westwhere | a little dream of her

a little dream of her | part i

A LITTLE DREAM OF HER

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This is the first of two logs covering the Dream county travel Arc — it stretches until 23 April OOCly and covers roughly one IC week. There is an entirely optional wedding mystery plot, which will depend heavily on information gathering, sharing and deduction, rather than on supernatural powers.

Boarding scenarios for existing and new characters are covered under the Old Timers and New Arrivals header, respectively. Click on the tabs for details!

OLD TIMERS

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Absorbing Wrath, Licyn and Yelena’s feedback, King Deimar of Alem decides against joining his brother Haiva in ‘noble sacrifice’ to hell. Good news for the party, who depends on royal savvy to reach Alem’s otherworld transport beacon, buried in the labyrinthine tunnels beneath crumbling Alem.

■ Deimar and his paladins guide small groups back to the beacon — but the keypoint’s war-drained energies only let a handful of party members out. Characters who have dropped or been swept by AC during Arc VI go home. You can also canon update your character now.

The party must heads onwards east, boarding a dreamy train at a station near Hassir. Here, find exotic stalls with wares once intended for Alem — from the latest travel fashions, to unlucky artefacts, heavy alcohol and narcotics. You can even purchase a domestic ghost.

Whether the Merchant supplies a ticket or false staff uniforms for you to proactively sneak aboard, don’t dally — this train runs like clockwork.

NEW ARRIVALS

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You wake up to claustrophobia, ash and gravel in your mouth — and a sense of urgency: run. Midway through a slovenly, rattling underground corridor, you meet an irritable woman, who leads you out, at the foot of a serene, smoke-topped mountain.

The woman passes you a pendant that allows you to understand her and to communicate with others like you. You are one of many otherworlders brought into Akhuras by undead lords who seek to weaponise you, as they battle humans and each other for dominion. Don’t believe her? Look up. The holy citadel Alem yet burns before the dead armies of Rahakku.

The woman is Karsa, an associate of the elusive Merchant, who collects and leads otherworlders east, where ancient beacons can transport them home.

Regrettably, you’re late — you arrived with the unexpected last gasps of Alem’s dying beacon and must now catch up with the others, who’ve departed on the Sandman train express.

WHY THE LONG FACE?

Karsa barters for a carriage led by two nightmare horses, along with several such steeds for confident riders. These are mercurial mounts and dizzyingly fast — your only shot to reach a train travelling through Dream county.

■ Karsa warns you must not fall asleep during travel. The horses will invade your nightmares, consuming your vital energy while you suffer asleep.

■ Talk at all times or sound the shrill silver bells Karsa provides to wake up any sleepers.

You reach the seaside village of Kyari, where you must board the incoming Sandman express. Regrettably, the horses have left Karsa with just enough coin for one ticket for the wounded Dean Winchester. Everyone else: make do.

You must also help Karsa sneak in fist-sized, forbidden dream boxes. Try to avoid the Sandman’s guards and their canine sentries, who scent newly boarding passengers for such contraband. Return the boxes to Karsa once on the train.

You’ve got 45 minutes to board, once the Sandman reaches its rustic station. Some options?

■ Play stowaway and break the rustier locks of the economy class cars.

■ Sweet talk the depressed Conductor. You bought, but just… forgot your ticket.

■ Distract the guards while your group boards, so they can sneak you on after.

■ Plant dream contraband on another would-be passenger, when the dogs draw close.

■ Ride one of those god-forsaken horses and jump on top of the train once it starts moving, then make your way in through ceiling hatches. God help.

A fully veiled young woman might lend you a hand.

THE SANDMAN

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All aboard… the Sandman, a majestic 100-car train that gallops on an emaciated railway across Dream county. Ghosts and dream residents wave as it passes by.

The Sandman stops once after leaving Alem, at seaside village Kyari, before crossing the abyss of the Cradle — the turbulent, storm-prone birthplace of dreams, where it is constantly night-time.

Some say the Cradle is only a cauldron for those who steal dreams or make them into living things. Others say the Cradle has its own mind.

To avoid igniting dream storms, passengers are strictly prohibited from carrying dream tokens and performing dream magic. Characters find their powers are significantly reduced while travelling on the Sandman.

New arrivals join the Sandman at Kyari with group caretaker Karsa, who introduces them to the old party.

■ The Sandman offers exquisite single-person compartments with en-suite bathrooms for First Class passengers, while Second Class travellers share generous cabins in pairs, and up to four voyagers can bunk up in… cozy Third Class cabins. Shared bathrooms and a small sauna cabin are also available.

■ You can hide in the staff, luggage or coal stock rooms.

■ You can decide your character’s First/Second/Third Class, staff or stowaway status. (Pick a job for staff!)

■ The LOST & FOUND booth contains an assortment of clothes and items forgotten by passengers, which you can raid (within reason). Latest findings: cigarettes, medical-grade opiate powders, a a beautiful green dress and pink striped men’s suit, all brought in after the Sandman leaves Kyari.

■ Amenities range from dining & bar carts to game, exercise and cinema halls where the (PG-13!) pleasant dreams you’ve gambled away can be viewed freely, or passengers can hold recitals or seminars.

■ You can gamble in regular currency or pleasant dreams (not memories).

■ Travellers are polite and social. You learn early on that you share a voyage with renown heroine and First Class passenger Firo, who, alongside her friends and sister party, picks up her bride Prassenze from Kyari.

■ Within two hours of leaving Kyari, the sky begins to darken, becoming pitch black and occasionally loudly stormed. It stays a starless night time throughout your journey over the Cradle.

■ For communal safety, windows and doors are locked and magically enforced shut after the train departs Kyari. The nightmare storms within the Cradle region crackle with highly chaotic energy that can (re)shape reality, endangering passengers. Deputy conductor Michel Bauc holds the window and door keys. An irritating, tinny, train-wide alarm sounds if anyone tries to force a window open.

■ You might sometimes find fellow passengers trying to exit the train or open the windows to join the storms, while they nap. Do wake up them up.

■ Whether you’re an insomniac or don’t typically need sleep, you find you fall instantly asleep at midnight and awaken refreshed by 8 a.m.

■ A skeletal crew serves the Sandman at night. The most authoritative figure is gloomy Conductor Rossakoff, who slinks silently across the train.

THE MENU

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Trot down to the dining carts for an unforgettable meal included with your ticket. Formal evening attire is expected during dinner. Some courses are lightly sparkled with stimulants that deepen certain aspects of diner’s emotions during the meal — this is not disclosed ICly, but visible to you OOCly in the menu. (ex: the Ham and Laughter Eggs triggers roaring laughter and a good disposition ).

BREAKFAST

SUPPER & DINNER

SNACKS & BEVERAGES

DREAM SMUGGLERS

The new arrivals helped Karsa bring contraband aboard, but they’ve steps to go to their final destination. The sorceress doles out fist-sized boxes containing precious dream fragments of happiness, sadness, fear, surprise, anger, guilt or disgust — explicitly prohibited cargo that regains its magical properties once aboard the Sandman.

Each box comes with instructions for drop off under a dining hall table at midday, under a roulette table by 6 p.m. or in the coal room by 8 p.m. Karsa says the deliveries are an explicit favour from the Merchant to an old (dream thief) friend aboard the Sandman.

■ Pair up for your run! Those who hold dream boxes feel their emotions to a player-chosen degree of intensity, throughout their adventure.

■ Beware the vigilant guards of the Sandman, who run frequent searches for illicit dream artefacts. Some bring dream-catching dogs who catch the scent of the dreamed things.

■ You may feel unusually sleepy while holding dream boxes. Doze, and you wake up to find your dreams have summoned a wo/man, child or animal whose temperament embodies the box’s emotion. They can’t help drawing attention, but slowly disappear within 30-60 minutes — wait, are those the guards?

■ Caught smugglers are locked into ‘jail’ cabins, while their contraband is placed in the office of Conductor Rossakoff. First-time captives can be bailed out at ludicrous expense or in exchange for maid service, but repeat offenders are jailed
for the rest of the voyage. Liberate your dream box back from the Conductor’s strangely barren, otherwise untouched compartment.

■ Successfully delivered boxes feed into the mystery of the missing bride. You mysteriously fall asleep to a sweet dream if you wait to meet the collector — and wake up to a feeling of wrongness, as if reality is mute and diffuse around you, before your hearing and vision resettle.

THE GROUNDHOG WEDDING: A MYSTERY

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Firo’s bride Prassenze boards the Sandman from Kyari. She comes alone, veiled head to toe, and only brings a modest case. She is short, thin, pale and shy, prone to silence and retiring to her cabin at the earliest opportunity — a far cry from boisterous Firo.

…so much so that Firo’s sister Lita and friends Dulcinea, Maiza and Attru tell anyone who’ll listen that Firo is marrying this girl after courting her for six months through correspondence. Even bashful Hugo admits the pair is… perhaps a little mismatched. This is their first in-person encounter.

■ The wedding party members plead or offer coin for you to coerce the loving pair to delay their marriage — or to sabotage the wedding, due to take place in two days.

■ An enthusiastic Firo meanwhile asks if you can help with celebratory clothing or wedding ornaments.

■ Shortly after, Lita appears lost in her thoughts and altogether not there, clutching a letter in hand, the day after the Sandman departs Kyari.

HERE COMES THE BRIDE... AGAIN

1.0

No one forgets their wedding night — least of all brave Firo, who, vows performed, makes merry with her group and timid bride over a magnificent feast in the dining halls. Everyone is invited.

The blushing bride is visibly infatuated with Firo, but overwhelmed by the loud, relentless social activity. She hardly speaks to anyone, other than Firo, whose friends complain increasingly loudly that Prassenze is aloof, a cold fish, and thinks herself above them.

Prassenze excuses herself to freshen up in her cabin. Nearly an hour’s absence later, a worried Firo checks up on her — finding the bride’s compartment locked from the inside. Once the door is forced open, the partygoers — and you? — discover the inside stormed, bridal veils discarded on the floors, and windows widely open as the Cradle’s nightmare tempests rage.

The bride has vanished.

Terrified, Firo questions everyone in earnest, accepting your assistance to find Prassenze.

2.0.

You wake up next morning to find everyone reliving the same wedding day, which only fellow otherworlders recall. Squinting outside, you see new landscape — suggesting the Sandman has covered a day’s journey.

The bride Prassenze is present again, but sharply different in appearance and manner. Now, she is closer to Firo in size, her build athletic. Her manner is brusque, assertive, commanding. Some in Firo’s group are put off, others frightened. Firo appears a little taken aback by her bride’s domineering nature.

During the second wedding, a drunk Maiza and Dulcinea quarrel with Prassenze, who doesn’t back down. A frustrated Firo tries to break the fight, verbally lashing out at her friends for drinking and at Prassenze for stooping to their intoxicated level.

Prassenze storms to her cabin. She is once more found missing, when searched. As before, her compartment was locked from the inside, the window is wide open, and her veils have been abandoned.

3.0.

You wake up to a third wedding day, with only party otherworlders recalling the past two days. Prassenze looks and acts differently from the first and second wedding day — now she is of average build and height, with an especially jovial, overly friendly manner, prone to laughter and pranks. This time, she drinks with Firo’s friends, plays (and wins!) at many of their card and dice games, humours their stories and even flirts — but is so devoted to Firo’s group that she accidentally neglects Firo herself throughout the day. Firo repeatedly tries to coax her to spend time together, but fails, and abandons her during the wedding feast — perhaps meeting you for a drink instead?

Realising she has driven Fire away, a distressed Prassenze once more withdraws into her compartment at the end of the (third) wedding night — and disappears, leaving the same clues behind as on the first and second wedding day.

There are no further repetitions and time passes regularly after the third wedding day. The morning after, apothecary passenger Rigolante mentions asks Conductor Rossakoff to conduct a search, as some of his herbs and measuring tools have gone missing.

■ Player characters can change events and investigate during the second and third ~~groundhog~~ wedding days. Regrettably, Prassenze still disappears.

■ Non-PC characters and the Sandman’s crew only recall the third wedding day.

■ Conductor Rossakoff says the number of dreamers whose dreams help propel the Sandman during the obligatory midnight-8 a.m. nap — what do you know, you were helping all along! — has stayed the same since leaving Kyari, meaning the bride is alive on board. No one seems able to find her… help a distraught Firo find her missing wife!

CAST & CREW

	FIRO Good-humoured, sincere and just heroine, renown for her many feats of bravery — from rescuing villages to outwitting sphinxes and challenging immortals. Loud and prone to laughter. Quick to tell everyone about her beloved Prassenze.
	CONTESSA LITA Doting older sister of Firo, married to a Count who prefers a quiet life at his countryside estate. Preposterously wealthy and fashionable. Life of every party.
	MAIZA Once a gifted mathematician, Maiza quickly realized there is more money for the modern man to make from his brawns than his brains. After retraining as a barbarian, he served as muscle (and accountant) during many of Firo’s adventures..
	ATTRU The prince of a distant land, some say descended from wolves. Walks among men to learn their ways. Looks young, but will mention at least three wives and five children in the first five minutes of conversation. Smooth.
	DULCINEA Redeemed mercenary, who once used to sell her sword to anyone with the coin to spare — some say, even the dead! Turned an honest leaf after meeting Firo, of whom she is very protective. At times still sinister at her edges.
	HUGO A pilot turned priest, or a priest turned pilot. Met Firo during his many travels. Soft-spoken, mild-mannered, but jittery, with the kind of thin nerves that suggest he has survived numerous fraught circumstances.
	RIGOLANTE An apothecary of exotic drugs and herbs. He had hoped to make his fortune in Alem, but arrived just as the fortress crumbled, before he could sell enough of his wares. Prays he will find better fortune east.
	CONDUCTOR ROSSAKOFF The gloom and doom of the Sandman, eerily tall, slinking and silent. Passengers prefer to deal with deputy conductor Michael Bauc because of Rossakoff’s intimidating and discouraging presence. Takes a hard stand on smuggling or passenger misbehaviour and all but worships the Sandman.
	PRASSENZE The all-veiled bride of Firo, boarding at Kyari. Not once, not twice, but thrice disappeared.

IC TIMELINE

Day 01: Boarding at Hassir/Alem (morning)

Day 03: Boarding at Kyari (midday); within two hours of departing, the Sandman starts journeying on the railway above the abyssal Cradle — the sky is pitch black at all hours, nightmare storms rattle the train.

Day 04: Lita begins to behave airily, as if she’s not quite present.

Day 05: First wedding (16:00) and wedding feast (19:00)

Day 06: Second wedding (16:00) and wedding feast (19:00)

Day 07: Third wedding (16:00) and wedding feast (19:00).

Day 08: Rigolante asks Conductor Rossakoff to enforce a search for his missing herbs and recipients.

QUESTIONS

NPC THREADS

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[ It's because she's seen this before and it's remarkably different, that Claire has stayed close to Firo. She doesn't seem to realize this has all happened before, albeit a bit differently. Differently enough that it was noticeable.

She wouldn't be responsible if she didn't make sure there was water close at hand, and if Firo isn't drinking enough to her professional liking, she'll prompt her to take a few swallows every now and then. She lets the poor woman speak, giving Claire time to gather her thoughts. ]

If it's out of character for her, then perhaps that's exactly it. There's a phrase for that: 'Occam's Razor.'

[ She isn't sure if that philosophy translates here, but she'll know soon enough. In the meantime, she won't insult Firo by assuming. ]

...no. ( But she's drinking water, helping herself with small gulps. ) Prassenze was afraid of blades and daggers and razors and... I'd write about... all the silly, stupid things I'd do, and I'd tell her, sometimes, all right, sometimes it was to flaunt, and I'd tell her I took my blade out and thrust it and killed this or that, and...

( And more water, one hand waving away the curious, if polite help of the bartender. )

She wa — she is a gentle, peaceful person. Tonight is just... I don't know. I can't twist my mind around it.

[ Neither can Claire. ]

Firo, what about yesterday?

[ She asks for a drink of her own, more to have something to hold her hands around than to drink, though she will sip. ]

I know everyone's asked their questions, but it can be quite a lot of pressure, trying to remember things in the heat of the moment. Did she do or say anything out of the ordinary?

Edited (missed a whole sentence) 2023-04-06 23:16 (UTC)

( She takes a moment to think, to wonder. To let the question truly sink, before she murmurs: )

...nerves. I think it was nerves. She seemed... agitated. ( An understatement even Firo seems to accept, turning to look away before remembering a few sips of her drink. )

She's shy. She's... always been shy. And so delicate. But brave. I know what they say, but she is brave. She was the one who wrote our first letter. Would a coward do that? Approach a stranger?

( A proper sip, now. ) She's brave. And that's why I know... something happened. She wouldn't have just left the wedding, something had to have happened.

I think something might have.

[ Now that the door has been opened to the potential, Claire takes a chance. It isn't her first time trying to explain something that doesn't seem possible. ]

At first, I thought I might be losing my mind, but I don't think so. Firo, this has happened before. A bit differently, but it's part of why I asked about yesterday—we did this twenty-four hours ago. Not exactly this, but quite similar.

[ The way Firo describes her bride, it's hard to imagine the woman didn't know she was wanted. So why flee? ]

( She seems, for a moment, too staggered to speak, frowning, tipping her head as if viewing this woman from a different angle might help with understanding her words. Her motive. )

...what?

( But she hardly waits for an explanation. They did this twenty-four hours ago...? )

You're drunk, little lady. You're drunk, or you're out of your... ( Mind, but that's no decent thing to say, and so Firo doesn't. ) Or you're mocking me. Best you quit that talk now.

[ Claire's voice is patently patient and right now, soft. Over the years, she's had to learn how to speak to people unwilling to hear. Her face is gentle but her expression is pained on Firo's behalf. ]

I would never mock anyone, Firo. You don't know me but that, I can assure you, isn't my character. Please, if you think I'm hysterical, then at least decide after I tell you what I've seen.

[ She has to try; what if something clicks once Claire reveals it? But if Firo is angry, a quick escape will be made. She hopes. ]

( She's... still talking about this. Incredibly. Truly, utterly dismaying. Worse still, the woman's doing it with a kindly voice, preventing Firo from doing anything more than staring, dismayed. )

Look, ma'am. Maybe you think you mean well, or maybe you're... ( Sick, very sick, and most days she'd have the patience, but her wife has just gone. ) Confused.

( Deeply confused, utterly. ) But I've got... a very deep concern, and no time for — this. ( Whatever this is. ) I want to enjoy my drink. And think about my missing wife. Can I do that, without conspiracy theories? Thank you.

( This, with firmness. More talk in this direction, and she's prepared to walk out, manners be damned. The absurdity of it all. )

[ Looking at her drink, Claire takes a breath and then glances at Firo again. ]

Perhaps I am confused. It's possible, I suppose, that I would wake up, go through an entire wedding after which the quiet and seemingly shy bride goes missing, and then go to bed to do it all over again.

[ Taking a sip of her drink, she relishes the burn of the alcohol before attempting to ask a question. ]

Do you feel she's missing? Or do you feel as though she's gone?

[ Two different things. One implies a willingness to go, and one does not. ]

( It's discipline that keeps her grounded, the instinct to give people another, another, and another chance. She grits her teeth through the last of the... the jab at her expense —

And she drinks. Lets the liquor steady and burn down her throat, lets herself feel it. Then, finally, setting her emptied glass down, while the bartender pours another. )

Why would she go? On our wedding day? If she didn't want to... if she had cold feet, she wouldn't have boarded. Even... even supposing she could, though she didn't have herself any sorcery or... she was normal.

( By the sound of things, a virtue in Firo's mind. )

[ For her part, Claire didn't intend it as a jab, though the woman has been known to push. But instead of that, she lets her thumb glide along the side of her glass, catching condensation. ]

You would know her better than anyone here, Firo.

[ She isn't sure if she'd marry someone she'd never before met, but then again, Jamie was ready to meet her within five minutes of meeting Claire, so she knows people can fall in love faster than others. She wonders who fell in love first, here. ]

What made you two decide to get married straight away when meeting for the first time?

[ This time she's only asking, in an attempt to be less of an inquisitor and more a support. ] I was married very young and very quickly, just before we both went off to war.

[ Claire risks another glance at Firo, a small smile curving her lips. ]

It was all his idea, I was wary.

Well... well, we've spoken for a while now. Six months, give or take. ( A moment, so she might enjoy her topped-up drink, free hand drumming on the edge of the bar counter. )

Oh, I know what they're saying, letters don't count, but they do count. They do. I poured my heart and soul in my writing, and I know she did too. Why's that any different than... than meeting in person? I knew every part of her.

( Her head shoots up, looking at Claire imploringly. ) And I'm no child, and neither is she. We talked through all sorts of practicalities. Like... like children and where we'd live and... she had concerns about my line of work, because she worries, but in the end, she said... she said, she'd rather have me for a little while than have nothing for a very long time, and I know that's not endorsement, but she understood.

( Being a professional hero doesn't spell out particularly optimistic forecasts for someone's lifespan. )

From the moment I knew her, everything she said, everything she wanted, it was what I wanted, it was what I would have said. We just fit right. Was it the same? You and your partner?

[ Claire's face softens, Firo's words reminding her of the time she spent with Jamie before twenty years of feeling as though she wasn't living at all. And yet, it sounds more like Prassenze told Firo what she wanted to hear. The feeling in her gut isn't a great one, but she feels like a mother trying not to push too hard. ]

Admittedly, no. But we hadn't taken the time to know one another the way you two have. I did marry again, though.

[ This, however, isn't about Claire. Gently, she tries to get to know Firo's bride a bit more. ]

Will you tell me about her? What did she mention wanting?

...oh. No, I don't think that's for me. No disrespect, just... one-person kinda gal. ( But then, it's a hollowed shrug she's giving, keenly aware that she has only truly lived through one wedding — hardly even a marriage whole. )

Just, we were thinking two children. She was happy to travel with me, while I go about what I do. She's very sacrificial. Most people, they'd have egos, but she's just not like that, not at all.

I never planned to marry twice. Does anyone? Life is simply...life. It can change from one heartbeat to the next in ways you never imagined.

[ It's clear to Claire that Firo was besotted, but she wonders if Prassenze felt the same. ]

Do you think she has something to be proud of?

[ Not wanting to seem disbelieving the woman could, she adds: ]

I believe there are those who need loved ones to advocate for them at times. So tell me, if you like. What does she do for a living?

Well... well, it's. ( She seems almost flustered, for a moment. Caught off guard. ) We didn't talk too much about... she was finding herself. She had an inheritance of some means, and she living in a small rental near Kyari, with a very respectable matron. She was... I think she was hoping to just... pick up a trade wherever we went.

( Suddenly more animated, as if that all aligns: ) That's it. That's what we would have done. She was just so happy to go wherever I needed to, and money's no concern, so... well, a home maker. I suppose.

( ...is what she might do. Perhaps not what she did. )

[ There's a small frown that is only evident in the pinching of her brow, but it smooths away after a swallow from her glass. ]

It sounds as if she might not have been completely sure. When you saw her for the first time, did she strike you as the type who would have been content to stay at home and do as you need?

[ Always following, or at least seeming to. ]

It's... more... she wasn't the type to talk about herself, to make things all about herself. She'd rather talk about...

( A pause, while she gathers her thoughts, clearly flustered. No, there's no salvaging this. )

Talk about... me.

How would she respond if you asked about her day? Surely you'd want to hear all about her as well.

[ Claire tilts her head just a little, curious about this. ]

What would she write about herself in your letters?

( Once again, brave Firo appears remarkably off balance, negotiating her words with care, as if she herself is stunned by her own ignorance. )

She wasn't... she wasn't very forthright, but it always seemed to me she has... so much loneliness in her heart. She has no one, no one at all. Can you imagine? I'm not sure I want to. That's why, she was always so much more... content? Figuring things out about other people. Well, me. She's just such a curious and kind person.

[ Oh, Firo. Claire has a sinking feeling that this woman was taken advantage of somehow, but how exactly, she isn't sure. At least not yet. ]

Prassenze seems to know you better than you know yourself, and of course, in love, it's often that way. You give yourself to another person and trust them with it. But it seems as though...I don't know, Firo. It seems as though she didn't give you much in return. Except for the things you wanted to hear.

[ Claire tries, but there's no real gentle way to say it. She wonders if deep down, Firo has thought so herself but brushed it aside. Signs are ignored when a person simply doesn't want to see them—Claire has done it herself. ]

That just... speaks badly of me, right? If I never bothered... I can't even... ( Drink, that she can do: drinking in large gulps. ) I don't even know what she does.

( When she laughs, it's muted, bittersweet. ) Of course she'd leave, I'd leave too, I'd... but she's not like that. She doesn't just leave.

It doesn't speak badly of you. It sounds like you wanted someone to love you, which isn't a bad thing at all.

[ Claire's voice is soft. ]

Firo, how did she support herself? Surely she wasn't renting for free. Did you send her money for things? And no family for her here, no friends?

She's an orphan. Her parents... it happened when she was so young. It's... it's not too much money, don't imagine —

( A wave of her hand, as if she might physically dismiss the notion of a marriage of convenience, of Firo looking to usurp her bride's fortune. )

But she made do with a monthly stipend, and the bank gave her interest and... she volunteers. I know that much. With helping the poor and sewing them clothes. She keeps busy, she's not... you know, wasting away at home, doing nothing with herself. That's not who she is at all.

Not to compare, but I was orphaned before making any complete memories of my parents. I still had a life, I still have stories. It's odd, that you don't know as much about her as she does about you.

[ Claire's drink is mostly forgotten now, too watered down to be enjoyable anymore anyway. ]

Where did the stipend come from?

a little dream of her | part i

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