[SNIPPET 1: “Krummar vs. the Door That Was Open”]

  Krummar, arms full of fresh spell-scrolls, pushes against the tavern door.

  It opens inward.

  He keeps pushing.For fifteen seconds.Muscles tensing. Brow furrowing. Teeth gritting.

  Lorin, drying mugs behind the bar, doesn’t even look up.

  Lorin:“Pull.”

  Krummar (heroic volume):“I AM!”

  Mel (muttering from upstairs):“You’re not.”

  Daka (from the hallway):“He thinks all barriers are metaphors.”

  Krummar finally pulls. The door swings open easily. He nods at it like it just passed a test.

  ?

  [SNIPPET 2: “Melodia’s Curse: Hyper-Sensitive Stockings”]

  Melodia sits quietly at the tavern’s central table, reading over a list of new performance requests. Her thighs are crossed. Her beret is perfectly tilted. Her posture is royal.

  Then she shivers.

  A breeze, from nowhere, flutters through her skirt and brushes her thigh.

  Melodia (barely audible):“Oh… heavens.”

  She clutches her choker.

  Codex Trigger: Emotional Scent Layer Activated.– Faint vanil-vender sugar fills the air.– Presence +1– Daka drops a fork in the next room and yells “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT” without context.

  ?

  [SNIPPET 3: “Daka Tries to Read”]

  Daka sms a book beled “Wines of the Sword Coast: Volume II” onto the table.

  Daka (squinting):“Alright. Chapter one: Pee-no Nor… Nor…

  Mel (without looking up):“Pinot Noir.”

  Daka:“That’s what I said. PINGA NORD.”

  Krummar (dry):“That sounds like a dwarven martial art.”

  Melodia (giggling quietly):“Or… a moonflower dance. With sauce.”

  ?

  [SNIPPET 4: “Lorin’s Soft Fury”]

  Lorin, ever elegant, is sweeping the upstairs hallway. Her bun is perfect. Her socks do not match. Her wrath simmers under five inches of politeness.

  She finds a pastry under Mel’s pillow.She finds a different pastry in Daka’s boot.And she finds three gold pieces pressed into her teacup with a note that reads: “For Services Rendered. Keep the lemon tea coming.”

  Lorin (to no one):“I will burn this building to the foundation with a smile and refill your tea cup while it colpses.”

  ?

  [SNIPPET 5: “Mel and the Owl Situation”]

  In the back garden, Mel has tamed an owl.

  She didn’t mean to.

  She just gred at it until it gave her a feather.

  Now it sits on her head. Constantly.

  Mel (deadpan):“Don’t name it. It’s not a pet. It’s a trauma echo with wings.”

  Daka:“I named it Dave.”

  Mel:“Dave just peed on your hat.”

  Daka (grim):“…He’s dead to me.”

  Dave hoots menacingly.

  ?

  [SNIPPET 6: “Krummar’s Secret Tea Shame”]

  Krummar cims to drink ale and blood-of-the-fallen in equal measure.

  But every night after prayers, he sneaks into the kitchen, opens a floral tin marked “Melodia’s Dream Mix,” and brews a chamomile-honey-vender tea.

  Krummar (whispering to himself):“No one must know.”

  Behind him, Mel is in a cupboard.She doesn’t speak.She just closes the door again with the softest click.

  ?