• 1 - 25: Pearly Scales x 1 • 26 - 50: Pearly Scales x 3 • 51 - 75: Pearly Scales x 5 • 76 - 90: The creature seems to be clutching to an odd token - a golden, etched coin with a triangular hole in its center. Perhaps the trinket will bring you more fortune than it did the Alvhui? [Item grant: Etched Coin: + 5 INT - a player can only benefit from owning one of these items at once; the bonus does not stack.] • 91 - 100: The creature is wearing nothing but a glimmering pendant that looks like it must have belonged to someone else previously. [Item grant: Ornate Pendant: + 15 INT - a player can only benefit from owning one of these items at once; the bonus does not stack.]
~~~
"He'll be upset," Roseryn warned with barely contained trepidation as he stalked along at his younger brother's side. He held himself upright, arms laced behind his back, appearing comfortably proper, save for the way his dark lavender irises were wide with impending confrontation. They walked at a brisk clip down the corridors of the Vayne estate, side by side, whispering to each other in hushed tones.
Quince was more open with his nervousness, but also was certainly the bolder of the two, his stride long and purposeful, arms crossed over his chest like a guarding wall. "It's for our betterment," he insisted, sounding as if he was perfectly in the right and knew exactly what he spoke of. "And that alone should be persuasive enough." With a flippant gesture and a grumble of words, he added, "It isn't as if Father actually has concerns for our safety."
"He just doesn't like to be asked things," Rose agreed, a quirk of amusement coming to his lips.
Quince paused, throwing out an arm to snag into the dark fabric of his brother's vest. "So we can just skip the asking part and leave without any delay."
A hand swept up to twirl one of the stray curls lingering near Roseryn's eye. "That's disrespectful, though," he complained mutedly. "Probably be in more trouble when we returned. And Embryl would never go for it, loyal dog that he is."
Ignoring the red head's clear disdain for the Ayralan outsider that was as close as family, the pair made their way through the corridors and toward their father's study. As always, the door was closed, an imposing obstacle that proved to be no less intimidating regardless of how many times they'd stood before it. As Quince raised his fist to knock, the knob clicked, and the door creaked open. With an alarmed gasp, the younger boy receded. Rose grabbed the back of his jacket, hauling him against the wall adjacent to the door.
The frame that peeked forth around the door was unfamiliar to the boys, which made it especially unwelcome to Roseryn. He frowned tightly as the strange man continued to speak his farewells to Daemo before finally turning and leaving the room. When he saw the boys, he paused, smiled, and looked down at them. "Morning, lads," he chirped in a way that Roseryn couldn't help but grimace at.
Quince politely returned his greeting, but Rose was less interested. He'd never seen the man before, so he had very little business being in his father's study. Even less so to come out of it smiling. No one should be happy as they exited that room. No one. Especially not some dark-skinned, green-haired, raspy-voiced Dovaa scum that could just as easily have wandered off the streets. Even as the man departed with a too-casual wave of farewell, Roseryn's lavender orbs trailed suspiciously after him. "Have you ever seen that man before?" Rose hissed.
But Quince only shrugged carelessly, and within a few moments after knocking, they were being gruffly allowed entrance to the imposing room beyond the door. Rose's gaze flicked about, searching for any rhyme or reason that such a man would be invited into their estate. But there was nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing particularly welcoming or cheerful. Just Daemo, scrawling across a slip of parchment with a large-feathered quill.
"Sir." Quince's voice tugged him from his thoughts, and the young man turned his attention back on the task at hand, stuffing his concerns to the back of his mind for now. His younger brother continued, "Me and Rose-"
"Roseryn and I," came Daemo's unamused, corrective rumble.
"Right, yes. Roseryn and I-" The red head couldn't help but give Quince a nudge with his elbow that could just as easily have been encouragement as it was admonishment. "-would like to expand our horizons and learn all that this earth has to teach us. Perhaps forge new alliances and engage in new manners of social-"
"The point. Now."
"We would like to go to Serenia," Quince blurted. "With Embryl as our guide. To explore the lands their and test our chances of survival away from home. You go to Serenia all the time, but we've never so much as seen it. We went to Ayr with you and we believe we've proved ourselves capable of-"
For the first time, Daemo looked up at them. Suddenly, the two boys found themselves standing taller, tensely awaiting what was to come. Quince's mouth snapped shut. "You've no reason to travel such a distance alone. You and Roseryn are still-"
"And Aster."
Rose's head swiveled toward Quince so quickly he felt a stab of whiplash. He didn't remember anything about inviting Aster along. In fact, he almost avoided the Ysali boy's name out of pure habit. And he doubted if hearing his first-born's name would improve Daemo's receptiveness to their suggestion. But Roseryn's doubt proved to be ill-warranted. Their father appeared thoughtful, his golden eyes narrowed in thought.
After only a few more instants, Daemo relented with a dip of his head. "The four of you, then. Roseryn, Quince, Embryl and Soldaster. Very well." His hand dipped into the drawer of his desk, only to emerge an instant later with a folded scrap of parchment, emblazoned with the official-looking rune stamp of the Vayne family. He offered it to Quince, who was apparently the kingpin of the operation, despite that he was younger than Roseryn. "Once you've arrived and settled, you'll give this to Soldaster, then. Agree to that, and you may go."
---
The pair kept the letter to themselves during their trip to Serenia. They didn't know why it was necessary to wait to give it to Aster, but it generally tended to not ever be a good thing when one of them was singled out. If he backed out, they'd be forbidden to leave. Besides, it couldn't really be anything too terrible. Or at least nothing Aster wouldn't be able to deal with. It was nothing that should ruin the thrill of the trip, and by the time they'd made land, Roseryn and Quince had found other things to ponder over.
"Look at how golden the trees are," Rose noted as their hastar trotted down the woodland path that led them toward the splodge of land that their father stayed on during his voyages to Serenia. Rose had never seen it for himself, of course, but Aster (who'd been once with Daemo) assured that it was outfitted with all the luxuries of home, and that while they weren't traveling with the whole procession, as their father did, Embryl would still be perfectly capable of managing the brunt of any tidying and home care that needed to be done.
As it was, the estate did require a fair bit of upkeep before the Vayne children thought it was suitable to be slept in. Since they wouldn't require the whole of the estate to themselves, Embryl decided only to ready a section of the lands for his charges' use. Which only served to send spears of annoyance lancing through Roseryn's blood. Not because he required much space, but because, "There are people here," he commented, dark orbs finding their way between buildings and landing on lighted rooms and smokey chimneys. And those people were doing a poor job with upkeep, if the place wasn't even suitable for the family that owned the land to stay in it.
"They aren't maids," Embryl explained as the Ayralan power of his wind whipped out around them, harshly buffeting the wings of a nesting flock of vlidean and hurtling them to the ground. Another vortex picked them and their leavings (feathers, excrement, eggshells) up and spun them off to the sides, dusting them away like the rodents they were. "They're security. The pick up after themselves and keep the area secure."
"There are beasts everywhere," Quince noted as they followed Embryl down a grassy path toward one of the wooden buildings. "Doesn't seem very secure."
"Animals are the least of their concern," Embryl shrugged. He opened the door and dispatched of the few sleeping hanging creatures there quickly and without fuss. One of them escaped as the door opened, and it fled out toward the setting sun, chirping and shrieking. While their servant tidied the room of dust, debris and whatever mess the animals left behind, Rose and Quince continued to berate him with questions about why the estate required this much security if no one was staying in it. And why potentially dangerous creatures were allowed to go about their business. Aster remained silent, his downcast gaze and chewed lip going unnoticed by his brothers.
And Embryl continued to evade questions or give half answers. To Rose's frustration, most of his answers consisted of shrugs or eye rolls, accented with the quirk of a knowing smile, as if he was speaking to children who weren't prepared for the answers they sought.
At one point, he even plucked something from the ground, a trinket left by one of the departed beasts. "Look," Embryl said, flicking the coin off toward Rose. "These little doodads are supposed to bring luck and good fortune."
Roseryn scoffed as he caught it and looked it over. "Luck is the last thing I need," he retorted. "Anything I want or need, I can get on my own. I don't need the gods' favor."
Embryl snorted."Believe me, with an attitude like that, you'll need all the luck you can get."
