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: 1,124
Alchemy
Coagula (LVL 0, 24 SKP)
Solvé (LVL 0, 9 SKP)
Theoria (LVL 0, 23 SKP)
Botany
Tending (LVL 0, 5 SKP)
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Cooking
Fire (LVL 0, 26 SKP)
Water (LVL 0, 11 SKP)
?
Homesteading
Fire Tending (LVL 0, 7 SKP)
Tidying (LVL 1, 5 SKP)
Dirt Buster: The magical branch of Purification lends this Sorcerer the ability to ‘Bust Dirt.’ Dust and grime accumulate at a infinitesimally slow rate on objects you have cleaned.
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Speech
Logic (LVL 0, 33 SKP) Ready to level up!
Linguistics (LVL 0, 7 SKP)
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Total SKP: 165
Inventory:
Auros: 0
Cards of Destiny: 5 of ?? Discovered
Names: 2
Gillygad, The Stiched-Up Wonder (Pitchfork)
Zinia, The Serpent’s Caress (Snake)
The moon swung low over the lonely country road.
I had walked and walked, and every step started to feel like a mistake. I kept thinking of laying down next to the fire in the hearth, the comforting weight of a cat settling on my lap.
Even Gillygad’s song, which had bolstered my spirit, lost its charm.
As I exited the house that night, I turned left. I didn’t know where I was, and I didn’t know where to go, so I simply picked a direction. When I left that house, I was sure that if I could beat the Midnight Man, I could find my way in the world. But as the night drew on and I saw no one in the streets, I began to wonder if I had made the right decision.
At first I passed by many houses, and even some which had signs out front advertising sundry services and trades. The windows were mostly dark, and there was no one out at that hour. I had walked until the houses began to thin, and there were no more street lamps, cheerily illuminating my path. It was just me.
I shivered and brought my jacket collar higher around my jaw.
Before long, there was only a country house here and there, and a row of hedges handrailing the road. The path had turned from cobblestone to dirt, but still I kept walking. I could not turn around now.
It must have been late when I started noticing that shadowy faces appeared and disappeared in the hedgerows to my left.
I gulped, and kept walking. I would have to lay down and sleep soon. My eyes started scanning the countryside by the dim light of the moon, which was now just a sliver of white visibly over the treetops in the distance.
There were fields as far as I could see, neatly separated by rows of hedges. Every now and again, there was a lonesome tree, with the new leaves all but invisible in the night. The dirt of the fields was a deep purple, the crop underneath waiting for warmer weather to start its growth. The sky was thankfully clear.
It was just my luck that when I needed to lay down, there was nothing around me.
I was considering just unrolling a quilt and trying to sleep by the side of the road, when I saw a shadowy figure in the distance.
I knew I was having a Vision because the shade was not there a moment before, and it suddenly materialized in the middle of one of the dirt fields. My hands trembled and I stuffed them in my pockets.
Debuff: Tired
EXP gains are decreased.
Sleep is essential. Missing sleep is a hazard to mind and body.
(Warning: Tiredness may cause Visions! )
I didn’t need a system message telling me that I was tired. I could feel it in my bones.
I kept my eyes fixed on the shade standing out in the middle of the field. Would it start coming closer? Would it start twisting, reforming, perhaps into a stretched grin, too wide for the face of a human?
The shadow didn’t do any of that. Instead, it started hopping.
I looked at it, confused.
Hoppity-hop.
I squinted, trying to make out the figure in the distance? It did rather look like the ‘T’ shape of a scarecrow...
I hurriedly busted my way through the rows of hedges, getting scratched on my legs in the process, and I was running across the field. The closer I got to the figure, the more sure I felt that I was right. Gillygad!
I approached the figure, which now looked as solid and real as the tilled dirt beneath my feet. The burlap sack which was the scarecrow's face was sewn with an unnerving patchwork smile. I didn’t like looking directly at it. But there was no mistaking it. It was definitely the Patron of Pitchfork.
“Do you know where I should go?” I asked, looking up at the straw hat atop the scarecrow.
Suddenly, the scarecrow rotated very quickly. It startled me so much that I jumped backwards with a cry.
He was facing a new direction, away from the road. I tried to make out if there was anything that way save more fields and dirt. Maybe there was a structure, out there on the other side of the field. Maybe there was a fence line. It was hard to tell in the darkness.
The scarecrow hopped in place. I stood back, eyeing Gillygad, and he hopped several feet forward. Then another hop, in the direction he was facing. Several more hops in quick succession and he was 20 feet away from me, and he kept going.
“Hey, wait up!” I cried out and ran after him.
Scarecrows are fast! I was panting and my lungs were burning trying to keep up with him.
I kept my eyes on the scarecrow, but I noticed at the periphery of my vision that other Shadows were forming.
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A boy ran next to me. I thought it was a boy. The smaller figure was under a hood, dressed as a vagrant might be, in a very worn jacket and patched trousers. Over his shoulder he had a red sack, very similar to the tied up sheet which served as my own backpack. A strong wind blew across the field; it nearly knocked me off my feet, but I recovered and kept running after Gillygad.
I saw more clearly now that we were approaching a fence. It was simple and wooden, and came up to my chest.
The scarecrow in front of me hopped over it with an easy grace, and I scrambled up the fence, getting my shirt caught, but eventually made it over.
When I looked around on the other side of the fence, Gillygad was gone. The hooded boy, with his red sack, was also nowhere in sight.
I could see now that there was an old barn on this side of the fence line. Maybe there was also a farm house somewhere nearby? Would the people who lived there appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night by a transient, un-initiated Sorcerer? Probably not.
I approached the barn, and carefully peeked inside. I opened the door wider. There were several stalls on one side.
It was warmer inside the wooden structure, and I would be protected from the elements. Surely, a farmer wouldn’t mind if I spent a night in the same place they keep their animals?
I crept in. There were piles of hay, which rustled beneath my feet. I wasn’t choosy about my spot, since I couldn’t see much anyway. I sat down next to the wooden wall, unrolled my quilt, and laid down. It was uncomfortable, but at least I was sheltered.
As I settled down, the smell of animals and drying hay strong in my nose, I saw someone else creep into the barn, and froze.
It was the boy who had run with me! His red sack was lowered by his side, and he was hunched over, as though he was trying to hide.
Something flew off his shoulder and I thought it might be a small, brown bird, no bigger than the palm of my hand.
He must have been looking directly at me, but I couldn’t see his face under the hood. He reached into his sack, and took out something. He then tossed whatever it was towards me.
Two tiny white shapes landed next to my leg. I picked one up. Unmistakably, it was dice.
I am the Prince of Vagabonds.
The words flew through me, and fluttered in my mind like the wings of a sparrow.
“Nice to meet you, sir.” I whispered, my voice shaking. The boy wasn’t very scary, but I didn’t like having Visions anymore.
My name is Vitas. You can hear my Name on the open road. You can hear my Name in a place where you don’t belong. You can hear it when you steal that which is worthless.
Right. All that made a great deal of sense.
The boy's red sack started moving and jostling as if something were alive and struggling in there, and the boy gripped the mouth of the bag tightly. Quick as a fox, he mounted his sack, like a witch might mount a broom. A strong wind blew through the barn, and hay flew right into my face. After I brushed it off, the boy was gone.
I laid down on my quilt, barely shut my eyes, and fell asleep.
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I woke up to the gray light of pre-dawn morning. There was a very large pair of brown eyes curiously looking at me. Sitting up, and rubbing the sleep from my face, I looked back to see a cow, her coat a soft downy tan, examining me passively. In the next stall, another cow-like shape was still curled up; that one was black and white. I cautiously stood up, trying to not spook the animals. The wakened cow gave my sleeve a testing lick.
I started rolling up my quilt, and then I heard a voice.
“Turnip, Betsy, time to rise and shine!” A man’s baritone voice sounded sing-song outside of the barn. Oh no! I would be found out!
I hurried and tied off my sack and was about to creep out the barn. As I did, I almost knocked headlong into an unshaven man with a round gut. We looked at each other with wide eyes, but the man recovered first.
“What arye doin’ to my animals!” He shouted.
“Nothing!” I tried to say, but my feet were quicker than my mouth, and I was running away from the rancher. I heard him running after me, shouting about thieves and tramps, but I was already vaulting his fence, and I was out on the field, running towards the dirt road.
The rancher didn’t pursue me very far, and by the time I got to the road, I could neither see nor hear him.
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It was starting to warm up and there were birds twittering and singing songs in the trees. I walked for the better part of the morning, then stopped by the side of the road, and ate some of the food I had taken from the house on Austere Way.
After eating some pickled vegetables (which turned out to be tomatoes and peppers in a garlicky brine), I took out my Cards of Destiny.
I shuffled them quickly, warmth seeping into my hands. I picked one out.
Train to the City
Travel lightly, travel easily. All travel is 15% faster.
Finally, some good luck! I looked at the face of the card. Under the title, it had a brief description: “Cozy train cabins overlook the twinkling metropolis lights, rushing you towards a new adventure.”
I got up, and threw my sack over my shoulder. As I started walking, my feet felt lighter, and I was taking quicker steps. It was only 15% but I could definitely notice it! I smiled, and looked up into the endless blue skies.
What other adventures would await me on this road!
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I walked for hours and hours, and saw nothing but fields. On the horizon, there was a tree line. Maybe by evening , I would finally get to it.
I found myself greatly missing Aleister and Cheerful, but especially the cat. I still thought that I had done the right thing in not bringing him along. Cats are known to be creatures of comfort. But it would have been nice to have someone to talk with. And of course, I was rather partial to the white fluffball after everything we’ve been through together.
I was growing bored with the monotony of walking. I started looking through my menus, to have something to do while my feet carried me forward.
Looking over my skills, I remembered that I could level up my Logic skill!
Speech
-Logic (LVL 0, 33 SKP) Ready to level up!
-Linguistics (LVL 0, 7 SKP)
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Delightful!
My booted feet skipped along with an energy and movement of their own, as I focused on my menu.
I mentally selected “Ready to level up!”
Do You Wish To Level Up?
Logic Level 1 Grants ‘Rhetoric’ Passive Effect
I answered yes.
Rhetoric!
The magical branch of Entreatment lends this Sorcerer the ability of heightened ‘Rhetoric.’ The structure of your arguments is smooth, regular and orthogonal. Spirits and people are more likely to agree with you.
Interesting.
That would certainly come in useful. At some point, I would have to get a job or another apprenticeship, and the ‘Rhetoric’ ability would certainly be of help then.
I kept walking.
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It was late afternoon, and I was standing outside a two story farmhouse that was only a couple of paces from the road. It was weather-beaten, the paint peeling, and roof looked like it had seen better days Over the door there was a sign that advertised the house:
Dappled Donkey Inn
There were no donkeys in sight. Behind the farmhouse there was another structure, which looked like a stable, but it was empty.
Yellow light was pouring from the windows, and I figured the inn was still open.
I tried the door. It creaked as it opened, and I cautiously stepped inside.
Three sets of dark brown and weary eyes looked at me when I stepped into the inn. There was a barkeep behind a counter, and two teenagers, a girl and a boy, sitting at a table.
At first I thought the teenagers might be customers but then, noting their resemblance to the barkeep, I decided they were his relatives.
The barkeep eyed me up and down as I approached him and frowned. The girl and boy muttered darkly, but I couldn't catch their words. Before I had a chance to sit down at the bar, the barkeep roughly asked:
“Got any money?”
I stammered something and couldn’t quite make the words come out right.
“Leave. Now.” The man pointed to the door.
I took a deep breath. I had just leveled a skill that should make me more persuasive. And anyway, I didn't want much.
“I just walked a long way…” I started.
“I don’t care if you walked from Celine City; no money, no business.” The man interrupted, but I talked on.
“…and I just want a little water. There’s been nothing on the road, no wells or streams. I can help you clean up, if you want.”
The man looked like he was going to disagree and order me out again, but after a few moments he acquiesced with a tight nod, and poured water into a glass he produced smoothly from under the counter. I looked around. The inn had a certain forlorn charm. There were white table cloths on a handful of empty tables, and potted plants near the windowsill. The bar itself had a million dents and scratches, but it was polished smooth, which must have took a great effort.
I drank the water in one go, and the man even poured me a second glass.
I then got a system message, which was a surprise!
+10 EXP
1 Skill Unlocked!
+10 SKP Cajoling (Speech)
That was all the skills under the Speech tree unlocked!
“Where are you trying to get to?” The innkeeper asked aloud, and the words he didn’t say hung in the air. You can’t stay here.
“I’m trying to find my friend, Agatha K.” I said. It had come to me in a second of inspiration. The two Sorcerers who had written me letters and sent me small gifts were on the very short list of people who I knew in the area.
“I don’t know any Agathas…” the barkeep looked like he was contemplating kicking me out again.
“Oh well, maybe you know a Mr. Solomon Beaugiron? I’m trying to find him, too.”
The innkeeper’s eyebrows shot up from surprise.
“Sol? As a matter of fact, I do know him. He lives just up the road.” The man said.
The keep gave me directions on how I might locate Mr. Beaugiron. I had not been really planning to seek refuge with either Sorcerer, but now that I knew where this man lived, I might as well see if he’d let me stay a night.
I wished I had money. My stomach grumbled, and I knew that I had very little food left. But I didn’t want to impose on the owner of the inn any more. I told myself that one day, after I’ve become a Grandmaster Sorcerer, I would come back to the Dappled Donkey Inn. But until then…
I thanked the innkeeper profusely for the water, to which I got a grudging nod, then offered my help in cleaning up. He stated simply that he had no need for any workers, and I was on my way again.
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