You have 16 Days Until Your Place of Business is Shut Down

> Hey, nice! Let's go cash out and deliver the chocolate! We can go visit Dave after. A well deserved break!

I'm glad you're still around too! ^^ This adventure's pretty dang intresting. Hopefully you've been well!

> Hey, nice! Let's go cash out and deliver the chocolate! We can go visit Dave after. A well deserved break!

You get the chocolates together and head out to meet Stahl, to accept and turn in the request. On your way to the castle, you have the distinct feeling that someone is following you. You idly wonder if your master is back from whatever trip she was going on, and then worry it might be Miriam planning some kind of revenge for more or less dumping on her a few days ago...but whoever it is, they don't come out just yet, and they don't seem to follow you into the castle itself.

You ask Stahl for a list of requests, and he obliges. "I assume you met miss Kovich at some point before asking me about her. She put in a personal request for you."

1. Slay Alpha Wolf by 2/5 - 1000 Cole
   
2. (From Hazel Tethel) Bring Milk Chocolate x 3 by 1/27 - 750 Cole
   
3. (From Miriam Kovich) Bring Puniball x 5 by 2/1 - 500 Cole
   
4. Slay 6 Punis by 1/20 - 600 Cole
   
5. Bring 5 Cloth by 1/26 - 1200 Cole

Of course, you accept and turn in the second request, which leaves the others for you to consider briefly. It seems like the alpha wolf is tough enough that nobody's going for that one, but the other requests will probably disappear before too long. (-all Milk Chocolates, +750 Cole)

>

Date: 1/11
Time: About half

Status & Inventory:

3716 Cole

Location: Syzygy - Castle Front Desk

Character Status:

SpoilerShow

Sarah Kennigan: Barely Scratched, Just Okay
Weapon: Basic Staff
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

Ether Light: A self-defense technique from Master. Non-elemental magic attack, any 1 square.

Dave Barrett: Barely Scratched, Not Okay
Weapon: Hatchets
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Hatchet Throw: Throw a hatchet in any of 8 directions. Does physical damage to whatever it hits first.
  
• Slice & Dice: Chop-chop-chop-chop! Attempts 5-10 normal attacks, all on the same target, at reduced accuracy.

Fee: 0 Cole

Miranda (???): Uninjured, Fine
Weapon: Knight's Sword
Armor: Knight's Armor
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Zero Motivation (passive): Eh. Miranda has less energy states than normal (Exhausted, Okay, Fine). It costs energy to perform regular move and attack actions in battle. Active skills require a large percentage of her maximum energy.
  
• Chill (passive): Whatever, it's fine. Miranda regains a small amount of energy anytime she isn't doing anything, regardless of if it's out of town or even in the middle of a battle.
  
• Spin Slash: Gotta respect the classics. Slashes everything in the 8 tiles surrounding Miranda for physical damage.
  
• Lazy Combo: Way too much effort. Performs six normal attacks in a row (which can have distinct targets), and then lacks the motivation to do anything at all for the next two turns (Chill is disabled during these turns).
  
• Slack Off (3/3): Miranda's favorite activity. Doesn't accomplish anything immediate, but restores a moderate amount of energy instead of spending it. Has a 2-turn cooldown and only works 3 times per battle.

Fee: 500 Cole

Dual Techs:

SpoilerShow

Sarah & Dave:
Ether Hatchet (Hatchet Throw + Ether Light): Do the thing! Targets any enemy on a straight line from Dave which he could hit with Hatchet Throw. Deals physical damage to the target and then magical damage to anything in the 3x3 square centered on the target.

All other info

A/N:

SpoilerShow

This adventure is usually fairly easy to update. But I got into a vicious cycle of writer's block and discouragement from hardly anyone reading for a while. Part of coming back was remembering that there's a lot of interesting stuff that we haven't gotten to yet, as Derelict guessed at one point.

Aaaa sorry! I kept on forgetting to suggest;
> might as well accept miriams request! Afterwards we should go visit dave and see how he's doing. We need the rest!

> might as well accept miriams request! Afterwards we should go visit dave and see how he's doing. We need the rest!

You accept Miriam's request. It shouldn't be too hard to kill a few more punis and take care of it, and maybe giving her something she wanted will make up for running away on her the other day. Maybe.

After that, you head out to look for Dave. Making the chocolates wasn't too bad, but it still took a bit out of you, so a break seems like a good idea. Eventually you find him sitting on main street with his back against a wall. He looks sweaty and tired, and his eyes are closed. "...Dave?"
"Hm?" He opens his eyes. "Oh, hey Sarah. Whassup?"
"Um, are you okay there?"
"Yeah. 's just takin' a little breather."
"Your dad working you extra hard for some reason?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah." That isn't a very convincing lie. He had a flash of a confused expression that suggests the idea hadn't even occurred to him until you said it.

Dave isn't the kind of person to hide things from people in general, especially from you. Should you press him on this?

>

Date: 1/11
Time: About half

Status & Inventory:

3716 Cole

Location: Syzygy

Character Status:

SpoilerShow

Sarah Kennigan: Barely Scratched, Just Okay
Weapon: Basic Staff
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

Ether Light: A self-defense technique from Master. Non-elemental magic attack, any 1 square.

Dave Barrett: Barely Scratched, Not Okay
Weapon: Hatchets
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Hatchet Throw: Throw a hatchet in any of 8 directions. Does physical damage to whatever it hits first.
  
• Slice & Dice: Chop-chop-chop-chop! Attempts 5-10 normal attacks, all on the same target, at reduced accuracy.

Fee: 0 Cole

Miranda (???): Uninjured, Fine
Weapon: Knight's Sword
Armor: Knight's Armor
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Zero Motivation (passive): Eh. Miranda has less energy states than normal (Exhausted, Okay, Fine). It costs energy to perform regular move and attack actions in battle. Active skills require a large percentage of her maximum energy.
  
• Chill (passive): Whatever, it's fine. Miranda regains a small amount of energy anytime she isn't doing anything, regardless of if it's out of town or even in the middle of a battle.
  
• Spin Slash: Gotta respect the classics. Slashes everything in the 8 tiles surrounding Miranda for physical damage.
  
• Lazy Combo: Way too much effort. Performs six normal attacks in a row (which can have distinct targets), and then lacks the motivation to do anything at all for the next two turns (Chill is disabled during these turns).
  
• Slack Off (3/3): Miranda's favorite activity. Doesn't accomplish anything immediate, but restores a moderate amount of energy instead of spending it. Has a 2-turn cooldown and only works 3 times per battle.

Fee: 500 Cole

Dual Techs:

SpoilerShow

Sarah & Dave:
Ether Hatchet (Hatchet Throw + Ether Light): Do the thing! Targets any enemy on a straight line from Dave which he could hit with Hatchet Throw. Deals physical damage to the target and then magical damage to anything in the 3x3 square centered on the target.

All other info

A/N:

SpoilerShow

I was partially worried about a bug I've seen on this forum where every once in a while it just won't show that a subscribed thread updated properly. But all the same, I wish we had at least one or two other readers so it wasn't me pestering one person.

> press him! if he won't budge, then ask him if he's willing to hang out.

oh yeah, that bug! it's really a shame there isn't anyone else, yeah.. :c it'd be more fun that way!

> press him! if he won't budge, then ask him if he's willing to hang out.

You raise an eyebrow. "You literally just made that up. What's going on?"
"It's, uh..no big deal, nope," Dave says. "Um, on an unrelated note I might not be much use out of town for the next day or two, yeah."
"Is there some good reason you don't want to tell me why that is, or why you're exhausted right now?"
"Well..yes!" He nods. "I can't tell you what it is, but there is one."
"...Fine." You sigh. "You're taking a break anyway, want to hang out? I spent the last day and a half making chocolate and then didn't eat any of it."
"Um, sure!" You offer him a hand to help him up, and then lead the way to a cafe with marginally more comfortable seats than the street+wall combination Dave was using.

The feeling that someone is following you fades off a bit with Dave nearby. Maybe whoever it is is too shy to confront you unless you're alone, or something. That rules out Marie at least, and probably Miriam too, based on your first meeting and what you've heard about her.

After a while, Dave stands up abruptly. "Okay, I need to get back to it," he says.
"Uh, see you later then?"
"Yep!" He dashes off at a speed that seems intended to prevent you from easily following. Well, you could keep relaxing or do something with the rest of today...maybe trying to draw out whoever's been following you would be a good idea, or you could go looking for Miriam to actually apologize in person and show her what alchemy looks like, like she wanted in the first place.

>

Date: 1/11
Time: About three quarters

Status & Inventory:

3716 Cole

Location: Syzygy

Character Status:

SpoilerShow

Sarah Kennigan: Uninjured, Just Fine
Weapon: Basic Staff
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

Ether Light: A self-defense technique from Master. Non-elemental magic attack, any 1 square.

Dave Barrett: Uninjured, Just Okay
Weapon: Hatchets
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Hatchet Throw: Throw a hatchet in any of 8 directions. Does physical damage to whatever it hits first.
  
• Slice & Dice: Chop-chop-chop-chop! Attempts 5-10 normal attacks, all on the same target, at reduced accuracy.

Fee: 0 Cole

Miranda (???): Uninjured, Fine
Weapon: Knight's Sword
Armor: Knight's Armor
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Zero Motivation (passive): Eh. Miranda has less energy states than normal (Exhausted, Okay, Fine). It costs energy to perform regular move and attack actions in battle. Active skills require a large percentage of her maximum energy.
  
• Chill (passive): Whatever, it's fine. Miranda regains a small amount of energy anytime she isn't doing anything, regardless of if it's out of town or even in the middle of a battle.
  
• Spin Slash: Gotta respect the classics. Slashes everything in the 8 tiles surrounding Miranda for physical damage.
  
• Lazy Combo: Way too much effort. Performs six normal attacks in a row (which can have distinct targets), and then lacks the motivation to do anything at all for the next two turns (Chill is disabled during these turns).
  
• Slack Off (3/3): Miranda's favorite activity. Doesn't accomplish anything immediate, but restores a moderate amount of energy instead of spending it. Has a 2-turn cooldown and only works 3 times per battle.

Fee: 500 Cole

Dual Techs:

SpoilerShow

Sarah & Dave:
Ether Hatchet (Hatchet Throw + Ether Light): Do the thing! Targets any enemy on a straight line from Dave which he could hit with Hatchet Throw. Deals physical damage to the target and then magical damage to anything in the 3x3 square centered on the target.

All other info

> Let's be the better person and properly apologize to Miriam first.

> Let's be the better person and properly apologize to Miriam first.

Well, might as well go looking for Miriam. Assuming she's not who's following you, you're not sure of a better way to figure out where she went than to check with Stahl, and/or hope you just run into her somewhere on the way back to the castle.

You have the good fortune of spotting her sitting outside of a cafe, staring up at the sky. For her talk about your green skin making you easy to spot, her weird white coat thing is equally as conspicuous. You approach a bit cautiously, feeling like you're getting close to a bubbling pot that may in the near future explode. "Um...hi."
She snaps her head in your direction, and after a brief second to recognize you says, "Oh, hello there." And then turns her head back toward the sky.
"What're you...lookin' at."
"I'm certain you can see it as well as I can," Miriam says, pointing.

There's a black spot in the sky, off in the distance. It's pretty much always been there, so hardly anyone questions it or even brings it up in conversation. When you were younger, you asked your master what it was, and she just said she'd tell you when you were older--which increasingly seemed to be her version of "I don't know."

"Oh, that thing. Listen, I uh, wanted to apologize for running off on you the other day."
Without turning her head: "Mhm?"
"It's just that you didn't seem like you were gonna take no for an answer, and I was really tired, and..."
"I was shouting and butting my head into your business," she finishes. "It's understandable. I didn't know anything about your situation at that time." Miriam pauses to adjust her glasses. You've never understood why people with glasses have to stop talking just to do that. "I waited only one hour before concluding you had decided to avoid me. I had some calculations to do anyway, so the time wasn't wasted.

"Everyone I talk to has the same reaction. 'Oh, that thing'. 'What about it?' 'It sure is there.' Do you know what it is? Have you ever even tried to guess?"

>

Date: 1/11
Time: About three quarters

Status & Inventory:

3716 Cole

Location: Syzygy

Character Status:

SpoilerShow

Sarah Kennigan: Barely Scratched, Just Fine
Weapon: Basic Staff
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

Ether Light: A self-defense technique from Master. Non-elemental magic attack, any 1 square.

Dave Barrett: Barely Scratched, Just Okay
Weapon: Hatchets
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Hatchet Throw: Throw a hatchet in any of 8 directions. Does physical damage to whatever it hits first.
  
• Slice & Dice: Chop-chop-chop-chop! Attempts 5-10 normal attacks, all on the same target, at reduced accuracy.

Fee: 0 Cole

Miranda (???): Uninjured, Fine
Weapon: Knight's Sword
Armor: Knight's Armor
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Zero Motivation (passive): Eh. Miranda has less energy states than normal (Exhausted, Okay, Fine). It costs energy to perform regular move and attack actions in battle. Active skills require a large percentage of her maximum energy.
  
• Chill (passive): Whatever, it's fine. Miranda regains a small amount of energy anytime she isn't doing anything, regardless of if it's out of town or even in the middle of a battle.
  
• Spin Slash: Gotta respect the classics. Slashes everything in the 8 tiles surrounding Miranda for physical damage.
  
• Lazy Combo: Way too much effort. Performs six normal attacks in a row (which can have distinct targets), and then lacks the motivation to do anything at all for the next two turns (Chill is disabled during these turns).
  
• Slack Off (3/3): Miranda's favorite activity. Doesn't accomplish anything immediate, but restores a moderate amount of energy instead of spending it. Has a 2-turn cooldown and only works 3 times per battle.

Fee: 500 Cole

Dual Techs:

SpoilerShow

Sarah & Dave:
Ether Hatchet (Hatchet Throw + Ether Light): Do the thing! Targets any enemy on a straight line from Dave which he could hit with Hatchet Throw. Deals physical damage to the target and then magical damage to anything in the 3x3 square centered on the target.

All other info

A/N

SpoilerShow

You don't have to only suggest answers to this question. Suggest anything else to say or to talk to Miriam about.

> "I don't know. It's not like anyone else has an answer, right? Why, what do you think it is?"
> after, ask her if she sees someone following you.

> "I don't know. It's not like anyone else has an answer, right? Why, what do you think it is?"
> after, ask her if she sees someone following you.

"I mean, yeah...maybe? Sometimes? But it's just a weird dot in the sky, so I don't really know what I would guess," you say. "And nobody else knows either. What do you think it is?"
"It is a mystery worth solving," says Miriam. "I have been able to learn some things about it, but from a distance it remains thoroughly inscrutable. Even looking at it with a telescope, it's just a big black circle, or more accurately it seems to be a sphere."
"What things do you know about it?" you say.

"Well, first of all, it's been around for several generations, and doesn't seem to have changed at all during that time." She seems pleased to have someone to talk about this to. "Records from over two centuries ago record its existence as an unknown mystery. Old mana willing to be interviewed on the subject report its presence for as long as they can recall. Secondly, it's geostatic."
"Geo-what?"
"It's.." She waves her hands briefly, attempting but failing to draw something out in gesture. "Okay, you know how the sun and the moon and the stars all move around in the sky as the day or the year goes on?"
"Yeah..."
"That's because they're very far away from us. Farther than the whole world is big, by several orders of magnitude. We can only even see those things because they're huge. But that dot up there in the sky, it stays in the same place at all times. That means it's small by comparison, and it moves at the same rate as we do."
"..Wait, so you mean it isn't moving right now because we're not moving?"

"No, I mean it rotates at the same rate as..look, let's just say that it's hovering over a single spot, but really high up from that spot." Something in your expression probably indicates that you still don't understand what she's talking about, so she sighs. "Okay. Imagine, someone built a really tall tower, and then put a black sphere at the top of it, and then made the tower invisible. That's what it would look like," she says, pointing to the actual dot in the sky. "It's different from something that's actually really in the sky. With enough materials you could build a tower tall enough to get up there. But first you'd have to get to the right spot down here on the ground."
"Oh." This at least sort of makes senses.
"Since I know about your situation, I'll tell you about mine," says Miriam. "I'm sure you've heard that I am no native of Syzygy. I moved here a year and two months ago for one reason and one reason only. That." She points dramatically to the dot in the sky again. "It demands to be understood, and I intend to be the one who understands it."
"Soo, why did you move here then?" you say.

She sighs. "The third thing I know about that thing in the sky. The lands surrounding the point beneath it are owned by Syzygy, and they keep a constant guard of the place. They claim that it is home to extremely dangerous monsters and beasts, and even objects capable of destroying anyone who picks them up. They guard the borders of that land not just to keep people from going in, but to stop the worse monsters from getting out.

"So they won't let me in without a permit. I can't get a permit without proving that I am sufficiently capable of defending myself, or that I am in a group capable of defending ourselves. So to get there I work here, and eventually I intend to accrue enough revenue and/or local trust to hire some of the very knights guarding that place as bodyguards, so that I may go inside and examine that thing in the sky from as close a vantage point as physically possible. That is why I cannot afford competitors in making explosives, since it is a highly profitable niche I carved out for myself. I would rather find some way to cooperate if possible."

"So that's why you had a request for a bomb with Stahl, and then came after me when I turned it in," you say. She nods. "Hey, by the way--since you've been looking toward me this whole time, do you see anyone just staring at me back there? I've had the feeling someone's been following me for a while now.."
"Hmm.." Miriam seems to take the request seriously, adjusting her glasses again and giving an intent glare to the area behind you. "Nobody in particular. They might not be hiding in quite so plain sight, however.
"Well, since I answered some of your questions, is there anything you'd be willing to tell me about al-chemistry?" she says.

>

Date: 1/11
Time: About three quarters

Status & Inventory:

3716 Cole

Location: Syzygy

Character Status:

SpoilerShow

Sarah Kennigan: Barely Scratched, Just Fine
Weapon: Basic Staff
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

Ether Light: A self-defense technique from Master. Non-elemental magic attack, any 1 square.

Dave Barrett: Barely Scratched, Just Okay
Weapon: Hatchets
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Hatchet Throw: Throw a hatchet in any of 8 directions. Does physical damage to whatever it hits first.
  
• Slice & Dice: Chop-chop-chop-chop! Attempts 5-10 normal attacks, all on the same target, at reduced accuracy.

Fee: 0 Cole

Miranda (???): Uninjured, Fine
Weapon: Knight's Sword
Armor: Knight's Armor
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Zero Motivation (passive): Eh. Miranda has less energy states than normal (Exhausted, Okay, Fine). It costs energy to perform regular move and attack actions in battle. Active skills require a large percentage of her maximum energy.
  
• Chill (passive): Whatever, it's fine. Miranda regains a small amount of energy anytime she isn't doing anything, regardless of if it's out of town or even in the middle of a battle.
  
• Spin Slash: Gotta respect the classics. Slashes everything in the 8 tiles surrounding Miranda for physical damage.
  
• Lazy Combo: Way too much effort. Performs six normal attacks in a row (which can have distinct targets), and then lacks the motivation to do anything at all for the next two turns (Chill is disabled during these turns).
  
• Slack Off (3/3): Miranda's favorite activity. Doesn't accomplish anything immediate, but restores a moderate amount of energy instead of spending it. Has a 2-turn cooldown and only works 3 times per battle.

Fee: 500 Cole

Dual Techs:

SpoilerShow

Sarah & Dave:
Ether Hatchet (Hatchet Throw + Ether Light): Do the thing! Targets any enemy on a straight line from Dave which he could hit with Hatchet Throw. Deals physical damage to the target and then magical damage to anything in the 3x3 square centered on the target.

All other info

A/N:

SpoilerShow

This wound up a little long, whoops. Oh, the woes of being among the first "round-worlders" of your world.

> Admit you're still learning and tell her it involves a lot of 'hoping this will turn out fine'. Offer to show her first hand how alchemistry works.

> Admit you're still learning and tell her it involves a lot of 'hoping this will turn out fine'. Offer to show her first hand how alchemistry works.

"Well, I mean..for one thing, it's called alchemy. I don't think I've heard anyone call 'al-chemistry' before. But um, I'm just a beginner so I don't really know all that much in the first place."
She nods, seemingly understandingly. "Just tell me what you know so far."
"Umm, it's just, there's a cauldron, and you put the ingredients in the cauldron, and they make a thing." You say. "But it's like, you have to do things in the right order, and then hopefully it comes out okay..? But if you do it right, then it usually does the right thing." The look of total confusion just doesn't seem right on her face. "I guess, um..it'd be easier to just show you, like you wanted in the first place."
"That may be best," says Miriam, adjusting her glasses again; you think they somehow went askew as part of the confused look. "When would be a good time?"

You take a quick look at your clock. It's a bit late, so there's only one recipe you know that could be done before the end of today, Polish Powder. That one looked easy, but you'd need to go buy some Iron Ore first. If you want to make something else, you'll have to ask her to come in tomorrow to watch..it feels too awkward to have someone stay overnight for this kind of thing.

>

Date: 1/11
Time: About three quarters

Status & Inventory:

3716 Cole

Location: Syzygy

Character Status:

SpoilerShow

Sarah Kennigan: Barely Scratched, Just Fine
Weapon: Basic Staff
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

Ether Light: A self-defense technique from Master. Non-elemental magic attack, any 1 square.

Dave Barrett: Barely Scratched, Just Okay
Weapon: Hatchets
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Hatchet Throw: Throw a hatchet in any of 8 directions. Does physical damage to whatever it hits first.
  
• Slice & Dice: Chop-chop-chop-chop! Attempts 5-10 normal attacks, all on the same target, at reduced accuracy.

Fee: 0 Cole

Miranda (???): Uninjured, Fine
Weapon: Knight's Sword
Armor: Knight's Armor
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Zero Motivation (passive): Eh. Miranda has less energy states than normal (Exhausted, Okay, Fine). It costs energy to perform regular move and attack actions in battle. Active skills require a large percentage of her maximum energy.
  
• Chill (passive): Whatever, it's fine. Miranda regains a small amount of energy anytime she isn't doing anything, regardless of if it's out of town or even in the middle of a battle.
  
• Spin Slash: Gotta respect the classics. Slashes everything in the 8 tiles surrounding Miranda for physical damage.
  
• Lazy Combo: Way too much effort. Performs six normal attacks in a row (which can have distinct targets), and then lacks the motivation to do anything at all for the next two turns (Chill is disabled during these turns).
  
• Slack Off (3/3): Miranda's favorite activity. Doesn't accomplish anything immediate, but restores a moderate amount of energy instead of spending it. Has a 2-turn cooldown and only works 3 times per battle.

Fee: 500 Cole

Dual Techs:

SpoilerShow

Sarah & Dave:
Ether Hatchet (Hatchet Throw + Ether Light): Do the thing! Targets any enemy on a straight line from Dave which he could hit with Hatchet Throw. Deals physical damage to the target and then magical damage to anything in the 3x3 square centered on the target.

All other info

> Ask her if she wants you to come over tommorow instead, unless she wants to help you pay for the iron ore. Might as well!
> Also ask her to accompany us going home if Dave can't, what's up with that guy following us anyways.

> Ask her if she wants you to come over tommorow instead, unless she wants to help you pay for the iron ore. Might as well!
> Also ask her to accompany us going home if Dave can't, what's up with that guy following us anyways.

"I think..probably tomorrow? There's only enough time to make one thing I know how to make today, and I don't have the ingredient for it, and I'm trying to be careful about what I spend..."
"What ingredient do you need?" she asks.
"Iron ore. Or--well, actually the recipe would work with any kind of ore, like anything that can be melted down to make metal."
"Hmm." Miriam thinks for a second. "I have some scrap metal left over, if that would work."
You think about the recipe's description of what it needs. "Yeah, I think so." It hadn't really occurred to you that that could also work as an "ore" before now. (Scrap Metal added to [Ore] category) "I guess if you're willing to let me have a little, I could do it today, then."

Miriam nods. "I will meet you at your workshop after gathering some of it." She stands up and seems ready to run off right away.
"Oh--wait!"
"Hm?"
"Um, about the person who's been following me..they seem to leave me alone if I'm with someone. Maybe I could just go with you? And then show you where my house is."
"Your workshop's location is public knowledge." Miriam adjusts her glasses again. "I strongly doubt that whoever has been following you will harm you in broad daylight in front of dozens of witnesses. You might even be able to persuade them to come out into the open if they mean you no harm. But you may accompany me if you truly wish to."

Will you follow Miriam, try to draw out your follower, or do something else, like go home and try to ignore the feeling you're being followed?

>

Date: 1/11
Time: About three quarters

Status & Inventory:

3716 Cole

Location: Syzygy

Character Status:

SpoilerShow

Sarah Kennigan: Barely Scratched, Just Fine
Weapon: Basic Staff
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

Ether Light: A self-defense technique from Master. Non-elemental magic attack, any 1 square.

Dave Barrett: Barely Scratched, Just Okay
Weapon: Hatchets
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Hatchet Throw: Throw a hatchet in any of 8 directions. Does physical damage to whatever it hits first.
  
• Slice & Dice: Chop-chop-chop-chop! Attempts 5-10 normal attacks, all on the same target, at reduced accuracy.

Fee: 0 Cole

Miranda (???): Uninjured, Fine
Weapon: Knight's Sword
Armor: Knight's Armor
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Zero Motivation (passive): Eh. Miranda has less energy states than normal (Exhausted, Okay, Fine). It costs energy to perform regular move and attack actions in battle. Active skills require a large percentage of her maximum energy.
  
• Chill (passive): Whatever, it's fine. Miranda regains a small amount of energy anytime she isn't doing anything, regardless of if it's out of town or even in the middle of a battle.
  
• Spin Slash: Gotta respect the classics. Slashes everything in the 8 tiles surrounding Miranda for physical damage.
  
• Lazy Combo: Way too much effort. Performs six normal attacks in a row (which can have distinct targets), and then lacks the motivation to do anything at all for the next two turns (Chill is disabled during these turns).
  
• Slack Off (3/3): Miranda's favorite activity. Doesn't accomplish anything immediate, but restores a moderate amount of energy instead of spending it. Has a 2-turn cooldown and only works 3 times per battle.

Fee: 500 Cole

Dual Techs:

SpoilerShow

Sarah & Dave:
Ether Hatchet (Hatchet Throw + Ether Light): Do the thing! Targets any enemy on a straight line from Dave which he could hit with Hatchet Throw. Deals physical damage to the target and then magical damage to anything in the 3x3 square centered on the target.

All other info

A/N:

SpoilerShow

As usual, a command of what to do can be elaborated with how to do it.

I started to write this update before realizing that Scrap Metal had already been introduced, and thought "hey, Miriam can introduce this new material Scrap Metal that also works as an ore". Well, it makes more sense that it can be used as that anyway. And it's always fun to play off my mistakes as the main character's learning something new.

> draw em out.
> "HEY STRANGER WHO'S FOLLOWING ME!!! SHOW YOURSELF YOU FIEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
> ignore every look anyone nearby gives you.
> if nothing comes out, hurriedly apologize to everyone around you and head home. and be preparreeeeeed.

also oooh dang! that's pretty neat.. 0:

> draw em out.
> "HEY STRANGER WHO'S FOLLOWING ME!!! SHOW YOURSELF YOU FIEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
> ignore every look anyone nearby gives you.
> if nothing comes out, hurriedly apologize to everyone around you and head home. and be preparreeeeeed.

"I'll just see if I can get them to come out," you say. "See you in a little bit."
"Alright." Miriam dashes off.

First you head away from where you were speaking with her for a bit until you get the feeling you're being followed again. So you start yelling: "Hey! Whoever's been following me around all day, would you just come out and talk already!?" You get a couple of weird looks, but honestly it'd be far from the strangest or most annoying thing you've done publicly, often with Dave there too.

Anyway, after a bit you get a soft tap on your should. "Blu-waah!" You turn around and take a couple of steps backwards, not having heard someone walking up. But it does seem like your follower did decide to come out in the open.

{The Weird Witch - Feeling Good!}

It's a cat beastfolk boy with..extremely bright pink hair and fur, wearing a loose robe-like outfit with a starry pattern and a black conical hat which is so ridiculously oversized for him that it would surely fall down over his eyes if his ears weren't splayed out to the side to keep it on (and constantly wiggling from side to side as a result). He comes up to your shoulder (not counting that hat), and you'd guess he's not older than fourteen, maybe. He looks only slightly nervous. "Um..sorry about that. Startling you, and following you around. I probably should've known you'd be able to detect a lesser witch around!"
"A what?" You've heard legends of witches, but they're supposed to be a myth. People who aren't mana but can just do all kinds of magic stuff right from their hands, like shoot fire or call down lightning.
He seems to miss your question, and continues: "I was just excited to smell another witch at all! I thought my family was the only ones left."

"Um..I'm not a witch," you say.
"You're not?" He pumps his arms excitedly; you think he's making some gesture with his hands but they're well behind his sleeves. "But you smell like magic!"
You give a half-lidded expression. "I don't know whether I should take that as an insult or not."
"It's..you smell like catalysts and reactants and stuff," he tries to clarify. "Only witches are supposed to know how to use stuff like that. Unless..oh wait! Are you an alchemist?!" He gets an eager, bright-eyed expression, like someone meeting some kind of star.
"Um..yeah. Just starting out, though. Are you saying you're a witch?"
"Ummm...nooo...of course not!" He shakes his head rapidly and emphatically, which surprisingly does not send his hat flying.

You give a look to indicate you aren't buying it. "Well..I guess it's okay if you know. Alchemists have always been friends to witches anyway. There's all kinds of catalysts we can't even get anymore since they mostly died out. I mean, that's what gramma says anyway. Lemme introduce myself! I'm Niko voll Erslied!" He sticks an arm up so the sleeve falls back to reveal a hand, offering to shake.
"Um..Sarah." You return the shake, which he takes as a sign to have a brief arm-seizure with your hand still in his grasp. You have a lot of questions at this point, but it's hard to decide what to ask first...

>

Date: 1/11
Time: About three quarters

Status & Inventory:

3716 Cole

Location: Syzygy

Character Status:

SpoilerShow

Sarah Kennigan: Barely Scratched, Just Fine
Weapon: Basic Staff
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

Ether Light: A self-defense technique from Master. Non-elemental magic attack, any 1 square.

Dave Barrett: Barely Scratched, Just Okay
Weapon: Hatchets
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Hatchet Throw: Throw a hatchet in any of 8 directions. Does physical damage to whatever it hits first.
  
• Slice & Dice: Chop-chop-chop-chop! Attempts 5-10 normal attacks, all on the same target, at reduced accuracy.

Fee: 0 Cole

Miranda (???): Uninjured, Fine
Weapon: Knight's Sword
Armor: Knight's Armor
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Zero Motivation (passive): Eh. Miranda has less energy states than normal (Exhausted, Okay, Fine). It costs energy to perform regular move and attack actions in battle. Active skills require a large percentage of her maximum energy.
  
• Chill (passive): Whatever, it's fine. Miranda regains a small amount of energy anytime she isn't doing anything, regardless of if it's out of town or even in the middle of a battle.
  
• Spin Slash: Gotta respect the classics. Slashes everything in the 8 tiles surrounding Miranda for physical damage.
  
• Lazy Combo: Way too much effort. Performs six normal attacks in a row (which can have distinct targets), and then lacks the motivation to do anything at all for the next two turns (Chill is disabled during these turns).
  
• Slack Off (3/3): Miranda's favorite activity. Doesn't accomplish anything immediate, but restores a moderate amount of energy instead of spending it. Has a 2-turn cooldown and only works 3 times per battle.

Fee: 500 Cole

Dual Techs:

SpoilerShow

Sarah & Dave:
Ether Hatchet (Hatchet Throw + Ether Light): Do the thing! Targets any enemy on a straight line from Dave which he could hit with Hatchet Throw. Deals physical damage to the target and then magical damage to anything in the 3x3 square centered on the target.

All other info

A/N:

SpoilerShow

I didn't know what I was going to name this guy until I played OneShot.

((1 week later: Authorbump. Will delete a little later.))

AAAA oh jeez sorry!!! Got busy with school...

> 'Why did you follow me anyways? We could have just had a normal conversation, you know.'
> 'Did you need something from a witch?'

> 'Why did you follow me anyways? We could have just had a normal conversation, you know.'
> 'Did you need something from a witch?'

{The Weird Witch - Feeling Good!}

"Why were you following me around anyway? You could've just like..walked up and said hello."
"Um. Well, I was, totally gonna do that!" He wobbles back and forth while he talks. "But 'cause I thought you were a witch and we might talk about witch stuff I didn't wanna talk anywhere too public, or while you were already with someone, in case it might 'out' you or somethin'."
"..You seem perfectly happy talking about being a witch now." You gesture to the still-crowded streets nearby.
"Well, nobody believes me when I talk about it, but it was, you know, in case someone knew you and had some evidence, so me saying you were a witch would make them all suspicious!"
"I'm already half Mana. So, me using magic wouldn't even be a surprise..."
"Really?" he looks astonished again. "I just thought it meant alchemists were green!"

You pause for a second, snort, and then just laugh out loud for a moment. Something about it just makes that the funniest response you've gotten to your unusual skin tone.
Niko just seems confused by the laughter. "What?"
"Um, nevermind. Is there some reason you wanted to talk to me, if I was a witch?"
"Not exactly, specifically, I mean..I was just excited to meet another one, 'cause we're so rare," he says. "Umm, to be honest I'm still in training and I thought getting some tips from someone a little older would be helpful.

"But an alchemist is just as exciting, though! Do you do commission work?"
"In theory, yeah..I don't know how to make very much right now, though," you say.
"Ooh, but when you get better you can make super good catalysts, right?" he says eagerly, undeterred.
"Assuming I know what those are by then.."
"I can ask my gramma to send recipes for the really good ones! But, until then, I could just request stuff that'll help you get lots of practice in. You could get better and make money at the same time!" You think of asking where he's supposedly getting money from, but decide against it for now. "Do you take orders directly, or through the scary glasses guy?"
"Um.."
"At the castle?"
"Oh." He means Stahl. "The second one."
"Great! You'll hear from me soon!" He goes zooming off faster than you think is safe in that gigantic robe, and also a little too fast to have hoped to follow him.

You had a few more questions about him supposedly being a witch and so on, but it seems they'll just have to wait. It's probably a good idea to hurry to the workshop at this point anyway.

Thankfully, Miriam isn't here yet. You half-expected to find her already at the front door with her arms crossed and an annoyed expression at having to wait for you to get there. Once inside, you get things ready to do some alchemy, and after a little while she arrives carrying a few pieces of broken-off, half-rusted metal, as well as a small notebook and pen.

{Doing Science - Professor E Gadd}

"What will you make out of this?" she asks.
"Um, polish powder. Like, for polishing stuff."
"Hmm." She scribbles some notes. You just go on and get to work.

Even though you haven't tried this recipe before, it's ridiculously easy to do. Which turns out to be extremely fortunate, because Miriam keeps poking her head toward the cauldron or interrupting you to ask all kinds of weird questions, only to respond with "hmm" and more note-taking. It's very distracting and makes it tough to concentrate on your work, and surely would've led to disaster if you'd tried to actually make another bomb while dealing with it. Still, eventually it's over with, and you have a bag of perfectly good polish powder to work with, along with a bit of leftover scraps. (+1 Polish Powder, +2 Scrap Metal)

"So this is what alchemy looks like," she says, examining the finished product briefly before handing it back to you. "Very little of this makes sense from a scientific perspective. One shouldn't be able to begin with metal and end with this--which doesn't even include metal in it."
"Well, um, it is a kind of magic," you say. From what you can gather, she considers natural, non-magical things to be 'scientific'.
"Right, but all magic has a logic to it. In this case, I believe it's the conversion and combination of things on a conceptual level rather than a physical one. You took something with the capacity to shine, and turned it into something intended to make other things shine. I assume creating a bomb this way involves converting it from something capable of burning, for example..."
"More or less?"
Miriam nods. "It's interesting to see. At any rate, I can conclude that it isn't anything like what I do. You aren't at all likely to crowd out my niche given the wide variety of objects you are able to produce this way.

"That said...I do have an offer to make which I think you will find attractive." Miriam's glasses shine and she smirks in a kind of unhinged-seeming way.
"Yeah..?"
"I understand your work involves going out of town and fighting monsters in order to procure the ingredients necessary to make certain objects. I would like to offer my services in helping you do so. I believe 100 Cole per day, along with meals and sleeping arrangements, would make it worth my time."
"Oh..okay. You know how to fight?"

"But of course! I had to make it all the way to Syzygy on my own, and the roads are not entirely safe." She displays a crossbow which was hiding..somewhere inside her weird coat. "This is my weapon of choice, along with my personal supply of explosives, though the latter is limited in quantity." She puts it away again. "However, my most valuable asset is not my fighting abilites; rather, I believe my keen observational skills will be greatly of use to you. To demonstrate this, I'm prepared to offer you a free trial of my skills. The next time you go out of town, take me along--for at most one week--free of charge. I'll show you what I'm capable of!" If it weren't part of a sales pitch, her tone of voice would make that last sentence sound like a threat.
"Um, thanks," you say.

She nods again. "It is getting late. We shall meet again soon." With that, Miriam dashes out. You feel pretty tired after all of that, and go straight to bed.

Soon, it's another new day, and time to decide once again what to do with it.

>

Date: 1/12
Time: Dawn

Status & Inventory:

3716 Cole

Location: Syzygy - Sarah's Workshop

Character Status:

SpoilerShow

Sarah Kennigan: Barely Scratched, Just Okay
Weapon: Basic Staff
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

Ether Light: A self-defense technique from Master. Non-elemental magic attack, any 1 square.

Dave Barrett: Barely Scratched, Just Okay
Weapon: Hatchets
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Hatchet Throw: Throw a hatchet in any of 8 directions. Does physical damage to whatever it hits first.
  
• Slice & Dice: Chop-chop-chop-chop! Attempts 5-10 normal attacks, all on the same target, at reduced accuracy.

Fee: 0 Cole

Miranda (???): Uninjured, Fine
Weapon: Knight's Sword
Armor: Knight's Armor
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Zero Motivation (passive): Eh. Miranda has less energy states than normal (Exhausted, Okay, Fine). It costs energy to perform regular move and attack actions in battle. Active skills require a large percentage of her maximum energy.
  
• Chill (passive): Whatever, it's fine. Miranda regains a small amount of energy anytime she isn't doing anything, regardless of if it's out of town or even in the middle of a battle.
  
• Spin Slash: Gotta respect the classics. Slashes everything in the 8 tiles surrounding Miranda for physical damage.
  
• Lazy Combo: Way too much effort. Performs six normal attacks in a row (which can have distinct targets), and then lacks the motivation to do anything at all for the next two turns (Chill is disabled during these turns).
  
• Slack Off (3/3): Miranda's favorite activity. Doesn't accomplish anything immediate, but restores a moderate amount of energy instead of spending it. Has a 2-turn cooldown and only works 3 times per battle.

Fee: 500 Cole

Miriam Kovich: Uninjured, 10/10 Bombs
Weapon: Crossbow
Armor: Lab Coat

Skills:

SpoilerShow

• SCIENCE! (passive): Nothing can be allowed to deter the march of progress! Miriam's determination to discover the unknown gives her seemingly boundless energy. Instead her skills use up her limited supply of bombs, which can only be replenished back at town or by Sarah giving her items of the category [Bomb Supply] out of the basket and a night to turn them into more bombs. The quality and type of item affects how many bombs it can produce.
  
• Keen Eye (passive): A scientist must always be paying attention! To everything. Miriam's presence in the party increases the probability of finding more items, and of finding a wider variety of items. Some items can only be initially discovered with Miriam in the party.
  
• Observation: Let's see what makes you tick... Miriam can spend an entire turn (both the move and act portions) on observing an enemy and provide tactical data about that enemy type's behaviors, weaknesses, strengths, etc. This data remains available indefinitely after being obtained once.
  
• CrossBomb (1): The obvious combination. Miriam attaches a small bomb to a crossbow bolt. Hits any enemy in normal attack range for normal attack damage, then causes explosive fire damage to the 3x3 square centered on the target. This can also be aimed at empty squares for tactical effect.

Fee: FREE TRAIL x 1 (100 Cole after)

Dual Techs:

SpoilerShow

Sarah & Dave:
Ether Hatchet (Hatchet Throw + Ether Light): Do the thing! Targets any enemy on a straight line from Dave which he could hit with Hatchet Throw. Deals physical damage to the target and then magical damage to anything in the 3x3 square centered on the target.

All other info

A/N:

SpoilerShow

SORRY FOR LONG. No meaningful way to cut all this up, unfortunately; it's mostly "consequences of decisions previously made" stuff.

Being busy for a while is perfectly fine. School and other Real Jobs always take priority, for readers and for me as well. I just want to be sure it's not completely forgotten.

Another party member, and this one is practical to take along right away! I said before that Miranda was the one with weird mechanics, but I guess probably every character is going to have their own personal quirks. Miriam is also the character with the equivalent of a "Scan spell", which is...pretty important.

Also, we can now get personal requests from Niko. I'm not sure if I was clear enough when I talked about it in an "in-story" tutorial when personal requests were introduced, but the idea is that most potential party members become actual party members primarily by fulfilling enough of their requests. This is how getting Niko as a hireable party member will work, and why it's useful to get requests from him.

[[My apologies!;; I really should find the energy to help out and yet... well here is a command now!]]
> Hm... we're not in the red, but we probably should get healing things. Let's go make some healing paste with a suppulement, magic grass and notebook paper! We can head out when we're done.

> Hm... we're not in the red, but we probably should get healing things. Let's go make some healing paste with a suppulement, magic grass and notebook paper! We can head out when we're done.

You decide to try and make some more Healing Paste. You're supposed to eventually turn in a bunch of this stuff at the castle, so it's worth getting used to making it, and even if it wasn't needed for that it'd be really nice to have a way to heal wounds while out gathering stuff. This one turns out pretty okay, you think. Not amazing, but not bad. Maybe you're getting a little better at this alchemy business (-1 Supplement, Magic Grass, Notebook Paper; +Healing Paste (3) ).

Hmm. The other ingredients for Healing Paste are actually pretty well-stocked (and there's always more notebook paper to buy cheap anyway), but you're almost out of supplements.

>

Date: 1/12
Time: Three Quarters

Status & Inventory:

3716 Cole

Location: Syzygy - Sarah's Workshop

Character Status:

SpoilerShow

Sarah Kennigan: Barely Scratched, Just Okay
Weapon: Basic Staff
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

Ether Light: A self-defense technique from Master. Non-elemental magic attack, any 1 square.

Dave Barrett: Barely Scratched, Just Okay
Weapon: Hatchets
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Hatchet Throw: Throw a hatchet in any of 8 directions. Does physical damage to whatever it hits first.
  
• Slice & Dice: Chop-chop-chop-chop! Attempts 5-10 normal attacks, all on the same target, at reduced accuracy.

Fee: 0 Cole

Miranda (???): Uninjured, Fine
Weapon: Knight's Sword
Armor: Knight's Armor
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Zero Motivation (passive): Eh. Miranda has less energy states than normal (Exhausted, Okay, Fine). It costs energy to perform regular move and attack actions in battle. Active skills require a large percentage of her maximum energy.
  
• Chill (passive): Whatever, it's fine. Miranda regains a small amount of energy anytime she isn't doing anything, regardless of if it's out of town or even in the middle of a battle.
  
• Spin Slash: Gotta respect the classics. Slashes everything in the 8 tiles surrounding Miranda for physical damage.
  
• Lazy Combo: Way too much effort. Performs six normal attacks in a row (which can have distinct targets), and then lacks the motivation to do anything at all for the next two turns (Chill is disabled during these turns).
  
• Slack Off (3/3): Miranda's favorite activity. Doesn't accomplish anything immediate, but restores a moderate amount of energy instead of spending it. Has a 2-turn cooldown and only works 3 times per battle.

Fee: 500 Cole

Miriam Kovich: Uninjured, 10/10 Bombs
Weapon: Crossbow
Armor: Lab Coat

Skills:

SpoilerShow

• SCIENCE! (passive): Nothing can be allowed to deter the march of progress! Miriam's determination to discover the unknown gives her seemingly boundless energy. Instead her skills use up her limited supply of bombs, which can only be replenished back at town or by Sarah giving her items of the category [Bomb Supply] out of the basket and a night to turn them into more bombs. The quality and type of item affects how many bombs it can produce.
  
• Keen Eye (passive): A scientist must always be paying attention! To everything. Miriam's presence in the party increases the probability of finding more items, and of finding a wider variety of items. Some items can only be initially discovered with Miriam in the party.
  
• Observation: Let's see what makes you tick... Miriam can spend an entire turn (both the move and act portions) on observing an enemy and provide tactical data about that enemy type's behaviors, weaknesses, strengths, etc. This data remains available indefinitely after being obtained once.
  
• CrossBomb (1): The obvious combination. Miriam attaches a small bomb to a crossbow bolt. Hits any enemy in normal attack range for normal attack damage, then causes explosive fire damage to the 3x3 square centered on the target. This can also be aimed at empty squares for tactical effect.

Fee: FREE TRAIL x 1 (100 Cole after)

Dual Techs:

SpoilerShow

Sarah & Dave:
Ether Hatchet (Hatchet Throw + Ether Light): Do the thing! Targets any enemy on a straight line from Dave which he could hit with Hatchet Throw. Deals physical damage to the target and then magical damage to anything in the 3x3 square centered on the target.

All other info

A/N:

SpoilerShow

For the record: Any time you see me complaining about this adventure on Discord or wherever, I'm not complaining about you not posting, I'm complaining about having so few readers that when just when person doesn't feel like posting (which is a normal and fine thing to have happen), the whole thing grinds to a halt.

> Is it too late to bring Dave along into the forest entrance and look for more stuff? We should totally do that!
Gotcha!! I understand where you're coming from, it really sucks... :< maybe make a recap area so any new readers aren't daunted by the amount of text?

> Is it too late to bring Dave along into the forest entrance and look for more stuff? We should totally do that!

You wonder if this might be a good time to go top off your ingredients, just in case. Maybe even see about Miriam's free trial thing. With that in mind, you head out to find Dave. You find him walking the street, looking..about as tired as he did yesterday, but also..satisfied, somehow. "Um..hi," you say.
"Hey Sarah. I finally got it to work," he says with a big grin.
"What's 'it'?"
"Well, I've always been pretty quick on my feet, so..I thought with just a little training, I could actually make use of it. I think I've really got it figured out now!"
"Oh..cool! So, that's what you were hiding earlier?"
"Yeah. I wanted it to be a surprise, but, also I wasn't totally sure it was gonna work..." (Dave has learned Quick Feet; read about it in his status)
"Well, I was thinking of going out to the forest again," you say.
"Um.." Dave puts a hand behind his head. "I'm game, but, I sorta tired myself out with all the training. If I could just take a break until tomorrow morning...?" You're actually feeling a little tired yourself, after the alchemy. You could insist on going, but it might be better for both of you if you did wait until tomorrow.

>

Date: 1/12
Time: Three Quarters

Status & Inventory:

3716 Cole

Location: Syzygy - Sarah's Workshop

Character Status:

SpoilerShow

Sarah Kennigan: Barely Scratched, Just Okay
Weapon: Basic Staff
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

Ether Light: A self-defense technique from Master. Non-elemental magic attack, any 1 square.

Dave Barrett: Barely Scratched, Just Okay
Weapon: Hatchets
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Hatchet Throw: Throw a hatchet in any of 8 directions. Does physical damage to whatever it hits first.
  
• Slice & Dice: Chop-chop-chop-chop! Attempts 5-10 normal attacks, all on the same target, at reduced accuracy.
  
• Quick Feet (passive): Go go go! Instead of the usual 1 move, 1 attack/skill, Dave can choose any 3 actions to perform on each of his turns, each of which can be either kind.

Fee: 0 Cole

Miranda (???): Uninjured, Fine
Weapon: Knight's Sword
Armor: Knight's Armor
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Zero Motivation (passive): Eh. Miranda has less energy states than normal (Exhausted, Okay, Fine). It costs energy to perform regular move and attack actions in battle. Active skills require a large percentage of her maximum energy.
  
• Chill (passive): Whatever, it's fine. Miranda regains a small amount of energy anytime she isn't doing anything, regardless of if it's out of town or even in the middle of a battle.
  
• Spin Slash: Gotta respect the classics. Slashes everything in the 8 tiles surrounding Miranda for physical damage.
  
• Lazy Combo: Way too much effort. Performs six normal attacks in a row (which can have distinct targets), and then lacks the motivation to do anything at all for the next two turns (Chill is disabled during these turns).
  
• Slack Off (3/3): Miranda's favorite activity. Doesn't accomplish anything immediate, but restores a moderate amount of energy instead of spending it. Has a 2-turn cooldown and only works 3 times per battle.

Fee: 500 Cole

Miriam Kovich: Uninjured, 10/10 Bombs
Weapon: Crossbow
Armor: Lab Coat

Skills:

SpoilerShow

• SCIENCE! (passive): Nothing can be allowed to deter the march of progress! Miriam's determination to discover the unknown gives her seemingly boundless energy. Instead her skills use up her limited supply of bombs, which can only be replenished back at town or by Sarah giving her items of the category [Bomb Supply] out of the basket and a night to turn them into more bombs. The quality and type of item affects how many bombs it can produce.
  
• Keen Eye (passive): A scientist must always be paying attention! To everything. Miriam's presence in the party increases the probability of finding more items, and of finding a wider variety of items. Some items can only be initially discovered with Miriam in the party.
  
• Observation: Let's see what makes you tick... Miriam can spend an entire turn (both the move and act portions) on observing an enemy and provide tactical data about that enemy type's behaviors, weaknesses, strengths, etc. This data remains available indefinitely after being obtained once.
  
• CrossBomb (1): The obvious combination. Miriam attaches a small bomb to a crossbow bolt. Hits any enemy in normal attack range for normal attack damage, then causes explosive fire damage to the 3x3 square centered on the target. This can also be aimed at empty squares for tactical effect.

Fee: FREE TRAIL x 1 (100 Cole after)

Dual Techs:

SpoilerShow

Sarah & Dave:
Ether Hatchet (Hatchet Throw + Ether Light): Do the thing! Targets any enemy on a straight line from Dave which he could hit with Hatchet Throw. Deals physical damage to the target and then magical damage to anything in the 3x3 square centered on the target.

All other info

A/N:

SpoilerShow

I made a summary recap that is much shorter than reading the whole adventure and tacked it on to the first post. ALSO, while I was doing so I realized that day 8, 1/8, just plain didn't happen. I forgot about it and skipped over it. So, I'm fixing that by bumping the days backwards and the "days left" counter back up to 19, because this "game" is hard enough without it accidentally cheating poor Sarah out of a day.

nice!!!! :D thanks xindras! day 8 is just fake i suppose!
> Let's rest and travel first thing tommorow morning!

> Let's rest and travel first thing tommorow morning!

"Yeah, sure," you need. "I think I could use the break too."
"Great!" Dave gives a thumbs-up. "See you first thing tomorrow."

You take the rest of the day off, getting in a couple of naps. You've stayed up late continuing an alchemy a couple of nights this week, and have a harder time sleeping out in the woods than you do at home, so it's good to get that sleep-time back.

The next morning, you head out to get Dave. Since Miriam offered a "Free trial" of her abilities and at least sounds like she'll be helpful, do you want to take her with you on this trip? At the very least it'd be a third person to face off against the monsters with.

>

Date: 1/13
Time: Dawn

Status & Inventory:

3716 Cole

Location: Syzygy - Sarah's Workshop

Character Status:

SpoilerShow

Sarah Kennigan: Uninjured, Just Fine
Weapon: Basic Staff
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

Ether Light: A self-defense technique from Master. Non-elemental magic attack, any 1 square.

Dave Barrett: Uninjured, Energetic
Weapon: Hatchets
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

• Hatchet Throw: Throw a hatchet in any of 8 directions. Does physical damage to whatever it hits first.
  
• Slice & Dice: Chop-chop-chop-chop! Attempts 5-10 normal attacks, all on the same target, at reduced accuracy.
  
• Quick Feet (passive): Go go go! Instead of the usual 1 move, 1 attack/skill, Dave can choose any 3 actions to perform on each of his turns, each of which can be either kind.

Fee: 0 Cole

Miranda (???): Uninjured, Fine
Weapon: Knight's Sword
Armor: Knight's Armor
Accessory: None
Skills:

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• Zero Motivation (passive): Eh. Miranda has less energy states than normal (Exhausted, Okay, Fine). It costs energy to perform regular move and attack actions in battle. Active skills require a large percentage of her maximum energy.
  
• Chill (passive): Whatever, it's fine. Miranda regains a small amount of energy anytime she isn't doing anything, regardless of if it's out of town or even in the middle of a battle.
  
• Spin Slash: Gotta respect the classics. Slashes everything in the 8 tiles surrounding Miranda for physical damage.
  
• Lazy Combo: Way too much effort. Performs six normal attacks in a row (which can have distinct targets), and then lacks the motivation to do anything at all for the next two turns (Chill is disabled during these turns).
  
• Slack Off (3/3): Miranda's favorite activity. Doesn't accomplish anything immediate, but restores a moderate amount of energy instead of spending it. Has a 2-turn cooldown and only works 3 times per battle.

Fee: 500 Cole

Miriam Kovich: Uninjured, 10/10 Bombs
Weapon: Crossbow
Armor: Lab Coat

Skills:

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• SCIENCE! (passive): Nothing can be allowed to deter the march of progress! Miriam's determination to discover the unknown gives her seemingly boundless energy. Instead her skills use up her limited supply of bombs, which can only be replenished back at town or by Sarah giving her items of the category [Bomb Supply] out of the basket and a night to turn them into more bombs. The quality and type of item affects how many bombs it can produce.
  
• Keen Eye (passive): A scientist must always be paying attention! To everything. Miriam's presence in the party increases the probability of finding more items, and of finding a wider variety of items. Some items can only be initially discovered with Miriam in the party.
  
• Observation: Let's see what makes you tick... Miriam can spend an entire turn (both the move and act portions) on observing an enemy and provide tactical data about that enemy type's behaviors, weaknesses, strengths, etc. This data remains available indefinitely after being obtained once.
  
• CrossBomb (1): The obvious combination. Miriam attaches a small bomb to a crossbow bolt. Hits any enemy in normal attack range for normal attack damage, then causes explosive fire damage to the 3x3 square centered on the target. This can also be aimed at empty squares for tactical effect.

Fee: FREE TRAIL x 1 (100 Cole after)

Dual Techs:

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Sarah & Dave:
Ether Hatchet (Hatchet Throw + Ether Light): Do the thing! Targets any enemy on a straight line from Dave which he could hit with Hatchet Throw. Deals physical damage to the target and then magical damage to anything in the 3x3 square centered on the target.

All other info

A/N:

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Derp, I meant to ask this specifically before now. So a dumb short update results because of needing to know if Miriam is coming along or not.