#pre-timeline

[simorous-me]

Baudin & Brinn Marnet

Baudin, the younger of the Marnet sons, two boys born to a mining family just outside the Elbythe settlement. The Marnet men before them had laid claim to the craggy mountainside when the area was first settled, and they’d always been able to make a decent living off of the meager coal veins.

As was the way of their people, the family home and mines went to his older brother Ryland at the year of his turning, and so as the brother with no inheritance, Baudin was expected to court a young woman in town and start up his own branch of the family. Instead, he chose to travel a bit, packing what little he owned (and truthfully, a bit of what his brother owned) and walking the paths along the Desya river until he could find a fishing boat that could take him farther than anyone in his family had been. 

He landed in the far port city of Iyesgarth, and being a wily sort, was quick to charm the youngest daughter of a noble family. To say her parents disapproved of the match would be a grand understatement -- he, a penniless interloper. 

But nothing was quite as enticing to Brinn as a man with her father’s disapproval. So, with his devilish grin and promises of grand romance and a lovely enough place to call home, their own bit of land, she agreed to run away with him. 

She brought no dowry, a fact he’d not entirely considered before embarking on their adventure, but he loved her and that seemed to be enough. They’d traveled back to Elbythe, where his brother dutifully helped him get settled with his new bride.

To Brinn, the home wasn’t exactly what she imagined; it was not quite as he’d described. But, she thought, with Baudin by her side she would endure it.

It wasn’t too long after their arrival back in Elbythe that Brinn found herself with child. Baudin was pleased at the prospect of an heir, particularly a son.

As her time in Elbythe wore on, honeymoon bliss fading into the malaise and nausea of pregnancy, Brinn worried about the future. She hadn’t realized how much she would miss her family, miss the sea breeze and the way the stars laid out from Iyesgarth. 

Too, Baudin was not always the great provider that he’d advertised himself to be. Truth be told, he seemed fond of gossip and leisure, and his ambitions far outweighed the effort he was willing to put into them.

Her pregnancy was arduous and took much of her energy, and so she was glad finally to be done with it. 

Thedra Woode assisted with the birth as the local midwife, taking her payment in foraged goods and a sapling for her land. 

Farum Marnet

He seemed in appearances to be a chip off his father’s block, and Baudin couldn’t be more pleased.

[tpwrarchive]

Rich and Sympathetic II Setzer & Locke

As Vector disappeared over the horizon, Locke explained everything to the Gambler, just as he promised. With every word, he felt the adrenaline from the fight fading. When he explained what had happened at the Magitek facility, he gripped the railing, staring out at the sky in some attempt to steady himself.

His stomach wouldn’t stop rolling, and it wasn’t just the ship ride.

Locke excused himself to go below decks, stumbling toward what had been designated as his room. Negotiating himself a bottle of liquor from Setzer’s stores had been easy, almost automatic, and he closed himself up with it and his own thoughts.

Curled up on the bed, he nursed the bottle, staring at the ceiling. After every pledge he’d made, every step he’d taken, he’d failed Celes. He failed Celes, and Terra had turned into some… thing, and all Locke could do was stand idly by and watch. The one time Celes needed him the most, he froze. He doubted her. For all the trust she put in him, he doubted her. And now he didn’t know if he would ever see her again—if her execution would finally be carried out—if another person he cared for would die because he was a failure.

Bitter tears stung the back of his eyes and he cursed, punching the wall with the side of his fist. Several more drinks and he had almost finished the bottle. Getting more would mean leaving the room—and, likely, owing Setzer more money. He had a feeling their host kept tight control of his inventory.

Locke attempted to sit up and found his movements to be sluggish. That expensive shit was more potent than he expected. Cursing, he slumped against the wall, legs akimbo on the bed.