🍜 – Someone who’s A Great Cook

Adriwyn giggles, shaking her snowy mane, which she’s wearing loose again for once. ‘I know three such – that I also know that I know, so to speak. The first one I met, and the one I still tend to go to if I’m desperate, because I know where she’ll be when – mostly – is Alyssia Dore von Durheim. But there’s also Flintlock Burnfur and Cameron Cartwright. I know others who are good bakers or confectioners, but I’ve had impressed upon me that that’s not always the same as being a good cook. Oh, and Sentryna was a pretty good cook, as well, though not quite as good. I suspect that Aleyanna Denton is also a good cook, but I don’t actually know that for sure, despite the variety of her comestibles for sale.’

👋 – A Friend

‘I have a lot of people I think of as friends of at least some sort. Some might not think to name me if asked, I suspect, but that’s the way of things at times. This time of year, and the way I grew up… it’s not what people want to hear, but I think of lost ones. Not as in ex-friends, but those who are, as they say, “missing, presumed dead.” Friends like Kale, though most people knew him by the moniker of “Twinfang”, and like Darra. Well, I’m getting maudlin, and should stop with that. There are some others I’ve not seen in far too long that I’m pretty sure are still around, at least, that I hope this season will bring back around. But if I start naming them, I’ll leave people out, and that doesn’t feel fair.’

Favorite indulgence and feelings surrounding indulging

The small, snowy-haired woman stops, blinks, then gives a soft, bitter laugh. ‘Wallowing in self-pity, I suppose. It’s what I’m best at, really.’ She sighs, shaking her head.

‘Probably not the sort you meant… but… what other people indulge themselves in… I’m not used enough to having. I don’t much like sweets. People keep giving them to me, and, well, raspberry, lime, pineapple, omnomberry… tart flavours that don’t cloy me so quickly. But even then, it doesn’t take much and I’m done. I just don’t eat much, anyway, nor want to.’

She shrugs one shoulder and paces a little. ‘Reading, maybe? I mean, I did go from illiterate gutter-snipe to Magister in the Priory rather quickly once I finally started to learn in earnest. Oh! No, even that’s probably not what you’re really after.’

Turning, she eyes her questioner. ‘Well, you did ask, but still… this one didn’t occur to me because of how much I’ve had sweethearts who were … enough like me in this regard. But, really, sex would be my main indulgence. And so long as I’m not neglecting anything – or anyone – I shouldn’t be, I’m happy enough about that.’

On the official day of Mad King’s Day, Flintlock Burnfur would take her warband mate, Mia Corpseburn, trick or treating. The shy, very small charr in all her 16 years has never gone trick or treating. Mia is a recent member of the Priory, and is actively learning to read. But on this night, she’s all about her princess costume. If anyone knocks on the door, it’s Flintlock, who shouts out “Trick or Treat”! If Adriwyn answers the door, what would her reaction be?

After a quick blink of surprise at the voice, which she’s pretty sure she recognises, Adriwyn shadow-steps to the door to answer it. ‘Flinty! And… oh, my! Who’s this lovely princess?!? I’m afraid I only have candied apples and sweet-cakes to give out, though. Well, unless charr digestion can handle the treats I have for my cat and the ravens, that is….’ She offers the sweets from her little stash by the door, even so.

Is there one subject of study that they excel at? Or do they even care about intellectual pursuits at all?

(( She’s drawn to histories, and ferreting out the truth from the various shadings and “spin” various writers always have – but she’s proved to be best at learning languages. Combining those is why such an otherwise under-educated twenty-year-old (at the time) got to be a Magister in the Priory despite her lack of earlier formal education. ))

How far did they get in formal education? What are their views on formal education vs self-education?

(( She kept having to hide from the Seraph to avoid getting “restored” to the abusive families that had adopted her, so she had effectively no formal schooling at all, since that mess started when she was not quite seven. She had the barest groundwork for how to read, and that was it. Once she had a reasonably stable place to live, she took to learning quite well, but she has a lot of gaps in her knowledge, and she knows it. She thinks a mix of formal education and self-directed study is probably best. ))

There is obviously a very good chance that Pania Alow has worked with Adri at the Durmond Priory, as both are Magisters. So there’s also a very good chance Adri knows of the constant arguments Pania gets in with Gixx, and the fact that Grishnack Soulclaw has to intervene. These constant arguments also a reason why Pania gets sent into the most dangerous areas of the field. So even though the two haven’t had real long discussions, how’s Adri see Pania?

(( Adri thinks the fact that Pania keeps coming back makes her really interesting – and also makes her worry a bit because it’s too reminiscent of her own time in Orr, which sometimes still gives her nightmares. Plus, she’s worried that she reads too much of herself in Pania. Overall, she’s, in some sense too attracted to her, so trying not to show it / let it distract her too much. ))