Stultus nods, and ambles over to the fireplace, going down on his knees in front of it. It takes him a while to build the fire up -- he's doing it the mundane way, and the coals are refusing to flare back into life, and he loses his grip on a piece of firewood at one point, and, and, and... and Tranquillina may well realize that he's using the fire-building to give her time to compose herself while his back is turned.
He finally finishes, wipes his hands with a cloth and pulls a chair closer to Tranquillina's, clambering back into it. "So."
We'll do it while Tranquillina is with Marcus.
Korvin notes a sanctum marker is outside the villa's door.
"Korvin, how delightful for you to come visit me. I must say that you and your covenant have made me feel so welcome. Cumhachd says that with such a straight face and warm smile that Korvin can't quite fathom the meaning. "And young Loys here, is such a delight. Eskil has done an adequate job to seeing to his education. I would invite you in, but you'll observe I have been forced to place a sanctum marker on this villa. I apologize for that, and I intended to send you a note about the necessity, as Eskil and two of her grogs just walked in, without so much as a knock on the door. She became difficult to talk to so, I had to excuse her from the villa."
If she notes any concern on Korvin's face about the sanctum marker, "It isn't my intention to be as a guttersnipe, and suckle from the largess of Mons Electi. No, I intend to pay my way. Pay for the use of this villa, the food and fuel. Tell me, you're familiar with the Rhine, aren't you? She waits for a nod from Korvin, and continues, "They have those peregrinatores, tell me, do you have provisions for people like that? That describes my situation, now."
Korvin looks a bit perplexed at the sanctum marker until Cumhachd explains it. Of course. I apologize that it was necessary for your privacy. Your House sometimes has that effect on people. The tribunal has nothing as formal as a peregrinatore. You may stay here as a coenobite. Like Marcus. You are permitted to attend our council meetings and have a say but not a vote.[1] I will inform the Redcaps of your current residence.
Part of my visit was to attempt to determine if the length of you stay might be known? The reasons are purely selfish for the Covenant. You see we may be the permanent site of Normandy's Tribunal and thus we would need this villa in 5 years.
[1] I think this is what we do with Marcus. If not I reserve the right to edit :mrgreen:
Yeah, Marcus is a Protected Guest. He shows up to council meetings if the mood strikes. He performs occasional services to the covenant as a way to pay his way.
"Oh, I don't need to attend council meetings. I think that might be too much for dear Eskil. But with regards to this villa, I chose it to be a bit out of the way, and it was my understanding that you built expecting a large gathering of people from outside the Tribunal, because of the Lotharingian issue and the timing so close to the Grand Tribunal. Do you really think I'll be in the way when Tribunal arrives?" Her argument has a certain logic to it. Facilities were built for excess capacity due to the number of magi predicted to attend from other Tribunals.
"One last thing. I have enough vis to pay for it, would it be possible to cast an Aegis around this villa? Regios sometimes have unwanted residents who poke their heads in, and it would be worth it to me to not have to bother with them. I'd need some assistance since I don't know the spell, of course, everyone from Mons Electi should participate, too. A simple fourth magnitude Aegis should be enough for my needs, but I'll pay for whatever version someone at the covenant knows and can cast. Just want it to keep the pests away."
"And now, since we have formalized my status, and presuming I can consider this villa to be inviolate, I will relocate my sanctum marker further within the structure, so I can allow visitors in, and we don't have to carry on like vagabonds in the street. Is that agreeable?
Without really waiting for Korvin to respond, she calls into the villa, "Loys, I'll be staying here longer, please make the sanctum marker outside the door to my lab, and when you're done with that, erase the one out here."
"Yes, Cumhachd, right away."
Turning back to Korvin "He's such a sweet young man. Did you want to wait while he does this, and then I can invite you inside for some refreshment?"
((And technically, there is a Tribunal in 1229.2, to determine whether Mons Electi will be the permanent spot or if it will go to another covenant, as before. We can work it out OOC, and treat it as fait accompli and not try and do another Tribunal thread so soon. There wouldn't be any competitions at this special Tribunal, just discuss the issue, vote and go.))
Very well. For now but if we get more guests than expected, you will have to move. I'm sure we can find a nice room for you for a season if it came to that.
I will be able to do that for you but I will bring it up to the council to see if Isen or Jacques could also do it. Our Aegis spells cover a larger area than normal so they will be more expensive than a mag4 spell. Even though the protection will be just mag 4. It will work for now until someone can learn the spell without the size difference.
No. That is all for now. I will be in touch.
When Korvin returns, he visits or leaves a note to everyone telling them of Cumhachd status and of her sanctum marker. He will also inform the next Redcap of her presents at Mon Electi.
The lengthy span of time that the fire takes to get started is fine by Tranquillina (who doesn't really analyze whether Stultus might be doing it intentionally: she'll take anything that's not another brand new crisis right now). She does her best not to flinch away when Stultus pulls the chair closer. Unfortunately, her best is pretty lame right now, so the flinch is quite noticeable; a corner of her mind idly observes that Stultus told her not to mask her reactions anyway, so maybe it's fine.
Tranquillina knows how social interactions work: she asked a favor of him, he obliged, then he said "So", which means it's her turn to speak. And she does want to speak, or at least she wants speaking to be a thing that makes her feel better (not that she can really envision what feeling better feels like, any more), or at the very least she wants to take things that are inside her and purge them and maybe spoken words would form a suitable vector for that eviction, or at the very, very least, breaking the silence would mean changing something and really, when everything is as terrible as it could possibly be, then changing anything must be good, logically speaking. But the problem is figuring out what to say. (She nods a couple of times, to try to indicate to Stultus that she does know it's her turn to talk, because so far he could be forgiven for thinking that she missed her cue.) The recent wound, namely Loys's apprenticeship, is too raw to think about, let alone talk about - and anyway, she can't really admit to that knowledge yet, due to the methods she employed to gain it.
So she sits there, not knowing what to say, and the fire is crackling and that sound and its heat are trying their best to comfort her, and the little magus is sitting there patiently, seeming quite willing to give her as much time as she needs, but surely he is judging her from her silence and suddenly she can't not speak any longer so she says the first thing that comes into her mind, which has really been present in her mind every moment for the past week or so, and actually this could well be the right person to answer it anyway, but mostly it's time that it was said, was acknowledged. "Why is she here, Stultus." she says. She hopes grammar will make the question clear, since she doesn't have the energy to add an interrogative inflection to the end of the sentence. "Why ... is she even here." She takes a long, moist breath in through her nose; her eyes flick ever so briefly to him but she is nowhere near being able to meet his gaze.
Stultus regards Tranquillina for a very long moment. There are very, very many things he could say in answer to that question, but in his judgment Tranquillina isn't ready to hear most of them. So he settles for the absolute literal truth. It's almost certainly not what Tranquillina actually asked, but he believes it's the only answer she is in a space to comprehend. "I don't know, Tranquillina," he answers, voice quiet and slow. "Not exactly. I have some educated guesses, mind you, but they are just that -- guesses."
((This might be a short-lived conversation, if Tranquillina isn't willing to divulge what just happened to Loys and Stultus doesn't deem her ready to hear what he has to say. But we'll give it one more shot ))
"By all means, guess away," Tranquillina allows. In fact, her enunciation is so poor that Stultus doesn't really catch her exact words, but her one-armed invitational gesture makes the intent clear, although the effect is broken somewhat by her sudden sneeze. "I can only assume that her favorite puppy finally died from being kicked one too many times, and she remembered what a satisfying target I made." Can't she move on to torturing Loys, she hopes uncharitably.
Stultus hmmms. "Well, first of all, in comparing yourself to a puppy to be kicked, you do yourself an injustice. Secondly... mmm."
"You value your time in the lab pretty highly. So do I. So does every wizard I know, including her. Only four seasons in a year, only so many years you are allotted before Fate or sickness or Final Twilight cuts your thread. And Cumhachd's getting pretty old. She's got what, thirty, forty years on you? She's been slowing down recently, drawing closer and closer to Final Twilight." He smirks briefly. "Not a moment too soon, right? Anyway. Were this thirty or even twenty years ago, I might be inclined to agree with your assessment. Now? It doesn't quite ring true. I don't think she's got the time to mess with your head just for the pleasure of messing with your head. There's got to be another reason."
((For the sake of actually having something to talk about, I'm going to give Tranquillina a little more credit for rational thought than I suspect she might possess at this juncture....))
Stultus's analysis is interrupted by Choiniere's knock on the door; she brings in a tray laden with food and a carafe, and (perhaps unexpectedly) is followed by a kitchen boy carrying a smaller tray of food. "Wasn't sure, milord...." Choiniere mumbles, indicating the meal the boy places in front of the magus; this comprises one of the maid's more loquacious moments. After a moment, both magi have been served a piping hot portion of lamb pie with pear and herbs, with bread and sheep's-milk cheese carefully pre-sliced into small pieces on the side, as well as ample cups of wine for such an early supper.
After the servants depart and Tranquillina has taken a few bites of food, she seems to regain a modicum of vim. "She turned sixty," she pronounces slowly without preamble, "not long before I was taken away by Tria. So aye, about forty years on me." She stirs the lamb pie idly with a piece of bread for a moment before remembering to bring the bread to her mouth. "I hold little optimism that she will entirely disappear with pleasant alacrity; Twilight itself, after having met her once, no doubt wishes to avoid any further encounters."
"She spoke of putting some affairs in order, of - of preparing for something. A coming storm." Tranquillina frowns. "Come to think of it, Marcus used the same words. Coming storm. I do not quite...." she trails off.
"She said much the same thing to me, yes. The storm is the whole Guernicus thing, rumbling towards us like an avalanche. She asked me point-blank if I was prepared for it." Stultus considers Tranquillina, his hands wrapped around his bowl for warmth. Is she ready to hear this? Well, let's give it a shot. "And she does consider you her filia, to your chagrin. So... perhaps there is more than simple meanness behind her actions. Perhaps she's here to see if both her children are ready... and to point out areas where we're not quite ready in a nasty but non-lethal fashion."
"For example, she overcame your magic resistance, like you said in your latest note. Pushed you out of her villa. Could have just as easily teleported you five hundred feet into the air. Could have, but didn't. If it was, say, Bilera or Valerian standing there, instead of Cumhachd, you'd be a wet spot on the pavement. You interpreted her actions as an attack. I'd interpret them as Cumhachd pointing out a weak spot in your defenses... in her unique bitchy, mean, vicious way."
"What do you expect me to change?!" Tranquillina hollers at him with unexpected energy. "I have read Magus Invictus cover to cover since I moved here - precisely out of fear of attack. In fact, once I had finished, I read the entire tome again, just to see if I had missed some detail. Guess what - I hadn't," she emphasizes with a petulant Gaelic rejoinder. Images of that spring almost three years ago flashed through her mind - she was eager to read but had to muck around with vis in the laboratory - and the memories remind her that there is more vis, and another Arcane Connection to fix, waiting in her lab right now.
"But did it matter? Noooooo - she lands a spell on me without so much as a word. And a Corpus spell. I have studied Corpus magic for decades, and she can still put me wherever she wants me? Christ on the Cross," she profanes, adding to her future guilt, "I cannot even keep you out of my living room.... I might as well just give up now."
Stultus stares at Tranquillina. "Um. May I point out that I am not the one coming after you? I don't expect you to do anything, aside from hate my guts, of course."
"As to what Cumhachd expects you to do? I don't know. Maybe figure out how she did it. Did she use an Arcane Connection? If she did that to ME, I might develop a spell that gets rid of unwanted Arcane Connections I might have unwittingly left around. Perdo Corpus... maybe a Vim requisite... Arcane Connection as a range... add some complexity to it so I don't blow away Rahere by accident, that sort of thing. Or you might have a weakness in your Parma Magica that you've kept secret. I wouldn't know it, but she would. Or she might be pointing out that even though you might have mumbleteen Magnitudes of Corpus resistance, there's Always Someone Better, and Parma Magica should not be your only defense. Or something else I haven't thought of. Bottom line is, I think she's saying 'pay attention to your defenses'. How you do it, and whether you do it in the first place, is up to you."
"And incidentally..." He draws himself up slightly straighter, jerking up his chin. "... If you want to keep me out of your living room, all you have to do is say so."
Tranquillina is depressed even further when Stultus raises the possibility that there is some weakness in her Parma Magica. She has speculated to Thamik (in confidence - never in writing) that magical power is drawn to her for both good and ill, making it easier for her to be affected by spells. Could Cumhachd be exploiting such a weakness? She certainly would have had time enough to study a young Eskil - two years after the accident in her lab - though that was long before she was taught the Parma....
Her thoughts are interrupted by an extended coughing fit, bending her over nearly double in the chair. When she finally rises, gasping for breath, her red and puffy eyes regard Stultus lethargically. "I," Tranquillina starts, but has to swallow hard to soothe her abraded throat. "I ... have work I need to do." She looks over her shoulder at the door into her sanctum, then pushes herself with both arms into a standing position. "I have to begin before sunset...."
"Well." Stultus' lips compress into a thin and remarkably ugly smile, one with no humor in it. "Far it be from me to pollute your sitting room any further."
He climbs down from the chair. "By the way. Cumhachd has stuck a Sanctum marker on the villa. Her next move will likely involve angling for a membership in this Covenant. Knowing the Charter, probably Protected Guest status, which only requires one Full member to extend. Gerulf, Marcus and I cannot grant such, and Roberto or you will not..." He shrugs. "Only five magi left. Draw your own conclusions."
The dwarf turns, and waddles out the door, muttering under his breath -- not quite quietly enough -- "дура стоеросовая" as he goes. (Pithy phrases are occasionally retained even after 'Gift of Tongues' stops functioning.)
((Yay, for once Tranquillina isn't the bitchiest person in the conversation! ))
Tranquillina has finally reached her limit of being able to process implications of the situation. She had decided not to restore the Ward of the Curious Scullion on her sanctum entrance that moment, for fear it would seem impolite to Stultus; she now wishes she hadn't made that choice. Nevertheless, she goes straight into her laboratory, swallows hard at approaching the two pawns of vis on her worktable, and begins the simple but tedious process of making the saliva-tainted cloth a permanent Arcane Connection to Cumhachd. (Most people could succeed in this with but one pawn of vis; Tranquillina is so reluctant to touch the stuff that she incurs all kinds of inefficiencies when working with it.) She works late into the night, stopping only to raise her Parma Magica immediately after sunset.
She does nothing but stay in her laboratory that following week fixing the Arcane Connection, using liberal doses of Endurance of the Berserkers and The Resolute Mind of the Tireless Researcher to keep her productive despite her body wanting to quit.
Possible exception: Jonathan, does Cumhachd contact her during that week (unlikely), or does Loys report back to Tranquillina at some point (less unlikely)?
A couple of days later ((2 days after BoLA)), Tranquillina makes her exhausted body walk outside, treading the seemingly infinite distance to the front door of Fiona's cottage. She leans heavily against the door frame and musters up a feeble knock.
"I have contracted some manner of ague," she replies sadly. Tranquillina tends to catch these colds and seasonal maladies more often than the others, especially in the winters. "Do you make any sort of potion that can mitigate the symptoms? I have to continue with a lab project...."
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