My dearest Cecily … (Journey)

Once upon a time, a sixteen-year-old trainee witch woke up smelling treacle tarts and with dreams of colourful banners on crumbling walls. It was time for her journey. Leaving Indara with her trusty familiar Opal (a moth) and a fallen star in a jar in her much-loved jeans, she flies to the city of Koriko and there her adventures begin. 

And so begins our story …

My dearest Cecily,

I miss your stupid face already and I’ve only been gone for three days. Look at me writing on your fancy letter paper (I told you I would!) – I hope this letter finds you soon.

I found Koriko. What, you were expecting more flourish or a day-to-day account of my travels before I got here? Sorry to disappoint, I know you would have wanted to know I’m safe before I started regaling you with dangers (that’s a joke, I was perfectly safe and followed the trade road before taking a deviation that was the right thing to do following the advice of a merchant I met on the road). You can stop scowling at me now. 

First things first, Koriko is not the city built into the mountain like I thought. Koriko is a nomadic city which goes from place to place to preserve its stony home and to let it come back to its lovely healthy green self. It looks a bit shabby to me at the moment, but Nessa tells me that the city will be moving on again in the next year or so, so of course everything is looking a bit tired and worn out. Nessa is my current hostess, or rather the closest neighbour I have in my little dwelling amongst the rocks (look at me, I have a rock house all of my own, ha ha ha) and she is lovely. Like Mama levels of lovely but without being Mama. She even bakes! I knew I was supposed to take up residence here by the familiar treacle smells I’ve been tortured with the past month. It’s not as good as Mama’s but it’s not bad. Nessa was really kind to explain that with empty houses you can just take them, so long as there aren’t any belongings inside. Because people can’t really make new houses here without risking the rock of the city, they often go looking for empty places that suit their needs and move in. She also gave me some spare bandanas, like the one I sent with this letter, and showed me how to tie it properly. Apparently when it’s sunny the rock above us can reflect the light down into the city, but also on all the people. It can be so bright it can burn your scalp, so everyone goes around with covered heads. My brief rebellion against the braids is over before it even began (don’t tell your Mum). Just tell her I’ve found someone who has loads of witch stories about their last Witch-in-residence, and told me there was no representative because they weren’t needed anymore. That means people are going to talk to me all on my own Cecily, I don’t know if I can cope! Everyone always talked to Martha first at home before she brought troubles and problems to your Mum and me (well, mostly your Mum. I was only a baby witch at the time). 

I miss your stupid face. The whole journey was just long and cold in this frosty weather, but I did meet two people on my way. The first was a lady who had fallen off the path and hurt her ankle, so I fetched a pair of guides from the nearest wayhouse I knew of. The second was my pal the merchant who gave me some good advice about how to tackle the Korikians internal clutterbluster. 

I’m going to send a letter to Mama to let her know I’ve gotten here ok. The rowan broom held true all the way here. I did not break anything (except my/Opal’s favourite tea cup when I put my bags down to hard against a rock. It went ‘chink’, Opal got very upset with me – but I did say sorry). I’m going to try and fix it with magic.

Nothing much else to report.  

Love your face,

Kit

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This adventure was generated using the solo RPG game Koriko: A Magical Year, created by Jack at Mousehole Press. The game is played by exploring the seasons of a year in the city of Koriko through the eyes of a teenage witch (inspired by many things including “Kiki’s Delivery Service”). For more information check out Mousehole Press’s website with links to the itch.io page and the Kickstarter (which is now closed).