The butterfly would slow things down a lot more... at that point you might as well walk.
For Tastheus, that will depend if his sodales want really have their familiars with them or not. It's just another proof for him that familiar can be more issue than soluce.
For now, let's progress without the familiar, and Plasmatoris will promise his familiar that he'll find a way to include him more readily in the future on wandering adventures.
Onto Cairo then. I think I'll have to figure out as well how to help my familiar follow along.
So back to the original question, now with an addendum- do you procede without your parma or do you change back to human to cast your parma then attempt to repeat the transformation without the aura's boost? Also do you slow down for the Ibis?
We'll fly as straight to Cairo as possible. I don't think anyone wants to gain 15 warping from having to stop every sun period and having me recast the spell again. Plus casting it outside of a magic aura several times will probably be a problem to help the other magi. Likewise, I'll make do without my familiar for the trip and probably figure out how to help it follow on in future trips.
You suspect you may have drifted off course while snoozing during the night, not being accustomed to long distance flying as a kite and suspect you should have eaten more before you left as your stomachs are grumbling, but shortly before noon the next day you arrive above Cairo, A city of tan, beige and brown sprawling from the Nile which winds through its center.
Plasmatoris had a primary concern, reestablishing his Parma Magica. That done, he would like to deal with food - hoping we have supplies for our food needs, but if not, then he would ask if a grog could acquire supplies. Plasmatoris will, unless he is aware of a foreign aura, use magic to enhance the taste of food.
Flying as Kites you were not able to bring supplies, and have only one grog with you- a translator.
After a long session of flying, they landed. Tastheus were really hungry, like after a too long effort. However, his first thinking was about his Parma, shut off during the travelling. His second for finding food, for him and his sodales and, accessory, for their translator.
He's looking the grog with them : "Do you know the city ? Can you guide you inside for finding food ?"
"I could, if we had coin with which to purchase the food. If you have support within the city we should probably start there."
"I would start with the local Mercere House, although I thought we had agreed that I would go there alone for now. I hate to say this, but for food, as much as I'm sure we'll all enjoy good meals while in Cairo, if we're to fly to Provence in kite form without having to constantly recast the spell, chances are we'll need to eat in kite form along the way. A thought to keep in mind... if we need to adjust our plans, may as well say that now."
(OOC: agreed we could not have brought much supply, but I would think we would be able to carry some minimal equipment like the coins fitting in the pockets of our clothes, cause I can't think of leaving the house without cash much like I can't think of leaving without my keys. Note that a terram requisite, if asked, wouldn't have impacted the casting total for the spell for Aetherius)
The spell description is specific that it only transforms books and clothing made of animal products. If you want to create a variant spell to include coins you can spend lab time to do so. Alternately picking up a bad of coins in your claws would certainly look unnatural and have some effect on speed, but again it was not something you chose to do.
The word only is not found in that spell's description. The spell explicitly enables you to bring book and clothing, but is not at all specific on saying that it leaves the content of the clothing's pockets behind or that you can't include optional casting requisites that aren't mandated by the spell. Shape of the Woodland prowler (wolf), The Desert Wanderer (camel), Cloak of the Black Feathers (raven), Shadow on the Sand (vulture), Cloak of fins and scale (fish), Form of the Aquatic predator (shark), Stance of the patient tree (Tree), etc... None of those say anything about casting requisites. By your ruling, Preternatural Growth and Shrinking would always break the gear of the person if you're using the growth option. Is it that none of the magi in Mythic Europe value the usefulness of their own gear and no one in several centuries has been intelligent enough to invent a spell that allows for optional casting requisites, and the creator of PG&S wanted the option to have naked giants but not clothed ones? I think not. Casting requisites are only written in shapechanging spells when special rules need to be created for them. Spells don't need to restate the base guidelines for the TechForm they're part of. Optional casting requisites is part of the Muto Animal guidelines.
Also "it was not something I chose to do", I beg to differ. I agree that I didn't specify it at the start, because for me moving with your gear is common sense. I certainly didn't intend to disarm the guard, or move to Cairo without silver. You must think I'm completely nuts if you think I'm planning to live as a pauper in Provence for several weeks while looking for a prophet. So while I didn't specify the casting requisites, you also didn't say anything about my coins dropping out of my clothes as I shapechanged, because I would have stopped you right there. I assumed my common sense would be shared, and you assumed I didn't want to bring my gear. At some point, we need to be able to correct course when our interpretations of what I decided to do off screen doesn't match. This is the first time you say we're penniless so I'm correcting you because much like mastercard, when it comes to silver coins: don't leave home without it.
Actually my assumption was that you would check on accounts at the mercere house, since they are, amongst other things, the bankers of the order, and would thus probably eliminate the need for you to carry cash in kite form.
Beyond knowing that I can probably get a free meal at the Mercere House, I have zero idea how that would work
Imagine it like this- there is one bank in town. You may or may not have an account with money in it, but they are almost certain to be willing to advance you some amount of money on a signature loan either way.
Sure. Borrowing can be useful if we run out of funds during the trip. But what we borrow, we have to pay back. Which means I'll be responsible for carrying funds from our covenant to the Mercere House in Cairo since I'm the only point of contact (or finding another way to make an offset for that debt). Which means either carrying funds in kite form, or waiting until I have Leap of Homecoming for the sole purpose of facilitating a transfer of funds. Leap of Homecoming is at least 4 seasons of arts study plus another lab season - and even at that point I'll rely on a strong magical aura to use it so I may end up flying back in kite form. I don't know that spending the next two years learning a transportation spell that I won't yet be able to reliably use when I already have one that takes advantage of my magical focus is my #1 priority. I'll learn it at some point, but probably not right away, and I'm toying with the idea of a Boosted or range touch version once I learn it instead which if I do would push the project even further down the road. I'll depend on my shape of the ancient kite for the foreseeable future, unless I find an overriding reason to learn Leap of homecoming rapidly.
Fundamentally what we have here is the difference between making plans and insisting that you would have made plans. I have stressed on multiple occasions that I do not do retconning or handwaving of these issues, and yet once again you are trying to argue for exactly that outcome.
Personally I find it just as likely that a magus shortly after their apprenticeship who never had to worry about money simply didn't think about it if it comes right down to it.
(OOC: Could we send a bunch of grogs with the funds, with arcane connections to them in case they get stolen, in the future?)