«Strand of hair,» the boy ponders, «why would I have that?» He pauses, «Oh, you want to talk to him!? I have this,» he says, and pulls up a kind of rune staff. It is eight inches long and 1½ inch wide, with inscriptions that make no sense to you whatsoever.
Cath'rinne takes the wand handed to him by the young kid and examines it to assess whether it is of hermetic origin or not, and whether she has any idea of the type of wand it is (such as by examining materials).
"You can talk to him through this? Interesting."
She'll cast The Whole from The Part to confirm if this is an Arcane Connection and have an idea of what the father looks like.
It is a plain stick carved out of a single piece of wood, not completely dry. It is rather crude, done in haste or by a young kid learning to use a knife. The markings could well pass as letters of an alien script.
«Yes?» he says, as if he does not understand why Ruedi asks, «as if I could see him.»
Cath'rinne gets the image of a healthy and handsome man in his prime. Probably not more than 30 years old.
"This will work beautifully. Hold onto this for a moment, I'll be back." Cath'rinne will turn into her heartbeast form and fly above the treeline. She's trying to gauge whether the forest where they are is within 500 paces of the prison, and if not, whether the road they would travel on passes within that range. If the later, she'll also cast a Sense of Divine Power spont (InVi2) to see whether that's part of the Dominion aura or not.
The treeline is 200-300 paces from the town, so assuming that the prison is in town, she can go at least 100 paces into the woods and still be within the 500 paces limit.
The Dominion, you expect, extends to the end of the cultivated fields which coincides with the treeline. However, the aura over the fields will only be level 1. The town aura will be significantly stronger. If the spell succeeds, it will just confirm that.
Cath'rinne will wait until she sees her wagon come back from the town with the wheels changed, then go back down among the group in the woods.
She talks to the kid "Tell your father I'll try and rescue him magically, and not to resist my efforts. Then give the wand back to me so I can help him."
She looks over to Ruedi and Betula. "I may need your help to walk back to the wagon after this."
Once he hands the wand back to her, she'll use her magic to try and summon the father to her side.
Formulaic spell: The Voice of the Bjornaer Magi Casting total is +14 SL 15 is auto-cast in a neutral aura for no stamina
followed by (cast in heartbeast form)
Spontaneous spell - Opening the Intangible Tunnel 25. Rolled 22, so casting total is 11. This costs 3 stamina with LL Spontaneous, assuming an aura of 0 in the woods.
Spontaneous spell - Rego Corpus base 20 Transport the target instantly up to 500 paces (in the direction of the kid), +1 touch target effect level is 25. Rolled 28 including the fatigue penalty, which gives me a casting total of 14. Add a confidence point, and 2 fatigue level from LLS, this would bring me to Dazed on an aura of 0. If there's a positive aura that I didn't notice, I'll skip on the confidence point.
She's happy to be standing somewhat and will return to human shape.
Arriving for the end of Cath'rinne's conversation with the boy, Betula looks surprised that Cath'rinne has a plan to save his father but wholeheartedly approves as she felt the only thing left to do was care for the child.
During the afternoon of waiting she chats with the boy, attempting to learn what sorts of changes to the local (and regional if the boy and his father are more itinerant folks, which they seem like they might be) situation have happened over the last years while she was sequestered away in the Cave of Twisting Shadows. Particularly if there has been any reasons given for this brutal crackdown on those with the gift of magic. She will happily translate for any who would like to listen to what he has to say or to ask particular questions. [I do not expect to learn much from the boy but if there are things she would learn let me know.] She also finds some time to be alone that she can examine her stigmata and see if there are any changes that might illuminate a path forward.
After Cath'rinne is finished with her spells she can see how much that seems to have taken from her and will offer an arm and a sympathetic look to the weary maga.
[EDIT:] During their discussion she shares her Parma with the boy if he is willing.
While Betula and Cath'rrine are busy, Obstetrix will change into her Heartbeast, and will have Ruedi ride her into town, to get the work on the wagons done as quickly as possible, and then to lead the wagon out to the others.
[Scenes moved down until after Benedict's actions.]
(I forgot Benedict above.)
Benedict was trying to talk to the wheelwright's men, and has some time to do that before Ruedi returns on bjornarback.
The craftsmen came to watch the crowd when panic broke out. Benedict had to wait for things to quiet down before inspecting the carts discreetly. When the craftsmen return to the back, he can do (as described). The guards are still working to free people from the thorns. Then Benedict moves to the back to inspect the other wagon.
The workers are wary. «We need to finish this wagon. The lady did not want to stay long in town, they said, and we have already been delayed. What do you want?»
Benedict smiles at them. "I'm just here as her agent, she had other business so she's left me behind to take care of this, and when you're done I'll bring the wagons to her."
«Oh. OK!?»
«We are almost done. Just this wheel now, and we can put them on the wagon,» says one as he pulls a lever, to tighten the wood around the new wheel.
«Where is the other bloke who made the instructions?» asks the other one suspiciously.
"Oh, Edgar? He went with her." Benedict sighs, the hardworking man left behind to do the boring job. "Everyone's gone off to enjoy the market and make money, and left me behind."
He scrutinises you, studying the nicely dyed clothing. «You do not look like the servant to be left behind, a gentleman like you.» If Benedict can make charm or guile+pre 6+ he lets it go at that.
Benedict shrugs. "I'm her junior partner. An awkward position. Not exactly servant, not exactly equal."
Got a 13 on pre+guile.
«Very well, sir. If you leave us, the wagons will be done very soon,» he says.
Before Benedict has quite decided what to do next, he hears people talking in front of the shop, and the wheelwright rushes to attend to new arrivals. If Benedict listens or follows, he understand that it is the men-at-arms making inquiries.
He is curious about the people talking, so does follow and listen, he will get close enough to hear but is keeping an eye on the wagons if he can.
The men-at-arms inquire about the wheelwright's customer. «Who owns that cart? Where are they now?»
The wheelwright sounds a wee bit confused. «I don't know; I never saw the lord of the wagon. I only talked to the shield guard. Then they went off to enjoy the fair, I suppose.»
«OK, what did they look like? How many people were they?»
«Not sure. Half a dozen at least. They had two wagons; I have the other one at the back.» The wheelwright to give describe the entourage as he saw it, but he only really paid attention to the shield grogs who made the bargain, so the rest of the description is hazy. «Wait, I saw one of them at the back, talking to my assistant. He should still be there, I think.»
While Cath'rinne observes the scene from the sky, Ruedi rides into town on Obstetrix. The group in the square has dissolved. The vendors keep inside their stalls and look scared. The wall of thorns has been mutilated, by swords and axes, but still stands tall. The wagons are still parked where you left them, one behind and one in front of the wheelwright's stall. The men-at-arms are talking to the wheelwright, pointing at Obstetrix wagon in front to the stall. The two specialists approach slowly from the opposite side of the square, looking concerned. Ruedi and Obstetrix can observe this much before anybody notices them. It take awareness+per 6+ to spot Benedict observing from between the stalls. What do they do?
I don't know what the bard did when his audience dissolved. Where is he now, @John_Graham_52 ?
Meanwhile, Betual and Mordred chat. Obviously, Mordred knows little about the past. Eadric has been in power as long as he can remember, and his people has had to hide. «We live in the woods, and move around. The woods help us. Nobody finds us until we find them. Almost.» It is clear, and understandable, that he only has the child's understanding of anything. «Before I was born, there were others who used magic to wage war. They were enemies of everyone, of the woods, of ours, and of Eadric's, but Eadric takes it out on everybody.»
Finn will make his way out of the town and take the north road until he spots the group again.
Cath'rinne keeps observing for now. She is waiting on the wagons to leave town.