Exam: Chamber 1 (RP)

Alakassandra is full of confidence as she approaches the first challenge gate. Not only has she been placed in a team with a whole bunch of really powerful magic-users who should easily be able to overcome these challenges, but she also heard a rumor that the final challenge is to fight a dragon. And honestly, fighting a dragon can't be all that tough. There's not even any barbells in their size so how would they work out?

Anyway, of course there is the risk that they'll all get found out, but she knows enough proper wizard magic that she should be able to disguise herself. And so do the others, hopefully. She's not quite sure if one of them being discovered as a fake will get all of them punished, but teamwork is great, so she's certain it will all work out.

However, as they enter the first chamber, Alakassandra finds herself confused. There isn't any enemy to fight here, just some pots and ovens. "I didn't sign up for a cooking competition," she grumbles as she tries to push through the heat and approach the closest oven.

Abby had also heard about dragons. She trusted her companions though, especially those who shared her fashion sense. And didn't seem bothered by her....appetites. Seeing all this fresh produce....was this a will power test just for her...?
Her mechanical crow familiar loudly cracked its mechanical feathers. it didn't like the steam.

Catin wobbled into the chamber in the middle of the group. They had a plan, and the first part of it involved letting others face any danger first. It wasn't as though they didn't care for their fellow companions, just that they would be a lot more useful to the group if they were a lot less dead. That and physical labour wasn't the easiest when you had to count on fellow familiars for hand eye coordination, rather than yourself.

On the subject of rumours, Catin had heard many. This came naturally to cats and bats, the former who passed into rooms undetected and the latter who could hear from great distances. Most of what they'd they didn't begin to entertain, but some whispers from the feet had started when someone returned after overhearing the grand wizard talking about a puzzle involving clocks, which were the famous rivals of felines.

They watched their fellow teammates to see what they would do, or rather Fuzzypaws watched and whispered to the others, while they braced themselves on a table. They did cast a sideways eye over the ingredients while they were at it, just in case...

Her hand darts out for a large parsnip, and her fangs extend. She pauses a moment before biting. Does it smell safe?

Standing in front of the plain looking door, Ari goes through all the mental notes they prepared for the practical exam. Having easily aced the written exam with a mixture of hard work and illusion tricks, it was easy to pull off some "favourite student" strings to end up on this team, with Hooligander.

Tough once the door opens and they see the strange scene inside what appears to be a kitchen in a pocket dimension, Ari hesitates. Maybe what seemed to be the perfect opportunity to finally get noticed by the target of all their affections will turn into a major fiasco. Well, at least this is not the dreaded whack-a-bowl challenge the alumni kept talking about! Ari is not sure how they’ll be able to focus with bowls flying everywhere!

Time to be a team player! We stand or fall together now. "Any idea what this is?" Damn! That’s was far too lame a question 🤦🏻‍♂️ think think. Come on do something!

Ari decides to put down their tome of magic on a table and open it. "Gosh, it’s too hot don’t you think?" they flip the pages and then start to rearrange the vegetables into a arcane symbol, following the instructions for the spell, hoping to at least get the temperature down. The heat source seems out of control and you can’t cook anything like that!

Thinking about cooking… "Anyone sees a recipe we need to prepare?"

Alakassandra lifts the pot off the heat. "Maybe we need to cool down this room," she suggests. "I could use my magic to turn off the ovens and the stoves. But I don't think we could turn them back on again afterwards."

"Well now, ain't this a right kicker? Expecting' some magic and poof! it's a cooking challenge!" Hooligander puts a hand on his hip and waggles his other finger at the stove. Well now, it's clear this is an easy test. The soup is clearly finished cooking so we don't have to do anything other than remove it from the heat source to prevent the sauce from boiling off. Now then, we take a whiff and a look, and see what soup we got. Then we make a side dish that pairs great with it. For example if this soup were chicken noodle, we only would need some bread and butter for the perfect side. So then, let's see what we got." Hooligander sticks his head over the pot and takes a big whiff to guess the soup.

something fishy... puts it down, and looks around for recipes, notes, or instructions

"Maybe wrecking, I mean, bewitching the ovens to shut off isn't the right course of action just yet," Alakassandra muses out loud. "I could use my... whirling spell to make sure the soup doesn't burn. What do you-" She stops mid-sentence when she sees Ari. "What the hex happened to you?"