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Upon it's arrival at the platform which abutted the bank of the river, the barge disgorged several passengers, among them a tall gentleman, noble of bearing and appearance, who strode upon the planks in a way which marked him, along with his various and sundry accoutrements, as a man of war and the various martial arts and disciplines. Our friend was a tall fellow, his mustaches full and flowing, his face untouched as of late, by the steel of a blade. He was also rather hirsute, as befits a person of his bearing and avocation.
As he stood to gather his bearings, from the crowd of well-wishers and others who made up the confabulation of the dock, there stepped a tall and very striking lady, clad in shimmering robes and dress. She was of excellent disposition, her toilet being one of exquisite preparation and sublime effect. She strode upon the deck in a manner that was almost, one could even venture to say, purposeful. As she approached him, he thought to make a declaration, but, seeing the uncommonly serious and even stark expression she carried upon her visage, he hung fire.
"Strider, my dear. It is so good to see you again," she declared to him, her voice a pleasing lilt, as she smiled in an ever so gentle manner upon him. "My Father sends his regards." The young man could only barely contain an inward reaction to the effrotery with which it must have taken the elderly gentleman to entrust his beloved Daughter to pass this missive along to him. In his heart of hearts, Strider had begun to approch a belief that this gentleman had little regard for, and even a marked lack of respect, for him and his feelings, which were of the deepest and most sturdy sort, for his Elfin Daughter. It was widely rumored among those who trafficked in such scurrilous matters, that the old gentleman had even caused it to be arranged in his will and testament that Strider was to come into none of his Daughter's gold, nor any of her vast lands and properties, upon the Father's demise...