Sionnach is definitely not a fan of continental magi coming in to interfeere and will follow along at the very least to know who to keep an eye out for. He will remain mostly in fox form and try to lurk around the city, keeping track of any suspicious boats coming in. He's not overly concerned about where to leave his clothes, he can always fall back on his usual strategy of finding a hollow stump or digging a hole in the ground, but if Arnar's got a better idea, he'll gladly go along.
«Let's find a secluded camp site in the hills, maybe a cave,» Arnar suggests. «I like to be able to change depending on the situation. It is best to find something out of the invaders' path.»
Arnar prefers a rather inaccessible cave, as the eagle's reach is quite far, and he has formulaic spells to carry equipment. The fox may have different preferences. It is good to have a location to meet as well. They see what they can find and agree upon.
"Let's not make it too far off," he says as they survey the land around Wicklow to look for possible places to leave their things. "I'll try to stick close to the docks, but I can't just be out in the open. I'll be on nearby alleys to check for new arrivals and if a particularly suspicious ship approaches could you alert me with some signal?"
«I know. You need to be able to get there without wings too,» Arnar acknowledges.
«Sure. How do I make a sign? Shape a cloud, maybe?»
Arnar stops to think. What level does it take to shape a cloud into an arrow with MuAu or ReAu magic? Would that count as weather magic for the focus? If he can do a L5 weather effect he can spont it without exerting himself. Control a normal weather phenomenon (ReAu5 - base 3 + touch + conc), would that shape and move clouds?
clouds changing shape and moving would be minor phenomenon.
Would the native magi roll dex+stealth, and Hugh roll per+alertness...
[Did we just skip ahead, or where are we in time and space?]
[Dex+Stealth 7]
Did we find a suitable camp site, well out of reach? I was think two miles or more from where expect to meet anyone.
Arnar circles the area at high altitude, trying to identify the invading force. He does not particularly try to hide, he is just an eagle doing what eagles do.
Bran, hearing the rumors, comes to Wicklow and, being gently gifted, decides to just play the part of a wandering bard or minstrel for his room and board as he tries to learn anything he can about strange visitors from England or further east.
[does this also need a dex + stealth? Or is there some better option for rolling to remain inconspicuous in this manner?]
[Hugh rolled a 5, familiar less.]
When Hugh comes to Wicklow, he starts off staying passive, mostly curious to see what everyone else is doing or planning, and how many people show up that he can tell are Magi. He will also look for a Mercere house there, making an assumption that that's why the town was chosen.
[Dex + stealth got me a 13]
As people from the docks pass by, Sionnach hides in nearby street, listening attentively and trying to sense if anything's off from people coming to shore. If seen he'll run off to the next street, always keeping to the same general vicinity, or maybe pretend to be hunting for a mouse or some other small rodent if he feels the person won't bother driving him off. If he hears or feels anything particularly suspicious, he'll be sure to follow as inconspicuously as possible.
With the people coming in off the docks it is fairly clear who is not gently Gifted from the behavior of the crew and other passangers as they disembark. (Hugh roll pre+intrigue or guile), and begin gathering together over the course of days. A few of them comment about seeing animals that seem oddly out of place or stalking them, but most of the rest of them put that down to nerves, and a couple of them head back to Stonehenge unnerved by either the thought they are jumping at shadows or the thought they are not...
Hugh hasn't noticed the animals, and he hasn't had a pleasant time with the mundanes on his journey - his best friend getting bored and pulling pranks didn't help. He is happy to be off the boat and they are happy to be rid of him.
He will introduce himself to the various groups, but doesn't commit to anything yet, and stays by himself over night. He has his familiar take the form of a huge raven, and the raven acts as a translator for him, sitting on his shoulder.
[pre+intrigue total was -1, but not a botch. Hugh doesn't speak the language, but Ioracleas has faerie speech and translates for him.]
[I thought of something better for Bran to do than just "wait and watch" assuming he can ascertain when the ship is supposed to arrive in port and what ship it might be. Let me know if you need a roll to find dock workers who might be sympathetic to an anti-English mindset even as the English are their employers.]
In the days leading up to the boat's arrival in Wicklow Bran frequents the pubs and alehouses near the docks buying drinks with money he made telling Irish tales and singing good, Irish songs. Always throwing one or two in that hold cryptic messages of revolt and resistance. While telling these stories and playing these songs he tries to ascertain those in the audience who seem most moved by them. After his set he tries to approach those off-duty workers and rope them into his scheme of light resistance against these invaders from the east. A scheme involving "lost," damaged, and stolen boxes and cases from the strange men and women getting off the boat. To this end he hires a driver with a cart, waiting at the dock to be loaded with whatever the dock workers can manage to put onto it.
After some days of tracking the activity of suspicious individuals and making note of the places they usually gather at, Sionnach returns to base camp to report on his findings and discuss their next moves. While not exactly detailed he does manage to give a basic physical description of at least a couple whose reactions to him he found particularly memorable. "It seems that for the most part those suspicious of us have been written off as paranoid," he says. "I can try to approach them to learn more but my Blatant Gift won't be doing me any favors if I have to interact with mundanes, do you think you can handle it without speaking much Gaelic?"
Arnar has been circling above the harbour and the town a few days, seeing the newcomers settle in the city and catching fish for his daily needs. He is a bit surprised. He had expected them leaving to find a suitable aura in the wilderness. Are they really just renting rooms in the town? No scouting parties?
As the fox makes it move to the campsite, Arnar follows from above, and flies in a couple of minutes before him, to get changed before he greets him. «Welcome, my friend,» he says.
«Well, you know how bad my Irish is, so I can't imaging speaking «much Gaelic»,» he says ruefully. As Sionnach knows, Arnar's mother tongue is Icelandic, and he has only learnt a few words of Gaelic. «Are you saying that we are invaded not only by the English but by the Irish too?» he asks with surprise. «I did not see that one coming.»
"It's more that I think it'd be useful to deal with the mundanes running the businesses where they gather," he clarified. "I can certainly attempt to approach them myself if you aren't comfortable trying."
«It depends on what we are trying to do,» Arnar replies, «I am always uncomfortable in the city without a very clear purpose... and I cannot see any way to go under the radar once I step down on the ground. What would you be trying to do?»
"I'd probably be listening in more closely, perhaps if we're lucky we can find out what their plans are for a more permanent base camp," he says. "I could probably use some help in the air, to track where they may be heading if they leave or to keep track of anybody who seems particularly important."
«Listening in is not my strong suit. Neither is talking to the landlords, although I might, if they speak the Ostman tongue¹, fare a little better than you would. Trailing them² as they head for the wilderness was more my idea.»
¹ OOC @silveroak is that likely? or known? from my point of ear?
² OOC. Just to doublecheck. Heartbeast form is not regarded as magic for the purpose of scrying under the Oath, is it?
Icelandic is spoken in Wicklow about as often as French is spoken in a medium sized Texas town- it happens, and finding an innkeeper who can speak some Icelandic isn't that difficult.
Regarding the heartbeast form: it varies by tribunal, but conviction in Hibernia is very unlikely, aside from which you are on macgnímartha before having sworn the oath so the code doesn't apply. Tradeoff for not having Parma...or being covered under the code.
[So... yeah. Bran botched his Presence + Leadership roll to recruit dockworkers. Pretty excited.]