Ohapitu

Ohapitu practice a form of cooking that draws the tmakikan present in any food out, making it more nourishing for those who eat it. They do this through special preparation methods based on time of year, special herbs and spices, and rituals based on what kind of food they are working with. The results make the food not only more nourishing, but improve its ability to fortify or heal those who eat it and help it resist spoiling longer.

The original arts were developed in western Palhur by the Pihi people, but these arts spread quickly throughout the world to many variations.

Cooking

Ohapitu who prepare food find foods with naturally occurring tmakikan and strengthen it through special rituals and cooking methods.

Edible Materials

Depending on the species of the ohapitu, what constitutes “food” or “nutrition” may vary. This article assumes they have a common mortal diet, meaning something similar to what humans eat. Consult the GM if combining a non-standard diet with these practices.

The best sources of tmakikan are animals, plants, and fungi raised specifically to contain tmakikan, but in some pre-agricultural cultures, there are animals hunted and other foods gathered that are known to have greater amounts of it than others. Anything edible by the species doing the hunting and gathering will work, however, so long as it is not a creature of the infernal energy sterisi.

Some potent foods include the following:

• Amber apple: apple trees in many parts of the world.

• Apatosaur: massive dinosaurs of western Palhur

• Awasos: large western Palhuric grizzly bears

• Black honey buzzard: raptor of the southern Island Bridge

• Blue ox: gigantic oxen of western Palhur

• Breadfruit: any kind of breadfruit

• Chinsomba chachikulu: humpback whales off the coast of southeastern Taggarus

• Cinnamon bear: large western Palhuric black bears

• Cinnamon woodpecker: any cinnamon woodpecker

• Cipactli: central Palhuric crocdilians

• Cuhtz: white bison of western Palhur

• Ebu gogo: Taggaran apes that can eat anything

• Esig sah: Jenilese domestic pigs

• Giant ibis: any giant ibis

• Gorrym Dow: Jesenranic oxen

• Harvester: any lepidopteran of the harvester type

• Hill swallow: any kind of hill swallow

• h̄k Fạn: Nandjan hexaprotodon (prehistoric hippo with six teeth)

• Kintrinalogo: Stayflian horses of the harvest

• Kuyunii: turkeys of western Palhur

• Meswew: an eastern cottontail of western Palhur

• Pokopi̠: western Palhuric berries

• Potato beetle: any kind of potato beetle

• Puno ng niyog: Vada’daro shrub cycad

• Shaggy bontebok: Taggaran bontebok

• Singe monene: southwestern Taggaran gorilla that is twice the size of a common gorilla

• Twelve queen bee: bees whose hives have 12 queens

• 'Uala lau: Panaloan potato fern

• Yellow goat: goats of western Dabusen

Many other examples exist.

Herbs and Spices

There are fourteen special herbs and spices used by ohapitu to bring out the tmakikan in any food they are preparing:

• Aetherial salt: a powerful form of salt found in rare deposits in many parts of the world

• Amber cumin: found mostly in Dabusen

• Bison yarrow: found throughout western Palhur

• Black saffron: saffron found throughout the eastern parts of the world

• Esi tanapʉ̠: grey sage found in western Palhur

• Giant amber pepper: a large hot pepper found in various parts of the world, usually grows to be three feet long

• Honeyed hibiscus: heart-leaf hibiscus found in western Palhur

• Jael citrus zest: citrus fruit from the Jael’ Tree in Ranu, said to have been made by a priest and medium working together

• Kuuka: wild onions found in western Palhur

• Mupitsʉ̠ha pisahpi̠: a mushroom found in western Palhur that enhances other flavors

• Ohahpuhiwi̠: golden aliums similar to but not actually garlic, found all over the world

• Patso: aetherial mesquite

• Sky mint: a form of mint found in Gyrah

• Vanilla: common vanilla

Preparation

The preparation methods used by ohapitu vary by time of year and what food is being used. Each kind of food requires a different ritual.

• Animal: to prepare animal meat requires a ceremony that starts with a blood sacrifice - a drop of the ohapitu’s blood onto the fire, followed by the burning of two of the sacred herbs. This is chanted over with words honoring the animal who died. The meat is then cooked based on the best ways to prepare said meat safely.

• Baked goods: anything involving baked grains requires a ceremony that prepares the oven - usually made of special stone - by washing it in a tea prepared with two of the sacred herbs and then chanting over it from sunup to sundown before using it. The baked goods are then prepared as befits the intended results.

• Fruit: if fruits are involved in the cooking or baking, they need to be washed in a mixture of the ohapitu’s blood, clean water, and patso.

• Fungus: any mushroom or other fungus, including mold, must be prepared through a ceremony that involves honoring the fungus via dance and chanting for three days, as fungi are considered strangely powerful (partly due to the increased chances of poisoning or hallucinogens being present, and partly due to the fact that they are the smartest living organisms out there and no one will admit it).

• Mineral: if the food will use any kind of mineral, including salt or other additives, an additional ceremony must be performed to honor the earth and soil. This involves burying a drop of the ohapitu’s blood along with the castoffs from a previous meal (that is, any parts of the ingredients that could not be used otherwise).

• Mortal: if the ohapitu engages in eating another intelligent / conscious mortal, they will be unable to use their arts ever again, no matter what ceremonies they do.

• Vegetable: if vegetables are involved in the cooking or baking, they need to be washed in a mixture of the ohapitu’s blood, clean water, and honeyed hibiscus.

Seasons

The Pihi recognize nine seasons:

• the Time of Thawing: the first fortyish days of the year, when the snows melt. Rituals in this season must give thanks for making it through the snows. These rituals involve song and dance that flow like water.

• the Time of Flowering: essentially, springtime, when flowers blood. Rituals in this season must give thanks for the new fruits and vegetables being gathered. These rituals often involve sex.

• the Time of Warming: late spring, early summer. Rituals in this season must give thanks for the early hunt. These rituals often involve sex and fire.

• the Time of Glowing: summer. Rituals in this season must give thanks for the animals being hunted, everything being gathered, and the sun itself. These rituals often involve blood sacrifice (usually captured animals and / or the ohapitu’s palm blood).

• the Time of Gathering: late summer, when the harvest would take place in an agricultural society. Rituals in this season must give thanks for the abundance of what is gathered or for what has been scraped up in times of scarcity. These rituals often involve recognition of those who have gathered the food for the coming cold times.

• the Time of Feasting: the days of feasting before the world cools. Rituals in this season give thanks for the whole year. These rituals are literal feasts.

• the Time of Cooling: autumn. Rituals in this season give thanks for the mildness of the weather, if any, and for survival in times past. These rituals often involve dances and special masks.

• the Time of Dying: late autumn, early winter. Rituals in this season give thanks for the deeds of the dead of the past year, honoring their memory, and the ancestors in general. These rituals often involve invocations of the names of the ancestors and sacrifice of the ohapitu’s palm blood.

• the Time of Snowing: deep winter. Rituals in this season give thanks for mere survival. These rituals often involve bonfires, night-time meditation in lieu of sleep, and a special winter hunt.

Food

The results of their rituals are foods that are more nourishing. They result in these specific effects:

Nourishment

Food prepared or grown by an ohapitu will provide thrice normal nutrition, without negative side effects.

Healing

Tmakikan-rich foods will make it easier for the eater to heal from illness, to mend bones, or to resist infection. Wounds will not heal quicker, however.

Growth

Those who eat tmakikan-rich foods grow quicker and can build muscle easier. They often have higher than average STR.

Preservation

Foods with more tmakikan in them, whether prepared or grown, resist spoiling longer than other foods, up to three times as long, without any sapping of its nutrients or altering of its flavor.

Exercises

If the ohapitu exercise or lead others in exercises, they will invoke the tmakikan they have consumed and allow faster growth, strengthening, and so on.

Variants

Some variants include

• Awatsiss: a female ohapitu who serves other women; a harvest witch.

• Cantafael: Jesenranic bards who tell stories at harvest ceremonies.

• Hubiyawapʉ̠: ohapitu who lead chants and songs in group ceremonies.

• Karpophoros: ohapitu fruit-gatherers of Stayflies.

• Matelikihla: ohapitu who are divorced from the land but use their skills making barrels that preserve foods by enriching it with tmakikan.

• Natsu taibo: ohapitu who specialize in foods for healing purposes.

• Notkesnikat: ohapitu farmers who use leather from their livestock to craft shoes that strengthen the feet of the wearer.

• Nodawighigat: one writes, studies, or keeps a collection of cookbooks and other useful literature.

• Wakatelikws: ohapitu who use tmakikan-enriched oxen to pull carts.

• Wizow: a fresh grocer of produce grown on an ohapitu's farm

Similar Occupations

Other occupations who use tmakikan include the following:

• Agrarian: a large-scale farmer who grows tmakikan-rich crops.

• Agribotaner: an agrarian who uses agriscience.

• Alderman: an elder in Jesenranic farming community.

• Amberbaler: farmers who draw tmakikan into their crops and livestock.

• Amber druid: a Jesenyan druid of the pastoral lands.

• Apiarist: a bee-keeper.

• Dabbawala: a deliverer of lunchboxes in Vimala.

• Ektokxeftis: a giant warrior who hurls stones to break sieges.

• Ixim Pitz'ok: a central Palhuric baker who makes special maize-based foods that are incredibly potent with tmakikan.

• Kaznodzieja: a preacher to the Jesenyan farming communities.

• Landsknecht: a knight of Jesenya who is bound to the land.

• Mahimiawapi̠: a warrior of the Pihi empowered by tmakikan to be stronger and larger who rides a dinohippus (Palhuric horse).

• Pawang: a Pihi shaman.

• Piekarz: Aeslan bakers known for their breads and cakes that feed more than they seem capable of.

• Sweettooth: a piekarz who specializes in confections.

Persecution

The ohapitu as a cultural force among the Pihi are greatly honored but are feared and hated by colonial powers.

Skills

Some skills include

• Hunting

• Cooking

• Pickling

• Culinary chemistry

• Farming

• Bee-keeping

• Butchery

• Animal care

• Animal husbandry

• Baking

Stats

PRO +1
ATH +2
STR +5
AWA +1
WIL +1
STH -3
PRS /