Pot of char-mustard
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Back during the Third Age, folk legends tell of the Char Wyrm. She was a daughter of the Great Serpent from deep below, birthed from a silver egg. She was possessed by a gluttonous obsession and folk fled when she swooped down from the mountains to devour cattle, people, even entire villages whole, so great was her hunger. Queen Leathides sent her porcelain knights to battle but none ever returned.
That's when a lowly servant from Leathides' kitchens asked for the chance to defeat the Wyrm. Seeing no harm in letting him try, the queen assented. The servant left for his hometown, a small orchard in the west and did not return for many moons.
The queen began to loose hope that anyone would be able to defeat the voracious fiend that plagued her kingdom.
The Wyrm moved closer and closer to the capital, eating every village in her path. But just as the beast reached the capital, the servant returned. "Halt, oh great half-Wind fiend. Oh great insatiable one. I beseech thee to allow this humble servant one attempt to satiate your appetite." The Wyrm halted and snorted a plume of noxious jade flames into the air. "Very well, servant." The beast replied with mirth "Should thee be able to satiate me, I shall leave and never return. But if thou fail, then I shall devour this kingdom whole. Starting with thou and thy queen."
The servant, full of confidence, began cooking. The kingdom looked on in suspense as he added a char-sulphur coloured paste to the dish. The Wyrm scratched her crescent-like claws upon the castle walls impatiently. "Thou must know that my stomach has no equal, and that no poison can harm me." The servant did not reply, he simply continued cooking. When the food was finished, he presented the dish to the Wyrm who devoured the food, plate and all in one bite.
Her eyes narrowed as she tasted the dish but did not attack. "I am not too proud to admit defeat. Though have calmed my frenzied maw and so I shall honour my promise to thee and leave. But only if thou reveal what the paste was that filled me with such fullness and warmth." The servant reached into his robe and produced a pot of Char Mustard. He told her that his family was poor, hungry and cold, and would often only eat Char Mustard because it was so filling, and gave your body a pleasant warmth, even in the coldest of nights.
The Wyrm left and the queen asked what boon the servant would ask of her for payment of his great deed. He simply asked to be allowed to continue cooking for the queen, so great was his love for her that he desired nothing else. She accepted his request but also decided to take him as her prince consort in marriage. His family was never cold, poor or hungry again and It is thought that one of the locations in the west was named after the servant boy, in honour of his deed.
Seirennis, Wandering Storyteller
