Honorus collects his gear from Gunther and prepares to go. " To Dankmar? I assume as we get closer Rabanus may be able to give us better directions."
He looks in the direction they will travel and bows his head for a moment in concentration. "[size=85]I hate snow too grandparens[/size]... Gunther, you stay close and guide me. I will take the lead." He casts a spell on himself and then begins to walk forward. The snow and ice move out of his way as if he were behind a large plow making a foot path about 1m wide with no snow or ice.
(Clear the snowy path ReAq 10 (re11+aq6+aura7+st2+roll3) lvl5 + concentration. I decided Honorus' sigil would be a Equilateral Triangle which fits this spell nicely. ) 1d10+7+2+11+6=29
A grog comes out to collect the aegis tokens. Hildegard asks him for the way. The man replies that taking the direct route might be shorter but steeper and a lot more dangerous. He says he'd go south to the Neckar follow it upriver to Sulz, then turn west to Alpirsbach and then further west along the Kinzig valley road until it turns north. Then, it's somewhere to the south.
Hildegard uncertainly looks at the others.
ooc: see map GoTF, p. 49; according to a good map 60km as the crow flies or 80-90km walking "mundane" paths; Durenmar is probably "Durrweiler" and Dankmar somewhere near "Mühlenbach". Google Earth or some other internet map will help you - and remember: It's 1220: there is a lot more forest than in google maps, most of the villages in the black forest have not been founded yet.
The grog, who quite obviously tries to resist the sinister influence of the Gift, answers quickly, eager to be back inside the tower: "Normally, redcaps take the route I described. Master Horst's party went south from here, so he probably took that way too.
"But with magi, you never know," he adds under his breath. Looking at the party, he adds, "Dear masters, please, that's all I know." and looks longingly at the guardroom.
The forest is eerily quiet. After the first strenous hour, the party reaches a frozen brook, which they can follow towards the Neckar. Even though everyone is wrapped into thick clothes, the cold mercilessly bites at the upper half of the traveller's faces, which are the only bits exposed to the wind that gets ever stronger and brings snow with it.
"At least that will cover our tracks", Hildegad thinks as she trudges along, her feet as wet as everybody else's despite their well-made boots. Only Honorus shows no sign of cold or wet feet. She realizes that theey will have to make a break in the forest long before the sun rises.
ooc: Each group member - except Honorus - automatically loses one longterm fatigue level per hour of travel, Honorus only ecery second hour.
As the Sun fades and the party sets up camp, Honorus will renew his ward vs cold as soon as it drops. He is tired from walking and concentrating on his spell. He show no interest in doing much beyond renewing his Param and getting something to eat.
"I will sleep here" he says pointing to the ground his spell had just cleared. "I will give anyone a Ward vs the cold for tonight and tomorrows march. Please accept my apologies for not offering it when we left. When one does not feel the cold he forgets how hard it can be on others."
The first night is uneventful - apart from the occasional wolf howling. Thanks to Honorus spellcraft, the party sleeps warmly and comfortably.
The second day, the party passes Sulz and heads for Alpirsbach.
An hour before sunset, they reach Alpirsbach, a tiny Benedictine cell famous for its brewery. The cell consists of two shabby wooden buildings next to a frozen brook. A distrustful monk spits into the snow as they approach: "More visitors? What do you want here at this time of the year? Are you imperial envoys, too, like those three blokes that came through here three nights ago? We may be monks, but we have little worth stealing. And the Lord sayeth: Strike down the crooked-toothed thief who cometh in twilight, for I am thy Lord. Or something like that." He spits again. "We are true to our Lord's command, aren't we, Pater Ulrich? "
At the mention of his name, Pater Ulrich, whose black priestly robe doesn't hide his well-muscled frame, comes out of the larger of the two wooden shacks, single-handedly carrying an impressive woodman's axe: "Aye", he replies. "I don't like your faces. Remember the Gospel as written by Matthew: 'It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. (5:29)'" He quotes, leisurely swiping his axe. "So what do you want from us?"
ooc: I took the liberty to roll dice for Honorus (7x warming spell, 1x snow removal spell - aura fairie 2) - no botches.
Honorus sends Theron off to sit in a tree and watch before they reach the cell. "Best not to cause any more distrust than our gift will my friend."
Honorus bows slightly to the monks and says in latin "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. (and back to German) We seek only information kind monks. If you offer more to be hospitable then we would accept it if only a stable to spend the night if only for the childs sake ( gestures to Hildegard ). How is the road ahead along the Kinzig valley? And is there any news that we should be aware of for dangers. Like bandits or wolf packs in the area?"
Hildegard tries to look meekly, which she manages, because she is incredibly tired from a day's walk for people almost twice her size.
Pater Ulrich replies: "You are no angels, that is sure. Odd fellows you are though. But we wouldn't turn travelers away, as long as they honor the seventh commandment. The poor child. We will gladly accept your donation for our noble task of taming the wilderness. Come in, taste our beer, bread and a warm soup. You can move on tomorrow" he stresses the last sentence, making it clear that this would indeed be expected.
You've been asking about wolves. You are not from here, stranger, are you? Asking for wolves in the black forest in winter is like asking for trees. Usually, a fire and a few well-thrown cones will keep them away. I'd more worry about those areas the wolfs avoid, for they are settled by little demons of the forest - this truly is a demonic heathen forest that needs to be tamed". He pats his axe lovingly.
"As for the Kinzig valley, most people have enough wits not to travel the Kinzig road in winter. But then, only a few days ago, an elderly grey curly fellow came through with his two bodyguards. Spoke Latin too, better Latin than you do - he was a true emissary of the emperor."
The group tastes the monks' beer (except for Hildegard who gets boiled water), they eat drink and sleep. The monks are not everly talkative, and one stays up all night to watch the group.
ooc: further questions? Any magic apart from Honorus travel magic (warmth/snow removal)? Otherwise, I assume they hit the road again ealy in the morning, trying to cover the distance to Dankmar.
Arturous arises at dawn and prepares himself for the long day of travel ahead. With determination, hard work and some luck, they may yet reach Dankmar before day's end…
Honorus will leave a silver penny on a table/bed/flat-place-the-monks-can-find-it before he goes.
He will try to be alert for any recent foot travel leaving the road to the south. As they approach the area where they want to turn south to Dankmar, Honorus pauses in his stride and speaks "Rabanus, can you give us any directions to the wand. Or have it call out to us?"
"I don´t know how many miles it is to Dankmar from here or if its straight to the south. I never been there, for although i only heard tales of the emnity between the mages of Dankmar and Durenmar, i thought it better not to inquire personally. But the wand is to be found...."
ooc: locate the wand at the junction to Dankmar (1d10=8)
To get distance and direction to the wand: InHe10, Base 2, Range AC +4, Dur:mom, T: Ind
Roll 8 + In 10 + He 1 + Faerie Aura 1 + Exaggerated Gestures 1=21
Loss of just 1 level of fatigue, which should be healed by a short break.
About an hour before sunset, Rabanus casts his spell at the old Roman waystone where the Kinzig road turns north. For a moment he sees the world around him blur, excepting the direction back east, with a bit of south. He seems to fall into a tunnel of focused trees. It feels like a one hour fall, but when he blinks he knows that only a moment has passed.
Rabanus says: "It's back east and somewhat south of the road. For some reason they must have left the road about an hour back east. We must have missed him somewhere under the trees to the south of the road."
Hildegard nods: "Well, if he knows where Dankmar is, maybe he was trying to take a shortcut. Or maybe we've just walked a little too far. She frowns as she moans: why didn't you cast this spell more often, Rabanus? I'm tired and I hate the thought of walking back the path!"
ooc: @zlorfik - it's a shame you didn't take the common sense virtue for your character. But well, the delay is only a minor one...
"The responsibility for missing the path lies on all of us, not Rabanus" Arturous rebukes Hildegard in a stern voice as he looks back on the trail. "Any of us could have reminded him to check more often. Next time we would be more attentive"
After about 45 minutes of walking back, they ask Rabanus to repeat his spell. The direction has now changed to west-south-west, and a few 100 paces later, the grogs discover some broken twigs that indiciate where Horst's party left the Kinzig road to walk up a fir-covered mountain-slope. Another of Rabanus spells cast in thefading light tells the group that the wand must be about four-hundred paces to the south in the dense fir forest.
ooc: No climbing equipment or climbing rolls needed for the mountain slope, but it goes uphill. I assume one fatigue level has been taken over the day. I'm falling back to using my calculator randomizer for dicing. I've also decided not to tell you any results, so I can surprise you with botches
Honorus will pause and look at the hill. A big sigh escapes him. "Soldaes. I would suggest that we camp here tonight and go to the wand's location in the light of day and with a nights sleep." Nods of agreement from the Grogs but Honorus ignores them and looks to his fellow magi.
"What if Horst is out there, alone, desperate and hurt, and needs our help? Shouldn't we at least try to call out loudly?" She reconsiders for a moment. "But then again, he wouldn't have survived for so long out there by himself" She shrugs, undecided - her loyalty for her housemate at odds with her realisation that running into a thick forest at night might me dangerous.
"Do you think we can have a fire?"
