When the tour eventually moves outside, the sound of a hammer beating on iron can be heard coming from under a tarp some distance away from the stone towers. Not an unusual sound at a covenant or even most villages, although it is seldom from such a basic setup as a this.
What's more unusual is revealed when the party passes by the outdoor forge -- it appears that the blacksmith is a monk, his tonsured head damp with sweat and a leather apron protecting his brown robe.
The visitor raises an eyebrow. «Brother! Good evening,» he says, without commenting further on the uncommonality of the setup. He does, however, inspect carefully the goods, if any is on display.
Again the visitor raises an eyebrow. «Very well. I cannot remember if Frederic had any filii or if they are still alive.»
As you walk the last flight of stairs to Tacitus sanctum, he says, first to Caelha, «you have kept the place well,» and turning to Janus, «and extended it to quite a position. Let us go on to read the will.»
Caelha opens the door to Tacitus' sanctum and invites everybody in. It is a grand room, brightly lit, and very tidy. The worktable in the middle of the room is completely empty. There is not enough seating for everyone; two barstools at the worktable, two chairs at a smaller table by the door, and one armchair.
Then Caelha says, «I have not thought of this, but there may be something in Tacitus' personal papers, from Frederic and Tessa. It could be testaments. Do you want me to look, master Verassius?» He says yes, but looks over her shoulder when she finds two documents, neatly rolled with coloured ribbons.
Anybody wants to interject before we move on to the juicy part?
"The Peace of God be with you, brother," he says with a smile, pausing in his work. He seems to be making a variety of nails, brackets and tools for building additional dwellings, as well as farming and carpentry tools. Things that are much in demand for an expanding community around a covenant.
Only that Thadeus will arrive late, as the others have come to expect of him. He will mention that the servant sent to fetch him came to his lab just as he had stepped out, and took some time to find him.
Always a fan of juicy bits, Thom finds an out of the way spot to lean against a wall to listen in.
Cath'rinne frowns. Why does this look like a Tremere intrigue?
“We have treated you fairly young Caelha, giving you your choice of reading material this last season and space to study. If you have kept information from us, when asked several times to reveal everything about the covenant then I will be very disappointed. You do well to not make an enemy of me apprentice” snarls Janus
«I did not keep information from anyone, I honestly just happened to think about it now. Tacitus was much like a leader for the whole covenant, and the others confided in him. I was not privy to their secrets, and I did not go through his papers afterwards either.»
You may have noticed that she was not quick to find the scrolls either. She had to leaf through several piles.
‘Well, we will see. Let’s move on to the will”
«Very well,» says the old magus, and takes his place at the reading stand in the lab. «If I understand you correctly, Tacitus died first, and it is right to read his will first.»
He pauses to find a scroll in his bag, and opens it slowly to place it on the stand. It is a lengthy document, and when he starts reading, it starts with a long praise to his comrades of Ungulus, before he gets to his actual will. «All the vis that belongs to myself, kept in the lab or carried on my body, belongs to my only surviving filia, Caelha, or if she is not yet a maga, one third of it shall be paid to the magus of my House who completes her training, and the other two thirds shall be given to her when she swears the Oath.» The will goes on to list a talisman and a couple lesser enchanted devices, where he makes a similar arrangement. Caelha gets most of them, but the master to complete her training gets to choose one of them first.
The old magus looks up, «do we know where these items are?» asks he, seemingly without expecting an answer. «Well, it is only a paragraph left, so we can return to that afterwards.»
The will concludes by stating that all the silver and non-magical possessions, including regular lab equipment, belong to the covenant of Ungulus.
«That was it,» says the old magus. «Any comments or questions? There is one of course. Was any of his belongings found in Galloway when you were there, Janus?»
"I am unsure magus, does anyone else know what we found, if anything?" replies Janus
To jog memories, from when you opened the grave.
(Second «staff» is typo for «stone».) Hearing the will, you recognise the carved staff being the talisman which was listed as one of the enchanted items. I do not think you took anything from the grave.
When Janus hesitates, the old magus asks, «was there anything in his grave? You said that you found the remains.»
(We did not take anything from the body, from what I can remember. We only disturbed it enough to identify Tacitus.)
(Note that Thadeus hasn't arrived yet.)
(Sorry, I should have checked that with you. I think the old magus would have waited, and sent another grog to check if he was late. Unless, of course, Thadeus is disinterested and deliberately slow. Anyway, play as you wish. I only mention it.)
"Now I think on it there was a staff in his grave with a blue stone inset. it could have been his talisman i suppose but we did not take it from the grave". replies Janus thoughtfully
«That makes sense,» says the old magus thoughtfully. «I suppose you did not notice if he had either of the two rings on his fingers? It is not that I would want to disturb his grave again, but it would be good to account for them, and know if they may have fallen into the wrong hands. The other items I would guess are in his lab.»
... and no, you would have had to clean his hands to see about rings ...
«I suppose we can move on with the other two wills,» continues Verassius. They prove to be a lot shorter and to the point. Both Frederic and Tessa declare that they have no living relatives, and leave all their magic possessions to their two trusted covenant mates, named respectively as Tessa and Tacitus and Frederic and Tacitus, with just one exception. The wand which Cath'rinne examined previously, is to be held out of the split and held by Frederic in custody. «He knows what to do with it, when the time is right.»
The old magus looks at the congregation, and mumbles ruefully, «that one is a little tricky, when all of them are dead or missing.» Then he offers the documents to anyone who wants to validate his reading.
“So Tacitus was first to be killed, Frederic was second and Tessa is missing or died last so by the wills Frederic’s goods go to Tessa. If Tessa is proved dead then the goods would need to be determined. We hold those goods, as we do Tessa’s lab, and should continue to do so until the fate of Tessa is determined” states Janus
Since the discussion between Caelha and her, Sionag choose globally to not meddle in the Tremere's stories. She wasn't with their when they found the grave.
It is at this moment that Thadeus arrives, apologizing for the delay.
"Sounds like Tessa inherited from Frederic, yes. And Caelha, plus whoever finishes her training, from Tacitus."
"Who will finish Caelha's training if there are almost no magi left in Stonehenge?" asks Thom.