"Yes, but my Intellego is not what it should be, so I would have to cast the spell ceremonially -- perhaps your new apprentice would enjoy watching?
"For teaching, I know not your areas of expertise." (Ooc: finesse, please!)
"For the laboratory assistance, I don't have any specific project in mind, and it would have to be some time towards the end of her training. An enchantment of some type, no doubt."
[color=blue]"That's why I want her to have her separate room. 
"
Fiona thinks, then proposes teaching Viscaria Finesse,seeing as how she's going to have to be able to carve/move the dirt/stone with precision. Fiona's current Source Quality is 16. If she's able to get two seasons of teaching in first, she can raise her teaching to 1, which would enable her to teach both Sheelagh and Viscaria but lower her SQ by two (-3 for teaching two instead of one, and +1 for having an additional level in Teaching). She would prefer the latter, but after a little discussion would agree to teach just Viscaria, if it's within the next year.
Viscaria considers for several seconds, drawing figures in the air with her finger, then pushing several handfuls of air into different directions. "How about teaching me Finesse two summers from now, in 1224? Neither you nor I will have Princeps duties and that should give you plenty of time.
"This is a much needed lesson you are offering me, and I do not think the bargain entirely even. Let me add a small gesture to my side of the pot in thanks -- my pater, Gunthar, allowed me to duplicate his Broom which, with a single threatening gesture, can make an entire laboratory spotless. It is not an enduring effect which may taint the space you live in, but is a very useful tool when you have fallen behind on your housework. You may borrow it at will, so long as it is always returned to me by the end of the day."
OOC: I'm currently using it to give +1 Health and -1 Upkeep to my lab, since I don't want the additional warping from having it provide Spotless. It's got unlimited uses, and was originally meant as a general household tool to reduce overhead expenses. Not sure if JL would give/remove bonuses for using it in two places. On the other hand, now people know about it.
"Oh, and speaking of favors -- is it true that you are planning a trip to Durenmar to engage in some scribal work? While you are there, I would be most grateful if you could acquire the services of a mundane researcher for me. I will pay for the services in vis, and if you take on this extra burden for me, I will gladly lend you my Ordinary Mirror which should aid you considerably in your scribal work."
OOC: Ordinary Mirror adds 3 to Texts specialization in your lab, and takes no time to install as a magic item. Cov112 says that for every 3 pts of Texts, you can add 1 to your effective Scribe or lang score for copying/writing. The research work is to continue searching for clues to her parentage. Also, I checked everybody's sheets and the only two who even HAVE Prof:Scribe are Fiona and Viscaria.
For the record:
After an initial recoil, Sheelagh hugs back mechanically, already as tall as viscaria (if not much), and separates from the maga as soon as possible.
(This is the Gift. If she's covered by Fiona, she'll be much warmer)
((Fiona will try to keep Sheelagh covered by her Parma as much as possible, at least initially, until she gets settled. Fiona has a Parma of 4, so Sheelagh is protected by a Parma of 1 plus Sheelagh's Form Bonus when she's with Fiona.))
Keep in mind that Viscaria, with her faeries eyes and terram-spirited heaviness alongside her lighthearted demeanor, is pretty disturbing in her own right, even without the Gift.
Oh, right...doesn't she have emeralds for eyes or something like that?
Amethysts, yeah. She's also about 4'6", and dresses in mostly in silver jewelry and spidersilk togas.
Wait, she has actual emerald for eyes? You shoulda told me, I'd have altered the picture accordingly. Though this is quite a disfigurment :-/
I think I originally stated that her eyes looked like cut amethysts. But double-checking the Imbued With Spirit virtue, there doesn't seem to be an external indicator of the virtue. So she's got faerie eyes (purple/amethyst colored), which are NOT cut/faceted like polished gemstones (as I said long, long ago). However, her Imbued With Spirit of Terram CAN be sensed, and the closer you are to being Terram-aligned, the more unnerving that sense of "Terram-ness" is.
"Do we have a bargain? Will you do this extra favor for me while you're at Durenmar? Shall I begin preparing the InTe rituals for your new basement?"
[color=blue]"Hmm? Oh. Yes, we do. I will be leaving directly after the Autumn meeting, and I will try to find the researcher for you. Thank you for your help."
facedesk I just remembered...Sheelagh doesn't speak Latin and can't read yet. And speaks Gaelic (the Scottish kind).
So...unless we have someone else who speaks both Gaelic and Latin and is a decent teacher, it looks like Durenmar is either going to get pushed back a bit or someone else is going to have to go. (I was hoping we could get the Scribing at Durenmar done while we had the Hermes Portal up.)
Edit: As near as I can tell, the only ones who speak both are Fiona and Moire (Native Gaelic, Latin 3). I could have Moire teach Sheelagh while Fiona's at Durenmar, but she only has a SQ of 10 (vs. Fiona's 16).
Here's what I came up with for Sheelagh. The Inherited Virtues and Flaws are noted. (this is just a cut-and-paste from the html output of my metacreator...I didn't feel like going in and formatting everything). This should at least give us something to work with, and Fixer can go in and tweak what he wants until we get a Final Version of her.
Sheelagh
Characteristics: Int 0, Per -2, Pre -1, Com -2, Str -1, Sta 0, Dex -1, Qik -1
Size: +2
Age: 10 (10), Height: 9'0'', Weight: 733 lbs, Gender: Female
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Confidence: 1 (3)
Virtues and Flaws: The Gift, Giant Blood, Affinity with Music, Affinity with Corpus [Inherited], Inventive Genius (Invent Lab Totals: +3), Boundless Energy, Hermetic Apprentice, Flawless Magic (Study Totals: Doubled for spell mastery) [Inherited], Bully, Difficult Longevity Ritual, Oversensitive (Slights about her size), Envied Beauty [Inherited], Weak Magic, Weird Magic (Botches on Stressed Casting: Extra botch die)
Combat:
Dodge: Init: -1, Attack --, Defense +2, Damage --
Fist: Init: -1, Attack +2, Defense +2, Damage -1
Kick: Init: -2, Attack +2, Defense +1, Damage +2
Soak: 0
Fatigue levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-7), -3 (8-14), -5 (15-21), Incapacitated (22-28), Dead (29+)
Abilities: Gaelic 5, Brawl 3, Music 4, Athletics 3, Awareness 2, Folk Ken 1 (2), Charm 1
Arts: Cr 0, In 0, Mu 0, Pe 0, Re 0, An 0, Aq 0, Au 0, Co 0, He 0, Ig 0, Im 0, Me 0, Te 0, Vi 0
Equipment:
Encumbrance: 0 (0)
She can play music with Theraphosa to calm herself down when her studies get her down!
I put that in there because Marós mentioned that her voice was as fair as her namesake in the letter.
I am currently giddy with the image of Sheelagh singing an aria in front of a giant mandala-like cobweb. Theraphosa hangs from a string above and to her right, playing four violins simultaneously.
You made me laugh. Thank you. I sorely needed that.
Dammit, now I know what they're singing....
♫The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Music...♫
Funny, I envisionned her first as a bully...
Tired, struggling. And need to re-read apprentices. You did a MC file? Care to share it?
Difficult Longevity Ritual, Weak Magic and Weird Magic, that's a lot of hermetic flaws. You didn't wrote inherited, so all of them came from fiona? I'm lost.
IMO, (and since JL inflicts that mandatory flaw I'm the only one who cares about being at opening), it might be better to keep that to a minimum. Leaves room for fiona without crippling her prematurely.
I mean, I like Fiona being faced with the choice of either letting the girl as "natural" as possible, even if she doesn't ressembles her parens at, or trying to fit her into the mold of tradition, virtues and flaws included, whatever her reasons (conformity to tradition, thinking it's worth it, wanting a child-apprentice in her image...).