Tytalus hunt Rome Fall 1195

He stops to consider this "It depends on what you mean. If he has infiltrated the court as a wizard, he would be an enemy to my Order, but a friend to the Queen. If he has entered the court as something else he would be presumed to be a spy, and enemy to both. Unless his Gift were gentle, however, it is unlikely he would be able to gain such a position, unless under the auspice of the spymaster, or in the meanest of professions. If he has infiltrated by influencing those within the court then he would be considered a spy. In any case, if I take the meaning of your question, I believe we can be of assistance, though we would not want a direct confrontation ourselves."

Marcus smiles, trying to gauge the court wizard's sincerity¹. Assuming that he still perceives him trustworthy, he continues, «I do not know his or her intentions, nor his or her appearance within the court. A scribe at the court had formed a relationship with a courtesan, previously of ...» Marcus has to glance at his notes before he continues, «... of Pisa, but at the moment resident here in Palermo. Sorry, I am terrible with names². The courtesan is a person of many faces, and he may well be riding two horses. Do you happen to know him?»

¹ Folk Ken + Per rolled 7.
² Indeed he is, but it would be useful to know if he is able to look them up in his notes...

He does find the name of the scribe, The court wizard purses his lips. "How would you like to proceed? I can have the scribe brought to you, provide an arcane connection, or simply point him out for you to follow, once I have consulted who he actually is of course."

OOC. I am not sure I understood your presentation of the letters. Was it the scribe or the courtesan who was Leo's persona? Were the letters unambiguous?

«It would be best, I think, to point him out for me. We need to talk to him to be certain. Does he leave the palace often?»

Leo's persona was the courtesan.
"I would expect so, there are only a couple of scribes who actually remain in residence, in case they are needed late at night, the others live outside the palace. One who is seeing a courtesan is almost certainly not staying at the palace, given the logistical problems for a functionary to procure one, but again I will need to look into the palace administration to be certain. Should I mention this to our spymaster as well, or wait until you are finished with him?"

«Our interest is in the courtesan, rather than the scribe. I think it would damage our cause if anyone alerts the scribe before we have dealt with the courtesan. Thus I would appreciate it if you hold back for now. When we have the courtesan, everything should be ready to investigate the scribe. What influence the courtesan may have exercised through the scribe is anybody's guess.» Marcus answers carefully, to emphasise his analysis.

" very well, I will look into this and meet you here tomorrow to lead you to the scribe " The court wizard nods and departs.
anything before meeting him the next day?
as for divination, the other team is in a magic aura, but the map they have is not detailed enough to do more than locate that the magus is spending a lot of time around Palermo Cathedral. The divine aura there is obviously high...

«Thank you,» says Marcus as the court wizard is leaving.

Who is our telegraphist, keeping in touch with the people in the magic aura? Are they going to try a kill spell over AC? Marcus advises them that he has a lead and hope to find the exact identity tomorrow.

Then Marcus goes to talk to the Flambeau and the Bjornar. «I think I can find Leo; I have been promised the identity of his main contact in Palermo tomorrow,» he says, «but I am nothing in a direct confrontation. Are you up to confronting him? And maybe, you ... Bjornar, can verify his identity.»

Marcus goes on to discuss what the two magi think, whether they can confront Leo in the city, and whether they think we should include the other two with less obvious merits. Marcus does not deliberately want to shut them out, but he knows from experience that the larger the group the more he struggles with poor hearing.

"As a wolf I can track and attack, unhindered by the aura" the Bjorner replies. The Flabeau turns his hands upwards "In a strong divine aura, I am not well prepared. If you drive him out to seek a more typical aura to defend himself I can certainly cover that contingency." The tremere magus is also well trained in mundane weapons, having a sword and multiple throwing knives ready to attack.

Marcus listens respectfully, and asks calmly, «and what do you think of striking him down in plain view of city authorities?»

"Probably unwise, unless the city authorities are assisting, or sympathetic to our actions. Ambushing him in his sleep would be preferable." the Tremere replies.

«If that's within your range of expertise,» Marcus says, «a nightly assassination may well be the right solution to our problem. Listen, tomorrow I need to be able to find you. I would have liked to go together, but I am afraid one Gifted person will create more than enough disturbance. It is probably better if I find you when I know where Leo's associate and hopefully also Leo hang out.» Arnar suggests a meeting point for them.

The meeting point is arranged, and the next day the court wizard gives you the location of the scribe's house, a description of them, what time they leave work and which door they normally take out of the palace.

Arnar expresses his gratitude, and goes to find his sodales, probably still ignoring the Criamon unless he happens to cling onto one of the others. He briefly explains the situation. «I reckon we should post one watch at the scribe's house and one at the palace exit. Would anyone be good at tailing the scribe?» he asks. «It is imperative that we are not spotted, and that we avoid collateral damage. The scribe is really not our enemy.»

Marcus is going to watch the palace exit, in any event, with his maid and shield grog, and point out the identity of the scribe for later use. If one of the other magi claim to be proficient tails, he will leave the pursuit to them, otherwise he will send the grog to tail, and then tail the grog himself. The purpose is now to identify the courtesan, as well as houses used by the scribe or the courtesan.

The bjorner wolf of course claims to be a proficient tail. You spot the scribe as he leaves the palace that evening- make a dex+stealth roll to follow unnoticed.

Very well, the Bjornar gets to tail the scribe, while Marcus tails the Bjornar. Thus he should be far behind the scribe. Marcus never played hide and seek as a child, and have absolutely no experience with stealth¹.

¹ Dex + Stealth 3

Following the bjorner turns out to be difficult, as they are trying to avoid being noticed themselves by the scribe. You lose the trail but fortunately the bjorner mage returns to retrieve you when the target has stopped for a while- when they take dinner, for example, and you come upon them at the restaurant as he departs, kissing a woman goodbye on the way out. They are clearly not a blood relation.

«Pst, Bjorn, what do you think of the woman? Do you recognise the scent? We need to tail her,» Arnar says.

They were dining together, the two blood non-relations, weren't they? Are we close to the cathedral? Are we close to the scribes house?

I suppose I have no idea whether a persona has a different scent. Or?

The bjorner has no idea whether a persona has a different scent, but notes "she smelled like a woman, so that is different." And proceeds to begin tailing her. Again you lose track of the bjorner, but he comes back and finds you "I suspect this may be the person we are looking for. I followed her to an area where she lost me, but traffic was light enough that I should have picked up her scent, and yet I could not. Further I am certain that even if she had spotted me I should have been able to see her departure, and yet I could not. I think you may be right about different persona's and their scents."

«Good, my friend. I am not sure where we stand,» Arnar says, «shall we go together and consult the quasitoris?» As they walk, he keeps discussing the problem. «We need to watch out for both the scribe and the woman. If they switch identities on a regular basis, it will be hell to track them. There is no point, I don't think, in apprehending the scribe; he probably only noes the one identity of Leo. Is it worthwhile to ask around about the courtesan, or will we only alert her if we do? What do you think?»

When they have talked it through, unless the Bjornar has a better suggestion and unless the quasitoris tells them that Leo is on his way out of town, they team up with the rest of the group and share watch duties. They need to watch the scribe, in case they meet again, probably starting with his house.