quietmounds | (no subject)

(no subject)

WHAT IN PERSON, YA FOOLS
WHERE anywhere
WHEN Day 8, evening

[ it's beginning to be summer -- or something like that, sort of. late spring? the weather has been warming up is the point and in the twilight of, well, now, the fireflies have also come out.

twinkling little stars that are actually bugs. Rather, slightly larger than the normal firefly -- in fact, perhaps they seem more like will o' the wisp sized.

But still, a lovely summer. If you follow one they may lead you (crashing into) the path of someone else.

Or the lake.

Definitely also the lake. ]

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Fair. But don't let me down; all this is pretty game-changing as far as soulbonds are understood, right?

Honestly, not to sound braggy, but everything about us has been. Someone just doesn't Lifebond twice, as far as I know—it's at least super rare. Though I guess the survival rate of a broken lifebond does factor into that.

So I guess it might just be that some people are predisposed to them and some people aren't.

Oh, almost nobody develops a Lifebond. It's so, so rare to begin with. That's probably part of why it happening twice is in the realm of absurdity. I never thought I'd get one, I was, um, not a discerning young man.

[pondering]

You're both insanely hot shit as far as magic powers go though, right? Wonder if that's got anything to do with it.

The history of Vanyel's gifts is a little, I'm, fraught. And I don't have any magic gifts, just the Bardic gifts. Though I'm very gifted there.

Yeah, still. How about other soulbonds? They usually got that much stuff going on?

I've only met a couple other Lifebonded couples and one was the king so...

[Hesitates] Nobody has ever had as much going on as Vanyel. If you want to make theories I can tell you how that ended, but you're welcome to tap out if you want. It's nasty stuff.

[whoops, paying attention again, sitting up and alert]

Shit Stefen, just ignore me and my stupid mouth.

No, I'm good? I'm fine with all that. I just don't want to drop unpleasant history on you without warning.

[hm. squints out at the lake.

(yes he is wearing the shades even though it is basically deadass night)]

Yeah, we can get into it.

[I'm gonna learn Sunglasses at Night just for you]

Right. So I guess... You should know that most of what I know is because I basically learned everything I could about Van's life back when he was just my hero, before I met him. I researched all the records and everything I could get from Medren, because nobody even uses Vanyel's first Lifebonded's name. They just called him "Gala's Chosen" instead. And I wanted to know... I thought that someone should.

His name was Tylendel Frelennye, and he was a Herald-Mage trainee, and he became a murderer.

Who'd he kill?

There were, um, records of a family feud with another family, the Leshara. His twin brother got murdered and he knew it was done by them — as I understand it, he lost his mind with grief and became obsessed with revenge. Vanyel had no active gifts at all so the time, only potential ones. He didn't qualify to be anything, and had never been chosen.

Apparently 'Lendel used Vanyel's potential abilities to bolster his own, and gated into a Sovvan celebration the Lesharas were having, and called monsters down. His Companion repudiated him and died, and Vanyel was left with all his channels torn open to pour power out. 'Lendel... realized what he'd done and ended his own life.

That's how Vanyel lost his Lifebond and became the most powerful mage, all in one horrible tragedy.

[Dave visibly grimaces. It's a bad story on its own but with Rose on his mind it strikes him. He doesn't have to think very hard to know that is absolutely some shit she'd pull.]

Mother fuck.

The... Companions rang the Death Bell for him. It meant he was buried with full honors because they'd acknowledged that he wasn't sane. That if he had been, he'd have been a wonderful Herald.

But it wasn't enough to salvage his reputation. Nobody even breathes his name anymore. And poor Vanyel had to adjust to these incredible, awful powers, loving 'Lendel still and knowing the world hated him. Probably wondering what he could have done to stop it.

Vanyel was sixteen, and 'Lendel only a year older. They must have been so...

Unprepared to deal with shit of that magnitude.

Right, exactly. I mean, shit happens at any age, but it sure makes it worse.

Anyway, that's why I don't think it's related to the amount of power? On that level, Vanyel was nothing worth mentioning when he and 'Lendel were Lifebonded, and he wasn't exactly 'meant' to be. Unless we're getting into predestination here.

Yeah let's not ever get into predestination.

Because that would be some real awful destiny and not worth the air to talk about it.

Basically.

Anyway. You see why it's... hard to narrow things down.

Yeah. It's ok. Puzzling over different various cultures romantic tropes is apparently just a hobby for me.

I'm really genuinely happy to join you in that. I wonder if this is something people understand any more in the future? There's a man here from 500 years after my time.

Lifebonds? Maybe, but probably not. Or I guess, they might understand them but in a totally different way according to how that works with other new cultural ideals.

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