ꙮ The day of the festival’s finally arrived. Judges and revelers have come in from all throughout the Beast - mostly via train, but there were a couple very Traditional Processions, over the past few days, making their way into town. The Queen’s been busy - festivals are a time of renewed commitment to the complicated system of Clan-pacts and loyalties that keep the Beast functioning, and there’s been more than one delegation from afar making its way up and then back down the precipitous staircase leading to the Queen’s hall– but now? Now, everyone who’s anyone’s gathered in and around Spice Row, and business is booming for everyone - almost every restaurant’s got one of their own variants of one or more of the Soups for sale, even if they’re not participating in the festival proper. The six of you are, despite not being the Queen’s champions, here on her invitation, more or less - Saranzaya met up with all of you, at the Five Moons’ Rest, and made sure you could cut through the crowd to some much quieter rooms away from the throng.
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← Active ScenesThe Three Grand Soups (Of Which There Are Four)
has just finished some urgent repairs and put on a fresh coat of some wax to polish up a bit. They walked in a few hours ago a little worse for wear, but seemed in good spirits.
is pacing slightly as he reviews the recipes he wrote based on the earlier kitchen experiments with Luĉja. “We’ve got everything we need, courtesy of our generous Prince,” he tells him. “Now it’s our turn to execute and make good on all the work of our friends.”
claps their hands together. “Good fortune for us! The finest ingredients in three worlds shall be a great benefit. The Queen sends her regards and some bluster about us taking second. We shall have her eat words and soup tonight.”
, looking both oddly worn and yet strangely refreshed, punches one fist into the palm of the other hand. “As I can aid, so I shall!”
does sign autographs and shake hands and kiss as he flits through the crowd, letting the security detail lead the way. He’s dressed in a tang made of fine, dark red silk with black embroidery- on the back is the showcase of a demon breathing fire, with smoke coming out its nose. His pants are black, with red stitching up the sides, blossoming into roses that act as pocket covers.
: “Leave ‘em dazed, dazzled, and full! Let ‘em taste the truth that burns deliciously!”
shakes his head while trailing behind the rest of the group.
is also trailing behind the rest of the group, but is more amused than exasperated.
ꙮ A lot of prep work’s been done, there’s a lot ready to get staged and waiting in the FU– so you’re mostly just making sure you’re at the right place at the right time, for the time being, settling into what’s effectively a green room. You don’t need any of the kitchen facilities offered as part of the festival, of course; you’ve got the Library for that.
ꙮ Shortly after you settle in, though, there’s a knock at the door.
gets up to open the door because to be honest, she’s not doing anything—mostly trying to stay out of the way.
ꙮ Standing on the other side is a young metahuman man holding a black-lacquered, gold-tipped mobility cane, with immaculately floofy gold hair and perked-up catlike ears; he’s got a black sash on over his eyes and is wearing a black velvet doublet with lacy ruffles, both of which have been elaborately, intricately embroidered in black and red.
: “Hi, Clan Emberlight?” He grins, brightly, ears swiveling.
: “That would be us, yes.”
: “You got ‘em!”
: “Oh, good. I’m technically not supposed to be here.” He grins, conspiratorially. “But I wanted to say hi before the festival properly started.”
: “It’s okay, the backstage pass is hanging from your neck.”
: “To whom do we owe the honor?”
: “I’m Tosch Habhokha, Queen’s Champion in the Three Grand Soups!” His tail lashes, back and forth; the fur at the end is dyed black like the fur on his ears. “Even though you’re not -supposed- to talk to each other before the Soups, everyone always does it, and I didn’t want you to be left out. Anyways…!”
: “I can’t wait to taste what you’re gonna share with us all today. I’m gonna do my best to win, and I hope that means you enjoy my work, too!”
looks at Luĉja and Aurelius for cues. Is this normal? Is this some sort of weird Iron-Chef sabotage? Should she shut the door in his face?
: “Oh I promise you that everyone’ll be feelin’ and reelin’. You won’t believe your eyes.”
shrugs.
: “Well met, Tosch Habhokha. We too, will strive for victory and that you enjoy our entry as well.”
grins and gives a thumbs-up from further in. “Let’s give each other something to look forward to, then!”
just looks amused in the background.
does not see the thumbs-up, but he Immediately Processes The Vibe, and grins in Archie’s direction, recognising the Authoritative Tones of the Emberlight chef from another world he’s heard impossible stories about. And then he looks. Slightly awkwardly in the direction of whoever must have opened the door and whom he’s pretty sure is still standing there but hasn’t said anything– Clan Emberlight’s enforcer? Fierce and terrifying? He’s heard stories, too, of a duel with the Queen– Well! He coughs, and grins again. “–anyways, sorry for bothering you. I’ve got to go get to work. Catch you again in the amphitheatre!” –and he turns, sweeping his cane, and scampers off in the direction from which he came.
chuckles, leaning against a wall.
blinks. Did he just … well. Whatever. “Hi Zaya.” She shuts the door. “Are you here to sabotage us?”
: “You know, the festival isn’t about paranoia, it’s about soup.”
: “I suspect it can be both.”
: “No one would dare.”
: “Well, it didn’t seem likely, but it’s also worth asking.” She shrugs.
: “Some soups are mysterious. They’re so opaque you don’t know what lurks beneath the surface. Sometimes it’s a gnocchi. Sometimes it’s shallots.”
goes back to her nicely out-of-the-way corner and returns to her embroidery project.
looks over at Salme. “Wasn’t there a poem about those? Some lady who died about them?”
: “Admittedly curious which soup he’s doing, now, though. People’ve got Lucre on the Queen’s Champion doing bouillabaisse, on account of the red scorpionfish that’s a signature ingredient, if the Champion’s not doing the shark-fin. I suppose we’ll find out soon.”
blinks. “You mean The Lady of Shallot? ‘I am half sick of shadows’? That’s—different Shallot, brother.”
laughs, slapping his thigh!
grins in a very ‘dad joke’ kind of way. “Then why do they sound the same?”
opens her mouth to explain the concept of a ‘homophone’ and then closes it, a bit mulishly. “You know why.”
: “I definitely hope there’s no lethal shallots involved today.”
: “Don’t worry. It wasn’t the shallots that got her.” Though she’s frowning a bit now, the lines of the poem churning through her head.
: “Do they grow those on one of your worlds? I hope that’s not one of your secret ingredients.” She chuckles– she’s deliberately avoided knowing thing one about anything you’re actually planning, Soups-wise. “I suppose I should get going and make sure everything’s in order, though. Good luck today, my friends.”
: “Enjoy the soups, Friend-Saranzaya.”
picks at her embroidery. “I did have a quick … thing I wanted to mention. It doesn’t have to do with the contest.”
nods. “What is it?”
makes a couple stitches of radiant-gold thread on the back of the shell of a giant tortoise. It’s almost finished. She sews as she speaks. “Last time, with Duškomira, Tasna, and Xilai, I mentioned a theory and I prefaced it by saying Jorule had called it stupid. And I wanted to clarify that he hadn’t, actually, called it stupid. He hadn’t agreed with everything, but the ‘stupid’ part was me bringing my own—lack of confidence to it.” Stitch stitch stitch. She looks up and carefully meets everyone’s eyes, but spends an extra moment looking at Wolf. “He doesn’t do that. He’s a good—he’s a good sounding board. He doesn’t call me stupid. I just hear ‘stupid’ from people a lot of the time.”
kisses pinched fingeres and points at the sky. “Message received. You’re off the hook, J-Ru.”
looks around, slightly confused, but nods supportively.
looks slightly confused himself, but nods. “That is…good to know.”
softens his gaze for a moment, giving her shoulder a squeeze. “Of all the things you are, stupid has never been one of them.”
blinks at Archie for a moment, and then gives him a slightly shy smile. Maybe hearing that, from him in particular, means a lot.
: “I concur. You grasp many concepts that I cannot even attempt without gaining myself a headache.”
returns the smile before he refocuses his attention on the recipes. “Are we ready to get cooking?”
: “One moment.” She holds up the embroidery. It’s finished, a thin strip of light green fabric with a small brown sparrow swooping in from one side and a blue jay, gleaming bright against a streak of darkness, on the other. Then there’s a fox limned in gold and a wolf limned in flame. Two otters, one swimming right-side up with purple eyes, the other upside down with iridescent streamers, bracket a large tortoise with clockwork gears peaking out under its radiant, luminescent shell. “I started this on Almachadta, for us. Clan Emberlight. I was thinking we could hang it behind Archie when he’s cooking.”
eyes gleam, and he slowly, carefully creeps forward to inspect it. He stops just short of touching it, his head tilting this way and that to observe the details.
: “Ohh…!”
nods slowly. “That shouldn’t be too hard to set up.”
peers at it, then smiles at Salme warmly. “It is beautiful. I think we should.”
: “And,” she blushes a bit, for taking up too much time. “Aurelius taught me how to take still images and put them in the library. I was wondering, Archie, if you’d like it if I did that for you, so Caion could see your triumph.”
: “It’s gorgeous! That’s all of us and Caion!”
nods approvingly. They look like they would either be crying or smiling. It’s hard to tell.
looks at it, touched. “I would love nothing more. Though, if I can ask… two otters?”
: “Yeah. You’re the one with the purple eyes, and Caion is the one with the streamers.” She says it like it’s obvious, like Caion obviously would have to be included there.
makes a mental note that Archie does not keep track of how often the linkpearl threads are updating.
reaches his hand into his jacket for some deep and well-secured pocket, finding there a purple scarf which he rubs between his fingers like a worry stone. “Of course.”
: “Now you can get cooking, Arcs-Through-the-Depths.”
leans up and gives Salme a kiss on the cheek. “Excellent work, deft and creative sparrow!”
: “The clan crest shall unmistakably announce the upcoming triumph!”
: “Well a crest would need to be much simpler. I have an idea for that but—“ she shakes her head. “This is like the extended edition.”
beams at her, then at the thought of victory. “Nothing to it but to do it. Library time?”
looks over to Luĉja for some sign that he, too, is ready to delve in.
: “If we are free to begin, then I am ready.”
ꙮ Things seem like they’ve been amping up for the festivial - Saranzaya took her leave to go keep track of things, and the festival kitchens are all starting to get busy. This actual contest – one of the oldest, and most traditional – is more about the presentation of the Soups themselves than about flashily cooking them, so most of the impressive work happens in the amphitheatre’s kitchens (or in the Library’s, in your case.)
nods to the group with a reassuring, confident smile, and enters the Library.
follows suit
follows as well
ꙮ Vwoosh, vwoosh, and then through into the annex and into the Kitchen.
makes his way through the familiar path to the kitchen. “The good news is that today is mostly about assembly. We’ve made the Almachadtan dumpling dough and I dehydrated and powderized the mushrooms for the garnish, the gelatinized filling and dough for the Samudran dumpling is done, the filling for the momo has been prepped and the dough prepared, and the soup itself is in the FU. We just need to fill, wrap, and cook the dumplings, make the Samudran dipping sauce, and simmer the soup.”
gets ready to work, giving their hands a quick spin to warm up. Like…well…clockwork, they begin rolling out dough and cutting it. Once they’ve got a tray, they carefully place a spoonful of filling on each, before sliding the tray over to Archie.
listens, and positions herself in front of the sink and starts washing any dish that may or may not need washing.
is waiting outside of the tablet, having donned some dark goggles, his right hand tightly embracing a set of ruby-red spiked knuckles, standing guard.
ꙮ There’s something for everyone to do, under Luĉja and Archie’s well-considered plans!
pinches together each dumpling in the signature style he learned - flat but with a patterned edge for Almachadta, folded into a pleated swirl for Samudra, and neatly pressed into a single, mountainous ridge for Beast. “Ready to cook! One boiled, one steamed, one fried.”
does whatever he’s told with his usual aplomb and focus–he’s really quite precise, when he wants to be.
laughs, watching them, even as she’s up to her elbows in suds (the kitchen probably is self-cleaning, but she likes keeping her hands busy). “They look beautiful.”
luckily, Luĉja also operates as a kitchen timer, taking batches of dumplings out of the fryer / off the stove at exactly the right moment.
: “Salme and Wolf, can we ask you to taste test the mushroom powder? I wasn’t sure if it needed anything.”
ꙮ Always a good idea to ask an expert!
taps his fist to his chest in salute, locates the mushroom powder, and takes a pinch, which he drops onto his tongue. “Hmm….”
rinses her hands and dries them on a delightfully fluffy towel, then goes over next to Wolf and tries a pinch as well.
ꙮ The towels are truly incredibly fluffy. It’s amazing.
blinks. “Well. It’s incredibly good to me. Rich and earthy, but not overly so? However, I am not a veteran taste-tester.”
ꙮ Wolf, on the other hand…
nods appreciatively. “It’s more important to know whether you think this is a fair representation of at least some of the taste of home. If it feels at all homey or nostalgic, we’re in business, and if there’s anything we can add or adjust to get there, we can do it.”
: “Oh! Well it definitely tastes like that to me. Reminds me of the mushrooms you can get from the Courtyard vendors who harvest things close to the Tangle.”
: “Oh!” His brow un-furrows; he takes a sip of water and then another taste. “…mm. Yes, indeed. It would definitely be considered a very high quality ingredient, back home. With that particular richness that only those things grown near the Tangle ever get.” He smiles at Archie. “You have nothing to fear, good chef.”
ꙮ It’s been a while since you had Almachadtan ingredients, not to impugn the honor of Samudra or the Beast… but they really, really are More Delicious.
smiles at the compliments and sets the bowl of mushroom powder by the prep station with a fine mesh sieve, ready to dust over the top of the finished raviolo.
: “Oh, and Aurelius, same question about this spoonful of momo filling. The meat’s been pre-cooked, you won’t get sick, but it’s more a question of if we got the right amount of Samudran peppers in it.”
thinks, with some degree of wry amusement, yes thank you silmät, I had almost forgot the threat of world-consumption.
: “Mmm, well, forewarned I’m not the biggest, ah, Fancy Food appreciator and probably don’t care for Heat in the same way judges might…” He takes a bite and chews thoughtfully. “Seems fine to me, which means you might want a little more…?”
nods. “Luĉja, what do you think of adding some to the dipping sauce for extra kick?”
: “I think that would work very well. Shall I mince some peppers for you, chef?”
ꙮ Watching Luĉja mince things, by the way, is its own reward, in and of and by itself. One highly recommends it.
does admire their mincing skill.
: “Please do! I’ll finish the sauce for the Samudran dumpling. Salme, could you put the container of soup in the FU in a pot and bring it to a simmer?” He gets together a few simple ingredients - some vinegar from there, lemongrass from here, a little salt and pepper - combines it in a bowl, and places it in a drawer with the time dial set for three hours to let the flavors merge.
A few of Luĉja’s gears shift, and suddenly one arm, and only the one is working in double time, rapidly rocking a knife through a heap of Samudran peppers. “Peppers ready!”
fetches the soup from the FU and pours it carefully into a pot, then turns out the stove temperature carefully, but not too high. Then she watches it carefully. Intently. Weaving a child’s string game of gnosis between her fingers as she waits.
: “Thank you both!” He takes the peppers, stirring them into a bright red foodstuff that sits somewhere between a sauce and a paste in its consistency. “Luĉja, the dumplings are finished, right? I think we’re ready to start plating up.” As he passes by the shark-fin soup, he drops something into the pot - tiny, fibrous, gleaming.
: “Dumplings are finished and under the warm-light.” They bring the trays over to the plating station.
ꙮ All at once, there’s a smell in the air that’s– individually, it’s not anything that any of you know, it’s something completely novel, and utterly enticing, meshing perfectly with the rest of the scents and flavours in the air.
: “Archie, I don’t know what you did, but it got better!”
sniffs experimentally, brow re-furrowing itself. “What did you…?”
smiles. “I can take very little credit for that one. All thanks go to our mysterious benefactor and the Prince who seems to have a habit for crossing paths with them.”
: “Someone really does love him,” she murmurs to herself.
ꙮ Out in the waking world, someone knocks on the door.
ꙮ Within the kitchen, meanwhile, preparation is wrapping up, it sounds like…?
: “Ehhhhhh?!”
: “Seems like that’s our cue.” Archie fusses for just a moment longer - a pop of green here, wiping off some extra mushroom podwer from the rim of a plate there - before collecting a beautifully plated display of food to bring back. “Could I get some extra hands bringing these back out? Try to step as evenly as you can.” Archie leads the way, stepping delicately, back to and through the entrance.
takes big, swaggering steps toward the door, placing a hand on it. “Who goes!”
grabs a couple trays, and follows Archie
can grab a tray, certainly.
picks up whatever needs picking up and carries it carefully.
turns out to be quite skilled at that kind of fine balance, barely even disturbing the soup as he walks.
ꙮ There’s a burly, sunglasses-wearing guy at the door. Gives the Awoken a once-over with his eyes but you can’t see it, ‘cause of the sunglasses. “You guys about ready to go?”
is sizing up the man, but you can’t see it due to the goggles! Two can play at that game. “It’s simmerin’, yeah! I’ll give ‘em a holler.”
ꙮ ”Good on ya. Give ‘em hell out there.” Gruff. Businesslike. Breathtakingly earnest.
pops out of the library, grinning at Awoken. “You’re cute.”
closes the door, then turns, his countenance brightening immediately. “Salme! I think they’re about ready for us!”
also blows a kiss to her, raises his goggles, and winks.
catches the kiss and winks back.
pops back out, setting the food he’s carrying on the prep station of the provided kitchen with careful delicacy. “They’ll never be ready for us,” he says with a wicked grin.
ꙮ You’re backstage at the amphitheatre proper - it’ll be a straight shot through the door and down the hallway. They’ve provided you a nice, big cart with some gnosis-powered heating elements, since you want the soup to be served hot, after all!
arranges the dishes on the cart as they arrive, taking them from each of his companions. “Luĉja and I will get to present together, right? I forgot to ask the organizers.”
: “Probably! You’re the stars, after all! And if the rules don’t work, break ‘em!”
ꙮ Could anyone really stop you? Think they’re gonna have a Rite on stage in the middle of the Grand Soups? …well, I mean, it is the Beast…
ꙮ …but it’s probably fine.
: “If not, there is no issue.”
can’t help but smile wide at both the Prince and NIP’s comments. “Luĉja, you had just as much of a hand in this as me. Besides, of all the people who could talk about the way the Beast changes, I think it would be best coming from you.”
ꙮ And, indeed, when you take the cart out into the light, it’s the six of you together, as Clan Emberlight, announced as participating in the Three Grand Soups–
ꙮ –but it’s traditional for a chef or a Clan to announce themselves and their intentions, themselves, beyond just the simple name given, and one of you came prepared for that, I think?
quickly goes about placing some then metal poles in the ground to hang Salme’s banner from.
ꙮ There’s attendants in Queen’s livery that help you with the poles and banner, Aurelius, as soon as they see you working on that.
smiles at Aurelius and gently bumps his shoulder once the banner is hung.
ꙮ A bit away from you in the Amphitheatre, waving like a goon as soon as he heard your name called out, is Tosch Habhokha, and he’s ALSO got a banner, intricate red-on-white Reacher embroidery. A bit away from him, there’s someone with an absolutely enormous papier-mache moveable Rite of three ridiculous species of land-fish locked in a brutal, deadly battle to the death, and then past him, there’s a Clan of little cat chefs and their human companions theatrically stretching noodles for the audience. Facing all of you, a long table, with the Queen Herself at the position of honor at the centre; Tasna’s there, along one side of the table, and she absolutely does not give you a quiet and friendly wave as you walk out into the amphitheatre.
: “OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BEASTIES!!!!” he bellows out over the crowd, swooping in front of the group’s path. “I HOPE Y’ALL GOT THE GUTS TO TEST YA’ GUT, BECAUSE THIS MULTIVERSAL BANQUET GOT QUITE THE CUT- HOLD THE SALT, NIX THE PEPPER, EXPERIENCES BROUGHT US TOGETHER, A LOST TRIBE, WANDERIN’ WITH A CLEAN VIBE- CLAN EMBERLIGHT GOT THE SOLUTION, TO THE IRON CHEF EXECUTION, PLATE ‘EM UP NOW!”
blinks flatly at the Awoken for a moment…then, slowly…begins to grin.
has to turn to hide a smile that threatens to turn into a full-blown cackle at Awa’s announcement.
looks a little confused at first but quickly picks up on the energy, his cart-pushing getting a little more energetic, his gait turning into almost something a strut. He seems to gain an inch in height - proportionally, quite a bit - as he puffs his chest out to the crowd. “We’re here to show you that the world of flavors we live in is so much bigger than you could ever imagine, and that we really are better together. And together, we are left changed.” He looks up to Luĉja to continue.
: “Judges, Visitors, Friends, we bring you a soup that both follows our greatest traditions and pushes the limits of our past. Our Sharkfin Soup itself, represents the Beast, and all her peoples, ever-changing, ever-moving forward. With it, we have prepared a course of dumplings to be mixed into, and eaten with the soup, one, by one. With flavors from farther than our trains could ever take us, please experience and enjoy the journey.” They look to Archie for the more technical explanation.
is transfixed, and grinning. There’s a competitive smirk-edge to the grin but it’s also wholly sincere-
: “We invite you to first try the soup on its own. As you make your way through each of the three styles of dumpling presented, please take a bite of each and add the rest, including the extra sauce, to the soup, stirring as you go.”
ꙮ The crowd goes wild, clapping and cheering! From the judges’ table, you can -see- the Scorpion Queen grinning. Tosch Habhokha gets in a spiel - about how he was inspired by the legend of the blind poet who introduced Reacher borscht to Queenstown for the first time, generations ago, that Queenstown and its culinary marvels meant that while he couldn’t hunt with his clan, he could still represent them, and bring joy to many! And then there’s… some kind of strange improvisational theatre involving people dressed up as a red scorpionfish and two other kinds of land-fish, battling it out for bouillabaisse dominance…? It’s unclear what’s really happening, there.
does shoot Aurelius a wry glance and raise a single eyebrow, sort of like, and you keep saying my plane is fucking weird. He probably doesn’t notice though.
ꙮ And then it’s time for plating - as Archie and Luĉja recommended, the soup is ladled out, and dumplings and special sauces, after that, and two bottles of the red elixir that you were given, enough to pour a little tasting glass for everyone, including all six of you– and for those who haven’t tried THAT, yet, it tastes like whatever the most delicious and refreshing drink could possibly be for you, personally, when you sip it, and I’d love to know what that is– and you get little bowls of the borscht (which is, in fact, stunningly good, a fusion of Reacher tradition and Queenstown expertise if ever there was one) and the bouillabaisse (which is Quite Good, all things considered, they clearly didn’t spend all their time on the papier-mache and interpretive dance).
drinks, and it’s again that a sharp mint leads, and melts into a cinnamon warmth, choosing to have small spoonfuls of the borscht and bouillabaisse between sips.
ꙮ And then a quiet descends over the amphitheatre, as the judges (and the participants) sample the work. A quiet, punctuated by an exclamation from someone, often Tosch, but occasionally, one of the judges, about a Samudran pepper, or a xiaolongbao blowing their minds, or the completely, wildly new flavour they’ve never tasted before, and couldn’t heretofore imagine, which is actually several of them, honestly–
drinks hers, and it’s something like a crisp, white wine—not particularly sweet, but not overly dry. Delicate, with flavors she couldn’t begin to pick out.
sips–and then his eyebrows lift and his eyes go wide; for it’s Xilai’s mead, but even better, somehow–with a hint of some kind of spice that he can’t quite name but has definitely tasted before.
takes a sip of their elixir, and they have no words for what this tastes like. It is somehow sour and sweet, but…metallic, instead of botanical?
does try the borscht and bouillabaisse carefully and thoughtfully, and she finishes her small portion of each before digging into Archie and Luĉja’s creation.
wonders where the hell Awa stole two bottles of cherry vanilla dr. pepper that look like wine from.
takes another sip of the red elixir from the other night, its unique mix of fizzy and milky textures carrying the sweet and slightly floral taste across his palate in between sips of soup.
ꙮ And slowly the silence-punctuated-by-exclamations gives way to pleasant chatter and the clinking of spoons against bowls, gives way to laughter and banter at the judges’ table, and Tasna says SOMETHING that sears the ears off of everyone in earshot, which tragically does not include any of you at the moment she says it–
does flick her eyes up to look at the judges’ table. She considers—wonders, if she could strain her gnosis far enough to hear—but instead she just finds herself watching Jae.
does meet Salme’s gaze, while Salme’s looking in her direction, and she winks mid-slurp. And she is, in fact, wearing the artifact as a necklace, tucked against her heart.
can’t quite help herself. She sees the necklace, and her smile widens, and she mouths something that Jae can read clearly, but likely no one else can, since no one’s really looking at her.
ꙮ Something indescribable happens to the Scorpion Queen’s face which she immediately cancels into taking a very nice, long, thorough sip of Beverage. Possibly someone else’s, by mistake. It’s the Queen, she can get away with that kind of thing.
tries to catch Tosch’s glance, and when he does finally succeed at making eye contact, he gestures down to Tosch’s bowl, gives a thumbs up and a dramatic nod. There might be a wink concealed in it, but you’re not sure.
does not radiate gnosis, but does radiate pleased self-satisfaction. She’s still watching Jae, almost idly, even as her soup takes her on a journey. She can multitask.
ꙮ There are SEVERAL journeys being embarked on at the judge’s table– and the crowd is going nuts in anticipation of the Exciting New Restaurant that will surely be opening within the next few months, and they’re going to be disappointed in THAT regard but not disappointed at all as the judges convene, and murmur amongst themselves, and it really doesn’t seem like there’s too much disagreement, all things considered–
waits until she’s done with her food, and she eats slowly, and savours every bite, and everyone else can wait for her to be done or they can kvetch about it to their neighbor. But then she stands, and her voice carries, amplified by gnosis or not it’s honestly hard to tell, it’s that loud and clear. “Could Clan Emberlight and Tosch Habhokha please approach the judges’ table.”
stands, with a bow to the judges and a wave to the crowd, and approaches.
dabs at his lips with a napkin, sets his utensils to the side, and smoothly stands from his seat, maneuvering around the team’s table, and toward the judge’s table.
rises and follows Archie, also slightly bowing to the judges and the the Queen
follows behind their clan chefs, but she doesn’t bow.
makes his way to the stage, cane scanning the ground in front of him as he walks– he did not, tragically, see Archie’s wink earlier, but as soon as he hears Archie say something on the way up his ear perks up and he hiss-whispers “(Your soup was MAGNIFICENT, stars above)”–
brings up the rear, saluting politely, but not bowing either.
whispers back, “yours was too, the fusion of styles is impressive! You’ve represented your hometown well!”
looks over all assembled, pleased and haughty and haughtily pleased. “Tosch Habhokha. In recognition of your work weaving Reach tradition with Queenstown innovation, and the boldness of your decision to follow your heart and your inspiration and defy expectations: The Argent Spoon.”
then, glances over the six of you, her eyes stopping on each of them individually, although lingering on some longer than on others. “Clan Emberlight. In recognition of your utter reconfiguration of our culinary landscape, of taking us all on a journey along strange paths to lands which would otherwise remain forever out of reach: the Aurichalcum Spoon, and victory in the Grand Soups Challenge.”
instantly breaks into a big grin, and nearly tackle-hugs Archie from behind.
raises his fists in triumph, bellowing a loud whooping cheer!!
staggers a little at the surprise but quickly regains his footing, bouncing with joy.
: “Grats.”
inclines her head in acknowledgment, but she knew Archie and Luĉja would win. She never doubted for an instant.
: “A job well done. Thank you.”
ꙮ And the crowd, and the judges, and the other competitors, even, go wild, celebrating Emberlight and Habhokha alike, celebrating this strange, magical occurrence – hoping, almost certainly, many of them, that they’d soon get the chance to try these flavours truly from another world entirely.
is determined not to let them down, and has a plan to do so. But that can wait, for now. Now is a time for feasting and celebration.
does, hopefully quiet enough that only Jae and maybe some of her Clan can hear her, murmur, “Though it is a pity that what was staked on this competition was already achieved by us. Don’t suppose you’d be willing to renegotiate for information, my Queen?”
eyes Salme dangerously, a smile curling up one corner of her mouth. “Stick a pin in that one, we’ll talk in a few minutes.”
: “Consider it stuck.”
briefly frowns at something about the phrasing, but it’s gone quickly.
ꙮ And, indeed, although the feasting’s done for all of you, and the judges, there’s still some celebration and ritual to get through - nothing too absurd, although you each DO get a little ceremonial deep spoon, a PROPER spoon, not any of that shallow-spoon useless nonsense, although it’s. A ceremonial spoon anyways, so I suppose it doesn’t matter? Anyways, they’re made of a metal that’s like gold if gold had rainbows trapped in it, shimmering and magnificent.
ꙮ And then you end up filing your way back into the back rooms of the amphitheatre, the six of you and the Scorpion Queen, and she flops down bodily in the first chair she finds that seems like it might be sturdy enough.
: “…I suppose I can’t exactly give you the reward we agreed on when we set the stakes, can I.”
: “I don’t see what’s preventing you from doing so, even if we no longer need it.”
casually puts his hands behind his head. “We’re nosy. Shit happens.”
leans against the wall. “Well. You kind of engineered it to be so, didn’t you?”
: “I mean, I was goozlin’ ya in the first place, yeah.”
: “Give us somethin’ else, somethin’ jucier.”
: “I’m Jae the Scorpion Queen and, dag-nabit, I just cannot for the life of me find these landsharks and you idiots can’t find the interplanar travelers. A trade for a trade.” She doesn’t do the hand puppet, but her fingers twitch like she wants to.
sniggers into an amused snort.
cackles, abruptly. Grins.
: “C’mon, you had fun.”
: “You had fun AND you rocked Spice Row’s world.”
nods. “It was unfair for you to pick that cute a champion, though. I almost felt bad for beating him so handily.” He flashes a wide, teasing grin.
grins at Archie. “He’s GONNA ask you to start a restaurant together, I’m warning you, I saw the way his ears were wigglin’. He’ll do great on his own, though. We’ll have his back. I know you’ve got stuff to do. Which.” She glances between the six of you. “What’s your next play? You get what you needed from V and them?”
shoves his hands into his pockets. “The Deepforge, the space between worlds, Mu, and Valais. In no particular order!”
: “Uh, you mean in that very specific order.”
: “Actually, probably that particular order.”
: “There’s a chance we get to Valais first! And might have a launch attempt before the Deepforge…”
: “There really isn’t.”
: “We didn’t get precisely what we needed from V either. Though you knew we wouldn’t, didn’t you?”
shrugs luxuriantly. “You want all -kinds- of things, it’s very nice. You can’t expect me to keep track of all the details.”
: “Yes, you after all, must remain sane.” Luĉja jokes.
’s eyes aren’t sparking fire, but they look like they might. She inclines her head again. “Fair enough. But you’d think, since you had that much fun, since you enjoyed yourself so thoroughly, you might give us some tidbit we didn’t have before?”
holds up his back of his hands, flexing his fingers. “Greed is good, and there’s plenty for the taking.”
glances at Salme. At all of them, really, but definitely at Salme. “I’d say you’ve gotten more of me than most people whose Queen I’ve been for their entire lives. You have all that I’m willing to give. And my imprimatur to enter the depths of the Forge. Somehow, I get the feeling the six of you will shrug off the danger.” She kicks one leg over the other.
stands up from his lean against the wall, finally breaking his silence. “I’m fine with that. I’m sure you have your reasons, and honestly, I doubt you have many more answers than the Deepforge will provide. No offense, of course. I have my satisfaction and my answer. A deal’s a deal.”
: “Fascinating. One more question, Hero-Queen. Did the previous…Firsts…also go to the Deepforge?”
flicks her gaze to Luĉja.
: “Hn. Eventually. Not this early.”
: “This time will be different.” Archie recites the words.
: “We’re also gonna figure out the moons for ya’, don’t get up.”
glances, sharply but not unpleasantly, to Archie, lets her gaze linger for a moment.
: “The theory about them being seals is probably true, which means they’re fading away because it’s being broken.”
: “Yeah but who’s breaking them? The Beast herself? The Mother of Monsters at the heart of the Deepforge?”
: “Do they just count down, like the hands of a clock?”
softly exhales. “I’m not sure. I’m still not sure. After all this time. It’s like the world wants to warn me. The first Endjinn… eventually, the moons start goin’. Tick, tock, time-marked.”
: “You’re… not sure. You’ve had how many thousands of years… and you’re not sure.”
does move from her space on the wall, goes over to rest her hand on Jae’s shoulder. Squeezes, once, twice.
: “Yeah. Because. I have absolutely fuck and all information about how it works.”
: “If I may ask,” Wolf says, slowly. “A possibly impertinent question.”
slowly takes a breath, and turns towards Wolf, and smiles, almost brightly. “Go for it.”
: “(Just fire it off, Wolf! Beg forgiveness rather than ask permission!)”
gives the Awoken a very dry look and then forges ahead. “Zosimos. Why did you get rid of him?”
lets out a long, slow whistle. “Goddess, that was.” She looks up, laughs. “I think he pissed me off? It was a long time ago. Didn’t keep a diary, mighta should’ve.” She shakes her head. “But I think he… heh. He didn’t want to -fight- it. Wanted to live with it, live through it, instead of kicking and screaming and raging at the dying of the light. And now look at -me-.” And she gives Wolf a caught-dead-to-rights look, and shrugs.
: “You called him a ‘chump,’” she chirps helpfully, hand still on Jae’s shoulder. She squeezes again, this time a bit tighter, with nails.
: “Yeah, that was accurate.”
tilts his head. “I see. How ironic, that you simply took the place of his mechanism of continuity.”
: “Yeaaaaaah. I can get Zaya to calligraph a formal certificate stating that you’re allowed one (1) Laugh At The Scorpion Queen Free before you leave for the Forge if you want.”
: “Still rather it be me.”
: “Think I’ve done a pretty decent job of it.”
: “Because it’s so easy to endure cycle after cycle and keep a heroic pep in your step. Why not just never give up, no matter how many times you have to watch the world end in flames?”
: “That’s why you won’t be able to solve the problem.”
pauses, giving a glance to Salme, then sighs.
looks at Aurelius and Salme like they’re making her drink Literal Poison and she’s going to Literally Die, but she, miraculously, does not argue.
: “…Anyway, I assume that means you didn’t have a hand in the false sky and it was like that when you got here?”
does draw her hand away from Jae’s shoulders, and crosses her arms across her chest, leaning against the wall.
: “I’d have done a wholeassed job on it if that’d been my work, please and thank you.”
glances around to the others, and continues, immediately: “Sky looks the same, even when you’re all the way on the other side of the Beast. Same star’s always right there when you look up, no matter where you are.”
: “Auxanyr,” she supplies helpfully, looking at Aurelius one moment before looking away.
: “Fair enough I guess.”
: “‘s a good star, at least.”
squints at Aurelius.
: “Was I right about Annarr having an extra secret stash even I didn’t know about, by the way?”
raises an eyebrow and does fully look at Aurelius at that.
considers for a moment, then decides being evasive or an asshole doesn’t help anyone. “Yes, out in the ancient tower that’s… well I thought it meant maybe the Beast wasn’t cycling, but you said it is, so, I assume that tower in particular survived a few of them.”
: “Hah, okay, that’s where he found ‘em. Alright. Cool. So–“ –and she can’t let herself be shown up by Aurelius’ honesty, damn it– “Ah, fuck. It’s like a reset to zero, every time. And the towers are always here from jump, and they’re always all fucked up like that. He and I talked about it, a few times, he told me about the safes. As far as I can figure, the safes were just -always- here, and have been the whole time. Like Salme’s cave. I’ve been lookin’ for more after he found those two. Haven’t found any yet. Don’t know why they were there.”
crosses one arm across his chest, supporting his elbow that’s propping his hand up to his chin. “Hmm….”
: “Interesting… especially because the pictures seem like they were taken immediately after it was constructed… but also, the machine got hit by something so fucking hot it melted parts on the inside.”
: “Pictures?”
: “Someone took pictures, world went to shit, pictures ended up in the magic anti world goin’ to shit box, towers got blasted to hell when the world went to shit, magic anti world going to shit box was fine. Seems normal to me.”
: “Yeah, ancient ass pictures of the mentioned tower, inside an airlock safe. That were so old the papers stashed inside with them had started to become undone.”
: “…I was doing other stuff while ya’ll were cooking.”
: “I noticed but I figured you’d either tell us or you wouldn’t.” She shrugs.
: “I figured going “hey so did ya’ll know the sky is FAKE“ right before the competition would have been distracting at best, but it’s over now.”
: “Solid strategy, honestly.”
: “That would have been a touch distracting.”
: “So, the sky here is fake, but it’s weird to live on the inside of the world?” Wolf looks distinctly amused.
: “Sininen and I figured there was something veiling the Beast from being able to see the … you know, giant infinite ocean below, and whatever is hiding what’s in the Empty Space from everything else. Good to have confirmation though.”
: “No, the sky being fake is weird and fucked up too. And also something I didn’t know until we got here.”
shrugs. “Fair.”
: “I betcha the moons are just clones of each other.” He clicks his tongue.
: “Pretty sure it’s not -fake- for what it’s worth, and just… the sky from one particular perspective, but you can see it everywhere.”
: “Still gonna try to reach them though.”
: “Anyways.”
: “There’s something fucky with the moons too. They’re illuminated differently from the observatory than if you’re standing on the Beast.” She pauses. “And they might be clones.”
: “Something’s displaying a false image to roughly 80% of the planet, that’s close enough to fake for government work and you know it.”
raises both eyebrows at Aurelius’ tone.
does wobbly hands with all four of her hands simultaneously at Aurelius.
: “…Clones?”
: “… why would government work be fake…?”, Archie mutters to himself, somewhat perplexed by the idiom.
: “Yeah, the exact same. Like one is the same as the next.”
just shrugs at Archie. He doesn’t get it either.
: “It’s weird, right?” She looks at Awoken, primarily, then at Aurelius. “Like. Bird bullshit instinct, but moons don’t work like that. They’re not all perfectly identical arranged in a hemisphere. They have to be different distances from the planet to circle it so they don’t, you know, run into each other?”
: “But the ones here all look alike and they are perfectly arranged like that.”
: “Oh like. Okay yeah. One moon projecting multiple images as part of the seal checks out with the rest of the false sky.”
: “Yeah. Normal if it’s all you ever knew, like a lot of things are. But definitely weird.”
shrugs. “I guess we won’t know unless we get lucky in the Observatory or if … whatever Aurelius and Awa are planning works.”
: “I don’t know if that idea even makes sense any more if we’re not sure there’s even a real target to aim for, but.”
: “Well you’ll find out real quick if the moon is solid?”
: “Shit, only one way to find out–“ –she nods at Salme.
: “Yeah doesn’t hurt to try.”
: “What’s the worst that could happen!” He puts his hands on his hips and smiles brightly!
lifts a finger, opening his mouth to answer that–and then decides it isn’t worth it, and shuts his mouth.
snorts, very softly, and sprawls back in the chair.
also does not answer that.
: “Ain’t gonna fuck up the moons any more than they already are. Anyways.”
surprisingly quietly: “…thank you. For the Soups. Things like that, they matter to people. And to me.”
: “We’re better together. I really believe that.”
: “It is the whole point of Queenstown. To stand together.”
: “And,” she says, gently, “you’ll remember it. Everyone will. But you’ll remember it for a very long time.” She pauses, and then adds, “Even longer if you start keeping a diary.”
ꙮ That might help, yes.