Olivaw Family/Giskard

Achievements

Honour: 8 Prestige: 1

Character

As a Young Man

Giskard is a self motivated man from the Olivaw Family. He is gifted with games, especially the medieval version of Chess. He studied chess from a young age with a master and Jason and Charles Elegant also joined him for while he was in the region. Though very intelligent, due to his sheltered upbringing he has a very simple heart and does not understand the treacheries of man. He is trusting and carefree. When it comes to socializing, Giskard is very friendly, though he is often 'clumsy' around ladies, as opposed to his brother who is always very eloquent.

Early Life

Life in Byblack was simple. Giskard was sheltered and protected by his parents who loved their second son just as much as their first, yet Giskard did not want to accept that he would be second to his brother and grew impatient with life rapidly.

Life In The Caglian Empire

Diary Entry 1

I just came back from my brother Daneel's ceremony before leaving our family manor. I do regret not seeing him again, but why should I not be able to earn honour and fame for the family just because I'm almost one year younger? I should have the right to leave and create my own glory rather than waiting home for news of his accomplishments. I am ready, and I have saved up enough to hire some troops who can travel with me from the next town. Byblack will not be my home for much longer. When should I leave? Why not tonight? Everyone is so tired from the ceremony they will definitely not notice. I hope that my parents will understand. My father is too much into politics to notice me. I can't believe he's infatuated with such a game, though it is every bit intriguing as real games like chess. Enough rambling, I will make preparations to leave tonight.

Diary Entry 2

The servants on night duty was no match for my wits. They were less than pawns. Ah, the fresh air of travelling in the country side is so refreshing. I found no suitable soldiers for my taste in town. I must travel further. I recall that my brother was going to join the realm of Tara to seek his glory, so I must hurry. I heard much about the Cagilan Empire to the west of Byblack. I remember long ago my childhood friend Jason Elegant and his brother Charles traveled somewhere west of here. I wonder if his family moved to the Cagilan Empire. Anyways, I will find nothing much in these lands, so I will go on west.

Diary Entry 3

I recruited my men near the city of Calis, they were newly trained men, but they had a sense of justice among them. They suited my taste, and did not cost too much gold. I heard from them that Calis was the capital of Cagilan Empire. Interesting, these days of traveling did not feel like that much, yet I traversed so far. It must be that I am lighthearted right now. I contacted some lords and ladies of the land to seek a position of Knighthood, and one lord in particular, a duke, by the name of Samuel wrote me back promptly, offering me a position of Knighthood in the city of his duchy, Eaglin. I believe that he is a good man, and I will see to it that my men work well alongside his. I quickly wrote back to him, accepting his offer and asking for further instructions. While I prepared to travel to Eaglin, a Lady by the name of Kylaine Vita wrote to me, she seemed to have gotten my introduction that I left with the office in Calis. I'm not quite sure how to respond, as I have not talked to many Dames other than the ones in my household and immediate relatives. I responded carefully, choosing my words to represent my family well.

Diary Entry 4

From further exchanges with Lady Kylaine, I found out that she was strongly tied with my Duke, Samuel Haine. They both seem honest and kind to me, I will remember their kindness and repay them with gratitude someday. I have been assigned to the Eaglin Eagles by the Duke as well. I hope I find glory in his service. He was kind and gifted me with some bonds after my Oath of Fealty Ceremony. I used part of it to reward my troops and part to enlarge my estate. I wanted to offer Duke Samuel the best my newfound estate could grant, and so my new servants scurried to both enlarge the estate and making the estate production oriented. I enjoyed my new post, but I wanted to be on the front lines! There was no time like now to earn my rank and honour! My troops and I quickly marched off according to our Marshal's instructions to the city of Aja. It will be a long trip, but I'm sure prestige lies on the other end!

Diary Entry 5

It has been a few days stationed in Chuca, and my men are grumbling about home. When I pass them they try to put up a happy front, but I can hear their cries at night. We have been out of CE region for such a long time now, and this foreign land is inhospitable even after we dug in and took a day to set up camp around here. Our equipment, though recently repaired in Aja, are of no match to the corroding winds in this badland region. I certainly wish that battle lines will be drawn soon, or my men will have no more will to go on. I will try to cheer them up with some stargazing tonight, but however much I try with different activities, their discomfort in a foreign region will only grow with time. I guess this is my first trial.

Role Playing

These are role playing narrations in-game.

A Childhood Friend

The winds blew on over Felvian Hill and Giskard wondered about the local folk lore about the strange music that the hills make. He didn't hear any yet though winds were blowing, and he wondered why they had to set up camp and dig in so close to the hills. Dinner was almost served, and he could see his men grumbling about the quality of the food and the lack of any real meat these past few days. He understood their pain, he himself has never gone without meat for so long either, and he could feel his stomach growling for richer foods, but a soldier cannot complain in the middle of battle or their moral will deteriorate too fast. Giskard tried to think of ways to entertain his troops, but his recent ideas for stargazing and windeating were utter failures.

He decided to take a quick walk about the camp before dinner. As he walked around to the back of his camp, he noticed that another camp was fairly close to his and wondered who was camped there. He saw a familiar figure come closer and he seemed to recognize the person, but the setting sun was shining the other way and he could not see the other's face very clearly.

"Wait, is that you, Giskard?" The figure asked, "it's been a long time."

With the help of recognizing the voice Giskard realized that is was Charles Elegant, his childhood friend from long ago. He did not realize that Charles's family settled down in the CE regions just west of his home realm, Tara.

"Wow, it's really you! How have you been, all these years?" Giskard walked briskly forward and hugged his dear friend.

[Charles]Memories

Prequel: Charles has been sitting in these unknown and deserted hills with his army for days. Although they don't complain very much, Charles knows that the morale of his men is falling. He heard one of his men saying,"Jesus Christ ! We have finished our last barrel of wine!". Another said,"Food is not a problem, but what to do with these blood sucking hell mosquitoes? I want to go to home." One of them said,"I want the ENEMIES !!!". Charles knows he cannot do much, till now his inspirational speeches have kept his men motivated, but that is not enough. Day by day even he is getting impatient. The only answer he gives when his men ask "master, when are we marching from here?" is : "patience my friends, further orders are yet to come".

Lost in deep thoughts, Charles comes out of his camp and walks towards the nearby camp. He needs some friends to pass time. He saw a figure coming out of the camp. He then tries to see his face slightly visible due to the camp-fire.

Charles exclaims" What on the earth do I see here ! It can't be my friend...oh..it is him, definitely." "Wait, is that you, Giskard?" Charles asked, "it's been a long time !" "Wow, it's really you! How have you been, all these years?" Giskard said.

As they both hugged each other, Charles said," I can't believe my luck ! Our childhood days are back. Remember how we played and ran all over the places doing mischief when our classes were over?"

[Kylaine]Cookies

Lady Kylaine directed her aide, "Yes indeed. Sugar is a nice addition to the cookies. It adds a fine touch." The aide nodded dutifully and sprinkled the cookies, surrounding them like the various noble camps surrounded them in the grander scheme. Soon, more aides arrived and the cookies were bundled into packages and placed within the baskets, next to the slice of chocolate cake, a loaf of raisin cinnamon bread, pumpkin pie from Rauxod, Gold of Woodglen brandy from Woodglen, and incense for their olfactory senses. Hurriedly, scribes picked up baskets and began delivering them to all nobility within the region of Chuca.

Baskets

"My lord, scribes from Lady Kylaine Vita gave us these baskets of food." A soldier ran with a few covered baskets towards Giskard, who was taking his usual walk before dinner.

"Well, did you thank them for their kindness? Not many here are so generous of their limited supply of spices and delicacies." Giskard said as he peered under the cover at the delicious chocolate cake and pumpkin pie. He wondered whether the pumpkin pie is as good as the ones his aunt Calia always made for him when he was a child in Byblack.

"Um...I forgot, my lord, I was too occupied by their delicious smell." His soldier replied with obvious embarrassment.

Giskard understood this as his men have not had a decent meal in a long time, so he forgave him for this trespass as opposed to his usual rigorous discipline. He resisted tasting the pumpkin pie and the gnawing hunger in his stomach and said, "That's fine, soldier, just remember next time. I will personally thank Lady Kylaine and apologize for your lack of manners. Give the baskets to the men as a reward." The soldier was quite surprised and quickly thanked him and scurried off to celebrate with the others.

Giskard knew that the Vita camp was not too far away, and he had just enough time before dinner to thank the thoughtful lady. He walked briskly towards her camp site.

[Kylaine]Reply

Kylaine looked up as an aide informed her that a fellow member of the Eaglin Eagles wished to meet. Wrapping herself in warmer clothing, she stepped out to greet Giskard, "And what can I do for you good sir?

Kindness

"And what can I do for you, good sir?" Lady Kylaine asked Giskard as she came out of her camp.

"I wanted to personally thank you for the food that you so kindly supplied to my troops and apologize for their insolence towards your servants. Please don't blame them because their morale and spirit has been steadily dropping as more talk of home and its delicacies spread around. I've been trying to get them to do more stargazing and windwatching, but nothing is working. Thank you again for sharing your cooking with us, and hopefully they cheer up somewhat." Giskard politely took off his hat and bowed to the lady in front of him. He was a man who remembers the kindness of strangers.

[Kylaine]Invitation

Kylaine smiled, "I was not concerned nor aware of their insolence. Commoners can be such quite often. We are nobles, and evidenced by your coming, are much more refined. Now, would you like to relax inside? We could discuss more matters we've shared in letters if you wish. Do you know much of how long we shall sit and what is going on in the Imperial Senate? It seems many do not care for the opinions of the youth." She extended her hand to open her tent for him to enter.

A New Friend

Giskard was surprised by the Lady Kylaine's friendliness and was taken aback, but he quickly regained his composure and replied as he followed the lady into her tent, "Thank you, Lady Kylaine, I will bother you a little longer then and we can talk about the current state of things."

The tent was furnished well and cozy as expected, but Giskard was wary of taking any liberties as to where to sit since everything is arranged so nicely. He decided to simple stand beside the entrance and said quietly, "I wish that I could contact my brother, he probably knows more about this situation."

[Kylaine]Seat

Offering him a seat upon a plush chair to the side, while she moved to one at the next corner, she inquired, "And is your brother within Chuca? Perhaps he could join us?"

Brother

Giskard sat on the comfortable plush chair beside Lady Kylaine as she sat down on the chair opposite his. "My brother? I have no idea where he is. Maybe I'll see him on the battlefield, though that would be awkward to say the least... I believe that he joined the Taran army, though I can't be sure as I haven't heard from him yet. I doubt he'll send me anything as he doesn't know where I am. His name is Daneel if you ever meet him, he's tall and quite a gentleman, much more eloquent than I am."

He forced a small smile across his face while looking down to obscure his obvious embarrassment, unease, and admiration talking about his older brother.

[Kylaine]Comfort

Kylaine found it odd he would find fighting beside his brother awkward. Probably a symptom of inferiority due to being the younger brother and admiring the old one's feats? Regardless, as a member of the Empire, he would soon find himself quite superior. He had nothing to worry about. As he concluded, she could see his nervousness and thought of what she could do to ease it.

"I'm sure you're quite an eloquent man, it only needs experience. Some take to it more naturally; it doesn't mean we lack it. We are all nobles after all."

Feeling that did not do the trick, she added, "Would you mind accompanying me on a trip to the temple?" Perhaps other matters would change his demeanor.

Travel

"Would you mind accompanying me on a trip to the temple?" Lady Kylaine inquired of Giskard.

"Thank you for your offer, I would be glad to learn more about the religions here since I have been taught to learn much but not to meddle in such affairs. Perhaps one day, after the war is over...just send a courier over when the time comes." Giskard replied, happy to learn and to travel.

[Kylaine]Go

Kylaine smiled and nodded, "Well, if you don't wish to go now, I must admit I need to be on my way myself. I would remind you that wars do not make time for nobility though. One must take care of needed goals despite the presence of other goals." Standing, she added, "There is a plate of brownies at the door."

War

Gaining composure as he stood up, Giskard replied, "Thank you for your hospitality, Lady Kylaine, I've troubled you enough. May it be that one day I can accommodate you to your temple and learn more. I regret that I cannot do so now, but my men need me in times like this. I have much to learn about wars and their consequences."

At this moment two couriers rushed in, carrying scrolls to Giskard and Lady Kylaine respectively. The scrolls were marked with brilliantly red silk, it was an important scroll to say the least.

"We've declared war against the Falasans!" Giskard proclaimed as he read the first parts of the scroll.

[Kylaine]Temple

Kylaine read her report as well, "So it seems...well, I suppose new orders will be on the way shortly. It may be time to inspire one's troops now. Perhaps my knights will join me in the temple."