Murion calls the meeting to order and then indicates Poena should start things off. "Each of you here, except, perhaps, Korvin knows that Xenophon of Tremere has been killed tonight. Until his death, he was probably the oldest magus. Apollodorus was gauntleted shortly after the Schism, and was a product of that environment. He was haunted by a lab accident that left him extraordinarily Gifted a few years after his gauntlet. He did much for my House, and much was given to him. He became a student of the Schism, and indeed of all the troubles the Order has had from within. After a hundred hears of study he drew a startling conclusion, that House Guernicus was behind all of the troubles, and it all began with the Duresca scrolls."
Cavillor hisses, "House Guernicus cannot have done all that you claim, they simply aren't powerful enough, they maintain order in our ranks, and nothing else!"
Poena returns a laugh, but one with no hint of mirth or humor, "I have copies of Apollodorus' research, of how he connected the dots." She waves her hands and several volumes are brought out and provided to everyone present, including Korvin. "Apollodorus had been lying low for these last few years, until he found what he was seeking. He built Mons Electi on the spot of a former covenant of House Diedne." A few people draw in a sharp breath when they hear her call the House by name. "Apollodorus, had been inquired as to whether it was safe to build a covenant in that location, several members of House Guernicus assured him it was, never mentioning what had been there previously, even though Apollodorus knew what was there. One of the things that troubled him most was that House Guernicus always seemed to prefer destroying evidence, preventing others from learning about their mistakes. As loremasters, destroying evidence and lore should be a last resort. It is not lore that makes us evil, it is how we use it. Why not destroy the books on the Arts, if lore is truly so dangerous. Xenophon understood this, and began making trouble for House Guernicus, after several attempts on his life, he let one appear to be successful and assumed a new identity, and apprenticed with Astrolabe of Jerbiton."
Andru picks up the tale, "Of course, that wasn't the case. He was an apprentice in name only, in reality he was my master as much as Astrolabe was. He taught me much, but how I am most appreciative of him was that he taught me how to look at the way House Guernicus was isolating us, and keeping knowledge of our past hidden. Why is it that people who even bring mention of the Duresca scrolls get punished so severely? Threats of being marched if they don't keep quiet. And then there is the stranglehold that the House maintains on the Normandy Tribunal, odd rulings allowing covenants to continue exist in a nearly perpetual state of near/almost war enshrined into that Tribunal's peripheral code. Why are the places of House Diedne kept secret, lost in lore only to the records House Guernicus keeps to themselves. And then there is the central mystery, the one that I don't think Apollodorus solved. Little is know of what happened to Guernicus, the Founder, how he died, only rumors and innuendo remain. Fenicil spoke for him in his later years, and then once he became Primus of the House, that's when, apparently the Tremere were seeking to dominate the Order."
Murion speaks, interrupting Andru before continuing, "There is a clear pattern beginning with the supposed Tremere domination, escalating into the Schism War. And here is where it is most disconcerting. It has long been rumored that House Guernicus has amassed a collection of ancient magical artifacts and rituals, which they keep to themselves. It was during the Schism, that Xeneophon's pater, as the Quaesitor of House Tremere witnessed the ritual murder of the Diedne representative, cursing that House and weakening it to allow the rest of the Order to defeat House Diedne. Notice the targets, Houses that were tightly woven with strong sense of duty to one's house. House Tremere and House Diedne were both greatly weakened, and only House Guernicus remains that strong sense of duty to the House amongst its members. And it is all covered by a cloak of service to the Order."
Discussion continues into the afternoon, Korvin hears some other things, but mostly he's in a daze. One tidbit he plucked out of the conversation is that Garus had been a confidant of Xenophon and was targeted because of that relationship, and that Garus was attempting to build a tightly woven sense of duty to the Order and the House into the Flambeau, and it was beginning to work.