In this world, Magic is Everything. All people, all races, are granted with the power to perform mystical and magical feats via grimories, mystical tomes granted to each and every child on their 15th birthday. Those blessed by the mana can have their names written down in legend.
Shattered Grimoires is the work of the mind(s) of Ardere & Shattered Grimoire's staff. All characters and content are copyright their creators, and may not be replicated without their creators' permission. Black Clover is owned by Yuki Tabata and published by Viz Shonen Jump. All images belong to their original owners. The theme you are currently viewing was made by Eliza of ElizaCodes exclusively for Shattered Grimoires.
Post by Lustian Wilhelm on Apr 27, 2022 13:32:59 GMT -5
One who was coming to the estate had the maneuver themselves through the mountains but once they got there they would come upon a large stone gate, made of what seemed to be almost that of stone brick. Golden railings lined the top of the wall. Guards were stationed outside of it. The walls were 14 meters tall and 6 meters thick, and when one passed through golden lines would light the archway of the wall until it came to an end of two large wooden doors, ornate in design through the use of metallic ore, 3 guards stood in front, one on either side and one in the middle.
All outfitted with armor it was simple leather hide, lightweight, and easy to move around with gold plating and the Wilhelm coat of arms on the left upper chest. The same was held by all three Wilhelm in the cart in some form or fashion. For Lustian, it was engraved on the front of his white shirt. In all gold fabric only about 4 inches in size close to his inner chest, on the left toward his heart, the shape of a pickaxe crossing a pointed staff within a shield. Whereas the family's house crest was that of a pickaxe and hammer that was within his inner right sleeve. Lustian eventually began to sit upright within the carriage as they made their way closer to the gate entrance.
The carriage came to a small crawl, and Lustian pulled back the curtain on the carriage, he flashed a smile and made sure his insignia could be shown, although they knew he was the heir such formalities and politics were still expected to be upheld, even more so as a higher member of the family. He made sure his insignias could be seen within the window, the guards were switched out every week, and it was always good for them to all began to learn the names and faces of those who arrived.
They gave a nod of approval within their armored helmets. Staff in hand they'd tap them on the crowd three times and the wooden gate behind would slowly upon. The guards moved to either side of the cart and soon, the trio was being led onto the ground of the estate.
The estate was nestled inside of an opening of a mountain, carved out by the family ages ago, it was formally an area that they had mined, most of the acreage previously being giant pieces of magical ore, one that helped sustain the dwarven miners for ages, one that helped them become a giant in wealth with one large family of miners leading at the top, one whose linage will flow back into the same miners who assisted throughout the merchants and throughout the years all of those children would come to bear the surname; Wilhelm.
The mountain peak was lush with natural flora, and the Wilhelm did their utmost to preserve most of it. The estate was surrounded by a forest, with a ravine toward its back, this ravine lead to the very depths of the mountain, an area just above where the mines sat where the Wilhelm family mind their magical ore, much of their infrastructure being reinforced with that same ore, malleable, sturdy and natural conductors of natural mana. It was because of this that most of the dwarves in the family adept at feeling natural mana could also more accurately pinpoint the ore when mining.
Today, as they made their way back to the estate Lustian found himself immediately heading to his room, to change clothes, he knew that they would be training today and thus he wanted to wear something or rather less of something, when it came to all the hard work and effort he was going to have to put in. Meanwhile, Alessia had been sent to the front, and as to why, Lustian didn't know but what he did know was that it gave him a bit more time to get ready.
Alessia had made her way to one of the large offices nestled within the family estate, in it she found a young girl sitting in a chair and one of the older members of the family. He gestured for her to sit down and so Alessia did, "Hello, may I ask why I've been summoned?" Alessia said as she looked up at the older family member, after all, she liked to get straight to the point and she had the heir of the family to train, after all, today she was dressed in some common clothing as opposed to her nun clothing. Her attire consisted of a black, backless, sleeveless undershirt, an orange over-shirt with two white straps on each shoulder, a large beige sash around her waist, and black stretch pants with a pair of lightweight brown shoes, along with a beige neck warmer. Alessia's purple eyes glanced at the young girl beside her.
Then she was quickly given the rundown, for all intents and purposes she was almost like a new member of the family but she had promise, and much like how she was in charge of training the heir Lustian and his cousin Dante, it was now her job to train this young girl too, or to at least give her some pointers as the young girl had no obligations just yet. Alessia smiled at her and attempted to take her hands within her own, "I'm Alessia, lovely to meet you cousin." She said with a smile, "well let's get going there's a lot to show you, and a lot to do. You should count yourself lucky you may be in for a treat today," she said her smile still warm but a mischievous glint hid within the depths of her eyes.
She led the girl out of the room and toward another knocking on the door, only for it to open a few seconds later, leaving Lustian standing in the doorframe, some light white fabric of clothing on and his magic knight's mantle draped around one of his biceps. "Yeah, yeah I know what you're going to say, but look see I'm already ready! Oh-" Lustian stopped as he noticed the young girl, he gave a warm smile as he examined her with a tilt of his head, "and who might you be?"
The girl arrived as requested in a letter from her father. She was told that this was not a formal event so she did not have to dress up too pristine but he did mention her getting to meet some new faces. Was this a test? What if she dressed too poorly? What if she dressed up too much? What if she ripped something? Her nerves racked her brain until she settled on a pearl white cloak with an onyx black tunic and skirt. This time around she would wear pearl white sandals that could be easily removed. Going barefooted into the Wilhelm estate might be a little too lacks and primitive. Finally, she brought her gauntlets with her only because they were the only things that made her feel safe. Even if she had to leave them with a servant, she just wanted to be at ease for as long as possible.
In her mind she was absolutely terrified. Finding out that her father was a member of one of the great families was something but knowing that her mother only got with powerful men just further showcased the type of people she was going to get to know. Would she be good enough for them? Would she be able to meet their expectations? Would they even accept her despite her being a bastard? With her mother, everyone was a bastard and it did not matter but she heard stories and tales about other noble households and how they treat people born out of wedlock.
The girl entered the large office of one of the older members of the Wilhelm family. She lowered the hood on her cloak, remembering the bits of etiquette training she received under her mother's care. She could not be rude. She could not get abandoned again. She had to do what it took for her father's family to be pleased with her. Her smile pasted itself on her face, unable to be removed due to her endless chain of nervousness.
"Greetings sir." The girl pulled out energy to be heard and gave a small bow. She was directed to sit and began asking about various things about her life. The girl, much to her dismay, spoke about her mother and the family she grew up in. She described her magic and various things she was taught. It became clear that this was just small talk to pass time which made it all the more difficult to answer. Every new answer brought with it a new knife she had to pretend was not impaling her heart. Finally came the million dollar question. What happened with her and her mother. The girl lowered her head and moved her hand to her chest to fight off the invisible hand of despair that gripped onto her heart. Cold chills ran down her body. She was not sure she could keep going. She was not sure she could say another word without breaking down in tears. She was not sure she could hold off not becoming a disappointment. However, salvation would be delivered in the form of a woman with dark skin and more commoner attire.
The elder apologized for their talk having to be put on hold and proceeded to address the woman. The woman inquired on what the elder needed and the girl stayed silent as she fended off the thoughts which threatened to swallow her. The woman was so stern, so bold and not afraid to talk to an elder. What if he got mad? What if he was disappointed? Still, it was a bit admirable that she could stand tall despite all of this. Finally their talk was over and the woman turned her attention towards her. Her purple eyes pierced her with more daggers which made the girl's hand tremble. However, she did back down, though it was not like she could. "Oh... um thank you..."
With that one smile, the woman tore away at the dread the girl was clutching onto. She was apparently her cousin thus a member of the Family. This was great. Though with how the woman was speaking to the elder, she immediately wondered if this was like the true family lead. There was so much to worry about but the girl let herself get pulled along with the woman. She would hold off determining if she was going to be lucky or not in this situation but when her siblings ever said things like this, it meant a lot of work. She could feel herself breaking her smile to sigh but only because she was sure nobody was looking at her.
The woman would lead the girl to another room and a man was standing on the other side of it. He donned some beautiful fabrics and the mantle of a magic knight! It was not just any squad but the brilliant Golden Dawn! The girl was a bit star struck, not even realizing that this was the actual Heir of the Wilhelm family. The Golden Dawn was supposed to be the most prestigious group ever, aside from the royal knights. If her mother knew about this man... though that probably still would not be enough. This man, he was the heir, in golden dawn, so tall, he was like the perfect person, much better than she could ever be.
She lowered her head as the weight of how powerful her new family was. How was she going to compete with this? How was she going to keep them from abandoning her? How was she going to survive in her life as a poor peasant person who was a failure? Her smile widened as reality was setting in. It was too late for her. Her father expected too much. These people were too strong. It was like a baby going up against the Wizard King. Only the man's voice would cut into her thoughts.
"Oh uhh... sorry for my rudeness. I am Maria Klara Shi... I mean... Wil... Wilhelm sir. B-but I go by Kl-Klara." She gave a curtsy but stayed in the pose, awaiting his approval of her terrible performance. Despite her grin, she would not forget how she messed up her own name. Like how do you mess up your own name. What Knights want someone who can't even introduce themselves properly. No matter what happens she would be a failure just like her mother said.
WC: 1070
Last Edit: Apr 28, 2022 21:50:40 GMT -5 by Deleted
Post by Dante Wilhelm on May 3, 2022 3:04:56 GMT -5
Dante once again found himself sitting inside the carriage as he and Lustian made their way to the Wilhelm estate. Given how much of a success the pair had the last time they had used the training room, the elders of the family had granted Lustian permission to be allowed to utilize the room once again, as well as allowed Dante to once again accompany him. The lava user was excited to get another chance to go into the training room, curious to know what else the room would be able to throw at them. There was also the fact that the training that he had gone through had allowed him to unlock an entirely new branch of his magic that being physical reinforcement. He could now coat his body in protective layers of hardened lava magic to increase his strength and speed. It was also possible to increase his endurance though he currently didn't have a spell for that yet. "That's probably something that I should think about making the next chance I get. I can't really go around calling myself a tank if I end up being knocked out of a fight." he mused as the carriage drew nearer to the mountain housing the family estate.
Considering the training session he was going to this time, Dante decided to test to see if he could train up a specific magic specialization this time rather than simply leaving it up to chance. While he loved the fact that he had gotten Physical Reinforcement magic, things could have quickly gone bad for him if he had gotten something like Sensory or Healing magic. "I think I'm going to see if I can unlock transformation magic this go around. I should also work on improving my physical reinforcement magic too" Dante considered. The thought of being able to transform parts as well as eventually his full body into different forms appealed greatly to him. There were many different ideas currently floating around in his head of different techniques he could develop from that branch of magic, especially if ended up mixing physical reinforcement into it. "I would even be able to create a spell that could grant me multiple arms so that I could grapple and hold down someone while still being able to damage them. Not to mention all the other types of transformations that would be available to me." Dante mused getting giddy at the thought.
The carriage came to a slow stop, pulling Dante from his musings as he realized that they had arrived at the manor and parked. He followed behind Lustian as the golden dawn pair made their way inside, greeting the family servants before he made his way to his room here in order to change into a set of appropriate clothing. He remembered how hot it was down there the last time and he had no intentions of sweating any more than was needed. He ended up putting on a short sleeve shirt as well as a basic pair of pants and elected to keep his regular steel-toed boots before he decided to head out and find Lustian so that they could go into the training room. He was surprised that he hadn't seen Alessia or either of the terror twins yet though he was happier about the latter. Any day where he didn't have to deal with Alexander and Alexis was a good day in his books though Dante felt that after this training session he would be doing something about them. He had been growing in leaps and bounds since first joining the Golden Dawn and now was at the point where any fight between either of them would be on equal terms. "Maybe I can convince Lustian to join in to make it a team match."
As he made his way towards Lustian's door, Dante noted that there were two people standing outside the door along with Lustian in his doorway. One of them was clearly recognizable to Dante since it was Alessia but the other person was a mystery to him. She was rather short, only coming up below his chest most likely if he were to stand next to her with black hair. She appeared to be around the same age as him and Lustian too and Dante began to wonder why this girl was here, to begin with. "Is she the kid of one of the servants? But why would Alessia be walking around with her if she was, especially since she's supposed to be bringing us down to the training room too." Dante thought as he arrived just as the girl introduced herself to Lustian. She stumbled a bit over her words, clearly nervous but the part that stood out to Dante was the fact that she introduced herself as a Wilhelm. As far as he knew, there weren't any other Wilhelms within their age group, or at least none that he had met so far so where exactly had this mysterious girl been while growing up. "Hey Alessia and, you said your name was Maria right? I'm Dante." he said a bit awkwardly, unsure of how to proceed now.
The lava user didn't have the best interactions with new family members due to their views on his birth and it tended to leave him a bit flatfooted when dealing with them. He didn't know anything about this girl or what she had potentially heard since coming here so it left him a bit at odds about how to interact with her. "Dear Gnome, I'm acting just like the first time I met Lustian when we were kids. Get a hold of yourself idiot, you're making things awkward for no reason." he mentally chastised himself before offering a smile and holding out a hand for Maria to shake. "It's nice to meet you, what brings you to the Wilhelm estate?" he asked, desperate for a conversation starter; anything that would distract from just how awkward he was being. "Smooth Dante, very smooth. Way to ruin her first impression about you. Now she'll think that you're either some kind of weirdo or idiot." he mentally chastised himself. She was clearly on the estate because she was a Wilhelm, especially since she had introduced herself with the last name of Lustian.
Post by Thaddeus Wilhelm on May 16, 2022 7:24:28 GMT -5
The Wilhelm Estate, albeit it is much more akin to that of a castle, had been the former residence of one Thaddeus Wilhelm. Said residence had naturally come with quite a bit of tension when it came to young Thaddeus but even with that being the case, it was the place that he was going to have to return to. You see, the Cardinal of the Church of the gnome had requested that he return to the manor to discuss several private matters with the family. This had felt rather out of character for the Elder of the Wilhelm family but Thaddeus had seen no reason to turn against the man that had helped him get on his way when he was younger. That being said, the young Deacon had decided to make headway towards the abode.
Along the way to his family estate, a cart had managed to pass him by and had seemed to be heading in the same direction that he was. There wasn't really anywhere else for the cart to have been heading, if he had been remembering correctly. It surely would have been nice if that cart and its inhabitants had stopped along the way to offer him a ride but well... Fate didn't always agree with Thaddeus.
After what had felt like the longest trek that he had undertaken in years, Thaddeus would eventually find himself coming upon the outer walls of the estate itself. Seeing it after all of these years had left him feeling entirely unsettled.. Distant memories of his youth would come flashing back as though they had only just happened as he had gazed upon the vast stone walls that had wrapped around the territory. A soft gulp could be heard as he had tried to work up the courage to head straight towards the ornate wooden doors and the family's guards. 'This... may have been a mistake. Can I really hope to go through with this after all of these years? I'm not sure...' In all honesty, if it wasn't for the fact that the Elder had requested his presence than he likely would have chickened out here and now. Not wanting to prove a disappointment to one of the most important people in his life though, Thaddeus would shake off these thoughts and continue up to the gates.
It had been about a good eight or so years since Thaddeus had last returned to the estate. In that span of time, the guards had likely shifted around quite a bit and it was unlikely that they would have recognized him. He was but a mere fifteen years old the last time that he had been here after all. This was a situation that Thaddeus had thankfully been able to bypass though. Once the three guards had ordered him to stop and asked for some form of identification, all that he had to do was explain his identity and why he had been missing for so long. Obviously such a thing wouldn't work on it's own, of course, so it was a damn good thing that Thaddeus still had a a display of the family crest. Once that was shown to the guards, he had been allowed to head further into the territory and would work his way towards the actual estate.
After what had felt as though it was a much longer time than it should have been, Thaddeus would eventually arrive within the estate itself. He had successfully managed to return home but had now needed to seek out the elder that had sent for him. Strange glances had been sent his way as he had meandered about the estate but that wasn't all that surprising. 'A strange member of the church that many hadn't seen for quite some time... Anyone would be suspicious. For now I should just focus on the task at hand...' Not having much of a memory as to where he should exactly be headed, Thaddeus would eventually stop and ask one of the servants for assistance. Once he had revealed who it was that he was and had even shown them his family crest, the service had been agreed upon with little to no resistance. From there he would be escorted down a hallway that would lead towards a rather intriguing sight.
Standing farther down the hallway had been three or so individuals. Each of them had resembled that of his family but he hadn't been quite sure as to who they had been. A young girl who had stood at about his height had been standing had been standing beside a slightly taller woman with almost purple-hued hair. A little father down had stood a man with a mohawk and a claw like birthmark on his face. Who exactly had they been and had they known who he was? Unlikely but one has to ask. The woman with the purple-hued hair does seem a bit familiar after all.. Not by much of course.
Once the trio in the hall had started to introduce themselves to one another, and to someone within the room on the other side of the door that they had been standing in front of, Thaddeus had begun to ponder over whether or not he could recall any of those names. He couldn't but that was fine. All that that had meant was that he was going to need to introduce himself at some point. 'Let's just hope that none of them are father's children... The thought of running into him still worries me. I can only imagine how horribly awkward that entire situation would be if they happened to belong to that man.' For the time being, Thaddeus would remain quiet while keeping an eye on the trio to see what they do. Whoever it was that Maria had been introducing herself to must be important if she was performing such a curtsy. It may have even been the Elder that he had come here in search of. All that he could do for now was wait and find out.
Post by Lustian Wilhelm on May 20, 2022 16:48:40 GMT -5
As Alessia talked to the elder that was in charge of getting Maria's information settled into the family archives, the man carefully set the document he had been scribbling the answers to Maria's questions down on. The verification process had already been done as they were in contact with the young girl's father, and a bit more information would be needed, but for now, with the help of Alessia who had been trained in this sort of thing, that being the guidance of other family members, as she was also the one charged with keeping the heir of the family in check.
Due to this, they decided to pair Maria's welcome with her, and inadvertently shoved the duties of the young girl off to the new heir. This, however, was due to simple merit, as from what her father had told them about the young girl, the family deduced that the young girl might have some merit and talent, and if trained properly would and could become a proper Wilhelm...
However, they didn't want to use too forceful of an approach instead they figured they'd let her acclimate, and charge Lustian with her well-being. As their heir, one needed to learn to teach those within the next generation and around his own. Thus they would slowly but surely entrust more and more to him to make him fit to lead, to see if he was worthy to do so. It was for that reason that this same elder had sent out a message to one of the promising members of the family. Though they got some push back and complaints from the boy's father, this ultimately subsided his anger. Thaddeus a member that had been away from the family for 8 years, having left nearly after he had gotten his grimoire. The young boy had decided to dedicate his life to the church much to his father's disappointment.
The Wilhelm family, however, was deeply dedicated to the church, one of the Elder in the family, Markus Wilhelm, was the cardinal of the church of gnome, the church being one of the main things Wilhelm sponsored with their income in terms of charity. It was because of this that church members were highly valued in the family, though that wasn't to say that the general bias ran in the family. That being a magic knight was an even greater honor, but the fact remained, that the church was an unyielding presence within the family if not due to the work of the Cardinal of Gnome alone himself.
Thus, when Thaddeus' father had come back with his usual complaints in his passing grievances, the family decided they could kill two birds with one stone. paring the young Wilhelm heir with an aspiring church member who was good with the paperwork and merchant areas of the family. However, as Thaddeus seemed to be taking longer than expected, the elder had figured he'd just pass the meeting portion off to Lustian himself. Finding his time too precious to be spent giving directions to someone who should be able to pick up on the situation well enough himself after a simple talking too.
Lustian found himself dreading what today's task entailed. In truth the most he wanted to do was train his body and magic, eat and sleep. Maybe get a little bit of mining done on the side, but paperwork, the mound of it that sat atop his desk was a loathful sight. Lustian, however, figured the day would at least but easy once he was able to get through whatever task he needed to. Though then he heard a knocking at his door and opened it to reveal Alessia with a message and an introduction to a new member of the family. He had thought that Alessia was simply on her way to go through his usual lessons, and then force him to do the paperwork before they were allowed to go to the training array in the mines. However, instead what he got was something he wasn't initially wasn't expecting.
Lustian peered down noticing a young girl no more than 15 in front of him. He gave a gentle smile to the young girl, noticing her white cloak, matching sandals, black tunic, and skirt, which were in stark contrast to one another. But what caught his eyes were her gauntlets. Those were strange accessories. He was happy at least the young girl knew how to match her outfits well. Though as to why she was standing outside of his door, he had no idea. Then the young girl greeted him, her nervousness evident and as clear as day.
Lustian chuckled a little, he couldn't imagine the thought of someone being nervous around him, usually, he was so outgoing that most were put off by him. However, he figured the young girl was going through a lot. He remembered the day he had come back to the family when he was young. How awkward and strange he initially felt around everybody. He leaned down slightly and smiled. "Lustian Amigochaz Wilhelm, a pleasure to meet you cousin." Looking up Lustain's smile widened as Dante made an appearance at perfect timing. "Looks like we have an interesting day ahead of us cousin," Lustian said to Dante with a smile and shrug.
He asked the young girl what brought her to the Wilhelm Estate, and Lustian figured it was kind of obvious, none the less he would allow to competition's ice breaker to take hold. Unbeknownst to him, the Elder that had previously spoken to Maria and Alessia had rounded the corner and was now making his way downward, opposite the direction of Thaddeus.
He stopped by Lustian's room, and with a simple glance, he spoke, interrupting whatever conversation they were having. "Ah, I see you've met. Good, good, know we're just waiting on one more, a Thaddeus Wilhelm, I'm sure you'll find him eventually, Alessia can take over from here," He handed Alessia a set of documents, and the young nun quickly made her way through reading them, not even taking a second to ask questions she had done business with the family enough to know they preferred to move with a fierce and efficient speed when handling business. It was common for some of the more experienced family members to be handled simple documents of instruction instead of full conversations due to most of the inherent merchant training.
Alessia quickly read over the documents and as she did, her eyes happened to catch a boy at the end of the hallway. Nonetheless, she returned to reading the documents at hand. On it, she read a name for another church member, one she had most likely seen in passing in time but had never truly gotten to know, after all the Church of Gnome was a rather extensive network of churches.
"It seems we have another family member that's supposed to be joining us today as well. According to this, his name is Thaddeus, though what lays in wait for us is something I'm a tad nervous about." Alessia folded the papers and placed them under her arms visibly forcing herself to relax. "Nothing to fret over, I knew it would come down to this sooner or later anyway. We'll be fine," she said in a dismissive tone. Moving aside to let Lustian out of his room, she'd allow whatever other formalities that were going on to happen this was an important step of the bonding process.
However, the look she displayed on her face gave her away slightly, with a glance Lustian was sure, today was going to be more than he initially bargained for. It seemed the family was up to their usual trials and methods. What each of these people had to do with each other, why the family insisted on putting them together, Lustian was sure Alessia would tell them eventually. For now, he knew it was just best to just go with the flow.
The heir chuckled after she gave her greeting. This was it. She really did ruin herself and her reputation. Now it was only a matter of time before he looked for a reason to tell her father to just abandon her too. She closed her eyes to better imagine this horror. Meanwhile, her smile just grew a bit wider as her embarrassment combine with fear fused into new emotional energy and overcharged her mouth. "Interest... yes, yes... I hope it will be satisfactory." Her nervousness would not leave her voice. How could it when she was sure she was already being marked a failure. It was almost like reliving her old life except she went through 15 years of a gradual fall in basically 5 minutes. All that was left was the last slash.
Her heart kicked not only against her chest but the nervousness out of her voice as the older teen said her first name. "Don't call me by that name..." The girl closed her eyes as her grin shrunk a bit, "I don't deserve to have it. So just call me Klara." Her shoulders grew heavy. The thoughts of her mother last words to her darken her mind. It took everything in her power to not break out into heavy breathing and break her smile. The wound was still open, gushing blood, and amount of bandages would close it now. Had this been an actual wound, she would be dead from the sheer amount of blood lost. Unfortunately for her, it was not real and she would have to live with it. That also meant she would have to return the greeting. So she gave a small bow "But... it is a pleasure to meet you Dante."
When it came to Dante's question, she could feel a sense of unease crawling on her back. Her smile became a nervous one. Was this a test? Was this member of the family now out to get her along with the heir? The girl wanted to just fall on the floor crying but what powerful person would do such a thing. That would never be the right answer so she took a deep breath. "I was here to speak with the Elder as instructed. As a Wilhelm, I have have my duty to answer to those before me so that I may grow and pull the family forward. So that I can become a powerful soul who can pull those after me forward. I hope that is a satisfactory answer Dante." She would then follow up her answer with a curtsy and her smile would have evolved into one brimming with a bit of confidence. Once again, the girl had managed to talk herself out of her own self induce worry into a confidence demeanor that she always admire her older siblings to have. She would not notice though as she was too focus on the now.
It was then that the Elder would speak up and express his pleasure that all of them have met. There was one more person who was suppose to be here. The girl could not say she was not interested in who the last person was but she did have a little bit of worry. What if this person wanted to test her like the other two? What if she failed the test like with the other two? Why couldn't she just be a hermit crab who stumbled upon a gem shell?
Alessia also expressed some level of nervousness but she would try to brush it off. It was true elegance, a true sign of how a probably noble should act. Maybe if she had that level of confidence, she would... no, there was no point in trying to go back. This was her new life. This was her new battle. It was then that she looked up and noticed there was another man looking at them, maybe even at her. See, this was not a completely new face. Some might think that would make things better but for the girl, this was someone who met her when she was grieving alone. He knew about her, about her weakness, about how unfit she was to be a part of the family. While the man might not try to out her, the possibility of being abandon showed its cracks in her smile. How ironic would it be that one of the people she bad mouth happened to be a member of the very family that was taking her in. Why was fate so cruel.
"Heir, Dante, Alessia, could that man be the person the Elder was talking about?" The nervousness creaked into her voice, almost like a rabbit who spotted a hungry wolf. Oh how she wished she was wrong. The last thing she needed was the cruel fate of karma to nip her any more than the two men in this party. "He has been looking at us. I would assume that means he wishes to have an audience with us at the very least." She did her best to add other factors to hide her feelings in case her smile was not enough but at the very least, this was something she was experienced in. If this happened to be the very man, Thaddeus, then she knew she was doom. Maybe this was why Alessia was worried about him. Maybe he said something to the family and wanted her out. Maybe he was plotting with the other 2 men. Maybe this was all a trap to set her up to be completely abandoned. Inside she was completely screaming. She closed her eyes and a bead of sweat rolled down her face. All she could do now was wait until someone gave more information either about him, what Alessia was thing about, or why they were all really suppose to meet up. So with all of that, the girl planted her feet and began pray that things would bet better from here. After all, that's what she wanted.
Post by Dante Wilhelm on May 27, 2022 2:23:13 GMT -5
"Right, so we're definitely going to avoid any mentions of calling her Maria and just skip right past this little incident. Guess we have another Wilhelm for the therapy train." he thought before opening his mouth to respond. "My apologies Klara. I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories." he said, rubbing at the back of his head. This was his first introduction to a new family member and he had already managed to fuck it up within 5 minutes of meeting with her. This was why he had a tendency to keep to himself, only really interacting with others when he had to. While Maria's response to him calling her by her given name was unexpected, he should have paid better attention to her words. If he had, then he could have ended up avoiding her It wasn't the typical response that one would expect for being addressed by their given name. He was sure that there was most likely an interesting story behind her reasoning but Dante wouldn't be asking about it. It would be rude to pry and given her reaction to it, he was sure that it would end up being a sad and tragic story too; one that he was be putting off learning for as long as possible.
At Lustian's words, Dante gave his cousin a strained smile before Maria, no Klara; he would need to start ingraining that into his mind less he ends up slipping up again, started explaining why she was here. On the one hand, he was happy to find another member of the family that he could potentially get along with but on the other, he had to wonder just where she had been for the past decade and a half. He hadn't heard anything about her existing before now otherwise he probably would have taken the time to get to know her so as to have another ally within the family. "It was a satisfactory answer though you don't have to bow to me Klara," he said, feeling a bit embarrassed at her act though he made sure to smile back at her, wanting her to know that he was happy to be speaking with her. He hated the fact that because they were nobles, they were expected to bow and curtsy and other sorts of stuffy crap like that and he wanted to break Klara out of that habit; at least around him. "So do you plan to join the magic knights? I think the exams should be coming up soon. What squad did you plan to join if you did and what kind of magic do you use?" the lava user fired out in rapid succession.
Before she could answer, however, another elder of the family walked up, interrupting their conversation and handing Alessia a set of documents before stating that they were waiting for another member of the family to arrive. He largely seemed to ignore everyone else's presence but Dante was used to that so didn't allow it to get to him too much. Following the nun and Klara's gaze, Dante saw someone making their way to their grouping from the other end of the hallway. He was a bit short, probably coming up to Dante's chest if he had to guess though, given the fact that they came from a dwarven family, it was more accurate to say that Dante was above average in height. Given his clothing, the Golden Dawn member assumed that this family member was part of the church; most likely Gnome since that was the family's patron, which would explain why he hadn't seen much of him growing up. The fact that he looked a bit older than the trio as well probably had played a part in his absence as well. "I guess this is just a day of family reunions then. Are they all going to be coming down with us to the training ground though?" Dante considered before giving a two-finger salute at the new family member, wanting to appear to be polite. "Dante Wilhelm at your service."
As the introductions were had, Dante couldn't help but notice that Alessia had a nervous look on her face; something that set off warning bells in the golem user's mind. She had looked like this last time she had brought them to the training grounds and that ended up being one of the most painful experiences in his life. If she was looking nervous again then it just made him all the more concerned about what they would be experiencing while down there given the fact that Dante knew they had barely scratched the surface of what the training ground had to offer last time. "What the hell else could even be down there that would have her nervous? Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with the training ground?" he thought wistfully before internally snorting. Dante didn't have that kind of luck so whatever was making Alessia so on edge was definitely going to end up personally affecting him. "Just once I'd like to have a regular day here. No bullshit, no snide remarks, just completely normal." he said, letting out a small sigh. At least he hadn't seen Alexander or Alexis at all so there was a small silver lining in things.
Of course, with all his internal panic, Dante failed to notice at first that he wasn't the only one who was anxious. M-Klara currently had her eyes closed with a bead of sweat falling down the side of her face. "Sheesh. She's like a rabbit who just heard the cry of a hawk in the distance." he thought as he watched her. He chewed over his next course of action before deciding to simply take the plunge and slowly reached out, placing one of his hands on her shoulders, most likely startling her. "You alright?" he asked, a bit redundant when it was obvious that she wasn't alright. "Why don't we get to know each other a little bit? Since we're family and going to be seeing each other for the foreseeable future and all. So what are your dreams for the future and what's your magic?" he asked, giving her a gentle smile. He figured if he gave her an easy topic to focus on and talk about, it would help with her nerves and keep her distracted for a bit. If that didn't end up working, at least he learned a bit more about a new family member which was always a good thing in his books.
Post by Thaddeus Wilhelm on May 27, 2022 8:51:59 GMT -5
Although it had taken him a moment to really take note of who the shorter dwarven girl within the trio standing in the hallway had been, Thaddeus couldn't help but smile fondly at her as her identity had come back to him. This was the girl that he had met on the large rock, just outside of Raque. How could he possibly have forgotten her? With how eventful their initial encounter had been, the fact that he had struggled to remember her had been rather surprising. Only goes to show how anxious he had been about being back within the Wilhelm estate. With that said though, it was quite intriguing to see this young woman acting the way that she had been. She was so formal and proper... Almost a complete one eighty from the way that she had behaved when they had initially met. Was this perhaps due to the emotional state that he had met her in or was it something else? Thaddeus had been known to have the kind of presence that people reacted to with honesty. Then again, with everything that had been going on, it was more than likely that he had just managed to catch her in one of her most vulnerable of states. Regardless of whatever the truth had been here, it was going to be interesting to pick apart why she had been acting this way. While he wouldn't do as much in public, his mind was most assuredly going to be doing as such. There had to be some reason behind why she was acting this way.
It is as Thaddeus is dwelling on the matters pertaining to this girl when a horrifying realization would begin to dawn upon him. Had this girl.. possibly been one of his siblings? Just a moment ago, he had been worried about whether or not any of these individuals had belonged to that bastard of a father of his. He had forgotten about it in the realization of who this girl had been but now... Now he was even more worried. She was young enough to have possibly been a sibling of his and with how shaky her mental health had been, it would only serve to make sense that his father had been involved somehow. Not every Wilhelm had been as mentally overwhelmed as those that had contact with his father after all.
In an attempt to try and remove these worries from play, the young Deacon would turn his full focus towards the conversation that had been happening within the hallway. From what he could tell, everyone had simply been introducing themselves at the moment. It was rather fortune timing on Thaddeus' end, seeing as he hadn't known any of their names. Lustian, Alessia, Klara, and Dante. Each of them had been members of the Wilhelm family and from what he had gathered, Lustian had been the family's heir. All of this information was rather new to him and he would be sure to file it away within his memory bank. Especially the information pertaining to Klara's chosen name and Lustian having been the heir to the Wilhelm family. Surely it was going to come up at some point. Perhaps with enough time, Thaddeus would even be able to learn the reasoning behind why Klara had chosen to refuse the name Maria. Opting for a different name wasn't something that many had chosen to do without some kind of motivation or reason.
Having still been listening in to the group and not having introduced himself as of yet, Thaddeus would overhear the conversation between a passing elder, Dante, and Alessia. Apparently they had been expecting him. Did this have anything to do with the fact that Lustian was the heir to the Wilhelm family? If that were the case than why hadn't Markus asked for him to simply seek out Lustian? This whole thing had been rather round about and reminded him entirely of how exhausting dealing with this family could be at times. Everything had to be worked around some kind of angle.. He most certainly hadn't missed this kind of thing. Honestly, being that of an upper noble family could be so tedious at times.
'Well, I suppose that now is as good a time as any to try and introduce myself. After all, they already seem to be expecting me. Keeping them waiting any longer would only serve to irritate them and I don't have the energy to have to deal with that. Just being here is already difficult enough.'
Just as he had begun to head down the hallway so as to introduce himself to everyone, Klara would take note of his appearance and speak up about it. She would go on to ask if he had been the family member that they had been waiting on and had even had a rather nervous tone of voice as she had asked the question. That honestly hadn't reassured Thaddeus all that much but he could understand the reasoning behind it. Rather than take the opportunity to tease her for how formal she had been acting though, Thaddeus would decide to take it easy on the poor girl. She had clearly been worried to see him for whatever reason. He might as well attempt to set her at ease. Or well, attempt to do so in whatever capacity he could manage to do as such, despite the fact that Dante had already seemed to have it covered. "Ahaha.. You caught me, Klara. I am indeed the person that the Elder had been speaking about." Rather than take any sort of bow or act in the capacity in which a noble would usually, Thaddeus would simply offer the group a simple wave of the hand. "Thaddeus Wilhelm, Deacon of the Church of Gnome, at your service. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, cousins. Lustian, Alessia, Dante and Klara. I'll be sure to remember all of your names. I may not be the heir like this one," he would say as he gestured through the doorway and towards Lustian, "but as perhaps your eldest cousin, I'll do my best to look after you. I appreciate you having me in your care."
STATS
POW: 010 DUR: 015 SEN: 010 STA: 015 CON: 020
SPEED: 5 m/s HEALTH: Senior x2 + Intermediate MANA SKIN: Senior MANA POOL: 060 / 800 MANA REGEN: 20 IC / 10 OOC
Post by Lustian Wilhelm on Jun 5, 2022 23:23:25 GMT -5
Lustian raised his left eyebrow in curiosity for a moment as he peered down at Maria, watching as the young girl closed her eyes, but forced a smile upon her face nonetheless. The nervousness in her voice was clear, and he found his mind wandering back to the days of when he first came back into the folds of the family, how nervous he was to see all the new faces and some old that he no longer recognized. He could slightly imagine what the young girl was going through, but then again, everyone's experiences were different. "I'm sure it will be, there's always something going on when you're around me," Lustian said, a small sigh following his words as he waved his hand flippantly.
Though his words were no mere exaggerations being a magic knight came with its fair share of adventure all on its own, and being the heir came with mounds of paperwork and task given to him by his family. Some of these family tasks of which even involved putting himself in potential danger, and then there was the matter of Alessia being around and being the one in charge of him in terms of teaching him the proper noble etiquette, family business, as well as generally assisting him in the mundane family task. Though what frayed the edges of his nerves was just how much of a bellicose woman Alessia could be. Though she wore the mantle of the Church of Clover, and though to many others she seemed innocent, Alessia was also in charge of making sure Lustian constantly improved in combat. She had multiple methods of harshly training him, one of which he was sure would come later. Something that he was sure he and Dante would find draining, even if the results were proficient.
Then Lustian found himself a little taken back by Maria's response to Dante calling her by her name. His eyebrow shot back up, the tell-tale sign of his curiosity coming back into play once more. He didn't interject, instead, he simply let the situation play out as it was, hoping that more information would offer itself at the moment to the display at hand. He watched as Dante responded in earnest, but he found his mind prodding and probing more and more wondering what Maria, or rather Klara meant by not deserving the name. Then again, it wasn't his place to interject or to dictate what she was called by, all he could do was reassure her that they would respect her wishes as she saw fit.
Besides they had only just met, and calling her by the name she wanted to do little to change the notion that they were family. Lustian reached out, giving Dante a gentle jab on his arm in a playful manner. Though he put a little more force into it than necessary, he was sure it wouldn't bruise Dante but also knew he would at least feel the pressure of the punch. "Klara it is! Welcome to the Wilhelm family." Lustian said with a gleeful smile...
After listening to the exchange between Dante and Klara, Lustian spoke himself. "Very well said, Klara," Lustian said with a smile, though then he paused once more when Dante asked his question about whether or not she planned to join the magic knights. "Ah, that's right it should be coming up soon. I wonder if we'll get any new Golden Dawn members." Lustian mused to no one in particular. He was simply thinking allowed, he loved making new connections he wondered if any new faces would make an appearance.
Though as Klara spoke referring to Lustian as heir, a chill ran down his spine. He hated the title of heir and hoped that she wouldn't make it a habit. "I- I hold no ill will when I say this, Klara," Lustian said his voice trailing off as he rubbed the back of his neck, before continuing, desperately trying not to make the young girl any more nervous than she already was. "Please don't refer to me as heir, you can just call me Lustian. We're family after all," he finished his words with a warm smile. His face showed that of unease, and it was simply because he had been appointed heir, it was never his decision, but as his father was the last heir it naturally fell to him when he was brought back into the folds of the family, but Lustian never felt as if he should be the heir. No, he was simply making the most out of the hand he had been dealt and was trying to make the most of it. The overwhelming pressure he constantly got from family members around him was something he didn't want from those he considered close to him or those he'd have constant contact with.
However, as his focus peered up toward a slender fit young man with shoulder-length black hair he wondered who the boy was. Lustian had good mana senses, so it wasn't like the guy snuck up on him, but when inside the family estate there was never a need to be on high alert when it came to mana presences lingering nearby, but as he thought about it this presence wasn't one that was specifically familiar and had been there for quite a while. "Perhaps he is," Lustian said turning to Alessia.
"Lustian here. What's up?" he said following Dante's introduction to the black-haired deacons while also allowing the boy on the floor to speak. He was tired of upholding formalities, and thus had let them lapse. Although he intended no ill will by letting his manners lapse, Alessia still reached over pinching his arm nonetheless. Lustian winched, rubbing his arm slightly, as he blushed.
"Ah well, welcome," Lustian said in response to the waving family member, though he was happy to see the guy was a bit more down to earth. At least he thought and hoped he was. He watched as the slender Wilhelm spoke, as Lustian knew it most of the Wilhelm were rather muscular and wide framed, thus it was a little odd seeing one as slender as him. Though his uncle did once tell him that on occasion those with sickness or the lazy few who existed in the family did have those kinds of builds. Thus to most, they were usually looked down upon. Lustian wondered if it was just from lack of physical exertion, or perhaps a sickness that this Wilhelm was as slender as he was. Though he also figured that beneath the draped clothes he still had at least some form of muscular build.
Alessia stepped forward first to introduce herself, with a curt bow of her head she replied, "Alessia Wilhelm, Nun of the Church of Gnome, thank you for joining us, Thaddeus." Alessia gestured to the left as if to give the floor to Lustian she moved back toward where she originally stood alongside Lustian. "Nice to meet you cousin." He said with a cheerful smile. Though it would be understandable that some might find it odd that not one but two family members were just now meeting each other, Lustian knew better. After all, the Wilhelm family was one of the largest noble families in the Clover Kingdom. It was extremely likely that within the family they all could've been in the same place at one point in time and never interacted. Especially with the way the family often moved in cliques depending on their disposition and roles.
He sighed slightly, at the mention of Thaddeus calling him the heir, as he had just explained to Klara that he wasn't fond of it. Thus he shrugged at Thaddeus' comments simply stating "ha, thanks but I think Alessia here already has that covered, and please don't think of me as the heir. I'd prefer to be looked at in the same light as the rest of you. Though I do appreciate it nonetheless." He said forcing a smile upon his face.
Lustian stepped from outside of his room as Alessia stepped to the side to let him out. Nodding to Alessia as a silent thank you. Much as he liked his room he didn't want to be cooped up in it as everyone was communicating. Besides, he always thought of his room as a safe haven, a way to keep everyone from nagging him or bothering him when he just wanted a bit of peace and quiet...
After the conversation of formalities was allowed to continue for a bit longer, Alessia clapped her hands together leaning her head toward the opening of the hallway, with a coy smile she stated "well now that all that's said and done what do you all say that we move on to the topic of today. Apparently, the reason we've all been brought together is that we'll be spearheading the families who knew the direction. Or rather improving it, I know you all have questions but trust me when I say it'll all be solved in time." She said calmly, though her body betrayed her as she fiddled with her fingers.
With only a small second of pause, she continued "For now, let's get a move on, daylight wasting and we have some people we need to meet first and foremost, after which we can go train or magic." Alessia said with a warm smile, without waiting she turned and began to walk down the hall, cutting a quick right before heading down a large flight of stairs and walking through the estate's hall, it felt like they had been walking that a long city block. After all, the estate was one of the largest in the kingdom. The walls were a fawn brown in color, with Sedona brown ceilings, and walnut hardwood floors. As they walked Lustian began to become visibly unnerved, tugging at his shirt sleeve and chewing his bottom lip softly.
Eventually, they'd come upon a chance in the appearance, of the long hallway. The formally plain walls gained portraits showing those of the leaders of the family and important members. If one were to look to the left as they walked, they would see a portrait of the family leader Claudia, her caramel brown skin, and sleek onyx black hair stood only helped to bring attention to her hazel brown eyes, who looked as if she was in her late 30's when the portrait was drawn. On either side of her painting, one would see older members of the Wilhelm family, both of whom looked as if they were in their 60s when the portrait was made. Previous house leaders and heirs of the Wilhelm family.
Lustian's footsteps faltered a bit as his eyes glanced over a portrait he desperately didn't want to see. In the picture of his father, besides his tattoos, and golden eyes Lustian looked just like his father, with the exception being his father was far bulkier when it came to his width and the bulk of his biceps, along with a portly stomach. Though what stood out most was the fact that like Claudia, his father had hazel brown eyes, unlike his own golden eyes. No, those were from his mother. Lustian willed himself to keep moving past the image, only glancing at it for a second before wincing a bit, almost as if he had been nicked by an arrow. Pushing back the visible pang of sorrow on his face he continued forward. Even passing by his own portrait which rested next to his fathers. "I always loath coming down this hallway, Alessia," he said with a sigh and rub of the back of his neck as they trudged along. To which Alessia placed a reassuring hand on Lustian's shoulders.
Continuing onward the floors changed from walnut to marble, the walls stayed the same in color except for small swirls of decoration which could be seen stenciled along in sand and bark brown tones, swiveling around as if they were dancing serpents. The walls led into a section of painted tongue-and-groove paneling made out of what seemed to be alabaster, both pure with intervals of a stained golden sheen. All of which led to two large oak wood double doors, the symbol of a gnome etched onto the left door while the Wilhelm family crest was etched onto the right.
Alessia moved forward first pushing the door open a bright light would meet their gazes before fading only to reveal what appeared to be a chapel...
It seemed that her response was acceptable, even for the heir, but her formality wasn't. Was this not how you were suppose to act among one's seniors? She was never one to enjoy playing the games of the upper class, but one thing she did appreciate was the ability to hide within them. If formality was not a tool she was allowed to use, then she would have to discover a different way to navigate this new environment. Thus, another way for her to fail her new family. The best she could do now, was accept the request. "Sorry... sorry," she quickly bowed reactively, "proper manners were drilled into me... I never imagine them to have the opposite effect heh."
Regarding her cousin's question about the magic knights, she was glad they were interrupted. She knew about the exam coming up and she was extremely worried she would be ready. She really hoped to have some achievements but the only thing she got at this moment was her lucky grimoire and a name change. She doubted that much would be good enough... though people did get into the knights through connections. However, doing so that way would just show how strong her family was, not her. It would not be good enough and she would never truly be able to prove her mother wrong.
This did not even take in consideration of which squad she wanted to join. In reality, she would take any squad. The goal was to be a Magi Knight. From Black Bulls to Golden Dawn, all of them were better than being a normal civilian... well except for the Purple Orca. That was not a real Magic Knight organization. If that was the only one she was accepted into, then she would probably just remain a civilian. Another branch she would be a little reluctant to join would be Blue Rose. There was nothing wrong with them, outside of their emphasis on being pretty and proper. The problem was that her big sister was with them and well, she has not spoken to her since the name change.
When it came to the person looking at them, it would be revealed that her luck had completely ran out. He was the last family member coming. Not only that, but the heir had a problem with how she addressed him. Of course, she would have messed up this badly with a future ruler of the family. First you piss off the person in charge. Then they find fault in everything you do. Finally they kick you out to the streets. Even though he gave a smile to her, she knew what could be hidden behind such a gleeful expression. It was something she did all the time. In fact, she was doing it right now. "So-so-sorry sir. It... it won't happen again." Her voice was quiet as to not create another scene in front of the man, the deacon, Thaddeus Wilhelm. Her tone would lose its expression, its feeling. Instead, the girl would just take a deep breath and curtsy to the Deacon hoping to move pass this scene. "Greetings Thaddeus."
When Dante placed his hand on her shoulder, she about froze. It was so unexpected totally not startling because she was hyper focusing on her newly revealed cousin Thaddeus and his talk with her on that rock. "I am most swell. Meeting so many people can be a bit daunting but that is to be expected. Yes, just a bit of nerves. Everything is so different here. So I must adapt quickly." Before they could continue Alessia would speak up.
Alessia taking control over the situation was a blessing, like the school bus arriving when one was being lightly scold by a parent. Coming together to spearhead the family... was an interesting choice of words. To the girl, it sounded like they were going to do a bunch of boring political talking. It was something the girl was not really interested in but she just stayed quiet and smile. She had already done enough damage and enough people have seen her misbehavior. So for now, she would take the "good boys and girls are seen and not heard" to heart. Though as they walked down the halls, she remembered that she never finished answer Dante's questions. Fearing a repeat of the first one, she tried to return to the most recent ones.
"Getting to know everyone would be nice. Everything here is so much different. So it would be a great help and will help me improve a lot. So to answer your questions. My dream is to prove someone wrong. My magic is not very good, but I think it is still satisfactory and most appropriate for someone like me. I can use gemstones. Of course I have done much studying on gems as well and pride myself on my knowledge about the subject." While at first the girl was still a bit meek, as she continued talking, she would develop a bit of confidence and soon enough her smile would become something confident and even glowing.
Post by Dante Wilhelm on Jun 17, 2022 14:18:01 GMT -5
Dante was glad that Lustian had taken to making a joke to defuse the atmosphere that came from Klara's response. None of them had expected the girl to react so sharply to being called by her name nor did he think that any of them would try to pry into why she had that reaction. It would all come in due time once they had all gotten to know each other but in the meantime, it was best not to make any waves. "I never got any had anything interesting happen when I'm around you. I feel gipped." Dante said, arms crossed before a shit-eating grin stretches across his face. He wasn't being serious, merely ribbing his cousin in an effort to keep the mood light but at the same time, there was some truth to his words. Granted he had only really gone on two missions with his cousin so far so there hadn't been that many opportunities available. "Maybe I should change that. Do some more missions and stuff with Lustian. It's been a while since we've actually gone out together and done something for the golden dawn. We can even take Klara with us for some family bonding moment. he mused.
He was pulled from his musings by the feel of something jabbing him in the arm. Glancing over he saw that it had come from Lustian and decided to take the time to have a little bit of fun. Ow! That kind of hurt." Dante said in an exaggerating tone, being sure to make a show of checking his arm and rubbing at the spot. "Is it broken? No, it's not broken but ouch though" he finished up, struggling to keep a straight face throughout and not burst out into laughter. It didn't really hurt but Dante was never one to let an opportunity to be dramatic escape his grasp and what better way to let Klara get to know him than now? Besides, he felt that she needed to lighten up and relax a bit and this would be a great opportunity to let her do so and see that her peers weren't as strict as some of the other members of the Wilhelm family. No doubt, she had met one of the elders of the family and Dante knew from experience that they could be rather intense for the ill-prepared.
With his brief moment of fun over with, Dante decided to ask the girl if she planned to join the magic knights' squad. He had learned that exams would be coming up soon and while there was apparently going to be an observation stage for those squad members who wanted to look, he didn't originally plan to do so. Like Lustian, he hoped that they got some more members deciding to join the Golden Dawn squad but he would prefer it to be a surprise rather than having to sit for long hours, watching some newbies complete whatever tasks were set for them. "Though if Klara does plan to join, maybe I'll make an exception to that. It would be good for her to have some support in the crowd." he mused as Lustian verbalized some of his thoughts. "I'm sure we'll get some people joining our squad. It is one of the highest-rated squads within the kingdom after all." he stated before muttering " would be nice to have some others to train against too."
Klara was given some time to respond to his question as the group was joined by another member of the Wilhelm family. He quickly introduced himself as Thaddeus, stating that he was a member of the Church of Gnome and said that he would be doing his best to look after them. Dante frowned a bit at that statement as this was a completely unknown person to him and he was already trying to put himself above Dante. Yes he was a member of his family but they had never hung out, in fact, Dante had never even really heard of him. "Stop. You're overthinking things. He probably didn't mean it in any sort of demeaning way or to downplay your skills. I can't just prejudge and let my prejudice from dealing with other members of the family color my opinion." Dante mentally chastised himself before he gave him a two-finger salute and greeting. If it turned out that Thaddeus was looking down on Dante though then the lava user would have no problems with ignoring him whenever they met. "Besides, he doesn't look all that strong so I doubt he'll be able to look after us; at least in a physical sense."
With everyone here, Alessia began to explain why they were all had been gathered here. He wasn't sure what she meant by them spearheading the family but he wasn't surprised to find that they would be heading back to the training room that he and Lustian had gone to last month. He let out a sigh before following the nun down the hallway as he began to mentally prepare himself for the experience. He wasn't sure if he'd have to go through the dragon ichor injection again but he hoped not. It had been an incredibly painful experience the first time and if he had to go through that every time he wanted to utilize the training room then he wasn't sure if he'd be willing to continue this on a monthly basis. "Though the results do speak for itself." he thought as he walked down the stairs, remembering the large jump in power that he had gained his first time. He had managed to go up an entire magic knight rank and they hadn't even gone as far into the room as initially thought.
Klara took this moment to speak up, explaining about her dream and desires as well as her magic which interesting enough was gemstone. "Interesting that you use gemstone. I myself have a gemstone oddity for my magic so perhaps we can train or bounce ideas off each other on how to improve." he said, smiling before demonstrating his own magic ability. In his fist, lava began to form, giving off an odd sheen as well as having a hardened shell before it formed into a diamond-shaped ruby about 6 inches in size. It gave off a bit of light due to the lava that filled the inside of the ruby as well as some heat though Dante quickly cooled that down before tossing it over to the shorter girl. "I spent my time studying gemstones too so we can talk shop if you'd like." he said as they turned down the hallway. He wasn't sure who the person she wanted to prove wrong but Dante had learned that spite was a great motivation, one that he himself used as he wanted to show up some members of the Wilhelm family who were dismissive of him since he was a bastard.
The golden dawn member noted his cousin's reaction to one of the portraits and wondered why that was. Given that Alessia was already comforting him, he decided to leave it to her but he was concerned with his reaction. "Maybe that's one of his parents. It would make sense." he thought, his heart going out to his cousin. Dante thankfully didn't know what it was like to lose a family member and could only begin to understand the pain that his cousin was going through, especially if he had to look at a portrait of them each time.
After that brief moment, the group continued on before Alessia opened a door revealing that they were entering a chapel. "Um. Did we make a wrong turn somewhere? Or did you bring us here to pray for our souls before we go back to the hellish training?" Dante said with a slight chuckle, confused as to why they were here.
Post by Thaddeus Wilhelm on Jun 17, 2022 15:30:21 GMT -5
Having bore witness to the fact that the dwarven lass, that he had seen balling her eyes out on a massive rock not too long ago, had just curtsied had left the Spring Deacon entirely boggled. He wasn't quite certain whether or not to believe her eyes for a moment. With how she had been lashing out at him upon their initial meeting, part of him had refused to believe that she could be so formal. Seeing it here and now though... Well this wasn't exactly the kind of thing that he could just choose to ignore. No, he was going to have to accept the facts that were laid bare before him. 'I... am amazed at what it is that I am seeing right now. She must have been going through a hell of a harder time when we had met than I was led to believe. I should really be sure to keep an eye out for her and make sure that she doesn't get into any kind of trouble moving forward. Maybe even try to repair our already tense relationship. We'll see if she allows for me to do so...'
Although the Spring Deacon had desired to continue along with this moment of pondering, his focus had immediately been pulled back to the present as the last remaining member of the little group would go on to introduce themselves. Alessia Wilhelm. A nun of the Church of Gnome. In terms of hierarchy, she had come above him within the eyes of the family but they had maintained the same level within the Church. This was someone that he was going to need to get to know better when he had the time. It was the first time that Thaddeus had ever seen her before so she must have been stationed within another church. Quite possibly the Church in Hage, given that he was a Deacon of the Church in Nairn. "I see. Well it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Alessia. I look forward to learning much from you. Honestly, I must admit that I highly admire the devotion that one such as yourself must have for the Spirits. To save yourselves for the Spirits themselves.. It is quite a worthy position."
Now that he had thought about it, she was the second member of the Wilhelm family that he had known was a part of the Church of Clover. The elder that had sent for him initially had been a very highly regarded member of the Church of Gnome, from what he had understood. The Spring Cardinal; Markus Wilhelm. Truly a man that is whom Thaddeus could consider the epitome of the Wilhelm family. In terms of a social hierarchy, Thaddeus would place the Spring Cardinal high above every other individual. Even above the heir of the family himself. This was a man that Thaddeus had inspired to be. After the introductions had been made with Alessia, Lustian would go on to mention how he simply wishes to be regarded in the same light as the other members of the family. This was something that Thaddeus could very easily agree with, given that there was truly only one individual that he had really ever placed on a pedestal. "I'll be sure to keep this in mind, Lustian. There is no need to worry, moving forward." The Spring Deacon would than begin to make a bit of a mental note to himself, filing away the fact that he should be sure to avoid referring to Lustian as the heir. An interesting decision but one that he could understand quite well. "We all have things that we would rather not hear, after all." For Thaddeus, that had been any information pertaining to his father. Not that he would go out of his way to mention as much.
Alessia would go on to mention the reason that each of these four individuals had been summoned back to the Wilhelm Estate. From the sounds of things, the group was going to need to meet the heads of the family whilst also eventually getting around to training their magics. He had already known what Klara's magic had been. He couldn't quite say the same for the other two though. Of course the mere thought of having to meet with each of the heads of the family had begun to leave Thaddeus feeling mentally drained. It was entirely possible that they were going to come across his father at some point, as they had made their way throughout the halls of the estate, and that thought had been extremely overwhelming. The only man that could instill such a deep seeded fear and resentment within the heart of the Spring Deacon. A man that he had been avoiding for the last eight years of his life. If things were to come to that than perhaps he should make his escape now, while he was still free of that mans clutches. 'I... can't just leave. No matter how much I want to just run off and never come back, I can't keep running. I just need to overcome this feeling. I can do it. I have to do it.'
The fact that there had been so many people within this little group of theirs had continued to save Thaddeus from himself time and time again. Each time that he would find himself lost in his thoughts, his cousins would say something that would snap him back to the present moment. This time around, it had been a statement from Klara. She had begun to speak about what it is that drives her to make the choices that she makes and would even mention what her particular brand of magic was. Gem Magic. It certainly sounded as though it was going to be quite different from his Carbon Matter magic. It was rather curious to the Spring Deacon. Not as curious as what would happen next though. Klara had begun to... smile? Was this something that she was capable of? This wasn't like the forced smile from before. This particular one had confidence behind it. Almost as though she was growing more comfortable the more that she had begun to speak about herself. Truly a curious one that Thaddeus was going to need to keep an eye on. If she was capable of performing such a feat than perhaps she wasn't as lost as she had thought. It was in this moment that the Spring Deacon had decided that he would see things through the end with her, ensuring that she was safe and that she could find a way to maintain that sense of happiness and confidence.
Even now, the little journey through the estate that they had been taking hadn't come to an end. The conversation would continue on as Dante would begin to mention the fact that he has a gem oddity for his lava magic. This was something that Thaddeus had never heard of. 'An elemental oddity...? By the Spirits, what exactly is that? Some kind of variation of magic? I don't know why but it almost sounds to me as though the elements are being perverted with these oddities... I hope that the Spirits have some kind of opinion on the matter. I should ask Alessia in the future and see what it is that she says.' It was one thing to hear about the elemental oddity but it had been entirely other thing to bear witness to it. In an attempt to display his magic to Klara, Dante would emit a glob of lava that would turn into that of a ruby. The very sight had caused Thaddeus to very briefly raise his eyes. He hadn't been sure on how to feel about what it was that he was seeing. It felt.. both compelling and repulsive. "Interesting," he would say in response to the sight.
The family would eventually round about throughout yet another hallway of the Wilhelm Estate. This particular hallway was one that he had tended to avoid in the past, for several reasons. Of course, with what lay at the end of it, it was also one that he had to go through despite not wishing to traverse its halls. This particular hallway had been lined with portraits of the Wilhelm family; more specifically the house leaders and heirs. Any time that he had to traverse through this hallway in the past, he had felt as though the gazes of his ancestors were watching over him with shame. As though his father had been right about everything and that he had no place in the Church. Even now, knowing that the decision that he had made was the correct one, he had still found himself entirely too uncomfortable within the presence of the many, many portraits. "I agree Lustian... Walking through here makes me sick..." Probably not the correct words to be saying to the heir of the family but he wanted to be treated as though he was like everyone else. It is for that very reason that Thaddeus had spoken truthfully in this particular matter.
Eventually the family would find themselves just outside of the chapel. This was a place that he had come quite often prior to his departure to his schooling on how to be a Deacon. Those oak doors and the symbols that had been engraved into them... The mere sight of such a beloved place had almost brought the Spring Deacon to tears. Not wishing to embarrass himself in front of so many other members of his family though, Thaddeus would subtly dab his eyes dry with the sleeve of his vestment. Small droplets of tears would stain the sleeve for a moment before disappearing into the cloth. It had been so long since he had been here last. Was it still the same..? What would he see now that the doors were opened?
STATS
POW: 010 DUR: 015 SEN: 010 STA: 015 CON: 020
SPEED: 5 m/s HEALTH: Grand + Intermediate MANA SKIN: Senior MANA POOL: 060 / 800 MANA REGEN: 20 IC / 10 OOC
Post by Lustian Wilhelm on Aug 23, 2022 0:19:57 GMT -5
Lustian wanted to stifle his laugh that had bubbled to the surface due to his cousin's comedic antics, however, resting to do such as a failed effort as a hearty bellow escaped from between his lips and into the open air around them. He let loose a toothy grin before stating "next time I'll have to hit harder then," he said his grin twisting into one that one would think was almost devilish if not for the sparkle of jesting that gleamed within his golden eyes. Lustian didn't have many family members he felt especially close to, but Alessia and Dante were two he felt an attachment to that he felt rarely with others, a true sense of family. Lustian always enjoyed Dante's easy-going nature, he was one of the few down-to-earth family members within this stuffy castle of an estate. Even if most treated him like a court jester as opposed to an actual family member. Woe was the hierarchy of such a noble family. Smugness and pride ran rampant in this family and were akin to everyone walking around with a metaphorical magic broom up their boot. He could only hope that the new family member Maria and Thaddeus weren't like all the others, save for the aforementioned cousins at his side.
Although Maria was small in stature, Lustian could see the tale signs of a brawler in her physique, the young woman was rather taut for her age, but then again most Wilhelm women had some form of muscle on them, he knew that Alessia even for her slender frame sported rather defined muscles and more than a few abs underneath her usual nun clothing. Which also explained just why it hurt so damn much whenever she'd punch him. A familiar feeling of which was all too present as her fist came barreling into Lustian's side with a quick rotation of a downward swing before she brought her hands back together sporting an innocent smile that betrayed her actions. "Stop goofing off and be serious this isn't the time to be acting immature." She said, sporting a serious glare at Lustian and then Dante. Though Lustian didn't bother to bring up the fact that he had just been struck himself by her own doing no less. Not because he didn't think he was right, but because he simply didn't want to get hit again.
Lustian smiled through the pain, gently rubbing his side with tinder care and affection before continuing on in the conversation at hand. Dante had mentioned wanting the Golden Dawn to get more members, especially ones they could train against, of which, he couldn't agree with more. He simply nodded to his cousin, before the conversation moved on to them talking about their magic. Lustian always thought that Dante's oddity was an interesting thing when it came to his magic, one of his parent's influences spilling over into his own. Much like how Lustian's cosmic magic came from his mother, his father's clay magic seemed to be ever present in his magic, thus why he had dubbed his magic cosmic clay.
Alessia gave a small bow to Thaddeus as the conversation went on, responding back to his pleasantries with "thank you, I appreciate that Thaddeus, though I could say the same for you to a degree." She said before giving a friendly smile and continuing. "May gnome always guides you to the safe and sturdy passage," Alessia said, a simple saying she had favored from the Book of Gnome.
Then as Maria spoke, Lustiand and Alessia listened in intently, after which they both gave warming smiles to Maria before responding almost in unison, "Don't worry you're family, we'll help you prove whoever it is wrong." Then Lustian responded stating his magic, "I use cosmic clay magic," he said before stretching out his hand, balling his fist, a golden mana would fluctuate within his palm before he opened his clenched fist. Within his hand ice, clay, and fire swirled within it twisting around each other like wet clay taking shape before forming into an intricate small brown vase, with gothic swirls of fiery orange, red, and frost blue. Willing it out of existence and bringing his hand back down the vase simply vanished in a flash of golden mana. As for Alessia, she didn't display her magic, simply stating, "I use earth magic, but... It looks like lightning. I know that's hard to envision, but my magic is too destructive for me to use for demonstration in a mere hallway."
Once the conversation had moved on from their magic, Lustian felt himself feeling a bit restless as he spoke about being the heir, and not wanting to be called such. Lustian smiled at Thaddeus's response it seemed that the two of them would get along swimmingly. The older cousin of his seemed down to earth, and for Lustian that was a huge relief. "Thank you for your understanding, Thaddeus." Lustian let the conversation wrap up before they all took their leave. Making their way down the long hallway filled with pictures.
"Glad I'm not alone in that," Lustian said at Thaddeus's words, and he sincerely meant it, he hated walking down such a hallway littered and filled with vanity. Alessia simply shot a stern glare at Dante, before continuing onward, to which Lustian teased "oooh, your in trouble, now." Only to get once again struck by Alessia same as earlier, most likely for making fun of his cousin in such a childish manner. "Agh! I'm seriously going to bruise if you keep punching the same spot ya' know." He said rubbing the tinder area, as he walked. Though he was grateful as the banter and conversation kept his mind off the pictures of his father a previous heir of the family as he walked through the hallway. Finally, they came upon a chapel door.
Alessia walked forward pushing the door open, walking into the chapel one would notice it was... Rather ordinary. Lustian always thought it was a funny contrast considering the rest of the estate save for the mining area was rather luxurious. However, to his knowledge, the Cardinal of Gnome that stemmed from the family had been in charge of building the one in the family and had stated that it was a holy place of worship, not a showroom. Thus it was best to stick to the most cost-effective and simple designs there were, as people were there for worship not to sightsee. Walking in a few family members were scattered about the pews.
Though no preacher seemed to be at the main pulpit. Alessia walked forward, in front, of the group. "For now you can all do some silent reading, I have to go talk to the cardinal, but after we can head to the training room if you want. Though I figured this would be a good spot to leave you all by your lonesome where you couldn't get into trouble" she said with a devilish grin, a stark contrast from her nun outfit, as she stared at Lustian and then Dante. She then turned to Thaddeus and spoke, "perhaps you can lead them in some prayer while I'm gone, Thaddeus?"
She pointed two fingers at her own eyes before turning those same fingers to Lustian and Dante as if to say she was watching them before walking off. "Be back soon, hopefully. If not I'm sure you can find something for them to do Lustian." She stated taking her leave momentarily.
Maria smiled at Dante before he started his demonstration. However the boys next move would startle her a bit. After turning is lava into a ruby he tossed it to the girl. She presumed it was cooled down but instinctively, she was too nervous to not take extreme precaution. With quick thinking, the girl covered her hands in alexandrite and caught the gem. Thankfully it was not actually hot like lava but it was incredibly warm for a gem. She let the magic stone dissipate before before releasing her own spell. It was at this point that the rest of the family started talking about painting and stuff and well Maria was not really in a talkative mood. Thoughts of her goals filled her head for better or for worst. So when She was told that it would be a minute before they could meet this important person, Maria requested to be dismissed so she could go get some tea. Hopefully with calmed nerves, she could better interact with everyone.
WC: 170 TWC: 3,098(exit)
Last Edit: Aug 25, 2022 18:00:58 GMT -5 by Deleted
Post by Thaddeus Wilhelm on Aug 26, 2022 12:56:25 GMT -5
It wouldn't take all that long before the small group of Wilhelm's had arrived at the entrance to the Chapel within their estate. Now that they had been there and the doors had been open though, Thaddeus couldn't help but feel a smidge disappointed. With one of their own having been the Cardinal of the Church of Gnome, the Spring Deacon had highly believed that the Chapel would have been more ornate at the very least. Where was the alter shroud? Or the Besom? The tingshas? Hells, even an estuary case would have been fine to see within here..! From what Thaddeus could see, the doors to the Chapel itself had somehow managed to be the most unique thing within here.. Had things changed so much in the time that he had been gone? Or was he perhaps just remembering things on a far more grand scale, given his youth at the time?
"I.. Yes, of course Alessia. I would be perfectly fine with leading them in prayer for the time being. Of course that all depends on if they would care to accompany me. Either way, I'll be enacting the will of Gnome here and now." Once that was said, Thaddeus would reach down into a side pocket of his vestments and would procure a small book from within. With the book now in hand, Thaddeus would proceed to the front of the Chapel and would greet the additional family members with a brief nod. "Right.. I know that some of you may or may not remember me but I am sure that you recall the tales that my father has spewed about me in my absence.. My name is Thaddeus and I am a Deacon of the Hoard of Gnome. Whilst I may not be quite what Elder Markus has become, I aspire to be like him someday. And so.. Let me begin by speaking on behalf of the Church in regards to Gnome." Over the course of the next couple of hours, Thaddeus had planned to stay here within the Chapel and spread the word of Gnome. Even when the time would come in which the others had wanted to leave, Thaddeus would simply wave them away and assure them that he would find his way back to them. For the time being, this was all that he had wanted to do.
[EXIT]
STATS
POW: 010 DUR: 015 SEN: 010 STA: 015 CON: 020
SPEED: 5 m/s HEALTH: Grand + Intermediate MANA SKIN: Senior MANA POOL: 60 / 60 (Quick Charger) MANA REGEN: 20 IC / 10 OOC
