Using the grogs to gather our necessary intel is a good idea. Maybe we can help them some with some imaginem magic to improve their attractiveness. Some money to buy ale for the locals will also help. Yes, good idea Japik. Maybe you, Bernhard, can also help in this information gathering effort among your merchant contacts? You are the one with the largest knowledge on the island among us for sure. In the meantime we can try to keepo a low profile and explore the island and the vis source as discretely as possible. I think I have not told you yet, but I can turn into a sparrowhawk, so should be able to explore the island from above. And I want to see that oak!
Japik looks shocked at Quercus
You're a shapeshifter too? He turns to Prochorus and then Pytheas to address him. And you, what kind of animal will you turn into, a donkey? another burst of laughs. Sorry, I'm Bjornaer and we are supposed to hate you. Just so you know. he tries to look grave but fails and reverts to laughter.
Bernhard fidgets for some time before saying, "I... hmmm... I can put you into contact with some locals that I know. But... ah... I won't be able to remain with you for long. I have... ah... duties as a redcap. So I can only spend a few..." His gulp is almost audible at this point, "A few days at a time on Helgeland." He wrings his hands and mops his face, which is drenched in sweat, "I... I may be able to drop by every month or so, between trips. A few days at a time."
((OOC: Is it possible to roll for Folk Ken to see if there is something special that make him so nervous. Folk Ken is not Japik's strongest ability, he has no rank in it, but he finds it a bit strange that he acts so nervous now when he isn't affected by the Gifts.))
[i]OOC: I would roll folk ken for everybody. We are in his presence, after all 
It is either that there is something he is not telling us or that Arthur has saddled us with a Major "Fearful of Authority" (personality) character 
For Quercus: Per +1, Folk Ken (mundanes) 1.[/i]
You all get the impression that Bernhard is generally fearful in nature.
Thinking about it a little more, some of you may realize that a lot of the current situation is completely out of his comfort zone. Forming a new covenant against the wishes of the 'establishment', having to guide a bunch of magi to a source that he has kept secret for a long time. Risking the relations with local contacts at a previously secure location. All of it is simply way out of his comfort zone. There has to be something motivating him, but aside from greed (getting more vis out of the source), you are at a loss to divine any other reason for his willingness to risk so much.
At that point, there is a knock on the door, that makes you all jump in surprise, though nowhere near as badly as Bernhard himself. The man almost falls out of his chair, before rushing to the door. It is a crewman, who asks Bernhard to come see the captain. Excusing himself, he leaves and closes the door behind him.
(A good opportunity to discuss things between yourselves, if you want to share your impressions.)
Japik rises from his seat on the bed and stretches himself.
He is a wreck. Is there something frightening him? Something on the island that he doesn't want to talk about? I doubt that Danish Lord can be that cruel and imposing. Or is it just the risks about this whole operation? Anyone of you got an idea? We need him to start using his contacts among the locals when we arrive. He worries about the nobility but that's not a big problem, there are other ways to solve things. Can we do something to make him more confident?
Pytheas sighs
Well, he is taking quite a risk. Consider: as a redcap, as long as he delivered his messages and kept his head down, he was safe. Any magus messing with him would be messing with the whole order of redcaps, in fact with the whole Mercere House. But once he started harvesting the source without bringing it to a magus, well, he shed some of the protection of his status. After all, the redcap's place in the Order is defined by the tacit agreement that everyone agree that they are full magi and under the protection of the Code as long as they don't try to claim the privileges that come with it. Now he has, first he harvested the vis for himself, and now he has basically claimed a share ownership of some sources, and asked four magi to officially agree. If something goes wrong, say if one of us were to challenge him to certamen for ownership of the source, or declare Wizard War, or just disappear him... it is by no means certain his House would protect him, because they might not want to reopen the discussion of the redcap's place in the Order. This may well be why he didn't approach a Mercere magus and offer him the same bargain.
But considering his actions, I think his character does lack confidence. His refusal to deal with the noble... well, we have grogs, and if it came to that we could hire a mundane go between. We'll work it out. Meanwhile, we should think on giving him tasks that are more within his usual purview. Buy things from mundanes, for instance, or arranging transport. Once he gets used to the fact that all is going well and no one is cheating him, he should gain some self-confidence.
May it be that you are right. I am somewhat concerned by his lack of confidence as well, as if he was expecting for something awful to befall him. And us all. Well, for one I do not intend that to happen if I can prevent it!
Sounds like you have a plan. Maybe he should be accompanied with one of our grogs, so we also learn what contacts he has in the island, since we are the ones that will be dealing with them on a regular basis.n Learning who is who and what is what is a primordial mission for us. I propose to send Alice along with him if he wants, since she tends to be nice to people and be quite inconspicuous if she wants herself to.
We are all taking a risk but that's the fun and exciting part of this. Don't you think? Ok the plan is we land, Alice, Bernhard and maybe one more of our grogs go to speak with Bernhard's contacts and try to get some information about the current situation on the island regarding politics, power, recent events and whatever. I'll ask Trond and his crew to talk to the fishermen and sailors in the harbour, but also tell him to cut out anything about us being magi. If asked they may say we are merchants or whatever. Meanwhile we try to keep as low profile as possible.
He thinks for a while.
Oh Bernhard needs to come with us to show the tree first perhaps. Or he can just give us directions. It's a up some stairs and then to the north towards two hills on an otherwise flat piece of rock. How difficult can it be?
After a few minutes of absence, Bernhard comes back to the cabin. When he opens the door, the breeze this creates from the small window is quite refreshing to the magi cooped into the enclosed space.
"My apologies, sodales, the captain wanted to know about moving some of the supplies we are bringing along. Apparently some were badly stowed and shifted after we departed. Nothing serious, thankfully, so there should be no major breakage in the equipment you brought along, provided they were packed properly."
He seems a bit calmer than before the interruption.
Quercus frowns. Lab equipment is fragile. Hearing that "some of their stuff" is jumping like goats in a cliff is not what he expected from the captain of a ship like this one.
I hope our lab equipment was not the equipment moving around. Glad to see that you are calmer. We discussed that it might be a good idea for you and one of the grogs to make a first recon of the mundane contacts you might have, since we are likely to be using them. We think that Alice might be a good candidate to accompany you. Does that sound feasible? We will try to keep ourselves as out of the way as possible while you gather information on the mundane community. In the meantime we will try to take a look at your oak and the environs.
"Which one is Alice? I am glad you prefer to use one of your mundane companions to establish contact, instead of doing so yourself. Although," he hesitates before adding, "do you think it wise to send a woman as your initial representative? Some of my contacts may feel they are not treating with an equal. I never inquired much, but the local population seem to put men above woman in more official dealings. I do not know if my contacts feel the same, but this may be a risk..."
"I will of course accompany you to the oak."
My servant Dietlinde is adept at getting her bearings in social situations - a horrible gossip, some would say, but she seems capable of keeping a secret when necessary. I am sure that if we merely unleash her upon the town's womenfolk with clothes to wash and a good story to tell, we will soon know all we want, plus a lot we don't.
Most of our more well-spoken and outgoing grogs are women as it happen but maybe your shield grog Quercus - what's his name, Friss? -could go with Alice? Hjalmar and Yulia could go as well, but I'm afraid Hjalmar would not be much of an asset when it comes to getting information from people and Yulia well... she is a bit rough and there is a slight risk she will get us into trouble. Pytheas how about your men? That old man seemed pretty good with people when I saw him in Anvers.
Alice is the pretty young girl.
We can easily send my Custos along with her. He certainly has good confident looks, and knows his manners. However Fresse (this is his name) has some weird ideas about society since he has been raised in a Fengheld for most of his life. This is why I did not propose him first. Let's hope Religion or the place of women in society does not come up as a subject.
Benarec, my older grog, should do well enough. He's not exactly a courtier, but then any nobleman residing on a small island isn't likely to be either. And he is a likeable fellow.
I have seen him. I will trust your word because you have give me no reason to doubt it. However, may I suggest a ce5tain improvement of his general appearance? Do you have better robes that he can use? I can create them for him if he does not. He might be able to negotiate well on our behalf, but he should do so not looking like an old haggard-looking retired sailor but as a well groomed envoy. I have been told that makes social interactions easier. Fresse and maybe another Custos can accompany him? Two clear bodyguards and Alice acting as a servant will put up a fair entourage without being overbearing, I would say. Do you, sodales, think this is a good group? it is going to act only once we have gathered information on the whereabouts of the island, it s population and ruling class, but it is nice to start planning this to debrief the representatives and make sure they understand the importance of the mission.
"Hmmm... Bodyguards?" Bernhard looks a bit bewildered, "Servants? You know, my contacts are amongst the common merchants. I don't have many of them, mind you, and they don't deal with the nobility much. So this might not be the best way to make them at ease." He hesitates before adding meekly, "Some fishermen also, though that may not be of much use to you. I did also talk to a few shepherds in Oberland, although I wouldn't call them more than acquaintances." The redcap seems to expect the magi to be angry at the admission and has started sweating again.
Sounds great! But I'm still not sure we need to approach the Lord himself directly if we can find some other way to gain the trust of the ruling class as you name it Quercus. Let's send them to talk to the local people first, those who are easier to access, then we set a plan from that. Benarec, Fresse and Hjalmar with Alice as servant could be a pretty good entourage. Hjalmar is not a good speaker but he speaks Danish which might be of help when meeting the rulers. I might be able to enhance their physical appearence with Imaginem magic then.