Capybara + The Kanes

This is the story of an ordinary family, living ordinary lives, with an ordinary Capybara, or so I’d like to say. Unfortunately, this is not an ordinary family, nor is this is an ordinary Capybara. The following is an account from long ago, a compendium or various diaries from the people involved as well as articles from the time corroborate these events. As a personal aside, I must divulge a personal connection and bias toward the family I am about to write about, they are my family after all and I have my own opinions about the decisions they make throughout this narrative, but I believe this is a story that must be told, and it must be told properly so I will do my utmost to be as objective as possible.

This is the story of an anything-but-ordinary creature called a Capybara and the anything-but-ordinary family that befriends it.

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Jacque Kane

[Diary 1, Entry 8]

Well, the mornin’ started off normal. I’d risen around 5 as normal, pour’d myself some oatmeal as normal, and gotten to work as normal. It was about time to reap the wheat. That was the main job before me that mornin’ I’d gotten to it round 7 thereabouts. Then I’d gone and worked most’ve the day. I’m getting up there in age, but I could still go till about 3 before breaking for a snack. I did so, as normal then got back to it, working at a respectable pace.

It was then as the evening sun was setting that Jacque finally set down his hoe and sickle for the day. He was mildly dehydrated and began to feel dizzy. The temperature was milder in Patri than in say Kaspa or Austia, Malma, or the former colonies as they were referred to back then, but it was still summer and the heat could reach 90 on some days. It was probably a bit cooler than that on this particular day and Jacque was accustomed to this sort of work, but if one didn’t keep hydrated it was not uncommon to be laid out from heat stroke.

As Jacque balanced himself with the hoe he noticed a strange animal staring at him from across the recently reaped field. He stared back unsure if what he was seeing was indeed real or not.

Stare…

Stare…

They continued like this for nearly two minutes or so according to Jacque’s diary. It was a strange beast with a portly figure and strange stubby face. It seemed harmless enough, Jacque has seen his fair share of dangerous animals trapsing through his field, this one seemed fairly docile. Another dizzy spell begins to overtake him, so he decides to leave it be and head back to the house.

He begins to walk back where he came from.

Crunch.

Crunch. Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch. Crunch.

For every step he took, two more echoed behind him.

Crunch.

Crunch. Crunch.

He didn’t bother to turn around, it wasn’t one of his priorities at that moment. He stepped out of the field and the noise caused by his tiny pursuer ceased. He stopped to catch his breath before ascending the porch steps. He could hear the clatter of plates being set around the table.

Jacque Kane

It was a magical sound I was treated to ev’ry night. The sound of a table bein’ set brought me comfort. The glow of the candlelight, and the glow of my wife’s hair reflectin’ the candle light, it was straight and silver as a mirror. I walked slowly up the steps beating my soles heavy against the steps, hoping they’d hear before I made it to the door. They never heard. Just once I’d like it if the handle turned before I had the chance to turn it.

I twisted the handle and stepped on inside, sliding my mudcaked boots off to the side.

“I’m home.” I knew no one was gonna respond, but I said it anyway. You never know for sure. They were all wrapped up in their own things. Roux was makin’ dinner, Arlus was gushin’ over some toy he’d gotten ahold of, and Capri was sitting silently in my favorite overstuffed recliner. I’ve long since given up chastising her about it, she was at an age where no one could tell her anything she didn’t already know. Or that she didn’t already think she knew. It was a complicated age, especially for a girl I’ve been told. Arlus, luckily was still my little boy, though we weren’t as close as I’d like us to be.

I proceeded upstairs to change.

The Kane family had a long history within the kingdom. They used to be renowned throughout the country but through circumstances which I will explain at a relevant time, they were thrown out of the capital and forced to start a new life as simple country farmers. They made their way out to a small village near the border intersecting all three countries on the continent; Patri, Aruguara, and Frostburg. It was ultimately a good spot for merchants and traders, but the land itself was incredibly difficult to cultivate despite high demand for fruits and vegetables and the like; with that said, since they were in demand even a poultry amount could net a livable sum for the surrounding farmers. It was a high risk, high reward situation.

A reward which the Kanes collected in spades. It was accurate to say they were quite wealthy despite a fairly frugal life style, or because of it would be more accurate. Five generations of Kane farmers had built the family into it’s current state of wealth, they were the number one supplier of wheat and vegetables within the region.

Jacque, however, made sure that he and his family didn’t take this for granted. He worked to maintain his wealth and taught his family to keep a budget and stick to it. He always took the cheapest options and looked for the best deal when shopping. If something could be built, he built it. If one of his children was sick or injured, a doctor was the last resort. He had something of a stick up his ass when it came to spending, but I’m not biased. That is a valid observation in my opinion.

The family gathered around the table, their meal tonight and most other nights consisted of salad, bread, and soup. Jacque and the rest of his family took a seat and clasped their hands together.

“We thank Tranquillus and May, Hollis, Laithwaites and Candor, Rouchelle, Capriade, Arlus, and Fyne. We thank you for this bountiful harvest, and this wonderful family before me, and delicious food we are about to eat. Bountiful is they grace. Amen”

“Amen.” The family mumbles. A bit of history for those who may not know; a majority of the southeastern continents used to be a part of a single supercontinent, this was roughly 20,000 years ago, and it was called Hollanda. Back then many of the inhabitant were polytheistic, they would invent gods for all sorts of natural phenomena, and some of those gods carried over after the continents separated. Of course, over time people stopped believing in them, but occasionally you’d still find a couple people who prayed to the old gods. Nowadays, those sorts of deities are seen in the same light as fairy tale characters, and even the single all-powerful God is being chased out by the secular beast known as science. I digress.

The Kanes prayed to the old gods and believed that their bountiful wealth was due to their blessings. The gods mentioned are nature and harvest gods, with the exception of Capriade, Capri’s namesake. Those of you who know her name should be keenly aware of why it’s odd that she’s been lumped into this prayer. More on that later.

Jacque Kane

Family dinners can sometimes be a bit uncomfortable. I look forward to them, I do, but more and more it’s begun to feel like everyone is in their own little bubble.

“How was school today?”

Arlus fiddles with his toy, “Peachy.”

He could be a bit prickly but he’s a good kid. School is his favorite thing to talk about, or it used to be. He was always so excited about learning. I keep a pretty tight purse but I’d been putting some coin aside to send him to a real nice secondary school when he graduated.

“And what about you, Capri?”

“They’re all godless heathens, every girl in the school.” She stuffs a chicken leg in her mouth. There wasn’t any chicken on the table, maybe someone gave it to her at school. I opted to put that aside. It actually isn’t that unusual for her to bring somethin’ home, but she never had anything to say about it.

“What makes you say that?”

“No reason” She immediately clammed up. She doesn’t get along with kids her own age, never has. She says they’re too young to even hope to have an intelligent conversation with her. I can tell her right now that age ain’t the issue cause I don’t understand it either. She a real spirited young lady, I suppose.

“I was talking with Judith this afternoon.” Roux decided to throw me a conversational bone.

“Was Laury there?”

“He was around, I guess.”

“He didn’t say anything to you?”

“About what.”

“Nothing.”

Laury and I have a long history. I guess you could call it a rivalry. The summer market season would be starting next week and seein’ as how we usually do so well over there, I floated the idea of splittin’ the profits, but he couldn’t get into the idea. His exact words were, “70;30! You screwin’ with me?!?” and I told him that it’d net him more than he’d make all summer on his own, then he socked me right in the nose. I don’t get it.

“Anyway, I was talking with Judith-”

“What’s that?” Arlus pointed at a strange, little figure watching us through the window.

“Oh! My!” Roux jumped out of her seat and ran behind it.

It was the little creature from earlier, it was grabbing the open window sill with it’s front paws while staring at us and licking it’s chops.

“Everyone just stay calm. I don’t think it’s dangerous. I ran into it out in the field and I think It followed me home.”

“How can you be sure, Jacque?”

“I’m so scared, I’m such a helpless little girl.” My darling Capri cried.

The goddess Capriade was a goddess of fortune, she was among the younger batch of gods, and as reckless as she was youthful. This is really only scratching the surface of her story. I’m sure you all know that she started off as a human, died, and through her obsession with gambling managed to win her status as a god from Pharello, stripping him of his. He of course vowed revenge and through various trials regained his status unbeknownst to the goddess. She held an annual gambling tournament (every hundred years) to which Pharello made an appearance. Through bribery and other nefarious means he managed to win the tournament and in so doing won the chance to go up against Capriade. He lost but her less than agreeable personality got the best of her and she decided to make Pharello her slave, but in order for a god to enslave another god, they must get a contract from their creator. As it happened, Pharello had been spawned from Laithwaites, the goddess of the vineyard and Caffrey the god of gluttony.

Laithwaites proposed a game with Capriade. She lost and the goddess inverted her attribute making her a goddess of misfortune. Caffrey also attached a curse of gluttony upon her. After this fateful encounter she never won another game and her name was forever tarnished. She quickly lost believers and in turn lost pretty much all of her power and faded into nothing. That concludes the tragedy of Capriade, or so most people thought. The next part may seem unbelievable but again future accounts corroborate this fact. It seems that Capriade was owed a favor by Rein the goddess of reincarnation and as Capriade was on the verge of death, Rein sent her back to Earth as a baby. As it happened there was one family that still prayed to Capriade despite her unlucky turn and so her spirit was guided into the womb of the woman named Roux. There was one unforeseen hiccup on Rein’s part, the curses placed on the goddess weren’t removed. Due to the curse of misfortune the child, now known as Capri could remember her past life in the realm of gods. Even though she had the appearance of a 12-year-old she was actually several 1000 years old.

“I’m so scared, I’m such helpless little girl. Ah.” Capri spoke in a monotone voice.

“Can’t you see how scared our daughter is!?! Do something about it!”

“It looks kind of funny.” Arlus smiled.

Jacque Kane

I personally thought it was harmless but when your wife and daughter are scared for their lives, you’ve gotta do something. I’m the man of this house after all, and a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. And so I jumped into action.