The runes are at the missing king barrow. Gregorius will also note to Fray that when he tried to cast a spell to discern the size of the structure the runes were in, he instead got a vision of what appeared to be a plan for the room, or one somewhat like it - there were noticeable differences - and that he then noticed a rune which seemed to be building plans glowing.
The magi have camped on top of the fort barrow (accidentally), but not made any effort to get into it.
If what you're talking about is study or lab work, there's no need for roleplay--you can just detail it in the Seasonal Activities thread.
Scott
In terms of the barrow timeline, Fray had previously headed back to the covenant (see Oct 2012 post above). How do we get this rolling again?
That depends on what you want to get rolling. 
What is Fray doing after heading back to the covenant? Either start a thread, or, if it's mostly just "paperwork", describing what he's doing in Seasonal Activities. I am perfectly OK with players starting their own stories--in fact, I prefer it that way, since it's a more natural way for things to progress (that doesn't mean that surprises won't throw a wrench in things, of course!).
Scott
(Speaking personally), if we're doing things as seasonal activities, it would be useful to have a "and now X amount of time is passing, what are you doing in it?" note.
I already mentioned this in the caves thread, but I should repeat it here so that everyone will see it: I've spent the last week dealing with a car accident (insurance and finding a new car). I should have time next week to sort our the timeline.
Scott
Ouch - hope nobody was hurt?
Thanks for doing the chronology.
If it's useful, my understanding of when some of the things have happened are:
That sounds right, but wouldn't the quarrying have been taking place since 1226?
Scott
Yes, reading back on the Seasonal Activities thread, they started digging in Spring 1226, and got to usable rock in Summer 1226. It will have taken a while longer to get through to the cave system, though, as the quarry is situated next to the river.
OK, in my composition of the Chronology, I've been through part of the opening story ("Journey to Nowhere") and all of Viola's temple exploration. I'm still in Spring of 1226, and there's quite a bit more to go for that year, but I'll get to it as quickly as possible.
The exercise of reading through the old threads has been valuable in itself, for refreshing my memory on details. I noted that I was mistaken about there being an extra, unexplored staircase in the temple--amul originally described the entrance to the labyrinth level that way, but then corrected himself and said the entrance was through a smashed bas relief.
Also, I've got the regio written up in Viola's character description (the lab section) as having three levels, but amul originally intended it to have only two levels. His original idea might work well, since the open-to-the-sky labyrinth could provide a Natural Environment. Salutor, what do you think about how many levels there should be? I hate to ask you to reveal the future, but, for some bizarre reason, the Regio lab Virtue in Covenants requires the lab to be located on two distinct levels, and if there are only two levels to the regio, that would mean putting part of it in the labyrinth, meaning Viola would have to have dealt with Halia in a more or less decisive fashion. Any thoughts?
Scott
Thank you for doing the chronology MT, its starting to come together more for me as well.
I think two levels works - the furbished temple, lab space + crones on one level, and the maze on the second level. Let's say that you either don't get the full +3 size bonus from being a regio until you sort out your gorgon problem or you take the "Lair" and "Labyrinth" flaws.
We would probably use "Isolated" instead. I'd expect I'd get Labyrinth even after sorting it out...maybe. But I forget what the effects of that one are.
Scott
Agreed - it seems likely to stick around unless it's not appropriate to a revised story (or you successfully knock it down or something, but I'd have to think about how well that would actually work).
The effects of Labyrinth are -1 Safety, -1 Health, -2 Aesthetics, +2 Mentem or Vim.
The effects of Lair are -1 Safety, +1 Warping, +1 on an appropriate Art Specialisation (I can see Muto, Terram or possibly Imaginem here, although willing to listen to arguments for other Arts).
Ugh, penalties to Safety and Health are the two things Viola does her best to avoid. Maybe the labyrinth is big enough to use the extra space to improve safety and health, or something like that. Or may she'll just need to change the story.
Scott
Could someone possibly enlighten me about this page of the barrow thread?
https://forum.atlas-games.com/t/hermetic-generations/261/1
In the top post, there's a reference to a conversation about "these days" that I can't find on the previous page. Then, the next post quotes an earlier post that I can't find (even in other threads, such as "OOC Discussion". Did these come from PM's or something? If so, is there more material I'm missing.
Scott
I don't think it was a pm'ed conversation (I don't remember it being, and I can't think of much reason it would have been). The "these days" is just in reference to "These days the local people - Kipchaks - are tribal" in the quote in the second post. I suspect the board was just playing up - it has an occasional tendency to create posts you can only see when you try to quote them.
Huh? How could you try to quote a post without seeing it first? Or do you mean that you can't see it without clicking on the email notification for it, or something like that?
In any case, I didn't lose the thread of the story.
Scott
I think it shows up in the history when you're doing a new post. I think it was linked to that really annoying whereby the thread is highlighted as having a new post but you can't see one. It's been a while since I've run into the problem, though, so I might be misremembering.