everyone presently in the lodge in order of appetite:
1 rattled unicorn (semi-active but hungrier since new legs!)
1 wolfy human (active but trim)
1 clever kalashtar (semi-active)
6 elderly humans (active)
1 brave gryphon (active but light)
1 scruffy human (practically furniture but hungrier since new arm)
1 guilty human (kind of a jerk but still has to eat)
1 helpful kobold (active but small)
3 fearless forged (they don't eat much but they're happy to sample!)
one of the monks "hitomi isao" made a lightly sweet sauce to go over sautéed fiddleheads and mushrooms ... and he also used it to marinate some bear meat that he grilled
kaba made a spicy root vegetable mash that medya combined with some pickled carrots then baked into pastries for a very tasty imitation of the shrew's purse
and kaba had the idea of fresh bilberry sorbet! she'd never added basil before but a single taste convinced her that it is objectively the best
the monks shared stories with a little translation help from relic
segor'd already heard it and i didn't want him to feel too terribly bored so while i worked on my daily piece – an abstracted svest' this time – i sat near to him and told him all about spruce tip's many significant contributions to the pony art canon
after all what sort of art collector doesn't want to know more who made the art?
... annoying kindness is one of the healthier ways to express disdain
relaxing into sleep might be a little difficult
the hunting lodge décor would be unsettling enough on its own but some of it belched up angry ghosts and the assurances from both vedim and relic that the place is clean can only go so far
i feel awfully vulnerable here
not like when cazha's maul disappeared from the heart & hammer – that was a safe place violated
this feels like an inherently unsafe place – briefly clean but more ghosts could arrive at any moment
fortunately i have a little something to help me sleep and also a good emergency "be awake right now" herb just in case
and the beds here are very nice
in the morning i'll toast up some buckwheat and oats to go over yogurt with shredded apple
isao is planning some sort of eggy oniony mushroomy buckwheat sort of thing
i'm soaking up all the comfort i can get here because we're back on the road early and i gather it gets less hospitable from here