A winter incursion

A week after the Aegis has been recast, rumors begin to spread through the covenant as food goes missing and some animals and children fall ill that a leriah, or other hungry spirit, has infested the covenant.

When he hears of the missing food and sick children and animals, Argentius asks a grog with some degree of guard experience to accompany him on a twice daily walk about. (Cast: Aura of Ennobled Presence on self in the mornings before he leaves his sanctum.)

The handsome artificer starts to take a walk-about the covenant compound barrier at the crepuscular points of the day (sunrise and sunset). He varies the route slightly time by some changes: clockwise or counterclockwise about the compound, cutting across at a mid-point, etc. He stays within the Aegis barrier.

As he strolls on his walk, Argentius wears all three of his enchanted rings and uses both his second sight and the ability in the silver amethyst ring (regio entrance and aura realm alignment spotting) to study the environs of the covenant, searching for anything unusual or out of place: unexpected sign of passage, food scraps, spirits .

Argentius also keeps his eye and mind open for any desert animals (mundane or magical) or sign of them as he takes his twilight and dawn turns about the covenant.

Lares reacts to this by asking his ghost companion Albrecht:

"Do you see anything out of the ordinary? They are saying there might be a spirit bothering the covenant."

If applicable w/ Magic Lore, what would Aetherius know of Leriahs and other spirits of hunger / that could spread disease?

Aetherius knows that 1) these spirits are native to Africa, 2) are not ghosts or djinn, 3) tend to be associated with something called "the Red" and 4) might be magical, faerie, or infernal

Albrecht informs Lares that he has seen a spirit of the desert within the compound, though not an especially strong one, and he has not gotten a close look at it.

While patrolling the compound Argentius spots a spirit which looks like sand blown by the desert wind exiting the house of a sick child.

When Argentius spots the spirit exiting the house, he makes notes of the location and then casually follows the desert wind spirit, keeping his distance to see where it goes.

You follow the spirit to the central pantry, where food is brought from outside the aura each day to be distributed before the regions unnatural rate of decay can spoil it

Argentius says quietly to the grog with him, "Go get Lares, Aetherius, and Tastheus and tell them to come quickly here to the central pantry. Be quick about it but do not alert others. Tell them to be quiet when they enter. Now hurry!"

The artificer continues to watch the spirit, keeping an observant posture, ready to continue to follow the spirit should it move on.

Aetherius will go about the compound, trying to locate the spirit or his sodales, asking his familiar to keep an eye from above and report anything suspicious he might spot.

The grog quickly finds Aetherius narby and directs him to the larder before he moves on to Tastheus' sanctum to raise him (from sleep)

Lares would run into them, just starting his own search for the spirit.

"Ah, you are one step ahead of me. Let's go see this thing."

Aetherius arrives at the larder, seeing Argentius on site, observing discreetly, while Lares joins them. Aetherius greets his sodales with a hand gesture. Quietly, he says, "what's going on here?"

The spirit is inside the building, going from one food item to the next and turning them to dries rotten husks.

Argentius gestures at the spirit moving from food item to food item. "Some desert spirit who seems to be eating our food an making the children sick. I don't have much experience stopping spirits…"

The artificer shrugs, looking past Aetherius to Lares.

"Any ideas?"

(OOC: Does Lares have his parma up, by the way? If not, he obviously goes do that before continuing.)

"Well, it was to be expected, with the Aegis being what it is. We'll have to get that fixed."

He scratches his beard.

"At any rate, I have a ward that'll probably work on it. That would give us ample time to deal with it. Maybe not in our pantry, though."

"I can help give either of you some measure of physical protection with a Doublet, but I don't really have the expertise to fight off a spirit... Your ward sounds like an idea at least..."

(OOC I assume that Parma Magica is the first thing Aetherius does in the morning)

At this point Parma Magica has become a habit for everyone.

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I don't want to metagame here, but on hearing about the spirit Zarkut would have done a systematic search of the covenant with the aid of Second Sight. Assuming nobody has told him what's going on, I'm not sure how that should coexist with the previous efforts...

When the grog returns, Argentius gives him further instructions.

"Go find Zarkut and Silas, but whatever you do, don't disturb Plasmatoris. Leave him be. Have them join us quickly!"

(@Panopticon Just join on in, Zarkut is the only one of any use in this situation anyway.)