When I was a young man (back when the wheel was first invented), I decided I was going to give coffee a try. Me an a bunch of friends went to a coffee shop where I ordered a Turkish Coffee. That tasted like someone infused dirt with the bitterness of a hundred thousand lemon rinds and then left the dirt in the bottom of the very tiny bronze cup that it came in. I didn't finish it and instead ordered a cappuccino. I didn't like that either, so I ordered a regular coffee. Hated that. Added cream. Still hated it. Added sugar. Still hated it. I also discovered that I hate the smell of it while going through this process of elimination. Needless to say, I don't drink coffee and do my best to stay away from it.

Same thing basically happened with alcohol of any kind. Don't like the smell, don't like the taste, and most certainly don't like losing control. 

I didn't like coffee really until my last couple years of college. Back then it was just to physically keep my eyes open while never sleeping during finals.

Turkish coffee will put hair on your chest. I can confirm that *pluck*. But I also dig it when I want to be so hyper I end up in another solar system.

12oz Americano, splash of oatmilk, that's my jam.

So, as this has been progressing, I've ended up creating a pretty decent handful of Meadowbrook's population. Figured I'd throw a post up, here, just to keep track of them:

• Brif – A tall, thin human. Early to mid-20s. Part of the town’s militia and frequent gate guard. Wears piece-meal armor and carries a broad bladed spear.
• Osric – Another human member of the militia/gate guard. Frequently partnered with Brif. Shorter and stockier than his counterpart. Carries a sturdy cudgel and wears a mail-shirt that could use some attention.
• Rakiim Ironforge – Meadowbrook’s blacksmith. A curmudgeonly old Khord, perhaps 200 or so years of age, with sooty-gray hair and a beard done up in long plaits. A nasty scar streaks from forehead to cheek over his left eye which is milky and cloudy (presumably caused by the same injury that left the scar). His right eye is a deep green. Drinks heavily but it doesn’t seem to affect him much.
• Simon and Ellaloth “Ella” Cromleon – The Cromleons are Samuel and Sara’s ‘neighbors.’ Simon is a human of about 30 years old with a shaved head and brown eyes; a fisherman by trade (though he has designs on becoming the mayor), and a frequent patron of The Lakeshore Tavern. Ella is a young half-Syl, perhaps in her early to mid 20s, with dark, straight hair and glittering pale blue eyes. She often works for a couple of the larger farms in town but, also, tends her own small gardens when time permits.
• Mhera - An elderly Cidal woman with wispy white hair. The town's apothecary and Sara's current 'mentor'. ((Reralae: Feel free to feed me more details on this one, if/when you see fit... Just took these few details from your last post. ))
• Tuli Ironforge - Rakiim's wife. Not quite as old as Rakiim but still on the elderly side. She has gray-shot auburn hair and dark eyes. Very fond of Samuel, often brings him breakfast from the fish market if he hasn't eaten before coming to work.
• Orangeblossom "Blossom" Nobottle - A barmaid at the Lakeshore Tavern. She has curly, chestnut colored hair, large green eyes, and a smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks. She's a friendly little thing, some might even say "sweet," but she can give as good as she gets if need be.

Also, if anyone else has ideas for citizens of Meadowbrook and would like them added to this list, feel free to edit them in (if you have the permissions to do so) or shoot me a PM and I'll happily add them for you.

Cool, that is helpful!

Ch'dau and Aranwen aren't going to want to join the next adventure. 

"Hey, Ch'dau! Aranwen! Wanna go on a 'venter?"

"Naw. We're fine, thanks."

...Ch'dau is more than ready to get back out there, himself. Ara, perhaps not so much but we're working on that.

True enough, Ch'dau is happy with "settling down" with Ara, but thoughts of Kithran often trouble his thoughts and he does miss fighting soooooo... Yeah, don't expect us to say No when the time comes.

P.S. The whole point of "Ella, the little neighbor girl" is to serve as a reminder to Ch'dau that Kith is still out there... aside from the blue eyes and the marginal age difference, the fact that she reminds the cat-beast of Kith is going to be a bit of a "plot point" going forward. Shhhhhhhhh!!!!

Pew pew, they'll never get away!

But really, you guys should work out, or like, scrimmage or something. Kith's going to be like, "Psh, good try, you're too fluffy to be Ch'dau!"

I'm starting to wonder if Sara makes a point of avoiding Ella, or the inverse... I'll need to figure that out.... 

As for exercise, yeah enter training montage mode when Aranwen recovers

So, Ch'dau's adapting easier to the "rustic life" than Ara, is what I'm hearing?

JK - I know Ara's doing her best and, given that Ella is something of a Kith doppleganger, I can understand avoidance... Anyhoo... most of what I've been writing lately is just fluff, by and large... I do foresee a scufflle between Sam and Simon in the near future though... Juuuuuuust sayin'... and that might lead to a different "perspective" of the townsfolk where Samuel's concerned. We'll see... really kind of depends on what others might post before I get to that point, tbh. I'm just kind of going "stream of consciousness: at this point.  

So excited for this montage scene

...where "working out" is concerned - Ch'dau's not been "letting himself go." Got a scene in mind where he takes a few folks hunting... another scene in which he and Simon have an altercation, aaaaaand, maybe something or another sort of event where both Mr and Mrs Kitty-Cat have to respond. (Gonna wait for Rera-bility for that, though, I think.)

Like I've said, just kind of "filling in the gaps" between HC and the advent of HC2, here, really. Killing time and trying not to "obviously" kill t'mbili'i in the process.

"I'm starting to wonder if Sara makes a point of avoiding Ella, or the inverse... I'll need to figure that out...."

If Kith makes it out of this, and is able to recover, only to find you've found a replacement Kith, ooooobooooy. That dopple better chickety check herself.

Re: Working Out: Just gotta get in on that montage, cat-man, you got dis!

I've already picked the song! 

Also- NOONE can replace Kith! EVAH!!!!

No one can replace Kithran 

But to give kindness that she feels is owed Kithran to someone else because she can't give it to Kithran right now? Maybe... To ease her mind even a bit, perhaps

...I though Simon and Ella would be excellent/interesting neighbors!