I thought the expedition was huddled together on a rocky bank. Thus I asked how you want to proceed. You can wade in the water, try walking on it again, or some means of hovering.
I should add that, at this point, you are not sure which direction Guiverna may be. In the darkness and confusion, terms such as "ahead" and "behind" have lost all meaning.
Your cardinal dimensions are as follows...
Up and Down: These are consistent (so far)
Along the Stream: with nothing defining up or down stream. The flow is inconsistent and is stagnant in some areas.
THAT should be a red flag. It was not like that at first
Cross Stream: that side of the water or this side.
I have been given conflicting information- I was told that I could hear fine- you posted that Guiverna's walking rang out through the darkness- normally hearing noise provides a sense of direction. It was not defined until your last post whether "the expedition" included Guiverna, and when I indicated previously that I was headed towards her you gave no indication that there was a problem with that. I feel like my decisions here are being rushed by the SG with an inadequate and frequently misleading description of the situation, and furthermore feel as if several of my posts are being essentially ignored and not contributing to the dynamic of the situation. As I recall this is not the first time I have had this issue, where I have felt like you have a story you have decided to tell and my decisions are irrelevant to it.
I am done.
You have failed to correctly interpret clues, drawn false conclusions, and are generally impatient with misunderstanding. PbP is not supposed to go this fast. But if you are done, I suppose there is not much I can do.
Do you want to just bail on this expedition? Does anyone else want to continue?
What can I see, what can I hear and who is next to me aren't misreading clues, they are basic communication about character perceptions.
I tried to improvise a spell and you rushed past it and ignored it's parameters, handwaving a different set of information than what I was looking for, now you are saying it isn't supposed to go this fast.
I had similar issues years ago in the adventure in the faerie cave, and fundamentally this game is a source of stress rather than entertainment. I don't know if you aren't giving the game the effort to communicate effectively or if this is a fundamental difference in how we game, but it simply isn't working. I am out of the entire game.
It is I that am going to fast, and I make mistakes. But mostly it is an issue of style and format. I am trying to push the boundaries of the format, and I am not succeeding. I am trying to create a sense of mind-bending terror mixed with a compelling occult curiosity.
Guiverna is on a different Regio layer because she went in first. Bernat was abducted by faeries into a different layer. Fleur and company are "lost" on the first layer. Outside, Zeb the Wanderer and Don Radu are dining on your emotions. Your fear is savory, frustration is spicy, and curiosity is sweet. Guiverna has discovered glyphs depicting the worship of some great old one, and the "Lab Text" of their secret serpentine fertility ritual.
But now you spoiled it and I am demoralized.
Someone else can run a story. I will sit back and watch and learn how to be a good storyguide.
I am sorry to hear that, because the story was running in a state of total panic and confusion.
I was just participating as a grog with no grasp of the situation but torn between his own feeling of doom and his loyalty to help the magi.
Running a story with a party split up is hard, especially with different regio layers since several people think they’re in the same place. But doing it pbp makes it near impossible.
Guiverna continues to study, and trying to memorize, the glyphs, while wishing she had an ink and some parchment. Or, barring that...
Is there a piece of rock, or slate, or something large and flat enough for her to write on? I'm thinking she could try to spont a MuTe on it to make it soft enough to write on for a diameter, she could copy as much of the stuff on the wall as she can before the spell ends. If not, never mind.
Hervé stands with the others on the edge of the stream, one hand on the hilt of his sword, looking around nervously. He wishes that Guiverna hadn't been so eager to continue on to wherever she is now, but he will make the best of the situation he's in now.
(For now, I'm going to use the character sheet for "Berserker" from Ars Magica 5th Edition Core Rulebook, p. 21, as far as the characteristics and abilities go, substituting Single Weapon: Short Sword for Pole Axe. I'm going to say he was 15, the age in the book, when he first signed on as Guiverna's shield grog, and I'll advance him the 11 years since Guiverna joined at some point.)
Semsuhfaw would, if possible, have stayed in the cafe to be able to welcome whoever returns and tell them where the others left (and to not have to have dealt with going into the stream and going gods only know where). He will stare intently at where the stream exited the cafe, and is singing in Latin: prayers to the appropriate gods to watch over Guiverna ("and the others, too, I guess"), protect them, and bring them safely back.
Well, you could use your clothing or your skin. If you can think of some sort of effect to write/copy/transfer. If it is just loose rocks you want, that seems plausible too. Like a clay tablet?
Carlos is there with Semsuhfaw. Zeb and Radue returned from their little walk, and Zeb proceeds to mix food for Radu. A zesty paella!
They offer food to you. Carlos shrugs his shoulders. "Eh, might as well try it."
If there is no longer a maga near Vallito (if Fleur leaves the story) then his immediate concerns are his own safety...closely contested by his curiosity and .
He'll keep searching for Bernat, and try to rally any other grogs nearby - Herve it seems?.
And he probably calls out to Guiverna, since a grog should serve the magi. Although this is unlikely to help, if she is on another level of the regio. Which Vallito does not know, nor understand.
Vallito's courage in the face of mind numbing fear will rally the others to his side! Every Player Character in this scene, they lock arms together and thereby unite their strength. A finger is easily broken, but a fist is now a weapon.
Out in the cafe, Zeb and Radu are dining on paella. They are both impressed and astounded by the flavor, words of praise are unending.
Is Semsuhfaw going to try the paella? Or is Semsuhfaw going to allow Carlos to try it?
Seeing as how the paella is cooked and not squirming, Semsuhfaw will pass. Carlos is a big boy, he can decide for himself. (And Semsuhfaw doesn't have any Faerie Lore, so he doesn't have any reason to stop him.)
Every dog has his day. I hope it's not too much of a stretch, that he manages to not submit to total panic. But with the meta knowledge in hand, it's perhaps better to allow the story to move on rather than collapse completely. Plus the farries may savour the emotions of courage and teamwork as a nice change to fear and panic.
Not that Vallito kows this. He is just fairly brave when acting to rescue others.
Ok, so Vallito - in a new found state of leadership* - attempts to rally the grogs.
"Okay people, don't let go of each other. Is anybody else missing, other than Bernat? We'll sweep the cavern for him while we're looking for the exit. In fact, grab ahold of the betl of the person to your left, that way you have a free hand. For a weapopn or whatever, there may be somethign dangerous here."
*) As long as the situation can be interpreted as a rescue mission rather than combat, Vallito may be leader material. I migth have to put a handful of his later exp into Leadership though