[Lower District] Avornmagors' Estate

[Eyvind Redbeard]

Nestled in the Lower District of Taralon, surrounded by a high wall with a single entrance turned to the main street, the same street in which the pretigiated Deangela Center of Higher Academia hold its ground, rests the Avornmagors' Estate. Gossip tells of its owner being a High Imperial Official with dreams of glory but truth is that said High Imperial Official usually is an Officer in the Imperial Legions and has this Estate as a residence to his adoptive daughter. Therefore the location of the residence was carefully chosen, near the Deangela Academy and Library, near a School and not too far from the Candarose Gardens.

The House itself is a modest building surrounded by gardens which end in the walls that surround the Estate. Upon walking past the iron fence gate one can either pass underl an arch of flowers and vegetation that forms the entrance to a walkway of a finely crafted path to the main entrance of the House or one can turn to either right or left to walk in mosaic paths that circle around the House and through the garden.

The House's entrance was made through a common sized dark wooden door with a candle in each side, above head's height. Hanging from a iron pole to the right of the door a small bell with a rope attached could be rang to call the attention of the ones inside the House to the door.

The House's lobby was a practical room, with candle on the four corners and an abstract painting of a man riding a rabbit, the man painted in black and the rabbit in blue, in front of the main door. Two other doors, one on each side of the lobby led to the public area of the house, consisting in the meeting room, a small office and a library with some desks to the left and the private part of the house made up by the kitchen, the latrin, Eyvind's room, Rainn's room and a guests' room, to the right.

[Llanwyn Siannodel]

First week of Kalendryas, Winter of the War

The ride to the Cencoris' home was short, but lovely. Llanwyn had never spent time in Taralon before other than a quick breeze through many era ago, so he didn't remember much about the city nor did he recognize much of anything. Now, surrounded by twenty-two of his finest Paladins, Llanwyn wished he was here alone so that he could wander through the markets and visit the shops. "Another time," he thought to himself, hopeful to the end.

Now he had arrived just outside the wall that surrounded the home of the Cencoris. With Sir Dimitri and three Paladins of the Faith, they opened the iron gate and walked inside the grounds of Eyvind's estate. "Quaint," said Sir Dimitri to Llanwyn, a smile on the dwarf's face. Llanwyn looked at the dwarf, who was looking ahead and he could see the love in his face for all things simple. Sir Dimitri truly was a humble dwarf. "And beautiful," Llanwyn added. Sir Dimitri nodded in agreement.

One of the Paladins pulled on the rope that rang the bell at the front door, then they took positions around the Archprelate, forming a small circle of protection around their charge. One of them called out to the door in front of them, announcing their arrival, "His Excellency Lord Llanwyn Siannodel for Cencoris Avornmagor."

[Eyvind Redbeard]

Another calm Brightening in the lovely city of Taralon. The Vagaran had visited Rainn's school and walked with her back home. Pracenda had been a light meal with some fruits as a dessert and now Eyvind was sitting on his couch drinking water and reading a book, in the cover one could read the title "Warfare". The Cencoris considered is a rough book but it was a light reading during an afternoon of some rest before he rode off to deal with the affairs of the military. When someone rang at the door's bell he calmly stood up from his couch and closed his book, placing it over a table in the center of the meeting room. Opening the door that led to the lobby he unlocked the front door and opened it and to his surprise his eyes met four armored Paladins and a white-robbed figure he immediatly recognized. Not only due to the introduction yelled by one of the Paladins but also because Eyvind had already met the man before. Lord Llawnyn Siannodel, ArchPrelate of the Church of Faith was at his doorstep.

Only after a few moments of silence did Björnsson realize he had his jaw open and he was making a fool of himself by staying there, blocking the door. Stepping back and bowing slightly he gestured for the group to enter in his house.

"Serale, Your Excellency. Welcome to my humble home. I am terribly sorry for receiving you in this clothes and that I have no servant aside of my cook available to attend to your needs."

He tried to apologize.

[Llanwyn Siannodel]

Llanwyn walked forward, ahead of his Paladins and tapped Eyvind on the shoulder, "None of which is necessary... you have a lovely home." He smiled and if Eyvind were to look into his eyes, he would see that Llanwyn really meant what he had said. The Archprelate made his way into the lobby where he stopped, turned and addressed Eyvind again,

"I pray I'm not disturbing you, but I have arrived early from Aelyria Prime to discuss with you tactics as we discussed I would in our meeting." He was eager to discuss these plans, especially if some maps were involved. "I pray you won't mind if Sir Dimitri joins us?" He motioned to the dwarf Paladin to his right, the stout warrior obviously a rank above the rest of the lot.

[Rainn]

Rainn had been visiting her future school which had seemed interesting enough. At least the teacher that would be teaching her had seemed a tiny bit fun. Not that she really had any concept of how this all would work.

She didn't really worry about it, because now she had a lovely home! With a garden and all!

This is where she was when the Archprelate entered the house. All that she could hear to the garden around the house was some loud male voices and her father saying something. She knew someone important had come over, there was no yelling or loud talking in her home if it wasn't done by a paladin or a guard or who ever was escorting someone importing.

This might be interesting..wonder who she was. Rainn get up to her feet from where she had been looking at a little beetle making its way across the yard. Her clothes were comfortable clothes suitable for playing at the garden. This meant that they were already smudged from the knees with dirt as was her face and hands too. She was still charming, with long blonde hair and her eyes sparkling because of the sheer joy of having a garden and a home and a father!

She ran in to the house, only kicking her shoes off at the back porch (because the cook didn't like her running through her kitchen with her shoes on and she would do just that eventually if she didn't take the shoes off..).

"Father who came to visit us?" she called with a clear child's voice when she was running around the corner. She ran to the front of the house only to almost bump in to her father's legs. Instantly she knew this quest was someone important, VERY important. She knew it because he had paladins with him and her father seemed to be feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Oh..." she just said, looking quickly in to the eyes of the quest and then the floor.

[Eyvind Redbeard]

Llanwyn's smile calmed the massive Vagaran. Eyvind wasn't used to the presence of important people such as the ArchPrelate yet and he continued thinking said important people could think him a simple peasant, which he actually was. And here he was, standing in front of a Nobleman who wanted to discuss plans for the future, the future of Sheria and therefore the Empire.

"You haven't disturbed me at all, Your Excellency." he smiled "I was just relaxing and reading while my daughter plays in the garden. But please enter." he pointed the door leading to the meeting room while smiling to the dwarf "Of course I don't mind, Your Lordship. Make yourself at home, I will just get some water and drinks to you and your men, Your Excellency."

The red-haired man was about to step back and turn to enter the private part of the house, heading to the kitchen when Rainn's voice echoed in the hall and her little form turned the corner and almost stumbled into his legs. A smile spread through the soldier's face when he knelt next to his beloved daughter and with his enormous hand pushed the child's hair to the side gently.

"You're all covered in dirt, little girl."

He used his thumb to clean her cheek while still smiling. Rainn made him remember of his younger sister at times. She loved to swim in the sea and sometimes in mudpools too. Eyvind couldn't avoid a chuckle when he stood up and stepping to the side of Rainn pulled her forward gently.

"Rainn, I present you the ArchPrelate of the Church of Faith, Lord Llawnyn Siannodel. M'lord, this is my beloved daughter, Rainn.

I will get the drinks now, it will be just a moment.

As for you, my princess, you should take a bath before rysium."

He joked as he walked up to the kitchen and after almost dropping a jar with water and changing some words with Fiona, the dwarven cook, so she would give water to the Paladins outside, Eyvind placed two glasses in a tray and returned to the meeting room.

"And make sure Rainn takes a bath. Her hair is tickling mud, as usual."

He said with a laugh while leaving the kitchen and winked to his daughter.

"I hope I didn't make you wait too much, but I was asking Fiona to serve your men."

The towering Vagaran placed the tray with the glasses and the jar over the table of the meeting room and reaching for a small box that was under it.

"This box contains copies of all the maps of Sheria I ever found, they are yours now."

Eyvind handed Llanwyn the small box. It was a small gift from a humble soldier.

[Rainn]

When her father introduced Rainn to the stranger she looked at Archprelate again, grinned at him playfully and did a neat little curtsey, looking at the floor again.

When Eywind went to get the drinks she walked, almost sneaked, to the stranger who was now sitting in a comfortable armchair. She lingered around the sofa and the chairs and finally stood next to the armchair. She smiled at the man.

"I'm Rainn, what's your name?" she asked, politely but bluntly as a child would. Then she flashed him a radiant smile with a few teeth missing here and there and sat down to the floor, next to the stranger's feet.

[Llanwyn Siannodel]

Llanwyn smiled as he was introduced to Rainn, Eyvind's daughter. He crouched down and waved to her, smiling as he did, his wings tucked neatly on his back so as not to scare her. Llanwyn was not a child, but his looks were child-like as were all Fae until they died (generally). "So nice to meet you, Rainn" said Llanwyn with kind eyes and a soft voice. He stood and smiled at Eyvind, "She's beautiful, a gift from the gods."

While Llanwyn and Sir Dimitri awaited Eyvind's return, the little girl came and spoke to them. The Archprelate smiled and answered her, "My name is Llanwyn and his name is Sir Dimitri." Before he could talk more, she was taken away to be bathed and Eyvind joined them once more...

The gift was thoughtful and Llanwyn cherished it. "Thank you Cencoris, these maps will be put to good use, I promise you that." He opened the box and started pulling them out. "Do you have a table where I can look at these? Unless that is, we don't need to look at them to discuss plans?"

[Eyvind Redbeard]

The door opened and a dwarf woman entered the room. She looked directly to Rainn and then offered a hand to the child. Strict but gentle, Fiona took Rainn to the private part of the house.

"You need to take a bath young girl."

She said with her rough voice while filling a pot with water and placing it over the fireplace. Then she reached for some wooden logs and placed them making a circle under the pot. Soon the fire was growing and the water was getting warmer.

"Now I want you to take out your clothes and place them in the dirty clothes basket, I will clean then later. Then go to the bathtub and wait until I bring you the hot water. We have to choose a nice dress for you later, little girl. This is no simple person the one visiting your father, this man is perhaps the second most powerful man in the Empire. If he gets a bad impression of your father he may be in disfavor of the Crown. And we don't want it do we?"

She winked to Rainn as she prepared the fire and spoke. The child was young but she was smart, half of the words Fiona was saying were probably new to her but she would understand the meaning of the speech.

***

At the mention of a table where they could see the maps a playful grin appeared in the Cencoris face. He promptly stood up and walked to the large double door composed of wooden frames and glass that lead to the small library of his house. Opening both doors wide he invite the two guests to enter the room.

"I am sorry for the bookshelves but I didn't have the time to adquire the needed books to have a proper library, yet."

He casually waved to the bookshelves that covered the entire left and front wall of the library. There were some books already there but anyone would see that there were still missing entire colections.

"As for the table where to see maps, I have something much better."

The Vagaran approached a table that had been placed in the middle of the library, it was large and square and to the guests' surprise it had the map of the Aelyrian Empire engraved on it. It even had colors! The Provinces of the Empire were all represented on this map and so were the many cities and towns and ports and islands of the Medonian Continent. A closer look on the Sherian Province would show the visitors that there were small flags on certain locations, representing the positioning of troops and supply lines. Two flags rested in Draelmar Hold, to the north of Taralon, two were located in Everdark Keep immediatly west of the capital city and two others could be seen in Daittern. Between Everdark and Taralon almost a dozen flags represented the stationed armies.

"Here you can see what is going on in Sheria and what is yet to come."

Eyvind smiled proudly.

[Llanwyn Siannodel]

Llanwyn and Sir Dimitri made their way into the library. Llanwyn loved libraries, even ones not fully stocked. The idea of being surrounded by books tweaked his imagination and excitement grew in his heart. For this Fae, the smell of an old book was as sweet as any flower. Llanwyn approached the table and looked down at the beautifully etched map of the Empire.

"This is most useful," he said with a smile, to which Sir Dimitri added, "Indeed."

Llanwyn looked down at the flags sticking in the wood. "These flags, do they represent Imperial forces?" He was very interested. His time in the military meant he had studied military tactics, though only briefly. "The Church's forces will arrive in three brightenings, they've been given orders to set up temporary camp just north of Taralon. If they should be camped elsewhere, I can send riders to dispatch the message."

[Rainn]

Because she wanted to get back to see the visitor as soon as possible Rainn did exactly as Fiona said. About half an candlemark later she appeared back to the livingroom and saw that her father and the quests were in the library.

She tiptoed in to the room, pretending that the men couldn't see her. She had one of her favorite dresses on, a sky blue with long sleeves, and her hair was now shining golden with a blue ribbon in them. She hated ribbons but Fiona liked them and to be able to come back here she had had to give in some.

She sneaked to her father's side and peeked at the table. Her eyes were at the hight of the edge of the table with the map on it.
Of course she had seen it before, when it was carried to the house by some paladins, but it was truly amazing to a child, even more so than to an adult.
"Daddy," she said, nudging at Eyvind's sleeve, "I think you need to go change your clothes too." she said and smiled beautifully at her father.
"We weren't expecting visitors, but that doesn't make it all right to wear what ever you put on this morning..." she said with a tone strikingly similar to Fiona's tone.

She was smart, old for her age, and witty. She smiled at the strangers and then seemed to hush her father off the room to change clothes.

Then she went to drag a chair over to the table to take another look. The wooden chair was heavy so she looked at Sir Dimitri who was closest. She didn't say anything, but she looked like a little lady there, waiting for a gentleman to help her with something.

If he was to go, she would whisper to him loudly when he was passing her: "And do something about your hair daddy, it is all messy...".

[Eyvind Redbeard]

It was good to know that people felt comfortable in one's place, but having the ArchPrelate feeling good in his 'limited' library was something that filled a man's chest of pride. It was almost like marching in a Triumph, almost because a Triumph was an experience of a life-time.

"Aye, all these flags represent Imperial or Provincial forces." he shoke his head when Llawnwyn refered a camp north of Taralon "I'd suggest having your army positioned near Everdark Keep, here, in the center of the defensive line but not directly exposed to the enemy. I trust your forces are slightly quicker than a regular army in maneuvers and I trust this maneuverability in case of re-deploying. As for future plans I intend to dig in for winter and wait the Orcs to starve in their lands, we will probably raid them from time to time but a full scale attack should only take place in the break of Spring..."

But then he was interrupted by Rainn who with her childish innocence had killed all the arguments he could have dreamed of using. She was right, if he had told her to change clothes he couldn't deny doing the same. Eyvind would have to be more careful around this delightful child. With a playful smile he left the room.

"I will be back in a moment, gentlemen. My daughter has reason on her side, what can I say?"

And he left the library heading to his room. His Dress Uniform would be enough, three bars in his collar ranking him as Cencoris and his black cloak that symbolized his membership in the Black Shields. It took him a while to change clothes and take care of his hair, more his hair than the clothes actually. Rainn was right, again, it was all messy and he broke two pieces of his hairbrush while standing in front of the mirror.

[Llanwyn Siannodel]

Llanwyn looked to Sir Dimitri who nodded as he looked over the map and the flags. "The placement seems right, my lord." said the dwarven paladin. "And starving out the Orcs is unlikely, but the best move considering their fortification are probably stronger than even ours. And with the recent Ratta attack, they know they can get to Taralon... so waiting them out and keeping them off guard may be best the strategy until Spring."

Llanwyn nodded, "I trust your experience," he said, smiling at Sir Dimitri. "With that time, we'll have the new mage weapons well tested." Sir Dimitri nodded.

When Eyvind did re-enter the room, Llanwyn would look to him and ask, "Can you tell me of this recent ratta attack? They are connected with the Orc?"

[Rainn]

As Rainn noticed that the quests stopped paying attention to her after her father had exited the room, she frowned at the men and left the room to go back to the garden to search for anything more interesting that a undersized paladin and a strange male thing with wings. At least that is what she saw them like after they lost interest in her. She wasn't exactly pouting, but she hated the way some adults thought children were best when they were quiet and nowhere to be seen.

She went past her father on the way out. He looked nicer now, neat and orderly like he should.
"I'll be outside if you need me after the quests are gone." she told him with her best little adult voice while passing and waving him as if dismissing him to go play with the other adults.

[Rioshi]

Taking his time to pass through the Lower District of Taralon whilst these curious humes and fey bickered in the Avornmagors' Estate, a lone katta found himself amused by the location of a single residence taking up enough space to breed a hunt in feeding an entire pride! Rumors were all well and good, but perhaps this hume might actually have the force of arms and strategic position to claim true to his words- albeit one tossed out from a rather separate source from himself. An amusement, to say the least.


As his...escort was hardly one to wait for this insignificant katta who- well, rather preferred his temporary anonymity, Rioshi's approach to this establishment was faster than anticipated. This officer was at least acquainted with modern warfare, and so it was with little surprise that the katta surveyed some rather large scale defenses being erected along Taralon at the time of his arrival. An interesting militaristic location so near public facilities, but it was doubtful those with the chance to live away from a strict officer routine in the heart of an encampment could accept any less.


"This is where the my Commander resides with his family. I'd advise that you ring the bell and wait with me. He may be busy, I've heard a soldier in Darkblade saying the ArchPrelate is visiting him.", his escort stated with a casual tone befitting his words.


After a moment, the young Warrior-poet opened the iron fence gate and approached the main door after walking past an arch of flowers, almost as if ensuring the katta did not stray too far. As Rioshi followed and pulled back his dagger from the sleeve strap on his left arm, he prepared himself and gently rapped the door twice- followed by a simple pull on the nearby rope to ensure that his appearance would be duly noted. At the very least, he had made it within the given time frame, so Rioshi was content with the result.