Apothecaria - Saving the previous witch and bringing her to Bogle's Night.

 I've been playing a journaling RPG called Apothecaria.  It's been fun.  This section wraps up one of the big plotlines. Figuring out what happened to the previous witch and, in this case, saving her from a misfired bit of magic that she was studying.  If you want to check out the game you can find it on itch.io at BlackwellWriter.

Day of the Bogle’s Night celebration

I gathered up almost all the jumpkins in the garden and spent the morning carving faces for them.  Once I had a dozen faces carved I added the bits and all of another pair of jumpkins with great handfuls of savory seasoning and sun sugar into the giant cooking cauldron that I hadn’t used before now.  I set the cauldron on to boil up a fine jumpkin soup.  While that simmered I prepared the spirit candles I’d read about in “Charms of the Healer Witches of Loch and Dell”.  I prepared thirteen each a bit of wax mixed with distillate of Spirit and a wick.

Once each of the carved jumpkins had its own little candle I set the last on the table nearby and lit it.  I felt the fire spirit fill the air above the candle and greeted it.  We talked for a little while of their world of dancing flames and my mundane world.  Eventually we got around to business.  I told it that I had prepared a dozen candles and wanted to invite fire spirits to dance in the Bogle’s Night bonfire.  This is how I learned that this invitation had been traditional a long time ago.  It agreed that it and its friends would stay within the bonfire and taught me a complicated rune so that each spirit would know they were allowed to dance in the fire.

I carved the rune into the dish of each of the jumpkins and gently melted the spirit candle into the rune.

As I waited, I remade the bed with Witch Heather’s linens, so that she will hopefully feel at home when, not if, she gets back this evening.  I didn’t have to wait long after I finished for Sara and her friends, including two strapping young men one of which was Harold, to show up with a cart.  They loaded the great cauldron onto the cart and stabilized it with a tall board so that it couldn’t tip over.  They we added the jumpkins to the back.  The runners clearly don’t expect jumpkin jack-o-lanterns to make a spooky bonfire and I allowed them to think that’s all they are.

As I was dropping off the jumpkins Farmer Bileus came by to tell me that his pigs took advantage of the laxness of a new swineherd, Torin, to sneak out.  They’ve left a note saying they’re playing hide and go seek, again.

I took a few minutes to talk to Rosemarie and we agreed to meet at the graveyard shortly before sunset.

From there I went around the village to pay for the fixtures, cushions, and linens for the rooms that have just finished.  They’ll deliver to Granite before the celebration tonight.  As I was making my way out of town I saw one of the pigs and was able to catch it easily.  Apparently, I’m “It” in this game of hide and go seeking.  I delivered the pig to young Torin on my way out of town.

I made my way to the runestone for Kera’s Hideaway without trouble.  I double checked that I had the potion, my hat, and the sequence to enter.  That last is particularly important as I don’t want to become trapped myself.

I put my hand on the first rune and pulled them magic of the stone guiding it deosil through the runes.  When I finished it felt like the stone split into three parts and the parts shifted to form a doorway.  I stepped through the doorway.

On the other side I found the small room I was expecting.  On the left there was a big open window looking out on a lake.  There was a small table in the center of the room with a small fireplace and empty pantry to the right of the table.  Across from the door was a loft bed with a small window and desk underneath.  At the desk sat a woman in a loose black dress with a black witch’s hat.  From the back I could tell she had chestnut brown hair.  She was talking to herself.

I stood there for a few seconds and saw her stand up and go to the window saying, “I should start my notes with whatever is happening with that window.”  She walked to the window and looked out for a few minutes.  Then she turned back towards the desk and said to herself, “Ah, just what I need a desk with a notebook to write in, since my notebook went missing.”  When she made it back to the desk she sat down and picked up the pen before saying, “I should start my notes with whatever is happening with that window.”

It very much looked like a classic time loop, though this seems to also impair the victim’s memory.  I stepped forward and greeted the witch as she went to the window.  This surprised her.  She asked who I was and I told her “Witch James of High Rannoc”.

This provoked a confused, “But I’m Witch Heather of High Rannoc, I ought to recognize you and I don’t!”

I nodded, “You’ve been missing for some years and I only recently figured out where you disappeared to.”  I gestured to the desk, “This place seems to have powerful defenses against intruders.”

This caused her to look at the desk and say, “Ah, just what I need a desk with a notebook to write in, since my notebook went missing.”  She repeated her time loop while I pulled out the potion to cure Extemporal Displacement.  Then I moved so she would see me on her way to the window.

When she saw me again she was visibly shocked and asked who I was.  I told her I was a witch that had been asked to look for her and that she seemed to be caught in a time loop.  Then I offered her the potion saying it should break the time loop and clear the magic clouding her senses.  She looked at my hat for a long minute before taking the potion from me and giving it a sniff.

When she downed the potion she said it was somewhat bitter, but not undrinkable.  Then she paused and looked around.  “How long have I been trapped in this room not even able to recognize my own notebook?”

“At least a decade,” I replied.  “I had the job thrust on me this spring and I’ve been collecting evidence all year.”

“Why weren’t you caught the way I was?”

“My working hypothesis is that you activated the runes going widdershins.  Did you?”  She nodded.  “It turns out the user is supposed to activate the runes going deosil.”

This caused Witch Heather to exclaim, “Runes can change what they do based on the sequence?!  I must make notes.”  She rushed to the desk and began writing at a mad pace while saying things like “This will break open the Quatha Conundrum.” And “This is why the Condorcet Key fails to open the Carrallon Lock.”

As it seemed she was slowing down I ventured an interruption.  “It’s Bogle’s Night tonight and I’ve got to go to the cemetery shortly.”

“Oh blast,” Heather exclaimed, “And I’ve got to be there to escort the ghosts.”

“Well, you could leave it to me if you want.  I’m the Witch of High Rannoc, after all.”

Heather paused, “Oh, right.  I’ve been missing for a decade.”  She looked at her notebook and closed it up.  “I really should be there.  Poor Mael must think I’ve forgotten her.  She’s one of the spirits who doesn’t have living descendants that we know of.”

We set off for the graveyard together.  When Heather asked whether I was staying at her cottage.  I told her that I’d been paying for a tower to be constructed on the headland overlooking the cottage, so I can just stay there, if she would prefer.  We agreed not to decide until after the evening was done.

Bogle’s Night Celebration

I did my best to tell Witch Heather what had happened this year and what I little I knew.

We reached the graveyard a little before sundown and joined Rosemarie there.  She had painted her face to look like a skull and was wearing a winding necklace of dried flowers winding into her hair and hanging across her collar.  She was a little concerned to see me with a female witch.  That cleared up quickly enough when I introduced Witch Heather as the previous Witch of High Rannoc.

Heather spent the half hour we waited for sunset talking with Rosemarie about the events in High Rannoc in her absence.  One interesting Rosemarie mentioned is that High Rannoc has had less magical goings on in the decade Heather has been missing, especially in the lead up to Bogle’s Night.  Heather speculated that it might because of the time loop she’d been caught in.  The deal the Witch of High Rannoc makes with the Keeper of the Manor lasts until the witch next sees the Gate of Autumn and Heather technically hasn’t seen the Gate of Autumn since the last deal she made.

Rosemarie asked why this Keeper would keep a deal through years.  Heather replied that the Keeper of the Manor is highly honorable on top of being bound by some sort of faerie logic.  It wouldn’t do to try to bend a deal intentionally, but an accident wouldn’t break a Deal even if it meant keeping the Manor separate for years.  Heather did say that my becoming the Witch would probably be understood to allow for a new Deal next Bogle’s Night, even if I hadn’t saved her.

It wasn’t long after that we saw the first of the ghosts coming out of the fog on the graveyard.  I greeted the ghosts and introduced myself as the Witch of High Rannoc.  I offered to guide them to the Spooky Soiree.  They agreed and I introduced Rosemarie and Heather.  I told them that I’d only just broke Heather out of a time loop.

I lead the haunting to the soiree.  Heather spent the walk talking with an ancient young woman, whom I assumed was Mael.  When we reached the edge of the light from the bonfire I paused to put on my mari lwyd costume.  The bonfire was extraordinary with all the dancing jumpkins bounding and bouncing about the fire.  They even cackled occasionally.  The ghosts were slowly dispersing into the crowd with Heather, but a troop stayed by me as I got dressed.  The leader of the troop was a ghost named Ionis, who served with the legion long ago.

I talked with him as I got my costume in order.  They have been in the area and are made up of men that died in the service.  The Legion was legally the family of the soldiers.  They lived and worked together for years.  Even if a man retired and married their sweetheart they almost always lived near the legion.  It turns out being family for thirty years makes men family for life.

When I was ready Rosemarie and I headed into the hall for the dancing.  Witch Heather joined us.  She said this was the perfect way to leave the Council and Lord Mayor off balance.  It would be interesting for her to see how they dealt with the uncertainty.  After all, this was the Spooky Soiree, where the living and the dead mingled freely.

When we entered the well lit room we were approached by Jeremy.  He greeted Rosemarie first.  Then he complimented me on the jumpkins.  They really add more than a touch of spooky magic to the event.  We talked briefly waiting for him to mention Heather.  He was obviously trying to place her.

Eventually, he asked her if she was Witch Heather as she looked exactly as he remembered.  She laughed and told him that she was Witch Heather.  Then he asked if she was alive or dead.  She teased him that it was bad manners to ask a lady if she was dead at the soiree.  She teased him for a while.  She did eventually tell him that she’d been trapped by a runestone that she’d been researching.

Frankly, I think Jeremy proved his mettle.  He offered to take her around to talk to the rest of the council, as the Lord Mayor is away at the moment.  Apparently, his daughter is to marry an Italian and live in Milan come the spring.  With Heather off to talk to the Council informally, Rosemarie and I were able to enjoy the costumes and the dancing.

It was a bit different from the dances for the Flower Festival, which are quite traditional, and it was different from the dances on the beach for the Sunrise Celebration, with all the playing about with everyone dancing together.  The dance at the Spooky Soiree is almost a play with each of the dancers playing the part of a “spooky monster”.  Initially, Rosemarie and I danced as a pair, but our parts ended up shuffling us to different parts of the dance floor.

I saw a lot of different costumes.  There were a lot of skeletons, ghosts, goblins, and fae.  One dance was with Heather playing a vengeful witch, I think.  She let me know that she had told the council members that she won’t be causing disruptions this winter.

I also met Grizzy on the dance floor.  I was a little surprised, but I had noticed that some of the people in skeleton “costumes” looked an awful lot like skeletons that had strung black batting about their bones.  She confirmed that a number of bogles and others that weren’t usually welcome in town took advantage of the guising to sneak in and have a bit of fun.  She’s coming along well in the reading and writing lessons.  She’s also begun asking about potion making.  I don’t think she’ll ask this season, but I wouldn’t be surprised to have her ask to apprentice sometime in the spring.  I hope she doesn’t ask before then since there won’t be space until another room is finished and I haven’t got the funds to speed things up at the moment.

As the night wore on the kids showed signs of wearing out.  That was when Bishop Manutius took the stage.  He was guising as one of the Strangers, pretty close in appearance to Aziraphale, in fact.   He had a nice speech congratulating folks on their guises.  Then he surprised me by asking me to join him on stage.  When I joined him he presented me with the Crown of Bones.  I could feel a bit of magic in the crown when he put it on my costume’s skull.

I would have left the stage then, but the Bishop had me stay so others could say a word.  Farmer Bileus was first and told the folks how I had twice helped corral his pigs when they’d snuck off to play hide and seek.  Then Jessica came up to say a word.  She was very complimentary about how I’d helped her go from being a confused newbie adventurer to getting consignments of enchanted goods.  Tiffany Tailor gave me a lovely thank you speech on account of how I’d always been ready to help when little Hans came down with what had seemed to be allergies but turned into Giver’s Disease.  Captain O’Toole told folks about the four or five times I’d rescued airmen lost in the Sky Isles without a way down.  Esmerelda told the story of the vampire that attacked the Lord Mayor’s daughter, and how I’d helped protect Esmerelda and Tiffany as well as get the news to the Crown of the trouble.  Meldrake regaled the crowd with the story of how I was so committed to healing that I’d braved going outside of reality to do battle with his evil alternate.  It got quite a few gasps. Jeremy was almost the last.  He came up and told folks that I’d been tirelessly working for the good of High Rannoc.  He and the council had watched as I learned what I was capable of.  In recognition of the good I did the last three seasons the Council had voted me 100 silver in thanks.

Jeremy clearly thought he was going to be the last as he went to help me down from the stage, but Witch Heather had other ideas.  She got up on stage and put her witch’s hat on.  This drew gasps from the crowd as most recognized her.  She told them that she’d been caught by some magic she’d been studying and locked outside reality.  She explained that I’d done a load of research, figured out where she had been locked out, and how to access the space.  She thanked me again for breaking her out of the endless round of not remembering.  Then she told the crowd that, while she would be staying at the cottage for at least a little while, she had no intention of displacing me.  In fact, she felt I was a better healer than she had been and would be glad to support me as I continued to serve as The Witch of High Rannoc.

After leaving the stage, I slipped out of my costume.  Rosemarie found me to steal kisses.  I found Witch Heather and let her know that she could use the cottage, as I’m building a tower and it is ready for me to move into it.  After all the excitement I was glad to get home, at least after escorting Rosemarie to her apartment.

Book Review: She Who Became the Sun by Shelly Parker-Chan

 The tale starts in 1345 in ancient China with the second daughter of the Zhu family hunting lizards and crickets to stave off starvation.  Her brother is said to have a great destiny while she has nothing.  Then her father is beaten to death by bandits and her brother gives up his life.  After this she takes her brother's name Zhu Chongba and flees to the nearby monastery.

As Zhu Chongba, he is obliged to hide his gender, but rises partially on his intense desire to rise.  This time at the monastery when the eunuch general of the Yuan destroys it.

Zhu Chongba joins the rebellion with their Prince of Radiance and his Mandate of Heaven against the Yuan dynasty.  He rises rapidly through a series of near miraculous victories and clever ruses.  Eventually Zhu Chongba learns that their desire is a Mandate of Heaven as well.

This is an interesting story.  The setting seems to be China at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongol dynasty.  The character interactions are fun and in patterns that remind me of folks I knew in Honolulu.  The world building is also interesting.  It draws on Taoism and Buddhism in clear ways.  The prime minister of the rebels has ministers of both the left and right.  Interestingly, the Mandate of Heaven is a visible sign that inheres to individuals with a great destiny rather than being tied to dynasties.  These individuals can also see ghosts.

This story is well worth reading.  Especially if you want stories informed by Chinese history and culture.

Book Review: Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell

 The story starts in media res as it were, with our main protagonist, Kiem, Prince Royal of Iskat, facing the Emperor.  This is a situation that usually only occurs when Kiem has caused a minor scandal of some sort, which he did often enough as a student he knows how to handle it.  This meeting isn't for a scandal.  Kiem is to marry Count Jainan nav Adessari of Feria from the planet Thea whose Iskan partner, Prince Taam, died a month ago in an accident.  The Emperor explains that this is essential for a treaty renewal that must happen in only a few months when Kiem challenges her on the marriage.  At this Kiem yields, though he commits himself to being kind and understanding with the presumably grieving Jainan.

The idea is to get through the treaty renewal ceremony without hurting Jainan's feelings and giving him time to heal from his loss.  Things don't go to plan.  It turns out the accident that killed Taam was more of a murder and someone tried to pin the blame on Jainan.  Who ever it is, is also trying to disrupt the treaty renewal for unknown reasons.

Kiem is a fun character, a reformed Bertie Wooster sort, with a very competent secretary, Bel.  Jainan is quieter, more self-controlled, and much more analytical.  Jainan has a doctorate in regolith mining, which was less useful than might be expected given his previous partner was managing a major regolith mining operation.  The relationship between Kiem and Jainan is adorably awkward, especially because their unwillingness to talk openly leads to confusion about what each wants from the relationship.

There is one thing that maybe deserves a content warning.  The story includes scenes of domestic violence, though not between Kiem and Jainan.  Other than that, this is a fun story for folks that enjoy gay space operas.

Book Review: The Unspoken Name by A. K. Larkwood

 Csorwe is our main point of view character.  She is an Oshaarun, they are a race that looks like Orcs from Warcraft.  When the story starts she is the Chosen Bride of the Unspoken One, a chthonic god of death, privation, and prophecy.  She is expected to sacrifice herself in a month when Belthandros Sethennai shows up looking for information about the magical Mcguffin, the Reliquary of Pentrevesse.  He is a wizard from Tlaanthothe.  This race is described as very like the elves from Warcraft.  When Csorwe goes to sacrifice herself she meets Belthandros.  He gives her the choice of leaving with him, rather than being a sacrifice.  This kicks off the first part of the story.

They travel through the gates to a trade hub where Csorwe receives training in weapons and language.  Belthandros continues to search for his Mcguffin.  The plan is to restore Belthandros to his position ruling Tlaanthothe.  Eventually they succeed.  Along the way Csorwe meets Talasseres Charossa.  She doesn't like him.  After a transition the second part of the story begins.

Belthandros has read an academic paper.  He thinks the Mcguffin might be on a dead world, so he sends Csorwe and Talasseres to check it out.  They travel to the dead world and meet the archeological team from the Imperial Quincuriate led by the scholar that wrote the paper Belthandros read.  Csorwe hits it off with one of them a elf woman named Qanwa Shuthmili.  It turns out the Mcguffin is here and a necromancer is trying to get it first, they just need Shuthmili to get it.  From here the situation escalates with a series of high risk plans.

I receive the ebook as part of the Hugo packet because A.K. Larkwood is a nominee for the Astounding Award.  This is an award for the best new writer.  As you might expect this is a really enjoyable story.  Csorwe is straightforward, capable, clever, and sarcastic.  Shuthmili is brilliant, capable, and sweet.  The interplay and affection between them are lovely.  The worldbuilding makes me think that Warcraft is a major source of inspiration.  Having said that the worldbuilding works better here than I've seen in the games, where it is just background to the scenarios.

I've got two criticisms.  The first is that transition from the first section to the second.  The first section wrapped up all the major threads it was dealing with.  This made it feel like a complete novella.  This led to the second section feeling like it should be a separate book.  The issue is the pacing in that second section.  It felt like the fallout of each risky plan led to the next one being immediately created, and with each of the half dozen plus plans the stakes escalated.  This left me tired of the story before the final one actually brought a happy ending.  It would have been nice to have something break up the tension, perhaps a few short scenes of Csorwe and Shuthmili getting to know one another better.

Book Review: Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire

 Regan is an intersex girl.  She just wants to be accepted for who she is, a girl that loves horses.  As she and her friends grow up Regan notices that she isn't developing like the other girls.  She asks her parents why and they tell her the truth.  She reveals this to her best friend, who she knows is very judgmental.  When she flees that rejection, she finds a door to the Hooflands and a destiny she doesn't particularly want.

It's a fun read.  The plot is straightforward.  This puts the focus on the characters, particularly Regan, and the worldbuilding.  Throughout Regan is portrayed like any unwilling protagonist might be.

If you like character focused stories or portal fantasies this is an excellent book.

Book Review: "What is Life?" by Addy Pross

In this book Addy Pross presents a theory on the origin of life.  He describes some recent research into the systems chemistry of self-replicating chemicals.  Using this he shows how this chemistry matches the behavior of simple living creatures.

Research into chemical systems indicates that these systems display properties that individual chemicals do not.  The one that matters for Pross’s argument is Dynamic Kinetic Stability (DKS).  DKS is similar to entropic stability of chemicals in that it is the tendency of a system to remain the same.  It differs in that the molecules in the system can all be constantly changing while the overall system maintains the same concentrations of those molecules.  The research demonstrates that some self-replicating RNA does tend to persist in this way.  It also shows that these RNA molecules exhibit other properties normally associated with biology.  Where there are several types the one that replicates better dominates and replaces the worse replicators.  When more than one competes for a single resource eventually one of them will replace its competitors.  Where there are several possible resources different types can dominate.

This is an interesting book.  The question is the origin of life and the evidence provided supports the argument Pross makes.  It is also a short book at just 200 pages.  It probably should have been shorter.  Pross has a tendency to layout familiar points in excruciating detail with multiple illustrations before getting to his point.

It can be bought on Amazon.

Book Review: "The King of Elfland’s Daughter" by Lord Dunsany

This bit of beautiful, lyrical, poetic prose was originally published by Lord Dunsany in 1924.  The plot is quite simple.  The characters are simple as well, mostly filling particular roles.  It couples and contrasts human ways with entirely alien Elf ways. 

The local Parliament of Erl decides it would be good for the town to have a lord that is just a bit magical.  The local lord sends his son Alveric to bring the Princess of Elfland, Lirazel.  He succeeds with the help of a witch.  When the princess is brought back to the human fields the priest has some difficulty identifying an appropriate wedding ceremony and Alveric becomes the Lord of Erl.  They have a son, Orion, and the witch is appointed the nursery maid.  Then her father sends a Rune to return his daughter to Elfland.  The priest’s difficulty is only the first as Lirazel mostly doesn’t adjust to human ways.  Lirazel is returned to Elfland.  Alveric goes on a quest in search of Lirazel and Elfland, abandoning his duties as Lord of Erl.  Orion grows up and spends most of his time in hunting.  Orion catches and kills a unicorn, in a mildly graphic scene.  The members of parliament are satisfied with this level of magic.  Orion, however, wants to hunt more unicorns.  In order to do this he recruits trolls to help manage the dogs.  A troll recruits will o’ the wisps to provide light for hunts during pitch black nights.  The members of parliament are distraught at the town being swamped with magic.  They ask the witch for a spell against magic and are told off.  The King of Elfland uses another Rune to answer Lirazel’s prayers.  This brings Alveric and Orion into Elfland, which incidentally draws the magic, and a little bit of Erl’s fields, back to Elfland. 

I enjoyed this book tremendously for the lovely flowing language and the beautiful otherness of Elfland.  Having said that this isn’t a modern story and it is very much not a swords and sorcery tale.  The plot is simple and lacks twists.  The characters are flat and mostly don’t change.  When they do, it is a transformation into another flat role.  It felt less like a novel and more like a spell calling, “Come away oh human child…”  Some are caught by that beauty while others just aren’t.