by Charissa de La Sirra
In the glorious reign of Gaius Niklos Luctator and Aramanthra the Vicious, at a delightful event called Roman Around, the Young Vicious Horde discovered the sweetness of cake.
In the early morning, as you entered the great hall, there were three giant grandly decorated cakes; cakes that each filled a table top; cakes that would be purchased by the highest bidder, using only the money minted for the event. Event money could be earned by service or by winning contests. With the sweet smell of sugar filling the air, it was truly amazing the work and effort that went toward getting money. For the first time, some young people actually volunteered to wash dishes. About half-way through the day, the young people figured out that forming alliances was the way to go, since there was definitely enough cake to share. The negotiation in that hall was enough to make any Roman proud. The agony of defeat could not be tolerated.
The biggest prize of the day was won by the Prince's Champion Rodrigo de Montoya, who dutifully gave his winnings to his Prince, who dutifully gave the winnings to his Dreaded Princess Aramanthra. The Dreaded Princess Aramanthra, being both wise as well as beautiful, realized that every young person had to have a piece of cake. She then purchased the biggest cake and gave it to the Young Vicious Horde, reminding everyone that every young person is a member if he or she wants to be. So the flock of eager young people, carefully carried the huge cake to the back of the hall, where in short order, it disappeared. The two largest alliances also had a cake each, which meant that some young people even had cake twice.
The Young Vicious Horde discovered that by taking a vegetable, chopping it up, and sprinkling it on the top of the cake, that they could have their vegetables and eat their cake too.
And that is how the Young Vicious Horde developed its fondness for cake, the real reason that they regret leaving Northshield.