Vibria agrees to follow his orders, and starts to drink the water Vulcanus left. She tries to stay awake until he returns, though, as she slides under the covers and pulls them up over her. She does have a near-panic when she realizes that she's been burned bald, but quickly tells herself that Vulc was right, it's just "dead Corpus", and it should grow back.
Vibria starts to say something, then quickly thinks better of it. [color=red]"You're right, they are technically covenant property. And if they're in the covenant stores, maybe that's more we can use for enchantments down the road."
She smiles. [color=red]"And, yes, I would very much appreciate if you could save me the shells. They're too beautiful to have anything happen to them."
She lies back, her arms on top of the covers (which are pulled up to cover as much of her as they can). [color=red]"Thank you again, for everything, Vulcanus. You're a wonderful person."
That is so sweet, she thinks as she stumbles out of bed and eases her sore, aching body into the water, sighing as the boiling water pulls the loosest soot off her body. She lays there, half asleep, and just enjoys the hot water for a few minutes before she grabs a sponge and starts to scrub herself clean. She even runs the sponge vigorously over her bare head, hoping that her hair grows back soon.
She then looks around, trying to find the phoenix chick. [color=red]"Lux? Are you still here, girl?" The last she remembers was cuddling her when Vulcanus was bringing her home...but she has no idea what happened after that.
A little squawk draws Vibria's attention up to the windowsill, where the hatchling is sunning herself. The bird spontaneously erupts in a little gout of flame, after which she is, of course, unharmed.
Vibria smiles, glad that Lux is still there, and idly wonders if the little phoenix is as hungry as she is. She then wonders just what phoenixes eat, anyway, and asks Lux that.
Once she's as clean as she's going to get, she slips into something comfortable, reaches for Lux, and makes her way to the dining hall to get some food. She literally can't remember the last time she ate, and it feels like her stomach is gnawing on her backbone.
Vibria gets a vision of a magnificent red bird bathing hordes of enemies in a sea of flame... then the bird retreating and eating a handful of vis from the same blond woman she saw before.
She gets a second vision, of the blond woman talking and laughing with some very handsome men-- one of whom is a dead ringer for Vulc, but with red hair-- at a table spread with magnificent food and drink. The bird just sits beside the blond, quietly watching, seemingly uninterested in the food, though it occasionally pecks at something that looks particularly delicious.
((Does Vibria recognize the food that Lux is pecking at? And can she tell what kind of Vis the phoenix is eating? Int 1 + die roll of 2 = 3 to recognize the food. Int 1 + Magic Theory 3 + die roll of 6 = 10 to recognize the vis (11 if it's Ignem, I think).))
Once she's finished eating, she takes Lux back to her sanctum and lies down for a nap (feeding Lux if she can figure out what she eats).
She gets dressed and picks up Lux again upon awakening, murmuring, [color=red]"I suppose we should figure out what we're supposed to do with you, huh?"
It doesn't take Magic Lore to recognize food. The vision gives the distinct impression that Lux was eating only for flavor and not because she needs to. She ate a piece of some kind of fruit Vibria doesn't recognize, a piece of fat off a roast duck, and a few grains of barley.
Assuming that the vis was labelled conventionally, Lux ate a rook's worth of Ignem (bright red pawns). Noteworthy is the sheer destructive power of the massive fires, the likes of which Vibria has never seen before. Since she ate a rook, that indicates the power she used was a tenth magnitude immolation.
Lux doesn't want any of the food Vibria offers her, until she finds fish sticks and custard, which she nibbles on happily but mostly scatters everywhere and ends up wearing most of it.
Vibria will figure out pretty quickly that Lux doesn't sleep, and occasionally eats for enjoyment but does not need food.
Vibria cuddles Lux as she naps, and watches her for a long while with a wistful smile when she wakes. She finally gets up, says,[color=red] "I bet you'd make a hell of a familiar some day. But you don't belong with me. Or with us, do you? I bet you'd rather be with...whoever that woman is you show me."
She then heads for the council chamber, grabbing the first page(s) she sees and asking them to ask Carmen and Vulcanus to meet her there. Nothing formal, not a full-fledged council meeting or anything.
When they arrive, Vibria looks at Carmen (still stroking Lux behind the neck). [color=red]"I've got good news and bad news. Um...that bad news is that we don't have a phoenix egg anymore."
Vibria receives a vision: the same woman, only her blond hair has become white, and Twilight effects are all over the place: the air shimmers around her as though from heat, her eyes are glowing, and smoke rises from her hair. And those are just the ones you notice.
The woman is conferring with a man Vibria recognizes from portraits as Bonisagus the Founder. "You're sure that she'll survive, then?"
Bonisagus nods. "If you design the ritual by these specifications, yes. If the transformation goes as planned, the bond between you will sever, but if you perform this ritual first then Lux will survive. You'll need a second ritual to preserve her life while the egg is unattended, though; who knows how long it will be before a phoenix can hatch her?"
The white-haired woman shakes her head. "There's no fear of that. I will leave Lux's egg where my filii will find it, and they will know what needs be done."
Bonisagus smiles kindly. "I hope you're right. I could not put such faith in my own apprentices. Not after Jovius." His smile sours with that last, but he sighs and lays one hand over the woman's. "You're so much like your mother, Elaine."
((Does Vibria even need to roll to recognize Elaine as Flambeau's apprentice? Sort of like, "Holy shit, that's George Washington!" type thing?))
Vibria's jaw drops as she realizes who Lux (or her former incarnation) used to be with. And then it falls off completely when it occurs to her that perhaps Elaine had left Lux's egg for her.
((Does Jovius ring a bell? Int 1 + Order of Hermes Lore (History) 2 + die roll of 8 = 11.
Also, it is normal for magi to know their lineage back to the Founder of their house, normally? And, if so, is Vibria (as far as she knows) hermetically descended from Elaine?))
It's far more likely that Elaine left the egg expecting that Trinian, Fulgura, Alaric, Eva, or Lucas would find it and rescue her familiar.
A filius of Bonisagus. First magus ever marched; Bonisagus himself struck the killing blow. A good Code of Hermes roll would tell you Jovius is the reason for that particular clause of the code, but you can easily enough infer that, anyway.
Personally I think the importance of lineage varies from house to house. In Ex Misc, that's probably very uncommon, while in a small house like Mercere every single mage has their lineage from the Founder memorized. In my mind, all the other houses are somewhere in between those two extremes.
If Vbria hasn't traced her lineage yet she can always do so now, and what she discovers is up to you. Being of the fire tradition rather than the destruction tradition, Elaine is a perfectly valid option for your lineage.
I'm thinking Vibria probably knows her lineage about four or five generations back (which would take it about two-thirds of the way to the Founding, roughly). But she may want to research her lineage, now that she suspects who her great-whatever-mater may be.
[color=red]"Do you want to stay here with me? Or with us? Or do you want us to take you to...wherever it was that Carmen found you?" she asks Lux before she goes to meet with Carmen and Vulcanus as above. (how she presents the situation, beyond what she's already said, may depend on Lux's reaction.)
The visions you've gotten from Lux so far have been crisp and clear, as true memories. The next one is hazy and indistinct, with a surreal feeling to it.
You see Elaine, restored to youth and wearing some kind of strange Norse battle armor. Her golden hair is in pleats and she's flying into battle with an axe. There are other similarly-clad women around her, with the same battle cries, wading through giants and beasts while Wagner plays in the background. Vibria feels, through the vision, a sense of longing and loss, but also of acceptance and finality.
She then sees the Eternal Flame, with Lux playing in the fire, preening her feathers within the jets of flame. There's a sense of contentment and joy.
Vibria doesn't quite understand what that last vision was, except maybe that Elaine is with the other women, in battle somewhere, and is where Lux can't ever rejoin her, maybe?
[color=red]"I'll take you back down to the Flame in a bit, you can have a nice firebath, how does that sound?"
Vibria laughs, then sets Lux down on something that won't catch fire, gets on all fours next to her, takes a deep rumbling breath, and slowly breathes a full gout of flame over her.
A couple of minutes later, a rather haggard-looking Vibria opens the door...and the "haggard" doesn't even include the fact that she is bald as...um...well...as an egg. Completely hairless. Not even any eyebrows, or eyelashes. In her arms, she's holding a bird of some kind, obviously a hatchling, since it's still covered in down.
[color=red]"Um...we don't have a phoenix egg anymore."
(I know, I am purposefully messing with the timing, and pretending she is ignorant).
But if it is easier that way, sure. But the very first words out of Carmen's mouth are something to the effect that she wants her egg back and how hard it was to avoid getting pregnant while obtaining it.
:mrgreen:
She wants Vibria to feel uncomfortable and guilty [size=20](that thieving little hussy)[/size].
