I was actually going off the downloaded Shape & Material Bonus Chart from the Atlas site (which I just realized had been updated a couple of months ago, and a second chart organized by bonus, sweet!). But no excuses on the mirror, that was apparently my brain making stuff again. But that's where I got the stones for the pommels from.
Although a copper looking glass would work, too, so I think I'll change it. Copper has +4 to effects that change your own shape, and mirror is +7 to illusions.
Abigail, I just got an inspiration a few minutes ago. A book in Hebrew, maybe? Like an atlas? Long shot, since I don't think there's a big market for any kind of Hebrew books in the Order (big enough to warrant any being sold at GT, but you never know).
On the evening after Fiona does her shopping, two soldiers arrive at Fiona's quarters, before she's able to escape to the orgy. "The Prima Tremeris sends her compliments, requests your presence." The Tremere soldiers leave the 'now' hanging in the air.
[color=blue]"Of course," Fiona says. [color=blue]"I wasn't expecting to meet with someone so prestigious this evening. May I have a couple of minutes to don something more...appropriate?"
If she's allowed, she will change into her Hermetic robes, since a summons from the Tremere prima probably requires something not quite so risqué as what she was about to change into.
Fiona is escorted with some degree of pomp to the Prima's quarters, which is a palatial sized version of Fiona's quarters. Probably enough room for a dozen magi and their retinues. Once inside, Fiona is taken to a council chamber, with several people sitting around it, one of whom is Maris.
Poena is diminutive and her hair is pulled back so tightly that any creases in her forehead are gone. She sits at the chair on the opposite side of the table from the door. She indicates the seat immediately in front of Fiona and says, "Ahh, Fiona. One of our allies from Mons Electi. Thank you for answering the summons, it was so very good of you to do so. Have you sorted out the difficulty from the other evening?" There are some light refreshments provided, but no one has placed anything on a plate yet, but soon Poena does, and then everyone begins helping themselves. Poena doesn't wait for an answer to the question, it was more of an acknowledgment that she'd heard about it. "Are you enjoying the Grand Tribunal? Perhaps enjoy is an inapt word. Tolerating might be better. It can be terribly boring. There are few intiiatives worth pursuing these days, at least in public. We are a stagnating Order, in many ways, don't you think?"
[color=blue]"How can I refuse an invitation from the Prima Tremere? I'm honored that you even know who I am, let alone wish to speak with me." Fiona takes a quick look around, checking out who the other guests are.
Fiona nods thoughtfully at Poena's question, nibbling a little something to stall as she chooses her words. [color=blue]"I can see the Order and the magus as reflections of each other. Some magi are able to achieve more by challenging themselves, while some grow...are pushed to grow by external challenges. In much the same way, the Order, it could be argued, needs an external threat to push us to even greater things than we have accomplished. Centuries ago, it was the threat of the Diedne. More recently, the threat of the Order of Odin has, to all appearances, been more of a bogeyman than a real threat. Personally, I don't think I want to experience another Schism War."
"Empires fall when they stop expanding and begin consolidating their victories. Those involved begin looking at their internal adversaries, and they begin to tear the empire apart from within. Tremere knew this. He wished to establish a benevolent dictatorship of sorts. He rebelled at Tytalus's choice for democracy. Democracy is its own form of tyranny. Democracies rely upon a well informed populace. And magi, as a rule are not well informed about news and events. Leave them to their Arts, that's what they want. Very few are interested in governing themselves. And so, a well informed and well managed group can slowly control a great many. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Of course, you may not believe that the Order of Hermes is an empire, but do we not govern an area? Do we not skirt the code here and there, with magi controlling the nobles in their areas? Didn't Apollodorus insulate Mons Electi from the temporal concerns while he was alive? And at what cost? No, we are an empire, but few wish to admit it. And what have we done at this Grand Tribunal? We attempted to further subdivide the administrative units of the Tribunal. We, of Tremere, decided to vote against it at the last, despite Maris's objections otherwise. But the effort was a useful diversion, wasn't it? Who's diversion was it, though?"
[color=blue]"I certainly see your point about empires collapsing when they stop expanding. Although, it's not necessarily from a lack of desire coughBoddicacough. Although I don't necessarily agree that a dictatorship, even a benevolent one, is the desired form of governance. At some point, simply by the fact that we are still merely human, whoever rules as dictator will inevitably put their own interests ahead of those of the governed. Perhaps if magi could come to realize that there is more to the world than what lies within their laboratory walls."
[color=blue]"I suspect it was crafted by the same ones who have profited in the past by turning the Order against itself...although, if so, then they're either thinking smaller than they used to or this is simply an opening gambit."
Fiona answers slowly and carefully, feeling as though she were being tested.
Maris speaks up, "You're close, but just a shade off, Fiona." Maris proceeds after a nod from Poena. "The idea was to weaken House Guernicus, and it was mine, primarily. We helped Florum cultivate as many supporters as we could. In the end it wasn't enough. But, it did begin stirring up the hornet's nest, so while we didn't achieve the desired result, we did achieve something. Proctor and Valerian are gone from Normandy, and Cavillor is a capable Presiding Quaesitor who seems more interested in doing the right thing for magi, than sticking to the letter of the law, or towing House Guernicus' line. He stood up, subtly, to Bilera, in public. Mind you, it might be a ruse, but I have to say no one, including myself imagined that Calefacto and Augustina were one in the same. And that because of that House Guernicus was unprepared to have a suitable, at least of their preference, Quaesitor assume the role as Presiding Quaesitor of the Tribunal." Maris is clearly taking credit for something she doesn't appear to have had any apparent hand in. Marcus was the advocate, Calefacto/Augustina was pranking the Tribunal, or at least Rotgiers and Valerian.
[color=blue]"So, Guernicus would have been weakened by, let's say, a consolidation of Tribunals? And I can see where it would be advantageous to have Quaesitores more interested in what is right, as opposed to what their House says the law means. I'm sorry I couldn't convince more magi to approve the new Tribunal."
((Sorry, I'm drawing a blank on what they're after if anything. Of course, it will probably hit me about 3am when I can't do anything about it. ))
Poena picks up, "Guernicus would have been weekend by a division of the Tribunals. But that has failed, and we must continue our work towards weakening the grip House Guernicus holds on Normandy. What do you think of the Tribunal Tournament, as a means of distributing the collective resources of the Tribunal? Think honestly and consider if you were in a very poor covenant like the one Mons Electi absorbed several years ago." Poena seems to be hinting that she disagrees with the Tribunal Tournament as a distribution method, based on her phrasing of the question, but she does seem genuinely interested in an honest answer from Fiona, even if the opinion differs from her own.
((Not sure why I wrote consolidation, I meant the opposite but probably couldn't think of the word at the time. ))
Fiona ponders for a moment. She had never really thought about the way Normandy did things, merely accepting it as The Way Things Are.
[color=blue]"At first blush," she finally says, [color=blue]"it would appear to favour the smaller covenants like Atsingani by giving them the opportunity to enrich themselves. But the more I think about it, the more it seems like they are caught in a trap. By counting on the largess of the Tribunal, and competing for the tropaea every seven years, they could well be stifling their own growth, making them dependent on our charity and less likely to take the risks involved in looking for new vis sources, especially if they believe that they gain nothing to lose in the effort. Why unlock a new vis source if you're forced at wand-point to turn over to the Tribunal for the 'greater good'?"
((As I wrote this, it occurred to me that the lass is starting to think like a Tytalus, just a wee bit.))
Maris takes over, "And we haven't even discussed vassalage. Aping mundane society. What's the purpose? Could it be designed to turn the magi into natural followers? You're aware of Rotgiers leaving Tremere? Not many do this, and whenever it happens it says much about the individual, and much about Tremere. Some we never have considered leaving. Alexei's pater still enjoys cordial relations with the House. Rotgiers, though, he is a man of excess, doesn't understand the need to serve. He rebelled almost from the beginning, once he passed his gauntlet. He was selfish, plain and simple. And now he seems to be an ally of Guernicus, or at least Valerian. What do you know of Valerian, Fiona? I mean besides the obvious, what he's done to one who was dear to me."
[color=blue]"Not much, I fear," Fiona says. [color=blue]"And certainly nowhere near as much as I should. Former chief hoplite of the Normandy Tribunal, lap, I mean watchdog of the Quaesitores serving in Magvillus after what happened last year. Something of a loose cannon[sup]1[/sup], and frankly, deserving of a lingering and painful death."
((Order of Hermes Lore to fill in any blanks: Int 1 + OoH Lore 2 + die roll of 5 = 8.))
[sup]1[/sup]I'm sure they had a term for this before they stole the cannon, but danged if I can remember what it is.
"He's a skilled hunter." At that, Poena shakes her head. Maris ignores her. "No, Poena, you are my Prima, but he was my pater. She turns and looks at Fiona "He is hunting people like Apollodorus. He has the full sanction of House Guernicus behind him. Meaning, should he find someone they will manufacture evidence, weigh the evidence, convict, and renounce the magus. They will then ratify that at the next regional tribunal gathering."
"Are you aware of what Tria and I disclosed to Tranquillina several months ago?"
"While I called myself that, I pale in comparison to Apollodorus. In any event, I know that there are others besides Valerian. That they have some way of recognizing their nature in another, when they come in close contact. You have to realize that having that kind of power is both a blessing and a curse. Our House, before Poena was ever Prima, exploited Apollodorus, once they discovered that gift. It was a huge error on our part. My pater's relationship with the House is complex, but all Tremere desire to serve the House, it's instilled in us from the beginning. Very few of us turn away from it. But the House has a duty to serve its members, and it failed him, so he left." Maris seems to have some difficulty with the next part, and stops.
Poena picks up, "We know about the book, Fiona. We would like to study it and study from it. We believe it has more than just knowledge of Rego within it. It had been our intention for Rose to join you, but she found a different calling elsewhere, and we endorsed her move, for the time being. And so we must discuss this as outsiders from the covenant."
[color=blue]"Do we know who the exemplars are, or were? Besides Apollodorus and Valerian?" Fiona notices Maris's use of "is" but chalks it up to a mis-speak.
[color=blue]"I would have no problem accepting you as Protected Guests and letting you study from the book. But it may raise fewer eyebrows if there was at least the appearance of a barter involved."
((It was a misspeak, and also there's the general operating facade that Apollodorus hasn't been declared dead.))
"No, we don't know who they are. But my pater told me that Valerian was one, the youngest of them. He said he had met 5 of them, but didn't tell me who they were, or what their preferred Arts were."
In response to Fiona's opening, "Nothing is free, so I ask, what do you want?"
[color=blue]"I think a one-to-one is typical. One season of study for one season of study. I know I have outgrown the Corpus tome we have, and I need to learn more. If you have a book more exhaustive than Illuminating the Body Human, I would consider that trade for one season. If you require more than one season, than I would have to see if any of my sodales would like to visit your library."
Poena stars their part of the bargain, "We do not have a summa that surpasses that text. We do have two tractatus that approach the quality of that book to chose from, so that is certainly possible." She dangles the possibility of Fiona learning for two seasons out there "It is, admittedly, a bit of an uneven trade."
And Maris finishes, "I would like to study from the text about a year from now. My present lab schedule and duties to the House prevent me from studying from it earlier."
))
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