Well, with any luck, she could get this story completed quickly. There was little sense in waiting. "Well, thank you for the care. If you could let him know that I'm awake and prepared to hear his apology in person, I'd be grateful."
She nods once "I'll let him know."
Minutes pass as you wait on the bed before he comes in again. "Milady, I must apologize for my roughness, I never intended you any harm, I am simply overcome by your beauty, and decided that I must have you. If you are spoken for let me know where your husband lives that I might challenge him properly for your hand."
Varinia replies in a stern voice. Best to seize this story by the rains, if she could, and to make it work for her. "You'd best see that it doesn't happen again. I am not a woman much enamoured of violence. And in that vein, you wouldn't win my hand through challenging my husband even if I did have one. If you desire me, you must win my heart, Cú, and only then shall my hand follow."
He stands curtly and nods "You are a stubborn woman, but you will remain my guest until you decide to be mine, whether that means winning your heat or your capitulation." With that pronouncement he exits the room.
"Hmmph," Varinia announces to the room at large. "He's not very good at this courtship thing, is he?" She smirks. Well, there was little point in lying about all day. She throws back the covers, carefully levers herself out of bed, leans against the wall to rest for a moment, then begins exploring the room. If she could find her flute, that would be an excellent start.
The contents of the room seem to consist of a tray filled with perfumes, a basket of pastries and chocolates, and a closet filled with diaphanous gowns and nightgowns.
Hmm. No flute. Annoying, but not an impassable obstacle. Varinia begins whistling a tune, then steps from the wall to begin a slow, careful dance across the room. Gently, she weaves a spell, coming to a head as she reaches the opposite wall. There, she leans out to rest against it, and seems to kiss the wall slightly with her mouth.
OOC
As I understand, casting spells that cost fatigue will risk worsening Varinia's wound, but non-fatiguing casting should be okay. To figure out what she can get away with, she'd like to know the strength of the local aura. That's an Intellego Vim base 2, and using Personal range, Momentary duration, Taste target, and licking the wall, she can manage it with a level 2 spell. As non-fatiguing spontaneous casting, that requires a casting total of 10. hers, for Intellego Vim, is 4 Intellego + 6 Vim + 2 Stamina - 5 Wound Penalty + Aura, or 7 + Aura. So she can pull it off as long as the aura's at least 3 (because as a Merinita, she gets full benefit from faerie auras). If the aura's weaker than that, she can at least use the level 1 guideline to check whether there is an aura at all.There is a level 8 aura present.
Well goodness gracious, thought Varinia as she tasted the raw strength of Faerie within the walls. That certainly opened some possibilities. But there wasn't much she could do with it right now. Perhaps it was time for some more mundane investigation. She grabs another gown from the closet to put over the unfortunately thin existing one—more green, by preference—and heads for the door to begin exploring the castle. She moves slowly, one hand on the wall, going easy on her wound, and stopping regularly to rest.
The door is locked, despite the fact that Chulainn had just walked through it and you heard no key turning. The old woman says "In your condition you should be in bed, let yourself heal."
Ergh. And there went any hope of stopping him from barging in whenever he pleased, too. "Fine. But if he comes back before I wake up, send him away. I don't want my rest disturbed."
Varinia begins humming a lullaby, gently dancing back towards the bed as she weaves a couple more spells. She still doesn't trust anyone here, so firstly, she needs insurance, and secondly it'll be hard to sleep. But both are problems she can solve.
Her eyelids begin to droop as she finishes her dance, and she lowers herself into bed quite quickly, trying to get her head upon the pillow before the sleeping charm takes her over entirely.
OOC
Varinia's going to cast two spells. Firstly, a non-fatiguing spontaneous MuIm to alter herself to the sensation of touch. She'll make herself feel spiny and abrasive, to deter anyone doing anything to her while she's asleep. Her total here is 8 Muto + 6 Imaginem + 2 Stamina + 8 Aura - 5 Wound Penalty = 19. That's a level 3 spell, and she can do it with subtle gestures. Base 1 to change one sensation, +2 Sun duration, with Personal range and Individual target.Secondly, she'll cast her formulaic spell "Gaze of the Lullaby", using Flexible Formulaic Magic to make it Personal range, to make herself fall asleep. It's written to give her a few seconds to lie down after she casts it. At Personal range, it's level 4, and I think she's relaxed enough to use a simple die. Her total here is 1d10 + 4 Rego + 2 Mentem + 2 Stamina + 8 Aura - 5 Wound Penalty = 1d10 + 11. So she can do it without gestures, and still guarantee no loss of fatigue.
When Varinia awakes Chulainn is lying next to her, naked. He looks tempting, like the manifest fantasy of a score of different women. She is still wearing her bedclothes and does not seem to have been disturbed during her rest. Her Parma is down so she knows it has been at least a sunrise or sunset since she went to bed. She has healed to a light wound during her rest.
There's a quick moment of shock as Varinia wakes up, but she soon forces that down. She props herself up on one elbow, quickly taking stock of the fact that her wound seems much better than yesterday, and looks Cú slowly up and down. Then she suddenly bursts out laughing. "You really are terrible at this courtship business, aren't you? Come on, put your clothes back on and join me in a bit of dancing, would you?" She throws the bed covers off herself and across Cú's waist, then climbs out of bed and turns to give him a slightly condescending look while she waits for him to get up.
He wraps the bedsheet around his waist and somehow it is a perfect fit as he claps his hands to summon musicians into the bedchamber.
"Goodness, have you no hall? There's hardly room for a proper dance in here, especially with so many of us." She skips a couple of steps towards Cú, then springs into the air, clicking her hooves together, and spinning away from him on landing.
He seems confused by your actions "You want to dance a jig? That hardly seems like a romantic activity, and more likely to worsen your injuries. I had thought you meant something slower."
"Where I come from, any dance can be romantic if done with the right partner." She smirks at him. "I didn't take you for a man to dance slowly, and nor is it my preference. As for my injuries, I don't doubt a little dancing will do them some good. Just you watch."
Varinia trots backwards a couple of steps, still smirking, and begins singing a little ditty; a port à beul from her homeland. She brings her hands up to join her feet in dancing, and begins weaving a couple of spells. She ends by placing her hands upon her wound, and turning her smile back on Cú.
"See? Much better. Now..." She steps back up to him, extending her hands to take his. "Let's see what you can do."
OOC
Varinia will cast a couple of Creo Corpus spells to bind her wounds. Her Creo Corpus casting score is 4 Creo + 2 Corpus + 2 Stamina + 8 Aura - 1 Wound Penalty = 15 Total.Firstly, she'll cast a non-fatiguing spontaneous spell, level 3. This'll be using the "prevent all of a target’s wounds from getting any worse" guideline, at Personal range, Momentary duration and Individual target. Hopefully that Momentary duration can cover her while she casts the spell immediately following.
Secondly, she'll cast a fatiguing spontaneous spell, protected from her wounds getting any worse by the above spell. This'll be the same guideline, Range and Target, but Sun duration, hence a level 5 spell.
If you don't think that Momentary duration on the first spell will be long enough to protect against casting the second spell, I'll use the "give a character a +3 bonus to Recovery rolls" guideline and Diameter duration for the non-fatiguing spell instead, and make a Recovery roll from the effort of casting the second spell.
Instead of responding in kind he gets angry "You accuse me of not being romantic and then this? You are the most infuriating woman I have ever met!" And he turns to storm out the door.
"Is it really so inconceivable that I'd want to dance with you before I slept with you? It doesn't mean I can't enjoy myself. I'd just like to see a man who can enjoy the things I do."
"If you want to dance with me dance with me, in my arms, not just dance near me or next to me. You do not even take my hands, you dance away and say this is dancing with me."