Fiona can tell, that despite all appearances to the contrary, Belira is incredibly annoyed at having to have been made a party to this circus, and she's cleaning it up, right now. She told Cavillor that she's in charge, with but a glance, and won't brook any interference from him, despite his position as Acting Presiding Quaesitor.
"Aye, Princeps," Tranquillina says, refraining from making a nuanced correction about her complicated lineage. "Thank you for your time - I'll take care of this crisis." She takes her leave, uses Leap of Homecoming to return to her sanctum, and quickly calls for servants to summon Loys and Mélanie to her receiving room. Damn those late spring nights in the lab, she bemoans, rubbing her eyes. It was probably worth it, in case I need to defend myself ... but I'm sure feeling it now. [strike]And with the Certamen tournament starting soon....[/strike]
Loys, who she knows spends much of his time in the magi's mansion, and honestly never seems to be all that far from Tranquillina's floor, arrives first. "Loys, this is a crucial task I ask of you now - it needs to be done well, and soon." She repeats that sentence in her mediocre French, then returns to Latin. "Run to Susane d'Ausi, and tell her we need a dress of the highest quality. There's no time to make one today - she needs to think about all the dresses in the covenant, and claim one on my authority. I will make sure the party in question is compensated and then some after the Tribunal." She describes Murion's height and build, telling Loys that she is about the same size as Hermessent the milkmaid. "After you give Susane these instructions, go next to the silkweaver. Tell Rashid that I need a bolt of his finest silk, as a gift to a visitor of the highest magnitude." Holding up a hand to forestall Loys, she adds, "I know you are chafing to find new responsibilities, and trust me, there is no better way to impress me than to succeed in this. Deliver these messages, but moreso, make sure this goes as planned. I need these items in the next three hours." Loys beams at the prospect of pleasing the baby-faced maga and scurries off.
Next, Tranquillina instructs Mélanie. "I'll need your legs at my service today, my swift, but you won't have to leave home." Again she emphasizes, in French as well as Latin, how important these instructions are. "First, I need you to sprint to the kitchens. Giorgio will be frantically busy, but interrupt him nonetheless. Tell him to gather some of his finest cheese - you might as well go heavy on the compliments, dear, it will help - and also the freshest and ripest fruit we can find; he can get Elena to help with that. Giorgio should collect them into a large basket but leave room for more. While they are doing that, you run out to the fields and locate Delayens. Have him jar some honey and take it to the kitchens to include in the basket. Oh, both the jars and the basket should also be the best-looking examples we can find or make ... are you getting all this?" She peers at Mélanie shrewdly. "Finally, skip over to the vineyard and find Sobran, or perhaps he will be in the cellars. Tell him Tranquillina requires the best two bottles of wine he has, and now. He will object, but insist on my behalf. Tell him ... tell him," Tranquillina chuckles, "that if I do not get my wine, he will never hear from Fiona again. Never you mind what that means." Mélanie too goes loping off to complete her tasks and return with the collected goods in three hours.
Leaping back to the Tribunal plateau, she reenters the throng of magi and retainers and checks in at the registration house. Flagging down a Redcap, she holds out her Bonisagus fibula and introduces herself by name and covenant. "If you would be so kind, I have a message to deliver that is much more urgent than it seems. Please find Jerome ex Jerbiton - perhaps he will be at the Confluensis tower - and inform him that Tranquillina seeks his company for dinner tonight, for the mutual sharing of information of benefit to us both." She puts a hand on the Redcap's shoulder. "You have my word that I will be able to tangibly express to you my gratitude, later in this Tribunal."
[strike]Panting a bit from her exertion, Tranquillina hurries towards the location of the tournaments.[/strike] That takes care of Jerbiton, I hope; and Murion will certainly do for Bonisagus. But what about Tremere.... [strike]She shoulders past a slow-moving Verditius magus and checks the initial Certamen pairings. Well, well ... Rose, in half an hour! That's quite convenient....[/strike]
((Slight timing correction needed... Day 1 of the Tribunal and day 1 of the Tournament are separate days altogether... Rose will be presented on Day 2 as a maga... The circus of the trial was moved up at Marcus's insistence, but no one really knows that. 
And it's not like Tranquillina would have an opportunity to talk to Rose if they were the same day, you knocked Rose out, and then Tranquillina got knocked out harder. ))
((yeah yeah 
But beforehand Tranq doesn't know what will happen with Rose, and afterhand(?) she still wants to talk to Rose once they've both recovered. Or she'll alter the plan if the chronology doesn't make sense.))
((So what is the schedule? The entire Tribunal before the entire Tournament, three days of each, so like Mon-Wed Tribunal and Thu-Sat Tournament? ))
No day in between. 3 days Tribunal, 3 days Tournament, 1 day of closing up shop...
For the next few hours, Tranquillina is kept quite busy, attending the rest of Calefacto's trial and other Tribunal meetings and being sidetracked with various hosting tasks. She tries her best to listen in on conversations as she goes about her work, but perhaps people are more aware of her presence, for she doesn't hear the same level of complaining as she did before. That does nothing to deter her from judging the situation on the brink of social disaster, and she Leaps back to her receiving room. Loys is waiting there patiently, slouched in the plush seat Tranquillina typically uses when guests are present, his cheek pressed against the fabric. Seeing her, he jumps up with a bow and eagerly reports on what has happened.
"First the bad news, Lady Tranquillina," he says in a rush. "I went to the silkweaving workshop, and there spoke with Gennon des Vers. He said that they are completely out of silk: the whole shop's output was used for decorations in the Tribunal city. I knew you wouldn't want me to take just his word though, so I insisted on hearing it directly from Rashid. But I got the same story there. The best idea we could come up with was to remove some curtains from one of the less-used villas." He starts toying with a needle that has been secured to his sleeve. "With the seamstress, we did a little better. Susane d'Ausi remembered a dress she'd made for the mother of one of the servants - they live together here; an 'evocative landscape pattern', she called it. When I went to claim the dress, the mother of course gave it to me on your authority, but she apologized that it was not quite new any more. So I decided to take it back to Susane, explaining how important your friend was who'll be getting it. I got Susane to agree to mend a couple of minor flaws, and she also said she could cut a new scarf that would complement the dress and 'sparkle with newness', as she put it. It will be ready within the hour."
Anticipating Tranquillina's next question, Loys adds, "Mélanie was here, but she also had a problem, and I - ah, here she is!" Indeed Mélanie knocks on the door in the middle of the sentence; she is breathing extremely heavily, but in the manner of a fit person who could set out on another run if need be.
"Sorry to, keep you, waiting," Mélanie pants to Tranquillina, sipping some wine that Loys had apparently procured from somewhere. "I just came back from the vineyard again. Ah, I should start at the beginning. - Giorgio had sent most of the cheese over to the big meeting already. He found some fresh cheese, but it was made in bulk, so it's not going to be anything special." She says this as someone who wouldn't really appreciate the difference anyway. "Elena did have some delicious fruit on hand - sampled it myself after that first sprint - so that's fine. Went out to the forest and shouted until Delayens came out from the bee-infested parts to talk with me. Took almost no time, he will have the best of his honey sent to the kitchens, along with fine jars and even a suitable basket, he says. But then, Sobran." Mélanie frowns, her breathing already almost back to normal. "Maybe I offended him somehow - I did mention Fiona as you said to - but he flat out refused to get wine for me. Even when I told him it was for you."
"Why did I go twice to the vineyard?" she asks, seeing Tranquillina's confused expression. "Well I came back here, and told Loys who was waiting, and he said that you can go places real fast if you have something from there. So I went back, to grab a stone from the ground outside the vintner's lodge." She takes a small rock out of a pocket and places it on the table. "Hope Loys wasn't pulling my quick leg with that one."
"Don't worry, Mélanie, it really is a boon," Loys replies, glancing at Tranquillina in the hope of confirmation. "And I did the same with Susane's workshop: she said she uses this needle all the time." He extracts it from his sleeve to place it on the table next to the rock, then looks at the maga hopefully.
Tranquillina pauses to take in all of the information the two covenfolk gave her. "All right then. Well done indeed," she summarizes, regarding Loys appraisingly. "Well done, both of you. Wait here just a moment." With a sigh, she steps over the Ward Against the Curious Scullion (feeling a warning from her Parma Magica) and walks through the curtain in her writing nook to the small storage space behind. She picks up a bolt of beautiful woven silk that had been sitting on the shelf since the fall, not yet assigned a use, as well as a nondescript kerchief lying nearby. I'm going to have a hard time explaining this one to Fiona, she mourns as she returns to her receiving room.
"Here, take this," she says to Mélanie, handing her the silk. "Go back to the kitchens and help Elena include it in the basket - dare not allow it to be stained with honey or fruit juice! I will meet you there shortly. Thank you, my swift, this is going well. Off you go now."
"Do you want me to help too?" Loys says with urgency as Mélanie runs off with the silk. Tranquillina looks him straight in the eye: "Loys, this is excellent work you have done today; it convinces me to have you do something even more crucial." The maga squints at the kerchief for a moment, then invokes the words and gestures of a spontaneous Muto Imaginem spell; Loys coughs a few times as the kerchief changes into a large coin bearing Tranquillina's own likeness. "Take this to Alexandria, and ask her to let you in to the locked room in the back of the library." Loys looks at his hand in confusion as he grasps the coin, its feeling completely at odds with its appearance. "She will know that this could not have come from anyone else. You will find there a store of rose petals, black as the night; take exactly three of them," she instructs, shuddering, "carefully wrapped in one of the cloths there, and bring them with you to the kitchen. Ware now: they are items of power, so do not tarry with them."
((The MuIm spell is a non-fatiguing spont: Base 1, +1 Touch, +2 Sun = level 4; Sta -3 + Mu 11 + Im 10 + aura 5 = 23. Finesse roll for the coin image: Int 3 + Finesse 2 + stress die 6 = 11.))
Slightly winded even after that simple spell - damn my lack of sleep these past months! - she puts the needle in her kirtle's hem and uses the rock to Leap to the vintner's cabin. "Sobran!" she calls as she enters. "It's Tranquillina, I wanted to talk to you about - " but then she is loudly interrupted. "I know your game, lady!" Sobran comes charging out of the back room, looking mad enough to throw bottles. "What gives you the right to send your servants with messages to me about how I spend my time?! If Lady Fiona wants to break it off with me, she can do it herself, not through some - lackey!" he nearly spits at the maga.
Tranquillina fliches backwards, then holds the vintner's gaze. "Sobran, I know you are upset, and perhaps I have some blame in the matter," she soothes, while silently casting Enchantment of Detachment without gestures. ((Casting Total = 26, -10 for words/gestures due to mastery, +5 aura = 21 + die roll for a level 15 spell.)) "My duties are urgent this afternoon, but it was inconsiderate of me to bring your ... relationship with Lady Fiona into this." Next comes Aura of Rightful Authority, also silently and without gestures. ((Level 20 spell. Sta -3 + Re 9 + Me 10 + aura 10 - words 5 (masteries) = 21 plus die roll.)) "I know you have done an excellent job supplying wine to the Tribunal meeting. But every cellar has a wide array of vintages ... and we have a very important guest to greet. Sobran, I need your two best bottles in my hands right now. Trust me: they will be put to the best use imaginable."
Sobran, who had gagged a couple of times during her words, seems much calmer, almost indifferent now. "Hmm, very well, if it's so important to you. I'll fetch them, Lady Tranquillina." True to his word, he returns several minutes later with two bottles carried by the next between his right thumb and forefinger. "These should do nicely. Particularly with fowl." Tranquillina thanks him and takes the two bottles outside with her. Holding them against her body inside her cloak with one arm, and pinching the needle with the other hand, she casts Leap of Homecoming again to travel to Susane's studio. ((Automatic success; no penalty for absence of gestures, due to mastery.)) Thanking Giorgio and Elena personally, she instructs Loys to carry the gift basket and make his way to the regio and across the bridge to the Tribunal field. "I shall meet you at that gate in a quarter of an hour. You have the vis, yes? - er, the petals?" she confirms, leaning away from him.
Tranquillina herself returns to her chambers, checks her appearance in the mirror, takes several deep breaths, and then uses LoH to return to the Tribunal plateau. Soon, she and Loys are walking through the bustle of the temporary city, seeking Murion, Prima of House Bonisagus.
Tranquillina and Loys are unable to find Murion. Some additional checking finds that Murion isn't in attendance, although some of the pages that Confluensis brought have word that she will be attending the Tournament, mainly to see what all the fuss is about.
Jerome eventually comes around with a familiar face in tow, Praxiteles. "My dear, Tranquillina, a Redcap managed to find us and suggested you were looking for my amicus, Jerome." He turns to Jerome, "Jerome, this is Tranquillina scholae Bonisagi."
I guess that servant's mother will be getting her dress back, with a new scarf to boot, Tranquillina thinks wryly. She racks her brain to think of the highest-ranking Bonisagus magi she can who are at the Tribunal proper; she wants to address this perception problem immediately, rather than wait until the Tournament starts. ((Int 3 + OoH Lore 1 + stress die 0 (no botch) = 4, aw crap.)) "Loys," she directs, annoyed that her addled mind is unable to remember even the simplest things, "store that gift basket safely and locate the Redcap named Florence*. Hand her one of the rose petals - tell her it's Creo Vis, c-r-e-o-v-i-s - and ask politely, on my behalf, for the name of the senior Bonisagus present at the Tribunal. Tell her I have a report to deliver that cannot wait until Murion's arrival. Ah, you might let her see the other two petals in your hand as you ask; they are certainly for her if she can provide the proper information." Tranquillina pats Loys on the back, who adopts a huge lopsided grin and heads off for the Mercere villa.
- ((whoever the Redcap was who delivered the invitation to Jerome))
She happily greets Praxiteles and introduces herself to Jerome. "I am very pleased to see both of you, and particularly to make your acquaintance, Jerome. How are you finding the Tribunal facilities so far? - I trust you are comfortable. I truly recommend stopping by the artwork in the bath house, if you have not already done so - perhaps, as a friend of Praxiteles, you already know about this!" she finishes with a big smile.
"If you do not have other plans - both of you, to be sure - I would be delighted if you would join me at Mons Electi for dinner tonight. A bit of a more quiet setting, for a time, might be an excellent antidote to these frenetic proceedings. Will you meet me at the west** gate at close of Tribunal business this evening?"
** ((whichever gate leads to the bridge to Mons Electi))
Assuming they agree (at least one of them), Tranquillina will escort them to her quarters, give them a tour of her laboratory (unless they don't want to cross the sanctum marker), and then host them for dinner in her comfortable receiving room.
(Edited to add: I only realized later that the petals are really Corpus Vis. Maybe I the player am addled this season! 
Nevertheless I'm leaving it - just goes to show how febuddled Tranquillina is after her unrecommended lab routine last season.)
((bumping this thread. Jerome? Jerome? dinnertime!))
((Impatient, aren't we? ))
Jerome is a Jerbiton who expects a certain level of hospitality when extended an invitation. Further, his facade/persona is as suggested in The Lion and the Lily. It's reasonable to expect he'd expect a token. As a member of Confluensis, this is something that probably needs to be navigated carefully... Whether he is given a token is going to set the stage on how I'm going to play him. Let's do an Order of Hermes Lore check to determine exactly what Tranquillina knows of Jerome. Alternatively, if one is looking to invite an influential and worldly Jerbiton of the Tribunal to dinner, a better alternative might be Praxiteles pater, Mathieus. I'll run with it however you want to play it.
Hmm, hmm. I think it's reasonable to feel strongly that Mons Electi shouldn't be handing out casting tokens, pretty much at all, during the Tribunal. Also, Tranquillina is definitely trying to suck up to people with this dinner invitation, and insulting someone by not offering a token is not a good start to that plan.
I remember reading about Mathieus, and originally was put off by the fact that he didn't seem too interested in Hermetic matters. But maybe this meeting is more about mundane pleasures and luxuries anyway (the Tribunal facilities). And if Mathieus wouldn't care about not having a token, that's a huge plus. (Tranquillina also has the side motive of getting a few guests to see her sweet lab setup. Word gets around....)
Ok, so let's make that Order of Hermes Lore check - in fact two, one for Jerome and one for Mathieus. Int 3 + OoH Lore 1 + stress die.
- Jerome: 4 + stress die 7 = 11
- Mathieus: 4 + stress die 6 = 10
Not bad. If you're willing to retcon the last few posts, I'd be happy to switch the original invitation to Mathieus. (Although I did like the idea of tantalizing Jerome with a description of The Great Game....)
Mathieus arrives, and Praxiteles has already explained the token thing, and it's not a big deal. It's not that Mathieus, or even Praxiteles aren't interested in Hermetic matters, it's the idea that they are sufficiently happy with their Arts as they are that they don't feel a need to learn anything else, at this particular time. Sufficiency means they don't keep researching their Arts for Arts sake, and they don't have the desire to get their Arts to a point to invent a spell in 1 season, when they might be able to invent it in 4 season where their Arts are at now. Does that make any sense? Praxiteles can also effectively explain the token issue, and so long as the company pleasant, conversation witty and/or erudite, food of good quality, and the wine is high quality and never stops flowing...
((Fair enough, on the more nuanced description of their Hermetic outlook.))
After the greetings and a perfunctory tour of her laboratory, Tranquillina leads them back into the plush receiving room, where a servant girl and a page/runner wait on the guests hand and foot. The wine is indeed good and plentiful 
"We are so pleased that you made the trip here from Paris, Archmagus Mathieus," Tranquillina gushes. "I have not yet had a chance to visit that reknowned city. What is it like? How different Conventio Eboris must be from this remote locale."
The magi take in Tranquillina's lab, but she can tell that they are doing it out of politeness, more than true interest. Labs are personal things, made to suit the magus using it. Mathieus makes comments about his studio for paintings and to display his musical instruments, and Praxiteles makes a comment about his sculptor's studio, but only to illustrate how a lab can differ and reflect it's owner.
"Please, no, don't call me that. Mathieus is sufficient. And as to Eboris, I have always lived in a city, and prefer it. It makes magic a bit more difficult, but I rarely have to deal with the problems of acquiring things I need. Of course, you're but a day from Autun, a few days further from Dijon, so you're not exactly in the hinterlands. This regio, though, is remarkable. So large. I've never seen anything like it. And the Rego alignment... most remarkable." Mathieus is dressed in the latest fashions from the court in Paris, and his hands are bedecked in rings that would rival a Verditius. ((He looks like Orson Welles as he was in Casino Royale.)) Praxiteles and Mathieus look to be about the same age.
"If you ever wish to visit, you're more than welcome. We can always use experience magae to help with the Itinerium.
Even a specialist like Tranquillina understands that people can be in the presence of corpses for only so long before dinner, so she keeps the lab tour brief.
"I admit it took me a few months to get used to this aligned aura - but of course it is nothing but a boon to us," Tranquillina agrees, nodding to the servant to replenish the plate of finger-sized savory pies that is leading up to the main course. "I can imagine the wonderful uses to which a painter would put a Rego aura, at least if any part of the process were magical. We have been able to witness, in the time leading up to this Tribunal, just that sort of mastery from Praxiteles." She smiles at the sculptor.
"The Itinerarium?" Tranquillina repeats. "What little I know about that suggests that it focuses on art, about which I am scarcely qualified even to speak with you two!" she chuckles self-deprecatingly. "I know not what I could contribute, other than my enthusiasm. Are there formal art schools in Paris? For that matter, are there formal centers of mundane study at all?"
"Oh, my, yes. Plenty of opportunities for learning, but if your Gift isn't gentle, it can be a challenge. One thing, and I'm sure my filius will confirm it so, is that the Arts necessary to work magic to make things aren't really all that difficult. The challenge is the control one must exercise over their magic to make their vision match what they are creating, which is altogether different than Arts. I could instill the effects necessary to do the spells, and teach anyone how to control it. It's nothing special." Matthieus takes a glass of wine and savors the bouquet. "This is lovely. Anyway, we have two Itineria. One for gently Gifted and one for normally Gifted Jerbiton apprentices, so we are always looking for magi who are themselves interested in culture and can extend their Parma over one or two to keep things well in hand. I'm sure you can imagine what happens if you stick 5 Gifted individuals in some tavern room that the results are not good."
Tranquillina emits a bubbly laugh. "I can imagine! A couple of years ago I finished reading the famed treatise Magus Invictus, a copy of which we obtained from my House's library; it mentions such a situation as a useful application of the Founder's breakthrough." She adopts a thoughtful expression, wondering how many other people she could actually protect at one time with her Parma Magica. "Hmmm ... do these Itineraria take place in a small period of time? or several events over the course of months? Or is it essentially one's focus for the entire time?"
"It will probably be no surprise to you," she continues, tilting her head back towards the laboratory they both toured, "to learn that I have an interest in how our magic can address matters usually left to the medicus or chirurgeon. My pater eventually became extremely knowledgeable in medicine, something I have not yet had time to address. Are there courses of study in these fields to be had in Paris? Or perhaps you know of some suitable reading material for a beginner...."
"The Itinerium is a season long event. The time spent in Paris is about a month."
"The school of Medicine in Paris is foundering. It is not a good school for Medicine, but you may learn enough. You would be better off pursuing an education in Bolagna or one of the Italian universities. Your Gift will be disadvantageous to you, though. As to suitable reading material. I sadly have none. Medicine does not interest me, and well, the quality of those texts easily available in Paris is... suspect."
"Hmmm ... thank you for this valuable information, sodalis," Tranquillina muses.
As the main course is being cleared away, she casually moves to what in her mind is the most important aspect of this meeting. "So, Mathieus ... how do you find the location of this Tribunal? And the construction of the main buildings? Of course much of the artistic excellence is due to our friend here," she smiles at Praxiteles. "Are you comfortable in your lodgings? I would be happy to hear any suggestions for improvement, indeed any feedback you might have, positive or negative." She holds her breath.