Hum...
Maybe we could say this happens on the next week? So, that way, there's no risk of temporal trouble?
I think that would cause even more trouble! I'd say that if she arrived an hour before the council meeting that should be alright, no?
S'okay, I just wanted to throw that out as a possible plot hook.
Just a few more days, and the tendonitis in the thumb on my writing hand should clear up to the point where I can get back to writing Cygna's Novel-Length Backstory of Doooooom!
And of course, that whole part of the conversation might get retconned if Viscaria, Cygna, and Amos get to all three sanctums on Thursday and have gone out to find the refugees on Friday morning (seeing as how different threads are occurring on different days).
Ultimately, it's pretty easy to believe that any magus, including a Gently Gifted one like Cygna, will get distracted and absorbed by doing what they are doing, and forgetting about "the little people." While they may not actually believe that mundanes are lesser, and they may wish to help, I see Magi and Maga as being absorbed by magic, and easily distracted away from mundane tasks. I can see that Ra'am gets distracted from his family, or knowing when Sabbath is, and Regina keeps him on the straight and narrow (she knows faith is important to him, and he has tortured himself in the past about missing or forgetting about sabbath).
Another argument in favor of the companions and any necessary grogs getting involved is the fact that it gives those characters something to do concurrent (in real time) while the council meeting happens in game time in the past.
Point.
So...do we want to start another thread for Saturday morning game-time and have...whomever go out looking for the refugees,then?
I think so. I'd like to include Étienne. He has a 3 in Arabic and could be useful in that respect.
He also can be muscle to a certain degree, if it is necessary, single weapon (falchion) 4+1. We're also planning to send grogs on tunnel exploration and Giant Spider extermination, no?
I kinda like this. Magi direct some grogs to explore/clean out the spider infested tunnels, forgetting about the refugees entirely. Companions act in the interests of their Magi by taking care of the refugees. Grogs get glory in battle(?) Companions get the thankless job of keeping everything together with few, if any, resources to draw on.
Well, actually, the tunnels exploration would be an initiative of damien, Hiems shield grog, pre-emptively trying to protect his charge 
But yes, I like it, too, grog/companion stories are fun, especially the "holding up the covenant" part. And I yet need to do a companion, btw... 
So, just in case:
- Gerard and Damien will stay in the covenant
- Marie will go to see to the refugees. She can scout ahead, has second sight in case something is hidden, and can serve as a sniper.
- Raoudha will ask Esteban to go along, too, in case there are wounded people needing his help.
Julien would go with Damien, if asked. I'm still reworking him. Probably from ground up at this point. He'll have Latin 3, so some ability to communicate.
Will Raoudha ask Étienne?
I thought that non, but it appears that, as a Custos, damien was teached rudiments of Latin too (score of 3), so they'll be have at least that.
Damien won't ask directly, since he doesn't know Julien, but he'll probably hear of the thing through Cecilia, the cook, which is quite a gossip (In fact, this was intentionnal of her part).
And yes, Raoudha will ask Etienne, of course! She has thought of the matter, and her idea is to use him like Ra'am does, like her mouth and ears outside, her spokeman for usual affairs. For a mission like this, he is perfect: She'll brief him on the covenant and his ressources, assuming he'll be able to do at least a rough assessment of the situation.
So, to her, we've got:
- A scout, able to see danger for afar (Marie)
- A representative of Cijara, able to make enlightened decisions on the spot (Etienne)
- A doctor, able to determine the refugees health and to help people in dire need. He's also learned enough to spot anything strange (Esteban)
- A soldier, although 2 would be better, in order to assume protection should the need arise (??? Maybe one-eyed marie? If Azura has a grog, he would be perfect)
(Now that I think of it, this is a good team)
One-Eyed Maria would work. Makes her feel useful to her new home, and despite what the demons did to her, she still has a pretty decent Per + Awareness. Not that she thinks the "refugees" are up to any good...in fact, they're almost certainly sent by the Devil to test the Covenant...but she's still willing to go along.
Which is great, to Raoudha.
She is aware of the possibility of a trap, this is why she's sending in a mixed team, and Maria's altertness and suspicion is a good thing for her: If something is afoul, she'll see it, hopefully. If everything's right, then we can take care of the refugees.
Ummm, I thought we'd convinced you that the Aegis you can cast isn't sufficient, because it doesn't have penetration.
I'm hoping for some movement soon. I think we've about run as much stuff between characters as we can.
...Because my character is somehow psychic and senses that your character plans to invent a lower magnitude Aegis and cast that instead? Sorry, that's the offer a Mercurian would make, and I don't metagame.
If her offer turns out to be less attractive than it initially sounds, well, caveat emptor, goyim 
Umm, so she intends to betray her potential hosts. Nice.
I'm not looking for everyone to sing kumbaya. You don't metagame you say. I'd say that's exactly what you've done by crafting your character to cast the Aegis. You've even said you designed her to meet the needs of Phoenix not having an Aegis. If that isn't the definition of metagaming, I don't know what is.
Upon hearing of this offer, of course, Ra'am wouldn't offer to invent the Aegis, it's useless, in his mind. You've freed him from the burden of inventing an Aegis. That's not metagaming, that's responding to the events as they're presented, in an entirely consistent point of view. However, you're duping 5 other Magi on a pretty serious level.
And if you're talkin to me as a player, yes, I am goy. If you're talking to Ra'am in character he is not.
Still alive. Got back from my extended trip to find that my internet provider had shut off my connection a gorram month early. Still working with them to get it fixed. Should be available next week.
Thanks amul. This is reassuring.
Well, it is, OOC.
In-character, though, Azura must know she lacks the might to cast her Aegis properly, but:
- Tell nothing (And Hiems and Co can very well suppose she has enough penetration)
- Hope to improve her arts
- Hope that, with Wizard's Communion, the covenant will be able to use her aegis to the best effect
- Assume that, even if it won't keep out most critters, the reduction to penetration and "parma"-like effect against outside attacks is still a great advantage.
Yup.
Thing is, all the dangling plot threads reside on none of our shoulders, so we're toast.
The other problem being our very slow pace, which puts a limit into what we can fit. If things were faster, we could play out grog stories, say, once per weak for a season. But there aren't so many things we can put in a few days.
Sigh...
Easy, people.
Yes, it is metagaming, I agree with you. But it's not so bad, as it helps to explain why Azura might be allowed to settle at Phoenix. This is "usual" metagaming: Why your character settles there (he must have had a reason!!!), why he is accepted instead of other magi... Having to invent out own aegis quickly is interesting, but not having that is no big deal.
Moreso, as you noted, her aegis lacks penetration, which'll either be a problem for us to solve through WC, or a boon for the GM, who can more easily sneak in creatures 
And yeah, agree for Ra'am. Who has an alternative now: Invent the Wizard's communion that'll help us cast that damn aegis with a decent penetration! 
I guess I'm a bit upset about this for a couple of reasons. This has moved out of the realm of a character trying to fit into an existing covenant and into the realm of a PC trying to con other PCs. My previous experience for things like this does not bode well.
I'm absolutely fine with the con attempt, so long as Arya is fine with the chance that Azura might be found out. Putting yourself in your magus' shoes, are you going to be happy when you find out that the 6th magnitude Aegis doesn't keep out a very low might creature? I'll admit, it's a great story opportunitiy for amul. However, if that story is triggered, Azura's going to be in some hot water, and have some 'splaining to do, with our PCs. If that's good for the troupe, it's good for me.
Lower magnitude spells will always have a higher casting total than higher magnitude version of the same spell. Calling that a "betrayal" or "con" is highly irrational and melodramatic.
YOU said you preferred not to have to put Raam in the laboratory for so long. Your lengthy arguments to the contrary seemed to indicate that you had the idea that your character should be better than everyone else at everything, so I didn't take them seriously.
Did I have the time or inclination to rebuild a different character who wasn't a Vim-focused Mercurian? No. Did I think your idea that my vim-focused Mercurian mage start without an Aegis was preposterous? Absolutely. Why would a Vim-focused Mercurian mage who has a sixth magnitude Aegis refrain from offering to cast a sixth-magnitude Aegis simply because some Bonisagus she's never met with no better a casting total than her own, invent a lower level version of the same spell? Metagaming.
She said she can cast a sixth magnitude Aegis. She didn't say she invented it in a single season, or in any way imply a certain amount of outrageous penetration, nor is she a Flambeau or Tytalus or some other kind of maga who would be heavily invested in Penetration. She's made no misrepresentation of her abilities and frankly your butthurt insistence to the contrary comes across as melodramatic and petulant.