Dwarven Trial of Fire: A D&D 5e Encounter
Your players have been invited into a contest run by dwarves with the goal of testing their mettle, called the Trial of Fire. It is a well-respected competition amongst the local dwarves and people who win it are held in high regard. The contest involves 32 people all getting together around a table with enough flatbread to feed them. Round after round the aspirants are given a small bowl of progressively hotter and hotter sauce that they must dip the bread into and eat. The contest goes on and on until there is one person left capable of stomaching the spices. The winner then receives a golden yarn to weave into their beard, if the winner has no beard it can be displayed on their person. Any local dwarf will treat them with some respect if they notice the yarn on their person.
Bird people of any feather are not allowed to partake in the contest as they cannot taste spicy things.
The sauces:
Tastes distinctly of tomatoes with a small amount of vinegar. It’s bright red and smooth looking
Somewhat lemony with a trace of black pepper. It is very orange with small black chunks floating around in it
A mild sauce that proves a gentle wave of heat and the distinct taste of ginger. It’s brown and somewhat chunky
A somewhat sweet sauce with an underlying heat and small traces of vinegar. It is deep reddish-brown and very smooth.
This is honey that has been infused with peppers. It is golden and you cannot distinguish by sight any difference from normal honey
A shot of almost nothing but peppers, this sauce provides a nice heat. It is orangish-red and fairly runny.
A garlic filled heat, relatively mild, and compliments the flatbread really well. It’s orange and fairly smooth.
A hint of vinegar, butter, and garlic fill your mouth. It is a bright orange sauce and incredibly runny.
The taste of peppers is sharp with this sauce although if you let it linger long enough there are some garlic undertones. It’s a rich regal red and viscous.
This sauce is a collage of flavors that is hard to pin down but it is definitely spicy. It’s somewhat translucent with seeds floating around in it.
This has no apparent spiciness at first being incredibly sweet when it first hits your tongue, but once you swallow it a powerful heat hits you after a few seconds. It is bright yellow and smooth.
This sauce is very different from all the other sauces you have tasted so far, it still packs a ton of heat but is inexplicably different. It’s pale green and very viscous.
A heat that you feel on your lips first before spreading to the rest of your mouth. It is bright yellow and filled with chunks
While not the worst when first eating soon the heat fills your mouth but makes your throat burn hot. It’s orange and pastelike.
You cannot notice much taste at the moment but you are acutely aware you are sweating. It is yellowish-brown and very smooth.
All you can think is “oh gods my tongue”. The sauce is greenish-yellow with lots of seeds in it.
It tastes like someone cast a fireball in your mouth. The sauce is a red paste.
Is this what it’s like to tongue kiss a fire elemental? The sauce is a reddish-brown paste.
You can taste nothing but pain. The sauce is a luminous red and runny.
It tastes like a wildfire, smoke included. The sauce is brown with hints of orange thrown in.
I was wrong this is what it’s like to tongue kiss a fire elemental. The sauce is a painful yellow.
You swear you can taste brimstone. The sauce is a muted yellow
It almost seems like a reprieve at first as it has a distinctly apricot taste for a few seconds but you are soon hit with sweat pouring heat. The sauce is translucent orange
You are drenched from sweat to the point that it can be seen through your clothes, and cannot feel your tongue. It glows red but is orange, almost jam-like.
No. It is a black paste.
Running the encounter
This could be incredibly tedious if you narrated every sauce. I recommend starting at the round equivalent to the lowest constitution score of anyone in the party. The characters don’t need to make checks until their constitution score is reached round wise. At one round above that, the character must make a DC 10 constitution check to remain in the competition. For every round after that +2 is added to the DC. If they fail they are given some spare cooking fat while not tasting great does help a lot with the heat.
By round 12 half of the dwarves should be out of the competition. By round 15 it should be only the remaining party members and one dwarven woman. By round 16 the people bringing out the sauces are wearing gloves.
The woman is named Blatti Zerca and her beard is a deep black that seems to shimmer blue. The beard has three braids in it each with a golden piece of yarn woven in. She is proud and loud but very sweet when not in a competition. She will automatically get through to round 16.
If it is just her and a single party member left they do a constitution contest and whoever wins is the winner. If it is two party members left they do a constitution contest and whoever wins is the winner.
The winner is given the length of golden yarn discussed earlier.
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