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Elizabeth's Musings

Hair of the Domovoi

9/22/2020

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A Themed Drink for The Dimension Door Podcast, Episode 23

After you've had a chance to listen to Episode 23 of The Dimension Door Podcast, you'll understand just why this episode's cocktail is inspired by hair, domovoi, and hatch chilies.

Hair of the Domovoi is a twist on the Hair of the Dog cocktail that adds an underlying bite of chili heat to the traditional hangover drink. It's as white as the Irrisen landscape where the questers from Taldor have ended up, and combines smoke & heat with cream & sweet in a way that is evocative of the events of Episode 23.
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Keep reading for the full directions to make this cocktail.

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Quest for a TTRPG Fairy Tale

9/19/2020

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A Beary Special Cinderella Story

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Cinderella Cherished Teddies Figurine

September is International Podcast Month (IPM), and I was fortunate enough to be able to participate by playing in a TTRPG one-shot run by the wonderful Russ Wilde, gamemaster of the Prism Pals podcast. This game was my first experience with the new Quest TTRPG system, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to give a bit of a peek behind-the-scenes regarding what goes into creating a character and learning to play what ended up being a simple, enjoyable, and incredibly wholesome game.

You can find the IPM Episode for this one-shot here. Keep reading if you're interested in learning more about what goes into character creation for Quest, or if you just want to learn more about the characters we played.

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The Heldren Highball

9/10/2020

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Throw-Back Thursday Presents:
A Themed Drink for The Dimension Door Podcast, Episode 16

Just as the most recent episode's drink was inspired by the small Irriseni town of Waldsby, so is this cocktail from Episode 16 inspired by the small Taldan town of Heldren. Whereas for Waldsby we had a hot beverage perfect for the inhospitably cold climate, for Heldren we had an icy, refreshing drink that celebrates the summer season and its flowering, fresh botanicals. The local Dansby farm produces some fine mead for the town (may poor Farmer Dansby rest in peace), so it's only fitting that any Heldren cocktail include mead as an ingredient. The garnish of this drink is also a bit of an homage to the donkey belonging to Vasilisa Morozova (Heldren's local wisewoman). After all, Marigold is a Very Good Donkey.

Keep reading for full instructions to make your own Heldren Highball.
An image of a highball in a Collins glass. It is a light orange hue, and garnished with a swirl of orange peel and a flower-cut piece of peel around a metal straw. The name of the cocktail (Heldren Highball) is in the left corner of the image

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Elizabeth Reviews: Spinning Silver

9/8/2020

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Spinning Silver book cover
Spinning Silver
by Naomi Novik
Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tale Adaptation
"Wait!" I said, as he began to turn away. "Why would you take me? You must know I have no magic, not really: I can't change silver to gold for you in your kingdom, if you take me away."

"Of course you can, mortal girl," he said over his shoulder, as if I was the one being a fool. "A power claimed and challenged and thrice carried out is true; the proving makes it so." And then he stepped forward and the heavy door swung shut in my face, leaving me with a casket full of silver coins and a belly full of dismay.


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Waldsby's Winteryew Wassail

9/5/2020

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A Themed Drink for The Dimension Door Podcast, Episode 22

This drink is inspired by the small town of Waldsby, which the characters of The Dimension Door Podcast enter for the first time in Episode 22. Waldsby is a small town in Irrisen which sits just outside of the Hoarwood. I won't say too much about it (this is a spoiler-free zone!), but one thing I can say is that the people of Waldsby are very dependent upon the resources the Hoarwood has to offer for both their livelihoods and their diet. The primary resource to be found within this Irriseni forest is the winteryew, also known as the witch-tree. They depend on winteryew trees for lumber, and on their edible seeds and bark for food.

One way that the inhabitants of Waldsby can warm up​ is by enjoying a nice, hot cup of Winteryew Wassail.
Winteryew Wassail cocktail in a mulled cider glass, garnished with dehydrated orange and a whole star anise.

​Witch-Trees of Irrisen

After 1,400 years of winter, nearly all growing things in Irrisen are long dead or locked in eternal hibernation. The great birches, elms, and oaks of the forests are bare of leaves, and only tall evergreens such as firs, pines, and spruces provide a green break to the endless blues and whites of ice and snow. The coniferous winteryew tree, believed to have been brought to Golarion from some far-off world by Baba Yaga, is absolutely essential to the survival of many species of Irrisen. Winteryews’ cones produce edible seeds year-round, and their bark, which grows back even in Irrisen’s frigid temperatures when stripped from the trunk, provides nutrition for other animals, including humans. Were it not for the winteryew, known colloquially as the “witch-tree,” no wildlife could survive in this wintry land.
 - Mike Shel. (2013). Irrisen, Land of Eternal Winter, p. 3. Paizo Publishing, LLC.
In coming up with this recipe, I focused on flavors that come from bark, roots, and coniferous trees, as these all strike me as the types of ingredients which would be available in Waldsby. I chose the apple-based wassail for, not just because alliteration is fun, but because apples would be one of the fruits which might reasonably be imported into Irrisen without spoiling.

Keep on reading for step-by-step instructions to make Winteryew Wassail, and also a cocktail version of the drink that I imagine might be enjoyed on special occasions or by the more well-to-do in the Hoarwood region.

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    Author

    Elizabeth Wilcox. Writer, Avid Role-Player, Amateur Mixologist. Survivor.

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