There are various legends and rumors of sea-monsters and other creatures in and about the Balearic Islands. This is not unusual, and many tales are exaggerated or minor hassles. But sometimes they must be taken seriously, and this is one of those times.
Over the past ten years he has lived on Ibiza, Roberto has received several reports of a sighting of some sort of giant octopus or monstrous squid roaming the seas near by. Only one report of a close encounter with the beast. The Dakkar was grasped by a mammoth tentacle during a storm, which the crew managed to drive back and hack a large piece off of. Captain Protonemo sold a portion of it to Roberto. It contained no vis. Roberto divided it into seven slices. One was given to Acutus, one to the Andorra vault, another in his own vault, one to Arachne, one submitted to Durenmar, and two others he will keep on him.
This was last year.
Durenmar, in exchange for this Specimen (which the have now pressed in glass in a display case with notes & information), provided an analysis report. It is a young kraken. If left to grow wild it will present a serious threat in short time if not one already.
Roberto is assembling a team to hunt the creature, bringing his protoge Edith with him and directly asking Acutus for help, and openly inviting any who wish to help him to do so but not wanting to call in everyone on this mission.
Timing and timey whimey stuff. This the year after Edith and Vera are brought to Ibiza. The main motive here is to give Edith a chance to make public display her prowess so that none may doubt she is worthy of a Battlefield Gauntlet. So as close to her arrival as possible. I am rearranging Roberto's schedule from 1240 to 42 and then to 44, in order to fit mentor time for both Edith and Lucien in.
"This 'kraken' is a kind of sea serpent, isn't it?" Guiverna asks as she strokes the head of Semsuhfaw, who is draped around tha maga's shoulder like a giant scaley stole.
"So, not a snake." Guiverna sighs, then rubs her lip with her finger as she thinks.
"This will probably take more than a few days. Unfortunately, my labwork this season involves something that's integral to my faith, and I'd rather not put it off."
Vibria was thinking about going, but she's pregnant again...her second!
Acutus is also busy in the lab in Spring of 1241, finalizing the stabilization of some original research, so he definitely can't move that around. But I'm hoping that given we have some fairly potent arcane connections to the kraken, it will be relatively easy to find and not interfere with the lab work.
It can be earlier, not latter, Roberto rescheduled everything from 1240 on in order to fit Lucien and Edith in, and he does not catch up until 1244. The driving goal is to have her up and running, and then the goal is to be ready for Winter 1244.
And Edith needs to do this now. Autumn she learns Parma, we can hunt in winter but that may be difficult.
What if we do it on the cusp? At the end of winter / beginning of spring? take ten days off the end of one and the start of the other?
I have an idea. If the troupe is cool with it, I will offer a season on credit.
Follow this train of thought...
everyone, during development, has to "scrap" a season hear and there. Let us say that one of these seasons was not scrap, but was used to get something done your character has done dididly do. :mrgreen:
Cascading effect, it somehow timey-whimey means that you have a free season.
BUT
At some point after this but before 1244, you must scrap a season to pay back the one I fronted you. Acutus has some Bjornaer meeting, Guiverna has to attend a cabal convovation, whatever. There is no story or experience gained. Just bakground material. You instead get to keep the xp from this adventure and handvave get done whatever you are doing that season.
I should charge interest, but this is an introductory offer for a new concept.
Hmm, personally I prefer going with it being on the cusp of two seasons. It's less wrong with the timing. And I can't imagine it's going to take that long to track down the kraken. We have a decade long arcane connection, and it shouldn't be hard for someone to develop a spell to track it with the arcane connection. Hell, Solomon could probably spont an InVi spell that would do the trick.
The AC is about a year old. Captain Nemo's encounter took place last spring around this time. After he got away, his next stop was Ibiza to visit Roberto. He has that reputation and renown thing going on with mundanes. And Nemo figured (correctly) that he could recoup his losses in damage to his ship and make a profit by selling this specimen (a hunk of tentacle) to the local wizard. And it has taken since then to get the report back from Durenmar (a Deus ex Machnina, but it is reasonable that they are grateful for the sample given them).
It should be easy to locate, and not that difficult to deal with. It has been seen repeatedly in suchandsuch area, between Ibiza and Valencia, mainly in the spring.
The Durenmar report confirms that it is an actual Kraken, not a giant octopus or squid. Either of those could be mundane, a Kraken is a Magical Beast. What's more, it is out of place. These creatures are normally found in the colder waters North Sea or the Atlantic. The creature is a young adult, just reaching it's Summer. Estimated Might is from three to five magnitudes.
But there is a disclaimer. The word "Kraken" is derived from the slang of Norwegian merchants who reported sightings and encounters with such things. And right now it is being used to categorize magical sea monsters of an encephelopod form. There are three recorded Hermetic encounters, and the data gathered from these have been lumped into one category. The first was 100 years ago by Pontopedius of Tytalus, who was himself Norwegian and applied his native language to name the creature.
What to expect: A massive encephalopod with a mass of muscular tentacles ending in sharp hooks, and a huge body with a large razor beak. Size and number of tentacles seems to increase steadily with age. Based on comparison with previous records, the beast is estimated to be about 75 feet long with ten tentacles.
Obviously one of them has been cut, and presumably Nemo kept the hook tip portion for himself as a trophy.
Roberto has brought Edith along for a performance review, justifying her early gauntlet. But the primary and main goal is to rid the sea lanes of this hazard before it grows even more menacing. The simple solution is to just find it and kill it.
But to make a challenge of it can yield reward.
If you can recover the whole carcass, or at least the major portion of it, Durenmar will trade three rooks for it. If you can somehow capture and subdue a live specimen, you can trade that for substantially more.
Or keep it.
What could you do with a live Kraken? Where would you keep it? What would you feed it?
Guiverna shows up at the docks at the appointed time, with Semsuhfaw draped on her shoulders and her shield grog, Hervé, in tow. Behind them are a couple of porters carrying a trunk.
The maga is dressed in a snug blouse, leggings, and slippers, as well as her full assortment of jewelry (an amethyst ring and two necklaces, one gold and one silver). She strokes her familiar's head lovingly as they speak in Parseltongue.
Here we are, my friend. Our first adventure since we were exiled from Beauxbâtons. I don't think I've ever been on a boat before. She looks around her, her gaze lingering on some of the sailors climbing the ropes on the ships in the harbor. It could be very...interesting.
I know I've never been on a boat before. And I, for one, am not entirely looking forward to it. I'm a snake, not an eel.
I would never let anything happen to you, Sem.
You can't swim, either.
No, but I can float. Besides, I can walk on water if I have to.
Guiverna tears her eyes from the shirtless sailors and looks around for the others.
If I understood what you meant, and IF I can, I'll then be edith, if I can find a sheet somewhere.
Oh, thanks!
I remember I made 10 rolls for Arachne's creation of earth elementals, but wasn't sure if she had vis enough for it.
Given each elemental takes 6 pawns of Creo or Terram vis... Yes, she can take in her personal stock, great!
Roberto expresses much gratitude for everyone that assists, and pays for the townsfolk to host supper the night before departure. One by one he speaks with the other magi in private to inform them each that he wants to take a measure of how well Edith does in battle, see if she really is worthy of being a full Maga. Based on eyewitness accounts of others, and the fact that she defeated him in an impromtu dimicatio/magic melee, she was declared fit for duty and he has taught her basic Parma Magica. He wants to see for himself if the right decision was made after all.
You are also all introduced to the new Sea Captain that Roberto has hired. Johan VanHalen Senior. AKA Old Pappy. Johan Junior and Wirth have gone off to visit old foes and confront the sea hag. Pappy doesn't have magic powers to make a ship fly or into a submersible. But in mundane skill he is a vastly more experienced and skilled sailor than Junior. He is also the only known helmsman to have ever navigate the Devil's Teeth and survive. And though he may be older and not as large, is is just as apt a brawler as the son.
And he is an alcoholic. That becomes apparent after supper, when he drinks with the drinkers until everyone else passes out and then crawls off to puke and sleep on the shore next to his ship. Also named Betty, and he often speaks of it as if it was also his wife.
In the middle of the night, Cidito wakes up in a drunken stupor, waltzes over to Paps, pees on him, then curls up on his chest and falls back asleep.
Then comes the Dawn!
Carlos wakes up earlier than some, walks down to the dock with his guitar, and laughs wen he sees the old sailor sleeping in their waters. He then sits on a rock, looking out over the waves, and plays a love song to the sea.
Acutus may be under the waters in shark form already, or perhaps by the shore to set his parma at sunrise?
Up to PoB
Roberto is an early riser, sets his parma at dawn, and engages in morning exercise.
Actually, Marko pointed out that the expedition won't take that long. And even if it does, Lucas can always teleport back home when it's time to go. So he should be able to have his cake and eat it too.
[hr][/hr]
Having gotten a taste for adventure in saving the princess, Lucas signs on for the kraken hunt as well. He's not particularly skilled in fighting, but some of his spells might prove useful in the hunt. And having a flying familiar is always a bonus.
He shows up in the village near Roberto's sanctum the day before departure and prepares for the hunt.
Vocis would like to attend too, taking Clotide on her first outing as an apprentice. He will meet at the appointed time, taking any slack time to talk about houses, monsters, and all the like.
