You've Hit Bottom (Pastamancer)
Very near the bottom of the trench, you catch up with Grandpa again. This time he sees you coming, and starts being crotchety before you can even open your mouth.
"I'm nearly done, you punk kid. I'll head back to the castle, and to my damned rocking chair before too long, and your little task will be complete. But first, I wanna show you something."
| See what he has to show you. |
"Okay. Show me what you've found, Old Timer."
He doesn't say a word, he just steps around an outcropping of rock, motions for you to follow, and then points at...
Wow. He points at one of the most amazing things you've ever seen (and given that you live in a world with almost no sense of continuity or realism, you've seen some pretty freakin' amazing things in your time.) From a hole in the depths of the trench there is a constant eruption of intense heat, of violent, swirling blackness. It's like a well drilled into the core of the planet, releasing the the titanic, murky offspring of a volcano and a hurricane.
You look back at Grandpa.
"Thermal vent. Pretty cool, huh? Do you kids still say 'cool' these days?"
He smiles. "Well," he says, "I'm satisfied. I'll head home now. Stop by later if you'd like. You can help me apply my ointment."
"Uhh," you reply.
"Just kidding." he says with a wink. "It's actually liniment."
"Uhh," you reply again.
"Just kidding about that one, too. See ya, punk."
After he leaves, you study the vent. It's boiling hotter than any pot you've ever seen, and it gives you an idea. You reach out with your mind, into the core of the swirling blackness, and conjure up some batter. But it's no ordinary batter -- it's batter infused with the heat of eons-old magma. You suspect that it will be delicious.
 | You acquire an item: bubbling tempura batter |
Occurs at The Marinara Trench as a Pastamancer.
