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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ryryguy" data-source="post: 5353776" data-attributes="member: 64945">[sblock=ooc]Ok, here are a few more hints.Finding out his ingredients (as Mewness suggested) would definitely be a good idea.  Stealth or subterfuge is certainly a possible way to accomplish that.  Also don't forget there are others besides the chef himself.  His pal Devin is obviously a talker, maybe he can be goaded into saying too much?  The mercs are none too bright and probably easily tricked (if they know anything).Conversation with Castofle (which I will post IC tomorrow - also his responses to Papolstaanas) will suggest that if Balsamae has a weakness, it's a towering ego.  Perhaps this could be turned against him... maybe offer to have both groups share their ingredients? surely he'll think that his dish will still be superior!  Trouble is, he might well be right. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />  especially in absence of other factors.  You do have at least one data point he doesn't have - Papol just mentioned it to Castofle...It's also not a foregone conclusion that he be allowed to cook for Hulgrimi.  You could always try to run them off.  Though that does seem like it would be a difficult and perhaps risky path - if it comes down to actual violence, everyone likely loses no matter who wins the fight.The opposite strategy would be to offer to team up.  Maximize chances of success by working together.  The trouble there will be Balsamae's ego and Castofle's panic.  But if you can overcome that it might be the best of all possible outcomes.Finally, if in the end you don't particularly care who makes the better dishes, maybe you'd still like to swing some sort of future trade considerations (which might interest Az? or perhaps she feels she must be neutral, I'm not sure).  In that case, working on Bwarli (or perhaps other villagers) would be key.  It's pretty apparent that Hulgrimi will favor whoever pleases him more, but he's not exactly a details guy.  In addition to Bwarli, the other attendant (Urtamklatl) was pretty obsessed with tradition.  Maybe you can "lawyer" her to your side, or trick the others into doing something to offend her.You can't really go wrong here (well, maybe if you snap and try to kill everyone <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" />).  Just go with whatever seems most fun and in character!  Feel free to improvise, make up details about the village or the scene to round things out.  This isn't like a puzzle where if you make the wrong move or can't figure out the solution, you lose.   You don't have to do all or any of the things suggested here. It's meant to be a free-form chance for you to decide how the story turns out![/sblock]</blockquote>

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