< 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!
but the flesh will have it's way. and i'm already gone. i'm gone.
[attr="class","ohlovebody"]Bronwyn seemed to shrink in disappointment as she took the cup back, and Natalia couldn't help but feel guilt wash over her. Here was this person, just trying to be kind; she had offered her meal; she had given Natalia her warming charm to hold; Bronwyn was obliging, and Natalia was horrifically rude.
"No, no, that's not it at all," In a quick attempt to wrest the cup back from Bronwyn, Natalia's hands grasped around the other woman's, tugged a little, then more and then-- The mead spilled between the two. More of it ended up on Bronwyn than Natalia, which was worse. Her fine clothes stained and soaked through, and the chill likely didn't help.
Natalia was quick to get up onto her knees and pull out her dirty handkerchief to try and soak up the worst of it, sputtering endless apologies as she did so. This, evidently, was what kindness had wrought.
Natalia insisted that wasn't what it was, that she'd gotten it wrong, but Bronwyn looked unconvinced. She was visibly surprised when the other girl went to take the cup back from her and in the ensuing moment, faster than she could react, the cup tumbled and the mead spilled out between them. Bronwyn's fancy coat was soaked and Natalia hadn't gotten away dry either. It hadn't been the whole bottle at least, but a mostly full cup was enough to make quite a stain if it settled.
Bronwyn was momentarily shocked into inaction but Natalia was immediately abuzz with apologies and had taken out a handkerchief to start trying to clean up the mess. After a moment Bronwyn caught up to what was happening and she shushed Natalia gently and took both her hands in her own, stilling the frantic cleanup. She waited until the other girl looked at her before speaking. "Do you want me to go, or stay?"
but the flesh will have it's way. and i'm already gone. i'm gone.
[attr="class","ohlovebody"]Even after Bronwyn grasped her hands, Natalia attempted to press them into the wet again, and again, the other woman's stilling grasp enough to make the motions completely ineffective. After those moments of testing, Natalia finally stopped, and slowly raised her eyes to half-meet Bronwyn's gaze. Her cheeks were blazing with heat, embarrassment and terror giving her brown face a deep rouge.
Bronwyn asked Natalia a question that was simple on the surface, but was fully loaded. There were two options, and then there were the number of different options the two women could take after that, which would spiral into a few hundred other options and... Yes, it was not a simple question. In the short-term, Bronwyn leaving would likely turn this into a soon forgotten night for her, and a regretfully remembered one for Natalia. Bronwyn staying? Was endlessly complex and strange and unexplored as far as Natalia was concerned.
And so she didn't answer right away. Like a fish out of water her mouth gaped and sealed and gaped and sealed as she uttered small gutteral sounds like 'uh' and 'rah' and 'er' until finally: "Stay. Stay-- I mean... No, yes. I mean, stay. You're... Pleasant company."
Natalia was resistant to stilling, but eventually she did and when Bronwyn asked her one or the other she seemed to get caught on it, thinking and making abortive sounds as Bryn watched her calmly, patiently, awaiting the answer. Eventually she spoke. Stay. Bronwyn smiled. Natalia said she was pleasant company. Bronwyn let go of the other girl's left hand with her right and used the hand instead to brush some of Natalia's curls away from her face before resting it against softly her cheek. The action was simple, friendly and kind but also held with it the possibility of something more, but after barely a moment she pulled it back. "Thank you," she said softly before reaching into her baster and pulling out some napkins of her own, half of which she held out to Natalia since she also had been spilled on. "I... don't get out much," she admitted while she dabbed at the wet spot on her own jacket. She looked for a moment like she was going to say something else, but stopped herself and changed the subject. "What were you doing out here in the cold, anyway?"
but the flesh will have it's way. and i'm already gone. i'm gone.
[attr="class","ohlovebody"]Natalia had no words as Bronwyn smiled, and reached to touch Natalia's hair and face. The other woman graced the miner with a gentility she had not known in many years, and it stole any thoughts she could have begun to think. So instead of thinking, she mindlessly took the napkins that were offered, and pressed them to the spots of wetness without enough thought to help dry them. Her eyes were on Bronwyn's hands as they worked her own coat, leaving Natalia's movements somewhat haphazard.
Bronwyn confided that she didn't 'get out much', which was both strange, and yet made complete sense. Bronwyn wasn't like other people. So yes, of course she didn't spend much time around them. But before the wealthy woman could speak more on the subject and make more sense of her oddities, she shifted attention back to Natalia.
"Oh nothing," She shrugged in answer. But as she looked down at the metal box she had brought with her, the fire, and then Bronwyn, it wasn't really a fitting response. "To get away, I guess," Natalia corrected, "Sometimes you just need a change. Quiet. Fresh air. Even... Even if it's biting. If you just keep your head down, sometimes you forget the things around you. Lose track of your days. ...I'm sorry, does that even make sense?"
When Natalia first responded with 'nothing' Bronwyn gave her a disbelieving look. Someone coming all this way in the cold without a heating charm seemed to be outside her understanding of things that made sense. But then, a real answer. To get away. A change. Quiet, fresh air. Bronwyn was already nodding along by the time Natalia apologized and asked if she was even making sense. "Yes, I know what you mean," Bronwyn replied quietly, a little wistfully. "I came out here to get away too." She looked down at her hands then, scrunching the soggy napkins in her lap before setting them to the side. Her cheeks were a dusty pink beneath her freckles but it didn't appear to be from embarrassment. "What's the point of living if it's only in a cage, right?"
but the flesh will have it's way. and i'm already gone. i'm gone.
[attr="class","ohlovebody"]Natalia watched as Bronwyn agreed, and added her own plaintive sentiment. She nodded along with the other woman, trying to place exactly what she could be trying to get away from. What cage she could be flying free of. When Natalia couldn't think of an answer, she asked: "...Forgive me if it's not my place to ask Bronwyn, but-- What is it that cages you?"
Bronwyn looked away, letting out a breath that fogged lightly in the cooler air at the edge of the heating charm's radius. "I'm so sorry Natalia, how selfish of me to bring up such a negative topic while we were having such a nice time." She brushed some of her own wild hair out of her face with a hand that had started to tremble just slightly, and when she turned back to face Natalia she put on a smile, folding her hands together in her lap and holding them in place. Her pale skin was slightly paler than at the start of their encounter, and it made the flush on her cheeks stand out more for it.
"I shouldn't complain, it's not so bad overall.. I hope you won't think less of me for wanting to keep my health troubles hidden, if just for a time. I didn't want you to treat me any differently, you see." She paused and hesitated before she continued, her smile faltering, "I have a poor constitution. I tire quickly, and when I do I get sick for ages. Most of my days are spent inside or in bed, with only the nurses for company. Papa doesn't like me leaving the house at all; he says it's too much of a risk. They'll be furious to find out I snuck out again..."
but the flesh will have it's way. and i'm already gone. i'm gone.
[attr="class","ohlovebody"]There were times in life where Natalia would have said that the Gods favoured those of wealth. She would agree with other complainants that if you had money, nothing terrible happened to you that you couldn't fix. Yet, here was Bronwyn -- sick all the time. From the sounds of it, it wasn't a new illness, either. The only saving grace that Bronwyn had, that someone like Natalia wouldn't in the same situation, were creature comforts. Like the charm.
Like the charm.
As she realized the purpose of such a thing, Natalia immediately reached out to grasp Bronwyn's wrist - gently - and then placed the thing in her hand. "You need this," She muttered, closing Bronwyn's hand over it before releasing her wrist. "Risk or not, you should at least take precautions while you're out here. I... I mean, after all-- If you don't get sick, how will they find out you've snuck out?"
Bronwyn looked down at where Natalia held her wrist with her own hand, and her eyes trailed up her arm to look questioningly at her as she gave back the charm, which sat warmly in her palm. Natalia said she should take precautions, and if she didn't get sick how will they find out she'd snuck out at all? The comment seemed brought out a laugh from Bronwyn, a genuine happy laugh, and she placed the charm on top of the picnic basket, equidistant between the two of them. "You are a kind soul, Natalia, with a selfless heart. I'm glad for the serendipity that brought us together tonight." She didn't really answer Natalia's question, and it didn't appear like she wanted to keep talking about it either.
She picked up the glass and the bottle of mead then and motioned with them towards Natalia. "Want to give it another shot? No spilling this time?" She flashed a smile, looking to be back in the good spirit she'd been in before all the more serious talking had taken place.
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