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)
Daily Card: Train to the City (Travel lightly, travel easily. All travel is 15% faster).
EXP: 1,307
Alchemy
Coagula (LVL 0, 54 SKP) Ready to level up!
Solvé (LVL 0, 29 SKP)
Theoria (LVL 1, 13 SKP)
Botany
Sowing (LVL 0, 5 SKP)
Tending (LVL 0, 10 SKP)
?
Cooking
Fire (LVL 1, 11 SKP)
Water (LVL 0, 21 SKP)
?
Homesteading
Fire Tending (LVL 0, 7 SKP)
Tidying (LVL 1, 39 SKP)
?
Speech
Logic (LVL 1, 13 SKP)
Linguistics (LVL 0, 31 SKP) Ready to level up!
Cajoling (LVL 0, 10 SKP)
Total SKP: 293
Inventory:
Auros: 0
Cards of Destiny: 5 of ?? Discovered
Names: 4
Evengeline, The Pure Snow (Holly)
Vitas, The Wind Thief (Sparrow)
Gillygad, The Stiched-Up Wonder (Pitchfork)
Zinia, The Serpent’s Caress (Snake)
Passive Skills:
(Theoria LVL 1) Pure Substances: Some metals are especially luminous. Some hands are more precise than others. These hands shall become sharpened scalpels, made of the most luminous Silver. Higher maximum Quality points are possible for all potions.
(Fire LVL 1) Ignited: The Elemental branch of magic lends this Sorcerer the ability to cook faster using fire. Prepare fried or baked meals twice as quickly. Get burnt less.
(Tidying LVL 1) Dirt Buster: The magical branch of Purification lends this Sorcerer the ability to ‘Bust Dirt.’ Dust and grime accumulate at an infinitesimally slow rate on objects you have cleaned.
(Logic LVL 1) 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
I could tell from her drawn and pained expression that the Sorceress was worried about Aleister, but she did not say anything save the cat's name, as we searched room to room.
Naturally, I helped her. We scoured the entire house many times over, but could not find the cat anywhere.
“Maybe he just went out for a stroll.” The Sorceress muttered to herself, as we searched through the solarium, moving pots out of the way to see. “He’ll be back, I’m sure of it.”
But we kept searching, and we kept finding nothing.
I wondered why she hadn’t cast some spell or done some manner of Sorcery to locate our lost friend, so I asked her.
“It might come to that,” she muttered darkly, “but let’s hope not.”
Finally, the Sorceress told me to go do chores, read, or something else productive. She would take care of the cat.
As I was about to leave back to the Front Room, where I had started the first battle of what I was sure would be a long war against dust and neglect, Cheerful returned.
He flew several circles around the Sorceress’s head, chirping that he had helped, he had helped, he had helped…
He dropped a package into Tess’s hands, which she unceremoniously shoved my way. I looked inside and saw a dried green herb. It must have been the Dill! I had wine, Belladonna, and Dill. I was that much closer to making Dancing Tongue. I was only missing Amara Dulcis.
I was about to go put away the dried Dill when Tess spoke again.
“Cheerful,” she started, “Have you seen Aleister? Do you know where he is?”
The bird landed on one of the empty clay pots, which were all around the solarium.
“Oh yes! I can help! I know! I know where Aleister-cat went! I know, I can help!” Cheerful said.
Tess smiled in relief. “Good. Where is he?”
There was a pause, and I held my breath.
“Oh, no, oh wait, no, wait I can’t help.” The bird said, and then awkwardly started pecking the clay pot. Several tiny chips broke off.
“Cheerful,” I heard something in the Sorceress’s voice, something that could not be withstood, “tell me where Aleister is.”
“I told him, I tried to help, I told him he shouldn’t go!” Cheerful chirped nervously, “I told him Mistress would be unhappy! I told him dear, kind Mistress wouldn’t be pleased!”
Tess didn’t say anything, and let the bird keep going.
“I tried to help! I tried to say something! But Aleister-cat, he’s so stubborn, he doesn’t listen, he doesn’t listen to poor Cheerful!” Cheerful took off again, and flew several circles around the solarium, bemoaning the cat’s obstinate nature.
When he finally landed, he spoke again: “I tried telling Aleister-cat, that the Meadows were no place for him, but he said he wanted to find it. He wanted to find the Star. He said, everyone else is looking, he said he wanted an adventure, he said he wanted to find the Star, and he left, he walked out, and he left.”
Tess let out a long string of curses. Her hair curled and frizzed, and the room felt alive, electric, like a thunderstorm was approaching. Mistress’s face was set in a stony frown, and truthfully, I was a little afraid of her.
Looking at the bird, the Sorceress gathered herself again, and the electricity in the air abated but did not disperse.
“Thank you for telling me,” she said to the bird. “I have something for you to deliver. Here.” She took out a sealed letter from the folds of her skirt.
Cheerful was happy enough to grab the envelope, and spinning around and chirping about helping, he left the house again.
Something clicked in my head, as I thought about what Cheerful had told us. I think I understood what happened to Aleister.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Um,” I tried approaching the Sorceress, “I think this is my fault.”
“Oh?” Her expression was very cross, and I was scared of speaking, but I wanted to come clean.
“When you weren’t sure if I could stay here or not, Aleister told me he would follow me if I got kicked out. Then, when I ran away, er- I mean, when I went to visit Mr. B, I never asked him to come with me. Maybe, he really wanted to go, but I just left, and I didn’t even tell him that I was going-”
The Sorceress put her hand up, and I was instantly silenced.
“I don’t think this is your fault, Andy.” She said, in an authoritative voice, but I wasn’t sure I believed her.
She sighed, and the air felt normal again, and I wasn’t scared anymore.
“I will have to go find him. I don’t know how long it will take. Stay here, do what I told you. When you’ve read up on all the Signs and their Names, let me see,” she thought for a moment, “start on those other Grimoires I gave you, pay specific attention to the Tales of the Twilight King, and don’t let the other ones get to you. That’s all. I’ll see you when I see you.”
“Wait! Can't I come with you? I want to help! Aleister, he’s my friend, and-” I started, but the Sorceress held up her hand again, and it’s silencing effect was just as potent.
“No, Andy, you can’t come with me. The Meadows are certainly no place for an Apprentice,” she explained, and then darkly added, “much less a cat.”
“But I think this all started when he got mad at me that I didn’t take him on the road, I really think I should-” I tried pleading with the Sorceress again, but she shook her head.
“Andy, listen. You have a job to do.” She came close to me, and put her hand reassuringly on my shoulder, “your job is to get better at Sorcery. Not go chasing after a contrary cat that’s put himself in undue danger. Let me handle it. I need you to do what I’ve instructed.”
I pouted at her. I was scared for Aleister. I had no idea what these ‘Meadows’ were, but it sounded like a dangerous place. I didn’t want my cat friend to come into any trouble! Maybe I could help her locate him?
On second thought, I thought glumly, I’d probably just be a liability for the formidable Sorceress. I hung my head.
“Alright, I'll stay and read and clean and all the other stuff.” I said, looking at the ground.
I felt defeated. Was I really so useless? I knew the answer without thinking on it too deeply.
The Sorceress gathered up some traveling things before she headed out. I noticed her clutching her gray boots, which had once turned into a horse. She would probably need those to get to wherever Aleister was, as quickly as possible.
She also told me that I can expect to acquire some Amara Dulcis shortly. Good news, which did nothing to lighten my dark mood.
We exchanged a quick goodbye, which was out of character for the curt and laconic Sorceress (maybe she was warming up to me), and she strode out of the door.
I was left completely alone. I looked around the large solarium and the empty house seemed to mirror my mood. I hugged myself and shivered.
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The dried Dill had a very pleasant smell, so I decided to try a little, putting a pinch in my mouth.
It tasted good. To my surprise, the herb was then unlocked and a new entry was in my Almanac!
New Entry for Old Toad’s Almanac!
Anethum graveolens, Dill
I opened up Old Toad’s to look at the details:
[https://i.imgur.com/oYQjNPU.jpg]
Dill
Anethum graveolens
Planet: Mercury
Sign: Rabbit
Grown in many cottage gardens, Dill has many culinary and Alchemical uses. Mercury has the dominion of this plant, and therefore be sure it strengthens the brain. Dill being boiled and drank, is good to ease swellings and pains. The Sign of Rabbit imbues it with the quality of quickness.
I put it away in a cabinet, and seeing nothing else to occupy myself with, went to cleaning. I was getting quite proficient in the custodial arts at this point!
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I had gained a total of 45 EXP in Tidying before I decided to call it quits. I made myself a quick dinner (getting another 12 EXP to Fire) and retired upstairs, to do the reading which Tess assigned me.
Unlike my first blundering attempt, this time, I found what I was looking for almost immediately.
There was a medium-sized volume called First Names which dealt with the Patrons of Snake, Oak, and Wheel. From the introduction, I gathered that these Signs had, for all of recorded history, the exact same spirit. Or at least, if they had once had different Patrons, no one knew who they were, any longer
I skipped around a lot. There were many accounts of such and such Sorcerer, in such and such year, which made contact with one of the Names, and then a description of how they helped or hindered the aforementioned Sorcerer.
But I did glean some details.
For Snake, my own Sign, the patron was the beautiful Zinia, who commonly appeared (the other Sorcerer’s accounts confirmed this) as a naked woman draped with a black serpent.
And, as I had already found out, Zinia was most helpful in matters of love, seduction, passion, secrets, and temptation. However, some of the accounts I read were amusing, in that different Sorcerers interpreted this alignment of Zinia’s in creative ways.
There was one story of a man, whose beloved dog had gone missing. This man happened to have some scant knowledge of Sorcery, but was, to put it lightly, missing some pieces. Thinking that the love he had for his cherished pet would put the issue firmly within Zinia’s purview, he entreated her to help him find his missing dog.
Zinia’s approach to the situation had been to turn the man himself into a dog. Luckily, Horend Stiegler, the poor, furry chap, had no issue locating his pet after this, gifted with the acute sense of smell that dogs possess. But, it apparently took a long time for anyone to notice he had gone missing, and an even longer time for a Sorcerer to help him, and restore his original human form.
Anyway, after the whole affair, Horend was found to be somewhat less fond of his dog, as, he had witnessed, many times, the dog stepping out on him to pursue her doggy business with other suitable bachelors of the canine world.
I grimaced in revulsion as I read the story.
Skimming more of Zinia’s section, I finally found her origin, as a Name.
She had been a queen. Zinia Eruthros, was the highest in the land of a distant, and ancient kingdom, which dates so far back that historians know very little about it.
Zinia had schemed, seduced, and plotted with the kings of the bordering territories, and thus secured riches, stability, and peace for her own home turf. But, it didn’t last.
The temptation of the most beautiful woman in the world (as she was known when alive) was too much for the kings with which she parleyed.
Many suitors approached queen Zinia with every offer imaginable. My whole kingdom, for your hand, My Lady. All the people of my fair land shall be yours, Queen, My own flesh and blood children, I would offer to you to do as you wish, if only you would marry me, Lady.
The queen did not wish to marry any royal suitor, for unknown to them all, she had a lover, of common birth, which she kept hidden from the courts and the royal foreigners.
The rejected suitors left Zinia’s kingdom full of rage and bitterness. How dare she reject ME? Every one of them thought. It was not long until the suitors formed a pact. They would take Zinia’s fair city by force, and then, one of them would surely make Zinia their wife.
The jilted suitors surrounded the city with their armies. Zinia knew that her city could not stand against the onslaught. Rather than be captured, she used Sorcery to turn her beloved into a Blackriver Serpent (a giant species of snake that has since gone extinct, some specimens allegedly reaching fifty feet in length). She asked one last favor of her love, to never part even in death, and placed a deadly curse on him. The serpent strangled Zinia so that the kings would not get the bride they so wished. Lady Zinia and the serpent-lover were found in that fatal embrace. And this, history claims, is the origin of Zinia, and the black serpent wound around her waist.
Some historians disagree that the snake was once a man, and claim that Queen Zinia had actually summoned an abyssal serpent, which merely took the former of the Blackriver monstrosity in its earthly incarnation. But whether the snake wound around Zinnia was once a man or a demon, everyone agrees that the queen died in its deadly black coils.
There are no recorded histories of Names that were Patron to Snake before Queen Zinia. Surely, there must have been, but the eons have stolen the knowledge out of the world, and so Zinia is the first known Patron of that Sign.
As I finished reading up on Zinia’s history, I wondered if every single Name had come to some tragic and gory end. I would later find out, that nearly all did, but some few had not.
The atmosphere in the library was languid and warm, and the long shadows felt like an embrace. I had been around Zinia several times now, and her presence did not disturb me. I settled into the armchair, snuggling against the cozy upholstery, and continued reading.
Unfortunately, the next Sign was really, really boring.
A King named Aubershin, who scholars claim is a contemporary of Zinia’s thought separated geographically by half the globe, is the Name behind the Sign of Oak.
People seek out Oak for Longevity, Justice, Order, and Domination. The historical section that detailed his origin, which I now found quite easily, did not interest me very much.
Apparently, this King had cultivated magical power, step by step, grinding his way to be the top of the top, the peak of power. The book went into great detail about all the territories the King conquered, all the armies he commanded, all the concubines which littered his harem, etc, and on and on.
Anyway, after all that work, he realized that this world was nothing but a dream within a dream, thought up by a lunatic and written in a frenzy.
Disillusioned, or perhaps, Awakened, he went to a valley, and sat down, meditating on what he’d learned. He was so powerful that he needed no food, nor water. He simply sat there. He sat for so long, that his body calcified and turned to stone. And, unbeknownst to him, he had sat upon an acorn, which, after many years, sprouted. An oak tree grew underneath him, and many centuries later, completely enveloped his body.
The historians disagree over only one thing when it comes to Aubershin. Did he ever truly die? Some historians claim that he was so deeply powerful that he had forced his spirit outside of his body, without ever coming to natural death.
I thought that was kind of stupid. If the guy got enveloped by a growing tree, surely he was completely dead, at this point?
After I finished reading, I looked around the library.
Nothing. No changes in the air, no strange feelings, and no Visions.
I shrugged. I guessed that my disinterest in the Sign of Oak was mirrored, and Aubershin was not here. Maybe I would meet him some other time, but I had not yet come across a potion that needed his Name to be called. So, I was in no hurry.
I quickly finished up with Oak and turned to the section on Wheel.
The first few accounts of meeting the Patron of Wheel, named Teresto, really piqued my curiosity, but my eyes were simply not obeying my wishes, and sliding shut. I was too tired.
I marked the page, vowing to myself to get back into it the next evening, put the book on the table, and went to sleep.