Iolair wipes away a tear, "You don't need to ask Mater, I will gladly stay and help you. Besides," he says as his demeanor lightens and a smile finds its way to his face, "I've missed the Highlands and getting into trouble here at Insular Canaria."
((Big wall'o'text, here. Feel free to break it up and respond in bits and pieces to whichever part you wish.))
"Before you send for your things," Eilid says, "there is more you should probably know.
"My...condition isn't the only thing that's befallen us the last few years. I'm sure you've noticed that we don't have as many people living here as we used to. And that we have a few new faces."
She looks down at her hands.
"Things have not gone well for us, especially the last few years. I'm sure you've noticed that Faileas is absent."
She waits for him to respond, even if it's just a nod.
"About 14, 15 years ago, after you left, he took an apprentice. Duncan, Neall and Gavina's oldest, I don't know if he had been born yet when you left. Faileas was determined to Gauntlet the lad before he passed into Final Twilight, so he spent every moment he could teaching him. No lab work, no reading from books. Just teaching, it seemed."
She shakes her head. "We should have seen that something was wrong. We knew something was wrong, we just didn't know what. And we thought that Faileas could handle it, just like he always handled everything. Sometime, we suspect about four or five years ago, Duncan turned to the forces of the Infernal, killed his master, and took his place. With us none the wiser. If Fiona hadn't returned..."
She smiles for a moment. "About three or four years ago (It was while I was trapped in my Heartbeast, and it's harder for me to reckon time in that form), Fiona left. No warning, she just stood up in Council and announced that she was leaving. It seems that she had been in correspondence with a magus in Normandy who wanted her to help him found a new covenant there. I can't blame her for leaving...it took a lot of courage.
"She was gone about a year when she came back, her cousin was gravely wounded and his clan brought him here. She returned, and somehow got Duncan to reveal himself."
Eilid pauses for a moment and looks off absently, as though looking at something in the distance. "His parents were so proud of him when Faileas took him for his apprentice. As well they should be. But after he turned Infernal, took off with half our library, named Fiona his mater for teaching him the Parma...they just couldn't handle what he had done. They went for a midnight swim a few weeks later."
She looks down again with her eyes closed for a long moment, regaining her composure.
"We, as a Covenant, almost didn't survive what Duncan did. We may not, still. Drystan is the eldest, so he's our Princeps now. Doineann wanted to leave, may still yet. It was all Drystan could do to convince her to give us until Tribunal to show that we can recover. We sent out letters across the Order, looking for new members. We had a few answer our call so far, but half of the ones who came have already left. And the covenfolk have been neglected since Faileas took Duncan, but we were so...naively trusting in his ability to not see it.
"So, just so you know, it may not be easy. And it certainly isn't the same covenant you remember from your days as my catulus."
Iolair nods silently.
Iolair listens intently, and when Eilid finishes, he sits quietly for a few long moments, lost in thought. Finally, he smiles and places a gentle hand on Eilid’s shoulder, “Mater, that is all the more reason why I should stay. This was my home, the first place where I truly understood what I was capable of and what I could become. Insular Canaria is as much my home as anywhere is, and I would hate to see it fall into barren winter. I will stay as long as you will have me, and help in any way I can.”
Iolair nods silently.
Iolair listens intently, and when Eilid finishes, he sits quietly for a few long moments, lost in thought. Finally, he smiles and places a gentle hand on Eilid’s shoulder, “Mater, that is all the more reason why I should stay. This was my home, the first place where I truly understood what I was capable of and what I could become. Insular Canaria is as much my home as anywhere is, and I would hate to see it fall into barren winter. I will stay as long as you will have me, and help in any way I can.”
Eilid grins, obviously relieved, and places her hand on Iolair's. "Thank you."
She sits like that for a minute, then stands up. "Let's get you settled in, then. The next Council meeting isn't for about about three weeks yet, we can accept you as a Provisional Member then."
She takes him to an abandoned cottage, larger than most of the others. "This used to be Scylla's cottage, but that was many years ago. We have now more members than I can remember us having in fifty years, almost all of our old laboratories are filled now that you're here."
((The cottage/laboratory/sanctum can be wherever you want it to be. It used to belong to a female Faerie Merinita many years ago, and is completely derelict/abandoned. It has a few old pieces of furniture which may or may not be usable, and will take two seasons to build the lab, just as normal. Feel free to design it as you will.))
"This is perfect," he says as Eilid shows him the cottage. "And I'll have to setup my own laboratory anyway. Ever since my encounter with my ancestor, it is much more difficult for me to work magic indoors."
"I understand," Eilid says. "You may want to speak with Doineann, she also has an outdoor laboratory. Maybe you can discuss some ideas."
((I think this pretty much wraps up the joining part of the thread, unless anyone wants to do some interaction? I'll figure up xp and Confidence in a bit.))
((sounds good. So I'm just waiting until we start 1224 then, right?))
((Right. That's when he can apply for membership at the Spring Council meeting.))
Iolair: 8 xp, 1 Confidence.
Talia: 2 xp.
(I think that's all the PC that were active in the thread.)
Oh no you di'in't.
What? No confidence for trying to do 'im in public?
I am shocked, shocked, I tell you.
Okay,yeah, that was pretty ballsy. 1 Confidence Point.