Tranquillina's fists ball up at her side. "This ... profanity, is exactly what Alexei told me. I cannot fathom how such a crime can be tolerated by the Order. You have my sympathies, sir."
She grimaces somewhat. "Aye, that chancy remnant of Mercurian lore. I am no great admirer of this spell; yet Maximianus convinced me once to make myself familiar with it, for the sake of my sodales at Nigrasaxa." Although my contribution to such a communion would be token at best, Tranquillina thinks but does not say aloud.
Sorry, I was confused by the topic title
So that was... 4 years ago.
I guess one can assume there were other incidents over these years, too?
Isen is secretely pleased to see tranquillina's reaction. At least, her heart is in the right place!
That's the difficult part. The order must know, to condemn him. And this proves difficult.
But let this serves you as a warning. We have ennemies, and they won't spare you just because you're a newcomer.
Good.
And then, Nerd-Isen show up It is an entirely different man, a lot less grim, a lot more taken by his ideas.
You see, I have plans for us to have a better Aegis. It will require some effort on my part, as well as some help from an ally, but I believe it can be done. We should soon be able to cast a better Aegis, even without your help.
But you won’t be useless. Every magus that contributes to a Communion adds his part, and helps in making it more effective.
Now, there are some problems, as I am not a mercurian, and, given the magnitude of the spells involved, there’s a good chance that things could go wrong. Best thing would be for Korvin to become our caster, but, sadly, he ain’t up to the task. So, for now, it is I who must take upon the the risks associated with this.
Yet, this is not enough. Given the power of our enemies, I plan to increase my arts yet again, to the point where I may cast an even more powerful Aegis. This will take some years, though, and be quite dangerous, as we’re talking of a thirteen magnitude ritual here. Sooner or later, this will lead to a magical catastrophe of epic proportions. At this point, it would probably be better if Korvin could just induct me into his mysteries, but, even if he is willing to share his knowledge with me, it is so alien to my experience, I don’t know if I’ll be able to reconcile it with my own magical practices.
Now, this ain’t the only things I have in mind, and your help is welcome, once I get a better grasp of your abilities. I am trying to come up with ways for each of us to prepare for another attack on our covenant. And this proves difficult, both due to the Code, and to the high magnitude of the enchantments required.
No. Look at the thread titles. This story happens in 1223.2 (summer) Tria's return happens in 1227.4, 4.5 years after this story. I put the years in so it is clear to,everyone when a story happens.
"But how is it that the Order does not know?" Tranquillina insists. "There were witnesses to the murder, whose testimony can be proved authentic, were there not?" It sets her somewhat more at ease that Isen is referring to her as if she is one of them already.
Tranquillina is always happy to have a Hermetic nerd-conversation :mrgreen:
"Aye, the instability of vis," she shudders at this notion, "is an excellent reason to avoid elaborate rituals. I know the Aegis is an important exception to this policy. If only the use of vis were not - ." Tranquillina stops, concealing the abrupt interruption with a cough. She glances over at the killer she is walking beside, and decides not to share any more at the moment.
At the word "Mercurian", Tranquillina almost interrupts Isen, but then allows him to finish. "I too have yet to encounter so much of what our sodales claim to be able to accomplish," she agrees, running a finger idly across one of the lush tapestries hanging in the hallway. "Of course I have not met our friend Korvin ... how is he better qualified to cast the Aegis? These mysteries to which you refer are quite foreign to me." ((General Guile roll for playing dumb/coy, in both the last remarks: Prs 2 + Guile 3 + stress die 3 = 8.)
"Of course I have a firm grounding in the, ah, theoretical application of Hermetic magic to enchanted items," Tranquillina offers vaguely. "It is fair to say, I suppose, that I am rather better suited to inventing spells - I have much more experience in that capacity."
The two have mounted several flights of stairs by this point, and Tranquillina deduces that they must be climbing towards the top floor of the (clearly opulent) mansion.
Oh, my fault. I understand the topic titles, it's just that, when checking for the date of Tria's return, I slipped a line and took the wrong date .
Isen sighs...
Let's say that Valerian Guernici, chief hoplite of the tribunal, was not alone when appolodorus was killed. But hold. The council will tell you all in due time.
He doesn't want to talk much about this. This infuriates him, he thinks he should be able to kill Valerian on the spot. This whole story, this is an aberration, a grotesque perversion of the beacon of justice the quaesitores should be! Better for Fiona to explain it all to the new maga.
This is why he lets Adeline handle social graces...
Isen, Folk Ken (Magi) 3 + Per 1 + 1d10=9 = 13
He doesn't understand what it is that tranquillina wants exactly, but he doesn't like being taken for a fool (which is, yes, a little hypocritical on his part )
He stops, and eyes her
Surely, you must have heard of those among us who's magic is structured among mercurian teachings. Or is there another question you're not asking me?
It could be better, but one must do with what one's got. And if you're willing to lay your life in defense of this covenant, whatever your strength, you're an asset. Are you?
And yes, I think this draws close. Isen should warn at least another magus of tranquillina's arrival (he won't give her a token!) and try to get a council convened as soon as possible, to welcome her formally (and subtly have her identity be further confirmed by those she corresponded with) and officially welcome her to ME, with a token being given by the princeps. Makes the even much more formal and noteworthy (as well as more secure)
((Tranquillina and Isen feel extremely similar about this - one day they'll get around to communicating it between them....))
((Nicely done Fixer ))
Tranquillina ends up changing the direction of the conversation, not really answering either of the last two questions.
((In another thread, we decided that Tranquillina was given Jormungand's old chambers and laboratory - but that must be after the official welcome I suppose.))
Ok, Isen will say nothing, but will mark her as not trustworthy in battle. Nothing wrong with that, he just needed to know, although he's a little disappointed.
Now, the question he asks himself, but won't ask, is "can she be counted to provide help in the defense plans? Or is she just a parasite intend on using ME's ressources?"
(And yes, I guess this closes it. Thanks for the fun! )
As the next couple of years unfold, Isen will notice that Tranquillina hasn't used all that much of Mons Electi's resources: a couple of pawns of vis, use of one of the summae for a season, and some silver for extra lab equipment. In the spring of 1225, Tranquillina does devote a few months to inventing the spell Ward Against the Curious Scullion, as part of the plans for the Tribunal. So she's not a total waste, after all ... and at least she is willing to deal with the mundane covenfolk, which makes it less likely Isen will have to.
Unless people want to roleplay the council meeting, or anyone else wants to meet and chat with Tranquillina, I guess that is it! Thank you too, Fixer (and qcipher and JL of course. and Ra'am for botching) 8)
And his opinion will improve accordingly (The ward will go right to his heart)
Especially when she proves willing to handle all that diplomatic and mundane relations headache
((Are the magi really watching what the others are reading carefully... I understand as players everyone knows, but as far as I can see, the only way that would be known is if a magus is using a book that another magus wants. And even then, the librarian will probably initially intercede to see if access to the book can be given/traded.))
Yeah, I was getting a lot of error 500 too yesterday. Hopefully that's done....
My instinct was that the magi of the covenant chat idly reasonably often, and if they're studying from books that season then the topics are likely to come up (as the student tries to wrap her head around the new material); similarly they might vent to one another about their challenges in the laboratory. Of course people live at different points on the social-to-secrecy spectrum; Tranquillina is definitely near the social end. (Also, our Hermetic library contains like 30 books, so it will probably be noticeable to a maga who walks in when one is not present.) That's my 2c anyway
Do you use/have MetaCreator?
And I have a problem with rounding like this, even if you don't. It's [strike]borderline[/strike] abusive, and while it is RAW, it's still bad. And if you have MetaCreator, and add 1 xp, it handles the affinity properly. Instead of increasing all xp by 50%, it cuts the levels at which one advances by 2/3, and just continuously tracks XPs and measures it against the level where one would advance. If you have MetaCreator and add 2 xp, you're double dipping. If you don't have MetaCreator, it's kind of an exploit, and I'd prefer you reallocate your XPs such that you either track half experience points, or only arrive at a whole number of XPs to add. Believe it or not, this has never come up before, but then many of us here are using MetaCreator...
I don't have MetaCreator - Mac user. But I can do it this way using only my animal cunning!
I think I would rather keep track of half-xp and keep the usual Art/Ability advancement pyramids - easier that way to update what I've already done.
So: Carouse 2 xp, Corpus 1 xp*, Creo 1 xp, Intrigue 2 xp, Magic Theory 1 xp*
Parallels...VMWare fusion... + Windows License + MetaCreator. Of course that might be overkill... But I run my Macbook Pro as a Windows machine most of the time.
It is an entirely different man, a lot less grim, a lot more taken by his ideas.
= 13
))
This will make for a good time in the 
