( Per 0 + awareness 2 + _: 1D10 = [6] = 6 for total 8, 9 if speciality of alertness helps. I will spend a confidence point if I need to so Pavo sees what's happening)
Maia Per 1 +SS 2 + 1 spec + _: 1D10 = [9] = 9 = 13 vs 9, done!
Maia Pre 0 + Led 0 + 3 WoM (this is for the grogs, perhaps they are mountain-dwellers?) + _: 1D10 = [2] = 2 = 2 or 5 vs 12, not even close either way. She is not a leader, that's for sure!
[tab][/tab]-[tab][/tab] Tomb Group 7
[tab][/tab] It is quite cumbersome swimming with a rope tied to ones waist but Pavo manages it. Contrary to most other fellow magi, he has retained some the strength and athleticism of his youth to manage a dive into the cold waters. He sees precious little even though its day. Sunlight streams into the pool but is quickly lost into its depths, Pavo can murkily see some green and deep blue. Above he spies the water's surface and from the direction of the waterfall, some kind of dancing lights above the surface, tiny things like fireflies twinkling in his blurred and distorted vision. Despite his fascination with that curious phenomenon, Pavo becomes aware of a presence bellow him. He turns and spies what looks like the young female he spied before, clothed only in her hair and pale flesh, swimming up. She stops hesitantly two meters below him and he can she her smile, a pleasing row of perfectly pearl teeth. This underwater vision extends her hand to him...[20 seconds underwater]
[tab][/tab] Meanwhile Maia is being avoided by the rest of her group, clearly agitated. She has a mind of talking to them but just then she again spies something weird on the pond. There is a slight mist forming on the area near the waterfall, and in it several foggy lights seem to have appeared (this mist only covers the quarter of the pond farthest from the shores and directly under the waterfall...
Pavo swims up to the surface to investigate the strange dancing lights. While the maiden below is tempting, he remembers Maia's warning and decides not to push his endurance underwater.
The friendliest brush off possible. She just wants to inspect her new comb.
What's the aura of the covenant again?
Okay Raven will use fatigueless spontaneous magic to inspect the thing. She starts with (Sta(2)+Vim(7)+In(1)+Aura(5))/5=15/5=3.
First she'll cast a touch range, Diameter vis detection on the comb. That's a level 3 spell. If it doesn't have any vis in it, she'll start detecting 8th magnitude effects on the item at touch range. (That's InVi 3). She'll cycle through magic/faerie/divine/infernal. She'll also ask Digger what he was going for.
[Ok, right off the bat: Detecting Infernal taint is almost impossible with Hermetic magic, and Demons straight out can evade such detection. You will need someone with sense holiness/unholiness for such work. Faery magic can be detected in such a way. Divine...I will require some kind of prior knowledge for this, say someone has taught you a specific way to detect the Divine or the character has a virtue/flaw that is tied directly to the Divine, or maybe second sight.]
[tab][/tab]-[tab][/tab] Town group (back at the covenant)
[tab][/tab] Raven in possession of the comb tries a quick research with magical means on it. Despite her efforts though it is clear that is item has no magic nor any form of vis stored in it. Her attempts on detecting other Realm magic yield nothing too. Finally in frustration she talks with Digger about the comb, the familiar is quite interested in it, constantly sniffing it. It detects something old, very very old. When pressed to explain it grows frustrated saying it has hints of sun and dragon and sacrifice.
[tab][/tab] It is clear that Raven needs to find someone more sensitive to such things to research this, and/or someone to actually restore the comb to a more presentable form...
[tab][/tab]-[tab][/tab] Tomb Group 7
[tab][/tab] As Pavo turns from the depths to go to the surface he feels a sudden jerk and pull. The maiden has caught his ankle with a surprisingly strong grip, a small pout on her pearly lips, her hair floating up in clumps around him. She seems a bit displeased that Pavo is ignoring her, but still not threatening in any way...[what is Maia and Pavo going to do?]
Pavo decides he doesn't want to risk drowning, and decides to escape her grip by turning into a peacock. In a heartbeat, he shrinks into a much smaller size and immediately starts thrashing his tiny legs and wings in order to surface as quickly as possible. Luckily, the hollow bones of a bird and the fat reserves of a peacock means he should be quite buoyant.
Maia had described her actions in PM:
•she moves slowly towards the little beings and the cave entrance, in a wholly non-threatening manner, and will greet them in Classical Greek. However, she is distracted, as she can no longer perceive Pavo, and her thoughts are always on him.
[tab][/tab]-[tab][/tab] Tomb Group 8
[tab][/tab] Pavo concentrates for a brief moment and then triggers his transformation, as natural as breathing. In a flash he turns into a magnificent peacock, surprising the woman in the water into shock, and floats up to the surface. Even big birds are light and hollow boned: however the young greek did not consider that now the peacocks feather are thoroughly drenched, even though they keep him afloat. It is very difficult to swim, him not being a duck or a gull. He helplessly flaps around on the surface, throwing water into the air in frantic splashes.
[tab][/tab] On the beach Maia is slowly approaching the waterfall and the skating fairies. The frozen pond does not look safe at all, thus she needs to move around it. A few steps later she suddenly feels someone grab her arm from behind and stop her. One of her company's grogs has snatched and stopped her, a worried expression on his face. Moreover Maia just lost her 'vision' of winter and ice, everything turning back to 'normal'.
]tab][/tab]'Begging your pardon, mistress... but there is a huge bird drowning in the pool where Master vanished' the grog points out in a voice filled with panicked undertones while he points...
Startled, Maia goes What do you mean, what bird? Beholding Pavo's Heartbeast for the first time, probably all bedraggled and wet. Oh!
<OOC Doubt Maia knows for certain this is Pavo, although she does have Order Of Hermes Lore and Pavo etymology appears to be Greek in origin, so this wouldn't be at all hard to figure outOOC>
What about the rope you tied to Pavo, where is he?!
She rushes to the edge of the pool were the Magus went in, how far in is the peacock?
She will speak to the creature with Animal Ken, gently but urgently. Pavo?! Calm down, we will get you out!
Maia will risk the pool foolishly if it appears that the Magus is floundering, although she will grab the rope so that the grogs can pull them out.
Raven will tell the other members of the covenant the results, but as of right now she's going to place it on the back burner and return to her regularly scheduled seasonal activities. Hopefully the covenant has somewhere safe the comb can be placed in the meantime.
Pavo will try and grab the rope with his beak if possible. Otherwise, he will try and calm down (maybe Int+ Concentration?) so he doesn't splash so badly.
[tab][/tab]-[tab][/tab] Covenant
[tab][/tab] What exactly does Raven tell people and to whom exactly and when? What does she do with the comb? I don't think the Covenant has yet a common treasury or even a chest where such things can be kept (though Anastaj keesp the monies somewhere safe in his sanctum it seems).
[tab][/tab]-[tab][/tab] Tomb Group 9
[tab][/tab] After some hassle, a wet and bedraggled peacock is pulled out of the pond. It is a miserable sight. The ripples sent out by the splashing bird seem to have dispersed whatever mist was coalescing and Maia cannot see anything more (not the lights nor the woman in the pond).
Maia Oh, the magic is gone! Then staring at the peacock in wonder Or is it? There's a fire, it may aid you to regain your bearings she says in Animal Ken speech. She will stare vigilantly at the pool, in case the thing of muck decides to reclaim its prize.
The peacock strides over to the fire with as much of its dignity as it can keep. He puffs up his feathers and tries to shake the damp out.
Pavo considers replying to Maia, then remembers he hasn't cast the spell to allow him to use his human voice. He feels the magic rise through his chest as he attempts to cast The Voice of the Bjornaer Magus
While he's thinking about it, he decides to increase his sanguine nature and with a surprisingly human cry (that sounds like hermetic Muto magic to those familiar with it) casts Form of the Sanguine Heartbeast
When the peacock has dried off, he will try and find a place to surreptitiously turn back into Pavo's human form.
(Spellcasting: Mu 6 + An 6 + Sta 1, for a base of 13 + aura. Both of these spells have mastery 1 in still casting. First spell is MuAn 15 , with a -10 penalty for casting with no voice, roll _: 1D10 = [10] = 10, oh damn, does this count as unstressed (in which case I'm OK), or a stressful situation in which case I need to know how many botch dice?)
[I would have to say un-stressful: despite the ordeal, Pavo is cozy near the fire with quite a few people around him and no threats. Pavo does his spells and then turns back to his usual self (and puts on some clothes). The pond is serene and no supernatural things appear. What do you do next?]
From Core,
Once Maia fawns a bit over Pavo, she will try and recover her composure. She will speak privately to him, earnestly "Pavo, I saw...another place, near the edge of the pond, while you were flopping in there. It was deep winter, the water was frozen, and tiny figures skated on the ice. Frolicking. Don't think I've used that word before! And there was a cave and columns, beyond. But when ya came out, it vanished, and I cannot see it anymore. Now more sardonic, but curious What happened, between you and the Lady of the Pond, ya King of the Britons, now?
After speaking with Pavo, she will keep an eye out, hoping to catch another glimmer of the wondrous things she glimpsed previously. She's Nocturnal, so will stay awake most of the night, catch some sleep at dawn, and then be grumpy during the day.
I suppose she'll tell the other magi. She'll keep the comb in her room. Preferably folded in some sort of cloth and placed in a box so its protected. She'll consult her husband on that.