Surabhi/Introduction

"Times may be tough, but the heaviest rains make for the healthiest crops."

I was born into the Strongheart House, though not as a...Gifted, I believe they prefer to be called. 'Tis true that we are a Noble house, but we are also a house of farmers and laborers, brewers and cooks, stewards of the land and of our fellow Beings, and as I grew, I was expected to contribute to the success of the homestead, same as our servants, our fieldhands, and .

The average observer would likely assume that Father was the head of the household; he was the one who drew up plans, supervised laborers directly, and strutted around, horns held high as he

But I saw that the true strength in the family and the business was with my mother; Father sought her advice on over many a meal, and when I accompanied him on his rounds, he . Her implacable demeanor and , and . If I was dispirited after a stern lecture on the importance of self-reliance, she would tell me that for all his talk on how "nothing was sweeter than the fruits of one's own labor," he got mighty surly if she asked him to cook.

I loved them both, but