TheNexusProject/NiceDreams
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Contents
Nice Dreams
- ”Ooh!!! Gimme the chocolate! No, wait ... strawberry, yeah, strawberry. No! Both! Oh hell, let me taste the first one again ....”
- - Overheard from many customers
- ”Dude, it's like cold and sweet all at the same time .... Hand me that pipe, cuz see, if you hit this, the smoke is sweet and it mixes with the cream, and it like intermingles in your mouth, man .... Have you ever really thought about the word "intermingle”? It kinda flows off the tongue, you know, all intermingly like, makes me think of ... of ... what was I saying? <coughing giggle fit> Anyway, try the chocolate with the minty smoke, guy ... it's m'favorite."
- - Morning Glory on the Wind, regular at Nice Dreams, unofficial spokesman
In the heart of the Artists' District in Cinnabar, there is a cozy manor house with a massive wraparound front porch. The original color of the house is long forgotten beneath swatches of wildly varying painted designs; the steps and the porch leading up to the house are worn to the wood by lounging bodies and foot traffic drawn in by the scents wafting from within. The picture window is a stained glass abstract mosaic with "Nice Dreams" set in multi-faceted golden crystals. The porch is designed to seat customers even in inclement weather; there are several large overstuffed couches and chairs outside and woven mats for basking on the lawn on nice days. Inside, the house is lit by glass sconces, and the flickering lights play off of blue, green, aqua and teal mosaic tiles in mica-flecked stone. There is a fireplace and a mini-stage in one corner, loads of comfy cushions, chairs and more overstuffed couches, but the real attraction in this place is the bar. The massive stone creation looks as if it was moulded from the mica stone of the floor, studded in chunks of glass, semi-precious stones, and more mosaic tiles. The bar is stocked to the gills with premium coffees and liquors, decadent candies, and some of the finest strains of marijuana in Creation, but in the middle of the bar beneath glass domes is one of Nice Dream's biggest draws: ice cream. Everyone loves the sweet, creamy treat discovered quite by accident by the proprietor of Nice Dreams, Amylis Tiguare.
Amylis is a sleepy-eyed, full-bodied Eastern woman with a warm, comforting smile. She entices customers into her shop with unique scents: fresh coffees brewing at dawn; the sweet smell of her famous handmade chocolates; the malted vanilla scent of the crisp waffles she makes fresh to serve with her ice cream; toasted fresh bread for the variety of sandwiches served; and the spicy, heady aromas of her "special blends" - marijuana bred for different flavors and potency rolled in aromatized cigar wraps. Once she lures the customer in, they get taken in by the sheer variety in the shop; she has slightly over 30 flavors of ice cream, and they all look so good. Amylis offers free tastes, and it's truly hard to pick a favorite amongst them. She has a wide selection of toppings: cookies, sauces, candies, syrups, all displayed enticingly in crystal jars and pump bottles. Along with the ice cream, she serves flavored coffees and "the best toasted sandwiches in Cinnabar". It's even said that she has a few of the famed Dragon's Pearls in her stores, but that's never been confirmed.
Amylis knows she stumbled on to this gold mine by accident, and she is loath to let the secrets of how she makes her ice cream slip. Needless to say, this shop is favored by artists and poets of all stripes; Amylis encourages them to express themselves - there is open music and performances on the small stage inside. The stage is designed so those enjoying the outdoor view can listen in and groove along. The odd color swatches that make up the exterior are part of an ongoing project for which artists take a little bit of the house and personalize it with a bit of poetry, maybe a painting, or just a general scrawl letting the world know that they were once there.
Rumours
- It is rumored that Amylis is a slacker noble who ran to Nexus to escape the authoritarian rule of her family. She will neither confirm nor deny this claim; instead, she changes the subject so smoothly that you wonder what you asked in the first place.
- Amylis has been known to slip away upstairs with a good-looking, slightly rotund man who seems to appear out of nowhere. He occasionally helps out in the shop and takes in a poetry night or two as well. They are said to be lovers, but he is too elusive to confirm this claim; no one can ever recall hearing him speak.
Secret
- Amylis has a long time relationship with Emerald Rainbow, a minor god of the hearth; he is largely the inspiration for the good vibes and good food found at Nice Dreams. They met in Great Forks where she grew up; her two daughters are his children.
Comments
Awsome dude. I love the Cheech-n-Chong reefer-ance. - Issaru
Wait - how does she keep the ice cream cold? - DigitalSentience
- I can imagine a simple sort of mock-up Essence-powered icebox, especially since she's so closely connected to a minor god; she may also just use ice. But this isn't my entry, so... -- AntiVehicleRocket
- The Ritual of Elemental Empowerment is both dirt common (among Terrestrial Sorcerers) and could chill a box cold enough to preserve ice as ice, IIRC. I'd imagine Lookshy sells a number of them- since they're something most of their sorcerers could do if they haven't used their Essence during the rest of the day. DS
I was going with the essence powered icebox theory, if one looks closely enough they'd see lil' runes carved inside the stone and glass cases where the ice cream is kept. There's ice involved too(always a bit of the mundane in the majickal), and she's really interested in what the Guild comes up with for the "Cold Storage in the Tomb of Ice" project. I like that Ritual of Elemental Empowerment idea, though... - Dreaming Nymph
