Plasmatoris sighs heavily and rubs his forehead. "You are likely correct that it is a dangerous and may drag in additional trouble to our doorstep. I had only considered the opportunity to find more information while also making our covenfolk happy." He thumps his forehead down against his arm on the tabletop, then sits up and lets out another sigh. "My parens did not spend time teaching me covenant management. I had been planned to not be in charge of anything for a few decades once getting my freedom from apprenticeship."
Argentius looks over at Plasmatoris and nods. "I know how you feel. But the table has been set, and it looks like we've got a lot to eat."
The artificer chuckles softly before growing more thoughtful again.
"It may make sense for us to think through a few letters out to the outer world."
"Don't feel bad for trying to help our covenfolk. Do let them know that we'll try to help them - we just want to do so in such a way that no harm befalls on them. That may take a little time."
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"You argue well. If this is the consensus, me and Plasmatoris will ask them to wait.
We will tell them that we should first make sure that it is safe. The people at the oasis are likely to have knowledge of recent events, which means they will know what happened to the Cathars in Europe. We should check with them before deciding what we do.
We will also tell them that we are working on recovering our means of magical transportation, and that we hope to have them within the span of a few years. We would prefer that they wait for this, as it would spare them the risks and hardship of travel."
Unless no one opposes (maybe give it a day?), Lares will go tell the Cathars this.
The Cathars understand your caution, and they are forrunate, as well as unfortunate that they are all young now, so that they are not likely to die while waiting, still they do want you to understand that the fate of their souls does depend on finding perfecti to lead them, and they would rather not wait ay longer than necessary. additionally they indicate that this situation leaves them with a moral dilemma regarding anyone who had become perfecti before being rejuvenated, and this could affect the work they do for the covenant. It is mentioned that for those who were perfecti they may be better off dying in the attempt to find new perfecti than in living long enough to fall into sin.
"Thank you for your understanding, we are grateful. We will keep you updated on our progress with magical transportation, and I will personally make sure that we find out what the situation of the Cathars in Europe is at the present time as soon as we make contact with the oasis. My son Winitran is expected to return from the oasis by the end of the season - we hope he can give us an update on present circumstances."
@Red-Shadow-Claws, did Okeannetis ever tell us what happened at the cave?
Okeannetis will tell her sodales about the strange happenings in the cave, and will comment that it's probably some kind of faerie regio, and will warn them away from it.
"We will definitely want to make plans to gather information from our surrounding world." Plasmatoris has begin to sketch on a slate with a charcoal stick again as he talks. "Based on the reactions of the covenfolk to my attempts to get things organized, I am imagining the other Plasmatoris was as averse to leadership as I am. I know I would prefer to focus on my own studies and experimentation in art. I just worry that the situation here will ruin all our plans and force us to be responsible." The Jerbiton gives the other magi a wde grin. "I'm not too experienced at the responsible part."
"We're all newly gauntleted magi now. I doubt being responsible for a covenant's management was part of anyone's apprenticeship. We'll have to learn along the way."
Assuming only studying gets done aside from some minor (timewise) organizational efforts for the remainder of the season, when Winitran returns he carries some minor news about trade routes and local politics of Egypt and the Berber coast, until he sees the state of the covenant, at which point he begins to explain what he knows of the history of the covenant.
Africa opened to the order in 1228, the same time the Provencal tribunal and another one out east were incorporated into other tribunals following the political situation of the time, also the Lotharginian tribunal was established along with the african Tribunal, with a covenant of Cairo and a covenant of Morrocco, and this covenant recruited people to be the third, which is when the Guernicus decided to promote Tastheus to a quaesitor and have him stationed in what at the time the were calling the middle covenant. It was located based on a strong aura, and the Cathars had apparently lost a crusade and provence had been invaded by France, in what had been the Normandy tribunal, and began the inquisition to try and eradicate the Cathar beliefs. since Cathars hve a moral objection to violence many when offered the opportunity chose to flee to africa. The inquisition continues so it is likely there are still Cathars in France.
A few years after the covenant was founded the Moors invaded in the east, taking over much of the Levant and destroying the SOrder of Seuleman, the survivors of which petitioned to join the Order of Hermes as a new mystery house, and were accepted as house Sueleman, though it is coming to be called house Solomon.
By the tribunal of 1261 the Inquisition had begun adding charges of witchcraft to their list of heresies to investigate and prosecute, and shows little differentiation between magical traditions, though the situations vary widely between inquisitors, and the code was altered to allow a more proactive defense in dealing with mundanes.
How old is Winitran? To Lares' knowledge, did he have any family? In what capacity did he serve the covenant?
Lares makes sure the Cathars receive this information. He gives Winitran time to discuss the situation with his family, then takes him on a tour to acquaint him well with the situation of the covenant.
"I take it that the oasis is unaffected by this rejuvenation. That is excellent news. We have decided to conceal our predicament from the rest of the world for the time being, so as to avoid others taking advantage of our weakness. If you, Winitran, would be willing to act as our envoy to the outside world, this would help our attempt greatly."
Lares asks Winitran's permission to organize a meeting with the magi where everyone may ask him any questions they may have about the covenant or the world at large.
Winitran is in his fifties, and he does have children who remember him and grandchildren who he remembers whose parent do not recall them. Winitran is willing to meet with the magi, and adds "This effect is so unexpected that we might be able to use any of the coverfolk as envoys, simply by adopting new identities, and of course anyone who was outside the covenant can use what contacts they had, which includes both arabs and Berbers from the oasis.
Argentius seeks out Winitran in the days after his return.
"I am Argentius. Sadly I don't know if we were on good terms or not. I hope we can be going forward, though. I'm wondering if you have any connections to any of these contacts," asks the artificer as he shows Winitran the names of the contacts he found in the past-self's records.
"I thought I would check with you before I attempt any contact with them."
Winitran shakes his head "I did not spend a lot of time outside of the covenant and the oasis, and most of these names are Arabic, which means they likely would not treat me as an equal if I did know them.
"So this inquisition is still ongoing? Do we have to worry about it here?"
"Ahh, I see. My apologies," says Argentius with a short bow to Winitran. "Do you have any idea how this happened? Was one of us working on something unusual or particularly experimental?"
During the passage of the season, Plasmatoris will be continuing to speak to the covenfolk about their memories of the covenant and it's daily/seasonal life, attempting to get things leveraged towards 'normal'. Plasmatoris also hopes to learn more about how the covenfolk deal with the faeries in his personal sanctum (If at all).
"The inquisition is ongoing; in fact it is growing. I think someone said it is currently in 4 tribunals now, but all in Europe, not Africa. After all the Inquisition is Catholic, and Muslims still rule Northern Africa, and they seem more concerned with the pagan Berbers, and are definitely more tolerant of magic, though they don't especially care for your rules about not serving mundane powers."
I'm good to proceed to declare my seasonal experience unless something else comes up. Should I move to the character thread?
Yes. Was it 2/3 of the normal xp if studying from a book?