She'll specifically invite Hamish to come, saying the road is a good place to talk. Finn is welcome along if he wants to, or he can go with Betula, whichever he thinks is best.
She's not aiming to investigate the woods at this point, she's aiming to investigate the hermetic battlefield.
"We'll be fine, don't worry too much, and yes, I'm hopeful we'll find treasures to start a covenant."
That seems handy, she thinks.
"Leaving us, are you? I'm a bit sad to see my sister go. Take care, I hope to see you again."
"Build a covenant, start a covenant, pretty much the same thing. In my mind, it starts when we settle down. I don't suppose there's a library here, is there?"
Hamish appears to have hitched his wagon to Cath'rinne for the nonce. While Betula was the first to greet him, so to speak, the large giant of a man continues to stay near Cath'rinne, carefully watching the goings on about him.
Betula, with her tiny entourage is ready to leave in no time, and Edwin sends gifts with them. The companions have a bottle each of the sweet wine, and Betula a bag of holding. «I think you can need this,» says Edwin, «travelling with no horses.» The bag is certainly faerie magic, an who knows how it works, but for the time being, Betula can keep all that she owns therein, and she does not even feel the weight.
New thread for their journey coming up, so as not to muddle it with Cath'rinne's.
In the meantime, Cath'rinne is still engulfed in the discussion with Janus, who will not see his guest/covenant member just leave, possibly never to be seen again.
"If you want to have an argument with someone leaving us for good, have it with Obstetrix, not me. You're welcome to travel with us, as far as I'm concerned, Janus. Will you accompany Betula or myself?"
"Fair enough. If any enemies attack, kindly keep them cold for me. The forest seems to think it owns the spirits of those buried in it, and I'm not sure what to think about that. Don't worry too much about me - we will meet again."
She thanks Edwin for the bottle of sweet wine and departs with Hamish, assuming no further arguments are raised.
On the road with Hamish, she travels a slight distance from the rest of the grogs so that they can talk without being within earshot.
"How was it, working for the Diedne? How much do you know the forsaken House?"
When you mention the cold bodies, Janus lights up.
Splendid idea. I'll keep some cold bodies for you, and you bring treasures to the covenant, and we shall all prosper. Deal?
He extends his hand to shake yours. If the deal is confirmed, he sends you with suitable parting gifts. The sweet wine mentioned was for Turold and Ruedi who left with Betula. Cath'rinne receives a little piece of wood, white as chalk. «If you burn it in the presence of a ghost or spirit, it will become visible and you can talk to it,» says Edwin. If investigated, it will turn out to be a pawn of Imaginem vis. Finn receives a new hat, in bright yellow, red, and green. The colour combination is quite hideous in fact, and it gives a +3 bonus to keep the attention of a crowd. Like Betula's gift, it is pure glamour. Hamish gets a bottle of the wine he drank on the first night.
“Cath’rinne, we should have a meeting place decided before we part ways. Perhaps one of the covenants further North? Ungulus, perhaps?”
Assuming it is decided that they will travel separately to Ungulus after they each reach their separate goal or if some other thing is decided Betula says her goodbyes and is careful to make no deals with the fae and never definitively telling them she will return.
I will miss your company, and look forward to your return.
Edwin steps up and opens the doors through the ante-room. Outside, you find the horses waiting, groomed and packed and ready to go.
Janus has explained the way, take the road towards your, and the off to the West just as you cross into Northumbria.
You can smell the battle field before you can see it. Scavengers have obviously been here, human and otherwise, but nobody has cared to bury the bodies. Apart from the smell, the most striking feature, and the only feature not completely repulsive, is a woman in a white dress, floating in the air at the Northeastern end of the battlefield.
Cath'rinne thanks him for the directions and sets off.
At the battlefield, Cath'rinne's nose subconsciously wrinkles at the smell, but the only thing she says is "There it is." She changes into her heartbeast form and casts The Voice of the Bjornaer Magi. She rolled a 4. This require one fatigue point.
If she doesn't spend a stamina, she'll do an effortless Sense of the Weight of the Magical Power (InVi 3), which she follows by the faerie equivalent if she finds no magical aura.
If she does spend a stamina, or if neither magic nor faerie aura are detected, she'll cast Sense of Infernal Power instead. This should be effortless unless the aura penalty is -6 or higher.
She'll then fly towards the floating women, observing her closely for tell-tale signs of who she is. I rolled an 8 on Int+Order of Hermes Lore.
From the air, Cath'rinne can see that the bodies close to the floating woman are not as thorougly looted as the ones further away, even though foxes and crows have had a nibble. You may not find the aura with only one casting; there is a magic aura, but only level 1 and only within about fifteen feet of the floating woman.
The white dress is simple and plain, of the kind favoured by many non-Latin magi (and only a very few eccentric Latin magi). She could obviously be the Diana of Diedne that Janus mentioned, but you have never seen her face and she could just as well be a mature maga ex Miscellanea. She has several pouches hanging from her belt, which is really just a plain rope. A beautiful wooden staff with a crystal embedded at the head has been dropped to the ground beneath her.
Hamish's head turns sharply to Cath'rinne as she asks her question. His jaw tightens and the tall man turns away, saying nothing.
Hamish organizes any grogs that have come along, setting a watch on the perimeter of the battleground, others to check the grounds furthest from the white figure.
"Stay clear of the northeastern end of the battlefield."
(OOC: If there are no grogs then Hamish doesn't organize anything.)
Hamish watches Cath'rinne, his eyes growing wide when she transforms though he only stand there, watching and tracking her movement. Following at a slow pace.