"There was a scream, one of the guards on the manor house side made it over, but his leg was withered, he managed to make it over to this side of the regio and sounded an alarm. He reported three figures in black, one of whom cast the spell at him." an unnamed grog shouts. As he says that, the parapet of the castle containing the regio entrance is blasted into rubble, and the three figures stand at the opening surveying the scene before them. They appear to be dressed all in black.
Theraphosa hides somewhere effective.
Dex 3 + Stealth 4 + Specialty (hide) 1 + Camoflauge 3 + die roll 1, followed by 10 = 31
Somewhere VERY, very effective.
True to her deepest nature, she'll lurk somewhere that takes advantage of her 3d movements, studying these intruders with Magic Theory 5 and Order of Hermes 5 to determine their strengths and weaknesses. When an opportune moment occurs, she'll cast Weaver's Trap of Webs (costing her 4 might), leap down and bite one with her Ease 15 paralytic poison.
Note: That's a CrAn 40, Sight, Sun, Group (Mastery 2 (quick*2) ) version of the spell, and acting on die roll 2 - 4 = (-2) Initiative.
Jacques initiative 1d10=6
He would like to cast Unseen archer if they are in range (15) if not he will use his long bow. He will aim at the one on the right.
Everyone coming with Apollodorus arrives in his sanctum. A sickly mewing sound can be heard, "Apollodorus, they're coming for you. How did they find out? a weak voice croaks, pulling itself into the moonlight streaming through the window is the figure of Regulus. His back legs appear to be useless. "I've defeated Valerian's spirit familiar. He's greatly weakened now, Apollodorus. I've enjoyed being your friend, whether you were Xenophon of Tremere or Apollodorus of Jerbiton, you were always my friend. I'm going to rest now."
Apollodorus walks to a wardrobe, tears streaming down his face, openeing it, he grabs two wooden staves. Choking the words out, "Valerian is a master of Terram magics, and can withstand most metal or stone weapons quite easily. These should be more effective against him, as they are not magical in nature. If you stick him with a sword, or your spear tip, Alexei, he'll probably laugh. He probably has defenses against Herbam, but they are likely not as robust. You should engage the others that are with him, and I'll engage him, of course, if he targets you, defend yourself, but don't take the fight to him, let me do that."
Apollodorus walks to the sanctum door, and opens it, stepping into his studio. Screams and shouts can be heard, as he opens the door to the studio, the castle appears to shake an a loud booming sound is heard.
I've brought everyone together in this thread for the same time. I'll describe things more completely later this evening.
Any participants here who haven't rolled for initiative should do so. Also include any first round actions (of a ranged vareity) if you haven't indicated what you'll do.
I'm not clear where Jacques is, he can be in the courtyard or in the castle making his way to the parapet. Fiona is likely standing below the huge opening observing the men in black looking out.
Put him where you would think best. He was rallying the guard so either would work.
I'll have Jacques be out in the courtyard, not far from Fiona, then. I think it makes sense if he's calling crows...
Initiative for Alexei:
1d10+3 → [6,3] = (9) 9
invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3386258/
Alexei frowns at the defenses described. Not that he received the information, but at how it limited some of his options. The School of Ramius offered several advantages, but someone prepared against mundane attacks often did well against it. He placed his staff in a strap on his back after he removed the speartip and took one of the ordinary ones and tested its weight and balance.
From there he turned to Brionne. "We need to rally the rest of the grogs. I want Michelle here now! Sound the alarm! We also need to find Jacques and his turb, their qualities shall be tested."
((I edited Alecei's combat stats post to include a normal staff))
Qik -1 + Enc 0 + die roll of 2 = 1
Since it seems fairly obvious that the MiB are the bad guys here, she will pick one at random (the one on the right) and cast Curse of Circe on him...her...it...whatever.
What's the casting total for Curse of Circe? That number becomes incredibly important when working against Magi. Also, I glanced at the charactersheet. A different mastery option seems appropriate, since this spell doesn't use finesse...
Yeah, I noticed that. I'm thinking "Penetration" might be more appropriate (which, considering that Penetration and Precise Casting are right next to each other, makes me wonder if that was a misclick. Ah, well.)
Anyway. CT is Mu 16 + Co/An 7 + An 7 (again, for Minor Magical Focus) + Sta 3 + Mastery 1 + Aura 5 = 39 + Stress Die. (I have her Casting Totals on her Obsidian Portal sheet).
Oh wait...you want me to go ahead and roll? Ah. So, 39 + die roll of 4 = 43. Hope that works.
They are easily 50 feet in the air (see Apollodorus builds a covenant, they're at the entrance to the regio, where one can cross between the manor house and the castle), and at best you'd be on a line forming the hypotenuse of a right triangle of a^2+50^2=c^2, so well more than 15 paces.
Go ahead and shoot the longbow. I'll resolve that before round 2 actions.
Fiona's Curse of Circe is resisted.
Theraposa is well hidden, but not close enough to attack anyone except Apollodorus, Alexei and Deykin who com out of Apollodorus' sanctum. Down the hall is the parapet that was blown to pieces by the magus in the center. Now that she's not entirely alone, this might be a good time to cast it. I'll let it resovle as part of round 1, if that's the case.
Jacques sees the arrow speed its way to the target and then veer wildly off course, and it does so without any apparent motion on the part of any of the three. They appear to be surveying the scene and not taking any additional direct action at this point.
Go ahead and state round 2 actions. Amul, I'll resolve any round 1 action you want to take before moving onto round 2, go ahead and indicate which is for round 1 and which is for round 2.
((Before Alexei takes an action how close are the figures to us? He knows what Velerian looks like and he'll target one of the others and use Wizard's Leap to reach them if he can, it has a 50 pace range.))
"Have they countered the Aegis somehow?" Alexei asks to those that have seen the three in action. He can't recall if they were invited and given a token that was never revoked. "Were they ever invited in?!"
Theraphosa spends round 1 observing and seeking an advantageous position -- applying Magic Theory 5 and Order of Hermes Lore 5 to the attackers.
She also sends a mildly worried and definitively threatening set of mental images across her link to her maga.
Does she hear the bit about "Xenophon of Tremere?" If so, she'll try to remember info on who TF that is.
She's got sight range on the spell, and a bunch of magi who are nominally the defenders of her territory heading towards them. She needs to spend Might to cast the Weaver's Web, so can only do it a handful of times....by the by, will it be effective on these intruders? Magic Theory 5, again.
Presumably, her best option is to cast Weaver's Trap of Webs on the intruder magi moments before their "group" includes the defenders.
(And just in case we need to keep things rolling, here are her future actions: The round after she casts the Web, she'll leap onto any of the magi who seem to be temporarily incapacitated by the web, and try to bite them. If the web is not effective, then she'll use her Web-Focus powers to magically place mundane web-traps around the bad guys (Go Team Vilano!). If she manages to catch one through those traps, then she'll leap on to bite them before they can react. She's not above a grappling brawl in order to subdue them, she just prefers the attack-disappear-attack tactic.)
HoH:S indicates that the spell Weaver's Trap of Webs will create difficulty for any magus within. They don't touch him, but he is restrained/kept in place and does have to break free. She did not hear Xenophon of Tremere, but by the time all is said and done everyone will hear it, so it's not something to worry about. She also saw Regulus get stomped on by one of the magi, after he fought with some spiritual being, and killed it. She saw him make his way into Apollodorus' sanctum. She isn't sure who actually landed a boot on the cat.
To phrase the same intention in another way: she will try to aim the placement and timing of the WToW for maximum surprise and affect.
("wtow!" Should be the comic book noise the spell makes. Snap, bang, wtow!)
Dangling preposition. Who fought with the spirit?
Anyway, that's her actions. I'm going to dinner!
[spoiler]WTOW![/spoiler]
Round Two (Ivor MacBride)
Ivor hears the explosions and runs out of the outhouse, still fastening his belt as he moves. Of course, the one time I absolutely have to take a leak, all hell breaks loose! he thinks.
He wastes no time taking in what happened, and sees Fiona cast a spell with no effect. He reaches her side between Rounds One and Two. "Fiona, I'm here," he says in Scots Gaelic.
[color=blue]"Let me embiggen you, then, lad," she replies.
Once the spell is cast, he assumes a defensive posture at her side, sword and shield drawn, and assesses the situation.
Round Two (Fiona)
Fiona's pretty much exhausted her arsenal of offensive spells with the resisted Curse of Circe, and now she's out of magical ideas.
She will edge closer to Ivor and cast Preternatural Growth and Shrinking on him. She's got a +48+Aura CT, vs. a spell level of 15, so ordinarily it wouldn't need a roll. But since there's combat going on, I'm going to assume that it's a "stress" situation, so here goes: CT 48 + Aura 5 + die roll of 2 = 55, and no botch. So Ivor's now Size +1, and since he's wearing the enchanted armour that grows with him, he's in good shape.
She hears Alexei's question, but doesn't yet answer, as she doesn't know who these people are. She will try an Order of Hermes lore to see if she recognizes them or knows who has this particular m.o. Int 1 + OoH Lore 2 + die roll of 7 = 10.
I dangle prepositions all the time. I tend to write colloquially for the forums. 
Regulus and the spirit fought. Regulus won, but was weakened and distracted by the battle, when it was over one of the magi in black stomped him with his boot, but Regulus was too tired to evade the boot.