Our Grandmother in the News Again

[ascadian_rose]

Darkfell and Anaril did succeed in locating Sophelia, who had simply gone about her business after the fire at Merry Widow Manor. She denied having set the flames but admitted that she had been in the area and had yelled her threat to Andralia. She had been questioned further but refused to say who the "Kingpin" is, though many believe the Kingpin is none other than Sophelia's adoptive father Dagoth Vemyn.

Eventually law enforcement had to allow Sophelia to go, for although they strongly suspected her, they could not actually prove that she was the one who set the fire. The fact is that she was nowhere to be seen at the time of the blaze. Of course it's possible that she had turned herself into a vampiric mist, but again, there is no proof of that.

Aryc made arrangements for a construction crew to go to Merry Widow Manor to repair their burned archway and sent the bill to Vemyn and Therana. They have to either pay the bill or be locked up in prison (in separate cells). I don't envy Aryc and the other town council leaders since this decision will likely result in Vemyn and Therana storming into the town hall where they will loudly voice their displeasure. They of course are insisting that their "precious baby" had nothing to do with the fire at Merry Widow Manor.

As for what's going on at Rosewood, we decided to postpone our plans to go camping in Y'ffre's Grove. We had originally thought to go there today until we awakened to heavy downpour of rain that drenched the entire Ascadian Isles. Although the rain did taper off around noon, everything was left cold and wet, which would have made staying at a campsite quite unpleasant.



To be honest we're not as disappointed as we thought we would be. The nights here have been getting cold. Oh I'm sure Nords would laugh at us, and I realize that the fridgid temperatures we've been getting are nowhere near as cold as Skyrim, but it's cold for those of us who grew up in warm places like Morrowind, Valenwood, and Summerset. The freezing temperatures are going to take a while for most of us to get used to.

Another reason I'm not really sorry about not camping is Ivy and Casper. They are both still so small and I'm fearful that they could become lost and fall prey to a wild animal. It's best to keep them at home until their both a little older and no longer so tiny.

Speaking of our little white furballs, I had to scold Caspar this morning. Most of the time he's a very good puppy, but this morning he decided to destroy the newspaper instead of burning up his excess energy with one of his chew toys. Knowing that we couldn't allow Caspar to think that such behavior is all right, I forced myself to stand over him and tell him in a firm tone that he had been a bad boy.



Caspar's response was to whimper, lower his ears, and look up at me with dark sad eyes. Every fiber of my being wanted to pick him up and give him a hug, but I couldn't do that. To hug him would have canceled out the scolding and he needs to learn and remember that he is not to chew anything but the toys that we've provided for him.

Ivy, the tiny white kitten-princess, was sitting nearby and watching all of this with a curious expression (she isn't old enough to be smug). So far she has yet to scratch the furniture and only sharpens her claws on her scratching posts, but she will also probably slip up sooner or later.

On we went with the rest of the morning. Neldor and I got another batch of flame fruit nectar started in the basement, then tackled some housework that needed to be done. That was when Nerst sent this message over the airwaves for all of the Ascadian Isles to hear:

"Former Queen-Mother Barenziah seems to be getting quite the reputation and has merited the title of Town Bike!

Closing my eyes and placing my fingertips on my temples, I groaned, "Please tell me I misheard that."



Neldor replied sympathetically, "Sorry, Gorgeous. We both heard it. So did everyone else who is still on Vvardenfell."

Taking my communication device from my pocket, I used the feature that allows a person to send an instant written letter which causes a tiny keyboard to appear within the smooth surface of the crystal. After addressing the message to Acacia, I wrote; Did you hear the news?



Around two minutes later I received a response, with Acacia saying, Yes! Why can't we have a normal grandmother?

My quick response back to her was; It's our lot in life.

We left the radio on as we went about our day, mostly to listen to the variety of music that is often broadcasted from the Lore and Science center. Of course from time to time Nerst will interrupt the music with yet another piece of gossip about the town.

Around lunchtime we heard that Godonir had struck again. This time he had beaten up Erandre, who is no doubt still trying to adjust to no longer having RiData around to cause havoc with;

"I don't understand what came over me!" shrieked Erandre Dence while healers bandaged up his injuries. "I wanted to run and hide, but I could not tear myself away from his fiery presence! It was like animal magnetism to the extreme!"

Here's hoping that we never fall under the gaze of Godonir Black Claw. It sounds incredibly dangerous!

It was after lunch that Acacia contacted me by way of our communication crystals to pass along some news that for once was not strange or frightening; Eldafire and Tauryon have announced that they are expecting a baby.

Amused, I commented into the communication crystal, "That didn't take long."

Acacia replied with laughter in her voice, "No it didn't. Eldafire told me that while she and Tauryon will be happy no matter what the baby's gender is, she is hoping for a girl since their family already has two boys."

I replied, "I can understand that. If Eldafire has a boy, little Vildafire will really be outnumbered. Thank you for telling me. I'm so happy for Eldafire and her whole family."

So now we know that our little town of "New Pelagiad" will be gaining a new resident, with this one being born here. By the time I finished my talk with Acacia it was time to make arrangements for dinner. Neldor and I decided to have a pizza delivered for us to eat while watching tonight's broadcast of a Tales & Tallows themed play called "Hojo Mojo" about three evil witches who have been accidentally brought back from the dead and cause havoc as they attempt to steal life energy from children. This is yet another Crassius Curio production and is supposed to not be near as scary as it sounds. Hopefully the show will be able to stop me from thinking about the fact that my grandmother is now known as the Town Bike. Part of me keeps wondering how she managed to earn that title even though in truth I don't want to know.

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