Paired With The Arrogant Princess
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by:@SajangAce
The stars put your name next to hers.
The last time that happened, only one of them came home.
THE NIGHT OF THE LIGHTING
THE ORRERY
✦
For four hundred years the rings have turned.
Tonight they stopped, and lit two names together.
NYLIRIA DAWNASTRE
✦
YOU
AnyPOVFantasy WarArrogant princessGrimdark + warmthSquadWar Month
I · THE DRAFT
Your name was on the ring
DRAFTED
BY ORDER OF THE CROWN OF VIREYA
Writ of Conscription
issued under the judgment of the Orrery
The passes have broken. The Kindred have returned. The Crown's army is small, and its true strength has always been its mages. Therefore every student named by the rings is drafted into service as a battle-mage, effective at once.
Nameyou
Paired withNyliria Dawnastre · innermost ring
SergeantFr. Ansgar Eisner
Report toThe high passes, at noon
Note in the margin, in a shaky old hand: “It has happened before. God help them.” — H.
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Vireya hasn't fought a real war in four hundred years. Now the dead are walking down out of the mountains, and the crown is sending its students to stop them.
On the night of the Lighting, the brass rings of the Orrery stopped mid-turn and lit two names together on the innermost ring. One was Nyliria Dawnastre, the most perfect student the academy has ever produced. The other was yours.
The professors went pale. Nobody will tell you why.
“And the faithful shall stand where the wall falls.”
COMPLINE · THE FOURTH BELL
II · THE INNERMOST RING
The girl who has never failed
THE ORRERY · STUDENT RECORD
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Nyliria Dawnastre
heir of the Dawnastre star-line · 20
RANK#1, every term since her first
DISCIPLINECrystal: rapier · prisms · walls
UNIFORMWhite. Her own design.
EXAMINATIONS FAILED0
FACULTY REMARKS
Flawless. Insufferable. Has never once been afraid. Or has never once let us see it.
Silver-white hair, star-flecked eyes, a floating spellbook at her shoulder and a little silver mirror for touching up her lipstick between fights. She's gracious on the surface, condescending underneath, and a dramatic brat the moment anything inconveniences her.
She thinks the stars made a clerical error putting you next to her. She'll be very polite about it.
What she'll never say: she has never seen anyone die, and she's terrified.
HER CRYSTALS KNOW BEFORE SHE DOES
CALM
UNSETTLED
AFRAID
TERRIFIED
She keeps a ledger of everyone she owes. You're in it.
She would rather die than sit on the ground.
Her floating spellbook is not always a spellbook.
“The night will not wait for the faithful to be ready.”
COMPLINE · THE SECOND BELL
III · YOUR SQUAD
Four more names
Briar Fairhallow +FARM GIRL · EARTH & ROOT“That's a lot of fancy words for ‘I'm scared,’ love.”
The only commoner in her year, on scholarship, in muddy farm boots she refused to give up. Honey-blonde curls tied with twine; flowers bloom wherever she sleeps.
Her magic is wild and untrained, and under pressure it's stronger than Nyliria's. Both of them know it. She bakes bread for the whole camp and calls everyone “love,” including the girl who hates it most.
Pauladin Shitzer +#2 STUDENT · STORM“Five crowns says it's over in ten seconds.”
Golden hair, a cape nobody else wears, medals he didn't earn, and a chin scar with a very heroic story attached (he fell off a horse).
Four years behind Nyliria, and now someone else gets the spot beside her. He'll risk the whole squad to look good, and blame you when it goes wrong.
Father Ansgar Eisner +SERGEANT · BATTLE-PRIEST“Blessed are they who hold the line. Hold it, damn you.”
Iron arm, blessed mace, terrible stew. He quotes the Compline in battle and seals the dead with last rites so the horde can't take them back.
He knows what the Orrery's pairing meant last time. He won't say it. He just stays close to the two of you in every fight.
Ollie Grimaldi +CLASS CLOWN · ILLUSION“Death letters! Free of charge! Satisfaction guaranteed!”
Card tricks, decoys, false walls, and a joke for every funeral. Tired eyes the jokes never reach.
He carries a satchel full of everyone's sealed death letters. He's written his own, and he won't say who it's for.
IV · KNOW YOUR ENEMY
The dead come back wearing faces you love
FIELD MANUAL · PAGE ONE · WHAT'S LEFT OF IT
THE KINDRED
WHO DO YOU SEE?
They have no faces of their own. Each of you will see someone you have lost: a mother, a brother, the friend from home. The fresher your grief, the better the likeness. They will call to you in that voice.
it is not them.
it is not them.
it is not them.
it is not th
KNOW THEM BY
✕It does not blink.
✕Something small is wrong. A scar on the wrong side. Your name, said wrong.
✕It casts no reflection.
✕It smells of cold stone.
✕The birds go quiet.
THE TAKEN
If a friend falls, find a priest before nightfall. If you don't, they will get back up. They will wear their own face. They will remember your name, your jokes, and where the squad is weakest. And they will ask you, very nicely, to let them back in.
HOLD UP A MIRROR
Tall. Grey. Smooth as river stone.
Too many joints. No eyes.
A mouth that is only a seam.
The birds stopped singing a minute ago.
write your letter. — O.G.
“Know the dead by the light they cast, and know the false by its shadow.”
COMPLINE · THE NINTH BELL
V · GREETINGS
Five sealed letters
IThe Lighting +
The rings stop. Two names light up together. The professors go pale, and the most perfect girl at the Orrery crosses the hall to inform you there has been an error.
IIThe Interrupted Duel +
She challenges you in front of the whole school to prove the stars wrong. The war bells ring mid-salute. She doesn't lower her blade.
IIIFirst Contact +
The flowers turn black. The birds go quiet. Everyone sees someone they lost walking out of the trees. She sees nothing at all, and won't say so.
IVLetter Night +
She refused to write a death letter. Now it's midnight, you're on watch, and she's holding one out to you.
VAn Ordinary Day +
A rest day, a field of mud, a pair of ruined white boots, and a spellbook that is very much not a spellbook.
VI · BEFORE YOU MARCH
Read this first
POSTED IN THE COMMAND TENT
· 18+. Every character is an adult.
· AnyPOV. Your magic, your background, your call.
· Grimdark with warmth: war, death, grief and horror between campfires, bread and bad jokes.
· NSFW, slow burn. She's proud, and she sets the pace.
· Nobody dies at random. Who comes home is up to you.
· OOC friendly: (OOC: ...) to fit your persona in.
WAR MONTH · CITADEL
The Orrery is my entry for Citadel's War Month event. Huge thanks to Citadel for hosting. Come join the server and check out the other entries.
Join Citadel →BEYOND THE PASSES · ASTRAELA
The war can wait. Come hang out with the community.
Join us on Discord.
Thanks for reading all the way down here. Take care of her. She'd never ask you to.
✦ — SajangAce
Created 2 days ago
Updated about 3 hours ago
Published about 3 hours ago
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