Something in the Soup/Plot Details

< Something in the Soup
Something in the Soup - Part 1
Prudentia: <Name>! You came! I knew you would.

Prudentia: I've a proposition. Lend me your services, and I will let you in on something extraordinary. What do you say? Is your interest piqued?

((Refuse))

Prudentia: And I thought we were friends!

((Accept))

Prudentia: I've come up with a new dish─well, not actually new, as such. It is a variation on my mushroom stew, only three...no, four times as delicious!

Pulmia: Prudentia, I must take leave of the kitchens for a short while. I presume I can trust you to handle things while I am away?

Prudentia: But of course! What ever could go wrong?

Prudentia: Keep this to yourself, but Pulmia there is taking no mere respite from her daily tasks...she is fixing to meet some young man who has been courting her! Unfortunately, the lad is wrapped tight in a veil of mystery, as Pulmia refuses to tell any of us about him.

Prudentia: But her love for the sightly suitor is as certain as the sea is salted. Why, she has been coming into the kitchens every morning a bell before cockcall to prepare him special meals which she wraps in gaily colored silk and serves with saffron-scented letters of love.

Charlys: This visitor says he has an appointment with Pulmia. Do you know where she might be?

Something in the Soup - Part 2
Lienart: Milady, might this be yours?

Prudentia: Why...I... Th-Thank you. I must have dropped it.

Prudentia: <gasp>

Prudentia: I...uh... Forgive me, <Name>. I feel rather faint... Might I have some time to myself?

Something in the Soup - Part 3
Charlys: This is most unfortunate... Yes, I believe I now recall who it was that stopped by my counter earlier. If my memory serves me, the patron was once betrothed to young Prudentia.

Charlys: For some time, the two seemed quite inseparable, until one fateful day the cold-hearted soul simply stopped coming to see her. This was all many years past, of course, but judging from her reaction today, it would not seem absurd to conclude that Prudentia may still harbor feelings for her lost love...

Charlys: You have lent Prudentia your shoulder a good many times, <Name>. Perhaps she will accept its succor once again. I suggest seeking her in the alley behind the restaurant. If she is not there, it may be she has gone down to the sea to watch the sunset as she is wont to do when feeling heartsore.

Something in the Soup - Part 4
Prudentia: ...This was the first place our paths crossed...

Prudentia: And the instant I gazed into those deep, dark eyes, I knew it was no chance meeting... It was destiny.

Prudentia: To express my love, there was nothing I would not do! I cut off the locks I had let grow for so long, bought new finery woven from the finest Ul'dahn silks, even wore a fragrance made with the essence of the rare black roseling...

Prudentia: And for a short time, we were one. The three moons we were betrothed were the best of my life...but then, one day, my love stopped speaking, even looking at me. It was as though I did not even exist; those once beautiful eyes now cold as ice.

Prudentia: And that is why I...

Something in the Soup - Part 5
Prudentia: Oh, what did I do to deserve this cruel fate?

((Use Echo)) Pulmia: Prudentia, who is that adventurer? Did you call him here to run an errand for you?

Aentfoet: Pulmia, while you were away, a young man came seeking you. When I told him you were indisposed, he entrusted me with a message. He says he will be awaiting your arrival beneath the Navigator's Wings.

Pulmia: Thank you, Aentfoet. Now, to find a clean crock for this soup...

((End Echo))

Prudentia: When I learned who it truly was who robbed me of my love, I expressed my anger in the only way I could!

Prudentia: But...now I wish I could take it all back... I didn't mean to...p-p-p-poison their food!

Prudentia: I must find them and stop them from eating any of the soup!<gasp> But what if they already have!? I-I need someone to make a devilbelly meatball in my stead. I'm so sorry to drag you into this, but might you be willing to do that for me, <Name>?

Prudentia: The poison won't do them any permanent harm...but it will have them hugging their privies for the next fortnight...or two...I think.

Something in the Soup - Part 6 - R'sushmo
R'sushmo: Though the flames of passion can oft be as hot as those of the hottest oven, they may yet sate themselves in the space of a moment. But when the flames of indigestion burn bright, they can only be cooled by the soothing kiss of this pinch of sweet-smelling spice. Add it to any dish to extinguish the intestinal inferno that might otherwise be ignited in the unsuspecting diner.
Something in the Soup - Part 6 - Frailoise
Frailoise: We don't receive many orders for devilbelly meatballs around here, it being a Sahagin speciality and all. Most of our patrons prefer the less pungent foulbelly meatballs. That said, I shouldn't imagine you'd need to modify the recipe for the latter too much if you wanted to make a batch of the former.
Something in the Soup - Part 6 - Gerulf
Gerulf: Looking to make devilbelly meatballs? Ask a fishback. Now if it's a piece of queer-smelling meat you need... Heh heh heh.
Something in the Soup - Part 7
Prudentia: <Name>! Did you bring the devilbelly meatball?

Prudentia: Yes, this should work. The only problem is, neither Pulmia nor Lienart are here. If they don't arrive, how ever am I to slip the devilbelly meatball in their soup!?

Prudentia: Ah! There she is!

Something in the Soup - Part 8
Pulmia: I have brought us the best of broths, my beloved!

Lienart: Ah...you do know how I adore your cooking, honeysuckle.

Adela: Stop, Lienart!

Lienart: Adela! I've told you time and again, it is over between us. I have moved on, and so should you.

Adela: This base-born wench can never love you as much as I do. The witch has poisoned you with her foul concoctions, clouding your eyes and dulling your senses!

Adela: I am the only one for you!

Adela: You are simply too stubborn to realize it.

Adela: Now throw your swill to the hounds and leave us be, scullion. Lienart and I have important things to discuss...such as our wedding plans!

Prudentia: Adela, wait!

Prudentia: The only one for you is...me! Come back to me, my betrothed!

Adela: You!? No! NEVER!

Prudentia: For you, I will do anything! I will cast off this dress, cut my hair, grow back my beard, wash away this rouge!

Adela: I have already told you, I want a man, not a dissembling dame!

Adela: Stay away from me, you...you...MONSTER!!!

Prudentia: Adela...

Prudentia: <sigh> What am I to do? This dress is my livelihood...

Something in the Soup - Part 9
Charlys: Welcome back, <Name>. Word has it things became a little...complicated down at the bethel.

Pulmia: You need not worry overmuch about Prudentia.

Pulmia: He... She may look downtrodden, but I know of a way to brighten her spirits. There is an island to the south and east of Vylbrand where one can go to...refocus...

Charlys: The island! Might I be able to help, as well? I have always longed to visit th─

Pulmia: I apologize if you were taken aback by Prudentia's... true appearance. She...ah, he may look and act a lady, but he is in fact a fine gentleman. Let me try to explain...

Pulmia: You see, it is nigh on impossible to become a cook here at the Bismarck.

Pulmia: Rare is it there are ever any openings, and when one does become available, scores of applicants from across the realm battle for that single position.

Pulmia: A few years past, there was an opening, but our guildmaster, driven by the voice betwixt his legs rather than his shoulders, included an extra condition─that the applicant be of the fairer sex. Prudentia, having no other option available to him, short of becoming a eunuch, did what he thought was best to win the position...

Pulmia: And win it he did─though not because of his ruse. He won his place because his culinary creations outshone those of all the others.

Pulmia: Yet there are only so many things one can hide with a dress, perfume, and fastidious personal grooming, and it was not long before everyone at the restaurant knew of Prudentia's secret. And, though the guildmaster was somewhat deflated by the revelation, he could not deny that Prudentia's dishes, at least, were the genuine article. And so he let him...her remain...but only so long as his true identity was kept from our clientele.

Pulmia: There are quite a few male customers who come to the Bismarck to dine especially on Prudentia's dishes. If they were to become privy to the truth, then there might be...er...trouble.

Pulmia: So, with that said, you now understand why you, too, must keep Prudentia's secret locked away in the innermost recesses of your heart.

Pulmia: Ah, and before I forget, Prudentia asked me to give this to you for your help in the kitchens. Might I ask what you made? No? Oh... Very well, then.

Pulmia: Oh, and before you even dare to ask, let me assure you, the only things Prudentia and I have in common are our first love, by which I mean cooking, and our first letter...which I assume you can work out for yourself. Good day to you, <Name>!