“Yes he did, tone of the wooden ones, the other magi were fine with us until the denouncement, then everything changed at once. Luckily we were out and about and they attacked us as we returned to the covenant.” Replies Angus
Thom looks over. "Didn't you all bring back some enchanted items from Wicker Hill? Maybe Angus knows how they work."
“If they belonged to the Diedne then I won’t know. They kept their secrets to themselves because my master refused integration into their House” notes Angus
"Won't hurt for you to take a look," says Thom. "But Elric can probably figure them out."
Angus approaches Thadeus “Praetor, may I study your two tractatus on Finesse over the next two seasons? I seek permission as per the charter”
Do we agree OOC if there ever was a tower at Wicker Hill? I always imagined more traditional Celtic village of roundhouses and bungalows.
"From what I can remember, none of the other magi have mentioned an interest in studying those for now. So, provided none of the members do, I agree."
OOC Nope, we didn't. There were the charred remains of some sort of fortified place on the hill itself -- hard to tell if it had a tower suitable for a sanctum or not. The question from Thadeus was a test to see if Angus was telling the truth about living at Wicker Hill. I expected Angus to answer that his pater's lab was in the fortified manor or under one of the cottages. I'm sure @John_Graham_52 would have answered correctly had it been clear that there wasn't a tower at Wicker Hill, so I decided to let it slide.
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OCC. I will edit to say one of the wooden towers
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The ashes on the hill were from a pyre, not a tower. Angus must have seen it burning several times, even if the Diedne never admitted him or his parens into the rituals. In fact, there was too much ashes for just one pyre, or maybe even for one tower,.
Where is the nearest Mercere House? Have we received a visit from a redcap since Chronos has left?
Pending the approval of the Council to trade some of the vis in the covenant's reserves, Thadeus will draft letter to Cad Gadu, Blackthorn and any other surviving covenant expressing our interest in trading some vis, books, lab texts and information.
You have not seen a redcap since Chronos left. He expected to travel around England, including Calais, and return the coming Spring.
The magi who came from the continent remember that they passed through the Old Broom in Calais, with an innkeeper friendly to the Order and used as a dead drop by redcaps. Redcaps from three tribunals assemble there when they can.
The Tremere of Blackthorn expected to see a redcap too, there is one travelling the Irish Sea with a merchant ship. You sent letters in duplicate with Chronos and the Tremere. You have already planned book exchange with Blackthorn, which is due in the Spring 1015.
There is no Mercere House in operation. The ship in the Irish Sea and the Old Broom are the closest you get.
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Does House Mercere offers vis trade services in this period? Or was it still mostly done throught individual trades between covenants and magi?
Aside from Cad Gadu and Blackthorn, do we know of any other surviving covenants in the Tribunal?
Before the war, it was common for redcaps to carry a few pawns of vis for trade, but the systematic and reliable banking system came later. Redcaps would rarely carry much, but could broker larger trades if given time.
You have heard stories of Mercere Portals being hijacked and destroyed. You do not know if the redcaps are able to travel long distances at this point.
In addition to Cad Gadu, Blackthorn, and yourselves, you know that Castillum Antiquum on Hadrian's Wall exists with a singleton magus, Thom's parens. There is Lux Draconis in the Pennines, which one group visited. It looked abandoned, with a sign on the door warning of a trap in three languages. Whether the magi still live and want to return, you do not know. All other covenants are known to have been destroyed, at least as far as rumours can be trusted.
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I assume you do not count faerie Janus and faerie Edwin at Castellum Veridian aka Whitehorse.
Is there a reason probationary members should be denied the comfort of their sanctum when reading books? Otherwise, I vote in favor.
Sure.
I think with the coins we generated, hiring grogs and buying horses is feasible. However, let's be reasonable about the amount until we have enough income source not to need to rely on additional rituals. We may need to invest some of those funds to generate the income we will need to sustain ourselves through time. How many were you thinking?
I'll be building my lab and sanctum. I still need to think out the rest. I can collect vis sources our grogs can't collect if there's a need. I will cast the Aegis, fly, cast the Aegis.
Your guideline sounds fine. My main need for the next few years is likely to be mostly Mentem vis. We do need Vim vis, but please don't trade out Mentem if there are vis types to trade out no one cares about, even if that means going under the reserve, because I suspect I'll want to use more Mentem vis than we produce yearly down the road.
Adressing Angus: "What kind of magic are you interested in? How do you see yourself fitting in?"
I was thinking that since they are probationary, bringing books from the library to their sanctum might reduce the opportunity for full members to consult those books. But it's a minor thing that can be removed.
I was thinking 5-6 horses, so that a small group can more quickly travel. Good for grogs, but also the Gentle-gifted magi when harvesting vis or visiting allies. Or to send a messenger.
Not everyone can fly. 
Actually, there's not reason that both Aegis need to be raised at the same time. There's nothing to protect at the Grove at the moment, and there will be nothing until Spring. The Aegis at Ungulus was raised in the Winter.
It would also make it easier to boost penetration using Wizard's Vigil, when we have enough magi who know that spell.
Understood and agreed. We are more likely to trade vis for which we have a regular source. The more likely candidates to be traded out at the moment are Aquam, Auram and Corpus.
Note that Cath'rinne can claim some of the Mentem as your own when surplus resources are distributed, in order to build up personal reserves.
“Maga, at the moment I am trained to fight by avoiding the Parma using an improved version of Sling of Vilano, defend myself and to identify and extract vis. Otherwise I would say I am a generalist, though my master described my magic as flawless. Going forward, once I have a lab, I hope to learn spells useful to a covenant, such as the wizard’s vigil that has been mentioned. I should also mention that my written work is better than average. Replies Angus
Speaking to Thadeus “Praetor, if someone can lend me a lab I would be happy to invent the Wizard’s Vigil in Winter if it helps?”
You were talking of hiring grogs as well?
I cast Ungulus' Aegis in Spring 1014 not in the winter, although yes, I could move Ungulus' aegis to winter so they're not done at the same time, which might make more sense.