In the corner of Nathaniel's room there is a small table on which there is a small burner and the makings of char. Mistress Althea busies herself making the tea while Brand sits himself down on the floor and begins to focus his mind on his breathing.

With his eyes closed, he hears someone come to the door and Daffid go outside. Daffid and the newcomer talk and then leave with the intention of trying to find the egress point to the attic.

A short time later, Mistress Althea touches Brand and hands him a small cup of ill-smelling, green-coloured tea.

"Don't worry, I'll be here the entire time," she says gesturing for him to drink.

Blowing on the tea to cool it, Brand takes a few tentative sips and begins to wonder whether smoking the weed would have been the better option as the taste is quite unpleasant.

Still, needs must, and as soon as his can he finishes the cup and hands it back.

There is no immediate effect, so he closes his eyes to see if the tea will help him meditate and hopefully aid him in leaving his body.

[[

Over the next 10 minutes the following changes occur to Brand's ability scores: His Constitution decreases by 2 and his Intelligence increases by 2

]]

Over the next ten minutes or so, Brand begins to feel both nauseous and jittery, while at the same time his thoughts begin to race. Fearing that the experiment has been a failure, he tries to relax, tries to achieve the meditative state that Nathaniel told him to aspire to.

[[Please roll a d20 with a +4 bonus.]]

6

Don't suppose it's at advantage?

Quote from AlaricBrand >>

6

Don't suppose it's at advantage?

[[No, sorry. Not with that reaction.]]

"Are you alright?" Brand hears Mistress Althea say. "You've gone very pale. Are you going to be sick?"

[[And I'm afraid that is it for me tonight. Ciao.]]

"I. Hope. Not. Perhaps I ...shouldn't have...drunk...so fast."

There is concern in her voice as she says, "Perhaps you should... Be sick, I mean."

A pot that was under Nathaniel's bed is placed into Brand's hands.

"This is my most successful variety," she continues. "I find it very relaxing, but it seems to be having the opposite effect with you. Perhaps later we could try another."

Then she adds, "But I wouldn't suggest trying the two together."

[[Does Brand want to induce vomiting to bring back up the tea?]]

"There is .... another .. . I can try?" he asks, nursing the pot.

"I have found that Jartinal Weed taken from different areas have consistent—but different—effects on me," says Mistress Althea. "I have a number of different cultivars growing in my glasshouse and am doing some experimentation in cross pollination."

Considering the bilious state of his stomach, Brand doesn't really care much that he didn't understand a lot of what was just said. Maybe later it will make more sense.

[[Does Brand want to throw up?]]

[[ Nauseous and jittery sounds bad. Throw up. ]]

Putting his finger down his throat, Brand throws up into the chamber pot Mistress Althea has given him.

"Better out than in," she says, as he continues to heave for a few moments.

The nauseous filling abates, but he still feels on edge, his thoughts racing.

"Would you like to try sleeping?" asks Mistress Althea.

[[No hurry to answer, I'm about to leave the house for a couple of hours.]]

[[ Would sleeping in his current state match any of his past lucid dreaming events? Or is he better more relaxed before he sleeps? If he thinks sleeping is the best option: ]]

"Perhaps that is the best option"

[[ Else ]]

"I might try to collect my thoughts first. If... If this relaxes you, perhaps I should try something that puts you in edge? If responses vary, that is..."

[[ End if]]

Quote from AlaricBrand >>

[[ Would sleeping in his current state match any of his past lucid dreaming events? Or is he better more relaxed before he sleeps? If he thinks sleeping is the best option: ]]

"Perhaps that is the best option"

[[ Else ]]

"I might try to collect my thoughts first. If... If this relaxes you, perhaps I should try something that puts you in edge? If responses vary, that is..."

[[ End if]]

[[Brand can remember lucid dreaming under many different circumstances—including after having too much alcohol. All he really knows is that when he does lucid dream he can generally also astral travel. I will let you decide what he wants to do based on this information.]]

[[ My reading of your comment is that it make no difference, though I'm  not precisely sure why you mention alcohol since his current state is, I think, not like being drunk  Go with the sleep version, if this  is an accurate portrayal of what you were saying.]]

[[For the record: This variant of jartinal weed (i.e., JW #1) is always likely to affect Brand's ability scores in the same way (at least as a tea). Other variants are likely to have different effects, which will also be decided randomly if he experiments with them. As to whether there are any other effects, that will have to be discovered during the course of play. And just to be clear, each individual's reaction to any variant of jartinal weed is specific to them.]]

[[Having brought up the tea he drank, the effect on Brand's ability scores has been ameliorated somewhat. His Constitution is down 1 and his Intelligence up 2, temporarily.]]

"Perhaps that is the best option," says Brand, sounding uncertain.

"Okay, lie down flat," says Mistress Althea, drawing a thin, flexible wand of willow wood from her sleeve.

Once Brand is lying comfortable, she reaches out with the tip of the wand to touch his arm. "Don't be alarmed," she says, "this won't hurt a bit."

Brand feels a sudden sensation in his arm and then there is a rush of darkness...

[[Make a d20 roll with a bonus +4]]

Praying to Venus's this time: 19

[[ Just let.me.sleep through it. I give up. ]]

Sometime later Brand wakes to the sound of two people talking, a man and a woman.

He blearily opens his eyes to see Mistress Althea talking with Master Narim, the stocky weapons master of the School of Occult Studies.

But something seems not quite right to Brand's sleepy mind. Both these two masters seem to have fuzzy golden halos.

Brand sits up and rubs his eyes, blinks a few times,  then says "Does that weed affect sight? You both have ... peculiar gold auras".

The two turn and look at you. Then Mistress Althea asks, "Have you ever been tested to see if you are an innate sorcerer?"

Brand nods, "Is this a latent skill, then?"

Then he looks to Nathaniel, "More importantly, I failed, I think. How is Nathaniel?"

"That's rare," says Mistress Althea, "but not impossible. Oh, and it's not a skill. This must be some sort of side effect of the tea."

Brand looks across at Master Nathaniel and notes that he does not have an aura like the other two. "More importantly," he says, "I failed, I think. How is Nathaniel?"

"Sleeping like a log," says Mistress Althea who goes across and places a hand on Nathaniel's forehead. "He's a bit cool though, I might go and find another blanket."

She leaves the room leaving Brand with Narim.

[[I'm not sure what contact these two have had in this timeline. I suspect they would know each other by sight, but not much more. Any idea?]]

[[ Some, yes, but not much (definitely not the "best buds" category). I need to find some old PBEM moves (from 1981!).

I think they had sparred and talked, but not at great length. IIRC, he's into wrestling and may not be the best sorceror around, but he is the flip side of the academic style that dominates the school. I think they got on better than many of the others because of the martial component to each. ]]

Brand tries to stand, then nods at Narim, before settling into a chair.

"Master Narim, these are strange times indeed,"