OOC | Albrecht & Marian
hiya, favorite sis!! marian is literally ~the most important person in albrecht's whole world and, frankly, i don't think he makes any bones abt that or like tries to pretend its any other way like???? she's my sister and i got her back no matter what! also sorry other siblings try being cool like marian <3 (no, he loves them, too, in his way they just...aren't marian) i mean, i don't think he's ~mean abt it he's just...v matter-of-fact that's his person <3 and i do think he is v dad-shaped for her kids and VERY firmly against the calainons!!!!!! bc i think he does tend to take her part in pr much everything yknow?
i ~do think he takes family matters and solemont goals v srsly and is v duty-oriented and such. frankly probs a lil ~over srs a lot ljksdafkjds not to the degree of, say, rian or anything like ~that, but he ~does find it kinda tough to relax much i fear laksdjfjdsf i do think he tends to funnel his ambitions towards meeting familial goals and, while i see him having a struggle w his faith in his arc (tho i think he may start out a true believer? im still kinda feeling that bit out a touch) so idk if he believes arthur's like ~the prophecied hero king of the sun~ or anything like that, i do think he sees arthur's ascendency as the best thing for realizing all the goals he holds to be so importnt
anyway! i do think he's most likely to be actually laughing and smiling when w marian and her kids in their quiet familial moments. however, i don't think he really trusts the varmonts v much??? i think he does v much wear solemont-colored lenses at all times and is like 'he and dad have beef and, sure, dad and i got issues, but that's between us -- he's my dad i support him clearly roderick was in the wrong' etc, PLUS, and i think this was the big one, roderick plucked marian and then put her back down. he ~did come back for her later but that was only after putting her replacement on trial and i just think???? the whole thing left a v sour taste in his mouth esp bc i ~do think he's v protective of her!! so i do think the moment roderick walks in, he turns to his more quiet and watchful self. like, he isn't reckless or impulsive, he won't do anything stupid, but he just aint be trusting yknow?
AHHH kate tbh i have so many thoughts abt this two and the whole fam swimming around in my head, so i'm going to try to break things down a bit ig?? and also these are just my unhinged rambling ideas-- i am up for ANYTHING really if what I'm blathering on about doesn't jive with what you're imagining! <3 CHILDHOOD-EARLY YEARS SO Marian was 8 years old when Albrecht was born which is probably still kinda young to be stepping into a 'maternal' role or anything BUT i do think unlike Severin and Ulric, who were Aurelian's heir & spare sons, Albrecht was not! so while i don't think that meant Aurelian wasn't immediately trying to figure out what Albrecht's role was going to be, it feels like that it was a bit different than with the older two and maybe allowed Marian, who was def going to be at the age where she'd be more invested in her siblings i believe, to spend more time with albrecht. ALSO we know the twins are a year younger than Albrecht so obvs mamma solemont was rather quickly pregnant AGAIN so... and then had twins! so idk... did marian feel like Albrecht was maybe a bit forgotten in a way? he wasn't the first of second son, then he wasn't one of these twin siblings... but he was HER little brother and HER companion and they never really grew out of that? and that bond is just... v different from the other ones she has w/ her siblings! (ok mostly her brothers, we know she does NOT get along with either of her sisters!) idk if this is making any sense really but i do feel like long before they were really involved in any of the solemont ~plans, these two have always just had a bond! CHILDHOOD-LATER YEARS i'm not sure what to call this section, haha, but i'm thinking more when Albrecht would've been the age when he might've become a page/marian was probably starting to go to court & the scheming to marry her to a varmont began-- we know pretty quickly that Euric was OFF the table for Marian due to literally... everything about him! i wonder if Marian was (I assume as was Aurelian!) trying to find a highly respectable place for Albrecht to be a page? And I had a thought-- might @forgottenbartholomew have potentially been someone they'd been hoping for/possibly albrecht was a page for? since we know he was always kind of on the metaphorical backburner for the Solemonts as the Varmont Marian might end up with! Anywho, fast forward to Marian marrying Roderick-- i am positive she tried to figure out a way to keep Albrecht in the royal house but I'm guessing that didn't happen??-- esp since we know Marian very quickly took to @forgottenalaric and I feel like the relationship between she and alaric wouldn't necessarily have developed as close of a relationship if Albrecht had been around, tbh-- she would've wanted to focus on her brother, ofc!
MARIAN'S PREGNANCIES as we know, Marian ended up back at house solemont when she was pregnant w/ her kids (idr if we said it was all three of them??? but that feels right??) so I imagine Albrecht would have been around for that! AND that would've been such a comfort to marian, tbh-- i doubt she was necessarily leaning on him for much in the way she does now-- HE was only 12 when Arthur was born!-- but still just having that comfort of someone who understands you and you trust, no matter the age! i do think as time passed and marian DID have those miscarriages, she probably confided in Albrecht her suspicions about being poisoned by @forgottenamira and, if at that point Arthur and Sebastian had been having their mysterious bouts of illnesses as well, about her suspicions they were being poisoned, too! i don't think she would've expected Albrecht to actually DO anything about it, but she still told him! tbh i think marian was the most happy when she was at house solemont with her kids-- she wasn't crazy enough to think that could actually be a long term thing and ofc the older arthur and sebastian got, the less idyllic things would've been for them esp given their positions and the fact they are sons so! but i think she looks back so fondly on when they were v young and albrecht being a teenager atp was probably a cool uncle for them! but those are def some of her happiest memories <3 THAT also brings up the whole... marian vision, is arthur blessed by the sun?! thing up too! (i nearly forgot!) what do you think Albrecht makes of all that? I imagine bc he would've been fairly young when this happened, Marian wouldn't have necessarily spoken to him about it (in my head she either went to her mother or father planning to confess abt the affair, got as fair as the sun moment in the chapel and someone cut her off like 'OBVIOUSLY HE WAS BLESSED BY THE GODS AND YOU ARE CARRYING SOME SORT OF SAVIOR!' or smth like that!) but being that albrect has been in the OVN and see the pro-arthur propaganda machine at work.... is he believing it? or is he just supporting arthur no matter what bc he's marian's boy? RODERICK'S CONQUESTS I'm just going on assumptions here that none of Marian's brothers who were of age to fight in roderick's wars were probably sitting around at home twiddling their thumbs during conquests! meaning i'm guessing albrecht was out there fighting? i have thoughts abt what marian would've WANTED him to do but before i go into all of that i wanted to see what your ideas were about what he'd been up to during roderick's various wars?!
i also know asp we'd (or i'd!) thrown around the idea that Albrecht was the one who went with Marian when she travelled to see Arthur at Kil-Kennar! That def doesn't have to be the case if it doesn't line up with your ideas (tbh maybe it could've been lucian if he was travelling as a merchant or smth!) but i do think she would've wanted it to be albrecht if he wasn't busy, haha
ASTAIRA + MALCONAIRE i feel like its basically established that marian has been wanting her family back at court but roderick hasn't been in to that idea until recently... but ofc that hasn't stopped her from communicating with them. I doubt Marian would have written much about her plans for trying to make Albrecht the new Lord of Malconaire in case someone (Amira) intercepted her letters BUT I do think this idea has been rattling around in her brain for awhile! tbh its a real blow to her plans that @forgottenciara is half Calleary and not half Malconaire bc in an ideal world for Marian, Albrecht gets Malconaire AND marries Ciara, suring up all of that for #teamArthur... and while I think Marian also would've LOVED to devise a way to get Hanthom away from Godfrey, she knows that's not going to be easy BUT they now have the largest county in Astaira! that's not nothing! but dangit, Ciara, you picked Roderick's wrong brother in law!
option two was just have albrecht enter the scene as a savior of malconaire and, duh, eithne would totes marry him instead!-- which would give some credibility to all the astairan faithful that he was approved by the OG family of those lands! great! plus it would get rid of valentina, who is the worse!! but i do not think marian is going to be as eager for a Malconaire/Solemont match as her father might be bc i do think she will see it as giving validity to pregnancy rumors-- if albrecht (or any solemont) married eithne, then that's just one of arthur's uncles doing his duty and carrying for arthur's child when he himself cannot! no thank you! so i guess MAYBE brigit would be ok but tbh i think marian is so over ALL the malconaire sisters (tho does she even know brigit exists!?) she really doesn't want any of them in her family...
... and speaking of astairan families with lots of daughters... do you think marian would have ANY idea of Albrecht's feelings for Aisling? so far, marian likes Lorcan the best out of any of the houses she's visited BUT also... lorcan isn't doing much for the fam. and if alaric locks down eabha... then lorcan is kinda already on their side? (at least in marian's mind!... she's not aware cormac is potentially going to blow everything up claiming he's engaged to cassandra ashdoiahfosafds)
okay i feel like i had SO MANY thoUGHTS but this is getting long and is probably more than enough to get things started! XD
forgottenmarian
8h @quillington AHHH KATE!!! I’m so excited!!! Marian has missed albrecht SO much too! I think as much as she’s happy to see her dad, that pales in comparison to having Albrecht in Astaira!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
quillington
8h @forgottenmarian honestly i feel like the second he got the all clear, albrecht was like BYE OVN and didn't look back!!!! i think marian really is the most important person in his world and, like, im sure they corresponded etc!!! but just actually getting to be together is smth else entirely <333333 and omg <3333 her being most excited to see him!!! i feel like they're do for theeeeee longest hug!!!!!!
forgottenmarian
8h @quillington Y E S! Marian was like ‘get this information to the OVN as soon as you possibly can!!’ I do know she’s def felt v isolated w/o any of her family here while @forgottenamira gets ALL the brothers so Albrects arrival is going to be JUST the reinvigorating thing she needs to take on Amira + her pregnancy 🤦🏻♀️
quillington
8h @forgottenmarian honestly i feel like albrecht has been crazy worried abt her that way as well!! bc i think he's ~also of the impression that marian's miscarriages were all thanks to amira, and esp hearing arthur had ~mysteriously taken ill again, i think he really started pushing for WE HAVE TO GET THERE ASAP MARIAN AND THE KIDS ARE ALL ALONE -- i think he felt so helpless getting that letter from her that must've contained that nd feeling her pain off the page and, sure, he probs got one v soon thereafter talking abt how he was just as mysteriously healed and better than ever, but still i think it lit a fire under him to do everything he could to heal matters w roderick so he could be there for marian, again!! esp bc yeah meanwhile her rival has ~all ~her allies there and, in fact, they're already taking important lands and allies in astaira and the empire and yeah i think the whole thing ws making him incredibly antsy, and i think he'll be soooo relieved to see her and the kids again and see that they're all ok!!!!!!!
forgottenmarian
3h @quillington Was Albrecht possibly just pacing back and forth in Alytar just waiting for the green light to come Astaira? 😅😅😅 jkjk
quillington
3h @forgottenmarian honestly...probably!! lksadjkfadsf actually tht's a great question tho bc im not sure exactly where he's been? it says here https://thelongforgottenrealm.tumblr.com/post/765176187124350976/potential-new-characters that he's been helping his bro but i wasn't sure which one (tho i ~was assuming it was one his older brothers but now im not sure why i thought that?) so i feel like if it was severin, he was in the ovn to help run the estate, but if it was ulric, it was...whichever is the smallest of the countries roderick has conquered? actually i should probs just @thelongforgottenrealm which is the smallest of roderick's countries/the country ulric is governor of, and which brother has albrecht been assisting?
thelongforgottenrealm
3h @quillington I feel like it was supposed to be Severin (tho tbh I got that from @forgottenmarian whenever Kate said somewhere about Marian's siblings 2347397 years ago and I can't find the original post (if it was a post #facepalm), so if you guys want it to be Ulric he's helping out instead, I'm cool w/ that too!!!! Also, idc which country Ulric is the governor of? I know you also made a post long ago about all of the countries that Roderick conquered and idk if you had any thoughts on which ones would be smaller???
forgottenmarian
3h @thelongforgottenrealm I have a vague memory of something abt it being severin, too, but tbh I don’t think it matters?! Maybe it could have been both? 😅 I *think* the idea I had once upon a time was that Severin was not great and Marian thought Albrecht should take over running the Solemont estate BUT now that seems to have morphed into getting him Malconaire instead! So!
quillington
3h @thelongforgottenrealm thank you, love!! ok so let's say its severin, then, and i do think that'd def make albrecht feel that he's qualified to run malconaire w experience running ~the coolest county in the world~ aka solemont lasdjfkjdsf hahaha but to answer your question, no i don't think we did talk any thoughts abt size!! personally i don't really have any thoughts on that? the post i did, iirc, was mostly stuff like 'this country is vaguely inspired by [insert real world example here] and thus you can get [insert appropriate trade items] from there' bc i was mostly thinking abt the empire ~economically when i did that and like, how roderick intercts w that in his day to day life etc but lso what he's looking to uhhhh get next to fill any holes ladksfjklsdjf hahaha @thelongforgottenrealm oh wait misread that!! so yeah @forgottenmarian im honestly completely down w either!! do you remember what you had in mind there? @forgottenmarian oooh i kinda like the idea of him helping out both, wherever needed! and im also down if we wanna say tht marian was pushing for albrecht to inherit instead of severin bc that def sounds like ~family drama~ and @forgottenaurelian def would've put the kabosh on that bc he's all abt like legacy and stuff and supplanting the 'appropriate' heir w another would be totally out of the question in his book!! also totally cool w saying it didn't happen, too! @thelongforgottenrealm @forgottenmarian found the og post! https://forgottenmarian.tumblr.com/post/760813265241669632/marian-fam-hc
forgottenmarian
3h @quillington I can and will write about this more in my actual ooc post but I do think Marian wasn't dumb enough to think her dad would've passed over Severin for Albrecht! So she probably was more pushing for Severin to be some sort of ~figure head person and let Albrecht do the actual running/decision making in Solemont...
quillington
3h @forgottenmarian goooootchaaaa! that def makes sense!! i do think there's a world in which aurelian would entertain that but yeah i feel like nabbing malconaire is probs a bigger priority atm since they're now in a position where they do not have an appropriate holding in the imperial capital which *gasp* le horreur etc laksdjfkjdsf but also we know its a v strategic spot and i feel like maybe the thinking is itd be disastrous if team edmund got their grubby hands on it, and we already know roderick is def leaning that way atm so maybe they're looking to pre-empt that or...whatever? idk...
forgottenmarian
2h @quillington YES that all makes sense! i think that initial thought was just me rambling ideas abt marian's family before they'd even been mentioned as potential characters in the RP so! i agree that taking malconaire is the MAIN GOAL right now!!!! marian does NOT want edmund getting it-- even if that great house is full of squirrells-- and she's NOT pleased with Valentina after all her antics at the party so... she probably is kinda ready to see her gone, too, and replaced with a much more agreeable brother of hers :)
EARLY CHILDHOOD
ok so the above felt like important info so i just wanted to record it here but omg YESSSSSS!!!!!!! kate, the way im so obsessed w all the above alkdsjflkjdfjdf so honestly i whole heartedly agree w ~all of this and it feels exactly like the vibes i was sort of riffing off too when thinking abt him <333333 and i love that she's his sister/mom/cool aunt/etc all in one!!! esp bc like yeah!! it ~does make sense tht pr much immediately leora is v distracted and then doubly distracted, and marian ~is v much still a lil kid, but also still old enough to help out a lot and, ofc, im sure there were nannies and such as well, etc, but in terms of that like ~emotional bond~ it makes sm sense!!!!! and yeah like both of them in this sort of nebulous space where like -- their duty is clear (serve house solemont); their future tho is not???? like he's a third son he has no particular role he's gotta get out there and make his own life and she's just ~~~~will marry someone~~~~~ but is that the god-king of kolchis, is that mad euric varmont, is it ~lord ned~ across the water like ???????? what will our futures hold???? i do think being, otherwise, sort of a forgotten child does v much track for him, too, frankly, in terms of his whole personality like he's v much a middle child, ofc, and ~is generally fairly stoic/observant unless he's w his fav ppl, and yeah all that resulting in this particular closeness between them just makes sm sense i feel like!!!
ALBRECHT THE PAGE, BAR, & MARIAN'S DEBUT AT COURT
also i love the idea of him having been a page for bar!! boys were abt ~7 when they started being pages, which also probs means that he
ok so i also am slowly working on his timeline and i looked up the year he would've turned 7 --
year 1262 – aged 7 – albrecht is made page to bartholomew, roderick is betrothed to réalta, roderick secretly weds elaine, baronial uprising, death of king athaulf and prince euric as well as of thais, tyche, parysatis, and athanaric to plague, roderick becomes king, war breaks out w antilla thus inadvertently starting roderick’s world conquest
kiddo really got thrown into the deep end, head first, on that one lakdjflkjdf imagine you live in a peaceful country pr much and then the ~instant you have any sort of vague connection to the nation's fighting force there's ~immediately an uprising, followed by the death of ur boss's entire family, followed by a royal coronation (and you work for the hand of the new king), ~immediately followed by a war that kicks off a lifelong conquest machine...also, ur seven years old lakdsjfkjldf absolutely insane well done, ovn ladksjflkjsdf albrecht at the wizened age of 8: 'adulting is hard'
also tough time for bar in general -- his mom dies the year before, then his bro tries to assassinate his bff and they go to war w eo, then his kids and his wife and his nephew and his bro all die in rapid succession, then there's another war (which effectively just...never ends bc his nephew/boss gets addicted) and he's suddenly hand of the king and like??????? lowkey running this chaos like????? dklsfajkldsjf silver lining he got a new apprentice ig lkasdjfkjldsf but yeah albrecht as a kid suddenly having to navigate all the emotions and actions and drama and weirdness and just ~everything coming out of all that for his lord and country...insane
ANYWAY, i def agree that aurelian would've actively been seeking a ~glorious position~ for his son to be a page and yeah esp if he'd been ~hoping for bar/marian but then bar went and married a foreigner (gross dlkajfklsjdf) then at least inserting one of ur kids into his household does keep you connected to the royal house -- and then works out beautifully when he's magically single (and in need of an heir!), again! bc like...letters must be written bck and forth abt the boy and his progress, the boy has to come home occasionally and why not have bar over too?, family members wishing to visit the boy must then stay over at bar's...aurelian suddenly really encouraging of the closeness between albrecht and marian in a way he never had been before...this feels highly solemont coded that they place little seeds of opportunity...and then pivot and harvest them, as needed!
but yeah i wonder if they were also thinking -- while bar was married -- tht this was still a step towards marriage for marian, bc if she happens to be staying at bar's house w her bro, well, certainly the young princes will be visiting their uncle or their uncle will tke his retinue to go visit the palace and...what's this...marian just so happens to be there...kdljsfkladfj or even if she was staying at court, already, if bar goes over there to say hi, which courtesy requires he must since her bro is his page, then like even if the princes don't bite, that's still got all the wealthiest bachelors being like 'that girl has a royal connection' etc so like...just no downsides here!! and, like, worse case scenario all she gets out of it is a friendship w bar's wife, who is one of the highest ranking ladies at court as well as a kolchean princess in her own right, and will probs seek to help her rise/attain a good marriage so they can continue to be close, etc, if they are friends, like...all good things!!!
i do wonder -- this is legit neither here nor there, but might inform a lil backstory (ill get into that in a bit) -- but if there wasn't perhaps some thought that maybe @forgottenbartholomew 's marriage wasn't a bit of a ploy by amalric (bar and athaulf's dad), like, if there's wasn't some thought that bar's son might rule kolchis, someday, depending on what ~their political situation was, since we ~know they suffered a french revolution-esque upheaval not ~too long afterwards (just six years after the marriage!), and it seems there weren't ~that many contenders for the throne etc since it was fairly short before they threw open the gates to roderick...i do think an already politically dicey situation was made ~untenable by roderick out there and def speeded things up quite a bit, but like...it was probs pr clear, esp to the ovn -- a country v familiar w turmoil -- that there was internal trouble brewing there and, w a lil careful prodding, it would be ripe for the plucking v soon, and yeah idk dkslfasdjf
i don't think, if that was the original intent, athaulf (euric, roderick, and alaric's dad) would've pursued it at all, bc he doesn't really seem to have had much thought for foreign affairs whatsoever, and bar probs wasn't going to bc like invading and holding a crumbling nation was never gonna be a great life for his kid (tho i do feel like bar was a lot more cavalier abt those things before he lost his first three kids and thus realized too late how v precious they were to him...), but the marriage took place the year amalric died so he def would've been its chief architect in the years leading up to that akldsjfjkdsf
but yeah!! irrelevant mostly bc obv nothing came of that etc laksdjfljsdf ~but, i mention it here, bc i feel like, if that was smth that was happening, ~aurelian def still woulda had his eyes on the prize there, and it might've been an extra incentive for aurelian to have wanted to keep close tabs on that whole situation -- and a young son close to the growing boy who might someday be a king, himself...if they became friends, too, well...so much the better. instead we got godfrey de facto leading kolchis for ~roderick tho, so...you win some, you lose some ig lakdsjfkjdsf
MARIAN'S PREGNANCIES
hmmm good question? ik for sure she def was w sebastian and cassandra -- im not sure abt arthur? oh wait no i think she was bc it was while she ws pregnant w him that she saw the vision at the family ~temple, right? so tht does place her there at least for part of the time?
but yeah anyway! either way, def agree! and i do think, bar's single atp yknow, he's got to marry again to produce an heir, aurelian would be encouraging him to come w albrecht when he goes to solemont!! yknow take a load off, etc, and sure enough we've almost immediately got this turn around w first bar and then roderick almost marries marian! and, yeah, by the time he's 10, they ~are married, but not after just...sm craziness alkdjflkjdsf a woman died abt it!! laskjdflds by the time he's 15 (and now a squire!), edmund's been born and i feel like that was honestly a v big blow for their whole faction! but then v soon thereafter cassandra is born and elaine dies so the surviving wives are probs then in a bit of a promotion situation (SCREAM)
albrecht's 19 when marian has her first miscarriage, and i wonder if tht's not maybe where their relationship starts to shift a bit -- he's older, and this time it's ~she who is in need of care, and it just keeps happening, too, yknow? and i def think he immediately stepped v much into ~protective mode~ bc i def think the calainons (minus tristan obv...) were v much looking to take advantage of this setback for their surviving rival and just...yeah lkasjdfjkdsf he was still just a squire (you don't get knighted usually till 21) but he was immediately serving the hand of the king, and i def think he stepped up to do whatever he could to ease her situation. now, im not sure exactly where they were ~physically, since the war w argadara was underway at the time, but we ~do know they were taking ~some breaks since roderick isn't magically impregnating his wives from a world away, so yeah idk if he was ~with her during it, or not (im honestly open to whtever we prefer frankly!), but, if not, he was at the v least sending her v comforting letters, and showing up to give have face time w roderick and remind him that he had three healthy children w her -- two of them sons! -- and trying to stymie whatever godfrey was up to on the opposite end, using his connection to the hand to further his pursuit, etc.
i also wonder if...so i imagine albrecht to be a bit of a naturalist, and i wonder if maybe this is where he really cultivated that interest further? like, i ~do think he learned a lot abt plants and tending them early on from aunt wina (who secretly had it from disinherited uncle ascelin shhhhh), and so i wonder if he started experimenting w like cures and elixirs like...remedies? i mean, little did he know amira wasn't actually looking to kill the boys, yet, but to punish them and set up a trail of sickliness so when, someday, they ~did inevitably die of poison it would feel like smth that'd been coming their whole lives rther than poison...but anyway!! laksjdfkjdf i ~do think albrecht believed her and i wonder if he wasn't like basically tryna give them all supplements? idk how effective any of that really was but!! maybe he tried, notwithstanding? but yeah i had it in my head that he likes to like...go out into the fields and like collect samples of and draw plants and insects and such and #nerdalert but anyway alksdjfkljdsf this might be another facet of that, potentially?
but yesssss omg those moments playing in the sunshine amongst the vines and the roses <3333333 honestly some of his fav memories, too, no question!!!!!! <3333333
as for the ~arthur the prophet~ thing...i feel like he's a bit on the fence? he absolutely believes that marian saw ~smth, but how far that was just a trick of the light that she misinterpreted vs an actual vision sent to a mystic by the god, i think he's a bit...dubious? but i think he feels a bit ~guilty for being dubious bc like!!! he ought to do better!! he ~ought to believe!!!
but also like he's legit seen arthur do the stupidest teenage boy stuff on earth, like...that wasn't v the sun's chosen prophet of you man alskdjfajldsf but at the same time he does intensely believe that arthur ~is the right man for the job of emperor and that it ~must go that way, no matter wht!!! but yeah i think he struggles a lot w his belief!! and sometimes i think he ~does manage to convince himself it ~is true like the light will hit arthur just the right way with all his men surrounding him, or whatever, and like he ~does do crazy impressive things from time to time like -- the whole kil-kennar thing? albrecht knows that, in that exact position, he would've been like, 'that isn't possible' if he'd so much as even dreamed ~up that plan (and he's not sure he woulda even come up w that, frankly!) like...they'd probs still be up there to this day tryna starve them out if albrecht had had charge of that siege lakdsjfljsdf meanwhile arthur conceives of this insane gambit and pulls it off, and just says 'the sun was shining, we couldn't fail' when asked how he did it lkajdsfjdf and, like, i think that's probs the wildest thing arthur's done, but its def not the first crazy stunt he's pulled off due to his just...blind confidence and daring, frankly
so yeah, i think albrecht's...not sure ~what he believes but i think its v much his v rational, v practical side coming into conflict w everything else here, but yeh if you were to ask him directly if he believed he'd say 'absolutely, no question,' wo batting an eye -- he will always keep the company line, so yeah re marian, bc she knows him so well, she ~may know he doubts, but if she ever asks him, he doesn't wanna let her down, he'll say yes he believes, and yeah he def does NOT doubt, tht whether arthur ws mystically chosen by the sun or not, he's ~def the guy to inherit, no question he does truly believe tht v firmly
do you think, btw, that albrecht has any idea abt the affair/arthur's true parentage? i think that'd make him ~less inclined to believe that arthur really was chosen by the sun, frankly, if he did
but yeah now im wondering...if marian's intent was to tell aurelian and leora 'im carrying bar's baby,' if aurelian could tell where she was going w that and did 'not wish to hear of it' ldkajsfljsdf (which he would NOT!!), can def see him being like 'so daughter what you're saying is this way more convenient alternate truth that sounds waaaaay better to my ears and which the emperor is waaaaaay more chill to hear abt' akldjfalkjdsfj but yeah otherwise i don't really see him proposing smth spiritual hahaha obv idk abt leora tho she may be v much the type to go 'obv this is a miracle' for all ik hahaha
RODERICK'S CONQUESTS
so yeah def hard agree tht he was v much involved in roderick's wars!! i do have two things that i have in mind ~occurred for him asp but idk when/where etc so yeah!! and i deffff want to hear all ur thouhts -- even if they conflict w smth im abt to say -- on what he did/what marian ~wanted him to do bc i feel like either way there's potential fodder there!!
so yeah i def think, being a page when the first conquest began, poor albrecht has been involved w roderick's wars from the v start, unfortunately, poor kid!! i do think bar def tried to shelter him, when he was a child, from everything as much as he could, but like...when in an active invasion/campaign like...i feel like there's really only so far that that can really go, unfortunately, yknow lakjsdfljsdf
also def down for him to have gone to kil-kennar w marian!! that feels v on point for him frankly!! like yes i will abandon whatever im ~meant to be doing ~over here~ and help marian and arthur when they need it!! lkajsdflkjsdf and damn the consequences! lakdjsfdsfa but can also see where lucian may ~also have been involved, potentially, if you like?
but yeah so i def think asp he was v srsly wounded, v nearly died, and got sent home for awhile to recover and recuperate, and i def think this was a huge deal for him psychologically not only the literal (and figurative) blow of the thing, but also the direct war/peace contrast but also the feeling of helplessness and like...i do think there was a lot of standing in the sun and seeking out nature, and probably also probs a v impulsive moment in his life that had some bad fallout and he's been like 'hahaha not being reckless ever agin!' and kinda closed himself off
so, some details, im thinking quite possibly he had a good strategic match and, while he was at home having his existential crisis and discovering the beauties of nature nd all tht was ~real, he cut things off w her -- highkey pissing off pops daddio -- and v impulsively began w a girl who made him feel free, who was v inappropriate for him for whatever reason, and probs frankly wasn't well suited emotionally, but she was also v reckless and impulsive and they had this romance that ended really badly, and he just...frankly wasn't in a good place and was v reckless, v 'wht is even the point of all this' acting out, and just...yeah!! things ended, he was like 'hahah jk that was bad!' and sorta shut himself off emotionally and yeah!! he's v much the dutiful son etc tho yeah i think he was v blunt (not necessarily in a good way hahah) through all tht nd couldn't repair things w the lady his dad intended for him hahaha and just...v messy, all of it! i do think tht happened when he was like...late teens/early twenties, but yeah beyond that im not sure!!
anyway, the other thing i think happened was...sometime after the above, but again no sense of when or where beyond that v nebulous note, and that it def happened sometime ~after he turned 21 bc our boy had been knighted, bc he's been put in charge of his own force.
so, he comes to think ~spot where he's facing down a valley, surrounded by, like, mountains. atop one of the mountains is this huge raging river w a waterfall, etc, that feeds down into the valley. he's in pursuit of an enemy force when they plunge into this valley, meeting up w a much larger one. he doesn't have enough men. he knows they'll all be killed if they engage, but their orders are clear: they must obliterate the enemy bc their position is such that, if they're allowed to escape, they'll be able to come back and kill the main force. so, albrecht dams up the river, and places his army so it blocks off their escape from the valley, but still they've got wells down there and such -- they refuse to surrender, and he knows like -- its a fertile valley, he can't do some sort of siege. so, he waits till the river is really good and backed up, and then, suddenly, he lets it go. it floods the whole valley, just as it was intended, drowning many....only for him to see, amongst the bodies, women and children floating as well. there was a civilian village down there he'd not known abt, so not only did he kill the soldiers, he also murdered a bunch of innocents, all the while believing he was ~saving lives, and he's carried that horrific guilt w him his whole life, since...
PRESENT
dammit, ciara, being born to the wrong woman!! lkasjdfkjdsf and dammit, grandma eithne, for not having any daughters! laksdjfkjldsf ;DDDD no, but that ~would have been hella convenient!! lakdsjfjdsf not marian not being completely aware of brigit!! lkadjfljdf now im picturing her hving a conversation where she mentioned the three daughters of malconaire and someone's like 'there's more' and she's like 'there're four?????' only to be hit up w 'actually, there are five...' jk jk lajskdfjsdkljf but oh man malconaire just out here to spoil her day every dang time laksdjflkjdf but its ok, marian, one thing you ~don't have is a shortage of brothers!! surely, ~someone can be found to wed ciara... ;DDDDD bc yeah i def do think tht's smth @forgottenaurelian could def get on board with! laksjdfkljsdf but yeah sadly it probs can't be the same bro to claim malconaire...dammit, bar!!! the calleary bride was ~doubly wrong for house solemont laksdjfkljdsf
do you think maybe house solemont has any sort of code or cypher they all use to communicate w eo ~secretly in letters or thing, or do they just have to wait to speak privately in person? laksjdfkjldsf
oooooh, i love that marian's no longer on board for the solemont takeover of malconaire!! guess its brigit or sonya for that marriage ;DDDD no, but that makes total sense! i don't think albrecht believes that either eithne or aoife are pregnant, but he probs ~does think that rosie ~is, and that that reality is probs the source of the rumor that just got blown up and out of proportion to include his nephews, too, the way that rumors do, and he's like edmund ~would -- i always knew he was a turd! but also that girl must've been bad anyway to be attracted to him, in the first place! laskdjfdjklsf *skull emojis* rosie: 'i hate all of this' ;DDDD no, but obv he'll be disabused of that notion when it eventually, a few months from now, becomes clear that uhhhh she'd ~not in fact pregnant lakdjsfkljdsf oops but yeah i think he ~isn't too worried abt it appearing that way bc he's like 'as long as we keep them sharply visible, this rumor will ~have to go away once it's obv that they are not, in fact, w child!' so he's actually v ~against aurelian's plan to send them away bc then there'll always be tht question lkadsjafkjdsf he's like 'yeah them actually being ~at court where they can't hide whose knocked up fr nd who ~isn't can only be a good thing!' laksdjfjkldsf
but ooooooh what were her plns for albrecht to arrive ~as savior of malconaire? do you think she ever communicated those to him, or is she playing it close to the chest, since she's since changed her mind abt wanting him at malconaire?
re: aisling, i think it once again is one of those situations where like...maybe? which isn't helpful lakdsjfakljdf but i think, like, basically if she ever saw them together, she probs knows him well enough to clock how he's feeling, even tho he's trying so hard to hide it, but if she hasn't seen them together, then probs not, bc yeah he's decided, per his bio, that she'll never love him, and even if she thought she did, she'd quickly just find herself bored out of her mind by him, and he can't bear to watch her begin to feel that way, plus he needs to wed for the good of his fam so like...its just hopeless on every level basically is his fear and yeah!!
that being said, i ~do think there ~may ultimtely be a part of him, depending how things go, that wants to break aisling and @forgottengarbhan up, since albrecht wears solemont-colored lenses in most of his interactions, and so he knows that, since aurelian and riacan had beef, that garbhan is clearly nottttt a worthy young man and will probs lead her astray and treat her terribly or whatever idek exactly what it is he's afraid will go down there, but yeah, he fears garbhan is preying on her naive and trusting heart, and he believes that she deserves better than ~either of them, in albrecht's mind, and i think he hopes she can be extricated from tht relationship, and that some suitable partner who hs the same ~positives as garbhan but none of his ~stafford vices~ can be got in to enchant her, instead, bsically lakjsdfkljdf idk if he'll actually act on that or not but...its in his mind lkajsdafjlkdf smh
but yeah i think he doesn't think it's ~his place to interfere, this is really where her father or brother should act...but they're both dead...like???? does this fall to cormac??? ~that's not gonna happen, and obv evil rian aint gonna step in, since he ~also committed the horrific crime of being born to riacan, and basically albrecht be STRESSING lakjsdfljkdsf i ~can potentially see him asp asking marian to make a point of befriending aisling and helping guide her towards someone who'd make her happy -- and ~away from someone who ~wouldn't (which in his mind ~does include himself btw) so yeah lakjdskafldjsf defffff think this is just an idea atm and may or may not even actually tke place/fully form in his mind, he's still in the 'maybe the love of such a wonderful woman can motivate him to become a better man...' phase but yeah lakjsdfklajdjskf
