In the aftermath of this it is learned that Beaquin botched their last Aegis casting, which they did not reaize until this incident. Not only was it non functioning and the participants unaware of it, it as interfered with the ability to detect resisting a spell.
Antoine still can't believe Vulcanus would be so low as to cast a Mentem effect on fellow Magi. His desire to reconcile the Valdarians with house Verditius is undimmed - but he'll not work with Vulcanus if he can help it.
(Which is, obviously, not going to bother Vulc).
Vulcanus has earned Frederika's enmity. If she doesn't do anything about it, it won't be for lack of will - distance and lots of work should do the trick though. It also seems foolish not to test your Aegis after you put it up, but that'd just be Rika venting with the benefit of hindsight.
Eventually, Guiverna will untangle herself from Acutus and squeeze into her dress again
"I suppose we should return to the meeting and see if the seniors of Andorra have returned from their meeting and if they have, what, if anything, has been decided."
She finds her belt and shoes (one of which somehow wound up under the bed, and she has to kneel on the floor to reach it), sitting on the bed to put on the shoes before she cinches her belt.
Once she's ready to go, she'll take Acutus's arm and walk with him back to the dining room, letting him go just before they arrive.
If she doesn't bump into the Masters (Carmen Perez, Arachne, Solomon, and/or Vocis) on the way in, she will veer toward Fleur or Frederika.
"Have things calmed down somewhat while I was away?"
unless one of the two of you is on Longevity, I need a Stress Die roll from Guiverna
Guiverna had her Longevity Ritual at age 29. (It's currently on her post-Gauntlet advancement as Summer 1233, but I'm going to add a couple of years of advancement to see if I can get her fangs-and-poison spell combo, for those times when simply turning into an asp is simply gauche.)
Fleur answers "When exactly did you leave? Things got worse and then better, somewhat."
Guiverna purses her lips in thought. "It was right after Vulc yelled, and Robert and Roberto almost came to blows. It looked like you had matters well in hand when I left, but I just felt like I needed a breath of fresh air."
"Hmm... I think it's a toss up, we found the root problem, Vulcanus was messing with all of our minds, but there is a lot of residual tension, it could take years to clean up some of this mess, but that is above my position. And to think, I had come here today thinking I was only going to look for other women for playtime." She flashes Guiverna a half smile and looks her over.
Solomon will agree with the others that heading back to Andorra is probably the best course of action, although he is still interested in understanding the full plan and ramifications of forming a new tribunal.
[hr][/hr]
Acutus is actually in a grand mood; his time at Bellaquin has been quite enjoyable. He's obviously quite annoyed to hear that his mind was altered, but he's not ashamed at his actions. Perhaps Bjornaer are a little more in touch with their "animal instincts"?
So that Solomon is clear on Carmen's opinion, she is not at all opposed to the new Tribunal proposal. She does think it to be infeasible, but will fully support any efforts to get it to work. She is dead set against merging with Bellaquin, and is quite unhappy about this lease situation. Ideally, she would like to find a way to get them out of Andorra.
But it is quite alright for others, such as Guiverna and Acutus, to misunderstand her opinion.
"Wait...Vulcanus was messing with our minds? How? I mean...I didn't know him all that well, but I didn't think his Mentem was that strong, based on the conversations we had since he joined. And I'm not sure he's the kind who would serve as someone's lackey in something like that. He could easily have been duped into playing the cats-paw, though. Or if someone's Mentem was strong enough to mess with everyone's minds through our Aegis, he could easily have controlled Vulc into setting us up."
She doesn't seem to acknowledge Fleur's interest, but as Guiverna's talking she casually finger-combs her hair (which is considerably more mussed than it had been before she and Acutus left), smooths her robes, and stands slightly profile to show off her features.
((I believe Valgravian is still in the room.))
Guiverna turns to Valgravian. "Sodalis, I would like to act as our delegate to Andorra while they discuss the matters."
"I'm not certain of all the details, but Vulcanus did confess. I didn't really get to know him before he left Andorra. I had been under the impression he was part of Bellaquin, but you indicated he would need to penetrate the aegeis. Was he not a member?"
"He did? Hmm...I guess his Mentem must have been stronger than I thought. Not that I paid much attention to what he was studying. I still think he had to have had help, though, or someone to actually cast the spell for him. And I meant whoever it was who cast the spell would have had to penetrate our Aegis, not Vulcanus."
Solomon, still in the room and preparing to leave, turns to Guiverna, "He did in fact have aid of a supernatural form. Specifically a genie trapped within an artifact of his house. However he admitted to purposefully utilizing that artifact and the genie to target us all with these Mentem magics. As for your Aegis, it turns out your previous casting failed and there is no Aegis currently protecting Bellaquin."
Thinking about Guiverna's "Story" resut on experimentation I was wondering if this tale could qualify. The experiment may have caused or enhanced the perception that you are somehow Vibria's doppleganger. Which in turn was exaggerated my Vucanus' games.
Vagravian looks harshly at Guiverna.
[color=green]Go! Get out of my covenant! Your guest prbationary status has been revoked, just like I did to Vulcanus. The political damage the two of you caused could take years to repair.
Guilt by association. Guiverna had nothing to do with any of this. She barely knows Vulcanus. She met him shortly after her Lab Experiment, he said said she reminded him of somebody that he used to know. They knocked boots, they wound up here, and now this...
"What do you mean no Aegis? Not only did we burn the last of our vis casting our Aegis, but it didn't even work?"
Guiverna stares at Vagravian. First in shock, then in anger. "What? What? You think I had anything to do with this? That I had a hand in...whatever it was that Vulcanus did here? I swear to you that I am innocent. Of that anyway. And ♪♫je te prie, oh Thot, de laisser votre femme Maât prévaloir!♫♪"
With that, she spits at Vagravian's feet and storms out the door.
This has definitely (with the exception of shagging Acutus) turned into a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
Vucanus has that effect on women. Just ask Fedora, Vibria, that chick from the Rhine, the redheaded sisters, Miss S.J.H., Guiverna, and just about every femae he has ever encountered.
:mrgreen: