Rhodri blushes slightly. "No...please, I would much prefer someone else does it. ...Elysia? If you would, I will defer this...honor to you. Thank you." he mops his brow on his sleeve.
Barbara tsks. "Very well, I expected better. Very well, Elysia you may have this distinction, unless Acacius you would rather? If not, then we are adjourned. Please wait outside until the magi are called, I will inform the magi of Blackthorn and you will be escorted to your seats ahead of the other Magi." Barbara bows slightly and exits. One of the strange and possibly afflicted covenfolk waits on the other side to escort you out.
"My house finds no offense with me." He says with a nod, "No reason to give me such a title The issue is simply my Master and such shall be reconciled all in good time I have little doubts of that." He looked between them, "I am nothing more then a Bjornaer And find no need to change that." He cracks a smile.
Kylios takes his beer and takes a swig that seems to last for minutes before putting the mostly-empty mug on the counter and gasping for air. "Sainting a maga? That's a good way to ruin her career! She'll never be able to cast a spell on herself again!" He laughs loudly, finishes the last of his beer, and slides the mug back. "Long as it's free, I'll take another!"
Björn speaks with the Custos for a bit, then moves on when he learns the tractatus does not contain anything that interests him. His meandering path takes him past another seller, this one claiming Verditius crafted items for sale. Interest piqued, he stops to examine the items for their craftsmanship and magical effects, checking out the compitition.
Elysia takes this privilege if Rhodri does not wish to do so. I can wait upon my turn. Acacius await his turn and try to look patient but he is really anxious to get in front of the tribunal and be recognised as a magus, eighteen years of wait is soon over.
"Very well then. The Tribunal shall be convened shortly after sunset. Please wait until then. Next!" says Fredegisa as she reaches for the next applicant's papers.
"Ah, worry not about my career Sodales." says a charming and refined voice from behind them. The bartender bows his head in respect to his Lady, the famed Julia of Jerbiton. "The Founders no doubt worried about their careers, but forged ahead anyway, as did Pralix when she formed the Ordo Miscellenea. Bold moves are always resisted."
"But Sodales, I believe you are newly arrived? So as to lay the rumor to rest, I do not seek to have a wizard Sainted. But, there are many mundanes who have come to believe that one from our Order, Nerius of House Criamon, has become worthy of Sainthood. I would like to organize a feast day in his honor. Please think on these things. Enjoy the food and drink though, compliments of the Covenant of Voluntas."
You stop at a table and find items of a rare sort. Other magi with a similar intent as yours take a look and shudder as they pass. One of them mutters that this must be the works of the Verditius nicknamed 'Cadaverus Coitus'. Emerging from a nearby tent is a man that causes you to gasp. He is bald and dressed in black robes that seem to be more like a shroud. His flesh is pallid and unhealthy, his eyes sunken and piercing. His smile is that of the mortician during war. He pulls his hands from his sleeve in a gesture of welcome. You gasp again at the long and spindly digits, almost too long to be human, like spiders attached to his wrists.
"Salve Sodales." he lisps, his yellowish teeth seem to have no gums that they descend from. "Please let me show you my wares, I am Desiderius." Placed on the table are a variety of implements. "Relics and reliquaries are my...medium." he holds up a small glass case which contains a finger bone. There are also a key, a shovel, various sharp instruments (that you'd rather not know what they did) and one more. A ghoulish looking preserved hand, it stands upright on the stump of the wrist and the thumb and fingers point upwards in a claw like gesture, with a small candle atop the tip of each digit, gray wax (the color of old blood?) drips down to collect into the palm. "Ah...you've found my masterpiece. The Hand of Glory. It is from an ancient tradition, I have managed to attune it to Hermetic ways." he lisps proudly. What could such a grisly thing do?
Back in the caves the stunted and mis-shapen covenfolk lead the apprentices out. "Masters" he...(it?) says when they reach the cave entrance. "Please seek me out near sunset, I will lead you through another way so that you may be seated properly." The servant suffers a brief twitch as the sunlight comes through the cave entrance when the illusion parts.
Rhodri nods and is eager to be back in the light. "Well...Sodales" he says with some pride "I must return to my Covenant's tent. I shall see you inside."
Caught in horrified facination, Björn stares at the items on the table, dumbfounded that anyone could create such macabre devices. Spying the severed hand tipped with candles, he unconciously leans closer to get a better look at the ghastly object. 'Dear God, what is that thing,' runs through his head as he studies it, entranced.
Björn straightens with a start when Desiderius takes note of his intrest in the hand, feeling like he just got caught admiring the work of a devil. Trying to cover his unease, he attempts to act nonchalant as he nods once at the hand and asks, "so what does a Hand of Glory do?" Björn realizes after he asks, that he probably does not really want to know, but tries not to let it show.
Desiderius smiles perhaps at the interest but more likely at the revulsion you try to conceal. The corners of his mouth seem to reach almost to his ears, yet the smile never touches the expression of his sunken eyes.
"Well Sodales, the traditional Hand of Glory is obtained by taking the hand of a hanged murderer and subjecting it to various...procedures. Witches were said to use it and create a cloud that could make all within it fall into a deathly sleep. This can do such an effect, but much more as well. It has various..." He searches for the word, tapping his long finger to his tooth as he does so. "...divination properties. I have studied many burial practices on the British Isles as well to bind them into this magnificent object. I would enter this into our contest...but I suspect our House borthers might be lily-livered." He stops to regard you with his smile and laughs a brief snort "Not like you and I though eh Sodales?" his high pitched and shrill laughter continues for several moments before he finally composes himself. "So can I interest you in my wares?" he picks up the hand and caress it softly with a long finger. "This I'm afraid is not for sale."
Kylios turns around to face Julia and treats her to a stunning smile. "It is truly a pleasure to meet you, and thank you for your hospitality. Pardon my friend's questions - he's blunt as anything. You know how Verditius are." He winks at her. "And I couldn't agree more - never let the nomos get in the way of what you know, here." He taps himself on the chest, over his heart.
((Die roll for Kylios Rolled on: 2009-01-13 18:39:38.471891
Charm 1d10-1 → [4,-1] = (3)+2+1(first impressions)+1 pre = 7))
"Well you seem to be enjoying this hospitality, do you need a reason?" she says with a charming laugh. "But seriously Sodales, we must not forget our origins. When we became Magi we did no change our species. We laugh, we cry, we grow, we die. That we can do some marvelous things shouldn't seperate ourselves from that humanity. And humanity likes to celebrate. It finds reasons to express joy and laughter, to dance and sing and share the fruit of the vine, the nectar of grain. A feast day such as this can share our commonality, bring us closer to each other. Men that see a wizard carousing with ale sees that common humanity, and we become less frightening to them, while losing none of our essential power." She seems to have prepared the speech and delivered it many times already.
"With a feast to Nerius we can meet on some common grounds and enjoy such things together. That is not so bad is it?"
"Well thank you Sodales. I hope I can count on these sentiments while at Tribunal. This will no doubt be an early item of discussion and perhaps a heated one. Now if you'll excuse me I need to make the rounds. Enjoy!"
As you wander through the crowds and tents you begin to become aware of eyes lingering upon you, conversations becoming hushed as you pass, and contemptuous sneers appear on Magi's faces. Are you a leper? Did you step in something odious?
"Hedge Wizard..." the word seems to follow like a fetid wind. You never find the source, never see someone speak it, but you know surely as they do that the word is like a foul humour in the air around you. How could this spread so fast?
Jaen will roll his eyes, muttering, "Oh you make my head ache." He'll nod to Julia. "And I thank you for your hospitality. Good wishes to getting your feast day. I'm all for common celebration." He'll turn to the Grog. "Sirrah, please. Another ale before my friend Tytalus starts making sense."
Something seems to dawn on him, and he makes his way back to where Fredegisa and the other two were sitting. Waiting until they had just finished one applicant, he steps forward, "Beg your pardon, Sodales, but the letter my master sent to you? Might I have it? I see no reason for you to keep it and that would allow me to raise the question of it with my master later." He glaces at the man he had just cut off, "So in the future no such letters will arrive. I think we can all see how that would be a good thing."
[color=blue]"It is for my sodalis to decide." She indicates the two next to her [color=blue]"However it would be best such a letter remains in queasitor custody for review and consideration. If nothing else it is bearing a false testimony to deny you your vote in tribunal plus it was not sent to you." Siobhan waits for the next mage to step up to give name as she has given her say on the issue and no more involvement.
Björn listens as Desiderius elaborates on his ghoulish studies, his face going a little pale and his stomach growing rather queasy. Trying to recover himself, he replies, "Unfortuanately, apprenticeship has not left me much in my changepurse. Perhaps some other time, when I have the vis to spare. Thank you for letting me see your work though." He takes a step back into crowd, turning and quickly walking away.
Trying to get the image of that cadaverous hand out of his head, Björn walks aimlessly around the tents until he spies the ale tent. Remembering Jaen's intentions earlier, he heads for the tent hoping for some ale and company. Finding Jaen with Kylios, he pulls out a chair and sits down without preamble, ordering an ale as he does. When the drink comes, Björn drinks it all down in one go, and then calls for another. As he waits for the second drink to arrive, he finally speaks. "Well, I found a Stonehenge Verditius alright, and you would not believe the things he had on display. There was this dead, chopped off hand sitting on it's stump, and on every finger he's got these ghastly looking candles. He called it a 'Hand of Glory,' but it looked more like a 'Hand of Gory' to me." He shakes his head, trying again to remove the image from his mind. "And some of his other items... I don't even want to begin to imagine what those pokers were for." As his second ale comes, he sips it more slowly now that he has relieved himself somewhat of the experience.
Grumbles come from the line as you return to it, the other Quaesitors frown at the interruption. They both look to Siobhan and nod at her response.
"The letter was addressed to Iuducium actually, the Senior Quaesitor of Stonehenge. Cauis Ex Bonisagus sent the letter to Master Iuducium out of concern for both the impropriety of your apprenticeship and the infringement upon his rights. In order to investigate this properly we sought Flavius Ex Bjoernaer to verify." adds Fredegisa. "The letter belongs to him, once the investigation is complete it will be returned to him and then added to his files, eventually to be stored in Magvillus. I'm sorry if you feel this is perhaps harmful to your reputation, but there is nothing illegal about it, and your Gauntlet is...questionable." More grumbles come from the line.
"Now if you'll excuse us. Next!" announces Fredegisa to the next magus who's scowl only deepens at the delay you caused him.
[i]Siobhan in order for this Tribunal to be Quorate and thus legally binding, there needs to be a dozen Magi from at least four Covenants. So far the Covenants represented are:
Stonehenge, Voluntas, Nigrasaxa, Libellus, Schola Pythagoranis, Semitae, and Burnham. Cad Gadu (the Domus Magnus of Exmiscellenea) is not represented yet, nor is Ungulus, and the two Quaesitors express idle gossip over whether or not they will come. Some two dozen magi are already accounted for, with many more on the way. This Tribunal is definitely Quorate.[/i]