Post by Jaezred Vandree on Feb 4, 2022 13:40:22 GMT
Obsidian Chocolate Pudding
By Lord Jaezred Vandree
INGREDIENTS:
DIRECTIONS:
AUTHOR’S NOTES:
This recipe was inspired by a recent excursion to the Plains of Despair in the Shadowfell. The place is even more drab than it sounds. Absolutely no sights to see, no one interesting to talk to, and spend enough time there, you’d start wondering why you bother doing anything at all. The only fascinating things about it are a) there is a complete absence of light there because that is how the residents prefer it, and b) its blackened earth is rich in beautiful obsidian — so much of it they made buildings entirely from obsidian bricks. It got me craving for some very dark chocolate when I returned home.
The Stygian Noir chocolate should give this pudding a signature deeply dark colour almost like obsidian, but don’t let that hue fool you, it is still fairly sweet. Sweet and black as sin.
One very particular copy of this recipe found its way, curiously, into a stack of reports meant for Queen Nicnevin. Under the Witch-Queen’s gaze, the true message written underneath the innocuous recipe with illusory script is revealed to her:
Inspired by this dark chocolate pudding recipe.
By Lord Jaezred Vandree
INGREDIENTS:
- 4 teaspoons of cornstarch
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups of whole milk
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- ½ cup of Stygian Noir chocolate, chopped
- ½ cup of sugar
- ÂĽ cup of Maztican cocoa powder
- ÂĽ teaspoon of salt
- ÂĽ teaspoon of double cream
DIRECTIONS:
- Whisk the milk, sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, egg yolks, vanilla, and salt together in a saucepan over medium-to-high heat until the mixture comes to a simmer, then add the chocolate.
- Bring the mixture to a full boil whilst whisking continuously. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, and continue whisking until the consistency becomes thick.
- Stir in the butter.
- Pour the pudding into small cups or ramekins and allow it to set.
- Top it with a bit of double cream and any leftover chocolate, crumbled and sprinkled on top. Best served cold.
AUTHOR’S NOTES:
This recipe was inspired by a recent excursion to the Plains of Despair in the Shadowfell. The place is even more drab than it sounds. Absolutely no sights to see, no one interesting to talk to, and spend enough time there, you’d start wondering why you bother doing anything at all. The only fascinating things about it are a) there is a complete absence of light there because that is how the residents prefer it, and b) its blackened earth is rich in beautiful obsidian — so much of it they made buildings entirely from obsidian bricks. It got me craving for some very dark chocolate when I returned home.
The Stygian Noir chocolate should give this pudding a signature deeply dark colour almost like obsidian, but don’t let that hue fool you, it is still fairly sweet. Sweet and black as sin.
One very particular copy of this recipe found its way, curiously, into a stack of reports meant for Queen Nicnevin. Under the Witch-Queen’s gaze, the true message written underneath the innocuous recipe with illusory script is revealed to her:
26 Hammer 1499
Heret Velnnarul, Varga, and myself gathered in Fort Ettin to answer the call of Delilah (alias Tinuviel), a Twilight Court spy, and her lover Lady Oziah Daybreaker.
Miss Delilah was in need of a party to accompany her to the Obsidian City in the Plains of Despair within the Shadowfell. She had been looking into the city as part of her research on transfiguring her pet cat into a familiar and her past. This somehow attracted the attention of someone who calls himself “the Benefactor”. This person contacted her, offering to aid her in her quest in exchange for her doing a job for him.
The Obsidian City is where people go to disappear. Most of the city is an underground, labyrinthine sprawl, but a few buildings remain above ground. It was in one of these structures where we rendezvoused with the Benefactor, a cowled, male human in his 50s. He wanted a particular half-elf man to be brought to him alive — his own attempts at capturing this man were thwarted by the man always sensing when he was coming — and would compensate Delilah with transforming her cat and a map of the Obsidian City, which is impossible to navigate without it, and gold for the rest of us.
During a moment of doubt, Delilah revealed to us that she seeks a tool in the Obsidian City that she believes may help her kill someone she longs to be free of. She had been uncharacteristically nervous about this whole affair, likely due to it bringing her closer to a troubled past, and was afraid of disappointment. I persuaded her to see this to the end and accept the job.
We travelled out of the Plains of Despair for about 2 hours and reached a body of perfectly still water, upon which an abandoned lighthouse stands. The beacon is a divination sensor of some kind and the tower is warded with abjuration magic. Mr. Velnnarul managed to lockpick our way in without getting harmed. There was a portal to an unknown plane within the lighthouse and, stepping through it, we found our target, a 7’5-tall humanoid (appeared to be a half-elf) male in his 30s named Billy.
Billy had been staying in this plane for an unknown amount of time, staring out into a living void, an aberrant creature, as he believed a being he called “Gregory” ordered him to. Despite his age and size, he had the gullible innocence of a child — clearly the result of a broken mind. We convinced him that “Gregory” asked us to escort him out of there and he complied. During the journey back to the Obsidian City, we learned that Billy had a few things in common with Delilah: an enthusiasm for shadows and an ability to teleport around in them.
Billy fell into a state of resignation when he saw the Benefactor. The Benefactor pressed a soul coin against Billy’s forehead and absorbed his soul into it, weeping as he did, for Billy was his son. He would not reveal why he did it, only that he needed to.
Back to the matter of the cat — the Benefactor miscalculated its constitution to the Shadowfell planar energy and accidentally disintegrated it in the process. However, he saved a part of its soul in another soul coin before it died and offered to imbue the soul to Delilah. As he tapped the soul coin on her forehead and the cat was reborn into a familiar, he looked confused, shocked, angry, then understanding, and finally acknowledging her as his daughter, “the final child”. It quickly became clear that he would like to inflict Billy’s fate upon Delilah too.
Delilah — who was as surprised as he, if not more — said he wouldn’t kill her, because there is a woman out there who would love to see him and who is always watching her, and she knows where to find this woman. I must postulate that the woman she was speaking of is probably her mother. The Benefactor simply responded with, “Challenge accepted,” before disappearing amidst a gathering of gloom.
We teleported back into Fort Ettin and agreed to reconvene in a day, leaving a distraught Delilah in the care of Lady Oziah.
27 Hammer 1499
I spent the remainder of the day reading a book on shadow sorcery and corruption we retrieved from the lighthouse.
On shadow magic: the Raven Queen is the most prominent source of shadow magic but far from the only one, as any god aligned with darkness and powerful native creatures of the Shadowfell or shadow-corrupted beings, like shadow demons, aberrations, and older shadow dragons, can grant a mortal the ability to bend shadows to their will. However, one other way to acquire shadow magic is by absorbing shadow matter, the dark essence that permeates the Shadowfell and constitutes its native creatures, either willingly or not in a process called shadow corruption. The book has a chapter on the subtle variations these different sources have on the magic and how to determine the source of a shadow sorcerer’s power, but unfortunately due to its age and state, most of the text is unreadable.
(It is my guess, from the way he teleported away without visible spellcasting, that the Benefactor is in fact a shadow sorcerer, and likely a powerful one too.)
On shadow corruption: these chapters detail the various ways in which shadow matter can seep into a creature and alter it. It is a slow process — one must spend at least one month in the Shadowfell or be in close proximity with high levels of shadow magic or Shadowfell creatures that do not reside there. In most cases, shadow corruption simply drains emotions from the victim, who would then become more cold-hearted than is typical, but there are rare instances in which the victim also manifests magical powers. Dragons are one such creature which are dramatically changed by shadow corruption. The corruption can be reversed but prolonged exposure is theorised to make it permanent.
There is another book from the lighthouse, one person’s account of their journey into the Obsidian City, which Delilah read.
On the Obsidian City: it was once an obsidian mine — though it remains unclear where the obsidian was sent to or what it was used for — that was suddenly abandoned for reasons unknown. The author speculated that the miners delved too deep and awoke malevolent shadow spirits or creatures residing in the obsidian itself. They ventured into the city below but failed to describe any notable locations, instead rambling about shifting shapes and disembodied whispers until eventually, all their writing became disturbingly nonsensical.
I studied the Benefactor’s map of the city briefly. The Obsidian City is more like a mine that is being lived in rather than a city in the proper sense of the word. Most of it is natural caverns instead of planned work tunnels, making it incredibly difficult to navigate without a map, true to the Benefactor’s word.
Delilah and I shared this information with each other. I gave her the book on shadow magic upon her request. She has told me that she plans on looking into the Demon Prince Fraz-Urb’luu next, since a cult of thieves who worship shadow demons under him came up during her initial research into the Obsidian City.
Needless to say, she will be returning to the Obsidian City soon. And I shall be there to accompany her again.
Heret Velnnarul, Varga, and myself gathered in Fort Ettin to answer the call of Delilah (alias Tinuviel), a Twilight Court spy, and her lover Lady Oziah Daybreaker.
Miss Delilah was in need of a party to accompany her to the Obsidian City in the Plains of Despair within the Shadowfell. She had been looking into the city as part of her research on transfiguring her pet cat into a familiar and her past. This somehow attracted the attention of someone who calls himself “the Benefactor”. This person contacted her, offering to aid her in her quest in exchange for her doing a job for him.
The Obsidian City is where people go to disappear. Most of the city is an underground, labyrinthine sprawl, but a few buildings remain above ground. It was in one of these structures where we rendezvoused with the Benefactor, a cowled, male human in his 50s. He wanted a particular half-elf man to be brought to him alive — his own attempts at capturing this man were thwarted by the man always sensing when he was coming — and would compensate Delilah with transforming her cat and a map of the Obsidian City, which is impossible to navigate without it, and gold for the rest of us.
During a moment of doubt, Delilah revealed to us that she seeks a tool in the Obsidian City that she believes may help her kill someone she longs to be free of. She had been uncharacteristically nervous about this whole affair, likely due to it bringing her closer to a troubled past, and was afraid of disappointment. I persuaded her to see this to the end and accept the job.
We travelled out of the Plains of Despair for about 2 hours and reached a body of perfectly still water, upon which an abandoned lighthouse stands. The beacon is a divination sensor of some kind and the tower is warded with abjuration magic. Mr. Velnnarul managed to lockpick our way in without getting harmed. There was a portal to an unknown plane within the lighthouse and, stepping through it, we found our target, a 7’5-tall humanoid (appeared to be a half-elf) male in his 30s named Billy.
Billy had been staying in this plane for an unknown amount of time, staring out into a living void, an aberrant creature, as he believed a being he called “Gregory” ordered him to. Despite his age and size, he had the gullible innocence of a child — clearly the result of a broken mind. We convinced him that “Gregory” asked us to escort him out of there and he complied. During the journey back to the Obsidian City, we learned that Billy had a few things in common with Delilah: an enthusiasm for shadows and an ability to teleport around in them.
Billy fell into a state of resignation when he saw the Benefactor. The Benefactor pressed a soul coin against Billy’s forehead and absorbed his soul into it, weeping as he did, for Billy was his son. He would not reveal why he did it, only that he needed to.
Back to the matter of the cat — the Benefactor miscalculated its constitution to the Shadowfell planar energy and accidentally disintegrated it in the process. However, he saved a part of its soul in another soul coin before it died and offered to imbue the soul to Delilah. As he tapped the soul coin on her forehead and the cat was reborn into a familiar, he looked confused, shocked, angry, then understanding, and finally acknowledging her as his daughter, “the final child”. It quickly became clear that he would like to inflict Billy’s fate upon Delilah too.
Delilah — who was as surprised as he, if not more — said he wouldn’t kill her, because there is a woman out there who would love to see him and who is always watching her, and she knows where to find this woman. I must postulate that the woman she was speaking of is probably her mother. The Benefactor simply responded with, “Challenge accepted,” before disappearing amidst a gathering of gloom.
We teleported back into Fort Ettin and agreed to reconvene in a day, leaving a distraught Delilah in the care of Lady Oziah.
27 Hammer 1499
I spent the remainder of the day reading a book on shadow sorcery and corruption we retrieved from the lighthouse.
On shadow magic: the Raven Queen is the most prominent source of shadow magic but far from the only one, as any god aligned with darkness and powerful native creatures of the Shadowfell or shadow-corrupted beings, like shadow demons, aberrations, and older shadow dragons, can grant a mortal the ability to bend shadows to their will. However, one other way to acquire shadow magic is by absorbing shadow matter, the dark essence that permeates the Shadowfell and constitutes its native creatures, either willingly or not in a process called shadow corruption. The book has a chapter on the subtle variations these different sources have on the magic and how to determine the source of a shadow sorcerer’s power, but unfortunately due to its age and state, most of the text is unreadable.
(It is my guess, from the way he teleported away without visible spellcasting, that the Benefactor is in fact a shadow sorcerer, and likely a powerful one too.)
On shadow corruption: these chapters detail the various ways in which shadow matter can seep into a creature and alter it. It is a slow process — one must spend at least one month in the Shadowfell or be in close proximity with high levels of shadow magic or Shadowfell creatures that do not reside there. In most cases, shadow corruption simply drains emotions from the victim, who would then become more cold-hearted than is typical, but there are rare instances in which the victim also manifests magical powers. Dragons are one such creature which are dramatically changed by shadow corruption. The corruption can be reversed but prolonged exposure is theorised to make it permanent.
There is another book from the lighthouse, one person’s account of their journey into the Obsidian City, which Delilah read.
On the Obsidian City: it was once an obsidian mine — though it remains unclear where the obsidian was sent to or what it was used for — that was suddenly abandoned for reasons unknown. The author speculated that the miners delved too deep and awoke malevolent shadow spirits or creatures residing in the obsidian itself. They ventured into the city below but failed to describe any notable locations, instead rambling about shifting shapes and disembodied whispers until eventually, all their writing became disturbingly nonsensical.
I studied the Benefactor’s map of the city briefly. The Obsidian City is more like a mine that is being lived in rather than a city in the proper sense of the word. Most of it is natural caverns instead of planned work tunnels, making it incredibly difficult to navigate without a map, true to the Benefactor’s word.
Delilah and I shared this information with each other. I gave her the book on shadow magic upon her request. She has told me that she plans on looking into the Demon Prince Fraz-Urb’luu next, since a cult of thieves who worship shadow demons under him came up during her initial research into the Obsidian City.
Needless to say, she will be returning to the Obsidian City soon. And I shall be there to accompany her again.
Inspired by this dark chocolate pudding recipe.