Reaching Jekas southern entrance in the evening we stabled the horses and asked around for a decent inn. There were several choices due to the size of the city, we were getting used to there only being a single choice in the many small villages along the road. We chose The Broken Goose due to its reputation sounding good and it not being too expensive. The finances were fine, we still had the gold coin and some spare change but before we found a new way of earning coins this was a dwindling number. That evening we found out why The Broken Goose had a decent reputation. It was not really that clean and the rooms were very small, the beds were decent tho and the meals were excellent, if you like goose, because that was literally the menu, “goose of the day with water or ale”. As stated, the food was excellent and we went to bed afterwards. In the morning I chose to start with verifying whether or not the Klyde root Hans found was what I suspected it to be. Finding a herbalist in a city this big was not a problem, the conversation with him was somewhat disappointing though. He confirmed that it was not poisonous and that he knew it as the klyde flower, but that was it. Apparently some use the flower for bathwater due to the nice scent. Since that was not really a confirmation of my knowledge I decided to try asking the innkeeper to borrow the kitchen this afternoon and try a recipe. Fortunately there was a simple recipe for stir fried goose with mashed potatoes that included the klyde root. I was never the best cook, but I was convinced that I wouldn't ruin any recipe that mainly focused on frying. With all the traveling i've done, frying is often the way to go. Boiling is also good but frying is better if you make more food than you need for that 1 meal, this is especially relevant if you caught some game. Well me and Hans walked around the town looking at the shops and sites to pass the time, it was also a learning experience for Hans. I have never been to this specific city, and it is larger than what ive seen before, but a city or a town, on the surface it's mostly the same. And we don't plan to see anything but the surface. That afternoon I looked for the innkeeper, who turned out to be a nice middle aged woman called Madam Freya that ran the place. A rather plain woman with her dirtbrown hair to her shoulders, and I was free to borrow the kitchen with the stern message that anything broken was coming out of my wallet. She even let me use her pantry, as long as I paid for the items taken. Her 2 daughters ran the kitchen and were, in my opinion, too excited to welcome me. It seems this goose business was a bit of a family pride, so if a new good recipe was to be had they wanted it. The 2 daughters were around Hans' age and were very pleasant to be around, very lively and cheerful… I think exuberant fits them well. So much so that I ended up having one of them, Carrol, running back and forth after the ingredients while I prepared them. I have the suspicion that they wanted to glean the recipe if it turned out good. Not that I exactly minded since this was a rather plain recipe compared to some of the other food from the foreign lands. The recipe was simple, called for stir frying the pieces of already boiled goose in a herb mix primarily made of ground up klyde root, this should give the meat some crunchiness. After that was done I made a simple sauce in the pan using the remainder of the hermix and added a little bit of milk to make the sauce milder on the tongue. The final dish could have any kind of greens on the side but for my testing purposes I only made the mash, goose and sauce. Since the daughters were so pleasant to be around I asked if they wanted to join me and Hans in eating, while also warning them that it was an untested recipe so I made no promises on the taste.

Apparently very curious to the food but unsure due to the new unknown spice the sisters chose to join but waited for me to begin first and observe, for some reason Hans still trusts me 100% and begins eating immediately as we sit down. Considering his very expressive face, I partook shortly thereafter. The food was like nothing I had ever tried and I ended up more or less inhaling the food. The sisters did the same since when I was done and looked up both Hans and the sisters were already done eating. All 3 kept switching their stare between me and the empty plates, then as if breaking the spell the innkeeper opened the door. The following conversation was a first for me, the 2 daughters tried what they could to make me sell them the recipe or stay here and work in the kitchen. I did not see any reason not to just give them the recipe but before I could speak, Hans of all people, broke into the conversation and stated that we will think about it and that he needed to talk to me in private, all the while staring at me, as if to get some point across. Walking to the room I considered how I should handle this since Hans has never done anything that would take him out of my shadow, and I'm not sure what brought about this change. “Master I don't believe we should sell that recipe!”. I was surprised and waited for him to continue, he looked apprehensive for some reason. “The reason you tried cooking with that recipe was to check if the stories you now have have any truth to them, this proves that it has. I also believe that the Peaceful wanderer you taught me is real. I feel the ki you told me about.”. That bomb shocked me, because yes I used the recipe to check if any information in my head was useable, but from a herb and recipe being correct and claiming that the Peacefull wanderer works… The repercussions if that technique, or the other techniques are real is immense. That could tilt this world in a big way. I also realized that while I am still Christian Clifford, the book event had changed me. All those stories and their morale, or lack of, has given me another perspective on life. As a knight it was easy, follow orders. Simple and elegant, well depending on your lord it could also be simple and horrible. “Hans you have a point, but claiming that the Peaceful wanderer works is too soon, we need you to reach the next stage if we want to make that conclusion. And I see no harm in giving, or selling a recipe that has nothing new but a herb, that knowledge could have come from many places, it could be someone used it in a remote town or even from some wiccan book. Unless there is another reason that I overlooked there is no reason to keep such a thing from them.” Hans spent a few minutes mulling this over and seems to come to a conclusion about something and asked “What is the plan now, what do we do or go from here? If you don't have anything planned I might have an idea.” I considered for only a second and answered honestly “Well I have no idea, with my perspective on everything changing day to day and my head sometimes confused as to what world I am in. So let's hear it.” Hans mumbled the first part, but I heard. “So that's why you seem far away sometimes…Ehm. I suggest we open a shop of some sort. Use your stories to get clients. You have a lot of stores and knowledge in your head that may or may not be reliable in this land. So let's use it to make our shop special. A restaurant, a drinking place, a place to tell and hear stories. Anything really goes. It could give us a base and some roots so I can focus a bit more on training and you on setting yourself straight. Figure out what you really want to do with the stories, especially if these techniques turn out to be usable. And if we end up with some kind of eatery selling the recipe would be dumb.” The room got silent and after some time I spoke. “I think that's an excellent idea Hans. But even if the Lord was nice and gave me a whole gold I don't know if it's doable. So let us talk to the innkeeper and make a few plans, then check things out more thoughtly tomorrow and see if that is feasible at all. I personally like the idea of either an inn or a restaurant, I rather enjoyed the time in the kitchen. Don't know if I have a talent for it since I have never really cooked for anyone but you. You never complained but I am not sure that can be counted as praise. The first question would be where, it doesn't necessarily need to be here in Jekas. It was just meant as a way to get away from the earldom and the route to here happens to be completely safe so I had time to get my thoughts organized. Let us think and make a plan today and then investigate our options tomorrow.”

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