Legend of Ransera

Posted: **Fri Aug 18, 2023 8:56 pm**

The thing was, Raithen never knew what he did wrong with Phocion anymore than he ever knew what he did right. Sometimes his words clearly (to him) annoyed his older brother, sometimes they seemed to amuse him, but never at the times Raithen intended. The perplexing nature of the relationship was probably the reason he still reached, why it tugged at him significantly even well into his adulthood.

The smile helped, as they were rare, paradoxically more so in private than in public, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. When his brother drank, so did he, a moment after. It felt like how he'd mimicked his brother as a child but it wasn't. The truth was he was using it to pull his eyes away from the sharp tongue running along the wet mouth.

The fact was; Phocion was beautiful. Their mother was beautiful, of course, and their sister, and basically everyone in the Divine Linage. But Phocion was somehow more, even as he was less. He was the least showy of anyone in their extended family that Raithen knew even moderately well, he was dark of coloring and slight of frame and yet...

Raithen knew, though he never let himself stop to think about it, that he was probably obsessed with his brother because everyone else in his life that had been around for most of it treated him like the golden boy he literally was. Their older sister did not count as he had hardly known her as a child, still hardly knew her. Phocion had treated him as an annoyance almost all the time with little glimmers of what could hardly even be called affection, to keep Raithen on hooks looking for more.

It wasn't that he was in love with his brother, he'd never been in love with anyone, so far as he knew. He'd never pursued or considered pursuing Phocion as lover, something he had done, more or less constantly, with others since he'd been old enough to physically perform. No, it wasn't a romance or sexuality that made him lean toward his brother till he was resting his head on one hand propped on his knee, it was that idea that maybe, if he was good enough, figured out the puzzle, he could get the one adult male in his life who mattered to love him as everyone else did.

When the answer eventually came he nodded, both opening statements were true and the rest continued in that trend. It was an interesting truth that neither of the new Exalted Highness' brothers had any interest in his position. There would be no fraternal rivalry for the throne.

"I would hate it too. I'm not made for anything close." Though the Raven and the Goldfinch had very different sets of interests neither could stand to be idle or bored for any length of time without acting out, it was one of the points where their opposite personalities met. Perking up at the mention of Kalzasi, a nation that interested Raithen for purely self-interested reasons, he was about to ask about the trip but was beaten to the punch.

"Oh. I just," Want to know you, "wondered if I was the only one to question where I've been put." One shoulder shrugged and he drained what little remained of his refreshment before, having forgotten about Kalzasi, he instead asked,

"What's it like when Her Divine Radiance is... When She is in you?" Thoughtless to the possible implication of this he went on, "Avaerys has never used me as vessel, I don't think, but sometimes when His Will is on me I feel almost like I'm not in control of myself any longer. Like I'm being compelled or driven to expressing His Will and if I don't I might... die, maybe."

Posted: **Sat Aug 19, 2023 11:08 am**

"But I think we would abhor kingship for different reasons. I would actually enjoy the mechanics of it, I think. I would be a fine vizier to puzzle out the politics from the shadows, but it is the pomp and circumstance that would vex me... The sunlit parades and the glad-handing." Phocion wrinkled his nose at the notion.

"Valæra and I are..." He pondered, seeking out the words to impart his meaning. "...pragmatists. You asked about our mother's designs, and honestly I do not know the extent of her hand in our mental development. All of our caretakers as children were Sentinels or 'retired' Sentinels. It would not be a stretch to suspect they were Mesmers, and... Well, we are dutiful Solunarians all in the service of our realm in our different ways." He sat back, his posture slumping slightly.

"In other realms such practises are anathema, but they do not understand the boon of knowing and being satisfied in one's place. On the whole, we are the most satisfied people in all the world... Perhaps less so at our tier of the hierarchical pyramid, but still more so than our counterparts in other lands. It is fine and good to question... I wonder if that is the influence of His Divine Radiance's Ambitions being infused into your Aura." At the next question, he shook his head.

"I do not know." He sighed the words, "I can be sitting at my desk in the Prætorium one moment, and standing atop the mouth of Sorokyn the next. Her Argent Luminescence was ever a subtle one, but Vrædyn and I have spoken on the matter and it has been the same for him when he was inhabited by Him of the Sceptre." He looked askance, a slight flush creeping up his neck at the memory of waking to find himself naked in the embrace of their taller, Moonborn cousin who was in a similar state of undress. Shaking off the memory, he returned to the moment.

"That He allows you to even consider an alternative to His will is an interesting detail." Phocion mused, leaning forward and looking for all the world like he might be keen to start taking notes. "Tell me more?"

Posted: **Mon Aug 21, 2023 7:57 pm**

"We'd make a single excellent monarch between us, I think." It was sort of a jest, but as it was likely true, also not. Combined into a single person the brothers would have made an exceptional head of state, significantly more so than their emotionally unstable, untrained sibling, who was to hold the office.

That Cithaera might not have been in control of the mental development of her children, who were so obviously a product of her intention, had never occurred to Raithen. He'd never thought about it at all, but, as with so many things, it made so much sense as soon as he had thought about it that it felt like he'd always known.

"Why would someone intentionally leave their child to develop unguided? Wouldn't that be... neglect?" He was well aware of many times his mother and other caretakers had used magic to soothe and adjust him when it was needed. Being without such, even when he hadn't always wanted it at the time, must feel awfully frightening to a child. A frown creased his brow and his mouth as he considered it. No wonder other lands were so disorganized and unfaithful.

"I can't imagine living a life so... untethered. Why would anyone choose that?" It was more an agreement with the statements than a question that wanted an answer.

Raithen's attention narrowed back from his mind to his brother, an interest that only grew keener when rare color touched his elder's pallor.

His obedience to Phocion's inquiry was automatic,

"I am not even sure He does it on purpose. It doesn't happen all the time we are together, only when He gives me direct commands that are important. All His Divine Radiance's commands are important, but I don't start glowing when I wash Him or bring Him wine. It happened first when He claimed me, accepted me into His service. I think my mind might have burned away if I hadn't found an outlet for the energy. It happened again when He sent me to bring word of Him to the Neptori, gave me the energy to fly for two days to arrive. And again, when I told them of Him."

Taking a slow breath in and then out his eyes unfocused as he turned inward,

"It's like He's there, proclaiming His Divine Will over what I am doing but it's still my words, my thoughts and actions. I have memories of all of it, even if the intensity can make them a little blurred later. Maybe He wants to see if I am worthy, or maybe it pleased Him to let me try and prove it."

Posted: **Tue Aug 22, 2023 12:57 am**

"I'll be the shadow, you'll be the light." Phocion said, quoting the Radiant Chronicle. If they would pair to make a better monarch, it would only be an echo of the seminal example of such an arrangement: The Founders themselves.

"Some people like to think they are 'letting nature take its course' by guiding children only through mundane means. Some realms simply do not have the arcane infrastructure to facilitate these opportunities for the masses, and other realms think our way is somehow immoral. Our ways are a rarity in this great wide world, Goldfinch... despite the formidable efforts of our ancestors to correct these misapprehensions." A faint, hopeful smile would paint his pale lips.

"Perhaps with Their return, we might improve the lots of people beyond our current borders as we did in the past..." He trailed off, as the conversation turned down another path and he contemplated Raithen's assertions. He could feel the goosepimples rising on his forearms as he elaborated.

"It is truly remarkable. We are living in a renewed age like unto what is reflected in scripture. What you describe... even things I have experienced through Her, are things no one has felt or done in ages. Not since the Golden Age of the empire. It sounds as though He is... fortifying your faith, or perhaps using it as a conduit to enact His will. Part of my envies you. Her ways are more abstruse... She whispers, where He proclaims..." He sighed, wistfully.

"Anyway." He sipped at his drink before continuing. "Am I giving you whatever it is you came here to acquire?" He looked faintly amused in the asking, so perhaps he was in jest.

Posted: **Wed Aug 23, 2023 10:25 pm**

Raithen's face scrunched up in an expression of confusion and mild disgust,

"Why would anyone leave the fate of their children in the hands of chaos?" It made absolutely no sense to him. Foreigners must be crazy. Even people without magic should strive to mold their children into what they should be, elsewise, how would they know what to do with their lives, or even their place in it? As he continued to listen he lowered his head, shaking it once, accepting what he was being told without question but realizing that Solunarium was, indeed, a greater land than any other.

Raising his head again at the hopeful suggestion he grasped onto it, "Indeed, and we have been chosen to aid in whatever small ways They might direct us to."

Well, Raithen would be directed, Phocion would be possessed, but both were willingly giving of themselves to further the Divine Will.

"We are living when others have only slept, awaiting Their Return." It might have been a paraphrasing of scripture, Raithen was not best at memorizing written words, but it felt right, so he said it. Considering before speaking for once, he eventually said, quietly,

"Divine Avaerys pulled me to his realm, when I led the Neptori in prayer to Him Radiance the first time. It was..."

He tried to describe the palace made of golden light, the immensity of it, the terrible, awe filled perfection, words tumbling out of him in his native tongue without him being fully aware of them as he tried to channel what it had been like. When he was unable to turned to his brother. Irises normally grey were now a glinting gold, and he reached out, opening the locks his mother had taught him to keep on his mind and pressing the images, but more way it had felt out, hoping Phocion would be able to pick up what he was offering.

Posted: **Sat Sep 02, 2023 10:50 am**

"Much of the world is chaotic." Phocion replied through a weary sigh. "They confuse what is evolved with what is civilised and fail to recognise that those two concepts are not often aligned. Evolution in its natural form is order born from chaos... Mutations that serve as boons until they become the norm. But with clever minds and potent magicks we can remove the chaotic elements. We can choose what is best for our children... for our society. We can choose to defy the wanton whims of nature and chart our own course as a civilised people. Cogitate: Foreigners leave their children's fate in the hands of chaos, because it is natural and they believe that is inherently favourable." He smiled at Raithen's pious fervour. He'd always been a dutiful Varværyn, but this personal connection was new. And entirely understandable under recent circumstances.

His smile faded somewhat as he went on to explain the Empyreal realm to which he'd been conducted by the Deus Imperator Himself. A pang of envy intruded... piercing the air between them for a moment, until a notion occurred to him. Though he was no Mesmer nor Sembler, Phocion was Tethered and Raithen had been touched by Aværys Imperator. His pale eyes grew slightly paler and a dim, moonlit glow burgeoned at one wrist, but no bright gleaming crown appeared above his head as when Finn invoked his Majesty.

Phocion would see a glowing Tether extend from his wrist toward Raithen and plunge into him. Instantly, he was awash in new knowledge of his brother. He could tense the ties that bound him to figures in his life. Cithæra, Aværys... he blanched at the sense of himself in that heady mix. It was only a single, clarion moment before he shifted away to focus upon what was relevant to Raithen's story. He couldn't see what Raithen had seen, but he could feel what he felt and how it strengthened the tethers Aværys held over him.

"Fascinating..." He whispered.

Posted: **Tue Sep 12, 2023 11:21 pm**

The gold-finch nodded to his brother's words; long he had respected Phocion's wisdom, even when he had hated it in the moment. This was not such a moment, even if the topic was a serious one.

"It seems cruel." Was his only addition as that part of their conversation worn down and was replaced by another.

Because his attention was concentrated on only his brother the younger saw the minor changes that heralded... something. There was an odd sensation, a sort of tugging, but he was so used to magic being used on him, through him, on his behalf that he didn't think, in the safety of this place, to resist it. What Phocion had done, that he had seen, Raithen was not entirely sure, it happened to quickly for him to get more than a sense that his emotions were being activated, his devotions evoked. He was not afraid that Phocion might know where his heart lay, for he was not ashamed of what he felt. He might have been a little embarrassed had the elder mocked him for his feelings, but it did not seem as though that was where the connection was heading. Not yet, at least. If at a later time, when they were less open than they were then, the Raven teased him, well, that would be alright.

"I wish I could show you." It was an offer, more than a lament, but Raithen's talents lay in other grounds than those that would have allowed him to project what he had experienced either in illusions or into another mind.

Without letting himself think about what he was doing he reached out through the ephemeral connection and tried to open himself to it, tried to accept it. Not knowing what it was, he had no idea if his opening himself to it would do anything.

Posted: **Thu Sep 14, 2023 11:31 am**

"It is cruel." Phocion ratified, "For such is nature... callous, random and prone to chaos. Civilisation, as the Founders established it, is meant to be an improvement... a system that eases the perfunctory pains of existing with a consciousness. Our butchers becalm the livestock before the slaughter, letting what might be a traumatic terminus be, instead, a peaceful dream. Our slaves are conditioned to serve contentedly and dissuaded from dreams of insubordination or revolt. Each to their lot, each satisfied with it..." He swirled his wine, glancing down into the miniature whirlpool he'd engendered.

"Of course the knee that does not bend must, at times, be broken, but She of the Scourge is loath to employ it and so must we be."

Phocion shifted his focus, exploring his Supreme Craft even as he attempted to explore his brother's soul. He was being urged forward, but still there was a wall preventing him from accepting Raithen's offer. He was no Sembler nor Mesmer, but this power of this Emblem did not operate the way other magicks did. He'd known that academically, but every day he was learning it practically, as well.

A notion occurred to him and, no sooner was he struck with it, than he burst headlong through the boundary against which he'd been bucking. And the battering ram was such a simple thing: Blood. He pondered the Re'hyæan familial telepathy. It typically only manifested parent to child and child to parent, but the Gods could seemingly possess all members of Their line, even unto the current generation millennia down the line from their golden era. When Phocion wondered whether he could commune with his brother through similar means, he was instantly doing it.

The broadest smile Raithen had ever seen Phocion wear now spread across his pale face as he leaned forward eyes aglow with silver and, with his mind rather than his mouth, urged:

"Well, show me, then..."

Posted: **Mon Sep 18, 2023 4:55 pm**

It was odd to see his brother smiling, not that the darker brother never did, but his expression of such were always subtle things, often closing him off more than opening him. What, exactly, was happening, Raithen did not know, but that, more than anything else in his life, was normal. It actually felt right to him when it was in the context of his family; like coming home felt right.

When he had been very small and had not really understood the complexities of the relationships that blood creates, he had reached out to Phocion as though the other were his father, but, finding not the emotional, nor empathic bond that he had with his mother, had lost the notion before it had even entered his ability to recall it. Even so, when the infant opening was suddenly located and broached, it didn't feel like an invasion, but like something he'd wanted but forgotten.

With a gasp the Avialae's mouth fell a little open and he stared, helplessly, into shining silver eyes,

"Phocion." It wasn't a question, rather a statement.

So well trained was he in obedience by their mother when she entered his mind that any form of resistance, as they had spoken of concerning the population, did not occur to him. When Phocion entered, Raithen merely opened himself to allow it. When Phocion commanded, Raithen spread wide the memories of his encounter within the Holy Realm and relived it, that his brother might relive it. No part of what he had felt, terror, awe, obeisance, helplessness or worship, did he attempt to conceal, nor any of what he had seen or heard as the glory of His Divine Radiance and His Palace flooded through them both.

He was a vessel and Phocion would ride him as he wilt.

Posted: **Fri Nov 03, 2023 12:32 pm**

R E V I E W

Raithen

Experience Points: 15 (No magic)

Injuries/Ailments: N/A

Loot: Phocion's smile

Notes: The brothers have never been closer. Founders be praised!

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