Spring 1221: Prelude- Et cetera

He sucrried away already, after getting Sophronia out of the tent? She didn't even get a chance to say, "But I'm here for the prince?" or throw a Confusion ofthe Numbed Will at him to allow her to remain?

He'll scurry off as soon as they're out of the tent, but obviously if you prevent him from going very far, he.... won't get very far.

I'm trying to understand, after he got Soprhonia out of the tent, he left. Is someone guarding the tent, or can she just waltz right back in? If their contact was more than a moment or two she'd peer into his mortal mind and root around for a bit. It's fine if this can't be done, I'm just trying to get a handle on what her options are. And if she has none, she'll wait for the prince to arrive.

OK, now that I'm home and can read the exact spell description of Peering into the Mortal Mind, I should have given you a bit more :slight_smile:

Yes, he left the tent as soon as he got Sophronia out of it. There are two guards outside on either side of the tent's entrance. It's more of a pavilion than a camping tent, in case that wasn't implicit by nature of belonging to a Prince.

Braith lives in terror of Eifion, the seneschal. Braith adores his Prince, despite having only a very superficial and subservient relationship with the man, and truly believes in restoring him to the throne of Gwynedd, his by right of birth. He believes that Llewelyn rules Gwynedd despite being further down the succession line than Prince Thomas because of his subservience to the English, but now that King John of England is dead, Thomas can take his rightful place. Immediately, he really wants the great oaf to return his Prince to the camp so that the meal Braith went through all the trouble of planning (but not cooking) actually gets eaten and appreciated... but, again, he doesn't expect that to happen any time soon. He really doesn't like the great oaf, despite his wonderful reputation, because he wears that stupid red hat all the time, as though it were some kind of honour, instead of a sign of the knight's exceedingly poor taste in apparel.

Braith's greatest desire is to see his Prince restored to his throne, unite all of Cymru, and then establish independence from the English and their Norman overlords. His strengths are the depths of his devotion to his master, and his unflagging courtesy. His weaknesses are his spinelessness and total lack of personal initiative... which could be seen as a strength, since it makes him an ideal manservant.

((I thought you were being parsiminous with info, but I wasn't going to argue about it! :smiley: ))

If she can, Sophronia will cast Confusion of the Numbed Will [1] on Eifon, when he tries to usher her out, and then stay someplace inconspicuous, but not hidden, and be quiet. Suggestiong that, "I'm here to see the prince, on some important business." Her suggestion will not be overly sexual, but will hint at it. Of course, no charm or etiquette[2]

(([1]CS is 22 vs levl 15, with a die roll of 8. Spell detail:Confuses a person, who must make an Intelligence stress roll to take any direct action. A roll of 12+ ends the spell, while a roll of 9+ lets the character take the intended action, but the spell remains in effect. Any lower roll means the character is confused and takes some other type of action. When it is imperative for the victim to take an action, the storyguide should allow an appropriate modifier to the roll. While under this spell, a character always strikes last in combat and gets at least a –1 on all attacking and defending rolls.

[2]So only a strait Com die roll...of a non botching 0. For a total score of 3. Let's hope he's really numb!))

invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3363447/ (First round Braith may take an action, but the spell is still active; in the second round he rolls a 'splody die and the spell ends entirely.)

Braith isn't fazed, and runs out of the tent, screaming "Help! HELP!" immediately after Sophia waves around her hands and chants in some fell language, and he feels his mind covered in a fog; a moment later, however, he recovers fully, and immediately feels silly for having overreacted. As a guard rushes to Braith and asks, "What's the matter?" the manservant just looks sheepish. "It-- it is nothing. I thought I saw... a snake, and-- it was just a stick." The guard rolls his eyes and returns to his post.

How long will Sophronia wait within the tent, knowing that his servants don't expect him back before dinner?

I would think with Deft mentem that I wouldn't have to mention everytime Sophronia cast's a Mentem spell that I have to spell it out as Deft. I did it initially to reinforce the point... So, I don't think he'd run off screaming because she waves her hands around and chants in latin, since it didn't happen.

I don't memorize your character sheets; if you're casting non-standardly please mention it.

He does still run from the tent, but he is embarrassed enough about his own Dark Secret that he keeps his wits about him sufficiently not to shout for help.

((Well, I don't consider this nonstandard for her. I mentioned the deft casting previously in all her other Mentem spells. I will endeavor to continue to do that in the future.))

So, Sophronia's all alone in the pavillion, waiting in a likely inconspicuous spot?

Yes, Sophia is alone in the tent. Again I ask, how long will she wait there, knowing that the Prince is not expected to be back in time for dinner?

But someone was trying to shoo her out before the prince arrives. Suggests something else is a foot... She will hang around for a while. About what time is it?

That's what came out of his mouth but his mind said something else entirely. This isn't Sophia's first rodeo, and mundane lies shouldn't make her second-guess the results of powerful Intellego Mentem spells.

It is not quite lunchtime.

She's not second guessing anything. She's waiting. InMe never lies, unless you've got super CrMe capabilities...

So again, my question is, how long does she wait?

Until something happens, or until a suficient interval of daylight to return to her sanctum by nightfall, whichever comes alst.

...Ooookay.

Sophronia waits all day and all night, and in the early hours of morning some servants show up to pack up and dismantle the pavilion.

In other words-- turns out no one here had super CrMe abilities, and what she read from Braith's mind appears to have been true.

Alright, I had that all turned around. Soprhonia goes home at nightfall, unless you allow me to reverse her actions. Fair enough if she goes home. It's my fault for not reading it more carefully.

What did you think I said, so I know where to retcon from? (I thought it was pretty obvious where she could find the Prince, and just figured you were being uber-paranoid in expecting there was a grand conspiracy to mislead Intellego magic.)

I had it in my head that he said the prince wasn't coming, but was thinking (and Sophornia could read his mind) that he was. I totally turned myself around. I suppose I read it one way, and when I went back to reread it, I colored the text, until you corrected me.

I suppose I need to find out more about this Eifion. If she can step out of the tent around noon, she'll mention Eifon's names to one of the guards and see if it makes him think of where he is. She'll then cast Peering into the Mortal Mind[1], deftly.

[1] Succeed with a CS of 29 + die roll of 6.