Cosmo's Kitchen: Episode 03

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==Synopsis==
A new warlord has taken over Lofton where Cosmo's Kitchen resides, so he has devised a flight of cocktails to win her approval. The party will need to gather ingredients for at least four of the six drinks Cosmo has devised or they will be fired.
First, Sweet Potato gives some of his own blood for the rum with "blood from the blackest heart." They next go after the whiskey with "tears of a heartbroken innocent" which they collect by traumatizing a child with a dead Unicorn skull. Third, they hunt a giant snail for the vodka sour with giant snail acid, losing Mathieu DuPont in the fight. Lastly, they char Mathieu's corpse for the margarita with "salt of courage", but Cosmo does not accept it. Thinking fast, Kenji proposes a new menu to Cosmo and collects the sweat off his brow after the nerve-wracking pitch, satisfying Cosmo as "salt of courage."
==Recap==
===Guest Introduction===
Today's guest is Peachachoo who plays Gaston, a small mouse sorcerer. He was once human but got tricked by a fey creature and turned into a mouse in return for magical cheffing skills. He typically does the detail work in the kitchen, like garnishing, taking advantage of his size. He is married with a wife and kids, and has a self proclaimed "slight" temper.
We also learn a bit about the hierarchy of Cosmo’s Kitchen. At the top of course is Cosmo, along with his secretive and slightly sketchy right hand man that is rarely seen by others but is clearly deeply involved. Under them is the upper echelon, which mostly procures ingredients and has some autonomy to find new recipes. Then the mid-tier employees which are the player characters: front of house, line cook, etc. At the bottom is the low tier everyday workers of insignificant note. 
=== The Mixology Mission Begins ===
Cosmo lines up the group of employees to brief them on their mission. Lofton has been conquered by a new warlord, Lady Winston, and Cosmo has devised a flight of cocktails to win her favor. There are six different cocktails he has in mind, and the party must return with the ingredients for at least four of them or be fired.
* Whiskey with "the tear of a heartbroken innocent"
* Rum with "blood from the blackest heart"
* A vodka sour with acidic slime from a giant slug/snail
* A daiquiri with "drool from the biggest fool"
* A margarita with "salt of courage"
* A mojito with mint blessed by a nature spirit
Gaston is confused by what salt of courage actually means, but Cosmo tells him off for not knowing rather than explaining. As they discuss which ingredients to pursue, Sweet Potato nicks his finger and collects some blood. He acknowledges that after the unicorn hunt he must have the blackest heart of all, even his own family has kicked him out. They devise a plan to show the Unicorn corpse in the kitchen freezer to a small child to get the tears of a heartbroken innocent. They also know giant slugs live in the swamp so they plan to track one down for the slime. Finally they consider the drool from the biggest fool, perhaps getting it from a food critic that bashed Cosmo.
=== Tears of a Heartbroken Innocent ===
When getting the Unicorn skull from storage Cosmo stops the party, not wanting to lose a valuable magic asset. They give Cosmo the "blood from the blackest heart" and he is proud of Sweet Potato, telling him not to change his heinous ways. Cosmo walks away and the party take the skull, with or without permission. Kenji shares his notebook of malicious meals he designed with Mathieu, hoping they will be enough win to please Cosmo.
The plan is for Gaston to befriend and lead a small peasant child out of the town slums into the woods where Mathieu and Kenji will wait with the Unicorn skull to scare them. As they walk Sweet Potato will stay slightly ahead casting Minor Illusions of Unicorn footprints, and Gaston will cast Prestidigitation to make them glow. Before starting Sweet Potato casts Enhance Ability on Gaston to make him more charismatic. Gaston finds a lone child fishing, a hungry peasant boy, and begins the ploy. The child, not knowing much of magic, thinks the mouse is the Goddess of Nature Nadinis which Gaston plays up. The mouse explains that they have a Unicorn in the woods that will grant him a wish, and to follow him. The kid is scared of the woods, his deceased mother always warned him about its dangers. Upon hearing his mother had passed, Gaston feels guilty and tries to shoo the kid away threatening to eat him. The kid fights back, angry at the mouse but ultimately gets scared and flees.
Still needing the tears, Gaston finds a new group of 3 children to try and lure to the Unicorn trap. Sweet Potato casts sleep on 2 of the children while Gaston convinces the third to follow him, still pretending to be Nadinis. The other children wake up and try to call out to the girl, but Gaston is able to convince her to continue on. Along the way the kid notices the gnome just ahead, but she’s convinced to ignore him. As they reach the spot in the woods, Sweet Potato creates an illusory skeleton body to go with the Unicorn skull and Gaston starts freaking out, fake crying murder. As the child panics and cries, Mathieu slaps them unconscious and the party collects the tears of the innocent. They drop the kid at the edge of town, safe but undoubtedly traumatized.
=== Brief Detour ===
Mathieu and Sweet Potato take the triangular platinum coin they had found previouslty to the fountain in town it resembles. Mathieu tosses it in and wishes to be the most courageous in Lofton. Sweet Potato doesn't sense any magic, but Mathieu believes it came true.
=== Giant Snail Showdown ===
Next they head out to hunt a Giant Slug to get the acid for the vodka sour. Sweet Potato uses his gnomish abilities to speak with a small squirrel which informs him the slugs are deeper in the forest than it goes. Then they see a bullywug in the distance, and Sweet Potato waves it over. Sweet Potato pays the bullywug 5gp to bring them to the slug, which turns out to be a snail which still works. Sweet Potato tries to put the snail to sleep but fails. During the fierce fight karmic justice comes for the Frenchman Mathieu DuPont, who is eaten alive by the giant snail. The rest of the party manage to take the snail down, but by the time they pull Mathieu out of its stomach he is already dead. The party briefly grieves before Sweet Potato tastes a piece of his acid-burned flesh, reaffirming he is the gnome with the blackest heart. Before leaving they defile Mathieu’s corpse once more, burning him to ash to create "salt of courage" the fourth and final ingredient they need.
=== The Party Returns to Cosmo ===
The party returns to Cosmo’s kitchen to compete their quest, four of six ingredients acquired. First though they feed Cosmo an appetizer of some acid cooked Mathieu, which he seems uncomfortably content to eat.
They present their ingredients to Cosmo but he is furious at what they’ve brought for the salt of courage, no one wants an ashy margarita. Kenji tries to calm him down by presenting a 15 course meal he has devised, which includes a whole cyclops eye served table side. Cosmo is pleased by his ideas. Kenji knows this could’ve ruined his career had Cosmo disapproved so he wipes the sweat off his brow and hands it to Cosmo, satisfying his request for salt of courage. Lastly, Cosmo reminds the party of the importance of teamwork; the crew has been squabbling too much and a kitchen demands cohesion.
Category:The Lazarus Expedition Episodes
Category:Save Or Die Episodes
Category:The Lazarus Expedition