a million different colors

Dear Dad,

I’m living the dream...No...Everything’s great. You remember how much I love animals? Well, I got two jobs where I’ll be surrounded by them. I’m making lots of friends and I even started seeing someone. How’s the farm? Good harvest this year? Is ol’ Bessie still kicking? Anyway, I’ll see you soon-ish...hopefully. Also, I have magic now. Bye.

Your Favorite Daughter,

Maybe it was from growing up on a farm, but Gretel always had a fondness for animals. This is what lead her to Leuda’s zoo. She hadn’t been there that often because work kept her busy and tired. Once the holidays were over, her schedule opened up.

How did the zookeepers help the animals adapt to changes in the temperature, Gretel wondered as she passed by an enclosure with a large owl. Just then she spotted the food court and that thought was replaced with hunger thoughts.

Gretel closed her eyes for a moment to take in the aroma of the different foods away from the usual less favorable smells in the zoo. She didn’t stop walking when she closed her eyes though and ran right into someone.

Tornado Warning​

Before long, the wild winds whipping throughout the store began to die down, until it was nothing more than a small, refreshing breeze. And shortly after that, even the breeze was gone, leaving the store in silence.

“Well, there you go!” Mist said. “That wasn’t so difficult, right?” She gave the girl an encouraging pat on the back. “If you have a nice, calm aura, than the spirits around you will respond in the same way. But if you have a wild aura, you’ll attract spirits with the same mischievousness. Speaking of causing mischief…”

Mist looked around the store. Everything was all out of sorts- the most damage being closest to them, of course. “My, my, looks like you’ve caused a mess. Not that you need to worry about it so much- After all, if you get worried, you’ll probably just bring back a ranging tornado with you!” 

Yeah, not so difficult...She didn’t think she had a “wild aura” when she arrived in Arcadia, but the woman spoke with a certainty that made Gretel unsure.

Looking at the woman, she frowned. This lady was kind of getting on her nerves. Was this situation funny to her? Gretel was scared out of her mind, not knowing what would happen or how to control the wind.

Not worrying was much easier said than done. She would probably have to clean the store up and pay for damages. All she wanted to do was go back to Leuda where she had no problems with tornados being summoned.

fail

[-1,000G] For living in the Mire Apartments.

[+500G] For your first (main) job.

Tornado Warning​

“Well, right now, you seem to be thinking of lots of spiraling, swirly thoughts!” Mist said, struggling to be heard over the wind, but speaking with no real sense of urgency. “It’s really got all the spirits around you all worked up in a tizzy! So try to let those thoughts go, okay?”

Mist pushed some of the hair out of her face, trying to think of advice she could give. She always had a sort of natural sense of understanding when it came to her void magic, and never had any problems with it. So, coming up with some way to help was a little strange.

“Instead… let me see… If you don’t want wind, then you should probably think some good, earthy, grounded thoughts. After all, that’s the opposite of a whirlwind, right? It’s up to you, but I’d recommend a hearty turnip popping out of the ground to say hello!”

This woman was strangely calm given the situation, but Gretel had more important things to worry about. Namely, stopping this wind from tearing the store apart. Maybe the odd, white-haired woman could help her.

Earthy, grounded thoughts? She could do that. Gretel imagined a peaceful meadow with no wind. At the same time, she slowed her breathing.

That seemed to do the trick. Slowly, the wind began to slow to a gentle breeze. She continued thinking of the meadow, even imagining some cute wildlife. The breeze lingered for a bit but soon dissipated, leaving only a terrible mess in its wake.

Once the commotion stopped, Gretel opened her eyes. The utter disarray of the store was jarring and there was no one to blame for the damage but herself. She let out a disheartened sigh. How much would this cost her?

tornado warning​

“Oh dear! That is a problem, isn’t it?” Mist said, in the voice of someone who didn’t sound convinced that something was a problem. Of course, it wasn’t that she didn’t think this wouldn’t be a problem if it continued. It was more that she didn’t really think it would be a problem for the girl to turn it off.

“Well, perhaps you might want to start by calming down a little. You’ve got the spirits all riled up around you, with your being all upset. I can feel the nervous energy from here!” Or maybe it was just the wind she was feeling.

“Take my hand, and we can think calm, non-windy thoughts together, okay?” 

Calming down? That was probably a good idea. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. The wind faltered a bit, but nonetheless persisted. 

Gretel didn’t need to open her eyes to know the wind hadn’t stopped, but she did in fear of something coming flying at her head.

“Okay,” she agreed and took the woman’s hand. It was hard to not think about the wind spiraling at increasing speeds around her, but she tried her best. What to think of though? Her mind went blank, so she went with it and tried to keep all thoughts at bay. This was nearly impossible with her overactive mind.

pass

[-1,000G] For living in the Mire Apartments.

[+1,500G] For your first (main) job.

[+1,000G] For your second (part-time) job.

tornado warning​

“So you’ll be interested in picking up the shipping, once the farm gets set up?” Mist asked the storekeeper. “That would be fantastic, thank you!~”

While out on a small grocery-run, Mist had also been in the market for someone to manage the delivery service for her farm, since she was going to have a new employee soon. Having settled that particular matter, she was about to ask when the next shipment of turnips would be in, when she sensed a strange congregation of spirits near the door. With a curious expression, she turned towards the door, just in time for a small whirlwind to burst in, along with a girl Mist had never seen before.

The physical wind seemed to stop the moment the girl stepped in. However, the energy was still there, and sure enough, the wind was back to a small-sized tornado within moments. “Oh, my!” Mist exclaimed, as that was really the only thing that could be said in a moment like this.

Fighting against the wind at times, and being unexpectedly pulled forward at others, Mist slowly made her way towards the strange girl, narrowly dodging a can of peas as it flew past. Once she was close enough, she crouched down, putting her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Excuse me!” she said, shouting over the wind, but her voice still sounding unexpectedly cheerful, “Would you mind turning that down a bit? Your magic is making a small mess of the store.”

If it weren’t for the intensity of the situation, Gretel would be a bit irritated by the woman’s statement. She couldn’t detect any intended humor in her words. Did she really think that Gretel was intentionally causing an indoor tornado to mess up a small store? Now was not the time to analyze this stranger’s words. She had to figure out how to stop this.

“I don’t know how!” Gretel had never thought about herself as a magical person. In fact, if you asked her, she would say she was actually a non-magical person. Yet, she knew everyone had the ability to perform magic. Magic just came more naturally to some. It had something to do with rune energy and she had heard that Arcadia had a high concentration of rune energy, so there were some dots to connect. The storm continued to rage on as Gretel thought about how to stop it.

Gretel looked in the mirror one last time before heading out. Was she supposed to wear full-body armor or would this bracelet and shield suffice? This would be her first time fighting a monster and she wasn’t exactly sure the rules - if there even are rules - or apparently, how to dress. She decided on some simple athletic clothes that would be easy to move around in, but wouldn’t do much to keep her unscathed. Going out with a sword and shield already made her feel weird. This was supposedly normal in these parts though. It wasn’t like she never saw anyone carrying a weapon, so hopefully she wouldn’t stand out too much.

After deciding not to worry about it anymore, she headed out. The walk to the mines wasn’t too long luckily. As soon as she arrived, she realized she should have packed some supplies like potions or food for recovery. She shrugged this thought off and proceeded into the mines.

@mistresstrupin​

About 2 years had passed since Gretel moved to Leuda and she had just realized that she had yet to visit Leuda’s sister island, Arcadia. Time just passed so quickly since she returned to the city (albeit, much smaller than the city she used to live in) life. From what had heard, Arcadia was the more natural (and spiritual) island of the two with all of the farms and presumably things other than farms.

One brief ferry ride later, Gretel was at Arcadia and all that she had heard was almost immediately confirmed. Leuda seemed barren in terms of plant life compared to Arcadia.

There was a certain feeling that emerged within her that she couldn’t really describe as soon as she arrived. Did this have to do with the spirits that supposedly resided in the island?

As she walked down the path from the docks, a slight breeze passed her by. It felt nice at first, but a stronger wind came a second later and sent a chill down her back. The wind began to pick up and Gretel didn’t notice, but it was swirling around her and no one else was being affected by it. Soon, it was hitting her hard from all sides. She held down her skirt which was being blown all around by the wind with one hand and tried to keep her hair out of her face with her other hand.

She picked up her pace until she spotted a building which she quickly retreated into. It seemed to be a small general store. There were only two people in sight, an employee and a customer. A relieved smile formed on her face due to the lack of wind in the store.

“Sure is windy, huh?” she said to the woman doing her shopping. Before anyone had the chance to say something, the wind returned with a vengeance. This time Gretel did notice that the wind was specifically spinning around her like a tornado. As it spread, items got knocked off shelves, flying across the room. Her eyes widened and she took in a sharp breath.

hiatus pass

[-3,000G] For living in the Mire Apartments.

[+4,500G] For your first (main) job.

[+3,000G] For your second (part-time) job.

[-1,000G] For living in the Mire Apartments.

[+500G] For failing.

[-1,000G] For living in the Mire Apartments.

[+1,500G] For your first (main) job.

[+1,000G] For your second (part-time) job.

Dating always had its ups and downs. With Gretel, though, it was mostly downs. She had never had a lasting relationship. All her exes seemed to have gotten fed up with her at some point. 

Everywhere she looked, there were couples, and it was starting to put a damper on her mood. Like fate, she found herself face to face with a flyer for a speed dating event. This could be it. The chance to meet the one.

.....

After a few people that she felt no connection or attraction to, Gretel was starting to get impatient. Where was her one true love?

Not giving much thought to her date, she let a sigh escape her lips and rested her head on her hand. Her eyes drifted to the side and that was when she spotted them. The most attractive person she had ever set eyes on. Okay, that was an exaggeration, but this person was just her type and they were next up.

Gretel quickly sat up and smiled at her current date before their time was up and everyone changed seats. She was now face to face with the hottie.

Battle Axe [lvl 1] [-800g]

Small Shield [lvl 1] [-800g]

Bronze Bracelet [lvl 1] [-800g]

 @treetopdynamite

Casino

Mode Played: Low Stakes