Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

was the first to hear the knock on the door. Woe was currently occupied with some sort of set up in the wine cellar, so even his well honed hearing wasn’t sharp enough to hear all the way up to the surface floor. In spite of the wealth of its occupant and size of the orchard outside, the cabin itself was fairly spartan and humble on the surface. Just a few rooms were reserved for the children, there was a study, and of course hallways connecting the various chambers. There was also a kitchen, from which wafted the scents of lemon drops and cakes as someone was making something yummy.

Blodwen got to the door, and opened it to look incredulously across shoveled pathway of snow. When she didn’t immediately see something, she rolled her eyes and was almost ready to shut the door, when Winston’s voice piped up from the ground. Then she looked down, and saw the cadouri bearing gifts and treats. “Oh… The groundskeeper.” She remarked, and then waved a hand impatiently for him to enter. “Fine.” She responded to his inquiry to her health.

As they walked into the house, and Blodwen made sure to give Chest a wide berth if he entered, eying the construct suspiciously. Woe’s son, arrived from an adjoining chamber to the kitchen, entering the foyer and seeing that Winston was balancing the parcels all on his own, stooped down to him, kneeling in front of the Ferret. “Can I take your packages for you?” He offered, holding out his arms to receive them. “Father is in the wine cellar.”

Whether he granted him the parcels or not, Iago would show him toward the entrance to the cellar, which stood at the end of a hallway that broke off from the foyer. At the end, was a door, with steps to walk down. “He’s right down there, probably inspecting the stills.”

Blodwen had long since excused herself from the situation, putting a good distance between herself and the Chest (which while Winston had been working on the fence, had always creeped her out).

At the bottom of the stairs, Woe was indeed inspecting the wooden stills that would soon carry all manner of fruits and brews, to make specialty alcohol. Brewing had become something of a passtime for the Egg of recent years, and he was slowly gaining in skill as he practiced first at teas, and then proceeded to experiment with harder drinks.

Woe turned his head when Winston entered, and nodded to him. “What a surprise, Winston. I didn’t expect to see you visiting so soon.”

“I’m afraid I don’t have any work for you at the moment, although I surely will when growing season begins, and we work on expanding the orchard.” It was then that Woe noticed the parcels that Winston was carrying, “Anyway, you are welcome to visit whenever you like, obviously. What do you have there?”

He knelt in front of Winston if he’d approach closer, and nodded at him to hand the parcels over (or Iago if Winston had given them over to the boy). “I’m afraid I neglected to arrange a gift for you, Winston. But perhaps…”

Woe looked up at Iago, “Iago, can you have Gloom fix some extra food and drink for Winston?” He turned his gaze downward to the cadouri, “You should stay and warm yourself by the hearth, and have food with us. Gloom is a fair cook himself.”

“Now what have you brought to my cabin?”

They all settled down to the table, which was an awkward moment. Winston if he had much might've gotten the impression that this was not the usual arrangement in the household. Generally Woe left the children to their own devices, as they seemed to prefer. He didn't need to encourage more strife under his roof than already was present between the variety of personalities.

Speaking of personalities, Gloom shortly joined them with a large frosted lemon cake, topped with some soft gummy beans made of lemon and sugar. He set this at the center, and sliced a piece for everyone at the table. Gloom was a dour tunawa, with a pair of stiff rabbit ears sticking out of his head, which gave him the appearance almost of a wooden/plant-like rabbit. He wore dark clothing and darker cosmetics, and even as he doled out the portions he had a slightly morose look about him.

"I hope you enjoy the cake. I made the lemon drops and the cake myself. The frosting I got from the market." Gloom intoned, monotonously. And then he sat down to eat with the rest of them.

"Thank you Winston, again for the gift. It was very moving."

Thus the group commenced dinner.

The cake, Winston would notice, was very sweet and almost tart in flavor, with much in the way of creamy flavor that had been slathered on every layer of the cake. The lemon drops, the soft gummies on the top of the frosting accentuated the sour tartness of the rest of the cake, giving it an overall interesting aftertaste.