"Nice, very, very nice," Jaleh remarked at roughly the same moment A'kos did, also with obvious appreciation. "This seems to be the address. Oh be still my heart. I wonder if this place or one like it will be in the inheritance?" Jaleh approached the doors looking for a knocker.

As Jaleh walks forward A'kos follows carefully behind, his hand resting upon his sword hilt.  He keeps Leo nearby, commanding in a low tone, "Keep an eye out, Leo.  I'm thinking something...unusual...is about to occur."

Before Jaleh can lay a hand on the large brass knocker in the center of the oaken door it pops open revealing an elderly man armed to the teeth and clad in an ill fitting suit of banded armor. He levels an oversize spear at Jaleh and says in a creaky voice..."Unless you be the Lady Jaleh...I would suggest you leave before you taste my steel!"

Jaleh was rather shocked at the sight of the old man and wondered a moment at how much of a threat he could be. Although, after a momentary consideration, she decided not to chance it. "I am Jaleh, and I have this letter to prove it." She pulled out the note that had been given to her, telling her to present it here. She then offered it to the man.

"Told ya," murmurs A'kos to the Lion, his grin ironic as he moves closer to listen to the conversation.

The old man lifts his visor and looks at Jaleh up and down for a second. The point of his spear begins to lower..."You are a bit darker than my Lord Mikos Barbos but I can see him in your eyes, plus you carry the letter written by my own hand."

He tosses the spear aside and holds the door open for Jaleh and her escort..."Please come in...this is your estate now and I am honor bound to serve."

"Your estate?"

A'kos glances at her for a moment before continuing, "Does that mean I have to call you Milady?"

He chortles quietly at the thought.

"I... think so." Jaleh answered A'kos with at first a confused expression that quickly spread into a huge. toothy grin. "I think so!" She then hugged A'kos briefly before releasing him and turning to follow the older man. "So, you are my servant now? What is your name again? Is there not some ritual or anything that we have to do to transfer ownership to me... a coronation, like a coronation? I mean is this it, I just show up and suddenly I'm the lady of the house?"

Surprised by Jaleh's exuberance, A'kos grins and follows her into her new home.  Quietly he mutters the secret word and transforms Leo back into the figurine, and stashes it away.

"Didn't want him to stain the floor, Milady," he smiles, looking around the entryway.

Jaleh leaned into A'kos, laying her head briefly on his shoulder as she smiled up at him sweetly. "Good thinking, my love."

Nylos nods his head at Jaleh and says..."Yes, it is that simple really...come I will show you the body of your great uncle." he begins to walk away deeper into the house without even turning to see if you are following him.

In an adjacent chamber on a bier lies the body of the late Mikos Barbos, former lord of the manor. He is dresses as if he was attending a mass as St Elijah's cathedral. Even though he is dead and has been for a while he looks remarkably well preserved and Jaleh can see some of her mothers features in this mans face.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:24, Sat 24 Apr 2010.

"Oh, so he already kicked off then." Jaleh commented rather callously on what Nylos said. After all, it was only her great uncle a man she barely even knew existed. That and she'd wished him dead, she had no right to feel sorry for his death.

Whether she felt sorry or not, when she saw the body, Jaleh remained silent as she looked it over, seeing the family resemblance in him.

A'kos remained politely behind to allow her space to do whatever she felt necessary upon seeing the dead man.  Sure there was much more here he was missing, he took it in stride - those among his folk who remained true to the old rites took a pragmatic view of death.

While she did her thing, A'kos studied the trappings of the place - coats of arms, weaponry, paintings and/or tapestries...whatever captured his attention.

Nylos does not seem to be offended by Jaleh's apparent lack of empathy for he deceased great uncle.

As the Magyar looks about he sees that this was definitely once a very rich estate but looks to have fallen on leaner times. The walls are more barren than one would expect but there does looks to be spaces on the walls where tapestries and arms once hung.

"Little man, what happened to the Lord of the Manor's arms, and of the tapestries telling of his deeds?" asks the Falcon with sudden bemusement.  "One as old as he should've had a grand telling of his tales at his death day...and such treasures should've been heaped about him to honor his life and bring him comfort in his last moments..."

"Time have been lean here since my Lord had fallen ill. Many of his collectibles have been sold off...mind you he still has a sizable bit of gold that he stashed away for his heir but basic living expenses were paid for by selling his goods to local merchants for a scandalously low amount of coin."

A'kos frowns, and shakes his head.

"What use gold to a dead man?" he says angrily, staring at the man.  "You should've used the coin, and saved his personal affects for the heir!  'Tis her choice what to do with the old man's belongings...and they should have brought him comfort in his last days.  Instead his servants did nothing but loot him of his legacy."

To Jaleh he warns, "Count every last copper - and have the remaining servants whipped for their ignorance."

"Not so harsh A'kos, not so harsh. We don't know all the circumstances and it is quite possible that my great uncle valued his coins more than much else. I see no reason to punish the servants. However," she said, turning her eyes toward Nylos, "I would like an accounting of what was sold and who it was sold to for the purposes retrieval efforts. Perhaps we may get some back." She shrugged.

Nylos does not seem the least intimidated by the larger Magyar warrior. He has that "I've had my ass kicked since I was a child, what's one more?" look about him as he faces the larger man.

When Jaleh speaks his face softens and he says..."Of course milady...It was my own hand that took these items tot eh broker. I would guess that many could be bought back. A the large man suggested it should have been the coin used but my Lord Barbos insisted that the coin be saved for you."

Nylos peers through one of the small windows at the setting sun...Milord and Milady...will you be spending the evening here? If so I will have a the rooms or room made up as the case may be. The estate is quite ready for you to move in."

Jaleh looked at A'kos a moment and then back to Nylos. "I would like to, yes. So I think I will be staying, I am not sure about milord though. He is free to make his own choice. On the morrow, we will see what can be done about the furnishings. What can't be purchased back will have to be gained by other means."

"They'll be pushing into the city tonight, I believe," A'kos replied.  "Trying to hunt down the Pechanegs - it would be wiser, I think, to stay with our allies then stay overnight here, lest the last angry remnants of the mongrels torch the place in their final, angry throes."

"We have been lucky here so far...they only looted the church and the University here but I think your gentleman friend speaks wisely. It would be bad enough to lose your new estate but worse to die in a fire here."

With a sigh, Jaleh's shoulders slumped. She realized the gods must not like comfort. She'd been on a ship and sleeping in campsites far too long, and now that she had a big palatial bed to enjoy, she was being advised to not use it. It was a cruel joke. "Alright, but companions or no, I see any hint of fire from this direction I'm coming back immediately and killing every person in sight that don't look like a servant. Then I'll start on their families."

Jaleh and A'kos make it back to the North Gate HQ without incident. Nylos has promised that the estate shall be prepared for "milady" for the next day and evening should she decide to spend her first night in her new estate.

When they arrive at the HQ, they see that Dobrynya has hosted a large makeshift feast and it looks as if they are the last to arrive.

Sorry to push you two along like that...just gearing up for the next section of the game.