TIMESTAMP: 31st Wither, Ash 122
NOTES: Open Me!
NOTES: Open Me!
► Show Spoiler
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Ever since Æros fled the nest of his family homes, he did not feel as if he had gained much of anything in terms of autonomy. For those few years, he still felt like he was swept up by the undertow of forces far greater than him. Perhaps that would always be the case, but it was also possible for him to gain more control than the little to nothing that he had always possessed. What kind of fool would he be to decline an improvement in circumstance simply because it was not perfect, after all. Inasmuch as this was true, what Ash had to offer him was far more than he could’ve ever expected. It was far more than he could’ve ever anticipated, much less prepared for. But while the start was rocky, it served to break the final legs of his poorly built foundation, allowing him to finally begin the process of building himself up again. While one cannot simply erase the emotional weight of what he’s lived through this far, while he would still have to contest with his own cynicism and pessimism, he was finally in a place where he could grow.
Now? The young elf found himself back within the walls of those very same family estates from which he fled. Not by force, no; he had made his return by choice, having accepted a lifeline disguised as an olive branch from the head of his house, an uncle he’d always admired. Æros had made this transition in the latter portion of the season, and once he’d returned, that uncle, Janus, had begun an earnest endeavor to assist his wayward nephew in acquiring a fledgling political career.
Throwing him to the wolves outright would be as cruel as it was stupid for the entire family’s name. As such, that is not where he started. The education that Æros had received as he’d grown was a consummate one in terms of quality, though a lot of the turmoil of his youth had squandered parts of it. Nonetheless, the half-starborn was no idiot. He did recall a lot and he did learn quickly, cracked and fraying at the seams as he was. For the rest of Ash, Æros spent these days learning and relearning about Solunarium, its history, its politics, the systems that ran it, the very heart that beat within it. Beyond that, he was trained in the numerous social skills required to be taken seriously on the floor of the senate, though given his aptitude with Mesmer, he found he had an even easier time picking these things up than most.
The most important thing he started to learn was to preemptively use his Craft to regulate his own emotions. To conceal himself better, to not let anything slip through the cracks. Oddly enough, this part, at least compared to the rest, he struggled with. A good portion of this was due to his age and maturity but what certainly did not help were the few vices he’d picked up over the years and still carried with him to this day. The most obvious solution here would be to unhook him from these things, but that is easier said than done. Even if it is easy enough to forcefully sever the psychological chord using fairly intense magical intervention, the physiological dependency is a bit of a different beast. These things are two pronged, and unhooking the mind does not unhook the body.
That isn’t to say that a wealthy noble family couldn’t afford the highest quality of medical care, but at the same time, there’s a balance to be struck when it came to trying to rush things. Go too fast, stress the body too much, the consequences can be dire. And unlike his mother, Selene, Janus actually cared for Æros’ wellbeing. As such, these vices were yet to be fully expunged by the time Ash began to reach its final days. This, however, did not ruin all of the progress he’d managed to make– it was simply something that remained to be fully dealt with as the seasons changed. Physical misery aside, he’d come really rather a long way from where he was at the start of the season.
On the season’s final day, Janus called upon the younger elf to both reflect upon all that has transpired as well as look to the future, to speak of what might transpire as the days and seasons kept rolling by. Informal, this conversation was. Janus was really quite curious, too, about that which Æros desired for his future that was not necessarily related to his upcoming shift in career. He knew that his nephew held a deep fondness for magic and an incredible thirst for power in that regard. Where did he stand with his current runes, and where did he want to go? Did he desire more? Could he withstand more? Was it even worth taking that death risk to acquire another? All of these questions and more swam through the mind of the pair’s elder.
The two of them sat across from one another in a brightly lit yet small tea room. With tall windows and taller ceilings, the room felt far more open than it really was. From where they sat, the two elves could look out from these windows at the beauty of Luxium’s Aurecine district, lit in golden majesty by the grace of the midday sun. Decorated with gold, metallic accents and deep win reds, royal blues and peacock greens, the room was a beautiful thing.
“We have both been so busy of late, have we not?” Janus said, words spoken in a friendly manner, voice soft.
Æros smiled in response. “True…resetting myself has been, well, a great deal of stress…but certainly worth it. It’s an odd thing to feel so renewed yet so completely exhausted.” And while he sounds pleased and optimistic, there are elements of how tired he feels seeping into his words.
“But do you feel as if you will be happy with what everything is shaping up to become? Do you like the direction I have set you to walk?” The older man spoke with a sincerity that bordered upon overly serious, just almost.
Æros shifted his gaze around, pondering the question. His immediate thought was to answer yes, but he figured that his uncle wasn’t looking for such a simplistic answer. “I do. Career wise, I do. I don’t know if I’ll ever not feel as if there are pieces missing, if I’ll ever feel like I’m complete, but I certainly feel as if I am heading in the right direction now. I…the only detours I want to make, really, are for the sake of arcane study. If…if I find the time, I’d like to learn to fight; I’d like to acquire Reaving. But I do need time for that, and…my schedule, recently, hasn’t had much open space. For good reason, but still.” In voicing these desires, he sounded somewhat sheepish, as if he were almost afraid to say what he wanted. Such a thing was likely a residual sort of fear from never being allowed to do so in the past to his elders. Prior, they’d never cared about what he wanted, so there was never a point in stating those things aloud.
Janus brought a hand to his chin, eyes shifting down for a second in thought before returning to the face of his nephew. “Is that so? Why had you never mentioned this prior? I could find a way to arrange such a thing if you would like. Especially now– a lot of the progress you have made does release you from a fair few of your studies. Even starting in the senate soon, I do think you would have time for martial training if that is your wish.” The older elf sounded a bit perplexed as to why Æros had never mentioned an interest in the subject prior, but if he thought about it, it wasn’t hard for him to hazard a few accurate guesses as to why that would be.
It was that easy? All he had to do was ask? What a novel concept to the Færie. Never in a thousand years would his mother have thought that Reaving was worth his time, so never did he think it worth mentioning. Learning to live with the ability to fluidly make use of his resources would be a fascinating point of growth for the young man.
Now? The young elf found himself back within the walls of those very same family estates from which he fled. Not by force, no; he had made his return by choice, having accepted a lifeline disguised as an olive branch from the head of his house, an uncle he’d always admired. Æros had made this transition in the latter portion of the season, and once he’d returned, that uncle, Janus, had begun an earnest endeavor to assist his wayward nephew in acquiring a fledgling political career.
Throwing him to the wolves outright would be as cruel as it was stupid for the entire family’s name. As such, that is not where he started. The education that Æros had received as he’d grown was a consummate one in terms of quality, though a lot of the turmoil of his youth had squandered parts of it. Nonetheless, the half-starborn was no idiot. He did recall a lot and he did learn quickly, cracked and fraying at the seams as he was. For the rest of Ash, Æros spent these days learning and relearning about Solunarium, its history, its politics, the systems that ran it, the very heart that beat within it. Beyond that, he was trained in the numerous social skills required to be taken seriously on the floor of the senate, though given his aptitude with Mesmer, he found he had an even easier time picking these things up than most.
The most important thing he started to learn was to preemptively use his Craft to regulate his own emotions. To conceal himself better, to not let anything slip through the cracks. Oddly enough, this part, at least compared to the rest, he struggled with. A good portion of this was due to his age and maturity but what certainly did not help were the few vices he’d picked up over the years and still carried with him to this day. The most obvious solution here would be to unhook him from these things, but that is easier said than done. Even if it is easy enough to forcefully sever the psychological chord using fairly intense magical intervention, the physiological dependency is a bit of a different beast. These things are two pronged, and unhooking the mind does not unhook the body.
That isn’t to say that a wealthy noble family couldn’t afford the highest quality of medical care, but at the same time, there’s a balance to be struck when it came to trying to rush things. Go too fast, stress the body too much, the consequences can be dire. And unlike his mother, Selene, Janus actually cared for Æros’ wellbeing. As such, these vices were yet to be fully expunged by the time Ash began to reach its final days. This, however, did not ruin all of the progress he’d managed to make– it was simply something that remained to be fully dealt with as the seasons changed. Physical misery aside, he’d come really rather a long way from where he was at the start of the season.
On the season’s final day, Janus called upon the younger elf to both reflect upon all that has transpired as well as look to the future, to speak of what might transpire as the days and seasons kept rolling by. Informal, this conversation was. Janus was really quite curious, too, about that which Æros desired for his future that was not necessarily related to his upcoming shift in career. He knew that his nephew held a deep fondness for magic and an incredible thirst for power in that regard. Where did he stand with his current runes, and where did he want to go? Did he desire more? Could he withstand more? Was it even worth taking that death risk to acquire another? All of these questions and more swam through the mind of the pair’s elder.
The two of them sat across from one another in a brightly lit yet small tea room. With tall windows and taller ceilings, the room felt far more open than it really was. From where they sat, the two elves could look out from these windows at the beauty of Luxium’s Aurecine district, lit in golden majesty by the grace of the midday sun. Decorated with gold, metallic accents and deep win reds, royal blues and peacock greens, the room was a beautiful thing.
“We have both been so busy of late, have we not?” Janus said, words spoken in a friendly manner, voice soft.
Æros smiled in response. “True…resetting myself has been, well, a great deal of stress…but certainly worth it. It’s an odd thing to feel so renewed yet so completely exhausted.” And while he sounds pleased and optimistic, there are elements of how tired he feels seeping into his words.
“But do you feel as if you will be happy with what everything is shaping up to become? Do you like the direction I have set you to walk?” The older man spoke with a sincerity that bordered upon overly serious, just almost.
Æros shifted his gaze around, pondering the question. His immediate thought was to answer yes, but he figured that his uncle wasn’t looking for such a simplistic answer. “I do. Career wise, I do. I don’t know if I’ll ever not feel as if there are pieces missing, if I’ll ever feel like I’m complete, but I certainly feel as if I am heading in the right direction now. I…the only detours I want to make, really, are for the sake of arcane study. If…if I find the time, I’d like to learn to fight; I’d like to acquire Reaving. But I do need time for that, and…my schedule, recently, hasn’t had much open space. For good reason, but still.” In voicing these desires, he sounded somewhat sheepish, as if he were almost afraid to say what he wanted. Such a thing was likely a residual sort of fear from never being allowed to do so in the past to his elders. Prior, they’d never cared about what he wanted, so there was never a point in stating those things aloud.
Janus brought a hand to his chin, eyes shifting down for a second in thought before returning to the face of his nephew. “Is that so? Why had you never mentioned this prior? I could find a way to arrange such a thing if you would like. Especially now– a lot of the progress you have made does release you from a fair few of your studies. Even starting in the senate soon, I do think you would have time for martial training if that is your wish.” The older elf sounded a bit perplexed as to why Æros had never mentioned an interest in the subject prior, but if he thought about it, it wasn’t hard for him to hazard a few accurate guesses as to why that would be.
It was that easy? All he had to do was ask? What a novel concept to the Færie. Never in a thousand years would his mother have thought that Reaving was worth his time, so never did he think it worth mentioning. Learning to live with the ability to fluidly make use of his resources would be a fascinating point of growth for the young man.
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'Thoughts'
"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"
"Vastien Tongue/Speech"
"Valasren Tongue/Speech"
"Common Tongue/Speech"
