“Being able to enjoy oneself with no strings attached is an all too rare privilege for people to have in this day and age.” - Remus Josef Carrazev, known hedonist and philosopher from Northern Elmaiya, circa 229 FP.

The dumplings actually finished cooking before the bread did, which made some sense since despite containing meat, they were much smaller in size, and would indeed steam thoroughly faster. A large platter, clearly meant to be shared amongst the entire group, was soon brought to where Aideen and the rest were seated, with a bowl of what smelled like vinegar mixed with pieces of sliced chili peppers in the center.

Aideen picked up a dumpling and bit it in half, without sauce, to see what it tasted like on its own. The thin, almost translucent skin had a pleasant, chewy bite to it, while the filling was juicy as expected, given how it had been steamed. The strong, gamey taste of the meat was mellowed out by the herbs and spices used as seasoning, while the pieces of fruit mixed in contributed a pleasant sweetness to the flavor profile as well.

Dipped into the prepared sauce, an additional sourness and spiciness further elevated the flavors of the dumpling, with the sweetness of the fruit in the filling being drawn out in particular. The overall effect was not unlike certain kinds of sweetmeats favored by some cultures Aideen visited in the past, and made for a pleasant dish to start meals with.

Just as they finished off the platter of dumplings, loaves of still-steaming bread were brought along with bowls of soup. From what Aideen could see, the goblins mostly used meat from the smaller game like rabbits, squirrels, lizards, and birds they caught along the way for both the soup and the dumplings, while the crocodile was roasted whole and likely reserved for the main course of the celebrations.

The mixture of various meats – conveniently already removed from the bones – and organs from said creatures were cooked in a thin but very flavorful broth with plenty of spices and herbs as seasonings added. The result made for a more homogenous taste, a riot of various flavors that nonetheless blended into a pleasant – if rather spicy – sensation on the tongue.

As for the dense, spongy bread, it was eaten by dipping it into the soup so that it absorbed some of the broth, lending its strong flavor which paired well with the plain, rather chewy bread. The bread also made for a good way to wipe the bowl clean after one finished off the solid components of the soup and was left only with the remaining broth.

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While everyone was still feeling the burn from the soup on their tongues, bowls full of what looked like mush were brought to the group, along with wooden spoons. After she brought a spoonful of the odd-looking mush to her mouth, Aideen immediately identified what it was.

It was the juice from the trees they collected earlier, cooled until it reached a semi-solid consistency not unlike partially melted snow.

In that half-frozen state, the already delightful juice was further elevated into a blissful experience as it literally melted on one’s tongue. The refreshing coolness brought by the juice made the burning sensation from the soup before it seem like bygone memories, and for a moment everyone was silent as they devoured the half-frozen juice one spoonful at a time.

Clearly the village’s Ice affinity folks had been doing their share for that night’s celebrations.

Choice pieces of meat carved off the still-rotating crocodile carcass on the spit were brought next, along with more of that delightful and cold orange juice they had earlier. The crocodile meat had a texture that reminded people of fish, but tasted closer to chicken meat instead. It flaked off nicely after the roasting, and the savory-spicy sauce the goblin cook slathered and basted on it gave a pleasant flavor to the lightly flavored meat itself.

Aideen also noticed that the platter brought to her and the village chief consisted mostly of cuts from the tail and belly of the crocodile. On the other hand, a platter bearing the head of the beast – with the attached meat – was presented to a group that consisted of the hunters they went out with earlier, and especially to the young warrior who had clung to the crocodile’s snout when they caught it.

It was a clear way to honor one’s deeds, and one the village clearly respected the young warrior for. Something he was aware of, given how he beamed at the prize before he and his fellow goblins devoured the meat attached to the head like a horde of hungry piranhas.

More drinks – including some home-brewed alcoholic drinks – were brought out as the feast progressed and inhibitions were loosened. Before too long – though the goblins clearly timed it so that most of them already finished eating at that point – the revelers ended up being part of the entertainment themselves, as some drunkenly danced around the now unused bonfire and others made a spectacle of themselves.

Some of the locals also started getting frisky with each other – both the orcs and the goblins were a lot less reserved or shy about such things compared to humans – with others even starting to form groups. It made for a different sort of entertainment to watch over the night, the sort that would have made shy ladies blush entirely red even as they peeked out from between their fingers.

Fortunately nobody in Aideen’s group were exactly the shy sort, which was a given considering their ages, as every one of them were older than any of the goblins in the village. They chose not to partake in the fun – the locals were clearly enjoying themselves – more because spontaneous unplanned orgies were not exactly their sort of thing, which their host fortunately did understand as well.

“Been getting a bit too old for it myself,” admitted Seta with a grin on his face. “When I was younger, though, I’d have shown these kids how to please all the ladies and gentlemen.”