Korvin-
I have an 8th magnitude Wizards communion to add.
Jacques-
I've learned a 4th magnitude version of the spell.
((So, with Isen casting a Level 50 Aegis of the Hearth, and Isen, Fiona, Alexei, Korvin, and Jacques all pitching in with Wizards' Communion, that means he's casting against an effective Spell Level of 10. Awesome!))
"Hey Valerian! Come on in, all is forgiven..."
"Revoke his invite on my signal..!"
Maybe.
Since we need a WC of Sun Duration, not all know WCs may be applicable.
I know the 6th magnitude from the covenant is. But what of the 4th and 8th magnitudes from Korvin and Jacques?
If we're good, that means an effective lvl 35 Aegis with Penetration 36 + die 
Jacques learned the spell from the lab text that Korvin brought, which is sun duration. Korvin's 8th mag version is also sun duration as it is from his mercurian virtue.
Awesome 
At last, we can feel a little safer.
((rerouted from the 1223.2 thread))
After Fiona returns from...wherever it was that Alexei dragged her off to (and thank God the grogs knew how to get back to the covenant!), Fiona will see to it that the groom removes and puts away Svardalfari's stuff, brushes him down and all the other stuff you're supposed to do with horses when you're done with them.
She heads back to her cottage, Creos a tub full of hot water, and takes a relaxing bath to ease the aches of muscles not used to such ill treatment.
When she feels clean and relaxed enough, she dries herself off, puts on one of her nicer gowns, has Moire help with her hair, gets a bottle of good wine, and heads over to Alexei's cottage. (Yes, she's dressing up...don't laugh, you've never seen Fiona when she does herself up nice...rowr!)
She knocks on his door, firmly but not loudly or angrily. [color=blue]"Alexei, may I come in? I'd like to talk to ye, if ye have the time."
Alexei looks up in some surprise as he goes through the sheaves of letters that have been collected over the years. Initially he seems confused, but then recognizes the voice and raps himself on the head angrily.
"Fiona! Mein Gott! I am so stupid!" he curses himself as he rushes to the door. "Fiona, my Sodale! I am so sorry, it is unforgivable! I left you behind! Pleas come in!"
[color=blue]"I was able to make my way back alive," Fiona says with a smile. [color=blue]"And I brought you a gift to show that there are no hard feelings." She offers him the bottle of wine and squeezes past him, looking around quickly.
[color=blue]"May we sit?"
Once she is seated, Fiona smooths her dress and takes a deep breath. [color=blue]"I would like to talk to you about what happened today, though. May I ask what you had in mind when you asked if I would come with you to aid in the search for Muffarjj?"
Alexei sighs heavily and sits down. "I'm failing...in everything I do. I've become a bungler, the befuddled old wizard in faerie tales. I was the leader in numerous campaigns, the vanguard in countless battles. Throughout the Holy Roman Empire the mercenary band I led was famous. The last time I was involved in a battle, Apollodorous was killed and my prisoner was able to poison himself. Before that was the joust, perhaps my last proud moment. I'm unfit for castle life. And now at the hint of something that would bring some...some life! ...Back into me, I can't find it. This creature has hunted me my whole life, and now when I have a chance, when I need to confront it, I can't find it." He opens the bottle and pours a glass for Fiona and himself.
"Do you know what they do to a sword after the wars are done?" he asks after taking a drink. "They put it on a shelf. Or they beat into a ploughshare." he says with a heavy heart.
Fiona stares at Alexei until he looks at her. [color=blue]"Alexei, you're not a failure. Sure, we've stumbled a little bit lately, but we haven't fallen. Apollodorus chose us because he saw something in us, something that we may not have seen in ourselves. We have to remember that. We are Mons Electi. The Mount of the Chosen. Not the Mount of Fools or the Mount of Failures.
[color=blue]"And you can't blame yourself for what happened to Apollodorus, or Xenophon, or whatever the hell his name was. The only ones to blame for his death are his assassins. Perhaps if he had been a little more forthright with us, he may still be alive today, but second-guessing the past does nobody any good." She takes a sip of wine as she chooses her next words carefully, and places her hand over his as she speaks.
[color=blue]"We can't live in the past, my friend. And we cannot fall prey to the demons of self-doubt or self-pity.
[color=blue]"But what we need, what I need, is the man that I've yet to see. We need a thinker, a planner, an effective general and a leader of men. A man who does not act on impulse, who does not go where his fancy takes him, who does not act as the spirit moves him, a man who thinks before he speaks.
[color=blue]"Alexei, we are the last of the founders. Some have left, some were taken from us. But only you and I remain of the ones that Apollodorus called. Only we remain to carry on his vision. Or to reshape his vision into something more fitting for us and for our sodales. But we cannot do that if we have no discipline. I want us to succeed. We have to succeed, my friend. The cost of failure is too high."
Fiona takes another sip, but does not move her hand. [color=blue]"Alexei, you are a good man. But you are too hard on yourself. I would like you to think before you speak or act more often, but other than that..." She removes her hand and leans back. [color=blue]"I would like to see the great general, the leader of men that I know you were again."
She takes another sip and smiles at him as she sets her cup down.
During her Princeps season in 1224.4, Viscaria finds Jacques. (Where does she find him?)
"Jacques!" she cries out exultantly, as she tackle-hugs him. "I've been trying to sort through some of the older piles of paperwork, and I'm very confused about this whole Astingani - Monteverte - Mons Electi triangle. Could you take a few minutes to help me out?"
(OOC: I'm not entirely sure on the Hubris math here, but I'm pretty sure she'll be at Hubris 2 by this point.)
Alexei is genuinely touched by Fiona's statement and apparent confidence in him, while still acknowledging his foibles of late. He smiles at the gesture and holds his hand to his heart after Fiona lets it go.
"My dear...I want nothing more than to live up to those beliefs. I need...a victory to go with the planning and the thinking. Action has always been my strong suit, it's just that the battlefields have changed while I doggedly try to make it work as I have in the past. But the cunning general will prod for weakness in his opponent and not attack the castle where it is strongest necessarily." he reaches to his desk and holds up a letter written in an unknown language. "I have, I feel what I sought with you today. I sought someone with greater knowledge of Auram and perhaps the spirit that I hunt. Prospero, or his Mater, from the Phoenix covenant is who I am going to speak with tomorrow. When I have consulted with them, I am going to make a proper plan to retrieve Mufarrj and settle this matter with the spirit. And then I will return and begin straightening out my life, for without that I will be of little use to this Covenant. And then from there we can set the goals and how to achieve them and rejuvenate Mons Electi. And that can't be done by me poking it with a spear."
He sighs and raises his glass. "Thank you Fiona, thank you for your belief, however sorely tested it might have been. I will try to live up to it."
[color=blue]"The planning and the thinking will lead to victory, Alexei. And change is the very nature of existence, is it not? The trick is to not be left behind by the change."
((Does Fiona recognize the language the letter is written in?))
[color=blue]"If you were looking for an expert in Auram and not simply one who knows more than you, one of my former sodales at Insula Canaria is of the Gaothcoisiche Tradition, what you could call a 'weather-witch,' who can easily cast every powerful spell using Auram that I've ever heard of, and can casually and spontaneously cast most others. I fixed an Arcane Connection to the covenant when I was there last, if you want to Leap of the Homecoming there and treat with her. I can't say that she will help, though; she can be rather cranky sometimes."
She raises her glass to his toast. She drains her glass with a smile and sets it down, then gets up.
[color=blue]"I suppose I should be leaving, then," she says as she leans down to kiss him on the cheek. [color=blue]"Thank you for your time."
Alexei kisses her on the cheek as well. "No Fiona, thank you for your time, time that I have wasted like a fool. Please come to me when you need help, I want to repay you for the time lost, for the hope that I have tested. Regarding the weather wizard you have mentioned...I will come to you if my current course is unhelpful, as I have already started preparations for that journey. And thank you again." he says as he walks her to the door.
(I'm shifting this to a wider scene so more people can respond.)
At the dining table one night, Viscaria asks,
"I'm very confused about this whole Astingani - Monteverte - Mons Electi triangle. This Rotgiers, who will be winning the Joust without Alexei to defeat him,* he is from Monteverte? And whatever happened to these 2 rooks of vis that Astingani declared as Seisin?
"You know, the arrangements of distributing these Vis Sources seems very strange to me. They are only redeemed as prizes in the tourney? So whoever wins the most gets the best vis sources? Imagine if Alexei had spent his portion of victory points on Intellego Tropea instead of straight vis -- they are very rare. I bet with that many points, we could have monopolized the entire Intellego production here in Normandy."
- = Com 2 + Guile 2 + specialty (blame displacement) 1 + die roll 6 = 11 to say that with a straight face
Alexei is eating his dinner when the subject comes up again. He shakes his head ruefully. "My friend, there is so much politics and other...frivolities that come with this contest. To be truthful I am soured on it. The true measure and spirit of the joust, I'm not sure it is there when so much is riding on it. The last joust the magus I defeated at the end was trying earnestly to kill me, apparently to get some kind of revenge on Apollodorus, I'm not sure which. And he was willing to cheat to do it. I'm not afraid to fight, to die or to compete in this joust..." he sighs and takes a sip of wine. "I just wish it was more a test of one's courage and mettle. I wish not so much was tied into it. I have not paid attention of late, have their been querries of whether or not I'll compete? And the vis...I thought we were doing well, are we not?"
When Alexei speaks about a magus trying to kill him at the joust, Isen frowns. How could this happen without the entire crowd ripping the culprit to shreds? Is this tribunal rotten at the core, or what?
Oh, and Viscaria?
I am not Alexei, so, just as I may succeed where he'd fail, I may fail where he would succeed.
But this Rotgiers you spoke about? I think I may give him a run for his vis.
"I don't know why he wanted to kill you either! That's what I was asking. Is it because he was from Monteverte and we took Astingani? And isn't the presence of such corruption the very reason you ought to be competing? To lead by example?"
"Are we doing so well with vis that we could stand to lose 20 pawns of vis a year?"
"Ah! I had not known you were intending to enter! But how does he manage to cheat at all? No one notices his spellcasting?"
Alexei nods. "Those are good reasons sodales, no doubt. I suppose I should compete in the joust, and not in our own sponsored event...except perhaps as officiator. Though to be truthful I would need a review of the game again. As to how he cheated, for one he used a spell to change his lance, it had a core of bone. That in itself might not be against the rules, I thought it was rather clever actually. But he or an ally cast spells directly upon me, fortunately my parma protected me. So perhaps the precaution of a spell to alert us if our parma is tested or penetrated might be a good idea." when Isen speaks up Alexei smiles, perhaps a bit of the old fiery spirit that Alexei is known for sparkles in his eye.
"It would be of you to join in this then. It doubles our chances...and I have to admit, I have wanted to see you on the field." he picks up his cup and raises it briefly before draining it empty and slamming it down.
"It's settled then! I shall be defending my victory! Let that base cheater Rotgiers try again. He can expect a letter from me to arrive on the full moon should we see more of his cheating!"