The First Week of Spring - Albert Flywheel is Frogified

Here's the video on how I wrote Spring, Week 1:

*****

 The first thing the book said was that the curing of ailments isn't all that difficult. And it's true. And not.

The poor man, Albert Flywheel, the son of the miller, loved to read. In particular, he loved to read stories where people would do something accidentally magical and have incredible things happen. He hadn't counted on becoming Frogified by kissing frogs (in hopes of having one be a transformed, and forever grateful, princess).

I told Albert I'd prepare a remedy and that I'd let him know when it was ready.

He left and I read as much as I could about how to cure his affliction.

After considering the hows of his cure, I decided to first travel to Hero's Hollow. Maybe I was getting a bit ahead of myself, having spent a bit of time reading instructions from an absent witch but I felt I was a hero and helping someone who clearly needed it.

The day was pleasant, I was whistling in a fabulous mood, and full of confidence that I'd soon be an accomplished healer! And people said things like this were difficult.

That was the last thought I had before the ground rushed up past me and I landed in the dark. And at some point I came to.

Hero's Hollow, huh? Hollow, that's for sure. After a bit of feeling around and getting used to the bit of light shining down from above, I realized I was on the wrong side of some sort of jail cell. Iron bars are one of those quick clues that things aren't going according to plan.

A bit of panic hit me, I must admit. I grabbed the cell door and began to shake it, yelling, crying, begging. Luck was with me again - the key fell out of the lock and landed within reach. In short order, I was out.

Sniffing the air told me that one way along the long row of cells was old and musty - probably going deeper into the jail. The other way was fresher, more organic smells. Even rot can be good - something was alive recently.

Some feeling around, some more sniffing the air, and finally catching some light, got me out from underground and into a bog. And luck was with me again - in short order I'd found both some Crow Coal and some Skullcap (I think ravens must have dropped the Crow Coal and the Skullcap was growing right next to it). I now had my reagent to deal with the poison that lies latent in some frog skins. I now needed something for the warts. That took me to Meltwater Loch.

This time I walked far more cautiously - I didn't need another bit of trouble trying to escape from behind any sort of door or cell involving a lock. The walk was long but entirely uneventful. And easily found within the Loch was Smooth Croak.

It had taken me far longer than I'd originally thought it would take but I did eventually get back to the cabin with my reagents. Now it was time to prepare them.

I made quick work with the mortar and pestle on the Skullcap while waiting for the Smooth Croak to release its goodness within the steaming cauldron.

With everything in readiness, I fetched Albert. I carefully wiped the resulting watery cream over his lips which immediately began to heal. He smiled in relief. "I wasn't sure I'd see you again. I thought maybe you weren't a proper witch. But I can feel things getting better already. Thank you." And then he paid me.

I get paid? I...? I could be sitting in a classroom, getting bored, but here I am making money. Wow.

If Dad ever hears that I dropped out of school, hopefully I'll have a small fortune to show for it.

And now I think I'll have a bit of a rest before I think about next things.

I got paid!

A Note on the Blog Organization

 Hey there,

One of the challenges I'm having is the ordering of posts. 

On the one hand, it'd be nice to have the oldest posts be on the top and the newer posts below, in an order that mimics the usual order of chapters/episodes of a book.

On the other hand, since this is dripping out, it'd be nice to have new posts on the top so that they are easily accessible.

So what I've done is make two Table of Contents.

For the "Traditional" TOC, with the Prologue on the top, click here.

For the "Newest Bits First" TOC, with the latest episode on top, click here.

I'm also going to change the layout so that they are more easily found on the sidebar. 

I hope this helps navigate the blog more easily!

The Blog's Posts Are Going To Mirror YouTube Video Releases

 Hey everyone,

I've made a number of blogs over the years. When I've done video content in relation to those blogs, the videos have been in support of the blogs.

This Apothecaria play-through blog, however, is different. The video content I'm creating contains Hows, Whys, and Wherefores that aren't part of the blog entries (which are just the episodes themselves with no further context). The blog content now exists to support the videos. Therefore, I'm going to be publishing the blog as the related video is available for public viewing.

I apologize to anyone who's started reading the story and are used to weekly updates. The posts now will be published every other week. And since, at the writing of this post, only two videos are currently published, I'm going to take all the other posts to draft and then re-publish them as the related video comes online.

The one thing I can offer is that paying Patreon members get access to the videos roughly two weeks before they are viewable by everyone. 

Thank you for your understanding!

It All Began...

Here's the video explaining how I wrote this:

*****

 It's not always easy to be the first one in your family to do something. It's even more difficult if it's been awhile since anyone in the family has done a first. Then take into account a father who scrimped and saved to send his only child to school while the rest of the family called him a fool for thinking an education was worth anything.

Before I set off to the distant city to start my education, Father sat me down, looked me in the eye, and laid it on thick. "I'm a man of few words, so I'll keep this short. I've invested my life savings into you and this school. Make me proud. And I hope you'll come back flush with herbal knowledge that will help the entire community. There's nothing for you here worth having. But knowledge will allow you to be something. Now off with you - the cart taking you to the city is just about here."

And that was that. What savings that were left after tuition went to paying my way there.

I've never been to the city. Heck - I've never been much beyond the house. And now I'm watching the sky, the landscape, even the air, change. It's so weird to see so much change day after day. The rhythm of the cart's movement never changed, although the endless bumps and potholes did lessen as we got closer and closer to town.

*****

After I was dropped off at the school - the driver, whose name I never learned and who didn't speak at all, but was kind enough to take me to the front door - I was rushed straight to a room and into a seat behind a desk. I wasn't told much besides that I was late but also just in time. If that was supposed to be some sort of explanation of anything, I didn't get it.

An adult, presumably the teacher, took one look at me, grunted, and said to the entire class (did I mention there were about ten kids, all roughly my age?), "Welcome to Herbology and Apothecary Training. I'm your instructor. Call me Madam Wintergleam. Now, we shall learn about the wonders of the natural world and do so from the safety of this schoolroom. Now, we'll... yes?"

I'd just put my hand up. "Will we get to pick herbs and see places and...?"

"Oh my goodness, no. It's dangerous! A boy died recently, so all classes are now held safely within these walls. And now to begin..."

And that was that. I tried to pay attention but I just wasn't able to absorb what was being said. Sit in this room? How boring! At least I'd been able to walk next to the cart from time to time to stretch my legs. And the thought of sitting in a room at home was unthinkable. So my mind wandered. And I got caught.

"If you are bored, leave my classroom. Walk. Move. Do whatever. But do it elsewhere." Shamed, and with the sound of giggles and guffaws, I left. And vowed to not return.

Which is how I found myself in High Rannoc, standing on the avenue in front of my now former school, with all my belongings slung over my shoulder, wondering what to do. And my only thought was that outside the city walls there must be an herbalist, a midwife, a wise woman... someone who could teach me in exchange for labour.

I'd noticed a path heading off into the woods just before the cart had passed through the city gates. Perhaps that path would lead to my educational salvation. My naiveté told me it was worth a try. Far better, I told myself, than trying to catch a ride back to home and admitting failure.

It turns out my luck was both with me and against me. The path did eventually lead to what could only be a witch's cottage - it was a very basic dwelling, bare of decoration, but with a certain air of herbs, peace, and healing. I knocked on the door, although I already figured no one was home given that no smoke was rising from the chimney. 

The door was unlocked, so I let myself in. A few basic things were next to a work table, like a mortar and pestle, a cauldron (over the fire pit), and not much else. Except for a book. It was open to the first page and I must admit that I felt curious, so I started reading.

It opened by saying the witch who owns the cottage isn't here with no mention of returning. How odd!

Which is when there was a knock on the door, which opened right after. A young man walked in with warts all over his lips. Somehow, he managed to croak out "Help me!"

Thoughts Before Starting

Before diving into the text version of the blog, here's the option to watch the video version:

Hello everyone - Parz Sattva here. I'm a creative writer who focuses on microfiction and other short story formats. 

My wife got both of us involved in our first ever single-player RPG - Apothecaria. And by involved, I mean that the game resources are in the house, we've cracked open the book, and have worked through (however imperfectly) a session of storytelling.

(We ordered the PDF and then had it printed locally - printed PDF is in the foreground while the stuff in the background are some of my wife's journals which are not necessarily being used by her for this game):

This blog is intended to be the tale resulting from the game. 

A few guidelines I'll follow:

• I write my journal longhand and then transcribe it here. While there may be a bit of light editing between there and here, it'll be primarily exactly as I originally wrote it.
• I'm a Pantser, which means I just write stream of consciousness. As a result, there will be lots of unresolved bits and pieces, stuff that comes in out of the blue, and otherwise whatever hits the brain matter in the moment.
• This isn't intended to be a story with a "problem statement", a working through of things, and a wrapping up of the situation. This is an open-ended diary where things will arise, develop, and resolve as they will. There will also be bits and pieces where it's assumed that my characters will know what they're talking about and so won't be fully explained.
• While the RPG provides prompts which directly influence what I'll write, I won't be noting those prompts.
• The primary mechanic for getting the prompts and events is a deck of cards. We don't happen to have a deck in the house and, this being Thailand, decks of cards are highly regulated (being seen as gambling devices). We're using Tarot cards.

With all that said, and without further ado, let's dive in...

(And if you enjoy reading this, please let me know with a comment!)