Prologue: The Children's Journey

Dodger smiles at both Ollie and Woody. "Excellent! You'll leave the night before the Summer solstice (which is tomorrow night) so be sure to pack what you need and make me proud as it is a day's journey to get to the cottage. I wish both of you the best of luck and Ollie, make your father and King proud. " He says before giving both Ollie and Woody a huge but crushing bear hug. Releasing the two of you and drinking his orange juice in one gulp, he leaves before saying to Jocko "Good luck in your initiation test, you'll need it."

Jocko nods. "Thanks, Lord Dodger. I will try my best."

When Dodger leaves , Jocko looks at both at you with excitement. "Your first ever abroad assignment and you both haven't done the test to become Scoundrels yet. You must be vying to go freelance like I am . Those jobs actually pay better than what the guild pays for. You got something Adventurers guild grade. That's amazing! Be careful travelling to the Enchanted woods at night though. I heard there are monsters and creepy animals and stuff in there that only prowls at night. Heard someone went in there once at night and must've got eaten by a giant Frog or toad or something as they were never heard from again. I know you both aren't scared of anything though. Promise you'll keep in touch while you're gone?" He said and hands Woody a sending stone to keep in touch. He then hugs Ollie and Woody before finishing his orange juice and goes to see what needs done around the guild hall.

As you both finish or have finished your breakfast, what do you both do for the rest of the day as you only have one day to pack and be prepared for your journey to Grandmother Sophie's cottage the next night? @Basil,@Eyes

So you both pack up and gather everything you need on your journey to Grandmother Sophie's cottage (clothes and other things). It is 9 am when you are all set and ready to leave.

After you say goodbye to Jocko and the others, you head out to Grandmother Sophie's cottage in the Enchanted woods. From the city of Dalton to her cottage is a day's travel on foot. It will be almost midnight by the time you get to the cottage.

Do you do or say anything while travelling to the cottage, Ollie and Woody? @Basil,@Eyes

It is almost midnight by the time you both get to Grandmother Sophie's cottage. A note is placed at the door with the door cracked open.

The note reads
Dear Woody and Ollie,
I am so sorry we didn't get a chance to meet. Please come inside and go on to bed. You will be bunking with Tink and Flora. In the morning after breakfast I will show you the grounds and show you where the pest problem is at that you have been hired to do with what the rules are that you must follow while under my protection. Have a good sleep and see you in the morning. Sincerely, Grandmother Sophie

As you both enter the beautiful and immaculate cottage of Grandmother Sophie while shutting the door behind you, you enter the room where Tink and Flora are sleeping and settle down to rest. Come the morning your true Summer adventure with Flora and Tink will officially begin.

The next morning you all wake to see a friendly little brown owl smile at you with a wave. It is Grandmother Sophie's familiar Archemedes who you have seen before that first night that you had come to the cottage Flora.

It hoots at you all before heading out and you all smell the sweet smell of bacon wafting through the walls with a sweet smell of maple syrup. It is time for breakfast in the cottage. So what do you all do as you begin a new day? Describe to me what you do this morning Flora, Tink, Woody and Ollie. @Basil,@Svande,@Eyes,@Seck

Grandmother Sophie comes in wearing her beautiful blue dress and smiles at everyone. "Good morning Ollie, Flora, Woody and Tink! Breakfast is ready when you all are. Flora, I have your fruit salad and scrambled eggs and we have pancakes too for you since I know you don't like meat but theres bacon for everyone else with pancakes too and eggs. Don't forget after breakfast that you have your morning chores, Tink and Flora. Woody and Ollie, I would like to talk with the both of you after breakfast if that is ok. You're not in any trouble. I just want to give you a tour of the grounds and the cottage as well as tell you the rules I expect you to follow while being here and why I hired you both. Also, I hope Archimedes wasn't a bother. He just loves to give his morning greeting. " She said after a moment scratching his head lovingly. Archimedes happily hoots back before nuzzling her hair with his feathery head. She then leaves back to the kitchen with Archimedes on her shoulder leaving everyone to get ready for breakfast.

Grandmother Sophie smiles and replies "My pleasure, dear Flora. Woody and Ollie, when you've finished breakfast, don't forget to wash out your plate and I'll meet you in outside to begin our tour. Tink and Flora, don't forget to do your morning chores. If you get them done early, you can have some leisurely playtime before lunch."

After she finishes her breakfast, she goes to wash out and dries her dishes before going outside with Archimedes following her where the sun is shining brightly through the windows.

Once you all have finished breakfast and washed your dishes out, Flora and Tink go to get started on getting their morning chores done which is feeding all of the animals and filling up the honey jars to bring into the kitchen pantry and to gather some maple syrup too from the woods.

Ollie and Woody, You see Grandmother Sophie and she waves at you both with a smile.

"I hope your travels here went well. My name is Grandmother Sophie and I am the Guardian witch of these woods here at this cottage and resident witch of the village nearby here. I'm what people call a "White witch." While most witches and hags like Baba Yaga uses the dark arcane magic, my magic is only used for good and to protect and to keep others safe. I try to help out those who needs help as best as I can. My cottage borders between the Fey/spirit realm and our realm here in the human realm. We are self-sufficient here. I raised all the animals here to give us milk and eggs and the bacon is made from the boars who happily sacrifice themselves to be the meat that we eat. We also have honeycombs from the hives we have that the bees make and we get the maple syrup from the maple trees in the enchanted woods using a maple tree siphoner. The water comes from the rain we get in this well here too. I hired the both of you for a different reason though. Come along with me here and I'll explain the pest problem I have. " She explains as she takes you through the many areas of the grounds showing you the barn, coop, well, the bee area, and more.

She then stops at two large adamantium doors which are built into the ground that leads down into the cellar and sighs before taking a deep breath and speaks again. "This is where the pest problem lies. This isn't your normal pest problem. A few months ago I had been trying to help people out by curing them of their fears. By extracting their fears out of them, I had hoped that it would be the end of it. Unfortunately, it wasn't. The machine I used on them to trap their fears inside broke and their fears were released and the magic in the machine brought them all to life inside the cellar. I tried to destroy as much as I could but it quickly became too much for me so that is why I locked the doors behind me and asked for help. I chose you two because you both have the potential at your chosen skills of being a rogue and a fighter. If you can help me out, I'll happily pay you the 1000 gold each at the end of the Summer. If you get in trouble, you can go get stronger than come back and try again. I took out the stirges but I don't know what else lies within because the fears in people's minds are a mysterious but dangerous thing. When you are ready, I'll unlock the doors and allow you to venture down. I'll even give you the key Woody so you both can come and go as you please in there. Also, whatever you find is yours to keep. "

She then relays to the both of you the same rules of staying there that she had told to Flora and Tink which was Don't be out at dark, don't make wishes on stars unless you are willing to deal with the consequences of your actions, if you do your chores, do it well and always keep your word as your word is a verbal contract and promise. After she finished speaking, she waits to see if Woody and Ollie have any questions for her and hands Woody the key to the cellar.