@Device(PostScript) @Make(Report) @Style(Spacing 1.5, Leftmargin 0.75 inch, Rightmargin 0.75 inch, SingleSided, Font = TimesRoman, Size 10) @comment(Set these values appropriately for each character profile) @string(name="Hyacinth Goldenfield") @string(realname="Hyacinth Ivy Goldenfield") @string(playername="Player Name") @string(id="093234") @include (/mit/abstract/Characters/Sheets/cover.mss) @MajorHeading(@value(realname)) You just don't understand it; why can't people just be nice to each other, instead of fighting all the time? Even your own family is being... well, downright @i(nasty!) There's simply no need for it; just talking things over rationally solves most problems, and even if it doesn't, there's really no reason to be @i(rude!) Really, it was almost as if things were going too well; you'd met Noah, and you were as happy as you could ever remember being. Then things started going wrong, and all just because some people just like to make other people unhappy. You just don't understand! First of all, there's the whole bit about poor Noah, your sweet, loving, wonderful mate. The Realm people want to try him for treason just because he associates with you! He's facing a possible--- no, better make that probable court-martial, and the Realm punishment for treason is death! Except @i(he hasnt' done anything WRONG !!) Yes, it's an absolutely @i(horrible) situation. And then there's Charity, your very own sister, who's only compounding the whole mess. She's trying to get Heather Sweetroot, the leader of Clan Goldenfield, to declare you a traitor, so Charity can take all your land! You're getting upset.. you'd best go through it slowly one more time, just in case you think of something. Okay.... There are several solutions to all of it, you're just not sure which is best. If you and Noah get bonded in a formal Clan ceremony, he becomes, officially, Clan Goldenfield, so he's not an outsider, and you won't be disinherited for bonding outside the Clans. However, if he's no longer a Realm Citizen, he can get brought up under their silly Internal Security Act (he explained it to you; this would be very very @i(bad)) and lose his job. He couldn't be court-martialed, though, unless he was considered a legal citizen of @i(both) Realm and Clan; that'd be a first. He really doesn't seem to like this option, though, and thinks the ISA might be able to catch him as an undesirable or something and lock him away forever, for no reason.... The next solution would be for you to become a Realm Citizen. The only problem with that is that you'd be disinherited by the Clans, and lose all rights to your farmlands, the family lands that you've worked all your life, pouring your soul into their care and upkeep. Your land is right on the border between Realm and Clans, and incredibly fertile; it's valuable, as well as being your home. You don't want to lose it, and now Charity, your sister who ran away from all things Clan when she was very young, wants her share of the land. @i(Her share!) She never worked that land a day in her life, and she doesn't even deserve to set foot on it anymore, really! For some reason, though, she wants it... @i(all) of it, leaving you with none. She waited until you'd started having problems because of Noah, and moved right in for the kill. By birth, though, she's Clan, and they don't really seem to acknowledge Realm Citizenship in some cases. That's what's not fair; you'll be disinherited, even though you love the Clan, and Charity, who's lived most of her life in the Realm, will be welcomed back with open arms if you're disinherited! @i(It's just not FAIR !!) Noah says that if you @i(do) become a citizen, then you can probably get the case taken to a Realm law-court, and you'd probably win possession because you've worked it and Charity's never shown any interest in it at all before. That seems like a very risky play to you, though...! You could also bring the matter up to Kalerege, the Lord of this castle you're on (yes, you, an ordinary farm girl, are on a flying castle! If you weren't so worried, you'd be having ever so much @i(fun!)). The only problem with that is he'd probably refer the matter to a joint meeting of the Clansman's Clasp (the de juro "ruling body" of the Clans... it's just a front for the meeting; the Clans are independent units, and function thusly... it's just best to present a unified front) and the Realm's Table of Peers. Things would probably get nasty and interfere with --- maybe even @i(destroy)--- the peace talks. You've worked so hard to make them happen, you just can't let anything stop them! You're really stuck... what are you going to do? Oh, you love Noah so much... if only he wasn't a Citizen! Of course, you knew he was, and had known from the minute you'd seen him that he was a Realm soldier... @i( You'd been having a fairly ordinary day, tending the small flower-and-herb bed behind your house, rather than being out tending all your fields of grain. It was relaxing and you were at peace, until... CLANGALANGACLANGALANGA !!! You'd set alarms around the inner perimiters of your property to tell you if anyone came in any way other than the main road, and they'd been set off. Grabbing a pitchfork, you set off to the corner of your territory in which the disturbance had originated. It was a bit of a walk; it took you almost a half-hour to reach the spot. When you got there, you didn't find a nasty, vicious warlike intruder, but a half dead human male. He was bleeding from some nasty wounds, and his uniform --- by Gaea, he was a Realm soldier! That doesn't matter though, he's dying! --- was shredded. As you carefully assessed the damages (keeping alert in case whatever got him should decide to return), he opened his eyes.) @i("Werewolf," he mumbled, then lost conciousness again.) Werewolves! Of course you knew they existed, but to actually come across a victim of an attack....! @i(There was nothing you could do for the man here, and he was hurt, but not so badly that he couldn't be moved. After years of hard labor, carrying him back to your house was a bit of a strain, but nothing spectacular. You cleaned the claw-gouges all over his body and dressed them with a healing poultice you quickly assembled from your herb garden. You got him to drink some water, then, realizing there was nothing else you could do immediately, you consulted your grimoires, hoping to find a certain ritual that you thought you'd never use. Find it you did: Wolfsbane was anethema to werewolves. There was no doubt that the young soldier was infected with the lycanthropic curse. You were a good healer, however, especially on your home ground, and you had some wolfsbane around ever since you had a vampire attack happen on your land. Come to think of it, you were getting into the habit of saving wounded men from Chthonic nightmares! You threw together what you hoped was a cure for the infection, and waited, sponging off his brow, feeding him, and watching his wounds for signs of infection. In a few days, he was strong enough to mumble a bit; he kept asking for "Dave"; you reasoned that that was a companion of his...) He told you later that Malachai David was his brother, killed by the same beast that had attacked him. He and his brother had been very close; you almost envied him the closeness they had shared. There had never been anything of the sort between you and your sister, even long ago, before she had run away... Your nearest friends had been Heather Sweetroot, The Goldenfield, and Haggai Nahum, the man you' saved from the vampire attack. @i(The bat had changed from human form and back again as it warred with the armored figure. It smelled of death and decay and unspeakable evil; you wanted to retch, but stood silent. You watched the struggle; the human in armor was in trouble... There! The vampire had knocked the man's sword away... you watched the scene, entranced, until the human's scream of pain and terror brought you back to your senses... you watched, even as you charged the beast, pitchfork first, as the ground itself seemed to fight the creature. It noticed you, and attacked... and then shrank back. It had dared to challenge you on your home territory, where every selfless wish was granted to you. "Go away!" you scream, trying to look as terrified as you feel. To your utter amazement (and relief), the vampire wailed in terror and fled into the night.... You bent to examine the wounded fighter... "How?" he asked weakly. "The Lady likes me, I think," you replied flippantly, tearing some cloth from your skirt to bind a wound where his armor had been torn off. "Indeed She does," the stranger had muttered cryptically.) The stranger turned out to be Haggai Nahum, then a Guard of the Realm, now Justiciar. You had, after divesting him of his heavy armor, carried him back to your dwelling and nursed him to health. He was fortunate that he'd survived the vampire's attack, you thought; he was not as pleased. He would have preferred to defeat the beast, and keep it from attacking those more helpless than himself. As a caution, he taught you how to kill a vampire: stab the creature throught the heart with a wooden stake, stuff its mouth with wolfsbane, and lop off its head. You've kept some wolfsbane around ever since, just in case the vampire ever returned to your lands. Luckily, Nahum had also mentioned it was good against werewolves; if you hadn't known about that, your beloved might have died! Sometimes, though, no matter how much you love him and want to be with him, you think about what life would have been like had you not met Noah. You'd still be living on your family's lands, rather than in a somewhat run-down apartment in Capitol City. You'd never have learned all the green-keeping you have from Nahum; you'd never have found Havilah Yossi's journal. You'd never even have gotten involved with COERCE! But really, one thing at a time! @i("You have promise, child." "I'm hardly a child, Haggai Nahum," you retorted. "And promise as what? I've been playing with herbs since I was a child; my father taught me the ways of the Goddess as soon as I could speak, and I've always had a natural inclination towards healing. I fail to see how you note anything new." "I'm sure you do. Tell me child, what was the Goddess to your father?" You were puzzled. "The Goddess is the Goddess," you replied. "He watched her sanctuaries, and learned whatever secrets she would reveal to him, some of which he passed on to me." Nahum laughed, much to your consternation. "Oh, my dear girl, if only you knew... There is little more herblore I can school you in that you do not already know, if there be any at all. The Goddess smiles upon you... but this is not the time for such talk. You must practice; prepare a potion of fire resistance for me, if you would...") Your sessions with Nahum generally went like that, and you @i(did) learn a great deal from him. You know there's more, but he's never seen fit to find the time for "such a talk". You know it's all somehow related the the Goddess, Gaea. What Nahum's true relationship to her is, however, is as much a mystery as that of your father, may the Lady bless his departed soul... Another memory flits across your conciousness... @i("Look, Noah, it's some sort of old book! "Hmph. Looks like the last resident decided to leave most of his trash behind when he moved. Might as well throw it out with the rest..." "Mm-hmm," you replied, not really paying attention to your beloved, as you were already absorbed in the old journal. It was the property of one Havilah Yossi, the Sword of Justice, who seemed to be a most interesting kind of criminal.... "Noah, have you ever heard of a fellow called "The Sword of Justice"?" "Uh... yeah. He was just tried a little while ago; theivery. Got caught, and got three decades hard labor. Wasn't even keeping the loot for himself; he was giving it away to the poor. Something like "the haves have not been giving to the have nots so somebody's gotta do it" attitude. He's quite a character. Why?" "This is his book; I guess he used to live here." "He was a slob, then. C'mon, we've got a few more boxes to move up here, and about six tons of garbage to unload.") You never mentioned the book to Noah again; you thought he'd probably think it strange that you were so fascinatied by the memoirs of a convicted felon. Fascinated you were, to the point of tracking down Yossi's lawyer, who was mentioned several times in his journal. The man, Zachariah, was a warm, friendly sort, and was obviously taken with his former client's methods. There was a greatly uneven distribution of wealth in the world, he pointed out. What was the harm, really, in taking items well-to-do people had no use for, and giving them to those who were in desperate need? You were hooked; evenning out some of the "distribution of wealth" in the world would help make everyone happy. You could care less about money, however; your particular forte was medicine. There were countless alchemical shops all over the Capitol, selling their poultices and potions for exorbitant profit. You see nothing wrong with liberating small quantities of the merchandise and passing it along to the sick and injured. If a poor person is hurt, they don't have the capacity to earn money to buy the medicines and treatments that they need; usually, they can die from a minor infection. Zachariah finally (after you pleaded with him) taught you basic breaking and entering, and went with you a few times when you raided shops for herbs and drugs. You never took money; only medicines that were needed by people you knew, or that you'd heard could use a hand. You soon got a strong rep as a really good healer; no one yet has questioned the source of your herb supply, nor should they. You've been careful! You and the others (Zach, Tuvan and Chiam) have been working hard --- yet subtly --- to get a bill passed into law by the Table of Peers of the Realm. Not you, so much, as you are Clan, but you do what you can. The bill would allow freer trade; one would not have to be a Guildsman to sell and barter, which would give many underprivileged families a way to raise money, and their standard of living! You've been using other methods to ensure better living for all, as well. You're on the Committee On East-Realm Cooperative Endeavors; COERCE for short. By some miracle of life unknown, you not only got all the Clan leaders and the Table of Peers to agree to a meeting to discuss and establish the end of the Clan-Realm war, you get it on some truly fantastic neutral territory... Castle Kalerege! What a... coup, if you dare to use the word! Zachariah is on the Committee with you, as well as his fellow attorney, Abimael Eve, and a fellow physician, Jasmine Sweetwater. You've learned to be quiet when she calls you "the Farmer"; as far as she's concerned, no one with your "background" could possibly be a healer. This group hasn't been the easiest to deal with, but by slowly learning how to deal with each other, you've gotten a handle, perhaps, on how to make the leaders of the warring factions work with each other for peace. Sigh. If only you could talk to Heather about the Sword, and Charity, and Noah and all of it. She's so comfortable to talk to, and is an incredible listener. You're not sure, however, how she's going to handle Charity's suit for your lands. Unfortunately --- well, maybe not, but so it seems --- Heather Sweetroot Goldenfield is an honorable woman. Charity has a case... and a strong one at that. You miss your chats with Heather, though. It would, you decide, be all right to talk to her, as long as you made it perfectly clear that you weren't going to try to use your friendship to sway her decision in the matter of the Ivy lands. @i("Noah, are you sure we're doing the right thing?" "Hush, sweet. We love each other, don't we? How, then, can it be a wrong thing for us to be together? I want to be with you forever, Hyacinth. It's the most right thing I can think of." You smile, and snuggle up to him. "Yeaaah... me, too.") Your name is Hyacinth Ivy, of Clan Goldenfield. You are a strong, brave, intelligent young woman with a penchant for pulling yourself out of difficult situations. You have many abilities to your credit: You can Compound many Drugs and healing potions, can Identify most Herbs, and have extensive Knowledge of Agriculture and Farming. You are an Excellent Listener, and as such, lots of people tend to pour out their troubles to you. You have some skill with Lockpicks, which helps you in your appropriations of medicines. You are also attuned to the movements of the Sustainer, Gaea. In your possession, you have the land-chits for the Ivy territories, some wolfsbane (for emergencies), lots of healing herbs and potions, a bit of mythril, a pitchfork (for other emergencies), and a book of healing spells. You have some difficult times ahead of you, and some difficult choices to make... good luck! @newpage @section (Organizations) @include (/mit/abstract/Organizations/COERCE.mss) @include (/mit/abstract/Organizations/sword.justice.mss) @newpage @include (/mit/abstract/Guides/guide.clans.mss) @include (/mit/abstract/Guides/guide.goldenfield.mss) @include (/mit/abstract/Guides/guide.realm.mss) @include (/mit/abstract/Guides/lore.gaea.mss) @include (/mit/abstract/Guides/lore.creation.mss) @include (/mit/abstract/Guides/lore.herbs.mss)