Auraya Eeden
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Court of Mist
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Post by Auraya Eeden on Jan 4, 2017 18:17:46 GMT
The shadows lengthened as the sun hung torpid above the horizon. The old ruins of a long forgotten goddess was illuminated by the overhead sun. In some places the temple seemed to have suspended time and its white marble gleamed resplendently and engravings remained unmarred. In other places the marble had dulled to grey and rested shattered upon the worn floor. It had been many a century since the site had been an active place of worship. Now, the name of the goddess or god had slipped out of common knowledge. During the raids of the Court of the Wolves, many such places were abandoned as the common folk moved to higher ground. This shrine was just outside of the main city of the Court of Mist. The village of wood had long since perished since the villages abandoned it for the stone walls of the city on the mountain above. The city, Dunedin, grey and imposing, was perched on an extinct volcano. There it housed the great noble house.
Auraya gazed thoughtfully at an empty face of a marble statue. The alter beneath it lay in pieces at the foot of it. Often her family would visit the royal palace, in favour of dining and winning over royal favour. Her small town, Arana, was a town where elegant customs and fanciful gatherings gave way to practicality and simplicity. Auraya had not yet grown accustomed to the ways of the noble elite. Her formal dress felt stiff and unnatural. She longed to strip down to her soft riding breeches and tunic and ride through the forests behind her city. Instead the tight bodice of the emerald hued dress stifled her breathing. Although bred in finery, her intrinsic nature echoed the backwater girl taken with the simple life. Her family did not seek the same. Their goal was to rise above the simplicity that Arana provided. They proposed new trade routes to bring more wealth into the Court of Mists (and of course, more importantly, Arana). Auraya was the only child to actively seek the simple life. The youngest daughter of seven was inconsequential. She had to appear some days in court and the rest of the time her family denied that she existed.
The sooner she was to be married off, the better it would be for the family’s image according to them. That was part of the reason for the trip to Dunedin. The court was full of eligible young men to tame her wandering soul. She sighed, tugging angrily at the corner of her dress that pooled out around her. Two more days in this pompous city before she could return home. This temple provided a little peace and a place to hide while her family enjoy the luxuries of the court. She had snuck out before the dawn on her black mare (who was now lazily cropping grass outside the temple ruin). She would have until the sun dipped below the horizon until her absence was noted. Auraya sought nothing more than to pursue her magical gifts and explore the arts of healing. That, however, was not entirely a befitting profession for an ambitious noble family.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2017 20:54:03 GMT
Eleanor watched the shadows grow gradually longer around her as she walked. She had no particular aim in mind, save for getting out of her chambers. Elegant and gracious though they were, the memory of the long months which she had spent in them not so long ago, weeping and staring blankly around her, still hung fresh in her memory, and the sight of those four walls brought that searing pain up into the forefront of her mind, as fresh as though she had lost her soulmate only yesterday. The time had been hard, and still was. Some days, she could scarcely muster the energy to leave her bed. This was one of the other days, though. Today, she had awoken with a mind as clear as a bell, and a desperate urge to get out, to do something. Hence the reason that she found herself walking along the highways and byways of the country at this hour of the day, looking about her at the beauty of the world and the nature which some being had seen fit to place within it. That was what she had missed the most during her long period of time confined to her chambers. As she looked upon the greenery of the hedgerows and the verges, she breathed in the fresh air and made a quiet vow to herself. Never again would she submit herself to such torture. A day spent entirely indoors was one day too many.
She found herself, somewhat to her surprise, wandering amongst the shattered statuary and neglected stonework of an old, long-forgotten temple. A temple to some goddess, as antiquated and forgotten now as her temple. Eleanor sighed. Such places always depressed her. They reminded her of the fragility of human existence, as though she wasn't already well aware of it. Two loved ones lost before her fiftieth birthday, and neither of them lost to war- both to illness, slow, painful illness causing delirium and sickness. She had stood by each of them, held their hands, and she had wept as they slipped away. Not even in their final moments were they granted relief from their agony; thy had screamed as they left her... She shook off these morbid recollections of the past with a barely disguised shudder and looked about her; spotting a bird in the bushes and another pecking around the remains of a statue. That was what she needed to focus on. Colour, brightness, life.
Eleanor lifted the hem of her dress as she stepped amongst the undergrowth and took a stroll around the area. She had not been born to this life; she had been brought up as a simple farm girl, but she had adapted well; by the time that she was twenty five, no one could tell her from a born noblewoman however closely they studied her. Her husband had been so pleased to have a wife that he could both love and be proud of... No. She would not go back there, into those happy memories now so tinged with grief. She could not allow herself to.
Yes, now she could ride and dance and eat as well and as properly as anyone in the Court, and she felt so bland. The same as all the others. One of many. But she was not! She was unique!
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Auraya Eeden
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Court of Mist
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Gender: Female
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Post by Auraya Eeden on Jan 10, 2017 6:03:35 GMT
Auraya’s solitude was broken by the sound of another being entering the ruins. A flicker of annoyance and trepidation washed over her. She feared, for a second, that one of her family members, who were well acquainted with her avoidance strategies, had come to retrieve her and require her presence within the court. She held her breath, her ribs straining against the constraints on the courtly dress. However, the sound did not seem to be coming towards her. She let go of her breath, curiousity taking over. Her eyes scanned the temple around her, catching sight of a few doves that fled the intruder’s entrance. The sound of their flight echoed across the empty temple. Slowly, Auraya picked her way through the ruins to see who had entered the temple.
“Hello?” she called out tentatively, making her way towards the sound of a sigh… a women’s sigh. She hesitated for a moment, worried that she would be intruding. She caught sight of a brown haired woman. The face she recollected – she was one of the women in court. A sense of trepidation unwound itself and she took a deep breath.
“Oh, sorry to bother,” she said cheerfully. “I guess I will find somewhere else to frequent.”
OOC: Sorry it's sucky
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2017 21:00:13 GMT
The sunlight was beautiful today, and Eleanor closed her eyes to take it in for a moment. She gave a slight sigh of pure happiness... and then her eyes flicked open as she heard a voice calling out, echoing oddly on the massed pieces of assorted stonework. Eleanor frowned slightly. It was seldom that she encountered another soul out here, and even less frequent that she held a conversation with them. The woman was not sociable by nature, and so she found conversation something of a chore. Still, she took in a deep breath and replied "Hello!" She glanced around and saw a young woman that she recognised, picking her way over the uneven ground. Where did she recognise her from? Hmm... Ah! She was at court, of course, though admittedly, she couldn't recall the woman's name.
"No, please, don't let me get in your way." Eleanor insisted, mostly out of common courtesy since social situations were something which she would rather avoid when at all possible. Sadly, all too often, it wasn't possible. A woman in her position was supposed to thrive on parties and dinners and... various other functions. To admit that she didn't would be to admit defeat, and she would never do that. It wasn't in her nature.
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