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| Leben und leben lassen! | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 12 2015, 09:40 PM (82 Views) | |
| Wendmark | Jun 12 2015, 09:40 PM Post #1 |
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Good Old Gastogne
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(Information: Friedrich (Frid) is the King of Wendmark. His father, King Heinrich has abdicated in 2000, and disappeared. Mark is the King's youger brother and heir to the Throne of Wendmark) In southern Wendmark near the Nemacian border, at an ancient mountain fortress. One could say a lot of things about the setting, or one could say very few things. It depended on what type of a person was doing the describing. It certainly was beautiful and mysterious by most standards. Very few people actually had been to the fortress in the previous decades. It was a crown property that did not serve as a museum or cultural center. Instead it served as a place for the powers-that-be to come together and did the real governing and the real decision making. Men (mostly) of noble rank and immense wealth gathered here. They did not go home and discuss the things they did or spoke of in this place. In 1967, the castle had been 'officially' closed during a period of downsizing in the government, and the small museum dedicated to butterflies and insects, and the wildflower gardens that it hosted were taken from the public support lists and fully transferred to the royal family for support from the King's budget. It had stayed under the direct control of the monarch ever since. It was a splendid retreat for the royal family, as it was located miles from the closest town, and was surrounded by thousands of acres of property in a semi-rugged terrain. Friedrich would visit often, and so would Mark. The media stayed away because trying to get to the castle was quite a task to undertake when no interesting photographs or stories would ever come out of a an assignment there. Yes, other came, too. People speculated about what went on there behind the castle's walls, when large saloon cars would trek into the mountains and approach the gate and be let in. Delivered supplies were checked in through an out building, so few regular people from the outside even knew what the castle yard even looked like. Adventurous souls who thought to fly planes and helicopters near the castle grounds never did so again after a visit from the Kingdom police. Staff members were tight-lipped on the outside, sworn to secrecy through contracts and generous salaries. None ever spoke, or rather, none ever spoke too much. People in the nearby towns whispered about it over shared beers and burgers. I heard they keep enough gold there in a vault large enough that they could buy an Kingdom outright! and I hear there are a Wend Von Neumarkt enemies buried there, people never seen nor heard of again. Friedrich and Mark rode in the LKH Safariwagen silently, Mark driving and Friedrich sitting lazily in the passenger seat. The vehicle approached the fortress rather slowly, bumping along the crushed gravel roadway, bucking into and out of the deep potholes made from years of torrenting rain and little need for repairs. They said nothing to each other for the hour-long trip from the closest town. The gates opened for them without hault. The guards knew the distinctive , customized SUVs that the royal family owned. Both men nodded at the two guards who saluted them. They continued up the hill the short distance to the "House". Both men exited the vehicle before any of the staff could get to it to open the doors and welcome them properly. "Good evening Berta, Rolf, Oskar." Friedrich smiled at them and quickly made his way for the front door. Mark followed after sharing a few words with Rolf about the quality of fishing in the surrounding glen over the past summer. Friedrich and Mark entered the house , and walked down a hallway,to a room at the center of the building. The door was open; Friedrich popped his head in, and saw an old man sitting in an old, worn burgundy-leather wing back. The old man had heard them, and was already expecting this. "Come in hear. Let me look at you." The old man closed the notebook he was apparently updating, and put down the pen he had been using. He smiled a happy old man's smile. "Come on...both of you boys!" Friedrich and Mark smiled widely, and practically ran in to the room trying to beat each other to him . The old man stood up. He took hold of Friedrich first and pulled him close, embracing him tightly; he pulled Mark into the hug quickly. " I see you two have been busy with the women. " The old man chuckled. " Mark, you're going to have to make that girl and honest woman." He turned his attention back to Friedrich. " And You, your Majesty... you need an Queen!." He let them go from his embrace. "We have so much to talk about." Friedrich continued to smile. Hein did also. They were glad to be here with this man. Friedrich took the old man's left hand and sandwiched it between both of his. " Yes, Father, We do have much to talk about." |
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| Wendmark | Jun 13 2015, 03:12 PM Post #2 |
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Good Old Gastogne
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Heinrich Von Neumarkt smiled a feeble man's smile. "Boys, you both look good. You make our house proud." He reached up and tussled Mark's hair. He coughed, covered his mouth with his hand. "Dad, I've wanted to talk to you so much." Mark smiled, though his eyes told other stories about his recent mishaps and adventures. "I know...I wanted to be with you so many times, too. Both of you boys. " Heinrich looked at both of his sons. "How are your sisters? And mother?" "Frida and Ursula are fine. I just got an email from Frida the other day." Friedrich saw that his father was more fragile than he had seen him last. "How are you? Doctor Munch said he's concerned about the spike in your white count again." "It's nothing ..." Heinrich smiled. " Thought it was going to get me five years ago, and I left public life. If the cancer is back to get me for good this time, then the Ascended must be willing me to the next level." He glanced at the clock striking eight on the wall. "How about some dinner, eh? I was out pheasant hunting yesterday. Have some good red-skin potatoes from the garden patch this season, too." He smiled. "Sounds good." Mark was trying to seem upbeat. He smiled back at his father. "Yes, sounds good." Friedrich put his arm around his father. "Let's go bother Inge in the kitchen." |
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| Wendmark | Jun 18 2015, 05:41 PM Post #3 |
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Good Old Gastogne
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[During the waning moments of dinner.] "...so, I think it would be good if you brought your sister's boyfriend here to meet me. He does know how to keep a secret, doesn't he? Heinrich's wry smile was directed at Friedrich. "Yeah, sometimes too well. Ursula said he's hesitating to make it official and public." "What?" Heinrich knew how to keep things light. "He is from the Resowalds, from Altdorf, an rich boy!" "That's the problem." A grey cat found its way through the doorway of the informal dining room. It pranced up to where Heinrich was seated and ran its body against his calf. "Ah, Pest, You've found me." Heinrich reached down for the enormous cat, lifting its bulk into his lap. He ran his fingers along the cat's backbone. His attention returned to his sons. " Pest has made himself needed here. one day I was in the garden tending to my carrots, and a skin-and-bones creature was batting around a mole. I set out milk that evening, and the next thing, he'd taken up residence. "Anyway, bring your sister here sometime, won't you? Your mother comes as often as she can without making it suspiciously obvious, but a woman is a good thing to have brighten up this dark, secret place." "I will." Friedrich wondered if his Johanna would react well to his undead father. He had no idea how to break this news to her. He remembered when he had found out for himself that Heinrich was not dead. Six months into his reign, his advisors suggested strongly that he take a trip to a musty old property in Rechenwald, near the frontier of both Nemacia and Galaica. He went at their suggestion, expecting to find no more than rooms that needed airing out and a few days to relax and unwind from the constant demands of his Kingdom. Instead, he found his father, looking reasonably well, and most alive. - Wendmark needs a well and vibrant king. They expect things from us, things we owe them, because we live for them. An old sick man is not what they need - Friedrich still heard those words in his mind every day. So, with only a few knowing anything of it, Heinrich had 'died'. Only Augusta knew what was actually happening at first. Then Friedrich. Mark, Frida, and Ursula were informed by their own visits in 2005. It was difficult for the family to bear, but they did it. The doctors and Augusta and Friedrich decided that it was for the best, that Heinrich was tired, and would fade into the shadows and live out his remaining days quietly. Already dead to the nation. But he did not die. And Friedrich was the King. An abdication note was written and sealed, just in case Heinrich's continued living was ever figured out. An uninspected coffin filled with 180 pounds of sand bags was buried on the grounds of the House of the Prince Allegiant. Life went on, both for Wendmark and for Heirich. He got better, recovered his former vigor, and was secreted away to the southern Fortress House. And that is where he was to this day. The three men sat sipping at brandy-spiked coffee, and enjoying the fresh chocolate biscuits that the cook, Ingrid, had prepared for them. Their visits were too short to fill with words all of the time; sometimes talk had to give way to a more comforting and healing silence. |
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7:56 AM Jul 11