Starting Status
Sign: Snake
Buffs: Serpent’s Kiss (Romance twice as easy)
Debuffs: Curse of the Unspecified (Start the game with no gender, no name, and no other identifying feature)
EXP: 104
Skills:
Alchemy
-Coagula (LVL 0, 24 SKP)
-Solvé (LVL 0, 9 SKP)
-Theoria (LVL 0, 13 SKP)
Botany
-Tending (LVL 0, 5 SKP)
???
Cooking
-Fire (LVL 0, 21 SKP)
-Water (LVL 0, 6 SKP)
???
Homesteading
-Fire Tending (LVL 0, 7 SKP)
-Tidying (LVL 0, 35 SKP) Ready to level up!
???
Speech
-Logic (LVL 0, 32 SKP) Ready to level up!
-Linguistics (LVL 0, 7 SKP)
???
Total SKP: NO OTHER GAMES
Inventory:
Auros: 0
Cards of Destiny: 3 of ?? Discovered
Old Toad’s Riddles: 5 of ?? Solved
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Cheerful came back from his grocery run with a huge paper bag. I had sent him out with my small offering of 3 Bones, to try to buy anything that might look edible. Aleister and I were both very excited to see what he could have gotten for 3 Bones that was so big. I looked in the bag, and frowned.
Dandelions.
I poured the flowers and leaves out on the table. All dandelions. The crow had bought a bag of weeds.
“Yummy leaves! Good, tasty leaves!” Cheerful hopped up and down excitedly.
“You can make salad with these,” Aleister joined us, “And you likely couldn’t buy much more than this with only 3 Bones, anyway.”
The cat was standing between me and Cheerful, like he was ready to defend the childish bird. But I wasn’t mad at the crow.
“Yes, let's make some salad later.” I conceded. I knew that Aleister wouldn’t be able to eat it. And I wasn’t salivating at the prospect, either. I chewed thoughtfully on a leaf, testing it. It was bitter. This wouldn't make a very delicious salad at all.
New Entry for Old Toad’s Almanac!
Taraxacum Officinale, Dandelion
For a second, I was very happy. I had gotten another ingredient for potions! Then I checked the entry in the Almanac:
[https://i.imgur.com/grLqVJh.jpg]
Dandelion
Taraxacum Officinale
Planet: Moon
Sign: Pitchfork
A common weed with little use, but a favorite springtime toy for many children. The leaves may be eaten, if there are no better alternatives. Limited uses in Alchemy, due lack of magical potency.
Great. It was a potion ingredient, but a nearly useless one.
I gathered the yellow flowers and their leaves back into the paper bag, and carefully folded the top. I stored it in a cabinet, and decided I would eat a Dandelion leaf salad if I was truly starving. And if I didn’t want to starve, I would have to brew another potion. Stat.
“Thank you for making the trip, Cheerful.” I said, and privately decided never to give Cheerful authority over our grocery list again
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While Cheerful chatted to Aleister of the goings on at the town market, I snuck away to the bathroom. I wanted to see if my character sheet had gone back to normal.
Not only could I still not level up, I couldn’t pull up my character sheet at all! I tired and tried, and finally got this message:
FINISH THE GAME YOU STARTED
Trying to steady my shaking hands by taking a deep breath I left to rejoin my companions, trying hard to not think about the message.
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In the kitchen, I did my best to pretend everything was fine. I had another potion to brew! I couldn’t get distracted now.
I took careful inventory of my herbal supplies.
I had Belladonna, and Balm. The Balm plant, which I had recently harvested to brew Winter’s Kiss, was flourishing. I guessed by looking at it that it was actually bigger than before I had pruned it! The Belladonna was also doing just fine.
There was the dried Sage, hung up above my fireplace. I still had several bouquets. Good.
I also had a bag of mystery mushrooms that someone named Agatha K. had sent. I had almost forgotten about them, but I brought them out now.
There were about a dozen good sized mushrooms. Shriveled, they were the length of my palm. They must have been big indeed before they dried.
As of this morning, I also had Dandelions.
I had unlocked all the herbs in my possession except the mushrooms. I decided to remedy that.
I picked up one, and looked at it.
“Do NOT eat those.” Aleister warned me.
Shame, that had worked to unlock Dandelions. The caps of the mushrooms were red, and had white spots. While thinking about how to approach unlocking the funghi in my almanac, I counted the spots on one of the caps. Seven spots.
That's when I realized there was now a piece of paper, torn from a book, near the pile of dried mushrooms. It was a riddle, which was one of the shortest I’ve encountered yet.
After a light, April shower, Old Man Toad went foraging. He found twelve mushrooms. He left one by the riverbank, he gave two to a deer, then he took the rest home and had dinner. How many did he have the next morning?
I began working it out.
Old Man Toad started with 12, then he left 1, and gave away 2. The answer was 9.
But when I said 9, nothing happened. I read through the riddle again. The only other explanation is that he went home and ate the rest of the mushrooms for dinner. So, the answer must be 0.
I said the answer out loud and got a message:
Riddle: Don’t Eat These Ones! (Novice Difficulty)
Complete!
+1 EXP
+1 Skill Points to Logic (Speech)
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
The EXP was very low for this riddle, but that made sense. It was the easiest one yet. A child could have solved it. But it worked! I got the message about my new addition to the almanac:
New Entry for Old Toad’s Almanac!
Amanita Muscaria, Fly Agaric
I immediately went to the almanac, to see the new entry.
[https://i.imgur.com/fDq81mS.jpg]
Fly Agaric
Amanita Muscaria
Planet: Moon
Sign: Pitchfork
A very dangerous, toxic mushroom. There are legends that counting the spots brings good luck. Many children prize the red mushrooms for their interesting appearance. Don’t let the little ones eat them! Used in delirium inducing potions.
I compared the new entry to the one for Dandelions. There were some similarities. Both descriptions mentioned children. They were both under the planet Moon (which is wrong, the Moon isn’t even a planet)! And, they were both under the Sign Pitchfork.
I pointed this out to Aleister.
“You can pretty much assume if it’s aligned with Pitchfork, it’ll be completely useless.” He said.
“Really?”
“Yes. It's a rather unpopular sign for a reason. It's usually a toss up between Pitchfork and Ladle for the least likely choice for fledgling Sorcerers to pick as their Sign. Ladle, in my books, isn’t so bad. Everyone likes good food and comfort. Pitchfork on the other hand…”
“If Ladle is all about good food and comfort, what is Pitchfork?” I asked.
“Children’s games, tricks, laughter. Nothing anyone bothers with. Not to mention, the scarecrow that’s patron to Pitchfork is known to be very stingy with his help.”
I didn’t care for the Curse of the Unspecified that Snake had left me with, but I guessed there were worse signs to pick.
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I didn’t have too many herbs, but at least they were all unlocked. I decided to open another letter of request. I had a few ideas of how I could source more ingredients, if the potion I needed to brew called for something I didn’t have.
I chose a letter at random, and opened it. I could smell a delicate perfume waft through the air, as I took the handwritten page out.
Sorcerer,
I require your services. I have dreadful headaches. Brew me something for my pain, and I will compensate you well for your trouble.
Provide this in three days.
Arabella Flynn
Concise and a bit terse, I thought. The letter didn’t mention a price, which I thought was a little suspicious. Aleister read the letter, too.
“The Flynns are one of the wealthiest families around. I wouldn’t be concerned with money. I’m sure Arabella will pay handsomely.”
Right. That’s all I had to hear.
I was disappointed that my To Do list hadn't been updated with a quest to send out this parcel. It was always nice to receive extra EXP for my efforts.
I pulled up Old Toad’s book, and opening the Grimoire, concentrated on a cure for headaches.
Like before, the entries started erasing themselves, until I was left with two.
Nestor’s Bitters
Unguentum Martiatum
I had seen Nestor’s Bitters before! I decided to go with that one. I also couldn’t even pronounce the second potion, which to me, implied that it would be a difficult one to brew.
To my surprise, when I selected Nestor’s Bitters, the full potion page came up. I thought I would have to unlock it by solving another riddle. I mentioned this to Aleister.
“Nestor generally doesn’t putter about with riddles and games. He always gets straight to the point.” The cat said. Right. Nestor was the knight with an arrow in his eye, that had terrified me the first time I had a Vision.
Nestor’s Bitters (Difficulty: Moderate)
The taste is exceptionally awful, but common maladies such as headaches don't stand a chance against these bitters.
Ingredients:
Allheal
Comfrey
Sage
Method of Preparation
The most suitable preparation for these Bitters is a Troche, also known as Plakentula. It is said that Nestor himself invented the portable, herbal cake, when he left on one of his many crusades. Troches keep well, and lose little potency in transport or storage.
Troche: Grind the ingredients into a very fine powder. Fill a vessel with the powdered herb, and pour over with distilled water, just to cover the herbs. For extra binding, add a drop of Gum Arabica, or less preferably, any oil or lard. Let sit one night. Shape the resulting dough-like mixture into any form you wish (although Nestor prefers an arrowhead). Dry the herbal cakes by a well stoked fire.
After the preparation is complete, if you have shaped the cakes as was suggested, simply Open it. Otherwise, call the Wounded One by his name, and ask him to say a quick prayer over your handiwork. I have found him to be most obliging on many occasions.
I read over the ingredients again. I had Sage, but had never even heard of the other two.
Thankfully, this time I had a plan.
When I restarted my parcel service, I received gifts from other Sorcerers. It wouldn’t be an outlandish idea that these same Sorcerers would be cultivating magical herbs.
I found where I had stashed the notes. I didn’t have letter paper, so I decided to simply write on the back. I picked up the first note.
I applaud your resilience! Good luck in the coming months with your venture. And take good care of that bird!
-Agatha K.
Hopefully, Agatha would be sympathetic to my plight. I wrote a flowery note of thanks, and then added a post scriptum, politely asking for either Allheal or Comfrey (or preferably both).
I did the same with the second note, from S. Beaugiron, who had sent me those delicious cherries. I still had about a teacup full, and was saving them for when Cheerful would come back from this next flight. I wanted to make sure the bird had a good meal for all his work!
The last note, which had been attached to the Belladonna read:
Finally. You’ll need this.
-M
I decided not to solicit M. They didn’t sound too friendly, and I didn’t think it would be worth it.
I put the two notes back into their envelopes, and almost sent them off. But then, I had another bright idea.
I still had a mason jar full of a potion. Not a very good potion, but it would do.
I took the mason jar out, and poured two larger phials full of the stuff, until I had no more Winter's Kiss left. Maybe this will soften Agatha and S. Beaugiron’s hearts.
I wrapped the two phials with paper, and sent Cheerful off again. The bird twittered excitedly about how much he loved helping and how fun it was, to deliver all these parcels. In a moment he was gone.
“That was a nice touch, sending them some of your work.” Aleister said.
“Yeah? I thought so. D’you think they’ll like it?” I asked.
“No, they could undoubtedly both brew you under the table. But, it will illustrate how direly you need their help.”
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Aleister went to sleep, and Cheerful was still gone. I was scared to stay up, but I had to do something about this malevolent spirit that would not leave me alone. I had gotten more messages throughout the day.
PLAY WITH ME
YOU WILL HAVE TO, YOU WILL PLAY
HA HA
Each one had petrified me, but I thought I was able to keep a good face on for Aleister and Cheerful. But I had to do something!
Maybe my Sign could help? I thought about the beautiful lady, with the serpent. I was under the Sign of the Snake. Was Zinia obliged to help me? I didn’t know, but it was worth a try.
I didn't want to risk getting Tired again, and I didn’t have any of the items Zinia had shown me. Except one.
I had already eaten a Belladonna berry, and I saw the shadows, and the little snake wound around the plant.
I checked to make sure Aleister was sleeping, and tiptoed to the Belladonna.
I plucked one dark berry, and swallowed it, preparing for the wave of sickness.
The sickness came, but mercifully, the tiny snake wound around the plant appeared immediately. It hissed, and I offered it my hand. Surprisingly, it quickly wound itself around my arm.
I turned around from the Belladonna and found myself nose to nose with the lady. She was so lovely, just looking at her, I felt all my fears and troubles fade away. Like last time, she wore the gigantic black snake around her shoulders, its tail cinched around her waist. The snake’s head was level with hers.
“I need your help.” I whispered, trying to ignore my roiling stomach.
Poor baby.
Again, I didn’t hear the words, as much as I felt them go through me. She looked me up and down, and I understood that she saw my predicament.
“Can you do something?” I whispered.
She shook her head. The giant serpent shook its head in unison.
Call me when you want them begging you for a kiss. Call me when you want your secrets to be safe. Call me when you wish to seduce and tempt. Otherwise, be silent.
That sounded like a no.
I blinked and she was gone. I looked around, and there was no more sign of her, or any other serpent. My stomach rumbled, and I doubled over in pain.
I ran to the bathroom, not wanting to wake up Aleister as I retched into the sink.
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Ending Status
Sign: Snake NO CHEATING
Buffs: Serpent’s Kiss (Romance twice as easy)
Debuffs: Curse of the Unspecified (Start the game with no gender, no name, and no other identifying feature)
EXP: 105
Skills:
Alchemy
-HA
-HA
-HA
Botany
-HA
-HA
-HA
Cooking
-HA
-HA
-HA
Homesteading
-HA
-HA
-HA
Speech
-HA
-HA
-HA
Total SKP: NO OTHER GAMES
Inventory:
Auros: 0
Cards of Destiny: 3 of ?? Discovered
Old Toad’s Riddles: 5 of ?? Solved