A Hallowed Feast

[Oath]

[spoiler]http://youtube.com/v/6IfKb8fXhUo&autoplay=1[/spoiler]

The air in Ternadan was cold, but the Guild of Galas'nor's hall was warm and welcoming. Decorated for the season, a cornucopia of food laid upon the tables, and everything was orchestrated by an unlikely candidate. Ryine had went through all of the effort to set things up. It all started with a simple plan. His life was good, and there were people in town who may not be having a good time with the holidays. Fliers were posted all over town at his request, for those that couldn't afford to have a nice meal, or that had nobody to spend the holidays with, the Guild of Galas'nor would open their doors in celebration. While Ryine did not prepare the food himself, he did shell out the coin to purchase the majority. To start the feast, he stood upon a raised platform at one end of the room.

"Friends, we all gather here to celebrate a holy day. Eat, drink, make merry. Just remember that here we are all equal, all people celebrating the same day. I'm not one to make long speeches, so everyone! Enjoy!"

He stepped down from the platform amidst applause, and wandered from table to table socializing with various people and stopping here and there for a bite to eat. He was glad to see that so many of the fellow guild members had turned up, and that so many people from all walks of life had gathered here for the same event, with all fighting sidelined to just enjoy a day filled with company. A drastic different from the last feast he had experienced not too long ago.

Everyone feel free to jump in! It's a celebration!

[Linwelin]

"Friends, we all gather here to celebrate a holy day. Eat, drink, make merry. Just remember that here we are all equal, all people celebrating the same day. I'm not one to make long speeches, so everyone! Enjoy!"

"Not good at long speeches, my arse, Ryine!" Kin yells from the background, causing a slight roar of laughter in the hall. Everyone knew he was talking about the speeches before missions, as well as rallying calls on the battlefield. Though, of course, they delighted in such things, and so the applause was even greater and Ryine stepped down - even from Kin.

Kin was leaned back in a chair, downing a stout pint of mead. After a particularly satisfying gulp, Kin exhaled happily, "Nothing quite like good mead among good friends!" He then jumped up to meet his fellow warrior. "So it looks like we're still eating that turkey...as tired as I am of the meat, it's still QUITE satisfying." He says with a grin, then pats the fighter on the back.

"So what's the plan here, anyways? I have no idea what to do with myself! If I keep drinking and eating like this I'll end up a goblin, or ooze, or...gods, a TURKEY!" He says in mock horror.

[Lance]

"A goblin or ooze, you say?" Lyolf asked, sitting beside the precarious halfling and partaking of the feast himself. Free food was free food after all; He swore it even made it taste better. "What's so bad about either?" He finally asked while grinning a mischievous grin. "You said yourself that you were bored with turkey," the elf continued, all the while gathering arcane energies within himself.

"So you can't complain." And with that statement uttered, Lyolf sent out a portion of his raw arcane energy into Kin's food and drink. And though he knew neither the taste of goblin flesh nor the flavor of raw ooze, he had some pretty good guesses-which he immediately replicated into the halfing's meal.

[spoiler=Actions]Lyolf uses Prestidigitation, then makes Kin's food taste like goblin and SMELL like goblin. He then makes it so Kin's drink tastes and FEELS like ooze. Living ooze. With teeth. Lotsa lotsa teeth.[/spoiler]

[Throndir]

"Careful Kin, I see Lyolf's eyes sparkling in mischief, and I did catch him mutter something under his breath. Heaven forbid he's probably up to something again!" Annia said as she continued nibbling on her pieces of turkey. "I personally would prefer other things however... We've been eating turkeys for how long now?" The paladin let out a long drawn sigh, but she continued to eat away. Not that she wanted to complain, but she was certain more than few others had the same idea.

[Linwelin]

Annia's words brought it to his attention right as he brought the mug to his face. Kin could immediately tell by the smell, he knew his favorite mead well, after all. "To the Hells with you, Lyolf! You've ruined my mead! I meant become one from over-eating, not EAT one, ya dolt!" He walked over to the bar frustrated, dumping the contents and tossing the mug in the sink. He quickly replaced it with a fresh mug and downed it before any more funny business could occur. Then he hunkered down in a nearby seat and relaxed.

"Or are you saying you're not tired of turkey? I could go for some nice, red meat! And thanks for the warning, Annia! Saved me some disgust."

"Just curious, but what DID you base the taste on, anyways? You haven't actually EATEN goblin or ooze before, have you? Granted, it would probably have been roasted by your favorite oil..."

[Lance]

The elf shrugged helplessly before giving a certain meddlesome paladin a dry stare. "That was unnecessary," Lyolf sighed, deprived of his fun. He continued feeding the raven bits and strips of turkey as he watched, with mild satisfaction, the halfling's sudden outburst. Perhaps he should have left off the telling smell till the first bite. Yes, he thought with a grin, that would have been better. Much, much better.

And as he schemed, he continued gathering arcane energies within himself, even without the need for gestures, incantations, or much else. His raw "spell" was already in effect after all. He needed neither fancy movements nor elaborate gestures since the elf was merely directing the weave without any preset form, much like how a musician plays an instrument without first choosing a song. It was fairly minor and altogether unwieldy in comparison to his regular casting, but it nevertheless got the job done.

"...so you had wanted to become one instead," Lyolf very quietly and very dangerously whispered, while the halfling was busy getting a new drink. He didn't even bother tampering with this new beverage, so caught up was he in his new scheme. And as he concocted his next plan of action, his grin never left his face-rather, it grew bigger. For when the halfling finally reached his seat, he was covered, from head-to-toe, in a very specific shade of green-Goblin green.

Lyolf was only barely keeping his laughter in check when the halfling "goblin" finally got to asking him some questions. "What's so wrong with turkey everyday?" he answered when he finally got a handle on himself. He then habitually waved his hand in quick succession, and, with each wave, changed the coloring of another turkey into a deep shade of red.

"Well there's your red meat," he presented as he stood up and bowed. In truth, he had changed not just the color, but the flavor of the meat itself, giving all such turkeys the taste of beef.

He then got bored, and started changing turkeys into other colors too-blue, green, black, you name it. Every color he could think of, which for a magus was a lot, was attributed to a separate turkey. And for every color, he added a different, but appropriate, flavor.

Magic was not just for pranks after all. It could be used for things like these too. And with that thought in mind, Lyolf gave a raven-flavored strip of turkey to his familiar. Needless to say, Uli gagged on the food and began glaring at him with more enmity than all the Nine Hells combined.

Lyolf only laughed in response, which increased the raven's ire further. But the familiar just sighed in the end, apparently accepting it for what it was. "It's hard to think that you're the same person..." the raven half-muttered, half-complained quietly and outside of Lyolf's immediate perception.

"You said something, Uli?" the elf then asked, sensing something off and turning to face the raven directly.

"...nothing"

Lyolf simply shrugged and thought nothing more of it, as he brought his attention once more to the "goblin." It was apparently asking him another question.

"Ever eaten something outside of Ternadan?" He asked in answer. "Outside of the guild?" The elf smiled bitterly in recollection. "I have."

"And my condolences still go to those who've lived without a Sophie in their lives. Some chefs are worse than that girl by a long shot. And by a long shot, I mean a loooooooong enough-to-traverse-the-planes shot."

"I swear some inns out there even serve goblin WITH my most precious oil."

"All I did was recreate their flavor."

[Linwelin]

Kin only realized it after he had raised his mug next. "...And THIS is why I hate talking to mages...How long does this crap last? He was green, completely green. "You do realize I said I DIDN'T want all this stuff to happen, right, Lyolf? Of course you do, why do I even ask? It's opposite day, every day in Lyolf's world. Usually I enjoy a good joke, or explosion. Not tonight."

He then watched as, one-by-one, every turkey turned a color, most very odd colors. There were moans of delight for some, and groans of disgust from others. Even Lyolf's raven had a moment of gagging. "Why is it that the ones that are easily bored always have the magic powers? Is it a prerequisite in magus schools? Honestly, play with your own food and body, not everyone else's! Or you'll be making enemies of easy friends this night."

Kin had been itching for a brawl, but one in fun, no one getting hurt. But now, someone had crossed the line. He wanted revenge, or at least a reversal of what'd been done. He messed with my rink, my food, my friends, and my own body! just because he was bored! Even I know that's too far off limits! And I'm always doing off limits things, so I should know.

Kin started with a warning, hoping for the elf's sake it did not go further. "Boy, you may have tasted bad food, and seem to like sharing it, but I've tasted a bad world that your schools could not have possibly shown you. I've tasted war, not just battle. I've starved and thirsted, and loved and lost. We may share mischievous natures, but mine comes from the realization that I've come to be in a good place now. We all have. And no matter what the situation there should be some sort of joy. This time, your jokes have been straight disrespect. You've crossed a line that won't sit well if it continues. A man does not spoil a feast."

"And yes, there is food that is worse than having 'a Sophie' cooking for you. Far worse. But I'll be damned if I'd deny such food from my companions on a blessed day for some 'fun'. Know your place."

A man comes over to Kin amidst his 'speech' and at the last phrase, realizing the intent, places his hand on Kin's shoulder, "Oy, Kin, calm down and lay off. We get where you're coming from. You can stop."

Kin stands still for a second, then shrugs the hand off his shoulder. He looks down at his mead, then grimaces as he places it down on the table. "The mead's no good right now." He states lowly as he walks out the front door, into the night to try to cool off.

[Oath]

"Well, Kin you know as well as I that a battlefield is not the same as a formal occasion, and the way that should be spoken are not the same either. Best to let someone with better skills take over when possible, just like we're sent out to battle all sorts of beasts in place of those who would not stand a chance."

As he was responding to Kin, he felt like the halfling had been distracted by the time he finished, and to think his response was that brief. It seemed like Lyolf was up to no good, and that had sent Kin into a fit of rage. It was understandable after all, Lyolf had messed with a lot of people, via his magical pranks. It didn't really seem like the day for that though. Rather than getting further involved in the situation which was quickly turning unpleasant, Ryine decided to wander about the hall, greeting all those he came across that didn't seem to be too busy. Many of them were just folks from town, excited to have a place to spend the holy day, due to family being in another part of the world, or just not having the money to celebrate on their own. All of the warm greetings despite the tricks played by Lyolf was quite reassuring to Ryine, people were still enjoying themselves, and that was the goal of this feast.