"I have spent the past few years evading the Diedne, am neither of their House or an ally of theirs. The only thing I want in contact with them is to investigate their magic, to see what is worthy to be integrated into Hermetic Theory." He bows his head a bit "You said you and your Sodales have made it north. Did you happen to maybe find Castrum Antiquum? Or maybe encountered a survivor from it? While I cannot say that I liked everyone there..." And there's a small pause, as if considering his words "... I do have some fond memories of my time there, and it would be great to hear that someone survived. I did go back to look, but there was strong magic in the air, and I was afraid to run into any of the Diedne."
All through this, he hasn't even reached to take the token Thadeus offered.
"From what the others have said, they were unable to find Castrum. You'll have to ask them when they're back."
Offering the Aegis token, Thadeus says, "I thereby invite you into the Aegis of Ungulus. Act not against its members, and be welcome."
Once the solemn moment has passed, he adds, "When we were investigating the remnants of the enemy covenant at Wicker Hill, we did recover two magical items in a laboratory, along with some scattered lab notes. I've been trying to sort through them in my free time, but there has been little of that. You are welcome if you want to investigate them, but they looking like fairly standard enchanted items."
"So your are good at Intellego Vim? What spells do you know? Though we have a decent selection of spells in the library, anything you can contribute would be welcome."
Elric takes the token in gratitude "I accept this token, and will consider its members my Sodales, and as fellow members, and will not act against them."
He hesitates a bit before responding "My pater was Balder of Bonisagus. In his narrow minded view, I was to be a tool to investigate the enchantments on enchanted items he got his hands on. Some claimed he got them in less than honest ways, but I had no way of knowing how he got them. So, I am quite good at Intellego Vim, and have spells to find Vis, and to measure how much Vis is there, as well as to see into Faerie and Magic Regione. I am lacking in offensive spells, and only have one defensive spell in my arsenal, at the moment. And if those are needed, I will gladly make copies of them for the library. If you'd allow me I'd be more than happy to take the time to investigate the Lab Texts and enchanted items you've found, and see if I can unlock their powers, once I am given a lab, and had the time to get familiarized with it. What is your specialty, and what spells you have? If you don't mind me asking?"
"I'm sure some of our sodales will be interested in those spells," answers Thadeus. "We have come across several regiones and vis sources in the last year, and as you can guess, setting up a new covenant means investigating the area around it for magical resources."
"For my part, my training as a Pralician means I am strong when it comes to exotic magics, whether it is to investigate or counter them. I am fairly strong in Perdo, and my apprenticeship in Pomerania means I had to learn spells to counter shapeshifters. I can also make myself invisible and unravel low-level spells in the Imaginem, Corpus and Terram. I still have to scribe down those spells that I know in order to add them to the library. I have mostly concentrated into setting up my lab in the new tower, since there wasn't enough space in the old one."
"Oh, if I am accepted to your covenant, I'd be more than happy to set up a lab, and get to it. Sadly, as my pater wanted me super focused, so outside of Intelllego and Vim, I only have some Rego, Creo, and Imaginem. But I do plan to up my other Arts, so I can be of more use to this covenant." He sounded very eager.
Thadeus smiles, "I think that is a situation that happens quite a lot. There's so much to learn once we complete our Gauntlet. I was lucky enough to have access to a laboratory as a visitor when I completed mine, but there is still so much to learn. Increasing the arts, learning spells, enchanting effects into my talisman, binding my familiar, and so much more." He sighs, then shakes his head, "So don't feel alone in this. I'm pretty sure all magi go through that phase. I'm just hoping that in a few years I'll feel more... rounded in my own abilities to face various challenges."
Elric smiles "I was lucky enough that he was distracted from teaching me when he took on another apprentice, that I managed to get some time in the library to get my Creo, Rego, and Imaginem up. Otherwise, he might have made me focus exclusively on Intellego and Vim. But I hear what you're saying. I haven't even began to think about what Talisman I want, or what effects I might enchant it with."
"Lucky indeed. For most of my apprenticeship I did not have access to a library. Most of my training took place in the field, while I was travelling with my pater. We usually wintered at a covenant or chapter house, but those were the times he would have me assist him in the lab."
"I was able to attune my staff as a talisman, but so far it has no other power. I was hoping to enchant it with a few effects, but I recently befriended a salamander whom I hope to bind as a familiar. That's why I've been focusing on setting up a lab in the last seasons."
"I hear you, while I was down south, I came across one of those cats that some in the order raise, and befriended it enough to bind it as my familiar. It is still wandering around making sure things are safe enough for it here, which is why it wasn't with me when I've arrived. But other than binding it, I didn't get to do much. I did find an abandoned lab south, but I was afraid to set up there too long, for fear that the Diedne would track me down."
"That's twice you've mentioned a lab down south. Where was this? Although we now have the space, lab equipment and supplies are not the easiest to come up with. Was there enough that it would be worth gathering what's left there and bringing it here?"
"The Aegis would have prevented it from coming inside, in any case. We can invite it in later. I'll have to see if we have an Aegis token light enough for a cat to wear."
OOC Thadeus would have inquired about the cat's name, as well as its personality and powers, but since it hasn't been finalized yet, I'll leave that as being discussed off-camera.
"Now, would you like to see the new tower? That would be the best place for you to set up your sanctum and laboratory."
Elric smiles "Are you seriously asking a Bonisagus Magus if he's like to see a place to set his lab?"
"As for the lab south, it was an abandoned covenant. I was missing lots of things, but had enough for me to bind a familiar. Once I get set up here, I can see about going back there, to see if we can get more materials from it."
"Yes, an abandoned covenant," says Thadeus while they walk from one tower to the other, "you said that already. Which one?"
"I do not know its name. In fact, I don't recall seeing any record of it's name there." Elric's face turns a bit white "Odd, now that I think about it."
"Was there a town or village nearby that you remember the name? My pater and I spent some time at Roma Nova before going to the continent during my apprenticeship. That's... well, was... in Kent."
"I had done by best to stay away from towns and villages, unless I really needed to. In fact, binding my familiar was the main reason I survived, since my meager skill at survival wouldn't have been enough to keep me alive till now."
Thadeus is a bit unbelieving that someone could just stumble upon the ruins of a covenant by pure chance and not even know where he was, but then he shrugs and changes the subject a bit, "Was there anything aside from the lab remaining there? We wouldn't want mundanes getting their hands on books and items of a more sensitive nature."
"I didn't see anything left there. It was all in great shambles, and the only things I've found were the damaged lab, and [[name]], the tortoiseshell cat I bound as a familiar. Am sorry I don't know much more. I grew up in my covenant, as a covenfolk, before my Gift manifested, and I was taken in as an apprentice. My knowledge of the world beyond the walls of my covenant was, and still is, quite limited."
"You have a cat familiar? How nice!" Although Thadeus still finds Elric's story about stumbling upon a ruined covenant without knowing where it was more than a little strange, he decides to let the subject go.
But then, they have finished climbing the stairs to the second floor of the new tower. He opens the marker-less door and gestures Elric to precede him, "Here we are! This is one of the available space for a laboratory. It occupies the whole floor, which makes it possible to set up one that is slightly larger than standard. The stairs here," he points to a staircase on the other side of the large circular room, "leads directly to living quarters that occupy half the floor above. So the lab and living quarters form a contiguous spaces enclosed by the sanctum markers on each floor."
"My living quarters occupy the other half of the third floor, while my laboratory occupy the fourth floor in a similar arrangement as this one. The last three floors offer a similar configuration, with two floors for laboratories and the one in the middle split between the living quarters associated with each lab. The first floor, which we passed through briefly, would be set up to constitute either the Council chamber or an expanded library. At the moment, those are still in the old tower, sharing the space with a basic lab."
Elric looks at the lab space. While it probably wasn't as big as his pater's lab, it seemed much bigger since it was empty, and he could already envision some of the things he'd install here, and how to arrange it.
"That seems like a mighty fine space for a lab, and you're saying the living quarters are half this size?" His voice showing his astonishment.
"They are indeed spacious," answers Thadeus with a smile, "but that just gives us the possibility of having decent space for dependents and an apprentice to have their own chamber within your quarters. Since we were raising a tower, we felt that it might be best to think ahead and provide enough space for future needs."