Rael hadn't forgotten the invitation to Luthien's latest culinary Endeavor at the Embertorch, of course not. She wasn't a forgetful creature by any means.
What, then, was the purpose of her fashionably late arrival?
The desire for a grand entrance? No. Such things were best saved for others, for protagonists.
Struggling to pick an outfit? As if someone versed in magical disguises had to worry about trivial things like that...
Truth be told, when she was first informed of the event that was to take place, the elf was suddenly made aware of her lack of culinary prowess, and so embarked on a quest to the local library in search of all sorts of books to help prepare for the special day.
Her quest for knowledge had caused her to lose track of time.
Even worse yet, as soon as she had slipped past the assembled crowd of kitchen helpers, she found out that no amount of knowledge could equate actual experience using the utensils at her disposal, leaving her to pout in a corner as she struggled to sort out her confusion.
"Does this... Does this look alright? It looks too liquid-y..."
Roll Result 1d20 (8) = 8 Rael | 1597C3 | Cream of Coco
10 Knowledge = + 4 Bonus to roll, for an equal of 12.
Evap.d Milk 154/150 Conds.d Milk 251/250 Cream of Coco 515/500
❰ Open To Anyone & Everyone Else That's Interested! ❱
Her taunt had worked exactly as the blonde had expected, the katana wielding player quickly rising up to the challenge as he took the offered knife from the elf. The look Ash gave her didn’t go unnoticed either, before the elf gave the caenis an impish little grin of her own. Sure enough they were treated to quite the show by Schilva, and while a good part of the elf was merely acting the part of a surprised viewer Lúthien had to admit the player had some skill to him.
At least this would keep him away from wasting any more coconut water.
It was then the voice of a new arrival caught her attention, crimson eyes turning to look back at the man dressed like the very picture of a professional chef. "Hey there, glad you could make it!" A wave was offered at the man, before a cheeky grin pulled at elven lips at his next comment.
"No worries, nothing a lil’ bit of hydromancy couldn’t wash away from the shells~" Her attention turned for a moment to another group, one working on the condensed milk and two with the coconuts, when Shadow’s voice suddenly reverberated around the lobby. "Hey, IT’S RAW!"
It caused the elf to wince in response, the unexpected shout cutting into her sensitive eardrums, and it was during that brief pause that Vargold took it upon himself to address the new player and his teaching style with another participant. By then a white-haired magia had joined them, seemingly attracted by Schilva’s display of skill splitting a coconut before the man’s attention focused solely on his new singular fan.
"Uh-oh..." She quickly noticed as the frown formed on Shadow’s face, the man’s eyes glistening with determination of someone that was fully committed to their role. It was then she watched the caenis seemingly type a message in the air, receiving an alert on her UI just moments after Vargold finished and started walking off in the direction of the other player. { Thanks, Vee. }
Instead she turned back to her friends, glad to see that Ronja was no longer spewing cyan-ish steam from her ears as she and Fiora worked together on various tasks. She was roped into their conversation again, though through it the blonde still kept an ear out for whatever verbal exchange was currently happening between Ash and Shadow. "Yeah, Ronja’s inventions are all really cool. I’ve lost count of how many times they’ve helped us during sticky situations." By now most of the coconuts had been processed to their last stages, and the girl busied herself gathering the leftover crushed pulp and spreading it on trays once more.
”Next time give me a call, would be fun to watch ya' two pellet a wyvern to death." "Ronja was nearly killed, she wasn't kicking that wyvern to death, she was trying to kick that stupid hunter."
The tray she’d been carrying clattered as the elf lost her grip on an edge for a moment when Ronja mentioned that particular moment. "M-Man, that was such a wild ride…!" Her gaze actively avoided Fiora’s as she quickly scooped the pulp that had shifted onto the table back into the tray before popping it in the oven. "That Randahr sure was an asshole, t-too!" She barely remembered to check the temperature of the oven, more concerned with changing the current topic at hand away from wyverns.
Fio’s gonna fucking murder me…
Thankfully by then all the components were ready to go for the main show, the blonde quickly using that as her escape as she dipped away from the girls before Fio could possibly get her hands on the ranger. It was then she noticed Rael, a happy wave given to the pinkett, before Lúthien clapped her hands together loudly to get the attention of those in the room.
"Very well done, everyone! Why, even with a few incidents here and there, it looks like we were quite efficient with the raw ingredients we had at hand today!" She walked over to the table with the large amount of bottles, every inch of its surface covered by them, before picking one up. "This is where we’ll be bottling our coquitos, but before that we actually have to mix everything together—with a few spices and additions of course~"
Bottle in hand the girl walked to another table, setting it down before picking one of the available bowls. Carefully she explained the measurements to those present as she went through the process, also signaling out the various spices, vanilla essence and barrels of white rum available, before beginning to mix everything together.
"When it comes to flavors the sky’s the limit really, though traditionally back home we’ll have coquito in its traditional ‘as is’ flavor," A hand waved over the now mixed bowl, before picking it up and beginning to carefully pour it into the bottle. "But two favorites are chocolate and pistachio too."Finally she corked the bottle, taking a moment to lightly decorate a spot and clean any small spills, before presenting the finished product to those present."And here you have it, the traditional holiday coquito itself~"
There is no limit on character posts for this cycle
There is no min or max word count for posts, although if you wish to receive posting rewards make sure you have at least 150 words.
If you'd like to expand on character interactions between cycles feel free to use the Official Coquito Comms!
Feel free to jump into this thread anytime, it's meant to be lighthearted and fun and a good way for people to knock out a few bingo options
Next cycle update: Monday night, though probably closer into the wee hours of Tuesday morning.
Each player may post twice per unlimited times this cycle, and you'll be rolling a total of 3d20 for the bottles of coquito that you are helping craft in each post—each d20 represents one bottle. Additionally for every 5pts in ❰ Knack ❱ and/or ❰ Knowledge ❱ modifiers that your character has you'll be able to add 2pts towards the total of each d20. Any character that possesses ❰ Hyper Sense ❱ can roll with advantage.
The following traits will also grant characters advantage when rolling: ❰ Homebound ❱ (Homemaking & Crafting), ❰ Amplified Senses ❱ (Sight & Smell) and ❰ Function Over Form ❱ (Finesse & Learning)
You will declare a ❰ Mastery ❱ for each roll in the comments, and for every 5pts that you have in its modifiers you’ll add another 2pts towards your total. You’re free to flavor how the mastery will assist you in blending and bottling the coquito, as well as any added “flavors” you can come up with…
Also since you all went over the required roll amounts by a total of 50pts between all three ingredients everyone will be able to add +5pts to each of their coquito rolls. @Ash Vargold, @Eva & @Ronja Bubblyfoot: for rolling Nat 20s in the previous cycles you may tag two masteries instead of one for each of your rolls for extra modifiers.
On a Nat 1 any modifiers you’ve been adding to your rolls are subtracted instead, and your next roll will be done at disadvantage even if your character has an advantage bonus. On a Nat 20 the player will double the modifiers on the current roll.
Quality
Roll Range
Terrible
≤3
Poor
4-7
Average
8-14
Great
15-19
Spectacular
20-24
Extraordinary
25-29
Legendary
30+
HANDS-ON APPROACH
All necessary ingredients have been outsourced and provided by the League, there's more than enough to go around and the group is expected to make more bottles than just the ones they'll be keeping for themselves. Thanks to @Shadow and the crew that headed to the ❰ Druuk Islands ❱ for bringing back more than enough coconuts on short notice!
Now that all the coquito components have been properly made we can start assembling the mix and filling up all those bottles! Various ingredients have been brought for additional flavoring, and who knows what might happen if you try to infuse the drink with a little bit of magic…
Instructions:
For every 750mL bottle of coquito you will need the following: 172.5mL of evaporated milk, 195mL of sweetened condensed milk, 210mL cream of coconut and 172.5mL of white rum.
If preferred you may substitute the rum for more of the primary components, in a 1:1:2 ratio.
Pour all the liquid ingredients into a large enough bowl. Then you will add 1.25g of ground cinnamon, 0.6g of ground nutmeg and 5g of vanilla essence. If you wish to add any additional ingredients for flavoring this would be the time to do so.
Stir vigorously to combine all ingredients into an homogeneous mix. Place one stick of cinnamon into the glass bottle before carefully filling it up with the mixture. Carefully cork up the bottle before placing it in a chill place to refrigerate for a minimum of one hour. You may decorate your bottle now before storing it away.
Drink is best enjoyed cold, be sure to shake the bottle vigorously before serving.
Feel free to tag me on Discord with your questions, promise that I don't bite~ uwu
For every 250mL of ❰ evaporated milk ❱ being made you will need 562.5mL of milk.
Carefully begin to heat the milk in a pot over a medium flame, once it begins to simmer keep it over a medium-low flame. Make sure that you're stirring the contents occasionally, especially in the later stages, since we want to avoid any scorching or unwanted flavors.
Once reduced enough, you'll be able to tell by the creamy color and thicker consistency, and pass it through a sieve as it's being poured into a separate container. Set aside to cool completely.
For every 250mL of ❰ condensed milk ❱ being made you will need 500mL of milk and 166.7g of sugar.
Add the milk and sugar into a pot and heat over a low flame until all the sugar has dissolved, stirring occasionally. Once the mixture has combined, simmer it over a medium-low flame. Do NOT stir once the mix starts to simmer otherwise it can crack and crystalize.
Gently simmer for roughly 30 to 45 minutes or until the milk has darkened to a creamy color, has reduced by half and thickened slightly. If any foam begins to form on the top gently skim it off with a spoon. If there are any sugary bits hanging around the rim of your pot do not stir them into your condensed milk, as this can also crack the mix.
Once ready, remove from the heat and pour into a jar to cool.
For every 250mL of ❰ cream of coconut ❱ being made you will need 437.5mL of coconut milk, 187.5g of sugar and a pinch of salt.
First we'll start by making coconut milk from the fresh coconuts! Drain the coconut water by poking holes through the 'eyes' and into a glass. Make sure that the liquid inside hasn't gone bad—it should smell sweet without smelling sour. Reserve all of the good coconut water in a jar.
Preheat your oven to 200° C. Place the coconuts on a tray and bake for 20 minutes or until the outer shell begins to crack. Remove and let them cool. Wrap the coconut in a towel and hit it with a hammer, or use the back of a cleaver across the 'equator' of the coconut, to split them open.
Remove the coconut meat, it should separate from the shell easily, and peel away the thin brown skin as much as possible. Cut the flesh into small pieces and add to a large mortar, grind the flesh away with the pestle until it's a pulp.
In a separate pot heat up the reserved coconut water until it's simmering but not boiling. Combine the hot coconut water and coconut pulp in a large container and allow to sit until it's cooled down enough to handle. Carefully pour the mixture into a sieve lined with a towel (set over a large bowl) and tightly squeeze to separate all the liquids from the solids.
Additional instructions will be provided once all the required coconut milk is made by the group.
Combine the coconut milk and sugar together in a large pot; for every 400mL of coconut milk you will use 375g of sugar. Place the pot over a low flame and continue to stir until all the sugar has dissolved.
Once ready, remove from the heat and pour into a jar to cool.
Optional: take the leftover coconut pulp leftover from the coconut milk process and spread it into thin layers on trays. Place into the oven at 100° C for 2 to 3 hours, checking on them periodically until they’re fully dried out and begin to toast.
"You would be surprised what you can do in this game other than pursuit for power."Fiora held back her tongue against @Shadow. The man would eventually find the answers for himself, be them aligned with her own or different for the matter. "Keep the cloak though, I got a new one. That old rag might serve as a bandage for ya' one day, or perhaps an extra layer to cloak yourself with. I trust you changed weapons though and ain't relying on rocks anymore, Gordon." She smiled, yet made sure the seriousness within her tone made it harder to tell if she's teasing or not- Most likely is.
Her ears flickered however, taken back at @Ronja Bubblyfoot's correction, so concrete and straightforward it might pack a punch on it's own, aswell as what she deduced to be an accusatory look back to @Luthien, which soon made the knightess mimic it, with far less severity than the ranger knew her for, or perhaps because it's a different face did it seem like that as opposed to the pinkette's.
"Nearly killed, huh?"Fiora recited, watching with supreme patience as Luth begun to advert her gaze in most incriminating way. It was Hawaii all over again!"Sounds like you two had a lot of fun and didn't tag me in." "M-Man, that was such a wild ride…!"Her frown became severe at this point, only to let go of it with a sigh despite how her veins set themselves on fire and warmth came to her like boiling lava. "It's fine, I'm not mad at-"An attempt to ease down Luthien's worries, and her own honestly, but alas the elf scooted herself away as quickly as possible before she could even elaborate on that, turning her eyes back to Ronja instead. "Glad to know you ain't denying it though."The elf added, as Ronja did prove her right. Not just roleplaying, but still doing it one way or another.
With the pair having done her handful to assist with the coconut cream along with Schilva, Rael and Ash's own collective (with the latter most likely the most skilled out of the three or for she could notice doing the same compared to herself), so posed the question: What next.
And Luthien gave just the explanation for phase two of their little coquito quest, by now having taken special note of the most generic of ingredients mentioned to make the most basic ass coquito. Or at least to have the basics down.
"So, while we keep adding chocolate into this coquito because chocolate's the best, care to tell me more about this wyvern deal? Sounds like you two had a bumpy road."Fiora inquired, playing it cool as she passed over some pistachio to Ronja, sliding it across the table.
...so then would you believe it the orb melted my sword, and I was all 'ooh you melted my sword you stinky bug haha' AND THEN I was disarmed...!
Measuring out the appropriate amounts of coquito ingredients and making wild gestures and striking poses all the while, Schilva occasionally slows his monologue to give @Tick Tock notetaking breaks before immediately returning to his motormouthing.
One would assume that this frivolousness during the final stages of preparation would impact the quality of the final product, but Schilva had already given consideration to that. Sacrificing speed for compensatory accuracy of results while ranting, which is already very un-Schilva-like, the swordsman's hands remain steady through the whole process as he does his damnedest to make a good coquito. After all, he wasn't about to ruin a perfectly good drink that he was going to enjoy later!
So what happened next, you say? Well, even unarmed- have you ever heard of the hidden art of Sha-Qi projection?
Grinning and waiting for an answer, Schilva finishes up the ingredient mixing, adds in the basic flavourings and sweeps his hand across the table containing the bottles. Three disappear, a blur passes over the bowl and three perfectly corked and filled bottles of frothy delicious coquito now sit on the table.
Rolls
Roll Result
3d20 (17 + 14 + 14) = 45
Knack +10, Dynamism B and Ingredient Overachievement= bonus 4+6+5=15
17+15=32 [Legendary]
14+15=29 [Extraordinary]
14+15=29 [Extraordinary]
"We actually first logged into the game at the same time. Burnt a forest and went into the city together."
"Burning forests, running into cities. Phew, Tock wished to be there, and not just to spend time with her beautiful Kyanna in our totally not one-sided marriage." Tock stated with enough enthusiasm to fill TWO coquito bottles, just like the ones she decided to work on exactly one (1) of them, in this instance, adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that. A taste to live for and a taste to die for, as this bottle in particular would be blessed with lifeforce itself , giving it a metallic yet strong taste, like licking vodka out of a steel beam, only more vodka and less steel!
"Y-Yeah, I am... Huh? Wait, your daughters?" "Yes, we look alike, don't we?"
Pride blossomed from her puffed out chest as the puppet stood side by side with her mother, big dumb smile on her lips in agreement. "They're good daughters."And once Eva gestured to the pair, Tock mimicked that exact motion down to the letter, yet aimed at the white haired lady instead. "She's a good mama! The best out there." Tock replied, eyes darting back to Eva, wrapping her fingers around the fabrics of her shirt to tug from, only to be met with a scolding. "Tock, Kyanna's working."
"But mama..." Her puppy eyes activated when met with parenting. "Go play with Tick." Nope, they certainly didn't work with @Eva , who remains unphased, even as she fakes her sobbing and nods along, before running off with her sister as if nothing had happened, only to end up next to her as the pair stared with a copy pasted expression straight at @Schilva Flasch. Noticing the notepad on Tick, Tock pulled one straight out of her hair to take notes with.
"Shhh Tock, The Flasch is talking!"Tick gestured, before glittering eyes returned to the man's most epic tale, holding back to an imaginary seat's armrests when the man had been suddently disarmed! Or at least 'was', since this is part of past events."Heh, Schilva's lucky, he didn't get disarmed like people do ro Tick. You know how hard it is to pick up your own arms when you have none? Very difficult when your twin's head is rolling around!"Yet she could imagine having no sword is quite the pickle for a... SWORDmaster.
Tick on the other hand, did absolutely nothing to help on the coquito-creation process, merely spectating the man, and antagonizing him by taking what he might need from arm's reach, with the most innocent face to match the act.
"So what happened next, you say?"
"So what happened next?" Tock asked, just as she fell for it: was he a seer too?! capable of reading minds and future alike?! "Shush it was a rhetorical!"Tick scolded, wagging a finger back at her. Well, even unarmed- have you ever heard of the hidden art of Sha-Qi projection?" "Beep boop, scanning database... Database doesn't exist," The twins froze on spot, syncing up to some very important files apparently, even if they weren't that kind of magia. "Is it related to Shaquille O'Neal the player?"
"No you old crooked puppet, he means Shaak Ti, the Jedi master!" "Oooooh... So he's a jedi?!"Tick stared back and forth in disbelief. "Yes, he is a jedi. He uses a sword, remember? Of course he can do force powers with his hands." Tock nodded like a sage imparting wisdom to children. "Okay then he has to prove it. Force lift us then force fold us into an orb, Flasch The Schilva!"
Rolls
Roll Result
3d20 (3 + 15 + 20) 12 + 12 + 12 = 50
12 to each because of Knowledge
+4 from to total from Mastery.
+5 to each from overingredients.
Total: 89
20 + 5 +12=37 [Legendary]
3+5+12=20 [Spectacular]
15+5+12=32 [Legendary]
If anyone had been paying attention, they might've noticed that Yugam had been gone for quite a while now. Had the antisocial Hunter just gotten sick of being forced to interact with other people? Or had he accidently drank from the wrong bottle and was just suffering in some dark, forgotten, praying that his life would end soon.
Neither! The answer was barrels.
And the answer came crashing through the door in an avalanche of more answers with Yugam screaming at the top of his lungs.
Stuck inside of a barrel as it rolled into the hall, the world was a blurry, nauseating mess as tens of large oak barrel road into the wall opposite the door, by some miracle missing everyone and everything except the stone on the other side of the room.
By the time Yugam and his barrel came to a stop at Valeria's feet, the man was trying not to vomit. Or stand. Standing was not fun right now, what with there being four of everything in front of him right now. "Special...delivery..." the man said, a fist in front of his mouth as he held back some more dry heaving.
The bottom of the bottle opened up. Three bottles of Coquito came out. Where did those come from?
Knowledge: 25 +10 to Coquitos
Knowledge: 25 +10 to Coquitos
Roll Result
3d20 (3 + 11 + 15) = 29 +20 to each bottle
Spectacular (1)
Legendary (2) Yugam | Animancy
Listening to @Luthien's instructions, Eva's photographic memory allowed her to replicate the steps perfectly, down to the last zero point one millimeter of each ingredient just by eyeballing them. "172.5mL, 195mL, 210mL, 172.5mL, 1.25g, 0.6g, 5g." She muttered all the measurements as the woman mixed the ingredients precisely, working like a machine. Of course, her tools helped with getting the ingredients into the bottle without spilling any of the goodness.
And it was done! Three bottles of masterfully done coquito. Done with the bottling, Eva proceeded to bring the bottles with her and walked towards Tick and Tock. "They said they didn't like it, but they might feel different about mine." But then @Yugam walked in with a lot of barrels, and the man's posture was quite unstable, splashing some coquitos on Eva. She quickly stepped to the side, but unfortunately some got on her shirt. "Hey, careful."
Continuing to walk towards @Tick Tock who were pestering another guy, she called out to them. "Tick, Tock, want to try the coquito?"
Rolls
Roll Result
3d20 (20 + 18 + 10) = 48
Magitech: +6 to Coquitos Alchemy: +4 to Coquitos Knowledge: +10 to Coquitos Overingredients: +5 to Coquitos Total Modifiers: +25
Ronja wasn't exactly aware of all the glaring, even if there was some initial weird energy surrounding the two of them when she revealed the potential terrible ending it could've had. There was no time to focus on it, after all, there was a lot of coquitos that needed to be finished and bottled, finally for consumption.
Hurriedly, Ronja began working on the last touches, as she began answering @Fiora Di Angelo.
"It was a strange situation, but basically we found an egg that was nearly indestructive, a baby wyvern cracked out of it, and then we went in a journey to find its mama... But it turned out there was some very shady hunter keeping the wyvern jailed, for unknown purposes..." She sighed, then glancing at Fiora.
"But it is all fine now, @Luthien and Ronja managed to get rid of them." She said with a small smile, then shaking a coquito in front of Fiora.
"But more importantly, we have these delicious things done now!"
Rolls
Roll Result
3d20 (3 + 6 + 13) Ronja | Magitech and Arcanamancy
+24 to each because of Knowledge
+10 from Magitech
+8 from Arcanamancy
+5 to each from overingredients.
Kyanna was somewhat puzzled at what @Tick Tock was talking about, but she didn't need to worry to much about it, thanks to @Eva's efforts on keeping the self-proclaimed puppet wife away from her, something that felt far more draining than she expected.
@Shadow's compliment averted her attention from the troublemakers, however, making her blush slightly as she adjusted her bangs. "Do you think so? Thank you!" She giggled sheepishly. "You look very good too, and a bit better than me at working with these, for sure." Kyanna said, not being quite used to work with coquitos just yet.
Granted... She did feel like she had done a good job.
"Do you want to try any of these?" She asked, offering one of those that actually looked like a big success.
But of course, she would also keep some for Eva and the puppet duo, even if the later didn't feel to deserving after all their antics.
Rolls
Roll Result
3d20 (18 + 17 + 3) Kyanna | Nature Magic
+2 to each because of Knowledge
+6 from Nature Magic
+5 to each from overingredients.
❰ Thanks for participating guys, I hope y'all had fun! ❱
It had taken some time, but finally the last of the bottles provided by the League had been capped off and sealed, the girl heaving a sigh of relief soon after before looking around the room. She must have gotten lucky with the turnout of players, because most if not all of their bottles had been amazing from what Lúthien had been able to see. Her attention turned to the three bottles the ranger had made, the special mix one she hadn’t tried before buuut she hoped it would still taste pretty similar to the real deal.
"Alright everyone," She called out over the room to get the attention of those present, a smile on her lips. "It took some time, but we’re finally done~" The smile soon gave way to a bright and toothy grin as the girl gazed at each of those present, nodding towards a table filled with coquito bottles that hadn’t been placed away into craters. "You can take up to three bottles home as a reward for your hard work today, and I hope some of you do give these a try IRL too~"
A glance as given to some of the messes still present around the lobby, things that she’d have to clean up later… but that would wait a little longer, for now she wanted to share these dairy-free versions with Yugam and spend time with her friends.
"Thanks again, everyone! Oh, and drink responsibly~"
A huuugeee thanks to everyone that participated in this little mini event-y thing, I had a lot of fun making and running it and I hope you guys had fun too!
If you have time to answer a really quick form feel free to click the icon ❰ ❱ and of course, it’s fully anonymous—but don’t feel pressured to answer if you don’t want.
Definitely enjoyed sharing a local holiday drink with y’all, and if you guys ever try to make them do let me know what you think of them!
