The Thrills of Thralldom (Earthling)

[Mashugana]

Dalan du Florina looked at you with sunken, bloodshot eyes. His hair and beard were white as bone, his flesh pallid and gray, seeming to droop and sag on his face and body, and his lims were like the crooked talons of a vulture. In truth, if you weren't this man's progeny, you'd almost think he was your grandfather or great grandfather, compared to the stern, handsome and ferocious "Iron Lily" that he was known to be, the slayer of barbarian king Alaric, taker of his wives, sons and daughters, and treasured friend of the emperor himself, now reduced to this.

"Took you a while, Garith. To be honest, I'm not sure if I should embrace you, or throttle you. Suppose I can't do either now, though. Did you do well on your campaign, set out and do what you needed and wished to?"

[Earthling]

"Heh, yes father." Garith tried to put on a brave smile as he clutched his sires hand in his own "I return with treasures and wealth to help our family rise once more to our former glory... And made sure to spread my seed far and wide in foreign lands, like you told me to."

[Mashugana]

"Good...good..." Your father sighs, his expression one of contentment and satisfaction for a moment, before restoring to some of it's former stern and ferocious vigor as he sits up some, his hand still clasped with yours.

"I shall bring you up to speed then, before I name you Patriarch and do the last thing I need to on this planet. To put it simply, I've evidence that our family is under siege by conspirators, and that this is at least partially to blame for our fortunes. You know of the fa Morenos? They've lately been poaching much of our slavers, and many of our ships and wagons have been waylaid, too many for regular bandits or pirates, and too focused on our family's businesses compared to other, similar trades by other houses. Se Mantile is still a friend of ours, but they've been increasingly distant towards us, but they're sheltering your younger sister for now, so I've been avoiding getting too direct with them as to keep them safe. The hill clans are... well, they're the hill clans. As likely to drink and talk with us as they are to split our heads, and lately they seem to have been preferring the latter... I didn't tell you this in the letters because I wanted to keep it secret from prying eyes, but... your twin was on a carriage for se Mantile when it disappeared near their territory, and we haven't been able to mount too hard of a campaign against them to find her."

[Earthling]

"Gh... Very well, I will do my best to round up good men, and bring justice to those fiends, and rescue my dear sister." Garith growled as he clutched his father's hand "I swear I will bring her back to us."

[Mashugana]

"To be honest, I'm not certain as to whether or not it'd be best if she were alive..." your father remarks darkly, before coughing. It's a harsh, brutal sound and you'd heard similar noises abroad. A rattle in the lungs, wet, phlegmy. The force of his coughing is violent enough that he shakes from it, and orange fluid can be seen speckling his facial hair. "The bastards..."

He stares off into nothing for a moment, bleary and out of it. It's hard to tell if he's imagining what might have happened to her or if he's too feverish to be fully lucid.

"I... I am sorry, for not always being too affectionate." he murmurs quietly, forlorn. "I should have been more forgiving, less willing to punish over little things."

[Earthling]

"It's alright father." Garith clutched the sick mans hand tighter "I am here now, and I forgive you. And I promise, I will do whatever I can to restore our family to glory and power."

[Mashugana]

"That's good... that's good..." Your father responds, weary. "I suppose that you'll want to get started then, wish I could do this a touch more formally, but..."

Your father takes a deep breath, then musters his strength and takes his hand from yours, placing it on your shoulder.

"I, Dalan du Florina, name you as patriarch and dominus of the du Florina family, household and estates. You will carry all authority within the household and ultimate authority over all members of the household, as well as the house's finances and endeavors. Now, go and do what you're best at son."

[Earthling]

"Thank you father, I will make you proud." Garith bows his head in respect to his sire before rising up "Watch over me."

And so he headed out to meet his family once more. Now as the head of the household