Chronomancy Part 3b: Hermione

My sister was trained for this.

It was always expected that Willow would be the survivor - the mother of the next generation of witches, taking us ever closer to the birth of Grannie. (My family is weird. We'll get to it).

Turns out, she was just a very clever little girl. And unfortunately for her - for me, too, really - I'm even more clever still. Her attempts to fool everyone, even the timeline, into thinking she was the one, were almost entirely successful. But I was close to Uncle Gandalf before he died, and he showed me the magic innate in music. I even followed him for a while, though I'm more a rock chick than a symphonic gal. We had talked often about how to recognise when a note is off key, and something about Willow just always struck me as off kilter.

It wasn't her powers. She was a witch alright, at least as talented as I was. It was more that she was always getting the worst of luck - as if providence had set itself against her personally. One night while she was snatching a Van Gogh for her criminal bosses, I engaged in a little theft of my own. I found the journals, and - well, she already told you. Long story short, I'm the real heir, which means I'm on the hook now for kids. I have a lot of reading to catch up on; Dad always spent more time with Willow, understandably enough, and while my treacherous sister is sufficiently contrite that she's relating what she knows, I am forced to subject all her information to a certain amount of scrutiny.

Last time I'd noted that because of the time frame, I was switching heirs. I very rarely do this - the heir is almost always the first born legal child - but it's important to be flexible.

The Art Appraisal careers cannot be recommended; the hours are short, and at least in my case, there are often no bosses around for the higher levels, so you can't Ask for Promotion. But in fairness, I am certainly still in "hard mode" here - witch lifespan, no Education, no Science/Gamer - so I have no Ambitious Sims and no Work from Home ability. In better conditions, they're probably fine.

Tara was a lot of help there, though. You can't con a con-woman, as they say, and she's the best of the best. A little subterfuge on her behalf and now the mob has lost our address - we can finally start to think about savings. It's true we've invested in several businesses around down, but there's nothing like money in the bank.

Week 21, Day 6, Criminal lifted. Err... "yay"? The money is largely irrelevant and I can't do anything significant with beds until I lift Paranormal. But I guess it had to get lifted some time. Tara has 21k to go until she's 150 (she got The Tinkerer earlier), with about 7500 locked - so we'll see how this goes.

We always thought Willow was intended to be the one that brought in the next generation, but since it's me, I didn't have a lot of time to waste. I wasn't getting any younger. The only thing I knew about Jeromy from Amy was that he was under 40 - and frankly, that was really all that I cared about. I'm sorry kids - it's not that I didn't come to care for your father, but the luxury of a long courtship just wasn't something we could afford.

Week 22, Day 1. Because even with Hermione, it's cutting things fine. She'll get the lift in 2 more days, leaving her with 8 days until she is an elder. Enough for two pregnancies, but not with a lot of spare time - I didn't want to be mucking around romancing the beau, I wanted to be able to get her pregnant the day before she lifts. Of course Jeromy already had a partner, but I've never considered that any sort of barrier in an Apocalypse Challenge (and you shouldn't either).

This pushes the time to 5 days for the clear, thanks to the day off, but the math still works - I get her pregnant on the Thursday, she clears on the Friday before the baby bump, has the kids on Sunday and gets pregnant again in time for another try.

Jerome is a bit of a prize- he has 2 days until he's an adult, and he's Clumsy, Excitable, Neurotic, Over-Emotional, Workaholic (so not that bad). He also has Athletics 2 (I trained him a few hours the previous day), Handiness 4, Painting 2, Writing 3. The LTW is Renaissance Sim, which he can surely get, but it won't count. As soon as he's officially missed work, I have him quit as per Master Thief rules and roll for a job: a 3! Jackpot! I get him Education and never look back. All he needs are the bookshop career, Athletics stuff (which I'd get anyway), and the Writing stuff. I get him a job in the bookshop career immediately and then hit the treadmill.

While I did appreciate Willow's attempts at redemption - her contacts with art fences allowed us to bring considerable pressure on the council, with the consequent of some much laxer labour laws - I just didn't feel I could ever really trust her. When she mentioned that her contacts had offered her some lucrative career opportunities elsewhere, I packed her bags for her and encouraged her to pursue them. She got the hint.

Amy's contribution was less important - it's nice that we get further relaxation in the building codes, and it's very nice that we can finally start to purchase luxury goods now that her art appraisals have given our community some possibly of exports - but those restrictions were not felt particularly heavily. On the other hand, she never falsified Grannie's journals either, so she can certainly stay for a while.

Week 22, Day 4, Master Thief and Architect both lifted. Willow immediately moves out. Amy, however, has 141k in LTR points and a decent chance at making 150k, so for the moment, she can stay.

Uncle Gandalf was right. There is magic in music, and while he figured out some of the tricks, in the hands of a true witch there is real power here. I feel much like Grannie did, when she spread the message of hope; I have reinforced that message now, and people are no longer solely focussed on survival. Within weeks, we have toys, fashions, and even hair styles.

And I am spending most of this exciting new time with my head over the toilet, because Jeromy and I are pregnant. We're using all the fertility magic that I know - which is considerable - as well as the tuning frequency that Grannie mentioned in her journals. Fortunately I'm in great shape because I'm not sure I would survive it otherwise. I wish Tara had stayed, but there was little left for her here - she'd always been close with Willow, and never really got over the fact that I took over, regardless of the circumstances.

Week 22, Day 6, Entertainment is lifted. Hermione is about 15 hours or so pregnant, with 5 days to go until she is an elder. Both she and Jeromy have Fertility Treatment; she will now be subject to the kids channel until she gives birth (since I can do that, with infinite workouts).

It's time to take stock again. I want triplets, and there are only 2 free slots. Amy is on 147k, Dumbledore is on 149k, and Tara is on 140k. So unfortunately, Tara has to move out here, and the other two really need to kick it into high gear too.

There are times I wish I'd never uncovered Willow's forgery. Grannie's journals were very clear, but that didn't make consigning my brother to a watery grave any easier.

Week 22, Day 7, drowning tombstone.

Nor did I find it easy to fool my sister into speaking the death spell, with the knowledge that the lack of ambient mana and her lack of innate ability would cause it to backfire.

But these events had to happen - in a sense, had already happened. Grannie's journals are very clear, and she would know.

Grannie is a closed loop. She is the serpent that eats its own tail - both ancestor and descendant. If things do not transpire as she directs, then she may never exist, and then we may never exist. We know this, because this is not the first version of the loop.

It makes little sense to talk of "before" and "after" with timelines, but I have no better words. There was a society that merged technology and magic. It flourished. And from the fusion emerged a new kind of technomagick called Chronomancy. Time travel.

There were attempts to build devices to allow this, but they only ever seemed to work in the presence of certain features of the environment; this environment, the gods decreed, did not contain those features. Magic was needed, and magic was used.

And the apocalypse was the result.

It could not simply be averted. It had happened. To avert it would cause a paradox. Only an elite team called the Timeless had an answer - to create their own paradox. Not to avert the apocalypse, but to lessen its severity and duration.

The ouroboros. Grannie. Poledra Sorcerous, the first and - in the new timeline - the only Chronomancer.

Would my siblings have died had she not decreed? Did her decree cause those deaths, or merely describe them? Is free will at all meaningful? I must dance to the orders of my forebear and my descendant, and I cannot escape the chains that bind me.

Later the same day, ranting tombstone.

And how do I know this, when my father did not?

I know because Morgana knows. Morgana - despite lacking any innate magical power - rediscovered alchemy. While of limited direct use - the toxic ash would not support the crops we'd need to make potions - she gave me just enough hints, and just enough stolen materials, that between us we were able to unlock the remaining safeguards on my ancestor's notes.

My magic powers were now at their peak. I ended the zombie plague with but a word.

I realise I keep calling Grannie my descendant. I guess it's because the better word is hard for me to accept.

Week 23, Day 1, Paranormal lifted. I still want her LTW, but she's going to have to hurry. She's got Writing 10, and about Painting 9.5.

With both Military and Paranormal lifted, I change the lunar cycle to be permanently at "first quarter". No more zombies.

But I had better start referring to her as my daughter.

Morgana had given me so much. But she was fated to give me one thing more.

And now the circle completes! I have 6 restrictions remaining including Alien Technology, and Jeromy is already working on Education. Meaning of course that he won't finish it in time for it to be useful, but there's always Midlife Crisis. With 1 days to go until she is an elder, Hermione is pregnant once more.

Both Saruman and Poledra are witches, but technically I don't actually need an heir here, since with fertility treatment + constant Kids channel I cannot really fail to get at least twins, and that will be all I need.

Destiny is a cruel mistress, and Morgana's death by starvation was perhaps the unkindest cut of all.

Week 23, Day 5, Starving ghost achieved.

And now that Poledra is born, all my future children have the spark. If ever there was a child of destiny, she is it - I will endeavour to love all of my children equally, of course, but Poledra - well, how many of us can say that they raised their own grandmother?

Week 23, Day 6, 3 more kiddies. That means I have a spare, so I might as well go for one of the optionals. All three of these are witches.

As this is now the last generation, this makes a good point to switch off. Tune in next time for the exciting - well, tolerable - conclusion!

Chronomancy Part 3: Willow

Daddies gone.

Mummie sayed he had to go to run the sittee. It is just my sisters now. Oh, and my bruther Dumbledore.

Uncle Gandalf is funnie. He drools all the time and forgets to go to the toylet.

When last we met, I'd just moved out Merlin and left everyone in the care of his wife Faith and uncle Gandalf (who, as an elder, is uncontrollable). There are 3 children and 3 toddlers (2 sets of triplets).

I'm, like, thirteen. The big one-three. And it's a Willow world, now and forevs.

I have the magic, so I'm the big girl on campus. Well, actuals, that's pretty wrong - since we ain't got no campus for me to be the big girl on. And Mumsey-o is always busting my balls over it, too - like, how are we s'posed to go school when there's no school to go to? Parentals, amiright?

Being a witch means you gotta have a kickin' bod. You gotta do all the cardio, especially since mostly we just eat the muffins that we made as kids and stored in our wicked cool freezer. You get that? Wicked cool? That's like a pun. I'll be here all week, please try the veal, don't forget to tip your waitress.

When we're not burning carbs, we're learning how to talk to boys. Well, girls too, I guess, but mostly boys. I mean, it's gross, but I have to get married and raise a new family after my sisters and Dumbie scat, so I have to know how to convince the cute boys to hit on me.

I should probably mention. Uncle Gandalf died, or whatever. I didn't really know him; he stayed in this little shed we have out the back, with the door boarded up from the outside. My witchey senses tell me he's dead now though. Blah blah, what a tragedy, etc.

Week 16, Day 1, the first set of triplets are now teens. I have had Gandalf "locked up" for some time now, feeding him occasionally, but there's no further need to keep him alive.

Amy is Absent-Minded, Athletic, Coward (a very annoying trait), and No Sense of Humour (this is not so bad; she can still tell jokes, she just doesn't like hearing them). She has Logic 2, Painting 2, Writing 6.

Tara is Angler (useless but harmless), Charismatic, Good, and Insane (also harmless). A lot of "bad" traits are actually fine with Free Will Off. She has Athletics 3, Logic 5, Painting 4, Writing 1.

Willow is Athletic, Easily Impressed, Inappropriate, Loner (not ideal, but tolerable). She has Logic 6, Painting 3.

Then Mum stole a whole bunch of stuff from the coroner's office. We had some notes that Aunty Eph made on how to make the old dudes and dudettes, like, normal. Ish. I mean, still old - ugh - but not drooley. We just didn't have the gear. Took Mumsey years to get close enough to the coroner to swipe it, but it's the absolute business. We all shot it up hard core, even I might be old someday and I want my noggin' working or whatevs, etc.

I got really tired of Mum though. always harshing my mellow with all this, "Why aren't you in school?" stuff. "Because they won't let us go, Mum," didn't seem to cut it. Total dragilicious.

Week 17, Day 3, Forensics lifted. (Apologies for the screen shot, I got a bit too quick with the close popup so I had to snap it with the job level in view). 1 day to go until she becomes an elder, so good timing. Brave is apparently a trait that really helps this job; despite her somewhat average metrics (especially the last few levels) she never took longer than 2 days to get promoted.

Of course, she's of absolutely no use to me now (50k LTR points, no way she's getting 100k more in 14 days), but unfortunately you can't move out and leave only teens. I don't really fancy another ghost, so I have to put up with her for another 5 days until my first lot of teens are YAs. I guess she can cook or something.

There's a trick that you may find useful. If you have a scolder, try putting them in a room just before 0900, and remove all the doors. They'll still stomp on everyone's queue, but they won't actually be able to reach the person they're trying to scold, so there is no relationship change or moodlet.

Annnddd finally they let us out of the house. Eighteen baby, the world's on fire and I'm totally holding the match.

There's all this bogus magic around, and it totally shonks your noggin. So, like, now Amy, a long time painter, can barely to stand to look at an easel. Tara, who rarely wears anything other than underwear, now wears that even in the shower. And speaking of, even the thought of water makes me queasy, and us with that big indoor pool. It's like random chaos magic altering our minds and our bodies. It's totally despicalicious.

So, the Anti-Apocalypse-Council ("Rebuilding A Better Tomorrow From The Ashes, Corpses, And Zombies of the Past") shoves us through graduation at City Hall. Since we all failed - morons think it's funny to fail us even though there's no school for teens - we get assigned menial tasks.

Both Amy and me get unpaid internships for the creepy mayor's art collector. I think he'd have a better appreciation for art if he could lift his eyes off my chest level once in a while - ugh. I poison his coffee just a little each day, and I've noticed Amy "improving" some of the art a bit with crayons.

Tara gets assigned to work with an "independent technological and sociological extrapolation expert", but we just call her a fortune teller. It's a huge scam, and she tells us that the mob is completely running the show. We totally want a piece of that sweet action. I told Mum to get a place closer to the scene, so she could keep us informed - but truths, I just was utterly sick of the sight of her. If there's any scolding teens to be done, I reckon I can totes handle it.

Here goes nothing, I suppose.

Amy is Absent-Minded, Athletic, Can't Stand Art, Coward, and No Sense of Humour. For the irony, I pick her LTW as Super Popular. She has Athletics 10, Charisma 1, Logic 6, Painting 6, Writing 6.

Tara is Angler, Charismatic, Insane, Good, and Never Nude (so, all up not too bad). She has the LTW The Tinkerer, with Athletics 10, Charisma 2, Handiness 5 (a lot of dishwasher and shower repairs), Logic 9, Painting 5, Writing 3.

Willow is Athletic, Easily Impressed, Hydrophobic, Inappropriate, and Loner. As the heir, I set her LTW to Surrounded by Family. She has Athletics 10, Charisma 2, Handiness 1, Logic 8, Painting 5, Writing 2.

It is immediately Graduation Day, which finally works in my favour, as the teens do not get scolded for a day off. As I've lifted Military, I opt to use the "roll and walk" method to get a job. For Amy, I roll 2 (ugh) and pick Architect. That's going to require some preparation first, so I get her started on the Kicky Bag.

Tara rolls and gets... a 2. She must therefore take Criminal, and takes a job in the Fortune Teller career.

Willow rolls and gets... 5. I've cleared Culinary, Forensics, and Symphonic, so I roll again. This time I get a 6, so I'm "forced" to take Master Thief. Now we're talking. That, too, will take some preparation via Kicky Bag.

During the course of this, Amy got an opportunity to teach a painting class at the school. This single opportunity netted her 27 friends and her LTW. Really!

So now the rug rats think they're cool cats. Not so much.

Dumbie decides to apply for journalism. The council decides that he can be a snitch for the local cops instead. I bet that's why I got in trouble from Mum for skipping school so much - I've always thought he looked shifty.

Hermaphro thinks she can make a difference as a scientist. Instead, they make her a groupie for a local band. Or, what, a fan, whatevs - ugh, is that what groupie means? Gross gross gross - she's, like my sister, how could you even go there?

Morgie decides that she's best placed as a communications expert - she's a published author and artist, after all. The council, in their infinite wisdom, decides that we can never have too many independent future predictors. Both Hermione and Morgana have to race to impress their respective employers, as the council lost their paperwork.

Or burned it, more like. Don't think I don't know what that smoke was. I'm watching you.

Week 18, Day 7, and now I'm teenless.

Dumbledore is Brave, Kleptomaniac, Loner, Mean Spirited, and Natural Cook with a LTW of Swimming in Cash. His skills are Athletics 10, Charisma 2, Logic 1, Painting 9. I roll 6, which is a reroll (I have cleared Business and Politics, and am clearing Master Thief). Next roll is 5, which is also a reroll (as would be a 2). The next two are 5 and then 4. I decide, after some thought, to go with Espionage - mainly because he's Brave and I've established with Faith that this makes a big difference in Law Enforcement progression.

Hermione is Coward, Easily Impressed, Hates the Outdoors, Heavy Sleeper, Insane, with LTW of Living in the Lap of Luxury. Her skills are Athletics 10, Charisma 1, Logic 9, Writing 4; her rolls are 6, 6, 5, 1, which means she takes Entertainment.via Rock Star. Fortunately she already has a wish locked to learn guitar (my policy is lock anything unless it's illegal - can always cancel it if I fill the wants up).

Morgana is Absent-Minded, Brave, Great Kisser, Insane, Slob, with a LTW of Illustrious Author. She has the skills Athletics 10, Charisma 2, Logic 2, Painting 8, Writing 7. She rolls 2 and then 4. Journalism is tempting, of course, but I already have pretty good control with my rolls, so I go for Paranormal via the Mystic path.

Of course, I get hit with an immediate graduation day. The plus side, it's a Sunday, so Dumbledore was fine, but Hermione and Morgana weren't. With Military lifted, though, I can invite over anyone; I have Morgana invite her boss over and make friends, and then have Hermione do the same.

And then Monday rolls around and it becomes clear that Dumbledore is getting a day off too, but it's a Monday - a little war dialling and he's fine.

Dumbie brought home a whole pile of dirt on the council. Literally - he dragged the council home and put a pile of dirt on them. He's not, like, the brightest - but it totally did the trick, and they dished all the goss on the town. We set up some index cards, and we know who are the hotties and who are the notties. There's even some talk about getting us passes to the one remaining air strip.

This was totally cool, but being a sneaky art thief was totally harsh. I got too close too many times to getting iced, so I had to have lots of time lying low. And they started to get more and more suss, since from one day to the next I never knew who my boss was, and for a year or more now I haven't even seen a boss - I just get told the jobs to do.

It's bogus. Dad and Grannie wanted me to be the one that continued the line, but I caught Hermione reading Gran's journals last night. Busted!

And then she showed me what she'd found.

"The third heir shall be Willow" seemed unambiguous enough, right? It's just too bad, then, that she found it out.

I guess it's time to fess up.

"Into every generation, an heir is born. All other children of this generation shall follow their lead, and obey them without question." That's how it is with us witches. It's how it has always been.

And I thought, at a pretty early age, that you could bugger that for a game of soldiers, it had knobs on.

I stole some paper, and I stole some magic ink. I have a guy, it's how I got the art thief job later. Always handy to know people.

Even as a child I was an expert forger, and nobody ever noticed that I'd written over the journal. Except Hermione did.

"The third, Hermione, shall be followed."

I guess I'm busted, but Hermit was surprisingly cool with it. I'd better let her take it from here.

Week 21, Day 3 - and I closed the pop up - but Dumbledore has just lifted Espionage.

It is at this point we take stock.

• Amy is at level 8 of Art Appraiser (for Architect), with 9 days until she is an elder.
• Willow is at level 7 of Act Acquisition (for Master Thief), with 9 days to go. She is the heir, and this is a nasty position to be in. I need at least 4 days to have any chance of two sets of triplets, and my most optimistic estimate is that she will take 8 days to clear.
• Tara is at level 9 of Scam Artist (for Criminal), with 9 days to go until she is an elder.
• Dumbledore has just cleared. He is at 15 days to elder, with 122k LTR points and 5500 locked; there's a decent chance of platinum here.
• Hermione is at level 8 Rock Star (for Entertainment), with 15 days until she is an elder.I might clear this in 5 days, or it might take 7. She is also a witch.
• Morgana is at level 7 in Mystic (for Paranormal); the lack of any ability to raise Alchemy other than at work will make this a bit slower than ideal, but it does raise fairly quickly at work. Say, 7 days or maybe 9 at the outside.

There's basically no chance that Willow will ever make it in time to have more than 1 pregnancy, and I could easily fail to even get that many. I could abandon her career, but Master Thief is not the sort of thing you abandon lightly. Instead, I declare Hermione the heir instead - it will be close, but she can almost certainly breed multiple times to fill the household.