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

"Definitely. And I've got plenty of time; surprisingly, even the people who write the actual news don't have all that much to do."


You talk a little while longer, until Marlowe decides the ferrets could use their dinner and puts them back in their cage. Then Marlowe goes over to their computer and puts on some music—which you immediately recognize as Scale the Mountain, the band you saw together the other night.


"I couldn't get them out of my head, so I downloaded their album," Marlowe tells you excitedly, as dreamy guitars and ethereal vocals start to fill the room. "I've been listening to it a lot while I've been writing. It helps me get in the fantasy zone—and I just really like it. It was such a fun night going to see them."


As the music flows on, you can't help but picture the low lights and the shimmering iridescence of the other night, too. And then there's Marlowe themself, seeming to glow in the midst of it all as the two of you move closer—


"I wish I could sing—or do anything musical at all," Marlowe laughs, coming to sit next to you on the bed again. "That must be amazing to make something that can sound like that. Oh well—I guess I could always write the lyrics."


17