Tasia asks the woman if there is a place in the village that would suit the doctor's needs.
Tasia tells Petrus she was thinking about using some space in the cave's rooms since they're apart from the rest of the place.
Petrus concedes that the caves "might work", which you're rapidly coming to realise is the best you're going to get from him. He hasn't actually been in the caves himself, though, so he can't be sure, and in any case a cave is likely to be difficult to keep warm, and drafty, and probably full of bats, knowing his luck...The list goes on for a while in the same general vein, but still, you're a maga, all that magic's got to be good for something, right?
You have less luck talking to the woman. Whilst eager to find a way that doesn't involve you carting her son off to who knows where, she has to concede that there's been something of a shortage of good building materials recently. Whilst the village isn't short on houses as such, all of the solidly built ones are firmly occupied, and Petrus' assessment of the remainder is less than flattering.
Just round to the nearest whole number, unless you guys object.
Scott
"Then it looks like our doctor will need to have the boy moved to where he can look after the boy more. Or we can leave him here with you. Though we cannot promise a wonderful outcome, we can promise that we will do our best for him. You are his mother. It is your choice."
If the mother goes for it, Tasia will translate so the doctor can tell her how to send the boy, and they'll make the needed arrangements.
The mother still looks uncertain.
"I...I think I need to discuss this with my husband. I'm sorry. I don't mean to be ungrateful, you're being very kind. He should be back from his hunt soon, and then perhaps we can bring the boy to you?"
"I will return tomorrow. If your husband has returned, you can let me know your decision. If he has not yet returned, I can come back again later."
After Tasia and Petrus leave Tasia will grab a stone from a relatively hidden spot just outside of town.
The woman thanks you, looking grateful you don't appear to have taken offence.
Your return to the covenant is uneventful, and you arrive back in the late afternoon. There's still no sign of Viola or the villager she took with her.
Petrus suggests that, even if the boy doesn't end up being treated here, it would still be a good idea to start setting up an infirmary: "New place, unfamiliar terrain, swamps, all those gorges...accidents waiting to happen."
Tasia will show Petrus the caves that could be used until something better has been made.
[MTKnife, any chance could you post an updated version of the caves maps (with the rest of the doorways that have now been explored) on the Covenant thread? In particular, am I right in thinking that on the first level there's:
- one size 0 lab on the first level, with a hypocaust and an illusion of a curtain of flame upon entering (that's still there, right?)
- one size +3 lab
- 2 storerooms (what size?)
On the second level there's:
- One size 0 lab, with the remains of a rockfall (and possibly a skeleton still), but no apparent active traps
- Various other blocked entrances which all appear to have water behind them]
I think you have it right. I'll try to update some time tonight--maybe within an hour or two.
Scott
OK, updated maps of the caves have been added to the Covenant thread.
Scott
[Scott, those look like the same maps from before with the first level still largely blocked?]
Petrus looks gloomily at the mess that fills the caves, and sighs. On being told of the fire illusion he frowns. "Can you stop it doing that, ma'am? If not, I'll have to rule out that room - the infirmary's meant to make people better, not scare them to death. The covenfolk might get used to it, but you'd never get the villagers in here."
He frowns even harder on being told of the water behind the blocked off passages. "Not anywhere on the second level then. When those dykes breach, we don't want to have patients stuck down here. Ah...how sure are you that the water won't reach the first level, ma'am?"
In summary, Petrus thinks there are two possible choices - either remove the flame illusion and turn the Ignem lab into the infirmary, or use the size +3 lab. Whichever lab Tasia decides upon, Petrus will organise several of the other covenfolk to start clearing out the wreckage whilst he directs them. He'll also ask Tasia whether there's anything she can do to make the cave a bit more habitable, and in particular, warmer.
[If you're trying to remove the illusion, Scott is going to need to GM that.]
I double-checked, and you shouldn't be seeing that. My guess is your browser has the old versions cached, and you need to force a refresh: holding down the "Shift" key while hitting the "Refresh" button should do it, but otherwise clearing cache will. Downloading them to your computer might also work.
Scott
[Ah, I can see it now, thank-you.]
So, what's Tasia deciding? And are you planning to have her doing anything afterwards for the rest of the evening and the night?
Right now Tasia's just waiting on the return of the others who are away. She doesn't want to split things up too much for safety reasons. She'll help organize things in the lab space. Tomorrow she'll head back to the town.
[Which lab are you letting Petrus have?]
Gregorius spent the day familiarising himself with the covenant site and its immediate environs. He'll have been down into the caves during the afternoon, but largely avoided poking things. Alcimus will have started exploring the forest to the north.
Evening comes, and morning comes. It's the third day at the covenant. About an hour after dawn, the second grog that went with Viola returns. He's looking for Aetos. Viola is just slightly north of the covenant following a horse, and requests Aetos' assistance in getting the horse actually into the covenant.
Tasia isn't too concerned with which lab since it's temporary. She'll defer to the wishes of the other magi if they have a preference. Otherwise, noting that it is temporary, she'll let Petrus take his pick.
[Okay, if you're not making any attempt to remove the illusion, then Petrus will choose the size +3 lab by default. Gregorius, whilst slightly surprised, will acknowledge the value of having an infirmary ready. As far as labs go, he's going to want an above ground one (which'll therefore presumably have to be built), so he doesn't have much preference which Petrus uses. Fortunately he also has no urgent need for a laboratory.]
There are former labs above ground--they have to be restored, like the ones below, though they require structural work as well as new equipment.
Scott
It soon becomes apparent that no-one is quite sure where Aetos is. He'd been seen several times throughout the previous day returning from or flying off in his eagle form, exploring the local area and looking for somewhere suitable to build a lab, apparently without much success. He left again at sunrise this morning, without leaving any indication of when he'd be back.
Bogdan (the grog) will return to Viola with this news. Is Tasia going with him? Gregorius is still...unenthused...about assisting Viola with her sacrifice.