Aureliana steps forward to take the deed. “Done and done. Good luck to you.”
Then she turns to the rest. “We need to move quickly. Come on!”
[center]Jadranka ex Verditius[/center]
Jadranka looks over Marcelle, and then Aureliana as she takes the deed. Marcelle had indicated haste in their dealings, yet it was midnight and at least several hours before the sun would rise. Not that natural light was needed; between the skills that everyone surely had, someone was bound to be able to create some form of light to travel by. But the fatigue of being awake to this hour was already starting to take its toll.
I really need to figure out a way to replenish my body's own energy once sapped...
She snapped her head to the side, shaking the thought away. This was not the time for such thoughts.
"Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but isn't it a bit late to start traveling? 50 miles to the east...we should be able to leave at dawn after we've rested and ate and make that distance in one day. Surely, Aureliana, you aren't suggesting we try making this trip after having been awake for 15+ hours, are you?"
“Are you tired?” The maga’s voice has a light, teasing quality to it. “Then catch up. But don’t be upset when the best lab spots are already taken!”
Osbertus looks startled, then shrugs, and speaks to his fellow magi in quicker, informal Latin, relaxing a bit.
"It sounds like we need to travel carefully. If we're going as a group, we will need a disguise - pilgrims perhaps? maybe traders? Or we could find a wagon and hide in it while one of us drives. If you all think it's better to travel individually or in small groups, we could do that too, but it's riskier, and I think not necessarily less conspicuous. I'll offer to help people see by night, but I can't do it for everyone, as I will get tired out. Traveling by night will make us less conspicuous, but if we see anyone, we'll definitely be questioned, or at least noticed and remembered."
He also asks, in slower Latin, "Marcell, do you have any idea of specific people or groups who might be watching for us? Or is it just the rumor of travelling Magi?"
[center]Jadranka ex Verditius[/center]
Jadranka furrows her brow at Aureliana's words.
"Well, cover of darkness is probably the best. Not to mention we don't really want to be seen leaving when the place burns down."
She looks over the group, and then addresses them, her eyes specifically focused on Marcelle.
"I don't suppose anybody has a carriage we can ride in, hmm? Or the ability to change us all into birds?"
Sceparnius
"I think we had better stick with you, Osbertus, as you at least speak English. Seven odd characters in a group will be less conspicuous than seven odd characters in a row all struggling to ask the same questions. I don't think we can hope to travel fifty miles in a day, much less in half a night - but if we can get a few hours travel away from this place, we can find a spot to rest for a few hours and then move on in the morning." He looks at Jadranka. "Or sleep in a bit, I won't complain. In either case, I can hopefully keep us safe travelling through the forest."
OOC:
[sub]Once the group is ready to move out, Sceparnius will attempt to cast the same personal-range version of Eyes of the Cat that Osbertus has used, followed up by a formulaic casting of Intuition of the Forest to help him determine the best ways to move safely and camp in the forest at night. He can safely cast both by taking 6 on the rolls.[/sub]
On her way out, Aureliana stops. “Wait.” She turns back to Marcell. “We need a carriage and driver. Or money to secure it.”
Marcell hands the deed to Aureliana. "Thank you, and you as well."
Marcell looks at Jadranka and says in a calming tone, "I have a cart and two horses outside. They are yours. I do not expect you to reach your destination in a day, but you should make haste when possible. You should take care not to tell anyone who you are or where you are going. If you need to stop for rest along the way, that is fine, just... Keep it brief, and tell no-one where you are going."
"We simply do not know if anyone is looking for you yet, and stealth is a tactical advantage that should not be wasted. If you have disguises, that's great, but there's also a tarp in the back of the cart under which you may sleep and hide while traveling, if you so wish."
Sceparnius announces that he can drive the cart. He's both a skilled rider, and his Gift does not frighten animals*.
"There should be plenty of dried meat here, and there's a cellar full of fine wine here. Pandulf has lived well at the expense of the locals. I'd hate for it all to go to waste if you can use them, so help yourselves." He opens the door and motions for you all to make your way outside. "Once you reach Dunwich, you will find a tavern down the hill from the castle, named simply 'The Ship.' The innkeeper there is a contact of mine - a big, burly German fellow named Johann. Has red hair and a long beard. He can be trusted, and he will help you in whatever way he can. Just... Try not to anger him, he has a short fuse."
OOC:
- Sceparnius has Gentle Gift and ranks in Ride. As long as any Magi sit in the far back of the cart, the horses will behave well enough.
- Nobody has Common Law, or much investment in any relevant Area Lores. If you have questions for Marcell, now would be a good time to ask.
- Feel free to grab whatever could reasonably exist in the cabin as supplies. Hunting supplies, food, warm blankets, etc. There are even a few pieces of expensive-looking art on the walls. Pandulf is wealthy beyond reason, and it's literally going to be set on fire if you don't take it. Plus, you do have a cart pulled by two draft horses to help you carry things.
- It is exceedingly cold outside. Prepare accordingly.
"You ask us to loot this place? Ah, needs must," says a puzzled Marcella.
"Marcell, perhaps you could invite any staff remaining that they can join with us, since this building will be destroyed soon."
"I am going to liberate this place of serving cups, plates and utensils, if we must we can melt it to silver for money. There will be precisely nothing at our destination, so bring useful items."
Aureliana loads the wagon with furs to wrap everyone in for the journey, then offers to help Oktavia and Elisabeth get into the cart.
OOC:
Dair would like to make sure that they take an abundance of food and valuable stuff, to save it from the fire. He'll spent time doing that till they really can't afford to stay any longer.
Then Dair will try a sponts to appear more normal (#Dair, spont cast illusion). Change his appearance to be more nondescript (spell MuIm 3, as base 1, personal, +2 sun, individual) vs CT of 5+ roll of 7 = 12, so it costs a fatigue level. (int 2, Arts 0, bold gestures strong voice +3).
As the rest of the magi spread out and start loading the cart and doing other things, Osbertus converses with Marcell. If others seem to be paying attention, he will continue in Latin, if not, he switches to English. He starts by asking for a recommendation regarding the best route, how to avoid towns, etc., and tries to have a natural conversation developing from that. He’s trying to make friends with Marcell as much as he can, and he also works the following questions into the conversation:
Are there any local powers or neighbors that we need to be aware of, especially church or noble powers?
What’s the best way for us to contact the Templars? Or you? Do you have any superiors we need to know about?
Is there something special about this site that’s the reason the Templars chose it for us to occupy and protect?
Are there any resources available or that you can recommend in terms of rebuilding and manning the fort?
Is there a local guide/expert who knows the area and local politics, whom we can trust? Or is Johann that person?
After the natural conclusion of this talk, he stares off into space for a moment, then shouts, “Wine Cellar!!!!” and leaps into motion. He rushes around until he finds the wine cellar, and will load as much of the best wine as he can into the cart, until there is no more room, or the others stop him. In his rushing back and forth, he reveals himself to be quite a klutz, several times dropping and breaking a cask, which causes him to freeze and cry out in agonized frustration, and choke back tears for a moment, before resuming his mad rush back and forth. If he is forced to leave good wine behind, he will be quite mopey, and the more he has to leave, the mopier he will be. While they are on the road, whenever his sulk is over, he shares what information Marcell gave him with the rest of the group.
OOC - He wears thick, black silk robes; if these are not enough to keep him warm, he will use non-fatiguing Spontaneous magic to grow wool. MuCo 3 is enough, I think - which gives the same math as Eyes of the Cat, so he makes sheep noises, and tries to make a joke of it if he gets weird looks from his fellows - and then acts quite smug about how warm he is - but offers to help keep the baby warm if that seems necessary. He will spend the journey curled up in the bottom of the cart, peeking out over the edge or between two boards.
[center]Jadranka ex Verditius[/center]
Knowing that haste is the way to go, Jadranka spends as little time as possible gathering up her things and making her way towards the carriage. The horses don't exactly like her, and they buck and whinny as she approaches, her blatant gift making the animals uneasy. But she finally gets her things packaged up and stored, and she makes one last trip through the lodge to make sure that she has truly gathered up everything she needs. And on her way out, she stops near the fireplace in the room they met in, noticing that there is a loose brick on the side, ready to fall out. She pulls the brick free from the fireplace, and it cracks into several smaller pieces in her hand. She turns over the remains of the brick, settling on 2 somewhat smooth chunks.
These may come in handy later.
She pockets the chunks of brick and makes to the carriage, settling in her spot for the long ride to come.
Sceparnius hastens to help load the cart, beginning with a large bundle of furs and blankets to help keep the party warm. He checks on the horses as well, thankful that his Gift, offensive as it may be to mundanes, has never seemed to affect animals. He goes over to the horses, pats them on the neck, and speaks softly in German. "A long cold night ahead for you two, as well. Hopefully Marcell has brought you something to eat besides this sparse grass."
On his next trip in he will look for any supplies he might be able to use to care for the horses while camping - oats or other feed, for instance, or ropes to stake them out.[sub](OOC: I know nothing about camping with horses today, much less in 1220, but assume Sceparnius knows what he's looking for.)[/sub] As he carries another bundle out to the cart, he stops briefly to talk to Marcell.
"The laws of this land are unfamiliar to me, but in my experience a scrap of vellum may not mean much to the common man. What rights and obligations does this deed carry? Can we evict any squatters in the old fort? Are there standard procedures for taking ownership of the village, and oaths we must make to our serfs? And does this land ultimately carry any obligations to an English lord? Or to the Pope, as your own order does?"
As he staggers out the door again, he calls back one more question. "And do the horses have names?"
“The staff have already been cleared and told to visit their families. I did not wish for suspicion to fall on any of them, and this provides them with an alibi. Besides, it is important that Pandulf must not know of our agreement, and none of them could be so trusted.”
You gather a good chunk of silver and solid gold cutlery, plates, cups and so forth. They all carry Pandulf's personal seal (which is not an Arcane Link, since it's unlikely that he made them himself), so it'd be hard to sell them. But they can easily be melted down and sold that way.
The furs are spectacular and exotic. In particular, you find the pristine, white fur of a Polar bear, covering most of the den. The bear it came from must have been at 2-3 times the height of a grown man, and it is enough to keep the whole cart lined and warm for your trip. You also find some smaller wolf fur and arctic fox pelts. If nothing else, they should fetch a good price.
Dair gradually morphs (like a child playing with clay) into the shape of a poor-looking, filthy peasant. The kind of person who most commoners and nobles would go out of their way to ignore.
Marcell continues in Latin, since others are busy loading up the cart. He gives you detailed instructions on how to get there, how to know if you've gone too far, where to turn and even gives you the name of a decent inn, roughly half-way there, since the horses will likely need to rest. In particular he instructs you not to go north of the Daine - the major river passing through the area.
He gives you a map of the region: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19OCNGn6r5-Ucuodb4n84ytlgCOMG93dz
"Dunwich is located on the border between Norfolk and the Suffolk Hundreds. It was never quite clear whose earldom owns Dunwich, and the city's abandonment has left it a moot point. Technically speaking, it falls under the domain of Roger, Earl of Norfolk, but he has shown little interest. I doubt he even knows it exists. Use that to your advantage – he can’t tax you if he doesn’t know you’re there. You should also know that Roger was not the original heir to the earldom - his brother Philip was. The whole case was a legal nightmare until King Richard stepped in and forced the issue by giving Norfolk to Roger, as a reward for helping negotiate Richard's release from prison a few years ago.
So, Philip is the rightful heir to the Earldom, while Roger was given undeserved title and land, which he now neglects. You may find that Philip, who still carries the rank of Count, is eager to make powerful friends in the region, but please be careful if you do - the great games are not for the faint of heart."
OOC: The Great Game is usually thought of as the diplomatic affairs between 19th century Russia and Great Britain. But prior to that, it was the nickname for the games of intrigue, backstabbing and politics that happened between European nobles and royalty.
"Hundreds" are not actually referring to a number. Instead, there were so many tiny counties in the region which would later become Suffolk that they were simply referred to as Hundreds. Dunwich is on the border between Norfolk and one of these lesser counties.
“You can speak with the innkeeper, Johann. He knows you're coming and is aware of the situation. He will know how to reach me, and will be a valuable ally to you. He is not affected by your Gift, and can act as a patsy or local governor in your place, at least until someone more fit and subtle becomes available.”
Johann has the Virtue “Not Affected by the Gift”, and is a "Tame Nobleman", but he lacks any talent for governing, so you should consider him as only a stop-gap solution until you can find someone better suited to the job. Giving the deed to such a person also allows you to bypass the laws on interfering in mortal affairs, by acting through an intermediary.
"A wise question. There are a few reasons, and I do not feel safe to divulge them all right now. But it is defensible, resource-rich, out of the way, has ocean access and is largely forgotten by the rest of the world. Those are all important traits. It is also important that the site face Eastward, but again, I do not feel it is safe to talk about it here. Maybe another time."
"The site has some noble metals: Copper, silver and gold, but not in great enough quantities to have garnered much attention - the veins don't run very deep, and they’re diluted with some unidentified, worthless metal. The Fort itself is old, decrepit and crumbling. You can choose to level it and build a new structure, or rebuild the old one - I leave that up to you. What's important is the location, for reasons I mentioned earlier. As for manning the fort, you'll find that the villagers trust Johann, and Johann will help you organize and train them. With the wealth you're getting from this lodge, I'm sure their wages will be a pittance."
"That would be Johann, yes. The villagers are trustworthy, hard-working and fairly simple folk, so they can likely be trusted too. I may be biased, but I would not trust the Greyfriars. They own a friary just north of the river, and... Something just doesn't feel right about that place. Maybe it’s because they seem mostly concerned with inspiring fear in the general population. Or maybe it's just me. At any rate, you should try to keep the local Church out of your affairs whenever possible. Remember: They are not involved in this, and do not know you."
Some of the wines are obviously expensive, others... You're not sure. So you grab them anyway. You have to leave behind the swill he allowed his servants to try.
Between all the expensive furs and the alcohol, you have no trouble staying warm.
You now have an Arcane Connection to the first floor of this lodge. Since the base duration of this Connection is "Years", let's just assume it lasts forever, so we don't have to keep track of it.
He did not, but he did tell you of an inn along the way, where you can stop to let the horses rest. Such inns always have stables and feed for travelers.
You find fresh produce - vegetables, apples and the like. Apparently, the lodge is kept well-stocked, even when its owner is away.
"Whoever holds this deed is the Baron of Dunwich and all the lands within 25 miles of the keep. You still have to answer to a King, Count, Earl or Baron (in that order), but since none of them even know you exist, they should leave you alone for the time being. You may levy taxes, kick people off the land, sell land, buy land, declare local laws, train militia, act as judge in legal cases, fish in the streams, hunt in the forests, farm the land, mine the hills... As long as you're not directly contradicted by an earl or king, or outright breaking the law of the land, you can do whatever you want. Just... Try not to let that power corrupt you. Remember: You're here for a reason - to defend these people."
"Nutmeg and Marigold. Take good care of them. They saved the lives of myself and one of my men several times and have seen more bloodshed and terror in the hold lands, than most crusaders ever will. They deserve to retire with honour."
They're both trained warhorses with some minor penalties to characteristics from aging. One is pale white with a speckled, blue roan patterning. The other is gold-blonde Fjord horse, and is a little stockier. It’s hard to believe they’re even in the same family of horse. They both have medium stature and speed, but tremendous stamina and strength. Both have some old scars that were clearly inflicted by human weapons.
Sceparnius hops on the front of the cart while the rest of you bunch up in the back. The powerful north wind rips through you and chills you to the bone, but you wrap yourselves in rugs and pelts to stay warm. The beer kegs and other trappings block some of the wind. The residual heat from the fireplace fades away before you even get into the cart.
A great task awaits you, and you have only a little more information on the background for your orders now than you did when you left home. You're surrounded by a secretive arsonist Templar and strange magi from traditions and places you've never even heard of. Hopefully things will start to calm down once you find a place to call your own.
As the horses pull the cart away from the house, you hear the caw of corvids somewhere in the trees surrounding the lodge and Sceparnius points out that the corvids appear to be staring at you. Again you catch the sick, sweet stench of rotting meat on the wind. The cart sways and bobs violently at first, but once it reaches the road, it soon settles into a gentle, rolling bob that offers to rock you all to sleep. You pass by house after house on your way out of Thetford. About ten minutes after you reach the road, you can see smoke on the horizon, seemingly from the Lodge. As your journey begins, you can hear the trickling of the river on your left, and the leaves bristling through the thick, dark forest on your right.
You keep riding as the sun comes up, stopping only occasionally for to relieve yourselves or let the horses drink from the rivers and streams. After you cleared the confines of the city, the scent or rotting meat gave way to the fresh scent of spring blossoms and the wind died down to a gentle breeze. After the long, cold night, the sun baking your face feels warm and pleasant.
You pass through the village of Hoxne around 10 in the morning. Hoxne is a small community of farmers and foresters, and the last settlement you're expected to see before you reach Dunwich. Despite most of the snow having melted, there's a group of young children still trying to scoop up enough of it for a snowball fight. They stop and stare as you ride past them, clearly unaccustomed to visitors. On the east side of the village you pass by an inn called simply "The Swan." This was the place suggested by Marcell. Your horses could use a rest and maybe something to eat and drink, but you could also push your horses and keep moving*. It is a brightly-painted two-story stone house with wooden shutters and a front door that's swung wide open. A powerful scent of freshly baked bread, burning wood and cooked fish wafts at you from the open doorway. Do you want to stop by? Or would you rather push the horses and try to save some time?
OOC: You're about two thirds of the way there. If you push the horses, they'll suffer a level of long-term fatigue from exhaustion, and you'll do the same unless you eat and drink something. But you would save around 30 minutes of travel time by pushing yourselves. Food and drink are such small expenses in the scheme of things that they're not really worth writing down - help yourselves. Hoxne is the last settlement you'll see before you enter the area around Dunwich, roughly 3-4 hours from now. It's a small settlement of about 30-50 farmers and foresters. If you intend to maintain your secrecy, they could be a good proxy trading partners, although such a small settlement probably doesn't have many exotic goods for sale.
Let me know if you intend to do anything here and whether you wish to rest or push yourselves.
Also: If anyone has Area Lore relevant to this location, go ahead and give me an Int+Area Lore simple die roll.
Dair will murmur that he thinks ..."the group should rest, as we shouldn't exhaust ourselves". His intent is to stay low profile and survive till they get to the new locale.
"You know this place might be that odd spot for treasure hunters and fools. They might be used to odd folk wandering through, I think." (from AL roll)
Dair has Area lore in the British isles at 2, with coastlines as a specialty, so I doubt it applies much to a small inland village. I rolled 6 (in Discord at 6:23 pm) +2 for Int and skill, so 10 result. I assume it would take a fluke to gain something useful.
Also tried a folk ken roll to politely gain some sustenance and food, however it wasn't a great roll either: roll 6, -1 pres, +2 skill, -3 gift = 4 result. Dirty water and yesterday's scrapings for breakfast. Yum!
With all the furs, Osbertus didn't grow wool. He falls asleep almost immediately in the back of the wagon, completely wrapped up in a fur. At the first whiff of the smell of bread, the mound of fur suddenly straightens up, a head popping out of the end. "Breakfast!?" he enquires, "Where are we?" Upon finding out the group is in Hoxne, he looks thoughtful for a moment... "We should probably make friends here...we'll want to come back. I'll tell you all more later. I'm going to get some food, if anyone wants to stay with the wagon, I'll bring you some back. And if you feel the need to press on, I'll catch up."
He hops down and walks into the inn. He comes back a few minutes later with an armload of warm bread and fried fish, gives it to his sodales, and goes back into the inn, humming cheerily. After a couple of hours, he comes back out, rubbing his hands together gleefully, and gets back in his spot in the cart. He gets out a small, well-worn book, and starts writing in it with a charcoal pencil. A few minutes after they have left town, he looks up and puts away his papers. "Right, so, this town... supposedly there's a chest of Roman gold hidden around here somewhere. Could be totally apocryphal, but Constantine's gold did come up missing. Many have looked for it, even magi, so maybe it won't be easy to find, but I've got some leads, so we should at least take a stab at it... supposedly it's enough gold to really make a difference for our covenant. Something to put on the short list to help us get money to rebuild the keep."
Inside the inn: Osbertus walks in, blowing gustily from the cold. He quips to the innkeeper about the cold, introducing himself, but not giving any details but his name. "Some of that bread and fish I smell, for me and my friends outside, please." he says. The man looks at him oddly, but the big smile wins him over, and he shrugs and starts preparing several helpings of food. Osbertus quietly lets him work, and when he's finished, takes the food, "I'll be right back, more of the same please...and some ale if you don't mind..."
When he returns, he slowly munches and drinks, prompting the innkeeper, and anybody else in the common room, to give him the local gossip, gripes, and complaints. He also steers the conversation toward the crazy people that come to the town looking for treasure, their exploits, where they've looked and haven't looked, and what the townspeople think of the whole affair. If the innkeeper shows any interest in the people outside in the wagon, Osbertus will distract him with a leading question to pull him back into one of his stories.
OOC:
I envision that the whole group stopped right before dawn to do their Parma's, like the old people doing Tai Chi in the park. 
Osbertus got up for that, of course.
Rolls on discord:
Area knowledge - his area is very broad, so his knowledge is not deep, but he got lucky and rolled a 13 on discord.
Charm - also rolled on discord, got a 13 as well - to make friends with the innkeeper and anyone in the common room.
I'm a little confused about whether this is, or appears to be, Johann; the only change would be that if it is, he'd be a less cagey with info; and if they were alone in the common room Osbertus would tell him who they were, and that they were sent by Marcell.
If the group does decide to press on, he's well-rested so he should be able to catch up - he will do some Corpus transformation if he has to.
[center]Jadranka ex Verditius[/center]
The long, slow, bouncy ride in the back of the cart was not what Jadranka could ever get accustomed to. While she didn't mind being jostled about, it was the actually being in a cart and not a carriage that bothered her. Back at Lycaneon, she either walked everywhere she needed to go, or she was carried away in one of the many carriages the covenant had access to. Even in the nearby towns and villages, she was able to sit in the back of an enclosed carriage, cutting herself off from the mundanes when she wasn't in the mood to try explaining that she really wasn't all that creepy (even though they continued to tell her she was).
Sleep did not come easily for her, and when it did, the bouncing kept waking her, threatening to make good on some unknown promise to prevent her from getting any rest at all. And so, when they finally arrived in Hoxne, she gladly jumped out of the cart and made her way quickly inside the inn. Even when Osbertus mentioned he would catch up if the rest of them pressed on, Jadranka just waved him off, the obvious lack of sleep doing her no good. And the smell of fresh bread and fish called to her, wrapping her in their wonderful smell until she had eaten her fill and fallen asleep, nearly at the table she sat down at. She awoke a few hours later, getting back out to the cart just in time to hear Osbertus tell everyone about this mysterious cache of lost gold.
"Roman gold, here in this village?" she inquired, her thick Transylvanian accent coming through in her Latin. "If this is more than just pure rumor, we definitely need to come back and search it out. If there is a measurable amount here, it could do wonders for a struggling group of magi such as ourselves."
Aureliana naps easily during the ride, the excitement of adventure losing ground in the face of exhaustion. At the village, she accepts the meal that Osbertus procures, then takes a walk, enjoying the new sights and smells of the town...while also observing everything she can with Comprehend Magic.
Such a new place. It will lie in our demense soon enough; best to be familiar with it. She doesn’t speak to anyone - that would be foolish - but tours and observes all she can before returning to the others to hear about the gold.
”Where there is ancient treasure, there is often ancient magic, either left behind or guarding it. I will return here when I can to investigate.”
———————-
OOC: Default roll of 9 for CM; if you want me to roll a specific thing let me know.