Chapter 2d - Spring 1228 - A Visitor From Afar

Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Base Camp
12

When Gregorius mentions Mentem spells it's Stephen's turn to frown. "I'm afraid I never could get the hang of Mentem spells. I'm absolutely atrocious with them. But then, we each have our gifts."

"Yes, the spell is of Sun duration," he says of the Hauberk of Sublime Lightness enchantment. "I'd have liked to make it Moon, but as it was, I was pushing the edge of my skill to get it crafted into my talisman. Still, Sun duration isn't bad. I actually had a set of chainmail made for myself for the trip, just in case. It's very odd wearing it and feeling the bulk but not the weight."

"I tend not to think of it as big," Stephen replies to Gregorius's question about the size of the boat. But then I just flew across Europa in it, pressed in with Godwin and six grogs." he smiles. "I can bring it here later today and you can judge for yourself whether it's too big for the river. It's a fairly standard boat of its type, narrow with a flat bottom. The only real change I made was to expand the shelter at the expense of cargo space."

Stephen is happy to take advantage of the water Sophia brings to wash himself, and he drinks the wine he's offered as well. During their interaction he speaks Greek to the woman, wanting to get some use out of the language he spent so much time learning.

When Gregorius returns with the charter, Stephen reads it carefully, then reads it again to be sure he didn't miss anything. He frowns a bit when he reads about the vis, but what did he really expect as a guest? At the end of his second reading the English magus nods his head. "It seems eminently fair. Quite generous for visiting magi, actually. Getting assigned a lab when you're a guest at a covenant is not always an easy thing. I brought a fair bit of my own lab equipment with me. But space restrictions prevented me from taking it all. I'm happy to know that you should be able to fill in the gaps." He smiles and signs his name at the bottom of the list of names for guests.

Stephen then takes the token and places it in an inner pocket of his robes. "Thank you very much, Gregorius. I look forward to a very happy stay here, and I look forward to meeting the other magi in residence." Then, when his host suggests a tour, he agrees immediately. "Excellent suggestion. I'd love to start getting the lay of the land. But after that, I should probably go and fetch the Argo. The grogs waiting with it may get anxious if we wait too long to bring word back."

[hr][/hr]
Once more I join a saga late, and once more the early birds get the vis. Those that started out get paid vis while all the newbies get nothing. :frowning:

Ah well, some day I'll get in a saga at the ground floor. :slight_smile:

13

Presumably you get vis income from your home covenant. If you're now homeless, you might be able to get Nova Castra to pay you vis for service here.

Scott

14

Gregorius will lead off on the tour. They're currently in the largest building, a two storey affair which seems to date at least in part back to roman times.

"This main building houses the covenfolk, and some of the magi. The rest of the magi have their quarters with their laboratories. The covenant's library is in this room." The room is little larger than a broom-cupboard, with a couple of armarii squeezed into it, with lists pinned to the doors. "A larger library, in multiple senses, is on the list of things to do. You're welcome to study any books that are not being otherwise used, but please let someone know you've got it and don't copy them without the covenant's agreement."

Moving on, they leave the building and Gregorius points to the fountain in a courtyard between the main building, and what looks to be a ruined temple.

"This fountain in front of the building was been substantially repaired by the previous covenant, but something has been at this spot since the original roman settlement. It was broken when we moved back in, but interestingly restoring the flow of water to it and the other buildings linked to the pipenetwork increased the aura around them slightly. The covenant's aura is also unusual in that it also has a seasonal fluctuation - it's reaches the sixth order in spring, but only the fifth during the rest of the year."

"The temple is to Poseidon. Or possibly Neptune. From what I understand, the full details are somewhat complicated. There's a faerie aura in it most of the year, but it's covered by the magic aura at the moment. The temple also contains a faerie regio where our Merinita member, Viola, has her sanctum, but I wouldn't attempt to enter without an invitation."

"This smaller building behind the main building contains the kitchen and dining room. Meals are served here, or you can request them to be brought to your room - although if too many magi are doing that at once, they can start getting a bit cold, so I usually eat here."

"Those buildings over there" - he points to a pair of buildings situation in the northern part of the square, but doesn't walk over to them - "are a couple of craftsmens workshops. That one" - he points to another set a little distance on its own - "is the infirmary."

[OOC: there's be a bit more of the tour to come, but I need to stop for time. I'm also inclined to be somewhat fuzzy regarding the status of the cave draining, as whilst I think this is probably happening after "Still Caverns", that might need to change if things go horribly wrong in that thread.]

15

BTW, is Gregorius just being obtuse, or has Salutor forgotten that the original colonists were Greeks, though at one point the city was a satellite of Rome? :slight_smile:

Scott

16

[OOC: It's a combination of a couple things - partially that, whilst I know it was originally a Greek settlement, I'm a little fuzzy on the extent to which it became a roman settlement, as opposed to a client kingdom later, and partly because Gregorius, whilst aware they were both there, tends to think that anything important will clearly be Latinate. I'm half expecting this to come back to bite him horribly at some point.]

17

Gregorius then heads towards the remains of a ruined building on the eastern side of the central courtyard. Close to, Stephen can see within it a broad staircase leading downwards, made of the same limestone as much of the rest of the covenant. Following the staircase down, you come to a reasonably sized cavern with three doors and a passage way leading off it. Gregorius opens the closest door on the left, saying:

"Most of the covenant's laboratories are down here, as the aura is more constant than on the surface, and at least as strong. This is the only spare laboratory we have set up at the moment."

The lab looks to be a fairly standard laboratory, although the equipment is of a good quality, and it's warmer than you'd expect given the season - although come to think of it, that could be said of the house as well.

"This room opposite used to be the infirmary, until we got its building constructed. We're planning to put another laboratory in there soon. This room at the end is the Sanctum and laboratory of Tasia of Guernicus, the covenant's leader. As I mentioned earlier, she's away from the covenant at the moment, so I can't introduce you."

Gregorius turns down the passageway, which has a door on the right, and another staircase leading down it on the left.

"Through the door is my own laboratory, although I spend most of my time in the main house." He seems inclined to leave it at that unless Stephen expresses a particular interest.

"There's a second level of the caves beneath this one," as you descend the staircase to a second smaller cave, with some more doors leaving off it. "The door on the right is Fray's laboratory."

[OOC: Depending on where this thread is in the timeline, there are also a number of entrances blocked off with rubble, or a long room with two entrances and a river flowing alongside it and a further staircase leading down.]

"That largely concludes the tour."

18

Wasn't the cave exploration during Winter?

Scott

19

[OOC: No, the barrows were right at the end of winter (because Gregorius used most of the Winter season to develop his Lay to Rest the Haunting Spirit spell before he went).]

20

Stephen pays close attention to the tour, asking the occasional question and marvelling at both the ancient handiwork and the job that has been done recently to restore the buildings. He can see that the covenant is still cramped, but with work progressing, that should take care of itself in time.

"Interesting about the connection between the fountain and the aura," he muses. "I wonder if its connection to Poseidon has anything to do with that. I'd love to have a chance to see the regio when Viola has the time to show it to me. No hurry, of course."

He nods as the kitchen, dining hall, workshops, and infirmary are pointed out. "It seems like you have a very nice setup here already. I can only imagine what it will be like once a few more buildings are repaired."

"What about those three buildings there?" Stephen says pointing to some of the ruined buildings surrounding the fountain.[sup]1[/sup] "Have you figured out what you intend to do with those yet? They look like they have some real potential. And they're some prime real estate in the covenant."

When he's shown the caverns and told that most of the labs are down there, he expresses his curiosity. "Is the aura on the surface inconsistent enough to matter?" he asks. "I've no trouble with an underground lab. But I must say that some of the buildings topside look like prime candidates for a combined lab and sanctum. Also, are you against the idea of any extra excavation? With some of my Terram magic I might be able to expand some of these caves, or even smooth them out a bit. And if the caverns don't extend below any buildings, I could extend them for you."

"As well, you noted that you don't hide your magic from the locals, though you don't flaunt it either. What would the covenant think about the creation of a new tower with a spell such as Conjuring the Mystic Tower? And how would you feel about some of the repair work being done by magic as well? Some of my best spells are Rego-Terram spells. I'm sure I could whip one up in a season or two that would let me repair stone buildings. Of course, I'd never do a thing without the covenant's approval. But I wanted to make sure you knew that the offer for help was there. I'd do my best to keep everything in the proper style, of course."

As they finish the tour, Stephen seems content with it. It's clear that he has hundreds of questions about every aspect of the ruins. But now is not the time for that. There will be many, many months and years ahead for him to explore those mysteries. Instead, he turns to more immediate concerns. "I suppose I ought to go fetch the Argo before it gets dark. Would you like to send anyone with me when I retrieve it? I'll take my three guards, of course. But anyone you'd like to come along is welcome. Also, where would you like me to set her down? Ideally I'd start by setting her down inside the covenant grounds to make unloading easier. After that's done, we can either leave it here or move it to the river, as you think best. Would work for you?"

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[sup]1[/sup] Stephen points to the three buildings around the fountain that are labelled "Ruined Lab & Sanctum" on the map.

21

"It's something I've wondered about - the link to water and the presence of the temple to the sea god seems unlikely to be entirely co-incidential, although Poseidon is fairly definitely fae, I believe, and the aura is magical. There might have been a magical Poseidon a fae imitated, I suppose, or it's possible that the causal effect is the other way round - the temple to the sea god was built here because of some magicial linkage to water that already existed."

"We'll probably build a sanctum or two up on the surface here, for those that don't want to be down in the caves. I also want to get a barracks up for the grogs, which should give us some more space in the main building."

"The aura on the surface is strongest around water provided by the pipe network. In other areas on the surface, it's only of the third order, or the fourth in spring. The aura in the caves is of the fifth level."

[MTKnife - in the caves, is it fifth level all year round, and everywhere? I had it in my mind that it was never weaker than the surface, but that gets to sixth level in spring.]

"Rego Terram magic runs into the problem of raw materials - the ruins have been scavenged of most of their good stone already, so we'd need to magically hasten the quarrying as well. Probably seasoned wood, as well, for the beaming, if you're constructing a mundance building - I did hurry the seasoning of one batch of wood at the beginning of the covenant, but it took a number of attempts before I could get the process right, and caused a couple of false starts. Nothing that can't be overcome, but it requires additional spells and time.

[OOC: Gregorius wouldn't know this, but I'm not sure you could pull off reliably craft-magicing a house? Assuming it's an average difficulty task which takes a season, that's an ease factor of 18.]

"Creo Terram again is a resources problem, although we'll probably have enough for one tower by the end of the year - or we might be able to trade for it. If you're able to cast the spell, though, I might put doing just that to the Council - it never seemed quite worth it when we were missing both the necessary ingredients, but if we have a caster..."

[MTKnife: On the Argo positioning, is there a decent flat space to put the boat within the covenant square, or are there the foundations of too many ancient ruined buildings in the way?]

22

It only increases on the surface. Yes, there's a reason for that, but of course it's not a reason I can tell you.

The central square has always been a square--there are no ruins within it. I don't recall the exact dimensions of the ship, but Trogdor knows them, and he can look at the map and answer the question.

Scott

23

[OOC: to be clear, when I say "square", I'm meaning the entire area within the wood ring, rather than just the central courtyard round the fountain.]

24

It's not actually a smoothly graded area, though it shouldn't be hard to pick out one of the ancient streets, and that should be relatively flat.

To be brutally realistic, however, there's not a good way to put down a boat on dry land: structurally, even a "flat-bottomed" ship is not designed to be supported by a flat surface, and you need a rack of some sort (which is what you do with a ship in a drydock or museum), unless you want to careen it (turn it on its side, normally something done on a beach to caulk it or clean off barnacles), but even that would probably result in structual damage if done over the long term. I'm not sure if Trogdor has thought through how he manages to land this thing, or if it requires magic.

Scott

25

On the question of the Argo, Gregorius says:

"Let me have you talk to our autocrat. He can suggest where it will be most convenient to place it."

He heads back out of the cave system with you and to the main house, where he introduces you to "Phocus", a tall thin man with dark wavy hair, a trimmed beard and a moutache.

"Phocus, Stephen will shortly be flying a boat to the covenant. Please liaise with him on the best place to put it, and arrange any assistance he requires to have it unloaded. There will be several additional men on the boat beyond those who have already arrived; however, Stephen has offered that they can be housed on the boat if necessary."

26

Respectfully, I disagree with that statement. It is my understanding that many flat-bottomed boats, especially small or moderately-sized ones are perfectly capable of being pulled onto land and can support themselves. In fact, one purpose of a flat bottomed boat is so that it can be pulled up onto shore where it can rest until it needs to launch again. The flat bottom makes it less seaworthy in rough seas, but allows it to float in shallow water and be easily pulled up onto dry land. In such a case, the boat is perfectly stable and can support itself. Consider the flat-bottomed landing craft from WWII, and any other flat-bottomed boat used to come ashore.

You're quite correct that boats without a flat bottom can't support themselves. But that's because their rounded or V-shaped hulls are specifically designed to support the ship only in the water. But flat-bottomed boats are another thing entirely. They're used in shallow water because they don't have much of a draft. But they're also useful in that if they do run aground (because of accident, lowering later, or whatever) they aren't harmed by waiting there until the water rises again. Their flat bottom spreads out the weight so that no one point has too much weight on it.

Granted, in most cases a flat-bottomed boat will be drydocked for repair or storage (with a flat-bottomed carrier). But I suspect that's more for reasons of avoiding rot on the hull than any reason of support. But plenty of flat-bottomed boats are designed either to intentionally run aground or to be prepared to accidentally run aground. And they are structurally stable enough to handle that. Stephen clearly went for that sort of design. True, he wouldn't want to leave it aground for a really long time. In that case, he'd want to give it some support to keep it off the damp ground. But it wouldn't be for stability. He should be able to land the boat on land for days or weeks at a time without causing any undue damage.

In any case, that's my take on the subject.

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I found the following comment in one source talking about flat-bottomed boats:

I also found the following images of flat-bottomed boats aground. In a number of these cases they came from new reports about them running aground and waiting for high tide to float them away, without any further trouble.

27

As they talk about sanctums Stephen expresses the obvious opinion. "I'd prefer to have my lab in a fifth level aura, of course, if that were possible. If that means underground, I have no trouble with that at all."

"As for buildings above," he adds. "I understand that the Rego Terram process may not be perfect. But it ought to be possible to hurry things along with magic. Terram spells could help with both the quarrying and moving of the stone. And you say that you have tried hastening the seasoning of wood. I understand magical construction is a difficult process. But I think if we can break it up into smaller pieces, it could be workable.[sup]1[/sup] Instead of trying for a building all on one go, maybe it's best to try for a wall or a roof. It'll take longer, but it should be within my capabilities."

"If we go Creo Terram, I understand that there's the issue of vis, which is not an unimportant issue. I have enough Terram vis with me to summon a tower, so that's a possibility. Though as a visitor here, I'm understandably hesitant to spend that much vis for a benefit that will remain with another covenant - though who can say what will happen in three years." Stephen smiles and shrugs. "I can't cast the spell myself yet, though it's one that I've wanted to learn. I could certainly manage to do so in a couple of seasons, and wouldn't mind doing so."[sup]2[/sup]

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[sup]1[/sup] You're right that Stephen doesn't have the skill to construct a house in one spell. He only has a Per + Finesse of +6, counting his speciality in precision. That means he can get a +9 fairly regularly, and a +12 about half of the time. So for a slight delay in time, he can do an average-quality day's work in two spells. Hard is just at the edge of his ability, and will require multiple attempts to get it right. I figure if he's trying to repair a part of a building and doesn't get it right, then it comes out as a part that needs repair again and he tries one more time. It might use some additional materials, but it should still be quicker.

[sup]2[/sup] Stepehen could invent Conjuring the Mystic Tower in two seasons. I also note that there's a copy in the covenant library that he could learn in one season. The real question is about labs and whether the spell, as written, will allow either the excavation of a basement or connection to an existing cavern. If the best labs are underground, then Stephen will want an underground lab. That may require creating a variant spell that allows the excavation of an underground level. However, if CtMT allows an underground level, or if the tower could be placed to give a level 5 aura for an above-ground lab, then Stephen could learn it from the covenant library and cast it in a single season.

28

Stephen consults with Phocus and after a short conversation in Greek decide upon a stretch of one of the old streets that should be suitable, at least in the short term. After this, Stephen gets his three grogs out of the main building and has them help prepare the ground for the Argo's arrival by clearing the street of any rubble. Nor does he shirk his part in the preparation, though he doesn't get his hands dirty. Instead, he uses his magic to remove rocks and other detritus from the street.[sup]1[/sup]

A short time later, he and the three grogs leave the covenant to head back to the Argo. Anyone from the covenant who wishes to come along is welcomed.[sup]2[/sup] They walk about a quarter of a mile down a game path until they reach a distinctive tree that's been struck by lightning, at which point they turn off the path for a hundred paces or so until they reach a small clearing in the woodlands around them. To those who look carefully, the grass in the center of the clearing seems to be pressed down to the ground.

Stephen waves his hand in a mystic gesture and appearing before the group is a long riverboat[sup]3[/sup], perhaps 45 feet long, with a beam of about 10 feet. It has a single mast and a low structure running about half the length of the boat. Loaded on the foredeck are a large number of boxes, lashed down to the deck by lines. "Behold, the Argo," he says if anyone from the covenant has joined them. On board the boat are three armed men in lighter armor than the soldier grogs, but who look like they know which end of a sword to use. They relax when they see Stephen and the grogs, and go about making sure things are tied down.

Stephen leads everyone onboard via a small set of steps that he levitates back onto the ship when they're done. Then he moves to the front of the boat and places one hand on the prow while keeping the other firmly holding his talisman. He begins speaking the words to a powerful spell, gesturing with the staff and occasionally with the hand that holds the prow.[sup]4[/sup] A few moments later, the Argo shakes as it rises up from the ground and above the trees.

As Stephen stands there at the prow, the Argo turns until it faces the covenant, and then starts moving forward, getting to a walking pace, then to the speed of a trotting horse. As they get close to the covenant, Stephen's brow furrows, and they get a little closer than he'd intended before they slow down to a walking pace again, but nothing dangerous or showy. Then he slowly moves the boat to hover over where they had cleared out a space, and gently lowers it down to the ground.[sup]5[/sup]

Then he returns the stairs to their place and disembarks, inviting any guests to do so as well. The grogs, meanwhile, begin to prepare to unload.

[hr][/hr]
[sup]1[/sup] He casts Invisible Porter to help move rubble. It's a ReTe10 spell and he has +38 with the spell, plus an additional 4 for the local Aura. Assuming it's only a simple die he rolls, Stephen can't fail. If you want me to roll, however, just let me know and I'll be happy to.

[sup]2[/sup] I'll describe the return trip on case anyone decides to come along.

[sup]3[/sup] Using Harnessing to dismiss the Invisible Conveyance spell that's on it.

[sup]4[/sup] Casting Vessel of the Clouds ReHe40
Casting Total: 1d10 + 20 (Re) + 12 (He) + 2 (Sta) + 4 (talisman) = 1d10+38=43; success

[sup]5[/sup]Int + Finesse checks to turn and move. (I'm not sure if this counts as 'precision' or not. For the time being, I won't take the extra +1. Just let me know if I should.)
Roll to turn (EF 6): 1d10+8=15; success
Roll to accelerate to walking pace (EF 6): 1d10+8=17; success
Roll to accelerate to moderate speed (EF 12): 1d10+8=13; success
Roll to decelerate to walking pace (EF 12): 1d10+8=9; failure
Roll to decelerate to walking pace (EF 12): 1d10+8=13; success
Roll to come to a stop (EF 6): 1d10+8=11; success
Roll to make final turn to get in place (EF 6): 1d10+8=15; success

[hr][/hr]
This is a concept piece for the Argo. In fact, the Argo is a bit smaller than this one. But this gives a good idea of what it looks like, in general.

Another concept piece that you could use is the one below, though the structure would be larger.

[hr][/hr]

This shows where the boat could have been put down and what size it is. If you think that's just too big to be reasonable for his boat, I can drop it down to 30 feet.

[hr][/hr]
It does occur to me that if you really think that the boat needs some kind of support, the Argo could carry some chocks, or the like, around with it. When it was ready to land, it could hover a few feet off the ground while the sailors hopped out and moved the chocks into place. Then the boat could land on them.

29

[OOC: What about an effect to make the ground beneath it like water momentarily as it touches down?
Trigger effect is the boat touching the earth, and it dissipates quickly forming a tight fit to the boat. Would also mean that a crash isn't as bad if you allow for a larger area of effect - splash instead of crash. Add it as a constant effect to the ship, with the trigger.

MuTe/Aq 5 - Base 3, R:Touch +1, T:Part +1. Perhaps some +mags to affect stone, or a size bump? level 5 to 15 depending on the complexity.]

30

Heh, OK, fair enough.

Scott

31

[OOC: I think you might be going a little overboard with the counterexamples.]

[OOC: MTKnife, correct me if I'm wrong, but my impression is that the "ruins" at the covenant are something on this sort of scale google.co.uk/maps/place/Tan ... 30efec39af ,based on modern day photos of the site, modified for less time but more people trying to build directly on the site already (i.e. it's more a question of completely rebuilding rather than repairing).]

"The mason could direct you as to what the walls needed to be like, and where they needed to go, I suppose. And you could do a lot with spells to create a wall, even if not everything. On the Terram vis issue, we could possibly trade for it with you, if we have a type of vis you need?"

"If you still need to learn the spell, we have a lab text for it in our library, as well as a mastery tractatus. Obviously though, this is all starting to be a lot of work, for a covenant that isn't even your own, and I'd be ashamed if the roughness of our covenant kept you from your own researches. Then again, if you want to learn the spell anyway," he shrugs, and smiles "I certainly wouldn't say no."

He'll not accompany Stephen to fetch the Argo - give him a chance to mull over the visit so far, and have any conversations he wants with his men. He'll be waiting, though, when the boat arrives.