1228-1229 OOC

Currently (in 1228.2), Junior is wandering the covenant looking for anyone he can talk to. A magus, another grog, someone. Roberto sent him to inquire about a Carmine of Flambeau.

Man. Gotta be careful when I read back-to-back posts in some of these threads.... :mrgreen:

Yeah...I think a whole bunch of magi in Mons Electi just 'filled in a blank...'

In a vis rich saga, it's not all that much. How much does Mons Electi have at the time of this story? It might be a sizable fraction of ME's total stores, but it is still a fraction. And, of course, Cumhachd wouldn't take any delight in what she's doing now, would she?

:muhahahaha

winces in sympathy

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA :laughing:
Maybe Cumhachd can force Tranquillina to study from the vis on the spot - then we can get all her Flaws in play in a single scene :mrgreen:

That's what happens when you look in the [strike]box[/strike] bag....

That's anyone's cue to join in the scene! :smiley: Alexei and some of the turb? Princeps Korvin? Whoever wants to, jump in....

Stressful fer damn sure!
I note the Magic Sensitivity description explicitly says "simple die" though. Are you overruling?

A simple die seems stupid, to be honest. It's intentionally limiting what effects can be detected. So, I'll leave it to you and qcipher (Brionne has this too) do you feel lucky? Well, do you?

Getting to some of the EFs is going to be all but impossible. 1st magnitude spells require 20 EF, 2nd, 19, 3rd is 18. Which means they only become possible when the Per+ Magic Sensitifity is 10,9 or 8, respectively. The choice is yours...

Heerre I come to save the Daaayyy!

Yeah, it is kind of stupid. I also find the 21-magnitude crazy high.
I did a botch check (still offline, sorry) and no botch. Even rolled 5 dice just to see. Apparently she's got this one nailed....

I always try to vary the smell of Alexei's magic, it smells good to everyone, so I figured cinnamon on a cold day might go over well.

Go ahead and sign up on Unseen servant, just in case Invisible Castle never comes back.
The syntax for die rolls is [xdy] where the roll must be in brackets, x is the number of dice, and y is the type of die to be rolled. The Campaign ID is 95.

I told my wife, who's also an avid Ars Magica player, what's going on in the game: Cumhachd showing up with 9 retainers and going "Oh, yeah, they all will need casting tokens to enter the Aegis".

She stared at me, smiled, pinched my cheek, and said "Mater Cara, you're so CUTE!"

Things like that still make me wish these posts had a "Like" button :laughing:

Ok, I'm on Unseen Servant now.

So the courtesy is conditional, then. You are inviting her, but not her retinue, especially when she has specifically stated the only reason she is here at all is because of here retinue. You wouldn't allow a magus to have their grogs or coven folk attend them, their familiar to cross the Aegis?
Of course, doing so could be playing into her hands. She has left the two of you be relatively free of her influence for many years...
Magi traveling with retinues aren't uncommon, it is reasonable to expect a guest having their attendants. If you were somewhere else would you want your attendants?

Okay. Disclaimer: I can't quote chapter and verse on this, because I don't remember where I got the idea. (I seem to remember it was in the fluff text somewhere, in a covenant description, but don't remember where. I'll look later.) This is merely the way I thought this worked.

  • A magus visiting another covenant is customarily granted a casting token if they wish it. That's not in question.
  • A familiar is part and parcel of the magus: the familiar may enter if the magus is granted a casting token, and denying a familiar entry is unlawful under the Code, since that would be depriving a magus of their magical power.
  • Servants? No one really cares about servants one way or the other. What's another mundane or two running around? There are no customs regarding non-magical servants, each covenant does it as they see fit.
  • Grogs are treated much the same way as servants, with one caveat. Bringing armed men of your own into a covenant may be taken as an insult to the host covenant, indicating that the visitor does not trust them.

However, these are not mundanes we're talking about. These are magical creatures. I don't know if there's any custom covering that situation, but I can't imagine a covenant that wouldn't at least raise an eyebrow at the idea. You, however, appear to be having trouble imagining a covenant that would raise an eyebrow at the idea. I'm just trying to figure out where the discontinuity is. If you say "that's how the Order works in my Saga" that's perfectly fine, I'd just like an explanation for why that's the case.

I refer you to HoH:Societas,page 79, the section on Pedagogy. Remember the House you're from.
She has asked for Courtesy, she has offered that she has gifts. I'm saying it is what she is asking for, and any and all responses have a consequence. There isn't a right answer here. There is an answer and a response. There are several possible answers here, and MEs resources are not inconsiderable.
It isn't unheard of that some magi have large retinues. Some of them might be creatures of might. is 9 too many? Depends. She is Stultus's mater, and was Tranquillina's at one point. Do you trust her to behave? Do you expect her to be difficult or,openly hostile?

Stultus trusts implicitly that she will behave in the manner befitting a Tytalus: i.e. to introduce conflict into our lives that we may overcome it and thereby grow stronger. He also trusts implicitly that she believes she has his and Tranquillina's best interests in mind. He is not, however, certain she is correct in that belief.

I think I see what you're getting at, but it's late and I'm tired. I shall cogitate on this and post tomorrow. :slight_smile:

JOHN ADAMS: "Wake up, Franklin, we're going to New Brunswick!"
BEN FRANKLIN: (opens one eye) "The hell I am, what for?"
ANDREW MCNAIR: "The whoring and the drinking!"
(Franklin leaps up and charges out of the Congress hall like he was shot out of a cannon)
--1776