Azura pointedly does not dress, she just lounges around nude, but in her voice it's obvious that she strictly segregates business from pleasure. "My command? No way. No one likes to take orders from a Jew, maga or not. Anyway, I only just arrived myself. I'll depart at first light with the rest of you. Just have that sack with you, and... actually, can you bring a several balls of twine as well? And some wooden pegs. Then we can bring fewer loaves of bread."
"I've been taking orders from a Jew for a month and expect I will for some time to come. I have no problem with listening to any magus, regardless of gender or religion. Hey isn't it sabbath for you until sundown tomorrow?" Despite the earlier dalliance he's now all business. That Azura lounges around nude doesn't seem to phase him.
"I was bred to serve. Some service is more preferable than others." At that he takes your bag and leaves.
She snorts derisively. Of course it is. That's what the bread and twine are for. Obviously!" she declares, as though it makes complete sense.
In the morning, when they leave, Azura asks permission to cast a bit of friendly magic on Etienne, and she casts Doublet of Impenetrable Silk (CT 6 and 6 + 1Sta + 9 Mu + 5An + 5Aura = 26 for both) and The Tireless Flight (CT 9 and 6 + 1Sta + 9+3Re + 7*2 Co + 5Aura = 41 and 38 respectively) on both Etienne and Binyamin, her shield grog. Both Etienne's and Binyamin's tunics and shoes turn sky blue as the spells take effect. "You're stuck with the blue shirt until sundown, I'm sure you're familiar with how Doublet of Impenetrable Silk works" she explains to Etienne, "And the other spell will prevent you from feeling the effects of fatigue or wounds for the duration of the spell; it lasts for as long as you want it to, which is as long as you can concentrate on it."
Étienne gathers the requested items for the Maga that night, then in the morning, he's whisting a tune and napping under the tree as indicated earlier.
By the time Azura arrives, he's awake and as ready to go as he'll ever be at such an early hour.
Azura will notice Étienne's shoes return to their normal color almost as soon as she casts it. "Concentrating on maintaining a spell is not my forté, and I'll be far too busy to worry about that. But I think the maga for her generous touch," indicating his tunic with a raised eyebrow expressing more. "Ra'am tried the same spell this morning, and 45 minutes later, had nothing to show for it. Although the tunic now matches my eyes, which is much preferable to the constant tingling sensation I'd have with his." When Azura touched his clothes she noted that they were very fine, though not in local fashion.
(OOC: Should bin Saladin agree with the previously mentioned deployment, having Marie scout out the area and report back if she sees many armed men in the camp, and we leave about a half hour later to give her time, can we proceed with that plan? Étienne is more than willing to relinquish military authority, but retain overall command authority as it deals with the possible refugees. If bin Saladin has a better idea for force deployment under the circumstances, Étienne will defer to his judgment, and he should realize that the Maga isn't in command.)
I've filled in the list as best I know, but I'm still confused on a few pc/player groupings.
The next thing I need after that is a skill roll which indicates how you're looking for the refugees. You've only narrowed it down to about 3 square miles.
Presumably, we investigate the previous campsite, first, and then proceed from there?
Arya previously indicated she'd take Abdul Fati, but since she's going to run Azura, and I'm running a Companion here, maybe Peregrine should take him? I can take him, though. Levi, he's there for color.
Which character is making the plan? Some character needs to use a skill and roll a die.
Not it!
Isn't Étienne the "leader"?
Until someone asserts control over Abdul Fati, I'll run him. He will implement Étienne's plan as previously mentioned. Marie will then need to make a roll to actually conduct the.
Abdul Fati issues the following order, "Marie, I want you to scout out the camp I'd previously found, but stay out of sight, if there are many armed men or it is deserted, come back and let us know, otherwise, we'll head toward it in 30 minutes." Leadership roll for how well he instructs them? That would be Com (2) +Leadership (5) +Die roll of 9=16.
If Marie hasn't returned, Étienne wil assume the roll as a travelling dandy (blue shirt, hello!) with an entourage. He'll be in the front, and will bluff accidentally running into them, and hide the armed people toward the back. He and Esteban will be in the front with his sword on the mule. Levi wil be next with food, and then the armed people will be in the back. Étienne is thinking that the refugees will return to the camp, and it's worth checking there first (OOC: he's relying on his Virtue, it's an SG roll, I figure the best way to RP this via PbP is to play a hunch and the let the SG roll that, sound good?)
There, I've successfully delegated responsibilty for the roll to find anything Fixer, which is of primary importance, since Invisblecastle doesn't really like me, and since the roll doesn't actually do anything, of course I roll well.
Just saw this question. Vivienne, a Ghostly Warder as per MRB 193, gains the Manifest power when in the Regio. I'll stat up exact details of the power later.
That's clear enough, they must communicate at about 3-4 language skill anyway.
Marie isn't dumb, and would have tried to avoid being seen anyway. This is what she does, scout, report, and provides ranged fire.
Dex 3 + Stealth 4 + 1d10=7 = 14.
The characters are all doing an excellent job of their individual tasks, but I still need a Hunt, Survival, etc roll to indicate some proficiency at finding hidden things in a natural environment. Prof: Soldier or the like might do as well. The Leadership and Stealth rolls don't really seem like the apply to the actual finding of people.
Ok, so it's Étienne's plan, so we'll do his hunting roll Int (0) +Hunt (2) +Die roll of 5 =7.
Sound good?
Maria's Awareness check for spotting refugees (or any sign of them): Per 1 + Awareness 3 + die roll of 5 = 9.
Not sure if Profession: Sergeant would be relevant or applicable, but if it is: Per(?) 1 + Sergeant 3 + die roll of 0...figures. No botch, though (die roll of 6). So, final score of 4.
Okay, it takes you most of the day to locate the refugee camp -- it was surprisingly well hidden. Someone here has a high Survival skill.
Maria estimates that there are about 20-25 women and children, mixed Jewish and Muslim. There are three (Christian) men who seem to be in charge. From their clothing, Maria judges the men to be deserters.
On the plus side, since it took so long, it is nearly dusk, and Azura will be able to join you in about an hour.
OOC the thing about this that sucks is that I'm running the two command characters, so I feel like whatever decision I come to is contrived. I'm stuck on this one. The timing is tough. Is Étienne's intuition giving him any indication in which way to roll on this one? His choices, go to the camp unarmed and alone. Or surround the camp and attempt to negotiate from a position of strength in a highly volitaile situation at late hour where people are generally on edge...
OOC: Then ask one of the not-You characters for input, or we can start the RP with Maria returning from discovering the camp.
From her recon when she found the camp, does it look to her like they're legitimate refugees? And are the only men in the encampment (or in the vicinity, that she could tell) the three Christians that seem to be in charge? (not sure if that would be a Folk Ken or a PS: Sergeant roll)
Let's go with Folk Ken if you want to see how everybody feels about the arrangement, and Prof:Sarge to identify their competence as soldiers/warriors, and the command structure.
I, in real life, have a hard time imagining what fake refugees would look like, so it's hard for me to describe this convincingly. Maria suspects they are real. Certainly, the way the women and children reacted when she accidentally stepped on a twig was genuine terror. The way they huddled together and clutched their babes to their chests seemed real. The way they looked hopefully to the men to protect them had just the right combination of pleading desperation, apathetic familiarity, and grumbling tones of resentment to suggest this was not some recently contrived farce.
...wait, dammit. I get confused again. Is it Marie that's the Scout, or Maria? The Scout is the one who is scared of men, and the swordswoman is the one who sees the Devil's Hand in everything, right?
Well, it's the Scout that sees this, the one who is nervous around men. And, being the person that she is, of course she pays more attention than most would to one note inside this symphony of war-torn tragedy: One of the men, the Christian deserters, puts his hand on a woman's shoulder, a Jew, to comfort her. The woman is clutching her daughter to her bosom in fear, and she clasps the man's hand on her shoulder in gratitude, letting her fear spill out into his clutched hand.
So why then does Marie pay so much attention to the little girl's face? The fearless little girl, letting her mother hold on to her to soothe the older woman's nerves, while she (the little girl) glares hatefully at the man reassuring her mother.
And just to avoid confusion, we'll say that Maria, the swordswoman, also sees the scene from a different side of the small vale. To her, this looks like a crowd of god-fearing women, who've been able to hear the devil at their heels for many months.