Private - Witch Ops Initiation

Hidden: Thread Rules and Notes

This is the official initiation thread for Grand Witch Majolica's Witch Ops.

The purpose of Witch Ops is to become a commando unit of highly skilled players with the goal of protecting Astorea and its NPC and Player communities.

• The Witch Ops is open to anyone and everyone regardless of guild.
• The Witch Ops is a group of dark heroes (Think Batman) so no villains.
• Everyone gets a Witch Ops Eternally Sticky Sticker and a codename.
• The Witch Ops is opposed to Vermillion XIII, players cannot be in both.

The clock strikes midnight and you have received a black letter in your inbox.

The paper glows with a soft purple hue and is sealed in blood-red wax. The insignia on the wax resembles a witch hat. If you decide to touch the seal, you would watch as the enchanted letter floated in front of you within reading distance. The letter would unfurl elegantly, revealing a letter. The letter reads thus…

“Hehehe! Count yourself lucky as you have been chosen for the Witch Op Battalion Initiation Trials! These trials will test you to the core of your being! Hehe, but if you succeed you will be inducted as an official member of the Witch Ops!

Know this, hehe, this invitation does not guarantee you a spot in the battalion! Witch Ops is a group of dark heroes meant to defend the nation, hehehe, if this is not your intention, you are not welcome! Hehehe, also, if you are in the group associated with the pretender witch “Blank” you are not welcome! Hehehe! Finally, I know there are many who would wish to infiltrate the Witch Ops as spies… hehehe, if a spy is found amongst the trial, or within members of the battalion, hehehe, know you will be quickly rooted out… and disposed of…​

There will be no mercy for traitors… hehehe… and they will be easily found…

So, I ask you adventurer, hehehe, are you brave enough to take on The Grand Witch’s Challenge? Hehehe! To join the Witch Ops? To defend our country and become the dark heroes Astorea needs! Hehehe… if so, hehe, keep this letter secret and meet at the coordinates given below at the time given.

Hehehe! Bring your courage, your willingness to sacrifice, hehe, and be ready to leave a piece of yourself! Hehehe! But be warned! Hehe, the trials are not for the faint of heart! Hehehe, you will find danger, and there may be blood! Hehehe, but what’s a little blood to the group destined to change the entire world! Hehehe…

Come then, hero! Hehehe! Come and claim your destiny! The Witch Ops awaits! Hehehehehe!”​

The letter is signed in a fancy script reading.

Grand Witch Majolica
Witch Ops Battalion Commander


Do you accept the Grand Witch’s invitation?

Hidden: Yes

By following the given coordinates, you would eventually find yourself in the familiar forest of Brisshal. Here, where new characters meet their first challenges, deep in the woods, lies the Grand Witch’s cottage. If you travel far enough into the depths of the forest, you’ll eventually come upon a cabin. Though upon first inspection the area around the cottage seems normal, if you were to look closer strange details begin to arise.

Smoke rises from the chimney. Thick and black, the cottage’s soot sparks with purple lightning as it wafts upwards to the heavens. The trees in the area are gnarled and twisted as if some power has prodded them into twisted growth. The cottage itself, while at first looking normal, is itself crooked. The roof and walls shifted at odd angles. If you are perceptive, you might have noticed something green walking bipedally just out of view, but it vanishes just as quickly as you notice it.

Though there must be someone inside the cottage with something over the fire, there is no one to be seen through any of the windows. In fact, the entire area seems deathly quiet...

Hidden: No

The letter.

 

Haru plodded through the deep green of the forest's night, allowing himself some enjoyment from it. It's not like he enjoyed the dark or anything, it's just that the place felt... empty. It was positively relaxing. Well, save for that nagging feeling at the back of his head that someone was following him. Still, he couldn't afford to stand around and enjoy it, for he was moving towards a destination and he simply would not stop until he found it.

...Why had he been invited by miss Majolica, anyway? He didn't exactly give off the "dark vigilante" impression. Wasn't he literally wreathed in white? Perhaps it was because he agreed to serve as her test subject once, or something.
"...I'd better not think too hard about it..." Really, he just couldn't understand how that person even thought, so he'd better stop trying now while he still had his reason intact. Haru, just beginning to wonder how long it would take to arrive at this supposed place, brushes past a wall of twisted thorns into a clearing- with a cabin in the middle, puffing out smoke leisurely.

He can't help but stand there for a moment, eyebrow raised. He'd best not be tardy, though, so he soon finds himself at the door, knocking. It takes a few moments, but Haru is finally convinced that he should take a peek through the window. ...Is there really nobody in there? He calls out "Hello?" as a good measure, but it seems like the place was really empty. For the moment, it seems as if he either had the wrong place, or simply needed to wait. With optimism in spades he decides on the latter, getting right to doing so, leaning on the wall next to the door.

 

"This looks ominous," Iván mumbled dryly, though under his hood he was grinning like a little girl at the sight of her first unicorn. That’s what little girls in Terra Sphere get when they come of age, right? A unicorn? As if answering his own question, Iván shrugged.

He narrowed his eyes at the cabin, noted all the strange details that he could, from the physically twisted trees to the lack of any noise. He was tracing the roof of the cottage with his eyes when something beside the house moved. As soon as it did, it wasn’t, without any trace that it ever existed. Iván narrowed his eyes at the spot where that something was, if it was even there, and fished the black letter from inside his coat.

"This has to be the place," Iván whispered to himself, eyes slowly, carefully, turning to the letter in his hand, away from the thing that had been and had not been there. "Witch Op Battalion Initiation Trials… Long name. Strange long name.” He turned to look at the cottage again. "Strange letter, strange cottage. Of course this is the place."

Putting the letter back inside his coat, Iván started to walk towards the door. Slowly. Carefully. He put one hand behind him, close to the handle of his hammer, while keeping the other one, the one with the spell ring, ready just in case someone this was a trap. He took a quick glance of the window but saw no one, nothing.

There was smoke billowing from the chimney, however, so the chances of someone being inside the cottage was higher than that of the opposite. He just didn’t have any idea if that someone was the Grand Witch Majolica that sent him the letter. Maybe someone else had killed her and took her place, waiting for some other magic-user to trap. Then again, that wouldn’t have made Majolica such a great Witch Ops Battalion Commander.

Iván sighed under his breath as he got closer and closer to the door. Hmm, maybe the trials had already started? Maybe he was walking straight into a trap as part of the trials and the cottage was going to explode, taking him to virtual hell along with it? Maybe Majolica was in the bathroom, taking a shower? Maybe, maybe, maybe... That's a lot of maybes, none of which involved lipstick.

With his free hand, Iván slowly reached out, only to clench his fist. "Might as well," he murmured, knocking gently while his other hand wrapped itself tightly against the handle of his hammer. That's when he finally saw @Haru leaning against the wall next to the window.

"Oh," Iván deadpanned. "Have you been there the whole time?"

 

"That would be so. It's good to see you again, Iván." Haru found himself relax when an acquaintance of his made an appearance. Looking at him now, Haru assured himself that this must have been that figure... "It is good to know that it was just you who I felt was following me around- it had me quite nervous, you know." The man robed in white shuffled in a fit of nervousness that he could not keep shut down with his act of gracefulness, rather disturbed at the thought of facing something he couldn't see. That choir came to mind at the mere thought of it.
"It's empty in there, or at least I think it is. Nothing's in the window." He taps on the glass beside him to punctuate his point. There was another person with him, so clearly this was the place intended, or at the very least, someone had gotten the directions very wrong. Assuming that the two would be here for quite a while, Haru decides to settle himself a seat right where he stood, leaning back on the wall and letting his legs out on the grass, prosing another and more prominent question, "Take a look yourself should you wish to see it. This brings me to a question, though. Shall we simply wait here or enter ourselves? Perhaps this is a test in the mind of a witch. Whether that test is to stay outside here or break in, I have no clue." Saying so, Haru decides then and now that he would simply just do whatever the other man went with.

 

“Oh!” Janet said, stopping on the spot and looking up and down her two acquaintances. “You’re both here, hello! You received this…” A little flustered and lost for words, the girl brandished the witch-hat-shaped envelope “…invitation too, then?” Naïve as she was, it had never even occurred to Janet that the invite might be a trap, but the sight of at least two familiar faces would have put that fear to rest. Clearly, Janet hadn’t been singled out here on her own. What a relief! She was already skeptical of witchcraft as it was, but she was trying to be open-minded. Hadn’t the people she’d met been saying she should find a guild or faction to join? She didn’t see these other solicitors putting an enchanted invitation in her mailbox, so these “Witch Ops” deserved fair consideration.

She was skeptical about this so-called initiation too—she’d heard horrible things about hazing at colleges and sincerely hoped this challenge would not test her ability to drink or do handstands— but as she’d said before, Janet was trying new things. Branching out. And Haru and Ivan were here, so she felt much better. “Have either of you met the Commander? I’m interested in speaking to her,” she said sincerely. The little cabin seemed like the sort of place a fairy-tale witch might be waiting, like the old woman in Snow White or that Maleficent person.

Now expecting something between a hag and Angelina Jolie, Janet put her hands on her hips and glanced over her shoulder. Their sinister surroundings weren’t exactly a vote of confidence, but for “dark defenders of Astorea” (why did they have to be dark?) perhaps it was a suitable atmosphere after all. “Is she inside?” Janet asked aloud after a moment, approaching one of the windows and peering in. “It doesn’t seem so. Hello?” She rapped decisively on the glass, just like Haru had. The tap-tap-tap echoed, surprisingly loud in the quiet little clearing. Against all reason, the eighteen-year-old felt the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. She bit her lip and spun around again. “Nobody’s here. How inconsiderate!” Janet gave a little huff, trying to cover her growing unease.

 

"Ah, Haru," Iván gave his old acquaintance a nod.

Following him around? Was he the thing that was and then wasn’t? Could be. Iván looked around him, his eyes staying put at the trees physically twisted. This place… Does it have residual magic? Is it affecting his senses? Iván wasn’t sure about that but he was feeling something strange. At least he was wrong about the trials having already started. Or was he?

Iván turned his head towards the roof, "There’s smoke coming out of the chimney, though. Interesting."

According to Haru, there was no one inside. Iván knew as much. He did glance at the windows when he got close to the door but saw nothing, not even a shadow. He wondered if this was all a prank, if there even was such a thing as a Witch Ops Battalion. Before he could give Haru his opinion regarding their next course of action, his suggestion of which at least, another familiar face caught his attention.

"Oh. Janet," Iván mumbled dryly, his eyes quickly darting to the invitation she procured from her person. "Yes, no."

It was starting to feel like a small world, a small Terra Sphere. Here he was, in between two other Players he met at different points of his game time, one accidentally during a quest involving a locket and the other after seeking out adventurers to help with training neophyte guards. What a coincidence! Or was it? Maybe this was all a trap, orchestrated by someone all of them crossed. Maybe this was Grand Witch Majolica’s plan from the very beginning. Maybe all three of them were her chosen ones. Or maybe Iván just needs to chill and let things just happen for once. Hmm.

"I vote for staying here and waiting," He turned to Haru, crossing his arms. "Maybe Majolica’s just in the bathroom."

Wait, he already said that. No, thought, darn it.

"She could be here. Or not. Either way, the letter pointed to this place and someone with her rank might not appreciate us breaking into her home. I don’t think I read anything from the letter that suggested breaking in would be a test. I could be wrong."

He wasn’t. At least that’s what he thought.

Maybe others would still arrive. Three did not inspire a battalion after all.

 

"Witch Op... Battalion Initiation Trials?" Corvella slowly recited "Of course Majolica would send me this." The knight in black sat back and exhaled deeply, before grabbing the letter and throwing it helplessly on the table. The girl was resting in one of the rooms in Honeyhome inn before the magical mail invited itself into the room. She examined the coordinate attached in the letter. Brisshal, not far from here. Why not give it a try?

And here she was, in the depths of Brisshal forest. Luckily, it was not night yet so some visibility greatly helps in traversing the weird, inner part of the forest. A smoke gave out the position of the equally weird cottage, which Corvella highly believed that it belongs to Majolica. How she had a cottage built in here however, is a mystery. Closing onto the cottage, she saw the glimpse of three other people. Exhaling once more, the blonde initially wanted to express pity for them, but then she remembered that she is also here, so she's not one to talk.

Two strangers, and one person she recognized from the Black Wolf fortress reclamation. "You guys here for the Witch Ops, too?" she asked the three, before walking around looking into the windows "I don't seem to see Majolica..." Knowing the grand witch, there's probably some illusions at play, maybe to ward off unpleasant visitors? Just like Majolica, Corvella's pretty adept at illusions, so she might sense something if she try. Putting her right hand on the window, she tried to sense phantasmia. Yep, there's probably traces of illusion magic somewhere, but she wasn't sure if it was used to hide Majolica. She might really be in the bathroom, for all that matters.

Corvella looked back at the three, they probably have been waiting for too long, and she herself went all the way to Brisshal. Then the flashback of Majolica sending the Lions Pride HQ door flying almost to her face came to her mind. She playfully smirked to the other three "You know what, I'm just going to burst through this door. I really feel like doing it." After touching the door to check (Majolica might have nasty frog illusion traps everywhere, Corvella wouldn't want that), the knight took several steps back, held her shield with both hands and rammed the cottage door with such strength. It might not be locked at all, but she just wanted to see a door flying right now.

 

"What is Majolica doing?" Emerath asked himself as he walked through the forest to the supposed destination of her witch trials. No, that was a dumb question. He knew exactly what Majolica was doing. She was doing exactly what she said she would. She was making the Witch Ops official. So instead, he shifted the question to, "What the hell am I doing?" That one he didn't have as much of an answer for, but he figured he'd play it by ear.

At best, he was here to make sure that Majolica wasn't ruining anymore forests. Which, by the looks of the twisted trees and bipedal frogs sneaking around, he was too late for that one. At worst, he was here for her tryouts. He shuddered at the thought. He refused to actually be a part of this Witch Ops. No, he was just here to make sure she didn't get out of hand. That was it.

On approach, he saw that a few others had showed up, and he was mildly impressed that Majolica had managed to get even this many people to show up to her ridiculous crusade. It was mostly faces he didn't recognize, but he did recognize a familiar looking knight in familiar looking armor, as @Corvella plowed through the door like it was made of paper.

"This is a good idea. Impress the witch by destroying her property. Did any of you actually think to knock?" Emerath asked as he walked up to the four of them. "Look, this is not a good idea. This girl is crazy. And before you say anything, I'm not here to try out, I'm here to try to keep this under control. I'm pretty sure that when it comes to someone as unhinged as Majolica, she finds control to be an utter waste of time."

Emerath looked around at the others, before shaking his head and following Corvella into the doorway, looking for the insane witch. He really hoped that nobody else was taking this seriously.

 

Freja’s first impressions of the self-proclaimed Grand Witch were admittedly bizarre, but not without being endearing. When she first met the girl in Stokbon, still a relatively fresh player of Terrasphere, it was seeing Majolica peddling chocolate mushrooms with the bombastic flair of a carnival; a player seemingly young enough to be her niece or once-removed first cousin, adorably designed, juxtaposed with the attempt to carry herself with the portentous weight of a tyrant. It was here Freja learned about the so-called Witch Ops, and came to be called one of its initiates.

All of which eventually brought her here, letter in hand to lead the way. She’d seen more than enough of Majolica’s handiwork when they besieged the Bandit King’s fortress in Vinterland, but seeing it utilized even in a more mundane (if still eccentric) fashion still managed to serve an impressive display of her abilities behind the silliness. And to think there’d even be written cackling. . . . Well, that was an investment in the persona Freja could appreciate.

It seemed a few other people already reached the cabin before her, almost none of them familiar faces. Almost. She gave a mirthful grin and wave to @Emerath Katou as she approached the group. “We-he-hell! Fancy seeing you here, ‘Goggles!’”

It was odd to see Emerath, an otherwise straitlaced and straightforward man, want anything to do with a gathering in the dead of night to form what was, to Freja’s knowledge, a cultish offshoot of the Lion’s Pride. Then she listened, and it made sense. She just kept grinning. “Ah, but to keep things under control, you have to have some amount of involvement, right? C’mon, tell me you aren’t a little bit interested in what she’s up to.”

Still, Freja hoped that Majolica wouldn’t be too angry about one of the other players quite literally kicking down the door. Or at least, that the cabin was just a very authentic illusion, similar to what she was subject to in Stokbon. Her mind flickered back to a moment to the crude drawing of the frogs the letter provided.

“Think we can convince her to turn us into newts instead if things don't go well?”

 

The brunette straightened herself up, thinking it was ridiculous to assume the commander of a battalion (albeit a witch-themed one…?) might be in the bathroom rather than meeting her guests. That was just… well, irresponsible! She refused to believe it. Janet turned on her heel in a whirl of auburn hair and marched after someone who knew like they knew what they were doing.

“Hi, hello there,” she called out to the black-armored @Corvella as she approached the woman, swinging her arms briskly. “You’re going to—wait—oh my goodness.” The blonde had just body-slammed the cottage door with the flat of her shield. “Are you serious?!” Now anxious, Janet retreated before she could see what was inside. She did not want to be associated with a forced entry, particularly if she wanted to make a good impression!

Still desperately seeking someone reasonable that could give her straightforward answers to the multitude of questions about this place (Just “why” prevailing) Janet backpedaled and turned gratefully to the red-haired man who’d entered from the unnerving forest. “I agree!” she said fervently, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, but grew quiet at the rest of his words. It sounded like he had had one-on-one dealings with Commander Majolica before, and not favorable ones. Janet could already feel her expression settling into a hard, disapproving frown. “Ahem. What qualifies ‘unhinged?’” she asked, trying her best to just dismiss his words. If he was right, it meant she might have naively walked into what someone more vulgar might have called a ‘clusterfuck.’

“I—excuse me, newts? Did I hear you right, miss?” Janet demanded of @Freja Sitka, aghast. She peeked around the ruined doorframe after Emerath and Corvella, deeply concerned that they might A. get in trouble or B. set off some witchy trap constructed by the reportedly warped and twisted Majolica. “Haru, Ivan, are you coming?” If everyone went inside, the Commander couldn’t fail all of them… right? Surely with a group this large, some of these knight-people could at least put up a fight and protect Janet from the consequences of their unruly deeds.

 

Haru can't help but brighten up as @Janet Reilly , of all people, show up (along with some other faces). It seems that it really was to be that they would meet again. How wonderful it was to see a face of someone he enjoyed talking with. Haru stands, greeting her with a bow. "Aha ha ha. So nice to see you again, Janet. Yes, I'm here because I know Majolica, actually." He smiles rather fondly at her, something beautifully broken the moment that the door was broken down. On his face, for a simple fraction of a second, was a look of pure irritation that simply did not look like it fit there, yet fitted snugly on it as if he were used to making it. Perhaps it was just something practiced by whatever person he was in the real world. He wipes it off of his face right afterwards, adopting a happy yet nervous grin.

"...Yes, I'm coming. Don't worry, they're exaggerating. I think she has a hard time of that trick on people like us, so we'll just be eating fireballs instead. Ha, ha, ha." He tries to assure his two friends with something that probably wasn't actually assuring in the least, elaborating on himself, "Think of her as someone on the roleplay side of the game, and you should deal with it fine." After informing them of this, Haru makes a promise with himself to not bring up out of character discussions about his soon-to-be possible commander. He, too, was in the game to play a character, and it was about time he would play him. Whistling out to the forest, his companion stag trots over from the undergrowth and takes a seat at the side of the entrance as Haru himself leisurely enters with an apology to @Iván Carl . He didn't exactly open up that door himself, but he'd be relaxing inside for the time being, as this forest was creeping him out.

 

Iván stared at the newcomers, noting everything that he could about them. The blonde girl with the shield seemed like she knew the supposed grand witch, perhaps from an earlier encounter or she was just that bold. It didn’t take long for her to burst her way through the seemingly locked door. The redheaded man was more of Iván’s speed. Iván thought about answering his question, having knocked on the door earlier, but changed his mind, focusing instead on what was being said about the grand witch. It seemed like both the redheaded man and the blonde girl knew their host. Finally, there was the girl with the pigtails who sounded a little too…fun.

“Looks like she invited strong Players,” Iván whispered to himself before being caught offguard by Janet’s question, to which he responded with a disinterested shrug.

He turned to Haru and made room for his companion, gesturing for them to go before him. If all of them did indeed decide to go in, Iván was most definitely going to go last. It was his thing. He wasn’t going to change that now, especially with this place seemingly more mysterious than him. There could be traps everywhere. Better let the others test that theory for him.

 

Brisshal Place. The Mushroom Forest. The Food House. Hee Hee Witch. Third Lunch. Overdrive.

*Grrrk* Nom Nom's tummy rumbled. Finishing the last turnip that she had dug up from the ground with her powerful "claws," she gazed upon the horizon and found the setting sun. It was getting late towards afternoon as a breeze blew rustling her bangs and teasing her bunny-ear headband. Nom Nom smelled smoke wafting on the air. It had a hint of magic, but more importantly, it carried the ever so faint taste of mushrooms. Hee Hee Witch had returned...

*Grrrk!!!* Nom Nom's tummy rumbled once more. Nom Nom nodded as if agreeing with it. She headed that way. Along the small clearings of the animal paths, Nom Nom saw some sort of winged-letter thing, and pouncing it out of the sky, she ate it. Later still, after meandering and eating every edible herb she found along the way, the smoll rabbit arrived to find people gathered around the outside. To the average person, they may have looked suspicious, or rather still, they may have looked -more- suspicious of what they were studying. Nom Nom had arrived right as Metal Mountain Lady gracefully----but forcefully---blew in the door. None of that concerned her.

*GRRRRRRK!!!* Nom Nom casually pattered out of the bush approaching the strangers. She then tilted her head to the side like a confused dog and studied each of them in turn.

Fluff Fluff. (@Haru)

Frog Gogs. (@Iván Carl)

Auntie Person. (@Janet Reilly)

Metal Mountain Lady. (@Corvella)

Stuff Stuff. (@Emerath Katou)

Red Sonja. (@Freja Sitka)


Nom Nom nodded. She smelled no danger upon their person. So, she approached looking a little lost. Hee Hee Witch was nowhere to be found. What about the mushrooms...?

Arbitrarily or perhaps out of a child's instinct, Nom Nom picked 'Auntie Person.' (@Janet Reilly) Pittering forth, she lightly tugged on the young woman's sleeve.

"Auntie Person...where... Hee Hee Witch...?"

She looked up at Auntie Person's face. Nom Nom's pretty red eyes had a slight glow to them, but they appeared almost vacant. Like a tired child, or perhaps a drunk, there was a certain 'fog' there between the girl's body and her consciousness. A look at her status would show that she was permanently berserk.

Nom Nom ever so lightly tugged the pretty girl's sleeve again with two fingers and looked down as if she were feeling shy.

"......Hungry...."

 

Haru was an incredibly trustworthy individual (to Janet, anyway) so when her spirit guide mentioned that this Majolica was—quote—“on the roleplay side of the game” Janet took it to heart. What did that mean, exactly? Well, the girl had yet to meet someone who had gone to that extreme, so she resolved herself to find out. Still, if Haru knew the Commander and had turned up anyway, it surely meant the endeavor was still a promising one. Fireballs were less pleasing—she felt the corners of her mouth turn down at the possibility. However, just as she was about to enter the cottage, a little hand tugged at her sleeve and a voice piped up.

“Auntie?” Janet knelt down immediately, anxiously smoothing the little girl’s yellow hair back. “No, no, sweetie! No witches here!” she said in her most reassuring voice, “Everything’s safe, okay?” She’d never had a problem with lying to children in the interest of their psychological well-being. They’d thank her later. Or the parents should, anyway, since clearly they weren’t doing their job. It always shocked Janet how lacking some of these so-called “cool moms” were in their ability to look out for the mental safety of their child. What were they thinking, letting someone this young onto the internet unsupervised?

…and then, predictably, Janet heard THE WORD. It was a word anyone who’d ever worked with children (and most adults) heard sooner or later, and it filled her with the dread and anxiety of a woman who realized she was a cup short of sugar half an hour into a time-sensitive baking exercise. “Oh… you’re hungry.” Entering the mysterious, oddly-proportioned cottage had taken a backburner to the desires of this little girl. Janet put her hands on her hips, thinking. “All right. Hmm…” The eighteen-year-old looked Nom Nom up and down and gave a little nod before closing her eyes and folding her hands together as if in prayer, summoning her nature magic.

In front of her, as she concentrated, a bright green fringe peeked its way above the soil and stretched towards the sky, unfurling feathery leaves until it was a little over a foot tall. “There!” Janet said, rocking back on her heels, and took firm hold of the plant at the base. With a shower of earth, she tugged a fat orange carrot from the ground. “A healthy snack for a healthy little bunny!” Janet cooed, practically radiating pride as she presented the vegetable. Just like the ones back at the farm. She had good memories of pulling up carrots and radishes in the garden as a child, and a little dirt had certainly never hurt her!

 

Witch Ops Iniation Trial Part 1: Interview

Hidden: Interview Thread Rules and Notes

• One post, 600 words Maximum.
• In this portion of the thread, player's can only interact with Majolica.
  • You may ask any and all questions you have concerning Witch Ops and Majolica will answer.

Things remained eerily quiet in the area, even with the adventurer's exploring and conversion. As time passed, Grand Witch Majolica, the Witch Ops Commander that had sent out letters was still nowhere to be found. Maybe this was a trap? Or The Grand Witch was just playing a prank? Or maybe she forgot today was the day people were supposed to show up? The last of those three options seemed the most likely because if you remember the letter, she did say this meeting was for "dark heroes" with "heroes" being the operative term.

Inside the cottage was nothing, simply a fire going, a bed, and a table kept tidy. Suddenly and strangely, around each of the adventurers, the air began to feel heavy, almost as if humid and yet without the heat. Whether inside or outside of the cabin, this effect was the same. If any of the adventurers were of keen magical insight, they would have noticed that around each of them, magic was being woven into a spell.

In the blink of an eye and before anyone could react, the world in front of each adventurer went black. Suddenly, above, a single bright light, shone down from above. Everything outside of the spotlight was covered in impenetrable darkness. Each adventurer was now alone and separated. Even if one of them tried to call out, they would get no reply. Their words were simply swallowed by the impenetrable darkness.

From somewhere beyond the lit area, each of them separately heard something.

"Hehehe."

The sound got closer until they could make out the shape of a familiar little witch complete with hat. The witch comfortably rode her broomstick towards them, then reaching the area under the spotlight, she smiled and waved.

Hidden: Haru

"Hello! Hehehe! So you came after all! I thought you would be a good fit for the Witch Ops since you helped with the question ball when we fought the Bandit King! Hehehe! It was very brave to let me use magic on you! Hehehe, good teamwork is something The Witch Ops definitely needs! Hehehe, you don't really look like a dark hero much though, hehe. Maybe we can get you some black robes! Hehe, or at least gray! Hehehe! Also, I think you and that cool stag friend of yours would be a neat addition! Hehehe!

Anyway, this is the question part of the initiation so if you have any questions, feel free to ask! Hehehe, things get harder from here on out so be sure you know what you're getting into! Hehehe..."

Hidden: Ivan

"Hello! Hehehe! Welcome to the Witch Ops initiation! I am Grand Witch Majolica, Witch Ops Battalion Commander! Hehehe, you're probably wondering why I sent you that neat enchanted letter, right? Hehehe, well, since the Witch Ops is commando unit and will probably have to do infiltration missions, I thought you would be a perfect fit! Hehehe! You look like a sneaky guy that would be right at hand sneaking around, gathering info, hehehe all of that stuff!"

Majolica gave Ivan a knowing wink. No one was exactly sure why.

"Anyway, this is the question part of the initiation so if you have any questions, feel free to ask! Hehehe, things get harder from here on out so be sure you know what you're getting into! Hehehe..."

Hidden: Janet

"Hehehe! Welcome to the Witch Ops initiation! We've never met before, but I am Grand Witch Majolica! Hehehe, Witch Ops Commander! I sent you a letter because I noticed that you seem tough and strong. Hehe, I like how your face looks like you want to sternly discipline someone for being bad... hehehe, because that's what Witch Ops Does! Hehehe! We make sure bad guys know what they're doing is bad, and we mess up their plans to hurt people! Hehehe!

Anyway, this is the question part of the initiation so if you have any questions, feel free to ask! Hehehe, things get harder from here on out so be sure you know what you're getting into! Hehehe..."

Hidden: Corvella

"Hehehe! You came! Hehe, so you do like Majolica! I thought you ignored me on the wagon because you didn't! Hehehe, Dummy me! Who wouldn't like a Grand Witch like Majolica! Hehehe! But let's get down to business! I, Grand Witch Majolica, sent you a letter to become part of the super elite Witch Ops Battalion because I thought you would be a good addition! Hehehe, we're going to need strong people with shields that are tough when we're defending the realm from evil and going on secret missions! Hehehe!

Anyway, this is the question part of the initiation so if you have any questions, feel free to ask! Hehehe, things get harder from here on out so be sure you know what you're getting into! Hehehe..."

Hidden: Emerath

Majolica sighed.

"Why are you such a butt? Hehehe... don't ruin everyone's fun. Hehehe, or... did you actually want to join?"

The Grand Witch poked at Emerath as she circled him on her broom.

"Hehehe, maybe you actually want to be Majolica's friend, but you got upset when you realized Grand Witch Majolica isn't a baby, but a super powerful Grand Witch! Hehehe, there's still a spot for you if you want to be the Witch Ops mad scientist and technology expert.... hehehe...

...Or, if you don't, just go home and stop being a pest. Hehe. I'm trying to build a world-saving Commando unit to combat the forces of evil and all the bad witches in the world! Hehehe! So, if you're just here to pester, then go home. Hehehe, and forget about the forest I blew up already! You blew up part of the Bandit King's fortress on accident, hehehe... funny..., things happen! Hehehe, and you made me mad that time! Grand Witch Majolica is not a baby!

Now then, this is the question part of the initiation so if you have any questions, feel free to ask! Hehehe, things get harder from here on out so be sure you know what you're getting into! Hehehe... and if you don't, go home. Or I'll tell Vina you lOooVeEee her! Hehehe, Vina likes me, so she'll believe me! Hehehe!"

Hidden: Freja

"Hehehe, you made it! Good! Hehe, I knew from the moment you ravenously devoured that mushroom candy I gave you, that you would be a good fit for the team! Hehehe! So, like I said before, hehe, this is the Witch Ops Initiation trials, and though you already know, hehe, I am Grand Witch Majolica! Our goal is to become a group of powerful dark heroes that protects Astroea from enemies! Hehehe, and since we’re powerful dark heroes, we have to be powerful, and that’s what we’ll start working on immediately! Hehehehe! Good job fighting the bandit king by the way! You’re good with your axes… very impressive, hehehe!

Anyway, this is the question part of the initiation so if you have any questions, feel free to ask! Hehehe, things get harder from here on out so be sure you know what you're getting into! Hehehe..."

Hidden: Nom Nom

"Hehehe... I don't know who you are but you at my crops, so you're drafted! Hehehe, fall into line! We have work to do! Hehehe! Grand Witch Majolica says so!"

@Nom Nom @Janet Reilly @Emerath Katou @Iván Carl @Corvella @Freja Sitka @Haru