The sheep licks your hand curiously, then, evidently disappointed at the lack of food, resumes grazing. Its wool is quite thick, and rough to the touch - Clan Pratchett shepherds take good care of their flocks. 

You and Glint leave Brenelo's pens behind, winding through the maze of Pratch tents as evening falls. Enticing smells waft from open fires and small wood-burning stoves, and the sounds of talk and laughter bubble up from clusters of gathered clansfolk. You pass near the market - most vendors are closing up shop, save those selling food, and you spot one vendor stowing pots of "woodworm spray" in a crate. 

Nell waves when you arrive, already starting up a small stove. "Glint! Emerald! I was just getting the pot ready. Hope you like mutton stew. It's... a little plain, maybe, but..."

"Nothing wrong with that," grunts Glint. "Anything's better than trail rations." 

None. 

"Yeah, we've been on forage and stuff that travels easy for ages now, mutton stew sounds good. What do you put in it? Carrots? Onions?"

Prota cheerfully agrees and asks what else Nell puts in the stew. Prota is speaking to Nell. 

"Yeah, we've been on forage and stuff that travels easy for ages now, mutton stew sounds good," you reply to Nell. "What do you put in it? Carrots? Onions?"

Step 124

Nell is glad to hear Prota express interest in her stew. What other ingredients would be used? A good starting point would be vegetables that were available to medieval or renaissance era farmers. This world might also have a handful of unique veggies or at least unique names for similar veggies. Some possibilities: onion, turnip, parsnip, fennel, garlic, shallot, watercress, endive, cabbage, beetroot, radish, carrot, artichoke, leek, long-bean, broad-bean, pea, lentil, asparagus. Of note, Nell is part of a frequently-migrating clan that primarily herds rather than farming. Any vegetables they have access to will be either expensive and imported, gathered locally, or quickly and easily farmed. Radishes grow quickly, within a few weeks, and might be available. Turnips grow fast and have a long shelf life. Wild roots and some water plants like cattails can be gathered and sold or traded. Kale, cress, spinach, and some other greens also grow quickly, and might be carried in pots if migrants have enough space. [Note: potted plants are another potential use for Feldspar's wares. Large migrations sometimes include planter-wagons to hold sprouts and small fruiting plants.] The prompt should tell the Player this, so Prota might take advantage of it later. Perhaps there is a planter-wagon among Nell's works-in-progress. 

So, vegetables in the stew might be: cattail stems gathered in the lowlands, a local mountain root called "paleroot", watercress, and a few relatively expensive turnips. Nell might also add a few spices of her own to this particular stew, since she has guests. (The prompt does not need to name them all but could lead into a discussion with Prota.) Nell mentions spices and asks if Prota has suggestions.  

How well can Glint cook? Well enough for himself, but he favors practicality over taste. His preferred approach is to eat something raw, boil it, or turn into an animal and eat. Would the latter actually work? Eating as an animal allows some potentially unintended exploits, like surviving on a tiny amount of food as a small animal. (Plot impact? Eating in animal form, if it works, would improve Glint's ability to sustain himself on the trail and bolster his status as a self-sufficient woodsman, without much impacting Prota's needs.) What about consistency of world mechanics? Glint's body does not heal in animal form, but wounds do transfer. The lack of healing implies that his metabolism is paused while in animal form. If food doesn't transfer, however, then it might be possible for Glint to vanish things by eating them and shifting. (This is an acceptable ability given the existence of a variety of creation and destruction magics in this world. It does not break the game.) However, it has also been established that Glint is vulnerable to Nimue's Rot if contracted after shifting. Diseases are sort of like food in that way. But Nimue's Rot is a magical disease, and not transferred by vanishable microbes. The behavior is consistent. (It is also convenient for Glint to be able to shift away nonmagical diseases, since he may otherwise have contracted several from fighting off wild animals in animal form.) [Glint cannot sustain himself by eating in animal form. Things he eats while shifted disappear when he shifts again. This does mean that he can vanish things by turning into a large animal and eating them, then shifting. It also means he is immune to nonmagical diseases contracted while shifted.] Glint mostly stays out of the cooking conversation. 

"Mostly whatever's available," Nell replies, sounding pleased. "The gatherers brought a bunch of lowland cattails to market yesterday, their stems are good boiled. Paleroot from the hills near here, and watercress from the streams. Oh, and some turnips!" This last must have been a bit expensive; farming isn't easy for migrant clans like yours. Some travelers carry potted fruiting plants or greens in special planter-wagons - you noticed at least one such among the cluster of Nell's works-in-progress, and more scattered among the Clan Pratchett tents. A handful of the pots looked familiar, in fact - perhaps your great-aunt's work. 

"I add a few spices, too," Nell adds. "Want to compare recipes?" 

None. 

"Oh, I love watercress. I don't know that I have a recipe so much as a list of things that could go in a stew if I have them to hand, and all those ingredients are on it."

Prota is chatting with Nell about the stew. They did not ask anything specific. 

"Oh, I love watercress," you tell Nell. "I don't know that I have a recipe so much as a list of things that could go in a stew if I have them to hand, and all those ingredients are on it."

Step 125

Prota is making pleasant small talk with Nell about cooking. (It is not clear whether the Player wants to play out the conversation in character. This interaction does not seem to be producing much value for the plot or characters, so the prompt can safely zoom out one level of abstraction.) Nell mentions where she gets her meat and vegetables - the clan market, mostly, plus some trade with merchants from Greward. The next prompt will not repeat most of the conversation verbatim, but will talk about the dinner conversation, checking if Prota wants to make any particular comments. If not, the following prompt or prompts might zoom out still further to briefly cover an uneventful dinner. (An attempt to introduce dinner topics might still be productive and interesting, so the opportunity should not be skipped too quickly.) 

Nell happily talks with Prota about the makings of good stew while theirs finishes cooking. The prep is relatively simple and most is already done. Nell ladles stew into bowls for them once it's ready, and they chat over dinner. Nell prompts Glint for stories, which she enjoys. She avoids the topic of magic and the Blue, though not strongly. What, exactly, is Nell's magic? It has not yet been established. It could be something related to tinkering that makes her an unusually good cartwright, or it could be something else entirely. (Giving Nell a subtle, informational sense, and hinting to the Player about it, would be a good way to foreshadow Prota receiving a sense-based magic.)

What sense would be subtle enough that Nell herself would not notice gaining it, yet still noticeable to Prota? Perhaps it gets more sensitive over time. Examples of subtle abilities that people might sometimes assume everyone has, until revealed otherwise: eidetic memory; the ability to form mental images; unusually keen senses of sight, smell, hearing; intuitive ability to read emotions in facial expressions; strong empathy. Whatever Nell has should likely apply to woodworking, but not necessarily only woodworking. Perhaps she has an unusual ability to perceive small flaws in objects, and/or sense how they might propagate. Perhaps she can actually repair small-scale flaws at a touch, making the trope of "kick it until it works" actually a viable option for her. This is an interesting option, but more suited to clockwork machinery than much simpler wagon designs - then again, Nell often works with unusually complex or advanced wagon designs. 

Hypothetical: Nell asks to see some of Feldspar's pottery. She notices a small crack in the glaze and fixes it in a way that should not work - e.g. by polishing it off with a moist cloth. Prota may or may not notice that this is strange. Even if they do, Nell brushes it off. Plausible, but disadvantages are: not obviously a sense-based magic, hard to strike a balance between too-obvious and too-subtle-to-notice. 

To expand on this idea, Nell sacrificed two fingers. By prior reasoning, this may give her two linked minor abilities. One senses the presence of hard-to-detect flaws, and the other slowly repairs them while she concentrates. Physical action is not necessary, but Nell doesn't know this, and in fact just assumes that she's got a good eye for detail and knows some repair tricks that others don't. Separately, Nell was a talented cartwright even before the magic. (This scene, if properly set, serves multiple purposes: deepen Nell's character, reward Player perceptiveness, and hint at the kinds of subtlety available in magics.)

The scene stands. To set the stage, Nell asks about Feldspar's pottery. Prota's cart is nearby, so it's not hard to find. Prota has a set of plates and bowls, a jug, and a large urn, each probably containing some of their supplies. As a plausible excuse, Nell might suggest using Feldspar's bowls for the stew. Being too small to hold supplies, the bowls are probably empty. Nell plausibly heard about the pottery from the Pratch rumor mill, which can be blamed for most people knowing most news around the camp. This idea assumes the goods would not be spoiled by use, and this is a reasonable assumption because the urn and jugs are being used already. It would nevertheless make sense to explicitly remind the Player that the bowls and plates are sturdy and easily cleaned. The prompt might say that Prota's used them on the road - but should not generally assume an action the Player has not approved, so it's best if the exact use is left vague. Something like "the bowls have been useful on the road." 

[Nell has two linked magics: a sense for small flaws in objects, and an ability to mend them while concentrating. Nell is unaware of her magical abilities.] 

Nell continues to chat amiably while the stew finishes. Most of her food is sourced from the Clan Pratchett market, where clansfolk sell what's been hunted, slaughtered, or gathered recently. The turnips, it turns out, are from Greward. 

"Stew's done!" Nell remarks finally. "Hey, I've got an idea - I heard you brought some of your great-aunt's pottery? D'you mind showing it off? I have spare bowls, but Feldspar's work is...well, it's supposed to be amazing." Rumor travels fast among the Pratch, it seems. You know from experience that Feldspar's bowls are plenty sturdy and easy enough to clean; they've been useful on the road as more than just dead weight. 

None. 

"Sure, we've been eating out of them on the road," I agree. "They're great bowls."

Prota agrees to show off Feldspar's bowls. 

"Sure, we've been eating out of them on the road," you agree. "They're great bowls."

Step 126

Prota will need to retrieve the bowls from the cart. Nell wants to examine them before serving dinner. She notices and points out a small crack in the glaze, and repairs it in a way that gently implies magic. (It should not be too obvious that Nell is working magic; if it were, it would strain plausibility that no one has noticed yet.) What circumstances make it more likely for this to go unnoticed for so long? Perhaps Nell rarely works with pottery. Perhaps she has a solvent that she believes to seal or repair wood, when in fact it is her own magic. Prota might not know that no such mending-solvent exists; it is a plausible enough alchemical item given that sealants have been mentioned before. However, it might be strange for the same solvent to work on both wood and pottery. Are there other hints that Prota might notice, but that would plausibly be missed by Nell? One, maybe: if the crack is deep in the glaze and the solvent doesn't actually physically contact it, instead only touching the surface of the bowl, it would be strange for an alchemical sealant to work without physically contacting and filling the space. If Prota does not notice immediately, it can be mentioned later, perhaps in Bluward. [The most common type of alchemical sealant works by transmuting itself to match whatever it is sealing. It is flexible, but requires direct physical contact with the damaged spot.] The prompt should describe the bowl, crack, and repairs in enough detail that Prota could, given the right clues, notice the discrepancy. 

Hints: Nell notices something is wrong with a bowl merely by picking it up, before she sees the actual crack. She might hold it up to the firelight after noticing something's off. She repairs it despite the crack being beneath the glaze. She makes a passing reference to her disappointment at never getting a magic from the Blue. 

You retrieve the bowls from the cart. Nell looks them over, admiring the craftsmanship. "These really are incredible," she murmurs, running a hand over the outer layer of fine, clear glaze. "Things this pretty don't usually last long, on the road. But this one's flawless." She examines the second bowl, running her three-fingered hand along the bottom edge. "It must be nice to have a real magic," she adds wistfully, and you detect a bit of bitterness in her tone. 

When Nell picks up the third bowl, she frowns. "Hmmm." Nell holds the bowl up to the firelight, turning it around as though looking for something. "This one's got a little crack," she muses aloud. "Aha! There it is." She points to a spot about a third of the way down the outside edge. It takes a moment and some angling of the bowl in the dim light, but eventually you spot the hairline crack, about a finger's width long, running just underneath the glaze. "Must've gotten bumped a bit too much on the way here. I guess there are limits even with magic, huh? No worries, I've got a fix somewhere..." 

Nell pops open a small crate and fishes out a jar of thin brown paste. "Just a sealant," she says. "It's pennies to make and I like your aunt's work, so no charge." She unscrews the lid, dabs a small cloth in the jar, and rubs it in small circles over the spot where the crack is. After about a minute of this, she moistens another cloth with water and wipes off the residue. "See? Good as new!" Indeed, the crack seems to have vanished. 

None. 

"Are you sure it was a crack? It could have been, oh, somebody's hair, trapped beneath the glaze... I don't expect Aunt Feldspar's bowls to crack or for a sealant to be able to fix it that well."

Prota suggests that Nell mistook something else for a crack. Prota observes that Feldspar's bowls should not crack. Feldspar's materials are, in fact, sturdy but not invulnerable. Prota observes that a sealant should not be able to fix Feldspar's bowls very well. This is partly true. 

Prota refers to Feldspar as Aunt rather than Great-Aunt. This is likely driven by Nell doing the same, which was a mistake by Nell, who does not know Prota's clan very well. 

The new line before Prota's comment may intend to indicate a pause to think, based on conventions sometimes used in this medium. 

You pause, then reply, "Are you sure it was a crack? It could have been, oh, somebody's hair, trapped beneath the glaze... I don't expect Aunt Feldspar's bowls to crack or for a sealant to be able to fix it that well."

Step 127

Prota suspects Nell didn't see a crack in the first place. It's a reasonable guess given how small the crack was described to be. The prompt should clarify for Prota that Feldspar's pottery is unusually durable, but not completely so. [A bowl that would normally be quite fragile, with Feldspar's magic, instead becomes about as resilient as wood, with the added hardness from being ceramic. The larger and thicker pots and urns behave like iron or brass.] Prota is correct that a sealant shouldn't work. Firstly, because the glaze should block it. Secondly, if a true alchemical sealant could reach the crack, it would normally mimic the mundane but not magical properties of the bowl, leaving the resulting area sealed but brittle. Thirdly, Nell's sealant isn't even alchemical, though she thinks it is. 

Possible responses from Nell: How would someone's hair end up trapped beneath the glaze? It didn't feel like a hair, it felt broken. If it were a hair, it'd still be stuck there. Even magical objects can still be damaged; Nell knows this from carpentry. She still thinks the sealant should work. Does she know most sealants can't mimic magical properties? She has some experience with the alchemical ones but her own magic works all the time. She would have never experienced a case where the sealant "failed", so she wouldn't necessarily know how they normally work. 

Nell is mildly annoyed to have her competence questioned. She does not mention the sealant; she has enough to say already. 

"It was cracked, or at least flawed," replies Nell, a little tersely. "I can tell the difference. And if it were a hair, it'd still be stuck there. Magic objects do break, sometimes, I've worked on plenty of 'em, they're just way more durable than they should be. I reckon this bowl's probably as tough as wood instead of being brittle enough to shatter whenever your cart hits a bump, and still as hard as any ceramic, but not unbreakable. The big ones you've got are probably closer to metal-tough, but they could still break too. Maybe you should pad the little ones more."