FC0 - CH 1: Goblin Raid
Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 11:08 pm
It's a late summer morning when Octavia wakes up in her bedroom, alone. Her older sister, Hallie, and her younger sister, Sparrow, were all ready awake and gone to do their chores. Likely, they had been up at dawn. Looking out the window, Octavia reckons it's closer to 10 now.
This means she has slept in again. She's missed breakfast, so her mother will be furious.
Times have been tough here in the small nation of Gontoria. Years ago, long before Tavi was born, this nation was quite prosperous. It had good trade relations with its neighbors, like Tramilar to the south. The village of Sturnheim was quite important in that regard, as it was something of a crossroads between all the larger nearby cities. But that all changed forty years ago.
A large merchant caravan, which included a gold shipment composed of much of Sturnheim's money in its cargo, disappeared. The gold had been sent away for an investment. The disappearance occurred on the road in the eastern edge of the foothills. Outraged at this loss, many merchant guilds of the surrounding larger cities collaborated and organized different routes, by passing the unfortunate village.
Determined to restore Sturnheim's honor and reputation, a band of eight adventurers combed the hills looking for traces of the caravan. Tavi's grandfather, Roland, was among them. He died, along with three others, in the process. The other four returned home failures.
Shamed by their defeat, two of the survivors left town. Of the two who remained behind, one eventually went mad and fled town, and the other stayed in Sturnheim despite the ridicule and dislike showered upon him by the villagers.
Tavi's grandmother, the now widowed Lillian, was unable to handle it. She never even knew how her husband died, and was too grief-stricken to deal with the shame and dishonor piled upon her late husband's name. She took her daughter, Aubrey--Tavi's mother--out into the country and tried to scratch out a living there.
Life was hard. It was made all the harder by the constant raids from brigands and goblins. Because Sturnheim was no longer important, the king never sent many troops to patrol the roads and keep the people there safe. One day, a soldier turned mercenary happened by and saved the ranch from such a raid. The soldier, Lindsay, fell in love with Aubrey and he decided to settle down and help her and her mother protect the ranch.
Although her parents have survived here, barely, life has not been easy. They now have three daughters and cannot marry them off as the only men nearby are from Sturnheim, and even after all of this time, there is much stigma tied to the family.
It is because of all of this that Tavi hopes to one day find a way to restore her family name and earn enough gold to keep the ranch afloat. But she'll never do that at this rate. Her mother won't even let her visit town. She's never seen anything of the world outside of this ranch.
Even though there's no reason to believe this day will be any different from all of the previous ones, something in the morning air convinces her that somehow, today will be different.
This means she has slept in again. She's missed breakfast, so her mother will be furious.
Times have been tough here in the small nation of Gontoria. Years ago, long before Tavi was born, this nation was quite prosperous. It had good trade relations with its neighbors, like Tramilar to the south. The village of Sturnheim was quite important in that regard, as it was something of a crossroads between all the larger nearby cities. But that all changed forty years ago.
A large merchant caravan, which included a gold shipment composed of much of Sturnheim's money in its cargo, disappeared. The gold had been sent away for an investment. The disappearance occurred on the road in the eastern edge of the foothills. Outraged at this loss, many merchant guilds of the surrounding larger cities collaborated and organized different routes, by passing the unfortunate village.
Determined to restore Sturnheim's honor and reputation, a band of eight adventurers combed the hills looking for traces of the caravan. Tavi's grandfather, Roland, was among them. He died, along with three others, in the process. The other four returned home failures.
Shamed by their defeat, two of the survivors left town. Of the two who remained behind, one eventually went mad and fled town, and the other stayed in Sturnheim despite the ridicule and dislike showered upon him by the villagers.
Tavi's grandmother, the now widowed Lillian, was unable to handle it. She never even knew how her husband died, and was too grief-stricken to deal with the shame and dishonor piled upon her late husband's name. She took her daughter, Aubrey--Tavi's mother--out into the country and tried to scratch out a living there.
Life was hard. It was made all the harder by the constant raids from brigands and goblins. Because Sturnheim was no longer important, the king never sent many troops to patrol the roads and keep the people there safe. One day, a soldier turned mercenary happened by and saved the ranch from such a raid. The soldier, Lindsay, fell in love with Aubrey and he decided to settle down and help her and her mother protect the ranch.
Although her parents have survived here, barely, life has not been easy. They now have three daughters and cannot marry them off as the only men nearby are from Sturnheim, and even after all of this time, there is much stigma tied to the family.
It is because of all of this that Tavi hopes to one day find a way to restore her family name and earn enough gold to keep the ranch afloat. But she'll never do that at this rate. Her mother won't even let her visit town. She's never seen anything of the world outside of this ranch.
Even though there's no reason to believe this day will be any different from all of the previous ones, something in the morning air convinces her that somehow, today will be different.