Closed Home Sweet Home

[Elias Caldera]

1st Day of Winter, 517 AV

“Who’s hosting this event?” Elias asked, brow peaked in interest as he turned to the ravosalaman. The tanned fellow merely shrugged from his perch behind them, his pole steady and true as the sleek vessel came in to dock alongside the berth. Already he could see how badly the wood had aged and rotted here, the docks clearly neglected and fallen into disrepair like everything else in this place, but the mage ignored it in favor of this latest distraction. A party, he mused curiously, a hand upon his chin as he considered the possibilities.

The soft bump of the ravosala touching base with the platform’s quaint harbor shook him from his quandary and he moved to stand, offering a helping hand to the second soul who had shared the trip with him and had also been privy to the pilot’s rumor. His cousin Alija had joined him that day, his enthusiastic insistence finally winning out over her better judgment it seemed. He was glad for company to say the least. It was only right that his kin lay witness to his -their- birthright after all, and now that she was finally here, he prayed she could look past the wreckage and see what he saw. Beholding it with her own eyes was the best way to get the Zeltivan invested in its restoration, and Elias knew he needed her as enthralled in this endeavor as he was if it was to have any hope in succeeding. There was no way he could do it alone, and after everything that had happened to lead him to this point, there was no point if she wasn’t there by his side when it was all said and done. He wanted an ally to reap the rewards and bear the burdens with him, but more than that, he wanted his family back, and this decrepit old ruin was where that journey started.

They could see the manor from here, but before the soldier began the march across the grounds, he returned his attention to the ravosalaman one last time. “Seriously though,” he went on, pulling out a gold miza between his gloved fingers. “The name of the one hosting this little magical get together.” To his surprise, the young man merely shrugged a second time in response however, an apologetic air falling over him as he looked up at the black clad swordsman. “I’m sorry sir, I honestly don’t know. But I mean-" He hesitated, and the Caldera found himself growing both intrigued and annoyed in equal measure.

“What?” he demanded coldly.

The boy found his courage and continued. “I mean, my pa says all you mages know each other. Can’t you just ask around and find out… your… self?” The blank and barren stare that greeted the ravosalaman caused him to stumble on his last few words, regret catching up to him almost immediately as realization dawned on him what a poor choice of words he’d just made.

“You’re right.” Elias eventually answered. “We do all know each other, and next time we convene in in our magical tower to choose our next victim, I’ll take great delight in mentioning your name to all my friends.”

“Wait… what?”

With that, the sorcerer turned and walked away.

“That was a joke right?”

He ignored the boy's pleas and carried on, across the weathered planks and unto the dead and dried grass of the manor’s front yard. He remembered a time when these gardens had been tended dutifully by slaves once, kept green and verdant as a testament to Caldera prominence in a city that was nothing but brown and grays. Now even the imported soil beneath his boot felt desiccated and wrong as he crunched a path through the dead foliage.

He gave Alija a dry smile as he caught up with her, gesturing towards the battered and broken home that rose shakily to greet them. "Well, you haven't fled yet, so I'm guessing that's a good sign. Look, I know I said it would take some work but..." He drowned his sigh, eyes cast to the floor as he tried to pick the right words. Unfortunately, that was when he noticed a patch red amidst the sullen grass, and with a start realized he was looking at a blood stain. He was sure if he searched a little harder, he'd manage to find a few glinting golden teeth lying around here as well, but instead the swordsman hastily moved his boot to hide the unsightly stain that he had personally reduced Hollister Von Carstein into some seasons past now, and hoped Alija hadn't noticed. It was as if the girl needed anymore reason to abandon this hovel already.

"This place used to be something once." He sighed after a while with as he returned his gaze to the run down manor. Tiles were loose, windows were broken or boarded up, and even the fountain was dead and stagnate, but still he pressed on. "It used to represent power and pride for my family. A holdout from generations past that somehow we still clung to despite our decline. Now that family is gone, but this place remains. Now in their stead I picture a new family calling this manor home. Imagine it, cousin: children playing in the yard. Slaves tending to the grounds days and night. The Caldera house, risen from the ashes, proud and strong once more, but not like those who came before us, but with a new found glory to match the ancestors who built this place to begin with.

It used to be something, Alija, and together, I think we can make that thing again."

[Alija]

A party.

At once her interest rose, as did her caution. Everything in her screamed to be careful, because everything about this party needed it. A party, with the host unknown, words spread by the ravosalamen rather than a more appropriate fashion. This was so startlingly anonymous that it was practically announcing itself as a trap or ruse to gather mages all up in one spot.

But the whole event reminded her of her birthday party in Zeltiva and that had been so similar, too. Had she been anonymous then? She couldn't even remember. Despite that all, the striking coincidence only made her want to go even more.

Besides, the ravosalaman had spoke with no hint of lies or deception, she had made sure of that. With her auristics activated - and she had done so the minute he had brought up the party for the mages - she had been able to determine that much at the very least. Perhaps he wouldn't know, and why would he? He was just the messenger, not the one who planned it all. But it was the best reassurance she got, even if it didn't help her make her mind up.

The boat shook as it hit the deck, the wood old and rotten. Letting herself be helped up by her cousin, she turned her attention back towards the manor they had approached and wondered if it would really be hers one day. Theirs.

It was everything she could have dreamed of and more, even with the decrepit state of the place.

Stepping off slowly, she tested the dock for its strength. Entranced by the building, she moved forward and forgot the conversation. Elias could deal with the final details he was dealing with.

The dirt was foreign and unnatural in the floating city. It was dead and dying, too. What weeds had grown on it crackled under her footsteps, snapping with the force. There was promise of beauty here, beauty and prominence, but the entire place seemed to have forgotten what it had once held.

"I can see that," she smiled at him softly, letting her gaze follow the sweeps of the architecture, arches and openings. Perhaps she didn't understand this craftsmanship, but she could still recognise the skill that must have gone behind making it. "It should be beautiful. It still is, in a way. But it just needs... more." A little love, a little care. Some maintenance, and the money to supply that. But it could rise again, she was certain of it.

He spoke full of inspiration and ideas of splendour. And she agreed with him although she didn't say it. The look in her eyes betrayed it all. Everything was so perfect - the extent of his words were lost on her.

"Shall we go inside then?" She let him lead the way.

[Elias Caldera]

What a godsend his cousin was. Even as youths in Zeltiva she had consoled and encouraged him at every turn, even when it meant his mad schemes and foolhardy antics would inevitably get her into more trouble than it was worth. Now, so many years and mistakes later, she was still there for him in a way, still gracing him with a kindness and support that Elias knew all too well he didn’t deserve. This prospect of ‘rekindling’ some old and forgotten dynasty was easily the most farfetched of his ill-fated ploys, and though it would have crushed him, he knew he could hardly have blamed her if she had simply said ‘no’ to all this nonsense and decided to walk away.

But she hadn’t say no, at least not yet anyway. In fact, it seemed like she was leaning towards quite the opposite.

Like he said; godsend.

That was all well and good of course, but now that she’d asked to actually see inside, he was wondering how long that sentiment would last. “Right…” He swallowed, tugging at his collar nervously. “Of course.”

Even a man like Elias, one who’d spent a lifetime hiding what he truly felt from others, was having a hard time masking his hesitancy when it came to what should have been the rather simple task of going into the mansion itself. He tried in vain to distract from his odd reaction by instead pressing forward towards the manor’s front ntrance and away from Alija, but that only lead to him to reaching the bronze handles of the large doors far too quickly for his liking.

She couldn’t have known that there was something amiss there that day, that they weren’t meant to be alone on the platform like this at all. The buzz and drive of laborers hard at work rebuilding and reforging the manor had been meant to flood the courtyard with the sounds, smells and sheer excitement of renewal and progress. A little bit of theatrics some might call it, just to help sell his wondrous vision. Instead, the grounds were eerily silent, and no matter how much the soldier had threatened or bribed, he knew full well they would remain that way until something changed.

He hadn’t believed them at first of course. They’d come stumbling and screaming to him, hollering some sort of madness too ridiculous too even humor, so when one of them mentioned quitting the work on the manor and going home, he’d chosen that little fool to snap like a twig in front of the others so that they all understood completely what the price of any further setbacks would be. That had reaffirmed their priorities rather hastily, and it wasn’t long before they were back to work. When he’d arrived to the manor the next day to check on the status of the reconstruction however, he’d found the workers gone again, run off to their hovels and homes, more afraid of whatever it was they’d seen inside the manor than they were of Elias himself.

Naturally, he’d decided to go in. Enraged and furious, he had stormed into his old home hoping to find the source of this tumult that plagued his plans so, but instead, Elias had come stumbling out of this mansion more shaken and confused than he’d been in a very long time. Now that he was at the door again, about to go in for the first time since he’d left, he wasn’t sure if he even could…

Get a grip of yourself, fool! He growled inwardly, forcing himself to abandon his absurd indecisiveness and just open that damn door already. He gripped the handle tighter with purpose revived, but even still, he found himself bracing for something none the less. The sorcerer slowly pulled open the heavy oak doors as he’d done the last time he’d been here, its grinding groan of protest to his touch just as loud and echoing as the last time it flowed throughout these empty halls and barren chambers. He paused at the open doorway, dust and cobwebs the only things to greet him as he crossed the threshold.

Elias wasn’t afraid because he knew what he was walking into, he was afraid because he still had no idea of what it was he’d actually seen in the first place, and not knowing worried him more than anything.

Inside the manor was much like one would expect having seen the outside. The place was a hollow shadow of what it had once been, devoid of life and light alike. The odd chair or table still remained here or there, often flipped on its side or shattered into splinters upon the floor. Shadows lingered in every corner, and with each passing breeze a new creek or moan of the structure more troubling than the last could be heard from somewhere deeper within.

“When my mother and I left this place and fled to Zeltiva, my father abandoned it, preferring his offices at the Vitrax instead. He was a man with many enemies and I assume he felt safer there than he did in his own house, or perhaps just less guilty." Elias began, absentmindedly picking up an upended chair and before placing back on its legs. "Either way, when he died, I inherited much of the ill will his long list of victims and foes had held for him over the years, and some of them had taken upon themselves to see this place brought low. I stopped them, just like all the others who came before and after looking for their revenge, but not before they’d had their way ransacking our home. They pillaged what they could and destroyed what they couldn’t.”

With a distinct snap and puff of dust, he pulled free the curtains that had been lazily dangling over one of the windows, revealing the shoddy rays of light they'd been concealing. Boarded up as the window had been, it offered little in the way of illumination, but the swordsman was thankful for what he got never the less. He coughed, waving away the dust as he returned to Alija. "Understand, I spent a long time after my return dealing with people like them, and after a while I got very good at making them understand the error of their ways. I don't want you to concern yourself over nothing, its not something you or Kial will ever need to deal with."

He didn't enjoy lying to her like that. The truth was every once in a while some new fool would come crawling out of the woodwork to challenge him anew, or more to the point, gut him an alley if given half the chance, but what he'd said about getting good at dealing with them had been true. He'd cut a swath through his past like a hot knife through butter, and now most folks knew better than to dare face him outright anymore, lest they met his blade just as swiftly. He'd left enough bodies in his wake since returning to Ravok to make sure that was a lesson everyone in this damnable city was well aware of one way or another. Alija however, may not have been as safe as he'd like to believe. Her connection to him, to the Calderas, it made her... No, he didn't want to think about it. He'd been the to convince her to come back with him in the first place, there was no way in hell he'd let anything hurt her or her people now that she was finally by his side again! He needed to change the subject, before the vile thoughts swimming around in his brain began to fester out of control like they always did.

"You know, when you left for Sahova I was worried you-"

A crash came thundering throughout the deserted home, one so loud and jarring it shattered the dreary quiet that had settled over the house like glass upon rock. Elias spun around to face it, hand hovering over his hilt out of pure instinct as he readied himself. He waited for a moment, eyes narrowed in uncertain and anxious anticipation, watching, waiting. But after a tick, nothing followed. The sound had come from the kitchen, or somewhere close he assumed, but instead of going to investigate, he turned back to Alija with a stupid grin on his face that he prayed to god hid his panic. "Probably just the wind, or a stray cat..."

[Alija]

She followed him in. While Alija kept close to her cousin for support, she lingered behind a little anyway, allowing him to take it all in without her. To him, after all, it meant a whole deal more than the Zeltivan-born and -bred blacksmith, who had barely experienced the fineries of Ravok. She moved behind him and listened to his story, to the story of this house. It was enchantingly beautiful, even with the empty lingering shadows. Perhaps it was that which gave it its character.

"Kial and I will be fine. I don't worry about that," she reassured, lying deeply. It was obvious when she lied. Of course she worried. She worried constantly. She knew too well the dangers of the city, even when she didn't have a cousin's crazed enemies after them. Kial almost never left her side - this being one of the few times he wasn't with her. If he lay in any danger here, she wouldn't hesitate for a second to drag him away and hide him in the safest place possible. After all he had been through, being forced to follow Alija around like a piece of furniture, he didn't deserve any of that. "Besides, I know you can protect this place." She remembered his glyphs on the walls of her smithy.

The blacksmith ran calloused finger over the window that had just been uncovered, watching as her fingers turned grey with dust. This would take work. But it wouldn't be hard, or so it didn't seem. Some dusting, some scrubbing, some sweeping. She could do that alone, if she could spare enough time into it between her smithing. Between them, though, she knew they had enough to spare to hire some hands to help them out, too.

The sudden change of conversation didn't go unnoticed. He had something to say, about being worried, about Sahova. Her head turned, wiping the dust away on her clothing, as she waited for him to finish.

A crash broke his conversation and she couldn't help the jump as her muscles tensed and shoulders jolted with sudden movement. Elias moved to his weapon, she noticed that. And the grin on his face... he was hiding something. She knew him well enough through his misadventures through Zeltiva to know when there was something more behind it. She didn't need to know him - following that sudden wariness with a grin like that could never be normal.

"Always better to make sure," she stated quickly, unsure why she did. On one hand, she didn't want to encounter whatever it was, if it wasn't just a stray cat or the wind, like he claimed. On the other, her curiosity drove her too strongly. Besides, not knowing what it was and turning their backs on it seemed to be the more dangerous option. Elias could protect her. "After you."

She gestured towards the source of the noise. "I want to see more of this house anyway." As if that was a good enough excuse to continue. "If it's just a stray cat, it's not going to bother us much anyway."

[Elias Caldera]

Oh, now she chooses to be the bold and adventurous type… The mage groaned mentally. As was always the case when it came to the beloved blacksmith however, Elias inevitably bowed to his dear cousin’s wishes with little hesitation. Never the less, when he finally forced himself forward, it was with a steady, cautious step as he tried his best to pretend all perfectly normal.

“There’s a saying here we use; ‘there are no blind men in Ravok.'” He spoke, trying to cut the tension that only he himself was likely feeling, alluding to the fact that Rhysol’s chosen would have their eyes grow milky white when anointed with his blood. It was something Elias had explained to his cousin long before they’d even arrived in the city, making sure she knew exactly what to look out for and exactly who to avoid. It was just one in a long line of lessons and warnings he had tried his best to drown the poor blacksmith in in after she’d agreed to return home with him. Desperately, he had wanted her as prepared for Ravok as anybody could be. The task had proved more daunting and hopeless than he had first realized. “I suppose the same is true for stray cats.” He looked over his shoulder, preparing a warm smile to help distract, but he saw the hints of confusion in her reaction, and he hastened to clarify. “What with all the kelvics and all. They’re everywhere in this city. In fact, you’d do best to find yourself one and study its aura closely so that you know what to look for in rest of them. Not every bird circling above, or rat skittering below has its eyes on just its next meal here. Always assume you’re being watc-”

Elias stopped himself mid-sentence, realizing with a start what he was saying. What am I doing!? He thought angrily. Wasn’t he trying to make her feel at home here. Why then was he being such a fatalistic fool!

Though, then the question became; was Alija better off hidden from the truth, or forced to embrace it? She was far from a weak woman, but she also wasn’t one who needed to tolerate such nuances and unspoken menace if she had to. Especially not with Kial and her father in tow. Nothing tied her to this place save his promises, but she had responsibilities to her people, and Elias knew the girl could choose to leave Ravok at any moment. Leave him at any moment. Telling her made her safer, but not telling her kept her closer to her kinsman, and where existed a safer place than by Elias’s side?

The fallacy of such a thought made his mood sour. He would have to consider this more thoroughly later, but in the meantime, he needed fill the silence that had gone on between them before she took notice of it. “Speaking of kelvics, did you know we hold host to the finest kelvic research facility in the world here? The Nitrozians breed them like rabbits up there on the north side of the lake.” The Caldera went on, picking up where his mishap earlier had left off. The two rounded the corner, coming upon the once stately kitchen that had served all manner of food and fine dining to this house’s masters once upon a time. In its current state however, Elias wouldn’t have recommended breathing the air, let alone try and eat anything. Like the rest of the manor so far, the place was a tattered ruin, stray plates and pans not worthy of looting left strewn and broken across the floor and counters amidst a myriad of other junk. The swordsman noticed the creaking, swinging hook hanging above the sinks where a number of rusted pots had been hanging. One of them was missing, and as the duo rounded the central preparation table that dominated the middle of the room, they would find the missing pot lying on the floor where it had fallen with such a resounding clatter.

He smiled and turned to his cousin reassuringly. There, see! Nothing to fear...

“With the renovation in the works, we’ll have to consider acquiring some slaves to help keep this place in ship-shape and Bristol-fashion once its fully restored. As a race born for servitude, I find the kelvics are naturally suited for such things. Groundskeepers, cooks, maids, perhaps even a little playmate for dear Kial? The boy can learn how be a master in his own right growing up with a slave of his own.”

Elias, as he conveyed his plans, studied Alija carefully all throughout despite the aloof way in which he presented his thoughts. To him, slaves were just things to be bought and bartered for, but to Alija, a woman who’d grown up proud and free in a city who valued little else as much as it did its pride and freedom, things might not have been so clear cut. He didn’t know how she felt about slaves, for he had never broached the subject with her before today. He had also made an effort to avoid talk of Kial as well, given how uneasy she seemed when the two were even in the same room together.

“He’s growing fast, that little boy of yours. What is he, ten or eleven now?” He asked, his tone softening as he turned away from her to face the mess that had become his home. Kial was getting close to the age of petitioning, the right all young men had to join the initiates of the Ebonstryfe and try their hand at proving themselves for the honor of becoming part of Rhysol’s holy order. Elias wasn't much older when he began his training. “He’s a strong lad, and clever too. You’ve done a fine job of raising him, Alija.” The soldier said solemnly. Kial wasn’t her blood, but Alija had claimed and cared for him just as if he was… but why? “I can tell already he’s going to grow up into a strapping young man one day.” Elias forced a small chuckle. “I’ll have to teach him how to wield a weapon soon, or else he’ll be fending off the ladies here with nothing but a stick before long. I wonder…” He swallowed. “I know you care for the boy deeply, and you’ve striven to steer him straight since he came into your care, but I wonder if you would allow me to… help? There are many things I could teach him, things that my father taught me because only a father could teach them to a son.” Thoughts of Caiden stung at his mind, but they served not to dissuade the kinslayer, only to embolden him. If he could be half the man Caiden Caldera was to this boy, then Kial could only become better for it.

"I'd do right by him, I swear to you. He'd learn how to ride a horse, swing a sword, everything a young boy needs to know. I could even guide him into the realm of the arcane. I've many magics at my disposal, you know this, and they could all be his... if you so wanted."

The whole question had left the stryfer uncharacteristically uncomfortable, and it showed damningly in his demeanor. Gods above, he absolutely loathed the way his cousin made him feel at times. It was like dancing on egg shells around her, every word a bombshell that could go off in his hands and blow apart their relationship forever. How was he to grow closer to this woman if he was still too afraid to even talk to her half the time? It was infuriating beyond words, but the mage struggled on. He'd faced few greater challenges than this, but he'd also never had so great a reward within his reach. Reuniting his family. Rebuilding his home. Reforging the Caldera clan from scratch once more... These things were worth any suffering, any petty hardship.

Alija was worth it.

His family was worth it.

[Alija]

Elias had taught her many lessons on Ravok and its inhabitants. Who to avoid, who could help, what was a crime punishable by death and what was accepted here. Alija knew the motives to his actions. He wanted to protect her, by making it safe for her to stay here. In some way, he didn't want her to leave, because the safest thing for her would be.

So she didn't leave. She absorbed his stories about the city and did her best to commit then to memory, lest the consequences sweep her away.

But confusion still swept over her face as he spoke. At least he understood her expression before she had to ask him to clarify. Kelvics. You didn't have stray cats here because instead you had spies that could swap between human and animal form. They were constantly watched and not just by Rhysol...

Alija noticed how he stopped quickly, realising the impact his words could have. But the damage was done. Subtly, she felt for her magic, letting the fibres of djed within her tangle and shift. Like a mist spreading from her, she brushed over the auras of nearby, letting her sense touch them briefly as she extended. But the objects were ordinary and she could not feel anything other. No spies here, not today.

She couldn't help but not release her magic. Her aura sense still tingling, she decided it was safer to keep aware as they rounded into the kitchen.

Mind distracted by auras, perhaps she wasn't as responsive to Elias' next statement, about the Kelvic research facility, as she normally would have been. Perhaps her beliefs on the creatures were naive or ill-informed, but to the native Zeltivan, Kelvics were more than animals. They were people, not test subjects. Not something to be bred. A slight looks of disgust passed over her face but her mind was on the auras around them.

They were in the kitchen now. There was nothing to be seen but wreckage and a fallen pan. Carefully, she lifted it, feeling the weak rusted iron in her hand. Rebuilding this place would take more than a bit of cleaning. There was so much in here, after all, that was just rubbish at this point.

Now that the danger was gone, she could hear and understand him fully.

"Slaves?" she asked, wondering if there was a way around it. Her body stiffened, remembering a slave she knew well. Her mother, wherever she was. Her mother would be disgusted with the thought of her daughter owning slaves when she herself wasn't free either.

Her mother had also been Ravokian. Perhaps she knew slaves better than Alija thought.

And what her mother thought was besides the point. Slavery was wrong. There was no doubt about it. A human life was only owned by the person it belonged to. Those who could put a price on it were disgusting.

"Kial will not have any slaves." There she drew the line. The boy could not be taught slavery was acceptable. He was better than that. She would have thought Elias was, too, but she was scared to call him out on it. This was Ravok, after all. They survived on slaves." Is it really necessary? Owning someone? Stripping their freedom and humanity from them?" she shuddered, visibly, "I don't understand this city sometimes."

The conversation has moved onto Kial, and she bristled protectively. He was still a child, tiny, and Elias was not someone... The boy was still impressionable, easily, and she just wanted to be careful to raise him right, to be a good person more than strong or clever.

But if she couldn't trust her own cousin to raise him right, she couldn't trust herself, could she? The boy needed some skills in his life, and the majority of what Elias suggested was suitable. To ride, to protect himself... Those were things Alija couldn't provide, not even for herself.

"Everything a young boy needs to know," she smiled, trying to relax and reassure him that she trusted him to teach him right, "I can't see the harm in that. He needs schooling in his life and I've been lacking. If you want to teach him, I'm sure he'd be delighted. Really, thank you."

She hesitated at the end. He had offered up arcane skills too. "But not magic," she added quickly, "He's too young. It's too dangerous. Perhaps in another few years, if the time is right. But not yet. Understand?"

Alija hated this. Giving him rules, trying to cage him when he just had good intentions in mind. But as much as she wanted to say yes to everything, reforge the bonds they had had, reforge their entirely family, she had to be careful.

Walking on eggshells, but the end was near.

[Elias Caldera]

A pale smile slowly began to cleave its way across his scarred face, one that was as genuine as it was unsettlingly wide.

She had said yes…

She had said yes!

Elias snatched his cousin’s hand and kissed it before the poor girl had a chance to protest. Oh, his sweet cousin! His sweet magnificent cousin, was ever there a man so blessed as he to have family so gracious and kind? A jubilation unlike anything he rarely felt these days ran through him like a tidal wave, and before the Caldera could stop himself, he had embraced Alija in a stifling hug. “Thank you, cousin. I… thank you.” He chuckled breathlessly over her shoulder as he tightened his hold.

She was too good to him, and he swore he would be the same for her.

“Oh!” Elias broke their cheerful hold suddenly, his eyes wide as if with epiphany. “I should show you your room. I should show you every bodies room!” And like that, the stryfer had run off, giddy as a school girl and just as fleet of foot as he gallivanted towards a nearby room. “Here.” He said excitedly, pointing at the dusty old tomb of a bedroom. “Kial can sleep here, or upstairs in the master bedroom with you. Oh, and your father can have this one. Theagans can take that one over there… or, perhaps we can find him somewhere a little closer to your room if you’d like.” He added with a mischievous grin. Elias was not against Alija keeping her boytoy close if such was her want. He was also not against calling the strapping young lad her boytoy whenever he had the opportunity, if only to torment the poor woman every chance he got.

“Here cousin, look here. I intend to have them tear down this entire wall down and then extend the outer one. It will make the perfect place to set up your smithy. Think of it, this house awash with the sounds of steel and iron being forged into works of art by your hand day and night. You’ll want for nothing when this place is complete.”

He was gone again before she had time to respond, disappearing down a hallway amidst a cloud of dust his heavy footfalls had thrown up. His voice ricocheted down the corridor a moment later. “This is where we'll place the laboratory!” He cried with all the same enthusiasm as if she were right there next to him. It went on like that for a while, Elias’s utterly uncharacteristic merriment carrying him across the mansion from room to room, eventually going so far as to grab his cousin by the hand and drag her along for the dizzying ride. In his ridiculous stupor, it felt as if the cobwebs and shattered furniture vanished from sight, replaced instead with that of the serene dream he envisioned for this place and for the ones who would one day call it home. He had a feeling Alija was seeing much the same. The gloom and doom were gone, and in their stead something glorious had taken root;

A home.

A family.

A legacy.

The Calderas were a very old bloodline, one whose falls from grace over the centuries were as numerous as they were catastrophic, yet the family had endured. Tenacity was what defined their clan, an unwillingness to surrender to fate or the fickle whims of gods and men. This curse, if it truly was real, had not been enough to keep them down, and now that Elias and Alija were united, nothing would stand in the way of their ascent to greatness once more. Ravok would once again know the name… Caldera.

In his giggling elation and daydreams of empire, the mage had lost himself in the hysteria of things to come. So much so, he hadn’t noticed the dark, hollow eyes watching them from shadows above. The eyes, that once upon a time had been just as bright with hope and ambition as Elias’s, now looked upon such things with callous and cruel disdain. They saw only the disaster that loomed ahead, the death and the dismay that were promised, and when those eyes fell upon Alija, what they saw in her stung the worse, for in the young woman, they saw themselves reflected in her trusting gaze and warm smile. They saw what they had once been, and the sight of it sickened them, and so the eyes closed, and they saw no more.

They would learn soon enough.

Everyone in this wretched house learned the truth before the end.

[Okara]

Elias Caldera

Persuasion 1
Rhetoric 2
Subterfuge 1
Socialization 2

Ravok Location: Caldera Mansion
Subterfuge: Faking Confidence to Mask Hesitation
Alija: Stance on Slavery
Alija: Hesitant Acceptance of a Mentor for Kial
A Vision for the Future

Rewards/Penalties/Notes

It certainly seems like you are setting up a lot for the future, it will be very enjoyable to see how these plot threads play out. Please let me know if you have questions/concerns about the grade.

Alija

Rewards/Penalties/Notes

Alija, please update your ledger for seasonal expenses and either resubmit for grading or self grade.

Please edit your post in your grade request to reflect that it has been graded. PM me with any questions.