Ra'am is brought into a room by Maris, who alights him gently on a pallet where he can be tended. She says to a nearby boy, "Go fetch our guest, Tranquillina, she has skills uniquely suited to the task at hand. Tell her our guest is a magus and let her know that his corpus resistance is impressive, she may have to wait until Sundown when his Parma exipres."
The page runs off to get Tranquillina, "Maga Tranquillina, Maris has asked that you join her to heal a badly wounded visiting magus, who has strong Corpus resistance. I can take you to them at your convenience." he waits dutifully for her response.
((I'll probably merge this thread into another one later...unless it grows rather long.))
Tranquillina was casually browsing through some of Le Maison's titles when the page burst breathlessly into the library. [color=magenta]"Strong resistance? That won't matter, he can just ... ah, it must be serious," she muses as she places the lab text back in its place on the shelf. She follows the page for a short time, but once they are out of the library and in a nondescript section of hallway, she bids him stop for a moment. [color=magenta]"I'm going to prepare for my role as healer, lad," she says soothingly to the page, [color=magenta]"and the way I look will change; don't be startled."
She then casts Disguise of the New Visage to make herself look older: from the page's perspective, she seems to age twenty years in a matter of seconds, and her brownish-red hair is now tied back neatly in a functional style. [color=magenta]No sense asking this stranger to trust a maga who looks like she's barely of childbearing age, she mutters to herself. While she's indulging herself, she firmly grasps the labels of her wolfskin cloak to invoke its Outfit for Any Occasion effect: now she appears to be wearing long black doctor's robes, although she allowed the fibula's Bonisagus emblem to remain easily visible.
((OOC comments: Her casting total is 41+aura+die roll for a level 15 spell, so unless you think she might botch, it's no problem. Her Enduring Magic virtue says that the storyguide secretly rolls a simple die to determine how long the spell lasts. Do you want to do that when she casts spells, or do you want me to track it and compartmentalize the result away from Tranquillina's knowledge? The page will twice feel a slight bit of nausea, thanks to Tranquillina's sigil. Finally, if there's any vis within 30 paces, Tranquillina will be able to sense it after casting the spell.))
[color=magenta]"We're ready now; take me to this wounded magus."
The page mutters under his breath, "Magae, magi and their affectations." He says this in Norman French, of course, Tranquillina has learned by now that most of the covenfolk will speak in their common tongue when they wish to mildly gripe about some of Tranquillina's requests. Not giving her time to respond or comment he says in Latin, "Yes, the magus is unconscious." He leads Tranquillina from her quarters to the room Ra'am is in. Maris is there, bald headed, but resplendent in blue robes she normally wears when not on official Tremere business.
((Switching Maris to blue...))
"Ahh, Tranquillina, thank you for coming. It appears your study with us last season was fortuitous. Ra'am is Prospero's filius and he had an unfortunate landing with a flying capret of his making. Judging by my difficulty in moving the body, you'll have to penetrate 7 magnitudes of Corpus resistance. Even once his Parma has fallen, you'll still have to penetrate 4 magnitudes of Corpus resistance. Can you manage it, or do you require us to combine in a Wizard's communion?"
((I'm assuming Tranquillina would know by know the strength of the local aura. The following discussion is predicated on the aura being around 5 or thereabouts; let me know if that's inaccurate.))
Tranquillina was about to spontaneously cast Revealed Flaws of Mortal Flesh, but stops when she hears Maris's description of the powerful magic resistance she would have to overcome. She stands still, frowning, for three full minutes before she responds. [color=magenta]"If his knowledge of Corpus is that strong, even once his Parma Magica has expired, then that is a significant obstacle. We might well need to combine in Wizard's Communion to heal him: if our communion is strong enough to support my healing Incantation - no simple task - then it will certainly overcome his resistance."
[color=magenta]"But let us consider all options first: if we are lucky, we might not need a full communion." She turns now to look at Maris. [color=magenta]"Will Prospero still have any letters from Ra'am, that bear his signature? And can we identify Ra'am's talisman, for use in making my magic act more powerfully upon him? His blood will be useful, but less so."
Tranquillina directs the page to fetch her a stylus and wax tablet. [color=magenta]"In the meantime, I'll see whether I can form a horoscope for Ra'am that is accurate enough to help us here, though I wish my knowledge of astronomy were deeper. We should also have a rook of vis on hand," she gulps before continuing, [color=magenta]"Creo or Corpus or course; but if you please, keep it outside this room until it is needed."
Assuming we do indeed have more than an hour before sunset, Tranquillina will try to make that daily horoscope. Int 3 + Artes Liberales 1 + stress die 1 (o please let this really be a stress die!), exploder 8 = 20. She could have told Ra'am that today was a bad day to fly....
And while I'm at it, her Disguise of the New Visage will last through the next 9 sunsets and sunrises, if she lets it run its course.
Also, you mentioned in the other thread that his bones would need to be set before a healing ritual is performed ... has a chirurgeon done that at this point?
When discussion of the horoscope comes up, a figure in the corner says, "You may not use that horoscope in the healing. And chances are strong that you cannot use any corpus vis to heal him. He wouldn't like it, and I won't permit it on his behalf. You can both talk to Papa Prospero if you don't believe me. I lived her for many years, Maris, and you and I both know that the corpus vis source is not kosher, and father wouldn't collect it no matter how hard you insisted Prospero to send him to do it. You have to use the Creo vis."
Upon hearing this Maris storms out in a huff, "Very well, heal him without my help."
Turning to Tranquillina, Ra'am's daughter says "Father doesn't have a talisman, he's never found the time between his research, my apprenticeship, and lately Ulrich's apprenticeship. However, you can use the flying carpet, which should be nearly as good as a talisman. We can have porters roll it up and bring it in here. I can manage a 6th magnitude Wizard's Communion, if I have an hour and a half to prepare."
The bones was a poetic license issue... The ritual will take care of it...
Tranquillina smooths out the wrinkes in her doctor's robes as she addresses Elizabeth. [color=magenta]"I don't understand ... can you explain your objection to using the horoscope?"
[color=magenta]"It seems we are not fortunate enough that I can do this alone," she sighs. [color=magenta]"After the kind hospitality of Le Maison these last few months, I was hoping not to subject anyone else to the risks involved in this powerful ritual. But if we must use a Wizard's Communion, it require several sodales working together, not just you and I. We should begin the preparations...."
Tranqillina pauses for a moment, pursing her lips. [color=magenta]"I can probably keep the wounds from worsening for a couple of days, at the very least. Another option is to hope that he regains consciousness before my Bind Wound spell wears off, at which point he can allow the more powerful ritual to affect him."
Without a huge amount of hope that it will help, Tranquillina casts Bind Wound upon Ra'am (unless someone offers an objection to it). She'll use some of Ra'am's blood as an Arcane Connection, as well as his name, giving her a (1 +3 +1) = 5x multiplier; her Penetration score is 2, but +1 for having the Penetration mastery for Bind Wound (for situations just like this one). So her casting total is Cr 6 + Co 27 + Sta -3 + Mastery 1 + Talisman attunement (Corpus) +3 + stress die 0 (but no botch dice due to Mastery; I think this is a calm situation anyway) = 34 + aura. For the level 10 spell, her Penetration is (34+aura-10) + (5x3) = 39+aura, which should be enough. (And the spell will last almost five days. Man, I'm a 0-rolling machine....)
Ra'am's daughter adopts a pose and says from memory, "'The Law is not in the Heavens.' Father walks a fine line with his practice of his Arts, but he is a pious man and struggles to find a path to maintain his faith. He would be wounded all over again to learn that someone used a horoscope to aid him. He, nor I, cannot control what his enemies do, but we can control what our friends do on our behalf. The vis, too, would be coming from sources we wouldn't care to take within our body, which is essentially what happens in such a healing ritual. Creo vis, from specific sources, plants especially, are fine. Le Maison's own Creo vis source is fine, this I know from when I was here."
Elizabeth speaks about getting others to help, "I will stay with my father. Why don't you inquire of Prospero and Alexei to see if they can aid in the ritual? I am unsure how much master Alexei can provide, but I think Papa Prospero can provide at least as much as I can. I will begin my preparations, which gives you an hour and a half. If you're intending to cast Incantation of the Body Made Whole then we need 16 magnitudes, of which I can provide 6. Papa Prospero can, " she pauses and smiles "entreat Maris or one or more of her lieutenants to participate."
Tranqillina nods at Elizabeth and replies, [color=magenta]"Forgive my lack of understanding." She looks ruefully at the wax tablet - [color=magenta]such a nicely made horoscope, she mourns inwardly - and then smooths the impressions out of the wax with a non-fatiguing spontaneous ReAn spell (casting total of (9+8-3+4)/5 = 3.6, as long as the aura is at least 4; should only need a base 1 + Touch = level 2 spell). She certainly didn't need to be convinced to keep Corpus vis out of the room....
Taking her leave of the injured man and his daughter, Tranquillina asks to be led to Prospero to arrange for participants in the Wizard's Communion. She follows the page to just outside a sitting room of some sort, where she waits patiently while the elder magus's conversation is interrupted.
Alexei puts down his tea. "Well then, I should very much like to check on Ra'am and aid if necessary, he brought me here at great risk and I feel responsible for his injuries."
In one of those inexplicable coincidences, at that exact moment there is a light but insistent rap upon the door, and Prospero opens it with a casual wave from where he sits. A serious-looking woman in her apparent mid-thirties, wearing dark robes adorned with the emblem of House Bonisagus, nods to the page who brought her here and greets Prospero quickly. [color=magenta]"I beg your pardon for the interruption, good sir. And salve to you as well, sodalis," she says, turning to Alexei, [color=magenta]"I am Tranquillina Bonisagi, a beneficiary of the kind hospitality of Le Maison."
[color=magenta]"I wish I could report that I was successful in treating Ra'am's injuries, but the matter of his magic resistance is raising obstacles," she frowns.[color=magenta] "Investigation reveals that even after sunset, his innate Corpus resistance is strong enough to make my casting of the healing ritual uncertain to me ... I have only just learned the incantation several weeks ago," she apologizes with eyes averted, [color=magenta]"and I cannot be sure that the time and, um, vis won't go to waste."
[color=magenta]"We think it will provide a surer path to making Ra'am's body whole again if we gather as many as we can for a Wizard's Communion. If I may be so bold, can you participate and help gather others to assist?"
Tranquillina smiles the tired smile of a person under strain. [color=magenta]"The kindness of strangers is always a blessing. Although of course we are not true strangers, as clearly we have a mutual friend in Prospero."
When Alexei, Prospero and Tranquillina return to the room where Ra'am is shortly before sunset they notice that Elizabeth has created a prepared space for ceremonial casting and is holding her Wizard's Communion spell, waiting for everyone to arrive.
((Elizabeth lends 4 magnitudes to the ritual, I misspoke earlier.
Go ahead and make rolls for Wizard's Communion, if necessary for the characters. Keep in mind that The magnitude Wizard's Communion is reduced by two for Sun duration necessary for rituals.))
((Hopefully "shortly before sunrise" is at least two hours before, for the ritual itself!
Also, hopefully Prospero has the most badass Wizard's Communion there is, since Tranquillina's is barely functional....))
With a tinge of trepidation, Tranquillina steps into the center of the ceremonial space. She smiles at each of the communing magi in turn, although at this late hour, and with the broken body of Ra'am lying nearby, the smiles are only token ones. The idea of changing her doctor's robes to something more wizardly crosses her mind briefly, but with an inward sigh she realizes that she'll be contributing far more to Ra'am's healing than she can to the communion itself. At least, she will if all goes well....
((Casting Wizard's Communion: Mu 9 + Vi 5 + Sta -3 + aura 5 + Mastery 1 + stress die 0, oh joy. But this roll itself doesn't have extra botch dice, does it - just the subsequent spell? Then her mastery takes care of the botch risk, and her Casting Total is 17, which is fine since she only knows a level 15 version. She contributes a whopping 1 magnitude to the communion.))
((In case there are extra botch dice, let's have the roll on record: 7, botch, 6.))
Standing eerily still, Tranquillina chants the words for the Wizard's Communion, feeling her power join with Elizabeth's. Her latent sensitivity to magic surges, and her throat begins to clench....
((For a bit she can sense vis within 30 paces, and I'm betting there's some around.))
Alexei casts his level-30 Wizard's Communion: Mu 11 + Vi 8 + Sta 2 = 21[sup][/sup] + aura 5 + die roll 10/0 (is this thing on?) = 36 if he's not stressed, 26 if stressed, but no botch. But Short-Ranged Magic kicks in, halving the casting total, right? I suppose loud voice + exaggerated gestures + Confidence would work if he's not stressed....
[sup][/sup] Wiki gives a base of 23, maybe I missed something