Truffles and Trifles
Seventeenth Day of the Second Month 294 AC
Were some curious messenger raven to look in through the glass doors of the Greenway apartment, it would seemingly not find much to sate its interest; four figures gathered around a small ebony table, three of them sharing a certain kinship of form from ebony skin and silver hair to crimson eyes, the third a woman in emerald green chosen to contrast with vivid crimson hair. What that raven or indeed any would be watcher could not guess is that they were all travelers adrift in time, separated by vast gulfs of years, wide lands and raging sees, united by the touch of the Pit. It was little wonder all of them had plans in mind to kill the others should they need to.
The silver bowl clinked on the table, earning three suspicious looks, and not as some
might in confusion at the sight of truffles peeking out from among frothy egg. Azema would not have poisoned it even if she had meant to kill her guests tonight, partly because all of them were better at that game than she was and partly because it would be a waste of good truffles. Just because common poisons could not hurt her did not mean she could not taste them.
"You know," she started, breaking the conversational ice after the stiff and careful greetings. "I wonder why the Abyss is so attached to things that crawl, bite, and sting? It's always wasps, scorpions, or spiders, never anything inherently useful or affectionate for all it is said to contain infinities uncounted."
"As opposed to counted infinities?" the once priestess interjected dryly. "I would wager enough mortals in this new age resemble these ape-kin, and they must have some use for a dragon to take their shape consistently. I must confess I do not see the charms that lead to such an unusual closeness."
The words could be taken to be an aspersion to either the king's heritage or her own. Azema sighed inwardly. As probing verbal barbs went, it was not the best.
She did spend the last who knew how many millennia in a stick, after all, the alu demon allowed silently.
"It does seems to be a rather ill-thought way to build anything, be it an army or a society, to start from the predatory and perilous and then build circles of restraint and ritual," Tuin interjected. "These humans are by and large weak, yes, but it makes them far more likely to embrace community and their place in it, with a surprising amount of harmony."
Azema was impressed, though less at the words, the essence of which she had known about beforehand, and more at the fact that the drow mage had managed to say 'harmony' in Abyssal in a way that was easily recognizable with only a minimum of tortured metaphor.
For a long moment they ate in silence before Morwyn asked, "Do you enjoy the meal?"
"Yes, a novel texture and interesting taste, like much of that is around us," Selwys replied, motioning faintly with her fork. "Where are these mushrooms grown."
"They are not," Tuin took up the conversation smoothly once more. "Rather, they are gathered and unearthed from the wilds."
"Another useful skill," the former priestess proclaimed lightly, not believing a word she said.
"Not really, no, at least not in the manner you are thinking," the sorcerer replied. "A human's nose in no way makes up for their terrible sight, but they have found a way to get around it. For instance..." he motioned grandly only for a stubby little truffle hound looking for all the world more like ewe than dog to bounce into the room happily.
"Shadow here is very good at finding truffles, but that is ultimately all the skills he can boast..."
Well, that and being well behaved around me, Azema thought, though this time her attention was on Tuin. She had not expected him to show off the dog to make the point, seeing as he was not feigning the smile.
A weakness unveiled, hopefully one that's worth it.
"Left to his own in the wilds he would surely perish, likely at the claws of some other beast,
" the account continued as Shadow jumped into his lap. "But he is very good at finding precious, delicious truffles and loyal to the hand that feeds him."
"I see," Selwys said in a subtly different tone, her gaze thoughtful.
You are beginning to, at least, Azema thought. Still, for a first evening she would count that a success and worth a few hours spent back home.
OOC: I initially wanted to put in a pic of the food too, but I could not find one that is not in modern tableware and that would have been jarring. And yes Tuin got an actual pet, he teases his brother that it still takes up less time than Jezhene. Not yet edited. 
