Empress Naoki
Famous
Roleplay posts: 2,238
Physical Description: =========================
Empress Naoki is a curvaceous woman of average height, indeterminate age, and catlike features. Her hair is a dark auburn, often pulled back into a long braid. Her ears are both soft and fluffy, and her tail is never less than perfectly groomed. Amber eyes glisten in the shadows cast by her hair.
Clothes and Equipment: =========================
Naoki's wardrobe is to her as a frame is to a painting. Sometimes embellished with detail to be attractive in its own right, but never the focus. Usually simple but elegant, tightly fitting and highly revealing, used only to frame the beauty within.
Additionally, Naoki is, when clothed, often adorned with a small collection of accessories. She wears an earring, a brilliant cut amethyst, in her right ear. The silver signet ring of Isra is worn on her left pinky, marking her as High Lady of Isra. Directly adjacent, she wears the golden signet ring of The Isran Empire as its Empress. On the inside of her left thigh, there is a tattoo depicting a rose entwined with tentacles.
Allegiances: The Isran Empire
Player's online availability : Excessively often. Timezone: ET (-5)
Registered: Sept 12, 2015 13:02:17 GMT -8
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Post by Empress Naoki on Aug 1, 2019 16:00:41 GMT -8
"I'd sooner deny a bear a feast than to make the acquaintance between you and my mother," Rudiger retorted to Naoki, a rare joke from him considering how terrified he was of her position. Which was not a critique of the Empress of course, it was just that titles demanded all due respect. A lesson all Vorutan children were taught from childhood from the lowest peasant to the greatest lords. And Empress was a rather awesome title, deserving of more respect than a mortal could muster. Rudiger began to wonder how often he was going to cock his eyebrow at the Empress, but here he was doing it again. Well she did raise a fair point. The locals were sure going to be suspicious that such wanderers would be pestering them about their daily lives as griffons and their riders circled overhead. Probably not the most congenial to conversation. "A fair plan your Empress, and one I would be inclined to adopt. I would recommend that we stop by a lord's residence and put on more fine clothing then. Can't have the peasants thinking we are but vulgar folks on the putting on pretend." Naoki hums in mild amusement. “This is why it will be good for you to be in power,” she comments. “The provisional governor probably isn’t doing very much better than I am as far as Vortuan sensibilities are concerned. It seems like much of my Isran logic just doesn’t apply.” After a bit more walking, Naoki reaches a conclusion. “I have two goals,” she begins, brandishing two fingers. “First, to see The Duchy. Considering I am ultimately responsible for it, I should know more about it than I do. It’s part of my duty, and frankly, it’s rather disrespectful that I don’t — I’d like to remedy that, and that’s why I’m here.” “In addition to that, I’d like to project the idea that you, the new Duke, are my Duke. There was a bumpy period in the middle there, but now that The Empress has restored a Mindaugas to the throne, the rightful Duke will bring Voruta back to its former glory. With the backing of The Empress and The Empire, he will restore order, bring great prosperity, solve the big issues, and so on and so forth.” “That’s what the narrative will be,” Naoki informs Rudiger. “It will take years, perhaps generations to be fully realized, but that’s what it will be, and it begins today.” “With that in mind,” she continues, turning to face Rudiger, “I am going to stop making decisions, and you are going to direct this outing. We’ll do it how you think it would best be done, whatever that entails. If you think it would be preferable to dismiss the Riders, that can be done. If you think I should ride about the countryside in some woman’s moth-bitten ball gown, you’ve got another thing coming.” Turning away, Naoki breaks into a small fit of laughter. She cracks herself up, sometimes, but her composure quickly returns. “Otherwise, though,” She pantomimes the transfer of authority. “Your show.”
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Bria Hornraven
Committed
Roleplay posts: 65
Age: 20s
Physical Description: 6'3 and 176, with medium brown skin and long, curly black hair. He has slight stubble. The right side of his face is heavily scarred and mangled, and tinted slightly purple due to the magic that caused his deformity. He has dark blue eyes.
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Clothes and Equipment: He usually wears heavy robes, purple and black, with a purple mask covering the right side of his face. Underneath his robes, he wears common clothes and wouldn't stand out much. He has usually has a tome that he carries around on his person.
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Player's online availability : EST / Fairly often
Registered: May 5, 2019 8:01:27 GMT -8
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Post by Bria Hornraven on Aug 6, 2019 8:33:08 GMT -8
His question didn't work to stall, it seemed. "Mmhm. A rude joke, I apologize," he said after a moment. "Nerves, probably." Hopefully. At the mention of taking the road, Bria stood as well, dusting himself off.
"I suppose we shall," he said, though his voice gave away his hesitation. He still didn't trust this and trusted it even less after the events of last night. The scratches and wounds on his body were still sore and weeping in a grave reminder that he was not the master of his own fate. He'd get torn to shreds as soon as he stepped foot into the building. Perhaps it would be for the best. Let his family curse end with him once and for all.
Without another word, he headed for the door.
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Rudiger Dornmauer
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 229
Age: 30
Physical Description: Rudiger is tall at 6'3", and muscularly built from his profession. His skin is weathered from his life on the road, with the first wrinkles of age appearing at the sides of his mouth and his eyes, and thick calluses on his right hand from wielding his sword. His light brown hair has been sheered to a fade parted on the right side, and his strong chin that was once covered by thick goatee has been shaved to stubble, but his thick mustache has remained. His most prominent feature is a thick scar and his missing left eye, which he covers with a black eyepatch, which he lost in a fight with a bear.
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Clothes and Equipment: Rudiger wears a variety of cloths, depending on the situation. For battle, he wears a blue gambeson underneath steel plate armor, which encases him from head to foot. He wears a bellow faced sallet helm, which he learned to wear from the loss of his eye. He wields a hand and half sword, with a decorative eagle on the pommel. He also carries a kite shield, painted with his coat of arm, a black eagle on a red and orange checkered field.
When he's not in battle, he wears a white wool shirt, and thick woolen black pants. He always wears his tan riding boots.
He owns a dapple grey destrier, and a heavy wooden saddle with a high cantle and pommel covered in thick leather.
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Allegiances: The Grand Duchy of Voruta
Registered: Dec 6, 2017 14:20:22 GMT -8
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Post by Rudiger Dornmauer on Dec 4, 2019 18:34:54 GMT -8
"I'd sooner deny a bear a feast than to make the acquaintance between you and my mother," Rudiger retorted to Naoki, a rare joke from him considering how terrified he was of her position. Which was not a critique of the Empress of course, it was just that titles demanded all due respect. A lesson all Vorutan children were taught from childhood from the lowest peasant to the greatest lords. And Empress was a rather awesome title, deserving of more respect than a mortal could muster. Rudiger began to wonder how often he was going to cock his eyebrow at the Empress, but here he was doing it again. Well she did raise a fair point. The locals were sure going to be suspicious that such wanderers would be pestering them about their daily lives as griffons and their riders circled overhead. Probably not the most congenial to conversation. "A fair plan your Empress, and one I would be inclined to adopt. I would recommend that we stop by a lord's residence and put on more fine clothing then. Can't have the peasants thinking we are but vulgar folks on the putting on pretend." Naoki hums in mild amusement. “This is why it will be good for you to be in power,” she comments. “The provisional governor probably isn’t doing very much better than I am as far as Vortuan sensibilities are concerned. It seems like much of my Isran logic just doesn’t apply.” After a bit more walking, Naoki reaches a conclusion. “I have two goals,” she begins, brandishing two fingers. “First, to see The Duchy. Considering I am ultimately responsible for it, I should know more about it than I do. It’s part of my duty, and frankly, it’s rather disrespectful that I don’t — I’d like to remedy that, and that’s why I’m here.” “In addition to that, I’d like to project the idea that you, the new Duke, are my Duke. There was a bumpy period in the middle there, but now that The Empress has restored a Mindaugas to the throne, the rightful Duke will bring Voruta back to its former glory. With the backing of The Empress and The Empire, he will restore order, bring great prosperity, solve the big issues, and so on and so forth.” “That’s what the narrative will be,” Naoki informs Rudiger. “It will take years, perhaps generations to be fully realized, but that’s what it will be, and it begins today.” “With that in mind,” she continues, turning to face Rudiger, “I am going to stop making decisions, and you are going to direct this outing. We’ll do it how you think it would best be done, whatever that entails. If you think it would be preferable to dismiss the Riders, that can be done. If you think I should ride about the countryside in some woman’s moth-bitten ball gown, you’ve got another thing coming.” Turning away, Naoki breaks into a small fit of laughter. She cracks herself up, sometimes, but her composure quickly returns. “Otherwise, though,” She pantomimes the transfer of authority. “Your show.” "We can probably arrange for a better gown than the assuredly moth eaten specimens in my mother's closet," Rudiger assured the Empress, "if Your Highness would not mind a delay to send a page to the Citadel to see to such a gown, we could spend that time at the reacquainting ourselves with Vorutan customs." What he left out, which he hoped the Empress picked up on, was that it was more of an acquainting themselves with the local customs.
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Empress Naoki
Famous
Roleplay posts: 2,238
Physical Description: =========================
Empress Naoki is a curvaceous woman of average height, indeterminate age, and catlike features. Her hair is a dark auburn, often pulled back into a long braid. Her ears are both soft and fluffy, and her tail is never less than perfectly groomed. Amber eyes glisten in the shadows cast by her hair.
Clothes and Equipment: =========================
Naoki's wardrobe is to her as a frame is to a painting. Sometimes embellished with detail to be attractive in its own right, but never the focus. Usually simple but elegant, tightly fitting and highly revealing, used only to frame the beauty within.
Additionally, Naoki is, when clothed, often adorned with a small collection of accessories. She wears an earring, a brilliant cut amethyst, in her right ear. The silver signet ring of Isra is worn on her left pinky, marking her as High Lady of Isra. Directly adjacent, she wears the golden signet ring of The Isran Empire as its Empress. On the inside of her left thigh, there is a tattoo depicting a rose entwined with tentacles.
Allegiances: The Isran Empire
Player's online availability : Excessively often. Timezone: ET (-5)
Registered: Sept 12, 2015 13:02:17 GMT -8
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Post by Empress Naoki on Dec 22, 2019 4:54:00 GMT -8
“Mmmmh,” Empress Naoki murmurs in agreement and nods. Her amethyst earring, which has hitherto remained dormant, glows brightly for the space of a few seconds, then dims.
“It is done,” she says, “A messenger will deliver it on horseback.” Though Naoki’s communication earring has fallen into disuse in recent times, it remains a superb convenience in times like these to avoid the cumbersome process of having to flag down a griffin or what-have-you.
“Customs, then,” she prompts, looking to Rudiger. Both ears are pointed forward; she’s listening.
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Rudiger Dornmauer
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 229
Age: 30
Physical Description: Rudiger is tall at 6'3", and muscularly built from his profession. His skin is weathered from his life on the road, with the first wrinkles of age appearing at the sides of his mouth and his eyes, and thick calluses on his right hand from wielding his sword. His light brown hair has been sheered to a fade parted on the right side, and his strong chin that was once covered by thick goatee has been shaved to stubble, but his thick mustache has remained. His most prominent feature is a thick scar and his missing left eye, which he covers with a black eyepatch, which he lost in a fight with a bear.
____________________________________________________________
Clothes and Equipment: Rudiger wears a variety of cloths, depending on the situation. For battle, he wears a blue gambeson underneath steel plate armor, which encases him from head to foot. He wears a bellow faced sallet helm, which he learned to wear from the loss of his eye. He wields a hand and half sword, with a decorative eagle on the pommel. He also carries a kite shield, painted with his coat of arm, a black eagle on a red and orange checkered field.
When he's not in battle, he wears a white wool shirt, and thick woolen black pants. He always wears his tan riding boots.
He owns a dapple grey destrier, and a heavy wooden saddle with a high cantle and pommel covered in thick leather.
____________________________________________________________
Allegiances: The Grand Duchy of Voruta
Registered: Dec 6, 2017 14:20:22 GMT -8
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Post by Rudiger Dornmauer on Dec 29, 2019 11:05:40 GMT -8
Rudiger stared blankly for a moment, cat off guard by the shifting of the ears. They... unnerved him ever so slightly. Not that he had anything against animal-people hybrids, far from it if one considered his "friendship" with Khepri, but sometimes little ticks caught him off guard. Blame it on spending his formative years in an area that hardly made allowances for other humanoids.
He startled himself back into motion, trying to disguise it with a little shake of his head, "Where to begin? There is quite some ground to cover," under his breath, "both literally and figuratively," before returning to his full tone, "so perhaps we should start at the beginning. Of time that is, or at least how we mark it and understand it, and from there all beings are set."
He paused for a moment as he gathered his breath, as he knew he was going to give an oral history that most bards took days to tell in as little time as possible to keep an outsider from getting bored. "There was no creation of the heavens, they have always been and will always be. The gods themselves were created from the spirit of life, which the nature of is... beyond explaining for our purposes, suffice it to say that if you ask two priests there would be three opinions on the subject. The gods planted the heavens with animals and cereal crops, and in time horsemen to keep watch over them from demons. We won't cover demons and where they come from."
"The heavens were peaceful, a paradise of no want or need. But being the bloodline of Vorutans, that did not suit the horsemen. They quarreled with themselves, the gods, and in some less than favorable accounts from rival priests of particular horsemen, the animals of the heavens. In short, they loved mayhem and would seek to create it where ever they could. As the gods preferred the peaceful order they created, they cast out the horsemen from the gates of heaven and onto the mortal plains to roam free. Which they did in short order."
"As I'm sure you are aware Your Highness, the world of then was much different then with no great state that controlled the region. They rode roughshod over the little villages and towns that dotted the old Vorutan heartland and beyond, turning fields into pasturage," he paused a moment, and looked out to a field they were walking along, "as you can see the fields won out again. The inhabitants were enslaved and turned to serving their desires. An order was created that mimicked that of the heavens. The strong above, the weak below. That is the order that continues to this day, even if there is more pageantry and refinement now compared to then," he paused again and gave a sidelong glance to the empress, "comparatively speaking."
"It was in those days that the mythical Vorutan Empire was founded, mythical because no writings of it survived the cataclysm and since they were a horse bound society no ruins can be found to determine if it indeed existed. The heartland is now the Duchy proper, and retained the same then. The claims are that the Eastern woods were tamed, and the horsemen claimed dominion to the Silverion River, and tributes from the lands beyond. While it is doubtful this is the truth, and unsure of how long this lasted, many of those most Nobles disaffected by Isran hegemony would like to see a resurgence of the ancient state in some form."
He paused again, checking to see how bored the Empress was with his explanation, which though he would swear he had cut down on it considerably it still was rather long.
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Empress Naoki
Famous
Roleplay posts: 2,238
Physical Description: =========================
Empress Naoki is a curvaceous woman of average height, indeterminate age, and catlike features. Her hair is a dark auburn, often pulled back into a long braid. Her ears are both soft and fluffy, and her tail is never less than perfectly groomed. Amber eyes glisten in the shadows cast by her hair.
Clothes and Equipment: =========================
Naoki's wardrobe is to her as a frame is to a painting. Sometimes embellished with detail to be attractive in its own right, but never the focus. Usually simple but elegant, tightly fitting and highly revealing, used only to frame the beauty within.
Additionally, Naoki is, when clothed, often adorned with a small collection of accessories. She wears an earring, a brilliant cut amethyst, in her right ear. The silver signet ring of Isra is worn on her left pinky, marking her as High Lady of Isra. Directly adjacent, she wears the golden signet ring of The Isran Empire as its Empress. On the inside of her left thigh, there is a tattoo depicting a rose entwined with tentacles.
Allegiances: The Isran Empire
Player's online availability : Excessively often. Timezone: ET (-5)
Registered: Sept 12, 2015 13:02:17 GMT -8
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Post by Empress Naoki on Dec 30, 2019 15:50:38 GMT -8
Hands in her pockets, Empress Naoki follows Rudiger both literally and figuratively, nodding at points as she ingests the information. She was expecting something akin to an etiquette class, but he has much more in mind and she doesn’t mind because listening is easy.
Seeing as how Naoki has never had any particular reason to study Vortuan myth, virtually all of what Rudiger lays out is new information to her. It’s all too clear how the Vortuan emphasis on “the order” and hierarchy baked deep into the core beliefs is a tool used by those in power to remain in power. It’s not a surprising realization by any stretch, and she supposes it’s probably quite effective.
When Rudiger mentions the disaffected nobles, her ears quirk again, spotting relevance.
“And what would that entail?” she asks, ignorant of the implications. “What defining characteristics of the mythical Vorutan Empire would these nobles see reinstated? Surely they don’t wish to return to nomadism, so that means... what?”
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Rudiger Dornmauer
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 229
Age: 30
Physical Description: Rudiger is tall at 6'3", and muscularly built from his profession. His skin is weathered from his life on the road, with the first wrinkles of age appearing at the sides of his mouth and his eyes, and thick calluses on his right hand from wielding his sword. His light brown hair has been sheered to a fade parted on the right side, and his strong chin that was once covered by thick goatee has been shaved to stubble, but his thick mustache has remained. His most prominent feature is a thick scar and his missing left eye, which he covers with a black eyepatch, which he lost in a fight with a bear.
____________________________________________________________
Clothes and Equipment: Rudiger wears a variety of cloths, depending on the situation. For battle, he wears a blue gambeson underneath steel plate armor, which encases him from head to foot. He wears a bellow faced sallet helm, which he learned to wear from the loss of his eye. He wields a hand and half sword, with a decorative eagle on the pommel. He also carries a kite shield, painted with his coat of arm, a black eagle on a red and orange checkered field.
When he's not in battle, he wears a white wool shirt, and thick woolen black pants. He always wears his tan riding boots.
He owns a dapple grey destrier, and a heavy wooden saddle with a high cantle and pommel covered in thick leather.
____________________________________________________________
Allegiances: The Grand Duchy of Voruta
Registered: Dec 6, 2017 14:20:22 GMT -8
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Post by Rudiger Dornmauer on Dec 30, 2019 17:28:53 GMT -8
Rudiger shrugged his shoulders. Good questions, but ones he had few answers for beyond vague generalizations. Each person knew only the recesses of their own heart, and that was doubly true of nobles. But he gave his best answer, "There are a few on the far outside of the norm that would see a return to nomadism, to give up the walls they consider making them weak and spineless, and to return to the life in the saddle and the raid far beyond their borders. From reports it seems that the most likely to want this are the poorest of the lords little better than the serfs on their lands."
"What it seems the majority of those would like in the very least is an independent Duchy, ruled solely from the citadel. Free to make its own pacts and not subject to Isran whims. A true return to the stability of the old order, when the blood of one's horse and the strength of their steel would be the true sign of nobility," he did a brief aside to the Empress, "Perhaps they would make fine additions in units for the Isran Cavalry, if they could be kept in line and could remain loyal to the Empire."
"And the last group is a subset of the second. They would like to see the reinstatement of the old borders. From either diplomatic means or with the roll of the iron dice, though the idea of fire and sword seems to be the most popular opinion. They see the time of Isran rule as unjust tyranny, and would see that all the spoils of Voruta that have been carted off to the Empire would be returned or at least destroyed so the Empire could not profit off their miseries. It is important to remember those who openly support such actions are small." What he did not deign to answer was that assuredly there would be more that would not state openly such intentions but would gladly join stirrup to stirrup if such events were underway.
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Empress Naoki
Famous
Roleplay posts: 2,238
Physical Description: =========================
Empress Naoki is a curvaceous woman of average height, indeterminate age, and catlike features. Her hair is a dark auburn, often pulled back into a long braid. Her ears are both soft and fluffy, and her tail is never less than perfectly groomed. Amber eyes glisten in the shadows cast by her hair.
Clothes and Equipment: =========================
Naoki's wardrobe is to her as a frame is to a painting. Sometimes embellished with detail to be attractive in its own right, but never the focus. Usually simple but elegant, tightly fitting and highly revealing, used only to frame the beauty within.
Additionally, Naoki is, when clothed, often adorned with a small collection of accessories. She wears an earring, a brilliant cut amethyst, in her right ear. The silver signet ring of Isra is worn on her left pinky, marking her as High Lady of Isra. Directly adjacent, she wears the golden signet ring of The Isran Empire as its Empress. On the inside of her left thigh, there is a tattoo depicting a rose entwined with tentacles.
Allegiances: The Isran Empire
Player's online availability : Excessively often. Timezone: ET (-5)
Registered: Sept 12, 2015 13:02:17 GMT -8
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Post by Empress Naoki on Jan 3, 2020 17:57:06 GMT -8
After Rudiger is finished speaking, Naoki is quiet for a few moments. Then she hums — as one does when they’re informed of such things.
“Lovely,” she remarks. “Glad to hear they have come to resent me so quickly.” The sarcasm is thick, but she refrains from making any additional snarky comments.
Instead, Naoki nods, internalizing the information. It doesn’t seem as though she’s surprised or particularly bothered by the notion of civil unrest amongst Vortuans. Really, it would be unreasonable for her to expect them not to dissent when their land is in such a state.
“You’ll have quite a time building your public image,” she supposes to Rudiger. “Once you’ve established yourself, we’ll probably end up arranging narratives wherein you ‘negotiate’ with me to lower taxes, slide borders around, or what-have-you.” A wavy gesture implies that it doesn’t matter overmuch to Naoki what those changes may end up being so long as they serve their purpose.
“Continue.”
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Rudiger Dornmauer
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 229
Age: 30
Physical Description: Rudiger is tall at 6'3", and muscularly built from his profession. His skin is weathered from his life on the road, with the first wrinkles of age appearing at the sides of his mouth and his eyes, and thick calluses on his right hand from wielding his sword. His light brown hair has been sheered to a fade parted on the right side, and his strong chin that was once covered by thick goatee has been shaved to stubble, but his thick mustache has remained. His most prominent feature is a thick scar and his missing left eye, which he covers with a black eyepatch, which he lost in a fight with a bear.
____________________________________________________________
Clothes and Equipment: Rudiger wears a variety of cloths, depending on the situation. For battle, he wears a blue gambeson underneath steel plate armor, which encases him from head to foot. He wears a bellow faced sallet helm, which he learned to wear from the loss of his eye. He wields a hand and half sword, with a decorative eagle on the pommel. He also carries a kite shield, painted with his coat of arm, a black eagle on a red and orange checkered field.
When he's not in battle, he wears a white wool shirt, and thick woolen black pants. He always wears his tan riding boots.
He owns a dapple grey destrier, and a heavy wooden saddle with a high cantle and pommel covered in thick leather.
____________________________________________________________
Allegiances: The Grand Duchy of Voruta
Registered: Dec 6, 2017 14:20:22 GMT -8
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Post by Rudiger Dornmauer on Jan 24, 2020 11:36:14 GMT -8
Rudiger nodded silently, perhaps a bit mystified at her response. Rather tactful, considering what he had observed of her from the brief moments they had spent together. Though he knew that they offered very little glimpses into the soul, most of what he had experienced had been showy and high handed. Like riding on griffons into the heart of a land that spent their time trying to keep them off of their livestock.
Perhaps there may be hope for the future after all.
He gathered his breath again, "The empire ruled for... however long it did, before it fell to some unnamed empire from beyond. Some claim that it was part of the Cataclysm and hordes of the damned overran the greater empire, and threatened the Duchy itself. The battle raged for days, weeks, months. Swords broke, shields were shattered, horse and man wept. The power of the empire was wasted on the fields all the way to the walls of the Citadel, and with the setting of the final full moon all hope seemed lost."
"Then, a miracle. The graves of the Heavenly Horsemen rustled, the soil shifted, and out climbed the bones of the warriors and their steeds. A great charge by the moonlight shattered the hordes, threw them back into the chasms of the deep. And Voruta survived, and the Horsemen went back to their rest. It is prophesied that when Voruta needs them most, the Horsemen shall again rise from their shrines."
He turned back to her, "Probably just a fanciful dream."
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Empress Naoki
Famous
Roleplay posts: 2,238
Physical Description: =========================
Empress Naoki is a curvaceous woman of average height, indeterminate age, and catlike features. Her hair is a dark auburn, often pulled back into a long braid. Her ears are both soft and fluffy, and her tail is never less than perfectly groomed. Amber eyes glisten in the shadows cast by her hair.
Clothes and Equipment: =========================
Naoki's wardrobe is to her as a frame is to a painting. Sometimes embellished with detail to be attractive in its own right, but never the focus. Usually simple but elegant, tightly fitting and highly revealing, used only to frame the beauty within.
Additionally, Naoki is, when clothed, often adorned with a small collection of accessories. She wears an earring, a brilliant cut amethyst, in her right ear. The silver signet ring of Isra is worn on her left pinky, marking her as High Lady of Isra. Directly adjacent, she wears the golden signet ring of The Isran Empire as its Empress. On the inside of her left thigh, there is a tattoo depicting a rose entwined with tentacles.
Allegiances: The Isran Empire
Player's online availability : Excessively often. Timezone: ET (-5)
Registered: Sept 12, 2015 13:02:17 GMT -8
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Post by Empress Naoki on Jan 24, 2020 17:22:28 GMT -8
Naoki hums. Undead horsemen intervening in the eleventh hour is not an unreasonable thought to consider. It may have been such that there was a necromancer of moderate skill among the castle’s last defenders, who was only willing to out themselves in that most dire moment. There certainly shouldn’t be any shortage of horse bones buried in the dirt of Vortua. Treachery is easily swept under the rug, but a fanciful tale might be spun to appease those commoners who saw the skeletal steeds doing their gruesome work. There are more ridiculous legends.
Rudiger ought to have some inkling of what modern magic is capable of from his time in Isra, but in the context of the moment, Naoki doesn’t necessarily feel the need to connect those dots out loud.
Instead, she merely nods. “Perhaps. … The shrines, they’re around here?”
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Rudiger Dornmauer
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 229
Age: 30
Physical Description: Rudiger is tall at 6'3", and muscularly built from his profession. His skin is weathered from his life on the road, with the first wrinkles of age appearing at the sides of his mouth and his eyes, and thick calluses on his right hand from wielding his sword. His light brown hair has been sheered to a fade parted on the right side, and his strong chin that was once covered by thick goatee has been shaved to stubble, but his thick mustache has remained. His most prominent feature is a thick scar and his missing left eye, which he covers with a black eyepatch, which he lost in a fight with a bear.
____________________________________________________________
Clothes and Equipment: Rudiger wears a variety of cloths, depending on the situation. For battle, he wears a blue gambeson underneath steel plate armor, which encases him from head to foot. He wears a bellow faced sallet helm, which he learned to wear from the loss of his eye. He wields a hand and half sword, with a decorative eagle on the pommel. He also carries a kite shield, painted with his coat of arm, a black eagle on a red and orange checkered field.
When he's not in battle, he wears a white wool shirt, and thick woolen black pants. He always wears his tan riding boots.
He owns a dapple grey destrier, and a heavy wooden saddle with a high cantle and pommel covered in thick leather.
____________________________________________________________
Allegiances: The Grand Duchy of Voruta
Registered: Dec 6, 2017 14:20:22 GMT -8
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Post by Rudiger Dornmauer on Jan 24, 2020 17:57:06 GMT -8
He nodded, "They're ever present throughout the Duchy. They were set up on the graves of the Horsemen, each supposedly where the Horseman fell. Each is attended to by their own priest, which can be a prickly issue if there are more than one shrine for a single Horseman. Blood feuds have been started between priests who get too worked up over the legitimacy of their shrine over their competition."
"The one closest to the my hom- the Dornmauer Estate is Kęstutis, and his shrine overlooks a meandering stream. Kęstutis supposedly fell to the great boar Šernas, the local guardian. He speared the beast to be gored by it in the same act. If its the same priest as when I left, he is incredibly decrepit by now. But he is the one I owe my education to, in letters."
Pausing for a second, he reached to his belt to pull out a rather convenient wine skin. Not the highest quality but enough to slake thirst, and preferable to the local water which could have any number of plagues within. Offering the skin over to Naoki he continued, "The one you probably need to worry about most is the supposed first King of Voruta, The Mindaugas. The last of the surviving Heavenly Horsemen, his shrine is in the heart of the mountain the Citadel is built on. Tradition dictates that upon the crowning of a new Duke, he will take up The Mindaugas' Iron Mace, and his iron ring upon his finger."
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Empress Naoki
Famous
Roleplay posts: 2,238
Physical Description: =========================
Empress Naoki is a curvaceous woman of average height, indeterminate age, and catlike features. Her hair is a dark auburn, often pulled back into a long braid. Her ears are both soft and fluffy, and her tail is never less than perfectly groomed. Amber eyes glisten in the shadows cast by her hair.
Clothes and Equipment: =========================
Naoki's wardrobe is to her as a frame is to a painting. Sometimes embellished with detail to be attractive in its own right, but never the focus. Usually simple but elegant, tightly fitting and highly revealing, used only to frame the beauty within.
Additionally, Naoki is, when clothed, often adorned with a small collection of accessories. She wears an earring, a brilliant cut amethyst, in her right ear. The silver signet ring of Isra is worn on her left pinky, marking her as High Lady of Isra. Directly adjacent, she wears the golden signet ring of The Isran Empire as its Empress. On the inside of her left thigh, there is a tattoo depicting a rose entwined with tentacles.
Allegiances: The Isran Empire
Player's online availability : Excessively often. Timezone: ET (-5)
Registered: Sept 12, 2015 13:02:17 GMT -8
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Post by Empress Naoki on Jan 24, 2020 21:24:36 GMT -8
Naoki nods along an d accepts the skin, sniffing it briefly to determine the contents before taking a modest swig and returning it. She follows right up to the mention of The Mindaugas and his mace, whereupon she falters in her step, does a double-take, and looks to Rudiger, incredulous.
“The one I need to worry about?” It seems as though Naoki is taking these legends rather seriously.
“You mean to tell me that by crowning you, I will raise a revenant intent on blood? Whose blood? For what purpose? To serve the Duke? To 'protect the land'?” She exhibits a moderate amount of concern. She doesn't truly fear such a thing, but it's far from trivial.
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Rudiger Dornmauer
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 229
Age: 30
Physical Description: Rudiger is tall at 6'3", and muscularly built from his profession. His skin is weathered from his life on the road, with the first wrinkles of age appearing at the sides of his mouth and his eyes, and thick calluses on his right hand from wielding his sword. His light brown hair has been sheered to a fade parted on the right side, and his strong chin that was once covered by thick goatee has been shaved to stubble, but his thick mustache has remained. His most prominent feature is a thick scar and his missing left eye, which he covers with a black eyepatch, which he lost in a fight with a bear.
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Clothes and Equipment: Rudiger wears a variety of cloths, depending on the situation. For battle, he wears a blue gambeson underneath steel plate armor, which encases him from head to foot. He wears a bellow faced sallet helm, which he learned to wear from the loss of his eye. He wields a hand and half sword, with a decorative eagle on the pommel. He also carries a kite shield, painted with his coat of arm, a black eagle on a red and orange checkered field.
When he's not in battle, he wears a white wool shirt, and thick woolen black pants. He always wears his tan riding boots.
He owns a dapple grey destrier, and a heavy wooden saddle with a high cantle and pommel covered in thick leather.
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Allegiances: The Grand Duchy of Voruta
Registered: Dec 6, 2017 14:20:22 GMT -8
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Post by Rudiger Dornmauer on Feb 1, 2020 11:21:23 GMT -8
Rudiger was returning to the wineskin to his belt when The Empress began her line of questioning. Side eye was replaced with even more bemused side eye as he struggled to suppress a smile, failing enough that a little grin began to show. She still apparently had much to learn about Voruta.
"No My Highness, there will be no lich or revenant raised. We would not even know how to do so, and if the Duchy is far too magically adverse to begin to tolerate something of the sort. No, I merely meant that is the only name you will need to remember and only Horseman you need to care about for the ceremony. The land will only and always be protected by the steel of the knights and their retinues... and the legions of Isra when they are present."
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Empress Naoki
Famous
Roleplay posts: 2,238
Physical Description: =========================
Empress Naoki is a curvaceous woman of average height, indeterminate age, and catlike features. Her hair is a dark auburn, often pulled back into a long braid. Her ears are both soft and fluffy, and her tail is never less than perfectly groomed. Amber eyes glisten in the shadows cast by her hair.
Clothes and Equipment: =========================
Naoki's wardrobe is to her as a frame is to a painting. Sometimes embellished with detail to be attractive in its own right, but never the focus. Usually simple but elegant, tightly fitting and highly revealing, used only to frame the beauty within.
Additionally, Naoki is, when clothed, often adorned with a small collection of accessories. She wears an earring, a brilliant cut amethyst, in her right ear. The silver signet ring of Isra is worn on her left pinky, marking her as High Lady of Isra. Directly adjacent, she wears the golden signet ring of The Isran Empire as its Empress. On the inside of her left thigh, there is a tattoo depicting a rose entwined with tentacles.
Allegiances: The Isran Empire
Player's online availability : Excessively often. Timezone: ET (-5)
Registered: Sept 12, 2015 13:02:17 GMT -8
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Post by Empress Naoki on Feb 1, 2020 17:27:46 GMT -8
Naoki adopts an expression of barley-placated-concern. She gives the idea more credence because she has liches and revenants, whereas she doubts that Rudiger has ever seen anything more than weak undead, if that.
“Very well,” she supposes. “I see.” Naoki isn’t entirely convinced that now is not an excellent opportunity for the legends of old to rise again, but there’s not much to be done for it. They’ll see.
Looking up from the ground immediately before her, Naoki looks to see if they’re getting close to anything in particular.
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Rudiger Dornmauer
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 229
Age: 30
Physical Description: Rudiger is tall at 6'3", and muscularly built from his profession. His skin is weathered from his life on the road, with the first wrinkles of age appearing at the sides of his mouth and his eyes, and thick calluses on his right hand from wielding his sword. His light brown hair has been sheered to a fade parted on the right side, and his strong chin that was once covered by thick goatee has been shaved to stubble, but his thick mustache has remained. His most prominent feature is a thick scar and his missing left eye, which he covers with a black eyepatch, which he lost in a fight with a bear.
____________________________________________________________
Clothes and Equipment: Rudiger wears a variety of cloths, depending on the situation. For battle, he wears a blue gambeson underneath steel plate armor, which encases him from head to foot. He wears a bellow faced sallet helm, which he learned to wear from the loss of his eye. He wields a hand and half sword, with a decorative eagle on the pommel. He also carries a kite shield, painted with his coat of arm, a black eagle on a red and orange checkered field.
When he's not in battle, he wears a white wool shirt, and thick woolen black pants. He always wears his tan riding boots.
He owns a dapple grey destrier, and a heavy wooden saddle with a high cantle and pommel covered in thick leather.
____________________________________________________________
Allegiances: The Grand Duchy of Voruta
Registered: Dec 6, 2017 14:20:22 GMT -8
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Post by Rudiger Dornmauer on Feb 11, 2020 10:23:05 GMT -8
It wouldn't take an eagle eyed individual... or cat eyed in this instance... to notice that they were approaching a crossroad, two dirt tracks meeting in the middle of a thicket. An old worn wooden sign supposedly pointing towards villages and manors and meant to give guidance had long weathered away any remaining helpful information to strangers. Such was much the way of the infrastructure of the Duchy.
But to native Vorutans, they knew exactly where they were. And even to those long lost sons who had not tread these traces in decades, they could begin to make out landmarks. A large boulder to the side of the sign informed Rudiger all he need to know. "If we go east at the crossroads Your Highness, we would soon reach the home of my youth."
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Empress Naoki
Famous
Roleplay posts: 2,238
Physical Description: =========================
Empress Naoki is a curvaceous woman of average height, indeterminate age, and catlike features. Her hair is a dark auburn, often pulled back into a long braid. Her ears are both soft and fluffy, and her tail is never less than perfectly groomed. Amber eyes glisten in the shadows cast by her hair.
Clothes and Equipment: =========================
Naoki's wardrobe is to her as a frame is to a painting. Sometimes embellished with detail to be attractive in its own right, but never the focus. Usually simple but elegant, tightly fitting and highly revealing, used only to frame the beauty within.
Additionally, Naoki is, when clothed, often adorned with a small collection of accessories. She wears an earring, a brilliant cut amethyst, in her right ear. The silver signet ring of Isra is worn on her left pinky, marking her as High Lady of Isra. Directly adjacent, she wears the golden signet ring of The Isran Empire as its Empress. On the inside of her left thigh, there is a tattoo depicting a rose entwined with tentacles.
Allegiances: The Isran Empire
Player's online availability : Excessively often. Timezone: ET (-5)
Registered: Sept 12, 2015 13:02:17 GMT -8
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Post by Empress Naoki on Feb 12, 2020 17:47:07 GMT -8
“Oh, very good,” Naoki replies, merrily trudging along beside Rudiger.
“And…” she adds, squinting at something down the road. “...It seems as though the clothing I sent for is here.”
And indeed, galloping toward them down the road, a member of The Isran Messenger Core approaches, a parcel behind him in the saddle.
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