backgrounds
Hillary and Rey had a very rocky relationship, their parents being the ones to arrange the marriage. Reys family had been a very large, rich family. Hillary had married into the family with a level of disliking towards her for being a commoner. There was a level of pressure to have children, to carry on the legacy. "You're getting old, Rey, you need to do it eventually."
Odin had a lot of expectations put on him very early on. His grandparents, Reys parents, wanted him to be the one to carry on the legacy. Odin wanted none of that.
Rey and Hillary shared some sympathy, but after a few years Hillary changed her mindset to put the family first. Like father like son, Rey and Odin didn't care much.
When Odin was 4, they had another child. Her name was Odahlia, after Hillary's late mother. Odahlia was discarded, often forgotten about. She wasn't meant to be born, really, they only needed one child to satisfy Reys parents.
Odahlia grew up seeking her parents approval, getting better grades than Odin and being more involved then him in general.
Reys parents despised any sort of fey relations. After Hillarys' and his relationship fell apart, when the kids were 15 and 19, Rey went and fell in love with an elven woman. She had fey ancestry, quite some, therefore his parents stopped talking to him. They replaced him with Hillary, giving her the upper hand in just about everything, including Odin and Odahlia.
The two had a close relationship, if not for the usual, maybe more, fighting. They cared for eachother, Odin taking more blows from his mother to protect Odahlia, and Odahlia defending Odin when he messed up on something. Their relationship began to wavier and break after Rey left.
In her teenage years, Odahlia was quite rebellious. She hated her parents for not caring for her when she was a kid, so in turn she did things behind their back. They never really found out.
Sometime after a nasty fight at a party, Odahlia ran into a man. He offered her something that could change her life, and it did.
Odin was kicked out just before he turned 20. Odahlia couldn't do anything, and if she tried, she would be gone too. Odin learned to resent her for not doing anything.
Odahlia had forgotten about him after the attention was turned to her, being the only child fit to carry on. It isn't clear if this was Hillarys fault or her own.
Rey and Torrora had a child when Odahlia turned 20. They had named her Darcy.
Odahlia, now in the spotlight, began to climb. She gained her mothers adoration, she learned how to do things, and she learned how to lie. In short, Odahlia became a front for the business. Hillary grew weak with age, dying after Odahlia entered her early 30s.
With her grandparents and her mother dead, there was nobody else who could take care of what they had built, so Odahlia took over. She was a great businesswoman and a greater fraud.
Eventually her power bled into surrounding towns, and she became quite popular. You either liked her or hated her, and there was a very good amount of both.
Odahlia, while out with her friends, developed the idea of connecting the continent. Travel time between cities was high, most of them quite large and unwilling to do much about it.
Odahlia had a web of tracks built between cities, and she had a train designed for them. Fourteen cars, 96 passengers.
On the other side of Griffingrad, Odin went homeless for a year or two. It wasn't until he began to pick up doing chores and errands for people when he met them; Manirith, a hot-headed Tiefling wizard who moved to Griffingrad after a falling out with her husband, Muldos, a sassy, impatient human Druid whose hometown was destroyed, and Jellin, an overconfident Gnome cleric with a knack for inappropriately timed and tasted jokes. They took him in, offered to house him if he ran errands every now and then. Eventually, they offered for him to join a relationship between the three. Odin agreed, and they cared for each other with sickening love.
Darcy, on the other hand, had lived with her parents. Her elven family was very overprotective of her, Torrora having troubles with having children in the past. She was very loved.
Rey was something of an unavailable father, but when he was around he made sure Darcy knew he cared, often giving her gifts like little magic items and blessings. She owns a rabbits foot keychain from him, and feels it grants her luck.
While out during a summer night market, a freshly 19 year-old Darcy runs into an icy-blue dragonborn named Joran. Joran was a nervous mess, having lost the guard that her mother sent with. She was standing near a tree on the outskirts of the market.
The two spoke for a bit, Darcy being immediately infatuated with her, speaking eventually lead to a deeper conversation. Joran told her about her father, about how she was due to be wed the following year. Darcy promised to not let that happen. She offered for Joran to run away with her, but she declined. Her father was the mayor of Seaport, and her bloodline was previously royalty, so Joran was very important. She was her mothers first and last child, her dying two years prior. Darcy gave her condolences.
They loved each other, but Joran could not go with Darcy. She promised to come back, as there was an important event that she had to be present for in a month.
Darcy agreed, sadly but excited to see her love again. The guard found Joran a few minutes after their promise, and she gave the excuse of 'just making conversation.' She winked at Darcy after.
Odahlia was having a great time.
She had just had her first stretch of the tracks built, and it only took a few months... a lot of months.
The next was set to be made within the year. Eventually, there should be a web connecting all the tracks on the continent. She had gotten the other city-leaders to agree to her plan before construction began, only two not agreeing. None the matter, because they were small and on the inside of the continent.
The only thing bringing her down was a few personal things and the fact that she still hadn't gotten to buying that laundry soap, but those didn't matter at the minute. She felt amazing.
Odin had just caught wind of Odahlia planning to build tracks all across the continent. Of course, this sounded like a great idea to him. However, she was also planning a lot of other things. He had only gotten the chance to read up on what his sister was doing, discovered that he had another sister too.
Odahlia had planned to run for mayor. She had pulled together her best qualities, everything. The only reason that was actually in the papers was a very small mention of it in her big train speech.
Odin knew this was a bad idea. He knew that she was not fit to run anything, and that even the fact she was in control of the families business was bad. He knew that Odahlia was not herself anymore.
So, he planned to give her a visit. Odin didn't tell his partners, as he didn't want to scare them. He knew that they would try to stop him, tell him to not get involved. Odin knew better.
It had been their 5th meeting. Well, meeting was a strong word.
Joran had just gotten the ability to roam around alone with the exception of a location-tracking charm and a guardsman on standby.
She knew where to find Darcy. She always did.
They've met the most in the original street they met, near the tree. It was fall now, so all the flowers that decorated it had turned brown and fallen off. The townspeople had hung up little charms and dangles on its branches, something to celebrate the season. Feathers, crystals, charms, notes to loved ones (or hated ones), and a few colourful ribbons.
They were talking about Odahlia. Darcy had actually only talked to her sister twice, one time when the other was visiting her father and the other when Odahlia came to his funeral.
Odahlia talked about a brother she apparently had as well, though she never saw him. His name was Odin.
Joran shared how she thinks she saw him a few years ago in the town over. He was working at a restaurant, and he said hi to her as she walked in.
The conversation moved from Odahlia, to Odin, to the train. The train that was now well into construction, it planning to be finished within the next few years.
"We could run away together on it. We could go anywhere- nobody would know."
Joran looked nervous. Well, she always had, "Darcy, it could be dangerous. Odahlia's going to run for mayor of Griffingrad, she could rat me out!"
"No, no she wouldn't do that. She wouldn't even know. We could paint you red and change your name. We could change my name- I can dye my hair, or get a big scar, something to look unrecognizable," Darcy moved her hands as she spoke, emphasizing her words.
"Darcy, you aren't going to hurt yourself just so we could be together. That's... stupid. I won't let you, anyways."
Darcy rolled her eyes. "Okay, not that, but I'd do anything just to get you away from... all of that."
Joran had been married that year. The man was unpleasant, selfish, and only in it for the money and the power. They both didn't like eachother.
"Darcy, I love you, but... I don't know. I want out as well. It's just... it's complicated. Running away means- it means running away. We can never come back."
"I love you too. And that's why we have to run away. If we never come back, who cares! We can fake our death, live somewhere in Bellwich. We could have a nice little cabin, own a cat or two. We'll have all the time we need and more, Joran. It's... it's very scary. But that just means its worth it."
Joran nodded, and the plan was set. They would board the train whenever Joran could get back in Griffingrad and run away to Bellwich. They'd figure it out from there, all they needed was each other.
The trains completion was a month away. Just a month away.
Odahlia could barely contain her excitement.
She had been visiting the construction sites, checking in on employees, sharing after-work drinks. They loved her.
The only minor setback was a little complication an employee found during the station construction. A man was found in a ditch, beyond recognition. He was dead. She told the employee to not tell anyone, and then told the same thing to the other one who was watching. She would have it taken care of. She always does.
When people trust you, they will listen to you. That's why Odahlia has the upper hand in all of this.
The people will freak out if they find out a body was found at the local station. That's why nobody can know.
Apart from that, however, everything was going smoothly.
Odin had left during the night. Jellin was at work, and the other two were asleep in their bedroom. He left a note saying he had a few things to take care of, that he'll be gone a day or two. To not worry.
When he arrived, Odahlia was having a cigarette outside some bar. He hadn't even planned to talk to her here, she was just... there.
She hadn't recognized him at first. Well, who would? He had undergone quite the change in the past twenty or so years. Maybe even longer, he had lost count.
"...Hello. Did you, uh, need something?" She raised an eyebrow.
Odin had a stern expression, his eyebrows knit with concern.
"Odahlia. I thought you'd recognize your own brother." A humourless joke. Neither laughed.
"Oh. Oh! Odin... it's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Indeed. Odahlia, we need to talk."
"I agree."
Odahlia put her cigarette out on the wall, gesturing for Odin to follow. She took them to the station, nobody was around.
They shared a few words, and that followed into an argument.
He doesn't remember beyond that.
Joran was waiting. It was the second journey of the train, and she could make it. They met a day before, talked about where to meet. She ran out the night before, Darcy stained her scales a red-purple, and she had waited. Joran snuck out this morning, dressed in colours to compliment her new look rather than the blues and whites she wore before. She was even wearing gold rather than silver from the box hidden under her bed.
And so, she was waiting.