the redcap administrator in Thebes takes Odysseus to the side. "There have been some issues which have arisen in northern Novgorod, and we need to determine a way for our redcap to Rus to finish his circuit. He will be exploring from his end, but we need you to explore into Novgorod from Castra Pisces, see it there is a water route that can be used to extract our man from the territory at the end of the season. We are sending someone highly experienced in this year, who may be able to reach the conventional extraction before the papal bull closes it off, or hopefully improvise if they cannot, we will take your report this summer and see what we can develop as a solution. Of course any vis or vis sources you find you can claim, and any magi who want to go looking for discoveries on your expedition will be fully funded, along with yourself, for the expedition."
«Very well. Where are the covenants on his circuit? I assume you do not know where he is at the moment, do you?»
OOC. Odysseus has just gauntletted in Thebes. He has probably been in touch with Castra Pisces as an apprentice (given that he has area lore in Novgorod), but I suppose he has not yet joined the covenant. Right?
lets assume not officially, but plans were in the works for him to join, since he is part of the accounting.
Odysseus tries to get as much information as he can about the location of covenants and the different mail routes they have, in order to prepare.
OOC. You did not answer the IC question 
There are two other covenants on your "route"- Taganrog Covenant up in Taganrog bay off the Sea of Azov, and Alta Nix (Latin for deep snow) on top of a mountain just northeast of the Transylvanian tribunal, technically on the Eastern slope of the Carpathian Mountains in what could have been Trannsyvaian territory...
Thanks. Good to know.
What about the Northern circuit which he asked me to try to connect to?
Traditionally it begins at pripet Major, frostmourne was also on the circuit, as well as Boleslaw and the Ladoga covenant.
OK. And the circuit connected to the Rhine? Is that right?
Did I understand it correctly that we have a redcap stranded somewhere? Or is it sufficient just to find a way to Pripet Major?
Odysseus takes some days to study maps and talk to others who know the interior of Novgorod, before he leaves. I suppose he plans to go up the Dnieper towards Priper Major. Is he scheduled to call on the other two covenants before going North? At Castra Pisces he will call in any event, since it is a minor detour and it is good to have some familiar waypoints.
The exact route of his circuit is for him to determine.
OK. So postponing his proper circuit for months while he tries to connect to a circuit which isn't his, is quite ok?
What about the other two questions?
He is not stranded at this point, and likely can find some way out, just not a way he is likely to make a part of his regular route. Pripet Major would be fine, Boleslaw would be better.
Where exactly is Alta Nix? Close to the source of the Dniester and Gan Rivers?
mount Parashka,
keeping in mind that medieval cartography is nowhere near as good as Google maps... and you would need an area lore roll to locate the probable best way to get there...
Very well, I was hoping to rely on advice from redcaps who have been there before, and their maps presumably annotated for our purpose.
He rolls 11 (12 if spec. covenants applies).
BTW. I was relying on the maps in C&G and the 4ed tribunal book, rather than Google maps. Going up the Dniester looks right on all accounts, except that C&G times it at three months upstream and two months downstream. It will take the better part of a year and then end up in the Baltic, If he then sails two Lübeck, I suppose he has to go via Riga before he can return to Poland and go South. Or? Anyway, he will not be able to get his ship back to the Black sea for another round the next year.
If he can try this, however much time it takes, he will go C Pisces - Taganrog - C Pisces - up the Dienster and to Alta Nix - and then see if he can continue to Pomerania.
keep in mind that the bit about Riga is a Papal bull. If you don't fear excommunication and the possibility of being damned for your actions, it isn't a issue. Going around Europe to get there however would make for a much longer trip- the point of your assignment is to check for routes from the south.
Sure.
The big question is, it is OK to take two years to explore the route all the way to Pomerania? Or is he expected to be back the year after to serve the Black Sea covenants?
I thought the point of going all the way to Boleslaw was to connect to the Rhine in that end. But maybe not. Maybe it is sufficient to sample the route, and return back to report, without actually connecting and exchange messages. Is that right?
Can the senior redcaps tell me how the journey between Boleslaw and Pripet is usually made?
It isn't. Traditionally the magus starts at Priper major, heads to Boleslaw, then north, catching a ship at Ladoga to return to the Rhine. This obviously will not work anymore.
What isn't? Three questions, and I am not sure which you reply to.
You describe a route from Pripet Major to the Rhine, but it should be a circuit. Does he go back the same way?
He cannot, the magical route to Pripet major is one way.
You are being asked to explore for a season or two, you are still expected to make your delivery route this season, as that is of immediate concern and should not be interrupted. Your burden is to explore the possibility of a route, not to single handedly blaze a trail and find the one solution. " We are redcaps, not magi, we do what is possible, not what is miraculous, and we succeed because we have numbers, and organization, not because of heroic efforts and mighty magics. You need only do your part and explore your territory to see what we might make use of."
«That makes sense. I'll do my best,» he answers. «I know we do not have a Mercere House in Novgorod anywhere close, but is there one further North?»
What do you mean by «magical route to Pripet Major»? I am not sure if this should mean something to me, or if I ask IC:
Odyssevs plans the route, to do C Pisces - Taganrog - C Pisces as a matter routine, being coastal destinations. Afterwards, he will go up the Dienster to Alta Nix, and therefrom he will investigate connections to rivers flowing North and to Pripet Major.
He knows that the Dnieper to Kiev and Pripet Major is an option, but whether he tries it or not depends on what he finds out on the Dienster.