evierose — Roleplayer Guild

𝔽irst 𝕀mpressions

Name: Shuyi Zheng

Race: Human

Age: 26

Gender: Female

Appearance Short for her age and pale-looking, but not neccessarily sickly. Almost always seen carrying a large bamboo basket on her back, with various tools inside.

𝔾et to 𝕂now 𝕐ou

Occupation: Cook/Researcher

Reputation:
Although not an official member of the imperial chefs, Shuyi has made quite a name for herself in the capital of Xin Lu:

To the arrogant ladies-of-the-court, she's a dumb girl who gets sick every other week but would run to the mountains the minute she's back up. Girls at her age and social standing should be looking for husbands, if not bearing children already. If must be her family's fault that she's not much of a lady. Even if they're imperial chef, in the end they're still just cooks that labour all day in the hot and smokey kitchens.

To the priests offering healing services, she's a frequent customer of their shrine. One of the priests felt so bad for her that he secretly taught her a spell that could cleanse a person of a minor poison. Even so, she still shows up once in a while with some type of ailment. Another priest secretly start a tally of the number of different ailments she's been under. Although the actual count has not been leaked, it's rumoured to be above two dozens. 

To the residents of the villages near the capital, she's a well-like guest who never seemed to stay long enough. At first, she would stare at the crops and gathered foodstuff, and sometimes even peek at Granny making batches of pickles. It caused quite a stir with the villagers, but they let her be once they determined that she was not a harm. After a while, she began asking questions, and the villagers got to know her quite well. She loved to absorb their wisdom that's been passed on for generations, and would stop by whenever she was passing by. 

To the imperial chefs, she is a talented legumes chef. Too bad she's more interested in discovering new foods and ways of cooking/preserving foods than devoting herself to the kitchen. If she hadn't put all her time and effort into studying plants, maybe she can actually make edible meat dishes. On the other hand, the apprentice chefs all avoid her like the plague for reasons only they know -- her experimental dishes require taste-tester. The dishes wouldn't cause food-poisoning anymore, but the taste... the taste... none of the apprentice chefs would say anymore.

To her massive extended family, she is both a blessing and a nightmare. The amount of talent she possesses would've paved her a nice path in the imperial kitchens, but her passion lies elsewhere. After mastering the basics from her family, she turned her attention to the wilderness and ways of the peasants. Although her research has brought a breath of fresh air into the rigid imperial ways, most can't be served outsided of the family due to safety concerns (as imperial chefs, they're not allowed to serve commonfolks, nor are they allowed to have connections with commercial kitchens). The most complaints comes from her servants: the constant nasty smells of her secret pickle experiments, the various dried or fresh plants lying around that makes cleaning a pain, and the frequent ailments that can take nasty turns.

Affiliation: Imperial kitchens of Xin Lu

Backstory:
Shuyi's family has been skilled members of the imperial kitchens for generations: from stock managers to just below the headchefs. It is even rumoured that one of her (indirect) ancestors was a master butcher who can carve up a cow without it noticing its own demise.

Despite being in the midst of lavish cuisines, her family values skills in working with the ingredients above the rarity of the ingredient. It taught that with proper handling, even weeds can have a place on the Emperor's table. Apparently she took the teaching quite literally and ended up neck-deep in researching the "blasphomous".

Over the years, she started a nice compilation of wild plant, their properties, and results of cooking attempts, as well as cooking/preservation techniques she collected from the farming village near the capital of Xin Lu. At this point, there wasn't much new stuff left in her area of activity. She has made several attempts to go on a journey, but out of concern for her health and safety, her parents have shot down every one of them.

When the Emperor gave word to his subjects in regards to the upcoming famine, Shuyi volunteered to venture out in hopes to find alternative food sources. Finally, a chance to explore new areas. Finally, an opportunity that her parents deny her of. Finally, she was hit with the realization that the world is a lot less safe than the small bubble she was used to. Finally, she felt powerless to do what she wanted. Luckily, the advert entered her sight before she became lost.

𝕌tility

Skills:

Harvesting, identifying/studying wild plants
Handling fruits and vegetables (including pairing with meats)
Making steamed, stirfried, and simmered foods
Fancy knifework

Magic: Simple healing magic (mostly used for food poisoning)

Equipment:

Harvesting tools: hand shovel, gardening scissors, gloves, hand rake, and a large bamboo basket
Cooking utenstils: pots, iron wok, steamer, chopsticks, knives and cleavers, ladel
Research tools: research journal and writing utensils, vials and cases with refrigeration magic, antitoxin

𝕄iscellaneous

Favorite Foods:

Vegetables
Fruits
Soups

Disliked Foods:

Candies
Baked desserts
Spicy foods
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