"Can you take me to him or to where the Cathars have their homes?" asks Argentius. "I would like to assess their situation and see what may have happened to Bishop Francois."
an hour later Izri returns "It will still take a few days, and I cannot be certain nobody else will try and claim the position, but things look good."
Nicole guides Argentius over to the Cathar's quarter.
When Argentius arrives in the Cathar's Quarter, he asks Nicole to guide him to the Bishop's home.
"Or if not the Bishop's home, perhaps your people have a gathering place? A place you eat together or worship together?"
Should he encounter groups of the Cathar's, Argentius will activate his ring to enable him to communicate with them.
Nicole leads Argentius to the place which she remembers as the Bishop's home, but there is another young woman living there, who says this is not her house, but when she goes home someone else is there, so she came back to where she found herself this morning.
Argentius listens to the young woman describe her situation, the confusion of place and location. He turns to Nicole.
"These next days will be tough, but we will help you and your people like we did when you fled the things that troubled you. Take me to where your people might gather to figure out what has happened. A place of worship or a place where you eat, perhaps?"
The girl leads his to a worship hall, where a number of people are trying to discuss the situation with very little in the way of leadership.
Argentius activates his ring (translation) before stepping toward the group that is in discussion about the situation at Al Kufra.
"Greetings. You need not fear me or be troubled by me. Rest easy. I doubt you recognize me or even know me, but I am Argentius, one of the founders of Liberte as I understand you call this place. I also expect that you may have very few memories of who you once were here or who you might become here… again. From what I have learned from Nicole and others I have listened to, my fellow magi and I rescued your grandparents from certain death if not worse."
The handsome young magus gestures openly toward the rest of Al Kufra.
"You and yours have had a hand in building this place. You have made it your home. We see no reason it shouldn't continue to thrive and be your home. But what has happened will take some time to understand and get used to. I ask that you trust us, your benefactors, as your grandparents and parents and you, yourselves, once did and will again."
Argentius pauses, letting his words sink in for a moment.
"Is there one here named Francois?"
Lares waits leaning against a wall, thinking. He smiles broadly at Izri’s words.
“Excellent news. Please keep up a conscious organizational effort, and inform me if you encounter opposition. Now, I know I have already interviewed you quite thoroughly, but if you could consider answering just a few more questions, I would be thankful.”
He waits for Izri’s permission and, if given one, asks:
“Do you remember if you, one of your brothers, or your mother was considered Gifted?”
Argentius' speech is met with looks of skepticism, followed by a mixture of confusion and anticipation as the group looks around for Francois, who does not seem to be present. Finally a yong woman speaks up "some of us do remember you rescuing us from the inquisition, when we were children, and we remain grateful, though there is little to this place that we recognize. However the bigger problem is that the perfecti are gone. some of us seem to remember others who remain as perfecti, when we were older than we are now, but whether because of death or a loss of experience it would seem that the wisdom of the perfecti is lost."
Izri shakes his head "Mother may have been, I was never clear on that, but the rest of us had no trace of the Gift."
Lares nods.
“Good to know. This will make it easier to deal with the covenfolk who are unaccustomed to the Gift. Another question: Do you recall if any of the others could speak any of the other languages?”
"Of the magi? I think you all did, though you often chose not to in order to push people into using Latin. Other than that Everyone learned Latin as their seond language, and we communicated with other factions with that."
“As I thought, then. And all of you, my sons, are considered of the Berber faction, including Winitran?”
"Yes, we are all Berber. The Cathars take care of their own orphans, and really orphans in the covenant are rare, while those around the covenant t is far more common, and the slave traders often have orphans amongst their wares."
“I understand. Having discussed with your mother, what is your impression of her condition? How do think she was left feeling after we returned her to the covenant? Do you think she is going to escape?”
"She is scared. She doesn't recognize this place, or anyone here. Explaining what has happened to her mother has left er more hopeless than reassured. she does not remember you, or us, and is not certain we are who we say we are. I think she believes someone from House Suleiman has sent a djinn to torment her, though that is not what she calls it.""
Argentius listens to the young woman, having observed the skepticism and confusion among the gather Cathars.
"Perfecti? The Wisdom of the Perfecti? Can you describe the role of these perfecti? Where they priests? Sergeants?"
"They were not priests!" is exclaimed first, then another speaks more calmly "they were not priests, but in some ways they were, they taught our faith, and performed the ceremonies of it, but they did not wield the authority of priests, everyone's view was considered. They did however serve as ambassadors of sorts to the council and help to guide the meetings."
Lares sighs.
“As expected, unfortunately. I’m afraid there is little that we can do to set her mind at ease at present time…”
Lares pauses, lost in thought.
“Except… do you think she might have known someone at her current young age who might still be alive at the oasis? Did her band of nomads ever stop there?”
Your son shrugs "It was decades after she came here that I was around, I never met anyone. I know you had already had your longevity ritual when you met."
"My apologies," says Argentius simply, calmly. "It sounds like these Perfecti were your spiritual leaders and teachers. Did they make records of their teachings and your beliefs?"