In which Arneu, in his first job working directly for Andorra, hikes up to Las Salines to check on our investment and investigate if there are any problems. Things have actually been good. Maye too good. Nearby locals have grown jealous and are whispering rumors of infernal assistance.
Anau, choose your entourage. Not a force of armed men, only one or two. But you need a guide maybe. Tell me your plan and what you need of me.
Arnau will take a fellow Almogaver with Second Sight and another with some accounting and social skills to check on the mine herself as well as a guide with local area lore.
Stats left to the potential player that wants to stat whoever of those you want (the guide probably already has a full write up). I am extremely lenient on that IMS and tend to play likewise in online places, stating them up as it fits the story, so if anyone wants to take charge of that do whatever you want with the character. Let's assume 26 years old, already a veteran light infantryman, and more than able to hold his wits in front of supernatural opponents. If no stats want to be generated, just take one of the dozens of almogavers that Marko has created for the saga and swap a few numbers around, or just the name.
Arnau will accept other people as well if they look interesting (that might simply mean that they are beautiful women), useful and/or highlight their status as capable landowners. I just want to be sure he has a guide and 2 capable fighters with him.
Light armor for everybody at most for this mission. He does not expect trouble, but a few javelins, side weapons, spears and shields will be available to them. they are guards, after all.
They will all ride horses or donkeys (for the ride-impaired people): He wants to demonstrate élan, after all. And he is a show off.
We can use Vibria Company Almogavars as a stand in for now. Just name each guy, and if need be note anything exceptional (a special virtue/flaw).
And I'll give you Carlos as a liaison and guide. Yeah, he's another Castilian, but he speaks Catalan also :mrgreen:
Call him Carles instead 
Actually, you can choose any one of the Andorran Guard. These guys are all that are left of the elite unit of custos that Antonio of Flambeau formed, the eldest were his sidekicks in his early days. The reasons that they are all Castilian (except Roger) are: 1) Antonio was from New Castile, 2) Back in the 90's, Castilian was all I knew of Iberia, 3) Carmello, the guy who originally played Antonio, was Puerto Rican, and in our stoned imaginations (it was the 90's) we compared Castile to Mexico and Puerto Rico to Catalan, mimicing the different accents, because Castilian was all we knew (and not that good either, Pueto Rican Spanish is different than Mexican though), 4) I traditionally name grogs after people I know or have known in real life. I used to anyway. And each of the Andorran Guard is named after a cook I once worked with.
Which brings me to my point. I am not trying to justify anything. You know Markoko better 
I am explaining my defects and the cause of the reoccurring trope (Castilian names in Catalan country).
You are the Language Shark. I want you to fix it
You have a whole company of men to name. Most will be Catalan, some Castilian, maybe even a few Italians. Feel free to fit an anachronism or two in if you want; one warrior is a chick and another is a runaway slave. If you want. Trying to encourage creativity.
And dont do them all at once.
Start with the handful of guys you are bringing with you. Name each of them.
Here again is the link to an example of a Generic Vibria Company Almogavar.
You can use that if you want, or let it inspire you to make one or two templates like it. Not everyone is the same, but they are all like that at least. Individuals might have a higher this or better that and have skills that have nothing to do with being a soldier.
AND...
Name them each after someone you know or have known, if you can. that way, they feel more human to your imagination, not just meat shields or mooks with stats.
Selim doesn't like being cooped up in the covenant for too long (Craving for Travel flaw), so he'd love to join Arnau if he'd allow it.
Arnau has a bad attitude towards Muslims (yeah, going into the desert adventure is gonna be tricky). Think about a mystical brainwashed crusader. Dislikes muslims +3, and Fury if he sees shows of disrespect towards Christianity. Tolerance-oriented guy and all that 
If Selim is Muslim, well, maybe it is not the best of companions here. Arnau's men are much more tolerant towards Muslims than he is, since they are crusaders, but then to be more open minded.
However, I am more than willing to have him on this small trip. It might be that the covenant imposed Selim on him and he has to live with it. Maybe we can do some nice RP here 
Cheers,
Xavi
Maybe it is time for Anau to learn how to respect and Selim how to cope
Well, Selim has the Outsider flaw with Arab Muslim -3 as a reputation, so yeah, he's muslim That said, he's not hardcore, Impious +1, and gets along pretty well with everyone.
I'm cool with roleplaying out the animosity if you're interested...but at the end of the day this is your adventure, and I don't want to force myself into it. He could always invite himself on the Pamplona excursion instead 8)
I like Xavi's idea. The covenant did indeed put these two together as a test to see how well you two can manage to perform together. Important wo work out the kinks in our team dynamic before we set off on the Brass Expedition.
And instead of Carlos, I am sending Javier with you :mrgreen:
(I named Javier after one of the line chefs I worked with at Magnum's Steakhouse back around the turn of the century, the fact that it is the Castilian form of Xavier is utter coincidence). Javier is more experienced and can keep a better eye on you two. And with Javi, comes Roger (named after one of the managers I worked with at the White Star Lounge). Roger is a ghost, so you may not even be aware he is with you
Your instructions are to Investigate, Observe, and Report. There is probably nothing going on to worry about. But if there is, you are to take no direct action with the exception of life or death emergency. If there is an urgent need for a command decision, report to home base.
As an OOC note, and reviewing Arnau, I might need to tone down him a bit. Right now he might be a caricature crusader. He has fury when Christianity is insulted, is Driven (minor personality flaw) to a mystical conquest of iberia to expel all Muslims and has the "Dislikes Muslim men" personality trait at +2. Maybe it is a tad too much?
Maybe, yeah. I seem to recall you got into an argument with Roberto over it, when you stated your goal was to eradicate all moslem wizards and Roberto insisted you limit yourself to non hermetic wizards.
Xavi, like I said, it's your call as a player if you want me to have Selim accompany Arnau (whether Arnau the character wants it). I definitely don't want to force myself in and hijack your thread. That said, Selim would be the perfect character to smooth over some of Arnau's rough edges since he's not a pious Muslim (more like he just goes through the motions because they're cultural more than religious) and he's a very likable guy.
Oh, and Selim does have Second Sight, which I noticed was something you were looking for.
No, I am fine with Selim. What I am saying is that after leaving Arnau to sleep for a while I am finding his V&F (specially flaws) to bee to extreme for my liking. He will be a pro-chistian jerk anyway, but right now he might be on the verge of being a parody of himself. And I do not like it. I need to rething his V&F a little bit here. His ethod of "the sahirs must go down for what they did" will remain, ans this will be extensive to other muslims, but he is too much of an extremist now. I am looking at V&F alternatives now.
I like Selim going along in any case
The covenant wants the two of you to work out any kinks in the group dynamic before we head off to Egypt. That is why they sent an elite grog to supervise and observe you.
So, you guys are riding along in the cool springtime mountain air. The silence between the two of you is thick as molasses. Sooner or later, one of you will eventually say something to cut the tension. Who shall it be? Will it be a joke? Wisecrack? Jibe? Tall Tale?
Arnau sits stiffly in the back of Number 23, his last horse. It is a fairly impressive courser, but he stopped giving them proper names after the twelfth of them died in the Levant. He is sitting stiffly not because the road is difficult or the climate is uncomfortable, no. He is sitting stiffly because a filthy moor is riding with him. He does not like moors. Not much at least. Apart from being plain wrong in their religious beliefs, they protect those pesky sahirs he and his fellows are constantly at odds with. Sahirs hiding in plain sight in the southern half of the iberian peninsula and parts of the levant. Curse them all. He does not understand why the magi of Andorra have charged him with such a burden at his side.
Jordi and Berenguer, two flame brothers also ride with them on rounceys. THey do not wear much armor and only minimal weaponry, but it is clear they are soldiers. Arnau only wears Talladora with him and a clam pendant. he dresses well if rather flamboyantly and most people would think him gentry. His sourly look and side gflanmces at Selim put a shadow on his otherwise impossing appearance.
Carlos rides a little bit before them. So far the road has been easy, but Arnau would have surely gone out of one of the many side paths if a guide was not with them. He says they will be at the salt mine within the hour.
Shrugging his impressions, Arnau tries to address Selim in a what he thinks is a respectful and open minded attitude. 
So, muslim, I do not like your kind, but it seems we are bound to work together. As long as you do not disrespect the proper religion and beliefs, and keep your soul-damning beliefs to yourself maybe we can act on each other's profit. What is that makes you important for the covenant. It is fairly obvious why I and my men are around and why we are valuable, but I fail to see why a heathen is welcome in the covenant, so you must have some unusual abilities.
I had switched out Carlos for Javier, someone responsible that can keep an eye on the two of you and make sure you get along.
And overhearing your conversation, he glares back at you 
Do either of you have Second Sight?
Selim does...but give me a second to respond and try and calm things down before you "SG" things 