For a third story happening while some of the magi visit Rhine covenants to find sponsors for the next Tribunal.
It was a cloudy mid-summer morning when Celeste heard someone knocking on the door of her laboratory.
When she opened, she found herself in front of a young redcap with a scroll in his hands. His tightly curled brown hair peeked out from under his cap, and his brown eyes turned toward her with a tired expression, although the young man tried hard to look professional and remain strong.
Upon seeing her, the lad blushed and for a moment he lost his composure, but then he cleared his throat and recovered his stance even though his face had turned the color of his cap.
"The Lady Celeste? Hans at your service." - he introduced himself, removing his cap and making a flourish with it as he bowed. His formality was as excessive and a little forced - "I bring a letter from Dankmar for the covenant of Tugurium... and you are the only one who has been able to attend to me..." - he added as he collected the cap under his arm and offered the letter he was carrying in his other hand with a rigid gesture.
When Celeste picked up the letter, he nervously looked away as he waited patiently for her to read it.
When she had it in her hands, the maga was able to appreciate that it was not actually parchment, but rather a simple paper with some mold stains. She removed the black wax seal that closed it and read its contents:
Sodales of Tugurium,
I am Jiphella Ex Miscellania, and I am writing to you in the name of the magae of Dankmar.
We recently heard about you desire to join our Tribunal and would like to discuss in person to discuss the terms of our support.
For this purpose, we invite those of you who wish to come to Dankmar when it best suits you.Unfortunately we also must also warn you that Dankmar is protected by a powerful Mentem effect, so only experts of the Art or those with a good parma will be able to reach us.
With some luck this will not be an impediment to meet with you.Remember that the date for the next Tribunal is close. The sand is falling.
Jiphella Ex Miscellania
Hans, who had actually been casting glances at her the entire time, noticed that Celeste had finished reading and turned back to her.
"Lady Celeste, will you need anything else from me?" - he asked kindly, although internally he was somewhat afraid that he would have to take an answer to that undesirable place.
Celeste smiles at the lad when she opens the door, and greets him. Lencor was up, as usual, when the knock came, and was pacing a bit, but when she saw the redcap standing there, she motioned for Lnecor to step back. No need to scare the poor fella.
"Thank you Hans, it is so nice to meet you Sodale, and thank you for bringing us this letter."
Taking the letter, she enjoys the feel of the paper. It's not bad, and she could learn to accept it.
Reading the letter, she was excited. it was a chance for her to visit Dankmar, and as the resident Mentem specialist, she was well suited for it.
"Thanks Hans, I will go to Dankmar to bring them my reply directly, but please, feel free to rest and enjoy the hospitality of our covenant. A young man like you needs to eat, so you can have the strength to travel. I will be packing up a few items, and take my familiar with me."
She gathers up a spare robe, and some other items for the travel, and heads out, with Lencor. She debated taking anyone else for the trip, knowing they will have to be left alone in the forest once they get close to Dankmar, since her Parma, even if she extends it, cannot provide enough resistance to whatever Mentem effect Dankmar has.
When Celeste said that she would go by herself to Dankmar, Hans was visibly relieved.
"Thank you, lady Celeste." - he said with a bright smile, putting the cap back on - "If you need something else, I will be here for a few days." - he added before he took his way to the main building.
After preparing for the travel, Celeste and Lencor took the road to the north.
It was pretty easy and uneventful, she took that same route the last year when she came with Alba to Tugurium, so she reached the Rhine without having any trouble.
Now, she just had to choose the path to Dankmar from there onward.
OOC
Just to be sure:
- You leave with Lencor and nobody else.
- You only told to Hans where are you going.
It's that correct?
Also, I would like to know which path you want to follow. Idk if you want to take the one that Celeste and Alba took, directly through the wilderness or if you want to follow the steps of Regulus to Basel, or whatever another you prefer 
Anything else relevant to the travel, like protections, spells or even mundane things like having Lencor guarding at night or whatever, also are welcome 
Celeste would inform Julius of her travel.
She will go through the wilderness, while she's Gently Gifted, Lencor's appearance is 'slightly' disturbing, so, until she can devise a spell or item to cover it, she's unlikely to take him to urban areas.
Lencor will definitely be guarding at night, and she will travel under The Succubus' Trick, while making use of Intuition of the Forest, and Traveler's Foresight.
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OOC:
@Red-Shadow-Claws, you have Area Lore: Rhine Tribunal specialized in Covenants. Make a roll on that + Int and let's see if you know more about Dankmar before you start your journey.
Also, you know about the Black Forest road, but i will need another roll (since its inside the Rhine Tribunal and you dont have a more specific Area Lore, you can roll into that knowledge) to know exactly how to reach it and about the Roman milestones.
Hi! To find out what I can do, say @discobot display help.
4, 9
So 9 on Dankmar, and 13 on Black Forest Road
OOC:
About Dankmar: You know about The Shouded Glen spell that protects Dankmar, but no about the specifics effects from the sigil nor the deal with the bockmen.
About the Black Forest Road: You know that you must reach Waldmössingen to enter the road, and the point where you need to leave the Road to get into Dankmar. You also know that the Road is protected somehow, but not that the source of the protection are the Milestones and the natura and strenght of it (not like you cannot discover it later when you reach the place).
Since those were Lore rolls, those are things that Celeste already knew from the start, so you are free to change decisions or take people with you. As you please.
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Celeste will go on the road. No point in having a safe road, and knowing about it, if one doesn't use it. But she will have Lencor bypass the own, and join her at the entrance.
Celeste advance quickly through the road while Lencor get to the forest each time she has to go through a populated path. While she waits him later to reunite and continue the walk. This works well and they advance slow but sure until right next the Black Forest.
Celeste finally reached Rottweil, an impressive and old town. And the start of the last part of her travel. She was already alone while Lencor was alone finding his way to the roman road, so she walked trough the streets, searching for the exit that would lead to the roman road.
Even when she didn't affect mundanes with her Gift, her raw appearance and royal stance was enough to call a lot of attention to her from the locals. She just ignored them and advanced between them until she found herself outside the town again.
It was hard to saw the road at first, since a lot of the paving stones were missing, surely stolen to build other buildings in the town. But she was looking for it, so she saw the signals. She advanced a little through the road before casting Traveler's Foresight when she was far enough of Rottweil, seeing that nobody else was in the road ahead.
She advanced, slowly entering the Black Forest, when she found the first milestone of the road. With its inscriptions in Latin was unmistakable. Outside already of the view of the town, now she only had to wait for Lencor, who surely had a longer trail to follow to reach the place. So she got comfortable and took the opportunity to eat a little.
Meanwhile, she looks to the place. She is still in the close to the town, so the trees at that place are still sparse, but the ones that surround her are very tall and look like bone fingers searching for the sky. Just a little more far away from the road, the ferns and bushes cover completely the ground, and the trees are dense enough to cover everything in shadows.
The maga cannot avoid to compare what she is seeing with Alba's descriptions... and it just seems like another place completely different. While Alba talks about the forest as a verdant and beautiful place full of life, now she just can see a wolf mouth awaiting to eat anyone who dares to enter.
Time passes and Lencor still did not appear. Would he be in problems? It would be unwise to wait for too much, since the Sun was already low in the sky.
OOC: Roll Awareness + Perception (i think that you dont have bonus for it, but just in case, its a hearing roll).
Celeste is getting anxious. Lencor is usually quite punctual, and he should have been here by now.
A total of 5, or 6 if Alertness applies.
For a moment, it seems that Celeste will be unable to notice any sound above the birdsong, but suddenly she hears faintly in the distance what she thinks is a howl. It comes from afar towards the south, and she's not sure if it's Lencor or... a less desirable wolf.
She is thinking about that, when the howling sounds again in the forest.