Betula has no problem carrying inconspicuously on in the cover of the carriage as the rider passes on the other side.
Those who watch more than hide, think they see him twitch as he glances at Obstetrix in passing, but as soon as he passes the last person in the group, he speeds up and disappears in a gallop.
Assuming no additional events as the carriage moves forward, Cath'rinne still in vulture form opens her eyes after about two hours. She ascertains her surroundings. Seeing no immediate threats, the old men present and alive, the carriage moving, she closes her eyes again after moving into a different, more comfortable position, not bothering to switch back from her heartbeast form yet. She will rest until she no longer feels as exhausted, for roughly another 2h after which she will stretch her wings a bit.
Feeling the concussion, she will cast a Creo Corpus effect on herself, base 3 +6 bonus to Recovery rolls, +3 moon. Target 10. She rolls at +16 in heartbeast form. Rolled a 0, not a botch (reduced to 1 die from cautious sorcerer if additional dices would be needed, this seems a simple situation, unless the GM decides we've wandered into an aura). This costs her 2 fatigue levels, making her temporarily weary.
She looks to see if the old men is conscious enough to be interacted with, and whether his wounds were tended to. She will switch back to human form.
The old man has taken a beating, but he does not take longer than Cath'rinne to come to his senses, which have suffered additionally from the instant relocation of Rego Corpus. Mordred is trying to explain to him what has happened, and who these strange ladies are. In Saxon of course, so it may not make much sense other than to Betula.
«Where are we heading?» they ask, mainly to each other, and Mordred looks out the window.
Some of you had a smattering of area lore, and I think somebody inquired in town, so you should know that this road does indeed lead to Nottingham, in two or three days.
You pass a few hamlets, and maybe a small village. Some villagers will stop what they are doing to watch as you pass, but nobody initiates any contact.
Cath'rinne will ask Ruedi to help with the interpretation, as before, to get a sense of what is said.
"I agree with sidestepping Nottingham" she says. Or any city she thinks.
"Who are you, old men? I understand you're a hedge wizard of some kind? What are you able to do?"
Betula helps with the translation and tells them "We are not heading to Nottingham but we are on that road and have been heading North but without a final destination in mind. Do you have a suggestion for where we might avoid the messages that have been sent ahead? Perhaps a less used road to smaller towns."
[EDIT:] To the other magi in or near the carriage Betula says in Latin, "Did we know where we wanted to go? Beyond North of this inhospitable Kingdom, perhaps."
To Betula: "I saw a magic aura of fifth magnitude about a day's march west from ten miles north of the town we just left. I was thinking of exploring the area to see what we may find there."
"Hrrrrm," Betula says, "that may be promising but it sounds like it is well within this kingdom and avoiding the Ælderman and his men may be an issue... I don't see harm in taking a look though and my curiousity is piqued."
«We can hide in the woods. There are many shelters for those who knows the forest,» says the father. «Roads I don't know. Carriages are difficult to hide.»
"I figure it's a day away from the closest road or building... almost as wild as we can find, really."
Mordred and the father look worried as the conversation goes on in Latin. «What's going on, Betula?» asks the boy.
Holding a finger up to the magi Betula explains to Mordred, "We are looking for a place to settle and there may be a good place... Ummm," switching to Latin and addressing Cath'rinne, "can you point towards where this aura is located? And how far is it?" [Assuming she does] switching back to Saxon she tells them and says, "Can the forest tell you anything of that place?"
She describes what she saw in general terms from up in the sky, and the location of the area.
Obstetrix has been silent, but mostly because she was careful to cast several spells. One was to check the father's health, just to be on the safe side, and the other to commune with the forest.
"We should investigate that Aura, if only so we know where exactly it is, and some of what's in it. But I daresay that even as we march north, we shouldn't go too far, for the war isn't over just yet, and am not sure about either of you, but am not a combatant, and we did hear rumors of a magical battle that took place further north, possibly within this kingdom, if the Aelderman's men are out looking for those responsible."
Spell rolls are on Discord
Cath'rinne nods. "I hear you. I'm not a Flambeau obviously, although I'm not defenseless either if it comes down to it... " She takes a moment to think. "I agree about exercising a degree of caution, and I don't plan on actively waging war. Although... I can't say the idea of picking the bones of a magical battlefield clean doesn't interest me. By that, I mean looting any hermetic resources that may have been dropped from either sides that may help in founding our covenant and were missed or ignored in the aftermath."
“I have no idea exactly where any fighting is happening but I can’t say I feel welcome here in Mercia. Even if we were far off any road,” she says to her sodales*, “I would like to try to visit Castellum Veridian, the covenant where my apprenticeship began. To… to see if anything is left.” Then, turning to the boy, “earlier you spoke of a group that waged magical war… can you tell us if their fighting is still happening? Can the trees tell you?” At the last part Betula takes on a reverent tone.
When the magi discuss in Latin and point to the West, Mordred and the father whisper together with a concerned look on their faces.
When Betula asks about on-going war, Mordred answer, «No. Nobody shows there magic anymore. We just hide from Eadric.»
«Yes,» says the father. «The large big battle around here was at the White Horse¹ two years ago, I think. That's a little East of Nottingham. There is rumours that the fighting has moved North, but I am not sure.»
Then Mordred asks, «what have you found to West?» and points. «Is that where you are going?»
Obstetrix' spell only confirms that the father has taken a beating and will ache for a week or so, but no lasting injury. I suppose the intuition of the forest is just a buff for when you venture off the road, or?
I believe this was missed.
As Betula mentions this, Cath'rinne asks her "Where is this Castellum Veridian you speak of?"
Assuming the translation keeps up, Cath'rinne answers. "A place of magical power. I don't know much more about it. Do you know the area? It's about a day on foot through the woods, going west, from a bit further up north."
“Castellum Veridian is… perhaps was, in Sherwood forest. It is a large forest for these isles, I have heard of much larger forests in the east of the continent but have not seen them. Nottingham is the largest town near Sherwood.”
Mordred and the father stick their heads together again to talk privately, before they look up, quite disconcerted. «Please, keep that secret. It is one of the few good places that Eadric's men are still unaware of.» The father looks at you with pleading eyes. «We should only head back there when we are certain that there is nobody at our tail.»
He adds, «I am Malhad, by the way, healer of our people. We live in the forest; moving around to avoid the witch hunters. Wizard is too strong a word, I think, but even so, Eadric does not approve of my powers. What is a hedge wizard?»
"Nice to meet you, Malhad. We hide from Eadric as well as you do, in case you haven't realized it. You seem to be concerned there are people on our tail. No doubt there are folks in that town wondering where you went, but what makes you think they could be onto us? I teleported you from the jail to this coach, sitting some 500 paces away from the prison. They'll search the entire town for you, most likely, before they realize you're no longer there. And since you left no tracks, they'll have a hard time figuring out how you left town without being seen by anyone. There was magic use in the square... if they suspected those here, we couldn't have left town with the coach. They shouldn't be able to locate us, although we do have to figure out how to hide the coach if we leave the road, or whether we should catch up to it later..."
She takes a moment to consider her next words. "An hedge wizard is someone who has limited forms of magical powers, such as your healing and your ability to speak through mind speech. Are there a lot of talented people like you and your son among your people? Is that place connected to your people?"