And he doesn't understand anything... He'll come back to the inn, where cygna and him slept, and take some AC to the grogs, as they must have left something in the rukus and hurry. Even something from the place they slept (must last some hours, so this'll be enough).
Afterwards, he'll fly back to the waterS, since there's probably a magical aura there, as well as peace.
He'll set up a ceremonial circle, using FFM and aiming to cast the following:
Locate the Missing Soldier InCo 20 [1]
I don't recall the rules for maintaining concentration, but if he can easily, he'll rest, knowing he may need to exert himself in the future. If not, he'll fly towards the grog, holding the AC.
The more time passes, the more anxious he is for cygna. These men are brutes, anything could happen to her, especially if they discover her powers.
[1] Base 3, +4 AC, +1 Concentration
Casting total is awfully low: Sta 2 + Aura ?? + In 02 + Co 10 + AL 3 + Philo 3 = (20 + Aura + Die)/2
So, he's 1 fatigue down, + 2 more, unless he's lucky, in which case it's just +1.
The grogs didn't leave anything behind that the soldiers didn't loot. Finding a Corpus AC will take lots of time, or Intellego magic. Which will Hiems attempt?
Only two of the Baron's men are being held along with Timothy, Michiel, and Charles: an elderly gentleman past his fighting years, and the squat, swarthy gate guard who spotted a vastly outnumbering force of Welshmen creeping towards the manor. The guard cut his watchmate's throat and let the Welsh in the gates to buy his own life.
It's never a good sign when your gm channels C. Montgomery Burns.
Cygna screams. Not only has she not seen anything like this since she killed Adorjan (and even then, she was able to brace herself mentally for the horror), but this is the first time that Adorjan's been able to physically affect anyone...a sure sign that he's growing stronger and that she needs to find some way to stop him. Again.
She slowly circles the cave as she catches her breath, particularly examining the char and the score marks on the walls. Can she tell what made them? Are the char reminiscent of a fire that had been set against the wall for light and heat, or more along the lines of BoAF or Pilums of Fire that had hit the wall? And the score marks...do they look like some kind of animal or monster made them, or something artificial?
As she searches, she tries to fight back tears, and fervently prays that Hiems will be able to find her. She does not doubt that he will be searching for her, if he is at all able, but she also fears that he is at death's door, and also prays that she will see him again.
The man didn't scream or flail, as someone on fire ostensibly would. Actually... She thinks she could see the man smiling. Perhaps Adorjan is creating visions for her, trying to tempt her to corruption? Or maybe he is just screwing with her head? Hard to tell-- youmd have to go back to find out,
Cygna's seen BoAF fallout before, and it looked just like this. There are a few metal chunks stuck into the walls, where spear and sword tips broke off in the walls-- as though a battle was fought here in cramped quarters amidst heat great enough to soften the stone.
Some of the score marks stand out to Cygna's eye-- given the patterns, they look like they were made by beast claws, but there had to be some severely fierce beasts to claw through solid, or even molten, stone.
He doesn't need a Corpus AC, just an AC. So if there was some little thing left behind, like a sock, anachronism aside, or a favorite coin, a covenant symbol, or any small, inocuous and small item, it'll do. Hey! Where did they slept? Ah, no, this must last hours, and too many must have passed.
If there's really nothing, he won't stay very much. This is too dangerous, and success is far from certain. He'll fly high enough to observe the groups of soldiers, try to discern movements, and if he sees new prisonners being brought, will follow them. There's probably some movement here, as people are being brought in or out. Also, if something unusual happens, he'll see it.
[color=red]"Adorjan, what are you trying to do to me?" Cygna yells at the dark. All she needs now is for him to make her start seeing things that aren't there. And it seemed so real, until she stopped and thought about it. What if it happens again, when she doesn't have time to think, and it makes her do something she regrets? Maybe even hurt someone she loves?
[color=red]"I swear by the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost that I will destroy you, even if it takes the rest of my life!"
This makes her very nervous...especially since her Ignem is nowhere near what it could be. And the claw marks on, in the walls. She will examine those, to see if she has any idea what kind of monster or animal made them. ((Int 4 + Magic Lore (Monsters) 2 = 6 + die roll))
She will also try to find a way out, any kind of entrance, exit, shaft, trap door, transporter pad, whatever. Including looking up. ((Per 0 + Awareness 1 = 1 + die roll, or 2+ if it's Sight.))
If the guard lets this slip, Charles will stare at him in dismay, that a soldier will kill his comrade and let the enemy pass.
He will also start looking for a way out. Are they being held in a tent, or a cell? And if a tent, what's to keep them from simply sliding under the edge of the tent?
One set of marks has four long, straight claws, like that of a great cat, but with a deep gouge where the dewclaw would be, which looks like it was made by a raptor talon. This was probably a griffin, or a sphinx.
On the cave floor there are a pair of rear hoofprints, where a beast likely reared up while the stone floor was molten-- but there are claws on the hooves, and markings behind the hooves which seem to have been made bu feathers. This must have been a hippogriff.
There are also markings consistent with elementals of all four types (gravel trails, molten soot trails, tracks within the molten stone where something cooled it rapidly, and while air elementals leave no tracks, the cave does have the lingering scent of ozone).
((Does Cygna know enough about Leona to think that this might have been made by her Chimaeric form? If so...)) That's odd...I wonder what she was doing here, and what caused her to leave these marks?
((Don't know if this is ringing the same bells for Cygna as it is for me, but I doubt it. But it does seem odd...does she know of any magi with an ozone sigil? It would have to be fairly fresh, though, for it to still be noticeable.))
Cygna will focus her attention on the area around the clawmarks as she's looking for an exit. I assume that there's no visible exit overhead? No feel of moving air or anything?
Cygna has seen Leona's chimaeric heartbeast; she has normal lion claws. In fact, the giant snow white wings are the only aspect of heron in her form. Though Leona has taken the shape of a heron alone, which is supposed to be impossible (each person has one heartbeast, and the inner shape is just a refinement upon that. Two heartbeasts is like someone having two souls.)
snerk No, not ringing the same bells for Cygna as you. And besides, the scent of ozone is common enough among Auram effects; only InVi would reveal if it was due to a wizard's sigil.
Cygna has been to Stonehenge Tribunals, and she knows that the Tremere Quaesitor's wife always smelled like ozone. But to be a sigil, it would have had to be something like a 15th+ magnitude ritual to linger around long enough for fungi to grow afterwards, or it's a recent or ongoing effect.
No exit overhead; the tunnel slopes down in one direction, and up in the other. I assume she tries up?
She comes across a great pile of bones, where the dead seem to have been piled carefully.
The tunnel leads to a great square basement, with a great wooden door. It seems to be barred from the other side. There is a ventilation duct in this room, though I confess I have no idea how big a swan is, or if Cygna's heartbeast could squeeze in it. It's about 1'x2'.
So, probably not Leona, then. So much for that idea.
This is also disturbing, in a way. Lots of people died here, but at least they weren't eaten, and the bodies were treated somewhat respectfully, it seems. So, hopefully not a monster.
Just kind of eyeballing from a gis and Wikipedia, and it looks like the body of a mute swan is about a foot and a half wide, and a little more than a foot or so deep. I'm thinking, if she could reach the shaft, with perhaps a Personal-range Rise of the Feathery Body, she should be able to squeeze into it in her human form. It's not like she has much in the way of boobies to keep her out. ((Rise of the Feathery Body is Level 10 for Touch Range – dropping it to Personal should make it a Level 5. Her Spont ReCo CT is Re 5 + Co 5 + Int 4 = 14 + die roll, ÷ 2))
Before she does, though, and assuming she's more or less rested long enough to get her Fatigue back, she is going to spont a Personal Eyes of the Cat on herself: Mu 6 + Co 5 + Int 4 = 15 + die roll, ÷ 2.
For the Eyes of the Cat: [color=red]"♪♫ Oh, that I may see as a cat in the dark/That my plans for escape shall hit the mark ♫♪"
For the Rise of the Feathery Body: [color=red]"♪♫ My body shall rise as free as the breeze/and help me escape with the greatest of ease. ♫♪"
The door opens, and a young girl looks suspiciously into the room. "'ey! Wot you doin' down in 'ere then, eh? Not s'posed to be none down 'ere but th' dead!"
What the...? Cygna thinks. Why didn't my spell work?
Ah...I'm in a crypt. Must be a Divine Aura.
Cygna looks the girl in the eye and sings Posing the Silent Question((with Subtle gestures, -2 for a CT of 24 - 2 + die roll)) to find out where she is. She then brushes past the girl with a haughty [color=red]"It's a long story and one I'd rather not get into, thank you very much!"
Once outside, she will look around to try to get her bearings.
No love on the spell; nothing happens. "'ey! Wot's yer problem then, eh?" she bristles, and pushes Cygna back. "Ye canna jes' come intae a cov'nant an' 'ave yer way about, th' magi won' 'ave it!"
Cygna draws herself up and feels herself about to lose her temper, and gets ready to push the girl back. [color=red]"Wha...? How dare you....wait. Covenant? Which covenant?" Then things start to click, and she realizes why her spells haven't gone off, now.
[color=red]"Burnham? Boy, did I take a wrong turn!" Cygna mutters. Why would Robert have a casting tablet that brings him, or his lover, all the way up here? she wonders. ((Does she know of any Burnham involvement with, basically, anything political or to do with Wales? Or if any of the magi might be interested in what's going on down there? Int 4 + Order of Hermes Lore 1.))
[color=red]"No. Find one of the magi and tell them that Cygna filia Grus of Bjornaer would like to speak with them." She's still rather cross, but not as much at the girl as she was a minute ago.
Nope-- they're apolitical in the extreme. None of them have shown up to a Tribunal in Cygna's life.
"Th' sarjeant kin handle 'at. Ain't near enow coppers in th' 'ole world t' make me go near that lot."
The girl shows Cygna upstairs and down a few hallways, to a training hall. "Sarjeant?" she calls, and a gorgeous hunk of a blond man comes up. "This 'un say she's a maga. Found 'er lurkin' about in th' ruins."
"What were you doing in the ruins, Beth?" he asks sternly.
The girl blushes. "I was jest in th' storage, gettin' barley fer th' ale, an' I 'eard 'er rootin' about on th' t'other side o' th' door."
He nods. "With me, if you would, madam?" he extends an arm to escort Cygna. "Beth, ring the bell, if you would."