For the present season, please roll Magic Sensitivity + Perception @darkwing . It takes 9+ to find anything of interest, but it is very open-ended.
For future seasons, I will also need die rolls, but we can take that when we get there. Generally, as far as you have seen, there is excess labour begging in the towns and cities, but they are not necessarily as appropriately skilled as a typical peasant. In the countryside, people have appeared to have a stable living, even if they may still be poor. You should choose your strategy when you roll.
What does he do in this respect? Does he ask for something in particular? He can keep playing with the otters, who are keen enough to play as long as nobody tries to take or hurt the fish in the pond.
You should make a die roll. Use com for a sustained effort (I use Pre mostly for first impressions). The skill depends on what you prioritise. Bargain is good if you have a specific objective. Faerie Lore might be appropriate as a kind of intrigue and/or intelligence gathering with a faerie court. Intrigue might work too.
Thom's approach to opening discussions with the King of the Foam:
Thom will first focus on befriending the otter guardians. He believes they form the first line of challenge and communication leading to the King of the Foam. To befriend them, Thom will do the following things during the summer season he spends at the Copse:
Play with the Otters. Thom will make a daily habit to engage the otters in conversation and play. He'll play the swimming tag game with them, though I expect he'll lose quite often.
Riddle games. Thom will suggest a game of riddles with them, opening with this riddle: "I run but never walk. I have a mouth but never talk. I have a bed but never sleep. What am I?"
Searching for other Faeries. Thom will also spend time in the near vicinity looking for other Faeries, particularly any of the domestic faeries who might offer clues or insights into the
Vis search. Thom will make a practice of casting his Scent of Nearby Vis spontaneous spell to try to find Faerie vis in particular in the area around the Falls and its environs (out to about 500 yards in distance).
Create a Faerie Charm. Thom will also work on a Faerie Charm to use as a casting aid when casting Image phantom. In this particular instance, the charm will be a song, a performative charm associated with Thom's casting of Phantasmal Animal. He will take his time and make this a "permanent" charm that manifests through a little woven circle made of reeds (or other plant) which he'll take from the pool. [Roll: 13, 2nd attempt to make the charm] Thom will use this faerie charm when he creates his phantasmal otter which he will use from occasionally to play with the otters. For example, he may cast it when he is playing the riddle game with them. Thom will also try to make the phantom appear as close to the human-sized otters in form as he possibly can.
Inquiry. Thom will, when the Otters are most talkative, attempt to engage them in conversation
Thom's Faerie Lore roll on engaging the Otters: 10.
The otters are keen enough to play any and every game which does not require sustained concentration or repetitive actions. The more whimsical the better, and they can become great friends as long as you do not touch the fish in the pond.
«Do you really want to see the King?» they ask with surprise. «He does not take too kindly to your kind. People are just after fish.» Thom understands, over time, that the otters primary duty is to pull any human beings using the pond under water, and once they have admitted to that they blush, realising how differently they have treated him.
If he bravely confirms that he really wants to face the King, they will admit him.
«Very well,» says the otters and lead Thom through the waterfall, into a grand cave. The water is waist deep and the current is strong, and he really needs the supporting paws of the otters to avoid being drawn under.
At the far end of the room sits the King on his throne, complete with a golden crown. He is only a tad shorter built than Thom, with a long beard with exactly the same colour as the white of waterfall outside.
«So, who is this mortal with the guts to want to see me, the King of the White Foam,» asks he with a booming voice.
The otters kneel and bow their heads beside Thom.
Is Thom galant enough to follow suit, or too confused, and left standing in bewilderment?
The distaff offspring of a young lord of the Sidhe court, Thom isn't entirely bewildered by the situation of the King's court, though the particular majesty of this gold-crowned monarch of white foam isn't entirely what he expected.
The handsome faerie-blooded magus flourishes a formal bow before the king, his hand elegantly curling in front of him as he takes a knee, head bowed.
"I am the Magus Thomas Myddleton of House Merinita, recently of Ungulus, student of Glamour, and of scion of the Summer Court by Sidhe blood and birth. I am humbled to be admitted to the majestic court of the King of the White Foam. My curiosity has ever outpaced my only modest courage, your majesty, so I dare not claim 'the guts' to come into your presence but do claim the desire to introduce myself to you and to pay my deepest respects to one of your strength and legend."
«Well, well, young Master Myddleton, so you are a son of the Sidhe, are you? Even if your line has become mortal over the generations. Pray, tell me the name of this Sidhe of Summer to whom you trace your lineage.»
I think this calls for a Faerie Lore+Int roll to recount a plausible lineage. Say 6+ to come up with a plausible lie, 9+ for an acceptable truth, and 12+ to make an impression. Unless you have the lineage already in your backstory.
«Magus of the House Merinita, you say. Merinita is one of the Order of Hermes who have ran so much havoc on the land in the last years aren't they? Have you come to make your court in this land?»
The King speaks in a strict voice, keeping polite, authoritative, and non-committant.
Thom takes a moment, rising to his feet before the King.
"I do indeed trace my lineage to the Sidhe, your majesty. My father is none other than Eochaidh the Flameheart, he of the Bright Sun Court. I was raised in my father's court, among his beautiful people until my magical gifts began to manifest, and my training by Mildred of Merinita began."
Thom smiles, a bright handsome smile.
"The Merinita are not the causers of havoc in these lands, Oh Majestic Lord of Froth and Foam, though there has indeed been much of strife and war and conflict. Many were lost. Too much was lost and may yet be lost by this war. I am of the generation who seeks to heal and mend those things damaged by this war of wizards. To rebuild alliances and nurture the sacred and secret places of faerie and magic in this beautiful land."
Thom considers the King's last question.
"I am not come to establish my own court, your majesty. My colleagues and I have thought to form an enclave here at the sacred Midsummer Copse. And as part of that effort, we seek to be peaceful and thoughtful neighbors to you and your court. Indeed, I have thought to speak with you about a deeper relationship, you and I, might form. For surely your court would be magnified by its association with a magus, a student of glamour, would it not? Much of vitality and many tales could be told of such an alliance."
The King ponders this for a while «You belong to the Woodland Sidhe. If you settle between the trees, there need be no conflict at all. Just leave the river and those who dwell there alone. They belong to the riverfolk.
«An alliance between the river and the woods.» He stops and licks his lips as if he is considers the taste of the words. «It is an unusual thought, not at all repelling, but not an ordinary thing. It deserves due consideration.»
"We are grateful for your consideration, your majesty. We certainly wish to live peacefully alongside your realm," answers Thom with a respectful bow.
"If I might, could I suggest that your majesty grant me rights of passage into your realm as an ambassador and liaison between our enclave and your realm? With your sanctioned approval, I could more freely treat with your majesty and your subjects and thus build the trust and understandin that would form the foundation of our alliance."
«You are welcome back to continue the conversation at any time. The guards will take note of that. If you have any specific expectations from an alliance, please state them, and if you return in three nights, I will have an answer,» says the King, dismissing Thom after hearing his specific expectaions.
"I will return in three nights, your majesty. May your foam ever froth."
The Merinita bows again before taking steps back and then turning away to follow the guards or whoever takes him out.
As Thom departs, he will activate his magic ring to try to assess the presence of regios here or further regios deeper from this location. (If this would be a terrible breach of protocol, Thom wouldn't do it.)
«You tell us. It is your forest. But it looks as if we go down between those trees there, we will find it, doesn't it?» asks the otters, pointing to the path which Thom usually uses to the pond.