Alexei can't stop his amused expression at the same time some embarassment for how things had gotten so out of hand.
"Fiona, I must apologize...I couldn't tell if you were having a mishap or a Twilight episode. So I erred on the side of caution...then some things came up and I forgot. I only remembered as I heard some of the covenfol talking about...well, some of the things that had happened. Please forgive me. It's just my reluctance to cast a spell on my Sodale, one who obviously can't consent. Are you alright?"
[color=blue]" I'm still trying to figure out just what happened, but I suspect that when I tried to improvise a spell to become 'Blanche', the magic spun out of control and almost literally turned me into her...a beautiful young woman who... ahem Let's just say that she magnified a part of me that I don't get to express nearly as often as I would like."
Fiona stops and looks at Alexei. [color=blue]"What kind of things?" she asks a little nervously.
[color=blue]"I feel okay, except for the fact that the last couple of days are a little blurry. Like it was a dream that I just woke up from. I'm a little leery of trying to undo the spell, though. There may still be lingering magics that would make my attempts go awry. Besides...when I cast the spell, I was trying to make it last until the full and new moon had both risen...which, by my calculations, was a couple of days past two weeks. I think I'll keep this body until then. And if the magic keeps me in this form longer, I'll deal with it then. I've never been normal-sized for any appreciable length of time. I've always been bigger...usually much bigger than everyone around me. It's time I looked at things from a different angle, so to speak."
She winks at Alexei. [color=blue]"Besides...I think I did pretty good on going for the 'beautiful' part, wouldn't you agree?" she says with a teasing grin.
Meanwhile, Sheelagh is growing concerned for Fiona.
The maga hasn't come back, yet she wasn't supposed to travel or anything.
She supposed at first that she wound up with a guy, doing these... things that adults do, but she should have come back by now.
Has something happened to her?
If something has, Fiona will surely punish her. She's the kind of people who hurt children, sheelagh is sure of this. Save when fiona does her magic, of course, but that's magic. She says she is just extending her Parma, but sheelagh know this ain't true. Yet she must abide, and be nice, if she wants to be free one day. And what if fiona never comes back? What will she do?
So she went out, and is asking people if they've seen Fiona. The more negative answers she gets, the more worried she is. What is she's been abducted? Or killed? She should ask the magi, but they would just punish her for not reporting earlier, or something like that. She has seen them, and they are all assholes anyway. Save Alexei. Alexei is kind, he has this warm smile, you just know he really likes you, not like the creepy dwarf (bet she's into... ugly sexual stuff) or the ice bastard (And he actually beds Adeline? The poor woman! This must be awful!). And she's talked to the guards, too, they like Alexei, they say he is nice, and takes care of them. He's like... Well, she would have loved to have him as a father, he'd be the best daddy ever.
Yeah, she should talk to alexei He'll surely know what to do
Alexei smirks. "Aye, it's a fine seeming, you did an excellent job." Alexei runs his hand through his hair nervously. "As for what things? Well...when I heard that the chamber maid I sent or perhaps it was a different one, got into an actual fight with a white haired woman...I had a pretty good idea of who might be involved." he can't help but laugh. "I...I heard you got in a few shots, but otherwise...well, I needn't go too far into that."
((Alexei honestly doesn't know who is who at this point, he thought the chamber maid he sent to help Blanche might have been the one to get in a fight.))
"So how are you fairing? Is this something that you'd like to keep active upon you? Perhaps an item would be better? If it were incorporated into a Talisman, it could likely be economical and prevent Warping over long term. Do you agree?"
[color=blue]"I'm hoping that this magic will pass soon enough. And I'm not sure that my simply trying another spontaneous spell to change my looks back to what they're supposed to be is prudent, if I'm under the effects of a spontaneous spell run amok. If I'm still like this in a month, we may need to look at casting something like Winds of Mundane Silence on me to be rid of it."
Fiona continues in silence for a couple of minutes as she ponders what she said and examines her options. [color=blue]"I think it would behoove me to at least invent it as a formulaic spell. With my knowledge of Muto and Corpus, I should be able to do so in just the one season. At this size, my Talisman would be a bit unwieldy. It was a perfect size for me before, but since I grew it feels a little small. And I would have to spend a good part of my life in this form for it to Warp me."
She kicks a rock in her path, sending it tumbling up ahead. [color=blue]"I just hate feeling powerless, like I have no control over things," she grumbles.
Helmut answers the door, looking tired and worn out from his vigil over Alexei.
"Ah, Mistress Fiona. He is awake but he should not be."
"Helmut, who is it?" comes Alexei's voice from a chair near the hearth.
"It is Fiona Master."
"Ah Fiona, come in, come in..." his greeting trails off to a wracking cough. Alexei is wrapped in blankets with a steaming cup of tea next to him on a small table.
[color=blue]"I heard you had taken ill, and I wanted to check to see how you were, and to see if you wanted my help with anything." She pats a pouch on her belt as she speaks the last.
"You ... wove this yourself?" Tranquillina repeats with a bit of wonder in her voice. She explores the linen again for quite some time. "I can't imagine doing anything by hand that's more complicated than writing a letter...."
"She's certainly quick to be friendly - sometimes a bit too quick," she confides, unconsciously putting one hand in front of her right breast. "But very forthcoming, and aye, extremely talented in her area of expertise. Very lofty ambitions, it must be said, very ... Verditius," she finishes with a sly grin.
((Aha, good point. So she wouldn't be quite so surprised - still admiring though.))
Tranquillina looks around again, as if anyone else would be in the library listening (or, for that matter, could understand them); then she leans in conspiratorially. "Viscaria and I were out exploring the plateau in the regio where the Tribunal is going to be held," she discloses. "This was the day we discovered that vis source in the salamander's cave, in that little pocket regio." The two Latin words jump out of the otherwise smooth Gaelic texture. "But at this moment, I was sensing something amiss with the aura, and was very distracted. Suddenly - for no reason - she jumps forward and pinches my right nipple!" She rubs herself with the heel of her hand as if the pain were still fresh.
Alexei coughs a few more seconds and wipes his mouth with a kerchief. After breathing heavily for another moment he smiles weakly. "I am told I shall recover from this...infirmity and then merely need to perform a new ritual. Korvin had already mentioned he would like to help, and...Tr-Tr-Tria? Tranquilana's guest, said I should contact Ra'am as that is a specialty of his." he pauses and looks at the pouch. "What is in there, pray tell?"
[color=blue]"Really," Fiona says as she looks at Tranquillina curiously. ((Per 0 + Folk Ken (Magi) 2 + die roll of 8 = 10, to see if Tranquillina is repulsed, offended, curious, intrigued, aroused, whatever, by that.))
[color=blue]"My herbalist's kit. Give me about three days, and I can brew up a potion that can help you get better, faster. Much like I did for Mufarjj a few years ago.
"By your leave, of course."
She looks at him critically. [color=blue]"Should you be up and around?" ((Int 1 + either Chirurgy (Diagnosis) 2 or Medicine 3 + die roll of 8 = 11 or 12; I'm thinking it's more likely Medicine, so 12.)) [color=blue]"Let's get you back to bed."
"My dear...I have been on more than three dozen campaigns. Broken seven sieges. Claimed the rival banners of fifteen who thought they were my better. I beat that fool Rotgers in the joust. After all that, do you think I wish to be in bed?" his stern expression changes and he chuckles softly. "Actually, now that I think about it, bed sounds lovely." he finally says and offers his hand so that he can be helped up. Helmut arrives to take his other arm and move his staff.
Fiona helps him up and guides him back to his bed, tucking him in and giving him a kiss on the forehead. [color=blue]"It will take me about three days to brew my potion, my friend, but I will check on you until them. Get well soon."
((Int 1 + Mythic Herbalism (potions) 4 + die roll of 3 = 8, vs. an Ease Factor of 9. I think a Confidence Point is called for, here, to jack that up to an 11.))
Fiona will check on Alexei daily, bringing him the healing potion (which adds +6 to his Healing roll) when it's done. It lasts a month, so she will bring him more every month until he's fully healed.
"To gain a place in the Folio of Terrible Etiquette, perhaps?" Tranquillina chuckles while shaking her head, in the manner of someone who with the passing of time has found humor in a genuinely shocking situation. "No - she told me she can naturally see through illusions ... apparently, I hadn't been careful with the arrangement of my actual cloak - just the visible outfit - and she spotted ... an opening." She leans back in the plush chair, summoning the footrest into position beneath her heels with a few waves of her hand. "I have a certain innate responsiveness to magic as well, but not to the point of discerning illusions without Intellego."
((By this time, is there still vis inside Fiona? Or has she used it up transforming herself?))
He'll surely know what to do