#syrath

Piles. Piles upon piles upon stacks of papers and pictures and schoolwork. The Mosalnar School of Nature and Development made sure every piece of artwork its students made was displayed and then sent home at the end of every quarter in a nice big compostable cardboard box. And Raydon Calliope had put them in storage at the back of his office, still perfectly sealed with the glue handprints the girls sealed them with.

He didn’t look at anything.

Why should he? None of this work would be important for their pre-k portfolios.

There was so much of it Larenna needed to take breaks sifting through it; but small whiskey sips could only get you so far. She had begged for artwork from the girls to put up, to take places with her. And seeing it all in a neat and sealed pile made her finish her drink and grab another.

What would she tell Clementine? What could she tell her?

Sorry darling, your psycho ex-husband kept you in the dark about both your daughters entire education up until now. Whoopsy-daisy.

The worst of it though, was all the letters Larenna found addressed to Clementine from the girls teacher. Syrath Vladislav had been trying to get in contact with her for ages.

Larenna sat with her through some of it but she soon slipped out; she couldn’t take it.

Mrs. Clementine Calliope,

I am Professor Syrath Vladislav; Aemma and Juliette are going to be joining my classroom and me and my assistant teacher Igor are very excited to welcome your family to our classroom.

I was hoping to reach out to you through letter; Your husband has informed me you are very busy with your work and that he would handle all school affairs. However, I think it is important that both parents be as involved as they can and I wanted to get a chance to connect with you about the girls and their needs and likes.Here is a list of all the family events we will be having at the school this first quarter. I hope you will be able to attend.

Sincerely,

Syrath Vladislav

Mrs. Clementine Calliope,

I hope you had a restful time with the girls over winter break. I was sorry to see you missed the holiday show so I have included a video recording of it with some extra pictures of the girls at the end. I have also included their feet polar bear stamps and the snow globe fragment picture they’ve made. The girls have grown so much over these last two quarters, I hope to watch them grow some more. Also thank you for your kind gift of Gumbo. It was amazing. Do you need the thermos back? I would be more than happy to drop it off or send it with the girls.

All the best,

Syrath Vladislav

Mrs. Clementine Calliope,

Thank you for helping the girls with their Aphrodite festival poems; my heart has not been the same since they started saying ‘blue’. The girls talk about you often, Aemma especially. We are conducting a project for Mothers Day where we make a stuffed doll with a recording of their mothers voice. It would function as a comfort object as we are working on self soothing. If you could please send me a recording for each of them it would make such a difference in their transition.

Every Kindness,

Syrath Vladislav

Mrs.Clementine Calliope,

I hope you enjoyed your family trip to Fantasy Hawaii. Juliette would not stop saying ‘Hawaii’ all week. Now that the school year is coming to a close I was hoping we could have a meeting to review the girls progress. Your husband was very clear about his distaste at the thought of meeting so I understand if you share his sentiments, but if you don’t please come see me after their graduation in the class. I need to ask you something important.

With every kindness,

Syrath had raised a litter on his own before the war had started and they’d been his personal hunting dogs since. Annika, Irina, and Lada were probably the best trained dogs in all of Hellnear as well as probably the biggest; Lada was 95 cm tall and the twins Annika and Irina were a little smaller at 89cm. Smaller is of course subjective because every single one of them could easily topple over any human or half elf that unfortunately came into their direct path.

The Hellnearians wolfhounds were historically aggressive, highly protective and territorial, as well as having one of the strongest bites amongst most hunting dog breeds. They were intelligent, ferocious and most of all a dangerous hunting tool.

Unknown to most people, however, was their intense love of gentle scratches behind the ear or how they refused to eat if one of them or Syrath was missing at dinner time. They also loved singing and absolutely detested getting their nails cut. Most of the houses residents steered clear of them because of their fearsome size and general appearance but a few of the maids had started sneaking them treats after dinner.

Syrath honestly adored them and they loved him right back. Which is why they had become exponentially angry at being kept outside of the manor for the last 4 days. Syrath has come to visit them intermittently, always covered in unfamiliar scents and looking completely distracted. They were restless and even the slightest aggravation would throw them off into a chase.

Maria and Tanya has done their best to keep Clementine and the dogs separate but after a few days Clementine was allowed to be alone and the girls were on the prowl.

It was the 5th raid this month. Syraths troops had taken the brunt of the suprime attack as they were returning home to avoid the storm. The Vladislav Manor was a very central meeting place for the rich and powerful of Hellnear and the centuries long birth right of Syraths family. It was an enormous building with high walls and strong defenses; this did not keep it from being a target of Umanesh forces and bandits that had begun to settle into the area. It had become a temporary military stop point as the war with Umanesh had progressed,giving Syrath and his family more responsibilities, and that many more enemies as well.

It was the 5th raid of this month, and Syrath was exhausted. His armor was growing heavy; the arrow wound on his side was starting to ache and the chill from the ice frozen to his armor had started to sting. But he couldn’t leave yet, his men were still injured and unattended. The entrance hall was still covered in snow that had blown in and the doctor hadn’t even made it downstairs yet. If Syrath could stand he was in charge and it would be disrespectful of him to even think of stepping away. It was bad enough he had returned late to the manor, especially when there was so much work to be done.

And Clementine was there.

Dearest Clementine,

I am not from Olstavesh so I have never participated in this festival before.  I know that it is very important to you, as many things are. Enclosed is my poem to you. Please think of me as you read it, every time you read it.

Every Gentle Kindness, Syrath

Hear my soul speak. 

Of the very instant that I saw you, 

Did my heart fly at your service.

Let me live about your waist,

Or in the middle of your favors.

I’ll make my heaven in your lady’s lap.

I would hang on you,

As if increase of appetite

Had grown

By what it fed on.

Graze on my lips

And if those hills be dry

Stray lower

Where the pleasant fountains lie.

Flesh stays no further reason

But rising at your name.

I will live in your heart,

Die in your lap,

And be buried in your eyes.

Why then,

Can one desire too much of a good thing?

Clementine sits at her desk, absentmindedly twirling her ( second! ) snapdragon; a direct line to Syrath.

Syrath... just thinking about him makes her cheeks burn.  She squeezes the gold snapdragon in her palm, body tingling.

Sometimes I forget i have a drow oc.

  seluna and syrath for my shipping wall poject. next will be Lapis, Deneb and Alyra.