okay, well if the others will agree, I say you each roll a simple die ("0" = 10). Whomever has the lowest roll is the shortest straw.
Marie explains for the dragons:
"I called it bomb - that is onomatopoetic - which means it will make a loud sound like an explosion. We magi can change huge quantities of water into tiny objects, and when we end the spell - or when it ends naturally - the objects suddenly become water again. In a regio of fire this must cause utter chaos, a welcome distraction to save Carmen."
Isaac chuckles. I can't honestly say I wouldn't like to see what effect a ton of water would have on a fire spirit's fortress, but I think it would probably be a better distraction than an offensive strategy.
He turns to Antonio.
You know Khyron better than anybody else here. Is there some other treasure he keeps that might attract 'unrelated' mortals looking to steal it? If so, I propose that a small group feint towards that, spreading water around and generally being very obviously destructive, while the main force finds and rescues Carmen. If God should smile on us, Khyron will assume the diversion is the only threat and leave Carmen lightly guarded. If not, then we shall see how the Arc of Fire defends itself against the finest warrior-magi in Christendom!
[color=red]You know, that might work! There are countless treasures in the Palace of Burning Bronze. If we were to disguise ourselves as thieves, or even Djinn, and feint they way you suggest, that and the water bombs will cause enough distraction that you can easilly get to Carmen. I am willing to bet that he is holding her prisoner in the Prison of Glass, in the highest tower of the city. The Glass Prison, as I described earlier, is clear crystal glass that is harder than adamite. The only way out is for the prisoner to yield to the passions of the one outside.
You seduce my daughter and I will kick your ass!!! Figure out some way to disenchant the thing or break it.
Are Carmen's only passions of a carnal nature? Or might some good wine or delicacy, some book or insult also lead to the desired level of passion? Anything she feels about passionately?
Marie asks.
"You have said he already has concerns and worried about those of faith. I will speak to him. If nothing else it will delay him while you do what you need to do. God will be with me and guide my words to sway the Efreet. I am not helpless and when needed, I can move myself quickly to a distance. I do not intend to be a Martyr yet. I intend to put end to the emnity and perhaps bring contrition for this activity." Ameline says. False treasures, open attacks, lies are just going to bring epic battle with lots of mages dead.
"So you agree to drawing lots?" Marie insists.
ooc: trying to find a way out of this debate
Viola rolls her eyes again, as if not quite believing that Ameline actually thinks this is a good idea.
Scott
Antonio: [color=red]She loves adventure and battle, as any true Flambeau does.
Captain Alexandro : [color=orange]She takes after our father (and her mother) in several ways. She also has a feminine appreciation for beauty. I would say she has a passion for synthesizing the contrasting concept of “delicate power”. As a child she was fascinated by spiders, because they are so fragile yet deadly. Carmen herself is the same way. She can barely brawl (more like cat fighting), yet her weather magic allows her to unleash the full fury of nature.
(as a reminder, Alexandro is Carmen’s half-brother brother, companion, and leader of the Andorran Guard)
Viola rolls her eyes again, as if not quite believing that Ameline actually thinks this is a good idea.
Rodrigo steps forth and silences everyone. [color=indigo]No, we shall trust our lives to reason, not chance. I have decided we will use a three-pronged approach.
Ameline, you engage the Efreet directly with your diplomatic efforts. Marie, you stand by her ready to intervene if negotiations fail. Offer the false ransom or some other sly bargain. Use your Tytalean tactics. If that fails, unleash chaos and mayhem with your water-bombs and get Ameline to safety.
Rodrigo looks at the drakes…
[color=indigo]Simon and Maurice. Simon’s charm will be disarming, and Maurice has impressed me with his oration skills. And if things go sour, you girls can rely upon them for muscle.
Vares, you and I shall raid the palace vault, setting all kinds of alarms. We will take Venkath on our team to help us fight our way out and carry what fortunes we may find.
Isaac, you shall team with Captain Alexandro and Moe and rescue Carmen. Use magic to help Alexandro get there, for I know the Perez’s better than they know themselves. Family is their greatest passion.
Hi,
"No," Venkath says. "The two of them go with me. Either group."
Anyway,
Ken
ooc: pls note that Marie can't create those waterthingies herself, but one of Marko's uerbermages can. But stopping by at a coast should be the least of our problems.
That sounds like a sensible plan. Sending in a magus to negotiate first should cause at least a moment of doubt that others of the covenant are behind the raid, and you're right about the Perez - Carmen wouldn't shut up about her father and brother when she was touring the Alps. We can argue about specific dispositions on the way, if necessary, but we probably should move soon... though perhaps not now, unless you have somewhere for me to sleep in transit.
Ooc: let us say that this has been said as an aside to one of your servants or grogs, your foil, someone you brought from Germany with you when you first moved here (it is your duty to name and create this grog). She tells you (in German) that there are no “uber-mages”. [color=brown]Rodrigo is around the same power level as you, and he cannot cast spontaneous spells. Antonio is the only one more powerful than you, and he also cannot cast spontaneous spells. But your idea has been well accepted and will earn you acclaim for sure. If it becomes necessary to rely upon it, and you can pull it off, you will earn even more acclaim! And if you manage to improvise some third idea, your reputation will grow to ever increasing heights.
But you cannot admit to others that you were hoping to depend on them now. You will loose the respect you just earned and then some. Tytalus would never admit weakness. He would change the rules of the game. That is why Tremere hated to play chess with him.
[color=indigo]I do not imagine that your brother Simon has the stealthy qualities required to raid the vault, and your brother Maurice will be of the greatest asset in negotiations. You can stay with that group, or you come treasure hunting. The choice is yours. You know the strengths of your brothers better than I. you have alternative suggestions, I am open to hear them.
[color=indigo]Most wise. We shall leave for the island at sunset and shall rest there. Whe shall make our final preparations the next day and depart for the Arc of Fire the following sunset. At dawn, we strike.
Here goes Marie's improvised self-made water bomb spell:
okay: Marie takes 10 pawns of Aq vis rom the treasury, plus 10 pawns of Vim-Vis.
She sleeps until shortly before departure, then eats.
She asks the others not to disturb her unnecessarily.
She puts several soft pillows onto her bed.
She "leaps" to a place in the alps that has a magic aura of five (mer de glace glacier mountain peak - if you've seen it, you will not doubt the aura), using several jumps.
She will then cast watching ward to prepare her talisman to carry her back to Andorra (her bed) - when she says the word "home".
There on the mountain, she magically ties a rope around her ankle (the other end tied to the solid rock) and makes sure her talisman sits fast on her head. She then casts a spontaneous ceremonial spell to change the glacier into a tiny piece of marble. For this she invokes the forces of nature and consumes 10 pawns of magical water. Her skin starts to glow and her eyesight becomes murky, her pulse races in her head, her breasts seem to be close to bursting and her skin tingles. Then she releases the magical energy that concentrates the glacier into a marble which she holds fast, just as the rope against her leg straightens, preventing from tumbling her upside down into the nothingness where the glacier was.
She says "home" just as the rock the rope was tied to tumbles nto the hole where the glacier was.
There, in Andorra, she gets out of bed and sits in a corner, waiting for the others to start.
Do not disturb her. If she loses concentration, the covenant of Andorra will be history (buried under a glacier).
She can cast maintaining the demanding spell once you truly get going (duration day).
(Muto 6 + Aquam 6 (req. irrelevant)+ 2 extremely loud and spectacular gestures + 2 Int + roll 3 +20 for using EIGHT pawns of vis + 2 Artes Liberales in Ceremonial casting + 2 conf points) /2 = 41/2 = 20,5
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2446236/
Base 4: +1 touch, +1 Conc, +2 Group (see p. 121, this obviously includes a whole glacier)
(cf. MoH, p. 12)
For the future:
Maintain the demanding spell: 20 Re + 9 Vim + 4 Aura + 2 extroverted casting (loud...) + up to 10 pawns of Vi-Vis (=+20) = enough for a level 25 spont spell + confidence (oh, did I mention that if she botches that spell...)
Marko likes it risky, now this IS risky!
Hi,
(iirc, Simon is no less stealthy than the others, though you have not updated their stats yet)
Venkath says, "With Ameline talking, there will be a fight. Better fight with three than two."
Maurice adds, "My diplomatic skills, such as they are, would be of no help to you with Ameline negotiating. I would be quiet, because it would be foolish to expose our differences. In her group, we'd be added protection, eyes and ears. In your group we'd be added hunters--and Simon can be quiet when it matters. Either way."
Simon says, "Shhhhh, hunting yum yum." He looks around for something to hide behind.
Anyway,
Ken
Wait, WTF did you just do? What exactly just happened here? Inquiring minds want to know! 
She turned a glacier into a marble and then brought it back to the covenant with her. As Viola was evidently informed of this beforehand, she was in her lab (which, let's remember, is in a regio, thank God), with her shield grogs, assistant, and familiar, before Marie tried it.
Scott
As raiders have done since God created raiding.
OOC: There's no school like the old school!
ooc: I built a weapon. Marie sits there focusing on the gflacier (12km long = 8 miles, 1500m broad = almost 1 mile, 420m high = a quarter mile), which has been turned into a tiny marble.
The plan is to use maintaining the demanding spell (ReVi) with either Diameter (lvl 20) or (day (lvl25) as a time trigger (or to allow her other spells). If she doesn't concentrate when the spell runs out - the glacier reappears. Forget magical protection, it is an entirely non-magical glacier that reappears. he could drop it into the mediterranean (or the Sahara) if it is not needed in the regio).
There are only three glaciers that size in the alps, so this will not become an everyday occurence.
She has still some confidence points left, so as long as she doesn't botch, she'll be fine.
I was myself surprised that this was possible with such a spell.
I forgot: How do we get there?