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"Now, I know how anxious you all must be to get started..."  Dharu briefly eyes some of the more bored students nearby before continuing.  "But there is more to crafting a meal than throwing a couple of sides of pathling on a grill."  The horseman rifles through her robes for a moment, drawing out a stack of slightly wrinkled paper.  She shuffles through the crowd, handing out one sheet to each student present before the rest disappear back into her clothing.  On each piece is an identical list of ingredients with a helpful, if vague, guide on where one might locate each of the items.

"My clan never trusts that others will be there to sustain us. We never take our surroundings for granted, never believe that simply because we expect a bountiful harvest, that one will come.  Whether feasting or fighting, we are prepared for anything.  We must protect and provide for our Queen, no matter what lies in wait!"

Dharu stops speaking and slumps slightly, as if her temporary fervor had been holding her upright.  Her arms disappear into her robes again, but this time they don't reemerge.  When she speaks again, her voice is back at a normal volume, but no less muffled.

"I am aware that many of the more ephemeral among us do not eat at all, so gathering food might seem trivial to some.  In addition, creatures of Halloween do not truly require physical sustenance, although a good meal can bring comfort regardless of need.  Even so, what you learn here today can easily be applied elsewhere.  Always be on the lookout for how something seemingly worthless can benefit you.  Flowers become food, a blood-soaked femur, a weapon."  She chuckles softly, the sound almost lost in her clothing.

"The lists I have given you present a small sampling of the plants and animals one might encounter on the Isle of Famine.  They all can be found a short distance from where we stand and, believe it or not, can be used in combination to make a variety of nutritious meals."  The horseman leans close to Johnny Danger, almost as if she's about to ask for an autograph.  "But be warned... they can also be used to create a wholly unpleasant meal, or even a poisonous one." Dharu's cackle forces its way through the fabric around her mouth as her hands find the warm desert air once more. She shoos the students out of the safety of their sand hollow, chattering all the while.

"Go!  Explore!  When you've gathered three ingredients, return here to store them until morning.  Those sheets have all the information you need to succeed!"  Chuckling again, this time at her not-so-clever little rhyme, the horseman huddles in place, almost shrinking in size as she wiggles back into her robes and resumes her cover as a pile of debris.




Roll 1d6 in three different posts.  Match your rolls to the list below and RP your character finding each corresponding ingredient separately.  Don't worry if you have more than one of the same ingredient. (If your character has any objections to killing sand rats or salamanders, you may continue to roll until you have three of something that doesn't have a face, or they can bring the animals back alive and Dharu will take care of the rest.)

Once again, please do not roll all three dice in one post.

When your student has collected their ingredients, they may leave them in the little sandy cavern that's located on one wall of the crater Dharu is standing in. They are then free to go!

It's nearly midnight when the students are summoned again.  Dharu sweeps into their communal dorm and gathers the various creatures of Halloween up almost reverently, silently leading the group outside.  She is wearing more clothing than yesterday, but less than she did on the first day of class, and the reason why is made clear when they reach the open air.  Nighttime in the desert can be rather chilly.

The horsewoman's destination is not the sandy crater where her previous classes were held, but a series of dented metal domes half buried in the sand. Near the domes is the sled containing the ingredients gathered during class, still carefully labeled and separated by student.

"It is time to cook!" Dharu says, clapping her hands once.  "Your things are here," she gestures to the shelves, "Please choose an oven and begin!" She points to the domes. "And be careful. They're still hot from the sun."

As the students approach the shelves they will see that their ingredients have been lovingly murdered and skinned (if applicable), then placed in neat rows on a metal tray. It is up to them to arrange the items in a pleasing fashion, although who exactly they're trying to please is anybody's guess at this point.

Dharu stations herself nearby, ready to field any questions the students might have. Once their meals have been in the ovens for about ten minutes, she perks up and claps again, pointing out into the darkness.

"They come!"

All of a sudden, a twitchy little animal runs out of the desert and into one of the students' ovens. It looks like a cross between a ferret and a turtle and is a sandy brown color to better blend with its surroundings.

"These are the teruu. Do not be alarmed. They are mostly harmless, and they greatly appreciate the food you have prepared for them."





Please note: This day and the one that follows take place within the same hour long stretch at around midnight. Do not have your character leave the thread at the end of today, because tomorrow's activities only occur about a half an hour after today's and it would be kind of silly for them to wander off. (They may still do all the training and ORP/PRPs that you would like in this section of the guild since you are allowed to be in those sorts of RPs as well as a classroom at the same time.)

Anyway, today the students will finally be cooking the items they've scavenged. Please RP them placing their trays in the oven they have chosen. Then roll 1d4 (you may do this all in one post if you wish) to determine the sort of teruu that has approached your student's meal. An even roll denotes a positive teruu, an odd roll a negative one.

The values of all of your items are below. I have added them myself, but I could easily be wrong so feel free to check my math if you'd like. :) Note your final score and the polarity of your teruu at the bottom of your cooking post.

Hamika thought that a cooking class lead by one of the Famine clan was rather... ironic. Famine was a lack of food, and yet here they were cooking. In a crater.

Maybe she really just needed to suspend her judgement until it was all over, yeh?

The little zombie fished around for ingredents and found some edible rocks. Or at least she thought they were edible. Though when had rocks ever been good to eat? The ghoul was incredibly confused and decided to just look for the rest of her ingredients.

((Ingredients: Edible Rocks ))

Oo look! Something living and very much edible, if you liked rats. Hamika didn't really like rats. She chased the creatures about, having around as much luck as a kid who was trying to catch air. With a huff and a turn of her cap, she flung her arm at the rat and gripped it.

Her elbow flailed her upper arm and bounced the rat around, snapping its neck if her grip didn't do it already. With a calm look of success, the ghoul reattached her arm at the shoulder and went looking for the next bit of stuff she needed.

((Ingredients: Edible Rock, Sand Rat))

Pushing past the vegetation, many of which didn't match the descriptions given, the ghoul stumbled upon yet some more rocks. Edel bent over and scooped a few more of those into her bag. It would make a rather bland meal, she thought, unless somehow the nutrients in them had some taste. However, it was still better than nothing, and she had to remind herself that the tribe she was in was Famine no less.

Picking up one of the rocks for examination, the ghoul figured that there really wasn't any way to test its primary permeability unless she actually tested it with some water from the oasis. Speaking of which, she might find something other than rocks there too. Edel slung the bag over her shoulder and headed towards the body of water within the oasis. Dipping the edge of the rock into the water, the ghoul could see parts of the rock that were above water turning a shade darker, indicating that the stone was indeed taking in water. The murkiness of the water at the fringes of the pool prevented her from seeing any visible leaching if any – she would just have to assume she was on the right track with those rocks then.

((Ingredient 1: edible rocks
Ingredient 2: edible rocks ))

((Entering Day One))

So far, despite being away from his closest friends and his bonded, Alex was actually enjoying his experience on Famine. The fact that he had spent most of this time underground, distracting himself with exploring the multiple caves, tunnels and caverns probably helped. He felt comfortable underground, enjoyed the feeling of the cool air against his skin much better then the hot humidity of the jungle the week before. And then, of course, he had surrounded himself with ghouls, and who wouldn't be pleasantly distracted by that?

But then Alex was forced above ground for class time, and distaste was suddenly written clearly across his face. A desert, a wasteland. It was like the beach all over again, only with dryer air. The heat was nearly unbearable, and the zomboil longed to dart back underground, to immerse himself in cool comfort once more. Of course, he could not do that, not if he hoped to pass this class, and prove his worth to the horsemen (that's what he was here to do, right? Well, that's what Yin told him he was supposed to be doing, at least.)

And so, Alexander struggled along through the sand, his ambling, shuffling pace made even more agonizingly slow. He followed along the troupe of students headed towards the class, steadily falling more and more behind. It seemed to take him ages just to get to the edge of the pit that their class was to be held in. He gazed down that wall of sand apprehensively. There was just no graceful way for him to do this, was there? He gave it a try, though, and took a couple of tentative steps forward in the sand, trying to keep his footing beneath him but failing miserably as the sand shifted beneath his feet, cascading like a small waterfall, moving him along instead of letting him choose his own pace. His balance, always a precarious thing, was quickly thrown off. He flailed his arms, but to no avail. Within just a couple short feet of sliding down that sandy decline, Alex was suddenly falling face first into the sand, and then rolling, rolling, rolling all the way to the bottom, flipping head over feet so many times he thought it would never stop.

Until he finally lay sprawled out on the ground, arms and legs splayed as he blinked his eyes open and stared at the sky above, then pushed himself slowly to a sitting position, and then again to his feet. He was sure everybody had seen that, though thankfully, for the moment, nobody had commented.

Since he was perhaps one of the last to arrive, the class began shortly after, and he was somewhat surprised to see that the pile of rags in the middle of the pit was actually a horsemen, and in fact, their teacher. Again he was struck by just how different this clan appeared to be in comparison to the clan of war. The war teacher, Cybele, had been bold and proud, her very presence commanding attention. This teacher, while no less intriguing, did not hold nearly the same type of air.

Alex listened to the lecture with only the faintest of interest, his attention only truly grabbed when it became apparent what their lesson here on famine was to be.

Cooking.

Jacking seriously? Cooking?? It was like the entire world was out to get Alexander in some way. First his mother, then Xiu, and now this. Well, at least he had some experience with cooking, since his mom had decided it was something that he had needed to learn the last time he had been back home. Though zombies tended to just eat their food raw, and not bother with the actual cooking part. She had just taught him how to mix certain spices, things to flavor the meat with to make it more appetizing, among other things. And a lot of the things the famine teacher had to say made sense, since Alex was one of those who liked to eat for the sheer comfort and enjoyment of it, not because he necessarily needed to. And using a femur bone for a weapon? He glanced down to his own skeletal leg with a small smile, reminded of the time he had tried to club Yin across the head with one of his leg bones, and being told off for using it as a 'weapon'.

Eventually he was handed a list, and his eyes scanned down it, lips pursed in a straight line as he studied the words that were written. The task set for them for today did not seem too difficult, and he was fairly confident he could find the things needed.

And so, grabbing whatever other supplies might be necessary, he turned, and clambered his way back out of the pit, struggling all the while as every two steps he managed to take forward, he would slide back by at least one.

Out into the open desert once more, the wind whipping sand up to sting painfully into his eyes, Alex's gaze glanced around, only to settle on a nearby oasis. That would surely be the most logical place to find food, right? He shambled over towards it, standing near the edge and eyeing the murky still water around the edges. He could see that several yards further in, the water began to clear, until in the center it actually looked clean and pure. He debated for a time whether he aught to wade out into the water and at least attempt to obtain the water that was more clear looking, but changed his mind, deciding that was far too much work, and as most should know by now, Alex was far too lazy for that.

And so, he unscrewed the lid off of the jar he had snagged before leaving the 'classroom', bent down, and filled it nearly to the top with the very unappetizing looking murky water.

First Ingredient: Murky Water.