The private records of Castle Grait

Not the miracle.
Just Kaiden.

These pages are pieced together from family letters, Church scripture and the logs of Sir Frédéric Elethil An Grait.

The second sonKaiden An Grait

Question log 001 · Answered by Frédéric

A lonely creature
with too many books.

I think Kaiden, as a person, is simply very lonely. He used to sit around and mope when he was younger. His family barely visited. After what happened, they were frightened of him.

So he practised his magic, drawing from the power deep inside his core. Eventually, after creating the Thousand-Mirrored Lantern, he found a way to reach all of you. We will get to that later.

His library is extensive. That happens when one may grow quite ancient, and when an immortal family has spent eons passing its books down to him.

The public found the arrangement fascinating. An immortal and potentially dangerous creature, surrounded by impossible knowledge. Their solution was to revere him as a deity of knowledge. I do not know how humans arrive at these things.

To ask the deity a question, bring a book he does not already own.

This was never a rule. They did it anyway. Silly humans.

Kaiden simply loves interacting with others. The runes upon him do not allow him to leave the castle for more than a few days, so whenever someone stays to speak, he speaks extensively and thoroughly. This is the origin of those stories about him being overwhelming, yet nice.

Some visitors have tried to steal from the library and Castle Grait over the years. They are not usually seen again.

Regardless, he is not a miracle. He is a hard-working vampire.

Sir Frédéric Elethil An Grait

Lessons in the Church of First Light

The story starts
with hope.

For Kaiden, who should know what those people believe before they come looking for him.

The Deer

A unique deer was born shining so brilliantly that people began to revere it as a god. Its blood was said to cure any illness.

The Fish

After the deer passed, a fish appeared with the same radiance. It was revered in turn, and people began to notice a pattern. The fish created many lakes by turning salt water fresh.

III

The Child

After many different animals, a human child was born with glowing skin, eyes and hair. It could charm anyone around it. Thus the Church of First Light was established in earnest. These bastards.

The Mote

The Church reasoned that only one Mote of Light could exist at a time. Its host burns through life force with terrible speed. When that life ends, the mote chooses the next creature according to what the world needs. Or so their scriptures claim.

A diary log by Alaric An Grait

The light chose what it
was never meant to choose.

I am worried. Very worried. The number of missives I have received from the Emperor's retainers and the Central region's many smaller earls is beyond normal. Every one concerns my son.

That blasted Church and its filthy little claws are everywhere these days. They all request an audience with Kaiden in the name of the First Light, abusing my loyalty to the Emperor, my dear friend.

Do they not know that cult holds no power in the North? In my lands? Their religion is a false assumption built around a natural phenomenon, or so my wife says. That makes considerably more sense. The elves have been here far longer than the humans, and I will take their word over that of a strange cult barely a thousand years old.

Do their own teachings not claim the mote cannot cling to darkness, and therefore could never attach itself to an "unholy" creature?

So why do they expect my son to be their saint?

Even if it were true, what would they do if they found their light, corrupted or otherwise?

Kill my son? I will never let that come to pass.

I swear a blood oath on it.

Signed, Alaric Seraphius An Grait

A note to Alaric from Evelaine An Grait

Troublesome.
Diligent. Bright.

It is quite adorable to see our little toddler moving around. He is so bright. Perhaps the Elvish blood, or something else, makes him this energetic so early in his little life. It is so cute!

He is gifted too. He said "Mama" the other day. Can you imagine? He is only two cycles old. I want to squish his cheeks and play with him all day. His little smile, his little smirk, his little giggles. Alaric, we made a masterpiece.

I hope Kaiden will love his siblings as much as they already love him. Luce was shy at first, but eventually shared his little toy horse with Kai. It was wonderful to see him step into the older brother role. He is so proud. Even Aria made a drawing of them together the other day. Are my children really this adorable? I want to yell, but I cannot. It is too late, honey!

They took Kaiden by the hand and showed him around the inner gardens. They thought they were being sneaky, but every retainer watched through the windows in pure awe as they bounced through the grass and studied the flowers.

We have made such a peaceful and loving family, Ric.

Thank you for giving me my dream of a family.

I love you forever.

Yours, Eve~

The household register

The family before
the Great Silence.

The Eldest Son of House An Grait

Lucien

Heir Apparent of Duke An Grait and Viscount of Cenobia

Nicknames: Luce, the Bronze Hawk
Age: 135
Features: Red hair, red eyes and exceptionally tall
Known for: Exceptional skill in martial arts and strategy.

Kai, please. You have to last at least seven circles around the moat, otherwise you are never going to survive the battlefield.

After working out together

The Eldest Daughter of House An Grait

Ariadne

Countess of Amira

Nicknames: Aria, the Rime-Touched Viola
Age: 137
Features: Soft, long purple hair and gleaming red eyes. Usually seen in slit dresses
Known for: Exceptional intelligence. Magi-born, specialising in cold magic.

No, there is no ice under your pillow. I promise. This time. Please do not go and tell Mom.

After getting caught in Kaiden's bedroom

High Duchess of House An Grait

Evelaine

Elf-Dame of House Eredell

Nicknames: Eve, Mom, the Elven Dhampir, the Ostracised Dame
Age: 863
Features: Fair features, blonde hair with soft purple lines and tips, and gentle red eyes
Known for: Giving up her ancestral home for love. Exceptional intelligence after becoming the first Elven Dhampir.

If you do not eat your vegetables, you are never going to grow into a big, strong vampire like your father and brother.

After Kaiden refused to eat his meal

High Duke of House An Grait

Alaric Seraphius

Sovereign of the North, Protector of Eredell and sworn blood brother of Emperor Valekai

Nicknames: Ric, Phius, the Night-Crowned Duke, the Northern Fang, Dad
Age: 502
Features: Red hair streaked with grey, soft orange eyes, a gentle beard and strong features
Known for: Turning the once-barbaric North into a prosperous centre of commerce and trade. A pyrrhic warrior of great renown who refuses to surrender to his vampiric nature.

Come here, you little buttercup. How was your day, you cutie patootie?

After Kaiden got back from an expedition

Youngest Son of House An Grait

Ronan

Earl of Obsidin

Nicknames: Fanged Little Elf, Raider of Kitchens and Pantries
Age: 33
Features: Short blonde hair, orange eyes and small in stature
Known for: Being more Elvish in nature than Vampiric, disappearing into forbidden forests and speaking with the spirits of the land.

I do not know you well, so I am not sure if I should call you brother. Especially after what you did to our family, you murd-

After refusing to look Kaiden in the eye

[REGISTER DAMAGED]

LIORA

Younger daughter of House An Grait

Record lost during the Great Silence.

Before the record continues

AN GRAIT

OF HUNGERorTO BE RAVENOUS

The name is not ornamental. It is a warning carried by every member of the house.

Chapter IV · The Great Silence

And then it all
went wrong.

It should have been a routine visit: a night or two in the city, a meeting with its baron and baroness, and then home. Kaiden had been forbidden to come. His siblings smuggled him along in a suitcase.

The nobles were less surprised by a secret sibling than by the glowing little child smiling at everything in the room. Then something changed. No one present remembers the catalyst. No one can explain why the dark star appeared.

Kaiden cried. His distress grew until the light vanished, replaced by an unnerving darkness that pulled everything towards it. Ariadne could not keep hold of the infant Liora.

Within minutes, dark light and ravenous hunger razed the entire city. The family survived through one of the magical tools Alaric always carried. When the destruction ended, only toddler Kaiden's crying could be heard, his little body floating like an ember in the wind.

Liora was gone. The city was gone. Kaiden did not understand what he had done, and his family did not know how to tell him.

After the Great Silence

The Tower.

The family grew colder after the Great Silence. Not from hatred for Kaiden, but from grief. He was confined to Castle Grait, in the vast wing referred to as the Tower. It holds the castle's greatest library and the grandest of its indoor gardens.

His siblings still visit from time to time, but their youthful vigour has faded. Uncertainty and fear have taken its place.

In a gesture of protection and love, Ariadne and her mother created a seal in the form of a facial tattoo. It restrains dangerous emotional outbursts for everyone's safety. The same seal prevents Kaiden from remaining outside for long. Without permission from his family, it returns him to the castle.

SUPREME COMMANDER

A vassal's oath

Sir Frédéric Elethil
An Grait.

Frédéric was once a proud knight of the Small House An Grait, before Alaric removed Frédéric's father from power. He served the house with honour and loyalty. When he died, his only wish was to help the family reach greater heights.

At the moment when he could have passed into the lands beyond, he chose to remain and watch over them. Many years later, a pregnant Evelaine spoke with his spirit. She offered him life again as a vassal of House An Grait, on one condition: he would look after her children.

Frédéric swore the oath and was reborn in the body of a frog. His immortal life has continued beside Kaiden and his siblings ever since.

He took a wife and now has many, many children, collectively called "the numbers" because their proper names are difficult to pronounce outside Frogian.

Sir Frédéric now holds Supreme Command of Castle Grait and handles everything the Duke and Duchess cannot.

The Thousand-Mirrored Lantern

The world, caught
in a thousand mirrors.

In his exile, Kaiden pushed his magic into a special form. The Thousand-Mirrored Lantern is a crystalline structure capable of assuming hundreds of shapes. Most often it appears as a lantern, a mirror or a floating crystal.

Its millions of changing angles let Kaiden cast magic across the continent. He can project himself into distant places and leave his alter ego, Ephae, there as a facsimile. Ephae explores the world, then carries those adventures home to Kaiden.

The Lantern also lets Kaiden read beside you when you open a book or any other piece of literature.

Of late, he has also begun mentioning OBS, Twitch and chat. I understand very little of it.

It is also a battery, a safe place for Kaiden to pour the energy that would otherwise overflow from him.

And why green, black and white? The Church still searches for a being that glows at all times. Ephae's strange colouring distracts the common folk and draws the Church's eye towards a second wandering creature of light.

The more confusion, the better.

Filed bySir Frédéric Elethil An GraitNotes for Alaric An Grait

Find Ephae in the ether ↗Return to Castle Grait