#Dark Ruler Yeza

[witchyfictional]

Week 10 (SPRING 10/13)

Professional Log of Harper Tobin, Journeyman Witch

Patient #1: Maddi Windwake

Ailment: Bard Boils [boils**] [pain*] (T4) Oh, Maddi, not you too! I implored her to reveal the culprit to me, but her embarrasment was too great and I didn’t want to push hard enough to upset her. All she did was shake her head and ask me to keep this a secret.

Patient #2: A banshee that usually haunts a hidden lake a few miles from where I was trained has actually come to Nana Dorea for help. She hasn’t given her name, but…

Ailment: also Bard Boils [boils**] [pain*] (T4) How is this suddenly so common? Do all bards spread this affliction? It can’t be the same bard, traveling so far and frequently, can it?

Recommend: Shockfish soup for the both of them. Maybe I should make a barrel full at this point.

Field Notes:

I had a rough morning out by the Loch, being immediately harassed by gull-drakes looking for an easy meal to steal, but unfortunately for them I had nothing on me they could take. I spent as much time as I dared out in the water, but only managed to collect a single Shockfish for my efforts. I was eventually chased away by Bàs Bàta again, writhing up a storm in the throes of his agony.

I had no time to look for more. Thankfully, I still had an extra in the storeroom, as well as a few surplus Skullcaps I’ve been keeping. I whipped up one batch of Shockfish Soup for poor Maddi immediately (see earlier entry for recipe), but unfortunately there weren’t enough Skullcaps for a second dose to send to Nana Dorea for her banshee. After pondering this a while I decided to experiment with my Milkstone instead. It’s a much stronger painkiller than Skullcaps so it should get the job done, although I am sure the taste will end up very strange. Ah, well…perhaps banshees don't mind strange, milky-tasting fish soups.

Paid: 30 silver from Maddi Paid: 60 silver from Nana Dorea I kept a vigilant eye on the doorstep this time, in case the vagabond returned again to thank me, but after a few days of watchfulness I figured perhaps they had run out of money to tip. Soon after, however, I received an unexpected package delivered by mail coach, containing +40 silver and the familiar, ridiculously embellished note of thanks. Well played, sir or madame bard. Well played.

Additional Notes:

My encounter with Bàs Bàta this week has re-ignited my ferver to collect the ingredients necessary for his cure. I searched with determination in Hero’s Hollow, and thankfully was met with much more success than my last few attempts. I visited with both Bap (who was able to point me toward the new nap room for the vampires), as well as with the Dark Ruler, Lady Yeza, who invited me to dinner again so I could update her on my progress. I told her I hadn’t yet had a chance to explore the Strange because I was too busy trying to sneak up on sleeping vampires, and she immediately called one in wide awake and ordered him to allow me to extract some venom without a fight. It was both impressive and intimidating.

As I finished extracting a third dose from one vampire hiding in a room off the main tunnels, I nearly tripped over another fancy helmet, even more elaborate than the last. I put it on just for fun, and it must have made me look impressive because I was approached by a small group of very young and tired-looking explorers soon after, offering to pay me to guide them out. Money is money, so I accepted their +10 silver and led them all the way back to the entrance before turning around and delving right back in again.

My foraging for the week came to an end on the day I met the Baron.

On my way out of yet another vampire napping nook, I passed a long hall full of identical suits of decorative parade armor. One of them suddenly sprang to life and cornered me against the opposite wall, and I wasn’t sure if it was flirting or threatening at first, to be honest. The voice that came out was deep and sonorous and rather lovely, but the mood quickly soured after he introduced himself and demanded a duel. He had no face, I noticed, as his visor flapped. I don’t know if he is a ghost inside the armor or if he is the armor, but he calls himself “the Baron” (as you may have guessed) and he sounded suave and full of himself.

I’m not really the dueling sort, but he wouldn’t allow me to move on without facing him, and even forced a sword into my hands. He refused my forfeit and he berated me when he saw I tried to lose on purpose. Finally I gave in and did my best to bang him up a bit, but of course I was no good. He beat me soundly and only allowed me to leave, limping, after he’d scored a nasty blow on my leg. I’ve decided the Baron is a jackass, and I’m going to try and avoid him from now on.

OOC: Rep – 16 [Intermediate] Silver – 194 Tools – basics / coracle / sickle (+2 foraging points) Familiar skill – Hunter (-3 Animal reagent rarity) Golem Helper: getting settled

Upgrades: – Garden plot (x1; Surgeon Sap) – Raven Loft (take 2 jobs; if both on time, x2 pay for second draw)

Surplus reagents: ** Surgeon Sap [wound] [burn] [+1s]  — (freely available) *** Amethyst Antlers [magic] [curse] [mood] — (x1) ~Candy Rock [+4s] — (x1) * Coldrust [hot] [magic] — (x1) * Deep Reed [ear] [blood] [stomach] — (x1) ** Dentist Crabs [teeth] [mouth] [lungs] [infection] — (x1) ** Foot Fungus [burn] [boils] [rash] [+2p] — (x1) *** Fossil Fish [time] [magic] — (x1) * Gas Weed [lungs] — (x1) *** Ghost Goo [spirit] [curse] — (x1) ** Glittersnow [curse] [magic] — (x1) * Hermit Snails [wound] [bones] — (x1) *** Innocent’s Suffering [pain] [sleep] [nerves] [wound] — (x1) ! *** Jumpkin [stomach] [cold] — (x1) ** Mermaid’s Gift [hair] [+1p] — (x1) *** Moon Moss [blood] [curse] — (x1) ** Princess Toad [wart] [rash] [mood] — (x1) * Scramble Bramble [mood] [senses] [+1p] — (x1) ** Shockfish [nerves] [pain] [boils] — (x1) * Silverleaf [infection] [rash] — (x1) ** Slime Shells [parasite] [infection] [blood] — (x10) *** Vampire Venom [curse] [pain] [mood] — (x10) *** Wigfish [mood] [sleep] [hair] — (x2)

[witchyfictional]

Week 7 (SPRING 7/13)

Professional Log of Harper Tobin, Journeyman Witch

Patient: Susan Chert, local geologist

Ailment: Dwarven Lung [cough*] [lungs**] Too much time spent in the mining sites along the foothills near Moonbreaker Mountain, and probably a neglect of proper safety equipment (like breathing masks).

Recommend: Gull-Drake Guano alone will smooth out coughing and clear the lungs (it’s gross but it works), but for Dwarven Cough there tends to be far too much build-up, so this time the lung damage will require something stronger. Raw Dentist Crab gel should be strong enough.

Field Notes:

While catching extra Dentist Crabs I came across a third chest from the underwater pirate wreck, this time full of what might have been incredibly fancy hats - but unfortunately all waterlogged, thanks to a small hole in the corner of the chest.

As I was collecting the Gull-Drake Guano, I spotted a glimmer in the water and thought it might be something nifty, so I went to take a look. It was a small, corked bottle with a rolled up message inside - which is unexpected, what with this being a lake. Why would someone throw a message in a bottle into a lake, where it can’t go anywhere? I opened it to see what it said and the message was as odd as the circumstance, only asking a list of personal questions and requesting a reply. It instructed the finder of this note ot simply toss their reply back into the water to send it back. My curiosity was piqued enough to prompt me into replying - I wonder if it will really get back to its original sender?

I spent the rest of my time at the Loch collecting as many Slime Shells as I could possibly find for the management of Bàs Bàta’s shattered tooth. I was highly successful, despite several very curious incidents (enough for eight doses).

One notable encounter was with a siren I haven’t seen or heard before. I was out on the water when I found it suddenly hard to think, strongly compelled to swim out to some distant rocks toward the sound of singing. The way he sang was somewhere between a human voice and birdsong, strange but wondrously lovely. He stopped abruptly when he saw me and flushed red with shame, immediately falling into apologies. I asked why he was all alone in the Loch - usually sirens travel in flocks, or so I’ve been told, and since the males are rare, I’ve never heard of one traveling without his mates. He hedged around my questions, seeming reluctant to answer, and hastily offered me a Wigfish wig he’d picked up as an apology for interrupting my day. I can’t say no to such quality reagents, so I accepted, but when I looked up again he was already gone with a flurry of his wings.

Baffled, but pleased with my newly acquired prize, I continued with my exploration and came across another stranger - a very kind dwarf out fishing, who invited me into his boat. His name was Raggen Gabbro, and he spoke with me for a good while about his own explorations of the Loch. He seems to know quite a lot, and I appreciated his insight and advice. When we parted, he directed me to where I might find some Gas Weed, which was much appreciated.

I was eventually chased out of the water again by Bàs Bàta’s tortured thrashing. I feel for the creature but I certainly don’t want to be anywhere near it while it’s mad with pain. I hope I can gather enough ingredients to help it, soon. I doubt any human-portioned remedy will be effective. I briefly returned to the huge nest in the rocks that I found last week, and to my delight found that the Amethyst Antler shards were still there among the eggs - but again I was pecked away by the vigilant mama bird before I could grab them.

I spent the rest of my foraging at the Loch following those unidentified footprints all along the shore. I tripped over half-buried items in the sand at least three times along the way - there is a lot of flotsam and junk left by people all over the beach. The upside was that I also found a substantial pile of Deep Reed that had also washed ashore. As the sun set, I spotted the familiar shape of the ghost ship Capybara cresting into the bloody horizon once again, so I got back in my canoe and headed over for a visit. I ended up spending the entire night partying with the raucous spirits, losing track of time so badly that I got unceremoniously dunked in the water at dawn when they retreated again beneath the waves.

When I swam back to shore, I stubbed my toe on something half buried in the wet sand. When I dug it up and rinsed it in the waves, I was startled to find a small, empty box carved from ancient coral. It looked extremely old, crusted a little with the fossils of other sealife around the edges. The strangest part was that I saw, carved into the inner lid of it, a sigil - the same sigil printed on all the leftover containers and equipment in my Apothecary. Kevyn’s personal sigil.

Except this time, in addition to the signature swirling pattern, there was a word engraved around the symbol - “Orendal.” If this were written anywhere else, I would have taken this for something in a language I didn’t understand…But the way this was written matches too exactly with the way ancient master witches left their marks. Nowadays people tend to forego the name and only leave the sigil, but in more ancient times they almost always used both, according to my studies. “Orendal” is almost certainly a name...although why it’s written along with Kevyn’s personal sigil is a mystery to me. It can’t be that Kevyn copied the sigil - every witch must have their own, and every one must be unique, like a fingerprint.

When I retuned home, I compared it to the versions I have around the cottage, and confirmed - this is absolutely Kevyn’s sigil, but for some reason paired with a different name. Could “Orendal” actually be Kevyn’s real name? Or perhaps, a previous name he’s long since left behind? But if so, how on earth did it come to be on such an incredibly ancient object? I had no time to fully dwell on this, since I still had a remedy to make, but I set the box in a safe place to contemplate at a later time.

“Cough Quencher”

Crush the dried Gull-Drake guano into fine dust

Boil the the resulting powder and strain well

Spoon in raw Dentist Crab claw gell until the mixture thickens and smooths

End result should be something like a vaguely fishy yogurt

Paid: 30 silver Despite the strange taste, it works fast, and Susan was already breathing better as she left.

Additional Notes:

I spent the next several days going back up the mountain and repairing Dwayne the stone golem, and at last I deemed him fully healed, to the best of my ability. He can’t speak, but he seemed very grateful, and  nearly crushed me in an earnest but uncomfortable hug. Unexpectedly, he ended up following me back down the mountain. I didn’t protest, as long as he was careful where he stepped, although I wasn’t sure what more he wanted of me. After a complicated game of pantomime, I gathered that he wanted to stay with me and repay me for my help. I certainly don’t mind the company, so I agreed, and was able to direct him to an uncluttered portion of the land left to me by Kevyn. I’ll have to teach him to write if we want any extensive conversations, though.

I also went to Hero’s Hollow this week in search of powerful painkillers, and with Shadow’s help I was able to procure a bit of Vampire Venom without issue. While sneaking away from the coffin room I did end up triggering a trap and falling into a stone cell for a while, which was frustrating, but I was thankfully rescued not long after. A beautiful woman with hair like spilled ink and eyes like pale glass showed up and looked in on me, calling down to ask if I needed help. I expected her to throw down a rope, but instead I found myself levitating all the way back to the top to greet her. Her skin was a deep cerulean blue. She wore a lavishly embroidered gown and glittered with gems and jewelry, looking as elegant as a queen - which is certainly not what I expected in a dungeon.

I thanked her for her help, and she asked what my business was in the Hollow. I could have asked her the same, but instead I told her I was looking for ingredients to create a remedy for Bàs Bàta. I guess this was the right thing to say, because she immediately turned from aloof and suspicious to charming and courteous. She introduced herself as Yeza, Dark Ruler of the Underlands and Master of Shadows. It was quite a title, and I suddenly felt silly and shabby, but she was very sweet to me from then on. She apologized for the inconvenience of my falling into one of the many traps, and invited me for dinner in her throne room. I’ve never been in a throne room before.

I follower her safely through the deepest parts of her domain - protected from its various threats only by her presence, I suspect - and we entered a much more lavish and elegant wing of the Hollows than I ever imagined was there. It was less “dank dungeon” and more like a hidden underground palace. She clapped her hands for attendants and we were served one of the strangest and yet most decadent meals I have ever eaten. We ended up getting along very well. I told her of my explorations in the Hollow and how I’ve helped people with the things I’ve collected, and she was surprisingly eager to assist in my endeavors. She said the last witch, Kevyn, had been too obsessed with his own convoluted dealings, and never would have wanted to help poor Bàs Bàta. Apparently Kevyn hated Bàs Bàta, but when I asked her why she kept changing the subject.

She asked if I’ve ever met someone like her before - blue, that is - and I said no. She asked if I’ve ever heard of something called the Strange, and I said no again. She said that she wanted to help me by granting me passage to her original home plane, for the purpose of finding other kinds of reagents that might be useful to me, and I got extremely excited. I’ve read about the possible existence of other planes but never dreamed I’d get to see one in person. When we finished dinner, she led me back up into the shabbier side of the Hollow and showed me the way to an incongruous fancy archway standing empty and useless in the middle of a hall. After Yeza chanted a while in a language I couldn’t understand, the empty air beneath the arch began to swirl with deep blue and violet-black light

This is the portal to the Strange.

I wanted to explore it right away, but for once my better sense held me back, and I told Yeza that I would rather return with the proper equipment for a full expedition. She wrote down instructions on a scrap of parchment to instruct me on how to open the portal myself, for which I thanked her profusely, and we parted ways. I cannot wait to actually go through, when I can set aside the time. I am absolutely thrilled.

OOC: Rep – 12 [Intermediate] Silver – 126 Tools – basics / coracle Familiar skill – Hunter (-3 Animal reagent rarity) Golem Helper – getting settled Upgrades – garden plot (x1; Surgeon Sap)

Surplus reagents: ** Surgeon Sap [wound] [burn] [+1s]  — (freely available) *** Amethyst Antlers [magic] [curse] [mood] — (x1) ~Candy Rock [+4s] — (x1) * Deep Reed [ear] [blood] [stomach] — (x1) ** Dentist Crabs [teeth] [mouth] [lungs] [infection] — (x1) ** Foot Fungus [burn] [boils] [rash] [+2p] — (x1) *** Fossil Fish [time] [magic] — (x1) * Gas Weed [lungs] — (x1) *** Ghost Goo [spirit] [curse] — (x1) ** Glittersnow [curse] [magic] — (x1) * Hermit Snails [wound] [bones] — (x1) *** Innocent’s Suffering [pain] [sleep] [nerves] [wound] — (x1) ! *** Jumpkin [stomach] [cold] — (x1) ** Milkstone [teeth] [pain] — (x1) *** Moon Moss [blood] [curse] — (x1) ** Princess Toad [wart] [rash] [mood] — (x1) * Scramble Bramble [mood] [senses] [+1p] — (x1) ** Shockfish [nerves] [pain] [boils] — (x1) * Silverleaf [infection] [rash] — (x1) * Skullcap [poison] [pain] — (x2) ** Slime Shells [parasite] [infection] [blood] — (x10) *** Vampire Venom [curse] [pain] [mood] — (x1) *** Wigfish [mood] [sleep] [hair] — (x2)

[witchyfictional]

Dramatis Personae

(subject to change, may contain spoilers)

Witches & Co:

Harper Tobin — novice witch, ambitious and determined, used to being overqualified and understimulated

Shadow — Harper’s familiar, a large black panther raised from kittenhood, gifted by Edhaas

Kevyn (Orendal?) — the previous witch of High Rannoc; disappeared but left behind notes for his successor

Areidala Jackson — Harper’s cousin, a potter living in High Rannoc

Edhaas Tobin — Harper’s elder brother, adventuring scholar studying dragons; often brings home pets

Nana Dorea — Harper’s old master, the witch back home

Muffins the cat — Nana Dorea’s new pet, slightly accident prone

Adventurers:

Ariadne Soriah — research scholar from the Cloud Isles in search of a lost underwater city

Ferrio Verdan — old ranger who often passes through Harper’s hometown

Hildahrafn — elderly barbarian woman; still goes out adventuring as much as she can

Maddi Windwake — druid adventurer, part of the adventuring group The Bacchae

Nikola Skywode — hot (indeed) air balloonist, eccentric and charming

Relissa Sparrow — novice adventurer, long red hair, somewhat gullible

Tybalt Potter — novice adventurer, easily peer-pressured

Illinois James — notorious tomb raider and treasure hunter, possible old flame of Nana Dorea’s

Villagers:

Alexander Pumel — tavern bartender

Calliope Trippin — eldest daughter of the elves running a bed & breakfast out of a giant’s shoe on the shore of Meltwater Loch

Granny Windwake — grandmother of Maddi Windwake; hobbyist gardener

Kiara the vampire — vampire child who works as a bloodletting assistant for the local physician

Susan Chert — local geologist

Tori Baggle — aggressive, claims to be a truffle hunter

Wilfred Foom — the elderly curator of the Lunar Tower in High Rannoc

Yolanda Harrison — antique dealer in High Rannoc

Other Local Denizens:

Bap the demon — disarmingly polite demon convict chained up in the depths of Hero’s Hollow

The Baron — haunted suit of armor; suave, arrogant, pushy, aggressive; old friend of Kevyn?

Bernard the giant — friendly, lives in a candy rock cave on Moonbreaker Mountain

Coral the merfolk — beautiful dancer, assumed to live around the Dreamwater Depths

Dwayne the golem — newly mended stone golem, now helping Harper at the Apothecary

Ezekiel (Zeke), ghost bosun— bosun of the ghost ship Capybara; dated an artist before dying in a pirate attack

Finneon the siren — mysterious but sweet siren living alone & flockless around Meltwater Loch

Io the sphinx — sphinx who’s very bad at riddles

Laurence, ghost captain — captain of the ghost ship Capybara

Nelofar (Nel) the naiad — shy but flirtatious, lives in a river in the Glimmerwood

Paul the skeleton — living skeleton in the dungeon of Hero’s Hollow, gets stepped on a lot

Raggen Gabbro — dwarf who loves fishing & foraging, very knowledgeable about Meltwater Loch Rufus the ?? — a fuzzy dungeon shopkeep of unknown species in Hero’s Hollow

Yeza — Dark Ruler of the Underlands and Master of Shadows