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[Glass]

I just want to check, it's literally just a bluejay?
(I don't particularly care which option we pick here.)

[Enemy post]

Pretty much, yeah. Although it was made with vivomancy, and that school is known for unexpected consequences.

[Glass]

Fair enough.

[King Zultan]

3 Be free you beautiful horse!

[brewer bob]

3

Be free you beautiful horse!

May you fill the wilds with little horsies!

[Knightwing64]

3

Mate and destroy the ecosystem with this newfound animal!

[Enemy post]

Wild horses.

You repeat the same process for a second creature of the opposite sex. It's easier the second time around. (Gained Vivomancy.)

Then, after ensuring the two creatures like each other—like, like like each other—you let both free in the Mild Woods…and wait. It may take a while to see any change in the woods, but you're playing the long game, and the endgame of that long game is filled with horses.

You're so involved in your magical pursuits that you don't really think to call on your parents.

So they decide to come to you. You recognize the drumroll-like knock of your father on the storm doors of your apartment.

Your father greets you with a hug when you open the door. "Foo!" He's a construction worker, but he's always been more physically demonstrative than you would expect from someone in his profession. The hug gets some sawdust on you. "You didn't even say hello! We weren't sure whether some great drake was munching on you like a big turkey leg!"

"Rude," your mother sniffs in not-quite-agreement. She opens her arms expectantly: the convention, she would tell you, is that the child is supposed to hug the parent. You do; you always do, even when she's at her most judgmental. You proceed to get sawdust on her frilly, shabby dress, which she wipes off with a tsk-tsk.

Your father looks around at your place. "You've got some new stuff in here! So many books…my child is going to be the smartest in the kingdom at this rate!"

"He's always been a clever child," your mother says in quiet satisfaction.

You're a bit old to be called a child—old enough to have children of your own, really—but you don't take the conversation down that well-worn path.

The real question is: are you going to tell your parents that you can cast spells now? Your parents are usually a bit traditional, and you've maintained peace with them so far only by not revealing the extent of your infatuation with magic, which is entirely forbidden.

1.Pretend my finds were purely of historical interest.
2.Admit to learning magic, but act like it isn't a big deal.
3.Solemnly explain that I have great power now, and things will necessarily change.

Spoiler: Stats (click to show/hide)

Foo Orison

Appearance

A bookish, spectacled man wearing a shimmering cloak and a noble duelist's uniform.

Magic
  Negation:5
  Automation:3
  Glamor:0
  Divination:1
  Vivomancy:8

Skills
Ancient History: 2 (Decent)
Fighting: 1 (Bad)
Subtlety: 3 (Decent)
Charisma: 3 (Decent)

Personality
Optimism:50%/Caution:50%   
Humor:56%/Solemnity:44%   
Empathy:34%/Calculation:66%   

Relationships
Romances (Interested romantically, but not sexually, in men and women)
None

Tal: 55 (Good)
Church: 40 (Bad)
Undiscovered relationships: 4

Kingdom
Adoration: 50%/Vilification: 50%

Inventory
Gold: 100 gold
Sword
Alchemy Set
Flying Serving Tray
Torc of Life and Death
Clutch of Dragon Eggs
Golem Manual

Students
None

Pets
None

The Dead
The Academy Inquisitor

Plot Points

Chapter 1

You and Tal stumbled on an ancient magic academy.
You discovered a book of vivomancy, and an inquisitor chased you.
You found an ancient dueling ground.
You killed the inquisitor with negation magic.
You explored the academy library.
A divination revealed a potential ally in the form of a golem, so you took a manual on the operation of golems from the library.
You animated a serving tray to retrieve an alchemy set, but in the process, you released some dangerous chemicals.
You found a laboratory with a trapped specter.
You destroyed the specter.
You obtained a clutch of dragon eggs from the crow's nest of an ancient airship.
It became clear that the spilled chemicals were going to consume the whole academy.

Chapter 2

You flew up the coast of the Negative Sea back to Akriton.
You created two horses and freed them in the woods.

[Yellow Pixel]

1

[brewer bob]

1

They don't need to know about my powers.

[Knightwing64]

3

[Maximum Spin]

1

I have nothing but contempt for the phenomenon of people being contemptuous of their parents.

[Enemy post]

They belong in a living room museum!

"I'm still looking for real magic, though," you say, your voice quivering slightly since you're unused to lying to your parents. "I found a lot of interesting things in this last expedition, but I'll never be a wizard at this rate."

"Well, perhaps that's for the best," your mother says, patting you on the shoulder. "The Church inquisitors do sometimes come around, even here."

"Maybe you could just become an auctioneer," your father suggests. "You have enough cr—enough items," he corrects himself. "Auction items—whatever the fancy word for them is."

"'Lots,' dear," your mother says, ever attempting to expand your father's vocabulary.

"Yeah, lots," your father agrees. "Lots and lots."

"Of lots," your mother says, unsure whether her lesson stuck.

"Lots of lots," your father says, now clearly lost but trying to meet your mother's standards.

"I'll think about it," you say, to get the conversation back on the trail. "As a first step, I am going to sell a few things at market tomorrow."

"Oh, could you pick up some eggs for me?" your mother asks.

"Yeah, and I broke my measuring stick yesterday, can't pick one up myself 'cause I work all day," your father says.

And so it goes. Honestly, your parents can't really imagine you as a powerful wizard, regardless of how proud of you they are, so they're all too willing to believe your fib. You tell yourself this is for the best, even though perhaps you would have found it a relief to be able to share your secret with them. (Increased Caution.) (Increased Calculation.)

After your parents leave, you decide it's high time you visited the market to sell the random artifacts you don't intend to keep.

Colorful flags of different trading companies flutter in a strong wind above the market square, which is bustling with activity this morning. Though Akriton is fundamentally a small town, it happens to be the only town for many miles on the north–south road that is closest to the Negative Sea on the eastern border. A fair number of traders bearing mundane goods such as grains, dyes, and cloth therefore stop in Akriton, as do monster hunters and treasure hunters offering hard-to-appraise finds from nearby ruins. The merchants mostly trade from impermanent tents open at one side, but some wander through the crowd and act as their own auctioneers: "Who will give me fifty, fifty for a silver ring from the time of the ancients? Fiftyfiftyfifty thank you fifty-five-fifty-five-fifty-five I have fifty-five…" The air is sweet with the smells of cinnamon and curry spices from the south, and stinky cheese from the north.

A copper, haystack-like lump in the center of the market was once a tree sculpture in ancient times, but it was melted centuries ago by a roaming dragon's breath. It was always said to be good luck, and one of Mayor Cos's projects is to fundraise to restore the tree.

You think selling magical items won't cause trouble for you this far from the capital; many traders out here near the Negative Sea don't ask too many questions. At any rate, possessing magical artifacts is considered a far lesser sin than the casting of spells.

What will you buy or sell at the market? (You have 100 gold.)

(I've reorganized this a bit in the interest of time.)

Selling options:
1.Sell all but one of the clutch of dragon eggs for 350 gold.
2.Sell the whole clutch of eggs for 500 gold.
3.Sell the flying serving tray for 600 gold.
4.Sell my alchemy set for 400 gold.

Buying options:
1.Buy some fine clothing suitable for a noble. (150 gold.)
2.Buy an all-black outfit suitable for sneaking around. (175 gold.)
3.Buy a good set of chain armor. (350 gold.)
4.Buy a rare old history book called Via Verita Abraxas, or "True Life of Abraxas," for 300 gold.
5.Buy an old tonic that the seller claims helps with a variety of maladies. (300 gold.)
6.Buy ingredients for a potion to improve my negation magic for 350 gold. (Requires alchemy set.)
7.Buy ingredients for a potion to improve my glamor for 300 gold. (Requires alchemy set.)
8.Buy a set of fine tools and spare parts for automation. (400 gold.)
9.Donate 1 to 500 gold to restore the copper tree sculpture at the center of the marketplace.
10.Buy one of those big turkey legs I always see people around here eating. (5 gold.)
11.Visit Seer Marie, the fortune-teller, for 25 gold.
12.Browse some hats.

Alternatively:
I think my business at the market is done.

Spoiler: Stats (click to show/hide)

Foo Orison

Appearance

A bookish, spectacled man wearing a shimmering cloak and a noble duelist's uniform.

Magic
  Negation:5
  Automation:3
  Glamor:0
  Divination:1
  Vivomancy:8

Skills
Ancient History: 2 (Decent)
Fighting: 1 (Bad)
Subtlety: 3 (Decent)
Charisma: 3 (Decent)

Personality
Optimism:48%/Caution:52%   
Humor:56%/Solemnity:44%   
Empathy:33%/Calculation:67%   

Relationships
Romances (Interested romantically, but not sexually, in men and women)
None

Tal: 55 (Good)
Church: 40 (Bad)
Undiscovered relationships: 4

Kingdom
Adoration: 50%/Vilification: 50%

Inventory
Gold: 100 gold
Sword
Alchemy Set
Flying Serving Tray
Torc of Life and Death
Clutch of Dragon Eggs
Golem Manual

Students
None

Pets
None

The Dead
The Academy Inquisitor

Plot Points

Chapter 1

You and Tal stumbled on an ancient magic academy.
You discovered a book of vivomancy, and an inquisitor chased you.
You found an ancient dueling ground.
You killed the inquisitor with negation magic.
You explored the academy library.
A divination revealed a potential ally in the form of a golem, so you took a manual on the operation of golems from the library.
You animated a serving tray to retrieve an alchemy set, but in the process, you released some dangerous chemicals.
You found a laboratory with a trapped specter.
You destroyed the specter.
You obtained a clutch of dragon eggs from the crow's nest of an ancient airship.
It became clear that the spilled chemicals were going to consume the whole academy.

Chapter 2


You flew up the coast of the Negative Sea back to Akriton.
You created two horses and freed them in the woods.
You made your parents think your finds in the academy were purely of historical interest.

[Knightwing64]

Buying option
4

We NEED this. Trust me

[Glass]

A. We only have 100 gold. If we’re getting anything more expensive than that (which is about everything), then what are we selling?

B. Knightwing, please stop declaring stuff based only on knowing things from playing the game before. If you can give a reason not based on that information, then fine, but otherwise, please stop. Frankly, you’ve already seen one case where your information turned out to be wrong, so don’t presume that just because you have the prior knowledge means that it will be accurate to this playthrough.
I will admit that in this case, the book seems more potentially interesting than the other options, but this behavior is still out of line.

Anyway, in addition to whatever else we end up doing, I want to browse hats. Hats are good.

[Enemy post]

And to add on to what Glass said, I'm gonna stop counting your votes if you keep giving spoilers.