Tranquillina reaches up to squeeze Fiona's elbow with a genuine smile. "Hello, dear," she greets the giantess in Gaelic. "I really need to get around to copying this robe's design one of these days. Not to wear to the same event as you, of course!"
((great, I look forward to hearing one of his fancy speeches. ))
((amen to that ))
Sometimes people's eyes glaze over halfway through Roberto's pronouncement of his lineage, but Tranquillina seems quite engaged by the recitation; she responds, "My pater was Maximianus Bonisagi."
At the mention of the Prima, she smiles again. "Prima Ariel and I sat on the same covenant councils for many years, before I came here from Stonehenge. How fares she? It has been ... oh dear, almost three years since she and I last corresponded?!" She gives an instruction to a nearby page in quiet French. Then, being the junior member of the council, she quiets down as Korvin calls the meeting to order and Jacques steps forward.
[color=blue]"I still have the cartoons packed away," Fiona replies quietly in the same tongue. [color=blue]"I had to make some modifications after my...ah...growth spurt a few years ago, but sometime we can get together and come up with one for you."
((By the way, before this gets too far along, there is a Protected Guest of Petronius here at this time. Although it is unlikely that he would be invited to the meeting.))
((The original charter is still in the Covenant Description thread, here. I, or someone, can cut & paste, remove the rotating princeps clause, and add in the new officers' descriptions.))
((edit - I also just checked, and found the charter on the Wiki, as well, with the new officers' stuff, with a link on the main wiki page.))
((Right, I'm the only one who can adjust it there in the sticky, but I know there were some changes made that would have taken effect by this time. I wasn't clear if there was anything written. Handwave it's legal implications and it get's vetted by the friendly but absent Laetitia.
RE: Edit Excellent, nevermind, I'll update it on the sticky.))
Looks straight forward. Roberto signs.
[color=brown]And now I present my new covenantmates with gifts from Santiago and the fruits of my research. These grimoires of collected lab texts to aid in our advancment. And a deed to a share of one of the Vis sources of the Senecans, yeilding Ignem which we can use or trade as needed. Most of all, I bring the services of myself and my men. Don Pedro, when he heals, will demonstrate smithing ability like none you have ever seen outside of the Verdi. Don Carlos shall entertain you with his music and songs of romance and heroic tales. And I bring to stalwart soldiers, veteran mercenaries from a company that specializes in Hermetic service.
And I humbly present myself. My sword is your sword, my fire is your fire, to be used in the just defense of this covenant and the cause of righteousness! This I so swear in the name of Saint James!
As for the duties I must perform to earn my status as an equal master amongst you, I request that I be permitted to act as a sort of a warden in the area surrounding our covenant. Let the bandit-magi ply their trade elsewhere. Let all the tribunal know it is best not to interfere with couriers bearing the symbol of Mons Electi!
Tranquillina has enough etiquette not to bring this up during a noble swearing-in ceremony. But as Dicoetes, she is aware that adopting a new magus and five new grogs will lead to noticeable cost increases, and will mention it to the other magi over the next couple of days. "We'll need to add a personal servant to our staff for Roberto; and for the additional soldiers, probably another servant, a cook's helper, and a stableboy or smith's assistant; and a few more local hands to ferry more supplies back and forth to Autun. Probably the total costs will run about 5 marks per month.* This pales in relation to our income, of course; but our books are balanced enough that we would run out of silver reserves before the year it up, and would have to take on debt. Unless we can find a way to reduce our expenditures, or increase the income from our pastures. ... I don't suppose Prima Ariel would be willing to supply a bit of this mundane funding?" she ponders optimistically.
40 pounds per year. This is what happens when everybody is living the high life!
Alexei arrives perhaps just a bit too late, he was at the far end of the Covenant and had forgotten to bring an Arcane Connection with him for the Council room. ((Yeah, we'll go with that...)) He enters the chamber, flush from a brisk ride and then a march to the chambers. He's wearing his armour and hauberk with his personal symbol; a spear diagonally across with an hourglass hanging from it, much like a lantern on a lantern pole. He bears his ever present staff, uncapped at the moment with a spear tip. He arrives just as the pen is lifted from the scroll and Roberto announces his desires as a sheriff.
"I think that is an splendid idea! Get to know the lay of the land and the soldiers, spread your reputation here. You must be Roberto." he stands tall in front of him and gets a good look at the Spaniard. After a few moments he strokes his beard once and then extends his left hand. "Alexei Von Kroitsau ex Flambeau, Milites, Imperator of Mons Electi. I am sorry I was not hear to meet you upon your arrival. Jacques tells me you ran into some trouble along the way."
((Sorry I'm getting in on this so late, been very out of sorts today.))
Roberto looks over the German magus discerningly, reading the lines on his face, getting a feel for his character. Roberto feels as if he stands in the presence of a crusader, and what more, a man weighted by duty and obligation.
Roberto can be introspective too.
[color=brown]Imperitor, I would report to you the hijinx of a magus named Valarian of Gurnicus and another called Rutabega of Tremere, who won his way amongst the Flambeau somehow. Apparently they like to prowl around your area harrasing travelers. As for myself, my cart suffered a breakdown injuring two of my men. I had to abandon the cart to seek medical attention, and upon my return all was well looted within the exact letter of Hermetic banditry law. But still, the law was broken in that my lab equipment was detroyed in the accident, obviously caused by magic. All evidence was burned and I cannot prove who the culprit is, but I have suspicions.
I have put together a three point plan.
First, we need to protect our covenfolk and grogs. Mundane armaments and magical augmentation of course. But our strength is the very letter of the law that these bandit magi exploit. We need to qualify our covenfolk as a magical resource. Each is to carry a pawn of our vis as a custodian. This may be expensive, but in the short term we can make a few vis tokens for our grogs out on patrol or escort. We can also imbue vis in mundane items to take advantage of the same technicality.
The second point of the plan is increased patrols. Our grogs will be at risk even with the vis token ploy. But we need to patrol the land, keep an eye on local activity and gather intelligence. And a magus should ever be assigned patrol duty. I shall volunteer my next few seasons exclusivly to patrol duty and regional security. It may take some time to have new equipment shipped that I might rebuild a lab.
The third part I have a distaste for, as it involves engaging in a bit of intrigue. I do not know what our intelligence network is like, but however we can employ or improve it to our best advantage needs to be examined. We need an agency that can both gather information and spread what information we want known, true and false.
The end goal is to create an environment where these bandits find it easier to operate elsewhere. Harrass them, hinder them, befuddle them, and eventually they will just go away. I'll take it to Wizard's War if need be. But this must stop!
What say you Imperitor? Do I have your support? Magi of Mons Electi! Are you with me?
Excelsior!
(drops mike, goes to walk off stage, Carlos puts a cape over his back, then he shrugs it of and hops back center stage for an encore)
...
um...
Isen has come in simply. He has taken to make a few walks around the covenant, thinking on how it might be assaulted, and how to defend against it.
He makes no effort on his attire, nor does he do grandiose declarations.
Isen Flambonis. Welcome, sodales. It is good to have you here.
Roberto may be aware that his parens his Axion (from GotF), and that he has a quite bad reputation that has rubed on Isen.
Isen will say nothing, but he is secretly pleased. Here's a man of battle, willing to fight for justice and to protect the covenant! And already eager to do something for the covenant!
Sure, his apparent interests make him more suited to work with Alexei than Isen, but that's not a problem. Mons Electi needs all the help it can get.
Isen will be quickly bored by this, although he recognizes the importance of finances. So he'll mostly share tranquillina's concerns once she's voiced them, but will otherwise defer to her expertise.
Soflty, Isen speaks to roberto
A sound plan. And I am pleased to see you seeking solutions to our problems.
But there's something you're not aware of. I don't know for this... rutabaga. But Valerian ain't in it for banditry. He's in for us, he, and his Gernici sodales with him.
Here, you can clearly see the distaste in Isen's face and voice at the very idea of what he says
You may not be aware of it, but the Duresca Scrolls are true. The Gernici have... Perverted justice, and their house duties, towards their own selfish ends.
We know it, and have proof. At the very least, Valerian and his sodales suspect we do.
They already came in, and killed Appolodorus Jerbitonis, which was also known as Xenophon Tremeris. They also killed Garus, our previous Primus. Since then, we've been in a state of cold war. They could crush us, but doing so would tip their hand. Meanwhile, we need to garner support if we're to confront them at Grand Tribunal.
Valerian taking it on you is new, and alarming. But I don't think he'll stop, and neither is that rutabaga if he's his ally. Of course, we can still make life difficult for them, and I encourage you to do so
Having talked way too much, especially about politics, Isen slumps in his chair, and let the others deal with what he dumped on Roberto.
Alexei listens with careful interest at Roberto's recent misfortunes and plan.
"Ruta-? Who?" he pauses a moment and thinks before snapping his fingers. "Ah, Rotgers! Ha! That horse's ass! Ask him how his left arm is doing, I snapped it at the joust when we last met, he can't even win while cheating!" Alexei seems please with himself for a moment before Roberto reveals the seriousness of the incident.
"You met both Valerian and Rotgers? Were they together? For Valarian claims he is a Hoplite...and from personal experience, he usually does not get involved in the banditry himself. He even claims he tries to mitigate. If they were working together though..." Alexei nods as he considers the implications and then pays careful attention to his plan.
"A very solid and confrontative plan, something that I approve of. Where did the incident happen to you? On our lands or merely close? The patrol you speak of, how far afield? My concern is in being drawn out. That is...essentially how Apollodorus was taken, while most of us were away dealing with another threat."
"We shall come up with a route, several routes for this patrol, we do not wish to be predictable. This plan can weave into our overall defense plans that we have been discussing at length. I hadn't concerned myself overly much with the raiding, it had been something we knew of...but never personally hit us, I'd love to think it was because of my reputation, but I'm not here to make jokes right now. Jacques...you and your turb work with Roberto, get him familiar with the lay of the land and the men. I doubt that Rotgers will try again so soon, but if we find evidence he's on our land we shall take action. We need to get the letter and spirit of this provision of raiding within the Tribunal. They will use any slip on our part to bring us down, so any action we take must be within the laws, can you remember that when the hot blood begins to rise?" he looks at the fiery Spaniard and smiles...'So much of our Founder in him.'
"Well, I believe we have our work cut out for us."
[color=brown]I encountered them in seperate incidences. Valarian followed me from Dragon's Rest and Cunfin. Rutabega I met on the road just outside this covenant after my cart broke down. Still, neither one should be prowling around our door trying to intimidate us. I will make them go away.
As for your claim about the Duresca scolls, I have heard conspiracy tales such as this before and so far they always proove unfounded. But I am willing to examine your evidence. Regardless, true or not, recent events irrefutably point to the fact that there is some viliany afoot, and Truth must be brought to Light.
A page knocks at the door, and when asked to come in, delivers a message to Korvin (he's listed as princeps, so this is right, right?). He whispers quietly to Korvin so quietly that most can't hear, except Korvin, "There is a Valerian at the main gate, claims to be of House Guernicus and a magus. There is another person with him, who appears to have been manhandled, and he is in shackles, gagged and blindfolded, but he didn't provide a name."
"Our new Primus sent a sword against our enemies Roberto...but we must apply it wisely. Valerian is beyond you, do not take offense. A contest of power against him will not go well. Rotgers..." Alexei shrugs. "I have taken his measure, do not underestimate him. After beating him at the joust I felt it was unnecessary to follow up with certamen or Wizard's War. Perhaps he needs a rebuke. Cleave to the law though. We play a delicate game here, a slip on our part will be all our enemies need to try and storm our gates. I feel much of the reason why they have not already is because they do not feel we are a large enough threat."
Alexei smiles at that. "Once this is concluded, I would like those interested to meet me i' the field." he looks at Jaques, Isen and finally Roberto. "I believe our Fraternity needs to be re-joined as brothers-in-arms."
It shouldn't be difficult to figure out what Alexei means.
Roberto tells Carlos to have one of the servants fetch his armor and a round shield. The studded leather. Not going to war, just want to look the part of a warrior.
[color=brown]I wonder what his game is? Does he mean to pin some false crime against me?
The fool underestimates us. That is our strength. Further, he obviously fears us, which is why he attempts base harrasment.
As far as a challenge of power, remind me to tell you the tale of Don Armando and the Irish giants. One day. Ask Carlos to sing it, I have half forgotten it. Amaldis his name is?
Anyway, I would also remind you of the struggle El Cid faced when his king turned against him, and that he went on to conquor Valencia!
The strong are always defeated by the clever. Which means we must be clever
))
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