Town Hall

Hearth. Situated alongside a small tributary, there were only around twenty buildings in the town. There was a notable absence of any stores- aside from a large town-hall building, small log cabins made up the remaining buildings.

Stacked atop each other and joined together with notches cut into the wood, the cabins looked sturdy. Their steeply sloped roofs- wood planks covered in a tar of some sort- would let snow slide off during the winter.

A plume of smoke rose from the town hall, and as the group approached, an old man stuck his head out from the large wooden door.

"Weiss, Willow! Were you able to find out anything about your father?"

Willow nodded, stepping in through the door and revealing Edol, who'd been following behind.

"I think so! The village was destroyed, and I think my dad escaped to Miaan with the villagers. After a small rest, I'll head over there to search for him!"

The old man smiled, then turned an inquisitive gaze to Edol.

"Old Nes, this guy claims to be a relic hunter who got lost up here, and was rescued by Willow in the forest. He has a bit of a funny accent too, I don't think he's from the area."

'Accent? Right, they do sound a bit different from Ghost. I guess I sound a bit different to them.'

"I suppose I should introduce myself. 'Name's Edol, and this is my pet bird, Nibbles. We're from the west, and came up here looking for different relic tombs to explore."

Nes and Weiss looked up at Edol's blonde hair, a trait signature of the east.

After a moment, Nes muttered something under his breath, then turned and walked to a nearby counter.

"Well, there's no such thing as meeting a new face without taking a drink!"

Reaching over the counter, the old man pulled a glass bottle filled with a semi-transparent liquid out before reaching for a stack of cups.

Weiss stepped forward, pulling a firm hand on the cups before Nes had a chance to snatch them.

"That reminds me, what are you doing here in the town hall, Nes?"

The old man scratched his chin, trying to avoid eye contact.

"I was, uh, just coming over to make sure the fire was kept warm! Don't want it getting cold in here, right?"

Weiss just continued staring at him, and Nes nervously fiddled with the bottle.

"Nes. Are you supposed to be watching the kids right now?"

"They're playing outside, it's fine! Now, let's toast for our new friend, Eblo!"

Edol scrunched his nose hearing the poor attempt at his name, meanwhile Weiss's anger seemed to increase.

"So you are watching the kids today! Useless bum, don't you remember what we did to you last time?"

"No! You can't take my booze again! Toasting to a new arrival is an important and ancient tradition, it can't be forsaken! I'll just have a sip, I promise! Come here, Willow, try some too!"

Weiss quickly stepped between the old man and Willow, disgust surfacing on her face. Not only was this old coot trying to drink while watching over the town's youngsters, but now he was even trying to coerce a young girl into getting drunk too? Despicable.

Weiss snatched the bottle from Nes's hand, then pointed at the old man threateningly.

"You. Go outside and play with the kids. If I find out you've snuck off and had even a drop of alcohol, I'll make you regret it!"

After the reluctant Nes left, Weiss tucked the bottle back behind the counter, in the same spot it'd been before.

"Last time that idiot was watching the kids, he got drunk, then started teaching them how to start fires! Can you believe it? It's even worse considering he has a fire legacy, and can control the flames enough to not burn himself. The kids, on the other hand? We had to deal with burnt hands for weeks!"

After putting away the alcohol, Weiss led the group towards a large stone chimney build into the wall opposite the entrance.

"The hall is used a lot- only permanent residents build their own cabins, everyone who only comes seasonally just sleeps here in the hall. It's also where most folks here will have their meals. Every day, whoever has the fewest traps to check on will come back early to cook up a huge meal for everyone."

It seemed like great idea to Edol, especially for during the winters. He had yet to experience what it was like, but from Willow and Ghost's descriptions, the ground would be covered in up to a half meter of snow for months.

The idea of having a steamy bowl of food waiting back at camp would make trudging through the snow much more manageable, at least in Edol's mind.

"Today I'm on cooking duty, so I need to get to cooking. If the two of you want, you can stick around to watch."

Both Edol and Willow quickly decided that they'd rather stay to learn something rather than witness whatever Nes was doing with the kids, and Weiss quickly got to work.

"I had the fireplace modified in here for cooking. It's much nicer to cook inside during the winter, and with a nice setup, it's way easier to cook big meals."

Weiss unhooked the line of rabbits that she'd picked up from her traps earlier, setting them out onto a food-prep counter.

Today's menu: Roasted rabbit, venison steaks, grilled fish, and rice.

After eating exclusively potatoes for a few months, as well as a few fish the previous day, Edol's mouth was salivating at the idea of eating a bunch of meat.

Looking around, though, Edol couldn't see any deer or fish anywhere.

After asking, Weiss pointed to a hatchframe in the floor.

"Meat will go bad quickly, especially during the summer. We can preserve it for a bit longer by putting it in the cold room, but even then we still have to make it into jerky after a few days."

Weiss pulled open the hatch, and a bit of cool air drifted out from the dark hole in the floor.

"We pack as much ice in down here as we can down here during winters, and it normally lasts all the way through the summer."

Weiss dropped down into the hole, then reappeared a few moments later with a few chunks of meat and a string of fish.

"Alright, time for cooking!"