Chapter 2 - So, This is Home
When she’d finished eating, Hollie took the tray with the teapot and the remaining scones and carried it into the kitchen. It was a surprisingly large room.
In the middle was a long rectangular table and four chairs, all of which appeared to have been hand carved and painted with the greatest care. Against the left wall was a stove top and an oven. The doorway to the larder was on the right, along with a fireplace made of river stone that backed up to the one in the sitting room. An assortment of copper pots and pans hung from a rack over the wash basin on the far wall, above which were two latticed windows that provided a view to the back garden, and a door to the left of it led outside.
It was such a lovely kitchen, Hollie thought. She could imagine herself working in it each day, kneading dough and shaping it into loaves to bake in the oven, simmering sauces and gravies to drizzle over roasted chicken or cuts of beef, and cutting slices of freshly baked pies as their sweet, fruity aroma wafted through the room.
Hollie's Kitchen [https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53842554334_8a5c015008_c.jpg]
She set the tray down on the table. Beside it lay a large book bound in red leather. Its cover was embroidered with a picture of two pots on a stove top.
“Must be a cookbook,” she said, but as she opened the book to look inside, all of the pages were empty.
“So, another magic book. You must work the same as the Codex. If I ask you for a recipe, will you show it to me?”
There was no response. Figuring that she probably had to address it by its name, as she did the Codex, she tried again.
“Cookbook, please show me the recipe for an omelet.”
But again, nothing happened. The pages remained empty. Hollie scrunched her face in confusion.
“Okay then. Maybe it’s just a regular old book and I have to write my own recipes in it. Or perhaps,” she considered, “If I cook something, the recipe will show up? I guess I can always ask the Codex.”
She retrieved the Codex from the sitting room and opened it to the blank pages in the middle.
“Codex, how do I use the Cookbook?”
Spots of magic ink coalesced into letters, then words and sentences.
Your [Cookbook] is currently empty as you have learned [0] recipes. To add a recipe to your [Cookbook], you may either experiment with ingredients from your [Pantry], purchase a recipe from a vendor, or be given a recipe by a friend.
Once a recipe is learned, the [Cookbook] will be able to delegate the task of cooking the recipe to the kitchen, provided you have the required ingredients available in your [Pantry].
Learning recipes adds experience to the skill of [Food Preparation], which is a base level [Cottager] class skill.
“Got it,” she said, closing the Codex gently this time. “And thank you.”
Hollie didn’t want to hurt the Codex’s feelings if it had any. She didn’t understand just how magic books worked. Was it alive? Was some sort of spirit trapped inside? Or was it merely an illusion? Whichever it was, she figured it wouldn’t hurt to be polite.
She considered trying her hand at cooking something, but after two scones, she wasn’t too hungry. Still, she thought, it might be good to have a look in the pantry and see exactly what supplies she had available to her.
[Pantry Inventory:
Flour: 20 units
Sugar: 20 units
Eggs: 2 dozen
Milk: 20 units
Oil: 20 units
Bread (Sourdough): 10 units
Apples: 8
Cheese (Cheddar): 10 units
Bacon: 10 units
Summer Sausage: 10 units
Salt: 10 units
Pepper: 10 units
Clotted Cream: 10 units
Jam: 10 units]
So, she had some options. She certainly wouldn’t go hungry in the morning. And she was sure she could easily whip up a few simple recipes with everything she had.
A light pitter-pattering caught her attention. She turned to the window, where a steady stream of droplets had begun to fall against the glass. Hollie sighed. She had thought to inspect the back garden next, to see what work needed to be done and what potential it had, but the rain put a damper on those plans.
She strolled to the back door, opened it, and gazed out.
There was plenty of open space behind the cottage before the forest closed in. To the right was a small stone outbuilding, and next to it was the greenhouse. Some of the frames appeared rusted and weak, and a few of the glass panes were cracked and broken.
Beside it, as the letter had promised, was a well. Hollie thought it looked like something out of a fairy tale, with a round stone wall, a winch, and a little sloping roof. She could imagine going out in the morning to fetch the water and hearing a voice calling out from the bottom to make a wish.
To the left was the garden itself. Brambles, weeds, and the husks of old plants were all that remained. It wasn’t a large plot, but it wasn’t small either. Just enough to grow what she needed with a bit to spare.
The rain started to pick up. The sky grayed, and a light wind rippled through the tops of the trees, causing them to sway and dance. The air had a chill to it. Hollie shivered and hugged her arms to her body.
It was a pretty sight, the rain falling over the grass, the leaves rustling in the treetops, the garden waiting to be tilled and grown, and the welcoming, golden light of the cottage shining through the windows with the promise of comfort and warmth and refuge from the weather.
And it was all hers.
Hollie closed the door with a satisfied smile and shuffled back inside.
“Well now, let’s have a look around the cottage, shall we?”
She wasn’t quite sure who she was talking to, but it made her feel a little less alone to imagine that someone was there listening.
Having already toured the kitchen and the pantry, she made her way once more to the sitting room, then to the study. A great bay window overlooked the front garden. The rain was flinging itself against the glass with all its might now, but the old windows held strong. Against one wall was a large oaken bookshelf, and against the other was a desk with a rolling top, the kind of desk that Hollie imagined all great writers must sit at when composing their works. Two small lanterns sat atop it for light, and a stiff wooden chair in front of the desk provided the only seating in the room.
If she was to live here for any amount of time, she thought, that would have to change. The bay window provided the perfect spot for a reading nook. She could see herself seated there now, a book in her hand and curled up with soft pillows and a warm blanket as the gentle rhythm of the rain on the glass lulled her to sleep.
Hollie made her way up to the second floor. The stairs were wooden and creaked with each step she took, but they were sturdy enough.
The upstairs consisted of a small hallway and two bedrooms, the floors of which were covered in a thin, fraying carpet the color of split pea soup. A layer of yellow, peeling wallpaper, patterned with columns of faded pink roses, clung to the walls. It looked an awful lot like the fabric that covered the old couch in the main room. Both of the rooms had exposed beams like the downstairs of the cottage. And both rooms had been outfitted with a plain, narrow bed, a small bedside table, and a single wardrobe each. As was the case downstairs, the windows were grimy and in need of a good scrubbing, but they did their job and kept the rain and damp out.
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Hollie's Bedroom [https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53842644645_30863b45b7_b.jpg]
There was a lot of work to do to make the cottage her own, but it was a safe, solid little place. Quite cozy, and all hers.
It was a thought that made Hollie beam with pride.
She was only seventeen, and though she couldn’t remember much, she was fairly sure that back where she was from, it was a rather unusual thing for a seventeen year old to have her own place.
But where exactly had she been before this? And who had she been with?
And again, as soon as she had thought the questions, they faded from her attention. Just like every other time she had wondered about her past. It was as if this place–this wonderful, beautiful, magical place–held some spell over her that kept her thoughts in the here and now. And whenever she’d veer off course, like a ship lost in uncharted waters, she’d find herself pulled back to where she was supposed to be.
Spritespring Hollow was all she knew, and it seemed to be where she belonged.
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Hollie spent the rest of the evening in the study, seated at the rolltop desk and sketching the rainy scene outside the window in her journal. She penciled and shaded, erased and blended. She wasn’t the best artist, but when she’d finished, she had to admit that the drawing wasn’t half bad. Hollie held it in front of her and inspected it carefully.
“Not bad,” she muttered. “Not bad at all.”
Again, there was a bright flash of light, then the sound of a trumpet, and a dazzling display of words scrawled in the air. The hair on her arms stood on end as she felt a familiar tingling surge through her body once more.
[New Skill: Crafting - Specialty: Drawing
Level: 1
Perk: All still life scenes increase happiness of viewer by 25%]
[Cottager XP Gained: 5
Points Needed for Next Level: 95]
“Yes!” she exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air. “Progress! Not a lot, but progress nonetheless.” She tapped her finger on her chin. “I wonder how many points cooking breakfast in the morning will get me?”
She closed her sketchbook and carefully put all her pencils and drawing tools back in their case, then rolled it up and slid it into one of the desk drawers. She stretched out her arms and yawned, surprised by how tired she suddenly felt.
It wasn’t as if she’d done a lot that day. But perhaps the very act of finding oneself in a new world, with a cottage of one’s own, and being given a daunting–though apparently slow paced–quest would be enough to make anyone ready to crawl under the covers and catch some sleep.
Hollie trudged up the stairs, and when she reached the top, decided she would try out the room on the right for the night. The rain was still falling when she slid into bed. She blew out the candle on the bedside table and closed her eyes.
Tomorrow she’d make breakfast. And if the rain stopped, she’d take a closer look at the back garden and see what tools and supplies she might find in the outbuilding. Then she’d head into the village.
She drifted off to sleep wondering about all the new people she would meet.
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The next day, as the sun was rising and spilling its light across the forest, it stretched its long bright fingers through the window of Hollie’s bedroom and beckoned her to wake. For a time she resisted its summons, tossing and turning and pulling the covers over her head, but she couldn’t hold the morning off forever. She stretched her arms, let out a yawn, and reluctantly opened her eyes.
It took her a moment to remember where she was, but when she did, her eyes shot wide open.
She was in the cottage.
Her cottage!
Spritespring Hollow.
Hollie flung the covers away, leapt from the bed, and ran to the window with all the excitement of a little girl on Christmas morning. She flung open the shutters and slid the glass panes up and was greeted by the melody of songbirds flittering above and below and singing their morning songs from hidden perches in nearby trees. All signs of yesterday’s rain had fled, and the air was cool and crisp and clear.
She breathed in deeply, letting the last remnants of her tiredness melt away. In its place rushed a lightness that left her feeling free and hopeful and overjoyed.
All of this was real!
Her stomach let out a growl, and Hollie remembered she’d need to experiment with some of the items in her pantry to make breakfast. She already had something in mind. A simple but hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast.
She’d been too tired to change her clothes before bed, so she was still wearing the dress she’d found herself in when she first arrived. That was fine by her. It was so gorgeous that she never wanted to wear anything different, though she was sure she’d need something more practical for working in the garden. And for trudging through the wilds whenever the time came for that part of her quest. But for now, the dress would do.
Hollie bounded down the stairs, through the study and the sitting room and straight into the kitchen. She gathered the supplies she needed from the pantry and set to work. Soon the sound of bacon sizzling on a cast iron skillet and the aroma of eggs and frying toast permeated the room. When the food was finished cooking, she fixed herself a plate and a cup of tea and sat at the table to eat.
It was mouth-wateringly delicious.
A chime sounded in the air, and the Cookbook, which had sat untouched across from Hollie as she ate her breakfast, glowed and opened up to the first page, which was no longer empty.
Recipe: Simple Hearty Breakfast
Ingredients: Eggs (2 units), Bread (any type) (1 unit), Bacon (1 unit)
Health Restored: 10
Energy Restored: 15
Simple Hearty Breakfast [https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53842472593_74e559ec28_b.jpg]
And then, just as suddenly, came the trumpet, the tingling surge of energy, and the words written in the air:
[New Skill: Food Preparation - Specialty: Cooking
Level: 1
Perk: All self-prepared food increases energy by 25%]
[Cottager XP Gained: 5
Points Needed for Next Level: 90]
Hollie smiled and let out a shout of glee.
“I knew it! It would be hard to mess up something as simple as bacon, eggs, and toast.” She turned her attention to the Cookbook. “I’m assuming breakfast tomorrow is on you then?”
There was no response. It must work a bit differently than the Codex. Hollie closed the book, took a final sip of tea, then headed to the washbasin to clean the dishes.
“I wonder,” she mused as she scrubbed the crumbs off her plate. “If I have a magic Cookbook that will make my food, will it also wash my dishes?”
She would need to consult the Codex to find out, but for now, she was eager to explore the garden.
The grass was still wet, though thankfully not too soggy. The first thing Hollie inspected was the outbuilding. She opened the door and stepped inside. It was quite clean, not musty as she’d expected. There was some hay bundled up neatly in the back, a ladder that led up to a loft with more hay, and an area to the right that housed tools and a variety of containers and boxes.
[Outbuilding Inventory:
Shovel: 1
Hoe: 1
Pitchfork: 1
Axe: 1
Watering Can: 1
Gloves: 1 pair
Hammer: 1
Nails: 400
Rope: 100 yards
Fertilizer: 10 sacks
Compost: 10 sacks
Hay: 25 bales
Pea Seeds: 20
Bush Bean Seeds: 20]
Everything seemed to be in good condition, which would make getting started in the garden easier than she’d thought.
Outbuilding [https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53841305922_c93ca80878_b.jpg]
Upon closer inspection of the greenhouse, it didn’t seem nearly as battered as it had appeared the previous evening. Sure, some of the frame was rusted, and a few of the glass panes needed replacing, but overall the structure was quite sound. When she went into Foxley Cross, she’d ask around to find out how she could go about repairing it.
The garden plot was overgrown and needed quite a bit of work. A lot of weeding and tilling. But Hollie didn’t think it would take more than a few days of hard labor before seeds could be planted. She paused and thought for a moment.
What was the weather like here? And the seasons? And what season was it now?
Not winter, of course. It was pleasantly cool, but none of the leaves in the trees showed any sign of changing colors. And the overgrown flower beds were in full blossom.
Spring perhaps?
She turned to head inside when a small stone sculpture she hadn’t noticed before caught her eye. But it wasn’t a sculpture. It appeared to be a sundial of sorts, only it didn’t just tell the time, but the date and the season too. The hour could be read by the shadow cast–it was nearly eight in the morning–but the date and season glowed on the surface as if by magic.
According to the sundial, it was Tuesday, the 2nd day of Sun’s Rise, and, as Hollie had guessed, the season was Spring.
Hollie smiled. What an amazing place this was, with magic to be found almost everywhere she turned.
Back inside, she retrieved the Codex from the table beside the armchair and paged to the empty middle of the book.
“Codex, is there some sort of magical way for dishes to be cleaned? Or is that a chore I’ll be stuck with every day? Oh, and thank you,” she quickly added. “And I hope you had a lovely night’s rest.”
Within seconds the Codex responded.
If a recipe used is preexisting in the [Cookbook], the kitchen has the ability to clean up the mess. All you must do is supply the kitchen with a bucket of water, ask it to clean, and it will. The cost of cleaning is [10 Magic].
And yes, I did have a lovely night’s rest. Thank you for asking.
Hollie smiled at these last words. She still didn’t understand how the Codex worked, but having it around made things a little less lonely.
“So, Magic. How do I get it?”
Your daily allotment of [Magic] is displayed on your stat card at the front of the Codex. It is the number next to the blue bar. Your starting daily allotment is [50 Magic].
Hollie didn’t know if that was a high number or low, but the fact that she could do any magic at all thrilled her. It took every ounce of willpower not to let out an excited squeal.
“If you don’t mind–and I’m sorry to bother you so much–but how exactly do I go about learning magic?”
Some things, like the kitchen, draw upon your allotment of [Magic] when you ask them to perform tasks that require [Magic]. However, you may also actively perform magic by casting spells and enchanting items. Spells and enchantments may be purchased from a magical vendor or taught by a tutor. Most spells and enchantments require a [Mage: Level 2], which in turn is achieved by practicing under the instructor of a tutor.
Also, it is truly no bother. I am here to assist. Be sure to keep me with you at all times. You wouldn’t want to be caught in an unexpected situation without me. This is a world full of magic after all, and magic can get rather…hairy.
“Good to know,” she said. “Thanks.”
It was mid-morning now, and Hollie readied herself for a trip to the village. She didn’t think she’d need everything she’d pulled from the backpack. Spyglass? No. The art set? Probably not. But the map and the compass might come in handy.
She closed the door to the cottage and gave it one last look over before departing. Sure, it needed a bit of work, but Hollie thought it was already quite wonderful just the way it was. She was looking forward to fixing it up and making it her own, and forging a new life in Spritespring Hollow. And to making some new friends.
She slung the backpack over her shoulders and followed the stream. It was time to visit Foxley Cross.