In the end, energy is energy, whether generated by sorcery or science.
I kind of doubt a bolt of lightning would suit our palates.
— Isla and Ospher, on the latter’s introduction to magic
Like most Halflings, Ospher adored food. Unlike most Halflings, he also looked beyond the simple need of filling ones belly. Ospher was raised in a Halfling cooperative near Ghal Pelor. His large family made their living as hunters and trappers, and they kept their neighbors amply stocked with game. Though all the children were taught the family trade or how to till the soil, Ospher d began filling his days with endless contemplation. Eventually, when it became clear that he had little interest in an agrarian lifestyle, he began doing what his curiosity drove him to; he began to experiment in the kitchen.
The early days of Ospher’s adventures into the culinary arts yielded many delicious dishes from the wildlife caught by his family and the produce in the cooperative. Soon, the family’s kitchen became his primary abode. One season during his childhood, disaster struck. The harvest was devastated by drought and the surrounding farms struggled to keep themselves fed. Only through the aid of trade did they survive this harsh situation. Traveling merchants became more common during this time period and with it, the chance for the young Halfling to gain more exotic ingredients and books on all manner of subjects to expand his eager mind. Through these materials and the tales passed down through his forebears, he learned that in addition to their expertise in coaxing the land, his people were once skilled in the use of druidism to aid their efforts. The experience of near starvation of his cooperative would forever be on his mind.
As he entered adulthood, his determination to hone his skills as a chef and learn all he could about more fantastical ways to enhance food led him to travel to Ghal Pelor. His desire to possibly find a way to help his people avoid lacking food ever again was in part a driving motive. There, he set about working at various restaurants throughout the city, impressing with his talent and creativity, though occasionally causing concern for his penchant to experiment with unusual combinations; he especially was fond at whatever he could get that came from the sea, bereft of it as he was as a child. In between working in these kitchens, he began his research at the libraries of Ghal Pelor, gaining a wide range of knowledge and history, though little in the way of magic; magic users were rare in the days after the Rebuke, and many did not telegraph their abilities. Several years after his arrival in the city, Ospher was able to scrape enough gold together to open his own small restaurant, which he named “The Fare Isle” after his love of seafood and poorly thought out puns.
One day a year after opening, he noticed an elven woman dining alone. Her floppy, wide brimmed hat and unusual clothing were as conspicuous as he’s seen someone dress, but what caught his attention was her order which to that point, had yet to be eaten by any of Ospher’s clientele; fire roasted squid dressed in a sauce made from peanut butter with a side of fried kelp and mandrake salad. Procuring and keeping mandrake roots fresh was a difficult task, and he was proud of it, but no one yet had braved it. She did. He came to her to ask her how she enjoyed it, and as he did, caught her very subtly putting something into it and waving her hands slightly; she had cast some kind of magic into her food. Intrigued, he asked what she was doing. Startled at having been found out, she at first blustered an excuse that was clearly a lie, but then gave up and confirmed Ospher’s suspicions, that she was altering his food with magic. She introduced herself as Isla, an herbalist learned in witchcraft.
Ospher found not only a contemporary that shared his love for food and how to draw out its full potential, but someone that would inspire his future goals. Isla had chosen Ospher’s restaurant because of his bold cooking. She was interested in combining her knowledge with unusual foods to create various medicinal effects, and proposed to Ospher her time to teach him the basics of magic in exchange for his most creative dishes. Eager to at last have found a teacher, he agreed. For the next few months, she would visit The Fare Isle and experiment on his food, and tutor Ospher. During this time, she shared with him certain theories she had regarding the nature of the effects of the Queen’s Rebuke and the damage done to the leylines. On a surface level, their studies made attempts to charge food with magic to coax greater effects out of it. Together, they wondered if the reverse couldn’t be done, if mundane fuel, natural phenomenon and the earth itself, might be manipulated with magic using what was stolen from the leylines to revitalized and close those wounds. Ospher’s mind reeled with the possibility. But the scale seemed insurmountable, the task seemingly impossible. One evening, he proposed traveling beyond Ghal Pelor together to search for the answers. She hesitated before answering no, informing Ospher that in a week’s time, she would have to leave from the city alone.
Despite his protestations, as suddenly as she entered Ospher’s life, she then vanished without a trace as she said she would. Only a note left at his restaurant hinted as to why, that she was involved with something that was far too dangerous to involve Ospher in and that she would deal with it herself. One day, she promised, when she had freed herself of her obligations, they would meet out in the world and continue their work. Deciding to go through with his plan, with the thought that Isla had sacrificed everything to realize her mad dream, he started saving for his journey. If he was to master the knowledge needed to even begin a step towards seeing Tairos return to glory, then his kitchen would have to be…The World.
Well, Adjenna, how do you feel about squid and peanuts…together?— Ospher making a recommendation on Adjenna’s first meal at his restaurant
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