When is the meeting? Keep in mind that the Alps has a week long air itself, in early to mid June. The Normandy Tribunal starts on the summer solstice. And yes, I want you to write letters. The 4-5 year time span was meant to be used as a tool for players to satisfy multiple differing needs their characters have, progress the story and also do a full resolution of what needs to happen for the Tribunal.
Do all of the Tribunals have their meetings in summer of 1227?
No, not all. Alps is in summer, but it is in late summer almost Autumn to take advantage of the warmest part of the year where all the passes are guaranteed to be open to allow easy transport of the mundanes who lay in the mundane supplies.
Just so I'm clear. Normandy Tribunal is (roughly) June 21 ( summer solstice) and Greater Alps would be August or Late July?
Yes
Well, it isn't clear to me if this chapter is going to circumvent the Finesse problem that we've been experiencing, or if she'll need to spend more seasons working on that skill. And without the resources from Confluensis, I don't know what spells she has to memorize or develop. Plus, we only recently figured out what the communications holdup was that was keeping us from bartering/trading with folks for other info that may have an effect on the grand design. Mind you, I'm working bottom-up for updates, so some of that may be delivered already, but I haven't worked it into my figurings yet.
Depending on several factors, she may end up trying to use the Tribunal Field to impress her fellow Verditians, and arguably define the entire tribunal field as a Great Work. So, really, the goal here is for her to gain Hubris/Reputation/Verditus Lore/Political Strength by creating an impressive field.
um....which guests? You mean the Tribunal attendees? I am frankly not ready to start thinking about that in detail yet, as there are so many details about preparing for the Tribunal to still consider. In broad stokes, Viscaria wants to ingratiate/impress various groups of people: Verditians, Merinita, and known demon slayers. Depending on how Mother's Footsteps works out, she'll have strong feelings about that covenant, which will come into play.
Theraphosa will want to spend the tribunal learning the political layout, who is allied with whom and why, and then use this knowledge to find some allies for Mons Electi and the anti-Guernicus League. She doesn't really care what agendas they have, so long as she thinks she can talk her magi into supporting it and gaining the allies.
Training staff is decidedly Somebody Else's Job, but Viscaria will make sure she knows who that person is, and will want reports from them on progress during the Tribunal Preparation meetings that she regularly schedules.
IIRC, we decided that there was a convenient spot for the Portal near a region boundary leading to the field. If the portal can be built INSIDE the regio, then it'll be positioned relative to the gates.
Remember that the tribunal is surrounded by walls with four gates. One gate leads to the regio boundary we discussed in Kind Word and Crowbar, one gate leads to the bridge. We should pick where the other two gates lead to -- a Portal might be one choice.
Those gates will be guarded, as will both sides of the bridge. Depending on the letters that I've sent out, we might even find a spell or mechanical design for a retractable bridge.
Pending the development of the actual spell mechanics, this shouldn't be a problem. Viscaria will happily cast these spells for people once she has invented them.
Note that the Tribunal Field is not inside our Aegis.
Hey, is anybody learning to cast the Aegis?
Out of curiosity (and thank you for the help), does Isen have any goals?
This sounds pretty squarely like Alexei's territory to deal with. I agree that we need one, and that jebrick's comment about mixed groups being a bad idea is valid.
Added some suggestions above.
Maybe we should have Theraphosa (who has, I believe, the highest OoH Lore) spend a season researching governance options and present a proposal?
I think it would be great if someone started up this stuff. It is pretty out of character for Viscaria to do any of this stuff, except maybe the DEO anti-demon stuff, which she'll be strating to get obsessed with soon.
Alexei should definitely be working the police force. Not trying to pull rank or anything, I'd like to have Jacques assisting him. He'd ask but not expect Isen, he sees Isen as someone of equal rank (being a Milites and all). With Jacques he'll impress upon him the importance of service as well as being able to get one's name out among the other magi especially the Flambeau, and a young (relatively) magus assisting in security at a Tribunal we're hosting could definitely help him.
He'll also travel to the new Flambeau Domus Magna before hand and seek willing recruits that seem loyal to the new primus and see if they'd care to help provide security at the event. We'd make sure to allow for them to particpate at different events by coming up with a careful schedule. From there we put the large group of grogs to work and get them dressed in livery with the new emblem that was designed. Brionne would be a special troubleshooter as he can literally sniff out spells. The goal is to provide security without making it look like it's crawling with guards. Ideally the ranks would be Alexei, Jacques, Brionne (who is more or less on his own and dressed down a bit) with Michelle being the sergeant of the men in general.
The tricky part is that we can't remove anyone's magic items obviously or even ask them to tone down a spell. We have to make the Aegis strong and have everyone involved be prepared to revoke an invitation at the drop of a hat as needed. They can always be re-invited. For tokens I suggest either something simple, like a ribbon in our colours, or if we want to spread the wealth a bit, an actual gift of some minor significance. Perhaps a small token that can provide a minor shape/material bonus of some value. That can be expensive, but might make a good impression.
It's probably been discussed and put in the plan, but a Certamen ring. It seems it would be a good idea to add spectacle to it, since that seems to be the way for these Tribunals. I don't just mean for the official tournaments, but also for any that need to settle something.
There was a guy in my old barony that would make site tokens for every event. Basically, cast pewter coins maybe 3/4" (2 cm) across. Nothing fancy, but they looked pretty spiffy, were easy to carry, and sometimes he would either punch a hole in it or have the mold set so that it would make a hole when you cast it, so you could run a string through it and either tie it to your belt or wear it as a pendant.
That sounds pretty good. A literal token, a struck coin would be a good choice.
Note my comment wasn't directed towards you at all, but for the troupe as a whole. Specifics that players outlined their characters to need can be handled in multiple ways, stories I develop and the player plays are one way. Correspondence is another. I'd even go so far for certain things to be a story of the player's writing with some editing for me to shape it and fit it within some guidelines I have. We had early on identified that Viscaria wanted to to for Rego spells to build her stuff, finesse was a huge part of that, so it will be resolved. You know the what, but you don't know the how or the how much. 
Yes, the Tribunal attendees. Most of the things I throw out, I don't need answers (now), but it is something that your characters should be thinking about and it should shape some of their actions and activity, much as what your plans for Theraposa seem to do.
Sure it needs to be someone, but it needs to be done, and someone needs to at least describe how it is going to be done. If it's ignored, well, that's a problem.
The particulars of this are important. A portal can exist within a regio and go outside of it, in this saga.
Dunno if some of you are fans, but, well, here's Arcturus @hellfest 2012, and I love every minute of it.
liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Hellfest_Arcturus/
Isen has. We have (barely) enough Sun Duration Wizard's communion to cast it with it, too.
Well, yes, but it is affected by the situation.
He wants to be perceived as a separate magus than his pater. To overcome his shadow. This is why he joined the milites. Yet, due to both his temperament and his tendency to fall back on his pater's more efficient methods, he may have some difficulties with this.
As stated above, he is also very interested in ancient magics. He thinks that, in ancient times, before the rise of both faerie and the dominion, magic ruled the earth and was more accessible, more apparent, before being beaten both by the gods of various types, and fragmented. Bonisagus did an awesome work uniting several traditions, but there's a lot of ancient knowledge scattered out there and lost, knowledge that may very well prove impossible to discover anew now that the primeval powers and spirits that helped man achieve it are lost. So searching for it is the best way to find it, and this is where the bonisagus are lost.
This ties into a desire to make himself, and the order, stronger (which ties into his first motivation above).
But there are very long term goals.
For the moment, War is coming. Or at least, that's what he thinks.
So, as a fighter, he wants to be able to face successfully most guernici. So he develops both personal combat spells (mostly done), and spells to aid the covenant (aegis, wizard's communion, watching ward). I keep thinking about it, but it is hard to find good and workable ideas. This also includes Parma, Penetration and the Arts.
He also wants to be able to create, bind, and control Elementals. He wants to put as many of them as possible in the covenant, so as to provide help in case Mons Electi is attacked. This costs vis, but is a long-term investment.
In short, he thinks among 2 ways: How to strengthen his combat abilities, and how to strengthen the covenant's defenses.
In a way, he is very complementary of alexei on this, as the 2 think differently, alexei being more concerned by the turb, while Isen is more "all-magic"... In a way, given their temperament and outlook, I'd say Alexei is the Turb Master, while Isen is more Magical Defenses.
Thing is, I first had to develop most of the basic Ice spells I wanted him to have, so it took most of his time. Also, most of his short to medium term goals involve little to no social contacts (which is perfect for me, since it means I don't slow down the saga), so this is little displayed.
Well, in a way, some of these are very Isen's interests, so he'll think about some.
I'd like him, in the following years, to develop these, in relation to this:
- A charged portal with AC Group teleportation, in order for the covenant to escape if need be. Of course, this means we have a fall back place, which is out of his purview. Best pick would be a place very far and isolated, hopefully magical, but anything will do so long as it's safe.
- Maybe a ReCo "hold person" charged items, with some penetration, although this is outside his purview. The goal is to hand these to custos, to use only if they need to capture someone or if a covenfolk is possessed.
- Rarefy spells, given a lab texts, in order to have as much elementals at our beck and call as possible. Once that's done, he'll need fiona's help.
- Learn the higher levels Aegis. He needs to work up his Aegis mastery, too, so a book on it would be awesome.
- The Shrouded Glen, provided he has a lab text.
I'd like a way to communicate orders to all any or covenfolks mentally, like an AC version of The Silent Conspiracy, but this runs into 2 problems:
- High level
- If the grogs are scattered through the covenant, they don't count as a Group. Target Boundary would be perfect, but is ritual
I don''t know how to do it, yet it may be quite important, if we must have the covenant act in a coordinated fashion.
Thing is, he (and I!!!) thinks about these questions, but 1) I had other priorities, and 2) he lacks the arts. So while he may ask the questions, he often lacks the solutions or means 
Isen has learned our strongest available aegis just in time for the tribunal. Lvl 50, including magnitudes for size, making it actual lvl 35. That's about -17 to CT, enough to give us the edge if need be. Thing is, IMO, if our enemies act, it well be covertly (unless they decide to slaughter all of their enemies here, which I doubt), so that's probably not the problem.
Noted and acknowledged. After unearthing the huge communications failure that has had us looking in completely different directions for signs of progress on the tribunal field project, I just want to be as explicit and direct as possible about what my thoughts are.
For example, the proposed HR about Lab Texts is also going to cause some re-prioritization of Viscaria's lab time, and also require me to double-check all of my math. Depending on the exact ruling, this ruling could easily change the perceived value of the lab texts from Confluensis.
On this subject, we should probably spend some time figuring out how many Verditus are in Normandy and where they live, before the Tribunal.
Well, then one of the gates is actually a portal, and you can't actually walk through the wall. Now I'm going to go off to the IC thread and suggest we install a second portal of our own to somewhere else in the other gate.
Korvin learned AoH when he first joined because it was clear that we needed a backup for Onesiphorus who was the one casting the ritual. It would be only 7th magnitude.
So there will be the Covenant's Aegis and then another one for the Tribunal? Will the Tribunal AoH encompass ME's AoH or will they be separate?
We need V to prioritize the documents/books/spells from Confluensis since Renaud will be the one getting them ( and a new story thread may be needed).
Yup. And you don't know...
Viscaria intends to make the bridge retractable, so that each mountaintop constitutes a distinctly different Boundary.
Hey folks. I've got a dearth of plans for the evening and am hungry for some gaming. If anybody is up for it, find me on Google Talk and we'll talk about random stuff IC. PM me if you don't have my contact info already.
Given our Rego resources here, this shouldn't be too hard to achieve. I strongly suspect that we'll be acquiring a library of such texts. The best bet would be to have everyone teleport to a nearby regio boundary, or a bunker inside the regio that is inaccessible from the covenant. That way you can use just the 1-league teleport. Base 25 +1 Touch +2 Group = 40, so without the Animal/Herbam reqs for clothing, I can make 6 of these charged items in a season. Perhaps we could bestow them as tokens of trust to our covenfolk?
Viscaria would recommend MuTe Quicksand Rings that transform ground into very viscous mud for an instant. "Magic resistance don't mean squat if your legs are buried in mud. Anybody that can Leap out of it won't be hindered by any hold person spell either."
Why Fiona's help? And again, V shares your interest and has a lab text for Earth Elementals. She also hasn't learned it yet.
Curiously, the nature of the elemental substance doesn't change its basic nature. So a Diamond Elemental would still qualify as an Earth Elemental, and its rarified size would be determined by the quantity of diamond in the seam you rarefied. Viscaria would really like to rarefy many different kinds of metal and keep the menagerie as a "specimens" feature of her lab.
The nature of the elemental rules makes me really wonder about getting nifty kinds of air elementals. Like a Thunderstorm Elemental or Fog Elemental.
V should REALLY pick these up at some point.
Is this really viable given our covenant? (That's a legitimate inquiry, not skepticism)
I've thought about trying to tackle this from a lot of different angles. Seems to me like what you really want is a spell or device that targets things in relationship to the Aegis. For example, a spell that targets "every participant of the Aegis Ceremony" or perhaps a device that targets all Aegis Tokens within the Structure? Maybe a CrIm spell based on Phantasm of the Talking Head?
Mind you, I just had the same problem with getting Theraphosa to change into a human.
FYI, I'm going on a little vacation this weekend, I might not have as much access. I'll post when I can.
I came up with a description for the 2 rooks of Herbam that the Astingani found for us. Given the size of the find, and how scarce vis is supposed to be in Normandy, I decided to make it inside a regio that would be very hard to enter:
Essence of Wyrmwood, Herbam, 20 pawns
Physical form: thick narcotic poisonous oil, Season: Spring
Location: WyrmBone Regio, less than a day by mundane roads
The skeletal remains of a slain dragon has created its own pocket regio, inside which is a series of hills which are actually the bones of the dragon, covered by dirt and stones. The regio can only be entered by driving a spear into "the eye of the dragon" in the mundane world, and can only be exited by leaping off the dragon's tail. Trees grow along the hillside, thick enough to confuse and misdirect those who try to leave the hills by any other means. Near the dragon's shoulders grows a massive Wyrmwood Tree. If you collect the new leaves of the Wrymwood Tree during the spring, they yield a goodly supply of Herbam vis. Further refinement will actually increase the Herbam vis, whether by maceration to produce a wine, or use as hops in beer-making, but the greatest yield for shortest time is to extract the Essence of Wyrmwood Oil, which yields a thick narcotic poison worth 20 pawns. The Astingani covenant member who discovered this source had theorized that a much more elaborate tincture process would yield what she referred to as "Spirit of Wyrmwood."
Regarding the rumors of previous inhabitants of the regio, the Astingani magi simply insist that it is currently uninhabited.
Yup.
Given that there are 3 added magnitudes for size in all our Aegis rituals, that made it "only" effective level 20.
So I pushed Isen through for him to learn the 10th magnitude version.
Now that I think of it, it would probably be a good idea to get hold of a "normal" 10th magnitude Aegis, to cast only on the covenant, should we be under attack.
As I see it, yes, 2 different Aegis. Especially as the Tribunal aegis is cast by that guy from Confluensis...
I was actually thinking about an armageddon scenario, where Mons Electi is overrun and we have to flee. The further, the better. Like Novgorod further (No, Isen is not aware of the Mongol threat)
With a gate inside the covenant, a place where people gathered to flee.
Given that I know 7-league stride, if I do this as a doorway, I can do it to transport 100 people at AC range, with 3 charges. And requisites.
Both have their advantages.
I wasn't counting on them fighting magi or powerful creatures. These is ours to handle. In fact, some penetration is only useful if the target is possessed, and it doesn't need to be very high. If it does, we're in over our head anyway.
I thought about using an other art than Rego, but I prefer it, because it doesn't need targeting. Point, activate, hold. By the way, a spell to hold a target's body motionless continues to act even if she translocates, contrary to quicksand.
But you raise a valid point. Do we want a cadre of grogs with items allowing them to fight magi? Should we do it? Although this could prove very useful, it could also easily be turned against us, and would require us to train them in Finesse. I'm not sure this is a good idea. Of course, we could always hand them items that require penetration, to be used on attacking mundanes. Or non-killer items.
I had forgotten that! Ice Elementals!!! 
That's awesome!!!
Why fiona's help? She's our Muto specialist.
So we can create an elemental. And another. And another. And yet another.
And she can create an enchanted item that changes each of them into, say, a pebble. With Constant duration, so that it doesn't flicker. You don't want a full-sized elemental appearing in your purse at sunrise/sunset, however briefly.
So we need another effect, a Perdo Vim effect, to dispel that specific enchantment when we want it. Linked to a Rego effect that gives control of the elemental, so as to avoid being dependent on spellcasting.
Given the need and the Vis, we could each have quite a lot of elementals at our disposal in a few moments. Let our enemies face that.
Why wouldn't it be? It acts on the Mind. Even if people know the covenant is there, they can be diverted. Should we find ourselves at war, this could prove precious to us. At least, we'll be better with than without.
You got it. The problem is not the range, it's the Target.
What Isen wants is something that'll allow him to give orders to various groups of covenfolks, or all of them, in a very short time, so that their actions are coordinated.
The group parts is easy, he just needs different ACs. The problem is when trying to affect more than one people at once. I've seen Group target abused enough elsewhere to refuse to do it.
"The components of the group must be close together in space, and the group itself must be separated from any other things of the same type" => you see the problem.
Structure would be fine... ... ... ... ... Kill me. Amul, you're my savior!! I had entirely forgotten about Structure, and it doesn't need to be a ritual, meaning I can enchant it, meaning, sure, people will be left behind, but we'll catch most of them!!! Thank you!!!
Can we keep the IC stuff out of this thread? I've had to move a bit, I don't want to make a habit of moving it.
Thanks!