He can't help but utter under his breath, "Who have thought squid balls would be that big?  Or that people would eat them?"

Liber can't help but observe, "you obviously haven't been to some coastal towns. and as for the size, well, there are rather giant examples of Decabrachia...I believe it was a Deep gnome who recorded the largest one, at around 10.5 meters in length and a mantle width of 2.5 meters."

Quote from Spiderwrangler >>

((It's 5 cp per skewer, and 6 cp for an order of the octopus balls, they are all quite tasty.))

"I've been here... five, six months now? Wouldn't know about having a booth, I mean, I guess that'd be like cooking at home, but other people are doing all the eating, but I've been working for the Trusty Leek since I got hired here. I rather like the change of scenery throughout the night, not stuck looking at the backside of the same shop all shift, you know! Go where the crowds are, and all that. Good workout too, moving the cart!"

((It is readily apparent to Tanador that this is not in fact Sid Squid, but an employee.))

Tandor nods, "Makes sense."  He looks around.  "Where's Sid? Such an good idea...I'd like to talk to that guy."

"Sid?! He's running the Battle Prawn Challenge, of course! Won a competition that got him a spot in the Market Games, part of why he needed to hire extra folks to run the cart."

Quote from SparkRotfang >>

Liber can't help but observe, "you obviously haven't been to some coastal towns. and as for the size, well, there are rather giant examples of Decabrachia...I believe it was a Deep gnome who recorded the largest one, at around 10.5 meters in length and a mantle width of 2.5 meters."

 Trencher listens to Liber and smiles and nods, but by the look in his eyes it's probably noticeable that he didn't understand a lot of what was said.  Instead he looks deep into his remaining shrimp skewer and takes another bite and just says..."mmmmm".  

He will finish eating, take a good pull from his water skin, and then wait to see where they are heading next.

Mixtli wil buy the Spice box, and tries to negotiate a deal to have spices of his choice included.

Mixtli gets an assortment of spices to his tastes in small packets, placing them in his box.

"perchance, what is the Battle Prawn challenge? it sounds like a cooking contest, but I'm admittedly not familiar with most of them."

Mixtli thanks the merchant and afterwards also had to Sid's cart to see if the others are still there.

"He all what are you guys eating, why are you at the market btw?"

"Got it in one! It's a cooking challenge, best of the three Market Games, in my biased opinion. You must be first timers, to not be familiar. You should check it out, the Games are great fun. Should be a round starting soon, if Sid has found some competitiors. One of the teams earlier broke the minute mark, which doesn't happen every night!"

"Let's go watch," Tandor suggests.  As they move away, he says in a low voice, "I want to meet Sid."

Heading to the center of the market, you see the three golden tents set down in the depression of the central plaza more clearly, once you're in the plaza, you can see that they are labeled with large banners on the fronts of the big tents, all facing towards the center, proclaiming the name of the Market Game, and who they are hosted by.

• Aroon Family Pepper Challenge; hosted by the "Spicy Brothers".

• Battle Prawn Challenge; hosted by "Sid Squid of the Trusty Leek".

• Hide-and-Seek Challenge; hosted by "Madam Kulp’s Silk".

Sid's challenge tent is in the northern event tent, and is decorated in a nautical theme, heavy on rope decor and brass fixtures. A human man outside in a yellow chef's outfit is calling out to folks nearby.

"Do you have what it takes to beat the record time? Do you have the culinary chops, to come out on top in 'BATTLE PRAWNS: THE SHRIMPENING!?' Step right up, step right up, we've got openings for our next challengers to try to beat a time of 40 seconds! C'mon down to my Battle Prawn Challenge!"

Tandor looks at Mixtli.  "You a chef?  I'm going to try my hand."  With that, he moves into the challenge tent and greets the man.  "Are you Sid?  I'm game for trying my luck."

"Excellent! Indeed I am Sid Squid, proprietor of the Trusty Leek, and host to the Battle Prawns Challenge! Teams are up to four, if you've got some friends who want to join, otherwise I can see if there are any others about who'd want to team up with you!"

Walking up, Trencher gapes around very much like a tourist, taking everything in.  When he hears that the human is Sid Squid he walks over to Liber and says quietly, "I though Sid was going to be some sort of water creature, like a merman.  He's just human I think.  But I'm still not sure; What exactly is this challenge.  Do they have to cook food in the 40 seconds, or do they have to eat as much as they can in that time, or what?"   He shrugs.  

"If it is the eating thing, I'll be on the team!"

Tandor turns excitedly to Mixtli.  "Let's team up!"

Mialee wanders over to the Hide-and-Seek challenge to see if she might be interested/able to sign up.

((I was taking Trencher volunteering to be on the team to also be said to Liber?))

Mialee leaves the fellows to their prawn business, and heads over to the eastern tent to check out the Hide-and-Seek Challenge. It doesn't seem to be garnering much attention from the crowds, and she pushes into the tent.

Seated at the middle of this sizable empty tent is a wizened gnome at work amid tangles of colorful yarn. Several fuzzy, kitten-sized blue caterpillars drowse on her, nestled in her clothing and hair. The gnome peers up and says, “Welcome! I am Madam Kulp. Are you here to play hide-and-seek with my gentle friends?”

"likewise", liber points out the following info, " i am a scholar, and I failed to enroll in a culinary course; i would be a liability rather than a boon."

Mixtli happily teams up with Tandor. Definitely interested in the cooking challenge.