Anything happening? (other than rules chat in the other thead)
Kallista is sitting looking pretty chatting with Maurice, Valentino just got back from checking with camp, and you guys are ready to go once you all decide what you are going to do 
Kallista has been half making a charm and half thinking out loud. I'll post more thoughts and conversations with the drakes, but in general we are waiting for Valentino to return to camp, 'cause without him Kallista will get ya killed.
OOC:
"We regret to inform you Daphne your mother is dead, because she was stupid."-Antonio making an Achronistic Top Gun refrence.
She's stuck pondering creative ways to combat the hag that will make for a great story... for it's retelling and possible creation of a faerie aura. not really stuff she's going to share outloud though.
Like: do i get enlarged and make the ogres fall in love with me, after the drakes get an AC (with an AC i have a chance to enchant them with music to create a real emotion) and pretend to be fought off. Then have them fight it out, turning love for me into jealosy with their brother's... tell the winner I'll marry him, but we need to run away and he has to forget his mother...
[color=red]"Maurice, you said you and your fellows can take on the giant and his kin, yes? But not the hag, what magics have you seen or heard that she could do?"
"If we had some part of her or something important to her that she uses, it would guarantee our spells overpower her. It's not necessary, it would just make certain."
[color=green]Armando with the broken nose: [color=red]Mistress Kallista, would you like me to organize a reconnaissance detail?
[color=red]Yes, but a camp and a latrine are first on my mind. We are two days out. And I would rather you stay until Valentino returns, he is better suited to fix your nose. We don't want that handsome face of your marred, now do we?
1: S'sslakk the earh spirit, who appears like a serpent of rock that swins in earth (like an AD&D "Earth Wierd"). You may remember him from before, it gave you directions in exchange for burning the miner's cabin. This time it tells you that it can lead you to a great treasure buried in a cave if you do him the favor of murdering a village of farmers and miners that cause him such pain and suffering.
- Ludo suspected before and now is rather certain that this ‘Earth Weird’ is a demon attempting to corrupt/influence him. He feels like he outsmarted it last time, by giving the old man enough money to probably get into a better life even though he did burn his shack. This however is plainly too much for him. But he still doesn’t ‘know’ that it is. Ludo would try and negotiate something else. Something nonviolent. Perhaps getting them to leave or something, whatever. If it seems dead set on them being killed however he gives S’sslakk the ‘Return Peacefully’ command. ( The spirit returns to the place from which it was summoned and from then on cannot harm the sorcerer directly unless he summons it again. ) Following this he will have Arash begin his own search for the treasure S’sslakk spoke of, beginning in the area of the hill he first summoned the ‘Earth Weird’ at.
2: unintelligent animal spirit (a rabbit)
- There seems little point to trying to do much of anything with this one, so he lets it go with the ‘Return Peacefully’ command as well. Throw the little fish back in the stream. Instead, as he continues to work he will send the ghostly thieves to investigate this area.
3: The ghost of a swarthy Arabic man dressed like a Spaniard. His might is off the scale. You scrounged him with your roll of 20+, and though it broght him forth it won't hold him. But he is interested in conversation, and claims he has knowledge of how you can gain power over your fellow magi.
- How certain can Ludo be that this is a ghost rather than something else?
- Ludo is, to say the least, quite impressed and he says so. “You impress me. Few can resist my skill, and those that can generally stay clear of me for fear proximity will strengthen me enough they can no longer do so. So you are both powerful and brave. I salute you. There is no other way to be.†He walks over to a table with refreshments and prepares two glasses of wine with his own hand with a liberal dose of ice added to each one. “I do not know if you can drink, or if you would choose to, but I offer you my hospitality. I take no offense if you do not, and instead I drink to you in either case. And I am most interested to hear your offer, though I am curious to know why you bring it to me?â€
4: ghost of a man who committed suicide by throwing himself off of a cliff
- Ludo will interview him for some moments, even asking him why he killed himself and where he was from to see if anything interesting comes up. Afterwards he will refocus on the drakes he is looking for, interviewing and then commanding the ghost to act as a scout.
5: place spirit of a nearby rock formation
- If it is capable of leaving it’s rock formation, as above, otherwise he will interview it for a few minutes to attempt to discern the relative power of it and any useful powers it may have, taking notes to this effect and releasing it.
6: a maternal nature spirit that cares for a small village of tiny faeries
- Ludo treats her as a kind of minor royalty, offering her hospitality first and then formally opening negotiations as if between two states. In fact he is quite interested in learning about her and her kind, her village and her people. He will let it be known that he is amiable to reasonable requests, and quite capable of fulfilling them, if they could help him learn about the area and/or Andorra itself. And in specific… about the drakes?
7: something that seems to proably be a demon caught unaware by surprise
- I hereby name him ‘Xanth’! By ‘seems’ to be a demon, is this by appearance or something? What makes him think this?
8: ghost of a villager killed and eaten by an ogre
- Interview him about the ogre and his death, taking notes and asking for details if it turns interesting, and then assign him to his zone and scouting duties.
9: a spirit of anger. Two grogs outside are having heated words over a game of dice.
- This would likely annoy Ludo, but I’m not certain how he will respond to it just yet. I’ll give this one some more thought and get back to you. As an aside, any idea about the relative power level of the spirit? It is supposed to be based on the personality flaws and/or traits of the originating angry character… so, in effect, he is looking to see the intensity of the anger as it were.
10: a strange snake-like spirit, twisting and writhing and chanting in the Basque tongue
- Interesting? Can you make a lore roll for me to see if he knows anything about such things? Does this mean that he can’t communicate with it? Or does it appear to understand and/or respond to him when he greets it in latin?
11: a spirit that claims to be the Angel Mezerduzek, it has six wings covered in violet feathers, four arms (two man-like and two like a lion), three faces (a man, a woman, and a child), and the legs of a horse.
- This seems, rather obviously to me, to be a demon. Do you agree with the obviousness of this, for Ludo, in an IC perspective given his lores? I just want to make sure I'm not misperceiving this ICness here.
12: a spirit of ice and snow from the mountaintop that just ignores you.
- Unintelligent? He will give it the command anyway, and send it to it’s zone. See what happens.
"Venkath already covered that. Something important to her... like her cauldron?"
[color=red]"Let's set up camp nearby for the night. We can set off in the direction of her hill in the morning." If everyone agrees, Valentino will look for a good spot to make camp.
Her eyes widen. [color=red]Oh, yes, her cauldron will be perfect. she wears an expression on her face not unlike you would expect from Simon if you were to offer him your ogre bones.
[color=red]Dimir Taar
[color=red]
I shall take to the air, then. Under the cover of invisibility, of course. I'll warn you once I see a beast. Hum... Maybe you could join me? Better to be in good company and enjoy the moment, after all
[color=green]Carmen: [color=red]Yes, let us take to the skies and see what there is to see 
S’sslakk is disappointed of course, but will agree to help you in exchange for driving all of the villagers away and burning down their homes and farms so they can’t till at his flesh anymore. If you send Arash in that area, he is unable to locate any treasure.
Not much to find, just scrub wilderness. And more rabbits. One of your ghost thugs claims that there are “unicorn rabbits†up in that area, large hares with a spiral horn coming out of their forehead.
Where did you get the ice from?
Anyway, he takes on a solid form and accepts the offer of wine.
“My name is Noryhk, and I am a ‘guardian angel’ of sorts. I have been watching over the magi of Andorra for a long time, but you are the first amongst them that has the potential and power that I so admire. There are powerful spirits seeking to undo your covenant, a legacy left over by your elders and past masters. Only one such as yourself has the power to interfere with their plots and plans, and thus I seek to make an ally of you.â€
He killed himself out of grief over a lost lover. He had been engaged, but discovered his bride to be had an illicit affair with some strange dashing caballero from Castile. His heart broke, and thus he ended his life. He left no note, he just disappeared into the night and never returned. And he is to sad and miserable to serve any useful purpose. He will follow orders and commanded, but his heart isn’t in it.
The rock formation is close by, it is the same one that is one of the covenant’s vis resources. Two grogs were assigned the duty of harvesting crystals from it. It is a Genus Locus, a genie 
This is where I get cheesy. Ever watch the Smurfs? Remember how they interacted with mythic figures such as Mother Nature and Father Time? That is the situation. The spirit is “a†mother nature, and she protects a village of Spanish Smurfs 
But you are Gargamel! Or that’s the way she sees you anyway. She needs not any help from you, and is more powerful than you suspected. You summoned her, but had to concentrate to hold her. She leaves at her earliest opportunity.
You easily recognize him as Xanth, from a book you once read . Where did you get that name? Sounds familiar.
He was killed and eaten yesterday, and does not quite understand yet. Nor does he know his murderers were killed by drakes and magi (as seen elsewhere).
Relatively weak, Might 10. It is just an argument, they agreed to reroll the results. You are not sure with whom it originated, it may have arisen from the argument rather than someone’s specific personality.
It will speak in slow hissing whispers. This is a juicy one, and I will write more on it later.
That is very similar to the description of old testament angels. And for Jinni as well. OOC: we know you cannot summon angels. But Ludo thinks he can. I will reveal to you that this is an example of what I was referring to as a “Gnostic angelâ€, an Aeon. But again, Ludo does not know this.
Not much happens. It isn’t so much that it is unintelligent (though it well may be). It is more so that it is cold, dispassionate, and uncaring.
Kallista agrees on the course of action. Kallista will try to get Valentino alone and say, [color=red]If you can't tell, I'm new to leading groups of men into battle. And you have much more experience than I. I will not be upset if you take a commanding lead.
While at camp and before going to sleep Valentino will talk to the two grogs. He wants to familiarize himself with their combat methods. [OOC - Marko, do you use house rules for groups? I wasn't sure if that was why you had the grogs saying what they said.] If their techniques are compatible, then he'll try to work on training a little with them each of tonight and the next two nights on the way to the ogres. It won't be enough time, but it will help them understand each other.
[OOC - Can we jump ahead two days?]
Inigo, clearly infected with the sport of the moment, floats down from above just as Carmen and Dimir Taar are preparing to become invisible and take off. He grins, clapping the Verditius on the shoulder. [color=red]Hail, friends. I shall join you as well, I think. I would not want to be left out of the fun.
Awesome
OOC: I'm fine with it. I'll post the charm I made while Valentino was gone and the one I'd like to make the following evening.
I do want to chat up Maurice about faeries in the area, seems to know a little about them, enough that i would expect someone with some contact to have. And let him know Faeries are changable, just not by themselves and not by anyone. I won't argue the point with him though, if he thinks otherwise.
Let me know how bad travel is, I will need to cast some sponts to keep the bushes and brambles and dirt off my silks and person if we get into brush.
I am unsure why you think they would not be compatible. No HR, standard RAW. If you train with the others in a group for at least a season, you can fight alongside them as part of a “Trained Groupâ€. Perfect for a School of Ramius guy like yourself. Just use your sword, augment yourself and your grogs with your magic, and reap the benefits of Trained Group combat rules .
Jump ahead, that is cool by me. I will give you a recon report later and let you know what intelligence you have received. Travel isn’t bad at all. But maybe to Kallista’s pov, since she is not at all the outdoors type 
Okay, Callen, Kallista, Yan and Ken...
Recon and Intelligence report:
(hand waving what would be a cool side adventure in a tabletop game for sake of the time consideration PbP format).
Armando and Alberto find a good strategic location to use as a base of operations. It is a cliff with lots of rocks to hide behind, it overlooks "Bone Hill" down in a valley about three quarters of a mile away.
Callen, when you went to report to the main camp, Armando included a letter requisitioning three items: A looking glass, a length of rope, and a cloak. The looking glass magically increases vision of course. The robe is virtually unbreakable and moves on command. The third thing was unavailable though, a cloak of invisibility. Either someone else is using it or they forgot to pack it.
But they get the job done anyway. Long story short, they scouted the area and spied on them with the looking glass. The hill is rocky and scattered with refuse. The cottage is large and made of stone, crude craftsmanship. It is surrounded by a low rock wall with spikes posted along the top. The spikes are carved bone, unsure if it is human or animal or both. They have dogs, ogre dogs the size of horses.
Only a brief sighting of the hag when she threw a pail of slop out the window. Large, very ugly, but not as gigantic as you would think (size +1). She seems to be active all through the night, if the smoke from the chimney is accurate indicator. There are several ogres there as well. No more than three were ever seen together at the same time, but they think there may be four or five total. One seems to be the obvious leader, a small giant (size +3) wearing ring-mail armour and carrying a giant axe. He spends a lot of time with the dogs. The others wear leathers or furs and carry cudgels. One carried a long spear.
There are bones strewn everywhere. There is one tree, black and barren. The only other vegetation consists of weeds thistles and thorns sparsely scattered amongst otherwise barren gravel and rocks. They saw one particularly grisly sight, the naked headless corpse of a child being tossed to the dogs.
This is an evil that is not infernal. They are magical monsters that care nothing about humanity save as a source of food. Demons do not care about them because they are magic beings and have no souls.