It was a luxury ball uncharacteristic of the Darkwind family. Although they had obtained the title of nobility a long time ago they had always been a small and non influential family that mostly kept to themselves. They only had interest on scholar affairs in particularly the development of new magic spells; however their success were so in far between that they never had obtained wealth or fame.
However, things had changed on the last 25 years under the current head of the family, Ainmire Darkwind. By employing lowly Medax on their limited territory, they had been able to ramp up the production of spell papyrus while keeping the production cost low. While in theory this strategy could be adopted by the neighboring territories, in practice it was difficult. Medax were incapable of doing magic without external assistance, and even with the external assistance their compatibility with magic was low. As a result, trying to produce magic items by employing Medax resulted on low quality goods that were prone to misfires, these items weren't profitable neither reliable enough. The Darkwind family had obtained a new method and had managed to keep it under wraps, which had allowed them to become wealthy on such short time.
At the peak of the event, Ainmire approached the interior balcony, situated above the center of the hall, to address the guests:
– I thank every one of our guests that have taken the time to join us today in the celebration of the introduction of the new heir of the Darkwind house, my own son Liam Ainmire Darkwind. I want to give special thanks to the Viceroy of the Silgo state Lord Daigo Vinni Luaria Amber which despite having such a busy schedule has honored us with his presence, I ask of him to offer similar support to Liam as he had showed to me. Without further ado I present to you Lord Liam Ainmire Darkwind. –he declared.
The purpose of the event, at least officially, was only one; to publicly present the new heir, Liam Ainmire Darkwind. Liam was 16 years old and would be entering into the kingdom university next year. Following the Darkwind house legacy, he was expected to enroll in the science school and yearn to become a proud scholar. This event was a tradition inside the nobility that marked his introduction into society and would allow Liam to forge new relationship and alliances that would allow him to advance the Darkwind family further. After university Liam would be expected to take over the responsibilities of his father and become the Baronet of Gaillim.
Liam walked next to his father and applauses could be heard. He was wearing and exquisite looking white suit adorned with green and gold accessories. The young boy, sweating profusely, looked at the crowd; this was not a situation he was accustomed to. While Liam had assisted to balls before, they were of much lower caliber than this one. It was expected to the son of a Baronet would only assist to ball from other nobles with similar rankings as their families, other baronets, some barons and possibly a viscount. The presence of much higher nobles like the viceroy and the dukes that accompany him was out of the ordinary.
In reality, the presentation on Liam to society should have been a much smaller event, with only the barons and baronets from neighboring territories assisting. While invitations would have been sent anyway, any higher noble would decline the invitation. The reason for the viceroy and company assisting was not due to Liam, and Liam knew it; the reason was his father next announcement.
In the Cavan Kingdom, nobility was bestowed by the king to any family which members had accomplished important and grandiose deeds. In addition to your nobility rank, on Liam's family case the rank of Baronet, you were also bestowed a title or nickname that would serve as your family calling card, Darkwind house title was "Madman". For most nobles' houses this title was only used by the head and it was added to their names and thus Liam's full name, once he succeeded his father as the head, should become Liam Ainmire Darkwind Madman. However, the Darkwind family was different; Ainmire had not become "Madman" because the "Madman" title was not inherited by the head.
The reason for this discrepancy was simple; the deeds that granted the Darkwind house the title of nobility were achieved on the military aspect, in particular on magic. On the other hand, the Darkwinds were mostly a group of scholars that dealt more on research and commerce. It would be ridiculous for a mere merchant to hold the title that was expected from a great mage, and such the madman title was inherited on a different line inside the family. Only Emmet Lorcan Darkwind Madman, the original "Madman", had ever been head of the family and a "Madman" at the same time.
Liam swiftly thanked the guest as well and gave a short speech, after the brief introduction his father continued with his announcement, the real announcement that everyone was waiting for.
– As many of you might know, my grandfather, Kian Emmet Darkwind Madman, have finally decided his heir to the title of "Madman" and we are also introducing him to you tonight. He has been training with my grandpa on the arts of Magic since youngling and my grandpa has finally allowed him to join the kingdom university at the magic school. We expect him to swiftly graduate and join the army as a proud mage cadet and succeed the "Madman" line with a productive military career. I present to you Sircus Kian Darkwind Madman – Ainmire announced.
Another young man approached the interior balcony until he was at the left side of Ainmire. He was older than Liam, with an appearance of a 20 year old. His clothes were also significantly different, wearing a dark purple sleeveless shirt with adorned green patterns and dark long pants; covering the mundane attire was expensive looking robe with the "Madman" emblem imprinted in silver. In contrast with Liam's attire that looked elegant and appropriate for the ball, Sircus attire was fit to clothes you would wear for a brawl on a dark alley.
This was not standard attire, and the audience was negatively surprised.