#uf:winter1

“princess...ah, emperor?” gayeon says, her cheeks still wet from tears, but eyes full of questions.

“it’s gleerium,” misu repeats, voice unwavering, full of confidence.

“with all due respect, emperor, how do you know that?” dani asks.

“it’s the same way in which they murdered drewitt. etlia didn’t even hold a proper funeral for him because he was nothing but bones within a few days. alfan and the others didn’t want to disturb anyone that saw his body.”

“how did you know it was gleerium then?” dani questions once more.

“they found the assassin and plenty of information to confirm his affiliation to gleerium,” misu practically snaps, patience clearly wearing thin, but she soon sighs and releases some of her tension.

“what is it...a form of dark magic?” gayeon asks next.

“yes...magic that both poisons and drains life force simultaneously. we don’t know much about it. perhaps the archsage or one of his students may be able to help us.”

“if you would allow me, emperor, i would like to be the one to try to find our answers,” gayeon requests, and misu is quiet, considering. “i have experience with magic, as well as a personal stake in the matter. if i failed to prevent this magic from taking yumi’s life, i would like to redeem myself by learning about it as the source of her death.”

“very well,” misu agrees with a nod, and gayeon bows in gratitude.

“it isn’t your fault, gayeon,” dani attempts to reassure her, and gayeon bows to her as well.

“i appreciate it, minister dani.”

silence falls upon the women and the disintegrating former emperor, before dani finally speaks up: “emperor misu, what is our next move?”

“i’m not certain,” she admits, then thinks in silence for several moments more. “i believe we must follow alfan’s example and not hold a funeral; at least not a more public one. perhaps those closest to her...” more silence, and then: “dani, what is the state of our army?”

“certainly been better. much of it is spread throughout ganggyn to deal with the monster threat.”

“well, i would like an organized army. please find some way to accomplish it.”

“emperor...?”

misu does not acknowledge dani’s concern, and instead says, “may i have a moment with my mother, please?”

both dani and gayeon linger for a moment, before dani nods and leads the way out of the emperor’s bedroom. 

it’s only now that misu cries openly. “mother, what happened...?” she whispers, and then she drapes herself over her mother’s body and weeps.

THE ZORATORI ALLIANCE

hawk king daak’s castle is not nearly as impressive as any other castle in deyuis, but that much makes sense: he is not really a king at all. maybe it can compete with faeryn’s relatively humble home, but it certainly cannot touch the rest of the zoratori council’s magnificent forts. still, as is the case for most structures in kesthe. 

daak doesn’t exactly have a throne room either. instead, it is more of a very large and impressive office, ceilings remarkably high, plenty of room for any bird to stretch their wings. 

now, however, he sits at a desk, perhaps surprisingly, scattered in parchment, making him look far busier than he actually is. maybe it’s intentional.

of course, the young and troubled hawk cannot visit the hawk king’s “throne room” without guards, so they lead him there. it’s only when daak takes one look at the young hawk that he nods to the guards to let him go and leave them be for a few minutes.

“i heard we have a problem,” daak addresses the other hawk, and already sighs. 

“yes sir,” the young hawk replies, nodding several times. he recounts the same tale he told the guards outside the hawk’s makeshift palace, and daak listens closely. he sighs once again in the end.

“we had an agreement,” and he sounds both disappointed and exasperated, as if he both expected this result, yet still hoped for better. he turns his attention to the other hawk, looking him right in his eyes. “thank you for telling me,” and then he looks back down at his desk. “it looks like i’ll be paying our dear friend skrarrenniek a visit.”

“i didn’t mean to cause any problems, sir––”

THE ZORATORI ALLIANCE

squabbles within the bird tribe are far from unusual. sometimes it seems as if their wings and beaks are the only things the hawks and ravens have in common.

in times of trouble, however, they are usually able to set their differences aside to fight together; after all, they are all part of the bird tribe at the end of the day, regardless of their exact species.

the monster attacks are certainly a time of trouble. the zoratori alliance is not exempt from them, the same creatures that rose from the earth in noyillai doing the same in their country, from the forests of the birds to the mountains of the dragon tribe. it is the dragons that seem to have the easiest time fighting the creatures, while the birds struggle the most.

perhaps teamwork between them is more important than ever, but it would appear it’s scarcer than ever too.

it begins with a typical argument over something or other between a small group of hawks and ravens. in this case, when monsters attack, the groups do not band together in the ways the birds preceding them did in times of war. instead, they treat each other like enemies as well; they do not fight one another, but the ravens redirect the monsters to attack their hawk counterparts instead.

this leaves the entire group of hawks dead but one, while the ravens live. after the monsters are dead, the young hawk survivor flees the scene, but the ravens give chase until they realize where the hawk is headed: to the hawk king daak’s palace.

“please allow me to see his highness,” the young hawk says once in his human form, falling to his knees in front of the hawks guarding the door of the palace.

“why?” one of the guards asks brusquely.

“monsters attacked my friends and a group of ravens. the ravens did not help us. all my friends are dead, and even once the monsters were too, the ravens said ‘no survivors.’ i flew as fast as i could, but they chased me, and–– i don’t know when they stopped. i didn’t look back.” 

the guards exchange a look, and one finally says, “i’ll go see if lord daak is busy.”

“thank you, thank you,” the young hawk says, soon in tears.

of course, word travels fast among the bird tribe, especially when two-thirds of them treat each other more as enemies than friends.

PODAKKO

despite podakko’s nature to fight, it is oddly…more at peace than most of deyuis.

given it is a nation of warriors, the monster threat is already nearly eradicated in the country. some speculate that podakko’s monster threat was never as large as the rest of deyuis; that they came in smaller numbers.

still, the people of podakko do not let their guards down, each town leader still ensuring their fighters are on the look out to protect the more helpless people of podakko, though there are far less of those in this nation than any other, also.

ysmene, however, is so confident that she begins lending out parts of her army to the rest of deyuis: gleerium and ganggyn in particular.

GLEERIUM

gleerium’s winters are harsh, their brutality only beaten by the neverending winter of omaduun. as the months of autumn fade into those that are colder, the ice and snow begins to set in in the north, slowly making its way further and further south.

the people of gleerium dread it this year, and they pray that gleil will have mercy; that he will spare gleerium’s southern states from the chill, because they must fight. they must stand guard ceaselessly, and they need to maintain their energy, because the closer the state is to the river, the greater the threat of the monsters. 

no one knows why, but it is enough to spread fear throughout the entire country. the monsters are more active at night. andreas urges the civilians to seek shelter early to avoid being ambushed by creatures in the dark, and some of the barons of the towns and cities set curfews for their people. few parents allow their children to play outside without supervision anymore.

andreas has magic users of all kinds inspect the river, but no one finds a reason for the monsters populations to increase in density near the river, and no one knows why it is especially bad in the former etlian territories and those surrounding them. luckily, vessalius is a state made for war, so they are well defended. the other areas, still recovering from the war of the states…aren’t so lucky.

it will be the first real test of gleerium’s ability to take care of their newly acquired territory.

OMADUUN

as if it were possible, omaduun’s winter is harsher this year than ever. other than that, little changes. omaduun was no stranger to the monsters that appeared at the lotus festival long before they shook the country as a whole, and for some reason, their population changes little in the country known for its dark magic.

deyuis, once judgmental of those in omaduun, begins to turn to them and their mages for help. after all, those familiar with the creatures now plaguing their lands will surely be useful. some of omaduun’s mages are bitter while some are eager to assist.

others, especially historians, can’t help but notice similarities between this, and when gleerium called upon omaduun for aid in the 300 years’ war centuries ago. this time, they are not fighting against laguz, so perhaps it’s different. this is not a war; it is a continent united against a common enemy.

at least for now.

GANGGYN

pegasus knights circle above the city of seodal at all hours of the day and night. the streets of the city are more well lit than ever, and every archer in the city is extremely busy, called upon to teach their craft to as many as possible, especially the pegasus knights themselves. it’s a strange combination, but if they can strike down the monsters without even needing to touch the ground, it’s ideal.

so intense is their military operation that dani, minister of military affairs, has taken up a temporary residence in dalyang palace in order to discuss the necessary strategies to defend the capital from the onslaught of monsters.

and it is an onslaught. the creatures most frequently appear outside of the city’s walls, but they seem to grow out of the dirt itself even within the city, the underworld opening up to unleash them. the people scramble to cover any dirt or grass to prevent the creatures’ “growth,” and this does seem to help.

“i hate to say it, but i think we need to do something about the gardens,” dani says, in a meeting with princess misu.

it’s a bit strange for a princess to take part in strategic meetings at all, yet alone lead one, but yumi wasn’t feeling well and returned to her room early, and crises wait for no one. if they want to beat the monsters, they must stay on their toes.

“the gardens are a staple of seodal…” misu argues.

“i know, but as long as there’s grass those monsters are going to keep cropping up, and i don’t know how long you want so many soldiers outside of the palace.”

“as long as it takes,” misu argues.

“would your mother say the same?” dani returns.

there’s a fire in misu’s eyes momentarily, but it fades quickly, soon replaced by the levelheaded manners expected of ganggyn royalty: “i believe so. if the creatures are still an issue in the new year, perhaps we can discuss it…but until then, i believe it is too soon to destroy what our city is known for, especially while our armies remain perfectly capable of defending the palace and surrounding areas.”

dani is quiet, clearly thinking, and then nods. “understood. i’ll check in with the emperor in the morning to see if she has any other thoughts––”

their conversation is interrupted by the meeting room’s doors flying open and the panicked face of a palace priest. it’s not just any priest, however; she is yumi’s personal priest and companion of many years.

“forgive me,” she pants, voice cracking simultaneously. “the emperor––” she begins to cry, but manages to finish what she came to say: “she is dead. emperor yumi is dead.”

“what?!” dani exclaims.

“i believe it to be poison. i didn’t realize until it was too late. i’m so sorry,” the priest weeps, and dani puts a somewhat awkward hand on her back in an attempt to comfort her.

misu stands, frozen in shock, and both the priest and dani look to her for guidance. she chokes back the tears that glisten in her eyes, soon replaced with anger, and she says, “it’s gleerium.”

“do we have any proof of that?” dani asks, turning to the priest, who shakes her head in response. “i don’t believe so.”

“princess–– er, emperor, i urge you not to make hasty assumptions.”

misu sighs, some of the emotion draining from her features. “very well,” she agrees. “we will…search for the evidence first. and in the meantime…ah…” she looks up at dani, and they simply stare at each other for a moment, at a loss.

eventually, misu speaks once more: “i think…we do not tell anyone. at least for tonight. we can say…she is ill, and only let the trusted individuals closest to us know the truth so they can aid us in investigating her cause of death. once we know…then i will announce the truth myself.”

OOC

welcome to your first state of deyuis post! this is an event, but one with lots of wiggle room on what to write about. all you have to do is write about anything mentioned in this post, and tag it with #uf:winter1 for it to count for the event. no matter where your character is located, you are still welcome to write about anything relevant to them happening in other countries, or have them travel there themselves! warp travel is quite easy, after all.

this is a lot of information, so don’t hesitate to send any questions to the main if there’s any confusion or you’d like clarification on anything.

this EVENT will run until saturday, march 3rd, 2022 at 11:59 pm est. this means the following FORM will be due on sunday, march 4th, at 11:59 pm est:

TITLE: MUSE NAME: WINTER 1

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