Day 39 (S28-30)

As they exited Matilda's house of candles, they saw Valentine far off to their right, and Mayoay came to greet them from their left.
"Oh, The Bound! It is good to see you here a day early!"
"It's good to see you, too!" said Rina, "I got you something! Well, I got the bees something." Rina then pulled out the jar of honey she had purchased in Greenwarf and handed it to her.
"Oh! You got honey for the bees?" Mayoay said excitedly, "Thank you, they will love it!"
The put the jar up her sleeve, and her clothes buzzed and hovered a moment again. Shortly after, Mayoay handed Rina the empty jar, "Thank you, again! They love it."

"So what's going to happen now?" Alice asked, "We have trials today?"
"Oh, yes, the Witch Trials will be today since you are here now," said Mayoay, "I heard you are down a member... maybe they will take it easier on you. I, for one, am rooting for you! And I'm the leader of one of the trials."
"Then take it easy on us," Kin said, "This is what we've been working for, we want it to go well!"
"Oh, I'm sure it will!" said Mayoay, "I must go now, though - your actual coven leaders want to speak with you, I'm sure."
Mayoay left as Valentine approached them.
"Good day, The Bound," Valentine greeted them, "Are you prepared for today's trials?"
"Not really," Alice said, "Some lady basically kidnapped us and brought us here."
"Oh, you mean Matilda? Yes, she does that," Valentine said, "Let me bring you to see the meeting area."

Valentine led them to an open area where a large pyre was lit, and three staked stood near it.
"What are the stakes for?" Alice asked.
"Oh, that's where we will put you if you lose," Valentine said with a straight face.
The party looked nervous.
"I'm just joking!" Valentine said, "Those just represent the three current covens. After today, after you complete the trials... there will be a 4th for the Sprite Light coven!"

Valentine took them over to a long table, it was nearly completely full of other witches from all other covens.
They could see Abagail standing near 2 chairs close to the middle of the table, holding a box of some kind covered in a cloak. She winced occasionally, as if the box was hurting her.
"Please, take a seat," Valentine said to them. There were only three seats left at the very end of the table - the end and the two seats on either side. Abagail and Valentine sat in the two seats near the middle of the table.
Rina sat at the very end, leaving the seats on either side for Kin and Alice.
The table was filled with witches from all over Kay'Lend. Three were wearing the flags of Cofamoso on their garb, three were wearing the flags of Ilianga, and three were dressed in the colors of Asmery. Three were also wearing the colors of Pennislovica and had the Pennislovican flag on their garb, and another three also had the same colors as Pennislovica but did not sport the flag - these were the representatives of Drusk. Each coven had a representative from each country at the table.

At the head of the table sat an old hag woman - Mayoay and Rizvic sat on either side of her, both whispering to her and to each other.
One of the witches from the Sprite Light coven who was seated next to Alice began whispering to The Bound, “That’s the Mother of Witches,” she said as she pointed to the old woman, “they say she’s ancient… maybe thousands of years old.”
The old woman then perked up from the whispers and cleared her throat - the entire table then went silent. 
“You,” she points to Rina, “Are you the representative of the Sprite Light coven?”
Rina figured she meant those who would be in the trials that day, so she replied, “Yes, I suppose we are.”
Valentine then raised her hand, “No, it is I and Abagail who are the representatives of the coven. Rina just ran to the end of the table before I could get there.”
Rina was embarrassed, “To be fair, these were the last three seats left when we got here.”
The old woman laughed, “Well, now that that’s settled - I am Belladonna, the mother-witch. We are gathered here today for two reasons: to bring a new coven into the fold, and to accept newcomers into said coven. But, before we get started, let us eat!”
Suddenly, empty plates appeared in front of everyone at the table.
“May the newcomers begin first,” Belladonna said as she gestured toward The Bound. 
The party looked around, but didn’t see anyone bringing food. So Kin just took his fork and stabbed at his plate - a steak appeared on the plate just as he did so.
“Cool!” exclaimed Alice as she did the same thing, making a ham appear. 
So Rina followed suit and stabbed at her plate, making liver appear. 
The rest of the witches then began - all of them had a more vegetarian meal instead, and looked at the party a bit strangely for choosing meat.

“Now,” Belladonna began, “you three will be tested by each of the three established covens. Your success will mean not only your entry into the Sprite Light coven, but also the Sprite Light coven’s acceptance as an official coven.”
“The first trial will be conducted by me,” Mayoay said, “I look very forward to seeing how you handle these tests.”
“The second round will be designed by me,” said Rizvic, “and I will not make it so easy - you are to do it the old fashioned way.”
“The old fashioned way?!” Mayoay exclaimed, “It hasn’t been done like that for new entries for… hundreds of years.”
“We also have not established a new coven since the original establishment of the Great Pyre,” Rizvic argued, “If this test is to bring in a new coven, it must be difficult.”
“I, then, will be conducting the third and final trial,” said Belladonna, “We will commence with these as soon as you have finished your meals. Everyone will be watching!”

After the meal, Mayoay took each of us aside to probe our minds, “Ahh, very good,” she said, “you each have amazing memories of amazing people… let us hope you can all remember each of them.”
She then had the group play 3 rounds of Heads Up - where one team member put a name on their heads, and the others had to give them clues as to who it was. 
“If you guess enough correctly, you will get a buff for the next trial!” Mayoay said, “Good luck!”
The first round was easy: Agronoch, Sullivan Frey, and Caspian were the answers.
“Everyone got a point in round 1,” said Mayoay, “if you can get a total of 7 points then you pass, if you get more then you get your buff.”
The second round was a little harder: Godfrey, Mayor Highwater of Vorovni, and Rosa were the answers - Alice could not remember Godfrey.
“You are up to 5 points total,” said Mayoay, “You only need to guess two more correctly!”
The final round was the most difficult: Igor, Bradley, and Henry III were the answers, but Rina could not remember Igor. 
“Well, that’s it! You got your 7 points! You pass the first trial,” said Mayoay, “Remember, friendship is the most important thing.” She said with a smile as Rizvic walked up to them to take her place.

“My trial will not be so easy,” they said as they gestured to a row of fireflies, “Your trial is: follow the lights until you get to the golden apple.” 
“So, we just follow the little fireflies?” Alice asked.
“Yes, with one caveat: you must do so without any magic items,” they answered, “No magic weapons, no magic clothes, no magic enhancing jewelry." 
“Not even my clothes of mending?” Rina asked.
“Not even that. We have replacement clothes if you need them.”
“So, no magic at all? Or just no magic items?” Kin asked.
“You may use the magic conjured by yourself,” they answered, “you just cannot use any items that will enhance your magic in any way.”
Rina got changed and everyone handed over their items. 
“Oh, and… one more thing,” Rizvic said as they handed over Tarot cards to the members, “Any time you need to make an action, pull one of these instead of your typical check system; these are a pass-fail system.”

The fireflies lined up along a path in the woods, and the party followed them. They eventually got to a 100ft tall tree with no branches or leaves, the fireflies made a path all the way to the top.
“We gotta get up there? Without anything to climb on?” said Rina.
“Let me see if there are invisible branches,” said Kin, “Maybe it’s like the food.”
He jumped and found that there were not invisible branches. Since he attempted something like that, he pulled a tarot - it allowed him to jump a bit higher, but he had disadvantage on tarot pulls after that for the rest of the day.
“I’m going to just try to fly up there,” said Alice. She turned into a large Eagle, but her tarot pull immediately made her fail it - she now had an inclination to steal the most valuable thing she could think of from one of the other players. She tried to steal Rina’s journal, which she failed to do. 
“I could Dimension Door one of you up there,” said Rina, “but we need to complete this as a team,” 
Kin then tried climbing the tree by hugging the trunk, which he failed again. 
Alice then tried to wildshape again, but her tarot took her to 0hp.
“Oh no, look out!” Rina said as she and Kin ducked behind a small hill.
Alice exploded, knocking down the tree they were supposed to climb. 
Rina gave her a potion to get her up.
The witches in the crowd cheered:
“Wow, I’ve never seen someone knock the tree down to get to the top before!”
“Yeah, they’re really smart!”
The three of them then walked to the top of the tree, and this portion of the course was done.
“Here,” Kin said to Alice, “I’m going to cast Death Ward on you so you can’t go unconscious again for a while.
“Thanks, that will be helpful,” said Alice.

The next portion of the course was a large fissure in the ground, the fireflies were lined up across the fissure. The top of the fissure spanned about 70ft, too far for Misty Step or Far Step to reach. 
“Once again, I could Dimension Door one person over, but that still leaves one of you here,” said Rina. 
“We could use plant growth and make a bridge,” said Kin, “Half from one side and half from the other.”
Alice thought that was a good idea, so the two of them used Plant Growth to make a plant bridge. They were mostly successful, but Kin was turned into a donkey with his Tarot pull.
“How do we un-polymorph you?!” Rina asked him using Beastspeach. He didn’t know the answer.
They continued to follow the fireflies until it came to a marshy swamp. Rina used her Far Step here to just stay above the water to cross, and Alice rode on Kin’s back while he was still a donkey and could maneuver through it better than she could. 
Using the rope from Alice’s pack, Rina helped pull Kin along a little better.

They finally reached the end of the marsh, and came to a clearing. They could see a tiny tree at the far end, with the fireflies leading directly toward it. On its top was the golden apple. 
“I think just one of us needs to get it,” Rina said, “So I think this is the time to use Dimension door.”
Just then, a giant sphynx came out of the tree line. It looked to be made of golden sand, and it was much more cat-like than usual. It saw them, but simply sat in front of the tree and watched them. 
Kin thought it would be a good idea to try and distract it, so he tried using Motivational Speech. But the words only came out as donkey sounds, and the sphynx did not move.
While Kin was trying that, though, Rina used Dimension Door to get herself and Alice to the tree.
The sphynx noticed them, and sent a fire bolt down on them. Rina was able to dodge it, but Alice got hit and would have gone unconscious, but Kin’s Death Ward prevented that from happening again.
Rina used this opportunity to jump and get the apple - and just like that, this trial was over. The three of them were teleported back to the beginning, apple in hand, and were all healed of their ailments.

“Now it’s my turn,” said Belladonna, “What are we known for?”
“Aren’t hags known for stealing babies?” asked Alice.
Belladonna chuckled a bit, “You are a funny one! I mean, what are witches known for?”
“Brewing?” Alice guessed again.
“Precisely! We are known for our potions. Today you will be making a potion. You will have a list of ingredients and a list of ways to prepare said ingredients. Make a potion that is worth using, and you will complete the trial.”

The ingredient list was: garlic, brown sugar, sugar, mushroom power, black pepper, coconut, dill weed, wolfs bane, thyme, chili powder, lavender, lions mane powder, cacao, nutmeg, mint, onion powder, oyster mushrooms, salt, withersalt, rosemary, star anise, vanilla, wasabi, cinnamon sticks.

“There are three different elements to making the potions: ingredients, method of mixing, and the methods of preparing the ingredients,” Bellodanna explained, “Your preparation method options are: chop, powder, reduce, boil, or char. Your mixing method options are: simply stir it in, add a pinch on top, layer it in, use as aromatic, chew it then spit it in, or use it as stir stick. Do you all understand?”
The party nodded.
Belladonna then began telling them the recipe: “For the first part of the recipe, all you need to do to make this potion sweetly: bubble a cauldron with the blood of the land. Add in the white that purifies, and the white that is guarded by the furry grape. Keep it bubbling until thin becomes thick, and the clear becomes milk.”
“Well, the blood of the land is probably water,” said Rina, “So let’s fill it up with water. It says to bubble the cauldron, so I’ll light a fire underneath it for boiling.” Rina's blue fire still heated the cauldron.
“White that purifies, and white protected by a furry grape?” Alice repeated.
“I figure the white that purifies is salt of some kind,” said Rina, “Withersalt, maybe? It’s bad for devils, so maybe that’s what it means by ‘purify’.”
“The other white ingredients are garlic, onion, regular salt, sugar, coconut, and lions mane,” Kin said, “The coconut is the only one I can think of that has a furry outside.” 
“So we think we need Withersalt and coconut?” asked Alice.
“Sounds right, now we just need to know how to prepare the ingredients,” said Rina, “We are already boiling the water, and I imagine we need to chop the coconut. So, do we powder the withersalt?”
They then chop the coconut, powder the withersalt, and throw it all into the boiling water of the cauldron. They stirred it until the water had mostly boiled off and it was a thick, white liquid.

“It seems you have a gift!” said Belladonna, “But follow step 2 to see if you get my drift: Like miniature cannon balls, load them with fire. Sweet-smelling plant joined on the pyre. Add the big cat hair so it remains lit, and use trees that hate dogs to keep it.”
“Trees that hate dogs? I’m assuming that’s wolfbane,” said Rina, “and big cat hair has to be lion’s mane mushroom.”
“Cannonballs may be… black pepper?” said Kin. 
“Usually people grind pepper, right? So, should we grind it?” Rina asked, “Powdering is the closest I can think of for that.”
“The sweet smelling plant could be just about anything…” said Alice, “Vanilla, lavender, sugar, brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and star anise could all be considered sweet-smelling.”
“Sugar is the real sweetener, though,” Kin said.
“The lavender smells sweet, and smelling sweet is the key - I think lavender,” said Alice.
After going back and forth, Kin just smelled each ingredient - “I think we go with the lavender,” he said. 
They ground the pepper into a powder and added a pinch of it on top, then chopped the wolfsbane and stirred it into the liquid.
“I feel like lavender should be used as more of an aromatic,” said Rina, “since the smell was so important to the recipe.”
“With the Lion’s Mane, I think we should chew it then spit it in,” said Alice, “That’s how you tell if a mushroom is edible, after all. But don’t just go chewing on any old mushrooms just because I said that.”
So they chewed up the lion’s mane and spit it into the soup, then continued to stir it - using the lavender as aromatics.

“Hmm… well, I think this could be salvaged,” Bellodanna said, “Though, you could have used more fire last time. But! The final step will take you to your success: take what you have, bubbling in the dark, then add the distant light of a sailor’s compass. A spicy dog screams at a tree, then load it all into your pocket.”
“Well, a sailor would be looking for a star,” said Kin, “that seems like Star anise.”
“What is spicy? The Wasabi and chili powder - but I don’t see how either of those relate to a dog,” said Rina.
“The bark of a tree… that’s cinnamon!” Alice said. 
“If we use cinnamon, that could be a stir stick,” suggested Rina.
“And I think we should layer in the star anise,” said Kin, “That’s the one option we haven’t gone with yet. 
“How do you layer in a powder?” Alice asked.
Kin then scooped out most of the liquid, then put a layer of anise down, then put liquid on top of that, and put another layer down, then put in the rest of the liquid, then another layer on anise.
“See? Layered,” he said proudly. 
“So… how do we get all of this into a pocket?” Alice asked.
“Wait!” Rina exclaimed, “I have the empty honey jar from Mayoay’s bees!”
Kin and Alice then emptied the remaining contents of the cauldron into the little jar, and Rina put it in her pocket. 
Bellodana walked up to Rina, then giggled the jar in her pocket, “Please take the jar out now.”
Rina took it out, and it was glowing with an ethereal look. Belladonna took a sip, “You know… it’s not a bit of a bite, but that was a PERFECT last step!”
The crowd of witches cheered for them - Valentine, Mayoay, and Rizvic then come up to personally congratulate them.
“Your coven is now official,” said Belladonna, “and you three - The Bound - are now official members!”

After the trials, everyone convened in the center of the glade to celebrate. Magic candles were floating in the air, the fire of the pyre was lit. 
“Come join in the festivities!” Mayoay said to them, “There’s drinks and snacks - you all did amazing today!”
They each had a few drinks, Alice started a conga line. 
“Alice, don’t you think you’ve had enough to drink?” Kin asked as she took another shot.
“Never!” she answered.
As she began to turn away Kin used lesser restoration on her to sober her up a little, “Kin! You asshole!” she yelled as she was walking away.
Belladonna then approached Alice, “So, I hear you are the Pradhana?”
“That’s what they tell me,” Alice responded, “but I don't really know what that means.”
“It means you are the chosen one… You have the End Medallion, do you not?” Bellodanna asked.
“Rina won’t let me have it,” Alice answered, “She keeps it from me so it doesn't cause problems in case I get knocked out.”
Belladonna then walked over to Rina, who was having a drink with Mayoay, “Miss Elf? Rina is it? Would you be so kind as to lend Alice her Medallion? I yearn to see the Pradhana with her true powers.” 
Rina took the medallion out of the Bag of Colding and handed it to Alice. 
“Come, Alice, let’s get you in a clearing - somewhere everyone will be safe.”
They went to the outskirts of the glade, still in sight of everyone at the party, and Belladonna cast Fly on Alice. They both then flew up into the air about 50ft and Belladonna spoke again, “Are you willing to do this? I’ll be taking you down to unconsciousness for a moment.”
Alice nodded her head, the mother witch then zapped all HP from her, causing the Medallion to glow black, and the color of the area to disappear. Alice’s body then stood like a scale as before, with the medallion in one hand. Everything around began to crackle, it looked like things could even catch fire. 
Then the mother witch placed her own hand in Alice’s other hand, “You are unbalanced, my dear.” The crackling stopped, the color came back to the area, and she then healed Alice. 
“What do you mean I’m unbalanced?”
“You have the medallion that causes the endings… but you need the one that causes beginnings.”
“There’s a Beginning Medallion, too?”
Belladonna just winked and answered, "There are 2 medallions," and flew them both back down to the ground.

“Well, I need another drink after all that,” said Alice, “but stupid Kin restored me so I can’t get as drunk as I want to.”
The mother witch laughed, “So you may think, my dear!” she then pulled out a small vile with some clear liquid in it, “This is my own special brew – one drop and you’ll be flying!”
She lifted the vile up to Alice’s mouth to put in a drop, but Alice purposefully bumped her hand so 3 drops came out.
“Oh ho ho! You are a feisty one! Have fun with that!” the mother witch said as she took three drops herself.
Alice then got out her broomstick and started flying around on it, “You said I’d be flying! I can already fly!”
“Oh no, I told Alice not to fly drunk!” Kin said as he walked over to watch her.
The other witches had never seen someone fly on a broomstick before, “How do you do that?” one of them asked, “Please, can you show us!”
“Sure!” Alice said excitedly, “Everyone get a broom!”
They all got their brooms, and Alice taught them how to use them to fly. A few of them got it, even Belladonna was interested in learning, “You truly have nature’s touch!”

After Alice began giving her flying lessons, Kin decided to go speak with Rina and Mayoay, who were off in the corner by themselves having a couple of drinks and playing with the bees.
“You look sad, Kin,” Rina remarked, “What’s got you down?”
Kin hesitated, “Oh… it’s nothing. Just thinking about a lot of stuff.”
“Is there anything I can help you with?” Mayoay asked, “I have been told I’m a good listener.”
Rina scoffed, “I’m definitely not.”
The girls laughed but Kin stayed silent for a moment.
“Actually, there is something you may be able to help with, Mayoay,” said Kin, “Can we speak in private?”
Mayoay nodded, then left with Kin to a quiet place in the woods – far away from the glade, far away from where everyone could hear or see them.

Rina was left on her own, having a drink at a table, then Valentine and Abagail approached her.
“Rina, we have… something for you,” Valentine said.
“Something for me?” She asked confused.
“Well, it’s something for all of you, kind of… but really, it’s for you,” Abagail replied, as she winced. She was still holding the covered box.
“Looks like that box is beating you up,” said Rina.
“Yes, and I’ll be glad when it’s beating you up instead.”
“Rina, for everything you did for us, here,” Valentine took the cover off of the box. It was a cage, and inside was a small, cat-sized Fey pseudodragon
Rina jumped up from the table, “You… you finally summoned more of the fey?”
“Yes, we have been able to get a few things to come back now,” Valentine said.
Rina opened the cage, and the little rainbow feathered dragon bonded to her immediately – climbing on her shoulders and settling down.
“She’s beautiful!” Rina exclaimed, “How are things going with bringing back the fey?”
“Well, we’ve learned that it’s less about summoning them, and more about making the land agreeable to them again,” Valentine explained.
“We’ve also learned that the place we used to think was the Feywild, or the Fey Realm as some call it, is not actually… a separate place. It seems to be a part of the afterlife, or something similar,” Abagail added.
Rina thought about the implications of that – if the fey need a ground with no iron to come back from the afterlife, what might a devil need?
She shook off the thought, “Thank you two, so much,” she said to Abagail and Valentine, “I’m truly impressed with the work you’ve done. And… I think I’ll name this little one Volvagia.”
“You… you’re naming it after a woman’s body parts?” Valentine asked.
“It just means Cave Dragon in Abyssal,” Rina said, “It isn’t my fault part of the common language ended up coming from Abyssal.”
“Yeah, sure Rina,” Abagail laughed.
“Oh, before I go,” Rina said, “I wanted to apologize for earlier, I didn’t mean to step on any toes by sitting in that seat. Or by saying I was a representative – I honestly misunderstood the situation.”
Valentine laughed again, “It was a joke, Rina. I wasn’t upset in the slightest! You have just been very… enthusiastic about what we do here lately.”
Rina paused a moment, “I honestly wasn’t planning on being a part of a coven… but I do yearn for community, and I believe this is a good place to start.”
“You are always considered a member in our eyes,” Valentine started, “Even if you choose to not stay an official member, our resources are always open to you.”
“Thank you, I plan to stay… for a while,” Rina smiled.

After the festivities had died down, Rina and a very drunk Alice went back to their tent to find it empty.
“Where’s Kin?” Rina asked, “Last I saw he was talking to Mayoay, but it’s not like him to stay out this late.”
“Listen…” Alice started, “I don’t even know if I have any kin… I don’t know my family. Who even is family, anyway? And who is that?” Alice said as she pointed to Volvagia.
“This is a fae dragon that Valentine gifted us,” said Rina, “I think she’s already imprinted on me, though. These little dragons tend to bond to one person. I named her Volvagia.”
Alice paused, her head spinning around in small circles, “You… named it after a vagina?”
“It means Cave Dragon, okay?!”
They both laughed then went to bed, and Volvagia curled up at Rina’s feet like a cat.

Next: Day 40-53 (S30)