Celeste Academy - Magic n Swordplay with es_caster102 (Patreon)

“There!”

Carida huffs and wipes her forehead. An assortment of snacks are laid across her kitchen: cookies shaped like swords and shields, a loaf of monkey bread, and a carefully laid out tray of cheese and crackers.

She places the covers on all the plates to protect them during the travel. With a flick of her wrists, Carida wills the food into an oversized picnic basket, floating across the counters and tenderly laying in place.

She’s not too sure what kind of date this will be. es_caster was really forthcoming that she was using the app just to find a group, and that dating is difficult for her off the bat.

“I can understand that…” Carida muses, smiling at her phone screen. It’s just about time to leave. With a bit of pep in her step, Carida gathers up her few belongings, dons a coat, and heads out the door.

The doors to the library open before her. Carida, carrying her basket and sweating from the weight of it, looks up.

“Carida? What’s that?”

Lexa holds open the door, ushering her inside.

“Lexa! It’s so nice to see you!” Carida breathes out a bit too loudly, quickly catching herself after remembering where she is. “Oops, sorry. I’m here to meet up with a, um… Roleplay group? I brought treats!”

“Oh, I see. Do you need any help?”

“No, I’ll be okay from here.” Carida heaves a giant sigh of relief. She puts the basket down for a moment and searches within, finally procuring a small paper plate. She stacks it up with some bread, cookies, and crackers, then offers it to Lexa. She raises her eyebrows curiously and accepts, thanking Carida a bit under her breath.

”No, thank you Lexa!” Carida hoists the picnic basket back up with one arm and attempts a clumsy wave, nearly toppling over. “The fantasy section is in the back-right corner, right?”

“Yeah. Have fun.” Lexa smiles softly and waves back.

Carida thinks she sees a bit of redness in her face, but chalks it up to nothing as she makes her way back to where the group is.

She sees them — a group of four at a long table.

A girl hides behind her book as the other three chat it up. That must be her, the DM and so-far-unnamed es_caster102. She’s yet to notice Carida, focused on furiously scribbling notes into the journal in front of her.

As she gets closer to the table, she clears her throat and puts on a smile. “Hello everyone, sorry I’m a bit late!”

Everyone looks up at the same time, and Carida thinks she recognizes someone… 

“Miss Carida! That fate would bring us together once more! Please, allow me to carry your basket.”

Natalesca! In one swift movement, she raises from her chair and sweeps the basket off of Carida’s arms. She effortlessly (not really) manages to lift it onto the neighboring table.

“Thank you, Natalesca… How have you been?”

“Counting the hours until we could next lay eyes on each other once again…!” Carida suspects she’s practiced that line many times, but smiles nonetheless.

“It’s great to see you.”

“And you as well! Come, sit!”

Carida turns back to the table, where she finally makes eye contact with the other two girls.

They look… really familiar too… 

Just then, Carida remembers. 

I’ve matched with everyone here! Carida’s mouth hangs open. She’s at a complete, utter, total, loss for words.

“Carida.” The DM glances at her from behind her book. “Please take a seat… Oh? What did you bring?”

“I. Um.” C’mon Carida! Speak up!!

“Ooooh, what a delight!” Natalesca places a reassuring hand on Carida’s shoulder, already muching on a cookie. “Carida, have you brought us sweets? How thoughtful!” She winks at her, as if to say, no need to fear.

Carida manages to relax a bit under Natalesca’s infectious smile. “Yeah, I made us all some treats. Please enjoy!”

The seated girls all rise. Milly nearly jumps the table in excitement, exclaiming, “Oh my god Carida you are the COOLEST! Why didn't WE go on a date?”

Everyone sits in front of their character sheet and paper plate, stacked with food. The DM takes a moment to introduce the setting while everyone snacks and finishes up their characters.

“This is a homebrew system based off of Magic N Swordplay.” Despite her frazzled and nervous appearance, the DM sounds extraordinarily composed and rehearsed. “The most significant change is magic, which will be based off of a mana system rather than slot system. Ahem. Each of you has been invited to the Centennial Journey, a pilgrimage of a select group to reach the top of Mount Historea, where it is said you will bring blessings upon yourselves and your village. It is a dangerous journey, but the greatest foe is all… is fellow man. You will need to maintain good relation with the entire company through hard-to-make choices, life or death scenarios, hunger, cold, and more.”

Milly raises her hand. “Can’t we just teleport to the mountain?”

“Good question. Yes. But that’s cheating and as such, the Goddess will smite you down.”

“Damn.” Milly grins.

“Now then, would everyone please introduce your characters?” She takes her journal out again, seemingly to take note.

“Yes! Okay. Listen up!” Milly stands up, holding her paper in front of her. Muttering under her breath, she begins to cast a spell. Green fire seems to rise from her paper, coiling into snakes. “I am playing the deadly assassin Embera. She specializes in poisons and archery… But she wants to go on the pilgrimage to heal her wife, who is ill in the village.” She sits down immediately after, pleased with her effects magic.

“As for myself… I am the great protector, knight, and honorable noblewoman Natalesca!” Natalesca poses dramatically . The DM moves to interrupt her, probably to say she can’t name her character after herself, but shrugs it off instead. “It is my desire to bless the village with many years of good fortune and protection from evil spirits. Perhaps through this journey, tales of my bravery and heroism will reach the far corners of the world, and I will be heralded a legend…”

The DM stares at her blankly before nodding, writing down something on her paper and turning to Leah. Unlike the others, Leah doesn’t rise from her seat, and speaks in a soft voice. “I am Opal, a bard/magician. With my lute, I hope to raise the spirits of us travellers, and allow us rest between our long treks on the road. I also cast magic by playing music. My dream… I hope this journey will serve as my muse, and that the Goddess herself might hear my music.”

“… Oh, it’s my turn, uh! Okay, well, my character’s name is Tealmin. I’m a chef!”

“A chef?”

“Yeah. I own a tavern in town! I’m the best in the village.”

“… Okay, and what are your combat skills?”

“Combat?” Carida looks back down at her sheet. In the place of equipment, she’s written pots, pans, a spice rack, knife set, apron.’  “Oh, um, I have knives!”

“Ah, I… Knives?!”

“Yeah! Like to cook with.” Carida suddenly feels very out of place. She’s definitely messed up. She goes to fix her sheet, or say that she’ll play as an adventurer, but instead, the DM begins to smile broadly.

“I see. I see. Very good Carida, I like that.” She scribbles out something on her sheet and writes it again. “For the purpose of the campaign, we’ll give you a peasant’s stats. Working with this will be exciting.”

And so, es_caster102 begins the tale.

The game comes to life.

Her affinity is puppeteering, and as she tells the story of this group of adventurers, she moves their pieces on the map like tiny actors. They swing swords, sing in small humming voices, they run, they emote… Carida stares at her tiny alter ego: a human with a giant backpack, overflowing with cooking utensils. It glances at her and waves.

“Oh!!” Carida jumps. “How cute…!”

She catches the DM blushing from behind her book.

“I roll to seduce!”

The DM groans. “Milly, you can’t roll to seduce. She’s your wife. You can just seduce her.”

“No you don’t understand. I wanna roll.”

“Ugh… Okay, fine, roll. With advantage.”

“Yes!!!” Milly exclaims. Her small assassin awaits as the D20 spins against the table before finally… landing on a 2. She rolls again.

… And this time it’s a 1.

“No!!!!”

“Okay, well, you try to seduce your wife.” The assassin figurine strolls over and strokes the other woman’s hair. “As you lean in for a kiss, you start coughing, and cough all over her face. She’s disgusted. You’re disgusted.” The figurines enact this. Milly, still sad, uses effect magic to make a giant frowny face float from the middle of the table and dissolve.

Carida learns something very important about Milly: she just likes rolling dice.

“You approach the caravan. The man outside puffs out his chest when he sees you.”

“Greetings, good sir.” Mini-Natalesca mirrors Natalesca’s movements perfectly. She speaks in a bellowing, but relatively hushed voice so as not to disturb other people studying. “I am Natalesca, head knight to the haven Teaview Village. I see your caravan is nestled rather nicely here, but you see, we’re scouting ahead for a larger group and will need passage. Could you, perhaps, um. Scooch over a bit?”

The male figurine draws its sword and takes a battle stance.

“Wait what why?!” Mini-Natalesca and Natalesca take a startled step back.

“Pay the toll, or take the detour. You know in the back of your mind that the detour must be that path you avoided earlier, but it must be an extra day worth of travel just to go back there, not even accounting for how long of a detour it is.”

“Can I roll to play a song?” Leah asks quietly. The DM nods and she rolls a smooth 18. “Okay. I’d like to play a lullaby and try to make them fall asleep.”

The DM rolls a couple dice and nods. Leah, in real life, begins moving her index finger in the air in careful precision, and a soothing song surrounds the table. Carida notices for the first time a small viola on her lap, which plays to her movements.

Carida herself immersing more and more into the tabletop before her. The figure outside the carriage collapses into the ground. The other figures lead their horses off the road, and the story continues.

"The fire crackles and pops. Stars alight the sky above you.”

As the DM speaks, she nods to Milly, who looks like she’s about to burst out of her seat. Milly closes her eyes and places her hands on the table. When she opens them, a cutesy fire pops up on the table between the figures. A semi-transparent cloud of stars and a giant moon is above them.

“Everyone…” She pauses a bit dramatically and looks directly at Carida. “… is hungry.”

It’s my time to shine!

Carida stares at her piece of paper where she’s diligently marked every creature slain so far… Quickly, quickly...

“Psst.” The DM waves her over. “I know you’re new. Here.” She gives Carida a piece of paper from her journal.

Carida returns to her seat and looks over it. It's a long list of example dishes, how to describe it narratively, and effects of each dish in terms of gameplay…! Carida looks up to her gratefully. She clears her throat and narrates her turn.

“I’m going to make a Harlobster stew… With potatoes, spices, and fresh herbs.”

Tealmin brings out her backpack and begins to unload all the tiny cookware. She puts the big pot on the fake fire and makes a stirring and seasoning motion. Carida’s eyes light up as she watches the token act under her guide. “Um, so, anyone who eats the stew will heal to max health, and get plus-two to all strength rolls for the next twenty-four hours.”

“Ah, miss Carida, this is lovely!” Natalesca leans over. “What does it taste like?”

“I’d say… A lobster bisque.”

All the figurines crowd over the pot, acting out an excited clamor for a taste.

Even though it’s pretend, Carida feels the same pride as when she really cooks a meal for friends. A warmth spreads in her chest.

This game… is really, really fun!

“You’re here. After trekking through icy wind, blistering snow, rocky paths, and slippery slopes… you’re here. The top of Mount Historea.”

Everyone at the table watches in silent awe. Milly barely remembers to add a light snowfall to the scene. All eyes on the figurines, shivering from the cold.

“… And that’s it.” The DM closes her book. “Give me a second, I’ll try and get the epilogue together.”

“What?! No! We have to play it!” Natalesca protests immediately. The figures are still as plastic now, and the DM heaves a sigh.

“I’m tired… I couldn’t cast anymore if I wanted to. Besides, there’s a whole big arc about meeting the goddess and we’d be here another two hours at least.” She looks a bit guilty. “Sorry. I got too into it. I should have planned better…”

“I enjoyed it. I don’t mind coming back.” Leah speaks gently and places her hand on the DM’s. “I think we all would love seeing each other soon to continue.”

“Yeah, for sure! One-shots are great but, like. WOW. We ****’in rocked it.” Milly throws a peace sign and makes a giant winking emoji in the air.

“What do you think, miss Carida?” Natalesca looks over at her, smiling. “Would you be able to come by again? Or should we try to wrap this up now with an epilogue?”

Carida picks up Tealmin, who looks like she’s resting. “I’d love to come back. When are you all free?”

The DM brushes her hair out her face. Her cheeks are flushed, the theatrics of the game slowly wearing off and leaving behind a timid girl in place of the confident storyteller. “Well… Um. This time, every week, I’m free. Does a week from now work for you all?”

“Can we do it an hour earlier?” Milly asks. “I have a party that night, but I still wanna come!”

“That works for me.” Carida agrees excitedly.

“And for myself as well.” Natalesca stands. “Now. I desire… thirds.” She leaves to fill her plate again. Leah and Milly join her, leaving the table empty except for es_caster and Carida.

“Thanks for inviting me.” Carida turns to her. She’s packing up the pieces into a giant portfolio, carefully wrapping the figures in cloth and adjusting the papers so none get folded.

“Oh, it’s no problem…” She avoids eye contact completely. “I mean, it was an open call, so.”

“Y-yeah, ahaha!”

“Listen though, um.” She stops packing up. Her hands lay flat on the table. She scratches a small dent in the table as she continues speaking. “I… I used Wondr for a reason. I can only date someone who, uh, likes this kind of stuff. It’s all I do.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah, it’s super nerdy, I know, but… I’d love to find a way to make a living out of this. I don’t know. My affinity is so particular about what it can do but the fact it works with roleplay… It feels right.” es_caster suddenly goes quiet, as if catching herself. “So, uh… Next week. After the game. If you’re interested, do you want to, uh…”

Carida watches her try to think of something. She smiles and nods in response to the unasked question. “Yeah. Let’s go get something to eat together next week. But, can I ask a question?”

Still stunned from Carida agreeing to go out, es_caster nods with wide eyes.

“… What’s your name?”

“My name…? Oh. Oh gods. Sorry. It’s Esther.”

“Okay, Esther.” Carida feels a bit shy calling her name after saying “DM” and “Storyteller” for the past two hours. “Let’s go on a date soon!"

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