wordsmith

[hephaesta]

This blog is my way of using the poll feature to run a group choose-your-own-adventure style story. We're playing an ex-bookkeeper and disgraced street magician who's taken a change in career to become a fantasy meteorologist/geoengineer.

The below link will be regularly updated with the story and summaries, and the link underneath that are some notes you may or may not want to dip your toes into.

8 files

director's commentary

visuals

maps

witch lore

[hephaesta]

Question: What do you say?

Response 1: Do you want to go to the garden?

Response 2: How are you feeling?

You wait until you've reached the top of the stairs before steeling yourself and asking, 'How are you feeling?'

Lex stiffens and asks, voice carefully flat, 'What do you mean?'

'You just seemed... um... pretty upset back there.'

You walk the length of a few blocks in silence.

'If you don't want to talk about it -'

'Got a bad feeling about where the next witch meet's going to be.'

'When do we find out?'

'I don't know. Soon.'

You almost ask them to elaborate but one look at their hunched shoulders makes you rethink that decision. Instead, thinking of how they warmed up when helping with your experiment, you say, 'I'm going over to the community garden now. Do you want to come?'

They consider the offer, then say, 'Sure.'

--

The only volunteer you recognise is Allan, and he smiles when he sees you and Lex. 'Brought a friend!' he says.

'Lex, this is Allan. Allan, Lex.' You wait for them say their hellos then say, 'So, I was talking about the heat stones with my mentor, and I think they would make the warmth too concentrated? If we set up a bigger sigil around each garden bed they'll be less intense and distribute heat more evenly. But I don't know about plants.'

'It turns out sigils don't work if weather witches don't complete them,' Lex says with a trace of amusement. 'So you'll need something that can be deconstructed and put back by a weather witch.'

'I like the idea of a big one around the bed we can remove,' Allan says thoughtfully. 'But... it would create a tripping hazard.'

You breathe out a sigh of frustration. That hadn't come up when you were playing with seaweed.

'Can you work it into the path?' Allan asks.

The three of you look down, where little stones have been used to pave walkways around the garden beds. They're wide, reaching almost to the sides of the beds. You remember Deema and her friend's art installation - little paths of stone formed into part circles. This would just be bigger. 'I can.'

Lex squats down and digs their fingers into the path to pull out a stone. 'Obviously don't want to make pulling them out a habit, but...' They toss the stone up and catch it. 'Just one from the outer circle needs to be removed, right?'

'Yeah. As for the rest of it...' You remember Deema's warning about carving sigils in, but does this count if it's removable? (But honestly - you'd rather not ask her how to do the exact thing she's told you to not do.) 'I have to work out if I need to scratch something in, or if I can just put them close together.' You hope the latter works - switching out a stone can still be managed by Deema.

You try to remember how close the stones were at the art installation, but the details escape you. So more experimenting it is.

Right now?

Right now.

After I sort out records for Hafiza.

Remaining time: 2 days 18 hours

[hephaesta]

Question: What do you say?

Response 1: Do you want to go to the garden?

Response 2: How are you feeling?

You wait until you've reached the top of the stairs before steeling yourself and asking, 'How are you feeling?'

Lex stiffens and asks, voice carefully flat, 'What do you mean?'

'You just seemed... um... pretty upset back there.'

You walk the length of a few blocks in silence.

'If you don't want to talk about it -'

'Got a bad feeling about where the next witch meet's going to be.'

'When do we find out?'

'I don't know. Soon.'

You almost ask them to elaborate but one look at their hunched shoulders makes you rethink that decision. Instead, thinking of how they warmed up when helping with your experiment, you say, 'I'm going over to the community garden now. Do you want to come?'

They consider the offer, then say, 'Sure.'

--

The only volunteer you recognise is Allan, and he smiles when he sees you and Lex. 'Brought a friend!' he says.

'Lex, this is Allan. Allan, Lex.' You wait for them say their hellos then say, 'So, I was talking about the heat stones with my mentor, and I think they would make the warmth too concentrated? If we set up a bigger sigil around each garden bed they'll be less intense and distribute heat more evenly. But I don't know about plants.'

'It turns out sigils don't work if weather witches don't complete them,' Lex says with a trace of amusement. 'So you'll need something that can be deconstructed and put back by a weather witch.'

'I like the idea of a big one around the bed we can remove,' Allan says thoughtfully. 'But... it would create a tripping hazard.'

You breathe out a sigh of frustration. That hadn't come up when you were playing with seaweed.

'Can you work it into the path?' Allan asks.

The three of you look down, where little stones have been used to pave walkways around the garden beds. They're wide, reaching almost to the sides of the beds. You remember Deema and her friend's art installation - little paths of stone formed into part circles. This would just be bigger. 'I can.'

Lex squats down and digs their fingers into the path to pull out a stone. 'Obviously don't want to make pulling them out a habit, but...' They toss the stone up and catch it. 'Just one from the outer circle needs to be removed, right?'

'Yeah. As for the rest of it...' You remember Deema's warning about carving sigils in, but does this count if it's removable? (But honestly - you'd rather not ask her how to do the exact thing she's told you to not do.) 'I have to work out if I need to scratch something in, or if I can just put them close together.' You hope the latter works - switching out a stone can still be managed by Deema.

You try to remember how close the stones were at the art installation, but the details escape you. So more experimenting it is.

Right now?

Right now.

After I sort out records for Hafiza.

Remaining time: 2 days 18 hours

[hephaesta]

Um so my body's been running under the assumption that today was Tuesday. Haven't drafted shit lol we will see how we go

[hephaesta]

Question: What sigil thing are you doing first?

Response: Bother Lex for an experiment.

You spend the next morning condensing the last reports into your notebook, and scrawl a note to start on condescending them further for Hafiza.

You pocket Dessa's letter, heft the box of reports under your arm, and head off to the town hall.

The clerk you meet, Linh, pulls up an itemised list of what was lent out and looks between it and the box. Her eyes dart up at you. 'Take a seat if you like. Might take a while.' She starts to sift through the papers, carefully checking against the list to confirm you've returned everything.

'I'll drop by the post office,' you say, and excuse yourself to post Dessa's letter.

Linh is still sifting through the papers when you return. 'You worked through these pretty fast,' she says.

'They were short.'

She shrugs, and once she's satisfied everything's returned, lets you go.

--

Though Lex is a witch, they're not a weather witch and wouldn't have any influence over weather sigils. You peer down at the beach from the viewing platform and see them sitting by the boulders to your right. You check for your notebook and pencil then start down the stairs.

You whistle when you reach the bottom, and they turn and wave.

'How's the water?' you ask.

'Same as ever... meaning it's always changing. Just getting a feel for it today.' They swish their bare feet under the lapping waves.

They're clearly lying, but you don't push it. Buddying is a good way to get out of a funk.

'Care to do me a favour?'

They raise their eyebrows.

'Trying to figure out something with sigils.'

'Ah. Rookie mistake. We don't use those.'

'No, that's perfect. I want to figure out if completing one needs to be done by a weather or not.' You draw two partial sigils in your notebook - one missing part of the outer circle, the other missing part of the centre motif - and have Lex complete them.

Nothing activates. You check over the work, ensuring there are no gaps and they're drawn correctly.

Lex watches you in amusement. 'Why are you doing this?'

'Community garden. Trying to figure out if we can build ones for them to deconstruct and reconstruct as needed.'

'Then you're doing this wrong. I should be completing a sigil you've already done and partially deconstructed.'

They're of course right, and because you don't have anything to erase your pencil, you find a sandy area and trace a heat sigil in with your finger. You hold your hands to confirm it works, and when you feel heat rising off it, erase part of the outer circle. It stops generating heat, as expected. Lex leans forward and completes the arc.

It doesn't work.

'Couldn't have guessed that,' Lex says sarcastically. 'But I think we're still doing it wrong.'

'Oh?'

'Are you, like… going to chalk it in every morning or something? Because that seems like a bad way to go about this.'

'No, the plan's to construct something that can be built, dismantled, and stored.'

'Oh, there we go. You need to actually make something, then.' They look up and down the beach then point to seaweed along the wrack line.

You run through the experiment again - arranging the seaweed into a heat sigil, then removing some of the outer circle again, and having Lex put it back under your instruction. It doesn't work, and it also doesn't work when you try again by deconstructing the central motif.

'Mystery solved?' the ask once you've finished inspecting the seaweed. They gather it up and put it back.

'Solved. Going back to the boulders?'

'Nah. Let's go up.'

What do you say?

Do you want to go to the garden?

How are you feeling?

Voting ended onMay 29

[hephaesta]

Question: What sigil thing are you doing first?

Response: Bother Lex for an experiment.

You spend the next morning condensing the last reports into your notebook, and scrawl a note to start on condescending them further for Hafiza.

You pocket Dessa's letter, heft the box of reports under your arm, and head off to the town hall.

The clerk you meet, Linh, pulls up an itemised list of what was lent out and looks between it and the box. Her eyes dart up at you. 'Take a seat if you like. Might take a while.' She starts to sift through the papers, carefully checking against the list to confirm you've returned everything.

'I'll drop by the post office,' you say, and excuse yourself to post Dessa's letter.

Linh is still sifting through the papers when you return. 'You worked through these pretty fast,' she says.

'They were short.'

She shrugs, and once she's satisfied everything's returned, lets you go.

--

Though Lex is a witch, they're not a weather witch and wouldn't have any influence over weather sigils. You peer down at the beach from the viewing platform and see them sitting by the boulders to your right. You check for your notebook and pencil then start down the stairs.

You whistle when you reach the bottom, and they turn and wave.

'How's the water?' you ask.

'Same as ever... meaning it's always changing. Just getting a feel for it today.' They swish their bare feet under the lapping waves.

They're clearly lying, but you don't push it. Buddying is a good way to get out of a funk.

'Care to do me a favour?'

They raise their eyebrows.

'Trying to figure out something with sigils.'

'Ah. Rookie mistake. We don't use those.'

'No, that's perfect. I want to figure out if completing one needs to be done by a weather or not.' You draw two partial sigils in your notebook - one missing part of the outer circle, the other missing part of the centre motif - and have Lex complete them.

Nothing activates. You check over the work, ensuring there are no gaps and they're drawn correctly.

Lex watches you in amusement. 'Why are you doing this?'

'Community garden. Trying to figure out if we can build ones for them to deconstruct and reconstruct as needed.'

'Then you're doing this wrong. I should be completing a sigil you've already done and partially deconstructed.'

They're of course right, and because you don't have anything to erase your pencil, you find a sandy area and trace a heat sigil in with your finger. You hold your hands to confirm it works, and when you feel heat rising off it, erase part of the outer circle. It stops generating heat, as expected. Lex leans forward and completes the arc.

It doesn't work.

'Couldn't have guessed that,' Lex says sarcastically. 'But I think we're still doing it wrong.'

'Oh?'

'Are you, like… going to chalk it in every morning or something? Because that seems like a bad way to go about this.'

'No, the plan's to construct something that can be built, dismantled, and stored.'

'Oh, there we go. You need to actually make something, then.' They look up and down the beach then point to seaweed along the wrack line.

You run through the experiment again - arranging the seaweed into a heat sigil, then removing some of the outer circle again, and having Lex put it back under your instruction. It doesn't work, and it also doesn't work when you try again by deconstructing the central motif.

'Mystery solved?' the ask once you've finished inspecting the seaweed. They gather it up and put it back.

'Solved. Going back to the boulders?'

'Nah. Let's go up.'

What do you say?

Do you want to go to the garden?

How are you feeling?

Voting ended onMay 29

[hephaesta]

Question: What sigil thing are you doing first?

Response: Bother Lex for an experiment.

You spend the next morning condensing the last reports into your notebook, and scrawl a note to start on condescending them further for Hafiza.

You pocket Dessa's letter, heft the box of reports under your arm, and head off to the town hall.

The clerk you meet, Linh, pulls up an itemised list of what was lent out and looks between it and the box. Her eyes dart up at you. 'Take a seat if you like. Might take a while.' She starts to sift through the papers, carefully checking against the list to confirm you've returned everything.

'I'll drop by the post office,' you say, and excuse yourself to post Dessa's letter.

Linh is still sifting through the papers when you return. 'You worked through these pretty fast,' she says.

'They were short.'

She shrugs, and once she's satisfied everything's returned, lets you go.

--

Though Lex is a witch, they're not a weather witch and wouldn't have any influence over weather sigils. You peer down at the beach from the viewing platform and see them sitting by the boulders to your right. You check for your notebook and pencil then start down the stairs.

You whistle when you reach the bottom, and they turn and wave.

'How's the water?' you ask.

'Same as ever... meaning it's always changing. Just getting a feel for it today.' They swish their bare feet under the lapping waves.

They're clearly lying, but you don't push it. Buddying is a good way to get out of a funk.

'Care to do me a favour?'

They raise their eyebrows.

'Trying to figure out something with sigils.'

'Ah. Rookie mistake. We don't use those.'

'No, that's perfect. I want to figure out if completing one needs to be done by a weather or not.' You draw two partial sigils in your notebook - one missing part of the outer circle, the other missing part of the centre motif - and have Lex complete them.

Nothing activates. You check over the work, ensuring there are no gaps and they're drawn correctly.

Lex watches you in amusement. 'Why are you doing this?'

'Community garden. Trying to figure out if we can build ones for them to deconstruct and reconstruct as needed.'

'Then you're doing this wrong. I should be completing a sigil you've already done and partially deconstructed.'

They're of course right, and because you don't have anything to erase your pencil, you find a sandy area and trace a heat sigil in with your finger. You hold your hands to confirm it works, and when you feel heat rising off it, erase part of the outer circle. It stops generating heat, as expected. Lex leans forward and completes the arc.

It doesn't work.

'Couldn't have guessed that,' Lex says sarcastically. 'But I think we're still doing it wrong.'

'Oh?'

'Are you, like… going to chalk it in every morning or something? Because that seems like a bad way to go about this.'

'No, the plan's to construct something that can be built, dismantled, and stored.'

'Oh, there we go. You need to actually make something, then.' They look up and down the beach then point to seaweed along the wrack line.

You run through the experiment again - arranging the seaweed into a heat sigil, then removing some of the outer circle again, and having Lex put it back under your instruction. It doesn't work, and it also doesn't work when you try again by deconstructing the central motif.

'Mystery solved?' the ask once you've finished inspecting the seaweed. They gather it up and put it back.

'Solved. Going back to the boulders?'

'Nah. Let's go up.'

What do you say?

Do you want to go to the garden?

How are you feeling?

Voting ended onMay 29

[hephaesta]

Question: When are you taking a break?

Response: After finishing the letter.

Enough is enough, you tell yourself, and bravely sit down to write the letter from start to finish. To nobody's surprise, due to your extensive notes you have the letter completed and addressed to Dessa in an envelope within an hour.

You set it aside to post later on and bring over the box of Deema's records. You glance over to her - she's sitting on a chair with Reginald under her arm, pretending to be absorbed by a temperature keeping tool. You decide to take advantage of her good mood and walk over with an older report.

'Hey, Deema, what does this say?'

She squints at it, murmuring to herself, then says, 'I'm not entirely sure.' She takes the report from you and holds it closer to her face. 'My handwriting isn't very good. This is... oh, there was a cold snap a few years ago. I had to ride out with Moss to deal with it.'

You go through a few more reports, peppering Deema with questions and gradually getting more used to her notation, until you get bored and decide to tackle another problem.

'And the heat sigils for the community garden,' you say, and Deema sighs.

'What do you think?' she says.

'Big ones, to keep them weak. And having the garden beds in the middle of a sigil makes more sense to me than doing a bunch of sigils around the beds - we would have the outer spokes pointing inwards, right?'

Deema nods, and you continue. 'Hafiza and I were talking about whether they could be deconstructed then moved back into place as needed, but... I'm not sure how to do that. Would it even work if someone else puts it back together?'

'I don't think so - but I've never had reason to try. Those sigils I worked on with - the road witch. would be the closest thing.'

You remember the art installation, where incomplete sigils were activated based on the position of the sun. 'Well, you didn't carve the rocks out yourself.'

'No, he did the majority of it. I just smoothed it out, and laid out the pebble paths. The sun would have done the rest.'

'Huh. I can ask Lex to try completing one later. So, we want something that's more permanent than chalk, but less permanent than an engraving?'

'Precisely. I'm sure you can build something - do some woodworking that can go into storage if they don't need it. Deconstructing won't be a problem - anyone can break a sigil.'

You think back to fixing the table on the back porch. Woodworking might not be the way to go. 'I'll figure something out,' you say, and return to the old reports. There aren't that many, really - the weather here is mostly stable because of the long-range work Deema doesn't report, and of the reports that have actually been completed, they're sparse on details because she would have tried to minimise her writing

Tomorrow you'll finish condensing the reports, post your letter to Dessa, and deal with the sigils.

What sigil thing are you doing first?

Bother Lex for an experiment.

Drop by the community garden for a consult.

Voting ended onMay 22

[hephaesta]

Question: When are you taking a break?

Response: After finishing the letter.

Enough is enough, you tell yourself, and bravely sit down to write the letter from start to finish. To nobody's surprise, due to your extensive notes you have the letter completed and addressed to Dessa in an envelope within an hour.

You set it aside to post later on and bring over the box of Deema's records. You glance over to her - she's sitting on a chair with Reginald under her arm, pretending to be absorbed by a temperature keeping tool. You decide to take advantage of her good mood and walk over with an older report.

'Hey, Deema, what does this say?'

She squints at it, murmuring to herself, then says, 'I'm not entirely sure.' She takes the report from you and holds it closer to her face. 'My handwriting isn't very good. This is... oh, there was a cold snap a few years ago. I had to ride out with Moss to deal with it.'

You go through a few more reports, peppering Deema with questions and gradually getting more used to her notation, until you get bored and decide to tackle another problem.

'And the heat sigils for the community garden,' you say, and Deema sighs.

'What do you think?' she says.

'Big ones, to keep them weak. And having the garden beds in the middle of a sigil makes more sense to me than doing a bunch of sigils around the beds - we would have the outer spokes pointing inwards, right?'

Deema nods, and you continue. 'Hafiza and I were talking about whether they could be deconstructed then moved back into place as needed, but... I'm not sure how to do that. Would it even work if someone else puts it back together?'

'I don't think so - but I've never had reason to try. Those sigils I worked on with - the road witch. would be the closest thing.'

You remember the art installation, where incomplete sigils were activated based on the position of the sun. 'Well, you didn't carve the rocks out yourself.'

'No, he did the majority of it. I just smoothed it out, and laid out the pebble paths. The sun would have done the rest.'

'Huh. I can ask Lex to try completing one later. So, we want something that's more permanent than chalk, but less permanent than an engraving?'

'Precisely. I'm sure you can build something - do some woodworking that can go into storage if they don't need it. Deconstructing won't be a problem - anyone can break a sigil.'

You think back to fixing the table on the back porch. Woodworking might not be the way to go. 'I'll figure something out,' you say, and return to the old reports. There aren't that many, really - the weather here is mostly stable because of the long-range work Deema doesn't report, and of the reports that have actually been completed, they're sparse on details because she would have tried to minimise her writing

Tomorrow you'll finish condensing the reports, post your letter to Dessa, and deal with the sigils.

What sigil thing are you doing first?

Bother Lex for an experiment.

Drop by the community garden for a consult.

Voting ended onMay 22

[hephaesta]

Cosplay pics? 🥺👉👈

Forgive my expression i was fighting for my life trying to keep my eyes open in the sun

I figured that Zulfiya's character concept was 'wouldn't it be funny if the character who works with dead people was a goth but all of her goth accoutrements were tools of the trade' and when i was deciding what to wear i thought 'if I do Zulfiya I don't have to buy anything because I'm just kind of like this'

Further rambling under the read more

SO the look's basically 'graveyard witch with a bit of extra but also missing a couple of elements'

I've been thinking for a while that when the main story finally wraps up it would be nice to do a bunch of short runs as different types of witches and I had so much fun writing Whiny Bitch Zulfiya that she's top of the list

When I was pulling this together I developed the idea of graveyard witches a bit more and if they attract the dead, it makes sense to me (plus I just really love the idea) that they would attract people with craftsmanship - in my experience, crafting in public makes little kids tell you what they're making in school and adults tell you what they wish they were making

The crocheted overlay has beads on it, and I don't think Zulfiya would bother with those but also who cares. Zulfiya also crochets a net in the stitch and bitch scene

You can't see it but I also taught myself how to make a basic fishnet that's also tucked into the belt

If I develop this further I would have more nets, preferably using different net making methods

The chains are five separate belts made up of two necklaces each. I have a few pendants on them as well but again that's a fun little thing for me that I wouldn't write Zulfiya doing

My leather pouch had a bunch of trinkets in it for trading; Zulfiya would have a bunch of metal rings, chains, and thread

The globes are actually shatterproof Christmas baubles that I secured onto a chain of jump rings with more jump rings - these are the ones that can be shaken to create light. They're bigger than I would like for a graveyard witch - this is the size I wanted for a road witch

I did mention to a friend that I thought about sticking little LEDs in them and they said I might be able to do it with electronic tea lights. So maybe!

What I was planning to include+what I would add to a graveyard witch, but didn't have time to add, is a little jar of frankincense - I always associate the scent of burning frankincense and oud with the metaphysical, and I think that would be nice to add to the costume. Instead I'm wearing a perfume that's very heavy on frankincense

[hephaesta]

Question: When are you taking a break?

Response: After finishing the letter.

Enough is enough, you tell yourself, and bravely sit down to write the letter from start to finish. To nobody's surprise, due to your extensive notes you have the letter completed and addressed to Dessa in an envelope within an hour.

You set it aside to post later on and bring over the box of Deema's records. You glance over to her - she's sitting on a chair with Reginald under her arm, pretending to be absorbed by a temperature keeping tool. You decide to take advantage of her good mood and walk over with an older report.

'Hey, Deema, what does this say?'

She squints at it, murmuring to herself, then says, 'I'm not entirely sure.' She takes the report from you and holds it closer to her face. 'My handwriting isn't very good. This is... oh, there was a cold snap a few years ago. I had to ride out with Moss to deal with it.'

You go through a few more reports, peppering Deema with questions and gradually getting more used to her notation, until you get bored and decide to tackle another problem.

'And the heat sigils for the community garden,' you say, and Deema sighs.

'What do you think?' she says.

'Big ones, to keep them weak. And having the garden beds in the middle of a sigil makes more sense to me than doing a bunch of sigils around the beds - we would have the outer spokes pointing inwards, right?'

Deema nods, and you continue. 'Hafiza and I were talking about whether they could be deconstructed then moved back into place as needed, but... I'm not sure how to do that. Would it even work if someone else puts it back together?'

'I don't think so - but I've never had reason to try. Those sigils I worked on with - the road witch. would be the closest thing.'

You remember the art installation, where incomplete sigils were activated based on the position of the sun. 'Well, you didn't carve the rocks out yourself.'

'No, he did the majority of it. I just smoothed it out, and laid out the pebble paths. The sun would have done the rest.'

'Huh. I can ask Lex to try completing one later. So, we want something that's more permanent than chalk, but less permanent than an engraving?'

'Precisely. I'm sure you can build something - do some woodworking that can go into storage if they don't need it. Deconstructing won't be a problem - anyone can break a sigil.'

You think back to fixing the table on the back porch. Woodworking might not be the way to go. 'I'll figure something out,' you say, and return to the old reports. There aren't that many, really - the weather here is mostly stable because of the long-range work Deema doesn't report, and of the reports that have actually been completed, they're sparse on details because she would have tried to minimise her writing

Tomorrow you'll finish condensing the reports, post your letter to Dessa, and deal with the sigils.

What sigil thing are you doing first?

Bother Lex for an experiment.

Drop by the community garden for a consult.

Voting ended onMay 22

[hephaesta]

Question: What do you do?

Response: A climate map actually sounds like a pretty good idea.

Your eyes snag on the excuse you've jotted down, and you think, A climate map actually sounds like a pretty good idea. A map of activity around the island, while too large and general a scale to be directly useful, will still increase your knowledge and skills just like walking around earlier did.

You manage to find a map of the island in the bottom of a drawer, where it's been hidden under trinkets and tools that haven't seen any recent use. You bring it back to the table, trace over the outline, and pencil in the island's major geographical features.

You sketch and write in some information that you already know - the prevalent north-westerlies, the drier region across the mountain range, and the higher rainfall levels in the south. You tap your pen against the map, wondering what else to add.

'Your letter's bad.'

You jerk your head up in surprise, concentration suddenly breaking, and see Deema standing next to you with her arms crossed, scanning your list of dot points.

'It's a first draft. Why were you reading it?' You slide the paper under the map.

Deema shrugs. 'You suddenly looked very invested in writing your letter.' She glances at your map. 'It turns out it wasn't your letter. And you don't have to lie... too much. Helping wasn't a lot of trouble.' She taps the corner of the paper peeking out from under the map.

You pull it back out and amend the first point:

Hope you're doing well, I'm glad to help and my mentor says she is too (lie if she says she's not?) (not lying but don't exaggerate)

'Do you want to help with the map?' you ask.

'You're putting the letter off again.'

There's no use denying it. 'Yeah, do you want to help?'

Deema shakes her head, but points to different places on the map for you to add information - average precipitation levels across the island, how the lake and valleys by the foot of the hills affect their surroundings, and activity off the island. She wanders off when she's satisfied.

You return to the letter to annotate your dot points, and add 'community garden fun times/Lex sculpture + sketch' next to 'Something personal?'

Deema wanders back to you with Reginald tucked under her arm. 'Why did we just receive a box of papers from the town hall?'

'Ah! Those will be your old reports.' You turn around to see the aforementioned box sitting by the door. 'I'm going to need to go through them. Useful for my notes - and harvest witches.' You catch Deema shaking her head before you turn back around.

You go over your dot points a few more times until they're almost paragraphs, pull a blank page in front of you with a sigh, and start to write.

When are you taking a break?

After the first paragraph.

After finishing the letter.

Voting ended onMay 15

[hephaesta]

Question: What do you do?

Response: A climate map actually sounds like a pretty good idea.

Your eyes snag on the excuse you've jotted down, and you think, A climate map actually sounds like a pretty good idea. A map of activity around the island, while too large and general a scale to be directly useful, will still increase your knowledge and skills just like walking around earlier did.

You manage to find a map of the island in the bottom of a drawer, where it's been hidden under trinkets and tools that haven't seen any recent use. You bring it back to the table, trace over the outline, and pencil in the island's major geographical features.

You sketch and write in some information that you already know - the prevalent north-westerlies, the drier region across the mountain range, and the higher rainfall levels in the south. You tap your pen against the map, wondering what else to add.

'Your letter's bad.'

You jerk your head up in surprise, concentration suddenly breaking, and see Deema standing next to you with her arms crossed, scanning your list of dot points.

'It's a first draft. Why were you reading it?' You slide the paper under the map.

Deema shrugs. 'You suddenly looked very invested in writing your letter.' She glances at your map. 'It turns out it wasn't your letter. And you don't have to lie... too much. Helping wasn't a lot of trouble.' She taps the corner of the paper peeking out from under the map.

You pull it back out and amend the first point:

Hope you're doing well, I'm glad to help and my mentor says she is too (lie if she says she's not?) (not lying but don't exaggerate)

'Do you want to help with the map?' you ask.

'You're putting the letter off again.'

There's no use denying it. 'Yeah, do you want to help?'

Deema shakes her head, but points to different places on the map for you to add information - average precipitation levels across the island, how the lake and valleys by the foot of the hills affect their surroundings, and activity off the island. She wanders off when she's satisfied.

You return to the letter to annotate your dot points, and add 'community garden fun times/Lex sculpture + sketch' next to 'Something personal?'

Deema wanders back to you with Reginald tucked under her arm. 'Why did we just receive a box of papers from the town hall?'

'Ah! Those will be your old reports.' You turn around to see the aforementioned box sitting by the door. 'I'm going to need to go through them. Useful for my notes - and harvest witches.' You catch Deema shaking her head before you turn back around.

You go over your dot points a few more times until they're almost paragraphs, pull a blank page in front of you with a sigh, and start to write.

When are you taking a break?

After the first paragraph.

After finishing the letter.

Voting ended onMay 15

[hephaesta]

Question: What do you do?

Response: A climate map actually sounds like a pretty good idea.

Your eyes snag on the excuse you've jotted down, and you think, A climate map actually sounds like a pretty good idea. A map of activity around the island, while too large and general a scale to be directly useful, will still increase your knowledge and skills just like walking around earlier did.

You manage to find a map of the island in the bottom of a drawer, where it's been hidden under trinkets and tools that haven't seen any recent use. You bring it back to the table, trace over the outline, and pencil in the island's major geographical features.

You sketch and write in some information that you already know - the prevalent north-westerlies, the drier region across the mountain range, and the higher rainfall levels in the south. You tap your pen against the map, wondering what else to add.

'Your letter's bad.'

You jerk your head up in surprise, concentration suddenly breaking, and see Deema standing next to you with her arms crossed, scanning your list of dot points.

'It's a first draft. Why were you reading it?' You slide the paper under the map.

Deema shrugs. 'You suddenly looked very invested in writing your letter.' She glances at your map. 'It turns out it wasn't your letter. And you don't have to lie... too much. Helping wasn't a lot of trouble.' She taps the corner of the paper peeking out from under the map.

You pull it back out and amend the first point:

Hope you're doing well, I'm glad to help and my mentor says she is too (lie if she says she's not?) (not lying but don't exaggerate)

'Do you want to help with the map?' you ask.

'You're putting the letter off again.'

There's no use denying it. 'Yeah, do you want to help?'

Deema shakes her head, but points to different places on the map for you to add information - average precipitation levels across the island, how the lake and valleys by the foot of the hills affect their surroundings, and activity off the island. She wanders off when she's satisfied.

You return to the letter to annotate your dot points, and add 'community garden fun times/Lex sculpture + sketch' next to 'Something personal?'

Deema wanders back to you with Reginald tucked under her arm. 'Why did we just receive a box of papers from the town hall?'

'Ah! Those will be your old reports.' You turn around to see the aforementioned box sitting by the door. 'I'm going to need to go through them. Useful for my notes - and harvest witches.' You catch Deema shaking her head before you turn back around.

You go over your dot points a few more times until they're almost paragraphs, pull a blank page in front of you with a sigh, and start to write.

When are you taking a break?

After the first paragraph.

After finishing the letter.

Voting ended onMay 15

[hephaesta]

No update this week on account of the fact that I've just been so exhausted. Am still itching to write so will work on updating summaries. Seeeee you next week hopefully

[hephaesta]

Questions:Tomorrow you'll...

Response: Actually read it.

The next morning Deema throws a glance at the table, where Dessa's unopened letter sits neatly on top of your notebook.

'Dessa? Of the Great Alpine Road?' She sounds surprised. 'She's the witch you wrote that geography letter to. You didn't send it that long ago.'

'Yeah, she's prompt,' you say. 'We don't need to rub it in.' You open the envelope to encourage yourself to read it, but leave the papers inside folded. It's too early in the morning to get stuck into a task that requires this much concentration, and you don't feel like picking Deema's brain for ideas right now.

'I'm going for a walk,' you announce.

You tell yourself that it's good practice to pick up changes in the air instead of waiting for a change to be so big you have no choice but to notice it. The changes are too small-scale to be useful sources of information now, and you can't pick up on them the same way that Deema can, but it only makes sense for you to get more in touch with the world around you.

It also makes sense to learn to do it while on the go, you think to yourself as you trip over a cobblestone. It can't be good to only pick up on differences when you're standing still with your eyes closed.

--

After your long walk, you return home and unfold the letters. You sigh at the sight of Dessa's neat, tiny writing. Maybe it would be better to get some other work out of the way first, to help you focus more on this later. You go back to your botany witch notes while the unfolded letters rest on the other side of the table.

'Don't let that letter gather dust,' Deema says when you close your book.

You sigh again and pull it in front of you.

Dessa thanks you for getting back to her with plenty of information she'll be able to use. she's exploring using the lake at the foot of the hills she's based in to bring some water across the mountains in dryer periods, and the information 'you and your mentor' provided will be useful to form experimental trials.

You open your notebook to a fresh page and write:

Hope you're doing well, I'm glad to help and my mentor says she is too (lie if she says she's not?)

I met a botany witch (include her name?) recently who said you'd be able to help out with hot air phenomena past the mountains.

Are there any recurring patterns? (More predictable than a heatwave/more intense than usual peak summer)

Reason: Building a (climate map? personal reference?)

Something personal?

Bye

You read over your drafted points and put the letter down to pace around the room, hands on hips.

That wasn't so bad in the end, you think, and go back to your table.

What do you do?

Write the final version of the letter.

A climate map actually sounds like a pretty good idea.

Voting ended onMay 1

[hephaesta]

Questions:Tomorrow you'll...

Response: Actually read it.

The next morning Deema throws a glance at the table, where Dessa's unopened letter sits neatly on top of your notebook.

'Dessa? Of the Great Alpine Road?' She sounds surprised. 'She's the witch you wrote that geography letter to. You didn't send it that long ago.'

'Yeah, she's prompt,' you say. 'We don't need to rub it in.' You open the envelope to encourage yourself to read it, but leave the papers inside folded. It's too early in the morning to get stuck into a task that requires this much concentration, and you don't feel like picking Deema's brain for ideas right now.

'I'm going for a walk,' you announce.

You tell yourself that it's good practice to pick up changes in the air instead of waiting for a change to be so big you have no choice but to notice it. The changes are too small-scale to be useful sources of information now, and you can't pick up on them the same way that Deema can, but it only makes sense for you to get more in touch with the world around you.

It also makes sense to learn to do it while on the go, you think to yourself as you trip over a cobblestone. It can't be good to only pick up on differences when you're standing still with your eyes closed.

--

After your long walk, you return home and unfold the letters. You sigh at the sight of Dessa's neat, tiny writing. Maybe it would be better to get some other work out of the way first, to help you focus more on this later. You go back to your botany witch notes while the unfolded letters rest on the other side of the table.

'Don't let that letter gather dust,' Deema says when you close your book.

You sigh again and pull it in front of you.

Dessa thanks you for getting back to her with plenty of information she'll be able to use. she's exploring using the lake at the foot of the hills she's based in to bring some water across the mountains in dryer periods, and the information 'you and your mentor' provided will be useful to form experimental trials.

You open your notebook to a fresh page and write:

Hope you're doing well, I'm glad to help and my mentor says she is too (lie if she says she's not?)

I met a botany witch (include her name?) recently who said you'd be able to help out with hot air phenomena past the mountains.

Are there any recurring patterns? (More predictable than a heatwave/more intense than usual peak summer)

Reason: Building a (climate map? personal reference?)

Something personal?

Bye

You read over your drafted points and put the letter down to pace around the room, hands on hips.

That wasn't so bad in the end, you think, and go back to your table.

What do you do?

Write the final version of the letter.

A climate map actually sounds like a pretty good idea.

Voting ended onMay 1