Completed The Fundamentals of Hostessing Pt. 1

[Tazrae]

Timestamp: 10th of Fall, 521 A.V.

Tazrae stared at the blank journal she’d picked up at Juli’s place and fidgeted with the quill. She stroked the feather repeatedly before she dipped the quill in ink, tapped off the excess, and titled the journal.

‘The Fundamentals Of Hostessing’

Her quill pen inked out, marring the perfectly cream paper of the journal. Tazrae sighed and thought about her parents. Of the two, her father by far was the best host. Marketh and Estra ran a successful Inn and it was only upon her father’s untimely death that her mother drove the Inn financially to ruin. She overspent, did not pick up her husbands’ good habits, and they were in dire straights within a year of Marketh’s passing. Tazrae still hated her mother for it.

That Inn was supposed to be her legacy. Instead… she’d had to start from scratch and build her own place from the ground up in a new place… far into the wilderness. At that thought, Tazrae paused and smiled slowly. She’d not be the person she was now if her mother hadn’t destroyed the old Inn. She lived in paradise surrounded by an abundance she could pass on to her guests. Riverfall, in Tazrae’s mind, didn’t hold a candle to Syka. Syka had what she needed to thrive. Riverall did not. There, unless she was a man – an Akalak male to be exact – she could not have any ambition and drive to thrive like she had in Syka.

Tazrae wanted to record her father’s wisdom before more of it was lost to her. She had the memories if his teachings and she could still see his face as he’d passed his lessons on. Her mother’s face – even though she was still alive – was fading fast in her mind.

Thinking back, she remembered when he drew out his shy daughter at age seven and sat her down for what would become one if his infamous Marketh-style lectures. It was to be the first of many. “Taz… I’m going to teach you several social rules you must follow to be a good host.” She remembered the man saying, laying it out or her. “You must appear to be the happy-go-lucky social butterfly. And to do that, you need to make everyone feel welcome, important, and included. You need to love the world so the world will love you back. You do that by making a personal connection with each and every person you are hosting. Making connections are really easy. All you need to do is find common ground, link yourselves together with unique experiences, and create events that you can retell as stories later. An event can be anything from a casual tea to a shopping trip to the market.

Taz had questioned her father intently. “How do I make memories? And craft those connections?” She had demanded. Marketh had smiled patiently and immediately approved of her question.

“Good question, Tazzy. It’s really simple. You make your desires manifest by forming good intentions and then transform them into actions. Your enthusiasm is always going to create experiences, good or bad. It’s up to you to make sure they are good experiences. And I’m going to teach you the social tricks to be able to make sure your guests all have a good time.” He added, moving on with his lecture.

Tazrae paused there, re-dipped her quill, and started writing. Her father’s lecture was so clear it brought a sheen of tears to her eyes. She titled the journal section ‘Social Rules’ and quickly started the list her father had given her that day so long ago. She’d go back and add to that list as she remembered things so she left plenty of room for additions.

• Make Connections
• Set The Mood
• Look The Part
• Let The Food Work For You
• Claim and Own A Specialty Dish
• Have An Open Door Policy
• Create Memories
• Know How To Play
• Absorb Sound, Don’t Create It
• Share The Wealth
• Involve The Local Flavor/Doings
• Try New Things
• Holiday State Of Mind
• Lead With Your Heart
• Thoughtful Gift Giving
• Always Say Thanks & Share Gratitude

“To have fun, you have definitely got to think, act, and feel fun. If you don’t, it will be impossible to set the mood to fun. Even if you aren’t in the mood for such things, you need to know how to fake it. And its odd, Tazzy girl…. if you fake it long enough, you’ll start having fun. Just trying and see what I mean.” Marketh said firmly. “Smile… its contagious. If you smile, others can’t help but smile back and you’ll find your joy spreading. There’s a saying… ‘look on the bright side’. Faking a fun mood is all about this.” He added.

[Tazrae]

Tazrae frantically took notes from that memory. He’d had more to say on that topic.

She clearly remembered him clearing his throat and giving her some examples. “If something is hindering that mood….say you are dreading hosting an up and coming wedding or a visit from someone you dislike… hold a precious fun memory close. Recall a fantastic time you had in the past… a birthday celebration, a holiday feast, your first puppy… anything you have in your memory…. Recall that time and fight the dread with those memories until you drive it out. I don’t know what your future will hold, Taz… but I do hope you’ll have a host of memories to draw from.” Marketh added.

Taz smiled. She had such memories for sure. The first time she’d seen the land the Protea was built upon. She remembered stepping off the Veronica for the first time to set foot in Syka. The groundbreaking of building her Inn. She had the memories of building her dock and reptile gardens. She held close to the memories of seeing the Goddess of Life for the first time and getting her mark. There were so many good memories here to choose from. The first kiss from Marino. Meeting Duncan and getting inducted into Reimancy.

The young Innkeeper shook back her head and got back to her notes. She wanted this text on Hostessing to be just perfect. And the social aspect was important… which is why she let that be the first section.

“Always keep your mind schooled on happier thoughts. Don’t let it wander down a dark and scary pathway that leads to anxiety.” Marketh had instructed. Taz nodded to herself and then added in her own notes. ‘Think happy thoughts to be happy. Hold happy memories close. Set the mood in your mind to reflect the mood around you.’ Satisfied, she gently rezipped her pen and tapped off the extra ink before she continued writing in her journal.

She made the addendum that if one wanted to feel fun, one needed to work on appearance too. If you were dark and gloomy inside, never wear things that reflected that. Flipping back a page, she turned to the list she had originally created.

She dipped her quill and added it to the list. “Look The Part:” Tazrae made notes to remind herself to wear colorful clothing that reflected bright and happy rather than dark and moody garments. She noted to avoid neutral grays, blacks, or browns. Stormy colors invoked stormy moods and no one needed that. The color was everything when it came to setting the mood.

Though the time had passed, Taz still remembered Marketh’s teachings. They had been so important to her back then. She’d expected to inherit their little Inn and had worked hard to earn her mother and father’s approval. And while Estra had rarely been happy, Marketh was an easy one to please. She’d felt closer to her father than she’d ever felt to her distant mother. He was, after all, the one that had passed his love of cooking onto his daughter. And cooking had definitely made up the next rule.

[Tazrae]

“Do at least one dish very well. Make it your specialty and make sure it is good enough that everyone wants it and raves about it. It needs to be something you can whip up on the fly, so keep the ingredients around and easily accessible. It needs to be something that is appropriate any time of day and will feed someone’s really hearty appetite. Take an omelet for example. If you keep chickens, also keep eggs, butter, salt, and pepper on hand. Make sure you have filling ingredients to load into it… then take it to another level. Have fancy cheeses, herbs, ham, onions, smoked salmon, anything…. just pick a dish or ten… I don’t care. And make sure you can make it half asleep, exhausted, or on your death bed and it will still turn heads. Do that, and your business will thrive.” He’d instructed.

These facts she added to the growing journal before her. It was an odd sensation. She was truthfully writing a book, but it was almost the concept she’d heard about in Riverfall of a ‘ghost writer’. She was applying her father’s wisdom to the journal – capturing his thoughts before time and circumstances faded them -

Tazrae had agreed with what her father had taught her about having specialty dishes that were go-to. She did have a few soups and stews… even omelets that worked well for the any-time-of-day situation. She was good at grilled sandwiches made from fresh bread and whatever fresh meat or seafood that she had always on hand. Those grilled concoctions she’d pile high with fresh fruit and vegetables gave the sandwiches an exotic flare. And there were sweets she kept about that were popular with tea. She baked daily for the Inn. Baking was her happy morning ritual.

For that matter, drinks could probably be considered one of her specialties. She was good at teas, ciders, any sort of mulled wine, or chilled fruit beverages. There was something so soothing about the right drink at the right time. She’d been compiling more and more beverage recipes here in paradise too. Syka was next level for fresh foods and drinks. That was one thing about coming to this wilderness. Food was abundant, plentiful, and delicious raw or cooked. There were far more opportunities foraging here in the jungle than there were in climates more burdened by seasonal changes.

At this point, Taz paused, set down her quill, and shook out her hand. All the writing was giving her a minor cramp. But it was also satisfying. She couldn’t remember another single instance where she’d done so well to preserve the words of her father for the future. Whether she liked it or not, his memory and even the rich tone of his voice were fading in her memory. If she didn’t do this now, she might never get it done.

“Another thing, Tazzy girl, that’s super important is as an Inn to have an open-door policy. Make sure last-minute guests are always welcome. Try to make the Inn a place to gather, a site where lonely people are welcome. Visitors are never a problem and make sure to feed everyone which is why keeping things on hand you can serve in a pinch is important. Your place needs to be THE place people go to have a good time. It needs to feel effortless to them, even though you yourself might work your fingers to the bone to make it happen.” Marketh had said, trying to paint her a picture of the atmosphere she needed to create around her business.

[Tazrae]

Tazrae added that to the list, then tapped her quill against her chin thoughtfully. What else had her father said about being an Innkeeper? She’d been a rather shy child, truth be told, and one important conversation he’d had with her when she was about ten stood out. As the memories flooded her mind, she wrote them down, automatically organizing them as she added to the bullet point list and the explanation in the pages that followed.

“You can’t be a shy child and be an Innkeeper, Tazzy girl.” Marketh had said, watching her contemplatively. Her father definitely wasn’t shy. “People don’t talk to introverts. You need to be an extrovert. Do you know what that means? Introverts are inwardly focused individuals. They have a lot of conversations in their heads. They are fine in their own company and don’t do a lot of entertaining. That’s incredibly bad as a personality trait for an Innkeeper. You need to be extroverted. That means you say what you think and need other people around. You get lonely in your own company and spend a lot of time with others. Even if you are in a strange place and don’t know a soul around you – talk to people. They want to talk to you. Trust me. Interaction is part of the human experience. Always picture yourself having a great time, and I promise you will. What you need to do, Tazrae, is to prepare yourself for every situation by reminding yourself that something new or surprising, even amazing, could be right around the corner and happen that very day… that very moment. You could at any moment fall madly in love. You could meet the best friend of your life. You might even solve some long-prevailing mystery in the world in an instant! That’s how you have to tackle each new day and each new situation.” He finished with a flourish, waving his hand around as if he’d just told her the biggest secret a father could ever tell his daughter. She’d laughed, of course, then nodded her understanding.

Tazrae interrupted had interrupted him at that point. “How do I do that in a crowd though? Fall in love… find a best friend… solve a mystery?” She asked, confused and wondering not for the first time if her father was completely crazy.

Re-dipping her pen, Tazrae put all these memories to paper, writing out the concepts to form more of a cohesive written idea than her slowly fading memories of her father would have for her in the future.

“That’s the easiest answer in the world. You introduce yourself. You ease into any awkward situation by relying on what I call ice-breaking methods. You introduce yourself to people you don’t know. You ask them how they are…. and mean it. You ask questions you want to know…. where are you from… how did you find this place…. Do you like the music? Food? Any conversation starter will help you ease into this sort of situation. Be enthusiastic for life and that will make you a magnetic force that will attract others. People love a good conversation. Pick and choose your selections wisely and include as many people as you can.” Marketh had advised.

Tazrae had taken a lot of time to think about that one. She wasn’t overly shy, but conversation starters at her age were difficult for her. She wanted them to all happen smoothly, but at just a decade old, she had no smooth transitions or ways to draw people out. The young Innkeeper had gotten better over the years with time and age. And she’d always remembered the advice. Writing it down all these years later simply made her smile.

The next section was more difficult. Create Memories. That’s what people were coming to Syka for after all. They wanted experiences they couldn’t have elsewhere. They wanted to walk in the jungle among the wilds and live to tell about it. Even just walking them through Syka was an experience. The birds within the settlement’s boundaries had all their songs translated into words. They could walk along and a small songbird would follow them with a simple conversation. A parrot might draw them into a lengthy intelligent dialog. The gossip around bird feeders was the definite focal point for information sharing among the birds. It could be quite unnerving. Then there were the statues that could be controlled for Syka’s defense.

Continued In: The Fundamentals of Hostessing Pt. 2

Words: 2653