Lore/The Town of Baxter
Part of the lore of New Bradford.
Baxter was the first sibling to separate from the rest of the group. He did not leave because of any ill will or falling out with his siblings. The reason he left was specifically to help out the rest of the community. Baxter was possibly the most unselfish person who had ever existed. Everything he ever did was planned with someone else in mind. From the time he could toddle on his chubby legs he would follow his mother, Cordelia, around and help her with all of her daily tasks.
Baxter’s favorite chore when he was little was anything related to food. Baxter loved everything about food. He would cook, bake, fry, make mud pies. When his mother was busy, Baxter could often be found in the kitchen making “experiments” with ingredients he found in the kitchen. When he was younger these “experiments” would simply be a combination of his favorite foods, whether they made sense together, or not. For example, as a toddler, his favorite foods were chicken, pickles, and chocolate. He thought it made perfect sense to make a casserole out of those items. When Cordelia came into the kitchen and found him at work, she never scolded him. Like the wonderful mother she was, she dutifully tasted each and every concoction Baxter made, with a large glass of water next to her to wash it all down. Then she would gently give Baxter suggestions about how to make the meal a bit more palatable for the rest of the family. For example, the chicken could be fried to a golden brown, served with a healthy dose of potato salad with sliced pickles, and a yummy chocolate pudding for dessert. As Baxter grew, he became extremely knowledgeable about foods and was able to invent recipes that tasted amazing.
Baxter’s love of cooking and doing things for others combined and resulted in another passion. Baxter loved farming. He was proud to cook food for others, and even more so to be able to tell them that he grew the ingredients himself. Even though he never quite lost his youthful chubbiness, Baxter was the hardest worker around. If Baxter wasn’t in the kitchen, he was outside working on the family’s farm. Baxter loved to plant vegetables and fruit trees. He would even plant beds of flowers just because he knew their beauty would make someone smile. Every day a fresh bouquet of flowers appeared on the dining room table. He spent his spare time trying to crossbreed plants to come up with new species.
Baxter loved animals, but he understood that they existed to help people. Some animals helped by tilling the ground or being pack animals to carry things around. Other animals had the purpose of providing sustenance to people. Chickens provided eggs, cows provided milk, and they all provided tasty food. Baxter would never kill an animal just for fun, but he was also not afraid to harvest an animal to provide for his family. Baxter gave all of the animals he cared for a good life, and then when the time came, he harvested them as humanely as possible.
When Baxter was a teenager, he watched how his brother, Quentin, would make potions out of everyday ingredients. He started to study the properties of the natural ingredients and used them to make food items and beverages that could heal small illnesses and to provide short bursts of strength, dexterity, and even intelligence. Baxter understood that if a person ate the right foods, their body could work hard for them in return.
Baxter’s parents didn’t have any trouble deciding who he should marry when he turned 20. The baker’s daughter, Mabel, had eyes for Baxter since they were young. One of the errands he had loved to help Cordelia with was to go get fresh bread or pastries from the bakery. Baxter and Mabel had been close since they were little, and they both had the same passion for helping others. The wedding was a joyous occasion, with the best-catered reception the town had ever seen. After they got married, Baxter and Mabel only had one child, a daughter named Clementine. She was as sweet as her name implied and just as gracious and helpful as her parents.
Not too long after Frederick and Melina were laid to rest the townsfolk started to realize how sick they were of eating seafood every day. They always had enough to eat, but there are only so many ways to cook fishsteaks before the sight of one turns a person's stomach. Baxter and Mabel had a long talk with each other and they decided to relocate and settle down. On one of the excursions to try to find the necromancers Baxter had gone through a large stretch of land to the southwest which he had noted would be ideal for farming. It was a vast area of flat land with fertile soil. Farming would be easy to do because when they left Bradford, Baxter had made sure to take multiple bags of different seeds in case they needed them in the future.
Baxter, Mabel, and Clementine loaded up their belongings and headed to the new area. Some of the settlers went with them to help them build their new home and to get the farmland started. They built a barn for the animals, plowed different fields for grain and vegetables, and planted some fruit trees for shade. The area was so large that they knew they had room to expand as time went on. Baxter and his crew happily tended the land and the animals and grew a variety of delicious foods. The people of Frederickson frequently traveled to Baxter's new land to collect bushels of vegetables and other foods, as well as to trade Baxter and the others items that they needed to survive.
Baxter Today
The town of Baxter is the place to go for food, farming, and cooking. Baxter’s relatives are still as generous as ever. If you need a snack and you see a ripe vegetable on the ground, feel free to pick it up. You can also go into any shop in town and make your own dishes. The residents are happy to share their cooking and baking equipment at no cost. Forget an ingredient? They will likely have it for sale.
Cows, sheep, chickens, and pigs are plentiful on the farm, but other meats are harder to come by for the peace-loving farmers. If you come across some uncommon meat, you can earn some extra gold by selling what you find on your adventures. Hind ribs can make hunters a few gold. The rumor is that there is a particular market for harpy meat, as it is considered more flavorful than regular chicken.
Baxter’s successors took over the bakery and continue to make treats that are not only tasty but also are good for you too. None of the bakers have ever been quite as successful in making things with as many health benefits as Baxter could, but the employees make a valiant effort. “Strongman’s Stew” has the potential to raise your strength temporarily. “Pizza A La Provo” could raise your skill in Provocation for a while. If you have made some questionable choices lately, consider trying the “Sinfully Good Cake”. It can either lower your murder count or possibly even turn you back to blue.
When Baxter was still alive, he had a big book of family recipes, which was his most prized possession. Baxter learned how to make many delicious dishes while growing up. First from his mother and then after she passed, from his step-mother. The recipes he learned from Melina came from all over the world, and many of them have magical properties. The legend says that many years ago a man came into Baxter’s shop and stole the recipe book and ran out. Passersby said that when the man got outside, he turned into a three-tailed fox. This was the first sighting of the Bake Kitsune. No one knows exactly what the fox did with the recipe book, but for many years the recipes have been found scattered all over New Bradford. If you find one of these recipes, be careful. If your ingredients are fresh and if you follow the recipe properly you may get a buff. But if you make even a small mistake, you could end up very ill.
Another food to be wary of is the Aberration Mushroom. The mushroom is hallucinogenic and is said to make people believe they are in a different world and they will see things that don’t actually exist. Only three of these mushrooms sprout a day, so you will rarely come across one. Brandy, the owner of Peace of the Pie bakery can give you more information, as her husband ate one of these mushrooms. He survived, but he was never the same again.
The food in Baxter is so good you may tend to overeat. If you are feeling too full to consume any more goodies, no fear. Simply find Pepta, the Royal Tastetester. Help her gather some ingredients and she can make a “Satiety Cure” to help give you some more room. Just don’t cheat and use it at the annual hot dog eating contest!