The magi in my saga are currently trying to seize control of a small fief. In itself, that isn't terribly difficult. We are interested in suggestions, however, in how to do that without getting Marched or provoking an armed response from the local nobility.
Some brief history: The year is 1212. Our covenant is located on a vineyard in Languedoc (fairly close to Albi, in fact). The vineyard nominally owed fealty to a wealthy knight, though this knight has recently died in battle. The magi's laboratories are located in a cave beneath the villa where most of the covenfolk lived. Prior to the beginning of the Albigensian crusade in 1209, the vineyard was quite prosperous (minor wealth boon), but it is currently inactive.
At the start of the crusade, the magi decided that they were unwilling to abandon the covenant but couldn't really defend (or hide) it, either. So, they sent away all the covenfolk (save for a handful of loyal retainers) and hid themselves in the cave in the hope that they could hide until the crusade was over.
Unfortunately, the Albigensian crusade lasted a long time, and a highly prosperous vineyard proved a tempting target to the crusaders. The vineyard (and the villa) have been occupied by a few crusading knights who don't look to be going anywhere any time soon. Attempts to outwait the knights proved futile, because there's only so long you can hide out underground eating CrHe(An) magical rabbit pellets. So, the magi found an alternative escape route from the cave. Unfortunately, the alternative escape route was through a dangerous regio, and the magi were forced to leave their retainers (including an apprentice and a familiar) behind.
Now, we want our covenant back, so our problem is this: We have to somehow get rid of (or suborn) the knights occupying the vineyard, reassert control of said vineyard, and then secure the covenant against crusader reprisal. Our initial thought was that we should simply take some of our (considerable) wealth, hire an army of our own, evict the occupying knights, and then quickly build whatever defenses we might need to hold the covenant in our own right. The problem, of course, is that the occupying knights probably have the backing of someone who has the backing of ... (etc.) ... someone who has the backing of the leaders of the crusade and/or the King of France. That's a war we can't win.
Currently, most of the fighting is occurring many miles south of the covenant. If possible, we'd like to keep it that way. (Historically, the crusaders pretty quickly secured northern Languedoc and merely had to put down the occasional revolt or insurrection around Albi itself.)
Assets:
*Tremere magus. An Herbam specialist with a Gentle Gift. He knows The Bountiful Feast and is the reason the vineyard had been so prosperous.
*Bonisagus magus. A Creo specialist with a Blatant Gift. He has a focus in Healing but is more skilled in CrIg than the he admits.
*Jerome, the son of the vineyard's previous (mundane) overlord. While not a knight, Jerome is of the knightly class and has recently come of age. During the war, the magi hid him in a nearby monastery at the request of his father, who was killed during the crusade. Jerome might make a decent tame nobleman.
*Silver. The magi have a lot of it, and CrTe can make more, if necessary. Money is no object to the covenant. (In our Tribunal, creating silver ex nihilo is not yet illegal, but we rather expect that to change at the next Tribunal.)
*There are no fortifications in the vineyard, so the knights don't really have the capacity to hold off a siege.
Liabilities:
*A lance of mounted warriors is occupying the covenant. Moving against them too obviously would (probably) invite serious reprisal from their lord.
*We don't worship every iota of the Code, but we'd like not to be Marched at the next Tribunal.
*We're not sympathetic to the crusaders, but we'd also just as soon not do anything too evil in taking back our covenant. Ultimately, both magi are relatively pious (for magi, at least), and neither wants to go to Hell.
Wild Cards:
*The monastery up the road. Our previous mundane overlord founded it to keep tabs on us, and our relationship with it has always been a little complex. Some of the monks remain skeptical to hostile to the two reputed "heathen sorcerers," but the vineyard has been pretty generous in its charity to both the monastery and the peasantry. Moreover, at least two of the monks are firm allies of the magi due to our assistance in clearing up a little diabolist problem. The monastery is probably an ally, but using it increases the risk that the Inquisition will come calling.
*House Tremere. As a Tremere, our He specialist is a bit of a drop-out, so it would be fairly difficult for him to secure aid from his House. Currently, he and the House leave each other alone, but the drastic changes in his circumstances might lead the local exarch to reevaluate things.
Any suggestions?
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