I'm not in a rush, but it might be fun to be on the player side of things again, after a couple of years of not doing that.
Scott
I will have a think and try to come up with something.
Okay, I think I've got an idea now.
When is Viola going to Chersonesus, how, and who with?
...and perhaps a grog? Up to you Scott, but happy to play something.
She'll take a shield grog or two. Aside from that, do you really think she's going to be forthcoming about what she's up to, unless prompted?
Scott
Pick (a) grog(s), and tell me when you're doing things.
Theodoric, Bogdan and Godzimir returned from Tana a little way into Winter 1228 with Antonio. The Sea of Azov is likely to freeze any day now, and then not thaw for months (maybe as many as 4) - the area closest to the Don Delta tends to be the first to freeze and the last to melt.
Calliope will finish writing her song at the end of Winter 1228.
She'll take those same three again--and the cats, this time. She really needs to work on learning the local language.
Scott
When?
As soon as the grogs are available, I think--the song doesn't have to be finished when she leaves to find the singer, but ideally it should be finished when she gets back with him. I think we'll try and persuade the Greek singer to come along with us.
Scott
The grogs are available as soon as they get back from Tana (if not necessarily enthusiastic about another outing), which would make this a continuation of the Winter 1228 activity.
Please can you tell me exactly what you're telling Antonio (the "greek" singer - he's actually Venetian), or having a grog tell him. May be best to rollplay.
How are you planning to travel?
Viola feels the grogs' pain, but this is important, and she'll make sure they pull easy duties after getting back.
What are the options for travel?
As for Antonio....Well, let's tell him (through a grog, yes), that Viola has heard about a singer who's possibly better than he is. If that doesn't pique his interest, we can try something else.
Scott
Usually, the obvious way to travel to Chersonesus would be by ship. However, with the freezing of the sea starting, no ships are going to be sailing that route (or any other local route for that matter) by mundane means.
That leaves the main mundane alternative being to walk a route along the northern coast of the Sea of Azov, then round and down through the Crimea to Chersonesus. It's a trip of around 500 miles, through territory that people know a bit but not all that well (Black Sea Lore (Northern Coast) at 2 for Theodoric and 1 for Viola), in winter.
Basically, it'll be hard work if you don't either use magic or wait until sea travel becomes an option again in the spring.
Antonio appears somewhat threatened by the possibility of another singer. Actually, the grogs have noticed that he doesn't seem to be nearly as impressive as they remember him being back in Tana.
Viola could fly, but that could be a bit hazardous in winter weather as a butterfly, and anyway we'd like the grogs along.
All the more reason to keep him along so that we can keep an eye on him. I wonder if any of the grogs would be able to probe subtly about why his performance might have been more impressive in another location?
Scott
So what are you doing? You could maybe use Arcadian travel to get to a regio near Haunted Springs, although that has its own problems (not least that I'm not familiar with the set-up beyond what's in Viola's character description.
The grogs fished a little bit before, but didn't get anything particularly useful (he claimed there was a problem with the covenant acoustics).
She could, but it's not the safest thing in the world, and there's a limit to how many people she can bring with her (3, at present, since her Faerie Magic skill is 2, with a specialization in the Arcadian Travel), leaving room for her familiar, the putative singer, and one grog.
Would I be correct in assuming that an InIm spont turns up nothing to support his assertion? What kind of aura did Tana have?
Scott
There's nothing immediately odd about the covenant's acoustics, no.
You don't know Tana's aura - the grogs didn't have any way of telling (and weren't particularly trying to work it out). It does have a church, which suggests there's a divine aura at least potentially present, but it's always possible it's been overridden.
On what topics does this singer generally sing? What time of day did the grogs listen to him? And was the date in question of any supernatural significance?
Scott
Viola can't understand the songs herself (he's generally singing in greek, which I don't think she talks?), but from what you can tell they're nothing particularly unusual - some tales, some drinking songs etc.
He's most often performing after the evening meal (which is pretty much when the grogs heard him in Tana as well), although he might occasionally sing at other times as well. There was no obvious magical/faerie significance to when he's been performing, but Viola doesn't have much of an idea on the Church calendar. The grogs listened to him on two consecutive nights in Tana. When questioned, Theodoric can't remember and particular differences between the two evenings' singing.
Doesn't sound like there's much she can do right now, but next time someone heads in the direction of Tana, we need to do some investigation.
In the meantime, was there a pressing reason to make this trip during the winter? I don't remember that there was.
Scott
I don't think so - Viola just wanted to do things as soon as possible.