"I should think you would want to use your investigative powers to get to the bottom of this! Worrying about payments and their size seems to be the least troublesome issue!"
Halie seems confused. "Quaesitores do not make a point to "investigate" every charlatan that crosses their path. The request is completely unreasonable, as you yourself were first to point out, and questioning someone who is completely divorced from reality gains us nothing."
If Ysebrand is in the foyer, Eilid will go get him. If he's at his cottage or aboard the Whoa Buoy, she looks out the window, disappears from the Council Chamber, and gets him.
"I believe the Council would like to speak with you to convince them to ratify our agreement. They feel that six pawns a year is somewhat excessive."
If he agrees to meet with the Council, she will go with him.
Trimalchio ponders this. "Perhaps this 'mundane' is secretly a member of some heretofore unknown magical tradition?" he guesses excitedly, "And they have some unusual method of using corpus vis? Perhaps I should meet with this person. Of course, I am against paying someone outrageous amounts of corpus vis for laboratory assistance until my longevity ritual is sorted."
"Very well. I couldn't have expected this to go easily." Ysebrand enters the council chamber behind Eilid.
"It's YOU?! Talia gasps in shock.
Ysebrand looks at Talia with a pained look of someone who's kept a secret. "Yes, it's me. I request the vis, because quite simply I need it to live. If I should go a year and a half without consuming any I'd expect I'd fall into a deep slumber never to be awakened, and slowly waste away. Look at me now, though Talia. Eilid was kind enough to give me some corpus vis, enough to regain my normal health and vitality, such that it is." Talia and Aodhan should now see a much more healthy looking person. "I ask for the amount I do, because I don't wish to live a life of subsistence. I ask for extra so I may engage in beneficial trades, both within the covenant and without. I'll happily engage in two seasons of service, obviously I'd like interesting projects, but if half a year has gone by and there are none, then I have to take what I can get. Additionally, I'm interested in conducting trades for vis on the covenant's behalf, bypassing the normal Mercere cut. I am, after all, an able negotiator."
Halie fails to bring up Piercing Gaze via Theriomorphy, but doesn't botch. She frowns. "We can discuss this further once the council is again in private."
((Maybe she thinks he's a demon, since it doesn't work on demons, and Talia already laid the kernel.))
((No, she knows that her eyes didn't change. Theriomorphy works by making a physical change to your body.))
((Thats what the demons want you to think.))
"I realize I'm being presumptuous, but if it concerns my well being, I'd like to be involved in the discussions. Alternatively, if you wish to not ratify Eilid's agreement, I ask that you invest someone with the authority to negotiate with me in good faith and accept the results as binding."
"You are not a member of this council; your preferences are irrelevant."
"He is a person, whether capable of working magic or not. I insist he stays to hear us debate his future! And I am a member of this council. I do not judge people based on how much magic runs through their blood. Ysebrand has useful skills, apparently more than I thought. Spurn him if you must, you put at risk a valuable resource that could likely get what he needs from another covenant."
"He is not a member of the council and is not privy to its deliberations. If you wish to propose an amendment to the contrary, Talia, he'll have to excuse himself first. If your motion passes, then of course he may participate."
"As far as I have read it there is no language in the charter that prevents him from hearing council deliberations! Please point it out to me! He is here at Eilid's invitation, and I endorse that invitation! However, you have made it clear you what your intention is, that there is no reason for him to receive sustenance, since you voted no, period. I wish to inquire further. He" Talia indicates Ysebrand, "is necessary for deliberations and discussion."
(There MUST be something about it, else everyone could just show up with all their shield grogs and retinue.)
"Talia, your flagrant disregard for protocol and decorum makes it clear that this creature has enchanted not only Eilid, but yourself as well."
(Seriously. This is getting ridiculous, JL.)
((The Charter, in the section under Membership where it discusses Protected Guests, says: "Protected Guests may partake in meetings of the Council of Members should they desire it, but are required to leave if asked to do so by a member of that council, and are afforded no voice nor vote unless granted such by the Princeps." It doesn't specifically say that a Protected Guest must be a member of the Order, so it could be argued that this status is extended to any visitor who is invited to stay by a member of the Council. Thus, anyone not a member of the Council, either Probationary or Full, may attend Council at the invitation of a member, but should any member ask him to leave, he should. Drystan will point this out.))
((Does Halie want to try Second Sight?))
"Do not paint me with a brush you don't know how to use. Every person has value, I do not make snap judgments like you do. I applaud Ysebrand for using his natural gifts to get the best deal he may, indeed that is a central Tenet of my House. He has helped me acquire legitimate cargos in the past, but recently fell upon hard times and asked to leave Bruges and come with me to Inverness. I did not know how hard he had fallen, though. And as to your secondary point, the thing you must understand about me Haile is that I'll stand up for anyone who uses their natural talents and abilities to the utmost if anyone should call him out or prejudge him as worthless or not worthy of consideration. He needs four pawns of vis a year to live. Do we not give grogs what they need to live? He asks for more vis, so he can invest and manage it, do we not pay grogs a little bit more than they need to live? The difference is that he requires vis to live, and we want vis to power our magic."
((Please consider that Talia has essentially lived over half her post gauntlet career with mundanes, and values all of their contributions. A ship's captain, especially a nominally pirate ship, is an elected position, and not a position held onto by sheer force of personality. Her lechery is incidental to her behavior, as you'll note the magical items she's acquired for her ship are about keeping her crew happy. This is Talia, and she will fight for any mundane who is using their gifts to their utmost, be they Gifted or no. I refer you to page 79, section on Equality in HoH:Societas))
Talia does acknowledge that Ysebrand must leave, and says simply, "Sorry, Ysebrand. I hope we can come to an arrangement that will encourage you to stay."
"He has been asked to leave by a member of this council. Talia, I will be happy to respond to your concerns once this creature accedes to this request. I will not ask again."
"Do you hear the words coming out of my mouth, or are your ears shut? I acknowledged he has to leave. Your observational powers are quite keen, my dear."
Ysebrand leaves, staring daggers at Haile for calling him a creature.
"It would appear that you'll have little help from him in the lab."
"Magae," Drystan says, "I trust that we will be able to keep civil tongues in our heads. I do not want to adjourn the meeting until all matters have been resolved, but if you feel that you need some time to calm down, I will do so."
He looks sternly at the both of them.
Eilid speaks. "Ysebrand came to me shortly after you all joined the Covenant, seeking gainful employment. He looked to be practically at death's door, so I cast Revealed Flaws of Mortal Flesh. I was bothered by what that revealed, so I cast a more extensive version of the spell. I can attest that what the spell revealed confirms what Ysebrand told us. He does need the vis to survive. If he doesn't consume a pawn of Corpus Vis every three months, he will slowly starve to death. After a year and a half, he will be so weak from Vis starvation that he will fall into a coma and will die within a month. I, for one, do not want to see that happen, and will do what I can to ensure that he does not die because of my negligence."