[HUB ISLAND | IT'S NOT HALLOW BUT I'M FEELING WEENIE]

[spellbindmods]

Who: All coven members
Where: Coven base camp, around the island
When: Day It's Not Halloween, What Do You Mean
Open/Closed: Open to (h)All(oween)

Tonight is a night like any other. There's no calendar with no holiday...but some tiny events seem to line up with a coincidental, theoretical holiday. A ▢ The hub island is quite large, which means there's still a lot of unexplored territories. Were you there when the pumpkins were discovered? Why were they discovered? Who is roaming around in the forest in the middle of the night like some wild animal in order to stumble upon these pumpkins??? All good questions, all with no answers. The important thing is that in the central part of the island, a fast growing gourd plant has taken over a lot of the trees in the area. The long, thick vines have choked out a lot of trees, with bumpy green pumpkin-type plants growing along them and hanging fatly from the trunks. Inside are fragrant seeds and a milk-like substance that's sweet. They're all very thick and squatty, making them good for soup. For carving? Well, you can try! B ▢ As a pre-celebratory gesture, Brie has brought out a festive little chest. If you happen to complete your Bonus AC, you're welcome to your customized dagger right now, complete with your name inscribed on the hilt. Everyone can take stuff from the chest, though. Inside are hundreds of pieces of candy -- some are pretty well preserved, but others have that weird ass grey separated stuff that happens to chocolate after a while. What kind of candy? If you can dream it, it's probably in there. Just only take a couple pieces or Brie might stab you. C ▢ ...Actually, she doesn't really have time to stab you. Brie is quietly taking people aside and showing people this little map she's found. Well, it appears to be a map. The outline on the paper is roughly the same shape and size as the island, scaled down, and it's covered in tiny red dots, scattered throughout the landscape. She's got a hunch that these dots mean something -- buried treasure. She's only one person, and there are tens of dots on this map. Her price for letting you in on this little venture is half of whatever you find...or at least access to it. She's digging up holes on her own...here's a shovel, go dig for yourself! D ▢ What can you find located in the group? Honestly, the item variety is wide and expansive. Most of the items are small tins, containing a piece of paper with a small story (more on this later, huhuhu), clipped photograph and little item -- these are up to your discretion! However, despite the island being absent of magic, these tins all seem to have an enchantment or hex placed upon them. The effects are varied. Some tins fill up with a black, inky tar-like substance that won't stop pouring out. Some tins act like vacuums and attempt to suck your arm into a black hole they contain. Others will emit a disgusting smell, begin screaming...and these are just a few of the weird wonders they contain. The verdict? These appear to be time capsules that are unhappy they were lifted from the ground too early! (OOC: The tins are the size of those Danish butter cookie tins we all use as sewing kits; you know what I mean.) E ▢ Some lucky coven members actually get something better than a broken toy. Others contain tons of cold coins, beautiful antiques (like compacts, compasses and pocket telescopes. Stuff like that)!. Are you lucky enough to dig up actual treasure? (OOC: Want to test your luck? See if your character finds an actually worthwhile find when you reply to this thread.) F ▢ Those with the cursed items will eventually find that midnight strikes and the carriage has become a pumpkin...well, sort of. At midnight, all of the cursed artifacts (not those nice shiny ones) become potatoes. That's good news in its own right -- potatoes are a food! But it's sort of disappoint and very starchy.

Comments

A

[allconsumed]

[Velvet isn't interested in sticking around for the festivities, so why not take a nighttime stroll instead of interacting with her favorite, headache-inducing members of the coven? It's not like she's expecting to find anything noteworthy – and unless you count the bizarre gourds as noteworthy, then that still ends up being the case.

They don't look appetizing, but Velvet knows you can't judge a book by it's cover. Or a squash by its skin? Whatever. They're lumpy and weird, but Velvet hauls a few of them back to the base camp area anyway. Then she gets her cooking gear set up and starts a fire. She chops at the first guard with her new dagger, which seems appropriate to her more than unceremonious.

If your character is brave, they can be the first to try one of two late-night snack items: pumpkin soup or roasted pumpkin seeds. If they aren't brave, Velvet will attempt to beckon them over with an icy, judgemental glare. You don't want to try her cooking? Yes you do, jerk.]

Come over here. I need a guinea pig.

[She knows the guards aren't poisonous, but that's not exactly clear with her tone and choice of words. Oh well. Promotion definitely isn't her strong suit.]

[antemeridian]

[ Homura isn't necessarily picky nor particularly cowed by the glare, but. ]

... For? A recipe, or the edibility of the ingredients used?

[ It begs asking. ]

[allconsumed]

[That it does. Velvet keeps her eyes locked on Homura while giving the soup a slow stir.]

A recipe. There's only one ingredient so far.

[With her chin, she gestures towards an unused gourd sitting nearby.]

I want to get an idea of the base flavor before I add anything else, and my sense of taste is gone.

[antemeridian]

[ Staredown: commence. ]

...I see.

[ She briefly glances at it without blinking. White, opaque. Milky. Cream based? No, but she said there was only one ingredient... Is that all from the gourds? Hm. ]

If you've already tried them yourself, then fine.

[ A qualifier there, sure, but. Hand her a bowl to sip from or something, Velvet. ]

[allconsumed]

[She didn't even need to add water. That might make the flavor rather strong, though – but again, she has no way of knowing.]

I have.

[Still, she is betting on an absence of any slow-acting negative effects; after digestion, there could be some problems? Yolo. Velvet does break eye contact to spoon some of the soup into a small bowl for her, then she hands it over.]

Let it cool first.

[If that isn't obvious on account of the steam rising from the pot. Homura doesn't seem stupid, but who knows, Velvet just wants an accurate description of the taste and a burned tongue ain't gonna help.]

[antemeridian]

[ Well. Fine enough for her to accept in wary good faith. If worst comes to worst she'll just have to find Genette. ... Not Madoka, though. She's not keen on the idea of having to explain something so ridiculous to her.

But after the first sip she has to pause for a moment in surprise. Then another to confirm, and she's lowering the bowl with a nonplussed blink. ]

... It's sweet. [ Beat. ] Not mildly so, either.

[ Actually very sweet.

She's not actually sure if she can finish this despite the portion being fairly small. Maybe if she lets it cool a little more and gulps it down? ]

[allconsumed]

[Velvet appreciates Homura being a willing participant, even if she doesn't end up actually thanking her. Her role as a chef on the island is little more than a pet project, but it occupies her time well enough – and if she's going to cook regularly for other people, she's going to put in a good effort to utilize whatever is available.]

Good to know.

[If it's too sweet, it might not be overly useful for a day-to-day type of dish. Doesn't mean she can't mess around with it and try different things, though. After a few seconds, Velvet also notices her hesitating to take another sip.]

You don't have to finish it. Normally it might be waste, but there are a lot of these things out there. No reason to force it down.

[antemeridian]

[ She doesn't look visibly relieved when Velvet relieves her from the responsibility of finishing the sweet soup, but she is nonetheless. ... Maybe Madoka might like it better? But it's a little overpoweringly so for Homura. ]

I suspect it wouldn't go poorly in cake, if we had the supplies for it here.

[ She might as well and try to contribute, even if she's not much of a chef. Given that she's set the soup down to her side following Velvet's comment, she glances briefly over to it before looking back up. ]

Or perhaps a drink, if thinned out with water.

[ If the two liquids mixed well, anyway. ]

[allconsumed]

[Those are fair contributions, and Velvet nods despite looking a bit lost in thought. There's really not any sugar around, as far as she's aware, so there's been little opportunity for her to make desserts. With the right ingredients, cake wouldn't be too hard. Velvet has plenty of experience baking; this gourd juice could fill in for milk, if she thinned it out some, but she'd still need eggs, flour, butter – or at least proper substitutes.

Hm. She might have to wait until they travel to another world.]

I planned on trying to thin it. Cake would be… a project.

[Without asking whether Homura is done done, Velvet takes the bowl back and finishes it herself. A small, largely insignificant waste is still a waste, and it doesn't occur to her that Homura would have someone else in mind who might want to try it.]

Are you bad with sweets?

[antemeridian]

[ Well. Perhaps a more refined recipe would be better for Madoka to try later on, anyway...

Matter of factly: ] I was sick for much of my childhood. I wasn't allowed very many sweets then, out of concern that it would negatively impact my health.

[ Some of the more mundane impacts of certain congenital heart defects, it turns out. ]

By the time my condition improved, I hadn't much developed a taste for sweets. [ ... ] Ah. The same goes for any particularly salty foods.

[ So maybe she isn't the best choice per se for any would be gourmet taste testing. Food is fuel first and an indulgence later. ]

[allconsumed]

[Velvet frowns. That story has a familiar ring. She used to keep her sick little brother on a similar diet, and she knew he would have liked to indulge a bit more frequently – not that he often complained. No kid deserves to cope with a condition like that, though. It irritates Velvet just thinking about it.]

I'm glad you got better. At least it's worthwhile that you developed healthy eating habits. [Not much of a silver lining in her book, but hey.]

I'll whip you up something better another time, whenever you're in the mood. It looks like I might not get any more volunteers.

[Since it's getting late. And also because she scares people off, whoops.]

[antemeridian]

[ Homura only hums noncommittally and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear; she's glad she got better too, though it certainly wasn't by conventional medicine. So she refrains from commenting, instead addressing only the last part of what's said to her. ]

They might all be occupied with the treasure hunt still. [ ...For lack of anything better to call it, anyway. Her tone is very faintly wry; all that effort to figure out some way of making use of the useless tin of endless ooze, and it went and became a potato in the end.

Still, she sketches a bit of a polite bow of the head in response to what Velvet says. ]

It is kind of you to offer, but I would hate to impose on your generosity.

[allconsumed]

[It's not like it matters much if she doesn't get any more opinions. When it comes down to it, this cooking business is a way for her to kill time and offers little else. She's not here to make friends or act as a provider.

Well, what she can do is use it as a reward for people who are useful to her. Better that than threatening people into it, which used to be more of her M.O. The latter was more practical when she had limited time and opportunity to get her revenge. Here the circumstances are different.]

It's not generous. I'm offering you something in return for helping me, and cooking is something I enjoy anyway. Besides, it's not polite for you to refuse. You look thin, too.

[teratias]

--Absolutely not.

[Waver's thoughts on the proverbial cornacopia before the entire coven was that it'd be worthwhile to try and pick them and get some seeds for planting season next year. It was kind of silly to think that far ahead, but it was also much more interesting than any of the other options.

He hadn't noticed Velvet when he accidentally crossed into the area that she was standing in. But now that he was, all Waver wanted to do was get the heck out.]

[allconsumed]

[Well, well. If it isn't the loudmouth she beat up that one time. Nasty as she's acted towards him, she won't force any food down his throat – too much effort. She settles for a taunt instead.]

Oh, now you're deciding to act scared, when I have something useful for you to do. That figures.

[teratias]

Look, I've learned a lesson with food here, and it's if someone is asking you to test something out? Don't.

[allconsumed]

I've tried it. It's not going to kill you.

[Not immediately, anyway.]

All I want is a second opinion.

[teratias]

[Waver shook his head no immediately.]

Find one of the boars or other animals then. We've got all those hermit crabs down at the beach too.

[allconsumed]

You want me to ask them how it tastes? I don't speak hermit crab.

[teratias]

[Waver wrinkles his nose, disapproving.]

Boars have pretty obvious reactions.

[allconsumed]

[God, this guy. Velvet sets a hand on her hip, also clearly disapproving.]

I don't care whether a boar likes it or not, there's no point feeding them. They can't tell me what it tastes like, and my cooking isn't pig slop.

[teratias]

[Waver crosses his arms over his chest, hrumphing.]

Then find another human test subject.

[allconsumed]

Do you think I'm trying to poison you? There's no point.

[teratias]

Well yeah, that was my first thought. And my second was that hey, food and magic powers here react badly with each other, and I don't feel like dealing with that tonight.

[allconsumed]

I think I made it clear before that I wouldn't need poison.

It's not like I'm going to force you. You probably have bad taste, anyway.