Ben will wander over and give him a hand. "Quite a tree." He will comment after introducing himself.
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"That it is. My great great grandfather planted it as a young boy while he tended the land in this area. Not long after, the manor was built, and the tree stuck around to see the building done. My father said there were never any sweeter apples then the ones from this tree. My name is Luke, by the way. Nice to meet you."
The man extends a dirty hand.
Ben shakes Luke's hand. "Good to meet you Luke." He responds cheerfully. "What do you do around here? I was invited for some reason, but really feel like a fish out of water in this sort of place!"
Ben will take an apple and have a taste.
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Luke takes an apple and starts cutting a chunk off. After severing the bit, he raises it to his mouth with the blade and eats it.
"Oh, I do a little bit of everything around here. Some of the staff has either passed away from sickness or age, or left in a bout of young passion. No mater how you slice it though, it all means more work for the handymen. Oh well, beats getting lazy.
"As for that whole discomfort thing, don't worry. I've been here a long time. You'll see this place isn't so bad after a while. I'm sure you'll find something you enjoy."
Luke wipes his hands on hi overalls, rubbing off the dirt and apple juice from his hands.
"Well, I must be off. Never could stand being this dirty for too long. I'm sure we'll meet again, but until then, farewell my new friend."
Ari sinks into the steaming waters of the bathhouse with a sigh. Good to relax after time on the road.
Ben waves goodbye to Luke and carries on exploring the grounds. Happily munching on his apple.
He does have a closer look at the tree out of curiosity though.
Ayaki shudders a bit at the notion. One day, an orc and a man loved each other very much... Ayaki chuckles and continues asking questions. Have you heard of this Lord before you came here? From a customer, perhaps?
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Sitko chuckles at her friend's joke, but becomes serious when she answers no, I haven't... I was actually sent a letter. My customers are mostly lowlife scum... and it makes it all the more hard for me to find work when my adopted parents won't let me dice into our very wide coffers.
Sitko huffes loudly.
I got the letter at a most unfortunate time. I was just going to leave.
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well I'm bored, and our host has yet to do anything... entertaining. I'm going to go find that lovely man and see if he would like to keep me company sitko emphasized the end of her sentance, dragging the word "company" out.
Twirling around, she dashed out of the room, nearly forgetting to close the door.
She's in a hurry...
Ayaki yawns, and makes her way to where Sitko is heading, in no rush.
Wait! Sitko!
She jogs to catch up to Sitko.
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Seiko opens the door to the bathhouse and sees Arianne in the water. Oh, well, looks like this orc knows how to keep her savage little secrets clean. she closed the door before Adrianne could respond. Turning to Ayaki she says. careful, there's a naked orc in there. then she quickly dashed off once more.
Soon she is outside wandering the courtyard.
Ayaki winces a bit. Don't say it in front of her!
She opens the door, and leans in. Sorry about that, Sitko can be real mean. Ayaki closes the door, and chases after Sitko.
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My, she was rather rude. As if she had any room to talk about appearance.
A rather young woman walked through the steam of the bathhouse, covering herself with a crisp white towel. She moves gracefully to the edge of the pool and slowly lowers herself into the hot water, giving a slow sigh of relief.
I do hope you don't take what they say to heart. You are more lovely than they, or even you think. Simply judging you on your looks is their problem, not yours my friend.
Arianne starts when the others barge into the bathhouse but doesn't think it worth rising while unclothed. She considers punching them the next time, an approach that worked well in college and the military, but has a feeling that it's different with most women.
She leans back again, lost in thought. To her, she looks fine, when she thinks of it at all. She just wishes other people weren't telling her otherwise.
Her train of thought breaks off as the other woman enters. Arianne smiles at her before hastily covering her fangs with her hand. Her brother says they are too intimidating to make a good first impression.
"I'm perfectly willing to judge based on conversation," she says. "That one woman is failing so far, in my mind."
She holds out a pruny green hand. It is good to have more friendly company on the bathhouse. "I'm Arianne - Ari. I cam from Lastwall on Lord Morningstar's invitation. Are you here for that too?"
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The young woman extends a powder-white hand and and shakes the hand offered with a slight giggle.
Madoline, and no, I'm actually a new maid here at the manor. Lord Morningstar was in need of staff, and I was in need of money. Between his deep pockets and my classical training, it's almost as if I was destined to work for the young master.
Madoline tosses her towel to the pool-side chair, unconcerned about her body being exposed, and moves closer to her new Orc friend.
And don't worry about your fangs. I think they look cute on you. And if you don't mind, I'd prefer if you call me Madie when I'm not on the clock. Friends should feel comfortable around each other.
Ben looks at the golden sign.
'I wonder what that says?' He thinks in complete ignorance.
Deciding to see for himself he stolls through the gate.
Ayaki emerges behind Sitko. Sitko! Now.. you said you were looking for a handsome young gentleman. Where could he have gone?
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Sitko thinks for a moment. he said his name was Bentley I believe... no matter, I'm sure he's somewhere out here... and calm down, quit stressing and learn to have a little fun! I do think one of those pesh cigars would do you good... speaking of which Sitko quickly pulls out her ciguar and lights it. She sips from the end, making sure not to inhale too much, she doesn't want to have too bad of a hangover.
"It would be good to have a friend here," Ari admits. She leans closer to Madoline and asks in a conspiratorial tone, "So what is the lord of the manor like? Do you know why he invited all of us?"
Ayaki makes a small face. Never liked pesh much. My friends tried it once, or so they said.
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Ari: Mqdoline thinks for a second, and sighs. "Sorry Ari. I'm as lost about the young Master as you are. My contract was handled by the head maid. I've never met Lord Morningstar myself, though I heard he's quite eccentric and enjoys ideas of creativity.
As for why you're here, I've heard some of the older maids talking about how the Master gets bored with the same old faces of the staff. Perhaps Lord Morningstar is looking for some new companions. Or maybe, he's looking for something q bit more..." She pauses for a moment, as if thinking about what would be the right word. "Personal"
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Sitko chuckles at her companion. Now you see, that's no fun! i have some opiate if you'd like, but the stuff really... gets you. perhaps I'll just slip it into someone's drink and have some "fun" with them while their up on the stuff... Sitko takes a drag from her ciguar when she finishes speaking. This is very finely made!
Ari leans back. "I expected it would be something like that. Does the staff have to follow the rules about the keys and which rooms to go into as well? It's a strange system. Well, I suppose every great household has its quirks. What do you like to do for fun around here?"
Ayaki giggles. I guess that would be fun. Especially if we slip it into that handsome young man's drink!
Ari brightens. "That sounds like great fun! I attended the military college in Lastwall, so I might be able to give you some pointers on the bow."
I never tried a maze. This is new for me. Ayaki makes her way over to Sitko.