Iolar volunteers to take the message to Marrissa , she can get there the fastest of anyone. She also offers to come along saying that she needs to travel to Greece at some point anyway.
She is able to confirm that Marrissa will have everything in place for the ritual when you arrive when she returns from Shadows of the Past
As to the grogs , I think we have
1 Old man
3 Others
The grogs Roberto brought
Assorted Pirates
So let me know where you get them from
Having made some notes on this the biggest problem you are going to have is finding a guide or translator. It seems to me reasonable that house Mercere could provide such a service for a reasonable fee, it would help prevent incidents involving Hermetic magi and the munane world. So unless you object you will have arranged to meet with a redcap when you sail from spain and then join up with another redcap , when you switch ships to travel to Constantinople
Seems to me like the reasonnable course of action.
Another would be to contact local covenants and ask for such a translator, if need be
The group is able to get transport on a boat sailing from the nearby town along the coast to Santander . This is fairly expensive as the captain has to put up with three gifted magi , three women and a few grogs on his boat . This does not make him or his crew happy . Fortunatly the weather for the journey is fairly good and nothing much happens to make the crew regret their choice . Although Iolar causes much aggrevation by having a fit of histrionics which causes the ship to miss the tides on one day trapping it in the harbout it was stopped in overnight. The crew seem to forgive this after they see the sudden storm which blows up in the afternoon and would have swept the vessel on to a rocky lee shore in the bay of biscay.
The mages find it best to largely keep to themselves in the Forecastle of the ship where they will not disturb the crew , so while boring they avoid incident and arrive in Santander.
[color=blue]I am going fairly quickly through some bits of the journey to get you to the plot. Anything anyone wants to do on this bit of the journey?
Don't e have our own seamen and ship captain? We could just rent a boat or hijack it.
I don't think there are ships to rent in this period , you could buy one or hijack one though.
that will just complicate the adventure with adventuring 
Change our appearances to other persons while stealing it, and we'll be fine, at least until we return...
No, I won't risk this.
[color=blue]That's settled then you booked passage on a merchant ship as described above to Santander
Having arrived at Santander the group set off across the Iberian peninsula to Barcelona where they will catch another ship. The weather is good largely being warm and dry and good time is made without too much dust , the group has to use a wagon as some of them are not able to ride horses. Iolar seems to enjoy the journey most as she spends much of the time everyone else spends grinding along the road soaring overhead and enjoying the fine flying weather. As a bonus she provides freshly killed pigeons and Hares to supplement the rations of the group.
Roberto does not find anyone he know's along the route most of his colleagues dwell further along the Iberian peninsula and the journey is largely uneventful until the group approach Barcelona.
Yay Barceolna! Roberto knows a good winehouse here called the Gold Gryphon 
The Group spends a few days in Barcelona staying at the Gold Gryphon before the ship they have booked passage on is ready. The city is quiet and the mages are able to avoid attention by staying to themselves and meeting only with a few old colleagues of Robero at the inn.
Finally the ship is ready to sail to Sicily and the group are able to depart
(OCC - That was a tie in to my Andorra game 
. The magi were recently in Barcelona, and they watched a troubador perform at the Gold Gryphon. It is in a multicultural part of town (as Barcelona is an international trade center), but is on the edge of the Jewish neighborhood. The Magi of Barcelona Covenant are very watchful of visitors, and the Gold Gryphon is one of the few public places that are relatively safe. The owner of the place is totally gay; with the Dark Secret Flaw of course, Roberto has no clue nor does anyone else know, but in a modern setting he would be quickly identified by his mannerisms).
I am moving fairly quickly through the journey as I don't intend to run any plots along the way (As if I did that it is possible that it would take me foreer to get you there) however I am also delaying the main plot until Fixer is able to rejoin us
That's cool. I am just his sidekick on this one.
The Journey from Barcelona to Syracuse in Sicily is not a hard one, the weather in the medditterenean is good with none of the sudden storms which can wreck ships springing up. The crew to are less of a problem than on the earlier journey they have been contracted by the order of Hermes before and so have some familiarity with the gift . While they don't like the magi they seem content to just ignore them and finsih the journey as fast as possible to get rid of them
Andrew, I think you and I are the only ones present in this thread 
Fixer is busy for a while so I am just going to move up until the point of the arrival in Greece and leave it there for a bit
As the days passed, Wirth's mood just become darker and darker, his fears and doubts eating up at him. Even clara can't seem to cheer him up, maybe because she's not exactly at ease either.
The two lovers spent a lot of time together, mostly alone, especially as wirth shuns every other human contact, even roberto's, although it is clear he appreciates a lot his sodales help and presence on board.
The young couple stay very close to each other, often holding hands or embracing each other, trying to find comfort in their respective presence.
[color=green]Roberto: [color=red]Hey Wirth! Let's go fishing off of the back of the boat. Use a long line, the fish don't detect the Gift ntil it is too late. Mundane fishing, no magic. I bet you a pawn of vis I catch more than you do!
Wirth turns from clara a moment, visibly trying to be polite and smile
[color=red]I thank you for our offer and challenge, roberto. Maybe once this is over? But not now.