Date: 02-01-359 [SKR]
Ilero sat at his desk in his office at the top of the Guild Tower. He chewed his lip with a concerned look on his face. The center of the desk had been cleared of it's usual maps and other papers, to make space for a large book wrapped in oilskin and tied with string. Under the string was a single sheet of folded paper.
His daughter had brought him the package earlier that day, having found it buried in one of the chests of random stuff he, his family, and the Guild, had accumulated over the years. She'd been very curious as to what it was, and why her father's name was written on the paper.
He'd actually managed to forget the book existed, mostly. Vaguely he was aware that there had been a few times that memory of the book had threatened to come to the forefront, but somehow it never had. It helped that he had been so very busy for the last 10 or so years, but that wasn't an excuse. He'd let his family down, again, by allowing himself to be distracted.
Hesitantly, he reached forward and tugged the paper to him and unfolded it.
Orrager Sauscha&Aeli Sauscha-Seosur Sauscha-Ilaen Sauscha-Tyaero Sauscha-Aelan Sauscha- Ilero Sauscha
Images flashed through his mind as he read down the list of names, one at a time.
- His father, Orrager, crippled on his throne, snarling...
- his mother, Aeli, dead before he'd even truly entered this world...
- Seosur, eldest brother, obedient to their father but commanding to everyone else...
- Ilaen, largest brother, a frown permanently etched on his face...
- Tyaero, third brother, carefree and talkative, yet with rarely a kind word to share...
- Aelan, final brother, rebellious brother, always breaking one rule or another...
Setting the paper aside, he turned to the book. Untying the string and pulling the oilskin back, he revealed the book within. Embossed on the cover was the Sauscha family crest, a device he himself didn't actually use, but was still intimately familiar with.
Opening up the book, he saw the remembered first page. It was torn in half, the remaining half spattered with dried blood.
"The sad ending of the Noble Line of Sauscha, dead from fire, flood and The Mist"
Taking a deep breath, he turned the page to find what the rest of the book had to say.
general summary of the Sauscha info in the book
After reading the first page again Ilero paused and looked over the tome again. A rough count maybe 40 to 50 pages if they were all filled. A quick thumb through seemed to indicate they were.
Settling into his chair in the sitting room, the spring air coming off of the swamps with a bit of floral notes. Not that you would recognize them if you had not lived here as long as he had. Sitting in the dull sunlight Ilero opened up to the next page and started reading in earnest. A family story unfolding beginning with his grandfather as a young lord making his way through the dense forests of the Central Mountains, fanciful encounters with werewolves and other beasts. As the story unfolded Ilero start to become more uneasy. By the time it got to his own father he was becoming more certain.
Shur quietly entered the room bringing tea and scones. "Not from Jilly, but your daughter is trying to imitate her. The tea is from Branwyn. How are you feeling? What is in that book to keep your interest after all this time?"
Ilero looked up at Shur with a cautious pause, "Is a fiction book. I t'ink, I hope. It describes my family not qui't real. Like a murd'r myst'ry or wishful t'inking..."
"But if t'ey got t'ese details wrong, maybe not everyone is dead?"
"T'ere is no aut'or listed. But t'e names are right. Whoever wrote it, knew us, at least a bit. But if t'ey know us, why are parts wrong? Hye wonder if having Craigh look at it would give any info 'bout where it was made? Ehhh... probly not."
He closed the book and slid it across the top of the desk towards her.
Shur picked it up and flipped casually through the pages, reading individual words here and there, while Ilero sat brooding.
After a few minutes she closed the book and just watched Ilero.
"You want to go, don't you?"
Ilero's eyes flicked up from the corner he was staring into and met her gaze. Hesitantly, he nodded, as if embarrassed.
"Why, sugar? All these years, I don't think I've ever heard you say a good word about them or that place. And that's if you talk about them at all, which you don't hardly ever do."
Ilero wrestled with how to put his feelings into words in some way that would make any sort of sense.
"Hye t'ink... well... Hye guess part of it might be Duty? If t'e family under attack, and can do somet'ing, t'en hye should do somet'ing. And... if t'ey after t'e Sauscha family, does t'at include us here? Are we in danger if do not'ing? Mebbe we already in danger. If t'ere is danger, t'en Lisjask is where it be, and best place to fight it."
"And... mebbe a bit of hope? Now hye grown, has family, has responsibility, mebbe family would be different, better?"
Ilero sighed and slumped down in his chair, looking weary.
Shur slipped around the desk and onto his lap, and wrapped her arms around him. "Well then, sugar, I guess you gotta go, don't you?" She placed a kiss upon the top of his head and just held him for a while.
After a few minutes of quiet between them, she asked, "Who you gonna take? Do you want me and the kids? Or just a team of pros, in case it really is dangerous? I'd love to go with you, but I don't want to leave the kids here alone. They'd be looked after just fine, but what happens if we don't come back? We don't want a repeat of when Branwyn and Tiberius both disappeared for years."
Excitedly, she jumped up. "I know! I'll go visit Raelynn, have her cast a fortune for this trip! You figger out what you need to do to leave the Guild for a few months, and I'll get Raelynn's advice on what's coming, and then we'll figure out who should go!"
More calmly, Ilero added, "If t'ey want to go. Some may not want to." He did a quick double-take. "Wait, Raelynn? All t'e way to Hourglass, just for a fortune?"
Shurkural shrugged and winked at him. "Sure, why not? Besides, it's been a while since I been there. I can pick up some more tea leaves. Speaking of which, eat your scones, honey. Asamo'll notice if you don't." She twirled on her heel and swaggered out of the office.
Hourglass: The Tea Room
Shurkural pushed the door to the Tea Room open with one shoulder, holding a sack thrown over her other shoulder with both hands. A bit of Mist trails in around her feet before vanishing among the floorboards.
"Raelynn! You here, missy? I picked up a few leaves and spices from a gnome trader in Foriso to bring you. Maybe one of them is new?" She dumps the bag onto one of the tables and starts sorting through it before pulling out a waxed paper-wrapped package.
<we resume the story>
