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Comparing the Teilhard family lands with your own dismal little fiefdom is like comparing night and day. The sun here shines bright and brilliant, casting a warm light across seas of gently waving wheat. Riding through this idyllic landscape in a slow, open-topped carriage feels like a dream, the peace broken only by the occasional thunder of rifle fire. There's always gunfire here, you gather, as new cohorts of young men and women undergo their mandatory training.
With his uniform jacket stripped off and his shirt sleeves rolled up, Daniel looks more like a satisfied farmer than a young noble officer. You, on the other hand, are withering beneath the brutal sunshine. Elle, sitting beside you, is taking cover beneath a dainty parasol and you feel tempted to join her, no matter how damaging it might be to your masculinity. Your one consolation is that Jan seems to be suffering even more than you are.
“So, Miss Legrasse, you were saying that you grew up around here?” Dan calls out, raising his voice over the clatter of the carriage wheels.
“Not quite here, but we're very close,” Elle replies, “My family is a vassal to House Silvera.”
“Basically the same thing,” you scoff, thinking of the heritage shared between the two families.
“I'll let you off with that one, but don't let anyone else in the family hear you say that!” Daniel agrees with a laugh, “So, Bard, why exactly do you need to check the archives? I don't think you've actually mentioned.”
Elle glances nervously aside to you, but you just give Daniel a careless, casual shrug. “I heard a rumour that the Teilhard family archives hold the secret to eternal young and, more importantly, eternal virility,” you drawl, “I don't quite believe it myself, but I just have to try and see it with my own eyes.”
“Bard, my man, you're talking nonsense,” he replies, leaning forwards and giving you a good-natured punch on the arm, “There's no secret. It's just good Teilhard blood, raised on good Teilhard soil!”
By the time he's finished laughing, he's forgotten all about his original question.
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Siegfried House, the ancestral home of House Teilhard, is half sprawling estate and half fortress. House Teilhard is a large family, far larger than House Pale has ever been, and their home is sized to match. Uniformed servants bow as Daniel leads you into the main hall, a swagger in his step. Passing through the entrance hall is like looking back through the generations, oil paintings of previous ancestors glaring down from their lofty perches. With so many medals and commendations on display, a lesser man might be made to feel quite insignificant. You barely pay them any attention, no different to how you might ignore the whining of a pauper.
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