Imp's entrance was one of interest, but confusion. His head poked in, beret tipped rakishly to one side by his horns, four eyes squinting. "What's all this noise?" he asked, in a (surprisingly) polite sort of way.

His gaze then took in the utter crowd clustered here--and whatever surprised swearword uttered was lost to the din. His head tilted to one side, and he watched for a moment, figuring out what was going on by observation. "You doin' cookies, Nedies? And you didn't ask THE ARTEEST? Here, I can help," he said cheerfully, waddling and gently pushing his way through the cluster of Gembounds.

He looked over the dyes before selecting a few, and a brush, and went to work with a ridiculous sense of pomp and embellished elegance: long unnecessary flourishes, squinting attention to cookie detail, and occasional crowing of his various artistic triumphs.

"Now THAT'S art! You won't even wanna eat that. Look at this shit!"

It was perhaps telling that he'd tried to go abstract: most of his 'works of art' were a horrific, messy slash of mismatched color unevenly coating the baked goods.

EMERGENCY CATERING

Nedies himself worked the stove, preparing storage racks for the cookies and muttering worriedly and hurriedly to himself all the while. When it came time to collect, he turned with a metal pan, and began to swiftly and carefully scoop up all the hard work the Gembounds had done.

As he did so, he commented with quick praise on each set of work. "Very visceral! Yes, these will be a hit!" Opal-One's were thus scooped up and set onto the metal. And to Sprig, a brief peering look over the blue-and-white designs: "You have put your heart and soul into these, I see! Ahh--a newcomer!" His attention was now on Infinity, and their work was given an admiring stare before the chef shook himself out of it and collected up the work. (If he noticed any stolen cookies or licked-up icing, he did not comment on it.) "Beautiful! Someone has a strong grasp on color theory, I see! One can feel your cookies, in their heart and soul!" Imp's were given a briefer--and admittedly more confused--glance. "I am--glad you are here! If confused by your work!" he offered, snatching these up, too.

The tray was covered, set on the cooling racks, and then Nedies opened a side door, and pulled out a massive cauldron. It wasn't a pot--it was too big to be called a pot. It could fit an entire Valkhound in it. It wasn't even clear where it had been stored.

Magic, maybe.

"NOW, this one last thing-!" he panted, turning to set an open flame from the pit on the floor. "And you're all being so VERY helpful-... The stew! We need to make the stew! Throw in--everything that will match this flavor profile! Onions and carrots, venison and thyme--go, go, go!"

There were plenty of ingredients but not all would match a stew. Nedies wasn't paying close enough attention--or maybe he had too much trust, or was in too much of a rush--to what the Gembound put into it. There were appopriate items--meat and herbs, vegetables and spices--and wildly inappropriate ones, like chocolate, sugar, breads, teas, coffee-like beans, and more.

It was up to them to make something presentable for the Ball.

---

The Gembounds have been tasked with mixing a stew. They should roll to select appropriate ingredients. The final product will depend on what is added in!

Anyone may still join this final round. Note that to collect rewards, Gembounds should have taken part in at least two rounds of cooking!

@Sprig @Wilder @Sekith @Fleas @V-Opal-One @Infinity @Imp

Fleas had been too busy licking up whatever had dropped around the kitchen to help cook. She wasn't filled, but her tastebuds were delightfully alight with a variety of flavors. "Stew?" She said, lifting a head covered in frosting and crumbs. Fleas put her paws up on the counter, staring into the pot. She took a deep whiff of the savory, well seasoned soup.

Keeping that deep flavor profile in mind, she pushed off the counter and glanced around the kitchen. Her claws click clacked against the floor, as she circled in place, looking for an ingredient to add. Her eyes finally met a countertop covered in fruits. She sniffed them, from coconuts to grapes. She nearly picked up an orange, before closing her jaws on a tart scented lemon. It wasn't the best for the stew, but the acid would compliment nicely.

"When I speak"
When I think

Imp listened, ears perking up with interest at the idea of a 'flavor profile.' His eyes lit up. "So it's like--art, but with food? Cool shit," he added, the last under his breath.

He took a moment, this 'arteest,' to peruse the shelves; and in the first intimation that he might have the makings of at least a line cook, he paused to reach up and drag down a large box of breadcrumbs from the shelf. "This shit'll hold the flavor," he murmured to himself, with deep certainty born of absolutely no experience.

It was mostly luck, and just a little bit of taste.

He turned, dumping the entire box in--his idea on the right track, but the implementation, not so much. They'd likely be more like mushy little dumplings, but they'd taste good, at least.

It was in the middle of decorating cookies (or, really, letting oil get all over the cookies and smearing it around) when they were suddenly taken away. It almost protesting with a gurgling whine, but it was gone before Sekith could really process. Its one eyes was staring intently at Nedies, as if it had figured out he was the one in charge.

It stared at the stew and at the gembound beginning to throw ingredients in and seemed to connect one thing to the other. Gurgling softly it crawled over to the table of ingrediants and stood up on its pathetic little hind legs, reaching up with feathery forearms to grasp at the edge of the table. It heaved itself up with a great effort and a number of throaty noises before grabbing the first thing in sight - which happened to be a bowl of corn - and dumped the whole thing into the cauldron. Once all the little yellow specks had been lost to the stew it dropped the dish, which was sent clattering on the ground, although Sekith didnt seem to care. IT was just sniffing the stew - mmm that smelled good.

She looked a little confused as she stared at the table of ingredients. There was...a lot there, and she wasn't exactly a cook. What on Let was a flavor profile? What did he mean by pairing them? They were just all food, right?

Well, everyone else was hurling chunks and things in. There was already meat, she assumed, as Nedies had mentioned. She eyed a jar of what looked like sand and when she leaned forward to sniff she immediately jerked back with surprise at the potent aroma, sneezing to the side (away from the food) as some of it got in her nostrils.

That...smelled alright. Picking up the jar of spice, she tipped it over and poured some of it in the stew. She wasn't exactly sure how much to put in, but she figured not as much as the other ingredients, since it seemed pretty strong.

A good amount of the jar went in before she pulled it back and nudged it back on the table. Already, the stew was bringing on a lovely aroma that smelled of coriander, oregano, and paprika.

Did Nedies mean that as a compliment or as a hint that he knew what Sprig had been doing? He felt his ears start to heat up. His gaze followed the cookies when they were whipped away to be cooled. Hopefully he could eat some later! Maybe even show some to Cadenza? Oh- would they notice how he had decorated them!? He hoped not. That would be really embarrassing. Maybe.

The next task was making a stew. There was that saying that too many chefs spoiled the broth. But Nedies was someone who looked like they knew what they were doing so Sprig would trust his judgement. But what to add? The stew was smelling alright at this point. Not amazing but it was something he would want to eat. Hmm... some good ol fashioned meat was always good. No point adding a bunch of flavoring without actual substance. But Sprig did know that not every gembound ate meat. So perhaps there could be a substitute.

The lion settled for adding some eggs. Did eggs count as meat? He wasn't sure. There were small pieces of eggshell here and there but he was sure that they wouldn't be too difficult to eat. Added some crunch too.

Its chests swelled with every word of praise Nedie’s offered it - maybe a bad idea to inflate her ego this much. Or… a good one? She was not offered flattery often. Maybe he could have a little, as a treat. The others had done an adequate job too - but none of them had been called ‘visceral.’ That was HIS word. He would treasure it until the day he died - or until he happened to forget it. One of these outcomes was more likely than the other.

Its head swiveled with interest towards Imp. ”Art - east? Wussat?” it sounded intriguing.

Anyways - food prep. Perhaps it was better trusted with creative endeavours, or even wielding sharp objects, because she really wet the bed with this one. She wasn’t entirely sure what a stew was, or what would go in it - but she did notice one flaw. All the ingredients so far were boring as shit. The Opal wouldn’t touch them on their own, why would he tolerate them in anything else? What this dish needed was something inherently good - something that could never sully the experience with its mediocrity.

It donated the plank of milk chocolate she had been nibbling on, neglecting to remove the foil as she did. And then, not entirely convinced she had put enough, dropped a second - packaging also included.

EMERGENCY CATERING

Nedies did not notice some of the ingredients being thrown in. Undoubtedly he'd later find himself puzzled, fishing foil from the stew and cursing himself for not explaining the basics earlier on--but also wondering at the strange, gritty twist to the flavor. But eggs and spice, corn and breadcrumbs and lemon, would at least not harm the stew.

For now, he quickly turned back, mixing what was there--and speaking swiftly all the while.

"Thank you, thank you! I hope you have all learned something and! Please, take samples of whatever you like! -Eat, eat!" he encouraged, like an enthusiastic grandparent who'd made far too much food for his guests.

---

The Event Emergency Catering! has been completed. Gembounds may exit at their leisure but are free to partake in any food present in the thread (or even not mentioned here) before they go!

The following Tactic has been unlocked, and will be granted to all characters with at least two posts aiding Nedies:

Cooking

Medium Intensity Manipulation. Using any available cooking-related implements, the user may prepare a more flavorful and nourishing meal from raw ingredients and seasonings of their choosing. If a source of heat is needed, it must be created before cooking.

@Sprig @Wilder @Sekith @Fleas @V-Opal-One @Infinity @Imp

Sekith had not, in fact, learned a single thing. It was staring at the soup with its single gleaming eye and absolutely nothing happening in the little brain behind it. Lots of things went in it. Yeah. Meat and cheese and fruits and rocks. It gurgled, slipping back off the table, and looking at Nedies for what it wanted next. It, at least, was entertained for now, even if it had absolutely no idea what it was doing.

But...no? No more things? It whined, almost sad to see the end of its job, but then one word - one word that Sekith truly understood that vibrated in its body when it was spoken and alerted it to its reward, the whole reason that had drawn it here in the first place.

EAT.

"Eaaaat. Eaaaaaaaaat!" Permission granted, then, not that it needed permission (it had simply been too preoccupied with its random tasks). It immediately turned and made back for the cookies that had been set aside and grabbed for some of the meaty ones. It had been eyeing them while the others had decorated and now it descended on its price, opening its toothless maw and grabbing a number of them in one go, crushing down with its beak-like muzzle.

And it would continue to divulge in as many of the meat cookies as it could possibly get away with until Nedies shooed it away, in which it would flutter off the counter with a satisfied grumble and slither its way out of the palace, a meal satisfied and absolutely nothing else gained.

*exit