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>>746756
It's a strange feeling, to be opening the door of Mistress' little house by the lake. It's actually not the first time I've brought her here, but that time Mistress was at least home. Today, it's just me and her. Even with my feelings about her decision to give me none of the information I need for this task, or the previous one, she is trusting not only to be alone in her house but letting Amalia come too. That's something.

"Okay, so how about this? First we figure out how we want to go about this whole werewolf thing, then after that we look for anything that can help make that easier. Mistress didn't tell me how she wants to it after all, so I just have to guess, right?"

"Right."

Amalia does not pause for even a moment after entering and immediately makes a beeline for the largest, most comfortable chair on this floor of the house: The red, padded one in Mistress' study. I'm not allowed to let her read more or less anything in there, but just sitting there shouldn't be a problem...

"The Thorn I have can turn the werewolf back. That's good. So what we need is a way to make sure I can use it safely. And we can't just lure it into a trap because they already did that once and it won't work twice. So I.. don't really know how to do that. Fights aren't my thing, so.. Do you have any ideas?"

"Right. My part, yeah? Basically, we could distract it so you can do your thing. Bit tricky, beastie's gonna be pissed all that time, but it's straightforward. Or we could try to knock it out, maybe poison of some kind, that way it can't fight back at all. Would need to figure out how to pull that off. Or... we disable it."

"Disable?"

"Cut it with swords, break its bones, or put arrows through its limbs until it can't fight back anymore. Wouldn't kill it, but definitely mess it up pretty bad. Easy and safe, though. I'm fine either way."

So, first idea is Amalia, and maybe the others too, distract it while I sneak up on it. Dangerous for everyone, but if it works the werewolf-person would definitely be pretty much unharmed. Maybe some kind of potion could help make us faster to make it safer, but it'd definitely still be dangerous.

Or we try to poison it. Delivering that poison would still be dangerous, especially if it fails, but after that it'd be smooth sailing. But we'd also be poisoning the person we're trying to cure, and if the poison is too strong.. I'll have to be very careful! I don't know any of course, but it should be easy enough to find some book about it.

Lastly, we can simply try to disable it, by force, though it would DEFINTELY be harmed doing this it's by far the least dangerous for us.

>"I don't want to hurt the target unless absolutely necessary. Let's work on the distraction tactic!"
>"I like the poison idea. It's not as dangerous, and doesn't harm the werewolf too bad."
>"I don't want any of you getting hurt, let's use force to make absolutely sure it can't do that."
>"I have another idea.." [Write-in!]

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>>746757
>NEW THINGS: Added to-do list to OP paste. This is a list of work that needs to be done to Nadja's Notebook, either because Anon requested something added or because I want it added. Why?
1. If any of you feel up to it you can help me out by writing it. I will still edit it, of course.
2. You'll all know if something has been on the list for very long. Self-motivation!

>Nadja's Seniors:
>Mistress' current opinion: 40/100
>Lily's current opinion: 05/100
>Camille's current opinion: 10/100

>Seal: 75/100

>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 (thread 1-24): http://archive.4plebs.org/tg/search/subject/Witch%20Apprentice%20Quest/order/asc/
>moe archive (threads 25+): http://archived.moe/qst/search/subject/Witch%20Apprentice%20Quest/type/op/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:

>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
>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

>TO-DO LIST:
>>712465
>Amalia's real name and title should get added to Nadja's notebook.

>>746757
>"I like the poison idea. It's not as dangerous, and doesn't harm the werewolf too bad."
Perfect compromise!

>>746757
>"I don't want any of you getting hurt, let's use force to make absolutely sure it can't do that."
It seems to be the least risky approach.

>>746757
>"I like the poison idea. It's not as dangerous, and doesn't harm the werewolf too bad."
>"I don't want any of you getting hurt, let's use force to make absolutely sure it can't do that."

>>746757
Aww man, I'm late!
>"I like the poison idea. It's not as dangerous, and doesn't harm the werewolf too bad."

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That makes four. It's Monday, so a slow start isn't surprising but I'm going to extend this vote some more, at most until the turn of the hour, to see if more show up.

>>746757
>>"I don't want any of you getting hurt, let's use force to make absolutely sure it can't do that."

>>746757
>"I don't want to hurt the target unless absolutely necessary. Let's work on the distraction tactic!"
Hi Friend!

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So far we've got a draw between poison and good old violence. While a plan could feature both, or have one as a back-up, Nadja is just a single poor apprentice and really needs to focus on a single task here to make sure she achieves something. We need a winner. If we don't have one in 10 minutes I'm going to have to roll for this.

>>746861
Damn anons refusing to fall in line and choose one option like a good apprentice, eh?

>>746757
>"I like the poison idea. It's not as dangerous, and doesn't harm the werewolf too bad."

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>>746875
Congratulations on getting to decide the vote all on your own. Time for that most witchy of endeavors, then!

>>746866
A full hour of voting time ending in a roll of the die would certainly be less than satisfying.

>>746850
Hello, anon!

>>746880
Unfortunately I might miss some votes due to being busy, hopefully there won't be any more ties.

How are we supposed to use a hex to poison it? This isn't playing to our strengths at all...

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>>746757
"I prefer the poison idea. It's not as dangerous for us, and won't harm the werewolf too badly. Probably."

"Right."

Her words, or rather word, is half distorted by a tired yawn as she stretches her arms and legs from within the comfort of Mistress' chair.

"So what've you got?"

"Uhhm, let me just check."

A quick skim of my notebook, though most of its pages are still blank, does reveal at least one option. It's not a poison, but it could probably do the job. Cinnamon's shrinking potion. I still have one left, and one of its opposite for fixing the person afterwards. It didn't quite achieve what I wanted it to when I tried to use it, but a more skilled hand might pull it off.

I don't know how to make this one yet, but Mistress is sure to have the book somewhere. And after having to dust every single book in Mistress' library, I should be able to find it without too much effort.

"I've got a potion that shrinks things. You just have to throw it at what you wants to shrink. I tried using it once already actually on the elf girl, but she deflected it with her sword so only it got hit. I don't know if the werewolf could do the same."

"So.."

Having finally settled herself just right in the chair, she looks at me with her typical mischievous grin.

"..you want to make a werepuppy? Sounds fun. But yeah, it's possible it could evade one of those. We need more if we're doing that. Or something it definitely can't dodge."

"I'm not sure how you can make a potion fly faster.."

"If you've got some kind of poison that can be delivered with an arrow, I'd just have to shoot it in the right spot. I can do that, trust me."

She does spend a lot of time in the forest with that bow of hers, so she probably knows what she's talking about. Plus, what she did before then might..

"-And no. I never made my own poisons. You're on your own."

"Bu- How did you know I was going to ask that?!"

"'Cause your face is easy to read."

"..to read?"

"You're bad at hiding your feelings."

"Am I? Maybe I should- Actually, that can wait. So second idea is I try to find some kind of tranquillizing poison that can be injected with an arrow or something like that. But hey, something that needs to be ingested could work too, if we trick it into eating the poison!"

"Assuming it wouldn't rather eat you."

"..Yes. Assuming that. So those are our options. Whichever it is, I'm going to have to study pretty hard to figure this out in time to have it ready for tomorrow. What do you think?"

"Shooting things is what I do best. But I'll trust you either way."

My choice again? In that case..

>"I think I'll focus on making a lot of shrinking potions. You're stronger and can throw harder than me, I think you can hit it."
>"I'll look for some kind of poison you can inject with an arrow."
>"If we never have to get close to it, it can't harm us. I'll look for a way to poison some food so we can trick it into eating it."
>Something else? [Write-in!]

>>747013
>"I'll look for some kind of poison you can inject with an arrow."

>>747013
>>"I'll look for some kind of poison you can inject with an arrow."

I TRUST AMALIA

>>747013
>"If we never have to get close to it, it can't harm us. I'll look for a way to poison some food so we can trick it into eating it."
Maybe the werewolf isn't that smart and we can get it eating some carcass or another!

>>747013
>"I'll look for some kind of poison you can inject with an arrow."

>>747013
>"I'll look for some kind of poison you can inject with an arrow."
But if we can't find a good one we fall back to
>"I think I'll focus on making a lot of shrinking potions. You're stronger and can throw harder than me, I think you can hit it."

It's going to be sad when Amalia instinctively aims for a headshot and accidentally kills the person.

>>747013
>"I'll look for some kind of poison you can inject with an arrow."

>>747098
Amalia is a good girl who wouldn't do that!

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Looks like we're going the classical route. Amalia is sure to feel nostalgic about this.

>>746974
>How are we supposed to use a hex to poison it? This isn't playing to our strengths at all...

"The greatest weapon in a witch's arsenal? Just look at the first three letters of her label."
- Redwing, approximately five seconds before the phrase stopped being witty. Before the current era.

>>747098
Ah don't worry Anon, she won't make that mistake!
Slow and painful makes Father love you more.

>>747117
>Slow and painful makes Father love you more.
Phew, that's perfect for our purposes.

>- Litanies of the Saints, the Invocation of Mara.
I like the sound of this crushing evil and restoring harmony stuff, but why you gotta do it with lying and a silent heart, Mara! Vala is clearly the superior moon.

>>747117
>Slow and painful makes Father love you more.
Pls no Amalia bully.

>>747117
>Looks like we're going the classical route. Amalia is sure to feel nostalgic about this.
Hasn't she been running around the forest shooting deer and stuff for years now? Her bow should have lost its attachment to assassinations a long time ago.

>>747013
"I'll look for some kind of poison you can inject with an arrow."

It seems to make the most sense. She's good with her bow, I'm pretty sure of that. I'm a little concerned about her doing this at all, after what I've learned about her past, but she seems to be comfortable with it and she did volunteer for this. I just hope.. I hope she didn't do that just because she wants to do that. I hope she just wants to help. I feel like that's it, but do I still know her?

"Look for words like tranquillizing or neurotoxic. Strong ones, but not too strong."

"How strong is too strong?"

She casually shrugs off that question. Another part where it would be useful to have Mistress here, then. If nothing else, I feel confident that this won't be the last time. But I said I was done whining about that, so on to work it is. Now, the third section over here was all about herbalism if I remember right..

"Hey Nadja?"

Medicine, nope, that's the opposite of what I'm looking for.

"Mh?"

Taste en-han-cers.. What? That doesn't sound right either.

"About the stuff you said before, I.."

Common herbs of the forest. What happened to alphabetical order?!

"I'm sorry for joking about it. It's not fun. I know that."

"Huh? Oh don't worry, I'm not mad about that."

"No no, I know. There's something else."

UNcommon herbs of the forest? At least it makes some kind of sense to have this one next to the other.

"I want to ask.. All this stuff Camille said about you, and about that dream of yours. Does it.. Does it actually matter? Couldn't you just leave it alone?"

"Eh? Leave it alone? But it's-"

"You're Nadja. My.. my only friend. And I.."

She tries to hide it, but even she can't pull that off. She's stalling in the middle of her sentences, her voice is shaking ever so slightly. She's scared. I didn't think Amalia became scared.

"I don't want that to change. So could we.. just leave it alone? Forget it? Forever?"

I turn to find her with her gaze locked firmly on her feet, her legs trembling just as her voice was.

"Please? Can you do that for me?"

>"Yes. If it matters so much to you, I'll stop looking for more answers about this.
>"I'm sorry Amalia, but I can't. I need to know what is going on. What it means. So please trust me.
>You don't say maybe in these situations. Yes or no!
>But write-ins are still welcome! [Write-in!]

>>747263
>"I don't know."

>>747263
>>"Yes. If it matters so much to you, I'll stop looking for more answers about this.

>>747263
>I'm sorry, I don't want to be ignorant of myself and who I am. But that doesn't mean I'll stop being your friend! We'll definitely be the bestestest best friends forever!

>>747263
>>"I'm sorry Amalia, but I can't. I need to know what is going on. What it means. So please trust me.

Hell no. We are breaking that Seal.

>>747303
This is also good.

>>747263
>"Yes. If it matters so much to you, I'll stop looking for more answers about this.
I'm sure we'll stumble into it anyways, but we don't need to actively search about it.

>>747312
You shouldn't assume that. At one point or another it was said that the seal thing has to do with endings, and that means there's no guarantee that we'll stumble into it.

>>747263
>"Um, I don't have to, to go around looking for answers everywhere. At least not right now, since I've got a lot to do. But, I'm not gonna shy away from it either! Because that would be irresponsible, and stupid. And witches aren't stupid. So I hope my friend Amalia will help me make sense of things when the time comes!"

>>747263
>"I'm sorry Amalia, but I can't. I need to know what is going on. What it means. So please trust me.
>"Why do you think it would change our friendship?"

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That comes in as a few different varieties of 'no'. Always glad to see you guys flexing your write-in muscles a bit!

>>747313
>it was said that the seal thing has to do with endings
It's quite central for that, indeed! Though I must admit, that specific phrasing focusing on endings was also made as a reference to the lovely game I stole the mechanic from. Well, stole and made it a hell of a lot more flexible.

Anyway, time for me to get back to writing, I guess!

Does Nadja know the Invocation of Vala? It seems appropriate, if burning the veil wins.

>>747349
But we all failed since we didn't write-in a hug!

>>747349
>>747376
Oh shit, we forgot to hug someone! Stop the presses! This needs to be included!

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>>747351
She has heard it.

She doesn't get it.

Nadja isn't a very religious type, as you may have noticed. The gods are interesting enough, and she knows the basic stuff, more than enough to not be a heretic but she simply does not feel particularly inclined to ask them for help rather than asking her friends or her family. And where others look to the Saints for examples on how to act and to find strength in their stories, she's too busy looking up to her Papa or her sister (occasionally) and recently her new Mistress. Basically, she knows they're there, that they're powerful, and that they're very important. But they're also WAY up there, far beyond her.

Prayers are complicated anyway. If she needs something answered, Kerstin probably knows the answer, so why bother the gods? They're probably very busy people! She already did that once during her initiation so it would just be rude to do it again unless it's SUPER important!

Some might say she's completely misunderstood the point of religion, but nobody around her actually thinks it's worth the effort of trying to explain it. She's doing fine as she is anyway, so why risk confusing her?

>>747376
>>747399
Noted.

>>747376
We can only beg forgiveness for this grave oversight. Rarely a hug more appropriate than here.

>>747408
Cute! As expected of Nadja.

Hah, is there any kind of "the gods help those who help themselves" saying? She's truly blessed.

I'm glad I didn't miss the thread, but I should have woken up earlier! I missed all the planning stuff.

Side note, this and Promises of Power are probably my favorite quests right now and it's kind of funny since they're basically polar opposites.

>>747478
I stopped reading Promises of Power after the quest was going bad from the combination of railroading and anons being anons. Could you spoil some of the current events happening?

>>747263
Whatever wins
>Hug Amalia

>>747494
We're finally getting ready to leave Sherhaze so Cass can pact with more demons and basically steal their powers for Cermine.
Also you're right about Salt Anons being obnoxious, but the "railroading" doesn't really bother me since I care more about the story itself than pretending I'm the one controlling the story. I'd say more but this is off topic discussion.

>>747526
Ok, thanks. Might just skip the part i was on and give it a look again.

>>747518
I support that notion.

>>747518
>>747549
Noted.

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>>747263
"I'm sorry Amalia, but I can't."

She twitches as she hears the answer, but otherwise remains eerily still.

"I need to know what is going on. What it means. If I just looked away, and pretended that everything was normal when it isn't, then that would be irresponsible. And stupid. I could.. If Camille is right I could be hurting you or my family or Mistress by ignoring it."

"But you-"

"And besides, you're forgetting that we're BEST friends. That means nothing can get between us. Not your dad, not lies, not whatever I can find out about all this. Not anything! We'll always be the bestest friends!"

"But what if-"

"And most importantly, if I'm going to figure it all out.. Well, if I don't have my bestest friend with me, to support me and to see the things I don't see and to shoot werewolves for me.. I don't think I could handle that."

She says nothing as I slowly step closer to her.

She doesn't turn her eyes as I kneel down in front of her to meet them.

And she meekly follows my moves as I take her hands in mine.

"Promise to be there with me, Amalia. Help me figure this all out and.. And trust me. Promise?"

She still says nothing. I squeeze her hands a bit harder, just to let her know that I really, really can't wait for an answer.

"I'm not sure I know how to trust. I haven't done it in a long time. It scares me. A lot."

I understand that just a little now. I always knew she wasn't much of a people person, but now that I know where she learnt that..

"I want to. I really, really, want to. But I don't know how. You make it look easy but it isn't! It just isn't! It's scary and I don't like it! And I.. I.."

Quickly, so quickly she almost knocks me over with the force, she lunges at me, wrapping her arms around me so tight I almost can't breat, pressing her head against my neck. I feel the warmth of her tears trickling down her face and unto my skin. I feel her shiver forcefully between my arms. And I feel..

Strong?

This isn't my role. It never is. Amalia doesn't cry, I do. Amalia doesn't need to be comforted, I do. And Amalia definitely is not afraid. I am. But today is different.

It seems a little strange in a situation like this, but it makes me feel good. I'm sad to see her like this, but I feel like I can help her in a way that I've never helped her before. That I can make things better than they've ever been before. That I can make her truly happy.

"I think I can."

Her whisper is almost inaudible, so weak and buried in between ever loudening sniffles, but it's there, and nobody can take it away from us.

"With you, I think I can."

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>>747617
And I'm afraid that's all for today. It is a weekday, horrible as it is, and it would be irresponsible of me to stay up for much longer. It's a cheesy, sappy, little ending, I know, but if you haven't noticed by now it's a thing I do then I just can't help you!

This is just not enough to call it a thread though, so I'm going to say that I'll be doing this again tomorrow. I have no idea for how long since I have no idea yet how tomorrow will turn out, but even if it's only a single update it WILL be there. And if we have to have three tiny snail sessions to make this a proper thread then that's what's going to happen. No arguments!

So as always, I hope you enjoyed this session and I WILL see you again tomorrow! I didn't leave you with a vote because quite frankly it wouldn't make sense but you know, discuss things if you want, ask questions if you want, all that kind of stuff.

Oh and very importantly if any of you haven't noticed yet because you skip over the OP paste (but do read these messages? I don't know, I gotta say it anyway), I've been adding a NEW THINGS section right at the top of it for a while now, because how the hell else would you know anything has changed except clicking on everything? Wouldn't make sense! Anyway what I'm trying to say is, stuff does get added and updated so please don't forget to look at that top paragraph every thread, maybe it's something that will interest you!

So yeah, goodnight or goodmorning to that anon who apparently just woke up, thanks for playing, and see you tomorrow! No excuses!

Also yes, I decided against your vote to hug Amalia. You were too slow so she beat you to it!

>>747623
Thanks for running Friendo.

>>747631
As long as the hug happened it didn't matter much who initiated it.

>>747623
Thanks for running!

Will Amelia ever trust Nadja enough to tell her who her crush is?

>>747623
Good night.

>>747648
Probably not until she works up the courage to finally confess to her crush.
Cause her crush is obviously Nadja.

>>747623
Thanks for running Friend!

>>747623
Yeah it was morning here on the US Best Coast when you started. Also apologizing to Flimflam when??
Now that I think about it, did Flimflam ever say "I didn't know where your clothes were"? Or did she just say that she didn't hide them? Because we're pretty sure she didn't take them, but maybe she still tried to trick Nadja?

>>747653
Maybe she can ask for Nadja's help with it, making her go with her to the spot where she's supposed to meet her crush.
And then totally shock the hell out of Nadja

>>747623
Thanks for running! a single update whenever you have time is also appreciated, I can't get enough of your quest!

>>747617
D'awww, that really stomps on your heart and then warms it afterwards. Hopefully Nadja hugs are really healing!

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>>747648
I don't know!

That's actually one of my main reasons for making Nadja kind... Exaggeratedly naive and innocent regarding matters romantic and sexual. The other is obviously because it plays well with Mistress being very lewd.

But yeah, I figured that if it was up to player popularity, Amalia was always going to "win" so why even bother making a contest? It'd just be sowing player conflict to achieve a result I always knew was coming. So I dropped all rivals, male or female, and made Nadja completely oblivious instead. I think this is more fun, because now the question isn't what you as players want, something everybody knows the outcome of, it's whether or not you can convince her to just say it already because Nadja just does not catch the hint on her own, ever.

>>747666
When the fates decide it's time for her to run into Nadja again. That does happen by accident, mostly. Flimflam is a pretty young and low-powered fairy so she doesn't have the willpower to focus on a single task long enough to actively search for her. She would occasionally think that it'd be nice to run into Nadja again and start looking, but about ten minutes is the absolute max before she loses focus and gets distracted.

>>747672
I did briefly consider that, but in the end I really don't want. I like sessions/episodes, and I like them to have a beginning and ending that make sense. The times when I end up calling a thread before it can reach a nice ending are awful and I hate them. Doing single posts with several hours between them would definitely upset me too much.

Definitely going to bed now. Promise!

>>747645
>As long as the hug happened it didn't matter much who initiated it.
That daemon cares about who initiated it.

She's creeping on this scene right now. Yesssss, empower me more, my angels. This whole day has been GREAT for her.

>>747707
>I think this is more fun, because now the question isn't what you as players want, something everybody knows the outcome of, it's whether or not you can convince her to just say it already because Nadja just does not catch the hint on her own, ever.
I love this QMing style so much. Player conflict can be fun too, but comfy is so much nicer.

Quick test to see if I still have OP status.

All good it seems. Start is in a few hours, as promised.

>>749670
Welcome back

>>749670
Waiting very warmly!

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>>747617
>>747623
It's going to be okay.

It's definitely not ideal. A lot of things aren't ideal lately. Papa's still upset with me for keeping my apprenticeship secret from him, but he doesn't seem as mad anymore. I think it'll be okay. Eventually.

I still have no idea how this werewolf mission is going to work out, not even where it is, but at least Amalia and I have some sort of plan for what we're going to do now. I think it'll be okay. Probably.

And Amalia.. Amalia cried again. A lot. For as long as I've known her she seemed completely invincible. Even though she's only one year older than me she's always been cool and strong and clever. Seeing her cry like that was.. Definitely not ideal. But it'll be okay. Definitely.

Taking my gaze off the -slightly creepy but finally located- book and watching her from across the room makes me all the more certain. She definitely seems to have gotten it all out. When she had finally let go she just sat right back down in the chair and went right to sleep, just like that. Looking all peaceful like that, I know it for sure. It'll all be okay.

And the book? Definitely easier to read than the others so far. Just straight to business, no messing about the issue. I guess that makes sense. If you're going to write a book on poisons, why even pretend anyone is going to read anything but the recipes?

Flipping through the book I've already found the perfect fit for the job. It's injected, just like Amalia said it should be, it seems to work pretty quick, and it apparently "dulls the nerves." As far as I can tell that means it makes it so you can't move, which is perfect! The only problem is.. I have no idea what all these ingredients are, and Mistress has so many different ones stored.. This is going to take ages to do alone.

>I can't afford to waste time. Wake Amalia up and ask her to help find the things.
>Let her be, she seems exhausted. It will take a lot longer to get started, but I can probably still have at least one go at trying to make this right.
>Something else? [Write-in!]

>>750091
Note down all the ingredients and start looking through Mistress' storage.

>>750091
>>I can't afford to waste time. Wake Amalia up and ask her to help find the things.

>>750091
>>Let her be, she seems exhausted. It will take a lot longer to get started, but I can probably still have at least one go at trying to make this right.

Not only is Amalia resting important, there's a slim chance knowing the ingredients to a potentially magical poison might get Amalia in trouble. Let's not. Plus we'll learn better this way!

>And the book? Definitely easier to read than the others so far. Just straight to business, no messing about the issue. I guess that makes sense. If you're going to write a book on poisons, why even pretend anyone is going to read anything but the recipes?
Hah. I don't see how this follows at all.

>>750091
>Let her be, she seems exhausted. It will take a lot longer to get started, but I can probably still have at least one go at trying to make this right.
Amalia isn't a witch anyway so waking her up might do more harm than good.

>>750091
>Let her be, she seems exhausted. It will take a lot longer to get started, but I can probably still have at least one go at trying to make this right.

We need to take our time on this one.

>>750091
>Let her be, she seems exhausted. It will take a lot longer to get started, but I can probably still have at least one go at trying to make this right.
Show mercy!

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Letting the kitten sleep wins!

That means I'll need some d20s to see how long it takes Nadja to find the relevant items. Hopefully not too long!

Rolled 8 (1d20)

>>750151

Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>750151

Rolled 16 (1d20)

>>750151

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>>750174
16 Is pretty good! Time for write, then.

>>750174
Fine job!

>>750178
Nadja will never have a witch outfit that cute ;_;

>>750201
Never say never anon!

>>750201
Not with that kind of attitude, anon. You gotta atleast try before giving up hope.

>>750091
But I guess I should just see it as a learning exercise. And maybe if I do this for long enough I will finally, finally figure out what order Mistress keeps these things in. There's got to be some kind of logic to all this stuff, right? She's a smart and powerful witch with a stupidly long list of titles, there's no way she doesn't have a system. Maybe it's just supposed to look messy to confuse her rivals or something?

Anyway, I should probably make a note of the ingredients and start the hunt. They are:

Five teaspoons of Salt
Thirty-seven pieces of "Fluffy Cloud"
Three half cups of "Mountain Blood Rosé"
Eighteen tenths of a pinch of finely ground "Fairy Dust"
Two feet of "Black Widow's Silk"
Ninety-nine Poppy Seeds
One fang from the Yellow-backed Creeper

It's probably best if I don't wonder why salt goes in a poison, or how some of these things are even made to begin with. Instead, I think I'll just be glad it only needs non-magical ingredients. Mistress hasn't taught me yet how to handle sparkles safely. Definitely wouldn't be a good idea to try that alone!

So salt is easily crossed off the list, no problems there.

Next.. Fluffy Cloud. That sounds nice. And probably something white? So I just look for.. Not that.. Not that.. There! It looks kind of like dandelion fluff crammed tight into a glass jar. Makes me wonder how it feels to touch.

Then there's Mountain Blood Rosé. Some kind of flower too, I suppose? No wait! It doesn't say rose! I know what this is, it's a kind of wine! Hmm, Mistress doesn't have any bottles like that here. And I don't see anything in the next room either. Shouldn't wine be in a cellar? I haven't seen a cellar anywhere. Puzzling. I think I'll just skip that one and look for it later. I do hope she has it though, it wouldn't be good if I tried to buy something like that.

Fairy Dust! That's.. just from their wings or something, I hope. It would be AWFUL otherwise! It's really easy to find though, because it's obviously this bottle over here on the left that looks like it's full of glitter. I'm not sure how you measure eighteen tenths of a pinch, but I'll worry about that later.

Black Widow's Silk? That's a kind of spider, right? If it's silk it's probably not in a bottle like everything else here. I think I saw something like that when I was looking in the next room, though! Yes, right there next to the stack of blank pieces of paper! Awesome!

Poppy Seeds, those sound pretty normal too. Those come from flowers, so logically they should be somewhere near the Fluffy Cloud, right? Flowers next to flowers, that makes sense. So they must be..

Nope, not here. Somewhere else..?

Not here either. Then that only leaves..

Yep, the exact opposite end of the room. So much for that theory. Coincidentally they turn out to be right next to a small pouch labelled "Yellow-backed Creeper Fangs." Maybe.. they're in some kind of order where things she use together often are near each other? Or it's a coincidence.

>1/2

>>750362
That leaves just the Rosé. And that..

I have no idea. I don't see anything like that anywhere in the house. Don't all grown-ups drink at least sometimes? Maybe it's hidden somewhere? If it is, I definitely don't see where or how. There's only one place left where I haven't looked. And that's..

The bedroom.

That.. I definitely can't just go in there. That's a very private room -I've definitely learned that the hard way- and going in there without Mistress around and without her permission would be very rude! And it's probably full of things I don't want to see ever!

But I can't make the poison if I don't get the last of the ingredients. What should I do..?

>Be brave, explore Mistress' bedroom.
>Wake Amalia and ask her for help.
>Maybe I need to look outside of the house somewhere? It could take a while to find anything out there though..
>Something else? [Write-in!]

>>750369
>Be brave, explore Mistress' bedroom
It's for a good cause!

>>750369
>Maybe I need to look outside of the house somewhere? It could take a while to find anything out there though..

Cellars have entrances outside sometimes don't they? I've never lived in a house with one.

I don't see why she'd have wine in her room.

>>750369
>>Wake Amalia and ask her for help.

On second thought, let's do this. She's got a good nose so she should be able to sniff it out. And she's good at finding hidden places. She'll find Mistress's wine stash just as easily as she broke into Camille's room, I'm sure of it.

>>750369
>Be brave, explore Mistress' bedroom.

>>750369
>>Wake Amalia and ask her for help.

>>750369
>Wake Amalia and ask her for help.
Amalia pls help

>>750369
>Be brave, explore Mistress' bedroom.
It seems to be the only place inside that it could be, so it's worth checkin out before waking up Amalia.

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So.. Any volunteers for breaking the tie or am I going to have to roll again?

>>750369
>Be brave, explore Mistress' bedroom.

>>750438
We're all sorry for being naughty apprentices tying everything up, Friend!

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>>750441
Alright then, I'll take that.

>>750369
>Be brave, explore Mistress' bedroom.

>>750444
Not half as naughty as Nadja apparently. I hope mistress doesn't take too much offense.

>>750461
I'm expecting her to walk in and see a note addressing her telling her to get the fuck out.

>>750470
I'd be expecting a trap myself. Probably Witch tradition!

>>750461
Mistress will surely appreciate the amount of guts it took to enter her most sacred domain.

>>747623
This picture bothers me way more than it should. That potion above her bed is about to fall on her. The full cauldron next to it, for some reason, has a /door/ on the side of it (also facing the bed). And her bed is hanging above her table covered in food and goddesses know what else, supported by a /broom/. Please tell me Nadja isn't that bad.

>>750470
I don't think Mistress would write for a note for Nadja to get out, since circumstances under which she actually would go in there without permission don't seem all that likely to occur.

>>750485
That room looks more like something I'd expect out of Cinnamon than Nadja. Papa raised her better than that.

I hope we get to visit Cinnamon's room someday.

>>750369
Amalia would probably be helpful here. She finds things. It's almost scary how good she is at that. Like with Camille's secret room, she just looked around the room for a bit and somehow she just knew.

But it doesn't seem right to wake her up when she's sleeping so peacefully. And the way she just went out like a light probably means she hasn't been sleeping properly. Wouldn't be the first time she neglected a good night's sleep, so better to just let her sleep this one out, right?

Okay, deep breath.

This is important, in fact she told me I could use anything to get the job done, didn't she? But even so, I sure hope I don't find anything creepy this time. Like that weird doll.. Brr!

Even grabbing the handle sends shivers down my spine. But witches need to be brave. It won't do to be afraid of a door. So just.. grab.. and.. push!

Open!

Part of me expected something dramatic to happen, like an alarm or some kind of punishment or maybe a jumpscare, but nothing happens. Just a completely ordinary-looking room with a bed, a window, a closet and a.. Note? Huh? What's this? The paper is all yellow and old-looking and the writing looks even worse than Sis' handwriting.

"You've been naughty!"

That's what it says. Strange. This doesn't seem like the kind of note Mistress would write. So then who..

A loud crash! From downstairs!

"Amalia?" I call out.

Nobody answers.

"Are you okay, Amalia?"

Still nobody answers.

But then.. No! No way!

I rush back downstairs and find..

Nobody. She's not here. Everything else seems just as I left it, except where Amalia should be sitting is a second note, written on the same kind of icky-looking paper as the first one.

"I borrowed your kitten. She's adorable! Come visit me at the old fort when you want her back."

"Love, Lily."

Lily?! That weird creepy girl? And by kitten she obviously means..

WHY WON'T PEOPLE STOP KIDNAPPING MY FRIEND?!

>1/2

>>750622
Okay, calm down. Think.

The old fort. I think I know about that. It's to the west, past the forest, right on the border between the Empire and Lent. It was supposed to protect this province from invasion but it was abandoned because.. I forgot that part. Kerstin talked about it once but it got kind of boring and some of the little ones were trying to get Amalia to play hide and seek with them after Sunday School was over so I had to distract them before she got angry.

Heehee, they wouldn't have had a chance against her anyway. Wait, not the point! Think about now, Nadja!

Okay, I know where it is. It's probably just some kind of prank again, just like with Sis. But out there on the border, that could still be dangerous. Sure, I have the potions left from Cinnamon's emergency pack, but what if that's not enough? Should I go get help? I want to just run right out there and get her back, but.. Is that the smart move?

If I go back to town, find help, then back here and on to the fort it'd take me almost an hour longer before I get out there. The guards probably won't help if it's just a prank, and it doesn't seem right to tell them it's real when I'm pretty certain it isn't. That'd be lying.

I could look for Sis though, or maybe Kerstin? Probably not Klemens though, he'd be more scared than even me! I don't know if either of them are even home right now, but it might still be worth looking.

Or maybe.. Cinnamon? She'd probably love to help and a fellow witch would be the most useful, but she'll be all the way up at Redleaf's house, up in the mountains. It would take hours to get up there and back. Can I really leave Amalia for that long?

>No time to tarry, go out there alone!
>It'll delay me by about an hour, but it'd be safer to have help from someone. Go back to town first!
>Go find Cinnamon! It may take a lot longer, but going out there with her is definitely the safest!
>..Something else? [Write-in!]

END OF THREAD #29

>>750625
>No time to tarry, go out there alone!

>>750625
>>No time to tarry, go out there alone!

>>750625
>>No time to tarry, go out there alone!

Amalia needs help right now and Lily isn't going to hurt us. Probably We need to be brave!

and remember to apologize for not reading her book

>>750625
>No time to tarry, go out there alone!
Why does Lily get to plant notes in Mistress' bedroom?

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And that'll be that. Short session, I know, but it's really about as much time as I can possibly spend without being completely irresponsible. It is the middle of the week after all.

Next time should be fun though. Lily hasn't been getting the love she deserves at all, so why not give her the Halloween episode, right? I need to figure out exactly which day that will be, but I obviously intend it for this weekend. Scheduling info goes in the Twitter, so you know where to look!

As always, thanks a bunch for reading, I hope you enjoyed this Emergency Compensation Thread That Was Totally Necessary Setting Up, and I especially hope to see you next time!

Good night!

>>750625
>It'll delay me by about an hour, but it'd be safer to have help from someone. Go back to town first!
Amalia may be a trained and deadly assassin who hates any and all titles, but she sure has princess genes.

>>750661
Thanks for running Friend! I'm looking forward to next time.

>>750625
>No time to tarry, go out there alone!
>Use a sighting Hex on Amalia first! For the spark we can write her real name and burn the paper it's written on.

>>750661
I'm excited. And as scary as Lily is, she probably has all kinds of poison lying around that she'd be willing to give us for playing along with her.

>>750669
I don't think that's sufficient for the Spark. Nice thinking though.

... would Nadja suffice for the Spark, in this case? She's extremely personal for Amalia.

>>750674
All we'd need is some drink! Nadja can make her own poison.

>>750661
Thanks for running!

>>750674
If you look in the pencraft pastebin, the spark has to be something the target wants to be kept secret, not just something personal or important.

>>750661
Thanks for running.

>>750680
I see.

It needs chocolate for the Substance. What a waste of perfectly good chocolate.

In any case, I don't think Sighting Amalia would do any good. She's probably knocked out. Plus we know exactly where she is already.

>>750625
>It'll delay me by about an hour, but it'd be safer to have help from someone. Go back to town first!

>>750680
>If you look in the pencraft pastebin, the spark has to be something the target wants to be kept secret, not just something personal or important.
Such tragedy that us players know the perfect Spark yet Nadja remains oblivious. Oh well!

>>750674
Why do you think her real name/identity wouldn't suffice?

>>750661
Thanks for running.

>>750710
Because I had not read the pastebin.

>>750702
What? Nadja definitely knows Amalia's real name, she told it to Nadja herself.

>>750726
I was talking about her BIGGER secret of course!

But I think the point that it might not help even if we could see through her eyes is a good one too.

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>>750669
>Use a sighting Hex on Amalia first! For the spark we can write her real name and burn the paper it's written on

>Spark:
>Write something the target wants to keep secret, then burn the paper it's written on.

That's pretty sharp, anon. I'll allow it.
She'll need to scavenge the house for some chocolate and then actually draw and cast the Hex, which would take a bit of time, but if nobody objects to spending like half an hour to an hour (reduced since Nadja is GOOD at this and will probably get it right in a single attempt) extra, then I'll include this.

Since there's obviously no point in using the hex right away, I'm thinking Nadja will simply prepare it on paper (totally possible though impractical) and then bring it with her again to use at a strategic moment.

>>750736
I don't mind spending the time to cast the hex.

>>750736
I don't mind, it could come in handy.

>>750736
I don't object. That's a cool idea.

Though I'm not sure what good it will be. Does the Sighting hex take Amalia's improved senses into account? It would be weird to suddenly have cat hearing and stuff.

If we don't find a use for it, we could blow it on finding Sis. She's hard to find sometimes and Nadja probably knows a dozen different secrets about her.

>>750736
>Since there's obviously no point in using the hex right away, I'm thinking Nadja will simply prepare it on paper (totally possible though impractical) and then bring it with her again to use at a strategic moment.
Wait. How is Nadja supposed to burn the paper? Does she even know how to make a fire?

>>750736
I was thinking of using it right away, but if we can draw hexes on paper and move them then it would be better to use once we get close to the fort. Hopefully the chocolate doesn't melt off the page!

>>750758
I was thinking Nadja could use it to get an idea of where Amalia is in the fort, so Nadja knows what she's getting herself into.

>>750736
Finding some paper and chocolate might not be a bad idea, I suppose.

>>750765
I'd hope that would be chapter 1 of witching! Nadja has been an aspiring apprentice for a while even if she didn't learn any actual Witch stuff until the quest started right?.

>>750770
>I was thinking Nadja could use it to get an idea of where Amalia is in the fort, so Nadja knows what she's getting herself into.
Bad idea. There's no guarantee that she's conscious or has a good view of the fort, and even if she did have a good view, it would be useless to Nadja since she has no idea what the fort's layout is or anything.

>>750765
I would expect there to be some sort of fire making supplies lying around.

>>750781
I don't see how it's a bad idea, considering the only thing it costs Nadja is some chocolate and paper, and best case she figures out /why/ Amalia was kidnapped.

>>750765
Nadja has two "Fire" potions if we're desperate, but if we're lucky Nadja will find some flint in Mistresses house.

>>750813
We already know why she was kidnapped. Lily is fucking with us. It's the kind of thing she does, apparently.

>>750819
She just wants to play, Nadja has never even gone to visit.

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>>750758
>Does the Sighting hex take Amalia's improved senses into account?
Short answer? Yes.

Long answer? Kind of, but it's a bit complicated. Sensing something is part having the actual sensory organs for it and part being able to actually process the information picked up. You know, whether or not your brain is actually wired for it.

For example, a blind witch could see through someone else's eyes because while her eyes don't work, her brain is still perfectly capable of handling that. But if she somehow managed to cast the hex on one of the gods, she would not be able to see the entire world at once from every possible point of view like they do because that is obviously not something her mind can handle. She would only see a single point of view, like a human would.

Fortunately, Amalia is very much human with a few altered bits, so there should be only little difference between what she sees and what Nadja could see through her.

>>750765
>How is Nadja supposed to burn the paper?
She checks her inventory for an extremely convenient solution that works even if there is nothing around her that she can use. She doesn't know a terrible lot about survival, but she has seen fires be lit countless times and has done it a few times herself. She doesn't carry a tinderbox, due to, well, not exactly having reason to do so, but if she has the materials she can definitely do it within a reasonable enough time. Far quicker than most modern people for sure, but not nearly as quick as someone who actually starts fires on a regular basis.

>>750776
Pledge of Secrecy.
People close to witches generally have a decent idea of what a witch can do and what a witch does, even if they're not allowed to know how. For everyone else, the stories can get pretty wild and as a result they'll often have fairly unreasonable requests for any witches that make themselves known, much to their regret. That's often followed by some spectacular, though usually harmless, display meant to teach people to not waste her time for anything but very good reasons.

>>750845
Was Lily going to steal Amalia whether we went into the bedroom or not?

>>751061
No. Then I may as well have skipped the vote. I mean it's still kind of bad form anyway since the consequences had pretty much zero transparency which is pretty bad and I've already realized how I could've gone about that in a smarter way but that's too late now!

Anyway yeah it was always meant to be the setup for spooky Lily times and she was always watching and may even teach you how she that. If Nadja had looked outside she would have eventually found the cellar and would have been jumped instead and have to escape from Lily's spooky base instead.
If you had woken Amalia she would have found the cellar as well, but jumping her in the dark isn't as effective so she would have simply stolen the ingredients Nadja had picked out, again forcing her to give chase (or abandon the poison idea entirely) so all in all the real consequence is where which of the main characters go.

In one Nadja approaches from outside while Amalia eventually wakes inside. In one their positions are reversed (obviously Amalia would go after Nadja, it's not even a question), and one where they're not separated at all and instead just need to find all the items. Because item hunts are in ALL the horror games. ALL of them.

>>752080
Be careful about letting anons see behind the metaphorical DM screen, or you'll get buried beneath accusations of railroading.

>>752080
We managed to find the most fun outcome out of all those! Hooray!

>>752105
I might be optimistic, but I would hope that only happens if he is actually railroading. Which he isn't in this case.

I enjoy hearing about different ways stories could have gone, in any case.

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>>752105
A reasonable concern. I do try to keep it in mind. In this case though, I figured it was fair to just admit that I kinda forced events a bit simply because everybody knows this is all in the spirit of having the Halloween special episode I mentioned in a previous thread and that it won't actually have a wider impact beyond that episode.

You could say I trust you guys to distinguish a regular plot event from a seasonal special event, and being open about it in this case seemed better. After all, it would be a HUGE break in tone of the quest to have an episode with horror elements if you guys weren't aware that it's "just for fun," so to speak.

As for railroading, well, I did plan to go with simply not making it part of the main timeline at all for a long time, until my mind finally made the obvious connection between Lily and Halloween. She's been on the random encounter tables quite a few times (both the public and hidden encounter rolls) but she's basically never actually come up and almost felt like she'd just been forgotten completely. I just didn't like that at all and decided enough's enough. So really, if anyone is getting railroaded here, it's the piece of shit dice trying to keep her out of the quest.

>>752822
Don't you just hate it when the dice don't work like they're supposed to?