Sorry you ordered him to explain what was going on. I misremembered the item in question, but it was stated as a demand. And it was in his home. The overall character of the interaction is still relevant. I didn't review what exactly was said. I just remembered how he felt and that a demand from Viscaria made him feel that way.
She spends the night reading the diaries, suspicious of their authenticity yet trying to find proof of their validity all the same.
In the morning, she'll hunt down Mnemnos, try to apologize for the miscommunciation, and sort out what exactly is going on.
Viscaria is forced to leave a note to Mnemnos, his servants will not interrupt him. There's very little to authenticate the journal. It ends roughly 73 years previous.
Can she talk the servants into letting her bring in his lunch or something?
What's the story behind the diaries?
No, but she's assured that they'll pass on the note.
The stories I can develop more fully, but they are the daily writings of a fae witch, non Hermetic maga. They later have a daughter who does become a Hermetic magus and is taken into Somnifer's House, but not by Somnifer, and she relocates to Iberia. The mother escorted the daughter to her new home, and the diary ends...
Well, then she'll wait outside his lab for him to come out, willing to play part of a penitent for a day if necessary.
After midday Viscaria is consumed in a shower of sparks and reappears reclining comfortably in a bed, still fully clothed. She feels no ill effects from such a high level spell cast upon her.
"I don't waste time. Somnifer beat me, putting his foolish motives above those of our covenant. I, and I alone have been tasked with completing an assignment that Candidus has set before me. Indeed, it is the task that opened the doorway and allowed people to change positions within the regio and without. I need to get out. And it is worth something to me. Is it worth something to you to help me?"
Viscaria nods, "I'd certainly jump at the chance to help with something, while I seek to understand the truth of what lured me here. His bait was too good. I dare not refuse it, and now I wish to minimize the damages I may have done. Tell me what to do."
OOC: So, I'm still not clear on whether or not the diaries seem like the real thing to Viscaria. The sense that I get is that they're a generation older than what Viscaria is looking for.
"if you can write a letter entrusting an amicus of yours to come and switch places with me... If I can't find someone to switch with before the end of the season the opportunity to complete the task will not recur for 7 years. We can convince Somnifer's filius to make the delivery. I can open up the library for you for this favor. I may even be able to illuminate you about you vulgar grand-father, if the letter is successful. Regardless it is in my interest to treat you well, we need trading partners."
OOC: Okay, it feels a bit cheap to abuse Spider's Palace for this, since I just made them up, but all the other magi I know in-saga are probably too smart to trick into this.
OOC the 2nd: If any of the other players WANT to come to Lapis Crudis, then suggest it here and Viscaria will come up with a reason you might come. Bonus points if you provide one.
Viscaria considers carefully, "I've already seen much here that would be of value to other covenants. I'm very new to this Tribunal, as I was hired to help build the next Tribunal Field. I don't know how I could convince any of my direct brethren to come, since my absence increases their workload on the Tribunal. The only others I know in Normandy are Virgil and Olivia.....hrm, Olivia would certainly love to copy some of your books, and Virgil would greatly hunger for your Leaping spells. Come to that, so do I."
She nods again. "Yes, and it'd be good to give them some time dealing with somebody besides Florum."
"Very well, write the letters, let me know when they are ready and we shall summon Languidus to deliver them. When they are on their way, I will grant you a token to the Aegis and open the library to you." Mnemnos says quietly. Viscaria sees the image of her quarters appear on a mirror and Mnemnos says "I believe this concludes our business." She is enveloped in a shower of sparks and when they clear she is in her quarters sitting at the writing desk. Moments later writing implements and parchment appear on the desk.
Viscaria stares at the vellum and writing inks, a small vein on her forehead throbbing in anger. He cast on her without her permission! He violated her personal freedom in a way that no one had since she had passed her Gauntlet. Her blood boils at the outrage.
She sits motionless, the expression on her face as blank as it had been when her pater had performed all those experiments on her, unwilling to let her emotions rise to the surface.
A minute passes. Then two. And then she takes a deep shuddering breath, and steps outside of her own perspective. She tries to imagine what this Mnemnos has been through. Recalls the isolation and confinement she experienced for nearly a decade, and forcibly reminds herself that he has experienced this same isolation and violation for multiple decades. She breathes, and very deliberately, very intellectually, seeks compassion for him.
It does not change what he did. It does not forgive him for the way he lords his power over her. It makes her no less cautious of him, but not because he is a vile human being, for truly he is not. He's just been locked in a cage for so long that he's forgotten how to be human.
"What do I want, Candidus?" she mutters aloud. "I want to never be so helpless again."
She gets up, walks a circle around the room. She casts a few InVi spells to test the Aegis strength and the aura
"Measure the Shield In My Hand," InVi, Base 5: Detect Active Magic, +1 Touch, roll up for additional information. InVi 10 or higher (she knows it is here, she's just using this spell to measure its magnitude, and could probably work with a lower base, but is being thorough)
InVi to determine aura strength Base 2 + 1 Touch = InVi3, the spell itself is trivial, it's the additional complication of the Aegis that makes casting this hard. She'll test for Magic, Faerie and Infernal auras, just to be safe.
invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3691975/
In 14 + Vi 15 + Sta 0 + Aura? = 29 +
1d10.open(10) → [1] = (1) = Rolls up 4 = 37 = 18.5 + Aura/2
1d10.open(10) → [3] = (3) = 32 = 16 + Aura/2 (Magic)
1d10.open(10) → [8] = (8) = 37 = 18.5 + Aura/2 (Faerie)
1d10.open(10) → [4] = (4) = 33 = 16.5 + Aura/2 (Infernal Aura)
(I realize these spells have next to no chance of going off, due to the Aegis, but it's how she blows off the steam.)
Then she sits down to write her letter.
All the spells are smothered by the Aegis.
Viscaria returns to Mnemnos with her letter. Once again she waits outside her door for a moment, and is consumed in a shower of sparks one moment and reclining on a chaise the next. "Do you have the letter? Excellent.". Assuming Viscaria gives it to him he then goes on to say, "Have some grapes in my absence, and a plate of grapes glides over to Viscaria."
He disappears in a shower of sparks, and returns about half an hour later. When he returns, "Here is a token," he says, handing Viscaria a token. And as she receives the token a shower of sparks erupt, and the pair is standing outside the library, "The library is now open to you. You are to be provided with whatever scribal Hospitality we are able to provide, or may study from a book at a carrol, your choice."
Viscaria grits her teeth and contemplates whether or not it is worth demanding this brute treat her with the respect she deserves and then decides against it. She heads to the library to see what's there.
"Are you annoyed with me, child?" He says after sensing her silence upon being admitted to the library and given a token. "I would have thought you would have preferred to travel this way, much like i do. It saves ever so much time! I cannot remember the last time I walked more than a hundred steps." Despite his bold statement, his slim figure suggests that he is either lying or otherwise active... And he's not altogether unattractive, either... Strangely, Viscaria knows from experience that such a powerful spell should be pushing her noticeably closer to Twilight, but she doesn't feel the tell-tale effects of such a powerful magical effect.
"Here's a tome that Somnifer said you would find most interesting." He hands her a rather large book. It's beautifully bound and seems almost weightless. The cover has an insert that appears blank. When Viscaria runs her hands over the insert the name of the title can be read, Deconstructing Morpheus: Living Twice, At Once. "Therein you'll find how he brought you here, and much about how he perceives the world. You might be able to apply it to shaping our own magic. I know I've found it useful, though the focus on mentem was less so." It's a clarified tome on Finesse, that will grant a specialization in Mentem. If Viscaria reads it, she can retain her existing specialization specialization, or retain her own. I'll detail the quality after she decides read through it or copy it for a bit.
"And of course, you will receive full scribal or study hospitality, your choice. Is there any way I may be of service?" Ok, Viscaria thinks to herself, when has a Tytalus offered to be of service to anyone? It's just all sorts of odd.
"First, you cast a spell on me without so much as asking beforehand, and now you call me a child? Long have you been away from the world, Mnemnos. When you finally escape this cage -- a task I still hope to help with, but when you do, you will be your own worst obstacle." Her tone is that of an aunt speaking to an unruly child, assuming that the child will not listen but forced by ethics to attempt the explanation.
"An intriguing title. If I could do as the title suggests, I would spend my second life this spring studying your accomplishments. Your command of Rego magics is impressive, and reminds me of a dear friend that I have lost. On the off chance that either you or Somnifer prove trustworthy -- or, god help my cynical soul, both of you live up to your word, then I can tell you for certain that I know of at least two covenants that would be willing to trade you for the lab texts to the many wonders I've seen your covenfolk use, and mayhap even some of the spells I've seen you use -- for you'll note, I hope, that it is not the magics, but the manner in which they are employed that I object to."
It isn't so much his offer of help that surprises Viscaria as his abrupt change of pace. One second he's barely speaking a full sentence before Leaping somewhere else, but now that he has her letter, he's got time to make chit-chat and offer to be of service?
"It's my experience that magi cast spells on each other all the time, or so I've been told since being an apprentice. Somnifer sends me the strangest dreams... My master used to cast spells on me all the time, he claimed he did it to toughen me up. So, if you have advice about the outside world, I would welcome it. For me to free the covenant from Candidus grasp, I must seduce Eirene Laskarina. Do you know who that is, by any chance?" He doesn't seem to be aware of...much.
"Dream-magicians, like necromancers, become tainted by the subject of their scrutiny. They lose sense of the true, human perspective, which is why it is so easy for them to fall into evil," she explains, sounding very much like she's quoting someone. "It's no surprise that he's forgotten such a basic concept as personal space. As for your pater, the relationship between an apprentice and their pater is absolutely different from a relationship between equals."
(pause)
"Um....I'm afraid that knowing about people has never really been my job. I'm just the guy who builds things. Perhaps Olivia[1] will know. How will seducing anyone help? Have you...." She approaches the subject delicately. "Have you had much experience in seducing people?"
[1]This is the same day that she wrote the letter. It may not have even gone out yet.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand your meaning. My pater is long gone, I have no other lessons to draw on with him. And Somnifer is just odd."
"Pity. No. I've never umm...well..." He seems rather embarrassed, and Viscaria realizes that his first feeble attempt at seduction was transporting her to a chaise in a reclining position.
((We can continue the discussion here, but I'd like to iron out if Viscaria is going to use/scribe the book offered to her, review the full contents of the library or what exactly.))
She'll read the book. If it's a Summa that she won't finish, then she'll covertly acquire an Arcane Connection for it. In her downtime, she'll examine the rest of the library and, if she can manage it unseen, possibly acquire other Arcane Connections to other books of note.
That AC stuff is strictly if she feels absolutely sure she can get away with it.