Apprentice Swamp Witch quest

>>997197
recall if she ever mentioned anything that could clue you in to where she was going.

then try to go there. make sure to pack accordingly.

>>997211
>where she was going.
teacher leaves the swamp once a week. you dont actually know where she goes, and she always said you were never to follow her.

>>997219
what direction did we see her go in? could try going in that same direction.

>>997223
you know she follows the path for a while and then turns right when she reaches the road at the edge of the swamp. you suppose you could go looking for her. but youve never been outside of the swamp before.

>>997227
bring a knife or something to mark things as you go out. go looking for her.

>>997230
you decide that teacher must be found.

you wander around the cottage finding things and putting them in your bag.

>inventory
>kitchen knife
>bottle of soup
>fire stone
>Mr. Button

all packed up, you get ready to head out. you feel a bit scared, but teacher needs your help! (maybe.)

you step outside the cottage. the sun is starting to set, and a light breeze is blowing.
after a short walk, you come to the very edge of the swamp, as well as the road your not supposed to go on.

>>997240
what is Mr. Button?

mark your position on a tree, head right like teacher.

>>997240
Let's also leave a note in case she comes back

>>997255
Wait
Fuck
We already left

Nvm
Leave that note either way

>>997255
that, too.

>>997249
mr button is a stuffed bunny teacher made for you.
hes a lot like the little dolls teacher makes, but hes a bunny instead! hes named after his eyes.
you love him very much.

>>997255
you dig through the non important stuff in your bag and pull out a scrap of paper. you hastily scribble a note on it and pin it to a tree.

>Dear teacher. i know im not supposed to leave the swamp, but you were gone too long and i was worried so i went to rescue you. dont worry, i fed the chickens first!

taking a deep breath, you take a step on to the road.
turning right, you get ready to find teacher.
the road seems pretty long.

>>997268
hold tight to Mr. Buttons and keep an eye and ears out for anything moving in the dark

>>997268
after walking for a while, you finally get out of the swamp. the trees are starting to recede as well. eventually they stop altogether and give way to fields and fields of really tall golden grass. you can see the wind blowing in waves across the grass.

>>997270
you hold mr. buttons close. you don't feel very comfortable here. there's no trees. the sky seems to stretch out really far.
>dark
nothing seems to be moving except the grass alongside the road. you wish there were birds or bugs like there are in the swamp. its really quiet.

>>997279
Keep walking on that direction
And start calling out to her

>>997279
make one last carving on the last tree.

keep walking

>>997283
you keep going.
"teacher? are you there?"
no answer.

>>997286
the trees are long gone.
instead you carve mr buttons head on a nearby fence post. the sun is almost down. the sky is a dark orange.

Brb

>>997289
keep going.

>>997294
you keep going. you see something startling.
in the field, along the road, is what looks like a person lashed to a post. its not a person though. its too thin. he looks like hes made of thin sticks.
his clothes hang off his wooden body raggedly. for a head, he has a carved pumpkin. you don't like the face. it looks mean.
you keep going, uneasily. as the last of the sun tucks itself beneath the horizon, youd swear you hear a noise behind you.

>>997297
might want to hurry along.

>>997299
you start to hurry along. your not worried about the dark, but that thing on the post was freaky.
you think you can see light far off.
you hear a noise and turn around.
theres no one there.
except the post man.
hes next to the road. he looks just like he did the last time you saw him. but now hes here, instead of several meters behind you.

>>997307
this may be the appropriate time to scream and start running.

>>997311
you let out a scared noise and set off hot on your heels down the road.
you hear a noise again and turn but theres nothing there. looking forward again, you get a fright from the post man again. hes now in the middle of the road in front of you.

theres a fire inside the pumpkin.

>>997312
Ask him what he wants. and who he is.

>>997315
"w what do you want?" you squeak. "who are you?"

theres a cracking sound as the post man breaks the ties keeping him on the post. its still lashed to his back, but hes now standing up.

"who am iiiii?" he creaks

you REALLY dont like that voice.

"im jack. who are youuu?"

"nilly."

"niice to meet you. what are you doing out here after darrrk?"

"im looking for teacher."

"teeacher? is she the schooolteacher from the tooown?"

"no."

"hmmmm... is she.... pretty? with a pointy black haaat? and long haaiiir?"

"yes."

"havent seen herrr." he chuckles.

"what do you want?" you ask again.

"i want you to bring me somethiinnngg. theres a farmer in towwn. in his shed is a pair of clipperss." he gestures at the bindings that keep him lashed to the large t shaped post. "i want themm."

>>997328
but he knows what she looks like, so he obviously has seen her before.

Did he mean he didn't see her today?

ask him why he wants those items and what we get in return.

(this will probably be my last post tonight. Happy New Years.)

>>997329
"you know what teacher looks like, but you said you hadn't seen her."

"were acquainted." his face doesn't move, but his tone of voice implies an accompanying grimace.

"why do you want the farmers clippers?"

"because a longg time ago, a wicked witch helped a mean oldd farmer lash this post to mee. i cant go anywhere with it tied to mee, and i want to see the worldd." he explains. " the farmers clippers are the only thing that can get it offf mee."

"why should i? your scary."

"becaaauuse... isnt it the rightt thing to doo to helpp someone whos in needd?"

(happy new year dude.)

>>997328
Yeh let's do
>>997329
This will be my last post as well

Happy New Year Y'all

>>997333
good night anon.

That "wicked" witch wouldn't happen to be our teacher would it? Ignore him and continue on

>>997332
ask if the wicked witch is supposed to be our teacher.

if so, ask what he'll do to her if we let him go.

>>997491
>>997422
"is teacher the one who stuck you here" you frown.

jack bends over and looks you in the eyes.
"you ask a lot off questionns." the fire in his head flares up. "KIDS WHO ASK TOO MANY TEND NOT TO LAST LONG."

>>997663
ok, just humor him and walk off.

>>997666
"fine, ill get them for you."

you walk past him and keep a steady pace down the road, eager to leave him behind.

"youdd better!"

that's the last of that voice you'll be hearing. hopefully.

after more walking, youre pretty sure you see a town cresting on the next hill. that might be the one jack mentioned.

reaching the town square, youre greeted with a large obstacle.
two roads run through the town. the one your already on, and one perpendicular to it. you have no idea which one teacher would have gone down.
you see theres no one out right now. theres a whole bunch of people inside a building on the square though.

there are a lot of different buildings here.

>>997696
go ask if they've seen teacher and where she could have gone.

>>997705
you poke your head in to the building.
theres a lot of happy people here. most of them appear to be drinking.
theres a man with a fiddle in the corner, and a fire in the fireplace. overall its quite a comfortable atmosphere. you wander inside and up to the counter.

"hi there. have you seen teacher?"

the man behind the counter leans over.

"er, i dont think so. unless you mean miss willow over at the schoolhouse."

you shake your head.

"well then i havent seen her. maybe someone else has."

you look around trying to identify someone else.

theres a man in overalls further down the counter, theres various people at tables, theres a lady reading in the corner, and the only booth is occupied by a group of people with weapons and a mountain of bottles around them.

>>997761
describe our teacher to the bartender to see if it jogs his memory.

>>997771
"are you sure you havent seen her? shes got a tall pointy black hat, and long black hair, and shes got a white shirt and a green dress on today."

he rubs his chin.

"jim knows her." he walks over to them man in the overalls. you see him whisper something and gesture at you. Jim nods.
you walk over to him.
"you know teacher?"

"yup. i helped her out a long time ago. why?"

>>997811
ask if she's been here today

she hasn't come back yet and it's worrying us.

>>997814
"shes been gone longer than she usually is, so i went to find her. has she been here today?"

"she passes through early in the morning, when i'm in the field. so if shed been through today i wouldn't know. sorry."

>>997831
also mention the creepy scarecrow that asked you to do stuff.

Ask what direction teacher went and we'll go there.

>>997836
"you might want to know about this; theres a wooden man on a post by the road who wanted me to get him a pair of clippers."

"scarecrow bothered you, eh? he talks scary but he cant hurt you. he'd love to get back at the folks what stuck him in that field, but unless someone lets him off hes stuck." he grins.

"do you know which way teacher goes on the roads?"

"i don't know where she went today. shes a busy witch. goes all over. Those fellas over in the booth were here this morning, but id advise against a young n like yourself talkin with them. they've had a lot to drink."

>>997872
Can he ask for us?

>>997875
"can you talk to them?"

"sure." jim stands up and wanders over to the booth. he talks a bit and gestures at you. the people in the booth huddle in and talk amongst themselves. one of them gets up and walks over to you.

"hey there kiddo." shes clearly very drunk.

>>997901
Um, hello.

Whoa
Are we about to get /SS'd?

>>997941
"hey. so. your looking for your teacher?"

"yes."

"well, i saw her. this morning. she came through town."

"which way did she go?"

"ill tell ya for 50 bucks."

one of the others from the booth has come over and hit her on the head.

"dont extort children. she went east."

"hrmph. you never let me have any fun. fine, what she said. east."

the pair of them return to the booth.

jim is now back at the bar.

(sorry about the pause. i had to run off quickly.)

>>997973
breath a sigh of relief and head east

>>997973
jim turns to you.

"so are you going to keep going? its pretty dark out there. i know thats probably not an issue for you though."

>>997979
"ill be fine." you tell him. "thanks for your help."

you leave the bar, going back into the town square.

you look at the moon. its only a little bit risen, but you can still tell which way is east from here.

you set off again.

>>997987
what do I see before me?

youve been walking for what feels like forever. the farmland has given way to trees again, although sparser than your used to.

youre starting to feel really tired. its late and youve been walking all day.

>>998007
make a carving across a tree,

take a rest beside it.

>>997332
>i cant go anywhere with it tied to mee
Says the guy who chased us down the road with teleportation.

>>997696
Let's just sit at the crossroad here for a bit, then go back home. Don't want to get burned.
Try to avoid Jack.
If he does find us, just play dumb/incompetent and say we couldn't find The Farmer's house in the dark. Those were pretty vague instructions tbcf

>>998011
you carve mr button's head in a tree and sit down at its base. you yawn and curl up.

>>998023
I give this nap a few hours before we get back up.

Or do we get ganked by something in the dark?

>>998023
dreams.

pumpkins. fields. teacher. the swamp. home. distance. drunkards. adventurers. farmers. crossroads.

saving.

>>998034
hm, maybe we should wake up and continue walking.

>>998031
you wake up several hours later. the sun is starting to rise.

your slung across the back of a horse.

you sit up and nearly fall off. theres a whole bunch of horses, and men in armor.

the rider of the horse your on notices that youre awake.

"oh ho! the child is awake!"

>>998043
Oh shit
Ask wtf is going on

>>998043
aw shit.

ask who they are and where they're taking us and what they're trying to do.

>>998049
>>998052
"whereamiwhoareyoupleasedonteatme."

the man in armor laughs jovially at this.

"fear not! we shall not harm you. I am Telere. but one of the many knights in the service of our king. we return from savage battle against our enemies, but we return victorious! i thought it wrong to leave you alone in the woods, and therefore have pledged to return you safely to civilization."

>>998077
Ask them if they've seen Teacher

And ask them if they can take us to our home, maybe she came back

>>998077
>>998090
ask them to take us back to the bar so we can double check to see our teacher came back. We should also ask the knight what kinds of enemies he battles (if he says anything about witches, we're going to need an excuse to get away from him.)

>>998090
>>998097
"can you take me back to the village at the crossroads? either there or the swamp."

"that could be done. i shall have to check with our leader, but he is a good soul and should find no quarrel with it. i shall ask when we next stop."

"who do you fight?"

"oh, savage barbarians, ravening ghouls, scheming criminals, practitioners of dark magic, that sort of thing. anyone that threatens the peace of the kingdom or its citizens."

>>998119
ok, we probably shouldn't mention our teacher is a witch.
does the leader of this group allow us to go back?

>>998136
after a while, the entourage has stopped near a stream to let the horses drink. Telere has asked for permission to split off and return you home, and he has received it.

the pair of you are now riding back the way you came.

"i do not believe i asked your name."

"Nilly."

"a lovely name!"

the landscape passes by.

"i know it is none of my business, but what brings you out into the greater world?"

>>998157
I wanted to look and see what was outside of my home.

>>998157
>>998170
haven't been out that much before.

>>998172
>>998170
your not sure, but mentioning teacher might be a bad idea. you opt to tell a half truth.

"i wanted to see a bit of the world. i just kept walking and i lost track of time."

"ho ho! i understand. the explorative desires of youth. when the sunset is always in the future and what lays over the next hill is unkown."

eventually, you've reached the crossroads town again. (only took a couple of hours.)

'so! shall i leave you here, or is there somewhere else you need to go?"

>>998178
No thanks.

Ask for his name, though.

also, go ask the bartender and see if she's been back.

If not, go back out east

>>998185
"no thank you. this is far enough."

Telere mounts his horse.
"well, if you are ever in need, do not hesitate to seek me out! hiya!" he heads off at a gallop eastwards.

now your back in town. a brief round of questioning the bartender shows that teacher still hasnt passed through again.

you guess you'll head east again.

>>998203
make up for the lost time by running a bit.

>>998207
after a very long time of walking / running down the road, your in an area that looks familiar.

feeling hungry, you stop and eat the SOUP rendering its vessel an EMPTY BOTTLE.

you continue on your way.

after what feels like ages of walking, youve arrived at civilization!

its the sort of smaller buildings and farms you get outside of cities. you can see walls and towers further in.

>>998211
go there and ask about our teacher.

>>998219
you continue further. eventually reaching a large city gate.

you thought the town was big compared to your house, but the city is almost overwhelming. theres so many people!

there also seems to be a lot of black cloth hung everywhere. there's a certain dour mood to things.

you've found a bar like the one at the crossroads!

>>998231
ok, I guess it's as good as any place to start asking about teacher.

>>998239
theres a lot more people here. as you walk to the bar you hear snippets of many conversations.

"cant believe hes dea"

"the gaurd says they dont know how she"

"i couldve sworn she liked him"

"bah, that kind cant be trusted. look at what happened yester"

"in the dungeons i heard. she just let them take her awa"

"whos gonna be king now?"

you reach the bar.

"excuse me."

"hey there!" the bartender smiles. "what can i do for you?"

"im looking for my teacher."

"hmm. what does she look like?"

"well, shes got a tall pointy black hat," the bartender cuts you off. one or two people are watching you.

"if your teacher is who i think she is, you might just want to go home."

>>998275
whisper and ask him to elaborate.

>>998279
you lean in close.
"what do you mean?"

the bartender sighs. she begins to explain.
"king Solomon is dead. he was murdered out of the blue by an old friend of his: The good witch of the swamps. maybe your thinking of someone else with a hat like that, but shes a big local topic lately."

>>998329
but why would she do that?

>>998333
"that's what everybody wants to know. we don't call her the good witch for nothing. its a real mystery."

>>998357
what's going to happen to her?

>>998362
"theres talk of a trial some time after the funeral. right now shes in the dungeon up at the castle."

>>998378
thank the barman for his time.

Find out where the castle is, though I suspect it's likely the biggest thing in the city.

>>998383
"well... thank you." you leave the bar.
well. you found teacher. sort of.

you look towards the towers of the castle. its pretty visible. after wandering through city streets for a while, you find your way at the entrance of the castle. there are gaurds here. the door is shut. it doesnt look like its open to the public right now.

>>998422
check and see if there are any holes we can crawl through.

or vines, other purchases on the wall that we can climb

Rolled 1 (1d20)

>>998424
rolling to see what you find

>>998434
wow. epic fail.

>>998434
nothing on the walls from what you can find.

lets see...

you could try to climb anyway
you think you can see a grate in the pond
you could try looking for holes in the wall near the bushes. theres got to be some sort of secret entrance.

whatever you pick, roll 1d20

Rolled 7 (1d20)

>>998445
>you could try looking for holes in the wall near the bushes. theres got to be some sort of secret entrance.
this one

>>998451
you push around underneath a bush and manage to find a hole near its roots. if you were anything but a smol child you wouldnt be able to fit in here.

you shove into it and push a bit. eventually, after a considerable bit of wiggling, you pop out the other end covered in dirt.

you are in a small, crudely hacked out chamber. there is a second hole in the ceiling with what appears to be a rug over it. you poke your head up and see that the hole is covered by a rug in some sort of barracks room.

i think this is a good stopping point. thank you so much for your dedicated playing.

>>998472
thanks for running. I'm getting very curious and worried at the same time. Hope to see you next time, but it will probably have to be later in the evening if it's tomorrow.

>>998480
i dont really know when it will be. classes are starting up again tomorrow so my schedule is getting full again. maybe the weekend.

>>998487
sounds good. catch you later.

>>998487
also, do you have a twitter account to follow?