Doughballs and Sash
A07: Fernwood Pub
It's Korday, Quintoos 29 13:19:33 1020. The full moon is up. The tide is low and rising. Fair weather clouds drift through the blue sky from the west. The wind is gusty.
It's a pleasant afternoon here at the Fernwood, the morning patrons are slowly giving away to the afternoon crowd coming for lunch and as usual, the warrior known as Darius sits at a table in the back corner away from most of the crowd with his adopted daughter Aika and his dire panther pet Fluffy. He is sipping tea and though it's not his favorite drink (strong ale or spirits usually are), it's slowly growing on him. Aika is happily munching on a salad of local greens and sneaking glances at her father, who notices but doesn't show that he does, carefully allows some of the cucumbers that she doesn't like to 'accidentally' slip off the plate and table and then into Fluffy's waiting maw.
Food barkers are nothing unusual in the city, but someone seems brazen enough to have set themselves opposite the steadfast and sturdy tavern today. The smell of apples drifts through the tavern door, chased by the smell of something.. spices perhaps, with some serious bite. It would be difficult to hear but in the commotion, a woman's clear voice can be heard extoling the virtues of whatever it is she is selling. The smell has a tantalizing, sugary sweet texture to it.. something that perhaps may be of interest to those languishing before a cucumber salad.
Ga'Elian is sitting by himself at a table next to the space designated for thenuse of musicians and other entertainers. An exquisitely woven sash rests on the table before him, as he slowly pulls it through one hand with the other, as if examining the feel of it with great care. All the while, the elf is chanting a stirring melody, in a chant of hynotic repetition, the lyrics being Sildanyari. As tavern music goes, it's really strange, providing a mere background melody to the din of conversation in the room. That said, the singing is technically good and carries a certain energy.
Aika, having better hearing than her father (thanks to her half-Sildanyari ears), hears the voice of the blind Veyshanti woman that came in yesterday and says, "Daddy! I'll be right back!" Just before Darius can say, "Wait until you e..." She's already up and running outside, Darius sighs with a smile and then looks down at Fluffy and says, "Lucky you... you get to eat the leftovers..." Fluffy tilts her head up at Darius and then gives him cute kitty eyes and bumps her head against his tummy affectionately and he chuckles as he puts the plate on the floor. Fluffy then gobbles it up greedily as Darius leaves her to it and follows Aika out the door who as he suspected says to Roshani, "Can I have one, please? Please?" She is literally dancing in excitement, a treat is on the line here.
"Come. The afternoon lull is upon you and who doesn't like a bit of adventure to spice up their day?" Roshani smiles broadly as she talks. "The Fernwood is a masterful work of art, but the weight of years has made it predictable and soothing. Who needs a lullaby on such a day? Step forwards and-- Ah. Hello. I see we have an eager explorer already." The stall is very simple. Everything is centered around a black cauldron directly behind her. It roils sluggishly, large bubbles popping in a brownish golden liquid the consistency of syrup. Spongy balls the size of a thumb lay in three neat trays in front of her. They smell sharply of spices and apples, with a hint of fried dough.
"Dare you try your luck, my friend? Pick any one you like from these three in front of me." She smiling just a little bit too wide, but she seems sincere.
Meanwhile, back in the pub, the predictable, soothing lullaby persists as the brilliant red sash circulates endlessly through the singer's hands. A lady walking past the elf glances at the sash and says, "Oh, how lovely! Did you do that fine embroidery, sir? Elven garments are SO elegant." Ga'Elian looks at the woman with a puzzled expression for a moment, says, "I did not, madam. I am merely laying an enchantment upon it." She shrugs and moves on. He shrugs and resumes his chant.
Darius blinks as Aika's eyes go big and round and they go from each and then finally... Aika quickly picks the last one and says, "This one please!" Darius places a gold coin in Aika's small hand and says, "Here, give this to the nice lady..." Aika hands it to Roshani, "Here!"
Darius notice Ga'Elian and leaving Aika to suffer her fate, walks over and says, "My friend, is that the item I asked you to craft?"
Perhaps only seen to the trained, the curious or the watchful, when Aika has turned to grasp the gold coin, Roshani switches the position of two balls on the tray with a move of quick and dexterous fingers. She nudges a third slightly out of position to make it look as though they were simply slightly uneven. "Here you go."
It smells of apples and tastes of spicy honey-syrup and fried dough. It's perhaps a little chewy and certainly has a bold flavor, but is otherwise competantly made. The puffed air makes it light and breezy. Roshani gives a smile to Aika before edging around her stall. A gnarled staff was set on the edge of the stall which she uses to navigate to the edge of the door. She calls in, bold and utterly brazen. "Come on, all you sullen and drink sodden souls. Taste adventure if you have none in your lives! Will you be outshone by curious children?" She stops, picking out the strangely hypnotic chanting and tilts her head slightly, hair tied away from her face falling with a flop to one side.
"And surely a little bit of eternity would go faster with a full stomach would it not, orator?"
Razen has arrived.
Ga'Elian looks up and says, "Ah, if it isn't the great war champion himself." Standing up, he answers, "Aye. Unhitch your sword and try it on. I had to guess on the fit, but it can be adjusted. (The fit is precisely perfect.) He explains, "It is woven of velvetty-soft thistledown, especially prepared in the Llyranesi style and embroidered with pure gold."
As the pastry vendor hollars into the pub, and especially as she directs her call to him particularly, he takes a deep, savoring inhale, then lets it out in a profoundly satisfied smile.
Darius blinks and then smiles and carefully unhooks his sword scabbard and rests it against Ga'Elian's table, taking the sash carefully he slides it crosswise on his right shoulder down to his hip and adjusts it slightly, "It's perfect!" He moves a bit and says, "My armor feels noticeably lighter... is that one of the effects of the sash?" He asks the man as he carefully straps on his sword once more.
Aika's eyes shine as she eats and says, mouth full, "It's 'lly G'd!!!!!" she dances and when done starts to help Roshani by saying, "Try it! You'll like it!" The combo of cute little girl and blind temptress would probably be too much for most people.
Razen is clearly headed toward the pub; a large half-oruch with his well-loved scale mail and weapons which jingle as he walks. Despite the somewhat fearsome appearance he has, he walks along with a warm smile on his face that occassionally flashes his delicate (for an ourch) fang teeth and waves to the passerby's who seem largely to know him. He stops however just before the pub, staring at the food vendor with obvious hunger. His mouth hangs open a little and he hurries over to the stall. "I would like something to eat!" His words are uttered excitedly and he offers a broad grin to the owner of the tiny establishment.
Roshani smiles slightly wider. She alters her spiel to complement the cute little girl bonus she is getting from proximity. "Can any of you scorn the very voice of innocence and truth?" Everything is set very precisely, almost rigidily so so when Roshani takes an automatic one step backwards and reaches to another small counter, there is a great big ladle in hand. She stirs the contents of a middling sized cauldron, thick with the smell of apples and adds some more doughy lumps to the syrupy fluid while decanting others to cool to one side. She smiles, feeling along the counter with her fingers. "Ah. Another brave explorer. Come. Choose what you like. Pay as you fancy."
Ga'Elian says, "Well, I'm not quite finished with it yet. That is one of the effects it will have, but just yet, the effect isn't fully... um... attached. Anyway, I think that before I get back to it, I'll have to sample one of those apples. Then maybe I'll head down for a swim in the river. It should be ready in a few days."
The half-ourch stares at the offerings, clearly a little confused but he nods. "A game and food is it?" He scratches his head and seriously considers his options before pointing to the third one. "I will take that one!" He puts a hand in his pocket and comes out with a gold piece that he offers to the woman.
Roshani returns to her position after attending to her stall. She smiles with sincere if slighly self-deprecating humor, her white eyes squinting slightly as though to make something out. "Apologies friend, but could you speak up? I'm a trifle deaf in these eyes. If you've an offering to give, leave it on the counter just here." She wraps an empty space on the counter with her knuckles twice. "You fancy the first dish, did you not?"
Ga'Elian takes the unfinished sash back from Darius and stows it inside his shoulderbag. Stepping outside, he says, "Ah, that smells fantastic! Please, I should like to sample one of those. Then, I hate spending such a beautiful day indoors, especially this time of year when such days are rare." Then, "Oh. Hi Razen."
For a long moment Razen looks utterly confused, even going so far as to utter, "Deaf in the eyes?" But he's good at following direction; placing the coin where she directs and flushing a little when she offers him the wrong plate. "Um no. The third one? But I'll take the first if thats - Oh, Ga'Elian!" He greets the other man warmly, all traces of confusion fading. "And he picks the third one too." He offers this last to the woman in case she missed Ga'Elian's request like she had his.
"Ah. At last, the orator arrives from his great hall. Yes, a moment of silent reflection for your choice." There is a colorful snake mask under the counter and she puts it to her heart, bowing her head in all too solumn remembrance. Her fingers twitch a little on the bright wooden surface, gripping a little too fiercely before she stows it back under the counter. Roshani turns the tray sideways, then sideways again. After it has been flipped, she takes one from the very middle. She wraps it with care, this slightly gooey ball of fried dough and pungent sauce and hands it to Ga'Elian. She then flips it again. "Oh, I am very sorry my friend. A moment of addled disorientation, I fear. Here.. exactly as you asked for." She picks up another ball and extends it to Razen.
Let us take these things in order. For Ga'Elian, the treat has a slightly sand like texture. This moment of clarity comes on the heels of a searing, blazing wind of spicy heat. That in fact is only a prelude to the fist of some displeased spectre of Veyshanti Cuisine, who has carelessly dumped searing fire oil and blazing spices into the mixture. The apples are a lie.
For Razen, you have displeased the pastry gods apparently. For the pastry is a horror. A wild whirlwind of competing and contrasting flavors. Is that.. cheese? Bitter onion? There is a meaty flavor.. possibly lamb tongue, and an unpleasant squish besides. The flavors come and go too fast to be named and certainly too fast to be any good. They are a museum piece to the horrors of bad cooking.
Razen takes a big bite and seems utterly uncertain of if he likes it or not, so he tries a smaller bite only to come to the same conclusion. So he quickly eats the rest of the pastry in one bite and looks a little ill. He takes an extra swallow to clear the taste from his mouth, and shakes his head at the woman. "That was not very good at all, but thank you for the food." He glances at Ga'Elian. "I could use a drink now more than ever."
Caution be damned! Ga'Elian regards the ball of fire sauce with a moment of skepticism, but then tosses it skyward. When it falls again, he catches the whole thing in his mouth in a single bite. It's a good thing he's so insanely dextrous, because the shock of spicy heat brings tears to his eyes and he nearly chokes as he staggers backwards, narrowly evading the humiliation of landing ass-first in the Fernwood's rain barrel.
Finally, he passes the spiceball down his elven gullet and regains his breath. In a raspy voice he looks at Razen, goes cross-eyed for a moment, then says, "I'm right there with you, pal." Then he stammers out a husky "Thanks" to Roshani and returns back inside the pub.
"And thank you for your honesty." Roshani looks completely untroubled by the fact that her cooking is terrible. She gives him a big smile and takes one step back, reaching for the ladle and checking on the cauldron and the cooling balls of dought. She very lightly dips her fingers in a small bowl of flour, lightly pinching the cooling dough before transferring some of them to the third rack. She taps the rack twice, cackling very quietly to herself at the raspy voice of the orator. With complete innocence, she reloads her third tray of horrors. "Thank you gentlemen." she says with another big grin. "What is adventure without a few risks? Choose try something different and new! You may even choose well."
Despite her offer Razen shakes his head. "You should come get a drink, perhaps a few." He nods solemly and clasps Ga'Elian on the shoulder to take the man into the pub proper. There he raises a hand for drinks and eyes the woman to see if she's actually going to follow them into the pub. He finds a good table to settle at, the chair complaining noisily as he all but drops himself into it. "Actually that thing made me pretty hungry now that I think of it. I swear it had a little meat in it." He grins.
Ga'Elian sits at the table and says, "Bread and cold milk is all for me. Whoo!" [[Category:Logs]