1234, Autumn
it is Autumn in our Druids’ Dale Ars Magica saga, and the magi have sorted out the problems at the village of Crawick. The last few posts have listed the year as 1235, but it’s actually been 1234. I sometimes have a habit of mixing up the game year and current year, so accidentally put a five on the end.
Jack – Autumn, 1234
We’ve found 3 potential candidates for training to be scribes. There’s a couple that I like, and one that Aodhan particularly likes. I think the latter might be a bit more bookish than I’m looking for, but allowing Aodhan to teach him as well keeps Aodhan happy.
Trying to have a discussion about this around the kitchen table in the covenant was hard. The magi were having a loud argument about how they see things. Which seems like a stupid question to me. Something to do with their eyes sending out magic rays which bounce off things. Magi are weird.
However, they keep me employed. As part of that employment they want me to head out and try to find a craftsman or merchant called Robert Bonchester during the Autumn. Apparently he made a box full of things that caught fire really well. I take the bard Greysrn with me, since he’s far better at talking to people.
From what we know of Robert of Bonchester, he’s known for shipping slightly shady goods. It’s also an opportunity to go and talk to the group that Blane ran into it in that area.
We head East and start asking around at villages not far from where the wizard’s dealt with the burnings, and Greysen has been asking people questions whilst I keep an eye out for anyone dodgy who might be causing trouble. We talk to someone who says that a craftsman about 10 miles up the road might be worth talking to. He makes hinges similar to the ones we described on the box. Another merchant we talked to darted off to a local tavern immediately after we finished asking our questions.
So Greysen heads to the inn to find out information there, whilst myself and Blane hang around once the merchant gets back to his stall, and wait for him to be alone. We are polite, backed up with an obvious threat of imminent violence if he doesn’t tell us why he’s snitching on us. He says that the inn keeper pays for anyone asking questions about merchants. They’re probably all involved in the shady movement of goods.
Greysen ended up playing music at the inn, and getting on well with the innkeeper. Based on the information Greysen got, we head to the village of Melrose the following morning. According to the innkeeper, there is a good craftsman here who probably made the box himself.
It’s not hard to find the craftsman in question, and we hand him the box. He recognises it immediately as something that he made. He got the clasps from another crafter in Kelso. He made it for a gentlemen named Robert of Bonchester. He’s made other boxes for him, but normally larger. He did make two boxes like this though.
It’s then that I realise that I vaguely remember someone with that name. He’s a middleman, smuggler and general no-gooder. So he’s very probably working for someone else.
He tends to move around a lot, so I’ll need to leave word with my contacts to pass on details of his movements as soon as he’s back in the area. Until then, we head back to the covenant.
Pisciculus ex Criamon – Autumn, 1234
After some time spent running around Scotland, it’s time to sit down with books. My plan is to spend the rest of the year studying Rego, since I want to have more options when dealing with hostile mundanes. I prefer not to harm them (and definitely not kill them), so I need ways to immobilise them. Preferably from a long distance away. I’ve heard stories of a spell called The Protesting Adversary Held Still by the magus Tolides ex Flambeau. I think I can improve on it a bit, especially to take advantage of my ability to modify spells as I cast them – something most other magi are unable to do.
By spending the next couple of seasons improving my Rego, I think I should be in position to be able to invent my own version of this spell over the first half of next year.
There are a number of other spells I’ve heard about, which I also want to spend time learning. The next one after this would possible be To See As Though A Plethron Distant by Pelaichus ex Verditus.
Something I do notice whilst studying, is that towards the end of the year the strength of the magical aura in the covenant seems to be increasing.
Winter
At the end of the year 1234, the local Redcaps inform us of events that have been happening in the area.
- The Lords of Galloway under Tomas Mac Ailein have revolted against ‘the despotic Norman rule of King Alexander II of the Scots’. With the King’s forces tied up in the north, little actual fighting has occurred. A reconnaissance in force by troops loyal to the King under Walter Comyn, was rebuffed with substantial losses.
- The expected annual earthquake struck hardest this year in central Scotland. While not disastrous, several villages suffered heavy damage. Pitlochry and the surrounding area was hit particularly hard, several villages are in need of substantial rebuilding. Unfortunately there are emerging rumours of aid and people going missing near Aberfeldy.
- Disturbing news of ‘burnings’ are emerging from the Hawick area. Stories tell of a ‘charismatic priest’ whipping locals up into a frenzy of righteousness leading to burnings of ‘witches and heretics’. House Mercere is recommending caution to those visiting the area.
- The fighting in the north seems to have died down (perhaps literally). Little contact has occurred with the forces of ‘the lidless’ for some time. Soldiers have reported large flashes of light and rumblings of the earth, together with occasional pillars of smoke seen from afar. But all of these have largely ceased since last summer.
We end the session on Winter 1234. Next session will be Winter 1235. As discussed previously, the GM has decided to move Winter to the beginning of the year, since it makes more sense to have ‘Winter’ January to March, rather than October to December. We can then keep the beginning of the year at the more modern time of 1st January.
The new spells that Pisciculus was looking at are from Magi of Hermes, a book I’ve had sitting on my shelf for years but never really looked at. There are some nice spells in there, though not all may be allowed by our GM without modification.
For The Protesting Adversary Held Still, this is ReCo20, and allows a target individual to be held stationary. Pisciculus has Flexible Formulaic magic, which allows one of Range, Duration or Target to be shifted up a level when a formulaic spell is cast at a +5 cost to the casting level. This would allow me to shift the range from Voice to Sight, which is a huge improvement. 4th edition had a ‘Far’ distance category before Sight, which I miss, since it was a good compromise of short and long range.
I’d also like to shift the target from Individual to Group. However, whilst this was one step in 4th edition, 5th edition has a ‘Part’ category between Individual and Group/Room. This I find a somewhat awkward category. Affecting part of something is harder than affecting all of something.
It also means I can’t shift the spell from Individual to Group. I could learn the spell with a default target of ‘Part’, making it ReCo25. But then, what does this mean? Does it mean that I can’t affect a whole person now? Flexible Formulaic Magic allows me to also drop the spell by 5 levels to reduce a category, so I could cast the spell as Individual, but then I wouldn’t be able to extend the range to Sight (I can only do one or the other). Should it be possible to use a target of Part to affect an Individual, since that is an easier effect? You can effect things at shorter range, and Group can be used to affect an individual.
Our GM decided that he would allow (in some cases, when it’s not abusive) for a spell with a target of Part to be used against an Individual. This allows me to learn the spell at a higher level, and have the option to completely hold still a person, or just part of them. I also get the option to boost either the range to Sight or the target to Group or Room.
