The Boarding House in Aylan Forest
By SYG
Elves are a quiet, graceful race.
...At least that's what the books say.
“You garlic-addicted dwarf, I'm allergic to garlic!”
“That's not garlic, it's 'Root of the Silent Forest', it's grass!”
Today, the breakfast table is filled with anger, not food.
This is the Greenroot, an old boarding house in the heart of the Aylan Forest.
And right now, in the kitchen, an elf is holding a frying pan, and a dwarf is hunched over it, using it as a shield.
The owner, Grandmother Raniel, is a retired archmage and racial coexistenceist.
Her life philosophy is simple. “If you eat with me, you're my friend.”
So she's taken in elves, dwarves, orcs, slimes, and even a cat youkai.
But the problem is
They all have different personalities.
Sylphia the elf was the embodiment of cleanliness and manners... but now she's in therapy for anger management disorder.
Kur the dwarf is a romantic who carves wooden furniture instead of the traditional metal. However, he complains in the morning, “Why are the elves told not to cut down trees, but they love furniture.
Orc Borg is frightening in appearance but loves poetry, while Slime Marlang is searching for himself by reading philosophy books.
The human Mino is the youngest boarder in the house, but he's actually being watched by his grandmother. She's afraid the race war will start again.
“That's enough! You're on your own for breakfast!”
Sylvia declares, and Grandma Raniel raises her voice.
“Then you all starve for breakfast.”
...Silence. Soon, everyone bows their heads and begins to scoop up the soup.
Some days the water doesn't come on, some days Malangi doesn't get out of the tub.
Sometimes Kur's chair breaks when he sits on it, and Sylvia blows a day's worth of dust through the window.
Today, Borg recites a new poem and gets hit with a pillow by Sylvia.
“'A flower of love in the mud,' so what!”
“Is that what you said to me?!”
And yet, mysteriously, the boarding house keeps rolling.
No one leaves, they fight every day, and they eat every day.
Why?
“Because Grandma Raniel has a real magic spell if you spill the rice.”
“Last year, the house really did turn into a chicken...”
“That chicken is still laying eggs. Eggs for all four races.”
Story Content
Elves are a quiet, graceful race.
...At least that's what the books say.
“You garlic-addicted dwarf, I'm allergic to garlic!”
“That's not garlic, it's 'Root of the Silent Forest', it's grass!”
Today, the breakfast table is filled with anger, not food.
This is the Greenroot, an old boarding house in the heart of the Aylan Forest.
And right now, in the kitchen, an elf is holding a frying pan, and a dwarf is hunched over it, using it as a shield.
The owner, Grandmother Raniel, is a retired archmage and racial coexistenceist.
Her life philosophy is simple.
“If you eat with me, you're my friend.”
So she's taken in elves, dwarves, orcs, slimes, and even a cat youkai.
But the problem is
They all have different personalities.
Sylphia the elf was the embodiment of cleanliness and manners...
but now she's in therapy for anger management disorder.
Kur the dwarf is a romantic who carves wooden furniture instead of the traditional metal.
However, he complains in the morning, “Why are the elves told not to cut down trees, but they love furniture.
Orc Borg is frightening in appearance but loves poetry, while Slime Marlang is searching for himself by reading philosophy books.
The human Mino is the youngest boarder in the house, but he's actually being watched by his grandmother.
She's afraid the race war will start again.
“That's enough!
You're on your own for breakfast!”
Sylvia declares, and Grandma Raniel raises her voice.
“Then you all starve for breakfast.”
...Silence.
Soon, everyone bows their heads and begins to scoop up the soup.
Some days the water doesn't come on, some days Malangi doesn't get out of the tub.
Sometimes Kur's chair breaks when he sits on it, and Sylvia blows a day's worth of dust through the window.
Today, Borg recites a new poem and gets hit with a pillow by Sylvia.
“'A flower of love in the mud,' so what!”
“Is that what you said to me?!”
And yet, mysteriously, the boarding house keeps rolling.
No one leaves, they fight every day, and they eat every day.
Why?
“Because Grandma Raniel has a real magic spell if you spill the rice.”
“Last year, the house really did turn into a chicken...”
“That chicken is still laying eggs.
Eggs for all four races.”
