“Magus, house Tremere business is for house Tremere to keep. The house in mythic Europe is large and well organised. Let’s not pry where we have no business” replies Janus to Thom
«Thank you, Janus. You word it better than I would have,» affirms the old magus. Caelha looks nervously and expectantly at him, until he gives in and says. «We shall talk on our way back. Tomorrow we have to pack up your possessions and what Tacitus left for you and your parens, and on the third day I think we can make our way. It may be a good opportunity for you go to Tremere's heartland to learn at the source, but it is a long journey and the old portals have been destroyed. Alternatively, you can be trained at Blackthorn. Either way, it is not a decision to be made on the day we first meet.»
Caelha looks away and speaks no more.
You notice that it is getting a little darker in the room.
«It is getting late. The sun is setting,» says Verassius, «I don't think there is more to be said, and if there is, we can say it in the morning. I suppose we can sleep in these rooms. We'll make sure that we leave the lab after Tacitus in order.»
Correction. I forgot to mention personal papers and lab texts in the wills. Tacitus willed all of his to Caelha, with a right for the parens to read and copy if desired. Frederic left his to be split between Tessa and Tacitus, like the enchantments. Tessa left lab texts in the same way, but left all of the personal notes to Frederic to be kept in confidence.
The next day, apart from cleaning up Tacitus' sanctum, Verassius spends a lot of time talking to Caelha and to senior covenfolk. Before they depart, Verassius makes a proposal. «I took notice of the library. It seems that you will be wanting a lot, but you do have several recent war reports that should be spread within the Order. If you will make copies of the four books written in the last two years, I think there was two by Vera, one by Tacitus, and one by Chronos, I will be happy to provide you with a full set of roots.»
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“That would be an acceptable exchange magus. How do we contact you to arrange the exchange given the poor state of the redcap network?” Replies Janus
«If we do not see a redcap travelling North, I will arrange a courier one way or another. I suppose we need this year to make the copies, so let's hope for a redcap next Spring, and if not, I will make arrangements in Autumn at the latest.»
“We will have the co[its ready for Spring 1015 then and look forward to the exchange”. Replies Janus smiling
"We would also be in the market for a full set of primers if you have them available. If you do is there anything in the library that you would like to exchange?" asks Janus
«Hmm,» says the old magus thoughtfully, «I am not sure what we have, but I will look into it.»
“If you don’t have access to all 15 primers we would be interested in those arts not covered by the roots already agreed” responds Janus
«I'll look into it,» repeats the old magus.
Thank you magus, I appreciate that” replies Janus smiling
"Do we have enough covenants still around to convene a Tribunal? I don't know that we've had one since before 1004, right? My parens talked about many of the Tribunals that year being cancelled because of the rising tensions. Will we have another soon do you think?" asks Thom of the senior magi.
«In theory, we have yourselves, Cad Gadu, Blackthorn, and then Mildred's covenant, with 12-14 magi. That suffices if everybody attends,» says the old magus.
"Do you have any idea when a Tribunal meeting will be called?" asks Thadeus.
«The last one should have been in AD 1011, that is, the call was made, so one is due AD 1018. It needs to be called the year before, but the præco, who would normally initiate it is dead, and as far as I know, there is no living quaesitoris to oversee it either. This means that the responsibility falls on each and every one of us. It is possible to call an emergency tribunal if there are pressing matters, but you would have to convince each and every magus to attend to make it quorate.»
Thadeus nods, "Then it would seem wise to invest some efforts into identifying who should be the next praeco, and asking House Guernicus to sent a quaesitor. There is still time to make this happen before 1018."
«Yes. I am sure Chronos will bring the news to the continent and make every effort to forward it to Magvillus. I will send the same message if I see a redcap at Blackthorn. It would not be a bad idea, though, if we put it in writing and cosign it in duplicate, and try to send it by two different routes. Chronos said that he would visit Mildred and try to cross at Dover. I will most likely see a redcap who crosses to Britannia Minor.»
Feel free to author the letter, if you concur, or just leave it to Chronos to draft if you prefer.
Verassius will supply the details he has, one other magus at Blackthorn, currently away in Hibernia, and between you, you can name two magi at Cad Gadu who were alive and present when some of you passed through last year. I reckon Cath'rinne will add Obstetrix, currently roaming the land and presumed still in Stonehenge. The other (player) magi whom you met are believed to have returned to the continent, and you may or may not remember them.
Thadeus is fine with Chronos drafting the letter. He's got enough on his plate already with the coming trip back into Galloway.