Season’s Greetings from Borel Manor come to… @elezenchaser !
To Athral’s apartment she sends a Starlight parcel of his own, having agonized a bit over just what to give him. The man remains an enigma in many ways though he be an open book in others, and she hadn’t desired to offend him by giving him something he hated... but one of the best things about Starlight, she thinks, is muddling through it yourself. And so rather than go to her husband for guidance, Ane had wracked her brain for many an evening before finally settling on the contents of this heavy box.
Various jars labeled in various hands thanks to her kindhearted students mark their contents as all sorts of traditional remedies found throughout Othard... and, perhaps, a few trade secrets from her own home village in Yama. Ointments for disinfecting wounds, balms to soothe irritated skin, and herbal-smelling pastes to hasten healing are just a few of their number, and rolls of clean linen bandages find their homes nestled among the glass containers. There’s a new whetstone wrapped in a soft leather case and bound with a dark cord, and a small hunting knife beside it tucked snuggly into its embossed sheath.
From up out of the parcel wafts the smell of food; smoked bacon and uncured loaghtan sausage are both packaged in loose cheesecloth. A small loaf of scratchmade herb bread comes paired with a little jar of fresh butter, and settled nearby are two small bags for keeping a hearty portion of roasted chestnuts separate from the candied pecans that tempted her sorely as she prepared them just last night. And finally in place of her typical tea offering, perhaps that thing that will be what catches his eye first and foremost, is a hand-corked bottle of homemade mulled wine. Ginger, orange peel, star anise, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and sour red wine have all come together into a warm, spicy concoction that she hopes he will enjoy... but hopefully not too much. Somewhere in the back of her mind she worries that he drinks to excess, but so, too, does she want to give him something he will certainly like. Not tea, no, but warming and pleasant all the same.
Last but not least are two small bundles bound in cream-colored ribbon: an assortment of soft and hard cheeses and a pouch of snurbleberries for Llymlily to enjoy this Starlight season. She hadn’t quite been certain just what sort of cheeses were her favorite -- rats do like cheese, don’t they? she hopes she hadn’t been wrong -- and so she’d settled with... well, all of them, by the look of it. A small portion each of many different varieties and hardnesses so she might take her time nibbling through them; that had seemed the best thing to do!







