Quests & Challenges

[quote]Much debated and highly divisive, Harpies take their cooking VERY seriously, and each one seems to have a different idea on the best way to prepare the meat they consume, assuming they even bother to cook it at all! So what style of cooking does your dragon vote for? If your dragon is a veggie or an insect eater don’t worry, you can still get a snack prepared by the volunteer chefs,, but you won’t get a voting token with the meal. This “research” is ~very~ scientific and they can’t have outside variables![/quote] [center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/84920517][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/849206/84920517_350.png[/img][/url][/center] Unfortunately for the panel, Snickerdoodle is both a plant and insect eater, not normally indulging in meat or seafood. However, he still peruses the various samples before trying out a grilled sample, chewing on it thoughtfully before emitting a small chirp of approval. Seems like grilled items have won him over! [quote]A geneology booth might be a bit of a stretch for a festival event, but I have been to some Ren Faire's that will do up family crests if you know yours, so I argue it's still in the realm of possibility! So time to do some research on your own dragons and I want you to tell me a fun fact about one of their relatives. It can be a detail about one of their parents or kids who still live in your clan, or you can have fun with it and try tracking back or forward to see how far their bloodline extends! Is your dragon a G1 with no kids? No problem! You can make the fun fact be about their adoptive family or how they came to your clan under ~mysterious circumstances~ As is Mistral Meals tradition, if you include a reference to this year's April Fools event in your response, you get two raffle tickets instead of one! (Please note this offer is ONLY for Day 7 entries; this will not impact Day 6 entries while it is still active).[/quote] Snickerdoodle doesn't really remember having parents. He knows his race came from the stars--yet for whatever reason, he can't seem to recall anything past being in space and then suddenly [i]not [/i]being in space. Perhaps he was newly hatched out and everyone forgot about him in the ensuing crash, or perhaps his parents had something unfortunate happen to them before the landing on Sornieth. Snickerdoodle isn't really one to dwell on it, or even feel distressed over the possibilities. He's here now, and he fully intends to make the most of his situation, with or without parents to rely on! ...He [i]does[/i] remember waking up face-planted into an unusually large pile of charcoal, though. Weird.

[quote]Day 7 wrote: So time to do some research on your own dragons and I want you to tell me a fun fact about one of their relatives. It can be a detail about one of their parents or kids who still live in your clan, or you can have fun with it and try tracking back or forward to see how far their bloodline extends! As is Mistral Meals tradition, if you include a reference to this year's April Fools event in your response, you get two raffle tickets instead of one! (Please note this offer is ONLY for Day 7 entries; this will not impact Day 6 entries while it is still active).[/quote] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/11686098][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/116861/11686098_350.png[/img][/url] Aura can proudly trace her maternal line back to a... 5 digit Mirror dragon! Seems amazing that an Imp could come from a line of Mirrors, but her great-great-great something grandmother appears to have been breed changed into a Wildclaw. Even more amazingly, the maternal line is unbroken - no dragons have been exalted in that chain. Not many of them have any lore or facts in their bios... one has an ancestry chart. One is in charge of the clan's wishlist. One has a list of children. None of them mention any collections of any sort. No one has a quirky habit of collecting gravel or anything like that.

[center][b][u]Day 6: Food Prep Preference[/u][/b] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/58589004][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/585891/58589004_350.png[/img][/url][/center] Solaris loved the smells wafting from the food tent and ventured inside. The sound of sizzling meats on the grill, in pans, or in oil. The crackles and pops was a delightful symphony. Her fiery eyes scanned the room with excitement, there was so much, it was almost impossible to choose. It sounded all so marvelous but there was one thing that sounded best of all. Her furry tail tip waved and curled with excitement as she trotted over to the Mirror managing a great big wood burning smoker. A nice juicy, smoked brisket sounded just heavenly. She watched eagerly as the fern and eel Mirror carved the brisket. The meat had a beautiful, thick smoke ring and the outside had a lovely crust. It was juicy, not dry at all. The Mirror placed the sliced pieces on a plate and handed it over to the young Gaoler. There was a variety of sauces on a neighboring table. Solaris selected the vinegar based and tomato based sauces. The marigold jaguar dragon also paused by a grill with various vegetables and picked up a pair of squash boats topped with melted cheese. Lorelei would appreciate a little snack too. [center][b][u]Day 7: Genealogy[/u][/b] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/13915527][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/139156/13915527_350.png[/img][/url][/center] Rokoshi found it interesting that amongst the activities and offerings was a booth dedicated to genealogy, surely this was a classical quest for those of the Arcane flight. Well it would certainly be worth investigating. He and his mate had met many years ago at a cooking competition during the Trickmurk Circus he remembered fondly which made him smile. The male Pearlcatcher walked up to a tablet like device to look through the history of his parentage. His smile quickly faded as there was a mysterious and random [u][b]pile of grave[/b]l[/u] upon it. He stared at it for a moment before brushing it aside with annoyance. Rokoshi's grandsire had been a famous dragon, saving dragonkind from those who sought to harness and user their power. His dam had ended up with colors similar to his own despite her's being light in color. In fact much of her line had displayed fair colors. ((My sister bred Lorelei from a pair of gen 2 and gen 3 dragon.))

oof, I basically woke up just as the Day 6 deadline passed :') I wanted to write the entry during the downtime, but... I didn't know what the prompt was, lol. @Jeevas aw, thanks! I've been cheering for you too--though the first round immediately had me headdesking since you were facing off against Magmish, like NOOO DON'T PIT MY FRIENDS AGAINST EACH OTHER DAMN YOU RNGEESUS :'D [center][b]Daily Activity Day 7[/b][/center] [quote]A geneology booth might be a bit of a stretch for a festival event, but I have been to some Ren Faire's that will do up family crests if you know yours, so I argue it's still in the realm of possibility! So time to do some research on your own dragons and I want you to tell me a fun fact about one of their relatives. It can be a detail about one of their parents or kids who still live in your clan, or you can have fun with it and try tracking back or forward to see how far their bloodline extends! Is your dragon a G1 with no kids? No problem! You can make the fun fact be about their adoptive family or how they came to your clan under ~mysterious circumstances~[/quote] Oh my Mather this is absolutely PERFECT for Flambaby. STRAP YOURSELVES IN YOU'RE IN FOR A RIDE [center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/11740046][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/117401/11740046.png[/img][/url][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/33787248][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/337873/33787248.png[/img][/url][/center] Okay, [i]so[/i]. Flambaby isn't actually related by blood to anyone in his family. One of the clan's scouts, a Snapper named Frostfall, was out on patrol when she encountered signs of a large Raptorik flock having passed through recently. Following the tracks, she eventually came upon a small rock outcropping, with clear evidence of a scuffle, and more tracks--this time including the easily identifiable prints of what she was certain had to be two Tundras--leading away from the site. Curious as to what had happened, she started investigating the outcrop more thoroughly, to eventually discover a single egg, well-hidden between rocks and shadow. There was no evidence of Raptorik activity here, only the faint remnants of pawprints, hastily erased as the dragon responsible had backed away and rejoined the obvious trail leading away from the small nook. It seemed the parents had hidden the egg here, to then lead the Raptorik flock away from their hatchling. No doubt they had intended to return, but when Frostfall nosed gently against the egg, her eyes widened in alarm at its temperature--lukewarm, at best. She wasn't that familiar with eggs of other Flights, but for a Fire egg to be anything other than scalding hot was a very bad sign; its parents must have been gone for days for it to have gotten this cold. That could only mean they wouldn't be returning. Grimly, she noted the cracks on the egg. She was unsure whether those were due to it being close to hatching or the drop in temperature damaging the outer layer, but she wasn't going to take chances. Taking the egg into her mouth, she started her trek back to her clan at full speed, continuously breathing a steady flame onto the egg so as to get its temperature up. The entrance to their lair was in sight when her relief was abruptly replaced with ice-cold dread when she felt the egg start to crack in her mouth. Frostfall expelled it in front of her, desperate to see the damage, what she could do-- And instead saw an extremely small blue floof shake off the remnants off the egg. Clearly disoriented, the tiny Tundra sniffed at the ground and the air around him, eyes screwed shut as he zig-zagged closer and closer until he bumped into Frostfall's leg. After some more thorough sniffing, his head slowly lifted, and large, fiery orange eyes opened with a series of furious blinks. The second the hatchling's gaze met her own, a wobbly attempt at a grin appeared on the Tundra's face. "Mama!" In hindsight, even if Frostfall hadn't fallen in love with Flambaby right then and there, she doubted she could've nipped his attachment in the bud. Unaware that Flambaby had imprinted on her, once she made it back to the clan, the best course of action to her seemed to be to hand him over to the clan's twin Flambebes to raise--they were of the same subspecies of Tundra, so surely they would best know how to care for him. The twins, Flambebe and Flambebe, were all too willing to adopt Flambaby, and the clan's third Flambebe--no relation--jumped at the chance to play uncle. [center] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/10839666][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/108397/10839666.png[/img][/url][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/10839665][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/108397/10839665.png[/img][/url][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/60119645][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/601197/60119645.png[/img][/url] [/center] And while Flambaby quickly grew to love his mom, dad, and uncle, he would never stop seeking out his 'mama'. No matter where Frostfall went, Flambaby always seemed to be able to find her--and it was only then that she realised that he must have olfactorily imprinted on her. Tushar, Frostfall's mate, hadn't particularly cared for the hatchling to begin with, but once she explained Flambaby's imprinting, it turned into flat-out dislike. They had never been able to have hatchlings of their own, so while she understood where he was coming from, she couldn't--and wouldn't, even if she did--change the situation. She'd told him once that Flambaby would be thrilled to have his family extend even further to include a 'papa', as well, but that had been shut down with nothing more than the most withering glare she had ever received from her mate. It seemed Tushar took Flambaby's mere existence as a personal insult, and the years had not changed his opinion for the better. Frostfall gave a wan sigh as she looked out at the festivities, and more specifically, at her son as he weaved through the crowds with a bag fastened to his back, occasionally pausing to throw in... rocks? Sand? She couldn't be sure, Flambaby had a tendency to switch obsessions about thrice a week. But she did notice when he stopped at the cooking stations, and gave the chefs his best innocent hatchling eyes, inevitably getting a variety of plant ingredients and leftovers in return. No, she thought as the little Tundra finally spotted her and grinned, dodging legs and tails as he sprinted in her direction. She wouldn't change a thing. -- Thank you for coming to my TED talk I'll be here for the next foreseeable forever

[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/45772591][img]https://flightrising.com/rendern/coliseum/portraits/457726/45772591.png[/img][/url][/center] As Diego begins to run over, he suddenly felt a weight pressing down on his head, followed by a purring sensation. He picks up the offending party and gives it a long look. [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3218251/22#post_53833980]An Aether hatchling??[/url] "Where did you come from?" Diego cocks his head. The dark creature smells of fresh air and stardust. It merely squeaks in reply. "Well, I have a friend to find. Wanna help?" The hatchling purrs as Diego returns it to its perch on his head and continues flying after Jwaila. [center]~[/center] It didn't take long to find the fiery nocturne. It wasn't hard to follow the constant smell of burning. She was holed up in a nook behind the Mistral Meals tent. And was she.. sizzling?? Diego landed nearby, placed the hatchling at his side, and walked over to her. [columns] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/45772591][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/457726/45772591p.png[/img][/url] [nextcol] [color=transparent]_____[/color] [nextcol] "Hey, uhh, sorry for laughing. Are you ok?" [/columns] [columns] [color=transparent]_____________[/color] [nextcol] "It's just - [i]*sniff*[/i] - they didn't have to leave me like that. I know I'm not the easiest dragon to get along with - [i]*hic*[/i]- but I tried. I tried..." [nextcol] [color=transparent]_____[/color] [nextcol] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/46772243][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/467723/46772243p.png[/img][/url] [/columns] [columns] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/45772591][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/457726/45772591p.png[/img][/url] [nextcol] [color=transparent]_____[/color] [nextcol] "You meant your family, huh." [/columns] Jwaila made no reply. The two sat in silence, with Diego's furry tail wrapped around his friend, and with the strange hatchling sitting between them. ------ @Magmish Here's my end to Daily Activity 7, I guess! Feel free to reply with how Mochi handles this. Diego very much loves them but got distracted trying to comfort his friend. But if you don't feel like responding, then the two of them are close enough to the competition tent that they can fly in for when judging starts!

@ArithMedic @ReginaChaos @Kvon @MystaRias @tigressRising @Kothra @Doozie @Storygeek @PsydrateSky @JinxMoonstone @Hassaleh @cmf25 @Jeevas @UmbraGlide @Beatoriche @TrixnTreats @beargirl1393 @Acetheaxolotl @L1br4 @BoatBud @windymountaintop @Dessy

Sending out a general ping that the event is now closed for submissions! By all means continue to post any wrap up rp or anything else you would like for the time being, but I shuld have the winners of the cooking contest up soon!

This will be the last ping using the daily entry list, so if you're interested in any of the following upcoming posts, please go ahead and add yourself to the others!

• Cooking Contest Results if you are not one of the seven competitors (though admitidly with how soon this should be going up, you might be able to just scroll past this post to my next one)
• Raffle Results if your name is not drawn (most likely to go up either tonight or Monday evening)
• New to the spreadsheet, I've also added a column for next year's event!

Thank you everyone for making this year's Mistral Meals as entertaining as ever!!

[url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/79776757][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/797768/79776757_350.png[/img][/url][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/84825174][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/848252/84825174_350.png[/img][/url][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/80898918][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/808990/80898918_350.png[/img][/url] Day 7 i think None of Team Dojo has kids, in Sornieth or Cier, and so far, they do not want kids. Doorsguy has had partners before, but his love life is...not thr best and so no kids have resulted from them. While he is curious to know what having a dragon mate would be like, nothing has resulted from it. Imitator has no kids because he is a wanted felon who could destroy Cier with his mimicking power, ,and as such its quite obvious why noone wants to hang with him. He isnt allowed outside the clan walls, and sometimes not even allowed outside the special prison cell made by Team Dojo in the tunnels, so he hasnt courted any dragons. Also he looks loke The Shade, sp thats another reason. Micwizard has never had a mate pf any kind, and he does not want to seek one out. [s]ace rep hc pog[/s]

[center][b]Final Results![/b] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/52978189][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/529782/52978189_350.png[/img][/url][/center] "It has been a rather thrilling week here at Mistral Meals, and all the contestants have wowed the judges in some manner, whether they made it to the finals or not! But, this announcement is for those winners, and it is with great pleasure that I provide the final results for Mistral Meals 2023!" Finalists can claim the following badge, and I will be reaching out to them later today by PM regarding their grand prizes! [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/H1QHSS2.png[/img][/center] And speaking of that grand prize...we really should have double checked with our prize cordinator as to what sort of "cash" the harpies were donating for this... [center][item=prehnite][/center] Good news is there's quite a lot of it? [center][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/728744/72874325p.png[/img] [color=red][size=6]VS [/size][/color][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/242755/24275496p.png[/img] @Deladria vs @Dessy While the technicalities of the matter are that this was a win by no-show, the judges were nevertheless impressed by the utter beauty of [b]Nobori's [/b]Iridescent Angel's Flower. The fact it was delicious certainly also helped, but no one wanted to be the first to ruin the impeccable design.[/center] [center][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/751978/75197799p.png[/img] [color=red][size=6]VS [/size][/color][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/467723/46772243p.png[/img][color=red][size=6]VS [/size][/color][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/808441/80844089p.png[/img] @L1BR4 vs @Jeevas vs @ArithMedic I feel like the three-way matchup produced the less visualy impressive of the final submissions, but that doesn't mean they weren't delicious of their own accord! Abyss' croaker noodles were a delightful novelty, and Gilded Giblits showed their technical knowledge with the smart choice to steam the same ingredient, but [b]Cooks at Heart[/b] pulled ahead in the flavor categories between both their potash peach marinade and indigo mimosa sauce.[/center] [center][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/841475/84147458p.png[/img] [color=red][size=6]VS [/size][/color][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/576689/57668896p.png[/img] @sinstarinablak vs @AloVra The last matchup of the event presented us with two teams going the route of "more is better," and in this case it was accurate. There were so many components to each entry that the judges were frequently having to go back and forth to see how different parts held up against eachother as well as in a cohesive whole (personaly my favorites of each were the croaker legs on a stick and the blue macarons), but when all was said and done, it seems [b]Carnival Creations[/b] experience with fair foods just won everyone over thematicaly. But really, kudos must still be given to Team Soup for not giving up on the cotton candy.[/center]

[columns] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/46772243][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/467723/46772243p.png[/img][/url] [nextcol] [color=transparent]_____[/color] [nextcol] "See? [i]See???[/i] This is what happens when I'm not provided with proper meat ingredients!" [/columns] [columns] [color=transparent]____________________________________________[/color] [nextcol] "So close, yet so far...." [nextcol] [color=transparent]_____[/color] [nextcol] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/45772591][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/457726/45772591p.png[/img][/url] [/columns] @ArithMedic Congrats on the win! Sorry we didn't get to RP! I'm sure Jwaila would have made fun of your veggie dragon Tundra, lol.

[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/72874325][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/728744/72874325_350.png[/img][/url][/center] Apophalaulath jolted awake with a start. She felt as if she had been pummeled from top to bottom, but really it was her head that felt the worst. What was the last thing she remembered? She’d recovered from her embarrassment earlier and had a nice chat with [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3218251/13#post_53802606]Chess[/url], then learned she’d won the round! Oh, that was exciting news! She’d been thrilled! She remembered seeing the new challenge presented and had been looking forward to having some fun with all the colorful ingredients, and then, and then… it all just faded to black! She felt confused. It was clear that hours had passed. In fact, she was so ravenous it felt like it had been days since she’s eaten! She rummaged in her pouches and found a large knob of hard cheese to gnaw on. While she still felt as if she’d been the victim of some sort of attack, she began to feel a bit more herself as she temporarily soothed her hunger. She looked herself over. Nothing was missing. She bore no visible signs of physical injury. But clearly something strange was going on. She finished her snack, and took stock of her situation, which was … under her prep table? Unggghh. She gingerly slithered to her feet, poking her head out, and was stunned to find the place emptying out! And the ingredients still on her table… were [i]not[/i] a pretty sight. “There you are!” It was [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/83149658]Olearopaeusth[/url], who had come for her first Jamboree, and had been particularly interested in the Mistral Meals event. “When you didn’t submit your dish for judging I knew something was wrong! Where have you been?” Apophalaulath stared at her in dismay and began to splutter. “What? I didn’t .. you mean … [i]oh nooooo![/i]” She’d been doing so well, and missed her final chance?! She could have won, she just knew it! “I don’t [u]know[/u] what happened!” she cried, and spilled her tale, such as she recalled. “Maybe there’s something wrong with me!” But Olearopaeusth was shaking her head. “You poor thing! I’m so sorry you didn’t get to finish your challenge, but it isn’t just you! There have been reports from all over Sornieth of dragons experiencing an abrupt psychic attack around the same time as you. No one knows why some felt it more keenly, where others didn’t even notice. I was uncomfortable myself, but I just felt slow and foggy, not incapacitated, maybe because I am used to those kinds of energies and have experience dealing with them. You are clearly of a more sensitive nature than typical for your breed, and the timing was unfortunate. You’ll be fine! You really did a great job here, and you should be proud!” Apophalaulath sighed doubtfully, clearly unhappy. “Listen, if you want, we can still check in at the medical tent for an assessment. I expect they will have seen related cases, with so many folks around in one place. And we’ll go right past where they are still doling out leftovers that some of the contestants left behind. I think you need some food!” That perked Apophalaulath up, and she nodded. Cheese was wonderful, but even she knew how important it was to get variety in your diet. And she did feel half starved! She wondered what culinary tidbits remained. Maybe she could take home some inspiration, if nothing else. *** @JinxMoonstone Too late for the competition, but the situation lent itself to a bit more RP regardless! @Dessy Congratulations to Nobori! Sounds like it would have been a tough one to beat anyway! @Eialyne Win some, lose some. Rats. But that's how it goes.