New Haven Baronial reign

[Joku Shoyia]

The wild elven warrior with the oriental features turns off the Great North Road that runs from the heart of RhyDin city to the farthest reaches of the continent to the north on to a very well-constructed road that leads to a rather large lake to the east that the Echigo River empties into from the north and the RhyDin River flows through on its way to the city to the southwest. The warrior’s wide almond shaped dark colored eyes took in the various manors, villas, and other luxury estates that this outside the walls suburban lakeside community consisted entirely of with almost no business or industrial properties of note to speak on though some of the residential compounds could be rival of any palace keep in the countryside. Not being very tall while being of wiry athletic build instead of bulky brute strength, the warrior got a few suspicious looks until they saw the Knights of Rhonabwy cloak as the warrior strode by then usually citizens would recognize the ring denoting he was the new Baron of the district which immediately got a more respectful reaction.

He spent the next few days winding his way back and forth down smaller side travel lanes crisscrossing the west-east road that went from the Great North Road to the lake in the east. He had dispatched a couple Wings of his Talons discreetly over the last couple of days into the district to get a lay of the land and gather intelligence on who was who and which property was whose so he could be a little bit prepared as he ran into citizens on the street in getting to know them. He had also dispatched his own dragonets and those belonging to members of those within the Talons Wings through the district as discreetly as possible to get a feel for the more natural and fae elements of the district. Most of the citizens shouldn’t have been aware enough to be concerned of these observatory actions as they were never intrusive, probing, or otherwise done in a way that would have set off any alarms or wards. For him it was to plan the most efficient route to walk over a few days through the entire district of New Haven introducing himself to residents and giving them the chance to voice any concerns or complaints, though he made no promises he did genuinely inform all he would have his people take a look at the circumstances to see what could be done to effect a resolution without really confirming or denying the solution would benefit a specific citizen as he didn’t want to already seem to be playing favorites.

He had preferred to challenge for the Seaside district stewardship since the road that lead west out of the city along the northwest coast lead right by his own fortress of Shoyia-no-jiro, Shoyia Tsumenoshiro at the mouth of the Cataclysm Cliffs River along the border of the Mydknyght Triangle and Parqilos Badlands provinces within the Echigo Highlands realm. Instead he was asked to challenge for New Haven whose road lead to the turn off to get to Joran’s Zer'Dra'kuar Citadel on the opposite eastern edge of the Parqilos Badlands near the southeastern corner of the realm mostly because the Praetor felt the Elatum Talonis of the order was more prepared for a Swords title challenge then the Elatum Imperator at the particular critical timing. If he had been the title holder for Seaside then the district could have just been an extension of his own holdings within the Knights of Rhonabwy controlled realm that bordered the city-state of RhyDin, but instead his logistics would be more complicated in some ways though with the lake piers of New Haven cargo by boat from either direction would be easier than by land in either direction. Regardless of what he had preferred the reality was such that this district was his now and he would make the best of it and figure it out as he went. It did provide the order a way station between the city and the realm which was convenient for multiple reasons though for now no signs of the order could be noticeably seen within the district at all as of yet with the new Baron seeming to avoid his official residence the first couple of days in his wonderings back and forth across the district.

He had stopped by the official residence briefly to do whatever official ceremonial handing over of stewardship of the residence and district required with the other Knights of Rhonabwy in attendance showing their support and strength with a few other dignitaries from other districts invited that was open to all citizens of the New Haven district in the brief afternoon reception that had some basic snacks and refreshments provided with background music being played by some wandering local minstrels. When the new Baron finally addressed the audience in attendance his comments were brief and mostly mentioned an open door policy was welcomed and for however long he was in the stewardship he would do his best to help insure their lives had as minimal drama as possible from outside influences but otherwise would be unobtrusive in their everyday lives except in extreme circumstances as warranted. A few of the more extreme conspiracy types who had heard what had been going on within the city walls tried to press the definition of extreme circumstances but were given assurances it meant what had been considered normal extreme circumstances in the past like natural disasters, outbreaks, and the like.

The new Baron was not in a rush to move into the new residence and gave the former steward of the district and her staff all the time they wanted to get cleared out of any of their personal effects. Once the former staff was cleared he told the head of whatever holdover staff left that stayed with the baronial manor regardless of whoever was the current steward to do an extra special thorough spring cleaning from top to bottom then start a modernization renovation project while keeping with as close to historical themes and styles as possible hiring local district craftsmen while what resources couldn’t be purchased within district to help the local economy then the materials of highest quality would be donated from the Echigo Highlands realm directly. The new Baron authorized a ten percent raise increase from normal average wages for staff and trade craftsmen on the project out of his own coffers. There was also instruction given to have the open space around the manor transformed into a community gardens park to also hopefully be completed in time for spring planting. He figured that gave him at least a few weeks for probably a chance to have to defend the title at least once in the ring before he felt truly comfortable moving into the manor himself.

[Joku Shoyia]

He stood before the polished silver mirror stand set to one side of the wide patio doors that opened to the lake view from his bedroom in the baronial manor of New Haven. The fresh water smells compared to the salt water scents of his usual coastal residence of the Echigo Highlands were a welcome change of pace with the freshness of spring upon the continent. He was checking the fit of his first time wearing of his customized Ki styled summer linen jersey in classic TDL Champions of Mythos colors and style with the number “8” centered on the back with “SHOYIA” centered over the digit as the morning breeze wafted into his chambers bringing pleasing aromas. It would not be a bold statement if one were to note that the district’s current baron was per chance seeming to exhibit a little giddiness as he prepared for the evening’s exhibition team event against old school rivals the Wrecking Crew. Pleased with the fit and styling of the new Ki jersey in team colors he headed down through the manor to the outside area usually reserved for martial arts training on the grounds and began going through a few katas to stretch his body and clear his mind.

As he began the first few katas he tried to let his mind go about whatever nervousness he might have about whoever he might end up facing from da Crew. Though he has only lost one duel in regards to what is officially counted in the armed combat’s main venue since his return a few months ago it had been the second round of the Madness tourney against his captain and then Overlord. His other unofficial losses coming in an unofficial tourney amongst teammates his only missteps since returning to the dueling rings though the accomplishment of achieving a title for the first time seemed to not have brought much satisfaction to him. He was feeling fortunate that he had gotten that first duel after achieving title out of his system finally and it had gone pretty alright, but now this evening would bring him his favorite style dueling.

Team versus team in the TDL format in which he had gotten his start in the sport long before he discovered the home venue was his favorite thrill of the sport with the matchups against the legendarily famous Wrecking Crew some of his favorites. His first season in 520 with KFG having first beaten Tical then lost to Chris in an overtime match, then the following year while on his first season with LXD he lost by a point to Bode then a couple seasons later lost another overtime duel this time to Charlie before respectable wins against Maria in season 524 and Tony and Bode in the final league season of 525 all while he was on COM. He sighed a little bit with resignation that when he first reached the twenty duel minimum he was high up on the league all time lists but by the time he ended with over 70 career duels he was just barely in the top twenty-five all time with a two-thirds winning percentage. As his movements moved his body through well practice motions his mind became more and more clear and he took strength from his past to prepare him for the day to come.

He found it fitting that his first team versus team experience back in the dueling rings would be against the WRC team though he doubted they much remembered their encounters with the oriental featured wild elf in all the league matches that team experienced, but he hoped to give them a little reminder this evening. After afternoon meditations his most skilled swords-smith brought him his recently maintenance and sharpened katana before he left for Kitsune Stadium with a little pep in his step and glint in his eye that it was going down tonight.