The man frowns. "I don't know yet - I'll send someone down to listen to the gossip later. It's not the first such incident - but they haven't called in the church yet."
He warms slightly as he turns to Viola's second question.
"The submarine is an artefact that belonged to Alexander - it's like a dolphin made of transparent iron, but alive. Non-hermetic, definitely - it was found by some Seekers the covenant funded, about a century ago now. There was a chariot that was found at a similar time, but that needs flying steeds which we don't have at the moment. Quite an excitement, as I recall, and there's been a stready stream of magi wanting to study them. Originally Philagrius of Verditius was studying them. More recently Catella of Bonisagus has joined the covenant to work on them."
"The insides of the dolphin are hollow, and there's an effect similar to Chamber of Spring Breezes in there, so there's air. Room for about 5 normal sized people, although it's a bit of a squash."
Calliope nods. "Leontius is as good a person here as any."
[Assuming Viola asks him]
"I don't think we have much on Poseidon, and less on Neptune. He might be mentioned in passing in some of our Latin or Greek primers, but I doubt that'll tell you anything you didn't learn as an apprentice. You'll want to talk to Lucian at Aegea - he can recite half the epics from memory, and the library is probably the best in the order if you're interested in ancient greek poetry. Latin, I'm less sure on, although I expect there's something, at least.
Now, if you want books on Alexander, we're the covenant to come to. As well as Plutarch's "Life of Alexander", which is very readable, and Arrian's "Anabasis", we have what is probably the only extant copy of Cleitarchus' "History of Alexander".
She turns back to Leontius, and brings out some panpipes.
"I offer these as my deposit for the submarine. Diana has recorded them in action previously, or I can give a demonstration if you require."
Leontius reaches for one of the ledgers, and spends a few minutes flicking through it. Then he reaches for another ledger, and shortly afterwards, nods.
"No, that shouldn't be necessary - I prefer our covenfolk not scared out of their wits. The deposit is acceptable. The fee will be one pawn of vis per week you have usage of the submarine, with the first pawn payable now."
Calliope brings out a carefully carved ear of wheat, which Leontius places in one pan of a pair of scales, whilst placing a metal pawn in the other. Despite the apparent disparity in weight, the scales balance as the pawns glow green and silver, and Leontius nods again as he scribbles in the original ledger.
"That should be in order. The submarine is currently tethered to one of our ships in the harbour. We'll take you out on that, and then transfer you once you're out of sight of land. She should be ready to sail with the evening tide - Niko, go down to the harbour and order the captain to prepare."
[Is there anything else Viola wants to ask or do at the covenant? If not, I'll cut ahead. Calliope turns out to know Veil of Invisibility - Viola recalls that Imaginem was always her strongest art - so make a single stress die stealth roll for Theodoric, and, unless you're trying something bizarre, just avoid botching.]
Viola wrinkles her nose at the sight of Calliope's vis. "Shouldn't you let me pay? How long do you think we'll need the artifact?" She smiles at her friend.
I can't think of anything else that Viola needs, other than to make sure that all of Theodoric's equipment is in good repair.
"Well, this trip was my idea, and at my invitation - it would feel wrong to ask you to pay for it. Let me pay the initial fee, and then we can discuss it further when we know how much it will cost us in total? I think it's about a week to Aegea from here, so we'll be gone two weeks, plus however long we stay at Aegea - although if it looks like it'll be a long time, I might consider returning the submarine and then travelling back through Arcadia. That will depend on the conditions, though - dying from stepping out into the bottom of the ocean would be embarrassing."
[There's nothing specific Theodoric needs - the trip has so far been fairly uneventful, and the covenant specialists are able to maintain his equipment normally.]
Viola chuckles a bit. "Traveling through Arcadia is always dangerous, even if you're skilled at it. If you can avoid it for a pawn or two of vis, do. I won't say I haven't done it, even for very long distances, but it was usually when I was hot-headed and mad at someone."
"But how to become skilled without experience? I do take your point, though, and an occasion when I was not an awaited guest might be a better one to risk losing track of time in Arcadia.
Still, let us discuss the vis again when we know how much long we will need the submarine."
The conversation continues on for a few minutes whilst Niko leaves on his errand and Leontius gives every appearence of carefully not listening.
I assume you stay at the covenant until shortly before the ship is due to depart, and then go down to the harbour? Give me that stealth roll, and let me know of any changes to that plan.
The group is by no means silent as you leave first the regio and then the citadel, but you manage it without incident. There is some difficulty keeping track of each other travelling through the town with two invisible people, especially due to second sight becoming unable to discern Theodoric and Calliope as you enter the main area of the town.
[Fell free to tell me if you're taking a particular approach to solving this; otherwise I am assuming you arrive somewhat late at the harbour.]
At the harbour, you find the ship, the "Thessalonike" after a little bit of searching. On the deck, you can see Niko speaking with another man.
It should be simple enough to form a chain, with each person touching the next, but in any case, the main objective is getting there, and it's OK if we're a tad late.
On seeing the submarine, Viola eagerly inspects it, if she's allowed to.
The submarine isn't currently visible, although on a careful study of the ship Viola notices several thick ropes heading underwater. Of course, they could just be anchors - but the ship is already moored to the dock.
[I'm assuming Viola is in butterfly form (as, obviously, is Constantine), and everyone else is invisible still. Incidentally, Calliope also has a shield grog with her, but no familiar. As far as Viola knows, she hasn't bound one yet.]
Boarding the ship doesn't turn out to be entirely trivial for the invisible magi, but after Constantine is sent to inform Niko of your presence a plank is laid and you're able to get on. Niko explains quietly to you:
"The ship and crew are in the service of House Mercere, so they're more used to magic than most non-covenant dwellers are - in particular, they're used to the submarine. Ostentatious magic is still likely to make them somewhat nervous, though, and most of them don't properly understand the effect of the Gift. If you transform back in the stern castle, I'll introduce you to the Captain, and then get back to the covenant."
OK, follows Calliope's instructions, taking care not to disturb the crew and...er, rock the boat. She will though transform back into her native form once they've reached the after cabins. We're going to have to wait for the spell on Theodoric to wear off, though, aren't we?
[Yes, and for Calliope and her shield grog, assuming you don't try and Unravel the Form of Imaginem it off (only needs to be a level 10 spell, although it still feels like you're in a dominion aura, and loud spellcasting probably falls under "please try not to use blatent magic any more than you have to", although there are no crew immediately around). Spontaneous Perdo Vim on a gifted person is also risky - it's not actually any more likely to go wrong than any other spell, but the consequences could be bad. The grogs would be less of an issue.]