Kiy was warm, as well he might be. The firelight gilded the high wooden rafters above him, and played with his brown hair; the dancing shadows were enough to make any boy drowsy, but though night had fallen and drawn the stars after it, Kiy's eyes were still wide and gray. He was always watching. He had to. If he looked away for too long, the meat would burn, and it was his job to tend it; juicy skewers full of pork and lamb and peppers that were dripping hot fat into the coals. They were beginning to crisp nicely, the meat turning brown and the skin of the peppers pulling back from the flesh. Kiy studied them gravely, knees pulled up tight to his chest, but also his gray eyes roved carefully about the inn, taking in everything.

The innkeep's name was Piper, Norry Piper, and he brewed an ale that was fruity and brown, all the men of Laketown admitted. At least, so Norry boasted, and it was true that most of his tables were filled, and even kept clean by Tansy, his daughter, a few years older than Kiy. She was a bright little thing, and more diligent about her work than her mother, who was plump and prone to drowsing, especially when the inn was warm and the night was cold, as it was now.

The inn was full of a pleasant, babbling chatter, but Kiy heard the hiss on the coals and knew the meat was done. Carefully he got up and took the ends of the skewers before trotting to the correct tables; the men took the meat from him and some even mumbled thanks, though most continued with their gaming and drinking and conversation. They never even saw him. Nobody truly looked. Kiy could have picked a dozen pockets had he been that way inclined; which he was not. Piper had enough care for his orphaned nephew to teach him good morals and beat him soundly if he found him transgressing in such a way; but for now he was bent over and counting the tallies of the drinkers, until the day they should "Pay the piper" as it was jovially called in The Dragon's Head. A brave name, for a brave inn, though it had only been renamed after the winged menace had sunk to the bottom of the water and lain there like a pile of glistening jewels. There were jewels, in fact, embedded still in Smaug's breast, but nobody was about to go dig up the corpse and gouge them out of the old worm''s flesh. Instead, Norry had gained custom enough by the hordes that piled into his pub in days after, when Laketown had become prosperous again and an inn with a name like The Dragon's Head was a place for good stories. And it was a fine inn: the beer and ale had earnt its reputation honestly, Tansy and Mistress Piper did their best, and Kiy never ever burnt the meat.

The heavy door moved out of its groove, swung open. The night air flung in an arm immediately, trying to tickle the drinkers into shivering, and some answered; "Shut the door, boy," they called. They had not noticed the newcomer, but Kiy had.

It was a dwarf, a dwarf with a rucksack and a long copper beard, rings in the plaits of the copper moustache and a green, faded cloak. With a thick finger the dwarf beckoned Kiy over.

"Ale, little master, for I like not to order it myself when the bar's over my head," said the dwarf jovially, and as Tansy skipped over bringing a higher chair so that shorter folk could reach taller tables, the dwarf gestured it be placed by the gamers - who only just then seemed to notice that anyone new had entered the inn at all. "Welcome, sir," called one of them, "Brem at your service; sit and join the game?"

"With good will. Ari born of Jofor, at yours and your families," said the dwarf, bowing before Tansy assisted him into his chair and fluttered off, nibbling at the end of her plait. Kiy brought the ale. The men dealt the dwarf in, and though the boy began to feel drowsy, he poured himself a mug of spiced, watered wine - for Norry's care for his brother's child extended to preventing him from early drunkenness as well - and kept himself awake, in case anyone should want anything. The slap of cards on the table were so lulling, the laughter and talk so soft...

and suddenly Kiy was woken from his reverie by a shout. Allerin had thrown his cards down. "There is something wrong here, assuredly," the blond youth declared; "Master Dwarf, you have done nothing but win since you sat down with us. This cannot just be luck!"
"We do not take kindly to cheaters," added Lucin ominously, cutting a slice of pie with unnecessary force. Gravy soaked into his beard. Ari held up his hands placatingly. "Ai, good masters," he told them, "it takes skill at the game as well, and not just luck. But I see you eye all the shining coins I have taken from you tonight. Well, I'll give you a chance to win them all back, and who can say fairer? And not at the card table, since you have devious suspicions there." The dwarf fingered a ring in his moustache. "I propose this: that I ask you a riddle. If any man among you gamers can answer the riddle, I'll return to you all the coins I won from you, buy a drink for every fellow who played, and the man who guesses the riddle may have a special boon from me. If you can't, why, you can buy me a drink, and your money I shall keep. How does that sound to you?"

There was a general rumble amongst the table, and then cries of "Aye!" that woke the yellow cat sleeping in the rafters; disgruntled, she stalked off bristling to sulk by the fireside. The dwarf smiled a generous smile. Then he told his riddle.

Kiy knew the answer at once, a germ of knowledge sparking in his mind. The boy's grey eyes danced. The men at the table were not so confident. "Repeat that again," demanded Allerin, puzzling into his beer. Ari duly complied.

What you touch you cannot see,
although it is known to me.
Brass may tell a sideways tale,
silver, water, even ale.
As blue waters from the sea,
say it loud, it sounds like me.

"I'll let you think on it overnight," said the dwarf as he clambered down from his seat, wiping his mouth with a napkin; "but in the morning off I go, and I'll hear the answer or I'll have my winnings." He grinned - winningly - and Tansy danced up to show him to his room. No-one was watching Kiy as, a few minutes later, he snuck up the stairs to knock on the dwarf's door.

In the morning, most of them were bleary-eyed and grumpy from the good ale and puzzling over the riddle all night. Betsy Piper was still, as ever, half asleep, and it was Tansy who'd baked the bread. There were seeds and nuts in the loaves, which cheered everyone up a bit. Ari came down a little while later, having ordered bacon and eggs and mushrooms, which Betsy recovered herself enough to fry for him.

"Not a man of us knows the answer to your cursed riddle, dwarf,"Brenn admitted as Ari sat down, combing a tangle out of his copper beard. "Tell us the answer!"

Ari grinned. His teeth were very white. "Not a man of you, but the boy does!" He pointed at Kiy. Eight pairs of astonished eyes swivelled towards the boy, including that of Mistress Piper, who was, in fact, letting the bacon burn. "Tell them, boy, and you shall have your boon."

Everyone's eyes were on Kiy. It was appropriate enough. "The answer is eye," said the boy. "You can't see your own eye, though everyone else can - not unless it's reflected in something, like brass or silver, or water, or ale. And it sounds like "I" when you say it aloud."

Their mouths opened, all at once. Lucin gave Allerin a light shove on the shoulder. "And here you were looking for words that rhymed with "Ari" or "dwarf"!" he exclaimed in wonderment. Ari came up close to the boy, and put a hand on his shoulder; the two were almost of a height, an eight-year-old boy and a dwarf. "This little one sees more than most, and farther than you all, because he knows how to use his eyes," said the dwarf solemnly. "Good eyes make a good craftsman. Tell them what else you saw that no one else did, boy."

"Yes, ma'am," said Kiy shyly.

Were it possible, one might have said that the occupants of the inn dropped their jaws yet further in surprise. A female dwarf! Well, and it was always very hard to tell, but the boy had spotted it!

"I'll keep your money, for it was not one of you gamers who solved my riddle," Ari daughter of Jofor said, "but now you see how a good eye can win a game. Not by looking at the cards where it oughtn't, no, but by looking at the men who hold the cards. Allerin, you drum your fingers on the table when you have a good hand, and master Lucin, you take a drink when yours is bad." The two stared at each other as Ari stroked her copper beard and spoke to Kiy directly. "Now, what boon would you have of me, lad?"

"To go with you," said Kiy instantly. Ari's eyebrows went up. "You said I've a good eye, and could be a good craftsman. I don't want to be an innkeep when I grow up," the boy said with a nervous glance at Norry Piper, who was still looking too astonished at this whole turn of events; "I'd rather work for the King under the Mountain and make things."

"Well, at that, I'd have to ask Master Piper," Ari answered him solemnly. Norry could only nod helplessly, and Tansy ran and flung her thin arms around him before standing to one side and on one leg, with her plait in her mouth. "I leave on the hour, have you got everything ready?"

The boy nodded.

"As for the drinks you promised me, gentlemen," Ari daughter of Jofor announced to the inn in general, "they'll keep until next time. Farewell - and the boy and I shall be back soon enough." She bowed politely and strode out of The Dragon's Head, and Kiy followed after.

No no, none of you should compete... I want to win

In a word 'No' Wendir. Eledhel has left so far as we can tell and then it went all quiet so this was abandoned

This was sort of a one off to promote the 'Dwellings' which were a bit of an innovation for us this time last year but turned out to be a bit of a turkey although some of us have used our houses quite a bit so if we do get another peak in activity we might try some more promotion.