The Twofold Houses

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Wolfbane
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Wolfbane »

Expedition to the Frescots

"But what if we like our marshmallows burned a little?"
Ariel pipes up, moving a little more quickly at Cora's encouragement to make sure she matches pace with them. Sergei frowns slightly, even more than usual, at the mention of burned marshmallows even as he falls in line, still carrying a lil' one and holding hands. He wasn't a fan of anything other than lightly toasted. The superior marshmallow.

His mother gives a light chuckle at Cessie's encouragement and she smiles, thinking it over a little bit and keeping her voice low. "I think it would be a good idea, honestly. Not just for me, but for them too." She whispers, nodding towards her children. "They could use another good male role model, even if he might be as dense as I've been lead to believe." There's good humor in her voice, since she figures Adir might be able to hear her regardless. "And having grown up in a Hive, I'd rather they weren't half as anxious over the natural world as I am." She adds.

The walk should go smoothly enough, as neither Sergei nor Ariel are the kind to go randomly eating strange berries or mushrooms without knowing what they are, nor are they the kind to wander off. Neither of them are so out of shape that they lag behind or are red in the face by the time they get to the campgrounds, but they certainly aren't used to it and are thankful when they arrive.

The campground itself is naturally large and open, surrounded by trees. There are a few natural stumps and logs laying around for seating, plenty of space for a large bonfire, and the sound of a stream can be heard near by. When they get there, both of the Tel'Vree kids go "oooooo", and Jezebel gladly sets the heavy bags down to stretch and straighten up. "Okay. Who knows how to pitch a tent?"
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by AshenAmbrosia »

Morty wrote: Jan 09, 2023 5:57 pm [Children and Swords]

Wenomir is coming to the Mithar Keep in time for Cora's sword lesson. This in itself is a normal occurrence, but this time he has someone else with him. Lucien, Geneviéve's young son and Cassandra's little brother, is accompanying him to take a closer look at the lesson. The intent is also to have him meet kids his age and hopefully make friends.
[Children and Swords]

A winning combination if there ever was one! Lucien is indeed accompanying Wenomir. A dark elf boy with an apparent age of around 10, with pale blue-grey skin and eyes the most delicate shade of pale pink. His long, platinum-colored hair had started the day done up in a neat little top knot, but had already begun to fray into more of a ponytail, with loose strands falling here and there as a result of the boy's incessant fidgeting.

It's not every day you meet new people, and Lucien is already seeming pretty intimidated, having traveled with Wenomir in uncharacteristic silence, compared to the normal exuberance he displays at home, especially around Cass.
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Morty
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Morty »

[Children and Swords]

Wenomir is a bit nervous himself. He's normally good at dealing with children, but Lucien is on the sheltered side. And he really wants his partner's little brother to like him.

"Here we are. This is the home of my good friend and co-commander Cessie." He stops in front of the door. "I hope you and Cora get along. She's a very energetic girl. Her siblings not so much."
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Murkus
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Murkus »

[Expedition to the Frescots]

The Frescot kids all appear to be extraordinarily active. They stray a bit, and they're not even a little tuckered or bored by the journey. Jezebel may have to herd them once or twice to keep the line straight.

Nearly every little Frescot hand shoots up when Jezebel poses her question. Only the little trio of deer-legged girls appear to be young enough to have evaded that training thus far. The others start to yammer about how they put up tents in the yard all the time. Cern seems very proud that he taught himself.
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Shadowcaller »

[Expedition to the Frescots]

"I'm not sure the kids actually need a male role model. Mine have turned out just fine and I don't even have anyone like Charles around. If anything, I'm not sure if what little influence my ex has had on Cora has been positive." Her obsession with swords had hurt Laela at one point after all. "That said, you're right that Adir could probably help provide that outdoors experience they've been missing. He isn't nearly as daft as he pretends to be. I'd be concerned for Sakura if that was the case. It's partly a role he plays for the kids, the big goofy dad that messes with them all the time. Comedic relief I suppose you could call it."

As they arrive Cessie isn't going to point out that she could have her elemental do this. Why deny the kids the opportunity to learn?
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Gullara »

[Expedition to the Frescots]

"Um-" Cora frowns. She doesn't know like most of the Frescots do. The times they did backyard camping it was already set up.

"We don't, but we can learn." Bastion pipes up. He gives Cora a glance, having anticipated her reaction to that rapidly. He smiles when she perks up and nods along with him.
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by AshenAmbrosia »

[Children and Swords]

Lucien nods, giving Wenomir what he hopes is a determined expression. The last time he had met other children it... hadn't gone well. That fox girl was terrifying.

But surely not all girls are like that, right?
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Gullara »

[Children and Swords]

Wenomir and Lucien don't have to knock to be greeted. One of the doors is thrown open wide before they get the chance. Behind it is none other than Cora, grinning ear to ear. She's dressed up her her training gear: purple stretchy pants, white shirt, knee and elbow protection. She's got her knit hat on too, so Lucian is spared being startled by a sudden flame. Importantly she's got her training sword resting on her shoulder.

"Hi, Wenomir! What're you waiting for?" She only seems to notice Lucien in this moment, giving him a confused look, then back to Wenomir. "Who's that?" All sense of manners have completely flown out the window today it seems.
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Wolfbane »

Expedition with the Frescots

"Perhaps they do have Charles, but..."
Jezebel lets the thought die off a bit and shakes her head. "Perhaps you're right, but considering he was the only positive one I had, I would like to head that off a little." She admits quietly. The other issue was that Charles was aging and there was no telling how much longer he would be around. "And maybe a goofball will help him open up a little." She adds, nodding towards Sergei who was gently getting his companion off his shoulder and making to help haul the tents and bags wherever the gaggle of Frescots wanted them to be. He has zero knowledge of how to put up a tent, but he was eager to learn how.

Ariel will have to be practically held back from just dumping the bags the moment they're in place as she wants to rummage through them to see what all was in them. Watching it, Jezebel pats the one small tent bag she kept on her. "Well...I'm glad I have a two person tent just for us. Less chances of holes being put into it. Shall we put it up?" She says with a smile, gesturing towards an open spot.
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Morty »

[Children and Swords]

Wenomir puts his hand on Lucien's shoulder in a comforting gesture. Cora is, of course, being her usual self.

"This is Lucien, my partner's younger brother. He's interested in my swordsmanship, so I invited him to take a look at our lesson today. See if he likes it. Why don't you introduce yourself, Cora?"

There's a very gentle admonishment in his voice. He has been teaching Cora some basics of carrying yourself with stoicism and dignity. An uphill struggle if there ever was one.
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Rebonack »

[A Surprise]

Lapis was invited to the Mithar House on this, the twenty second of January. As far as she's concerned it's just a regular play date. Nothing out of the ordinary is planned or going on, surely. She's looking forward to telling Cora and Bastion about her new adventures and there had been talk of trying to make things out of cardboard. Maybe armor! Or forts! Or other things! Lapis certainly doesn't have a moderately concerning number of boxes squirreled away in her inventory for precisely this purpose.

What Lapis does not know is that the twenty second of January is her birthday.

It really isn't something she keeps track of because it hasn't ever been important before. Her days mostly consist of tending to the VIGIL grounds with the occasional punctuation of excitement, often in the form of adventures or fun with her friends.

She didn't ride over in the car this time; there's really no need. Not when Motion thrums within her. It's just a matter of knowing how to step in the correct fashion. Step forward, a blur of movement as the world turns under her feet, and then she's come to where she needs to go.

A shape stepping out of the trees, shining like a star. Feathers flashing in metallic blues and greens, glinting like ten thousand teeth in the sunlight. But then it's gone, folding away into itself and out of sight and leaving a little half-drow girl in its place. Lapis isn't wearing her VIGIL uniform, but rather a pretty dress of black and white and blues and greens. She never wears her uniform to the Mithar house. Which makes sense because she isn't working here!

She's here to play.

With a spring in her step and a song in her heart she approaches the door and waves at the gargoyles that DON'T move.

Lapis isn't sure if they see or not, but it's still nice to be kind.

A rap on the door, then rapt attention as she waits and listens.
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Re: The Twofold Houses

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[Expedition with the Frescots]

Adir folds his arms and watches gladly as his eager babies volunteer their help. He glances at Jezebel's kids as things get underway. They were the unknown factor. He knew that the Frescot and Mithar kids would get on just fine. He wanted those two to just feel like part of the gang. The stag decides to do his best to make them welcome.

"Okay, watch what I do," Cernunnos volunteers to lead, nodding to Cora and Bastion. He glances at Sergei and Ariel the way an inquisitive kid does, wary at first, unsure what all to think of them. Sergei certainly looks like the type of boy who would know how to put up a tent, but neither one of miss Jezebel's kids seem to even know what they're looking at beyond the basic idea. He'll set about guiding the less knowledgeable (and his youngest siblings) through the process, bickering with Laela as he goes about best methods.

"How about a fire?" Adir speaks up as the kids are underway. He grins as several of his own kids' hands shoot up again. "Who aside from my little troopers knows how to put a fire together?"
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Shadowcaller »

[Expedition with the Frescots]

Again Cessie could easily solve the fire problem or most of the problems at the camp really. But what would the kids learn then? That would have to be reserved for another kind of lesson.
Speaking of which, she will approach Cora and put a hand on her shoulder as Adir asks who can put a fire together. "And Cora, Adir means without breathing at it since we both know that isn't especially safe."
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Re: The Twofold Houses

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[Expedition with the Frescots]

"What??? Cora protests immediately. "No it's not, it's totally safe." She insists.

Bastion looks thoughtful. "A book I read one time described it, but I don't really know how." He admits.
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by AshenAmbrosia »

Morty wrote: Jan 24, 2023 10:19 pm [Children and Swords]

Wenomir puts his hand on Lucien's shoulder in a comforting gesture. Cora is, of course, being her usual self.

"This is Lucien, my partner's younger brother. He's interested in my swordsmanship, so I invited him to take a look at our lesson today. See if he likes it. Why don't you introduce yourself, Cora?"

There's a very gentle admonishment in his voice. He has been teaching Cora some basics of carrying yourself with stoicism and dignity. An uphill struggle if there ever was one.
[Children and Swords]

Lucien gives a little timid smile and a wave.

"Hello."

He's doing his best!
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Wolfbane »

Expedition with the Frescots

Jezebel has to turn away to hide her smile and attempts at not chuckling over the children being admonished about lighting fires. They seem to have far more control over doing so than she would have had. She'll busy herself with putting up her and Cessie's tent, snickering just a little bit.

"I can start one!" Ariel blurts out, all to happy to finally see something she can be useful with. She dives right into her bag, digging around for several seconds up to her elbows in it before huffing and pulling out a small jeweler's lens. She liked looking at shiny things up close, so a miniature magnifying glass was perfect. Providing it was sunny enough to work, of course. She has conveniently forgotten that she nearly set a porch on fire messing with it before. "Just need some kiddings."

"Kindling."

"Kindling!"

"Do you mind showing me too?" Cernunnos will find Sergei peering over his shoulder, watching with interest at how the tents are to be put up. He isn't too proud to admit he's never done it before, even if he might be able to puzzle it out. There's probably more than a few tricks that he doesn't know about with them. He might be decent at building things, but nylon and fiber-glass poles left much to be desired in robustness of construction materials.
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Shadowcaller »

[Expedition with the Frescots]

"Don't you always tell everyone to stand back when you breath fire, Cora? If it was completely safe they wouldn't need to do that." She reminds her daughter with a smile.
Then she will gently attempt to pull her back as Ariel wanted to try to light the fire. "Besides, they already know you're the master of fire, Cora. So let's have Ariel try to impress you, hmm?"
Last edited by Shadowcaller on Feb 11, 2023 8:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Gullara »

[Children and Swords]

Cora's eyes go a little wide as Wenomir catches her out. "Oh, um-" She turns to Lucian and gives him a short bow. "I'm Cora Mithar. Nice to meet you." She gives Wenomir a glance out of the corner of her eye.
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Morty
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Morty »

[Children and Swords]

Wenomir nods with approval. Seems his and Cessie's combined efforts are paying off. He wonders if he has more of an influence than Cessie does. She may be Cora's mother, but he has knowledge of swords, which hold powerful sway over the young half-dragon's mind.

"Very good, Cora. Now let's go inside. I want to show you some new techniques, so Lucien can take a look. Would you like to meet Cora's siblings later, Lucien?"
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Murkus
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Murkus »

[Expedition to the Frescots]

Several of the Frescot children yammer and nearly run into each other scurrying to get kindling for young Ariel. They know how this routine goes, and know just how to find the right sort of dry wood that will be good for burning.

Cernunnos looks very pleased to have Sergei openly ask for his help. It feels nice to... know things. And to be asked to share them! So he nods and will start to give the other boy directions on how to help him as they go.

Adir will just stay back to one side and watch over things to make sure nobody gets lost or hurts themselves.
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Gullara »

[Expedition to the Frescots]

Cora huffs a little and she's ready to argue more, but Cessie's tactic works. "Fiiine." She relents.

Meanwhile Bastion moves over to Ariel and where the kindling is being gathered. "Can I see that?" He gestures to the jeweler's loupe.

Jillian, meanwhile, joins in on kindling gathering!
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Shadowcaller »

[Expedition to the Frescots]

Cessie will then give Cora a big kiss on the cheek even as she goes into a huff. "I love you my little kindling."

She smiles at her daughter. "You know that, right?"
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Wolfbane »

Expedition to the Frescots

Cora will hear the tell-tale sound of a camera at the most unfortunate timing. Right when Cessie gave her a kiss on the cheek. Jezebel, not too busy building her tent not to keep an eye on things, is the culprit. The camera is in her hands, right there, and the embarrassing moment will now live on.

Forever!

And she doesn't even have the manners to try and be secretive about it either, just smiling and preparing to take more pictures of Cora, Cessie, and everyone present as they work. "Don't mind me." She says, sounding entirely innocent like she wasn't conniving to take more embarrassing pictures.

Ariel smiles when she sees all of the others run off to get kindling, and she gives Bastion a nod before passing over the lens. "It's easy to smudge." She admits. The lens is small, barely the size of a thumbnail, but it is curved enough to easily catch and focus the light for a purpose like this. Unlike most, this one wasn't made of glass and was seemingly made from a smooth piece of crystal.

Cernunnos will find Sergei to be a silent, but helpful, worker. He places his hands where asked, holds what is needed, and uses his larger mass to brace the poles as they are flexed and put into the proper slots in the tents. He's careful though, both with his motions and to make sure he is behind any of the other kids if they might lose balance so they fall into him rather than right onto the ground. It was a small thing, but he seemed to think of it as his duty to make sure none of them got hurt.
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Gullara »

[Expedition to the Frescots]

"Moooom!" Cora complains. She's been doing that as of recently. "You're embarrass- Hey!" Cora protests when the photo snaps. "You should ask permission first before you do that." She scolds Jezebel.

Bastion accepts the lens and takes a closer look at it. Or rather, a closer look through it. "That's really cool. Where'd you get it from?" He'll pass the lens back to her so she can start her task.
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Murkus
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Murkus »

[Expedition to the Frescots]

Adir watches over the bulk of the work with an approving expression. When the tent finally goes up (amidst the chatter of little Frescot voices), Cern grins and turns to Sergei, offering him his hand held up high. Hopefully 'gimme 5' is a thing in the Imperium, or at least the part of it that Sergei comes from!

Meanwhile, the other little scouts are returning with heaps of firewood. They seem to be utterly fearless of the woods.
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Shadowcaller »

[Expedition to the Frescots]

"If you want to, I'm sure Jezebel can delete that and I can just kiss you again when you're ready for it." Cessie remarks with a sly look at her daughter. "Since there is no way we're not saving that moment for the future, wouldn't you say Jezz?" She turns to her whatever-Cessie-mentally-can-bring-herself-to-call-Jezebel. "And Sakura would agree. I'm sure she would consider it blasphemous to even consider such a thing."
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Wolfbane »

Frescot Expedition

Jezebel gives a curious look down at her camera, giving it a few light smacks and a shrug. "Well, that's weird, Cessie. I think the delete button is broken and it's directly saving them elsewhere." She deadpans, entirely serious before giving a wry smile. "That just means you need to try and get an embarrassing picture of me sometime, Cora. Fair is fair after all." She holds up the camera. "I do expect to be taking quite a few on this trip, and if you decide you want to borrow the camera, feel free."

"Charles gave it to me. He's our butler. Said it would be a good thing to keep on me."
Ariel explains as she receives the jeweler's lens and the kindling. "He was also the one that taught me how to light the fire." She takes her time with the kindling, arranging it just so in the fire circle, surrounded and lightly piled upon with twigs and sticks. It takes her a few minutes, and she hums happily the entire time as she ignores the mess she's making of her clothes kneeling down. "Now to just find the right angle..." She murmurs, pulling the lens back out so she can use it to focus enough light to ignite the fire. It's not her first time doing so, but she's clearly new at this and it takes her several tries to find the perfect distance and angle.

Perhaps surprisingly, Sergei actually knows what a high five is! He may not be the most well versed kid at being...well, a kid, but this was one thing that didn't go over his head. He even smiles as he reciprocates. Though as soon as he's done with his current task, he looks slightly lost as he tries to figure out what else he may have to do. If there are more tents left, he'll help, but if not, he simply looks lost. Camping was clearly not his forte.
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Re: The Twofold Houses

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[Expedition to the Frescots]

Cora huffs. "You're both working against me." She accuses. "I'm keeping my eye on you." She warns before walking off to join her brother and Ariel.

She arrives in time to watch Ariel at her task. That's some really (relatively) inefficient fire starting. Bastion doesn't seem to mind, though. He crouches down lower so he can get a better look. He observes her for a moment before he comments. "Would a bigger on work better?" He thinks it would with the way she's fiddling with it.
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by Murkus »

[Expedition to the Frescots]

Lucy leans over Ariel, her big puff of flowery hair almost brushing the other girl. She has her hands clasped respectfully behind her back, but they're clearly itching to help. "Never seen a fire lit like that before. Dad usually does it by rolling a stick in his hands really fast. It's the fraction."

"Friction," Gwydion says.

"Don't swear Gwydion!" Gasp!

Gwydion rolls his eyes.

Adir, meanwhile, will pop up next to Sergei and Cernunnos. Cernunnos beams as Sergei returns the high-five, then looks at his old man curiously.

"Good job, men," Adir says. "Think you can help me with another little project?"

"What is it, dad?"

Adir beams. "Gonna build a little something fun for the camp."
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Re: The Twofold Houses

Post by AshenAmbrosia »

[Children and Swords]

Lucien nods, his focused expression indicating that he's already eager to watch the lesson. Wenomir may get the impression that of these two, Lucien is much less likely to be the problem student. But then, that's maybe not the highest bar to clear.
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