Alexei's bravado changes to desperation as he sees his prized talisman slipping away. The demon was too strong, wresting it away seemed impossible. Then he almost slapped himself at his stupidity. The demon was likely going to get away, but God willing not without his staff!
((Alexei runs forward and is going to just try and get a hand on the staff, since she's using it to defend herself he can likely get a hand on it or touch it. From there he's going to use Wizard's Leap and teleport away with it, since the range is Personal, as long as he's touching it, it should go with him.
So for the spell I successfully cast it, basically going behind it a few paces. If I have to Fastcast, then it's still successful with -10. If this is a Fastcast, here's the Finesse roll:
Even with the confidence, a total of 9 isn't high enough to get a hand on the staff, or let's say he did. His finesse timing isn't enough. I'd call it very hard (so the 13 if confidence is spent fails), to try and be brawling, and time a spell to go off (note, I'm not even going with requiring concentration roll, which I should).
And then there's the matter of resistance. I think it's probably reasonable that Alexei wouldn't try this, because he isn't sure he can penetrate the demon's resistance, even with the penetration bonus to the staff (+12, right? 3 penetration * 4 indefinite duration AC).
Keep in mind, this is the beginning of the story, a call to action for the "hero." We can have two heroes with very different goals in this story... And I can split it into an A and B story into a different thread.
I'll let Korvin have a go at doing something, and then we can break things up, have a mini council, whatever.
Korvin will try, with little hope of success, Spasm of the uncontrolled hand on the demon. Loud words, Exaguraged gestures. burning 10 pawns of Re vis ( this will be an epic botch)
Re14 + co 19 + stam 1 + aura 10 + 1d10=7 + 20(vis) + 2 words and gestures = 73/2 = 36 will spend confidence if needed. Penitration 31 + 3.
WOOT!. i was about to spend just 8 pawns of vis but was trying to guessimate what my total might be on an average roll. pure luck on the roll since I underestimated.
((It looks like 12 pawns of vis was spend for the AoH in 1228.3. which is 2 more then needed so that needs to be corrected. I think i was basing it on what Apollodorus had written than on what Isen had. It would be the 10mag with effective strength of 35))
Korvin will spend a bit seeing to the wounded. He will call a mandatory council meeting. Grogs will fetch people to the chamber. He will send Alexei to collect them if he must.
Korvin is not sitting when people come in to the chamber. He has his backpack in the room and is in traveling clothes. He is pacing back and forth. I'm going to be very brief as I must travel and I feel I'm already too late. Some of you know we have battled a demon that entered the aegis. It came with a Gifted Mercere and some mercenaries disguised as Redcaps. Both the Mercere named Jareth and the demon named Jardis escaped.
We can talk about our readiness at a later meeting. I'm here to warn you all about the Jareth. He is a master of Imaginem. He could appear to be anyone or anything. Only use Redcaps that you know personally and then make sure they are whom you believe they are. Until we can confirm Jareth's death, I would use extreme caution in your dealings. Alexei, as Chief Hoplite I would assume that you will have to report the demon attack. You make take my written account with you ( Korvin gestures to a sheet of parchment on the table). Abagail and I are going to do some traveling to investigate what they were after.
Korvin looks around the room for questions.
Fiona. I will need to speak with you privately before I go.
Uhh, one ran away, you told the grogs of Mons Electi not to harm him, and I'll handwave that he was secured. Of course, he needs a change of clothes, because he saw his friends either burned to a crisp or their necks torn out. He's not exactly all there right now... I don't recall what his overall wound level is, and the forum is flaky enough where looking for it is a chore. He may be unwounded, IIRC.
Once the demon is gone, and Korvin starts to tend to the wounded, Fiona started to tremble as she feels her legs go wobbly. She collapses to her knees and starts to cry.
[color=blue]"I'm sorry, Alexei, I shouldn't have come," she gasps between sobs.
[color=blue]"Of course," Fiona says calmly, wondering what he wants with her (well, she knows what he wants, but he doesn't seem to have time for it), and stays seated once the others leave
Alexei practically dives onto the staff and clutches it close but also has a disgusted grimace on his face. For several seconds he just breathes in relief that he hadn't lost his precious weapon, nor given a demon such an intimate connection to him. Finally he turns to Korvin.
"I...cannot thank you enough my friend. Explanations can come later, right now, know that you have my dearest gratitude."
From there he goes to Fiona. "Fiona..." he starts with his voice low, but it seems she is too overcome. Looking about him uncomfortably he stands upright and squares his shoulders. "Fiona! Enough of that! If not for you this would have been far worse. You're a warrior, a magus, you faced the enemy and the enemy ran. Now stand up proud giantess, don't sully this victory." hoping he could rouse her from this despair.
At the meeting Alexei holds the end of his staff in fire, making sure to burn away the foul remnants of whatever remained of that demon.
He accepts Korvin's written letter, he had been thinking of his own letter because of course there would need to be one...not a letter he looked forward to, especially with how poorly he actually performed. "We'll...talk more about this, when the emergency is not so grave."
Jacques is holding the last surviving mercenary who was disguised as a Redcap. We shall see if he is willing to talk if we treat him with kindness. Otherwise, I'm sure someone can get the information out of him.
When everyone else has filed out, Korvin comes to Fiona and gentle strokes her cheek. I must go in search of answers that I may not like. I have a feeling that they were seeking answers from Celestina before they came here. I fear the worst. He bows his head a small bit and looks at the floor. When he looks up she can see tears in the corner of his eyes. He leans in and kisses her and the moves to whisper in her ear.
(in ancient Greek)
Glittering-Minded deathless Aphrodite,
I beg you, Zeus’s daughter, weaver of snares,
Don’t shatter my heart with fierce
Pain, goddess
Remember that poem. I recited it to you when you were learning Greek from Brenner. If I come back and do not recite it to you, in Greek, turn me into a pig because it will not be me.
Korvin looks her in the eyes and smiles. I'm leaving you with a mess as Precepts. You might want to contact any Verditius you know and get some demon fighting weapons. We have just seen that our aegis is not strong enough for our enemies. Remember. Constant vigilance until we can get Jareth. Be very stingy with the aegis tokens.
[color=blue]"It was not by anything of my doing, amicus. She barely felt my Jupiter's Resounding Blow, my feeble Curse of Circe had no effect whatsover on her. I'm just grateful that my presence didn't cause any harm."
She gets to her feet and dries her eyes. [color=blue]"I appreciate your trying to cheer me up. But...I think I've got a long way to go before I'm of any use in a fight."
Fiona returns the kiss, smiles, and tenderly brushes the tears from his eyes. [color=blue]"I'll remember," she promises.
[color=blue]"I'll get right on it. And hurry back, sweetie. I'll keep the sheets warm for when you get back."
Korvin will head down to talk to the last Mercenary. See if he will just talk to Korvin about who he is and what happened. He will cover him with his parma to lessen the effect of the Gift.
