Rook’s gaze flicked back to the flowers, the carved stone, the hush that seemed to press in from the walls. “And now her name’s gone,” she said, quieter now. “Even to the Fade. Even to time.”
Her voice trembled, just slightly. “She loved a god. And he loved her. But no one even remembers her name.”
Lucanis was quiet for a moment. “He remembered.”
---
In the depths of Arlathan Forest, Rook and Lucanis uncover a forgotten shrine to Dirthamen.
Not a cruel god’s grand, imposing temple, but something far more intimate.
Something quiet.
A place where even a god can be loved.
Some secrets are meant to be kept. Others, to be shared.
---
📜 Codex Unlocked: Unsent Letter, Found Beneath the Statue
From a scrap of parchment discovered beneath the statue at the center of the shrine. Translated from Elvhen by Rook:
I do not know if you will ever return to me.
I only know this place remembers you.
If you cannot come back, let someone else find it.
Let them know what it means to stay.
There is no name attached. The handwriting is fine, unadorned. The ink had not yet faded.
the one where roman creates you as a construct in the imagination
warnings: descriptions of graphic injury, nontraditional self-harm, examination of mental health decline
He was like a flame when you met him. He was bright and bold and beautiful. You remember blinking open your eyes and seeing him offering you a hand.
"Hello," he had said, pulling you to your feet. "Can you understand me?" You nodded, and he smiled so brightly and you felt love blossom in your heart for this boy, this child who created you from nothing. He didn't tell you how you were made, but you knew. So you did as you were supposed to, and served your purpose and played among the flowers with him, wasting away the daylight running about the grasses and playing games. Things were simpler, then.
He grew up. You stayed the same. Your form had been permanently embedded since the day you were conceived as a flitting thought. But he grew, from young and carefree to lean and reckless. You were supposed to be a master of swordplay and combat, so you taught him everything you knew. He was timid with his blade at first. He held it gingerly, like one might caress a newborn fawn. You corrected him, covering his hands on the hilt and adjusted his fingers to hold it just so. He was a quick learner. Within a few weeks he was able to slice a dummy to shreds, and within a few years he could best even your most dastardly blows. And still he grew, past that until he was stronger than either of you could've imagined in your early years.
---
He comes by to see you less and less these days. You would never admit it, but you do miss him. The village is quiet without him, with common folk simply milling about their preassigned routines. They are merely constructs. They aren't like you, they don't know or even particularly care where the saviour of the kingdom goes when he disappears for months. You care.
It's been nearly a year since he last visited when he finally comes back. Time travels differently here, he tells you when you ask him again. He's explained it before, something about how a whole week passes in the time it takes for him to sleep a proper 8 hours in the Outside. His face looks haggard. You beckon over a lady and she offers fresh bread and cheese, which he gratefully accepts. His shoulders are hunched by his ears, and his back curves like it carries the weight of the sky.
You cannot help him, and it tears you apart. You offer him wine instead.
---
The sky is grey today. It smells like static and the air makes your clothes stick to your skin with sweat. You cannot find him, and this worries you. The sky does not thunder without him here.
Hours of searching find you at the bank of a mirror lake. He stands at the waters edge, fingers clasped over the hilt of his sword with the tip buried in the dirt. He does not look back at you as you approach.
"Do you think," he asks. "I am good?"
You say yes. He is your creator. He must be good to have created life.
A bolt of lightning rips through the clouds and strikes the mirror lake. The water shudders and so does he.
"Am I a hero?" he asks.
You say yes. He has slain a thousand dragons. He has protected kingdoms from ruin, cities from apocalypse, worlds from destruction.
"Then why," he asks, voice almost too quiet to be heard. "Why do I always ruin everything?" You don't have an answer for him.
Thunder rolls and rain begins to pour.
---
You find him again, in the meadow where you were created. It has barely been a week since you last saw him. It has only been a day for him, you think, straining to recall his explanation. He is clad in armor, which stands out starkly against the bright petals of the flowers dancing against your thighs.
You call out to him. He flinches, then turns his head to look at you. "Old friend," he greets. "How you always find me, I'll never know."
You simply smile. His face seems heavier and his eyes don't crinkle when he smiles back. You ask about the Outside, about the center that he has told you stories about. His face falls. You have made a mistake.
"No, don't look at me like that," he pleads. "I'm not angry, I promise. It's natural you're curious. Things have just been..." He trails off.
You wait patiently for him to decide on a word. "Changing," he says.
The wind picks up, whipping through your hair and sending a chill down your spine despite the noon sun. You ask him if it was a good change.
"Perhaps," he says.
His armor clanks as he walks alongside you back to the village. "I think I'll be staying a while," he explains. "I need to defeat some villains. Do you still have my old designs?" You nod, pushing the door to your cottage open. Pulling open a drawer filled to the brim with scrolls, you select a few tied with gold threads and pass them over to him.
He unfurls one, spreading it out on the table. "Perfect," he says, eyes darting over the anatomy chart of a unicorn gryphon.
---
He disappears to the mountains later that day. You don't think much of it. He takes quests often, after all, especially during creative slumps.
It is only later, when you are out at the back of your cottage tending to your garden, that you hear someone call your name from the woods behind it. You drop your shovel and bolt toward the sound.
And there he was, staggering toward you with a hole in his torso that no ordinary human could have survived. Your breath catches in your lungs and you feel like you're going to be sick, but you dart over to his side to help him limp the rest of the way to your house.
You lay him down on your bed. His gaze never moves from your face as he looks at you with the smallest smile.
"You always have been needlessly worried about me," he mutters as you dab healing elixir around his wound with a cloth. You scowl and open your mouth to admonish him, but he raises his hand to stop you. "I know- I should have been more careful." He lets out a hiss as you add more elixir.
"Damn thing got me with its horn," he explains. You grumble, muttering under your breath about the training you gave him for fighting horned creatures. "I'm just a little rusty. I'll do better next time." His eyes drop to the bedcovers, and you cannot help but to reassure him that it's alright.
---
Despite his promises to be careful, he kept returning to you with larger and more worrying wounds day after day. And every morning after he had recovered, he asked you for another quest scroll, each more dangerous than then last.
"I don't know what I'd do without you," he says one day, sitting on a stool while you carefully clean a nasty gash across his back. Your eyes flick up toward the mirror, where he is watching you work.
You worry for him. You are scared that one day he might not have the strength to return. He huffs with a smile. "You might be the only one who does." Seeing your frown, he adds: "But if it soothes you, I'll always return here. No matter what may happen to me, I swear I will."
waiiit roman dont base your self worth on one compliment you got years ago and then spiral into a self destructive headspace as a result of your worldviews being turned upside down and possibly being evil now, you're so sexy aha
I remember seeing one of these when I first got on tumblr and I really really love Roman so y'all are just gonna have to deal with reading about why he's so amazing
Sword. Need I say any more?
His smile. He literally has the protagonist smile. Y'know, the lopsided/crooked one that so-and-so hates at first but learns to love??? That.
He's a twin--which is actually really heckin cool, especially since IM a twin and it just makes me project on him more aksjsj
I love his rhyming and little sayings and stuff ("enough of thee, enough of thee, focus on issues, or focus on me." is one of my favorites)
he always puts really weird emphasis on things??? ("fOUR mAkoVERS" and "all I DO is win" are the first ones to come to mind kajsnnsj)
the way he runs his hand through his hair when he's excited or nervous or smth
i love how sincerely he apologizes
i also love his nicknames for the others bc like. That's adorable. He comes up with a different one every time, too!
his voice, bc like,,, it's so expressionate??? If i were to draw his voice itd have a lot of loops and curls
hes so extra. Like, his logo??? SO complicated and that can be really frustrating at times but like can we just appreciate how he has an entire SCENE in his logo?? And he just made it and thought it up in the blink of an eye??? I love him.
he is a himbo. Very dumb stupid prince man. I love him with my entire soul.
his weird, over the top metaphors
character growth!!! Cannot stress this enough!!!! He went from self-centered and rude to the guy who apologizes all the time and gives up his life's dream for his friends!!! Which isn't actually healthy, but I still love him!!!
He drew the Mona Lisa on a Dora coloring book
his weird relationship with corn and mashed potatoes--also, he cant have cream-based food. Endearing tidbits to know about him.
"C'mon Patton, they're just spider curtains! but if need be, I willwill slay them for you."
he's an insecure baby--and did you see how disconcerted he was when Thomas said he wanted to hear his opinion???
he's so passionate!! Big wavy motions with hands!!! Getting overexcited!!! He's great!!!
he gets off topic so fast--like the whole "feral cats" thing? that was awesome.
singy boi. Disney nerd boy. Fanboi. Enough said.
theres so much more but this post is long enough ajsbsbdb
