[It's made explicit that no words and only subtle gestures can be used whilst casting underwater on page 77 of Magi of Hermes. In addition, whilst casting the spell, Viola would not yet have it up, so trying to talk would lead to swallowing a fair amount of seawater, and probably choking.]
Based on the above, I recalculate her total to swim back to the surface as:
Str -3 + Swim 1 + specialization in underwater maneuvering 1 + penalty -3 + stress die 4 = 0.
If you spend a confidence point, she can make it back to the surface; otherwise she's not going to manage more than not sinking further. Are you spending the confidence?
Viola struggles up through the water to emerge gasping into the swell. The submarine is a few metres away, and she can see the ship beyond that. There's a bit of a commotion on board the ship, but no-one's spotted Viola yet.
[Str + Swim roll of 3 per round to stay afloat (the swell actually makes it slightly harder to stay in place than it would be to stay at relatively the same place under the water). Swimming and casting a spell requires a concentration roll against an ease factor of 9.]
Just realised you're missing the -3 penalty here again - do you want to spend another confidence point? (Viola seems to have about 20 of them, so she's not likely to run out anytime soon).
After a few moments of shouting, Calliope's shield grog spots you, and points you out to his mistress. A rope is found, and thrown to Viola.
Give me 3 more swim rolls until the rope gets to Viola, same basis as before (that is, Str -3 + Swim 1 -3 penalty + stress die = -5 + die against an ease factor of 3 to stay on the surface/get back to it if she sinks).
Also give me a Fatigue roll (Stamina - Encumbrance) against an ease factor of 6 - the swimming's beginning to get to Viola. She's currently one level down. Any penalty to come into affect after the time of the swimming rolls above.
No, I'm not. I went back and checked the original reference, but I didn't see any indication that it would still apply--but then I have no idea what it's for, or why it would affect actions after the one for which you originally mentioned it.
Apologies if this wasn't clear - this applies until notified otherwise. It's in respect of the fact that Viola's hands are still burning with pain from where she touched the iron submarine earlier.
As an aside: "discomfort from iron" as a description isn't very specific, so I went to the description of the flaw gained in the Bright Ones mysteries write-up, which expands it a little bit as "Touching or carrying iron causes pain and fatigue", plus some additional restrictions on carrying it and doing things whilst touching it, which is still not very helpful for exact mechanical impact. I've therefore looked at the effects of the minor Flaw Traditional Ward from page 52 of RoP:F (since the intent of the flaw in the initiation is to give you a faerie weakness). Traditional Wards make the relevant bane count as a source of +6 damage, so I rolled +6 damage vs Viola's soak (including form bonus and bronze cord), which ended up with a medium wound. Traditional wards give permanent wounds, and also prevent faeries regaining might points. As Viola has the additional burden penalties, I decided to make the wounds more like pain levels from Painful Magic, so it'll disappear after 12 minutes rest or so rather than requiring vis to heal. The causing fatigue/might not regenerating I'm interpretting as not being able to regain fatigue whilst wearing/carrying iron.
Basically, it's a human version of the Traditional Ward flaw, but slightly less powerful due to the temporary nature of the "wounds" inflicted.
See OOC discussion for the issue of the Discomfort from Iron Flaw, though for the moment it doesn't matter, since she can always have spent Confidence.
OK, Viola will try a Pers-range version of Rise of the Feathery Body (level 5)--I don't think she can do it without rolling (ReCo + Sta is 16), but she can do it without Fatigue, using Innate Spontaneous Magic.
I assume you don't want to retcon because it disturbs the flow of the game. Personally, I think that spending two weeks watching my character drown as a result of an event whose happening is not remotely believable disrupts the flow a lot more.
[Ouch, you're really not rolling well. A single botch isn't killable over, and it's not more than a single botch (invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3444077/). Since you're not enjoying it, I'll wrap up the incident with some broad narration (although I would argue that this is part of the story, not an interruption to it).]
Viola tries to cast her spell, but attempting to swim and cast simultaneously proves an difficult combination, and she once more slips with her control. She feels the spell twist out of her grasp, and settle onto her, and suddenly she is unable to swim - or even move a muscle - yet is not sinking either.
The line is thrown, and when Viola fails to even attempt to grab it, a boat is sent over, upon which the sailors swiftly find they can't move Viola from her place either. The spell proves resistant to dispelling, and eventually Viola is tied to the boat when Calliope speculates that she's in Twilight and might start moving again any minute. At sunset, the spell finally wears off, and Viola is hauled into the boat and rowed back to the ship - cold, wet and decidedly miserable.
"It looks like glass, and is called the glass submarine. I assumed it was glass. I know I've never publicised my vulnerability, but it's not exactly rare with fae - you'd have thought someone would have mentioned it to the pair of Merinita on the offchance."
[And now, after a baby emergency, we return to our regularly scheduled posting.)
Viola chuckles darkly, looking a little like someone bent on revenge, but the fire seems to pass. "I suppose now we need to find a way to get inside and not be uncomfortable. Any ideas? Perhaps blankets or carpets?"
"It might be possible to almost or completely cover the inside of the submarine, I suppose, although I don't like the idea of being surrounded by that much iron. I don't think I could manage a spell useful for it, though - I can't think of a way to do it with Imaginem. Do you know any relevant spells, or could you spont anything?"
"If we can't do that...Could you transform us into fish? That would create the problem of finding the palace - I know roughly where it is, but I'd been relying on the submarine for the exact details - it's done the route a number of times before, I was told."
She grimaces. "Failing that, we could go back to Alexandria and see if we can hire an approapriate device. I'd rather not do that if we can avoid it, though. It's going to be embarrassing enough if this incident gets out as it is."
She hesitates.
"I assume you can't do anything about the crew's memories?"
Viola shakes her head at the suggestion of transforming into fish. "I'm afraid that's quite difficult--to transform into a butterfly, I had to enchant Constantine's bond, and turning into a fish is no easier--and besides, a fish could easily be eaten by a bigger fish. We're just going to have to use the submarine, and if that means making ourselves a nest of blankets, so be it.
"As for the memories of the crew, it's probably best just to take our lumps. Were we to try to alter the minds of so many individuals, we might well fail, and end up looking even sillier, and at any rate, when you rely on spontaneous magic--as I think I've just demonstrated--it's never a good idea to cast spells when you don't have to, because there's always the danger of pushing yourself that much closer to Twilight."
"What's the point in having power, though, if you don't display it?"
It's currently early evening. I assume Viola is going to sleep through the night, and then begin again on the morning?
What's she going to cast, and how?
[Please give me a detailed breakdown of both the spells and her casting totals, together with what's she's trying to acheive. An Int + Finesse roll (if using Creo) against an ease factor of 9 will be needed to for anything manufactured that's of a basic quality, but it shouldn't fall apart even if you fail the roll (unless you botch, in which case all bets are off).]
Viola chuckles, more to herself than to Calliope. "The point of having power, dear, is to be able to do things. I suppose for some people, the thing they want to do is to display their power....But vanity doesn't usually outlive its owner.
Viola thinks that just lining the damned thing with blankets is the safest route--that is, line the hatch, and wherever the two magae are going to sit.
"To do things, yes, but deeds must be seen if they are to be known. Vanity may die with the owner, but renown echoes down the centuries."
Viola doesn't have enough of her own possessions to line a sufficient area of the submarine, but Theodoric is able to purchase a small mixture of blankets and sailcloth from the Captain, which do the job if depleting Viola's silver supply somewhat. The resulting nest is not particularly elegant or comfortable, especially for the proposed (now slightly less than) full day's travel to Aegea, and being inside the submarine close to that much iron still feels oppressive to Viola, but it's not unbearable. What are you doing?