As your vision adapts to your new surroundings and you look around the cluttered room, your stomach drops.
//Oh no.//
You've ended up in a witch's house. Of course. Things were going too well for you; you needed something to humble your pride, apparently.
What's worse, you can hear footsteps approaching. You're absolutely certain you didn't make any noise, but maybe they have some kind of magical monitoring system...or maybe they're a night owl...or maybe they're up to get a midnight snack...
This is definitely going to be a learning experience. But before you can learn from it, you have to //leave//.
Do you really want to leave without taking anything, though? That's always an option, but...you //are// a thief by profession. Taking things is the whole point. You don't have time to examine anything, but you're sure you have the opportunity to grab one item.
But what? Luckily, you have a lot of options. There's a ton of stuff just laying around, ready for quick purloining.
[[Take a stack of papers.]]
[[Take a small potion.]]
[[Take a medium-sized potion.]]
[[Take a large potion.]]
[[Take an amulet.]]
[[Take a book.->Take a thin book.]]
[[Go big or go home. Take the cauldron.->Take the cauldron]]
[[Nothing. Just leave.]]You hate leaving a job empty-handed, but dammit, you are *not* going to risk dying or getting turned into a frog or whatever this witch would do when they discover part of their stash missing. Nope. Not at all.
As quickly as you can, (link:"you slink out of the room.")[you slink out of the room, hoping that you didn't leave any signs of your presence, and if you did, they are dismissed as perhaps a breeze or a trick of the eyes.
It's not your ideal outcome to the night, but it's better than dying. And since you didn't take anything, you have less to fear if you're confronted now. Still, you take a different path now rather than using the one you initially took to get here.
[[And then you trip.->Nothing 2]]]A slight cool breeze hits the few exposed portions of your face as you slowly slink your way through a neighborhood, searching for a new mark. You're familiar enough with the layout of the place that there's no chance you'll get lost, although you couldn't say much about any of the people who live here.
All things considered, things are going extremely well so far. You've successfully slipped past the guards who would have been patrolling this area and have yet to encounter any unfortunate pedestrians or general do-gooders.
Soon, you figure out which home you want to try tonight. You can't help but feel a small surge of pride when you're able to silently open a window at the side of the house and sneak in with nary a trace.
[[You take stock of the situation.->Hub]]You decide that, of all the small trinkets and potions and general “things which can fit in one hand" in the room, you will take...the cauldron...
It's not a particularly large cauldron, but what it lacks in relative size it (link-reveal:"more than makes up for in heft.")[
As in, you can't pick it up.
You were expecting taking it to be a bit difficult, but not like this. It's not bolted to the table or anything, you can actually rock the cauldron from side to side, but it can't seem to be lifted at all.
[[And, strangely, the room has lit up.->Cauldron 2]]]In a panic, you grab a random stack of papers laying near your hand. Could they be potion recipes? Magical treatises? Secret documents? Who knows! All you know is that you //do not// have the time to figure it out right now.
Even though you're in a hurry, you try to make sure that none of the papers end up too crumpled up, just in case. It's a bit of a struggle, but you're able to leave the way you came without being stopped or spotted.
When you're a safe distance away from the house, you take out the stack and begin to read the front page.
(box:"X")+(b4r:"solid")+(b4r-colour:black)+(text-colour:black)+(bg:#f1f1cf)+(font:"Ms Madi")+(size:2)[Dearest Margaret,
It has been such a short time since we last met with one another, yet it feels like it has been such an intolerably long, lonely slog without you. I long to once again hear your sweet voice whispering such lovely affections into my ear, and to feel your elegant hands brush gently against my]
You [[stop reading the letter.->Papers 2]]The narrow potion bottle you instinctually grab is truly tiny; not even big enough to span your palm. You're able to easily stick it in a pocket inside your cloak as you reopen the window you came in through.
You safely leave the house, but as you're running away, you notice something (link:"extremely odd.")[extremely odd:
Your chest is beginning to heat up.
[[Right where you put the potion.->Small Potion 2]]]You pick up a wide-bottomed potion that fits satisfyingly in the palm of your hand. While only having one hand truly available does limit your abilities a bit, you've become adept in the art of opening windows one-handed, so getting out doesn't pose much of a problem for you.
After climbing back out through the window and re-closing it, you take a glance at the potion as you leave the area. It has (link:"a tag label attached to it with twine.")[a tag label attached to it with twine:
(box:"X===")+(b4r:"solid")+(b4r-colour:black)+(corner-radius:4, 16, 16, 4)+(text-colour:black)+(bg:#f1f1cf)+(font:"Zeyada")+(size:2)[Drink Me]
...huh?
[[Didn't you read a book like this once?->Medium Potion 2]]]The potion you grab is, to put it briefly, //gigantic//. You have to cradle it in one arm instead of being able to hold it in a hand or stick it in a pocket or pouch. It makes it a bit awkward to leave, since you can only use one hand and the position inhibits your mobility a bit.
But this doesn't stop you, and soon (link-reveal:"you and the massive potion make your escape.")[
Under the moonlight, you can now see that the liquid in the potion bottle is very light in color, and somewhat cloudy. You can't tell exactly what color it is—your night vision isn't //that// good—and even if you could, [[you'd have no idea what it does.->Large Potion 2]]]You move on to the next page and find more of the same.
And on the third page...well, you can guess.
Unfortunately, they're all like this. It turns out that you picked up a stack of love letters. You can't help but feel as if you've violated this witch's privacy. All you wanted was to get something you could sell, not a front-row seat to this stranger's love life.
//Oh, dammit//, you think.
You need to go and give these back. They're not useful to you at all. If you keep them or throw them away, you're just going to feel awkward about it forever.
Sufficiently annoyed, you stand up and set out to do the unthinkable: (link-reveal: "Return an item that you have stolen.")[
''Ending #1 - Too Much Information'']You take a few moments to move someplace you're pretty sure will be safe for you to stop. As you do, the temperature only continues to increase. And you don't know if it's a trick of the mind, but it seems to be heating up even faster...
When you take the potion out, it's so hot that you nearly drop it immediately. Under the moonlight, the liquid inside is red and bubbling.
...you don't think it was doing that inside the house. Was it? You weren't exactly paying attention.
Regardless of whether it was like this earlier, it's like this now, and you think this thing is burning your hands. Your body reacts instinctively, throwing the tiny bottle.
It explodes when it hits the ground.
A tree is set ablaze, and the fire quickly spreads to a nearby building. (link-reveal:"You aren't going to stay here long enough to see what happens next.")[
''Ending #2 - Additionally, Arson'']You take a pendant with a large gemstone attached and very quickly place it around your own neck, hiding it under your shirt. You have to admit that of all the things you could have taken, it's definitely the most convenient to move around with.
As a result, you're able to escape as easily as if you'd taken nothing at all.
(link-reveal:"You encounter no other obstacles along the way.")[ If you're completely honest, it actually feels kind of suspicious how smoothly this is going for you.
Not that thieves are known for their honesty.
It isn't long until [[you get to your own dwelling.->Amulet 2]]]Your legs collapse under you and cause you to fall and roll.
And roll, and roll, and roll, because you've fallen down the face of a steep hill. You didn't realize you had gotten so close to it, and all you can think about is how much you regret it. You're receiving a //lot// of bruising.
The last thing you're conscious of is (link-reveal:"a large rock approaching your head too fast for you to dodge.")[
''Ending #8 - No Crime Doesn't Pay'']You suddenly have a really, really bad feeling about this.
Recklessness was what got you into this situation, and a part of you really does want to take the potion and drink it just to see what happens...but you think that drinking strange potions is probably over the line even for you.
What if it shrinks you? Then you won't be able to steal anything; everything would be too large for you to hold. What if it turns you into a giant? Then you wouldn't be able to get into people's houses. What if it's a poison trap? (link-reveal:"You don't want to die.")[
''Ending #3 - Thief in Practicalityland'']You grab a thin, well-worn book from off the nearby table and leave through the window, only slightly inhibited by only having one hand available. In quick time, you're able to get far away from the house, easily evading the few guards that would have been in your way.
Soon you reach an out-of-the-way area where you can easily see by moonlight. (link-reveal:"You take the book out in order to look at it.")[
It appears to be something closer to a journal than a printed volume. On the cover is written:
(box:"=X=")+(align:"=><=")+(b4r:"solid")+(b4r-colour:black)+(corner-radius:16, 16, 16, 16)+(text-colour:black)+(bg:#f1f1cf)+(font:"Zeyada")+(size:2)[Margaret's Notes]
[[Well, that seems straightforward enough.->Thin Book 2]]]You hear a noise that sounds like someone clearing their throat.
As you realize that you're still standing directly outside the window you left through, the next few moments seem to pass by in an eternity. You slowly turn around to see a short-haired person with a tired expression looking directly at you from behind the glass.
“I was under the impression that thieves were supposed to //leave// after taking stuff," they say.
“Um, well, I did. Technically."
“‘Technically' doesn't help you out here much, does it?"
“Not really."
“That potion increases the drinker's resistence to fire, in case you're wondering. Also turns your tongue white as a fun side effect."
“You don't sound very mad that I took it."
“You don't seem competent enough to be mad at."
(link-reveal:"Ouch.")[
''Ending #4 - Maybe You Should Have Tried Drinking It'']“Is there something I can help you with?"
“No, I'm just—uh, wait..."
You turn around and realize that you're now face-to-face with, presumably, the witch who lives here. They have short, dark hair, are wearing a nightrobe, and are very obviously not amused about the intrusion. The light you noticed comes from a small, magical mote floating above their shoulder.
“You're just what?" they ask.
“I'm just...leaving. Yeah."
“Are you," they reply, unimpressed. “And how did you get in here in the first place?"
“Um, I was...very, very...//very// drunk. Yeah."
“But you're sober now?"
“It's, uh, a miracle, yeah."
They sigh in irritation. “Look, I'm too busy tomorrow to deal with this. I know you came here to steal stuff, but you haven't actually taken anything. If you leave now and never come back, I'll pretend none of this ever happened. Alright?"
(link-reveal:"“...Yeah, that works.\"")[
''Ending #7 - The Black Cauldron'']You move to take off the amulet so you can examine it more closely.
It won't come off. It's stuck to your skin.
What you can see while it's attached to you is that the amulet has a silver chain with a large rectangular purple gem—amethyst?—in the pendant. And that gem is emanating...some sort of energy?
You suddenly realize that you put on a cursed amulet.
“Well done for figuring that out," a voice tells you. It's not your own voice, but it seems to be inside your own head.
You snap to attention, and in front of you stands a demon. With violet skin and large, dramatic horns, the demon is the last thing you expected to see in your home.
“You're not Margaret," the demon hisses out. “Do you know what I do to people who try to hurt Margaret?"
“I didn't—"
The demon ignores you. (link-reveal:"\“This is going to be so fun for me. Perhaps a bit less so for you.\"")[
''Ending #5 - Forever Cursed'']You open the notebook to find...well, you're not sure.
It seems to be a complete mishmash of stuff. Old to-do lists, lists of ingredients without accompanying recipe instructions, random doodles.
Most of this doesn't seem like it would be very useful to you.
It's also not especially interesting, as someone who doesn't know much about magic other than that it's weird and dangerous.
You're about to close the book and consider it a wash when you stop on a particular page. The illustration on it is much larger and more detailed than the scribbles elsewhere in the notes, some sort of strange geometrical construct, and below it are seemingly nonsense words you don't recognize but clearly with the same handwriting as the rest of it.
You quietly sound out the words as your eyes move across the line.
When you finish, a bright light overtakes your vision. When it disappears and you can see again, you realize that you're...back in the witch's house?
The witch is directly in front of you, their gaze boring into yours. (link-reveal:"They are //not// happy.")[
''Ending #6 - Knowledge Is Power'']
↶↷A slight cool breeze hits the few exposed portions of your face as you slowly slink your way through a neighborhood, searching for a new mark. You're familiar enough with the layout of the place that there's no chance you'll get lost, although you couldn't say much about any of the people who live here.
All things considered, things are going extremely well so far. You've successfully slipped past the guards who would have been patrolling this area and have yet to encounter any unfortunate pedestrians or general do-gooders.
Soon, you figure out which home you want to try tonight. You can't help but feel a small surge of pride when you're able to silently open a window at the side of the house and sneak in with nary a trace.
You take stock of the situation.