Contributor: Rick Pierce
Submission: In-Game writing from Zephyr's character history (character background)
LARP system: Madrigal / Accelerant
Your Location: Connecticut, USA
Character name: Zephyr
Years LARPing: 22
Contact Email: rgpierce@earthlink.net
This is the third part of Zephyr's character history.
He bought us drinks, and we talked for a while. I thought it odd the tavern keep would let us sit and talk without complaint after closing, but I didn't comment on that. It was all quite pleasant in a surreal sort of way. I wanted to know why he was here and he wanted to chat. He complimented me on my singing and playing. He said it sounded like I was playing everything with a fire and passion he'd not heard in a long time with the exception of his daughter. He asked me questions about myself. He asked me questions about her every now and then. All I wanted to know was why he was here, and she wasn't, but I got the impression he'd get around to that in his own time.
He finally asked me if I loved her.
I don't know if it was the smartest thing I ever did, but I answered "yes."
He told me that he believed me, and then he told me about Tandra. She thought she was clever in her sneaking away to be with me, but her absences began to have a pattern, and he'd had her followed. He now knew all about us, and told me that he wanted me to have nothing more to do with her. I asked him if it was because I was just a lowly traveling troubadour, and that's when I got the shock of my life. She was betrothed. I couldn't imagine why. Surely we didn't practice such a tradition. He was one of elders of this root. Though much of their position was based on knowledge, power and ability, much was also based on blood and politics. Tandra's marriage was to be a part of this.
His closing statements had me in total shock. He said he liked me, far more than the man that would be marrying Tandra, that she clearly loved me as well. He hated to have to do the things he was doing to his daughter and to me, but he had to be sure she would go through with the marriage. He told me to gather all my possessions, and that the two guards would then be escorting me to one of the great gates tonight. From there, I would go to the Griffon Peaks, where people loyal to him would be making sure I didn't come back down to the Eurvein halls. I was free to do whatever I wanted as long as it didn't entail returning here. He asked me if I had any questions. I had a hundred but couldn't find my voice to ask any of them, so I shook my head dumbly. He apologized for what he had to do, and took his leave of me.
The guards looked sympathetic, but clearly they had their orders and there was going to be no negotiating with them or stalling them, so I gathered my gear together, and went to pay my bill with the tavern keep. He indicated that someone else had already paid my bill, and thanked me warmly for the performances and the patronage. I don't know what my benefactor had told him, but he looked like he was talking to a condemned man. I asked him if he would tell Tandra that I loved her, and would return some day if I could, and he said he would tell her that if he saw her. With that, I was led away from the life I'd known.
Here ends Part Three.
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