Jessica sighs "unfortunately this place has destroyed all your food" she gestures to the counter where the bread is stale, hard and moldy and the fruit has practically rotted away. "I wasn't sure what to do with it."
Lares furrows his brow and strokes his beard.
âThey are not fruit of my loins, as it were, and Izri didnât mention it when we were talking about the subject, so probably not. Itâs a hedgie curse, though, so who knows how they work.â
He scratches his head.
âItâs a minor nuisance, mostly. One time I was travelling, though, and the rain washed away my circle ward. I woke up hugging a half-eaten deer carcass. Iâve had worse in my bed. At least it was fresh.â
Lares grins.
âWhat about you? How was your life before you woke up here, other than measuring tails with other artificers?â
Silas waves his hand a bit dismissively.
"I should have warned you about that. An oversight on my end. The Aura of this place has that effect on most things. Eating away at them. One of those baskets could probably protect the food. Supposedly I am the creator of them and they are pretty widespread. Some spoiled food hardly matters though."
He sits down in the kitchen. After making himself comfortable he continues.
"I will get us some new ingredients tomorrow. Or do you need something before bed?"
"Well, I don't need food technically, but I could kill for some strawberries."
Argentius laughs as Lares tells about his life as a lycanthrope, but then pauses thoughtfully for a moment at Lares' question.
"My life before here? I could tell you a few stories, I suppose, of growing up in my fae father's household, but honestly he fostered me to a minion, a dwarf smith. I think my love of artifice and crafting began with him. My first hammer strikes and my first forge burns happened thereâŚ" Argentius smiles as he looks off into the sky.
"Or should I talk about being sold by my father to the Theban Tribunal? I'm not sure how much you know about the Verditius or about the Theban Tribunal, but surviving in that world requires adopting a fiercely aggressive nature, at least on the outside. I had to fight hard to be able to choose my master. I had to fight as an apprentice not to simply be a tool in my parens' hands to further the ends of his battles and vendettas. It was no small battle to win The Contest. It's one thing to be under the scrutinizing eye of your parens, it's another to be under all the critical eyes of House Verditius' brightest and proudest artificers."
Argentius chuckles.
"When I woke this morning, I was dreaming about finally being free from all that pressure. I was looking forward to taking it easy for a few seasons. Resting even. But then all thisâŚ"
âYouâre part faerie? Well, good that Iâm not the only one with unusual stuff going on. Other than that, it sounds like youâve spent your whole life fighting people who should be on your side. Unhealthy.â
Laresâ voice takes on a fatherly tone.
âLetâs organize you some of those free seasons here, hmm? You are surely among the top artificers in the whole desert, so a bit of rest canât hurt. Well, after weâre done with the Aegis, at least.â
He looks at the covenfolksâ dwellings.
âI should probably go check on... my wife? She seemed quite upset after we brought her back. I donât know that thereâs anything I can do, but at least I can see to it that she has everything she needs.â
"Yes, part faerie, though which part I'll leave up to you to discover," chuckles Argentius. "Faerie father and a mortal mother. Both of noble lines though none of that seems to have been passed on to me."
Argentius nods to Lares offer of assistance. "I appreciate your offer of help thinking through this second future. I'm not sure what help I'll need but having a colleague to bounce ideas around with is a boon for sure." He pushes off the archway he has leaned against.
"If you're off to see your wife, I think I'll wander a bit through the grounds and see if I can't find something to quench my thirst. We found the vis stores but did we find the wine cellar?"
With some searching you do not locate a wine cellar but do find a beer cask adjacent to the dining room.
Lares tries to find Merin, intending to ask him to accompany him to Barshako.
He finds Merin talking with a group of other dark skinned, presumably Berber, young men. Merin agrees to accompany him.
âThank you for helping me. Where did you set her up? I was just hoping to check on her to make sure she is alright and has everything she needs.â
Lares follows Merin.
Merin leads you to a house next door to your own, where Meri is living with two other women and two men aside from Barshako. "Dad, allow me to introduce you to my wife, daughter, and two sons, whom at the moment I know about as well as you know me." One of the women translates for the rest.
"Oh, what a pleasant surprise it is to meet you all!"
Lares smiles warmly, looking each of them in the eye in turn.
"Please tell them I would very much like to get to know all of them. Could you ask them if they would like to accompany us for a small supper before bed?"
Merin introduces you to his family. His wife he remembers, though he does not remember marrying her. They both seem happy with the situation however. He explains his oldest son is also married, but at the age he and his wife have reverted to their relationship was less than loving, so he is living here while they work things out, or decide how to proceed if they do not. His other two children are uncertain what relationships they might have been in prior to the rejuvenations.
"It is good to see you are sticking together in this difficult situation. What about Barshako? How is she doing, does she need any help?"
He shakes his head "Mother does not remember anyone at the covenant, and does not believe us when we tell her what has happened. She believes we are all spirits made flesh sent to torment her."
Silas scratches the back of his head.
âStrawberries? I wouldnât expect itâs the right climate, but perhaps something could be arranged. I will keep it in mind for the future.â
"Bah. Let us hope she will come around with time. What about the supper? It would be nice to get to know the family a bit better."
[OOC: We don't necessarily need to play through the supper, if they agree, just say they had one.]
They do agree to supper.
"Excellent. Let us have supper here, perhaps Barshako will be encouraged to join us."
Lares tries to be as nice as he can to everyone. He makes sure to ask everyone what services they performed for the covenant - he wants to know what expertise he has "in the family".