Post by Andy D on Nov 20, 2024 11:00:33 GMT
On Acquiring the Recipe and Final Ingredient for the Potion of Longevity
With dedication, time and Daring Academy’s resources I have learned how to create the following magical concoctions; the Elixir of Health, Restorative Ointment and the potion of Watchful Rest. All of these; fantastic and of course magical contributions to the health of the consumer.
I have hope that the potion of Vitality’s secrets will not escape my discovery soon. However, the secrets to the Potion of Longevity - a key element to my research on short-lived humanoid health and lifespan extension - had escaped me. I had been unable to confirm the right amount of silver birch bark required for the mixture, as I had been unable to source silver birch bark. This is until young Mr. Mckittens mentioned that his family’s farm had a grove of silver birch trees on their estate.
Mittens McKittens has come a long way in the approximate two years that the young lad has been risking his life as an adventurer. His wit and ingenuity for solving problems with magic is impressive and he is an asset to any adventuring party he finds himself within. This said, the gaps of knowledge one finds within the young are still very apparent in Mittens from time to time. Case in point, the young man did not know precisely where his family home in Faerun was located!
My young tabaxi friend arrived in Kantas under the guardianship and tutelage of Ms Kennari, his teacher who discovered his potential for magic while passing through Mitten’s village. The young man’s parents, Roland and Beatrice, felt Ms Kennari was offering their boy a better position in life than they could provide, and so accepted Ms Kennari’s offer to take Mittens to a wizard school to be taught to master his talent. As it turned out, it was news to everyone that Ms Kennari hadn’t brought Mittens to a school, and instead was home-schooling the young man in Daring Heights. Ms Kennari would also leave on extended periods to parts and business unknown, all the while encouraging Mittens to hone his arcane abilities as an adventurer.
Ms Kennari’s highly questionable instruction and guardianship of Mittens was a shock when revealed to his parents (and to the rest of us) - a reaction Mittens was dreading and had put off for some time. His reasons for hiding all this was exacerbated by Ms Kennarri’s long absence since her last disappearance. Ms Kennari is nowhere to be found, a matter which could possibly be resolved with the Sending spell, which many of us have insisted Mittens learn at once. If not for himself, than for his parents sake.
Of course, it should be mentioned that Mittens also put off writing letters to his parents in fear that they demand he return home at once, or themselves come to Kantas to collect him. One could hardly blame them, it would have been the most reasonable and right thing to have done - especially given the many encounters with death that Mittens has faced as an adventurer of an ill-suited age for the job.
Calla Prim, fellow wizard, and something of an elder sister to Mittens forced the conversation between Mittens and his parents. I did not approve of the dramatic magical way in which Calla forced the truth from Mittens in front of his parents - both parents are unfamiliar with daily occurrences of magic, let alone the theatrical kind. However, it is clear Calla’s main reason for doing so was that she, perhaps more than anyone else, is utterly aghast at the lack of guardianship Mittens has had in the past two years, and the lack of awareness from his parents.
And so really Mittens should, quite reasonably and sensibly, have remained with his parents after having returned to them after a long absence revealing what danger and lack of custody he’s experienced. However, Mittens occupies an odd position; too young to be an adventurer, and yet nevertheless has proven himself capable. The McKittens were even able to witness the proof of this, as we confronted the bandits who had been exploiting the neighbouring villages for months, and saw them driven away.
But how has this tale of a family of tabaxi and an unexpected adventurer encounter contributed to my perfecting of the Potion of Longevity? After driving the bandits away, the McKittens have agreed to cultivate, expand and harvest the silver birch bark from the trees on their grove for me. The McKittens’ silver birch tree grove has an enhanced magical quality to it, which was confirmed through mine and Dr. Ruthenia Truelove’s investigation. But also, the vastly extended lifespan of the milking cows that had been chewing the bark directly off of the trees was quite the evidence in itself!
My fellow wizard friend, Ruthenia has a similar point of interest when it comes to humanoid health promotion through arcane means, and I enjoyed her company as we do not often find ourselves in the same adventuring party. I was surprised and delighted to see that Ruthenia appeared to have very much enjoyed her time in the farming village spending time amongst nature, and even running errands.
The adventurer cleric of Horus, Tayz Dale had also joined us on our expedition. One supposes that Tayz has caused a surge in interest of the god Horus amongst the villagers of Mitten’s home having healed the entire village of their minor ailments. Not to mention Horus’s divine intervention that has evolved the brains of the McKitten’s milking cows!
There is a cautionary tale enveloped in the divine intervention of the milking cows. It would seem the extension of one’s lifespan through a magical de-maturation of one’s body, may not be something the mind can cope with well past a certain point. Where the peak of human longevity is, I do not know, and I suspect I will not be able to divinely provide a solution as my friend Tayz achieved. Nevertheless, my acquisition of a key ingredient of the Potion of Longevity and a continued supply is brilliant. I have theoretically confirmed the right quantity of silver birch bark for a vial of Longevity. Now, I must brew, and then trial, and soon, perhaps, I can undo the advancement in ageing I experienced in the Plane of Time?