Sienna

Unfortunately, there is not much interesting about me. I am a cook, and I enjoy (yes really) gutting fish and meat and preparing food to be cooked. Not much interesting there. Dad jokes make up 60% of my interactions. Oh! I do know a wonderful recipe for chocolate-covered scorpions! (P.S. not a real recipe, I just made it up, do not make without doing a LOT of research, I just made this up and know nothing about preparing scorpions)


First, roast your scorpions. Remove the stingers if you will be feeding to small dragons, like hatchlings or Fae dragons.

Then, cover them in sesame oil, adding a few sesame seeds for a bit of savory flavor.

(I like extra dark chocolate for this step, but you can use any you like.) Mix in crushed nuts into your chocolate, and add a bit of cumin for a bit of flavor, then dip the scorpions in them and leave them to dry. try not to layer the chocolate too thickly.

(I have other secrets to cooking this, but I won't share the full recipe just yet. It's my secret recipe!)



























What are you doing down here?! Go back up, that's where the recipe is!






































Haha! Now seriously, there's nothing to see here! I didn't hide my full secret recipe down here if that's what you're thinking.






































Really, I promise, I didn't



































Nothing to see down here! Now go away!



































GO AWAY!





















Are you really going to waste ALL your time scrolling?





















































It's just going to keep going, you know.



























































I'm really nice, I promise, there is no need to read it! THERE IS NOTHING TO READ DOWN HERE!!!!!

































Don't you have better things to do?!























Do do do, just a regular cook, Hey! Why don't you check out Coatyl instead? She has some secrets!









































Curiosity killed the phytocat, you know. That wasn't a threat! Wasn't a threat! It's fine!
































Well, shucks.




Being a cook at the Admiral's castle was... well, it was. The Allseeing had told her not to make trouble until instructed. Previously, she had been worried about the time when she would have to make trouble. Now, she wasn't sure if she could hold back much longer. The Admiral was the leader of an admittedly impressive clan that sprawled over miles. He was a good ruler and a good admiral, too. But he simply had too many nobles and not enough worker dragons, and you try convincing Lord Delianofa or some such ridiculous name to get his claws dirty. Unfortunately for them, the nearby clans were seething with worker dragons. At first it was just a few kidnappings. Then the deep trenches that separated the clan territories shifted, just a little. And then a little more. And then a lot more. Each morning, the trenches had moved. Each morning, the air around the trenches shimmered with a deep purple mist.

It was obvious what was happening, but no one had mages powerful enough to reverse it. Sienna herself was getting ready to charge into the palace, but then her second cousin got himself captured trying to do the same thing. Now it was her family. The Hidden, a collective of small clans, possibly including her own, that worked together and were allied against any threat one of them faced, approached her. One of the council members, the Allseeing, gave her instructions through a far-reaching network of loyal dragons. His solutions were a bit of an overreaction, according to her, but no one messed with her family.

Now, she had successfully gotten captured, successfully risen to become the head chef for the upper levels of the palace, and she thought she might just kill everyone. It was honestly fun being a spy, that was not the problem, but everyone here was so insufferable. She passed crucial information to The Hidden, tinkered with important machines so that they mysteriously exploded, and still The Admiral spoke of the 'futile resistance of the lowly clans'. Finally, he did something interesting. Sienna dutifully passed the information of an imminent attack to her contacts, as well as spilling some coffee on the battle plans, and waited further instructions.

They finally came. The most beautiful words she had ever heard in her life.

Finish it. The message read. Whatever way you like.

Her response was only one word. Gladly.

It was a simple thing, really. The Admiral was having a feast before the first attack, and he had ordered soups, wine, fried insects, salads, and a stuffed roasted boar or two. A few pinches of powder in the other cook's rations, and they went to bed sick. A few more pinches for the barrack chefs, and she took over. She had gathered her information well, and knew exactly what to do. Several of the soldiers were against the operation, and were only doing as they were told. They would wake up with nothing but a mild headache and a sternly written note. The rest would get only what was coming to them.

Really it was all very impressive. It is a hard thing to poison a salad, you know, especially when several of the aristocrats didn't eat it with a dressing or garnish. Another thing was size difference. She'd have to put a strong dose out to make sure the snapper dragons (which are big and often have a resistance to poison) didn't live, but that made it easily detectable to smaller dragons with finer palates. Not to mention that herbivorous dragons knew any poisonous plant when they saw it. Finally, she decided on adding crumbly feta. Then, it was a simple matter of dusting the plants with a thin layer of powder, in case any dragons didn't like feta, and getting a white powder wet and mixing in a little milkroot sap, so it would clump. The meat was easy. all of the meat-eating dragons were roughly the same size, so she just added a few drops to the stuffing and that was that. The soups and wine were the same, but the insect-eating dragons were difficult. Perhaps she could add a kind of dipping sauce that was poisoned, but not all of them would go for it. She could serve scorpions and not remove the stinger, but that would only work for the smallest dragons. Chocolate... now that might work.

Now that she had the plan, it was easy. A bit of poison here, a bit there, lower the dose here so the taster wouldn't die immediately and she'd have time for the antidote to save her. Never enough to be suspected. But that was just how Sienna was. Precise, not one to overreact or go overkill. (pardon the pun) Just a touch of poison. Just a touch, and the castle fell.

After that she was in high demand. She got good. All she asked was a small pouch of gold and a good moral reason why. A few people tried to double-cross her. After that, no one did. She was good with poisons, handy with blades, but her real skill was in infiltration. She was shiny enough to stun, disarming enough to be easily trusted, and nice enough that no one wanted to believe she was lying. It is a talent to be perfectly still. But it is a magic to be able to blend into the background, no matter where you are. She was the best of the best. A brilliant spy. No one understood when she retired, except a few of them. Dragons approached her left and right with proposals. Her business had to remain in the shadows. So she left in search of a clan who didn't bother themselves with spies or poisons.

Ocelot was the only one in that new clan that knew her secret. She was pretty sure.




Okay, I get it, floracat's out of the bag. I promise I am not here to spy on this clan. I'm retired! At least until a really good offer comes along, and The Allseer never gives me missions anymore. Just Christmas cards. And no, I will not poison you. Unless you end up being a jerk. Just kidding! But seriously, don't be a jerk. Also please don't tell anyone! I told you, Ocelot's the only one that knows! Try to tell the rest of them, and you will make a lot of powerful enemies very quickly. And by that, I mean me and Ocelot. So I would suggest you keep your snout shut.