Year 10, Spring
Vorsutus was sure until the end that the city would hold. That Mathieus and the grand power of the defenders would prevail. And he would do his part as well as he could, for one so young in Hermetic terms. Yet he had failed already without knowing it.
The clashes leading up to the final battle were much the same, though the intensity built up as all appeared to know the conclusion in any case was drawing nearer. Vorsutus had such a wide collection of Connections with which to divine by this point that he couldn't make beneficial use of them all in a day. He fed constant information to his allies, thwarting attempted breaches repeatedly if indirectly.
And yet in the end it was all for naught. Returning to the now fortress-like atmosphere of Thermakopolis one evening Vorsutus fell into a haze of prescience. A vision of the possibility and such a pivotal moment that he felt almost compelled to follow it. In an almost trance state he let the vision lead him down into the treasury of Thermakopolis to find Amina there, the doors wide and the protections disarmed.
He stood silently watching as she looted from the treasures of his friends and would-be Covenant-mates until she suddenly appeared to notice him. Then she laughed as if a child caught stealing from the kitchen. He walked forward as she began to speak, looking down at a fractured and clearly no longer functional device ... a crystalline orb set into a fine apparatus the had helped enchant not so long ago. He held up a hand interrupting her. "It is clear this is more than theft." he said, his anger palpable. "I can't believe-"
And then he was motionless. Not insensate, but locked in place somehow.
"My dear husband. You've grown so much these past few years. But I think you need so much more. I have plans for us both. You were wasting your life away like a Jerbiton until all of this. Now look at you! Trust me, my love, this will only make us both stronger. You will suffer, I know, but I am not sorry for it. For I can not wait to meet the new you when all of this is concluded. For I have faith you will stand the test of the fire and emerge rarefied." she said. After that a kiss, and then the next thing he remembered was waking in a distant townhouse for the city.
A townhouse occupied nominally by the Crusaders. But really by the Hermetic allies amongst them. The siege was over and he recognized some of those Latins now as being among those who knew him as the "husband of their ally" from not so long ago. All was as it had been arranged to be. By Amina.
He felt if anything a fool. Yet he was alive.
(Adventure: +8xp (+8xp Parma Magica) + Reward: ???)
(Fall/Sack of Constantinople)
Year 10, Summer
As the city settled into a state of occupation the magical world reeled with the great destruction of longstanding Covenants. Including Thermakopolis. Vorsutus was grateful in some ways to have survived yet he could not stomach the deeds or how readily his wife profited from them. How she had shattered so many lives, including the one he was building with her here, with purpose and foresight. She seemed convinced that eventually he would understand what she had done. He was less certain.
Going amongst the others, the survivors of the defense, he did what little he could to give aid and try to help arrange especially for those of the Cult and the League to which he was so friendly were able to exit the city unharmed. In these interactions he again encountered the Quaesitor Regulus doing similar work. Again he paused to converse with the man, the sense of growing entanglement surrounding him again. Vorsutus was perhaps too much still stunned by how these affairs had transpired to be a pleasant conversationalist.
It was during these days that he came to become acutely aware that his visions no longer included Amina, and that he had been so distracted with affairs that he had not noticed. Prying open the ring he had made he detected that the Connection to her was gone. She had planned this so far ahead it would seem. And blocked herself from his Sight to achieve it.
He gathered his things and made a silent departure with the next group of Cult members that he assisted instead joining them in their relocation via magical means to a distant Sacred Grove of the Cult in Rome. One he knew well.
(Exposure: +2xp Cult of Mercury Lore)
(+1 Warping)
(Regulus Interaction2)
Year 10, Autumn
The idyllic temple was perhaps just what he needed, deep in his heart, to recover from the lengthy ordeal of such sustained conflict and violence. To say little of such a close betrayal. The ancient High Priest seemed to read everything in even just his bearing and, hugging him close, welcomed him "home" in a way that made him feel utterly and completely welcomed and accepted. It was difficult to keep his composure after that.
At first he simply partook of the usual rights and functioning of the temple, striving to see it all done "right" as he had learned when he had done his year of service. Yet the high priest would have none of it. That was work for those doing "their" year of service, not for him.
This freed him from constant demands. It was then that he turned his mind, and considerably more developed skills, to an old problem he had not thought about in entirely too long. The birds stealing the sacred fruits of the trees of the grove. He spent several days wandering the grove itself after that, searching and letting his visions play out in his mind. And eventually he discovered a single new, significant and possibility laden it seemed to his eye, almost blue-black feather.
Unlike before this time his skills were up to the test. He was shocked at what he learned over several hours of divinations and calculations. There was in fact only one bird. But it was a bird of significant power, able to fly through some unknown means in and out of places like the regio of the grove.
As he sat in the grove itself and considered what to do about it he heard very Raven-like caw. Looking up a bird to match the feather in his hand was looking back at him. "I was just thinking about you." he said after a moment. "You seem to like eating things that don't belong to you. Yet perhaps we could make a deal?"
And the bird answered.
(Adventure: +8xp (+5xp Cult of Mercury Lore, +3xp Intrigue) + Reward: Find Familiar)
Year 10, Winter
The high priest was overjoyed to hear that there was a solution to his bird problem. He volunteered the use of a laboratory on the temple grounds immediately and Vorsutus set to work sealing the bargain with his new friend. Formerly thieving the fruit to keep up its considerable magical strength the mystical raven seemed naturally compatible with Vorsutus and had been slowly persuaded as the two came to know one another over a span of several weeks that life, a longer life at that, as a familiar without such needs was a compelling offer. An offer too good to refuse.
As Vorsutus forged his connection with his new familiar the high priest undertook at work of his own. Noting the young Magus was in need and of an age for it to be relevant he had determined to perform a longevity ritual for him. He named a price low enough that it raised the eyebrows on Vorsutus in surprise. "Believe me young man, if your bird isn't eating the fruit anymore this arrangement will all pay for itself!" the older man cackled.
(Bind Familiar)(+LP)
(Exposure: +2xp Magic Theory)