i was thinking a lot about ice magics due to my own party having an unintended icy themed selection of gear.
Given the relative ubiquity of, at least, minor cantrippy magics how much do realmsians rely on refrigeration, or even just putting ice /1 In a drink?
What I really started wondering is if any of the really major cities have noviciate magi or clerics or even just wild talents pushing around ice cream carts (bonus if there’s a tune 😂), or if frozen yoghurt is enjoyed anywhere.
/2— 🌈Jaye🦄Em🌹Edgecliff🏳️🌈 (@jayeedgecliff) February 1, 2020
But then I also wondered if the likes of powerful ice mages or Wossname cold lady … priests with a culinary streak have invented anything unique. I mean b maybe there’re many health benefits for ogres nomming a gorgon blood slushie 🤷♀️.
I’ve not got to time of troubles /3 In game yet if anything changes for any reasons due to that, or the Spellplague thing or whatever other Big Stuff is post ToTAs always, thanks a bunch for … everything.
… why do i suddenly have a vision of some Waterhavian selling eelcicles? 🤨🤦♀️
— 🌈Jaye🦄Em🌹Edgecliff🏳️🌈 (@jayeedgecliff) February 1, 2020
1)
Just as in our real world, most folk in the Realms can’t afford to hire magic, and can’t work their own (though many villages have local citizens who make a living employing their particular ‘wild talent’ to light fires or 2)
…illuminate or whatever).
So they make use of ice-houses and cold cupboards and deep cellars (i.e. natural stone heat sinks and the ambient underground temperature) to keep things cool, combined with blocks of ice cut in winter…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) February 1, 2020
3)
…and dragged into such places.
If they can afford the spells of local priests or wizards, they augment these arrangements with occasional cold magics in the worst rises of heat, to prevent food spoiling and loss of all ice 4)
…and so on.
Usually this means the local temple (of any non-fire, non-smith deity, not just Auril) provides cold storage facilities in its own underground cellars (with priests casting cold spells in rota to keep things cold), …#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) February 1, 2020
5)
…and locals, for fees/offerings, come to fetch their own goods from said cold storage (priest brings to them, they don’t get to go down and rummage) or to buy cold-stored goods from the priests (like eel or fish laid in 6)
…‘in bulk’ by the temple, and maintained as a ‘feed the community’ store).
No, there are no carts except as delivery-carts in winter, when harbor ice can be used to keep cart contents cold. In other words, the carts rush goods…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) February 1, 2020
7)
…to customers who order, they DON’T wander the streets playing tunes to attract passing shoppers. In Waterdeep, eelcicles ARE sold (as are fish, so you buy “coldsear silverfin” or “coldsear harbor eel”), but only in the cold 8)
…depths of winter, and they’re made like this:
Eels netted, brought out of the sea, chopped into thumb-length or shorter segments, and cooked in sour wine or beer to cut their natural slime, then grilled (seared) with spices…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) February 1, 2020
9)
…and herbs for a better taste, then dropped into shallow pans of frigid harbor water to be frozen into thin sheets of ice, then the customer comes to the Dock Ward shops where this is done with their own bucket, pay for the 10)
…amount they want (it’s cheap: 1 cp buys a big bucket-full) then the proprietor chops the edge of a sheet with a hatchet, shovels the ice-and-eel shards into the customer’s bucket, and off they go (to dine in the warmth of…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) February 1, 2020
11)
…their own home or rented lodging, when the ice thaws).
I’ve eaten eel, and lamprey, and can assure you that for my stomach at least, the cutting-the-slime AND searing with seasonings steps are highly necessary steps. We 12)
…real-worlders would likely use a dry rub, as for steaks, for that grilling step. Enjoy!
(And if you don’t, well, the bucket you fetched the eel in is handy, for returning the eel to the wider world. Ahem.)#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) February 1, 2020