In the middle of the room, a large round table of old oak is placed.

Several large chairs surround the table, most of them already occupied by a merry band of adventurers.

A gruff dwarf, currently engaged in an animated discussion with a miniature dragon who nibbles at a strawberry pie, nods his greeting and grumbles:

"A wonderful day to thee, Kylira of Fontrevault, me name's Cyrion. Murph, our generous host on this evening has already told us that you'd join our round tonight."

"Want some strawberry pie?"

the small dragon pipes in, while a large piece of strawberry pie levitates in your direction.
It stops about 4'' from your face and quivers slightly.

Before the small dragon could do anything else, Cyrion snatches away the pie and stuffs it into his moust, neatly smearing his brown beard with jam.

"Heaven knows, where you got the idea from that you've got to greet every visitor with flying pies !",

he bellows and leans a bit closer, whispering:

"He thinks it's funny to let pies fly into the faces of newcomers and then claim that his magic control over them wasn't complete. Should ye ask me, he's nuts.

Loud again, he shouts over to a tall elven figure, garbed in a dark robe of midnight blue:

Jadawin, our visitor is here, come over and say hello, and keep your statement short !

You know, he likes to talk way too long for me taste."

he then confides (?word?) to you.

The elf named Jadawin moves over and smiles pleasantly, one arm around the shoulder of a beautiful lady, the other arm around her twin sister, or so it seems.
He smiles and disentangles himself from the beauties to properly greet you:

The blessings of the gods to thee, Kylira, and luck on your ways for the next year, I wish thee.
And may all your paths lead you to pleasant experiences from which to learn and broaden your experience and wisdom ... which reminds me of my old friend Merlin, the younger, who, on a beautiful day just as today, met with me on a marketplace, not too far from here....

Oh shut up,

Cyrion shouts, throwing his hands into the air, exasperated,

"I said, and here I quote : '... and keep your statement short!'

Do you call this short ?!

When will you ever learn to speak only as much as we poor surface dwellers can stand at a time, without ... without ...

His, by now deafeningly loud voice trails off into nothingness.

"If the ladies will excuse me, and Odo stop that nonsense!!!

Ah !! These children !!!

With that, he stomps off, obviously trying to regain his composure elsewhere.

As soon as he left the room, everyone bursts into helpless laughter, slapping shoulders and mimicking Cyrion's behaviour.

A short while later, one of the ladies moves towards Kylira and offers her hand:

" I'm Meris and would like to welcome you here on behalf of all these people, including Odo - that's my double for the moment - and Murph, who'll join us shortly.

She smiles pleasantly and you shake hands.

"Well, how did you come to know Murph",

she then asks and you tell your story.

After that, Murph and Cyrion enter the room and the festivities in honor of the new year and your presence begin !!!!

Between two mugs of ale, Murph leans over and says:

Oh, by the way, Kylira, I've told the sages all over the country what to tell you, should you meet them, so that I could be sure, you'd return for this celebration."

And so, you all party through the night and have a really good time.

The evening has been most enjoyable for Little Kylira. She particularly enjoyed the reference to the Merlin as she has one such familiar with the name of Gandar. Stories of ages past have given her a small taste of The Merlin's greatness and kindness; she wondered if Gandar and Merlin knew each other.

This merry band, and even the gruff dwarf Cyrion, was a most hospitable group and Kylira could see herself making a home, an adventure-filled home here. The dragons offer of strawberry pie was kind, but she could sense the spirit of the offer and was glad Cyrion intervened before it was necessary for her to decline. Memories of an imp and lover called Marek flooded her mind. Only he had ever adventured to her lighter side. She was ever so grateful for the dragons and Cyrion's silliness, but the pain of Marek's passing was still very close and heavily guarded in Little Kylira's heart.

Sensing her hosts wanting to please her, Kylira says,

"Dear friends, new friends, I am very grateful for your hospitality. Jadawin, Cyrion, Meris and Murph...you have made my introduction to your splendid land unforgettable. I only hope that I am able to serve you all in the same fashion. Please, let me tell you some of who I am...

...I come from a land on another ocean. My home and my love was taken from me by one whom we , Marek and I, trusted and had come to love. We were foolish; because of that Marek was taken from me and our land was lost. During our time of need, not one of our people offered assistance, I suppose from fear. Whatever their excuse, it cost me my love and my land.

In the aftermath I gave my pledge, a pledge to Gandar and, more importantly, to my love Marek. Forever would my search be for those whose lives had been reached by wrong doing; forever would my search be to right those wrongs. I have traveled far and wide and found solace in your inn. I will be forever grateful for you kindness...and, dear Cyrion, forgive me my long windedness. My friend Nog Rasp-tin will attest to my prolific speech. Someday, mayhaps you will meet this halfling. He's quite a character.

In any case, I must beg my leave for the evening. Your hospitality has been more than I ever hoped for and, as I said before, I hope to join adventures beginning in your land. Perhaps I will be able to taste the Strawberry Pie in future. Cheers, glad tidings and happiness for the New Year.

With that, Kylira retired to her rooms and the others spoke for a long time through the night, discussing the happenings of this day and their plans for the future.

Dear visitor of my humble establishment,

a friend of mine, called Kylira has shown up after half-a-year of absence and we've established a means to share stories and adventures.

Should you like to participate, please enter your story below.
After reviewing it, I'll add it to the above tale so that we'll together create an evolving story of adventure.

Copyright notice:

All messages sent have to be owned by you. By mailing a story here, you testify that the entry is your sole property and that you aggree to the addition of this text to the above tale.
I will accept no entries without e-mail address and will inform any participant of new entries by e-mail.

Please send me a messenger pigeon.

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