Arancon’s Visit

“Aeramin, your father’s here.”

Aeramin glanced toward Imralion, raising a brow briefly before continuing to chop vegetables that he planned to include with the stew he was making. “Tell him to leave.” Aeramin was surprised Imralion didn’t already know to send Arancon away.

The voice that responded to him surprised him more. “I’m not leaving until we talk.”

Aeramin tensed up and turned back towards the archway between the dining room and the kitchen. His father was standing there now. Aeramin looked back towards Imralion who stared at him pointedly now. “Im, why did–”

“It’s not his fault. Come sit. We need to talk.”

“No. We don’t.”

Arancon crossed his arms and leaned against the frame of the archway. “I’ll wait until you’re ready then.”

“You’ll be waiting a long time.” Aeramin muttered as he turned to put the vegetables in the pot with the rest.

“I’ll leave after we talk. The longer you make me wait, the longer I’ll be here. You were just saying you didn’t want me here. Just come talk, then I’ll go after.”

Aeramin frowned. “Fine, five minutes. I have a stew to make. Im, could you stir this, please?” He handed the stirring spoon to Imralion as he passed him on his way to the dining room. He took a seat at the table and waited for his father to join him, watching as he walked with his slight limp and took a seat across from him. “What is it?”

“I’m disappointed with you.”

Aeramin shrugged, “Were you ever not?”

“Never as much as I am now. Your daughter is in the care of other people because you refuse to take responsibility for her.”

“Oh, you heard about the baby. It’s not mine.”

“I saw the baby. I held her. There’s no doubt in my mind that she’s my grandchild. She looks just like you when you were–”

“So what if she looks like me? She’s not mine!”

“All those times you told me what a piss poor job I was doing as a father, but you can’t even admit to having a child. You need to stop. She’s yours. Start acting like a father.”

“You’re lecturing me on how to be a father?” Aeramin laughed in disbelief, “How many drinks does that take each day? What’s your recommendation for how many times I should push her around while yelling each month? A good punch in the head every now and then should keep her in line, right?”

Arancon sighed and leaned back in his chair. “I have a lot of regrets, Aeramin. I wish I had never started drinking, or that I had stopped sooner. I missed a lot with you. I messed things up a lot, and I know I wasn’t the best person, but I never once abandoned you. I never denied that you were my son. You always had family to come home to, even if we weren’t a happy family. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t live with regret of how I used to be, and how we lived. I wish I could go back and change it, but what’s done is done. We can only move forward. I don’t want you to have those kinds of regrets. I want better for you. I want better for her.”

Aeramin sat in silence as he thought about what his father just said, vaguely aware that the sounds of the pot being stirred in the kitchen had stopped.

Arancon spoke as he started to get up, breaking the silence. “My five minutes are up. I’ll be at the ranger building if you need to talk.” He walked to the door and put his cloak on. He turned towards the dining room to look at Aeramin one last time before going, “Please, go see your daughter. Let her know she has a father, one she can be proud of.”

Aeramin’s Notes

• The winter break is over. Unfortunately, winter is not over. There was a light dusting of snow this morning. It melted by midday, but it verified the cold weather is going to stick around for a bit. Luckily, our house is warm. We have a small fireplace in the bedroom, and a larger one downstairs. It’s a small house, so it’s enough.
• There is not a fireplace in the second classroom, and it has a lot of windows. Classes have started again, and I nearly froze my ass off just waiting for the students to get to the room. I decided then to teach in the library instead for the day. I explained to Hethurin, and he said it would be fine as Vaildor won’t be studying in there anymore during the day as the new classroom is finished and Lali is teaching there. I bet they have a fireplace. I haven’t walked over to look at it yet.
• Hethurin did say no casting in the library.
• Especially fire spells.
• That’s okay because we just go over theory and spells in class. They only cast in the practice rooms as I know Hethurin has them warded well, and I don’t want any accidents. Sometimes I do cast examples in class, but I can hold off on doing that for a bit. I’d rather not accidentally burn his library.
• Speaking of libraries, I need to find someone to go to the library in Dalaran; not for books, but to check their records there. Records often get duplicated in different places, meaning that if someone tampered with some in one place, then the other place might have the correct information. We’re trying to find out more about Imralion’s family. He and Lin have checked in Silvermoon, but nothing was found there. That leads me to believe the records were tampered with. It happens quite a bit. The record keepers are easily paid off, I think. Maybe you have to know which ones to talk to, or something, but anyway, it’s fairly easy. That’s why it’s a good idea to check somewhere else where copies of the documents and records may have been sent.
• I did know a human in Shattrath. I’m writing to him first to find out if he would be able to go inquire for us. I’m hoping he’s still in Shattrath, and that he’ll be able to help. We’ll be paying for his travel expenses, as well as checking for the information. Kes has offered to help, which is good because Dalaran isn’t cheap. I know that quite well.
• I hope Im’s father is nothing like mine.

The Sword

Arancon Firewind packed the long box with clean straw. He had decided it would be best if he paid to have the sword delivered to his son. If he showed up on his son’s doorstep by himself, it was likely the door wouldn’t be opened for him. He could have asked Ty or Sunashe to deliver it, but even then, his son, or his partner, might figure out the package was from him and refuse it. Paying someone to take it there was the best way.

He didn’t think his son would refuse the gift after he knew what it was. Aeramin had always displayed an interest in the sword when he was younger. Arancon felt he must still want it, though they saw each other much less frequently now. The last time they had discussed the sword in any way, Aeramin had told him that he didn’t deserve it. He held the blade up, inspecting it one final time. It was a fine sword, imbued with magical properties centuries ago when it was made. It had been in the family the whole time, passed down through the generations from father to son. Its first owner, Arancon’s great-great-great-grandfather, had been a mage, or so he had been told. His great-great-grandfather had been as well, though his great-grandfather had stopped his studies before becoming a mage and had taken off to Eversong with some girl who became Arancon’s great-grandmother. From there, the next few generations became farm workers. A local militia was formed to help deal with nearby troll villages, and the sword was used to help repel the trolls more than once. Arancon himself had fought them with the sword, many years ago. He had been taking it now on patrol, feeling more comfortable with it than the bow, but that didn’t change the fact that it was a mage’s sword. It belonged in a mage’s hands, and his son had become a mage. He knew it hadn’t been easy for him. Lessons in magic were expensive and they had been poor, especially after moving to Silvermoon. The sword would be more suited to Aeramin now. He laid the sword down in the straw-packed box.

He penned a quick note to include with it.

Dear Aeramin,

I know we haven’t been on the best terms with each other, and I know you may never forgive me for the things I did and said to you. Saying I’m sorry isn’t enough, and I know that. I do hope that we will be able to talk someday, but I know it may be difficult for you. If you ever want to, you know where I am.

I’ve been sober for a while now, and it’s kind of put things into a better perspective. I’m sorry, not only for the way I treated you, but also for not being able to help you when you needed it. You’ve gone so far on your own, and I did nothing but try to hold you back. I’m very proud of you for overcoming the obstacles, and becoming who you wanted to be, even when the obstacles were of my making.

I thought it was time to pass the sword on to you. I thought you might not answer the door if I was there, so I’m having it delivered.

I wish you and Imralion all the best and a happy Winter Veil.

Arancon

Aeramin’s Notes

• A lot has happened. First, Im has found two girls. Two! I could tell him it’s not as fun as he thinks, but if that’s what he wants, I doubt he’ll listen. I am going to try to talk him into just one. He invited them both for supper. I thought there was only going to be one! I’m not upset really, but we were lucky I made enough for all of us.
• They were both pretty. One had long blond hair and the other had red hair. The one with blond hair was a bit lewd though… with my spinach rolls and her tongue. I had to get up and go to the kitchen cause I really didn’t want to watch that. I’m okay with her doing that with Im, but I don’t need any visualization at supper! Especially not on our first meeting.
• He had warned me that she liked bananas at lunch. We decided on no phallic food for the supper, but then we agreed on spinach rolls. I didn’t think of it until it was time to take them out, and by then decided to risk it since they were already made. It was kind of too late to make another appetizer, so I took them out. Of course she decided to lick and suck one.
• The other girl, Emmaeli, at least seemed to be a bit embarrassed at her friend’s table manners, so there’s that. I don’t like the blond, Morrainne, but I didn’t say the word that Im and I had agreed on because I did like Emmaeli. I don’t even know if he likes her though. Morrainne seems a little obsessed with him. Obsession never ends well. She’s the type to fantasize over one guy, then once she realizes he’s just like everyone else, she’ll get bored and leave. Been there, done that. Know the type too well.
• That, and her antics remind me of how I used to be. I started working on the streets at a fairly young age. I remember buying ice treats on a stick during the summer, and licking them provocatively while winking at guys walking by. It worked really well, and it was a nice way to keep cool, besides the skimpy outfits I used to stand around in.
• Watching her molest my spinach roll with her tongue like that made me think of that. I don’t want her here.
• Emmaeli seemed much nicer. Maybe Im doesn’t like her because he would have to work for her? Morrainne seems to throw herself at him. Emmaeli seems more reserved, and a lot more polite. I think that’s why I like her. She was more pleasant to sit with. She was quieter, so I don’t really know much about her yet, but she does seem like someone I can get along with.
• Anyway, supper went well, when I wasn’t looking or listening to Morrainne. It was late by the time it was over, so they decided to stay the night. Morrainne stayed in the guest room, and Emmaeli slept on the new couch in the sitting room. I made eggs and bacon in the morning (not sausage!) then Im went to Silvermoon with them and I went to the school. We didn’t have time to talk about it yet. I hope he agrees that Morrainne is a bit too obvious and maybe it’s better to have one nice girl.
• We need to talk about the party at the school too. I have no idea what kind of mask to get. I joked and told Kes and Ordinicus that I was going to paint the one side of my face to match the scarring on the other side. I guess they didn’t think it was funny because they just looked at me odd. I thought it was funny.
• I told them about my father too. I’m still angry. I feel selfish for feeling angry, but I can’t help it. I don’t really wish he was drinking, but I’m jealous that others get to have him sober, when he should have been sober and working when I was younger. If he had been working, we would have never wound up in Murder Row. Maybe he never would have hit us. Maybe he would have been able to take care of Maena when she was sick. Maybe I would have never bought ice treats.
• Anyway, the last I knew, he was still with the rangers.  I think Sath would get word to me if he disappeared.  Maybe he wouldn’t. I don’t know. He’s supposed to be there though, and if he is, then he’s still sober, which means this is the longest he’s ever gone without drinking.
• I’d like to say I’m happy about that, but I still get angry. It might take some time.

Aeramin’s Notes

• I went to the ranger building yesterday evening. I had told Im that I was going. Sath’alor confirmed that my father was there. I did want to see him, and ask him if he was really going to stay with the rangers. I decided not to though. I don’t think I can see him right now, not without yelling at him.
• I’m angry. He’s spent the last 110 years drunk off his ass. What’s changed now that he wants to sober up? Why didn’t he think of that before we lost the house in Silvermoon and had to move to Murder Row?
• Sunashe, the ranger with the rocks, asked me if I remember a time when he wasn’t drunk, and said he wants to be that person again. I told him I didn’t remember, but I kind of do. I mean, I remember bits and pieces of Eversong. I remember he did work every day and I was happy when he came home. I thought he could fix anything. One day he was working late because there was a storm coming and a tree branch broke one of our windows. I remember my mother crying, and I told her not to worry, ann’da will fix it.
• Then he broke everything.
• Anyway, I don’t remember a lot. I was young, only eight, when we moved to Silvermoon and the first place wasn’t bad, but I remember he was home a lot more, and then he started drinking. It was after that, he started hitting Maena and me. I still remember the first time he hit me. I thought I did something wrong, and I couldn’t figure out why. I was ten. I remember because it was my birthday, and I was excited about reaching double digits. I wanted to have a party, and I asked him if he had presents for me. He hit me, and told me I wasn’t going to have any stupid party.
• Anyway, things got worse. We lost the first place we lived in Silvermoon and had to move to Murder Row when I was in my mid-teens. If he had stopped before then, things would be so different. I think that’s the most upsetting part. It’s not that he was violent and abusive. It’s the things I had to do to survive, to help Maena and him survive.
• I’m not proud of my past. He’s sobering up now instead of when it mattered.
• I spoke with the Confessor a bit before going home. I was upset after going to the ranger building, and figured Im would want the short version instead of the version where I’m crying and yelling about Arancon. I realized while I was there that I must care on some level or I wouldn’t be so upset.
• The Confessor said something about it mattering now. I don’t know if it can. It’s too late for some things. He stopped being my father on my tenth birthday. He’s been nothing but a burden for over 100 years.
• Maybe that’s it. Maybe it’ll matter now because he won’t be a burden anymore. I still expect I’ll hear from Sath soon enough that he trashed the ranger building, and needs to leave. Oh, and I’ll have to pay to fix it. Of course. I think it’s too early to say he won’t be a ranger.
• Other than that, things are going okay. Im has a girl interested in him. She sent him a painting of herself. Naked! He didn’t appreciate that part, I guess, but he has invited her for supper so I can meet her. I’m okay with it, really. I am a little worried. What if he decides he likes her more? I don’t want to be with her myself, but I think it’s important that we’re friends. I guess we’ll work things out as they happen, but I have a feeling our spare bedroom is going to come in handy.
• I’m going to hate having to sleep alone some nights, but I’ll do it. I love him, and he’s worth it.
• Anyway, he’s invited her for supper. We’re just moving into the house, but everything is pretty much there. We just don’t have a lot of food yet. The last window we were waiting on has arrived and we got that installed, so there’s no cool breeze in the sitting room any more. We still need to finish painting the new bathroom, but it’s looking good. I’m going to go to Silvermoon for food supplies soon. I’m going to make some of the spinach rolls as an appetizer, followed by stew and fresh bread. For dessert, we’re having mana-berry pie. The spinach rolls can be prepared ahead of time, and the stew won’t need a lot of watching so I’ll be able to spend more time meeting her.
• At the school, everything seems to be going well. I had the students write papers on fire theory. I don’t think I’ll do that again because it’s a pain grading them all. I keep reminding myself that I’m not supposed to be grading their grammar and spelling. I’m sure there are mistakes that are slipping by me anyway. I’m trying to focus just on the content of the papers.
• It would be easier if I didn’t have distractions. It seems every time I have a bit of time to work on them, someone comes to talk to me. One day, it was Sunashe with his rocks for his lizard pet or whatever. That was when he told me where my father was too, so that kind of ruined the rest of the day for concentrating. Then the next day, Hethurin comes in and starts ranting about words. He doesn’t think the word ‘cast’ should relate to anything unpleasant, like the cast on his leg. He’s okay with it being used for casting a spell, or a fishing line or a cast of a play. Which is all he really needed to say, but he decided to go on and on about it for half an hour.
• He’s in one of his moods. I feel bad for Terellion.
• He is planning a mask party for the end of the month. One day last week I arrived at the school and there were a bunch of big crates full of pumpkins out front next to the dragon statue. There must have been at least forty or fifty pumpkins there. He said they were for pumpkin cake, and then he made a face, like pumpkin cake is gross or something. I don’t get him sometimes.

Aeramin’s Notes

I lost my father. I wasn’t worried at first, but it’s been well over a week now and his place is still clean. I expected he’d turn up eventually, but as time goes on, I’m less sure of that. I don’t know where he could have gone. He said he was going to get a job. Imagine that. I can’t. If he did, which he hasn’t even tried to work since his injury, but if he did… he’d work for a few days before being told he wasn’t doing enough and losing his job. That’s the way it’s always been with him.

So he should be back by now, but he’s not. He had borrowed one of the hawkstriders from the school. I told him it had to be back the next day, and to my surprise, it was. I expected I’d have to go track him down and bring the hawkstrider back, but it was there in the stable the next day. I incorrectly assumed he’d be at the house in town, but when I went to check on him, he wasn’t there.

Now I figure he must have gotten drunk, fallen off the hawkstrider and broke his neck or whatever, and the hawkstrider wandered back to the stable on its own. I haven’t seen the rangers to ask them to watch for his body. I do want it brought back before the Scourge gets to it. If he’s dead, I do not want him coming back. Unfortunately, I’m usually finishing up class notes when Gaelardrim and Perothis show up at the school. I keep missing them. Imralion said he’d ask Lin. Maybe I can ask Des or Mae to give one of them a note.

It’s been working out well with Maerista assisting with the classes, especially since I’m so busy these days. Our house is almost ready. We’ve taken most of our things there already. Some of the walls need to be painted yet, and we’re still waiting on one of the windows. The front door is amazing with the stained glass in it. Imralion really had a good idea with that.

Imralion apparently has a group of girls following him around in Silvermoon during the days. We think one of them sent a painting, either that or Lin sent it as a joke. It arrived at the school, and Tik left it with me. I left it unopened because it said it was for Im. He got back from Silvermoon just before supper. He opened it and turned twenty different shades of red. Then he didn’t want to let me look. Turns out it’s a nude. It might be of one of the girls he works with. I didn’t see it very well, but it looks like a nice painting. Im disagrees. We’re going to keep it in a closet.

Anyway, he has girls chasing after him, but I don’t think he likes them. I thought he wanted a girlfriend. I’d be okay with it if she only liked him. In fact, I’d prefer it. I mean, I’d like to be friends with her, but I think she should only be with him, not me too. He suddenly seems uninterested in girls now. He was the one who wanted a girlfriend in the first place. I guess he changed his mind. I still think it’s cute he’s got a pack of girls chasing him.

Mae’s wedding was over the weekend. I went for a bit, but I had work to do on the house too, plus Lin kept giving me dirty looks. The wedding was nice. There weren’t a lot of people there, but I think that made it better in a way. I thought they were going to wait until their house was done, but I guess they changed their mind. Maybe they wanted an excuse to spend a night together before the house was done. I know that if Im wasn’t living with me, I’d find reasons to get us together.

Aeramin Art

I did this.

I think I’m getting a little better at shading. I did a lot of switching back and forth with greyscale. I think it helped.

Sim’dorei Screenshots

Aeramin and Imralion’s new house in the Ghostlands needed to be built.  I also wound up playing a bit.

View from the front. I couldn’t get a good screenshot of the back because there are too many trees.

First floor.

Second floor.

Basement. It’s mostly unfurnished yet because I didn’t finish.

I played a bit too.  🙂

 

Fairsong Academy in the winter!

I also built that little house by the stables at the bottom of the hill. 🙂

Winter garden.

Renner checks out the time machine.

Lani gives Vaildor presents.

Vaildor tags his walls.

Aeramin practices magic to music!

Hethurin plays with chicks.

Terellion fixes the sink!

You have no idea how difficult it was to get these two together.

Imralion… in the shower.

Aeramin’s Notes

• I think things are better.  Imralion still gets quiet sometimes, like he’s thinking, but I think he realizes how much I love him.  He better anyway!  The past couple of weeks have been rough for both of us.  I know they’ve been especially rough for him, and I’m still doing all I can to help make things better.
• We’re still staying at the school.  We made the decision to move out here.  I’m still not entirely sure I’ll be happy in the Ghostlands, but it makes sense.  I work here.  My father lives in town.  Im’s sister is here.  I think it’ll wind up being good for both of us.  He’s put in to transfer to the Blood Knights in Silvermoon.  He’ll have a portal everyday to get there and back.  There’s more women in Silvermoon too, if he still wants to find a girlfriend.
• I’ve been thinking about that a lot too.  I don’t think I want one, but I don’t want to stop him if he does.  I especially don’t want to be put in the position where I have to be the one to reject her, which was kind of the problem I ran into with Cyannah.  If I told her no, then that would have been me rejecting Im’s chance to have a girlfriend.  That’s why I don’t even want to be part of finding one now.  If he finds one then she’ll know it’s him who’s most interested.  Maybe if he finds one, I can just be friends with her.  I really don’t want to do anything with anyone else.
• I just want him, and I want him to be happy, and I messed that up, so I have to fix it.
• I did find a house that’s in decent shape, but does need fixing.  A lot of the windows need to be replaced, especially the larger ones on the ends of the house.  The roof needs to be fixed.  The front doors are beautiful, but also need to be fixed.  I don’t want to replace them, so I’m hoping they can be fixed.  Imralion suggested we replace the glass with stained glass, and I like that idea..  I put some gold on it to hold it until Im could see it, and he agreed it was nice, so it’s ours now.  There’s a big master bedroom and two smaller guest rooms upstairs.  The master bedroom has a balcony off it.  There’s a kitchen, dining and sitting room downstairs, then there’s the basement.  Actually, there’s two basements.  One is below the kitchen for keeping things cold, and the other is under the rest of the house and looks like it was used for storage before.  I have other ideas for it.
• It would make a wonderful imp room.  Maybe I can teach Gibrik to play nice with the other two.  I don’t think Yappy or Zorkin would appreciate it though, so maybe not.  It would also make a nice space to work with the others, but again, I’d have to put the imps away.
• Anyway, I went to get some canvas to cover the roof until we can get it fixed.  There’s already some water damage inside that will need to be looked at.  If it rains, it’ll just make it worse, so hopefully the canvas over the roof will work.  It was a pain getting it on.
• On the way back to the school after covering the roof, I went to check on my father again.  He’s already making a mess.  I just cleaned it!  I think his couch needs to be professionally cleaned, or maybe just replaced.  One thing is for sure, I’m not touching it.  Anyway, I did his dishes and took his trash out.  I also told him he’s a disgusting pig, which, of course, gave him the right to call me all sorts of things.
• I don’t usually let him get to me, but after what just happened with Cyannah, I guess some of what he said is true.  I finished cleaning for him and left without another word.

Aeramin’s Notes

• I told Imralion what happened in the library with Cyannah.  He’s not angry, but he is upset.  He said he was confused and kept asking why.  I told him the truth.  I was stupid.  I don’t think the truth worked.  He still asked why.  I don’t know what else to tell him.  I slept on the couch last night.
• He needs time to think, so I left him at the school this morning and went into town to see my father.  I knew from the moment he opened the door, it was just going to be a bad day.  He was hungover.  I don’t know why I expected anything else.  Oh, and he wasn’t happy that I woke him up.  It was mid-morning!  He should have been awake by then!  He didn’t like that he had to move to answer the door either.  He wound up pushing me around everytime I got anywhere close to him, and yelling at me everytime I told him what a disgusting pig he is.  Like that’s my fault!  I had nothing to do with you breaking your empty bottles against the wall of your sitting room, old man!
• He makes me angry sometimes, but I know to yell and resort to violence like he does would make me no better than him, and I am better than him.  I helped him by cleaning up the mess on the floor and trying to clean the walls.  That took most of the day.
• His kitchen was beyond disgusting.  I have to come back tomorrow to finish it.  He has some new food mixed with old moldy food and never cleans his dishes.  It’s really gross.
• I’ll probably be sleeping on the sofa in the room at the school again.  The room was a bit weird.  There were stuffed animal toys all over, chocolates and wine.  It smelled faintly of a perfume too.  I should have asked Hethurin about that, but I didn’t have much time.
• I did see him before I left to see my father, which is good, I was hoping he could help, but he’s refusing.  I know he knows time magic stuff.  He told me that my father was supposed to die, but he messed it up.  I’m still mad about that, so I thought he owed me one.  I asked him to send me back in time so that I could talk to myself.  I was hoping I could get myself to lock the library door or something so that no one would show up in the room, or convince myself not to go to the library that day, but Hethurin refused to send me back. I told him I needed to go so I could fix things and he said that it sounded like I wanted to mess things up! That’s not what I want!  I just don’t want to hurt Im, and I have, and Hethurin isn’t letting me fix it.  
• Hethurin asked me again what I did.  I wouldn’t tell him because he wasn’t helping me.  If Im wants everyone to know, I’ll let him tell everyone.  I’ve only told Kes and Ordinicus.  They won’t tell everyone.