Benedict will have the wagons waiting just far enough into the woods that they can't be seen from the motte.
Betula stays with Cath'rinne and Mordred, hoping to be a calming influence and to watch him as Cath'rinne casts her spells.
OK. You reassemble the troops just out of sight in the Northern woods, almost 500 paces from the Motte. If Finn had the patience to wait, he is there too.
Can we review the spell casting on discord, to be sure we agree on the rules? Sorry for the delay.
Finn will have waited and will therefore rejoin the group.
You park the wagon where you think others will be able to pass, just in case. There are not many good sites to choose from within the required 500 paces. The grogs are on edge as they realise what Cath'rinne is about to do, and take their posts keeping watch, one on each side. There is nobody else in sight though. Even birds and squirrels keep well out of sight.
Mordred is rather wary of the big, bald bird, and he is very reluctant to enter the wagon, even if he has seen her change. But with Betula's encouragement he sits in the door as Cath'rinne casts her spell, and they have a good view of what happens next.
I do not know about the others, if they flock around the wagon to see what is going on, or if they rather join the grogs to keep watch.
The vulture chants with an eerie voice. Sweat forms on Mordred's forehead, and he starts shivering. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, a middle-aged man appears. His clothes are torn and bloody. At the same time, the vulture is knocked over and falls to the floor. The man bends over, and throws up some mixture of red blood and yellow gore.
Cath'rinne should roll a Int+finesse for the teleportation I think, penalised by all the fatigue from the first spell. 9+, lest he crashes into the wagon so that it rattles. Negative or botch will threaten its integrity.
Ā«Father!Ā» shouts Mordred and rushes into the wagon to hug him, ignoring everything else.
Obstetrix will have watched the proceedings, and when the spell is cast, she will rush in to both Cath'rinne, and the man, and see if they need her healing. When she sees the man throw up, she will cast Purification of the Festering Wound on him, and will examine Cath'rinne by casting Physician's Eye on her.
Rolls on Discord
27 casting total for Purification of the Festering Wound
25 casting total for Physician's Eye
You squeeze past Betula and enter just after the boy. It is a bit hard to touch him and concentrate on the spell casting, with Mordred clinging to him and protesting to advancements, but assuming that both you and Betula tell him off, he will hesitantly co-operate.
The purification seems to go without issue, as for physician's eye,
Specific afflictions appear to you as areas of yellow coloration on the personās body.
Cath'rinne's head has that faint yellow colour ... could be a concussion ... did the father actually knock her over when he arrived? No other explanation springs to mind, unless you make an Int+Hermes Lore 15+ and have actually heard about some other wizard with Life-Linked Spontaneous Magic ...
Rolled a result of 0, but I did not botch.
As soon as the father appears, Benedict gets the wagons moving again, a combination of exhortations to the grogs and to the horses - to move at a brisk walk, not suspiciously quickly but also not a gentle amble down a country lane. The brisk pace of a merchant trying to make money. He says aloud, in Latin, "Can anyone make me look like Maga Cath'rinne? Just in case we run into trouble?"
He arrives with a big thump and the carriage shakes, but neither the carriage nor the man seem to take more damage than they already had.
Betula standing just outside the entrance to the carriage makes a motion to help... someone, but she hesitates when two people look to need assistance and isn't close enough to lend an arm to the father or to check on Cath'rinne and is quickly bowled out of the way when Obstetrix pushes into the carriage. She watches the proceedings in the carriage from outside as it begins to move and she moves along with it.
When Benedict asks if anyone can make him look like Cath'rinne she responds, "no, I'm afraid that is beyond my abilities."
The carriage is full with three people and the big unconscious bird. When Benedict has it moving, Obstetrix has to sit down and hold tight, to avoid stepping on her fellow maga. Nobody seems to be seriously hurt. The vulture will come around, given enough time to recover, and Mordred's father is too shattered by the beating he has had to take part in a coherent conversation, but the physical wounds will heal. Mordred takes care of the father as best he can.
One of the grogs take the other wagon, and follows Benedicts lead. They make a good steady pace, because the road is good and the wheels newly serviced, but even so, the heavy wagons are easily outrun by the pedestrians.
You have no company on the road until you hear a rider at full speed, approaching from behind, after about half an hour or a little more. The rear guard will probably hear the hoofs well before they are overtakenĀ¹, but those inside an enclosed carriage may not hear them over the sound of wheels and their own draught animalsĀ².
Ā¹ Awareness+Per 6+
Ā² Awareness+Per 12+
Skipping the check as I would still be unconscious.
Obstetrix will spend a Confidence Point, so she gets a 13.
Perception + Awareness for Obstetrix
rolled 10 (5)
Ruedi Perception + Awareness
rolled 8 (3)
Obstetrix is evidently tightly strung after the escape, and she cannot stop listening for pursuers, looking outside ever so often. And she finds what she is looking for. A pursuer, or at least a rider, riding full speed towards them. He is on his own though, and travelling light. On a straight section of the road, you see him before you can make out the details.
Spotting the rider, she will inform whoever is closest to the carriage (I assume Betula is close by), and with a last look at the man and her fellow Bjornaer, both in good care, and with good chance of recovery, she will go and greet this man, or at least see what he wants.
As Obstetrix descends from the moving carriage and walks back to talk, the rider catches up. He slows down a bit, watching the small caravan with guarded curiosity. He keeps the horse in trot and makes no sign of wanting to slow it to a walk, much less actually stopping, unless someone makes an effort to intice him.
Obstetrix has no mind to stop the rider, but she does look him over. There can be many reasons for a man to ride alone, but not all of them are well meaning.
Meanwhile, Ruedi will see which direction the man seems to be from.
The rider carries a sword in his belt, and a small shield strapped to the saddle. The crest on the shield is the same as that of the town guards earlier today. He does not quite look like a guard though; no helmet or other armour. You'ld guess him to be approaching forty, blond and clean-shaven.
After glancing at the rider when first pointed out, Betula turns back around hoping the rider will not see her strange eyes and will just pass them.