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  • Beqanna

    COTY

    Assailant -- Year 226

    QOTY

    "But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura


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    [private]  seeking no secrets
    #1

    sometimes we want what we want --
        -- even if we know it’s going to kill us.

    She comes to the Isle first. Leilan is the most promising of those she’d encountered in the battle, and though there are other trips to be made, she must start somewhere. She could, technically, be in two places at once. But it was hard to stretch oneself so thin and still be effective, and so she does not try. Change takes time, and Straia, if nothing else, has always been a patient creature.

    Wait for the opportune moment, yes? It is what she taught all of her children, and such a motto in life has served her well.

    Straia goes only so far as the border of the land, for she has no need to be anything but respectful. She is invisible to all but Lelian, having no real interest in being accosted by those that wish to scream at her, or those that simply are playing at politics. Not that she cannot deal with such things in the appropriate time, but it is not why she is here, and she does not feel inclined to waste her time either. After all, there are many things she needs to do.

    Her magic reaches out, hunting for Leilan, tapping on his mind gently. She seeks no entry or secrets, but merely lets him know she is here.

    -- straia

    the raven queen



    @[Leilan]

    Use of mild power playing is allowed; no injuries without permission

    Reply
    #2
    Leilan
    She's quick, and he supposes he's glad that she picked him first. Or, second, if one considers Pangea first. Regardless - patience just never was a strong suit of his, and had she taken years, he certainly would have lost interest in her personally.

    He walks through the western forest, shrouded in the darkness that has clung to him since he first met Straia, or rather what's left of said forest on the Isle. Alone, because he likes to be at times; it is here he retreats to to avoid being asked a hundred thousand questions regarding politics. A Forest of Burnt Sticks, he'd dubbed it, and nobody had bothered to correct him. It's not entirely true any more, though. Castile's burning has been some years ago, and new sprouts have come up. It's mostly mosses and shrooms that benefit from the burning however, and before any tree regrows in full, it'll be twice that time. The rest of the cold island of the north seems to have benefited from the ashes, the grasses growing more thick and sturdy (and more tasteless than before). Nerine's meadows will do the same, he has no doubt.

    The war, if it could be called that with mostly children running a place rampant, had indeed been rather pointless, but that was the nature of the one who'd started it. Nerine's foliage would regrow, and due to both himself and Heartfire not exploding parts of Nerine but of Pangea, there was only Beryl's Beach to patch up. Later.

    His only true concern is the traceless departure of Brennen.

    He moves with slow determination when she taps on his mind politely, dropping whatever part of the darkness that surrounded him earlier in the forest when he joins her. "Straia. Fancy a walk?" Most of his visitors do, giving their muscles the exercise they need to keep warm, and Leilan isn't particularly interested in remaining on the beach through all of their conversation. It could be short, pending her demands being reasonable or not, or might take longer than he likes to stand still in the same place. At any rate, perhaps she likes to see the tree.
    I am the dragon
    and you call me insane

    Image commissioned by Vanilla, made by AshesDrawn on DA


    @[Straia]
    Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
    |
    Reply
    #3

    sometimes we want what we want --
        -- even if we know it’s going to kill us.

    She is patient, but not slow. There’s an important distinction between the two. Patience means only that one must wait for the opportunity to arise. To be slow, however, when such opportunity presents itself is to miss out on all that could be accomplished. She will wait, but she will not tarry.

    It does not take long for Leilan to find her, and she nods at his question, falling into step beside him. She does not need to walk to keep warm, for the outside world does not affect her unless she lets it. Still, she certainly does not mind a stroll through the Isle, the ability to see in person more of this new Beqanna.

    ”What do you know of the old Beqanna?” she asks, one ear pricked in his direction though her eyes travel over the still recovering Isle. She could fix it, but she isn’t sure that is the best use of her magic. Perhaps...There are hints of the old Beqanna though, particularly here. She can see the Tundra in it’s makings, though she had admittedly never been impressed with the brothers of the Tundra in general. They had simply been so very...quiet.

    -- straia

    the raven queen



    @[Leilan]

    Use of mild power playing is allowed; no injuries without permission

    Reply
    #4
    Leilan
    Perhaps one day, there might be a good opportunity to discuss philosophical topics with an immortal - older than he, at any rate, one who has seen more. For now, it is not the possible makeup of the universe, nor the past they mean to discuss. It is what is and what could be, that intrigues them.

    For the future to exist though, the present is important. And to understand the present, knowledge of the past is necessary - if only to understand where which flaw lies. She asks about such history, and he nods a little. "I was born a Jungle Prince." he tells her casually. The remark itself might be interpret as a surface thought, but he thinks she is able to dive deeper with the small hint. Many things were wrong with where he grew up in, he thinks - the title, the Jungle, the Amazons. Some things may have been better, but he never was able to profit from it. If he recalls correctly, the brotherhood had been silent then.

    "I started wandering around from a young age, but not so much in Beqanna itself. I haven't seen the Reckoning with my own eyes; only what was left of it when I returned. Taiga was the Burnt Forest then." He smiles a little, finding the irony in that fact. All three northern lands had been burned down by now; none of those fires had changed the hearts of the land's inhabitants. Taiga was still the land of the free, Nerine still the land of the proud and stubborn women, the Isle still the closest thing to what once may have been called Tundra, even if he hadn't intended it to be. He starts to wonder if perhaps the landscapes all attracted their own kind of people. That whatever they want to change now, might prove to be futile in the future.

    Still, he doesn't see much harm in trying - provided that the ones who'd like to keep going as they would, still had a place for it, of course. It's no use making something if it immediately inspires another to burn the new thing to the ground. A subtle approach is what lasts in the long run.

    No-one ever expects Leilan to be subtle, or even to understand it, he supposes. But then, he'd never conformed to any rules and expectations anyway; he never lets another tell him what to do and what not to do. Why should this time be different?
    I am the dragon
    and you call me insane

    Image commissioned by Vanilla, made by AshesDrawn on DA


    @[Straia]
    Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
    |
    Reply
    #5

    sometimes we want what we want --
        -- even if we know it’s going to kill us.

    ”There was a time when the Amazons would never have recognized a Prince.” The Amazonian women had, to a small extent, accepted men into their ranks even in her time. But still, she does not recall princes. ”Though still, they always stood for something. They were always led by powerful women. What do the kingdoms of this Beqanna stand for?” It seemed to her, anyway, that it was dictated so much by the whims of the ruler. Not that there wasn’t some truth to that always, but one always knew the type of horse you would find in the Gates versus the Chamber. That much she suspects he will understand.

    She follows his lead as they wind through the cold tundra. It is much like the Tundra she knew in that regard, but still, the land felt almost dead beneath her feet. There had been life - both magical and equine - in Beqanna once. ”I do not think that Beqanna should be remade exactly in it’s old image. But I believe this current one has two problems. The first, that the equines of this world are spread vastly too thin. There are too many lands and for what? They are not needed.” Not that anyone would like the idea of losing their home, but still, perhaps the lands they did not keep as homelands could serve a different purpose instead. Straia had a few ideas on that particular subject already.

    “And the second is that these kingdoms stand for nothing. Though perhaps one ruler tries to make something, and perhaps it even persists for a generation or two, it will crumble. No one else knows what those ideals are - not as we once all knew. I think the ideals that we choose now could be different than ones before though. Tell me, what is it you’d want to see?” Then she falls silent, letting him add any of his own ideas. After all, even those who may not know the old Beqanna likely have for how this one could be made better.

    -- straia

    the raven queen



    @[Leilan]

    Use of mild power playing is allowed; no injuries without permission

    Reply
    #6
    Leilan
    Maybe his automatic assumptions that magicians invade the minds of those they meet (the few he's met, did so anyway) had him miscalculate Straia. Or maybe she'd just missed out on the little joke he made on himself; regardless, he outs a short, humourless laugh. "They never have." He confirms. Not even Scorch had been able to change that. Perhaps the briefest of moments, his eyes flash a little of the pent-up hurt that had caused this from such a young age, but his gaze is steely, icy as usual, when she continues to mull over the Amazons. Stood for something. "Apart from exclusivity, you mean?" he interjects roughly. Nerine had been led by powerful women - his niece one of the latest - but they hadn't shunned their husbands and sons, at least. Where had it brought them, though? Here - it had brought them here, targeted for burning. That he should be the legacy of the Amazons is a joke. More likely, they'd claim it had ended with Heartfire and they had good enough reason.

    He mulls over her question about the kingdoms for a time, unable to answer before she follows up with her theories. To some degree, he can follow, to another, he does not agree. "I've yet to see the first Pangean spending their life tending gardens or healing any that are not their own. I've yet to see a Northerner bow to the first threat made at them." He looks sideways with the last example, wondering how it is that she has concluded they never stood for anything. They were very different ideals than the ones before, of course - but no horse was ever truly "good" or "bad", or whatever one wanted to call that. Perhaps she had been a little old-fashioned in her assessing of the lands, is all. The changes had been gradual, but if you spent decades in the Afterlife, well - it could still be a culture shock. It had been different for him too, but he had already seen what it was like Beyond by that point. Better for him at the time, he dares think.

    "The concept of territories, though... many lands are too quiet." he nods. Take Loess - none of it's Territories had ever made a name for themselves, be that because they didn’t want to or weren’t capable he doesn’t know. Neither had the Resort, or Hyaline once it had stopped being a kingdom. Ischia did stand for something, but wasn't allowed kingdom status because it was part of Tephra. To Leilan’s assessment, the concept of territories didn't quite work the way they were intended to. "I must say that I personally appreciate the change of scenery Taiga provides me with, though." He nods vaguely to the ashen forest in the west, should she need the why (he doesn't really think she does). He likes Taiga, and Nerine in some ways. Lands with one climate, well, he begs to differ - but on the other hoof, if all of them always provided for everything, then there were most certainly far too many. Yet on the concept of borders... well, if some were combined into a slightly larger, more diverse kingdom, the world wouldn't be any lesser for it. In fact, that's not too different from what Leilan, Neverwhere, Lilliana en Izora had recently started; their borders only existed to mark a different landscape, not to mark a different sort of rule.

    Her question though - her real question - is a dangerous one to answer on his own. "Perhaps," he starts light-toned as they reach the heart-shaped lake (a blue flame lighting up a tree in the distance, the light dancing on the mirror-still lake's surface), "you shouldn't ask that to an ice dragon when he's surrounded by his element, lest he wishes for a world of snow and cold, with the occasional prey to hunt." He grins at her, his teeth not exactly all horse-teeth in the moment, before his eyes dart away towards the reflective lake. What he wants personally is something he already has. What he wants instead, is for others. He told Lilli before, even if right now she might not believe he had her best interests at heart sometimes. "In all seriousness though; the North isn't made for changes, especially not if they're introduced by outsiders," he starts, frowning once towards the distant tree and then looks back to her. ”But I do think the ability to adapt and change is a useful one, if not necessary at times. Tell me, why should we limit capabilities to one kingdom? Wouldn’t you rather change all of Beqanna at once?” he wonders aloud. Perhaps be misunderstood her intentions, but why not make use of the opportunity? Not all of what was, was better than it is now; every design has it’s flaws. But any new designs should not be half-done, at the very least. If everyone has ideas to share and they could in fact reinvent, well - why not do it all?

    Or would that be too much for even her growing group of magicians, he muses. Would they have to appeal to the fae? He can’t say he has the best relationship with them - has taunted them as much as he pleased them, he reckons.

    It’s a long shot at any rate - they’d best dream bigger.
    I am the dragon
    and you call me insane

    Image commissioned by Vanilla, made by AshesDrawn on DA


    @[Straia] I may have started rambling, feel free to pick and choose or ignore some of it lol
    Basically he is wondering why they need so many kingdoms/borders at all. (What are laws and lines and rules good for anyway, yolo - but that’s just him disliking strict rules and hierarchy and stuff I suppose)
    Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
    |
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    #7

    sometimes we want what we want --
        -- even if we know it’s going to kill us.

    She remembers the end of the Amazons, or near enough to it. They nearly did accept princes by then, desperate for numbers as they were. That was the problem of old Beqanna and one of the problems still. They were stretched too thin then and now, a problem that had been remedied briefly, though she wasn’t here for that short period. Nor is she particularly sorry that she missed any of it, for it seems as though Beqanna lost itself along the way.

    “What is wrong with exclusivity? The Tundra was as well, at least originally.” Not everyone needs to be included in all things. To pretend otherwise is to be naive and foolish, really. Groups are always exclusive in some way, even if they don’t admit it.

    She looks at him as he disagrees about the lands, and it is not that she minds disagreement (after all, not all agree with much of what she says and does), but she would challenge him to think harder. ”Choosing to stand and not bow is wonderful, but even the Gates did that. You stand, but what do you stand for.” She emphasizes the word for, because though there is some of that in the new Beqanna (after all, like calls to like), anyone walking into this world would have no idea. Once upon a time, the lines were clearer. ”I am not necessarily suggesting that good and bad is the proper division, but I am suggesting whatever these new lands stand for is murky and unclear, at best.”

    On the topic of territories they do agree, and for the moment, she lets the conversation drift forward. The hard part of that conversation would be choosing which lands ceased to exist, but that could be dealt with at another time. She’s more interested in what he says next, anyway. “If that is what you wish for, then that is what I wish to know. I am not in the business of granting wishes, but I am in the business of gathering information. I would build a new Beqanna that most are pleased with. Most, because I am not naive enough to believe that all will come willingly. But I do not intend to build only the Beqanna I want.”

    She grins at his next question though, something glinting in her amber eyes. ”I would change it all at once, but it does require the faeries. Beqanna resists change, and will slowly right herself if the faeries do not bless such magic. The more of us involved, the easier I suspect such change will be.” It may have to be done in pieces, in the end, for there is only so much she can do at one time. Even she is limited, though her limits are greater than most. ”In the end, either Beqanna will come willingly, or I will take it piece by piece. I would prefer the former though, so I am coming to those who can best help effect that change. Perhaps we do not need good and evil anymore, but a land of ice and rock for dragons, a land of shifting environments for our shifters, a haven of water for our aquatic friends. I am old, but not old fashioned.”

    -- straia

    the raven queen



    @[Leilan] oh look I write posts...this may not make total sense. It's hard to write posts while monitoring a dental hygienist conference in the background, lol

    Use of mild power playing is allowed; no injuries without permission

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    #8
    Leilan
    "There was no other option," he answers roughly, then smiles wryly. Does it matter exactly how he never was allowed to fit in? The Tundra at that time was a pathetic bunch of nobodies, but the Jungle flourished, and without that equality, a colt simply had no purpose.

    Even the Gates did that, makes him smile a little. It shows exactly what she thought of those. "There's a kind of freedom here that's different from the others. We're the Sisterhood and Brotherhood combined, but I agree that seems we lost our reputation when the world was busy fighting a Plague." And never gained it back, apparently. Not fully. "How would you go about restoring such lines? There's no mythic and non-mythic any more, and good and bad are relative at best." He grins a little - well, his versions of good and bad are, anyway.

    "Hmm." Her proposal isn't bad, but... "Those divisions might tear up families, though, since the magic seems to alter us each generation - heck, each sibling even." he muses aloud. "The current climate-division is perhaps already the closest thing to what you propose, that keeps people happy. Unless that's not the kind of thing you're missing?" He smirks a little, knowing full well that she wants more, or at best something else, than what is - even if she were to combine the four kingdoms in exactly four or perhaps five or 6 lands, her problem won't be solved.

    There's most likely more to it, and he's going to dig deeper and deeper until she tells him, no matter the outcome.

    That's the one thing he's good at, he supposes. Annoying people.
    I just wanna be someone
    well, doesn’t everyone?

    Image commissioned by Vanilla, made by AshesDrawn on DA


    @[Straia]
    Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
    |
    Reply
    #9

    sometimes we want what we want --
        -- even if we know it’s going to kill us.

    The Tundra was usually a pathetic bunch of nobodies, honestly. But they did try. She might not have liked the Amazons, but she could respect them. Not everything needed to be inclusive, and sometimes it does not hurt to tear the world apart a bit by caring for something specific.

    She laughs at his statement though. ”To be the Sisterhood and the Brotherhood combined sounds like you are the Dale, or the Falls. Or perhaps if you slant a little nicer the Deserts and the Gates. If a bit more evil, then the Chamber or the Valley. Do you see the problem?” She saw the problem, but the solution was murky. He could dig, but she wasn’t sure she had the exact answer. Old fashioned though she was in many ways, she was hardly fool enough to believe that the world necessarily should continue in the exact vein it once had. ”At the very core of this place, what is it that makes it different from all the rest? Can you say, truly?”

    He continues, and she nods slightly, not entirely swayed by this argument, but of course she does not mind when things are torn apart. ”The old divisions could have done so as well. Not all my children turned out like me, and some would have been happier in other lands. One was not like me but stayed anyway, choosing family over preference. Who is to say an elemental could not live with the dragons? A disadvantage for them, but lines have always been a bit blurry.” Not that she’s necessarily sold on this particular division of Beqanna either. That is the problem here, for this is no perfect division. Yet somehow Beqanna feels as if...as if it lacking something fundamental. What is the purpose of this place if there is little to care for but dead lands?

    ”I do admit I miss the far more wondrous lands of old Beqanna. Your Isle is about as exciting and varied as the landscape gets, which does seem rather a shame. Pretty lands, yes, but lacking…something.”

    -- straia

    the raven queen



    @[Leilan]

    Use of mild power playing is allowed; no injuries without permission

    Reply
    #10
    Leilan
    Realising something as she speaks, the ice dragon shifter waits for the older mare to finish. When she does, he can’t help the corner of his mouth curling upwards just a bit. ”Straia, dear,” he says then, daring to use such an endearing tone there and then as if he would with a younger cousin, niece, nephew, his own children. ”You’re thinking in lines and boxes.” he points out to her. With the mindset of a hundred years a go, too, but that can’t be helped.

    ”You don’t need the land itself to stand for something. It’s the people who make a kingdom what it is, and it will change with each influx and efflux. Resist that, and you’ll lose the physical bodies to support your claim. What makes the north the north, is me right now.” It’s not arrogance that makes him say it, and she’ll know. The fact is that he is the one who allows the threesome of the north to be just that: another might have staken a claim instead, after being crowned. Another might have been more aggressive or more passive, and he has accepted it - the only thing worth living for is the present; the future will eventually forget him, the past already resents him. He’d told her before though, he does it not for others - or at least not for many others. “I know my successor may change things. That’s not bad or wrong or even lacking things - it’s just life, and life is change. The old lands also changed, just slower at the time.” Not unlike the fairies resisted change right now, with the landscape staying as it was.

    ”What if we gave up on the lines on the map? I’m fine with combining territories into larger kingdoms. More variation, less distinction.” he tilts his head at her, wondering if she sees where he’s going. One north under his current rule, is one thing, but will be lost more likely than not, creating division once more. Other lands might resist such change, but the north is already one people - or largely so, right now. ”Lands do miss magic though... it’s funny you should say that. I wouldn’t mind a matching tree.” he grins to her, indicating the blue flame on the icicle tree which does absolutely nothing but look funny. Straia’s magical tree though... well, she should know. ”You’re the solution to your own problem, are you not?” he asks. As far as he can see, the magical entities like her, are the same. Magic bound to borders.

    But why should it be so? That a child born on one side of a river or ridge gets gifted with something and another does not. That one territory has a magic healing ability and others need permission to be healthy. Life’s not fair and never will be, of course. He doesn’t truly think she can change that, but perhaps it helps her think outside the box.
    they say I did something bad
    then why’s it feel so good?

    Image commissioned by Vanilla, made by AshesDrawn on DA


    @[Straia]
    Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
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