Insightful Cooking [OPEN]

[Nutella]

STATUS

Early morning cooking!

HP: 100% MP: 100% - EQUIPMENT - Starter Staff (2H) --------------- Basic clothing SKILLS - None Active - Words: 1429 Tags: None yet. Notes: Since it's the introduction post it ended up pretty big. Sorry. THIS IS A DAY TWO THREAD.

The sunlight invaded her room with a gentle breeze. Sitting on the bed’s border Nutella stretched her arms and yawned at the same time. It was the second day inside the game, and the climate was sure fresh, to the point she wouldn’t need a fan to sleep well unlike in her country. With a soft sigh and discreet smile on her face, she wore the basic cloth starter armor, keeping her plate armor in a big leather bag. Gently rotating in front of a mirror, she observed her clothing. The typical MMO female clothing wasn’t so confortable after all, the fact that it was somewhat tight on her skin annoyed her. Without being able to do much about it, the cleric left the room and paid for the night at the inn, noticing how many others like her did not know what to do. They were having a hard time in understanding that it wasn’t a game anymore. Unfortunately, at least not for now, Nutella couldn’t do much about it. Waiting for her change of gold, she was caught distracted by the innkeeper.  - I hope you come back soon, adventurer. It was nice to meet you, and heart reassuring that a few of you are worth the trouble. – The old woman slid gold change coins on the old wooden counter.  - Oh, that was nothing! I thank you for actually letting me rent a room that you shouldn’t in the first place. – With both hands, the hazelnut haired girl held the innkeeper’s hand. – I’ll be sure to come back soon. Please, have some patience with us. We’re just as confused as all of you.  The innkeeper nodded in response. Picking the gold coins, the cleric left waving her hand one last time to the old woman. Heavily sighing and finally outside, she started to think about what should be done. Nuttella then remembered that she had no meals since yesterday, thanks to how busy she was exploring Londinium. The thought quickly made her stomach growl in response. Embarrassed, the priest embraced her belly with her right arm, while the left one held the big leather bag. Food, she needed food. Scanning around, her eyes quickly caught up with many landers selling their goods. With slow steps, she approached one of the many stalls.  - Good morning! – Nutella greeted, trying to somehow ignore the woman’s spaghetti hair, another of her illusions - How much for the Unfounded Burger? – Nutella asked fiddling with her user interface to read some of the info on the item’s description.  - It’s just two gold coins. We have plenty, so, if you take two you’ll get a third one for free! – A simplistic smile appeared on her face.  The cleric’s jaw unconsciously dropped for a short moment after hearing the lander’s answer. Two gold coins for a burger that was almost as big as both her fists together?! Nutella paid for two, taking advantage of the sale. Putting two of them carefully inside her bag, she kept one to eat along the way. She munched it once, thinking about what she should do, but the thought quickly faded with each chew. The hamburger… The… No, “it” had no taste at all and no right to be named an hamburger. She gulped that flavorless salted thing and glared at the lander once again, almost laughing thanks to the spaghetti hair.  -U-uhm, excuse me, but… How did you make … - the word hamburger came to mind, but she couldn’t apply that name – this thing?  - Das food, dear. – The lander answered with a large grin on her face. – That’s just normal food. I don’t understand why all of you adventurers get so frustrated at how it tastes. ‘Tis probably the best around. You just haf’ta choose the right option and it’s done. – she started to move her hands in motions similar to those of someone who is using the interface.   “She can’t be serious!”  Nutella’s eyelids twitched.  - Alright. Thank you for the sale! – She left in a hurry, exploring her user interface once again analyzing the data on the Unfounded Burger while walking on the streets of Londinium. – Isn’t that obvious? That’s not how you make food! – Nutella kept mumbling to herself.  She needed to cook food herself to make sure if that would apply to every kind of food cooked in that new reality. But first, she needed to take a look around for some pots similar to pans. It didn’t take long, and they were quite old; not even made for cooking, but storing random goods, and thus, they were pretty cheap. After washing them for quite some time, Nutella started to clean and re-use an abandoned stall. Picking up some nearby old bricks wasn’t hard, and the twigs were everywhere in londinium since it was covered in green. She still needed to ask a lander to lend her a grid, unfortunately.  - This should do it, yay! – wiping the sweat from her forehead, she organized her materials on the stall and kept the twigs, bricks and the grid on the back of the stall.  Rising her right hand and using it as support for her chin, the hazelnut girl began thinking on what kind of food she should make; In the end, she had with her some basic condiments, garlics, onions, rice, boar sausage and oil. Food in that world was just some flavorless thing that existed only to make sure no one would starve, and therefore, all materials were incredibly cheap. The chef had plenty of materials close, but she had to take into consideration that her cooking characteristics were different than most food people from the United Kingdom – majority of the players, now known as adventurers – and they might not like it. But hey; it’s better than eating those flavorless things, right?  Chuckling at her own thoughts, she picked some garlics and onions, and a simple knife. Separating many cloves and cutting the top of them, she easily removed the peels. Slicing and dicing the cloves in horizontal and vertical motions she put the tiny garlic cubicles inside the pan, moving on to the onions. After splitting the onion, she removed the peel and cut one half of it horizontally and vertically many times, making sure that all that’d be left would be small onion cubicles that would later melt with the pan’s heat.  With both onions and garlics prepared, she picked up some potatoes and carrots from her bag. After peeling both vegetables, she cut the potatoes in half the long way. Laying the flat side on the pan she sliced it in many cubicles. Next were the carrots. She first thought about using simple carrot coins, but that wasn’t enough; she then proceeded in making carrot flowers. She cut the carrots into 4-inch lengths and cut five long notches in the lengths of each carrot. By cutting then using the claw method, she quickly had many carrot flowers in hands. Filling the pan with a bit of water, she ignited the campfire with the help of the same lander that lent her the grid, curious about what she was doing.   The long campfire was ready. Nutella placed the old bricks in a rectangular shape around it, covering them with the cooking grids , followed by the pan with some water in it. She then put the carrot flowers inside first, since carrots took more time to boil than potatoes, and putting both at the same time would lead to overcooked potatoes. After a few minutes, she put the potatoes as well, sprinkling some salt on the water to make sure all of the veggies would have taste. She then proceeded to the pan with garlic and onions inside.  Pouring a bit of oil in the rondeau pan, she put it beside the first pan to fry the garlic and onion combo, to the point where they’d receive a golden color. Leaving both pans alone, she went back to the old wooden counter, and started to cut the boar sausage in coin shapes. Only then she realized landers and adventurers alike staring at her, and was caught off-guard.  -Uh… Eh, u-uhm, can you please wait a little bit more? I-I’m not finished yet! – She sped up the process, cutting the sausages one by one. Nutella realized that the aroma of her food probably caught the attention of a few possible customers, since unfounded food had no smell. Landers had no idea of what the chef was doing, but some adventurers probably understood that she was just cooking. She now had many interested customers, and couldn’t disappoint them.

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[Kadence]

Kadence stumbled along, following her nose. She'd woken and found something dreadful- all of the food in this world was tasteless, like soggy crackers. A simple breakfast of oatmeal was even more tasteless than usual, and when she'd tried to cook herself, well... she'd forced down the oatmeal with some effort, but it was hard to be satisfied with something like that. At least it hadn't made her sick yet, that was something to be thankful for.

She nearly tripped again, holding in a naughty word as she righted herself and continued on, finding a Cleric who, according to her status tag, was named Nutella. The brown-haired girl was roughly her height, with much shorter hair, and clothing similar to what a shrine maiden might wear. More importantly, she was managing several pans of cooking food, food that was actually giving off a delicious aroma that wafted through the air. Kandace swallowed the drool her mouth had subconsciously started forming as the girl made an announcement. "Uh… Eh, u-uhm, can you please wait a little bit more? I-I’m not finished yet!"

It took some wriggling, and she tripped twice, but Kandace made her way to to front. Activating [Transcription] she quickly wrote in the air Excuse me Miss, is there anything I can do to help? She was no Chef herself, but there must be something she could do in exchange for a taste of that food!


Word Count: 237

[Evenever]

Something caught the attention of Millie's nose. This was surprising in one of two ways. For a typical adventurer, the smell of food would drive anyone to pure joy. Nothing here tasted like real food, let alone smelled like real food. But for the second way it surprised her, she hadn't smelled much of anything except the strongest of odours for years. A consequence of her years of heavy smoking. She could smell every scent of the fresh air, if only that was enough to cure the splitting headache she was having right now.

Opening her eyes, she looked up to see the bright blue sky and it was just one more reminder of where she was. Not the chilly land of England one week before Christmas... the warm summer day of whatever month it was in this world. She missed her sister's cooking. How was Mia doing right now anyway? And her oldest brother Lucas... She didn't care how Logan was doing, he could take care of himself. But She and her oldest brother and younger sister had been living together for so long. What would happen without her in the picture now? She needed to figure out how to get back as soon as she could.

Sitting up was a chore. If she moved her head too fast, it would only make her headache worse. Around her there was only street and a stray dog that had rested against her sometime during the night. That's right, she was so broke she couldn't even afford to sleep in an inn, so she crashed on the street. She stood up and brushed herself off. The stray had realized it lost its living pillow and took off running down an alley. She was still wearing her starter gear, a simple blouse and skirt combo with a staff in her right hand. At least no one robbed her of her clothes while she laid asleep in the street. Even if someone had, she probably wouldn't even care. All she cared about right now was trying to find tobacco. Well, maybe the source of the smell first, then the tobacco.

A small group had been forming around an NPC vendor's stall, or was it some one else's stall? Really it didn't matter. All that mattered was food, she could smell the food and her aching belly was telling her to get some of that food even if she had to steal it. Her belly was screaming eat and her mind was screaming smoke. It made her very irritable in this state and after just woken up, she was dizzy. She forced her way past a loose group of people who had taken an interest in the goings on of the stand before coming up behind a brown-haired girl writing words in the air. Millie was taller than her, so her first instinct was to grapple the girl. She wrapped her left arm up and over the shoulders of the girl and leaned on her, putting some of her weight on the girl she didn't know. "Wha's goin on? I smell something I hadn't smelled in years~" Then as if she just noticed she was leaning on someone, she looked over at the girl's, probably surprised, expression. "Oh, hello." She stabbed the end of her staff into the ground and brought her right hand around to the girl's cheek, "you're a cute thing. Can I hug on you a bit? I think I'm gonna lose my mind..." She didn't wait for permission before she had already moved the girl in front of her and hand both of her arms wrapped across her chest and her head resting on her shoulder.

Kadence, Nutella

[Nutella]

STATUS

Early morning cooking!

HP: 100% MP: 100% - EQUIPMENT - Starter Staff (2H) --------------- Basic clothing SKILLS - None Active - Words: 496 Tags: Kadence Evenever Notes:  THIS IS A DAY TWO THREAD.

Swiftly, the boar sausage coins were ready. Nutelly quickly dropped the sausage inside the pan with onions and garlics; upon contact, the sausage’s fat mixed with the oil full of the onions juice. The reaction was nothing but a pleasant sizzle as part of the mix evaporated releasing an aroma even stronger than before. The chef picked up a simple ladle in her bag, using it to pull up some of the vegetables’ water. After blowing the water to cool it down, she tasted it to make sure it had the right quantity of salt. Humming and nodding, she confirmed it. It was then that Nutella’s attention was caught by something else. Somewhat closer to the stall, there was a girl with brown hair, just like herself, although longer. After reading the words she somehow wrote in the air, a taller woman suddenly leaned on the first one, and after saying some inaudible words thanks to the distance between them, hugged the small brown hair girl – namely Kadence, after Nutella checked the info that suddenly popped up on her field of vision . The chef didn’t know how to react. She certainly needed help and would allow Kadence to lend her a hand, but should she really interrupt them? What if they knew each other? A smile appeared on her lips as she kept on cooking. Picking up some vegetables, Nutella washed them in a bucket full of water, and proceeded to the stall’s wooden counter to cut tomato slices. She needed to make plenty of them; the day would surely be busy, and she couldn’t afford to lose this chance. The priest wasn’t greedy, but profit is always profit. Noticing the interaction between both girls much closer now, she realized that the taller one, Evenever, didn’t look very well. - Uhm… Is everything alright? You don’t look well… - Once finished with the tomato slices, she warned everyone. – It’ll be ready in ten minutes! – Nutella raised her voice for the others – If you want to buy some when the food’s ready, make sure follow a line, or else, I won’t sell anything! Once again back to cooking, the chef used the salty water that previously cooked the vegetables and poured some inside the pan with the sausage and vegetables. Her food finally started to receive its final product looks; a thick red-orangeish broth filled with potatoes and carrot flowers, with the vivid red sausages floating on it. She covered it with the pan’s lid to let it boil one last time. She then started to prepare another set of onions and garlics, this time, looking at the duo. - You both seem interested in that. – she tilted her head in the direction of the boar sausage stew. – They’ll cost a bit to buy. But you see… I could use some extra hands here…~ - she smiled, mashing some more garlics and onions. Waiting for their response, Nutella was done with preparing the basic spice for rice.

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[Kadence]

Kadence was caught off-guard by the arms of a taller girl who put an arm over her shoulder, learning on her like some sort of crutch. "Wha's goin on?" she asked nobody in particular "I smell something I hadn't smelled in years~" At this point, the girl seemed to realize who she was using as her personal armrest, taking in Kadence's surprised expression. "Oh, hello."

Kadence gave her a flat look in return. Hi. You mind asking first? The status screen above her head revealed her as Evenever, a Race of Ritual Sorcerer. The red-headed woman impaled the ground with her staff, letting her other hand free. Oh good, she's going to walk on her ow-

With a swift movement, the woman pulled her in with surprising strength, using her now free hand to turn the human crutch into a human doll, pinning the poor bard's arms down. Kadence could only give a silent yelp before the woman rested her head on her shoulder. "You're a cute thing." The woman decided "Can I hug on you a bit? I think I'm gonna lose my mind..." Thus began the panic. Wait! I don't even know you! I'm not a doll! Why is nobody doing anything about this?! Even the cleric turned away, apparently thinking they were friends. Doesn't anyone see how not-normal this is?! Ugh... not talking really sucks!

"Uhm… Is everything alright?" the cleric turned back to them after finishing up some tomatoes "You don’t look well…"

Of course I'm not well! Kadence thought, still in a state of panic. The sorcerer had a surprisingly strong hold, especially considering her race and class. I can't even talk because my arms are pin- wait... she's looking at... With a slight turn of her head, her eyes widened slightly when she realized what a state the woman was in. Her clothing was dirty, like she'd slept on the ground, and she now realized the firm grip wasn't a reinforced grapple, but a desperate attempt to stay standing. Had she eaten anything? Kadence managed to get one hand free, slipping it onto the sorcerer's arm in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. 'Cute' or not, she was strong enough to support the woman until she could get some food in her.

"It’ll be ready in ten minutes!" Nutella raised her voice for the others "If you want to buy some when the food’s ready, make sure follow a line, or else, I won’t sell anything!" After finishing a few assorted kitchen duties, she looked at the sorcerer and her bard-crutch "You both seem interested in that" tilting her head towards stew that had Kadence trying not to drool. "They’ll cost a bit to buy. But you see… I could use some extra hands here…~"

Chance!... but there's something I need to do first. Managing to get a hand free enough to write, Kadence activated [Transcription] and sketched out I'd love to help, but she really needs some food before she can do anything. If I let her go, I'm afraid she'll collapse.


Word Count: 510

[Evenever]

The girl who she was hugging on struggled a bit, then acted like she was holding up Millie. That was cute in itself. Millie didn't think the girl would be able to hold her up if she put her whole weight on her, of course. She was mistaking her withdrawal symptoms for starvation. The brown-haired cook girl asked Millie a question, which she responded with slurred words "Unless you got any tobacco in that magic bag of yours, I won't be well for a very very long time, miss cook," arms still wrapped tightly around her new outlet for affection.

The girl was using Mystic Script to communicate, she was that shy, huh? Pretty talented to be able to write backwards like that. Millie let go of the girl and casually walked in front of her in order to read what she had written in the air, after which she used her own Mystic Script to cross the whole thing out. She then forced her arm through the floating words to disperse them into the air like smoke before returning to where she was behind the girl, not putting so much weight on her any more, but still got her wrapped around her arms provided she didn't flee before she could get there. "I appreciate your concern, sweetie, but we've only been here a day. It would take a few days longer before I'd collapse from hunger."

Millie turned her attention back to the chef. "I'd like to help, but I'm a terrible cook, and I can't even cut a pizza straight. My sis always did all the cooking. But if you promise me a bowl, I can be your errand girl and go out to pick up ingredients, since this mute can't really haggle." She moved her right hand to the girl's lips and lightly squeezed the corners of her mouth together to make her pucker. She moved her head to the girl's shoulder and spoke so only she could hear her, "You got a name, my current anti-drug? My name is Evenever. But if you let me hear that voice of yours, I'll tell you my real name~" Millie liked to keep up with typical formalities, such as introductions, even in this world where you can learn anyone's name just by looking at a status screen. So rude to do something like that.

With the little deal to tell her her name, Millie wasn't stupid. She overheard plenty of people yesterday go on about suddenly being able to walk or hear or move better after coming to this world. So even if this girl was mute in the real world, there would be no reason why she couldn't talk in this world. But she wouldn't force it. Not yet at least. They just met, after all. All she expected was more air words, so she wouldn't push her any further.

She let the girl go so she could help with the cooking while Millie dug through her bag for some paper to use as a shopping list. "What all else do ya need? Also, I need some spending money. I'm flat broke."

Kadence, Nutella

[Samantha Lemongrass]

Anna's eyes opened slowly when the light peeking through the blinds hit them. Looking up at the ceiling of the priciest hotel she had ever stayed in, she thinks So, that wasn't a dream after all. These were Samantha Lemongrass' eyes, not Anna's. She sat up in her rustic bed and lifted her arms high above her head. After letting out a yawn, she cricks her neck into place and slides onto the floor. Opening up the blinds all the way, she peers down at the street. "Wow, I must have woken up late." She says, noting how crowded the streets had already become. Waking up early was her custom, but when no alarm was set, she occasionally would sleep well past noon. She never liked losing part of her day like that, but her body was far from obedient all too often anymore. She listened to the songs of the birds and the clatter of the horse hooves for a few seconds before turning back to her room. "If I don't have any responsibilities, there really isn't any point of rushing, is there?" She asks the air. She took one last glance at her room before departing. It was rustic, a sharp contrast from the buildings surrounding it. This strange city looked like it was a modern city that had been decimated, and Samantha still feared that she would eventually run into a zombie outbreak. She grabbed the head of lettuce she procured the day before and took a big bite out of it, walking down the stairs and out into the world. "Highway robbery!" She yells before leaving, still angry at the price she was charged for such meager accommodations. I hope I don't have to sleep here again, since I think I just made an enemy out of the lady who runs this place.

Samantha breathes in the semi-fresh air wafting through town. "Today would be a good day for a run." She says, walking down the busy street. She takes note of the stores lined up against the run down buildings. So few of them were actually inside, and instead were stands built hastily on the street. Why doesn't anyone go inside? She audibly chuckles, realizing that is the exact opposite of her usual complaint. It is unusually warm out for December. She thinks. With all of the people wandering the streets, Samantha is a little surprised at herself for not having talked to any of them yet. Usually, she would have struck up a conversation with someone by now. However, something about these people puts her ill-at-ease. Maybe because half of them-if not all of them-aren't real. She thinks. Why would I want to talk to these fake people when I have better things to do? Samantha finds herself bothered by her own thoughts, as if she was doing something wrong, but she couldn't figure out what afflicted her so.

After passing by quite a few mundane sights, she sees a parked horse-drawn buggy. A beautiful Cleveland Bay horse stands in front of it, not really moving. She flits towards it, ever excited to see such a majestic beast. "Hey there." She says, slowly putting her palm on its head. "You're really something, aren't you?" The horse's head dips down, trying to bite at her lettuce. "Hey!" She says jokingly. "These cost an arm and a leg, I can't just go giving them to horses. Sorry, buddy." Samantha looks down at her sides, hoping to find somewhere she can store her food. "How does everyone else just get their stuff to disappear?" She asks. Out of the corner of her eye, she spots a large crown of people gathering. "I wonder what that could be." She says, petting the horse's head one last time and walking towards the aromatic crowd. "Yuck, why does it smell like sausage?" She asks softly, drawing closer. The crowd seems to have converged on a single stall, where a woman is cooking something. Samantha sees her mute friend from the day before holding up a red-headed woman. What was her name? Cassidy? Clarity? Crobars, she's not going to be happy if I forget again. Suddenly, an idea dawns on her. I'm still in that game! Looking above the girl's head, she sees her info box. Kadence, right! I wasn't even close. 
Kadence says something about the woman in her arms being ready to collapse and being very hungry. Seeing this as her chance to ease her mysteriously vexed conscience, Samantha steps toward them, but before she can act, the woman climbs off of Kadence with ease, and begins attempting to make her speak. "Oh, well." Samantha says. She decides to wait there and see if Kandice will speak, since she wanted to hear her voice, too. While she waited and listened, though, she scanned the crowd with her eyes, looking for any other familiar faces and trying to determine if any of these people were real humans.

Wordz:827

[Sergej]

Sergej had been stumbling around since the last night. Combat was fun, after combat was not nearly as fun. His body was weary, especially after the idea of sleeping in his full platemail. The beginner armor had practically become his second skin. A loud growl burst from underneath his defense, causing him to fall to one knee. It had literally been a full day since he had eaten, and the armor started actually feeling heavy. This was a first, metal was actually heavy, strange. Starting to stand, so he could continue his march to find food, a strange smell decked him right in the nose. It smelled... amazing. Cooked meat! But what kind? He smelled the air like an animal would smell the air to find prey, before grinning. "I have no idea!" He announced to himself before getting a second-wind and following the smell with a heavy job.

He turned a corner, and immediately stepped sideways inside an inn, smelling the air. 'The scent was really strong in here for some reason...' He immediately turned around and saw a huge crowd across the street. There it was! The origin of the smell! Sergej bolted towards the door, and kept running, but the door gave little to no care for his immense size. The Guardian's shoulders fit perfectly into the door, thanks to his bulky armor. W-what... Oh of course. Sergej lifts his arm and unequips his armor. If he hadn't learned about that from his first day... that would have been embarrassing. He stepped forward before putting the armor back on and stretching his right arm. Much better. He immediately ran towards the crowd, armor causing more than enough racket to cause people to avoid him. The huge man stopped at the edge of the group, standing taller than most. "Ohhhh so this is smell."

It was then, that the woman who was cooking mentioned that she would be ready in ten minutes, and that they would cost a bit to buy. I wonder how much they will cost, Sergej thought to himself. Better get myself a spot in line! Sergej shuffled sideways into a spot where the line was forming, thankfully getting quite in front of plenty of adventurers. He stood so... awkwardly in line, trying to make himself look like he fits in the line, where as he seems to be nearly twice the width of anybody else.

Words: 402
Notes: Sergej is just entering. Let me know if I got anything wrong/ask questions for clarification.
Oh and first day, Sergej accidentally went near nude in day 1. He had no idea how things worked '^'

[Kadence]

The sorcerer's words were slurred. Was she drunk? "Unless you got any tobacco in that magic bag of yours, I won't be well for a very very long time, miss cook" Nope. Withdrawal. The sorcerer was still firmly grasping her around the front, preventing her from moving. Finally, she let go and walked forward on her own strength, reading what she'd written with Mystic Script. Much to her surprise, the woman wiped her [Transcription] clean from the air- she must be a Scribe as well. She returned to her spot behind the bard, hug-grapple and all, though she didn't put so much weight on the poor bard this time. "I appreciate your concern, sweetie, but we've only been here a day. It would take a few days longer before I'd collapse from hunger."

The sorcerer turned her attention back to the chef. "I'd like to help, but I'm a terrible cook, and I can't even cut a pizza straight. My sis always did all the cooking. But if you promise me a bowl, I can be your errand girl and go out to pick up ingredients, since this mute can't really haggle." Kadence frowned at that remark, but she wasn't wrong. Even if she was pretty good at writing backwards, it took her a long time to write things out, so someone who could speak would be much more helpful. She moved her right hand to Kadence's lips, giving a light pinch to make her pucker before lowering her head down to whisper into her ear. "You got a name, my current anti-drug?" Kadence felt her face burning "My name is Evenever. But if you let me hear that voice of yours, I'll tell you my real name~"

Kadence pulled her head back out of the pinch hold, creeped out to say the least. She activated [Transcription] again, this time writing quicker and easier since she didn't have to write backwards to write to the person behind her. I'm Kadence. And- she hesitated here before adding Sorry, but there's no voice to hear.

Thankfully, that was apparently enough to make Evenever let go, and the Race of Ritual (Ritualist? Eh.) busied herself with the Chef and figuring out a plan. Now free, she was able to look around the crowd, spotting the druid she'd met the other day, now visible thanks to the massive guardian who had just parted the crowd with his presence. She smiled and waved, glad to see a familiar face after having been... man-handled? Woman-handled?


Word Count: 419

[Nutella]

STATUS

Early morning cooking!

HP: 100% MP: 100% - EQUIPMENT - Starter Staff (2H) --------------- Basic clothing SKILLS - None Active - Words: 826 Tags: Kadence Evenever Samantha Lemongrass Sergej Notes:  Sorry if anything is weird. I'm kind of sleepy. color:bd7306

It seemed that Nutella had mistaken the reason why the sorceress wasn’t well. She softly shrugged after hearing her response; unfortunately, the chef could do nothing about the tobacco matter. Resting her chin on her right hand, she started to think of something to deal with that situation. Quickly, her plan started to take shape inside her mind, while she nodded to herself. First was Kadence. Camilla didn’t know why the fellow adventurer didn’t speak, and as Eve stated, she couldn’t really haggle with landers and maybe adventurers as well. She had no experience with cooking as well which made things a bit worse; But above all that, the bard was willing to help, therefore granting a big plus for Nutella. Her eyes then fixed on the redhead, scanning the scribe from head to toe. The chef had no reasons at all to trust that stranger, even though she looked so debilitate and frail thanks to a probable dependence. Then again, she probably couldn’t go anywhere far like that, and in any case, the world they were in wasn’t their previous one. All the players, now known as adventurers, should at least try to cooperate for now. That woman could be a great help in the future, and it wouldn’t hurt to give her a chance. Fiddling with the system interface, Nutella summoned her starter staff for a brief moment. She pointed it towards Evenever and after choosing the correct options in the interface, the priest cast [Healing Light] and [Holy Aura] in an attempt to make her feel a bit better. Taking into consideration that body was new, her issue was probably mind-sided. Holy Aura could help mind statuses recover quicker, but if that didn’t help, she at least tried. Unsummoning her staff through the interface, she glanced over them again. - Alright then. First, I want to know your names, both of you. – She took a brief pause, giving them enough time to answer. – Kadence, I’d like your help here in the stall. You won’t need to do much, You’ll just need to be careful with some timing... - She then looked at Evenever. – I know this might sound rude, but mind if I call you Eve? Sometimes I have a hard time remembering names. I had a friend named Eve back in the other world, so... Anyways, for now, rest a little. I’ll need you once we start selling. You see, I don’t want to buy extra material and not use it, since it h…! A huge shadow covered Nutella. Glancing over her shoulders, her eyes met an equally enormous man clad in heavy starter armor. The world stopped. Her breathing ceased. Sounds were muted, colors lost their life for a moment. Fear. Just as if her blood froze within her veins, it took Nutella a few seconds to react, and recover her composure. She was shy around men, and someone that size specially made her tremble for a few seconds. The chef finally realized that what she had in stock wasn’t nearly enough to cover the needs of her interested customers. Picking up a jar made of simple, soft clay jar in which she stored most of her water used for cooking the cleric put it on the counter coupled with a wooden cup. Beside the wooden cup, a pouch with all of her gold rested. - U-uhm…Drink a bit of water, it should help you recover a bit. That money should be enough to buy everything we need right now. I’ll need some vegetables, mainly potatoes and carrots, since they’re part of the main dish. Theres no need for boar sausage, I got plenty. If you can, find some fruits and a bit of water to make some juice. I’m sure everyone would love to drink something with taste as well. If the gold still isn’t enough, try to balance everything in quantity. I’d recommend you try the stalls on the first street to the left. - she pointed at said direction - They sell things pretty cheap. Good luck! Nutella then looked at Kadence. She picked up a long fork, giving it to her. With a smile on her face, she pointed at the big pan full of boar sausage stew. - What you’re gonna do is very simple. Take care of that stew while I prepare the rice. All you’ll need to do is wait until the broth starts to bubble. Once it does, use the fork to pierce the potatoes and carrots. If you don’t need much strength to do so, warn me. That’s all. I’ll cook the rice for now. I’m counting on both of you! Nutella slightly bowed to both of them, heading to the rice pan. She started to rinse great amounts of it to make sure it wouldn’t be sticky in its cooked phase. She couldn’t help but note the huge man try hard to fit in the line, still feeling a bit uneasy thanks to his size and gender.

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[Kadence]

Summoning her staff, Nutella cast a pair of spells, settling a warming light over the sorcerer who embraced her. Cleric Spells, Kadence guessed, maybe trying to help deal with the withdrawal effects as if they were a debuff. Once the spells were cast, Nutella un-summoned her staff back to her inventory before looking at them and asking their names.

I'm Kadence. Pleased to meet you. was her [Transcription] reply. Free from Evenever's grasp, she was ready to do what she could to assist in making the food.

"Kadence, I’d like your help here in the stall." Nutella decided "You won’t need to do much, You’ll just need to be careful with some timing..." Kadence nodded back. She figured that would be the case. The cleric continued on, explaining to Evenever that she'd need her afterwards- when suddenly, she froze. Kadence followed her gaze to the massive Guardian who was shuffling around awkwardly in the line that was forming. He was huge, and probably even would have been so without his armor. A closer look spotted... sawdust of some sort on the edge of his armor? Did he try to go through a door in that? The bard froze along with the cleric, regaining her focus when she realized that despite his enormous frame and scary appearance, this man was smiling. Right. He's not here to hurt anyone, he just wants the soup. The big guy is probably real nice... but just to be safe, let's make sure we stay quiet around him.

Nutella quickly regained her own composure and set Evenever off on a journey to grab some ingredients, pointing her to a series of stalls down the way before turning back to the bard. With a quick grab, Nutella picked up a long fork and handed it to Kadence, prompting a look of confusion on the musician's face. Nutella smiled and pointed to the large pan of stew that was in progress. "What you’re gonna do is very simple," she explained "Take care of that stew while I prepare the rice. All you’ll need to do is wait until the broth starts to bubble. Once it does, use the fork to pierce the potatoes and carrots. If you don’t need much strength to do so, warn me. That’s all. I’ll cook the rice for now. I’m counting on both of you!"

Kadence took the fork and nodded, giving Nutella a thumbs-up, then devoted her full attention to the stew. Not having the Chef Subclass, and not being a particularly skilled cook in the real world, she was a little worried, but it was just stabbing vegetables. How hard could it be?

I really need to stop asking myself that question she thought to herself as the broth began to bubble, I think Murphy listens in whenever I do. Trying not to get over-zealous or splash the stew, Kadence took the long fork and jammed it into a potato. She flinched, just for a moment as though expecting something to happen, then opened her eyes to see that there was now a potato with a fork sticking out of it. Pleased that the universe hadn't decided to mess with her again, Kadence struck into the vegetables with a new vigor, though still being careful not to mess with the broth. The vegetables were fairly tough at first, but as time passed, the fork began to dig deeper and deeper with each strike. It was then that Kadence ran into a new problem: how to get across the idea that the vegetables were soft. Not having much other option, Kadence set down the fork for a moment and wandered over to Nutella, tapping her on the shoulder and waiting for a response before gesturing to the bubbling pot.

Tags: Nutella Sergej Evenever Samantha Lemongrass
Word Count: 627

[Samantha Lemongrass]

While surveying the crowd, the hulking man standing in line does not go unnoticed by Samantha, but her reaction to him is quite limited, since she has no problem with men. Though she does like men, she tends to treat them no differently than she treats members of her own sex. Though not completely adverse to the idea, she really has very little desire to engage anyone romantically, allowing her to be free from male-induced discomfort. Looking back at Kadence she sees her writing in the air once again, telling the touchy-feely woman before her that she has no voice to hear. Samantha places her right hand on her chest and her left on her hip, thinking about Kadence's possible meaning behind those words. Kadence, however, having lost the attention of her new friend, turned toward Samantha and waved. "Hey!" Samantha says, just loud enough to be clearly heard by Kadence, before walking over towards her.
"Hey, no cutting in line!" One of the people in line shouts angrily.
"I'm not going to eat your pig barf, calm down." Samantha replies, bitingly. Though I can't help wondering why everyone is so excited by this stand. Do they not usually get to eat whatever this could be? Samantha looks at each person she passes, trying to determine if they are players or not. She finally arrives at where Kadence is cooking just when Kadence goes to tap Nutella 's shoulder and looks into the pot. "Potatoes!" She exclaims, nearly too loudly. Having eaten next to nothing since arriving in Elder Tale, she was becoming quite hungry, and as an Irish girl, freshly cooked potatoes couldn't be more desirable for her than they were now. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything about not wanting to eat whatever was cooking. She thinks. Maybe I can convince Kadence to part with one when no one is looking... 


Wordz: 313
Notes: Having a cooking skill of zero, anything Kadence prepares will surely turn to mush before anyone can eat it, much like Shiroe and co's food did. Hopefully, those potatoes survive.

[Sergej]

The line started forming, with people pressing into Sergej's back in an attempt to shrink the line and fit more people. This caused Sergej to move slightly to the side of the line, causing what seemed to be a huge shadow toward the those cooking the meal. Those two poor, small girls looked up at him looking completely stunned. Without a second thought, Sergej smiled and waved, entirely ignoring the fact that he was rather... large. Listening in on their conversation afterward, he realized they seem to be understaffed. It took Sergej a little bit to actually grow the courage to mention kitchen work, so in the mean time he glanced around. It seemed some of the random people nearby, landers or not, refused to glance in his direction. Strange, he thought, first the cooks stared at him, and now people won’t even look in his general direction. Oh well, he thought, let us get this over with.

"Sergej overhear." The large man leaned closer to Nutella, as close as possible without relinquishing his own spot in line as he spoke. "Does little one need help? Sergej is strong, and large, but does not trust own usefulness in..." He paused, seeming to have forgotten what word he meant to say. "Place food is made?" The last phrase seemed more in confusion from his rough time with English he occasionally has. Shaking his head, he finished his side of the conversation. “If need help, find Sergej. Hard to miss.” After the phrase he slid back into line, pushing the guy trying to take his spot out of the way.

“H-hey!” The man sputtered before being silenced by Sergej’s size. Apparantly the man didn’t want anything to do with him.

Words: 288
Notes: Insert super thick russian accent to Sergej's thoughts, and speech.

[Evenever]

Millie honestly didn't expect what happened next. The cook pulled out her staff and did some kind of magic hocus pocus her. Well, her class was a magicy class, too, but she hadn't left the city at all to test the magic on anything. She really just liked the staff and walking around with it. Makes her look all... sage-y. All she needed was a cloak and she'd complete the ensemble. After the cook girl's magicy stuff was done, nothing really changed. She did get some status pop ups in the corner of her eye, but her headache didn't subside. This will be where her perfect acting ability will come into play! "Whoah! My headache is completely gone!" she lied, but if it made the girl feel better, she would lie. Then the girl asked about their names. She already introduced herself to Kadence, but the chef probably didn't hear that. "I'm Mil- I mean Evenever. Yes, Evenever in this world, I suppose. Gonna have to get used to that name. Anyway," she stuck her hand out for a handshake, "pleased to meet ya, ms chef!"

Evenever listened to the chef, while trying to fight back the urge to cradle her aching head. She's gone longer without smoking, she knew she was strong enough to go cold turkey for a while. She turned her attention from her headache to the chef, who seemed to have forgotten to introduce herself, even. Not so much rude, just... ditsy? Is that the right word? Probably not. Not airheaded, forgetful? Shy? A combination of all of those in small quantities. She seemed to freeze up when she noticed the length of the line that was forming to feast on the fruit of her labour. She then just changed her mind about letting Evenever go buy ingredients and started listing off what she needed. Using the pad of paper she had fished out of her bag, and putting on her elliptical eye glasses, Evenever used Mythic Script to create a temporary shopping list, so as to not waste the paper. The writing would fade in a few hours, more than enough time to use the list to buy stuff. Carrots, potatoes, and fruit. "Just this? Sure you don't need anything else?" She picked up the cup of water and quickly downed it, not concerned with where it came from. Probably just well water. It helped her headache, but didn't make it go away. She sat the cup back down and picked up the gold pouch. She opened it up and poured some in her other hand. Many 20 gold coins and a couple 5 gold coins with a 1 gold coin sitting on top. Before she could drop a single one, she scooped them back into the coin purse and pocketed it. Her right hand gripped the staff she had left stuck in the ground and moved it to her left hand.

"Alrighty, aye-aye, ma'am! Oh, before I forget..." She pulled up her main menu and targeted Kadence. A slight finger gesture and Kedence was on Evenever's friends list. Kadence would get a notification, but it wasn't an accept or deny kinda thing, it would just say, 'Evenever added you to her friends list.' "Oh," turning her attention to the chef, "when I get back you introduce yourself to us, then. How's that sound?" She turned before the cook girl could respond and was already heading in the direction of the stalls she had pointed out, stopping shortly after leaving the cooking area only to gawk at the tower of a man standing in line in armour. "Whoooooah. Big guy like you could probably eat the whole pot!" She attempted to pat him on the back hard, but she only succeeded in numbing her hand on the solid plate armour. Undeterred, though, she continued toward the stalls.

Insert hilarious montage of Evenever trying to haggle with landers for cheaper wares because she is 'buying them in bulk' here. Montage will be concluded next post.

Note to Vela: All adventurers start, canonically, with 5 cooking exp. That was how Shiroe and the gang were able to put salt and sugar on their food without it turning to mush. If all Kadence does is stir the pot, nothing should turn to mush. Just don't let her add ingredients.

Nutella, Kadence, Sergej, Samantha Lemongrass

[Nutella]

STATUS

Early morning cooking!

HP: 100% MP: 100% - EQUIPMENT - Starter Staff (2H) --------------- Basic clothing SKILLS - None Active - Words: 566 Tags: Kadence Evenever Samantha Lemongrass Sergej Notes:  color:bd7306

The cleric simply nodded in response to Eve, shaking her hand. A goosebump ran through her spine as Evenever reminded Nutella of her lack of introduction. The priest tried to answer, but the sorceress was already on her way before she could do. Intertwining her fingers and keeping her arms in a V shape, she blushed. Nutella could do fine with cooking, but often her clumsiness would show off at random times, even in social occasions. She missed Kadence’s interaction with her friend, not noticing the blonde woman. Rinsing the rice was quick and easy. She then removed the rice by cupping her right hand beside the pan’s border; by inclining it slowly, the water poured on another pan to be used again later. With the rice ready, she set the pan on the grids. Similar to the previous process, the garlic and onion mixture mixed and released a satisfying aroma. A core for her cooking, that combo was present in most of her recipes. Boar sausage stew with some vegetables in it and some rice wasn’t the best dish ever made, but her funds were limited, and therefore, that was the best she could do for now. With a lot of effort, she poured the rice inside the large pan, and after a short braising she closed the pan with its lid. She then went back to the stall’s counter and to her surprise, that same huge man from before leaned forward. Despite his looks, Nutella finally came to understand that this man had good intentions. The priest couldn’t help, though; her heart was beating so strong and fast that she feared someone might hear it. - Oh, thank you! I’ll let you know if I need help!– With great effort, she smiled the best possible. She noticed that her pots of water were low on quantities. Before he went back to the line, she leaned over the counter waving her right hand. Unconciously her fear faded away. – Actually! There is something I need you for! Another clumsy mistake of her; she only had the right quantities of water to cook, not to make juice. Once the huge guardian was closer to her, she continued. - You see that woman that just talked to you, with red hair and glasses? – she pointed at Evenever on her way. After that she picked up two big smooth clay pots below the counter, putting them on it. – Could you ask her to bring these back full of water? Some landers are probably selling plenty of it. If she can’t bring everything by herself, could you lend a hand then? I'll be sure to compensate you for it. Before Nutella could hear his response, she felt a soft tapping on her left shoulder. Slightly turning herself, she noticed her gestures, pointing at the stew’s pot. She headed over the pot and after confirming its state, removed it from the fire and put it on the stall. All that was left was the rice to cook. - Thank you Kadence. Now, you just need to to pay attention to the rice pan. This one is a bit tricky; when it reaches a certain temperature, the water and vapor in it will start to overflow. You’ll need to remove the lid as soon as it tarts, or else, the fire will extinguish easily. Understood? – She smiled, waiting for her response. – If you don’t understand something, let me know. Nutella then turned to Sergej once again to check his response to her task. She then procceeded to slice the last remaining boar sausages ffor the second and last wave of cooking.

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[Kadence]

[Before trying to getting Nutella's Attention]

Much to her surprise, a friend notification popped up in front of Kadence, notifying her that 'Evenever has added you to her friends list'. The woman had already left, however, and the bard closed the window. She couldn't add someone to her friends list if they weren't around, so she'd have to wait. A part of her was amazed she'd even considered the woman who was suffering from withdrawal for her friend list, but while she had been... playful, she wasn't outright malicious, and at least seemed like a nice person.

[After getting Nutella's Attention]

The cleric was speaking to the towering man from earlier, a Guardian named Sergej from his status bar. Nutella was at least dealing with her previous fear it seemed, and was telling him how he could help everyone out. She seemed finished, so Kadence tapped her on the shoulder and made gestures towards the pot. Thankfully, her message got across and she walked over to confirm the quality of the food. Kadence beamed as Nutella deemed it ready- though she noticed Samantha was standing just outside the stand. She waved, but was pulled away to another part of the kitchen before she could write anything out. She managed to try and gesture for Samantha to follow her around, hoping her message got across.

"Thank you Kadence." The chef seemed pleased "Now, you just need to to pay attention to the rice pan. This one is a bit tricky; when it reaches a certain temperature, the water and vapor in it will start to overflow. You’ll need to remove the lid as soon as it starts, or else, the fire will extinguish easily. Understood?" Kadence gave a thumbs-up, ready for the challenge. "If you don’t understand something, let me know." Nutella added, heading back to the guardian and the rest of the food.

Now left with the rice, the bard focused on the food in front of her. She'd cooked rice once or twice before, so this shouldn't be too difficult, right? The pan was silent, offering no response.

Word Count: 349
Tags: Evenever Samantha Lemongrass Sergej Nutella

[Sergej]

The moment the woman he had asked earlier mentioned she might have an idea for him, he slipped out of the line and leisurely walked up to her as she began to describe what he should do. “Da. Strange lady. Will help bring back whether like it or not.” Sergej was of course referring that the woman she wanted him to fetch was the strange lady, after all, just because he was big, didn’t mean he would eat all the food. That line kind of stung a tiny bit in his chest. Before Nutella even had a chance to turn around to listen to the man’s response, he had already grabbed both pots, one under his left arm and the other on his right shoulder. Each one seemed to hold a couple gallons of water, maybe even four gallons each. Right now, they felt like paper; but Sergej knew the moment they filled with water even he might have a hard time carrying them back. Oh well he will make do.

Sergej smiled as he started walking faster to catch up to Evenever. Sadly, he had no idea which way she was going, just that he knew she was carrying a piece of paper when she tapped his back. He rapidly wandered around for a bit before finally recognizing her in the crowd; it hadn’t been long since he had seen the back of her head. He began walking faster towards her, and once he was within... well yelling range, the man bellowed after the red-head. “Hey! Girl who is having the troubles standing!” He of course meant the earlier time when he saw her grasping another so she could stay standing. It didn’t take long for him to catch up, that is if the one he was trying to catch up with wasn’t running herself. If he reached her, he would slow down and walk alongside her. “Da, shy girl told me to help with the water getting.” It was at this moment that Sergej let the pots fall to his side, holding them in each hand by the top. “Also that you would know where.”

Words: 357
Notes: Guess it's you and me, Lila. Lemme know if I posted something wrong :o P.S. YAY TAGS
Tags: Evenever Samantha Lemongrass Nutella Kadence

[Samantha Lemongrass]

Once her yen for the dish before her subsided, Samantha once again looked up at where she had seen her new acquaintance. Realizing her meal ticket had mysteriously disappeared from her previous station, she looked back and forth for some sign of her. Before Kadence disappeared into the kitchen, she waved at Samantha, catching her eye. Was she waving me over? Samantha wonders, this time managing to not speak to herself aloud in front of the assembled mob. Her stomach lets out a little gurgle. If this really were just a game, I wouldn't get hungry, would I? She thinks, slipping into the kitchen where Kadence is staring at some rice. She sees another woman frantically moving to and fro in the small kitchen. Samantha barely dodges her when she moves past carrying a pot that she can only imagine contains her beloved potatoes. That was close. She thinks, deciding not to say anything that may break this woman's concentration. After quickly looking up to see if she can spot her name, she returns to her previous goal of speaking to Kadence. Nutella? That's funny. And she's making food. "Hey there." Samantha says to Kadence, hoping not to startle her entranced friend. What can I say that doesn't make me look like I am only here to get food from her? Samantha thinks. "Wow, that smells really good." Spatulas! Quick, say something else! "What do you have there?" No, that's worse, you half-witted... Quick, divert her with another question. "Can I trrrrrrrrrrr-tell you something? I wasn't a great cook before I got brought here, but since my family traveled all over, I've learned to make a few different interesting things. Did you like to cook before you ended up here?" Bullet dodged.


Wordz:292
Notes: Not wanting to make assumptions on where in the difficult to define space of this kitchen Nutella is, the writer of this post made no attempt to communicate with her. Perhaps they would have struck up a conversation, but any such interaction would likely need to be initiated by Nutella herself.

[Kadence]

Despite her focus on the rice and being slightly startled by Samantha's, Kadence is pleased to see her friend got the message and came to say hello. "Hey there." Kadence smiled and gave a small wave, glad to have company. She kept an eye on the rice though. Can't let that go wrong.

"Wow, that smells really good." Samantha noted, hurriedly trying a different sentence. "What do you have there?" Kadence raised an eyebrow. Was she alright? The Druid gave one last attempt. "Can I trrrrrrrrrrr-tell you something? I wasn't a great cook before I got brought here, but since my family traveled all over, I've learned to make a few different interesting things. Did you like to cook before you ended up here?"

Kadence activated [Transcription] (Boy, writing backwards while -literally- watching a pot boil takes a lot of concentration) I didn't travel a lot, but I learned the basics at home. I enjoyed writing more, which is why I picked the Scribe subclass... among other reasons... She gave her friend a wry grin and added I bet Nutella would sell you some potatoes if you asked. The bard nodded back over her shoulder at the aforementioned chef. Nothing wrong with being hungry

Suddenly, the water in the pot began to bubble and hiss. Kandace, just finishing her transcription panicked a bit, resulting in a long line of mana in the air following her hand to the pot as she lifted the lid. Thankfully, the food was unharmed, and she gave a sigh of relief as she set the pot to the side. It was then that she realized she was still using [Transcription] and blushed with embarrassment, wiping away at the air to clean up the mana. She'd actually used up a fair amount of her mana thanks to that error, even with the small amounts [Transcription] consumes. Now she needed to figure out what to do next from Nutella... hey, that could work.

The bard walked around the stove, then grabbed a hold of Samantha's wrist with both hands. With her head, she tried to get across the message by tilting towards Nutella and giving a pull, hoping her friend would follow.

Word Count: 362
Tags Nutella Samantha Lemongrass

[Evenever]

Evenever turned the corner and headed down the street that Ms Cook had pointed out. A large stretch of road with several stalls pressed against damaged building. Opposite of the vendors, the Thames River and beyond that was more destroyed buildings. None of that was important at the moment, though. Right now she was given a job to do and nothing else really to do. Since coming to this world, all she really could do was deal with her headache and hope to wake up back in her bed where a pack of ciggies were sitting on her night stand ready to be broken into for the day.

Still, with headache and all, she managed to haggle some vendors into selling her some carrots and potatoes for, what she thought, was a fair price. In her left hand she carried two large sacks of carrots and in her right hand she carried three sacks of potatoes. As for the fruit... she went with something cheap and easy to juice. So she ended up buying a huge basket of peaches, along with a small cart to tote it all back to the stall faster. All of this was bought relatively quickly and she still had plenty of Ms. Cook's money to spare. Then along came the big guy in armour she remembered in line for food, with two large empty jugs under his arms. He started yelling to her and she waved her arm and shouted back, "Hey big guy!" This was the first time she'd heard him speak. His voice was as deep as you would imagine a guy's voice would be if he was that big. She didn't expect his heavy Eastern European accent, though.

She stayed put and waited for him to approach her and let her know, in broken English, that Ms Cook had sent him to her for more water. Therein lies the problem that had vaguely crossed her mind earlier, where did one get water in this world? For drinking, all Evenever had been doing since she got here yesterday was taking sips out of the river whenever she was thirsty, but that might not have helped her withdrawals. It probably made it worse since after drinking the water she was given, her balance had improved.

Turning her head up to look him in the eyes, she said with a half smile, "I have no idea where to get water." It had been a long time since she'd really seen a guy this size. It's probably just the armour making him look bigger, though. Still, she suddenly got the desire to sit on his shoulders and have him carry her around. Not today, though. She had to suppress that desire because of a few reasons. One, she would only get dizzier if she was bumping around up and down on someone's shoulders. Two, she was wearing a skirt, so it wouldn't be very appropriate. And three, she didn't even know this guy.

"But! Let's ask someone." She turned and quickly grabbed the arm of a man who had been just walking by. "Hey, sir? Can I ask you a question?"

The man had his other hand under his jacket like he had been about to pull out a weapon. But when he heard her ask if she could ask a question, he seemed to loosen up and turn to face Evenever. "Sure. What do you need to know, Adventurer?"

The man looked worse than Evenever felt. Well, the way he talked made her think he wasn't an Adventurer like her or Goliath beside her. He was probably a Person of the Land like the vendors and various other peoples wandering the city doing their own thing. Evenever never really thought about how they were dealing with this whole catastrophe. He didn't look like he was fairing well... "Umm, sorry for bothering you. We're trying to get water. Can you point us to where we can collect some clean water?"

The man removed the hat he was wearing and pulled some loose strands of his long lavender hair out of his face before putting his hat back on. "There was a vendor down the street here a ways, can't miss him. He pulls water out of the well by his house and carts it to the city. He'd sell you water at a fair price and in exchange for the empty pots. Won't find water any cleaner in the city."

"Yes! That sound perfect. Thanks!" Evenever turned and grabbed at her follower's arm to pull him along with her toward where the man had said to go, grabbing a handle of her small cart with the other hand.

"He would have done the same today." The man said, his words cold. "He would have done the same thing he's done for this city for years today if your people hadn't murdered him on his way to the city. His stall sits empty today. Go find your own water, Adventurers."

Evenever turned to face the man, but he had already disappeared.

Note: A plot device suddenly appears.
Nutella, Kadence, Sergej, Samantha Lemongrass