#just realised she's adopted both the queen of the reunited kingdom and the queen of rohan so she stays winning actually <3

[solasan]

2, 8, 9, 13, 17 and 33 for vórimë pls!! 💚

OC DEVELOPMENT QUESTIONS

02. can your oc play any instruments? have they ever wanted to learn how to play any? why?

uhhh on a purely practical level, yeah, sure, vórimë can technically play the harp and flute, and by the standards of men, she probably wouldn't even sound too bad. by the standards of her fellow elves, though, she absolutely fucking butchers music dshdsjkds. i think that she has a quite clear, sweet singing voice — again, nothing special by elven standards, but enchanting to the race of men — but when it comes to instruments, she's better off leaving that to her more talented kin.

she'd like to be better with the harp especially, because her long-dead mother loved the harp best of all and she'd like to connect with her — and also, honestly, she doesn't like being bad at things. maybe after retiring from arwen's service and heading for eryn lasgalen she picks it up and puts in some practice but idk?

08. does your oc prefer being in a crowd or being completely alone? how many people can be around them before they get uncomfortable?

answered here <333

09. how easily does your oc make friends? do they have difficulty talking to new people? why?

she doesn’t have much difficulty talking to new people — she’s relatively outgoing for an elf, and she’s a quick wit, so even if she’s not necessarily charming (bc she can come across as a little arrogant and intimidating), she’s not all that difficult to talk to — but making and then keeping friends is... difficult for her. she’s outlived a lot of her friends, just bc of the number of wars she’s seen, and because of that she kind of... has trouble actually connecting with people beyond politeness or funny small talk. she doesn’t make the effort with mortals anyway tbqh; it’s too painful. by the third age, she counts arwen, elladan, elrohir, @denerims’ tiriel, and like... possibly haldir? among her friends? maybe? (even if tiriel’s kind of more of an adopted granddaughter in vórimë’s head bc of how young she is) and that’s kind of it sdhdsjk. she’s very lonely tbh.

13. how dangerous is your oc? are they completely innocent, or someone to be feared? do others know?

oh yeah, dangerous. not in a malicious way — vórimë doesn’t pick fights and there’s not an evil bone in her body — but more in a... very capable kind of way? she’s known for her skill in combat; there’s few finer swordsmen in imladris, and she’s definitely the best archer rivendell has. she didn’t become arwen’s bodyguard just bc her dad was pals with elrond (tho that probably helped). 

so she’s not rly someone to be feared (unless like thranduil u get on her bad side) but she’s definitely respected for her capabilities. however, she’s no great legend told around campfires, so unless a person’s resided in rivendell or hung around with a lot of elves from the area, they probably haven’t heard of her. she’s no aragorn, son of arathorn.

17. how well can your oc keep secrets? is there a difference between how they handle their own vs someone else’s? to what lengths would they go to keep something hidden?

i’m honestly not sure omg. i think— i think she honestly probably approaches secrets in much the way a therapist or doctor would; if no one’s going to be hurt, she’ll keep it, but if someone’s in danger, she won’t. arwen is probably the only person vórimë would keep any secret for, purely bc they are so close. she doesn’t have many secrets of her own to keep, so she’s pretty open; the only one i can rly think of is her growing love for thranduil over the years, and that’s mostly out of embarrassment / belief the feelings aren’t reciprocated. it’s also not especially well-hidden; anyone who knows her knows about those feelings, even if they don’t know the details of their relationship.

she’s not a particularly brilliant liar, though, so how successful she’ll be in hiding a secret is questionable. probably if someone could tell that she was lying, she’d admit it, but refuse to elaborate on the secret in details. so i don’t think she’d go especially far to keep a secret; just refuse to speak on the matter, growing steadily agitated if she’s being probed. she wouldn’t like... kill someone to keep a secret.

33. how does your oc’s own perception of themselves compare to how other people see them? is your oc aware that other people see them differently (if it’s different)?

oooooof. i don’t think vórimë’s self-perception is bad, per se; she’s very proud of her capabilities and the things she’s accomplished, and she’s especially smug about having the honour of guarding arwen. but i don’t think that she really... views herself as particularly legendary? she perceives herself in a very utilitarian way; how can she serve, what can she do, what use is she in a given situation? she doesn’t really let herself just... breathe. 

whereas i think other people yes, do see her for these capabilities and her prowess in battle, as well as the wisdom she’s gained through experience, but not just as a tool to be used. to others like thranduil, she’s laughter in a quiet room, or sunlight washing over the trees. she’s a safe place to land — even if she does come across as somewhat intimidating on first meeting. and i’m not sure if she’s even aware of that tbh dshdsjk

#just realised she's adopted both the queen of the reunited kingdom and the queen of rohan so she stays winning actually <3 #thank u so so much for askin oli!!!!! i love any excuse to talk abt My Baby #answered #coffeebucko #ch: vórimë

[spookiefanart]

Chapter 1: A Story Rekindled

My name is Gaius, and I’m the royal advisor in service of King Alaric, the current Lord of Aether. As the royal advisor, I have decided to create an account of the major events that take place in our kingdom or those outside that could affect it. This account will hopefully serve me or my successor in understanding past events in order to have a comprehension of future developments connected to them. The first chapter will be dedicated to events leading up to our arrival in Aether.

~Sir Gaius

Before Lord Alaric came to Avalon and became king of Aether, he was king in a distant land: Adonai, a kingdom located on a peninsula connected to the southeastern edges of the continent, beneath the swamps of their neighbouring kingdom. Adonai’s lands were flourishing in nature, filled with lush green plains and thick forests. To the far south of the kingdom, next to the coast, lay the capital by the same name as its land. It is there that Alaric von Adonai ruled, having inherited the throne from his father.

Along with the kingdom, Alaric also inherited a legendary jewel, the Serpent’s Blood, from his father when he became king of Adonai; on the continent where Adonai was part of, it was custom for each of the seven jewels to be bestowed to the rulers of the kingdoms that made up the land. The jewel that Alaric was given matched the name best as it was ruby red in colour, and it was known as the stone of honour, said to amplify the positive aspects of its wearer.

However, unbeknownst to us at the time, there was an eighth jewel, one made to control the other seven and imbued with the ability to corrupt them and, in turn, their wearer, turning them into their negative counterpart. For Alaric, this became the stone of dishonour and he himself became a dark shadow of his former self. Locked away in his keep, he hoarded resources, raised taxes, and threw people in the dungeons for the slightest argument or disapproval of him or his current rule. A dark cloud hung above the land, and the nights were darker yet.

It was in such a dark night that the queen came before the people, arranging meeting between them and her in hopes of saving our king from this dark ailment. The queen, a Gardevoir by the name of Genesis, though it pained her to go against her husband even in his current state, asked for the people's aid: to help around the town; gather what food and supplies they could from the woods to distribute in secret to those in need; to infiltrate the castle and take from the storage room what was required for the sake of the town; and most importantly to help steal that accursed gem from Alaric’s very neck.

She was aware of how its presence there was constant; indeed, it was always worn nowadays, never without not even in his sleep. And that every time she approached it as she sought to reach out to her husband, she too felt her mind twist. For this reason, she was certain the cause of this turn in the lord was the gem, not Alaric himself. Assured of this fact, she asked for the people to forgive their king’s actions as they were not his own, and if possible to extend this sentiment to many of the knights as well, those that remained loyal to his commands even now, either affected by the gem or simply doing what they were taught to do.

While I was not there to witness the heroics of our people myself, I was there to see the results, as I together with the captain of the guard, a Charizard by the name of Gawain,  and the queen herself, temporarily sealed away the gem in a chest in the well, until we found a better place or method to keep it from harming others. Then, while Gawain restrained the king, the queen successfully restored his mind - though the effects of being corrupted like that could only truly fade over time as the mind had time to heal.

Of course, once Alaric recovered, he apologized to the people at once, and soon his mind then turned to worry about the rest of the kingdoms and holders of the other six gems. If Adonai was effected, what of them? Not granting himself much of a reprise - though perhaps it was his way to handle his situation - he set out with a group of knights and other brave citizens to meet with the ruler of the nearby kingdom deep within the adjoining forests and swamps that made up their border.

During their absence, I searched high and low for any and all information I could find. But, in an unfortunate event, the tome I was so desperate to read was snatched right before my very eyes by an Ambipom thief. The queen ordered the capture of the criminal; however, my gut told me that this theft was no mere coincidence, and I dreaded what the time lost in the chase would amount to for our future.

From my lord’s venture, it soon appeared that the kingdom to the north had indeed been taken by the same dark spell that had taken us. At its source was its queen, a Mismagius, or rather her gem. Alaric and his party returned to our kingdom with haste to strategise, only after reuniting with their comrades captured in the swamps surrounding the queen’s keep of course; breaking them out like they did surely broke some accords, but considering the state of mind the queen was in, negotiating would not have gone over well.

Not long after they returned, the tome was recovered from the thief. I immediately dove into its pages as Gawain started the interrogation of the perpetrator. It wasn’t long before Alaric tried to help the investigation, but our head healer Guinevere, a Meganium, intervened. She suggested he still take things easy and diverted his attention to the garden where his daughter awaited him.

The princess, a Bellossom by the name of Kara, was the child of the union between Alaric and his first wife, a Vileplume. The queen passed shortly after delivering Kara to the world, and despite her optimistic personality, Kara had always been quite frail and easy to fall ill. Upon Alaric’s arrival, it became apparent that his daughter had planted tiny white-yellow flowers in the gardens, fields upon fields of them, to cheer up her father during the time he had been taken over by the gem.

Guinevere had aided her in this endeavor, while making sure the princess would not overexert herself. Though one could argue the head healer had more to do than gardening, it was no secret that the two were close, Guinevere taking on a motherly role to the princess in the young girl’s eyes after the death of her own. Kara had continued to tend to the flowers even after the situation with the gem had been resolved, in hope of cheering her father up, and now she finally had the opportunity to show the king.

You might think me sentimental to mention all this, but I feel that even the most small acts of kindness must not be forgotten, and the people we have lost can only live on in the memories we hold of them. Princess Kara was as beloved by all of Adonai as much as she loved all around her, never letting herself get depressed no matter the hardships that Adonai or she herself faced; she would smile for the people until the end.

However, no smile could prevail with what was about to transpire next. Having found information regarding our plight and how it was connected to the eight gems, I made haste to report to my lord in the throne room, only to find Prince Nicholas, an Umbreon and Alaric’s adopted son, and his tutor, a Chatot named Charles, there instead. I swiftly sent the boy to fetch his father from the gardens. And shortly after the boy returned with both the king and queen in tow.

I had just relayed the basic information about the gems and their connection to the eighth gem when Gawain burst into the throne room. The news he would bring made it clear there was no time to be wasted; any solution the book might have offered was now no longer an option. The Ambipom had been a servant of the one who was in possession of the eighth gem - who upon noticing he lost his control of our kingdom, sent this servant to delay us. And he had succeeded.

The servant had spoken to Gawain, though I did not inquire what methods the dragon utilized to accomplish this. There was simply no time, the enemy was marching to our capital, destruction in the wake of their path. The other kingdoms had already been conquered, the Mismagius’ lands had fallen shortly after we departed from them - or so we heard from our frostbitten messenger that fell before our feet. They had just barely beaten our enemy to the castle, and Guinevere treated their wounds best she could.

Looking outside the castle windows that too had already accumulated some frost, I saw snow falling from dark clouds overhead: a storm was on its way. I cannot recount all that was said during the heated and chaotic discussion that followed after. Anger and panic laced all words. The king wished to fight for Adonai, and so did his captain.

I knew that such attempts would be futile, as the messenger had reported the army was large and had managed to lay siege on the rest of the land without much resistance. We, on the other hand, had no time for forming any form of battle plan or strategy; I knew we would not win this, and glancing at the queen I knew she had realised it as well. The prince and Charles seemed to have their doubt with the king’s decision as well, and as he was relaying orders I realised someone would have to tell him such.

I decided to save her majesty the grief, and clearing my voice I spoke against him. He seemed surprised, Gawain less so. He asked me what other choice there was; I told him we must depart from Adonai. We cannot battle nor negotiate with one who only wishes to destroy us and has the force to do so. Gawain asked me the question that I saw Alaric could not ask me, for he feared the answer: “Where would we go?” For our enemy has conquered all of the kingdoms sans ours. I knew I should answer him but looking at the king's eyes, the words were caught in my throat. How could I tell them that there was no longer a place upon this continent for us?

It was then that the queen spoke, told them we should leave this land entirely, to prepare the boats and set sail. “To where?” they asked, pointing out that they knew of no lands that the enemy would not simply follow us to, that they knew not what lay upon the horizon or beyond it. The queen remained firm as she answered them, stating that it would at least give them a chance, a chance to find something, instead of perishing here they would have hope, for their people, their friends, their family, their children, even if it’s just a shred of hope.

The decision was made. I was sent to alert the port, to alert the people, as Gawain was to gather his knights. He claimed he would give us that chance to escape, even if it meant fighting a losing battle; he wanted our safety guaranteed before he set even one foot upon a ship. Alaric himself told the worried queen he would find Kara in the gardens and come to the ships as soon as possible.

The queen and Nicholas joined me as I made my way to the harbor, warning the people on their way, using their royal presence and, in Genesis’ case, psychic abilities to herd the people to the coast - to safety, instructing them to take as little as possible and leave as fast as they could, and to alert the others around them. I was instructing the men at the harbor to prepare the ships as they joined back up with me, but as they approached, the queen fell to her knees, a look of shock on her face. Nicholas desperately tried to reach his mother, but all I could do was stand in horror of realisation: something must have happened to either Kara, Gawain, or even Alaric himself.

The queen hugged the prince close to her chest and whispered she loved him, and how proud she was, and how she knew he’d become a good king for his people, one who would help lead them to the bright future she knew he would be able to illuminate them to. I then did something I fear the king will never truly forgive me for... for I did not stop her.

When the queen rose, gently pushing Nicholas towards the boats and telling him to help the people board, she stood still briefly while watching her son’s back disappear upon the ship... then those gentle eyes filled themselves with a dark rage, she swiveled around, dress blowing in the wind as she called out to me. She ordered me to guide them, and once my promise to do so to the best of my ability left my mouth, she was gone.

I later heard what had occurred after that, as I busied myself with the people that had made it to our ships, far less than the amount of people I knew to live in our city. If the smoke was any indication, or the burns and bruises upon the bodies of some of the knights that returned from the frontline with people only to collapse here from exhaustion, I knew that the war had started.

To the north, Alaric had come face to face with the leader of our enemy, a Glaceon by the name of Xenith, who had killed Kara - had frozen her before Alaric’s eyes, just before he could reach his young daughter. Gawain was able to stop him from advancing towards the king briefly, but his injuries were many. We would have lost both our king and captain were it not for the queen who arrived at the last second.

Despite Nicholas’ cries, I ordered the ships to set sail when the smoke neared us. I knew I would be abandoning our king, but without insurance they would return, I had to insure the safety of the prince and the people, this I had sworn to do. As Charles tried to explain to Nicholas why we had to leave, a blur sped towards us. It was Gawain, and in his arms, our king, though tears caressed his face and his eyes were hollow, set in a blank stare.

My attention however was soon brought to the dragon that landed on the deck beside me. As I asked him what had happened, he spoke only few words to me: “The queen- she’s dead.” My eyes then shifted to the sky as a dark void appeared above the city, growing and growing, sucking in the rubble of houses, enemy soldiers, even the pillars of ice shattered and were sucked in.

The very fire spiraled and set it ablaze, our visions seemed twisted as time and space seemed to warp around it all, going fast and yet so slow, as we sailed beyond the horizon, in search of a new home. I knew  that between the power of our queen, albeit at the cost of her own life, and our enemy’s attack that nothing would remain in the land we left behind but the memories of a remorseful people.

However, despite our escape from Adonai, our lives were still not secured. Due to our sudden departure we had precious little provisions, and nearly a week later they were already running out. The king and captain had sought out solitude, and I dared not confront them. It was left to me, Charles and but a few other ‘mons that kept their wits about them to guide us along the waves. Guinevere spent almost all her time tending to the injured and sick; though she was tired and in mourning, she remained strong as she continued working.

It only took a few days into our journey for the desperation among the people to grow so high that I feared some might throw themselves into the roaring waves. At that point, I found aid from a surprising source: Nicholas. I had expected for him to be lost to his mourning much like his father, bur rather I found him the most eager to assist me of. His mother had told him to bring the people to safety, he told me, to be the king to lead the people to a brighter future, and he knew that she would not wish for him to seal himself away.

He may not be king yet, but if he could help illuminate the path of hope they needed, he would try his best to do so. After all, he was not the only one who mourned, and he refused to let his mother’s and sister’s memory wither away with him or to perish away on this sea. Remarkable, for one still so young.

Seeing the prince actively taking a role in our venture motivated the people, and our conditions on the ship became more bearable. However, when I found myself looking in the distance on daybreak of the seventh day of our trip, I saw there was a storm ahead of us, and there was no way to avoid it. All too soon the yellow and orange glow disappeared, leaving only water flashes of lightning to fill our vision. But just as the waves threatened to drag us to the depths, one final flash of light shot across the sky. I must have lost consciousness as when I awoke next, it was to see a new sunrise peeking over the horizon.

I had very little time to ponder how our ships managed to escape the storm swallowing us into the brink, I heard someone shout out, “we’ve found land!” We had been stranded on a shore littered with sharp rocks near to high cliffs; needless to say, I and many others were amazed at our fortune, but few were willing to consider the question at the back of my mind: how did we manage to avoid being smashed upon them?

Not long after, Nicholas’ approached from the captain’s quarters, Alaric and Gawain in tow. The prince, using this good news, had finally been able to lure his father out of his solitude. I addressed Alaric,  requesting him to relay his orders. Would he let us venture further? We had very few other options, if any, and I’ve no doubt that he knew this, but with mystery and fear surrounding our situation, the people needed to hear their king give confident, strong orders to feel secure, or even simply forced, to venture out. To my relief, the king raised his head as all eyes turned to him, and declared, “Let us embark on this new land.”

This is the first chapter of the official story recap written by our dear Gaius, Alaric's Kricketune advisor from Pokemon of Avalon. These recaps will sum up the events of missions, events and the time in between from the point of view of Gaius. But more interesting perhaps, they'll also contain information that was supposed to be included in the original missions but didn't happen due to circumstances at the time, so they might offer some new perspective of things. This first chapter is called: "a story rekindled", and is about the fall of Adonai and the events just prior to Alaric arriving in Aether. || Next (will be posted in the near future)

#pokemon #pmd #pokemon of avalon #pokemon storytelling #pokemon au #poa #my stories #my fics