what in the longdark spitting-pit is that

inourhead

"We fade in and out a lot, so if you can't figure it out by talking to us, ask. Some people are on strict schedules or wear different clothes. It's been just me the entire time so far, Crystal's spooked."

"Would you like to visit the wishing pool yourselves? I am not sure at all how it will behave with respect to cohabitors, but I solemnly swear that it never hurts anyone the first time they visit, and you get free magic."

inourhead

"...Unless it behaves weirdly about cohabitors."

"If you don't want to, that's your choice. But... Some believe that there is a god who operates through the pools. People who are kind, moral, loyal, honest, and so on, tend to get more wishes. Violent or disloyal or unstable people get fewer and are sometimes hurt if they ask for more wishes beyond their first set. I have literally never heard of someone being harmed the very first time they touch the pool. Cohabitors are strange to me, but the idea of the pool hurting someone on their first go is much stranger. I have a strong expectation that even if it behaves oddly, it will not hurt you. But again, it's always your choice and I'll shut up about it now unless you have questions."

inourhead

"If Crystal's more of a sweetie than me should she be the one touching the pool?"

"Who gets better reactions is not always consistent, it's a trend not a law, but all else being equal that would be best."

inourhead

"I guess I'll try it."

"I'll want to write your name and how many of what kind of wishes you get, for our records. Is that alright, Crystal?"

inourhead

"Okay."

She takes out a little notebook. "It's this way."

In the center of the garden is a tall building made of white stone. Taking up most of the floor space inside it is a pool of perfectly flat water barely one inch deep. The bottom of the pool is floored with colorful reflective glass tiles that glint in the sunlight, and it gets slightly deeper towards the middle.

"It's traditional to walk to the middle barefoot, then back out, but any skin contact will do. You get wishes, or don't, at the moment you are no longer touching the water."

inourhead

Crystal looks at her shoes - actually, everything she's wearing looks like it's had better days, including the mice in a cage at the bottom of their backpack, most of which are dead - and rather than fumble with the laces she bends down and puts her hand in, palm down - then picks it up again.

When she touches the water, it does not ripple or splash in the slightest, though her hand comes away wet.

There is a distinct sense of being watched that persists for several seconds after her hand leaves the water. Then it stops as suddenly as it began. Eight little colorful dots and one slightly larger circle of color, all glowing softly, appear on her left arm. They can be used in a way that is obvious and intuitive to Crystal, but not Holly. If they switch, the dots vanish and reappear when Crystal is back in front.

"Eight Favors and one Gift. Above average, but not ridiculously so. Congratulations, you have wishes."

inourhead

"What's the average?" asks Crystal, after switching back in; Holly came forward to see if she got anything.

"Nine 'points,' where a Favor is one point and a Gift is five. I'm not sure what method they used to decide a Gift is worth five Favors, though. Oh, and a Boon is fifteen. That's the three sizes: Favor, Gift, Boon, and each larger one can do bigger, more impressive wishes."

inourhead

Holly touches the water curiously.

That feeling of being watched is back again. When her hand comes away, she gets seven Favors and no Gifts.

"Holly, seven favors. Part of my job is to give advice on how to use your wishes, if you would like."

inourhead

"Sure, what can they do?"

Erin has a long list. Wishes are good at giving people knowledge, abilities, talent, and powers. She has excellent vision and knowledge of cooking from a Favor, a subtle and vague sense-of-magic from a Gift, and the ability to speak any language from a Boon, as examples. Some examples of other peoples' powers are flight, healing, extra-sensory perception, supernatural strength and coordination and balance, telekinesis...

Wishes are also good at finding things, from finding the lost treasure of King Yu, to finding the answer to a challenging intellectual problem, to finding someone you could have a happy relationship with.

inourhead

At that last suggestion, Holly snorts.

Erin looks confused for a moment, then giggles. "I'd imagine wishes would be good at finding someone you could happily cohabitate with, too. I've never tested such a thing, for obvious reasons."

inourhead

"That wasn't why I laughed. But speaking of finding people, um, before we got eaten we were with our brother and his cohabitor. And we don't know what happened to them."

"Oh... Hm. Favors can usually do single teleportations of something or someone, but you have to know where it is and where it ought to go. I think a Favor might be able to tell you where they are, but wishing for information usually results in a sort of... Dream sequence. We have special rooms set aside for it, but you might not need them."

inourhead

"And we're from really far away," Holly reminds her. "Would Favors get us home? Or them here?"

"It's unprecedented. You'd have to try it. If you make a wish that's too big, sometimes it does part of the wish, sometimes it does nothing, but the wish is used up any which way."

inourhead