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: 1,255
Alchemy
Coagula (LVL 1, 34 SKP)
Solvé (LVL 0, 39 SKP) Ready to level up!
Theoria (LVL 1, 33 SKP) Ready to level up!
Botany
Sowing (LVL 0, 5 SKP)
Tending (LVL 0, 65 SKP) Ready to level up!
?
Cooking
Fire (LVL 1, 28 SKP)
Water (LVL 0, 34 SKP) Ready to level up!
?
Homesteading
Fire Tending (LVL 0, 7 SKP)
Tidying (LVL 1, 106 SKP) Ready to level up!
Mending (LVL 0, 15 SKP)
Speech
Logic (LVL 1, 23 SKP)
Linguistics (LVL 0, 41 SKP) Ready to level up!
Cajoling (LVL 0, 10 SKP)
Total SKP: 441
Inventory:
Auros: 0.15
Cards of Destiny: 5 of ?? Discovered
Names: 4
Evengeline, The Pure Snow (Holly)
Vitas, The Wind Thief (Sparrow)
Gillygad, The Stitched-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.
(Coagula LVL 1) Coalescing Membranes: The membranes of the parts which make up the whole shall be in accordance. Ingredients combine more smoothly, producing higher quality 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.
Spells:
Wild and Overwhelming Growth (LVL 1) Accelerate the growth of plants and fungi. Enchanted plants grow ten times faster (Overwhelming Influence), BUT enchanted plants sometimes disregard their original form.
Mated With A Strong Bond, Lesser Baptism (LVL 1) Skill actions performed by the enchanted object grant the Sorcerer one-fifth of their SKP and EXP (Strong Influence) but the objects must be enchanted in identical pairs.
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I paced back and forth across the creaking floor of the kitchen.
After I had found Florence gone, I raced out to the door, hoping to catch her.
The front door of the house on Austere Way was hanging open, and when I looked out on the street, I could see Florence disappearing in the distance. I was half-convinced I should go after her, but decided not to.
I hadn’t told her the Sorceress’s real location. Hopefully, that counted towards something.
What was going on with the Sorceress? Someone was following Tess. Someone was keeping tabs on her.
But why? What did it mean?
I doubted Mistress was breaking any laws. She seemed to like rules and didn’t have a predilection for bending them, much less breaking them
Cheerful was still gone delivering my Dancing Tongue vials, and I had no one to talk to. The thoughts roiling in my mind had no outlet.
What if we were both in trouble?
What if I had gotten Tess into trouble with my botched initiation? She had said it wasn’t likely, but maybe…
I suddenly stopped in my tracks.
Tess had gotten a letter, right after she left to go look for Aleister. It was attached to the tiny Amara Dulcis plant. Whoever had sent Tess that plant, had also written to her.
I knew I shouldn't open the Sorceress’s mail but-
It could be important! What if there was a clue inside the letter?
I dug it out of my pockets where I had stashed it, to keep it safe.
I opened it very carefully, mindful that I would want to put it back and make it look untouched, for when Tess returned.
I took the letter out, and read the contents.
Dearest Tess,
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
I’m always so happy to hear from you!
The Sinking Swan has done quite well since we last talked. The parcel service helps keep our accounts books balanced. And, I think we’ve become something of a tourist trap. Everyone knows that the Sinking Swan doubles as a Sorceress’s workshop, so folks come in droves to eye my plants and herbs. I’ve gone and put my alembic on the counter even, to try to play up that angle.
It’s strange, I had the strongest urge recently to clone my Amara Dulcis, and then I got your letter asking me for one! I never cease to be surprised by our mutual connection through Sorcery. I have enclosed it and sent your wonderfully helpful (he mentioned so many times) bird back.
How are you doing? Is your apprentice done with initiating yet? I have to say, as formative as the experience we had at the Academy was, a home brewn initiation does have its positives.
Have you heard much from our former schoolmates?
Apparently, Julius is doing exceedingly well. He’s been coadjutor not long enough to even make a mark on the office, but there are already rumors that he is set to be next in line for Guild Master! He’s always had a way with that sort of thing, I suppose.
I haven’t heard from Eddy. I’m sure he’s doing fine, still writing plays I assume.
I know that Solomon got released ages ago, and I had been hoping to hear from him. Do you know if he’s okay? Last time I talked to him was right after they let him out of the dungeons. He was planning to settle down in Berrywhite county. That’s close to where you live, isn’t it? I imagine you must have bumped into him, since.
Well, anyway, hope you’re swell, and I would love to see you again. Maybe stop by the Sinking Swan if you ever find yourself in this neck of the woods. Cheers!
PS - Have you heard about the Meadows of Saint Oblivian? I couldn’t believe it! The Guild is really overstepping themselves, aren’t they? Not that I have any intention of going there, but to just make it prohibited! I’ve considered writing Julius since he’s the only one of us who’s in the Inner Sanctum, but I don’t know how to convince him. Maybe you could try?
Always Yours,
Meredith
My eyes raced across the lines of the letter. Most of it went over my head, except I knew Solomon, and now I knew that the woods he lived in were in ‘Berrywhite county.’
Then I got to the post scriptum. Were the Meadows of Saint Oblivian the very same meadows where the Sorceress went to look for Aleister? Did she know that they were now prohibited? Is that why she was being followed?
I had so many questions swirling in my head, and no answers.
I sat down and tried to parse out what was going on.
I didn’t get very far until I heard the familiar flap of wings and a creaky voice.
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A positive windfall of coins fell into my lap. Cheerful triumphantly landed on the table next to me, and I thanked him profusely for delivering the parcels.
I counted my money.
I had 10 Bones, 4 silver Castles, and even 2 fat golden coins, which had an imprint of a cannon on the back!
It felt like a lot of money. I made a note to try to be wise with spending it after I put the coins in my pocket.
“Cheerful,” I asked the bird, as I busied myself preparing a post-flight meal for him, “do you know anything about the meadows where Aleister went?”
“Oh, yes, oh yes, I know, I know all about it! I know!” Cheerful hopped up and down.
I sat a fresh plate of cut apples in front of him, and he began pecking at the fruit.
“Do you know if they’re also called the Meadows of Saint Oblivian?” I asked.
“Oh, yes, oh yes, they do, they call them that. The humans, they call the Daffy Meadows fancy names. Saint Oblivian! Too fancy for birds! The Daffy Meadows, where you go daffy! That’s what we call them!” He answered.
So I was right. Tess went to the very same place that the letter had mentioned was prohibited! Did Tess know? What if she went there without realizing the Guild had made them forbidden? I felt that I had to warn her, somehow.
“Have you ever been there, Cheerful?” I asked.
The bird stopped pecking for a second.
“Never had, no, never flown there. Birds know. Birds know better. We never fly over the Daffies!” He answered.
“But why?” I asked.
“Because you go daffy while you fly over them! Lose your way! Lose your path! End up somewhere you shouldn’t! We never fly there. We never fly over the Daffies!” Cheerful answered.
I slumped. I had thought for a second that maybe I could send Cheerful with a message to warn Tess. But it didn’t sound like that was a possibility.
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I gave up on trying to figure out a way to warn the Sorceress. Short of packing up and setting out to find her myself, I had no way to contact her.
I tried to remind myself that Tess was an accomplished Guild Sorceress, who was probably more than up to the challenge of the Meadows, and whatever consequences followed her going there. I was sure she would be fine. Yes, I had to keep repeating to myself, that everything would be fine. She would find Aleister soon and be back in no time. I just had to sit on my hands and wait.
I was rubbed raw by the fact that I was still stuck in this house, and couldn’t help her at all. Why hadn’t she taken me? Surely, I could be useful for something! But according to the Sorceress, all I was to keep busy with was chores and sending parcels. Minding the house.
I glumly considered that I was no better than the two dough lumps which I was shortly going to wake from the earth. Was that how the Sorceress saw me? A human golem that she could just abandon in her house anytime adventure called? It wasn’t a comforting thought.
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I didn’t have much to do, and I had to wait till nightfall to awaken my poppets.
After listlessly thumbing through a few letters of request, I gave up and decided to put off making another potion.
I spent the day in a most unproductive manner, but at last, it was nighttime.
Cheerful was by my side as I crept towards the bathroom door. I had recently gotten the Tired debuff, so I knew that a whole day had passed since I laid my two identical poppets into the earth.
I peeked inside the bathroom. Everything was just as I had left it.
The dirt that I poured over the dolls was completely undisturbed. This gave me a little pause.
I heard a loud wailing when I was sitting in the kitchen with Florence. I was sure that the poppets must have made that noise. But it looked like they had not moved at all from where I laid them side by side on the floor of the white tub.
I quickly checked my Lesser Baptism spell, and put my shaking hands out in front of me.
I was struck by the thought that I had no idea what I was doing. For just a second, I wanted to turn back, and leave the two poppets in the earth. Surely, I was too inexperienced to be attempting magic of this level.
But I had already made them, and I had already sewn their clothes, and it felt a bit rude to just leave them lying in the dirt. How would I feel, if someone made me, and just abandoned me?
I smiled a bitter smile, thinking I had some idea, and raised my hands. I traced the Signs of Opening, then followed up with the Lesser Baptism spell, which looked like this.
[https://i.imgur.com/6gqr91d.jpg]
I traced the interlocking circles and finished with the reverse ‘L’ shape.
“Wake up, wake up!”
I nearly fell over. I had forgotten that Cheerful was right behind me, sitting on the rim of the sink. His sudden, creaking voice made my heart jump into my throat.
Just like when I enchanted the plants, I felt a pain in my hand. It was a sharp stab, and I could see the sigil of the Lesser Baptism spell appear on my index finger. It was right above where I had seen the sigil for Growth.
I wondered if I was limited to how many spells I could learn based on how long my fingers were. If my entire index finger got filled up with sigils, could I learn any more spells?
It was a worry for another time. Right now, I only knew two spells, and I still had plenty of room along the skin of my index finger.
“Too sleepy! Too tired! Not waking up! Little boy, little girl! Time to wake up!” Cheerful’s voice sounded again.
I looked at the dirt. There was no movement. I knew that the spell worked, because I felt the pain in my hand, but why weren’t the poppets waking up?
I bent over the tub, intent on digging them out. As soon as my fingers touched the dirt, I immediately drew away.
No. I knew in my bones that I should not force the poppets awake.
“Not ready yet! Not ready! Too tired! Too sleepy!” Cheerful croaked.
“Maybe you’re right,” I answered.
Why didn’t the poppets wake up? Had I messed something up along the way? It was a distinct possibility. Or, maybe, like Cheerful suggested, they were simply not ready to wake up yet. Had it been exactly a day? Was I a little early?
“What should I do?” I turned to the bird.
“Little boy, little girl, want to sleep! Let’s go to sleep too! I’m tired! I’m sleepy! We’ll play with little girl, little boy tomorrow morning! I’m tired. Let’s go to sleep!” Cheerful answered.
I wasn’t sure if I should take the bird’s advice. Unlike Aleister, who was wise and bookish, Cheerful was… I actually wasn’t sure. Was Cheerful smart in his own bird way? Maybe he knew more about Sorcery than he let on.
“Alright, let’s go to bed. We’ll see if they wake up in the morning.” I agreed, and we left the small bathroom.