• Graded • Roast Session

[Nauta F'mos Geey]

9th Ymiden 717

True to his word, in return for Nightshade's assistance F'mos had split up their spoils evenly. Hell he even went one step further and allowed her to stick around with his contribution to the Grand Roast and with it, share the recognition for their job well done. He did however had second thoughts. It was no fault of Nightshade's despite some of the attendees' tendency to mock the Avriel but, F'mos felt instead of his half of the Horned Carowa left on display, he should have brought out the bear as well if only make their joint accomplishment much more significant.

Unfortunately there was nothing he could do about it. His share of the bear had been left elsewhere in preparation for the trial's meal. Over the trials in between the time the pair had caught the beasts and their participation in the Grand Roast itself, the Aukari had more than enough time to ready the bear. Its stench of course was repugnant and, the cook could only do so much to alleviate it. That said stench or not, F'mos had his focus more on bringing out the taste of the bear itself. A quick sample of the Horned Carowa a few trials prior was proof enough of how Nightshade described it- absolutely tasteless. If not for an inspired moment in the Kettle, the Aukari would not been able to realize how he could use it. Especially in an event as celebrated as the Grand Hunt and Roast in Etzos.

Neither Nightshade nor the other attendees would expect it but they were going to have to wait until the reveal. F'mos in hopes he could avoid the trouble which seemed to be on the rise with the Avriel's presence had only one request of her. Nightshade. You know where the Kettle is? Can you go take the big pot? Ask Maylan. She knows which one it is. I need it for Roast but I can't leave because I have to watch Carowa." While F'mos did not trust any of the other Roast attendees just like he would not trust himself, the reason why he had to watch over the bird was to make sure it was not overcooked. Like his boar in the previous Roast, the Carowa was on display on a spit while it was slowly being turned. While he could not do anything about its taste, he was going to make damn sure it smelt a lot better than the bear meat. The reason why he had the alcohol soaked wood chips burning beneath the bird.

Soon, it proved that the decision to have Nightshade leave even for a little while was a bad one. As a cook, his attention was supposed to be on his dish but instead as he was the only person present, F'mos was the one to answer all the attendees' queries. To tell them one of the stories the Roast was known for so to speak. As the other person who helped to capture the Carowa, Nightshade was the best choice F'mos had to tell the story but now his attention was split. It was enough for dark patches to form on the Carowa's brightly coloured flesh as F'mos sometimes paused in order to think through a few words. If the Aukari had to be questioned any longer, his goose was going to be cooked, so to speak.

"You sure you don't want to see the other entries and come back when food is ready?" F'mos asked a few of the attendees by him. Unfortunately, not all of them took the suggestion. The bastards. Either they were genuinely interested, or they might be sent by the competition to distract him. For the Aukari slow to trust, he leaned on the latter a lot and there was no telling what might happen if he really discovered his work was being sabotaged.

[Nightshade Eld]

Nightshade nodded and eagerly leapt to do as she was told, going to the Kettle and asking for the big pot. Maylan of course complied, though a little hesitantly, and Nightshade spent a good deal of time attempting to lug the pot back. It was heavier than she originally thought it was going to be, the large cast iron easily burdening her. She had to fly just to keep herself from dragging it along the ground, something she was certain neither Maylan or F'mos would much enjoy her doing. Eventually, a long while later, she was able to get the pot back. "I have the pot," the announced as she managed to get it over to F'mos. It didn't take a genius to realize he was in need of help, his eyes darting from the people asking questions to the roasting bird and then back. "You need any help?" She asked him, her breath coming out a little faster thanks to the effort it took to carry the pot. Luckily it wasn't overly noticeable. When she was inevitably shot down to help, which she expected to happen considering she wasn't a cook, her attention turned to the group of men still gathered to gawk at the Carowa.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" She asked, putting on a gentle smile as she addressed the group. She'd used the offer to help F'mos as a way to see herself into the conversation without making it awkward. She just thanked Chiren that it had actually worked, there were so many ways that little move could have gone wrong, and it certainly wouldn't have been good for either F'mos or herself. F'mos should also be thanking Chiren for the fact he had his storyteller back, considering how important story telling was to the roast.

"Yeah," one of the men snorted at Night's question. "How does a bird and someone who looks like they've barely ever used a bow take down a Carowa," the man asked with a sneer. He obviously didn't seemed to believe the fact that Night and F'mos had managed to take the creature down. The woman smirked, watching as he asked the perfect question.

"Oh, well, it wasn't actually all that hard," she started, moving a couple sweeping steps closer to the group and helping to pull them away from F'mos so that he could focus on the bird. Immortals knew he needed all the attention he had to make the thing edible. "There we were, having left early in the trial on the 5th and having walked for nearly the entire trial. We'd kept going north because from personal experience it had some of the larger and more exotic animals, plus we needed to get as far out from Etzos as possible. We didn't want anyone else messing with our hunt after all! When we finally stumbled across the trail of the creature it was a complete mess. Broken branches so far up in the tree you had to tilt your head all the way back were the only indicators as to the existence of the creature..." She continued on with her story, trying to take on the voice her father often used when he would tell her stories. It was hard to describe, but there was a certain 'voice' that a storyteller would take on and use to draw you in. Hopefully it would work. As she spoke she answered any questions that the men brought up.

[Nauta F'mos Geey]

His much-awaited pot and, the contents within did not come at a better time. As soon as Nightshade made her announcement and placed it near his entry for the roast, F'mos rushed towards it to make sure it was all there. He had expected some of it to spill out or be lost but somehow or another, the Avriel pulled it off as the pit was still significantly filled. She did her job well and by extension, F'mos did good with his choice for an assistant in the competition this arc. "No, no. You done well" was the only acknowledgement the Aukari gave Nightshade before he rushed the pot closer to the Carowa. It was important to his overall dish after all.

He immediately set out to make sure his preparations were perfect before he could go on to the next step. He first made sure the Carowa was properly and evenly heated up on its spit and then, that the bear meat was properly marinated in the mix of honey and other substances F'mos had made since the night before. Sure they were both at the best conditions he could prepare them, he sliced off pieces of the bear meat and had them directly on the fire right below where the Carowa was. The aroma of both started to make the Aukari hungry which suited him just fine. Who else would be entitled to the first taste of the meal if not him?

With both beasts being cooked, all that was left was time with F'mos only present to make sure neither were overcooked. Before he knew it, Nightshade had already ingrained herself with the group which had pestered him previously. He checked on the meat, none had any colour on them yet as they should; the Carowa meat was not good for taste and for this dish, should not have any either. With a little time available to him, the cook took the opportunity to listen in on his storyteller's tale. So far it was good as the Avriel had effectively drawn in the rest of the group. F'mos listened on for a little longer, just to make sure Nightshade did not make him sound too bad and then, returned to the cooked beasts.

The Carowa had a chunk sliced out of it and then turned for another part of it to get cooked, which was then again sliced out and turned. This continued on for a little bit while F'mos also removed the pieces of the bear as it was cooked. Some quick knife work and a piece of bear, barely visible, was set in between two other slabs of Carowa. F'mos gave a whiff and gagged at the strong scent of the smoked Carowa which aggressively invaded him but after he recovered and, was able to take a bite, he found it was all worth it as there was only the taste of the honeyed bear; the plain and tasteless Carowa meat did not even interfere with his meal except to fill him up.

Another slab was quickly prepared as he took it over to Nightshade and handed it over with a forceful "here!" after he had eavesdropped into her story a little bit more. With the Avriel occupied, he tried to pick up where she left off or at least, as much as he wanted to elevate himself from just another cook in the arc's Grand Roast. Something about him learning about the bow before, something about him at the Kettle and sometimes even joining Rowan Black on a hunt and, something about him shooting at the Carowa from above in the trees after taking some inspiration from the airbourne Avriel. It was all quite fast and lacked any detail which may be questioned, if F'mos did not ignore the questions entirely.

Once Nightshade was done with her meal and he was done with his part of the tale, the Aukari was off to prepare the rest of the meal with the Avriel left to handle the rest of the listeners.

[Nightshade Eld]

Night instantly fell into silence as the food was handed off to her. She was cautious at first, her nostrils flaring as she glared down the piece of meat. She'd eaten a lot of things which were truly fowl, most of which had been her own creations. She was greatly a failure when it came down to being able to cook anything even slightly edible. However, she didn't expect anything similar out of F'mos. The man was a chef by profession, he didn't seem like he'd create anything less than edible. Pushing her worries aside and trusting the chef she struggled past the scent of the Carowa and forced herself to take a bite. Her nerves were pleasantly reassured as the taste of honeyed bear meat completely overrode whatever flavor the Carowa meat might have begun to take on. It was hard working with Carowa meat, improper care could easily send it spiraling from tasteless to horrible. Luckily, it seemed the way that F'mos had cooked it and its contact with the bear meat were not enough to send the Carowa into a down spiral of disgusting.

She listened quietly as F'mos picked up the story telling, nibbling on the meat enthusiastically. He wasn't as good at telling stories as he was at cooking a bird, but it was obvious that F'mos was trying and for that she had to give props. Even if he did have a bit of a sour and unenthusiastic temper from her own experiences. Nightshade wasn't one to judge though, she never had been and honestly never would be. He had an entire life of experiences behind him which could easily explain and validate his actions if he had the breath to talk about them. There were... too many people like that in the world, and sometimes all they needed was a smile and a reminder that there was someone in the world who was willing to give a shoulder and a hand. Night was more than willing to be that person, so until it conflicted with her morals she'd go along with whatever F'mos asked her to do. Immortals know he wouldn't have survived that Carowa on his own. He likely would have been eaten... No offense to F'mos of course. Night had earned her fair share of beatings from Carowa's in the past.

Just as she was finishing up with the meat F'mos seemed to be finishing up with his story. Seemingly getting over the urge to tell his part. None of the listeners seemed all too impressed by the show, but they hadn't seemed all too impressed by Night's version of the story either. In fact, they seemed to be a generally poor tempered lot. She was about to start finishing up the rest of her story when a very loud man appeared. He seemed to be drunk beyond all reason. His attention quickly turned to F'mos. Harassment quickly ensued.

Night's attention turned to F'mos and the drunk who was quickly starting to insult F'mos' cooking. Her eyes rested on F'mos, looking for some indication of what to do.

[Nauta F'mos Geey]

It was because all of those additional elements to his story- those F'mos would not acknowledge as embellishments if corrected by Nightshade; no more than those little details which only he would have known about if they did happen at all to make it a truly memorable Roast. Of course he was aware he had to be as close to the truth as possible to leave little doubt in his tale and, left it to Nightshade to recount the events which led them to their encounter with their prey. He chose to continue on from the point where he had climbed the tree, for a better vantage point as he put it; his companion and both their hunting beasts quickly set upon their prey after they had been tracked down.

His tale differed from what some would insist was the truth at that point onwards. F'mos did not present himself as some sort of grand hunter instead, he was an enthusiastic cook overcome by excitement the moment the airborne Avriel pointed out both the bear and the carowa. As he did not share Nightshade's natural advantage, not without some unnatural assistance which he did not want to reveal to her or anyone else anyway, the cook revealed the reason he had taken up into the trees. Like the Avriel, he too wanted to make some good shots from above. It was nothing like him having any desire to keep above any danger from the predators, any such suggestion was ignored as he pressed on with his story.

The important decision he had to make was how many arrows he would say he used. It was an important one he felt and if he misjudged it, he knew the other visitors to the Roast would find out his not so truthful boast. Unlike the speed he would have taken to climb up the tree in his tale, an amount of time comparable to the Avriel's own flight if the passage of time could have been felt in his words, F'mos decided to say he had almost used up all his arrows for dramatic effect. Even more dramatic than the hints he made of him nearly hitting the pair's own beasts because there were such uncontrollable monsters- just what they needed to hunt down other monsters like the carowa.

However before F'mos could reach the good part, the part where the pair successfully subdued the peak conditioned bear and carowa because two significantly weakened animals from their own scuffle would not be good for his purposes, a drunkard seemed to pop out of nowhere. He questioned, he harassed, he made rude suggestions and more; all of which went beyond the usual treatment of non humans in Etzos. The Aukari would have ignored the man if he could but the loud voice interrupted him at every other word and more than that, it also made a scene which attracted more of a crowd. A crowd would be something F'mos should have welcomed in the event but, too big a crowd would be hard for him to control or serve his dish to.

He became especially aware he wanted nothing more to do with the drunkard, the moment he started his drunken rambles about boars and the previous arc's Hunt. It was not the man he had saved or secured the boar from for that matter which made F'mos believe he could brush it off as hearsay, but he never got the chance because soon after that the drunk had thrown something at him which shattered at the back after a hasty dive to the ground. Had he been able to predict something like this could have happened, he never would have saved the man he found in the Hunt last season. His acquisition of the boar was only just all in good business.

F'mos knew he could not rely on any assistance from the gathered crowd who saw the turn of events as greater entertainment value than any tale of his own Hunt. This left Nightshade as his only other option, other than himself which would surely get him into trouble. He took a quick step away from the drunk who advanced on him and then, another which only increased the distance between them before he took one more step towards Nightshade which only increased the drunk's verbal assault. One more step not a thrill too soon behind the Avriel had the Aukari dodge another projectile hurled his way before he had Nightshade in between him and his assailant.

"Imma see if food is done, and go where knives are..." was the only indication he gave the Avriel of how badly the situation may escalate if she decided not to intervene before F'mos legged it towards where he prepared his prided dish.

[Nightshade Eld]

Night mostly ended up tuning out F'mos. She knew the only point of the story was to drag people in and win popularity and that wasn't really something she cared much about. F'mos was telling a story, but it was mostly just boasting, and the half-avriel in spite of half her race wasn't the kind of person who liked, even felt comfortable with, boasting. She was the most annoyed by how he referenced their 'hunting beasts' as monsters. Or at least implied them as such. There was a little frustration in her chest as she kept her silent peace. All she ever really did was try to help him, but he didn't seem to respect her what so ever. He just tolerated her presence because it was useful. And you know what? She didn't really mind, she'd dealt with far worse people before. But this, this infuriated her. Storm was her best friend and was probably smarter than F'mos. At the very least he understood common better! She had to grit her teeth slightly. Anyone paying close enough attention to her might see the way her cheek moved as her jaw clenched. He could tell lies about his own abilities, his own creatures, his own hunt. But he could keep her out of his filthy fame-mongering.

She was almost happy when the drunk showed up. She continued to ignore the situation, perhaps a little smugger than a hero should be as the man harassed and cajoled at F'mos. That was until a bottle smashed against the ground at her feet. Oh, look, now she had to get involved. She felt a growl rumble at the back of her throat. A hero protects everyone. It was a different situation when F'mos was getting yelled at by a drunk. Who would honestly take that seriously? You could barely even call it harassment because half the words were drunk slurs that could before be deciphered. But throw a bottle? That was intended physical harm. She didn't know what F'mos did to possibly deserve such treatment, but she did know it wasn't something tolerable.

She stood up, moving to stand next to F'mos. F'mos similarly was backing towards her. The two met halfway between as the inebriated fool approached. She looked him dead in the eyes, another object being hurled at F'mos who quickly ducked behind the woman. It was a bottle that was chucked. The glass object was quickly caught and deflected by her wings. A sharp and yet somehow dull pain burst where she was hit, but the bottle stopped and smashed against the ground. She continued to watch the drunk, never breaking the maintained eye contact. F'mos ducked away, bowing out of the situation. The drunk instead turned to yelling at her. The crowd sat with baited breath. Would she lash out? Would she be calm as she defused the situation? Bursting into a screaming fury would do much for her right now, but she wasn't strong enough to force the man into submission quickly... or was she? She wasn't the strongest, but she was wise in the ways of combat. Quickly she grabbed his wrist, taking the opportunity to abuse a punch he decided to try and throw. The woman maneuvered her body, quickly moving the man's arm into a position where she had control. Drunks couldn't do much against someone trained in unarmed.

"You've had a lot to drink. Picking a fight would be a bad idea right now. You should sit down," she warned in an even voice. She didn't do much to try and mask the rather obvious threat which hung in her voice. The man continued to struggle, flailing his body. There wasn't much he could do though without knowing the right moves to get himself out of the hold she'd locked him into. "You should calm down," she said her words were followed by an audible cracking. The man went completely silent before he started to whimper. He didn't scream because it took him a moment to actually process it, but the pain sure as hell got him to shut up and turn tail the moment she let go of his arm.

[Nauta F'mos Geey]

If only Nightshade had stepped in earlier; it would have saved the cook a lot of trouble. While he was at his station, he was filled with nothing but worry; worried about what the drunk would do and more importantly, what he could say. With one of the knives in hand, he wondered if he should act especially with Nightshade so disinterested with the Roast she might as well be unreliable. The only problem was there would be some witnesses to the confrontation able to point out the aukari's attempts to silence the drunk but the former guard knew, it would be just as easy to spin it as self defence against the hostile drunk if it came down to it. Guards were always less concerned with the facts as long as they could get their job done unless F'mos was unfortunate enough to get one of the dutiful guards on his case.

However his intent would be obvious if he openly held the knife on his way back. Instead, just as he had done it when he attempted to claim the bounty, he carried with him various dishes which he would serve to the guests of the Roast; the knife hidden beneath the crockery so he may quickly have it in hand should he get attacked. As Nightshade attempted to pacify the drunk, the man locked in place so he could not attack anyone else, F'mos handed out the dishes one by one with a dumbfounded look on his face at the drunk's accusations. With the man's inability to speak coherently, the aukari was able to proclaim his own innocence easily enough easily expressed by;

"Does this look like boar to you?" as he showed the dishes to everyone else. To the trained hunters and other gourmands only at the Roast to enjoy the feast, they should be able to tell it was not. "Maybe he think bear is boar? Sounds same when he says it..." F'mos finally asked aloud before he feigned a query to Nightshade if "you see man around when we hunt bear and carowa?" He knew it would not have been possible for the avriel to have seen the drunk around during their hunt either but he needed her to say it. Why would the crowd believe the accused when they could believe the words of the famous heroic avriel? The aukari certainly had no qualms to make use of Nightshade's reputation the moment he realized that fact. After all, it was the reason he insisted she attended the Roast with him... it was the only way to make any tale he spun sound believable.

With the opinion of those around him successfully swayed towards his favour, especially when "man must be dreaming, or something. That's why we shouldn't have drinks in Roast!" he finally said. An unpopular idea for sure if the reactions of those around him were any indication but with that, he believed he was over and done with the drunk. That said, he knew he was only able to reach this less violent conclusion through Nightshade's efforts and knew he was going to have to reward her. Somehow. The bear-carowa dish he handed out was obviously not going to be sufficient. As the key element in his success to get both prizes, the aukari had to offer Nightshade a little of what he made of them anyway. She may very well be reluctant to let him use her next time.

He thought for a little while on how he could reward the avriel before he left with a few portions of his own dish and, a request for Nightshade to take over the serving duties to the guests for a few moments if she could. "Let people know Avriels not all bad yeah?" was the excuse he used although he doubted she would buy it. As he did not want to waste any more time however, the cook was already off before he had gotten an answer. As he had been around since the Roast for the trial began, the aukari had already identified the most interesting offerings of the event. It would not be difficult to get some of them.

There were plenty of the usual; ducks, rabbits, geese, deers and then; some of the other even harder to obtain delicacies like the aukari's own bear and carowa. Someone even brought in a gator! To anyone else, the aukari would look like just another visitor to the Roast eager to fill his belly as he traded his own dish for the others although; it was more of a taste test to him to choose the other participants' dishes. With his own tongue and knowledge of meats, F'mos chose the dishes he thought were best and even if they were not the best available in the Roast, they were at least a lot better than the usual fare Nightshade was used to whenever she hunted on her own. With a stack of dishes carried towards Nightshade, meats picked for taste instead of to fill her up so she could as much as possible, a quick word of "thanks" was the only other thing Nightshade got before the cook focused on the rest of the Roast.

[Nightshade Eld]

The half-breed didn’t really want to be there in all honesty. Most of the tales that people spun were so tall it was hard to fly to the top of them, and the egos that told such tales weren’t much better. Of course, she was a little disinterested given that fact. She was a woman who belonged on a battlefield, and there was no room for tall tales in a real fight. Boasting could easily get you killed, and rather quickly. Ask any of the men or women who were parts of the guard or army.

“Nope,” she shook her head. “I don’t see a hunter right now either. Just a violent, bitter drunk,” she said softly with a shake of her head. Was that disappointment in her gaze? She glanced at F’mos for just a moment, letting her gaze rest. It was full of question and even a bit of hurt. She would have to be an idiot not to realize her reputation was being abused. “Of course, who around here hasn’t been one before,” she said dismissively, trying to do whatever damage control she could for the sad drunk. She believed in defending others, not malicious slander. Yes, she would stop fights from breaking out. But she wasn’t going to let F’mos abuse her reputation for his gain until she knew the full story. To try and use her as an instrument for discrediting another person without even knowing the story from both sides, she was thoroughly insulted.

She was quick to turn away from him after answering his question. It was wise of F’mos to realize that he should attempt to award the half-breed as she was already becoming reluctant to help in the future if her gaze was anything to go off of. She nodded quietly when F’mos asked her to take over serving. Her feathers seemed to fluff slightly at the statement. Let people know Avriels not all bad. Half, half, half, she was careful not to snatch the plates given to her in order to serve, and she was cautious not to let F’mos see the way she grit her teeth at the stamen. Her silence spoke loudly though as the air around her seemed to shift. It was subtle, but there was a slowly growing aura of wrath which came to surround the half-breed.

She turned her head with a curious tilt, her face void of any indication she might be insulted when F’mos returned. She was used to internalizing her emotions, it was possible not even she realized she was starting to get angry and the indicators were so very small it would be close to impossible for others to see. She quietly took the plate that was handed to her upon the return of F’mos. His attention was quick to leave her however and she slightly, moving to disappear into the crowd.

[Muse]

Your review is ready!

Night

Points

XP:
15 | These points cannot be used for magic.

Fame:
+5 Roast participation, +5 Keeping the party atmosphere

Loot

N/A

Injuries + Overstepping

N/A

Knowledge

Skill Knowledge:
N/A

Other Knowledge:
N/A

Nauta

Points

XP:
15 | These points cannot be used for magic.

Fame:
+5 Roast participation, +5 Keeping the party atmosphere

Loot

N/A

Injuries + Overstepping

N/A

Knowledge

Skill Knowledge:
Cooking: Getting rid of the stench in bear meat
Cooking: Using tasteless ingredients to complement other ingredients
Deception: Use retrieval of missing gear as an excuse to get someone away
Logistics: Preparation of an anticipated event
Cooking: Food which taste good and food which fills
Deception: Go after to work off another person's account
Storytelling: Excitement sells
Linguistics: The difficulty or understanding drunken slurs
Tactics: Large winged Avriels make good meatshield

Other Knowledge:
N/A

If you've got a question or concern or if I've missed anything, don't hesitate to PM me!

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Reviewed By

Muse

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