From: johnf@apollo.hp.com (John Francis)
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: Re: [D&F] The Etarus'ian restaurant
Date: 30 Jul 92 22:42:14 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Chelmsford, MA

Felix and Delena step into the restaurant, and the doors close behind them.
Looking around, Delena sees that the doors have been closed by two women
wearing strange robes - rather like a very long coat held shut by a sash.
Curiously, the sash was tied behind the wearer in a large, ornate knot.
And the material of the robes was strange, too - it rustled quietly as the
women moved, and seemed almost to reflect the light.  But even stranger
was the appearance of the women themselves!  Their hair was piled high
on their heads, and held tightly in place by long pins which seemed to
be made of bone - held so tightly that it moved not at all as the women
shuffled away.  And while it was hard to see their faces (the women kept
them averted), Delena was pretty certain that the white colour she had
glimpsed was not natural, but was instead some kind of paint. How odd!
A quiet cough attracted her attention.  Turning away from watching the
women,  Delena saw that Felix was now standing under a tree talking
quietly to a someone dressed in a fairly conventional tunic, although it
did seem to be made of the same strange material . . . "Under a *tree*?"
Delena thought.  Yes - there was a tree in the foyer.  In fact there
was a miniature garden, complete with a pool and a small bridge over it.
The branches were decked with more of the lanterns she had seen outside,
and there were even real birds in the tree, and real fish in the pool!
With a start, Delena dragged her attention away from the garden and back
to Felix and his companion. He too was a rather strange looking fellow.
At first glance he appeared to be just a normal, fairly small, man -
maybe a handsbreadth shorter than Felix, and seemingly slight of build.
As he moved, however, her trained eye spotted that the slight build was
an illusion - the loose-fitting clothing concealed a very well-muscled
frame, and the grace of movement suggested someone who kept himself in
exceedingly good physical condition.

Felix turned to Delena. "It appears that all the private dining rooms
are in use this evening", he said, "but that shouldn't be a problem;
eating in the general dining area will let you see what is available,
should you be having any difficulty in making up your mind".  He turns
back to the restauranteur (or so Delena assumes) and yaps a few phrases
in a strange language.  Motioning her to follow, Felix follows the
proprietor through a low archway, and pauses outside the entrance to
a large room.  Here he removes his footwear and hands it to another of
the robed women, receiving a pair of loose floppy slippers in return.
He then pauses, waiting to see if Delena will do the same.  "It's not
obligatory" he says "but it is considered polite to conform to your
host's conventions"

ADMIN:  Delena may, or may not, choose to remove her footwear.
        It doesn't really matter to the storyline.

  Felix and Delena are then led across the dining area to an alcove.
Delena is used to being looked over as she crosses a room, but this is
not the usual stares of appreciation - here she is being peered at more
as an object of curiosity.  A couple of the younger diners peek out from
behind their parents at this strange sight, and then break into a fit of
giggles which are quickly hushed.
In the alcove are a couple of rush mats, and a low table.  Felix squats
on one of the mats, and gestures Delena towards the other.  The ease with
which she sits down causes him to raise a quizzical eyebrow, but before
he can ask her just where she learned that trick he is distracted by two
of the waitresses, who bring perfumed hand-towels to the table.  While he
and Delena are mopping the dust of the street from their brows the table
is being set with delicate bowls, a small lantern, and a simple straight-
sided vase containing a single long-stemmed flower.

The main part of the dining room also contains low tables, most of which
are occupied by family groups - some as large as fifteen or twenty people.
Many of these groups contain three, and sometimes even four, generations.
A semblance of privacy is maintained by the many low screens between the
tables, although true privacy is impossible with that many tables crammed
into a single large room.
A low counter in one corner of the room separates the cooking area from
the dining area.  This is unusual in Generica - most cooking is carried
out well away from the diners, often in conditions which, if they knew of
them, would cause many of the diners to reconsider the wisdom of eating.
From where Felix and Delena are sitting, however, it is obvious that the
food preparation area here is spotlessly clean. The glint of the knives
being used by the cooks rivals that of the finest daggers, and judging
by the ease with which they slice by the food these knives are probably
a lot sharper.  And the variety of food displayed!  At one end of the
counter are small trays containing more varieties of fish than there
are different bottles at the Dragon's Inn (and that's a lot of bottles).
A little further down are large, flat stones, hot enough to make the
air above them shimmer.  Beyond that is a small open fireplace with
a bed of glowing coals, and several items on spits, or just suspended
over the fire.  And everywhere can be seen glistening metal, bowls of
herbs and spices, small pots containing mysterious liquids, plates of
sliced vegetables, and other items whose purpose is not, at present,
apparent.  The cooks move rapidly between these different areas, and
lo and behold! another gastronomic masterpiece magically takes shape,
accompanied by the most mouth-watering aromas (and the occasional
juggling act with the knives, if a cook notices someone watching :-).
As Felix and Deleena observe all this,  one of the waitresses takes
something from the first part of the counter and brings it over to
their table. On close examination it seems to consist of five or six
different types of raw fish, thinly sliced, and arranged neatly on a
small wooden tray.  Another tray soon follows, but this one has the
bits of fish on a white, sticky bed which is itself wrapped in some
dark, crispy, parchment-like material.

                       [to be continued]

ADMIN:  I'm on vacation next week, so anyone wanting the description
        of the meal will have to wait.  I thought I'd manage to get
        it into this posting, but it's quite long enough already.
        Delena - if you don't want to wait, pick up the story line
        after the meal, and see if you can get us back to the Inn
        in one piece.  It shouldn't be too difficult - Felix is
        too much of a gourmet to dull his palate with alcohol.
-- 
John Francis                                johnf@apollo.hp.com
The world can be divided into two classes :-
 those who divide people into two classes, and those who don't.
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn