Potential Investments - Campfire

General Summary

Lord Stagwood continues to expound upon an embarrassing story involving Ky walking in only wearing a long shirt to a council luncheon heals within the Gardens some years ago “And he walks in to a group of people discussing the new Shadow tax structure policy and say “tax’s but I’m not wearing any pants!” And that is why the policy was initially drafted as the ‘Pants and all’ Policy even at such a young age he was making waves Lord Stagwood beings a very loud dad laugh
"Hahahaha these youngins I tell you, so earnest in their youth," Raijun wheezes from his sixty-some year body. "What was Myra like as a little kid?" Raijun has a notepad, ready for ammunition to use later on.
A proud and prepared dad smile grows across lord Stagwoods face, ”There is not a tree in the garden she didn’t climb …. and fall out of, a book in the library she did not read, re-read or take notes in. She was always seeking to learn and explore - really not much has changed in terms of wonder.”
Ky smiles and begins, “Ya but she never used your stuffed animals for her experiments. She was always taking mine and freezing them and then unfreezing them super weird”
Raijun ponders, " Ihave certainly seen the exploring and scholar sides of Myra, but Myra the scaler of evergreens is a Myra I have yet to see. " Turning to Myra, "Still got those skills in there somewhere Captain?"
Myra smiles a little wistfully, "It was the closest I could get to flying those days. And on the clear days, the cold blue ones, from some of the taller trees on the estate you could see for miles. I'm woefully out of practice now."
"Yes the trees in my old home were like that, immensely tall with viewpoints you couldn't find anywhere else. I used to climb...or run I should say up trees quite a bit as a kid too. Noelle and I would sit there and talk about our dreams up there...just felt like maybe the gods would hear us if we were closer to the stars."
“I like trees,” Sarya adds helpfully.
Myra turns to Ky, "And clearly that was to support science. I mean they... Mostly came out okay."
"Must be nice," Raijun says wistfully, "all I was ever given as a child was kunai and bamboo thwacks."
Myra's smile fades, clearly feeling guilty for talking on her own easy childhood. She turns to Ky, "So Raijun mentioned the keep in Nightwell is empty now? Just didn't know what to do with the space?"
"No people after stripping stuff in there for building materials didn't really know what to do with the space so now its just kind of empty. Interested in some real-estate?"
"Oh I don't know. I mean," Myra looks at her father, "we could use a base of operations for Futures in Vlyouth. And Raijun," Looking over, "I don't think you had firmly established a training program with the organizations in the area. But if Futures were to help invest in the establishment of the city and work to partner with locals on training that could then be used in the region..."
Raijuns eyes light up like the 4th of July "...you would be willing to do that? We could change so many lives, and uplift people to new heights...it would be a dream come true" Trying to control his excitement, like he's preparing to be told it was just a joke.
Myra looks to her father, eyebrow raised as if to ask exactly how much control he thought he was giving her over Futures.
Lord Stagwood sipping on his after dinner drink, "If you put a proposal together for me I will travel back with Ky myself to evaluate the site, we could start with sustaining and support efforts then .... see where we could go from there." He smiles and swirls his drink.
Myra nods, "It will be on your desk in the morning then."
“No, judging by how much I am enjoying this scotch I won’t be doing anything productive until at least 11 so enjoy the night and we can review tomorrow later in the day.”
Myra turns to her mother, "Is there a reason the council chose to direct attention for the attacks away from the responsible parties?"
Lady Stagwood"A faceless villain's is no good to anyone other that to serve the purposes of fear of said villain. A face and even more so one that has been a source of rumors, scandals and mistrust in the past people accept that the information presented to them are in fact truth. Spreading further damage of panic or worry will do no good in terms of keeping this city together. On a personal matter Zapp was just not cut out for the game he was trying to play, he did not understand how to put the proper pieces in play and then remove them from the board"
"Yes well he did arm the group who attacked us previously on the way into town if the information i have heard is correct. So I cannot say I was particularly wounded to see him brought low. Does Fortis's new partnership with Futures pose any complications for his candidacy?"
Lady Stagwood, "On the contrary he is an example of someone who worked hard with those seeking to explore innovation and now has the backing to spread and encourage education, exploring and learning. The ideals and the actions behind them only bolster him as the proper choice"
"I noticed a... Dearth of information about my... reaction to the announcement that has been rescinded from the other night. As I do not want to spoil the hard work you have taken to remedy any confusion of the events, would you mind expanding on what our guests recall so we do not... muddy any waters."
Lady Stagwood, ”All you need to know is that everyone drank and had a good time as we celebrated the official announcement of Stagwood Futures. She swirls her glass with a elegantly raised eyebrow Just smile an commiserate with the guests about how it was a good time. “
Lady Stagwood, “The delegation from Lunacre would require a more … detailed conversation, for another time.”
"You'll let me know if there's anything I can do to make amends?" Myra offers but then quickly turns to Ky, "Were you able to help Sky fortify Rachel against further nightmares? At least for now."
"Wonder where those hags really habitate..." Raijun wanders off. "Nasty group they were...didn't appreciate this whole aging thing!" He begins shouting at the sky in the background.
"Well while what we visited seemed to be a pocket dimension I would guess their true home is within the fey wild," Myra posits. "At least if the stories are to be believed."
"So all we have to do is enter the elf woods and knock some heads, sounds easy enough."
"It sounds as though Sarya, your friend may also be there? Things are rarely simple in the realm of the fey though."
"I think that she may be," Sarya nods, "the difficulty scrying her leads me in that direction." She thinks for a second, "Madame Slesma did say that she'd heard of her, but perhaps that is a mere coincidence."
Ky to Myra, “Yes they should be okay for now, I gave them a blessed charm that would protect them from the nature of those kinds of creatures. But I don’t think that would be a long term solution - but she should be safe for now.”
"I fear that as the solstice nears the intrusions may become more frequent as well." Myra looks to her mother, "Perhaps after we handle the pressing matters I should pay grandmother a visit." To Sarya, "At very least I can send a letter to inquire if she has met anyone matching Reina's description."
"Thank you, I'd appreciate it," Sarya looks relieved.
At the mention of her mother there is the tiniest micro expression from Lady Stagwood of fear, dread, and panic that Myra now understands what her face must have looked like at mention of her family and parents after all of these years.
To her mother, innocently, "Do you know where in the wild she's residing these days? Also is there still an entrance in the woods?"
Lady Stagwood, “High Lady Inden'ryn has been at her…..home in the canopy of Lunacre. I would need to know when you would intend to visit if you would like me to let her know you will be coming.” Sarya, Myra and Hagren track the single bead of sweat run across lady Stagwood's temple.
"Do you know if Grandma has any connections in... Sarya where did you mention you thought Reina might be?"
“Nouveau- I think that it’s part of the Feywild?” Sarya looks excited to have her first real lead in weeks.
As desert closes and Myra's father pours another glass of scotch, Myra turns to her mother, "Would you still like to enjoy the fresh air?"
Lady Stagwood "Yes a walk among the fireflies would do us both some good" She stands softly but purposely and extend her arm out for Myra to loop hers in before heading out
Lord Stagwood to Sarya, "Nouveau, everyone has gone there at some point, either for the food, the history or looks and pauses waiting for Lady Stagwood to leave the room" After sitting back down after his wife leaves Lord Stagwood continues "The parties. I mean we hold some fun functions here but in al my dealings across the planes have I seen people party that hard. I mean when we were first dating Kythera took me there and Remembers Ky is sitting at the table and really showed me the sites and all the ya know historical parts of the city"
Sarya hides a smile, “Did you have much time to party with all your diligent studies?”
"Oh you need to balance work with the right amount of pleasure. You can't properly negotiate with people and create a business relationship without partaking in the culture." He takes another sip from his drink.
"Right, let other people read books and look stuff up while the rest of us are carpein all dem diems!" Raijun adds youthfully. "I hear you, me and the King from Lions Crest are planning to bro down when I get back, and its been a great relationship to have while I build up the refugees. Any favorite stories about securing a deal Mr. Stagwood?" He coughs, "Lord Stagwood, sorry, the ale is strong"
Lord Stagwood reclines a bit in his chair smiling, "Well there was a time I was able to negotiate a lava stream from the City of Dis directly into the Ever-Forge within Limecourt. But I have to say my best negotiation was with a beautiful Fey princess to go on a date."
Ky moans, "Oh gods, should I be around for this story?"
"Relax kiddo, I will leave out all the fun parts."
Sarya smiles, “That sounds like quite the feat- those Fey princesses seem quite risk averse.”
"Well averse would not be the word I would use. She was magnificent, her head always within a book of poetry or philosophy, really curious and wonder seeking. While I was brokering a deal with her father for trade rights the goods coming from her lands she paid me no mind. "
“I can imagine” Sarya leans her head on a hand, “how’d you get her to notice you?”
"Let me tell you it was not a simple task. I am up most a professional so I needed to wait till my business was concluded. But during that time I watched and studied her he smiles then his face shifts knowing how creepy that sounded, wow that sounded a lot better in my head. It wasn't in a bad way it was just observations during the brief but lovely interactions."
“I’m sure that she had ‘observed’ you as well. There doesn’t seem to be much that she misses.”

In The Garden

Lady Stagwood as she rises, "Yes a walk among the fireflies would do us both some good. " She stands softly but purposely and extend her arm out for Myra to loop hers in before heading out.
Myra takes her mother's arm, "If you all need me for anything else in the preparations for other events you can find me in my office later. I have plenty of work for tonight though so if I don't see you have a lovely evening."
The two exit the main dinning area and through the servants dinning area. The crew of the Reach, Max, Gameta and some of the other cooks all stand around as Trenchcoat captivatingly tells a tale as Mako ads some visuals around the center of the table. They all pause at the same time (except for Trenchcoat who takes a second) as the Ladies of the Stagwood home pass through. Walking out to the garden a small contingent of Stagwood family guards begin to trail at a distance as the women make there way into the Skywrite Gardens, "I remember when you use to sit and play with the firecracker lilies out here when you were so small- one could think that there was no greater joy possible in a person to experience."
Myra smiles, "some people enjoy the pop but it was always the sparks for me. When you would see them shooting off like tiny stars in the night, dancing through the field." Her grin widens, "And then Ky would come up and set one off behind me and I would jump setting off ten more."
A soft smile comes across Lady Stagwoods face, "Your brother, even at that age, didn't have the tactful delicacy we tried to instill in him. Although it sounds like with responsibility trust upon him he has finally decided to grow up. Never something we to worry about with all our plans for you"
Myra's smile dims slightly as she pauses turning to face the field of flowers. She runs a breeze along them setting off their sparks making them dance, "Mother, Ky outgrew me in many ways long ago." She turns back to walking, "And he is doing well. The people of Nightwell truly look to him. Father visiting would be good, perhaps then you could see his work first hand."
"I am afraid the events since your home coming will require much of my and the councils attention in the coming days, I will not be able to leave until the city is back on the proper path"
"Well at least father then." Myra's silent for a moment, looking at her hands, "I'm sorry I didn't think I would bring such destruction behind me. I suppose I should have known."
"None of what happened out beyond these walls are your fault and even the events of the Gala were not done, what I can see now, to spite me. You are just on a very different path your father and I sought to prepare you for. The city will endure, the responsibilities of this family still remain but other matters require your expert and well trained attention so let me handle home while you seek to right the world."
"Why didn't you tell me about the bracelet before I left to retrieve it? And what are the other responsibilities of my blood? I know you did your best to prepare me but I can't help but feel I'm stumbling through the dark. Did you not trust me?"
Lady Stagwood almost glides to sit down on one of the stone benches and looks at her daughter with an almost defeated look, "My daughter, you think so little of me that I would not trust the most intelligent and driven person I know?"
Myra, much less gracefully, sits beside her looking into her mother's face, "I don't understand." Her hands ball and fidget, wringing themselves as she searches desperately for answers, "You either say you trust me or are making a cruel joke that I am not of whom you speak. But if not trust then why obscure your intent from me? Why not tell me what I was seeking before I left? What obligations am I under that are not my own?"
"If I told you that the item was an artifact given to a very distant relative by the aspect of Magic - a literal god, would you have had the same approach?" She stands suddenly posturing confrontationally against her daughter, "Would you have even left this house with the anxiety I know you have? Would you have stayed in your little office, with all your books always going to act tomorrow for the one piece of knowledge that eluded you?"
"I am your mother," Tears now form around her almost crystalline eyes, "I know you better than you and I only sought to protect you give you the knowledge you needed to be successful."
Myra winces with each accusation, the words tearing through her. But no tears come, the words perhaps having landed in cracks she made in herself long ago. She looks lost, "I'm sorry. I-I" She shakes her head, "I'm sorry, I still don't understand." Numbly, "You're saying you didn't tell me to get me to leave? But all you've done since I've been home is try to make me stay. Of course I would have treated it differently. I knew so little about magic and the gods. I know so little."
Still in a strong slightly angry motherly tone, "And how much now have your learned being out in the world? How have you seen the consequence of the actions of those who use this power without a heart or responsibility? That is not something I could prepare you for and a lesson I knew you would handle and learn best on your own - not from a book but from the people in this world.
As your mother I am inclined to be selfish and hide you behind these walls we have made here and keep you safe. Why would I want to see one of the things I love this world have any sense of pain or want? Yes I want you to stay but look what that did - that outburst at the Gala could have been a lot worse if I had forced you to stay. but where would that leave us - at odds as I keep you as a poisoner in my home- no. I have lived long enough to know when I am beaten at my own game. You deserve to have your own life and I just want to be there for what parts you will allow."
The anger from lady Stagwood washes over Myra, but there seems to be only emptiness left, "Do you trust me now?" The fidgeting of her hands has stopped, "It's understandable you didn't before." Myra shrugs, "You're right. I was unprepared for the lessons of the world. And I don't know what I would have done with the information. Perhaps you are correct I would have been paralyzed with indecision. I'm sorry that I was unworthy of your trust. I'm sorry that I failed you so completely that you felt my inaction required correction. I'm sorry you didn't feel you could trust my decisions. Perhaps if I were more you would've been able to trust me."
"My dear," She turns away, "Please don't apologize -you never lost my trust. You have shown yourself to be a strong, decisive leader that is all I ever wanted. She turns back tears running down her face like a waterfall You have come back a different person and I am .... proud"
From the outside, as Myra sits motionless before her mother now openly crying, someone watching might understand how Nari's vision could come to pass. "That perception of me is inaccurate." She pauses, "I'm going to study our family's scroll on our way to grand curator Pendergast. I'd like to better understand our family's ties to it. There's limited additional risk. As I continue to carry the scroll on my back, the magnitude of the target upon should not be impacted by my studies. I will not lose others I care about because I did not take the risk of reviewing it when I had the opportunity," she adds coldly.
Lady Stagwood slaps Myra Hard across the face, "This is not a project, this is not a problem of one of your creations. You are not one of your emotionless machines, you have passion and drive. You are not a player in some game you understand how to be a joyful person - you were once the little girl finding wonder in these flowers. Do not spend your life examining every detail of this world and its magics of how it works. Be out there focus on the friends you have made and the people that make this world wonderful and live and explore why this life works."
Myra touches the sting left by her mother's hand, blinking as the world comes back into focus. She takes a breath as if remembering how to inhale, facing the flowers, "Guess you read Ayen's report on Nari's visions then?"
"What that farce? You clearly did not read it well enough, the inaccuracies the details you know the small ones like your father and I are still alive?"
Myra laughs, "Yes thank you, I do have a distinct memory of not killing you. You're welcome by the way." More seriously, "The part I don't understand... The beginnings. They established who was being talked about and seemed true to a point. But mine... There were things that didn't make sense. Only child? None of the other ones were incorrect in the number of siblings. I know there are things wrong with it. But was everything in it wrong?"
"It was so cryptic too, will all the bodies buried in your grove, you killing the Dawnsaber boy. I mean really usually Ayen is pretty spot on but this was a little much. There are other fates aligned to give my daughter a bright future."
"And what would those be?"
Now placing her hand softly on the still red cheek of her daughter "A story for another time, I know you like to start more than one book at a time but in this case I think you should see how this current journey ends before embarking on a new one. Rest assured it is far less nefarious then my current tone makes it sound"
Myra sighs, "I just prefer to know my debts." She blows out a breath, "So there was nothing in the visions that were true?"
Lady Stagwood looks outwards at the falling and changing leaves of the garden around her, "No debt is needed to paid just yet my dear, well I would not say that. You are efficient and cunning in all the same ways you just have a warm heart."
Myra closes her eyes and leans in to her mother's hand, "I get that from you too, the heart." She opens her eyes and looks at her mother, "I trust you. Just maybe fewer surprises? I'm sorry I know I've never been good at spur of the moment things."
“That’s something you get from me too, you know that was quite the entrance you made I was so surprised when you destroyed that hand stitched, silk tent. But …" with a playful smile, "not unpracticed enough to not have gotten the insurance package on it.”
Myra laughs, "I can fix that. And here I thought being born in Bloomscrest meant I was supposed to be better at that."
“You are quite the Bloomscrest at heart, and that makes you special in all of the most important ways”
Aside from us raising our voices this was very nice. I do like talking and spending time with you.
Myra touches her cheek, the mark still smarting, "Yes maybe next time I will not provoke attack."
"Yes maybe next time... yes that would be preferred. Maybe next time we could go on our own adventure in the city. Perhaps a little less harrowing than you're used to..."
"That sounds nice."
"Wonderful, well I would like to spare your friends the overindulgent tales of your father," She hugs Myra and leaves her alone in the field.

Report Date

08 Oct 2022