Lorea, Lorategia, Life
Ryvr walked into the cabin, one hand resting on the handles of the two swords at his hip, and the other in his pocket. He was followed closely by Rosario and the others. He walked to the pilot's seat, pulled up on the pilot's wheel, and turned to the left, causing the ship to careen towards the ship with the key design on its bow. Ryvr placed two fingers on the ring around his neck and said, “This is stormchaser to Skeleton key calling from the-” Ryvr tapped Kian on the shoulder quietly asking, “What's the name of this ship?” he turned back and said, “Brujeria.” Ryvr pressed down again. “Brujeria im bringing her alongside the ship. She's too big to fit in the hangars. Go ahead and finish up the frigate, and let's get on the way,” the radio around his neck crackled, “Yes, sir.” Ryvr turned to look at the rest of the people in the cabin. “Peralta im assigning you to Brother dearest. Please keep an eye on him and make sure they get to Lorategia Manor. I really would hate for our esteemed guests to be late for dinner.” Vera saluted the man and said, “yes sir.” Ryvr turned to look at her from the stairs. “No need for the formalities, it's just us here.” Paulida said, “Where are you going? There's no reason for you to go outside. Stay in here.”
Carmilla was casting healing magic on Rosario, who said out, “Don't bother trying to stop him, he doesn't care.” Ryvr looked back at him and then to Paulida, “Well i'm feeling like having a chat with whoever is flying that frigate, so I'm thinking I'm gonna pop over real quick and give them a nice visit, bit unfortunate that i didn't bring a welcome gift.” he smiled at Paulida and ascended the deck another jolt of lightning struck the ship causing it to bounce. Paulida looked up the steps to the deck, and the man was gone.
The Brujeria landed on a flat patch of land behind a four-story manor with a large garden surrounding it and well-worn pathways. They climbed down the ladder on the side of the hull, Vera first, and then Rosario behind her, followed by Senarre, Paulida Carmilla, and Kian. Vera turned around, looking to the rest of the group, the manor behind her, she rubbed her hands together and said, “well uh, welcome to Lorategia, the ancestral home of the Lorea. They have lived on these lands for the better part of a millennium.” Senarre raised her hand like a child on a field trip, “Why is there no snow on the ground here?” Vera prepared to speak up, but Rosario cut her off, “Geothermal vents in the region allow us to keep the place heated all year round and run the hot springs and power the place and the like.” Kian and Senarre looked around in awe. “You really grew up around here, Lorea?” Rosario continued walking forward, “Yeah, pretty much, although I was born in Dreynas i've spent most of the time here, but it's really a good mix.” Vera caught up to him. “Sometimes I would come along too. The hot springs are amazing, there's one on the manor grounds, but I think the ones down in the city are better.”
Vera and Rosario walked at the front of the line, the other four trailing behind them. Carmilla followed closer. “This place hasn't changed much since the last time I was here.” Rosario turned to her, “Yea i can't foresee them doing much to the mansion that's been standing for 700 something odd years,” Senarre said with an inquisitive face. “This place is older than Dreynas?” Rosario nodded, “yea the Lorea have been here for a thousand years, probably back when the continent was a bunch of smaller and non-unified nation-states, but due to the Great Demon War, they united under the banner of the elven sisters from the story.” “You got any cool hidden tunnels and passageways like in the books ?” Kian asked, “No, pretty much the only cool thing here aside from the massive library is the armory or the archives.” They crossed the garden in a group, and a woman in a maid's dress came over running down the stairs and onto the paved stone walkway in the garden. “Good evening, young master. Had we been made aware of your imminent arrival, we would've prepared to welcome you with more fanfare,” Rosario exhaled his breath, trailing in the cold air. “Ryvr said he was hosting dinner. I would like for you to see to it that my companions are taken care of properly.” “certainly young master.” The woman waved over another woman in a maid's dress. She said to her, “Take the women, and I'll take the men. We must ensure that they are prepared for dinner.”
The maid gestured for Vera Carmilla and Senarre to follow her. She said as she led them away, “We must get you into something more fit for a dinner at such an estate” before walking off. Vera said, “See you guys at dinner.” Rosario nodded, and Kian excitedly shouted out, “See you later at dinner.” The maid who made contact first said to Rosario, “Young master, you and the men will follow me. I'm afraid we don't have time to draw baths for you all due to your unannounced arrival, so we will have to just dress you before dinner.” “That is fine, we can bathe after dinner,” the woman led them into the manor up two flights of stairs to the third floor and led them to two rooms, “For the boy and the Man, I will lead the young master to his quarters.” Paulida and Kian entered the rooms. Kian looked around in awe at a large four-post bed with royal green curtains on the sides, a large couch lie in front of the bed, and a wardrobe and desk across the room. Kian excitedly shouted out, “This is the biggest bed I've seen.” The maid said to Paulida and Kian, “A maid will be by with a change of clothing for you momentarily. Please be patient.”
The maid turned to Rosario and said, “Young master lets get you to your quarters. If you would like, we could source you a new set of clothing.” “No, thank you. My wardrobe here should still fit me. It's only been a couple of months since my last time here.” The maid led him down the hall to a large double door and pushed it open for him a large bed larger than the ones in the other rooms was against one of the walls a large desk covered with papers and a small box with wires sticking out of it alongside other tools were strewn across the desk a pinboard hung behind it with a series of papers pinned to it with calculations written hastily and sloppily on pencil “As you can see young master we left it as close to how it was when you were last here” “thank you”
Rosario walked into the bathroom that was attached to his room. He carefully removed the pink scarf with the pompoms hanging from his neck and carefully folded it up before placing it down gently with both hands on the side of the sink. He looked into the mirror, turned the faucet, and splashed water on his face and hair. He pulled the bar of soap from the side of the sink before scrubbing his face and rinsing again. He pulled a towel off the shelf and dried his face. He walked out of the bathroom and over to the large wardrobe. He opened a cabinet and pulled out a fresh shirt, shoes, white pants, and a green knitted sweater, adorned on the breast with a small coat of arms bearing a laurel wreath with black and green flower in the center. He hastily put everything on and walked back into the bathroom, running his hands under the water and running it through his hair. He tossed his sword onto the bed and walked out of the room.
He walked down to the first floor, and everyone had already changed. Carmilla said, “Good thing a large majority of the clothes here haven't been updated in a while.” She was wearing a low-cut royal green dress with a necklace around her neck featuring the coat of arms. Kian and Paulida wore dress outfits featuring vests and tailcoats, black with the coat of arms on the breast. Vera walked out in a shimmering form fitting Velour dress. Senarre followed her in an outfit similar to Pauilda's and Kians' and embarrassingly said, “They didn't have women's sizes in any of the clothes” Carmilla patted her back playfully “They did have women's sizes it's just that any normal size on you is too short, dont worry its not your fault it's because you got the best of both worlds the height of an elf and the sturdiness of a human” She said “Thanks i guess” A maid walked over and said “the tables are set please follow me to the dining room” Rosario stopped them all “Please do be aware that my brother is a little extra he's kinda got a flair for the dramatic so if anyone feels uncomfortable with his extravagance its ok to leave the room” No one else in the group expressed reservations as if his warning had fallen on deaf ears.
The maid led them down the hall to a large double door and pushed it open. A long table with rows upon rows of chairs and placemats with plates sat along the sides of the table. At the end of the table lay a large, almost throne-like chair. Ryvr was sitting in it, one leg crossed over the other, resting his hand on his palm. His long, previously braided hair was loose and tied into a bun on the back of his head. Behind him were five women sharply dressed in the finest of evening gowns. Rosario stopped his group and quietly said, “Those are my brother’s con-” he was cut off, Ryvr called from the other end of the table, “Greetings esteemed guests, As you know i introduced myself to you earlier, but I would like you to meet my wives.” The Leftmost woman in a gray dress said, “My name is Eshara, pleased to meet you.” The one next to her in the turquoise dress said, “Greetings, my name is Itzel.” After that, the one standing directly behind Ryvr in a pale green dress, the woman bowed and said, “My name is Ayame.” The one directly to the right of Ryvr, in a shiny black dress, said, “My name is Nysa, pleased to meet you all, friends, of the family.” The one on the rightmost edge of the line said Quickly and shortly, “My name is Xue.” The women behind him dispersed and found their way to seats at the table.
The maid led them all to their seats. Rosario and Carmilla sat directly next to Ryvr, with Kian sitting in between Carmilla and Senarre. Vera sat alongside Rosario and between him and Paulida. Ryvr spoke up, a glass of red wine in his hand. “Obviously, you know me, and now you've met my wives. Thank you for indulging me in my invitation to dinner during such trying times. Let's get this started then.” He stopped talking, and the maids brought out multiple large cooked birds with small plates containing vegetables and mashed potatoes. Rosario tapped his brother on the shoulder. “I thought they were your concubines?” Ryvr looked at him with a flat expression “They were and now they are my wives i've always loved them as such and now that my obligation to give the queen an heir has fallen through i went ahead and gave them a promotion, the wedding was really quite nice i would have sent my men to retrieve you but when they got back to me they said you were traveling with an elven woman and her father so i just let you be i didn't know if you'd finally gotten over your funk with the whole fear of connections thing yet” Rosario slightly annoyed said “I don't have a fear of connection or anything i'm just not interested in pursuing a relationship with anyone at the moment” Ryvr smiled taking a sip from his glass of wine “Baby brother i have more than 10 years on you and i understand you better than anyone you have a fear of connection” Rosario eyebrow twitching continued to dispute with his brother
Senarre sat flanked on one side by Kian, who was devouring a large cooked leg of turkey. Senarre looked over to the other side. A woman with silky black hair fastened into bangs on her forehead with stunning grey eyes sat next to her in a finely crafted white dress. Senarre, attempting to be friendly, said, “hello my name is Senarre.” The woman ignored her and continued eating. She thought for a second and said, “Ni hao, Wo Jiao Senarre.” The woman looked over to her and said, “My name is Xue. I did not respond to you because I have a limited understanding of your language, but because I would rather simply not speak to others. Also, your pronunciation is wrong.” Senarre turned away from her thought, “Who put a stick up her ass?” The rest of the dinner went off without a hitch. Everyone quietly and calmly ate partway through the meal, after Rosario had finished with his meal and before the maids brought out desert his brother turned to him, whispering in his ear, “As you know, baby brother i am a master in the whims of the heart say the word and i can have Eshara and Nysa assist you in a conquest of the heart” He said back to his brother waving his comment aside “No thanks i'm not interested in anyone like that” Ryvr leaned back in his chair “Why must you lie brother, oh well i'll wait for you to come asking for your beloved big brothers assistance”
Rosario was lying flat on the bed, throwing a small box with wires sticking out of it into the air and catching it again, when a thought crossed his mind. He let the little box fall onto the bed before sitting up and rolling, pulling himself off the bed, he put on a pair of slippers and pulled the green knitted sweater over his silk pajamas. He ran over to the stairs and up to the third floor. He knocked on the large door at the end of the hallway, similar to the one that led to his room. The sounds of creaking and voices emanated through the door to no response. He banged on the door harder, and the noise coming from the room came to a stop. After a moment, the door opened to Ryvr, barefoot, in a bathrobe. He said in an annoyed tone, “What do you need, baby brother, as you can see I'm a little busy.” Rosario ignored him. “I need your key to the armory. I'm going to get the Fading Moon. I would use mine, but it's in Dreynas in my dorm.” Ryvr thought for a moment as an arm came across his shoulder, a hand reaching into his bathrobe across the chest Eshara’s blonde haired head came up next to his, “Come back to bed. Nysa is getting the maple syrup out.” he placed his hand on his face dragging it down in discontent “Look you're gonna make me miss out on the maple syrup, i don't like to miss out on the maple syrup so tell you what baby brother be up at six in the morning tomorrow and meet me in the training ring in the garden” Rosario shook his head in affirmation as Ryvr turned around and shouted out “Ok let's get this pancake party started ladies” he turned around and slammed the door with an audible click of the lock behind him
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Rosario turned back around and walked down the stairs as he turned to go towards his room, content with his brother's answer, a voice called to him from an open door. Half asleep, Senarre stood there in a nightgown. “Did someone say they were making pancakes?” Rosario smiled and said, “No, I think my brother's up to some weird sex thing with his wives.” “oh ok, but will there be pancakes in the morning?” Rosario smiled, “I can have the maids make anything you would like, or if you'd like, I can try making it myself.” “I think I'd rather have the maids make it because you still owe me the crustacean cakes.” He said, “Ok then, good night.” She replied in kind and went back into her room. Rosario, now in a good mood, walked into his room, climbed into bed, and closed his eyes. Sleep found him fast.
Rosario walked down to the training ring expecting to be the first one there, but found Ryvr and Ayame standing there, resting his right hand on two wooden swords hanging from his hip, his left hand had five glinting golden rings, one on each finger. His left hand held two wooden sticks, one carved like a sword and the other shorter, mimicking a scabbard. He threw them to his brother, who picked them up off the ground. He crossed his arms and said, “Alright, baby brother, you are very weak. The standard Lorea swordstyle is efficient for beginners, adaptable with good defense and offense, but it lacks in some ways. I want you to try your best.” “What's this got to do with the fading moon? I just want the sword.” Ryvr smiled and said, “What good is a blade without a body or mind to wield it? What good is a blade without a whetstone to sharpen it?” Rosario assumed his normal stance, wooden blade in his right hand and the pseudo scabbard in his left. “So I gotta fight you then? I can do that,” Ryvr smiled wickedly. “With a twist, Ayame will play a song on her shamisen, and we will move to the beat of that song.” “What's that got to do with training?” Ryvr pulled the two wooden swords from his hip. “To do battle is to engage with life and death, to dance in courtship with mortality.” Ryvr turned to Ayame and said, “Ayame, my love, I'm so sorry to drag you out of bed into the cold so early after last night's festivities, but could you please play me a song?” The woman smiled and said, “Certainly, my love.” She began to strum the instrument slowly. Ryvr walked around tracing the circle of the ring, his brother reciprocating in turn.
Rosario lunged forward, slowing down to strike. Ryvr caught the wooden sword with the edge of his own and forced it into the ground. Rosario tried to swing at him with the scabbard, but Ryvr backed off and said, “dead.” “What do you mean by dead?” asked Rosario, on the swing with the scabbard. You swung high, you left the vitals under your underarms open as well as your neck and torso. I'm not even going full speed, and you left that much open. I don't even know how you've survived in the wilds to this point.” “Come on, bring it on again,” he shouted at his brother, his breath trailing in the cold. “Ok then,” Ryvr said back to him, “My turn.” Ryvr raised one foot forward. Rosario readied for his attack. He put his foot down and disappeared. Rosario instinctively swung behind him, and Ryvr caught the wooden blade between two of his ringed fingers. “Sharp instincts but slow movements… Dead,” he swung his other wooden sword up and hit Rosario in the side of the torso, knocking the air out of his lungs. He fell to one knee and caught his breath after a moment. “Tell you what, baby brother, you get one more shot if you land it, you get the fading moon if you dont im training you from scratch.” “Sounds good, then let's do this.” Rosario dropped the wooden scabbard and generated a flat blade of black stones from his left hand and held them out to either side of his body before letting them rest at his sides. He tapped the ground once, then twice, then thrice. Ryvr looked surprised. “You learned one of my additions to the style. I'm surprised, and if you're using your magic, I might as well indulge you.” Ryvr reached into his coat and pulled three long metal stakes. He threw one of the needles behind Rosario, and he ignored it. He tapped the ground a fourth time, intending to unleash a flurry of slashes. Ryvr threw the other two needles. Rosario began his flurry of slashes and as if moving straight through the slashes Ryvr moved directly in front of his brother headbutting him, and causing Rosario to break off the attack and pivot to strike him Ryvr caught his wrist with one of the wooden swords and brought the other down onto his hand causing the black stone sword to fall to the ground and shatter to pieces.
Rosario moved to counter, but Ryvr was gone. Three sparking bolts gave way to three lightning strikes, booming when the sound returned to his ears. There was a wooden sword hovering a centimeter away from where his carotid artery should be. “Your form is loose, you move too slowly, and you ignored my instructions. You moved outside of the beats of the music. Come back tomorrow at this time, and we will begin training you from scratch,” Rosario cried out. “Please, Ryvr i need the Fading Moon. I need it to help my friends. Ryvr crossed his arms and looked down at his brother. “You are telling me you intend to rush headfirst to hunt a lich and an archdemon and intend to survive.” “How did you?” Ryvr turned to walk towards Ayame. “I have had spies following you since you introduced yourself to the raiding party. I know of your fights, I know of the lich and the archdemon, and while I didn't have men watching that fight, they were able to gather a series of dossiers on your prey. I will hand them over under the condition that you and your companions submit yourselves to training under my men.” Ryvr stroked the hair on his chin. “I will also give you the fading moon, and I'll have my armorers forge a silversteel blade for your woman. I would give her one of the clan blades from the armory, but she's not a Lorea, so I can't, unfortunately. granted you could change that, but it's all up to you. I expect you, Kian, and the Half-elf to meet me here tomorrow at this exact time. He began walking towards Ayame before turning his head to his brother and saying, “Oh, and do wear something comfortable i have a series of fun events planned for you and your friends.”
Ryvr approached Ayame and pulled her close. “Should we rejoin the others in the bed to warm up after such a cold outing ?” She whispered something in his ear that caused him to smile, and they began walking back to the manor. Before he got out of earshot, he yelled to his brother, “I'm going back to bed for a little while longer, don't forget to tell your friends that the maids made breakfast for you all, I hope you guys like it.”
“Oh boy, pancakes, bacon, sausage oatmeals fresh fruits, and even biscuits and gravy. This is amazing,” Senarre looked over the food excitedly, piling food onto the plate. Kian had a plate full of bacon and sausage, and almost nothing else. Paulida, who was sitting next to Kian, said, “You gotta get some fruits or something else on that plate, or you'll never grow big and strong.” his own plate was comprised of a single pancake piled to the brim with fresh fruit and a light drizzle of syrup. Carmilla was sitting across from Rosario with nothing but a whole pitcher of orange juice. She watched him intently. He was staring intently at a pile of three pancakes with a slice of butter on top, melting slowly, but not eating, lost in thought. She said, “Hey, cousin, you want some orange juice? It's got plenty of vitamin C, so you don't get sick.” Without looking away from his stack of pancakes, he said, “No thanks.” Senarre walked over and said, “I know he just needs some maple syrup.” He shuddered at the sight of her lips saying the words Maple and syrup. He said, “No thanks, I think I'm going to get some biscuits with gravy instead, I'm just not really feeling anything sweet right now.” Senarre shrugged and said, “Suit yourself” as she poured a healthy line of syrup onto her pancakes. She stopped for a second, “Hey, Lorea, where's your brother and his wives? They're gonna miss breakfast.” He turned to her, his eyes staring off into space, “Oh, they're sleeping in. I think hosting a dinner is tiring work,"" but the maids do every-” he cut her off “oh no, I'm sure they are just tired.” He heard the words “Maple syrup” in his brother's voice in his mind again and shuddered. Senarre said again in a curious tone, “Wheres vera i thought she stayed here last night?”
“I sent her back into town to supervise training with the rest of Fsoc for the day. She will be back before tomorrow morning,” Ryvr called out from the door. He walked over to Rosario and picked up the pancakes from in front of his brother. He said out loud to the group, “I hope the maids warmed up the maple syrup, you see, I am simply enthralled by the syrup produced here in Lorategia its one of the exports in the region.” he picked up the syrup bottle and poured it over the pancakes “It's a very versatile topping it can be eaten on many things for example my wife Nysa makes a desert with pistachios that is a modified version of a recipe from her homeland i must see if she can make one for us to all enjoy with tea one of these days it's truly a sensational desert” he went on for several more minutes about his love of maple syrup and with every utterance of the phrase Rosario shuddered at the thought of the various applications his brother uses maple syrup for.
Ryvr stood up with a glass of milk, dinging a spoon against it. The side conversations went quiet. “I have had my men locate Marw and Solomon for you. I have also compiled dossiers on them as well as service records, and the like. I intend for you three,” he pointed at Rosario Senarre and Kian, “to train under me and my men as rushing in as you are now, you will surely die were you to force a confrontation with them.” Senarre raised her hand, “But we fought them before.” “You fought a Marw who was gloating to your father, and you fought an archdemon that you did not kill, as they are still alive. If they had not broken off the fight when they did, would you still be breathing?” Ryvr turned to look at Paulida. “I wish to have words with you in private. Would you care to join me for a cigar in the lounge later? I'm not a big fan of smoking personally, but if it makes you more comfortable, I will indulge.” Paulida said, “Certainly, although I would prefer some brandy or perhaps a nice whiskey.” Ryvr smiled and said, “A man after my own heart, they make whiskey down in the city. Lorategian whiskey is some of the best in the country. I have a few bottles in my study,” he turned to Carmilla. “And for my cousin, I'm afraid I cannot train you personally due to your unique physiology, but I can offer you access to the archives if you'd like, and also if you would prefer physical training, you may join the others.”
He took a sip from the glass of amber liquid. Pauilda sat in a leather chair, and he stood by the window looking out onto the grounds. “I understand that if you have access to Marw’s file, you've seen mine?” Ryvr drank from the highball glass with a cube of ice floating in it. “Yes, I have quite an impressive record you have there, Cpt. Santos, I could use you if the storm comes to fall upon the kingdom. You'd make an excellent soldier, assuming you'd be willing to serve under Fsoc, granted, if you did, I would reinstate you as a captain and issue you a promotion to Colonel.” Paulida stroked his chin. “You provide me with a tantalizing offer, Lord Lorea, but I cannot indulge in your request; I have preeminent responsibilities with my daughter.” Ryvr moved his glass, the ice clinking around in the glass. “The reinstatement and the promotion would also come with a blank check, name your price, and I will pay.” Paulida exhaled deeply and rubbed his knees. “Listen, Lord Lorea, I'm not getting younger. I'm fifty-seven and am actively involved in the life of a bounty hunter. My daughter is 23, and I need to prepare her for a life without me in the event that I'm no longer available to guide her in this world.” Ryvr traced his finger across the scar on his face. “What if she were made Lorea?”
Paulida responded, half offended, “You would marry her?” Ryvr smiled and feigned embarrassment. “She's tall and pretty, but I like a couple more centimeters in some places i mean, my brother, it wouldn't necessarily be an optimal outcome, but it would be a marriage in name only, essentially, as he would have no need to bear heirs with your daughter she gets all the benefits of being in a main branch noble house with none of the drawbacks she could have any life she desires if she chose to attend any university she could attend it at no cost obviously she could see the world if she desired she could eat any meal of any kind at any time and she would have a safe place to return home to at any time.” Paulida drank from his glass “you pose a large variety of benefits but would you really care for a commoner like that?” Ryvr swirled his glass. “All of my wives are commoners, and all of them I love more than life itself. I would put the entirety of Dreynas to the blade if something were to befall them. House Lorea pays its debts and has done so for centuries.” Paulida drank down the rest of his glass. “Lord Lorea, I am honored to be offered such an accord, but I need time to contemplate this.” Ryvr reciprocated and downed the rest of his drink. “Of course, please take your time. I don't want you to enter into an agreement that you would not feel content in” Ryvr reached into his desk and pulled out a small handful of patches and tossed them to Paulida, they bore the insignia of Fsoc, the cloaked figure with the pale green eyes and the scythe “I didn't accept your proposition Lord Lorea” “No need those are for you and you and the little cat fellow and your daughter show them to any commissary or forgemaster an they can get you anything you need, call it a little perk while you are my esteemed guests here in Lorategia” he flicked through the patches “what about for Carmilla?” Ryvr pointed to his eyes, “Her all-access passes are located in her skull.”