Video

[theweakhavepurpose]

[The video opens on a pile of wood, sticks, shrubbery, and chunks of what might have been siding, all piled into a very obvious pyramid surrounded by rocks.]

So everything has sucked recently. Back home in Montana, when shit got rough we'd always get together and have a big bonfire. Get drunk, make s'mores, all that stuff. It didn't make things better but at least you forgot about it for a little while.

Worth a try right?

[He sounds like he's honestly asking. He's trying really hard to be positive for once.]

I've got some graham crackers, chocolate, and other things for roasting. No marshmallows though so if anyone wants to come through in the clutch it would be appreciated.

I'm lighting this up tonight at dusk, so if you want in, be there. I've only got so much to burn and it might not last more than an hour or two.

((OOC: Feel free to use this like a log and make top levels and do action things. Go forth and get some bonfire mingling on!))

Comments

[utulien_aure]

[Laughing at that.] Then you've been deprived. This is not so difficult, really, so if you want to watch you'll pick it up quickly.

[And then he gets to work, oiling the pan, letting it warm up, and letting the first few kernels in as a test case.]

I learned to cook from my father. It's an old custom among my people, to have the menfolk cook, and it's proven useful. More than I would have thought, when I was first old enough to be dragged into the kitchens.

[He's not really sure of microwaves beyond the basic idea, but he nods.] Hadriel never does lend itself to ease of use.

[theweakhavepurpose]

Most of my cooking comes from camping. Catching a fish and cooking it over a fire, or grilling a deer we just bagged. Stuff like that.

I'm not so great with the oven or stove unless I'm heating up cans of soup.

[He watches attentively, because he does love him some popcorn.]

[utulien_aure]

I did a lot of that. Hunting was popular when I was young; we were out for weeks at a time, sometimes.

[If he sounds a little wistful, it's because he is; most of those he once hunted with are dead.]

Sometimes I think the welcome packet ought to have included kitchen instructions-ai.

[And if you're listening carefully, the first kernels have picked up steam.]

Here we are. It won't be long now.

[And he pours the rest of the kernels in.]

[theweakhavepurpose]

I had to have someone show me how the washing machine worked. I felt like a fucking moron.

[He grins. That's the sound of some fluffy corn goodness about to unfold.]

Yeah, we have a quality hunting season back home. Stags everywhere, people come from all over.

[utulien_aure]

[Fingon laughs.]

You still knew more than I did. I had no idea what a laundry machine was when I arrived.

[Inside the cooking pan, the kernels are going off like a firework explosion.]

I miss that sort of hunting. It's been centuries since I could rely on a decent game season.

[theweakhavepurpose]

Well that makes me feel a little better anyway.

All the game move on? Or are you having a problem with overhunting? We sort of have the reverse problem, the farmers shoot all the wolves because they try and eat their livestock, and then nothing keeps the deer in check. Then the deer overrun everything and eat all the vegetation and mess with the natural order of things. We've been having mudslides and rockslides from there not being enough plants to hold the soil in place. All because we've upset the balance of predator and prey. Weak and strong.

[utulien_aure]

I suppose we're too in the thick of things to ask the gods to make these houses easier to manage.

[Fingon shakes his head.]

The game stayed right where it was- the first time at least. It was we who moved.

Our king was murdered, you see. And when the murderer fled, we chased after him and settled another land. But our Enemy was old and powerful, and could pour poison into the earth itself. Over time, the lands nearest his dwelling place withered little by little and many of the animals that had dwelt there began to flee.

Some of the southern lands still do well. But we've been supplementing our stocks with imports for nigh on twenty years, now.

[theweakhavepurpose]

Oh.

I'm sorry. Not about the deer but the whole... uprooting everything and having to move and things going downhill.

[Also a little about the deer.]

Did you catch the murderer?

[utulien_aure]

We will, I am told. But not for some time yet.

[And with too many more dead besides. It's never a thought that grows happier, but at least Fingon has some experience shaking himself out of the darker thoughts.] Thank you, but it's all right. For all it's troubles, Beleriand was beautiful and I would have not been anywhere else.

[And are the popping noises dying down? Excellent timing, popcorn. Time to come out and be salted.]

More importantly, for the moment- would you care for the first handful?

[theweakhavepurpose]

Sure. I'll take one for the team and make sure it's edible.

[Like he hasn't been anxiously awaiting this very moment. He scoops a few up, tossing them from hand to hand quickly because HOT before chowing down. Oh that's good. He's missed this. ]

Get my seal of approval. That's awesome. I'll have to try this if I ever have a bonfire again.