Home
From Changeling Venue
Laurel tends to bring home guests like some children bring home stray pets. She cannot stand to see someone lonely or sad and if they accept her hospitality then it becomes her responsibility to care for them until they are once again ready to care for themselves. She never forces her attentions on anyone but she can be very forward in offering her hearth. Laurel is a member of The_Innkeepers and takes hospitality very seriously. While her offers are made with a light heart, they are not made lightly. She knows full well that not all Lost who emerge from the Hedge truly wish to make a new life.
- Housing: Laurel's guests are ensured that as long as there is a roof over Laurel's head, there will be a roof over theirs. Since Laurel likes a good high ceiling, sturdy walls and the like, guests are most often treated to the same (though those not willing to follow proper hygene guidelines will find themselves housed in the carport until they can find it in their hearts to have a little sit-down with Mr. Bubbles). Laurel's home is on the small side and modest from the outside but between her skill at handicrafts and the good taste of her admirers, it is well furnished and comfortable.
- Goods: Laurel is shameless about trying to win a smile with a gift. If you need clothes, she will sew them; gear, she will find a great deal and suddenly it needs to be unloaded from the trunk of her car; a tasty bit of fruit, there happens to be a slice right here. While she is by no means willing to give up her cushy lifestyle to give goods to her guests, she is certainly generous.
- Medical: Laurel is a fair hand at healing. Her understanding of the flow of life through the body show an intuitive understanding of medicine. She is as generous with the touch of her healing as she is with food and gifts.
- Adjustment and Adaptation: Laurel will be the first to admit that she gets hazy about modern technology and about the behavior of "the fauna". She keeps on-hand a collection of books with information about current events starting in the 1950's and continuing to the current day. She picks up books as necessary to cover things like the basics of computer use (though she has no use for computers herself) and current study guides for tests like the GED. Laurel's teaching comes in the form of an almost endless patience for answering questions and a complete willingness to research those questions she cannot answer. Laurel is not the quickest mind around but her own struggles adapting have taught her well that simply offering a helpful hint at the right time often spawns a discussion that not only fulfills the learner's curiosity but leaves them with information they didn't realize they needed.
- Food: Laurel loves to cook. She feels that the only "real" food comes from scratch and has no problem devoting time to preparing delicious meals. Unless Laurel is traveling or there is some sort of crisis, Laurel serves at least one "real" meal every day. There are always leftovers in the refrigerator and she'll whip up your favorite meal at the drop of a hat.
Guest Right:
Safety- Inasmuch as I can assure it, you are safe while you remain under my roof. Any hand raised against you is a hand raised against me. Do no violence and I will be your shield.
Security- Rest when you need it. Laugh when you can. Share my hearth and my home and know that it is yours as well until you yearn to stand on your own.
Nourishment- Mind, body and soul we are scarred and so find with me the sustenance to heal your hurts and strengthen yourself so that you may live rather than merely survive.
Secrets- There are few things that are ours and ours alone. I will respect your secrets unless they endanger our home. I will ask no question of you without cause and respect your right to leave that question unanswered.
On respecting these rights, I have pledged my life. Honor my host right and know that your rights are sacrosanct.
Host Right:
Respect our home.
Bring no violence here.
Do not knowingly invite agents of the Gentry or the Keepers themselves inside.
No one has ever lost guest right with Laurel. No one has ever violated the sanctity of her home. No one has ever seen Laurel truly angry, at least that they will admit.
Residents:
Laurel-Laurel's nursery is on the other side of the property and she is often busy in her workshop, the gardens or the treehouse.
Astraeus- This wandering star has a room in the house but it is anybody's guess when he will or will not be in residence.
Public Guests:
Fox
Misery, former Autumn monarch of Dormant_Fire
Description:
Laurel makes her home on an acre and a half of property in a rural area near Gresham. From the road only the nursery that Laurel runs and the hay field are visible. There is a driveway leading across the field and into the trees that cover most of the property that winds its way to the house. Laurel's house is a generous A-frame style pre-fab structure with a carport nearby. Behind the house are 3 double-wide trailer homes configured to make a courtyard between all the buildings. The doors to all the trailer homes open into the courtyard. One trailer is Laurel's workshop, another Laurel simply identifies as "occupied" and the third is available to guests. This trailer has 2 bedrooms, each with their own bathroom and a large living room area with a scaled-down kitchen. There is an obvious lack of a dining room, subtly indicating that formal meals take place in the house or in fair weather, in the courtyard. There are several gardens around the house and trailers and a gazebo with a large hot tub and wet-bar.
Other areas of the property that Laurel may or may not show guests include the treehouse (really treehouses), the bunker where Laurel's medical supplies and the herbal are, the blackberry_maze and the green_hall (an open area where Laurel has trained the trees and shrubs into a leafy, airy greathall).
work in progress
