Konrad stifles a yawn and nods to Gerhard. "I'm up," he says. "I'm up." Normally he would have risen at dawn to renew his Parma. But after the drinking and the grilling of last night he'd managed to sleep in a bit. Being in a strong Aegis helped him feel safe enough to do that.
The young magus rises, renews his Parma, dresses, then splashes a little water in his face to wake up. Thankfully he hadn't really unpacked since he arrived at Fengheld, so his things were ready to go. Within about a quarter of an hour from being woken, he's out looking for Renatus. He has doubts that they'll be able to leave this early, since he doubted that Dorana would allow herself to be hurried. But it wouldn't be him who delayed the trip. If they had to wait, this would be a good opportunity to get to know Renatus.
When Konrad arrives in the courtyard with Gerhald, his grog, Renatus is overseeing two grogs as they are loading some supplies on a pair of donkeys. The animals shy away a little when Konrad approaches, but one of the grogs expertly controls them.
This is soon finished and the scared magus turn to the younger Bonisagus. "Ready? Then let's go."
"She can follow whenever she is ready," replies Renatus. "Or remain here, if that is her preference. I am not about to delay my departure for her." The Jerbiton seems in much better rested than he had been the previous day. "You can choose to wait for her," he says quietly enough that the grogs cannot hear him, "if you fear it will cause you problem. For my part, I don't believe it will change how she treats me. I've given up that fight some years ago."
Konrad looks uncomfortable. "I'm still relatively new here," he says. "And I'm only a peregrinator, not an actual member of this covenant. I need to pursue all the good will I can get from the members of the covenant, however difficult that may be to obtain. Or, at the very least, I have to avoid getting any bad will." He gives Renatus an apologetic look. "I'm afraid I'd better wait for her. Would I be pressing my luck if I asked you to keep my gear on the pack animals? I'm not sure what Dorana will be traveling with or how fast she'll want to travel. I'll keep my cloak of raven feathers with me, just in case."
"You know her far better than I," he adds. "Would she prefer that I woke her to warn her that you were leaving, or would she rather be left sleeping. He looks helplessly at Renatus. "Or am I wrong whichever option I choose?"
He shrugs, "Your guess is as good as mine. For all I know, she could be delaying simply to show her importance. Or she may have forgotten that we were leaving today. Honestly, I care little. No matter what I do, she will find fault in it, so I no longer take her opinion relevant to what I decide."
"But we can bring your belongings with us, certainly."
"Thank you, Renatus," Konrad says. "And I apologize for any awkwardness. I'll see you soon at the chapterhouse."
Then he goes to find where Dorana's sanctum is so that he can speak with her servant. He's still not sure what he's going to say, but maybe something will come to him as he walks.
Barring that, he'll find a general servant of the covenant and ask where he might find a servant of Dorana. Then he'll start trying to run someone down.
It takes Konrad almost all of the morning before he is able to track Dorana down. A steward informs him that she is in a meeting with a visiting magus that arrived during the night, and that she called upon Horst and a number of redcaps. The steward gives you indications as to where the meeting is taking place.
A few times, redcaps come out of the meeting room hurriedly. A bit later, a servant arrives with a tray charged with some cold food (cheese, some meat and wine). Still, Dorana doesn't come out yet.
Konrad remains where he is, seeing if he can get a servant to bring him some bread, wine, and maybe a bit of cheese. Clearly whatever has come up is important - maybe more important than her visit to the chapterhouse. It wasn't for Konrad to interrupt that. If worse came to worst and she cancelled her trip, he would get directions and fly to the chapterhouse himself. At least then someone could take word to Renatus of the change. But until then, he would wait until Dorana was free to talk to get her thoughts on the matter.
OOC: The Renatus ship has sailed. Konrad will wait until whenever Dorana is free, even if it means waiting all day. At some point they'll have to leave to sleep.
It is mid-afternoon before Dorana is able to see you. When she does, her tone is curt. "My visit to the chapter house will have to wait for a few days, as I need to deal with another issue first. You can tell Renatus he can go now, and you go with him. I'll see you soon."
"Very good," Konrad says with a bow. "We'll see you when you arrive." With that, Konrad goes off to find someone - perhaps the librarian, who can tell him how to get to the chapterhouse, and perhaps even show him a map.
The librarian is puzzled by your request, replying "I am not a redcap, ser magus. I have no idea where this chapter house may be located."
This, of course, leads Konrad to consult with the redcaps. They can tell you that the chapter is located in Saxony, near a small town named Walsrode south of the Lüneberg Heath. The maps they have are fairly limited, however, with none precise enough to help Konrad fly there easily. In any case, that wouldn't help his grog Gerhard get there. "Your best course of action would probably be to wait until the next supply train travels to the chapter house," says the old redcap who maintain the collection of maps. "I hear that they make regular deliveries to that place. You should speak to Engeltraud, our mistress of the pantry. She might be able to tell you when the next supply run is planned."
Engeltraud, a rotund woman of middle years, is quite busy with the spring inventory of the covenant's supplies, but she takes the time to answer your questions. "Yes, indeed we make deliveries to the Walsrode chapter house every month." She thinks for a moment, "The next run is due to leave in about a week, so if you want to travel with it they could lead you to the place."
"Then I suppose I'm stuck here for another week," Konrad replies. "I expect once I've made the trip once myself by land, I should be able to fly it without too much trouble. But for the first trip I'd best have a guide."
OOC: Great. a week is just lost time. 1/13 of a season doesn't get you anything. So, I guess Konrad settles down for a week of waiting. He can't make it there on his own (I would have thought Redcaps could have given directions good enough to get there, but I guess I'm wrong), and no one is going for a week. Not much of a choice there.
Konrad will probably spend the week with his head down studying something in the library. He may get no benefit from it, but it beats sitting around doing nothing. He'll take his meals in his room if he can. If he sees Dorana, he will explain to her that Renatus had already departed by the time she gave the order to leave and that he is waiting for the next supply run to get out to the chapterhouse. He will also regularly check with the Redcaps and supply people to see if Dorana is heading out to the chapterhouse early (she did say she'd be delayed by a few days, maybe that's less than a week). Somehow I imagine that if she wants to leave early, they'll accommodate that. I don't want her to head out to the chapterhouse before the supply run and Konrad to miss that trip. In fact, Konrad will warn the supply people and the Redcaps that Dorana may be wishing to take a trip to the chapterhouse in the coming days, so they won't be blindsided by her request. Perhaps they might wish to arrange to make the supply run early if she needs to go. He'll ask that he be informed if they do depart early.
To compound Konrad's frustration, he sent out most of his belonging with Renatus to the chapter house, so that he only has the bare minimum that he would have carried himself. His meager collection of books and notes are all on the road already, as are the better clothes that his father had had commisionned for him while he was in Lübeck.
When he mentions to Gerhard that he would have thought that the redcap could have given him indications clear enough for him to get there on his own, the grog says that perhaps with the chapter house being so new, few of them may have gone there yet. Or maybe they are simply too busy.
Dorana seems a bit put off when he tells her that Renatus left without waiting for her. "I see," she says tightly. "Well, I suppose one cannot expect him to behave properly and wait for his betters." On a much calmer tone, she asks, "How come you haven't left yet?"
"I have asked the Redcaps for directions to the chapterhouse so that I could travel there myself," Konrad replies. "And they have replied that they are incapable of providing them. I have asked for an escort, and was told that they cannot provide one until the next supply run in a week's time. As I am only a peregrinator and not a full member of the covenant, I have no standing to order servants of the covenant. My plan was to fly there myself and let my shield grog follow with the supply train, but no one seems able to give me directions to the chapterhouse."
"That's... unfortunate," Dorana says, "they should have detailed someone to escort you to the chapter house. Those redcaps really should learn their proper place!"
"Let me look into it. I will make sure you get proper help to get there."
