The Villa has known better days; the shadows of grandeur and affluence clinging to it as tenaciously as the ivy and the dust. It's marbled pillars, arching windows, and great doors worn bare by the failing fortunes of the House of Vigo and the slow abandonment of those who had once supported it. It was, as a result, by popular opinion an eye sore despite the history so richly evident in it's foundations by the still shining stars of the noble families that served as neighbor and rival both.

The vineyards, hedges, and gardens that brought life to the whole grown wild and unsightly or barren without skilled hands to maintain them. Branches no longer burdened with grapes that fueled the vital industries of Chieri nor the gardens offering places of beauty and peace... The hedges no longer guiding the eye towards the grandeur of it's architecture and providing places of safety and discretion. All fallen in accord with the hard times that had befallen the family.

It was this mess and these circumstances that Alessandro Da Vigo inherited with the passing of his parents at the hands of plague. No great fortune, no great prospects, merely the relics of a once glorious past that a weaker sole might do no more than ruminate upon and lament.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 06:55, Sun 26 Nov 2017.

Alessandro throws the shutters open and looks down upon the western grounds of the da Vigo estates. The river glimmers in the late afternoon sun beyond the estate walls giving the city below a surreal appearance. It was quite beautiful, a subject of many an artist's first works of the city of Chieri.

So it was with a sigh as he turns his gaze upon his childhood home. The overgrown hedges, the fountains overgrown into miniature fens for frogs, and the sour look of the manor itself, glowering at passerby. Generations of ill-luck and a fool of a grandfather had started the da Vigos on a long decline. Since then the family had made due selling off its legacy bit by bit while playing at a great trading house. Alessandro had even started taking mercenary contracts for cash. At least that had made use of his talents even if it wasn't entirely reputable.

So now it was a young Alessandro da Vigo and a handful of old servants still doddering around the old place. He smiles grimly as he straightens his cuffs. Within the last few weeks something grand had happened and suddenly the future looked bright again! But the sheer strangeness of it left Alessandro ill at ease about its providence. Astrological divining had revealed next to nothing about their origins but a great deal of what his new...abilities...could potentially do. It didn't feel like an Uncreated demon's trick. The power, for good or evil, seemed to belong to him and him alone. It still left him undecided on what to do with these abilities.

Well...whatever. Alessandro still had an engagement of escorting the Rivera girl and her snotty entourage to the grand ball and then become invisible with the other bodyguards. But it was a chance to perhaps talk to that old goat Deregio, master of the miner's guild. There had been rumors of troubles and perhaps he could use a trouble-shooter.

Closing the shutters Alessandro turns and makes his way down to the courtyard where old Mego was preparing his horse.

The stables were no more or less a shadow of past glory than the rest of the Villa. The warm tones of the wood and plaster all faded with the abuse of the elements and the slowly dwindling efforts of the aging staff. Still, it was fine shelter for the uncaring likes of a beast with all those amenities they might demand in their churlish way.

An older gentleman, apron and clothes stained with dirt, struggled with the burden of a worn but serviceable saddle. His cursing no less serviceable in the quiet of the morning. The weather choosing to be just as dreary with an unseasonable overcast that promised rain but left the question of when open to even the wisest of interpretation.

When it came to the matter of the Rivera girl, there was still hours until such a meeting but that was time that could be whiled away among the rakes of the mercenary unions or in the markets that would no doubt be a riot of colour and colourful language despite the weather. The city, after all, marched to the beat of commerce and it's Houses rose and fell to no lesser tunes than just that.

Of course, there wasn't nothing to look forward to regarding the escort of the Girl and her entourage. A few stood out as decidedly at odds, curiosities gathered in her travels or drawn to the fortunes of her own family. Regardless, the air of something foreign and strange had clung to them as surely as anything other and their arms and armour only further reinforced them. Rumour had it that they heralded from some far and distance place across the endless sea.

And then there was the talk of a Delegation from the Bright Republic that would be visiting in the coming weeks. An opportunity for trade and commerce that could hardly be passed up by those with mineral wealth and writs of land.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:36, Thu 30 Nov 2017.

"Good morning, Leobardo", says Alessandro cheerfully as he takes the saddle from the older man and swings it up onto Marengo's back. The horse chuffs and puffs out his barrel in protest but a sugar cube distracts him from his tantrum as Alessandro finishes tightening the belt. "You're lucky Eldreda didn't hear you cursing a blue streak like that. She'd box your ears."

Stepping aside  to let Leobardo finish with the horse Alessandro takes his hat in hand and brushes his leg with it, the fine feathers swaying as he dusted his leggings. A glance at the glowering sky earns an answering frown.

"I was hoping for a sunny day. This monotonous weather is killing me. Playing a glorified babysitter for the Girl...", a moniker that had stuck. Everyone knew the 'Girl'.",...its undignified."

There was irony in Alessandro's complaint considering the so-called Girl was nearly of an age with himself. Nevertheless he would do the job.

"But I feel tonight is going to be different. Things are going to change, Leobardo. You'll see.", part reassurance, part wishful thinking, part calculation as he considered actually using his...powers. It would certainly help his social station and perhaps bring some luck to the da Vigo family again.

"Morning, Master Da Vigo and if a horse booting me to the head wasn't enough to cut the cursing, no cuffing from her will slow it down. Only skill I can keep alive from my sea going days, anyway." the Old Man quipped back as he let out a small groan as the burden of the saddle was taken from him. Hands going to an oft abused and failing back. The fact he was stubborn enough to rise before the Sun and set about the menial tasks of the Villa's stable was a miracle all itself... That he found time for the grounds to aide the equally ailing gardener was yet another miracle in kind.

The young lord's grumbling earned gruff laughter from the old Stable Master as he settled himself into a chair by the door. The battered furniture creaking beneath his lanky frame.

"Undignified, eh? If it puts bread on the table... and lets face it. There ain't no dignity in any interaction between man and woman." the Old Man prodded as he always did. Goading with pragmatism and a crude wit in equal measure. His tone wasn't without sympathy though as he eased back and rolled his worn shoulders.

"Bear it and grin it, like my own dad used to say." he added with a gesture of one hand and a hint of the nostalgia of the old and worn.

"Things always change. You get used to that but here's hoping something smiles upon this old place. Young blood and vigor is in short supply."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:37, Thu 30 Nov 2017.

"...between man and woman, is it?", laughs da Vigo. "I hate to break it to you, Leobardo, but I play the part of an accessory for the young lady Rivera tonight. Look mean and otherwise stay out of the way. The Girl has barely said 10 words to me since her father employed me. Its not quite whatever romantic fantasy you are cooking up."

"True, true...but even a little change in the da Vigo fortunes will have new blood lining up to join the House da Vigo. Tonight might be the night! I'm feeling lucky."

Another glance at the lowering sky and he sighs,"I suspect me and Marengo here will be gone late into the night, if not the morning. No need to sit up for us, Leobardo."

As the horse nips he swats its nose affectionately. Marengo wasn't the pure black favored by many of the rakes in the city but his buckskin coloring had made him inexpensive despite being an excellent horse. Practicality these days was the rule.

"Who said anything about romance?" Leobardo quipped back with an arch of an eyebrow and a lopsided smile. The laugh as evident in the smile as in the tone of his voice. It was a vulgar twist of the word by the measures of any proper noble but it was clever in the same way. The man's posture now arched forward with hands resting atop his knees as if holding back a laugh for the sake of gravitas.

"Fair enough, Master Da Vigo. I'll close up the Villa proper then. You know where to find the keys." the Old Man said with friendly air of familiarity and routine.

A few more parting words and a cheery wave to Leobardo and Alessandro is off. Marengo is in high spirits and prances down the manor's private road to the gate. A cool breeze blowing up off the river raises Alessandro's spirit. The oppressive summer humidity of the last several days had broken somewhat.

Hours to kill and a small pouch of coins meant some time to himself as Alessandro headed toward one of Chieri's many public squares. Trade stalls would be doing a brisk business and the dueling academies and mercenary unions that dotted the borders of the bigger squares. Perhaps it was time to visit the Coltello Affilato School to pay respects to his old dueling master and catch up with some old friends who had a tendency to hang around it.

With a hum he prods Marengo into motion and a jaunty stride toward the city center.