Ceutinde's Personal Suite

[Nigel Thornheart]

Nigel retired to the Sapphire room for "physical therapy" with women that he respectfully referred to as "healthcare professionals" for the entirety of his stay.

[Geoffrey Ravenhurst]

***

As one of the few primarily Elven establishments in Bastion, Herneiros actually had a very easy time finding her room by simply asking the staff.

The Wild Huntsman knocked politely on the door.

[Ceutinde]

Herneiros heard some rustling around in the office before Ceutinde opened the door and smiled at the sight of him. "Come in, Herneiros, come in!" She gave him a quick hug and then pointed toward a couch in one of the corners of the room. "Sit down. You should have said you were coming, I would have had refreshments ready." She strode back over to her desk and pressed a button to summon some waitstaff.

[Geoffrey Ravenhurst]

His embarrassment was plain on his face.

"My apologies, I wasn't sure if you were otherwise engaged. You have far more responsibilities than I. And frankly, I have never actually visited the House of Respite. It is quite beautiful."

[Ceutinde]

"Oh, don't mistake me, it's no trouble at all!" She crossed the room again, sitting down in a chair opposite the couch she had pointed Herneiros at. "And thank you." A server came in with a bottle of wine and a pair of glasses, which she filled for them. "Though I am a little hurt that we've been back in the city for so long and you're only now gracing me with your presence."

[Geoffrey Ravenhurst]

"Oh, I had always intended to, but it seems every day yields a new host of crises and dire revelations that I must sort through. Also, I wanted to visit my father while he was still in Bastion. I wasn't certain if I would see him again anytime soon."

There was a sad look in his eyes, but he quickly added a smile. "But now I am in the abode of Lady Ceutinde herself. You know, the other raiders talk often of this place. I have always wanted to visit since I was a boy becoming a man."

[Ceutinde]

"I ought to pay your father a visit, myself. It's been years. How is he?" She asked, taking a sip of the wine. "We can show you what you've been missing later."

[Geoffrey Ravenhurst]

"Father could still punch an ox out. He's leading another campaign at the moment against Dominius and the Kraken. I would have left with him, but I have my own quest ahead of me."

Herneiros used the word 'quest' as casually as bartenders use the word 'cup'. It was just how he lived his life.

[Ceutinde]

"He ought to have his feet up somewhere, retired." Ceutinde replied, shaking her head. "I'll prepare a suite for him here, if you can talk him into it. But what's this quest of yours? Heading out again already?"

[Geoffrey Ravenhurst]

"Aye... Bastion is not to my liking and I have more than enough cause to head back into the Mist. Some of our companions also have a strong need to travel and I am happy to serve as a guide for them... though not so happy in other ways."

Herneiros paused and looked at the wall behind her before continuing. "I haven't told my father but... I finally visited my family estate. And I find myself deeply troubled by what I found there."

[Ceutinde]

Ceutinde raised an eyebrow. "Your birth family? I didn't think you knew much about them. Much less that they had an estate. Are you the long-lost Comte de Somewhere?" She asked with a giggle, before smothering the smile. "I'm sorry, that's terribly rude. What was troubling about it?"

[Geoffrey Ravenhurst]

Herneiros smiled softly. "No, I don't think I am secret nobility. But I seem to own quite a bit of land and some local businesses. No, it's not that part which bothered me but... well, I don't have a kinder way to put it. It is very apparent that my family were involved in dark magic. Very dark magic. The sort of madness people tell stories about to frighten their children with. Frankly, I regret even stepping foot on the property."

[Ceutinde]

"Oh, dear. That is worrying. But...didn't your father find you in the Mist? What would the scion of a wealthy family be doing out there?"

[Geoffrey Ravenhurst]

"My human father, a man named Elias Rosecroft, was the founder of a settlement called Palerose. Local gossip has it the entire population vanished and all that could be found was graffiti cursing my family to the Abyss. It would seem, based on what I found in the Rosecroft, that they are exceedingly comfortable."

He shifted uncomfortably. He had lived his life experiencing the horrors of the Mist, so it hadn't been the trappings of foulest sorcery that could be bothering him.

"Lady Ceutinde, you are the wisest person I know, and no doubt the kindest. I must ask you in all confidence... do you think I am a good person? That I can be more than what others have planned in advance for me, no matter how dire or tightly woven their web might be?"

[Ceutinde]

Ceutinde narrowed her eyes for a moment before replying, thinking back through their time together. "Call me foolish, but I try to see good in most people until they give me cause to believe otherwise. Once, on the island, you gave me cause to doubt you. With the...Mist-stones. But you only wanted to do what you believed was necessary. And in the end, no one was hurt." She leaned forward and reached a hand across to his knee. "You've got rough edges, but that's not your birth parents' doing. It's your real father's, for keeping you out in the wilds all your life. I doubt there is anything of them in you beside the shape of your face. And that turned out handsome enough, so we can forgive them that."