Here's something a little more conservative: Armada and her party's favorite foods.

• Armada: Armada largely keeps to a humble, if lean, diet of simple foods such as apples, nuts, ash cakes, and crackers, things which keep well and can be eaten with little to no preparation. She has held a taste for such foods ever since she was a child due to her godfather’s emphasis on moderation, and her newfound life on the frontier affirmed the importance of this practice. Nevertheless, if she is to partake in more complex dishes, her favorites include chicken fricassee with herbed biscuits and apple pie.

• Willow: It's a common misconception that since Dryads are anthropomorphic plants, they do not need to eat food like the other races and can simply photosynthesize for sustenance; on the contrary, since photosynthesis alone would not generate enough energy for proper ambulation, Dryads have evolved into a species of carnivorous plants possessing internal digestive glands. This takes the form of an organ in their stomach resembling a pitcher plant. Much like a normal stomach, the gland holds a chemical pool of acids, enzymes, and proteins within itself which work to break down food and later absorb the released compounds (which, consequently, gives their “breath” a faint floral scent). To keep the fluid stable while they are eating and moving, the organ is packed with loose, honeycombed lattices made of cellulose acting as spongy baffles. Be that as it may, Willow herself is still markedly vegetarian. One of her favorite things to eat is the fruit of the ghostline plant, which tastes like what we would consider blue raspberry candy.

• Baltimore: A worker through and through, Baltimore likes anything warm and filling (preferably cheap, as well). That being said, he is rather partial to a large rump roast, especially if he can have it stewed in vinegar and wine. He also has a love of honey-glazed grits, though he’s never had a bowl as good as his mother used to make.

• Wisp: Wisp’s favorite food is the ordinary sugar cake, which she holds symbolically as the first luxury she ever earned for herself after escaping from slavery. She copied the recipe from a cookbook she once borrowed from Thaddeus Cunningham’s lending library in Whitelocke, and she keeps the transcription in her Loex (the Hvaldist holy book).

• Cyrus: Coming from a family of new wealth, Cyrus grew up in relative comfort in the colonial city of Blackwridge. His favorite meal, cream of mushroom soup, dates back to his childhood, when he and his father would look for mushrooms in the chilly woods near their estate. Cyrus somewhat ironically considers these mushroom hunts as what planted the seed for his later interest in investigative work.

• Vivian: Vivian follows a scientifically organized dietary regimen, although her recent ventures into the frontier have given her cause to expand her palate and eating times. She only chooses to eat meat when nutritionally necessary, preferring her meals to consist of a simple spread of bread, milk, vegetables (especially cauliflower), a soup, and red wine, the last of which is her favorite part. To Vivian, red wine is not only an essential health supplement, but also an important religious custom as a Nocrothian.

• Quill: An avid frontiersman, Quill most enjoys the food he hunts and gathers himself. He especially prides himself on his bear meat stew, which he digs up carrots and potatoes for after the fated kill; naturally, this meal is only made on occasion. In his heart, however, he will admit that his favorite dish is actually baked haddock. He had his first after his father taught him to fish on the eastern coast near Port Hopeful, where Quill lived as a boy.

• Lucius: Having grown up in the Vaul Viveras, Lucius is intimately familiar with all the different ways to preserve food. While he is accustomed to hunting for food (he finds javelina most thrilling), the sparseness of the desert has led to cured, salted meat establishing itself as a staple in his diet. His favorite cut of all is bacon, especially if it's been smoked directly over a fire. It’s a breakfast tradition to him, and what he doesn’t eat is usually incorporated into his meals later in the day. The bacon is almost always stolen.

• Phineas: One might be surprised to learn that the favorite food of the monstrous Phineas Flavo is not the flesh of men, but instead apple jack cookies. This comes as an extension of the love he once held for a Fehlmanic apothecary named Marietta, a bright spot he encountered amidst New Ahzurdin's dark underbelly. His fondest memories of her are marked by the apple jack cookies she would bake for him whenever they met. To him, the cookies are just as much a fragment of a pleasant memory as they are a reminder of what he has lost.

• Elizabeth: Despite her precarious mental stability, Elizabeth retains a remarkable talent in cooking. Her gastronomical skill had been fostered by her mother, who believed that giving her something non-violent and creative to focus on would help to calm her otherwise frenzied spirit. Even though much of Elizabeth’s culinary knowledge stems from more refined Hrenish cuisine, her personal favorite meal is shepherd’s pie topped with garlic and Huramom cheese (comparable to Parmesan). She personally likes it burnt, a preference she holds for everything she eats. Burning her meals brings them closer to simple carbon, which better feeds her internal fire while also imparting the food a crunchy texture that she finds satisfying. However, she is keenly aware that most people don’t like their food burnt, and will instead cook normally for others. If the meal she serves you is blackened, it’s because it’s her birthday, she doesn’t like you, or both.

• Colette: Colette may have fairly firmly established herself within Gorish colonial society, but she still practices many Niamian customs to (at least in part) maintain an exotic persona among her clientele. This extends to what she eats. While the Niami are physically large enough to consume solid foods, much of their historic cuisine is still liquid-based due to the race’s evolutionary lineage. One such dish, which happens to be Colette’s favorite, is called Veljavii. It is a soup primarily made from Laelamani silkfowl stock, watercress, ginger, and, most importantly, lightly beaten egg mixed with lemon juice. The dish is peppery with a bright citrus backnote, and exhibits a slightly thick and almost fluffy consistency similar to egg drop soup.