If I never have to cast Pilum of Fire again, it will be too soon. I have just spent the entirety of this Season casting Pilum of Fire, repeatedly, many, many, many times a day. I have been dreaming about casting Pilum of Fire. I'm surprised my bedclothes aren't scorched when I wake up. I HATE Pilum of Fire.
To explain: it seems that the Faerie Trod and story in which we took part has landed us in an ice sheet. Not ON an ice sheet, but IN an ice sheet. It has created a circular hole in the ice (which appears to be about 12 feet thick) and is generating a slightly chilly, but temperate, zone guarded from the local freezing temperatures. It appears that this is to be the location of our new Covenant. Tethys has created a Tower to act as the main Covenant building - I designed the interior, it has a Council Chamber on the ground level, and four levels of Sancta and Laboratory spaces. Tethys has taken the lowest level, I have the next, then Valeri, and Martin has the top level, presumably for flying out of the windows. So, we have spaces for our laboratories. Shame we don't actually have the laboratory equipment to make a functioning laboratory. I have cast a basic Aegis around the edge of the circle.
Martin and Valeri have explored beyond the ice sheet, which apparently extends only a mile or so to the South East before it reaches land, and a coastline. There they found a rudimentary hut with some sort of native fishwife living there - it seems Martin has some sort of primitive language in common with these people, and could communicate basic ideas. We have exchanged food with them, which is apparently a good thing. Oh yes, the food. We are currently existing on walrus blubber and fish. Although it does seem that the Covenant grounds are good for growing - various shoots are already coming up, and we have planted the grapes for wine (I am not sure how they will do in this cold clime). I have little expectation of any form of vegetable or fruit in the next year or so, though.
So, to the Pilum of Fire. It appears that our arrival caused the ship upon which we were traveling to also end up in the middle of this circle. It seemed that the only way to get the ship out was to float it in the small river running through the area, and then for me to melt a channel through the ice by casting Pilum of Fire. Many, many, many times. Over, and over, and over again. For an entire Season. The mindless tedium of it was only interrupted by a brief pause when a small fire elemental was attracted to the heat of the Pilum, and got in the way. We enticed it into Blucher's oven to keep it occupied. This gave me about an hour or two's respite, for which I was extremely grateful.
Still, it was successful - the ship is now free, and can return to Wormhaut. An interesting thing happened once the ice had been broken through: a local chieftain or shaman of some sort arrived, and had some conversation with Martin and Valeri (who have both been studying the local language with Tethys) about "the dead" and a vision he had experienced. And then a corpse walked out of the ice, which I dispatched with a Pilum of Fire (finally used for its proper purpose). It seems this local bigwig is grateful for our help, and wishes to host a dinner for us.
I don't think I shall attend...