Private Charity Begins Far From Home

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Lord Vemrich


Rowena was anything if not a woman of heart. She can be charitable when needed. Afterall, her family a long time ago were thrown into the fire, and she was pulling them out of the ashes, rising above like some phoenix that was gaining more power every day. It had taken years for her to get this far; finding a man with a strong family name and close ties to royalty. Marrying him she took his name and further buried the name that she was born with to secrecy. It wasn't fair that her family had lost everything all those centuries ago. The political scheme involved in that one was utterly malicious. But now step by step, Rowena was regaining everything back, for her family and her bloodline.

Some others deserved a bit of lifting themselves. So at times Rowena held a charity event at one of the casinos she frequented, one filled with games, silent auctions and dinner dates.

Her husband Bastin Arenais was off on a mission of his own, securing more funds and valuable artifacts for them. She was used to him being away. He didn't like these events to be honest, for it required him to dress up, and no matter how dashing it made him look, he didn't enjoy it. And so she didn't force him to do so if she didn't have to.

Wearing a bright red slender dress that glittered and draped over her shoulders, she made her rounds with a tall glass of red wine, greeting anyone that stopped to say hello.

 

[Lord Vemrich]

Vemrich stood there with a lovely drink in his hand, making trivial conversation.

His eyes soon set upon a woman he saw in the distance. He recognized her instantly, especially after what his informants had told him.

Her family had been an old adversary of House Vemrich and he had discovered the woman's maiden name through his vast network of informants and spies. Her house had been an old ally of the Vemrich's before they had become a family of Energy Vampires. They had become allies shortly after the defeat of Darth Wredd at the Battle of the Floating World in 140 ABY. However their alliance was not to last. The tale goes that the leader of their house stole an ancient artifact of House Vemrich nearly 500 years ago. After the head of the House Vemrich led their forces to take back the artifact and destroyed the enemy forces in the field, their enemy and their other allies surrendered. The artifact was returned and all was well. 16 years later in 203 ABY, the head of their former enemy's house invited the entire Vemrich family for a feast at their luxury estate. However, it was a clever ploy to lure them in for revenge, but more importantly, greed. While an assassin snuck into the Vemrich estate where the artifact was being kept and took it, the enemy house hosted the Vemrich's at dinner. At that moment, when the assassin reported that he had stolen the artifact, they enacted their scheme. They served a freshly baked dessert, however, the cakes served to the Vemrich's were all poisoned with a unstable mutagen. As they ate, they started to cough, squirm in pain, and fell on the floor screaming and shouting as they suffered. As the Vemrich's household guard heard those screams, the head of the household guard, a disgraced Sith Acolyte, broke through the defenses of the estate and entered with his men into the main hall, where the feast was being held. The household guard quickly scattered the other nobles and their security and got the remaining Vemrich's to safety. The enemy thought they had succeeded and drank afterwards in celebration. Unbeknownst to them, even as the Vemrich's slowly each died to the poison, one didn't. Draco Vemrich, who was the second son of the Lord Vemrich, survived. But his body had becomed mutated and he had been transformed into an Energy Vampire. He swore revenge against all his family's enemies and promised they would die in blood.

That is how the tale goes, more likely their enemy had only stolen just the artifact, and House Vemrich blamed their adversary for their transformation into Vampires. Still, it convinced the other powerful noble houses to sympathize with House Vemrich. Draco restored the old alliance with the Kaon Royal Family, who ruled the planet Kaon within the Tion Hegemony, where House Vemrich had the most support and was loosely sworn to. Furthermore, Draco married a daughter of House Kuat, securing an alliance with most powerful shipbuilders in the galaxy. A few years later, after some short battles, House Vemrich took revenge on their enemies and the enemy house was obliterated, or so they thought.....

Nasal, being the grandson of Draco, heard this story from his grandfather for many years. How he had crushed their adversary in battle and through political maneuvering. Since then, they had thought their old enemies had been destroyed completely. However they were wrong.

In 711 ABY, Draco was killed by his son, Nasal's uncle, Hasir, who was then killed by his father, Tazar, who was killed himself by Nasal's cousin and Hasir's son, Kaziri, who then took power in the family for nearly 40 years. Finally, Draco' third son, Japal, killed Kaziri and ended the ruthless family infighting. Since being childless, he took in Nasal and named him the House heir. Japal was killed by a Sith Lord in 823 ABY, who happened to be his own Nephew, Nasal Vemrich. Talk about a crazy family, huh.


When Nasal had heard about a long lost member of their old adversary that had married into the influential House Arenais. The woman who told him, said that the woman's family had gone in supposed hiding for many years and had slowly regained some standing in the shadows. Nasal blamed his arrogant and idiotic family for not finishing their enemies off. He traveled himself to a casino, where this supposed woman was holding a charity event. He would not hide and move from the shadows, no, he was the shadow. He now had one goal, one aim, to wipe out this woman's family from the face of the galaxy for inflicting on House Vemrich, an eternal life of suffering as Energy Vampires. And he would do it, with charisma, guile, and intrigue.

He picked up his head as he found the woman in the crowd with his eyes. If she knew who he was, so be it, if not. Oh, this was going to be some fun. He would start this scheme as he did with many others, with a bow and fair greeting. He soon approached the woman with an evil grin on his face. He bowed slightly, but yet politely, and greeted her. "Greetings, my lady".


Rowena Arenais

 

[-Shelved-]

Rowena wasn't partaking in any of the games tonight. She was the host and any winnings from participating could be seen as cheating or more. So she remained the polite host, keeping watch to be sure that everyone was enjoying themselves; and of course reminding them about the cause that their credits were supporting. And that was in orphans and refugees from war. There was plenty of battles waging throughout the Galaxy and House Arenais had a trust dedicated towards aiding the lost and families of the fallen.

Lord Vemrich didn't catch her eye until he was nearly in her presence. He was a man with a purpose, that much she could tell. His gate and the way that he stared at her said as much. His eyes foretold a hidden purpose, however hazarding a guess as to what it would be would be fruitless at the moment. She required a lot more than his look alone. The way that he carried himself screamed nobility.

All of this had her quite curious.

"Greetings, my lord." Rowena bowed her head and then tipped her wine glass before taking a sip. "With that kind of smile, one would think that you were up to no good." She gave him a wink, her mind wandering to the silent auction. Perhaps he was running a scheme to outbid someone, or gain a prize for a low price. There were just so many possibilities.

 

[Lord Vemrich]

Nasal put on an engaging smirk after the lady made a comment about his previous mischievous grin. He chuckled a bit after she had spoke and noticed her wink. He then responded cordially, "Well my lady, we all need a little bit of mischief in our lives, do we not?". The statement wouldn't raise suspicion because of calm way he said it. However, if something suspicious was noticed, well, being a Sith Lord would help in that regard.

He focused himself back. He kept his smile and spoke again before she could answer, "Now, Introductions". "May I have the honor of knowing who you are my lady?", he said in a very smooth tone. He could already tell, that charm, could be a key to lowering the lady's guard. If that in itself failed, well, he had many other options to choose from.

Rowena Arenais

 

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"Well, I suppose you'd be right about that. A little mischief every now and then couldn't hurt." Rowena gave Lord Vemrich a blanket statement, borderlining on the cliché. Afterall she had yet to discover what game he was playing at for the moment.

She sipped more of her wine as he asked for her name. For a brief second she was shocked. This was a charity event afterall and she was the host. How would a guest not know her face? Regardless, he could be new to the sector, so she decided to stick with decorum and give him a proper answer. "I am Lady Rowena of House Arenais, the host of this fine charitable event. And you, my Lord?"

His face held a fleeting familiarity, but she wasn't sure why. But what did it matter? As long as he donated to the cause, all was good.