#jeddite

1. Can you go more into her dynamic with Andreé?

After Andreé resurrected her, those two became almost inseparable. Before that, Andreé was alone and quite lonely. They lived in a solitude and so they kinda glued themselves to Romania. Luckily for them, even though Roma can be quite cold and no-nonsense type of person, she's also understanding and did not use Andreé's attachment. She was also very grateful for what they did - they not only saved her life by resurrecting her, but also her troops by giving her a chance to come back (with dragons, but that's another story) and assist them in fight. So after the fight she herself proposed them to come with her, which they gladly accepted and joined her ranks. Some AvLee officers were confused as to where did she pulled that angel from, Romania you can't just pick up random strangers off the forest and let them join your troops, but she was like "I found it, it's mine now". I present you this quick old sketch I made a while ago (text in alt):

And everyone was like "fine, keep it, but it's your responsibility now"

Andreé proved to hold themselves in fight, and provide assist to Romania by healing her or giving some tactical insights, so she named them her lieutenant.

Those two are also very open with each other, although here it wasn't balanced at first - surprisingly, it was Romania who was more open with her emotions and secrets. Mostly because Andreé could read her, not only with their bond but also because they are generally good at reading people. They encouraged Roma to talk about her issues, but it took them a moment to open themselves, too afraid to be pushed away. Finally, they managed to share their worries, but still they do this less often than Romania.

In more physical matters - they were never intimate with each other. Like I talked here a bit, they were always strictly platonic. Andreé is not only AceAro but also sex repulsed, so there was no "Friends with benefits" or anything like that. Still, they see each other nude without any issues - although it, once more, took Andreé longer to be comfortable with it, mostly because Roma is more casual with nudity (I HC AvLee to be fine with casual nudity in general), but also because of Andreé's own insecurities.

When it comes to sharing space, Andreé has their own chambers in Romania's castle, but when they are out in the field they share a tent, when they are stationed at some smaller fort, they often share a room etc.

From outside perspective it looks like Andreé is more dependant on Romania than she is on them, because they often seek her, touch her arm or shoulder unprompted etc. But the truth is that Andreé feels when there is something wrong or when Roma is starting to get angry during some negotiations and needs to be calmed down, and they reach towards her to help her.

This short story written for March of Whump is one that shows their dynamic the best, I think (and is also the only story I posted on tumblr with those two, so the only reference I could give you anyway).

2. How does Romania feel about being resurrected by Jeddite?

At first she was confused. She didn't know that she died, she thought she just lost her consciousness and Jeddite had healed her, but she quickly realized that something was off. Uncle Garet was pissed off, but not in a usual way, master Ethric was weirdly quiet, everyone else was a mixture of confused and worried... Something happened and no one told her what.

Later Garet went to Ethric to yell at him that if his little shit of a student turned his niece into a zombie then he is gonna turn both of them into a dead bodies that don't move. At which Ethric had to calm him down and explain that it was most probably not necromancy, but something more. That they need to watch Romania, see if she's not showing any signs of a decay, but also watch if Jeddite is not subconsciously keeping her alive. And also that they need to tell both of them what exactly had happened, so they understand the seriousness of the situation, but they probably won't have to, because all four of their little shits are listening right now anyway.

Which, of course all four were eavesdropping. At this point Romania was afraid. She didn't know humans could resurrect, she didn't understand what happened at all and she didn't want to be a zombie. She knew that if she was an undead, she would have to be put down.

Ethric and Garet had to sit them all down, calm them down, and explain that she is most probably not a zombie, but they need to be careful and watch her. Ethric explained the differences between the necromancy and resurrection. He himself was confused by how Jeddite did that, but he probably had some unknown talent to earth magic or just resurrecting, and also obviously cared a lot about Romania. At this point Roma was less afraid, and when time has passed and it was obvious that she is not an undead, she was grateful, amazed and even more in love. Jeddite cared about her so much he broke the barrier between life and death, and brought her back to life. It was like the greatest declaration of love for her. Even years and years after that, when they were no longer together, she still saw this as something greater that had happened between them.

3. Her thoughts on her multiple deaths and necromancy in general?

"The world is not done with me. Good, I'm also not done with the world."

She sees it as some form of a "luck", that she has so many opportunities to die and yet it doesn't happen. Clearly, it's not her time yet, but damn does her body wishes for a break.

Her thoughts on necromancy - she despises it. It took her friend from her, she fights necromancers regularly, she sees it as nothing more but a disgusting, cruel magic that manipulates bodies and takes away dignity of death. She often thinks about what's the difference between her and the undead, but she comes to a simple conclusion: "I'm not dead, rooting or decaying. No one manipulates me and I have my own free will. I am not an undead." Although she sometimes has nightmares where she is an undead.

4. What is the story's ending for her?

I mentioned the Reckoning a lot - the Armageddon that destroyed the whole world. It happened when half elf Gelu and human barbarian Kilgor fought while welding, respectfully The Armageddon's Blade and the Sword of Frost. There was a prophecy that when the blades touch, the world will end and it happened. (Many game fans shit on Gelu for that and honestly it's deserved - he knew about the prophecy and still went to fight with Kilgor).

Angels helped evacuate people to a different world, but both armies who fought during that battle were annihilated.

Romania was also there.

Gelu was the Captain of The Forest Guard of AvLee and, before getting the Armageddon's Blade was one of the people hunting Sandro, so Romania obviously would had some ties with him. I never wrote much about that period of time, but I think she would assist Gelu when he was after Sandro. So since she was a trusted ally, Gelu asked for her assistance while fighting Kilgor to which she agreed. The current version is that because she was so close to the blast, Andreé didn't manage to save her and so she died there.

In my writting, Jeddite also knew about Armageddon's Blade destructive magic, and because now he and Roma kept writing letters again, he knew she was with Gelu. He had a bad feelings about it, so he left to AvLee to find her and save her. Unfortunately, when he reached the fort where she was supposed to be stationed, she was already gone for the battle and only Andreé was left in charge. Jeddite convinced Andreé to go and try to save Roma, but they were too late. Andreé managed to save Jeddite, tho.

5. Any AUs for her and your other HOMM3 OCs?

The most obvious AU is - Romania lives AU. There are 2 versions of it - despite being far away, Andreé managed to teleport Romania at the last moment when they teleported themselves.

And second - Jeddite managed to join her before she left for the battle, and saved her from the Armageddon.

There are a "what if" AU's of Romania and Jeddite getting together again. One where she asked him to join her, one when she got pregnant and wrote to him about it, so he joined her later. But all of this is just me joking or writing little stuff for my own comfort - there was no happy ending for them.

There are also three very classic AUs - genderswap (Romulus and Jinora instead of Romania and Jeddite), roleswap (Druid Roma and General Jeddite) and villain AU (Romania as general of Eeofol and Jeddite as the Necromancer). I made those designs a long time ago:

„I remember this one.”

Romania looked up at Jeddite, lying next to her in bed. The man was leaning on his elbow and slightly curling over her, while fingers of his free hand gently traced the star-shaped scar right above her heart.

The general nodded in response.

„You were there,” she recalled. „That’s when you… Brought me back.”

At those words, Jeddite grunted shortly and frowned. Clearly, he was still reluctant to talk about his life-and-death bending abilities, and Romania decided not to push him.

She still remembered the events of that evening, clear as the day. She, Eret, Jeddite and Sandro, all young, foolish and reckless. They were looking for a necromancer, and their little hunt almost ended up with Romania being dead, if not for Jeddite, who, somehow, resurrected her.

Jeddite’s finger moved softly over her skin, towards another, similar scar, this one smaller and closer to the center of her chest.

„Where is this one from?” he asked. „It also looks like it’s from a spell, right?”

Romania hesitated before answering, as she already knew that the warlock’s reaction wouldn’t be pleasant.

„That was Sandro,” she said, carefully watching Jeddite’s face.

The man frowned once more, disgust and anger visible in his expression. If there was one thing Jeddite hated more than talking about his abilities, it was Sandro.

Romania quickly grabbed his hand and caressed it gently, trying to calm him down. He relaxed under her touch, but then his eyes moved to the scars on the hand she was touching him with – a thin white web of lines going all the way up to her elbow.

„Also Sandro. During the same fight,” Romania said, before he managed to ask. „But it’s fine. I was so angry I didn’t even feel the pain,” she added with a soft chuckle.

Her laughter stopped Jeddite from getting angry again and made him smile instead.

„Then I’m glad I wasn’t there. You are scary when you are angry,” he joked, although there was a hint of guilt in his voice, and Romania knew he would rather be by her side.

„Sandro sure was scared.”

„Good,” responded Jeddite, with hatred in his voice, but then he took a deep breath and managed to speak softer: „What about the one on your cheek?”

„It’s from the same fight as this one.” Romania pointed at the scar on her side. „When I fell from Achates and hit the ground.”

„That’s when Andreé resurrected you?” asked the warlock. They already talked about how the angel became Romania’s second in command.

The general nodded. A playful smirk danced on her lips and she tilted her head to get a better look at the warlock’s face.

„Jealous?” she teased gently. „You’d rather be the only one who got to resurrect me?”

Jeddite scoffed and rolled his eyes.

„Please, I’m not some envious teenager.” Despite his words, he couldn’t hide a smile. He leaned closer to her and placed a kiss on her forehead. „Maybe a little jealous,” he admitted quietly. „But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are here.”

Not for long, Romania thought to herself, but didn’t want to say out loud what they both already knew. After tonight, she was about to take her army back to AvLee, and who knows if she and Jeddite would ever get to see each other again.

Come with me, she wanted to say. You are not as bound to Nighon as I am to AvLee. You can serve it from my castle, you can be by my side.

She didn’t say anything. Her pride wouldn’t let her beg for Jeddite to go with her.

The warlock’s eyes slowly ran up and down her body, perhaps searching for other scars. In the meantime, lost in thoughts Romania reached up to his face and started gently caressing his beard. She enjoyed the scratchy texture under her fingers a lot.