FORGIVEN.

archive blog for estinien varlineau. follow at @star-gazcrs

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this blog is now an ARCHIVE. if you'd like to follow my new blog, it's @star-gazcrs.

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She looked ahead at the others standing there. Turning her from Haurchefant seemed to unfreeze her a little bit, and she slowly started walking towards everyone. But as soon as Estinien matched her walked up next to her, she somewhat matched his pace.

Her chest felt so heavy. No, not just her chest, it was her whole body. Everything around her seemed to move so slowly. Overall, it was like an emptiness occupied her.

Lucia tried speaking to her, and so did Aymeric and Alphanuid. But it all seemed to go straight over her head. She didn't hear anything they said.

But as they walked outside the vault, a cold breeze brushed against her face. Causing her to partially come to her senses. She turned to Estinien. "Thank you." She speaks up once more. She took a deep breath before continuing to make their way back to the manor.

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They would first head to the chirurgeon – a close, personal friend of Aymeric’s, who would ensure their safety. It would not do to carry a corpse to his family’s home, after all. The chirurgeon would take care of the burial preparations, and also, Aymeric could barely walk. He leaned heavily on Lucia as they stumbled out of the Vault.

Eliane, for her part, was essentially unresponsive as they walked, which Estinien could not fault her for. Although each member of her party offered condolences and asked if she was injured, she barely responded. The only thing she said was a small thing to Estinien, once they were safely outside. Just a barely murmured ‘thank you.’

Estinien only nodded, the burden in his arms taxing his strength somewhat.

They arrived at the chirurgeon, who prepared a pallet for Haurchefant’s body, and Estinien was ever so careful to jar the body as little as possible as he set him down. Haurchefant was covered in blood, from his face to his chest, and Estinien would have been too, had he not already had his armor stained with blood.

Now unburdened, Estinien made his way over to Eliane. The others were flitting around uselessly while Aymeric’s injuries were tended to, but Estinien had a keen eye. Eliane also had blood on her, and not in a place she would have it were it just Haurchefant’s blood, and she was moving as though to favor her left side.

“You are injured too, Eliane, are you not?” Estinien asked her gently. “You should speak to the chirurgeon once he is done with Aymeric.”

Wounds of the flesh were easier to deal with than wounds of the soul.

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"Right - - I'm sorry." With a heaved breath, Aymeric did his best to continue the motions of brushing through a small piece of Estinien's hair at a time - starting from the bottom and gradually moving aside all knots until he reached roots, and then started again on the next small piece. Being thorough would mean he'd be able to braid it or something of that sort afterwards so that it could remain tidy and more comfortable.

"I would take you outside, my friend, but I don't believe you'd be very fond of the wheelchair." It would be the only way to get his extremely weak friend outdoors for some fresh air, but Aymeric feared that Estinien's pride would disallow such. There were quieter areas they could go but there was always the risk of being seen and recognised. "We could wait until later tonight if you'd prefer but... we would have to bundle you up in plenty of blankets to brace against the cold."

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Aymeric’s thought process was entirely correct. Estinien detested the wheelchair. As much as he would have liked to get outside and get some fresh air, he was not going to ride in some geriatric noble’s wheelchair to breathe it.

But he was far too weak to get out of the bed; this he understood. The minute he could walk would be the minute he left this sorry excuse for a bed for good, chirurgeons be damned. He still had work to do. The eyes were still out there, and they needed to be disposed of properly, even if that meant crawling to the bottom of the chasm to do so.

“I would rather rot in this bed longer than to get into that accursed chair,” Estinien grumbled, casting a dark glower at the offending chair, set up in the corner of the room.

[milesducemdominus]

@wyrmbloodcd || Pre-Plotted Starter

"This would be ample easier for the both of us if you kept still, my friend-." Aymeric's efforts to draw a brush through Estinien's hair had this far been fruitless - the Dragoon appearing knotty and matted in places given his long hospital stay. Whether it be because of unspoken discomfort or simply a dislike, Aymeric didn't know, but his closest friend and ally most certainly had an aversion to keeping still enough to allow him to gently attack one knot at a time.

"But do let me know if you've need to lay back down - - we can do it a little at a time, there is truly no rush." He'd already told the newly formed House of Lords that he would not be in attendance that day - and he intended to stick to it, too. While Ishgard's rebirth was upon them and a sheer mountain of necessities needed approaching, the now Lord Speaker reminded himself that the comfort of close companions was just as important. Especially given the route the war had taken, the lives lost to reach this level of peace.

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Estinien was not the kind of person who enjoyed sitting still overmuch.

He felt like he had near constantly been on the go since stealing Nidhogg’s Eye, first traveling nonstop all over Coerthas in order to draw Nidhogg’s ire away from the city. Or perhaps longer than that – in a way, his lust for vengeance had kept him going since he was but twelve summers old. Now, there was none of that; there was no need to keep running around with the Eye, no more vengeance to be had. And, of course, he was now too weak to get out of bed.

“I don’t need to lie down. I’ve been lying down all day,” Estinien responded, a subtle whine forming in his voice.

He knew how much Aymeric was giving up for him, though; Aymeric worked hard on a normal day, and these days were very abnormal. Forming a new government to replace the fallen theocracy was work that Estinien did not envy. The public of course had wanted Aymeric at the head of the new government – that was not a surprise. And Estinien himself could think of no better person for the job.

Thus he should have been grateful that Aymeric had taken a day off to spend with him. Instead, he just felt like crawling out of his skin, or yanking out all his hair. Sitting up this long was leaving him spent, and he hated feeling weak.

He let out a heavy sigh and tried to still his fidgeting – for Aymeric’s sake.

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Her hand turns towards the direction the hand was placed on her shoulder. "I-I can't..." She manages to say. Her gaze returned to where she originally stared. At her husband. It was like she had been frozen in place. Frozen in time.

It was war, she knew of the potential casualties all too well. But this. This was different. It felt different when she lost her parents. This one made her feel as if she had completely shattered.

"I can't just leave him here like this..." All logic and reason seemed to slip away from her. She knew they had to leave and that he was right. Yet, she just couldn't move.

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Estinien looked back, following Eliane’s gaze.

Haurchefant was laid neatly down on the ground with one hand limp across his stomach. This was where Aymeric had left him when Lucia had helped him up from the ground. A pool of blood stained the stonework beneath the fallen knight, its spreading now stopped as Haurchefant’s heart no longer pumped it from his body.

They really couldn’t just leave him here. The man had a family. He had died a hero’s death to save Eliane’s life. He deserved to be interred in the Fortemps family tomb, deserved to lay to rest where Halone could find him and guide him home.

Estinien was a selfish man at times, but in this, he could see Eliane’s point.

“Then we shall take him with us,” he declared. He turned Eliane towards Aymeric and Lucia, hoping Aymeric would have words of comfort for her, words that Estinien could not find. Then he crossed the stone platform to Haurchefant’s side and knelt to lift him. Haurchefant was higher than Estinien in height and weight both, but he managed to get to his feet anyway.

He would take the fallen knight to his home.

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starter for post vault pain @wyrmbloodcd

It was as if her whole body had gone numb. Staring blankly at the body beside her. It all felt like a nightmare. One that she couldn't awaken from. She didn't even feel where the spear hit her side. Even the carbuncle nudging at her didn't get anything from her.

Eliane gripped her grimoires.

If only she could've been able to understand healing magic, this would've gone so much differently.

The voices from behind her droned out by the ringing in her ears. Until one came closer and told her they needed to go. Eliane slightly turned her head to see Estinien. Somewhat acknowledging his presence before staring back ahead.

There was honestly nothing she could even think to say in response.

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Admittedly, Estinien did not know the fallen soldier very well. He saw death on the battlefield but every day, and another man down did not strike him the way it maybe should have. That was not to say he felt nothing, of course; Haurchefant had been an ally, a very important one. Estinien felt his loss weigh on his shoulders.

But this was war. Blood was shed on both sides on this day.

And Aymeric was safe. Fury save him, but that was what he cared about most of all.

Eliane, of course, felt different. This was her husband, after all, the father of her little boy. And so it wasn't a surprise when she just stood there, looking on in shock at the corpse. She was bleeding too -- it wasn't too much, but it needed to be looked at. Aymeric too was limping badly. They needed to get to a healer, and more importantly, they needed to get out of here.

"Eliane," he said again, after his first attempt failed to fully get her attention. He put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "We have to go now."

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mutuals only

like this post for me to jump into your DMs!

please note that mun is still in ShB with only a vague understanding of what Estinien is doing during that time, so all story ideas will have to be StB or prior. no spoilers, pls.

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WE ALL HAD DELUSIONS IN OUR HEAD. WE ALL HAD OUR MINDS MADE UP FOR US. WE HAD TO BELIEVE IN SOMETHING.

SO WE DID.

rules | bio | nav

blogroll: @thesilverfullcr @star-gazcr @theazureblade

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imposter alert

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god this is so funny. we're like his sentinels.

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imposter alert

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Estinein gets headbutted by a certain ruby carbuncle. Then it does a happy little dance before doing a backflip to transform into a little dragon. Then flips again to turn back to normal. If her familiar was around seeking attention, that also meant Eliane was around. But she also might have a hand in the little trick Ruby performed for the dragoon.

“...what’s this?”

Estinien quirked an eyebrow as he looked down at the red carbuncle. He knew well who must have owned the little thing trying so hard to get his attention, though he didn’t immediately see her. It had been a very long time since he had seen the little carbuncle, and he sifted through his memories for her name. Elise? Eleanor, perhaps?

“I do not really care for your act,” he said flatly, frowning at the little creature. “Dragons are not welcome here in any form.”

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finally got my gae bolg on my stinny alt and it came with a shiny new title. c:

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level 50 culinarian quest FINISHED. and thank god.

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@wyrmbloodcd ;; stinny vc: you're lucky you got that much

"Uh huh. Well, I'm sure someone else would be happy to kiss me. Your loss."

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"Don't give me that face. You didn't give me a kiss either."

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got good fortune this year!

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Rothalion hummed thoughtfully, eyeing Estinien before giving a small nod. He turned, pointing towards the woman surrounded by computers whom just barely glanced up when indicated.

"That there is Briar. She's the one who provides us all manner of tech advancements and security, encrypts our data and hacks others'. If you need information she oft the woman you go to, but its costly... unless you've the connections to earn it. Thankfully, we're close," he began, smiling. Briar returned the smile but rolled her eyes, flicking finger dismissively as she turned away to continue what she had been doing. Rothalion gestured to the second and only other woman in the room, who just so happened to have stood up and made her way over. She was taller than Rothalion but that wasn't much of a feat, really. Once more does she size Estinien up as Ro goes on to introduce her.

"This is Dread. Same job as me, really: assassin, mercenary, muscle. We've worked together plenty, I'd recommend you stay on her good side, otherwise the best you'll get is a few missing teeth... the worst, you end up six feet under a field," he commented nonchalantly with a wave of the hand. Dread sneered, crossing muscular arms and leaning forward.

"Ya heard 'im, watch your tongue n' we'll be just fine," she said. Rothalion rolled his eyes this time, shoving her aside and earning a playful shove in return that just barely tips him to the side. He stepped back, waving towards the older man he had previously addressed as Amnon.

"That there is Amnon. He trained me back in the day, ex-merc himself with all the connections to prove his versatility. He now works largely with the black market; if you need something you go to him. I've already set up an agreement to act as a go-between for you and him, meaning you need only tell me what you need and I'll reach out to him for it. No cost, no fees," he added, and Amnon dipped his head in acknowledgement without an additional word. Rothalion then gestured to the final figure in that room, an elezen of 8' in height and the bulk to accommodate it. Ember eyes glow faintly in the dark as he glared, his mouth pressed into a thin line with naught an ilm of his face giving away anything but disdain for Estinien.

"Finally, this is Atlas. He's my main muscle, and a dear friend. He doesn't talk all that much so don't even bother, he won't answer questions he deems wasteful or stupid," he finalized with a shrug. Atlas uttered a small amused noise, the corners of his mouth twitching up just slightly.

Ro perked his ears abruptly, spinning on his heels and pointing an index finger upward.

"I almost forgot. You met a guy upstairs, right? That's Null, he's our mechanic and vehicle provider. Real talented fellow. Restorations, scrap, building new vehicles from the old and outfitting anything with weapons is his deal. And in case you were wondering why I didn't just go to him for my repairs-"

"Rothalion has been avoiding anything to do with this scene for six or so years now. Null is still tied in with it heavily, and while he would be happy to work on his shit for free he's made it quite clear he refused to use any of our services when he left," interrupted Briar with a shrug. Ro huffed, but nodded.

"... Aye. I don't need connections with my face out there. I also wanted to live the life of a normal person, but it seems in my efforts to be normal I've found myself right back where I started. Regardless, I would like to see this syndicate crumble before it gets more brave than its already been. I've been hearing of activity during daytime hours... and an increase in police corruption. Not even a week ago another journalist was found dead, and who knows how many others have gone missing thinking themselves capable of breaking a story that will promote change." Rothalion glanced back towards Estinien, furrowing his brows. "This is revenge, but it is also justice. I'm taking Nidhogg down and using his syndicate like a tower of dominos; we're going to destroy as many of them as we can to clean the slate."

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Estinien quietly filed away each name and description in his mind. He had an uncanny memory for faces and names when he cared enough to commit them to memory, and these people were important. He would not forget them.

Once again, he was left wondering exactly what he would contribute. They had plenty of muscle, and he had already proven that he wasn’t capable of taking three men down in an ambush situation, with naught but his muscles to back him up. Give him a gun, and he was capable enough, particularly with a sniper rifle. He would have to get his hands on one.

He was pretty good with technology and such, but they already had a tech expert who was probably far more proficient than he was.

To put it bluntly, he didn’t really contribute much to this group.

That was fine. He would contribute what he could. He had made his position clear – he wanted to be the one to put a bullet in Nidhogg’s head. He would accept being there when it happened, he supposed. But he wanted to see it, see the light go out of that one remaining yellow eye.

“Estinien,” he said, in way of introduction. “I’m ex-military, good with guns. I specialized in sniper rifles. I do some computer stuff on the side, but I’ll leave that to Briar. I’m sure she’s better at it than I am anyway.

“I’m not here to make friends, so don’t bother trying. I’m here to kill Nidhogg and see the syndicate brought to its knees. Justice and revenge look the same to me.”