Eren is very talkative, for better or for worse. The young man had been in Winterwood but two days and already knew the lay of the land as if he were born and bred here. “I’m from Hidden Brook in the north of the Havens. It doesn’t take that long to get here in horse a carriage, not really. Father was going to join me on my trip here, but he had to tend to his books. My father is a bookkeeper for the House of Sarda, he’s very important. I don’t want to keep books, I’d rather mix potions. Alchemy is the key. Alchemy is the future of humanity! I’m going to learn how to mix new and better medicines, create more valuable gems and stones, even better metals for weapons and armor! If one is interested, of course. I’m not much interested in fighting or battles or wars or anything of the sort. Is that a bow?”

I became acutely self-conscious of the bow and quiver knocking against my back with each step. “Alchemy sounds very… lucrative,” I said conversationally. My legs still ached from the wolf fights, but the poultices were doing their good work.

“Oh yes! One can pursue an outstanding career in alchemy; there are so many different disciplines one could study, as well. Herbology, medicine, metallurgy, astronomy, metaphysics, divination…”

While Eren talked up alchemy, I looked around at everyone in town as they worked and socialized. It was so much like Wolfspire that I felt quite at home. Modest thatched houses, women sweeping shopfronts with brooms, women and children hanging clothes on clotheslines, a smithy working an anvil, wardens and mercenaries roaming the streets. No castle grounds in Winterwood, however. And, of course, there was an enormous structure on one end of the town that I assumed was the college. I felt foolish for thinking I needed help finding such a place, you can see it from any vantage point in town.

We eventually arrived at the front gates of the school. The high noon sun blared with a heat that was unseasonably warm for summer in the Tempest Hills. Definitely a change after the chilly travels I had undertaken yesterday. “Say, Eren? You are following the potion discipline, as you’ve said?” I might be lucky enough to acquire this draught right now with enough smooth-talking. “Who is your master of potions?”

“That would be Master Vigo!” Eren responded excitedly. “He is the most knowledgeable potions master the college has had in over 300 years! More clever than Master Jaggar and more resourceful than Master Davin. Why, j–”

“Thank you, Eren. Could it possible to be introduced to him? As a Lady of the House of Kormack, I’m sure he would be very interested to hear the current plight of my village.” I felt very confident at this point, but Eren appeared to let his nerves get to him. “I-i-introduce you to him? Gods, I don’t know him well enough myself. I wouldn’t want to make a poor impression. What if he doesn’t remember my name, or worse, he finds me too jumbled and incoherent and I make a complete fool out of myself! My father would cane me if he was sent a letter that his only son were expelled from university before class was even in session! I–”

“Thank you, Eren. Perhaps I can introduce myself, then, if you could show me his quarters,” I nudged. The relief on Eren’s face lit the room. “Certainly, I suppose that would be all right. He’s a very patient man, after all. And a noblewoman like yourself would be able to get his ear as good as any. I’ll show you to the door, but we must part ways, Lady Jane, as I will need to find all my books at the library. Gods, how will I carry them all back to the inn by myself? I wish I could have access to my dormitory early. I’d–”

“Thank you, Eren.” He showed me up the stairs to Master Vigo’s large chambers. We bid each other farewell and I knocked lightly on the chamber door.

“Come!” said a not unfriendly voice behind the door. I opened the large stone door and entered an impossibly gigantic chamber. The back wall was just large window. The side walls were just shelves overflowing with books, bottles, vials, mysterious liquids, small cauldrons, feathers, herbs and plants, burning candles, loose sheets of parchment, terrariums with frogs, birds, insects, and fish, alive and dead. The desk at the center was cluttered with much of the same materials, as was even parts of the floor. Massive star charts splayed on the floor, a large bubbling cauldron over a fire in the corner. The man himself sat behind his desk frantically penning notes into a journal. “Good afternoon, boy. Are you one of my new students?”

This greeting was already awkward. I tried to clear my dry throat, realizing immediately that I was much more bashful than I expected. “No, sir. I mean, master. My name is Lady Jane of the House of Kormack in Wolfspire.” I waited for a response. It didn’t come. “I am not here as a beggar. That is, I don’t mean to beg. Er…” I steeled myself. “Master, there is a Sickness sweeping my village and our healer Hirsham instructed me… rather, politely asked me for help to… um…”

Master Vigo’s stony face brightened. “Hirsham? My star student Hirsham is healing in Wolfspire? So close! And yet, he finds it unnecessary to pay a visit to his old potions master here and again? Oh, no bother. Healing is a toilsome occupation, and I suspect that he cannot find the time to pull himself away from his duties. Yes, yes. Lady Jane, is it?” he asked me absent-mindedly. “If Hirsham needs my help, then I’d be happy to oblige. Presuming, of course, that I can help. Even a potions master doesn’t have everything.”

“Yes, of course master. The potion is called a Draught of Healing Miasma. Hirsham tells me that it can–”

“You have stumbled upon good fortune, Lady Jane, as I have three flasks of this draught on hand. Not very easy to concoct, but perhaps it can be an extra credit opportunity for my students.” Master Vigo ascended a ladder to a shelf near the back of his chamber and pulled down a bottle. It was sensational to me that he knew where to find it among all the mess. “I can wrap it in a cloth to keep it safe in your sack,” he said, pointing at the old bag hanging from my shoulder. “That’s where you will be carrying it, yes?”

“What? No? Yes! Yes, and I’ll be very careful with it, sir. Master,” I stammered. What was wrong with me? A 19-year-old noblewoman should not be this intimidated by a man of education. “My village thanks you profusely for your assistance, master.” The success of acquiring the potion emboldened me to nudge further. “Hirsham also advised me to ask you for help on a very personal matter, if that is all right?”

Master Vigo waved his hand at me as he descended the ladder. “Yes, yes, out with it.” He returned to his desk and started poring over a large tome.

“Um… I have been having some very intrusive recurring dreams as of late. I wonder if, perhaps, you have a cure? A draught for dreamless sleep? Or, uhm, I don’t know. Do you have something? I can pay you back in some way, although I do not have coin or much to barter.”

Master Vigo returned my request with a gaze. “A draught for dreamless sleep…” he responded as if I had just said something quite witless. “No, Lady Jane, ingredients for a potion to abate nightmares are rare in the Tempest Hills.” He pulled out a scrap of parchment and penned a few notes. “Here is what you need for such a potion.” He handed me the scrap of parchment. The handwriting was illegible. “I cannot think of another building in the Ironlands with more potions and ingredients than this chamber, so it is unlikely that you’ll find anything in the bottom drawer of a peasant’s bedside dresser. You’ll find most of these ingredients south of the Hinterlands. My luck goes out to you, Lady Jane.” Master Vigo returned to his book.

“Uhm…” I said again. It felt as though there was still more to this conversation. “Sir?”

Master Vigo looked up again. “We don’t get many travelers from Wolfspire. Since you endeavor to make your way back to your village, you can help me tremendously with a request of my own.” He pointed his quill at me. “You look quite formidable for nobility. I’m missing a few volumes of Principles of Incantations for Sagittarian Potion Systems, and Wolfstone has a subsidiary library of the college. The road to the town is halfway between here and Wolfspire, I believe. I am in no hurry, but it would be a tremendous favor to me.”

At this point, I figured that I owed Master Vigo this at the very, very least. “I swear an iron vow that I will help you retrieve these books.”

Quest #2
Collect Books for Master Vigo from Wolfstone

“Good lass. Again, there is no hurry on this matter. I have plenty of material for my students this year without these volumes. My shelves just feel empty without them.”

“Yes, master,” I said, finally gingerly placing the bottle of healing potion in my sack. “I promise I will someday fulfill my vow.”

And with that, I turned around and left the college.

Click here for all the boring game-related notes! On second thought, don’t bother!