Just read through the updated Covenant thread - thanks for doing that. A couple of requests:
Please could you stick a date on when the various totals (such as vis stocks and Prevailing Loyalty) apply as at? Is likely to make it easier to update then in future.
Please could you add the lab texts Gregorius wrote up to the library? They are: Ward Against Metal (ReTe 20), Frosty Breath of the Spoken Lie (InMe 20), Posing the Silent Question (InMe 20), Aura of Rightful Authority (ReMe 20), Comfort of the Weary Travellor (ReIg 10), Call to Slumber (ReMe 10).
Everything applies to the same date, listed in the first post of the thread. That is, everything is updated, other than the finances, which haven't been calculated yet. However, I haven't yet adjusted the Build Points for Vis Stocks (that doesn't really matter, but keeping a running total gives a nice index of covenant progress, and also helps me to keep things organized).
I'd say that was part of investigating the Perdo Vis source, rather than something that needed additional time spent on it.
Ah, okay - sorry, hadn't twigged that.
You mentioned that we still have 2 pawns of vis sources to find out of our initial build points - they could be that Creo source Patrick found in the Marshes?
I had forgotten about that one. That thread I hadn't been back through yet, since worrying about Patrick wasn't my first priority. I'll have a look, and adjust accordingly.
I've just added Patrick's Don delta exploration ("Study Break") to the Chronology; it pretty much has to happen in the Spring of 1228 (because Fray gets involved), but we can place it right at the beginning, and then write Patrick out after that. Given the distance to the Creo vis source Patrick found, I'm not going to make it part of the covenant's starting allotment--it is, rather, a reward for Patrick's exploration.
As for the my progress on the chronology, I just have "Fray's Journey" and "Still Caverns" for to reread and summarize; in fact, I suspect that I'll decide "Still Caverns" starts in Spring, 1228.
On the record-keeping front, I think the remaining are all I need to do:
Calculate the finances.
Update some character sheets, and possibly stat out some covenfolk.
Stat out the labs that don't belong to player characters, and create a thread for them.
I hadn't thought it was that far? Within a day's journey of the covenant, certainly. An alternative source might be someone finally figuring out a way to get the covenant ghosts to yield Mentem vis?
That thread's made enough false starts that it's a bit confusing to me. Have we got it draining through the quarry using Gregorius' plan yet? If it is "draining", is the water level actually going down? Agreed Sping 1228 is the best time.
I'll update my character sheet. Is it okay if I shift on of the proposed Premonitions xp to Concentration?
Something I've just noticed - with the return of the water and the rise of the magic aura, the temple is now always going to have a magic rather than a faerie aura. The result of this will be that it's now a lot harder to see the regio entrance - go go impregnability!
Since Viola knows how to enter the regio, she shouldn't actually need to be able to see the boundary.
...Thinking about it a bit more, that or something like it could possibly provide a reason to the "why would someone care that much about blocking off the fountains" question - if they need to be able to see an otherwise invisible regio boundary...
Conceivably, yes, though I don't think we have any indication the attackers got into the regio--heck, for that matter, we don't know if the members of the old covenant got in, though one was a Merinita, and probably would have managed; if she cared, Viola could probably have gotten that information from the creek faeries.
At any rate, the trick is less knowing where the regio is than getting an invitation inside. It's entirely impregnable as long as no one gets those invitations, but the creek faeries could invite someone at any time, and the fact that they dwell on the outside means that Viola can't really control who they let in (mind you, if summoning them the next time requires the kind of ritual Viola had to perform, it's going to be pretty obvious if someone tries it).
Speaking of invitations, didn't we suggest that you have to be a resident of the regio in order to invite someone else in? That probably means that Viola should take up residence as soon as possible, to make things easier. I was thinking of making her habitation in the main room of the temple (the cella or naos), where the basin is. There should in theory be multiple rooms in the basement, but amul's description has only the main room and the one where the Handmaidens live--unless there's another dooor in that room. One of the two rooms must be the former location of the oracle, but I'm not clear on which one (or maybe there's an oracle room behind the Handmaidens' room).
Scott
EDIT: Actually, since the temple has no running water (not at the mundane level, anyway), the Magic aura there is 3 most of the year--it only covers the Faerie aura in Spring, when it reaches 4.
Tasia must have been present in Autumn 1227, because that's when Fray arrived, and Tasia talked with him. So...I'll incorporate whatever happened to Tasia into the Spring stories.
It also makes sense for Tasia to have learned and cast the Aegis, since she can learn the Mastery Ability more easily than can Viola, who has Loose Magic.
We have a grog captain, Miklos, and his presence greatly affects Prevailing Loyalty (as in, a +8 bonus(.
The charter says the covenant is to distribute half its vis income to hte members each year. We obviously could delay that if the members feels it necessary (given its presence in the charter, doing that will require unanimity), but it's good to keep in mind.
I cant get my head around the way years are tracked in the Chronology thread, as 1226 starts with Spring through to Winter; but 1228 starts with Winter and goes to Spring. I think the order is still a little out of whack. If each year starts in Spring, then the recent Spring should be 1229?
Well, they were evidently the ones who invited Viola in the first place, presumably because that's where they were born, even if they don't live there now. If they didn't invite Viola, who did?
The magi really kind of gave up on the whole situation when they didn't detect any vis. There's more to the world than vis, you know.
The vis harvest from the first two years is 16 pawns; half of that is 8, and a third of that is about 3. So, you could choose three pawns from the following:
