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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ElectricDragon" data-source="post: 7147672" data-attributes="member: 10778">EricWe were able to recover a total of 8 pages from the fence along with a ledger that lists his sales, prices charged, and to whom. Though it does not say which pages went where; it does give us a list to find the rest of the book. You will be happy to note that not only did we make a huge profit from this raid, but your share will more than recompense both you and Ambrose for past pages and the cost of this raid.KalebMost meals require some type of heat applied to the food. Some chefs suggest a specific type of wood to enhance the flavor of certain cooked foods. And types of fires come in a bewildering variety. Building the Perfect FireTypes of Cooking Fires:Low Heat Fires:Soft Coals*-peat and lignite coal-150-250°FMedium Heat Fires: Coals*-bituminous coal-250-350°FSoftwoods-cedar*, juniper, pine*, redwood, spruce*, yew-250-350°FHigh Heat Fires: Hard Coals*-anthracite coal-350-750°FHardwoods-beech, hickory**, mahogany, maple, mesquite, oak, walnut**-350-750°FElemental Earth: Elemental Plants-pillow plant-200°FElemental Fire: Elemental Plants-flame bush, fire tree-625°FElemental Creatures: Elemental Fire-azer, efreet, fire elemental, fire mephit, magmin, salamander-varies with species 350-700°F, temperature control directly related to intelligence of the creature.Enchanted Stone: Stone Fire-fire crystals-830°FWood Fire-stonewood-350°FEnchanted Wood: Magical Wood-darkwood-500°FMagical Wood-spirewood-1,250°FFiendish Plants: Fiendish Fire-abyssal aspin-150-250°FFiendish Fire-hellpine-200-250°FFiendish Creatures: Hellhound-hellhound breath-1,500°FBalor-balor immolation-2,000°FMagical Fire: Enchanted Fire-flaming sphere-350-1,000°F *All types of coals should only be used outside or with a freshly cleaned (within the last 6 months) flue. All evergreen softwoods should also follow these restrictions.** Some fuels can add a distinctive taste to foods cooked with them. Hickory, walnut, and various fruit tree woods produce popular flavors. Fruit tree woods are usually hardwoods, but there are exceptions. The smoky flavor of the mesquite tree from the Red Sand Desert is popular with the king.Special Fuels:Enchanted and Elemental FuelsElemental EarthPillow Plant: A plant from the Elemental Plane of Earth that resembles nothing more than a mound of dirt about 4 ft. high. The mound is actually a plant and does not fall apart like it would if it were actually a dirt mound. No matter what it looks like; it has been used to cook food. It can be used for any meal needing high heat; but it requires magic to set it afire. It gets its name from the folktale that it provides good dreams if used as a pillow. [The plant actually does provide protection within 5 feet from creatures or spells that use dreams to attack, e.g. night hags, nightmares, the nightmare spell, or similar magic; once the wood is burning though, it loses this protective benefit] Market Price: 100 gp per mound when it can be found (very rare); Wt. 8-10 lb. per mound.    Cook's Note: Adds a spicy hot tang to a meal cooked in its smoke. The plant will not grow on the material plane.Elemental FireFire Tree: A plant from the Elemental Plane of Fire that looks like a normal tree about 30 feet tall except for having flames instead of leaves. Fire trees are thought to be exceptionally beautiful by most. The burning tree gives off bright light for 60 feet and shadowy light out to 120 feet. for up to an hour once it is on the material plane. On the Elemental Plane of Fire, there is no duration and it does not go out unless the tree is destroyed. Water snuffs out this plant's flames immediately. Elemental water will cause an explosion if coming into contact with a burning fire tree. The explosion causes 3d6 damage from the steam created in a radius of 10 feet from the limb, resist fire, protection from fire, etc. can not prevent or lessen this damage.     Unfortunately the trees or their limbs do not last long on the material plane, barely an hour after being taken from their home, these trees go out, smoke for a few seconds then crumble to ash. This ash is still a valuable substance, it can be used in place of bat guano for fireball spells. One tree limb provides enough ash material to cast many fireball spells (10d10). Market Price: 50 gp per limb, more often the ashes go for 20 gp per flask (good enough for the 5d10 castings of fireball). Wt. 5 lb. per limb or 1/2 lb. per flask    Cook's Note: Bland. No taste buds tickled with this wood as fuel for meals. Seems a lot of trouble to get the equivalent of normal wood. The ashes are even worse, tainting food with a nauseatingly foul taste whether added to the food while cooking or thrown on the fire to "enhance flavor".Flame Bush: This "bush" looks and feels more like a fire than any type of plant. These bushes grow easily on the material plane if fed a diet of wood (about 1 cord/day seems sufficient) and sunlight. Without sustenance, the bush dies within a single day, drying up and becoming charcoal-like spiny limbs with no flames at all. At least 8 hours of sunlight is necessary each day. On the elemental plane of fire these bushes are always in bloom. These bushes bloom on the material plane only once a year for about a week. The blooms are fire flowers resembling flames, bright red and yellow.    The flame bush gives off bright light out to 30 feet and shadowy light out to 60 feet. When in bloom, its light reaches 45 feet and shadowy light reaches to 90 feet. A piece of a flame bush (i.e. a limb) burns for only a single round before becoming a dark gray thorned stick that crumbles to dust at the slightest touch. Limbs give light equal to a torch for their short duration. Market Price: 2,000 gp per bush; Wt. 12 lb. per bush    Cook's Note:This is the perfect fuel for exceptionally hot fires as it is steady in temperature as long as it is well fed and gets plenty of sunlight. I have 4 of these bushes now and I plan to use them for the king's next royal hunt to provide exquisite fare for the king's hunters and the royal court without having to return all the way back to the castle.Enchanted StoneFire Crystal: A dull red opaque stone usually found close to a volcano. When placed around at least a medium heat fire; these stones reflect the fire's heat making the fire hotter. The resulting fire is hotter than even normal high heat fires. While doing so, the stones are glowing red and translucent, hence the name. One hour later, the stones return to their dull red opaque look and do not change again, each crystal can only be used once. Market Price: 100 gp per sack; Wt. 5 lb. per sack. 1 sack full is enough to surround a campfire-sized fire.    Cook's Note: Though the extra heat could be used for quick cooking, and I have used it when preparing dinners of state on the road; it is better used as a fuel supplement for home heating in far northern climes.Stonewood: Only found in some legendary underground forest tended by dwarves, this dark gray wood feels like stone but burns like wood. Has hardness of stone (8). Market Price: Not for sale except to dwarf-friends and dwarves, 500 gp per bundle. Wt. 15 lb. per bundle.    Cook's Note: Adds a lemony flavor to foods cooked with it.Enchanted WoodDarkwood: This wood got its name from its ability to always seem to be in shadows even in bright light. A sage told me that it is because it is partially on the plane of Shadow and that also serves to lessen its weight. Market Price: 201 gp per bundle. Wt. 10 lb. per bundle.    Cook's Note: Adds a tangy citrus taste to the meal if the wood is uncured; cured wood provides no bonus flavor.Spirewood: Spirewood is a shiny black hardwood found only in festering mangrove swamps where it competes with mangroves for space and sustenance. It is thought that spirewood was originally created by a forgotten recluse wizard as some type of experiment ages ago, and it has bred true in swamps for at least several hundred years. This wood has recently been brought to the capitol on merchant ships from undisclosed destinations. It is thought that adventurous merchants from the island nations originally brought the wood from some eastern port; but details are sketchy at best. Some ships use spars of this wood for their masts, claiming it holds up to storms better than other woods. It seems that knowledge of where spirewood grows is a trade secret. Market Price: 2,000 gp per bundle. Wt. 20 lb.    Cook's Note: Foods cooked with this wood are slightly sweet.Treant Wood: This is a black market only item. A limb provides a 5' radius aura of antiplant shell while burning (usually as a torch). Market Price: ~5,000 gp per limb, 1 limb burns for 1 hour. Wt. 2-3 lb. per limb.    Cook's Note: Adds the taste of ashes to any food cooked with it. I do not recommend this wood for cooking any meal.Fiendish PlantsAbyssal Aspin: This angry tree will grow anywhere so be careful where you plant it. It looks like nothing more than a dead tree with blackened limbs, but when any creature gets near it (within 25 feet) it bursts into flames dealing 1d4 damage per round as long as the creature stays within that range. Once there are no creatures within range, the flames snuff out and it goes back to being just a dead tree. The "dead" limbs still retain this property for several days after being cut from the tree. Market Price: 1,000-5,000 gp per limb; Wt. 5-7 lb. per limb.    Cook's Note: Some kind of fire resistance is necessary to use this wood as a cooking fuel as even though the flames stay under the cooking pot, the heat still fills the 50-foot circle around it. Makes the food cooked over it taste bittersweet. For most foods this is an unwanted addition, I am working on a recipe that will make full use of this.Hellpine: This common tree is always in "bloom" with blackened needles and bright blue flowers. The flowers are mildly poisonous to the touch, numbing whatever touched it for several minutes (-1 Dex penalty for 1d4 minutes). The flowers do not last outside of that plane, crumbling to dust almost immediately. The wood is sturdy and burns slowly giving off nearly no smoke. Structures can be built of this wood if expense is no problem, though clerics have told me the wood radiates dim evil. Market Price: 3,000 gp per bundle; Wt. 10 lb. per bundle    Cook's Note: Foods cooked on this wood become absurdly sickly sweet; making this useful for masterpiece deserts that are to be served in bites only. Too much such food tends to give belly-aches and sometimes nausea (Fortitude DC 5, +1 per bite or -1 Attacks from belly-aches and nausea for 10 minutes).Food For ThoughtServings are based on Medium-sized creatures with smaller or larger creatures requiring less or more servings as shown below. Creature Size-ServingsFine-1/16Diminutive-1/8Tiny-1/4Small-1/2Medium-1Large-2Huge-4Gargantuan-8Colossal-16Weights and Measures:    Our world has many different systems of weights and measures. There are several systems of measurements found around the known world and they have been compiled below. The recipes use the system of measurement from the area where the recipe was found.Liquid (In the capitol and other civilized areas)Dram: 1/16 ounce, 1/128 cup, 1/256 pint, 1/512 quart, 1/2,048 gallonOunce: 16 drams, 1/8 cup, 1/16 pint, 1/32 quart, 1/128 gallon, ~1/3 dolopCup: 8 ounces, 128 dramsPint: 2 cups, 16 ouncesQuart: 2 pints, 4 cups, 16 ounces, ~1 literjonGallon: 16 cups, 8 pints, 4 quartsLiquid (uncivilized areas) Drip: a sip, ~2 ouncesMug: 5 drips, ~10 ouncesJug: 4 mugs, 20 drips, ~40 ounces, ~1 literjonCant: 6 jugs, 24 mugsLiquid (The island nations)Drop: 1/11 ounce, 1/33 dolopOunce: 11 drops, 1/3 dolop, 1/33 literjonDolop: 3 ounces, 3/4 gill, 1/11 literjon, ~50 dramsGill: 4 ounces, ~1/8 literjonLiterjon: 11 dolops, 33 ounces, ~1 quart, ~1 jugDry (In the capitol and other civilized lands)Pinch: 1/3 dram, 1/48 ounceDram: 3 pinches, 1/16 ounceOunce: 48 pinches, 16 drams, 1/16 gallon, 1/32 peckGallon: 16 ounces, 1/2 peck, 1/8 bushelPeck: 32 ounces, 2 gallons, 1/4 bushelBushel: 4 pecks, 8 gallonsDry (Uncivilized areas including the island nations)Sprinkle: 1/90 handful to 1/110 handfulHandful: what will fit easily into an open hand, palm up, ~3 ounces, 100 pinchesPouch: 3 handfuls, ~9 ouncesBag: 5 pouches, ~45 ounces, ~3 gallonsSack: 3 bags, ~135 ounces, ~8.5 gallonsCart: 15 sacks, 45 bags, 225 pouchesCanoe [In the island nations]/Wagon [Elsewhere]: 40 sacks, 120 bags, ~360 gallonsKeelboat [In the island nations only]: 150 sacks, 450 bags, ~168 bushelsBasic RecipesAmbrosiaTransmutationIngredients: 3 mugs reindeer milk, 1 dolop of giant bee royal jelly, 2 gills of strained vanilla bean broth, spiced with a sprinkle of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.Serves: 4Effects: Haste effect for 3 rounds.Time to Drink: standard action (does not count as a meal)Directions:In a small iron pot over coals, combine and heat all ingredients while chanting the haste spell into the pot. Stir over coals 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes. Pour through a fine strainer into a mug. Stays fresh for only three days before curdling. Craft (cooking) DC 5. Caster Level: 5, haste, Market Price: 24 gp per jug (4 doses); Wt. 1/2 lb. per mug.    Cook's Note: This recipe is rare and difficult to acquire if not an elf. Even other elves need to perform a service for the "tribe" before they will be considered honorable enough to be the custodian of this recipe. It took my assistant nearly 2 years to get a copy of this recipe from his kinfolk; it was far easier and cheaper to get the herd of reindeer.Assassin Vine Berry Wine VinegarAbjurationIngredients: 1 bottle of assassin vine berry wine.Serves: 4Effects: Though this liquid is incredibly bitter, it can be drank (Con check DC 8 to keep it down and thus gain the effects). Drinking this substance provides electricity immunity for 1 minute.Time to Drink: 1 full round (does not count as a meal)Directions:Open the bottle of Assassin Vine Berry Wine, tie a cloth cover over the closure to prevent bug infestation, cast resistance on it, and let sit for 3 months in darkness. Craft (cooking) DC 5 or Craft (brewing) DC 5, Caster Level: 1, resistance, Market Price (of the wine): 25 gp; Wt. 1-1/2 lb.Dragon Egg Drop SoupTransmutationIngredients: 1 dragon egg; 1 cauldron of water, boiling; 1 gill of saffron, 1 literjon of brandy, 2 onions, finely chopped; 2 bell peppers, finely chopped; 1 lb. griffon meat, in strips, boiled until tender; 1 clove of garlic, crushed; 8 black peppercorns, finely groundServes: 12Effects: +4 enhancement bonus to Constitution for 1 hour.Time to Eat: 1 hour (counts as 1 meal)Directions: Bring cauldron to a boil, crack and drain dragon egg into cauldron. Add saffron, onions, bell peppers, griffon meat, garlic, and peppercorns. Continue boiling for 10 minutes. Remove from flame and let cool for 10 minutes. Cast bear's endurance on the food. Craft (cooking) DC 10, Caster Level: 3, bear's endurance, Market Price: 600 gp per bowl. Wt. 1 lb. per bowl Elven WaybreadTransmutationIngredients: 1 mug each of rye, wheat, cornmeal, oatmeal, and brown rice, 2 mugs of rowan berries, 1 mug of ambrosia (cow's milk can be substituted but there is then no haste effect).Serves: 6 Effects: In addition to the effects of ambrosia (hasteduration increased to 1 minute), elven waybread is a meal that provides a full day's nutritional needs for 6 people (or 1 person for 6 days).Time to Eat: 10 minutes (counts as 3 meals)Directions:Must be an elf, half-elf, or any other partially elven race to become worthy of the recipe. The following instructions also require the cook to whistle, hum, or sing an ancient elven cooking song while performing them. Grind each grain separately to a fine consistency, sift, then mix grains with berries and mash into a paste at night under starshine, add ambrosia slowly while keeping the paste smooth. Spread paste onto pan, season with garlic and salt. Cook over anthracite coals for until golden brown (about 2 hours). Once cool, it is ready to be eaten, but stays fresh for up to a year. Craft (cooking) DC 8. Caster Level: 3, Caster must be an elf. Market Price: 35 gp per loaf. Wt. 2 lbs.    Cook's Note: This recipe is a jealously guarded secret of several elven enclaves (especially those that have large temples to nature, most of these churches have their own herds of reindeer and use ambrosia garnered from their northern elf kinfolk to give their waybread a little kick.). This bread can also be used as a trade good, 1 loaf = 35 gp. Elven waybread can also be made with bovine milk (this produces a much darker loaf, the golden brown quickly turns to a dark chocolate brown and is easily recognizable) and still will stay fresh for up to a year, it will have no haste effect; 1 loaf = 15 gp.Enchanted Elven WaybreadConjuration (healing) and TransmutationIngredients: 1 mug each of rye, wheat, cornmeal, oatmeal, and brown rice, 2 mugs of rowan berries, 1 mug of ambrosia.Serves: 6 Effects: In addition to the effects of ambrosia (haste duration increased to 1 minute) and elven waybread, enchanted elven waybread removes fatigue and lessens exhaustion to fatigue (two servings can remove exhaustion); heals all non-lethal damage, 1 point of ability damage on each stat (Strength, Intelligence, etc.) or 1d6 hp if there is no ability damage. Other than removing exhaustion, there is no benefit to eating more than one serving a day.Time to Eat: 10 minutes (counts as a 3 meals)Directions: Must be an elf, half-elf, or any other partially elven race to become worthy of the recipe. The following instructions also require the cook to whistle, hum, or sing an ancient elven cooking song while performing them. Grind each grain separately to a fine consistency, sift, then mix grains with berries and mash into a paste under a full moon, add ambrosia slowly while keeping the paste smooth. Spread paste onto pan, season with garlic and salt. Cook over coals for 2 hours while enchanting it with the spells listed below. Once cool, it is ready to be eaten, but stays fresh for up to a year. Craft (cooking) DC 10. Caster Level: 7, lesser restoration and cure light wounds; Market Price: 525 gp per loaf; Wt. 2 lbs.    Cook's Note: This recipe is a jealously guarded secret of several elven religions that all claim it was handed down personally from their god or goddess. Luckily, my assistant is a highly respected elven priest and he agreed to make some for me whenever needed in exchange for a small donation to his temple.</blockquote>

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