Duke Gurth the Odious is known, among other things, for his phenomenal appetite. His citadel has three complete kitchens, designed to make sure that there's always something on hand when Gurth feels like a nosh. (Which is generally "whenever Gurth is in the citadel.") Kitchen Two was working on a particularly pungent goulash one day in a new, unnecessarily mechanized cauldron when the staff of the adjacent Kitchen Three accidentally set off a vortex charm in pursuit of a rat (they were making ratatouille). The vortex charm hit the rat, which stumbled into the cauldron in Kitchen Two just as the sous-chef sneezed and blew an entire box of undead yeast into the pot. The reaction between the goulash, the zombie yeast, and the pest-control charm brought the mechanized cauldron to life. It rolled off the platform where it was lurking and began hosing the chefs down with an endless supply of highly toxic and corrosive goop. Naturally, this meant that afternoon tea was delayed considerably.
Gurth couldn't decide if he was annoyed at the chefs or pleased at the viscous slop produced of the newly ambulatory cauldron, which, although capable of dissolving steel armor, Gurth merely found "spicy." In the end, since none of the chefs in Kitchens Two or Three survived the incident, Gurth decided to let the incident go.
