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The smoke was blinding and Elric could not find his way. Gasping for air, Elric falls to the floor and begins to crawl, dragging his cherished rapier with him. Elric remembers the bright sunny day when Elric had received the beautiful blade from his father, a day of joy and delight, a day forgotten….
Elric emerges from the chaos of smoke and fire onto the second floor balcony of his family’s mansion nestled in the shadows of Castle Neverwinter. The attack had come so suddenly, shouts and curses as the house guards fought to keep the Luskans from the house and its valuable contents. His father rushing down into the fray, brandishing his rapier and dagger, his mother shooing his sisters out the back and across the large formal garden and onto the road into the quarter, and Elric, gazing down the stairs and then suddenly bolting for his room and his weapon, ready to stand by his father. But Elric was too late, by the time he had tried to return to the top of the stairs, fire had engulfed the mansion and he was desperately trying to escape! Now Elric could only look on in horror as his father and his guards were butchered by more than thirty Luskan soldiers.
Before Elric could leap down from the balcony to certain death, the balcony collapsed, and Elric remembered………His father’s skill with the blade, one of the best duelists in Neverwinter, his mother’s beautiful smile and voice, always singing and laughing, his sisters, Melody and Tira, beautiful at sixteen and fourteen, preparing for the year’s midwinter gala, the way Elric’s first practice blade felt as he was instructed by the finest bladesman in Neverwinter, the life he had led, until the war…………
Elric awakes with a throbbing headache and his mother’s hand in his. His head is bandaged and his left leg is splinted, and his body is crisscrossed with cuts and bruises, but he is alive. His mother stands and smiles down at Elric, a sad smile, but a smile nonetheless. It is not till later that he finds that his father is dead and their home and lands have been destroyed. All the family vineyards were destroyed so completely that it would take years to replant and grow. Elric, age 15, becomes the heir to his father’s estate, but an estate in name only, for their wealth was in wine and their stocks and land had been destroyed and unknown to Elric, his father had gone into debt to purchase more land outside the city to expand their fields, fields that had been destroyed with everything else.
The letter is brief:
Elric,
Bring your family to Sundren. We could use your family’s skill with the vine and with the small fortune you were able to secure with the sale of your lands, you can buy land here and start afresh. We welcome your family as our own and look forward to your reply.
Louis Jourdan
Elric had never met Louis Jourdan, the youngest and only surviving brother of his father, but knew him to be true; at least his father had always had a high opinion of him. His father had also enlisted him as an agent in Sundren, sending Jourdan wine for the noble tables of that city. However, Elric had not secured a small fortune for their lands in Neverwinter. Nobody had the money to pay fair price for their land and Elric needed to pay off his father’s debtors, therefore, Elric and his family left Neverwinter with a small stake, but surely not enough to buy land and start afresh in the wine business. But what Elric was able to do was make numerous contacts along his route to Sundren, contacts that would provide wine and fine brandy products for the tables of Sundren. Therefore, Elric Jourdan, a noble’s son in Neverwinter, becomes a partner with his Uncle Louis, providing fine wine and brandy to any who can afford the prices.
Elric emerges from the chaos of smoke and fire onto the second floor balcony of his family’s mansion nestled in the shadows of Castle Neverwinter. The attack had come so suddenly, shouts and curses as the house guards fought to keep the Luskans from the house and its valuable contents. His father rushing down into the fray, brandishing his rapier and dagger, his mother shooing his sisters out the back and across the large formal garden and onto the road into the quarter, and Elric, gazing down the stairs and then suddenly bolting for his room and his weapon, ready to stand by his father. But Elric was too late, by the time he had tried to return to the top of the stairs, fire had engulfed the mansion and he was desperately trying to escape! Now Elric could only look on in horror as his father and his guards were butchered by more than thirty Luskan soldiers.
Before Elric could leap down from the balcony to certain death, the balcony collapsed, and Elric remembered………His father’s skill with the blade, one of the best duelists in Neverwinter, his mother’s beautiful smile and voice, always singing and laughing, his sisters, Melody and Tira, beautiful at sixteen and fourteen, preparing for the year’s midwinter gala, the way Elric’s first practice blade felt as he was instructed by the finest bladesman in Neverwinter, the life he had led, until the war…………
Elric awakes with a throbbing headache and his mother’s hand in his. His head is bandaged and his left leg is splinted, and his body is crisscrossed with cuts and bruises, but he is alive. His mother stands and smiles down at Elric, a sad smile, but a smile nonetheless. It is not till later that he finds that his father is dead and their home and lands have been destroyed. All the family vineyards were destroyed so completely that it would take years to replant and grow. Elric, age 15, becomes the heir to his father’s estate, but an estate in name only, for their wealth was in wine and their stocks and land had been destroyed and unknown to Elric, his father had gone into debt to purchase more land outside the city to expand their fields, fields that had been destroyed with everything else.
The letter is brief:
Elric,
Bring your family to Sundren. We could use your family’s skill with the vine and with the small fortune you were able to secure with the sale of your lands, you can buy land here and start afresh. We welcome your family as our own and look forward to your reply.
Louis Jourdan
Elric had never met Louis Jourdan, the youngest and only surviving brother of his father, but knew him to be true; at least his father had always had a high opinion of him. His father had also enlisted him as an agent in Sundren, sending Jourdan wine for the noble tables of that city. However, Elric had not secured a small fortune for their lands in Neverwinter. Nobody had the money to pay fair price for their land and Elric needed to pay off his father’s debtors, therefore, Elric and his family left Neverwinter with a small stake, but surely not enough to buy land and start afresh in the wine business. But what Elric was able to do was make numerous contacts along his route to Sundren, contacts that would provide wine and fine brandy products for the tables of Sundren. Therefore, Elric Jourdan, a noble’s son in Neverwinter, becomes a partner with his Uncle Louis, providing fine wine and brandy to any who can afford the prices.