All the stuff that doesn't fit elsewhere...
Moments after everyone has departed for Thera, Andru asks all the remaining Magi to join him in the council chamber, "I'm sure that all the magi are aware of what just happened. In case it wasn't clear, he asked that I ensure that it was clear. Apollodorus just transported them without asking them to lower their Parma Magica. He asks that you keep this information strictly confidential. He'll discuss this with all of you later, but you have just joined a rather exclusive club who know Apollodorus' secret. That club just about doubled in size a few moments ago. He's known that he can't keep it quiet forever, but he is a very private man, as you all know."
A few days after Fiona's disappearance her cat can be seen mewing outside her cottage.
(sort of ironic that within hours of doubling the pool of people who knew his secret, Appolodorus died. Guess that was a bad judgement call on his part.)
6-year-old Patience is taking the extremely long way around to bring the silver chalices back to Chastity for polishing, She sees the cat outside Fiona's cottage. She squeals in delight! [color=red]"Kitty!"
She drops the cumbersome box of cups, throws her hands up in the air, and runs towards the cat, hoping to pet it.
It's like Ben Franklin said: "Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead."
"Hey, little girl, let me into Fiona's cottage. I need some whiskey. When I get some whiskey, then you can pet me."
Not even blinking twice at the talking cat, Patience readily agrees, and then tries to open the door.
If that fails, she can always climb in a window or something.
Once the latch is pulled the large door swings easily on well-oiled hinges. The cat saunters over to a saucer next to a rather large jug Patience may have some difficulty man handling a jug of such large proportion.
((Think of the problems young kids have with gallon size milk jugs.))
Patience is 6 and has the Small Frame flaw. She is going to have to resort to Science(!) to tip that bottle over and pour whiskey into the bowl.
Luckily, this sanctum/lab probably has plenty of things she can use to build a pulley/lever system out of.
Patience knows well enough that she isn't allowed into a maga's sanctum without being invited into it, so what she can see is limited to kitchen utensils. With some effort she does manage to poor a bit of whiskey for the cat. "Ahh, thanks for my sweet, sweet nectar. Fiona up and vanished and left me to fend for my own victuals. It's more than this cat can bear." After the cat sates his thirst he rolls languidly onto his back.
Forgot to mention this, beneath the jug there is a piece of parchment folded over and sealed with lead. The seal is marked with a simple anvil.
Throwing her whole body into the act of tipping the jug over onto the saucer and then back up, she notices the parchment but thinks little of it, and pulls the jug upright once the saucer is (slightly more than) full. The parchment is most likely more revealed than it was previously.
Once the cat has had its fill, she'll pet him some and rub his belly.
After a while, she will remember her chores. [color=red]"Kitty want to come with me? she asks, as she picks up the collection of chalices again.
When she arrives back at the forge, Chastity will berate her for taking so long, which eventually yields the story of the cat, which eventually makes its way to Viscaria, who realizes We need to assign someone to tend to her garden, as well...
As Viscaria has already seen to situating Daffyd and Catrin's clan here in the regio, she'll ask them to take care of the matter -- either by themselves or to be responsible for someone else taking care of the gardens and the cat. (They still don't speak a common language, but Viscaria has been spont'ing simple illusions to communicate with them)
A day or two later, Viscaria is showing Catrin around Fiona's sanctum showing her what does and does not need to be done, and checking for any dangers to the woman. Viscaria will also check to see if the cat knows of anything they shouldn't be touching.
During this inspection, Viscaria will find the note, check it for magic, and then read it (if safe).
(+2 smell, roll for effect) In 14 + Vi 15 + Sta 0 + Aura 5 + die roll 3 = 18.5, which is more than sufficient to detect any active or lingering traces of magic on the parchment.
(possibly, Fiona's lab gains the Free Outfittings Flaw, "Person," as Patience now knows that a kittycat may be there to play with and feed whiskey.)
SG edit: I adjusted the wording around sanctum, as Viscaria would know not to go into the sanctum unbidden. The area of the cottage is a common area, where Fiona can receive guests without inviting them into her sanctum. PB can correct me if I've misunderstood how her cottage is configured.
SG edit: changed it back to sanctum after clarification from sanctum owner.
Viscaria opens the note, it reads:
[i]To Fiona's Sodales,
Fiona is safe in my hands. She will return anon after she has completed her transformation.
Warm regards,
The Blacksmith of Brandywine
[/i]
She actually has the sanctum marker on the two doors...but she's also been missing for a week, and left her familiar neglected. I think under the circumstances, she would understand that the child might have come across a clue to her disappearance, as long as they don't poke around too much.
To be clear, when I wrote that, I assumed that the entire cottage was her sanctum, but that her garden was not considered part of her sanctum. Viscaria was knowingly and intentionally violating the sanctum. If someone wants to point this out to her, I'll be quite happy to roleplay her response.
I was just thinking that I'd read somewhere that part of her cottage was a receiving area.
Paul doesn't care, too much, as long as he gets his whiskey. He'll snarl and snap a bit if you try and mess with lab notes or equipment.
She has an entryway that has a chair and a couple of coat- or cloak-pegs, but she invited Jormungandr into the cottage.
I had forgotten, as well...but Fiona does have a maidservant who lives in the cottage. Not sure how useful she'll be with a seven- or eight-month old child, but she is there somewhere. Maybe. Should be.
This is why I'm trying to make that grog/location list...
Sometime after the meeting of 1222.2e, Viscaria will set her alchemical processes to simmer for the day, and then gathering Vin and Theraphosa, will follow the path she dreamed of while on the boat. She suspects that she'll be gone for a few days, and has tried to keep her alchemical processes under account for that, as much as she could.
As they step beyond her sanctum, Viscaria reaches her will out to the strange veins of glowing ore that run through the caverns. She's long known that they react to the presence of magic, but it was only somewhat recently that she discovered she could still her mana-beat in a way that caused the light to diminish enough that she didn't need to sleep under a dozen blankets. Though they would fade on their own, it's been her long habit to turn off all the lights that need not stay on as she leaves her lab, and she has no intention of giving up the habit. Viscaria reaches into her Self, through her elemental half, and out to the rocks, drawing their ebbing power to a close, so that she can make sure she's left nothing on.
Again, she absent-mindedly wonders what it would be like to rarefy the glowing ore. Someday, she promises herself once again. Someday I'll start my study of the earth elementals. But after I finish this Tribunal project.
With these thoughts in her mind, she heads down the path of her dreams, barely daring to hope what might be at the end of it.
After about a half day's travel Viscaria begins to realize that while she remembers the entire path vividly, she's not traveled nearly far enough. Calling back the memory of her dream, a rough estimate is at least a week of hard travel to get to the destination based on her memory. Viscaria should also be struck by the vivid details she recalls from her dream.