[color=blue]"Did they say who their allies were? Let me see if I remember my Hermetic History. What we now call the Schism War, in which House Diedne was cast out of the order and destroyed, lasted about ten years, and ended in 1012...two hundred eleven years ago. The reasons why Tremere declared war, and why the Order supported them against the Diedne and cast the entire House out, are largely lost to history, although there are rumours of scrolls and records in Iberia and Transylvania. But, yes, the Order of Hermes was triumphant in the war, although both sides lost a lot of magi."
As she speaks, she watches both men's faces for their reaction. ((Com 2 + Folk Ken (Magi) 2 + die roll of 6 = 10.
[color=blue]"Yes, I suppose they do."
Fiona casts a couple of quick spont of a CrHe to make a set of robes for each of them: base 1 ("Create a plant"), +2 clothes, R: Touch (+1), D: Sun (+2), T: Individual, for final target levels of 10. Her CT is Sta 3 + Cr 6 + He 10 + Aura 10 = 29 + die rolls, halved. First one is 29 + die roll of 8 = 37, halved is 18.
"The allies of the giants are the Diedne. We were attempting to extract Dulcitius from Bibracte, under an uneasy personal truce. Suddenly the Mont disappeared and we awoke in this realm, I'm... I don't know. That was 30 years ago, and much of it was in a fog."
"Fiona, t will take some time for me to collect the gold and arrange it into easily carried pieces. How much time do you think that block of wood will have really bought us?"
[color=blue]"That's quite the coincidence," Fiona says. ((Does the name Dulcitius ring a bell? Int 1 + Order of Hermes Lore 2 + die roll of 2) = 5.))
[color=blue]"Depends on how determined they are, and what they bring to bear. I didn't add any magnitudes for size, so the block..." she pauses to do a quick calculation, [color=blue]"is probably only a couple of feet thick, at best. So I would say, if they have axes, an hour or two. If not, considerably longer. Or, if they use magic, no time at all."
Fiona has absolutely no idea who Dulcitius is, which is unsurprising for a magus of 200 years or more ago. When Fiona mentions using magic, "The only giants who we've seen with magical capabilities are much different. One is a being of flame and brimstone, I've seen at least three of them on occasion. And one time I saw what I can only describe as Jotun, legends of Norse giants of ice. Their magics are manifestations of their nature. It was these Jotun that subdued us and with their Diedne allies confined us here."
Jehanne catches enough of this conversation to get the gist of it; he moves several paces back away from the room and begins watching the hallway for any signs of trouble. Falko gazes mournfully at what now looks like an oversized kitchen knife in his giant hands, and hopes that there won't be any more need to use it. As he has nothing better to do, he starts thinking of melodious rhymes for "gold".
"Don't worry yourself too much, Falko, should it become necessary I can enflame your sword. And it should still be sufficient to overcome their innate resistance to magic."
Fiona sits there, thoughtfully, for a moment. [color=blue]"Three kinds of giants. Normal, icy, and fiery. The icy ones, if they're Norse, sounds like they'd be right up Jormungandr's alley. But he's not around. Do we know anything about the fire and ice giants? Besides the obvious, I mean?" She looks mainly at the newcomers as she speaks, but her tone of voice sounds more pensive then anything else.
((Her roll to know anything about the giants is Int 1 + Magic Lore 2 + die roll of 9 = 12.))
((Oh, and Wilhelm is still over by the stairs, guarding and watching and listening intently.))
"Our environs haven't been exactly ...illuminating... while we have been here. I know a fire giant comes here from time to time to inspect us. One was here a couple of months ago. He came, did his inspection and left. I also get the impression he collects taxes at that time. But that's more speculation than any proof."
As if remembering himself and some manners, "I'm Jurgen Flambonis, and this is Captivius. He was my amicus's apprentice, Dulcitius's, sent to me when tensions with the Diedne broke out. I, gave him a battle field promotion to magus, as it were. Captivius for a name has been a morbid joke between us..."
Fiona will introduce Marcus and the grogs, then looks at Marcus. [color=blue]"If we have a couple of magi who remember Mons Electi from when it was a Diedne covenant, I think we should return home with them and see what we can find out. Maybe put a few pieces of the puzzle together. What do you think?"
"Excuse me, sodales." Marcus pulls Fiona aside and whispers in her ear, "I would argue caution. They may not be who they say they are. They may be a Trojan horse of sorts, or not. I was interested in releasing them, because they spoke Latin, which was odd, and to find out more about them. It's even more odd that they appear to be prisoners and magi of the Order. I'll grant that they haven't experienced 200 years of time, their ages certainly do not show it, but they have been subjected to Diedne influence of some sort for some long period of time. Are they collaborators with the Diedne left her for us to find and bring into our counsel, or are they truly prisoners? If they are allies, there may be a shock to their system upon returning. Will they age all 200 years in a moment? I don't know, but it's a risk to them, and something we can say to delay their coming to Mons Electi while we gather more information."
[color=blue]"True. But time moves much slower here. A day in Magic is a week in the mortal world. So, if they were thirty years here, two hundred and ten would have passed outside. That part is believable. And the week or so I spent here with the Blacksmith, I don't believe I regained all at once when I returned. I can appreciate your prudence, though. Is it possible to find out if there really was a Jurgen Flambonis at that time who disappeared? Possibly through the Redcaps, or Korvin? But, regardless, I'd rather not leave them here while we check their story out."
"Well, I don't have a formal role in Mons Electi, so I caution prudence in this matter. I agree, we cannot leave them here. I think that they could stay with the Blacksmith, and perhaps we aid him and them in rebuilding his outer home. Men who have been captive for so long need activity and labor to occupy their minds. They will not do well in an environment of discussion and learning. You, may, of course do as you like or think best. Were I in your shoes, I would not take them to Mons Electi until I had more facts. Korvin may have answers, or may be able to ask through others more discreetly. These names, though, the names of Magi lost in the Schism, this will likely set off all kinds of red flags. We can discuss this more in depth with Korvin and the others when we return." Speaking louder, and he heads back to the gold, "It will take another 10 minutes or so to collect the gold. Shall I continue?"
((IIRC, Fiona suggested Marcus join, but I can't seem to find it, and even if she did, it is entirely reasonable it happened after these events.))
((Blech, I messed up here: Jehanne uses a mace and chain, not a sword. Can we pretend that the roles of Falko and Jehanne are basically reversed above?))
[color=blue]"Please do. Then we can return to whence we came, and determine if it is safe to return our sodales to the mortal realm."
((I seem to remember him being invited, but I'm not sure just when, either...maybe after the events of the Summer of Discontent? Maybe he demurred to take care of some other things before formally accepting the invitation?))
Marcus first heats the circle of gold making it molten and then pushes it around the ring until it comes into a trough that he dug into the stone flowing into a shallow pit dug a bit deeper and broader than the trough. After the gold has formed in the trough he casts a couple of Perdo Ignem effects to speed the cooling. After the first series it appears that Marcus is tiring and Jurgen offers to divide the effort with him, taking on the cooling responsibilities. Eventually 7 pieces of gold weighing about 5 pounds each are cast.
"Fiona, how do you want to carry this out of here?"
((Did Fiona ever leave to go get the vis from the Giants or is everyone leaving together once the gold is collected?))
((She was actually resting for a few minutes...sponting the two spells on Jurgen and Captivius brought her down to Weary, I think. Once she's rested, she can go up and start sponting Gather the Essence of the Beast. Her CT is Sta 3 + Re 5 + Vi 6 + Aura 10 = 24 + die roll, and she needs a 30. So it's better than a 50-50 that she won't be able to pull it off. If the others are better at ReVi than her, it might help? She'd be willing to try, but she hates failing.))
In that case, once she's rested, she will go upstairs with Jehanne (her shield grog) and Wilhelm (who is getting kind of antsy, being underground for so long) for protection.
And she will start casting the spell, waiting for a couple of minutes between castings. There are seven dead giants upstairs, if I remember right, so let's go ahead and do seven castings. Should take about fifteen minutes.
So, with the new CT of 27 + die roll, she needs a 3 for a success. The dice come up 2, 6, 6, 5, 4, 0, and 1. Checking for the botch on the sixth try comes up a 1, so not a botch. The exploder die on the last one comes up a 3, for a CT of 33.
The first and sixth tries were failures, the other five tries were successful. No particular order on the giants she was doing, just whichever one was next.