STRAUD vs STRAUD vs ZARGONPrologue: Day OneThree different Sims, three different hopes for the future, converging upon the empty and peaceful tract of land known as Newcrest.
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Bismuth Zargon was being sent by the Sixamite Potentate to succeed in setting up the outpost base for invasion.
"Your ancestress failed miserably," the Potentate warned him. "And even if she hadn't suffered a major setback, she was still running behind her adversary. It's not a hearts-and-minds mission, but even so, she went out of her way to offend the locals by naming her offspring after famous villains in their history. I hope you won't do the same."
"No, sir. That's why I've chosen to name my individual units after chemical elements, sir. They'll be neutral but signal our technological superiority, sir."
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"And you should be discreet in the changes you make to the landscape," the Potentate continued.
"Agreed, sir," said Bismuth. "I've erected a small entryway on the lot.
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It leads to an underground facility that can be extended as necessary, sir."
"Excellent," said the Sixamite Potentate.
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Note: If you want to read about Aniara Zargon's failed attempt, you can find her story here.)
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Over the generations, the descendants of Vladislaus Straud IV had gone from affectionate to cordial to competitive in their relationships. As time went on, they changed names to distinguish themselves from each other. When Mortimer Goth-Straud married Morgan, the last of the Fryes, he became Mortimer Gotfry, and that surname continued in the family.
Wren Gotfry's parents died in a plane crash. Her parents' house held too many sad memories for her, and so she decided to start over in Newcrest. She loved animals and found it heart-breaking that there were so few places that offered care for them. Her dream was to place a Gotfry Shelter and Clinic in each of the major towns, but she knew that it might take several generations to do that.
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Rather than build a house she would rarely visit, Wren decided to camp on her lot with her cat, Bastet VI, and use the money she inherited to build her first clinic instead.
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The two other branches of the Straud family suffered a terrible scandal when Vanessa Villareal-Landgraab-Straud married her cousin Scott. They eloped straight out of high school, before Vanessa had completed her cure for vampirism. Disowned by all their family, they had eked out a living in a dim and drafty hovel by the river in Windenburg. Vanessa decided to drop "Straud" from her name entirely and merge the other two together in Villagraab. Soon after their only child reached adulthood, they both succumbed to illness.
Their granddaughter Lucretia was determined not to live in poverty. The mansions of her ancestors were still standing, but other people lived in them. She intended to build her own mansion, and for her descendants to build theirs, but for that, she needed land and money. Land was easily available in Newcrest, but money...Lucretia could think of only three ways to get money: inherit it, make it, or marry it.
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She obviously wasn't going to inherit money, and making it would take too long, so she decided to marry it.
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Dennis Kim was not interested at first. "I'm an old man," he told Lucretia. "I just want to spend my senior years browsing on the computer and playing with my little granddaughter, Olivia."
"Think again," said Lucretia. "You'll probably get so bored that you start selling Thai food in a stall in San Myshuno. Wouldn't you rather spend the time having fun with me?"
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"But you're so young and -- er -- lovely," he protested. "Why would you want--"
Lucretia silenced him with a kiss.
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Several kisses later, Dennis felt the stirring of some emotions he hadn't experienced in a long time.
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Lucretia pretended to be surprised when he dropped to one knee to propose.
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But her real triumph came when she tested herself in the bathroom.
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Note: the adventures of Wren's and Lucretia's ancestors can be found here.)
(Final note: This story is based on the Rival Dynasties Challenge.)
