Do Hiems or Viscaria see anything through Second Sight?
When Viscaria and Hiems use Second Sight to peer into the fog, they draw the following conclusions:
The fog seems to be neither an illusion nor mundane. From their background they know it could either be a creature or a sigil connected to a magical effect.
While traveling to Agraves
Hiems listens, but shows nothing, as (mostly) usual. Is he taking her seriously, thus his attention? Is he secretely mocking her? Does he care at all???
- "A vast question. What you're asking, in fact, is for one to define himself, his hopes and dreams. Why should I answer it? Yet, as we're going to spend so much time together, I may as well humor you".
As they continue travelling, Hiems looks before him, Eyes becoming more and more lost in the distance as he speaks without looking at viscaria, his face strangely dispassionate, as if he recited words written for another. - "What you seek to learn... This is not how I see it. I have been gifted and cursed with this power over winter and frost, and I must learn to harness it, become its master lest it consume me, but also learn to wield it. For if it is a gift, be it from God or Magic, then, surely, I must thrive to be the best there is at what I do, don't I? Or else, what good are gifts for?" A pause, as his thoughts drift elsewhere and elsewhen.To tell you the truth, though, this is what I am, and I feel that, despite my efforts to the contrary, I have no choice but to be true to my nature. And, who knows? Maybe doing this will help me in other matters. Maybe it won't.
With that, Hiems turns to Viscaria, directly looking at her - "And you, lady viscaria? Will you answer your own question?"
In the House
Feeling better after his walk, Hiems has come back to the house, determined to try and do his part. Once there, he is quickly informed about his sodales efforts and discoveries.
- "Well, I'm not sure this is mundane fog. And neither Intellego nor Vim are my strong points. Yet, potent faerie blood runs in my veins, and I've learned to use it, although at great cost to myself. I may be able to mold my raw magical energy into a suitable spell, but, as it will greatly tax me, I am loathe to expand myself on a spell that may prove useless. Still, maybe I can try something"
Concentrating, Hiems incants as well as he can. It seems to him that his spell could do the trick, at least with mundane mist, but, given his poor knowledge of the arts involved, even that is far from certain.
Intellego 2, Auram 0, stamina 2. If there's an Aura, or if Jean-Michelle is OK for Cyclic Magic, I can spont that without fatigue. Otherwise, shame, oh shame, I'll have to tire for a lvl 1 spell.
InAu lvl 1 (Make your senses unhindered by the air, as Auram "includes in its scope most weather phenomena such as storms, lightning, rain, mist, and falling snow"), range personnal, duration mom.
Ah, I see later, this should fail anyway. Yet, sponting a lvl 1 was fun 
- "We're progressing. Fine. And I may have an idea on him to explore the other side."
That being said, Hiems takes, say, a piece of wood laying on the floor, from which he takes a splinter.
Then, he takes the larger piece in his hand, pass it through the mirror, and drops it.
Finally, using the splinter he kept, he tries to use his Sight at Arcane connection range, expanding a fatigue level, and LLSM is needed:
Base 1 (use one sense at distance), + 4 Arc, + 0 mom = lvl 5
In 2, Im 3, stamina 2 = 7 + 1d10=7 = (14 + Aura)/2.
Does this yield results?
While traveling to Agraves
OOC: Nice font color for your character's words. Makes me all shivery.
"Well, I agree with your premise, but not your conclusions. To be born into the world is the gift we're given, and while the strings tied 'round may be different for each being, we must each bear the weight of it, and struggle to keep hold while we stand tall. But if that is your only goal, then you are only reacting and what is worse, reacting to something that happened long ago. If you only react, you will never learn the measure of your true strength, nor learn to straighten your back, let alone achieve happiness.
A warrior will never strike down his opponent if he only holds up his shield. A mason will never build a monument if he spends all his days repairing cracks...."
Her voice trails off to a whisper as she finishes, "...and Viscaria Lynchis will never build her Sanctuary."
In the House
OOC: Intellego Vim 2 + 1 Touch = Target Number of 3 to determine the strength of an Aura, right? I'd do it myself if I hadn't just committed to 15 minutes of ceremonial casting.
Assuming nothing horrific happens to the wood chunk, Viscaria will head in to the mirror-fog, after she first spont-casts some light onto one of her glass lenses: Creo Ignem , Base 1 +1 Touch + 2 Ring, rolling up for as much light as she can produce. Creo 4 + Ignem 4 + Sta 0 -1 Divine Aura = 7+ Roll 0 = 7/2 = 3.5. Not a botch, thankfully.
~elaborate sigh~ Okay, so she'll actually wait a few minutes to recover, cast the gorram spell again on a 2nd lens....Roll 9=16/2 = 8....(ooc: At which point, her player realizes how unlikely it will be for her to get much more than candlelight....), and then step through the fog, muttering something under her breath. "....of all the.....wasted....useless.....inadequate training methods of the....."
Yes, she is stepping through with a beam of light in each hand.
Having spent a quiet hour or two praying , Serrano notices that it is nearing sunset.
As he leaves the church , he places a few coins in the poor box.
Taking the unfamiliar path while it is still light , his way is went back to the rather small and pokey abode
that has been foist upon himself and his fellow sod-ales.
While walking , he indifferently whistles a popular anti-Cathar folk tune.
Oh, the piece of wood disappears in the fog once it is fully inside. It is just - gone.
ooc: Do you still want to step in (dramatic music: Wagner: Ride of the Valkiries)
While traveling to Agraves
- "Yet a lion is a lion, and will never be a lamb.
Likewise, while man may sometimes envy the animal's lack of conscience, we've been gifted with free will, and cannot discard it on a whim.
We have some liberty, sure, just like a lion may spare a prey one day. But in the end, even Bonisagus powerful magic cannot go against the Essential Nature of people and things.
But I ask you again, fair lady. What do you want to do with your magic? What is this Sanctuary you're talking about?"
In the House
So I guess the spell doesn't work? It's gone, gone, not gone, not here.
As viscaria ready herself to step through the mist
- "Lady Viscaria, stop!!"
I guess she'll, and Hiems will explain - "My spell failed, and I am reasonnably sure my incantation was right. It appears that whatever happened to the piece of wound I threw in there, it is now, at best, outside the bounds of Hermetic Magic, and at worst, destroyed. I admire your courgae, but please, don't risk your life needlessly."
Viscaria is being held back long enough for the mirror to become a normal surface again. Just an ordinary mirror with strange symbols, no fog, no wood.
“No!” Cygna screams at the mirror after it returns to normal. “Don't close up yet! We're not done, you stupid worthless piece of junk!” She waves her arms as she yells, and for the briefest of moments it seems as though she looks for something to throw at it.
She quickly regains her composure, closes her eyes and takes a couple of deep breaths, then opens them again.
“Very well, then. If I recall my lessons correctly, Hermetic magic cannot, by definition, put an object outside the bounds of Hermetic magic. (Magic Theory 3 + Int 4 + 1d10=5 = 12) Ipso facto, we must assume that the sliver was destroyed, and can presume that the same fate would await one of us if we had followed it through.
“However, pressing a combination of sigils did have an effect, just not the effect we desired.
“Master Hiems, are you able to cast another of your spells right away, or do you need time to rest first?”
"Do you know, I would assume regular visitors to the covenant would understand. Perhaps we can ask the priest who brought us here? I'm sure Jonah will have known and it must have slipped his mind."
Hiems ponders the question a few seconds before answering
- "I should be able to spont at least one more spell. But I am not a faerie, able to reshape reality at its guise, so I am loathe to expend my vitality in what may be a useless casting. I've got an idea, though. We've assumed that the symbols commanded the portal's overture. And there are only 4 symbols. Assuming all are used, it should be a simple matter to try every possible permutation.
Even then, it's getting late, so we might be better off sleeping a little before trying again. Night brings its own counsel, after all"
Hiems nods
- "An even better idea. We should have thought of this before."
Viscaria merely blushes a deep shade of red and will say no more, even when she tries. Her silence lasts for several hours.
In the House
"I agree, Hiems. The refreshed mind often solves the unsolvable. Perhaps we should divide our labor as well? Surely, there are other things we may be about here in Agraves beyond gaining entry to the covenant proper. For instance, I was thinking about adding a basement and an escape tunnel to this domus. Nor am I certain where we should store our supplies. Let us make no mistake, sodales, even if we have not yet gained entry to the labs of the previous inhabitants, we have arrived at part of our home for the nonce, and we should start settling in."
Hiems will appear to respect viscaria's silence. Does he care at all? Impossible to say.
In the House
- Well, I don't know. If we stay here long enough, sure. But I had thought this to be but a threshold. We should not be concerned by this house. Of course, that's assuming we find our way to phoenix, of course.
Nonetheless, feel free to make any adjustment you'd like. This is... Not really important to me.
Helena is not really one to stop, she tries touching the patterns in different orders to see which (if not all) sequences triggers the mirror.
If only one sequences or all sequences trigger the mirror, she will mutter something to herself rules of experimentation and walk through. If only a number of sequences trigger, she will step back and try and find the priest.
Helena realises that all sequences trigger the effect and that it remeais for diameter (or until something is put in).
When she steps into the fog, she disappears.
Hiems see Helena step through. He reaches with his hand, yelling
- Lady Helena!
But it is, of course, too late. Quickly regaining his composure after this brief display.
To the others, in a firm, assured voice
- No one does that again without being prepared first. Not without some arcane connection that may help signal if everything's okay. Now, we wait a little, and hope she is still alive and able to come back. And if someone must go, I will.
When the next morning dawns, Helena hasn't returned yet.
Hiems will sleep without much trouble. His heart isn't easily troubled.
Yet, in the morning, he isn't pleased to see that Helena hasn't returned. Could she be in danger or, worse yet, dead?
After some ablutions with fresh water (or with snow if there ain't any), he'll eat a little, and wait until everyone's ready and assembled.
Then:
- It appears Lady Helena is still missing. To tell the truth, I'm tempted to take some precautions and go after her, although I realize this could be a very bad idea the travel incapacited or, worse, killed her.
- So if I must go, I will go. I can't stand the idea of her alone out there, in need of help. But before trying that, I need to make sure we've exhausted all other options. We also need to think of a way for me to warn you if the travel is safe or not.
"Looks like we better load-up on supplies and go after Helena."