Fleur decides to write a single letter, to Solomon:
Dear Solomon, I must once again thank you for the advice you gave me before I set out alone on this mission to obtain vulcanus' apprentice. I hope that have a gifted son of a magus will prove useful in my pursuit of studies of heredity. Should Vulcanus prove too resistant and decide to violate the oath he has sworn I have made the acquaintance of one Quaesator Cornelius Bonisagus, who I believe would be able to arrange for an apprentice for me to foster while any issues are prosecuted in the tribunal proper, where he would of course represent me. He has quite the interest in the Waddenzee covenant, and while Baggins appears to be indisposed our meetin was quite fortunate. Give my est to Carmen and the others and let them known I should be arriving in Waddenzee a few days from the writing of this letter.
She sends it with a redcap back through the gate network and joins Cornellius at the appointed hour.
Along the way, Vornelius chats with Fleur about magical research.
[color=brown]Did you know that in the early days of the Order, almost all Lab activity was virtually Experimentation. A "safety factor was gradually introduced, reducing risk and lab totals gradually until it became standard practice and the standardized process we have today.
(blahblahblah)
What line of research are you working on? I had been researching Rune Magic with very limited results. All I have managed was incorporating Glyphs as a Duration, which turns out to not be that original. It can be found in a few old spells. From there I tried incorporating runes as a Form & Effect bonus, but the result is a painstaking process with several drawbacks and limited benefit.
So I scrapped all that.
My wife, Ava, she is a Sethir. A Danish Folk Witch. Though it is Hedge Magic, she is quite skilled at it and her potions are phenominal to say the least. Restoration of Fatigue and Healing from a charged item. Fascinating. I wish to duplicate the process.
(blahblahblah)
I met Ava through Constantius. She was his mistress, but after his wife died they fell apart. Then he fell in with Vulcanus and we grew apart. I suppose destiny works itself out in strange patterns.
The Covenant of Zealand, it isn't just one place. It starts with Signum of Criamon, last survivor of Herot (blahblahblah a story that has nothing to do with anything)
Cornelius is a nice enough guy, but he is boring and square and won't stop blabbering.
Carmen seems to plotting and planning. Antoine gives her space to do so; but after a little while waiting he approaches her. Madam Pontifex, do you have a plan? I would like to let Isolde know when I will be away.
Fleur smiles throughout his monologue, asking a few questions about his wife, whether he has started his longevity potion, she does remind him that her research is on heredity and the ability of magic to influence this. She is curious is Consantius is still alive, and if he is part of Waddenzee or still affiliated with Vulcanus. At one point she will ask about his opinion of mystery cults in general. Mostly though she listens on the way to Waddenzee.
Constantius, aka Ulrich, is currently at Bellaquin. He is Valgravian's business partner. It is through him that Vulcanus became involved there.
Cornelius is on longevity and has not considered children. He mentions Costantius has three kids, all married off now. One was abducted by elves and aged ten years overnight.
Carmen has been waiting on Antoine and Lucas to get in gear so they can get going. She is ready with the Flying Carpet Antoine made for the covenant.
Do you suppose you could write out the Lab Text for this thing?
Lucas is ready, even if he's still uncertain about the whole matter. Violating another magus's sanctum, even for a legitimate purpose like retrieving a stolen item, was not a matter to be undertaken lightly. But he was not going to let Antoine get killed doing this if he could help it. And he knows that his help could be invaluable.
"I'm ready," he says to Carmen and Antoine. "And while the carpet looks very comfortable, and relatively safe, I'd be happy to cast Wings of Daedalus on either or both of you, just in case of an accident during the flight there."
Wings of Daedalus is a flight spell with a duration of Moon. Lucas will certainly cast it on himself, and will be happy to cast it on Carmen and Antoine if they wish.
Wings of Daedalus on Lucas: 1D10+31 = [1]+31 = 32; success, 1 Fatigue
If needed:
Wings of Daedalus on Antoine: 1D10+31 = [9]+31 = 40; success
Wings of Daedalus on Carmen: 1D10+31 = [4]+31 = 35; success
Lucas has to wait 2 minutes to recover his 1 lost Fatigue.
Carmen has her mastered Wings of Soaring Wind and a tripple failsafe in her Talisman, so she declines the offer.
It will take most of the day to get there I figure. Maybe part of a second.
Antoine, in addition to a Lab Text, can you make additional devices for flight? Like a row boat that nervous Nelsons like Lucas can strap on to, maybe a higher speed device? Small items for the courageous like broomsticks people can ride?
I believe I am ready. Lucas, I will take your offer of a backup spell, thank you. The carpet is perfectly safe, of course, but plummeting through the air is never the best time to discover there was a problem!
Madam Pontifex, as for a lab-text, I believe that's unnecessary. I created this carpet from a text we obtained in trade with Pyramids; that text should still be in the library. I imagine the principles could be extended to other objects. A boat would have the advantage of being resonant for carrying people, which a broomstick would lack, of course. Perhaps with suitable shaping one could make a broomstick resonant for speed... And obviously both options would be Herbam, not Animal, so I'd have a harder time applying the lab text. If you want to try riding a horse skeleton, though, that should be closer!
OOC: How much time to plan did we get? The only preparation I can think of would be inventing a spell to detect the sword (above the level 5 Concentration/Hearing version on page 2, which Lucas and I can spont). Is there a guideline for detecting a specific magical object?
"I wouldn't say 'nervous' so much as 'careful,'" Lucas replies.
OOC: I notice Carmen isn't flying without a net either. 
You have an hour. Fleur took the portal network to Durenmar, and from there it will take a day or two to reach Wadanzee.
Carmen isn't so much uncautious as she is reckless. The carpet alone is the safety net. Otherwise, alone she would fly under her own power and teleport from horizon to horizon.
Lucas grabs a small satchel from his tower and returns within fifteen minutes, ready to go. "We could take the portal network to Cunfin," he suggests to Carmen. "That would save us hundreds of miles of travel, but wouldn't take us through Durenmar."
Brilliant suggestion Lucas! That will work perfectly.
Antoine just goes and gives Isolde and his kids* a quick hug, then makes sure he's wearing his artifacts - especially his Talisman (of course), and the Ring of Imperfect Invisibility.
I'm ready. Cunfin it is, then!
- By 1240, they'll have had a second child. I really need to update the Magi planner, and start thinking about Longevity.
(Finally trying to catch up...)
(Out of curiosity, did Carmen purposely ignore this part of Solomon's speech, or did Marko miss it? It's worth noting that Arachne was present and offered the position at the same time as Solomon, and Carmen offered in again, once they returned to Andorra. I had assumed the same was eventually coming for Solomon.)
"You could of course challenge her to Certamen, but I would think you would have to do so before she claims the apprentice as her own. Once the apprentice is claimed, her or she legally becomes Fleur's property, and you can not use Certamen to force another maga to give up, or keep, their own property."
Are we ready to arrive at Waddenzee? which group will arrive first?
They arrive at the same time
Give me a few days to settle into this new place (moving today). I will get going on all of the stories when set up.
So, you both arrive at the same time. Allow me to explain. Fleur spent the night at Durenmar, and it took only a day to get to Wadanzee in Cornelius' magic carriage. Then everyone else took the detour through the portal network to Harco then Cunfin, thinking it would be a shortcut.
They were wrong.
There was a major pile up at the Harco-Cunfin interchange. All outgoing portals were shut down, because of some magical fluctuation or something. Officials were short on explainations and long on excuses. So they couldn't even return to Andorra and just fly. They had to fly fom Harco, much further away.
And all dice landed on the two groups arriving at the same time.
Fleur spots the carpet up in the sky. Horus spots Fleur and relays that information to Lucas.
And Solomon, I will deal with him later 
Fleur smiles to herself and begins to straighten up as they approach the covenant, looking to Cornelius to hail the covenant as the senior magus.
Wadanzee is located on the coast of a haunted island. Fortunately the Magic Carriage of Cornelius can travel over water.
The covenant consists of a large Danish style long house, with various buildings of eclectic style adoining it on either style. One, to the far rear, is a stone tower nearly identical to one of the towers at the Arans keep. Though this one is far older.
Cornelius speaks with the grogs and gets frustrated at the runaround and rigmarole they keep giving him. Eventually the come to the point where they claim no one is home, when an annoyed magus comes out yelling
What the hell is taking so long to...
Oh, hello Cornelius. Fancy meeting you here.
Cornelius glares wide eyed.
[color=brown]Eric Ribecus of Tytalus. You yet live!
Meanwhile in the sky...
Lucas! Antione! Turn invisible, quick! Before that carriage below spots us! That tower over there. That's the one!
Quickly, and without a word, Lucas turns invisible.
Cast Cloak of Invisibility.
Invisibility Spell: 1D10+14 = [2]+14 = 16
Okay, Lucas will be resting on the carpet for a couple of minutes.