The Home

Penny Yira never actually intended to move to Mirik Grove. By the time her daughter Gaela Smirfy came to her to tell her of her husbands intent to join the 48th expedition into the Rabid Lands she was already 72 and practically bedridden, hardly able to walk more than 20ft. without having to sit down again. Unfortunately the choice wasn't hers to make, nor was it her son-in-laws Tomas'. The Court of Commerce's recent legislation made it practically impossible for Tomas' carpentry to bring in enough money for them to survive. He was required to work nearly exclusively on wagons and other necessities for the 48th expedition and sell his work for nearly half the usual price he would charge. In previous years Gaela and him would have enough money to pay for taxes and then recoup their losses after the expedition was gone and the Court's mandates thereby nullified, however due to the recent slack in trade to the Citadel, with scarcely even a third of the caravans that came before arriving, the economy was reeling and Tomas and his wife found themselves calculating and recalculating the expenses until at last in tears they realized that they had to either join the very caravan that had caused them to lose their home or starve on the streets of the citadel.

The news of their crippled finances was just as devastating to Penny as it was to the Smirfys. With a husband deceased for years and a body crippled by the blight of age she had been living with her daughter and son-in-law ever since her husband Morace died. She had no family in the entire Citadel aside from the Smirfy's, and they, despite their efforts and prayers, were never able to conceive a child. And thus, with no family to care for her and no means to care for herself she had no choice but to join them on the expedition.

Due to her condition when Mirik Grove was founded it was decided that Penny and the Smirfy's home was to be one of the first built. Despite the ample room in the home her daughter and son-in-law were often out of the house, busy with the frantic work to build up actual homes for the people of Mirik Grove and all the other essential buildings for the village. Feeling overwhelming guilt for leaving her mother alone at home all day Gaela often invited guests over for dinner and was relieved by her mothers apparent joy at the sight of company. After a few weeks of this Penny shocked her family with an idea, "Why don't we simply have people eat her all day, rather than just at supper?". After some thought the Smirfy's accepted her proposition, after all they were rarely home except to eat and sleep.

Tomas made additional tables and chairs for additional guests and Penny began cooking to a hummed tune nearly all day excepting her afternoon nap. Eventually through word of mouth it was made known that Penny Yira's Home was open to meal guests all day long, and all she requested was for enough money or ingredients to allow her to continue to be able to afford cooking for so many people (although to this day people often insist on giving her more). Penny Yira's and the woman herself became a pillar of the community. Everyone knew the taste of the sweet woman's cooking and would scarcely miss the chance to brag to their coworkers during the day about how they got to eat at "The Home" the previous night. Sometimes people would bring in their own food to share with other guests and on holiday nights potlucks were held which required some people to eat outside, still enjoying the mirth flowing from the door and windows of the home. As more people began to come by it was decided that the house would need some expanding, and so Tomas and Gaela added some expansions to the house with the help of the more frequent patrons. As the town expands it seems likely that this expansion will continue, although for now the people are happy with the size of "The Home", and Penny has never felt more wanted and with more purpose.