Chapter 7: Homecoming

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Novus Mane
#1

Start of the Winter season of 1221. For this day the snow have come to Novus Mane and Aeliauns have summoned to a new council meeting. He have over the past seasons been occupied with first the construction of both his new fishing fleet and then his contribution to the magical items contest. Then his attention turned to the tribunal and the preparation for his initiation into the confraternity and the attempt to make Novus mane’s area into a self ruling commune. Aelianus have realised that the covenant managing takes a great deal of more time then he thought that it would do.

[color=red]Soldaes welcome to our council table. Aelianus pause for a moment. [color=red]I have an announcement that I wish to make. First of all as you have noticed our village is trying and in some way succeeding into becoming independent with a self ruling council. I intend that we will rule this new founded commune with informal power as we are the largest employer and owns most of the houses. This is a project that might cause some strife but then again it will give our covenant greater glory in the long run. We will not bow our backs to some mundane.

Now however to the big news... Aelianus pauses yet again for a bit of dramatic effect. [color=red]I have decided to allow each and everyone of my soldaes to become senior magi of Novus Mane thus your voice are now equal to my own in this council. Each and every one of you my soldaes however still have the right to do as you wish with your own personal resources, they are not bound by the council unless they affect the covenant in some greater way.

[color=red]Now raise your glass and we bring out a toast to your new position of power here at Novus Mane. Aelianus raise his glass and smiles at his soldaes.

Diodorus lies on a shelf in the council room looking at the magi and thinking to himself. Now my pet magus have a way with words. He tries to convince his soldaes that they are getting a reward when they are just taking the burden of his back. Well… humans… Diodorus close his eyes and tries to sleep.

#2

[color=red]Sigh...

Wirth sits appart, visibly uninterested by all this. At least, the village news is a good thing, although boring news. Anyway, should clara and he have a mundane child, he'll thus have a chance to make friends outside the covenant.

Come to think of it... That woman from Shadows of the Past... She promised help. What is she doing?

#3

Roberto raises a glass of Spanish wine (we brought some back with us, it is almost all gone now).[color=red] Respect and Honor, friend Aelianus! Yours has been a wise leadership, and I am honored to be your peer. God bless Novus Mane, may we grow Hale and Strong!

#4

Desperatly trying to catch up. I will try to get something done this weekend

#5

[color=red]Now we have a few concerns to take care off. Aelianus drinks a zip of wine. [color=red]First off all we must help our village to remain independent though without meddling in mundane affairs.My suggestion is that we get an oversized mundane force that protects our monetary interest in the village. Perhaps even set up a force of horsemen to make any mundane foe fear our retribution. I does not normally think of these mundane affairs so I am a bit out of my game here.

There are two mundane noblewomen or was it noblemen, can’t remember, and one of them have show us some interest I terms of trying to steal our covenants mundane wealth though what they call taxation. It is only a small matter of time before the other one starts trying to bully us out of our silver. Until then we only have to worry that our noble tax collector does not send some form of hired killers to collect the tax. I such case we will have to defend our village and as you know we are at the fringes of the code here.

Yet more problem, a large mundane guard force will drain our mundane wealth just like the tax collectors and how do we know that we can trust those mundanes when they are given power? Should we hire some men or shall we recruit a drillmaster and then train our own force.

Now my personal wealth are a bit scarce so we have to do with the covenants resources and as we all know we are a bit short on mundane wealth even though I have drawn up plans to erect a smoke house for fish as soon as our fishing operation is up to full strength.

#6

[color=green]Roberto:[color=red]I don't think horsemen are necessary. To expensive, and it will make people think we have more money than we do.. Maybe a small unit of four at the most. What would serve us best is a score of men-at-arms, that can keep order in the town, guard our shipments & deliveries, serve as a shield custos, and so on. Not the run of the mill "slap-some-mail-on him-and-hand-him-a-spear" lakeys. I mean quality soldiers with a variety of useful skills.

#7

[color=red]Don't we have some competent companions? It seems to me that setting up such a quality force should be easy to Jan Axel or Kilica.

They could also direct it, thus helping us to avoid any charge of mundane interference.

#8

At the announcement of his new status within the Covenant, Halvard looks very pleased with himself as his pride puffs up a little more.

[color=red]I will defer to Roberto on military matters. But i will point out that we need a force or a plan to defend the ford. I have been giving some thought to a new spell that could be very useful in that regard.

But I had something else to discuss

Halvard pushing a pawn of vis onto the table.

[color=red]As we try to grow as a Covenant we will always be pushed for finding vis. Most of the areas are already claimed so we must either rediscover the old ones of Novus Main or find new ones.

Most of you ( looks at Nestor) [color=red]know that twice a year an event happens that I...participate in. After the last Hunt I found myself near another human hunter who had been driven mad by the events of the night. I brought him back here with some new help I hired and performed some experiments. I was able to extract this ( pointing at the pawn) [color=red]pawn of Mentum vis.

Could we do this every year? I doubt it but we should give some thought to what we might be able to do. We know where the Hunt will be twice a year for at least a little while. We should be able to take advantage of that. Our biggest concern would be to not anger the Huntsman.

#9

[color=red]I think that there are multiple Wild Hunts in various locations. Some Tremere maga claims she has trapped the Wild Hunt of England in some caves. Either she is mistaken or there is more than one hunt. Tell me, Havlard, does this local Hunt bear great resemblance to the one you knew ack in Mann, or is it somehow different? (makes a magic theory/magic lore check) [color=red]I am theorizing that the Huntsman is some kind of Faerie Daimon.

#10

[color=red]I see the Hunt the same way but others have told me that it looks different to them. I me the Huntman rides a black horse and has Antlers on his head. Others have told me that the Huntman is an old man with one eye and a spear.

#11

[color=red]One eye and a spear? What kind of lame hunter is that? (LOL) [color=red]But anyways, Vis is indeed an important resource, but the Library is even more important. We have a few good books, bbut our collection is woefully incomplete. We don't even have every Art covered! And our spell selection is weak. We need more Lab Texts and more Summae.

#12

[color=green]Wirth
[color=red]
Might be fun :smiling_imp: Usefull too. But if we do it, we'll do it away from the covenant.

[color=red]
Trade one for the other.
I don't care for mentem vis anyway.

#13

Aelianus speaks. [color=red]I agree with you all, we need books. The few vis we earn could be used to buy some new books. Is there anyone who wish that we start fleshing out our books collection in any particular way? Otherwise I will try to get the best deal with Florum or whomever will trade us some books. Now we need more plans for our mundane protection. We need a long term plan and a short term plan as things are getting ugly in this part of the world. I don’t wish that we have no plan and a mundane army here to demand a fire tax from the village. Perhaps we should send out Dragor to gather information while we are planning.

#14

[color=red]That seems most wise. Who else do we have to draw upon?

#15

[color=red]Florum is sadly not the greatest military power so there is not much aid to get from there and there are any military power to get from any vassals of Florum. I think that we are the greatest military power so we are a bit on our own here… and not in a good place to be. Aelianus ponders some more.

#16

[color=red]No, no. I meant Companion wise, who do we have to draw on? Marcellus would make an excellent religeous leader for the town for example.

#17

[color=red]"I can find out what Shadow's of the past would be willing to trade. However I doubt they would be interested in trading for Vis or our own books

#18

[color=green]Wirth
[color=red]
Good for us. Bad for them :smiling_imp:
Whoever did it [color=blue](who did this???) [color=red]shouldn't have send away my pirates. Now, we're gonna pay for it.
And now? Have that Jan Axel guy take some grogs and do something useful. Train the turb and villagers, for exemple.

#19

[color=green]Wirth
[color=red]By the way... My wife has... Exprimed the desire to help us. One season might be fine. I think she could deal with mundane relationships at home. Something like that. Unless someone has a better idea, of course... (And it better be a good one, says wirth's looks)

#20

(OCC, I will do this in the open, since none of the players will be fooled, though the characters might. B

Wirth, one of the new laborers, Ronald Montehugh, he is working on the wall with the stonemasons as part of the local labor crew. When he sees you, he gives you a nod and a wink and momentarilly relaxes his magical disguise. The other laborers and masons, also pirates. They formed a secret society, and one day you recieve a secret message inviting you to their clandestine meeting (3 nights after the council meeting). You are asked to kep this knowledge a secret, to keep complaining about the pirates being sent away, and the message self destructs when you are finished (how did it know you were done?).