1206 Spring - Something Unexpected

Ok. I thought that might be the case, given the nightmare I just woke up from...

"You are not alone, Varius. I'm here with you now. Tell me about your hometown. What was it like?"

(OOC: Regulus is not really trying to get information anymore, just making Varius focus on something else and relax while the time goes on. He will also take the chance to push for 10 extra minutes to recover all fatigue. Varius either is already dead or is now magical, either way 10 minutes are not going to hurt him.)

1 Like

After fully rested (and back to Winded) Regulus will feel around for a loose rock in which to spont a Sun duration light (no more concentration trouble), with the highest magnitude he can manage.

First he casts a non-fatiguing InVi spell to discern Realm and strength of the current aura, if any (Base 2 aura lvl + 1 touch,+1 for extra info (Realm) for a lvl 4 spell). His InVi total is 22, amounting 4.25 for his spont.

"Varius, I will try to reach you, but I tire easily. Please, be patient."

Fatiguing CrIg with Sun duration at the rock. (CrIg 3 + Sta 1 + Aura ? + roll 5)/2. As long as there is a magic aura he gets a candlelight (and he won't get more than that w/o an aura of 11).

He will then wait another 10 minutes before throwing the rock down the slope, so that he can see where he is going.

Finally, a spont CrTe to create stairs (I'm thinking base 1, +1 touch, +2 sun, +1 intrincacy?, final level 5?).

Casting total: (CrTe 8 + Sta 1 + Aura ? + roll 4)/2 = 6.5 + Aura/2.

Assuming the spell succeeds, he will rest another 10 minutes and then descend carefully.

As Regulus waits and rests, he starts to realize that it is cool in the cave. Wearing only his nightclothes, it is in fact quite uncomfortable. Not enough for him to be freezing, but he is cold. That drags out the time it takes for him to recover enough for further magic, but without any way to tell time it is impossible to know by how much.

Varius speaks about his home town, on the coast of Sardinia. Its port and fishermen, the summer markets, the girl he met during his last shore leave. At times, his voice is strained by pain. At one point, Regulus wakes up with a start, realizing that he has drifted off. Varius is silent. When the magus calls out, Varius responds after a few moments, apologizing for having drifted off himself.

(There is a magical aura of 6 here.)

The rock illuminates the tunnel a little bit. It will still be risky coming down, but it appears feasable. Regulus only wishes he has footwear and a pair of pants. Or even better, a rope.

Alas, comfort shall wait... Maybe I need to learn a spell to cast clothes someday.

Regulus goes down. To anyone capable of seeying in the dark he seems to float, descending an invisible staircase in front of the stone one he just conjured. (OOC: let me know if I should roll anything.)

Upon arriving at the bottom of the stairs he will pick up the shining stone from the ground and look around, examining the environment.

"Varius? Here I am."

(I don't think those parameters work. CrTe base 1 allows you to create sand, dirt, mud or clay. To make stairs you need to create stone, which is base 3. That would allow you to create a cubic pace's worth of stone. And it would create an actual staircase, not an invisible one.

I think you'd be better off using ReTe to shape the ground into a more easily traversed surface (essentially craft magic). Base 2 to shape dirt like a craftsman would, +1 for stone, +1 Touch, +1 Part. A day's worth of work done in a moment. That's level 5. You just need a Per + Finesse roll of 6.)

(I will assume that's what Regulus did instead of the CrTe spell. I rolled for you, Per 3 + Finesse 0 + die 5.)

A short distance into the tunnel, maybe five paces further in, Regulus find Varius lying on the ground, his back leaning against the wall. Much to his surprise, Varius appears to be real and alive, though unconscious. He is wearing a short tunic and what looks like a leather breastplate, as well as sandals. A short cloak has been torn into bandages to try and staunch the blood from his badly broken upper leg.

OOC discussion ahead:

That's because Regulus' image is displaced (I think I did not make that clear). Either way it will seem like he is stepping somewhat off. ; ]

Wait, can he simply reshape a stone floor with Rego w/o Muto? Assuming Muto is required, he wouldn't even try, given his current score. (This kind of thing is the reason I have a pet peeve with Rego Craft. There are many processes that can't be reasonably attributed to Rego only.)

My original thought was to create a staircase of compacted dirt, but I should have waited to validate the idea first. I'll do so next time.

Back to the scene: if CrTe would work with stone but without an added requisite for intrincacy then Regulus would do so, spending a Confidence point to reach a casting total of 22 before division. Is that reasonable?

(CrTe would be base 3, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, and need an added magnitude for Size, since 1 cubic pace of stone is not enough for a staircase solic enough to bear his weigh. So Level 15.)

(Whereas the ReTe craft spell simulates the work of a stonemason. He's not actually molding the stone, he's chipping it as if under the tools of a mason, carving out steps out of the stone. Muto isn't required for that.)

Forgot there is a reduction in size when going to stone. You are very much correct.

Using ReTe to sculpt rock is too close to Perdo for my personal taste, but ok. It makes sense, at the moment.


Minor question before going on: the candlelight from the rock has no penetration (as I was going for the highest possible baseline... unless the unnused levels go automatically to Pen (which I assume they don't, and even if yes, it would be Pen 2)). Given that, is the light capable of illuminating Varius?

(In other words, is the light blocked by MR?)

Regulus can see Varius just fine. Leave it at that. :sunglasses:

:eyes:


Regulus will approach Varius and, without waking him up, try to discern his general health (as in Physician's Eye) with non-fatiguing spontaneous magic (his casting total is InCo 21 + Sta 1 + aura 6 = 28, enough for a lvl 5 spell). The Per + Medicine roll (in case it's necessary) was a 0. Rolled 4 dice for botch (since Regulus has no training in Medicine): 2 | 5 | 1 | 7 (no botch), so his total is 3 (his perception).

Fighting the urge to throw up that comes with the spellcasting he will take a few deep breaths and take a look at the tunnel, trying to see how much further it goes and to discern if there is any sound, draft, smell, anything that would indicate what to expect from there.

The man severely hurt and will die soon if is wound is not treated. His femur is broken and he has lost a significant amount of blood.

Not much can be learned about where the tunnel might lead. There is, perhaps, just a bit more moisture in the air.

Regulus will spont Bind Wounds to ensure the man won't die when they start moving. (Cr 3 + Co 6 + Sta 1 + Aura 6 + loud voice 1 + roll 9)/2 = 13

A bit more tired, after the dizziness subsides, Regulus shakes the soldier.

"Varius, wake up. I'm here for you. Let's bring you out of this cave."

The spell stabilizes the wound. Unfortunately, the broken femur means Regulus will have to find a way to carry him.

Varius opens his eyes, his gaze confused.

OOC: unless something happens that impedes that I'm always assuming Regulus waits about 10 minutes before sponting again to recover from fatigue loss.


In a certain way, Varius confusion benefits Regulus. After resting he will try to pick Varius up (attributing any confusion or discomfort regarding his actual position not matching the tactile feedback to shock and blood loss) and slowly make his way back to where he came. Not willing to trust himself to drag the man upstairs, he begins to say a few arcane words.

I'm pushing my luck too far.

Regulus spont's a ReCo spell to slowly move Varius up (Base 4, +1 Touch, +1 Conc). His casting total is 26 (Re 5 + Co 6 + Sta 1 + Aura 6 + loud voice 1 + roll 7). After puting the man safely at te top of the stairs, as far away from the edge as he can manage, he will grab his "candlestone" from the ground and go upstairs.

From then on, Regulus starts his way through the room he first awoke in, in the direction of the tunnel he seems to have taken to arrive there. He will look for any clues or tracks he might have left behind, trying to make his way back through the same path.

(It just came to me. I wonder whether Regulus can make Bold Gestures with a missing hand, that he should probably suffer from the -3 penalty, since the flaw states that "activities normally requiring both hands are at a penalty of –3 or greater." He also has Subtle Magic, which allow him to cast spells without gestures at no penalty. Bold Gestures would give +1, but Missing Hand gives -3. So he'd still be at -2, which is worse for him than casting without gestures.)

(I'm at the office tomorrow, so won't be able to post. Back on Tuesday to conclude the story.)

1 Like

Where I wrote Bold, it should be Exagerated. I'll fix that.

Humm... I understand you need only one hand to cast. If Missing Hand imposed any penalty to casting, it would be stated. See the No Hands major flaw (imposes a -5 to all spellcasting, which is exactly the penalty for casting with no gestures, and can, understandably, be offset by Subtle Magic).

(Way back when, in 3rd edition, there was a page with the hand gestures for each Technique and Form. To make both gestures you need both hands. So my understanding has always been that you need both hand to fully form both gestures. Thus, using a single hand would impose the -3 penalty to "activities that require both hands." I thought that was at least partly the reason you picked Subtle Magic.)

Not quite. It just made sense in my mind that someone with a missing hand would pick up the habit of avoiding gestures at all while casting, even if there is no direct penalty.

But it makes sense to me that casting with one hand only is harder (I was actually surprised when noticing there was no penalty), and I have no problem with adopting this. Should probably make it's way to the houserules, however, to make it easier to reference in the future.

EDIT: note however that requiring both hands should have further implications. One would be troubled, for example, to cast spells while holding his talisman (unless it's clarified that a talisman can be held w/o impacting spellcasting). The same is valid for vis and a few other situations. Not sure how 3rd ed dealt with that (or if it was just brushed aside).

Changed Regulus' previous actions to consider loud voice. No Gestures is also assumed, but this is mitigated by his Subtle Magic.



Regulus makes his way back slowly, both due to Varius' weight and to make sure he doesn't get lost. He tries to make some small talk to keep both himself and Varius awake.

(Sorry for the delay)

Regulus carries Varius through the tunnels, with his rock's feeble illumination lighting the way. It is a tiresome process, requiring rest along the way. Each time they rest, despite the previous application of Bind Wounds, Varius appears weaker than before.

Hope grow in Regulus as they come into a cave the looks familiar. A final rest, perhaps, before they get to help. Regulus is tempted to leave Varius a few minutes to fetch additional help, but before he can make a decision Varius speaks.

"Thank you, friend, for giving me hope and not leaving me to die alone in the dark. I wish I had a chance to see the land of my father again." He pauses, his breathing shallow and weak, "Can you do me one last favor? Should I die, could you bring my ashes back to my village, so that I can join my ancestors? Up on the crest, above the harbor, beneath the olive trees. The house where my son was born."