Honor Through Service

A chronicle of House Eskara, its affiliates, acquaintances, and foes

[equius]

Why do you even care about trans women? You're not even one of them.

[cristianeskara]

Last Requests Part 2

Mirex took a moment to sit down on a step and rest a moment from packing up Evienne’s worldly possessions. Using her magic to create clones to help pack and carry boxes and go through things was moving the process along, but it was still a daunting and exhausting task, considering the eccentric engineer’s myriad interests and hobbies.The wan, blue haired woman herself sat in an armless dining chair against an out of the way wall, her remaining good eye following Mirex and her clones about the kitchen with hopeless disinterest, responding in short, uncaring yes or nos on what was to be brought to the Jardin-Valdis estate in Ascalon Settlement, and what was going to be left behind to be attended to later. Mirex pointedly avoided thinking about when later would be. So far, Evi had only wished to have her magitech medical equipment brought along to her final residence, and the half dozen chests of gold and silver coin that had been stashed in the small cellar under the house. Evi had insisted that, in addition to signing the deed to her home over to Mirex so she could handle its disposal after Evi was gone, Mirex take the horded wealth and divide it between herself and Adriwyn and Alex. She’d been firm about not taking no for an answer, while being dismissive and uncaring about what her fortune would end up being used for. “Yes...” the once wily and flirtatious woman replied as one of the illusionary clones brought out a small Asuran cooling unit filled with vials of the serum Evienne had brewed in her attempts to cure herself. While it didn’t work as hoped, it did ease Evi’s pain and allowed her short spans of lucidity. Her attention then shifted to Mirex taking her breather, “Mir...make sure you pack Elise for me.” The red head frowned in concern at her friend, “Evi, it’s damaged. I don’t know hat happened but...” she thought of the painting of Elise Whitman upstairs, a woman Evienne had loved very deeply and whom she still deeply missed. It was Evi’s most prized possession, but, perhaps in one of her fits, it had been ruined by a large gash that left half the picture curled downward and hanging limp. “I know...bring it anyway. I want her with me at the end, when Alex helps me die...the two women I’ve really loved.” Mirex’s answering smile was understanding, and sympathetic, “Alright darling. If that’s what you want, we’ll bring it. What about the books? Any of the other pictures or furniture? Clothes?” Evi shook her head, “Leave them. Do what you want with them. No sense lugging all those things with me now. I don’t have enough time left to get any real use out of them anymore.” She turned her mismatched gaze about her kitchen, with burn scars on the walls from explosive experiments gone awry, “I’ll miss this house though. Never had a home when I was with the Order. Not after Roy left me. This has been my home since I left though. Lots of memories here. Some even of you.” Once, the blue haired woman would have leered and winked at Mirex as she reminded her of the times they’d lain together, but now it was stated simply, without so much as a quirk of her mouth. “Yes... we did have good times here. I always liked coming to see you here. It’s cozy and welcoming and very you. It reminds me of Ebonhawke and living with Father in the Eskara house.” That did bring the briefest twitch to Evi’s lips, “I liked staying there, the one time I visited. Old Man Eskara didn’t judge me, even though I knew he saw right through me. Made me nervous, those eyes that Saw everything I didn’t want anyone to see. But he was kind, and caring. Not what I expected from Whitey Lock’s Daddy, but I’m not complaining. When I’m gone, you’ll give him my regards next time you see him, won’t you Mir? Such a strange phrase you nobles use. ‘Send my regards’. I guess what I really want to say, want you to say, is thank you. For not feeling scandalized having the Reach’s most notorious nympho stalking his halls, and making her feel welcome as a person. Tell him for me.” Mirex bit her lip, finding hard to keep her emotions under control and not weeping, “I’ll tell him, Evi.” Evi got to her feet slowly as she nodded in wordless thanks, “Once that painting is loaded we can go. Don’t need to go through the rest of what’s here, we’ve got what we need. Take me home, Mir.”

[cristianeskara]

Last Requests Part 1

Mirex walked down the familiar, quiet lane in the more modest part of Salma District, the houses and the people living in them neither rich nor poor, simply common. She’d opted for something that wouldn’t seem so out of place, loose but finely made white blouse and a brown peasant skirt, although of a finer workmanship then any commoner would likely own. The Lady Eskara-Jardin wasn’t really concerned with such things as class distinctions, but who she’d come to visit sometimes did, although usually only in her increasingly more frequent fits of despair and self pity and loathing. Mirex pursed her lips, with a concerned frown at the thought of her friend and sometimes companion Evienne Priss, the eccentric engineer and miracle physician. Evi had told her of the origin of the circumstances of her condition, which had afflicted the odd blue haired woman when she’d still been part of the Zaishen Order as one of those tasked with closing Mist portals and exorcising the fell demons and other unnatural beings that came through and terrorized anyone they came in contact with. It had been on such a mission, while Evienne had been pregnant in her youth, that the former Zaishen became a victim of the things she had sworn to eradicate. A Mist creature had tried to take up residence in her unborn child, resulting in a dangerous abomination that could not be undone through a normal exorcism, since an infant would not have the strength to survive such a ritual. Evienne had done what had to be done, removing the child from her own womb and ensuring the thing would not be released into Tyria proper. However, it had cost Evienne her eye, her child and her family. her husband had left her there on the floor after seeing what she’d done, and the emergency operation had cost Evi her ability to ever try and have another child again. It had also cost Evi her sanity, the taint of the thing having seeped into Evienne’s own body, unable to be removed and irreversibly changing her and consuming her mind. From what she’d told Mirex, Evi had survived twelve years now, through alchemical and advanced medicine, and Asuran magitech. But even the engineer, one of the finest physicians in Tyria, could not save herself.  And this was why Mirex now found herself at Evienne’s door once more. After speaking with her wives, Mirex had resolved to invite Evi to move in with them at the Jardin-Valdis estate in Ascalon Settlement, so that she would not spend whatever time she had left alone. It was the least they could do, since Evienne had delivered their triplet girls, and saved Mirex’s life after complications from the birth threatened her life. The red head knocked on the door, though she didn’t expect any sort of answer, and let herself in, the door unlocked as it often was when Evienne was at home. She stepped into the familiar kitchen that doubled as a lab and workshop, dirty dishes sitting next to beakers and vials that also needed a good scrubbing. The room was uncharacteristically dark, the nest of tubes and vials that hung above the sink empty of the usual strange bubbling concoctions that normally pulsed through them. While the space was almost always a mess, Mirex recognized that the disarray before her was not that born of creative genius, but the neglect of someone who’d stopped caring about keeping things clean. “Evi?” Mirex called into the forgotten gloom, and her eyes went to the stairs that led up into the living space above, and there was no glow from lamp or candle. Before, Mirex had thought the odd woman’s home a warm and welcoming place full of intriguing science and nocturnal activities. Now, she felt uneasy, the dark and silence making the house eerie and foreboding She crept up the stairs to the next floor, with its plush couches and book shelves containing everything from treatises on theories of Dynamics to Elonian kama sutra.  Even in the dark, her eyes went tot he large painting on the other side of the room in the alcove with the writing desk, Eviene’s prized portrait of a past lover, blonde and naked. Even in the gloom she could make out the rent in the canvas. Evi would never let harm come to that picture, and she called out again, worry plain in her voice now, “Evi!?” Above there was the faint scratch and thump of something or someone shifting or moving about, and Mirex moved quickly but quietly up the next stair to Evi’s bedroom. No lamp or candle was lit here either, but a corner by the screen that hid the washtub for bathing was lit by a faint green glow that turned slowly to regard Mirex, a large round lime orb beside a smaller, sullen crimson that peered out of a drawn but familiar face, “Mir...is that you? What are...yes I’m asking her, shush...what are you doing here pet?” Mirex frowned, glancing around to see who else Evi might be talking to, but there was no one there, “Yes, it’s me, darling. I came to see you, Evi” The small prick of red beside the green glow from Evi’s magitech prosthetic eye flared to a bright baleful red a moment, “To see me? Did you hear? She came to see me” Her voice cracked, somewhere between a manic giggle and a sob, “She came to see me. Me not you...me...me? Mir came to see me? Why?” Mirex bit her lip, having seen Evienne’s episodes of madness now and again, but it was clear this wasn’t an episode anymore, this was just her, or what was left of her, “To bring you home with me, Evi” “Home?” the blue haired woman frowned in puzzlement, “This is home right? It’s my house...no not yours too, just mine..mine...right?” “Yes, darling, this is your house. I came to ask if you wanted to come to my house, though. Come stay with us.” Evi’s frown deepened, “Us...us..no, I’m me, just one..Evi...the one, the only..” Her face contorted and her voice rose in an angry panic, talking to whatever unseen something only she seemed to hear, “Shut up! It’s mine!. I’m Mine! Me! Not You! Oh Six, just go away...!” and a stifled, defeated sniffle escaped her. Mirex immediately went to her, and put her arms around her dear friend, “Evi...Evi it’s okay. You’re you. You’re Evienne Priss, my friend. My dear dear friend...” She hugged Evi tight and kissed her brow gently. The engineer shook and cried a moment, while almost trying to twist out of the embrace while desperately clinging to Mirex, “Mir...Mir...my gloves...I need my glove...my medicine...” She’d seen Evi use the injector built into her multi tool gloves enough to know what Evi needed, and she groped around until she found the discarded gauntlets half lost under the disheveled bed, “Here..I have it right here darling...” Mirex murmured in encouragement. Evi wordlessly extended her bare arm, a multitude of red bumps and pricks where Evi had been sticking herself plain to see, if washed out a bit in the green glow that was their only light. She bit her lip as she touched the switches on Evi’s glove until the needle popped out and she used one of the existing wounds to dose Evi with the strange swirling mixture of salmon and electric blue serum. As soon as the mix hit her bloodstream, Evi’s remaining eye went wide and blazed a bright red to rival her prosthetic’s glow, and she went rigid and began to shake in Mirex’s arms, who held her tight like she could somehow keep her friend from disappearing on her. Eventually, Evi wold relax and go limp against Mirex’ shoulder, and her voice was wan and tired, “Mirex...I know you...Mirex..” “That’s right, Evi...” Mirex choked back a worried sob of her own “You’ve come to take me home... Evienne Priss...that’s my name...and you’re here to take me home...” The engineer curled into Mirex more and weakly clung to her, “Thank you...”

[coolsaddad-blog]

Roses are red, that much is true, but violets are purple, not fucking blue.

[feels-for-the-fictional]

I have been waiting for this post all my life.

[marzipanandminutiae]

They are indeed purple, But one thing you’ve missed: The concept of “purple” Didn’t always exist.

Some cultures lack names For a color, you see. Hence good old Homer And his “wine-dark sea.”

A usage so quaint, A phrasing so old, For verses of romance Is sheer fucking gold.

So roses are red. Violets once were called blue. I’m hugely pedantic But what else is new?

[ineptshieldmaid]

My friend you’re not wrong About Homer’s wine-ey sea! Colours are a matter Of cultural contingency;

Words are in flux And meanings they drift But the word purple You’ve given short shrift.

The concept of purple, My friends, is old And refers to a pigment once precious as gold.

By crushing up molluscs From the wine-dark sea You make a dye: Imperial decree

Meant that in Rome, to wear purpura was a privilege reserved

For only the emperor!

The word ‘purple’, for clothes so fancy, Entered English By the ninth century

.

Why then are voilets Not purple in song? The dye from this mollusc, known for so long

Is almost magenta; More red than blue. The concept of purple is old, and yet new.

The dye is red, So this might be true: Roses are purple And violets are blue

.

[squeeful]

While this song makes me merry, Tyrian purple dyes many a hue From magenta to berry And a true purple too.

But fun as it is to watch this poetic race The answer is staring you right in the face: Roses are red and violets are blue Because nothing fucking rhymes with purple.

[cryoverkiltmilk]

[young-il-long-kiyoshi]

IT GOT SO MUCH BETTER.

[farrentalon]

My reaction, only with coffee.

[thetiredpianist]

Hang on, need to send this to my literature prof

[michellepsychologist]

[cristianeskara]

"Rumor has it that you has a taste for Ministers. I'm curious why that is?"

Cris smirked at that, “Maybe I just like people who are powerful” he quipped, “But then again, the Ministry is not exactly a trustworthy lot, so maybe  I just like to keep a close eye on them” He shrugged with a sly wink.

[rosalyndhavashem]

The confection was delivered to Cristian’s office with a scrawled note on the brown box it was in.

Had this at the tea shoppe with Caroline. Thought you’d like it too.

Crysian

It wasn’t going to instantly fix the month or so they’d spent not talking. But it was  a start.

@cristianeskara

[cristianeskara]

Cris eyed the treat a moment, a bit bemused, and glanced at the note, then up at the Blade orderly that had brought it, “You cleared it?” “Yes Sir, it’s authentic and clean” Cris nodded to dismiss the orderly, then smiled slightly to himself. He’d given Crysian his space since the boy had barged in, lashing out for his father’s concern over his well being, but maybe this was a sign they could try talking again. He settled back in his chair to take a short break from the endless stream of reports and leads to enjoy the treat his son had sent, and contemplate how best to thank him while letting the boy know he wouldn’t mind talking without it ending with Cristian forcibly ejecting him from the office again.

[ithelpstodream]

[risrielthron]

OOC: Thoughts on ending a RP Relationship

So it happens, you and your story get to a point where one or the other is bored with the story. Where things are not going the way one or the other of you like. Or maybe there are IRL things keeping you away, or even OOC disagreements behind the scenes about the direction, the actions, or other issues. Ending it sometimes is the best thing for both the OOC friendship and the story.

A RP partnership is just that a partnership. Unless you have gone and stood in front of an official and said some sort of vows and signed a contract, you are not married. And even if your RP partner is your RL partner, sometimes the story breaks you apart IC just as RL can.

Part of being a good RP partner is listening to the concerns of the other person, compromising and moving on when the situation calls for it. Not all relationships can last forever. In real life or in our stories, relationships end. Remember, it’s okay for a relationship to end unplanned. It happens in real life and it most certainly can happen in our RP stories.

Sometimes, things just don’t work out. That’s okay. Keep your head up. Focus on the positive things you took from the relationship and let it go.

To those observing, yes it’s okay to grieve that your favorite pairing has ended. Give your support, ask if they need to talk about if you are close, but no one should be made to feel bad about a decision they have made with their story.

A lot of us take our stories maybe a bit more serious than we should. At the end of the day you have to remember, this is fiction. Yes, you are invested. Yes, it’s been important to you. Yes, other people have said they love the story. But at the end of the day, if the writers end the story that is the end.

Keep writing somewhere else or something else.

And remember: Be kind. Respect each other.

[goodnightlittlelight]

Please. This is sooooo important.

[rosalyndhavashem]

A word about RP and Charity

It’s AWESOME to see how many RPers are interested in helping refugees from Elona, from Lake Doric, from Scarlet over the years.

But I found myself today asking–do we only take our fake money to give fake goods and help to fake people? Are we totally ignoring those in need in the real world while making ourselves feel better with fake charity?

So I’m challenging myself, and I’m challenging the GW2 RP community to not just fake it. I understand not everyone can afford to give irl, that many play GW2 because it’s a free-to-play, or has no subscription because 15$ a month is asking a LOT on your wallet. But I’m going to challenge us to do more than RP charity and do real charity too.

I’d like to see Role Players for real change.

Some places to start:

http://mashable.com/2017/09/19/help-mexico-earthquake-donations/#gIhZahAx9iqw https://virginislandsrelief.org/ Now I’m not vetting or saying one way to help is better than the other–these are just two very near and dear situations to me. You don’t have to support the same things I do but–put your money where your role play is (Unless you play a villain of course in which case…don’t build that doom machine).

[fuckyeahanarchistposters]

Seen in NY

[rosalyndhavashem]

White Mantle. Nazis. We know you. We see you. We do not tolerate you.

[cristianeskara]

Flashback. For Cristian from Cervato.

((sorry for the late response, catching up finally on these a bit))Cris leaned back, going quiet a moment and the easy smile sliding from his features a bit as he regarded Cervato, “I can’t go into too extreme of details, you understand. Names and so on are classified and the Oath prevents me from sharing such information.There are some older Ops I can talk about, I suppose, if you really insist, that have been declassified.”The scarred Blade sighed and took a bracing breath, “My very first mission after graduating the Academy and taking the Oath, was an undercover mission tracing Mantle weapons smuggling operations from around Applenook in Gendarren fields heading up into the Harathi Hinterlands. I’d been pulled from my team to accompany one of my longtime mentors, and it was just the two of us for the operation.We spent over half a year posing as deck hands on a trade cog. That’s where I met Nastya. Exemplar Morrison, my mentor, encouraged me to pursue a relationship with her during our time aboard, as a way to give me experience in earning trust from potential assets and informants or marks, while actually getting us more intel about the details we needed to locate where the Mantle were getting the weapons from, and where they were shipping them. It’s common knowledge now that the Mantle and Confessor Caudecus were financing and supplying the Centaurs, but at the time we didn’t have much to go on. That was over twenty years ago after all.”He took another bracing breath before continuing, “Nastya and I got closer then expected. I’d had crushes on some of my fellow cadets in the Academy, and I was technically betrothed to our ward Mirex by then, although we weren’t as romantically involved as we later came to be. I suppose Nastya was my first love. I regret losing touch with her. Doing so meant I had no idea she had gotten pregnant, so I didn’t know about our son until just a few years ago.”“But, I’m digressing. We finally got the information we needed, and a place and time when the Mantle would be meeting the pirates that were supplying them. The tight time table meant we couldn’t call for back up and expect them to arrive in time before we lost the opportunity, so Morrisson made the call for us to go in ourselves.” Cris closed his eyes, having to take a moment as old memories rose, “There were more of them then we expected, and while the pirates were hardly a problem, the Mantle are no slouches in a fight. I earned the scar on my face from a tainted weapon. They killed Morrison. Took three of them. he was a great swordsman, but one of them got a lucky hamstring in and they stabbed him over and over. He still took two of the three down before he died. I couldn’t get to him in time; there were too many between us. I don’t remember much of the battle afterward. All I remember is seeing read, and a wrenching pain. He was the first comrade I’d ever watched die. He was a great man, a veteran of dozens of missions.”It took a few more bracing breathes before he could finish, “When I came to my senses again, My sword and dagger were in my hands, covered in blood, and our enemies were dead to a man. I’d gotten the cut along my face somewhere in that time that I can’t recall, along with some other superficial injuries. I made my way back to the boat, and Nas and the crew patched me up and helped me retrieve Morrison’s body.”He regarded Cervato with sad, haunted eyes, “That’s how it is for the Blade. The Academy gives you the skills, the conditioning, and the preparations for how to survive, but there’s no way any training prepares you for that first mission. The first time you meet the enemy face to face. The first time you realize what you’ve really signed up for. How ugly it will be. How the statistics they teach you about low survival rates aren’t there to just scare you. The enemy was real. The threat was real. It changes you, and never lets go.”

[cristianeskara]

Does that mean Cristian is available to father more children? Where do we sign up? <3

It’s a possibility. He’s engaged and trying to be a good boy, but things happen. So while his list of those he had promised to be baby daddy for is now empty, and he’s trying to amend his wayward tendencies, virility does not seem to be one of his problems.Try and catch his eye and see what happens ;)

[everythingsucksbutthatsokay]

Unpopular opinion

Real human lives matter more than fictional characters. Even characters and stories that mean a lot to you. People matter more than fandoms. If you bully and harass people because of their ships or headcanons, you need to stop and reevaluate things

[cristianeskara]

Overdue

Cris stood on the dock of the Aerodrome in Lion’s Arch, black coat swirling about his legs as he watched the former Aetherblade airship Spectral Current lift away, Nastya and her son Crysian, his son, standing ont he deck watching him recede from view. He felt a pain over the recent conflict between him and Crysti over what had happened between them during his training for becoming Shining Blade and taking his father’s place one day. The scarred man hoped they could mend the divide and that Crysian would eventually understand why training to become a Shining Blade was as hard as it was.  As the red airship began to shrink on the horizon, Cris finally turned away and started back across the city. Yuki would be at the Lu estate in Gendarren with their daughter Xia, who was just over a year old now. That brought a smile to his face, if one still tinted with a sort of bitterness. He’d made a point to not miss anything in Xia’s life, trying to somehow make up for missing the first fifteen years of Crysian’s life. Again he found himself wishing he’d known about the boy when he’d been born. Much would have been different if he and Nastya had not lost contact after that first mission during which they’d met. Ruminating about his questionable ability as a parent reminded him that Crysian and his baby sister Xia were not the only children in the world that could claim him as their sire. Cris winced to himself at not having yet visited MIrex and his sister Alex and their three little girls. The final promise and debt he’d owed Mirex, granting her the family she’d always wanted. Upon leaving the Arch he made for Ascalon Settlement instead, and the Jardin-Valdis estate where Mirex and Alex and their wife Adriwyn lived. Mirex hadn’t even informed him the girls had been born until several weeks after the event itself, but that was as it should be. His former intended had made it clear that while he was their sire, the girls belonged to her and her wives, not him. They could call him father but there was no expectation of discharging paternal duties. Mirex had made it clear that he was to do the exact opposite and be only a passing presence in the triplet’s young lives. They’d know who he was, but their first and strongest family bond would be to their mothers. All the same, he’d set up accounts for each of hem when Mirex had confirmed she was pregnant and how many children she’d be having. He’d also left contingencies that should something happen or Crysian and Xia decided to forfeit their claims to his title, one or all of the girls could claim House Eskara as their own. Cris had always had a certain reservation about going in through the front door, even when making social calls. Old habits from a nervous life hunting White Mantle.He steeled himself a bit and approached Derek James, the Seraph Sergeant who spent his off hours serving as a guard for the Jardin-Valdis estate. An Elonian woman Cris didn’t recognize was also with him, armed and wearing the livery of House Jardin. A new addition, Cris surmised. While the Elonian didn’t know him, Derek greeted him with a familiar salute, “Welcome, my Lord. Easy Jeri” Derek cautioned the weary woman, “This is Exemplar Cristian Eskara, and Lady Alex’s brother. He’s alright.” Jeri nodded and relaxed a bit, and Derek smiled apologetically, “She’s still learning the faces, sir, but she’s capable. I’ll buzz you in” Cris chuckled softly, “Not a problem, thank you Sergeant” He eyed the magi-tech contraption Derek spoke into, part of the elaborate security measures Adriwyn had applied tot he house after taking over as Countess Jardin. After a moment, the door would open, and Cris would find himself facing a brunette woman of perhaps mid forties, who offered a pleasant smilee and a deep, practiced curtsy, “My Lord Eskara. I am Eirene Adlair, head maid and seneschal to the Ladies Jardin and Valis. I’m afraid Countess Adriwyn and Lady Alex are not at home, but Lady Mirex has agreed to receive you. If you will come with me please”  Cris offered a bow of his head, “Lead the way Mistress Adlair” Through the halls of the estate they went, signs that the disrepair under the previous Baron Valdis was being corrected now that a proper staff was being added to the compound again. The head maid led him to a bedroom on the second floor, poking her head in, and Cris was reminded of Liza, the severe blonde woman who served the same capacity at his home in Ebonhawke. “She will see you my Lord” Eirene dipped a curtsy and waited for Cris to enter the room before closing the door and leaving him alone with Mirex. He stopped short, wonder touching his features as he took in Mirex seated on a comfortable couch, and three tiny infants in her arms and lap. Her fiery hair was still the same, close cut, but the woman he’d once intended to marry lacked the vitality he remembered. Pale and freckled, her pallor was a bit more drawn, and she seemed a bit thinner then he recalled despite having recently been pregnant. “I was wondering when you’d finally come to visit” Mirex teased gently with a warm, dimpled smile that lit her face.

“Sorry. Even with the war against the Mantle finally over, things have been busy as Her Majesty and Minister Wi reestablish the Ministry as a loyal part of the government and not a divisive faction like they were when they were controlled by the enemy. Making sure we don’t have any traitors or disloyal persons still in office and all that”

“Always the job” Mirex teased, “Come. You came to see the girls, not bore me with work” she flashed a smile to take the sting out, and he chuckled wryly as he moved slowly to join her on the couch, perching and peering at the three tiny faces. “This is Adalyn...” Mirex smiled fondly as she introduced her brood, indicating the little one with a wispy crop of snowy hair, “And this is Katrina” the little girl with almost pinkish colored hair was next, the halfway point between her sisters, “And this is Irain. I named her for your mother.” Mirex watched his reaction as she introduced the little red head nestled in her lap. All three babies had the violet eyes of an Eskara, and coupled with the white hair on Adalyn and the half way mix on Katrina, there was no doubt he was indeed the father. “Thank you Mir...” Cris murmured, voice cracking a bit at the sudden well of emotion at that, as he gently reached to pick Irain up. Her tiny face was serious a moment as she studied the face of her sire, before a tiny  little smile quirked the baby’s mouth and she reached out to touch Cris’s bold Ascalonian nose. They spoke quietly of simple things, Mirex’s health, how Yuki and the triplet’s older sister Xia were doing. Cris only half remembered those things, mesmerized by the three little girls. Even though he would not be a prominent part of their lives as their father, he loved them as he did all his children. Five children by three different women. Such was the life of a man who served the Shining Blade and the kingdom first before his own heart. Despite the ups and downs that had led him to this point in his life, he found a sort of contentment and hope in his family and all it’s convoluted branches. A much overdue peace.

[cristianeskara]

Felicity in Threes

“Do you want Mommy to do it again?” Mirex gushed with a playful laugh at her three beautiful baby girls, who were becoming more alert and responsive each day. Their little coos and the simple impressions of happiness she could sense from them with her Mesmer’s gifts made her indulge them again, and set a fresh swirl of glittering purple butterflies of raw magic dancing and fluttering around their little waving hands. The flairs of delight from each of them brought another laugh from their mother, who was enjoying this as much as her girls were, if for different reasons.  It was good to have her powers back, and her worries that almost nine months of pregnancy and lack of use, coupled with the past several months of recovery, had been for not. She was glad to be able to be up and about, and finally help care for their daughters and take some of the load off Adriwyn and Alex, although having Alicia as their nanny helped as well. She still grew easily fatigued, something her attending physician, Evienne Priss, had said could persist for some time yet. The eccentric blue haired woman, with her magi-tech prosthetic eye and penchant for gadgets and alchemy, had warned Mirex that she’d have to walk a fine line between pushing herself a little more each day to regain her strength and stamina, but to also not over exert, or risk having to go on bed rest again. Mirex wrinkled her nose at the idea of being an invalid again, but that expression made the girls giggle at the funny face, clueless as to what it meant. Without trying they knew just how to cheer their mother up again. “My Lady, is their anything I can get for you?” Alicia asked solicitously from where she stood near, idly attending to matters around their bedroom while being on hand if Mirex tired or needed a help, since despite having her powers back, Mirex still struggled at times to conjure clones solid enough to pick the girls up with. 

“I think we’re alright for now dear, thank you” She flashed a grateful smile to the young woman before attending to her children once more, playing on the rug that served as one big play mat. She’d noticed Alicia coping with her new position as nursemaid to the girls and handmaid to her liege ladies, although she still got stuck on the inconsistencies between Mirex and her wives expectations. Where Alex adamantly refused to embrace her noble bearing, while Adri had not grown up in it and was relatively clueless on the finer points at times, Mirex had been raised int he Eskara household, where one learned one’s position and the proper modes of conduct and address. The House Eskara staff were treated as family, true enough, but there was still an understood boundary between the family and those who lived and served with them. Mirex had been educating Alicia in the expectations of her role, and she seemed ot be taking to it admirably. However, Mirex despaired of ever getting any consistency for the poor girl, since her wives tended to forget or countermand the basic skills and etiquette she’d been trying to teach Aliciia. While Mirex was still unapologetic about having been forceful about the staff adapting tot he peculiarities of those they served, not the Ladies of the house taking cares to appease the servants, she had made some effort to better explain and ease Alicia into being more comfortable with her liege ladies’ penchant for unabashed nudity when in the comfort of their home. Mistress Airene had proven very helpful on that score, reinforcing what Mirex had tried to teach Alicia before the head maid had arrived and taken over the daily running of the Jardin-Valdis estate.  It was a comfort, really. Mistress Eirene did not have the head maid of House Eskara, Liza, severe demeanor or stiff formality, but was no les capable in performing her duties, and the household had shown a marked improvement in upkeep and general orderliness. Mirex absently reminded herself that the next wave of staff should probably be finalized and sent for, now that Mistress Eirene had established herself as the estate seneschal. Th sounds of the girls brought her back from her wandering thoughts, and she got down more on their level to place her face n reach of their little hands for kisses and nuzzles. Unlike Alex, her close cut flaming hair didn’t offer the temptation to be grabbed. All was right , now. She had her dream. She was married, madly in love with her spouses, and a mother of children she had born from her own body. Three mothers, three noble houses, and three wonderful little girls who would want for nothing, be it love or the comforts of home. For Mirex, all good things came in threes.

[thewinterotter]

Posted by Steven Payne to Facebook group British Medieval History:

People in the Middle Ages valued sweet smelling breath and bodies, seeing them as desirable, so there is a great deal of evidence from the period of tooth pastes, powders and deodorants. Contrary to the typical Hollywood depiction of medieval peasants with blackened and rotting teeth, the average person had teeth which were in fairly good condition, mainly due to the rarity of sugar in the diet. Most medieval people could not afford sugar and those who could used it sparingly. Archaeological data shows that only 20% of teeth had signs of decay, as opposed to 90% in the early twentieth century. The main dental problem for medieval people was not decay but wear, due to a high content of grit in the main staple, bread. For deodorants, soap was available for the wealthy, but a variety of herbs and other preparations were also used. Soapwort is a plant native to Europe and Asia which, when soaked in water, produces an effective liquid soap. Mint, cloves and thyme were also extensively used by simply rubbing into the skin, and alum (hydrated potassium aluminium sulphate) was an effective deodorant. I am trying to keep to 14th century technology on my pilgrimage to Canterbury, which gives me various options when looking at hygiene. In the middle ages people generally cleaned their teeth by rubbing them and their gums with a rough linen cloth, or the chewed end of a stick. There are various recipes for pastes and powders that could be put on the cloth to help clean the teeth, but I have chosen simple salt to whiten them and to aid fresh breath. I will also be using the stick method, and will be taking along a supply of liquorice root sticks for that purpose. I also have a few blocks of alum, which when rubbed into wet skin has a deodorising effect. Alum, like beeswax, was used extensively in the middle ages for a variety of purposes, also being useful: * in the purification of drinking water as a flocculant * as a styptic to stop bleeding from minor cuts * as a pickling agent to help keep pickles crisp * as a flame retardant * as an ingredient in modelling clay * as an ingredient in cosmetics and skin whiteners * as an ingredient in some brands of toothpaste The photograph shows my wash kit including home made olive oil soap, salt for the teeth, a block of deodorising alum, cloves, a boxwood comb made for me by Peter Crossman of Crossman Crafts and some liquorice root sticks, all on a woollen ‘towel’. Note that the cloves are kept in a ventilated box….this is because insects hate the smell of cloves and so a perforated box will keep them out of my kit and food bag when I am sleeping rough. TIP: If you steep some cloves to obtain the oil and put the liquid around the doors and windows of your house, it keeps spiders and insects out.

[rosslynpaladin]

Pay attention medieval-ish fantasy authors-  filthy people without any cleaning or self care is Not Historical.

[torn-by-dreams]

Fantasize about your dashing medieval man with confidence! Lo, how he does not smell like a bag of dead hamsters!

[cricketcat9]

Wow, I didn’t know that the medieval people had better teeth than an average person in a rural area today! No offence to people in rural areas, but the typical attitude in the countries I lived in (maybe with exception of Canada) is: “it hurts, pull it out!”. Kids in Ecuador in remote communities have much better teeth than adults, due to schools teaching dental hygiene and distributing toothbrushes.