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THE FINAL FRONTIER


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THE FINAL FRONTIER


 

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Art by @Toffee

 


 

It was a day like any other for Celestine Herbert. Although in truth, no day had ever been the same throughout her exceptionally long and arduous life…

 

The borderline ancient woman stared outward at the coast through the lenses of her spyglass. It was a fine morning, so far as she had observed from the vantage point provided by the cliffside. The high tide was in, and the weather was as clear as a bell. An ideal day for setting sail, she thought to herself as the weathered explorer lowered the instrument.

 

Indeed, there was a ship waiting for her at the docks of Eastfleet. It was due to set sail in a couple of hours.

 

“Going somewhere?” A voice inquired from behind.

 

Slowly, the wrinkled old figure turned to behold a youthful looking sorceress. She had stunning red hair and eyes which were as blue as the sea, and a look of intelligence about her. The mage had always kept it long and free, for as long as she had remembered.

 

“Perhaps,” Celestine replied simply as she turned to face her daughter. “It is curious, though, that you have only chosen to answer my letters now.”

“I’m sorry, mother,” Elizabeth replied gently.

 


Spoiler

“Elizabeth, please stay…” Celestine begged, standing in the frame of her doorway.

 

“Mamej, I can’t!” She bellowed, slamming the lid of her suitcase down with articles sticking out of its seams. “Didn’t you see what they did to her?!”

‘...I’ve spoken to the Palatine. The government is going to release an edict, promising the state’s protection to mages and a commitment to upholding the rule of law.”

“And has Henrik ever kept his word before?” The sorceress snapped, glaring at her mother. 

 

“Tanith is coming with me, mother… I don’t understand why you still insist upon staying! He’ll hurt you and papej too. It’s only a matter of time! I’m heading for the south, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

The middle aged anthropologist’s features had turned pale. At that moment she knew that her daughter was really going to leave. In truth, she could hardly blame her. There were times when Celestine wondered what her destiny might have been like, had she chosen Oren instead of Haense after independence.

 

But she had made her choice, and she would choose to own it. Though a child of two worlds, she would not abandon that which she had built in Haense.

“I would have perished had I not persisted, Elizabeth. But your destiny is your own,” She replied quietly with that, before stepping out of the room.


 

“No matter,” Celestine’s gaze returned to the horizon. “You know what I have to do then, yes? And you know why I have to do it, child?”

 

“Yes, I do…” The sorceress replied with a sigh. “And you are certain that you don’t want me to come with you?”

“Nay,” The old explorer slowly shook her head. “You’ve a destiny to explore for yourself here, Elizabeth. I know how much you miss Tanith, but I cannot allow you to accompany me.”


“But…- Mother, my magic! I could be of the utmost use on your journey!”

“I don’t deny that you wouldn’t be,” The old woman smiled faintly. 

 

“But I need you to stay here and help your father. You need to look out for the NGS. And for him, for that matter. Besides, you’ve ever so many who have come to love and rely on you.”

 

“And… W-Will you be coming back? Will you be bringing her back?” The sorceress faintly inquired, moving to take her mother’s hand as tears streamed down her face.

 


Spoiler

Celestine had always been a scientist, believing first and foremost in empirics rather than superstition. Logic and reason were powerful forces indeed, able to dispel many fogs of ignorance. 

 

However, some of the things she had seen as of late had caused her to rethink her beliefs. Certain abnormalities in the world simply could not be explained through the process of logical reasoning.

 

Her two nieces, Alexandria and Viktoria, had been kind enough to allow her to accompany them to the Scyfling camp that day. It was an ideal opportunity to learn more about a unique and isolated culture, she had thought to herself, even if nothing came of the fortune she was to be told.

 

The shaman himself had a thick, wild, gray beard which covered the entirety of his face. They found themselves at the northern edge of Lake Milena, just beyond the limits of the Scyfling refugee camp. Upon their arrival, the three women had been instructed to remove their boots and stockings as he drew markings upon their faces.

 

Alexandria was first to be submerged, followed by Viktoria. The shaman opened the innards of a fish for each of them as they did so, looking within as he predicted their fortunes.

 

And then, it came to be Celestine’s turn. Submerging beneath the waves, she found herself skeptical that anything would come of it. But, it was an interesting cultural experience regardless.


 

To this, Celestine did not reply for a good, long moment. For she knew the answer that she had to give. And she equally knew how much it would hurt Elizabeth.

 

“When I was a young woman, a Scyfling shaman gazed into the future to predict my fortune,” The anthropologist began. 

 

“He said that I, before the end of my life, would venture into a frozen wasteland. One covered with ice. An inhospitable realm, one where I would find a great treasure…”

 

“...And you believe that great treasure is Tanith?” Elizabeth blinked.

 

“It’s hard to say,” The anthropologist grunted, frowning a bit as she moved to cross her arms. 

 

“But I know that Tanith’s ship was heading in that general direction, when she left. It’s the best lead I’ve got, and I have to pursue it. I owe it to her, Eliza.”

 


Spoiler

The fires of the Nether were hotter than even the most blazing furnaces of the mundane realm, Celestine thought to herself as she let fly a bolt from her crossbow.

 

She and her two dark elven friends were engaged in a vicious fight. Chirr stood a ways to her left with Tanith positioned on a mound of rock over to her right. For a moment, the anthropologist contemplated why dark elves always seemed to gravitate toward her and the NGS…

…But this moment of contemplation didn’t last for long. As the creature propelled its fiery magma at her, she was forced to abandon her crossbow and roll out of the way. Unfortunately, she was too late, for the ravaging substance had just scathed her leg as it splashed beside her.

 

“Agh!” She had cried out, falling to the ground as she clutched at her scorched leg.

 

“Celestine, look out!” Chirr had bellowed, her twin swords at the ready as her bodyguard, a trained assassin in her own right, had sprinted to intercept the creature.

“I’ve got it!” Tanith interjected, extending her hands as her eyes glowed with a brilliant pink aura. Conjuring an ice spike, she aimed carefully, and let it fly.

The creature exploded just short of Celestine, the fluidic entity dispersing into a thousand pieces with no further harm to her.


“T-Thanks Tanith…” She offered to her, gazing upward with a smile as the two moved to help her onto her one good leg.


 

Continuing to blink rapidly, the sorceress was quiet for a good, long moment. Though her silver tongue had helped her to bring peace between even the most bitter of rivals, Elizabeth had no words.

 

“Before I go,” Celestine said quietly, finally placing her hands on her daughter’s shoulders. “I want you to know something, Elizabeth.”

“W-What?” She asked quietly.

“That I’m proud of you,” The old anthropologist smirked.

 


Spoiler

“God dammit Eliza! Do you want to be a sorceress, or do you want to be waiting tables and scrubbing counters for the rest of your life?!”

 

“I’m s-sorry mother… But I am getting better! I’ve already learned so much! Would not a life as a governess, equipped with the arcane, be a sufficient existence?”

“But you can learn more!” Celestine slammed her fist repeatedly against the flat of her desk, the rage she had inherited from the father she had never known making a rare manifestation in this moment. 

 

“You can’t give up on your dream of learning alteration! You can’t just settle on becoming a traveling governess! You have to aspire to be MORE than what you are! Don’t you understand how hard it is to be what you are in this world?”

Tears began to stream down Elizabeth’s eyes. Often, she felt that nothing could please her mother, no matter how hard she tried. She pushed her and pushed her, unlike she had pushed any of her other siblings. At times, it had become almost unbearable.


“Look…” Celestine’s voice softened as she offered her a handkerchief, biting at her lip. Upon accepting it, she moved to take her daughter’s hands. 

 

“...You are the future of our family, kid. And I know that you can achieve your full potential, if only you aspire to something higher than yourself. Try taking a risk, Eliza, and it’ll be worth it in the end. The worst you can do is fail”


 

The sorceress was speechless, for this was the first time that her mother had said these words.

“I’ve always been proud. And I will always be, forever and ever,” Celestine added, the ancient scholar looking into her daughter’s eyes. 

 

“Look at you, little one… Look how far you’ve flown! What a powerful magi you’ve become. And to have made peace between Oren and Haense, when none seemed plausible?”

“That peace didn’t last for long,” She muttered, looking away for a moment. “I failed, mother. My peace failed to stop the war. And now the Empire-”

“-You have failed in nothing,” She gripped Eliza’s shoulders tightly. Despite her age, she still had a fair bit of strength left in her.

“On the contrary, you have been so successful throughout your life. You are so much like me. Your iron will, your spirit… And that is why I asked you here to see me off, for I trust nobody more than you to take care of this.”

 


Spoiler

A young girl gazed upon her mother, a sorceress clad in flowing robes. No more than four or five she wondered what was going to transpire as she was left at the structure’s doors.

 

Her red hair and golden eyes were very much unlike her own, but the child shared her same freckled features. The gaze which they exchanged made the sharing of words unnecessary.

 

“W-Where are you going?” Celestine finally asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Away,” Her mother had said. “But I’ll always be with you, Celestine.”

From her own head, she had taken her hat. It outsized Celestine’s own head by far, a goofy and awkward fit. Clumsily moving to lift the brim off of her eyes, her mother was gone by the time she had finished.


 

As Celestine crowned her daughter’s head with the battered hat, the one which she never took off as though bound by creed, tears streamed even further down her eyes. The sorceress was speechless.

“B-But mother, won’t you be needing-”

“-I won’t be needing it, where I’m going,” Celestine replied simply, the sunrise shimmering off of her gray hair. 

 

“I expect you to take good care of it now, as well as… Everything, that I am leaving behind.”

 

Slowly, Elizabeth began to nod. “I will…” She promised her mother, before moving to embrace her.

“...I love you.”

“I love you too, my dearest child.”

 

They embraced for a good, long moment. It seemed as though it would last for all of eternity. Yet, it did end. And as it did so, Celestine turned away from her daughter and descended from the cliffside.

 


Spoiler

Having scrimped and saved for so long, Celestine knew that this was the moment of truth.

 

Though she had made a pitch to the Archchancellor regarding her project, he had believed that which she hoped to accomplish simply could not be done. The Duke of Helena had been kinder, yet the resources that he proposed for her to utilize were still quite limited.

 

If this didn’t work, she’d probably take him up on his offer. But she required urban real estate in a strategic location. And if she couldn’t get it in Helena, then New Reza would be the key.

 

Fidgeting with her gloves, she knew that she was a newcomer to these lands. Haense, a province in the northernmost reaches of the Empire, was a prosperous realm. And the revelation of her heritage, she had hoped, would make it easier to establish her first prototype museum out on the frontier. She would not give up her aspirations to establish a Helena museum so easily, but she knew now that this would be the first step. The first of many seeds in what would hopefully blossom into an orchard of knowledge.

 

As she entered the Palatine’s office, she offered him a warm smile. This pitch to gain control of that old tower in perpetuity would make or break her dream. But she had a good feeling about it all, for destiny was on her side. 


 

As the ship departed and sailors bustled about, Celestine stared out at Almaris from her vantage point at the stern of the ship. She thought about all the friends that she had made, over the course of her very long life. All of the adventures that she had undertaken.

 

The Lost Continent of Athera. The Nether. The Attenlund. She had gone to so many places, where nobody had ventured before. And yet, those were not the most exciting journeys which she undertook.

She thought of Otto, Tanith, Chirr, Stephen, Juan, James, Dilvyn, Ferek, and the many other NGS members who had followed her over the years. She thought of her children, Alejandro, Dannika, and Elizabeth… And she thought of her other friends, including Fiil’Yar and others.

 

Though few still recognized her name, her legacy was a vast one. The Northern Geographical Society had fulfilled even her wildest dreams, unwavering in purpose and determined in its mission. 

 

But had she made the world a better place, despite it all? Had what she had done with her life truly made a difference? Could a few meager museums have really changed the world? Did anyone truly understand the mission that she and her followers had sought to undertake?

 

Suddenly, she beheld a fiery spectacle atop the cliff sides of Eastfleet. It was relatively small, and far from threatening, but… The meaning was clear.

 

Grinning as her weary eyes beheld the fiery compass rose of many colors, which quickly dissipated into nothingness in the orange sky, Celestine had received her daughter’s message. This was not her journey’s end, but rather the beginning of a new one. Regardless of whether her legacy would stand without her or not, the Final Frontier awaited her. 

 

And, the old explorer thought to herself, it was hers for the taking.

 


CELESTINE HERBERT

Anthropologist, Historian, & Explorer

Founder of the Northern Geographical Society
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OOC:

 

Spoiler

And so ends the story of what’s probably been my favorite and most impactful character on the server in nearly 10 years.

 

It’s not often that I get attached to a character as much as I’ve grown attached to Celestine, and it was excruciatingly hard to write this post. I’ve been putting it off for weeks now due to graduate school and other obligations, but in the aftermath of the NGS’s 100th anniversary a few weeks ago, writing and posting to tie up her story seemed appropriate. I decided to write it in the form of a series of flashbacks and a conversation between her and daughter Eliza, something unseen ever before by those I've roleplayed around..

 

I’m really grateful for the experiences that I’ve had on this character over the last 2.5 years. Having played her from 16 onward, it’s really been great to have led the charge to do something novel and different on the server through this persona.

 

With that being said, I’ll still be around on the server, though this post’s intention is to permanently retire the character so that she might properly fade away with due closure. Thank you guys so much for helping to weave such a compelling narrative during this amazing journey.
 

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A certain deacon of Carnatian descent smoked a pipe in his celestial yurt. Something stirring within the Skies caught his attention, and in a desplay of saintly celerity he moved in a flurry, shoving away pesky Aenguls with their trumpets and unseen Daemons. The man stuck his head betwixt the clouds of the Seven Skies, looking down at Oren. Seeing a ship depart he managed to make out the grey-haired woman upon said ship. "Ah, old Celestine has gone adventuring I see!" Stephen exclaimed, puffing on his pipe, he tipped his brown skullcap to her, popping his head back from under the clouds. "I'll have to see if they have one of those elven tea blends for when she joins us here." 

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A Carrington adjusts his hat, whipping it off and flourishing it to a bowed stance from some forsaken hamlet- surely recognising the loss of a dear friend, even as he was now.

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Chirr Sintel takes a swig from a glass bottle as she watches the sun set over the sea from somewhere in Almaris. Glancing to her right, she clinks her bottle against another full one sitting beside her.

 

"Cheers, Cel."

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Silently at her desk an elfess recalled the ambitious young woman and her adventures as she found her way to Kaedrin, and through the memory she could not help but smile. 

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