[OOC: I think Fray and Stepehn are probably within the 10 days (we've got 3 days scouting, travelling there and back, plus a day or so watching the camp and finding Tasia). Gregorius isn't, though, as he spent a while searching on foot before the other magi joined him.]
Just for the record, I'm still mulling what to do here, including what Viola can do.
Scott
There's also the matter of paying for them in some fashion.
We can play out that meeting whenever you're ready, but first, what kind(s) of payment do you have in mind?
Scott
As for Viola, I'm thinking either something involving Muto Imaginem, or a Muto Herbam effect involving Animae Magic that makes the terrain around the covenant hostile. I'm going to have to try to find my House books tomorrow to look up Animae Magic--they apparently never got unpacked after the last move.
BTW, what Viola can do in the lab is going to depend in part on what happened with her own story about the attempt to lift the curse in the lab....
Scott
Gregorius will talk to Theodoric to see if he has an idea of what the village are likely to want (and settle for, although he'd prefer to avoid going for the bare minimum in favour of goodwill). Whilst it may just be a matter of silver, he suspects it's not going to be that simple.
[OOC: The boon in the covenant write up states "Cavalry--it should be possible, if it's desired, to recruit some of the local Kipchaks as a fighting force, perhaps in return for allowing them to graze their animals on the covenant site, and (this goes to their reason for not doing so already) making sure no supernatural nasties bother them while they do so." Although presumably that's just an example, and I assume we're not talking the direct covenant site itself here, given it's not big enough to be particularly appealing, I wouldn't have thought.]
He'll also question Theodoric on what the horsemen are usually doing (both in the sense of "are they fishermen who mount up occasionally or fulltime warriors" and "do they spend half their time raiding the neighbouring villages"). If there's a possibility the covenant is going to end up getting drawn into the local power struggles, he wants to know that going in.
The covenant grounds aren't that big, but remember that the aura is quite large (Vast Aura)--and I'm sure they've occasionally encountered odd things there on occasion.
Though their culture has a nomadic history, they're villagers--they practice settled agriculture, as well as fishing, though their agriculture does include livestock, hence the need for grazing land. I'm sure conflicts between villages happen on occasion (there's no strong central authority in this region), but it isn't that common.
Scott
So we're not inserting ourselves into (another) war. That's something.
So Theodoric isn't aware of any particular things the villagers are likely to want? Gregorius will speak to the other grogs and see if they've picked up anything from the villagers - I think Petrus has been spending time with the local village wise woman, and Damianos has been hanging around the horsemen.
Your inquiries indicate that he grazing is probably a good start. The villagers are also aware that some of the wild horses that graze within the aura have "special" properties, and might appreciate some help in capturing them.
Scott
Gregorius remembers that Viola has been interacting with the local horse-herds (well, having them tracked down and sacrificed, but close enough), so he'll ask her what she knows about the magical horses. (Can I assume he gets roughly what's in the relevant thread, or do you want to play it out?)
He'll also ask her whether she thinks she could capture one of the magical horses without excessive difficulty.
The main other thing he'll do is think about what legends he's heard about things likely to disturb pasturing horses during his explorations, and ask Theodoric the same question. (Gregorius' relevant stats are Int +1, Area Lore: Don Delta 2.)
That's up to you, though I don't recall our ever specifying what sorts of magical alterations exist within the herds.
A warped animal, sure. That Beast of Virtue? That would be difficult.
A note here: the rules on magic are really vague about whether there's a category of animals in between Warped and Beasts of Virtue. There are mentions that seem to imply the existence of magical beasts that aren't tragically flawed but also aren't as powerful as the virtuous sort, but no real rules for them. Thoughts?
Horses, in general, are extremely skittish, and practically anything could disturb them....What is he getting at, though?
Scott
Fray could spont something to make them easier to catch - MuAn15 will make a beast small for a few minutes. (Base 4, voice diam) That'll slow them down a lot. Or turn a horse to a frog or sloth muAn15 (base 5, eye conc), they're easy to catch. All depends on their MR.
The relevant sections I'm thinking of are primarily:
Admittedly, it's a little awkward that I GM'ed that story.
My take is that there definitely exists a third category of magical animal that is neither a former mundane animal or a Beast of Virtue (despite what page 55 of RoP:M says). For example, dragons. The Birds of Nephelococcygia are also explicitly not Beasts of Virtue (although some may have been transformed, that's only some and the truth of it is questioned).
As far as rules for such creatures, I'd just create them in the same way as another magical creature, but not apply the limitations and requirements for Beasts of Virtue. (Up to you whether you want to make it possible to create Enriched items out of them. I'd say probably not?)
Mostly he's looking to know whether there are known specific supernatural (or otherwise) problems for grazing horses. Basically, he's just checking before he goes to the meeting to reduce the risk of agreeing to something that turns out to be a lot more difficult than he was expecting.
That could work. Once we're close enough to touch, you can put a longer duration spell on them so we can get them back to the covenant. I had been thinking about Alcimus' "Eyes Like Lanterns Power" (paralyzes a person or animal), until I realised it's got zero penetration. Plus it appears to be a Mentem only power for some reason.
Once Gregorius thinks he's got what information he can quickly and easily, he will get Theodoric to arrange a meeting with the headman of the village.
For the meeting, he'll take Theodoric with him to translate. He's briefed Theodoric beforehand on what he's hoping to achieve (a group of light cavalry which can be deployed on occasional missions at fairly short notice, plus training), and is expecting Theodoric to handle the detail of the bargaining if it comes down to it (not that Theodoric is particularly good at bargaining, but he's better than Gregorius). Gregorius would rather try to capture horses than protect them (as the latter sounds potentially rather open-ended), but is willing to do either should it come down to it.
Once the pleasantries are dealt with, Gregorius will get to the point.
"Would any of your young warriors be interested in doing work for the covenant?"
Stephen will make a couple of suggestions. First, to the extent that we think grogs would be willing to fly (i.e., not freaked out by it), Stephen can develop a level 25 flight spell:
Wings of the Sparrow
ReCo 25
R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Ind
The target can fly. He must make an Intelligence + Finesse roll to change direction or speed, with an ease factor related to his current speed - Ease Factor 3 for walking pace, Ease Factor 6 at moderate speed, Ease Factor 9 at maximum speed. He can move at a maximum speed as fast as a running man - about five miles an hour - but this is reduced by one mile an hour for every point of Load he carries. He cannot physically carry a Burden more than five points greater than his Strength (i.e. 15 Points of Load for a character with a Strength of 0, 10 Points of Load for a character with a Strength -1, etc.).
(Base 10, +1 Touch, +2 Sun)
Add that to a Veil of Invisibility spell (And an Eyes of the Cat at night) and we have aerial scouts on the lookout for trouble. They just have to make certain to make it to the ground before sunset/sunrise or things could be bad.
If we have archers, and again, if they're not freaked out by magic, we could start training them to fire their bows from a flying boat/ship. That would give them the advantage of height and better defense against counter attack.
Stephen could also try and learn a sleep spell to use against invading Amazons.
Also, to make his flying ships more useful (alas, I was fairly new to ArM5 when I designed Stephen and didn't fully appreciate the problem with Warping), he could devise a spell that makes the ship look like a cloud. Not as handy as invisibility, but of a lower level and non-Warping.
Ship into Cloud
MuIm 20
R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Ind
Any one item up to the size of a ship, and anything inside of it, is made to look like a large cloud.
(Base 1, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +3 Structure, +1 size x10 = 20)
I think there's a problem with Wings of the Sparrow in that, without Tethered Magic, Stephen would have control of the target's movement rather than the grog, which limits their utility as scouts. I think it would work better as a lesser enchanted item (and modified to be duration concentration, item maintains concentration)? That way also has the advantage that they can go out further on their own.
I think the cloud spell works.
The other thing which I think is still fairly important is to get the notes we found translated - not so much because of the lab texts, but in case there's anything in the more general notes which gives us clues towards any features of the covenant we've missed (either beneficial or a nasty surprise).
Edited to add: One other thing Gregorius might ask Stephen to do, assuming he doesn't expect to get anything more out of Spring (given he also travelled to the covenant during it) is to make a trip to Gigas (the main Tremere covenant in the Theban tribunal). Gregorius is somewhat apologetic about this, as he wouldn't normally ask a Bonisagus to play postman, but the covenant has a slight Aegis problem about to hit it (it runs out at the Spring equinox, and Tasia is the only one who knows it), and he's really hoping the Tremere have a casting tablet they can lend (they probably do, because even if they don't have one at Gigas, they'll have arcane connections to places that do and Leap of Homecoming).
OK, the meeting with the headman has been arranged. On the appointed time, Gregorius and Theodoric head out to the village. They're greeted by the usual stares, some betraying suspicion, but the headman is cordial as he welcomes the pair to his home.
Scott
Oops, missed your edit,
Stephen can make the trip if it needs to be made. He can fly using Mercury's Winged Sandals and then Leap back. (Or if it's too long a trip to fly on his own, he could take the ship.)
In the alternative, Stephen could use the season to invent a version of Aegis of the Hearth. He could manage a level 23 version in one season, if that's good enough.
Apologies - should have done it as a new post.
Gregorius has an arcane connection to the vicinity of Gigas which he can lend to Stephen (the covenant itself is a hunting lodge in a small forest in northern Greece, so a bit of a distance and not entirely trivial to find).
Having Stephen invent a copy of Aegis of the Hearth has the problem that by the letter of the charter, we're actually forbidden from having visitors participating in the Aegis casting. It also puts us back to square one if he leaves again (albeit possibly with a bit more warning).
[OOC: Gregorius has the Gentle Gift, if that's the cause of the stares rather than just general "wizard" nervousness.]
Gregorius will greet the headsman back, and make friendly enquiries about his own well-being and that of the village.
Once the pleasantries are over, he'll come to his point.
"Would any of your young warriors be interested in doing work for the covenant? In general in part, but in particular we've finally started to have some success in our efforts to track down those who attacked the previous covenant, and I'm thinking about how best to return the favour."
So the answer is simple. Let him in the covenant. Then he's not an outsider. 