Road to Pamplona (Spring 1234)

And rumors and slander are just rumor and slander.
Lust as a major flaw is one thing (and you play that up too strongly sometimes). But sex as a religion may be a bit much and is setting you up for Infernal trouble.

Metaphorically her religion...
and it is the idea of necrophilia which makes her sick, regardless of the veracity of the rumors.

So, where do we go from here?

Pere's shacked up in one of the rooms at Yuval's with the new girl, so he's not hard to find if they decide to do something immediately. If not, he won't object to sleeping. :slight_smile:

((I feel like I'm missing something painfully obvious that is not only staring me in the face but is about to chew my bloody nose off, but it might be Saturday before I can set aside time to read the whole thread to see what it might be. So, if I'm quiet(er than normal), that's what it is.))

Well, you need to visit the other covenant houses in the area. We can handwave that if you can write some sort of interesting narrative that I can reward you for :mrgreen:
You also still need to visit the squatter in La Vella, the portal at Doisettep, and the new covenant in Pamplona.
But there is something gnawing at you, and I think I know what it is. You (Peragrine) are the sort that likes to read and read, and often complained how the wiki is stuffed with a lot of old data stored from previous generations of this saga. That causes me to suspect you have read dozens of miscellaneous tid bits. You have also been paying attention to the subplots and loose threads I have been weaving into the current saga. And I have been dropping Easter eggs like jelly beans. And you remember the elements of the Barcelona story that flopped around Christmas (Christmas overwhelmed me, and I lost my connection for a month).
I will not put the pieces together for you, but I will reiterate them for you.

  • Tiana told Fedora that she suspects that the Redcaps working this district are corrupt and aiding their mundane cohorts by letting them use the portal network.
  • Tiana mentioned she suspects English Erik to be up to something suspicious and connects that with her portal suspicions.
  • Fleur was flirting with English Erik, but was put off when a mysterious stranger showed up and told him "the Blind Man is on the move".
  • When Matteu (a companion and security specialist for Barcelona Covenant) was pressed about the identity of the cloaked man, he said "They say that it is el Piroman, Trentus of Flambeau, returned from the grave to avenge his murder"
  • Trentus of Flambeau was reported to have been murdered just last Christmas. But upon follow up investigation, no body could be found.
  • Erat Caecus was accused of assasinating him, and was suspected to be involved in the deaths of Erus Pavo of Jerbiton and another Jerbiton magus from out of town wearing a red shirt (red shirt meaning that he was unnamed and was just tossed in to add to the body count).
  • To sew up the story and get on with new things (after I got my internet connection back), The plot was these murders were revealed to have been the influence of a daimon (or devil or demon), whom Erat Caecus accused Barcelona to have been in league with. It turns out that a deceased former magus of Barcelona Covenant had conversations, not dealings, with a spirit named Tyretscius. In the old Iberia book, he is described as a Demon. But that was Third Edition. I offered the alternative idea that he could have been a Faerie (a Devil) or a Magic being (a Daimon). Teaming up, Golda used a Jewish Folk Witch ritual to call Tyretscius up and the collected magi struck it down with Perdo Vim spells covering all three possibilities.
  • But Erat Caecus is afflicted by a succubus, the same one that haunts Solomon. He saw it with his own eyes.
  • Fedora and others are unaware of it, but as players you may have read in the "Terror in Transylvania" thread that Vocis and Poena had a serious discussion about Erat Caecus.
  • The Obsidian Ring is a known criminal organization that has frequent dealings with Hermetic Magi. A long time ago a player created a magus named Octavian of Tremere with his own custom cult that was somehow tied to or rivals with another cult coincidentally named the Obsidian Ring. Also, there is an actual enchanted permanantly inlayed circle, located in Val-Negra, which is called the Obsidian Ring and is made of obsidian. Erat Caecus favors wearing numerous magical rings on his fingers, and has one that is called the Obsidian Ring and is made of obsidian. He also has a jade dragon ring. Be afraid of that one.
  • English Erik came back to the bar seemingly frustrated. Failed in his quest? He took Fleur upstairs to make whoopie, his performance was poor, he passed out. Talking in his sleep, she got the following out of him "..not dead..."; "...Everyone thinks your dead Piroman, assassinated..."; "...Erat Caecus? He can't see you. He is a blind man..."

I think that covers most of it.

Yeah, it's a crying shame Vocis doesn't know any of this information. You'll be reiterating most of this again once he starts his own investigations.

And you will apparently have a set of allies in your quest :wink:

Right now t is the middle of the night and Fleur has Erik in her room who is both suspect and a disappointing partner in bed, and it is her preference that we leave now to the next stop, though she understands that this could be a terrible inconvenience to anyone else, and if we are not going is there anyone else who would allow her to share their bed. She can keep her hands to herself if they insist.

Maybe. Vocis has already learned that high crimes are best done with a minimum of witnesses. He doesn't plan to involve anyone from the covenant except as a last resort. El Piroman may be an option, though.

Who said anything about High Crimes? Look at everything that has been said about the guy. Find the hard evidence, and you can lawfully execute him.
Or you could take shortcuts :smiling_imp:
Set up a patsy?

And Vocis, and the other masters, would know that Solomon is inclined to dislike and distrust the guy. He'd be more than willing to open up a quaesitorial investigation against him if there is any evidence at all to work from.

Tiana will try to console you. She agrees that Erik is a useless degenerate and will let you sleep with her. Hands to self.

Fleur will thank Tiana and as they prepare for bed ask her about her experiences with Erik.

Presumedly in the morning we take the next portal...

Erik is an ass. He is carefree about his duties, doesn't take anything seriously, he is arrogant and bullish, he is a womanizer and a sexist pig, and I just don't trust the man. He has a "hit it and quit it" style, so don't get too attached honey.
She stares wistfully out the window, as if the conversation conjured some memory and she is now lost in recollection.

"I'm sorry, did you have romantic feelings for him?"

What? No! I never..., yuck! I, not, ...
fkcu.
It wasn't like that.

Fleur slips under the covers in her nightshirt and smiles. "So what was it like?"

Get your mind out of the gutter, girl. After witnessing the behavior of Vulcanus and Decimus then Erik, I have decided I am through with men. Maybe I'll become chaste, take a vow of celibacy as an ordeal for a Cult of Heroes initiation. Erik, he..., he can be charismatic and proper when he wants to be, when it serves him. I will admit I once found him intriguing, not attracted and no feelings involved.None of that. But I eventually came to start hating myself as a woman for liking him, seeing what an ass he truly is. But after some thinking I gained some clarity. There is nothing wrong with me as a woman and there is nothing wrong with being a woman. The problem is men and the society they have created.I has half a mind to become a lesbian! Though that would be sinful. So I have decided to settle on chaste. Though I still find effeminate older men fun to be around. They are almost always homosexual or halfway there, but that doesn't matter to me. I just like hanging out with them, over at the "Gold Gryphon" in town. I am friends with the owner, Frederique. Now, he is totally gay, but still he is married. His wife, Golda, you may want to buddy up with her. Not only is she fabulously charming and a good person in general, but she is very influential. You wouldn't know it from looking at her. She calls her look "shiksa bunny", whatever that means. But she has the ear of a lot of important people in this town, influence with the magi of Barcelona, and some direct control over the pontifex of your covenant. :smiley:
...
[tab][/tab]...
:smiling_imp:
Everyone's asleep. Want to sneak out and go over there?

"Actually, my mind wasn't in the gutter. I may like sex a lot, but that doesn't mean I am completely obsessed. Is it a sin to sleep with women? My first woman told me the bible prohibits men from sleeping with men as with a woman, not women sleeping with women. I suppose she could have been making that up, or reading it wrong. If you want to stick to men though you should try Carlos. He gives a lot more focus to the woman he's with than Erik. Being attracted to someone doesn't make you a bad person, man or woman, it just means some part of you thinks they could be fun. Erik looks fun, he acts like he would be good, but in the end I think he is just to focused on himself to be good for his partner. Very frustrating. I will say I've never had that problem with a woman. Am I sharing too much?"