< atton revisited > The information page for Atton has been fully revised and updated with the new map!
< updated calendar > The Fortuna calendar has been updated in the "Other" lore section! This includes a document which displays the calendar for you to see, making it much easier to understand.
< moving map > The first functional map has been released in the News section! This map is also interactive, allowing you to drag and drop between points in order to determine distances. This is the first iteration, and there's more and better to come!
< first annual awards > The results for the First Annual Fortuna Year-End Awards have been posted! Go and take a look at who the finalists were, and who took home the big prizes!
< new default skin > Our new skin has passed the beta test, and is now the new Default for the forums! If you have any issues with this skin, send a PM or Discord to Mellie.
< human lore update > Humans have been updated with TWENTY-FIVE subraces/subcultures which add numerous options, and a little extra lore and flavour.
< magic lore update > Magical Lore has been enhanced with the addition of a post on Magical Education. From Beginner to Expert, this is how you learn the spells.
< a change to member groups > Member groups are now based on storyline! You can change your displayed storyline by editing the settings in your profile.
Welcome to the world of Fortuna, a land of fantastic proportions. This is an original fantasy roleplay that takes place in a world developed over nearly a decade of work and collaboration. We aim to encourage all participants to have a hand in the stories of the characters here, and the world around them. Your choices are key - so make them with pride. You decide who wins the wars, you decide who becomes King, the world is ours, and together we will bring it to life!
Xanthe heard him enter the water and she wanted to turn back then but she wasn't sure whether it was now acceptable to do so or if he wanted her to look away the entire time. She heard him splash the water and explained his word for it. Assuming he was talking about water as she suspected, she replied "Lusan," about a moment before she felt a splash of water on herself and she raised her arm, looking backward and upside down at him from her position on her back before flipping to her stomach and watching him with a quirked eyebrow and the shadow of a smile. "Water. Ellis ox water. Xanthe ex," she patted the ground to indicate land, "auns."
*Approximate translation* ox - in ex - on auns - ground/earth (I realize it wouldn't be called earth, but the translation was a lot nicer than the one for ground or land)
Post by Ellis Danton on Nov 14, 2016 11:00:43 GMT -7
He nodded as he tried to understand. He understood ox, and he believed he understood ex... But when she patted the ground his first thought was being a child, and his mother patting the seat next to her when she wanted to comfort him. He recalled a time when he had wished to play with the other children, children who had no interest in their play-acting games when one of them couldn't speak a sentence without falling apart, children who would rather push him around and then run away, leaving him crying on the grass. His mother would sit on a bench near the side of the road and pat the open spit next to her, and he could stumble up to her and attempt to tell her what happened through sobs and stutters. She would understand - or at least pretend to - and make him feel better just through that.
He was certain Xanthe didn't mean anything of the sort.
"Lusan," Ellis nodded, watching driblets of water make their way down his arm as he held close to the riverbank, "Xanthe i-is... Fa i-is out of lusan. E-ellis is i-in lusan. Auns i-is..." He thought more, and realized she might have meant the opposite of water: land. "Auns is... I-it means l-land. Gr-ground. Fortuna."
Xanthe folded her arms and rested her chin on them, watching Ellis as he translated what she said to his own words. Ellis is in lusan, water. Ellis is in water. She was out of water. She was.. ground, land. She wondered why the invaders had so many words for the same thing. Xanthe suddenly realized that she could do something more useful than laying here while Ellis bathed - Ellis's clothes were dirty and covered with blood. She should watch them for him.
She got to her feet and went to his pile of clothes, first picking up his pants which had a large tear in them she would have to get someone to fix, not because she couldn't do it herself but because there was someone who was meant to do that and she had better things to do, but for now she should try to get the blood and dirt out. She took it to the edge of the river and knelt at the side, turning to look at Ellis before pointing at the pants and saying "Daplaun in water?" She figured she should probably ask before she started doing anything with his clothes. Maybe they would explode if they touched water or something - she didn't know what these invaders put in their legwear.
Post by Ellis Danton on Nov 14, 2016 11:21:25 GMT -7
When she grabbed his pants he worried for a moment she was going to take them as some kind of practical joke or something. He wouldn't be able to follow her without embarrassing himself in front of some villagers, and the thought mortified him -- but that's not what she did. Instead she walked towards the river, and Ellis panicked about that instead. He looked about and spotted a rock formed in the river only slightly farther away. As she neared, he quickly stepped over to it, keeping his humility behind it as his ears reddened.
"Y-yes, er, th-that's j-just f-f-fine-- daplaun er... P-pants... Pants c-can go in w-water. Th-thank you..." He cleared his throat and rested his forehead on the rock, cursing his inability to speak properly or keep his cool. She didn't seem to have any care for modesty. He wished he could manage the same carelessness.
Xanthe raised an eyebrow curiously, but let Ellis be weird over by the rock without questioning him. She turned her gaze obviously from him back to the pants to show she wasn't watching him, then she dipped the pants in the water and began working on gently, methodically washing the fabric while being careful not to tear it any further. She hummed quietly as she did so, figuring it was probably best to leave any more learning until later when Ellis was more clothed and less shy. She thought it was strange but then again for all she knew the invaders could be completely repulsive under their clothes so maybe he just wanted to hide that.
Post by Ellis Danton on Nov 14, 2016 11:36:32 GMT -7
He sighed in relief. She made a point to show she understood his humility - even if she didn't really understand it - and set about trying to clean blood from his clothes. He hadn't had to do that before, get blood out. He hadn't been injured since he had been here, until the bear. And he hadn't injured anyone either -- until the soldiers. He realised then that Xanthe's experience in this war had been far more brutal than his. She had seen a lot more blood than he had.
He relaxed into the water, cleaning his face with it and scraping the dirt from his nails as he listened to her hum, it was a lovely, unfamiliar tune, but he found himself able to predict the progression of the notes with ease. His fingers moved in an aching reflection of playing the piano - something he hadn't done since he had left home. He didn't think he missed music that much - not until this moment, anyways. And he realised something else: He had never had a problem memorising music. The sounds could combine with predictable melodies, making it easy to conjure them from his mind.
"Xanthe... D-do you know... C-could you... Sing? L-like..." He thought back on the tune she had just hummed, and sang to the same melody, this time with words: "Yi ox lusan, fa ienji, yi ox lusan -- yi ienji, you're on land, yi ienji..." Singing was always easier than speaking.
Xanthe looked over when Ellis spoke to her, assuming it meant permission to look at him, and he asked if she could do something but it was a word she didn't know yet. Luckily for her, he explained what it was by example and sang using the tune she had just been humming and some of the words he knew in her language. She didn't know he could sing, or could sing so well. She noticed that he didn't stumble over any of his words. She supposed she hadn't known if his people knew what singing was, though she wondered if maybe everyone knew what singing was? She smiled softly and nodded. "Xanthe... I, could sing." Most of the songs she knew were tributes to the storm deity and she knew them all by heart. She decided to sing her favourite.
Xanthe's voice was soft and beautiful, haunting in a way that belied her usual strength and force and seemed almost otherworldly. She had turned back to the pants and continued washing them while she sang, for some reason strangely self-conscious, but when she finished she turned her attention back to Ellis and bit her lip. "Good.. sing?" Maybe one day she would be able to explain what the words meant.
Post by Ellis Danton on Nov 14, 2016 12:21:41 GMT -7
Xanthe took his meaning correctly, and began to sing something in her language. Her voice was something that drew chills from him, that made his breath catch in his throat. And it wasn't just her voice, either. He did not understand the words she sang, but he understood their meaning. That was why he wanted her to sing. Music was something he was certain was universal, it was so natural, so alive.
There was something deeply spiritual the words she sang. He knew, despite not being familiar with them, that she was singing about her god, in the way that he would do for his mother at home. Her favorite songs were the ones about Ayniea, especially the ones about Ayniea and her love with Derek Fabelle. They always brought tears to her eyes, but Ellis had never really cried over them. He would always be moved by the story, he would always deeply enjoy the sounds -- but something here, something with Xanthe, something about what she sang and the way she sang it... He began crying. When she finished the song and turned to him he quickly ducked his head into the water, pretending as though the water on his face was merely from washing himself. The redness in his eyes showed his lie, but he hoped that perhaps crying wasn't something the savages did much of.
"Y-yes," Ellis nodded, "B-beautiful. Th-thank you, Xanthe." He smiled and couldn't get the tune out of his head - but that was the point. He remembered it, and as he remembered where the notes would go, he remembered the words as well. He sung bits and pieces of it back to her as he finished cleaning himself, and then communicated to her that he was done by making the twirling motion of his finger once more. When she turned, he removed himself from the water and quickly got himself covered by the clothes she had gathered for him.
Xanthe smiled at his words before putting his hands on a rock nearby and grabbing his shirt to begin washing it as well. She listened as Ellis hummed and sang pieces of her song back to her while he finished bathing in the river and for a few minutes it was almost like there was no war at all and Ellis was just one of her people and this was just a peaceful afternoon. She soaked in the moment while she could, feeling the sun on her skin and the cool water of the river over her hands, listening to Ellis sing her favourite song... it was perfect. Absolutely perfect.
When Ellis stopped humming she looked over at him and saw him request her to turn around again, which she did and she gathered his pants from the rock so when they went back to the village she could hang them up to dry. Once he was dressed, she led them back to the village where the evening meal was being prepared. In honour of their guest the village had rallied together to cook a large meal, set up on tables which they had placed together in the town square surrounding the god tree, and when Xanthe and Ellis returned to the village it was just about ready. She led him to one of the tables, none of which could be said to be a 'head table', and got him to sit down next to her. Everyone filed in and sat down, ready to partake in the meal. The woman who had been first in line earlier, who had ruffled Ellis's hair, stood up from her seat and said a few words in Attonian, a 'before dinner prayer' if you will, and then everyone began to eat. Xanthe waited until Ellis began taking food to take any herself.
Post by Ellis Danton on Nov 14, 2016 12:56:50 GMT -7
He hadn't really expected to go back to anything but more strange looks - less strange than earlier, but strange nonetheless. They continued to surprise him. This time the surprise was in the form of a large feast. He wondered if this was typical - but it didn't seem like it. This seemed special. He had never been treated like this before... It was... Strange, but nice. He felt respected.
He smiled at Xanthe and thought back to what she had said to the man who gave her Ellis' new clothes. He didn't know if it was the right word, but he hoped it was: "Sux'm fa," He told her, and when she smiled he assumed he was correct, and turned to the person beside him and repeated it. The person seemed please with his words, and with his pronunciation, and Ellis felt pride.
Perhaps savage life was an improvement on civilisation.
To Be Continued...
Last Edit: Nov 14, 2016 12:57:18 GMT -7 by Ellis Danton
The skin OTHERWORLD was made by JAWN of WICKED WONDERLAND.
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