BTW? his eyes literally glow, with green light (twilight scar).
And the long & short of it is that Callen is now in charge of the investigation (Octavian teleports away immediately).
So, what is your plan? What are your orders?
"Hmmm... I need to speak with one of the Redcaps who was at Andorra. I need to know of Andorra's Aegis is still active. In the meantime I need a Redcap to find Carmen. Is there a portal to Valencia? Everyone else, gather what you need for the trip; we will meet in half an hour to discuss our approach." Guillaume seems to have reacted fine to Octavian's departure, ready to take command. Could it be that he is happy to be out from under the eye of a Quaesitor?
There is no direct portal to Valencia. None in control by Redcaps. But there is a privately owned Hermes Portal (old fashioned style) to Valencia from Barcelona. To portal all the way to Barcelona requires a few jump stops, hence the plan to build a hub at Andorra.
The Redcaps that discovered Andorra are still there. It has only been a few hours. One of them used an enchanted device to transport to the nearest Mercere bastion, that being Doisettep where Mercuria and other CoM sorts are at.
As for Octavian. I had thought he was joining us, but I never heard back from him. So I used him as an NPC to get the ball in motion, then yanked him out so the challenges are in the hands of players.
There is no direct portal to Valencia. None in control by Redcaps. But there is a privately owned Hermes Portal (old fashioned style) to Valencia from Barcelona. To portal all the way to Barcelona requires a few jump stops, hence the plan to build a hub at Andorra.
The Redcaps that discovered Andorra are still there. It has only been a few hours. One of them used an enchanted device to transport to the nearest Mercere bastion, that being Doisettep where Mercuria and other CoM sorts are at.
so there is that one. he's around somewhere.
As for Octavian. I had thought he was joining us, but I never heard back from him. So I used him as an NPC to get the ball in motion, then yanked him out so the challenges are in the hands of players.
Okay. So, we need to secure the Mercere vault. I'm assuming that only Mercere have access to it? (Possibly with use of some kind of Intellego magics?) We have Fédora and Lucas (if she can find where he is), so we're good there. And since it was obviously destroyed by forces unknown, Quaesitores and hoplites, Flambeaux, whatever, would also be a good track to have.
It might be better to have overkill than come up short-handed, so she would like as many hoplites as she can get before she leaves. How many are available? And she's including grogs.
So. Mercere to be sure the vault is intact, and its contents unmolested.
Quaesitores to find out what happened.
Hoplites, Flambeaux, and grogs to chew gum and kick ass.
And a way to get there.
Am I missing anything?
You got it 
Give Mercuria a chance to respond. As one of only a dozen magi Mercere in the Order, I am sure many will defer to her opinion. But she may be distracted by her mother wanting to go to Andorra in the middle of a disaster investigation. She is becoming quite insistant.
Going to bed now. Just getting home from work. I will be back in a few hours when it is time to go back ;D
The Redcap that teleported to Doisettep from Andorra is now available for questioning.
- the enchanted vault lock can only be operated by a Redcap or Mercere magus
- The Aegis seems intact
- the keep was locked but smoke could be seen from within. One of the guys climbed a wall and opened a side door. The attack originated from within it seems. There are signs of a battle, but most of the inhabitants mysteriously seem to have dropped dead in their tracks. The three Redcaps that resided there died that way. The corpse of one magus was found, Valentino of Flambeau. He appears to have been stabbed or some such while trying to aid combat wounded. No other magi have been found, live or dead.
bump
Guillaume asks the Redcap if the arcane connection comes from inside or outside the Aegis. Also, did they investigate the smoke? If not, maybe he could at least estimate the size of the fire still burning.
The AC is to a small house in town (Octavian's key is to the front gate). Both outside of the Aegis (which expires on the coming solstice).
Tey went inside. No current raging flames. Just smoldering ashes here and there. Really, it looks a lot worse than it really is.
But the covenant's vaults are cracked open and the libary half burned.
The Mercere quarter is untouched. But the redcaps that inhabited it are dead.
[color=blue]"Do you know which ones?" Fédora asks with a lump in her throat. [color=blue]"And how did they die?"
There appears to be a hidden post in this thread which i cannot see...
(OOC - I thought maybe a post had been made and deleted.)
Guillaume wants to speak with those intending to go. "Since the Redcaps who were there went unmolested, I would like to travel directly to the covenant and avoid anyone else in the area for the time being. Who among you can teleport? I could teleport all of you, but it would warp you, so if you all have methods yourselves, that would be ideal. If not, we'll have to send scouts and figure out how quickly we can get everyone else there. If everyone can teleport, I would like to lead the group and extend my Parma over each of you as you arrive to reduce our moments of vulnerability just in case."
I suspected that was the case. The "unread post" flag went away after I made that comment. Probably resetting something.
Fedora is in charge of the Redcaps, and has three of them on her team. I forget what she has on her. One has Seven League Stride boots and can make the trip in a few short hops. Another is able to borrow a device that transports her all the way. The third guy says "[color=red]I ain't worried about Warping, just do it".
When sharing Parma, the protection lasts "...as long as at least one character can see the other" (ArM5, p.66). So say you protect a group of 7 (your max). You can have two guys in a room stare at each other and send everyone else in different directions and they will still be covered.
(OOC - I had always read that as either the magus must be able to see the shielded individual or vice versa. They need not look at each other, but at least have the possibility. I think this is more reasonable than just having any two watch each other so the others can do anything.)
(Read it as callen does)
My read is different, but I will play along and do it as the majority prefers.
"Good. We can move quickly. We just need to wait for the couple others and we can set out. Do we know when to expect word from Carmen?"