Being the Windswept Plateau, it's unsurprising that the area is...well...windswept. Breezes swirl through the bamboo, ruffling feathers, setting lanterns swaying, and uplifting the ever-present kites of the Cloudsong, as well as the much smaller, personal ones of dragons having fun.
But one of the less obvious, but still enjoyable, things the wind carries with it is the smells of good food. There's enough at the Jamboree to make even the pickiest gourmand salivate, with many brightly decorated food stalls and dragons hawking their wares. It would be difficult for most dragons to have the time to sample it all (except for perhaps the larger breeds who could use the sheer size of their stomachs to their advantage)!
But, for those who want their food to be a bit more engaging, there's an event for them as well. Set away from the main fairgrounds is a well established clearing containing a massive stone slab, easily large enough for several of the larger breeds to work around it, but also with suitable areas carved out along the edges to not leave out the smaller. Along the edge of the clearing stands a variety of tents, stocked with food based on the smells wafting out of them, and an assortment of ovens, firepits, and even some strange looking Lightning tech (more Arcane-inclined dragons in the group notice that there seems to be a fair number of anti-fire enchantments surrounding the bamboo).
However while a long established event usually has the sense of routine, something about the atmosphere seems a bit...off.
The first noticeable difference is rather than the hosting chefs moving among the tents, checking inventory and adjusting decorations for last minute fixes before the event opens for the day, they appear to be sitting in a group together by the slab. Looking various levels of excited and disgruntled.
All but one. The brown Tundra, Ursus, is amicably chatting away with an unfamiliar and nervous looking Wildclaw.
"And there's nothing to worry about Compote! I'll be co-hosting with you, so even if you still have to work on your charisma for hosting, I'll be standing close by as backup!"
The Wildclaw taps his talons together nervously. "I feel like it would be less nervous if we were dressed the same thematicaly."
"Nah, you have to get used to wearing the hosting bowtie. I just dressed up as a pirate because I felt like it!" Noticing some approaching dragons, Ursus gives Compote a slight nudge. "First guests of the day! Time to get working!"
Taking a deep breath, Compote hurries over to greet the visitors, rushing through what were clearly pre-rehearsed words. "Hello and welcometoMistralMeals! Please make sure you vist theinformationboard even...even if you've participated in our event before! We've had some changes."
Ursus winces but holds up an encouraging thumbs up to Compote anyways.
However after a few more rounds of this, he decides to go and get his clanmate's back. "Welcome to Mistral Meals! The Jamboree's exciting food stall where you cook the food yourself and can win some goodies in the process!"
"Each day Compote or I will present everyone with three ingredients. You then have the whole day and an ample pantry to use to your advantage and make a dish with those ingredients. While we won't be having official judging this year, we're still sending contestants home with prizes so long as they complete the challenge!"
While the Tundra continues hawking, a small Fae flutters up to Compote and asks, "What does he mean about no judging this year?"
"Oh, well....you probably know by now that the theme of the Jamboree this year is skypirates, right?" Compote started to explain, looking a bit less nervous with a one on one chat rather than speaking infront of a crowd, "Well, right in the middle of event planning Wayfarer's Rest was visited by quite a number of crews and well...pirates like to eat. A LOT. Basicaly cleared out our pantry and rather than taking back food we'd gathered for the Jamboree, the other chefs decided to compete themselves this year."
He glanced back at Ursus, who was now swinging around a prop sword for emphasis, "Well, except for him. He got elected as my MC trainer and didn't seem too disappointed..."
The Game
Welcome to Mistral Meals! This challenge is for all users out there who enjoy food and cooking, whether they have real life skills in the kitchen or not!
For those of you who have participated in this event in previous years, you'll want to give the rules a read-through this year as a few details have changed! The main change is I won't be doing custom rp responses this time around. I know, it saddens me too, but this year's IRL commitments just won't allow me the time (plus now most of the Wayfarer's Rest chefs can suffer along with the rest of you ).
Every day I will post three Flight Rising food items in the challenge post. It will then be up to you to write up a post that has one of your dragons attempting to create a dish using those ingredients. You will then receive a daily participation prize.
In addition to the daily prize, each entry gains you two raffle tickets! One will be for a daily drawing for a secret buried treasure stashed somewhere around the event space (read the rules in full to see how you can earn a bonus ticket for this drawing!). The second will be towards a drawing at the end of the Jamboree, so be sure to come back every day for higher chances at the goodies in the prize post!
Note regarding challenge updates: Since I (theoretically) should be asleep when rollover occurs, challenges will be updated when I wake up. This should be around
Rules
- Only one entry per user, per day. Feel free to interact with my dragons or other contestants if you want to keep the RP fun going, but you only get one shot at a daily prize and raffle ticket.
- You must use at least one of your dragons in your turn, though you don’t have to use the same one all week.
- You must use all three of the posted ingredients, but you are allowed and encouraged to use other ingredients (whether they exist as in-game items or not). Assume that every potential ingredient and/or cooking device is available for your dragons to use (some of the more advanced gadgetry has been nabbed from Lightning).
- For an extra ticket for the daily raffle, include a mention in your entry of where your dragon is looking for hidden treasure.
- Entries are encouraged to be written as role-play, but I'll also accept recipe format, just so long as it is written in-character/associated with one of your dragons.
- Technically there is no word length minimum or maximum. Write whatever is most comfortable for you, so long as all three challenge ingredients are used.
- PLEASE BE PATIENT! While I have cut custom rp responses from the event this year, I still do have to log entries and send participation prizes on top of a 9-5 M-F job (in theory...current events may have me working form home at any given point this week). My hope is I won't fall behind nearly as much as I have in the past, but I still won't be able to send out prizes immediately. As always I will get to everyone in order, and if a new challenge is posted and you haven't received a participation prize for your previous entry, don't worry and go ahead and reply to the new one! Prizes will be handed out in order no matter what challenge is currently active. Daily raffle prizes will be awarded as soon as I finish that day's participation prizes, which may or may not be the following day.
- Try not to ping me unless you need to get my attention for a question or any other concern. I don't mind if you do, but I will be working my way through the thread a post at a time to hand out prizes and this will be easier to keep track of more pressing issues. You can also feel free to PM me if you need to reach out for anything.