1222.OOC

I had to push stuff around since I made my list.

Korvin:1222
Spring - trip to Salamanca
Summer - Open Abagail's arts.
Autumn - LR for L Cr27+Co 17+In3+MT7 + 5(Paion)+Lab(+3)+Inventive Genius (3)+aura 5 +10 from Laetitia and +6 from Glaukopis = LT 86 (MT+2)
Winter - refining his lab ( size +2 now). MT+2

1222 activities for Abagail filia Korvin
Spring : travel to Mons Electi
Summer: Open arts
Fall: read Esse Est Percipi by Laetitia scholae Guernici, Intellego summa, L10 Q12
Winter: Read: A Primer on Origination (Creo Summa, Level 6, Quality 21)

Don't forget, you don't get Glaukopis, unless and until you get your Leadership score up. And then Abigail is a better deal...

Who said anything about being public or prominent?

Doesn't sound exactly quiet. Circulate is an active verb. If you said setup a surreptitious network for distributing the scrolls without my House knowing the source, I wouldn't have said anything.

Oh please. It's Laetitia, not Alexei :slight_smile: "Surreptitia" is her childhood nickname!

I've always appreciated the simplicity of "Hulk Smash."

Also, since I've laid bare the Darkness within House Guernicus, I wouldn't mind hearing opinions on what players are thinking about the overall direction of the saga. From this point forward the saga is definitely going to be more player directed, so gauging response is important for me to work any issues out.

I've always believed that there is so much room for reinterpreting the actions and motives of House Guernicus, and what if they instigated almost all the troubles of the Order? Vast conspiracies, while unlikely in real life, are great story fodder...

Personally, I'm somewhat lost. You said in PM that we were nowhere near ready for open conflict, but OOC, it doesn't really seem like we have any other viable options. I'm in that weird position where, as a player, I think my character's ideas for handling a situation are totally doomed to failure-- like, I want to throttle Laetitia and scream "THEY'RE NOWHERE NEAR THAT STUPID! DON'T BE SO BLOODY OPTIMISTIC!" and yet, I don't think any other options look any better.

Consider Reynault's comment about Apollodorus thinking they would act rashly if his identity was discovered. The general sense that your characters don't see options is perfectly reasonable. This is a cold war, not open and direct conflict. Players shouldn't feel their characters are in immediate danger, but the characters themselves should be completely unsure of exactly what to do because their understanding of the Order is built on faulty assumptions or teachings.
Laetitias comment about Valerian killing Apollodorus as an official act also has no basis under the Code. His actions were completely illegal, and indefensible. However proving that is problematic.

I love it as a meta plot. It creates a new "villain" with a lot of political power that you can not just smash.

That's exactly what it is. I've just revealed the chief antagonists of the saga. Yeah, there may be holes in their motivations and actions, but that's the trouble with vast conspiracies. And if the characters/players focus on the problems, and not their resources, they will feel overwhelmed...

The Inner Council may not be stupid, but they may be focused on different things. Think the Empire and the Death Star. The Empire and Emperor and Vader were by no means stupid, but they were focused on something else entirely: crushing the rebels. The weapons they built and tactics they used weren't adequate to fight the rebels. It is likely that their actions (destroying Alderaan) ended up creating more rebels.

What if democracy doesn't end with thunderous applause?

My initial knee-jerk reaction was "Crap! The Diedne had the right idea...let's go to the Magic Realm and hide until the Resurrection!" But then I stopped panicking and started thinking about it.

I think the main thing we have going for us is knowledge. We now know the truth about Guernicus and the history of the Order...or, at least, we think we do – Fiona's still not 100% sure. Everything she's been taught and believed for the last forty years was wrong, and she's basically stripping gears right now. But she'll come around.

So, we know the truth. We know about the Duresca scrolls, even if we don't actually know what's in them. (Do we even have the scrolls? Not sure, I'd have to go back and check). But Guernicus doesn't necessarily know that. They know Apollodorus/Xenophon was a very secretive, cunning, and manipulative s.o.b. It may be possible to convince them that we're ignorant about what happened, that we know nothing about Xenophon or the Duresca Scrolls or anything, that we're all Good and Loyal Servants of the Order and pose no threat to them.

Meanwhile, possibly use the Magic Realm as a "safe house," hide anything and anyone we don't want discovered there while we look for the Diedne. I doubt that we can convince them that we're sorry about what happened...in fact, it's possible they may be "shoot first, summon the shade, shoot it, summon the shade again, then ask questions," but if we can convince them of our situation, they might be invaluable allies.

I'm thinking the fact that we were chosen to host the next Tribunal might actually work in our favour. I doubt that they will wipe out the whole covenant and leave the Tribunal in the lurch, and Tribunal might be an opportunity to make some allies just in case.

I also find myself wonder if (1)the ex Misc Census might be of use to us in this situation, and (2)whether the giants with Parma might have anything to do with this, or if they might be somehow recruited in our coming battles.

when this was calculated, there was no Abagail. What is her MT?

It's 5 with an Int of 3, so she'd add 8 to the lab total.
To use her, you need to have a Leadership score of at least 1 or not use Laetitia as all.

You get 1 assistant and your familiar without leadership
You get 2 assistants and your familiar with leadership 1. As leadership score increases so does the number of assistants, although I'll impose some limits based on the size of the lab if it gets ridiculous.

I like it, but need to study some more and consolidate Alexei's strength. I've always wanted to see conflict on the Schism War's scale.

Why not? All they have to do is say "Sorry, it's in our records that Xenophon was to be Marched if he still survived." No one but Guernici have access to those records. And they can put it in their records if they want to. WM have to be ratified at the next Tribunal, but even if that vote doesn't pass, Valerian can't be prosecuted for it as he "simply carrying out orders."

There is a difference between "illegal" and "unethical," as you discover when there is one governing body which is simultaneously legislative, executive, and judicial.

There are no such records indicating Xenophon was to be marched. Xenophon had been a member of the Order in good standing. He had not been convicted of any crime, or even charged with a crime.

That no one else has records on who is to be Marched or not is not correct. The penalty of being renounced is a matter of Tribunal record, and there is no record of Xenophon having been convicted and renounced in any Tribunal of record. The conspiracy isn't that vast.

In situations where someone is slain before the Tribunal, such as HoH:TL discusses that would require a trial of some sort. Do you really think that the House wants this to be a matter of public record? Do you want Laetitia to be the advocate for Apollodorus in absentia?

Laetitia to Valerian on the stand: "I want the truth!"
Valerian to Laetitia:"You can't handle the truth!"

Doesn't L&L put all Normandy's Tribunal records at Confluensis? Where no one but Guernicus magi would have access to them?

Now we're getting into areas that you need to solve IC...

She's been in the Records Room before.

Yes, I know, but it's not going to come that easily. Again, I reiterate, this is something that needs to be solved IC.