His Lordship

[Sharuuk]

Lord Millfolk may be the richest person in the Seven Villages, but he seems to be an "all right guy". His easy relationship with the workers suggests that he came about his riches by hard work and not marrying into or inheriting it. As his greeting to Quentyn suggests, he also seems to be much less formal and stilted than Lady Millfolk. He's easy to talk to and feels comfortable around his employees. He gives the impression that he's done just exactly what these guys are now doing, and if need be, will jump down into the ditch with them.

As Quentyn observed, there seems to be a stronger and more open affection for Colin, and Colin reciprocates. That's a hearty genuine laugh coming from him. Lady Millfolk didn't even seem to have the time to, at the very least, give her son a hug before attending the Guild Ladies klatch. This gives me the feeling that she's essentially a social climber and quite the bit of a snob. I'm not saying she doesn't love Colin, it just seems that she's a bit preoccupied with social functions rather than the well being of her son.

I'd like to know more about how the sitting of 'night watch' by his parents went. I know that Quentyn told Master Rillcreek that it didn't work, but I'm curious as to how it didn't work. Were there no night terrors while they sat with him only to return when he'd sleep alone? Or did they disperse them only to have them return again?

All of this could very well be tied together, I'm just trying to figure out in what configuration.

Shaaruuk

[RHJunior]

Bit of a spoiler.....















Actually, it's the reverse.
Lord Millfolk inherited his wealth-- or rather his family business. Lady Millfolk was a worker, then a supervisor, in one of his father's mills. Business association led to romance which led to marriage.... Between them they quickly pushed the moderately prosperous family business into something of a minor empire.

This has resulted in a lot of unspoken difficulties on both their parts. Lord Millfolk, for all his generosity, constantly wrangles with unjustified guilt over his "easy wealth" (considering how hard he works, decidedly unjustified) and is constantly trying to prove he's "just one of the working fellas."

Whereas Lady Millfolk, anxious and awkward, is constantly trying to prove herself "worthy" as a lady of a wealthy house.... and, despite doing a rather good job of organizing the household, getting saddled with a lot of boshy nonsense about how a proper aristocratic FAMILY is raised and administrated.

[Sharuuk]

Thank you for the update RH. I did have things just a bit reversed, but I was going soley on what I had read in the strip alone, and how Lord and Lady Millfolk "felt" to me.

Not such a spoiler after all.

Shaaruuk

[LoneWolf23k]

So, in short, Lord and Lady Millfolk come from different backgrounds, and are now constantly trying to appeal to each other's "social group": Lord Millfolk the highborn trying to be more like the working class, and Lady Millfolk the worker trying to be more like a high society matron.

Interesting twist.

[The JAM]

[...unWARP!!!]

Good evening.


Hmmm...so perhaps the "betwetting" theory is an incorrect one, since both parents do show some tangible affection to Colin.

Quentyn might try to ask Colin more specific questions about the details of how the night terrors come about: what he ate for dinner, who was in the house, the hour of night, lunar cycles, time of year, any outside events, etc.

[Sharuuk]

So, in short, Lord and Lady Millfolk come from different backgrounds, and are now constantly trying to appeal to each other's "social group": Lord Millfolk the highborn trying to be more like the working class, and Lady Millfolk the worker trying to be more like a high society matron.

Interesting twist.

Agreed, but I get the distinct feeling that Lord Millfolk is way more comfortable, and thus more genuine in his "regular working guy" role than Her Ladyship is as a "proper" society matron.

I'm NOT implying that either one of them is hypocritical or phoney in any way, it just seems that His Lordship is more comfortable wearing "rough cloth" than his wife is in brocade.

And it IS an interesting twist.

Shaaruuk

[Kerry Skydancer]

So, in short, Lord and Lady Millfolk come from different backgrounds, and are now constantly trying to appeal to each other's "social group": Lord Millfolk the highborn trying to be more like the working class, and Lady Millfolk the worker trying to be more like a high society matron.

Interesting twist.

Agreed, but I get the distinct feeling that Lord Millfolk is way more comfortable, and thus more genuine in his "regular working guy" role than Her Ladyship is as a "proper" society matron.

I'm NOT implying that either one of them is hypocritical or phoney in any way, it just seems that His Lordship is more comfortable wearing "rough cloth" than his wife is in brocade.

And it IS an interesting twist.

Shaaruuk

Definitely. I think that Lord M. is more comfortable in the other role - if Colin's any indication, he was raised properly by his father and is repeating it with his son. The boy is being introduced to the business from the ground up, rather than stepping into the Vice President role as a young adult after ignoring it while growing up. Besides, just from a practical standpoint, the workers are undoubtedly happy to accept cameraderie from their boss, while Lady M. might be looked down on by many of her society-dame-dragon peers and be overcompensating, trying to fit in with them rather than sticking with her old crowd. I don't know why she bothers, if that's the case, but I've seen it happen iRL.

[DracoDei]

The boy is being introduced to the business from the ground up, rather than stepping into the Vice President role as a young adult after ignoring it while growing up.

If you mean "encouraged to SEE what is going on from a young age", then I would agree with you.
If you mean "starting in the mail room" that doesn't QUITE fit with my understanding of the situation, he only hunts rats for fun. He's a kid with a BB gun shooting at crows in his daddy's cornfield. Granted, dad is probably extra proud of his sucesses because there is some small economic value in them.

P.S. Night terrors are a sign of developing Lux talent. I wonder if his range is somewhat restricted compared to a year ago? I know I wouldn't let a kid with a lighter that he absentmindedly might flick near a grain grinding operation. See what happened when the fire mage got nervous at the choosing cerimony (his hat caught fire). For those of you who don't know there is a phenominon that is I beleive called a 'silo explosion'. This occurs in an 'empty' flour silo when a spark or flame contacts the dust hanging thick in the air... because they are so small the flour particles have a LOT of surface area to contact the air, thus they can transmit heat and react with oxygen VERY rapidly. They don't call it an explosion for nothing...
(Begin technical rant):
This is similar to the reason a fuel injected internal combustion engine (spark plug or diesel) atomizes the fuel it shoots into the cylinder instead of squirting a solid stream. In fact if you do the same thing with a large amount of jet fuel in a large open area you get a Fuel Air Explosive bomb... also known as "the poor man's nuke"... viscious sucker as I understand it. I beleive even hardened bunkers can be effectively targeted because it uses up all the breathable air in the area (which is also one of the uses for a flame thrower).

[Kerry Skydancer]

The boy is being introduced to the business from the ground up, rather than stepping into the Vice President role as a young adult after ignoring it while growing up.

If you mean "encouraged to SEE what is going on from a young age", then I would agree with you.
If you mean "starting in the mail room" that doesn't QUITE fit with my understanding of the situation, he only hunts rats for fun. He's a kid with a BB gun shooting at crows in his daddy's cornfield. Granted, dad is probably extra proud of his sucesses because there is some small economic value in them.

He's still pretty young, though. He's not really of an age to give a permanent assignment to yet, but his father's encouraging him to hang around and learn by watching. This is a Good Thing.

P.S. Night terrors are a sign of developing Lux talent. I wonder if his range is somewhat restricted compared to a year ago? I know I wouldn't let a kid with a lighter that he absentmindedly might flick near a grain grinding operation. See what happened when the fire mage got nervous at the choosing cerimony (his hat caught fire). For those of you who don't know there is a phenominon that is I beleive called a 'silo explosion'. This occurs in an 'empty' flour silo when a spark or flame contacts the dust hanging thick in the air... because they are so small the flour particles have a LOT of surface area to contact the air, thus they can transmit heat and react with oxygen VERY rapidly. They don't call it an explosion for nothing...
(Begin technical rant):
This is similar to the reason a fuel injected internal combustion engine (spark plug or diesel) atomizes the fuel it shoots into the cylinder instead of squirting a solid stream. In fact if you do the same thing with a large amount of jet fuel in a large open area you get a Fuel Air Explosive bomb... also known as "the poor man's nuke"... viscious sucker as I understand it. I beleive even hardened bunkers can be effectively targeted because it uses up all the breathable air in the area (which is also one of the uses for a flame thrower).

Hmm. Hadn't thought of the explosion angle and I -should- have. The FAE Daisycutter is what we used a couple times in Afghanistan. Reports are that after one use, there wasn't anything left of the position except their boots.

If there's a chance that emerging Lux talent can generate sparks, they'll definitely keep him away from the silos.

Skydancer

[RHJunior]

With their level of magic use, I'd think it safe to presume that they have methods of suppressing both fire and dust.... and the tendency to ignite flames.

With the exception of firemages (who, like other specialist mages, are more or less born demonstrating their innate ability with their particular area of power), firestarting is a <I>learned</i> skill and has to be taught. Plus it does take some focus and concentration, so it's not likely to happen by accident.

Very few magical effects are innate or "natural" to Rac Cona Daimh from birth... fortunately firestarting isn't one of them.

[SolidusRaccoon]

Very few magical effects are innate or "natural" to Rac Cona Daimh from birth... fortunately firestarting isn't one of them.

Heh heh heh, talk about a flamming temper. Hate to be on the wrond side of that 2 year old.

[Kerry Skydancer]

With their level of magic use, I'd think it safe to presume that they have methods of suppressing both fire and dust.... and the tendency to ignite flames.

With the exception of firemages (who, like other specialist mages, are more or less born demonstrating their innate ability with their particular area of power), firestarting is a <I>learned</i> skill and has to be taught. Plus it does take some focus and concentration, so it's not likely to happen by accident.

Very few magical effects are innate or "natural" to Rac Cona Daimh from birth... fortunately firestarting isn't one of them.

Yay! More data points! Dankesch

[Sharuuk]

Hmmm...so perhaps the "betwetting" theory is an incorrect one, since both parents do show some tangible affection to Colin.

Maybe not entirely incorrect, I'm reasonably sure that this situation may have some bearing on Colin's night terrors, although exactly what, eludes me at this time. He is a troubled kit for certain, but this could all be coincidental because I don't believe that he's actually causing his night terrrors.

And from the look of things, I'd say that Lord M's affection for Colin is considerably more than just 'tangible'.


Shaaruuk