#vaitus

Sedis and Caelum are twins, the young prince and princess. Sedis is the more cautious of the two, while Caelum likes to take what she calls 'calculated risks'. Caelum was born first, but because she suffers from the terrible condition of Being A Girl, she is passed over for heir in favor of her brother, Sedis, and is technically third in line for the throne. She's only a little salty about this. She's mostly resigned herself to being a Scheming Minister (positive) for her brother, whom she is certain is going to ascend to the throne instead of their weird older brother. Sedis, for his part, is perfectly content to be second in line. The two of them don't know their brother Arveo very well; their mother encourages them to keep their distance.

Numeisa is the mother of Sedis and Caelum, and the current wife of King Aduro. It wasn't a love match, but she's happy enough with her place at his side. She is, currently, tragically underdeveloped </3 she mostly exists because there would be a hole in the story if she didn't, and I'm still brainstorming about her. Her design is the least finalized out of the whole lineup, and will probably change drastically in the future.

Aduro is the current king of Acora. He is also currently being developed, but I have a bit more on him. He was the fourth son of the previous king, and only ascended to the throne after nearly the entire royal family was assassinated in a single night. He managed to survive, killing the mastermind responsible and avenging his family, but was left with only himself and his young son still alive. He was deeply in love with his first wife, and can't get himself to let go of her memory, despite the many years that have passed since her death. He doesn't care much for his second wife or their shared children, and his relationship with his eldest son is... complicated. In some ways, he resents Arveo for surviving when no one else in the family did. But he does love his son, in a strange, backwards way.

Maranima is the deceased first wife of Aduro, and Arveo's mother. She gave him another name, Vaitus, in secret. Where Aduro wanted to name their firstborn son after his grandfather, Maranima wanted to give him an old name from her own family to follow a tradition. Aduro's authority won out in the end, but in her own little secret rebellion, she used the name 'Vaitus' for her son in private. Maranima had a slightly nervous disposition, with an automatic 'fawn' response to perceived danger. She adored being a mother, but was perhaps a bit too attached to her son. If she'd lived to see him grow up, I think she would have ended up as a sort of toxic boy mom

Arveo, or as we know him, Vaitus. The second name thing has been a background detail for a while, I was just having trouble figuring out how best to explain it in a non-confusing way HAHA. Officially, he's named Arveo, and that's what the kingdom knows as his name. The name 'Vaitus' was a secret between himself and his mother, and now, a secret between himself and his new friends outside the palace.

Minare, my babygirl. I've talked about her before and I have More Thoughts now that she's been sprinting circles in my head for several months. I could actually just keep talking about her for A While but I'll try to be brief for the sake of this ask. Minare's a fixer, at heart, and a bit of a people pleaser. She's had to fill the role of a leader from an entirely too young age, and her own desires and needs have always come second, in her mind. anyway what if you were told 'this is who you are' every day of your life from the moment you started breathing and then one day you realized Oh actually my Everything has been directed at Filling This Role and there's. nothing left that's Me. Who am I outside this mask. am I anyone? Was I ever anyone? <- that's Minare

Calleni has a casual and nonchalant demeanor that conceals just how calculated and careful they truly are. They're a close friend to Minare, but also a subordinate in their organization (which I have finally found a term for, that being Restorationists, but I am still workshopping a better name that rolls off the tongue better). They're caught between treating Minare as a friend and treating her as an asset for The Cause. They're aware of this inner conflict, and are Deeply Annoyed by it. Goddess forbid anything ever be simple. ANYWAY Cal is liable to disappear for days to weeks at a time at random and then reappear without warning, often with a new tidbit of useful information. They're an excellent actor, and have many different personas/identities they use in different circumstances to get 'in' with various groups.

Kemia is a bit of a mad scientist. not really. ok no she is, but only recreationally. She's a semi-disgraced daughter of a noble household, who has decided to pursue Science as her one true passion in life rather than any of the expected things a daughter of a noble house ought to pursue, like finding a rich husband to increase her family's social standing. Kemia, or "Kimi" as she insists her friends call her, specializes in brewing experimental potions; she wants to learn every aspect of potion brewing, wants to become the best brewer in all of Acora. She's not exactly a member of minare's group, just a source of information. She WILL talk your ear off, and sometimes the things she talks about happen to include useful details about the inner workings of higher society. Mostly, though, she's gonna talk about potions. She's a little misanthropic, but not in a joker way, she just doesn't really care about people as much as she cares about concocting vile little potions and tinctures.

Perrin is a junior member of the royal guard, just recently inducted, and is secretly a member of Minare's group. With his position so close to the king, he has the opportunity to learn and share information with the restorationists. It's a high pressure position, spying on the king, and Perrin's Fine. hes literally so fine you guys he's doing great. ok MAYBE he's constantly on the verge of freaking out, he was NOT supposed to get this position this was NOT in the plan but it would have looked SUSPICIOUS if he turned it down, and he can help the group like this, but hhhholy shit he's gonna throw up. he's fine. People see him as being a little twitchy, but ultimately a friendly guy. Cool dude to grab drinks with. The other guards rib him for being so nervous, but reassure him that he'll settle into the role in no time. Unrelated, but he has a big embarrassing crush on Kemia. Kemia has not noticed.

Aridi is Minare's deceased mother, and the previous leader of the restorationists. She has a whole backstory im working on fleshing out, but the rough outline is that, as a child, she and her parents were constantly in hiding and on the run, trying to avoid being caught by the then-king and his men. As descendants of the old royal family, they'd always had targets on their backs. When Aridi's parents are discovered and attacked, Aridi manages to kill their attacker at just twelve years old, but not before both her parents' lives are lost. She drifts for years, scraping by, surviving on her own, always with a knot of rage at her core toward those who wronged her. When she discovers people disillusioned with life, people who want a change, who want to see new leadership, she takes the opportunity for revenge. She forms a group, a movement, dedicated to dethroning the royal family and placing herself in charge. She has friends, confidants, a young daughter who relies on her—and she ends up leaving them all behind when her attempt to retake Acora's crown fails. She dies seething, knowing at least one of her enemies escaped alive.

Sola and Lyunda. These two are a matched pair because they are married :) the two of them were part of Aridi's group, back in the day. They had a sort of poly lesbian situationship thing going on with Aridi, where the two of them were basically trying to get Aridi to Chill The Fuck Out and learn to enjoy life and be human sometimes, and they never really succeeded. They took in Minare after Aridi's death, raising her and keeping the remaining restorationists together and organized. Sola is a bright, bubbly woman, but her energy isn't quite what it used to be. She deals with chronic pain and limited mobility from an old injury. She has a tendency to overextend herself if she isn't careful, but can always fall back on her wife and adoptive daughter for help. Lyunda is soft spoken, an excellent listener, and a deeply empathetic person. She's the 'brains' behind their group's operation; she keeps track of the numbers, the logistics, the timing of events and movements of different people. The two of them run a restaurant/bar which doubles as a discreet meeting place for their group's various members.

2. Now this is an interesting question!! I am Not going to do all of the human ocs because. as you can see I've accumulated A Few. BUT I will do some of them

going by pure vibes, I would match Vaitus to Whitepaw, Minare to Hawkpaw, Aridi to Larkstar, Calleni to Foxjaw, Maranima to Snaptail, Sola to Owlpounce, Lyunda to Robinsong, and Kemia to Birchspeckle. I was trying to think of a vibe-match for Perrin but I genuinely can't think of one that feels fitting

3. Vaitus isn't quite as recognizable as one might expect! That's for a few reasons:

- he doesn't often make public appearances. The executions he performs tend to be in the palace, during audiences with the king. Generally, the only ones who are witnessing this are the nobles, guards, and servants/staff stationed there (Stories spread, of course—even if the public doesn't see the executions, they know that they happen)

- Images of him are difficult to come by, and tend to be a bit inaccurate. Photography hasn't been invented yet, and there are very few artworks depicting him. Those that exist tend to 'smooth out' any less than desirable features (he's depicted as taller and broader than he is in reality, with sterner, sharper facial features)

- There's also less of a push to distribute images of him. A crown prince is important, but mostly the only images being purposefully spread and shared with The Public are of the king (these images are also slightly inaccurate)

- (my silly extra reason is that Vaitus has the Tony Hawk Effect where if he isn't holding a skateboard standing next to the king then people just. don't recognize him. he just sort of looks like Some Guy, especially when he's not wearing any of the fancy royal regalia [I have not drawn any of this fabled regalia because I Am Lazy and also terrible at designing outfits/accessories][ill get there some day])

Vaitus sneaks out of the palace for the first time on a festival evening, after making his Single Required Moment Of Public Appearance for the nobles that are celebrating in the palace. He's been planning this for years. He's figured out the guard rotation, mapped all the routes into and out of the palace (including some secret passageways he's found), and planned to specifically sneak out on a festival night, so that he can blend in with the crowds of visitors in the city. He puts on his Commoner Cosplay (which he doesn't know won't hold up under close scrutiny; the fabric is too fine, the weave too uniform, to be anything other than expensive), and then makes his grand escape.

For a while, it's incredible. The adrenaline of Doing Something Against The Rules has him wired. No one gives him a second glance, and he weaves through the streets, taking in the sights and sounds. But he didn't account for just how much everything would be. When he finds himself in an especially busy part of the city, he suddenly realizes Oh no, this is a LOT of sounds and smells and people and I don't know where I am and I don't know what I'm doing and it's very crowded and people are touching me get away get away get away—

And he is wayyyy overstimulated. He crams himself into a dark corner, and basically checks out. full shutdown. being a person is Too Much Right Now, Please Come Back Later.

Meanwhile, Minare has just finished passing along a message to a supplier for her group, and is out enjoying the festival. As she's checking out a food stall, she notices a weirdly person-shaped lump in a dark corner.

Minare, who regularly does random sidequests for people in the city, sees this clearly-overwhelmed-stranger and immediately enters Fix It Mode. She tries getting his attention, waving her hands in front of his face and, when that fails, gently taking his arm and manually leading him away from the crowds.

From Vaitus's pov, by the time Minare has approaches to help, he doesn't really have the presence of mind to be suspicious, or even cautious at all. His brain feels like it's been wrapped in wool and then smacked around with a big stick, so he just sort of goes along with her when she starts leading him away. By the time his mind has cleared enough for him to realize what's going on around him, he's sitting on the edge of a fountain in a different part of town, with a stranger sitting beside him and a festival snack in his hand.

She's speaking softly to him. The words are less important than the tone she's speaking in; it's small talk, about the festival, the food, how nice it is to be somewhere quieter, but the tone she speaks in says, 'Everything's okay. There's nothing to be afraid of. I'm relaxed, so it's okay for you to relax, too'. She looks at him without an ounce judgment or derision, and Vaitus can't remember the last time someone looked at him like that after one of his... episodes.

Once she notices that Vaitus's eyes have lost that faraway look, she starts asking questions. Simple things: is he feeling any better, is he visiting town, did he get to try any of the food yet?

Despite coming down from the worst of it, Vaitus still can't get himself to respond to anything the stranger says to him. He wants to, but he can't get his jaw to unclench enough to where he can speak. It's happened to him before, suddenly not being able to form words, but this might be one of the most inconvenient times it's happened in recent memory. He can't answer a single question, can barely get himself to nod or shake his head in response.

Minare realizes that her new acquaintance can't talk, and just rolls with it. She figures he must be a visitor to the city (or, perhaps, is a noble that's never visited the lower levels before; a cloak like that? Even with a simple cut, it practically screams money. The stranger certainly isn't from her part of town), and she offers to walk him through the festival, show him the quieter parts of town, and where to find the best food stalls. She's not doing anything else for the rest of the evening, after all. And, being honest with herself? She's a little afraid that the stranger is going to get mugged. He's clearly out of his depth. At this point, she wouldn't be able to sleep at night if she left him to fend for himself.

The stranger nods, a little apprehensively, agreeing to let her show him around. Despite his apprehension, he looks relieved to have guidance. She introduces herself, giving him her name, and following up with "but everyone calls me Mina!" She watches the stranger's jaw muscles twitch a bit, before he manages to open his mouth and say what she's pretty sure is "Vai".

Vai sticks to her like glue for the rest of the evening, and Minare gets to do one of her favorite things in the world; talk about her city. Maybe it's a bit mean to treat him like a captive audience when she's ostensibly helping him enjoy the festival, but in her defense, he listens just a raptly when she talks about the cistern on the lower levels of the city as he does when she talks about the food vendors on a given street. Another mental tally toward her 'hopelessly lost noble' theory; a lot of what she explains to him is common knowledge to a Warrens resident, but from his expression, it seems like a majority of it is completely new information to him.

By the end of the evening, she sees him off, ensuring he knows where he is and only feeling reassured when he makes it clear that he knows how to get home. She ends the night feeling pleasantly refreshed, if a bit tired. Vai had been good company, and the festival had been fun.

Meanwhile, Vaitus is quietly undergoing a Paradigm Shift. He was fully prepared for this commoner girl, Minare, to leave him to fend for himself as soon as she noticed him acting strange. He was NOT prepared for her to treat his behavior as if it were totally unremarkable. He was even LESS prepared for her to offer to show him around. Are all commoners this nice??

He tries to give her space when they walk, but when the crowds start pressing in, he finds himself following Mina closely as she cuts between people, weaving along in her wake. She talks to him, too, in a way no one's talked to him since... ever, maybe? Casual, like he's an actual person. Everyone at the palace treats him like his title, like something not human. At one point, when they encounter an especially crowded area, Mina offers him her hand. He panics a bit, but she's patient and lets him decide what he wants. After a few moments of her holding her hand out, he tugs on his gloves to make sure they're on firmly, and tentatively holds her hand. Minare gives him a smile and gives his hand a reassuring squeeze, and when the world doesn't end, Vaitus squeezes back. He spends the rest of the night looking at their locked hands in wonder.

By the end of the evening, after Mina has said goodbye and he's snuck back into the palace, he crawls into bed. He's exhausted, but he can't sleep. He spends the entire night wide awake, holding his own hand and staring at the ceiling, with the taste of festival food lingering in his mouth. He thinks of nothing else aside from the girl he met.

ANYWAY. yeah that's what I've got for their first meeting, so far :D After this Vaitus goes back out into the city with the vague hope that he'll see Minare again, and wouldn't you know it, they run into each other again! It becomes a more regular thing, and they become friends.

As for how their story will be told, I'm not sure where MaVst is gonna end up going! I'd love to make some videos with the characters in the same way I've done with Mudpaw and co, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get their full story across that way. Mostly, they exist because my brain loves coming up with little characters and storylines when im not thinking of anything else, and Minare and Vaitus gave me enough brainworms to make me want to make them a reality :P Their story is still in its early development stages, so I'm mostly just having fun worldbuilding and brainstorming about characters for now!