"Some kind of floral Intellego response from the mirror. Not smelling any active magic from the circle. And since we are all getting handsy-pansy...." she opens the chests and inspects them, still concentrating on the spell, she also inspects the linens and beds carefully. Afterward, she returns to the magic circle, and incorporates the comments made (ooc: "comments that will be made") by the other magi into her thoughts, and more carefully scrutinizes the individual parts and pieces of it.
If her eyes betray a reaction to the recklessness of Serrano and Hiems, her words do not.
The Journey
Each night she will cast Comfort of the Drenched Traveler (PeAq 5) Casting +6 on herself (She would assume that no one else would ask a stranger to do this for them)
Helena will happily take one of the benches, and spends a significant amount of the night reading by moonlight (Moonbeam (CrIg 3) +11)
The Village
Wandering into the room she looks around, the mirror though probably magical doesn't interest her as much as the symbols.
Exiting the mirror room for the moment , Serrano takes a piece of chalk from a belt pouch
and draws his sanctum mark on the head of the bed nearest the fireplace.
Checking to see if there is any firewood , Serrano wanders outside to look behind the house for such.
OoC: Oh , and what provisions , if any , might be stored here , apart from those we bought with us.
Feeling secure in the knowledge , that none of us can cook worth a damn ,
after consultation (at some later stage) with his Sod-ales , someone appropriate can ask the good Father about domestic help.
A search of the chests finds them unlocked and empty, all but one, which contains a used small whetstone.
Dropping a coin into the circle has no visible consequences.
Saying 'Salle de Glace' has no visible effect.
Your combined magical theory tells you that most symbols must be ornamental, because there are too many for all to have a function: It is unlikely that someone can create an item that contains so many spells, unless it is a Talisman - and who'd leave a Talisman hanging there? It is likely though that the coin, the lilac and the coin have a function (because of how they are arranged).
A close scrutiny shows that the floor boards between the circle and the door are slightly worn - so are the boards between the door and the mirror.
As for water, there is a barrel outside that catches the roof run-off. There are some leaves in it, but the water doesn't seem to be polluted (it is frozen though). There is no food in the hut.
Yes, Cygna had to touch the circle when she was sponting her InCo spell to determine if the "paint" was human blood.
I had assumed that, at least those of us who went to market, would have bought some bread and cheese or somesuch for the two or three days' travel ahead. If worse comes to worse, she can try to forage (with her Survival skill, perhaps enhanced by her Wilderness Sense).
Cygna walks up and examines the mirror carefully, but not yet touching it. “Hmm...both the coin and the lilac have to do with travel. The coin protects travelers, lilac is for travel in general, and the opal not only represents travel and the destination but it is used for images, imagination, the eyes, and possibly memory. The iron may be to protect against the fey, while silver represents wisdom and Intellego, and may have to do with spirits and lycanthropes.
“Viscaria, could you tell how powerful the magics on the mirror are?”
Cygna nods, as if Viscaria had confirmed what she suspected. She will then touch images of the opal, the lilac, and the coin while singing “Can you show the way to Salle de Glace.” If that does nothing, she will touch the images again (in the same order), this time while singing “Show me Salle de Glace.”
The loaded cart is parked in front of the Clergue domus - the mule has been umhitched but the supplies haven't been touched. Father Clergue is found at his brother's house. They are eating bread and soup for dinner. When he sees you, he quickly smoothes a frown, puts down his bread and says: "How can I help?"
When Cygna touches the symbols, the mirror surface becomes foggy and oddly wavy. Some of the fog drifts into the room (but dissolves after two or three inches). The mirror looks like an opening leading into a cloud.
ooc: sorry about the provisions - so many posts. So let's assume that one of the donkey wagons carried the supplies - the villagers "administrated" them for you so far. You now possess a donkey, a cart, and a wagonload of supplies (enough for the season).
Viscaria: "Well, that hardly seems secure. It must be a trap."
Having completely lost her concentration when Serrano put his sigil on the bed, she takes a few minutes to recover her composure and fatigue, and then pulls out a few pieces of colored charcoal, several geometrically shaped glass objects of arcane purpose including prisms and magnifying lenses, and ceremonially castss another Intellgo Vim spell, focusing specifically on the mirror (perhaps even adding a Terram requisite?). Sta 0 + Intellgo 4 + Vim 4 + Aura ? + Artes Liberales 1 (mathematics specialty?) + Philosophiae 4 (Verditus specialty?) = 13 (or 14 or 15) + roll 6 /2 = 19-21/2 = 9-ish, possibly 10.
This takes her 15 minutes to do, and she does it off to the side away from the door, so as not to intrude on anyone else's investigations.
"Hello, what have we here?" Cygna says. She cautiously extends her hand to where the surface of the mirror had been, and maybe a fingerbreadth farther, before withdrawing it. She is checking to see if the surface is still there, although I very much doubt that it is.
She then looks around at the others. "I don't suppose any of you know, or can spontaneously cast, a spell to allow us to see through this fog better than I?"
Viscaria seems to almost scoff at Cygna's description of a "contentious" apprenticeship before catching herself. "Indeed," she replies, "I often wondered throughout my apprenticeship and even before, if brutality is a necessary part of learning the Great Secrets."
Cygna's interest in non-corporeal minds provokes Viscaria's favorite catchphrase, "It amazes me, what other magi study!" Spoken with delight and rapturous attention. She presses Cygna eagerly for details, slowly leading the conversation towards the value of such magics in safe-guarding or preserving knowledge or in the defense of a covenant or sanctum.
She first wonders if Cygna can speak to spirits, then asks if she can bind them. "If there were covenfolk in Phoenix Covenant," Viscarica begins innocently enough. "It is possible they died without the rites which cast the spirits beyond our reach. Such a spirit, properly bound and motivated, would be a boon to unearthing the history of this place that may become our home, not to mention his tactical value!"
Her excitement at the notion quickly turns sour, as she scrutinizes the faces of all within earshot for their reaction. Is she being judged? Ought she be? Quickly, she schools her face to show no emotion, and returns to the conversation with a more sedate and seemly tone in her voice.
OOC to everybody else: At various points during the trip, Viscaria tries to get each magi to discuss their magical interests. Not what Arts they study most, but what they like to use them for. Please let me know how your character responds to her curiosity.
“I would have settled for brutality,” Cygna muses as she looks off to the distance.
“As yet, my focus has been on warding against spirits and destroying a spirit.” Cygna's voice carries more than a hint of malice, which does not seem to be directed toward Viscaria. “With a season or two of study, barring our discovery of an appropriate lab text, I will be able to command spirits.”
in a humourous tone
"Well , Miss Magistrix Viscaria of the flouncy skirts and curious nose"
in a surprisingly light tenor voice , completely unskilled
"I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)"
I'd like to build the world a home
and furnish it with love
grow apple trees and honey bees
and snow white turtle doves
OoC: Unless stopped , he will continue with the next six verses
YouTube: New Seekers
Ease Factor roll = 09
Finding the church lacking a resident priest for the moment , some time taken for prayer.
"In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen"
Taking out his rosary beads and kneeling , Serrano starts to pray.
)