Jorgrim Village
Nestled in the embrace of the lesser mountains that jut from the earth, north of the Sram Mountain range, there exists a valley that should not exist. The lands north of the Sram Mountains are incredibly barren due to their location within a major rainshadow. However, this small enclosure shrugs at such rules, and declares it will be green anyway!
Occupied by a number of Iderran tribes that have migrated to the land, and been accepted inside by the leading Wild Root tribe, Jorgrim is a peaceful community. A proper village, and a growing one too!
Hunters and gatherers still make rounds in the Wilds beyond their little paradise, but in the last few decades, a new profession has emerged amongst the people. Farmers! In this lush land, it is easier than ever to grow crops, and since it had already been settled, protecting and working the land was also made easier! Win, Win, Win!
Sigismund loved food. He always had, even since he was a babe. His mother, Treiya, told him he had been the youngest of her children to stop suckling, and eat solid food. He felt that much was obvious, given how good everything tasted! He couldn't imagine only eating one thing all day! He pitied infants for this, at least.
Sigismund was a member of the Wild Root tribe, and a respected one at that. A distant relative of the tribe leader, who managed the village of Jorgrim, Sigismund was content with life. Especially in the last few years, where he had become the lead chef responsible for catering any large banquet or celebration held within the village walls.
Despite his prolific appetite (even more than a man his age and size would be expected to eat), Sigismund was not a fatty. No, he was quite muscular, thank you very much (though he had been chubby when younger). He regularly participated in hunting expeditions with the other young men of the village. Well, only when he wasn't busy trying a new recipe!
Still, Sigismund couldn't do anything about his big bones! He's not fat, promise!
Generally a jolly man, with reddish-brown facial hair that almost wiggled when he chuckled, Sigismund was in a funk lately. He had tried all the ingredients! It had been months since the gatherers had brought anything novel back to the village, and those mushrooms had turned out to be poisonous! Ugh!
Currently sitting next to a ceramic cooking pot, clearly showing signs of abundant use, Sigismund let out a sigh as he put down a bowl of thin soup he had just taken a sip from. He wiped his thick beard, that though closely cropped still had to be maintained lest he lose precious morsels in such a wasteful way!
The soup was too bland. He had tried cooking the broth base longer than usual before adding the ingredients, but that just meant they had less time to simmer and diffuse within the soup. It was an inferior version of something he had already made.
Gently cleaning up, Sigismund took a look around his shack. Wild roots (for which his tribe was named) of many kinds were strewn about. There were also crops that had been cultivated from those roots in the last decades. Some of them had interesting properties to Sigismund, though the amount of work they took to harvest made him wonder if it was worth it? He loved food, don't get him wrong, but everything had a limit... Maybe they would change in the future? His father had told him before the kernels had grown since he was young, but Sigismund thought maybe he was just misremembering. He didn't have Sigismund's (almost unsettling) appreciation for food, after all!
Game meat made up the rest of his stock. It was worth sighing over, honestly. There were few herbs or spices. Sigismund knew of them, but they were rare to find in these lands... The land in the blessed valley (as some called it) was unbelievably richer than what lay outside, but when his people had arrived all those years ago (before even his father's boyhood), nothing novel had grown. Perhaps it was a challenge by nature for the villagers to use their own efforts to change their palette.
Regardless, Sigismund decided he wanted to do something else right now. He was, for once, sick of cooking! He hadn't even been here long, the sun had only been up a short time after all...
What will Sigismund do with this fresh day?