them. Tehodis with no family she could recall, Endless and Vincent both with no families at all. She thought the two should meet... But then remembered Endless' desire for anonymity.
"That's horrible, Endless-" Her hand left the rapier and reached out to grab his, "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize." They stayed like that in quiet for a moment, until finally Tehodis pulled her hand back and opened a drawer for an ink pot. "There might still be people looking for you. Bad people. Right? If they saw your name - how unique it is - they might... I understand." She pulled the report away from him and began to fill it in using an elegant eagle-feather quill. "You were never here, as far as the SSPB is concerned."
"But as far as I'm concerned... I might not remember every moment we spent together, but I -- my heart -- knows we were friends. If you need a place to stay, my home is open to you. I'd be absolutely honoured to have you stay for a while."
Post by Endless Laeretti on Dec 10, 2016 20:35:11 GMT -7
Not only did Tehodis seem to understand without Endless having to say any more (bless her for that), but she was going to allow his request. He was not, officially, going to be on the record. But then she surprised him by offering him a place to stay. Endless looked at her with a sense of surprise, his hand still warm from where she had grasped it. His posture was loosening up a bit, the sense of relief that he didn't need to keep speaking plainly evident.
He wasn't sure how to respond. Technically, Endless was homeless. His shelter for the past few years had been a number of different inns, and there had been times when he couldn't even afford that due to a scarcity of work. There had been some nights where he slept outside, in trees or maybe even alleys if he was in a more industrial place. Some nights he'd even found an unlocked public library and crashed there, with his face in a book.
It's not like he'd had any specific idea where he was going to stay once he got to Submiere. Tehodis's offer seemed wonderful. But then, he also knew he wasn't planning on staying permanently, and he wondered if maybe it'd be sad for her if he accepted only to leave some days later.
Well, it's not like she was asking him to stay that long to begin with.
"I... I think I might like that," he said, hesitantly. "I was just planning on getting a room in Nowra, but... this might be better."
Tehodis seemed satisfied with this answer, and she continued to scrawl out her report on the pirate capture. It made Endless think of Plague again, and of Woodrow, who Tehodis claimed would be glad to meet him if he knew of Endless's involvement. As long as he was being honest, he felt like maybe he should clear that up as well. She deserved to know why he was being so dodgy about that idea, and especially since she'd just offered to give him a place to stay.
"Uhm, Tehodis... there is one more thing that I feel like I... need to be honest about."
He glanced up at her, seeing her writing pause and her attention returned to him. He looked away. "I... a couple of years ago, I was on really hard times, and I was desperate for something to eat. So I, sort of, stole a loaf of bread from a store."
He let that declaration fall into the air, not looking at Tehodis for the disappointment he was sure to see there. "And actually, there was a man there who pursued me when he noticed, and, well, I ran away of course... and maybe I can't be certain, but I've always been pretty sure that it was Lord Woodrow himself that happened to be there that day. I stole, and it was wrong, and I never ended up paying for that. And he saw me that day."
He took another deep breath before he looked back up at her. "I just... feel like I needed to tell you that, if you were going to offer your home to me. But, I mean, I obviously understand if that offer wouldn't be on the table anymore... but that's why I don't think I deserve to have work like this."
Post by Tehodis Kitai on Dec 10, 2016 23:47:39 GMT -7
She felt in that moment that Vincent was listening in to their conversation, and she looked down the drawer with his letters in it. It was closed, but he certainly still knew what was happening.
Just yesterday she had told him that she would apprehend a friend, even for a minor crime. A petty thief was still stealing from the family table of the shopkeeper. It was still wrong. It was easy to do in theory, easy to do when she had no friends. However today, suddenly, she had a friend. A friend who had come to her about stealing. Not for personal benefit, simply because they were hungry... But the shopkeeper's family was certainly hungry, too. Could she really let it go?
"I... Wish you hadn't have told me that, Endless," She had to be true. She had to follow her moral code, the SSPB's moral code. She would permit him to stay in her house knowing that... But she couldn't permit him to walk the streets. "Please stand and place your hands in front of you, like this--" She stood and performed the same motion as she had done for Plague, "I'll use a fake name but... You are under arrest by the title of the Sumish Sea Peacekeepers Brigade and its officer identified as one Tehodis Kitai. You have the right to remain silent under the law of the Sultan of Submiere, though we advise to you that the truth is your saviour now and always. Do you understand what I have just told you, Endless?"
She didn't want to do it... But she had to. It was who she was now.
Post by Endless Laeretti on Dec 11, 2016 2:10:34 GMT -7
Endless had been afraid something like this might happen, if he told her about it. But he had to clear his conscience. Honestly, the robbery had been bothering him ever since he'd done it, and ever since his somewhat recent resolution to turn his life around and start fresh, it always struck him as some kind of unfinished business that he needed to take care of.
He looked apprehensively at his own wrists, though, once Tehodis gave him his instructions. "I understand," he replied. Even if he did think it was maybe a little ridiculous to be arrested for a years-old petty crime. He had optimistically hoped that maybe he'd just be fined or something, and then he'd be able to put it behind him at last. He considered asking Tehodis how long he would be jailed for (and hoped that it wouldn't be long, because again, it was a load of bread two years ago). But first, he decided to ask something else, as he continued to stare at his wrists, then at her.
"Um... do you really have to manacle me, though? I'll go quietly, I won't resist. I promise. I just... really don't want to wear those."
He placed his wrists on the desk, all the same. Just to show her he'd still cooperate even if she said that yes, he did have to wear the uncomfortable metal bonds that he had some deep-seated instinct towards disliking.
Post by Tehodis Kitai on Dec 11, 2016 9:28:22 GMT -7
She hesitated as he asked if the manacles were necessary. As a friend, she wanted to say no. And his crime certainly wasn't a violent one, so she would have little problem moralizing it for herself... But, she had also seen what Endless could do earlier. Sure, it was magic, but perhaps the magic could be limited by these. She didn't really know how capturing a magic-user worked.
"I'm sorry," She said as she locked the manacles around his wrist. She wondered why Endless hadn't gone to a shelter for food, why he hadn't offered to work in exchange for the loaf. She had never met someone so cruel as to spit upon the hungry - not in her life. She had to believe that in order to continue, "A crime is a crime."
She lead Endless to the door, and then walked him down the hall, past the offices once more, through the front, and then through a door opposite to where the offices were. The jails. She spoke as they walked, trying to be comforting, but also trying to have him on her side, "They don't go crazy with petty offences, Endless. You'll serve your time, and then you'll be able to walk the streets again. And I hope you'll forgive me, I still want you to come stay with me... You just have to pay your penance first."
Post by Endless Laeretti on Dec 11, 2016 14:56:27 GMT -7
He was almost stunned that she was actually going through with this... almost. But as she led him down the halls towards the prisons, muttering her assurances to him that it'd be fine, all he could do was remind himself that this was still the same person who had forgotten about him and left him alone once, and that even now she was only just remembering him to the point that he was only a little more than a stranger.
He shouldn't have expected so much, but it was just plain painful that she couldn't even forgo the manacles despite his promises. Either she had that little faith in him, or she just didn't value him any more than her job. Maybe that was unfair of him to think, but that's why he chose not to vocalize it. He'd just stew in it silently.
He'd wanted to clear his conscience. He'd wanted to pay for the crime somehow, make amends for it. He didn't think it'd get him jail time. But at least if he got it out of the way like she was saying to do, then he could be done once and for all. Although, he had to admit, her choice of how to handle this matter had him seriously reconsidering her offer of having him stay at her home. To be honest he couldn't believe she had the nerve to even offer that now when she was carting him around in manacles that he didn't need to be wearing.
God, he hated these. They felt so wrong on him, they made him sick, why couldn't she just listen to him?
He didn't answer her invitation. He just nodded glumly. Maybe he'd be in the mood to forgive her when this was over, but for right now? It was the last thing he wanted to think about. Speaking of... when even would it be over?
"How long will I be in here for?" he asked, his voice barely under control. He didn't want to think about the possibility of being stuck in here for weeks, or months. Maybe before he wouldn't have had very much life to miss out on, but now... of course, yesterday, he had to go and meet someone fantastic whom he wanted to see again, and preferably soon.
It would just figure that he'd get locked up the next day.
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