The rare smile cracked D'Ategenon's lips as she brought up the hairy herb again. They walked together into the camp as he answered. "I am still surprised Basil told you about that. Many years ago, a few of us, including Major Ferranti and Basil, were sitting discussing important items, when one of our younger members burst out saying something like, 'I can't hold this in anymore. No disrespect, Basil, but I'm going to start calling you the hairy herb. Basil Dillworthy, and you're a harengon. Hare-y herb.'" The smile widened as he relayed the story. "You know how proper Basil is, and he was quite horrified, but the name stuck between us, though since we really did respect him, we never told anyone else. As embarrassed as Basil was at the time, and despite him making us all swear that we would never tell another soul, it looks like he's never forgotten and ended up using it as the best possible code phrase to help you identify me from any other half-orc named D'Artegenon."
He stood for a moment in the warmth of the fire. "Don't forget to extinguish this before it gets too dark," he said to no one in particular.