Hard Crack Stage
In a not particularly well lit room, a young pink haired miqo'te banged her forehead on her work table and let out a loud, frustrated groan. This was attempt number 57, and it was nowhere near successful. In a saucepot beside her, her failure oozed around almost mockingly, its shiny surface glossy and bright.
She had no idea what she was doing wrong this time. It should have worked, but the mess of sugar simply would not cooperate.
"Everything alright?" A voice asked as a warm hand fell upon her shoulder. X'raehl had heard the noise and came in to check on her.
"This one didn't work either."
"Are you still trying to make Ether candy?"
"Yes." Zel's reply was muffled, as she was now burying her face in her hands in frustration. "And this horrific excuse for a potion won't even come up to the right temperature."
X'raehl gently squeezed her shoulder.
"I dont get it." She continued, gesturing now to the saucepot. "It should have worked. I've tried everything I can think of, but no matter how much I reduce down the ether potions, the concentrate just won't incorperate into proper hard candy!"
"Maybe make a taffy or something?" He offered hopefully.
"But that's the thing, I don't want to make a taffy. I could easily take this soft goop here, put it in a chocolate truffle and call it a day, but that isn't what I want to do." She paused to sigh. "I specifically want to make a hard candy version. It's completely pointless if it needs any kind of container other than a simple wrapper."
The whole point of this experiment was that she wanted to create not only a more portable ether potion that was as self contained as possible, but she wanted to make one that tasted nice along the way, but so far all of her attempts had ended in utter failure. Surely she wasn't the first to try to utilize both the skills of alchemy and the culinary arts at the same time, but there were next to zero resources when it came to confectionary paired with potion making.
She had even tried to work backwards and incorporate the ether's components into the candy making process, which simply turned into a very pretty but very poisonous sweet. And even if it weren't deadly, mistletoe didn't exactly taste pleasant, and thus batch 43 was tossed into a furnace and deemed a failure.
Which frankly was a much better attempt than number 29, which had somehow caught on fire. She wasn't even sure how it had combusted, but it had. She even tried out different techniques including Doman sculpted sugar and an Ishgardian method that used a metal press to shape the still hot candy base, and none of them held. They were too runny, too sticky, too bitter. Not quite correct.
"Zel."
Zel looked up. She had zoned out thinking about her previous attempts and was simply staring at the goop in the saucepan.
"Come on, Moonbeam, you need a break."
X'raehl pulled Zel up from her chair and gave her a tight hug.
"Let's take a stroll or something, get you some fresh air."
Though in a dour mood, the keeper agreed to accompany her partner out into the harsh Thanalan sun, which was so bright Zel actually hissed at it before stepping back into the shade.
"I forgot my sunscreen. I wasn't planning on going out while the sun was up." She pouted as she produced a small bottle from the pockets hidden in the folds of her petticoats. After slathering up her exposed skin, she grinned cheerfully at X'raehl. "Let's go get some snacks!"
Zel wasn't usually picky with snacks, but at the moment she was so focused on her candy making endeavors that she began to crave candy instead of the usual pastries or meat. She almost didn't notice the stall that she and X'raehl had been stopped in front of while he waited for her to notice.
The food stall owner wore a Nagxian style garment and was selling a popular dessert from his home, which consisted of bright red berries, skewered and dipped in crystal clear candy, making them look like they were made from glass.
Without a shred of hesitation, Zel immediately bought two skewers, one for her and one for X'raehl, and the moment he safely had his, she munched on the beautiful, ripe rolanberry. The clear sugar crunched as she bit it, and she let out a squeal of delight. She hadn't expected the coating to be so crisp! She excitedly began asking the merchant all kinds of questions, listening eagerly as she savored the slightly warm, candy coated rolanberries.
As thanks for humoring her questions, Zel bought another skewer before bidding the man farewell and heading back to her makeshift workshop. She wasn't sure if the advice she had recived would help with her candy making efforts, but for now, she was happy with her snack and excited to try for attempt number 58.
Written 2019/03/06
Posted 2024/03/07