Like a monument, the Bloodflower home is easily seen from the Kabrin road as it sits atop a gentle hill. Though a long walk separates the two, guests are often pleasantly surprised to see various flowers lining the path. These dots of colour pool to form vibrant bundles as one nears the pearly building. To the side sits Kenash's largest rose garden, which wraps around toward the back of the main building. Varieties such as honey perfume, fragrant cloud, new dawn and more than a hundred others displayed in arches or simply planted along its winding pathways. Benches and bench swings are placed around the large fragrant garden, as well as statues and gazebos. There are other flowering plants as well, including lavender, dianthus, gardenia, nicotiana and hyacinth to name a few, though the majority are grown on the other side of the white fences that run between Kabrin Road and the Bloodflower plantation. Inside the stark white of the main building, are peach, warm whites and browns that colour the walls and furnishings made visible through the tall and plentiful windows. Elaborately carved friezes, square columns and multiple balconies are commonly seen in plantation homes, but a subtle feminine touch can be seen in the flowing and curving shapes. Likewise, various tastefully nude or suggestive art - most of which include a subtle flower theme - decorate the walls and shelves, adding pops of vibrant colours. Guests have often commented on the resemblance between painted subject and the Sitai family, but with the abstract images, it is hard to be sure. Though all of the rooms are elegantly decorated, special attention is paid to a selective few. The sunken den is one such example and appears as the name suggests, with short stairs that lead down to lavishly decorated area. Pipes and lamps for smoking as well as tobacco and hemp are always at the ready, brought in by the attractive slaves that the Sitai are known for. These are typically females as the family find their bodies more appealing to both men and women. A short distance away is the ballroom, a large room with high ceilings and walls of dark cream. Much like the design of the exteriour, the light paint allows for colour to stand out against a blank canvas. In this case, it would not be the flowers but the gowns. Chairs sparsely line on side of the room, with the opposite corner reserved for a hired orchestra. The slaves are split between living in the main building and in the slave quarters, depending on their roles. The quarters are above ground and hidden in the shade of various trees. The field slaves sleep in cot beds packed snugly into one of two rooms, one for each sex. Young children are kept in a separate room close to the females. One larger, multipurpose room is meant for doctor visitations, gatherings, etc. There is also one bathroom to be shared. For the house slaves, they live in a small wing of the main building with one, bathroom and a larger multipurpose room meant for training in housekeeping skills as well as social skills, seduction and cosmetology. This is where slaves can prove themselves and enter into the closest semblance of luxury achievable; by becoming a favoured slave. These attractive slaves are lent out to other families for parties or used for the family's own, and are highly coveted by all. This rank is not easily achieved but the rewards are great for those that do, though some whisper that there is an even higher tier for those purposed for spying on the other families. For their most popular crop, tobacco, the Sitai have allocated the majority of their land. Tobacco is cured right on the plantation using various methods, resulting in the variety in tastes that the family is known for. Air-curing occurs in well-ventilated barns, where the tobacco is to dry for 4-8 weeks. This tobacco is low in sugar, creating a light, sweet flavour and high nicotine content, and is commonly used for cigars. Nearby, are larger barns where the fire is kept at a low smolder. Sometime between 3 days and 10 weeks, depending on the type of tobacco and process, a low in sugar and high in nicotine tobacco is created. This is used for pipe and chewing tobacco, as well as snuff. For flue-cured tobacco, the plant is hung on tier-poles in oasts with flues that feed from external fire boxes and heat-cure the tobacco without exposing it to smoke. This generally takes a week to produce tobacco that is high in sugar and medium to high levels of nicotine. Lastly, is to cure the tobacco by allowing them to dry under the sun, which produced tobacco that is low in sugar and nicotine. This sun-cured tobacco is used for cigarettes and "white" snuff, which are fine, dry and potent. The Sitai also grow sugarcane and hemp on their land, with the latter being particularly advantageous to crops grown afterward. Once hemp was discovered to suppress weeds, loosen soil with its large root system and positively affect the soil tilth, it was grown in the majority of the land before most of it was harvested and replaced with other crops. As for sugarcane, which can be grown on a variety of soil, a modest section of the plantation was allocated. It shares this space with ribbon cane, which is used to create ribbon cane syrup much like sugarcane. A large distillery, which sits near the tobacco barns for ease of protection, takes sugarcane byproducts to produce rum. The waste produced by the distillery is also applied to sugarcane at the time of planting to improve the growth. Family NPCs
Name: Dervain Sitai Race: Human DoB: 85th of the Summer Season, 469 AV PoB: Kenash Title: Head of the Bloodflower Household Skills: Leadership 40; Weapon: Dagger 35; Botany 32; Tracking 30; Hunting 30; Agriculture: Tobacco and Hemp 28; Wilderness Survival: Swamp 22; Body Building 20; Singing 18 Gnosis: Unknown Additional Info: Forthcoming Servant NPCs
Name: Keoni Race: Human DoB: 87th of Fall, 478 AV PoB: Riverfall Title: Groundskeeper Skills: Gardening 73, Herbalism 68, Agriculture: Tobacco, Hemp and Sugarcane 52, Medicine 49, Singing 20 Gnosis: Unknown Additional Info:Having lived in Riverfall since birth, Keoni has been influenced by the Akalak all his life. The flirtatious and playful boy quickly grew into a disciplined man - a gardener - and soon caught the attention of one elusive and sought after female. Just as he arrogantly predicted as a child, the two wed and began to plan their future together. However, misfortune soon followed as his mother in law fell ill. His wife answered her call and traveled to Denval to help nurse her back to health, for they had no one else. Unfortunately, just when she was on the road to recovery, a case of pneumonia took her into Dira's arms. Distraught, his wife abandoned the city, but did not make it a safe distance away before the Djed storm hit. Having heard of refugees from the disaster but no news from his beloved, Keoni traveled to the harbouring cities in turn. Eventually, the realization that she was truly gone sunk in, and by then, he was just entering the city of Kenash. It was there, from the Kabrin Road, that he saw the beautiful garden of roses. Compelled by some unknown desire, Keoni dismounted and strolled up the path where he met Gar, the previous groundskeeper. The old man saw the desperation in the stranger's eyes as they discussed the garden, and eventually his journey. Pitying him, as well as recognizing his skill, Gar took him under his wing. Months later, he passed away in his sleep, leaving his talented pupil as the new groundskeeper. Today, Keoni has come to terms with his misfortunes and grown strong, returning to the light-hearted man he once was. Typically, he is found in the garden singing quietly in either Common or Tukant as he tends to the gifts his mentor left behind. Name: Varya of the Red Moon Race: Myrian DoB: Winter 31st, 480 A.V. PoB: Taloba Title: Captain of the Guard at Bloodflower Skills: Weapon: Shortspear 61, Intimidation 40, Leadership 32, Wilderness Survival 30, Body Building 26, Tracking 19 Additional Info: Varya of the Red Moon bares the mark of a freeborn, but accepts no pay for her position and is a slave in everything but word. Her situation is one highly gossiped about among both the Sitai and the other plantation families, as the Myrian warrioress was brought across the Suvan Sea by the trader Navin Sitai, their relationship unknown. She was instilled in her position as Captain of the Guard by the aforementioned Navin, and has since proved herself as extremely proficient in both weapon and tongue. Fiery and sharp-tongued, the closest anyone has got to wheedling out her reason for being in Kenash is “I have a debt to pay, alright?” Slave NPCs
Name: Marzia Race: Human DoB: 30th of Summer, 461 AV PoB: Kenash Title: Nanny Skills: Teaching 75, Rhetoric 53, Cooking 49, Storytelling 31 Gnosis: Unknown Additional Info:Born into the slavery, Marzia was a honest and hardworking girl and the oldest of a large family. Stronger and hardier than most, she was designated to the fields where she applied herself diligently. Obedience was ingrained, as well as enforced by the older slaves, and so the thoughts of freedom never occurred to her. Though her life was tough, it was still better than than most others. Here she had a home, however tentative, security and loved ones. Due to her experience in caring for her siblings, Marzia soon became an unofficial mother to the other slave children. Whenever the Sitai children would play with the slaves, she was there to supervise. If the dynasty brats caused trouble, she was unafraid in disciplining them with firm but gentle words. Though some rebelled, most listened to the young woman and gradually quieted their rowdy behaviour. Noticing these changes, their parents were quick to remove Marzia from the fields and into the house, severing her connection to her siblings. Lonely and not as thankful as she should be, she threw herself into her work as she climbed up the ranks. Since then, she has maintained her position at the top with even the head housekeeper under her instruction. Name: Theo Race: Human DoB: Summer 22nd, 438 A.V. PoB: Kenash Title: Slave trainer Skills: 68 Seduction, 40 Cosmetology, 26 Persuasion, 21 Leadership Gnosis: None Additional Info: Theo has been a slave almost as long as he has been alive - which is a much longer lifetime than most - but he had no ambitions towards advancing his rank or escaping servitude. When one views his cushy position as “slave trainer”, the reason becomes obvious. A notoriously popular slave at Sitai parties in his past, now that Theo has reached a more advanced age it has been left to him to oversee the conditioning of house slaves, particularly those more attractive slaves that are displayed at parties. While time has robbed him of much of his appeal (and ability), he still maintains a bit of grandfatherly charm. However, this last bit of charisma doesn’t even come close to hiding a stern backbone, which translates rather well into his new position. Crops and Services
Crops Tobacco Hemp Sugarcane
Services Slave lending
Stats Land: 2560 Acres (4 sq mi) Slaves: 128 Travel Time to Kenash: ~ 1.5 hr ** Written up by Jed Sitai |
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