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Post by Mad-Manx on Aug 20, 2019 16:30:27 GMT -6
Tzilia | Geminus | She/Her
Her mind reeled as she strode forward, head down with hooves carrying her away from the palace on their own accord.
The words of her Empress echoed through her mind, and the voices that she had not had the heart to voice in her presence now ran rampant throughout the recesses of her consciousness. She was no negotiator, no seasoned politician; but the impact of the newly reintroduced policy were dawning on her even still.
In her mind, she knew the isolation would have a relatively small impact on her own life. Certainly, there were some luxuries they would all learn to do without once the imports ceased, but her job was still secure; unlike those that relied on the import of resources for the sake of their livelihood. Craftsman, brewers, and no doubt many other professions would feel the brunt of the lack of trade much more than she.
Still, the news had come unexpectedly and Tzilia had yet to decide how she felt about the new policy. She trusted her Empress' judgement, certainly; but was it not the aid of foreign armies that shook the clutches of terrorists from their home? It had come at a cost -and the thought of the Emperor's death still struck a mournful cord in her chest- but it had worked.
The training and stationing of new Guardians was perhaps the thing that spooked her the most, the implications of the choice apparent. Empress Thalassa clearly did not feel that the threat to their beloved home had yet passed, and with the loss of their allies, Tzilia was left wondering if they were strong enough as a nation to shake whatever came next. The people of Talori were strong and loyal, of that she had no doubt; but there came a time when the number of able bodies would outweigh the might of even their most dedicated warriors.
Her hooves carried her along a cobbled path that twined through the quieter areas of the city, her mind free to wander as her legs carried her along with rhythmic strides. So used to the normally vacant roads, she did not register the presence of another until she had nearly struck them, jolting to a halt as she teetered- only barely preventing herself from collapsing into them.
"I'm so sorry," Tzilia blurted out even as she wheeled to see the unfortunate soul she had very nearly walked straight into. ________________________________________________________________Post #1 | Word Count: 404
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NGC7009
Nebula
Rise and shine, Mister Freeman
Posts: 12
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Post by NGC7009 on Aug 23, 2019 5:18:48 GMT -6
First was a long strip of grooved metal. It was rubbed rough and hard against the face of the stone, again and again, smeared stone dust layering in a long path beneath it. Then came a strip of wood, coarse sand engrained inside it. Where the file had dug a rough patch down, the sand strip worked carefully over each mound and between each nook and cranny.
From there, Soana stepped back for a new perspective. She cast her gaze across the entire work, eyes narrowing in spots, tilting her head and nodding to herself in others.
It had taken hours to get to the stage she was in. Some more finessing was required, but before her stood a long plaque, twice her length across and just over her own height tall. It adorned a building that stood out from the others around it, as if the others were somehow out of focus and this was the only one that was clear. No grime had touched it yet, every stone looked freshly cut and immaculately placed.
And then there was the plaque on its side, overlooking a street of cobbled stone, small and out of the way for now, but many of the buildings had been shaken and cracked before. Soon, they would go the same direction as this one, sitting under the sunlight as a beacon of modern skill and craftsmanship.
At least, that’s what Soana would say, as she began to work on some of the inset figures with a rough cloth.
The broken and damaged could easily be repaired, but she was never called for simple repairs.
She was called to oversee renovations, to turn quieter parts of cities into main attractions, to get run over in the street.
Soana blinked, surprised. That last part didn’t usually happen. She was a little short, but not so much that horses couldn’t see her.
But there she was, standing with her polishing pad, when another horse that was trotting along in a daze walked right up to her and slid to a stop, head stretching over Soana’s as she reeled back. Suddenly the construction wasn’t the main focus, but the rather dazzling face of another mare directly in her personal space.
“I’m so sorry,” the other mare said, to which Soana could only stare as she processed the new situation.
“Uh…” Soana replied. She glanced over the mare’s shoulder, then around them. The path in front of the building was littered with tools and debris, as well as plenty of signs declaring the workspace that this mare had blatantly passed.
It took a bit for Soana to get her wits about her, and only after she had stepped back and regained her own space. Then, she looked at the mare and asked, “Can I help you?”Post: 1 | WC: 474
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Post by Mad-Manx on Aug 23, 2019 21:54:21 GMT -6
Tzilia | Geminus | She/Her
The mare's inquiry took a moment to register in Tzilia's mind, and for a long moment she exchanged a glance with the stranger, her eyes blinking in incomprehension. It was almost with a start that she glanced around herself, realizing that she had strolled right into what appeared to be an active construction site. An assortment of tools, materials, and debris littered the ground around them, and looking now, it was quite clear that there was some form of project in the works.
The landscape was clearly altered, altogether different from the scenery she had been so used to on her evening strolls through this place, decompressing after a morning of training. Had it really been so long that she had strode these paths, that she had failed to learn that a new project was under way? Tzilia's eyes strayed across the new building and the plaque that ran across it, wracking her mind for the last time she would have walked that cobbled path. It had certainly not appeared overnight.
Tzilia felt the heat rising to her cheeks as she took in the scene, the embarrassment finally making its presence known with a hot flush. Was it not her job to have a sharp eye; to catch what most would not? Trapped in her muddled thoughts, she had permitted her focus to slip, allowing far more than a subtle change to slide by her notice. On the streets, it was a merely a hiccup, perhaps even a funny mistake; but in the palace, such a lapse in attention could have held far more deadly consequences.
"No, I-" Tzilia began, finding herself tongue-tied as she searched for the words to properly convey what was flitting through her mind.
How to explain to a complete stranger how she pondered the political climate Talori would soon find itself in, or how she questioned the soundness of their Empress' decisions? Best not to touch upon the subject, Tzilia decided hastily, lest her words come out the wrong way.
"-I was just lost in my thoughts," Tzilia finished at last, eyes falling away from the stranger before her to glance back to the structure. "What are you building here?"
Her father had been a craftsman, and she would have been lying if she had said the career had not appealed to her as a child. Many a night she had lingered at her father's side as he created something from the raw materials given to him, finding, as he had playfully told her, the true form of the wood. Had he not passed from this life, Tzilia could not help but wonder if she, too, would have eventually pursued the path of a craftsman. ________________________________________________________________Post #2 | Word Count: 450
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NGC7009
Nebula
Rise and shine, Mister Freeman
Posts: 12
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Post by NGC7009 on Aug 24, 2019 1:07:58 GMT -6
The momentary lapse that Soana had was just that, momentary. Thankfully, this other blonde mare seemed on the reserved side, as Soana scooted back into her own personal space the mare made no attempt to invade it again. Instead, she started talking, paused for a long enough moment Soana was unsure if she would finish, and then continued.
“No, I- I was just lost my thoughts. What are you building here?”
The mention of her project snapped Soana back to the present. She was no longer frozen like prey beneath a predator’s gaze, nor stumbling over her own words, but Soana had spent a little too long staring at the other mare’s eyes as she looked over the site of Soana’s latest work.
Soana looked it over as well. They had only recently uncovered the side of the building facing the road, parts were still waiting for the final etchings. The outer two of four large columns holding up an overhang were rounded, with swirling designs from roof to ground, while the inner two had been smoothed out and were ready for the chisel. All of the stones of the wall had been placed, sealed, and planed. The overhang and the roof were complete, down to the divots on the side to let the water run harmless away from the structure. All that was left, besides the columns, was the plaque.
Both mares were looking at it. At first glance it was little more than stone, cut down and shaped in odd, jutting angles. A second glance revealed horses, laid out in a variety of heroic poses, standing up against an unseen menace.
“Part of the reconstruction project,” Soana answered. “We’re replacing some of the damaged buildings, I was hired to come up with a memorial for fallen soldiers. Some memorial though… I never met them, so I just put random faces up and stuck their names at the bottom.”
The dusty mare motioned with a hoof, and sure enough there were names. They circled the edge of the plaque, small and nearly unnoticeable from afar, yet each letter carefully carved.Post: 2 | WC: 355
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