Guile is Communication based. 12 -1 Com + 3 Guile is 14, so even if you dump two points of confidence in it, she doesn't fool him.
Inspiration doesn't apply, you're not leading him into battle. You could try ordering him, but his loyalty to Freyr is VERY strong.
"I will not endure my lord's wrath by endangering his guests and putting at risk the legacy of one of his daughters. I can see you are used to getting your way, but my loyalty to Yngvi-Freyr and his line is unfailing." (Perception + Folk Ken if you wish)
Skirnir's head jerks to one side, and he yanks the helm. The boat shakes violently and colors swirl around you... (Perception + Awareness check)
"The doom of Asgard has already been foretold, and it is the Muspelli who will lay us low, not Thor's drunken rages," Skirnir replies with an absent-minded voice... he is still concentrating hard on navigating.
Something whizzes past the boat too fast for Carmen to see what it is, and while Ludwig's hand snakes out in an attempt to catch it, he fails.
A few seconds later, a much larger something tumbles past, after it, also too fast to see (without Per+Aware).
Skirnir holds his course steady, and as the boat shakes, Ludwig shouts, "There!" and Skirnir nods, the boat shaking harder...
The ship shudders hard enough it feels like it's going to crack. The next moment, the ship is floating in blue water, and Thor is swimming away. "Thanks for the ride," he calls out to Skirnir.
Ludwig looks around. "This is the North Sea," he says. "Skirnir, are you willing to take us all the way home?"
The blue-haired manservant nods. "With Skidbladnir, yes," he replies.
The sheep leap off the ship and sprint along in the sky above.
Ludwig points in a direction. "That way, sir," he directs, and suddenly a spray of foam shoots up around everywhere as the ship takes off at high speed.
"Of course, my lady," Skirnir replies in his perfectly-serious voice. Ludwig smirks, "I like this guy's style."
By magical dwarf-crafted ship, the journey back to Andorra takes only a few hours, but when they arrive they realize that time must have flowed differently in the Magic Realm than it did in the real world, because the spring is turning to summer (...handy!). It seems folks were worried, because when your arrival is announced people come out to greet you. Vulcanus grabs Carmen and hugs her like she's a little doll, before clapping Ludwig on the shoulder.
Skirnir unpacks the carefully wrapped book and the egg. He looks at Vulc curiously, but says nothing about the (family?) resemblance. He hands the egg to Carmen and the book to Ludwig (the goblin is tiny but he's still physically stronger than Carmen ), and then gives Carmen a small brass whistle. "Now remember," Skirnir says soberly, "Anything you learn about Myanar, anything at all, just use this whistle and it will summon me."
I thank thee, good sir, and hope to see you again soon.
She responds warmly to all her greeters, and displays what she has brought back with her. Three cloud-sheep, a mysterious book, a phoenix egg that she plans to hatch into a familiar, and a yet to be determined Minor Virtue.
The egg is cool, and stays cold at Carmen's touch. How do you plan to hatch it?
Vulc flips out about the inscription in the front of the book. You can almost see words forming a thought bubble over his head, saying "MIND == BLOWN!!!"
The sheep hop up into the sky over Andorra. Not sure how auras are supposed to work exactly, but assuming they extend "up" the sheep are perfectly happy there.
And don't forget about the bag of sheep-food Freyr gave you. The sheep want to eat more of that stuff.
Storing the egg safely is very simple at this point; the egg is cold and can't catch anything on fire. Ewald of Bonisagus has almost nothing to say about phoenix eggs, because phoenixes lay so rarely. He suggests that new phoenixes are only born into the world according to need, but there's nothing more specific than that.
Nothing Carmen knows about Magic Lore tells her anything about the berries, but when Ludwig notices Carmen staring at them intently, he smirks, "What's wrong, never seen a lingonberry before?" He then picks one up and pops it into his mouth. Then he falls over and starts frothing at the mouth again.
Arachne and Vulcanus. I would like to discuss perhaps constructing a new magical vault so that I can safely lock these away from Loco Ludwig here. Or maybe lock him away from us...
I need to talk to Solomon. My call of forfeiture immunity was apt, for we discovered evidence of stolen goods during our investigation. Including Marie's Pen and my flying carpet! I would like to call for a full Quaesitorial Inquisition into the activities of Cacadakalakas* and the Covenant of Wadanzee!
(*[size=10]I misspelled his name on purpose because I can't remember how to spell his name; and whenever I, as a player, run into that situation, the character I am playing often invents some dismissive nickname[/size])
"What's so important it needs its own vault?" Vulc asks. He takes five minutes to ceremonially cast a spell, and then says, "Vim vis? You want a new vault for a handful of Vim vis?" He shakes his head incredulously, Carmen's facetious tone of voice having completely escaped his notice.
(realizes her quip went right over Vulc's head)
Yes. That's it. Exactly.
So I have been thinking about Carmen's new Minor Virtue. At one point I considered Unaging, but nothing that occurred harmonizes with that. Puissant Leadership? Maybe, her efforts there failed but she still got results. She did beat Thor legit with that Fast Cast spell, so maybe Fast Caster? Or maybe Luck?
What do you think?
None of those sound particularly fitting for the adventure. Second Sight, however, would be very appropriate, as would Special Circumstances (when flying).
Fédora half smiles. [color=blue]"I know how much some magi enjoy casting spells...but I have a couple of items that could have guaged the amount and type of vis. I could have gotten it and made the measurements in the time it took you to do that." She glances at Vibria. [color=blue]"Although I can see why you would go to the extra effort."
Vibria coos over phoenix egg, and reaches out to touch it carefully. ((What does she know about the Care and Feeding of Phoenix Eggs? Int 1 + Magic Lore 4 + die roll of 7 = 12.))
Vulc's face turns red with anger, and he retorts, "A craftsman of my caliber is not going to waste a season making items with effects so trivial even I can spont them."
What do you know? Less than nothing. Phoenixes die and are reborn out of their own ashes. You suppose an egg COULD be part of that process, but you've never heard anything to that effect.
When Vibria touches the egg gently, it gradually warms up. (The amount of heat it generates is proportional to how much of her skin is touching it.)
), and then gives Carmen a small brass whistle. "Now remember," Skirnir says soberly, "Anything you learn about Myanar, anything at all, just use this whistle and it will summon me."
