Artes Liberales: 01 , Philosophiae: 0 (no xp).
Not really a huge benefit for Serrano.
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On a whim, Viscaria will ask Serrano to keep an eye out for plants which would also be good sources for the types of potash she needs to make glass. This will probably sorely tax their communication skills.
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It's a forest untouched by man. Dead wood will be in abundance. If the trees are awakened, we should probably pick someone specific to be our ambassador to them.
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Ugh. Magi forced to work as farmers. I'd rather find some more Mythical solution, like finding some magical animals to barter with. There are only six of us, and the island seems pretty big. Maybe we can just forage until I can build some servants for us to do our farming.
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Aura 5 is about as high as you can go without getting exposed to yearly warping effects. If we can find an Aura 6 area or higher, it'd be best to set up somewhere nearby, but not actually IN the area. Helena is the only one of us with enough Intellego Vim to be able to determine such things, though.
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Ironically, we all suck at astronomy. Our highest Artes Liberales is 2 (ritual magic).
I like Ravencroft's suggestion of spending a season looking for a permanent site. We can hole up in the caves (Viscaria votes for referring to them as The Janus Caves) for the season. Our magics are more than enough to make the place hospitable until we find a good location.
Viscaria doesn't have a lot of useful skills for scouting out the mundane needs, and so will be focused on defense, craft resources and metaphysics.
- Metaphysics: Best would be Aura 5, with a pocket of 6+ somewhere inside our covenant, so that we can take advantage of the higher Aura when needed, but don't have to live with the warping. If we can find a naturally occurring magical effect that would enhance our lives, even better.
- Defense: It should be easy to defend by us against mystical and mundane threats -- higher ground, clear sight lines, or some unusual advantage at ST discretion. She'd also prefer a discreet location.
- Craft Resources: Fiber cloth options, dyes, etc for Serrano, a vein of (noble?) metal or some such for Viscaria (see table on ArM5, pg 97, looking for anything better than Hard Stone). She isn't concerned about being near sand, but possibly a good source of high quality potash, if we can find some such, but I'm assuming that isn't going to be an option.
Preference wise, I guess the metaphysics request is most important to her, with defense 2nd, and craft resources a close 3rd.
Viscaria's relevant skills are going to be:
Second Sight (faeries) 2 + Per 0
Magic Theory 5 + Int 3
Spont Intellego Terram: 15+ Aura + 5 Ceremonial Casting /2
Spont Intellego Vim : 8 + Aura + 5 Ceremonial Casting /2
Cygna would much prefer something above-ground, maybe on a hill or mountain, something that it would be relatively easy for her to fly in and out of.
Ooc (and without rereading Covenants to see what we can afford points-wise or whatever) this is what I think we should be looking for in a covenant location.
[]Something defensible, with either limited access or protected on at least one side...e.g. on a mountain, against a cliff, or on a river.[/]
[]Access to fresh water, either a river or a spring of some kind.[/]
[]If we're thinking very long-term, being on or near arable land, so our grogs can raise crops and stock.[/]
[]Access to the Janus Caves (and I think that name is 100% pure awesome sauce...and a very nice, subtle pun, there, amul) is, I think, a must. I would be surprised if the caves weren't rather extensive, once we explored them more fully.[/]
I really hope that it doesn't take a full season to find a suitable site. Hopefully a week,tops. If our island is the same size as Rodrigues (a little over 100 square km, or 45 square miles), if we explore a mile a day, that would take a month and a half.
That's news to me. I can maybe see one or two trees in a very high magic aura (and, iirc, we haven't determined the aura of the surface yet...we should fix that), but I don't remember that being the norm in any level of magic aura. Of course, I've not read all the books, and I may have missed it in the book I have read.
(btw...if Cygna couldn't feel how strong the aura was when she changed, she will go ahead and Spont an InVi to “Determine the power of a mystical aura.” Base 2, Range=Touch? (+1) or Voice?(+2), Duration=Momentary and Target=Individual (for An Aura), for a total of 3 or 4. In + Vi + Sta + Aura + Stress Die = 6+3+0+x+1d10=5 = (14+x)/2 = roughly 7+.) Dang. Went off on a tangent and forgot what I was saying. Anyhoo.
We may want to have some of us (Viscaria and Heims?) explore the caves while the rest of us explore the surface. I'm hoping that the surface is substantially larger than the cave system.
If we do build somewhere with access to the cave system (again, long-term), it might behoove us to wall off the access and have a secret doorway or entrance, to keep those durn meddlin' kids from stumbling across it.
I also like the idea of trying find an Aura 5 location for the covenant. I would like to think something in Magic Theory will tell the characters that “areas with powerful Auras tend to have x features,” but I've got a feeling that either it doesn't, or it's so variable that even mundane places have similar features, or that they would be so subtle that we wouldn't notice them.
Cygna believes very strongly that, whatever we decide about where to place the covenant, we should do so with the absolute minimum disruption to the pristine wilderness that we have discovered...or that we have been sent to. She grudgingly accepts that some disruption is inevitable, but may have a different definition of “inevitable” than others.
She will also, in what little “down time” we have, spend a lot of time just wandering around...not so much exploring as reveling in the scenery.
Possibly relevant skills/abilities to the project (and to staying alive): Wilderness Sense, Animal Ken (if we find any critters), and Survival.
Yes, I'm trying to avoid thinking about Covenants terminology until JM tells me to.
Against a cliff is actually less defensible than on top of a cliff. If you're against a cliff, you can be attacked from above. That's with mundane assaults, though.
Thanks for noticing the pun!
I am suggesting that we spend a season to select the most suitable site, not merely "find." This would involve all kinds of arcane math, booming voices, sweeping gestures, Intellego spells, debates, and discussions.
Besides which, this is Ars Magica! Our only units of time are Rounds, Diameters, Suns, Moons, Seasons and Years, until someone picks up the appropriate Mystery. ~ducks~
Depending on how far into Winter 1222 we are, I wouldn't object to saying "the rest of Winter 1222."
According to Realms of Power: Magic, trees have a human-level consciousness in Aura 6 or higher. Likewise, Magical Animals and Magical Things like Elementals are a result of warping points, which also require Aura 6.
Note that I would consider awakened plantlife which would be willing to act as sentries for us would count as an example of those "unusual tactical advantages" that I was asking for.
If the cave system is that extensive, then I would absolutely be fine with sending the two Strong Fae Blooded, with their ability to see in the dark, off to explore the caves. They're the best choices RP-wise too.
I doubt it is as simple as a list of common features. I suspect it is more like understanding what makes good composition. (Tangent: are there Ley Lines in ArM?) But yes, I am also assuming that being versed in Magic Theory will give you the knowledge needed to locate magic-rich environments. Whether or not we have the tools which can take advantage of that is another question, I'm guessing.
Viscaria will readily "agree" with Cygna, but seems to actually be saying that we should make efforts to counterbalance the rampant damage we plan to inflict on the terrain with hermetic bandages. For example, designing hermetic architectural columns to replace the mystical functionality of the trees we harvest. No matter how hard Cygna tries to explain the difference between her point and Viscaria's, Viscaria will continue to think they are violently agreeing with each other.
"Yes, it is important not to disturb the flow of Vis through this valley."
"The tree is important, Viscaria!"
"That's what I just said!"
W00t! Animal Ken! Bringing us one step closer to riding home on the backs of an armada of giant war tortoises!
That actually makes more sense than...whatever the heck I was thinking of.
If Cygna gets her heart set on a particular locale, I expect “debates and discussions” to be putting it mildly.
JM said that his winter runs from January through March, so we're about a third of the way through. So, yeah, the rest of winter sounds about right, considering what we (don't) have to work with.
Ah...I don't have RoP:M...that would explain why it wasn't ringing a bell. Although having ents as bouncers would be awesome.
(even more ooc – has Cygna seen any animals yet? JM has mentioned insects and birds, but not animals, that I can recall. I could have sworn that I read in HoH: MC that Bjornaer, in their heartbeast form, speak a language according to their aspected nature with native fluency, but I can't find that ref for the life of me. If I'm remembering right, then Cygna would almost certainly be able to speak with some of the birds more easily than animals)
Statistics of Shapechangers , HoH: MC , page 23
6. Communicating
Swans , Storks and Herons will have a shared language.
Animal Ken , ArM 05 , page 62
You hear and see several species of birds, rodents, at leat two species of large predatorial cats, and anything that is endemic to the Galapagos islands. Some of these creatures may be magical - but you'll have to hunt them to find out.
I assume there are roughly 2 months left in this season.
Who looks after food? What kind of food? Who cooks it (or is it raw berries with steak tartar)? Anybody who stands guard at night? Wh obrings it to the search parties?
Which other "household chores" have you planned? Creating pottery? skinning animals? Building rocking chairs? Digging latirnes (or do you just go and shit in the jungle)?
How many people are needed to perform them? If you split the work evenly, still tell me because the more time you spend cooking the less you have for exploring. The less time you spend cooking, the likelier it is that you will lose weight (, which is something nice to roleplay after the holidays).
How many spells that require stress rolls do you each cast in this season (roughly; estimate spells per day, then multiply with 60)?
Don't worry about boons and hooks. They don't have to balance. And I won't use a full list of them. I'll look at aura, health, defensibility, proximity to whatever etc - but I won't count boons. Later, when you have labs, you can still customize them using covenants (and the book creation ruls may be very useful), but the income rules will have to be altered since right now, there are no buyers for goods and services.
Right now everything is beautiful undespoiled nature (magic auras of 3-5, the higher ones being more common).
As Serrano is more interested in useful plants , what can be found?
Endemic plants only?
Serrano will be doing quite a lot of Rego sponts.
Terram for moving dirt for latrines , unless someone has better Arts for this.
A long-drop dunny (toilet) with a seat should be no problem.
He did in fact bring a wooden chair with him.
This can be used as a template to create more chairs.
If he can find a suitable spot for planting , he will create at least one size +03 tree per day.
Citrus will probably do well. Oak for building , if it will grow.Others as suggested.
None of us have any cooking skills that i am aware of.
Serrano does have the formulaic Taste of the Herbs & Spices.
Sod_Ales will have to lower Parma for it to work most likely.
Will work out Penetration later.
Cooked vegetarian food is possible using ReHe.
Unless Finesse rolls are better than average , it will be pretty ordinary.
Try ReAn sponts for Fishing and ReAq to get salt from seawater.
Anyone with better Terram can create salt for preserving food.
ReHe sponts to create jams and pickled veggies.
Anyone catches any animals that are peltable , ReAn to cure.
Winter pelts have the best fur , but due to environment i guess this isnt an option.
Serrano does not have enough ReAn to grow fur on living animals.
I was thinking of circumnavigating the island first.
Seeing if one can walk around it via the beaches.
When we do later inland exploring , set up a number of base camps.
Probably more sensible to at least travel in pairs and forage as we go.
Seems that Serrano will be doing at least 6 spells per day.
So i guess i better get busy with Invisible Castle and do 360 rolls for spells
and at least that many again for Finesse.
What if we decide to build a boat?
Are there other islands nearby?
Permanently creating sth from nothing is a ritual, which cannot be cast spontaneously since it requires vis.
There may or may not be other islands nearby.
I was asking because of the rolls. If you cast too many spells, you will be entirely twilight-ridden before long.
peregrine asked for animal Ken: Try it!
That is a chance i will have to take , it can happen at any time.
First 50 rolls: [Spell , Finesse Roll] link
Once i work out the level of spells being cast for sponts ,
we will know which ones are affected by Chaotic Magic.
[1d10=9, 1d10=9], [1d10=6, 1d10=3], [1d10=9, 1d10=4], [1d10=7, 1d10=9], [1d10=6, 1d10=3],
[1d10=6, 1d10=6], [1d10=4, 1d10=2], [1d10=6, 1d10=1, 1d10=6],
[1d10=10, 1d10=10, 1d10=9] Botch , Gain 1 Twilight Point , Weird Magic Die does not botch.
[1d10=7, 1d10=5], [1d10=2, 1d10=8], [1d10=7, 1d10=1, 1d10=1, 1d10=1, 1d10=4] Finesse Roll: +32
[1d10=7, 1d10=9], [1d10=5, 1d10=8], [1d10=8, 1d10=3], [1d10=8, 1d10=5], [1d10=5, 1d10=7],
[1d10=3, 1d10=6], [1d10=9, 1d10=3], [1d10=8, 1d10=2], [1d10=7, 1d10=1, 1d10=3], [1d10=8, 1d10=2]
2nd 50 Die Rolls: [Spell , Finesse Roll]
[1d10=3, 1d10=8], [1d10=1, 1d10=7, 1d10=2], [1d10=7, 1d10=6], [1d10=4, 1d10=6],
[1d10=8, 1d10=10, 1d10=3], No botch on Finesse Roll.
[1d10=5, 1d10=8], [1d10=1, 1d10=7, 1d10=5], [1d10=7, 1d10=7], [1d10=5, 1d10=4],
[1d10=8, 1d10=1, 1d10=1, 1d10=6], Finesse Roll: +24
[1d10=10, (1d10=6, 1d10=7), 1d10=3], No botch
[1d10=1, 1d10=1, 1d10=2, 1d10=2], [1d10=5, 1d10=1, 1d10=4], [1d10=9, 1d10=8],
[1d10=10, (1d10=1, 1d10=9), 1d10=1, 1d10=8], No botch , Finesse Roll: +16
[1d10=5, 1d10=6], [1d10=2, 1d10=10, 1d10=5], No botch on Finesse Roll
[1d10=2, 1d10=6]
I count 45. One of the rolls you had to roll a couple extra to check for botch, and another you had a couple of 1s doubling that bad boy up, tho.
Ah, that's the thing I was looking for. Thank you. (s'what I get for trying to research past my bedtime). So, Cygna can communicate with any local waterbirds...although I expect them to have an atrocious accent.
Cygna has Survival and Wilderness Sense, so she should be able to keep everyone fed (if not well fed) while we explore. Serrano also has Hunt and Survival, so he can hopefully bring in meat as well. I think if we have Cygna and Serrano forage alternate days, we should be in good shape food-wise.
Do we want search parties going out for days on end, or do we want to come back to Base Camp by sundown? Personally, I would like them to return every night...just so we don't have something picking us off one by one and us not finding something's out there until it's too late. I'm also in favor of going out in pairs (maybe determined by casting lots, at least at first?).
Cygna and Heims both have Awareness 2+0, Helena has it at 3+0, while Serrano has Awareness 1+2, so they should all be suited for normal sentry duty; Berenguer with the -2 Per....not so much. Heims has Second Sight, while Viscaria has Fae Eyes (with Second Sight and seeing in darkness).
Let's see. Viscaria has the craft skills, esp. with glass and stone, so she can make any crockery that we need.
Cygna has Animal Ken and the Phlegmatically-aspected Sanguine heartbeast, so she can talk to most animals we come across. The critters she talks to may be able to help out, as far as telling us what places to avoid, if there are any demons or monsters to look out for, etc. She would also, if she gets a chance (in Heartbeast form) ask some of the local seabirds if there is a mainland somewhere, and if so how far and which way?
As far as clothing goes: Cygna has Sewing 1 while Serrano has Clothier 1, so I think we're okay there. It's not going to be much in the way of ornate, I think, but it will be at least get the job done. Although, for the foreseeable future, we'll be stuck with either mending the clothes we have or cannibalizing our winter wear and remaking it into something more appropriate for the climate.
And I like Ravenscroft's ideas for the privy...I nominate Serrano for Nastycrat. 
I don't anticipate Cygna having to cast any spells in a situation that would require Stress rolls, except for every so often to see if there are any shades in the vicinity. Perhaps one at Janus Caves, and one at whatever site we consider. She will (try to) cast Form of the Phlegmatic Heartbeast on herself when we start deliberating – mainly for the +3 to rolls involving intuition and memory and the temporary Personality Trait Cool-Headed +3 (which would basically cancel out her Wrathful for the duration, I think).
So, assume +5 unless told otherwise?
Viscaria can create a latrine pit with her Burrowfingers spell (PeTe 20, Casting Total 20 + die roll, Finesse 0 + ??? + die roll to shape it). I believe Cygna has a Craft:baking skill, which will do for food. Some CrIg rings outside the cave mouth will do in place of guard duty as far as she's concerned. Can probably set up a makeshift glass forge with those CrIg rings too, and use beach sand to make green glass plates, jars, glasses & stuff (Int 3 + Craft:Glass 8 (fae style) = 12+die roll). If we can find a supply of suitable stone, she can fashion any needed furniture (Int 3 + Craft:Stone 2 (fae style) = 6+die roll). Her dwarfly +1 bonus to all Craft skills might get some use too.
Perhaps Serrano can fashion some hammocks for us to sleep in for now.
2 spont'd InVi spells per day while exploring the caves (InVi Base 2 + 1 Touch + 2 Sun, determine power of aura, InVi Base 1 +2 Voice +2 Sun, detect vis). She doesn't need light to see by, but still has her glass disks of moonbeam and torchlight if needed....so say she spends a month exploring the cave system, that's 60 spells. Plus any additional magic she'll need to do to collect vis, avoid danger, etc.
Every other day, she stays at camp, crafting and guarding the camp site. With a bowl of water, the rings of fire, a bowl of sand and a carved bit of wood, she gives each explorer a simple code of Muto(Form) (Base 1, +4 Arcane Connection, make a minor change) to keep in contact with her when she's in camp.
So....call it 100 rolls? Noteworthy rolls underlined for convenience.
The rest of Winter 1222, InVi to explore caves, craft rolls to make goods, etc. Part 1 of 2. (1d10=7, 1d10=7, 1d10=4, 1d10=5, 1d10=5, 1d10=9, 1d10=8, 1d10=8, 1d10=6, 1d10=3, 1d10=2, 1d10=6, 1d10=9, 1d10=8, 1d10=5, 1d10=4, 1d10=3, 1d10=1, 1d10=6, 1d10=1, 1d10=1, 1d10=5, 1d10=5, 1d10=2, 1d10=6, 1d10=4, 1d10=3, 1d10=7, 1d10=9, 1d10=9, 1d10=6, 1d10=3, 1d10=4, 1d10=9, 1d10=4, 1d10=9, 1d10=1, 1d10=1, 1d10=10, 1d10=8, 1d10=5, 1d10=10, 1d10=5, 1d10=6, 1d10=8, 1d10=2, 1d10=4, 1d10=7, 1d10=4, 1d10=1)
The rest of Winter 1222, InVi to explore caves, craft rolls to make goods, etc. Part 2 of 2. (1d10=2, 1d10=9, 1d10=10, 1d10=7, 1d10=4, 1d10=2, 1d10=9, 1d10=5, 1d10=10, 1d10=3, 1d10=5, 1d10=3, 1d10=7, 1d10=2, 1d10=1, 1d10=2, 1d10=6, 1d10=5, 1d10=1, 1d10=10, 1d10=10, 1d10=2, 1d10=5, 1d10=8, 1d10=4, 1d10=8, 1d10=7, 1d10=7, 1d10=6, 1d10=9, 1d10=9, 1d10=3, 1d10=8, 1d10=6, 1d10=9, 1d10=3, 1d10=4, 1d10=3, 1d10=8, 1d10=6, 1d10=6, 1d10=3, 1d10=10, 1d10=1, 1d10=6, 1d10=4, 1d10=2, 1d10=4, 1d10=4, 1d10=10)
The rest of Winter 1222, InVi to explore caves, craft rolls to make goods, etc. Part 3 of 2 (possible botch on the last roll of Part 2) (1d10=3, 1d10=7, 1d10=7, 1d10=4, 1d10=7)
So, depending on how you want to count stress simple rolls...that's a noteworthy 20, 40, 0nb, 0nb, 4, 20, 0botch, 0nb OR 12, 0nb
(where 0nb = "0, no botch")
Since I have better Terram, leave this stuff to me (and with my knowledge of glass and alchemy, I know how to make salt without magic). You can make chairs if you really want to, but your woodland skills are more needed during this first season.
As mentioned elsewhere, Cygna has baking.
Player to Player, I suggest these should be avoided for now. Let this be a season of hard living while we plan a more reasonable lifestyle for ourselves. No need to get fancy (she says as she builds a glass forge to make faerie-etched glassware), especially with sponts.
This is all genius. Though, again, from the meta-game perspective, Viscaria is designed to be the Base Guard character, whereas your character has usable wilderness skills. I say you go out and help discover the lay of the land. Unless you want to split shifts with me guarding the campsite, since I've said I'm only doing that half the time....although....
What do you think about this:
Viscaria and Hiems explore the caves.
Cygna and Serrano circumnavigate.
Helena and Berenguer (who we haven't heard from since the holidays began) explore grid-system, starting around the Janus Caves.
Again, Viscaria will take every other day off. The two above-ground parties can alternate shifts at camp, so they each spend 6 weeks exploring. This way we always have 2 people at camp, or 1 person at camp and 1 person working on personal projects.
What do you think?
Cygna's initial spell, cast in the Janus Caves, to determine if there are any shades in the area. If I'm reading the InMe guidelines I downloaded from the Atlas website, it's base 5 to sense any supernatural creature with Might associated with Memtem (which, I think, includes ghosts). So, rolling for highest level. First two magnitudes apply to Range, to get it from Personal to Voice, then to Target to get from Individual to Group (in case there's more than one), then any extra effect after that back to Range.
In 6 + Me 10+3 + Sta 0 + Aura 5 + 1d10=10. Well, crap. Iirc, it's 1 Botch Die, +1 for each Aura rating, for a total of +6. Which would be....crosses fingers 1d10=9, 1d10=7, 1d10=7, 1d10=7, 1d10=7, 1d10=8
Whew! No botch! But still gives a Casting total of 24/2=12. So, she can detect any ghost within Voice range?
Oh, and at night, when the others are back at camp, she brainstorms with them and draws up blueprints for the covenant. Her starting plan is a separate Baroque Peasant Hut for each magi, and a central Feast Hall. Since she prefers an underground lab/sanctum, the first floor of her Hut will double as a craft/forge space. She also strongly advocates for a separate lab space for vis extraction, which could be used by multiple people at once.
It is a relatively low Ease Factor to realize that she's talking about 8 building and 40 pawns of Creo or Terram vis, which we don't have.
(Viscaria's Philosophic Alchemy lets her extract vis as an automated process, but she can't experiment in a lab where that is happening. Plus, I'm really hoping we'll pick a location that has a pocket of higher Aura to stick it in).
JM, shall I roll Profession:Architect and Magic Theory to design the covenant buildings now?