whomthebelltolls: (Default)
Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower ([personal profile] whomthebelltolls) wrote in [community profile] aefenglom2019-08-14 05:23 pm

Tonight, Maria joins the Hunt

Name: Lady Maria
Date: Auguril 15th - Evening
Format: Video

-

[The view opens up to Maria's face, the face of the giant clocktower in the back drop. She's sitting on a ledge on the outside of the building, one leg dangling off the edge, the other foot planted on the worn stone back of a screaming panther-eagle gargoyle. The sky, and the tower are awash with the the deep pinks and purples of the nearly-set sun. Maria herself is wearing her full hunter's outfit, her hat pulled low to shield her eyes against the sunset, but in truth it just makes her eyes seem that much brighter blue. The only oddity in her attire is that she seems to have several sunflowers tucked into her belt, around the holsters for her gun and sword sheath.

The mechanisms in the tower grind and move, and the big minute hand tocks heavily, thunking into place in the next minute slot before Maria speaks. It's almost the top of the hour.
]

It has been several months, since the first of us arrived here. Life... is not made easy within this place. Not for anyone, even those of us who might be in better straits than at home. This may be the worst night yet, and we still have many more moons to come, I fear, before any of us are allowed from this place. [This, however, may very well be Maria's own last. She feels the way the headache swells and throbs behind her eyes, the pressure fit to make her burst at the seams. It ebbs and flows, depending on what she does with the Monsters, how she uses her magic, the potions and the herbs and the other stalling tactics, but she's not sure how much longer she can keep on like this. Tonight, blissfully, the pain is at its least - the full moon being the weakest pull of the mirrorbound Witches is keeping things to a dull roar at the back of her skull. For several seconds, she looks back out over the city, scanning the shapes and the shadows, watching people shutter their windows and close their doors.]

On this night, the instincts for the Monsters will be at their worst. If the pull is too strong, and you feel your mind slipping into the madness and chaos of beasthood, seek the scent of... [Lumenflowers... no,] sunflowers. They will lead you to me. I will make it as swift as you will allow me; but it may be most silent if I must seek you out. [This is exactly the threat that it seems to be.]

If the beasts loom large, and threaten to devour you, or crush you, seek me out, as well. Monster, witch, human or not, it matters not to me; it is the threat of the feral I am in search of. [Pause.] As for the rest of you... I hope you do not see me.

[Her foot shifts, and she stands, precarious though the ledge is. The terrifying drop seems to not bother her at all. The shadows deepen on her face as the sky turns a richer purple-blue, the sun setting rapidly now, though it's barely been a minute. Soon, the video cuts to black, but there's still audio in the background; a rustle of wind and cloth. Finally, there's a whirring as the clock begins to turn over again.]

The night, and the hunt are always so very long. I pray we all live to see the morning sun, and put this night behind us.

[Tock. The video cuts out as the first peal of the hourly bells sounds. Over the city, the clocktower chimes eight, and the sun slips fully below the horizon.]
beariot: (tell me something i don't understand)

[personal profile] beariot 2019-08-15 01:23 am (UTC)(link)
About that, too. I know you've told me how things are like where you come from, but here, killing others over what is only a temporary loss of their humanity sounds extremely barbaric.
beariot: (lost in thoughts on open seas)

[personal profile] beariot 2019-08-15 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
There's a grey area between letting them run amok and killing them. If you can't employ non-fatal methods of stopping them, then you have no business being out there.

And if I see you trying to kill someone, I will stop you.
beariot: (there are times when all the world's asl)

[personal profile] beariot 2019-08-15 02:05 am (UTC)(link)
It's not a threat.
beariot: (any closer and you'll feel the heat)

[personal profile] beariot 2019-08-15 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
If that's what you want to believe.
long_live_the_queen: (tiny possessive creature)

un: Kaede

[personal profile] long_live_the_queen 2019-08-15 03:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Ursula, stop.

She's not going to listen.
beariot: (tell me something i don't understand)

[personal profile] beariot 2019-08-16 11:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Whether she does or doesn't, I also can't allow people to die senselessly. And I don't believe killing others to prevent death is right.

So I will stop her if I have to, with or without words.
long_live_the_queen: (slightly less of a scowl)

[personal profile] long_live_the_queen 2019-08-17 12:49 am (UTC)(link)
It's an offer of mercy, not a promise of senseless death.

You'll get hurt if you do that.
beariot: (the footsteps that summon winter)

[personal profile] beariot 2019-08-21 05:06 am (UTC)(link)
That distinction is pretty meaningless. Killing is killing, and if it can be prevented, I'm going to do so.

I'm well aware I might get hurt, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. I'm not as fragile as I look.