Betula nods at Hamish and, with an arm around Ruedi, returns to her seat. "If you knew Janus," Betula jokingly scolds Cath'rinne, "you would know he wasn't one for rumors or gossip, the only things that interest him are fighting and throwing rocks... at least he was, when I last saw him ten years ago." Tell us, Janus, how did you earn this fiery sobriquet? What was it? The Immolant Sorcerer?"
Looking at both Betula and Cath'rinne, and anyone else who seems to pay attention, Janus tells his story.
It has been several years since the last redcap visited, and we have had no news from the rest of the Order until you came today. I hope Ungulus is still holding up the fight, but I fear we are the last covenant standing in all of England. Lux Draconis fled their towers many years ago; maybe Castrum Antiquum is still there, but it has been a long time since they responded to a letter. All the others have fallen to War, if not to Wulfric, then to Diana's.
We too were severely hit by Diana's forces last year, and we lost many magi, but Edwin and I were able to rise from the ashes.
And Betula, throwing sticks and rocks at anyone and everyones is for kids. Now I'd throw the best of Fire at the best of enemies.
It was last season that I ran into Wulfric further North, scouting for Diana in the hope to recover some of the stolen treasures. Wulfric came on us by surprise, attempting to take us prisoner, but I threw him a pilum or three to disuade him, and he caught fire, both he and his knights. The Incinerant Warlock they call me now.
The knights moved no more, but Wufric crawled into the woods and disappeared while we busied ourselves with some scavengers, 'cause nobody kills Wulfric. That's how it is, but at least we escaped.
Cheers! For the Pilum of Fire.
He raises his glass again.
"Chers! To burning him next time!"
Hamish's head turns away from paying attention to Janus's story at the mention of a "Diana." The large man takes a slow breath before looking back to listen to the rest of the tale.
He turns to Edwin with a thin smile and a palm covering the goblet in front of him.
"I best hold off. Need me humors to settle. Never was much for the wines. Like drinkin' gall."
Ā«Together to victory!Ā» says Janus and drinks again.
Ā«It is very good for your humours, though, particularly the sweet one., Just wave when you change your mind. I am right here,Ā» says Edwin.
"The sweet wine is more amusing than the dry one, newcomer. Who might you be, to have won the attention of my fellow maga?"
OOC: Cath'rinne's got the blatant gift.
Hamish sits with a hint of wariness. Anyone with any skill at arms would recognize the relaxed tension in his posture, the positioning of his sword hilt, the readiness to react. This isn't the shaggy-haired Scot's first magical rodeo though this one has raised enough alarum bells to warrant the wariness. The reference to Diana by itself would be enough but the wall-not-wall-but-a-door-not-door has cut off the most natural escape path and escalated the need for caution.
As the rather attractive blond, blue-eyed woman addresses him, Hamish's right brow arches slightly.
"Not sure I won her attention, milady. Seems my lap wasn't much to her liking itā¦" He shrugs, still wary, but now with a hint of a smile.
He goes on, this time in Latin:
"I'm Hamish. Hamish MacDuff. Soldier and once protector to magi of the Order. Are you a member of the council of Castellum Veridian?"
Ruedi glances jealously at Hamish.
Just as Cath'rinne is about to answer, Janus says, Ā«she is, indeed!Ā»
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Cath'rinne notices he doesn't stiffen or look at her weirdly as she speaks to him for the first time. Is he insensitive to my gift, or is he that much used to dealing with gifted that he can hide what he feels?
"Nice to meet you, Hamish." As she is about to answer whether she is a member of the covenant, Janus interrupts her and she merely smiles at both, not contradicting Janus. After all, he's been kind enough to give her a lab, why say otherwise? "I'm Cath'rinne ex Bjornaer." Her accent is Norman when she pronounces her name.
OOC Note: the entire conversation between Hamish and Cath'rinne was in Latin, as we clarified through PMs.
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The evening continues with small talk and wine, and whatever else the party requires. Feel free to pursue any further queries you may have, but if you do not post ASAP, the evening will fade.
The house seems to have no exterior doors whatsoever, but the magi, including the redcap, can find the doors marked as the sanctums, and Edwin will find a nice, though shared, room for everybody else, fully equipped to their roles, including sword stands and whatnot.
You have a chance in the morning to explore a little further.
The labs in the sanctums are large, and have some nice features like faerie ingredients, and some just weird features. If you have second sight, or use an appropriate spell, you will find that some of the features, like the expansion, are mere illusions, and in this case you estimate about +3 warping and -3 security, but there are also some nice bonuses like positive general quality and some specialisations, particularly to experimentation. Details will only be worked out if you actually decide to spend a season using it.
There is a library, but as soon as you open the books, you see through the illusion. The contents is meaningless symbolism and has nothing to do with the arts claimed on the cover sheet.
Breakfast is served in the hall like the supper, just without the effectfull beverages.
Once your curiosity and stomachs are satisfied, Janus will want to talk about how you will make this covenant great again, and defeat the various menaces.
Betula is fairly incurious, surprising for those who have traveled with her, paying attention to Ruedi. Eventually she yawns and, holding Ruedi's hand, stands to head to bed. "Good night," then curtseying awkwardly she says to the large man, "it was a pleasure to meet your aquaintance, Sir Tree." She lightly pulls Ruedi to join her as she heads to "her sanctum."
[Just going to here, not sure what she wants to do in the morning or if others have more they want for the evening]
Later in the evening, somewhat less wined up than other guests, Cath'rinne will inquire what Janus and Edwin knows of the genii locii of the forest, and their relationship with it.
The forest has its own history and destiny. We leave it in peace. Live and let live.
"No contact at all then?"
We know they are there, they know we are here, but know, we do not talk. What's on your mind?
"I'm just trying to know more about the spirit and how the forest works. I'm unsure how to perceive such neighbors to the covenant. We've briefly interacted with them. Well, Betula and Turold did. I kind of just heard about what they told me."
Cath'rinne will listen if they have more to share, but if not, she will soon thank them for a great evening and retire to her sanctum.
Cath'rinne renews her Parma Magica before going down for breakfast.
During breakfast, she takes an opportunity to discuss some more with Hamish. "You said last night you were a protector of magi in the past. Where are you from and whom did you serve? Why do you no longer serve those whom you served?"
After the conversation with Hamish, once breakfast is over, she will happily chat with Janus.
"We plan to travel throughout this land before we come back. We want to know what is left of the Order and our allies, whether there are Diedne left in this land and where the fight is ongoing. We can also collect valuable resources to make a great covenant, from the abandoned sites. Which, if you're correct, must be numerous."
Hamish goes along with the situation, partaking food after he sees others eat but not drinking any alcohol.
In the morning, Hamish looks up from breakfast as Cath'rinne speaks to him. At the questions, the large man looks down to the trencher in front of him on the table, his voice low.
"From the north, milady. Covenant Iuris Perita in Inverness. I was in the turb there." The big red-headed soldier looks up at the maga and shakes his head.
"The Troublesā¦" He clenches his jaw. "The Troubles have taken so much, so many. I had to make a hard choice. So I came south to find work for my arm and blade. The Order is all I really know, milady. Bred and born in covenant."
Betula quietly renews her parma just after sunrise and quietly leaves Ruedi sleeping in the bed attempting not to wake him. The experiences of the last day have her pensive and feeling guilty for her in-Apt behavior and she is no longer sure what to think of Ruedi. It was a beautiful experience and she desires it again but terrible in that desire and she feels compassion for those who do not control themselves and bring more tortured souls into this world, this punishment. a thought begins to form in her mind as she pensively heads to the dining room, "We are all Empedocles, consuming meat, nauseatingly delicious as it may be. We are all Criamon, tortured over and over for eternity and the one begets the other." It feels visceral, this new revelation of the House's philosophy, something beyond her intellectual understanding that was there before, merely knowing these things to be true, now she felt their truth in every fiber of her being. She feels something happening to her mind and body, some change and she is unable to put her finger on what but as she enters the dining room and sees the others assembling for breakfast she runs her fingers through her hair and steels herself for breakfast, unsure if she can do it but she needs to eat. Sitting quietly, as far from others as possible, only a nod, a shake of her head if they try to speak to her, and avoiding the eyes of any who greet her. She takes only vegetarian dishes but refusing to confirm with Edwin if there is doubt and merely avoids the dishes she does not know. When Ruedi enters she pointedly does not acknowledge him or even look at him except accidentally when she quickly looks away, down. After she has eaten her fill, she stands and heads to the antechamber where the front door was before and attempts to pass through the wall as worked yesterday.
[EDIT, all following: Betula got a 16 on Per + Sec Sight + Faerie Aura.]
Betula walks right through the wall of the Manor and continues walking, unsure at first where she is headed. As she walks familiar paths it is revealed to her where she is going, the training labyrinth where Vineus taught her to perform the labyrinth meditations. So much has come to her, new and old, since arriving back here at Castellum Veridian. Brother Pine and his corpse, The lion and the cat, Her faerie "mother," The rebuilt covenant house with its "Edwin" and "Janus," replaced or impersonated, and its delights and distractions, Ruedi! It all feels so meaningful but that might also be a trap, Criamon knows we, as a house, have followed so many dead ends and they must be followed but... is the desire that these events not be toward another, that these be towards the answer yet another trap? A punishment? It is confusing and her head is spinning and before she realizes she is at the labyrinth, a few stones missing still, makes her think of Janus as the young man, how he made her feel so like Ruedi, like a lode stone and iron. No. She takes some breaths, quieting her mind and thinking on all the events since arriving, the symbols, almost too many to hold, and she begins walking the path.
[Unless interrupted, Betula will be at this for 8 hours, at the end of which I'd like to make an Enigmatic Wisdom roll to interpret the symbols of the previous day and have you make something up, @loke ]
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She reads the body language and low tone for what it is. She replies to him in an equally low voice. "We will have to speak later about this, Hamish."
Hamish looks at the maga and simply nods. "As you wish milady."
He looks again at the trencher and then back at Cath'rinne.
"Are you also on the council here?"