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BATH, 1915

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H [54] Brigadier-General Arthur Lionel Tarquin Blackstock (Emily Amy)
W [49] Venezia Romilly Hero Burdet (Wraith)

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S1 [24] Captain Arthur Hannibal Wulfhard Blackstock (cher529s)
- W [25] Thekla Miranda Heywood (JuliaF)
-- S [0]

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D1 [22] Guinevere Charis Letizia Blackstock (JuliaF)
- BF [27] Sigmund Franz-Joseph Cavendish (BlueOcean123)

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S2 [20] Samson Jericho Marcus Blackstock (Guest)

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D2 [18] Evangeline Camilla Aktaie Blackstock (JuliaF)
- Fiancé [22]

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S3 [16] Leonidas Enoch Tarquin Blackstock (.)
D3 [14] Lavinia Constance Hero Blackstock (Uilos)
S4 [11] Hector Osric Maximilian Blackstock (RowenaRavenclaw)

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It is the autumn of 1915 and Europe is in flames. For Arthur, it's heaven.

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Although he is a Brigadier General, removed from the front lines - a situation he bitterly regrets - he is as close to the action as he has been in decades. His job is to send men to their deaths, and he often visits the front lines to remind the men how sweet and fitting it is to die for their country. He then returns to his comfortable field office. His marriage to Venezia is now a mere formality, maintained by letters full of formal pleasantries and little else.

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Venezia’s health has continued to decline, and her bouts of illness have become more frequent and severe. She remains in Bath, largely bedridden, with her only solace being her music and the occasional visit from her children. Her once vibrant social life she enjoyed is now a distant memory. Venezia feels her life slipping away, trapped in a body that no longer obeys her.

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Having graduated from Sandhurst, Art Blackstock was quickly deployed to the Western Front. The war has hardened him further, and the disillusionment that began at Sandhurst has turned into bitter cynicism about the war and the British military establishment. But he trudges on regardless. Art and his father have grown even more distant. While Arthur sees the war as a noble cause, Art views it as a tragic waste. Despite his reservations, Art is a capable and respected officer, leading his men with resigned efficiency.

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Thekla, has become involved in war work, organizing aid for soldiers and refugees. They married in 1913, and in January of 1915, they welcomed their first child. Art is yet to meet his son - he hopes to do so once the war is over. Art and Thekla cling to the hope that the war will end and they can build a better life together.

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Gwen, while critical of the war as a budding socialist, has joined the VAD as a nurse: in no small part because of her worry about her older brother. Sigmund, a fervent socialist, initially refused to fight, but as the war dragged on, he joined up after being given one too many white feather by a woman in the street. However, Gwen's radicalism has not waned, and she is already considering how to continue her activism in the post-war world.

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Sam is studying philosophy at Oxford, where he has continued to explore Marxism, and his views have grown more radical. He has refused to enlist, citing his opposition to the war, causing his father to decry him as a coward as cut him off financially. He has maintained his relationship with his childhood friend through correspondence, though it is somewhat strained, as his friend recently enlisted. Sam is not only ideologically opposed, but also very worried about his friend's fate.

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Evie has continued her artistic studies, now a talented and promising painter. She frequently visits hospitals full of convalescent soldiers, and her paintings have transformed from still lives to portraits of wounded soldiers. One soldier particular caught her eye: a handsome Anglo-Catholic with a shattered shoulder.

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Evie found the contour of his jaw fascinating, and asked to paint him while he recovered from his injury. While she painted him, they talked, and Evie learnt he was a poet who used to write chiefly about flowers, and now wrote exclusively about trench foot and the experience of seeing your best friend shot in the face. Before he left the hospital, they were engaged. They want to marry the day the war ends.

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Evie remains close to her mother, though Venezia's declining health has weighed heavily on her. As the eldest Blackstock child who remains at home, the care for her ailing mother has fallen solely on her shoulders. Her relationship with Gwen has improved - the sisters find common ground in their shared disdain for the war, and frequently exchange correspondence.

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Leo's adoration of the military has not waned, even as he watched his older siblings go off to war one by one. He is still too young to enlist, but he is determined to follow in Art's footsteps as soon as he can. He lionizes his father, and has not spoken to Sam since he disinherited him, seeing him as a traitor to the family and the nation. He is closer to his younger siblings, especially Hector, whom he has taken under his wing.

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Vinnie, now 14, has become even more headstrong and independent. She has little respect for authority, including her parents, and has grown increasingly rebellious. Her relationship with Venezia is almost non-existent, as she sees her mother as weak and irrelevant. She has instead become bosom friends with the 15 year old daughter of a prominent local family. They are as thick as thieves, and Vinnie spends more time at her estate than she does at home.

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The war has begun to intrude upon Hector's world. He adores Vinnie, who has become his protector and confidante. Hector looks up to Leo and dreams of the day when he, too, can join the army. He remains affectionate towards both his parents, writing many letters to his father on the front and spending long hours sitting by his mother's bedside, though he is beginning to sense the growing distance between them.

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Thekla and Art's son

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First name: a Christian Roman Emperor.

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First middle name: ends in O.

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Second middle name: a family name - any name of Art's father or brothers.

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Evie's fiancé

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First name: a Roman Catholic saint from the third century.

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Middle name: the namesake of a monastic order.

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Surname: starts with Saint, St., etc.

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masculine list: https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/191050/124079
feminine list: https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/191050/124080

This message was edited 8/13/2024, 7:50 AM