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The Dragon Knight -> RE: =Elemental Championship 2011= Registration now open. (6/20/2011 23:40:58)
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Name: Henry "The Gourmet" DeFranco
Element: Fire
Profession: Professional Food Critic
Link to First Post: Placeholder
Appearance: At 5'5" tall, one would expect a man who spends most of his time eating to be rather, well, enormous. However, thanks to constant traveling, and a fiery metabolism, Henry has managed to keep his figure at merely portly. With a slight bulge around the midsection, red hair streaked with silver, and an eternally cheerful expression (complete with dimples, rosy cheeks and smiling blue eyes), Henry does not cut the most terrifying of figures.
Clothing: He is most commonly seen in his dining attire, which consists of a pair of fine oxford dress shoes, pressed blue slacks, an elegant silver shirt with a midnight blue, silver embroidered waistcoat. He always carries his trademark monogrammed handkerchief in his breast pocket, and is usually seen with a lobster bib around his neck.
Personality: Henry is a cheerful old duck, and quite eccentric by most standards. He believes that any conflict can be resolved over a nice cup of tea, perhaps with some freshly baked scones, a fine cucumber sandwich, and maybe even a small cheese platter. The only thing that truly angers him is to see people wasting food.
Possessions: Henry carries no weapons, so to speak. He does, however, carry a satchel and a number of flasks on his hip and a small backpack upon, well, his back. Inside of the flasks are various beverages, such as white and red wine, sparkling spring water, and fine ale. The satchel contains numerous capsules, each of which has been enchanted to carry a single item of food. The backpack contains his tools; namely a small cooking pot, a full set of chef's knives, a wooden spoon, a metal plate and fork, and a cast iron frying pan. After all, Henry always says, in order to truly judge another's cooking, one must be able to cook as well.
Abilities: All of Henry's abilities are activated through the consumption of some form of food. Each type of food that he carries has a specific effect, and combining foods creates a different, more powerful effect. For example, a certain kind of meat may give him the ability to melt metal with a touch, while adding a specific kind of cheese to the meat allows him to stretch the ability around him, creating a barrier. Adding a wine to the mix allows the ability to reach maximum potency, causing the barrier to explode outward in a fiery shockwave. Henry is only able to combine three types of foods at a time. Attempting to combine a fourth is simply too dangerous. The time limit on his ability becomes shorter as it becomes more powerful, with the third combination invariably being an instantaneous burst, short barrage or very brief duration, in order to prevent damage to Henry's body.
History: Once upon a time, there was a famous food critic named Henry. He was known across the land of Lore for his great love of food, often traveling from country to country to sample the local fare. A small bistro here, a fancy restaurant there, and even the occasional market stall that offered home baked goods.
Henry's skill at identifying the subtlest of flavours became so widely known that restaurants trembled in fear that he should ever set foot in their establishments. One frown, one whisper of discontent or, worse, disgust would seal a chef's fate. They would forever be outcast, known as one of the "Blacklisted." No eatery worth its reputation would ever think of hiring them.
After years of destroying the dreams of hundreds of aspiring chefs, Henry had managed to amass quite a number of enemies. However, the oblivious food aficionado knew nothing of this, focused only on experiencing every kind of food under the sun, and perhaps under the moon as well. His life long ambition was to become the sole authority on food, in all of its forms and flavours, no matter the culture. His enemies were of a different mind, however, harboring a great deal of hatred for the man who had doomed them to a life of working in greasy little kitchens in the back of some leaky watering hole.
These cantankerous cooks eventually sought one another out, banding together for the singular purpose of destroying their oppressor. They schemed for thirty days and twenty nights (many of them felt it was such a waste to stay up all night scheming and stayed home instead) and eventually decided upon a fittingly ironic means of eliminating their foe; with food.
The dastardly chefs set about creating a dish so potent, so incredibly spicy, that it literally ate through every normal substance that pots and serving dishes were made of. As well as the table. And a good deal of the floor.... In the end, they enlisted the aid of a mage to enchant a set of cookware to resist the immense heat of the dish, and to place a curse upon the food for that added kick (apparently curses taste a little like paprika).
Henry was oblivious to the true intentions by the invitation to sample a brand new dish, and sat down at what he thought was a chefs' convention. As the bowl was placed before him, everyone in the convention hall leaned forward in their seats and watched as he raised the first spoonful to his lips. And swallowed.
And nothing seemed to happen. He tilted his head to one side and remarked "A tad on the spicy side, but nothing compared to Halkovian Sizzlers. Now THOSE have some REAL kick! Still, a wonderful blend of flavors."
Henry cheerfully proceeded to devour the remainder of the food before him, much to the disbelief of the onlookers. As he sat there, patting his lips with a monogrammed silk napkin and looking quite pleased with himself, a murmur began to spread through the chefs. Was he immortal? Was he even human? Many of the eyes in that room reflected a growing fear that they had stumbled upon something far more sinister than anticipated.
This thought was seemingly confirmed when, with a belch, Henry burst into flames.
Unfortunately for the poor sods who had packed the hall, the fireball quickly consumed them all. The last thing they sensed, before they were incinerated, was a zesty Cajun flavor that was, aside from the searing pain, quite delightful.
Instead of turning to ash, as one would expect, Henry found that he was beginning to feel quite warm under the collar. His sweat sizzled against his skin, turning to steam almost instantly. Surprisingly, the chair, table and food were seemingly unharmed by the inferno, not to mention his clothing. However, as puzzling as this was, Henry desired nothing more than to quench the sudden thirst that his hot and dry throat created. He picked up a rather warm glass of water and proceeded to gulp it down. The fire around him ebbed, slowly dieing away, and his skin cooled.
The mage, it turned out, had made a mistake when casting the curse. (He had always gotten high marks in the other fields of casting, but had barely squeaked by in Curses and Hexes) Instead of the Curse of Fiery Death that he had intended, he had cast the Enchantment of Fiery Glory upon the stew, a spell that was supposed to be used on weapons. Having eaten the item, Henry had gained an astonishing ability. Certain foods allowed him to channel different aspects of the enchantment.
In the years since, Henry has continued his journey to sample new foods, although now with the added goal of discovering interesting new abilities. However, after so many years of traveling and food tasting, it has become more and more difficult to find a new dish. And so, upon hearing that the Elemental Lords would grant the winner of the Elemental Championship their greatest desire, he has set off for the tournament, eager to find the rarest and most delectable delicacy in the universe.
Approved.
~Kell
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