Blossom Valley - Days 4 to 6

A series played using Iron Valley and incorporating the calendar from Wanderhome.  This post is published under the CC-BY-SA-4.0 licence.

4th Tillsoil, Year of Migration

Promises

• Help housemates with doing chores (simple, laid back - 1 box) COMPLETE
• Take a tour of Little Plains with a neighbour (simple, laid back - 1 box) COMPLETE
• Get a part-time job (complicated, laid back - 2 boxes) IN PROGRESS (5/8)

Note: I hadn't Reaped the Benefits of the first two promises so I'll do that now. Buttercup gains 1 Favour with Ace Dream and 1 Favour with Lily Eclipse, and 8 Satisfaction (both promises were completed by making connections with new friends). Time Passes: 2/4.

Favour: Ace Dream (1), Lily Eclipse (1)

Satisfaction: 8

I've only been in town for a few days and I already feel like I'm settling in and making friends. Ace was so kind taking me to the Halls of Knowledge yesterday so I decided that I'd get them a nice bunch of flowers as a thank you.

• Get Ace some flowers (simple, laid back - 1 box)

I remembered seeing some lovely plants growing outside of the village when I was sailing in, so I got up early and went for a walk along the banks of the Emerald Run.

Rooting around to find flowers using Edge to avoid falling in the river. 6 + 1 = 7 vs. 1 & 6. Weak hit. Time Passes: 3/4. Gain 1x Flowers.

It took longer than I anticipated as the Tillsoil ground is still hard and icy so I had to take care to keep my balance. Eventually I found a route to a small clump of hardy white flowers holding out against the cold weather. I didn't want to take the entire bunch, so I just took one before moving on to find more.

Rooting around to find flowers using Edge to avoid falling in the river. 2 + 1 = 3 vs. 3 & 9. Fail. Time Passes: 4/4. (I don't think this is going to be worth resuming tomorrow, so will abandon the promise and recoup the tick as satisfaction.)

I searched all morning and into the afternoon, but I made slow progress and eventually I had to admit defeat. I only had one flower, but hopefully that would be enough to make Ace happy. I made my way back home and put the flower in a vase for Ace. When he got back from work, he saw the flower and his face lit up in a constellation of stars. He said he hadn't seen any of these wild flowers growing in a long time, so it was a lovely suprise to see this one. I explained that I'd seen more and he said he'd try to make time to go and visit the others.

After that, I spent the evening in my room studying my science books and reviewing my notes to prepare myself for when I start my experiments here in town.

Spending 3 satisfaction (new total: 5) to upgrade Science skill. It now grants +1 to rolls and +1 tick on any success.

5th Tillsoil, Year of Migration

I woke up early again, excited to get to work on my study of magic. When I got downstairs I found my housemates were all awake, apparently they like to use Rest Days to hang out around the house and work on their hobbies. I decided I'd like to spend some time at the Halls of Wisdom, so I grabbed some toast and said my goodbyes.

At the Halls I saw that I wasn't the only person who liked to spend time here on Rest Days, Bolita Flood was here too working on her anatomy illustrations. She asked me for my opinion on her work, so I did my best to give some feedback.

Trying best to help Bolita with advice (Wits and Science). 3 + 3 + 1 = 7 vs. 5 & 9. Weak hit. Time Passes 1/4. Two ticks towards Get a part-time job.

It took a while as she had a lot of drawings, and they were so detailed. I gave the best advice I could and I think that she was happy. She asked why I was here, so I explained my field of study as best I could.

Trying best to explain magic-ology with Wits and Science. 4 + 3 + 1 = 8 vs. 1 & 9. Weak hit. Time Passes 1/4. Two ticks towards Get a part-time job.

Reaping the Benefits of Get a part-time job. Gain 8 satisfaction (new total 13). Time Passes: 2/4.

Bolita was very intrigued by my research and had some fascinating observations on the potential for magical aptitude being an innate trait for some people. We chatted well into the afternoon and Bolita even offered my a part-time job helping with her teaching. This is a wonderful opportunity to get some teaching experience, and maybe some of our students will have magical gifts!

I realised that tomorrow is Community Garden Day and I've not done any gardening in such a long time, so I searched the library for some books to help me develop my skills.

• Study gardening/botany (complicated, urgent - 3 boxes).

Trying best to learn about gardening/botany with Wits and Science. 4 + 3 + 1 = 8 vs. 4 & 8. Weak hit. Time Passes 3/4. 2/12 ticks toward goal.

I found a book that looked promising at first, but once I started to read it I found that while it was comprehensive, it was also very confusingly laid out and took a while to find anything. I decided to carry on and see how much I could learn today, thinking I could always ask Pollux (the librarian here at the Halls) for advice tomorrow.

Trying best to learn about gardening/botany with Wits and Science. 3 + 3 + 1 = 7 vs. 8 & 10. Fail. Time Passes 4/4.

I studied long into the night and eventually found myself falling asleep over the book, so I packed it away and decided it was time to go home to rest. I wanted to be rested and ready to get to work tomorrow!

6th Tillsoil, Year of Migration

I woke up from dreams about a huge gardening book chasing me, trying to catch me in its pages and plant me in a large pot of dark soil. I decided that I would definitely ask Pollux for help next time I was at the Halls. In the meantime, I got dressed and had a quick breakfast before heading out to Green View Farm to help with the gardening. When I arrived several people were already hard at work and, after some time observing, I realised that everyone was taking direction from a somewhat dour-looking capybara. I picked up a spade and follow their advice as best as I could.

Trying best to learn about gardening/botany with Iron. 5 + 1 = 6 vs. 7 & 10. Fail. Time Passes 1/4.

I was struggling to dig; either I was tired from the dream-filled night or just clueless about how to hold a spade. Whichever it was, I didn't seem to be getting anywhere, so I took a breather and looked around. Nearby I saw Lily Eclipse turning soil with a trowel, so I moved closer and, after I quick hello, I tried to copy her motions.

Trying best to learn about gardening/botany with Iron. 5 + 1 = 6 vs. 2 & 5. Strong hit. 2 ticks toward goal (4/12).

Lily noticed that I was copying her and looked over with a grin. She complimented me on my technique with a wink, and said explained that Harmony Night (the capybara) taught her everything she knows. I was feeling more confident now, so I walked over to Harmony and asked for guidance.

Trying best to learn about gardening/botany with Heart. 6 + 2 = 8 vs. 3 & 4. Strong hit. 2 ticks toward goal (6/12).

Despite her pessimistic demeanour, Harmony was a very talented teacher and after a quick demonstration I was soon digging with some degree of competence!

Trying best to learn about gardening/botany with Iron. 2 + 1 = 3 vs. 1 & 8. Weak hit. 1 ticks toward goal (7/12). Time Passes 2/4.

Well, competence but not speed; it was still a lot of hard work and I was clearly working slower than a lot of the other villagers.

Trying best to learn about gardening/botany with Iron. 1 + 1 = 2 vs. 2 & 9. Fail. Time Passes 3/4.

By the afternoon I was really starting to flag, so I surreptitiously edged closer to the north side of the field and once I was there I leaned my spade against a tree and dashed to the Halls of Knowledge. I was determined to get something useful out of that book!

Trying best to learn about gardening/botany with Wits and Science. 2 + 3 + 1 = 6 vs. 3 & 10. Strong hit. 2 ticks toward goal (9/12).

Taking a look at the book with fresh eyes I realised that I'd been coming at it from the wrong direction - this wasn't a botany book at all, it was a book of gardening spells! Once I was reading it from a magicological perspective it started to make sense, and I even found a cantrip to help make digging easier. I committed it to memory, put the book back, and ran back to the farm.

Trying best to learn about gardening/botany with Shadow. 2 + 2 = 4 vs. 1 & 1. Strong hit. 2 ticks toward goal (11/12).

Once I was back, I grabbed the spade, twirled in clockwise three times, and whispered the soil-turning charm to it. It already felt lighter in my hands and I set to work digging again.

Trying best to learn about gardening/botany with Iron. 4 + 1 = 5 vs. 5 & 8. Fail. Time Passes 4/4.

As soon as I lifted the spade I felt it lift higher and higher until eventually I had to stand on tiptoes just to hold onto it! Something had gone very wrong with the cantrip; the spade was definitely lighter, but I'd made it too light and now it was at risk of floating away. With some effort I was able to muster a counter-charm to cancel out the botched cantrip, and the spade clattered to the ground. Luckily by this point most of the villagers were packing away the tools so nobody noticed. I quickly put the spade away in the shed and then made my way back home.

That evening I wrote copious notes about what I'd learned from the book, how the cantrip had felt to cast, and my reflections on what I might have done wrong.

Spending 3 satisfaction (new total: 8) to buy the Garden Magic skill. It now grants +1 to rolls.

Promises

• Get Ace some flowers (simple, laid back - 1 box) ABANDONED (1/4)
• Get a part-time job (complicated, laid back - 2 boxes) COMPLETED (9/8)
• Study gardening/botany (complicated, urgent - 3 boxes) IN PROGRESS (11/12)