To Be Haeseni - A Final Ward Essay

[CasChaos 43]

TO BE HAESENI

 

 

 FOR THE HEARTH OF THE HOMELAND.

 

PENNED BY THE HAND OF

MARIAN BLACKWOOD

My final piece under the wardship of the Grand Lord, Fabian Kortrevich.

On this 10th day of  Tov ag Yermey of 490 E.S. 

 

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VA BIRODEO HERZENAV AG EDLERVIK,

 

I have grown up in the Heart of the Kongzem.

 

My wardship here has been the most fantastic experience of my life. The wardship has been my entire life, really. I have learned many things- I have learned of the courts, I have learned of etiquette, and most of all; I have learned what it means to be Haeseni. 

 

The courts of Haense are the life of the Kongzem.

The courts, from the Grand Lord, who I learned under, to the party attendees, to the ever so slightly exasperated party planners, are the very culture, life, and soul of the Kongzem. 

You can see that culture in the festivities and brilliantly adorned dances of Lifstala, you can feel that life as you walk between bustling stalls at the House fairs, and you can be that soul when you sit down for a drink at the tavern after a game of axe-throwing in the cellar. 

 

The etiquette of Haense is the breath of the Kongzem.

Ever since I was a girl, I’ve been taught my manners. My rehearsed introductions, and my near-fantastical way that I’d managed to dodge dancing lessons. It is those manners that bring out the very best in a person. It is a breath of cold fresh air, when you hear a Prevja, that it may let you know you are home.

 

The people of Haense are the lifeblood of the Kongzem.

It is there in the way the Brotherhood stands by the gates, and marches in their lines; how you know each one by name and have since you were a child. It’s how you bond with the people around you until you are family before you realize you always were. It’s being the bairn running around and ducking behind tavern counters, to being the adult giving the hiding children hot cocoa as they giggle away. It’s being raised by a million people, the saying “It takes a village” making its way into your very being.

 

The Kongzem of Haense is a heart, beating, and living.

It is warm with the life of the courts, in the bustling squares and brilliant ballrooms. 

It breathes with each word spoken, as you introduce yourselves with the titles you keep, and then dismiss them after five minutes when you feel dear enough to the other.

 

The people course through the streets and the trials and the world, holding each other together like they’re family.

 

And the most brilliant thing that I’ve learned in my wardship, is that they do so because we are one.

 

 

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DLUM VE EDLERVIK AG VE BIRODAL,

 

Firress Marian Blackwood, Alderwoman of the People’s Duma

[critter 2473]

Fabian sobs, and sobs, and sobs, and sobs some more.

 

They are all happy tears.