Open Chronicles Heart & Hearth Day - 2025

[Lumen]

Sable Pembroke,

Can we meet again? Maybe we could go on a date? I'm sure you have a lot of girls looking your way but I wanted to let you know you've caught my attention. And I've learned that life, for us, is too short not to take chance.

xo

Lu

 

[Maseno Luana]

To: Livia Quinnick

A most unexpected and welcome surprise not just to find flowers awaiting me when I returned home, but a letter from Miss Quinnick as well.

It has been quite some time, has it not? I am fairing well, all things considered in the field of battle I now find myself in. I am glad to learn you are well, and at your family's estate now? It does the heart good to return where it feels the most warmth.

Thank you for thinking of me, Livia. I had not even realized the fabled Heart & Hearth Day had arrived and passed, as full as my own days have been. Either way, it is good to hear from a friend.

I wish you well on your new path, wherever it may lead you.

With warmth,
Maseno Luana

 

[Glendora]

My Hunter (Oakley),

I will never forget your cocky, dimpled smile the night we met. I didn't know a male like you could exist. You changed my life forever that night of the Hunt. I would erase the stars for you. Even looming wars will not get in our way. I never knew I was missing a part of myself until I found you.

Until you found me.

I will love you until the stars fall and the night withers. And even then, I will love you from this life and into the next.

Your Huntress, Ora

P.S. I'm wearing nothing but the light of the moon

-a leather corded bracelet would sit next to the note downstairs, woven like the gnarled branches of the walls of his house with a pale, golden quarter moon set in the center with an air of magic around it; one of protection-

 

[Colt Pirian]

Kristen,

Hope you’re doing well. I’ll see you soon, promise.

- Colt

---

With the letter would be a small box, inside the small box would be a pair of leather gloves with the Pirian coat of arms branded onto the inside of the right glove, and a small box of chocolates.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Skyler]

Rhory Grimmere,

I best-friend pinky-swear promise. Why? Is there anyone else that you have eyes for? Did you ever think about Arn. I like you both, so I think it's only natural that I want both of you to be happy and why not together? Miss you and hope to see you soon so we can catch up.

P.S. I think I've met someone.

Your pal,
Sky

 

[Sidereal Penumbra]

Lorelei,

Gods, do you know how beautiful you are? And fierce? And stalwart? And a pain in my arse because I'd do anything for you, Lori. Anything for a look. Anything for that twitch of your lips. Anything to hear you laugh. Do you know how powerful you are?

The moment I saw you alone and battling that enemy on your own. I know I was utterly, fucking yours. I love you, Lori. And maybe one day, you'll believe me. And I"ll make sure that day comes. I can promise you that.

Whether you want me or not, I am yours.

Sid

 

[Magdalena Elbion]

Mackenzie Erris

While I can appreciate someone who isn't afraid to wear their life on their sleeves, you've taken the limit at which it is charming and broken it worse than my sister's vanity mirror.

Please consider this Heart & Hearth Day gift box for the sake of our working relationship. If you continue to conduct yourself like something a flea-bitten stray dog kicked out of its pack, I'm afraid I will be seeking a new hire for the team.

I really do not want to have to go through the hiring process for a replacement. Don't make me do it.

Scrub scrub.

~ Magie


A package containing the following:

A new leather jacket (to replace that disgusting thing that wreaks of horse dung).
An assortment of new tunics and pants.
A hair brush (magicked to make one's hair tangle-free).
Beard grooming kit.
A bathtub brush.
A variety of soaps.
A year long pass to the Great Lagoon Bathhouse of Elbion.

 

[Mariana]

Alistair Krixus,

I'm glad you tracked me down and dragged me back to live with you and Natasha. I know how much you love your family and somehow I was lucky enough to be part of that. I know i don't always show it but I love you, brother. And even if you're not always proud of me being your sister, I'm proud you're my brother.

Inside is a small painting I did just for you. Small enough to fit in your boot or pocket. Just press your thumb over it and it will activate from a one-time use. In case you're ever in trouble.

Love you lots!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your sister,
lil' M

-On the small portrait is a painting of a star that will emit a powerful and blinding pulse of light before disintegrating into nothing-

 

[Kaia Thesius]

Errune Thesius,

The Aquatic Museum of House Belavyor could use your touch, brother. It is not careless but things are not as well or intentionally placed. I was thinking about you and Raimond Thesius. With my new living quarters in the underwater city, training, and missions beyond the Thanasis borders I don't get to see family much and I miss you.

How are you?

And, I met someone. A stranger from the continent. Do you know anything about a place called Vel Anir?

Love your favorite (and only) little sister,
Kaia

-enclosed is a package of saphire plum-spiced tea and a small, book of handwritten maps made by Kaia-

 

[Raziel]

This wasn't a war. Not like the kind Raziel had seen and - on more than a few occasions - instigated.

It was a local territory dispute. Too small to draw the attention of kings and real professional armies.

Feyre had her supporters to take back her father's title, but the ded Baron still had family and supporters.

A small encampment of spearmen and archers held on the hill above the town of Nanditch. Thomond's people had been reinforced, but the town had stone walls and they lacked the siege equipment to force a breach. The Baron's nephew was mayor of Nanditch and had orders to hold them here before they could march on Feyre's home.

On this Heart and Hearth day Raziel did not write a letter. He delivered a gift.

"Feyre!" he called out. She had the largest tent in the camp and her guards were used to the tiefling coming and going. Not normally with a person over one shoulder.

Raziel threw the bundle down. He yanked back the hood, revealing a face screaming in terror into the rag wrapped tight around her mouth.

"The mayor's only child," he pronounced. "A gift."

The tiefling offered a wicked smile and a deep bow.

 

[Paetr]

@Paetr , my love
I do not need this day to tell you how I feel for you, but I must and with all the pageantry and pomp. Chocolates and a new embroidered scabbard. It is subtle, perhaps I may even regret using the black thread, but the details are not lost if you are to look at it closely.

It should hold your favourite blade.

I shall see you tonight for the dinner I have planned,
Seryn

My dearest Seryn,

I should have delivered your gift earlier, but now I am glad to be able to write your letter.

You see I also had a gift made of black thread and it is also for holding your favourite sword.

Wear it tonight to dinner beneath your dress.

Am I not so clever with words?

Paetr.

 

[Leovold]

A short note would find it's way to the man in the morning, accompanied by a glass blown sun dragon.



Leovold
I write you a letter on Heart and Hearth Day to wish you well, and that I cannot wait for the day of our wedding day.

Your bride to be,
Eira

Eira would receive a note in return, written short in kind, and lettered plainly.

Eira,

I shall always remember my vow to you, and I swear to always uphold it. We shall be stronger together.

Your future husband,
Leovold.

Shortly after, a trinket would arrive for her with a small tag denoting it being from Leo as well. A metal replica of a moon dragon, smithed by hand. A second note was attached, stating that it was forged from spare smelted down metal of armor and weapons carried by Thagretian war beasts.

 

[Sable Pembroke]

Sable Pembroke,

Can we meet again? Maybe we could go on a date? I'm sure you have a lot of girls looking your way but I wanted to let you know you've caught my attention. And I've learned that life, for us, is too short not to take chance.

xo

Lu

Lumen Adagio,

I would like that very much, though I'm admittedly ashamed that I was not the first to ask. Please, allow me to treat you to dinner! I look forward to seeing you again, soon.

Yours,

Sable Pembroke.

---

Alongside the letter is a nicely wrapped book, A Tale of Bravery. Skimming it, it's a bit of a cheesy classic, a romanticized tale of two questing knights facing fierce monsters and growing closer to each other.

 

[Zinnia]

To: Zinnia

Every full moon I think about the things I wish I could change about me.

To: "Howl"

I wouldn't change a thing about you, and I am so happy to have met you as you are. You, more than anyone, have my heart and my trust, whatever shape things may take.

I think about that night often. You made me feel like no one else ever has. I'll never forget that, nor regret it.

I have been called to the front. Please, please, please stay safe. If the gods are real and they look out for us, then I pray I can see you some day, too.

Until we meet again,

Boss​

---

Sealed within the envelope alongside the parchment is a small, metal pendant in the shape of a dragon, on the end of a band of twine that can be worn as a bracelet or necklace.

 

[Mackenzie Erris]

He opened the presents first. Of course he had. The jacket was of course his favoured item. Tunics... augh. There was something about the collars, he hated things around his neck. He'd do something about that, he supposed. As for the pants...

He looked down at the ones he wore, torn and worn as they were.

Thanks Mags.

The brushes and soaps he tossed aside, seeing little use in them at the moment.

Bathhouse? Is she trying to tell me something?

He lifted his arm, hazarding a sniff. Nothin. He shrugged, and then after surveying the gifted goods a final time he noticed the letter. He'd noticed it at the beginning as well, but his attention span... wasn't what it used to be. He opened it, and read...

His face grew somewhat long, a mixture of shock and amusement stretching his features.

Scrub scrub? Ohhoho... that woman...

Another sniff. Then two. Carefully this time.

He huffed and frowned, and quickly took up his own pen.

Dear MAGS,

I am deeply moved by the gestures you have shown me with such wonderful gifts.

As he wrote, he looked down at his writing. Swirls and scribbles, it looked terrible to him. Hopefully she'd be able to read it well enough... it was the best he could do.

Placing his pen to the paper, his urge to pour out a little spite was... stilled. And so he wrote...

I will strive to fit in with my... new pack, a little better.


Your humble protector
- Mackenzie Andreus Erris.

---

Magdalena Elbion

​

---

He realized he hadn't gotten Mags anything for Heart & Hearth Day... looking at the year pass to the bathhouse... he figured he knew what to do.

Flea-bitten... my ass.

​

 

[Saderzaine Vult]

Dear Kristen Pirian ,

How goes the days? I learned through asking of Vel Numera that you are its leader. Not only a Dreadlord, but a stateswoman? I should have bowed far lower than I did the time we met, if I did at all, so forgive me for that. Life moves quickly in the academy and one must always adapt, but I hope you will be happy to note I have not forgotten the lesson you imparted.

Matter of fact, it remains within my mind to this day. I feel quite the fool writing one of these letters to a friend, as I imagine it is an atypical thing to do, but I feel good in pushing through to express my appreciation. If you feel like writing back with a status update, I will drop everything to read it.

Sincerely,
Saderzaine Irwin Vult

Sitting in a tavern near the Academy, Sader read his letter once more and a pang of embarrassment that would have daunted a lesser person shot through his mind. Sipping a glass of orange juice, he sat silently and tried to convince himself this was a good idea. He was truly grateful to the red-haired Dreadlord but even so, sending such a thing felt awkward. After a moment, he put the letter in the envelope and found a courier after looking for a while, simply going through with it before he could put it off any longer.

 

[Errune Thesius]

Errune Thesius,

The Aquatic Museum of House Belavyor could use your touch, brother. It is not careless but things are not as well or intentionally placed. I was thinking about you and Raimond Thesius. With my new living quarters in the underwater city, training, and missions beyond the Thanasis borders I don't get to see family much and I miss you.

How are you?

And, I met someone. A stranger from the continent. Do you know anything about a place called Vel Anir?

Love your favorite (and only) little sister,
Kaia

-enclosed is a package of saphire plum-spiced tea and a small, book of handwritten maps made by Kaia-

Dear Sister,

The Aquatic Museum of House Belavyor should consider investing in a professional Curator if it is as disorderly as you say. My time and efforts are dedicated in full to the Royal Archives and the responsibilities therein, and given my physical state it is no small effort to make travel or voyage anywhere.

Raimond has set an unforgiving precedent for our House name, so I heavily encourage you to bring what honor you can to our family. As I am no longer fit or eligible for marriage, I implore you to maintain your romantic and marital interests with a keen eye for quality of character and blood. The Thesius family cannot afford any further affronts in the eye of the Crown lest we find our own House honors and what little respect we still command stripped from record.

Thank you for the tea. I will share your maps with the Archival Cartographers to add to our collection.

Your Brother,
Errune

Enclosed: A list of well-qualified Curators from the Capital.

Kaia Thesius

 

[Kristen Pirian]

And then would come a reply to Initiate Saderzaine Vult of the Dreadlord Academy. The letter had been composed in the last hours of "peace" before the war in Cortos began in earnest. The writing of the letter was of a practiced calligraphy, like a song manifested into flowing form on the page. It read thus:

Dear Saderzaine,

Let me, from the very first, allay what unrest may have seized you from our previous meeting. It was my express purpose not to mention forthrightly my Ladyship of Vel Numera, but rather to speak with you on terms where station ceded precedence to a common humanity. Humility, therefore, was my watchword. Know, Sader, that I quite enjoyed our brief talk.

And, if I might press upon this point, humility indeed was a fine watchword for me, for what is the name of a Great House, what is a title or Ladyship, when enduring the rigors of our Anirian Academy? Within those walls all are made equal in such stations, and it remains to the aspiring Initiate to become a Dreadlord, or fail in the attempt. And for your part, Sader, you like all of my peers have bested years of the Academy which surpass mine in both quantity and quality (though I fear the use of this latter word, it speaks to a harshness I myself have never known). Let it never be far from your mind that you have known the old way, stared such unrelenting hardship in its baleful eyes, and come out of it all the better. A worthy son of the House of Vult indeed. I pray only that I might be such a daughter to my House of Pirian.

I rejoice that the words I shared have done you a good turn. Bear in mind too that courage is the highest of virtues, and that there can be no courage without fear. Overcoming what fears assail you in the service of what is right and just is the highest excellence that mortal men and women can achieve.

As for me, then, you will undoubtedly know by the time this correspondence reaches you of the endeavor in which our country has embarked. I am a part of that endeavor, and, to speak with the clear light of honesty, many fears assail me—some newer than others. But I march with courage in my breast and the warmth of hope in my blood, for I am reminded constantly that Vel Anir produces fighting men and women of strength and character. To fight side by side in such company is to know that home is never too far.

If perchance destiny decrees that we share in this duty, then the better I shall sleep, knowing your blade is thus committed to this common cause. And if destiny decrees not, then by meeting again shall I be joyfully reminded that I stand again upon Anirian soil, and I am home.

Sincerely yours,

Kristen​