He does ask. He is quite willing to have his share of next year's distribution be reduced accordingly -- he considers this normal and fair.
He would use the 3 pawns of Perdo vis as well as 4 pawns of Vim vis. That should not pout a strain on the covenant's ability to cast both Aegises for this year and the next as well, at the very least.
He suggests moving the 5 pawns in the Arts that were to be distributed to him be added to the pawns that could be traded with opther covenants, or exchanged for Vim being distilled by a member in the lab. That would bring up the amount available for this to 9 pawns.
He would also be willing to spend a season performing covenant service during 1015, but that would not help the covenant since his ability to distill Vim vis is very limited (2 pawns per season). He could enchant items within his specialty, or write down lab text of spells he knows, or invent a spell that could be useful for the covenant.
He could also spend a season travelling back to the regio of the Council of the Eight to harvest the vis there, but probably not by himself, since accessing the regio requires skills he does not possess at this time. He can work on that, but it will take time and further study.
"I'm grateful for your approach to all this, Thadeus," says Thom as he listens to the discussion. "It gives me great hope for our future here and the work ahead of us."
"A writer and a warrior... That sounds useful to have in a covenant. Do you have any enemies? Quirks we should be aware of? Strong opinions on which you will not move or subjects that are prone to making you angry? Things you expect from sodales, beyond what's in our charter or relatively common sense in the order?"
“I hate the Diedne for their attempt on my life and their betrayal of the Order, this being the only thing that I will not move on. Any support given to the Diedne would drive me to anger and fierce action. Otherwise I try to see the best in things, so nothing that should rub up against my sodalis. As to my expectations I expect to support and be supported against the enemy and to be treated fairly as the other covenant magi. I would hope that the council does not wait long before moving me through guest to probationer to full member once I have demonstrated my commitment and competence” replies Angus
He could return to go late in Autumn, but only after Thadeus and the other magi have sorted out the various tasks and can give directions. I do not suppose that Finn has read the old covenant records himself.
Would Finn go on his own, or would somebody escort him?
I leave it to the magi to call the shot.
If we send Thom and Finn (and other frequent posters), the story should not take long.
Thom would go for sure with Finn. [Player preference would be for a two-week or less trip to avoid impacting his seasonal plan, but Thom's always game for adventure XP if it includes seeing magical effects that he can use in his faerie magic spell invention.]
A recap of the Council decisions (need conformation when there are question marks):
Clarifying the rights and responsibilities of probationary membership (charter amendment): Approved?
Clarifying the rights and responsibilities of protected guests (charter amendment): Approved?
Recruiting more staff: Approved Osgar is in charge of this
Expanding the turb through recruitment/training: Approved Hamish is in charge of this
Develop more income sources: Approved but will require direct intervention by players to really happen
Acquire some riding horses and the personel to support them: Approved but a low priority, Hamish and Osgar will keep an eye out
Discuss the distribution of surplus vis to members
Obligations for the coming year: 10 Vim (Aegises), 7 Herbam (Oak Grove ritual), 7 Corpus (Nauvi's longevity ritual)
Vote to allow Thadeus to use 3 Perdo and 4 Vim to bind his familiar (no share this year and a debt of 2 pawns next year): Approved?
Distribute 5 pawns for a full share and 3 pawns for a half share from surplus vis (14 Creo, 2 Aquam, 15 Corpus and 6 Mentem) Several of the magi still need to express their preferences in this post)
Use the remaining 9 pawns to trade for more Vim Approved?
Sionag (@Lothindil ) was looking for a herbalist and medical people. There are two options.
Take one of the servants that Clarissa has trained. They are borderline journeymen, but many have had real medical practice during the war. Promoting one or two to grog status at Oak Circle is straight forward.
Go into Carlisle and ask around, to see if you can find an expert.
I assume she is recruiting for Oak Circle. Clarissa might take offence if she recruits for the main site.
Otters can only stay underwater for eight minutes, and Thom with little experience, probably less. He is deep down, and close to the limit of his breath when he notices the eel with shining patterns on its skin. It is like moving pictures, maybe an ancient, heroic battle scene, but Thom only gets a glimpse before it disappears into a narrow hole.
It rubs off a little scales and slime on the edge of the hole as it passes by, and Thom finds a single pawn of Imaginem vis.
Then he needs to get back to breath, and the hole was too narrow to follow the eel anyway.
"Thank you for finding another vis source for the covenant," says Thadeus with a smile. "Now we only need to find a way to harvest it." He shakes his head, "Underwater. Not my forte. But I'm sure we will find a way."
"Makes me wonder how much more we could find underwater," says Thom thoughtfully. "As an otter, I don't have much range and can't be underwater all that long. So who knows. Maybe someday we can explore more."