» Wed Jul 30, 2014 4:47 pm Varieties of Food in the Empire, Volume VI
Bretons of the Iliac-Normari Subprovince
Starry-Eyed Stew
A popular meal among the sorcerocratic elite and the rural star-cults of the Illessan Hills. “Starry-Eyed Stew” is the result of distilling raw magicka into liquid form, resembling a sort of thick, silvery nebula. It is reported to taste of “sugar cane, yams, and the burning eternal light of the Aetherial Realm,” and has a mild (mostly harmless) hallucinogenic effect, often described as “seeing a Xiphoid sky.”
Bark-Soup
Bark-soup is a staple of most diets in northern High Rock, with some recipes for it stretching back thousands of years. Drinking an entire bowl without vomiting is a coming-of-age ritual in parts of Glenumbra, and the people of Ykalon are said to be able to divine the future from meditating on a cup of sacred fig bouillon.
Boiled Orc
A treasured delicacy in the isolated villages of the Wrothgarian mountains, boiled orc (which most Bretons report to be vastly superior to fried or steamed orc) once grew so popular that whole Knightly Orders sprung up to hunt it deep in the mountains, before returning to Wayrest or Daggerfall to present it to the royalty of the city in exchange for great wealth and prestige. It is reported to be coarsely textured and savory, with a hint of buffalo.
Daedra Heart
Another mainstay among the magocracy (and the more decadent side of the nobility), Daedra Heart (most commonly Scamp or Ogrim, though the more powerful wizards usually prefer Dremora) is usually eaten raw, and is reported to cause nausea, headaches, paranoia, blood poisoning, anxiety attacks, brain damage, organ decay, death, and “enhanced connection to and awareness of forces beyond mortal comprehension.” The Imperial Commission of Extramundial Affairs advises that, should a Daedra Heart in one’s possession begin whispering arcane secrets in some bizarre tongue of its home dimension, it should not be consumed.
Illusory Tea
First synthesized in 3E146 following Emperor Pelagius III’s brief ban on all varieties of coffee and tea, Illusory Tea mimics the smell, taste, sight, and feeling of herbal tea. Despite the ban’s almost immediate end, Illusory Tea is still common in most cities of western High Rock, and has begun to spread east to Skyrim and, allegedly, west to Thras and the Republic of Hahd.
