1226, Summer
After a month long break due to a player being in Japan, we got back to our Ars Magica saga on Monday. A good portion of the first part of the session was spent talking about Japan, but that’s fine because it’s as much a social session as playing a game. Then we had to catch up on what had happened in the previous session, and what we were doing next. So this was a short gaming session. But we are back to the game.
Pisciculus ex Criamon, 1226 Spring
After returning from our expedition to the south in Spring, I had spent the rest of the season working on some new spells in my lab. Nothing particularly original, but I wanted to have some basic investigation spells so we don’t always have to rely on Maedbh. They were all simple spells, so I was able to get them all done in a short time.
- Sense of Magical Power
- Sense of Faerie Power
- Scales of the Magical Weight
- Sense the Nature of Vis
The others have also worked out the last of the writings on the magical stones that are just outside the covenant proper. Mostly they are a guide that will help in making astrological predictions. They also contains hints though on what we could find in the tunnels beneath the covenant, as well as help in determining when to enter.
Maedbh vanished from the covenant for some time, and came back carrying a sword. I think she had been investigating the cairn to the south, but didn’t say anything about it. I didn’t want to ask.
Pisciculus ex Criamon, 1226 Summer
We have had several rumours over the past couple of years about giants to the north. Some have been from other magi, others were rumours from the peasantry. The quickest route would be by boat, and fortunately we now had a boat, a spell to speed us on our way, and a grog who knew how to sail.
With the aid of magic from Allistor, it would take us a couple of days to sail around and up the Scottish coast to Fort William. Along with myself, were the following magi, companion and grogs:
- Allistor ex Miscellanea
- Aodhan
- Blane
- Knox
We reached a village at our destination which was small, but it had an inn. Aodhan and Blane were able to secure us some private rooms whilst us magi stayed outside to not upset anyone. It was an okay inn, but that was all that we required.
On asking, it turned out that the villagers here had heard about giants. Most of the stories seemed to be centred on Spean Bridge, though there was mention of giants at Loch Arkaig as well. Houses had been flattened by boulders hurled by giants. One house had belonged to a weird chap who complained about everything – a description that matched that of one of the magi we’d met at the Tribunal.
Some of the villagers had been to the sites of the devastation, and had seen the flattened houses and huge footprints. There had been no sign of any boulders though. This immediately made us think that maybe the giants and their boulders hadn’t been real – just temporary things conjured up with magic that had vanished once the sun had risen.
In any case, we had some good pointers about where to go looking in the morning.
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