witchcraft and sorcery

[witchwatcher]

For a brief moment, in a certain part of fairyland there is a tear that leads to the cold sky above a snow-covered hilly forest somewhere in the mortal world.

Comments

[witchwatcher]

"Point."

Scatter appears nearby with a muffled FOOM sound. "Jeez, that guy really wouldn't take 'no I don't want your berries' for an answer. Had to 'port away."

[imeanforever]

"You shouldn't try to talk to other fairies," Promise says. "Some of them might be smart or have powers you can't counter easily. If somebody bright gets you they get Copycat's name, I'm gonna guess, and she comes with me."

[witchwatcher]

"Fine, fine."

"So. Honestly staying in Fairyland seems like a worse idea by the minute. I'm thinking we come back in a week or two when your old master probably isn't watching your tree anymore? Promise, Scatter, thoughts?"

Scatter shrugs.

[imeanforever]

"Sounds good."

[witchwatcher]

"I'll get the rest of the gold then. Bye, Promise. Scatter, take us home."

"Three two one." Poof.

[imeanforever]

Promise plants food near her cave. She cries sometimes. She doesn't track down anything she can make paper out of, so she writes to herself in fairylights. She sleeps. She flies around, but invisibly; she doesn't want to talk to the neighbors.

[witchwatcher]

Scatter can already teleport contiguous objects. She practices teleporting liquids.



Four days into their 'a couple of weeks' timeline, she teleports to Fairyland a couple hundred feet above Luck.

[alicornucopia]

Luck is at home. Which turns out to mean in a largish court of fairies of various sorts.

[witchwatcher]

She teleports away from the court as soon as she recovers, hopefully none of them noticed her... It's probably a better idea to try and find a lone fairy. Promise would be a good candidate, if not for how Gren would likely find out and be extremely upset and maybe try to kill her.

Are any of the other fairies she met/saw while exploring likely to live alone?

[alicornucopia]

Well, that depends on what signs she knows to look for, but if she checks them all systematically she will find a cascade who lives by himself, upstream from Promise's cave by a section of rapids.

[witchwatcher]

The next time that cascade takes a drink of something that's not water, he'll find an extra eighth-ounce of apple juice in his mouth from no apparent source.

[alicornucopia]

...He pretty much only drinks water.

[witchwatcher]

He might notice the taste if she puts it in his water. She could teleport it directly into his stomach, guessing where his stomach might be. Fairies can't die, so even if she messes up...

She tries that, but the magic won't go. 'Inside a fairy' is not a valid teleport-target. Annoying. She'll be spotted sooner or later at this rate. And the risk of the whole endeavor is making her hair stand on end.

She risks him noticing the tiny amounts of juice that are the smallest possible volume of liquid she can teleport, 'ported into his open mouth as he swallows water.

[alicornucopia]

Yeah, he notices that. He spits and looks alarmed and sticks his head in the river, perhaps to rinse his mouth out.

[witchwatcher]

Did it take? No way to tell without giving him an order, but if the answer is 'no'...

Scatter disappears.

[alicornucopia]

The cascade does not chase her or anything.

[witchwatcher]

The next time Scatter enters Fairyland is with Copycat after two and a bit weeks to check up on Promise.

[imeanforever]

Promise looks less stressed out. She has a little farm and found something to make pillows out of to line her cave. But she still wants her tree.

[witchwatcher]

"What's the plan for getting it? Invisible and inaudible of course. Teleport in, teleport out? Gates?"

[imeanforever]

"Teleporting is faster than waiting for a gate and having to monitor it. I can invisible and inaudible Scatter, so she doesn't spend down mana taking passengers? I don't need more than a twig."

[witchwatcher]

"I checked, and 'Promise's Tree' is specific enough that I can get right to it. You have the rest of the gold though, right?"

Scatter's wearing armor, and has a bow and some arrows.

[imeanforever]

Promise hands over golden bullets.

[witchwatcher]

"Good, good. Ready to go whenever you sorcer at me."

[imeanforever]

Sorcery!

[witchwatcher]

And the invisible inaudible Scatter is flying a hundred feet above Promise's tree.

She carefully looks around for any fairies. She won't find anyone else who's invisible, but she knows they come in 'small' and 'blending-in colors'.