THE SUN SETS IN THE EAST

[Axelu 4333]

THE SUN SETS IN THE EAST

 

Helena Augusta, as a child, if she was not practicing her sparring with a wooden training sword her soldierly father had so kindly given her, always found herself perched beside her balcony, staring west as the first rays of morning began to puncture the sky. Her brothers would say their sister would be daydreaming of mere follies, though her parents knew better. From a very young age, the only daughter of The Princess Imperial of the Holy Orenian Empire and Count of Susa had a vision - a dream - so profound and enduring that her mother, Elizabeth, once likened this passion to a sun that would never set. 

 

Although she was born as a member of the Imperial Family, due to her being styled as an Earl’s daughter as the product of a morganatic union, Lady Helena was afforded enough freedoms and parental support to pursue her unconventional interests. 

By the age of fourteen, the eager Basrid scion became a squire beneath Holy Sir Armande de Rennes, the Apostolic General and most high ranking Equester of the Canonist Church, who later in life transitioned from being a mentor to a dear friend. At age nineteen, Helena debuted, to her chagrin, before all of Orenian society and made a conscious decision to wear traditional Rhenyari attire that included trousers. This roused the criticisms of Imperial High society, though she did not seem to mind; marriage was the furthest probable thing from her mind. Two years later, The Squire-Armiger became The Holy-Dame Equester Helena of Rosemoor and Susa in service of the Papal state, and by extension, GOD. She served without fault for several years and duly took upon several squires, among them the late Viscount of Provins, Philip Pruvia. 

 

At twenty nine, Helena Augusta married her longtime companion, Prince Robert, later the Count of Temesch; she endearingly knew him as “Rob”. Throughout the duration of her marriage, she bore four children: 

His Imperial Highness Prince Adrian Marcellus, Count of Temesch

Father Ioannes of Temesch

Her Imperial Highness Princess Alice Irena of Temesch, Dowager Crown Princess of Sutica

His Imperial Highness Prince Henry-Constanz

 

By her son, Adrian, who married Princess Athénaïs of Savoy, Helena became a grandmother to four:

 

Lord Paul-Salvian Temesch

Master Charles-Joseph Temesch

Lady Hélène-Marléaïs Temesch

Lady Helene-Augusta Temesch

 

By her son, Ioannes, who married Lady Julia Apollonia de Rivera, Helena became a grandmother to four:

Master Viktor-Konstantinos Temesch

Ms. Apollonia Selene Temesch

Master Paco Antonius Temesch

Master. Silvanus Temesch

 

 

At the age of fifty, The Holy Dame was promoted to Knight-Commander of Exalted Owyn’s Knightly Order and fruitfully executed the mission she valued most: delivering the remains of her beloved friend and mentor, Armande de Rennes. She maintained such a position until she matured in age, eventually retiring to the crisp-aired coast of San Luciano in her son, Prince Adrian’s, summer residence to quietly mourn the loss of her husband.  She travelled alongside her son, Father Ioannes, for a nondescript but lengthy amount of time; the details of her travels are yet to be disclosed by either she or her son. 

 

Twenty years later, at the age of seventy one, Helena, the Dowager Countess of Temesch, returned to the Courts of Oren where she served as Concierge beneath the Holy Orenian Empress, Anastasia I, for nearly ten years. When the Emperor and Empress perished and the Brothers’ War began, Helena quietly vied for a resolution but ultimately lent her passive support to Frederick I for his uncompromising promise and piety. 

 

At the age of seventy-eight, Helena Augusta of Rosemoor and Susa passed in her son’s estate within the region of Upper Petra and was found upon her balcony, sat upon a chair, while the sun’s rays began to set upon the Heartland’s urban horizon. Although she seemed to be in excellent health for her advanced age, doctors from the Royal Court of Frederick I determined that the Imperial Princess had been quietly suffering from a malignant cancer in her liver but also noted that her passage from the mortal plane to the heavens was nothing short of peaceful.

 

 

Her Imperial Highness 

Helena Augusta

(1791-1869)

Knight-Commander and Dame-Equester of the Order of Exalted Owyn, The Dowager Princess Robert of Oren and Countess of Temesch

 

[milkyi 1988]

r

[JoanOfArc 4604]

Ioannes wept for his mother from the halls of the Lectorate. He already missed her, having planned on seeing her for the first time in months this weekend. Whenever it seemed like life was about to take a good turn, he lost. He always did.

[brujera 1152]

Athenais sat within her mother-in-laws former room at Temesch Hall. "You will be missed dearly, mother." As she sat in the chair where Helena took her final breaths and admired the same view, hoping she passed in painless peace. For the next week, it was said Athenais's weeping could be heard echoing throughout the expansive estate.

[Reckless Banzai Screamer 15456]

7 minutes ago, JoanOfArc said:

Ioannes wept for his mother from the halls of the Lectorate. He already missed her, having planned on seeing her for the first time in months this weekend. Whenever it seemed like life was about to take a good turn, he lost. He always did.

 

"Papi, papi!" Called out Paco Antonius Temesch to his father Ioannes. "Abuelita....she es not sleeping, is she?" He'd frown, wishing he could have met his grandmother.

[Jtit 228]

Valeria Basrid welcomed her dear sister-in-law into the heavens with an angelic smile and open arms. 

"Welcome home, dear sister" she said as the two were finally reunited in the serenity of the afterlife. 

[Tiresiam 462]

 

Spoiler

 

@JoanOfArc @Nectorist @Axelu

 

The Brothers' Temesch, circa 1840

 

As dawn broke, the Count of Temesch was offered the news, swiftly and to the point though he did not take it as such. His mind was a haze, still unwoken though his body had begun to walk the grounds; he was seemingly unwell and unable to process as the shock overtook him. Much raced upon him. In these sparring moments before the rest of the Household woke. As he was led to the balcony, where his mother had passed, she rested peacefully. Yet, her personal struggle must have been anything but.

 

Why would she not tell him she was so near to such a day? Did he simply not care to notice? Given their country's strife, there was much which had occupied his every waking hour. He had not even seen his children since his arrival with her the previous morning; even then, she was in good spirits and seemingly in good health. As he thought, his heart raced, and his breathing became shakey. His vision blurred, the colors he saw all tinged with gray, his expressions mute. It was then that he must have stepped forward and white-knuckled the railing. All that divided him, from his absent father and his caring mother. He looked down, contemplating another grisly fate.

 

"My Lord?" He heard behind him, his retainer still present even as he had become lost in his own thoughts. "Might we begin with the arrangements?" The man questioned, his own brows knit with curiosity and concern for his Lordship.

 

"Yes, of course." he returned, still divided as he turned to address his servant, abandoning darker contemplation instead for this conversation. Nevertheless, the Count remained melancholic even as he was snapped back to the reality of things and spurred outside from his solitude of himself. "A Priest will need to be called, and the casket, of course. One must be built."

 

As he spoke the words and worked through the process of her demise, the staff each one had awoken, the cool night air gave way to the rising Sun, and the Stars each were pulled away from overhead beneath the luminescence of orange-yellow light upon the horizon as it reflected off the melting morning dew. He went from one conversation unto the next, each successively as he stood within his mother's quarters, awash in a stream of requests, aid, and necessary duties. There was no wailing, save his mother's caretakers, for he had to stomach all as he bore the burden. Her Grandchildren were barred from that wing of the building. The body moved from her balcony to avoid both panic and ill-rumour of her demise from spreading before they were ready.

 

"Lord, forgive me, but I have questions about the body. Should we move her from her chambers?" Spoke another, separate from the last, and then the next. "There is also the business of the letters," one quick moment just as another began. "Yes, not just to your Mother's family, but to the villagers of Vienne, and to your own family as well." All too often, he became drowned in new crises that had to be solved. However, his mother meant more to him than a problem to resolve. When he was alone in Rosemoor with his brother Ioannes and his cousin Darius, she watched over them. Sickly as he had been in his youth, he had faced the consequences of his ill-bred constitution daily, each time bringing the possibility of an untimely death. She supported his decision to ultimately leave their home, seized by their Grandfather due to his hatred for their father, his son. They had no guarantees made for them, no inheritance or future within the land of their birth. All had to be built.

 

From her, he garnered all his strength to persevere despite his circumstances. He had achieved all that he stood for, and all thereafter, because of his mother's teachings. As his brother had followed in their father's pious path, he continued alone to secure their family, abandoning his love of poetry and the arts, sacrificing his natural affinities for the politics in which security for them would be unquestionably established.

 

Spoiler

I ought to say here that I have been so fortunate. For a while, after I took a good long break from LOTC, I thought I wouldn't come back. I'd done so much on the server and played so many things that I figured there wouldn't be a character I could play that would interest me enough to dive in again. I have been really happy to be wrong. You and Nect gave me a chance at a time even the people I've known longest on the server had turned away. Playing Adrian has and will continue to be a real privilege for me, and if he is my last character here, as I've said often, I honestly think there is no other I'd like to end things with than him.

 

You're an amazing person to roleplay with, and have been an even greater friend. Stay awesome.

 

[Benjikhei 698]

A figure mumbles and murmurs forgotten riddles and foolishly complex rhymes to himself in a disorderly manner - his very whispering echoing across the cave which he crouched in, by flickering lanterns light.

 

”But w-what was her name? She has to have one, can’t just remain a face.. very striking, that’s what she was, years ago.”

 

A glimmer of realisation in the dark.

 

”Named for our home of course. - Helena.”

 

 

[kuerbis 3802]

Annie shed a tear for Nené.

[MRCHENN 4741]

A being, who’s soul was tormented to eternality, pondered on the beauty of Creation - each soul crafted uniquely in the eye of their maker, and given an exquisite end all the same.

 

The draconic Inquisitor ruminated on the interactions with his former self and the fallen Dame. She had held a faith rivaling his purpose, and a temperance as strong as his arrogance. He would be jealous of her demise, wondering when STONE would take him in similar glory.

[LithiumSedai 5750]

An old friend and instructor patiently awaited the heavenly specter of his first and foremost associate, squire and companion. He had trusted her with all his heart - rather literally, guiding her to lay it to rest beside his ancient and storied kin; soon the time would come to reminisce together of all those quips and debates in the Providence cathedral, but only so - would their reunion, and that of all their late friends and kin, not be proof enough of their faith?