LadyAnnaLee

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

I just wanted to make sure you were okay, or at least mostly okay. I can understand being in a creative slump. Thanks for the update, but there's no real rush.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Hello! I hadnt heard fromnyou for a while and I just wanted to make sure you were doing alright. How's life?

Lesser Evils. (CoGM Found!)

Lesser Evils

So, this is a very rough idea. I just wanted to see if this idea would gain any traction before taking off and getting super excited and doing way too much work on something that might not even get started. I’m looking for a smallish group to try this with. Ideally, it would be seven main characters, so at most seven players, including me, but if I got enough dedicated players, we might could double up.

The idea is a group of demons or wizards or sorcerers or fallen angels or any combination of powerful magical beings who’s main duties is the right the wrongs that no one else really can, there’s a child’s soul stuck in hell or an extremely powerful demon is loose on the mortal plane, when you have to pick between two evils they are the lesser evil to pick. None of these people are strictly moral. This is certainly not a place for Lawful Good characters, but they aren’t flat out Chaotic Evil either. They are mostly Neutral characters, but they won’t hurt children at all. That’s is the one rule they have in common. Children are to be protected at all costs and those that hurt children can suffer and/or die. Other than that, very grey, and ethics are really more like a very flexible guideline. Other than that, I have no real plot or other details figured out. I have a vague idea of them combating some demons that are basically operating a child soul trafficking ring, but that’s not really set in stone. Also this is a modern or slightly futuristic setting; more Dresden Files and Constantine rather than Merlin or Game of Thrones

Like I said I would like seven characters, one for each of the deadly sins. That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to follow all the tropes for that sin. For example, maybe the Lesser Lust is asexual and is Lust because they kill all libido. Or maybe the Lesser Greed is an example of an “eternal student” that hordes knowledge rather than things. However, if you want to do a Lesser Wrath that is basically a big ball of rage go for it! There just has to be a reason why you character is the Lesser what ever sin they are. I’m not looking for any one thing. They just have to be interesting. As for powers and what not, they can be high powered or more mundane, but they have to have some type of power. It can be as simple as accelerated healing or deadly accuracy or as complex as commanding legions of elementals of the power of chaos, Just try to keep them balanced.

A few more things. This will be rated PG13 and all that entails. I have never GMed a group role-play so, I would appreciate a coGM. Any coGM would get first dibbs on sin they want as a thank you for assisting. I would like all players to be older than 16, but that’s not hard and fast. I would really like decent writers that can do two to three well-structured paragraphs a post that post at least once a week or can communicate why they can’t post that week. While IC rudeness is expected and allowed OC rudeness is not. We will follow all Guild rules. I reserve the right to boot people who aren’t polite or aren’t playing fair. (i.e. taking control of a scene, god-modding, posting excessively or not posting at all, etc.) I will warn once before I do, but one warning is all it should take.

Anyways thanks for checking out this check! And let me know what you think or any questions you have in the comments below!

LadyAnnaLee!

05/01/2022 Edit @Pascal has volunteered to be my CoGM! I am super excited to work with them! Their writing is beyond top notch! We are discussing plot and other details now, and will get back to people when we have something a little more solid!

LadyAnnaLee's Interest Check.

Have a random

BUMP!

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin remained silent as Ridahne explained what she meant. There was nothing to say or add. Ridahne explained the situation perfectly with concise details and a minimum of fuss. She was right too. What happened after was Darin’s choice and hers alone. Ridahne was also correct when she mentioned giving Harai a task. What would that task be? Darin was almost of the notion that she needed to send him home, especially if he had not been back since his father died. But what would she have him do then? Part of Chaining was giving the person a job that they wanted to do. But weren’t sure they were allowed to do. It was supposed to be a burdened that ended with being Honored. Being Seed-Chained was deeper than being Seed-Friend and less painful than being Seed-Cursed.

Maybe Darin could make it a choice. She could tell Harai that he could be Chained to The Seed with a specific task or left in Azurei captive until the end of his days. The problem with that though was she couldn’t Chain all of her enemies or give them. Chaining wasn’t meant to force everybody into servitude. Then again, this was the first person that Darin had thought about Chaining since she had discussed her accident and rashness in Chaining Ridahne. She almost wished that she could have given her the choice. So, that settled it. If she decided that Chaining Harai was a viable option then she would give him the choice between staying in Azurei or being Chained. But what would she Chain him to do?

Darin was too tired to think about this properly. It had been a long day and she had expended a lot of energy playing with Astra and the people of Tasen. She was angry too, but too tired to be angry properly. This had supposed to be a day of fun and play and relaxation and Harai had come to Tasen and ruined it! She was angry at Ridahne too, for going off to work and leaving her alone with Ajoran. She wasn’t as angry at Ridahne as she was at Harai and she wasn’t actually angry because she was tired beyond all reason, but she was still up set that her perfectly nice day was ended by this.

She muttered to herself in the language of home, “This is so not fun at all.” Whe then switched back to Azurein, “Thank you Sota-Sol. For coming to see me and for your advice. I need to discuss this further with Ridahne and I need a bath.” She smiled slightly, “The salt is starting to itch.” She rose from her sitting position, “I’ll take my leave now. I ask that this conversation remain, not secret, but maybe quiet. I appreciate your discretion.”

Then Darin didn’t quite bow, but the nod of her head was certainly more respectful than her actions towards the Sota-Sol had been in the past. She had no doubt that Amaiera-Sol and her Taja would keep her confidence, and it surprised her how little she worried about that. She linked arms with Ridahne to pull the woman from the room and out into the hall. It was an effort not to collapse on to the older woman, and it felt like each step was liftin a mountain. Darin wanted to cry from frustration and exhaustion. She had never wanted this, and she wasn’t going back down that path now. The responsibility of The Seed was hers. She had accepted that a long time ago. There was no point fussing about it now.

She, did however, make a selfish request, one she had wanted to make since they had gotten to Tasen, “Stay with me tonight Ridahne please.” Her voice wobbled and she struggled to keep from breaking out into tears, “Get Ajoran, arranged for baths in the room I’ve been given, and then please” She sounded almost desperate as she stopped in the hallway and turned towards her sister as she kept their arms linked, “Please stay with me tonight. Don’t go off to the dorms of the Eijas and Tajas. Be with me. Don’t leave me alone again.”

Then, despite all efforts to the contrary Darin broke down in tears. The exhaustion of the last few days caught up to her. The weight of the decision regrading Harai crashed into her. The irrational fear that Ridahne would do like her father and mother plagued her. And Darin cried, clinging to her sister, in the middle of the hallway, where anyone who came by could see. The Sota-Sol said she was doing the Gardener proud, but how could that be true when she couldn’t keep from crying the first time her life got hard.

^_^

Harai thought, and then thought some more, and then thought just a little bit further. The Red Hand claimed that The Seed-Bearer was some sort of human noble or rich boy. Why else would he be traveling with an Azurei Eija? The mistake in assume that The Seed-Bearer was a boy was acceptable. Traveling as a boy was safer for just about every woman, especially in today’s uncertain times. But the assumption that she was rich or noble by birth had always seemed rash to Harai. It could be true, but it seemed more likely that the Eija, one of not just Azurei’s but all of Astra’s most skilled and deadly warriors, had been assigned to the child simply because she was The Seed-Bearer now. Harai had seen calluses on her hands as they had talked, and the childhood trauma that she had mentioned had been told too simply, too plainly, to directly, to be anything but truth. The fact of the matter was, was the Red Hand was wrong. The girl was no noble. She was a farmer and in Harai’s opinion, which wasn’t the best since he had been born a miner not farmer but still, who else to give The Seed to but a farmer.

Then there was the fact that she was a child or rather not quite an adult yet. He was willing to bet that she was younger than he was, or at least close to his age. He had seen her in the market yesterday and today. Yesterday she had been an eager student, like a child soaking up every drop of new information on everything that interested them, and that was, it appeared, everything. As for today, she had simply been a child at play. Harai could remember splashing in the puddles when it rained when he was younger just as she had today. Her face had been bright and open and joyful. He couldn’t help the plague of guilt than struck him when he realized he had ended that. Her laughter and good spirits had infected everyone, and he had pulled her companion away. If that woman was simply a Taja then he would eat his boots. He knew family when he saw it.

What would she do with him? She might kill him, but Harai’s mind shied away from that option. Not because he didn’t want to die, but because all the stories of The Seed-Bearer said they only killed as a last resort. She wouldn’t let him go. She couldn’t risk him running back to the Red Hand to tell them what he knew. A lifetime of being Azurei’s prisoner seemed like the best he could hoped for until he either escaped or he suffered a deadly “accident.” Maybe he could promise something, promise to never again associate with the Red Hand. No, that wouldn’t work. The Red Hand grew suspicious if its members didn’t report back often. Maybe he could spy and then report to, well not directly to her, but maybe a Taja, not her Taja, but a Taja she trusted. He worked as a merchant of a company that worked between several ports, Siren, human, and Elf. He could gather a great deal of information and report it whenever her was in Tasen.

Harai was surprised by how fast he warmed to that idea, but the more he thought about it, and he could do nothing but think right now, the more he realized the Red Hand hadn’t been completely honest with him. He had been told The Seed-Bearer was noble born. He had been told that they were hiding and hording The Seed’s gifts, but she wasn’t. She may have been the one that was holding The Seed, btu she wasn’t carrying the burden alone. Discretion made sense since there were people trying to kill her. She had brought rain to this desert town that had desperately needed it! And even after The Seed was Planted, she wasn’t going to care for It alone. The Tree was at the center of The Farm and cared for by hundreds of people that only wanted the best for Astra. The Seed-Bearer was a child! Who needed all the help she could get! Why? By The Tree! Why had he been so foolish to simply accept the rumors fed o him by the Red Hand. He wasn’t getting out without help, but maybe, just maybe, if he offered to spy, the girl who starved for her mother, the girl who played in the morning and conversed with dead men in the evening, might be willing to help him too.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin squirmed as the woman in front of her remained silent. Irrationally fearing mocking or dismissal. When she finally did speak a breath of relief flowed out of the human, fears laid to rest as the Sota-Sol claimed being asked for advice was an honor. Darin wasn’t sure that was true, but she was attempting to trust the woman’s word. She hung to every word as if it was vastly important, as if it was a matter of life and death. IN a way it was. Harai’s life depended on her decision and she had no desire to make it rashly. To be honest, she didn’t want to make it at all, but Darin recognized it as a childish wish and discarded that thought almost immediately.

Amaiera-Sol’s offer to hold Harai in comfort if need be for as long as required did not sit right with Darin. Ridahne didn’t know, the Sols certainly didn’t know, but that was a life sentence. War was coming to Astra. Whether via the Red Hand or an as of yet unknown enemy, war was inevitable. Azurei would have to do what was best for its people and that would involve eliminating or containing all potential enemies including any and all members of the Red Hand. If that was the solution than killing him now would save time and resources. But she didn’t want to do that, not if she could help it.

When her sister mentioned an oath, Darin’s nervous fidgeting ceased as she was frozen in shock at that possibility. She hadn’t considered it before. Yet, there wasn’t a single oath that Darin trusted him to keep. He was Red Hand. She had no idea if he had any concept of honor or even courage. She had no idea if he believed the mantras that he gave Ridahne when she questioned him or if it was lip service. He could make a promise today and break it as soon as he left Azurei, and head straight for the Red Hand to make plots to kill her. The only promise that she would trust in this situation was.

NO! She wouldn’t! She couldn’t! Could she? It was a simple enough solution. It was very neat. Darin found her gaze trail to her Taja’s face almost against her will. It was on the other side. She couldn’t see it from where she was sitting. Her fingers came up and then dropped back to her lap. They had discussed this before. Ridahne was the first. She should know that she wouldn’t be the last. Darin hadn’t done it on purpose before though, was reluctant to do that to another the same way she had done it the last time over a year ago. Once again, her hand came up and using her index and middle finger Darin turned Ridahne’s face to look at the mark that both doomed and freed her sister; one to service, the other of doubt.

Her voice was barely a whisper, meant only for Ridahne’s ears, but most certainly heard by everyone in the room as her fingers left the Azurei’s chin to trace the tattoo, “I could Chain him, but what then?”

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin hadn’t meant for the meeting to happen quite so fast, but it didn’t surprise her in the least when Ridahne immediately moved to make it happen now. She followed without fuss to the comfortable room and took a seat with a sigh. It wasn’t long before a young girl came in with tea. She didn’t seem to realize who Darin was right a way and there was a part of the human that wished she could have not realized at all. But it seemed her eyes gave her away. Even Harai seemed to be taken aback by her eyes the entire time they spoke. She still didn’t understand why they had changed color the way they had.

She smiled at the child, “Tea is fine. You’re doing well.”

The girl left, but Darin wasn’t alone for long. Ridahne returned quickly with the Sota-Sol with her. Darin couldn’t help but observe her for just a moment. Even with less than an hour’s notice the woman had come. Not only that, but she looked completely put together. On the other hand, Darin was a complete mess. She was covered in salt and dried dust. Her hair was doing it’s best to escape the braid she had tied it into. There was flour and sugar staining her clothes. The Sota-Sol looked like a noble born and Darin looked like a ragamuffin. Why had Harai thought she was a noble? Was that something the Red Hand had told him? That The Seed-Bearer would have either noble or royal blood. Why would they do that?

Darin sighed and braced herself, “I know that I have not showed you a great deal of respect in our previous interactions Sota-Sol. And I know that means I have little to no right to ask this of you now, but I find myself in a difficult situation that I see no way out of.” She place the cup down and let go of it for fear that her too tight grip would break it, “So I’ve come to you, a leader of a country, seeking advice, guidance, and wisdom. So, I hope that out past meeting will hold no sway over the conversation we have now.” Darin was looking anywhere but the woman in front of her as she explained the situation, “There is a man connected to the Red Hand being held by some of your Tajas. Ridahne tells me that she believes that he was honest when he answered her questions regarding the Red Hand. I believe he was being honest when he answered my questions. Other than being connected to the Red Hand he has committed no crime.” Darin looked at her fingers as they nervously entangled themselves together, “So, I find myself reluctant to have him killed. For one he is just a man. He is not a warrior attacking us. He is our prisoner and at our mercy. For another killing him would mean I make my sister a promise breaker as she told him that cooperating would be worth it. Yet I can’t let him go either. He would head straight back towards the Red Hand and them all that he had learned, and while I do not believe my identity will remain secret for much longer it seems foolish to just let him depart. Holding him had its own set of difficulties and that is not something I cannot ask you or you people to do.” Darin finally forced herself to look up at her conversation partner, “This is a difficult situation and not one I’ve faced before. My heart says to cut him loose. My head says to end his life. Can you advise me? Do I even have the right to ask you for your guidance?”

Looking at this woman who measured her life in centuries Darin felt so incredible young, younger than she felt in a long time. She had gone to the elders of home before she left with basically the same request. “I know I haven’t been respectful, but this situation is terrifying. I’m so sacred I’ll make the wrong choices. Please, please can you help me.” All of them had calmly, and without ire, had offered both advice and solace. It was advice the young girl had for once in her life taken to heart and tried to act upon. Once again Darin found herself in the same situation, hoping that she hadn’t inadvertently burned the bridge she desperately needed now. She could only hope that the Sota-Sol didn’t just leave. She would take any censure the woman chose to give if that censure came with advice. For now, all Darin could do was wait with her heart pounding in her chest and unwanted apologies on the tip of her tongue.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

This was a dilemma. They couldn’t just kill the man after he had cooperated, but they couldn’t let him go back to the Red Hand either. Then there was what he said about the man named Martin Alicceson. Aliceson, son of Alice, Martin son of Gregory by Alice. It seemed to similar to be a coincidence, but all of Darin hoped it was just that. But if it wasn’t that meant things that Darin didn’t even want to think about. Did he leave to join the Red Hand or did that come later? Did she want the answer to that question? Why was she even asking these questions when it was possible it wasn’t the same man at all? The more important question was what was she doing to do with the prisoner now?

She stood and brushed off the seat of her pants, “I want to speak to him before I make any decisions regarding his fate. I owe him that much. Take me to him. Please.”

With that Darin followed Ridahne off the roof and towards a windowless hut guarded by two tajas. The temperature inside was much higher than outside, but it bearable and the human girl could tell that it had significantly decreased. In the center of the small room was a human man with a noose on his neck and his hands bound. He looked tired. He looked up as she entered. Darin fell to sit in front of him with one foot flat against the ground and the other tuck under her. She looked at him and resisted the urge to sigh. His dark eyes held a look of shock before becoming impassive. What was going on in his head.

Her voice was clear, “I am Darin. What is your name?”

^_^

Harai looked up in surprise as a The Seed-Bearer came into the hut. Her eyes were closed as she came in and for a brief moment, he foolishly thought that it was Martin Aliceson.Then her eyes opened to reveal that there were a shocking green color. She sat and Harai decided either he wasn’t remembering what Aliceson looked like properly or The Seed-Bearer and him were related somehow. That would explain why the Taja had been so interested in that name. Harai also thought it was interesting that the woman in front of him looked disheveled, wind-tossed, and salt covered. Almost as if she was pretending to be ordinary or didn’t care how she looked.

Her voice was clear, cool, and reminded the man of robin’s summer song, “I am Darin. What is your name?”

Harai tossed a quick glace at the female Taja behind the human girl before licking his lips and answering, “I am Harai.”

She nodded, “Harai. Tell me about your life?”

That was so far from what he was expecting that it caught him off guard, “What? You don’t want to know about the Red Hand.”

She gestured out with a hand, indicating the other woman, “I’m sure that my Taja questioned you thoroughly about the Red Hand. I’m sure she knows if you spoke truth or lies. I want to know about you. What was your life like before the Red Hand? What is it like now?”

Despite himself Harai found himself speaking about being the only son of a poor miner with six sisters and a mother that died giving birth to the youngest. He spoke about learning how to mine for coal in a mine running dry. He spoke of how the mines always seemed claustrophobic and how his sisters cried when he left, but he left with his family’s and his father’s blessing. That was all he left with as the family didn’t have anything to spare. He spoke of having not seen them for years and missing them, but guilt keeping away. Maybe if he had been there two seasons after he left his father wouldn’t have died in that mine collapse.

He spoke of the Red Hand and how they promised better lives for everyone. He spoke about how alluring it was to have money to send home for doing simple things like wander around and just listen for gossip. He related that the goal was to claim The Seed so more than one person would be in charge of Its safety. He recalled how he saw The Gardener just once, but he looked well feed and put together. How could someone like that ever understand what someone like him, who staved for seasons in a row to make sure his younger sisters had enough to eat, truly needed from The Seed and from society.

He ended his lengthy discussion with a question, “How can you, a person who has never starved a day in your life ever be able to help someone like me? Or is you plan just to help all the nobles and the wealthy?”

There was silence for a moment as The Seed-Bearer considered that. Then she spoke in an almost impossibly soft voice, “When I was fifteen my father left my mother and me in the middle of winter, leaving only enough supplies to last until planting if we rationed it very carefully. My mother lost herself to the heartbreak and vanished somewhere in her mind. And I starved for the rest of winter all the way till the end of harvest so that way my mother wouldn’t. It is not quite the same as siblings, but I do know what it means to starve for another person.” She stood, “You don’t have to like me. You don’t have to respect me. But I don’t know you, so don’t pretend to know me.” She nodded her head, “Good night Harai. I will see you tomorrow.”

Then she left and Harai was left staring at her back. If she was Aliceson’s daughter like he thought what did that say about the man that he would abandon his wife and daughter? He didn’t doubt that what she said was true. There was something about the way she said it that meant he couldn’t doubt it. She knew what it meant to starve. And it she clearly knew a thing or two about heartbreak. And she wasn’t afraid of saying it. She didn’t seem like some high born noble. Actually, the way she had spoken, the questions she had asked about the mines and his family led him to believe that she was ordinary, like him. Could The Seed-Bearer just be ordinary? And what did that mean if she was?

^_^

Darin didn’t know what to do. Harai seemed like a good man who was plagued by guilt and just wanted to help his family. He hadn’t actually committed any crimes and wasn’t attacking her or Ridahne or anybody. Just killing him felt wrong in way that made Darien want to be physically sick. Besides Ridahne and told him that cooperating would be worth it. Did she want to make her sister a promise breaker? That didn’t mean that she could just let him go back to the Red Hand either. She wasn’t sure what to do and she desperately wanted advice. Then with stunning clarity that meant the thought could have only come as inspiration from The Tree Darin knew who she could go to for advice. She let out a groan of frustration. She didn’t want to go to them. That would require the swallowing of pride and perhaps an apology and she didn’t want to. She let out another groan. The woman did lead a country and Darin did need to learn how to do that.

Then she grabbed a passing Taja, “I require a private audience with the Sota-Sol to discuss matters with her. I will be bringing my Taja and ask that she limit herself to one as well.” Darin steeled herself, “I await her invitation, but urge that it come quickly.”

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

I have a confession to make. I went to go write a post for you. I spent five minutes just staring at the blank document dreading the thought of having to put myself into Darin's mindset. I'm not sure why. I wish I knew. I managed to write a few paragraphs but I was not happy with them at all. In fact, they made me angry. I don't know what to do with Harai. I have no clue what to do with Darin. I had a plan for Martin, and now I can't remember it and it makes be angry that I can't remember it.

I'm not sure what to do for my next post without wanting to throw my computer across the room. (Which would be bad.) This isn't normal writer's block for me. That will frustrate me and leave me irritated. But this makes me downright angry.

I ask for you patience as I figure this out. Any advice or suggestions you have would be welcome as well.

Thank you for understanding.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

I have neglected both my chores and my writing in favor of my new book. I will get you a post next weekend. Thank you for understanding.