"As a journeyman member, you're entitled to it. Welcome to Andorra."
Roberto bows and exhibits all due humility as befits proper behavior.
8)
Roberto will take about a week to get ready. He is having Johan sail the Malaga high above the clods until he reaches Arans Andorra, and has his whole entourage present. He is waiting for Arachne to finish crafting Paralysis Spiders for him. He will also put together a list of supplies & etcetera he would like to requisition for his expedition. But as a new member, he is unaware of how to go about this. So he will approach one of the Masters to ask how to go about it.
enney-meeney-miney-moe...
I pick Vulcanus
Salve sodale! I am Roberto Rodriguez of Flambea, newly come to this covenant and chosen to lead a diplomatic expedition to Mallorica.
Vulc gets a deer-in-the-headlights look. "Oh no. No way. The last time I even tagged along on a diplomatic mission, I broke a girl's heart and threatened to kill an ancient dragon. I wish you the best of luck, sodalis, but I'm staying right here, thank you."
I am not asking you to go with me. Your skills are needed here. I need your help in figuring out how to requisition supplies and services. And deciding just what those should be. I have a few men, and would like to take on a few more. A translator and a scribe, a couple of lackeys and maybe a pair of soldiers. I will need provisions, equipment, funds, maybe a rook of vis just in case. Something to offer as gifts of diplomacy. And resources for a plan B for a worst case scenario.
"Uh, you seem to have been misinformed. Carmen is the Treasurer. I'm Artifex. If you need any magic items made then I'm your man, but if you need money and supplies and vis, it's Carmen who handles that."
Yeah, I know. She's a spitfire, she is. Too bad I'm taken 
Cash I get from the treasury, check. Vis, I have no idea. Diplomatic gifts, well if you have any trinkets around or a masterpiece that will command their attention, that would be most helpful. Magic items you may have collected or magnificent treasures you personally crafted. Whom do I speak to about requisitioning staff? Two more soldiers, three servants, a translator versed in Arabic and Latin as well as Catalan, forget the scribe for now. Then provisions and supplies. I do suppose I am permitted just to requisition those from your Steward?
We can handwave this and you can say Roberto has "whatever", and we can go on and Roberto departs when his spiders are finished.
Need a roll on that from Fixer.
Or you can play Carmen again and we can hash out specific particulars.
Vocis's daughter Amada is probably your best bet for a translator. She's fluent in Occitan, Latin, and Greek, nearly fluent in Arabic and Spanish, and passable in French, Portuguese, and Hebrew. And she's also a scribe, so she covers both bases. Not that there's any way Vulc will know any of that, of course. 
Well, I suppose since Vulcanus seems stunned and confused, Roberto will seek out the advice of another Master. And a seasoned senior Tremere who is wise in the ways of logistics and experienced in the field seems like a much wiser choice
Salve sodale! I am Roberto Rodriguez of Flambea, newly come to this covenant and chosen to lead a diplomatic expedition to Mallorica. I need your help in figuring out how to requisition supplies and services. And deciding just what those should be. I have a few men, and would like to take on a few more. A translator that can scribe, a few servants and a pair of soldiers. I will need provisions, equipment, funds, maybe a rook of vis just in case. Something to offer as gifts of diplomacy. And resources for a plan B for a worst case scenario.
Vocis greets him warmly with chit-chat and wine, both of which I will skip in the interests of progressing the plot.
Ah, you've been tapped for Tiana's plan, I take it? Do you know how many magi you'll need to convince? There may be several involved, I have only two names - Thalassa, the maga who discovered the vis source, and Vilaro, a young Barcelonian magus who is either interested in moving to Mallorca or is being run out of Barcelona by his peers, depending on who you ask.
We should be able to spare a few grogs and servants. My daughter Amada is probably your best choice for translator and scribe. She's a skilled scribe and speaks half a dozen languages. I'll talk to her for you. She won't want to do it and arguing with her father is more acceptable than arguing with a new member of the covenant. I can't imagine her husband Liberto will let her go without him, so that's one of your grogs. He's a tracker and archer, trained at Campo de Marte. Good man. Beyond that, Carmen's brother Alejandro is the captain of the guard. He can assign as many grogs as you need. I recommend a few more archers for the ship passage. Moses Mendez is the steward and probably your best bet for servants. The two of them can cover provisions and equipment as well.
As for funds, vis, and gifts, that's Carmen's purview as treasurer. Silver and a rook of vis shouldn't be a problem. Do you have access to a ship or are you hiring one? If it's the latter, the covenant should cover it. I'm not sure about gifts. My understanding is that Patricia isn't offering Thalassa much more than membership in a tribunal. No money, no books, no equipment. From a strictly monetary perspective, it shouldn't be hard for you to beat that offer.
I do have some ideas for plan B. I can contact Amada and Liberto on a regular basis, either verbally or mentally. I can also use mundane objects to open a verbal connection between us for days at a time. If trouble arises, either I can teleport to one of them immediately or I can teleport additional grogs to them one at a time. The latter will exhaust me pretty quickly, though. Carmen can also teleport herself there should the need arise.
It is at this point that Cidito the cat shows up and starts rubbing your leg begging for some wine :mrgreen:
Hmmm..., well, whom do I ask? It seems that everyone I talk too only has a small tid-bit of knowledge they will share.
I don't need many soldiers. Just a few that are loyal to our cause. There is a company of mercenaries I can hire, and hope to do so as a means to alleviate one problem. See, these guys are on the hunt for wizards in that area, and a few of them are hedge wizards themselves and claim to be tangentially related to the Order.
It is kind of you to offer the services of your daughter and son-in-law. I am sure I will encounter mundanes that only speak Arabic and/or Catalan. And Campo de Marte has a reputation for training elite grogs, so I am doubly grateful.
I have my own ship that will be meeting me here in a few days. And banking on what you just said about the poor offer Provencal has made, my plan should work. Bestow a few gifts to warm relations, then offer membership in our covenant and the resources thereof if they form a chapterhouse with us.
I can also teleport, though it is difficult and often quite exhausting. Until I improve my Arts. My familiar is able to travel great distances as well. The more the merrier, solves many logistic issues. And on that note, this mental communication network of yours is an extraordinary asset. They can communicate through you with each other? Or I could talk to one, they relay the message to you, you communicate to the other and they relay the message to whomever?
This is brilliant!
There was a misunderstanding, she'll only be able to do this in the start of 1234... She's too cramped by Autumn 1233 
Well, the roll is based on her Casting Total, so, according to the corebook, unless she is stressed, she should roll a simple die.
Since it bothers me to roll dice everytime just for a bonus, I've skipped it entirely.
But well, if you want more spiders, sure! 
It could very well mean I extra spider, after all 
Assuming Roberto doesn't object, Cidito is served as well.
Good question. I was hoping you'd already have some information along those lines. Thalassa and Vilaro are, to my knowledge, the only names anyone at the covenant knows.
Vocis smiles and nods. Of course. They're in the employ of the covenant, after all. I suspect Amada even read the fine print. I'm somewhat concerned about the mercenaries you mentioned, though. Is it safe to assume they're not hunting Hermetic wizards?
I'll put together a summary of our resources for you, though Carmen will need to provide details on our monetary resources. He turns to Mica. Please run and tell Nicasi that I'll need an updated copy of the library catalog tomorrow morning. Don't mention my plans for Amada. ((Mica was introduced to Roberto, I just skimmed over it.))
All of that is possible, but keeping a line of communication open for an extended period has its risks. All of it requires arcane connections that are effective weapons in the wrong hands. I keep connections to my family, but I try to avoid giving them connections to me or the covenant. Though I suppose I should develop some simpler options if we're going to found a sister covenant...
Excellent. I should be prepared in just a few days then. My ship should be flying in the day after tomorrow
And I suppose this whole thing got dropped in my lap after all, which is what I was afraid of. I will keep it going if everyone wants, since I really do wanna play Roberto. But it sucks that I have to do it as an SG character.
Any volunteers for a Beta SG amongst you?
I'd very much like to continue with the chapterhouse idea, but I can imagine that the workload could be too much. I'd like to offer to help, but I just really don't have the time.
Vocis is suitably impressed. Not only a flying carpet, but a flying ship as well? No wonder Carmen recruited you.
Sorry man, I'm neglecting my own campaign just keeping up with my characters in this one.
I can run it no problem. I will just need to scale it back down to my original vision of a side thing, a thread of a greater saga as opposed to a mini saga of its own.
The sucky part is that I don't get to play Roberto as a player character 
Tiana recruited me, and I think it was because I have recently been active in that area. I got the carpet from a Bonisagus magus in Egypt. And the ship is just a ship. My man Johan is the one that makes it fly. See, he was cursed by this Sea Hag and can't ride on a hip with a woman or calamity befalls him. And, well, I thought he was exaggerating and there were problems with the ship and I decided to put him on a small boat in tow and he wound up being plunged to the bottom of the sea. Ask him about it. He met King Neptune, and at first the king was mad but then he uncovered the Sea Hag in disguise plotting in the king's court and exposed her. Neptune rewarded him with the power to sail ships in the air, over land, and undersea.
Cidito shows his disdain. pffft I exposed the Sea Hag, and Junior got all the credit. Blatantly not fair.
Yeah, I sent my familiar after Johan. Pinche gato was sort of partially responsible for the incident. Wasn't he? glower
pffft. Saved your butt.
Well, this is true. This is excellent wine by the way. What is the vintage?
Anyway, I promoted Johan from Grog to Consor, because he did indeed come through in a pinch. The carpet was given to me by Oestridez of Bonisagus, who said his visions told him I would have need of it. I have managed to make masterful tactical use of the thing, and logistically it solves my problem with Wen. She can't ride with Johan, but her services are indispensable. That woman is fearless, inquisitive, and a survivor. She is my scout and herald.
Maybe I can team her with Amada to learn some different languages, and Wen can teach her, um, Teaching?
We'll figure it out. Your daughter will be well treated under my supervision.
As for those mercenaries, I had difficulty extracting from them an exact promise. They said specifically they were hunting Moslem Wizards. I got them to agree not to interfere with or harm Hermetic Magi moving into the area, and they agreed in principle. But would make no specific promise and went silent when I spoke of the possibility of Islamic Hermetic magi. So it is a concern. They need to be tamed or expunged.
When I first learned there were hedge wizards amongst the mercenaries, I was going to enforce the Join or Die policy. But I determined they were too weak to worry about and to well connected with temporal powers to risk pushing the matter. I decided a truce was the wiser course of action for now, until I could get a better handle on the situation.
Now get this! These guys claim that they were taught their magic by the mythical Delendos, and that their activities as magicians embedded within mundane forces of Aragon has been sanctioned by Duresca and the Primus Garus!
I have a hard time believing that. But some people say I am stubborn when faced with a truth I refuse to accept. That's why I had to get out of Normandy (and if you are reading this shrink text Mr. Link, do realize that is indeed how I was playing Roberto in the face of the Gurnicus Conspiracy; he was simply to conservative and stubborn and closed minded to accept it could be anything more than a few bad apples in a corrupt Tribunal).
Me, I am a Knight of Seneca, Flambeau to the core. But, see, I really don't buy into that mythology. The Shism War veteran that founded the Senecans, I believe he was real. But the mythical Delendos, I dunno. Lore is kinda sketchy. Some say he died in the last stand, some say he was the apprentice of Delendar, some say he wandered away and lived hundreds of years, and some say whatever story they want to make up in order to teach whatever lesson. That's how the Flambeau Apocrypha works, a series of didactic tales. I caught on to that when I was young.
Same thing here
I'd like to use it to do things without disrutping the main saga, but I know I won't be able to, especially with the end of the year coming (Often meaning work overload). Maybe next year if I do something simple and slow, but don't count on it.
I have no doubts. She'll still harp and complain a bit, mainly because she's no outdoorsman, but she'll get the job done. I expect she'll even enjoy herself, though she'll never admit it.
Just a thought here, but if they're too heavily involved with the temporal powers they could cause trouble whether they're physically or magically weak or not. Do you expect them to interfere with the formation of the covenant? He gives a nasty smirk. Or can you arrange for them to interfere only with Patricia's efforts to found a covenant?
I'm certainly no expert on the matter, despite campaigning with several of your brethren in the Shadow Wars. All of them seemed to have a different legend concerning your founder and Delendos, each more impressive than the last. It certainly made for interesting nights around the campfire.