If it's not too late, may I request any or as many of these that strike your fancy, please? "Subtle" for Roslin & The Machine, modern AU for Corianne & Seyetto, "Blue" for Rinnyx & Aderin, and "Conversation Hearts" for Kestrel & Sergio. Thank you!
Thank you! Here's Seyetto and Corrianne; others may follow (in reblogs? separate posts?)
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Seyetto felt deeply uncomfortable about being set up on a blind date, but it beat all of the other options. He would rather walk across hot coals than attempt to use a dating app. And hoping to run into someone he would be interested in by pure chance was not a reliable method. When was he going to have the time to meet someone socially, never mind go through the whole song and dance of trying to figure out if they might be interested before even getting to the “asking out” stage? The entire process sounded mortifying from beginning to end. But Seyetto did want a family, which would require a relationship, and that wasn’t going to happen without going through some sort of process. The days of arranged marriages or mail-order brides were gone, more’s the pity. So a blind date it was.
Tavina had fussed around for hours trying to pick out an outfit for him that would give a good first impression, before he had rejected all of her advice and worn what he usually did. “What’s the point in giving a first impression that isn’t accurate?” he’d muttered, grabbing for the tie that Tavina had insisted he ought to leave off. “The truth will come out eventually, and if she doesn’t like it then I won’t waste any time if it puts her off right away.”
“I just think,” Tavina had countered, arms crossed, “that you should dress for a date, not a board meeting.”
He couldn’t help but wonder now if she had been right, as Corrianne looked him up and down, briefly but not subtly enough to be missed. Was that a skeptical look on her face, or curious? Interested? There was too long of a pause before she shook the hand he had offered. Did you shake hands on a date?
“Sorry, do you shake hands on a date?” he said a bit sheepishly.
She laughed. “Well, it is a bit soon for a kiss, and you’ve got to do something when you meet someone, don’t you?”
“Just what I thought,” Seyetto said, trying not to display his relief. He hadn’t really thought it through that much, shaking hands was just an instinct - maybe he was treating this like a board meeting - but he did agree. He stepped around to pull out Corrianne’s chair for her - he did know to do that on a date.
“Oh!” she said, sounding surprised. “Traditional.”
Was that good or bad? No matter. He knew how he felt about it. “If you didn’t know that about me, I don’t think Rinnyx prepared you adequately,” he said, smoothing his tie as he sat (he didn’t care what Tavina said, it was absolutely the right look.)
It had been Rinnyx who had set them up, of course. The only other person Seyetto would have considered allowing to do such a thing was his Uncle Hartin. He had expected that route to be more likely, but since getting with Aderin, RInnyx had developed an interest in romantic relationships that had been wholly absent in his life before, and he had a very wide circle of acquaintance.
“I didn’t ask him for too many details,” Corrianne replied. “I thought it would be better to meet you and see for myself.”
Seyetto had had a long series of questions for Rinnyx before he had even considered agreeing to this, but he did not feel inclined to admit so now. And what happened to honest first impressions? “Because you trust his judgment, or because you don’t?”
“I don’t trust anyone’s judgment on who I would be interested in more than my own.”
In most things, Seyetto trusted no one more than himself, but this was one area where he did wish he could surrender all of the decision making to someone other than himself. But who?
No, he had to do everything himself after all.
"Rinnyx could sell ice to an Ornali," he said with a smile, "but I'd rather not be sold if I can't sell myself, so to speak."
Corrianne replied with a smile, her eyes glinting. "Oh, indeed."
This was going well! "Good, good. So we're on the same page…" He pulled a notepad from his pocket and glanced down at the first bullet point. "Do you want kids?"
Corrianne, who had just been taking a sip of water, sputtered and narrowly avoided disaster, carefully bringing her glass back down to the table. "You aren't even going to wait until we've ordered appetizers?"
"I don't want to waste your time," Seyetto said, holding her gaze steadily. "Or mine. I'm sure you have your own dealbreakers. So do you?"
If she couldn't handle this, she wasn't the one for him.
Corrianne squared her shoulders. "I do. Ideally, two to four."
Seyetto nodded briskly, and checked off the first two points.
You've been visited by the random OC question fairy! :D ~☆
What would be a turning point for your character's morals? How do they change throughout their story? How would your character at the beginning of their story feel about their morals at the end of their story?
*rubs hands together gleefully because rip Rin's morals*
ahem.
So Rinnyx, at his low point (which isn't the end) would be unrecognizable and horrifying to Rinnyx at the start. Now, the whole plot is basically about Rin's internal conflict and successive moral compromises, but there's three major turning points I would point to. (uh, spoilers incoming, if you care about that)
Number one is when he makes the decision that it's worth it to betray his best friend's trust, lie to him, manipulate him, and use just a little light mind control, if he can keep the peace in the empire and save lives. This is when he opens the door.
Number two is when, rather than have his secrets discovered, he fully mind controls his best friend, in a manner that is made possible by their close personal relationship, a way no one else in the world would have been able to do, and has another person he counted as a friend executed. This is when he really goes all in. His low point. This is where he accepts that he is not a good person (but hopes that maybe he can still do good things.)
The third is when he has to choose between keeping his power and saving his best friend's life, and he realizes that when it really comes down to it, between Seyetto and the world, he's got to choose Seyetto. He gives it all away. This is where he decides the greatest good is being good to people.
So Beginning Rinnyx wouldn't be horrified by Ending Rinnyx anymore, but he still wouldn't see as much of himself - he's had to learn conviction. Beginning Rinnyx generally intends to be a good person but he doesn't have much commitment yet. Ending Rinnyx is much more confident in his morals and his choices.
Now, Seyetto has the opposite problems as Rinnyx - too unwilling to compromise where Rinnyx is too willing, too sure of himself when he should listen to others. But he doesn't have the chance to learn what he's doing wrong until after the reveal of Rin's betrayal, because Rinnyx is taking his choices away from him and he doesn't know. But while Seyetto is the person Rinnyx learns to stand for, Rinnyx is the person Seyetto learns to bend for. His turning point, I suppose, is forgiving Rinnyx.
You've been visited by the random OC question fairy! :D ~☆
What are the dynamics like between your characters? Do they generally get along? How do their personalities and motivations bounce off one another? How do they come away feeling upon interacting with each other?
Oh, what an excellent question for my OCs! Thank you fairy 🥰
Rinnyx and Seyetto are, of course, best friends. Rinnyx is basically the only person that Seyetto will relax around - be Seyetto, instead of the emperor. (I would say "be himself," but the emperor is also himself.) Rinnyx and Seyetto are also very different people from each other. But they know each other well. They're comfortable with each other. Honestly their conversations are always the easiest things for me to write (for anyone who ever considers sending me prompts). Seyetto releases some of the dry humor he doesn't always find appropriate in formal situations. Rinnyx talks to him like a person. But, of course, Seyetto is also the Emperor, and Rinnyx works a lot with the Emperor, and he doesn't really like the emperor quite as much. The emperor does some things he doesn't agree with. Rinnyx doesn't like thinking about that when he talks to Seyetto, but he wants to understand. And he thinks Seyetto - Seyetto-the-emperor - probably just doesn't understand some things, some people. But Rinnyx does. He can help, just, nudge things in a better direction.
And since I'm always talking about these two: bonus rounds!
Seyetto and Tavina, his younger sister: they do not, currently, get along. They got along fine as kids. But now they aren't kids. And Seyetto is the Emperor. Tavina wants him to just be her brother. Seyetto wants her to grow up and accept the responsibilities that come with their positions. These opposing desires lead to basically constant conflict. Tavina needles Seyetto, trying to get him to act like a person instead of a crown - even if she only gets negative reactions out of him. Seyetto tries to push her to be, well, everything she dislikes about him. Which makes both of them more and more frustrated with each other. Each just fundamentally doesn't understand what the other wants.
And last, Rinnyx and his oldest brother, Dommil. Dommil is almost a father figure to Rinnyx. Rinnyx doesn't remember their actual father, and Dommil is ten years older, and has always been someone to look up to, to get guidance from. And Dommil has always seen it as his role to look out for his brothers, but especially Rinnyx, the youngest. Now that they're both adults, it's a little different. Rinnyx does still look up to Dommil, but doesn't want to be treated as a kid. Dommil still wants to look out for him, but also wants Rinnyx to look out for himself. And maybe Rinnyx does give Dommil some reasons not to take him seriously, or to think that he doesn't take things seriously enough... like forgetting to write home when he takes a job from the emperor and moves back to Pelasia. There's also an added layer that Rinnyx isn't aware of: Dommil is pretty sure that his promotion to captain in the First Company of the imperial army is because he's The brother of Rinnyx, the emperor's friend. And he doesn't really like that.
I don't know if this is prompt enough, but would you possibly write something with Seyetto and Rinnyx's friendship (maybe how they met, if you haven't already), or with Corianne and Seyetto? Thank you.
I need... very little prompting to go on about these two, lol. As it happens I have written their first meeting before... but not from Seyetto's perspective! So that's what you're getting! Thanks so much anon, and I hope you enjoy them.
---
Seyetto's father the king took him aside to instruct him in the days before he would begin his studies with Dor Arill. “I hope you will give your foremost attention to your studies, of course.” Seyetto nodded, though this instruction was hardly needed. He had never been anything other than a dutiful student in his studies up to this point, with his various private tutors for different subjects and stages. “But attending Dor Arill’s classes will be about more than just schoolwork,” his father the king continued. “It is also an important opportunity to build relationships with your peers - and with the common born students as well as the nobles. They will all be your subjects, and it is good to be gracious,and earn their loyalty.” That was the truth of it - Seyetto would have no peers among his classmates, not truly. Only he was the Crown Prince.
“I will, sir,” he said, just as determined to carry out this duty as his schoolwork. He knew, of course, it would be the first time he and other children of noble houses would really be socializing on their own terms, independent of their parents - not that any of them could truly be divided from their house. But one day they would be practicing the politics and diplomacy that their parents did, and this was a chance to try it out. “I will represent our family well.”
“I have no doubt,” his father the king replied, with just the beginnings of a smile. “You must always remember who you are. Because no one else there will ever forget. They will want to be your friend. They will want to please you. And they will always see you, first and foremost, as the Crown Prince, and not as Seyetto. Remember that.” His father the king put a hand on Seyetto’s shoulder, and looked intently into his eyes. “There will not be a person there who does not want something from you. It is not wrong of them to want, and it will not be wrong of you to give it, if it please you. But do not believe that they wish to be your friend for your own sake. Do not forget who you represent. Build good relationships, but know that no friendship will ever be only that.”
This advice, Seyetto felt the weight of, like the crown that sat atop his father’s head. If this was true of himas crown prince, it must be all the moreso as king. And one day he would be king. Kings, he surmised, did not have friends. “I will remember, sir,” he said, solemnly, and his father the king clapped his hand once on his shoulder and stepped back.
“I’m sure you will do well.”
---
And for a year, he followed his father the king’s advice. He asked each of his classmates to sit with him in turn - at the desk he had claimed in the front row, so as to give his full attention. But when he had gone through them all, he asked no one and sat alone. He would meet them on his terms. From then, some days he would ask someone and some days he would not. Sometimes he would have a chance to invite one of his classmates to a social event outside of class - but never for friendship’s sake alone. He kept track of what everyone wanted from him and what he was willing to give.He doled out his favor in pieces, and never let anyone have it all.
To some it might have sounded lonely. He didn’t mind. The classroom was his court and he reigned in it as king. He knew who he was. He knew the game. And he was good at it. Those who were not so peerless formed their own friendships around him. They knew how to stand in their position, but they would step aside from it when the work was done. But he was there at the center of it all. And he was happy. All was as it should be. He was not looking for anything to change. He did not want it to change. But quite unexpectedly, it did.
He has not marked the day as anything out of the ordinary when it began. He came to class the same as always, chatted with his classmates before the lesson began, and having no particular reason to offer the seat to anyone took his place in the front row alone. He was taking out his materials to prepare for the lecture when, suddenly, he was no longer sitting alone.
He looked to the new arrival beside him, too taken aback to have anything at the ready to say. It was no one he recognized, which of course meant it must be the new student Dor Arill had said would be starting - he must have only just arrived, Seyetto had not noticed him among his classmates earlier. He knew already this would be one of Dor Arill’s common born findings, but there would have been no mistaking him for one of the noble students by sight. And yet he had sat down next to him, Crown Prince Seyetto Farran, with a bright smile and as little care as though he were with an old friend. “I’m Rinnyx Glade,and who’re you?”
He didn’t know? But he must know the royal colors,which Seyetto always wore, and the Farran falcon, and the face everyone said looked remarkably like his father the king, who was on their money. “I’m Crown Prince Seyetto Farran,” he answered, politely.
“I should have known!” Rinnyx responded immediately, but beyond a brief wince of embarrassment his demeanor towards Seyetto did not change at all. “It’s great to meet you.”
He was trying to be friends, Seyetto realized, unsure how he felt about that, because Rinnyx had been trying to be friends before he even knew who he was. Well. It would be rude to tell him to change seats now. “It’s good to meet you as well,” he said, and turned towards the front of the room as Dor Arill stood at his podium about to speak.
---
Rinnyx arrived more promptly the following day, and Seyetto had a chance to see him speaking with the others - just as bright and friendly with each of them from the lowest born to the highest. Seyetto decided he would offer Rinnyx the seat beside him again today - because he wanted to show him the way things worked, because he wanted to know what Rinnyx wanted, because he had enjoyed his company. The day before, Rinnyx had often leaned in to ask questions or share a look as though telling some silent joke. Seyetto was not used to that. He thought perhaps he liked it.
The next day, Seyetto offered the seat to no one, but Rinnyx caught his eye as he headed to the front. He smiled, and Rinnyx followed. He didn’t stop him.
Everyone wants something. But Rinnyx only wanted to be his friend. And he wanted to be friends with everyone. He wanted to be friends with Seyetto.
In Seyetto’s eyes, his father the king was not a person who could be wrong. But if he had been in this one instance, it was only because even he could never have foreseen such a singular person as RInnyx Glade, Seyetto’s one and only friend.
Okay, but if you're still looking for romantic prompts, how about Character A saying I love you to Character B without using the words "I love you." (Through actions, or an "as you wish" situation. That kinda thing.)
Thanks for the prompt!!For this, I wrote about probably my favorite of my OC ships. Tragically I probably won’t be able to show as much of their relationship as I’d like in the work itself, and neither of them is the perspective character. This is fortunate in that I can write whatever I want for self-fanfic without stepping on the main narrative’s toes, and unfortunate as I want to just write their whole relationship basically which made this a little hard to pare down. Hope y’all love them too!If you want some dramatic irony, also read this piece I wrote with Corrianne earlier. And, if you are curious, the correct way to pronounce her name is ‘cor-ee- AHN,’ with a French R sound.
How Empress Corrianne Learned to Speak Her Husband’s Language
When they married, Corrianne could not speak to her new husband.
Like most nobility around the continent, she had never studied Pelasian. Even centuries later, the fears birthed by the Speaker Wars lived on. No mage could twist your mind to his will if you couldn't understand the words he needed to do it. (Of course, now Pelasia had grown to power anyway without the use of mind-altering magic, so maybe it had all been for nothing.) And the Emperor, it seemed, had never bothered to learn any language but his own native tongue.
Corrianne studied and practiced until she was able to carry on something of a conversation with him without going through her ladies-in-waiting or his translator. The Emperor could not even say her name right.
But chipping away at the language barrier was not aiding their communication to the level that she had thought it should. True, she did not mind the extent to which he left her to herself - she had encouraged it. No, the Emperor was simply a hard man to understand. So she told herself, and so she held firmly in believing.
She could not have said when she first started noticing a difference.
***
He knocked at the door between their suites late in the evening, when she had retreated to hers from the court but not yet prepared herself for bed. He always knocked - these rooms remained hers, not his. The first few times he’d done this, she’d sent one of her maids to answer instead and give her regrets. When he proved unfailingly polite to them, and did not push past her excuses, she decided this could be allowed and came to the door herself. He never demanded her presence, or even requested - a request from the Emperor was little less than a demand. He merely gave an offer - he had ended his work for the day and would be in his sitting room, and would welcome her company if she wished to join him.
“I usually take this time for some quiet when I can… read for a bit by the fire, have a glass of wine… but if you would like to talk instead -” His eyes flicked to the maid murmuring all his words in Corrianne’s ear. “Perhaps practice your Pelasian?”
He had not offered to practice his Ruveldin, or even Idan, so that time she had refused. But she didn’t really want to spend the rest of her life married to a man that she would not talk to, so the next time she had accepted.
She’d been worried about his intentions that time, though he’d never touched her without her permission. But he really had just sat by the fire with his book and offered her a glass of wine, and did not press her unduly for conversation when she opened her own book. They made a few simple comments to each other on their day, and what they were reading, and spent the rest of the evening in silence together. She wondered how many times he’d had two glasses brought up, hope. She wondered if he’d left a few dregs in each to keep the servants from talking. She felt a little bad, but only a little.
She’d come over many times since then, and it had almost become a little ritual between them. They did not always spend the time reading silently - she truly did wish to practice her Pelasian, and he proved a patient conversation partner.
This time when he knocked, she answered with a smile and stepped through before he even needed to make his offer. She carried a book with her, but did not open it immediately when she sat down, and so he did not reach to pick up his own. “Thank you for joining me.” Even now that it was a regular occurrence, he thanked her. “I enjoy your company. I have little time to myself, but this has been an improvement on solitude.”
She had not thought the Emperor one to seek out solitude. He demanded the attention of the world. Perhaps she had misunderstood him. She smiled politely and asked him about his day. He was a man of routine; she knew the words he would use to speak about that well enough to follow, better than whatever that declaration had been.
***
They were at dinner, which was rarely a private affair. There were always people at court to entertain. But today was no great feast or party, only a regular meal, and while the Emperor’s attention might as ever be demanded at any time, at present Corriane and her husband were left to converse among themselves as they ate, should they choose to.
They did not always. Corrianne preferred practicing her Pelasian when they were in private, and going through a translator was more clunky than casual dinner conversation with her husband ought to be. And besides, it was dinner, and their main focus was eating.
But today, he chose to strike a conversation up. “Have you heard from your sisters lately?”
She’d received a letter from Everrie just that day. Perhaps he’d had mail come in from Ruveld as well, or seen the messenger bring it in. Or perhaps it was a lucky guess, though that seemed less likely. “I have.”
“And how are they?”
A few times, early on, when the Emperor had asked about her family, she had wondered if he were fishing for information on them, for his schemes or politics. But that had been silly. Surely he had plenty of sources for that without her.
“Both are well. Also my father, and -” She paused. She did not know the proper word for stepmother or half-brother. But he knew that they were her stepmother and half-brother, of course, there was no need to explain it to him. “And his wife, and Alairon.”
“Glad to hear it. Your younger sister’s birthday was coming up, wasn’t it?” He didn’t try to say her name - maybe he’d seen Corrianne wince as he mispronounced hers too many times.
“Yes, they had just celebrated it when Everrie wrote me.”
“She could handle planning for it without you, then?”
Oh. He had remembered, from the last time Everrie wrote. She had told him how Everrie was used to following her lead for social events, how she had been so frantic about taking it on herself, how she had wanted to prove she could step up to the task without leaning too heavily on their stepmother. She hadn’t passed on all of Everrie’s pouring out her heart - she did not think she’d have like the Emperor to hear all of it - but she liked to talk about home, and it was a good subject for her to use in practicing her conversation. And, she realized, her husband had been very attentive in asking her about her sisters. He had been since the first time she brought it up.
“It was as I told her, she -” She hesitated, and finished the sentence in Ruveldin for his interpreter to pass on. “She is more competent than she gives herself credit. She just needed to get her time of worrying out of the way and put her mind to it.”
“Still, they must miss you at home. You light up my court so, I can see it would be hard to lose you.”
She hardly knew how to respond to that, and took a bite so that she would not have to.
***
One of her ladies reported to Corrianne that her husband had had a gift sent to her rooms, so she came to them and found the box set on a table. She opened it to find a delicate golden hair comb, set with many small, deep red gems. Beautiful, and very much to her taste. She wondered if he had picked it out himself.
It was hardly the first gift he had given her. Fine cloth for her dresses, a dark bay riding horse, expensive jewelry, books - ones that he thought she would enjoy, or Pelasian translations of ones she had to help in her study. Some she had written off as no more than what might be expected from the Emperor to his wife. The others had confounded her. What did he mean by them? Was he trying to buy her affections, to keep her and thereby her father’s kingdom sweet? Did he wish to flaunt his wealth and power?
But none of those thoughts came to her now - only a desire to find her husband so she could thank him for it.
She made a few inquiries and was glad to be able to find him alone, going over his correspondence. He looked up, and smiled when he saw her. She’d never noticed before how different that smile looked from the one she saw him wear in public, how his eyes brightened with it. He nodded at the comb she clutched in her hand.
“You like it?”
She nodded. “It is -” It is lovely, she wanted to say, but could not find the right word as she filed through her Pelasian vocabulary. “It is very nice.”
He stood up from his desk and walked over to her. “I thought it would look well with your hair.” His eyes lifted to the honey-gold braids crowning her head as he spoke. He hesitated a moment, and then held out his hand. “May I?”
She passed the comb to him, and he slid it into her hair as though he were one of her maids. Her husband stood back, and looked at her admiringly for the space of several second, before frowning.
“I’m sorry - I don’t have a mirror here for you to look at it -”
She smiled softly. “I am sure you put it in straight. Thank you.”
“I’m happy you like it, Corrianne.” He stumbled over the r, and tried again. “Cor - Corrianne -”
It still was not right, but she smiled anyway. “I understand, Seyetto.” And she set her hands on his shoulders, pushed herself up on her toes, and kissed him.
Spring is a time of changes and beginnings, so this is a period of change in Seyetto’s life.
In my Valentine’s Day fic, we got to see Seyetto’s softer side. This is not the side he is most known for.
Though I don’t always know how he comes across to other people, since I’m always holding all the sides to him in my mind, so.
Dawn
Seyetto had never been away from Nedra on the First Dawn before. The royal family had to be in the city for the most important day in both the social and religious calendar of Pelasia. It had seemed that nothing took greater precedence than this constant.
But that was before. While it felt wrong to be so far away from home today, it wouldn’t feel right for everything to be the same as before.
Nothing was ever going to be like it was before.
He rose before sunrise, which he normally never did if he could help it - he’d never been a morning person, but sleep was particularly precious these days. He had his aide prepare a cup of tea - today was worth indulging in a little luxury. The cup warmed his hands as he stood outside his tent in the cool spring morning, facing east, watching the sun begin to appear over the horizon.
Pelasia was to the west, but looking that way wouldn’t do anything for him, however much he wanted to be there. His home was far out of sight. But they’d be looking east and waiting for the sun there, too, so even with his back to his kingdom he felt some connection to it.
In Nedra, of course, he would have been seeing the sunrise through the large east-facing windows of the Temple of Irien. One really ought to be in a temple service for this. But the nearest temple, of course, was inaccessible to him for the moment, as the city that held it was under siege. And they would be heretics there, anyway. Still, even a heretical temple was better than none at all.
He had a few prayer-charms he carried with him, and had one to Irien twisted through his fingers now, but he whispered one over his cup as well, with old familiar words. The puffs of his breath mingled with the steam rising off his tea. He took a long, slow sip, enjoying the heat, and then added some words of his own to the prayer. They didn’t feel as elegant, but he had plenty to say to the King of Light today, on the day of new beginnings.
Give me wisdom in this war.
Make me a good king, a worthy successor to my father.
Grant me justice. Grant me vengeance.
He heard a hymn rising behind him from somewhere else in the camp, and hummed along to it softly. Maybe he should have been celebrating with his soldiers, instead of standing here alone. He was their king. A king had many obligations, and back in Nedra his parents’ duty would have been to lead the social events of the day. But here, he was primarily their military commander. It wasn’t bad to be a little apart. And anyway, he was feeling more contemplative than celebratory.
It was his little sister, not yet an adult, who would be taking on the social responsibilities, far away in the city. He wondered what she would be doing today. She may have still been in Nedra, but it would still be nothing like the past. Much of the nobility had been brought away by the war as he was; it would be mostly women that she was entertaining. And the war also demanded resources that would go towards parties and feasts at other times. That wasn’t going to leave her with a lot to work with. But she could go to the temple service, at least. She could hear the words of the High Priest, and commemorate the day properly. But, though she’d have all these advantages over him, he said a few words of prayer for her as well.
Yesterday, the final day of the old year, he’d allowed himself to spend his time in memory, thinking of home and family and the holidays they’d spent together in the past. But today was a day for looking forward. Flashes of First Dawns earlier in his life passed through his mind, but he did not let them linger. Instead, he thought of ones to come.
He thought of the day when he would be celebrating this day as he ought, in Nedra, as king. He would lead the walk from the palace to the temple before dawn, as his father had. He would preside over the festivities from his seat of honor. He would thank the Lord Irien for giving him all that he had asked for today.
He would not let himself say ‘next year.’ Confident as he was that he could bring treacherous Idana and its allies to heel, he was practical enough not to expect it in so short a time. There was much work to do still. But ‘soon’ he would allow. He’d be home soon. He’d be victorious soon. Soon could be true enough, when you thought in terms of years. Soon.
The coming year was harder to envision. Much could happen in war. It might be that the next First Dawn, he would be leading the army in a battle. It might be he would have pushed south into Idana. It might be he would have time to rest in some city he had taken, and would be able to worship in a real temple. And he could command the foreign priests to remove any heretical elements - though, unfortunately, they’d be unlikely to be able to give a service in Pelasian. Still, it was something to hope for.
He allowed himself a wilder hope for only a moment, and envisioned striking down Idana’s murderous king. That would be the way to start thing new. But after the moment of indulgence, he pushed that hope into a further, more nebulous future. The day would come in time.
When the full circle of the sun could be seen in the sky, he reached his mind out to Dragon and stirred it awake. He sent it streaking into the sky to make a pass around the camp, and heard the cheers of the soldiers follow as it flew overhead. After a few circuits, he brought it to land on the eastern edge, sending a burst of flame into the air.
His eyes glinted with a smile of which his mouth showed only the barest hint. The start of his reign may have been difficult, shadowed in tragedy and war. But, Irien and his court help him, he would make it the start of something great.
how about you give the most detailed physical description you can and i’ll draw them
ok first of all this about knocked me flat bc i always want to draw them but.. i cannot draw (yes. i know drawing is something really anyone *can* do if they take time to practice. but i already need to spend more time writing so.)
and unsurprisingly this got long soooo im putting it under a readmore
so im just going to talk about my Favorite 3 bc i don’t wanna overwhelm you? Rinnyx & Seyetto are in the same world and Tomiv is in a different one.
For both Rinnyx and Seyetto, like, stylistically, could be anything from 14th century Byzantium to Napoleanic-era Europe bc i cant make up my dang mind. I thiiiiink i’m gonna make their world post-gunpowder at least cause i do like the idea of anti-dragon cannons, but that honestly doesn’t narrow it down as much as i’d like. Anyway.
I already made an extensive physical description of Seyetto here so I’ll just link that for convenience.
Rinnyx is like, an average-sized guy. 5′10″ or thereabouts. He’s like, early twenties at the start of the story. He’s a nerd, so not particularly athletic or anything, but he did grow up with four older brothers which necessitates a certain level of self-defense, so he’s not a total wimp either. His hair is a medium shade of brown, and generally about shoulder-length, but he keeps it in a low ponytail. He makes sure it’s neat when he’s working, otherwise there’s usually some strands escaping. His eyes are also like, a medium brown. And okay, his eyes - so I’ve done a lot of online roleplay with a lot of my OCs and this means looking for face claims to represent them, and he’s the one I’ve had the hardest time finding someone who actually looks like him. (i’ve never had one I’m truly happy with.) and the hardest thing is always the eyes. it’s just something about them. I don’t even always know what. sometimes they just aren’t.... open enough, not bright enough. I know this isn’t clear at all. I just have to talk about his eyes.
Rinnyx is, at least when we meet him, a guy who’s always smiling. This doesn’t last, because i give him a lot of stress, but he’s very good at hiding it. His general demeanor is always friendly and open. His clothes are much like his hair - neat when he’s on the job, usually someone disheveled otherwise. His work uniform is gray (and probably includes a vest component, idk that’s always felt right for him) and he’s wearing it a lot. But he likes bright colors.
Tomiv i actually made sort of a reference-sheet doc which I’ve linked but I’ll also give some description here.
We’d probably say she looks central Asian - she’s not, because she lives in an imaginary country where Central Asia doesn’t exist, but she looks more like that than anything else we’d recognize. She is tiny, under 5′. She’s athletic (more agile than strong.) Her hair is very dark brown/black, she usually keep it up. Maybe with sort of a face frame left down. She doesn’t usually reveal much on her face, keeps it at sorta a neutral expression. She is fourteen. She likes to embroider and usually has some on her clothes. She likes earth tones.
Cousin Seyetto was undoubtedly coolest person alive. Taron had believed this fervently long before Seyetto had become Emperor, but now the whole world could see it was true. (He felt a bit of a thrill at the fact he could call the Emperor of the Five Kingdoms cousin.)
And Cousin Seyetto needed him, Taron Tenley. King Taron Tenley.That did sound nice, didn’t it? He’d given him a kingdom because he trusted him. He depended on his support to rule the Empire, couldn’t do it without him.
Taron devoured his cousin’s latest letter, always eager to carry his wishes out.
drabble for @oc-growth-and-development ‘s OCtober prompts
