Fiona comes over and stands, not quite between Praxiteles and Alexei, but between and to one side (much like a boxing referee before a match).
[color=blue]"Praxiteles, calm down!" she shouts. [color=blue]"He meant no harm, he was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time!"
She continues, in a calmer voice. [color=blue]"And the stone is unharmed, is it not?"
She then turns to Alexei. [color=blue]"And, Alexei," she says quietly, [color=blue]"surely you realized that we," she indicates Praxiteles, [color=blue]"were in the midst of some delicate magical maneuvering and should have known not to interrupt him, correct? And you realize that it was not the best time to confront him about Valerian?" She manages to sound like she has a disgusting taste in her mouth when she says the name.
Petronius can tell that Praxiteles is letting off steam and not really working, as he's watched him work before. He can see that Praxiteles is not working up to anything close to his true potential. Some of his latest pieces are usually down to the fine detail in just a single casting.
((Praxiteles add to the die roll is probably in the neighborhood of 30 by this time. Perception 5, Finesse 15+2, Free Expression 3, Muse 3, and mastery of 3 or 4 in precision for the fine detail work spells. He's just playing the role of the difficult Artiste.))
Abigail stands unworried and stiffly in the face of the portal's implosion... Exploder Double Exploder! Die roll of 7*4-2=26
As the portal implodes, she shouts out, "It's elementary, when standing in the face of an imploding portal, you must position your body just so, as the mystical forces dissipate quickly around your body, you can gradually assume a normal stance."
She watches Praxiteles work intently, or maybe she's just watching Praxiteles.
Alexei remains tense, he knows he obviously had gooten involved in something that was not his business but no one likes to be cursed at so...thoroughly. At Fiona's approach he lowers his guard.
"Of course Fiona...had I but known. I did not mean to interfere but didn't know the scope of this. It looks like everything is OK though. Please accept my apologies." and he bows to Fiona and the two other Magi. He leans up to Fiona and whispers. "I'm glad I didn't revoke their invitations to the Aegis then, that could have really been a problem."
"I wish you the best of luck in this endeavor, I'm sure it's important and shall stay out of your way." he steps back several paces.
((For what it's worth, Alexei's walking around soak is like 16 and he can make it over 20 with a spell or two, plus his enchantment on the staff of Shriek of the Impending Shafts should protect him from the wood))
((Holy ... didn't realize we were playing live today ))
((Size 0 + Str -2 + stress die 2 = 0. Splinters of wood check: no botch.))
Even though she was farthest away from the collapse of the wooden arch, the force hit Tranquillina's frail frame so hard that she tumbled sideways and rolled across the ground - unfortunately, this is the exact action that triggers her cloak's Shape of the Woodland Prowler effect. The wolf staggers to her feet and shakes her pelt violently back and forth, getting rid of the damp mud. She stares back at the argument between Praxiteles and Alexei, growling under her breath.
Tranquillina rolls over three times in the other direction to return to human form. "Me too ... let's keep on our way," she says, a little embarrassed. She glances at the enviably stable Abigail as she departs.
After a few minutes, Praxiteles seems calmed, and says Di̱miourgía neroú and the sculpture is drenched in water. While not finished, the dull black stone takes on an extremely shiny luster, and seems to absorb all incoming light at the same time. Hints of movement can be seen in the wings, as if the Pegasus is about to take flight.
Walking to everyone assembled, "The piece is not stressed, and it should be fine. I did some preliminary work to rough out the form, in the event that the stresses of transport caused internal fractures. In additional to Intellego magics, I find actually working with the stone a bit to be much more definitive of whether the stone itself is sound for holding the final form of the desired piece. I find this piece satisfactory in that regard.
Turning to Alexei, "I take my work seriously, and your questions came at an in opportune time. I apologize about my outburst. Valerian is an amicus of mine, and a protégé of sorts."
Alexei bows. "And I distracted at a most inoppurtune time as well as impugned on someone you consider a friend. Again, I am sorry, I'm glad this did not turn into a disaster, but rather a stunning piece. Valerian and my relationship are far different from yours I'm afraid, but I had no real business getting involved."
Fiona walks with Alexei and stands next to him, watching Praxiteles work lustily, wondering if he's that deft in the bedroom. [color=blue]"It's all right, my friend," she says quietly to Alexei. [color=blue]"It was simply a matter of bad timing, could have happened to anyone. And no harm was done." She leans over to give him a long one-armed hug...which, unfortunately, mashes Alexei's face firmly into her bosoms.
((Rough, isn't it? ))
Fiona moans softly as Praxiteles makes the sculpture soaking wet.
When Fiona moans in appreciation of the initial work, he continues on, "I've taught Valerian almost all I know of sculpting with the Arts. He's quite good, nearly as good as I am, but he lacks a bit. I hope to, in time, pass on that certain...genesis that all pieces of Art must possess. His pieces have little life or movement to them. He would have trouble making this piece."
((Praxiteles doesn't really think about the implications of Finesse being used in combat and it's obvious he doesn't know Valerian the same way the PCs do. Now back track a bit and put all the pieces together... Muhahaha.))
As the others follow Praxiteles and the stone to the temporary workshop, Petronius remains behind with Rufus. With a sniff of disdain, "No true appreciation for the work and skill required to create the portal. Do they realize how much of a breakthrough that represents? No, of course not!" With more indistinct grumbling, he befgins searching the debris for his walking stick. Rufus simply sits on a larger piece of lumber and begins grooming himself. "And you," he addresses the wildcat, "should have known better than to hitch a ride on the stone like that!" Tilting his head to the side, as if the cat was talking back to him, "No, I didn't need your help to stabilize the stone. But thanks anyway."
Looking at the cracks in his walking stick, he sighs mournfully, "I liked that one," before dropping it back into the rubble.
Another tilt of the head, "Ok, let's get you an invitation token to the Aegis, then, so you can go hunting. Come to think of it, I am starting to get hungry as well."
Praxiteles catches Petronius tossing his walking stick aside out of the corner of his eye, and he turns to Fiona and beckons her to bend down and listen to him. "I need a piece of stout oak wood about 4 feet long and at least three inches deep and wide, if it's already seasoned, all the better. Petronius damaged his walking stick, and I would like to fashion him a new one. And perhaps tonight, I'll show you how else I use my Arts."
"Brglhmmmph!" Alexei manages to say before carefully extracting himself from Fiona's grasp, red faced to the roots of his beard.
"Ahem...yes, well I'm sure this will go well then. Perhaps we can entertain our guests?" Alexei then whispers. "That was Greek wasn't it? What does he know of Apollodorus I wonder?"
((At first, I was going to make a comment as a woodworker, like you can always cut off, but you can't add back on. A hermetic woodworker probably could fuse pieces back together, and stretch boards that were cut too short. Dang. I need to improve my Rego Herbam lab total in my workshop.))
Fiona bends down to make sure that Praxiteles gets a good view as her robe hangs loose. [color=blue]"I'm sure you can use the wood most masterfully," Fiona whispers back. [color=blue]"I'll be sure to find you a good, stout one."
She goes over to examine the damaged stick and, if it's oak, will pick it up and take it with her into the surrounding forest. She casts Doublet of Impenetrable Silk first. Once she reaches the woods, she casts Intuition of the Forest on herself, and then Hunt for the Wild Herb. All three spells, her CT is significantly higher than the spell level (+28:15, +19:10, and +19:5 respectively), so per house rule no roll should be needed since it's not a stressful situation (I hope).
Once she finds a suitable piece of wood and knows that taking it wouldn't harm the forest, she casts a spontaneous PeHe to break off an appropriate length. Base 5 ("Destroy a plant"), R: Touch +1, D: Momentary, T: Part +1, for a final Spell Level of 15. CT is Sta 3 + Pe 5 + He 10...that's only 18 + a die roll, so that won't work.
Okay, she will MuHe part of the base of the plant, turn it to air just long enough for her to take it. Base 4 ("Change a plant...into metal or stone," this is basically the same thing except Auram instead of Terram). R: Touch +1, D: Momentary, Part +1, for a final spell level of 10. CT is Sta 3 + Mu 17 + He/Au 5 = 25 + die roll of 7 = 32, halved is 16.
She then hurries back to the covenant, keeping her eyes and ears peeled the whole time out and back.
((It's not oak, the wood is much whiter and the grain finer. It looks like the stick was fashioned from a length of branch, of appropriate thickness, and the bark was simply removed and the wood polished. It's about an inch and a half (3.5 cm) in thickness and a bit over a yard in length.))
((If Fiona still uses the stick as an indication for finding a tree of the same species, it may take her some time before she finds one: it's beech.))
((No, she needs "a sample of the plant you are looking for" when casting Hunt for the Wild Herb. Since his stick was beech, she will find a piece of oak and use that, or just use her knowledge of Herbam, Survival(?) and Awareness to find an oak.))
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