On pleasant day in Brisshal, Grand Witch Majolica decided to take a stroll through the forest. The flowers had begun blooming, bees were buzzing, and the grass was soft and warm. As such, The Cawing Owl of Brisshal had decided to come along to enjoy the scenery. "Caw. Cawww. Caw-caw-cawwww. Cawwwwww. Ca-CAW, ca-ca-ca-caw. Cawwww, caw CaWWWW. Caw, ca-ca-caww. Caw. caw. CAWWW. CAW. Caw." "Lovely day isn't it? Yes quite, I do believe I shall recite a bit of poetry as we enjoy this fine day. The poetry will of course be my own, and as usual, it will be masterful. Ahem." "Caw. CAW. CAw. Ca-ca-cawwww. Caw. Caw caw CAW. CAAAAW. CaWWawW. CCCCaw. CaWW-ca-caaawwwww. Caw. CAWWWW. CAW. Caww. caw. Cawww. Caw. Caw. Cawwwww. Ca-caw. CAW. CA-CA-CAWWW. CAAWWWWW CAW. CA-CA-CA-CA-CAWWWWW. CAWWWWW. CA. CAW. CAWWWW. CAWWWWWWW. CA-CAW. CA-CA-CA-CAWWWW. CAWWWWW." "Three mice, two mice. A red mice and a blue mice. Why-fore are though mice. I ask them this twice, whyfore art though mice? Any answer should suffice and yet I was granted no reply. Angering I repeated by line, but once again for time for time continues to tick and tick and click and yet still I have no reply. A thousand miles from where I perch I hope to see the sturdy birch grow strong in the spring after winters chilling ice, but may I never again have to deal with another answer-less mice." "Caw." "And scene." Majolica lazily clapped as she watched a hummingbird take nectar from a flower. "Hehehe, it's cute." Trying to get a better look, she slowly moved forward towards the tree. The hummingbird ignored her and continued gathering nectar when a squirrel appeared. "Ooh! Hehehe, a squirrel. Hello, squirrel. Do you want to come out and play with Majolica too? Hehehe, you look like you might wants some nuts or something. Hehe, I don't have any though. Want a mushroom instead? Hehehe, I have lots of those. Hmm... do squirrels eat mushrooms? I can't remember. Owl, do squirrels eat mushrooms? Caw, CAWWW, caw caw. I couldn't say. "Hehehe, I'll offer it one and see if takes it!" Majolica reached into her bag pulling out a while mushroom. Slowly bringing it close the squirrel, the squirrel began to sniff at it. Typically, squirrels shy away from humans, this squirrel was different. After sniffing the mushroom it backed away from Majolica, then, readying itself, the squirrel jumped onto Majolica's head. "Hehehe, look Owl! He likes me! Of course he likes me! Hehehe! He must sense my awesome power and know that I, Grand Witch Majolica, am destined to be the ruler of the whole world! Hehehe, he must be trying to get in good with me early so he can become my pet and live the easy life in my Witch Castle! Hehehe! You're a smart squirrel aren't you?! Hehehe!" Unfortunately, the squirrel didn't actually like Majolica. It was a feint. Biting down on The Grand Witch's hat, the squirrel leapt off Majolica's head and made a run for it, hat in tow. "Hey! Hehe, come back here you thief! He's got my hat! Hehehehe, you're in trouble now! Broomstick!" Hearing the Witch's call, Majolica's broomstick rushed to her hand. Taking a running start, she leaped placing the broomstick under her and was off. "Hehehe! You think you can outrun me you stupid squirrel! Hehehehe! I'll have my hat back along with your hide! Hehehe!" Cutting a swath through the forest, Majolica chased the squirrel under trees, around brushes, and over logs. It was a wild chase to say the least as the pair zoomed through the forest, Majolica yelling the whole way. "Hehehe! You think you can outrun me! Hehehe, I respect your courage you dumb squirrel, hehe, but you should know that Grand Witch Majolica always captures her prey! Hehehe! There's no where you can go that I can't follow!" As the Squirrel made for a tree hollow, but as it was about to enter, Majolica blasted the whole shut with black shadowy magic. "Hehehehe, no no no! Not that way, hehehe, there will be no hiding!" As the squirrel and Majolica rampaged through the forest, surely some onlookers might want to expect the situation to see what all the commotion was about.
Janet was starting to look like some kind of Majolica stalker ever since she’d responded to that invitation and completed the initiation in the woods. She felt like she ran into her everywhere. But perhaps the problem was more that the Grand Witch was everywhere, and no self-respecting young lady could take a step around Brisshal these days without running into an upright frog or having to listen to cawing owls in the trees or hearing a distant ‘hehehe’ on their daytime ride. Maybe she was just brainwashed. The pink-haired witch could probably do that with magic, honestly—after all, she’d crafted these multipurpose stickers for her battalion. What wasn’t possible? “What’s the matter, girl?” Janet bunched the horse’s bridle tightly in her hand, sitting up straight and looking around. The chestnut mare’s ears swiveled—her mount had stopped in the middle of the forest path. “Oh...” She heard it too. The whoosh of something moving through the trees, too fast to just be a sudden gust of wind. A second later, she saw @Grand Witch Majolica herself shoot through the bushes just ahead, aiming for a hollow tree that closed itself with nefarious power. “Goodness!” Janet uttered. She felt Rebel shift underneath her and thought the horse was spooking for a moment before she realized the mare was excited—a puff of vapor escaped her nostrils, her only warning before the mare took off. She could only barely hang on as her mount galloped after Majolica with a bright whinny, excited at the prospect of racing that fancy-flying broom. “Stop that! Stop it right now!” She beat her heels uselessly against the mare’s flanks, but she might as well have been a helpless doll on the animal’s back. Rebel cleared a fallen log and Janet swore she almost left the saddle right there and then. As trees and bushes flashed in between them, the horse pulled up parallel to Majolica for a moment. “What are you—chasing?!” Janet managed to shout over at the Commander, clinging for her life to her runaway mount. “And where’s your—” Hat? That can’t be it—oh, bother! She caught sight of said hat just ahead, moving almost on its own in erratic leaps and jumps. Janet wished she could do something to resolve the problem quickly, but she could hardly think when Rebel was careening out of control like this. I’ll try what Haru was teaching me—strangleweed? Is that what it was? She’d stored a couple of the little balls in the saddlebags when they’d gone to investigate Naryu Canyon and hadn’t had the chance to use them before the magical pressure had crushed them where they stood. “Here, I’ll—” She fumbled one out one-handed, still clinging to the saddlehorn, and hurled the little ball of nature magic clumsily towards the squirrel. With luck, the bursting vines and roots would capture the runaway hat!
"Hehe, why do you want my hat so bad, dummy squirrel! You can't even wear it! It's very important too! It shows everyone that I'm a witch!" Riding her broom, Majolica weaved through the foliage. Bending down to help in crease speed she narrowly dodged tee trunks and large roots. A low hanging tree branch almost caught her off guard but she ducked just in time. The branch would have taken off her hat, but then that's why she was in this whole predicament in the first place. The squirrel charged forward hellbent on retaining its prize for some reason. Whatever the case, Majolica hand no intention of letting the little beast keep her prized hat. It was then, Majolica noticed that someone was coming up behind her. Though she wanted to turn to look, she needed to keep her eyes forward in case she needed to dodge again. Finally, the person following her on horseback caught up. Giving a quick glance to the side, Majolica saw @Janet Reilly riding alongside her. As Janet shouted over the sound of charging hooves, Majolica simply pointed towards the squirrel in front of them dragging her hat as it quickly ran forward while moving artfully through the brush. "The dumb old squirrel stole my hat! Hehe, and I was trying to be nice to it! Mean old squirrel! Hehehe." Majolica used her peripheral vision to watch as Janet began to cast a nature spell. It was good that she had been practicing with Haru. Having a group of allies that could depend, help, and teach other new things was honestly the greatest strength of the Witch Ops after all. Finishing her spell, Janet's ball of nature magic swerved like a curve-ball and made contact with the squirrels leg and tail. As it did, leafy vines rapidly grew from the point of contact entangling the small creature. Now captured, the squirrel struggled against the vines, but to no avail. It was caught and the chase had ended. Slowing down her broomstick, Majolica looked at Janet and gave a thumbs up. "Hehehe! Nice work! Black magic takes time to cast, hehe, and the squirrel was already on the run! Hehehe, it was quick thinking using your magic while on horseback! It's harder for me because my broomstick is magical, hehehe, so I have to control it with magic!" A thought came to Majolica as she spoke to Janet. "Hehehe, why are you here anyway? Hunting mushroom? Hehehe." Now that Majolica had caught up the squirrel, she hopped off her broom and rushed over to reclaim her hat. Though the hat was in one piece, being drug through the forest floor had left it tattered and frayed. Majolica looked like she wanted to cry, but instead dusted off her hat and put it back on her head. "It's a bit tattered... hehe, but that's okay. I'll just have to find someone to repair it. Hehe. But once it's done, I'm sure it will be even better than before! Hehehe." Majolica looked down on the squirming squirrel angrily. "Hehehe, I should lock you up in a cage for the rest of your days you dumb squirrel! Look what you did to my hat! Now it's all beat up! And I was trying to be nice to you!" Majolica turned back to Janet and sighed. "You can let the stupid squirrel go, hehe. I don't have time to mess with him, I need to go find someone to fix my hat. Hehehe." @Janet Reilly
Maybe Janet should have gone into softball. She might not be able to be a jockey, but she could sure throw. Not exact—the squirrel itself was in no danger of being hit by the little ball—but the radius of the bursting vines was great enough to catch the rodent anyway. Janet pulled up a little bit, surprised at how many had come out of the little pod. Of course, Haru had been showing her how to make them, so some of the white-robed spirit guide’s magic was in there as well as her own. Realizing this, Janet felt sort of cheated—she breathed heavily as they slowed the forest chase, casting a glance at Majolica. If I’d known they were so effective, I would have saved them. Regardless, the squirrel was in custody and the witch’s hat was safe. Janet knew how important the hat was to the pink-haired girl—if she hadn’t been riding the broomstick, why, there was the chance Janet wouldn’t have recognized her at all. “Whew!” She was still panting as she shakily returned the thumbs-up, chest heaving with exertion. “I—yes, my nature magic does too, usually—Haru helped me with these.” She wondered if there was a way to do something similar with Majolica’s type of magic as well. How different could they be? That seemed like something to put into development at a training camp or a different meeting, however, so she didn’t mention it. Dusting off her hands, Janet stopped short when she saw Majolica’s expression, freezing in place. Oh no. She looks really upset. Goodness. “Can you purchase a new one?” she offered. It was awfully distinctive, but not impossible to replace. Surely there was a Halloween Store in this world they could drop by and pick one up at for a bargain. “I-I might know of a seamstress in Honeyhome who might be able to look at it...” Not much of the ‘exploring, adventuring’ type, Janet mostly stayed in the little town most players found themselves steered towards when they first started the game. She felt she’d gotten to know most of the people there rather well by now. Looking back at the squirrel, tightly bound in the vines, Janet realized she had no idea how to “turn off” the spell. Normally, she could just cease concentrating and the magic would end. Since the magic was already self-contained in the little strangleweed trick, however, she had no idea how to get it off. “I-it’ll dissipate naturally,” she said, hoping it was true. Couldn’t a squirrel chew its way out eventually anyway? She crossed her arms, frowning. “Isn’t it strange that it took your hat? That's not exactly normal for an animal... is it?” Then again, Majolica was friends with a cawing, talking owl, so there were no standards. @Grand Witch Majolica
"Hehe... I guess it's just a really mean squirrel. Well, as long as it gets out eventually, hehe. It's a mean squirrel, dumb, stupid squirrel, but I don't want it to die either... Looking down at her damaged hat, Majolica spoke softly to herself. "Now what am I going to do..." Pouting, Majolica listened to Janet's idea about finding a seamstress in Honeyhome to look at it. This got Majolica's wheels turning. There had been that Faker Witch who had a really neat hat. She was actually pretty jealous of that hat. But... what if... "Hehehe, that's a good idea Janet! Hehehe, but I won't just repair my hat, I'll make it even better! I'll look for magical materials! Hair and fabrics from legendary beasts! Maybe even dragon scales and teeth! Hehehe, then I'll use those to fix my hat! Hehehe! I wonder what magical beast I can go find first! Hehehe! Oh... Majolica stopped herself. "But what will I wear until then? Hehe, this hat right now looks kind of beat up...hmm... Oh!" Thinking aloud, Majolica opened her inventory and began going through her times. "Hehe, that's not it. Nope. Noooo, hehehe. Wowza, hehehe there's a lot of mushrooms in here, hehe. Come on... where is- oh! Hehehe, here it is!" From her inventory, The Grand Witch pulled a dull platinum helmet. The helm looked like some antiquated relic taken from the tomb of an ancient's king's head guardsman. Struggling to hold the helm in one hand, Majolica handed her witch hat to @Janet Reilly carefully. "Hehe, hold on to this for a second. Be careful with it though, hehehe, I don't want it to get any more damaged..." Now holding the helmet with both hands, Majolica, struggling, lifted it up over head and eased it down on top of herself. "Hehehe, it's really hard to see out of this. It's also, hehe, really heavy." The Grand Witch looked ridiculous. Though she did wear heavy arm-guards and booties, the helmet completely crashed with her entire outfit. Though, honestly the helmet did seem to offer quite a bit of physical protection... struggling, The Grand Witch finally managed to get the helmet off of her head. "Hehe... no. That's way to heavy for me to wear, hehe. Ohhh! But maybe if I melt this down, and inlay into my hat when I repair it with all the super powerful materials, that might be really good! Hehehe! Yes, I like that! Hehehe! once I clean it up, my hat will have a silvery platinum tinge like this helmet! Hehehe! I don't know if this helmet has any other magical properties though. Hehe, guess I'll have to do research! Hehehe! It will take time, but after I'm through, it will be a hat worthy of The Grand Witch!" Majolica placed helmet back into her inventory, then took her hat back from Janet. "Hehehe, that would even make for some good training missions! We can go find magical beasts that are attacking towns, help the town get rid of them, then I can use any materials we get to help fix my hat! Hehehe! It would be a good training opportunity, and maybe we could even find some treasure that the monsters could be hoarding to! Hehehe! Sounds good right?!" Majolica put her damaged hat back on her head, then using a bit of illusion magic, masked the damage. Though damaged, the hat now looked pristine. "Hehe, this will do until the hat is fixed and upgraded! Hehehe!" @Janet Reilly
Janet wasn’t sure why she craved the approval of a teenage witch so much, but when Majolica latched onto her idea, the brunette practically glowed. It was good to be appreciated in whatever form regardless who it came from. She’d learned that much about this game already. She was somewhat taken aback by the new lengths the Grand Witch took her proposition to, however, and blinked in surprise. “O-oh? Dragon scales, and hair? That’ll look… unique.” Starting to picture the “repairs” to the hat the Ops Commander intended, Janet bit her lip. Is that normal? She had never heard of anyone slaying a dragon as part of a “Quest” or seeking out legendary beasts (apart from the Cawing Owl) but in a game like this, it didn’t seem impossible. Weren’t there dragons in those sorcerous Harry Potter novels? The full-sized helm that suddenly materialized out of thin air (more witchcraft, obviously—Majolica never ceased to impress her) made Janet take a step back and then watch intently as the pink-haired girl fitted it over her head. It looked absolutely absurd. “Ah,” Janet said, smiling with all her teeth. Her fingers tightened on the brim of Majolica’s tattered hat, which she was holding. “That’s… certainly something!” On second thought, the dragon-scale idea suited Majolica much better. “Can you even walk while wearing that?” It looked painfully heavy and uncomfortable. She let out a breath of relief when Majolica took it off again. “Yes, that sounds much better,” Janet agreed, privately thinking that a metallic witch hat would look like those aluminum foil hats the schizophrenics on TV wore, “You should certainly do that.” Training missions? Janet’s mind leapt to dragons again. Her concern might have shown on her face—after the harrowing experience in search of the Cawing Owl, she wasn’t sure how eager she or the other Witch Ops members would be to be joining more monster hunts. Her gaze drifted to the squirrel, still tightly bound in the magical greenery. I have to embrace what this game is about, or how can I police it effectively? That wasn’t really her long-term goal, but it was easy to pretend. Besides, she was trying to break out of her comfort zone a little. If she wasn’t going to try new things and see where they took her, why had she recreated herself at age eighteen? “I think that sounds good,” Janet said firmly after mulling it over, crossing her arms over her chest. “If there’s excess materials maybe we can make spare witch hats too, in case something like this happens again.” The members could even wear them! Part of Janet cringed at the thought. She thought she was fine with the banana-smelling sticker, but she’d try to keep an open mind. She blinked and clasped her hands together as Majolica covered up the damage with illusion magic. “Oh! It looks just like it did before.” How convenient! “When should we start repairs?” Janet asked, feeling like she was talking about a ruined city and not just a slightly-battered witch hat. @Grand Witch Majolica
"Hehehe! HM4H missions, hehehe, 'hunt monsters 4 hats', will commence soon! But since we'll be taking on big monsters, hehe, it would good to let everyone know! Also, cince you came up with the idea, I'll let you explain it when we all get to the war room, which is what we can call the main room in my cottage! hehehe" Majolica stopped. "Hehe, but these missions are going to have to weight. First, we're going to have a bigger monster to take care of..." Majolica's face lit back up for a moment. "Oooh! Hehe, maybe we defeat that huge dumb dissonance monster, I can use some of it for my hat! I'd have to be careful though, hehehe, I don't want any of that stuff making me sick." Majolica looked up at Janet once again. "Hehehe, first we're going to need to have a meeting with all current members and Witch Op hopefuls! Hehehe, you weren't doing anything important right? Hehehe, if not! Let's go back to the cottage! We have to call everyone up for a briefing. Hehehe, the monster we saw in Naryu Canyon will soon be on the rise, hehe, and we need to have our battle plan ready! Hehehe! This will be the first time the Witch Ops Battalion deploys as a whole unit! Hehehe, so don't worry too much! Everyone will be there helping each other to beat back that dumb old monster! Hehe, me included! I'm going to head back to the cottage now, hehehe, you should come with me, or if your busy, come as soon as you can!" Majolica hopped onto her broomstick and quickly sped away back to her cottage. EXITS THREAD [OOC: Feel free to do a last post then we can close the thread :) ]
The war room was… Majolica’s living room? The brunette frowned, reflecting that she’d only gotten a brief glimpse after Corvella had kicked the door down. Perhaps it was more suitable than the Grand Witch’s description had made it sound. Well, hunting monsters for hats sounded enjoyable in its way (HM4H) and given time to plan, Janet found herself relishing the possibilities. “Thank you, Commander!” she said with a nod, already drafting a plan in her mind. She had no sense of fashion (especially not hat fashion) but perhaps she could consult with the seamstress in Honeyhome and get some ideas for places to start— …Ah. But of course, a greater enemy was on the horizon. “Titanius?” It had been the last word she’d heard out of the fog at Naryu Canyon—the name of the terrible presence which had crushed their very being with its sheer willpower. “No, no, I’m not doing anything. Just out on a ride.” Janet gestured at the chestnut mare, laying one hand on the horse’s neck. Go back to the cottage? The idea stirred mixed reactions in her—on one hand, the Witch Ops had enjoyed a delightful meal there, and the prospect of making organized battle plans with the Grand Witch and the others seemed urgent. On the other, Janet didn’t know how she was supposed to concentrate on anything serious (like coordinating the Ops to get rid of Titanius) when there were frogs everywhere. “I’ll see you there,” the brunette said confidently and waved goodbye to Majolica as the witch, hat battered but intact, sped off on her trademark broom. Janet looked up at the chestnut horse, sighing and leaning against the mare’s side. “I don’t know how we’re going to battle that… whatever it was, Rebel.” They hadn’t even seen it. Janet and Haru hadn’t had the chance to throw a single Strangleweed pod, and even Majolica had fallen before its power. The prospect of a faceless enemy… “Hmph!” Janet slapped herself lightly on the cheeks and turned, pulling herself clumsily into the saddle. There was no sense brooding over that! It wasn’t like Janet had lots of experience fighting known enemies, either. Moreover, she thought as she wheeled Rebel around and set off into the woods down the same trail Majolica had taken, passing the Cawing Owl’s stump along the way. I won’t be alone. Together, we’ll all succeed. That was a motto suitable for even the youngest audience. EXIT.
