Out of kindness and general goodwill, for he found it refreshing when the little ones visited the estate, Winston the Butler gave young Talia Oleander Seruviale Larkspur a tour of the corridor that held up all the family portraits, from the very first ancestor, to the very last addition. The adorable four-year-old paused at the main entrance, where, even in her child-like perception, she could tell certain portraits were of the same two people, in various degrees of aging features.
“Wiwstow, who are thwez two pew-ple?” She asked, dark blue eyes widening in innocent curiosity.
“Ah, those are your ancestors, the very first as far as House Larkspur is concerned.”
Talia Oleander’s precocious nature only made her all the more excited, and her pudgy fingers tugged at the butler’s hand. “Tell me about both boys!”
The butler cleared his throat, stifling a chortle on his end before responding to the little girl, “Ah, they are….That there, he is your great-great-great-great grandfather, Lord Kemp Larkspur. And….the, uh, lovely…/woman/ with the kind eyes is your great-great-great-great grandmother Lady Chlotilde Larkspur, née Despaniar. Say….would you like to hear a story, Little O? It is, after all, how your mother got her middle name. But…don’t tell her I shared that with you, yes? About the middle name…”
The girl nodded in agreement, eagerly anticipating what was to come next.
Story time!
(( And the following is a story written by @lauriston-larkspur around beta time before GW2′s official launch, when we were planning the shenanigans that would become House Larkspur. It depicts the very first Larkspur ancestor and the family’s origin. Enjoy!! ))
The Despaniar family were comfortably if not extravagantly well off, enough so that their modest manor and surrounding lands were tended by servants and farmers employed from the local village. It is one such family, their name suspiciously absent from all known records and stories, that this particular tale is about…
More accurately, their sole son. Kemp.
Kemp was a simple farmboy, but do not let yourself think that by ‘simple’ there is some suggestion that young Kemp was lacking in basic reasoning or intelligence. The simple in this case merely points to the fact that Kemp led an uncomplicated existence. He was healthy and whole, his parents content and comfortable. Good people who lived and worked on the land they loved, growing vegetables and sometimes fruit - the pick of which went to the Despaniar estate every three days for as long as anyone can recall.
It was on one of these very visits that young Kemp, an awkward and lanky boy of eleven years first met Chlotilde Despaniar. After presenting the Despaniars with the best strawberries from the recent crop and collecting the coin in payment for the hard work, Kemp took a moment to rest before setting off on the journey home. His short rest became hours, the boy not arriving back at his family’s small farmhouse until long after dark. Where have you been?! His parents demanded to know, having feared the worst for their only son, and were equal parts relieved and worried to hear that he had spent the afternoon with the young Lady Chlotilde. Such a thing was scandalous! But dear Kemp was a good boy, and surely had no thoughts of wickedness regarding the girl - who was three years older than him.
The years passed. Against all odds (unless you believe in storybook tales) Kemp and Chlotilde grew, both in age and in their eventual adoration for one another. So sad, the farmboy and the Lady - destined never to be together and yet so very in love.
Just shy of Kemp’s fifteenth year, a fearsome group of bandits descended on the small part of Ascalon that was home to both him and the Despaniars. Savage raiders, schooled in the arts of death and thievery! A call went out for men, strong men to defend the lands and the people upon them. Despite Chlotilde’s protests, Kemp himself took up arms against the despicable thieves. Tall, although thin, Kemp had little trouble convincing the gathered farmers to allow him to join the defense even at his tender age. They needed everyone they could muster! And so the boy joined them, with no more than the clothes on his back and a blunt knife to defend himself. But, dear reader… Defend himself he did.
When the battle was over, the farmers stood victorious, the remaining thieves having fled to the far corners of Tyria. Kemp, like many, was hailed a hero, but sadness followed elation. For even heroic farmboys are not worthy of a Lady’s hand, and both he and Chlotilde knew this. Chlotilde was sent away to marry a man she had never met, and Kemp, Kemp gave his allegiance to the nearest -other- Lord, unable to stand the Despaniars a moment longer. He would be a fighter, a man of action. Anything to ease the ache in his heart at Chlotilde’s absence.
More years pass. Kemp grew ever taller, head and shoulders above the men he now called his brothers. He learned the way of combat, and then he put his own twist onto it, taking not the sword and shield of the men beside him, but the twin blades and poison of a less honourable profession. But Kemp the good boy had become Kemp the good man, and none who knew him questioned his motives. He fought for what was right, he made a reputation for himself. Unknown to Kemp, Chlotilde returned home to the Despaniars having spurned her would-be husband, refusing to marry him.
They joked about Kemp, these soldiers he called friends. One night some wit tells them Kemp is tall, pretty and poisonous… Just like a larkspur. The soldiers squealed with laughter, patting their tall friend on the back at his new nickname being that of a flower. Kemp smiled, for he was a good natured man, even if he slew his enemies in great numbers in battle.
He was Larkspur, now. No longer Kemp. The name stayed, his reputation grew, more years passed. Now nearly thirty, the man was a seasoned warrior of hundreds of battles - a proven and trusted soldier. He has always succeeded, he has always overcome, and as he nears the end of his long and deadly career he is rewarded like few are. Land of his own and a title to be known by. Lord Kemp Larkspur. For he took the name he had held for so many years as his own.
Now a Lord, and having discovered Chlotilde’s return, the happy couple were finally married. Three beautiful daugthers and one no less beautiful son later, the Larkspur name and family was firmly established. To this day they thrive.
(( @lauriston-larkspur @hattievonlulu @jmariegw2ooc @kexax @lindelaelemonlarkspur @lorelei-larkspur @beau-harris @rynbadger @adamixos @mavrosaerosrae @mesphia @thefoxinblack @bianca-celeste @adriwynofkryta @peeonatree @atreyuhaswari LARKSPURS! ))
