the blood of godiva + house colors

if i look back, i am lost
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@aalisvymont
the blood of godiva + house colors
ooc | Aalis & Osmund
Not sure if these two have any kind of relationship, currently? Like obviously, he spends most of his time in the west, but do you think he ever came down to the south to kind of check in our her aka make sure she was still alive? or do you think he’s just kind of left her there, unattended??? AND, if he did pass through to look in on her, do you think he would have made actual contact or do you think he’d just watch her from afar?
OOC | Jesper & Valery
Identity theft is not a joke *laughs*
aalis: IT SURE ISN’T!!!!!!!!!
So! Question - do you think these two will ever meet?? I can see where he will most likely die before they do??? Alternatively, can see her confronting him at some point once she finds out who she is and what he’s done???? But we may be too far out do nail down any of those details. Thoughts????
OF DRAGON RIDERS. characters in the same space part iii
OOC | Joff & Aalis
The…irony…that Joff is riding through the east on his way to meet Aalis and, quite possibly, rides right past where she’s being held is…the irony of his entire life tbh *waves flag* Ok, ok so she’s probs escaped by the time he comes through but stiLL lksajdfkljds he’s heading north to find her and she’s heading south where he used to be!!!!!!
Ok, but Joff was 8 was Aalis was born but like omG he hero-worshipped his big brother and was like !!!!!!! wow!!!!!! when he literally married and princess and then his daughter was also a princess like !!!!!!!!! Joff was pr overwhelmed and he loved his bro so much and loved that little girl so much for his sake and was just like ‘this is the best of all possible worlds’ but then they all got slaughtered and he was faced w the grim reality that he was living in Aragoth (srsly what a sobering reality ;DDDDD)
And obviously he’s been super effective at it, but he’d do anything to find that little girl and bring her back home!!!!!!!!!!! and give her the life she deserves!!!!!! and tell her all about how wonderful her parents were!!!!!!!!! and how much they loved her!!!!!!!!! and (probably die) fighting rowena in her name!!!!!!!!! Ok, so the dying isn’t so much part of his intended plan (though he’d willingly do it) but it’s the most likely outcome tbh bc, again, Aragoth laksdjfkljsdkf
Anyway…My point is, Joff loves his niece and wants good things for her!!!!!!!!!!!
hONESTLY, I love this!!!!!! And like ... she could even possibly be held in the prisons of the vERY CASTLE he stays in on his way north to find her .... just before he leaves to go north and she leaves to go south #facepalm
alkfjalksdfjaldjfl but omg!!!! Aalis would love him!!!! (a real?! family! aalis: never heard of it ... jk that’s not true her fellow pirates are def her family even if they aren’t related) but yeah! I think that Aalis thinks about her family a lot and when she was a kid she was def more idealistic about it and thought that she just go lost and that they were out there looking for her! but as she got older, she definitely just started to assume that they abandoned her/never wanted her (probably things that were drilled into her by marsilla ros haha #guardiangoals) but yeah she never, even in her wildest dreams, imagined her family to be nobles (let alone royals!!!!!!)
Anyway ... idk if/when they will ever meet and even if they do, if they will ever discover the truth, haha, but .... regardless, I feel like Aalis would like Joffrey (if she got to know him??) I can also see where they might get off on the wrong foot b/c he’s a wealthy noble and she’s ... well, you know, a pirate ;D
OOC | Cris & Valery
Do you think these two might have potentially met asp?
I absolutely do!!!!!!
I feel like Rob spends a lOT of time at the tavern/inn/whore house where valery grew up and worked and so if cris ever had to go looking for rob, that would probably be a place to look, haha.
cris: have you seen my brother
valery: yup ... he’s currently having sex with my adopted sister
cris: ....
valery: ...
ANYWAY, despite the potential for some awkward convos about their siblings, I feel like valery would probably like cris if they ever talked??? I feel like he’s a better person than most people that she interacts with, haha.
OH! Also, she’s close friends with Adam who works for the Mortains, so they could also have run into each other during less ~awkward~ situations, haha.
drink up me hearties, yo ho
Bread & Water | Ed & Valery
edmundbrowne:
Ed’s eyes widened. “You’re not one of the pirates from the Revenge, are you?” He screwed up his eyes, trying to get a better glimpse of her amidst all the dirt and darkness. He’d heard it often repeated that the crew of the Revenge had, somehow broken into the very palace itself and impersonated nobility, taking the opportunity to attend balls and steal the finery of the guests from under their very noses.
“Is it true you snuck into the castle and stole the jewelry right off the nobility at the Queen’s ball?” he asked, perhaps a little too eagerly given what a serious crime that was considered to be. But, then, no one in these cells probably cared what Ed Browne might be thinking. In general, no one did.
Ed could not be sure if the rumors were true, but if they were, he supposed he might have encountered her, before. Of course, it would have been the briefest of meetings - merely to take her coat or to offer her a beverage. At most, they might have exchanged a glance but possibly not even that. And, of course, there were so many people at these functions…it was enormously difficult to recall faces, but still he wondered.
Regardless, he was meeting her now.
“I’m Ed,” he replied with a smile. “What’s your name?” He paused. “You must have gone a great many places…Can I ask you…What’s the most exciting place you’ve ever been?
She knew she didn’t look like much -- she was sure she looked like even less, being stuck down here in the dark, half-starved -- but she couldn’t help but feel a little offended when he had to question if she was a pirate from the Revenge. But then, he wasn’t the first person to look at her like that when they found out what she did for a living.
She shrugged, “It’s easy to do when people look at you and all they see is a little girl.” She was able to procure as big of a haul as the rest of them. It was easy for her to wonder off and pretend to be lost in order to gain access to other parts of the castle. A guard had found her once and all she had to do was pretend to be scared and confused at having lost her way and he, himself, escorted her back to her “parents” without any thoughts of checking her for stolen property.
No one looked at Valery and felt threatened. But they should, she thought. She was small, but she was quick and smart and had learned how to wield a sword from James Garin, himself.
She eyed him when he asked her more questions. Why was he being nice to her? She’d sailed Aragoth from one end to the other countless times and it was rare to find a person who would treat you kindly from the first ... and impossible to find one who would do so knowing you were a pirate and a thief.
She wondered what he could want from her, but she ended up deciding that his questions, though unexpected, were harmless and her answers would not reveal to him anything that her captors didn’t already know.
“My name is Valery.” She replied.
She paused again, considering his next question. All of it had been exciting, she realized, from the first moment she stepped aboard the Revenge and she wasn’t sure which place to name. “Here, I supposed,” She said, finally. In all of Aragoth, you wouldn’t find more excitement (or danger) than here in the capital where you were closest to the Queen. “But it isn’t my favorite place.” She paused, “The South is ... “ Well, the south was home and despite her childhood there which she had become a pirate to escape, she still loved it. She wondered if she’d ever see it again. “ ... it’s beautiful. It can be dangerous, but not if you are smart about it. Not if you know how to read the skies and how to protect yourself against the storms.”
ooc | Valery & Dezód
yooooo do you think dezód would ever approach valery given he’s one of like two people who knows who she really is??????
Bread & Water | Ed & Valery
“Take this down to the prisoners,” came the instructions, swift and uncompromising. The tray was shoved into his hands without waiting for a response and Ed gaped for half a moment. “Shut your mouth and go!”
He knew there was a mistake. Ed was not the one for such a mission, but he equally comprehended that there would be no arguing with these instructions now. Forming a smile, he turned and scurried for the door.
Ed had never been down into the bowels of the castle and, as he descended further and further, horror seemed to calcify the back of his throat. It was dry and still, as though it were no longer his, and he felt stiff looking at the angry and rattled faces. Some of the prisoners were so lost to their situation that they hardly seemed to even register his presence, some so frightened their bargained and threatened, some so hungry they rushed the bars when he presented their dinners. Ed’s arms trembled, but not from the persistant cold. The deeper he ventured, the fouler the smell, the danker the air, the darker the light. Soon, he was very glad of the candle flickering on his tray, indeed, for it seemed it was all the light the deepest of the cells knew.
This, he knew, was where the worst criminals of Aragoth awaited their fates.
It startled him, then, that the first face he saw amongst these - the most hardened villains in the country - was the pale visage of a young girl. Forming an uneasy smile, Ed bent to deposit her meager meal, wishing not for the first time that there was more of it. He knew he should move on to the next cell…but hers were the saddest eyes he felt he had ever seen. And she was only a young girl.
“Hallo, there,” he greeted with his most friendly smile. “What’re you doing here?”
Any sound of movement from the halls always brought Valery to her feet.
It usually meant that some sort of meal was on its way, but she always wanted to be prepared in case this was when they finally took her out. She was always ready to run: to make one last desperate effort to find freedom.
Today, however, it was food that came her way. As soon as it was presented to her, she grabbed it from the tray and ate it as fast she she could. She had no way of knowing just how long it had been since she had had her last meal, but it felt like days.
It took her a moment to notice him. He had a kind, boyish face and he’d stopped to smile and speak softly to her. He wasn’t at all like the others: they’d all been rough jailers who considered feeding the prisoners to be beneath them. If it had been up to them, they would have all been left to starve. More than once she’d had her bread tossed to her and she’d had to crawl around on her hands and knees in the dark to find it.
He, on the other hand, had brought her food to her on a tray. He lingered a moment to smile and talk to her. He’d even brought a little light with him. Part of her wanted to hug him for it, but most of her was suspicious to find any kindness here. Was this some sort of trap?
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I’m a pirate.” She replied, eyeing him suspiciously, “Who are you?”
Never Say We Die | James & Aalis
jamesgarin:
James’s head felt fuzzy, as though it no longer belonged to his shoulders, but this was by now a familiar feeling to the pirate. He started to get up, felt his legs shift as though not his own, and thought better of it. Compromising at simply sitting up, he peered through the dim prison towards the familiar sound. A smile quirked the corner of his lips. “Did I dream that voice?” he drolly asked the pale-faced apparition across the aisle from him. It had been only months since last he had seen her, yet she looked older - or perhaps she’d been growing older all along under his very nose, and he’d simply failed to notice. James bit the inside of his lip, deciding to ignore that question for now. He wasn’t terribly fond of it, after all.
He drew near the bars, unconsciously mimicked her stance as he, too, grasped the bars. Narrowing his eyes, he glanced around them. “Odd,” he commented, spotting a finely dressed dwarf in the midst of these bloodthirsty scallywags. Was that Alexandir Godiva? He turned to make a face at Valery.
“Well,” remarked James with a slow grin. “I think we can agree this isn’t the worst scrape we’ve ever faced.” He still thought the exploding volcano and the rising tide of lava had this beat, as did that particular time the Revenge ran afoul of some Karrian pirates. Still, even James knew this wasn’t good. “What on earth are you doing here?” he inquired. James, like a fool, had walked straight into his predicament. He doubted that were true of his one-time companions. “Well, I kissed a lady and her mother decided to call it treason,” joshed James, arching his brows humorously. He shook his head. It was a longer tale than that, but humor was James’ last line of defense.
He shifted uncomfortably in the stiff bowels of the Imperial Palace. “The Queen certainly knows how to treat her guests,” he muttered, casting another glance towards the Godiva. He had thought, at first, that revealing his true identity might be a saving grace. Now, he wasn’t so sure. It was just as well, however. He hadn’t been considering so drastic a step, anyway. Until recently, he had always been of the mind that he would rather die as James Garin than live as Harrion Mortain. Celia had made him wonder…but what was the point of being Harrion Mortain if it was only to die as easily as he would have by another name?
James grasped the bars tighter as he pulled himself to his feet. He felt stiff, had to move. He couldn’t sit there and stare at her, if he was going to tell her the story and, in truth, he felt Valery was one of the few people to whom he owed a real explanation. She alone, after all, had tried to defend him and James hadn’t forgotten that. He doubted he ever would. No one had ever done that for him before. He doubted anyone ever would, again. It had been, of course, simply because she was a child and didn’t know better, but the gesture had still meant something to him.
Still, he decided to downplay his troubles. He didn’t want to worry her and Valery, he knew, could carry a grudge. Now that his family was back together, why engender more bitterness than need be? Besides, he’d give everyone different versions of his truth: to Godfrey he would wax eloquent about his sufferings, to Sybil he would talk of how no impediment could keep him down long, to Celia he’d emphasized the most impressive bits and downplayed the miserable parts…None of them were outright lies, but somewhere in between all the stories lay the actual truth.
“In truth, it turns out that island was quite pleasant. Sweet, exotic fruits grew in great abundance, the shores were of such fine sand it felt almost like silk to walk across. The waters were warm and refreshing. Valery, the fish! You would have admired them, so. They were of the brightest colors I’ve ever seen…but the duller looking ones proved tastier,” he intimated. “I found myself a little cave that was dry, as well as a spring of fresh water and I made a little abode for myself. I also found a nice shapely tree to cut down and started building a little boat for myself. Now that was time-consuming work…and begun not a moment too soon.”
He shrugged, deciding to skip over the volcanic eruption. “I eventually found that, as wonderful as a taste of paradise had been, I longed for home. So, I took my little ship - in truth, it wasn’t quite finished yet, but I confess I was rather eager to be gone,” he added, remembering his desperate climb and the boiling waters he left behind, the fear that it would eat through his boat before he could get to waters that would not boil him alive should he be forced to swim. “Out to sea for its maiden voyage. It didn’t survive, but it lasted long enough to where I could swim for shore.” He shrugged. “Given that I was a first-time shipwright, I frankly felt quite accomplished.” James laughed.
“Once ashore, I happened upon a damsel of royal blood who was being escorted to the South, where she would marry that booby, Loys Mortain,” a name which, in the South, was synonymous with the word joke, but said with a tad more bitterness than he’d meant to convey. “Thanks to you, tossing my things to me, I was able to knock her fine escort down to size, and I seized the maiden. My plan was to bring her back to the capitol and sell her back to her mother for enough gold to pay back Godfrey but,” he turned and grasped the prison bars once again. “As you can see that plan…backfired, somewhat.” He laughed, spotting Godfrey for the first time. “Or perhaps I ought to consider it a raging success. How else would I have met with you so quickly?”
When James asked if he had dreamed her voice, she couldn’t help but smile. It felt ages since she had. It was easy to lose track of time down here in the dark: she knew it was likely that it had been only days but it already felt like weeks, months, years since she’d seen the sun. The punishment for stealing from the Queen was death, but she wondered if they didn’t meant to keep them down here until they begged for it.
Perhaps this wasn’t the worst scrape they’d ever been in, but until this moment, Valery had never felt like they’d had no chance of escape before. Perhaps it was because they’d surrendered so easily to Cassius and his dragon or perhaps it was because this was the first time that they’d be in a bad spot without all four of them together. But seeing James here, alive (even if he was in the same situation they were in) someone made her feel like they might just make it out alive, after all. And she found something she hadn’t had before: hope.
“We stole from the Queen one too many times,” She said, “We were stupid and careless. We’d come in and out so easily before we stopped being as cautious as we once were. This time someone discovered we weren’t who we said we were and we ran. We made it safely back to the Revenge, but it wasn’t long before Cassius and his dragon caught us and brought us back.” She’d wanted to fight and die on the ocean, but she’d listened to her captain and laid down her sword.
Even if they died here in these rotting cells, it would have been worth it to have seen James once more. They might not die on the sea, but they would die together.
She couldn’t help but chuckle when he explained what he was doing here. “That sounds like you. You always kiss the wrong girls.” This certainly wasn’t the first time he’d found trouble because of it. “Perhaps you should stop.” She teased.
She listened as he described the Isle of the Damned to her and his time there. She’d imagined it to be hell on earth – not this paradise that James spoke of. Part of her wondered if he was lying, but she did not think he would have been able to have survived the Island, otherwise. She did not think that he was only telling her a half truth.
“Why would someone name a place like that The Isle of the Damned?” She asked, “To keep anyone else from ever sailing to it?” She wondered aloud. Although by James’s description, it sounded as though he was the only one there — so perhaps the tales of it had worked too well. She liked the idea, however, of a beautiful island that everyone was too scared to sail to that only they knew about.
“I feel sorry for the lady,” She said, “She was saved from marrying Loys but then she was kidnapped by you. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.” She teased. Perhaps his plan could have gone better (in fact, most of them could), but it had, as he said, brought them together. And together, maybe they would be able to escape.
Alexandir Godiva: Funny story. I can't find the car.
Aalis Vymont: Well, why don't you keep looking for it? I'm sure it'll only take you fifteen years to find it.
Alexandir Godiva: That's a fair hit, but hurtful.
I am of House Godiva, the blood of the dragon. I am the dragon’s child, and I swear to you that those who would harm you will die screaming.
Black Wings & Black Sails | Cassius & Valery
cassiusmontagu:
There was something there, something in that girl. What it was, Cassius was not sure, but he felt half as though he should know her, or as if…perhaps she would have been a dragonrider, he wondered, as there was some vague familiarity about her, though he was sure he’d never once laid eyes upon her before. Or, more like, perhaps there was someone else, someone he’d once known, that she called to mind…Whatever the cause, it stuck with him, pinging off his brain whenever the thought of her reemerged there.
Striding through the dank cells, he spotted the pirate girl once again. Though now huddled in the darkness of a miserable cell rather than going about her duties aboard a ship, she looked much the same. There was a toughness in the set of her jaw and a blackness in her brown eyes uncharacteristic, in general, of one so young. And she fearless, utterly fearless.
And so he asked his question and heard her bite out her reply. Despite everything, the touch of a smirk twitched his lips. She’d somehow fit a very great deal of defiance into an inglorious duty and Cassius found he was amused. She had spirit, this little imp, at any rate.
“What else?”
Even Cassius didn’t think a little girl deserved to die for scrubbing a deck - even on a pirate ship. He didn’t, however, get the impression that was truly the end of her list of duties. She was too unperturbed about death. Clearly, she’d seen her share of it. He wondered if she’d delivered it to any unsuspecting souls, in her time.
“Surely there are other duties even suited to a young girl upon a pirate vessel. What else do you do? And what,” he added. “Of your amusements?”
Why hadn’t they fought?
They all would have died if they had, she knew that. What could they have done against a rider and his dragon? But it would have been a good death, a clean death. They would have died out at sea, as pirates should. Instead, they’d lose their heads ... if this place didn’t suck the life out of them first. Godfrey had asked her to trust him, but she still had a sinking feeling that he’d only bought them time with their surrender.
And now she stood in the dark, answering questions put to her by Cassius Montagu. She wished he would stop. She wished he would move on.
She hated him.
She’d always hated him. When she was very young, he would terrify her as he’d fly over the south on his dragon that was as large as a castle. She was told that he’d saved them all from the other dragons; that he was a hero. But even then, she couldn’t believe that. And when she first heard the rumors that, instead, he’d murdered them all, she was convinced of it.
“I help in the kitchen and climb the rigging when the sails need to be trimmed. Sometimes, I run messages and keep watch.” She paused, stepping closer to the bars. She looked up, defiantly.
“As for my amusements ... I steal from the Queen.”
I am the blood of the dragon. I must be strong. I must have fire in my eyes when I face them, not tears.
Never Say We Die | James & Aalis
“Get off, you blackguard!” shouted James. His manacles prevented much fighting, but it didn’t prevent him from savagely elbowing one of the fellows manhandling him. That bitch Avelina had accused him of treason and, besides, he was wanted all over Aragoth. He knew that if he went into these cells on his own, he would likely die. He also knew there was almost no chance of escaping, now, but James had never gone towards likely death without a struggle. He wasn’t about to start now.
The fellow gave an irate screech at the blow and walloped James over the back with the blunt side of his blade. With a loud curse, James dropped to his knees. “That’ll learn ye some manners,” growled the guard.
Unbidden, a memory surged into his head. Nurse Mysters wiping his four year old face with a silk napkin and smiling gently: “See you mind your manners, little lord.” James grunted. He knew that revealing himself as Harrion Mortain might save his life, but he wasn’t so desperate as that, just yet. Besides, who would believe him in this dark little shit hole?
Between them, the guards pulled James up to his feet and, petulantly, he struck out at them, again. Another blow. It began again and they hauled him to his feet once more, James pushing off the ground all the while as they dragged him to a dank cell. In cages all around, others milled about. James’ eyes had not yet adjusted to the darkness and he could not make out much, but then he was hardly trying. “Take your hands off me, your filthy lickspittles!” shouted James, struggling his hardest as they brought him up towards a cell. “I didn’t harm a hair on her pretty head!” For once, James was innocent of the charge, and this was the one that had actually landed him in jail with a real danger of having his head cut off. That being said, he was guilty of plenty of other charges whose penalties he’d escaped. The injustice of it ought not to have bothered, but it still did.
As they finally came to the cell, James stopped fighting. He watched carefully as the guards, relieved that he’d stopped, fidgeted with getting the lock open and pulling open the cage’s door. As it swung forward, James seized the closest guard, hurling his against the metal headfirst, and noticing with satisfaction that he fell into the cell. He didn’t have time to wait and verify that he was unconscious. Reeling on the other guard, he wrapped his manacles savagely around his throat and yanked tight. “Release me and we forget all about this. You live, I live, everyone’s happy,” he whispered. Suddenly, James felt a sharp crack to the back of his head. Colorful dots floated in his vision for half a breath and then all went black…
…and faded away. Painful light streamed against his throbbing head. James was fighting, fighting to open his eyes. He could hear a voice calling his name, one he’d not heard in so long…His muddled brain couldn’t find the name, but he knew the sound and he had to reach, had to reach her. He forced his eyes open…and hissed, throwing up a hand to shield his eyes from the shrieking white light.
“Fuck,” he muttered. His tongue felt thick and the word felt wrong on it. “Fuck, fuck,” he muttered again, rolling again. Something was squelching and he felt wet all over. “Where are you?” he asked the voice that called to him. His heart was pounding. He had to get to her, had to help her. She needed him. “Are you all right?”
Slowly, he realized he was lying in some filthy damp mud, covered over by a meager layer of hay. His recent bath, it seemed, had been for naught. He couldn’t remember what he was doing, or why. Groaning, he pushed himself up into a sitting position and went to lean his aching head against the wall. Sitting up with a strangled cry, he sent fingers to investigate the painful spot on the back of his head. Blood, blood on his fingers. He moaned a cursed and turned to look towards the sound that had awakened him.
He was in the cell.
She’d first heard his voice when they brought him down.
She’d wondered if she’d slipped into a dream, somehow. Down here, in the dark, everything had blended together. Or perhaps her mind was playing tricks on her. Either way, she’d quickly quieted the small feeling of hope that had swelled up within her. She knew better.
James Garin was dead.
She remembered sailing away from him; her voice raw from screaming at Godfery to turn around. She’d been so determined, at that moment, to go back and save him. When they’d next made port, she’d snuck away from the others and meant to steal a ship of her own and save him, herself. But she hadn’t been as subtle as she’d thought and Godfrey had followed her.
“He’s already dead, love,” He’d said, his voice was sad; regretful. "And if you go after him, so are you.”
She’d stood stock still for a long time, not saying anything. She wanted to cry, because she knew he was right, but she didn’t. She was a pirate. And pirates don’t cry. “How could you do it?” she asked, her voice was cracked but still no tears came.
“He stole from me.” He replied, “And there had to be consequences, no matter his intentions. If I didn’t, I lose control over the entire crew. And there would be nothing left.”
She’d vowed, once, never to forgive Godfrey for what he had done. She’d found a family and he’d torn it apart. But she'd gone back with him anyway. She’d never completely forgiven him for it, but she knew he hadn’t forgiven himself, either. And she knew if she left him, she’d be alone. She’d already lost James and she didn’t want to lose Godfrey and Sybil, too.
She was awake now, she knew she was. And the man in the cell across from her had his same voice, but she couldn’t see his face and she couldn’t know for sure. For hours she sat in the darkness, wondering if he’d survived somehow and fate had brought them back together. But he’d hit his head and he was lying unconscious on the ground.
When a guard came by to inspect the cells, she leaned forward, hoping to catch his face in the light. He was covered in mud and his hair was shorter, but it was him. She knew it was him. It must be.
As soon as the guard passed her by, she called out to him and didn’t stop until he began to stir.
“I’m here!” She cried, hands clutching at her iron bars, wishing she had enough strength to break them. “James! What happened to you? Are you alright? How did you get off that island? How are you still alive?”