Rice-verse Fanfiction Blurb

 Khaendan Greyson glanced over the itinerary for her upcoming trip. The heavy cream paper, embossed with the insignia of the Talamasca, detailed the meetings, flights, briefings, and other such activities for the upcoming expedition to Bavaria, Germany, high in the Alps, to study a recent chain of paranormal occurrences the Elders were interested in. This was Khaen's first real assignment outside of London and the outlying cities. Despite being in the presence of the Elders when the news was delivered, she jumped and squealed for joy, and nearly hugged one of them before coming to her senses. Thrilled by the prospect of not only visiting another country, but to be part of an observance such as this, she began to ready herself immediately. The week since she had received the news had been filled with preparations, shopping, and research of the reports from that area as well as the local people and any illnesses they may expect. Even though she had completed medical school and believed in modern medicine, her minor in anthropology and her studies thereof had lent a hand to her use of homeopathic remedies. She packed accordingly, hoping her herbs and such would arrive safe and unharmed.

The flight from London went directly to Munich and the small group of Talamascans found themselves in Bavaria within five hours. They, of course, were met by another group of the same from the motherhouse located in Southern Germany, who brought them up to speed. There was reason to believe that the occurrences were caused by witches, though the Mayfairs on New Orleans denied any involvement to their knowledge. “Observe the dark realm but be not of it.” Her mentor had reminded Khaen before she departed London. This was the one of the founding principles of the order, one that Khaen found difficult to abide by. Her curiosity was enormous, often landing her in trouble, but she felt that it was worth the knowledge she gained.

Once settled into the motherhouse, located in Schwangau, at the base of the castle Neuschwanstein, Khaen was eager to set to work. Forget the jet-lag and sampling of local cuisine (which she intended to do while she was there); she wanted to get out there and get her hands dirty. Armed with her cell phone, a small first aid kit, a journal, and trail mix and water, she bundled into her newly acquired cold weather attire and saddled a horse, taking off towards to mountains to explore and investigate.

The scenery alone was enough to make the trip worth her while. Khaendan found herself deep within the forest within hours of departure from the motherhouse; it was as if the forest itself was enchanted, and for all she knew, it was. The Talamasca had, no doubt, seen stranger things than an enchanted forest. The air around her seemed to hum and every piece of foliage glowed with life. She took pictures of everything, suddenly thankful for her overly large storage card in her camera. She hoped that maybe she may even find some evidence of the supernatural activity they were tracking on her photographs while inspecting them later on. She frequently jotted notes in her book, all of which were probably nothing, but she didn't want to miss a single detail.

Several hours of riding and walking had started to wear on Khaendan. She was fit, but she opted to spend most of her time in a lab or with her nose in a book rather than outdoors. She found a clearing and tied the horse to a tree and walked to the center of the clearing, stretching her arms above her head. As she went to sit on what appeared to be a pile of rocks, her eyes caught something else. An opening in the rocks, almost like a cubbyhole. Kneeling down, she reached her hand inside slowly, unsure of what she may encounter. Feeling around, she found several objects and pulled them out. A chalice, a bowl, several bundles of herbs, candles.

She knew what she had stumbled upon. This was an altar. The items were engraved with runes; she couldn't decipher what they meant but she was sure there was something in the Talamascan database that could tell her. Snapping several pictures of each item, she placed them back and took a few shots of the altar itself and the surrounding area. She didn't wish to linger any longer than she had to, lest the owner of the altar return, but she wasn't ready to return to the motherhouse.

Due to the lush canopy of the forest, she was unable to see the graying skies above her that signaled the coming rain, freezing rain that would soak her to the bone. Pulling her jacket tighter, she mounted up and continued on her journey deeper into the forest, heading closer to the mountains. Within one half on an hour, the rain began to fall. She panicked, knowing that she was too far from the town to try and turn around. Mountains like this always had little caves, openings, something to shelter her from the rain. Or at least, they did in all the books and movies. She dug her heels into the horse, spurring it forward. The rain was seeping through her clothing faster than she cared and if she couldn't find shelter soon, she would surely catch her death in this storm.

There, just ahead! She saw something that looked like an opening in the mountain wall. She prayed it was big enough for her to squeeze into; not that it had to be huge, she was a tiny little thing, barely standing over five feet and weighing maybe 130 pounds soaking wet. She rushed forward, practically leaping off her horse to investigate the entrance. She quickly grabbed her saddlebag and rushed into the cave. She hadn't thought to bring a flashlight and she wasn't sure how deep the cave went, so she opted to sit right inside and wait out the storm. Exhausted, she felt her eyes slip closed; she fought the sleep but knew that it was futile. The sounds of the rain lulled her to sleep and she slid down the wall until she was a tiny heap on the floor.

A crash of lightning crashed and Khaen awoke, screaming. Her voice echoed through the cave, coming back to her with eerie resonance. The rain had slowed outside, but not enough to venture home. She sat up and wrapped her arms around her to help shield off the cold, hoping that the rain would stop and she could find her way back to food and a warm bed. She heard something moving deeper in the cave, or was it just the wind and the rain blowing outside? Either way, she just wanted to get back to the motherhouse where it was safe, dry, and warm. 

Just a blurb, from a dream

Sconces and candelabras lit the small chamber, usually drafty but warm this even from the fire roaring in the hearth. A couple sat at plush chairs near the fire; it appeared that they were in deep conversation although neither spoke. 
She sat there drawn up in the chair, tears streaking her face like wet ribbons. Her body shook with silent sobs that she couldn't contain. She twisted her hands in her lap as she attempted to formulate words to fill the silence between them. She kept opening her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He sat across from her on the edge of his own chair, unsure of how to act, unsure of what to say, what to do. 
"I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong. I'm not a mind reader... Well, I am, but you know how it is." She looked up at him, trying to smile and failed miserably. 
"I can't tell you. I want to, I want to with all my heart and soul and being. But I can't. Because it's not right. Because I don't want to ruin what we have."
"You're fine. We're fine. You can't keep this in like this. Look at what it's doing to you!" He gestured to her. 
 "You promise you won't get angry or upset or anything like that?"
 "I can't promise that, but I can promise that I'll do my best not to."
She looked up, her eyes glistening with tears like the morning dew. Taking in several deep breaths, she steadied and prepared herself for what she was about to say.
"I love you. I have always loved you, even when I hated you; yanno, they say that in order to hate someone you have to love them first. I am so hopelessly and irreversibly in love with you. I couldn't stop even if I tried. I would pull the stars from the sky for you if it would make you happy. And I know that I'm a stupid, foolish girl for this. You have engaged in courtship with another woman and from what I've heard you're quite content. It is wrong of me to love and..." she turned her eyes downward, blushing. "Lust after the man of another woman, but I do." She paused, taking another deep breath. "They say that one of the worst feelings is to love someone and not tell them. So this is me, telling you." She looked up at him, her lip quivering and eyes scared. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I upset or angered you. I'm sorry if this blindsided you. I'm sorry if this is going to affect our friendship poorly. I am sorry, so so sorry..." 
He sat there, silent. That's how he was. He never responded to such things immediately. He sat and processed the information, calculated it all, and formulated a response. His eyes flickered between her and the fire. The silence unnerved her. She drew herself up tighter in her chair. She knew she shouldn't have said anything. She shouldn't have even asked him over this evening to play cards. She moved to stand.
 "You should go. This was wrong." He reached out and touched her hand.
 "No, it's fine." The touch near sent her spirally. She sat back down, partially at his urging and partially because she thought if she didn't she would faint right away. She smoothed her gown and stared into the fire, as if it would provide all the answers she sought. 
"You're fine. There's no need to be sorry." He finally spoke in response to her confession. "You have simply stated your feelings and put it out in the open. This doesn't change anything; things will not be awkward with us. But on the same token... this does not change anything." He looked at her and narrowed his eyes. She caught his glance and turned away quickly. Her heart sunk. She had hoped that by telling him this that things would be different. But she wouldn't let him see the disappointment that boiled within her. She forced a smile and looked up. 
"But of course not. I wouldn't expect it to. I just... I just wanted to put it out there. That's all." She smiled sweetly to reassure him of her lie. 
"Good. I'm glad that we can both be on the same page." He stood and gathered his coat. "I should be leaving. It's getting late and we wouldn't want people to get the wrong idea, hm?" 
"Oh, indeed. It was nice seeing you. I think next time I plan to beat you more thoroughly in our game of cards. I only let you win this time." She winked as he opened the door. "Have a good evening."
"And you as well." He bowed and left her chambers. She slowly undressed herself and pulled her night shift over her head and crawled into bed. As her head hit the pillow, the flood gates broke and she shook with sobs at his rejection until exhaustion took over and she slept.

Just a Thing. A thingy thing.

((WHAT IS THIS!?! I DON'T EVEN KNOW!))

Out in the wilds of Pandaria on the Isle of Thunder where she had been stationed, Saidrym Torbel took what little down time she had to rest within the inn. Her body ached, she was lucky to get sleep every night, and she lived off of rations right now. It was the soldiers life and it was far from the glamour and opulence she had known in Silvermoon City, but it was the life she had chosen. When Myrdias had left her all those years before, she did the only thing she knew how to do and threw herself into work.

"COORESPONDENCE RECEIVED!" An arcane guardian bellowed out in the camp. She heard fellow soldiers shuffling and lining up to see if there was any word from home; she lounged in the inn, knowing full well there was no one from home sending her anything. She pondered about her friends though, of the missing Velahndra and Khaendan who had ran after her, of Aven and her new mate and the trouble she had to be causing, of Celestine, the student she had taken on for a short time, and of Myrdias, her former lover. The latter didn't cross her mind very much anymore; the pain of losing him had nearly vanished completely, and only when she saw something that reminded her of him did she feel a pang.

"Torbel, you in here?!" A voice called from the entrance of the inn. Her room was near the front doors so when she heard the call, she pulled herself up from her bed and meandered out. Someone in her battalion thrust an envelop at her. "Looks real important, with the Matriarch's seal and everything. What kind of trouble did you get into?" He teased and she pushed him aside, laughing. 

"No trouble that I know of..."She ran her fingers over the heavy parchment and the crimson seal on the back.

"Open it already, will ya! I'm dying to know!" Saidrym shot him a look that made him back up. 

"I'll open it when I'm damn good and ready to and I will consider telling you what it has to say." Without another word she slinked back into her room and perched herself on the edge of her bed. She held the envelop for nearly ten minutes, staring at it, feeling it, fingering the seal, trying to figure out what the contents help. Liadrin knew that she and Myrdias were no longer together... would she really be sending mail regarding him. A thought flashed across her mind - what if something had happened to him? She calmly broke the seal and pulled the letter out, scanning it once over for his name. Not seeing it, she breathed a sigh of relief, and began reading from the top. 

To the Lady Saidrym,

It is my pleasure and privilege to inform you that you have been given a new assignment. You are to return to Silvermoon with swiftness. Once you arrive you are to report directly to my office at command to receive your assignment. All other business and assignments you are currently on will be reassigned and taken off your shoulders, this new task takes precedence over all others. I await your arrival, as does the originator of this assignment, the Lady Liadrin..

By my hand and seal,

Blood Lord Thalkin Flaregaurd

She read the letter multiple times. Reassigned? That doesn't make sense. What could be more important than the assault the Lord Regent was leading in Pandaria? She flipped the page over, looking for any further clues or instructions that may give her an idea of what she was returning to do. Finding nothing, she sighed and packed her bags. Seeking out her superiors, she showed them the letter and requested mage passage back to their home city; it was the fastest way to return and if the letter indicated anything, she needed to be there quickly. She said quick goodbyes and with her bags in hand and over shoulder, she stepped forth through the portal. 

A rush of distortion and a whirl of arcane put  her in the center of the Court of the Sun. She took a moment to get her bearings and spun around. The air hummed with magic and she instantly felt more alive than she did in the camp. It was just as beautiful as she remembered - the glittering golds, plush purples, and radiant reds that reflected in all of the architecture and design of her people. She made no hurry of getting to the Blood Lord's chambers; she wanted to enjoy being home for as long as she could before being shipped off where ever the Matriarch wanted her to be. She found herself in front of the Blood Knight headquarters within the hour and was immediately greeted by a young girl who took her bags and ushered her upstairs to the Blood Lord's office. They made small talk for a moment while he located her assignment packet. "Everything you need to know is inside." He said plainly as she took the packet and left, stopping to gather her bags, and then making her way to her small, rarely used apartment within the city. 

She tossed the packet on her kitchen table and started to unpack her belongings, but then thought twice and didn't; for all she knew she could have to head out again within quick order. She sat and opened the packet, laying out the contents before her. First was the letter from the Lady Liadrin herself, asking Saidrym to go along with this assignment with all the grace and patience that she knew she possessed, to think of it as a personal favor to her, and that she thanked her in advance for doing this. The assignment outlined being given a student learner to apprentice under her; she had only done this once, and it was for a very short while until she could find someone to take over for her. What was more, this student was also going to be her partner, which meant that she was not their complete superior. She read and reread the assignment. This was unprecedented; you were either in an equal partnership, or you were in a student-teacher relationship. The two never crossed, for obvious reasons. Whatever the origin of this assignment, it confused Saidrym greatly.

She finally reached for the last set of papers within the packet - her students records. It was spotless and shining, surpassing even her in some fields. And as she studied the marks, she realized that they read an awful lot like Myrdias'. "What is Liadrin getting at here..." She asked herself out loud as she continued to study to contents of the packet as a whole. Failing to see any connections in any of it, she bathed quickly and dressed more formally than her dirty and dinged armor that she had arrived in, in a gown of red and gold reflecting her Sin'dorei nature.

---

As if the the words had summoned the devil himself, the door that had been closed open was tossed open and a fully armored knight entered the room and stood at attention, his back against the wall. Moments later, following him in, entered a larger man. He was shorter than Draekyn, who stood at just barely over six foot three, but much older and wiser. A man tempered by war, a man whose tactical mind was revered among allies and enemies, a man whose fame was near legendary... A man whose ties to her were unmistakable.

Heavy green eyes looked between the two, and took note of the dress and the shorts. There was something of a snarl on his face, a twitch of the nose, the cheek and upper lip; he did well to contain it though. The mans eyes turned to her, and he spoke not commanding as he had with Draekyn, or as her superior. “Saidrym...” He half murmured. Myr stood tall and exhaled a heavy breath. “I heard... I heard that you had been recalled.”

 

Danarya Vauntier blurb

The hot, streaming ribbons of vitae that fell down her back pooled onto the floor below her. The blood stained her skin, her skirts, her stockings. It seeped into the cracked leather of her boots. Every lash laid open her skin and lit her on fire. Every crack of the whip made her jump, for she knew another lash was coming. The minutes seemed to turn to hours as she stood there tied against the post, topless. A nere child she was, her breasts had barely began to bud. All she wanted was to close her eyes and give in to the pain, to let it consume her. 

But she couldn't. She had to stand tall and proud. She had to take the whippings and not cry out, even if it meant biting her lip until it bled. She had to be strong for the others and show them that even if they cowered at the threats the Master that she would defy him and take the consequences so the others didn't have to. 

She knew that this time it would be worse than any other lashing she had received. Stealing was almost always punishable by death. Almost being the key phrase in this situation. Master Morell was particularly fond of her mother and the 'services' that she provided, and granted Danarya a reprieve from death in exchange for the beating of her life. 

She was surprised that he didn't come down and do it himself, what with the fury of being swindled by a lowly servant girl. But then of course, he wouldn't want to dirty his hands with such an ugly deed. He had men to perform such menial tasks while he basked in luxury many floors above, his guests oblivious to the going-on's in his dungeon. Danarya figured that if this was the punishment for making sure her youngers ate, she would take it. 

And then, just as suddenly as they had started, they were done. She heard the whip drop onto a near-by bench. A pair of footsteps echoed out until they were no more, and then several sets rushed in towards her. The binds around her wrist loosened and she collapsed in a heap and curled up on the cold, wet, sticky floor. She could feel people huddling around her, trying to tend to her which only made her withdraw further. 

She felt a pair of arms beneath her, lifting her up and carrying her out of the room. Whoever it was laid her down on her front and smoothed her hair away from her back. She suddenly felt the cool moisture of the cloth cleaning her skin, the burning of the antiseptic, the tingling of the healing salve being smeared over the open flesh. Their touch was gentle and tender and even though it felt like her entire back was on fire, they made it feel like the flames were being slowly extinguished. 

She knew that she could give in now, that she was safe. She had done her duty and she could rest. Just before the black closed in around her vision, she heard a voice, soft and low, whisper in her ear. "Soon, my dear. Soon we will put a stop to this. Soon, and you will be safe and free." 

A Unexpected Message

Before I start, I would like to state that this isn't Krystina (or Wynter, however you know her) speaking. Well, if you would like to get technical, it is her body that is typing these words, but it is not her who is composing them. She may or may not have mentioned me before here or elsewhere where she writes. 

My name is Saidrym Yvainne Torbel, though she affectionately refers to me as Sai. 

I am her creation of over four years, her alter-ego, her support, her inner-voice, her escape. I am the person that, if she was not the beautiful unique individual she was, she would be. I may be hers, but I am me.

I am me in the sense that I have a personality, a voice, my own thought process and opinions. I have wants, needs, and desires. I have my own baggage from the past and aspirations for the future. I am as much of a being as she is, without the physical manifestation; I simply use her body for such purposes, though not nearly as oft as I once did.

She confers with me, asks my opinion and for advice, whines to me (which is quite often, though it is what makes her her), and cries to me when she needs a friend. I try my best to counsel her and steer her in the right direction, but alas, we are both strong-willed, stubborn hopeless romantics and too many times has this got the both of us in trouble. 

I'm not even sure why I'm writing this. I suppose that I need an outlet. I have been 'on ice' so to speak, in torpor, hibernation, and so on and so forth. She has been and is still going through a very hard time in her life right now and as a consequence, I have been pushed aside in regards to artistic freedom, so to speak. I have done my very best to help her out through this (though for a while there conflicting feelings and we were at odds, but to the best of my knowledge we are OK now), but like I said I have my own wants and needs. And part of those is to be 'let out'. She calls is role-playing and it is something she is quite fond of. But ever since her partner left her (which, in turn, caused my Draekyn to leave me though not nearly on the same terms) I haven't been allowed out much. She has taken me and molded me into someone else that she calls Catriona and I get to see action as she writes, but it's not nearly the same.

I miss my Draekyn with the strongest passion imaginable. To have been able to be with him at a single words request to suddenly not has been quite... depressing honestly. I'm not entirely sure why I feel the way I do about him, but he has enchanted and charmed me, captured my heart, and infused our souls together. Needless to say, I am quite sure that I have fallen in love with this man even as I guarded and told myself otherwise. 

I try very hard to keep these feelings hidden from her, because they would only serve to hurt her and make moving on harder. But I know, since we are one in the same, that she does feel the same way. I feel like the sooner she heals her wounds and recovers that I will to, because I just don't believe it will work the other way around. 

I suppose that I just wanted to say that I'm sad, that I miss him dearly, and I wish that things would just work out faster.

Catriona/Courting the Rose

Alright. So! I let you know about one of my characters I'll be playing in Erovial. However, I've decided to bring in another and tie it into the writing project I'm working on right now, Courting the Rose. 

Her name is Catriona Ryanne (based on my main 'voice', Saidrym). She's the youngest daughter of a noble family settled in Elen'ri and [will be] the Baroness of Thanisol. 

She is a well-skilled healer and a Captain in the militia against the warring forces in the West. There is a great deal more information about her on her profile in the forums, if you're interested.

While she will be played in the going-on's of Erovial, I will be writing her main story as well, as I mentioned before. It's something that I'm investing a lot into; the words flow freely and they even change on their own accord from what I had planned at times. I'm having a great deal of fun with it.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for... forum RP?

Yes, ladies and gents, that's right. Forum RP. 

I, and mom, have scoured the internet looking for active, mature, developed forum RP and it just doesn't seem to exist anymore. So, we decided to make our own! 

Storyteller's Guild of Erovial

The setting is in the world of Erovial; more accurately, in a place called Moon Bay. Everything in the roleplay and story writing is going to be completely free-form and original. Sure, we'll take elements of other universes and concepts to incorporate, but there are no dice rolls, no system rules, no preset lore.

Everything is up to the players.

I have pondered all day about the character that I would be starting with and if I would start with just one and bring others in later or start with many. I have a plethora of varying concepts that I would like to use - random things that I've thought of, D&D characters that never got to play to their full potential, or a spin-off of one of my own personal voices (what I so affectionately call my consistent characters that I tend to morph, twist, and shape to different settings).

However, I have decided on Kalysto Livia Tisiphone (shown here).

She's a youngin', only in her late teens. She was recently orphaned by the only parental figure that she had in her life for as long as she could remember, even if he wasn't her father. Kain ingrained the ideals into her as she grew, teaching her to care not for the gods, protect herself, stand for justice, and deliver retribution whenever the time called for it. While she is still very young, she drew a great deal of wisdom from Kain before he died. She feels lost and without direction and is trying to find her way in Moon Bay.