Location: Senate Building and City Assembly
Starter for: @shurong
Knight Commander Haneul sneezed into his bowl and then ate from it anyway. He stood against one of the majestic columns that flanked the entrance to the common building; the near empty bowl held languidly in his hand as he watched the deceptive peace of the scenery.
“Do they really expect things to get heated today, Commander Andoryll?” the Knight said as he respectfully took the bowl Haneul handed him.
“That is why I’ve been here all morning,” he replied, pushing off the column to stand straight. “Same as usual,” Haneul answered the unspoken question, noting the new sheen of the knight’s armor.
Nobility complaining was always going to get more attention than civilians doing it. Of course it would get heated. It always did. Even so, Haneul’s presences was usually more for show than utility. “Take a break,” he ordered. That said, he walked through the columns and disappeared through the doors. Inside, a single echo rang above smaller murmurs. One talented speaker capturing the uneasy crowd into his thrall. Haneul circled the audience. At length, he stood by a well dressed young man of House Anle.
“Come to complain Viscount Anle, or to judge those who do?” he whispered.
LOCATION : the silver maiden pub.
AVAILABILITY : @nefelibatastarters ( open for all )
‘surely you jest?’ tien asked, the befuddlement clear in his voice, though masked with the same sweet smile he had always worn. ‘THAT price for a wyvern’s fang? you can do better than that, yes?’
soliciting was prohibited in the silver maiden pub, but it was the most condensed place in margrande, filled with loads of prospective clients willing to pay a higher price than those in the market street and some are just foolish enough to eat up his lies. he was a good liar, wasn’t he, but he had to be, in order to survive and he was left without parents to coddle and protect him from such a young age.
‘come now, give me a better bid. i nearly lost my life getting this, you know? those are mighty creatures and they breathe fire. FIRE!!! hey, pal, back me up here. tell me he’s being ridiculous,’ tilting his chair back on its back legs, he tugged at a stranger’s sleeve, not even bothering to look at who exactly he had pulled into one of his schemes. hey, if they knew him, they’d know they’ll get a portion of his earning for helping out a friend in need.
It was not often that Haneul allowed himself to be dragged into the silver maiden pub. Crowded spaces had always put him on edge. He watched people forget their wisdom the more they filled their bellies with drink, and Haneul was all too aware of the fragility of his own patience. Still, he followed the young Knight, each step growing against his will. “I see them, that table back there,” she turned back to say before making her way through the crowd.
It was then that a pull at his sleeve brought him to a stop. He looked from the hand that held it, to the owner’s face, and finally the worried look of the man across form the first.
“Everyone here becomes ridiculous, at some point,” Haneul said while also waiting to be let go. The once potential client shifted uncomfortably in his chair as he recognized the renowned Knight’s uniform. A chair suddenly appeared for Haneul and before he’d thought to walk away, as he had meant to, he was already seated by the young man that had taken hold of his sleeve.
“Uh, a wyvern’s fang?” he commented, “fascinating.” His tone said otherwise.
her old habits were hard to shake , wren thought as she slipped in deft fingers into the pocket of an unsuspecting market goer. the stranger walked on through the market , unaware that their silver timepiece had been lifted from their person. she began to examine it once out of view of the original owner — had to be worth something, she thought before pocketing it herself.
surprise took her , however, when a voice boomed across the market. wren spun on her heels in time to see her victim red faced and furious as they spat out threats to whoever took their time piece. that was her cue to GO. she quickly moved to put distance between herself and the stranger , dashing down alleys and twisted streets that were , after a decade of stealing and sneaking through illium , all too familiar to her.
wren finally took a moment to breathe a few blocks away from market street — she had been journeying in nonsensical patterns in case the timepiece owner had spotted her retreat. unfortunately for her , guardsmen with the person leading them turned the corner and wren , with no other exit to be found , was forced to sit at a restaurant’s outdoor table — opposite someone she didn’t have a chance to examine.
“ if you play along there’s a drink in it for you. ” wren told them before ducking her face behind a menu.
The Commander of the Amber Knights looked at her from behind the rim of his cup. A puff of air escaped his nostrils, the rest was caught between a smile and a sigh, yet he continued his drinking and only gave a light shrug once his cup was settled back on the table. He never took a day off of his real mission of course, but as he sat across from his sudden visitor he considered his lack of armor and the very plain tunic he wore. Then again, he told himself, these were small scale civilian matters anyway.
“I have been told I am very bad at playing along,” Haneul confessed, leaning slightly to one side of his chair as if the thought of acting suddenly weighted heavy. “But I have also been told not to refuse quality drink,” he hinted, wondering if she could afford it.
The guardsmen drew closer making more ruckus than they needed to. Haneul knew there was purpose to their noise level, but that did not stop it from grating on him. “I used to be good at following orders,” he mused, taking another sip from his half empty cup, “I am out of practice Lady Thief. What to do?”
Hello I’m isen introducing this cool-not-cool character using lee soo hyuk for the inspo. The character’s name is haneul (Knight Commander of the Amber Knights). he’s a 287 year old cis male elf of the warrior class.
more info below:
Headcannons
He was a young elf, short of reaching his first century of life, when the world suffered through corruption of the spirit. But the vibrancy of youth combined with his own unyielding personality pushed him forth in the struggle of survival. Brazen and hopeful, he rushed to fight in the war. And for a time Haneul did push back despair with the sense of accomplishment small victories provided. They kept the possibility of success alive as did his faith in his companions.
Yet war is a cruel dark pit nobody leaves unscathed. The prick of darkness that slowly reached the heart of every creature, for Haneul, came with a poison that did not fade even as hope was revived in the form of saint Livya. When all screamed victory to the skies, Haneul too screamed it yet recognized in himself an echo of doubt. Had he, in his youth, suffered a blow easily weathered by a maturity he did not yet possess? Whether it was arrogance or wisdom that cast the feeling aside, it did not matter. The result was the same, for that echo would weather the passing of time and cause him to grow impatient and abrasive. The more he avoids it the more it grows stronger until Hanul must be forced to face it.
After the war, Haneul seamlessly transitioned into the Amber Knights. His spirit was still full of a purpose that lay more with the discipline and duty expected in the Amber Knights than in a sedentary life of family. His brethren either settled into human civilization or sought distance somewhere in nature. Haneul could have sought relaxation and luxury under a benefactor, as a friend suggested. He could have followed the pretty eyes of one of his kin whom he knew he could have loved had he followed her away into the forest. Yet somehow neither felt enough nor earned.
The sense that his job as a soldier was not done plagued him and drove him, until he carried the title of Commander and still it did not feel right. After all, nepotism had come to mar the knighthood. One could find a commoner with more chivalry than a knighted noble, Haneul mused and seethed from the thought.
One might confuse Haneul’s frustrations with disgust at human civilization and their greed. Yet he did fall in love with one of them, and after old age took them, Haneul bought their old house and has lived there since. However, marriage is something he decided he would never participate in, though he sees successful examples of companionship and does wish for it at times.
His frustrations stem from past scars and his present inability to create change. After all, his loyalty is not to humanity, the knighthood or even his own race, but to the balance of the world. A balance he once saw broken. Now with saint Livya’s slumber his worries grow and the echoes from the past grow louder. And with them, his yearning for simple comforts and other warmths to help ease his mind.
