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Previously... The Highridge Foothills, Eastern Varlyrio The journey from Illyrian was long and Fel was in a hurry, setting a quick pace that set Fizzum to grumbling the whole way. When he finally took over, far outside of the city and away from any road that Fel knew, his pace was no less relentless. She expected the Lady Tisha to complain, but she never did. Every time Arrea offered to carry her pack or help her in any way, Tisha happily ignored her and walked a little quicker. She prattled and questioned in an endless wave, wanting to know everything about everything. It seemed that she was stopping every few feet by the time they reached the end of their path. Fizzum had led them down a what was once a busy road, now returned to the land by time and disuse. "Fah! We'll never get there if you don't pick up that child and drag her along!" "I'll do no such thing. My lady, please ignore that fool." "Fool is it? Fool? Look before you, we've finally arrived and it's pretty flowers and insects that you're concerned with." "I hate to admit it, but he's right. That's got to be some kind of door." "It doesn't look much like any door I've ever seen." "On account of it being a gnome door!" "It's got no latch or hinges, Fizzum." "Fah! Of course it has. You just can't see 'em with your baby eyes. Door operates by steamworks. You just got to know how to talks to it." "Well, let's not keep our guide waiting you two. It'll be dark soon and we don't know what awaits us inside." "You don't, but I do." "I'll bet it's not so bad." "If you're lucky, you won't have nightmares the rest of your days." "I'll ask you again not to speak to the Lady that way, Master Gnome." "I was talking to all of yous!" "Well, that's ominous." "More like exciting!" "Fah! Fah, I say! Let's us just get on with it."
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Previously... D'Gatto Family Estate, Illyrian Kass decided to tag along and entertain Fel's group of unlikely companions. Not for the first or last time, it didn't occur to anyone to look up and spy the spy that watched them from the very rooftop of the D'Gatto family house in Illyrian. "So I know it's not much to look at but you try being D'Gattos in Eastern Varlyrio and we'll see where you wind up living." "Fah! No thanks." "Let's just go inside, Kass. I can practically feel mother's eyes on me." "It's... sort of roomy inside?" "Well it was originally built for gnomes..." "She's not a gnome!" "Well, I could be a gnome." "A human child? What's Fel doing carting a human child around Illyrian?" "If she didn't tell you, I'm sure you'll understand if we keep our business to ourselves." "Sure, sure. Anyway, I'll show you around. The D'Gattos deal in antiques. Well, some of us do. Here are some." "Oooh. What are they?" "I don't know what they are." "Can I pick up the statue thing?" "Sure, why not?" Meanwhile, Fel was face to face with Abelia D'Gatto, her mother. An imposing, infuriating woman. "Felissa." "Mother." "Did you really think you could slip through Illyrian without me knowing?" "You know, for a minute there, I kind of did." "Have you learned nothing? Your father and I always know where you are." "Don't bring him into this, I know he doesn't approve of you tracking your own children." "Be that as it may, he understands what this family needs and right now it needs you to stop these foolish games and return home." "Mother, we've been over this before. You have your interests and I have mine." "I swear, when I was your age my mother would have slapped my bottom and married me off for such insubordination." "Mother!" "Sigh. Very well, Felissa. If you won't listen to me, then at the very least you need to be able to protect yourself while robbing the dead or whatever it is you're doing. Follow me." Abelia led her daughter to an adjacent gallery. Armor and weapons were displayed there, equipment that Fel had not seen in years... "This is... great-grandmother's." "I had the tunic and armor resized for you, dear." "But... I can't take this." "Oh don't give me that. Your grandmother taught you how to use these weapons very much against my wishes. You may as well shake the dust off them." "Mother... this is..." "Don't lose your composure, Felissa. Stand straight now. You're a D'Gatto and I'll have you comport yourself as one." "... sniff..." ... ... ...sometime later... "I don't know, Abelia. Goldhorn is paying me a lot of money." "But Goldhorn is not Varlyrian, much as he wishes to be. If you wish to stop scuttling along the rooftops and walk out in plain sight, you know who you should really be serving." "Not that I care, but you'd really do this to your own daughter?" "She must learn her place, Garm. You wouldn't understand the duties of a mother." "Heh. You're a cold woman, Abelia." "Do as I ask you and you'll find me a lot warmer in the future." ... ... Builder's Notes:
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Note: This is the first of what will be 1-2 more builds showing the D'Gatto family. The next one will be "Extended" and, if necessary, another will follow as "Known Associates". Abelia D'Gatto is the head of the D'Gatto family, which traditionally passes power down matrilineally (common practice among Varlyrian Catfolk). Her mother left her with the family business: artifacts and antiquities and her father left her with vexing familial connections out west, including various debts, secrets, and obligations. She married an artist, seeking to expand the family business into art collection, patronage, and sales but so far this has been an uphill battle. Abelia is refined, but ruthless and has a famous temper. She makes it a point to attend major social events in Illaryian and the more important eastern Varlyrian cities and maintains a reputation for cold poise and withering wit, though she must also pretend not to hear the japes and judgments offered behind her back, or a half a moment before she is fully out of earshot. Abelia is the kind of mother that presents a different face, a different style of mothering, to each of her three children. Who she really is remains a mystery even to those closest to her, though Fel suspects it is reserved for herself --not that she appreciates it. Fel is Abelia's heir and she saves her greatest reserves of attention and disapproval for her. Pardo D'Gatto (formerly Sivaelurus) is from a prominent military family that is based in the borderlands between the two sides of the Varlyrian coin. They staunchly disapprove of "that woman" due to her family's connections to scoundrel catfolk that "give all of us a bad name". For his part, Pardo relishes his family's disapproval and often courts it. He grew up under the shadow of older brothers and sisters who followed the family trade of soldiering for the Rego. Pardo isn't a pacifist, but he prefers the life of the mind and isn't shy about it. He insisted on his children receiving educations that included an appreciation for the arts of painting, music, sculpture and dance. Fel was the greatest of his pupils, but it's Kass who has the spark of his father's talent. Pardo leaves most of the direct parenting to Abelia and has long since taken a step back to let his grown children figure their own lives out. Something of a recluse, Pardo doesn't emerge from the D'Gatto atelier for days at a time, which has proven a poor habit for an artist disinterested in the art community of Varlyrio and who is considered a middling talent on top of it. His marriage to Abelia seems to have been out of both love (for him) and status (for her) as well as an opportunity for both to step out of the long shadows cast by their families. Stena D'Gatto is the "black cat" in the family, having chosen a life of religious observance and militant service over all other pursuits. Stern and fiercely moral, Stena has officially cut ties with her immediate family, though unofficially that is not so simple. Stena has risen to the rank of Knight-Sergeant and her commitment to the Order of Sana Argenta means she can not inherit the family affairs from Abelia when the time comes. This made Fel the heir, a thing which caused a bitter rift between the sisters. They were once close, though opposites, but that closeness has largely become a memory that neither will admit pains them dearly. Stena lives in Illaryian but prefers to be out in the field, accepting missions and commands that draw her out into battle. She is also closer to the Sivaelurus family, some of whom are also knights of Sana Argenta or other friendly orders. Though Stena seems stiff and unyielding, she hides a romantic and gentle side which recalls her father. Abelia tends to treat her with coldness and distance, while Pardo is both repelled and attracted by her similarities to him and his own family, as if she could someday repair the rift between D'Gatto and Sivaelurus. Kass D'Gatto would be most families' "black cat" in that he is an infamous carouser and scoundrel. He prefers the company of his mother's cousins, the Diamantos, a family of grifters many of whom travel about Varlyrio in caravans. The Diamantos have a poor reputation among common Varlyrians, but some are considered akin to folk heroes in the seedier parts of the island. Kass prides himself on being utterly useless to his mother and father but he adores his sisters. Though his associations and behavior cause them both a lot of grief, they also have a lot of affection for him. Kass, though he hides it, is something of an artistic prodigy and has never tried a medium of art or music that he couldn't almost immediately master. He squanders these gifts, however, and instead tries to perfect the "art" of betting on horse racing while being drunk as a Mitgardian lord. Pardo puts more effort into trying to reign Kass than he does with the other children, though Abelia counters it by indulging and doting on her "baby boy". Kass is happy to take their money and sleep off his wilder nights under their roof, keeping them both just far enough at bay that they don't quite give up on him. But that's been going on for years and, as Fel is fond of telling him, it can't go on forever. Builder's Notes:
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Previously... The Crescent Bounty Public House, Illyrian Reluctantly allowing the Lady Tisha and her bodyguard to accompany her, Fel heads to the meeting that she had set before ever heading off to Kaliphlin. When one plans a trip to the Sunken City, it pays to have a guide... "You're... not what I expected." "What were you expectin', a Deep Elf? Fah!" guide1close by mccoyed, on Flickr Before them was a gnome and while it was true that many gnomes called the Sunken City and its cavernous surroundings home, Fel had never seen one with quite so crazy a look in his eye. "I think he's neat!" "That's 'cause I am neat! Name's Fizzum and there's no kids allowed in the Sunken City!" "That's silly. What about gnome kids!?" "Fah!" "Anyway, what guarantee do we have that you know the way to the ruins I described in my letter?" "I'm here, ain't I? Good luck finding anygnome else to take you that far out." "Hardly a guarantee, Fizzum." "Well what guarantee have I that you won't call your cousins to mug me, Ms. D'Gatto? Yeah I knows who you really are. I knows people!" "But that's not really a sec--" "Further, what guarantee have I that this child won't wander down the wrong tunnel to pee or chase lizards somewhere she oughtn't?" "Grumpy." "I'll thank you not to speak to her that way, Master Gnome." "Well, lookin' at you at least we'll have some protection from the dangers of the deep place. That's something." "Thanks?" "I can handle myself too." "Fah!" "Is that 'Fah yes I'll take you' or 'Fah no forget it'?" "I been paid, ain't I? No Fizzum's ever gone back on a contract and I won't be the first. Here, spit-shake on it!" "Ew." With the bargain struck, Tisha and Arrea took their leave while Fel spent some time thinking and drinking. "Hmm, someone else I didn't expect." "I'm always a surprise. A pleasant surprise!" "I'm sure that's what you tell yourself. And everyone else." "I missed you too, Felissa!" "Don't call me that!" "Sorry, sorry. I've been hearing that name all afternoon and it's hard to shake off." "Ugh. I was hoping I could slip out of Illaryian without her knowing." "I get that but what about me, dear sister? Had you spared no thought for dear Kassaro?" "I was planning on stopping in when I came back..." "I'm touched. But you'd better go see her before she sends Stena." "Pfft. As if Stena would set foot in here." "Haha! She'd tear the place apart." "I suppose I shouldn't keep mother waiting if I plan to leave in the morning." "Where are you headed this time anyway, sister?" "It's fascinating, actually! There are these artifacts, but they're really one piece, and if I can find both I can prove--" "Ugghghghghgghghgghggh! I'm sorry I asked." "--fine. I won't tell you then. See you around, Kass." It had been months since Fel had last seen their mother and she wasn't looking forward to the meeting. The same old lecture... Builder's Notes:
