Chapter 2bis (Summer 1013). Refuge in the Peak District

Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica: Wake of the Schism
301

Nobody tries to stop Betula, who wanders off on her own.
Neither does anyone interfere with the interchange between Hamish and Cath'rinne.

Janus tries to gather everyone for a council meeting, and he is a little annoyed that Betula is not around. Obstetrix slipped away yesterday without notice, and never entered the manor house. Nobody saw her sanctum either. Benedict is welcome as any other magus, but unlike Betula's. his absence would be tacitly ignored by Janus.

You are right, Cath'rinne, scavenging the abandoned covenants must be the best way to grow, but how do you intend to deal with Wulfric? His spies are everywhere, and given his history, he may be rising from his sickbed as we speak? Last time, I was lucky, but will I be lucky again?

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"I only intend to deal with Wulfric in self-defense. Avoiding interference with the mundanes and all that jazz. He's only a threat if he finds us. If he doesn't know who or where we are, he's just a nuisance with others. I try to avoid cities anyway."

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I am sure he knows how to find us, and thus remains a threat. Self-defence is in order, and I am afraid we need to be proactive.

P.S. I am sorry, @darkwing . Thomas is pretending so well not to be a magus that I keep forgetting him. It is not entirely clear if Janus can look through the disguise or not. However, it is blatantly clear that all magi present are called for the council meeting, so if Thomas is excluded, he has excluded himself. Please let us know.

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304

"Proactive how?"

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Hunt him down and burn him! Burn him to crisp.

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306

"You plan to assault his castle personally?"

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Does he have a castle? I did not know. He seems to be on the move all the time.

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"Maybe, maybe not. I was under the impression he ruled from Nottinghamshire, but I don't understand this land very well."

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I don't think he rules anything. He is a loner, relentlessly hunting magic users where he can. The Sheriff of Nottingham certainly lends him his ear though.

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"Possible. Either way, I can't say I'm at an advantage tracking him down rather than letting him do the hard work of even being aware of my existence."

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Very well. Gathering the resources to make our defences is a worthwhile pursuit as well. Where is Elsebetyyanna gone?

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"Who?" If he clarifies that Elsebetyyanna is Betula, Cath'rinne will merely say that she saw her at the breakfast table, but that she doesn't really know more than this.

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«Elsebetyyanna? The fair lass you are travelling with?» Janus does not accept Betula as Betula's proper name, but you sort out the confusion in the end, and Janus sighs over the nymph's absence, but there is little he can do.

It seems that you agree to quest for resources to rebuild the covenant, and can prepare for you onward journey within a few days, or even the next day if you are in a hurry.

Betula returns inside in the evening and can make her dice rolls.

314

It is not easy to sort out the symbols, for some things are just what they are and not symbols for something else, but which are which?

Is Janus the Fay just Janus, or is he a symbol for another Janus, or maybe a symbol for the Order's stability?

Some things have not changed, though. The White Horse is still here, as an anchor point in this world torn in strife, with so many antagonists that you are starting to lose track. Diana, Wulfric, Eadric, the Sheriff, and the Lion-headed creature in the regio.

The key question, though, I suppose what Betula should do. Should she take the Path of the Rolling Stone, like the druids, always moving on and never stopping to face the adversaries? Or the Path of the Fair Folk, who cut themselves off, so that there is no door? Or should she take the Path of Strife, like Janus, and stop to fry the adversaries to crisp? That must have been the latest stigmata, but which Janus was that?

Whatever way you turn it, symbols give more questions than answers.

And isn't it time to choose a path?

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Betula bursts from the antechamber into the main hall, an excited, manic, wild look in her fae eyes, "I'VE GOT IT! Confusion. Dissolution. Seeking. Finding. Losing. Clawing. Walking. Winding... winding. Like string on a spool, or the path we are on, round and round and round. I do not know if it will take us to the center or to the edge but we must follow." Then turning to Edwin, "I must meet Nyliya and then we will leave. It is settled," turning towards Cath'rinne but still including Edwin, "we sleep here tonight and in the morning or soon tonight you take me, us?" She questions Cath'rinne, "to Nyliya and then we leave on our path... the wound path may return us but we can not say."

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Unless someone objects and bars his way, Hamish follows Cath'rinne to the council meeting, standing a respectful distance from her, the space a guard or attendant might stand apart from her. The tall man's expression is neutral though he pays attention to what is happening. Does he understand it? That remains to be seen.

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«Euh? Are you sure?» stutters Edwin. «Tomorrow, you say?»

(waiting for @temprobe)

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"You're old enough to meet your mother without me, dear, but please Edwin, indulge my sodales. If you don't mind, I'll take the lead and visit the battlefield nearby. You can meet me there." Cath'rinne will round up part of the grog team and Hamish and leave early. Turold remains behind with Betula. She's not staying another night, and she figures she better get a head start on Betula if she wants to have time to dig in peace.

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"But... but..." Betula sullenly mumbles over the rest of what Cath'rinne has to say, "she'not... my mother's dead... I know how it happens."

But if Edwin leads she follows to Nyliya with Turold.

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Finn and Hamish needs to decide if they follow Cath'rinne or Betula at this point. Or alternatively go off on yet another tangent.

Is it the woods around Castillum Veridian she will investigate?

Edwin looks a bit uneasy, but he helps her getting ready. Then he asks, «we will see you back here in no time, won't we? And you will bring treasures to make the covenant great, no?»

Edwin will not accompany her, he has to stay and take care of the covenant, as is his duty, but he can explain the way.

It is very close to Nottingham, so beware the sheriff's men. The easiest path would be to find the village of St Alban's Well first. Then you have the main road into Nottingham to the West or Southwest maybe, and due south the birch trees grow. You won't find Nyliya though, but if you get lost, maybe she will find you.

As for Cath'rinne, Edwin happily helps her get ready, and a lot of the packing is just mysteriously done when she turns her back, with no trace of any helper. Ruedi to, helps her pack and prepares to accompany her.

I hope you find what you seek at Nyliya's, and then you come right back here; I am looking forward to it.

Evidently, Edwin is reluctant, or even outright opposed, to see anyone go without a promise to return with something to advance the covenant.

Obstetrix, at this point, takes her horses and grogs and bids her goodbye's, promising to look for a Gifted child to become Janus' apprentice while she roams the countryside as midwife and healer.

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