To be born into lordship is a wyrd that falls to few, but to be disgraced and reduced to poverty happens only to the most wretched. Judyht’s family was once among the most prominent in Cliving, tracing their roots back to its founding in the time of Brego, son of Eorl. Misfortune fell Judyht’s family in the latter years of her childhood, and ever since the family has had to rebuild from the splinters of their former life. Judyht’s father found work as the local apothecary, but people talked. As if the family’s history weren’t scandal enough, it was long said about town that his two daughters shouldered the family business: dark-haired Judyht tending the shop and visiting homes to treat the sick, while the fairer-haired Runéa tended to the garden and gathering beyond the city walls. 

Their father recently passed, but the people of Cliving did not have long to talk before Runéa and her sister packed up what they could of their shop, sold the last of their family’s breed of horses, and rented a wagon to the Kingstead to start a new life. Now, Judyht and her sister rent from a Captain Orduin, a smith and Rider with whom Judyht had become acquainted in the Man’s more recent campaigns in the Norcrofts. In Apuldram the sisters intend to start a new life, continuing their work, caring for their neighbors, and building a business and home for themselves away from the scrutiny of their former peers.

Image by Malik Fernandez.