Ex-miscellanea would be my guess, same as for any wizard already trained yet just joining the Order. And his magic is not Hermetic. It is Draconic.
:mrgreen:
Jerbiton is a no go, for though he is scholarly and has an appreciation of mundanes, he has Magical Air. None of you ever noticed because of your Parma.
Flambeau is a possibility. But first you have to hold a contest or challenge judged by Flambeau magi. Doable. Just nothing yet done.
(Okay...slight rewrite, then.)
[color=red]"I don't know his True Name, I've only ever known him as Sigmund. And I'm afraid I don't have an Arcane Connection," Vibria says, even though she knows the latter is patently false.
She waits for a couple of beats before she continues,[color=red]"Oh, and there's also the fact that casting that spell on him would be a violation of the Code."
[color=brown]Eh? Why would it be a violation? Whar are you not telling me?. Peregrinis looks at you with grave concern.
[color=red]"Surely you remember the oath we all swore," Vibria says, not trying very hard not to smirk. It's not often she gets the upper hand, and she's going to enjoy it while she can. [color=red]"'I will not use magic to scry upon members of the Order of Hermes, nor shall I use it to peer into their affairs.' I don't know how well Sigmundo filius _______________ ex Miscellanea will take to having anyone magically scry on him, no matter how well-intentioned it may be."
Perigrinus stammers and is about to turn purple with outrage.
[color=brown]Wha..., Th..., Of all the..., It...
Are you #%*!+ing serious?!?
The king and queen look confused and try to get peregrinus to explain.
Then the doors fly open and Sigmundo strides in boldly
My granddaughter is utterly serious. And so am I! We have a serious problem at hand, and we best act quickly.
Vibria my dear, I have some disturbing news. War has broken out between the Dragong Kings.
[color=red]"I am completely and utterly serious, Peregrinus. 
"
[color=red]"Who's on which side, Grandfather?" Vibria says as she spins to face Sigmundo, all signs of joviality gone in a flash. [color=red]"And what brought about this war?"
There is much I have learned in the last hour. I apologize for leaving without warning. Smok invoked ancient privilege and we had to discuss matters in private.
I honestly thought Smok was dead and I had no idea that there have been dragons secretly meeting under the umbrella of his protection.
Forget what I told you, and nevermind what these people have said. They have good reason to hide the truth, and the truth they have is distorted. Smok is a very clever lizard he is.
But that is a story for latter. In brief, Smok lives and he has had an agreement with the kings. He was never killed or chased out or any of that. He has always been the true ruler of the land and this Heryk here is one of his descendants. Jaksic is his idiot son by his own great grand daughter. Be wary of that hazzard.
The war is not in Poland here. It is in Car..., in the Trasylvanian Tribunal. The dragon kings there are divided into two camps based on certain affiliations with cosmic powers.
Understand what I mean by "Dragon King". We are the very top level of our kind, controlling land and comannding lesser dragons. Like a human king. I have my mountain and I rule all the local drakes and wyverns there. Smok is the true ruler of this city and the caves under it.
Dragons are very very territorial. And our unwritten laws concerning it is not unlike the code we magi have concerning our sanctums. In times of peace, we are to only cross upon another king's territory by invitation or permission. So I was a tresspasser. Smok is fine about it, there are more pressing concerns before us and he asked for my help. The other dragons here are here because he invited them, something he didn't tell Henryk. But the council is over and the dragons from the east dispersed.
Vibria, the problem we have is that this thing could boil over quickly and turn into a feud between dragons accross the world. And I will be forced to choose sides. The blood of SuGarr is strong amongst the Dragons of the Pyrenees. And I fear that they would choose the Chthonic Kings.
But the problem with that is that there are Hermetic magi involved, aligned with Sebastian and and the Eldrich Kings.
It is all very complicated. I will explain along the way. Come. We must quickly away to Transylvania. We are brining Jalsic with us. Don't worry about Henryk here. He works for Smok.
Peregrinus begins stammering again. Hewig translates for the king, and Henryk just smiles and makes excuses. Jalsic will tell you he said something about the family sticks together.
Vibria listens to Sigmundo, her frown deepening as he continues (and feeling like she's getting in over her head but resolved to see it through and learn what she can from the experience).
She smiles at Jacsik. [color=red]"I totally understand. Now, come," she says as she takes him by the hand. [color=red]"We have a war to stop. Or, if we fail at that, to win."
In a strange way, it feels like Sigmundo is the Doctor, Vibria one of his assistants (Susan?), and Jaksic is the side character joining as a minor assistant.
Anyway...
Vibria grabs Jaksic by the hand and goes running after grandfather. Out at the edge of town you meet with Smok. Simundo chats briefly with him about the goal: try to prevent/end a dragon war, or at least keep it contained to Carpathia (Translyvania).
Sigmundo looks at Vibria and Jack.
Speed is of the essence. I had hoped to avoid doing this, but there is no other way. Stand back.
Sigmundo's form glows and mutates, changing before your eues into a wyrm style dragon that is impossibly long.
[size=125]Hop on, both of you. the fastest way to get there is to fly. and my fastest flight speed is in my natural for. come! let us off and away![/size]
Vibria stands back and watches, awestruck, with a smile that almost outshines the sun. [color=red]Someday, hopefully soon, I'll be able to do that, she thinks.
Once Sigmundo has fully transformed, she climbs on. She then reaches down and helps Jacsik onto Sigmundo's back behind her. [color=red]"Get a good hold," she tells the young man.
Once he's settled, she will tell Sigmundo that they're ready to go.
Them away you go! High in the clouds, riding on the back of a mile long dragon. A handsome young man has his arms wrapped around you for dear life. This seems so natural to you, so normal.
No. Not quite.
It would seems so much more proper if you were the one in flight...
Vibria screams with joy as she feels the wind whip by her, hair billowing behind her. [color=red]"Have you ever felt anything so exciting, Jacsik?" she yells over her shoulder to be heard over the gale.
She half-closes her eyes for good parts of the voyage, trying to take everything in using all her senses. The sound of Sigmundo's wings pounding the air below them, the biting cold smell of the air, the sound of the wind rushing over them, even the feel of Sigmundo's muscles under her as they power his wings. She finds herself raising and lowering her arms in time to his wings, imaging how it would feel to be able to fly under her own power as he does, and longing for the day when she can take her draconian form.
Part of her wishes that they would never reach the Carpathians, that they could stay airborne forever, and she knows that they have an arduous task ahead of them.
When you yell back to him, Jaksic smiles nervously. Then he ralphs.
But he hangs in there.
Latter he will mention how he envies your close relationship with Sigmundo. Smok and Henryk treat him like a retarded stooge. He claims it isn't his fault when they give him unclear and contradicting instructions.
The wind feels good and the open sky is liberating. You wonder if this is how Carmen feels, and contemplate the study of Auram. Or better yet, Muto to shapeshift into a dragon form. Or would it be more natural to learn the mystery of being a shapeshifter like Sigmundo and Smok?
This is your birthright, as a maga and dragon kin.
I am the Dragon that soars though the night.
Fear me as you hear me roar with might!
The whole world belongs to me by my right
And I'll devour everything in sight!
That quote is a bit from a poem I wrote long ago. In game, I shall attribute it to Fulminera of Flambeau, Vibria's matter, from her great masterwork "Legacy of the Forked Dragon".
You think back wondering. What did she know? What does she know?
A storm kicks up. A violent and viscious thunderstorm. Sigmundo lands and assumes the form of a red lion. Up ahead on a hill, illuminated by a flash of lightning, there stands the infamous Scholomance.
(As a side note, Jacsik is the name of my ex's brother. I am not at all Polish, but my son Patrick is. :mrgreen: )
Let's see if Vibria can show off just a little bit, by magicking the puke away. Looks to me like it would be PeCo base 3 ("Do superficial damage to a body (for example, remove its hair)."), R: Voice +2, D: Momentary, T: Individual? (Or would it be Group +2?), for a Target Level of 5 (or 15). Assuming it's Individual, her Casting Total would be Sta 2 + Pe 5 + Co 5 + Aura 0* + die roll of 0 = 12 ÷ 2 =6. At best.
So. Botch check. Normal botch die comes up a 2. The Weird Magic botch die is a 3.
If it's Individual, she got exactly what she needed to get the spell off without her Chaotic Magic kicking in. If it's Group, she didn't (and her Chaotic Magic may have gone off).
[color=red]"Of course it's not," she says as she pats his hand. [color=red]"You have two people, one a dragon and one your lord, pulling you this way and that, almost anyone would be torn. I can tell you're not an idiot.
"Have you considered telling one or the other that you can no longer serve them? Or leaving them both altogether and going someplace else?"
Scholomance...Scholomance. The name sounds familiar, but all my Ars books are boxed up (I'm moving in two weeks, huzzah!). Hmm...Google says it's World of Warcraft. Totally not what I was thinking, and have actually never played (or paid attention to the posts on my gaming group's list about WoW stuff). What does Vibria know about it, if anything? Int 1 + Order of Hermes Lore (History) 2 + die roll of 2 5. Will burn a Confidence point to bump it to 8 if it will help.
Your anti-vomit spell works perfectly. And you know, I bet if you made an item like a wand or broom enchanted with that effect, every bar would want one. Simply an awesome idea you have there.
:mrgreen:
When Vibria suggests he should leave, he shrugs. [color=green]Where would I go? I have no wealth or title, no other relatives, and no special skills other than a basic education. I suppose that's something. And some minor paranormal talents. The languages thing, the syght, I suppose I could find a way to exploit that.
The Oppidum of the Scholomance...
Yeah, bump it up by a Confidence point. You need to know this stuff.
It is a subject of real world folk legend, but Vibria doesn't know any of that. What she does know is that it is a wizard's school, kinda like Hogwarts if Harry Potter was written by Sterhen King. They call it the Devil's School. They take on a number of mundane students to train as Redcaps or specialists for the Tremere, and one apprentice magus. Vocis, in his trip to Transylvania, returned with two such scholars to serve as teachers at Andorra.
It is a magic castle that appears in random locations in the Carpathians, atop a high mountain pass in thunderstorms.
The leader of the covenant is still the famous Simimum of Bjornaer, whose books you read as an apprentice.
But that is not why you have come here.
Sigmundo has taken the shape of a Red Lion large enough that he lets Vibria and Jack ride on his back. You ride up to the castle, the gates magically opening as you approach, a man in a dark robe awaiting you.
[color=green]I trust this is not good news.
You dismount and Sigmundo assumes human form
[color=brown]It could be better....
I am Sigmund Ex-Miscellanea, this is my sodale and champion Vibria of Flambeau, and our companion Jaksic Smokski. We bring dire news. The Dragons Wars are upon us. We must warn the Order. We also need to speak with your headmaster. But first I need a chat with you Sebastian.
Vibria, would you be a dear and go meet with Headmaster Simimum? Take Jaksic with you. I'll be right along.
[color=red]"I'm sure you have plenty of skill, you just haven't had the chance to use them yet," Vibria says with a smile. After a few moment, seemingly deep in thought, she continues. [color=red]"You actually have more going for you than you think. A lot of people at Andorra don't have wealth or some useless title, and the only family they have is who they find there. And most people don't even have a basic education. My former maidservant and her best friend can't read or write, and can only do basic maths. I'm certain Andorra can put you to work using your skill with languages and being able to see things as they really are. If you're interested"
[color=red]"Yes, Sigmund," Vibria says with a dutiful nod. She caught how he described himself, and her, and is determined not to give anything away.
She turns and takes Jacsik by the arm with a smile. [color=red]"Stay close to me as much as possible," she says softly as she looks around. [color=red]"This place doesn't have the best of reputations, and it's probably best if we don't wander off." She looks for someone who looks like they belong there and approaches.
[color=red]"Excuse me, I'm looking for Simimun?" she says politely. (Unless she sees a sign that says "←Simimun | Torture Chamber & Gift Shop →" or something, in which case she won't.)
(that las quip still has me cracking up)
Yo have totally made Jaksic's day. He is often Judged Unfairly, and he may well cling to you. But you know how that goes.
[color=green]Why, I thank you for the praise Miss Vibria! Ma'am. Thanx for the invitation too! I would be glad to employ my talents in service to you at Andorra when this is all over.
You get to Scholomance, are greeted bu their autocrat Sebastian, he and Sigmund go off for a private chat., Vibria is tasked with finding Headmaster Simium, Jaksic follows her, they bypass the torture chamber/giftshop.
Vibria notices Scholomance's heraldic symbol is a dragon. And she now encounters a Custos that introduces himself as...
[color=blue]Greetings maga. I am Dragor, Autocrat of the Exterior. How may I help you?
The man is a tall Serb, bald with piercing gray eyes, dressed in dark robes.
A torch flickers as the shadow of something flutters by.
Vibria smiles warmly at Jacsik. [color=red]"No need to be so formal when we're alone. Just 'Vibria' will do." She finds that she can relate to Jacsik, in a way, with the way that people form the wrong impression about them both from the moment they meet, and refuse to accept anything that shows them that they're wrong about them.
She will study the symbol, and try to remember which tale (if any) her grandfather may have told her, or that she may have come across in her own studies, this symbol is supposed to represent. Or, if not a tale, which dragon.
Vibria stands tall and proudly as she takes in the Autocrat of the Exterior, even as she wonders if that title means what she thinks it means (i.e. an autocrat whose sole or primary function is to deal with visitors and people or things from outside the covenant).
[color=red]"Salve, Dragor. I am Maga Vibria Flambonis, and this is my companion Jacsik. I am to meet with Simimun," she says as she tries to muster up the air of someone who has gone to great effort to clear this little pinhole in her schedule and has little time to waste, thankyouverymuch.
Vibria spares a quick glance in that direction to see what just passed by.
Vibria quickly looks around yet sees not the cause of the fluttering shadow.
Your assertation of terms is correct. I borrowed the idea from Val-Negra. The Autocrat of the Interior is the dominant position and manages the internal workings of the covenant. The Autocrat of the Exterior deals with outside functions.
[color=blue]Master Simium Bjornaer is in conference with Quaesitor Octavian of Tremere. You will have to wait untill...
Then a voice is heard booming down the hall.
[color=brown]Dragor! Send her in. We have been expecting her.
Dragor shrugs. [color=blue]It appears Master Simium and Octavian are ready to see you now.
Simium Bjornaer is a bent old magus, having spent so many years of his live bent over a lecturn teaching or at a desk writing. His nose is longish, reminding you of a bird of some sort. Octavian is imposing. He has a piercing gaze with glowing green eyes a stoic face of serious expression, and an unshether blade at his side notched and scarred from battle. You heard of this guy. Shadow War veteran. He battled Rassus, killed Relegare, and captured Metron.
He glares. [color=green]A maga of Andorra in the midst of a troublesome plot. Why am I not surprised?