They sound genuinely surprised, as if you have stumbled upon a very intimate secret; and maybe afraid that they have already said too much.
‘Actually Hamish I am here to look pretty and composing moving stories of the exploits of the Order of Hermes. My works may stay in the memory of those who hear them for a lifetime. A hope you can not have from wearing armour, trying to bully people and packing horses, all very routine and forgettable exploits.” Replies Finn
Thomas smiles and replies "I am here to find a place for my patron to stay, and to trade. Cath'rinne has identified some armour I can sell on your future covenant's behalf, and apparently she is heading to the wall, and then to Ungulus. I will try and find my patron with enough time for him to reach Ungulus."
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When together with Finn, Hamish and Thomas, before he leaves with the gear, Cath'rinne asks. "I need a volunteer to make a test. We have these little statues here." Cath'rinne shows one of them. They resemble a buxom but non-descript woman with a long skirt. They are fragile and could easily be crushed in a hand. "I think these are charged items, and that if we crush them, a magical effect will occur. I don't know which one, but I believe the effect will be positive for the user. We have four... if we find one what they do, that leaves us with three useful ones. Who here wants to try breaking one within his hand?"
Cath'rinne will spend one more day on site. Asking for assistance from Finn and Hamish (I assume Thomas leaves to meet the spare personality I'm not yet aware of), she explains that she wants to see if there are any hastiful dug tombs nearby. "At least two knights were dragged off. I haven't found any indication that the chief quaesitori survived the battle, but I haven't found him either. I'm hopeful we find remains nearby, that may confirm whether we can enter his covenant legally. Please help me find whether such tombs exist. Look arround."
Check of 17 on a search check, +1 for spotting corpses, keen Sense of smell may apply.
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Cath'rinne finds some faint traces of bloodshed in the woods North of the battle, but no bodies, and no sight of burial. Flying, she can see a village with a graveyard about four miles away. There is a chapelby the graveyard, but the closest church with a likely resident vicar is twice as far away.
She will test The Whole From the Part on the blood she sees in the forest, trying to see whether that matches any of the description she may have had in the past few days.
She'll make a flyby to the village but she avoids landing for the time being. Does it seem inhabited? Is the chapel occupied? Are there any recent tombs? If there are no one arround, she'll land to inspect the tombs closer.
“Maga Cath’rinne, I would relish the chance to test the charged item, it will make a great element of my ongoing story.” Replies Finn.
You get the image of a peasant or woodsman, a little scruffier and less well fed than the hardened grogs on the battlefield.
The scrawny peasants are working the fields. When they spot the vulture, they point and scream. They raise the pitchforks and move closer to the houses, taking a defensive stance in front of the henhouse.
There are at least half a dozen graves which look as if they have been dug after the Winter.
Finn gets the statuette from Cath'rinne and crushes in its hand. It feels as if giant hands take hold of his shoulders to shake him, hard. He gets sick, and then it gets dark.
Everybody else sees Finn quaking for a moment, and then disappearing into thin air. If he fails a Sta+stress 6+, he leaves a pool of vomit on the ground. He leaves no other trace if that.
6 rolled - No vomit left by Finn
See you in Chapter 3tri, Finn.
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"Finn? Where are you?" Cath'rinne thinks he's invisible, at first. She waits a minute and repeats the question, more concerned. With a diameter gone and him neither reappearing nor talking, she starts to act "Corpus. Muto? Perdo? Geez, don't let it be Perdo. Rego, it must be Rego. Now where did that witch send you? I'll find you, Finn." She flies to their makeshift camp, trying to find a stray hair or something similar - a connection to Finn.
There should be a fair chance of finding something in a camp where Finn has slept a few nights, but not absolutely certain. Perception+Awareness 6+ to succeed.
The vulture lands and explores the bed and pillow with claws and beak. After a moment, it finds a stray hair and snatches it. She will spont an InCo base 4, +4 Arc effect to determine his general health. It costs one fatigue to cast, with a roll of 25, or 12. Two additional fatigue due to LLSM, which puts her at tired. Does the effect work?
It works. Finn is sound and healthy. Cath'rinne has no doubt about that.
"He's alive" she says. She sits down, aiming to rest 45m to recover from the spell before casting again. "The question is what should we do, Hamish? We have statuettes. If we break another, one more person goes wherever Finn goes. Which means we can't teleport there as a group. So either I go alone, and you lead the specialists and horses, and I find a way to meet you at Ungulus after catching up with Finn... or I let him know we're coming and I try to lead this group in Finn's direction until we meet up with him, or you go to him and I find you both. I don't know where he is yet, just that he's alive and well, so I'm just thinking out loud for now. What do you think?"
Thomas bids the group farewell, eager to leave any magic items that cause people to disappear suddenly. He promises Nauvi of Tytalus will try and find his way to Ungulus, and if he can get any silver for the armour he will pass it on to Nauvi to hand over.
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Hamish frowns when he sees Finn disappear. "Guess bein' pretty didn't help…" The big fellow shakes his head as he looks to Cath'rinne.
"Can you tell if those are Diedne make? Cause if they are and these take a body to a Diedne stronghold…" The big soldier looks meaningfully at the magus.
"I'm not sure that would be a good idea for me."
He looks over at Thomas as the trader bids farewell, offering a tilt of his chin for a wave before turning back to Cath'rinne.
"What do you think should be done?"
"Well Diana had two, her grogs are two more. Chances are they are of Diedne make, yes. Chances are Diana made those, or someone from her covenant did. I don't know where he is... yet. But I know the place wasn't warded with an Aegis, and that he was healthy on arrival. So it didn't lead into the stronghold, unless they forgot to ward it properly. But close to... maybe."
She thinks for a moment. "And if it's Diana's hideout, and she's the sole survivor but in twilight... It could be an interesting trip."
"Either way, Finn is helpful, and I'm loath to lose him to carelessness. We need to get him back."
Hamish looks at the horse and then back at Cath'rinne as he mutters, "Maybe I should have stayed in that fishing village…"
The tall soldier shrugs with a tilt o his head.
"We could go together and hope we end up in the same place… but I don't think the horse goes with us, does it? We lose a few things of value but we didn't have 'em a couple days ago anyway. Or you go after the pretty one, and I ride on to… Where is this Ungulus place?"
Hamish scratches at his unkempt beard.
"My future is pretty much hitched to you, milady. Tell me what you need me to do, and I'll do my best."
After a bit of resting, Cath'rinne tries to ceremonially summon an image of the whereabouts of Finn to her mind. InIm base 1 (sight), +4 Arc, +2 group or 15.
She's mostly trying to assess he hasn't been killed / detained / wounded in the past 45m, and that he's not in an area where she expects violence if she teleports. She doesn't use Room target because she has no idea whether he's inside or outside.
I rolled a 4 for a total of 22, but that was using InCo which I thought was easier to do. On review, it's easier with InIm so my total would have been 18, or 9. With a target of 15, this would cost her 1 + 2 fatigue.
Assuming she's not concerned by the spell results, she gives Hamish her map.
"Before leaving this place, you will go to the village nearby, with the small chapel. Ask them what they know about recent burials, or any survivors that went through. I'm hopeful they can resolve whether the Chief Quaesitor is alive or dead." She gives Hamish a description of the Chief Quaesitor.
"Once you're satisfied with the information you have, you will go to Castrum Antiquum. I entrust you with my horse, and the safety of my staff. Castrum Antiquum is by Hadrian's wall, arround here." She points on the map. "I will meet you there with Finn if I can. Wait no more than a week for me onsite. If I'm delayed, I'll meet you at Ungulus instead." she points another location on the map.
"Think you can handle that, Hamish?"
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