"there is a natural magical path from the Rhine to Pripet major, or near to it anyways, which is a one way route."
that sounds like an acceptable plan...
You load up with supplies nd within a few days have arrived at Castra Pisces...
Finding himself in the drawing room, a teenaged servant brings a tray, with a bowl heaped with beluga caviar and a plate of blini, with a few other accoutrements, including wine. A few minutes later, the door enters and a magus enters. He looks to be in his thirties, with long black hair and a beard; and he is hugely fat. He doesn't walk, but hovers a little above the ground, floating over to the chair opposite. He speaks in strangely-accented Latin, "Greetings. I am Xahansa ex Miscellanea. A pleasure to meet you. Are you our new redcap? Help yourself to some caviar." He does so himself, generously.
«Xahansa, pleased to meet you. I think we met a few years back, I accompanied my mater, and now, well I am on my own. Yes, I am the ... «new redcap» ... I have been led to assum that I can join your covenant and use it as my base.»
"On my account, you're welcome. I suppose we should check with Abraxas, but I don't think he'll object. It gets a bit lonely here, many find the locale... unsettling, and more members would be good for the covenant. What do you want a base for?"
[FYI he has Blatant Gift.]
Odysseus looks very tense and focused, sitting straight and speaking directly at Xahansa. He refuses to withdraw in the way most people do when they face Xahansa's blatant Gift.
«Well, for one, I am not going to travel all year round. I need somewhere to call home, where I can settle down for a season or two each year to do other things. Besides, there is no Mercere House in this part of Novgorod. It may be useful to have a place where others can call, if they have urgent messages. Of course, I have to ask, do you try to keep your location secret to other magi?»
OOC. @silveroak where is his contact point with Thebes and the rest of the Order? Constantinople? (Oh dear, shall we also be entangled in the events of 1204?) Or is there another redcap travelling the Black Sea?
Xahansa shakes his head. "We don't try to keep secret; but there are locals that can cause worry because of their strangeness and their strange religion. But they're fine, if left alone."
«Good. Your covenant is conveniently placed in the middle of my area. Constantinople to the South, Taganrog to the East, Alta Nix to the West or North West, and Pripet Major to the North, although the latter is traditionally served from the North.
«If you need time to talk it through, we can complete the discussion in a couple of weeks, when I return from Taganrog. After that, I shall go to Alta Nix, and probably be away for many months.»
Xahansa nods. "Alright. We do a fair bit of travelling too, but I should be here when you get back. Do you need anything? When you head back out to the west, I will have some book orders. Where is Alta Nix?"
«Alta Nix is in the Carpathian mountains. You are looking for books in Latin, are you not? That's going to be a challenge. My contacts in the Thebes use Classical Greek, and our Latin sodales in Novgorod do not trade much in books. However, I shall collect catalogues of what may be available. Do you have books to sell too? Magi in Novgorod have little use for the vis you might offer, but if you have books to trade in kind, I bet your chances are better.»
Xahansa grimaces. "You can't get Latin books from the Roman tribunal? We have a few good books, but our library is quite small; we have... problems with books. They have to be clarified or else they warp quite quickly. But Abraxas wrote an excellent Rego summa that we can trade copies of - probably one per year."
«It might be possible, but I would have to figure out whom to contact, and then contact them. It would take years to achieve by correspondence, so it might be better to travel, which could be possible, but certainly not this year.
«What do you mean, «clarified»? You mean rewriting with clearer script? Do you have to clarify them before they enter the aura, or do you have time to do the work after you get the books into the aura?»
The mercere house for this part of Novgorod is in Trebizond (the city).
Xahansa shakes his head. "You have to add resonant materials, and open the book to enchantment. Then the fluid vis flows into it rather than warping it. It's actually an improvement to the book, but it means that it can't exist outside of an aura. Copies are fine, as long as they are taken out quickly before they get too warped. But it means that any books we purchase have to be attended to by a magus... well, by me, right now, to be honest. So a few very sound tomes are better than a wider number of lesser volumes."
«Awkward,» remarks Odysseus, «have you considered seeking out covenants who offer scribal hospitality? Save you the time to enchant the books you purchase. Anyway, I shall see what I can find. Is the Rego book the only one you can offer copies of?»
"Even with hospitality, to keep a book here, we'd have to enchant it. We have a few others, but that's the best. We have a small library staff so our copying is slow."
[He will share their book catalog, but forget to mention the Infernal Lore summa.]
Odysseus takes the catalogue, and makes sure that all the other news and messages are received. He will probably stay a day or two both for gossip and smalltalk and for trade. Maybe get a chance to look around the covenant as well, before he departs for Taganrog.
Xahansa seems thrilled to have someone new to talk to. He will show him the strange ruined city from a distance, atop the fort, and will listen to as many stories of the outside as Odysseus is willing to tell. The cuisine of the covenant is decadent enough to explain Xahansa's girth.
After a couple of days stay Odysseus heads towards Taganrog covenant, on a 4 mile long island in Tananrog Bay. It is a bit over a days travel to the sea of Azov, and while he is crossing that his chart reveals that the draft of the sea where he travels is a mere 40 foot depth, He is midway across when a 40 foot tall column of water emerges from the sea and sprouts arms and a head.
Odysseus quickly turns the rudder to avoid ramming it. Him? Her?
He watches nervously. Why haven't other redcaps told me of this, he thinks.
the water man turns and moves towards the ship as you move to veer away.