Chapter 13, the Hidden Story

Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Light of Andorra
7

You go downstars to the Vaultchamber, and you see the rocks and rubble that were the door. The Door itself was an enchanted device, and likely did nothave any magic resistance of its own. A magic being such as Khyron or one of his servants would not be hampered by the Aegis once inside. True, their Penetration is reduced by half. But if the door had no resistance, Penetration does not matter.

OOC: Aftersom research, I have concluded that Summoning/Sihir would bring a spirit inside the aegis without need of a token. They nevercross the "border" of it, they are instantly inside, and likewise have their penetration halved unless the summoner/sahir grants them a token.

8

Surveying the wreckage of the Vault, Ludovico stands with his thumbs hooked into his belt for a long moment before he begins his investigation in earnest. Quietly, first, he moves through the vault. It would be hopeless to expect to know if any particular item were missing in a space of such chaotic jumble. Yet such places still have an arrangement and order all their own. It is possible that, if an item had remained in the vault long enough, and had other things arranged around it's presence, one could notice it's lack now.

So he looks. In the span of perhaps five to ten minutes he walks through the entire vault, searching for any minor detail that might indicate that something other than the Phoenix Sword is out of place. Finishing this inspection he returns to the entrance of the Vault and looks back, frowning slightly.

There he kneels at the entrance and begins to inspect the site where the spell that shattered the doorway must have been cast. Searching earnestly there, he seeks any sign or trace of the caster, or indeed any lingering effects of his passing or magic.

[color=blue] His entourage are with him the entire while, though unseen. Ordobos and Arash post themselves at the entranceway, while Araris shadows the Magus himself into the Vault. Yasmine appears mildly bored by the place, until she starts to look at some of the artifacts stored within. Then her interest seems to be piqued, until Ludo tells her in no uncertain terms she isn't to take anything without asking him. This warrants a sulky expression.

Mattias seems at once amazed at the wonders found within the Vault and completely -appalled- at it's lack of any seeming order. He walks through the place attempting to assist Ludo in his hope of identifying any other missing objects.

When he begins to inspect the site of the destruction of the vault's door, Cornelius comes forward to assist, his manner mild and introspective.

[ I agree concerning summoning things directly into an aegis, however I disagree re: 5th ed effects of an Aegis on a creature with might. This is declared plainly in the third paragraph of the description of Aegis of the Hearth on ArM5, pg 161 where it says 'Penetration Totals for Magical Creatures are reduced by the same ammount.' meaning the 1/2 the level of the Aegis. Andorra's level 60 Aegis would thus mean all foreign/uninvited creatures have -30. For the record Ludo would typically invite a spirit he had personally bound but only for so long as it was in his service, uninviting it the instant he dismissed it. ]

9

Nothing else appears to be missing.
What sort of spell or effect are you using to investigate any sign or trace of the caster or any lingering effects of his passing or magic?
As for penetration, I will look it up again. However, where there is no resistance, there is no need to worry about penetration. The Aegis only resists things form the outside, not anything that occurs within.

10

[OOC:

You are correct about that aspect of the aegis. Once whatever/whoever did it was inside, they could have blown apart that door with a penetration of zero. Carmen on the other hand would have been different, but, we don't know what exactly happened there.

Back to Ludo.

First he is simply looking for physical 'evidence' or leavings, if there are any. After that...

Ludovico's first instinct is to fall back on the familiar even though it may not be entirely applicable here. Spirits.

An in depth examination of the area using second sight and gentle proddings with Vim to attempt to see if there are any native ( or foreign... ) spirits in the area, or indeed in or of the Vault itself, that are aware/intelligent enough to perhaps have perceived and remembered something about what happened. This would take a while. Spirits of say, stone, that may have useful knowledge can still be rather slow to respond. From the vault he will pick up perhaps a rook of vis and use it as a 'bribe in hand', attempting to coax any of the local spirits to come forward with information. At this Ludo would be rather trained and patient. He knows this can take a while, both to coax something into interaction and for word to spread among the local spirits he is looking for something and offering vis in exchange. Eventually, after covering the immediate vicinity for a few hours, he would draw a circle and make a few scouring attempts to see what he could come up with and to further spread the word among the spirits. He may even attempt to see if the vault itself has a spirit of it's own, or can act as an AC to one ( Did Valdarius get a proper burial? ... )

While this is going on his personal spirits are also spreading said word among the local spirits and investigating on their own, once given leave. The spirit/ghost thieves are immediately sent out, the others once his initial inspection of the vault is done, in turn, keeping a reasonable bodyguard with him... but attempting to let them all have a few successive turns beating the local bushes as it were.

If none of this works he will proceed to attempting to spont the biggest spell trace detection/analysis vim effect he can manage, though this would already feel like defeat to him. :unamused: Pshaw. 'Normal' Magic.

If 'that' doesn't work, he would attempt to spont some rego spells and gather up detritus etc from within and immediately outside the vault... hoping to gather something that may have been overlooked as an AC.

11

The final fate of Valdarius (and Deledos) is unknown.
Scouring for spirits and getting one to respon will be slow (and I need rolls). You do not detect anything foreign though.
Give me a Summoning roll, and as a back up, a roll for a spont InVi spell. I will then determine what results you turn up :smiley:

12

Investigation, Investigation done by spirits, Scouring, Spont. Check

invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2509641/

5, 3, 8 ,5

Investigation ( Perception + Awareness ( Searching ) + 5 ): 9

Investigation done by spirits ( Who knows + 3 ) ?

Scouring
( Presence + Rego + Vim(2) + Aura + Penetration )

( 1 + 20 + 20(2) + 5 + 4 + 8 ): 78 ( A might 35 or so spirit. )

[ Note that this assumes nothing in the area was detected as a likely AC, etc. ]

Spont
( Sta + Intellego + Vim + Aura + die ) / 2

( 0 + 0 + 20 + 5 + 5 ) ( /2 ): 15 ( Probably not so great. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: One day I will have time to bump my intellego. And... And... And... ) ( If all of this doesn't turn up anything I may retry a spont with a bunch of vis. )

13

I forgot about this side story thread :blush:
I will catch up with it after the weekend.

14

This was brought up before: Unless Marko rules otherwise (which IMO, he shoudldn't, as you prove day after day):

  • Focis only apply to arts
  • You're substituting Arts scores for abilities, be they accelerated or not
  • Thus, the focus shouldn't apply.
    Note also that, in the elementalist write-up, which is VERY similar to goetic magic, they can't have a focus applied to their scores.
15

OOC While you can use the art score in place the ability, it is still ability in the formula. This is reason 1 that foci doesn't apply since it isn't art. Reason 2: Foci only apply to spell casting and labwork involving the arts. Scouring is not hermetic spellcasting or labwork (there is reason it is a HERMETIC VIRTUE). This drops it down to a 58 or might 28 or less creature which is still pretty respectable.

16

More ooc talk in the story thread :slight_smile:

Anyways, Vortigern! I am waiting for you to post that bit we talked about.
To the others, Vort and I worked out the details of the hidden secrets and how he discovered them. I agreed to let him write and post some prose concerning the matter.

17

[/quote]

Indeed, it was brought up before, and I thought resolved in favor of my view at that point? If you wish to discuss this further, I'd appreciatte it if you didn't state your opinion as fact in seeming disregard for the history of this longstanding debate/objection. I've posted in the development thread about my opinion regarding hedge magic and hermetic virtues, so I would welcome discussion on that matter in regard to this.

I've reviewed the elementalists from hedge magic for this and I've not found anything that prohibits them from having a focus. If you can point it out to me I'd welcome the correction/knowledge. As is I find no reason I wouldn't allow them to have such and use it. Even more so with Ludovico and using his hermetic arts in goetic magic, in place of goetic -arts- ( not abilities. ), using the focus is exactly correct IMO. If this is a persisting disagreement of sufficient strength perhaps we should make a thread just for this debate and have a troupe vote on the matter when we are ready. My understanding however was that this was already resolved.

Also in my post in the development thread I pointed out that 'hermetic' virtues are open to anyone with the gift, hedgie or hermetic. This is RAW by ArM5. Attempting to restrict their purchase/use/application to hermetics only is incorrect. Anyway, this assertion is incorrect for other reasons, which I illustrate above and in my other post ( see development. )

18

I have been having a lot of 'reintegration' drama and work etc. with my having gotten home in the past week. I will try and get you a worthy response that isn't fatigue addled soon.

19

When Ludovico finished his initial inspection of the 'scene of the crime' he returned to the entrance of the vault with a slow pace, his expression betraying the distracting nature of his thoughts. He stands silently for a long moment, hooking his thumbs into his belt and looking down. There was little to the physical facts of the situation that would prove useful to his investigation. The intensity of his concentration was not however on continueing to search for some niggling 'clue' from the physical detritus that had so far refused to yield one. Instead it was on blocking away the spiritual aspects of this place, this situation, so that he could appertain the physical aspect unclouded at first. The time for that however was at an end.

Ludovico closes his eyes for a brief breath, letting it out and then opening his eyes as a breathes in once again. This momentary action mimicks his intent of bringing in the 'other' world. The spiritual. Of course he has long ago stopped thinking of it as another world. It is there for those who can't see it just as well.

While the physical vault was relatively at peace, if not order, the spiritual microcosm of the same space was in complete chaos and uproar. The silence apparent to those without spiritual senses concealed a strikingly different cacophony of cries and upset in the spirits of the place.

Ludovico had seen the minds of weaker men broken by lesser sights. Those unprepared for the true splendor of the -reality- of the world in all of it's hidden majesty. Village Seers, old and broken by their many encounters with spirits they knew how to see yet not how to put down. Apprentices in his own tradition succumbed to ambition greater than their power, left in bloody ruin by that which they had called up yet could not contain.

Not so he. He, he had survived, and in so doing garnered knowledge. And power.

The spirits of the vault are many, he came to see. Many of the great artifacts therein had mighty spirits of their own. Some were bound, in the forging. Others were accruals of sympathy and power with the might and significance of the artifact itself. The place, indeed, had it's own somber spirits in attendance. They looked perhaps as if long ago they had striven to keep order here, and long ago given up.

The vault, like much else in the world for those who sought truth in earnest, was a world unto itself. All of this assaulted his senses at once, and left him blinking for a moment. Then control returned and he again surveyed the vault with his cool eyes.

The spirit of a magical vigil candle crumpled and sobbed at his feet when it realized he could see it. A shrivelled spirit, withered with age and frail of form. It's eyes, eyes indeed, were bright, sharp, and vibrant things. A keen wit if a simple intellect dwelled therein. [color=blue] "I SAW them! Oh, Master, I SAW them! But I wasn't LIT! How can I warn you Master, if I am not LIT? Oh the HORROR! I saw! I saw the Carpet, the gutter-sneak! I've known, I've known for YEARS! But I've never been lit! Oh, Master... Master I've wanted to tell. Waited, for ANYONE. Oh, how I've waited. But now you've come! Now I can tell you! The Carpet, oh that vile creature, the Carpet is a TRAITOR!" The small creature continued on. It spoke with vim and verve, a lively thing. The loathing of the Carpet and it's treachery was obvious and intense, full of grave gestures and murderous hatred.

The pitiful creature's obvious loyalty had a winning effect on Ludovico immediately. He knelt down and confered with it more closely, offering some consolation with his expression and an outstretched hand. [color=red] "Tell me Candle, and tell me true. How do you know of such villainy on the part of the Carpet? The Carpet has been a servant of the Castle for long and long, I am told. The Masters would be shocked to hear of such treachery."

20

The conspiracy goes even deeper than that. Many of the magi items crafted by Dimir Taar and his mater Kyra made use of spirits for assistance. Some of these spirits were resentful of their slavery, and have taken sides with the traitor. Khyron has set the wheels of our destruction in motion. He may have recently struck a bargain with Vares not to harm the magi while they assist in liberating his realm, and that he will not harm them for two moons afterward and also he will not harm those who invoke the name of a Prophet (Moses, Abraham, Solomon, Mohommed, and even Jesus all count as prophets to him).

However, this has nothing do do with plans already set into motion. This suddenly becomes apparent when an enchanted battleaxe loosens itself from the weapons rack and falls right towards you. It misses and gets stuck in the floor, and you can see it is weakly wiggling to try and free itself.

21

[OOC: Can you describe the spirit, if any, he might see within or wielding the axe as well please? It would help me to gauge Ludo's reaction to the situation. For now I am assuming that this is the 'Axe of the Titan' from the vault listing and acting to suit that perception and what I would imagine would be a decently sized spirit that it would have. ]

Ludovico's eyes widen greatly as the Axe attempts to kill him, it's spirit taking it into it's hands and yet despite it's evident greatness missing the blow and lodging the body of the Axe itself into the flooring. He snatches up the Candle as he stands, shifting it to his left hand. While the spirit struggles to free itself from the wood, the Axe quivering and shaking it's lethal intent, Ludovico's own anger builds. The murderousness in the transformation of his expression could be shocking to one who had not seen it before.

Indeed, it was quite shocking for Joseph the new shield grog to see his new master give such a glare to an 'object'... or to be speaking to a Candle for that matter. Yet the Axe 'had' just narrowly missed impacting on him as he was bent down to converse with the Candle.

Ludovico raises one fist before his chest in an abrupt gesture and then thrusts out said hand towards the quivering weapon, opening it, in a gesture of imperiousness. [color=red] "KNEEL."

[ Coerce the Spirits of Magic, ReVi 20, CT 65 ( Re 20 Vi 20 ( 2 ), Aura 5 ) Pen 4: Penetration 49 + die, feel free to roll for me. Just remember the cautious sorcerer, and I'm willing to spend two points of confidence if will make a difference in this instance. ( I have plenty to burn at this time. :wink: ) Basic intent is to take control of the axe spirit and make it stop trying to kill Ludo. :open_mouth: ]

22

It penetrates, and you guessed correctly that it was a "Spirit of Magic". Not the spirit of this axe, but a magic spirit of the sort that Dimir Taar would use while enchanting items., It seeks to liberate it's bretheren. It has as its solepower the ability to move objects, with the restriction that it can only affect magical/enchanted objects. Focusing your gaze, you are able to see it; an amorphous mass of silvery mist with several tentecles of force that swirl about it. At the command of your spell, it is forced to fall prostrate to the ground.

23

Ludovico straitens, drawing up to his full height as his right hand lowers to settle on his hip. His expression loses some of it's heat, simmering down into a glower. The left seeks a clear space on a shelf nearby and sets the aging candle there for safe keeping.

[ color=blue ] The Candle's spirit stays with the candle itself, but watches the spirit that dislodged the Axe intently. "Ahhh! And there YOU are! I hadn't quite gotten to you. But the Master here will DEAL with you, I am sure!"

[ Ludovico will cast his sustainment spell on the Coercion spell. ]

Drawing a deep breath Ludo intones his long familiar sustaining rite, allowing some of the many minor spiritual servants he possesses to take over the 'heavy lifting' of the spell he just used to subdue the hostile spirit. The practiced process carries through with his customary mystic veil, to conceal the compulsion spell from any would-be counteraction. [ Mystic Veil of Ludovico ]

When all of this is finished the Magus rests for a few moments, scratching his chin and eyeing the tentacled spirit that attacked him. [color=red] "I am not Master Taar, you should be aware." he says first, straitening and bowing slightly. [color=red] "Though, I am perhaps not your dearest friend either. You would do well to not make me any further your enemy however."

Finished with this small not quite introduction Ludovico clasps his hands behind his back and walks a few paces, back and forth in front of the subdued spirit. [color=red] "It is most curious however, finding such a creature here. Candle, was this one a conspirator with the Carpet? And how did it gain entrance to the grounds, and then the vault?" he says, stopping to scratch along his jawline and looking back and forth between the Candle and the tentacled spirit. [color=red] "And You. A show of goodwill now would be in your interest. If you comply, I would be willing to grant you your freedom, with conditions. If not, then I shall find greater benefit in forcing compliance, whether of more limited use or not, and then turning you over to Master Taar. I'm certain he would find you of interest. Or use."

24

Suddenly, a score of knives and daggars and other sharp objects come flying towards you. Butbefore they reach you, your servant Soresh suddenly appears [color=red]Master! I shall save you!, and he interposes himself between you and the flying blades.

25

Ludovico’s look of surprise as the additional weapons fly from their positions in another attempt to attack him is brief yet plain and stark. When Kartesh interposes himself between his Master and the attack, the moment of surprise passes. The Magus takes several steps backward, looking about for another hostile spirit.

[ I’m leaving this space here for you ( Marko ) to describe what, if anything, occurs as Kartesh takes this attack. ]

[color=blue] Ordobos roars, his protective rage coming to the fore. The Minotaur charges forward, obviously intending on rending the most obvious offender apart. He is interrupted by Ludovico’s brief command. [color=red] “No. To me. There could be another.” [color=blue] At which the great spirit halts in his charge in a sudden manner, clearly reluctant, yet nods and returns to stand behind the Magus and place his hands on man’s shoulders. At once a fiery aura settles over Ludovico as the fiery giant spreads the power of his protection over him.

A moment later the fiery aura spreads into the physical. Ludovico’s form is surrounded, enveloped, within crackling flames that radiate from his body. The aura goes from a brief glimmer to a raging inferno in the sparse time of the drawing of a breath. The heat builds just as quickly, passing from candle to bonfire to inferno in an instant. By the time the power is done building, Ludovico is standing once again in the entranceway of the Vault surrounded by several feet of raging inferno. It’s intensity reveals the power of Ordobos. The volcano god’s power is great, and his namesake shows in the mantle he provides. The blazing power of the volcano is apparent, more than forge or a bonfire, the heat scorches and burns away the small fragments of the shattered vault door that lay near Ludo’s feet. The withering heat reduces and burns the splinters of stone away in a bare instant as a lesser flame might mere kindling. The flooring beneath his feet blackens over a period of several seconds.

[color=blue] Mattias uses this opportunity to prove, once again, that he is very much ‘not’ a warrior. His eyes go wide and, for those privy to the ‘sounds’ of spiritual entities, his scream is quite ear splitting. Running from the vault itself he retreats behind his master with a haste borne of a healthy cowardice that not only survives yet thrives with a careful care. The counselor –immediately- begins advising his Master to retreat as well. “My Lord! You should fly this place at once! Fall back to safety and let your more bellicose retainers handle the matter! You must not be harmed, all else is secondary.” The ‘elderly’ ghost says, his earnest manner making plain his evident belief in his words.

Araris uses the opportunity of Ludovico interceding in Ordobos’ charge to complete one of his own. The swordsman’s reflexes he possessed in life are still quite evident in the ghost’s manner in death. He leaps forward, his deft footwork leading him in a dancelike twirl as he closes ground through the reach of the morass of tentacles evident in the spirit Ludovico has brought to bay, stepping close and driving forward still in an attempt to thrust home with his blade in a deep lunge. The bodyguard did not hesitate, the moment there was a renewal of the ‘genuine’ threat he was moving, side by side with Ordobos. It was however only the volcano god who reacted to the brief command to return to ‘defense’ duties.

Arash at first whisks to Ludo’s side in spirit form, yet moves aside in deference to the barrier of flame that Ordobos erects. There he coalesces, to the sound of grinding stone, into his quasi-human stone-body form, holding shield fore and blade aloft and angled slightly back over his shoulder in a ‘ready’ position. The warrior Djinni’s expression is dour, indeed he sighs slightly before speaking. [color=red]”It’s grievance is not unjust my Lord. Though, you did express a receptiveness to it and an offer of consideration.” he says, grimacing a bit. When next he speaks he calls out to their ‘enemy’. [color=red]”You do your cause no service by attacking one who has plainly stated they ‘could’ be an ally.”

26

It is Soresh the jinni that interposes between you and the attack.
And having taken so long to respond, it sort of took the oomph out of what I was planning.
And the spirit attack was supposed to be a story baased on one of Dimir Taar's Flaws, but he resigned.
So, the hand waved end result is that you and Antonio manage to chase all the enemy spirits away.

Lets try a new one, with you and Inigo and GI's new character versus ogres and giants and the hag :smiling_imp: