fiddlesticks 25, video from standard coach: open to all

[blitzcheer]

Sooooo, not being able to talk to most of the train that day sucked, huh? I don't know what to think about any of that, but since we can talk to each other now, I was thinking: How about we share where we're from, and see who's from worlds like ours?

And who speaks the same languages too! An actual list be better if that ever happens again, but for now, tell us about the kind of place you're from, what makes home home to you! You got kings or dragons? Machines? Portals to other worlds? Talking sea life? You just trying to get through school?

I'll go first to give you guys an idea, but share whatever you feel like!


( ooc: this is open to all, meaning feel free to put up a post and chat with other characters! )

Comments

Re: 1/2 This will be long, I am sorry. CW: potentially all. Also spoilers like whoa.

[sell_tickets]

"That said, as to fussing and protecting, it is not for a second that we think females are in anyway inherently less able to protect themselves than we are. Need to get that in here so Karla and Gabrielle don't find this and kick my ***. To say nothing of what Surreal would do. That's not why we're protective. There are a number of reasons, but one of the strongest is that we are all aware that we are replaceable. Doesn't mean anyone of us WANTS to die. Mother Night, no. If any of us die for a stupid reason we have to deal with the High Lord ripping into us for being stupid. Trust me, you don't want to be dead while Saetan is angry at you." [Poor Morton.... He missed Morton a lot, but refused to focus on that now.] "It is that among the Blood, females are rarer to begin with, but they're also stronger, and they can do so much more than us males can. It takes a Queen to sing the Land back, to heal the Land. Only a Queen has the proper instinct and right to rule. Queens are rare. Good Queens are rarer and treasured for it. But even Warlord princes... are far more common. Black Widows can do things no other of the Blood can even dream of, and with only two exceptions in the whole of our history, Black Widows are only female. Priestesses are the ones with the intrinsic instinct for opening the Gates between the Realms. And Healers can do so much more to mend the body then any male trained in Healing craft. So we are trained from the cradle up that the women are simply more valuable. Also, if we use our strength to protect them, they have their strength for doing what only they can do. Then there is the nature of female temper. While not true of all females of the Blood, for many their temper burns colder and longer once it hits the tipping point. If a Blood Male finds himself on the Killing Edge, a woman he trusts can easily bring him back before he can slaughter anyone. Part of that is protocol, part of that is just the instinctive bond between us and a woman we can trust. We say they hold our leash, we mean it. But there is no instinct there that can pull a woman back. Protocol can help, but it can't..." [How to explain it.]

"When Aaron was going to kill Vania, Surreal couldn't stop him. Lucivar and Chaosti couldn't get through to him, they were all physically touching him, speaking in his ear and he couldn't hear them through the red haze. But Jaenelle stepped into the room, and ordered him to attend, and that snapped him out of it, brought him back. But when Jaenelle went cold after her half sister was injured when someone tried to kidnap her... Nothing any of us could do could help her, could calm her. Females can help us stop from doing what we will regret. It is far harder for us to help the women. So that is another reason males defend."

[He leaned his head back a bit.] "And if I die defending a woman I care about... I'll be upset I died, but I will at least know she is safe. I can take pride in that, and comfort. But if I fail to protect her and she dies? That is with me the rest of my life. So protecting is also selfish."

[He grinned as bit.] "Alright, this is getting long so I'll try and speed through the next bit. Castes. Castes are set at birth. No one knows what leads one person to be a certain Caste or another. Black Widows often run in families, but not always. Otherwise, there is no rhyme or reason that we've ever found. So male castes, from weakest to strongest. Blood Male - basically the catch all for ant male of the Blood, but also used for any Male of the Blood who does not have any other Caste. Then there are Warlords. That is my Caste. We're on the weaker side, but also tend to be less aggressive than the other male Castes. We are roughly equal in status with a witch, not to be confused with Witch, which is a whole other topic." [he grinned.] "Then there are Princes. Now just like Blood Male is a catch all for all males of the Blood as well as a Caste in and of itself, Prince is a Caste, but it is also a title used for Princes and Warlord Princes in formal settings. A Prince, as in the Caste, is roughly equal to a healer or a Priestess. Then the strongest male Caste are the Warlord Princes. They are the most aggressive, most passionate, most drawn to females and most in need of them. They are the second highest Caste among any gender and are a law onto themselves, other than a Queen. A Queen is the only Caste who outranks a Warlord Prince."

"Then on the female side, Blood Females, again a catch all as well as a Caste. Then a witch, not to be confused with Witch. Then Healer and Priestess, which I more or less explained already. Then the next rank is Black Widow." [Where to even start.] "This is the only Caste you don't have to be born into. Natural Black Widows have a snake tooth under their nail that has poison sacs. How lethal their poison is usually depends on their Jewel Rank, which I'll get into. They have an instinctive awareness of poisons, and are immune to most of them. All Black Widows are trained in weaving Tangled Webs, which can be used to see the future, or at least, possible futures, as well as they can be woven to ensnare minds. Much like mine is ensnared, making me think that I am here. All the months I have been here, could have been a second in reality, or years. No way to know. My mind fully believes that I am physically here so I am, in all practical ways, here. If I die here, it might return me to my body, or it might kill my body. No way to know, really. It is why Black Widows are so feared and respected. Also, not sure why, but every Black Widow I ever met seems to have this lovely wonderful tartness to their personality. They're the women generally the most likely to give you a feral smile while offering to feed you your own entrails." [There was warm amused affection in his voice.]

"And then of course Queens. Queens are drawn instinctively to the Land and to serve the people by ruling them. They are the focus of our society, they form Courts and unless they serve under another Queen or live in another Queen's territory, they are answerable to no one. Now Kaleer is currently in an odd situation. You see a Territory Queen is the law in her territory. Basically the realms are broken into Territories, each ruled by a Queen, then the Territory is broken into Provinces each of which is ruled by a Queen who answers only to the Territory Queen, and each Provenance is broken into Districts, each ruled by a Queen who answers to both Queens above her. But in Kaleer now, for the first time ever, there is a Queen who rules over the Territory Queens. Jaenelle. Witch. Those of us in the Dark Court, Jaenelle's Court, are the only males allowed to serve two Queens. So I serve my Territory Queen, my wife Morghann, but I also serve Jaenelle. It is a unique situation, but was the only way to protect Kaleer, so she stepped up when we needed her. She claims she is no longer the Realm Queen, and if she shows up here and tries to tell you that, just tell her that's nice and move on." [He chuckled.]

"The next consideration is Jewel Rank. When we reach a certain age in our childhood, usually about eight, we have our Birthright Ceremony. We go to the Dark Alter and pray, and if we are to be strong enough, we are gifted with our Birthright Jewels. Then we emerge and our mothers announce or deny paternity. When we come of age as adults, if we have finished our training and fulfilled basic biological rites of passage, we return to the Dark Alter and pray. And if we are lucky, some or all of our Birthright Jewels become up to three Ranks darker. The Darker the Jewel, the more power we can hold within ourselves safely, the stronger we are, and the further into the Abyss we can go without shattering our Inner Web. The Jewels from lightest to Darkest are White, Yellow. Tiger Eye, Rose, Summer-sky, Purple Dusk, Opal, Green. Sapphire, Red. Gray. Ebon-Gray, and Black. Unlike Caste, Jewels tend to follow bloodlines. Darker Jeweled parents tend to have Darker Jeweled kids. I wear the Sapphire, as some of you may have noticed. That is my Jewel of Rank. The Jewel I earned as an adult. So this means my reservoir of power is shallow compared to say, the High Lord, who wears the Black, but far deeper than Cassidy who wears the Rose. Also the Darker your Jewel, the more food you eat and the more alcohol it takes before you get buzzed, let alone drunk. Two people with the same Caste generally settle dominance by Jewel Rank, and there is some range within each Rank as well. One friend I know had Birthright Purple Dusk and after his Offering to the Darkness came away with a Purple Dusk that was only slightly Darker than he went in with."

[He took a deep breath.] "The last consideration in our society is social standing. This basically comes down to political and financial power. There is less of a defined social structure here, but there is one term to know. Aristo. Aristos are the people who have more money than they could spend if they live reasonably. Often Territory Queens become Aristo if their Territory thrives, just from the tithes. Some of us are born to it. There is an expectation of certain levels of behavior from someone born Aristo, of course, and additional lessons to be learned. Aristo households usually have a staff of at least four people, ranging from butlers to maids to cooks to groomsmen. I am always willing to trade cooking for other chores here because frankly... I've always had someone to do my cleaning and washing for me, and I am quite content to leave it that way. I have more than enough work serving in two Courts as well as ruling a Provenance on my Queen's behalf, and being a father. My focusing on those tasks is not laziness, it is sense as much as a Queen focusing on being a Queen rather than on the dusting and mopping, no matter WHAT Cassidy claims," [he said with a laugh.] "That said though, nearly every male I know not only knows how to cook, but enjoys it, even if he has a cook on staff. Every Queen I know has her own private garden that the gardener is not allowed near, and while yes I have stable hands, I raise my horses myself and train them. Even had I not been born rich, even had I not served in two Courts, I would still probably be rich off of the horses I raise and train for sale to loving homes. I will not appologize for any of that, of course. And should we come to a mission with horses, please know that no matter what team I am assigned to, I will be working with the horses unless someone I have agreed to serve orders me otherwise."

[He had a soft spot for dogs too. Don't let him fool you.]

"So as Uncle Saetan likes to say, our culture is a complex dance with the lead always changing, centered always around a Queen. Based on Jewel Ranks, I outrank Rainier, for example. He wears the Opal which makes my Sapphire Dominant. He outranks me however in Caste, being a Warlord Prince, as well as in personal history as he was our dance teacher when we were children. But I outrank him in the Dark Court as I am one of the First Escorts in the First Circle. So depending on how we are speaking changes which of us is Dominant in the conversation, and it can change in an eye blink, with Protocol as out guide."

"I think perhaps, other than the legend of Witch, and some stories here and there, that is probably enough information for the purpose?" [He asked, more to himself then anyone else, then realized one more thing he should add.]

"Ah yes, Chess. I am happy to teach Chess to anyone who is willing to play rationally. Playing chess across gender lines generally leads to arguments, however. Someone recently commented on how Chess seems to mirror the gender relationships in my world. This is actually a very good observation, since in Chess the most powerful piece is the Queen, but when she is taken the game is over, making her the one that must be protected at all costs. Every Queen I have ever played Chess with will sacrifice her Queen to save her males. Which is why we males usually start screaming and wanting to throttle the girls. Then we just wind up playing Cradle to put the ladies back into a smooth temper so that we don't wind up sleeping upside down hung up by our heels over the sofa rotating slowly all night," [he added with a chuckle.]