My Friends Call Me Key (1 of 2)

Writers: Paula, Anika
Date Posted: 25th November 2014

Characters: Gautrek, Keayd, Geiran, Geirolf
Description: Keayd joins Gautrek and the family for dinner.
Location: Vintner Hall
Date: month 10, day 10 of Turn 7
Notes: Notes: Part 1 of 2

Gautrek

"Welcome," Gautrek said opening the door for Keayd, realizing as he
did so that the temperature had dropped in the last candlemark.

"He's here! He's here! He's here!" Geiran chorused excitedly as if
Keayd were a long lost relative rather than someone he had never met.

"And he _did_ bring his canine," the boy added with obvious
excitement.

"Geiran, do settle down and let Journeyman Keayd inside," Gautrek
chided, though his fondness for his nephew was obvious in his
benevolent tone.

"Good evening, Gautrek," Keayd greeted. Spotting the child, Vena's
back side started to wag. The canine had only three legs and no tail,
having been born deformed.

"Careful with her," Keayd cautioned the boy. "Being three-legged, her
balance isn't that good so no rough handling. She does love being
scratched and petted."

Geirlan immediately obeyed and calmed down to pet the wiggling canine
and his brother was there in an instant to join him, scratching behind
her ears and softly patting along her body.

"Wow, she's great!" Geirlan said. "What's her name?"

"Perhaps I should introduce you to Journeyman Keayd first, and _then_
he can introduce you to his canine," Gautrek suggested with just a
hint of censure. Taking the hint, the older of the two stood up to be
properly introduced, but Geirlan was slower to do so. "These are my
nephews, Geirlan and Geirolf," he pointed to each boy in turn. This
is Junior Journeyman Keayd."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Geirolf said with a nod, "And thank you for
bringing your canine."

"Yeah, good to meet you," the younger boy parroted, his hand still on
Vena's head.

"I'm pleased to meet you, boys. This is Vena," Key replied and give
her a quick scratch, taking away the leash at the same time.

Both boys dropped back down to the floor to be on level with the
canine. "How come she only has three legs?" Geirlan wanted to know.

"She was born that way. If you look closely, you'll notice that she
has the fourth leg. It's just a tiny stump," Keayd explained while he
removed his outdoor clothes. Vena was obviously enjoying the attention
from the children. She reached to lick the boy's face.

The boy giggled, happily scratching behind the canine's ears in
response to her friendly attention.

"Here let me take those for you," Gautrek offered, reaching for
Keayd's outer garments so that he might stow them on a coat rack.
"Come in and have a seat. Geirlene's just freshening up after putting
the finishing touches on our meal."

"I hope you are hungry! We had some fun with the menu, but it is
possible we got carried away. We're going to start with edible fungi
stuffed with finely chopped wherry and whitebulb, topped with a white
sauce. We'll have a lightly oaked dry white wine to go with that, which
should carry over very well to go with our fish soup. Geirlene's made
some of her rolls to go with the soup - always a treat I assure you. Then
we'll move on to the bovine roast which I've infused with herbs and wine
to be served on a bed of grains. We'll have a good full bodied, earthy red
with nice spicy undertones to go with that. Of course we've the obligatory
greens and legumes as well. Then, you are in for a treat because my
niece's fruit pastries are delectable and I have an excellent rich
fortified port wine to finish off the meal." Guatrek loved pairing his wines
with foods to accentuate the flavors in each and like anything to do with
his craft, his enthusiasm for the task could quite overtake him.

"That all sounds very delicious," Keayd replied. He wasn't sure he
knew what all those dishes were. He normally ate at the hall's
communal dining room. The food there tended to be simple. Tasty but
the kind you could make easily for large group of people. **What the
shells are legumes?** he was getting bit nervous, feeling out of
place. Key had a relatively poor background.

"Don't worry, Journeyman Keayd," Geirolf said from his position on the
floor, "Even the strange stuff usually tastes good and Uncle Gautrek
can come up with some REALLY strange stuff."

"Well, thank you for your vote of confidence, my boy," Gautrek
responded dryly. "Luckily my niece shows more appreciation for my
hobby than my nephews," he said as an aside to Keayd. "Ah, and here
she is."

Last updated on the November 28th 2014

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My Friends Call Me Key (1 of 2)