Quest: 1.7 (Week-1: Weekend)

--- Jon ---

“So, what exactly are you going to town for?” He finally thought to ask, as they pulled into the edges of the town of Blackwell.

“Just setting some stuff up for my regular job.” Miss Edna answered easily enough.

He blinked. “Regular job?”

For some reason he’d never considered the fact that Miss Edna could have a job outside of Camp Bet.

“Yeah. I usually have a fair amount of stock saved up before summer so I can run the camp. But every once in a while, I get an order that I have to take care of myself.” She explained.

“Uh, what exactly is your regular job?” He knew that Andy was a teacher, and Jill was going to be a nurse now that she’d finished school, but he didn’t really know what Miss Edna and Quartermaster Rogers did the rest of the year.

“Oh, I’m the best potion mistress in all of Blackwell County.” Miss Edna declared proudly.

He couldn’t help but frown skeptically. “Potion mistress?”

Everyone at camp was more than aware of Miss Edna’s more mystical hobbies, but he wasn’t entirely sure he trusted the idea of ‘potions’ all that much. (Maybe it’s magic-hippie speak for an herbal pharmacist or something…)

“Ah, come on Jon, don’t tell me you don’t believe in ‘magic’!” Miss Edna laughed waving her hands in the air for a moment before returning them to the wheel. “Especially not with everything you’ve seen around camp.”

“No, I’ve seen enough.” He assured her. And even if he hadn’t, he’d still like to believe that there was something ‘magical’ out there. “I’m just not sure what ‘potions’ are supposed to be.”

“Mostly it’s herbal remedies, though some of the more complex stuff uses more mystical or esoteric ingredients.” Miss Edna explained a little more thoroughly. “At the same time, I also have a bit of a side business making magic toys and candy for some of the local kids.”

“Like what?”

“Voice changing lollipops, firefly nightlights, glow-breath toffees…” Miss Edna listed. “It’s easy stuff mostly.”

He recognized most of those things as prizes the camp usually gave out at contests and such, but he hadn’t realized Miss Edna was the one making it all, in which case he wondered, “why don’t you try selling those at the camp store?”

Miss Edna gave a snort of amusement. “Because most of those candies cause an instant sugar rush, and the last thing we need is to double down on the hyperactive children.”

Thinking about what he’d seen over his few days as a CIT and his years as a camper, he couldn’t quite argue that point in good conscience.

“Oh, looks like we’re here.” Miss Edna told him as they parked in front of a building named, ‘Ms. Edna’s Magic Emporium’

(Huh, double alliteration. Nice.)

“Okay, since we’re here now you can go and find something to do.” Miss Edna began as she started to get out of the car. “Just remember to be back by nightfall, okay sweetie?”

“Uh, actually do you need any help before I head out?” He went ahead and asked, after all since she’d brought him to town helping her out was the least, he could do.

“Hmm.” Miss Edna paused for a moment as if considering the offer. “Actually, now that you mention it there are a couple of things you could help me with if you’ve got the time.”

“Sure.” He nodded following Miss Edna into her store, which upon first glance was basically a larger version of her cabin. A space covered in shelves full of wooden carvings, little bottles full of what he assumed were potions, and jars of what were clearly candies.

(Cozy, but even messier than her cabin…) He both loved and hated it at the same time.

“So, what exactly do you need me to do?” He asked once he was done taking the store in.

“Well, the order I have is for a special potion that also comes in an enchanted container. So, for now you can either go into the cupboard and get my supplies together for the potion, or you can get my enchanting supplies out of the back.”

He blinked. “Um, and what exactly am I supposed to get from both?”

“Well, the potion ingredients are mostly local flora so you should be able to find them, and the enchanting supplies are mostly pens, paper, and a special kind of ink.” Miss Edna explained as she began pulling out various things from behind her store counter.

(Okay, in that case…)

Choice:

What should we try and help with?

[] -He’s got a basic understanding of [Herbology] so maybe he can help with the ingredients.

[] -It might be safer to grab the enchanting materials. It’s mostly ink and pens so he can’t really mess it up.

---

After helping Miss Edna with her errand, or at least the parts he could help with, she’d told him to go out and enjoy the day, but to be back by nightfall.

(Might as well explore a little bit.)

Despite being the closest town to Camp Bet, he’d never actually spent that much time in the town of Blackwell. He’d always been more concerned with exploring the camp and the nearby forests than trying to sneak into the town a few miles away.

Meaning he had no idea what kind of things were hiding in Blackwell, especially given the two or three mystical hotspots nearby.

From what he’d picked up, the town itself had started out as a mining town in the late nineteenth century, before a mine fire caused them to shut down and shift business towards logging until the mines cleared up. (Which they didn’t.)

Normally a century of logging would’ve left the region borderline treeless, but luckily the owner of the local logging company had had the brilliant idea to plant a new tree for each one his company cut down. This, at the time, revolutionary idea had ended up keeping the town stocked on trees. Especially once it was recently realized that the nearby magic was accelerating the tree growth just enough to make the industry entirely sustainable within the county borders.

(Huh, you really do learn a lot from museums.) It was a wonder he was the only camper to actually enjoy that yearly trip to the Blackwell History Museum.

Of course, that did nothing to tell him about the town in the modern age. Which left him walking past a number of brick and wooden buildings that had been standing for well near a century now, as he tried to find something to do with himself.

(Like investigating what sounds like someone getting the crap kicked out of them in an alleyway.) He knew it wasn’t necessarily a smart idea but at the same time he was just plain uncomfortable leaving someone alone when they needed help.

The alleyway in question was behind two brick buildings and stretched to the street over where he saw little to no foot traffic. In the middle of the alley next to a dumpster was a man ina black suit angrily kicking something on the ground. Or rather someone if the pained laughter was any indication.

“You think this is funny you son of a bitch?!” The man in the suit screamed as he took a step back from his victim.

“If you knew what I know, you’d know it is.” A second man laughed, after audibly spitting something out.

The man in the suit’s face contorted angrily before he pulled his leg back he gave an equally audible stomp to the man on the ground.

Choice:

How should we handle this?

[] -Approach the man openly, maybe we can just talk this out.

[] -The guy on the ground is in danger; we need to tackle the guy in the suit before he can hurt the other guy.

[] -We should try to sneak up on the attacker, he’s clearly not going to talk it out and you’re not sure how Jon will do in a fight.