Ohtarien
Near an Adventurer's Job Board Somewhere
Ohtarien stood up on her tiptoes, trying once, trying twice and successfully grabbing the paper on the job board.
Job: Wedding Cake Tester Judge
Location: A Hidden Valley
Rewards: Free cake and (a reasonable amount of money)
She held the paper with bare hands, then frowned as she looked at the rest of the job advertisement
Preferred Race: Elf, or tall enough to look like one to grab this notice
Note: May have to get past maze
Requested Attire: Dress as a normal person in the Hidden Valley. Do not draw unnecessary attention
It was moreso the requested attire that irked her. She was an elf, after all. Neither was she worried about the maze;
Ohtarien once served Imladris since the fall of Eregion, defended the region since its founding, conducted countless patrols killing countless enemies during the Siege of Imladris. She probably was one of the traps herself in that maze in the second age, and already knew of the secret bypass route that was a shortcut through it. She just needed to arrive at the correct times when the Sun or Moon was at certain places in the sky.
But even
Ohtarien knew that her current attire, full plate armor with a two-handed sword at her back and a sword-and-a-half at her side, was not considered normal regular attire in the Hidden Valley. She did not know exactly why, moving in full armor was good training after all. Perhaps
Ohtarien needed to ask
Nariel about appropriate clothing. Yes,
Nariel would know, though
Ohtarien was not looking forward at the attempts of "dress-up."
She tilted her head at the side, squinting and trying to figure out the calligraphy on the rest of the note:
After contest, send report to.... Aelorco?
Ohtarien was unsure if that was how the name was supposed to be spelt. She had no idea who he was, to be honest. But the cake and the money was worth it, and gave her a good excuse to visit Imladris again. The rest of the note detailed the address she was supposed to send it to, along with a bunch of other unimportant details at this time. With that,
Ohtarien signed her name with a bunch of squiggles, printing her name at the bottom. She then went off to let the job board person know about her intention to fulfill the request.
~~~
Imladris: The Great Elvish Culinary Contest
GUEST JUDGE: OHTARIEN
Her face greatly contrasted to what she looked like. For the entire duration of her entering as a judge
Ohtarien had a permanent glower on her face. Her hair was braided like a waterfall to the middle of her back. Instead of her full plate armor, she wore a dark green dress with her favorite star embroidered in silver and light blue thread surrounding the waistline. Attached to her back was a broadsword. A long sparkling silver skirt would have billowed each time she took a footstep, though the sword-and-a-half attached at her side provided stability to half of the skirt. While a dark green sheer fabric covered her rounded shoulders and arms, barely concealing the visible proof of wiry muscles in her biceps and triceps. Attached to her head was a steel tiara studded with diamonds.
Ohtarien hated all of her attire, for reasons that she would not like to think about right now, but she could not refuse the delighted gleam in her sister's eyes.
Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, she missed the process of how the various contestants baked their wedding cakes.
Ohtarien; veteran of the Fall of Gondolin, the assault on Sirion, the Sack of Eregion, the Siege of Imladris, the Last Alliance, and the whole Angmar conflict; chose to... practice her stealth for the hours of their preparation. Now, she appeared before the contestants and the judges, eyes focused on the floor.
"Let's get this over with,"
Ohtarien said in a resigned tone, glaring at any who stared at her, "I'm
Ohtarien, I don't know or remember any of you. I'm the guest judge and will judge your cake. If you stare, I'll slash your points like I did to countless other enemies. Don't test me."
With that she pulled out a large cake spatula that she nabbed from the kitchens, throwing it in the air ahead of her as she calmly walked a few steps, then catching it as it flew straight into her outstretched hand without even batting an eye.
GUEST JUDGE OHTARIEN WILL NOT BE SCORING BASED ON DIE. SHE WILL JUDGE YOUR CAKE OUT OF FIVE.
@Aduchil Ohtarien spent a few seconds merely staring at the 10-inch tower, her glower slightly receding. Then she looked up, slightly leaning her head back as she looked at
Aduchil's face, furrowing her brow.
"You seem... familiar. My father talked about this place. This tower of Tirion. My grandmother hated this thing, though." With that, she veered her eyes towards the four spoons. She raised one of her brows, then lightly poked her spatula at around the 8 inch mark of the cake.
"Baked how long?" muttered
Ohtarien. She then, with her other hand, grabbed the marzipan lantern, plucking it from the ceiling, and promptly ate it.
As she chewed, she placed her free hand on top of the cake, then with a few swift calculated thrusts from the spatula with the other, she began the process of eating part of the tower. By the end of her tasting she effectively decapitated it, removing two inches, so that now the shortened ceiling revealed all of the manifold layers composing the wedding cake.
"
5"
Ohtarien said, her face with a thoughtful expression slightly covered in the potpourri of flavors within the cake. She then moved on to the next cake...
@Aethelu
Ohtarien looked at the elf (
Arphen) who clearly was fatigued.
"Tired over a cake?"
Ohtarien scoffed, "
Nariel would outlast you easily in endurance. Be thankful for the maze that guards our borders."
With that,
Ohtarien looked at the three-tiered cake of orange, lemon, and lime. She took a small slice using his spatula of each tier.
Ohtarien silently chewed, eating each cake slice as she looked again at
Arphen.
"
4. If you were not fatigued, you would have gotten a 5."
@Elarith
Ohtarien liked hobbits; they noticed how tall she was. So
Ohtarien was not glowering as she approached the cream-covered cake.
"A gift?"
Ohtarien asked as she plucked one of the bottles from the top of the cake. She then inspected it, frowning, "no Dorwinion wine...."
She audibly sighed, looking now, recognizing that the wedding cake did not look like a prototypical one, not particularly "refined." Fine by her.
Using her spatula, she sliced a piece of the cake, eating the slice.
Soon afterwards she took another slice. And another slice.... And another slice.... and another slice.
Ohtarien only stopped eating it a third of the way through, realizing that maybe she should save some of the alcoholic cake for the other judges.
"Your spirits' cake tastes good, hobbit,"
Ohtarien told
Viola, "but where is the Dorwinion wine?
4."
@Veowyn
Ohtarien glared at
Veowyn's wedding cake, particularly at the two hearts and the two rings.
"This is a
Nariel cake. It best not taste like one though,"
Ohtarien muttered, accepting the suggestion to eat part of the middle cake. With that,
Ohtarien tasted all the flavors of the... something... the other something... and the brown something that she thought was going to taste worse.
"
4. Try using swords or spears in place of those hearts."
@Aerlinn
Ohtarien looked at the wolfhound
Yávië with her eyes softly narrowed, a wistful expression on her face as she quickly looked around herself, blinking rapidly. Then she focused her gaze on the... "wedding cake." Using her spatula she took a "slice" out of each layer, each season. After
Ohtarien ate her portion, she looked at
Aerlinn
"Do I know you? You get a
3. I was expecting cake.
Nariel at least makes cake and not cookies when she makes cake. Next time, put a mini-wolfhound on top of your cookies."
@KingODuckingham
Ohtarien looked quizzically at the sideways 8.
"...What is this again?"
Ohtarien asked
Ducky, still confused over what exactly the word 'infinity' meant, "whatever, I'll just eat it."
With that,
Ohtarien took a slice of the cake, chewing and eating it. She tilted her head, as if in deep thought.
"I think I understand now,
4 for your thinking. Tastes weird though, like a crusty book.
Nariel would make a better cake."
@Fairy Nuff
Ohtarien paused as she looked at the cake covered in a mixture of brown creamy-like thing and a yellow drizzle. Atop were two hobbits. Her eyes twitched, wondering if she was being mocked for being an adventurer as well as not being tall.
"If this taste as it looks, you best run... you"
Ohtarien told
Starbreeze, unsure of the latter's name.
With that,
Ohtarien stabbed her metal spatula into each layer, taking irregular shaped pieces out of each. She left the hobbits on top alone.
Ohtarien then promptly chewed each slice, glaring at
Starbreeze throughout the entire process.
"
5,"
Ohtarien muttered as she moved on to the next cake.
@Frostbite
Ohtarien merely blinked at
Eldûrien, shifting her eyes repeatedly at the pancakes and the other elf.
Ohtarien at last shrugged, slamming her spatula down twice through the 6 pancakes to get one section of the entire 'wedding cake.' Stabbing at all 6 'layers,' of the piece, she chewed and swallowed the 'dessert.'
"
3. Not a wedding cake. I'd eat this in the morning though."
@Silmarë
Her eyes widened as she saw the snowmen on top.
Ohtarien smiled, but then the smiled quickly was covered up with a frown as she coughed a few times. Even though one of the snowmen fell off,
Ohtarien still had eyes that gleamed in the sun triumphantly.
"As I thought, the snowmen of Forochel are snowmen!
5!"
Ohtarien stated triumphantly. Then she promptly ate a small piece of the cake, nodding her head in confirmation of the score without really taking the time to ponder exactly how it tasted.
~~~
When she was done,
Ohtarien patted her stomach, having enjoyed her fill, but wondering if she could eat just a bit more cake. Her smile turned into a scowl as she remembered where she was and just what she was wearing. She continued glaring at anyone who was staring, then walked somewhere away, sitting on a chair, scribbling away at a piece of parchment to create her report.