One sunny afternoon in the halfling homeland of Komiteia, an unusual traveler made his way into the Hogshead Barrel–a cozy pub off the main streets. Today was a busy one, as many a halfling was having a cold one inside to escape the Ignius heat. The sound of the door opening notified the proprietor, who turned around wiping his hands on a kitchen rag behind the bar counter. "Welcome to the Hogshead Barrel! How many I be of ser—aaaagh!" As the halfling man cried out the rest of the establishment went dead silent as the shadow of an orc dressed in leather armor with several polearms on his back towered overhead. Looming over the owner of the tavern, the heavy footsteps of the orc stopped before the bar as there was a long pause. Then, the orc spoke in a voice thick with a Yovaeshi accent. "I take it you're the owner, then?" The middle-aged halfling nodded, eyes wide. The orc then lowered himself until he was above the halfling's eye-level, and asked with a straight face and tone that was dead serious: "…So tell me, how do ye make your cheese?"

The poor frightened halfling stammered, expecting to be robbed or worse only to become very confused. "I-I'm sorry sir! T-this place's all I have! I don't have much coin to spare, honest! You're got to believe–er, w-what?" He blinked. "…Excuse me?" Delanac was now sitting down at the bar, which explained why he was closer to the halfling's height. At the man's question he repeated his request again. "Like I said mun, tell me how ye make your cheese. You halflings are famous for ye cheese, aren'tcha? The same goes for ye sausages an' hams too. Thought I'd cross the Nyella and see how it's done proper. Hope I'm not intrudin' on ye, but if I am just say you'll be right with me in a minute an' I'll take it easy 'till you're done." He then got up from the bar and took a seat in the corner of the tavern, leaving the proprietor and the entire room dumbfounded. Soon the patrons were back to their usual chatter again, though a couple stole a few furtive glances at the huge orc in the pub.

Vinsue walked in with her young hatchling on her solder. she was surprised when the place was dead quite. she walked in and could not even see a waitress or waiter in the place. she quickly noticed an orc in the back. she quickly recognized his armor. she smiled and strolled over before siting across from him.

"Do you enjoy scaring places just to get a simple raspy." she knew this orc and she knew that he was not war like in the sliest. "How did the eggs turn out?"

Delanac looked up at the woman who had just come in. He knitted his brows, puzzled. "Eggs? What eggs?" He had no idea what she was talking about, but from the way she addressed him she apparently knew him. He racked his brain trying to remember if he and this woman had met before. Did she know him from somewhere? His eyes then moved to the small lizard on her shoulder. A pet, probably. Still unable to recall, he scratched his head. He would've sworn he'd remember at least a few details if they had a previous encounter. Just where did they meet, and when? When she asked if he enjoyed scaring people to get answers, he snorted. If she was asking that then she didn't know him at all. He still wasn't sure if they really did know each other or if she was just using a ploy to start a conversation with a stranger. That sort of thing did happen in taverns. It was also a good way to get swindled too.

"Say, have we met somewhere? For the life of me I can't recall. A proper head-scratcher, it is." Delanac responded, watching how the servers and customers interacted with each other. He wasn't thinking of opening his own pub, but he figured he might as well see if he could pick up a few ideas on plating and hospitality. Most taverns were more interested in putting the food on the plate, but from what he'd seen from the more high-end joints the chefs would arrange the food in ways that not only looked good–but opened up the appetite. You could throw all the ingredients for a stew into the pot at once, but if it didn't look good people wouldn't think it would be as tasty as it really was. Those fancy dishes were both a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach. But first, he had to work on making it taste good before moving on to making it look pretty. Here he had started off wanting to be a great chef, but there were other things to learn that he'd never expected to be included. On the upside, that meant he had even more evidence to prove to his old man that people who made food were artisans too.

"Deviled eggs. yes we met at the winking mermaid as you where naming egg fixes back in spring." She said  than she realized that they had only swapped a few words before the drunk bearded man told about the thing. "Guess you would not remember me it was a quick word exchange. I just can not afford to forget things like people."

his puzzled look seamed to not change. She got up and walked to the bar before taking a seat on one of the stools. when a man finally came and asked what she would have she ordered an ale and drank it as soon as it was in front of her.

He mulled over it for a bit. So it happened in the season of Terra, then? What was he doing around that time? Eggs…knowing him something must have inspired him to start thinking of recipes around then. After continued pondering it finally dawned on him. Of course! It was the jewel eggs. Back then that was when they began showing up all over and everyone was making a stir over the ovoid treasures. Selling a few of those earned him a pretty penny, though eventually he lost interest. All that talk of them led him to list out all the recipes for eggs that he knew, and then Rufus Blackwater stopped by to share his own recipe for deviled eggs with him. It was likely he and this woman had met briefly either before or after then. "…Oh right. I remember it all now. Back there the most I could recall was meeting with ol' Rufus as he was waiting for his ship to finish being repaired."

The woman then left to take a seat at the bar, and he was by himself at the table again. Hours passed, and soon the tavern was ready to close up shop. The proprietor was about to lock up when he realized the orc was still sitting there. The halfing looked a bit sheepish before coming over. "Ah, right–you're the one who'd asked about how to make sausage and cheese, aren't you? To be honest with you, I'm not much of a butcher or cheese-maker myself; but I do know a few folks who know how it's done. The Broederbunds down the street run a joint venture as grocers and owners of a delicatessen. Here, I'll draw up a map for you." The halfling then produced a scrap of paper and quill, then made a diagram showing the location of the Hogshead Barrel and the delicatessen shop he was telling Delanac about. In addition to the relative distance, he was gracious enough as to draw out how many streets and buildings were between the tavern and his new destination. Squinting, the orc studied it and asked a few more questions to clarify he fully understood where he was going. When that was done, he thanked the halfling man and went on his way to find a room for the night.

He went a little ways to stop at the famous Wyndham Inn. Unfortunately in his waiting he missed the opportunity to try the strawberry mead at Eden, but that could be saved for another day. Ducking as he entered, he again nearly sent the receptionist scrambling before they realized he was here for a room, and finally settled down in one of the cleanest lodgings he had set foot in a long time. After a well-needed bath, he laid down on the bed and relaxed. The texture and thread count of the sheets were good quality, and even the pillows smelled fresh. Although he could tell they were made from linen, they felt as smooth as silk. Delanac was asleep in no time, and woke up refreshed. Coming downstairs he helped himself to a traditional halfling breakfast with the other lodgers, which was as bountiful and delicious as he had heard when travelers spoke of halfling hospitality. It seemed the little folk had a knack for making even the simplest things taste absolutely wonderful, and he knew he had made the right choice in paying Komiteia a visit to learn the basics of curing meat and cheese-making.

After the best breakfast he had ever eaten, he went for a jog around the city to find the Broederbund grocery and delicatessen. He finally found it tucked away in between more flashy buildings, and opened to door to enter. The first thing he experience was the savory aroma of hams, sausages hanging to dry, and cheese. The shelves were stocked high with all sorts of cheeses as far as he could see. This was a rat's heaven, he thought to himself and he couldn't blame the rodents for it. The presence of two large tabby cats lazily lounging by the door showed the owners' efforts in protecting the integrity of their stock. It was early in the day, but the shop was busy. Several halflings, likely locals, were lined up at the register with baskets of the shop's good in hand. One woman was holding a quarter of a large cheese wheel, another man held an entire coil of hang-dried sausage, and another was hefting a ham on each arm. Delanac whistled at the sight. No wonder the tavern owner recommended them; they had a thriving business!

The ringing of the register punctuated the friendly chatter between the customers and the owners as people were coming in and out the door. Not wanting to waste time dawdling, the orc decided to take a look at the name plates of the varieties of hard cheeses while he waited for the business rush hour to die down.