Ars Magica 5e, Rhine Tribunal, 1220

[ArghMark]

Leo: The forest is deep and quite large, but as you spend a few hours there, you allow the power of the place to surround and enter you. You are filled with the spirit of the forest.

You listen to the wind in the trees, and hear a days walk from here a Magic Stag, standing guard over a pool of crystal clarity.

You open your eyes and see a faerie glen not far from here at all, a village of Woodwives, and you can see the children they are raising.

You whiff and smell a dangerous creature which stalks the woods, a beast with poisonous claws, a lion body, a serpent tail and a human head, and know it to be very, very dangerous.

You feel the living wood under your fingers, and feel the magic deeper in the forests; untouched, wild...

You taste the bitter faerie brews of the faerie brewers on the other side of the forest.

Game rules: The forest is a mishmash of faerie and magic auras, but all 'deep' in the forest. None are much stronger than 1 or 2, but you do notice the presence of remarkably powerful entities for such low areas of magic.

Gorgamesh, I believe Sense the nature of Vis only detects the form/technique of actual vis. With that in mind your spell gives you no information, because there is no raw Vis here.

Will you investigate the covenant further?

 

[Shayuri]

On rejoining the others, Ilshana is practically glowing with self-satisfaction, having glutted herself thoroughly on the adoration of others. She brushes off Leo's disdain of 'mundanes' and singsongs teasingly, "I know something about that caaaaaastle..."

With a grin, and a finger alongside her nose, she continues. "Weak magic aura or no, there's a fell presence in the castle afflicting it by night. Terrible creatures that feed on youth, stealing it from sleepers as they dream! Men turn to old men in days...and there have even been deaths!"

She glances melodramatically around, as if to verify no one's listening, and adds, "Even the Baron is under attack, they say."

 

[Yair]

"Hmm" is Leo's articulate reply. "Perhaps they have awakened some spirit's vengence."

He looks to the forest longingly. "There is still magic in the forest, more than I would have thought possible in these circumstances. There is a lake, and the woods... yet also a dark monster, and faeries nibbling at the edges... The forest spirit is old, and powerful - but lies in tatters, bleeding, fragmented. No doubt, this is due to the baron's men."

He returns his gaze to Ilshana. "Do you think we could aid the baron in his plight? And if we could - could we, perhaps, strike a bargain? Perhaps, we could protect at least the heart of the forest, have the baron declare it as off-limits for all mundanes." He looks at the forest again. "We should explore the forest more - there are dangers there, but also great opportunities. Perhaps even a place to found our covenant. But if the forest continues to bleed, I don't know how much more it could persist."

 

[Shayuri]

"COULD we?!" Ilshana enthused. "Of course we can! We have to! We can't just traipse past and let this go! There's some kind of haggy thing attacking a Baron and sucking his very youth away to make itself young! It's..." she wiggled her fingers as she quested for the words to express it, "...adventurous!"

Immediately she was all business. "But we shouldn't make any bargains with the Baron over it unless they're magically enforced, and even then it's risky. If you put up a wall, suddenly everyone wants to see what's behind it, even if they didn't care before. I guess we could just lie and tell him the haunting happened because they went chopping..."

Ilshana paused then with a little frown.

"Hang on. You said there were faeries in the woods, and monsters and spirits and so on...so if that's the case, what makes you think there's any bleeding going on? That sounds like a pretty magical forest to me. It's probably got its own ways of protecting itself."

 

[Walking Dad]

"I think I would feel more comfortable in the woods, than hunting something, that kill people who I don't know nor like. And I feeling this is their standpoint, too." Thomas says, not willing to going further in so-called civilization without some better reasons.

 

[Strahd_Von_Zarovich]

After some thinking Gorgamesh say
"I agree. I vote aye. We can investigate the forest and the area that borders the castle. This location, thought showing us minor magic aura, can be a promised location for a future covenant."

Gorgamesh digs in his brain for any information that he read a while ago in Durenmar's libraries about possible animals, magical locations and other about this area.

 

[ArghMark]

Gorgamesh: Roll Int + Magic Lore for me.

Others: So what is the plan? It is now getting into the later afternoon, and as yet apart from Ilshana everyone has avoided much contact with the castle and the village.

 

[Yair]

"It seems we are at an impasse. Two for the castle, two nay. Perhaps, if I will show you the wounds in the forest, you will be convinced to protect it, instead of loitering about it like scavengers?" He looks particularly at Thomas as he says this. "I, too, am loathe to serve this baron - but we have come at a lucky time, for surely this problem will resolve itself, one way or another, in a few weeks. If we do not seize on it, our leverage over the baron would surely be gone by the time we will return to this place. This is why I'm in league with Ilshana, here - we must seize this opportunity, if we can."

"Come, let me show you that which I speak of. We can arrive there before nightfall, if I am not mistaken."

In the background, you can hear Guerino muttering, in Italian. "They're going to the forest. I can feel it. And there's going to be a monster, of course. There always is." He sighs, leaning on his sturdy staff. "What a rotten place to die in."

OOC: Since two are against going to the castle, and Leo isn't particularly enamored of the idea himself, Leo is in favor of exploring the forest a bit. Once there, Leo will take on his lion shape, and will try to lead the magi to the nearby faerie glen - to show them this "injury".

He intends to properly commune with the forest spirit at the magical glade protected by the stag - would this be possible, with a Forest Lore check?

Leo is aware of the affect of his Gift, and won't mingle in mundane society unless he has to. He'll be glad to let Ilshana do the mingling, for now.

 

[Walking Dad]

"I can agree that looking at the forest first. Show me those 'wounds'. And if we arrive to convenient at the castle, maybe they will blame us for everything. Town people like to point at me and accuse me of anything." Thomas says, having experienced the effect of the Gift on mundane people.

 

[ArghMark]

OOC: That making three, I assume you all travel.

You travel through the hidden ways of the forest. The animal paths come naturally to both Leo and Thomas, and all of you make good time. It is only an hour of travel through the forest when you walk down into a valley surrounded by huge, ancient trees. Ancient faces seem to have grown naturally here and the trees themselves have many expressions, from deep sadness to wry amusement.

As you walk through, the sound of children's laughter echoes around you. A through the darker light of the forest you see some balls of light leading you further into the forested part of the valley.

Around the corners of trees, you occasionally see faces peering; pale white childrens faces, or covered with odd animal masks.

In your native tongue, you hear an odd tune echoing through the woods.

'If you go into the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise..
If you go into the woods today, you'd better come in disguise..'