Gregorius nods.
"You have my support, Tasia."
Viola turns to Gregorius, and uses her quill to make sure that her words are not misunderstood.
"Gregorius, I think Tasia would be a perfectly suitable choice for leader of this covenant. I personally place little store in the Hermetic tradition of deference to elders, but given our covenant's role, it seems a good idea to make as senior a maga as possible our leader--and Tasia was gauntleted in the same year I was. However, I suspect that your nomination owes more to blaming me for Portia's leaving than it does to your opinion of Tasia's ability to lead. My most important job here is to handle the fae, and I want to be very clear, for the future, that neither you, Tasia, nor anyone else is going to second-guess my judgments in that area. I certainly will not commit the covenant to far-reaching deals without notifying my sodales, but I will also not take run to ask permission from someone who has better things to do when I need to make decisions on a subject that I know better than anyone else in this covenant.
"Do we understand each other?"
Scott
Gregorius tenses slightly, but when he speaks his voice is entirely level.
"Certainly your own demonstrations of your ability to interact with your sodales were a part of my decision, Viola, as was my conciousness of my own lack of seniority. However, I believe Tasia will be fully capable of acting as covenant leader in her own right."
"As to the fae, I appreciate that your experience outweighs that of the rest of the Council. Where matters concerning them overlap with other considerations which you have less of a focus in, however, I trust that you will take into account the views and experience of your sodales."
"Gregorius, my Oath dictates that I always consider the interests of my sodales. I will not, however, ask for their opinions on every dealing with the fae, because that would not best serve their interests."
Scott
There's a flash of puzzlement which crosses over Gregorius' face when Viola mentions the Oath, but he doesn't comment on it. Instead he says:
"You are right, it would not be reasonable to consult with us on every petty detail, and I appreciate that you have already said that you would not make major decisions affecting the covenant without us. As long as it is clear that your sodales may sometimes have experience and opinions that are relevant - and useful - to matters involving the fae, I am happy. Shall we move on to other concerns?"
"Well, then, at two votes, I accept. Yes, let's move on to the important matters. I believe the faeries and Poseidon located right at the covenant are probably our highest priority. Viola, would you like the two of us to work with you, or are you all set yourself? Our second order of business would be the wizards. This unfortunately pushes back dealing with the covenant grounds themselves. I am not thrilled about that, but what good would starting work on the grounds be if we are attacked whilst in the middle of our work? So, Viola, if you would like assistance, you have two of us available. If no, I suggest Gregorious and I deal with the local wizards."
Viola nods, and then responds verbally, still relying on the quill. "I might need your help at some point. However, very powerful faeries are especially difficult to deal with, and it will be easier to avoid giving offense due to some strange breach of 'etiquette' if I am the only maga present."
Scott
Gregorius nods accedence to Viola, then turns to the issue of the hedge wizards.
"Theodoric doesn't have enough information on the wizards for us to be able to locate them directly, but apparently the local village had good relations with the previous covenant. We need to make formal contact with the local headman in any case. If he is inclined to be friendly, he may have useful information on the raiders or other local magic users. The local villages are apparently quite prone to feuding, usually over livestock, so they may well see it in that light."
"We also need to decide what relationship we want with the village in the long term. Do we want to employ them? Largely ignore them? Eventually subsume them into the covenfolk? We'll have a better idea once we've spoken to them, of course, but some preliminary thoughts would be useful to influence our initial approach."
"Finally, there's no guarantee that we'll succeed in dealing with the hedge wizards quickly, or even that they're responsible, although it seems likely. In any case, there are always other threats to worry about. We need to consider the defense of the covenant. The loss of Portia and the Aegis is a serious problem here, as is that of Aetos' birds for long range warning. Does anyone else know an Aegis?
"It would be useful to know what our abilities are should we have to fight or run. I know a couple of Rego Terram spells for combat, and a personal ward against metal, but I haven't yet learnt any transportation spells. Alcimus here," he fondles the wolf's head "can also be fairly effective in a fight."
"In the medium term, I'd like to get a wall put up round the covenant site. It should be possible to arrange for a Tremere vallationist to help us with that, although it won't be free. It shouldn't be too expensive either, however - the Tremere want this venture to succeed. If the Council agree, I can start making preliminary enquiries. We'll have to consider the impact on relations with the locals, of course. Also, is it worth someone learning and casting the Shrouded Glen? I saw we have a copy in our library. Could be useful, although if we start having regular visitors from the village it could cause problems, and it's expensive in vis. I doubt we'll get enough penetration on it to affect visiting magi."
Viola adds, a little bit dejectedly. "We also have no labs, and no way to build them."
Scott
"Well, then let's - the two of us - go speak with these wizards. We should bring a few shield grogs for protection. Let's start diplomatically and see where that leads. I'm sure that will work out well. I don't think we need to worry about the village as soon, but those are good points. As for combat, we can strike with flying objects well and have good defenses."
Gregorius nods to Tasia,
"I shall be very happy to have your company with the hedge wizards. For finding them, though it may be best if I speak to the villagers alone first." He looks slightly apologetic. "I'm concerned that the effect of your gift may make them reluctant to assist us. I'll take Theodoric as a translator."
"As long as I don't have to deal with too many villagers at a time, I won't have a problem. However, you two going could give me an opportunity to start organizing things around here."
Expecting she won't be going to the village, Tasia's plan is to tally what is currently available (such as labs and their auras, other buildings, fresh water, etc.) to the covenant and try to come up with a list of what is needed.
Gregorius nods again.
"That would certainly be useful, thank-you. Perhaps once we have a better idea of what requires doing, we can start thinking about what covenant service is needed."
"Do either of you have any thoughts on the other matters I raised? I assume nobody has an Aegis. Viola, what combat capability do you have, should we be forced to fight?"
"One other matter - Theodoric. I think some sort of public recognition and reward would be appropriate to recognise his loyalty. The covenant would be in a much worse state if he hadn't stayed to rebuild it, and we'd be working with a lot less information than we have - he's been very valuable. I'm not sure what would be a good reward, though. Do either of you have any thoughts?"
Viola says, "We have a great deal of vis that was to be used to create the labs. Perhaps we could find a way to trade it either for lab equipment or for something that could be traded for lab equipment. Or perhaps one of you knows Creo and Terram well enough to invent a spell to create labs?"
Portia indicated she would cast an Aegis before leaving. Whether you can convince her to do anything else (like cast her lab-creating spells) is another question.
"As long as I don't have to deal with resistance to magic, I should have no trouble."
Viola promises to think on this one.
Scott
[OOC: I think we're still waiting on Tasia to tell us about both of these offers - Portia was in her sanctum when she made it. I've been assuming Gregorius doesn't know about it.]
(Oh, I lost track on that one.)
"Portia said she could cast the Aegis before leaving. Of course, then someone from outside of the covenant would have access and could grant access or rescind it. We should acquire a casting tablet for the future. Portia also said she could still cast the lab creation spells if we wan them done. There doesn't seem to be a down side to that."
Gregorius frowns.
"Not an ideal situation, I agree, but I don't think we'd be any worse off than if we didn't have an aegis. As long as we all participate in the ritual she can't remove access from us. The main danger I can see is complacency - in theory she could invite someone into the Aegis and we wouldn't be expecting it. The same could be said of any other magus who'd participated, though, not just the caster. I think we should take her up on it."
"The labware would also be very welcome. We'll have to think about where we're going to store it all, and whether we want a full ten batches, but those should be a minor issues."
"I agree. I sill speak to her before she leaves. We should address this very soon so as not to hold her up. If we are all agreed, I will speak with her immediately."
Viola nods her assent. "But someone will have to learn an Aegis before midwinter."
Scott
"I could do that if needed. We could, alternatively, acquire a casting tablet."
(Are we playing with Aegis penetration? Tasia's ReVi casting total is decent, but the penetration is unlikely to be high. On the plus side, it would be mastered if she learned it.)