The Woad would like to ask more about the Owlbear situation. In fact he'd like to hear the whole thing, history and all, plus what the future holds. This may be something the magi of Andorra would be interested in, and can help with.
As for the nephew, the Woad is sure the boy will find his own way. He obviously seeks challenges, which can sometimes be misinterpreted as unruly behavior. But he is merely inadequately stimulated. Perhaps a guardian should set him more difficult tasks, so he must spend al his time and energy? That should teach him...personal balance...and hone his skills.
Anyway, do we have any idea how long Owlbear eggs take to hatch?
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Those questions should perhaps be asked of your seniors, Vocis and Vibria. My brothers and I used to eat the things, but when their maker was killed, the numbers started to dwindle. My little brother has a softness to him, unbecoming for a dragon, but it is what it is.
My role in all of this is merely to convince my brothers to accept the Transformation and learn to shapeshift to human form. To that end, I agreed to hellp Simon if he agreed to take the mists. I keep helping him to prove my word. My older brother is being stubborn and refuses. I keep trying to make a deal with him, but he has trust issues. So as I said, with Simon I am demonstrating I am good for my word.
See, like my father, I see this as the only way our people can survive. Humans are puny, yes. But they are many and banded together they can be an unstoppable force. And some humans can learn powerful magic. Venkath can roar and terrorize all he wants. Eventually a knight or wizard will take him down. Being human is the best chance we have for survival.
And that answered none of your questions. But that is the sole reason that I am involved in this.
Marcellus nods in understanding, before speaking in Latin so that all of the magi cn understand what he is saying. "We are in a somewhat similar situation. We were asked by the senior magi of Andorra to investigate sightings of the owlbears, which they thought were all dead. This lead us here, where we found out that Simon was protecting them and trying to help them multiply. And that Artur was involved in the project as well."
"For the most part, I do not believe this poses a threat to Andorra, except perhaps for a small detail. Simon mentioned that he was considering exposing the owlbears to the Terragen Mists and make them stronger, so they can protect themselves from Venkath. This may pose a risk, of Simon losing control of them. He, and Artur, could get hurt in such a situation."
Marcellus smiles, "Aside from that, I personally find the owlbears interesting and would like to learn more about them. I offered to help Simon and Artur study them. And keep Artur out of too much trouble."
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Exposing them to the mists was my idea. And yes, making them stronger is a consideration. But mostly I am trying to figure out a way to get these eggs to hatch. No one alive has ever seen it, and these eggs we have are fifteen years old. The fragmented notes I have make mention of some sort of catalyst.
I don't quite understand Hermetic magic, but I think the guy who designed this must have had a few rocks ratting in his head. Why the two step process?
How good are you at necromancy? The bones of the wizard are in Venkath's cave. Maybe you could summon his ghost and ask him a few questions?
"Me personally? Not good at all," says Marcellus with a shake of his head. "But I am fairly confident that one of the magi in Andorra might be able to get his ghost to talk, if we get the bones. But will Venkath cooperate and let us have them? From what I heard of him, that seems doubtful."
Marcellus rubs his chin a bit, scratching at a nascent beard from days camping out. "I also asked both Simon and Artur to see the lab notes -- which Artur apparently has. Perhaps I can find a clue there. They have been a bit reluctant, with Simon deferring to Artur and Artur being evasive. It may be that he does not trust me, or simply that he fears losing control of his experiment."
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Vibria and her family (husband Jaksic, son Artur, and daughter Maria) ate supper in their dining room, as is their custom. It was a quieter affair than normal (aside from Maria deciding she wasn't going to eat vegetables ever again). Jaksic and Vibria shot each other sidelong glances and surreptitiously watched Artur over the course of the meal. Artur noticed (eventually), but continued eating as though nothing out of the ordinary was going on.
After supper, Maria the Maid gathered the dishes to take to the kitchen; Vibria's daughter Maria went with her to keep her company (at Jaksic and Vibria's request). No sooner had the door closed behind them then Solomon knocked.
"Glad you could make it, Solomon," Vibria said as she stood to greet her sodalis.
Solomon greeted Vibria and Jaksic warmly, and smiled at Artur. "Good evening, Artur. How are you doing?"
"Well, thank you. And you?"
Solomon nodded. "You'll hear no complaints from me."
Vibria knelt before her son and put her hand on his shoulder. "Has anything unusual happened to you, Artur? Or strange things happen around you?"
"Besides my fire-breathing, Mama?" Artur thought hard for a minute, then related a couple of instances of what could only be described as Turbulences (Apprentices, p. 22). Once he finished, Vibria beamed as she stood.
Solomon nodded. "That's what I thought. His Gift manifested recently, but it may have been gestating for a few weeks. Unusual, but not unheard of."
"Gift?" Artur said. "You mean like you and Mama and the other magi?"
Vibria grinned. "Yes, dear. Not exactly like us, no two magi are alike, but with training, you could become a magus like we are."
Artur nodded vigorously. "That would be fun."
"Oh, you have no idea," Vibria muttered under her breath.
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As the Woad understands it, the leaders of Andorra covenant asked us to look into the case of the Owlbears. He believed they posed a threat, but since they don't - live and let live.
Now, their existence pose a mystery instead. He would like to know more about their nature and their ways, and offers his help as it is. Necromancy is unfortunately not a skillset he possesses. And even though magical beasts are not the Woad's focus area, it is interesting none the less, and tied into the history and environment of the locale.
Maybe an egg should be taken to a lab and investigated more thoroughly? It it has inherent magic, perhaps some investigative proces can shed light on the matter. And any old lab notes may or may not help, depending on the personal style of the magus who wrote the notes. Some magi are utterly incomprehensible, other write in systems which other are able to analyze and eventually translate.
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Please do forgive me for being doubtful. You guys had a few eggs for years and years, and did nothing with them. Same with your storm sheep. I am not blaming you, as you are new to the scene. But honestly, what will you do with them? You specifically. What is The Woad going to do?
If you guys want to hellp, then let us rebuild the lab that was here. Come with me to visit Venkath and obtain those bones.
No offense taken, the Woad assures you. He is not aware of all the details, for example that the magi of Andorra have had opportunties but no results. Whether it is because of difficulties or lack of trying, he knows not. But perhaps that is why they have set new magi with new eyes to the mystery.
The Woad admits he has more interest than competence for this matter, it is in no way a task in which he has trained. Call it youthful enthusiasm, or overconfidence if you will.
Rebuilding a lab is however a task he should be able to undertake, at least the basics. And he wagers a guess that Marcellus is better suited for advanced lab restoration, should that be the case, as well as researching the existing lab notes.
The Woad also offers his company in visiting Venkath and asking for the bones, but suggests delegating the actual necromantic magic part to someone else. Trained in the environment of conflict of Hibernia he is better at producing dead bodies than he is speaking with them.
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"We will have to inform the senior magi of Andorra and get their approval, of course," adds Marcellus, nodding, "but I see no reason why they would not agree."
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Edith has been quiet during all of this. But she speaks up now.
I know that spell. Whispers through the Back Gate. I am not a necromancer, just a Corpus specialist. I learned that spell last year because I figured it is easier to interrogate a dead enemy than a live prisoner.
But, y'know guys, this is getting over our heads. I was told specifically to avoid drakes. And here we are with two of them discussing meeting the third and most agressive one.
Behind her back, Modi and Magni are mocking her in pantomime for being cowardly.
"Dragons, sodalis Edith, not drakes. Please don't insult our hosts," chides Marcellus gently.
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OOC: The question remains as to who shall open Artur's Gift. Vibria's character sheet on this forum is 15 years out of date. I checked the wiki, and there she is only three seasons behind. Still, she is short 74xp in her Arts. Artur is not quite old enough yet though. Another two seasons until he turns seven. So she has some time to catch up. Start the kid off with some basic education first maybe?
No offense taken. She is accurate. My natural body style is that of a drake, four limbs and two wings, about the size of a large horse. There are many different kinds of dragons.
To be honest, I keep forgetting about the character sheet on the forums; I'm just used to doing everything on the wiki. I'll take a look and see how much I can get to 5 so I can open his arts myself. So, I'm currently short 74 xp, and two more seasons of study? That, I think, should get me close. My MetaCreator has her with four arts at 0 (Aquam, Auram, Herbam, and Imaginem), and three arts at either 3 (Vim) or 4 (Intellego and Terram). I'll work on those this weekend and update my Forum character sheet.
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Having heard the news, Fleur asks if she can make a nativity chart of Artur, of course he will be enrolled in classes at the covenant which Fleur has been setting up until Vibria, or whomever she wishes, can open his arts, though Fleur is sure to caution her against poaching. She also is interested in investigating one of the eggs to see what she can learn from it about reproduction amongst magical creatures.
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OOC: Off the top of my head...
Maternal lineage...
Mother: Vibria of Flambeau
Grandparents: names unknown, prolly on Vibria's char sheet.
Greatgrandparents: Sigmundo the Dragon and Valerie Valencia
Great-great grandfather: Sugaar, Basque dragon god
Paternal Llineage
Father: Jacsik Smokski
Grandfather: Smok Wawelski, aka the Wawel Dragon.
So, his father is half dragon, his mother is quarter dragon, which makes Artur 3/8ths dragon. He was both conceived and born here at Arans.
A side effect he inherited from his father is he is Judged Unfairly, because he comes off as devious and vicious. But he isn't. He is a normal litte boy (as normal as one can be with a covenant upbringing). It is easy to dismiss as the effects of the Gift, but Parma would block that. Jacsik has the same problem. He is actually the nicest sweetest guy, very gentle. But to those unfamiliar with him, he comes off like an abusive hard ass that is on the verge of exploding into violent action.
Such is the mark of the Dragon.
Just to add, his grandfather, Smok, is indeed a brutal monster. But he is less savage now than he was in his youth. At one point, he faked his death and adopted the identity of a cobbler named Skuba (after murdering said cobbler).
which is useful information, but I was thinking about an astrological nativity chart, to compare the influences of lineage and astrology... aka time and place of his birth.
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OOC:
I dig. This is information I do not have. Maybe you and Peregrine can work it out together? There is no family information on the wiki that I can find. And Vibria's backstory leaves off at an incident we played out eight years ago (in real time, it has been eight years or more!).
I was thinking more that I would abstract the process via the rules from art and academe and then perhaps use it as a source of insight...
for one thing I doubt we even recorded as part of the game the day he was born never mind the hour and minute, or the position of mercury...
if possible she would want to get the natal chart and then the chart for when the Gift manifested...
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