to your health. [day 5 - all tributes]

Under the rafters in the old mill sits a long table, draped in a gingham cloth and flanked by a dozen chairs. Long before you've even entered the room, you're struck by the aromas of the feast laid on top of it: of rotisserie birds and roasted vegetables, of mulled cider and spiced wine, of pie crust, flaky and buttery, and of fresh bread, still warm, as though it was pulled from the oven mere moments prior.

The banquet laid out before you is even richer and more splendid than your nose would have you believe: casseroles filled with green beans and a rich mushroom cream, sprinkled with fried shallots and toasted almond slivers; a rainbow assortment of sweet potatoes yams, each halved and baked with a lake of butter shimmering atop each orange and yellow and purple tuber; roasted duck and turkey with skin golden, crisp, and glistening; ham glazed with orange rum sauce and studded with cloves and peppercorns; a fleet of gravy boats: mushroom and onion situated amongst turkey and duck and bacon sauces; rendered cranberries, tart and sweet and still warm; a mountain of creamy mashed potatoes, dusted with chives and ready to be topped with butter or molasses or gravy; piles of rolls and loaves, the flair and style of each district captured in the crust, from flecks of seaweed to flecks of bacon, to slices made entirely of cornmeal instead; rings of roast delicata squash, acorn squashed halved and baked, pumpkins and turnips and sweet potatoes broiled and turned into soup; sprigs of rosemary and thyme and lightly crisped sage leaves decorate the piles of roast vegetables and stuffing; inexplicable bowls of popcorn and jelly beans and rock candy dot the table between butter dishes and salt shakers.

An additional course sits on the sideboard, an assortment of berries bursting through the intricate lattices of half a dozen fruit pies, each alternating with pumpkin or pecan or custard or chocolate cream, and flanked by large trays of bread pudding and spice cake.

What little room is left on the table is occupied by the place settings, and it is clear that the Gamemakers have set out their good porcelain: the rim of each plate and bowl, saucer and mug, is decorated with etchings you find recognizable and chilling. Scenes from the Games, past and present, ring each dish. If this was meant to be a feast of merriment, why add the reminders of each of the attendees' murders and misdeeds?

In the center of each plate sits colorful paper twisted around tubes and tied with ribbons. It opens with a festive snap! to reveal a flimsy paper crown in primary colors, a ring with a familiar face delicately painted on an oval of black onyx, and a strip of paper which reads: Have you thanked the Capitol lately?

Enjoy your feast, tributes.

To your health.


----

You must post in this thread at some point during Day 5. You may also post in additional threads should you wish.

Initiative order does not need to be followed as this is not a fight.

Additional posts beyond your one required post count for leisure time, regardless of whether or not they are in this thread or a separate thread.