2.4 An unexpected party

He has Latin 3 (orders).

The old man gratefully trades jobs with you. As he leads you around the manor to the southern side, Etienne sees movement in the overgrown vines. It seems like the entire place has been left untended for most of the year.

"So how are you called?" You may call me Étienne." He then proceeds to ask some questions and engage in smalltalk trying to get answers to the following questions. How many Magi? What do the Magi call this place? How large is the estate? What commerce do they conduct here?

OCC: Charm Roll
Charm (4) + Pre (1) Roll (16)=21
invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3121064/ (1)
invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3121066/ (1)
invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3121067/ (4)

The sole remaining Magi is Jamie Lannister. His brother and sister died recently, along with most of the menfolk of this vineyard. Their secret lair (a regio, Etienne deduces) is called Phoenix. The only remaining guardsmen are ghosts, but the talking grapevines do a decent job as sentries. It was the grapevines who instructed the boys in Latin, and how the man (currently unnamed cuz I am too drunk to think of a good one) knew to get you at the gate. The grapevine mentioned a second person with Etienne, but they are prone to exageration so he is not surprised they lied.

Etienne also learns that Jaime Lannister, a specialist in Fire and political machinations, is distraught over the losses at the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, and the humiliores have been unable to shake him from his grief long enough to eat, let alone tend to his duties.

If I may be so bold: who is holding this place together? This is to whom I must speak.

Étienne finally reaches the manor house with the wheelbarrow of wine, while the old Jewish man is talking his ear off. He waits patiently for someone in some measure of authority to receive him.

Interlude in this post and at the end of this one

Sol, the old Jew wipes his brow with a sodden kerchief. "I guess that'd be Old Man Mustafa's wife. He's gone off to war with the rest, but his woman's been doing a fine job running the vineyard."

An old Moslem is teaching swordplay to a Jewish serving maid and a Christian who couldn't be older than 10, on the other side of the courtyard. Before Etienne, to the west, lies the wide expanse grapevines. He sees the settlements scattered about inside the walls. (Do you need me to describe the place more?)

An older woman, also Jewish, strides purposefully across the stone-tiled front courtyard. She has two young boys with her, but they both scamper off before she reaches Etienne. Oozing confidence and competence, she says in Castillian, "How can I help you, sir?"

Étienne inwardly groans and thinks to himself, this is going to be so difficult. For a moment he indulges in a bit of self-berating for not managing his appetites better. In French Norman he says, "No" allowing his French accent to make itself known
He says, in Latin, "Do you speak Latin?"
If she doesn't understand and if the old man is still in earshot Étienne will call out or say, depending on proximity, "Help translate, please? Tell her I have a letter I must deliver to Jamie Lannister from Ra'am ex Bonisagus, who wishes to join the covenant. He should be here in a week."
Otherwise he'll pantomime talk and say "Jamie Lannister" but not point to the letter, trying to get her to get someone who can understand him and translate.

The Widow Mustafa frowns, then shakes her head. She turns abruptly and walks away. After three paces, she gestures for Etienne to follow.

She leads him into a field of grape vines, then speaks again in her rattling words, apparently to no one.

Without warning, a thick, leafy tendril shoots out from the ground, seeming to unwrap and lengthen, aiming straight for Etienne, making a queer sucking and stretching noise as it does so.

The grapevine tendril stops mere inches from Etienne's body, pointing straight at him.

"Bah! Kids these days! a disembodied voice says in flawless French. "Do I look like a translator to you? No respect, these young whippersnappers today. Why, in my day, the field managers asked where you needed to be pruned! It's all on account of this damnable smoke, ever since that blacksmith set up shop! You just don't get the same kind of sunlight as you used to. It's gone all hazy, now. Makes the young ones impertinent, I tell ya! But I can tell you a thing or two about that smith that'd curl your leaves 'fore the autumn frosts! Not you kids would know a bad frost from a light one! Why, in my day...."

The woman interrupts the voice, cutting in with more words of her own.

Chastened, the voice says, "Didn't mean to startle you. Name's Yosef. How can I help?"

Étienne groans. Again. He was barely able to understand the grapevine. And hopes that the grapevine can understand his dialect well enough to translate.
In French Norman, ""Do you speak Latin? As you can tell, I speak an odd dialect of French. Latin is better, if you know it.."

Whichever is the language of choice, he'll say, "I must deliver a letter to Jamie Lannister, it is from my master, Ra'am ex Bonisagus. A magi who wishes to join this covenant. My master asked that I do my best to deliver it personally, waiting at least three days to try and leaving the letter in someone's care should Magi Lannister be indisposed."

OOC, if in French Norman, let's assume that the communicators are communicating at an effective level of 3 with each other, and let the games begin. I do know that the modern French and French Norman are considered intercomprehensible between speakers, but I'm not sure when that process began.

The vine tendril twitches briefly, and seems to almost glare at Mustafa, before switching to Etienne's native language.

The vine regains some of his bluster. "Eh? What are you on about? Bonisagus? You don't want to see The Last Lannister, not unless you want to get your epaulets all covered in flaming snot. The maids can barely get him to eat! It takes seven griffons just to wrestle him out of his clothes and bathe him, and all the while he sits there blubbering over the dead. What's the big deal, I say? Tyrion's as like to claw his way outta hell and spend eternity haunting my wretched fields. Not Cersei, though, she's more like to haunt somewhere else, if you know what I mean!

"The man is drowning in his sorrows! Well, what do you expect after a demon lord eats your entire grove! No messenger is going to be able to distract him. But if you must, then have the broken girl take you across the way. You'll find him by the pond in the park. Now, is there anything else?"

Considering his options carefuly, "In the interests of allowing him to come to terms with his grief, I'll not disturb him. Can you inform the Widow that this letter must needs get to him, though? My master will be here in about a week. I'll be camping outside the wall, so as not to disturb Master Lannister, and I don't wish to be a bother to any of the staff. If he gets and reads my letter soon, he can send a message to me. I'll stay for the next three nights and then go. the following morning."

Étienne waits for the plant to translate what he has said and then says to the Widow, slowly, to try and push comprhension somehow, "for Jamie Lannister" and makes a big show of giving her the letter. He'll head back towards the perimeter of the covenant and wait for three days, observing signs of activity going into and out of the covenant itself. He'll try and talk to any passersby in Latin.

The group of travellers appears to be growing restless and is beginning to show concern on their faces that they are not welcome.

The appearance of Ra'am and the rabbi at his side causes a stir amongst those who see them. After much excited discussion, it finally occurs to them that the scoundrel next to the rabbi might be a magus (after all, he has the byname "ex Bonisagus" and speaks the same language as Jaime Lannister and the new masters) and that they should fetch someone to deal with him. The debate then turns to who? They had been told to bring Jaime, but he spends all his time where the maids aren't allowed to go without protection.

Some decide to send for Claudia, who is able to deal with the strangers on something resembling their own terms.

Others decide that they should send for one of the new masters...debate then turns within that group as to which one. Cygna, while certainly appearing the most trustworthy, is a little frightening, and the consensus is that they should not approach her as she works in the kitchen until she seems more reasonable. Which leaves Amos and Heims. And as they know where Heims to be easily found (moreso than Amos, I think), the second group delegates one of their maids to fetch Heims...and hopefully she can get the message across.

They also send one their own, a young girl who seems to be barely old enough to have been bat mitzvah'd, is sent out to deal with the newcomers. "I beg your pardon, Rabbi," she says, looking sideways at Ra'am as she speaks. "We did not mean to keep you and...the other waiting. But things are very disorganized around here these days, and we had to decide who would be best to deal with..." and gestures toward Ra'am with a jerk of her head. "We will have one of the Señores out shortly." She will then make to leave.

The rabbi replies, "Child, thank you. You have bravery and wisdom beyond your years." and he looks kindly upon her as she leaves.

Meanwhile, the children run from the wagon over to Ra'am who's been standing by himself and stay close to him. The small woman chases after them, trying to get the girls away from him, but eventually gives up. He regards each girl and the woman with a loving smile and whispers words of encouragement (Castilian) to each of the girls. They girls peek from behind him at the crowd while the woman holds the man in grey's hand.

OOC: Ra'am has a Parma of 1. He can only cover 1 person at a time with his Parma, to protect them from the effects of his Gift. His children are not mentally advanced enough to rationalize in a way which would let them ignore the Gift. I've let the others in the party slide, assuming that Ra'am has been in correspondence with them, or otherwise has a reputation amongst them that causes them to try to intellectually dismiss their emotional reaction to him, but we're roleplaying The Gift in this game as described in the MRB. So, which of his kids does he cover with his Parma?

His youngest.

Although, let's take his family interactions under consideration. He's been with his wife for quite some time, arranged marraige but grew to love each other. 20+ years. While she or the kids aren't used to the Gift and never will be, they are capable of livng with it. The children, again, 7 and 10 years of experience with him having the Gift. They've become used to the person with the Gift. I dare say Ra'am's association of being a loving father and husband has overcome his need to constantly extend his Parma to members of his family because of the Gift. I'm having them act as appropriate to the natural behavior due to their daily interaction over the course of 7, 10 and 20+ years. Who's most able to protect them in this situation. They're coven born, know about Magi and know Daddy's one, too.
Now, all bets are off when he scolds them, punishes them, fights with his wife, etc. I'm not asking for any leeway, but this is entirely reasonable and makes sense within the framework of the Gift. Try extending your parma over a wife throwing crockery at you and see how well it goes...

Aaaargh!!!

Having just finished the preparations for Ra'am's arrival, having also send messengers to all the magi, as well, as Claudia, Raoudha arrives in haste to welcome Ra'am...

Her friendly nature and open smile are quickly doused when she seem him, though. This is the man who wants to live here? This... pervert, watching over children with a lecherous smile? Yet, maybe he's got something to bring to Cijara, and maybe she's imagining things. She's been wrong before, and that woman besides him seems perfectly fine with him. Must she take the risk? On a whim (1d10=7 on intuition), like she always does when she doesn't know, trusting Allah to help her make the right choice, she decides to welcome him. To give him his chance to prove her he's a good man. But she'll watch him.

Taking bold steps forward, she approaches the delegation

Welcome to Cijara Manor, ancestral home of the Al'Jimni family, Ra'am of Bonisagus.
With a warmer smile: Welcome to you all, too. We have suffered greatly in the recent past, which is why we can't welcome you properly, but, nonetheless, we'll do as we always do, which is, treat you like family.
Now, come with me. I know the hardship of travel, especially for children. You must need to eat and refresh yourselves, and our new cook has prepared kasher food for you. While you restore yourselves, your servants can follow the maid and help them bring your possessions to your quarters.

She can't help it: She speaks more for the family that for Ra'am. She will try, but...


About the gift: You do not get used to the gift. You get used to someone's gift, if he gives you the opportunity to (notably by traiting you well and having social contacts with you). That being said, knowing that, on average, it takes 15 years:

  • Ra'am 's wife should surely be perfectly used to it.
  • Etienne should at least in part, maybe totally. Also, he must know the gift causes prejudice.
  • The children should in part. IMO, they must be seeing their father like this kind, loving figure that you're still afraid to cross the wrong way: They love him, but they prefer their mother, and trust her more (assuming she ain't a bitch, of course)
  • His family, it varies. Most should be used to him.
  • The rabbi... I don't know. Does he knows Ra'am well?

"Raoudha, is it?" Ra'am says confirming her name. "Thank you for the hospitality you have shown us, we are weary, as we've been travelling for nearly a month. Is a magus about? What can you tell me of the Covenant?"


I'm confirming that we're on the same page. I said "While she or the kids aren't used to the Gift and never will be, they are capable of livng with it." Which I take to mean used to the person with the Gift, not the Gift itself. Comments dropped have a habit of blowing up into fights, or the kids running of screaming that daddy doesn't love them. Given that they're in a strange environment I think it's natural that they seek the protection of perceived strength in their father, rather than the comfort of their mother. That she comes over just makes everything so much the better. Now if he'd ignored them or pushed/nudged them away they'd take that in the worst possible way. They're not used to the Gift, they're used to him, and there's an element for everyone in the family walking on eggshells in certain cases. It's not the only reason Ra'am has been bringing up the rear of the caravan. I can see 15 years if you have a life of experience to compare it against. The kids don't have that experience. And then there's the fact he's seen his kids with Aurelius and Prospero being grandfatherly, because they could easily extend their parma to both kids simultaneously. Those are the few times he's been able to interact with both daughters without worrying about the Gift.
The rabbi, he's actually had limited interaction with, most interaction will be indirect through Regina, as he's a friend of her family. Samuel, while he's family, is not at all used to Ra'am because he was born and grew up while Ra'am was never around.
The baker is Regina's family and he's left that in Regina's or Etienne's hands.
And I loved how you played Raoudha's interpretation of his actions, I was hoping that something like that might happen.

The maidservant finds Claudia working in one of the abandoned labs, doing some minor maintenance, making sure that nothing has been damaged and ensuring that it is clean enough to be used when the time comes. It's not much, but it keeps her relatively busy and keeps her mind off of what could have been. And it helps her feel somewhat useful to the Covenant. Perhaps when the new magi have settled in, they will have more use for her than she has now, she thinks.

"Claudia? New magi Right Side," the maid says, all but exhausting what little Arabic she knows.

The former apprentice thanks the maid for the information and looks for Jaime. She is surprised to see that he is not at his customary location at the pond*, and a little worried. She wonders where he could be, and debates momentarily whether she should take the time to seek him out. She quickly decides that he would probably either send her to deal with the new magi herself or fetch one of the new magi. She nods emphatically to herself, then races full-bore back to the cavern, where she hurries through the regio boundary. In the places where a turn is required, she spins like dervish, arms flung wide.

She practically flies out of the basement into the Right Side courtyard and continues her run to where the visitors...or newcomers, more properly, would have arrived. She comes to a stop just before she reaches them...or that's her intent anyway. Momentum carries her to Raoudha's side, where she stands panting, trying to catch her breath and taking in the scene trying to figure out who's what and whether proper introductions have been made. Per -1 + Folk Ken 2 + die roll of 8 = 9.

Basically, a petite woman in an undyed plain abaya comes running full-tilt and stops near Raoudha, panting heavily and looking around at Raoudha, Ra'am and his entourage.

  • hope this isn't too out of line...I was hoping to keep the ball rolling, and try to keep the players more involved as opposed to having the gmpc handle everything...it's easily editable/retconable if need be.