I was not in the mood to linger in town today. After giving Otho his potion, I headed back to the mountain to work on the golem. There's something very satisfying about fixing things. I didn't finish, but I'm very close. DowntimeSpent all 6 downtime time segments on fixing the golem. That makes it 8/10 repaired.

Finally, I needed some nest scraps. Last time, I tried to get those from the forest and got shot for my troubles, so I thought this time I'd go to Moonbreaker Mountain instead. There were plenty of nesting birds among the crags. As I went up the slopes, I thought I head a repeated grinding noise, but I couldn't quite locate it until, when I was collecting the nest scraps near some big boulders, one boulders ground and unfurled into a human-shaped figure. It was a stone golem, quite badly damaged. I placed the nest scraps in my pouch and investigated. I thought I could repair it, given enough time. It was still a while before sunset, and I had all the ingredients I needed, so I spent a few hours working on it. I didn't manage to fix it, but I at least got all the pieces back together. I'll have to go back and finish the job later. I returned to the cottage and made another discovery! I'd made a mess of the glassware, working on a distillation experiment, so I had to dig deep into the cabinet to get the pieces I need. That's when I realized that the inside of the cabinet was a lazy Susan that spun to reveal another stash of equipment. (It had been stuck with a cork wedged into the mechanism, which is why I hadn't noticed before.) It looks like the previous witch had a side business in booze. Some beer brewing, some distillation, pretty much anything you needed was in there, along with a notebook of recipes and variations, plus a tall thin bottle of something herbal and quite strong. It was amazing, to be honest. I think I figured out which recipe it was, and I'll have to give it a try myself sometime. I do wonder what happened to her. Without much additional fuss, I prepared the potion, using the same recipe as before, and delivered it to Otho at the tavern, with my usual suggestion of iron-rich foods and basic wards against the undead. Another happy customer. Nest scraps, the witch, and brewingNest scraps are only a 2 in spring. I drew a Joker, however, which is a clue about the original witch. I then drew a 6 of Spades, so I learn something about one of the hobbies of the witch outside of magic. I figured moonshine felt about right. Back to the nest scraps, I drew a Jack of Clubs, plenty to find the nest scraps. The event was finding a broken golem. Once I spend 10 time segments on it, it will return with me to my cottage. The Drunk ailment is on a timer of 8. I had spent 3 getting the deep reed and driftwood memories (1 extra from the event), then 1 to switch to the mountain and 1 to find the nest scraps. That would leave me with 3 left. I figure I could comfortably spend 2 on repairs. I got 20 silver, bringing me to 30 (since I had spent 50 on a sickle). My reputation is now 9.

The next ingredient I needed was the deep reed. That's usually fairly common by the shore, so once the cù-sìth had gone away, I went back down the hill to the loch itself. While I was collecting it, Aya had swooped over one of the wrecks near the shore and was circling excitedly. The water was shallow enough that I could wade out to it without a problem, and there in the middle was a skeleton huddled over a barnacle-encrusted chest. Well, I was too curious to just ignore this, so after I made sure the skeleton was just a skeleton and not a Skeleton, if you know what I mean, I carefully distentangled it and pried the chest open with my knife. I tried to open it there, but it was too stuck, so I just took it back to shore with me. Aya was doing loops, she ws so excited. Once on shore, I could pry it open with my knife. Inside was the remains of a book, possibly a journal, what was probably a stack of letters at some point, and a brass locket on a chain. It was in pretty good shape, all things considered. It still opened, but there wasn't anything left inside. If I had to guess, it probably had a lock of hair in it as some point. In the end, I put it all back into the chest, waded back out to the wreck, and gave it back to the skeleton. It seemed like the right thing to do. Deep reedDeep reed value is 4, drew a 10, collected it.

Well, this isn't good. The vampire's back, or its friends are back. At least they're leaving Jacobi alone, this time it was one of the adventurers from the tavern, Otho, a big lunk of a man. He could probably feed three vampires. He was looking very pale and very serious when he showed up at my door. Apparently, there were a few vampires nesting by Hero's Hollow. Otho and his pals destroyed all but one of them, but that one got a good bite in on Otho. That was enough attunement for it to keep haunting him over the past week, and he's been getting weaker and weaker. Well, I had my recipe ready, the Resanguination Draught of the Memory of Nesting Reeds. I just needed to collect the driftwood memories, the deep reed, and the nest scraps again. Ailment drawDrew a 8 of Diamonds, so DRUNK again. Drunk - [BLOOD 1] [COLD 1] [SENSES 2] - Timer: 8 And wouldn't you know it! No sooner had Aya helped me extract the memories from a scatter of driftwood by the shore than I hear the howl of the cù-sìth again. Even though it wasn't as much a surprise this time, that thing still sounds absolutely horrible. I left the shore anc climbed back up onto the sunnier hillside above it. I didn't have my circle to retreat into this time, so I just went a bit further up and found a holly tree to shelter under. Eventually, it quieted down. Driftwood memoriesDrew 6 of Diamonds. cù-sìth encounter, uses up an extra time. 6 is enough to collect the memories. This spends 2 time steps, so I have 6 left.

I was somehow not in the mood to muck around in town. I probably should. You know, lay in stores while I have the chance, but I just couldn't make myself do anything much. I did stop in to Bits & Bobs to talk with Bjarne a bit. While I was there, I bought myself a sickle, since sometimes it's just nice to have the right tool for a job. That should make foraging for reagents go a bit smoother in the future. After talking with Bjarne, I stopped by the tavern for a cup of tea. I like the bustle of the place. I can just sit back, relax, and watch the people. SickleBought a sickle for 50 silver, so I have 10 left.

I was tempted to linger a bit and search for a few reagents, but Kathryn was clearly suffering, so I headed back. The crow coal is interesting stuff. It's coal, but it's silvery in color. Crows peck at it when they've eaten something they shouldn't have, hence the name. Flocks of crows will protect a seam if they find one, they value it so much. A single ingredient makes for a simple potion: Zee's Hair of the Crow Potion base 3 dram crow coal, finely crushed Crush the crow coal into a fine powder, then stir into the base liquid. Just about anything will do. Once again, I'd forgotten to tell the patient when to come back, so I went into town to find her and deliver the potion. She took a swig, and you could see her eyes brightening. I got my silver, and another job done. Potion mixingCrow coal provided both Poison 1 and Stomach 1, so it alone was enough. Silver +20, to 60. Reputation +1, to 8.

I went to Hero's Hollow, to visit the dungeon and get some crow coal. On the bright side, I found a map of the dungeon, pushed over into the corner of one of the entry rooms. It was pretty waterlogged, but I could make out enough of it to find a stash of silverleaf. Searching some more, I came across what looked like a chest skittering around on the floor of the passageway. Looking closer, it had short legs and a big mouth. It seemed hungry, but I didn't have anything to offer it. Next time I come through here, I should bring along some jerky. In any case, it must have chased off the crows, since there was a small stash of unguarded crow coal nearby. Crow coal explorationCrow coal has reagent value 7. Drew a 5 of Hearts. Not enough. Found a map, drew a 4 of Clubs, found Silverleaf. Timer is 3. Drew a Jack of Diamonds, found it. Stumbled across the mimic, but didn't have any meat to give it.

Another week, another patient. This time it's someone who was up a bit too late with the dandelion wine. It's medicinal in small doses, not if you drink a gallon. Kathryn should know better. But, still, I should see what kind of a hangover cure I can assemble from local ingredients. Hm. Looks like the poison is the tricky part. I need to go to the dungeon, get either the crow coal and be done, or get the skullcap there for the poison and go to the loch to get some deep reed again for the stomach. Crow coal and done, I say! Ailment drawDrew the Jack of Hearts. J) Hangover [POISON 1] [STOMACH 1] - Timer: 4 After a rowdy night of reckless abandon, the afflicted has crawled to you with a stomach full of poison, a mouth like a desert, and a head as fragile as a sparrow’s egg. Consequence: They get better and go off grumbling. Lose 1 Reputation.

After talking to some of the adventurers at the Copper Fox, I thought I'd head to Hero's Hollow, to see what this dungeon looked like. While I was there, I wanted to find some skeleton dust, since it seemed useful for a number of things. I found the dungeon entrance without too much trouble. Not too far inside, I found an old brass spyglass lying in a crack where it must have rolled. The tube was blue-green with age, but undented. Looking through, everything had a bluish cast. I wonder what it's for? Investigating a little further, I found the puzzle room the adventurers had been talking about. It had shifted, like they said it would. This time, there was a set of clear glass bowls of varying sizes, one of which was filled with yellow-green liquid that glowed faintly in the dim room, while another was tinted blue. As I poured the liquid from bowl to bowl it changed color. With some experimentation, I managed to pour blue liquid of exactly the right volume into the blue bowl, and the door opened. Behind it, I found the remains of one of the guardian skeletons, fallen where one of the adventurers must have left it. I gathered some bone dust and departed. Enough dungeon for me. Skeleton dustSkeleton dust has reagent value 5. Drew 3 of Clubs; event: found object; not enough. Foraging 1. Drew 8 or Hearts; event: puzzle room; found the reagent.    

When I got back to the cottage, I took a bath. A long, hot one. And washed my clothes. The rain had helped get most of the gull-drake guano out, but I still stunk. I'd forgotten about it when I was talking to the giant. I guess he didn't notice, didn't mind, or was too polite to say anything. Then I got to work on the potion. The gull-drake guano needed to be first crushed with the pestle, to thoroughly mix it, then boiled in the cauldron, to cook off as much of the "aromatics" as possible. In the end, it reduced to a thickened pasty-white fluid. That was for the cough. The pixie fur just needed to be ground down into powder, for the rash. Again, this would have taken less work if I'd done it in the other order. I'll learn eventually. I ended up just throwing the pixie fur into the cauldron and adding a bit of spring water and a touch of mint to make it go down easier. Peppy Pollen Pox Potion 1 oz reduction of gull-drake guano, thoroughly mixed and boiled 2 dram pixie fur, finely powdered 4 oz spring water pinch of mint I'll just not mention that first ingredient. After that, I went into town to deliver it to Bjarne at Bits & Bobs. He looked pretty bad, red nose, sneezing, the whole combination. I told him to take a sip each day, in the morning, and after a week it should give immunity for the rest of the season. He happily paid up. Since I was in town, I went over to the Copper Fox and got a cup of tea. That's where I'm writing this now. Once I'm done, I'll see if there's anything else I need. Potion mixingGull-drake guano covers the COUGH. Pixie fur for the RASH. Successful potion, +20 silver; total 40 now. Reputation +1, 7 now.

Well. this has been a wild afternoon. I ended up deciding to stay on the mountain to look for pixies. And I did find the pixies, nasty little buggers. Grabbed one and shaved it, then and there. Then I found the opposite of a pixie. It'd started to rain, so I went around an outcropping, trying to find some shelter, and there, sitting at the entrance of a huge cave, was a giant! He spotted me as soon as I rounded the corner and called out, in this deep rumbly voice, to come in out of the rain. So, I came in and sat on a boulder, so my head wasn't so far from his. Aya, my familiar, was flying about in the rain, twisting and looping her snake-like body, clearly enjoying herself. Every now and then she'd come back and perch on my shoulder, getting me wet. She's a water-creature, she doesn't mind. The giant and I watched her in silence for a few minutes. Then we spoke about the rain, the elements, the slow wearing of the mountains and fast landslides. About solitude, mostly. The view down from the mountains to the loch below. Beauty. It was a rainy day, so we naturally talked about solitude and beauty. The rain finally stopped, and I excused myself. I promised to say hello the next time I was in this part of the mountain, and tried to describe where my cottage was, in case he ever needed to find me. But I had a potion to make, so I couldn't linger all day. Pixie fur foragingPixie fur has reagent value 6. Drew the Queen of Spades. Got the reagent.  

I have a plan. Some gull-drake guano for the cough, then maybe either some pixie fur or silverleaf for the rash. Silverleaf's a little easier to collect, but I'd have to go poking around in the dungeon for it, while pixies are common enough on the mountain. In any case, I trekked up Moonbreaker Mountain looking for the guano. As I approached the nesting sites, a great cloud of the gull-drakes rose around me, pecking and screeching. On the good side, I got plenty of guano. On the bad side, I'm going to need to wash everything. Gull-drake guano explorationReagent value is 4-2=2, since it's spring. Drew a 3 of Spades, which is enough to collect it. I lost 2 foraging points, but I didn't have any yet, so no harm done. This isn't timed, so the time spent doesn't matter.

This morning's visitor seems easy enough. It was the shopkeep at Bits & Bobs. I saw him last week when exploring town, but we didn't speak. Apparently his name is Bjarne. He's got a bad case of the pollen pox this year and was wondering if I had anything for it. I said I could work something up and drop it off tomorrow, most likely. I haven't worked out what I'll need for it yet, but can't be that bad. Ailment drawDrew the King of Hearts, so it's K) Pollen Pox - [RASH 1] [COUGH 1] Travellers from the cities often find that after spending a day in Glimmerwood Grove they’re suddenly itchy and sneezing. It’s always allergies.

Downtime! After finishing the potion, I headed into town to explore. On the way back, I stopped in to visit Anija and ended up staying for dinner. It turns out she's mostly a leatherworker, making things like gloves and belts and jackets and things, with some mending and light tailoring on the side. Not shoes, though, because that's a very different skill. That's Gorden's job, who I haven't met yet. Apparently, he barely talks, mostly mumbles, and rarely looks anyone in the eye, but he does good work on time for a decent price, so most folks think well of him. Next day I visited the Copper Fox Tavern, just to see what it was like. Lots of people there looking for something to do that's not regular hard work. There's a Lunar Tower in town, which I thought was a really interesting use of basic magical sympathy. I found the shop, Bits & Bobs, which has a surprisingly good stock of useful reagents. And they even had a Ritual Circle, but I'd need to get my gear together before I could use that. After that, I went back to the Glimmerwood Grove to see if I could pick up some Songberries. They're easy, they're sweet, it'd be handy to have them on hand. Well, I didn't have much luck. When crossing the river, I tripped and landed smack into a river naiad. I apologized, and she was really decent about it. She even helped me the rest of the way across. She really liked Aya, scratched her under the chin. I think I got some credit just by being the kind of person my familiar would put up with. Honestly, I was a little miffed at first, but we talked for a while by the bank of the river. I waved goodbye, went back in search of Songberries, and got shot again! Arrow to the shoulder, literally the same thing that happened before. Guy, dog, truffles, the whole thing. Gave him a horrible rash this time, like the worst case of poison ivy imaginable. It'll start to heal normally tomorrow. I certainly hope that he's learned his lesson again. Got my Songberries and went home. I think that's enough for this week. DowntimeTimer of 6 for downtime. 1 spent having dinner. 3 total spent foraging. Then just gave up. Foraging for Songberries. Drew the Ace of Spaces, naiad encounter. Drew the 4 of Diamonds, truffle hunter again! The reagent value for Songberries was just 2, but the Ace wasn't enough to get it.

Well, I ended up going straight back from the forest to the cottage. I was thinking about finding some Songberries to sweeten the potion, but in the end I didn't want to push my luck for my first cure. I started with a standard base solution, and just stirred in the Driftwood Memories. The Deep Reed, I crushed with my mortar and pestle to extract the oil, then added that to the brew. Then I had to clean and dry the mortar and pestle before I could grind the Nest Scraps into a powder, and sprinkle that on top. A bit of a stir, and it was ready. I should have done the Nest Scraps first, since the oil was a real pain to clean off in the middle. I'll call it the "Resanguination Draught of the Memory of Nesting Reeds". I added the recipe to my notes: Resanguination Draught of the Memory of Nesting Reeds Splash of extract of driftwood memories, stirred into a standard base 2 oz oil of deep reed 3 dram powdered nest scraps I should have thought to ask Jacobi to stop by every afternoon until it was done, but I'm new to this. And he seemed so tired. In any case, I went into town, asked Anija for directions to his place, and delivered it that afternoon. I was glad to see he'd hung garlic over his windows and doors, liked I asked. He paid me twenty silver, and I watched until I saw him drink the whole thing. I don't want anyone giving me a bad reputation by skipping their medicine. He made a face, but it wasn't even the least bit poisonous! Some people. But he should get better now. That feels good. Mixing the potionDriftwood Memories grant level 2 mood and senses. Deep Reed grants 1 ear, blood, and stomach. Nest Scraps grant 1 cold. Those add up to what I needed for Drunk, so it works. No levels of poison, no levels of sweet, so I get 20 silver for it. I had 0 before, so I'm at 20 now. +1 reputation for completing a potion (5 -> 6).

Next morning! Since I was back at the cottage, I decided to go to Glimmerwood Grove, instead of the mountains. My logic was that you can find the Nest Scraps just as well in either, and I'd save a bit of time going to the forest. Well, that was a bad idea. Some local shot me with an arrow, hit me right in the arm! I got him with the spider curse, you know the one where you think spiders are crawling all over your body. He ran off into the woods shrieking. His dog didn't know what to do. It gave me one long mournful look then ran off after him. I bet it'll be a while before they come back. The curse will wear off at sunset, he'll be fine. He dropped a bag a truffles, he must've thought I was trying to horn in on his secret truffle spot. Well, mine now. Maybe he'll show up on my doorstep this afternoon looking for help with the spiders, that'd be fun. Then I had to extract the arrow, quick stop the bleeding with a dab of spangle moss, then prep a poultice to actually take care of it. By the time that was done, and all my parts were back working, it was mid-morning. But it was easy to find the Nest Scraps, so I'm ready to brew! Nest Scraps explorationDrew a 4 of hearts, triggering the hunter event. The reagent value of Nest Scraps is 4, -2 since it's Spring, or just 2, so I find it. Still no foraging points, but it doesn't matter. Time spent healing costs an extra timer point, and switching from the loch to the forest costs another, so it goes from 5 to 2.  

Next up was the Deep Reed. That stuff's common enough, so I wasn't worried. But then I heard the bark. Not just any shepherd's dog, this bark went straight to the heart and sat there, like a pebble of dread. It could only be a cù-sìth on the prowl. Those things are massive, or so they say, I've never waited to see one up close. They also say that if you haven't found a safe place before the third bark, it'll get you. Luckily, I found some reed washed up in the shallows, so I grabbed it and retreated to my magic circle on the hill. It'd only been an hour, so it was still active. I went inside with Aya and resealed it behind me. I waited there a few hours, until it was getting close to dusk. Luckily I had Aya with me to pass the time. In any case, I wasn't going to get anything else done today, so I just went home after that. But I got the second reagent! I just need the Nest Scraps now. Deep Reed explorationDrew a 6 of hearts, triggering the cù-sìth event. That cost me an extra step of time, hiding in the circle. The reagent value for Deep Reed is 4, so the 6 is enough to find it. Foraging points still at 0. Timer is down two steps, from 7 to 5.

After that, since I was at the loch already, I figured I should start looking for ingredients. Aya, the dragon, thought she knew where some Driftwood Memories could be collected. If I got that, I could get some Deep Reed without too much trouble, and then if I hiked up the mountain I could probably find some Nest Scraps, and that should do it for the potion. First, the driftwood. I went down to the shore, to find some wood. On the shore there, I saw some tracks in the sand, great clawed tracks with the drag of a tail in between. It's too cold here for an alligator, so I wonder what it could be? There was some kind of broad scuff along the path as well, the sand was practically smoothed out. Maybe it was dragging something? Whatever it was, the tracks just disappeared into the water. In any case, we found the driftwood, and Aya showed me the trick of extracting the memories. One reagent down! Driftwood explorationDrew card for events: Ace of Hearts. Found mysterious tracks. Luckily, the reagent value for Driftwood Memories is just 1, so I got it. Foraging value increases from 0 to 1. Timer drops from 8 to 7.  

Squee! But let's tell this from the beginning. Since this was a tricky one (vampire!), I wanted to get some help. First I checked that plate of food I'd left out; bits were missing already, which I took to be a good omen. Either the local animals or spirits were willing to take what I offered. I wanted to find a place where I could see water, so I hiked over to the Meltwater Loch. Luckily the witch who had lived here before me not only left impressively comprehensive descriptions of the local reagents, but also had a basic map of the area. I found a hill that had a great view down into the loch below, where I could feel the breeze blowing and smell the flowers. I gathered a circle of stones and collected some yellow and orange poppies, placing them between the rocks. Then I got out my knife and made a circle within the circle, sprinkled salt, the whole thing. I put my favorite blend in the censer and lit that. Finally, I sat in the center, closed my eyes, and just listened for a while. I felt the breeze blow past me, heard the trees down below and a crow cawing. I closed my eyes, my breath came in and out, and I could see the dim fire of the circle around me. I listened. Finally, I heard the call. It wasn't a voice, really. It was a whisper, a hiss in the air, but I could tell I was meant to follow. I cut the circle and walked down the slope, towards the edge of the loch. The sun shone in the water, casting sparkles across its surface. I felt something looking for me, as I was looking for it. My match, guide, and partner. The waters parted, and I thought I saw a snake, but then it took to the air and hovered in front of me. We locked eyes and we were as one. So yes! I found my familiar! She's a water dragon of some sort, all snake body, short stubby legs, bright blue and green scales, with a red-orange crest running down her body. No wings, but she flies. We don't exactly talk, not yet, but I can feel that she's guiding my magic already. Familiar calling ritualRitual for a familiar. Drew a card for type, got the King of Clubs, mythical creature. Drew a card for familiar skill, got the Queen of Clubs, useful / choose a tool. I chose the Wand as the tool.

Well, nothing like jumping in with both feet, I guess. Oof. The man was huffing and puffing by the time he made it up the hill. He introduced himself as Jacobi Ralson, a farmer with a plot of land just on the other side of the rise. He talked to Anija, and she told him I'd just got here, and here he was. Tired all the time, listless, bit of a cold, and weird, haunting dreams of a pale lady with striking slate-grey eyes. Vampire. Hopefully just a weak one, maybe just passing though. But he was low on blood and by the looks of things it was just going to get worse. I broke the news, and he was so downtrodden that he just accepted it, like it's one of those things. Well, I sent him home with instructions to nail garlic above all his doors, keep himself warm, rest, and try to eat spinach, eggs, and red meat if possible, while I'd work on something to fix him up. Ailment drawDrew a 8 of clubs. 8) Drunk - [BLOOD 1] [COLD 1] [SENSES 2] - Timer: 8 Struck by a vampire, the afflicted has been drunk down to quite dangerous levels. On top of that, they keep leaving their window open at night now and have caught a cold. Consequence: They run off with their vampiric lover. Write about how it goes for them and for you.

Arrival! First day, new place. I thought I'd keep a journal as I was settling in, whenever I had time to write. Bits and pieces, snippets and scraps, I'm not aiming for high literature here. I got to High Rannoc in mid-morning. It was clear, crisp. The roads were still wet from yesterday's drizzle, but the air was full of the smell of green things. It seemed like a good day for a new beginning. I spoke with the first person I saw, Anija, who was quite nice. She knew one of the town alderman, Feodric, and I got a formal, if quick, welcome and directions to the old witch's cottage, which I guess is mine now. It's on the edge of town, atop a small hill, and is quite tightly built and homey. I left out a small plate of food, to see who's in the neighborhood, and have been sweeping out the place. Nothing major, just some dust and cobwebs from the months of disuse, so it didn't take me long to get it right. But I need to stop writing now, I see someone coming up the path from town. Word spreads quickly, I suppose.