forum I'm alive and not sure for how long (MATURE + CLOSED)

Started September 09, 2023 by @Desvelarse pets

tune

(sorry about that! Thursday is my busy day)

The next morning brought preparation in the streets of Konrack. The royals were venturing out of the Palace of Rime to mingle with their subjects. It was the Queen-Mother's birthday, and while she didn't want a huge party, she did, like Valiel, enjoy being among the people.

King Rhethiak was an imposing figure, and his people respected him. He was loved in many sections of the Hinterlands, due in large part to the great defenses he had lead over the years. His father had died when Rhethiak was young, and the crown had passed to him. His mother had grieved so deeply, she hadn't been able to continue to reign in any capacity.
The Clans, despite seeing a chance to grab power, had largely respected the Queen-Mother's grief, and left her alone. After some years had passed, she had returned to public light, and was a beloved figure in her own right.

So it was with a mix of awe, admiration, and jealousy that the people of Konrack prepared their shops and booths to be visited by Royals. The taverns stocked their best wines and liquors, the performing groups made sure they were ready for their most impressive shows, and the residential areas even decorated their homes a bit.

At noon, a trumpet fanfare rang out, and the massive gates to the Palace of Rime swung open. A cadre of guards marched out, followed by King Rhethiak and Queen Lluth. A few more guards followed them, and then Princess Valiel could be seen walking with her grandmother, Queen-Mother Nuriam. Another cadre of guards followed them as they made their way slowly through the city.

The Queen-Mother was free with her gold and her compliments, buying trinkets and smiling genuinely as the people showered her with congratulations on reaching 1025 years of age. Valiel stayed with her grandmother, enjoying the day. She knew her parents were likely being more regal, though no less kind. Grandmother could laugh with the people, though, and that was what Valiel liked.

They passed Marla's, and Valiel couldn't help but think about Thatcher. She hoped things were going ok for him. If she saw him, she wouldn't be able to ask,as he wouldn't necessarily recognize her. This form was very different from the one she'd been using yesterday when she met him.
Still. In her head, she wished him luck.

Thatcher was woken up early due to the festivities. He had no clue that was to happen, but he would be prepared none the less. He had a quick shower, scrubbing himself to make him look presentable in the hopes he would run into the princess again. He got out and dried off after around ten minutes. After getting out, he pondered on what to wear. He didn’t bring much with him, and only had a couple of outfits to choose from. Eventually, he decided on a black button down, black slacks, a nicer pair of black leather shoes, and a long black coat.

Thatcher was ready to go at this point. He called Nike’s name, waking her up from where she had been snoring at the end of the large bed. She got up, stretching out dramatically before hopping off the bed and going to Thatcher’s side. They made their way out of the room, heading down the steps and out the door, not wanting to get caught talking to anyone.

Nike whined, and he sighed, guessing he would have to wait to search for the princess. Nike was clearly hungry. He took a short walk away from the crowds, closer to where he came into the city yesterday. “Go on, but meet me back at the tavern,” he told the hound, and she bounded off to find something to eat.

With no one in sight, Thatcher turned into a murder of crows. They took flight, eventually landing in a tree close to the tavern. Nike eventually joined him, sitting at the base of the tree alone.

When the princess arrived, he was extremely confused. That wasn’t the woman he had met yesterday. Had he mistaken the woman from yesterday for the princess? He supposed so. Nike, on the other hand, seemed to know. While she couldn’t communicate that to Thatcher, she could tell the scents were the same, and her head tilted a tad as she started Valiel down. It was strange to see Nike there alone, Thatcher seemingly no where to be seen. Nike let out a bark, seemingly wanting the princess to come over to her.

Valiel had every intention of just walking past, but her Grandmother turned at the bark. She noted the dog, its darker form laid bare to her eyes. It didn't matter in the least to the Queen Mother, who stepped out of the procession to move towards the barking hellhound.
"Why, we haven't had one of your kind in our frozen part of the world in quite a while!" The older Skin-changer's voice was gentle, and had all the qualities of a grandma you could want.
Valiel stepped over with her, the guards tailing them both. "This is Nike, Grandmother. She's the delightful companion to a gentleman I met yesterday. His name is Thatcher, and he's some kind of travelling apprentice mortician." Valiel reached forward slowly, to see if Nike would let her rub her ears.
The Queen-Mother chuckled quietly. "A hellhound, companion to a mortician. What a perfect match." She gave Nike a smile, before turning and getting back in line with the rest of the procession. "Come, Valiel. We'll have to come back and meet your friend sometime when he's around."
The Princess nodded, turning to head back into the procession.

Nike’s tail whipped back and forth happily at the attention she received. Her tongue hung from her mouth as she panted, allowed Valiel to scratch at her ears. She seemed to enjoy it, pressing her head closer to Valiel’s hand, seemingly asking for more. When they began to walk away, she gave another bark, seeming to acknowledge their departure.

Thatcher, on the other hand, was left very confused. The princess knew about him, but he didn’t recognize her. The only person he had spoken to about being a mortician was the woman from the previous night, but that was not the princess. Did she have a sister that he didn’t know about?

Another realization hit him. The women knew Nike was a hellhound- meaning that they were not human. Nike looked up at the murder of crows, head tilted. She almost seemed to say ‘see? I was trying to tell you something was going on.’ Thatcher would have to look into his texts on nonhuman species. This reap just got a whole lot more difficult.

Genus and Species:

3rd ed.
Updated by Rixtus the Researcher

Chapter 14: Shape-shifters:

Section 17:
Skin-changers: _{Selected Excerpts}

Not much is known about the Northern Hinterlands Skin-changer. They have been a largely secretive people since time immemorial, and have only recently submitted some slight knowledge of their species to the scientific community. They are one of the recent additions to this edition.

Skin-changers are born an amorphous blob shape, and take on the form of the first creature they see as their default form. The Northern Hinterlands ruling family, Clan Galcan, has chosen to default to humanoid for generations now. This has largely helped them fit in with their humanoid neighbors to the south.

A Skin-changer is able to change its shape and size from birth, and adolescents often have trouble controlling this ability. In the stage where the brain is developing, adolescents may change shape as many as 3 or 4 times in an hour.

The forms a Skin-changer may take are limited only by their knowledge of the form, as well as their energy and metabolic rate. An adult Skin-changer takes on the strength and speed of the form it takes, and requires the enery to sustain those features.

Of note, Skin-changers are born with inherent magic beyond their shape-shifting abilities. The origin of this magic is undocumented, but every child is born with an innate alignment to what they call the Light and the Dark. What those terms mean outside of their culture is not certain at this time.

Their shape-shifting abilities, combined with innate magic not understood on a wide level, make Skin-changers formidable foes. Approach with caution.

(Sorry for the delay, been dead tired from work LOL. Dogs are exhausting)

Thatcher had retreated to a nearby library shortly after the crowds had dispersed. He found every text he could detailing nonhuman creatures, ending up with a decent stack of books to comb through. He had been at the library for close to two hours by the time that he was finally finding something that could be useful to him. Skin-changers. A type of creature that was similar to a shapeshifter of sorts. He assumed they may come from the same distant family, and that it may be a regional species of the group. They could take the shape of close to anything, from what he read. The notable difference from them and most other shapeshifters was that they were able to do more than shapeshift. They had enhanced magical abilities, relating to light and dark. To his annoyance, there was not much information on what those abilities would be. He had no idea what to expect now.

Thatcher shut the book in front of him, rubbing his palms over his face in an annoyed manner. He wondered if the Council had been aware that his target was not only inhuman, but also lacking information. He had no idea how to kill the target now, much less of his scythe would even work. That, and the fact that his target could be absolutely anyone at any time. The princess could easily disguise herself, and he would be none the wiser. He looked down at Nike, who was currently sleeping on his feet under the table he was sat at. Maybe Nike would come in hand at this time. She seemed to know who the princess was despite her changing form. Maybe Valiel's scent wasn't able to change? That was a strong assumption that could be proven false, but it was the only thing he had to go off of at the moment.

(youre fine. im usually quiet over the weekend anyway)

Skin-changers were able to change their smell, but luckily for Thatcher, Valiel didn't usually go to all that trouble. It was an extra step and took extra energy, and she just usually didn't have the time for it.
Her energy tended to be taken up with other things. Like healing.
The people of the Hinteralands knew that King Rhethiak was a powerful figure who'd fought many battles. They all knew he was a hard man, with steel in his spine and ice in his veins when it came to war.
What they weren't as aware of was how much of that terror he brought off the battlefield and into his home. His wife and children could attest to the fact that he ruled the Palace of Rime similar to how he ruled his army. You either got in line with his plans, or you wound up hurt, maybe dead.

He hadn't always been this way. Valiel could remember a time when her father had been soft with her. He'd been a gentle soul, kind to those he loved. But an assassination attempt on her mother had changed everything.
A rival clan had tried to get at the royal house. They had successfully seduced the lovely queen into an affair, and then attempted to kill her in an extremely vulnerable moment. Rhethiak had caught them, at the last second, and his wrath had been terrible. The remnant of that Clan had been only little children, who were just now beginning to come to adulthood. He'd made sure the Clan wouldn't challenge him again.
But his trust in his wife, and his sense of security in his own home, had been shattered. Rhethiak became resentful and angry, and his hypervigilance meant that if you went against his decrees, you were likely to get beaten.
This included things like staying away from commoners, not coddling your little brother, and preparing to marry the suitor Father had picked…
Which was why Valiel spent a lot of energy on healing. Rhethiak's beatings were not easy to shake off.

Take tonight, for instance. After a successful procession, Rhethiak had been in a good mood. They'd come home and had a feast as a celebration of the Queen-Mother. She didn't like huge parties, so it had been relatively small, with only her friends and some other nobles invited. This included Phyros, the son of a high ranking noble and Rhethiak's choice for Valiel's husband.
She'd done her best to be polite, but her clear disdain for Phyros was only mildly veiled by her manners. Things had gone well, until her father had drunk just little too much.
There had been music, and the king had demanded they dance. Phyros had done his best to pull her in close, and Valiel was unhappy with it. She hadn't stood as close to him as he'd clearly wanted, and by the time it was over, her father was angry.
His snarl had cleared the room of guests, who'd quickly excused themselves, thanked the royals for a delightful evening, and left in a hurry.
The Queen and the Queen-Mother had tried to calm him, but Valiel knew it wouldn't work. The Palace of Rime echoed with his shouts as he told them to leave him alone, and then the lecture began.
The long lecture on his authority and his choices and how he looked out for Valiel and wanted the best for her was the same as it always was. And Valiel had learned she could handle the lecture.
It was what always came towards the end of the lecture that made her tremble in fear.

So as she sat now, late at night, crying quietly in her room and slowly using the Light to heal the deep bruises, Valiel's mind strayed to other things. She thought of Thatcher, and what it would be like to travel. What it must be like to be free to go other places.

She dreamed of flying away that night.
…….

The next morning, a decree went out. Heralds strode through the streets, proclaiming the King's words, and nailing up notices on posts and bulletin boards throughout the city.

"Clan Galcan announces the marriage of Princess Valiel to Archduke Phyros of Clan Tolara! The wedding will be at the end of this week, with feasts at the Palace of Rime to celebrate! Every night between now and then, you, the people of Konrack, are invited to the Palace for feasting and celebration! Bring food, bring gifts, or even just bring yourself and your encouragement!"

And so the people prepared, many with joy and excitement, for 3 days of partying.

(can i join ^^)

(Sorry but no, that’s on me for not changing the topic to say that it’s closed and a OxO LOL)

Thatcher had spent the next few mornings and nights preparing himself. Things were beginning to frown more complicated. Not only because of the realization his kill was not human, but because she was to be married off sometime in the near future. He would have to get past a husband, and he wondered if the man was the same species as Valiel or not.

The streets were busy when Thatcher stepped out of the tavern. His jaw clenched as he took a look around, opting to head for the marketplace where he last saw Valiel. He hadn’t seen her since the celebration a couple of days ago, and was worried he would have to break into the kingdom so soon. Nike was growing restless as well. He knew she was hungry, and it was making her a bit more moody. By that point, she was quick to nip at people who thought they could pet her without asking him first. He didn’t blame her, he wouldn’t want a stranger touching him either.

Upon arriving at the marketplace, he walked around, scanning the crowds for a familiar face. After a moment, he didn’t know why he bothered. Valiel could have been anyone or anything. His eyes shifted away and down to Nike, looking to see if she had any reaction to any scents around her.