Marcus pursues Roberto. Surprisingly quickly, in fact he can move as fast as Roberto can run, and then when he's on horseback, as fast as his horse can go...
"You wound me, my lord Flambeau. I gave you the exact truth; only what you needed to know, only what I am allowed to tell you. In this cabal, and make no bones about it, it is a cabal, we all have a role to play. I've done my duty. Calefacto is doing his duty. You are a Flambeau, and the reputation for House Flambeau to be an army of generalissimos. And if you want someone to fight, feel free to fight me. Name the contest."
Petronius looks askance at the Spanish magus' back as the man stomps off. Swivelling his head back and forth at the other assembled magi, he grumbles. "My, that was rude, wasn't it? The man summons us to help with a spell, and then leaves without even presenting himself. Humph!"
Just as Petronius was about to talk to Marcus, the Tytalus mage floats off after Rodrigo. Turning to the remaining magi, he asks, "Could someone explain to me what's going on? Who exactly is Calefacto, and what kind of danger is he in?"
[color=blue]"I haven't the foggiest," Fiona says as she rises to leave. [color=blue]"But whatever is going on, it's obviously not that important. If you will excuse me, I feel the need to...curl up with a good book."
((Which is Fiona's nickname for the device Praxiteles manufactured for her...after he finished with Black Pegasus.))
Tranquillina is a bit miffed too at the bait-and-switch; but she is happy at least that her choice to try an Iberian outfit did make an impression upon the newcomer. She did notice his appreciative, if quick, glance at her features and figure. Never hurts to make a good impression, she nods to herself.
"I'll go back to the library with you, Fiona," she laughs in Gaelic; "the enormous book by Cannophori Methuselah that I'm reading is a good match for you to curl up with, but I've got dibs - so find your own!"
You paint a good scene broseph. Roberto rides alongh ignoring the Tytalus as best he can. Marcos floats along swifty, shouting to be heard over the hammering gallop. Roberto speeds on, but Marcos keeps up. Did you notice I changed his name? 
Roberto finds a spot he picked out previously while on patrol. While he blasts away at rocks, Marcos delivers his full speech...
[color=brown]Contest? CONTEST?!?
That is all you Tytalus magi are about. Why don't you show some individuality, or are you just a stereotype? One of the sheeple.
You want a contest? You think to challenge me?!?
Allright! I have a contest for you. It's called "Full Honest Disclosure". Dare you play? No prevarication, no veiled meanings or riddles, none of this "need to know" bullshit. Full undisguised truth.
Too open ended for you? Need a set of rules and quid pro quo? Fine.
We take turns asking questions of each other. The first to lie or decline to answer looses. To say you do not know is valid if truthful. To shade, veil, or twist the truth counts as a lie.
And yeah, there is no way for me to know if you cheat. But you will know! And you will have to live with the knowledge that I beat you.
Dare to play?
Or we can Roschabeau. I go first
[color=red]"Yes, I read one of them last summer. Very...interesting. If you will excuse me a moment, I will meet you at the library." Fiona then veers off toward her cottage.
A few minutes later, Fiona arrives at the library with a large roll of linen which she hands to Tranquillina. [color=blue]"Here you are." She turns and heads toward the copy of The Stag, The Hound, and The Prince of the Seven Crowns that she's studying this season.
[color=blue]"That dress looks very good on you," she says over her shoulder in Gaelic. [color=blue]"Accentuates your figure nicely." She pulls out the tome and turns to where she can see Tranquillina as she heads toward...wherever they read their books at.
((We did decide that magi read quietly, right? Based on that discussion a couple months ago? And whether books stay in the library or can be taken back to the labs?))
In response to Roberto's flinging fire, "Not bad."
"I will tell the truth, such that I am permitted to do. I have my place, and I play it. I don't presume to move beyond it. You're here as a result of machinations I have been a part of, to be sure. But I am not responsible for you being here. You are. You chose to come. You chose to make a better opportunity than you had elsewhere. There are things that I know that I will never disclose to you, unless I'm bidden to do so by Ariel, or others involved in the cabal. I will tell you, truthfully what I may, and then tell you when I am not willing to say more because of confidences I have made. Do you honestly believe that you can choose to start leading, when all you have done is to decide to move from one place to another? I owe you nothing. You may think that the Prima of your House owes you something. I invite you to go to Val Negra and be quickly disabused of that notion. You were a lightning rod. Now our plans are in motion; and the remainder of your task has been fully revealed to you. Do it, or not. Whatever your choice, you will have established your place in the cabal."
Two of Roberto's attendants, still present, confer with each other in Spanish. Carlos Guiterez does the talking. Alberto Hernandez translates to Latin. So while the content is delivered by Carlos, the words are Alberto. I'm gonna try really hard to role play that.
[color=green]My apologies m'lord. My Master is under a lot of stress. He is...
His name is Roberto Rodruigez of Flambeau, Knight of Seneca of the line of Delendos. He has come here at the request of his Prima. And his elder Santiago. He was sent to protect you. To defend you. And to discover the truth to the many mysteries that have their root here at your covenant.
...
But as he said, he is a soldier and adventurer, not a detective or Quaesitor.
And the maga depart, again leaving the guest of Mons Electi behind with his questions unanswered.
"Have these Normand magi no courtesy left? No wonder that they quarrel and fight amongst themselves all the time! They can't even answer simple question, or even present themselves properly when they ask you for your assistance! They don't even... Humph!" Petronius' tirade is interrupted as Rufus drops from the wooden beams of the ceiling, right into his lap.
Petting the cat for a while, the Bonisagus gripes for a while about anything and everything, but eventually settles down. "Well, I guess I should get back to work. You heard there was a a mansion in Autun where one of the magi has a portal? Maybe I should go down there tomorrow to see if he'll let me study it for a while." Then off he goes, his cat running ahead...
((Our posts crossed, so I will leave Petronius' grumbling for after the mundanes have left.))
"Well, you should tell your master that he is a lout and a cad, unworthy of the title knight. It feels to me like he is doing a very poor job of defending the magi of Mons Electi, if he spends all his time causing confusion and leaving unanswered the question of those who could help him." With a bang of his walking stick on the floor, he emphasizes, "Tell him that!"
((Assuming that the attendants depart after that, the previous scene occurs now.))
What would Captain America do?
hmmm....
[color=brown]Your'e right. I did choose to come here. I chose to do my duty to my House and Order. I chose to be loyal to Santiago, who urged me to assist in the matter. But I did not come here for opportunity or prosperity or any of the other reasons you allude to. I had been happy right where I was. I had friends at my side who were every bit as eagar for adventure as I. Amici true and all. We were growing in prosperity by leaps and bounds.
But duty calls. Never doubt how gravely serious I am taking things.
And you owe me everything I require to accomplish these tasks for you. And my Prima? Santiago taught me that "Whomever shall be First amongst you shall be the servant of all". She is to light the way for her followers, not shroud us in darkness. If I am to lay my life on the line for her, she owes me the truth!
And as far as my task being revealed to me, I have no-idea-what-to-do.
Clueless. Serious. Nada.
I was told to come here, Ariel needs my help, concerns over how Garus was killed, and I would learm more when I got here. And in the short time I've been here, I have learned of a thousand different plots and problems!
!Yo soy una gyena para no cabesa!
No one seems to be overly concerned with dire concerns right in their face. They call Valarian a murderer, yet there are seven different stories of how Appolodorus died. And all I know is that there is a vague connection between he and Garus and that he feared Quaesitors.
That is all well and good. But what proof? Where is the evidence? Who is lying to who? And why?
And what is this Cabal you speak of?
Where have I heard that term before?
...
Reginald. Ever heard of him?
Look. You wanna play me like a 6_9$-&/ pawn in this? Fine. Tell me exactly what you need me to do. One task at a time. I get pissed off when I get confused.
But tell me this. Did he crash my cart? Did he steal the vis? And where is he now?
In fact, just tell me everything you are "allowed" to tell me without me having to pull it from you in dribs and drabs.
Do that for me, and I'll give you your contest.
Helmet sets the tray down in the council chamber while Alexei gets out some goblets and pours wine before taking his spot at the table. His chair has recently been enhanced with the fur of a creature that the merchant said came from Ifrique. It was a tawny gold color with spots on it, supposedly from a great cat that could run like the wind blows. Alexei takes a gulp from the wine and begins to assemble some cheese and bread before finally looking around.
"I thought you said Roberto called a meeting?" he asks Helmut after eating a piece of bread. Helmut can only shrug in confusion.
((I like the funky rhythm this thread has splintered into 
))
((I have no idea what the troupe consensus was, but here's my opinion: especially high fantasy -> quiet reading OK. And unless our library is a paragon of book-preserving atmosphere (haven't heard any such), why not take em back to our quarters. Of course Tranquillina is reading the massive tropaea in the library.))
"Oh - thank you, Fiona!" Tranquillina responds in the same language. Looking down to inspect her outfit's trim and pattern, she chews her bottom lip slightly. "The proportions don't seem right, somehow. But I think this Roberto appreciated the nod to his native Tribunal."
Tranquillina looks blankly at the linen for a few moments. Then she laughs merrily. "Dear Fiona ... you're not under the impression that I can sew, are you?!" Placing the linen on a bookstand, Tranquillina grasps the corners of the dress's neckline and closes her eyes. The dress quickly transforms itself into a quite respectable facsimile of the giantess's Hermetic robes. ((Int 3 + Finesse 2 + stress die 7 = 12.)) "Although sometimes I like to ask Susane d’Ausi for tips ... we have similar builds, for one thing."
Isen arrives slowly, looking tired from lack of sleep
Hi all. Adeline told me there was some kinda concil meeting?
And then he sees Petronius
And who the hell... Sigh... And who might you be, please?
((Yeah, Fiona probably would have had to read the tropea in the library, too...probably needs a block and tackle and a horse-and-cart to get them from one place to the other . But she would normally prefer to take them back to her place so she can enjoy them in private.
What. I'm talking about the books, people! Sheesh! ))
[color=blue]"Weave, actually," Fiona says. [color=blue]"And sew." Fiona looks misty-eyed for a moment, but continues.
[color=blue]"I'm sorry, I assumed from the way that you asked that you could. If you do want fabric like this," she says as she tugs at the front of her robe, [color=blue]"that your maidservant can turn into robes, dresses, what have you, you might consider Rashid, the weaver who came with Viscaria a couple of years ago. I hear he does good work."
[color=blue]"Susanne d'Ausi? Do I know her?' Fiona wonders quietly.
Petronius, who had just risen from his seat to follow Rufus, looks up with a smile as Isen enters the council chamber. The wild cat, meanwhile, comes to a stop while he surveys the Flambeau standing in his path.
"Finally someone with some manners! I am Petronius of Bonisagus, a guest of Mons Electi." ((You can roll a Order of Hermes Lore to see if you recognize the name.))
"A servant informed me that a fellow magus was in need of assistance to cast a spell, but when I came to help, the one who had asked stomped off without even naming himself, followed by another who floated away without naming himself, while the two mage completely ignored me and went away chatting about books and dresses."
The bony magus tilts his head to the left, looking intently at the Flambeau for a moment. "Have we met before? You look... familiar."
Alexei stands as the others arrive and bows, gesturing to the food and wine. "Didn't Roberto call this meeting? Welcome Petronius, is everything going well with Fiona's project?"
((You make it hard to reconcile all the previous posts with what you just wrote. 
The others arrived, argued, left, mentioned no one was left. And now you state that Alexei was there from the start, and move the meeting back to the beginning... I'm having trouble keeping things coherent -- I would have assumed that Alexei arrived late, after everyone was gone. But that's just me. ))
"You are prepared to take my words and turn them into the worst possible meaning, Roberto. Better opportunity is all I said, I didn't say anything about wealth, though there is that here. You could have had a life filled with joy and comfort, women as you desire and pursued your Arts as you may. You have an opportunity here to do more."
"You will do as you've been ordered to do, find Apollodorus's cipher. That is your task that Ariel has told me to pass onto you. Where do you begin? I don't know. It's not my task, I'm not thinking about it. Perhaps it begins by finding out more of Apollodorus. Oh, and you will probably have to learn Ancient Greek."
And these problems have existed here for over 4 years now. Until your arrival, with the exception of one episode about a year after Apollodorus was killed, Valerian has left us in peace. Your arrival and his return are surely not coincidental."
"Much of the proof is speculative, conjecture, or so I've heard. History recorded in words is always colored by the writer. I believe Apollodorus was killed, I wasn't here when that happened, I was on the isle of Thera guesting with some vampires. Apollodorus took me into his confidence, though, he called Laetitia, who now resides at Valnastium, and me his harbingers of his end. He claimed to have a death prophecy. But, there were witnesses to Valerian being here and certainly attacking the covenant."
"Those of us who are aligning against House Guernicus. They acted too soon. Or Valerian did. I suspect that he's been reigned in quite a bit."
((Assuming this is Rotgiers))"I know of him, a bit. Maris, if you can get her to talk about him knows more. He was apparently sponsored into House Flambeau, by forces aligned with House Guernicus, I would guess."
((No vis was taken from Roberto, period. Just things that were mundane.))"I would think that it was Valerian who did damage to your cart. Valerian is leader of the Terrae cult. Rotgiers is a master, but Terram isn't a strong Art for him, so it is unlikely.""
"I honestly can't think of anything else to add. Discover Apollodorus's and Garus's cipher so the letters between the two can be decoded."