(Correct. You'd need to be able to percieve them in order to target them.)
The sound of the numerous birds flying around the pillar, as well as the sound of the waves, drown out Herman's call.
(Of course, Prochorus may very well have flown up to see what was taking so long. Or the magi below realized that they had no way to communicate and sent him up to check on him occasionally. In this case, we can assume that Prochorus is already up there in his scaup shape, just waiting for the Bonisagus to be done. He didn't turn back into his human shape simply because it's windy up there and generally not a comfortable place to be naked.)
Well, I can at least walk around the piller-top, looking over the edge (lying down to safely see near the base periodically) to try to see them. I expect they are too close for me to see, but thorough investigation and all that.
Herman looks at the quacking bird, and smiles. "Ahh. We did not think this part out well. Fly out on whichever side the boat is. I will lower myself as far as I can, so that Japik can see me and lower me safely."
(I will also assume similar investigative spells are used. Similar aura, no obvious raw vis present. No Faerie regio. The only thing different here is that there is no feeling of something pinging Herman's parma when he touches the pillar. The chains are slightly magical.)
When we are done investigating the pillars with the boat, Japik will put it back where he borrowed it. Again he will go there under cover of darkness in the evening using dolphin form except for when he needs to tie the boat to a quay.
Herman is stumpted. He is supposed to know how to extract information from situations, and he is getting nowhere. There is clearly something there. Probably somethign different about each of the two pillars. But understanding it, much less using it as a way to get vis, seems beyond him.
Herman knows that discovering a new vis source is sometimes a painstakingly slow process. Any vis source that only requires the casting of a few spells would likely already have been discovered and claimed by a covenant, though something as remote as those pillars would decrease the likelyhood of someone else doing so. He feels that there must be something he missed, some lead he could follow to discover more about the pillars themselves...
(Hint: I suggest you re-read this thread, as well as the one with the stories that Prochorus uncovered in town. I scattered elements in there that may help you find additional informations.)
(Thanks. It taking some time and work makes sense. Knowing that I am not crazy to feel like I am missing something makes reviewing the set worth doing. Now to find the time to do it
Prochorus tries the following: He flies over to the pillar with the steps with his image misplaced as before. Before landing, he suppresses his parma so that whatever the effect is hits him. He shifts to human. He sponts a spell to warm himself, base 2, +2 Sun = 4 against 8 with shout & wave. He rests, then lifesponts a spell to ... support his weight so that he is nearly weightless but not quite? Is that even possible in this system? If it is, it would be ReCo base 4 +2 Sun = 10 against total 18. He then rests and lifesponts a spell to make himself float in the water, MuCo base 2 + 2 sun = 8 against 10. He rests.
He wants to test whether the pillar somehow generates vis when people climb it. He suspects the effect that pings parma might be something related, which is why he lets it through.
The plan is: After casting, he shouldn't have trouble climbing the pillar. He will first climb down, to the bottom, then climb back up and look around to see if anything happened.
When he lands on the pillar with his magic resistance suppressed, he feels a slight tingling, but it dissipates quickly without any visible effect.
His two spells are cast without problem. The first one indeed makes climbing down from the pillar easy.
When he climbs up the pillar, the tingling remains all along the climb, growing slightly stronger as he does, but dissipates when he sets foot at the top.
