First contacts

One day after what Margot called "the nursery time" with the colored kids, they gave her four nuts to eat and another die, not a four-sided die, a normal six-sided one.

She didn't care too much and opened her book to keep the die when something very different appeared. The inventory had ten slots now and in the status page, four new points to use.

She couldn't put the four-sided die with the die of six sides, it went to another item slot.

She gave a look at the star of the book.

"There were six menu items now. Status, inventory, Map, Library, proficiency, and Notes."

Also a new notice: "Seven Daily Quests finished", with seven missions to increase 5% of the map, and a new daily quest. "Fill a page of the notebook."

"I wonder how many pages it's possible to write in."

She gave a look at the status and had a new pleasant surprises.

Two new bars besides healthy, HP and MP, two new sub attributes, speed 5 and toughness 5, and has more four points. "How I get that, and more importantly, how I use that? Intelligence is important, but my body is too weak."

In doubt, she felt Goosebumps and put a point in the mind, power and body attribute. Life point rose to sixth, without none visible appearance, she didn't feel anything. "Mind made my head changed at each new point."

Maybe mind work like intelligence in other roleplaying games could help her to talk better if the book had the intelligence attribute, she´s not sure would works the same way, or the first thing to be increased should be intelligence to help choose better.

"Reflex." Her hand had a better grasp and coordination, even her eyesight improved and defense rose from five to six.

There is also a glowing word in status that leads to a page with a sub-menu full of information and a hexagon polygon graphic, with a definition in each point; Defense, endurance, insight, stamina, strength, magic.

Her attributes were so low that it was almost a dot inside the figure with a small misshape pointing to mind.

She gave a look at her attributes.

The fist symbol, which represented her power, had six bars.

The start symbol, which represented her reflex, had six bars.

The shield symbol, which represented her body, had six bars.

The head symbol, which represented her mind, had six bars.

The eye symbol, which represented her spirit, had five bars.

The hearth symbol, which represented her hearth, had five bars.

The clover symbol, which represented her luck, had five bars.

She turned to another section on the book. It was a bit frustrating that the book didn't turn pages like a normal book; she had to rub the arrows of return.

Maps had a presentation page, a sub-menu and the graphics improved to something similar to a eight bits video-game, with details in the builds, rocks, furniture and things like that. She even changed from a dot a pixelated human figure.

Now rubbing the name of the locations, the book zoomed to the place. Rubbing the arrows in the corners the pages flipped showing more blank places on the map. "There was a lot of empty space to fulfill in this map."

She looked at the library and there was a page that wrote encounters with many pictures, with names under them. "Bonina, that's the name of that nice lady. Calla is the name of the old woman who healed my knee. But none of the monsters are here." She laughed that even the weird creatures appeared. "The weird chicken is an akaré."

She went to the other item.

Proficiency had two very short lists;

Physical skills with; singing and General skills with; reading, insight, investigation, nuisance, and spooky. Everything at level zero. "What the… Nuisance and spooky? What kind of proficiency is that?"

The last menu item was "notes." Now there was an option to create classifications and categories to organize her notes. "The daily mission is to fill a page, let´s start now."

In the last week, Sapoti started to watch the resurrected countess daughter. Not that she had many things to do besides watch ants carrying leaves across the patio, that day.

Margot usually was trying to get out of the playpen and grab some books and failing miserably because too weak for such a thing at that hour. Sapoti opened the door and leaned in the porch column with her arms crossed and a provocative stare, who kept for a long time watching her attempts, but now she was writing in her invisible keyboard, what was very weird to see.

"What the deal with her today?" Margot talked with Gem.

Daisy appeared with two pots of milky candy and wooden spoons to give it to them. "She's doing that again?"

"She's doing that again. Singing in that weir language looking at a point in space with a lot of concentration poke the air, like it was putting the finger in something."

"She reminds me of Uncle Walnut writing in that typewriter thing. You think she is mimicking him?"

"Maybe," Sapoti said in doubt.

"Her voice is beautiful."

"She doesn't sound like a child. You think is because of cousin Bonina chants?"

"Not sure, but I think her voice is prettier than cousin Bonina." Daisy stared for a while Margot singing. "You think she´s saying something evil?"

"No doubt. Aye aye yippee yippee must be something definitively evil."

"It´s better to not repeat, can summon something." Daisy gave her a bowl of candy. "You want me to look at them? It's all my fault after all."

"No. I´m good."

Daisy shrugged and went away.

To Margot, she was distracted singing "She'll be coming 'round the mountain" when one of the girls appeared with a bowl and a spoon, while the other one was watching her with the arms crossed. The book said that their names were "Sweet Thing" and "Tooty booty".

"What is this sweet? It's possible that is custard? Maybe it has something disgusting inside." Margot proved with the spoon. It was milk candy. Better to turn off the book and eat.

Margot saw that the girl called "Sweet Thing" was not much interested in eating and started to talk. Maybe if she had put more into intelligence a new language could appear in her head. In an old roleplaying games intelligence was related with how many languages you know.

Sapoti slowly got the candy, "You know that I know you are pretending. You should be ashamed to be in this playpen."

Margot just looked at her without any idea what Sapoti was talking about.

"Everybody is avoiding this place because of you." None reaction from the little Margot.

Margot knows that Sweet Thing wanted something. She entered in the château, walked until the bookshelf, and with a nark rose her arm and a book in an upper shelf float to her hand.

"Oxalá!" A girl of that age could do magic? And to make things better she know the best books with videos and even audio.

"Now you are paying attention." Sapoti walked closer to the playpen. Margot forgot about the candy and stand up with bugged eyes. 'You want a magic book, isn't it? That's what you always trying to pick, isn't it?"

Margot stands in the tip of the fingers with her arms stretched and an expression of agony.

"Okay! You can get it. But those magic books are much expensive." Margot got the book and opened it on the floor with a big smile. "That's the annual farm's almanac, with all the most important information of the last year and climatic previsions."

Margot touches the figures until some started to move like a short film. She became very amused.

"You like to make the figures move?" Sapoti smiled. "Is an enchantment that uses the own magic in our body. In some parts, you have recorded sounds and music's in some symbols for people who don't know how to read."

Sapoti put her finger in a symbol and rubbed making a music start. Margot started to laugh and jump, like an excited monkey.

"That's why you wanted magic books?" Sapoti giggled. "Auntie put in her head that you are looking for a magic grimoire or something like that."

Margot flipped the book starting sounds and images while talked in a weird language.

"That is the language of the dragons and demons? You can talk like people. My name is Sapoti~. She pointed at herself. "Sa-po-ti?"

Margot looked with an expression of curiosity. "Saw-pow-tee?"

"Almost that. Do you have a demon name? Your name here was Margot. Mar-go-tu!

"Perai! Esse é o meu nome?" Margot narrowed an eye and pointed to herself. 'Ma-roo-go-tee'?

"Almost that. Your name is Margaret. Margot!" Sapoti taped her chest. "You are Margot!"

"Margot!" She pointed out where Sapoti pointed and pointed back. "Sapoti?"

"Yes! You are Margot and I am Sapoti. You are getting the idea."

After a good time looking at the book she started to communicate like in a Tarzan film. "Sa-po-ti." Her name was Sapoti, and to make things better finally she learned her own name; Margot. Margaret Marigold.

"Now it´s my turn." Gem clapped. "Say Gem. Ge-mmm."

"Gem? Gem."

"She said my name."

With a serious expression, she closed the book and pointed staring with anxiety. "Livro? Como se diz livro?"

"The book? That is what you want to know? The book is a book."

"Bookee?" She pointed nervously to the shelf. 'Bookee'?

"Yes. That is a book, and they all are books."

Margot gave a silly smile and waved her hand pointing to the shelf. "Bookee?"

Sapoti sigh and then smiled at her. "Yes! Those are books. A lot of them."

They kept doing that for a good time. Later that day looking at her magic book her name was written and in the place of "Sweet Thing", now was written, "Sapoti Manikara Marigold" and under was written "Aka Sweet Thing" smaller.

The next day, Just to mess up with Margot, Sapoti changed her body, in a matter of seconds; she changed to her "venna" form, half-lamb, and half girl. Her organs changed and her bones stretched, while the inherent magic of the therianthropes also known as beast-folk quickly filled her body and in a second, she became a faun or a satyr's if you prefer.

Sapoti changed her body and turned into a fawn, with hoofs in the places of the feet's and animal features. To make things more awesome she turned into a big lamb and started to hop and bleat. Finally, she talks with her.

Margot started to connect the dots. Those people aren't fauns or satyrs. They are therianthropes who could turn into animals. There's no such thing as talking animals eating at the table, and the nice woman with the pan flute and the satyr who tried to force her to eat gongos look similar because they are the same person. That place was much more magical than she could wonder.

Sapoti was sorry when Margot was frightened for a moment, followed by an explosion of joy, and started to babbler about fauns and satyrs in her dragon tongue.

"Now you like that? What you think about my primus shape?" Sapoti changed again, now to a full lamb, and frolic around for Margot amusement.

The following days were lazy and pleasant. Other people in the manor keep avoiding the little girl. Sapoti saw that her baby behavior was not just an act. All those years lay down sick left her body weak and fragile. She barely had strength enough to crawl across the room until the bookshelf.

The fear of Beast-folk in their intermediary and animal form disappeared and the relation them improved a lot, they even started to sleep together. They started to hang around together like a hand and glove.

Every day they went to see Lady Bonina and explore a new place in the manor. After the ritual, she changed to her form of an antelope and never more changed back.

With time, Margot started to increase her vocabulary and wander around but had fear of everything. Soon Margot was saying the names of many animals and objects.

"Those are akarés they lay eggs and eat akekes (A kind of scorpions). There was nothing to fear." Sapoti complained that the girl who had to carry in her back could be dangerous. "How someone could think you will be a dark lord or dark lady?"

Because of Sapoti, the other residents of the manor slowly lost their fear of the girl.