((well, seeing as how Laetitia was going to check out the cottage, I assumed pretty close.))
Wilhelm points Vincent out to the magi. [color=green]"That is Vincent, the shepherd. He is the one whose family was attacked by the wolves and brought us out here. I will go get him."
He then goes over to Vincent and asks if we can talk to him for a short while (in French, with a score of 2). If so, he will bring him back to the cottage.
[color=green]"Vincent, this is Alexei and Laetitia. They are magi. Have you seen the magus Fieltarn lately?"
He shakes his head, "No. Not since the wolves went away." Willhelm knows that Vincent did not see Fieltarn transform or head into the ruin with the wolf waiting with him.
Alexei smiles at the man with a warm friendly expression. "My good man, we thank you for your answers. We are also glad that Herr Fieltarn was able to help. Did he perhaps leave anything behind? Any of his gear or effects? Anything really might be helpful."
((I think Wilhelm picked these up, if he didn't say it then, I'm saying he did now.))
"No, I think your boy here," indicating Wilhelm, " took care of that.
Prodding this...in case it isn't obvious Vincent and his family aren't terribly helpful in this regard. And it's not like they could be helpful, they wish to be, if only to get rid of the annoying magi.
Alexei noticably avoids touching the personal effects of Fieltarn. "M'Lady, perhaps this will get us the next step to where Fieltarn is? I have no particular spells for finding someone via their connections, but I would think you do? I'm also of course concerned of the legality of it."
((Wilhelm has shown no qualms about handling Fieltarn's stuff, including pulling it out of the bag to show them what's in there, unless someone stops him. He has no Magic Theory, and has no real reason I know of not to handle the items normally.))
She will shake out the clothes for any hairs, and cast The Whole from the Part, so she has an idea who she's looking for. (mastered/can't botch, does not need to penetrate)
She gets an image of Fieltarn (I'm saying that they met at Tribunal) from one of the hairs. Casting it again on the clothes also gives an image of Fieltarn, so it's safe to say that the targeting of Inexorable Search should be fine[1]. And no, it's very tough to tell if it is a penetration issue or unable to acquire the target.
[1] When using these as an AC for the spell, only.
tWftP wouldn't be confounded by the person it belongs to being on the opposite side of a regio, for the same reason that it doesn't need to penetrate. The spell targets the Corpus material to get an image of the body it came from; it doesn't target the individual owner via Arcane Connection. (If the owner is deceased, in a regio, or has a 15 Parma, it'll still show you an image of him/her.) So I'm going to pretend you didn't tell me that L still has no idea if her Inexorable Search didn't work because of Penetration issues or because he's on the other side of a regio boundary.
She will suggest waiting until nightfall and casting Inexorable Search again. Without the wolf pack potentially to guide her in, she has no way to enter the regio. Deficient Muto-- zero chance at being able to transform into a four-legged creature. She'd tell Alexei that if he can transform himself she can try to guide him through the entrance, but if it only allows in beasts she can't get in.
(Sorry I can't get IC for this post, I am working late for the fourth time this week. And not even doung anything-- I have to wait two more hours for a restriction enzyme digestion and then another hour for a gel to run. So I'll be here til 8 (and I got here at 7:30) but I have maybe five minutes of actual work to do. Fracking frackity frack.)
I think we're agreeing about tWftP. You get an image of who the AC belongs to, that's it. It doesn't help with knowing whether Inexorable Search works or not. Another reason it might not work: you have no map.
When I had her say "I'll need a map" I assumed someone proffered one; failing that she would have asked one of the grogs who knows the area to sketch one out on in the dirt.
L still has no idea if her Inexorable Search didn't work because of Penetration issues or because he's on the other side of a regio boundary.