Ludovicus mirrors Praetor Renatus and makes no further mention of Indulius' ill manner. "That sounds good to me. I am anxious to see the rest of the new building, now that I've had a look at the other end of the island. Are there at least enough rooms for all of us yet, if not fully outfitted laboratories?"
Renatus tries to refrain his anger "Alright, let's meet at the end of the day. I'll do it myself, but I don't speak German : Can someone make sure the the workers and the other mundane in general are instructed to stop spoiling the island ! If they continue like this, there will be no more pea moss and we'll end up walking in a gigantic mud pool for the rest of our stay. These are really slow growing plants they must be extremely careful."
The older magus nods, "Very well, then. Let us take a look at where we will be able to settle for now and we can then direct the grogs to bring our belongings to the proper chambers."
With that, he leads the way back to the large circular building[sup]1[/sup], so that the three magi can tour the upper floor where their sancta will be located. Work is still ongoing on the northern part of the floor, with carpenters working on the inner partitions, flooring, etc. Still, that leaves enough space for the living quarters for all three of you, although there is only two rooms large anough to establish a laboratory ready at this point. From what rRenatus relates to you after consulting with the craftsmen, there will be additional room for two more laboratories and two additional bedrooms. There is also a room somewhat larger than the bedrooms, though smaller that the labs, to be used as a combination of library and council room.
The layout puts the laboratories and the library along the outer wall, with the bedrooms along the inside wall, with a corridor between the inner and outer rooms. Each bedroom has a small balcony overlooking the inner courtyard.[sup]2[/sup]
So, after a quick meal of travel food, the three magi spend the afternoon unpacking their personal belongings in the quarters they select for themselves. The grogs are also drafted to offload and transport all the additional materials that were packed for the trip, including what you assume is the equipment for the laboratories. The servants, meanwhile, prepare the various rooms downstairs and have some unpacking of their own to do.
After a simple but warm dinner, the magi gather again in the future library. For now, furniture is at a minimum, with only a large trestle table and small benches around it. The chests containing the few books you have brought from Fengheld are in one corner of the room. A few oil lamps light the space, with the shutters opened a crack to let a bit of fresh air in.
"Now, where do we begin?" asks Renatus, looking at his younger sodales.
[sup]1[/sup] It cannot really be called a tower as it is only two stories high. It is more a circular manor house with an inner courtyard.
[sup]2[/sup] I haven't drawn a map of the inside layout of the building. If you feel it would be useful to have one, I can do that at some point.
"In this instance, I suggest we start at the end, instead of the typical start at the beginning, for I am particularly curious what magus Indulius had to say to you. If what he said can be passed on to us."
"I understand your curiosity," Renatus says. "However, you will understand that some of what was said did not concern you. What I can tell you, however, relates to the state of the chapter house and the collection of the vis source."
"As you have seen yourself, the construction of the manor house is well advanced, though not fully completed yet. The northern side of the manor isn't complete yet, both up here in the magi's floor and downstairs in the mundanes' quarters. The craftsmen are expected to complete the work some time during the autumn, at which point there will be enough living space for five magi and four laboratories. This means that should we have additional magi join us here, it may be required for us to share one of the labs."
"At the moment, there is one lab already set up and available for use right away. That is the laboratory present in the old cottage, which we can use for the most urgent laboratory tasks. Until the other labs are installed, we will have to share it." The praetor pauses before adding, "Note that the supplies we brought with us include enough materials to establish two additional labs, as well as the building materials needed by the craftsmen to complete construction of this building." This seems like a lot of supplies to have been loaded in only five chariots, both of the younger magi realize, particularly when they remember that one of those contained mostly food.
"Now," Renatus continues, "he also spoke of the vis source we are charged with collecting. As was mentioned previously, it takes the form of bog gas that spontaneously ignites on the surface of the water. This can happen night or day, and each eruption only burns for a few minutes, an hour at the most. There needs to be a grog on watch for such eruption, in order for the magus to quickly travel to collect the gas or the raw vis it contains. This means that the magus on duty must have a spell to help collect it. Master Indulius used a Rego Ignem spell to capture the flames themselves, whereas I was previously directed to learn a Rego Vim spell to do so. I would posit that a Rego Auram spell might also do the trick."
"The important point is that the magus, or magi, responsible for the collection, must be available at all times of the day or night in order to capture as much of the vis as possible. This makes lab work impossible during those seasons, and even other studies are often interrupted. So it will be a priority for all of us to be able to collect the vis, so that we can share the burden." He shrugs before concluding, "So you can understand the irritation of Indulius, since he was the only magus present to collect the vis. And I hope you understand that I don't intend to be the only one to perform this duty."
"Well, this is only natural that we share the burden... I'm not sure I'll be able to invent gather the magical essence in a single season in the old cottage, I guess it's quite a rudimentary lab'. So if you agree, I shall spend my first two season to setup my lab, and the third to invent this spell. the fourth could be ritual communion so we can cast a proper aegis next year. That would mean I would take two season for vis collecting next year... What do you think ?"
"I don't know how good or how rudimentary the lab in the cottage is, as I haven't had time to look at it." The Jerbiton says, "Has either of you had time to go there? I guess the first of us to make use of it will quickly be able to determine what flaws it might have."
He ponders your proposal for a few moments, "That would put the first season during which you could take responsibility for harvesting the vis at... next spring, in three seaons' time? Depending on the status of the existing lab, if you were to use it we might be able to shave a season or two from that, perhaps?" The older magus turns to Ludovicus, "What about you, sodalis? How soon would you be able to help harvest the source?"
"You're right, we'd better check the cottage. I assumed it was rudimentary because it belonged initially to a witch wasn't it ?"
"I don't know, actually," says the older Renatus. "The cottage certainly belonged to the previous occupant of the island, but does the lab? Indulius didn't tell be whether he, or his apprentice, was the one who installed it when they arrived. His comments did imply that he did not have much time to use it. His apprentice may have, however, and I don't know whether any of the supplies that were used have been restocked."
"So one of us need to spend at least a little time there to learn how useful this lab can be to us."
"I believe that I am already sufficiently versed in Rego Vim to learn the vis gathering spell. Although casting it will not be easy for me. So I could spend next season learning the spell, and be able to help harvest the following season. One question though: what conveyance can I use to reach the vis flares? I would guess that not all emissions are within easy reach."
"Yes, that is an important detail. Indulius mentioned that one of the boatmen is always on standby to get us close enough to the eruptions for us to use a gathering spell."
The older magus thinks for a moment before adding, "I don't think that your lack of knowledge of German will be too much of a problem there. They seem to know the routine fairly well by now. We might want to arrange for some sort of signal, so that the grog on watch can warn every one at once to get ready without having to leave his post. Perhaps a sounding a bell. Or better yet a horn, so that we don't mistake it for the bell that was used to summon the boat to the shore on the other side of the lake."
"From what Indulius told me, there is an eruption every few days, although they seem rather irregular. And some of them burn out before we can get there to capture it. So I guess that the better we become at it, the more vis we will be able to harvest."
(OOC: Let me know if you don't have further questions on this subject, so that we can move on to the next one.)
"Once I've learned the spell, I probably won't need a boatman to do this when i'm on duty. i'll go there in Ibis form"
"So then the person who spots the flare will tell the boatman where it is? Or they will point it out to me, and then I direct the boatman with further pointings and perhaps some grunts?"
"I must admit that I am not completely sure how it will work," admits Renatus with a shrug, "Indulius didn't provide much more details than what I just told you, so a lot of questions remain."
"For instance, what are the grogs to look out for? I suppose that a fire burning in the distance will be noticeable at night, but may be much more difficult to spot on a sunny day. And even at night, if there is a lot of fog, it may be hard to determine exactly where the eruption is happening."
"On top of that, now that I think of it, Indulius didn't mention how long the fires burned. What happens if they go out before we reach a position close enough? I would think that the vis may have dissipated by then, but perhaps not. In any case, I think speed may be important if we want to gather as much of the vis as we can." He shrugs again, "I guess I will be the first one to experience it, since I will be the one performing this duty."
"Indeed. Renatus as an ibis will likely be the most effective harvester of the three of us, initially. I think a second priority for me will be to devise a spell to mimic his flight, or that will allow me to at least run over the bog without the risk of drowning. But we will see how the emissions behave. Perhaps we will find a way to predict when and where they occur."
"Indeed," Renatus nods, "being able to predict the eruptions in advance would certainly be useful. For one thing, it would reduce the onus on the collecting magus to always be standing ready. It would also increase the amount of raw vis we'd be able to harvest."
Looking the the other two, he asks, "Have we covered this subject as much as we can at this time? To summarize, I will be harvesting the vis next season, while Ludovicus will spend the time in the existing lab to learn the gathering spell. This will allow me to learn more about the collection process, while Ludovicus will be able to determine the state and quality of this laboratory." Nodding towards the Bjornaer, he adds, "Meanwhile, Renatus will start installing a second lab." He stops, thinks for a moment, before asking, "Should we, at least for now, consider this lab as a shared resource?"
"At least until we have standard labs set up for everyone, this might make sense not to consider those laboratories as personal. That way, we will all be working for the chapter house next season. I or Ludovicus could complete the set up of that lab on the following season, while Renatus is learning the gathering spell and Ludovicus gather the vis. That way, at the end of winter we would have two complete labs ready and all of us would have spent two seasons of service. Then, in the spring, Renatus could harvest the vis while Ludovicus and I start setting up the other labs. After another such season, all the labs would be set up and we could then establish a rotation for the harvesting, with three new labs installed in the manor. Thus, after a year we would all be ready to work on individual projects if we wish to, or consider the other needs of the chapter house."
Then he shrugs, his enthusiasm deflating somewhat, "But perhaps I am looking too far in advance."
"I believe this is fair that we all share the burden equally, until we all have a personnal lab, it seems normal that all labs are shared. I was under the impression that learning the spell to increase penetration of the Aegis was also a priority ? Other than that your proposal seems fine to me."
Renatus shrugs again, "There seems no obvious threat at this point, so an Aegis with reduced penetration is not a major problem yet. Certainly, if such a threat surfaces then the priority will have to icrease accordingly, but I think that for the first year we can make do. We can always swap one or more season spent installing new labs with learning Ritual Communion by each of you, or of the Aegis by the expert," he nods to Ludovicus, "should the need arise. At the moment, I can probably raise an Aegis with one or two mangnitudes of penetration."
"Which probably brings us to our next subject, which is the Aegis itself. Do we proceed with it right away, or wait? I suspect that Fengheld would see it negatively if we didn't maintain one to protect our assets. And perhaps we can even ask for some help raising it with better penetration this year."
"Well, there's nothing to wait for if ritual communion isn't a priority this year. We should probably rise it right away..."
"I agree, we should not wait. Is there a stock of vis already here?"