As the tree grows up and manifests within the blink of an eye, you feel a chilly gust of wind brushing through. Those with second sight feel the little airy spirits staring at you.
Thom shrugs and strips down to his underthings before stepping into the edge of the water, going no more than knee deep at first.
He chops at the water with a hand, trying to splash water at one of the Otters.
"And you silly fellows never answer questions! What's the game? tag?"
«Oh! I am tagged,» screams the splashed-down otter, in a theatrical and high-pitched voice. It is not that the splash made them any wetter, but it is the one that Thom hit, who screamed and suddenly dives, swimming high speed under water towards Thom.
It is an awareness+perception 9+ to avoid loosing sight of the otter under water, and probably a dodge roll to avoid being tagged, though the dodge/brawl skill would be capped by the swim skill.
Thom tries as hard as he can to keep an eye on the otter! [Awareness+Per Roll = 12! Great Roll!].
As the otter tries to tag him back, Thom laughs loudly and tries to slip sideways in a brawling move to escape the touch of the man-sized otter. [Brawl Roll: 9]. As he moves, Thom uses his six-fingered hand to try to splash more water to distract the otter!
Thom dodges the first and the second attempt, but at length, there is no way he can keep up with the underwater chase. The otter pinches his toe. «Tag!» he gurgles, and swims away. Then the otters only surface briefly to mock. «Here!» they shout and disappear again.
Betula looks back at the airy spirits and tries to determine what their reaction means.
Thom laughs and heads after the otters.
Sionag looked at the cottage with a smile.
If we can work to make a ritual with this, that could be a good start, no ? We need to return to Ungulus and work to make it. Can you work with another people on a laboratory, to help you ?
Organize a group of magi, that could be not harder than a gang of healer on the stress of a battlefield, right...
[I am assuming Betula is still confused by the reaction of the Airy Spirits due to her poor roll.]
"I think, perhaps, I could direct one helper in the lab... as a master directs an apprentice," Betula says, "Currently it would take me many, many seasons to create a tree tower and even with my magical focus in trees. It would be wise For me to study Creo and Herbam some more."
The airy spirits seem puzzled by the change, but Betula cannot say if they are pleased or offended.
Thom keeps playing, but the otters can swim fast near the bottom for many minutes on end, and Thom loses every time he needs to breath.
Thom beaches himself on the shore to take a breather and rest, laughing as he does so in the summer air at such a beautiful place.
"Ok, ok! You can best me every time, you sleek and tricksy guardians of His Royal Majesty of Foam!"
Thom laughs again and pulls his robes back on before making his way back to the copse.
"Those otters are silly. So... what is everyone thinking at this point for a plan to get started? I was kind of thinking that we have plenty of space for each magus to build a sanctum and lab here in the circle in the style they want to suit their needs or research."
The Merinita sits down on the ground, stretching out a little as he looks up into the sky.
"You would kind of think that there might be some down on their luck families up here in the Dales. Maybe even some folks who are in hiding from that terrible Witch Hunter. If we sought some of them out, we might get a good start on some covenfolk who could stand between us and the village."
"That would work. Eventually I would like to house myself inside a great tree but until I can manage to create that ritual this seems the best option. Cath'rinne may build hers of bone, mine and Sionag's of wood, yours of glamour."
Cath'rinne has a bit of a morbid laugh at the idea of building a sanctum from bone. "I'll think about it. Do you think we're sufficiently shielded from mundane eyes here that doing that wouldn't bring us trouble?"
"Shielded, no but we might be secluded enough."
Thom looks about the circle. "So it seems were settled then on a plan to build labs here in the circle as we are able with some plans for future changes as we gain strength and knowledge. We will also need to come to an understanding of sorts with the King of Foam. I'm working on that but it may take some time. That remains a bit of an unknown as to whether we can develop an alliance of sorts, but I'm hopeful."
Thom shrugs.
"That leaves us a plan for a settlement for the covenfolk. I think we should look for something a few hundred yards up the river here that flows from the Falls down to the Ure. Surely there is a stable enough area to set up a holding big enough for our needs."
There are quite a few things the magi have to deal with, most of which should be dealt with downtime.
- Build the sanctums, either by inventing spells or by recruiting builders.
- Building an income source. The obvious choice is magic boosted agriculture, boosting it enough to generate extra value from the existing peasant population. Alternatively, recruit workers from elsewhere and claim new land away from the Ure. Peat and reeds have been mentioned, but are subject to the same magic or labour requirement.
- Thom wants to negotiate with faeries.
I suggest that you write down everything you want to do (1) within the season, and (2) within the year, and then we deal with most of that with downtime dice. If Thom makes a persistent advance, we have a story with the faeries. I would suggest to fit that within the season.
You probably continue to explore the area, to see who the neighbours are within a day in any direction too. The villages you find are along Ure, a mile away to the North, and along the River Cover, three miles away to the East/SouthEast. In other directions you find only scattered cottages within a day. The terrain is rough, so a day is not necessarily more than seven miles. While currently forest, you find that you could clear land for agriculture upriver along Walden Beck. That is, it takes survival or a suitable profession to verify. A mile from the falls should suffice. You can find suitable areas for peat or reed harvest (as you suggested) within a mile from the Oak Circle, and plenty within a couple of miles, too.
Summer 1014; Thom will continue to try to negotiate and engage the faeries throughout this season.
Thom will write a letter to go out to Blackthorn, Cad Gadu, and to Mildred (his parens) seeking an Imaginem Summa. (Doesn't look like we got Imaginem with the Roots that will arrive in 1015.)
Autumn 1014: @Ungulus Studying Creo L20 Q10, Gregorius ex Jerbiton, On the Magic of Permanent Creation
Winter 1014: @Ungulus Studying Imaginem from Vis (if some is available)
Spring 1014: Begin setting up lab (assuming construction is done).
Depending on how the Faerie relationship develops with the King of the Foam, adjustments to this plan may be made.
- During the remainder of the Summer season Betula explores the surrounding area using Chime of the Nearby Vis (InVi 10, Personal, Sun, Hearing); She continues to house herself using similar temporary magic to create a hollow tree as shelter; Continues to attempt to commune with "Grandfather Oak."
- A) Autumn: Continues exploring area (Area Lore Practice)
B) Winter: Practices Penetration
C) Spring: Begins setting up lab outside
This season Edmund looks for unclaimed land, he will use his Magic Sensitivity to see if there is anything unusual.
Over the next couple of seasons: Exposure xp to folk ken as he tries to find suitable labour to extract peat from unclaimed land and sell it for fuel.