Tranquillina sets her jaw firmly while Stultus finishes. "I was thinking of perhaps requesting Nigrasaxa to dispatch a rider, to somewhere in Loch Leglean, if there were a mundane item you wished," she hurls back brusquely. "But thank you for expressing such confidence in your new covenant-mate to handle a social visit - quite heartening indeed." She swallows to take the stridency out of her voice, but it cannot remove the perceived attack from her mind. By the time Stultus calms down and tries to reconnect, her mindset is such that she takes the unknown word "catarrh" as a willful slight against her intelligence. "I am sure you will be settled here when I return," she pronounces curtly, vowing to learn the meaning of that word as soon as possible.
Meanwhile...
Roberto is looking around for something he can set on fire. Just for the fun of it.
Stultus gives the Bonisagus a very broad, cheerful grin, tipping his hat. "I am sure I will be." He saunters off, disappearing around the corner -- only to poke his head back around it a moment later. "By the way, I never said you couldn't handle it. Just thought you probably wouldn't want to. Good day, sodalis."
Stultus quirks an eyebrow, making a mental note of the qualifier. No human agents -- does that mean Mons Electi has inhuman ones? He'll need to find that out later.
"All right. What resources do I have at my disposal for agent recruitment? As in, funds? Agents can be recruited without money, but it's a much slower process."
"Based on what you were asking during the dinner, I think we've got similar ideas. An acting troupe, or a network of such. I know entertainers fairly well, so I think that's very doable. Might even make us a bit of money a few years down the line, assuming an initial investment. But the first thing we'd need is a cutout... someone with no obvious connection to us." He rubs his nose, appearing deep in thought.
"Can you ask the Redcaps to keep an eye out for a troubadour named Charles de Neuville? Ordinarily he'd be heading down to Iberia around this time, he likes to spend the winter where it's warm, but he values his skin too much to go through the Languedoc right now... so he's probably still around here somewhere. Is that something minor enough to entrust to them? I can go look for him myself if need be, I'd just prefer not to."
Talk to Tranquillina about money. I think we will need to make some for the moment. Adding 3 new magi have stretched us thin for lucre.
I can. You could also talk to Renaud. He is back from Iberia. He is a Redcap but also a Troubadour. I want to convince him to focus on this problem. His brother is the one in charge of the Redcaps in the Tribunal.
Stultus rolls his eyes at the prospect of talking to Tranquillina. "Oh frabjous day. I'm sure she'll be overjoyed to talk to me once she gets back. Then again, I had to talk to her about money anyway, might as well kill two birds with one stone."
The dwarf considers, then shakes his head slowly. "I'll certainly pick his brain, but perhaps it would be best if he were not directly involved. Again, as I said, cutout. An information network is of very little value if it could be traced directly to us."
"What I am thinking is setting up Charles -- and possibly someone else, for redundancy -- as a nouveau riche patron of the performing arts, who would sponsor troubadours and minstrels and travelling entertainers, in exchange for intelligence and perhaps a cut of the profits. It's a patronage, not a loan, so we won't fall afoul of the Church's usury laws. Money is a secondary issue -- knowing the entertainer's life, I'd be surprised if we made a profit. Information is the point..." He chuckles quietly. "Apropos of nothing, if we direct some of the created money towards that affair, we might possibly get away with creating more than the Quaesitori deem proper -- since that money will actually be spent all over France. That's a really hair-splitting distinction, though."
"The other thing I wanted to talk to you about is my Longevity Ritual. What can I offer you to convince you to help me out with that?"
Kovin nods at Stultus' plan.
Do you currently have a Longevity ritual or has it failed?
Cue the bow-chicha-bow-wow. (Although if they do do the wicky sticket, she's going to want to cast Preternatural Growth and Shrinking on him, just to get them to a more equitable size - unless Helmut's graced with a phenomenal stature, in which case it's his call). And is he going to try to stay the whole night to keep up with her 3 Sta passions, or just for the while?
Stultus shakes his head. "It failed pretty badly last winter."
I will not be able to do it until the summer of 1228. Is that acceptable?
Stultus thinks for a little while. "Not what I would have preferred, obviously, but on the other hand it gives me time to set up a lab and get started on the network thing. Or perhaps tackle the money issue -- I have an idea or two that I need to sit down and evaluate. So yes, that'd be acceptable, and thank you in advance."
As a matter of payment, I have a task I wish to to attempt. What I ask will require more than a single season so, if you are agreeable, I will pay for your LR myself if you undertake my project. I assure you it is not dangerous and can be quite rewarding.
((Well he's pretty young and lecherous, I'd say he can hang in there.))
"That sounds ominous. On the other hand, it also sounds interesting. What have you got in mind?"
I recently had a meeting with the Gifted members of my House. As you would expect, we could all fit into a tavern and leave room for others. One of good friends lives in the Transylvania Tribunal. He was telling me about what the Redcaps do their as parts of their jobs. They tended to travel in large family groups as actors. I see by the look in your eyes that you are unimpressed. What he told me later was more interesting. Many of the plays and songs they do are written by members of House Tremere or someone employed by them. They use the plays to subtly change opinions. They are showing the superiority of the Tremere system.
Do you remember the beginning of our conversation when I mentioned the strategy for attacking another country? First attack their strategy, then their allies and finally their army. I had been thinking of how to do that to weaken Guernicus and strengthen Mercere. Attack their strategy. Then you arrived and it seemed obvious.
What I have here, Korvin puts his hand on the large black book on his desk. Is called the Black Rot Within. It is a complete history of House Guernicus. ( Summa and 3 Tractius). I wish you to read it so that you know Guernicus and their history. then i want to commission some plays or songs that the acting troops could do around the order. They must be subtle. It must be works of arts that make people think and perhaps a day or a week later they go ahhhhh!
There is another book that goes with this about the history of the Order. You may read it or not depending on what you feel you may need. But that is what I want. A long game. Not exciting for a while but long games rarely are.
Stultus suppresses a chuckle as Korvin is speaking. Suppresses another one. Can't quite suppress the third -- chuckles turn into guffaws, and in no time at all he's laughing uproariously, bent over double in his chair. Finally, he straightens, wiping his eyes. "Oh, Korvin. Oh, sodalis. I think you should know one thing. The task you've just described is pretty much exactly what I've been doing in the mundane world for the past thirty years or so. Using jokes and humor, allegory and metaphor, to help people unshackle their minds -- help people question their assumptions -- break free from the bonds of rules and laws and social convention and think for themselves. And you're offering me a chance to do the same thing within the Order? I should pay you for the privilege!!"
He calms down. Slightly. "Mind you, my forte is in comedy and improvisation, and you have a broader range of genres in mind. Still, I'm equal to the task. Look forward to it, in fact -- and can't help but marvel at the incredible serendipity of it all."
((The Black Rot Within and it's commentates are listed in the Library section of the Wiki))
"Benner?"
The linguist blinks myopically up as he's addressed -- doesn't see anyone -- and finally locates Stultus at about waist height. "Yes, magus. What can I do for you?"
"I have a small task I need assistance with, if you have a moment. First of all, do you know Aramaic?"
Benner nods. "Yes, I do. There are some commentaries by Rambam that are best read in the original..."
Stultus smiles, and clambers into a chair, perching on the arm. He slides a wax tablet across the desk to Benner. "If you could translate this message into Aramaic, and write it out for me, I would be much obliged to you. Please write legibly, I've got to copy it afterwards."
The linguist picks up the tablet, murmuring to himself as he reads it. "Gabrielle... small favor to ask... bearing in mind our relationship... collect information... upcoming attacks or political moves against Mons Electi...." He reaches out without looking, pulling a blank sheet of vellum closer and picking up a quill... and Stultus's hands, hidden in his lap, twitch in the patterns of Hermetic spellcasting.
(( Perception of the Conflicting Motives: Casting total +22, -10 for casting with no words or gestures, +5 for Aura, +3 Talisman attunement, roll of 9 -- spell cast with no Fatigue loss.))
(There's more coming, but I'll have to type it out later -- my lunch hour is almost over.)
((The penalty for no words or gestures is -15, unless you have a Virtue or relevant Mastery? Clearly not important here in the end.))
((And, interesting: since Stultus is in Benner's presence, doesn't that mean he can now speak Aramaic? Could he have dictated the message to Benner to write down? (I guess Gift of Tongues doesn't extend to writing it himself....) ))
(( He has Quiet Magic, so it's -10 for him. And yes, since he's talking to Benner he'd be able to speak Aramaic, but not read or write it. He could have dictated the message, but chose not to because he wanted to cast the spell at the same time. That, and his player didn't want to write the entire message out, since he was pressed for time. 
As a side note, I realized that there's a spell Stultus has that he has absolutely NO reason to possess. "Thoughts within Babble", a holdover from Stultus V1.0. Going to need to trade it for something else, with the Troupe's approval. ))