#| barnabas |

[askens-konge]

@dragonliiight | continued from here [x]

𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐌 𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐍. His Lord or no, this was Barnabas' spot for the moment. He frowned at the boy in response to the bite, which did not particularly pain him beyond a faint itch.

" Only beasts bite, " he told the crown prince. " Are you a beast, my Lord? "

[askens-konge]

𝐎' 𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑! As the holy decreed would have it, the true face of the Divine was forbidden to picture, but in his mind, Divinity was wearing Her face. The face he seldom looked at. She was the altar on which he would pray and cut himself open to be reborn. How merciful She was to accept this sinner and thus, he sank to his knees in front of the woman and gazed at Her hands in anticipation. " I have returned to your side. " Holy. Holy. It echoed in his ears and he placed his head on Her lap. For Her, he would burn down the world and rebuild it from its ashes to Her design; making it as holy as Her.

His tainted hands did not deserve to carry it out, he knew, but She allowed him to do so regardless. For this, Barnabas would be grateful for all eternity. " Save me from my sins. Show me salvation, mother, " he prayed to Her, closing his eyes so he could see Her face in his mind, for he did not dare to sully Her image with his gaze. His prayer was false. One should not pray to Her, but to their Lord. Did She know he sinned more than he ever told Her? Punished are those who would have another god before the Lord, he told himself in silence, and yet could not help himself but revere the woman who had brought him to this world more than their Lord.

@cagedfirebird

[askens-konge]

@phoenixfiiire

The sight of the infamous Barnabas Tharmr had a cold chill settling into the pit of Joshua's stomach. He had done his best to cover his tracks, to leave the world to think that the Phoenix had perished- -but he had always known that he couldn't keep the act up for long. The fact that he had gone well over fifteen years with the charade was commendable, and oft he wondered whether it was out of ignorance or simply a desire to not poke into a situation that did not involve them that led the other Dominants to buy into the story that had been spun over the course of the years. The Dominant of Fire is dead. So they all said and believed. But it would not be hard to simply reach out and tug at the aether to know that was not true. That he still lived and breathed, though his fire had grown dim. Guttering, as the King said. He forced himself to stand tall, eyes blazing as he stared at the older man. "It still burns strong enough to burn bones to ash, Odin." Though if pressed, they both knew which one of them would walk away from this encounter the victory. "I was not aware you placed any prayers on my wings."

𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐖𝐈𝐑𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐒 𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓. As if his very steps brought forth the void he commanded. His fingers closed tightly around the grip of his sword, now that he had decided to engage with the Phoenix in battle. " I did not, " the dominant of Odin replied, resting his left arm behind his back. " But she prayed day and night for your strength. The Lord has not listened. " From the Phoenix, the son of fire, Barnabas had expected a stronger pull.

His aether was supposed to singe his flesh. Melt iron to skin and leave nothing of the king but a smouldering corpse. That was the promised might of the Phoenix—but the man who faced him was anything but the image of this description.

" Draw your sword, Phoenix. Show me your strength. " And show me, he thought, that your mother has not wasted her wishes and her reputation for you. Yet his words did not dare roll over his tongue, for how tainted by humanity, perhaps by resentment, they were. The man narrowed his eyes, closing the gap between the two dominants further and forcing the younger one to defend himself. No, fight the king and prove himself worthy of being the price to Mythos.

He quickly brought up his blade, swinging it downward in an attempt to cut his chosen opponent down.

[askens-konge]

@under-theweight | continued from here [x]

𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐈𝐒 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐒. Both his servants had told him as much, and neither of them had he humoured with a response to their assessment. Perhaps, their sentiment resonated with the king, who slowly rose to stand from his seat at the table—after all, his noble steed seldom entertained his own thoughts and was happy to follow with whatever direction his liege provided instead. Quiet steps carried Barnabas Tharmr around the table, and only from the corner of his eye did he watch the man who towered over him.

Titan's presence was strong in Hugo Kupka, he could not deny it. But would it be enough to challenge and feed Mythos, Barnabas wondered to himself as he halted next to the other on his way to the door. " Before you leave for Dhalmekia, " he told him in a lowered voice, as if he did not wish for anyone but Hugo to hear him. " The Lord demands your strength be tested, and he told me to see to it. The Gates of Paradise do not open for the sheep with a golden fleece, but not the strength to keep it on its skin. "

Would the love of a woman make a man weak? Would it soften him, or would it motivate him to harden his resolve and strive for a future together in paradise? Hugo longed for Benedikta, and yet Barnabas was uncertain if that connection helped them beyond making the mountain more receptive to their demands. It remained to be seen, he decided.

[askens-konge]

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔?

Love as Religion

Devotion, that is the name of your love. Your love is an act of worship. Your love is like witnessing the birth of Venus, like seeing the sun come alive, or the stars fall. When you love, it is because you have found God in a lover. You have found the meaning of life itself in the heart of the one you adore. They are everything to you; they are your Maker, and you are their lamb, their flock, their first and holiest worshipper. When you fall in love, it is as a baptism. You are born anew, made a believer in the divinity of the one you love most. Being loved by you is an ascension; it is holy and golden. It is all-consuming, and all-faithful, loyal as the dog. You will never, ever bite back.

[askens-konge]

𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒, 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐁𝐀𝐒 𝐏𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐒𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐋𝐘 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐄. Hot tears burned in his eyes as his cheeks, yet they did little to warm the rest of his body—he was terribly cold from the chill and the solitude which had accompanied him ever since the attack on his home. Something about the shadow dancing between his fingers called a distant memory from the back of his mind, however. Distracting him from the cold that made his body quiver.

Somewhere and sometime ago, Barnabas had seen it before. He gasped first, thinking of his beloved mother. Had she come back to hold him and tell him everything would be well? His little heart hammered in his chest from joy and relief. It had to be his mother! But when the shadow took shape at last and the blur from his tear-filled eyes cleared, a shiver ran down his spine and he jumped onto his feet.

" Who are you, " the boy demanded to know and pulled a ritual dagger from its leather sheath. His hand trembled, and he clasped the grip so tight, his knuckles stood white against the rest of his hand and even the grip. " What do you want?! " Nervously, he licked his lips, tasting salt on his tongue.

@phantasiiae

[askens-konge]

𝐃𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐄𝐑: 𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐁𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐑

𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄. Barnabas Tharmr 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐒. Human / akashic 𝐀𝐆𝐄. 70

𝐀𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍. Kingdom of Waloed, Ultima 𝐎𝐂𝐂𝐔𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍. King of Waloed, Dominant of Odin, His Lord's holy knight, Mommy's special boy

𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐒.

𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐎𝐃𝐈𝐍. As the Dominant of Odin, Barnabas can summon different weapons from the Warden's arsenal and create new ones of his own. They are made of pure darkness and are said to be able to sever anything.

𝐀𝐊𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐂. Due to his pact with his Lord Ultima, Barnabas turned akashic, which stopped his ageing process and grants him superhuman strength and stamina. He is cold to the touch as his body is considered dead rather than alive and his emotions are further subdued.

𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐂 𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐃. His connection with Sleipnir allows the two to communicate with each other through thoughts and emotions. Sleipnir speaks most of the time for his liege and acts out his will without the king outright telling him.

Barnabas Tharmr was born as the son of the previous Dominant of Odin and was forced to sacrifice her, following a raid on their village when he was not older than ten summers. Her sacrifice and the loss of his mother scarred him for life, making him cling to her memory and long for her by drowning himself in his faith and grief. In an attempt to create a kingdom that knew peace instead of suffering and slaughter, Barnabas conquered the entirety of Ash together with Sleipnir and spread the word of his Lord to unify them fully. He would save them from the inherited sins of mankind and bring them closer to God. Although his intentions were good-natured in a way, the kingdom of Waloed quickly developed into a cult of Ultima as a whole, and he continued spreading it beyond the borders when he aided Kanver in their war against Dhalmekia. During the independence war of Kanver, he met Anabella Rosfield and joined in their holy quest given by Ultima when he appeared before them. He fell into the entity's trap, that promised him Paradise—a land of peace and prosperity, where his mother would wait for him. From there on, the king lived for this certain purpose and set out to prepare the Lord's vessel together with his confidant and lover. His growing obsession with the Divine and the holy duty drove his former friend and companion Cidolfus Telamon out; a loss Barnabas never truly recovered from.

𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒.

Barnabas is a semi-single father of two children: Astrid ( 25 years old ) (@.danceofsteel) and Olin ( 10 years old ). Astrid is the crown princess of Waloed and was supposed to inherit Odin at some point in time.

He is “unofficially” married to Anabella, but she never caught onto that.

[askens-konge]

Sing to me I am not doing well Getting tired of my own words Sing to me 'Cause I can't hear myself Through the loudness of my own hurts Call me selfish when I say this, say this I'm kinda helpless, and I need you Sing to me 'Cause I'm not doing well