The Legacy of Bloodstone Manor 5/30/14 - "Wendi and The Robot"

[Rhoxi]

Stats and Chapter Links

Many years ago, there was a great family named Dojo. They lived. They loved, and they lost. They founded immortal dynasties, and eventually--as even so-called immortals must--they died. But this story doesn't begin with them. This is the story of how a con man swindled his way into inheriting the greatest of the Dojo houses to create a legacy of his own, and the unlikely alliance that allowed the Dojos to take it back.

This is the Legacy of Bloodstone Manor.




Chapter Links

A Most Remarkable Story
Heritage
The Domestic Life
Teens
The Return
Smoke and Fire
First Childhood
Cake and Justice
The Rest of the O'Reileys: Part One
The Rest of the O'Reileys: Part Two
Trouble Ahead
Bar-Room Romance
Good Enough
Growing Pains
Children
Hormones
Competing Couples
The Acrobatic Duo
More Than Machine
Wendi and The Robot

Rhoxi's Midnight Hollow Lots

Bloodstone Manor
The Midnight Ballroom
Lonely Literary Cafe
Hollow Flicks and Eats
Circus a la Sims




Not familiar with the Dojos? No problem! They're a family of mine from a previous story, but this story is designed to be reader-friendly without prior knowledge of the Dojo clan. For those that have read it, there will be a few fun surprises. For those that want to, you can learn more here.

[Trip]

*flails arms and wildly gesticulates*

What other reaction should I have? I didn't expect there to be a con-man involved, though.

[PeregrineTook]

So intrigued.  So very, very intrigued. 
Loved the shot of the house!  Assuming you used some sort of fancy filter or something on it?

[chetanhaobijam]

Great start and very intriguing. Who is this con man. Good luck for this legacy. And, Bookmarked for further reading.

[Rhoxi]

A Most Remarkable Story

Our story begins here, with this man, reluctantly getting out of bed on a drab and dreary day.

An unremarkable beginning, to be sure, but even the most grand tales often have humble origins. This man is Fredrick Fennington, and he is a butler. His father was also a butler, and his father before him, and so on and so forth. For as many generations as are known to him, his family has always buttled right here in this house for each successive generation of the decedents of Everette Dojo.

Until now.



Fredrick Fennington looks out the window with hopeless despair. The line has ended. His master has died, heart broken and heir-less. Where will he go now, and what will he do?



He goes about his usual chores, tending to an empty house. There's no one to tend for, of course, but until someone tells him to do otherwise he'll go about his routine. That is when he discovers a most remarkable letter.

The story it tells is the best news that Fredrick Fennington has had since his beloved master passed away.



The first few events described in the letter, Fredrick Fennington is all too familiar with. Once upon a time there was a little boy, Master Henry Dojo--heir to Bloodstone Manor and the fifth generation descendant of Everette Dojo. He was the apple of his parents' eye.

That was, until one fateful day, when a careless maid left the back gate open.



His watchful mother last spotted him wandering in the direction of the lake.



She rushed downstairs, but it was too late. The child was nowhere to be seen. The sheriff's office was notified; the lake was dredged. But the child was never found. He was presumed dead. His mother died of heartache shortly thereafter. His father's fate, however, was not so merciful. He lingered on year after year, grew old, and died. He never re-married. He never fathered another child.

The line of Everette Dojo had come to an end.



These tragic events, Fredrick Fennington knew all too well. He had, after all, lived through them. Yet the letter went on to reveal the rest of the story, heretofore unknown.

Young Master Henry had not, in fact, drowned. He had merely tottered around the lake, where he had eventually been discovered by a gypsy woman. She had, at first, looked for his parents to return him, but after her search failed to find them, she had taken the child in as her own.



For, you see, this gypsy woman was barren and had longed for a child for many long, fruitless years. She saw the child's arrival as gift from above: an answer to all her prayers. When she eventually learned of the child's true heritage, she could not bare to let him go. Instead, she and her husband fled the town of Midnight Hollow to raise him, in secret, on their own.



This young man had been raised with the name Connor O'Reiley who--having just now learned of his true heritage--was on his way to Bloodstone Manor to claim his inheritance.

Fredrick Fennington folded the letter back up, thoughtfully, and placed it in his breast pocket. A most remarkable story, indeed. Deep down, he knew it was too good to be true.



But then, a good con man always knows how to sell you a story you just can't refuse.

[Rhoxi]

*flails arms and wildly gesticulates*

What other reaction should I have? I didn't expect there to be a con-man involved, though.

Thanks! I'm glad you're excited!

So intrigued.  So very, very intrigued. 
Loved the shot of the house!  Assuming you used some sort of fancy filter or something on it?

Excellent!
It's actually just a special lighting effect that sometimes happens in the town of Midnight Hollow. The sky can be unusually red and sometimes green.

Great start and very intriguing. Who is this con man. Good luck for this legacy. And, Bookmarked for further reading.

Thank you! Connor is the con man--the name is a little on the nose, but it was too cute to pass up.

[Audren]

I don't normally like con men, but that hat is just too cool! (Glad to know I like people based on their clothes. Great judge of character.  )

I'm eager to hear how this works out. 

[PeregrineTook]

The intro hinting at how the Dojo line gets the house back intrigues me greatly.  I'm spinning all sorts of scenarios in my head (most of them outrageous), but I'll simply try to wait to enjoy your brilliance  :=)

[simaholic^]

This is very interesting, book marked.

[Rhoxi]

Heritage

On the morning of his new master's arrival, Fredrick Fennington shifted uneasily on his feet in the main hall, ready to stand at attention and bid him welcome. The man that arrived, however, was nothing like he expected. An agreeable enough fellow, to be sure, but certainly not the fine gentleman his ancestors had been--his attire fit the profile of a gypsy, alright.

"Thanks for all your hard work, chap! The place looks grand!" he enthused.



"Certainly, Master Hen--erm. Master Connor? Is that what I should call you?" Fredrick Fennington looked hard into this new man's face, trying to recall if he looked anything at all like the young Master Henry he remembered, but his eyes just weren't what they were in his younger days.

"Please, just Connor. I've been called Connor too many years to go changing it about now!"

"Of course, sir."



The new Master Connor lost no time getting acquainted with his new possessions. His first request was an accounting of all the property he now owned, followed by a tour of the estate. Fredrick Fennington obliged.

From the kitchen



to the diningroom,



the master suit,



and the party room--Master Connor wanted to see it all.



It was a very large house and, by the time they made it all the way down to the basement, it was getting late and Fredrick Fennington was getting tired. Coming to the final room of the estate, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

"And this, Master Connor, is the mausoleum, where the remains of your Dojo ancestors have slept for countless generations."



Connor stopped cold in his tracks. "You mean . . . g-g-ghosts?"

Apparently, the new master was a bit of coward.



"Remove them, at once!" he demanded.

"But sir!" Fredrick Fennington protested. "The spirits of your ancestors must be eager to meet you--to learn that you survived. Why, even your dear father and mother's urns are housed in this very vault."

"Well I don't care to meet them," he insisted. "Lock them all up in that chest over there and send it out of here! They can wallow in the common graveyard with the rest of the lot. The last thing I need is a bunch of nasty old spirits puttering about the place! Do it, and then see yourself out, as well. I have no further need of your services!"



For a moment, Fredrick Fennington was frozen in shock. Fired? He was . . . fired? And why should Master Connor wish to be rid of his ancestors? The weight of these questions forced the unbearable truth to the surface: the real Master Henry Dojo could never be so heartless about his ancestors. Yet having once accepted this Connor O'Reiley into the household as master, who would believe a disgruntled old manservant, newly released from his duties?

So Fredrick Fennington hatched a plan: a plan that would give the Dojos one final chance to reclaim their heritage.



He did as he was bid and placed the urns in the chest to be shipped off to the common graveyard. But one urn, just one, he thought, might be able to hide away in a dusty old corner unnoticed. But whom should he pick? He thought for a moment, recounting the stories his father had told him of the various Dojos, before selecting one.

"Please!" he sobbed, feeling not-at-all-silly talking to the urn of a Dojo he'd never met--such was his loyalty to their family. "You're needed here once again. You must wake up!"



Fredrick Fennington packed his things and passed through the front doors of Bloodstone Manor for the last time.



Rain began to fall, but he didn't care. He smiled as he left.



It wasn't over. Not just yet, anyway.

[chetanhaobijam]

So sad of Frederick. The conman will pay for this. Looking forward for next update.

[PeregrineTook]

The ghost.  So very, very intrigued by the ghost.  I'm also intrigued to get to know the new Master Connor to see if he's a sympathetic villain or easy-to-hate con.

[Shewolf13]

*jumps up and down in glee*  Oh this makes so very happy!  Poor Frederick... I, like Pippin am so very intrigued by all this, but particularly which ghost it will be.  I am on the edge of my seat!

[Rhoxi]

Announcement and Voting

So, here's the special treat for those of you who know about the Dojos: you guys get to choose which ghost Fredrick Fennington left behind!



Vote for your favorite Dojo here.

[pugster101]

*Smustles*

Yay, DA LEGACY IS HERE! I voted for Raven, as she  is too awesome to just die like that, but I think that Samura the 1st will win. I'll see later.