History of Tortall
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the recognizable characters or any known history facts mentioned in the story. All others are strictly mine.
Notes: Gregory means watchful in Greek.
448 H.E. Family Backgrounds
Later that same day, Jonathan and his Counsel were gathered in the counsel room. Numair was absent as he had a prior engagement that he "simply could not miss." What is was, Jon could only assume that it had something to do with his spy-work. Seated around the counsel room table were his most trusted: his wife, Queen Thayet, Lady Alanna of Pirate's Swoop, Duke Gareth the elder, his son, Gary, Duke Baird of Queenscove, and the Lord Provost, among a few other nobles who he had called just for this meeting.
"Do we have any idea what these beasts are or where they came from?" asked Jon, standing up.
"I read about some things like that once," said Alanna. "I was reading a history of Tortallan culture. It said that long ago, before our calendar was created, there were creatures called Stormwings, Hurroks, Dragons, Griffins, Fairies, Winged-Horses, and several other beings that were all human creation. That was several thousand years ago, way back when the natives were here."
Pure natives had all been long gone. All had, by now, intermarried into the early explorers' families. Now all that remained were few pure early explorers and many who had a small bit of native in them. Trebond was one of these pure families. That is why they were entered into the Book of Gold. They were from the early explorer days long before the new calendar had been created or before people began intermarrying.
It was evident in Alanna's late father. He seemed to have learned from his father and his father before him that a person was only liked if they had no native blood in them whatsoever. This, of course, was not true. The Conté line had intermarried several times and still remained the Royal family. The truth of the matter was, though, there was a bit of hatred toward intermarried families. Statistics proved that the majority of the commoners were all intermarried with the natives. Most of the older noble families are only recently becoming intermarried families. They had been pure for the longest time. The Trebond family had remained "pure" up until the time of Alanna's father. It was only when Alanna married George that her family became an intermarried one.
George's family was originally a small immigrant family with only the mother, father, daughter and young son. They made their living long ago, surprisingly, as the royal cloth makers. That is how they got their surname Draper. The son fell in love with a native girl and that is how they became intermarried. The son of their family married another native. Their son, though, married an explorer's daughter. Several sons, a few intermarriages after, George's father was born.
George never new his father very well, but from what his mother, Eleni, told him, his father was a tall man with black-brown wavy hair and a lanky gait. His surname, obviously, was Draper. Eleni's was Cooper. Since George's father left him, Eleni gave him her surname. George did, however, get his magical Sight from his father and his father before him.
There was a murmur of agreement in Jon's counsel room. "I have to agree with Alanna, sire," said the Lord Provost, Gregory. "It is said that there are many kinds, all created for specific purposes. I read somewhere that Stormwings were made to live on fear and devour the dead of war."
"Lovely," mumbled Jonathan. "How do we know which are hostile?"
"Sometimes it's easy, sire. Think about it; Stormwing sounds nasty. I wouldn't like to have a beast with a name like that come and attack me. Would you? Hurroks are part horse, part hawk. Hawks are sometimes hostile creatures. Other times, it's not so easy. Fairy sounds so pretty and yet some can be quite horrible," explained Gregory.
"I see your point, Greg. I don't suppose you could send to Myles to see what he can dig up, can you? What you have told me is helpful, but with the little we know about these creatures, working with them might prove to be difficult," Jon said. He picked up the pitcher of water on the table and poured some for himself. Then, he gestured with it towards his counsel as if to ask if they wanted any. Some shook their heads and others nodded. For those who nodded, Jon poured out glasses and pushed them down the long wooden table. When he had finished, he put the pitcher down beside him and sat in his chair. This was the signal to break for lunch. A servant left and then returned with a platter full of meat and cheese between slices of bread and a bowl of fruit.
After everyone had finished lunch, the Provost took his leave to search out Sir Myles, Alanna's adoptive father. He was the head of the Royal Intelligence Service and he would know where to go to get information about the new creatures. Gregory had not long to search. He found Myles in his office doing paperwork related to the same spy mission Numair was on. Gregory talked with Myles and Myles agreed to do some research into the matter of the creatures.
When the Provost returned to the counsel room, he found it empty. Jon had adjourned the Counsel not long before. He ran down the hallway after reading the note Jon had left on the counsel room door that read: Gregory~ Adjourned for the day. When you have found Myles, report to me in the stables. I am going for a ride. ~Jonathan
The Provost, Gregory, ran to the stables to find Jonathan. He had just left not thirty seconds ago. Jon had ordered the Provost's horse be saddled so he could catch up and the mare stood waiting in the aisle for him. He leapt onto her back and galloped out of the stables. He caught up to the King in a matter of a minute and slowed to a walk.
"Myles says he'll do his best to find out about the new creatures," Gregory said.
"Very well," replied Jon, kicking his horse into a gallop again. The Provost did the same and galloped after him, thoroughly enjoying the ride.
He was a very interesting man, the Provost was. He had been born to a commoner family just outside of the city. He had sparkling blue eyes and now-silver hair that was tied into a horsetail at the nape of his neck. He wore a loose shirt under a leather tunic, brown breeches and leather boots. At his waist, strapped to his belt was a collection of knives and daggers. His speech was still commoner sounding, despite his many years spent with royalty and the nobles.
When he was a young boy, his mother died giving birth to his sister. His father raised him and his sister to be fighters. His sister tended sheep and goats and had to know how to defend herself from wild animals like wolves and boars. Later, his sister joined the Rogues, a known band of thieves throughout all of Tortall. Eventually, he joined them, too, just to keep his sister safe.
When he was a teenager, one of the king's royal guards caught him openly carrying a knife in the city, something commoners weren't allowed to do. They brought him in front of the king, where he told the reason for his disobedience. He was selling wool and goats' milk at the market and was carrying a large sum of money home to his parents. He didn't want to risk being attacked, so he thought that if he wore the knife, he would be left alone by potential attackers.
The king found no fault with that story and gave the boy an opportunity of a lifetime. Since the previous Provost had just passed into the Black God's hands, the king was in need of a replacement. He offered Gregory a chance to become the new Provost, providing he could prove his skills with the knife he carried at his side. The king challenged him to a knife fight with one of his young guards. They fought and Gregory won. Instantly, the position was his. The King told him what the job entailed and from that day, he was the best Lord Provost the kingdom had ever seen.
To this day, Gregory was still a member of the Rogue, but then, so was Jonathan. At least, Jonathan had been made an honorary member in his youth when George, the King of the Rogue, met Alanna, who brought Jonathan for company. Today, George still has ties to the Rogues, but he turned over his lordship to one of his most trusted when he married Alanna.
Jonathan and Gregory finished their ride, coming to the stable at a trot. "I'll tell Myles to let you know when he has found something, Jon," Greg said, dismounting and handing his mare over to a hostler. With a wave to Jon, he sauntered away to talk to Myles, wherever he might be. Jonathan went to the library to do some research of his own about the newly appeared creatures.