Private Tales Culture shock

[Pern]

"Wot?" Pern asked from the dining room. A moment later she peeked her head back into the kitchen, "We do not fight her. She ish welcome here and even hash fought alongshide ush during battle. ... or sho Ignashush shaysh."

She stepped in and opened a side cupboard, retrieving finely crafted wooden bowls and utensils, "I have only sheen her a few timesh, but Ignashush hash known her hish whole life."

 

[Hath Charosh]

"Oh," went Hath. He had expected a creature so large to be attracted to the city by the crowd of easily picked off humans.

"Why does she come here?" he asked. If he felt foolish for asking a string of questions it did not show. A few strides and he ducked into a room set out for dining. Hath was used to being expected to bring his own bowl and utensils to someone else's table. Pern was busy laying it out.

Whilst he didn't feel foolish at the questions, he didn't feel as if he was slowing down the conversation between two old friends. He could always have a brief nap after food and leave them to talk.

 

[Scabhair]

Mim only gave a small noise of protest when Scabhair finally shrugged her off. She took up her share of the crockery and helped Pern lay out the table for dinner.

“I’ve been promising to pick his brain about that for years.” After a moment she paused and added in orcish, “Ask him a lot of questions about it. Humans have odd idioms.”

The beautiful thing about stews – the smell alone let you know when they were cooked. Scy followed her nose back to the kitchen and returned bearing a grin and a pot. It wasn’t long until they all had bowlfuls of goulash steaming on the table.

For once she let others carry the conversation, content to chew on food instead of words.

 

[Pern]

"Smells good, Nilli," Ignatius slowly made his way in, feet quietly shuffling across wooden floor.

"Hungry?" Pern asked, reaching to pull the man's chair out without needing to leave her seat - long arms, they had many uses.

"Well I thought I might not be, but now I might not be what I thought," he chuckled and carefully settled into his chair at the head of the table. The man's eyes roved from face to face, bearing no sign of discomfort for the guests in his home or their table etiquette. He made a sound of delight as Pern scooped him a bowl and set it before him, "Did I hear you speaking of my noble friend?"

"Hath would like to know why she comesh here to Elbion," Pern passed her father a roll and filled his cup with water before getting her first spoonful of dinner.

"Ah. Well, she has visited this city for as long as I can remember. Even since I was just a boy. There are legends and stories that say she knew the great Mage Elbion himself and helped him establish the College during a time in history when the use of magic was forbidden in many places. Today she visits and offers her services to the city during times of need. Trade, scouting, courier ... she's even helped defend the city from attack. We call her Dawnbringer, for the sun rises on the gleam of her wings."

 

[Hath Charosh]

Hath listened carefully, noting a furry presence near his ankles. Keeping his eyes on Ignatious he curiously lowered a hand towards the small feline. It rose quickly to meet it on hind legs and sniffed it. Seemingly disappointed at the lack of food it rubbed itself against his calf and then sat back down to stare up at him expectantly. Perhaps, he thought in amusement, it believed the newcomer was an easy mark to beg from. He wouldn't feed it; a hunter had a purpose and that was to hunt.

"That does not sound like a normal Griffin," he observed. He took time over his words to try and avoid sounding like he was accusing them of being wrong. Tone was difficult, but he wanted to avoid having to go through Scabhair to speak human too much.

"Very good. Thank you," Hath said with a firm nod after dipping and chewing down a torn off chunk of bread. He tried not to think about why humans would use eating a man's brain as a way of saying they needed to ask questions.