Chapter 15 - Hunter of the Shadows

You had mentioned wanting to start shoving people through. Are you in the tower doing that or are you outside witnessing the events? Or have you just jumped in by yourself?
Choice is yours :smiley:

Arriving on dragon back with the others of his group, Octavian watches from afar with mild interest.

"I would commend master Rodrigo Vasquez for his display of rare good judgment on Andorra's part for once."

His gaze turns to the mirror. "Master Abaddon seeks retribution against Metron for slights done to Val-Negra. Taglyn is not a domain for the weak willed. Metron was only able to escape that prison last time due to his pact with master Ludovico. I recommend he be left there to rot until master Abbadon is done with him."

He managed to escape once before, he will do it again. Do not make the mistake of underestimating the enemy. Besides, we have to get Carmen still. I am going in. You can follow or hold our position here. Choice is yours.

"My apologies master Rodrigo Vasquez, but it is not Metron that is a concern for Andorra." He replies without hesitation leaving only the comment about weak willed left. "Nevertheless, I would reocmmend that the remainder of your expedition remain here. As our earlier agreement requires the safe return of mistress Perez it is wise to send someone that is knowledgeable in what lies beyond the mirror if it is truly Taglyn."

"Once you say that Bargains do not hold him. Then you say that they do. What of OUR oaths? OUR Honour? I recognise your authority among the Knights of Seneca, but is not Honour one of our greatest virtues?" Vares considers the next step. "If you believe that you were exempted from the truce, then perhaps you might act. I cannot. I cannot aid you further in any action against the Efreet until the span is elapsed. If you bid me go through the mirror, I shall, to fulfill my own oath."

He reminds Rodrigo, "Consider carefully the instrument by which you would imprison the Efreet. Good faith is a Power in its own right with such an artifact. And mind that the Prophet whose Name I invoked was the vessel's maker. That the vessel was placed in my charge until I passed it to Ameline. If the Verdi accepts your offer, that, at least, may be done. If he does not, be aware of how your actions compound and may affect the security and Purpose of that artifact."

Esteban is a bit too stunned by this to react at first. Then, aside to Carmen, he says, "So why was it that Metron imprisoned you in the first place?"

[color=green]Carmen: [color=red]Delusions. He thinks he is a direct descendant of Flambeau, I am not sure if he means bloodline or just lineage. But he claims that his time here is what awakened him, allowed him to transform into a magical being. Something about the Mirror of Infinity and the Chamber of Illusions, escaping into the Shadow Realm of the Twilight Void, and releasing the Senex from the Iron Door. He thinks I am some sort of counterpart, he is the "Flaming Shadow" and I am the "Lumina". I think Lumina stories are BS, mere faerie tales the early Flambeaux made up in order to deal with their grief overthe losss of their Founder. But anyways, he is trying to cause me to "transform". I don't think things work quite the way he thinks. I have managed to accumulate some vis in the form of glowing hairs that I already plucked from my head and stashed in my boot. Here, have a look (she shows you a clump of glowing hairs).

One of the guards announces that he has a message
[color=red]Metron the Great has entered the keep, and he has sent word that he would like to speak privately with the magi Carmen and Estaban. His comments after that were cryptic. He says he knows why the last attempt failed, and though he realizes you do not remember it or the seven others previous, he says he is sure he can make it work this time.

Don't get mad at me! Gt mad at Rodrigo. He is a dick :stuck_out_tongue:
Okay, Vares, you are more poet than warrior, and have no sense of pragmatic wisdom. You speak of honor. Honor is doing what needs to be done to protect your home, your family, your life. You can wax and whine all you want, you are never going to sway me. What I think constitutes Honor is obviously much different than what you think, and I think you are soft and have a much too rosy point of view. You are not being realistic.

I tire of this. Octavian, explain to Vares why he is wrong. I also am assigning him to serve under your direct command. You still hold the rank of Master, make sure that he remains obedient and does not suscumb to the temptation of insubordination.

Metron is our concern, he has been the entire time. He has conspired to enable the abduction of one of our own, and thus he is an enemy of Andorra. I am tired of loose ends coming back to bite us. Metron needs to be killed.

"If all of Andorra shared master Rodrigo Vasquez' point of view there might have remained some inclination to remain part of that covenant."

He glances briefly to Vares before turning back to Rodrigo. "Master Rodrigo Vasquez, there is concern that time is not an ally. May I recommend that master Vares and Taar attempt to search a method to simply move the mirror out of the boundaries of this realm? It is the prudent course as all known escapes of Taglyn require months if not years to accomplish. There is no guarantee, even with the knowledge in my possession that escape before the window back is guaranteed."

"Of the last, we are in agreement. However, Andorra has its share of blame for Metron's escape and so long as it goes unacknowledged, then it is objectionable to have masters Vares or Ludovico to assist as they have proven incapable of following instruction and as master Vares so eloquently put it in Andorra's last expedition, he lacks that of even a tremere apprentice."

Okay, decision time. Who is goin in the mirror and who satys behind?

Vares, don't let Rodrigo brow beat you. You can alwats Certamen him for the bottle :wink:

Estaban, how do you react to Metron's message?

Viola is going (with her grogs), and has already made known her opinion on the bottle.

Scott

Excellent! Viola has crossed through.
Rodrigo feels that we have dallied long enough, and he goes through as well (unless Vares wishes to interrupt with further protest or a challenge).
Octavian?

The limits of Vares' patience and respect for authority have been exceeded. "Octavian of Tremere, I will not accept your continuing insistence on defaming me nor claiming authority over me you do not possess! You are my equal within the Order; that is all! You have renounced Andorra, and with that any other preeminence I might have recognised. Certamen! I name Creo!"

He glances towards Rodrigo as if to say I told you so but his expression remains blank and emotionless. He turns to his challenger. "Master Vares, may I inquire what concessions are there to gain by defeating you?"

(OOC: not going to accept anyways since you never finalized a character sheet to validate the stats you have. There is only a draft in the thread.)

The Art & Ability scores are valid AFAIK.
Though Vares threw me a curve ball here, I figured he was going to challenge Rodrigo...

Rodrigo intercedes...
Will you two knock it off! We are in the middle of a mission, there is no time for personal grudges. When we get back, the two of you can beat on each other to your heart's content. I'll even give you each clubs to whack each other with. But for now, let's focus on getting Carmen and killing Metron.

"My apologies master Rodrigo Vasquez." He bows politely. "Violence is truly abhorrent behaviour yet it is a necessity when dealing with some... such as Metron for example."

OOC: Sorry, Andrew the player reacted by going to a network computing conference that sapped all the mental energy out of him for the past 3 days...

To Carmen: "I doubt there is any way to dissuade him from his delusion, but I think we need information from him in order to get out of this realm. Let us go and hear what he has to say. Perhaps in his megalomania he will reveal too much - knowledge we can turn against him, or use to escape. I swear, if he so much as attempts eye contact with you you Milady I will knock him to the floor."

Vares' expression is hard as he meets the not wholely human gaze of Octavian. His own eyes are unreadable as ever. "My terms of Certamen are these: in my victory, you, Octavian of Tremere, will cease any and all acts of defamation against me, both in your near-constant condescenion and, specifically, with regard to the events that transpired when we crossed through the Barcelona Gate to Val-Negra. You will no longer claim any authority over me, nor imply that I am somehow answerable to your command, whether or not you cling to Andorra or abandon it. Your authority as a Quaesitor does not grant you that power, and I am a Magus of Flambeau these twenty-three years past my Gauntlet, not a pawn of Tremere who does not even bear his own Sigil! You will recognise that you are no more nor less than my equal within the Order, and that is all. Quaesitors may seek and advise; they do not rule."

Without changing his tone, he states the symmetry to the challenge. "Should you triumph, I will grant you this: I will agree to answer your questions regarding the events that transpired during the encounter with Metron when we crossed through the Barcelona Gate to Val-Negra. I have done so before, but I will yield permission to make your questions under truth-scrying, such as 'Frosty Breath of the Spoken Lie', in the hall of Andorra or in its Council, before as many Magi of the Covenant and whatever Quaesitors you convince to come, though the Quesitora Tresmilla should be among them. The questions must pertain directly to those events, however, you will have the forum to 'prove' yourself vindicated without need to resort to a Tribunal inquiry which I do not believe you would gain.

"In your triumph, I will acknowledge your military command in this battle against Metron, and as a Master of Andorra until and unless you are formally severed from the Covenant. My oaths cannot be compromised, nor my obligations violated, but for these purposes, I will carry out your instructions."

Hands in the open, his voice drops in volume while remaining clear. "Let it be a contest between the two of us, without recourse to outside resources. No Vis will be used. The Certamen is until one or the other surrenders or is incapable due to the contest of offering reply for more than a Diameter."

When Rodrigo steps forward and berates both the Flambeau and the Tremere Magi, Vares informs him, "IIn pursuit of battle, you are accurate: it would not do for us to diminish ourselves prior to confronting the enemy. But we are a force divided, not welded into a unified purpose. I have already pledged to follow your direction in the rescue of Carmen, and will go through the mirror if that is your decision. I have not subordinated myself to Octavian of Tremere, nor am I about to answer to a Magus who has mocked and derided my integrity, my intellect, and my ability at every opportunity when I have striven to be civil to him and shown utmost cooperation with the Quaesitors in their investigations. These issues must be resolved. Until they are, I will not acknowledge any directive given by Octavian, only his advice--and I will not tolerate further defamation of my character by him."

With deliberate care and emphasis he reminds them, "Do not cast aside the value of Oaths in the name of the practicality of the moment. For once one becomes a warlock, what is the substance of one's Oath of Bonisagus, one's Oath to the Order of Hermes? Honour is not a thing of expediency. There is Wisdom in upholding for it, for by it we have our compass of the world and of ourselves. We are IN the domain of Magic, now. Our words, our actions, our intentions resonate."

Octavian listens to Vares speech quietly. When Vares challenges his gaze, he stops suppressing his Piercing Gaze but otherwise remains calm. "Master Vares, if I may summarize, the conditions of victory would grant nothing of worth or of value not already in possession and of defeat would require the omission of truth or propagation of outright falsehood? Those terms are unacceptable."