I've just never the effects of the Gift being applied from such a long distance. Sure, if the group comes close to someone and asks for directions, then the effects of the Gift kick in. But a group seen from a distance, just passing through, generating that strong of a reaction?
As for the magi "dressed as magi travelling", it seems to me that they aren't dressed any different from regular travellers:
Clovis: "When traveling, his soldier formation surfaces and he equips a leather armor hidden beneath a very thick grey hooded cloak made of wool embroidered on the edges with dark checkerboard patterns. He always wears a dagger on the belt, but that's more a tool than a weapon." -- I'd says he looks mostly like a merchant.
St. Avery: "His off-white cassock seems to be somewhat greyed and dirty, although a closer inspection shows that he's actually quite clean, and that the stains move slowly in eldritch patterns if you stare at them for too long. He wears his favorite sandals, regardless of the occasion, and is usually seen wih a grey woolen hat of some sort (he gets cold easily)." -- He looks mostly like a monk from afar.
Cornelius: "He often wears sturdy travel clothes made for durability more than comfort, only switching to more ostentatious robes for formal occasions (and looking unseasy when he does so)." -- He looks pretty much like a well-off farmer or townsfolk.
Elizabeth: "she generally wears simple clothing." -- She might look like a member of the lower nobility, or like a merchant's wife.
Bastion doesn't have a description, but he is local to the region so could reasonably be expected to know how to travel here without drawing attention. But aside from that, the only one that might, upon close inspection for some time, look like a "magus travelling" is St. Avery.
My point is that magi are well aware of the effects of their Gift on mundanes. When they have to travel visibly, like we are doing, they usually try to do so by drawingnas little attention to themselves as possible. That is certainly the way we would be travelling, particularly when moving through village after village.
After all, all of the magi had to reach the covenant from quite distant locations. They would be aware of what that entails.
If we cannot bear the deadly attack of a few rock, then I would suggest sending one of our grogs to chase the children away. That's what merchants or nobility would do.
St. Avery will consider /5 sponting the rock ward, but then realizes that he's not actually being hit, and goes back to contemplating the likelihood of a queen of animal vis spontaneously opening a portal to the magic realm. (Probabilty: very low. Perhaps if someone entered twilight within a pace of the source? Increased likelihood; needs more investigation. To a realm of mythic beasts, maybe? Probability: higher.)
Emily will sigh, and watch out for her brother to avoid being hit by a rock in the face.
"On" would be the normal use. Or "regarding" (or "with regards to"). But thanks!
Yeah, my short-burst creative writing style tends to lend itself towards "witty banter" - hence my desire to have an NPC that I control, simply so I don't have to sock-puppet someone else's character to engage in dialogue.
My theory is "distraction for ambush". Why? Because I've played RPG's before!
Speaking as the resident Ward aficionado, that...sounds a bit low. In looking at the book, (AM5th, pg. 155), warding against dirt is explicitly listed as a lvl 5 guideline. +1 for Stone, +1 Diam = lvl 15, rather than 4. This is confirmed in HoH:S, pg. 114, in the Columnbae section, where they list all the warding guidelines in their Circle/Ring variations: in that list, a ward vs. dirt is 20, whereas a stone version is 25.
I was looking at the Level 2 effect, the level 5 effect is for all dirt, even dirt you're unaware, having been made aware of the stones being thrown at us the level two effect is specifically the following:
So for example if I had the level 2 effect on before we got ambushed the initial stones probably would have hit me, but once I became consciously aware of them they'd probably stop, I think it's intended as a concentration spell.
Whereas the level 5 is just all direct regardless of whether you're aware of it.
Regarding the level of threat, I noticed that the initial description says the children are throwing stone, not rocks. Considering that they are aged 5 to 9, Am I right in assuming what they are throwing is more the size of pebbles (unlikely to cause serious injury) than fist-sized rocks?
I assumed it was the equivalent of throwing handfuls of gravel, or maybe slightly larger- But anything more than that? Yeah - a big 9 year-old with good aim can seriously injure someone. That falls into the "let the grog beat the crap out of them with a stout stick of hickory, then drag them to their parents and/or the local judiciary" levels of assault.
I'd like there to be a demon/farie check, to confirm that everyone involved isnt' possessed or acting out some form of implied Romeo&Juliet story. However, that's mainly for completeness' sake. If the actual result is "no, the foolish and short-sighted actions in this scene comes from a wholly human source", then I'm fine with summarizing it.
(Note that I'm fine with the scene as it's played out - the 'stupidity' is consistent from an RP standpoint, as it's reasonable to assume that human beings to act like this; mainly, St. Avery is suspicious of the timing of the event, as this is the first time he's ever seen something like this, and it's on the way to what he considers a mystically important gathering. However, coincidences to happen all the time - and this may simply be one.)
Note - I'm waiting to see if the knight falls unconscious due to the sleep spell - after which I was planning on getting a DEO-variant check, to see if the lady in question was possessed. (Or if not, do a spont/5 PeVi Infernal-based anti-magic effect to see if she's under the influence, as it were.) There's a chance the knight is under the same effect, but frankly if he's killed by a spearman then he's probably not.
(ooc: I recommend you (plural) decide on a general policy, or on agreeing to disagree. Depending on your (plural) political positions, you will find allies among the existing covenants. All kinds of politics and intrigue are possible, of course. You can go into the tribunal without a political program, but that will make it harder to strike political deals).
What's the opinion of House Tremere concerning the balance of power ? I understand the most prominent Tremere is a member of Aedes Mercurii, but Castra Solis used to have powerful Tremere among them...
