There's more to Oz than the Yellow Brick Road

 I know I said something about getting caught up on the downtime step of Seth's 3rd week as a village apothecary, but I think I'll skip it for now. It's not really something that needs to happen. Mostly it allows me additional time to forage for herbs but without an Ailment, it's hard to know what I might need. Maybe when I get a stronger handle on the game, I'll be able to anticipate my needs better.

Week 4

My patient this week is Micheal Stevens, a young adventurer who seems to have acquired a case of Cludgie Mouth when his trail rations took a dip in a dark pool in Hero's Hollow. Now every breath he exhales smells like it comes from the other end. The other end is actually worse, he tells me, but infrequent enough that the primary issue is his breath. I leave him with a pot of mint tea as I head out foraging.

Cludgie Mouth has the Tags Curse* and Infection* and a Timer of 6. The Star Shard I've collected can deal with the Curse Tag, but I still need something for the Infection. A Slime Shell from the Meltwater Loch should do just the trick.

1. Slime Shell is pretty easy to find. But just as I pick up the shell, an immense beast rises from the depths. It's Bas Bata, the great guardian of this place. It lets loose a mighty shriek and I see a wall of sharp teeth in its mouth. Except for one, which is shattered and the gums raw and inflamed. The creature is clearly in pain and thrashing. I don't have the resources to treat it right now, but it's something to keep my eye out for.

Shattered Tooth has the Tags Pain***, Teeth* and Infection**. Based on the size of the creature and its tooth, I'll need 5 times the normal treatment.

While escaping from the creature takes an extra Timer, I've got what I need to treat Micheal. I think I will take advantage of the opportunity to get some more Slime Shell, which will help Bas Bata's Infection.

2: As I'm hunting for Slime Shell, I find a small fishing boat occupied by a dwarven fisherman named Grobreck.We spend a while chatting and he mentions a patch of Gas Weed that he rowed past not too long ago. I bid him farewell and find the Gas Weed exactly where he said it was, along with another Slime Shell.

3. Another Slime Shell down. As the sun goes down and the mist rises in the loch, a ghost ship sails past me. The skeleton crew sings a working song, stomping their feet to its steady rhythm as they hoist their sails.

4: As I'm hunting for more Slime Shells, I find a small abandoned campsite. Just a simple lean-to and a circle of stones around a pile of burnt out wood and ash. Inside the lean-to, I found a small flute and a few pages of what looks like sheet music. While I can't read music, the handwriting looks familiar. Could this be where the prior apothecary went to get away from their troubles?

5: As my last act before returning home, I decide to find some Sea Beast's Saliva to treat Bas Bata's intense Pain. While Bas Bata is certainly the greatest of all of the Sea Beasts in Meltwater Loch, she's not the only one. I find an immense eel slithering among the beams of an old shipwreck. It chases me into a small cabin, but it's too large to follow me inside. As it hisses threateningly, I gather its saliva from its gaping jaws. As it swims away, tired of waiting for me to leave the cabin, I turn to see a skeleton guarding an old treasure chest. Remembering the ghost ship, I decide to let the skeleton keep their treasure.

I return home with my ingredients and set about curing Micheal's breath. I use my mortar and pestle to grind the Star Shard to powder, which I then mix with the slime of one Slime Shell. I pour it into his tea cup with the last bit of mint tea from the pot and tell him to drink it down. As soon as he does so, his next breath is a gust of minty freshness.

I have earned my fee of 20 silver pieces and 1 point of Reputation for a successful cure.

Reputation: 6

Silver: 44

Reagents: Ambergris, Gas Weed, Pixie Fur, Sea Beast Saliva, Shock Fish, Slime Shell (x2)

Familiar: Spider (Magic Eye; Glimmerwood Grove only)

Golem Helper: Make Garden Plot (Will be finished by the end of Spring)

Now that I have something of a quest, I'll be taking advantage of my downtime to try to fill it. I've got Timer 6 to do whatever I want. To keep things interesting, I'll be hunting for Shieldcap in Glimmerwood Grove, which will be good for Bas Bata's Teeth.

1: Shieldcap is plentiful, but unicorns are rare. This is my second glimpse of a unicorn in as many weeks. Perhaps one day, we will trust each other enough to get closer. But that is not today.

2: Just as I'm about to pit another Shieldcap in my pouch, I hear the roar of a bear very close behind me. I drop the Shieldcap and back away from the bear slowly before breaking into a run once I'm a safe distance away.

3. I reach for a Shieldcap by a riverbank, but slip on the slick mud. Thankfully, the river is home to a naiad named Galit, who rescues me and sets me on the bank along with all of the Shieldcaps I've gathered so far. I thank her profusely and suggest that maybe one day I'll learn to swim. She gives me a playful smile and suggests that she'd be willing to teach me. If only I didn't have a tormented Sea Beast to treat, I would have taken her up on her offer immediately.

4: I find more Shieldcap in a grove tended by a druid named Maplehusk. I tell him about my encounter with Bas Bata and my quest to treat the might creature's shattered tooth. Maplehusk then directs me to another patch of Shieldcap that he had encountered not far from the grove.

5: As I'm looking for the last Shieldcap I need, I feel a tap on my shoulder and a tug on my satchel. A small swarm of pixies has decided to prank me by stealing my satchel. I try to run after them ,but they are too fast. In their haste, however, they do drop one of the Shieldcaps I had gathered. Disheartened, I head home and await my next patient.