2.4 - Amos, Cygna and Viscaria scout out labs

"It'd be easier to just make this the Suspected Magic Items pile, and move the few other things we've found on to this, rather than take them all off it.

Terrance grabs one of the ring-flame candle holders, which actually looks a bit like a glass coffee mug, with the flame at the bottom of the mug, and goes down the stairs first.

A brief pause as Terrance is overly-thorough about his job and then he calls up, "Wine Storage."

The stairs do lead to a part of the cellar where a 2-3 dozen small barrels are kept on a system of racks against the walls, such that they can be rolled onto or off each rack individually. The center of the room, both on the ceiling and floor, are covered with sigils, runes and other occult items, for the casting of some kind of ritual or ceremonial spontaneous spell. Bands of noble metal have been laid into the stone to form circles and ovals, sigils have been permanently carved into the stone, and have remnants of chalk dust in their grooves.

Those with the Second Sight can spot a regio boundary in one of the walls behind the racks.

[color=red]"Does anyone remember whether the charter has any provisions for disposing of the effects of a member who has passed? Does it revert to the covenant, or does it pass on to her heirs? And would the items here in her sanctum and laboratory be passed on to whomever claims them?"

[color=red]"Not necessarily. Amos, you're not really any older than I am, correct? It's quite possible that he only had so many seasons of study during his apprenticeship, and had not enough time to spend learning everything he wished to. He likely had to forego some subjects while focusing on others. And it's quite possible that, in time, he will wish that he had decided differently during his apprenticeship." As she speaks, Cygna starts to sound more wistful.

[color=red]"Viscaria, you said the items in the one armoire might have some kind of low-level fae effect. Could they be dwarfish?"

"I've no idea. I assume there's some kind of Order-wide precedent, isn't there? Would her heirs be her biological children or her apprentices? Did she even have any of either?

Viscaria, who looks to be about the same age as both of Cygna and Amos (and, for that matter, Hiems), blushes deeply. "I may be the oldest of the new arrivals , but I've also had less than a decade since I passed my Gauntlet! I wasn't trying to talk down to anybody! I swear! I just meant that I find Intellego really interesting. Much more than Muto or Creo."

"I doubt we'll find any glass in this entire covenant that isn't of dwarven make. I'm only guessing that the objects here have been touched by the Sidhe, but it seems a reasonable guess.

[color=red]"If there is, I'm not aware of one." (unless her craptacular Int 4 + Code of Hermes + die roll of 0), followed by a botch check of 9, so unless her total of 5 tells her otherwise). [color=red]"I do know Riversedge added a provision to the charter regarding hermetic wills after..." Her voice trails off for a long moment. She crosses herself Eastern-style before she continues. [color=red]"All magi are required to have one on file, sealed until...needed."

Cygna peers intently at Viscaria. "If she's almost a decade out of Gauntlet," she thinks, "then either she's a lot older than she looks, or she was apprenticed practically out of the womb."

[color=red]"We all cast different shadows. We both share an interest in Intellego. As a Flambeau, presumably Amos shares in interest in Perdo with me, and has a strength in Ignem that I sadly lack. It is these differences that make the Order that much stronger. If we were all the same, wouldn't life be so very boring?"

[color=red]"Hmmm. Wonder if it would be worth the effort to analyze them at some point?"

Terrence scowls at Amos, then turns to Cygna. "If he pushes me down the stairs, Maga, avenge me," he says in English before heading down the stairs.

As Terrence, and then Cygna, make their way down the stairs, they will each look for the blood that has led them here. Terrence has Per 1 + Awareness 3 + die roll of 1, then another 1, then 2 (figgers), so 12. Cygna has Per 0 + Awareness (sight) 3 + 3 = 6.

Cygna is going to apply her massive intellect and examine the carvings and markings on the floor from as many angles as she can, trying to decipher what it was used for. Int 4 + Magic Theory 3 + die roll of 7 = 14.

(Shortened response due to real life deadlines)

Viscaria, regarding the wands: "As far as I know, there is no other way to understand the purpose of an item. I suppose oneould cast some kind of spell to see its past or speak to it..."

Magic Theory roll indicates that this is some kind of spontaneous spell involving the caster's sigil, and magics beyond your ken regarding planets. (OOC: requires a mystery to cast)

(ooc - as near as Terrence and Cygna can tell, does the trail of blood just peter out somewhere, or is that going to be in the un-shortened response?)

Cygna and Terrence will commence a thorough and methodical examination of the room and any contents of the cellar, including the above-mentioned wine casks and the rack system. Cygna will see if all the casks are labeled identically or if there are any differences, and if there are any Hermetic technobabble on any of them. Terrence will try to see if there's anything behind the racks, any hidden alcoves or chests or anything else out of the ordinary.

Cygna gets a Per 0 + Awareness (Sight) 3 + die roll of 4 = 7.

Terrence gets a Per 1 + Awareness 3 + die roll of 5 = 9.

Blood stains are only visible through InCo. Fell down the stairs and landed in a pool at the botom.

Terrance and Cygna find nothing new with those rolls.

Casks have not yet been branded.

Cygna will spont an InVi spell to try to allow her to see any active or lingering magic on anything. She will go for R: Voice (+2), D: Concentration (+1), and I think T: Individual (to see one thing at a time, as she focuses on each thing in turn for the duration of the spell; +1); everything she gets beyond the RDT will go to the base level, to sense stronger magics. Her roll is In 6 + Vi 3 + Sta 0 + Aura 5 + die roll of 5 = 19 ÷2 = 9. Should be good enough to spot very powerful (10th magnitude) spells or the presence of Vis. (♪♫[color=red]I spy with my spell the magics that formed/When the maga who lived here wine transformed♫♪) I honestly doubt that it would be worth a confidence point to raise her roll to 22 ÷2 = 11 (detect magic of 8th magnitude or higher, or the power of a mystical aura).

(worth a shot, eh?)

Edited to add: The sound of fluttering wings can be heard, moving from item to item as she moves her attention. With T: Taste, any magic she detects with the spell will be perceived as tasting like watergrass.

Intellego spells are strange. Range is personal, target level goes to senses. I am away from my books, and don't remember the sense order. Taste, touch, smell, hearing, sigt, I think?

All of the wine has magic in it, but in varying quantities. Nothing more than a pawn.

Yup, they are quite hard. I tried a similar spell myself. Vision alone gives +4 magnitudes :frowning:.
These are quite hard, especially for lingering magics: Going ritually and with LLSM, Hiems was only able to spont a spell to detect active lvl 15+ magics, which is base 4.

If Cygna goes for duration Concentration (+1), and smell (+2) like I did, a similar spell has a final level of 15...
Note that these are the same modifiers than voice and concentration, so, although the RDT was wrong, Peregrine's conclusions are likely correct if he goes for smell.

Cygna is still bothered by this, but doesn't see anything that she can do about it for the time being. She would at least like to know whose blood this is, and how it got there. Was it Cersei's, and was Jaime being forthright about what had happened to his sister? Or is it someone else's? And if so, what part (if any) did Cersei have in what happened? Cygna looks very thoughtful as she regards the area where her spell shows her the pool of blood had been.

[color=red]"The wine has already been magicked, it seems...but none of it is very magical," Cygna tells the others. [color=red]"I don't see any notes or texts down here that would shed any light on the procedure, though. Perhaps upstairs, somewhere?" Then she continues, almost to herself, [color=red]"If worse comes to worse, I could simply ask her."

Cygna looks around to the others to see if they have found anything. [color=red]"Well...shall we return upstairs and search there, then?"

Viscaria is still upstairs, puzzling over the wands. She is now blushing brightly, as if she has figured out something the others all noticed already.

"What did you find downstairs?"

[color=red]"There are about two or three dozen casks of, I'm assuming, wine down here," Cygna calls back. [color=red]"All of which are slightly magical.

"There are runes and sigils and so on in the center of the room...apparently something to do with Cersei's casting sigil and the heavens, beyond my comprehension.

"Oh, and Intellego Corpus shows that the trail of blood ends in a pool down at the bottom of the stairs. Still don't know how long ago it happened or whose blood it is.

"Nothing that I can see that will help us with the wines."

Cygna looks over at Amos and the others. [color=red]"Have you noticed anything else?"

((OOC:Sorry it took me so long to respond))

While Terrance was looking for secret passages around the racks Amos would have done a thorough examination of the floors and walls then. He'll try a spontaneous InVi of Conc and Touch and run his hands along the walls after doing a visual inspection.

Per 2 + Awareness(Searching) 3 + Keen Vision 3 + 1d10=4 = 12
In 3 + Vi 5 + Sta 3 + Aura 5 + 1d10=8 = 24/2 = 12

While Cygna is absorbed in examining the casks and cases Amos will stay quiet in Terrance's presence until back upstairs.

No worries. I've been out of touch too.

I'll let Amos discover the regio boundary behind one wall of casks as well during his extended search. You've made the same mistake as Cygna with the InVi spell -- Intellego spells are usually Range:Personal, Target:Sense. I should also really be requiring more specific spell descriptions that "generic InVi," and don't forget to describe how your sigil will affect your spellcasting.

That aside, there are no active magics in the wine cellar.

No active magics are sensed, however.

"Actually," Amos responds, "I did my best imitation of Hiems' brooding silence and I think I found something behind the cask stands. If I remember the conversation from last night, it might require your sight. But I'm not positive - and even if it is we'd have no way to lay a path through it so..." his speech peters off and he ends in a shrug.

Viscaria examines Amos's find. "I can't see anything. Are you sure you found something? If it is a border, it must be a much more potent regio on the other side."

OOC: Grrr. Stupid perception Ease factors! Per 0 + Second Sight 2 + stress die vs a gorram 9(??!) for the smallest border difference! What the hell?~pouts~

Cygna wanders over to where Amos and Viscaria are examining the wall behind the cask, looking as intently as she can. (no Second Sight or anything else useful, and I don't think she can see a Regio boundary with simple Awareness, so I won't even bother rolling) [color=red]"What did you think you saw, Amos?"

[color=red]"Pffft." Cygna expresses her opinion of Viscaria's ability to see what others cannot, formed during the meeting the night before, as she continues to examine the stone(?) wall intently. [color=red]"Would it help if I attempted an improvised spell to detect...whatever?"

Mildly affronted, Viscaria takes a step back and gestures to the wall Amos is pointing at, as if to give Cygna room to work in, and then pointedly takes cover behind a barrel as Cygna begins casting.

"Sorry, I could have sworn it was over here. I can't see it, but I more... well, felt my way around the mortars and it didn't feel right," Amos confesses. "I don't think I could tell you where to look for it even if I wanted to. Let me try to feel what felt wrong again..."
Amos presses himself up against the wall with his fingertips spread wide, and then blinks. The air grows still and silent, and a very faint change in air pressure flows through Cygna and Viscaria as Amos screws his face up in concentration and begins tracing the mortar around the bricks as he walks left. ((InVi again, Range: Touch, Dur: Concentratoin, Target: Touch - his fingers should trace the regio "path" or hole when he stumbles across it again. Might still be missing some details but...))