The Joy of Food - Celina Zabinski - 18/01/2022
Feb 18, 2022 11:46:50 GMT
Andy D, Marto Copperkettle, and 1 more like this
Post by Celina Zabinski on Feb 18, 2022 11:46:50 GMT
Food, Glorious Food
What wouldn't we give for that extra bit more --
Written by Celina Zabinski
It's early in the morning in Fort Ettin and I make my way down for breakfast. I notice Coll at the bar chatting to another person behind the bar. I mean... is that his brother? No clue. When I look around, I am met by a lot of familiar faces. Kavel, the goliath, was there looking fresh faced and ready for action as per usual. Dwirihian, the half elf, was there, also looking happy and ready for the day and Glint, the fire genasi, looking exceptionally dashing in his new outfit. He looked far too well dressed for someone going on an adventure. I join in the group, feeling the effects of the alcohol from the night before. I order some breakfast and slot eating food and listening to the conversations. It's far too early for me to join in. Suddenly, two people walk through the door. They head towards the table. I spot Florian, the human who I've met previously and a new person who I hadn't met before. Their name is Zola. She looks like a drow half-elf. Florian greets everyone at the table and seems to give hugs to people he's met before. After he gives me a hug, he asks me for an apple. I smile and hand one over. Note to self I need to start charging people for these free apples in my bag. However, maybe I should write this off as marketing expense...
There is a lady sitting at a table next to us and it turns out its Jenna. She overhead some of our conversations and asks are we the adventures that responded to the job quest. Everyone agrees and she mentions she's here to teleport us all to Gadenthor. I have never heard of it but hey, a job is a job. She asks everyone if they're ready to go. Everyone seems to have finished their food. I look around and see everyone is ready so we all follow Jeanna. She gets us to walk through a portal and suddenly we're all in Gadenthor.
An orc suddenly appears and comes over to our group. Dwirihian asks the orc where can we get food as some of our group. She had noticed that Florian and Zola didn't get a chance to eat breakfast. The orc says that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and they shout at a friend who is passing by to throw them some food. The friend reluctantly throws over a bread roll. Floran shouts to the person to make sure they're ok with taking their food and they say it's fine. "You rock", Florain replies and starts munching on the bread roll. There is no way I would eat some random person's roll, yuck. Seems like Florian's enjoying it. Hopefully he doesn't die before we got to the job. Zola seems to decline the bread roll offered as well.
The orc then leads our group over to an elevator contraption thing. It's massive and goes up quite a long way. Everyone steps in and the orc pulls some levers to take everyone to the top. I can feel the lift is very unsteady and freak out. Kavel steps to one side of the platform and nearly tips the whole cart over. I resist the urge to throw an apple him. Glint does not look too impressed with the cart swaying. Looks like he's not great with heights. Poor Glint! Guess he won't be doing any hot balloon rides with Root anytime soon. Ha, I must ask him about how that's going again.
When we get to the top, we are escorted to another place where we are met with another orc. She is wearing a lovely dress which seems to be white with yellow lining. She has blue hair with an undercut. She introduces herself as Queen Ariel Farweaver. She asks if we're the group from the Dawnlands. Dwirhian takes the lead and does most of the talking.
The queen gets straight to it and mentions what she has planned. If I am honest, I get confused on the specifics but it involved going to visit a restaurant called the Tales Tongues Tell restaurant. And helping the head chef, Barnabas Cavazos. He does wonderous things with his food and he infuses them with emotions. She mentions that our group will be richly rewards. I perk up at this, "How richly rewarded are we saying?". I mean how can I not ask. Is this queen wealthy? Queens usually pay quite well. The queen mentions she will pay out more than the standard amount. I am pleased with this. I grin and say no more. Suddenly, Ariel pulls out her staff and casts the teleport circle. She mentions this is the way to where we all need to go. We step through and are on our way.
As I am looking around this place, I notice lots of body builders around the place. Everyone is really fit. Damn, there's lots of sexy goliath's all around the place. Very tall tabaxi's and very attractive gnomes. Everyone here is very into their fitness and are very attractive. I notice the others also think the same. I can see Glint and Florian's eyes looking intently at the people we pass. Immediately, I think that even though there's tons of attractive men around, none of them are Sammy. I sigh to myself. Stop thinking of him. We can't be sad. Maybe I should get with one of these and make him jealous....? No... definitely not. That would seriously mess things up. Fuck just stop it thinking about him. We are not allowing our emotions getting the better of us.
I look up and notice we're at the restaurant. I follow behind everyone as we enter the restaurant. Everyone is introduced to a sous-chef called, Mirielle Rhylet. She works with Barnabas. She explains about the food. That each food is infused with a specific emotion. He can do a range of emotions that get switched on with a single bite. However, what's holding him back is happiness. He can't seem to make any dish that's happy or joyous. She says it's best to show us what she means and leads us all over to a table. Looking around I can see some other people in the place crying their eyes out. I start to freak out. I don't want to be crying like a fool at the table. I feel miserable already. Suddenly images of the day Celina found Ludwig's dead body flash into her head. Before she focuses on it more, new images flash in her mind of that horrible night when her and Sammy had the fight. All of them swirl in her head, like a horrible pain. No, no, no, noooo.... way am I reliving those feeling. Fuck that shit! I start looking around the room and think of ways to get rid of this food. Before I know it, the courses come out one by one. I freak out, this was so not the right place for me. I watch everyone extremely carefully as they taste the food. I try to gauge what the emotion they are experiencing. No one seems to react to a boiled egg, it's hard to work out exactly. At least it doesn't look like someone is crying. So, curiosity overwhelms me and I take a tiny nibble out of a boiled egg, which appears to have no effect. Mysterious and I am also slightly disappointed. The only other food that also makes me curious is a crème brulee. I can see everyone looking so calm when they eat it. I decide to also have a nibble. The minute I take a bite, I am flooded with the feeling of serenity. It's so peaceful and lovely I actually finish the dish. It's the only dish I properly eat fully.
Then the main man himself comes out and joins our table, Mr. Cavazos. He asks everyone how we all found the food. I bite my tongue. I do not understand why people would pay to have sad memories flood their head. The peacefulness was nice but making people cry... no I don't get it. "It was so good", I chip in hiding the fact that I barely touched his food. Zola mentions that the food is similar to what they have in the witching court. I look towards Zola and I am more curious about her. I must have a chat about that with her sometime. I am very intrigued.
Mirielle tells Barnabus that our group are here to help him. Glint chips in that all of us could help him in our area of expertise. That after talking to us we can figure out how to make him happy. So, a plan in formed quickly that each of us would take it in turns to try and see what we could do to show him happiness. In our own ways. I take this as a competition and immediately think of something that would set me ahead of the edge. I look around for a "massage parlor", however it looks like this isn't the place for that sort of thing. Damn! Not to fret, it's time for plan B. I go and spend some time creating a dummy out of straw. By the end, I think I do a pretty decent job. I place some line markers around in a circle. And I head back to the restaurant to see how the others are getting on. I hear the others have had a great time.
Zola brought Barnabus out and did some pranks with him, Dwirihian brough him to watch clouds in the sky and Florian turned into a bear and let Barnabus jump on his back and run around a jungle. All interesting things so far. Next up was Kavel's turn. Kavel wanted all of us to join him. So, I follow along and watch. Kavel brings everyone to a gym and he proceeds to show off his skills by doing some heavy lifting squats. Kavel pulls out the heaviest weights and announces he's going to lift them. I would be very impressed if he can pull this off. There's a crowd gathered around and they look like they are thinking the same. Kavel takes his time and suddenly he lifts the weights in to the air. The whole crowd goes wild and cheers. Some people even faint. It's really quite impressive. Barnabus seems to be taking in the applause from the crowd and really enjoys it. Woohooo go Kavel!
It's getting late, Barnabus is looking tired but I decide now is the time to do my thing. I tell Barnabus to follow me and I lead him towards my dummy I set up on the outskirts of the town. I hand him a dagger and I tell him to stab the dummy. It's only made out of straw but I want him to stab so he can let out his frustration. I tell him to think of someone that really annoys him or gets under his skin. Barnabus looks hesitant but after more encouragement he starts talking about one of his competitors. He rants and rants about how annoying they are. He takes the dagger and impressively slices away at the dummy. I mean he's a chef so it makes sense that he is good with knives and stuff. I cheer him on and keep telling him to attack the dummy and let it all out. The dummy is fully sliced up by the time Barnabus is done. He is panting and looks tired. Looking at him, I am pleased. Looks like my work here is done. I bring him back to the restaurant. It's quite late. Glint says he'll get around to his thing in the morning. Barnabus thankfully accepts this. He looks absolutely wrecked. Everyone also heads to bed and takes a long rest.
When we get up the next morning, Glint tells us his plan. He wants all of us to act and that he's going to create and illusion. Glint tells us all the parts he wants us to play. He tells me to play an old woman. I immediately smile and cast my disguise of an old woman. I take my position and go act like the old lady I was pretending to be. I ask him if he could make me some food and I tell him how lovely the food it. The act works pretty well. Everyone does their parts exceptionally well. In the end, it seems to work so well that Barnabus starts crying. He is so moved by the performance. He brings everyone in for a hug. I smile pleased as it looks like our work here is done. We all say our goodbyes and make our way back to Queen Ariel.
We tell her how everything went and that it looks like everything worked. She is pleased to hear this. She gets down to the reward. She offers to upgrade our amour if she wouldn't mind letting her inspect each piece. She wants help picking out new pieces, kind of like a fashion makeover. She asks if anyone has anything magical with their armour. I immediate put my arm with the tattoo behind my back and chime in with everyone else saying they have nothing magical. There's no way I am telling anyone about the tattoo. I remember that my tattoo only helps me while I'm not wearing armour. So, I decline the offer of an upgrade armour. However, after some thinking I decide there's no point in me wasting this opportunity. So, I ask if I could get some amour made for a special friend instead. I do my best to work out the measurements, without having a reference point. We all spend some time hanging around Gadenthorn while we wait for our armour to be upgraded. Overall, not a bad day. I am curious now if Barnabus managed to make happy food. Now that is something I would be willing to try...
What wouldn't we give for that extra bit more --
Written by Celina Zabinski
It's early in the morning in Fort Ettin and I make my way down for breakfast. I notice Coll at the bar chatting to another person behind the bar. I mean... is that his brother? No clue. When I look around, I am met by a lot of familiar faces. Kavel, the goliath, was there looking fresh faced and ready for action as per usual. Dwirihian, the half elf, was there, also looking happy and ready for the day and Glint, the fire genasi, looking exceptionally dashing in his new outfit. He looked far too well dressed for someone going on an adventure. I join in the group, feeling the effects of the alcohol from the night before. I order some breakfast and slot eating food and listening to the conversations. It's far too early for me to join in. Suddenly, two people walk through the door. They head towards the table. I spot Florian, the human who I've met previously and a new person who I hadn't met before. Their name is Zola. She looks like a drow half-elf. Florian greets everyone at the table and seems to give hugs to people he's met before. After he gives me a hug, he asks me for an apple. I smile and hand one over. Note to self I need to start charging people for these free apples in my bag. However, maybe I should write this off as marketing expense...
There is a lady sitting at a table next to us and it turns out its Jenna. She overhead some of our conversations and asks are we the adventures that responded to the job quest. Everyone agrees and she mentions she's here to teleport us all to Gadenthor. I have never heard of it but hey, a job is a job. She asks everyone if they're ready to go. Everyone seems to have finished their food. I look around and see everyone is ready so we all follow Jeanna. She gets us to walk through a portal and suddenly we're all in Gadenthor.
An orc suddenly appears and comes over to our group. Dwirihian asks the orc where can we get food as some of our group. She had noticed that Florian and Zola didn't get a chance to eat breakfast. The orc says that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and they shout at a friend who is passing by to throw them some food. The friend reluctantly throws over a bread roll. Floran shouts to the person to make sure they're ok with taking their food and they say it's fine. "You rock", Florain replies and starts munching on the bread roll. There is no way I would eat some random person's roll, yuck. Seems like Florian's enjoying it. Hopefully he doesn't die before we got to the job. Zola seems to decline the bread roll offered as well.
The orc then leads our group over to an elevator contraption thing. It's massive and goes up quite a long way. Everyone steps in and the orc pulls some levers to take everyone to the top. I can feel the lift is very unsteady and freak out. Kavel steps to one side of the platform and nearly tips the whole cart over. I resist the urge to throw an apple him. Glint does not look too impressed with the cart swaying. Looks like he's not great with heights. Poor Glint! Guess he won't be doing any hot balloon rides with Root anytime soon. Ha, I must ask him about how that's going again.
When we get to the top, we are escorted to another place where we are met with another orc. She is wearing a lovely dress which seems to be white with yellow lining. She has blue hair with an undercut. She introduces herself as Queen Ariel Farweaver. She asks if we're the group from the Dawnlands. Dwirhian takes the lead and does most of the talking.
The queen gets straight to it and mentions what she has planned. If I am honest, I get confused on the specifics but it involved going to visit a restaurant called the Tales Tongues Tell restaurant. And helping the head chef, Barnabas Cavazos. He does wonderous things with his food and he infuses them with emotions. She mentions that our group will be richly rewards. I perk up at this, "How richly rewarded are we saying?". I mean how can I not ask. Is this queen wealthy? Queens usually pay quite well. The queen mentions she will pay out more than the standard amount. I am pleased with this. I grin and say no more. Suddenly, Ariel pulls out her staff and casts the teleport circle. She mentions this is the way to where we all need to go. We step through and are on our way.
As I am looking around this place, I notice lots of body builders around the place. Everyone is really fit. Damn, there's lots of sexy goliath's all around the place. Very tall tabaxi's and very attractive gnomes. Everyone here is very into their fitness and are very attractive. I notice the others also think the same. I can see Glint and Florian's eyes looking intently at the people we pass. Immediately, I think that even though there's tons of attractive men around, none of them are Sammy. I sigh to myself. Stop thinking of him. We can't be sad. Maybe I should get with one of these and make him jealous....? No... definitely not. That would seriously mess things up. Fuck just stop it thinking about him. We are not allowing our emotions getting the better of us.
I look up and notice we're at the restaurant. I follow behind everyone as we enter the restaurant. Everyone is introduced to a sous-chef called, Mirielle Rhylet. She works with Barnabas. She explains about the food. That each food is infused with a specific emotion. He can do a range of emotions that get switched on with a single bite. However, what's holding him back is happiness. He can't seem to make any dish that's happy or joyous. She says it's best to show us what she means and leads us all over to a table. Looking around I can see some other people in the place crying their eyes out. I start to freak out. I don't want to be crying like a fool at the table. I feel miserable already. Suddenly images of the day Celina found Ludwig's dead body flash into her head. Before she focuses on it more, new images flash in her mind of that horrible night when her and Sammy had the fight. All of them swirl in her head, like a horrible pain. No, no, no, noooo.... way am I reliving those feeling. Fuck that shit! I start looking around the room and think of ways to get rid of this food. Before I know it, the courses come out one by one. I freak out, this was so not the right place for me. I watch everyone extremely carefully as they taste the food. I try to gauge what the emotion they are experiencing. No one seems to react to a boiled egg, it's hard to work out exactly. At least it doesn't look like someone is crying. So, curiosity overwhelms me and I take a tiny nibble out of a boiled egg, which appears to have no effect. Mysterious and I am also slightly disappointed. The only other food that also makes me curious is a crème brulee. I can see everyone looking so calm when they eat it. I decide to also have a nibble. The minute I take a bite, I am flooded with the feeling of serenity. It's so peaceful and lovely I actually finish the dish. It's the only dish I properly eat fully.
Then the main man himself comes out and joins our table, Mr. Cavazos. He asks everyone how we all found the food. I bite my tongue. I do not understand why people would pay to have sad memories flood their head. The peacefulness was nice but making people cry... no I don't get it. "It was so good", I chip in hiding the fact that I barely touched his food. Zola mentions that the food is similar to what they have in the witching court. I look towards Zola and I am more curious about her. I must have a chat about that with her sometime. I am very intrigued.
Mirielle tells Barnabus that our group are here to help him. Glint chips in that all of us could help him in our area of expertise. That after talking to us we can figure out how to make him happy. So, a plan in formed quickly that each of us would take it in turns to try and see what we could do to show him happiness. In our own ways. I take this as a competition and immediately think of something that would set me ahead of the edge. I look around for a "massage parlor", however it looks like this isn't the place for that sort of thing. Damn! Not to fret, it's time for plan B. I go and spend some time creating a dummy out of straw. By the end, I think I do a pretty decent job. I place some line markers around in a circle. And I head back to the restaurant to see how the others are getting on. I hear the others have had a great time.
Zola brought Barnabus out and did some pranks with him, Dwirihian brough him to watch clouds in the sky and Florian turned into a bear and let Barnabus jump on his back and run around a jungle. All interesting things so far. Next up was Kavel's turn. Kavel wanted all of us to join him. So, I follow along and watch. Kavel brings everyone to a gym and he proceeds to show off his skills by doing some heavy lifting squats. Kavel pulls out the heaviest weights and announces he's going to lift them. I would be very impressed if he can pull this off. There's a crowd gathered around and they look like they are thinking the same. Kavel takes his time and suddenly he lifts the weights in to the air. The whole crowd goes wild and cheers. Some people even faint. It's really quite impressive. Barnabus seems to be taking in the applause from the crowd and really enjoys it. Woohooo go Kavel!
It's getting late, Barnabus is looking tired but I decide now is the time to do my thing. I tell Barnabus to follow me and I lead him towards my dummy I set up on the outskirts of the town. I hand him a dagger and I tell him to stab the dummy. It's only made out of straw but I want him to stab so he can let out his frustration. I tell him to think of someone that really annoys him or gets under his skin. Barnabus looks hesitant but after more encouragement he starts talking about one of his competitors. He rants and rants about how annoying they are. He takes the dagger and impressively slices away at the dummy. I mean he's a chef so it makes sense that he is good with knives and stuff. I cheer him on and keep telling him to attack the dummy and let it all out. The dummy is fully sliced up by the time Barnabus is done. He is panting and looks tired. Looking at him, I am pleased. Looks like my work here is done. I bring him back to the restaurant. It's quite late. Glint says he'll get around to his thing in the morning. Barnabus thankfully accepts this. He looks absolutely wrecked. Everyone also heads to bed and takes a long rest.
When we get up the next morning, Glint tells us his plan. He wants all of us to act and that he's going to create and illusion. Glint tells us all the parts he wants us to play. He tells me to play an old woman. I immediately smile and cast my disguise of an old woman. I take my position and go act like the old lady I was pretending to be. I ask him if he could make me some food and I tell him how lovely the food it. The act works pretty well. Everyone does their parts exceptionally well. In the end, it seems to work so well that Barnabus starts crying. He is so moved by the performance. He brings everyone in for a hug. I smile pleased as it looks like our work here is done. We all say our goodbyes and make our way back to Queen Ariel.
We tell her how everything went and that it looks like everything worked. She is pleased to hear this. She gets down to the reward. She offers to upgrade our amour if she wouldn't mind letting her inspect each piece. She wants help picking out new pieces, kind of like a fashion makeover. She asks if anyone has anything magical with their armour. I immediate put my arm with the tattoo behind my back and chime in with everyone else saying they have nothing magical. There's no way I am telling anyone about the tattoo. I remember that my tattoo only helps me while I'm not wearing armour. So, I decline the offer of an upgrade armour. However, after some thinking I decide there's no point in me wasting this opportunity. So, I ask if I could get some amour made for a special friend instead. I do my best to work out the measurements, without having a reference point. We all spend some time hanging around Gadenthorn while we wait for our armour to be upgraded. Overall, not a bad day. I am curious now if Barnabus managed to make happy food. Now that is something I would be willing to try...