Y = 6!
Arachné is surprised by this turn of events. She never took the time to read the charter.
Yet, she says nothing about this, only raising a brow and resting a little in her chair.
Yes, this is... too strange for me to be comfortable with. We should be really careful with this, and I don't feel like getting too close to these doppelgangers. And they're a little too cozy with Vulcanus. I know the man, and anyone who get along well with him doesn't rate high in my book. At all.
Arachne frowns a little
Color me curious. You know I'm in debt towards your father, for welcoming me after I lost everything. This covenant's survival and prosperity is my only goal. So. What's the deal with this?
This, I agree with. We spoke about it already. Maybe not all of them, but at least enough to replace the departed, should we have suitable candidates. I'd especially like Antoine to replace The Oaf, and probably Fleur, too. She'd made a nice Herald, if we can... reign her in. Likewise, I'm hoping Vibria will come back soon, but in the meantime, having a Deputy Marshall would be great.
We should be careful, though. Some of them are stationed at Sa Dragonnera, and doing good work here*. If possible, we should avoid weakening needlessly our chapterhouse. I've been watching Acutus, and I wonder if we should put him in charge there. On the one hand, he's well-suited to the task, but on the other, I fear he may skirm his responsibilities
- I MUST run something there, for the junior magi! Or someone else, but it's a must-do!
Had you asked, Arachné would have explained it at lengths, and in details 
A glimmer in the eye, clenched teeth, arachné closes her fist.
So, it was very well a trap. Let's see if the culprit shows his hand.
MR with Mentem specialty, so that's MR 46. Solomon and Arachné rule! 
Breathing in, breathing out, she tries to cast her Sight of the Active Magics spell, dark veins appearing all over her body as she pours her life energy into her working*.
This won't do. I must fashion something, she mumbles to herself.
She then uses her Bracelet of Relief to sustain it**, and her eyes burn brightly as she fires up her Second Sight***
Leaning on her staff with her, she limps behind solomon, the very portrait of a tired old sorceress.
- CT 34 + Aura. She probably loses one fatigue level.
** She passes her concentration check, although barely
*** Total of 9, 10 for invisible things.
Aura 0, they dwell in a Lacuna. Cating total of 44, spell succeeds but costs a fatigue level.
In a room full of magi, there are bound to be a variety of active effects. But a few things stand out...
There is some sort of ReMe effect going on, two actually. One around the fifth magnitude and another around seventh. They are Hermetic but tinted with something else. Something familiar. Magic Lore check of 9+ to discern it.
Also, you notice Belaquin has no active Aegis. Though they gave you tokens as they invited you in, there is no matching ReVi spell active.
As an aside, you also notice Vulcanus is grinning as Rika chews him out.
The previous post was in resonse to Solomon. Arachne detects similar things, and her Second Sight reveals someone standing next to Vulcanus.
Rodrigo of Mercere
Antoine chooses to ignore Frederika's outburst, merely giving her an annoyed glance as he replies to Vulcanus.
My apologies, it is true we have met but once, I think. I am Antoine ex Verditius, filius Imre; I pledged membership to Andorra on the day you left. Why surprised? Well, we didn't know where you'd gone, and the Order has many covenants. As for what we have in common, I understand that you too are a master craftsman.
Marko, Sight of the Sigil also gives me "the rough details of the effect and the casting sigil of wizard responsible. It can also detect if a Hermetic effect was generated by a spell or invested device." So does that give me any more info? It is a 10th magnitude spell after all 8)
And Invisible Castle is still down. Solomon has a Magic Lore of only 2 and an Intelligence of 2 if you'd like to roll for me.
5 + Per 2 + Magic Lore 2 = 09, she passes, barely
Arachné's eyes widen, as she tries to hide her surprise*
Wasn't this guy supposedly a genie, and bound to the Phoenix Sword? How come he's here? Vulcanus wouldn't have... Yeah, well, he'd totally have stealen the sword, but last I heard, Rodrigo was an ally. Something is wrong here...
- Pre + Guile 3 + 9 = 12
Found a site, put it in my signature. Sadly, it no longer accepts BB Code, to I could only put the URL. Rolling a... 5, so that a 9 too, just like Arachné
Solomon does deserve more information indeed.
The favor detected is Jinn. This is Rodrigo's doing, a magus immortalized as a genie, so it is Hermetic with a tincture. Spell/spell like power. The reason why is obvious to Solomon who has had recent encounters with jinn. Rodrigo is bound to the sword ike an efreet to a brass bottle. Whomever holds his bottle (the sword) has the power to command him and he cannot resist. He cannot disobey, but he can twist wording.
As for the effects, the lower level one affects the whole building and amplifies natural emotions. the higher level one affects just this room, and is what is causing people to see and suspect doppplegangers.
but there are no dopplegangers. Just monor coincidence exaggerated with magic by someone who wants to mess with you.
It is low powered and only affected those with weak magic resistance. Those with high mr should have noticed a ping but they were distracted or some other good reason. Maybe it has something to do with the lack of aegis and false tokens?
there is some strange coincidence going on, just not as severe as some think.
Frederika, apparently ignored, fumed and turned away. She tapped her foot, clenched her hands and decided that she was really, really pissed off...and even more pissed off because she couldn't understand why. This wine must be terrible.
She tossed her cup over her shoulder, and decided - despite this entire party feeling like nails on a blackboard at this point - that appearances were important enough not to cause a scene. So she cast Equanimity Restoration again, and calmed down. But only for a moment: "Absolutely fantastic, now my magic isn't working."
And all of a sudden, the room didn't feel so friendly anymore.
"Shit."
Fleur re-enters the room, with her dress half on, leaving very little to the imagination, licking what appears to be yogurt from her lips, though there was no yogurt served at the banquet, and throws her arm around Fredrika. "Fredrika! There is something going on here. Wow, you do look appetizing. Focus, there is a spell or something in this room. It's what causes the doppelganger effect. I realized that when I took Robert outside the room, he is nothing like Roberto. Not that I have had that experience with Roberto." she smiles in a half giggle "That would be fun, wait, no, focus. Shit am I horny, I didn't think anyone could be this horny! Could that be an effect to? It didn't stop when I left the room. It grew." she giggles again "Oh boy did it grow! The room, once we left I realized Robert and Roberto were nothing alike, I mean aside from the name and the fact they have the same house and... okay, now I'm feeling like they are the same again. We need to get out of here! Unless the spell is out there, that makes us not notice. I need to focus!" She removes her arm from Fredrika "That helps, a little. Okay, are they, aren't they. Nobody wants to document differences and similarities, some people in here don't seem to think they are, outside they don't seem to be, there is certainly some effect involved, in which case it makes more sense that there is no actual doppleganger effect and this room has an enchantment on it. Fredrika, you are seriously cute. Where was I? Oh right, we need to get out of the room. Also... oh yes, I wanted to see what you thought."
Okay, before Solomon goes on accusing people, I need to make sure I know what Solomon knows. First, did Vulcanus take the Phoenix Sword when he left Andorra? Does he have it on his person right now?
Frederika spun around and slapped Fluer across the cheek: "Focus! I believe you, we need to leave. Wait, thought about what? No! Never mind, save it for later. I'm leaving. Out that way-" She pointed. "Follow! IF you can keep your hands to yourself." And with a word and a sign, Frederika teleported to the other side of the great hall and left the room.
Unsurprisingly, outside, she did not calm down. Beyond the reach of that suffocating enchantment, magically induced annoyance gave way to legitimately spawned anger. She grabbed her shaking hands and bit her lip, breathing unevenly as she tried to control herself.
"What was all that about...? No, really, WHAT is going ON?"
Rika stumbles outside where she runs into Roberto [strike]smoking a cigarette[/strike] playing with fire in an effort to calm down.
[color=red]Pretty damn freaky in there, ain't it?
As for Solomon. Yes he is aware of all that. Vucanus is Flambeau of the lineage of Valdarius and has a book with all of the secrets of the Phoenix sword. According to these notes he is the rightful heir. The records of the covenant say nothing, but recal that some of those were lost in fire several years ago.
Fleur dashes across the room, towards the Fredrika went, then reconsiders, that is hardly the closest exit, and there are so many sexy people between her and that door... but she needs to let someone else know. She spots Solomon and approaches him, closingher eyes when she gets close so she won't focus on his chest, his breathing his... FOCUS!
"Solomon, please excuse my... I don't know where to begin, but there seems to be an enchantment of some sort on the room."
Frederika just...she just looks Roberto in the eyes. Presently, she finally catches her breath, and makes some effort to regain her composure: "You don't say? I feel like someone just violated my mind with a rotting stick."
Glancing back into the feast hall, Rika sniffed derisively. "So, I suppose the question is what do we do about it? There's clear evidence of foul play afoot. I'm all for running. Or burying the entire building under a few hundred tons of clay. But," She held her hands up. "I'll defer to your experience. This is more complicated I know."
Solomon glances sidelong at Fleur, "I know."
He then turns to Vulcanus, a stern look across his face. "Vulcanus, what is the meaning of this? Would you care to explain why a Jinn, bound within the Phoenix Sword, which you command, has placed enchantments on this place that are affecting the minds of the magi here? As Quaesitor of Andorra, within whose jurisdiction this land resides, I demand to know what your involvement is."
Vulcanus chuckles. I don't feel that I have to explain anything. What Code violation do you imagine you are investigating? Has anyone been deprived of their magic? Is it a crime to amuse myself? And Bellaquin is part of the Provencal Tribunal.
[color=red]Rotting stick? Being a bit dramatic aren't we? Granted though, I would really enjoy beating the snot out of that French Robert guy. But it ain't worth a Wizard's War. And that Vulcanus fellow that you were yelling at. I don't like him one bit. It is magi like him that give House Flambeau a bad name. Though he seems to be quite a bit more passionate about his lineage than I am. I could really care less. My parens was a criminal. True fact. Avenging his death was my battlefield gauntlet. I finished my training under my mentor Santiago.His honor I would defend. My parens was a psycho and I could care less about his lineage.
But that blondie insulted my father! I am not of commoner stock and my parents were not peons. My dad was a cavalier and a landlord. My mom was an Andalusian aristocrat. To insult them is to flirt with death!
Fleur stands beside Solomon with her hands on her hips, causing her chest to bare itself completely with the gesture. "You used magic to cause me to remove my clothing, thereby scrying on me! Admittedly you probably wouldn't have to use magic to achieve that effect, but you did, so you broke the code!"
I never saw you remove any clothing, and it is not my fault you are a trollop.
Ryu as Vulcanus would have been much more insulting and would have not held back anything.