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Monster
svartalfar
--- years old
played by tsundere
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All the many faces we have worn, all the many faces we have borne.
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Post by LU-SHALIM on Feb 11, 2015 16:51:36 GMT
"I can’t do you love and rhetoric without the blood. Blood is compulsory—they’re all blood, you see." | Nathaniel is content to live in the shadow of his wife. From time to time, however, even the curiously insignificant husband of Katerina Lazebnik must step into the light when an event of suitable gravitas demands. And tonight is the fourth anniversary of the moment she became Katerina Dragonslayer. At least in this lifetime, he mentally amended. She had been young when it happened, at least in body. Even in the lifetimes before her memory returned, or when she chose to go without it, it was hard for Lu-shalim to look at her and see youth instead of a woman as ancient and terrifying as he was. But when pitted against a dragon, any woman would seem young in form. He had long since learned not to offer his aid when she fought her monster. It drew too much attention, too many questions. And she had come into her full strength as a Champion many cycle past, a weapon forged precisely for this moment. Yet when he watched her disappear into the distance, a small form against the mountain peaks, there was a disquieting, almost unfamiliar feeling that fluttered within his chest. Yet that was the price the two of them had agreed to pay long ago, the cost of this conditional immortality of hers. If Lu-shalim had to learn fear in exchange for her continued existence, he would gladly do so. It was not a feeling native to him, but he preferred it to grief. Katerina drifted over to where he stood by the wall. She offered him a delicately worked flute of silver, the metal concealing the liquid within, and he took a sip. There was no telling what form she would be born into with each cycle, but this body was more familiar to him than most; it was the closest she had taken to her original in many, many years. About them, the bustle of the celebration glittered and gleamed. Lu-shalim appreciated the aesthetic perfection of the party, the marriage of music and form and decoration--that had been his work, of course--but he had less interest in the humans who populated it. They were all a very select crowd, the so-called great and elite of Irkalla. There was an additional festival being staged in the lower quarters for the common citizen, funded on the Lazebnik family's dime, but this was the heart of it all. Where Katerina herself was. She touched his arm and smiled. "There's someone I want you to meet," she said. "A friend of mine."He was curious, but said nothing. If Katerina believed he wanted to meet her, there must be a reason for it. He followed her across the floor for an introduction. SOPHIA ROSENBURG |
CODED BY ELECTRIC OF HK |
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Monster
draugr
65 years old
socialite
played by redox
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She had a name, she had a spirit, she had a line in the play if you wanted to hear it.
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Post by SOPHIA ROSENBURG on Feb 11, 2015 18:07:08 GMT
 sophia held a different kind of appreciation for irkalla's plentiful social gatherings. they were a place where she could keep a finger on the city's pulse with a reasonable expectation that nobody will murder another in broad daylight. the northern wastes had not been so civilized. nevertheless, she tries to keep her specially-hired guard close. now that shara has declared war, multiple guards aren't so uncommon among the important. if one watched sophia for a long time, then they might have noticed that her guard seemed to favor her left side. she didn't really see him as an accessory - rather, sophia had subjected him to enough background checks to view him an extension of herself. her arm had not fully healed from the trip back to the city, but social appearances waited for no one. she had managed to fool her acquaintances into believing that she had survived on an exchange of diplomacy and wits, but the truth had been far bloodier than that. as the truth often has to be. her father had prodded and fretted, but she had told no one. her fears are her own to shoulder, for this is the price of telling a lie again and again. it's a funny thing. she's alone because she didn't want to be, and she doesn't have anyone else to blame. rosenburg senior had been harsh, but worse were some of katerina's guests. not by any fault of the host, but it was easier for the powerful to skew the blame on sophia for what had transpired at the imperial capital. an usurper, come to take her father's place twenty years too soon. she had to admit that it's a very sensationalist heading. her guard looks like he wants to say something, but sophia had not paid him to be an orator in her place. she had offered a few words in her own defense, but the accusations kept piling up. sophia tries not to feel like katerina's arrival is a rescue, but that's almost exactly what it is. "katerina?" her smile comes almost a little too quickly. just almost. "what a pleasant surprise." she means it. "i hope that you are doing well -- and who is the gentleman with you?" LU-SHALIMLAIKA OF GAGNAM STYLE |
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Monster
svartalfar
--- years old
played by tsundere
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All the many faces we have worn, all the many faces we have borne.
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Post by LU-SHALIM on Feb 13, 2015 18:29:33 GMT
"I can’t do you love and rhetoric without the blood. Blood is compulsory—they’re all blood, you see." | "You must think me terribly rude," Katerina laughs, "That I wouldn't come to greet a guest at my own party! I'm so glad you came, my dear." She turned in a motion so fluid it seemed inhuman and glared daggers at the loose semi-circle of guests surrounding them. "I do believe the music is starting in the ballroom," she announced. "Why don't all of you go enjoy yourselves there."
It was very obviously not a question. When the last of them had slunk off, Katerina turned around, still beaming with the practiced happiness of a noblewoman. She laid a possessive hand on Lu-shalim's arm and her expression changed to a smile both smaller and more sincere as she introduced him to Sophia. "This is my husband, Nathaniel," she said. He bowed very slightly to Sophia, one equal acknowledging another. "My family is from the south of the empire," he said. "It is not something I try to advertise, these days, and so I am mostly withdrawn from the social scene, except for when necessity demands."
"As it demands now," Katerina said fondly, patting his arm as she let go. "I should go check on that rabble I sent scurrying off, but I do believe you two would get along brilliantly. Sophia is the adopted daughter of Councillor Rosenburg, Nathaniel, and a force to be reckoned with in her own right aside from that."
She plucked the empty silver flute from his hand and with a final hasty goodbye to both of them, vanished into the crowd. Lu-shalim watched Sophia unblinkingly, trying to discern what his wife wanted here. "You were the head of the recent diplomatic envoy to Shara, were you not?"SOPHIA ROSENBURG |
CODED BY ELECTRIC OF HK |
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Monster
draugr
65 years old
socialite
played by redox
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She had a name, she had a spirit, she had a line in the play if you wanted to hear it.
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Post by SOPHIA ROSENBURG on Feb 13, 2015 21:15:05 GMT
today is a reminder. a good reminder that there is no escape for sophia rosenburg. even if the sharans win and decide to let her be, the irkallans would not. her house would never survive the fallout. the only option is to win, and to act like she had a plan all along. it's enough to give her a headache. katerina cannot hold off the tempest forever. sophia gives a practiced smile in turn. "at ease, nathaniel. i have no interest in pretending that irkalla is built upon centuries of homegrown aristocracy." a lie that she cannot twist to her own benefit is a lie wasted. "doubtless, katerina would never settle for anyone less than a distinguished man." there is no denying her own failure. sophia gives a curt nod. she plays a careful game. to deny responsibility too quickly would be foolish, but there's a limit to how long she can weather the complaints before she loses credibility. instead, she gives him an ironic smile. "i assure you, being in shara on the week of the emperor's death was not half as fun or exciting as sir rutherford assumes. there are no tavern stories to be found here." the heaviness in her nearly-healed arm tells a different story, but sophia's demeanor does not betray her. LU-SHALIMLAIKA OF GAGNAM STYLE |
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