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>>676443
The remaining moments of waiting away from the sidelines are truly excruciating. Realizing I did not even offer to help, I hurriedly busy myself with setting the table but even that provides only a brief distraction. I already know this kitchen from the times when Kerstin and Klemens' father have invited us over for dinner. I wonder when he'll do that again. He really has been away for a while now, hasn't he? I like Sunday School when Kerstin is teaching, and she definitely does her best, but she must really miss her papa a lot after all these weeks. Or is it months now? I kind of forgot how long it's been. Quite long, definitely. I wonder if something's gone wrong on his trip to-

"Bon appétit!" Camille cheerfully announces accompanied by the clatter of the ceramic plates sliding across the table, their contents of perfect red, yellow, and white immediately provoking an embarrassingly loud growl from my stomach. Even now the grease is gently dripping from the strips of bacon, merging with the white and gold egg below while on the side the puffy and soft pancakes-

"You're doing it again, Nadja."

Oops! Guess I should stop staring and actually try a bite of the meal before it goes cold. Now THAT would be a crime against the Gods! Even if it couldn't possibly be as good as-

..

..

"This is amazing!" It's exactly as good as I imagined. Maybe even better, somehow! "How did you learn to cook like this!?"

"Ha! You like it then?" Camille responds with far more composure that I could possibly muster right now. "I mostly taught myself, though. I mean obviously Mom taught me the basic stuff, but mostly I just really like cooking. Something like this is almost impossible to mess up, but still, glad you like it!"

"You cook a lot, then?" I do LIKE cooking, but it's also a lot of work and nothing I cook turns out this well!

"Mhm, sure." She says as she finishes chewing the latest bite. "Actually, I'm saving up money just for that. I want to have my own restaurant somewhere, but I still need-"

"A restaurant!? Like a magical restaurant?"

"Yeah?" She raises an eyebrow questioningly at my outburst. "It's not weird! You met Sylph, right? 'Elder' Sylph, I guess, at your initiation you know? She runs her own tea shop and it's not weird at all! Just because some old hags thinks they have the right to tell others what to do with their lives doesn't make it so!"

Uhh, is she still talking to me or someone else? She seems to realize the same, suddenly falling silent and awkwardly turning her attention back to the food. Maybe this is the right time to talk about the thing.

>2/3

>>676445
"So uhm, Camille, about that werewolf thing-"

"No!"

"Huh? No?"

"No work talk now! This is breakfast time, and when it's breakfast time you don't talk about work. Save it for later."

"Oh, uhh, okay? Then... Where's Kerstin and Klemens? They live here so how come-"

"I asked Kay-Kay to find somewhere else to stay while I finish my work here. Now, no more work talk!"

Eh? I know Camille was doing something for Kerstin and that was why she was staying here, but I didn't think that question was 'work talk'. She seems to insist on not talking about this, so I'll have to think of something else.

Luckily, there's plenty of other things I'd like to ask about. For one, it'd definitely be nice to know more about all this daemon business, and maybe to hear what she thinks about what I did yesterday. Did I really deserve to be punished like that? Camille may be young still, but she's not an apprentice anymore so she should definitely know something about this.

And something else that's been bugging me ever since the encounter with the daemon Vanda and how helpless she made me feel, is that I really don't know anything about fighting. Well, fighting like a witch that is. Shouldn't I learn that? Asking her to teach me something about that might be good too. I'll need to know if I want to protect people from bad things, after all. And if I get into trouble it'd be important too.

Lastly there's... Well, there's the thorn Vanda gave me. It can apparently reverse any transformation. Which means, it could make Amalia normal again, right? She would want that, right? But... But the cat ears are so cute! I don't want them to go away! But I should still... shouldn't I? It's the right thing to do! But... It'd be nice to hear what she thinks I should do.

>Please pick ONE of the below and optionally a write-in as well.

>Ask Camille what she knows about daemons.
>Ask Camille to teach me about how witches fight.
>Ask Camille what she thinks I should do about the Amalia situation.
>Something else? [Write-in!]

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>NEW THINGS: Nadja's Notebook has been updated with one or more new entries since the last thread. More details below.

>Nadja's Seniors:
>Mistress' current opinion: 25/100
>Lily's current opinion: 05/100
>Camille's current opinion: 10/100

>Seal: 85/100

>Nadja's Witchy Skills:
>Herbalism : Initiated (Potions and such!)
>Pencraft: Fledgling* (Hexes and wards!)
>Infusion: Uninitiated (Making things be magic / enchanting!)
>*Nadja has proven to be naturally talented at this set of skills. She learns more quickly and has a chance to intuitively understand this type of magic simply by looking at it.

>Communication:
>Twitter: https://twitter.com/FriendQM

>Archives:
>4plebs archive: http://archive.4plebs.org/tg/search/subject/Witch%20Apprentice%20Quest/order/asc/
>Suptg archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=witch+apprentice+quest (Now updated to link to the /qst/ archive for obvious reasons)

>Resources:
>Nadja's Notebook is intended to serve as your reference material for witchy things and other stuff related to the quest. It's divided into the following categories:

>[UPDATED] 1. General Witchcraft: Intro to Nadja's Notebook as well as any witch-related topics outside of the three major arts will go here when Nadja learns about them: http://pastebin.com/FvemAzKN [UPDATED TO INCLUDE ENTRY ABOUT DAEMONS]
>2. Herbalism: Everything about herbs and how to use them to make potions. Also contains Nadja's notes about potions she has encountered but don't know how to make herself: http://pastebin.com/vMWeFhd0
>3. Pencraft (Yes I renamed it because I think it sounds cooler): Hexes and wards that Nadja knows of and how to make them: http://pastebin.com/BTUR8F94
>4. Infusion: The art of bestowing magical properties to items that otherwise had none. For example, the creation of wands or flying brooms. Pastebin will be added once Nadja actually learns about any of this.
>5. Nadja's Notes: Where Nadja writes her notes about various things, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE PLAYERS REQUEST THAT SOMETHING BE ADDED TO THE NOTEBOOK. You can even request to have old events added, so don't be afraid to ask: http://pastebin.com/76btWGte
>6. Characters: Nadja doesn't actually keep a written list of people she knows, but it seemed a list would be useful since a character could easily be absent from the quest for a month or more of real time, and it seemed more fun to write it in Nadja's voice even though she has no reason to ever write it. Anyway, you can find that here: http://pastebin.com/GbRsNuw3

>>676450
>Ask Camille what she knows about daemons.
Only one!? This is a tyranny!

>>676450
>Ask Camille what she thinks I should do about the Amalia situation.

>>676450
>Ask Camille what she thinks I should do about the Amalia situation.
Heya Friend! Hope you've had a good week.

>>676450
>>Ask Camille what she knows about daemons.

>>676450
>Ask Camille what she knows about daemons.

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3 for asking about daemons, 2 for asking about Amalia.

>>676462
>Only one!? This is a tyranny!

Unless you'd prefer I just come back tomorrow when I'm done writing the massive wall of dialog that would result from asking all three questions, we'll be sticking to one!

>>676485
I've certainly had a week to justify spending another night imagining cute girls doing cute things. I guess it's a good thing we're not asking about Amalia, then.

>>676526
That's good to hear! Well, apart from not asking about Amalia. Now that we've finished our deal with the daemon, I feel Amalia's situation is definitely the more urgent one...

>>676526
Oh Friend, you know we love your massive walls of text. Granted, a full day is a bit long for one update I admit.

>>676450
"Hey Camille? Do you know anything about daemons?"

Instantly her face freezes mid-chew as she stares blankly into the air for several long moments eventually interrupted by a loud "SHIT!"

That's rude.

"Is that what you were being punished for? Moons be damned girl, you've not even been doing this for a week yet and you're running about tackling freaking DAEMONS? For real?"

"Is.. Is it that bad? Mistress didn't really tell me much before sending me-"

"She set you up to that!? For the love of Vala, that senile old hag has completely lost it now, hasn't she? Wait, if she sent you to do that, why was she punishing you?"

Somehow, it seems both Mistress and I are in the wrong here now? "Well uhm, she actually just sent me to deliver a message to the daemon and... well, only after I convinced her to let me do it so she could stay with you. It seemed more right that she should do that since she's your mom and-"

"Pfah, like that counts for anything with her! But that's not the point. You definitely didn't do something as stupid as making a deal with it, so I'm guessing you just lost the message or something? Right?"

"Uhm.."

"No way. Tell me you didn't."

"Uhm.."

A loud, meaty slap sounds as Camille's face collides with the palm of her hand, a pained expression on what's still visible of it.

"I... okay, let's be calm. Just tell me exactly what happened and we'll see how bad this is.

-

One nervewracked summary of yesterday's events later, including every detail I can recall, even including the weird things Vanda called me, Camille's expression remains mostly unchanged though slightly coloured by curiosity.

"So uhm, do you think I did the right thing? Or should I have refused?"

Surprisingly, her answer is almost immediate. "Well, putting aside the touching display of how little the hag trusts me... I would've taken the deal too."

"Really!?" I was preparing to get shouted at again, not for her to say I was right!

"Yeah, knowing what I know, I definitely would have. But you took a huge gamble, you know that right? If it had been someone less friendly than Vanda you could-"

"You know her already? Can you tell me more about her?"

She lets out a long sigh, then takes another bite of the breakfast that by now must be turning quite cold. Realizing that, I return my attention to the meal as well as she begins to explain.

>1/2

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>Oh hey, look what I completely forgot to post!

>>676770
"Let's start from the top, seeing as mom decided to tell you basically nothing. You know about the Gods Above already, right?"

"Of course!" I may not be the best student in school, but even I know that. "Deos, Vala, and Mara. Deos is the Allfather who blessed the world with light and life. Vala and Mara are-"

"Right right, I didn't ask for a sermon. Anyway, if they are the God Above, you can think of daemons as the Gods Between. A kind of... lesser gods. Daemons are born from, powered by, and rule over a specific Aspect of our world. That Aspect is everything they are, so if that Aspect becomes stronger and more influential to our world, the daemon becomes stronger. And obviously the opposite is true too."

"So that means Vanda is a-"

"Vanda helped you, because she thinks she can strengthen her Aspect, nothing more. That's all we are to them, no matter how politely they talk to you, just means to an end. Remember that, and they can be valuable tools to you too."

Even with all the things she said? She seemed to mean every word, but she could have been lying. Maybe I really was just a tool to her. But then...

"But then what is her Aspect?"

"Transition. Things or people changing from one state to another. A blooming flower, a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, or a naive little goody-two-shoes brat becoming a proper witch. Hell, you're practically a gold mine to her when I think about it. Right on the edge of puberty, defying authority for probably the first time in your life, the whole witch thing, and probably even more I haven't thought of yet. So there you have it, a favor for a favor is all it is."

"So.. I don't really lose anything?"

"Just a bit of naivety. You got lucky. Though... You've realized what you could do with that thing she gave you, right?"

>"It means I can help you with the werewolf problem! So let's make a plan!"
>"It means I could help Amalia, but.."
>"It means I could hurt Vanda by reversing a lot of transformations, right?"
>Something else? [Write-in!]

>>676773
>"It means I could help Amalia, but.."
We don't really know enough about the situation to be confident in doing it yet.

More importantly, when will we learn enchantments?
WHEN WILL NADJA GET CUTE WITCH HAT!?

>>676773
>>"It means I can help you with the werewolf problem! So let's make a plan!"

>>676773
>"It means I can help you with the werewolf problem! So let's make a plan!"
First things first.

>>676770
>>"It means I can help you with the werewolf problem! So let's make a plan!"

>>676773
>>"It means I can help you with the werewolf problem! So let's make a plan!"
>>"It also means I could help Amalia, but.."

She should realize all three of those.

>>676773
>"It means I can help you with the werewolf problem! So let's make a plan!"
>"It means I could help Amalia, but.."
Both.

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Three against one for serious business!

>>676783
>WHEN WILL NADJA GET CUTE WITCH HAT!?
Please look forward to it.

>>676856
Nadja would pout if you told her helping Amalia isn't serious business!

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>>676856
Or maybe it means no new posts were loading for me, for some strange reason. Still, the majority is for serious business.

>>676773
"It means I can help you with the werewolf problem! So let's make a plan!"

Strangely, Camille doesn't look pleased about that at all. Shouldn't she be happy to get help?

"Not exactly what I had in mind, but.. It is true the last attempt failed spectacularly, but I could take another stab at trying to find a way to reverse the transformation. It'll probably fail again, though."

"Is that what happened? I saw a potion in your backpack labelled as anti-werewolf."

"Nah, that one is a way old recipe. It can STOP you from transforming if you haven't already, but it won't reverse it once you've already gone wolf-y. Nobody knows how to reverse it. Other kinds of tranformation sure, but those are temporary to begin with. This one? This one is a curse and it's permanent. I thought I had figured out a cure but it didn't work at all. Which was quite troublesome, as you can probably imagine. If I had gone alone I would probably been.. Well, no sense worrying about that. As much as I hate this situation, your little artefact is all we have for now. So I guess you're in."

"Vanda said it'll only work if I use it though, so how do we.."

As she finishes the last of her meal, Camille stands from her seat with a grim look on her face. "Unfortunately, werewolves are almost as smart as the person they used to be. We can't just trap it like in my last plan, it'll know what we're up to. We need something new that doesn't involve having to wash bits of Nadja out of my clothes."

"Wha- Don't say it like that! That's nasty!" She seems to just ignore my objections completely. I'm definitely done with breakfast now, though. What kind of person says something so gruestome!?

"Honestly, the best I can think of is trying to beat it up until it passes out so you can safely do your thing. It's risky though, because the whole point is to NOT kill it but it's all I've got at this point. And I DO know exactly who to call in for this plan. What do you think?"

Is that really a plan? Just beat it up? Isn't it a super dangerous monster? And for that matter...

"Shouldn't we talk to Mistress first?"

She shrugs indifferently to that idea. "If you want. Just make sure she knows she's NOT needed for this plan."

"Uhm.. okay?" I'm really not sure why she would say something like that.

"Just come back here when you're ready, I'll get things set up in the meanwhile. Oh, but before you go, what's your favorite color?"

"..My favorite color? Why do you-"

"Never mind that! Just answer the question!"

"Well okay, I guess it's..."

>Please choose any color other than red! Red is not Nadja's favorite color.

>Then...
>Head straight back to Mistress' house. She must be waiting!
>Go back home first, hopefully Papa will talk to me now.
>Go see if Amalia is home, talk to her about the thing.
>Something else? [Write-in!]

>>677064
Blue! Like water! Because Nadja!
>Go see if Amalia is home, talk to her about the thing.

>Green!

>Go see if Amalia is home, talk to her about the thing.

>>677064
Black

>Head straight back to Mistress' house. She must be waiting!

>>677064
>Green like the reptilian Nadia is
>Go back home first, hopefully Papa will talk to me now.

>>677064
>Go see if Amalia is home, talk to her about the thing.
Yellow maybe

>>677093
Nadja is no cold-blooded reptile!

>>677064
>Lilac

>Head straight back to Mistress' house. She must be waiting!

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Serves me right for asking such an open question, huh? I think I'll just leave the color choice open for the rest of the thread in case some more opinions arrive or someone wants to discuss what to go with.

For the other vote, looks like we're going to look for Amalia.

Let's assume it's hat color. That's the only thing worth this much consideration.

What color hat do you want Nadja wearing for the rest of her life?

I'll change my vote to black. Like Amalia's ears and hair.

>>677155
I for one am impressed with us for managing such unprecedented disagreement.

Anyway, I stick to my blue for namesake choice!

>>677171
I dunno about that anon, would you even be allowed to have a hot-pink hat? Cause it seems like young girls could end up with a lot of those if favorite color is the basis for their hats...

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>>677180
You can have all sorts of colored hats!

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>>677155
Oh right, I completely forgot! I have another question for you guys!

You see, usually I kinda just completely ignore Halloween, but considering the core subject of the quest I'm running now, I'm considering changing that stance. So I want to ask you guys, would you be interested in some kind of Halloween special episode in the near future?

It would definitely be removed from the current events and may or may not be canon at all, so I guess the real question is if you would prefer to just stick to the story or if you'd enjoy taking some time for a special episode.

>>677171
>>677180
>Let's assume it's hat color.
It sure is! Mind you, voting for 'green' for example, doesn't mean the hat will be all green. Witches aren't rainbow warriors that come in every color, think some more along the lines of a colored band to go with the hat.

Oh, and hats aren't for life or anything, you can always get a new one if you have money. You can't get a new first hat though!

>>677064
>Green

>Go see if Amalia is home, talk to her about the thing.

>>677225
Yes, halloween-special sounds fun! Even if it'll be a pity to miss a regular session of this quest for it.

>>677225
I'm interested.

>It sure is! Mind you, voting for 'green' for example, doesn't mean the hat will be all green. Witches aren't rainbow warriors that come in every color, think some more along the lines of a colored band to go with the hat.
Back to green for me.

>>677225
You should run what you'd find most fun

>>677225
A special might be nice.

>>677064
>Green
>Go see if Amalia is home, talk to her about the thing.

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>>677064
>>677155
>>677225

Well, it's true that Mistress wants to talk to me, but she did leave me first and I've already gone with Camille for breakfast. At this point a quick stop wouldn't make any difference. And Amalia deserves to know about this artefact. It could change her life enormously. Even if I'd be a little sad if she didn't have the adorable animal ears anymore, she probably would be happier that way. After all, she never even lets me touch them so she must really hate them, right? And that's way more important! I can't be selfish about this!

It's still pretty early, even the market outside isn't completely awake yet, so she could still be home. That would be the easiest place to find her. If she's not there though, she did recently convince Sis to teach her how to fight with swords... which I'm actually supposed to join them for when I have time, but that's definitely not today! She'd probably be doing that if she's already left home.

And if she's not in either of those two places... Well at that point I may as well give up. She'd probably be out in the forest as usual. Amalia isn't much of a people person, so wherever other people aren't is probably her favourite place to be. Usually if I need to find her I just wander around at random for a while and wait for her to find me, but that could take a lot more time than I can afford to lose today!

A quick skip down to her house later and we're ready for attempt #1. Three gentle taps on the door and-

"Go away!"

She's home!

And Gil is still asleep, it seems, or she'd be leaving the whole door thing to him. He usually gets up early like me, but maybe he had a late night working at the tavern again. I think that's usually the reason if he's not up by now.

"Amalia! Can we-"

In a single instant, the door is swung open and shut again and I find myself on the other side before I even fully notice the feeling of being dragged by the arm. There, a serious-looking Amalia greets me, barely.

"Gotta be somewhere. Talk fast."

"Oh, to train with Sis?"

"Somewhere else." She promptly replies.

"Somewhere else?"

"Yes. Right now. Talk, ten seconds."

"Then I'll go with you to-"

"No. Time to go." She coldly states as she grabs my arm again and drags me outside, slamming the door behind us.

>"Fiiine, if whatever's so urgent then we can talk later."
>"I'm still coming with you! This is important!" [Roll 1d20 to attempt to keep up with Amalia]
>"No! This is important and you're not going anywhere until we've talked!" [Roll 1d20 to attempt to match wills with Amalia]
>Something else? [Write-in!]

>>677467
>"I'm still coming with you! This is important!" [Roll 1d20 to attempt to keep up with Amalia]

Rolled 11 (1d20)

>>677467
>"No! This is important and you're not going anywhere until we've talked!" [Roll 1d20 to attempt to match wills with Amalia]

>>677467
>"I'm still coming with you! This is important!" [Roll 1d20 to attempt to keep up with Amalia]

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>677467
>"I'm still coming with you! This is important!" [Roll 1d20 to attempt to keep up with Amalia]
Oh dear.

Rolled 17 (1d20)

>>677467
>>"No! This is important and you're not going anywhere until we've talked!" [Roll 1d20 to attempt to match wills with Amalia]

Rolled 2 (1d20)

>>677467
>"I'm still coming with you! This is important!" [Roll 1d20 to attempt to keep up with Amalia]
Not sure if Amalia really has a super-important thing to do, or just wants to get away from Nadja to hide her condition. Probably both.

>>677467
>"Fiiine, if whatever's so urgent then we can talk later."

>>677506
Well, thankfully I didn't get a 1 at least.

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>>677493
>Rolled 19 (1d20)

Well shit. I uh.. I kinda set the DC for keeping up with Amalia's speed at exactly 19. I didn't really expect it to ever happen since trying to chase her doesn't happen that often.

I'm a little confused now.

>>677576
Nadja has waited too long trying to figure out how to help her friend! She isn't taking no for an answer, and neither is her dice.

>>677576
What was the DC for stopping her?

>>677576
No one can run from Nadja's friendship. They'll just get hugged tired.

>>677576
Amalia would never let Nadja get lost in the woods, she was just letting herself be followed so she didn't get lost!

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>>677585
17. Historically Amalia will usually get her way and have Nadja follow along with what she wants to do, but since Nadja has actually grown a bit since the last time she's less of a pushover now and actually has a decent chance of telling Amalia to sit down and listen which is an extremely rare ability..

>>677576
If you set the DC at only 19, you really shouldn't be that surprised.

>>677625
>spoiler
Not too surprising, cats are very head-strong after all!

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>>677467
"Well I'm still coming with you! This is important!"

She glances briefly at me, puts on a wicked grin and replies simply. "Keep up, then."

"Wait what do you mea- HEY!"

And just like that, she's off. Darn it! She knows she's much faster than I am, that cheaty cheater! Well, after all that's been happening I am NOT going to just give up like that! If she wants a race, she's getting a race! She's already heading down the stairs to the ground level by the time I've rounded corner of her house, but at least she's not out of sight yet, that means I can still follow her.

All around I feel the heads of the few market-goers already up turning in surprise at the scene, but I shut them out of my mind. If I want to catch up I don't have time to be embarrassed or to worry about things like accidentally tearing my clothes on a branch as I follow her steps out of town, off the road and toward the West. Actually this is almost he same path I would take when heading to Mistress' house! I know this area, especially about the tricky roots and the slippery parts of the path!

>Rolled 19 (1d20)

Amalia doesn't seem to have a problem with tripping over tree roots, no surprise there, but she does have to slow down a bit when she hits the slippery patches of ground that I know to run around, letting me catch up ever so slightly.

A few minutes later, she's so close I can almost reach out and-

>Rolled 2 (1d20)

Ow! Oh no! I can only curse my luck as the pain of my left foot impacting with a particularly stupid rock registers and, as is starting to feel like a bad habit, I once again lose my footing and crash head first into the grou-

"Eeek!"

Actually that's not the ground, it's Amalia! I must have accidentally taken her with me in the fall! She is a lot softer than the ground, but..

"Uhm, are you okay?" I ask her in between panting for air. "Amalia?"

As I lift myself up from her back to sit on my knees, I see her rolling around to face me, a wide grin on her face.

"You got faster."

"I.. guess? But are you-"

"Fine." She declares as too lifts herself off the ground, the advantage of her mostly-dark clothing becoming apparent as they barely look dirty from the fall while mine- Wait that's not the point!

"Now can we please talk?"

"No time." She repeats once more.

"WELL THEN AT LEAST TELL ME WHAT'S SO IMPORTANT THAT I CAN'T EVEN TALK TO MY FRIEND!"

She pauses, staring directly into my eyes as she does so. Then stares for a while more, until at least she turns to look at a random blade of grass to her right. "Supposed to be secret. But.. maybe this is better."

"Secret? What secret? Why are you acting like this!?"

"A secret meeting. Not for you. If she sees you she won't talk. Hide, and I'll show you. Quick!"

>Hide and wait for the 'secret meeting' to begin.
>No hiding, whoever Amalia is meeting with can talk to both of us or not talk at all!
>Let them keep their stupid meeting, I don't have time for this.
>Something else? [Write-in!]

>>677863
>No hiding, whoever Amalia is meeting with can talk to both of us or not talk at all!

>>677863
>Hide and wait for the 'secret meeting' to begin.

>>677863
>>Hide and wait for the 'secret meeting' to begin.

>>677863
>Hide and wait for the 'secret meeting' to begin.

>>677863
>Hide and wait for the 'secret meeting' to begin.

Well. This is interesting. I'm not sure which option is more witchy, but going along with Amalia is nice.

>>677863
>Hide and wait for the 'secret meeting' to begin.
I'm curious!

>Hide and wait for the 'secret meeting' to begin.
It could be anyone.

>>677863
>Hide and wait for the 'secret meeting' to begin.
It's not bad if Amalia wants us to see it, right?

So we just met the daemon of transitioning or whatever, anyone want to bet it's that or another one about to give amelia a raw deal?

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>>677863
Do you guys like cliffhangers? Because I do!

We'll continue from this point tomorrow (assuming nothing goes horribly wrong around here before then) so thanks for playing and see you tomorrow at the usual time when we find out who Amalia's secret meeting is with.

Good night!

Oh, and as for a potential Halloween episode, I have a couple of ideas already but if there's anything Halloween-y you guys would like to see Nadja subjected to or something Halloween-y you want to see subjected to Nadja, suggestions are very welcome and I'll see what I can do if it becomes a thing.

>>677929
Thanks for writing

>>677929
Thanks for running Friend.

>>677926
Could be. It might also be some non-daemon trying to make a deal with her.

>>677929
Good night.

>>677929
That's mean!
Thanks for running Friend. I really hope you run again tomorrow. Halloween better have costumes! And candy!

>>677929
Nadja enjoys her village's normal Halloween celebrations

Nadja explores a haunted house with her friends. She is a big witch girl and will stop all the ghosts! Maybe by giving them exactly what they want and being incredibly polite while hoping they don't scare her.

I do not like cliffhangers.

>>677929
Are you reusing this thread?

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>>677949
Definitely. Sorry, I forgot to mention that.

>>677940
>Halloween better have costumes! And candy!
Those will almost definitely be present.

>>677941
>She is a big witch girl
As long as you don't mean literally! Grown-up Nadja is strictly forbidden from ever appearing in the quest, and that includes special episodes!

>>677983
Who needs grown-up Nadja when we have cute-as-a-button Nadja?

>>677983
I meant big girl as in too big to get scared by ghosts. except she fails horribly and is very scared please save her Amalia

>>677929
I have a Haloween idea. The new hat could be haunted/possessed, and Nadja learns how to exorcise things?

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>>676453
>Mistress' current opinion: 25/100

>>678227
Nice catch, anon!

>>678257
No problem, just an observation from a random anon who occasionally looks in on these threads and thinks that I should read through the archives and join in already.

>>678342
Huh, you caught that without even reading the quest? How...impressive. Also you should definitely catch up, because Nadja is the best and also it's not really that long.

>>678346
Well, I haven’t read all of the quest, but I started reading around thread 16 after I realized that this quest has too many Cute Witch pictures to ignore.

>>678485
Well it stars a very Cute Witch so it'd be a shame if it didn't have Cute Witch pictures!

>>678499
Yes, but even by those standards, FriendQM does incredible work!

>Hide and wait for the 'secret meeting' to begin.

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We'll be continuing right here in this thread in roughly 6 hours. Please look forward to it!

>>678069
That sounds fun! I might use that!

>>678227
Thanks, must have forgotten to update the OP paste in the middle of all the other changes I was making to it. I've corrected it now.

>>678499
>>678507
I uh, just post pictures from my folder, I don't actually make anything. But thanks I guess?

>>680764
I meant you did incredible work in finding said pictures.

>>677929
>>677863

>Hide and wait for the 'secret meeting' to begin.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Amalia-vision
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

What a mess. She just had to show up at the worst possible time, didn't she?

But it's not her fault. I made this mess. I could've said no to this stupid meeting, I could have said I'm not going to throw yet another stupid secret on top of the wall I've built between us, decided to at least be half the friend she is to me. Just one time.

Then she showed up at my door at just the right time. I could have told her right then, I could have decided to share at least this with her, removed this latest brick of lies before it could settle in. But I didn't do that.

I tried to push her away like I always do, but today she did not give in. Something has changed. She is definitely stronger than she used to be. I tried to outrun her like I always do, but today she kept up where usually she would have stumbled or given up. And for some reason, my first thought was to be happy, forgetting for a moment how much more painful it will be when this all has to end. The least I can do now is try to pay her back, even if it's just a little. Starting today, right now. Today, I'll tear the first brick out of the wall.

I can't help but smile as she clumsily scurries to conceal herself as I requested. She's not good at that, not at all. But it should be enough. The witch, other witch, probably won't think to suspect anything. She insisted that I come alone, yes, but she seems the careless type, barely bothering to conceal her 'secret' den in the church. She won't suspect that Nadja is here.

Predictably, the witch reveals herself to not be the discrete type either as moments later she crashes through the canopy of trees, finishing with a landing no more than a few inches away from being more accurately described as a fall. At least her stupid grin displays the confidence to pretend that luck was not involved.

"You're late, Sparrow." I inform her as she settles climbs off her broom followed by what I can only assume to be an unschooled attempt at a polite bow.

"My sincerest apologies, Lady Se-"

"My name is Amalia. Just Amalia."

"Sheesh, relax, it's not like anyone's going to hear us out here, Amalia."

This girl is an idiot. But why the hell does this idiot even know about that?

"You wanted to talk. Talk."

"Ouch, no fun allowed here, huh? Alright, straight to business then. We need to talk about your friend. Nadja. You've noticed it too, right?"

.. This is about to get awkward, isn't it?

"That girl is.. Well, she's definitely not normal. And I want your help figuring out what the hell she's up to."

Yep, very awkward. Not that I don't think she's right, but.. I always figured it wasn't any of my business.

>"Then ask her. She's right here." [End the bluff]
>"I've no idea what you're talking about. Not normal how?" [Keep bluffing.]
>"No. I'm leaving." [End the meeting]
>Something else? [Write-in!]

>>681039
>"I've no idea what you're talking about. Not normal how?" [Keep bluffing.]
Oho, how interesting. Let's milk this some more.

>>681039
>"I've no idea what you're talking about. Not normal how?" [Keep bluffing.]
hmmm, she thinks we're up to something eh

>>681039
"So? Have you looked at my ears? I am not normal too. She is a nice kid and my best friend. Stay the fuck away from her or I will tell her Mistress."

>>681039
>>"I've no idea what you're talking about. Not normal how?" [Keep bluffing.]

>>681039
>"I've no idea what you're talking about. Not normal how?" [Keep bluffing.]

>>681060
This works. Amelia really likes us.

Amalia is pessimistic as usual, huh. She probably has very low self-worth, should work on that! Hopefully Nadja can help.

>>681039
>"I've no idea what you're talking about. Not normal how?" [Keep bluffing.]
She could talk to Nadja herself, but she doesn't seem to be planning on it.

>>681083
Yeah it's definitely in character but the point of hiding was to gather info wasn't it

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Looks like a clear vote for milking some more info from Camille, even if it's bound to be awkward for Nadja to listen to all this talk about her.

>>681060
>>681085
Amalia wouldn't ever appeal to authority, but I'll note a growing urge to verbally assault the witch that's insulting her friend.

I'm late but I'm here for cute.

>>681097
I don't think we'd expect anything less from Amalia, I'm really interested in hearing more of the Sparrow's thoughts though

>>681104
It looks like we're starting with a dose of drama before the cute today, anon!

>>681097
Normally she wouldn't but she knows that a Witch is more dangerous that she is. And she might be willing to swallow her pride if it is to protect her best friend.

>>681114
Cute Drama!

>>681133
Hopefully!

>>681121
There's not really any need to protect her at this moment, certainly not before the end of conversation.

>>681158
But we could still use it after the end of the conversation. Not to mention Amelia is a "freak" so she would take the insult to her best friend badly.

>>681039
Well, we've come this far and if Nadja's not objecting then I guess we may as well hear what this girl is going on about. Even if it is going to be a bit awkward to be talking about her knowing she's right over there listening to all of this.

"I've no idea what you're talking about. Not normal how?"

"Really?" She mutters while scratching her head in confusion. "You've never noticed how odd her behavior is?"

"Quirks. So what? Everybody's got'em."

"Oooookay, well, I happen to have been watching her and there's way more. Such as when the two of you, ahem, broke into my room."

"Should've hid it better."

"Sure, whatever. Point is, remember that ward you both managed to fall for? Thing is, it worked perfectly well on you, despite your unique properties, but when she stepped on it? Sure, it knocked her out like it's supposed to, but she knocked it out as well. That is NOT normal at all! A normal human couldn't do that! On top of that, she was whispering a lot of really crazy nonsense while she was knocked out."

That I did not know about. Guess that's what prompted her to want this meeting to begin with, huh?

"And before that, I kinda watched her initiation too. And well, skipping over the secret stuff I'm not allowed to tell you about, what happened there was even weirder. Sparkles were falling all around her, you know those things, and she just STOOD THERE! And all the sparkles just seemed to AVOID her as if they were being pushed away from her. That's EXTREMELY not normal."

"Okay. So what does that mean? What are you accusing her of?"

"Ah, well.." She folds her arms in front of her as if suddenly realizing how unprofessional she was making herself look with that outburst. It doesn't help much. "I don't know yet. That's why I want your help. You're close to her, you can look for clues for me, then I use that knowledge to figure out what exactly is going on with her."

"You want me to spy on my best friend. Why the hell would I do that for you, a stranger?"

"Okay, right, I can see how that's a bit of a tough sell, but you gotta understand, there's a perfectly good chance that Nadja has no idea about any of this. For all we know, she could be under someone's spell and being manipulated against someone, or even against herself. She could be a victim, and if you're really her friend you'd want to protect her from that, right?"

..Clever turn-around. She's not completely stupid, then. Hell, she already knows more than I do about this. Though, I never did try looking very hard. Why should I? Sure, she's a bit of a weird girl, but she's a good friend. The only real friend I've ever had. What's one little secret of hers next to my mountain?

>"Alright, I'll help you." [Or maybe I'll lie to you. I haven't decided yet]
>"Screw you. Nadja's my friend, and if you don't stop spying on her... [Evil glare]
>"No, you can ask her yourself if you're so sure about this. [End the deceit]
>Something else? [Write-in!]

>>681296
>>"Screw you. Nadja's my friend, and if you don't stop spying on her... [Evil glare]

>>681296
>>"Screw you. Nadja's my friend, and if you don't stop spying on her... [Evil glare]
Kitty has claws!

>>681296
>"No, you can ask her yourself if you're so sure about this. [End the deceit]
She already knows anyway.

>"Screw you. Nadja's my friend, and if you don't stop spying on her... [Evil glare]

>>681296
>"No, you can ask her yourself if you're so sure about this. [End the deceit]

>>681296
>"Screw you. Nadja's my friend, and if you don't stop spying on her... [Evil glare]
Urge to protect intensifies

>>681296
I mean, she does have some good points in that we should probably figure out what's up with Nadja. But her approach is all wrong and I'm not convinced she doesn't have some kinda angle on it herself.

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And that's enough of that, then. Let's see some d20s for Amalia's scare tactics.

Rolled 7 (1d20)

>>681371
She is kitty hear her roar!

Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>681371
Booo!

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>681371

>>681372
Ew. Decidedly mew.

>>681374
Damn, she's totally not scared... .

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>>681372
>>681374
>>681378

Well... To be fair, Camille doesn't get scared very easily with the childhood she's had.

>>681400
She better not bully Amalia back!

>>681418
Protecting your friends from strangers with shady goals is not bulling.

>>681429
That's true, I meant more just as a general response rather than mirroring Amalia in any way.

>>681296
She's not wrong. Not really. Nadja's always been a bit different, thought differently from everyone else. Well, at least as long as I've known her. But then, if she thought like everyone else she would have rejected me years ago, like any sane person would. Considering that, there really is only one thing I can say in this situation.

"Screw you!"

"Pardon?"

Okay there's actually a lot of things I could have said, but Nadja's listening so it's best I tone down the language a bit. She doesn't like it when I get too rough.

"Nadja's my friend, the best friend I'll ever have! So if you don't stop spying on her, I'll-"

"-Make empty threats you can't follow through with?"

She cut me off in the middle of my threat! Who the hell does she think she is?

"I chose this location, Amalia. Did you already forget what happened the last time?"

"That was-"

"I know what you've done, Amalia, and I know exactly what you can do. And as impressive as that may be, I am fully prepared for everything you've got. So why don't you take a hint from Nadja and stop turning friends into enemies?"

Her eyes are deadly serious. Even though I don't know, it's clear from her expression that this is something that doesn't happen often, but it is definitely happening now. She's not bluffing. And she may be right too.

"I have nothing against you, Amalia, and I'm sure as hell not going to spill your secret to anyone. You don't want to help, I'll drop it. No problem. Honestly, I even admire your attitude a little, but you seriously need to dial it down before you run into someone who WILL hurt you. So.. So long then!"

That backfired quite a bit, didn't it? The witch throws me a smug wink before taking off on her broom. I seriously need to get my hands on one of those sometime. Now, as for what Nadja is going to make of this mess...

>1/2

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>>681688
>Seal value decreased by 5!
>Seal value decreased by 5!
>Seal value is now 75/100

I'm confused.

All the things Camille said, she sounded like she was talking about a monster but she was talking about me. I'm not a monster, am I? I don't feel like one. So why did she say those things? It's not even an hour ago that she was happily chatting with me over breakfast, talking about her dreams of the future. And now, to say such things, so completely different. It's like she was a completely different person. Can... Do people really do that? Is that what she really thinks of me? Does Papa think it too and I just never knew? Sis? Amalia? Mistress?

A pair of hands rest in mine. They weren't there before.

They're Amalia's. She's looking at me. Smiling. Or is she lying? How do you know if your friends are smiling or lying? How do you know who of them have two faces? How does this work? Papa never taught me that. Kerstin didn't either. Or Sis. Do they not know either? I'm so confused.

"Hey?" The hands grip unto mine. "Are you okay? You... look a little pale."

Okay? I don't know! What does okay mean? Does it mean what it says or can words lie too? Can trees lie? Where does it stop?

"Come on." The hands tug at mine, lifting me upwards until I am standing on my feet. Do feet lie? "You... wanted to talk to me, didn't you?

Talk? That's right, I told Amalia I wanted to talk. I remember that now. About the Thorn, about making Amalia normal again. Because she's my friend, and friends tell the truth. That's still true, friends always tell the truth. Camille lied, but Amalia doesn't lie to me. I can trust her. Right?

>Again, I need to point out that we can't do all of these so please pick just one and, optionally, a write-in.

>"Right, I needed to talk to you about.." [Talk about the Thorn and reversing Amalia's transformation]
>"Am I a monster, Amalia?" [Talk about the things Camille said about me]
>"Why did Camille call you by another name before? [Amalia tells the truth, right?]
>Something else? [Write-in!]

>>681698
>>"Am I a monster, Amalia?" [Talk about the things Camille said about me]

>>681698
>"Why did Camille call you by another name before? [Amalia tells the truth, right?]
Right?

>>681720
>"Am I a monster, Amalia?" [Talk about the things Camille said about me]

>>681698
>"Am I a monster, Amalia?" [Talk about the things Camille said about me]

>"Am I a monster, Amalia?" [Talk about the things Camille said about me]

>>681698
>"Why did Camille call you by another name before? [Amalia tells the truth, right?]

>>681698
>"Why did Camille call you by another name before? [Amalia tells the truth, right?]
It could be important.

>>681698
>>>"Right, I needed to talk to you about.." [Talk about the Thorn and reversing Amalia's transformation]

>>681743
No, it isn't. Everyone has secrets is something our lazy Mistress should have taught us already.

>>681698
681698
>"Why did Camille call you by another name before? [Amalia tells the truth, right?]
Damn, that got pretty harsh. Poor Nadja isn't ready for things like this!

>>681698
>"Why did Camille call you by another name before? [Amalia tells the truth, right?]

>"Am I a monster, Amalia?" [Talk about the things Camille said about me]

You know. Since Sparrow went behind our back, she can get her own werewolf cure. You don't stab people you need help from.

>>681790
That seems a bit short-sighted anon - she's not the one struggling with lycanthropy after all, just the one who was working on it and was annoyed at Mistress butting into her business by sending Nadja to get the Thorn.

>>681698
>"Why did Camille call you by another name before? [Amalia tells the truth, right?]

>>681790
Curing the werewolf isn't just for her benefit, and there hasn't actually been any stabbing as such.

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Rolled 13 (1d20)

>>681747
1 For talking about the Thorn.

>>681715
>>681734
>>681737
>>681739
>>681767
5 for talking about Nadja.

>>681720
>>681741
>>681743
>>681754
>>681763
>>681815

6 for talking about Amalia.

It's a very slight majority, but I'm going to take it before someone makes it a draw again!

>>681830
>dice
Worry

>>681698
"Uhm, Amalia?"

"Yeah?"

"Before when you were talking to Camille, she called you by some other name."

She pauses, her hands slowly releasing their grip on mine. "Yes."

"And you interrupted her before she could finish, and you told her to just call you Amalia."

She turns her eyes to the ground, as if she can't bear to even look at me anymore. "Yes."

"And then she kept stressing your name every time she said it, as if she was trying to make a point of it."

"..Yes."

"And before she left she said she knows what you've done and what you can do, and that.."

She nods.

"And that she won't tell your secret to anyone. But.. Aren't you just Amalia?"

She doesn't nod.

"Aren't you?"

"It's complicated."

END OF THREAD #27

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>>681978
Sorry, but I just can't help myself so it's another teaser tonight.

Thank you very much for playing with me, and I hope to see you again next time. Which will, assuming nothing explodes, be next weekend at the usual time. As always, scheduling and such goes on my quest twitter. Questions, discussion, and feedback are also still welcome, as always!

>>681988
You're mean!
Night Friend.

>>681988
Thanks for running.

>>681988
Thanks for running Friend.

>>681978
Aww shit. I feel a little bad for Amalia but I'm looking forward to getting it all out.

>>681988
Thanks for running, even though your making us wait a whole week on a cliffhanger...

>slept through thread

Should have pointed Sparrow at Nadja. It would confirm her theory that Nadja has no idea what the fuck is going on.

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>>681840
I considered pretending there was a clever purpose to that roll, but honestly that was only there because I was about to roll to determine the winning vote when I (finally having learned, perhaps?) checked for new posts and saw that the tie had been broken. And then I forgot to delete the dice again before posting.

But let's pretend I said something clever.

>>682059
No no, I'm just giving you something to look forward to! Totally different!

>>682103
I'm sorrry! I know I haven't been running as late as I used to but I just haven't had the energy. Maybe in the future I will again.

>>681988
Thank you, FriendQM!

Ah I missed the thread!

See you next week, Friend, very interested in where this is all going.