Future Feast

Written by Lokrow

The Future Feast is a tradition seed clans observe yearly at the occasion of the Flood Truce. The Feast lasts two weeks of the two flooding months though individual clans may celebrate it at different times during those months.
When the Flood Road turns into a river in the hottest time of the summer, seed clans cease fighting amongst themselves to take advantage of the larger access to sources of food that come with the flood.
Feuding orc clans avoid each other instead of fighting constantly and it isn't uncommon for friendly clans to form larger units for the 2 months of the flood. It is during that time of relative peace in The Hold of Belkzen that seed clans hunt more dangerous game as well as herds of aurochs which migrate along the river banks, in order to prepare for the Future Feast

History

The tradition began following the orcs' victory over the dwarves at the Battle of Nine Stones. The orcs celebrated the taking and naming of Urgir with a massive celebration which is said to have lasted for a month. Once done celebrating, the Orc Horde continued attacking dwarven settlements and reclaiming their territory.
After the decade-spanning Reckoning, the seed clans continued partaking in this tradition.
With time, it evolved into a gathering of clans into Hordes to hunt, feast, seed and celebrate the future to come together.

Execution

As like-minded seed clans unite in hordes, they celebrate by hunting together, taking down fearsome game which might have given even a single clan grief. the assembling of the hordes in this time allows the orcs to hunt the colossal black scorpions which they normally avoid.
In the following two weeks, the orc horde will cook a variety of meals using every part of the scorpion, including its venom. The orcs use the venom as a spice or sauce to enrich the flavour of the flesh by coking them together.
The orcs include other meats and vegetables but the main staple of the Feast is the otherwise extremely rarely acquired black scorpion flesh.

Related Ethnicities

• Seed Orcs

Staple recipes of the Future Feast

Baked black scorpion flesh in its shell

Using the scorpion's own thick shell to slowly bake the flesh inside, the orcs put segments of the legs of the scorpion under embers to slowly bake for a day. At which point the flesh inside will have shrunk in the exoskeleton and can be collected by simply cracking the shell open.
They then use roots and the scorpion's venom to season it, singeing the final result over hot flames to finish.
Reportedly, the meal is quite tough to chew and the mostly still fresh but neutered venom provides a pleasant sting to the orcish palate.

Auroch meat cooked on a shell

Using the scorpion's skeletal plates as one would a wok, the orcs stir ground auroch meat together with vegetables and cacti juice. While cooking over hot flames, the remains of scorpion flesh attached to the shell are incorporated into the meal.
The meal doesn't have a strong taste but it is served mostly to younger and elder orcs as the meat and flesh are more tender.

Sun-dried or smoked scorpion flesh

For the harder parts of the scorpion's anatomy, where the shell is too thick to break open cleanly to access the flesh, the orcs beat and crush it. In doing so they mix both shell and flesh in a sort of ground paste which they lay on a piece of the shell to dry under the sun.
The result is much like jerky with the added texture of the pieces of the scorpion's exoskeleton which provide a satisfying cronch. Especially hardy orcs are particularly fond of breaking off "twigs" of the dried jerky and saving them as snacks.

Eye stew

As the sun sets and the temperature drops, the orcs often pierce one of the eight eyes of the scorpion, using the fluid within it to cook a stew that really contains anything the orcs fancy in it. The orcs then usually pick out the well cooked foods from within the stew and add raw ingredients to it as they go. Making the stew a common place to keep warm well into the night.
The eye fluid of the scorpion gradually degrades from a gel-like substance into a slightly slimy liquid over heat and it is common for the orcs to replenish the fluid of the stew as it evaporates.