"I'd like to learn something about his famous student." She glances at Felicia to check her pronunciation.
Carles giggles, his quirks being satiated
Well, young lady, that famous student would happen to be myself. Carles filius Quiffara of Jerbiton, at your service. And to what do I owe the pleasure...miss?
"Fleur, de Bonisagus. I am en route through the city, and it was recommended you might have some knowledge f magical caves in the area."
As long as they still have time to do the things that Fédora needs to do (i.e. going to the covenants), she will.
El Remoli reaches the Barcelona docks shortly after Fedora and Fleur begin their tour of the city. Pere ensures Acutus is dressed appropriately and leads him to Yvall’s, along with Barzin. Teodor took off before the ship was tied off, looking more suspicious than usual.
Alright, my friend, here’s the plan. We’re headed to Yvall’s, which is both the local Mercer Lodge and one of the better brothels in the city. It can be a wild place, especially for someone who spends as much time in the wilds as you do, so just follow my lead. As they approach the door and the noise begins drifting out, a broad smile grows on Pere's face and he mutters to himself Oh yes, just follow my lead.
Ah, Lluis! You’re looking fit as always. Hope you’re keeping the place clean of malcontents. It’s my friend’s first visit and I’d hate to see him dragged out by his ear. Here, a little something for you…The card games are reasonably fair, or so I’m told. The downside to being a known magus is no one wants to gamble with you. I tried explaining the Aegis once, but they wouldn’t buy it…Galiano! Where have you been hiding yourself? That Genoan isn’t going to wait forever. I know, I know, don’t get me started on in-laws. Just let me know soon, alright? Here boys, next round’s on me…One advantage to having Hermetic support here is lots of variability among the girls. I enjoy a dusky local lass as much as the next man, but sometimes you need a bit of color, am I right? I had an Irish girl here once with skin so pale it literally glowed. And that red hair…Not again. Lugo, I told you – talk to my father! I’m not handling the local runs anymore. Yes, I know he’s an insufferable bore who eats far too much garlic. I lived with the man, remember?...Whatever you do, avoid ‘Yvall’s Best’. They call it brandy, but I’ve seen sailors use it to strip varnish. I thought once the old man moved on they’d give it up, but apparently this degenerate crowd actually buys it. Oh, look out…Elisabet, don’t give me that look. I told you I didn’t know she was your daught- -she looks nothing like you- -her breasts are much larger- must we do this every – ah, thank you Barzin. No, don’t hurt her. I deserved at least one of those. Just…hang onto her until she calms down. Maybe show her a good time while you're at it…Let’s get over the bar, shall we? Once we let Celdoni know you’re a magus…yes, yes, excuse us, thank you…once he knows you’re a magus you’ll get slightly better rates and he’s less likely to cut your ale…Oh, hello there. I don’t believe we’ve met. Pere Vilaro Ferrer, late of Palma. Tegrida…lovely name. Oh, don’t worry about my friend here, he’s a hero. Saved a nunnery from a band of Moorish savages, if you believe it. Bloody animals. Of course I’ll introduce you, but drinks first…She’s new. I may need to see what she’s hiding under that dress this evening. At last! Celdoni, my brother in debauchery! My friend here is Acutus. He’s a brother magus, so treat him right. He needs a drink to wash the sea from his throat then a woman to wash the sea from everywhere else. But not Teresa there, I've my eye on her. So my friend, welcome to Yvall's! What’ll you have?
This is a brillian piece of writing!
Most Excellent!
I am inspired to reward you with a bonus confidence point for this alone. Tke it before I change my mind.
A note though...
This place isn't a brothel by design. But girls know where to ply their trade 
This one bar I worked at, place was lousy with hookers. There was no stopping them! Eventually it became easier for the door guy to take a bribe of a hundred bucks from a few girls/gurls, and let them police the rest.
Did I mention I am in Chicago?
Thanks and done. 
Yes there will be time. Fedora recognizes the others in the shop. The old man is Carles, who is 114 years old in 1234! The middle aged man is Florenzo of Jerbiton, filius of Carles and the second son of Rodrigo of Mercere. The youngest is Vince Velez, Florenzo's apprentice. You see before you the entirety of the lineage of Quiffara. But really, you have little idea of who Quiffara was and no real reason to care, other than out of respect for Carles.
Seaking of whom, Carles eyes light up when Fleur inquires about magical locations.
I know of the Caverns of Entropy up by your covenant. Xagygyrag of Bonisagus wrote about it, though by the end it seemed obvious that the faeries and magical spirits that dwell there had driven him mad and incomprehensible. There is also a magical cave in the actual city here, a weak magic aura aligned with Creo that has a preserving effect. Unaware of it's true nature, locals have been storing wine and foodstuff in there for generations since before the Goths or even the Romans. Then there are the crystal caves of Collbató. Famous site, so it has been picked clean of any unique treasures. Barcelona holds the vis rights, providing a rook of Terram every two years.Again, a very weak aura, and aligned with Imaginem. There are a few others, non magical or with an unaligned weak aura. There is another one that was a known Chthonic site. The Quasitors collapsed the entrance during the Schism War.
If you want a reallygood site, you have to travel further afield. There is stuff in the Pyrenees, and I know for fact that there is a powerful cave in Navarre used as a meeting site by Basque witches.
Is it specifically magical caves you seek? Terram specialist perhaps?
I know what will help. Follow me to, where is it..., the third floor.
He takes you up the narrow winding stairs to the third floor. There is this used bookstore here in Chicago called Myopic Books, an old house with scores of book cases turning it into a complex labyrinth housing Eighty-thousand texts. That is something like what I am imagining this place to be. I am also imagining secret door bookshelves with rooms where Hermetic books are hidden. They are mostly used books and some of them are not so good. This is not Durenmar or Doisettep. But hidden amongst the junk and oddities are a few precious gems.
On the third floor, there is a section full of charts and atlas books and maps and so forth. Carles requests some assistance (he is old) in retrieving a seven volume set of large books entitles "Mythic Places", numbers I through VII, compiled and published every so often by Redcaps of House Mercere.
Fleur I overjoyed. "I have heard about caves with ancient markings, apparently containing images of birthing and, we'll just say conception at this point. Honestly that was what first attracted me when I was younger, but from what I have gathered, and the fact they were in magical auras I suspect there may be more significance to these caverns and what rituals might have occurred there."
If you mean fckuing, then just say that (though I prefer you jumble letters or use $ymb@!$ :mrgreen: ). The Sorginak, Basque witches, they still use these caves for magical rituals when the meet for Akelarre, which is their term for a Sabbat. Magic is not a religion, though it often gets confused with it. Basques are pious Christian folk, and the "witches" born among them tend to also be Christian and low key about their craft. Those of the Basques that are born Gifted usually wind up as part of the Order of Hermes. Apramor was Basque. But still, those who are Gifted Sorginak tend to cause the fear and suspicion that is the curse also suffered by many a magus. nd there are those who cling close to old ways, practicing a religion that is both Pagan and Chthonic. Pagan witches often bully their Christian sisters into attending Akellare, because the more participants in their Ceremony the more powerful the results of their Rituals.
As for the caves themselves, what I have read describes paintings on the wall depicting great beasts and hunting activities. But, in the pagan myths of the Basques, the Chthonic goddess Mari and her consort SuGarr, the great serpent of the Pyrenees, they meet in the witch holes to copulate and engender storms and in ancient days they gave birth to monsters that walk the earth today.
Research it yourself, I am spitting out half remembered details. And with that, he turns the seven books over to you. For old school Ars Magica fans, the title "Mythic Places" should carry some wight :mrgreen:
As you may be used to by now, I often like to take facets of my real life to enhance my fiction. In my mind, it imparts life and makes it easier to remember.
Yvall's Best style brandy. That reminds me of a drink around here called Malort, the most foul nasty stuff ever. Medicine tastes better. Only one out of fifty people will drink it. But that 2% forms a cult following that keeps the tradition alive.
Your tale of the foul brandy reminds me of that.
Brandy is "burnt wine", wine that has been boiled for reduction to increase the alcohol content. In this era, I can imagine they are cooking it up in the back room.
The ar I am imagining is not one I have ever been too, as I am trying to keep the design medieval. So no island bar or back bar. I imagine that, walking in the front door, along the left hand wall is a long bar that can fit around twenty stools. Along the right are booths. Ortales (were there booths back then?). Then a back hall. This leads to a door out back were people can piss and such. This is the middle ages after all 
. This back hall also leads to private rooms and staircases to the rest of the facility. There is a building next door, attached to this place, that serves as an inn of sorts where Redcaps spend the night. That houses door is blocked, you can only get in through here.
Then there is your man Celdoni.
Mind you, 90% of the Bartenders I have ever known were female. But I have known hundreds of them, so i have a few dozen archetypes in mind.
And I just thought of one
Welcom to Yvall's my friends. My name is Celdoni, and I would be happy to obtain a pair of beverages for your pleasure. first round on the house. You want the good stuff, not the swill. I have German beer, Irish ale, strange spirit beverages from Scotland and Russia, red wine from France and white wine from Andalusia. Sherry, or Jerez as some call it. I suggest you avoid anything domestic except for bottled wine.
Fleurs eyes light up at the books and she smiles wickedly at Carles "I wish I had met you when you were younger, I think we could have had a great time going through some of these pictures together." She winks at him. "And thank you for the books, I look forward to reading them, though I should continue onwards, I still have my Sanctum to establish after all."
I do not look as old as I am, but I do not feel as old as I look. I have not suffered any adverse age effects other than appearance for decades.
heh-heh-heh
But there is a change that comes with maturity, a mental change. My requirements have evolved. Still, I am glad to advise and help you, and ask that you think of me as a grandfather.
Still, it seems that our cats get along just fine 
He points to the corner, were you see Noscure tha back cat biting Felicia on the neck, in preparation of...
well, the old cats is infertile from his magus' longevity anyway, so ...
:mrgreen:
Fédora's ears perk up at "strange spirit beverages from Scotland and Russia". [color=blue]"From Russia, you say? Do you have good vodka, by chance?" she says hopefully.
?
I though Fedora followed Fleur to Carles' bookshop. But, y'know, there is nothing involving critical timing going on, so what the heck
Is that what they call it? It sounds like the English word "Water", or however that is pronounced. The Russian spirit is clear like water, but tastes like fire! Then there is the Scottish brown stuff, water-of-life as it is called. Uisky? Good flavor, just as fiery. But it doesn't mix well like the Russian vodar does. (Celdoni is speaking either Catalan (or maybe Latin), so he would use the phrase "l'aigua" for water. The foreign words Vodka and Water sound similar to him.
Though the Moors of Iberia are often credited with the invention of distillation (that is how they make sherry), evidence I have read suggests that the Scots and their whiskey and the Russian vodka actually got there start a few generations before the current era.
"She must really like him, she normally only does that when she is in heat. Teases me constantly about always being in heat." She pauses a moment "Look, I didn't mean to assume, and I hope I didn't offend you...the fact is I did assume and if you don't want me to think of you as a grandfather... look, I was raised in Canes de Mer, and really I have no idea how these things are supposed to go out here in the mundane world. My extra covenant experience so far has consisted of shoving my tongue down the throat of a man who grabbed me and pulled me to his lap. He even turned out to be a redcap, and the only mixed signals there were when he was called away."
I am the most UN-mundane Jerbiton magus you will ever meet, so I do have understanding. And I was also covenant raised. Though this urban association is the covenant I was raised in, so it is not at all the same I will grant you. Still, I know of no magus alive today that was alive in the era of my parens Quiffara, except maybe the immortal magi at Val-Negra. He was quite eccentric, and smoothly fitting into conservative society was never one of his concerns. So I know how you must feel.
As for the cats, you are young and do not have the decades of experience with these animals that I do. Coppulation is not a gentle or friendly thing to them. Noscure is male, larger and more magical, and is naturally more dominant. Your cat is female and naturally submissive as all women should be. (please forgive Carle's sexism, he is an old man in the middle ages :mrgreen: ). Now watch as they fight. The female is reluctant to let the male withdraw, because it is painful. Male cats have a barbed phallus. Nature's cruel joke upon the creatures, an insatiable salacious appetite that causes them only misery and pain.
I myself have had a lot of cats, and I still have four of them. All related. And before they were fixed, Buddy would force himself on Tyler and when he was done she would hook her claws in him and refuse to let him remove himself. They would get quite violent about it.
Fleur leans over and whispers in Carles ear. "Some females enjoy the pain." and lets her breath linger on his neck, a gender reversal of how the cats began.
Why am I reminded of GrandMiester Percell?
Do note that it is my honest and sincere philosophical believe that all human beings are in truth immortal spirits cloaked in flesh, and that we are capable of transcending the limits imposed upon us by corporeal existence (such as gender). Most people don't, but they all can if they set their minds to it. I do not believe in the poetic definitions of the concepts of femininity or masculinity. There is no magic of motherhood nor is there any magical masculine inner strength. I mean, these things exist, but I can find examples of nurturing fathers and cold cruel mothers, as well as tough-as-nails women (like my mother) as well as milk-toast males (half the security force at the club I work at). Then again, there are strong men and emo women, caring mothers and callous fathers.
My point is that none of these poetic traits are factual. Good and bad examples of all traits can be found in all genders.
Anyway, Carles gets slightly embarrassed, but handles it in stride.
Dear lady, this is not the time nor the place, and the differences in our ages and status makes it quite inappropriate. But if you have needs, my filius or his apprentice would be glad to help. Maybe both. We are all Latins after all :mrgreen:
Ethnocentrism and such is also something I do not believe in. No ethicity is naturally superior or inferior in any regard to any other.
I am a speciesist though. Human beings are far superior to other forms of life.
Acutus smiles at some of the more attractive women before turning to the bartender and ordering in heavily German-accented Catalan, “German beer you say? Ah, it has been a long time. Please tell me you have a good doppelbock.”