((Is Talia going to respond to what Thomas said, or stand there in the cold summer rain listening to the sounds of the woman in labour inside?))
((Sorry, I wasn't clear on what was going on with the OOC stuff, so I was waiting for that to resolve, and then forgot about this thread.))
Talia says, "Look, that's all very interesting." in a way that suggests she doesn't find it interesting at all. "Sometime after your wife's child is born, feel free to come by my ship, we'll talk. Right now, you're wife is in labor, and I'm going to lend whatever assistance I can. I can boil water or something, or perhaps work a Creo Corpus spell to ease her discomfort. Right now, though, I don't have time to follow the riddles of a Criamon, when your wife is birthing a new mystery as we speak. Your son, or another man, or a faerie, I don't know. Not my concern. Got it? Talia walks off and inside to lend whatever assistance she may.
Talia has a CS of 15(17) in MuCo. (Muto 10, Co 0, Sta 2, Aura 3, and Artes Liberales 2, if ceremonial)
From Magi of Hermes
MuCo 15
R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Part
Widens the pelvis of the target, making delivery of the child straightforward. See Art and Academe, page 62, for rules regarding childbirth; this spell gives a +1 bonus to childbirth rolls. Aurulentus invented this spell after realizing that his spell Blissful Sensations had too many undesirable side effects and was not powerful enough to help his wife during childbirth.
(Base 3, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +1 Part)
Dang, Talia hasn't got a prayer of helping, unless she gets lucky and rolls a 15 (13) on a d10. Sure, she'll try... Going for the 15, because 45 minutes of chanting isn't a good idea and doesn't provide much benefit. Trying to cast the spell above, using fatigue.
Rolls a 5, nope not good enough.
If Janet isn't freaking out, she'll try again...
Rolls a 9 Let's burn 2 confidence points, push it up to 15 with the 15 CS is a total of 30, SUCCESS, Boo Ya. Talia drops to Weary fatigue level, she didn't rest between castings.
"There, that should help, dear."
((So, I went to go find that Base, thinking it might've been in Art and Acadame...and I can't find a Base 3 MuCo that seems to apply. So, SG's call as to whether to accept the spell...))
((Without a token, Thomas can't spont any InCo spells that would check on the condition of the baby or woman, continuing the impression of him being a useless, self-centered sod. Which is totally cool, OOC, I'm just not sure how to play that off IC. He wants to be able to help, but isn't going to ask for a token after repeatedly having his faults pointed out to him, but is still a self-centered prig who thinks even her childbirth is all about him, specifically, that people are going to judge him based on his behavior right now.))
Thomas follows inside and tries to be helpful. He does a very poor job of concealing his frustration with the whole situation.
((Fathers are genrally superfluous to the process of giving birth. A bunch of women being about will also cluck like hens about men's uselessness in these situations. I thought about letting Talia consider the token issue, but I have her as being really hating the father of her child, so this whole situation is probably making her annoyed with men in general. Speaking from experience, I was lucky enough to be present for the birth of my daughter and cut the cord (we adopted) and I just felt I had to walk on eggshells, so I didn't offend/bother the birth mother. So I can empathize with Thomas, while playing Talia like a total biatch. 
We probably need to have an idea as to how long her labor is going to be, and whether or not Talia's spell will ease her discomfort.
Oh, and can we say that Talia cast that spell after sunset, to maximize the duration? I just thought of that now. It might even have a chance of lasting until delivery if Peregrine is generous.
Oh, and Talia hasn't introduced herself, but she's done plenty to demonstrate that she is a Maga. She has been a bit rude in not identifying herself, not that it bothers her,))
((That's all fine by me, but it makes it a bit hard to know where to pick up the RP. Oh, and if other players want to join in...Elder mages, darkwing, whoever, that's fine by me too. This is supposed to be right after your Aegis ritual, so you should all be nearby...))
((Also, to be perfectly clear, I have absolutely zero interest in rolling dice on some chart to see if she successfully gives birth, boy or girl, etc. Janet's been cursed to re-enact this story every year by the Elfqueen until she has seven sons by her prophet husband. Presumably, that means it's a storybook birthing, too.))
And just because he really is that much of an unstoppably spoiled brat...
At some in-opportune moment during the proceedings, Thomas tries to discreetly slide over to Talia (the only maga he's identified yet), and whisper, "Listen, there's one thing I don't understand. Why is it so warm on the winter solstice?"
"What on earth are you talking about? It's the summer solstice," and leaves an implicit you dolt unsaid at the end of the sentence. She looks at Anne, "I've done about all I can, I think I need to take care of something else," she points her head and gives a nod in Thomas's direction without directly looking at him to indicate to Anne she intends to take Thomas a bit out of earshot. If Janet wants him nearby, she'll stay closer, though.
Wherever they end up, close our out of Janet's earshot Talia goes on, "Just so you know, I'm really close to punching you in the face." She takes a deep breath and then says, "I imagine your situation, as you've described it, is rather difficult. But none of that matters now. You are about to realize the beginning of the biggest riddle of your life, Criamon. You're going to be a parent. You need to focus on that, and you need to be there for your wife, do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?" And if Thomas starts to go off on some long convoluted monologue, Talia will shush him, and even go so far as to put a finger on his lips. "It's a yes or no question, Criamon. First things first and all that. Be there for your wife. Be present in her riddle, for her, without trying to go off into your own riddles. Can you do that? You're not the only one who's been inconvenienced tonight, I had other plans. I have a ship full of men waiting to pleasure me. This," Talia waves her hand across the scene of Janet in labor, "comes first."
((Based on her earlier Guile roll, it will take an extraordinary effort to realize that Janet is now fully feeling the effects of Thomas's Gift, and wants him nowhere near her, but she in fact, does not want him anywhere near her and is currently trying to keep herself too occupied giving birth to think about anything else.))
Thomas becomes visibly more agitated during this conversation. "You don't seem to understand. I have never touched her. We Criamon believe....well, just put it this way: we don't bear children. We don't believe in having children."
Assuming Talia rolls her eyes or otherwise displays her beliefs about men's capacity to maintain vows of chastity, Thomas interrupts harshly. "It's not some idle oath. I grew up in The Cave of Shadows. My cherry got popped by an eldritch horror from beyond the stars while an archmaga in the body of a 10 year old watched and giggled, okay? Growing up, I couldn't even masturbate without a ghost asking if he could have a ride-along. Chicks without tentacles just don't do it for me. I never touched her. She's having my baby."
Talia's eyes narrow, "You are getting on my last nerve, Criamon. I suggest the best way you can make yourself useful is to be somewhere else. We can find some guest quarters, I suppose." Calling out to the covenfolk, "Can someone make that happen? Thomas and his wife and new child will be in need of guest quarters for their stay. And he's exceeded my tolerance for riddles right now." Talia normally never looks upset, looks she gives the covenfolk have varied from disinterest to wanton desire, but never really any amount of anger. Even her actions with the recently departed Haile while confrontational and argumentative never seemed especially angry, but Talia looks fit to blow.
After a couple of minutes, a bedraggled-looking young man approaches Thomas tentatively. "Beg pardon, magus," he says in passable Latin, "but the cottage next to mine is empty, and has a bed in it. Not much, but it'll keep the rain off of you." He turns and heads off, looking back at Thomas every couple of seconds as though he expects him to follow.