The big man does not know what to say in response to that, but instead grasps Vibria's hand, his green eyes glittering with pain, and he nods.
Vulcanus turns to Guillaume. "Brother, you asked me if I recognized any of those names on your list. I recognized a few, but as you can see, there is one with which I am intimately familiar. I can tell you where he lives, the general layout of his tower, the focus of his Gift... But I beg that you recover my parens' bow. Vendettas only rarely escalate to a Wizard's War, but when they do, the victor bears the fallen magus' talisman as a final acknowledgement of his skill.... We would not bother feuding with a poor craftsman. To give away such a trophy and allow it to be stripped of its vis... It is the ultimate disrespect to my pater's memory, to the entirety of the Valdarian lineage, and to all of House Flambeau. Help me make this right, and while you investigate this man, I will research the other four suspects."
Solomon smiles slightly to himself and just shakes his head, "Of course sodales, I would hate to interfere in your house business." He slowly makes his way out of the chamber and calls out to Fedora, "Fedora, I would be happy to assist you with the charter if you should need assistance. I am quite well versed with the Code of Hermes and can assure that we do not violate any tenets thereof."
Guillaume and Astrid join Vulcanus wherever he wants for House business. "I see. That is shameful. Perhaps, especially now that it has been so desecrated, it could be claimed via certamen. Of course, I have my own interest in this magus, but is it Gudrun or Caduceus who bears this sigil? And with whom is your greater quarrel?"
"Certamen?" He laughs. "We are artificers and warriors, not Tremere. Certamen is not how vendetta are conducted."
"The sigil you described belongs to Caduceus; Gudrun's sigil is the ringing of bells. Between the two of them? I will never like Gudrun, as she slew my parens, but... it was fairly done, in just Wizard's War. Caduceus, on the other hand..." Vulcanus reaches forward and crushes the parchment in his fist. "I bound a familiar he wanted, and he responded by stealing my w... Venditor. He has destroyed my parens' masterpiece and instructs Gemma to report the desecration to me. Caduceus will pay."
(cue ominous dramatic music)
Dun-da-dun!
Esteban says, "I am sorry to have intruded on what must be a deeply personal matter. I expected different news. I do not presume to interfere, but if I can be of assistance, I would see the honor of my sodalis satisfied. My sword, my Arts, and all my talents are yours if you have need of them."
Vulcanus nods and claps Esteban on the shoulder. "Thank you, sodalis." He then does an incredulous double take, "...You said you're a Jerbiton?" with a well-ain't-that-the-damnedest-thing expression.
(ghost posts! argh)
"Now, to business. You realize, of course, that this is all a trap. Gemma would never have written to me had she not been coerced-- I don't know what I did to piss her off, but I do know how Italian women are when they think you've done something wrong."
"Caduceus is Verditius; it is their nature to work alone, with only what tools they have of their own devising. He expects much of the same of me, because like the rest of his house, he cannot understand why the line of Valdarius would voluntarily exile ourselves from their house. They do not understand the ties that bind together the Knights of Seneca. Whatever trap he has laid, it is set for me. He expects me to come personally, alone, and through the front door, because stupidity is what he thinks it means to be a man of honor."
"His tower is on the southern coast of Baltrum, an island off the coast of Ostfriesland, in the Niedersachsen. My Latin is not so good as to know the names of these places in my homeland. I will send my shield grog with you as a guide, though I warn you, he may not be what most magi expect when they think of shield grogs." He grins. "Anyway, the tower was obviously made with a Creo Terram ritual; you won't be able to miss it."
The knight pulls out parchment and starts sketching out a rough map, as he explains: "The first floor of the tower is a grand foyer and sitting room. There are spiral stairs from the foyer to the second floor, where he has a grand dining hall, the kitchen, and servant's quarters. The third floor is taken up in entirety by his studio. Oh, don't be impressed, it's sectioned off. Only the smallest chamber of his studio displays what he's made himself; other rooms are full of mundane antiques and artifacts that he's collected. The staircase then leads up to a receiving area, smaller than the main sitting room on the ground floor, and where he acually conducts business. His sanctum marker is on the only other exit from that sitting room. That is the end of the public access, and as far into his tower as I am familiar, with only one other detail: there is a ladder leading up from the kitchens to a small staging area behind his studio, and from there another ladder leading up to a back entrance to his sanctum. I expect that this means his living quarters are there on the fourth floor, and his lab above." He scribbles much of this information onto the makeshift map as he speaks, and hands the parchment to Guillaume as soon as it's blotted.
"Now, Caduceus is well known for his skill at Corpus, and his services are frequently sought not only for his craftsmanship, but also for his healing. Beyond his skill with Corpus, his Gift is as Esteban's, which Caduceus took advantage of; he studied medicine at Salerno. I can tell you for a fact that he has developed a magical ward against humans with the Gift, with at least six magnitudes of penetration... else I would be able to give you much more insight into the layout of his tower." The blond knight smirks. "The good news is that, this effect is almost certainly in an item, so you may wish to bring capable people with you who are not magi, to find and disable the effect. My cousin Bernhard would be an excellent choice, if you'll have him."
"Destiny is like to be within the trophy room of the studio. You can't miss it; it is the only longbow in existence made quite literally from living wood. The bow itself flowers every spring."
Vulcanus pauses in thought. "Do you have any questions for me? I'm certain I must have forgotten something."
Esteban replies with a grin, "Yes, but I was an hidalgo first."
Guillaume listens carefully to Vulcanus. "The ward does not worry me. I will need to coordinate travel there with covenant business here, as well. You don't happen to have an arcane connection to a location nearby his home, do you? That would make coordinating things much easier."
Also, now that Solomon is here, at some point Guillaume will have a private chat with him to go through everything he found in detail, probably using some memory-enhancing magic and maybe even allowing Solomon to probe his mind some to make sure he fully conveys the details of what he found.
Vibria had been listening to the whole exchange, but she visibly perks up at this part.
[color=red]"This is not a Wizard's War or Certamen, correct? We are simply to...break in and 'retrieve' your pater's longbow?"
She smiles somewhat dreamily. [color=red]"What about anything else? Are we allowed to retrieve what we can, to punish him for his deeds? Can we keep what we find?"
Canrmen looks concerned. This doesn't sound quite legal. He may very well be the one who made the Twilight Wand as his recorded sigil seems to match Guillme's findings (oily-uncomfortable). So he is worth questioning. But the other bits, I don't know. Guillme, you are more well versed in the Code. What is acceptable in this situation?
"No Wizard's War, nor Certamen. Yes, his talisman is all I wish to retrieve."
"Allowed? Well, I suppose that depends on whose permission you seek. Within the scope of our vendetta, he cannot seek recourse against you for taking Destiny from him without losing face. His other belongings, though? They do not factor into our personal feud. Making known that the security of his fabled tower had been compromised might hurt his business, but I would not trust his pride alone, for sanctuary from legal repercussions."
Guillaume seeks to quell some worries but some concerns of his own have arisen. "I would simply approach him and demand the return of the bow. Should he not accept, Certamen would be a clear choice. However, I do see a problem with this. If he cannot seek recourse for things within the vendetta, is the same not true for you? If I were to go take Destiny from him, would you lose face? I do not understand Verditius vendettas."
"Not as far as I am concerned, though he would see it otherwise. But that is what makes me a Flambeau and him a Verditius."
Ah-Ha!
There's the loophole Carmen needs 
To explain: I am letting Ryu beta-sg an adventure. I will supervise and my HR's apply, but Ryu is gonna run the plot for this little excursion.
Something has been gnawing at the back of my head. A litte topical ointment cleared it up
(ba-DA-bum!)
But really, I just realized we have made an error.
Vendetta is a House Verditius Flaw. Vulcanus is not a Verditius. Generations removed. He is a Flambeau magus, and should not have taken any Verditius Flaws and such.
It is what it is and we will roll with it and maybe change it in play as results of a story. But let us be mindful of that. House Verditius culture is not at all part of his background. No selling of items or anything. Maybe rarely. But Vulcanus is culturally a Flambeau magus with a line on a closed set of mysteries.
Thought more about it. You do have Cabal Legacy to represent your mysteries. Vendetta is applicable too, as it is another way of saying you have a rival or an Enemy. And the way you wrote it is pretty cool too.
But I do think it should be your own one-on-one thing. No so much because of a sense of Verdi honor. Yours is the honor of the Flambeaux. Moreso because of pride and hubris. Now as a Flambeau magus, it is totally honorable to seek help from sodales and work as a team.
The way I think you should go about it though, is for the characters to distract and deal with Caduceus while Vulcanus sneaks into his sanctum and steals the bow. Vulcanus' actions are off stage, success or failure depends on how well the players deal with Caduceus. The thing is, if the player characters take part in the Vendetta, then he can take recourse against them and/or start up a new vendetta with each of them.
I had imagined the charater as being sort of a no-questions-asked sorta arms dealer and mafia underling type. His sigil is an oily uncomfortable feeling