1259.4 Last Call

Aleksandar escorts Ophelia through a door and upstairs. You enter a room with a large desk in the back and a smaller desk in the front. Laterala sits at the large desk. She takes a last glance a scroll she was reading and sets it on the desk. Aleksandar takes you to one of the chairs in front of the desk.

Would you like to try some of our beer madam. it is quite good?

Laterala waits and watches until Ophelia is settled. She wears robes of charcoal grey. The symbol on her eye-patch that Ophelia noticed earlier looks like an embroidered sprig of myrtle and the Tremere House symbol. Her hair is mostly white with some black still visible and kept in a tight bun.

No. Thank you, I'm sure it is. I just wish to keep a clear head right now." Ophelia takes a chair and waits patiently to hear Laterala speak at her leisure. Ophelia thinks, She's certainly made it clear enough to me that she is in charge. He's like Bernard, that French Crusader I teamed up with. Mise en place, he once said to me, about his meticulous method of preparation for everything he did. I wonder if he had Tremere training.
"I apologize if our early arrival has complicated this meeting, Laterala." she says while smoothing the wrinkles out of her grey dress. Though she says the words, it's apparent that it was intended as a ritual of formality and propriety, and not a true apology.

Aleksandar bows and leaves the room.

Laterala dismisses this with a hand wave. No. You are on time as I would like to have everyone here before we cast the Oppidum's Aegis. I understand that all of our members are within the Tribunal. I expect at least one more today and perhaps the others tomorrow.

I was quite pleased that you accepted my offer. Laterala smiles as she reads the emotions of Ophelia's reaction to the statement[1]. I was not in the room but the offer was from me. Your name was on a list given to me by your Prima Ariel. While I found it unfortunate that the politics of those fools in the Thebes Tribunal have driven you out, I will not say I did not jump at the chance.

[1]based on Ophelia's Intrigue of 1 and it adds to the story. :mrgreen:

"I'm well aware of the Tremere's propensity to take advantage of circumstances as they arise. Were it not for Gerasimos interceding on your behalf, I would have likely gone elsewhere. And I suppose I found the idea that the Tremere might find me useful to be intriguing."

"By your own unspoken admission, you have a role for me to play here, but I somehow doubt it has anything to do with actual research. My knowledge of Hermetic Magic is decent, but certainly miniscule when compared to someone like Ra'am from Iberia, for example. So, shall we dispense with the dance, and just come to terms?" ((And now, I need to find 10 more xp to shave off, because I took another season for an LR from him. I spent the Vis for it, but I didn't account for the time impact. Grrr.))

At mention of the Aegis, "I won't be able to assist. I've never been part of a covenant, never had a need of it in Thebes, and when I was guesting a covenant, a token was easy to come by. But then, you already knew that." She smiles a bit self-consciously.

((You forgot Ophelia's +2 Perception! :stuck_out_tongue:))

Laterala smiles. Ra'am, though a great and learned man, would not be brought in as a Hoplite. That will be your task. To protect the members of the Oppidum, our servants and, if need be, the locals. For the most part, we must obey your commands when if deals with maters of security or combat.

We shall have to take care of that. You should learn the basics of the Aegis.

"What are my resources for providing protection? Personnel, material?"

"I could manage a 5th magnitude Aegis, and learn it with a lab text. The same goes for a Ritual Communion. I would need texts in Greek. Or need some additional instruction in Latin. Indeed, that may be a wiser course. A Latin instructor may be necessary to allow my grogs to interact with the other magi who are coming here. I expect some are Latin casters.

We have 1 company of armed grogs that you may use as you see fit. You may make requests from the Tribunal once you have assessed the situation.

I have already requested a Latin instructor. He should be her within the week. We will work on the other things in due time.

"What are our accommodations like?" She looks around, observing the environment "I've never had a dedicated sanctum, and only placed the marker outside of whatever quarters I was given when visiting a covenant. It shall be interesting to setup a dedicated lab. Does each magus have a dedicated building, or dedicated floors of a tower? So many different possible configurations. Knowing the existing environment will be useful for designing a comprehensive security strategy. Also, if I may be so bold, my first order of business is asking for your primary capabilities with respect to offensive magic."

The Inn and storeage area sits on the edge of our compound proper. There was a very old fort here that the Brewery is built on. The Tribunal has built up the buildings and expanded the wall somewhat. As to a lab and sanctum. We have lab space for 5 other magi within the existing buildings. There is, of course, room to make a lab outside of the buildings or around the lake. The Aura does not extend more than 20 paces beyond the lake. Except for the compound.

She leaves the last sentence hanging.

"So, there is something mystical about the compound itself? Is someone going to be charged with investigating why the compound maintains an Aura, as the lake does?"

That in itself is an interesting tale. We are fairly certain we know why the compound has an aura. It is centered on the brewery. We have records to say that there has been beer brewed on this site since the Romans built a fort here. Perhaps before. The locals say the god of brewing is buired here. They may not be wrong.

"That's interesting. I'm sure someone more versed in research would be better capable of looking into it. How large are the available magi quarters? What size labs can they hold?"

All the labs larger than most magi have to deal with (size +1) and have magical lighting and heat. That is from the previous occupants. The quarters are not large but they are furnished and also have the magical lighting and heating. Of course one could always choose to build a lab away from the compound.

"Others might decide to do that, but it would imprudent for me to be far from the compound, I think."

If you have not more questions, I will have a page show you to your quarters. I'm afraid they are not in the Aegis at the present but that will be solved when the rest of of number arrive. you may of course choose different quarters and lab space. I know that some magi like to live in their labs while other have quarters away from their sactium.

"I do not have anymore questions. I'm somewhat used to being unprotected by an Aegis, given my itinerant lifestyle, or asking for an invitation to one, as necessary. I'd like to setup in the barracks for a few days until I can see what is available. I'd like to keep my men close at hand, since only one of them speaks Latin. I can imagine this situation would only last for a few days until I've identified the sanctum I want. Of course, the real reason is that any existing combat grogs here will feel antagonism towards me, and not my men. I need to forge an esprit de corps where there was none before, between existing grogs and mine, and they need to learn to trust me as my grogs do."

OOC: Ophelia will seek to acquire the sanctum closest to the primary entrance to the covenant proper and the barracks, in the Aegis if possible based on the boundaries of the covenant. This also presumes that the barracks for the combat grogs are close to the entrance, too. Ideally she wants a lab and living quarters within a sanctum marker, with a sitting/living/training area to be outside of the sanctum for greeting visitors.

((Missed this in my notes))

Ophelia, you will be given a salary of 12p of vis per year for the performance of your duties as a Hoplite of this Tribunal. Just make your wishes know to the Redcaps as to the type. As a Hoplite you have other resources to call on for weapons or men if you deem it necessary and the Tribunal agrees with your assessment. Do you have any questions?

"Wait. What? I'm a Hoplite of the Tribunal? Just like that? If I'm being so deputized, who is the Chief Hoplite, who is the Presiding Quaesitor? And my Intellego skills are surely lacking, as even Hoplites have some capability of investigating crimes. I've never done anything like that. The only crime I took action against was one I witnessed and then defended myself against the perpetrator, precipitating the events that brought me here." Ophelia's confusion is total, she doesn't understand why she was named a Hoplite of Transylvania, doesn't feel as if she's earned the position, or is perhaps afraid that she isn't capable of being a Hoplite. She thinks to herself, Handling the security for a covenant, an oppidum, is one thing, being a Hoplite is altogether different.

I take it no one has discussed your standing in the Tribunal before this meeting. She rolls her one eye and mutters under her breath [size=85]Typical.[/size]

It was determined by the Tribunal that your skills best fit in the role of Hoplite. Realizing that you have no experience as a Hoplite, it was determined that you should remain based in Hèviz so we could use your skills as you learn. At this point I do not think you need to worry about investigating crimes outside this Oppidum's area of concern.

As for the Chief Hoplite of the Tribunal. It is a Criamon named Saturnino. He is rather new to the job as well but someone in House Guericus seems to think he can do it.

By being appointed a Hoplite, you have been designated as Socii and a member of the Covenant of Domostron. Do not bother to look it up on the map. It was destroyed long ago by raiders from Thebes. But due to the politics of the Order and Tribunal, it remains a Covenant on the books. I hope someone has gone over what that means for you?

Need to know? Compartmentalized information? They figured you would get to it when necessary.

When asked if Ophelia understands what a Covenant in the Transylvanian Tribunal is, she nods her head. ((Unless you want to go over it, in character for some reason.)) She's still a bit shocked. It's like getting everything she wished for. And then she realizes that she just got everything she wished for and a small shiver goes down her back.