When the redcap returns with some normal looking leather belts, Korvin begins looking at them to make find one that would return to Harco. "Laetitia , lets walk to the fountain in the main square. That is where the belt should return her. Sometimes belts are made to return to Mercere Houses or other Covenants but most of them come back to Harco." When they reach the main square he hands Laetitia a belt. "Give this to Maria. She will know how to activate it. We still have some work to do you and I. And I still have your book."
"There are two whom I would bring here. I can ferry the belt back and forth, but not without leaving one of them alone, even if only briefly..." She pauses, and says in a low voice, "Moebius saved both my life and Maria's. And... he is to me what my father should have been, but never cared to be. Will you give him sanctuary?"
It is not my authority to give sancturary but here is another belt for Moebius. I'm sure Insatella will do so for the person who saved her daughter. Put them on and put a finger onto this stud on the back. Say Harco and will bring you back here.
Laetitia nods. "I assume this fountain is outside the aegis, so the items do not need to penetrate?" she then Leaps back to the spot where she left her friends, and (hopefully) returns a few moments later with Maria and an elderly gentleman.
No problems with the leaps and transports, of course, Moebius has to supress his Parma for the device to work on him.
"Now, is there someplace we might all speak in private?"
How private? We should go and talk to Insatella and introduce Moebius to her. You can not speak in front of the Prima of my House after saving her daughter then we might want to wait until we travel back to Mons Electi.
Laetitia's brow creases a moment in thought. "Actually, that would be perfect. Insatella must know the tidings I bring." She squeezes Korvin's hand warmly and smiles sadly. "...Thank you, my friend."
Once alone with Korvin, Moebius, Insatella and Maria...
"There are some things you must know, before today's events will make much sense to you." Laetitia pauses, and then leans back in her chair and continues. "My Gift is particularly suited towards the mastery of spells. This same aptitude is especially well suited to certain other rituals, discovered by Fenicil, the existence of said rituals are also a closely guarded secret of the House.
"My Hermetic pater is my vulgar father, whom you know as Iudicium scholae Guernici, the Presiding Quaesitor of Stonehenge. He is on Magvillus' inner council, and despite his... complex relationship with me, sees it as a matter of personal honour that I be groomed as his heir. It was thus that I was taught certain secrets of the House, on the pretense that the Order may soon face a great threat, which would call for drastic measures." She pauses for a moment, as if considering how best to say what is to come. "I had often wondered at many inconsistencies in the accounts of the Schism War, and when father taught me a ritual which would curse an entire people, involving a blood sacrifice... I suffered a crisis of faith."
Laetitia clears her throat. "I believe firmly in the rule of law, that no one is above the law, especially not those tasked with its enforcement. That my own House would commit such a heinous crime, under the pretense of being "for the greater good," shocked and appalled me. I demanded reassignment, reassured my superiors that I would keep the House's secrets, and they insisted that they would not call upon me to betray my principles under any circumstances. I was reassigned to Normandy, where Proctor asked me to keep an eye on Apollodorus, with no explanation of what his interest was. I assumed it was in furtherance of his stranglehold on the Tribunal's politics.
"Apollodorus told me that he was interested in claiming his rightful place as Praeco of the Tribunal. So when it became clear that he is Xenophon.... You must understand, I had been told my entire life that Xenophon parens was a power-hungry sociopath, dangerously charming and a great manipulator of people, bent on destroying the Order's structure and plunging us all into chaos. Father had even hinted at times that Xenophon's parens was directly responsible for framing Diedne, and ultimately causing that entire House's destruction through his manipulations.
"Did I believe this of the man I had come to know over the months? Of course not. I have very good instincts, which had never, until today, led me astray. I did, however, know that Valerian had long been pulling strings, abusing Quaesitorial authority to spy upon Apollodorus, and Mons Electi at large. I had every expectation that, by confirming their suspicions, Magvillus would charge Apollodorus with whatever evidence they had against him, that Xenophon would be tried by a court of his peers, and that with me as his advocate, charges would be dropped. I thought that by speaking out, we would finally be able to live in peace." She laughs bitterly. "I suppose it was hubris on my part. I could never have imagined that the inner council would flagrantly disregard the rule of law. As soon as I was debriefed, they began assembling strike teams-- and when I objected and tried to assert standard protocol, not only was I overruled, but Valerian sealed me in my former sanctum-- without an aegis token."
Moebius nods then. "My familiar had told me there was a great hubbub above, but I was not concerned with it until I heard sounds from the abandoned sanctum next door to me. I tunnelled through the seal on Laetitia's door, and we made our way to find young Maria. We fought our way to the Mercere Portal, but its magic was dormant. The inner council must have known we would try to escape that way, and sacrificed the portal to trap us. Instead, we sabotaged part of the fortress and tunnelled our way out. Which brings us here, and now."
Laetitia frowns. "We cannot openly oppose the inner council at this point. But the primi must be made aware that the upper echelon of House Guernicus has committed grievous crimes in furtherance of their bid for power, and will do worse, if given the opportunity. I would have them believe we support them, while we quietly muster opposition. The damage we did to the Magvillus fortress will allow us to dissemble, and claim that Magvillus was attacked at the same time as the other domus magna. If we spread this misinformation, Magvillus may believe we can be controlled, which may buy time for ourselves.
"I cannot undo my own actions. I will always have Apollodorus' blood on my hands, and I will have to find some way to live with that. He foresaw what was coming, though; it is no coincidence that he gave me his will when he did. I believe he took comfort in knowing I would take up arms and continue his work... I believe, perhaps, he thought that I would finish it. Which I intend to do.
"So now, I must ask. Will you stand with me?"
Laetitia's mention of having Apollodorus' blood on her hands should shock Korvin.
I will stand by you Laetitia but you must realize that my trust in your House is shaken and may never be repaired. And know that I can never look upon you in the same way either. I will always give you the benefit of the doubt but I must always look at your actions in a different light.
"That makes two of us, my friend. We may never know how deeply the inner council's deception goes."
((At Arya's direction I edited Arya's post above, removing Glaukopis due to logistics, but leaving the content intact. Apologies for changes in voice due to different characters speaking, I did it somewhat hastily.))
Laetitia fatigues herself to spont a Personal/Diameter version of Frosty Breath of the Spoken Lie: 6+1sta+23in+[strike]14me[/strike]+5au+6similar effect (ear of truth)=41/2=20 (target spell level is 15).
She clears her throat and says, "I am Trianoma filia Bonisagus." Icicles form around her lips.
"I am Laetitia filia Iudicium scholae Guernicus, and I hereby swear that the entire account of today's events by both myself and my familiar has been the truth, to the best of my knowledge." No frost appears.
"I intend to take over the Order with my personal army of trained skunks." A cloud of frost billows forth from her mouth.
She turns to Korvin, Insatella, and Maria. "Is there any other statement you would like verify, before the spell ends? It is only Diameter," she offers.
With a smile on his face " can you say the part about taking over the Order again but leave out the trained skunks part? I can help but think they you may have trained badgers and are just misleading us."
At mention of a badger Moebius looks up "Leave my badger be!"
"There is a badger on our side, and I wouldn't recommend crossing him," Laetitia grins. "But I have no designs on the Order at large-- just on reforming my House from within. Forcibly, if need be."
Korvin would like to get back ASAP so unless there is a Portal closer to Mons Electi he will use Seven League Stride ( which is a mastered spell) to move himself along at best speed. Let me know the # of dice I need to roll.
((Merged this over to this thread.))
When Arya indicates she's ready to return to Mons Electi, Insatella offers Korvin the use of a device to transport him back to a location near Mons Electi[1]. Once there he can SLS back into his sanctum. Insatella sends for the device and someone to operate it.
Just before Korvin leaves, a Redcap comes up to Insatella and reports "Ra'am has graciously answered our request for assistance and will be arriving momentarily."
[1] The device won't be able to penetrate the Aegis, and I'm handwaving collecting an AC. Laetitia could have one, Korvin could have one or Laetitia could easily acquire one upon her return to Mons Electi, and it's not central to the story for me to make it difficult for the magi to return.
9 xp for Korvin
6 xp for Elain