[HQ Ignorance] Scene 89: Palbar, City of the Oraya Sultanate

[Nic Hughes]

Lev Lafayette wrote:
> On Tue, 2009-06-09 at 09:52 -0300, Sam Elliot wrote:
>   
>> By now, Icthya has wandered over and has got the jist of what is going
>> on. She pulls her companion aside for a moment and speaks in a low
>> voice to him. "Not all their horses are transformed. For this service,
>> perhaps you could ask for their fastest steed; one which can travel in
>> the Plateau and limit the time we must spend there."
>>     
>
> "I'll take this as a given.. Indeed, two of the fasted steeds! The city
> is at stake!"
>
>   

Aalmon reaches out and gives his hand a firm shake "For the sake of the 
friendship between my people and the empire I will do my utmost."

The two travellers walk out into the street in time to see a pair of 
racehorses being led by their grooms. Aalmon walks around them assessing 
their speed and spirit, looking for a horse that is a stayer more than a 
sprinter but above all a horse that will run for the love of running, 
speaking to Icthya as he does so "Either of these will be fast enough at 
the gallop, the trick is to toughen them up enough that they can stay at 
the gallop for so long a ride. I have magic and skill to aid them, if 
you have any spirits that would help them tough it out then it would be 
a good idea to use them. Otherwise I think you will be needed to look 
out for any danger and see it off while I concentrate on the riding, 
even without a nomad uprising the roads of this province would not be 
entirely safe. Ride with me, you are slight enough that you will weigh 
less than the armor and kit for war and I know you well enough to trust 
your abilities over any mere bronze."

Having selected his mount Aalmon begins to speak softly to it and feel 
his way over its flanks and legs with his hands to check for any 
injuries that might weaken it, calming the horse he tries to get to know 
it as it gets used to him "There now, I can feel you know the joy of the 
chase, of running faster than any other horse just because you can. Well 
boy today you will run further and faster than you have ever done 
before." Aalmon takes out his magical tome and lets the power of the 
magic within tingle up his arms. As be pronounces the words of the 
spells he feels the way that the book is rooted into the very planes of 
magic and draws on that power and connection- he takes the moonstone 
talisman and it shines with a crimson light as the power flows through 
it. With the last words of the spell he blesses the horse so that its 
joy in running can give it the toughness to keep running. As he checks 
the saddle and tack he calls upon the planet spirit that guides him 
"Come forth old friend and help us stay the length of this road without 
falling by the wayside or losing our path."

In the saddle at last Aalmon takes the message and tucks it into his 
courier's pouch. With a pat on the neck he gives the horse one last 
little personal blessing to help it bear the hardship of the long run, 
then reaches round to lift Icthya into the saddle before urging the 
horse forwards. As they pass the gates he spurs the horse into a gallop.

OOC: What Aalmon is trying to achieve is to keep the horse at a gallop 
all the way by means of magic, which should then take 3-4 hours 
depending on the exact route. His active ability turned out to be the 
Tough with Joy spell from his grimoire, which he also has as a 
stand-alone spell in a moonstone talisman (it could just as easily have 
been Withstand Rigors of Travel but it sort of turned out this way when 
I sat down to write it up). So thats a 17 ability with two +1 augments.

He is using most of the attuned essence he has available for a +5 
augment. He is also using his common magic Bear Suffering to get the 
horse through its tougher moments for a +2. More significantly he is 
going to try to release his planet spirit from its talisman to add its 
15W Stay on Path, if he cannot release it then he will resort to just 
the +4 augment.

His Care for Horse, Riding and Owner of Horses abilities should all make 
it easier on the horse one way or another for a cumulative +6 between 
them. If the route is reasonably obvious the rest of his courier 
abilities do not really apply as they face no real challenge.

The duration of the ride will apply a -9 penalty and Icthya riding along 
might apply another penalty (I would have thought a smaller one but its 
not my call). If he beats the resistance of 14 he should be able to 
gallop all the way without stopping - unless something else happens 
along the way.


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