Astral Food

Karelagne Victuals

The Karelagne Empire spans a vast swathe of land on its home world on the Material Plane, and its cuisine is as varied as the climates that produce it. Heavily spiced roasted meats and fish, often served with cereal grains in the form of loaves, cornbread, and flatbread, form the backbone of their diet. Seeded fruit like apples, along with stone fruit and pomegranates are commonly seen at mealtimes, and candied nuts are a popular sweet.

Ayrissian Cuisine

The Kingdom of Ayris trades extensively with other nations on its home world on the Material Plane, importing cuisines and ingredients from all over the world. Despite this, its culinary habits resist outside influence. An ironclad sense of culinary elitism pervades the Ayrissian spirit, thanks to a long history of master chefs and gastronomic artists “perfecting” Ayrissian cuisine. The food of Ayris is often prepared only at home, and almost never seen as street food. In all but the humblest of households, meals with multiple discrete courses are the norm, often with small portions made by following a complex, time-honored recipe. Sautéed vegetables, seared meats, and thin, flaky pastries are common at any Ayrissian table worth dining at.

Aetherial Fare

Fish caught from the Aetherial Expanse are strange beasts. Tiny aetherbeasts lack any serious magical power, but any fish worth catching—equivalent to a tuna—fights hard to remain in the aether. The life of an aether fisher transforms one into a hardened monster-fighting veteran after only a few years at sea. Once an aetherfish has been caught, it must be laboriously butchered and drained of the aether permeating its flesh. Improperly butchering an aetherfish is punishable by imprisonment, and most taverns have the ingredients for an aether antidote on hand in case of accidents.

The food eaten by settlers on the Aetherial Expanse is heavily influenced by the cuisine of their homelands of Ayris and Karel; with pirate settlements often eating a blend of the two.

Ship’s Rations

Fine cuisine, even fresh cuisine, is a foreign concept aboard sailing ships. Journeys between major ports on the Expanse take weeks, sometimes even months if conditions are foul, forcing most sailors to subsist on a diet of salted, preserved meat and ship’s biscuits, a bland unleavened bread made from only water and flour. Rum or grog (watered-down rum) is common aboard ships. Rum made from astral-grown sugar has a mild hallucinogenic effect. Regardless of whether one captains a pirate, naval, or merchant ship, the hallmark of a wise captain is a well-fed crew, for nothing instigates mutiny quicker than a crew lacking in grub or grog.