The Two of Swords [DUAL-PK]

[Cally 1080]

 

 

[Dual PK]

 

 

Spoiler:

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A28TvIOaPI&list=RD1A28TvIOaPI&start_radio=1

 

 

 

 

 

---

 

They approached the pair in incomprehensible numbers. 

 

…

 

Ghoulishly groaning, claws chittering to grasp onto makeshift weapons. Eyes hollow, abyssal plague deep within their souls as they trampled on the living world.

Hel-spawn blood soaked the ground below the feet of Maerîl and Edwyn as they fought, back to back and darkened the land below with embers of retaliated, fallen foe. 

Some fluid, however, betrayed its mingle with the tar-black substance to render red.

Green and grey eyes tilted down in their visors in witness to the display of gore. 

Not from foe, but from them.

And adrenaline beat the fear out of their eyes and bodies as axe-blow and jaw grab turned more dire. 

A branch sputtered in the moonlight of their great battle, bearing lush leaves of green. 

The needled, hearty log cried in pain as bites found their way to trickle sap. 

 

“Just like we always did, Ed. . .”

Said the pecan tree.

 

“Fight to live.”

 

And as such did the fir find his roots mightier, his branches unpunished by snow or decay, vandal or misery. 

 

 

Flames of twin-make burned in the forest amongst the darkness. Begrudgingly illuminating each pass of violence by their hands as their tabards, banners and armor became unrecognizable in the wake of black-coated flesh, wet with the blood of abyssal demise. 

 

Yet, the trees together strong, shuddered ragged breaths of increasing pain. 

 

The pecan tree thought of Almaris winds in bug-infested heaping battles where much like they were now, they fought viciously by one another, love so juvenile and young. She thought of what that fir lumber might have said then if she could hear him over cries of Haeseni soldiers. 

 

“We fight for the future, Emi. You and eam?”

 

 

She believed even now that those days, those horrible years at war with the Mori’Quessir molded an incomplete woman to her resolve. 

She felt as if then that her goals as the last heir of a dying house would allow her to plant her roots, and do so right beside her beloved fir planting as its height protected her feeble branches from the wind.

 

There was a sharp pain across the fir’s trunk as sap flowed freely from it in threads of thick red. His gasp of pain made the pecan turn, and too did she gain a wedge of bark severed from her form as resin leaked from soft flesh. 

The Dark Aengul beheld them to encourage victory, for succumbing such injuries pushed them into the holy state of out-of-bodiness. 

 

 

 

The pecan, even despite her less superior height could see farther than he as winds flicked her loose leaves into reckless gales, lifting them high among the trees. 

She saw, with intrusive clarity, the grasp of their fight in full. It was fruitless, not without sacrifice.

 

“NO!”

Called the resinous voice, choked with a cry. 

 

The fir tree wailed as sap spilled from him, felled at her feet. As such did he find himself waning with each labored breath as they cut down one after another, smattering them with ectoplasm of the hexwraith. By the time their lives were teetering on the edge, there were still many left. 

 

 

“I take it back, Ed. . .”

The pecan tree croaked as the grip on her axe became loosened. 

“We- we fight for the future. . .”

 

He hesitated, gripping Liar’s Bane with a sharp gulp. 

“The f-future.”

 

 

Hands became misty around her axe and form filled with wisps of bleached white and her body was ephemeral with the evocation of Second Chance.

 

He caught a glimpse of the wispy hair he held in his hands each night, now cloudy and bright with white rays of gentle sunshine. Tears pricked his dark-lashed eyes and their back-to-back fight against evil became evenly matched. And Edwyn, too, evoked the orc-strength fervor of his own Second Chance.

 

 

The two became bright, beautiful stars in an indifferent but hostile universe. Wispy and untamed, vengeance incarnate. 

 

What were once mere slashes against battered flesh of ghoul and rot became wicked punches of power. Cuts turned to ripe, long gashes of spewing ichor splashing into their misty, eternal forms.

Sharpened teeth and unmade, desperate attempts at attack were met with war-screams of many voices as the power of four warriors met each of the two chanced survivors with pumping vigor of unearthed sorcery.

 

 

 

They prevailed, limbs and viscera pooling around their bright boots with severed limbs of darkened phantasmic warriors littered the ground between them. . .

 

They turned, and sighed.

Gently did the two trees twine their branches, and press their visor-lifted foreheads together.

The long-destined lovers took their last moments to share one last kiss, as corporeality melted away.

 

All they knew, was that this journey together was worth their trials,

And two stars they remained, painting the sky with their

bleached colors forevermore.

They were eternal, forever, unmatched and unmade.

 

Two trees. Two swords. Two, forever.

 

 

Special thanks:

Spoiler

To all the people, even if you are not mentioned or touched on, that made Maerîl and Edwyn such special and loving characters to play. Their story has been such an inspirational piece of our lives as we step into next chapters together. You all are truly why it was so hard for us to let them go. But we thought with them both nearing their adunian expiration date, now was a better time than any. Thank you, all, for everything you did to make them so beautiful. 

 

Confusedjester, for always being patient with us even through spurts of our inactivity and uncertainty on when they should die, we think this was the best way.

 

Silmarilion, for his drive to connect Marsyr with Rourke and the honor to prevail as one body to the same goal. We owe a lot of this to you. 

 

All the people that played our kids, and all the dramas that came with that portion of their lives.

Doree, Scourge, jihsoo, StrongBear, lillyeveans

 

All of the grandkids, some of whom we will no doubt forget to list…

Danny, comatoseprincess, KnightEvil, mars, craneia, Drusus, spaazmatism, Rey, TaraJess, lizerable, Sygnus, Atsutto, Deets, Hugo and many more.

 

All of the people of Ildon, who we wouldn’t have a story with if not for their activity and drive to make the place we worked so hard to build into something truly amazing. We love you.

 

All of our Numendillians OG and new, for being such an enriching community to be a part of, even with its ups and downs.  All our love. 

 

Krinkles, for such an amazing story as we fluctuate from hating and loving Victor Rorin.

 

Atsutto, for all the lore, assistance, and inspiration to keep doing what we were doing. Thank you for not ever leaving us in the dust.

 

Milksoda, for beating ass with Cally always. To many more adventures as this one closes.

 

Sandman for being a bitch.

 

All those from House Zimrabar, who believed in me (Cally) as we were declining. You breathed new life into Ildon that I never thought I would see. Much of our success goes to you. Thank you.

 

[confusedjester 811]

 

---

“Please!”

 

The O’Rourke shrieked, clawing at air as she was forcibly drawn away from the onslaught.

As she watched her grandparents part unto her, their final words loomed, features unseen by her metal helm.

Einin was dragged south, strangled by a stranger as they carried her off. 

 

“What are yea doin’! Dont do this! Please!”

 

Maeril, and Edwyn, disappearing from view, as Einin’s cries and anguished wails were muffled by the rainfall and the ghastly squelches of viscera-spray.

 

“Ea need you!”

 

 

---

 

Einin rested upon the cot in the Alduun clinic, dark ichor staining her cheeks. Her Ildon plate, broken and worn, splattered by rainfall and salt. The O’Rourke, now bearing a face carved with tearstreaks, sagging skin, and unsettled eyes. Her gaze swept the crowding clinic, yet she heard nothing. Saw nothing.

 

The O’Rourkes’ world was silent, eerily so. As a flame died elsewhere, did Einin’s world dim forevermore.

 

⚔︎

 

 

---

 

[craneia 232]

From safe outside of Ildon’s walls, one lost petal wept into the moss beneath her - pieces of armor spread around her frail body as her legs buckled beneath the weight of what her eyes beheld. Eyes that were undeniably the melding, the proof of love between those two twined - the two she now watched leave this realm in tandem.

 

Too soon. They cannot be gone. There was so much more she was supposed to teach me.

 

Thought the child within the grown O’Rourke - the child before the sickness, before the time away. She had only just returned… and to have her Matriarch pried from her grasp - the only thing she’d ever held so tightly to - felt impossible to let go of. The last words spoken to her by the Admiral rung true in her mind. Her own last words to her now departed grandmother circled her half-hearing, silver-haired head. A promise, and one that she would surely cling to fervently.

 

Until the sun rose, the woman sat watching the horizon. As it reached into the sky overhead, a new day dawning - she returned to her home, however ruined it was. Far too long had she been away from her family, her people. Saorlaith O’Rourke stood proud, even as tears slid down her cheeks. Proud to have known such a powerful duo - and even more full of pride that it was their blood thrumming through her veins. 

 

‘I will not let the sun set on House O’Rourke.’

 

Spoiler

Thank you for the opportunity to be part of this family, Cally <3 I know we didn't get to interact much on these characters but when we did, I enjoyed it greatly & Maeril's impact and importance is felt nonetheless!! 

 

 

On a boat, somewhere, did pale eyes scan the news of the O'Rourke's death. The Vasoyev - aged in spirit, but still youthful on the outside - did spare a frown for the fabulous harpist she knew in her youth. A shame, she thought. That such talent is now gone from this wretched realm. A marvelous duet, they once shared. The notes fade into obscurity - the memory lost in the archives of the woman's muddled mind soon after.

 

[PrinceTheDM 275]

Elijah heard of his once-savior’s passing and felt something hollow stir within his chest. Not grief, not quite. Something quieter. Colder. The slow recognition that even those who once stood between him and oblivion were not spared from it.

 

Another name, now reduced to memory. Another story consigned to silence.

 

His thoughts returned, unbidden, to the Alban gates. He had been new then, fragile in ways he would never admit again, freshly cast upon the shores of Aevos. He remembered the moment the greater demon turned toward him, the certainty of an ending he had not yet earned.

 

And then, Maerîl.

 

Steel met terror. The weight of a mace. The shape of a face he could never fully forget. A smile, of all things, in the presence of ruin.

 

Valiant, they would have called it. Justice, perhaps.

 

Elijah knew better.

 

It was simply another soul choosing, for a fleeting moment, to stand where others would not. And like all such souls, they too were claimed in time.

 

When the memory faded, Elijah closed his book without ceremony. No reverence, no prayer. Just another volume shelved within an endless library, where even the brightest stories dimmed into dust.

[Eliseth 134]

R

[ChainedDragons 1374]

Somewhere in Azuras, an omen looked up at the night sky. He could have sworn two stars that he used to see in the heavens were now gone...
If only he knew.

[Bones 180]

"I wonder if Peter is going to be neck deep in the gigantic leg of a boar?" Edwyn thought to himself as his soul rushed up towards the domain of his patron.

[marsloll 1384]

Spoiler

 

 

 

[By Credo Quia Absurdum]

 

༺𓆩⚔︎𓆪༻ ɪ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ɪᴛ'ꜱ ᴏᴠᴇʀ, ꜱᴛɪʟʟ ɪ ᴄʟɪɴɢ. ༺𓆩⚔︎𓆪༻

 

Wandering is what Eislyn did best. Sleepwalking was all too common, as a woman with her kind of … affliction. Unconsciously or consciously running away, as willed by her mind or another spirit who thought that it would be fun to be back in a living body. Never one to sit in one place, for she found only misery awaiting her when she overstayed her welcome. It happened in Numenost, then in Solgaard, then in Karoslund - heartache and grief knew the o’Rourke all too well, and she to them. It was typically caused by her own hand, and yet becomes another tally on a sprawling wall of mistakes that never seemed to end. 

 

Lost in the northern mountains with nothing but her wolven companion, the white-haired woman practically blended into the harsh snowscape with her pallid features and white garb. The inky-black fur of the wolf was all that distinguished the pair from the soft snow that surrounded them - trudging their own path underneath the night sky. With a vision hazed and crowded by other wandering souls like herself, Eislyn found herself a place to sit - staring up at the universe that seemed to scowl down upon her so often. Stargazing had become a habit of hers, a place to escape even the dead from her sights - where it was just herself, and nobody else. With warm fur surrounding and supporting her form, the o’Rourke leaned back and let out a puff of warm air that floated up to the heavens - weary eyes drawn upon to the various twinkling stars that blinked in and out of existence like a warm welcome from arms that she would never know. Scanning the expansive sea of night, her eyes lingered on a bright pair that seemed to glow unrivaled by those around them - burning with a new light as if just christened.

 

Those two there … 

 

Were they always so beautiful?

 

༺𓆩⚔︎𓆪༻ ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ᴇʟꜱᴇ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ ɢᴏ - ᴏᴠᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴏᴠᴇʀ. ༺𓆩⚔︎𓆪༻

 

Spoiler

It was so lovely to interact with both Maeril and Edwyn whenever I could - some memories between them and Eislyn have been some of the sweetest and memorable moment to me and the character. Unfortunate that I could not have RPed with either of you two more, but I hope that we can interact in the future once more!

 

[M3ster0fpuppets2 38]

Ooc: R.i.p Maeril

How dare you die on me 😭😭

 

Rp: Deep in the endless hallways of Dôlions mind something inside him broke.. something he couldn't place his finger on.. like it was just out of reach.

‘Something has hurt the very essence of Ildon.. this is never good news’ he thought to himself.

If only he knew  that Maeril, a very good friend of his had passed.. leaving her mark in the world as a everlasting scar that will  last for a melena.

 

Edited April 4 by M3ster0fpuppets2

[Nathaniel Maxwell 66]

"It pains me to know that you have passed on, Maeril.", A curious armored Giant mourned for the loss.

[Nectorist 12869]

Laying on his bed in a state of delirium, the Vicar of God wonders if the axe that had gutted him had been meant for the Admiral, or if it was all just coincidence that they were shoulder-to-shoulder in that moment. He knows nothing of the woman's fate, dying, steel-in-hand, as the wicked fell upon her home.

[Kyrrn 345]

The aging Knight and former Lord looked out towards the North out of Angrenost. A bottle of Seregon whiskey of very appropriate vintage hung from one of his hands. "She lived, my old friends. She lived..."

 

Spoiler

To two of the best players I have come to known on LotC. From your earliest encounters in Almaris and Aevos. To the vassals built. To the kingdom shared. I appreciate all of what you came to offer through Maeril and Edwyn. I'm incredibly proud to be a part of their tale, and I'm happy to share a community with both of you. May future stories you write together be just as grand.

 

[xDisarray 552]

r

[Vertigo_Round 328]

"Never did get that chat with her... I'm sure she was a lovely woman"  The admiral folded the letter in half, tucked it onto a shelf, and sighed. It was never a good day when a fellow seafarer died.

[Xayshi 49]

R