>>6140481You decide to next visit the Food Production Hub. You were interested in learning more about the magic that Adjunct Marlin had employed to create that loaf of bread. Sure, it wasn’t the tastiest thing you’d ever tried. Something was definitely off about it, in fact. But even you had to admit that magic of that caliber was essentially a miracle. You’d never heard of someone being able to conjure food before, let alone enough to sustain an entire colony of people. You wander off to a section of Ithaca, where you find more of those same cauldrons that Marlin had used. A burly mage is there to greet you.
“Welcome, traveler.” The mage says. “What will you be having?”
>“Like…to eat?”The mage nods. You peer into the cauldron that stands between the two of you. Just like before, you see nothing but pure emptiness inside. A bottomless pit that seemingly has no end. You glance back up to the mage and squint your eyes.
>“Uhh…what are the options?”“Anything you can think of.” The mage replies. “Describe the food you desire, and it is within the cauldron’s power to conjure it. Within reason of course.”
>“Within reason. Right. Well then. I’ll have a steak. Tenderloin, to be precise. Medium-rare. Lightly salted.The mage stares at you blankly. For a second, you believe you’ve stumped him. All of a sudden, he stretches his hands over the cauldron. He begins muttering something under his breath, and the same ball of light you saw Adjunct Marlin conjure appears from the inky blackness. It materializes and warps itself perfectly into the shape of a tenderloin steak. The light you saw fades away, and the cut of meat floats there, ripe for the taking.
“Enjoy.” The mage says.
You grab the steak from mid-air, taking a large bite. As you chew, you realize that your order was made perfectly to your specifications. The meat was flavorful, almost indistinguishable from the real thing. This was phenomenal, even! So, what was this nagging feeling you had in the pit of your stomach that something wasn’t right?
“Dessert?” The mage asks.
>“Desert dessert?”Unappreciative of your play on words, the mage conjures forth another ball of light from the cauldron. This time, what materializes is a cone shaped bread substance, filled to the brim with what looked like frozen milk. Unable to identify the strange food, you eye it suspiciously in your hands. It was cold to the touch.
“This is a recently discovered food. You’d only be able to find it here in Ithaca. Supposedly it was a favorite of the Sorcerer King and his disciples. The recipe that we found said it was called ‘Ice Cream’. Try it.”
You take a lick of the mysterious food, followed by several more. It was sweet. Definitely tasty!
>“I have to say, this is the most impressive thing I’ve seen of this land yet. Just how do you even do something like this? It’s incredible!” You take several more licks. 