The Forthwind Family Friend Fun-times! (Forthwinds, 4/21, evening)

[Marisée Forthwind]

Marisée put Tegan down to bed and then headed into the main dinning hall to eat with her family. While she would mostly be staying with her husband’s family, she’d asked Tristan to let her spend the evening with her birth family. She hadn’t seen her uncle and aunt and cousins in so long, and any extra time with Melari was precious to her as well.

She entered and sat down. Everyone else was already there. Marisée’s face lit up in a smile at the sight of all her family. Not that she disliked the Essexes, but in her heart she would always be a Forthwind. “It is so good to see you!”

All of them. Bradyn and his kids, Liam and her father. Nym. “Uncle Bradyn, you have to tell us everything that has been happening here in the capital. And Carys, I heard there was going to be some lunch for the younger people? Are you going? You should make sure Melari goes as well.” She gave her sister a smile. Maybe she could do as she wished and meet someone there. Marisée had hope anyway.


*Note: Assuming that all the Forthwinds, even the unmades, would be here. NPC as needed!

[Nymeria Forthwind]

Nymeria was happy to have an evening with her family. Although it seemed strange not dining with the other priests and priestess or even the Keeper, she was given the evening to be free so she could spend it with her family. She dressed not in her temple garb- but in a plain dress that was modest but still somewhat fashionable. Her hair was left down but only partially clipped up. “I see you are just as lovely now Marisee as I remembered you.” Nymeria smiled at her nieces and nephews as she greeted them in turn as well as her brother.

“Bradyn has been busy. You should be proud of him, organizing the jousts for the royal celebrations.” She gave her brother a smile. Bradyn was always a clever man. Nymeria truly trusted her brother above all else and here amongst her family there was almost the glimpse of what Nymeria could have been. The wife of a lord somewhere with children of her own but nay, the faith was where she belonged still.

[Melari Forthwind]

Melari loved her family, but she couldn't help rolling her eyes at Mar's teasing. "Of course I'll go to the lunch, Marisee. Why on earth wouldn't I?" Seriously. Why should she assume her little sister wouldn't want to meet people her own age? It was true that Mel was shy, but she was also lonely and curious about the other provinces. Maybe she could make new friends. "Besides, I have to go! Uncle Bradyn's giving me an outfit for this celebration, and what better time to dress up then with all the other young lords?"

The girl smiled and gave her uncle an affectionate kiss on the cheek, turning next to Nymeria. Her aunt frightened her, a little -- she always seemed so serious and intense, but at the same time she was Handmaid for the gods. It was a power and responsibility Mel could never understand. "Auntie Nym," she greeted, going for a hug. "It's good to see you again; congratulations on your calling."

[Carys Forthwind]

These people were the family from where she might have been born. A land and a castle she could hardly remember, and even that seemed as if it was only from the stories. It almost seemed a dream to meet them all after so long. She had been younger she supposed, for she hardly recalled any face, and yet, she knew them all as family. Seeing her father's eyes in some of them, their nose, the blonde hair in others. She couldn't help but seem a small dark doll compared to the group. Intimidated by their beauty and poise she let her hands lightly hold one of her brother's shirts like a safety blanket. However, the look of a started deer broke for a moment when her aunt spoke. Giving a glowing look to her father at Nymeria's praise of him. Perhaps that is what she needed. Hearing the praise, the positive banter, and the happy talk of family that had not seen one another in so long.

Taking a breath and hearing them all speak of luncheons with the young and mostly unwed crowd did not sound all that appealing at first, but with Melari's enthusiasm about the even she felt her self grow excited about the event despite herself. With a delighted laugh she chimed in for Marisee "I suppose I shall be the one Melari drags along!" she pushed a few stray ebony locks behind her ear, the constant curls starting to frame her face despite how hard the maid had attempted to retain the wild locks with pins. The dark tresses would rebel as if that was their purpose in life. Her wild hair something of an oddity when standing next to her blond brothers who where always there to help agitate the beast that lived on her head with a well mannered pat pushing her into the girls conversation with a light nudge. "I hope she will also have time to lead me to watch the tourney as well as the courts."

[Nymeria Forthwind]

Nymeria smiled at her niece. “Thank you. The ceremony is not until next month. I have spent all this time preparing though. There is so much. I know now I will be traveling to all the temples and now I won't just be here in Belleile anymore. It is quite a responsibility but it is what I have loved all my life.” And the freedom of not having to marry a man. She couldn't deny that.

Taking a bite of her food she smiled at her other niece Carys. “Ah tell me what you have been up to Carys. You should see the jousts. When I was your age we only had a few. I was always so wrapped up in my duties then with the church. Even now I still have yet to see them but when I was a girl they were exciting. I remember when Bradyn used to even lift me up so I could get a better view of the knights. Have you all picked new gowns for the ball? There is much stir I know. Everyone will be waiting for what bride the King will pick. It seems as if we are all on baited breath.” She bemused. Foolish women. There was a greater purpose to life than becoming a Queen but Nymeria would never say this to her nieces or even any other lady. She had found her calling and if other noblewomen wanted to live their lives as mere arm decorations, then they could be happy with it.

[Bradyn Forthwind]

It had been a particularly long day. What had only been a few hours had felt like almost a month in getting out of his office and heading to meet his family. It was such a rare occurance that his entire family was in one place that he had gone to fetch Drusilla and brought her along to the meeting as well. The gods knew she could use a family to equal the one he had butchered.

But all too soon things were settled and for the first time in years, he relaxed. Here, with his family, he didn't need to stand on ceremony or be needlessly full of pomp and ceremony. And he was respected simply for being their uncle and knowing much about the land. He wasn't feared as the councillor of war, or the inventor of dangerous technology. He was just Bradyn. But when Nymeria praised him, he simply shook his head and chuckled.

"My dear sister makes it sound more impressive than it is. All I did was sent a lot of letters. The hard part was done by Duncan Montrose, the authority of the castle." He looked over to Marisee and smiled. "The capital, my dear niece, is much as you would expect it. There is ceremony, there is awkward diplomacy...it is dull to speak of. But I understand you have a little bundle of joy to tell us about?"

He sat near the centre of the room in his comfiest armchair. Sure, they were his family, but the room was his and he was allowed to be a grouchy old man set in his ways every now and again, wasn't he?

[Marisée Forthwind]

Marisée beamed when her uncle mentioned her child. “She is but three months old, Uncle Bradyn, and so lovely. She looks like a Forthwind too.” Which was fortunate, Marisée thought. Their family was so much better looking in her opinion than her husband’s. “If she wakes I’ll bring her down. She’ll probably sleep no longer than four hours, although if she pushes five, which she sometimes does, then the rest of you will probably asleep instead.”

She nodded her own praise about her uncle’s accomplishments. Her father always touted how smart Uncle Bradyn was, and how skilled. Although she wouldn’t mention it now, her father would brag about how he put down the Equitatus clan with his skills, and how he’d invented weapons that worked wonders.

“I’m sure the tourney will be amazing. Frederick is riding in the joust. I hope he does... well.” In truth she didn’t much care. If a Forthwind had been riding, like her brother, she’d have rooted for him over her husband any day. “Is anyone going who would like to sit with me during the ceremony?”

She turned to Nym and smiled, “And my congratulations also, Aunt Nym. How exciting for you to be chosen over all others!”

[Nymeria Forthwind]

“Well you do deserve more credit brother. A mastermind of war clearly knows a thing or two on jousting.” She noted with a coy smile as she took a sip of her wine. Gathered with the rest of her family was something she hadn't done in a long time. “You have forgotten what a task you can have. Surely you aren't too old to remember your last jousts brother?” She teased before she smiled at her niece.

“It is exciting and certainly I still wonder at the Keeper's judgment. But it is an honor I still am far too humble for. I will have to grow into the title in time. There is so much I have to learn and only a few weeks to do so in. It will be a challenge.”

[Carys Forthwind]

Fidgeting with the pleats on her skirt she had very little to tell indeed. "Well… I've uh… I suppose Mother has been instructing me on riding more, and I've two little bird called Hazel and Nut who have laid a few eggs not but a few days ago. I've also taught Nathaniel Merrik how to tie a proper knot, but the most exciting thing I suppose will be the tourney. I am very excited to watch the events." She offered her aunt still a bit shy, a silly blush coloring her cheeks with the attention on her for the moment. Needless to say, she was relieved a little when the topic changed to someone else.

Focused on the duties of her aunt, the duties and responsibilities sounded so important and exciting. Traveling and serving the gods! Such a life was grand indeed. Such adventures she was going to have was something that sparked the imagination of the childish girl.

She listened happily to the back and forth of the brother and sister, the tiding of her cousin's wonderful little one and watched all the funny little things that family shared. "A Baby! I should like to see with her very much!" She cooed lightly to Marisee, her eyes wide in the delight of meeting the small child. She hadn't had much experience with babies at the castle so the idea it self was quite wonderful. "May I sit with you and Melari for the tourney she would like to come?" Though she would have normally cuddled between her larger brothers like a small kitten between two bears, the idea of talking with her girl cousins during the festivities sounded much more exciting. Besides she was sure that the boys would be talking to the other young ladies now, no need for a little sister to tag along behind them at every turn.