Chapter 6: Rendez-Vous at Salmon River (Autumn 1013)

Betula sees what Thadeus saw, the same tree flowering in a deeper regio and a path going around it in circles, always countersunwise¹.

¹ I am sure they did not have clocks in 1013, so what is the proper word?

Cath'rinne follows the Second Sighters closely behind, trying to memorize the path for future use.

OOC Right or left turn? :wink:


"Shall we?" asks Thadeus, before leading the deeper into the regio.

Nothing happens during the first circle around the oak. Do you continue?

Keep going, keep going!

Yes, at least a few turns, trying to fit his foosteps into those he sees.

After the seventh full circles, the mist feels denser and the oak starts shimmering, and when you complete the eighth round, the mist and steam lifts, the Oak is again clear, now with the flowers of Summer. The island looks a little larger. Around you, you can see eight round cottages, just the right size for a lab and sanctum, which is likely your reference frame when it comes to architecture. Behind the cottages you can see the sea, completely still, and the sun is shining. It is no longer so hot, more like a comfortably average Summer day.

Thurold and Betula and others with similar arboreal interests will notice that the white flowers do not really belong on an oak tree. There are only a dozen such flowers on the tree, and it does have more of the more discrete and mundane oak flowers.

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Thadeus steps aside to let those who follow enter the regio unhindered, then starts examining his surroundings with his magical sight, notably the tree and its flowers (which he guesses may contain raw vis), assessing the strength of the aura, and looking for any other magical features. (Comprehend Magic total of 10+aura)

He will then approach the nearest cottage, to see how damaged it might be from the passage of time, though be then the others will probably have arrived. So he will share his findings with them.

Janus casts Doublet of Impenetrable Silk (MuAn 15, casting roll 20+aura) on himself.

Thom's eyes widen as he looks at these cottages and the surrounding area.

"The Island of the Eight." Nothing like Thom stating the obvious.

Thom takes a moment to prep himself, casting the Doublet, Aura of Ennobled presence from memory and then spont casting (with a break) Ears of the Hare (Success, Moon Duration), Eyes of the Woodcock (Success, Moon Duration), and finally Scent of Nearby Vis (Sucess).

His prepations made, Thom steps up beside Thadeus, his own nostrils wide sniffing for vis.

"See anything interesting?"

The aura is 7, and the white flowers are a pawn of vis each, for those who sense such things.

The cottages look as if they were mended this Spring, and the threshold swept this morning. Does Thadeus enter.

«Baa-ah,» says something behind the cottage.

"HELLO! Is anyone here?" Betula calls out in Anglo-Saxon and then in Latin.

«Moo-oh» sounds from behind another cottage.

It quickly transpires that, there is a sheep behind Cottage 1, which Thadeus approached, and a highland coo (sp?) behind Cottage 3 (counting sunwise), five hens behind Cottage 5, and a pig behind Cottage 7. They are not tied up or fenced in, but seem to prefer to stick to their respective backyards, although they look curiously at you when you look.

Behind the remaining four cottages there are vegetable gardens: beans (2), turnips (4), swedes (6), and barley (8), ok stretching the concept of vegetable, and assuming you have the agricultural knowledge to tell them apart. All seem ripe for harvest.

Thom walks up to one of the cottages, studying it for a moment to see if shows a Sigil or some other kind of identifying marker besides Cottage with Pig or Cottage with Turnips.

"Hmm. Oddly, yet evenly, divided between animals and vegetables, these cottages."

He uses his ring a few times (3) on the outside chance it reveals any kind of Faerie regio or entrance to such as he wanders among the cottages.

Sionag looks the situation, thinking.

"There are cottages, and plants ready to harvest, and animal in the place... But where are humans who made all of that ? And How, without human, these animals could be alive ?"

[Sionag casts a spell InAn 5 : base 3, +2 voice; penetration 17 if needed. An equivalent to physician's eye on the sheep of the 1st cottage]

"I think your worry about being unable to feed a covenant in the regio are unfounded, dear Janus." Cath'rinne says, after checking the local aura. She heads towards the first cottage to explore inside, unless she sees a sigil or some kind of symbol she might associate with wards.


Turold will point out to the others the presence of the unusual flowers, and will walk arround outside, looking for anything that looks druidic.

(How large is the island in the regio?)

Betula looks around and follows Cath'rinne into the cottage.

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The cottage doors are adorned in different ways. There may be sigils, but they do not look Hermetic, certainly not of Roman legacy, and there are no sanctum markers. The cottages with animals have metal ornaments on the doors, mostly bronze and brass, while the others have all wooden doors.

Do you enter the door where Thadeus first went? It reveals a large room with several work tables, lots of storage cabinets, and a big fireplace with a cauldron in the middle. It looks like half lab and half peasant's kitchen.

Thurold will recognise many familiar patterns and symbols on the door ornamentations. The island is a little more than a hundred paces across, maybe a hundred and twenty.

Sionag finds a very healthy sheep, maybe supernaturally healthy. Something feels off, off what the spell is designed for.

There is no sign of Faerie, not even to the ever-searching Merinita.

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Thadeus, curious about the animals, circumvents the first cottage to examine the sheep with Comprehend Magic. He does not enter the cottage for now, that will come later.

(Comprehend Magic roll of 19)

The sheep is clearly magic, and Thadeus seems to be unable to penetrate the magic resistance to learn its secrets.

(For later reference, please name the cottages you enter. Now I just assumed that Cath'rinne and Betula entered the one that Thadeus picked.)