PlayerOliver

When you were a kid, you lived with your grandmother in the small town of Silvertree, on the edge of a magical forest. Grandma is a witch, and she taught you how to use your magic to affect the natural world, too. “Magic is a part of you,” she always told you. “Learning how to use it means figuring out who you are.”

Now you’re 19 and on your own. After years of living in the forest while you perfected your witchcraft, you’ve returned to take care of your grandmother’s house and crow-familiar while she’s gone. Figuring out who you are feels more important than ever - not to mention, figuring out what Silvertree is. A lot is just as you remembered: the friendly generous next-door neighbors with a kid just your age, the proud town council, the quaint little shops with quirky punny names, the gentle shadowy forest full of magic.

Stone in the shoe

Yeah, this is too important. This protest could be a really big deal, and you want to make sure it's done right.


You arrive outside the Town Hall just as Rana is unloading a bunch of things from her car. When she spots you, she waves you over excitedly—although she can't keep her hand spare for too long, since she and a few others are in the middle of pulling a large folding table from the trunk.


"Hi, Huknock—thanks for—coming!" she gasps, heaving one corner of the table over the lip of the trunk. "Do you think you could—hold onto that side?"


You grab the table, and together the group of you manages to drag it out and set it on the ground. Panting, Rana leans against her car in relief.


"Wow, I don't remember it being that heavy when we put it in the car. Oh well. Thanks, guys. Now we just have to set it up. We'll need one side to be clear for people to sign our petition, then a space where people can take flyers and buttons—"


"Um—Rana?" a boy says, peering into the trunk. "I think we might've knocked something over…"


Following his gaze, you turn around to see what looks like a small lake that's still growing on the floor of the trunk—the trunk that is still full of stacks of paper and cardboard boxes. Rana covers her mouth and immediately dives into the trunk.


After a moment of pushing aside boxes, she reveals a large plastic cooler—which at some point had fallen onto its side, allowing a bunch of ice (and what looks like a few sandwiches) to spill out. Rana lets out a devastated groan.


"Okay—it's okay. We'll just have to get all the boxes out before too much stuff gets soaked. Can somebody pick up the cooler—oh, we'll need some more ice—"


Seeing that the group needs some help, you set off right away to the closest store to buy some more ice. In just a couple of minutes, you're back, and by then everybody else has already set to work cleaning up the spilled water and pulling boxes to safety on the sidewalk. It doesn't take too much longer for things to get sorted out, with Rana directing people as much as possible to make sure everything that needs to be dry is dry, and everything that's already wet isn't too damaged.


Soon enough, the car is empty and the sidewalk is piled high with everything needed for the protest, and as Rana looks over it all, she at last lets out a long sigh of relief.


"Well, that could have been a lot worse. It must have been my fault; I probably didn't lock the cooler properly—sorry about that, everybody. I should have been more on top of things."


She takes another moment just to breathe—but very soon, she seems to have steadied herself. After glancing around at the sidewalk to make sure everything really is under control, she turns to face the rest of you as you stand waiting for instructions. You see excitement and determination flickering in her eyes, and you think she must have banished the thought of the spilled cooler from her mind.


"Okay. Now we've got everything ready, I just want to say a few things. First of all—and I'll probably say this a lot this morning—thank you so much for coming out to help. I really appreciate it from each of you, especially when you probably just wanted to be making the most of the summer. I'm glad you all think this is as important as I do."


She pauses briefly, looking at you all in turn. Despite her confidence in speaking, you can still detect a hint of anxiety in her voice when she mentions the upcoming protest.


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