A lot of Alexei's mirth fades quickly at that but after a few seconds he smiles again. "I never thought the day would come when someone of the Order could say something like that in my presence...further still is that I'd see it as an option for myself also." ((The Diedne subject is obviously a sore point with Alexei, but no one really discussed it with him so far, likely with good reason. He knows enough about it of course, but the subject never really came up with him.))
Alexei sighs. "Nothing...more wishful thinking. It irks me at how prideful and arrogant some of our brethren in the Order are towards men. We use terms like muggles and mundanes, often with disdain or contempt. We are born of men though...this is their land, their world. We just live in it, by their sufferance. It is our connection with men that is forgotten at our peril. I'm reminded of a kennel master at the village I grew up in that was mauled to death by his own dogs. They grew tired of his whippings and treatment and rose up and killed him one day. There are horses that throw their riders, ox and steer that trample their owners." he pauses and thinks a moment before laughing. "Here I am acting the same way, comparing men to animals, as if I wasn't a man myself. See Fiona? This is Alexei when he has not had as much to drink!" at that he laughs until he holds his side painfully. "I deserved that." he growls.
We need to decide if we will renew the Hermes Portal between Harco and Mons Electi. It was put into place for the Tribunal. We do collect a toll on it when the Redcaps or others use it. In one years time we have collected 27 pawns of vis. I've been contacted by representatives from Harco that desire us to renew the spell. I'm in favor of doing so. Do we have problem with renewing it?
"I don't have a problem with it." Stultus taps his nose with the tips of his fingers, looking thoughtful. "Perhaps, however, we can amend the terms of the contract, and reserve the right to charge a vis fee OR an equivalent amount of silver, depending on what we need more at the time?
[color=blue]"I mean no offense by the word 'muggle'," Fiona says. [color=blue]"It is merely the word we have in Loch Leglean for those without the gift, simply a word to differentiate them from us. I will grant that there are some who view them with disdain, or worse. But it must also be said that most of us are also treated poorly by the unGifted that they come into contact with. If there were some way for them, whether they be called muggle, mortal, unGifted, to not see us with distrust..."
[color=blue]"I like this Alexei," Fiona says with a smile as she reaches down and pats his leg, [color=blue]"and I for one would not mind seeing a lot more of him."
Gerulf sits patiently, resplendent in his robes and watching to see how the members weigh in. He rolls an iron seal over his fingers again and again, no doubt his voting token, while he waits.
"I certainly have no desire for Mons Electi to acquire a reputation of giving away vis for mere silver," Tranquillina disapproves. "If it is profitable in vis, we will find use for the profit. We seem to be short on Vim vis, for example."
"By all means, let us keep the portal. With my new duties it will be of great use I'm sure, and the payments in vis we receive are substantial. Plus it provides a measure of prestige I feel. Regarding silver...I wouldn't suggest we accept it, unless we're doing poorly? Is our treasury doing well? If it is not, then perhaps we can add a fee of silver disguised. Some silver for any mundane travellers and gear that accompanies a magus? But again, if we are flush with silver I wouldn't suggest we charge silver."
((At the training field))
"My dear I know you mean no offense, truly. I never knew the term muggle until more recently anyway, and it works just as well for our intents, it is the tone and use that can make even a friendly term into an insult. And...I didn't wish to assume your parentage, suffice to say being born of man could simply mean you are mortal, aye? And I have seen you treat our unGifted folk well, Brionne speaks highly of you for example." He pats her large hand and sighs. "Ah...this Alexei...yes, well...this Alexei has facets to him as well." he pauses. "Such as speaking in the third!" and he snorts a brief laugh.
[color=blue]"I have no objection at all," Fiona says. [color=blue]"In fact, it would make my travels to Durenmar so much more easier."
[color=blue]"If we anticipate being that strapped for money, one of us should simply learn to create silver. Preferably permanent."
Fiona smiles. [color=blue]"That reminds me. I would like to speak with him when he's free. Nothing important, so there's no need to rush him off."
She gets to her feet and brushes any grass off of the back of her skirt, then looks down at Alexei. [color=blue]"Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"
Alexei looks like he's getting comfortable in his chair, perhaps for some rest now that he's had some exercise. "Feel free to speak with Brionne and I don't think he has anything planned except more drilling. But what was the question?"
Alexei is obviously caught off guard by the question, judging by the embarassed smile and the flush that comes to his cheeks. He harumphs a few times before finally shrugging.
"After my apprenticeship I was often busy, too busy it seems to court anyone seriously. Then by the time I had taken my longevity potion...marriage seemed...superfluous. I had my duty, I could no longer have children. The kind of life my wife would have would be difficult. I decided to spare whomever that might be such a marriage." He still has a smile, but now it seems more wistful, perhaps dwelling on what might have been. He sighs and reaches for a cup and the wine and pours a small glass for himself. "I haven't really thought of this in a long time now...I never really dwelled on it."
[color=blue]"Pity," Fiona says with a smile. [color=blue]"I think you'd be quite the husband for the right woman. Be she mortal or maga."
She leans over to give him a peck on the cheek. [color=blue]"I'd best be back to my apprentice before she gets into trouble. Would you send Brionne my way when he's done for the day, please?"
Alexei smiles and settles into the chair with his cup, pressing a hand to his cheek as he stares off in thought.
Later near twilight comes a knock to Fiona's door. The ugly hunchbacked Brionne stands there, holding his hat in his hand. As the door opens it seems he was sniffing the air around the door and he stops abruptly.
"Maga Fiona, you called for me?" he asks with his slight lisp.
"It seems nobody is objecting to keeping the Hermes Portal open, at least for the time being," Tranquillina summarizes. "We should contact Petronius to see if he is willing to assist us, perhaps at friendly fees. I suppose it falls to Fiona, as Interpres, to investigate that possibility - although I have initiated a correspondence with Petronius and would be happy to assist. And the actual renewal of the Portal would be tasked to Gerulf, as Aedilis."
((Note: people seemed fine with the officer assignments, so shall we say we voted on them earlier in this Winter 1227 meeting, and implemented them starting in Spring 1228?))
"Which of us would be best suited to that?" Tranquillina poses. "Viscaria was our Terram expert, but she has returned home. As for Creo - would that be ... Korvin?"
Alexei raises his hand. "Glad to hear we're keeping the portal. Now then, before we start creating silver...should we not make sure there is even a need? Other Tribunals have rulings on magical silver, I don't believe Normandy does yet, but it seems like it might be a waste of vis if our coffers are doing well. Can we have an accounting of our treasury first?"
Tranquillina nods at the Princeps and stands up; the thought of changing her appearance to her grizzled accountant's countenance flashes through her mind, but she dismisses it with some inner exasperation. "At the moment, our mundane finances are stressed but not to the breaking point. The one-time costs associated with the Tribunal, together with the marginal expenses necessitated by the arrival of our sodales Roberto and the new members of the turb, exhausted what small reserves we had managed to accumulate. Our factors and teamsters are telling me that we are starting to delay the odd payment here and there: not uniformly, by any means, but at any given time we seem to have one merchant who allows us an extra two weeks, another specialist who accepts a bit of food this month to tide him over until a payment next month, that sort of thing."
She looks around the table, choosing her words carefully to avoid sending signals of blame. ((Com 3 + Etiquette (addressing magi) 3 + stress die 4 = 10.)) "However, we have just augmented our council by three magi, and that laudable addition will start to impact our silver accounting. Our covenfolk have been hard at work helping them stock their laboratories with necessary equipment, but that has put us slightly behind in other areas of physical maintenance, for example; we have also needed to hire a few new servants to bolster the mansion's staff, to maintain the level of continual mundane support that we deserve. With the annual lull in income during the early spring, we will soon find ourselves needing extensions to more payments, and those for a season rather than a couple of weeks. This is all if our wool harvest is steady, of course; one inconvenient epidemic in the herds ..." she unconsciously glances at Stultus when she says this, since he was the one who put the idea in her head, "and we will be in much direr straits than that." She wonders idly, in the event of a plague among the sheep, whether blame for the event would actually be placed at the Tytalus's feet.
Korvin nods, Tranquillina and I discussed the finances before we brought in the new Magi. Stultus gave the Covenant a magical item to help with preparing the wool for sale. I'm not sure that has been figured into our upcoming budget. I tasked her and her deputy to try to expand our income so if we make silver, we only do it for emergence.
Stultus shrugs as his name is mentioned. "It's just a helper object, Korvin, not a panacea. Sure, it might save us five-six pounds, but that's a drop in the bucket. I'll see if I can come up with something else in the spring -- the Rego aura might be a great help in that regard."
"I've, uh, also been working on another idea that might alleviate our silver troubles in the long run. Problem is, it will require a substantial outlay of cash up front, which the Diocetes tells me we just don't have right now. So it's on the back burner. I'll bring it up before the council when and if our current cash situation eases up."