This thread should not be waiting on me-- Vrahos is opening up the next doorway.
You didn't have any input on what to do about the leak?
Scott
I tried sealing all the rocks together by plugging all the cracks up with glass, and then enchanting it to be unbreakable. If that didn't work, then no, there's nothing Portia can do about it, leave it be.
The next room proves also to be flooded. Forewarned, Vrahos is more careful this time, and the leak is minor--it doesn't add appreciably to the problem you've already got from the first doorway.
Scott
"Shall we work together to try to seal these leaks? One of us could concentrate on making the rock viscid while the other concentrates on molding it. When we're ready the one making it viscid drops the spell." ((I don't have any books on me, so I'm not sure how hard that would be. Tasia has MuTe just under 20 and ReTe just over 20 here, so she can spont level 10 in either pretty easily. Vrahos may not be much help on this one since he's having a grand ole time.))
Rock of Viscid Clay is level 15, but it's Sun duration and target Part--if you target the rocks as a Group and do it for Conc, that's level 10, and you can let Portia move the "mud" while you maintain your spell. Make a stress die roll for the spont.
Scott
Tasia will wait for Portia to have control over the group they're targeting. (Wouldn't want to turn it all to mud and have it wash away before being controlled.) Once Portia is ready, using extra levels for quantity of stone: Sta 1 + Mu 7 + Te 6 + loud 1 + gestures 1 + aura 5 + roll 8 = 29, divided by 2 gives her a level 15 MuTe spell.
((Wouldn't it be 15? +1 from Part to Group, -1 from Sun to Concentration. Well, she pulled it off as a 15 anyway.))
Oh, yeah--I was thinking Part and Group are the same level. In any case, Portia does her part, and that goes off without a hitch. Where do you go from here?
Scott
We'll need to do the same one the other leak, though since it's small, we can probably do it with one large rock we from what we removed from the non-flooded doorway. That will drop the spell to individual, level 5. That can be done without fatigue. After that, have we missed any doorways here?
Whoops...actually, my original description was one door in the north wall, but it's fine if there are two. The only remaining opening is in the east wall.
I need to create a map of the caves for you guys; I'll try doing that some time this week (I already downloaded some software to do it).
Scott
I think the two will be sealed OK for now, maybe for quite a while. Tasia will let Vrahos start working on the remaining one.
It quickly becomes apparent that this is another staircase down. Are you sure you want Vrahos to continue?
Scott
"Wow! How deep do you think this goes? No wonder everything is leaking." Is there still water entering the chamber we're in? Tasia doesn't want to flood any lower levels accidentally. "There are rooms higher up we haven't checked yet. It might be prudent to wait on going deeper until we know the water at this level is blocked well. Otherwise it could flood while we're down there. What do you think?
Portia agrees with you. She also suggests that you might want to quiz Theodoric for further details.
Scott
"Yes, let's do that. This cave system is becoming a lot more complex than I had suspected. I think I will also look for any elementals that could shed some light on the caves, too." If Portia is in agreement, they'll go back to the surface and seek out Theodoric. After talking to him and before coming back to the caves, Tasia may do some summoning.
As far as the summoning, figure out the mechanics of that and let me know exactly what you plan to do.
Scott
[I'm bored, and this doesn't seem to be moving, so...
Summoning is described in RoP:tI (pg 114). I think the version Tasia has (page 67 of TSE) is slightly different from that described there, in that it can only summon beings with a Terram associated magic might, isn't restricted to spirits but can also do elementals and some magical animals and isn't infernally tainted, but otherwise works the same.
There are two different ways to summon something: either summon a specific being with an arcane connection to it (Presence + Summoning + Magic Lore + aura + stress die (+ penetration x penetration modifier)), or try and summon whatever's in the area using "scouring" (Presence + Summoning + Area Lore + aura + stress die ( + penetration)). To get an elemental you have to use scouring, but that doesn't mean that the result of scouring is always going to be an elemental; it could be some other being with terram magic might, and I don't think you get much control over what actually turns up.
How long summoning takes depends on how far away the being summoned is coming from, varying from a few minutes (if it's in the same general vicinity) to hours for a spirit a day's travel away, to days and weeks for further away. The summoner must maintain concentration throughout this period. Summoning always costs a fatigue level.
Tasia's scouring total is Pre 2 + Summoning 1 + Area Lore 0 + aura (4? Depends on where she's doing it) + stress die + penetration 2, so 5 + aura + die. (Plus anything I've missed. I don't think the focus applies, though.)
The total is then compared to the summoned being's might. If it's twice the might or more, the spirit appears in the circle where the caster can see it. It can hear him and vice versa. It must remain in the circle until dismissed, or until the next midday or midnight, whichever comes first.
If the total is more than the being's might, but less than twice it, the being is summoned, but the summoner must maintain concentration on the effect or the being is free to leave. Depending on the type of being, it may also only be visible as long as the summoner concentrates. The summoner will need to make a stamina + concentration roll to interact with the spirit in any way, even talking to it.
As long as the being is held in the circle, it cannot affect the summoner or anything else outside the circle with its powers.
Elementals are described in RoP:M (pg 132), and also a bit in the Elementalist section of Hedge Magic (pg 24). An elemental probably won't be all that useful as an information source, although with a Magic Lore of 1, Tasia may not realise that. All elementals have the virtue Ways of the X for their home; however, they also have cunning rather than intelligence, require a spell to communicate with, and have the flaws Poor Memory, Simple Minded and Short Attention Span. HM also says that "elementals are generally wild and unbiddable", and if not constrained it is nearly certain that an elemental will try to destroy everything in its path, including the summoner. They cannot be reasoned with.
Elementals are Magic Things, with the associated Temporary Might flaw. The might of an elemental is directly related to its size. A Might 15 elemental is size 0, and Might 10 size -3 and a Might 1 size -18.
One other thing to be aware of when doing the summoning is that Portia is Imbued with the Spirit of Terram, so any terram magic might being isn't going to take to her (this should include Vrahos).
All of this is going to be after talking to Theodoric, though. I'd guess by now he's showing Gregorius where the traps in the ring of trees are?]
I would imagine an elemental might have some knowledge of any excavation that's occurred in the caves complex, though ascertaining the human uses of particular chambers would be beyond its grasp.
Presumably she's already gotten past that problem in Vrahos' case, though I can see its leading to occasional conflict.
Yes, that's right, but they'll be back soon.
Let me PM callen to make sure he didn't miss a notification.
Scott
Ah, sorry, one other fairly critical bit of information I missed out; according to TSE (pg 67), scouring an elemental creates it "de novo", so it won't have any past experience to draw on either (although it could be used as a scout, to a point). Really, what I've said is very much a brief summary; there's several pages of stuff in RoP:M, including common and mandatory powers and descriptions of how they tend to perceive the world.
Don't forget that Tasia and Vrahos didn't come on the boat with the rest of the magi, so won't have actually spent all that much time with them. On the other hand, with a might of 3, Vrahos almost certainly falls into the "being afraid" camp, rather than the "trying to kill them" camp of differing reactions to the virtue.