Quest Calendar 10: Escape or Tragedy (4 days)

Who would have thought it would be after getting back from vacation that it would get harder to keep up with these posts?

Starday 29/Sunsday 30, Winterwary

As I tried to take the children and go, I turned to find two hideous beings blocking our escape. Hags. Perhaps they had been human witches once, twisted by dark magics into horrific beings. Regardless, as they began casting spells, I stepped in front of the children and summoned my cards. Knowing that this could be a difficult struggle, I dug deep into my arcane reserves, giving my battle ability a boost for the whole battle.

The first one slung a spell at me, but I absorbed its energy unaffected. I threw a card right into the hag and it fell over dead. The second followed much the same pattern.

I had been prepared for a much more difficult struggle, but I wasn't going to complain about a straightforward success. As we went to leave the room, I found two gold coins upon the ground.

As I led the children through the maze back to the well, I couldn't help but consider the hags, twisted and warped by their magics. I had access to some sort of arcane energy, even if I did not understand it. Could my use of the manipulation magics become a dependency? If it did, would it become an addiction? Would it turn me into a monster like them? What was the probability of that?

Moonsday, Winterwary 31

We came to the well, rope stretching down to us. I remembered how difficult getting down the well had been, and I knew that the children would need help. I was able to get the girl up without difficulty. With the boy, I saw myself slipping and getting rope burn, but with a shift of golden-yellow light, I tipped the odds in my favor and was able to get him up safely.

Truceday, Deadprairie 1

I returned the children back to their parents. They asked how they could repay me, but I made no such demand upon them. They told me that they were going to Graycliff for the Festival and Tournament of Lords, and asked me to go with them. I am uncertain as to if it was an offer of kindness from them or a request for aid and protection from me. Regardless, I looked around to find Seth and saw no trace of him. He must have continued on.

Without my previous companion, I accepted the offer of the kind family to ride in their wagon. Perhaps it would be restful. Perhaps, in that rest, I would have time to reflect on my journey, possibly even regaining some of my memory. I could only hope.

Windsday, Deadprairie 2

Imbolc, Foundation of the Realm of the Bearded Beard

As I traveled with the family, I considered the events that had transpired since I had awoken. In successfully rescuing the children from the hags, I had undergone many trials. I was happy to have them all behind me now, but I felt that they had helped me to grow. I now had a better sense of my probability manipulation powers, being able to use them at will instead of just on instinct. I still had no idea where the power came from or how I was able to perform it, but I was growing in my understanding of its application.

With that understanding, I felt that I had a deeper mastery of my powers allowing me greater use of them. A "level up" of power, one might even say.

First Adventure: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/2022/01/Quest-Calendar-2022-01-18.html

Previous Adventure: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/2022/01/Quest-Calendar-2022-01-28.html

Next Adventure: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/2022/02/Quest-Calendar-2021-02-04.html

Links

Sundial Games: https://www.sundialgames.com/ 

2022 Quest Calendar: https://2022-quest-calendar.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

Tychon Level 1 Character Sheet: 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1C2nIvHENXIqy961IsjqV4LIaskEu6hLtIXZb5O8XFJU/edit?usp=sharing 

Tychon Level 2 Character Sheet: 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1hNbVZMgjPdhiaMVJe9lzhS-O5cLWnH4ewnic9q0ZZWs/edit?usp=sharing

Quest Calendar 9: End of the Cave

Fruitsday, Winterwary 28

My path through the maze-like tunnels brought me to an open living space. This seemed to be the homiest of the rooms that I'd encountered in this underground space. Someone lived here, or was at least camped out here. Someone who was more sentient than just a monster. Perhaps those beasts had been the pets of whomever it was that lived here.

In this room, I finally discovered what had happened to the children.

Quest Calendar 8: Below the Well (2 days)

Windsday, Winterwary 26

As I emerged from the well down below, I was met by a glowing eyed creature that struck at me. I threw two magical cards at it. The first seemed as though it would miss, but j used my power to edge probability in my facor and the card hit the creature square in the face. The second card glanced off its side, seeming not to hurt it.

The beast sunk a tooth into me, drawing blood. I was able to shake the creature off and send it running.

Thornsday, Winterwary 27

Continuing into the dark caves, I found

Quest Calendar 7: The Well

Truceday, Winterwary 25

With no other way forward, I took a closer look at the well. It appeared that there was a rope that I could use to climb down, and so I did so, while bracing myself against the walls of the well with my legs and slowly, carefully, descending. I found the odds low that the kids would have tried to use the rope to get down. But I could still hope.

We would see what would await at the bottom. I could only hope that the kids were alright, despite having every reason to believe they weren't.

Quest Calendar 6: Abandoned Cabin

Moonsday, Winterwary 24

Continuing to follow the path that the children had left in the woods, I eventually reached a clearing in which there stood an old log cabin and well. It seemed to me that playful children would potentially want to entertain themselves with such a place. The odds seemed good of finding them here.

I walked around the cabin, observing its outside, but finding no clues to where the children were. As I'd looked underneath the porch, however, I did find a golden coin. I approached the well, hoping that they had not fallen in here. As I saw the children's footprints were more dense here, and I did not see them lead away. I felt anxious about this. A tumble down the well would potentially kill a child. Despite my anxiety, I could not feel a heavy heartbeat within my chest, a detail that I found unlikely, but not one that was the important focus at the moment.

I called out for the children but received no response aside from my own voice echoing back at me. I reached down and grabbed a rock to throw down into the well. Underneath it was, of all things, a golden coin. I hurriedly placed the coin within my pouch before tossing the stone down the well. It landed with a thud. There was no water down below, meaning that if the children had fallen in there would be nothing to have broken their fall.

Not wanting to consideration of them having gone down the well, I turned my attention back to the cabin. The windows were boarded up, and trying the door revealed that it was locked. I did not think there was a way the children could have gotten into the cabin. As I began to turn away from the shelter, I felt as though I had missed something. With a yellow glow, I found myself a few moments before. I peered between gaps in the boards of the windows into the inside of the house, but found that it was completely empty.

Why had I felt there was something else here? Why had I manipulated probability for this? I hovered my hands over the lock into the house, and heard it click open based on my application of arcane energy. As it appeared from the outside, there wasn't anything worthwhile inside, and no signs of the children or anyone else. I did find one coin lying on the ground, but that was hardly a meaningful contribution to the search.

I was becoming disheartened in my search. With the footprints ending at the well, I had no other lead moving forward to pursue to find the kids. But such a way would be treacherous for them, and I became more concerned for their safety. But if they had already fallen down the well...was I too late? Would I be able to adjust probability to help in this situation? I did not know. Only time would tell.

First Adventure: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/2022/01/Quest-Calendar-2022-01-18.html

Previous Adventure: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/2022/01/Quest-Calendar-2022-01-23.html

Next Adventure: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/2022/01/Quest-Calendar-2022-01-25.html

Links

Sundial Games: https://www.sundialgames.com/ 

2022 Quest Calendar: https://2022-quest-calendar.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

Tychon Level 1 Character Sheet: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1C2nIvHENXIqy961IsjqV4LIaskEu6hLtIXZb5O8XFJU/edit?usp=sharing 

Quest Calendar 5: Wolves!

 

Starday 22/Sunsday 23, Winterwary

Three large wolves began to circle me from within the wood. Because I had previously been aware of their presence, this did not take me by surprise. It was an area, however, where I would need to be careful. I tried to puff myself up to seem more frightening than I truly am, hoping to convince them that their odds of success in this venture were less than their animal minds may have originally conjured.

As I tried to put on an intimidating air, I could feel a shift in the odds of success, tipping ever so slightly in my favor. I knew that I had somehow done this, but I was still unaware of how. 

The wolves seemed somewhat frightened of me, but they still moved forward with their attack, coming after me in succession.

Suddenly, glowing magical cards appeared in my hand. I did not know where they had come from. There appeared to have been nothing up my sleeve. I threw one at the first wolf as it lunged at me, but the card went wide and embedded itself into a tree before vanishing. The wolf struck me, but very lightly. I'm not sure if it was because of my foreknowledge and preparation of their attack, or because the wolf was frightened of me. Either way, I counted myself fortunate for its glancing blow.

Before the second wolf could lunge, I threw one of the arcane cards in its direction. The card struck the creature square on the jaw, and the creature fell over, not moving any longer.

Spinning, I threw another card at the third. The card struck the wolf's side, but did not stop its assault. It clawed against me, but seemed to notice its fallen companion as it did so, failing to actually do any harm. As the wolves considered their fallen friend, I rushed off deeper into the woods, hoping to avoid them in the future.

This had been the second time that I felt like I'd tipped probability in my favor. The mysterious magical cards were also new. Who was I that I had these magical gifts? I did not understand them, nor did I understand myself. These seemed like unlikely abilities, but who was I to make such an assessment? Genuinely, who was I?

First Adventure: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/2022/01/Quest-Calendar-2022-01-18.html

Previous Adventure: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/2022/01/Quest-Calendar-2022-01-21.html

Next Adventure: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/2022/01/Quest-Calendar-2022-01-24.html

Links

Sundial Games: https://www.sundialgames.com/ 

2022 Quest Calendar: https://2022-quest-calendar.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

Tychon Level 1 Character Sheet: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1C2nIvHENXIqy961IsjqV4LIaskEu6hLtIXZb5O8XFJU/edit?usp=sharing 

Quest Calendar 4: Into the Woods

Fruitsday, Winterwary 21

As I surveyed the surrounding area, I determined that whether playing or taken, the place with the greatest probability of finding the children was the nearby forest. The woods were thick and dark as I searched around in them. The darker the woods became, the more they felt like a metaphor for my own mind. As I searched for the children, a task that increasingly seemed to be in vain, it felt like searching for my memories, a potentially equally useless task.

It became evident to me that I had failed, and that I was not going to find the children. But an odd feeling crept over me as I was about to give up. I didn't have to fail. I had a feeling that somehow I could tip the odds back in my favor. I cast my hand in a swinging motion like how one would roll dice. I didn't know how I knew to do this, but it felt remarkably familiar. For but a moment, the forest around me seemed to glow and shift in a yellow glow. Then it was gone, and it seemed as though I were a few paces back from where I had been when I'd had the odd thought and feeling.

Near me, on the ground, I saw a slight glimmer, shining in the merest ray of sunlight that somehow made its way through the tangled branches above. I knelt to investigate the out of place shimmer, and found a gold coin on the ground.

"Can never have enough of these," I muttered, slipping it into my coin pouch. Near the footprint, on the ground, was a footprint. A child's footprint. I was on the right track at last. But the child's footprint wasn't the only footprint on the ground. More recent than that are the footprints of wolves. I knew I would have to be ready for a potential ambush from these lupine threats.

First Adventure: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/2022/01/Quest-Calendar-2022-01-18.html

Previous Adventure: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/2022/01/Quest-Calendar-2022-01-20.html

Next Adventure: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/2022/01/Quest-Calendar-2022-01-23.html

Links

Sundial Games: https://www.sundialgames.com/ 

2022 Quest Calendar: https://2022-quest-calendar.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

Tychon Level 1 Character Sheet: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1C2nIvHENXIqy961IsjqV4LIaskEu6hLtIXZb5O8XFJU/edit?usp=sharing 

2022 Quest Calendar 3: Missing Children

Thornsday, Winterwary 20

While traveling today I came upon a couple that was yelling out for their children. It seems that the family had all made camp along the road last evening, and that when the parents awoke the children were missing.

My brain did a quick calculation. The highest probability was that the children