[GreyScale]

username: GreyScale
kalon name: Kiara
crown design: Here!
prompt [500 word limit]: wip
extra [optional]: wip

[khvoxtic]

marking

[Rinovo]

username: Rinovo
kalon name:Murel
crown design: wip
prompt [500 word limit]: Ocean
extra [optional]:

[trans]

res :'0c

[iBrevity]

oh goodness marking this right quick

[annie15970]

username:
kalon name:
crown design:
prompt [500 word limit]:
extra [optional]:

[LivingLethal]

gorgeous! mark to watch or enter

[Mozzy.]

upon my head I wear this crown
and my kingdom I do boun
for the days of endless war
as the strings of love have been torn
and I refuse to lay my life down

.....

drip, drip, drip.
the sound of a steady trickle of water woke the young girl, the haze of the world forming in her eyes.
one two awake
get up and see the new day, perhaps this day will ensure your dreams come true
she smiled. a soft smile of innocence and desire. pulling her hair back from her face she stood up, brushed herself off and went to the door.
don't open your eyes, keep them closed to see the new day
eyes closed tightly, she stumbled to the doorway, tripping over something on the ground. she put her hands out to open the door but..
no! don't open them! don't..
as she reached the end of the chain, she was pulled violently back and opened her eyes in the shock. and then she saw the world for what it was. darkness and sorrow. Valentina fell to the ground and sobbed. now she wouldn't be able to see the new day when she closed her eyes, only the days gone by. tears rolled down her face as she silently wept.

one two awake
i fell asleep!
Valentina jerked awake, still keeping her eyes closed. she could see the love and happiness she once felt, and longed to feel again.she stayed as still as she could, only moving when her legs started to tingle. she wondered to herself if this would be the new day she'd been praying for.

username: Mozzy.
name: Valentina

[SilhouetteStation]

username: SilhouetteStation
kalon name: Her Highness Anastasia Grace, Savior of the Mire, Lady of the People, Bringer of Bloom

crown design:

prompt [500 word limit]:
She was found in a wicker basket, hung from a tree whose bark had been stripped to reveal smooth, bleached wood. It stood in the middle of a bog, surrounded by mud and water, but the grass around the trunk remained somehow untouched.

It was a farmer who found her. At first it was the doe that caught his attention, her pale fur emitting a dull glow in the misty swamp. As he cautiously approached, he saw her head lowered in the basket. To his astonishment he saw a baby inside, nestled in a threadbare blanket. She did not cry. Her tiny hand reached up, brushing against the doe's soft nose, milky eyes wide with wonder.

The doe suddenly looked up in the farmers direction, and they locked eyes for a second before she bounded away. The farmer, suddenly remembering how damp and cold it was, took the baby back to his village. Or rather, what was left of it.

A rainstorm had caused a landslide to crash into his village, burying almost everything and leaving it a muddy, soggy mess. They called it The Mire now, because that's what it was. He and his people didn't have much anymore, but they were a caring people, and took the baby in.

She was named Anastasia Grace, and as she grew, so did her affect on people. She emitted a warmth, an aura, of kindness, and patience; the ability to love unconditionally, and receive love in return. She was as beautiful as she was innocent.

Despite her limited eyesight, with which she could only see vague shapes and colors, she worked hard with her newfound family to rebuild. She was young but people came to her for advice, for she was wise beyond her years. If ever anyone needed confidence or comfort, they turned to her. She gave them hope for the future, and told them together they could build a kingdom; and they believed her.

Time went by. The village was rebuilt, better than before. They began trading with other towns. For the first time in years, they began to thrive.

Anastasia was now a young woman, and still as gentle as before. She couldn't read to children, but they would crowd around her for hours as she made up stories for them. People still came to her for advice, trusting her judgement. They spoke of her as a blessing; a light sent to guide them in their darkest time.

The village grew into a town, a city, a kingdom; just as she'd said. Flowers bloomed. Crops flourished. Citizens were happy.

They asked Anastasia to be their queen, a role she humbly accepted.

She was given a woven crown made from the wicker basket she was found in, dipped in gold to keep it preserved. In spring, the children liked to add flowers.

In days to come she would rule with kindness, and peace; just as she had always done. Just as she'd been destined to do.

(498/500)

extra [optional]:

[hazilnut]

x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉

user: hazilnut
name: Reanne
↪ "lamb, great queen"
crown: a circlet of gilded brambles
↪ art by azaleastreak on tumblr
▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉

x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x

▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉

xxxRaenne rules her kingdom far removed from the old birch forest homeland. With all it’s denizens swallowed up by the forest god that still hunts her, her kingdom is one of memories and ghosts. She rules it in her night dreams, apologizing in her strongest, moon-lucid moments to Lahela her sister, to Yachel her mother, to the countless women whose legacy she’s had disgraced by running away. To the countless victims she had left in her wake. She asks them to forgive her for wanting to live over lead.

xxxRaenne finds each sun-touched morn with bleary eyes and a split heart. Under the baby blue sky she cannot loath her freedom, in the bustling market she cannot regret the life that flows within her. She cannot rule her kingdom in the lively day so Raenne pushes her past from her mind until sundown when she is crowned in a moonlight burial shroud.

xxxReanne makes running an act of worship, in her flight she keeps the memory of her kingdom alive even if she counteracts its spirit. She keeps moving from town to town, never settling- a nation unto herself. The forest god vowed to pursue her to the ends of the world. It had been promised her blood and it aims to collect. But Raenne will deny it peace even at the cost of her own.

xxxRaenne forbids her kingdom of one even the thought of violence whatever the cause. She remembers the cost her people payed, the cost innocents paid to protect those who hide under the veneer of common good. An eye for an eye makes the world blind, children for children makes the world cruel. The forest god may lay claim to her birch-white, river-blue pelt, but it will not bring the stolen saplings back. Neither will the forest god’s death return Raenne’s own.

xxxRaenne does not know if she seeks solace or penance. Perhaps she is too focused on running from to consider running to. Being a messenger suits her. It keeps her free and on the move; allows she her to put some good into the world small as it may be. Even the delivery of bad news soothes Raenne’s conscience. She delivers it plainly. A partner deserves to know of their loved one’s death, a sacrifice deserves to know of their intended fate.

xxxRaenne buries her crown in her hair and wears her shroud as a scarf. They are reminders heavy on her skin. Though she rejected the role for which she was born she cannot throw away the remnants. A crown woven from the limbs of the forest god’s children to decorate the child given in exchange can be either a garish burden and a source of strength depending on Raenne’s mental state.

xxxRaenne’s kingdom follows her wherever she ventures and so too does the shadow of the forest god. She bears the weight of living with every breath, testifies for and against her choice with every step.

xxxA kingdom unto herself.

▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉

xxxA shroud woven of silk lay across her bed. Not the same as the one her sister had worn, for it would never have fit. She too muscled, too solid, too real. Lahela had been a waif, a ghost from the moment she was born.

xxxShe wished she could have followed in her sister's pawsteps. She wished even a shred of her quiet dignity had split from Lahela's soul and graced her. They said she hadn't even screamed.

xxxBut she had wanted to live, she had wanted to live so badly it hurt even to think of not growing up past nineteen. She had wanted to live so badly she was willing to let everyone die, and let her sister's sacrifice go in vain.

xxxIt hadn't been planned, the escape. She had wholeheartedly intended to go through with the party and the fake smiles and the death. But then she didn't. She found herself wide awake thinking about how useless it would all be if she just died.

xxxWhat would have been the point to anything? To learning to sew, to learning to fish? To beating all the other children in the races? If she was just going to die; then why?

xxxHer paws had decided for her, forcing her down the stairs that cried betrayal with every step. She slipped through shadows, hiding from the sliver of moon until her feet had taken her beyond her home and deep into the woods.

xxxAnd then she was tearing through the forest before she had blinked, racing the sun and racing her future. She had almost reached the edge of the trees when she ran into him.

xxxThe great forest god, the very one who had taken her sister and her aunt and many kalons before that. The one who was to take her too. He towered over every tree and yet fit into a single shadow. His voice shook the earth but not a leaf stirred.

xxx"You would run?"

xxxRaenne fought the urge to cower, or try to sprint to safety. She would never make it. She faced the beast head on. If she would die, she would die like her sister.

xxx"I would try."

xxx"Then go."

xxxRaenne took a step back, all thoughts of dignified death flying from her mind. She wanted to live, but why was this monster
offering her freedom? He made no move to lunge at her and she began to pick her way across the remaining stretch of forest.

xxxThe forest god watched her, a sneer touching his blazing eyes.

xxx"Go knowing it was you who killed them all. All condemned to death because of you. And anywhere you go, death will follow as I come."

xxxHis laughter drowned out the girl's thoughts as she raced for the tree line. The undergrowth thinned and the moonlight grew brighter until Raenne found herself at the edge of the river. Only then did the screams begin.

xxxShe kept running

.

▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉