"When dealing with demons, one doesn't tread lightly. And when I say dealing, I mean confronting. Watching isn't my style. In any event, the Aegis is powerful here. Such a demon would have to be more than 10 magnitudes of might to come in with her. I don't believe she, or anyone has been given a token. We will ensure that she doesn't receive one." She calls for a page and tells him to relay to the other magi of Confluensis that Alips is not to receive a token under any circumstances.
"You should know that I know Alips, knew her husband. Coming here is hard for her, I'm sure. She once told me she never saw Praxiteles so happy as when he was here. Walk with me for a bit... you too, Fiona." She escorts Fiona and Stultus out of the hall and to what appears to be an abandoned House with an beautiful garden and a rather large statue of Valerian in the black stone, which Praxiteles favored. She casts some PeIm effect "We shouldn't tarry here very long. The garden has ears, of a sort. The spell lasts for a few minutes, and I come here regularly to toy with Bilera, so it won't seem unusual. Do you see it?" She seems to be trying to say something without saying it, as she cocks her head towards the statue.
Fiona nods as she examines the statue while pretending to examine the plants and flowers around it. [color=blue]"Very beautiful. I wish I had something like this in my garden. How long did it take you to grow it?"
Stultus smirks, muttering "Well, at least one incarnation of him is rock-hard..." and glances at Augustina sidelong. "All right. Aside from the fact that it's an arcane connection par excellence, I'm missing the significance here."
"Indeed." She smiles, and begins walking away, "Shall we go visit Alips?" Assuming that Fiona and Stultus follow, "Why do you suspect Alips of being influenced by infernal agents?"
Stultus scurries along with Augustina, having to take two strides to the woman's one. He relays the things Mathieus and his butler told him, adding a mention of the infernal lacuna that Fiona and him encountered on the streets of Paris. "I understand it's a disjointed account, sodalis, and the evidence is circumstancial at best. That is why I am asking for your counsel: my gifts lie in other areas."
"You dissemble a bit, methinks, Stultus Maximus." She slows her stride, allowing Stultus to more easily keep pace and continue speaking, "Infernal auras are not uncommon in large cities, when night falls when thugs, toughs, and thieves ply their trade. So that is unremarkable. And, yes, what you say is circumstantial at best. But you have to consider, that to even have her cross the Aegis she has to have a demon in excess of 10 magnitudes of power within her, or she is free of infernal influences." Augustina is indefatigable in her insistence that there cannot be a demon and goes on to describe the ways that it simply cannot be possible. Of course, she is somewhat of an expert on these things, as, since Kalliste the Traitor has always been prepared to confront the possible taint of the infernal directly, rather than indirectly.
(( As I understand the rules, she is correct that Allips cannot be possessed by a demon, or affected by a demon's powers, while within the Aegis, but that does not preclude Allips having made deals with the Infernal in the past. Am I correct in that? ))
((That's certainly true. Putting it another way, she's saying that unless she is possessed by a demon of 51+ might, there's not much that she can do, unless you're asking her to come visit Alips and Mathieus in Paris or something.))
Stultus smirks. "Me? Dissemble? Perish the thought. I haven't a deceptive bone in my body.... except for that one... and that one... and... okay, never mind, you're right." He nods thoughtfully. "You are right, of course, regarding the magnitude of the Aegis and the effects on the infernal. I suppose the best thing for us to do at this juncture would be to peer into her mind. Um... speaking of that... would it be possible for myself to get an Aegis token? Fiona should probably not have one, since she's a competitor... or at the very least keep it hidden."
[color=blue]"That's assuming that a demon wishes to possess Alips, or to use her to enter Confluensis," Fiona says uncertainly. [color=blue]"It may be entirely possible that her grief-stricken state has made her vulnerable to the Infernal's honeyed tongue and whatever she does, she does willingly." The tone of her voice makes it uncertain whether she is merely playing devil's advocate (so to speak), or if she's trying to steel herself for the worst.
[color=blue]"It doesn't matter where I hide it, you're going to find it sooner rather than later," Fiona deadpans.
"It is perhaps a wise thing, to think of and plan for the worst, and hope for the best in these situations. If what you offer is the truth, that she is the willing servant of a demon, then there is little that can be done for her here, if anywhere. But if she isn't involved with infernal agents and is merely grieving and despondent..." Augustina trails off. "Perhaps the statue could be of greater use to her than to you."
[color=blue]"Do you think she wants to see the statue her husband, the man she loved, made of the man he loved and who killed him in broad daylight?" Fiona sounds shocked at the idea.
"Perhaps if we gave her a large hammer along with it..." offers Stultus. He's watching Augustina through narrowed eyes: he somehow doesn't think that's what the Traitor meant.
She nods at Stultus, indicating that's exactly what she meant. "See it? No." She shakes her head. "Destroy it. Almost certainly." She stops and stands before the pair, "Never underestimate the value of a cathartic experience, especially when justice cannot be served at a reasonable pace."
Stultus considers. Letting Alips destroy the statue would be a kind and decent thing -- but it would yield no long-term advantage, and the statue is valuable, magically. For almost any Tytalus -- hell, almost any magus -- the choice would be clear. Then again, Stultus is not very much like most magi...
He gets a distinctly evil grin on his face for a moment. "Augustina, did you have something planned already for tomorrow's contest?"
Fiona looks down at Stultus. [color=blue]"What are you thinking, sweetie? I haven't seen you grin like that since the night you showed up with a riding crop, twenty feet of rope, and a pitcher of oil."