2.4 - Amos, Cygna and Viscaria scout out labs

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Phoenix - Rise from the A
#1

Cygna arrives for breakfast in the second-floor dining hall of the Cijara manor (I'm assuming that this is where the magi typically take their meals...at least, that's what Cygna will assume as well, and proceeds accordingly), looking much refreshed (and much cleaner) after her bath the night before but with an annoyed look on her face. She will quickly eat what is put before her after taking a tentative bite to make sure that it's more edible than the previous night's dinner started out to be, and will gesture to any hovering servants that the food is good.

[color=red]"Viscaria, you said yesterday that you had found an unclaimed laboratory in the caverns. Did you want to make a claim for the laboratory, or wait until we see what else we discover today?"

(edited for grammar booch and to add quick interaction with staff)

2.4 - OOC
#2

Viscaria also assumed breakfast was to be served in Cijara. The servants appeared scandalized by the whole manner.

"Yes, fine. I understand that. But where should I have gone?"
"The mistress is welcome to eat wherever she likes, I'm sure."
"Yes, that's what you said, but what I'm asking is....Oh, Cygna! She switches to Latin.

"Thank the earth for someone with a bit of sanity! Yes, I'm rather fond of the lab down there, it speaks to the dwarf in me. You're welcome to examine it before I officially put my marker on it. I just want to add a studio, and maybe a bedroom for a guard. Or possibly try to talk a few of the Warders into maintaining a permanent guard duty down there."

#3

Amos wanders into the second floor Dining Hall and moves towards a seat. His hair is still wet from what must have been an early morning bath, but there is a bit of drying oatmeal splattered against his shirt. "Ahh, there you are," Amos gracelessly plops down and gives a sigh of relief. "Good morning, good morn. I never realized how much I took for granted that everyone spoke Latin at Spineus Roseus. This manor has a lot of space. You don't suppose the Library has a map, do you? It would make finding the Sanctums and Labs easier."

He waves off any attempt to bring him food but gladly accepts some water. After noticing the bit of oatmeal he hurriedly brushes it off with his hand and mutters with a grin on his face, "darn rascals."

#4

[color=red]"I recall that the text for our Aegis of the Hearth had a map of both sides of the covenant with it, detailing the best path to take to maximize the casting."

Cygna smiles as well. [color=red]"How old are they? I don't remember you mentioning any children yesterday."

#5

Viscaria nods, considering. "As I recall, it was an exterior map. Detailed, though. They may have an interior map in the library as well. But Jamie told us where the other labs were, so unless we intend to explore the entire demesne..."

#6

[color=red]"He did mention the labs of Cersei, Tyrion, and his apprentice. I believe that Hiems has already laid claim to Salamandrus's old laboratory, and I would be much surprised if Jaime were to relenquish his sanctum and laboratory."

Cygna pauses, a thoughtful look on her face. [color=red]"I would be lying if I said that I had planned to claim one of the established laboratories as my own, as there are doubtless certain...amenities that I would desire that I don't expect to find there. If one of the labs greatly appeals to me, though, I might want to stake a claim. I had actually anticipated developing my own laboratory and sanctum from scratch here, as well." She smiles. [color=red]"I won't drag you along on my quest if you don't want to come, however."

#7

"Which shall we explore first? Cersei's seems the most pressing, as we need to find clues about her wine magics, but the apprentice labs should be the easiest to investigate."

#8

[color=red]"I suggest Cersei first, precisely for that reason. Depending on how long that takes, we then move on to either Tyrion or the apprentice. If it's late in the day, the apprentice, as I doubt that will take that long. If it's early enough, Tyrion, and leave the apprentice for last."

#9

Amos blushes and sort of shrugs. "Oh, they're not mine, not really. I mean, I'm godfather to them but I've helped take care of them since they've been born." He sighs and shakes his head. "I'm not going about this the right way. My butler, Nicholas, brought his wife Jeanette and their children, Francois and Josephine. Joey is 6 and her curiousity will take her anywhere, even where she's not supposed to go. Francois is only 4 but he's already learned to use his dimples to his advantage." Amos smiles wistfully, "I'm 'Meannie Unca Amo' since I'm a little bit stricter than Nicholas, with Jeanette's blessing, of course. It's good to see children getting to enjoy being children."

Amos nods in agreement. "Cersei's it is then."

#10

The door to Cersei's chambers are in the same 1st floor hallway that Jamie's sanctum is in. Jamie's suite of rooms are on the interior, with windows looking into the internal courtyard. Cersei's door is on the opposite wall.

#11

Terrence, who had taken breakfast with the other grogs and/or humiliores and is now fully armed and armoured, will insist on going first...or, if not first, at least before Cygna.

[color=red]"But, Terrence...it's just a sanctum, here in the covenant, that's been abandoned for a couple of years, at the least. I doubt that there's anything to fear from there."

"Abandoned," he replies in English, "and with the sole surviving magus about to abscond...what does he know that we don't?" Terrence heaves a sigh of exasperation. "Regardless, Maga, as your shield grog I must insist upon doing my duty. If, as you say, there's nothing to fear, than we have lost nothing. On the other hand, if there is something amiss, than I can at the very least buy you and your...sodales" (Terrence casts a suspicious eye toward the other two magi as he says this) "a second or two to defend yourselves from...whatever may lie within."

Cygna, after a dramatic roll of the eyes and glancing at the door to see if there are any signs, sigils, runes, or skull-and-crossbones, will step aside and let Terrence go first. He will slowly open the door, hand on the hilt of his sword, and peer within. Awareness 3 + Per 1 + die roll of 9 = 13.

#12

"Years? Cygna, I believe you are mistaken. I was under the impression that Maga Cersei Lannister fell at Las Navas De Tolosa, last fall."

(OOC: It was actually last summer)

Viscaria cannot follow the rest of the exchange in English, and looks puzzled -- she's never even heard the language they're speaking in before.

Terrance signals "all clear" a few seconds later, and we step into Cersei's receiving room ("studio" by the book). It is elegantly furnished, light entirely with CrIg circles on glass discs, and clearly designed to receive a single guest at a time.....in a variety of positions. Various tables and armoires are littered with exquisitely crafted, gently curving glass wands. Many have a bulbous protrusion at one or both ends. Viscaria picks one up carelessly, sniffs it, and then holds it very close to her eyes, slowly spinning it and looking for marks. "Definitely of dwarven make. Wands perhaps? Such creations, no matter how well crafted, can only hold 2-3 pawns worth of enchantments. Shall we all Intellego for things?"

A door to the right of the entrance is closed. There is also a set of stairs leading down.

#13

Cygna looks at Viscaria with a "What?" look on her face but says nothing. (OOC – the "two years" was exaggeration for dramatic effect to play down any potential threat.)

It takes a minute or two for it to click about the furniture's intended functions...when it does, Cygna blushes a very vivid shade of red.

[color=red]"My two best Forms are Mentem and Corpus...if you would, I'll try to Spont Intellego spells for those if you want to try a couple of others."

First, she'll try an InMe to determine if there are any lingering Mentem effects or the like (♪♫[color=red]"Will I any Mentem find/Spirit, passion, piece of mind?"♫♪). In 6 + Me 13 + Sta 0 + Aura 5 + die roll of 4 = 28 ÷ 2=14. Hmmm...any reason I can't use a Confidence Point, get that 28 up to a 31, making the result a 15? (nice even next-magnitude score there?).

After resting a couple of minutes, and probably sharing what (if anything) she gleaned, she with then try an InCo (trying to see if there is any Corpus, whether body(ies) or Corpus effects). In 6 + Co 5 + Sta 0 + Aura 5 + die roll of 2 = 18 ÷ 2 = 9. (♪♫[color=red]"Surely there is Corpus here/But in what form, I dread and fear"♫♪)

[color=red]"Shall we see what's behind the door?" If neither Viscaria, Amos, nor their shield grogs object, Terrence will repeat the procedure. Unless something is discovered which may make a difference.

#14

Viscaria peers naively through the curved glass wand at Cygna. "What is the matter? Are you sensing some kind of environmental effect?" She places the bulbous, narrow end against her eye and tries to stare through the wand longwise. "Terram is my specialty, but I don't know that it is worth the effort to invent such an incantation on the fly. From what I understand, Cersei specialized in Mentem, Herbam and Vim."

She shrugs and nevertheless tries, putting down the wand and pulling several small silver rods off her bracers. She uses these to invoke a few spells (InTe and InVi), and the scent of fresh flowers fills the room. "Nothing on the Terram front, but the items in that armoire over there are all magical, including the bottle and cups. Some kind of low level fae effect, I think." Viscaria gestures to an armoire near the primary seating arrangement, filled with more of the glass wands, two bottles of wine, and a pair of wineglasses.

No value in the InMe Confidence point, as either way Cygna sees a brief glimmer of Mentem effects on the items in the armoire.

Spending a Confidence point on the InCo is worth your time. At a 9, the "bits of Corpus" Cygna sees spattering across most of the furniture, and quite a number of the walls would just cause her to blush further, but as she spends that tiny bit of resolve to not be humiliated by the actions of this wanton woman, she notices the traces of blood around the stairs -- clearly indicating someone had been blasted onto the stairs and down them, many months ago.

#15

[color=red]"That's one way of putting it."

[color=red]"She is? I did not know that. Very interesting."

Cygna will wander over and examine the items in the armoire, particularly the bottles of wine. [color=red]"I wonder if these are two of the fabled Cijara wines that we need to rediscover? she says, almost to herself.

[color=red]"Hmm...these items seem to have some kind of Mentem effects." (Was it all the items there, or just a couple or so in particular?)

[color=red]"Oh, my!" Cygna goes over to the stairs and kneels down carefully to get a better look at the traces of blood, pointing them out to the others and telling them her deduction.

(ooc - do I wind up spending one Confidence Point or two?)

#16

I don't recall any opportunity Cygna would have had to see what the bottles or barrel brands look like. Would she know?

All of them. This seems to be where Cersei stored the Special Stuff(tm).

Only one point. You only spend a Confidence Point after the roll has been adjudicated, so they are never wasted. If it won't make a difference, you don't spend them.

Going to hold off on responding to the rest of this so Amos can catch up.

#17

Amos pauses after passing the doorway and says a quick prayer for Cersei's soul. As he looks around the furniture and the layout, he momentarily blanches and then says another prayer for strength against his own weaknesses and impure thoughts.

"I'm... ummm..." Amos shrugs. "Pretty singularly useless in the Intellego department. I think my eye is already spying all of the Ignem effects." While the magas cast their spells, Amos will clear off two of the tables by the door. When they're done chanting, he nods his head towards them, "I figure one for stuff Library bound and mundane trade goods, and the other for magical items and Vis." Leaving the chest with magical equipment for the girl's reviews, Amos begins to systematically open all of the mundane armoires and check them for books or other exotic oddities.

"Hmm?" Amos leaves the doors of an armoire open as he walks over to examine what Cygna is referring to.

#18

Note that the furniture in here is not obviously erotic in nature, just....extremely functional for that purpose.

"That seems quite unwise to me, Master Amos. The ability to analyze and contemplate is what separates us from the beasts of the land, or the sentience provided by magic. I would offer to teach the art to you myself, if I did not suspect our new library could provide greater insight on the topic."

This is Cersei's reception room, and is only set up to entertain guests while they waited for her. As such, no books, but much artwork -- including a small painting of Jaime. From their proximity, Amos might easily assume the other small portraits in that area are of other covenant members, and would have worked as Sympathetic Connections to the magi for Cersei.

Viscaria continues to examine the magical armoire items, after Cygna steps toward the stairs. She makes a noise indicating interest in their findings, but is distracted by delighting in so much dwarven craftsmenship.

#19

Nope. She hasn't a clue, had never even heard of the Cijaran vintage until yesterday. Semi-idle musing on her part, but just loud enough so the others can hear and give an answer if they have one without her having to admit her (further) ignorance.

#20

Amos shifts a good percentage of the artwork onto the table for trade goods, but places the small portraits on a corner for the Library-bound and plans to take some items by Jamie first.

"Viscaria, when you're done with those, and have decided what's not worth keeping or magical, can you put it on that table?" Amos asks, pointing at the pile of paintings haphazardly stacked atop each other. Bending down next to Cygna, he peers at the stains and then smiles at her, "These seem quite old. Perhaps downstairs will be able to better tell us if this incident occurred before or after the Battle." He begins to take a step and then pales, suddenly whipping around and looking for where Terrance is. He nods to the grog and then gestures down while quickly leaving the stairway opening. "Would you like to go first?" Amos' face squinches up as he tries to imitates Hiem's eyebrow raise and fails horribly - he ends up lifting both eyebrows and just looks surprised.