Roleplay from Eoghan Ui Briuin[/size] [/color][/size](13 hours, 37 minutes ago)[/color][/size]message to all nobles of Greater Xavax[/size][/color][/size]
The Black Swan:
Earlier in the evening:
Eoghan and his men had come in on a hard march from Xavax after having received the orders that his unit would be needed in Isadril to gather with the rest of the Phoenix in preparation for war. Though the men and women of his unit were small in number they were also a hardy bunch. Most he had known since he was a child, hunting his father's lands and getting into all sorts of trouble with him and his brothers. A few more were of his father, Art Ui Briuin's own personal guard. Yet all were good for the fight, and some of the finest archers he had ever known. The Sparrows, as he named them after getting a hold of a copy of his father's letter to the nobility of the land, would be his arm and in turn he would be their pillar. Their fortunes rose with his and his rose ever higher with theirs. So he did his best to make sure that he was never above the unit when it mattered. In the long forced march he bore the pace upon his own two feet and let his horse rest. He broke bread with his soldiers during their brief rest to make sure their stamina was fresh for the rest of the pace; and by the time they arrived he emptied a little of his own purse to allow them a night to enjoy themselves.
It was only in this manner that Eoghan did not attend his men, for shortly upon his arrival a letter was brought to his Captain Ruairà for Eoghan's eyes only. It seemed, according to the invitation, that he had been expected and that a night of revelry was to come about before the army moved on. The very notion of the masquerade was intriguing to the youth and considering who all might attend it was in his best interest to join the festivities. Thus he took to the streets, and once again his purse would come out lighter as he sought out a mask for the night.
Present
Night had truly fallen over Isadril by the time the young country noble made his approach to The Black Swan and the gathering within. He had come tonight dressed in his best attire. A long sleeved tan linen tunic adorned his upper body and extended down to his thighs. The tunic covered the upper half of his form fitting truis which were trimmed with buckskin leather. A long sleeveless cloak of sky blue was then set over the tunic and wrapped about his upper body and held together with a stags head pin. The finery was not so grand as potentially that which some others might wear. But it was some of the best his family had for their minor status and Eoghan bore it proudly. The mask he wore bore the features of a hunter of a different sort. While some might choose the wolf or bear, Eoghan's choice was that of the owl. For no hunter had near as good of sight, and could strike so silently as the avian creature. It truly seemed fitting then that his sparrows be lead by an equally avian commander, and thus the horned owl mask was his. The form was made of high quality light leather that had caught his eye almost immediately while browsing the stalls earlier. Its style was that of a half mask which, with the right earth toned dyes, looked as if it possessed actual feathers from afar. The lower half rounded out some beneath the circular eyes where his rich blue gaze looked out, and his nose would be covered by a blackened "beak" of sorts. But the lower half of his reddish beard, and his lips were left in plain sight. To Eoghan it was a masterpiece that seemed to have gone largely unnoticed. A crime to which the young noble could not abide, especially knowing the night's festivities.
As he approached he came to pause and embrace the cool breeze which caressed along clothed frame; for the sensation and touch he felt was one he was all to familiar with. After all Eoghan had always been fond of the evening hours and found himself most alert at dusk. One could say it came from a life of hunting where all the game woke in the evening hours, or bedded down in the early morn. Others might swear it was in the blood, as the Ui Briuin were a young noble line that only spanned three generations starting with the founder of his house, his Grandmother FÃona Ui Briuin. They had come from those who hunted the lands for others, and kept little of what they caught. But the strong ties to nature and by extension the night could be thought to carry on in each generation of their line. Now those very ties drew an excitement from deep within as he bore his invitation and moved passed the guards outside the tavern. For on this night he was hunting quite the different game, alliances, and potentially power. Yes there was the merriment to consider, and that was part of the night as well. But Eoghan had a duty to fulfill to his family, his men, and if he were being completely honest than to himself as well. The ties and bonds he might forge tonight could potentially last him a lifetime, and among the nobility it was always about who you knew which could be the rise or fall of you. These were the thoughts that occupied Eoghan's mind as he entered into the tavern proper, and they were what promptly left when he befell the hushed crowd and heard Cadewyn's song. He must have come in only half way through for the young noble found it had ended all too soon, and with it came the return to the evening's revelry. Yet for him it was a beginning, for he was certain he would make the singer's acquaintance on this night. If only to just praise her for the song that had, for a time, enchanted a great deal of the room. Before that though there was one matter which was most important to Eoghan, and that was getting a drink to start the evening off right while simultaneously easing the fatigue from the day's long march.[/color]
