The Elven Heritage Legacy 1.1: Arrival

Hello, and welcome to the (drum roll, please) Elven Heritage Legacy, Generation one part one. This is not your average legacy, though it may start out suspiciously similar. Our founder is an elf in a neighborhood of humans: his mission, to ensure that five generations of his descendants are raised in ancient elven tradition, and that elven culture is spread throughout Lake Valley and its neighboring town of Riverblossom Heights. Why only five generations? Because this is my first legacy. And because I like the number five. But this isn't about me, so let's meet our founder...

"Who...? What...? Where am I?“ At least he got it right the third time. But I'll answer all of his questions anyway, because I'm nice. And because I want to get the preliminaries over with. <You're Haldir Elvensong, and you are the lucky man... er, elf... who I have chosen to be the founder of my new Elven Legacy.>

"Who are you, and why do I feel like someone's watching me?“ <I am the Scribal Goddess of all Virtual Reality, the Spinner of All Fates, Mysterious Calligrapher, proud architect of cities, and the voice in your head which will plague you and your descendants for generations. At least five generations.> "So, you're going to do this for MY WHOLE LIFE?“ <That's the plan, dear.>

"Okay, then I need something to call you.“ <Well, I'm pretty sure 'Lady Voice' is already taken, and I don't insist that you call me Goddess... hmm... I wouldn't mind "My Lady," "Your excellence," "Wise and Exalted One," or even "Your magnificence." But none of your kids are going to be able to pronounce that at first, so I guess they can call me scribbles.> "Wha - Kids?!?“ <What's the big deal? You're a family sim.> "But, My Lady.... I have no wife. And I always thought....“ <Always thought? You've been here for about ten minutes. Anyway, that's all taken care of. Now just stop worrying, and start harvesting vegetables so you can earn some money.>

<I'm pretty sure you want to harvest the cabbage and *then* water the seeds, Haldir.> "I've never seen a cabbage before, My Lady.“ <Okay, just so you're not clueless, I'll fill you in. That thing, there, that you're stepping on, is a cabbage. You're a family sim, which means that nothing in life will give you more joy than your kids... Once you find a wife and get married, of course. You, she, and your descendants, will probably spend a lot of time harvesting vegetables and skilling, because these vegetables are a really easy way to make money - and you're going to be pretty cash-strapped for at least the first generation, because the entry-level jobs in this area aren't well paid, and it takes a lot of money to raise kids. But on the bright side, you will never have to go to the grocery store.>

"These plants aren't much fun, Milady.“ <You need the money. And these are a much better pay off than the Maxis Seasons plants, which are always growing weeds and take weeks to mature.> "I suppose they aren't so bad.“ Little does he know that he will probably be farming some Seasons plants later to earn a badge. Or that I plan to introduce him to the joys of fishing - things that I never bother with for families in other neighborhoods, because most of them are strictly story families, and I play them only for pictures.

<Look, Hal. You have a visitor.> "Scribal Goddess, is this my wife?“ <Erm, not yet. Just be nice to her and we'll see how it goes.> Yes. I had hoped that another elf would be on the welcome wagon. <Oh, by the way, Haldir - I have allowed five other elves to cross the portal into this dimension, as well as you. You might want to get to know them all, because they will all live alongside you - and because you really don't want to rely solely on townies and maxis-mades for friends.>

"Well, hello stranger!” This (the one in purple, not the green one) is one of four candidates for Legacy Bride, Chalimyra Fairmaiden. She's a popularity sim, and quite pretty. She is also an elf, though you can't see the ears under her hair - or Haldir's, for that matter."Psst... Scribal Goddess! Who's the green woman?“ <That's Rose Greenman. And she's married, and she has a baby.> "I wasn't thinking about that. I was hoping she wasn't another plant you want me to water.“ Oh no. He's developed a sense of humor.

Rose and Chali go off to talk while Haldir meets another neighbor, Talon. "I just moved here, and I don't have any best friends. Heck, I don't have any friends but all you people are so nice that it can't take long.“ In this department, Hal, you're mostly on your own. Except I will force you to be friends with Chali, because you haven't met any of her housemates, and they're all lovely elves. There's one in particular that I want you to get along with... But I'm not going to tell you that just yet.

"I've never kissed a girl, but the Scribal Goddess tells me that in the next few days I'll find my wife, and the moment I see her, I'm going to kiss her."Talon looks a little bit concerned about Haldir's sanity."That's not how you do it..."

Armed with Talon's sage advice, Haldir charms Chali and earns her friendship. Talon moves on to have a water balloon fight with Rose. "I'm really glad that I met you, Chali. You're really nice, and you're awful pretty.“ "Aw, Haldir, you're sweet. It's nice to know you too.“ Nothing like a forthright, naive legacy founder to start scaring up family friends. All in all, I believe that it's been an excellent first day - and Haldir has even managed to make some money off of those plants.

"Brrr... Scribal Goddess, it's raining! And I can't find my clothes! and it's c-c-cold!“ <Did you look under the bed?> "You deleted the bed!“ <Only so I could put a roof over your head. You were getting soaked.> "Well, thanks for keeping the fridge, I guess. And who is this redhead? Is *she* my wife?“ <Hadn't thought of it. She's a Townie. I don't know her name. Let me see her face before I decide.>

<Okay, not bad. Nose a little big.... seems friendly enough...>

<What in the....?> She just walked right up and kissed him! They've known each other for five minutes! They have about five relationship points with each other! She's been poking holes in his only wall with his dart board! Did I mention that she's kissing him? <Haldir, romance sim alert! Romance sim alert! For that matter, what do you think you're doing kissing her back?>

"Help! Or, um, never mind....mrff...“ <HALDIR! Just what do you think you're doing!?> "Sclff... you're the one who said to be friendly and see what happened!“ <Hmf. At least you found your tunic.> "It was under the bathtub."

At this point, I decided it was imperative that he invite Chali and her housemates over, so he didn't end up in the hands of some random tramp townie. Behind Chali is Midina Fairmaiden, Romance sim. (I rolled for the whole family, and I'm going to let Haldir choose. But I only let him invite her because she has a pretty tame, career-related lifetime want. And because, as I remembered later, romance sims have no chemistry with family sims.)

Coming from the same lot in a different direction are Eluisa and Viridia. Eluisa is the brunette who looks kind of fierce. You'd think a popularity sim would be a little less intimidating, but back in Elphemerea, the land of the elves, her father is a wizard, so maybe that explains things. Viridia is the redheaded angel in the tan gown.

<All right, Hal. Get ready. Every single female on the lot is a candidate for Legacy Bride. Introduce yourself, quick!> He's already thinking about Eluisa. She's pretty, in a strong-looking way. And I just know that there's sweetness beneath the mystery girl's frown. She's wearing a much more friendly expression now.

This is actually the original sim I started out on with Eluisa, and I kept as much of the look as possible after the necessary face-reconfiguration that went with handing out genetic elf-ears. She also had to lose the hat, which is adorable, but inappropriate for an elf in medival-style clothes. She's lovely, but so are her housemates, and as of yet I think it's possible that Haldir could settle down with any one of them.

She turned out pretty, in an angular way, but when I played with her on her own lot, she was a bit aloof. But she has her sweet side too - I caught her reading a romance novel, and she autonomously hangs out, plays hacky sack, and tries to make friends with Chali, her fellow pop sim. Both of them are a little disoriented from the dimensional transfer.

Here's a comparison picture of Midina. She's gorgeous, in a very obvious and blonde way. I don't really want to let the fact that she's a romance sim bias me against her chances with Haldir, but I am relieved that moving her across town somehow changed her LTW from “have 20 simultaneous lovers” to “become Professional Party Guest.”

She does, however, drink a lot. I'm not sure what that stuff is, but when I got her a bar she was all over it. I deleted it. The last thing that I need is drunk elves! "Mmm... this is the good stuff."

Chalimyra you've seen before. This is Viridia, and I absolutely adore her. She's so sweet, has already studied quite a bit, and never drinks a drop. Plus, I'm a sucker for redheads.

Lucky me, he has the best chemistry with Viridia. I was hoping for three lightning bolts, but she's perfect - I'll deal with their lack of enthusiasm later. “Scribal Goddess?” <Yes, Haldir?> “The redheaded one is really pretty.”

And Haldir the idiot immediately starts shooting his mouth off. "Gee, you're pretty, Viridia. I'd love to kiss you sometime - well, not if you didn't want to, but if you do...“ <Haldir Elvensong! You sound like a romance sim! Shut up or change the subject! You're going to freak out your potential bride!> "Um, I... er, sorry, I didn't exactly mean it to come out that way... So what's up with this weather we're having?"

And they proceed to talk about the weather. For at least an hour. Eluisa waits to get in on the conversation, while blowing on her hands and shivering, even though it's SPRING. "It's awful cold out today, Haldir.“ "The weather is amazing... there's so many things that it does that I've never seen before, like lightning and rain and snowstorms...“ "Oh, I've never seen a snowstorm here either, Haldir," Viridia replies, "but back in the mountains in Antediluvia, we had lots of them."

Meanwhile, the ignored Chali and Midina play darts. Midina would be a better shot if she could get her foot out of Haldir's bathtub!

Well, what did you expect, Eluisa? The second my back is turned, you barge into Viridia and Haldir's conversation and grab his hand! How was he supposed to know you only wanted to play rock paper scissors? <Hal, what do you think?> "I think that Miss Eluisa is very rude.“ Gah!

"Well, lemme see..."Chali is clearly hoping that she will get some time to increase their relationship to best friend status, but Hal is thinking about Midina. "Psst.... Scribal Goddess, Midina is quite pretty. And when I told her I was a legacy founder looking for a bride, she said she'd teach me everything I needed to know about double beds and changing booths....“ <Haldir, honey, listen to me. I don't know what it is, but something about that girl just screams trouble. Just keep it friendly but keep your distance. Try talking to Chali.>

And he immediately began to gossip with Chali about how rude Eluisa is, while Midina stalked off in frustration. "And she keeps walking around with her arms crossed. She also makes funny noises through her nose when I talk to her. I don't think she's very polite.“ "She is… not quite like the rest of us." Chalimyra agreed cautiously. "The Scribal Goddess says that she might be my wife, so I have to let her stay here for a while until I decide. But I like you and Viridia better. You're more fun.“ <Don't sound so ungrateful! Most legacy founders have their marriages arranged, or they have to have blind date after blind date with whoever the evil gypsy matchmaker summons. And they marry townies! You're lucky that I have provided you with four lovely young elven maidens to choose from.> "I suppose you only have my best interests at heart, Scribal Goddess."

<Psst... Go for the redhead!>"I thought you said you were letting me choose?"<Just a bit of friendly advice. You two were made for each other. Literally. Now say something romantic, quick!>"Miss Viridia, I've only just met you, and I couldn't help but notice that your eyes are the exact color of the leaves of my cabbages."<Augh! ROMANTIC, not vegetable, you....>"Why, Haldir, there's no need to call me 'Miss.' And I'm quite flattered that you think as highly of me already as you do of the vegetables you were so lovingly tending when I arrived."Whew. But could it get any sappier?

Yes, yes it can. "Well, I have to say you're a lot prettier than any sunflower. And a lot more fun to talk to. It's nice to know that we have interests in common, too.“ "All right Haldir, if we're going to be friends, tell me about yourself.“ <You're going to be more than friends, dear.> "Well, I got here yesterday morning and found out that I only had a bathtub, a toilet, a fridge, a bookcase and a couple of plants, but the Scribal Goddess explained to me that it's because I'm a legacy sim, and I have to work really hard to find a wife and start a family..."

<Upidstay! Ixnay on the ifeway! And whatever you do, don't bring me into this! She'll think you're a complete freak!> “Oh, you're a family sim too! When you find a wife, you'll have to bring your babies over for me to see - I love babies! If I have a husband by then, our kids can play together! They'll have sleepovers, play baseball, have pillow fights...” <Whatever you do, Haldir Elvensong, I will never forgive you if you say...>

“Great! But what's a pillow fight?” Whew. “I'll show you.” Viridia proceeds to beat the stuffing out of Haldir with a sack of feathers. “Ha! You hit like a girl!” <Haldir!> “That's because I am a girl! Take that!”

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you that hard! Are you okay?" Viridia looks positively worried, in the sweetest way possible. I love her face. "Grilled Cheese sandwiches!“ "What?“ "Oh.... there's a feather in my mouth.“ I think that she's rattled his brains. Possibly in more ways than one.

“Oh, I'm so sorry!” "Nah, It's fine. I've had worse.” Finally, a smooth move. Even if he is a bit of a liar. <Congratulations, Hal.> “What?” <You got her to hug you! She likes you! You like her! Now let her go home - she's bushed from pummeling you - and get to bed.>

Bright and early the next morning, I tell Haldir, who is puttering around the vegetables humming and thinking of Viridia, to give her a call. First, he calls Talon, his only guy friend, and spills his guts like a girl about how much he loves Viridia. I obviously don't know what Talon's saying back, but I hope that it's not...

<ERK!> Haldir moves in for the kill while I wait with baited breath. "Haldir! What are you... Oh!...."

“Mmm.” <Well, it's about time you got there!> “Fmrr...schlop...” <When you're done exchanging saliva, bacteria and molars, there's a very special question I need you to ask her, Haldir.>

"Oh, Viridia! You've planted your roots in my heart like a giant red Sunflower! I want to share everything with you, forever! I adore your funny starched sleeves and the way you always sit under the spoon on my wall to wait while I harvest my zucchini! You're so good and honest that you have never once stolen a leaf of my money tree, even when Chalimyra and that random townie were picking it clean!“ <They what?! I'm so going to make them pay for that! We needed the money!> "Viridia, would you do me the honor of..."Wait for it...

"Moving in with me?” <Augh, you Idiot!> "What, exactly, do you mean by that?" Viridia seems more puzzled than mad. A good sign, I guess. "Well, I thought we could get engaged, but I thought you might turn me down and I'm scared of that... We can get engaged later, if you want. Don't worry, I'll sleep on the floor until we're married. If you want to marry me, of course.“ "Of course I do, you silly boy!"

Harvesting pie trees waits for no man. <Haldir, you realize that you don't have a bed, right? So that means you'll both be sleeping on the floor.> "I was hoping you'd buy me one as a wedding present.“ <Okay, I'll let you have a bed. That crop of apple pie should earn you enough to pay for that fifty dollar double bed I downloaded. But get married quick!>

All on her own, Viridia tidies up her fiancé’s shack. I love this girl. Meanwhile, Haldir is on the phone, blabbing to Talon about how he kissed Viridia and how they're engaged now. I'm sure that Talon's thrilled. "By the way, we're having our wedding tonight. Do you want to come?" Haldir's method of wedding planning is only to be expected of a legacy founder.

I had intended to have their wedding in the afternoon, but by the time the guests arrived and got seated, it was dark. I also don't know why Haldir is thinking of Chali, unless he's grateful that Chali is there to support them both. Or for the fact that if he wasn't friends with Chali, he would never have met Viridia. Whatever the reason is, they'd better get on with the wedding.

From far left (your left) the wedding guests: Eluisa, former housemate of the bride and rejected candidate for Legacy Bride. Midina, the same. Talon, the groom's only guy friend. Also, the only other male elf in the neighborhood. Rose Greenman, whose hobby is popping by this lot for a water-balloon fight, and then pondering whether she should call home and check on her little green baby. Chalimyra: matchmaker, Bride's former housemate, and friend of the groom.

Everyone cheers for the kiss. "Whoot! Great technique, Haldir!" yells Midina. <Congratulations, Viridia. You are now the legacy bride.> "Haldir, did you hear that?""Mmmf?“ <Of course he did. I'm the Scribal Goddess. And let me just say, I've been rooting for you all along, dear.>

“This is for taking so long to propose! And this is for not warning me that the Scribal Goddess was going to be a part of the bargain!” It looks like she's attacking him with cake. He doesn't seem to mind. <What's wrong with me, Viri?> “You're everywhere!” <Fair enough.>

<Anyhow, I'm leaving you two to your own devices for the rest of the party. Don't bother clearing up the wedding arch.>Actually, I lied. I bought them a radio and then left them to their own devices. Which led to the giant smustle line. Everyone except Eluisa joined in. I have no clue as to what she was doing, but it seems that there’s always one at parties…

<Well, well, Haldir. You're quite the dancer. Atypical, as most other legacies complain endlessly about their founder or heir's funny smustle faces or lack of coordination.> "I thought you said you were leaving me alone?” <You're never alone. You've got me.> With a wicked grin that he can't see but can probably hear, I return to clearing up.

Stopping only to watch as Viridia plays matchmaker between Talon and Midina. They are cute. I think Midina could go for him, as he wants to make lots of money and she wants to be a celebrity chef. If they get married, their kids will be up for consideration as future legacy spouses.

And feeling that someone should be paying attention to Eluisa, who has skipped out on the dancing and looks rather lonely, I give Viridia a gentle nudge. <She looks kinda sad, doncha think?>Viridia, who is a little quicker on the uptake with hints than her husband, immediately falls to gossiping with her housemate about Talon, who they both think is cute. "And I think he likes Midina!" Viridia whispered. "No kidding?” <Well, that would kill two birds with one stone.> I'm not sure I like having a romance sim running around this neighborhood on her own, even if my legacy heir is turned off by her.> “Chalimyra thinks he’s hot, too.” Eluisa added with a small grin, “In fact, she’s over there chatting to him right now.”

The party ends, but Eluisa continues to dance. And fall. “Whoa... Thanks for inviting me, Haldir! That party was really a roof raiser! Sorry if we got off on the wrong foot the other day... everything's just so different here, and I miss home...” Aaw, I told you that her prickliness was just a tough shell. Finally, after becoming a little more friendly towards our legacy founder, she left.

<Haldir, don't just shove that wedding cake down the sink!> "You told me to clean it up!“ Lo and behold, when I deleted the half-eaten wedding cake, I got all my money back, not just half! <Now collect your new wife and go inspect your wedding present.>

<Do you like it?> “It's pretty comfy, Scribal Goddess. But what if it rains?” <Then I'll move you back under the roof, Hal. I just thought that this would be more romantic. You know - stars, the night air...> “Scribal Goddess, what exactly are you suggesting?” Again, Viridia is a bit too sharp for this. Then again, her husband's clueless about such matters. <Two words, my dear: legacy heir.>

"Go away, then.” <All right, if you insist...> But these two make me angry. Three strikes in a row. No legacy heir, though both of them falling asleep after every time didn't help. On the bright side, both of them will have another day to work on their careers... In hindsight, I should have gotten Haldir a job days ago, because harvesting vegetables is nowhere near as profitable as I thought it would be.

So Viridia goes off to work as a playground monitor, and Haldir as and EMT, because we really do need the cash if we're going to build a proper home for the baby that has been thought of, but not quite imagined yet.

Poor Chalimyra stands on top of their newspaper for two and a half hours, looking lonely. Haldir and Viridia are her only friends outside of her house besides Talon, and it looks like Talon might be busy.

Third - er, fourth? - time is a charm. I won't tell them yet, though. They have enough on their minds. Dreaming about each other all night, for one.

Round about three in the morning, Viridia starts puking. Good news for me, bad news for her. Her husband, who has an extremely early shift now, is making breakfast for the both of them.

“Scribal Goddess, I'm starved! When can Haldir and I have a baby?” Sooner than you think, my little red-headed angel. Sooner than you think. <That's really up to the two of you, now, isn't it?> “I just really hope I can be a good mother, Scribal Goddess.”

Well, Viridia is smart. She figured it out on her own, and now talks and thinks about the baby constantly, even though she's not showing yet. Meanwhile, I pretty much chase after her trying to make sure that she doesn't pass out, starve, or pee herself. I really hope it's a girl. And I really hope she's a redhead. What is my fascination with red-headed elves?

Uck, lightning storms! Not only do they freak me out in game, but the Wedding Tree got struck and started on fire. Not once, but twice.

As soon as the rain put it out the first time, the tree was struck again, and started on fire. I'm worried that it will spread to the house.

“I'm fining you $500 for calling the fire department when there was no emergency. That'll teach you to prank me and make me drive all the way out here into the mountains.” <Hello, idiotic mortal! Fire! In the tree just behind you!> “I don't think she can hear you, Scribal Goddess. Didn't you tell me that all NPC's are nonbelievers?” <Which is why I wanted Haldir to marry a nice girl like you, Viridia. I'm tempted to arrange an uncomfortable fate for Lora the incompetent firefighter.>

<Viri! Viri, what's wrong? Are those contractions? Is it a girl?> “I'm laughing, Goddess!” <Oh, that's okay then. Why?> “Aren't Goddesses supposed to strike people who get in their way with lightning? If you were behind that last bolt, I think your aim is a little off!” <Hmpf.>

<Hey, Haldir?> "Yes, Goddess?” <What exactly is that thing, and why is it steaming? Should you really be in it?> "My colleagues at the hospital assure me that it is perfectly safe.” Haldir got promoted again, and his shift changed again so I thought it would be a good idea to get an energizer. Though I'm not sure that I like the looks of it...

Peacefully oblivious, Viridia begins to fish in the early-morning darkness. From the pictures, you can tell that I'm in the process of building them a new house - Kitchen, bridge and pond are visible here.

“Haldir, your wife is as big as a sumo wrestler!” “Hey!” “No, it's a good thing. It means she's going to have the baby soon.” “Oh...” Haldir invited Rose and Chali over for the day, because nothing is more entertaining than sitting around waiting for a pregnant woman to pop. Viridia and Chali chatted over lunch, before conning Rose into doing the gardening. Not that a plant sim needed much encouragement.

<Viridia, why did you stop washing the dishes to make that funny face at me...? Is it the baby?>"The baby just kicked me, goddess."<Does that mean...?>

No baby. But lots of toaster pastries. “So, Viridia, do you intend to return to your job as a teacher when your maternity leave is over?” “I'm only a teacher's aide, Chali. But yes, I do. I feel that it is important for young elves and humans that those who are in charge of their education take it very seriously.”

<Haldir, what's so funny?> “Chalimyra sat on the stool!” <And that's funny because....?> “Her skirt's trapped under the leg!” I am beginning to hope that their child has Viridia's sense of humor rather than Haldir's.

<Aw, sweetie, what's wrong?> “I... *sniff* I burnt the grilled cheese.”

“... And I plan to spend the rest of the week meeting new people. I've already met about seven humans, can you believe it?” <Told you so.>

<Ack, is it the baby?> “No, goddess, just a crick in my back.” <Stop doing that!> “You're the one whose jumping over here every time I make a noise, asking if it's the baby!” <Hmph.>

"Aaaagh! Yes, goddess, before you ask, it's the baby. Where's Haldiiiiiiiiir?!"

Baby Aranel is the spitting image of her mother: a green-eyed redhead. With her mother's skin tone as well. Incidentally, though I won't be doing it for all of this legacy's elven offspring, I picked her a Sindarin name - from J.R.R. Tolkien's elven language. "Aranel" loosely translates into English as "Sarah," because both names mean 'princess,' or 'lady.'I don't know if our little princess has any genetics at all from her father.

But both parents adore her. Her father got another promotion when he came home (is this number three, or four?) So I am going to celebrate by planting an apple tree.

Actually, as I found out in the morning, Aranel has her father's green eyes and her mother's pale skintone. But now I can't decide whether her eyebrows are brown or red, though brown seems to be a nice middle ground between red and black. Also, I want to take this moment to congratulate myself on picking such a hot founder. Come on, you know you love these sweet family moment/gratuitous eye-candy pictures.

Yes, another father-daughter picture. Beware the floating baby! <Congratulations, Haldir. Your daughter is telekinetic.> "That, Scribal Goddess, is a sure sign of strong elven magic."

And this is the picture of their now-improved house. Forgive me, but I’ve finally gotten most of the walls started. You won’t be seeing a floor plan again until much later, I promise. And the next one won’t be at night. (When I slide-shared this, I didn’t want to take it out, though it’s not a good picture, so skip this slide if you like. Not that you haven’t already read through if you’ve gotten to this point.)

More floating baby phenomenon. The floor and other parts of the main room (AKA the master bedroom) have been turned into the nursery. Plus a few skilling objects, which were necessary for promotions.

Viridia stayed home the next day to take care of Aranel and get some rest (and vegetable harvesting) in. Actually, I had been resigned to calling the nanny, but I couldn't get Viri to budge. There's a true family sim for you.

Ah, the sweet sound of father and daughter bonding. Remarkably, Aranel never spit up on Haldir or anyone else, even though she was upside-down quite often during babyhood."Whose daddy's little flying girl?""Goo!""That's right Ara! Fly like a little bird!"

“Drink up your milk so you can grow up and be a big, strong heir someday.” Yes, I am a supporter of strong family bonding, beginning at birth. But mostly, I think Haldir's sweet. He's a really great father for Aranel, and I can sense that we're probably going to have a daddy's girl on our hands once she gets old enough to do more than eat, wave her tiny hands, and fill diapers.

“As soon as you become a toddler, Ara, you have to start learning the elven arts. You can never start too early at appreciating your heritage.” It seems that both the family sims have good advice for their firstborn who currently enjoys the status of heir apparent. But I'm not sure just how long Ara will enjoy that birthright, because the heir will be determined by who I, and their parents, deem to be the most likely to preserve the noble elven traditions.

And just before her daughter's birthday, I ensure that Viridia gets out of the house to avoid going stir-crazy. She meets up with another elven newcomer, Antoin Greenleaf, and has a nice chat. He advises her on where to get authentic elven toddler clothes, and reveals that his children are about the same age as Aranel. Viridia doesn't know it, but she is looking at her baby's possible father in law. (All heirs will be marrying playables, specifically other elves, in order to preserve the elven traditions.) “Scribal Goddess? I thought you said that you were only able to allow five elves, plus Haldir, through the dimensional divide.” <I was, but as your legacy grows stronger, I do too. I was able to make another mass transfer on the night after Aranel's birth, and Antoin and his family were available on the other side. Get to know him: he has kids who can be friends with Ara.>

Okay, lots of people complain about their nannies. But Nanny Lisa adores Aranel, and even cleans! Of course, the generous tipping of Viridia and Haldir may have something to do with that...

"Let's hope this works, Scribal Goddess.""It is a very magical device, isn't it?"

One heir apparent’s birthday party, coming up. From right (your right) Todd Kearny, random human colleague of Haldir, Gabe O'Mackey, colleague and friend of Viridia, Viri holding Aranel, the lovely Chalimyra, Haldir in his work clothes, and Talon. Okay, it's a bit of a compromise party, and I think I should have invited more of the elven immigrants.

[chorus:] “Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear Aranel...” “What kind of a name is Aranel?” <Hush, foolish mortals.> Aranel seems to have inherited a nice mix of features from both mother and father, grew up in a nice blue dress that will soon be swapped for more authentic garb, and is a fiery redhead. LITERALLY fiery, as she only has one nice point. Save me from the terrible twos! “Hey, Viridia, that whole crying baby thing wasn't so bad. Maybe we should...”

“...Have another?” Immediately after tossing her daughter, Viridia experiences baby bump syndrome. Aranel, by the way, is a Gemini. 4 neat, 6 outgoing, 9 active, 5 playful, and 1 nice. Despite this, no tantrums as of yet. She's crawling away at a surprisingly fast rate, though.

And Haldir gets some more father-daughter time. Viridia is already best friends with the tyke, so I thought it best for the hardworking father to spend some quality time with his offspring, especially as he's worked such long hours while Viridia was on maternity leave.

Besides, he wanted to do this. Family sims are so cute."Say 'magical elven formula,' Ara.""Magelfa!"<*Snort.* You might want to start with something simpler, Haldir.>"Say 'bottle.'""Badle!"They're going to be at this for quite a while. (As a side note – Ugh, the walls are down. I had intended not to give you any such shots – notice my lack of photographing plumb bobs? - but I guess I have gotten better at pictures.)

<Is it really traditional for elven toddlers to wear brown footie pajamas, Haldir?> “Of course, Goddess. It demonstrates a oneness with nature. The animal shape symbolizes the fact that the wild beasts of the field and forest are our kin, and that we are the stewards of the land.” <Okay, I'll let it slide this time.> “This time, Goddess?” <This is an Elven Heritage legacy, Haldir. In order to be a valid heir, a child must wear traditional elven clothing, gain at least five skill points in body, creativity and charisma before heirship is chosen, participate in both gardening and seasonal activities, like splashing puddles, leaf-pile jumping, and snowman-making, and have at least three points of interest in the environment.> “All of this is in fine elven tradition, Goddess, but it seems like you're expecting a lot out of a very little baby.” <There's plenty of time. And that 'magical Elven formula' you've been feeding Aranel supposedly has lifelong effects.>

Haldir doesn't know it, but there are also a few other rules for the elven heritage. One: no woohoo before marriage. Two: for every marriage, a large deciduous tree must be planted on the lot, and Wedding Trees cannot be moved. Two; for every birth, something must be done to improve the environment on the lot or which relates to gardening, such as Aranel's apple tree. Also, because elves are in tune with nature and the environment, there will be no cars owned by the legacy family. I will hold up my end of the bargain by attempting to ensure that proper elvish education is lavished on each and every heir, and that the elf genetics remain with the family through the generations. And by being highly paranoid about the welfare of our legacy offspring.

The party was an absolute disaster, even though Chalimyra and Talon were there. I'm not entirely sure whether it was the party's failure or the $126 of bills that awaited him in the mailbox that made Haldir break down on the front lawn.Thus begins the end of this Legacy's beginner's luck.

Viridia didn't puke during her first trimester. She did, however, potty train Aranel and teach her to walk. That same night, Haldir got a promotion. But after that, nothing went right.

Then Viridia came down with the flu.And Haldir was beside himself with worry. As Viridia was quietly coughing her lungs out, he began to be afraid for his family's future.I was worried, too. And as her pregnancy progressed, Viridia went from being the household’s great organizer to being barely able to get out of bed. She could hardly speak from all the coughing, and she was constantly nauseous, hardly able to keep anything down. In fact, she began losing weight when she should have been gaining it due to the baby. Every day she grew weaker, and it fell to Haldir to care for Aranel, worrying all the time as his wife, once so full of life, withered before his very eyes.

“Dada, why mama in bed?” Aranel asked. “She's not feeling well today,” Haldir explained patiently to his daughter. “You do'tor!” protested the tot, “Poof! Feel all better now.” “I'm afraid it's not quite that easy, Ara...” he began. Some time later, he turned away to commence a private discussion. “What do we do now, Scribal Goddess?” he asked. And I did. Leaving the Legacy family briefly for a quick trip across the internet, I poked into corners, rattled electrons, read pages and pages of often contradictory information, and compared notes. The conclusion I reached was in no way good.

<Haldir?> I asked tentatively when I returned. I didn’t like what I was going to have to say. “Yes, Scribal Goddess?” he replied eagerly, hope lighting up his eyes, “Have you found a cure so that Viridia and I can get on with raising our daughter?” <Erm, no,> I hesitated before giving him the bad news, <There is no cure, at least not one within my power. And with my powers, I have been investigating the effects that this virus might have on Viridia.> “You mean besides coughing, sneezing, and the rest?” <Yes. I'm afraid that the virus has mutated. It is no longer a common strain of human influenza, but a much more lethal invader that has reprogrammed itself to elven DNA and biochemistry. It's less likely to spread, but that's only because it is invading Viridia's entire body. It's weakening her at a time when she cannot afford to be weakened. It is all that her immune system can do to keep it from attacking the baby as well. Haldir, she isn't in mortal danger now, but...>

* * * Can Haldir save his beloved wife, or will he and Aranel be all that is left of the legacy?Stay tuned!

Barbara Baity: Random townie who kissed Haldir. * * * I just now noticed that we were missing a wedding guest in the picture of the actual wedding. And also I have to say that Chali’s probably the best dancer out of the lot of them… or maybe the most inventive. I also want to apologize for the wedding pictures. I could have sworn that they were better than this…

I did remember to take large-format photos for the first two chapters. Not that you’d know from this one. But the fact that they’re decent quality when stretched proves my point. I now have over 80 pictures of this tree, mostly of it on fire. It does this nearly every day that it’s not winter on the lot, so it’s become my symbol of sorts. Ah, the joys of legacy beginnings. This is a note just to say that I have slide shared this, and then fixed all of the spelling and grammar failures. (I’m usually much better, but I guess it must be hard to read when submitting to the exchange – no spell check.) Also, I have switched sentences around where needed, added or removed a few, and substituted words and added a teensy bit of description. The plot is identical to the exchange version, and the observational style, which I have abandoned almost completely since chapter two, is the same – I’d have had to re-write the whole chapter otherwise. I pretend that it’s in the interest of preserving the legacy’s beginning, but it’s also because I’d go crazy and re-write, re-shoot, and generally make this more complicated than it needed to be. So, while I look back and wince at how unprepared I was a year ago, please bear in mind that it gets much better. Starting mostly with the very next chapter, where I finally stray into the realm of plot. If you’re still with me (and suddenly I’m amazed at the number of people who are,) thanks for reading. It’s a long road.

The Elven Heritage Legacy 1.1: Arrival

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The Elven Heritage Legacy 1.1: Arrival