[quote="Jonathan.Link"]
As Stultus goes out of the villa he can hear Cumhachd say, I told you he wouldn't do it. I left him a small opportunity to get a favor from me, and he left it."
(( Wait, what? I missed that. Probably should have paid more attention, but today was the day from HELL at work.))
facepalms again
Oh well. Opportunity missed. 
((But I gave with the other hand...))
(( Is that anything like giving at the office?))
Loys and Choiniere arrive with food for Cumhachd and her men. When they arrive she is cordial to them and very friendly. Of course, her Gentle Gift puts them at ease, and they may even think that Tranquillina is laying it on a bit thick depending on what horror stories might have been overheard or told to them ((I need a bit of detail on these [strike]characters[/strike], found Loys, need Choiniere)). When they arrive the men aren't visible anywhere, and she doesn't mention them. They will note that there is what appears to be a fully functional Hermetic Lab, as far as they can tell, and that she appears to made herself comfortable and at home. If they offer their services to her on a semi-permanent basis, as Tranquillina suggested, Cumhachd will accept and see to their own comforts, as well, while they stay with her.
Other than food, she doesn't need anything, and she never requests very much.
((There's nothing on Choiniere at the moment - it's just a name sometimes when I need to specify a servant.))
Loys would certainly recognize a Hermetic laboratory - he spent half a year cataloguing that sort of equipment for Tranquillina. When he describes the setup to Tranquillina, she is furious. "That disease-ridden swamp hag parasitic cunt," she bellows (in Gaelic, although Loys is pretty sure he gets the gist of it), "thinks she can glide into my home and set up a fucking laboratory?!" Unfortunately the Code of Hermes doesn't seem to contain an explicit prohibition against anything that Cumhachd has done so far; in fact, blocking the entrance to the regio seems more iffy than anything about the new lab.
Tranquillina insists upon a council meeting that very night (so maybe a night or two after Cumhachd's arrival) and rages at her covenant-mates: "This member of our supposed Order is trespassing on Mons Electi grounds - nay, even blocking access to said grounds, hampering our turb's ability to provide for our security. She is showing every sign of installing herself in the Tribunal city, indefinitely. She has already taunted us over the inability of our Aegis to keep her from running amok in this very mansion should she so choose. And do not for one minute think that she is unaware of this Tribunal's conventions regarding sanctioned harassment of other magi. Will we act now to evict her? or must we wait until we find our sheep stolen or poisoned - our silver pillaged - our covenfolk murdered?!"
Gerulf, with his customary goblet of wine at his side, stands. Sitting next to her as usual, he must turn to face Tranquillina, "Would her behavior thus far not suggest, then, that she does not intend, as yet, to 'run amok'?"
His brow furrows. "Tranquillina, I can see that this is a serious issue for you, but," he says, turning to face the rest of the covenant, "though I am only a provisional member, I would posit that there is little to suggest an imminent threat to the covenant. Perhaps this blockade at the door should be discussed, but it hardly merits... I'm sorry, Tranquillina. It hardly merits expulsion. Not yet, at any rate," he says. Becoming somewhat self-conscious in his first address to the covenant, he quickly sits down, taking a sip of wine.
Stultus is present at the council meeting... and for the time being is keeping his mouth firmly SHUT. Uncharacteristic of him. Enjoy it while it lasts.
((Stultus is like: there is a certain threshold of bear above which even I will note poke.... 
))
"I find her behavior provocative in the extreme, to be frank," Tranquillina counters, almost before Gerulf can finish his sentence. "Without even mentioning her attitude and insulting comments towards our Flambeau brethren: she did not ask our permission to enter our regio, nor to set up her personal toll-gatherers at its entrance - and let us not forget there are six other men, magical men mighty to deflect a friendly Corpus spell I tried to help them with, whose whereabouts are unknown. They could be lurking anywhere on our grounds by now.... And in any case," she veers, "Her 'behavior thus far' includes much more than what you have seen. I have known her for decades. Trust me, no deed is vile enough to be beneath her, if some whim occurs to her."
Tranquillina turns towards the younger magus, her mouth silently open for a moment. It is easy to see the hurt in her eyes, and for a moment Gerulf might feel a bit of guilt over this perceived betrayal, before reminding himself that rational discourse is never the fault of the deliverer, only the recipient. "Well, good then, your half vote is noted," she offers with noticeable acidity, and is instantly sorry for it. "I hope that others here might put more faith in my ability to judge the character of one more potential threat to our already imperiled covenant." She looks at the other magi, hoping for support from another quarter.
(( Problem is, Stultus will HAVE to poke the bear. 
))
Stultus opens his mouth long enough to say one thing. "Sodales, as some of you know, Cumhachd ex Tytalus is both my mater and a formally declared Rival. Some of you may question my ability to remain impartial where she is concerned, because my emotions may be clouding my judgment. Therefore, while I will give the Council my opinion, I hereby recuse myself from voting on the matter." He then returns to keeping his mouth shut.
"Maybe it is an illusion? Her lab, that is. And, to be fair, those men standing at the entrance, if they are men at all, provide security. We don't want anyone unwelcome sneaking into the regio. And to my knowledge she has not crossed the bridge, once. I submit this is a personal matter, and that you are using this council of magi as a shield or a club to avoid dealing with her. Her descriptions of us while over the top, we're true."
Marcus continues, "it is readily apparent to me, that her actions are designed to illicit a response from you, and my experience suggests, and Stultus's stance would seem to confirm that she is here for you. This is some personal battle between the two of you, is it not? It is... unseemly to involve others in it. Now, I would send her notice that we would view distilling Vis in our aura a hostile act. Maybe describe other things that are hostile. But my guesses she will be as quiet as a mouse, and we won't notice her, unless we seek her out."
Stultus casts the other Tytalus a grateful glance at that line. He was avoiding saying precisely that for as long as possible, in order to give Tranquillina a chance to save face. Now it looks like he won't have to.
Korvin has been listening to the debate without speaking up to this point. Roberto, did you invite her to shelter in the regio as with her men?
((The bear poking was collateral damage. Gerulf stumbled into the den in the dark. 
))
Gerulf takes the strike in stride, though his flexing jaw muscles indicate that he was not unaffected. He casts his eyes down to the table where he taps one finger and chews his lower lip while listening to the rest of the council.
"Excuse me Roberto, but I'll answer this. No one invited her into the regio. She simply said she was going in and no one stopped her. But I will say that Tranquillina just requested that Roberto have the grogs guard the bridge, which I would take as, if I were in her shoes, an implicit acceptance of the terms of my visit." He looks at Tranquillina with a somewhat pained look, "I'm sorry that's how I see this. You didn't deny her the right to stay. You agreed to the terms."
(( Okay. I'm confused here. Trying to picture this in my head.
In the mundane world, we have a manor house that is protected by an Aegis. There is an entrance to the regio on the 2nd level of the manor house. There is a second entrance to the regio outside the Aegis.
Within the regio, we have a duplicate manor House, the tribunal field, and various outbuildings/labs/web of bridges/etc.
Do I have this right?
Is there an Aegis within the regio? What does it encompass?))
And there is another regio entrance somewhere (known), it's essentially a contrived setup that allows the boundary of the Aegis to go along the top of Mont Beuvray and also covers the castle on the "magic" side of the regio. It's all one continuous Aegis Boundary and on the magic side, it covers just the castle and courtyard area, probably extending to the bridge and even up the mountain into Stultus's sanctum, somehow.
For now I must agree. She has done nothing to break the hospitality. she is not within the aegis and has refused a token. If she bothers us, other than by her presence, we can withdraw the hospitality as per the Code.