Meridian

meridian @ 2012-01-19T21:15:00

2012-01-20T01:33:04Z

I'm going to close down Meridian. Mostly because we haven't been playing here (and it might be too far in the future, too far away from what the original game was about) and for the most part we can play these characters in the present (ish, either Graves or Beyond depending on the character).

I may archive what was played on googledocs. You are welcome to put your characters into older games (either by changing some minor details or keeping them exactly as they are, just plunking them in New Meridian).

Over the next few days I'll be pulling any information we need from Meridian and tweaking it to fit in Graves (Sucubbi/incubi are far too interesting not to play) and losing the rest.

Thanks for being awesome gang!

Travel Weary (Hero, Orion, Nyx, & OPEN)

2011-01-31T10:14:22Z

They had been on the road a long time, constantly having to fend off attackers and bandits as they made their way through the passages and roads. There had been little hospitality on the road, even when they passed through the smaller and more peaceful villages and towns. At times even the climate was inhospitable, but this was what they had agreed on. There were bigger things out there, adventures to be had, people to help, cities to explore, this was all a part of it. Finally, Hero, Nyx, and Orion had made it to the Central City, it was a relief to finally be somewhere they might get some decent sleep and a good meal.

Traveling through the streets they haggled with some vendors to get their favorite... lunch on a stick. Weary, practically starving, and with little regard for their manners, the three travelers plunked down on the curb between two vendors and dug in.

Legends and Libraries

2010-12-28T14:54:47Z

"You know there's a legend about him." The voice was silky, caressing every syllable with seductive acid. "There are rumors that you might be the legendary queen."

Reagan looked up from her book to see that Portia had joined her in the quiet library. There were other clusters of the court pretending to read, mostly gossiping in tight circles about what was said at dinner last night and what the lesser attendants were wearing. Reagan had a tendency to ignore this sort of thing. When she had a chance and didn't need to get involved in the court intrigue she retreated here to read from the great library Vaughn possessed. There was so much history in just this little room; it barely skimmed the surface.

Portia eased herself onto a divan next to the cozy chair Reagan had chosen. It was so like this usurper to pick an unassuming seat, to give herself a non-threatening appearance. Portia was pretty sure she knew Reagan's game. "Have you not heard?"

She placed a bookmark without looking down and closed the book, settling it in the folds of the seat next to her. "I had not," she replied quietly. Reagan knew Portia's game better than her rival might have guessed.

"They say you haven't engaged him as a proper consort might."

Portia knew exactly how to say the crudest things in the classiest way. Reagan raised one eyebrow in response. "I'm not a consort." She found that simple replies worked best with Portia. The less she gave away the more tenuous her rival's footing became. The quicker the bitch just left her alone.

Portia was relatively nonplussed. She wasn't an official consort. Vaughn would announce that sort of thing. He was always quick to show off another jewel in the crown, another notch in the bedpost. "You do know the legend."

Reagan waited quietly. She didn't know the legend, but she heard the rumors: Vaughn kept her around because he wanted her, not because she was a useful ally and ambassador from New Meridian. She did what she could to dispel the rumors, but Vaughn's attentiveness to her had not faded as it usually did with any new woman to arrive at court. She could not combat the strength of rumors based somewhat in fact.

Portia grinned. "They read like fairy stories, old tales. I'm sure they have songs about it in New Meridian, things your common people sing for fun."

Reagan didn't miss the jab, but she refrained from replying again. Portia would spin this out as long as she wanted and not a minute more or less.

"He's not directly named in the legend, you know? But there is no doubt that it is him. The shamans foretold that a great demon would rise quickly and take power in a Central City. Can you imagine the city was named before it was named?" Portia glanced toward the other occupants of the library, each one hanging on her every word, each one waiting for some little tidbit to drop. They all knew the story, but it was entrancing the way Portia told it. "He would take for his wife a virgin queen and from them a powerful generation would rise."

Reagan waited as Portia looked at her, hanging on that last word. "Are you done?"

Portia's grin deepened with malice. "Vaughn tells me that you're not a virgin, but I don't believe him. He's not as good at lying as he thinks he is."

"Regardless, I'm not a queen."

"You could be if he decided to keep you."

Reagan lowered her eyes for a moment and raised them slowly to level Portia properly with her gaze. "I am not the sort of woman to be kept. Perhaps you enjoy playing the bedroom game, perhaps you revel in being a kept plaything, but I've never been the sort to tolerate such treatment. I have no intention to begin now."

With that Reagan rose from her seat and stalked out of the library. Her forgotten book stayed squished in her cozy chair while Portia looked around the room. The drama had been seeded and tonight's dinner table would be filled with hushed whispers of this encounter. Her work for the afternoon was done and now she could enjoy the rest of her day.

Travel Woes (open to bandits!)

2010-09-29T22:15:30Z

The first leg of the journey was spent in strained silence. Two days riding north in a carriage, stopping long enough for two meals each day, sleeping in the cramped carriage across from the most hated person in her life; Reagan wasn't faring very well from the journey. The addition of the twins didn't alleviate matters as much as Reagan hoped.

Portia was polite to Tansy and Clover, but her questions were brief, to the point. It was if she were interviewing them for a job. She wasn't genuinely interested in their answers, only making conversation with them so she wouldn't have to talk to Reagan. That was just fine with Reagan. The twins chattered away about nothing very important, too excited about being in a foreign land with their estranged aunt to sit still for very long.

The first night of their return journey had them traveling through an overgrown forest. It had been safe enough on the way there, but Portia warned (in her irritating, superior fashion) that a safe travel in one direction meant nothing for the return journey. They were just as likely to be killed waiting at the gates just outside of Central City as they were riding along the dangerous roads in other parts of Meridian. What Portia really meant was that Reagan's plan to divide and siphon the power into seats wasn't working. Meridian was still an incredibly dangerous place to live.

She wanted the journey back to Central City to be safe if only to rub it in Portia's face. The odds here were against her, stacked ominously high. Of course they were going to be attacked or robbed. Of course Portia would have to come to the rescue. The carriage stopped abruptly in the dark. It had been running on magic, floating on the best path toward the Northern shore and then turning back, stopping only when one of the women inside pulled a velvet rope hanging near the door.

Except that none of the women had pulled the rope. Portia smirked at Reagan as if to say I told you so. "Stay still and quiet," she instructed the girls and cast a quick illusion to make the carriage look empty but for herself. "Especially you," she said smiling viciously at Reagan. "Otherwise the illusion will break. I'll handle this."

A Primer on Court Life Proper

2010-09-26T09:16:02Z

There were many things Reagan tried not to do in front of Vaughn.

A gesture as simple as biting the inside of her lip or running her fingers through her hair was like revealing her whole hand. Even after living within his court for nearly twenty five years the man made her feel slightly off her game. Today was no exception as he sat on her couch looking for all the world as if he'd always belonged there. "And your nieces are due to arrive any day now?" he asked his rich voice so beautifully at ease she wanted to knock him off his game.

At least if she were to upset their social balance she might have some footing. "I'm traveling north to meet them. I leave tomorrow."

"Shall I send an escort with you?" But of course, Vaughn didn't want Reagan to be at ease. He enjoyed the power he had over her, that same power he had over all the women in his court.

She frowned at him openly. She usually tried to mask her outright emotions in favor of some subtlety, but there was none to be had this afternoon. She was genuinely nervous about Tansy and Clover coming for what she assumed was an extended visit. They were young and bound to get into some kind of trouble before long. That didn't mean that Reagan wanted Vaughn's help much beyond setting up a suitable room for them near her own and ensuring their safety once they'd reached the city.

She had handled all of their travel arrangements from the boat they were riding across the ocean to the carriage that would carry her to them and then all three of them back to Central City. "I've already made accommodations. I've no room for an escort."

"How can I ensure your safety if you won't take one of my escorts?"

She hated to admit that Vaughn played this game very well. "I'll manage for a few days," she replied stiffly.

Vaughn leaned forward on the couch. Reagan hadn't sat next to him as he'd hoped she would. She was across from him in an elegantly modern chair he'd gifted her for her last birthday. "I can't allow that." It was a simple fact and one she wouldn't fight.

There were some aspects of Meridian culture to which Reagan still hadn't adjusted. Vaughn's extreme chivalry being one of them. "Of course not." If he wasn't going to bother with pretense about getting his way she wasn't going to bother with the pretense of being happy about any of it. "Who will be accompanying me north?"

He leaned back again having gotten her acquiescence. "I imagine it will have to be me."

Reagan's frown deepened. She hadn't always enjoyed the cat and mouse game with him, but today it was really grating on her. "I don't think you should leave court just for my nieces."

"It's only a few days."

"A few days in Meridian move like months of political tide in New Meridian. You'll come back and half the court will be gone." She had a point, but it was a bold one to make in the face of his offer.

He tilted his head a bit, appraising her. What she hadn't said was even more daring, but he knew it to be true. The Seat of Power was too new for him to be gallivanting off.

The seat had been established for a few months, but nothing was very solid in Meridian. The political atmosphere was raw in the wake of this shift in balance. Even the unshakable, unopposed Vaughn could be deposed if he left Central City for a few days. Emissaries did all of his business with the other forces in Meridian now. Those few in his inner circle knew how he hated to be leashed; they understood what Vaughn had given up in order to protect them all.

He hated giving up his ability to travel Meridian. Still to leave while so much was still up in the air was a huge risk. "You'll have to chose one of my favorites then."

Reagan might have sighed relief that he was even bowing to her request, but she didn't want to show him that much. She thought through the list of his favorites, the powerful and influential demons he kept close to him. There was only one particular favorite that she didn't get along with, but Reagan wasn't about to leave court for days while she had all of Vaughn's attention. Reagan didn't trust her, but more than that she feared what would happen if Vaughn's favor disappeared. "Portia knows the road well. She's an accomplished traveler."

Vaughn bit back the grin. He had never underestimated Reagan's ability to play the game by his rules, but sometimes she still managed to surprise him. "I'll inform her tonight."

Reagan knew exactly what that meant. "We'll leave at eight tomorrow morning."

"As you wish."

She took in a slow, deep breath. "That was all." I had to say. You can go now. She had wanted to meet him in a more public venue in his court, but he'd insisted on coming to her private apartments. He had been here only a handful of times before. She supposed he had that right, considering it was his court and she was living here under his grace. Still, she needed this little bit of private space to remain her own. Court business was conducted in court. Private business was reserved for her apartment.

She didn't have to say much; Vaughn had become quite adept at reading her moods and everything left unspoken. "I've been dismissed then?"

She closed her eyes in mock embarrassment. It was something of a faux pas to dismiss the king; that much had been established since the seat was put in place. "If you don't mind," she offered quickly. "I do have a bit of packing left to do and other matters to put in order before I leave."

He smirked at her little backtrack. "Of course. I'll still expect you for dinner in the main hall."

Her polite smile offered everything her eyes didn't. If he looked closely Vaughn would see how much this little trumping had angered her. She simmered quietly though, carefully. She relied on Vaughn for far too much to lash out completely. "Of course," she replied slowly with the slightest nod of her head.

He wasn't oblivious to her reaction, however internal she'd tried to keep it. He rose from the couch in one graceful movement and walked to her door. His hand was turning the knob when he turned back to look at her. She didn't watch him leave, in fact she had already gone about straightening out her living room and was halfway to her bedroom to finish packing up her bags. He smiled because he'd won this little battle, but she was still fighting. He liked the power he had over her, but he enjoyed the power she had over him even more.