But one thing was for certain, they all had various forms of Rutus''s face.  She went up and hugged her family and they did the family thing about funding over her and getting all up in her business.  She managed to push them back so she could give introductions.


    She introduced Endermon first and before anyone could bow or otherwise be formal, Endermon said they could just use her first name.  She wasn''t ready for titles just yet.  Everyone chuckled and Rutus went on to introduce Shiloh and Dresden.


    If you haven''t seen a room full of people 4 feet tall and under crowding around a 5''9" vampire and a 6''1" shapeshifter, you are missing out.  They asked a lot of questions and Shiloh and Dresden handled it like champions.


    Finally everything settled down and they got to chatting about everything Rutus missed while she had been gone.  They pulled out all or at least a portion of young Rutus stories all of which embarrassed her in the way that only families could perfect.


    At some point during the conversation, someone brought up Rutus''s blacksmithing.  The family wasn''t sure, but they wanted a demonstration.  So they all bustled through the tunnels to a large area that could only have been a communal area.


    The family asked if Rutus could talk to the master blacksmith for a second, and literally pushed her up closer to him.  It was rather comical seeing Rutus (who was taller) being stared down by someone shorter than she was.


    But Rutus said her family wanted a demonstration of her work.  The blacksmith looked questioningly at her parents, but they just nodded and he stepped away from his anvil, grumbling that she better not mess anything up.


    Rutus asked if there were any pieces of metal that were not immediately being used and he gestured to a small pile.  Rutus grabbed a medium sized piece and stuck it in the fire.


    Even though she could totally do it by hand and do it faster, she used tongs and hammers to get it into shap, and after a couple of hours, she had made a knife and it was better quality than that of the mastersmith''s.


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    He was impressed and offered to let Rutus be his apprentice.  Rutus was border line passed.  But she kept her composure and said she was going to open her own blacksmith shop, and he was welcome to stop by anytime.


    But he had a while to get used to it, because she wasn''t ready to move back home as of yet.  The blacksmith looked smug and muttered something about being able to find clients.  Rutus acted as if she didn''t hear him.


    Rutus turned to Dresden and said her apprentice made the maid some armor and she was sorry she didn''t get to give it to her when they were at the village.  Dresden said it was okay, they could give it to her when they dropped him off.  The look on the blacksmith''s face was priceless.


    They made small talk and tried out different wares and then it was dinnertime, Rutus''s family said the group was to stay for dinner and they would not take no for an answer.  They also said in no uncertain terms were they to help either.


    When it was ready, they all sat down to a hot steaming dinner of hearty vegetables and an unidentified meat.  Whatever it was, was delicious.  They even had a glass of liquid refreshment for Shiloh.


    They started asking if Rutus was serious about opening a blacksmith''s shop and Rutus said she already taught several students in the town closest to their estate.  Not to mention the apprentice she had been training personally.  Endermon and Shiloh snickered.


    Rutus gave them a dark look, but continued as if there had been no interruption at all.  Thankfully, neither Dresden, nor her family seemed to notice.  Rutus asked if they would like a closer demonstration.


    Her family looked puzzeled, but they followed her to what used to be Rutus''s forge, apparently.  There were bits of metal and leather in various states of assemblage.  Taking a random piece of metal, Rutus began fiddling with it.


    Her family tried to ask questions, but a hand on their arm and a slight shake of Endermon''s head encouraged them to just watch as Rutus worked her magic.  When Rutus made her family crest with just her hands, they finally understood.