izzyphan

[izzyphan]

culinary exploration | caspian & isabel

Destarin still felt ... not wrong, but unfamiliar even after months in the city. The only positive she'd really found as an emissary was food. So many delicacies and unfamiliar flavor combinations from the other kingdoms. Isabel had been wandering through Laras. It was tempting as ever to shift into a stray dog or cat, an animal who might be granted pity. The problem was shifting in the city and the lack of clothing accessible. Shifting allowed her to roam unjudged, unapproached, because it still felt like she had no idea what she was doing.

She didn't.

But she did know to follow her nose even as a human, the smell of baking bread and crystalized sugar in the air as she followed it like a pup or kit might. It went all the way to a bright bakery with eclectic tiles on the floor and -- oh. By the ancestors, the shelves were stocked full of delicacies, many she didn't immediately recognize. Which made Hearth & Crust a virtual buffet, especially given the coin she was carrying.

It might have been rude, but Isabel immediately zeroed in on a perfectly flaky and buttery looking crust. Intent on paying for it, she couldn't help but grab one and try not to shove it point blank into her mouth. "By the ancestors," she said aloud this time, mouth half full and apparently all of the manners that had been instilled into her as a child forgotten. "I think I've died and gone to meet Ông Táo," the shifter sighed.

@caspiandomergue

[izzyphan]

[izzyphan]

[izzyphan]

Sheltered as the shifter was, she still would have at least recognized the coven name if given. Estate staff liked to gossip about the things happening within Cheridi. It would have been impossible to have gone twenty-two years without hearing something about the Oh's.

At the stranger's question, she took a closer look at the man who had so caught his attention. "Handsome, yes," she agreed with a slight twist of her lips. It wasn't a lie, she could objectively see why Oh Chung Ae would be attractive. He just wasn't exactly her type. "I don't know," she admitted with a slight flush to her cheeks. "Probably. But I um, I didn't get out much until very recently. And everybody who worked on the estate felt like family, so staring at them would have been a little weird."

Having been so caught up with the man's focus of attention, the emissary realized she'd been a bit rude by just ... jumping in the middle of a conversation. "I'm Isabel, Sir. Isabel Hai Phan, emissary from Cheridi. I apologize for my manners, it was not my business in the first place."

Hastalik wasn't sure if he could stare anywhere else. At first he'd put it down to his task, what the coven expected of him, he felt compelled to stare because that was his mission, but weeks had gone by and the desire had not abated. "Only if they're watching me," he accused in turn, not intending to be rude so much as to distract from the topic. Hastalik couldn't even look at her as he said it, because he worried she might sense his cover.

Certainly no one knew who Hastalik was but the Oh family had been known in Cheridi for centuries, since well before the war. Even if his own coven did not see them as an enemy he would have surely known of them even just as a witch. Sometimes it felt overwhelming simply looking at him, like he was too...beneath the Oh witch to do so, not that he'd spoken to Chung Ae enough to know if the feeling was mutual.

"I just - He's handsome, yes?" he said of Chung Ae, swallowing the saliva in his mouth. "You don't look at attractive people sometimes like 'oh, wow, they're like...really good looking.'" It should have been a lie, a cover even, but it wasn't. It was the true reason he stared.

[izzyphan]

At the woman's confusion, the emissary nodded as if it was the most natural thing in the world to receive news from a bluebird named Pyoter. But it was in Isabel's little world. She'd never left Cheridi until now, but still felt like she'd done some traveling after speaking with her animal friends over the years. Not that she ever left the Phan estate. Growing up, her father had always been overprotective of his only two heirs. But that was her normal, and she never thought to question it until she arrived in Destarin.

Isabel had to fight a shiver down her spine as the woman spoke of blood and gossip. That was not her normal. "I can't even begin to imagine, Miss," the shifter admitted, that earlier shiver managing to travel down her back despite her efforts to stop it. "You say it was um, the bloodiest thing you've seen in some time. Does stuff like this happen often?"

Belatedly, she realized that she was not being particularly emissary-like, or not what she thought an emissary should be. She sent a mental goodbye to Pyoter and stood to meet the stranger, brushing the pieces of grass off of the bac of her thighs. "I-I'm Isabel, Miss. Isabel Hai Phan. I'm an emissary from Cheridi."

It was unlikely the bird would know much on her, mostly because she was not overly interesting when she did leave the teahouse which was already so infrequent. Had it ventured further into the town it might have seen her drinking tea on her doorstep or making deliveries to those nearby, and that was if the bird even desired to note those things over children who might desire to feet the bird or predators who might seek to devour it.

"Pyoter?" she had not heard the name before but she also did not know the names of many in the courts outside of the main leaders. Perhaps this person was a advisor of some kind. "Oh," she realised as the girl spoke on raspberry bushes that perhaps rather the advisor was the creature beside her. It was rare people could communicate with animals, most seemed to have been gifted strength or speed, it made her special, at least in Tajhana's mind. "The bird?"

"Certainly it is a topic that has ravaged the town these past weeks, it is...an unfortunate occurrence," she acknowledged, wishing she could say more on the topic but...it was blocked to her. "Certainly fair more bloody than anything I have witnessed within the town in some time." Or perhaps ever.

[izzyphan]

Carmen. It had been months and her name was still a dagger to the heart. The wound still felt so fresh, as if one half of her was missing. And in a sense, it was. The sisters had balanced each other out, Izzy's sweetness and Carmen's bold attitude. Her insecurities and her twin's unfaltering confidence. By the ancestors, she missed her so much.

"Isabel, Sir. Isabel Hai Phan. C-Carmen is ... was my twin." Isabel could only hope that she didn't need to clarify further than that. Recounting the details of her sister's passing would surely break her, and she was already overwhelmed with Destarin.

Hoping to change the topic of discussion as quickly as possible, the shifter took in the semi-formal robes and put it together with her memories and estate gossip. She'd only heard tell of one other emissary that had been sent to the city and hoped her guess was correct. "Um. Are you Wei Ying? The ah, the necromancer?"

Something unidentifiable blossomed in her chest. Could he ... could he reverse it all? Bring back half of her heart and soul in one fell swoop? Could the fangshi help make her whole again?

Like Cinderella - Ying/Izzy

Everything was overwhelming. Leaving Cheridi for the first time, the chaos of Destarin, the sheer panic of being an emissary of the Emperor and by default, the Shogun. The shapeshifter didn't know where to begin as the carriage stopped before her new home in Ashharran. It was unreasonably large for just one person to inhabit; its architecture made her homesick and sad more than anything else. Rather than stay and unpack, Isabel decided to explore instead.

It didn't take long to find the edges of the forest and Isabel immediately felt at home. The scents were different, foliage and trees unique to the area, but it still felt right. It was tempting to strip and shift right there, but something told her finding a naked emissary would cause something of a stir. So instead she settled for laying back in the grass and familiarizing herself with all of the new happening to and around her.

When a bluebird came and landed on her shoulder, the shifter giggled and sat up so that she could communicate with the animal. "Is that where the sweetest fruit grows here?" she murmured, unaware that she was being observed. And that she likely looked like she was talking to herself. "Wait, what happened to all the messengers?" A shiver of fear travelled down Isabel's spine. As if she wasn't already scared enough.

@izzyphan

One of the things that the cursed human had found unexpected after his move to Destarin was the fact that the same spies that worked for the Emperor and Shogun now seemed to work for him.  They just started appearing in his office while he worked, little notes left on his desk or his staff just casually whispering city gossip as they dropped off food and drink.  It was honestly a strange occurrence for the rather inexperienced Emissary.

Thus the news that a new Emissary from Cheridi had arrived surprised the necromancer.  He hadn't received anything from the Emperor about being replaced so it could only be an additional Emissary.

Throwing on a semi-formal robe, Ying slid his feet into his shoes and tried to maintain a sedate pace while he headed toward the location he heard she could be found.  Seeing a familiar silhouette, Ying reigned himself in from rushing to give her a hug and instead bowed his head as one would to an equal.  “Carmen, is that you?  I had no idea they were sending another Emissary.”

[izzyphan]

like cinderella | raelothstra & isabel

@noquluth:

It was not often that Raelothstra could be found walking the forest outside of Destarin. Though she did not suffer the weakness that her mother had to dwelling on the surface, the half-drow succubus still shared a distaste for daylight. But with life coming back to normal after the festival - and having quenched her appetite - she decided that one was needed. And there was no end of poisonous spiders that she might be able to find. Thusly, one can imagine her confusion upon finding an apparent mad woman talking to herself in the woods. Destarin had no shortage of odd characters, and she'd seen just as many come and go. Her steps were silent, stalking toward the other. She contemplated, for a moment, simply taking one of her daggers out, perhaps taking whatever valuables the stranger had on them. But, with the emissaries from the kingdoms in town, she did not want to cause undo trouble. Upon hearing the word "messangers" leave the stranger's lips, Raelothstra had to smirk darkly. "You didn't know? It was quite the sight to behold. I would almost give the perpetrators credit, were they associated with my sister's guild." Almost. But they weren't, for Evelyn would have not okay-ed such a plot without giving some warning to her sisters.

.

"I-I didn't," the shifter admitted with a furrowed brow, wondering who this strange woman was to treat so much murder and blood so baldly. What credit was there to give for such horrific acts? "I um, just arrived a few days after the festival. Pyoter was telling me about it." And more, but she wasn't certain just how much to share with the stranger. Speaking of --

"I'm Isabel, Isabel Hai Phan. Emissary from Cheridi." It still felt so odd on her tongue to hold any sort of title. Then again, she hadn't been raised to hold it in the first place. She was just winging it and hoping that she didn't bring shame to her family or disappoint her father. In truth, news of the slaughter made her want to run home, metaphorical tail between her legs.

[izzyphan]

like cinderella | oh chung ae & isabel

@ohchungae

The earth warmed beneath his seat, folded legs neatly tucked with the dark blue of his hanbok draped delicately around him; the young witch heir sat against the earth with his eyes closed appearing to be in some sort of meditation. His breathing was measured and focused to an almost inaudible sound, matching with the sounds of nature and masked with the breeze. He trained meticulously at his family's magisterium in Cheridi every day under close scrutiny and now he had only himself to ensure his skills remained sharp, it was his duty to represent his family well, anything less would be dishonorable. In his meditation, he could focus his hearing, being able to hear and know when a threat was approaching was a useful skill and so he focused until he could hear the whisper of the wind, the sounds of the glass growing, the shifting of the dirt, the ruffling of feathers, the chirp of insects... the sound of foot falls, of breathing, the shuffling of fabric and finally a voice breaking through the quiet stillness of nature like a resonating siren calling all to attention. The voice was soft but amidst the sounds of nothing, anything would sound like a scream. Oh Chung Ae was determined to block it out, considering it a challenge to his training, to drown out the voices of one speaking and focus on the background, and he was doing so successfully until he soon found himself growing more curious because... what did happen to all the messengers? Perhaps this bird the woman spoke to knew something they did not. Oh Chung Ae shifted from where he sat within the forest, previously concealed in the shadow of the shade and overgrown nature of the woods, but really he wasn't too far off from where this woman had settled herself -- perhaps there was some other factor for this as well. His steps were light, barely breaking a twig or disturbing a leaf despite the way his hanbok hung low, it was tailored just so that it would not drag against the floor and give away his presence before he wished it known.

"Pardon me," he spoke now too, keeping his soft so it hopefully wouldn't be too startling as he appeared from behind a thin tree, "You know animal speak?"

.

Sheltered as she was growing up, Isabel didn't recognize the heir to the Cheridian coven. The name had slipped through enough lips in the estate that she would have been familiar with their power and renown within their kingdom. But it was a rare occasion that she ever left her family home, making it impossible to immediately recognize the stranger. It would be a surprise herself if he'd even heard of the Phans, her own family's power within the kingdom an unknown to the shifter. All she knew is she didn't want to disappoint her father, the only family she had left.

While she didn't recognize the man by sight, what she did recognize was the hanbok, her own closet in Ashharran stuffed with official looking garments that mimicked his own. It was almost a soothing balm to her soul to see something so familiar in such a foreign place.

"I do," the shifter admitted almost hesitantly. She hadn't realized she was no longer alone with her new companion Pyoter. It wasn't often that she admitted to everything she was capable of, but she had been caught red-handed in this. "Do you also know animal speak?" The words felt odd in her mouth, she'd never strung the two together in such a way before. "I'm um, I'm newly here as an emissary and I thought it was a good idea to kind of get the lay of the land. Animals see so much more than people, sometimes." And understand them better more often than not. Their heightened senses allowed them to pick up more than the average human.

The man might have been a stranger, but she still levied him a welcoming smile. "It's nice to see someone from Cheridi," she offered as she gestured to his garment. "I haven't yet met anyone from home. I'm, um, Isabel. Isabel Hai Phan." It was a strange habit that she gave her full name when she'd never had to introduce herself to the staff of the estate. Likely it spoke more about her than she would have liked; Hai could be translated as 'second born.' Even her name spoke to her upbringing and how her twin had been the golden child.

[izzyphan]

"Then you just stare a lot at the same person, Sir," she offered. "You might want to pick somewhere else to stare of others might think you are watching." It was stated matter-of-factly, no indication in her voice that she might think he was lying. Isabel found her eyes also trailing the man, ever so curious.

As most of Cheridi may have recognized Hastalik, the shifter was one who did not. Most of the last twenty years had been spent on the Phan estate in the country. The girl had been sheltered since the death of her mother, and even more so since her twin had passed. It had been long enough that she felt that she'd properly grieved, but spouts of tears still sprung up every so often. Usually when she was alone in the large home she'd been assigned.

The emissary caught the attention of the bartender, though she only ordered tea and a bit of food. It was the one highlight she'd been able to identify since arriving in Destarin, was the abundance of new foods she'd never had the opportunity to taste. "Do you stare a lot or is something just on your mind? I know I can do that sometimes, if I'm thinking on something."

With the amount of panels in the establishment, designed to seperate all so private conversations could be had, it was truly only the bar itself that allowed for strangers to be in the company of one another. Hastalik was finding himself there most evenings now, watching Chae go about his day and finding himself there for a meal or a drink. He wanted to approach, to speak to him, but he was determined to earn the praise of the other witch before he officially approached him.

Clearly he was even worse than usual that evening, perhaps a defeatist attitude getting in the way of skill. He didn't want to be following Chae afterall. Every part of him wanted to speak to the other witch, to explain why he was being so...fucking intense. He didn't want to be, he was being told he had to be. So when he was noticed not only by Chae but by a woman who leaned over to speak to him Has swallowed.

"Uh, just a guy," he said. It was an understatement though and surely if the girl looked closely enough she would recognise the Oh witch, heir to a coven in Cheridi that was known across the kingdom for their intense training school for witches, as well as for their informational prowess. The Oh coven seemed to know everything, which of course meant with so much happening politically in Destarin someone had needed to be sent. "I was probably just staring, not watching," he lied, eyes shifting to the woman's, not concerned if he lost Chae, he knew the man's routine by now.

[izzyphan]

like cinderella | tajhana & isabel

@tajhanasaha

Tajhana so rarely left the confines of her home and business, not because she did not enjoy all that was Destarin but rather because she felt she had a responsibility to remain there, in case anyone were to need her. Now that she had a few more employees though, well, she was trying to allow herself a little more freedom, at least when her third eye presented a security that she would not be too missed were she to go and that instead something or someone out in the world might need her more. It was what had drawn her to the woods, that third eye that was hidden within her forehead, opened only when necessary but felt by the seer at all times. Someone was to be there, someone who would be a great influence in the town and with all that had happened...well, it would be good to make sure that influence was a positive one. Her slippers taking slow steps through the woods nearest Ashharren, following the path of the carriage road until she saw one of regal makings, those who were working as escort seeming to take a break while her eye lead her to a space within the trees. Hearing a voice from the space Tajhana listened softly, assuming, of course, that she was the one being spoken to. "You already know of the messengers?" she asked, incidentally announcing her presence she believed was already known.

.

The shifter was so focused upon the bird that it didn't even occur to her yet that someone else was speaking to her. A couple more sentences were exchanged when the bluebird noticed her companion before Isabel did. "Oh!" came the surprised little sound as she turned towards the stranger.

She didn't want to admit it so boldly but the emissary slowly nodded at the woman's question. "Pyoter," she began, lifting her hand gently so as not to disturb the bird who'd given her such knowledge. His voice was still in her ear, but it was subdued with her attention elsewhere at the moment. Telepathically, Isabel reached out to the blue bird silently, wondering if he knew anything of her current companion.

"Um, Pyoter. Told me. Everyone is talking about it, I guess. Animal and people alike. And," Isabel continued, worrying at her bottom lip for a moment. It wasn't often she was so blatant with her abilities in front of strangers. "And some of his favorite raspberry bushes got trampled in the aftermath when some people ran."

[izzyphan]

devastated | nolan & isabel

It had already been days since she'd arrived in Destarin and nothing seemed to help loosen the knot that had taken up residence in her belly. The city scared her, her new title scared her, everything was just too much.

Or so she'd thought until someone shoved into her at just the right time, finding the shifter on her hands and knees on the cobbled stones. Wet immediately soaked her skirt but Isabel paid it no mind. What was more important was seeing Lily's necklace broken in the street. She'd thought the tight feeling in her stomach was as bad as it could get, but squeezed as she realized what had happened. "No! No, no, no, no, no," came the ragged pants as she picked up each piece with little care for the small cuts the glass was creating. By the ancestors, anything but this.

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes as she looked around desperately, hoping some kind soul would take pity on the girl with fancy but wet skirtsm about to cry. But no such help came. Isabel had never felt so out of her element as she finally spotted a repair shop. She had no idea if the glass could be repaired, but at the very least she had to try. Hurried steps carried her into the shop, dumping the glass shards on the counter.

"Please, please, please tell me you can fix it, Sir? I-it was my mother's and it's ... it's all I have. That was hers, I mean. Or, or if you can't, can you maybe tell me someone who can? I can't lose this. I just can't."

@nolan-callaghan

[izzyphan]

kyngeshed | hastalik & isabel

Isabel was doing her best to explore the entire city of Destarin. Most of that exploration was in one animal form or another, whatever would blend in in each district. But in truth, she was feeling a little uncomfortable appearing human anywhere but in the Ashharren District. It felt like home, enough to show her real face. But at the same time, it somehow made her homesick.

Which is what found her ducking into the Kyngeshed, despite the fact that she didn't often drink. An ale or glass of wine here or there, but never enough to even give her a buzz. The shifter figured it might taste like home, reducing the homesickness Ashharren caused.

Izzy was waiting at the tavern's bar when she noticed someone else in her company. Unsurprising considering the location, but something felt different. Not off, not bad, just ... different. Following the stranger's gaze, it seemed to track a particular employee. A stranger, but she'd met nothing but strangers since arrival. So she took a deep breath and followed the same employee with her own gaze before leaning over to the other.

"Who are we looking at, Sir?" the shifter whispered, eyes wide and lips twisting in case the stranger didn't want her attention.

@hastalikanhci

[izzyphan]

𝐈𝐒𝐀𝐁𝐄𝐋 𝐇𝐀𝐈 𝐏𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐄𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐘

isabel is a 22 year old animal shifter representing her royalty (but also her family) for the kingdom of cheridi.  the girl was never trained or educated to take on the role; her twin sister, born a few minutes before her, received the tutoring that would have allowed her to be an impeccable Emissary.  upon her twin carmen’s death, the obligation fell to isabel.  ready or not.

TW: Death.

Before the war, the Phans were loyal to the Emperor as it suited their family’s standing within the Kingdom. Once the war ended and politics started to blossom again, it became clear to the family head that it would be more profitable to secretly serve the Shogun while pretending to answer to Asukai. It didn’t take long for their position to pull in the twins’ mother. Lila Hang was smitten from first sight. Inevitably she gave birth to the twins; inevitably, she lost her life doing so. And her husband Edward would be no longer the same.

Isabel Hai Phan was defined the day she was born. “Hai” represented precisely what she was - the second born. Most of her father’s attention was given to her older twin Carmen, though she could never really work out why. It wasn’t as if she was uneducated; Izzy was taught almost everything between watercolors to archery. Politics and navigating between the Emperor and the Shogun? Not so much.

Everyone had presumed that her twin would take over her father’s place as the family Emissary. Then tragedy struck again and Carmen passed as quietly as their mother. There were no other heirs; no one else to represent the family in the position they’d held for so long. Except Isabel.

She comes to Destarin as her family’s emissary and namesake, trying to do her best to not only make the Phans proud, but to satisfy the Emperor and Shogun both. In reality, she has no idea what she’s doing. But she’s enthusiastic to try to prove herself, even if her real passion lies elsewhere.

WHAT ARE YOU...?

species: animal shapeshifter. weaknesses: beheading, silver and iron will burn the skin and if pressed hard and long enough can remove any appendage other than the head, more susceptible to mental manipulation when communicating between species. strengths: heightened senses when in animal form (mostly tied to the animal’s generally agreed upon senses), can speak with animals in human form, when in animal form alone can communicate telepathically, can slowly regrow appendages. physical description: isabel looks as human as the next person, unless she’s shifted into one of her many forms.  mostly she prefers being a butterfly, with horse and fox being second and third.  when in human form, she’s 5’3” and curvy with a bright smile and a naive enthusiasm to help others without question. additional info: none.

isabel hai phan is played by ali and their fc is lana condor.

[izzyphan]

like cinderella | open

Everything was overwhelming. Leaving Cheridi for the first time, the chaos of Destarin, the sheer panic of being an emissary of the Emperor and by default, the Shogun. The shapeshifter didn't know where to begin as the carriage stopped before her new home in Ashharran. It was unreasonably large for just one person to inhabit; its architecture made her homesick and sad more than anything else. Rather than stay and unpack, Isabel decided to explore instead.

It didn't take long to find the edges of the forest and Isabel immediately felt at home. The scents were different, foliage and trees unique to the area, but it still felt right. It was tempting to strip and shift right there, but something told her finding a naked emissary would cause something of a stir. So instead she settled for laying back in the grass and familiarizing herself with all of the new happening to and around her.

When a bluebird came and landed on her shoulder, the shifter giggled and sat up so that she could communicate with the animal. "Is that where the sweetest fruit grows here?" she murmured, unaware that she was being observed. And that she likely looked like she was talking to herself. "Wait, what happened to all the messengers?" A shiver of fear travelled down Isabel's spine. As if she wasn't already scared enough.

[izzyphan]