Chapter 4a (Winter 1231): Amazons on the Move

Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Base Camp
201

I would assume that she's got the mercury on hand, at least, not only because Muto is squarely in her wheelhouse, but because she used it in her quill. Pine is ridiculously easy to find, and it looks like blackthorn is quite common, but the others strike me as tough.
Let me think though if Animae Magic is really the way to go, though I do think you might be right that it's a good method for creating lookouts. Mind you, bargaining with the local faeries might also be feasible, while creating new fae in their territories could conceivably ruffle some feathers.

Scott

202

Agreed she should already have mercury, and that it's reasonable to be able to find pine and blackthorn close by.

The main faeries Viola is aware of locally are the creek fae children of Poseidon (who might be a good option for the immediate local area, actually, but probably don't have a huge range) and the fae in the Toymaker's regio (who are less obviously useful).

203

[This is the first evening I've had in weeks with some solitude, where I can look at my books alone in my office. And my dirty etchings, of course.]

Yeah, those are the only two groups of fae that Viola remotely trusts. Without taking time to get to know other faeries along the possible paths of advance (which means multiple additional groups), there's no telling how they might screw up faerie guardians--and it's not the kind of risk she'd prefer to take when it comes to covenant security. Let me see what she's got in her bag of tricks, and post in a bit.

Scott

204

Crap, I never updated the lab after the resolution of the Halia story. The most significant changes will require extending the lab to the upper level of the regio. We need to discuss how that's going to go, but it's not relevant here. What does matter here is lifting the curse on the stream, which will boost the combined Greater Feature/Greater Focus specializations bonus from +3 to +7. I can't think of any sane reason Viola would put that in anything but "Items"; she does have an open space for a Technique specialization, and Rego is appropriate for moving water, but the Items specialization is more useful for her personally, in a situation where she can choose between the two.

Also, it looks like Viola was never assigned any story XP for the Halia story.

Scott

205

OK, I get these two possible totals:

InMe is In 8 + Me 6 + Int 4 + MT 6 + MT specialization 1 + Inventive Genius 3 + Aura 5 + Lab General Quality (includes familiar) 8 + Items Specialization 8 + Me Specialization 1 = 50

InCo is In 8 + Co 7 + Int 4 + MT 6 + MT specialization 1 + Inventive Genius 3 + Aura 5 + Lab General Quality (includes familiar) 8 + Items Specialization 8 = 50

So 50 either way, plus probably a couple of points more from shape and material bonuses. I don't see any applicable ones in either the main rules or The Mysteries, but you'd think there'd be something involving detection.

The range would pretty much have to be Voice (Sight requires a separate InIm effect, in addition to another magnitude), and the duration Sun, so that's 3 magnitudes, plus another 4 points for continuous effect. Ergo, she could easily manage something with a base effect level of 5 with a lesser enchanted device, and probably a base level of 10 by involving Chryse. But the device wouldn't have a way to contact Viola, which would force an invested device, or require someone to carry it around..

And I'm not sure how many devices we'd need, but the Amazons have shown themselves able to travel off the roads, which makes the problem rather intractable. If we've got to make multiples of this, invested devices just aren't workable: that's an enormous amount of time and vis. I'm not sure even multiple lesser enchanted devices would work, even if I could think of a feasible one. And even without the problem of meddling fae, I'm not sure we do any better with the Animae Magic devices.

Getting someone to carry a device around might work better on both fronts (no need for additional enchantments, and mobile enough to cover multiple routes), but if we can send out scouts, why do we need the magic items in the first place?

One thing that does occur to Viola is that the creek fae would be friendly enough to be persuaded to keep an eye out, without any need for magic items--that's short-range, but still potentially useful. Also, would recruiting birds or other wide-ranging animals as scouts be an option?

206

Recruiting birds (or similar) is at least theoretically an option - and possibly the point Viola starts missing Aetos a little (Inactive Characters). Viola does already have a spell to speak to animals, but she'd need to work out how to get from there to getting them to do what she wants (noting that the Gift is going to be an issue).

For the creek fae I'd say make a Pre + Faerie Lore - Gift roll and let me know what, if anything you're offering them? EF 9 should mean a basic success.

207

OOC: Are we looking for items which the non-magi can use whilst the magi are notified? Or items they can use to fully defend?

208

I believe the idea was items that would let us detect the enemy's approach.

209

Yes, that's the key point. As far as we know, the previous covenant was destroyed via a surprise night raid. The walls we now have in place should help slow down similar attacks in future, and Gregorius' Premonitions may give us some advanced warning, but it would be good to have more of an early warning system.

210

Recruiting birds might work, though only those that range widely enough to cover significant territory--but yet, Viola wouldn't be great at that. I wonder if there's another way to do it?

Does Viola have any Faerie Loreish sense of what the creek fae might want?

Scott

211

Based on Viola's experience of them, the Creek Faes' main interests are their mother and drunken parties (quite how the two interact is questionable...). It might be possible to argue that Halia would also be endangered by an attack on the covenant, although the fact that she is safely in a hard-to-access regio makes that a little bit of a hard sell.

Alternatively instead of going directly to them she could try going via Halia, but that just changes the question to what Halia wants, which is probably harder than the question of what the Creek Fae do.

212

[OK, I'm alive. More or less. Sorry about that--I know it was longer than usual.]

Viola will go to Halia first, since she needs to come to a modus vivendi with her in the case, what with Halia being inside her lab and all.

Promising the creek faeries a drunken party seems relatively low-cost, though, and has the distinct advantage of likely annoying Gregorius. Viola just has to make sure none of the local populace is anywhere near the place, and to keep a tight rein on the grogs during the event.

Scott

213

Halia's ability to help in a directly military sense has decreased significantly since she stopped being a hideous monster who turned everyone who saw her to stone - then again, so has her ability to destroy half the covenant's forces.

Halia's level of the regio is now a large barley field, with a river flowing out of the central pool into the regio's lower levels. Next to the pool an altar has been constructed, but this one appears to be to Demeter rather than Neptune, and Halia is dressed as her priest. When Viola broaches the issue of covenant protection with her, she suggests that she might be able to act as an intermediary to Demeter - but it's not immediately clear that this issue is one that would fall within her purview. Any such aid would also have a price, with its level depending on the magnitude of the aid - promoting her worship and / or grain cultivation locally, for example.

For the creek fae, Keyx initially interprets what you're proposing as a party anytime they warn you that someone is coming to the covenant.

[Give me a Bargain roll to see quite how the negotiations for something more reasonable go.]

214

Even if Viola didn't understand Demeter's fae nature, she's smart to realize that promoting pagan worship in the region would undoubtedly lead to big trouble, so that's a non-starter. However, Viola will ask Halia what sort of exchange might be possible.

As for the intensely annoying Keyx, a stress die for Bargain is:
7
There's a +3 for Bargain 2 with a Faerie specialty, and likely a -2 for Com. Also, Viola will gently point out that if the terms of the deal aren't helpful, the magi will do this on their own, so no parties.

Scott

215

[Ah, Gregorius can avoid the apoplexy, then.]

Demeter's key portfolio is grain and bread, along with their inverse, starvation and hunger (see: nearly wiping out humanity by making crops no longer grow in her grief at her loss of Persephone).

There's not huge amounts of scope to make that useful in the current situation, but it might be possible to get fields of grain in the area to report when they were being ridden through. This will be more useful at some times of the year than others, but is at least better than nothing.

[OOC: I am assuming that Demeter as a very powerful faerie broadly has Focus powers that enable her to use Faerie Powers as per RoP:F (pg 124 onwards) and the Sympathy traits listed for her suggested descendants in The Sundered Eagle pg 127 - positive traits Fertility, Agriculture, Domesticated Animals and negative trait Winter. Plus a few other Demeter specific powers.]

As for the deal, Demeter would be interested in the following:

  • An increase in the yield of the local harvest (particularly the barley harvest), and this being associated with her by the locals
  • The popularisation of the farming of her sacred animal, the pig
  • Rejuvenation of her mysteries
  • Rebuilding of the temple to Neptune in the covenant as a temple to her

That isn't an exhaustive list, which is good as all of them have obvious problems - there is a fundamental issue that Demeter is a pagan goddess, and Halia a priestess, so her worship is a big part of what she's interested in. It might be possible to come up with something more acceptable / less likely to cause problems, but Viola is going to have to get creative.

Keyx is able to be bargained down a bit from his initial ridiculousness, but Viola does get the impression that even if he's grudgingly grateful to her for helping his Mum, he still doesn't like or trust her that much. He and his brothers can send word if a band of horses crosses any of their creeks, but they're not going to muck around trying to make them impassable. In exchange, they want a barrel of beer delivered to a location of their choosing once a month, and if they do warn of attackers and the covenant survives, a big party lasting at least three days and a share of the loot.

216

[Now I remember why I didn't reply to this immediately, before I got the flu....Ugh.]

Keyx's demands are reasonable, and probably just enough to annoy Gregorius without sending him over the top.

Trying to convince a bunch of Muslims to straight-up worship a pagan goddess, and, God help us, farm pigs no less, strikes Viola as a futile exercise, even if the likelyi consequences wouldn't create utter chaos. A little syncretism, though, might work: Viola will try to find out about any folk practices among the locals that might align with traditional rituals of Demeter. Even if the Kipchaks worshipped a different god of fertility and/or agriculture, Viola is better at least a few of thosd practices line up.

As for the temple...I mean, we could rebuild the version inside the regio. Not sure how much that would do to please her, though.

Scott

217

Ah, the perfect combination.

Viola quickly works out that the most obvious source of information is Ipek. Granted she's not local local (she met her in Chersonesus, but she wasn't from there originally either), but she's spent time with them recently and is interested in stories. Plus it means Viola doesn't have to try to gather the information from the villagers herself.

From what Viola can tell, the locals used to follow a shamanistic religion, with belief in a great sky spirit, some other major spirits and lots and lots of little spirits. The closest relevant spirit is probably "Etügen Eke", who was an earth goddess associated with fertility. Unfortunately she was a) traditionally virginal and b) the only major practices Ipek remembers being involved with her were the sacrifices of red horses carried out on riverbanks in spring and autumn for fertility of cattle and crops.

Ipek comments that horses tend to crop up in most things locally if you look at them long enough.

218

[Sorry, lost my job last month, and keeping routines going has been hard at times.]

OK, let's be creative here....How about some sort of horse festival? That lines up with the Poseidon relationship. Something in the spring perhaps, to celebrate the birth of foals? And perhaps races the fae could enjoy, though the local Muslims probably wouldn't be up for the whole drunkenness thing--maybe the fae could enjoy the festivities from a discreet distance.

Scott

219

A horse festival does sound like it would be (relatively) easy to sell the locals on, and it would possibly be something that could be exploited to have other benefits as well. There are a few questions that would need to be ironed out:

  • Who is Viola trying to please here? Horses are very much a Poseidon / Neptune thing rather than a Demeter thing - it's possible (maybe even likely) the creek fae have some affinity to them, but Halia almost certainly doesn't.
  • What would the covenant bring to the festival? It does (now) have a stables, and (presumably) a few horses, but for the most part it's relying on the local village for its needs
  • Why is the covenant saying it's doing it?

It occurs to me that one possible in would be to frame it as thanks / a celebration of their assistance with the recent Amazon hunting trip (and / or include things that could help with future conflict with the Amazons in the activities).