You notice that Father Luc seems a bit displeased. He tries to keep it away from his face, but the tone of his voice betray him, despite the butchering that happens while parsing from High to Low German.
(OOC: I thought about it, but decided against doing the butchering myself, to avoid the case where I fail to pass information to you because I wrote something the wrong way. Just assume that everything takes longer to convey... But don't let this stop yourself from writing however you want, I like to read it! )
"Of course, of course! Our little parish church isn't holy enough for great scholars..."
Realizing his fault, he quickly adds "but the Lord said, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Where, doesn't matter. As long as my flock is under the care of a shepherd, I'm happy.” He finishes with a smile.
"May I know what is your destination today? A few people have ties in Basel and have just left in that direction, you can still reach them if you go quickly." You get the feeling that it is more than just curiosity that drives the priest's question.
Marcus frowns, then remembers that he is speaking to a priest and switches to Latin
"We are learned men, we can speak better in the language of scholars."
He thinks for a second
"There is a cave which is said to be a site of miracles, not ten miles away. Curiosity and wanting to see the miraculous are drawing us to see if we can witness god's hand directly"
"You are very right! It's rare for me to speak in Latin when not reading the Scriptures, so I almost forgot."
"About your destination..." He seems to hesitate for a few moments before going on. "Well, more often than what I would like, the people of Châtillon go around chasing miracles and holy places. Their devotion is laudable... but sometimes misguided. A wise scholar, leading by example, would help to guide these poor souls in the correct direction."
Father Luc has no reply to that. He looks from Marcus to Edwardo, and back to Marcus... and you can clearly see him deflating just a tiny bit.
"Well, I shouldn't stand between you and your journey. I hope that Mary, with her merciful gaze, may guide you there and bring you back safely. And as always, the doors of our church remain open! I'd like to see you more around here!"
By the end of his phrase he is again looking at Edwardo. He steps aside to let you pass, trying to keep his smile, but his eyes are darting around, You suspect that he is trying to discover who from the village was watching the conversation and might need a reminder about the proper place to pray on Assumption Day.
Wolfgang seemed distracted when Marcus asked, reading a letter at the breakfast table that had been left at his place by one of the servants, he gave a non-committal grunt that Marcus took as denial.
So it may be something of a surprise when he comes hustling up, plain robe raised a bit so he can move faster, showing that beneath he has heavy boots and chainmail leggings. He comes up to the group, huffing to catch his breath. Bowing his head slightly in a polite nod to Father Luc, he says in High German, "Good day, father." Then in Latin, "Sorry, Marcus. I made the mistake of trying to ride... I thought you were, too. It didn't end well." He rubs his ribs with a rueful smile.
[OOC Note: Wolfgang is devout enough to take Mass every Sunday. If there isn't a chapel in the covenant (not sure) he makes his way to the village, and there is probably a generous space around him because nobody wants to sit too close.]
"I do. The first time I tried to ride... It ended badly"
He turns to the priest
"When on pilgrimage, it is more seemly to walk as well, isn't it?"
"Anyway, now our band of pilgrims are assembled, perhaps we should be on our way" he says, trying to disentangle them from the priest and his complaints
You see the smile fade from the face of Luc as Wolfgang approaches, before returning in an (even more) forced manner.
The priest unconsciously steps back and greets him (OOC: I think even if the covenant has a chapel it shouldn't have a chaplain, at least for now?), but upon realizing that Wolfgang is joining Marcus instead of heading to the church he leaves.
You leave Châtillon behind you, reaching Curtetele, and from there west. Surprising no one people seem to avoid you on the road. A few groups pass by you now and them, some of them weary after a long travel. They watch carefully as you distance yourselves.
It should take a couple more hours to reach the cave.
(OOC: Feel free to get the conversation going through the next two hours. I'll need a few hours myself before posting again. ^^)
"so, about horses" Marcus starts as soon as the magi are alone
"If you were to enchant an item with creo animal and vim, maybe some Rego, it should be possible to summon docile animals which can be ridden by the gifted but that disappear at nightfall. It might be a helpful way to travel without the expenses of keeping actual horses".
Edwardo chimes in in broken Latin
"It would mean you could keep horse soldiers secretly too. All the punch, no angry nobles"
You go ahead discussing magical horses as the sun rises in the sky, and after a bit less than two hours you bend south. The mountains, left and right of you, rise almost 300 meters as you go up river. Finally you reach the point described in Leonardus notes: an entrance in the face of the mountain to the right, 6 or 7 meters high and maybe four times as wide.
As you approach you can barely see that there are few dozen people already inside, but they stay close to the entrance. You hear someone with a high pitched voice preaching.
(OOC: I probably don't need to say, but the link leads to a modern picture of the place. There is no fence nor crucifix at the entrance.)
Wolfgang nods, and speaks in whisper-soft Latin. "I can, but I don't think it's a good idea to start waving my hands around and speaking in Latin around these pilgrims." He looks around purposefully, pointing into the woods, and speaks a little louder, "Let me go and see to necessary business, I'll join you shortly."
He walks off into the woods, and actually does as he said he would, then wanders far enough so he won't be seen or heard, and casts a spell. He returns, quietly, and rejoins his companions. He nods at Marcus, and lets the other magus lead them into the cave.
InVi 10 Base 1 (sense vis) +4 sight +1 concentration (or sun if he rolls high enough to cast a 15th level spell)
There isn't any woods close by, but you can easily go back a few hundred meters and get away from prying eyes and ears.
After successfully casting with Sun duration you go back and navigate the people at the entrance. It's not so full that you can't enter, and they distance themselves a bit (with a frown) when you go inside. The cave is about 30 meters deep, but no one approaches the final 10 meters or so. The morning light barely illuminates it, and a few candles at the back help to illuminate the place.
Under this dim light you see a priest, maybe 160cm tall, a wide nose, a wide face. He is the one with the high pitch, and anyone with a some knowledge of the Holy Book (and Latin) recognizes that he is reading the Gospel of Luke, at the part when Gabriel appears before Mary.
At the end of the cave, a bit to the right of you, there is a stalagmite. Water drips slowly from it, and Wolfgang can see the shine of vis in each drop, and in the pound below.
The priest is besides the pool. A few feet to the left of him there is a young clerk, and a table with bread and what is likely a jug of wine.
Besides you there is an old man, 40 and some years, a strong smell in his clothes. He seems clearly displeased with Wolfgang's presence, but Marcus notes that once in a while he seems to give an annoyed look at the priest... This could be a mistake, however.
Wolfgang watches the sermon quietly, trying to disturb the crowd as little as he can. He doesn't want to do anything to give away the vis in front of all these people, so his plan is to just listen and wait.
The mass goes on, and as far as you can tell it's pretty standard. As you observe, you notice that the people closer to the priest and the fountain are generally better dressed than the ones who are further back.
Wolfgang, after a few minutes you realize that the water flow has changed... no, not the flow itself, but the shine of vis on it. It's getting weaker with each minute, and you estimate that in no more than one hour it will have completely faded. This doesn't seem to have any relation with the sermon, and no one has gone nearby the pond in the mean time, not even the priest.
The pond itself is still shining as brightly as when you entered, and this has given no signal of subsiding. (I should add that due to your sigil the shine ripples through the water in regularly spaced, concentric circles.)
After a few more minutes the priest ends his sermon. Changing to German he starts talking about St. Colombe, who prayed to Mary for help on that same cave, on that same day, so many centuries ago, and had her faith rewarded. Judging by the movement of the surrounding people (almost all have made themselves more comfortable in some way) it looks like he is going to keep at this for a while.
)