Carmen talks in purple 
I fixed it. Anyway...
I had presumed she was acting according to your instructions. If you have an alternative idea, I am all ears.
And yes, I rode in on a flying carpet. I don't have it with me, my grog Wen is keeping it aside in her room. It is a logistic necessity for my current method of operation.
"No, she wasn't. This should have come to me, first, well before Vocis or Solomon were consulted, and especially before you were assigned. I have half a mind to... Well, nevermind that. If you give me your flying carpet I'll sponsor you as a journeyman and give you whatever support you need to get these French ingrates off our doorstep."
You're serious?
Look, this is my offering to help you. If you want me to help you, then make me a member. No membership, no sweat off my nose. I'll hop on my carpet and head back to Ibiza. Maybe hook up with these guys and join the Provencal Tribunal. Is that what you want?
Carmen looks like she's about to blow her lid for a moment, but then takes a deep breath. "You're right. It's not your fault that no one respects my authoritah around here. I'll give you journeyman membership and you can offer these French mages journeyman status too, with all the rights and privileges that entails. But I do want that carpet. Can I buy it from you? I'll give you two rooks for it." Her eyes go wide with hope, for maximum (practiced) guilt-inducement.
Sorry, but no. I need it for logistical purposes. And besides being a great tactic and useful for logistics, I have a supernatural issue with my retinue. See, my man Johan, he is an expert sailor and he can make a ship fly or sail undersea. But he cannot ride aboard the same ship as any woman. This is no fault of Wen's, and she has made herself indispensable! As a scput, as a herald, as recon; she has got pluck and a set bigger than most men. I often place her on the carpet when I am not directly using it. I have her perform aerial recon of the terrain before and during a conflict, often riding along with my Familiar in order to facilitate instant communication.
But the guy who made it. Oestridez of Bonisagus from Pyramids II in Egypt. I can get the Lab Text from him I am sure, or you can easily buy one on the Hermetic market. Seven magnitude lesser enchanted item, that's roughly 42qp, that equals a Rook and a half-pawn. Round up to 11 pawns, maybe 12. Much cheaper and freshly made for you.
And I honestly was thinking of having Carmen doing just that, but she doesn't want to waste any more money until we get our reserves built up. By money I mean vis. And by wasting I mean she has been spending out of the Pontifex reserve we found out about in the vault, healed the burn on her arm and outfitted a few grogs with longevity and whatnot.
You mean the EMERGENCY STASH that was in the Vault of Valdarius?! The "DO NOT USE UNLESS THE COVENANT IS UNDER ATTACK" stash?!
That's a pretty major breach of trust, there, and Vulc would push to get Carmen removed as treasurer if that queen has been touched.
That is OOG information, and it wasn't that stash. It was the other stash Rodrigo told us about. And you know nothing about it. And it was replenished as our coffers filled back up. And you know nothing about it. And reequipping ourselves and etceteras is indeed an emergency. Where do you think the vis Vulcanus got to work with that first season or two came from? And this is all secret hush-hush business of the treasurer. And they were funds dedicated for the discretion of the pontifici. It was locusts!!!
He does know about the one in the Vault of Valdarius, though, which IIRC neither one of them can open without the other.
That one was supposed to be Carmen's ransom money back in the Arc of Fire episode a few years ago. The efreet Khyron demanded one thousand pieces of gold each infused with a pawn of Ignem vis. Antonio had gathered two queens, and they came up with a trick of creating a false vis signature and mixing real vis coins with fake. Then Simon found the vis and, well...
So they were left with only a queen of Ignem and made the fake ransom chest. But everything went screwy upon arrival and the ransom was never given. They busted her out instead 8)
So the box was valted, the fals vis signature spell wore off, and there is a queen of Ignem sitting in reserve in case of covenant attack.
So no worries. That vis has never been touched. Nor has the stash kept in the ice cavern (guarded by a sleeping giant). Carmen dipped into the private coffer of the pontifex, which she discovered in her fathers room when she moved in. She also discovered the legendary Fire-clock, and is unsure what to do with it. And there was some strange and kinky stuff that she sealed away in storage (ewww). She also found a book of McGuffins and one or two MacGuffins that she is clueless about.
But this is irrelevant!! Carmen is a storyguide character, so I suppose I should let the troupe have more influence on how she is played and the Deus-ex-Machinas and McGuffins that are her responsibility and/or privilege. Especially when another player is acting storyguide.
But I am playing Roberto Rodriguez as a PC in this thread. And I ain't sellin' my flyin' carpet!
So I would become an instant Journeyman, and the duty I am charged with is to go to Mallorca and form a chapterhouse for Andorra and invite the magi in that area to join with me as fellow Journeymen.
What is the situation at hand? What is your major concern? How many other Hermetic magi are we dealing with? What political preasures are they under and what can we bring to bear? What are their resources? What do they have and what are they short of? Do they need vis? Or is it silver? What property rights have they secured? What hazards do they face? What do we have to bring to the table and what is in it for us?
And if you are interested in developing a flying carpet project, I am willing to cooperate with that. The thing is damn useful and I wish I had several. A large one like I have and two or three smaller ones. And other ideas for platforms of flying transport. A raft, a ship, a cloak that you wear like a harness, and so forth. It is a simple Rego-Animal spell for a fine wool rug. Maybe Rego Herbam for a linen sheet, interesting idea. Easier to fold up and tuck away, all the advantages of a carpet in terms of a battle platform and porter as well as travel.
I digress. I will have to get a lab set up and invent the spell I wish to work with. Anyway, what more can you tell me about the task at hand. What are the instructions of the Pontifex?
(I also corrected my own slip of the tongue. I said "found" when I meant in retrospect "found out about". My Bad)
Carmen glares at Rodrigo. "You're asking a lot of questions of someone who knew nothing about this situation until you walked in the door," she replies drolly, "But I'll chalk that up to enthusiasm. Go find out what you can, and report back to me before you do ANYTHING."
I was unaware that Rodrigo was in the room.
Or perhaps do you mean Roberto?
One would figure that knowing nothing seems like a good reason why I would ask so many questions.
And if you do not know, who am I to ask?
Ponders for a moment.
I suppose Tiana would know. But as I understand, her freewheeling attitude rubs you the wrong way. So perhaps I am to get this information from her, then come to you for further instruction?
"Of, not for," Carmen repeats herself. "You walking into this office is the first I've heard of any of this business, and yet you're asking me for intel on it? I am the smartest bitch you're ever gonna meet, but I'm not clairvoyant. I don't know the answers to your questions, and no, I don't know who you should ask. So you can keep puttering around here and ask questions of people who have no clue what's going on at Mallorca, OR, you can go meet with these French magi and find out what they want, what they need, what they have, and what price they can be bought for. But don't do anything. Make no promises, offer no deals, until you've come back here and cleared it with me, first. I don't want to hear you've so much as taken a piss on Mallorca without my prior say-so. Are we understood?"
Roberto raises an arched eyebrow.
I'm going to pee where I need to pee. But I do otherwise understand. Cut no deals and make no offers on the covenant's behalf until I have gathered intelligence and returned to you with it to make a decision.
May I acquire an Arcane Connection from the yard?
"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."