An isolated village's Witch has passed on, and the chief has petitioned your coven for a replacement. You, a journeywitch fresh from your studies, have been selected for the post. What awaits you in the wilds surrounding that community? What friends and foes will you make amongst the people there? Only time will tell…
-
For all readers and writers
After much ado, our new tagging system is here and being rolled out to the userbase. Read more here!
- Created at
- Index progress
- Hiatus
- Watchers
- 26
- Recent readers
- 0
- Threadmarks
- 6
-
Statistics (2 threadmarks, 2.3k words)
User Total Eater 2 -
Loading…
-
Loading…
Which Witch?
- Location
- Minnesota
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Winter decamps the land of Eldthorn like a traveling jeweler closing up at the end of a fair. All of the shiny baubles and trinkets that glittered so prettily in the wan sunlight are packed away with assurances that next year's will be totally different and just as beautiful. From the southern coast to the northern mountains the blanket of snow is rolled up, revealing bare branches and brown brush. With an airy wave that sends a cool shiver down the spine Winter sets off.
With its departure people stir from their warm dwellings and begin to go about their business, puttering through the routines that have built up over countless generations, since before the time of their grandmother's grandfather's grandparents. In the central midlands, where the thorn forests are stitched through with marshy pools, the first crop of rice is sown. The fishers of the southern coast make repairs to their boats and check their kelp beds while they wait for the spring storms to pass. In the northern reaches the shepherds ready their flocks to ascend into the hills. Everywhere firewood is restocked from deadfall, fences are mended, gardens planted.
Some folk venture further afield, making their way from village to village now that travel is possible, tinkers and traders swapping crafts and services for the most part. Messages pass this way also, from hand to hand on the winding trails that gradually descend into murky green twilight as the leaves bud and unfurl. One such message concerns you directly. It is to the Coven of the Corewood, that circle of wizened hags most esteemed in all Eldthorn: a request that they send a witch to tend to their village and its environ, a position left vacant since the passing of one Thylma Knoteye at harvest time last year.
You, a young Journeywitch fresh from your tutelage with the coven, are selected for the post. You've spent the last decade learning the basics of witchcraft. The long hours spent mastering the basics of medicine, forestry, herbcraft, potion brewing, and the myriad small crafts which are necessary to aid the folk of Eldthorn. You've delved deep into the magics of the woods, and have emerged, powerful and changed. Everything you've worked towards has finally come to fruition, and you now have the chance to stand on your own and prove yourself.
What is your name?
[][Name] (Write in name)
The magics of Eldthorn are powerful and invasive. As you learned to channel the eldritch forces they lingered and seeped into your very soul, transforming you into a creature of the magics you work.
[][magic] Brew - Potion making and alchemy are seen by many as the core element of witchcraft, perhaps by you most of all. Your time spent in dark rooms bent over a cauldron amongst the potent vapors of powerful brews has left you bereft of hair with large, sleepy eyes. Your skin is mottled with bright, vibrant colors, and it has a smooth, froglike texture which is slightly slick as the potions absorbed into you seep back out, causing strange effects in those that touch you.
[][magic] Seer - You've looked deep and far and past the veils of the worlds. You've seen many things, but have been seen in turn. Your flesh is translucent; folk can see the play of your muscles and tendons and bones as you move about. Some days you even look like a bare skeleton walking about, and at the convergence of moons when the barriers between worlds are thinnest you are completely transparent.
[][magic] Thorn - The plants of Eldthorn twine sinuously amongst their sharp edged selves. Just so do you, with your study of the land's botany evident in your verdant green skin, your strangely strangely flexible and twisted limbs. Your hair is long, leaved vines that are threaded through with the same sharp thorns that now grow in place of your nails and teeth.
[][magic] Write In - choose some craft or magical practice and a drastic physical change that is related to some aspect of it. The transformation should affect every aspect of your body and be impossible to hide. Feel free to write a different sort of change for one of the existing arts. Subject to veto, especially if the magic isn't witchy enough.
Most folk of Eldthorn are affected by the power of its magic as they age, taking on aspects of plants, animals, or any number of other living things. Some of this form may remain with you even now.
[][aspect] None
[][aspect] Fox
[][aspect] Willow
[][aspect] Catfish
[][aspect] Dragonfly
[][aspect] Write In
To what village have you been dispatched?
[][village] Myressa's Reach - A tiny hamlet high in the foothills of the Aves Mountains. The folk there live primarily in natural caves, subsisting on the strange fungi that drink deep of the mountain's roots. They trade these for cheese and textiles with the herders that spend the summer grazing their flocks on the slopes.
[][village] Stormswell - A fishing village perched on the lip of a massive lagoon of the same name. The lagoon is edged with high cliffs on all sides. The spring storms are massive and violent, drawing water high up the cliff faces like water up a well. The townsfolk tend to beds of kelp in the waters of the lagoon, and venture out in boats to fish the deeper waters of the coast.
[][village] Bracken - A farming village nestled in the midland marshes among tall, razor edged ferns. The village is stood on slits to avoid sinking into the waterlogged earth. Folk there farm rice and other wetland crops, and are known for their strong wickerwork made from the bracken that their village is named for.
Welcome to Hagiography!
This quest exists mostly because I dislike how Dnd depicts hags. I also draw a bit of influence from the weirds in what I've read of The Shining Wyrm. I'm leaning in a light body horror/mutation direction so far as the magics of the setting, so be aware of that.
My goal for this quest is ~2k word updates weekly, with a focus on narrative and characters. I'm trying to get back into writing on a regular basis, so I'll see if more is practical for me to do.
Edit: I totally forgot to say! You can vote by plan if you like but you don't need to. I will tally each category individually.
With its departure people stir from their warm dwellings and begin to go about their business, puttering through the routines that have built up over countless generations, since before the time of their grandmother's grandfather's grandparents. In the central midlands, where the thorn forests are stitched through with marshy pools, the first crop of rice is sown. The fishers of the southern coast make repairs to their boats and check their kelp beds while they wait for the spring storms to pass. In the northern reaches the shepherds ready their flocks to ascend into the hills. Everywhere firewood is restocked from deadfall, fences are mended, gardens planted.
Some folk venture further afield, making their way from village to village now that travel is possible, tinkers and traders swapping crafts and services for the most part. Messages pass this way also, from hand to hand on the winding trails that gradually descend into murky green twilight as the leaves bud and unfurl. One such message concerns you directly. It is to the Coven of the Corewood, that circle of wizened hags most esteemed in all Eldthorn: a request that they send a witch to tend to their village and its environ, a position left vacant since the passing of one Thylma Knoteye at harvest time last year.
You, a young Journeywitch fresh from your tutelage with the coven, are selected for the post. You've spent the last decade learning the basics of witchcraft. The long hours spent mastering the basics of medicine, forestry, herbcraft, potion brewing, and the myriad small crafts which are necessary to aid the folk of Eldthorn. You've delved deep into the magics of the woods, and have emerged, powerful and changed. Everything you've worked towards has finally come to fruition, and you now have the chance to stand on your own and prove yourself.
What is your name?
[][Name] (Write in name)
The magics of Eldthorn are powerful and invasive. As you learned to channel the eldritch forces they lingered and seeped into your very soul, transforming you into a creature of the magics you work.
[][magic] Brew - Potion making and alchemy are seen by many as the core element of witchcraft, perhaps by you most of all. Your time spent in dark rooms bent over a cauldron amongst the potent vapors of powerful brews has left you bereft of hair with large, sleepy eyes. Your skin is mottled with bright, vibrant colors, and it has a smooth, froglike texture which is slightly slick as the potions absorbed into you seep back out, causing strange effects in those that touch you.
[][magic] Seer - You've looked deep and far and past the veils of the worlds. You've seen many things, but have been seen in turn. Your flesh is translucent; folk can see the play of your muscles and tendons and bones as you move about. Some days you even look like a bare skeleton walking about, and at the convergence of moons when the barriers between worlds are thinnest you are completely transparent.
[][magic] Thorn - The plants of Eldthorn twine sinuously amongst their sharp edged selves. Just so do you, with your study of the land's botany evident in your verdant green skin, your strangely strangely flexible and twisted limbs. Your hair is long, leaved vines that are threaded through with the same sharp thorns that now grow in place of your nails and teeth.
[][magic] Write In - choose some craft or magical practice and a drastic physical change that is related to some aspect of it. The transformation should affect every aspect of your body and be impossible to hide. Feel free to write a different sort of change for one of the existing arts. Subject to veto, especially if the magic isn't witchy enough.
Most folk of Eldthorn are affected by the power of its magic as they age, taking on aspects of plants, animals, or any number of other living things. Some of this form may remain with you even now.
[][aspect] None
[][aspect] Fox
[][aspect] Willow
[][aspect] Catfish
[][aspect] Dragonfly
[][aspect] Write In
To what village have you been dispatched?
[][village] Myressa's Reach - A tiny hamlet high in the foothills of the Aves Mountains. The folk there live primarily in natural caves, subsisting on the strange fungi that drink deep of the mountain's roots. They trade these for cheese and textiles with the herders that spend the summer grazing their flocks on the slopes.
[][village] Stormswell - A fishing village perched on the lip of a massive lagoon of the same name. The lagoon is edged with high cliffs on all sides. The spring storms are massive and violent, drawing water high up the cliff faces like water up a well. The townsfolk tend to beds of kelp in the waters of the lagoon, and venture out in boats to fish the deeper waters of the coast.
[][village] Bracken - A farming village nestled in the midland marshes among tall, razor edged ferns. The village is stood on slits to avoid sinking into the waterlogged earth. Folk there farm rice and other wetland crops, and are known for their strong wickerwork made from the bracken that their village is named for.
Welcome to Hagiography!
This quest exists mostly because I dislike how Dnd depicts hags. I also draw a bit of influence from the weirds in what I've read of The Shining Wyrm. I'm leaning in a light body horror/mutation direction so far as the magics of the setting, so be aware of that.
My goal for this quest is ~2k word updates weekly, with a focus on narrative and characters. I'm trying to get back into writing on a regular basis, so I'll see if more is practical for me to do.
Edit: I totally forgot to say! You can vote by plan if you like but you don't need to. I will tally each category individually.
Header image from Wikimedia user Xosema
commons.m.wikimedia.org
File:Anisoptera - Libélula - Dragonfly - 005 - Galicia.jpg - Wikimedia Commons
Last edited:
- Location
- The Hall of Completed Quest Fame
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[x] Plan: Roseless Thorns
-[x][Name] Eustacia Grimm
-[x][magic] Thorn - The plants of Eldthorn twine sinuously amongst their sharp edged selves. Just so do you, with your study of the land's botany evident in your verdant green skin, your strangely strangely flexible and twisted limbs. Your hair is long, leaved vines that are threaded through with the same sharp thorns that now grow in place of your nails and teeth.
-[x][aspect] Dragonfly
-[x][village] Bracken - A farming village nestled in the midland marshes among tall, razor edged ferns. The village is stood on slits to avoid sinking into the waterlogged earth. Folk there farm rice and other wetland crops, and are known for their strong wickerwork made from the bracken that their village is named for.
-[x][Name] Eustacia Grimm
-[x][magic] Thorn - The plants of Eldthorn twine sinuously amongst their sharp edged selves. Just so do you, with your study of the land's botany evident in your verdant green skin, your strangely strangely flexible and twisted limbs. Your hair is long, leaved vines that are threaded through with the same sharp thorns that now grow in place of your nails and teeth.
-[x][aspect] Dragonfly
-[x][village] Bracken - A farming village nestled in the midland marshes among tall, razor edged ferns. The village is stood on slits to avoid sinking into the waterlogged earth. Folk there farm rice and other wetland crops, and are known for their strong wickerwork made from the bracken that their village is named for.
Character Sheet and Mechanics
- Location
- Minnesota
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Name: Eustacia Grimm
Physical Description: Your skin is a verdant green that shimmers with a blue iridescence in the light. Your limbs are bent in ways that don't quite look natural; when put under pressure they flex and bend in peculiar ways and places. Your hair is long, flowing down to your waist in waves of brown vines with dark green leaves and the same wicked thorns that grow in place of your nails and teeth. Your eyes are large and compound, shiny and a deep blue.
Keywords: Dragonfly
Corewords: Journeywitch, Thorn
Soulwords:
Physical Description: Your skin is a verdant green that shimmers with a blue iridescence in the light. Your limbs are bent in ways that don't quite look natural; when put under pressure they flex and bend in peculiar ways and places. Your hair is long, flowing down to your waist in waves of brown vines with dark green leaves and the same wicked thorns that grow in place of your nails and teeth. Your eyes are large and compound, shiny and a deep blue.
Keywords: Dragonfly
Corewords: Journeywitch, Thorn
Soulwords:
Mechanics in this quest are keyword based. You start with one Keyword (Dragonfly) and two Corewords (journeywitch and thorn).
The Basics:
To do some substantial (ie not just walking somewhere or talking to folk), you'll roll a d11. 1 and 11 are critical, and will have extra effects. 6 will have no effect. <6 fails, >6 succeeds.
Words:
You can attach one of your words to an action that they're relevant to automatically succeed. If you do this it will only allow you to act in ways which align with the way your character understands the word. For example, if want to annoy someone and use the 'Thorn' Coreword, you could cause plants to trip them up but you couldn't be 'a thorn in their side' by badgering them incessantly at all hours. If more than one word might apply you can use whichever aligns best with the action that you are taking, but only one word can apply at a time.
Actions taken with keywords do not need a roll if they are trivial, ie gathering potion ingredients, setting a fire with dry wood, etc.
Actions taken with Corewords do not need a roll if they are rote, ie brewing a potion you've made several times before, diagnosing common ailments, etc.
Actions taken with Soulwords do not need a roll the action has succeeded before.
Additionally, words have an expanded crit range as they go up in power:
Keywords crit on 1-2 and 10-11.
Corewords crit on 1-3 and 9-11.
Soulwords crit on 1-4 and 8-11.
Word Progression:
If you fail at something three times then you gain a new keyword.
A keyword that succeeds three times is upgraded to a coreword.
A coreword that crits three times becomes a soul word.
Words are not static, and can transmute, be removed, or be gained as the result of narrative actions. For instance, journeywitch will transmute to witch once you are recognized as a full witch by a coven.
Failure is expected and necessary in this system.
These mechanics may be expanded on as time goes on (ex: rules for being assisted by a coven, familiars, etc)
The Basics:
To do some substantial (ie not just walking somewhere or talking to folk), you'll roll a d11. 1 and 11 are critical, and will have extra effects. 6 will have no effect. <6 fails, >6 succeeds.
Words:
You can attach one of your words to an action that they're relevant to automatically succeed. If you do this it will only allow you to act in ways which align with the way your character understands the word. For example, if want to annoy someone and use the 'Thorn' Coreword, you could cause plants to trip them up but you couldn't be 'a thorn in their side' by badgering them incessantly at all hours. If more than one word might apply you can use whichever aligns best with the action that you are taking, but only one word can apply at a time.
Actions taken with keywords do not need a roll if they are trivial, ie gathering potion ingredients, setting a fire with dry wood, etc.
Actions taken with Corewords do not need a roll if they are rote, ie brewing a potion you've made several times before, diagnosing common ailments, etc.
Actions taken with Soulwords do not need a roll the action has succeeded before.
Additionally, words have an expanded crit range as they go up in power:
Keywords crit on 1-2 and 10-11.
Corewords crit on 1-3 and 9-11.
Soulwords crit on 1-4 and 8-11.
Word Progression:
If you fail at something three times then you gain a new keyword.
A keyword that succeeds three times is upgraded to a coreword.
A coreword that crits three times becomes a soul word.
Words are not static, and can transmute, be removed, or be gained as the result of narrative actions. For instance, journeywitch will transmute to witch once you are recognized as a full witch by a coven.
Failure is expected and necessary in this system.
These mechanics may be expanded on as time goes on (ex: rules for being assisted by a coven, familiars, etc)
Last edited:
- Location
- Around here
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Plan: Stormwatcher
-[X] Name: Glenda Triss
-[X][village] Stormswell - A fishing village perched on the lip of a massive lagoon of the same name. The lagoon is edged with high cliffs on all sides. The spring storms are massive and violent, drawing water high up the cliff faces like water up a well. The townsfolk tend to beds of kelp in the waters of the lagoon, and venture out in boats to fish the deeper waters of the coast.
-[X][magic] Seer - You've looked deep and far and past the veils of the worlds. You've seen many things, but have been seen in turn. Your flesh is translucent; folk can see the play of your muscles and tendons and bones as you move about. Some days you even look like a bare skeleton walking about, and at the convergence of moons when the barriers between worlds are thinnest you are completely transparent.
-[X][aspect] Catfish
-[X] Name: Glenda Triss
-[X][village] Stormswell - A fishing village perched on the lip of a massive lagoon of the same name. The lagoon is edged with high cliffs on all sides. The spring storms are massive and violent, drawing water high up the cliff faces like water up a well. The townsfolk tend to beds of kelp in the waters of the lagoon, and venture out in boats to fish the deeper waters of the coast.
-[X][magic] Seer - You've looked deep and far and past the veils of the worlds. You've seen many things, but have been seen in turn. Your flesh is translucent; folk can see the play of your muscles and tendons and bones as you move about. Some days you even look like a bare skeleton walking about, and at the convergence of moons when the barriers between worlds are thinnest you are completely transparent.
-[X][aspect] Catfish
- Location
- UK
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Plan: From Prince To Frog And Back Again
-[X][Name] Daphny Knoteye
-[X][magic] Transformation - For most witches, transformations are a side effect of their magic. For you, it is your magic. You can change and alter anything you look upon to suit your needs. Your own appearance is unchangeable though. An appearance that takes much more from its aspect than is usually taken.
-[X][aspect] Caterpillar
-[X][village] Stormswell - A fishing village perched on the lip of a massive lagoon of the same name. The lagoon is edged with high cliffs on all sides. The spring storms are massive and violent, drawing water high up the cliff faces like water up a well. The townsfolk tend to beds of kelp in the waters of the lagoon, and venture out in boats to fish the deeper waters of the coast.
-[X][Name] Daphny Knoteye
-[X][magic] Transformation - For most witches, transformations are a side effect of their magic. For you, it is your magic. You can change and alter anything you look upon to suit your needs. Your own appearance is unchangeable though. An appearance that takes much more from its aspect than is usually taken.
-[X][aspect] Caterpillar
-[X][village] Stormswell - A fishing village perched on the lip of a massive lagoon of the same name. The lagoon is edged with high cliffs on all sides. The spring storms are massive and violent, drawing water high up the cliff faces like water up a well. The townsfolk tend to beds of kelp in the waters of the lagoon, and venture out in boats to fish the deeper waters of the coast.
- Location
- Indonesia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well, the magic for this plan is certainly monstrous all right. Also, nice quest you got here!
My vote:
[X] Plan: The Dreams Of A Shapeshifter
-[X][Name] Maru Ferya
-[X][magic] Shapeshift - As a child, you dream of being able to shift into different beings altogether from your own. The eldritch forces soon enable you to work on the magic needed. And it works, your body can now shift into multiple beings such as birds, dogs, cats, etc. Your physical appearance is a horror though. Fur, feathers, scales, and any other animal parts. All of those parts combine into a single form... In your default form, that is! Just use magic and you can shift into a different being without being an ugly thing. You can even turn into a human form if you really need hands and to uh... socialize!
-[X][aspect] Cat
-[X][village] Stormswell - A fishing village perched on the lip of a massive lagoon of the same name. The lagoon is edged with high cliffs on all sides. The spring storms are massive and violent, drawing water high up the cliff faces like water up a well. The townsfolk tend to beds of kelp in the waters of the lagoon, and venture out in boats to fish the deeper waters of the coast.
[X] Plan: From Prince To Frog And Back Again
My vote:
[X] Plan: The Dreams Of A Shapeshifter
-[X][Name] Maru Ferya
-[X][magic] Shapeshift - As a child, you dream of being able to shift into different beings altogether from your own. The eldritch forces soon enable you to work on the magic needed. And it works, your body can now shift into multiple beings such as birds, dogs, cats, etc. Your physical appearance is a horror though. Fur, feathers, scales, and any other animal parts. All of those parts combine into a single form... In your default form, that is! Just use magic and you can shift into a different being without being an ugly thing. You can even turn into a human form if you really need hands and to uh... socialize!
-[X][aspect] Cat
-[X][village] Stormswell - A fishing village perched on the lip of a massive lagoon of the same name. The lagoon is edged with high cliffs on all sides. The spring storms are massive and violent, drawing water high up the cliff faces like water up a well. The townsfolk tend to beds of kelp in the waters of the lagoon, and venture out in boats to fish the deeper waters of the coast.
[X] Plan: From Prince To Frog And Back Again
Akatsunami
The Bonetatoist
- Location
- Brazil
[x] Plan: Elementalist Dragonewt
-[x][Name] Annie Fhibian
-[x][magic] Elemental - The elements of Eldthorn shift continuously to form the whole world. And Just so do you, with your study of the land's biomes changing you, your body is earth like, held up by bones of hard metal, skin both soft and sharp like a clay vase peppered with rocks and crystals, the surface of filled with a vein like pattern of cracks where the fire that courses inside you can peek through, your hair is like clouds, smoke and dust in the wind, billowing and shifting, ever-changing, turning into a storm of droplets and sparkling lightining when you are angry, your teeths, nails and eyes are like white ice, cold, hard and sharp, with pupils like rubys, where the fire within can peek through once again.
-[x][aspect] Axolotl
-[x] Myressa's Reach - A tiny hamlet high in the foothills of the Aves Mountains. The folk there live primarily in natural caves, subsisting on the strange fungi that drink deep of the mountain's roots. They trade these for cheese and textiles with the herders that spend the summer grazing their flocks on the slopes.
-[x][Name] Annie Fhibian
-[x][magic] Elemental - The elements of Eldthorn shift continuously to form the whole world. And Just so do you, with your study of the land's biomes changing you, your body is earth like, held up by bones of hard metal, skin both soft and sharp like a clay vase peppered with rocks and crystals, the surface of filled with a vein like pattern of cracks where the fire that courses inside you can peek through, your hair is like clouds, smoke and dust in the wind, billowing and shifting, ever-changing, turning into a storm of droplets and sparkling lightining when you are angry, your teeths, nails and eyes are like white ice, cold, hard and sharp, with pupils like rubys, where the fire within can peek through once again.
-[x][aspect] Axolotl
-[x] Myressa's Reach - A tiny hamlet high in the foothills of the Aves Mountains. The folk there live primarily in natural caves, subsisting on the strange fungi that drink deep of the mountain's roots. They trade these for cheese and textiles with the herders that spend the summer grazing their flocks on the slopes.
[X] Plan: Elementalist Dragonewt
[X] Plan: The Dreams Of A Shapeshifter
[X] Plan: Stormwatcher
[X] Plan: The Dreams Of A Shapeshifter
[X] Plan: Stormwatcher
Vote closed
- Location
- Minnesota
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Due to forgetting to specify the correct post to start the tally off of, ArlequineLunaire's vote got cut off. So, the results are:
[Name] Eustacia Grimm
[magic] Thorn - The plants of Eldthorn twine sinuously amongst their sharp edged selves. Just so do you, with your study of the land's botany evident in your verdant green skin, your strangely strangely flexible and twisted limbs. Your hair is long, leaved vines that are threaded through with the same sharp thorns that now grow in place of your nails and teeth.
[aspect] Dragonfly
[village] Stormswell - A fishing village perched on the lip of a massive lagoon of the same name. The lagoon is edged with high cliffs on all sides. The spring storms are massive and violent, drawing water high up the cliff faces like water up a well. The townsfolk tend to beds of kelp in the waters of the lagoon, and venture out in boats to fish the deeper waters of the coast.
Last edited:
CH1: You're sure to Hag a wonderful time!
- Location
- Minnesota
- Pronouns
- They/Them
You wake slowly to a chill spring drizzle seeping the heat from your face. The dawn suffuses the overcast sky with an ethereal glow and casts faint beams of light through the falling mists and the tall standing stones of the circle. The verdant foliage of elderberry and various lesser thorns piled up almost to the height of the stones around the edge of the circle lends the light a rejuvenating aura which seeps into you as you take your first waking breath.
Despite the chill rain you are pleasantly warm and dry. It seems that when you appeared in the circle overnight the circle's flora crept over your nude form to cover you in a blanket of vines, leaves, and roots. You can feel the pulse of the plants' thoughts now that you're waking up: delight at the rain, but anticipation for its passing also, so that they can drink of the sun.
As you shift and stir a little an undercurrent of excitement and of welcome rises to the surface. It's clear to you that no one so attuned to plants as yourself has passed through this circle in many years. It gives you the impression of innumerable tiny cousins running around the ankles of your mind, holding up their school art projects for you to inspect.
For a time you lay there, content, listening to the light patter of rain in leaves and feeling out the pleasant cacophony of the plantlife. The soil here is rocky and shallow, the plants so different from the great Eldthorns of the deep forests that you've spent the last decade around. Everything is so much faster, new growth every few decades rather than the slow turn of millenia.
Eventually the rain stops, quite abruptly with a break in the clouds, revealing a bright cerulean sky and an eager spring sun.
Only a little begrudgingly you decide it's probably best to get a move on.
You run a finger along a particularly thick vine which runs off to the side of your torso and push your gratitude out through the web of roots before lifting up on it. The sheet of greenery lifts up to release you from its embrace. You slip out, gently settling them back down before standing up to stretch, toes sinking into the loosened earth, fingertips reaching up into the sky.
With a shiver at the cold, you look around.
The stone circle stands at the top of the tallest of the gently rolling hills that spread out across one half of the horizon. Shrubland of lesser thorns, grasses, and other brush spreads out until it is met by the tall, twisted trunks of the Truethorn forest which covers all the eye can see off into the distance until the upthrust beaks of the Aves devour the skyline.
The other half of the visible world has been cut off cleanly from end to end and fallen into the sea.
High cliffs line the coast in an unnaturally straight line. A stark change from green to blue is all you can see from this angle. The only feature at all is the Stormswell lagoon directly south of where you're standing.
It is an imposing feature, almost too wide to see across and ringed all around by boneglass spikes that rise seamlessly from the cliffs at even intervals around its circumference. The waters of the lagoon are a warm aquamarine, which stands in stark contrast to the deep blue black of the open ocean.
Nestled between the nearest two spikes is the village which shares the lagoon's name: Stormswell. The buildings look small and toylike from this distance, like a pile of multicolored beads.
There's a wide path running down to the village from the circle. It's wide and well worn, switching back and forth across the hillside. Good portions of it are the exposed rock of the hill, but you can see that a lot of effort has been put into ensuring that it won't wash out in a heavy rain.
Before you head off you move over to the witch's chest that sits at the trailhead, to pick out something to wear. The one at this circle is more like a jar or a pot than a chest: low and squat ceramic with a blue and white glaze the depicts a swirling waterspout threaded through with a school of fish.
Inside you are surprised to find a note sitting on top of the pile of assorted dresses. It's addressed to you. Or, well, 'To The Sorry Excuse of a Green Witch That Winds Up Taking My Place'. So. Probably you? You do have green skin, but it's probably referring to the lack of experience. You wouldn't put it past one of the old hags to make a joke out of what they left for their replacement. You're sure it's practically a tradition. All in good fun.
The letter reads:
On the back is a simple map of the town and the immediate surroundings. The witch's cottage is a little ways east of the town proper. There's a few other locations of interest around the outskirts of the village: Lover's Lookout, Ropewalk, Glassfall, Fallow's Pond. It's not clear what the last two are.
What will you do about the letter?
[][letter] Take it as gospel. These are treasured directions from your honored senior and should be given careful attention!
[][letter] Take it with a grain of salt. Clearly, your elder was having a bit of fun, but most of this is valuable information.
[][letter] Ignore it. Total codswallop, you will not be made a fool of.
[][letter] Write in.
Where will you go first?
[][destination] Down to the village to say hello to everyone! It would be rude not to introduce yourself right away!
[][destination] You're going to check out the cottage. Might as well settle in and see if there's any other surprises Thylma left for you.
[][destination] A walk through the countryside to get fully acquainted with the area is the best thing to do this morning. You're primarily responsible for the goings on outside of the village, after all.
[][destination] Write in.
Finally, most importantly: which dress will you take?
[][dress] The standard one size fits all black dress. It's thick sturdy black fabric, not coarse enough to chafe and voluminous, with several ties in strategic places to pull it as tight or loose as you like no matter your frame. It also has a number of pockets, hidden and not.
[][dress] An earthy brown dress which fits your figure perfectly, and matches your hair. It's made of a stretchy smooth fabric that you can't place but feels just like sinking your whole feet into fresh tilled earth: divine.
[][dress] a gauzy, slightly sparkling white dress which poofs out and swirls like clouds about your hips. It leaves most of your legs free and sets off the slight blue sheen of your skin wonderfully.
[][dress] Write in.
This took me a bit longer than I expected. I like how it turned out though? Let me know what you think!
No plan votes this time, please!
Despite the chill rain you are pleasantly warm and dry. It seems that when you appeared in the circle overnight the circle's flora crept over your nude form to cover you in a blanket of vines, leaves, and roots. You can feel the pulse of the plants' thoughts now that you're waking up: delight at the rain, but anticipation for its passing also, so that they can drink of the sun.
As you shift and stir a little an undercurrent of excitement and of welcome rises to the surface. It's clear to you that no one so attuned to plants as yourself has passed through this circle in many years. It gives you the impression of innumerable tiny cousins running around the ankles of your mind, holding up their school art projects for you to inspect.
For a time you lay there, content, listening to the light patter of rain in leaves and feeling out the pleasant cacophony of the plantlife. The soil here is rocky and shallow, the plants so different from the great Eldthorns of the deep forests that you've spent the last decade around. Everything is so much faster, new growth every few decades rather than the slow turn of millenia.
Eventually the rain stops, quite abruptly with a break in the clouds, revealing a bright cerulean sky and an eager spring sun.
Only a little begrudgingly you decide it's probably best to get a move on.
You run a finger along a particularly thick vine which runs off to the side of your torso and push your gratitude out through the web of roots before lifting up on it. The sheet of greenery lifts up to release you from its embrace. You slip out, gently settling them back down before standing up to stretch, toes sinking into the loosened earth, fingertips reaching up into the sky.
With a shiver at the cold, you look around.
The stone circle stands at the top of the tallest of the gently rolling hills that spread out across one half of the horizon. Shrubland of lesser thorns, grasses, and other brush spreads out until it is met by the tall, twisted trunks of the Truethorn forest which covers all the eye can see off into the distance until the upthrust beaks of the Aves devour the skyline.
The other half of the visible world has been cut off cleanly from end to end and fallen into the sea.
High cliffs line the coast in an unnaturally straight line. A stark change from green to blue is all you can see from this angle. The only feature at all is the Stormswell lagoon directly south of where you're standing.
It is an imposing feature, almost too wide to see across and ringed all around by boneglass spikes that rise seamlessly from the cliffs at even intervals around its circumference. The waters of the lagoon are a warm aquamarine, which stands in stark contrast to the deep blue black of the open ocean.
Nestled between the nearest two spikes is the village which shares the lagoon's name: Stormswell. The buildings look small and toylike from this distance, like a pile of multicolored beads.
There's a wide path running down to the village from the circle. It's wide and well worn, switching back and forth across the hillside. Good portions of it are the exposed rock of the hill, but you can see that a lot of effort has been put into ensuring that it won't wash out in a heavy rain.
Before you head off you move over to the witch's chest that sits at the trailhead, to pick out something to wear. The one at this circle is more like a jar or a pot than a chest: low and squat ceramic with a blue and white glaze the depicts a swirling waterspout threaded through with a school of fish.
Inside you are surprised to find a note sitting on top of the pile of assorted dresses. It's addressed to you. Or, well, 'To The Sorry Excuse of a Green Witch That Winds Up Taking My Place'. So. Probably you? You do have green skin, but it's probably referring to the lack of experience. You wouldn't put it past one of the old hags to make a joke out of what they left for their replacement. You're sure it's practically a tradition. All in good fun.
The letter reads:
Article: Green Bean,
Nothing doing. No sickness. No beasties. Even no hag! no Problems for you! Ha! Few words of advice:
Don't fuck it up.
- Seal on well needs repair this year
- Feed Bruno. Loves salmon.
- Do not listen to a single word out of the mouth of that insufferable harpy Regiyn Fairfeather
- Left gift in secret cave along base of lagoon cliff. Your eyes only. Very secret.
-Thylma
On the back is a simple map of the town and the immediate surroundings. The witch's cottage is a little ways east of the town proper. There's a few other locations of interest around the outskirts of the village: Lover's Lookout, Ropewalk, Glassfall, Fallow's Pond. It's not clear what the last two are.
What will you do about the letter?
[][letter] Take it as gospel. These are treasured directions from your honored senior and should be given careful attention!
[][letter] Take it with a grain of salt. Clearly, your elder was having a bit of fun, but most of this is valuable information.
[][letter] Ignore it. Total codswallop, you will not be made a fool of.
[][letter] Write in.
Where will you go first?
[][destination] Down to the village to say hello to everyone! It would be rude not to introduce yourself right away!
[][destination] You're going to check out the cottage. Might as well settle in and see if there's any other surprises Thylma left for you.
[][destination] A walk through the countryside to get fully acquainted with the area is the best thing to do this morning. You're primarily responsible for the goings on outside of the village, after all.
[][destination] Write in.
Finally, most importantly: which dress will you take?
[][dress] The standard one size fits all black dress. It's thick sturdy black fabric, not coarse enough to chafe and voluminous, with several ties in strategic places to pull it as tight or loose as you like no matter your frame. It also has a number of pockets, hidden and not.
[][dress] An earthy brown dress which fits your figure perfectly, and matches your hair. It's made of a stretchy smooth fabric that you can't place but feels just like sinking your whole feet into fresh tilled earth: divine.
[][dress] a gauzy, slightly sparkling white dress which poofs out and swirls like clouds about your hips. It leaves most of your legs free and sets off the slight blue sheen of your skin wonderfully.
[][dress] Write in.
This took me a bit longer than I expected. I like how it turned out though? Let me know what you think!
No plan votes this time, please!
Ch1 vote
SeQuester
Novice explorer
- Location
- Russia
- Pronouns
- He/His
[X][letter] Take it with a grain of salt. Clearly, your elder was having a bit of fun, but most of this is valuable information.
[X][destination] Down to the village to say hello to everyone! It would be rude not to introduce yourself right away!
[X][dress] An earthy brown dress which fits your figure perfectly, and matches your hair. It's made of a stretchy smooth fabric that you can't place but feels just like sinking your whole feet into fresh tilled earth: divine.
[X][destination] Down to the village to say hello to everyone! It would be rude not to introduce yourself right away!
[X][dress] An earthy brown dress which fits your figure perfectly, and matches your hair. It's made of a stretchy smooth fabric that you can't place but feels just like sinking your whole feet into fresh tilled earth: divine.
- Location
- Indonesia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well, dress I don't know. I'm not a girl, but I know what to vote on the others.
My vote:
[X][letter] Write in: Follow the letter's orders except for number 3. You would like to meet this "Regiyn Fairfeather" before judging their character.
[X][destination] Down to the village to say hello to everyone! It would be rude not to introduce yourself right away!
My vote:
[X][letter] Write in: Follow the letter's orders except for number 3. You would like to meet this "Regiyn Fairfeather" before judging their character.
[X][destination] Down to the village to say hello to everyone! It would be rude not to introduce yourself right away!
- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] [letter] Take it with a grain of salt. Clearly, your elder was having a bit of fun, but most of this is valuable information.
[X] [destination] Down to the village to say hello to everyone! It would be rude not to introduce yourself right away!
[X] [dress] An earthy brown dress which fits your figure perfectly, and matches your hair. It's made of a stretchy smooth fabric that you can't place but feels just like sinking your whole feet into fresh tilled earth: divine.
[X] [destination] Down to the village to say hello to everyone! It would be rude not to introduce yourself right away!
[X] [dress] An earthy brown dress which fits your figure perfectly, and matches your hair. It's made of a stretchy smooth fabric that you can't place but feels just like sinking your whole feet into fresh tilled earth: divine.
- Location
- Belgium
[X][letter] Take it with a grain of salt. Clearly, your elder was having a bit of fun, but most of this is valuable information.
[X][destination] Down to the village to say hello to everyone! It would be rude not to introduce yourself right away!
[X][dress] An earthy brown dress which fits your figure perfectly, and matches your hair. It's made of a stretchy smooth fabric that you can't place but feels just like sinking your whole feet into fresh tilled earth: divine.
[X][destination] Down to the village to say hello to everyone! It would be rude not to introduce yourself right away!
[X][dress] An earthy brown dress which fits your figure perfectly, and matches your hair. It's made of a stretchy smooth fabric that you can't place but feels just like sinking your whole feet into fresh tilled earth: divine.
Vote closed