[ open ] fall / winter catch-all

[karaksys]

Who: daemon targaryen + you!
When: throughout october - december
Where: various places! mostly the free cities + nocwich
What: a catch-all for anything that doesn't have a home elsewhere
Warnings: general warnings for a game of thrones/house of the dragon character, otherwise noted in tags!

Comments

[karaksys]

[ As Caraxes emerges fully into the cavern, the dragon's movements are reminiscent of a serpent one moment and something like a stick insect the next, moving with greater speed than his odd proportions might suggest.

With a snarl, Caraxes' great horned head rears back on a long, sinewy neck as pale puffs of smoke curl between the dragon's teeth. Large golden eyes observe the fluttering of the bats, their slitted pupils expanding to make the most of the dim light. ]

It would seem magic bats cannot resist their nature any more than the real thing.

[ Daemon's voice rings out loud and clear as he leans forward in the saddle atop the dragon's back, arms folded with a smug smile on his lips. He looks at ease in his armour, though the dark metal is far newer and more extravagant than the last time he'd worn it for real. It's not the same armour in which he'd gone to war, but something uniquely fit for a king. This place tells on him in that way, too, but he's not exactly objecting either — he's the rightful heir, after all.

His personal crest — the three-headed Targaryen dragon bearing golden spikes and breathing golden fire — is worked on his breastplate in rubies and gold, while his heavy cloth-of-gold cloak bears the Arcana symbol of the Tower as a repeating pattern in red thread. Oddly, a few symbols stand out from the rest because they're green, although it's clear they aren't meant to be a part of the pattern. They almost seem to move with the fabric, always staying just out of Daemon's line of sight. Understanding the Arcana doesn't remove its prior associations, and he often worries about what schemes his enemies are plotting in his absence.

Finally, Aegon I's crown sits heavily on his brow, exactly where Daemon believes it should be. It's not the crown of Jaehaerys the Conciliator that his brother wears, but the Conqueror's iron crown — a strong crown for the stronger man.

Daemon steps onto the platform with ease once Caraxes stands near enough beside it, his left hand finding its familiar place on the pommel of his sword as he looks up into the gloom above him towards wherever the bats had gone. ]

How does it work, anyway? One man, many bats? What happens if you lose one?

[cryptsleeper]

[Daemon is not wrong in seeing the great beast he sits upon as magnetic. Alucard, even as bats, can't help but stare at the thing. It is massive. It is wholly new to his eyes. It is awe-inspiring in the most true sense of the term, and the fact it seems to not mind having a rider goes in some small way to explaining a lot of Daemon's attitude. One is almost entitled to be certain levels of haughty if they can calmly control a great creature such as this.

The bats remain bats until Daemon is on the platform. Then they take flight again, swirling and squeaking until Alucard is standing across from the man, but never looking at him. Somehow, he suspects surprise, a person! is not a great idea to be pulling around a dragon. Doing it twice is probably all he should do for now, unless there's a real reason to escape. Even then, it is probably simpler to return to the world by escaping the meditative state required to get here than exiting the cave system.

Perhaps the most telling part of Alucard's entire appearance is that he hasn't changed it from what Daemon saw in the Free Cities. Tunic, trousers, boots. The only accent is a dark, detailed coat that the Free Cities makes pointless with warmth.]

It is a matter of mass conversion. And if I did know what happened if I lost one, do you think I'd share that information? [He does know, of course. He and Geralt got very drunk, figured out the mass conversion, and scared poor Jaskier by having a swarm of bats in the house. One got stuck, and in that moment, Alucard as a person was missing a small body party.]

Your friend inspires an instant attraction. As does the landscape.