#sov.pd

some of you have seen the survey so.. YES !! we are bringing back new abilities ! consider this our anniversary gift to you all ! we’ve listened to you guys’ ideas about what abilities you’d like to see and decided to add them to our list. for any new members, this is how it goes down: you like the post if you wish to participate in our random drawing. we’ll be randomly picking several characters ( while taking into account their activity as well ) and gifting them some abnormal abilities. recipients are required to write a self paragraph on their character developing such abilities ( tag it as: sov.task ). if you need any ideas on how they discovered their abilities, let us know !

as of right now, we already have some: adrian calvierri ( animal bond w/ a gryffin ) brynjolf mallory ( retrocognition ), charlotte rowe ( elf ), purnelle hawthorne ( siren ), and sybil beaumont ( necormancy ). 

KEY NOTE: THESE ABILITIES ARE FOR NON-ROYALS ONLY !

with that being said, the following abilities we’re giving out are:

ANIMAL BONDING

this ability depends on the animal; the animal will be able to understand your thoughts, wishes, and wants. while the said person doesn’t have the ability to control the animal’s actions, it’s more of an abnormally close friendship between the two. think of eragon and saphira, except the animal wouldn’t be able to speak back to said character. while this is a controlled ability, please remember that this is a BOND, meaning it happens over time. for example, the said animal wouldn’t be able to fully understand everything said character wants on their first introduction. it’s a budding friendship so it grows within time. please note that this isn’t with an entire species but one special creature. message the main with what animal you desire from the creatures page. this character is HUMAN so they can perish the same ways a human can.

DREAM MANIPULATION

the ability to alter or manipulate one’s dreams. think of pitch from rise of the guardians ! this ability would need to consult with their target’s mun before application because we do not allow any god-modding whatsoever. the techniques range from entering one’s dreams to giving their target nightmares. but like the many other abilities, this dream strengthens with every application. so said chosen character may only be able to enter a dream at first before progressing into a more advanced technique. however, please take note that doing such an act would take a lot of energy out of the user-- especially if they’re new to the ability. this character is HUMAN so they can perish the same ways a human can.

MAGICAL ITEMS

there are some items throughout zenan that have sold for exceptionally high and can only be found on the black market. there are tall tales of these items, two that are notorious: the invisibility cloak and ebony steel. 

THE INVISIBILITY CLOAK has been a myth for centuries. floating in and out of the black market and being owned by many owners. the cloak, while worn, gives the allusion that the wearer is invisible to the rest of the world. despite being invisible, if touched by someone, they will be able to feel said person underneath a cloak. ( think of harry potter and his cloak. ) 

EBONY STEEL is the rarest of steels throughout zenan. in fact, there’s not many swords left that have been crafted by it. ( i.e. literally no swords left. ) but perhaps your character found some and has decided to have a sword made from it ?? giving them one of the strongest swords in all of zenan and teshayra. ( think valyrian steel from game of thrones. )

the bearers of these items are HUMAN so they can perish the same ways a human can.

4 lucky characters will be chosen for the abilities above. the abilities will be given in order as shown. so the first person the generator chooses will get the animal bonding, the second would get dream manipulation and so on. SO WITH THAT BEING SAID, if you wish to participate, please like this post + respond with your characters’ names if you have multiple ! 

                  he nods. she wishes she could be like him — unfaltering in his decision. so… resolute. she had her doubts – here they were invading the land of those that freed them from the pirates – but, ultimately, pandora had decided her father was right. they had to take zenan for themselves. there’s nothing left for them in teshayra; nothing left of them in teshayra. there was ash and rubble and corpses.

                  “ look, “ he says as he gazes outward. his voice is menacingly low. if he hadn’t exuded the power of that of a seasoned king, one might’ve thought he was mumbling. “ we give them onewarning shot. “

                  she turns over her shoulder to ensure her father’s will is done. pandora’s eyes meet that of a crew member. she recalls his name is ali, or abrahim – something like that. the man nods immediately before running off with a shout, “ run a shot ‘cross the bow !! his highness commands it !! “

                  seconds after, a loud boom is heard. the sounds is deafening. she almost stumbles at the cannon fire but her father catches her arm. he gives her a stern look. “ don’t, “ he warns. don’t give them a reason to turn against you.

                  although shaken, she nods. then, pandora looks. she almost voices how similar it seems to teshayra’s coasts. the coast on which their castle once stood. how the water resembles the waves she and hector gazed longingly upon once. but she doesn’t. not for the fear that she sounds like the frivolous little girl she once was.

                 from the corner of her eye, pandora notices that abrahim / ali / whoever he is has returned. he stands surprisingly close to her father’s side. pandora sends him a dirty look. he seems not to care.

the mood is somber tonight. it has been, for more than a fortnight. and despite the responsibilities resting on her shoulders-- the promises she carelessly promised to people. emeline is lost. she’d accepted refugees into her kingdom, people with the potential to harm her or her people and yet-- she needed to leave. get out of dracborough, leave the heat. it’s too much, now. the gods have yet to give her a sign of what she should do, she hadn’t even met with king henry on how to fix the mess that nathaniel ( may he rest in peace ) left the world in. though, she supposes, she cannot blame him. but because of this conclusion, she feels angry with him-- for leaving her with the burden of fixing everything or giving her the option to watch the world burn.

the latter seems tempting but she knows what he would want-- she knows what the right thing to do is. and yet, here she stands across ysellian who looks at her warily. never had she visited him at such a late time. but she itches to leave. having not heard much from the kradaecans or the bearorians, perhaps she ought to see it for herself. it takes her but quick time to straddle the back of the charcoal colored dragon and soon, she is off into the night. 

it’s a peaceful ride, slow and quiet. almost as if ysellian knows of her clenched heart, how pained she’d been. and she’s grateful that the beast can read her so well, perhaps even better than her own advisors who speak the common tongue. green hues peer down at the ground, ignoring the cloud that whisks passed them. it’s dark, making it difficult to see. her hands grip the spikes along his back tightly, urging him lower to the ground. without much protest, he lowers himself, giving her a better view of the land before her. there’s trees that they loom above and it takes her but several seconds to recognize the forbidden forest. 

soon enough, she catches the small torches that light up the kingdom of bearoria. she’s careful to keep them at a considerable distance, hoping no guards or scouts spot them. the ride is silent, nothing to be heard but the whoosh of ysellian’s wings. it feels odd, she’d expected burning of the huts and anarchy but instead, it looks normal. as if there had been no invasion to begin with. which all the more angers her and with a push of her legs, she pushes her dragon to fly west, in hopes to leave bearoria, or what looks like bearoria.

her hair breezes in the wind and her eyes water from the speed. suddenly, the flapping of ysellian’s wings can no longer be heard, instead they’re being overlapped by the rush of waves from the great black sea. the smell of salt reaches her senses that cause her to reminisce of her times back in teshayra and she wonders, what is to come with the mess of the teshayra king ?

suddenly, the bow that hangs on her back seems awfully heavy as she approaches the familiar castle. she thinks of how frequently she would visit as a little girl, coming with her father to meet the royals at every kingdom and prepare herself for her queenly duties. she’d come to know the castle inside and out, even before adair was even born. ysellian circles the castle numerous times before they settle near a balcony that overlooks the pitch black ocean. his flapping of wings causes the grass to shiver underneath which serves as a ruckus. and it’s only at that ruckus does the king emerge from his chambers, stepping onto the balcony. 

her bow is in front of her now, an arrow dipped in flaahvra ( a poisonous flower from the lands of teshayra. ) juice aimed right at the man’s head. there are no words exchanged between them. they know what is to come. it feels hours have passed as she sits atop ysellian, an arrow pointed at the usurper who’d come to disrupt their peace. there’s hesitation from emeline, to which the king notices and the slightest of smirks is what triggers her. what pushes her to the edge. her fingers release the string, watching as the arrow swiftly flies through the air, effortlessly, silently and impales the man who falls on his adair’s balcony floor immediately. 

It happened so quickly. The man was witnessing his daughter being beaten repeatedly. A scene he was far used to after being the pirates’ prisoner for a little over a year ( or so it seemed ), he could hardly tell how much time has passed since the pirates ransacked their three kingdoms. Soon there was a shout that seemed to catch his daughter’s abuser’s attention. The pirate’s scarred face whipped up in curiosity before he exited the tent hastily. 

“Are you alright, dear?” But all he could get was a grunt in response. 

He did his best to listen in on the commotion going on outside while his daughter laid in pain. Though his hearing was strained from the many beatings he took, he managed to catch several words that stood out: king, escaped, wolf, dead. 

He was far too aware of the Zenan royals that traveled across The Unforgiving Ocean ( the black sea ) to avenge their people. Was it possible that the people of Zenan were winning this war? Would they be saved? 

As many charging footsteps ran near their tent, the man crawled close to the opening, peering outside to feed his interest. There was a lack of guards by their tent and suddenly, a sliver of hope appeared in his heart. His hands were still bound but he quickly nudged his daughter awake. 

“We have to leave now. Before they return. Hurry, darling.” 

Perhaps she was obedient or perhaps she was far too weak to even question her father but the young woman stood up anyway. His daughter leaned majority of her body on him to which he struggled with but managed to get them out of the tent. As he noticed the clear absence of pirates, he tugged his daughter towards the woods, following the roaring sound of those familiar waves.

Their pace was slow, cautious. And there was something in him that told him to turn back, go back to the tent and do not tempt death more than he already had. Though his gaze reverted to his daughter whose face was swollen from the prior abuse she endured. Seeing her in such a state fueled him to pick up the pace. Not to mention the various shouts that resonated from the camp behind them. 

They were running now, sprinting. His eyes were focused on the view ahead of them, ignoring the trees that sped passed them, his daughter’s jaded grunts, and the hurried steps following them. His vision blurred with tears of relief as he recognized the castle just a few yards in front of them. 

“We are nearly there, I promise,” he reassured his daughter, tugging her harshly as they emerged from the forest.

Though their victory was short-lived as guards of Zenan surrounded them. Swords at the ready, nothing but anger and hatred covering their features. The man raised his bounded hands in surrender, peering behind him in hopes that the pirates hadn’t followed them this far.

“Please! Kill us not!”

A guard speaks for the rest, his voice muffled from his armor. “Who are you? State your business!”

IT WAS STRANGE being in a four-poster bed again. bryn hadn't slept on anything but a straw mattress --- and sometimes just straw --- since his title had been stripped all of those years ago, and being under feather-filled blankets with his head on a down pillow was like heaven, and he was sleeping better than he had in years. he dreamed of the future rather than the past, and the undertones of his dreams were not negative as they used to be --- for once, bryn’s future was BRIGHT, and he looked forward to waking up rather than dreading it.

but soon his dreams began to mingle with reality, and the line between what was real and what wasn’t began to blur and twist with an uncontrolled fervor. bryn woke with a start, but he did not feel afraid of the emptiness in his chest --- for he was not himself. just as he had done so many times before in the past months, he realized the skin he was in was not that of his own body, and as he stood from the bed without thought or control, his inner mind SCREAMED to be released from the prison it had been locked in, his mind choosing instead to inhabit one of the past. but there was only one thing to do, and bryn knew it --- he had to wait it out, and witness whatever his gods-forsaken curse ability had in store for him.

his hands were soft and supple, not anything like his own rough ones, which were callused and hardened from years of work in the harsh elements; his hair was short and trimmed, and there was none of his usual stubble on his face. his muscles didn’t feel sore, but his mind --- or whoever’s mind from the past he was inhabiting --- was rife with stress and dread. 

he lifted his gaze, and saw a man in the doorway of the lush bedroom; seemingly, he was the reason he had gotten up so quickly. the man was dressed in raggedy, unwashed robes, and his hands were stained and blotted with grass and other signs of the forest or wood, as if he had been rummaging through the wilderness in search for something. a healer, in search for ingredients.

“ ser! quickly, you must come --- we have finally found something! ” the man proclaimed excitedly, his voice lilting with a clear kradaeca accent. bryn felt himself stand and rush towards the door, accompanying the healer outside of a castle he didn’t recognize. as they exited the walls of the castle, the air was thick with the smell of salt water, and the further bryn followed the healer it became increasingly obvious that they were near the shore. 

“ over here, ser, by the cliff’s edge! ” the healer said breathlessly, rushing towards the edge of a sharp stone cliff that cut off steeply, displaying the deadly waves crashing against sharp rocks that sat far down below. the wind was chilled by the edge of the cliff, but the sun beating down still caused a bead of sweat to roll down the back of his neck. he felt himself reach up and wipe his forehead with a stranger’s hand, and the sound of his breath catching in his throat was unfamiliar. bryn felt a pang of excitement fill his stomach, though he did not know why the man would be excited over what the healer was showing him. 

there was a cluster of flowers on the very edge of the cliff, nearly on the down slope of the rocks. as bryn felt himself step closer to examine them, they became clearer --- blindingly WHITE flowers, with slightly wrinkled petals that gave the flowers a wilted look, though they all seemed to be in full bloom.

“ are these the flowers? ” bryn felt himself ask nervously, his voice completely foreign. “ rhosthon, tell me --- are these the flowers that will cure the land of the plague? ”

“ yes, ser, ” the healer, now known as rhosthon, said with a wide smile that revealed broken teeth and blackening gums. “ we finally found it! ”

rhosthon said something else, but bryn could no longer hear him. the world around him swirled with a white fury, the cliff breaking off into the air and the healer rhosthon disintegrating with a FLURRY of robes and smoke. 

bryn woke up screaming, his mind in his own head again. he was covered in a cold sweat, and his hair stuck to his face as he panted, trying to catch his breath --- but there was no time to waste. the newly appointed duke flung the covers from his legs and ran from the room, wearing only his sleeping trousers; but he didn’t care. bryn ran as fast as his legs could take him, his bare feet padding through the hallways and corridors that lead to the infirmary. he could think of no where else to go, no where else the information could be so highly valued.

bryn stormed into the bed-lined room, and several healers and nurses gasped at the sudden intrusion. he took a moment to catch his breath, and took a few steps into the room that smelled of tonics and smoke from the fires that supposedly kept the sickness from the air. he took one last steadying breath.

For weeks, Astrid had been feeling unwell - dizzy, nauseated, so worried she couldn’t sleep. She could barely stomach food, and yet her belly still seemed to swell. Paranoia set in, the kind where she could feel her heart beating ragged and thready in her throat. 

There was a potion Aunt Margaret used to make back at the brothel, and when she was young, Astrid would make herself of use by picking all the ingredients out in the woods. Not for the faint of heart, Margaret used to say, but for those who were strong of will, it could make their troubles go away. 

Astrid could use that now, and with all the court in a frenzy, it was easy enough to sneak away to the woods. She hardly had reason to fear for her safety now - not when the worst had already happened. 

Back in her chambers, she followed the recipe by memory alone, and the resulting mixture was just as brown and mucky as she had remembered it. It was bitter going down, and she had to suppress the urge to vomit, but she managed to swallow down every last drop. 

It only took two hours for her to begin to bleed - faster than she remembered it being, but time seemed to drag in youth, and she thought nothing of it. The cramping was something terrible, but she told herself the pain would absolve her of her sins. 

Still, time passed on and the pain didn’t cease. It got worse, in fact, until it felt like it had seized her entire body. The aches panged with the beating of her heart, a constant throb. Thud thud. Thud thud. Thud thud....

And then the pain started to lessen, to come slower, and crash over more like the whitecaps at shore and less like the tidal waves. 

Thud thud... 

...

Thud thud....

...

Thud.... 

Thud...

.... 

Thud. 

Until suddenly, it stopped. Until suddenly, all of it stopped. No more pain. No more hurt. No more weak heart. 

The heat of the sun beat down against his skin as he charged through the fields, and after a long hour of riding, he decided to take shelter in a dense copse of trees to give both himself and Ash a break from the heat. Sunlight dappled through the woodland in emerald fractures, but the shade was much cooler, and he even came across a small brook where Ash could drink. It was as the horse was taking gulps from the stream that Adrian heard a high-pitched screeching noise close by.

It was a sound he had never heard before that he could barely describe. It was somewhere between a squawk and a roar, and yet not quite either of those things. Curiosity got the better of him, and he started traipsing through the forest undergrowth to find the source of such an unusual noise.

The last thing he had expected to find was a creature straight out of a book.

It was a young one, definitely, since it was roughly about the same size as a puppy - maybe a few weeks old? He couldn’t believe his eyes, but the combination of eagle and lion was unmistakable. He was looking at a baby gryffin, one of the rarest creatures in the world. He knew from reading about them that the mothers were fiercely protective of their young, but were known to abandon the runts of the litter, and he could only assume that was what had happened here. He was frozen in surprise at the sight. Gryffins were so rare that a lot of people thought they didn’t exist at all, and yet here was one before him, crying out for a mother that had abandoned it to the wild.

He felt a strange connection to the creature. It was almost as if an invisible string was threaded between them, bonding man and beast. When he took a step closer, the gryffin looked up at him with wide, curious eyes but made no attempt to flee. He inched closer, doing his best to remain calm and quiet so he didn’t scare the young beast. It did cower away from him the closer he drew towards it, but yet it was not fleeing through the undergrowth, which Adrian took as a positive sign.

Finally, he was so close to the gryffin that he could reach out a hand and touch it, but instead he reached into the satchel hanging at his hip and took out one of the chicken legs he had swiped from the kitchen. He had read that gryffins mostly ate meat, although he wasn’t sure how one this young would react to it. For all he knew, it still might need milk. But he tossed the chicken leg in front of the creature and watched as it tentatively craned its head and sniffed at the offering before devouring it so quickly that Adrian fell backwards in surprise. Only a picked-clean bone remained, and the gryffin stood up and started to pick its way slowly towards Adrian. It took a moment for him to realise that it wasn’t trying to attack, but could smell the rest of the food in his satchel. He reached in again and pulled out another chicken leg, holding it out towards the beast. “Do you want this?” 

It titled its head, and he threw the chicken leg towards it, a small chuckle escaping him as the gryffin plucked it out of midair and wolfed it down.

He sat there for a while, throwing food for the gryffin to gobble down in seconds until his satchel was empty. “No more.”

The gryffin tilted its head again, but this time in the direction of the empty satchel, as if telling him to pull out more food or at least check if he missed anything.

“I’m not lying.” He lifted the empty bag and held it out towards the creature so it could see for itself that all of the food was gone. “See? Empty.”

The gryffin leaned towards the bag, probably trying to scent any leftover scraps, and then to Adrian’s surprise, it hopped into the satchel.

“What are you doing?” He reached a hand into the bag, but the creature snapped at his fingers and he withdrew them quickly. It watched him with a way eye for a moment, as if warning him not to do it again, and then curled itself into a ball and nestled into the lining of his satchel. All he could do was watch in amazement as the mythical beast slowly closed its eyes.

Adrian had two options. One: he could leave his satchel out here for the gryffin to leave whenever it pleased and live out his life in the wild; or two: he could take the gryffin home with him. It was the runt of the litter and judging by how fast it had wolfed that food down, it had been a while since it had last eaten. He didn’t know how well such a young creature could survive on its own in the wild. On the other hand, bringing it home would mean accepting responsibility for caring for a creature he had a very limited knowledge of. A creature that was so rare it had a mythical status, and a creature that was not known for being friendly - the nip at his fingers confirmed that.