"This is the Covenant of Waldstein. I have dreamt of your coming. You are the one that sings. There is the child who heals. And the seer. And the man from the tribe of heartless butchers who is not to be trusted. What takes you here - have you come back after all these years to massacre us and spill our blood? We are tired of hiding. We want to know!"
Surprised by the grim reception, Carolinus protests, "Massacre you?! Nothing of the sort. We were unaware that there was a covenant known as Waldstein in this area. In truth, we were searching for the remains of another covenant, destroyed two hundred years ago. Tell us, please, sir, of your Waldstein, and what you know of this area."
"In this forest, apart from the fairies, there has never been any covenant but Waldstein - which you can see here". His wobbly hand makes a sweeping gesture covering the hamlet. "It was destroyed many years ago, but rebuilt and hidden behind a veil of ilusions by the Diedne after the Tremere butchers had left. When I was a child, a Tremere scout managed to see through the illusions, and it was here that the last scion of the ancient house of Diedne fought a Tremere commando. So now you have returned to finish us off. We know your leader is one of them."
"We have not come to finish anyone off. As I said, we are researching the remains of the covenant that was here, and had no idea that any inhabitants still lived. My name is Carolinus of Jerbiton, and I do indeed sing. Come, tell us your names and why you have stayed if the convenant has been destroyed."
"As my sodales has stated, you have nothing to fear of us. Not even from our Tremere brother, for you can be assured we would not let him do any harm to innocents.
But first i will need to test your portrayal of Waldstein. I hope you dont mind, im just a seer like you said, you got nothing to fear if you spoke the truth."
ooc:
Rabanus will try to cast a Discern the image of truth and falsehood at a base level of 20 (so he can see through illusions of level 20 or less). With duration concentration this will be a spell level of 25, so a casting score of 50 is needed.
He will use ceremonial casting, exaggerated gestures and a loud voice, basically everything he got. The casting will therefor take 75 minutes.
Therefor his casting score will be In 10 + Im 10 + Sta 1 + magic aura 2 + Artes liberales 2 + Philosophiae 2 + gestures 1 + voice 1 + two additional fatigue levels with life-linked magic 10 = 39 + die roll
I go out on a limb and add +3 for Clear thinker, is that ok for you? The description of the virtue expressly includes magical effects. So 42+ die roll.
If i miss the 8, Rabanus will need more fatigue levels from life linked-magic and fall unconscious from casting the spell, hopefully he will see something before that though, if there is something to see.
[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2560620/]Spont casting discern the false image at Waldstein (1d10=9)[/url]In a low voice between clenched teeth. "Yes. Innocents have nothing to fear from my house."
Chaos breaks out when Rabanus starts drawing mystical symbols into the dirt and making arcane sounds.
The old man flees into the house, only to return with an oak staff.
The two "fishermen" run towards the Jerbiton bard.
Two bowmen rise on the roof and shoot Rabanus. he sinks to the floor. It is obvious that he is near dying.
Hildegard hesitates: Can she help Rabanus without exposung herself to the bowmen?
ooc: What would you do if someone you took for a band of magical murderers came to your village (that has seen ethnic cleansings before) and started to perform ceremonial magic? Sometimes the virtue common sense IS useful...
So, here comes the ethnic cleansing (don't forget to kill women and children)
((No infernal cult member is safe. ))
Honorus acts quickly because he is not surprised that the demon worshiping cult wants to silence them.
Casting Wizard's leap to move to a position of some cover with a clear shot at the house. He will follow up with a Crest of the earth wave at the house and all in his path. He wants the house and all in the path knocked down.
Wizard leap roll 1d10+16=20 target 15
Crest of the Earthen Wave roll 1d10+23=28 target 20
((I forgot to add the aura into the rolls but I made them in any case))
Knowing he can't outrun the onrushing men, Carolinus fast casts a momentary version of Charge of the Angry Winds (CrAu10 Base 3, +2 voice, +1 unnatural), hoping to knock them down, or at least slow them enough to allow the grogs to come to his aid. The gale should be 100 paces wide, since there are no barriers.
fast casting speed: roll 8 + 2 finesse = 10
momentary Charge of the Angry Winds (CrAu10)
roll 1: 5x2 + 23 - 10 (fast cast) +2 aura = 25; /2 = 12, so penetration is 12 - 10 + 2 = 4.
first two rolls: invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2563068/
stress roll: invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2563077/
[edited to include aura]
Carolinus' spell raises needles, which are blown onto the two men who both slip and fall.
Honorus jumps to a good position - unsurprisingly, as he is good at finesse. His spell easily collapses the wooden hut. The two bowmen, who had just reloaded, disappear among the debris (one arm is still sticking out).
The old man shouts something incomprehensibloe about druids and rams his staff into the soil - the staff and he himself are turned into a mighty oak tree that lifts the roof of the second cabin with its sudden appearance.
Another man, one you haven't seen before is desappearing into the forest at the far (north) end of the clearing.
Somewhere a child starts crying.
The grogs recover from their surprise and take defensive positions with Rabanus, Carolinus and Hildegard - they are a bit disoriented by Honorus' jump.
Hildegard uses the confusion to rush to Rabanus and cast a spell on him that stabilizes his wounds and helps his recovery. He reopens his eyes - still badly wounded, but conscious, and winces.
ooc: Rabanus is at -10 to all actions for now. But he lives, and can crawl slowly.
Honorus takes a glance at the man turned into the tree and mumbles " He is not going anywhere fast"
Then he will try to Wizard's Leap to get close enough to the fleeing man to cast Pit of the Gapping Earth to catch him.
Wizard's leap (target 15) 1d10+18=26
Pit of the gapping earth(target 15) 1d10+19=23
Attempting to prevent himself from taking any wounds, Carolinus casts Wizard's Sidestep, but a small chuckle from the back of his throat is the only evidence that he is working magic.
Looking around at the mayhem, Carolinus sees another chance at establishing a covenant disappearing amid the violence. Idiots, he thinks to himself, his mouth a thin line of stubborn irritation. One might think they have never had to talk to another human being! He again silently casts two spells*. His image becomes brighter and more imposing, and he bellows "Stop this at once!" Pointing at the two men he has blown over, he commands "You there, get up and help your fallen friends. I'll not have this violence continue!" Carolinus hopes he can take some command of the mundanes at least. He doubts his spell will have much effect on Honorus, but he hopes the other magus will restrain himself.
ooc:
Carolinus is relying on his Deft Imaginem to be able to cast these spells without words or gestures.
Wizard's Sidestep: target 10; roll 8 (4 doubled) + 14 + 2 aura = 24
*two spells:
first: Aura of Ennobled Presence: target 5; roll 16 (8 doubled) + 11 + 2 aura = 29
second: a spell to make his voice very loud for a diameter duration: MuIm4 (Base 1 + 2 voice + 1 diameter); (roll 7 + 11 + 2 aura)/5 = 4 (no fatigue expended)
invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2575331/ for first three rolls
invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2575334/ for second two rolls (rolled a third time just in case, result ignored)
When Honorus jumps to the edge of the clearing he doesn't see the man anymore. This disappearance must have been magical somehow.
One of the men frees himself from the debris of the hut. His face is grey, no hope is left in his eyes. he grabs a piece of wood, walks a few steps towards Hildegard who is closest to him, but the makeshift weapon falls from his hand. He falls to his knees and starts praying aloud: "Forgive my sins, and receive my soul."
The other man seems to be trapped under the wooden beams. You can hear him moan painfully.
The oak tree is swaying gently in the breeze, just like the other trees.
Honorus looks surprised for a moment when he can not locate the fleeing man. He then turns round and heads back to the huts with a angry look on his face. As soon as he is in range he will cast PotGE on the hut with the trapped man(men).
If the hut is not deep enough in the pit he will cast another PotGE inside the first to make it deeper then follow with a spont ReTe to cave in the sides.
As Honorus continues his destructive rampage, Carolinus' face turns grim. Idiot, he thinks. "Kill them all and let God sort them out" only works if you really kill them all. Now that he's let one escape to tell the tale, he's likely to get us all marched. Besides, if he destroys everthing and everyone here, we'll have no information on which to build anew. Idiot.
Carolinus turns to the men who came after him. "Your friends are beyond help, it seems. If you value your life, lay down what weapons you have, step away, and lay prostrate yourselves. I'll do what I can to preserve your lives, but you'd best start praying now." He checks to make sure the men follow the order, then instructs one of the grogs to oversee them.
"Master Honorus!" Without the benefit of the amplification spell, Carolinus struggles to be heard over the sound of collapsing buildings. "If you are quite done destroying things, we may want to get some information from whatever survivors you have deigned to leave."
Honorus' spells succeed. The sounds of pain coming from the hut end abruptly.
The man who is praying ignores everyone and everything at first. When he has finished, he looks around, uncertain of what to do.
"Round them up for questioning if you wish. I will create a pit to put them in. Except for the tree. I will handle him now"
Honorus creates several pits to put the prisoners in and instructs the grogs to round them all up. He will look on to make sure they do a thorough job.
He will then head over to the tree.
Carolinus walks with Honorus to the tree, and circles it once before speaking.
"It appears that we will be staying a while, considering Rabanus' condition. Perhaps we should spend our time investigating the area ... and this tree."
Hoping the moments of calm have cooled Honorus' murderous tendencies, Carolinus looks ruefully at the ruined huts. A roof and more solid walls would have most welcome, he thinks. He shrugs to himself then walks back toward the pits containing the prisoners.
The troupe catches the one living survivor who is imprisoned and guarded as Honorus ordered.
Hildegard approaches the tree warily. "Well, I've stabilized Rabanus, and he is conscious, but he still seems to be shocked. He doesn't talk much. I've found children's clothes, not too old, but it's hard to say. No hermetic labs though. I assume that someone is hiding in the woods, like the man that vanished. I am not sure about us being safe here - what if there are reinforcements.I hope there are no Diedne among them. What do we do with the tree?"