Regional Cook-in All Members Welcome

[claptonpond]

A few Claptonians eventually turn up, making a rather hairy landing in their ancient and rickety cargo plane. They proceed to unload a few baskets of coca leaves, several kegs of chicha, and loads of trout, which they immediately slap on the barbie.

[StCroix Rosalux]

Newsong shook herself out of a shocked gape. Fairies she had seen pictures of, but the helicopters - holy mother, the noise wasn't something anything could have prepared her for. It was like the diesel engine on the fishing boat but a hundred times louder and coming from the sky.

"Hyssop--" she started to call, then corrected herself to "Benjamin, Laurel, Hiram!" They all ignored her, and the rest of her team had dissolved into the crew. She sighed and started to drag the solar distillers closer to the sea.

[Sacco & Vanzetti]

"Make way for an old and fragile worker of the sea!" called Nanette Newman, as her powerful elbows flailed aside the cosmopolitan collection of revellers.

"Oh deary me, oh deary me, assistance and sustenance!" she called, her leathery lungs easily matching the cacophony from the myriad transportation crowding the beach.

"Assistance and sustenance for a frail woman battered by wind and tide," as she snaffled fistfuls of delicacies from each piled plate within her passing grasp.

Where the bloody hell are those Kropotkonionians, she thought, I can always make time for a bit of nautical banter, festivities notwithstanding.

[WyrmTribe]

The Guilds had all been neatly set up, and were exchanging food at a surprisingly fast rate. Most popular was the soy ice cream from the Dessertery, which they had luckily brought several tubs of. Small children, rosy-cheeked with exhiliration from the helicoptor play, had begun to trickle over, and soon each was clutching a cone with multi-colored drips sliding down the side.

Jade had made her way over to the Ale Guild, and was trying to look inconspicuous as she eyed Mezzo while he plunged his hands into the barrels of ice, pulling out bottle after bottle of pales and darks for the crowd. She leaned on the sunshade, and stared at her hands.
"Hey." Mezzo was suddenly beside her, offering a tall bottle of her favorite, India Pale. She looked at him, then away.

"Thanks. This place is great, huh?" Her palms had begun to sweat, even though the bottle was cold.

Mezzo reached a hand up and brushed his hair out of his eyes.
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]

"I think it is really great, ya know...all these people, from so many places. We all just came together, and everyone is getting fed, and no one is worrying about whether they are going to get paid or not. It is just fantastic. I feel so alive!"

He reached out and nudged Jade. "Heya....you want me to open that for you?"

She nodded and passed the bottle to him. Taking out his bottle opener, he popped the top off swiftly, and gave it back, feeling her jump slightly as his hand brushed hers.

Mezzo looked at her, then down at the sand.

From behind them, a ball came flying over. "Look out!" a voice yelled as it smacked Jade on the side of the head, knocking her to the ground.

[FreeLandofAIM]

Everybody welcomed the Great beer and food delegation with open arms.

"lovely brew!" said Dave, tasting the beer.

A grizzled man also from AIM agreed. "It's marvellous Dave"

[Rosalux]

Laurel reappeared out of the crowd, a smear of chili on her chin. "There's plenty of food, Nu," she said. "Give up the cooking for now."

"We have to set up the distillers," Newsong said, looking worried. "Or it's beer oatmeal for breakfast. And I want my tent up before it gets dark, and--"

Laurel took her hand and turned her from the pile of gear toward the crowd. "Are you an old lady or a freedom fighter? Trust in God and good people, hey?" Newsong squeezed her housemate around the waist. "There's going to be singing and dancing as soon as everyone's had supper."

[FreeLandofAIM]

Archie squeezed through the crowd, excusing himself politely.

"Did someone say..... The Distillers?" he said.

"This is.....the city of angels...." he sang.

[Sacco & Vanzetti]

Nanette Newman, overhearing the conversation as she passed, paused for a few moments to compose her most ferocious frown before unleashing it in Archie's direction.

"Angel is not welcome here. The city you look for is probably much sea to the west."

[Ecopoetry]

An alarmingly rickety rowing boat beaches inelegantly on the shore. Two bedraggled figures - a man and a woman - stagger out, haunted expressions on their faces. The woman stares back at the sea and shakes her head.

"I still don't think an imploded economy is any excuse for such a swingeing cutback on diplomatic travel expenses."

The man nods mutely.

"You OK?"

Another nod, albeit somewhat unconvincing.

"Oh, dear. Look, it sounds like the cook-in isn't far from here. Help me unload the diplomatic goody-bag, will you? The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get trashed and make appalling slips in etiquette."

They haul out a large sack that chinks and clinks as it is dragged along the sands. Around an hour later, sweat pouring down their sand-caked bodies, they finally arrive at the cook-in. It was very hot and they had slaked their thirst with some of the contents of the sack. This was unfortunate, as the International Relations staff had omitted to include any non-alcoholic beverages.

The woman, gasping for breath, addresses an officious looking lady who seems to be rebuking one of the revellers.

"Huh. Huh. Hi. We're. From. Ee. Co. Po. Ee. Yuh."

The native frowns.

"Um. We've brought. Cakes, fish. And booze."

With this, she wearily pulls out a bottle filled with lurid pink liquid and waves it around unsteadily.



Behind her, her colleague falls flat on his face. She giggles. Vaguely aware that she might be coming across as a trifle hysterical and that this isn't perhaps the finest face that Ecopoeia could have presented to the new ACA, she decides that something needs to be done to rectify the situation.

"Um. We're v'happy to be in Sach'n'V'nzetiti. Ti. Um. Did I say we've brung some booze?"

[Loe]

As they aproched the beach, the delegation from Nature´s revenge felt no pain. As they knew they were late they had already started to enjoy their cargo while rowing.

There was a trail of smoke from the cooking fires, where the federations finest cheffs were preparing scrumtous delicacies. Various nuts, peas, grains, beans, vegetables and herbs were becoming veggie kebabs, falafel, spicy condiments and delicous sweets. (Including the reknown "Herb", chocolate and Orange muffins of Loe Ragnestyd, a usual apperance at parties in the FNR)

They rowed up to the beach, pulled the boats onto the shore, and looked around...

"Hey guys!!!! We are from the FNR, hope you don´t mind most of us beeing naked" Said a tall naked man.

A girl hollered to him from the boats "Hey Muno! do you know were the natural stimulant guild are?"

The naked man(Now identified as Muno) replied with a big grin: "Right behind us!!, get me a pinch of those fabulous Mexican shrooms that Fat Freddy has got when they land, will you?"

The last boats having arrived the rowdy bunch of naked, hairy and merry NFR citizens ran up to join the party. On their way up they hugged and greeted everyone, giving out food, wine, shrooms and Herb(to those who wanted it) and wild flowers fresh from the lush hilsides of their beloved home.

Soon they were in conversation with theirfellow anarchists, and enjoying themselves imensly!!

As some of the faries came up to Loe to try out his delicous variety of natural intoxicating agents (they do some light drugs don´t they?) and foodstuffs, they noticed him starring quite intensly at them. "i hope i don´t offend you with my staring" He said. After they they had explained to the confused NFR chef that they were getting used to it, as they were in fact the only ones with wings.

Loe then said: "you see, i´ve eaten some of Fatt Freddy´s Mexicans, and i´ve learned not to take it for granted that beautifull creatures with wings such as yourselves are real after that"..

[Rosalux]

"I'm sorry," Laurel said to the strange man who was singing in her general direction. "I don't know that song. Are you a..." she tried to think of a word for "person who distills sea water into drinking water for a living" and failed. "Are you...would you teach me that song?"

[FreeLandofAIM]

Sacco said:

Nanette Newman, overhearing the conversation as she passed, paused for a few moments to compose her most ferocious frown before unleashing it in Archie's direction.

"Angel is not welcome here. The city you look for is probably much sea to the west."

Archie looked at the woman, still singing, frowning slightly, not really understanding what she had just said, before laughing as he sang, humourously confused. What a day!

"I'm sorry," Laurel said to the strange man who was singing in her general direction. "I don't know that song. Are you a..." she tried to think of a word for "person who distills sea water into drinking water for a living" and failed. "Are you...would you teach me that song?"

Archie abruptly stopped, looked dazed, and then smiled at the woman before him. He would not admit to himself, but he suddenly felt rather shy.

"Er, no apology needed mate. I'm Archie, what's your name? oh Pleased to meet you Laurel! I'm from AIM, er, erm, well, er yes, erm, the song, I'd love to teach it to you, it's by a cool band called The Distillers, and it's about the city of Los Angeles, which is called 'City Of Angels', and well, the song, it goes a little like this...."

Archie began to tell Laurel the lines to the song, and then Archie began to sing again, wondering if Laurel would join in.

"This is....this is the city! The city of angels!!" he sang, before making a random "lalalalalalalalala" sound in utter random happiness at the occassion.

[Watfordshire]

The Homestar Runner cut its smooth course towards Vanzetti through a sultry night.

Sitting at the bow, Ida Thunkitt sipped at some Hackneyite Rum and conversed quietly with her young companion.

Ingleson Earnest had visited Sacco once before, when the city of Hercules had been established and was keenly anticipating life in a new region. After his stint as Herald of the Shirooney on West Mulrooney, the Council back in BRightOn had managed to fit their plans to his.

Ida seemed most amiable - although her expansive libido was beginning to take its toll on several of the Military Dancers who were detailed to the Delegation.

Moonlight caught the sails and booms creaked in a comforting manner. The Dancer at the tiller, who had also had a tod or two, softly sang something spontaneous and nonsensical until someone tossed a marker buoy (playfully) at his head.

The young Moderator wiped salty sweat from his brow and continued to massage Mms. Thunkitts' soles: The tips of his thumbs followed their own ingrained course through his reflexology training and his mind wandered... back to the Mulrooneys where his new-found friendship with several Vanzettians had been prematurely cut off.

There was one man he certainly hoped to find. They had a game to finish.

[Loe]

As Muno walked around the beach, he wondered where the party had gone. Feeling tipsy, and quite high, he thought maybe he had wandered away, but after sitting down for a while he became quite sure that it was the same beach where the party had been going on.

Having consumed quite many of Fat Freddys shrooms, his next line of reasoning was that maybe he was halucinating the others away. Not wanting to be lonley, he decided to scream a bit to see if anyone could hear him.

"Ragharghtruiplityyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ughabaghaririririririririiririririririrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!! Anyone here?? Hullo!!!!"

[FreeLandofAIM]

Charlie pulled the blanket off the man's head. He had been staggering around, scaring the children, making them giggle and laugh with his moaning.

"Are you ok?" She asked.