Harvest Bake Faire Part of the food court is a certain stall serving an array of baked delicacies sweet and savory. At the back is a small grill spit over a fire. Manning the stall is a single short female Yladian, short enough to be mistaken for a teenager. Surrounding the stall are other stalls by other vendors as well as tables for people to sit at and enjoy their food. At the front, the following line up of sweets can be seen: Sausage Roll: The classic: Buttery, flaky puff pastry wrapped around a pork sausage. A roll in one hand and a beer in the other is apparently asserted to be "a classic of the Northeast" (or the Scottish, if the Yladian somehow recognizes that you're a player). Made in large batches, it probably isn't as flaky as it should be, but with how drunk some patrons already are, who knows if they can tell? Baumkuchen: Apparently what's being made at the grill spit in the back. This multi-layered ring-shaped cake comes in two flavors: Pumpkin: The Dark Harvest special, this one is made with both pumpkin and the classic "pumpkin spice": ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. Yule Log: The winter special, this one is made with chocolate in the batter and the tree bark-like designs made with coffee cream. Religieuse: Two choux cream puffs, one large and one small, stacked on top of the other. Jack-o-Lantern: Milk chocolate Ganache and Blood Orange Jam fill these, decorated to resemble stacked jack-o-lanterns. Snowman: The top is filled with a brandied strawberry jam, made with Sylpha's Volcanic Strawberry Brandy. The bottom is a light vanilla custard to offset the jam. Like the other, it's decorated with two chocolate biscuit sticks and chocolate-covered coffee beans to resemble a snowman. Pumpkin Pie: The other classic: A rich slice of pumpkin pie with an optional topping of pecan praline. Service: Food
Alex's time working the “Dunk the Drunk” booth had certainly taken its toll on her. She was of a hardy constitution, and both Alex and Ursula knew how to handle their liquor, but after a few hours downing drink after drink even the stout were made to stumble about. She wasn't so far gone that she felt like vomiting, nor was she so lost that she was being turned away to sleep it off for now. However Alex was staggering about unsteadily enough that the guards were keeping a watchful eye on her antics and people that were not similarly intoxicated were making sure to stay clear of the swaying suit of armor. Alex was in search of food to help clear her dizzied head. Something to fill her stomach and sober her up, if only just a bit. After all she needed energy and a clearer head if she was going to go back to her booth. Staggering past the lines of people waiting to get many of the savory treats all over the faire, a spot opened up for a moment in front of a stall with an enticing smell. The greasy, savory, sausage rolls called to her inebriated stomach and Alex immediately pulled out coins and slapped them on the table with a bit more force than she had intended to use. “I'll take four!” her voice resonated metallicly within her helmet as she placed the order, pointing mostly at the sausage rolls. Only after she made the half shouted order did the enigmatic faerin realize how loud they were being. Trying her best she cleared her throat and added in a quieter tone “Please.” Then Alex caught sight of some kind of chocolatey looking ring shaped cake. The words explaining what it was were such a jumble that she was sure she had become too drunk to read and definitely needed to sit somewhere and sober up. “And one of those!” she declared, pointing at the delectable treat with a gauntleted finger. The sweet treat and promise of savory meats already had her salivating from the tempting scents that wafted in through the slots in her visor.
Bradwynne sighed as he went out of the tent where the Ale King contests were happening. By his gait and disposition it would seem that he had not drank alcohol yet, but they say it could be expected of a person within the top five of the rankings for the next Ale King. But in reality, Bradwynne was trying to fake what was happening in his body so that he could intimidate others into a drinking battle with him. He was using a spell to remove the cognitive effects of alcohol in his system so that when he would talk with others it would not be presumed that he was drunk. Although by his actions it would seem that he was cheating his way into claiming the title, the spell still had its consequences. Although he was temporarily sober, any intake of even a small amount of alcohol would make him experience all the cumulative effects of alcohol on his body like he was being cursed by a demon for his intemperate actions to that day; and the hangover would still depend on how much alcohol in total did he take, which was akin to being tormented in hell for a huge number of hours, the demons whipping him left and right at his head and all other parts of his body. What was more, it was like he was being the Maxwell's Demon of Sobriety, purging every cognitive effects of alcohol on his body forcing him to have an appearance of a sober person, but even a Maxwell's Demon could not stay forever doing this job as even demons still need to eat; and every time he used that spell he would urinate a lot and would cause him to feel hunger, such that not only his energy were being sapped, also his hunger and thirst meters were going down drastically even though Bradwynne had eaten just minutes before he challenged other people in a drinking battle. Fortunately water was not an issue, since there was a well nearby which Bradwynne found and also had used to wash his clothes that was puked upon by another Ale King contestant, which regenerated Bradwynne's thirst meter and part of his energy meter, but as he noticed, his hunger meter was going to the red, which meant that another use of the sobriety spell would make him pass out or even die. And so, before he would participate again in a drinking battle, he would need to take a fill. And so, Bradwynne set out to find some joints within the harvest faire which served good food. As Bradwynne was searching for a place to eat, he smelled something good coming from one of the stalls in the faire. It was a mix of chocolate and coffee, which made Bradwynne's mouth water (fortunately this did nothing much to sap Bradwynne's thirst meter). The smell attracted Bradwynne like an angel entreating a mortal to go to Heaven, and his feet began moving towards the stall, his hungry body being entranced with the smell of good food. As he saw the menu of the stall in their glory, he searched for the source of the smell coming from it. He also saw the sausage rolls, and as he also was craving for something savory, he then noted that he would also order it. And then he saw that dish that was the source of the heavenly smell, as if it was being made at the grills at the back. It was like a log, and decorated as such, the chocolate wood accentuated by darker rings of coffee. It was the heavenly dish he was looking for. He then saw another thing in the menu, which quite made his moe meter go up. Two cream puffs, one large and one small, stacked on each other, the small one is quite pinkish, the larger one white. By the decorations it was shaped like a snowman; and as Bradwynne stared at the dish, the scene was like a father staring at his son. That kind of scene was interrupted by something slamming at the counter of the stall. Bradwynne stared at the person who slammed the counter with something that looked like the currency of the game, the person was smaller than him that the person did not even reach his shoulder height, and the person was wearing heavy armor that covered the whole body so much that Bradwynne had a problem determining if the suit of armor was a boy or girl. Even the voice, which was quite muffled by the metal of the armor, was indistinguishable as the person shouted the order. The armored person had awakened Bradwynne's curiosity so much that he wished to speak with this person in between meals. And it would be a conversation as long as Bradwynne's order right now, as Bradwynne took a pouch of the game currency and laid it on the counter: "Ten sausage rolls, fifteen yule logs and a snowman please." @Alex Marquardt
Kohaku was hungry and he loved tasting fair food. To him it was also so interesting to taste what people felt like making for festivities such as these. He had been browsing the merchandise and had a bat good hanging out of his mouth at the moment. He was far away enough from the stand in which he had lifted the delightful sugary cookie. He had already eaten one and he was sure that if the vendor wasn't so busy he likely would have gotten caught by them and then just paid up. But since it didn't seem to matter at the moment. He was already almost done with the first and the second was tucked away to not bee seen at the moment so no one would know what he had done. However, his nose sniffed the air as something delicious entered it. Sausage rolls someone was selling sausage rolls. His favorite holiday treat. Yes, he was going to have to find this stall and so he followed his noise coming to another stall that had sweets. But it also had exactly what he had been smelling. Sausage rolls to his very delight that looked almost exactly like they did back in the real world. He looked at the other treats that the vendor had but nothing looked too much more interesting than the sausage rolls and possibly a yule log. He knew what one of those looked like only because well it was complicated. He looked at the person working the booth. "12 sausage rolls please and one yule log." He seemed a bit more delighted about the sausage rolls and like he was debating on if he wanted more or not but twelve would do fine for right now. Once he got them and his yule long he happily went to a table to sit down and eat it. Not really paying attention to those around him. It didn't matter to him right now he had sausage rolls and he was going to enjoy them even if they were mass produced. He took one and then another. Not completely opposed to anyone coming up to sit with him or engage in some sort of conversation.
A sudden surge of patrons had the Yladian perk her ears up and picking up the pace she fulfilled orders, taking wooden plates and trays and filling them with the orders. Some of the patrons had... extreme appetites, and to the one who ordered Fifteen slices of Yule Log (@Bradwynne ), she simply just plopped three entire logs on the counter and sliced them for him. Each log was the length of her forearm. "I don't have a tray big enough for these, so you have to make multiple trips unless you have someone to carry them for you." Once all the trays were filled, the azure-haired baker quickly set to work, placing a new basket pulling out a large bowl of chocolate brown batter and setting to work at the grill, ladling the batter over the spit as she set to work replenishing the sold yule logs. @Alex Marquardt @Bradwynne @Kohaku
It was only natural, in Solaria's mind, to take a gander at Sylpha's stall when she was wandering to find food for her nearly empty belly. Her tea wasn't quite enough to satisfy her needs, and she'd used more energy than expected just on healing some alcohol poisoning more times than she had expected to need to. She clutched the stall with tight fists, shaking from the lack of nutrition. "Sylpha... Please tell me I can get more than one sausage roll... And whatever sweet has the most energy in it. I don't care about calories right now, I'm gonna pass out before my patients are cured at this rate." It was her own fault that she had so many patients, and she knew that. "Why did we make so much ale... I should've known what that stuff was for... To make me busy as a bee."
Elongated ears perked when she noticed another patron coming, and one she recognized. She couldn't mistake that green hair even if she was drunk (she wasn't). Turning away from the spit that had enough layers of batter grilling away, she quickly retrieved a basket of sausage rolls from under the counter and dumped the remaining ones from the current basket into the new. "Of course you can." She said. As for her desire for sweets... the classic should do. Taking the shovel-shaped pie knife, she lifted about three slices (almost a quarter of a pie) onto a plate and dumped a heap of pecan praline onto it. "This should definitely keep you going." As for the ale-making... she could only shrug. "I'm sorry for asking you to do the job with me, but we only made enough for three or four barrels at most..." With the amount of drinking going on, Sylpha was very sure all of that brew would have been gone by now. As she was just serving food, she could probably... care less. Sylpha decided it was best not to tell Solaria about how she felt. After all, she actually liked her fellow Yladian.
It was a relief not to smell the hazards of alcohol on her friend's lips- though, perhaps she shouldn't be surprised a chef wouldn't be drinking on the job. She wasn't sure anymore if anyone she knew was actually non-alcoholic in nature like she was, but she wasn't going to make assumptions too much longer about the topic. Instead, she'd focus on the scent of the sweets put on a plate for her. "Finally, something that actually smells enjoyable. I know my tea is horrible tasting, but it's healthy... And the scent is still better to me than the alcohol on my patients' breath." She laughed timidly, a hand scratching the back of her head. "I feel bad taking so much of your food before others get to it. But I'm relieved. With this, I should be able to build up the strength to keep going. I wish I could give you something in thanks... But all I have on me today is lots and lots of potions in case I find people that need antidotes on my walk." Another whiff of the sweets kept the shiver of cold from her anxiety melting away, her heart relaxing along with her eyes. She didn't even wait to get to a table, immediately biting into one of the sausage rolls she'd gotten at the counter. Sustenance truly was beautiful. "I don't regret the fact that I helped... It's just what it's used for that bothers me. I was happy you asked for help, you know? That you asked, that I was able... It's fulfilling when I can see others smile. I should be happy, considering that. It's just... I guess it makes me feel a little more than just worried, in the end, too. You know?" With a giggle, she took another bite before finally paying for what she bought, using a handkerchief she'd gotten recently from somewhere to wipe her lip. "This is really delicious, Sylpha. It's no wonder your stall is doing well, or so it looks like it is. I'm glad to get to taste it properly this time. Your hard work is worth it!"
So her problem was the odor of the alcoholics? Sylpha knew Solaria was an alchemist, so she thought those problems could have been solved with methods other than... tea. The scent of one pot of tea wouldn't last long enough, and several wouldn't pull through the night. A waste of tea. Still, at least Solaria didn't have any negative feelings towards doing the job. It wasn't their fault the fruits of their labor were misused. The concerns regarding the crazed amounts of drinking, though, weren't entirely unwarranted. Yes, players were allowed a blatant disregard of their life, since they come back even if they do. However, how much of it was players and how much of it was NPC behavior? Sylpha would rather not know. She just processed the payment and smiled at her friend's compliments. "I'm glad you like it. Good luck with your work, a lot of people will be owing you soon." Without much else to say, she turned back to the grill spit, checking up on the state of the baumkuchen left grilling. She needed to make more yule logs soon, or risk losing some potential business due to no stock. This was why customers with huge appetites and enough money for it all were scary: all of a sudden, one item was nearly taken off the menu until Sylpha managed to make more. Likewise, it was quite hard to gauge how popular an item was, since instead of learning the tastes of many she only gets to know the tastes of one person who wants a lot of just a few things. The baker hoped the next customer did not have such a huge impulse, but something was telling her that hope was just not meant to be.
She wasn't sure why, in the midst of the biggest drinking and spooky holiday of the year, she'd had an urge to grow poinsettias. Alongside it she grew holly and tawny kings- the latter of which at least made her feel they fit the season, since their shape made them look a lot like pine cones. To various vendors as she wandered the food area, she'd given a bunch of each to thank them for their hard work and to help spread the greenery around outside her booth. The smell of sweets, however, had caught her off guard as she stopped at a small bake stand with a spit in the background. "So this is what snacks smell like..." They were tantalizing, and some felt just as festive as the flowers she was handing out. There were even yule logs. If those didn't go well with poinsettias, she didn't know what did. Placing the plants down for a moment, she looked at the different foods available, her sweet tooth making her feel like she might drool if she didn't stop and eat something soon. "Um... I'd like... Argh, it all looks so good..." She sighed. If she was going to pig out, at least it was in a game for once, right? "One of each type of baumkuchen, a snowman and jack-o-lantern... and a small slice of pie, please."
