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Ashbourne Estates (game thread)


Incubus

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Floor plan of Ashbourne Manor




Note: Don't concern yourself too much with the different colours. They're intended more as a general idea of the kind of space taken up by furniture and the like. Also these maps were originally made for a different game, I'm recycling =P

A few hours walk from the city of Attam, although within the land claimed by the city-state as its own, lay the estates of the Ashbourne family. An idyllic site, a good half hour's walk off the main road, the end of the well groomed trail snaked its way up a small hill, upon the crest of which stood Ashbourne Manor, its white walls clean and pure. It was a large and square two story building, externally nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, the architecture giving a feeling of neat and properness rather than anything more eccentric or innovative. It spoke volumes of the lord of the manor at the time of its construction, although there was no guarantee such priorities were foremost in the current generation.

A small, man high white stone wall ringed the manor-house itself; although atop it wrought iron fence-works made it distinctly more difficult to scale as well as adding an air of class to the boundary. Likewise, a pair of large iron gates in the same style hung open at the centre of the wall, a straight cobbled path leading up to the main entrance of the manor. The gardens were a mixture of rose and hedge, stylised and trimmed into aesthetic shapes, reinforcing the image of trim and proper somewhat, although it did appear the gardens were beginning to grow out to the point where they required maintenance.

One of the large front doors was also open, with a figure standing to one side to show the arrivals into the manor. She was tall, very tall for a woman, standing at around six feet and long, bright red hair framed her face. She was dressed as a maid, complete with the all important headdress and held herself with confidence and grace. Despite her height, she appeared young, just one of those youthful faces with a warm and dignified smile and large golden eyes. "Welcome, if you'd just go straight through the hall, past the staircase and into the lounge," she greeted people with as they approached.

After all, today was the day when the new staff were due to arrive. Each of them had received a hand written letter, congratulating them on being accepted for their new position as a member of the Ashbourne household staff, sealed by Lady Ashbourne herself. Enclosed were directions to Ashbourne Estate and instructions to arrive at 10am today, ready to begin work. It gave directions to a specific local tailor of Attam, where they could have their uniform fitted in preparation for today so that they would have everything they needed for it ahead of time; naturally payment for the uniforms was handled by the estate, It also stressed lateness would not be tolerated and was grounds for instant dismissal. No pressure.

Moving into the manor, an entrance hall was the first room, decorated with artwork and finery to impress newcomers and give a good first impression, although it paled in comparison to the next hall. The room was huge, and dominated by a massive marble double staircase running down the middle, a strong theme of white and gold was present in this room also. At the top of the stairway leading up was a huge portrait of a young noblewoman, stern looking, and given its location and prominence was almost certain Lady Ashbourne herself.

Her rich blue hair was neatly arranged in an elaborate style, held together by a jewel encrusted hairpiece, and upon her body she wore a long white dress which appeared to be accented with gold thread and pearls, at least from the portrait. Due to the nature of such things, it was not easy to discern which of her features was realistic and which was an exaggeration by the artist. If it was to be believed, her skin was almost as pale as her dress and near flawless, although one supposed such things could be achieved by make up just as easily as by an artist. It was certainly unlikely her lips were that vibrantly red naturally if the rest of her was so pale. Still, such things are better left unsaid about one's employer.

Beyond the grand staircase, indeed behind it at the back of the great hall, was another set of double doors leading into a much smaller, if still rather large room; surely the lounge that the maid at the entrance had spoke of. The walls were a rich purple colour and the various furniture contrasted it with a lush dark greed colour to create a pleasing atmosphere. A variety of chairs and tables were arranged around the room to accommodate many, somewhere in the order of mid to late-teens could comfortably be seated in this room. The room itself was once again decorated with various artworks along the walls and some shelves held a number of what appeared to be crafted wooden board games. There was also a large wine rack, filled with various bottles; after all, Ashbourne Estates were most known widely for the fine wines made here, although the Ashbournes' political influence was certainly what gave them the most actual influence.

The room itself began empty, neither the Lady of the house nor any other staff awaited the newcomers as they arrived one by one, leaving them to their own devices for the moment.
 
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GargantuaBlarg

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Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

"Well. This must be the place."

Pushing the silver-rimmed spectacles back into place on her nose, Momoko looked up from the letter she had at the gate into the manor. Judging from the heat and the sun's positon in the sky, she judged it was around 8 AM... two hours early. She was alright with that - not like there was any point hanging around town, with nowhere to stay. She wore a simple set of clothes and wooden sandals, not wanting to get her uniform dirty or sweaty. In one hand she held a suitcase, holding little besides a few sets of maid's outfits she'd gotten from the tailor's, a pouch of tobacco, a bottle of peach-scented perfume, and a few personal effects. She'd left home with naught but the clothes on her back and some food - it'd been only a few weeks since then, and she'd already found a household that would take her in as a maid. Free of the overkill that was her training! Free of the constant chemical scrubbing! And free of the insincerity of the entire clan, who tip-toed around her, bowing and praising her when she was there, and cursing and whispering when she wasn't. At least all the people I've met since then were honest about not trusting me, she thought, sighing to herself.

She set the suitcase on the hard ground of the path, and using her free hand, produced a match from a pocket, lighting it in the same motion. She pursed her lips around the mouthpiece of the pipe in her mouth, and used the match to produce a smoldering in the bowl of the pipe. Holding it gently with one hand, she closed her eyes and pulled a breath through it. Warm smoke filled her mouth; she rolled it around before blowing it out again.

She opened her eyes again, feeling more relaxed, and took the pipe from her mouth. It was a slender thing, nearly a foot long and made of gleaming silver and dark mahogany. She tapped it against a nearby tree, and the newly-made ashes fell out of the bowl, disappearing into the wind.

Picking up her suitcase, she walked through the gate, and walked up the path. Her eyes wandered around the property before coming to rest on the maid at the door.

As Momoko approached, her eyes settled on the tall woman's nose, watching to see if it twitched like they normally did in her presence.

"Welcome, if you'd just go straight through the hall, past the staircase and into the lounge."

"Thank you. Er, say, d'you have anywhere I could change?"


---

Soon after, Momoko found herself standing in the lounge, rocking on her heels, dressed in a fairly unremarkable brown maid's dress, accented with black. Her purple eyes roamed the room from under heavy eyelids, while her matching hair had been pulled into tighter tails that hung all the way down her back, one on each side of her head. After a several minutes of waiting, she realized it was still over an hour 'till the appointed time, she sat down in the nearest seat. About to lean in and rest her elbows on the table in front her her, she caught herself, and crossed her hands in her lap, trying to appear dignified. The time eventually got to her, though, and soon she found herself s bouncing her pipe around in her mouth and fidgeting, for lack of things to do.
 
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BlueSlime

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Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Elaina trotted up the road on her noble riding horse, Soundbreaker, flanked on either side by two of her father's soldiers disguised as simple travelers. This far into Attam territory, she felt relatively safe from attack. These were well traveled roads in a city state at peace. They reached the estate gates and finally her long ride to her distant cousin's estate was over.

With casual athletic grace, Elaina slid out of her saddle and handed the reigns over to one of the soldiers.

"Well, it's been fun riding with you boys. Take good care of Soundbreaker for me. I know he'll miss me." She patted the charger on his neck and rubbed her brow against his nuzzle. "Aw... don't worry about me, boy. I'll be safer here than I would be riding you into battle, just take care of yourself. 'atta boy."

Giving a final casual salute to the soldiers and her four legged friend, she pushed through the gate and walked up to the front door. The tall redhead at the door greeted her pleasantly enough, and Elaina returned the helpful welcome with a nod of her short cut, navy colored head.

"Certainly. Am I expected to meet the Mistress dressed in my riding clothes, or are we to present ourselves in the proper uniform."

Elaina took in the large house, not overly amazed at it, for her father's house had been slightly grander, albeit more a fortress than a manor like this.

She would do whatever the head maid indicated, either heading straight for the lounge or changing first into her uniform before heading to the meeting room.
 

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Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

As she nears the Mansion she stares in awe. Katrina was used to castles and palaces but this mansion had it's own kind of grace. She would walk up to the gate and bow to the head maid. "As you say." she would answer and head through to the mansion proper. Looking around at the splendor of her new home as she makes her way through to the lounge. She would smile greeting to her fellow maid hopefulls and put down her luggage.
 

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Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Jessara walks as she had been taught up the walkway to the house, noting the garden and wondering if she would be tasked with that, she knew a little of it and hoped she would be allowed to be the gardener, knowing it would give her a little artistic expression and hours of mostly unsupervised time to work alone. Not that she didn't like others just that she had learned not to be too trusting.

The courtyard was impressive but nothing she hadn't seen before, the main hall was a surprise in its class and elegance, then so was the Lady. Her words were commanding and though she didn't show it Jessa found herself awed by the woman's obvious personal power.

She entered the Lounge and saw that she was one of, or the last one to arrive and hurriedly took a seat not saying anything to the other, wanting to size them up first.
 

GargantuaBlarg

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Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Momoko was used to having something to do. She'd always woken before sunrise, and generally spent the rest of the day training. As such, she was -very- unused to inactivity, and she quickly grew restless. After squirming in her chair with her pipe bouncing up and down at her face for the longest time, she eventually decided to try to make smalltalk.

A small cough to clear her throat was followed by a... well, a -very- flat introduction.

"So, uh... Hi! I'm Peaches. Uh, nice to meet you all.

"So I suppose we're all gonna be working here together, huh? Might as well get acquainted now, right?"

The small, requisite smile for pleasantries formed on her face. She'd done introductions often, though in those cases the people she met usually already knew her and usually tried to flee as soon as they could, unnerved by the smell of death that hit them as soon as they walked up to her. She looked around, wondering if anyone heard her, or cared enough to respond.
 
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Unknown Squid

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Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

"No no no no no! How could I let it get so late!?" Ellena sobs to her self hurrying along the uphill path to the manor. "If I screw this up after talking so much about it they'll never let it go, and mother will probably disown me." The short girl continues worrying to herself, knowing full well that she'd cut the timing uncomfortably close and what the letter had said about lateness. She was already wearing her new vermilion red uniform, having took the time to proudly show it off to a few people back home before setting out. She could never go back now if they turned her down. She'd have to become a maid dress wearing bandit or something.

Hoping these foolish fantasies would never come to light, she continued on as fast as she could without breaking into a run and ruining her presentation. Carrying one cheep and worn looking suitcase in one had, and another curious case in the other, old but finely made and as long as she was tall. All in all she was actually doing remarkably well carrying such a load at this pace for someone her stature.

Reaching the gate she sets her things down beside it for a moment, peers uncertainly at the sun wishing she had a watch, offers a very short prayer, and quickly does a last check over her appearance. Satisfied she takes her stuff again and makes a fast walk down the path to the main entrance, trying to move quickly, but steadily, and concealing her panic. At being greeted politely by the maid at the front, she was overjoyed. It seemed she wasn't too late after all. She heads in as instructed, glancing round the impressive house enthusiastically, having never set foot in such a place before, and comes through into the lounge. Seeing four others in maid uniform she smiles and immediately introduces herself, "Hi there! You must be my new work mates huh?" She says, then putting down her luggage and suddenly making a small bow, as it seemed like a maidly thing to do. "I'm Ellena. Nice to meet you all."
 
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Incubus

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Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

As the first girl approached, Danielle nodded slightly. She was early, but it gave her time to prepare as she was not yet changed into her uniform. "Yes, if you just go through to the lounge, and continue straight there, there's a hallway with a series of bedoroms. Any of those would provide you with privacy to change."

------------------

As Elaina approched, Danielle gave a silent sigh. 'Oh gods, this one..' she thought to herself. "Naturally, you are expected to be dressed and ready to work. If you require a place to change, proceed through the lounge, there are some bedrooms in the hallway beyond that which you could use," she said in a calm, perhaps somewhat frosty tone. "I trust you will have no problems fitting in?" she added, perhaps somewhat rhetorically as the girl made her way inside.

-----------------

Danielle acknowledges Katrina's arrival and crosses a number off her mental checklist. Likewise she does the same as Jessara arrives. It was good to see that some people had come fully prepared, being already dressed appropriately and had likewise managed to remain clean on the journey.

-----------------

With time running out, the final maid scurries into view at a fast walk. "Leaving it rather close, aren't we?" Danielle comments as she moves through. "Although you're not the last to arrive..." she adds, mroe than a hint of frustration in her voice.

-----------------

Not more than a few minutes after Ellena's arrival, the maid from the entrance walks into the lounge. "Thank you all for arriving as instructed, now we will begin. My name is Danielle, I serve as the head maid of Ashbourne Estates. I'm sure I will get to know each of you in turn but right now we are already behind schedule; there were supposed to be six, but someone has failed to turn up on time. Needless to say, their offer of employment has been withdrawn."

She pauses to take a breathe, perhaps to help relax herself. "The first and most important thing about working for Lady Ashbourne is to understand that she is very specific with what she wants and expects those who are to be her staff to meet those standards and requirements. If you cannot handle criticism or easily become frustrated because you are unable to maintain this level of excellence, I advise you leave now." Danielle's voice is soft but firm and without a hint of humour. She pauses for a moment, before continuing.

"Now then, if you'll all stand, I'll give you the short tour; these will be the most important rooms to know," she explains as she leads the group out of the northern door of the room. heading left she leads them into a large, double storied library, shelves full of books of various ages and sizes. "This is the main library. This estate has three, but this is the largest of them. Beyond here," she directs the group to a door to their right, "Is Lady Ashbourne's private study, and above that her bedroom. As you may be aware, she is often ill and requires a large amount of bedrest, so she takes great comfort in her reading. Moving on..."

She leads the group through the library, heading away from Lady Ashbourne's rooms. "Here, we have the main dining hall. It is mainly used for when we have important guests, as Lady Ashbourne will take most of her meals in her bedroom or study. That said, it does need to remain perpared if unexpected guests should drop in. Through those doors, we have the kitchen, where all meals are prepared. And beyond here are the servant's quarters..." she says, leading ther group towards there.

The servants quarters were one long room with a series of beds and chests for personal belongings, much less fanciful than the seemingly spare bedrooms some of the grils had already been inside. "This is where you'll all be staying. There are no assignments, so you may claim whichever you like. my room is just beyond here," she says, motioning to a doorway deeper into the servants quarters, presumably the head maid got a small private bedroom. "Now then, does anyone have any questions at this point?"
 

BlueSlime

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Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

As Elaina approched, Danielle gave a silent sigh. 'Oh gods, this one..' she thought to herself. "Naturally, you are expected to be dressed and ready to work. If you require a place to change, proceed through the lounge, there are some bedrooms in the hallway beyond that which you could use," she said in a calm, perhaps somewhat frosty tone. "I trust you will have no problems fitting in?" she added, perhaps somewhat rhetorically as the girl made her way inside.
Elaina smiled, giving no indication of worry over the head maid's chilled answer. She patted the redhead on her cheek - though the head maid was taller than her, it was not by too much, as the princess had inherited a tall, healthy figure herself - it made soldiering a natural choice for her.

"I'm sure I'll feel at home in no time," she said, and then not really caring if this response had improved or soured the head maid's mood, she walked on into the manor and through the lounge, coming to the hallway with the bedrooms. She unfolded her pack and laid out her carefully rolled, cream and black colored maid uniform, the paleness of which matched her eyes perfectly. She minded the time and made certain that she was dressed presentably in her uniform with a minute to spare before she walked back to the lounge, arriving neither early, nor late to the meeting.

Danielle's mannerism was very professional and to the point. It had been much the same with Tinabella, her father's head maid, a longtime servant of the family and a crotchety old crone if ever there had been one. Elaina hadn't any cause to get along with her. That would be different with Danielle of course. She decided to view it from a soldier's perspective: Danielle was the drill sergeant, and Elaina a new recruit. There would be a breaking in period, a time of testing, and eventually they would either come to despise or respect one another. Whichever the outcome, Elaina didn't mind all that much. It wasn't as if she were the one who had chosen to come here. Duty and honor, and a daughter's love for her father's worried soul were the things that bound Elaina to this new household. And she supposed some sort of affinity to helping out a family member in need. Her cousin hadn't exactly been dealt a fair lot in life, what with this sickness of hers.

There but for the grace of the gods go I, Elaina thought.

She decided that she would play along at being a maid afterall. What the heck, it might be fun for a laugh when the war simmered down and she was allowed to go back to the barracks. Besides... she looked kind've good in this maid outfit. It was rare that she dressed in womanly clothes, and she blushed now to think of any of her soldier guy friends seeing her in this get up. Oh the catcalls she might get then, princess or no princess.

Danielle caught the cryptic smile that Elaina wore as she day dreamed and gave her an inquisitive look. Elaina let the smile drop slowly and looked away. Her eyes wandering.

When the time came for questions and no one answered immediately, she decided to pipe up.

"What sort of daily schedule can we expect to keep? I presume the Mistress will keep to some sort of familiar regimen?" It had been like that with her own servants, she recalled.
 

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Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

After introducing herself, an entirely too long and very noticeably silent pause passed before Momoko sank into her chair. Forgetting about the propriety she'd attempted to keep earlier, she put an elbow on the table and held her chin in the palm, concealing mild disappointment behind with a blank expression. Guess they don't wanna talk, she thought.

A short, silver-haired girl came in some time later.

At least... I think it's a girl. I mean, what would a boy be doing in a maid dress? Momoko glanced away for a moment, hoping she didn't look at h... er... the new maid oddly. A moment later the new maid introduced herself, practically using the same words she had, and although she felt a little bad for doing so, Momoko joined in the silence this time, to see if another would break it this time time. They did not.

---

Momo's mouth hung open when she stepped through the door to the library. It was huge! And there were even MORE books here?! She hadn't paid much mind to the rooms before - after all, they were little more than flexing of the wallet - but here... all these books were treasures of culture and knowledge. Here was REAL wealth.

Despite the endless grooming and work that had been hers in her previous life, she hadn't learned about the sorts of things you could find in these books - histories of nations or heroes, the sciences behind medicine or the stars, or any of the arts. She'd learned a bunch of things like to treat poisons and smear her clothes to disappear from sight, but those weren't true knowledge - she didn't know why willow bark helped with fevers, and she couldn't rub mud onto canvas to create a painting.

The dining hall was comparatively less inspiring. Momo looked around, working on familiarizing herself with the layout of the room in the short time they spent there.

Momo grimaced upon seeing the servant's quarters. Sweeping her gaze across the room, she couldn't help but think how much the place resembled a soldier's barracks. Why couldn't they use the bedrooms she had changed in? Surely they wouldn't get that many guests!

"There are no assignments, so you may claim whichever you like."

Keeping her thought to herself, she looked around for a moment, took her suitcase, and placed it at the bed furthest from the kitchen, nearest Danielle's room. Shared bunking would make her distinct perfume all the worse, but if she couldn't spare her fellow maids from it she should at least keep it from the kitchen. Sighing inwardly, she began envisioning watching herself being ostracized all over again, only this time it would be actual personal experience rather than a pre-made reputation.

When the head maid asked if anyone had any questions, Momo raised her eyes to the ceiling and thought for a long while. Eventually, something came to mind. "Has Madame Ashbourne had breakfast yet, and what sort of breakfast does she like? How about lunch?"
 
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Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Ellena's eager smile slowly fades off into awkward confusion at the following silence, which however luckily doesn't last long as Danielle comes in behind her. Swiftly stepping to the side a pace to allow her to speak. She can't help but silently gulp at mention of the one that didn't make it here, thinking of how she narrowly avoided the same. But in any case she had made it here after all, and so quickly puts it out of her mind from now on. Listening attentively to what Danielle had to say, she made to follow. As the group began to move, she had a brief worrying dilemma of whether to leave her things here or not. Having not been told otherwise, she took them with her and skipped over to keep with the tour.

As they went through the manor, Ellen had to repeatedly wipe the look of awe from her face, trying her best not to highlight her very common roots any more than she could help. Noticing the rather casual way the tall maid in cream and black regarded the stately surroundings, Ellena assumed she must have seen all this before. A real pro maid, clearly. She'd have to watch this one and try to pick up some tricks.

The library made her head spin, the dinning room made her wonder why anyone would ever need such a big table, and the kitchen made her hungry. She even seemed to be impressed with the comparatively humble servants quarters. For a start there were no cracks or apparent damp in the walls, and no news paper vendor screaming outside the window. Upon being asked for questions, predictably, her mind went blank. There were of course a thousand questions she could probably ask, but you know how it is. Instead, when Elaina spoke up with what sounded like a very sensible question, Ellen latches onto that with a nod to show second interest.

'Definitely a seasoned pro...' she muses to herself.
 

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Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Jessara watched as the last girl came in, thanking herself that she hadn't been last. Soon after the head maid entered taking them quickly around the mansion, Jessara awed at the professionalism and stance of the older woman. Listening to what she had to say she tried to file it all away. They entered the library but as she had barely been taught to read it meant little to her, but she noticed some of the other girls look impressed and decided to note that this was impressive.

The rest of the house was covered quickly and soon they entered the servants quarters, as the head maid pointed to the beds and said they could have whichever she quickly laid claim to the nearest bed, remember all too well quarters she'd had where there hadn't been enough beds and only the quick got real ones. She laid her small bag on it, thinking she would organize it into her chest later. She turned back to Danielle "Will there be any leeway with working preferred assignments?" she asked half as an honest question and half to find the woman's mood and demeanor.

((Middle bed if available or one of the ones beside it))
 

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Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Noticing that beds were being taken and not wanting to be the last at something again, regardless of how trivial it might be, she decides to claim one and put down her things. Simply picking the end bed near the kitchen, standing by it already, she places her small suitcase underneath and her long case laid neatly on top for now. Of course, keeping her attention on Danielle as she does so.
 

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Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Elaina tossed her bag onto the far bed, the one closest to the head maid's room, aiming to have the bag land perfectly next to the pillow and be generally impressive (Athletics roll).

"I'll take that one, by the way," she said with a grin to the other maids who had gathered round. She placed one hand on her hip and stood with a relaxed poise, glancing at the other girls.

Not much to tell. They seemed a bit awed by all this, so she supposed none of them had been maids before. Well, then that was one thing she shared with them, she supposed.

Elaina actually enjoyed the barracks feel of the servant's quarters. Even though she had had her own tent while out on march, she had often spent time amongst the female soldier's tents, and even the men's tents quite frequently, whenever she didn't have a male family member watching her every move. The men had always appreciated the princess' visits, though they had been nervous at first, she was quick to humanize herself, which the soldiers found endearing. They had all been very loyal, and many joked that they would prove their valor to her in battle so as to win her heart. She had laughed at that, and told them to concentrate on keeping their own heads attached to their bodies first and foremost.

This sparked a painful memory, as suddenly she was remembering her capture and the subsequent rescue. Many of those same men had trouble looking her in the eyes after that. The worst part was that many of them blamed themselves, thinking that they had failed to protect their princess. Suddenly, Elaina felt a lump in her throat, which she put down quickly. This was a silly time to get emotional...
 
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Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

(Crap sorry guys mom had got rushed to the hospital. I'll post something here but this will be a place holder and she'll take the remaining bed.)
 
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Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

(I'm sure nothing so important will be said that I need to wait)

Elaina's bag flew across the room, overshooting the bed and landing in the corner with a crash, earning her a stern and unimpressed look from the head maid. "I suggest you refrain from such activities when the mistress is present." she said bluntly.

Danielle took in all the questions before answering, glancing over the girls as they asked about various things. She nodded to Elaina as she inquired about a typical day. "At some point in the morning, Lady Ashbourne will awake. She may or may not desire breakfast, depending on when this may be. Under normal circumstances, I would not allow her to oversleep, but due to her health this seems to be a more prudent option. Depending on how she's feeling, she may get dressed or remain in bed. In the remainder of the morning, she will attend to her various work and prefers not to be disturbed. During this period is an ideal time to get various chores completed. I typically fetch her laundry when I deliver mail and paperwork to her in the morning."

She paused for breath, before moving on. "Come noon, lunch will be delivered to her. Until you are all more familiar with Lady Ashbourne's tastes and expectations, I will handle the food preparation, although those of you with an interest in cooking are welcome to assist me and learn. Every other day currently, Lady Ashbourne's physician has been visiting around early to mid afternoon, for her regular treatments. They require privacy for these sessions, so I reccomend finding something else to do."

"By the late afternoon, the lady has usually finished her work for the day, or is not feeling up to continuing. In either case, unless she is not feeling well enough and needs to rest, she often desires company. Her preferred activity is various games of intelligence and wit, you may have noticed some of them in the lounge. She hates to lose, but she hates even more to feel like she's being allowed to win, so keep this in mind. After this is of course dinner, followed by bathing and bed for the evening."

Danielle waited a moment for the maids to absorb all this information, before moving on to the next question. "She has already ahd breakfast today, yes. She is feeling well today so I handled that before you were all due to arrive. As far as lunch, if you're interested in cooking, you may assist me in the kitchen. As for the matter of preferred assignments, naturally it makes mroe sense for you all to do what you excel at most, within reason. Certain activities require doing, whether or not anyone is particularly keen on them. As long as all the essentials are covered, I am happy to allow you all to decide who does what."

She glanced around for a moment, nodding slightly. "If there are any more questions, speak now, otherwise it's time to begin discussing work assignments. I will be going to begin preparing lunch, I am willing to have along a single assistant. The Lady's laundry has yet to be washed, although it has been collected from her room and awaits attention in the laundry; which is directly downstairs from here in the basement level. You may have noticed the gardens are beginning to look... less than perfect. I am ill-suited to such activities and have not found the time for them, but perhaps one of you would be adept at such things. Beyond those, there is always dusting to be done in this house. The north-east area of the upper floor has fallen into disarray from laying unused, someone could begin sorting and storing the various clutter up there; although the storage areas are mostly on the ground and basement levels so it will involve a fair amount of physical activity. Lastly, there is a growing collection of books in the main library that require sorting and putting back onto the shelves. That is all I acn think of off the top of my head, if you noticed anything else you think needs doing, feel free to bring it up, I am far from flawless."
 

BlueSlime

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Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Elaina frowned at the missed throw, and immediately began ghosting the move of future tosses, muttering silently to herself for having over thrown the bag. Danielle's chide was flatly ignored. Poor girl had no sense of humor.

The long explanation to her question followed, and Elaina found it quite reasonable. When Danielle finished, Elaina shrugged and looked at the other girls. "I'm happy to let you all choose first. I'd be happy to sort through the room upstairs or spend time outside in the garden. And if the lady would prefer an opponent for this afternoon's games, I'm sure I'm not good enough at those mind games to make her feel as if I'm playing to lose."

Elaina chuckled. She had never really been into indoor challenges, always preferring to excel at feats of dexterity and athletic prowess. She supposed she might as well refine that part of her skill set while she was here, and perhaps her sickly cousin might get some enjoyment out of teaching these little games to a Whitefield girl.
 

Unknown Squid

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Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Ellen jumps slightly at the crash, not having expected one when she saw the bagged tossed, but quickly recomposes in order to listen to Danielle answer the questions. Doing her best to take in the long answer and instructions, trying not to drift off and miss parts like she was prone to. She ponders the options, and decides to simply go for something she'd done before. "Hmm, I could take the laundry for today then. I've helped around the soap and lye tubs before." She offers plainly. Perhaps she'd go on to dusting afterwards. That sounded easy enough.
 

GargantuaBlarg

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Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Momoko heavy-lidded gaze rested on the navy-haired girl as she tossed a bag at the bed she'd just set her suitcase next to, pivoting to watch it sail over the mattress and clunk against the wall.

Still staring at the thrown bag, Momo rolled her eyes and sighed through her nose before bending down to slide her suitcase over to the adjacent bunk.

"Okay." Straightening back up, she turned to Danielle.

It didn't take long for Momo to decide on what she wanted to start on. Hearing "soap and lye tubs", she inadvertently flinched - she'd had enough of that, the other girl could have it. She was wary of working in the kitchen, lest Danielle pick up on her scent or, God forbid, it rubbed off onto the sickly Mistress's lunch. Not the best of first impressions. She hadn't had a manicured garden or anything, and dusting sounded quite dull. "I'd like to clear the upstairs. Would you please show me the storage rooms, Miss Danielle?" Besides avoiding wasting time and effort wandering the house with a heavy box looking for the closet, she hoped to see what was put where in the closets, so she could sort things at the mess and then take them all at once.

As a bonus, she could start learning her way around the mansion while she worked. Not too shabby.
 

Skull_Man

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Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Jessara listened intently to the orders and answers being given, her heart leap when the head maid suggested they would be able to have leeway with their assignments, her thoughts drifted back to the ride up to the mansion and the fresh scent of the yard.

As the other girl volunteered for the garden her heart sank and she quickly added, "I would also be interested in working in the garden, I love such work." hoping that she would at least get some time outside.

After her blurt she settled back into her quiet thought, what illness did the lady have? what could cause such a long term disability? she had never known any training in medicine or health so such concepts seemed strange, what could a doctor not cure. The idea of it frightened her a bit and she decided to avoid the mistress as much as possible, in an effort to not catch what she has.

She looked up and down the other girls, wonder what it would be like to live with them
 
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