The Nathus Family

Geiv
Geiv was an only child born in Gold Ring in 85 RC to his parents, Jay and Lynn. Jay left a year later to resume his travels and work as a caravan guard, leaving Lynn to take care of Geiv. Lynn had retired from the Gold Ring Vigilance Committee when Geiv was born, so she got a job as a nanny to support Geiv and herself. She took little Geiv with her while she worked, taking care of her sister-in-law’s child, Kaho. Lynn’s job and economic status taught Geiv the importance of humility, but Lynn’s experience in the GRVC made Geiv proud of his mom and his city. From a young age, he considered outsiders to be less civilized, but didn’t think of them as inferior and loved to hear their stories and tales.

As Geiv grew into a young sergal, he started to groom his mane so he looked more like his mom, who he adored. He developed a sweet tooth for mochi, rock candy, and root beer. He preferred the texture of meat compared to fish, so he'd try to swallow fish whole to avoid chewing them. Lynn scolded Geiv for doing this, saying “that’s something your scatterbrained father would do,” but this backfired and now Geiv loves to swallow fish whole. Geiv grew up to be positive, witty, silly and impulsive, often falling head over keel for other sergals, especially Easterners. Geiv always has good intentions, but he doesn’t always think things through and he can get into trouble.

Geiv started working at a Gold Ring convenience store when he was an adult (ten years old), moving into his own apartment and supporting himself (with some help from Lynn). He quickly figured out that he had a low alcohol/chemical tolerance, so he tried to avoid stuff like miasma and talyxian weed, but he enjoyed drinking with friends. Geiv had grown up to be positive, witty, silly and impulsive, often falling head over keel for other sergals, especially Easterners and Northerners. Geiv always had good intentions, but he didn’t always think things through. The one plan he thought through was his plan to become a garden knight, which he concocted in 97 RC after the birth of his daughter, Tessa.

Geiv convinced Lynn to train him in close quarters combat in late 97 RC, quitting his job and moving in with his mom to focus on raising his child and the task at hand. After six months of training, he temporarily dyed his fur gold and applied for a position amongst the Garden Knight ranks. His plan succeeded, and he was accepted in 98 RC and assigned to protect a southern noble named Asher. The Garden Knights soon found out about his plan, since Geiv didn’t bother dying his fur again, but they decided not to discharge him because of the initiative he took to get into their ranks, plus, he was doing a great job. Geiv’s actions were a wakeup call for the Garden Knights, teaching them to check new recruits for dyes. Geiv went on to also protect a nevrean named EQ during their musical performances, offering his services at a discount because he enjoyed EQ’s company.

Geiv moved into a larger house in late 98 RC with Lynn and Tessa, making enough cevia to allow Lynn to retire. He would often rent out the guest bedrooms to friends and travelers at Lynn's behest, giving her something to do in addition to raising Tessa with Geiv. Jay returned to Gold Ring in 100 RC, living in Geiv's house with Lynn. Jay was very surprised when he learned that Tessa was his granddaughter, because he assumed that she was just another child that Lynn was taking care of.

Jay
Geiv's father, Jay, was known for his wanderlust, fighting spirit and his love of western sergals - which explains why Geiv's mother, Lynn, is 1/2 western, and why Geiv is 1/4 western. Jay, a caravan guard and an adventurer, was a (pure) civilized southerner who loved to fight Talyxians and explore almost as much as he loved his wife.

Jay and his fraternal twin, Ely, were born in Gold Ring in 55 RC. They grew up together in Gold Ring and shared a lust for combat, but Jay was reckless and Ely was cautious. In 65 RC, Ely used his wit to convince a caravan to hire them as guards, and they spent the next 18 years guarding caravans. Ely would hang back near the caravan, sticking close to their clients while Jay would walk ahead of the caravan and deal with any threats. Their diligence paid off, allowing them to earn more than a member of the GRVC. This all changed in 83 RC when Ely settled down in Gold Ring, wanting to have a family of his own - he married an eastern sergal named Thuy. Jay initially joined Ely and tried to form a family, but eventually his wanderlust forced him to leave Gold Ring.

Jay left Gold Ring to continue his travels a year after Geiv was born. He met a southern sergal named Drakken along the way, who was starry-eyed and craving his first real adventure. Jay promptly brought the unassuming southerner on a hunt to kill a talyxian leech, whom Jay had led into the Sailzane a day prior. Jay continued to work as a caravan guard, unintentionally avoiding Gold Ring until his surprise return in 100 RC. He learned from Lynn that Ely, as well as Ely's wife, Thuy, had been killed back in 89 RC - he didn't know how to react to this because it had happened so long ago. At this point, after learning of his brother's demise, he finally decided to settle down with Geiv's mom, hanging up his sword and armor so he could spend time with his family. Jay is a bit of an eccentric, and is brash towards those he deems more intelligent than himself. For example, Jay would get upset when Ely would question his motives, even when Ely was right.

Lynn
Lynn was born in 55 RC and was raised communally in Gold Ring. Most of her youth was spent around agudners, and when she turned 10 in 65 RC she found a job as a nanny for a wealthy Agudner family. Lynn's kind and gentle nature made her a great nanny, but she quickly became attached to the children and the agudner parents started to get jealous. Things quickly spiraled out of control when the children started calling her "mommy", and Lynn ended up getting fired in 67 RC. This trend would continue with each babysitting job until Lynn was forced to change her profession, starting her new career in 75 RC as an officer in the Gold Ring Vigilance Committee. Her new job offered a stable income and was enough for Lynn to afford her own place to live.

Lynn's career as an officer in the GRVC lasted until her retirement in 85 RC, when Geiv was born. Lynn adored her newborn son, and didn't want to risk getting hurt in the line of duty - at the time, she thought Jay would join the GRVC in her place and she could stay home with her lil Geivy. Unfortunately, Jay left a year later, leaving Lynn to take care of Geiv by herself with no job. Geiv was all Lynn had left, and with her landowner trying to evict her, Lynn turned to her friends for help. Lynn was offered a job as a caretaker in 86 RC by her sister-in-law, Thuy, and was able to return to doing what she loved.

When Geiv was little, Lynn used to joke that Jay was "on his way to the western lands, because he ran out of fresh tail in Gold Ring" because Jay was never around. As Geiv grew into a young adult, the tannish white color in his fur got whiter, but the brown color remained the same, and will be the same throughout his entire life. Lynn learned of Ely and Thuy's demise while taking care of Geiv and Kaho, and she was very sad and stressed by this news. Fortunately for Lynn, she received custody of Kaho and control of his finances - Lynn continued to take care of Kaho and abided by the contract she had previously established with Thuy. Lynn had to change professions again in 94 RC when Kaho went off to live on his own, assuming the role as a communal caretaker until her retirement in 98 RC. Lynn and Geiv adore children, so Geiv enjoyed visiting his mom's workplace and playing with the kids during his free time. Lynn helped train Geiv in close quarters combat in 97 RC after the birth of Tessa, since Lynn spent 10 years in the GRVC - she wasn't on par with the combat instructors, but she did the best she could. She currently lives with Geiv, Jay, and Tessa.

Tessa
Geiv's daughter, Tessa, was born in 97 RC after Geiv slept with his female friend Sachi a year earlier. Geiv took Tessa in once she was born and raised her with help from Lynn, loving and caring for her as she grew. Lynn handled Tessa's education as she got older, while Geiv played with Tessa and eventually showed her how to defend herself. Tessa is mostly southern and eastern, sporting pinkish brown fur and pale blue eyes. She's stocky and is a natural fighter like Geiv and Jay, and also witty and thoughtful because she was raised by Geiv and Lynn. She's fiercely protective of her dad and can be brash towards new people. By the time Tessa was 10, her strength and intelligence had made her disdainful, but she demanded respect from others. She started training to be a member of the GRVC around this time so she could follow in Lynn's footsteps, but this didn't last for very long. Tessa was moody around civilians if they bothered her, which was unfitting of an officer in training. Her instructor saw her potential as a fighter, and suggested that she should be a caravan guard like Jay. Tessa always considered Jay to be "dangerously stupid", so she didn't consider his profession to be worth her time until her instructor suggested it. She talked with her grandpa Jay to learn more about what it takes to be a caravan guard, and he shared some of his experiences with her. He told her about all the crazy fights he got involved in, which convinced Tessa become Jay's protégé.

Tessa's race, ancestry, and intelligence gave her nearly limitless potential, but it wasn't until she first sparred with Jay that she learned that talent means nothing without hard work. It took Tessa a long time to learn how to fight rather than brawl, but once she made the transition she was able to fight Jay on equal footing. She eventually surpassed Jay's skill by the time she was 15, but unfortunately, Tessa was only good at fighting other Eltus races. She couldn't be a good caravan guard, and couldn't be a good GRVC officer. Tessa continued to live with Geiv, and often asked him why she couldn't be a garden knight. Geiv said that garden knights have to have golden fur, but he's an exception because he "dyed his fur when he applied for the job, and now they're stuck with me". Tessa started spending more time with her dad, and they would sometimes get asked if they were a couple rather than if they were father/daughter. She often claimed that she'd never marry a man like Geiv, but deep down she admired Geiv's humility and his dedication to his line of work.

Tessa would eventually move into her own house in 120 RC with financial support from Geiv. She eventually found her niche as a combat instructor, showing new recruits in the GRVC how to fight. Most of the recruits looked pathetic, like little bellhops who would carry your luggage and whine about it being heavy - but Tessa did her best, and produced some of the best guards Gold Ring had seen in decades.

A timeline of Geiv's recent ancestry and events
28 RC: Pure Western great grandparents arrived in GR at a young age (the grandparents of Geiv's mom)

35 RC: Pure Western grandparent and 100% Civilized Southern grandparent (Lynn's parents) born in GR. 100% Civilized Southern grandparents (Jay's parents) born in GR.

55 RC: 1/2 Western mom (Lynn), 100% Civilized Southern dad (Jay) born in GR. Jay's fraternal twin, Ely, is also born.65 RC: Jay and Ely begin their work as caravan guards.

85 RC: Geiv and his cousin Kaho are born, Geiv's parents were 30.

86 RC: Geiv's father, Jay, leaves Gold Ring to continue his adventures, travelling and working as a caravan guard.

89 RC: Ely and his wife, Thuy, are killed in an assassination attempt.

92 RC: Geiv plays with an eastern sergal named Izzar, who is visiting GR from Reono.

95 RC: Geiv moves into his studio apartment and works at a Gold Ring convenience store.

96 RC: Geiv sleeps around with his friends, most notably his Eastern friend Sachi.

97 RC: Geiv and Sachi's daughter, Tessa, is born. Geiv quits his job and moves back in with his mom so he can raise Tessa and learn close quarters combat.

98 RC: Geiv gets a job as a garden knight, dying his fur gold in order to do so. He moves into a nicer house and is able to live comfortably.

100 RC: Jay returns to Gold Ring and settles down with Lynn.

107 RC: Tessa turns 10 and begins training with her grandpa Jay.

120 RC: Tessa moves into her own house with financial help from Geiv.

123 RC: Tessa is hired to be a GRVC combat instructor.