1227 Tribunal Preparations

Isen listens carefully to Viscaria

Well, being able to recognize the arts used is not necessary, since you must announce the arts you'll use. He just needs to remember that the man said "Creo". Or course, being able to understand everything that's said would be better, if only because the information dropped casually by people around may be useful, or to know the cause of the certamen. Likewise, being able to write things up instead of having to remember them is better, but, on the other hand, if he writes things up, he'll be noticed.
So, ideally, we need a group of people, who speak latin, who'll rotate, hear things up, and then either go write it, or dictate it to a scribe. At worst, we could hire a few people to do this.

Isen acquiesces.
Very good idea. We can't rely on magic for everything, and having our covenfolk be able to fend as much as possible by themselves may prove quite important.

Isen thinks for a moment...
If I do this with Watching Ward, it'll be very efficient, but costly in Vis. 8 pawns per ward. So I'd prefer limiting it.
I can probably find a way to lay some traps by using Rego Vim and my Talisman, but this'd require me to activate them, and to concentrate at each sunrise and sunset if we don't want them to be activated by the flickering that these causes in enchantments. This may be too risky.

Taking his chin in his hand, thinking, then
Invisible foes is another problem. Being of an effective 7th magnitude, our Aegis should be able to keep most of them out. Problem is, nothing stops a magus from just entering our aegis and casting it. Although they will be severely impeded, they'll still benefit from our Aura. I wouldn't be able to do it, but... Say, if a magus is able to cast 4th to 5th magnitude Perdo Imaginem spells, he may be able to do so, at the expense of his personal energies.
So this is not easy, but I wouldn't consider us to be secure on this front either. Especially as he can do the same thing with an item.

Truth be told, this tribunal is a huge security risk, and we can only minimize them. Having our covenfolk be as knowledgeable about what to expect and what to look for may help, but, although I think we can probably rule out an attack, we can probably expect an intrusion.
To that end, should you all agree, I think we should cooperate to put a Watching Ward in each of our sanctum, as well as in the library. The vis cost will be high, but it's worth it, in my opinion.

((I would like to think that Mons Electi would be allowed to participate in the ritual for the Aegis that The Tribunal is laying down. But I could be mistaken. Int 1 + Normandy Tribunal Lore (Running Tribunal) 3 + die roll of 9 = 13.))

((Mélanie has Area Lore: Bibracte 4 and Area Lore: Regio Side 3, with Specializations of "Vis Sources" on both.))

Melanie is just so awesome :smiley:

It's not stated in the book if the host participates in the Aegis.

[color=blue]"The book doesn't say if we're expected, or even allowed, to participate in the Tribunal's Aegis," Fiona says. [color=blue]"I will ask, though."

Fiona will write a letter after that meeting to Proctor, to "confirm that we will be able to participate in casting of the Tribunal's Aegis of the Hearth over our covenant."

At the next meeting, Fiona throws a letter onto the table.

[color=blue]"Unfortunately," she fumes, [color=blue]"under the Peripheral Code, we have no control over the Aegis. It must be cast by an officer of the Tribunal, so that they can control who may extend or rescind invitations into the Aegis.

In a totally unrelated matter, does anybody remember how powerful the Aegis was at the last Tribunal?"

((MT question: If you have two separate Aegises over an area, with coincidental boundaries, is it possible to cast a PeVim targeting one of the aegises and not the other?))

There won't be a contiguous border for the Tribunal Aegis to affect Mons Electi's Aegis, casting another Aegis around Mons Electi within the regio is not possible.

((so the Tribunal's Aegis will only be on the mundane side, then? Or only on the Regio side?))

I think we established that the location is within the regio, on a mountaintop away from the covenant's castle and assorted buildings in the regio.

((So, theoretically, we should be able to target the Tribunal's Aegis with a nice, hefty PeVi without affecting ours, if we have to.))

Most assuredly.

OK this changes things a bit. When I initially read the letter I was under the impression that it might cover more of our covenant, or the entire covenant even. So it's not quite as bad as I thought, but it's still bad as we can be ejected from the covenant grounds.

We need to use whatever means we have to find out allegiances of who's casting it, but I'm already of the opinion that it will be people that are loyal to the conspirators. If we have any sway on who can cast it, we should use it. Seriously, if Valerian is one of the casters we might consider a forceful option of keeping him out of it, like a Wizard's War declaration (that would be the nuclear option; our last option if it came down to it, and the declaration wouldn't have to come from our covenant either).

If we choose to drop the Aegis...we basically will have declared war, or...we'll be responding to a declaration of war, depending on the circumstances and the allegiance of those involved.

If you cannot control who casts it, then what does it matter if Valerian is one of the casters of the Tribunal Aegis?

A Wizard War declaration against Valerian will likely be a nuclear option and if Alexei is the one to declare it against Valerian, well, Alexei probably won't be able to attend Tribunal.

Yeah, it's bad. But it's not without hope.

Oh and the Officers of the Tribunal are: Praeco, Presiding Quaesitor, Chief Hoplite and any deputies. There is a treasurer, but that is usually an unGifted Redcap.

Isen scowls

That was to be expected from these culprits. All we can do, then, is arm ourselves with magical items, and be ready to retreat. Should they attack, there's no point in fighting a losing battle

As an aside, I don't remember the spell. Does it need to be ritual?
Anyway, we collectively suck big time at perdo.
Hum... Not that we couln't use ReVi to suspend the Aegis :smiling_imp: Now, since they probably know we suck at perdo, they probably don't expect us to be able to do something like that.
Not that this is anything over than theoretical, at this point :frowning:

I'm not sure I understand you, sorry.
The tribunal Aegis will cover all the regio, including ME?
So, if we have our own Aegis, like at the present, it will need to be dispelled for the tribunal duration?
Not only does this suck BIG TIME, but we should get a refund from the tribunal for our aegis.

Who had this dumb idea in the first place T-T We've put ourselves in a situation to be deprived of our magical power!
Is there no way to obtain a smmall sizze aegis, able to cover the boundaries to the buildings only? Like, the walls?

Is there a way for any of us to qualify as deputies? After all, both Alexei and Isen are Miles, this should help.
Maybe more Isen. He is has no history with Valerian, so it might be less difficult for him.

There will not be two Aegides over the top of the same spot. The tribunal Aegis will be over the tribunal grounds, which is well outside the Mons Electi Aegis

you may qualify, but you have not been named deputies. Being names deputies is... unlikely.

Ah, Ok. I had totally not understood things :blush: . I'm relieved, thanks!

Viscaria reacts to the news calmly. "This is hardly surprising, and part of why we ensured that there is no overlapping natural boundary between the Tribunal Fields and the manorhouse. Remember, the Regio is vast. We could play hide and seek in their for months and never see each other. Think it through, though. If it were not for our distaste for certain members within the Quaesitors, this would strike me as a reasonable security precaution on their part, and a responsibility that, as hosting covenant, I would not seek.

"Was there some plan to engage in violence against Valerian and his lot during the Tribunal? If so, it would be wise to be done by more subtle hands than I see brandishing knives at this table."

[color=blue]"We did do that, didn't we?" Fiona says sheepishly. [color=blue]"I'm sorry, I just don't much care for the idea of losing control of our home, especially when it still feels to me like there's some kind of an agenda behind our being awarded the Tribunal."

[color=blue]"Not without provocation, no. I will gladly defend me and mine if they start anything, but during the Tribunal is hardly a good time to exact retribution."

[color=blue]"We did do that, didn't we?" Fiona says sheepishly. [color=blue]"I'm sorry, I just don't much care for the idea of losing control of our home, especially when it still feels to me like there's some kind of an agenda behind our being awarded the Tribunal."

"Well, let's explore that further. What was the purpose in awarding us the Tribunal? Hosting costs are supposed to be horrifically expensive....and I suppose, from a certain perspective, that my salary counts as that. It was also meant to distract us from developing further in our magical powers as we developed the Tribunal itself, but we seem to have managed to thwart that intent as well, by allocating tasks which suit our individual pussiance. Possibly, it was meant as a distraction so as to allow the attack on Appollodorus, but I have a hard time believing that. What other motives might they have had? How can we thwart those ambitions?

"It seems to me that the best thing we can do is to make sure that by the time the Tribunal arrives, we are stronger, more devious, and more strongly allied than we were before."

(OOC: JL, please feel free to use Theraphosa and her stats in CoH, OoHLore and Intrigue, as a mouthpiece to discuss further)

Some facts...
Hosting is established by lottery, but of course, lotteries can be faked or whatever.
But the read between the lines thing was that the Tribunal apparatchik knew that Mons Electi was holding out on their vis, and just needed some rationale to gather proof. Part of Arya's storyline was going to be resolving that oversight, instead, I'm just saying that the sources were registered and fines were waived. Now everyone in the Tribunal knows how rich Mons Electi is.