crescentview | Fall Catchall

( Mishka had thought the farm had an impressive amount of variety, but the buffet clearly blows all that out of the water. He's piled a good amount onto his plate from the weird and wild, and he's gladly working away at the more unique flavors.

He prods his fork at some red, sautéed mushrooms mixed with white, roasted tentacles on his plate, taking it up for a bite. )

They even have Hell's Reach here. There's a great bounty on these at home— to forge into alchemical oil, granted, but they're quite difficult to find and gather.

( To that extent, it's almost decadent to eat them. A cluster of these, when synthesized, is worth 25 gold; that could keep a man set for several lifetimes. Eating it feels almost perverse.

Such is the face of luxury, he supposes. )

[Syrlya has kept himself very composed since they boarded the boat, although he still fixed Mishka with frequent pursed-lipped glances. But there is a third party here, and Flynn is none the wiser to the reasons that Syrlya is a bit wary about now being on a date with Mishka.

It's fine. With three people, he can just disregard anything remotely romantic about it.

His own dish is a roasted, herbed duck with a sweet sauce and side vegetables. Nothing particularly intriguing like tentacles, but compliments to the chef because it is delicious.

Though, he is eying Mishka's dish with curious interest.] I would assume the goddess has taken further pointers from our own worlds for this affair.

[ As far as Flynn is concerned, they're all here to have a very nice date. He expects at least a little awkwardness; his understanding of the circumstances might be vague at best, but from Mishka's explanation, Syrlya was having a fight with another friend. In which case he'll just have to do his best to dispel any tension. ]

I suppose if she can bring people over, then food would be simple. How are they as an ingredient?

[ He has no plans of trying anything with tentacles, even if some of the meat in his "beef" stew is more than the usual amount of gamey. That's different. ]

Spicy, to an abnormal degree. It's said these are wreathed in the fires of hell. Typically, these are used to coat armors to allow one to walk through fire unharmed... I'm not surprised it has such a particularly strong taste.

( Mishka, for his part, is acting quite normal about this. It's a date, of sorts, but it's more an outing with friends (with one new friend and one who's peeved with him, but anyway), which is just fine by him.

He's also taking in the spice like it's regular. He's got other unusual things on his plate besides just the mushrooms, but this is the most interesting one because he recognizes it. )

You enjoy cooking, yes? You can find all sorts of unusual ingredients about the island if you look. I can take you on a mushroom tour, sometime.

[Abnormally spicy?? Syrlya squints suspiciously at Mishka's plate.]

What you find around her is much more innocuous than that. [Just don't eat the poison mushrooms.]

Flame-resistant armor does sound useful...

[ Spicy, though! Flynn eyes them in consideration. Nevermind the tentacles, he might need to try those while they have the chance here. ]

Is it? Then if you have the free time, I'd like that. I'm sure I could really make something exciting with more local ingredients.

[ He'll make Yuri eat his words. And the lethal cooking. ]

Quite. It is especially popular among those who guard merchant caravans; there are a surprising amount of creatures that startle into a ball of flame when they seem otherwise unignitable.

( Never trust anything out in the wilds... But a guy from a Tales game and MMORPG probably understand that.

RIP to Yuri, in any case. )

Exciting, though, sounds intriguing. What sort of things do you prefer to cook?

[Syrlya averts his attention to Flynn, and similarly awaits an answer as he cuts away another piece of duck.]

Oh! All sorts of things. I don't often have the chance when I'm on duty, [ because his subordinates are onto him and will stop him at all costs, ] but I like to think my specialties are stews and meat dishes. Monster meat was always cheap, so I had some practice. What about the two of you?

[ Do they like to cook? Probably everyone likes to cook. ]

Hm, duty as a knight must be quite busy if you rarely had the chance to cook, yes?

( Cooking monster meat, though, is quite practical, and he seems to like the idea of it. Not always doable in Ostoya, but an idea to hold onto later. )

Myself, I'd had access to a limited set of ingredients at home, so my cooking trends toward nutritious and practical, if austere. Still, I've come to relish those things with a strong flavor, here, because of it.

I've never really learned to cook. [He doesn't sound ashamed to admit that.] I'm usually on the go, so I stick to rations and what can be foraged from the land... if I'm in the city, I'll enjoy the skills of those who have had time to hone their craft.

[ Strong flavor... Mishka understands him. Flynn feels so validated in his cooking choices now. His eyes are shining with earnest joy and intent. ]

It's pretty difficult to cook on the road. There are so many fresh ingredients here, though. I've been enjoying just seeing how they turn out.

Ah, you've been experimenting? You'll have to let me try your inventions. They sound sure to be interesting.

( Flynn is so cute... He'll support him and his cooking. Let him live his chef-knight dreams. )

Really, I've never been a patron to other people's cooking so often as I have here. You really never know what a person might slip into your food, yes? It doesn't affect me, but it certainly can affect my men.

Edited 2023-02-05 09:57 (UTC)

[Syrlya hums in affirmation. Yes, it is hard to cook when you need to pack light and move quickly. Years with a military organization of some sort prepped him to tolerate easy to transport rations.]

I would also be curious to try what sorts of things you have been making here. Everyone should have a full harvest now to trade for.

Oh! I didn't think we needed more food at the moment, but actually, I brought cake for both of you. I left it back in the suite.

[ And isn't that something to look forward to? Although Mishka's words get a tiny thoughtful frown. ]

You must have a very difficult job, if... unexpected additives are such a common concern.

[ With a little glance towards Syrlya, because it's not just him finding this unusual, right? ]

Then we ought enjoy it all together once we return to it. That should be fun.

( He's expecting some kind of spicy and/or horrendous abomination, and he hopes not to be let down! )

Ah, I work with money matters, as happens. Mishka, Chief of Finance.

( Everyone poisons accountants, as we all know. He is not, however, lying; he is actually chief of finance. Just, you know, he also does other stuff, )

The organization I work for is a behemoth in trade; the primary force in the country. As no one understands the flow of trade and coin as acutely as I do in my home country, nor the financial structure of my company, many would benefit from my death or compromise, or a timely betrayal over to their own faction.

( Some attempt bribery, but it's a little hard to top the amount of money he deals with as chief of finance of a trade-slash-criminal organization. )

Of course, I am employed for life, so it is in my best interests to remain permanently loyal. I imagine neither your factions enjoy defectors, either.

Did you really? [That's so sweet... a cake for them.

He looks aside at Mishka, already knowing from Adelis he does far more than trade... but those are secrets he won't spill.

He pauses around another bite of food.] I haven't exactly been part of such an organization for a long time--it was a military but a long time ago I took an early retirement so that I could continue the fight from a different avenue. I still count them among my allies, however.

Our enemy wasn't one that people really defect to willingly.

Oh, were you military as well? That explains the travel.

[ It's probably accurate enough to call the knights 'military,' for lack of a better way to put it. He gives that comparison a thoughtful little hum as he takes another bite of his stew. ]

I wouldn't say the knights are quite as strict as that. Anyone from the Empire could freely leave to join the guilds, if they chose to take the risk. But we aren't on hostile terms, either. [ When people take a hit out on Flynn, it's usually nobles on his own side... ] I can see why a position handling so much money would be dangerous, though.

( If DW would only give me notifs for this thread I tracked with my own hands... )

It must be quite nice, having general freedom to join whichever guild you might choose. ( Imagine freedom, really. ) I can only imagine there's a merchant's guild of some sort, yes? People grow strangely fixated on money. Especially in poorer regions.

( Then, to Syrlya: )

Ah, though, are these enemies the dragons you spoke of?

( While he thinks most people wouldn't defect willingly to the dragons he knew, he is pretty sure most could be persuaded to become thralls if they believed they might be better masters. Is that not how noble Ostoyans came to be, after all? Selling them and their family lines out in exchange for safety?

In any case, he supposes the dragons of Syrlya's world are by far less appealing. )

[Syrlya nods.] That's correct. Elder Dragons, though they fought with vast armies of minions, carrying out their destructive will and... assisting in their ability to consume Tyria's magic.

[He taps his fork against a piece of duck, thoughtful.] They were a broken aspect of Tyria's magic regulation and went through cycles where their hunger wiped out much life on Tyria. We... lacked a lot of options for dealing with them in a timely manner. But they were primordial and overall, not the sort you can talk to.

[Those that you could talk to... it was dangerous to.]

Fortune's Market. They're responsible for a majority of the trade that goes on in Terca Lumireis.

[ People are fixated on money, and on not being the one to run the monster gauntlet every time they set foot outside a town barrier, he supposes.

But he leans back in his seat to listen to Syrlya, frowning a little in thought. There are certain parallels he can't help observing. ]

It seems like a shame that you had no way to communicate with them. I suppose monsters are more like forces of nature, but that doesn't leave you with many options.

[ Sometimes, some things are bent on world destruction and that's all there is to it. But it's more of a shame when they're sentient. ]

( Primordial, hm. It certainly would make it much more difficult to defect to a thing that hardly knows or cares for your existence! )

Some monsters were humans once too, no?

( That sounds philosophical, and maybe it can be, but he means it truly literally. Some monsters really were once human, even if Syrlya's weren't. Etharis can't be the only land whose people and creatures are at times interchangeable. )

But some, too, are only manifestations of the natural way of things. I heard something interesting from a friend of mine who's been around for some centuries by now.

( He takes a sip of his drink, considering the pretty words of an untrustworthy bard, whose every truth lined up with all sources he could find— any of them could find. )

Some thousands of years ago, in my home, there was a beast that would appear, and in its wake, things would end. Where it stepped, the soil was barren; where it was seen, no warmth could grow. People decayed; animals changed. Some things simply ceased to be.

It was very small, once, and now it is larger than one can imagine— or so the stories go. It is said, also, that beyond our one continent, there is no other land in the ocean, though there once used to be. There is now only us, on an endless sea, and a hungry, growing beast.

Perhaps your dragons are not ravenous out of error, but because it is the natural way of things. It is the right of things that live to resist decay, but, still, don't all things end?

But, as you said, things that live resist their decay. Especially prey, under the gaze of a predator. [Sorry, Flynn, you're now stuck in the middle of a debate about this.]

What they became... was not how they were intended. But it is what they became all the same, and for long enough Tyria does not know them any other way. Our only option was us, or them. And we chose us.

[And... that was not always an easy decision.] In the end, the real problem was that we were nothing to them. Just ants, insignificant, not worthy of consideration against their ravenous hunger.

[ This is fine! This philosophical debate is, fortunately or unfortunately, right to Flynn's interests. He watches them both intently. ]

Even something like "predator" or "prey" is a matter of perspective. At a certain point... I think it's not a question of fault, or even right or wrong. If there's no recourse other than fighting, then of course both sides will fight.

[ "Ravenous creatures consuming the world around them" is a pretty clear division, on the one hand. But they hadn't started out that way, apparently. ]

Do you know why they changed?

Can it be considered a fight, really, against a thing so cosmically grand? When you are an ant, all you can do is scurry about its feet, and find some place to hide.

( He leans back in his seat, resting an elbow over the back of his chair. )

Not that I suggest one must lay down and die. Myself, I had been at work carving away our beast's path to Ostoya, so that it might not heckle our country alone for some few hundred more years. But that is the best that anyone could do, and even that was a comically ambitious aspiration.

Edited 2023-02-18 07:08 (UTC)

Fall Catchall

mishka > syrlya > flynn

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