Tasia retrieves the charter while the others are dealing with wards.
"Useful! Of course you see it's useful! But think beyond just wards. Scrying, for example. If we know the value of some of the variables, we can extrapolate the others, and barely need to involve magic at all. It is really quite amazing, these theories of Euclid, and the ways they apply to Hermetic Theory. I suspect Euclid may have been versed in the subject, possibly even a magus himself."
"I take it you have not spent much time hunting for vis sources, brother? In my experience, a man cannot live somewhere for 10 years without learning where the magic lays, they just don't know that they know what they know, if you follow...Ah, Miklos, I have a thought, a bit of clay upon my potter's wheel, if you ken," Patrick taps his forehead, "that I'd like your hands upon before I ask for my brother's stamp of approval."
Patrick proceeds to outline his notion about the Lamps to Miklos.
Miklos absently scratches his cheek in thought, his fingers running across the deep crags left by the leprosy. "So, if I understand you correctly, you need to place these lamps to measure the tidal currents of some kind of magic mumbo-jumbo, like you figure out how high the tide gets on a particular piece of shore before building a hut on the beach? Can't you just look at the shoreline and see where the tide goes?
"The first thought I'd suggest would be to place the lamps high enough that my patrols don't ever have to look through them or over them, but if you're trying to measure how deep the water gets, it won't do you any good to stick 'em up high. But if its a tide you're after, you'll need to stick 'em down low anyway, and it'll be easy enough to see around them. I don't think I can tell you where exactly to place them, m'lords. That requires the sort of knowing I don't have.
"Pardon me for asking, my lords, but does the flame have to get higher and brighter? Could you make it change color, or shape, or something? "
Having just returned, Tasia replies "That is why I thought the wise woman might be good to talk to. Though she may not use magic herself, she is one of the most likely to know of resources we would want to use."
"T'is a wise course you've set on that score, to be sure. I only wish that we had someone versed in Hermetic theory who could double-check my work and think on where to place the lamps while the two of you head off seeking wisdom. D'ya think that surly Verditus lass would take a break from her rituals long enough to help with my wee task?
"Ah, is that the charter you have there? Succinct, by the look of it. Five Trees had one that was a mile long, and it took a season's reading just to understand it all. May I see it?"
Patrick takes the document and is about to read it when something Miklos and Gregorius are discussing regarding the lamps catches his attention, and he rejoins that conversation. He summarizes the discussion thus far for Tasia.
[OOC: It's hard to roleplay out where prime placement for the lamps would actually be, especially without a map and time spent doing Magic Theory rolls and whatever InVi spells you use for such things. Can we just move this to a die roll or seven, now that we've outlined all the facets we're considering?]
After the matter is settled, at least for the moment, and Miklos departs, Patrick remembers the charter. He examines it as he meanders away from grogs, and waits to speak until all but magi are out of earshot.
"Succinct, as was expected. Well, this seems right enough, but I see no place for a visitor to sign as such. Were I to sign this, I think it'd mean I was a member, and I've not served the three years.
"Mind you, in my first covenant, Laguna Sententia, a magus acquires membership, among other privileges, through service to the covenant, and t'was based on this assumption that I've been so free with my talents. As I've said, I'm here to acquire the goods I'll need to barter a longevity potion 'afore the years press down upon me. If my help with the establishment of New Tanais earns me neither pawns nor privileges, then I best be putting your work down and taking up my own, lest I end up in the pocket of some usurious red-hatted devil."
I hope to do a map tonight, and when I do, I'll suggest some locations.
Scott
I've added links to two new maps in the "Maps" post of the "Covenant" thread (https://forum.atlas-games.com/t/covenant/5282/6). Note the the buildings shown in the map of the central covenant site are only the most important ones--if extra space is needed, there are several others that can be rebuilt.
Scott
Thanks, Scott!
I'm way too pressed for time to do a good job of it this week, but I've whipped up a rough draft illustration of our site based on Google Earth and your maps (not to scale...yet). Please feel free to give any input on future drafts:
It isn't as easy to read as the appropriate-scale images, but it does give a sense of the geography.
Based on this, I'd say Patrick's tents and the associated livestock/farming areas should either be in the corner by the Tower, or on the northeast corner, on that little hill.
I say we place the 10 lamps like this:
- 1 Lamp at the Tower,
- 1 on Cave Lvl 2,
- 4 on Cave Lvl 1
- 4 on the outside perimeter of currently inhabited buildings
"Theodoric has been able to tell me a few vis source locations, in addition to one we've already found. I suspect the local wisewoman may be reluctant to give up her sources, although there may be some she knows of but lacks the ability to harvest. There are also other approaches, of course, but those have to be balanced with our desire to maintain good relations with the local village. I'm not sure how well trying to destroy her memory of having ever had the vis source would work after use of Posing the Silent Question would work - it's the sort of thing it can be difficult to avoid leaving loose ends on." He adds slightly belatedly: "and there's the moral implications of doing such as well, of course."
[OOC: MTKnife, whilst Theodoric was able to give Gregorius some more source locations, Gregorius knows more than I do at this point, as you said you'd have to get back to me on the actual details.]
Gregorius looks to Tasia to respond to this.
I suspect that the features you see in the Google Earth picture represents what's been excavated more than what was originally there, but yes, this gives as good a sense of the site as we're likely to find. If you search hard enough, you'll also find one or more pictures of the tower, which is still present today--though I had to guess at its location.
Scott
That I did. I'm traveling, but I'll try to get back to you with something in the next couple of days.
Scott
"Well, we were expecting more magi to settle here, and I would support your candidacy. Let me see what the charter says about becoming a member - you see, we did not write it." Tasia looks through for the relevant section (which Chris doesn't know at all).
It's relatively simple--he just has to maintain residence for three years. And the other magi might decide to treat him as a real member for most purposes even before then.
Scott
[OOC: Callen - the covenant charter's posted in the first post of the Covenant thread, if you haven't seen it.]
(Becoming a member is discussed in the 1st para of Members and Council)
"You're really not joking. Ten laboratories! We'll be the target of every greedy tribe of horsemen on the plains, if we don't put up a strong show of force. No wonder you went with the glowing magic aura. Without ten magi to defend them, superstition and fear is the only thing I can think of that would keep any marauders from such a wealth.
"In the interim, perhaps we can find a blank book somewhere in your library and turn it into your guestbook with my signature? We have a lot to do before the spirits awaken, and we can discuss possible amendments to the charter's membership section after that.
Oh, hey. What are we going to do once the spirits show up, anyway? Do we have some agenda, or plan of attack?"
"I will prepare something for visitors. After all, we need to be able to show evidence of residence and presence of sancta. It won't take me long. You can then be the first to sign that." Tasia heads off to find a blank book in which to start recording such things. The first entry will be his presence as our first visitor. Afterward she'll bring it to be signed.
"I'd like to increase our actual defences as soon as we're able to, but in the meantime superstition and fear will have to do what they can. Unfortunately I can't think of many good ways to use wards in our defences against human raiders - most of the ideas I come up with would also stop our own grogs. I've briefly wondered about a ward against horses - apparently the last lot of raiders were mounted, but we'll probably get those as well. Also, there are the problems of casting and maintaining large circle wards."
"The only thing I can really think of is refuge circles - have circles set up in advance and ward them against humans, metal and wood. Rather a short-term solution, at best, but might save a life. You're the expert, though - would those be possible? And is there any way of providing something similar to the grogs that wouldn't require a magus to cover them with their Parma?"
"Initially, information gathering. What I've been told on the ghosts so far is that they appear to be former romans - so they should at least speak Latin - and have occasionally been seen to move things and possibly to "mess with people's minds". I'd like to check they're actually magical - which makes me think a set of concentric circles might be a good idea for our main group - and what type of ghost they are. Based on the description so far, spectres seem like the most likely, but I may be wrong or there may be a mix. I'd definitely like to know what keeps them here. Beyond that...it depends a lot on the answers we get. In an ideal world, we'd come out of this with an agreement for the ghosts to serve us in some way, and possibly a vis source or two. More practically, I'd like to ensure they're not going to be a threat, or be able to get rid of them."
"Step One: Collect Loincloths. We're doing the thing as was told us to do. Step Three: Profit. We know what we want to get out of what we're doing. Only, what is Step Two? Step Two is all the bits that get us from Step One to Step Three, and we haven't got a clue how it goes. It's a bit like whittling, you know. We have to carve out bits and pieces from the great big question mark that is Step Two, until it looks like it is something we can do to get from One to Three.
"Now, it is darn hard to fight an enemy what as we know nothing about, when we've got no troops and no allies, and don't know what we need to defend ourselves against. Or when, for that matter. No, wait, scratch that last one. I believe our wee Quaesitor said that they came just at sun-down, yes? So they know the weakness of the Parma? So we know they'll come when we're weak, and we know they'll be about, eyeing us up, afore then. That's something to work with...."
" 'Less'n you can tell me what's the difference between them and us, I can't draw a line in the sand that we can step over and they can't. We can ensorcel some armor to protect the grogs, if we knew what to protect 'em against. But I think we're taking too direct an approach. What we need is allies, soldiers and fortifications. So, what have we got and how can we use it to get that, to protect us from this first thing?"
"Now that's the sort of thinking we need, brother! Get the ghosts to serve us. It's that sort of thinking we need to apply to this more nebulous threat."
Gregorius shakes his head.
"No, Theodoric said the attack came several hours after midnight. Whilst most people were asleep, in other words. Raiders on horseback, armed with the standard weapons of the local tribes, but with some sort of magical back-up which we unfortunately don't have any actual details on beyond that the magi here couldn't figure it out in the middle of the attack. No useful details on their numbers."
"We were going to have an early warning network from Aetos' birds, but he's decided to leave, so that kills that idea at least for the short term. I'm considering asking to trade for labtexts of some of his spells, but again, that's a medium term project. "No troops and no allies" is a bit of an exaggeration, if not as much as I'd like it to be. I'm going to start making enquiries to see if I can get a Tremere architect in to build us a wall. We definitely need more troops. It might be possible to get some from the local tribesmen, although we'd need to check their loyalties carefully, and there's the issue of how we'd pay them."
"In short, there's a number of things we can do, but most of them we can't do - or at least, won't collect the fruit from - now."
"Well, we are looking into everything. I believe the ghosts will be the first thing we have to deal with. I suggest this evening we pay very, very close attention to the sun. That way we can start our Parma Magica rituals so they will be complete very shortly after the old Parma Magicas drop. Once we've dealt with the ghosts we can continue our investigations into the local magi. We know we should talk to the village's wisewoman. She may or may not know something helpful."
"Ah, so then they don't know anything about how to fight our kind, they're just sneaky bastards. I can do something about the horses, I suppose, but there's a reason we use the natural boundaries of the world rather than drawing circles everywhere, irregular as they are. I'm not sure if it'd be a good idea to try to enlist some horsemen of our own. They seem like an attacker sort of thing, rather than a defensive measure."
"Birds? Are there honorable birds in this area? I've only met a handful so far, and they all seem a bit flighty to me. If you know of some such as we can trust, I should be able to either broker an alliance, or bring them to heel for me -- they work for next to nothing, and are surprisingly easy to tame.
"I'm leery about building a wall around us. The tree line, properly trapped and fortified, makes a great defense against horses, and we're already on a bit of a plateau with some kind of cave network underneath us. Wall seems a bit repetitive, unless you're talking about fortifying the entire plateau -- which sounds nice, but might be hard to patrol.
"We've only just arrived, so I don't think we have much in the way of trade goods or industry which we know we can supply on a long-term basis. Horsemen won't want stone much, I'd wager. Mayhap there's something I can net which'll breed true, and we can tempt them with that, but that'll be a whole different story than what I was doing in Laguna Sententia. We're missing a Cage of Splendid Growth, for one thing, and don't have the vis or the ritual to turn a nag into a mare worth breeding."
Patrick smiles broadly. "Aye, we should just keep collecting loincloths, and trust that profit will come in due time."