Tiana is willing to go next, but she is concerned that the sharing of Hermetic books with someone who is not a member of the Order might be prohibited by the Oath, and will consult Solomon on the matter.
I need an exact year and season
The next season is summer 1230. But she is not going until she can check with the Quaesitor first to make sure that sharing books with someone from outside the Order is not a breach of Code.
That fits.
It is a gray area. The dragon is not a magus, but you are not giving him anything he doesn't have a better copy of already.
So I suppose Solomon has a lot of leeway here, and may affect everyone else down the line.
[size=20](nice monkey wrench)[/size]
Presuming she has the okay, what are her intentions?
She'd bring the Teaching tractatus for repair, just to be on the safe side.
She'll peruse the private collection for the best summae on Corpus. What are the options?
The book she proposes to write in payment would be a tractatus on the Greek language.
"Lecitio & Disputiatio" by Arturis of Bonisagus (Com +4, Good Teacher), a Tractatus on Teaching with -1 Minor Damage, bringing the Quality down to only 12. Repaired will bring it up to 13. Being that it is a book on a mundane subject, it cannot benefit from Resonance or Clarification. And it is outside of his range to gloss the text.
hmmmm....
He has his best goblin scribe work on it, using exceptional penmanship and high quality materials. I will grant a +1 bonus for that, resulting in a total Quality of 14.
There are no text on Arts in the private collection, as these are of no real use to Sigmundo. Instead, you can find exceptional books on just about any Ability (except Parma Magica).
And you are not writing anything in payment. More like a promise. You agree to write a book, any book, and what you do with it is up to you.
Tiana thought a book on Corpus would be of most use to both Andorra and to the Milvini Antiquiti. Failing that, she goes for what she personally wants: the best summa on Teaching that she can find.
If there's no phenomenal books on pedagogy available, she'll peruse the Magic Lore section.
"Phenomenal Pedagogy", author unknown, L5/Q20
eh?
She raises an eyebrow at it, interested but unsure, and then goes to look in the Magic Lore section.
"Draconomicon", by Magdragin of Tytalus (Com +3, Magic Lore 14); Magic Lore Summa, L5/Q15
She'll memorize the Teaching text.
Shall I presume that she writes it out the very next season?
No, the Redcap Convention is the next season. She's got it memorized, there's no hurry on reproducing it.
Got it.
Now for the personal touch.
When you arrive at the lair (are you escorted by grogs?), you are greeted by a tall goblin dressed rather formal.
Greetings. I am Jonah, the dragon's chamberlain. If you'll follow me...
He leads you through the front chamber to the scriptorium, where Sigmundo awaits (in his human form and a Roman scholar). Greetings, greetings. Welcome to my library and scriptorium. You see here a few of my staff of goblin scribes. Talented craftsmen and hardworking they are indeed.
(short discussion on what you will be doing)
Interesting choices. You are most wise indeed. Though why you would rather study than copy is beyond me. But hopefully perhaps you will use your improved teaching skills for the benefit of your covenant.
There caveat is that you must write something. I don't care what it is or how you go about publishing it, just that you contribute to the advancement of knowledge through the arts of scribal literacy.
Tiana smiles prettily and bows. "Indeed, good sir," she replies. "I belong to a society dedicated to the preservation and distribution of knowledge. I spend two seasons of each year dedicated to that end. I chose to read because I have recently taken on an apprentice, and my need to equip myself that I might teach him is immediate. I would love to spend more time here, copying texts, but I have a responsibility to my filius which takes precedence over my own desires."
Sigmundo sniff at you.
You are odd. I sense very little magic about you. Gentle Gift?
Vocis is copying a Finesse summa (L8/Q14) in autumn 1231. Not sure what book he's taking for improvement/repair.
She looks at the engraving: is it merely decorative or does it appear to be writing of some kind? This is beautiful! she thinks as she turns it over in her fingers. And it's even my size, as she slips it on (any finger but the ring finger of the right hand, whichever finger it fits best).
[color=red]"He tells me that you've expressed interest in becoming my familiar."
Girl Genius ftw!
It says..."One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them"
Sigmundo come up to you and says Nononono, don't take that one. How did that get here? I meant to have this analyzed. Here, tahe this giant emerald instead.
At first you feel angry and jealous, but when he takes it away you suddenly feel much better and are glad to be rid of it.
It was supposedly created by Himnus the Mad, the idea sparked by an adventure he had with the Merinita magi of Greyhawk.
Let us just say I am interested in learning more about it.
Solomon pauses for a moment, seemingly lost in thought before replying to Tiana, “Sodalis, thank you for bringing this up. I have been concerned as well, although I haven’t quite been able to determine exactly why. Your concerns lead me to believe it’s not just me thinking this. I can’t answer right now, but I will think on this and consult previous quaesitorial findings and present my opinion shortly to the masters of the covenant.”
A few days later, Solomon will call for a covenant meeting, or perhaps present his opinion at a covenant meeting already taking place, “Sodales, I have been asked by Master Tiana of House Mercere to provide my opinion as a quaesitor in regards to the information sharing agreement our covenant has made with the dragon Sigmundo. On the surface, this agreement doesn’t seem to violate any explicit provision within the Code as Sigmundo is a magic being. However, I have a concern that certain elements of this agreement might represent a danger to the Order as a whole.
Specifically, I am concerned about sharing any texts or specific knowledge related to the Order or Hermetic magic with Sigmundo. While he himself does not represent a threat to the Order as I see it, there is a potential that any information shared with him could end up in the hands of our enemy.
It is my understanding, as I wasn’t present during the negotiations, that Sigmundo has entered this agreement because of his personal interest in sharing knowledge and furthering scholastic efforts. This is a noble goal, but doesn’t necessarily align with the goals of the Order. My specific concern is that Sigmundo likely sees little difference between Hermetic Magi and those who practice magic outside of the Order. If that is the case, it is possible, even likely, that he might negotiate a similar arrangement with magi not of the Order. If that were to occur, then any Hermetic knowledge we would have traded with him could fall into the hands of our enemies.
It is the fear of just such a possibility that historically has kept us from sharing our specific magical knowledge with those outside of the Order, regardless of their personal power or affiliations. We just can’t be certain whom Sigmundo will trade his knowledge with in the future.
My recommendation would be two-fold. First, we could try and negotiate with Sigmundo to ensure he will only trade his knowledge and texts with members of the Hermetic Order, perhaps with us as the sole arbiters of who is allowed to meet with him. This would give us the ability to ensure his knowledge is not being passed to those we wish to not have it, as well as increasing our covenant’s status. If he refuses to make this concession, then we should only trade information with him that is not Hermetic in nature nor discusses the Order in any way, shape or form. We should also catalog as much as possible what information of such a sort he already has, so that we know what information might be comprised.”
(Solomon knows a lot more about the Code than I do as a relative Ars newbie, so if anything is way off, please let me know and I can try to change it)
(That was pretty close to my thoughts on it, PoB.)
Tiana nods. "I will bring our Teaching tractatus to be repaired, and I will study from his collection rather than copy. I can reproduce an exact copy for the covenant later, and of course I would be making a second copy for my House as well. I am trusting this Council with that knowledge of my abilities and I ask that it be kept in strictest confidence. For example, if Sigmundo were to learn that I have this ability, I expect he would enslave me and force me to work towards building his library until I died."