When Twilight Looms | Land Of Twilight

Riven Groupan

Hey... Who took my arm?

GROUP:Zora

AGE:227 yrs old

WRITTEN:12 posts

TAG:@princesidon

When Twilight Looms

POSTED ON Jan 25, 2021 12:52:46 GMT

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Post by Riven Groupan on Jan 25, 2021 12:52:46 GMT

    The morning sun, slowly rising above the chilled waters of the Zora's Domain, gingerly stretching its warm rays across the sky, finally met the amber eyes of the recently crowned Zora emperor, Riven. The sun glistened off of his moistened turquoise scales, shining bright, iridescent hues in the light. He sat upon the grasses above the cliff of his Domain, staring at the crown in his only hand. The crown that was, essentially, thrown to him when the King fled. He still felt uncertainty as he held the hefty silver coronet. He was tired, ready to retire after the rebellion to spend life with his daughter. Quietly.

But life had been anything but quiet for Riven. This had been the first moment in a while where, for once, he was finally alone. Not for much longer, though. He had an audience with the princess of Hyrule this morning, and he knew his servants, maids, soldiers, and the like were doing their damnedest to make the palace as presentable as possible. Anything for the Royal Family, he supposed. He wondered what her presence was for. The King had sent his praise and congratulations for the rebellion, but hadn't shown his face in the Domain yet. Riven had doubts he would ever show.

"Majesty," A soldier seemingly appeared from nowhere, disrupting Riven's thoughts as he turned to the gentlefish. "Marianne de Hyrule is approaching Zora's Domain as we speak. I have been sent to fetch you for dressing."

    The Emperor sighed, and covered his disdain with a cocky, sharky grin. "Wonderful. I'll be down momentarily."

    The soldier bowed and left him, alone with his thoughts once more.

Riven stood tall, his stature still a solid head taller than the average Zora. He outstretched his arms as the warm sun glazed his scales. After some light stretching, his arms went up, his knees bent, and he launched. He twisted into a majestic swirl in the air as he swan dived into the deep, swaying waters of his Domain far below.

--

    Riven's groans could be heard down the hall of his bedroom as the chambermaid outfitted him in silver trinkets and doodads. The symbol of the goddess Nayru was practically plastered all over him, from his spaulder, to his impractical silver baldric to his weird... little... waist belt... scarf thing. "What even is this wretched thing?" He asked, and the chambermaid just chuckled before moving on to dress his legs. I would rather be dressing myself, he thought irritably. The lack of communication is quite offensive, he perceived, and pondered how to fix that problem as the chambermaid finished him up.
After a thorough look-over in the mirror, Riven decided he looked presentable enough before sending himself into the throne room, a few stories below his own bedroom. Making his ways through the halls, he admired the paintings hanging along the glistening ocean-coloured walls of the palace. Every royal family of the Zora laid out before him, from their very first Queen to the last King before Riven. He stopped to think to himself whether he leave a vote for the fishpeople to possibly remove that. The presence of that painting was almost depressing to see, and shook even Riven as a former knight to the King.

Finally, swinging open the large doors of the throne room, the midday light glistening on the high walls of the glorious throne room, Riven looked upon only a fraction of his beautiful kingdom, his eyes scaling up the carpeted pathway to his throne, where...

    The Princess of Hyrule stood by the throne, looking visibly irritated. Riven was fashionably late, once again.

Marianne de Hyrule

The hurt doesn't show, but the pain still grows.

GROUP:Hylian

AGE:18 yrs old

WRITTEN:684 posts

TAG:@marianne

When Twilight Looms

POSTED ON Jan 31, 2021 16:47:38 GMT

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Post by Marianne de Hyrule on Jan 31, 2021 16:47:38 GMT

The morning sun, slowly rising above the chilled waters of the Zora's Domain, gingerly stretching its warm rays across the sky, filtered through the curtains of the royal Carriage, surprising the princess of Hyrule, Marianne de Hyrule, inside. A hand shifted the curtains, as her tired eyes looked outside the window and confirmed that, yes, dawn had indeed came. The light of dawn shone upon the thin, beautiful face of the princess who had, once again, skipped sleep. She was too engrossed in reviewing the plans for the upcoming Mirror of Twilight search, writing and re-writing all kinds of logistics and route maps that the military leaders had provided her but which she was dissatisfied with a lot of points in it, and without realizing it night had passed. Her advisors had pointed out that, while the princess was one of the brightest minds in the kingdom with highly-valued advice and rightly so, it would do everyone no good if she kept pushing themselves like she had been.

Marianne groaned and rubbed her sleep-deprived eyes. They were right, of course. It was just that... Marianne was too stubborn and too anxious for her own good. She herself admitted this, yet she still did everything anyway. One such occurrence was this very night's affair. The princess had set out late due to some last-minute appointments and had hoped to catch some sleep in the carriage. The moment she lighted her lamp and saw her stack of papers, however, all thoughts of sleep vanished.

Soon, the castle of the Zora came into view. Marianne closed her notes and leaned back. By Hylia, hope this would be quick….

After requesting an antechamber to have herself prepared, Marianne soon entered the high walls of the glorious throne room with regal ease, flanked by two of her royal guards and three nobles who acted as dignitaries. She also brought her own scribe, although she had no doubt that the Emperor would also had his own. Still, she liked to be able to read transcripts of her meetings later.

And what a figure the princess made! Although some said she had a scrawny figure which only exacerbated by her habit of skipping meals, Marianne still commanded attention with her well-trained composure. Head held high, arms calculated perfectly at her side, she walked with dignity towards the empty throne, bowing slightly to the Zora attendants who saluted her along the way. She wore an elegant bliaut, cut in two pieces, with fitted upper dress belted at her natural waistline which made way to a finely pleated skirt made of silk, dyed a striking crimson. It was a kind of color which contrasted yet strangely complemented the Zora Kingdom mostly blue-and-green armaments, and this was clearly calculated in Her Highness' choice. Strands of golden threads adorned her fabric, especially around her shoulders and bosom, on which the threads made beautiful rose patterns. Complementing her appearance was a pair of elbow-length gloves, also colored crimson, with a small amethyst placed on the back of her hands for accent. On her gilded belt were inscribed runes of protection, and over her right shoulder a ruby clasp proudly rest, engraved with the symbol of Hyrule Royal Family.

The Princess of Hyrule. She would bear no shame for such an illustrious title.

Upon arriving at the Throne, she was greeted by The Emperor’s right-hand.

“Emperor Riven would arrive shortly, Your Royal Highness. We humbly apologize for the wait.”

Marianne nodded gracefully.

“Worry not. It was I who sent a notice in such a short manner. Do send my apologies for any inconvenience my visit had caused.”

The elder Zora excused himself, and Marianne and her entourage was left standing on the throne room, accompanied by Zora guards who lined the walls. Marianne took the time to analyze her surrounding and perhaps remembering it for future purposes, should it be needed. Although The Zora throne room paled in comparison with the opulence that was Hyrulean Throne Room, it still had its own charm. The designs were clearly inspired by flowing water, with easy shapes and cursive, non-angular sides. Fresh aroma of the sea wafted in the air, for the room incorporated several streams which made a soothing, trickling sound as its background. A nice touch.

Still, how long would they have to wait?

Marianne glanced at her entourage behind her. Some of her nobles had clearly gotten rather uncomfortable, shifting their legs and letting their eyes wandered around. Her guards managed to stay erect, for now, but as minutes passed they too began to shift and jitter.

Not Marianne. She kept her upright posture for all time. Waiting a few minutes was something she had done countless times before.

However, minutes soon turned into hours.

Even the Zoras lining the wall were clearly in discomfort, their gaze looking everywhere but the esteemed guests before them, well aware of their own feeling of shame. Marianne’s nobles had long ago given up the pretense of waiting, and was now openly stretching their legs and moved about. Even her guards had clearly wanted to sit –the only thing preventing the princess’ entourage to sit down was the princess herself, who inhumanely maintained her posture this whole time.

Inside, however, her patience had started to crack.

Her brother The King Leon would have complained in disdain a long time ago. Such was this disrespect of being late to appointment. Her sister Princess Beatrix even more so: she would have lose her patience after fifteen minutes and had probably stormed out of the castle in anger. Marianne sighed, fighting hard to resist bending her legs at least a little. It was a good thing that Hyrule had sent her, wasn’t it? One of the best trait which made her the castle’s most able diplomat was her patience.

One of her guards yawned, but quickly closed her mouth as Marianne glanced sharply at her direction, looking visibly irritated.

It was at exactly that moment, that Riven entered the room.

The Zora guards could almost be heard sighing in relief. Finally, here he was. The Hyrulean nobles, however, could not hide their annoyance, and would only offer a less-than-stellar bow to the Zora Emperor, not bothering to change their expression. Marianne’s guards gave a proper salute, as expected of her close confidants, but the princess' conduct one-upped them all.

With her hands meeting in front of her, she gave a deep bow until her back was almost perpendicular to the floor, and then even a bit lower. It was a form of greeting that was traditional to the Zoras, rather than the usual bow and curtsy of the Hylian court. Then again, even the Zora themselves saw this as rather antiquated, though quaint still. So it was surprising and a great honor that the princess had taken her time to learn this custom. Whoever had taught the princess of her people’s many etiquette, they had done very well indeed.

“May the ever-rolling waves bless your name, Your Majesty-“ she even half-sang her greeting, the way the ancient queens would, “-and sing your praises wherever the sea meets the land. Marianne Crescentia de Hyrule of Hyrule Royal Family bows in your presence and humbly beseeches your audience.”

She would have liked to add something along the line of apologizing for her visit, but she didn’t feel like apologizing about anything right now.

Riven Groupan
I tried to give Zora court a distinct feel and customs, but do let me know if I should change anything!

Riven Groupan

Hey... Who took my arm?

GROUP:Zora

AGE:227 yrs old

WRITTEN:12 posts

TAG:@princesidon

When Twilight Looms

POSTED ON Jan 31, 2021 19:20:44 GMT

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Post by Riven Groupan on Jan 31, 2021 19:20:44 GMT

Riven stood uncomfortably straight before the princess, knowing full well he was a fish in a boiling cauldron. He felt the energy of the room, the once calm and serene setting practically burning with disapproval. He felt the piercing stares of both his gallantry and the princess's own, and took his moment to return her gracious bow, even though he knew he had not deserved it in that moment. "Your gracious Highness, my sincerest apologies for my lateness. The Zoran royal customs have been... interesting to adapt to even still, to say the least." Truthfulness leads to godliness, right? Wait... that's not the correct proverb.

When he stood tall, he shifted some of the trinkets and bobbles that adorned him uncomfortably, and trying to do so without notice. With a soft, toothy grin, his natural charm started to stumble from his mouth, "Would you like to move somewhere more comfortable, so everyone can rest their legs? The palace has a lounge with a gorgeous view." He asked with a soft, sweet gaze despite the burning judgement of his peers. His poor etiquette had not quite been addressed, yet.

He outstretched his arm to the princess before him, an offering for him to lead them off. "I figure I could convince somebody to bring us something to snack on as well." Suddenly, a shit-eating grin spread across his face. "Fish-free, if you'd like. I know not everyone is pescatarian. I'm one of the few Zora who expands my horizons, as well." He let out a laugh that had practically shattered the aura before them, and the calm, serene scene burst through once more.

Marianne de Hyrule

The hurt doesn't show, but the pain still grows.

GROUP:Hylian

AGE:18 yrs old

WRITTEN:684 posts

TAG:@marianne

When Twilight Looms

POSTED ON Feb 1, 2021 15:46:21 GMT

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Post by Marianne de Hyrule on Feb 1, 2021 15:46:21 GMT

Marianne tilted her head at Riven’s appearance, albeit very very slightly that no one would have noticed. Having known her daughter Rularu –the embodiment of all things that constitute “a princess” in the truest sense of the word- Marianne had thought that her father would at least be as regal as her, if not even more.

He wasn’t. Truthfully he gave a feeling of a fish in a boiling cauldron.

But that was not a reason to disrespect him. Marianne was too smart for petty judgments to get in her way.

"Your gracious Highness, my sincerest apologies for my lateness. The Zoran royal customs have been... interesting to adapt to even still, to say the least."

Raising herself from her bow, Marianne smiled.

“Think not of it, Your Majesty. We have only waited but a while.”

It was telling, then, that her smile didn’t reach her eyes. Still, her gestures showed nothing but respect befitting for someone in Riven’s station.

And to the emperor’s gracious offer of his arm, the princess took it with the same grace. Although she was careful to show that it was purely because of etiquette, rather than undue affection.

“You are too kind, Your Majesty. Anywhere you would have us, we would gladly oblige. As for nutriment we really have no inclination either way. We trust your wisdom in this matter.”

As they walked towards the palace lounges, side by side, the princess still found the tact for small pleasantries. Her tone was honest and easy, as was her movements. It was amazing that this was the same girl who had skipped sleep this very night to plan the movements of an entire army.

“I pray that you and your daughter have been well, Your Majesty. My brother King Leon sends his best wishes and his apology for not able to meet you in person for today. Our Kingdom has seen its share of problems. One that, I fear, will not go away soon. It is good to see that your Zora Kingdom has fared well.”

Riven Groupan
Marianne is in her full formal mode

Riven Groupan

Hey... Who took my arm?

GROUP:Zora

AGE:227 yrs old

WRITTEN:12 posts

TAG:@princesidon

When Twilight Looms

POSTED ON Feb 1, 2021 17:06:52 GMT

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Post by Riven Groupan on Feb 1, 2021 17:06:52 GMT

    The Zora ruler looked to Marianne as he led her from the throne room, "I shall make it happen, then. Your wish is my command." He then turned his attention to a passing servant and asked "My lad, could you possibly do me a favor and bring us a nice lunch and refreshment to the lounge? Our guests traveled quite a ways to be here. That includes the Hylian knights as well." This servant, not a part of the fiasco in the throne room, was very blindly happy to oblige before scuttling off to the kitchen. His quick departure left Riven thankless, and he would not have that. "Thank you sir!" He yelled from across the hall, causing a few passersby to jump in surprise, yet Riven seemingly did not notice.

    “I pray that you and your daughter have been well, Your Majesty. My brother King Leon sends his best wishes and his apology for not able to meet you in person for today. Our Kingdom has seen its share of problems. One that, I fear, will not go away soon. It is good to see that your Zora Kingdom has fared well.”

    Riven smiled kindly to the princess, "Thank you, your Highness. Trust and believe, I know this too well. It has taken a lot of work to get us back on our feet. We shall all see brighter days soon enough." As he spoke, they walked amongst the grand halls of the castle, the illustrious walls glittering on both the King and princess's shining clothing. The reflection caused a stunning illusion of flowing water along the walls.

Soon enough, the duo made their way to a large door made of seaglass and silver. As he opened it, the smell of fresh waterlillies and sounds of a trickling creek led their way into a giant, comforting room with bookshelves lined with Zoran tomes and legends, fairytales and stories. The couch and loveseat, made with a soft, ocean-colored wool to be naturally water-resistant, practically begged to be sat upon. The open archways to the balcony sat to the side of the room, where the calming creek let itself drain into the domain below. The creek cut through the room, and had shaped itself around the couches, where a small bridge could safely lead the two across.

Riven led Marianne safely across the bridge before offering her a seat. "Madame, You may sit wherever you please."

Marianne de Hyrule

The hurt doesn't show, but the pain still grows.

GROUP:Hylian

AGE:18 yrs old

WRITTEN:684 posts

TAG:@marianne

When Twilight Looms

POSTED ON Feb 5, 2021 5:22:52 GMT

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Post by Marianne de Hyrule on Feb 5, 2021 5:22:52 GMT

Riven’s sudden yell made Marianne flinch, although internally. Outwardly the composed princess wasn’t perturbed in the slightest. Emperor Riven was… interesting. It seemed his head was in the right place, and he was clearly pleasant, but….

“…. We shall all see brighter days soon enough.”

Marianne nodded slightly, “The sun will shine after the storm passes, Sir,” she quoted a rather antiquated Zoran proverb, although she left the full sentence out, ‘and then shall be uncovered the destruction wrought.’

Soon, they arrived at a giant, comforting room filled with bookcases. And for the first time in their meeting, the princess’ expression betrayed her feelings. She glanced curiously on every direction at the various books as they passed through, lingering on some of the titles she had known well such as “The Tales and Adventures of Sir Lonk”, “Ballad of Penn the Mountain Master”, “The Mechanical Tendencies of Fluid”, and the nine-volume famous magical tome “Morte’s Ten”, but her eyes stayed even more at those she had little knowledge of. ‘ “Sylvania: Songs and Sayings of the Sea-Singer”? “A Treatise on The Currents and The Effects of The Phases of The Moon”? “Inside Lake Hylia?” Seems interesting!’

It was lucky that she had Riven to guide her through the bridge, else the distracted princess might have plunged herself into the water!

Once they arrived at the place with many couches, the hyrulean nobles lingered, waiting for their princess to sit down first. For her part Marianne smiled at Riven’s invitation to sit with a soft “Thank you”, gathered her skirt, and elegantly placed herself near the center of the room, directly in front of an empty sofa. Following her cue the Hyrulean entourage seated themselves around Marianne, so that if Riven sat in front of the princess and his entourage sat around him, it would divide the room neatly in half.

“You have quite an extensive collection of books, Sire,” praised the princess, “I should very much like to promote an exchange program between our libraries, should it prove feasible to do so.”

It did not take long, however, for the princess to shift into the important matter at hand. And with that, the full attention of her entourage.

“You have heard, I am sure, of The Mirror of Twilight, Sire? It seems that it is responsible for much of the stranger things that happened recently, directly or indirectly. Our Kingdom is currently organizing a kingdom-wide search for its pieces, as recounted to us by a certain source.”

LAST EDIT: Feb 5, 2021 5:33:40 GMT by Marianne de Hyrule

Rularu Groupan

GROUP:Zora

AGE:19 yrs old

WRITTEN:41 posts

TAG:@rularu

When Twilight Looms

POSTED ON Feb 12, 2021 23:52:48 GMT

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Post by Rularu Groupan on Feb 12, 2021 23:52:48 GMT

Meanwhile, Rularu was visiting home for a bit to take care of some business. Just because she was out adventuring and exploring the world didn't mean she didn't have the occasional duty as the princess and heir of an entire kingdom to take care of. Granted, she would rather be out adventuring right now, but even she knew that this stuff was important. And while she might be a bit self-centered at times, but not even she would shirk her responsibilities to her people. And she was beginning to hear some mildly disturbing rumors about some strange going-ons around Lakebed Temple, but nothing that had been confirmed by anyone yet. Still it was something she felt worth bringing to her father's attention to have it looked into.

Hopefully, it'd prove to be nothing.

However, when she didn't see him in the throne room, she let out a small mumble of annoyance and began her search for her father. Eventually, her search lead her to the lounge, where a sigh of relief escaped her lips upon spotting him. Approaching him, she began speaking. "There you are, Father. There's something I need to..." Her words trailed off as she noticed that there was someone who was very clearly not a Zora with him, causing her to give an apologetic bow "Ah! Forgive me. I hadn't realized you were entertaining a guest. I..." Her words trailed off once again, as she finally got a good look at her father's guest and steadily realized who it was. Almost immediately, she tensed up, blushing brightly and losing basically all of her regal attitude.

It was none other than Marianne de Hyrule, the girl who had left an incredibly strong impression on her after she had essentially saved the Hylian's life and personally escorted her back to Hyrule Castle. A lot happened. For numerous reasons, she was sworn to secrecy over her involvement in the safe return of the until-then long missing princess. She didn't understand or like it, but she figured there must be a lot going on that she wasn't aware of, so she begrudgingly accepted it; besides, it wasn't as though they weren't extremely grateful to her; they were just in a delicate situation, it seemed. Either way, she managed to leave quite the impression on Rularu, so much so that she found herself thinking about her often.

It was to the point that the mere sight of her, sitting in this lounge and speaking with her father, was enough to leave the normally unshakable Zora princess completely flustered; no doubt a rare sight for the King who was probably used to Rularu's headstrong attitude by now. "M-Marianne?! Wh-what are you doing here?!" She looked around frantically, wondering if she looked as flustered as she felt.

Spoiler warning; she did.

"F-father! Why didn't you say anything?! If I had known she was coming, I would have..." She stopped herself from continuing when she heard her own words. She would have done what exactly? Why was a sudden visit from some hylian she barely knew such a huge deal?