| A Gift for Evae Arkanin |
| Summary: | It took a little while — but Baroness Quinn always gives thoughtful presents. |
| Date: | Septebre 23rd, 1866 |
| Related: | This. |
| NPCs: | {$npc} |
| Players: |
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On the very day an Arkanin army rides forth with Baroness Gisela Quinn at its head, to see about an encampment of mercenaries lately discovered in the barony of Winder — some evidence of that lady's other machinations reaches the Duchess of Wayston, Evae Arkanin, at Bellmoore Castle in Murias.
Your Grace,
Recollecting our conversation before my recent journey to my fief on business, I have been in communication with several of my blacksmiths and each has been delighted to present for your consideration a rapier of his own making. Please choose the one which feels most at home in your hand; and I hope you will accept it as a gift from me, upon the occasion of your succession.
I was just your age when I received for the first time a sword which had belonged to no one else before me and which had been forged with myself alone in mind.
Whatever else one may have trained with, however better one may do for oneself in later life, it was a pleasure to me on that day — and, I hope, to you. With that thought I remain,
Yours to command,
Gisela Quinn
The letter is written upon fine parchment, in a large, clear, businesslike though not at all ladylike hand, and signed with a bold flourish of a signature. The seal upon it is courtesy of the Baroness's Quinn signet ring, worn always upon the third finger of her left hand, pressed into green wax.
The Quinn retainer who leaves it with the Duchess's retainer deposits also three long, rather narrow leather-covered boxes, each of subtly different crafting, each the presentation case for a finely-made rapier in an elegant sheath. Each is feather-light, as swords go; each seems to have been crafted with a lady's tastes in mind; each is a master's work. To choose between them is perhaps only a question of ornamentation, or pure instinct.