dream-richixg

[forgotteneilionora]

Bastards of Stafford | Eilionora & Aria

"Stand well away from the windows!" bellowed the guards, fleeing this way and that.

But Eilia did not move. Did not flinch. Her people were fighting out there. Dying. And this time she had not even swords to arm them with, nor shields to safeguard them. All she could do was watch over them. She would pay them this tribute, if it cost her her life: she would look, and she would not look away.

Riots had broken out in the lower walls of the great castled city, and Eilia could hear the screams from here. Knights on lofty steeds poured into the breach, catching pitchforks and rakes with their long, gleaming swords; their tall, crested shields fending off flung stones pried from the walls or claimed from the ground around them. Part of Eilia longed for her people to hurl down their makeshift weapons and flee, melting away into the countryside: Roderick would not be merciful. But something inside her exulted at the resistance, her heart banging against her chest, a drum of war to put their fight to cadence, her blood thrumming in her ears as her hand went to the window pane, clasping at the cool glazing beneath it.

She was out there with them, in spirit, her own long-fingered hands closing around the rough, dirt-choked edges of a hefty stone. With a shriek her defence, she hoisted it over her head. She flung it at the metal-clad knight who rode up towards her. She knitted her hands together into a unified fist. She pounded at his saddle. She yanked her butcher's knife from her apron. She tore at the straps of his saddle. A savage snarl tore from her throat. The knight upended, collapsing before her as she and each of her other selves closed in upon him him, torches and cudgels and kitchen knives clutched in all her hands. She would pay for it, she knew, but first: first she would make her fury felt.

Eilia started. A hand on her shoulder. She turned then, looked away, half flinging herself off from the window, ready to strike. But it was Aria and, gasping in a breath, she stayed her hand, letting it drop to her side. She was one helpless young woman trapped in a castle, surrounded by enemies, again.

"Aria," she whispered. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to--I'm tense, is all." Without thinking, she reached out and drew her sister into an embrace, standing still defiantly before the window. Let them try to drag her away. She would not leave her for all the world.

[forgottenarthur]

In Ruins | Arthur, Roderick, Eilia, Aria, etc...

Another step. Another. Up and up and up they rose before him, unending as the Kolchean ouroboros. And not a soul was speaking. For all the attendants traipsing and tripping after their god-given Emperor, a strange breathy silence pervaded, headed by the sullen-faced ó Réaltaí sisters (as the Staffords were now, evidently, to be called) and maintained by Roderick's many retainers, half-gasping with the interminable climb. The silence was a veil and Arthur felt twitchy, his fingers beating a tattoo against his thigh as he walked and walked.

"You Astairans certainly were not in jest when you claimed to live amongst the stars, I see."

Silence. Arthur detested silence. He'd always dested it, and he detested it now most of all. It was tense; it was subdued. And he didn't know what Aria was thinking...

Or anyone else. His father, for instance, or even...He glanced around to catch another face, half-desperate to prove there were other feelings which concerned him. Eilionora. No. But he wasn't supposed to care what she thought: she was the enemy. Still. He cared even less for what Sir Gregory thought.

Huffing, he shrugged. "I think I shall be eighty years old by the time we reach the top!"

"And here I imagined," began Eilionora, tone condescending. "A knight might be glad of such exercise."

"I--" Arthur frowned, rankling against the comment and struggling to invent a sufficient retort, when at last daylight (dying, by now, he saw) broke upon them. "At last!"

By the time Arthur gained the room, a world of ancient plaster featuring a tiny stone window in its concave surface. His father was already there, attendants arrayed about him like the streaming light of the sun, itself painting all in Arthur's own red. Eilionora stood opposite him, her expression fierce and determined, with her sister at her side and, fobidding as Aria looked, Arthur found himself drifting towards her.

Looking up, then, Arthur saw the look on his father's face. "Shit."

This was an expression well known to Arthur: triumphant and gleaming. The emperor was about to make the weight of whatever victory he'd won felt. "You thought to keep it from us," began Roderick, eyes glowing. "You strove and you strove, but every trace of your heathen gods will now be expunged."

Arthur felt Aria's eyes on him, but he could not pull his gaze from his father. Turning, Roderick grinned knowingly and suddenly thrust his arm directly through a wall.

"Father!" Arthur cried, starting forward. He stopped short. The emperor was unhurt and, in fact, a hole now stood in the wall where his hand once had been.

"A crafty illusion, to be sure," gloated Roderick. "Who'd think to vellum up a wall? Painted so precisely as to look to be pure plaster. But your woman's trick has come to naught."

Snapping, Roderick gestured and, at once, his attendants got to the business of tearing down the wall.

"God," breathed Arthur.

Roderick's gaze flicked towards him. "Why do you stand by them, Arthur?"

Arthur glanced hastily at the ladies. Swallowed. "To ensure they do not attempt to flee."

Roderick frowned.

"Your inevitable victory is something they really ought to see, Your Imperial Majesty."

Satisfied, Roderick smiled triumphantly at Eilionora, and nodded to Arthur. Aria glared at him. The emperor turned as a broad, wooden door was revealed and, with some difficulty, prized open by the attendants.

Now, it was to file into the room. Two servants went first -- to ensure the safe passage of the glorious presence behind them against any booby traps -- then the emperor went through followed by his attendants and lastly the ladies, with Arthur bringing up the train.

The door was low and ancient he saw, its planks turned half to stone by unimaginable age and, curious, Arthur swept his fingers along it as he passed through. The soul, he was told, was recurring. Had some version of him ever touched this wood before, perhaps its gentle-growing branches before it had been cut. Stooping to pass under the lintel, Arthur was temporarily blinded by a blanket of dark, limpid eyes narrowing as he stumbled a step or two inside.

He emerged into a vault of starlight as the last vestiges of day gave way to velvet-soft night, the firmament dotted with twinkling starlight, caught in a veil of midnight. It seemed a thousand, thousand stars glittered in the liquid night and that, if Arthur only stretched out his hand, he might just touch them with the edges of his fingertips.

"God be good," whispered Arthur. "I've never seen so many stars."

Glancing about him, he took in the ruins all about him -- a shattered dome, floor-to-ceiling arches that may once have contained windows now gaping over a yawning chasm.

"Do you know what this room is, Arthur?"

"No," he said, curiously glancing around him. "What is this place?"

It seemed to him that each lain stone was blue as lapis lazuli -- perhaps was lapis lazuli! -- and inset with ivory or some such so that stars were inset even into the very stones that strained to shelter them against the heedless sky above. Stretching out a hand, he laid it flat against one wall, cautiously approaching the casements to peer over the side of the mountain. Nothing but open sky greeted his gaze.

"How far up are we?"

"This is the crest of the mountain, Arthur."

He straightened, turned back towards his father. "What?!" he demanded. " Then--then this is--"

"Yes, the so-called Vault of the Heavens, the Cathedral of Stars, and other such: the very spot where their heathen goddess is said to have once set foot, according to some legends; where the shards of starlight were found from which their familial swords were forged. This," Roderick pointed down, grinning now in the pale starlight. "This is the most sacred place in all of Stafford."

Arthur glanced down at his feet, some sensation half like guilt springing vine-like across him, before his gaze shot suddenly to Aria, her own gaze now trained, relentless, upon Roderick.

"Now," continued Roderick, even his tone a gloat. "Where are those craters where the stars touched the earth? They're in this very room..."

Arthur's gaze did not leave Aria's face and, though it was hard to tell in the streaming starlight, he thought perhaps he saw tears sparkling at the edges of her eyes. His throat tightened. Arthur's hands closed to fists.

"Fill them in, shall we?" continued Roderick. "And bring what's left of this place to the ground. No trace of this heresy shall remain once I've done."

It was misery on her face, bleak and utter. She seemed to look at the walls, to the sky, as if they spike to her, friends soon to be shattered. A loss as deep as her name. Gritting his teeth, Arthur turned abruptly to his father, but Eilionora beat him to it. She was...laughing. Arthur watched fury dawn upon Roderick's face, unfurling like a plume of liquid flame over obsidian-dark granite. Sneer for sneer and glare for glare, emperor and former queen stared one another down.

She came forward. "No original ideas, have you? Do you know some of my own ancestors had a similar notion. Their great hall might prove more useful, they believed, otherwise. They tried everything they could -- every earthly tool there is: stone to cover up and concrete to pour. They even attempted, when that did not work, to flatten the rest of the earth. In every case, their tools came away bent and broken. The goddess shelters this place still. You can no more raze this site than they!"

Roderick's face was granite, craggy rocks -- brow and nose and lips -- etched with statuesque ire. As Roderick moved to close the gap between himself and his would-be bride, Arthur stepped forward.

Arthur had seen his mother do this a thousand times. Surely...surely he could do it, too. Oh, he could not employ precisely the same tactics she did: what Roderick might find favorable in a woman would prove repulsive to him in a man, but the principles still stood. He could move the Emperor, if he chose. Surely he could. He simply never had. But surely, surely he could. And he would. Just this once. Just this once, he would...

Slowly he began to clap, letting boastful swagger into his step as he strode forward, placing himself between the emperor and the ladies, and turning a look of perfect arrogance upon the one-time queen. He'd perfected this look long ago. One in eternal competition had to.

"It was a fine attempt, my lady," he laughed. "But did you imagine the God's Chosen would fall for so obvious a ploy?"

"Ploy? It is no--"

Laughing, again, Arthur held up a hand to silence her and turned towards his father, clapping him on the shoulder. "The hubris of women excels everything."

He felt Roderick's gaze heavy upon him. Here it was. The moment. Everything hinged on what he said next. It wasn't a betrayal of Roderick, he told himself. What he said could be true! And there was Aria, lovely and lonely as the stars above, tears radiant with the same silver light. He couldn't stand by and watch. How could anyone bear the misery on Aria's face? No. He had to act. He had to.

"Imagine, trying to goad an emperor into cheating himself of his greatest prize!"

Arthur was careful not to look at Aria. He felt the weight of her look, but he did not turn. He hoped she saw what he was doing -- but he doubted it as well. She'd just see the hateful swaggering prince too easily bent by his father's will: the one she'd always detested leaping out again: throwing her beliefs in her sister's face; laughing at them both. Still, it was better, Arthur told himself, better than the alternative. It was the best he could do.

"When this is the seat of power she's been guarding, the secret she's been holding onto!"

Roderick's eyes were fastened on Arthur, and the prince knew his father would not ask for clarification: he would not wish to admit to anyone that he did not see what Arthur was getting at. But Arthur would have to be careful in that, too. He couldn't let his father realize that Arthur knew he wasn't following.

"It's like a woman, isn't it? To try to manipulate you into destroying the very thing that gives her power over the Astairan people." He turned his gaze on the queen, then, found her expression contoured with rage...and confusion. "This is it, after all, isn't it? This is the reason they follow you? This place? That lost blasted sword! You blind them with symbols of power till they believe in you and nothing else! You must hate your people in truth: to wish further unrest on them, rather than cede to peace under someone else! You'd rather this place reduced to rubble, wouldn't you, than see its power put into the hands of your conqueror?"

Roderick's hand was heavy on Arthur's shoulder. He was behind him, and Arthur couldn't see his face. Was it ire? His clever father had seen the betrayal in him, and now his cruel wrath would fall upon Arthur's mother and brother and sister as well as himself! The hand was heavy enough. But it lingered, too. Was it encouragement, then, a kind of thanks for showing him...what was, in fact, a lie? A rotten son, indeed, and to both parents, it seemed. Arthur swallowed hard.

"Easy, Arthur," his father said. "We cannot fault her for trying. It can be no easy thing to see one's seat of power fall into another's hands for a second time, I am sure."

Arthur heaved a deep breath, pressing his eyes closed. It had worked. And then he heard Eilionora laughing again.

Roderick gestured and the ladies were led away. Arthur did not dare look at Aria. He had saved her sacred site for her, yes, but could she forgive him for the means? And did she know it had been his intention? And, god, he had betrayed his own honored father in so doing! Perhaps he deserved punishment, after all. And, he thought, he'd suffer it all gladly. God, what was becoming of him?

It was Arthur's turn to laugh. And putting his hands to his face, he did.

[forgottencormac]

OOC | Cormac & Aria

so i do think that cormac feels bad for the staffords, but i also think he tries to distance himself from them bc he is def drinking the roderick koolaid, but he's also def kind to them whenever he does see them, esp since eilia will be a queen someday (eilia in the bg somewhere: im already a queen, you dullard!) when she marries roderick klajdsfjkdf i do think he thinks that aria needs a good husband to help straighten her out esp bc i think he believes that bastards are inherently dishonest etc and if roderick's saying they're bastards, he's not gonna question that!!! lkjaslfkjskdjf but yeah he probs thinks she should be married off to alistair grey or someone like that and probs tries to set them up but is...frankly horrible at it so when he sees her he just talks a lot abt what a neat and sexy guy alistair grey is without, like, any context and its probably a disaster laksjdfdskjfkdjsf

[forgottenrian]

OOC | Rían & Aria

cousin!!!!! awkward meeting this way...jk jk but only bc they met years ago at the ~queensmoot~ where it was even MORE awkward to meet bc he was a ~25 year old getting his ass handed to him by his ~16 year old lil cousin, and getting all his life's hopes crushed under her lil heel in the process alskdjflkdsfj ;DDDDD

no, but this is all v complicated!!!!! i feel like rian is, in theory, an astairan EXPERT!!!!! he's studied every single detail of their culture, history, beliefs his entire life!!!!!! he lives and breathes this stuff!!!! but he's also never, EVER lived here until now and while he may be able to recite every astairan verse ever written, he says it with a varmont accent, and when he dances astairan dances, he does it with the structure and rigidity of instilled by a varmont dancing master, like...he really is in the weirdest position! he's like a scholar of an ancient religion -- you can ask him anything and he knows all the theory!!!!!!!! but he's never experienced any of it and, as a result, he gets a loT of it wrong -- lotsa book smarts, zero street smarts!

anyway, as a result, rian truly believes he'd be great for astaira and that he knows her backwards and forwards but!!! the truth is quite different!!!! and he doesn't really belong here, he doesn't belong in varmont, he doesn't belong ~anyway and he's only just finding that out

anyway, his feelings about the stafford girls are VERY complex!!!!!! on one hand, he was brought up w the ideals of chivalry and such and like!!!!! this is not how you treat ppl!!!!!! and also its a family embarrassment that his kin were declared bastards and he doesn't like that!!!!!! but he also resents them (esp eilia!!!!) for the whole ~queenship thing! he truly believes that he was astaira's best bet and look what happened!!!!!! ~he never would've lost astaira (but then again eilia never would've fed vital info to roderick!!!!!!)

but alsooooooo he threw in w roderick bc he believed what roderick was saying about strength and stability (and bc he wanted revenge shhhh) but then roderick started quite literally burning ppl!!!! and without trials too!!!!!! and so rian's just sat here quite literally going 'my god what have i done' but he sees no way to fix it save to just...keep going and alkjsdkljf SCREAM

[forgotteneabha]

OOC | Eabha & Aria

so, since eabha and eithne and eilia are all besties, im toying w the notion that eabha may have briefly served as one of eilia's ladies so that she wouldn't ~just see how her father rules, but also how eilia does and broaden her education that way! tbh i doubt it was a v long tenure there, probs a year tops, but yeah!!!

so im thinking that, in addition to seeing the staffords when they visited their summer home near hanthom (and i feel like the staffords and callearies probs all played together then!!!! <333333), eabha may have lived w them for awhile during that time so yeah!!!!

either way, eabha def thinks aria is all that and a bag of chips, and she has all kinds of hopes for her!!! she's also absolutely appalled at this whole bastardy claim and she's v like btw!!!! you are my princess!!!!! roderick may wish to change that but he never can!!!!! <3333333

[forgottenalaric]

ooc | Alaric & Aria

Alaric's feelings towards the Stafford girls is .... complicated!

Tbh, it has also shifted in the years since the conquest. At first, I think he thought that Eilia was kinda stupid not to just marry his brother?? It's not everyday that Roderick extends such an offer (despite how many wives he has lmao) and she's lucky to still have her life!! Not to mention, things in Astaira will likely be better with Roderick in charge.

But the longer he's been in Astaira, he realizes just what a good queen she'd been to them and he started to question everything he thought about how capable she'd been as a queen/how good of a ruler his brother really is??? Plus, he's gotten to know them a little better and he sees just how much they care about Astaira and how, even know, their people are still top of mind!

As far as how Alaric acts around them ... I feel like he's always been polite, but definitely v formal, a little gruff, and there was def an irritation that he tried (and failed) to hide. However, he has definitely softened towards them in the recent months and I think that he's shown this a little more with Aria (since he's developed some romantic feelings towards Eilia that he doesn't know what to do with!!) And like, I feel like he's started to let her get away with some things that he wouldn't have before?? Like even if it is just having a longer walk out in the courtyard or whatever?

But he'd be weird about it like if she asked, he'd be like "no, you know my orders! and if you think I'm going to bend the rules for you, you're wrong!" *proceeds to let her stay outside longer anyway, but doesn't acknowledge this at all*

[forgottenroderick]

OOC | Varmonts & Staffords

ok so this is...smth absolutely no one ever asked for but im trya work out my thoughts. so in the comment i just wrote, arthur wanted to address aria and i realized i had no idea what her title would be in his eyes bc, of course, it'd be whatever his dad told him it was skldjfskldjfdsf roderick out here having a stranglehold on everything he touches aksjdfksf but anyway!!!!

so!!!!! in general, when roderick conquers a nation, he executes their royalty and declares that ~he is now king/lord/prince/ruler of that place (i feel like atp all his titles listed would put even daenerys targaryen to shame ;D) and overall emperor of everything within his vast dominion etc

BUT!! astaira is both the largest and most rebellious land he's conquered so far and so he's treading a bit more carefully than usual. fortunately for him, its ruled by a woman, so his idea is to marry her and thus rule both by conquest and by marriage (and in future potentially by blood should their children succeed him) in order to help keep the ppl happy. this would mean ~not stripping the royals of their titles.

HOWEVER, while he's cool w letting the marriage further consolidate his claim to role, he doesn't wish it to be seen as LEGITIMIZING it. he wants it clear he rules in his own right and, out of his big hearted ways to his ppl or whatever, he chose to take the former ruler to wife so that her line may continue etc etc etc.

SO!! im thinking that what his plan is, is to remove eilia's title as queen, making her simply a princess of a royal line, and then when they marry re-crown her queen as well as empress and the lady wife vers of all of his various titles. so yeah!!! i think his initial plan was that all the staffords maintain their rank as princesses.

HOWEVER!! there is a fly in the ointment and her name is siobhan!!!! there's a missing princess out there and, having still her full royal titles isn't smth he wants out there if HE can't control it

SO!! nd this is NUTS!! but i think he's officially launched an investigation into the legitimacy of their parents' union to last however long it takes to bring in siobhan either dead or alive laksjdfkjlsdfkjsjfdsf so for the moment their legitimacy is in question and, therefore, whether or not they have any royal rights and dignities, legally speaking

i imagine their marriage was indeed legal hahaha and i doubt there's anything besides trumped up evidence against it, but its smth to keep things at least a lil off-kilter while there's a rogue princess out there doubtless stirring up the ppl and while eilia is refusing his hand

once siobhan is found and eilia agrees to marry him, the courts will rule in favor of a legitimate marriage having taken place, and the trumped up evidence will be found to have been fabricated, with those who forged these lies and falsehoods duly punished. now, what will be complicated is if eilia agrees to marry him before siobhan is found!!!! i think in that case, he'd produce 'evidence' that she died of some evidence w/o his superior doctors there to save her or whatever, while secretly continuing to search but ANYWAY atm he's banking on the idea that his v experienced bounty hunters will produce her, one way or the other, any moment now!!!! lakjsdfkjdsf

should siobhan appear and he prove unable to seize her, the court will rule their illegimacy but it'll be ok in the end bc his true love (lol) for eilionora his bride will trump these scandalous findings and he will showcase his goodness by marrying her anyway and STILL crowning her despite her being baseborn lakjsdfkjldsf so there you have it. obv, if she doesn't marry him, she'll remain a blasted bastard etc

as to my initial question of what their titles are while the court is pending, that's sort of...up to the individual. arthur will, of course, go w 'my lady' bc if his dad is choosing to question their legitimacy, he's not gonna question ~that hahaha but yeah nothing's been decided one way or another so there's neither a correct nor an incorrect way to do it in that respect since its all up in the air. 'lady' would, i'm guessing, be their title if they were found to be bastards bc they are, of course, still of royal blood and therefore noble, since in history that's usually how it went -- when elizabeth i was declared a bastrad she was still known as 'the lady elizabeth' etc, but idk how this world handles things like that, lizzy? but yeah as a result i went w 'my lady' in the comment but can def change it!!!!

TL;DR: roderick is worried about siobhan's royal authority being out in the world, so to help counter that im thinking he's launching a public investigation going as to whether or not the stafford girls are illegitimate, and therefore have any right to royal dignities and powers at all slkajfklsjfjd he also has a plan to deal w the fallout of this once things, inevitably, go entirely his way, one way or another ;D

EDIT:

omggggggg im thinking about it and realizing that he might even -- while everyone's gathered for the celebration of his daughter's bday but after that's all kinda done with -- have some astairan-born court official (whose family will be immediately after released from prison after the charges against them are weirdly found to have just...vanished huh but def don't think abt that) run in and breathlessly announce:

'OMG WE JUST FOUND THESE TROUBLING DOCS THAT PROVE THE LATE SO-CALLED QUEEN WASNT THE LATE KING OF ASTAIRA'S LEGIT WIFE AT ALL BC THE KING WAS ALREADY MARRIED (to some woman who either was still alive then but is now convneintly v dead, or else just got a v mysterious landfall out of nowhere and can somehow now afford jewels and palaces she never could before which isn't at all suspicious and we def shouldn't question that), AND OBV THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN PULL OFF POLYGAMY IS OUR LORD AND SAVIOR THE GOD-GIVEN GREAT EMPEROR'

and roderick will ofc be duly shocked and aPPaLLeD and proceed to harshly judge a man who (supposedly) took multiple brides ;D as he calls for a full formal investigation of the issue that'll drag on as long as he wants it to alksdfjkjsdf the announcement will b VERY dramatic lakjsdfakljdsj ;D

(in which case i'll go back and change arthur's mode of address to your highness bc she's not considered potentially illegitimate ~yet kajdfjklsdjf)

[wouldadepressedpersonmakethis]

rian stafford / richard armitage

rian means king -- his dad literally went for it!

rian's bro was domnhall's older brother who always thought he was gonna be king but then lost to his bro during the trials

always took it for granted that it was his birthright as the eldest to rule!

when he lost the trials, he took his family and left astaira and did not return until it was for his brother's funeral

took his boys to roderick's og country where they both grew up

rian with the intent that one day, he would return to astaira and reclaim the throne as he ws always meant to!!!

but fun fact, rian had never even been to this country

to quote the princess diaries 2: how can one rule the people, if one does not know the people?

it shouldn't have surprised anyone that rian lost to his cousin eilia in this

(spoiler alert - it surprised rian!!!)

angry!!!!! feels like he has no place in the world, tbh

returned to varmont's og country afterwards, in disgrace

his dad died soon afterwards

rian was out for revenge -- felt like astaira betrayed him and his family

helped roderick with the invasion and told him everything his dad had taught him that might be helpful

in return, roderick has placed him in charge of lorcan

it is far from the throne of astaira, but rian is pleased to be lord of one of the most impressive estates in all of astaira

does know the lore that there is a secret stronghold beneath the castle but has not been able to find it and the lorcan girls swear they know nothing about it (he's unconvinced)

determined that lord lorcan will NEVER return and take this from him

GARBHAN STAFFORD / david oakes

garbhan also feels as though he has no place in the world

he had been raised as his brother's ~spare~ and was also placed to face the trials as his father's "back up" but lbr, no one really believed that garbhan was ever any real competition for rian or eilia

doesn't think he is a good person, deep down

spends all of his time whoring and gambling and drinking and trying to live his best life!

but the truth is, he doesn't have any real friends and he's only loyal to his broter

(has a complicated relationship with rian, but don't be fooled, he loves him okay?)

rian takes EVERYTHING seriously and garbhan seems to think everything is a joke

will flirt with your girl!!

knows he's the guy to have fun with but ultimately craves some actual love and affection in his life?

but also knows that the girls he'd want to love him, never would because he's The Worst(Tm)

so instead of love, he finds comfort in material things and spends money like valentina

[forgottenamira]

OOC | Amira & Aria

ok so, like godfrey, i do think amira would like to see edmund marry a stafford! i think for amira, that'd ideally be eilia bc she's a queen in her own right so, even if roderick's still alive, that'd make edmund already a king (even if only jure uxoris) by the standards of the ppl, AND it'd keep roderick hmself from marrying eilia, which is smth amira really doesn't want lakjsflkjsdfj but i def think she feels aria would be a good runner up for her son!

roderick's gonna throw her plans a bit of a curveball w the question of bastardy, honestly, but idk that that'll entirely change her mind, esp bc godfrey's so adamant abt all the good this could do team edmund honestly hahaha and she knows he's got his fingers in the astairan locals pies so to speak w ciara etc hahaha so i do think she wants to extend the olive branch, but she also wants it clear she's not here to see eilia become yet another sister wife hahaha

so i do think she'd be careful in how she approaches aria, esp bc amira aint a trusting person, but i do think it's pr obv eilia doesn't wanna marry roderick and that astaira isn't too happy abt the conquest etc so i do think amira'd wanna set up a meeting to sort of be like 'how would you like to ally w house calainon, but not w roderick?' basically lkdsjfalksjdfjdf probs under the guise of tryna talk aria into why itd be a good idea for eilia to marry roderick, like amira did or whatever alkjsdflkjsdjfk

[forgottenciara]

ooc | Ciara & Eilionora

ciara on the dl thinks eilionora is pretty cool (women in power????! they don't have those where ciara's from ;D)

I do think that she did have a certain amount of respect for eilionora, before she even met her, just considering what she had managed to do (even though she lost to roderick in the end -- that doesn't mean much, especially at this point, many older and ~wiser~ men have done the same).

I also believe she would be a bit more sympathetic, in general, than perhaps her varmont cousins might be to eilia's situation? I feel like bartholomew has pretty much kept his kids back at the homestead in the ~fatherland~ (whatever that's called ha) and they didn't necessarily relocate/visit every new place that roderick has conquered. I feel like this is different because a) it is where their mom is from/godfrey's earldom is here/this will likely be ciara's new home, etc. etc. etc.

anyway, I feel like ciara is a little weirded out that they are all staying in the stafford's house basically and just acting like this is totally normal??? not to mention everything else that is going on w/ them like the disappearance of their sister and the conquering of their country!

ANYWAY, I do think that ciara would try to befriend eilionora and aria -- if only to show them some kindness (whether or not they bought that this was genuine idk) and then, later, ofc whatever relationship they may or may not have developed was further complicated by the fact that ciara is probably trying to gain her trust to later find out if she has any ties to this resistance or not ... until, she realizes that she actually really does like her as a person and really doesn't want to betray her trust like that???

I can also see where, one day, she might reveal to eilionora that she has ties to the resistance and possibly get a message to her. also if she ever hears ANY word about their missing sister, she would go straight to them w/ that (it doesn't matter which side she feels she's on that day haha)

[forgottenvalentina]

OOC | Valentina & Aria

ok so, like lizzy was saying, i def think valentina was tryna get cassimir and eilia together which alkjdsfkljdsf eilia def wasn't having it (tho she was polite abt it)! meanwhile, valentina was def tryna court the favor of all three sisters and constantly putting on big, elaborate spreads and parties for them at the malconaire estate (which probs further impoverished the malconaire household) to impress them and make them feel at home and like such a marriage would be a good idea!!!!!

now, tho, valentina's tune has v much changed and she's #teamvarmont all the way (wouldn't be surprised if she opened a postern gate and let them in or smth when she realized eilia/cassimir was never gonna happen alskdjflkjsdfkj), tryna make sonya into roderick's next wife and then get guin and cassimir together. now, she talks about how shamelessly eilia chased cassimir, but he, good soul that he is, wouldn't have a woman that he didn't love even if she was a queen -- which is all part of why he's the perfect match for guin despite her being a princess! (tbh i doubt roderick is super fond of this line bc ~he wants to marry eilia now ++ he'd never consent to cassimir/guin, but that's neither here nor there bc this tale isn't ~for him, its for guin alskfkljsdf)

anyway, this def all v much exposes her true face to aria ifit wasn't already obv to her hahaha but tbh i don't think that particularly worries valentina bc she sees her as powerless. however!! valentina, if none of the varmonts can be interested in any of her children, valentina ~does have a backup plan in which cassimir goes back to the original plans and marries one of the staffords while enacting a coup/revolution and re-taking astaira in their name, making him a king ~that way. in this case, valentina would def claim that she was just playing the long game and playing up any perceived rivalry in order to remove any suspicion and she ~would indeed be entirely #teamstafford atp bc ultimately she's just #teamvalentina and that means supporting whoever can get her the furthest alksdjfaalks jdfjkldsf so yeah!! that's valentina alkjsdflkjdsf sorry, aria dslkjfalksjdfk

[forgotteneilionora]

A Year in the LONG FORGOTTEN REALM favorite interaction: [ bastards of stafford ]

Eilia was correct, of course-- she was always correct. Roderick had taken the castle, taken the country, but the war had not ended. She herself had realized this only a few days previously when she'd been informed of the resistance, the rebellion that had formed in response to Roderick's rule.

Aria stared at her sister, wondering if she should tell her of everything Cillian had told her the night after Guinevere's Ball. Aria had been thinking of it for days, unsure of what she should tell Eilia. Would it be better that her sister not know, to be truly uninformed should the resistance be uncovered? It would be Eilia who she would normally speak of such things with, ask her advice on such matter...

[forgottenarthur]

OOC | Arthur's Personal Timeline

year 1237 – birth of bartholomew

year 1238

year 1239

year 1240 – birth of alistair

year 1241

year 1242

year 1243

year 1244

year 1245 – birth of roderick

year 1246

year 1247 -- birth of marian

year 1248 – birth of aleksander

year 1249 – birth of amira

year 1250

year 1251

year 1252

year 1253

year 1254

year 1255

year 1256 – birth of godfrey

year 1257

year 1258 -- birth of alaric, death of queen millicent in childbirth

year 1259

year 1260

year 1261 – birth of tristan

year 1262 – roderick secretly weds elaine causing a scandal as he was betrothed to another, death of king athaulf and prince euric, roderick becomes king, war breaks out w antilla thus inadvertently starting roderick's world conquest

year 1263 OC/1 AR – an assassination attempt nearly kills roderick after which he becomes significantly more brutal, surrender of antilla, roderick is crowned emperor alongside elaine, surrender of kolchis and meeting of roderick and amira, fighting breaks out with kvenheim

year 1264 OC/2 AR – birth of eoin, roderick officially reinstates the old ways and weds amira

year 1265 OC/3 AR – roderick weds marian

year 1266 OC /4 AR -- surrender of kvenheim, roderick invades vinetta

year 1267 OC/5 AR – aged 0 -- birth of guinevere, arthur, ciara, eilionora, death of bart’s wife, surrender of vinetta, roderick invades malakarta

year 1268 OC/6 AR – aged 1 -- birth of sebastian

year 1269 OC/7 AR – aged 2 -- birth of aria

year 1270 OC/8 AR – aged 3 -- birth of edmund, surrender of malakarta, roderick invades aarnu

year 1271 OC/9 AR – aged 4 -- birth of cassandra, siobhan, death of léna in childbirth

year 1272 OC/10 AR -- aged 5

year 1273 OC/11 AR -- aged 6 -- surrender of aarnu

year 1274 OC/12 AR -- aged 7 -- roderick invades argadara

year 1275 OC/13 AR -- aged 8

year 1276 OC/14 AR -- aged 9

year 1277 OC/15 AR -- aged 10 -- surrender of argadara, roderick invades xangadu

year 1278 OC/16 AR -- aged 11

year 1279 OC/17 AR -- aged 12

year 1280 OC/18 AR -- aged 13 -- surrender of xangadu, roderick invades aotepo

year 1281 OC/19 AR – aged 14 -- death of domnhall, eilia becomes queen

year 1282 OC/20 AR -- aged 15

year 1283 OC/21 AR -- aged 16 -- surrender of aotepo, roderick invades alytar

year 1284 OC/22 AR -- aged 17 -- arthur fights in his first true battles, arthur earns his mural crown

year 1285 OC/23 AR – aged 18 -- eilia comes of age, surrender of alytar, roderick invades affaraon, arthur is made commander of his own legions

year 1286 OC/24 AR -- aged 19

year 1287 OC/25 AR -- aged 20

year 1288 OC/26 AR -- aged 21 -- surrender of affaraon, roderick invades astaira

year 1289 OC/27 AR -- aged 22

year 1290 OC/28 AR -- aged 23 -- arthur takes kil-kennar, roderick gets bogged (heh) down in the fens

year 1291 OC/29 AR – aged 24 -- arthur beheads aine seeress of kil-kennar, roderick burns fiadh and the fens and begins the pyre walk, edmund takes malconaire from the riverbend, surrender of astaira, roderick proposes marriage to eilia, arthur arrives in the stafford citadel and takes up residence there

year 1292 OC/30 AR -- aged 25

year 1293 OC/31 AR – aged 26 -- guinevere's nameday celebration/ice ball and bastardization of the staffords, riots at the citadel, reprisal hangings and escaped convicts at lorcan, the present

ok so this is based on [ roderick's personal timeline ] which may have errors in it, etc, but assuming (risky! hahaha) that it is roughly accurate, then i can now talk a bit more abt arthur's early experiences which!!!! yayyy!!!!

so, most ppl begin to have their first memories, "Humans can be primed and implicitly trained earlier before they can remember facts or autobiographical events. Adults can generally recall events from 3–4 years old, with those that have primarily experiential memories beginning around 4.7 years old," with memories remaining largely spotty until about age 7. taking this into consideration, arthur's first memories outside of O.V.N. are likely of aarnu, but argadara likely forms the greatest basis of his childhood memories (not our golden boy starting his life in a desert idk why that's so funny klafklsdjfksdjf ig its bc he's like 'arghh! this darn sun won't stop burning!' -- bc lbr that boy has v fair skin! that is NOT his ideal environment! klasdjfklsdjf -- and its legit his family crest on mom's side oops alksjdflkjsdf grandpa *charles dance voice* like 'good, you're learning the power of the sun early' probs arthur: '...thanks grandpa').

but argadara is himalaya-esque mountains!!!! and now im getting emo abt him gazing up at the spine of stars as a lil kid bc of reasons SOB

not to be outdone by his son (as ever), roderick probs had his kids wait till 17 to do any real fighting in war but, not to be embarrassed by his kids doing ~less either (also as ever!), arthur as the oldest boy probs ~did get tossed into the field at 17, so his first taste of war was probs in alytar (cue valentina screaming) also im looking at the timeline here and eilia came of age the next year...arthur to eilia: 'ive been on the battlefield conquering nations longer than you've been solo ruling!' eilia: 'why are you saying that like its a boast??' smdh

i imagine arthur did shadow his dad and/or alaric frankly from childhood, and as he got older probs acted as an aide de campe/junior advisor sort, or whatever, to train him up in strategy etc, to them for a long time before he was acting as his own independent general tho, and probs saw his first battles as one of their aides etc, but i def see him having distinguished himself as soon as he ~did. he might have even won his mural crown (which marks him as the first man into the breach in a siege conflict, which is both stupid and brave, so exactly on brand for arthur ldksajfklsdjf)

i imagine this mural crown achiement took place when the chips were down, and arthur rallied everyone and leapt in, himself. i think this bc roderick frankly wouldn't have let him do smth that dumb if he'd had his eye on him, so smth big had to be happening. arthur stopping a route and turning it into a charge feels like just the thing, so im thinking that roderick took an arrow or smth and. as down. the troops were instantly terrified bc their god-emperor just fell off his horse, so arthur leapt in and took charge. i think roderick must have been injured bc he's generally pr proud of arthur for this and awarded him a mural crown, etc, so he had to feel that ~he wasn't being shown up by a 17yo! so yeah

i def think arthur got a parade and it was a biggg deal, and marian's faction was probs lauded by roderick for quite awhile over this, etc., roderick named arthur lord of whatever city/county they conquered that day, even tho roderick himself had first lain the siege (an act of ~almost humility from roderick?????? whaaaaaaaat asdlfkjklsdjf he saw this as a teaching moment as well as ~his glory bc that's ~his kid -- or so he thinks ;D -- and ~he clearly taught him well so...not so humble after all tbqh but yeah he made roderick proud and roderick likes feeling proud), all 'remember this day, my son. today, you've earned what you have received' and honestly i feel like the glory and the city chanting his name and throwing rose petals at his feet and just everything coming up arthur but most of all, his parents' undinted and ~united pride and happiness in and for and w him????? i think this was a suuuper big deal to him!!!!!! it felt like the sun was shining just for him -- it was everything he'd ever wanted!!!!! it proved that he ~could have it all!!!! he's def had other moments like that since but lbr he's always lowkey ~still chasing that high ngl!!!!

anyway, bc of all that, i imagine arthur's first independent command came in the affaraon campaign, and he's been at it ever since

[forgottenrian]

OOC | Rían & Alaric

rian wants ur good opinion!!!!! pls rec him to be king stewart of astaira and/or to marry guin!!!!!!!! failing that, rian ~will seek rebellion...you've been warned alksdjfkljdsfkjdsf

no but rian is at once v conscious that he needs to network/get ppl's good opinions in order to succeed but he's also TERRIBLE at those things and SUPER proud and thinks its beneath him and its all just...a huuuuuge mess i swearrr so basically he's got this push/pull in his own psyche abt how to interact w alaric and the rest of the varmonts, bc he will never be a suck-up or a yes man!!!!! but his whole worldview is also shaped around honor demanding respect towards kings and so he at the same time can't question roderick!!!! but that's all he's been doing lately bc burning ppl and esp burning them w/o trial and burning them w/o trial bc of smth they can't even control is obv just...objectively heinous!!!!!!! and, like, everything rian does for the varmonts comes out of his sense of justice/duty/doing the right thing and so its right to listen to roderick!!!!!! but also its simultaneously wrong to listen to roderick!!!!! and basically its all just a loT

sooooo yeah...good luck w all that, rian!!!!! kldsajfklj sdkfjkdsjf

ANYWAY!!!! bc of all of that, i think he's generally just like...stalwart w them???? he tries to be charming (i don't think he's good at this! laksjdfkljdsf), he tries to be dutiful with them (he ~is good at this!), he tries to be fair w them (he is struggling at this!) and yeah i think it all boils into smth that is frankly probably kinda off-putting and you'd probs think he's just being an ass, but he's actually trying really hard alksdjfkljdsfj

HERE'S WHERE I DEVIATE TO TALK ABT RODERICK FOR AWHILE (i swear its relevant!!!)

honestly, just to let you know what roderick's thinking, bc i imagine alaric is up on this, roderick felt that justice called for rian to be rewarded for his leal service. that's now been done!!! in general, he'd now forget abt him EXCEPT that roderick is suuuuper into ~bloodlines (as we all know) AND into male primogeniture (as we ~also know hahah), so (w the caveat that it is all now roderick's via right of conquest which roderick obv feels trumps any other right bc its roderick's right [lil side note that if someone were to sweep in and conquer any of his countries out from under him, he would NOT feel the same way abt it alksjdfkldsfjk]!!!!!!! lkajsdfkldjsf) he ~also feels that rian was the rightful king of astaira and that both makes him 1) dangerous and 2) a great potential weapon to wield against the astairan public if they don't behave!!!!!

so what does ~that mean? basically, roderick trusts him only abt as far as he can throw him!! he ~does def underestimate him bc he views him as a lackey and, bc he's bad at presenting him, doesn't really think he has any further ambitions than carving out a piece of astaira for himself

HOWEVER, he also believes that everyone else is as obsessed w bloodlines as ~roderick is, so he believes there's the potential that astairans would rise for rian just bc he's ~the rightful stafford (again, his worldview...the election thing, the women in power thing...baffling)~ and bc they don't like roderick v much (gee, i wonder why ;D) they might rally around him for rebellion whether rian likes it or not

however!!!! roderick isn't ~stupid and he does see that, for whatever reason he can't understand, they're clearly more into eilia as a ruler than rian, so he def feels that, esp given that siobhan's out there on the loose, rian is a lil tool sitting in his back pocket that he could use to basically split the rebellion in two, and thus make it easier to ride roughshod over them all dslkjfakjdsf tbh idk that that would go the way he thinks HAHAHAH but it ~is smth he believes would work

as a result, roderick's policy, re: rian is basically to keep him happy by giving him smth (he thinks rian probs doesn't want more than lorcan, HA!) but to keep a lowkey eye on him but not worry abt it too much bc he thinks he just has to say 'jump' and rian will say 'how high'

FINALLY, as i mentioned, he ~does think rian might be a good husband for cassandra, bc his is the blood of kings (that bloodline obsession...never ends...) etc, but not good enough for guin (i legit have no idea what ~would be good enough for her???? realistically, probs no one tbqh!!!!!!!)

END RODERICK RANT!!!!!!!

obv rian knows none of that!!! but yeah!!!!

also i think you mentioned...somewhere that alaric might be helping explore lorcan for its passageways, etc, which i feel like probs means these two would work closely together? in which case, since i imagine that efforts being going from the beginning, these two might actually know e/o a lil better than i was initially thinking? idk, what're your thoughts? hahah

[forgotteneabha]

OOC | Eabha & Percy

ok so im guessing??? that since the callearies played w the malconaires and lorcans as kids, these two grew up together? eabha def thinks he's a cool dude, and she def asks after the ~true staffords (rian can suck it!) whenever she sees him, and is really grateful that he's still there where he can look in on them from time to time, bc she really worries that one day they're gonna wake up and eilia and aria will have suddenly and unexpectatedly have contracted a terrible illness and died during the night!!!! and it def wasn't poison!!!! it was just suspiciously ~like poison but it was def just an illnesss!!!!!! (etc) but yeah knowing that there're loyal astairans still there is a comforting thought!!! not that percy could do much if roderick ~did decide to kill the staffords but still! its smth!

anyway!! i think eabha can really relate to percy re: outwardly chill but much more turbulent than you'd think underneath it all! still waters running deep and all that! tbh idk how much they realistically see of each other -- are the callearies ~allowed outside of lorcan, btw, or do they have to ~sneak out any time they wanna leave?

[forgottenalaric]

ooc | Alaric & Arthur

Okay, but I have this headcannon that Alaric has always looked out for Arthur, especially??? Like Bartholomew took a special interest in Sebastian and Edmund has Godfrey, and I think that Arthur has Alaric???

Alaric is not the best with handling ~emotions~ and he's probs not always the best when it comes to advise (alaric is big on repressing things!!!) but he's always been there for arthur and does his best if/when arthur ever comes to him for anything, y'know?

I DO think that Alaric is an excellent fighter / rider / just generally pretty athletic and I think he could have been someone who had a lot of hands on practice time w/ Arthur and just invested a lot in him? ngl, I also think that Alaric always assumed that Roderick's crown would go to Arthur and he was def surprised when it started to be a competition!!

I think he started out giving Arthur attention to make sure that he is the most prepared he can be, but now I think he's firmly in camp Arthur!! (ngl I think that he had some sexist views -- that are now being challenged thanks to eilia -- which kept him away from guin and he does NOT trust amira, which keeps him away from edmund)

(also crying thinking about this uncle/nephew duo and their failed attempts to land the stafford girls alksjflsajflsfj)