THE MORNING AFTER THE FEAST: Acerbus

Role-playing games Saga of Voluntas
#21

@MichaelCule asked for a die roll:
The walk through the woods proceeds with no further ado and as the afternoon passes you sense, you think, the pressence of unseen observers once or twice… But not so certainly that it could not have been a squirrel or a song bird.

And then Wat says “Here we are, magister,” and you are aware you are standing on smooth, evenly laid stones. On a strip of straight well built road, that emerges from the tangled undergrowth as suddenly as if conjured by magic and heads north. The trees overhang it but for the length that it stretches, the old Roman workmanship is still evident and their roots have not tunneled under the raised surface. It peters out about a mile to the north but for that length is seems almost miraculously preserved.

There is a shrine to one side which Wat points out as one of the ‘magic places’ that his employers visit each year. A lttle way to the north is a plain flat stone that Big Harold says is another.

But (I assume) Acerbus has better eyes for seeing what is hidden than his two companions and asks for a moment’s quiet while he concentrates.

Second Sight Plus Perception.

stress 1+3: 1 × 4 = 4, +3 = total 7

#22

He looks… He listens… Nothing but the chatter of a laughing bird.

Wat looks at the magus. Big Harold looks at Wat and then leans against a tree trunk. He thinks he could be there a while.

#23

Acerbus tells Harold and Wat he will be waving his arms around and talking in Latin for a bit, taking breaks in between.

“Intellego Vim!” he declares. He sits down to get his breath back, and a couple of minutes later does something similar. A brief rest later, he does this one more time.

< I only have intellego 4 and no vim, so I will be using fatiguing spontaneous magic, claiming the +1 bonus for bold gestures. The first effect is a straightforward InVi base 2, +1 for touch range total level 3 - how strong is the aura here?.

The second is InVi base 1, +1 for touch range total level 2 - am I in a faerie aura?

The third, assuming that I don’t appear to be failing on the first two and therefore in a strong dominion or infernal aura, will be InVi base 1 “detect the presence of vis” +1 touch to touch the shrine and determine if there is currently any vis in it>

#24

The aura here is a Fairie Aura (you’re not surprised by that I trust) of 2. I should probably remind you that as a Merinita you’d know how to use the ‘Road’ target which is equivalent to Voice.

I’m clear about what you’re doing with the third spell but not quite what information you are trying for on the first two nor how they differ.

#25

The first two differ because under the Intellego Vim guidelines, “determine the presence of a mystical aura” and “detemine the power of a mystical aura” are separate, but maybe I’m getting this wrong.

Anyway, Acerbus will check the spells and then examine the shrine, looking to see if there are any Latin inscriptions.

#26

@MichaelCule asked for a die roll:
Well, I went and gave you what you were seeking in the first roll because… Because I didn’t know precisely what information you were seeking and it worked anyway.

I should probably make a roll anyway.

First for detecting the Aura and it’s strength. If you beat the ease factor (and you should) I see no reason why you shouldn’t get both bits of information… And perhaps more.

stress 1+7: 1 × 3 = 3, +7 = total 10

#27

@MichaelCule asked for a die roll:
Yes, I’ll tell you the flavour and strength of the aura… And hint that you sensed something else on the edges of your awareness. A stronger aura nearby perhaps?

As for the shrine

stress 1+7: 1 × 7 = 7, +7 = total 14

#28

The shrine is growing in accumulating Vis but isn’t ready to harvest yet. There is less than one pawn present but it is gathering strength as the sun plays on the old, weathered stone.

#29

Acerbus nods to the grogs. “It is as expected. I need to walk along this road for some time.”

Acerbus starts walking along the Roman road, looking for signs of fae influence as he goes.

#30

@MichaelCule asked for a die roll:
Second Sight to look for the edge of any regiones. Plus Perception of 0.

stress 1+3: 1 × 3 = 3, +3 = total 6

Fairie Lore plus Int for more indirect signs.

stress 1+6: 1 × 3 = 3, +6 = total 9

#31

@MichaelCule asked for a die roll:
You look and you travel along the road.

You pick things up and shake them. You look for signs of ‘fairie rings’ and other traditional markers of the boundary.

At one point you think you hear the sound of marching boots… But nothing.

(I’m starting to think I should ask you whether you want to spend a Confidence Point. But first let me make a couple of rolls.)

stress 1+3: 2 × 3 = 6, +3 = total 9

stress 1-1: 4 × 9 = 36, -1 = total 35

#32

(I was in fact checking to see if either of your companions could manage to get themselves lost on the road. I had high hopes of Big Harold vanishing and presenting you with a problem/opportunity. Instead:)

Big Harold says: “Pardon magister: aren’t you going to look up that fork?” He points just off the road near where you heard the boots marching.

You look at Wat. Wat looks at you and shrugs.

What now?

#33

“Show me exactly where the road forks”, Acerbus asks. He will follow Harold to the fork, then try stepping in the direction of the fork and see what happens.

#34

@MichaelCule asked for a die roll:
You place your hand on Big Harold’s shoulder and he gives you one of those looks that says Bloody weird wizards… but steps towards the fork only he can see.

Behind you Wat says ‘Wait a mo!’ and

stress 1+3: 0 (no botch), +3 = 3

#35

And then the sound of his voice is cut off.

You are on a long, brightly sunlit road. The wood looks a little further back from where it was a moment ago and better maintained than it was before. There are fewer tufts of grass sprouting between stones.

Harold blinks in surprise and says: “Where’d 'e go?”

The aura of the Fay has intensified a level (to 3).

And in the distance you can hear the sound of marching boots coming closer and voices raised in a song with a cadence.

#36

Acerbus sternly says “Harold, I think we are now on one of the roads of the Good Folk. Be very careful, and let me speak first to anyone we meet. Let’s move to the side of the road and be ready to step aside if a group of soldiers walk past.”

Acerbus ponders a moment and asks “Harold, can you look behind us? Is there an obvious way back to the road we came from?”

#37

@MichaelCule asked for a die roll:
Well, something could conceivably (easily) go wrong at this point so:

Harold’s eyes bug out a bit and he looks around in panic. You wonder if your tone was too strict…

stress 4+3: 1 × 6 = 6, +3 = total 9

#38

He gulps and says: “Fork’s still there sir… Look out!”

And pulls you back to the edge of the road as the sound of marching gets louder.

And up from a dip in the road…Or somewhere…comes a file of ten soldiers, dressed in full Roman armour and plodding along. To your eye they look a bit tired and sweaty but they still sing out in good voice lead by the cheerful man in his twenties at the front.

Who, spotting you, calls out “Halt!” in Latin and as his men stop marching and start moaning about the state of their feet steps towards you and says: “Good afternoon, dominus, I wonder if you could give me a bit of guidance? We’ve been marching since morning and we’re still not out of this wood. Is it possible we took a wrong turn somewhere?”

#39

“Salve, soldier. I believe you may have taken a wrong turn, these woods are very confusing. Where are you trying to march to?”

Acerbus looks the men up and down, trying to see if they look like faeries pretending to be Roman soldiers, or if they are actual Romans who get very lost on a road.

#40

@MichaelCule asked for a die roll:
“North to the coast to relieve the company manning the fort at the Port of the Brigantes, sir. They’re heading north to the Wall, poor devils. We’ve been dancing attendance at the Governor’s summer home at Isurium. Easy duty but not good for soldiers in the long term.”

“I don’t know how we could have taken a wrong turn: this roads supposed to go straight through the woods and out the other side.”

Perception plus Folk Ken

stress 1+1: 1 × 3 = 3, +1 = total 4

Perception plus Fairie Lore

stress 1+2: 1 × 2 = 2, +2 = total 4

Intelligence plus Artes Liberales (for Roman History)

stress 1+4: 1 × 3 = 3, +4 = total 7