Story : Meeting at Blackthorne

Back to The Tri-Covenant Trip
===The Tribunal Hall===
With the whisper of a creak, the doors began to swing open and outward. The magical light illuminated the two figures who had stood looking through the door-slits, clad in chainmail and dark red vestments decorated with a badge bearing a delicate white flower upon a background of golden cloth. They bore crossbows which were cocked and held at the ready. Beyond the guards, there was nothing but darkness and a few dark shapes suggestive of yet more guards.
Noone moved and nothing was said for a couple of moments, and then a light flared beyond them, reflecting off the simple, bleached clothes of a mature looking woman with dark, black hair. "Whom are you?" she called out to Mnemosyne, her voice confident, loud, and unwavering.
"I am Mnemosyne filia Hironius ex Guernicus," she replied calmly and clearly. "I request guest rights within your covenant." The quaesitor was glad to have arrived at her first destination. The next few days should prove to be interesting and informative at the least, and hopefully profitable and rewarding as well. Mnemosyne cast aside her glowing brand with a final gesture, needing the light no more, and her mage light winked out as it left her hand.
"Well met, Maga Mnemosyne. I am Goliard filia Flumen ex Tremere. I apologise, but I was not informed that you were expected. These gentlemen", and with those words, she indicated two men clad in green vestments who stepped forward on cue, "will show you to the guest quarters. If you will excuse me, I was in the middle of something. I shall return later so that we may resume our conversation." With this, she swept away with her red-clad guardsmen, leaving the two servants, Mnemosyne, and her companions in the darkness.
"Welcome to Blackthorne, Maga." said a voice from the entranceway. "If this is your entire retinue, then let us head to the Tribunal Hall, directly." In the darkness, the chamberlain peered intently past Mnemosyne at her servants, who seemed somewhat dismayed to having been plunged into darkness. Presently, there was the sound of someone fumbling around, followed by a scratching noise. A few sparks shot into the darkness, creating momentary images of the two figures until the lantern's wick caught aflame with a faint "thhoff". The chamberlain and his colleague gestured to the travellers to follow, and set off into the covenant.
<<nb. when you cross the threshhold, you pass into their aegis.>>
Mnemosyne glanced briefly at her companions, then made a beckoning gesture and set off following the people who seemed to know what they were doing. "By all means..." she agreed. "I am afraid I am unaware of the protocol of Blackthorne." The unspoken question lay in the air, but she was unsure whether or not its subtlety would be wasted on these men. She was unsure of their position or stature, but if it was important, she would find out in due course.
"I am the Chamberlain of the Tribunal Hall, and it is my pleasure to see that you are comfortably accomodated during your stay here in Blackthorne. We are now in the guest area of the covenant, which includes the corridors hereabouts, the tribunal hall, and the guest quarters. The magi kindly ask that you refrain from entering the non-public areas of the covenant unless requested to do so, however you are free to enjoy the guest areas and depart the covenant whenever you wish."
While the chamberlain talked, they passed along several passages taking the odd turn at couple of the junctions they passed through along the way. At one point a servant clad all in black hurried past with a parcel, entering and leaving the lamp light so briefly that he could almost have been imagined.
They came, after just a couple of minutes, upon a large carved stone door. The chamberlain's assistant dowsed the lantern, and the doors were outlined with a golden haze of light that seeped through from the room beyond. The chamberlain turned to the group, and with well practiced drama proclaimed that they had arrived at the Tribunal Hall. When he finished speaking, the doors swung open, and they were bathed in a glorious, golden light that reached down to them from high above, where perfect white clouds glowed brilliantly as they drifted beneath an deep blue sky. The image was startlingly beautiful, but clearly an illusion to those who enjoyed the splendour of the real thing in the privacy of their own mountain-top arcane regio.
From this decorated ceiling, the walls descended a number of storeys, possibly five or six. The far end of the room contained a large, elaborate platform for the Praeco and Presiding Quaesitor with a grand door beyond it. The side walls contained a number of smaller doors, which they were informed led into the guest quarters, numbering twelve in total. The only other door to the room was the one behind them, mirroring the door on the platform in size and style.
"Most impressive," Mnemosyne conceded without rancour. "I begin to see why Blackthorne is the site of choice for the Tribunals." She looked back at the Chamberlain. "Still, unless there is a meeting right now, I would appreciate a chance to refresh myself before meeting with my hosts." The planning of the hall and the scope of the covenant she had seen so far did indeed impress Mnemosyne. It was easy to see that Blackthorne was indeed a summer covenant, and while Mnemosyne would not appreciate living underground herself, one could not deny the aura of power Blackthorne projected - from this hall at least. From without, the place looked rather less impressive.
"Certainly maga, you have plenty of time. The main doors at the rear of the hall are for the use of the Praeco and Presiding Quaesitor, and I would ask that you do not enter therein. The same is required for the smaller doors around the sides, which lead to the private suites we assign to the different covenants. You are henceforth assigned the corner suite there." He pointrf to a small door to the right of the main entrance, and led the party over to it.
The door to the suite opened easily, and as she passed through, Mnemosyne noted that there was both a spyhole and a sturdy bar for the door. Immediately beyond the door was a guardroom, and that led into a common room. The common room had three other doors leading to short corridors, which in turn led to a kitchen, latrine, dormitory, and four private bedrooms. "Can I offer you the use of our staff, Maga Mnemosyne, during your stay with us. If you have need of a cook, servants, or others, we will happily attach those you request to your service for the duration of your stay." He smiled pleasantly at her as he extended this offer.
Mnemosyne met the Chamberlain's gaze for a long moment as she apparently pondered his offer. In actuality she was engaging in what she was fairly sure was a futile exercise. She knew that she could manage to lift answers from unsuspecting mundane minds easily enough with a whisper and obscure twitch of her fingers, even without the benefit of an aura, even if it did tire her out a little. However, she was not about to show even that amount of spell working here, in front of someone who would be intimately familiar with seeing magi cast spells, subtly as well as blatantly. That hampering, couple with the Aegis, would be more than enough to outweigh any dubious benefits of whatever aura existed in this place. As she expected, nothing at all happened. Nothing that was apart from a certain tiredness which settled over her.
"That would be most appreciated, Chamberlain..." Mnemosyne let the question ask itself.
"Very well, I shall send some down for your inspection. In addition, you are welcome to avail yourself of our supplies. If you have need of food, parchment and ink, or anything else for that matter, kindly mention it to one of the servants assigned to you. Will there be anything else?"
"That will be quite sufficient, thank you," said Mnemosyne approvingly. "Oh... Just one thing actually. Is it permissable to know which magi are currently in residence?"
"Certainly, Maga. There is the venerable Praeco Talion ex Flambeau, Senior Quaesitor Iudicium ex Guernicus, Golias ex Tytalus, Goliard ex Tremere, and her filii Fornax ex Tremere and Prelum ex Tremere. Well, if that is all, then I hope that your stay with us is a pleasant and fulfilling one. From what time should I inform Maga Goliard that will you be available to meet with her?"
"Two hours from now shall be more than enough time to recover somewhat from the rigours of the road," she answered. "At the maga's convenience from then on shall be fine. I should also like to request a meeting with Quaesitor Iudicium at his convenience, sometime over the next few days if possible. It would be good of you to relay that information."
"Very good, Maga. It has been a pleasure speaking with you." With this he excused himself, and the two servants withdrew from the common room. As they walked away, she noticed that the mute servant's attire lacked the black trim of the chamberlain, and neither had born a badge.
===Mnemosyne and Goliard===
Not long after the chamberlain had departed, a small team of servants appeared, and began working industriously - making beds, preparing the raw food they had brought with them, fetching clean water, and generally doing everything possible, albeit inadvertently, to make Mnemosyne feel that her own covenfolk were second rate.
Maga Goliard appeared again after two bells, and was accompanied by an entourage of six of the red-clad guards. She indicated that she wished Mnemosyne to join her in the hall, and sat herself down carefully at an ornate table, of which the room had quite a number. Upon the table she sat a scroll, and had barely reclined a moment when a servant was placing drinks upon the table.
As Mnemosyne approached, all but one of the guards withdrew to a polite, and less threatening distance, while remaining quite vigilant.
"Maga Mnemosyne, thank you for visiting our covenant. I trust the accommodations are to your satisfaction? I hope this question isn't intrusive, but the seneschal assures me that there was no prior correspondence regarding your visit. Has anything pressing happened of which I should be appraised?"
"Let me first assure you," Mnemosyne replied with a smile. "The accommodations are quite excellent and are a credit to your staff and your Covenant. As for my visit, it is most regrettable that you did not receive a letter informing you of my intention to visit. It is unusual for messages to go astray... Still it is of no great matter. My visit is of not one of urgency, but if anything essentially a social one and a courtesy." Mnemosyne studied her hostess' face for a moment, then nodded once, perhaps in confirmation of something she read there.
"To cut to the heart of the matter, my newly established covenant of Mons Obscurus is reasonably close to Blackthorne, as these things may be measured. It was judged by myself and my sodales that common politeness, if nothing else, warrants a visit to establish friendly ties - something apart more personal, and apart from the hurley burley of a Tribunal. Of secondary importance is the possibility of trade." Mnemosyne sipped lightly from her drink.
"I had heard a little about your covenant from the Redcaps. I hope you will not be offended if I tell you that I was hoping to meet with you all at the upcoming tribunal, and thus didn't make any prior attempt at contacting you." Maga Goliard lifted the scroll lightly as she spoke, and placed it before Mnemosyne.
"Now that you are here though, there are some matters I would like to take this opportunity to discuss with you. We do like to be on good terms with our neighbours, and to this end we have a little charter of friendship which we would like you to peruse at your leisure. Were you to sign this document, we would both add the provisions herein to our own covenant charter."
"As far as trading is concerned, we do have some vis, and some other materials we would be willing to trade. Though if you would be willing to side with us on certain debates during the upcoming tribunal, some of our stocks might be made available to you, gratis, by way of thanks."
"Your proposals are most interesting," Mnemosyne responded, her lips quirking in gentle amusement. "It is for exactly these type of talks that it was considered wise to meet prior to the Tribunal. We are but a spring covenant, barely sprouting, but as you have discerned we have things to offer." She unrolled the scroll and took a few moments to look it over.
Is it long or short? If it can be read now, she will do so. Otherwise, she will ask for time to read it properly. Either way, it will eventually lead on to something along the lines of...
 The scroll is a fairly lengthy document. The articles are short, but there is a 
 goodly quantity of explanatory text, diplomatic entreaty, and alliance-building 
 rhetoric occupying the parchment.
"Sadly, I cannot make an agreement alone on something which will affect the Covenant Charter," Mnemosyne demurred. "To have this entered into our Charter will require me to present it in Council and a decision be reached there. There are, after all, forms which must be preserved. Could such an insertion come about in Blackthorne with only your support?"
"Of course, I expected that you would need to take it back with you. These articles have all ready been ratified by the covenant and checked over by Iudicium, so it all rests upon the wishes of you and your sodales." Goliard seemed to relax somewhat at this point, as though the tough part of the negotiations were behind her - for in truth she was used to far more hostile and suspicious dialogues and to talk with this young Quaesitor was something of a refreshing change.
"As for the topic of vis," Mnemosyne went on. "Though it is of course a mark of wealth and can never lose its value, it currently of limited use to us. No doubt in the future we will be only to eager to secure supplies for magical creations, rituals, or so many other varied uses - but for now, I am sorry to say we must learn to use those supplies most effectively. One must after all run before one can walk. Most of us are not so long past our gauntlet and while we have certain skills which are to to be no means slighted, there are gaps in our abilities which could be narrowed. Texts are of far greater interest to us, I must say. For now, we think it is wiser to learn how to make an effective longevity potion, rather than collect the ingredients necessary, for example."
"If you have excess supplies of vis, then perhaps you are not so interested in it for trade either," the Guernicus pondered thoughtfully. "I have brought with me samples of some our Covenants own writings, a few tractatus on varied subjects which may be of interest to you. I am empowered to trade with these now, or for vis, or even discuss some future arrangement or exchange of requested texts of a similar type. Your suggestion of trade for political support in the upcoming Tribunal is quite interesting as well, though, I must in fairness inform you I cannot promise anything here and now beyond my own support. I would have to present the idea to my sodales and plead your case before them in a sufficiently convincing manner. This would of course very much depend on the nature of the support being sought and the inducements..." Mnemosyne smiled in a friendly way at the other woman.
"If it would be acceptable, I should like you to pass the tractatus to one of the servants, and I shall see to it that the resident magi have the opportunity to view them and express their preferences regarding acquisition."
"I am quite happy for the tractatus to have chance to be glanced over. I have with me one each on the subjects of Magic Theory, Rego and Intellego by three different magi of Mons Obscurus. You may find that one of them takes your fancy in particular, but then again you may not. However, if you are particularly interested in one of the author, then perhaps a commission could be arranged to order. I should let you know that as the tractatus are example works, which I shall be showing to other covenants on my journey as samples of trade, it would probably not be in our best interest to accept an offer on more than one of them... unless it was a truly tempting offer of course." Mnemosyne smiled amiably at the other woman.
"Perhaps your librarian would be so good as to furnish me with a list of items which you currently have available for trade," the Guernicus suggested. "Once we know a few more details, I am sure we can come to some accord."
"I thought to bring such a record, as it happens." she said, signalling the nearby guard to hand over a small octavo. This is the record of books we have chosen to sell. If you would kindly turn to the marked pages, you will see that we do not currently have much of an interesting selection. As we have hosted the tribunal for many years, we have found it rather convenient for trading books with other covenants, and consequently, our library is in good form. Should you find anything here that you desire, kindly ask one of the servants to fetch the librarian."''
<<The book is a chronological list of the books rejected by the library. No mention is made of the reason for removing the item from their catalogue, nor the nature of the deal or price for those books which have since been traded and ruled out. The few remaining books are not of terribly high quality, and in a couple of cases are by notably vain or haphazard writers. There is a set of primers, but it is incomplete, and a few books of the series are noted as having varying amounts of water damage.
There are no lab texts, or tractatii for sale, though there appear to have been a fair few on offer in the past.>> 
"An uninteresting trade selection to a covenant of Blackthorne's stature is still an opportunity to a fledgling covenant like my own," Mnemosyne demurred. "I am sure that I will be speaking to your librarian, if nothing else to get a better impression of a few of these texts. One thought however, which had occurred to me, was that perhaps we could come to some arrangement regarding certain texts you would rather not part with permanently. Say for example there was a text on a subject close to your own heart, that you had already read at some time in the past and held no further real use to you personally, but could be considered a useful text to read and one which would be of interest to others. Now, let us say that this text was loaned for copying at our own expense and then returned. What would also follow would be a series of commentaries on the book, which could provide interesting further insights." Mnemosyne paused for a moment to let Goliard digest the thought, then continued. "I suggest this is not the time to get into the details of trade, but it could be something to think about, perhaps. In any case, may I ask who I will be dealing with regarding the specifics of trade?"
Goliard shifted in her seat, considering her next words a little more carefully. "This upcoming tribunal will herald a slight shift in the interplay of covenants, and with your support, Blackthorne is confident that the shift will favour us both. We are a strong covenant, and have several advantages over those covenants that contend with us in the political arena. However, we have heard rumours that one of the other covenants will make an attempt to increase its influence at our expense. If your covenant ratifies the articles I have proposed, I shall write to you and outline the situation in detail."
Mnemosyne shrugged. "I think that is unlikely to be honest with you. I am very unlikely to be in a position to have the articles incorporated into the Charter soon enough before the Tribunal, if at all, to allow much if any communication between us prior to the gathering. This is quite simply a practical matter of time, and nothing to do with the content of your proposed agreement. By the time we have ratified the articles, informed you of the fact, you advised of your request, we suggested ways in which your hand of friendship could help us, and all to come to amicable agreement, then the Tribunal would be quite over, and our covenant's seven votes have already been cast." She made an apologetic face. "It would be wise to come to a provisional agreement before I take my leave, which we can confirm before the Tribunal."
"I think that might be workable solution. After consulting Iudicium and the council, I will let you know how we feel about proceeding with a provisional agreement. We may well have time to discuss and draft something more binding, were you and your sodales to attend the conference a couple of days before the opening ceremonies." She leant back on her chair and looked up at the sky-clad ceiling while making a mental note, and then looked back at Mnemosyne pleasantly.
"You may be interested to know," Mnemosyne added, as if an afterthought. "It is the work of some of my sodales to found a school, teaching certain subjects. For the most part such matters would be mundane, but academic in nature, but certain special classes may be considered for special students. The school could provide a valuable source of education for the more cerebrally inclined covenfolk, who require more than to be able to mop floors or swing a sword. I have been asked to appraise you in the subject and answer any questions, if you should have any interest in taking advantage of such services - now or in potentia."
'"An interesting proposal. I find the stage of tuition where the apprentice is struggling to produce Latin sentences when their mind should be on the more dangerous tasks they have at hand to be one of the more stressful parts of training an apprentice. If I could send them away for three seasons of Latin tuition, then that would ease my task immensely - still, I have already trained two young maga, and fancy that I shall leave it a good few years til I feel the need to train another. I shall pass this news on at our next council meeting though, as the others may also find it of interest."''
"That would be most satisfactory," Mnemosyne smiled. "For those who are interested, I am sure they will benefit much more speaking to the magi who are the driving force behind the project. I have little doubt that at least one of them will be coming to the Tribunal and will be able to answer any questions in rather more detail than I can manage."
"Well, it has been a pleasure to speak with you. I shall indeed pass on the message to Iudicium, and it is likely that she will want to speak to one of her house. I hope you will convey my best wishes for a successful future to your sodales, and ask them to kindly consider my proposal."
With that, Maga Goliard departed the chamber, leaving Mnemosyne alone by the table.
===Investigating Alone===
Later, when the servants had been dismissed, Mnemosyne summoned Geraldous to her chamber. She closed the door and asked him to sit, making himself comfortable and then went on to apologise in advance. "I am afraid that I will be casting a number of spells on you, to make you fall asleep and then waking you up again, in short order. It may be somewhat disorientating for you, but shall not be remotely harmful or have any long lasting effects. I don't like to use unnecessary magic on you without your permission, but I feel it may be important to test the magical defences of this place. You will be perfectly safe. May I proceed?" It was unusual for Mnemosyne to ask permission of anything from those she considered her inferiors, but Geraldous had known for many years now and he was aware she had her own code of conduct which she adhered to.
<Geraldous to post...affirmatively>
Mnemosyne reached for the spell, and began to draw the parts together in an orderly fashion. She could feel the resistance of the aegis making every step of spell a trial, and with a final heave of effort, the last piece of the spell meshed with the other parts, and Geraldous fell quite soundly asleep.
After a rest, to recover some of her energies for the next attempt, she awoke Geraldous and began to fight against the leaden, treacly pull of the aura once more. As she reached the pinnacle of the spell, she drew deep upon her reserves of energy, and hefted it behind throwing the last part into place, but it eluded her, like the end of a rope dangling just out of reach. She struggled for a moment trying to wrestle the spell to completion, before she felt the rest of the spell coming apart beneath her.
Three more times she rested and then strove to force home the final parts of her spell, and three times she struggled overlong to complete it, until tired, the other parts came unwoven.
"Most interesting," Mnemosyne mused. "And most enlightening." She addressed Geraldous, "Well, that was probably less interesting than you expected, but most useful for me. Please bear with me for a short while longer." The maga then launched into the second phase of her experiment, which was rather similar to the first - just louder and more ostentatious.
The additional waving, posturing, sonorous incantations, and general fervour caused her first spell to quickly weave together into a congruous whole, and Geraldous's head dropped before she had a chance to lower her hands. On her second attempt, she again managed to persevere against the magical resistance of the aegis, and compel the components of her spell to come together.
After resting again, she proceeded with her third attempt, and this time the interference of the aegis caused her to lose control of spell in the early stages of formation. She tried twice more to craft the spell that would cause Geraldous to fall asleep, and twice more her efforts were confounded.
===Mnemosyne and Iudicium===
The meeting with Iudicium ex Guernicus occurred two days later, and was much the same, at first, as the meeting with Goliard. She entered with a half dozen red-clad guards, who bore a different emblem upon their breast, and they stood around while the two magi sat at one of the tables and talked.
Talking with Iudicium was a slow, and slightly intense affair. Mnemosyne felt as though Iudicium was drawing the words from her with her long pauses and ponderously premeditated replies, while she looked upon her almost unblinkingly.
Mnemosyne's first impression of Iudicium was not as favourable as that she had had of Goliard. While the Tremere had struck her as not to be fully trusted and perhaps slightly slippery, she had enjoyed speaking with her. With Iudicium, she felt rather differently. The start of their conversation felt much more adversarial and Mnemosyne got the impression from early on that the other Quaesitor resented her presence in some way.
When she was asked to show her credentials, Mnemosyne happily obliged, pleased to show her endorsement from the head of her house. "And may I see your own?" she asked politely back. "I am curious to see if it is different for a senior Quaesitor."
"Curiousity is not a trait to be discouraged in a young Quaesitor" replied the older Quaesitor. She reached into her robes, and produced a narrow wooden cylinder from robe. The cylinder was sealed with healthy amount of beeswax. Passing her hand over the end of the cylinder, the wax parted neatly, and she deftly removed the cap and removed a tightly rolled length of vellum, which she handed to Mnemosyne for inspection.
The vellum unfurled upon the table. The edges were stained brown from handling by assorted persons over the years, but the central portion of the parchment was still a pleasant translucent ivory tone, through which she could almost make out the grain of the tabletop it rested upon.
The document was much the same as the one the one she bore, though the handwriting was markedly different, and the date was fairly old, though not nearly as old as she had heard that Iudicium was. 
As if reading Mnemosyne's mind, she stated "After the last Stonehenge tribunal, I chose to involve myself in study and research at the request of my sodales, balanced with a couple of long-running investigations and a little dispute mediation of course. The tribunal has changed a lot of late, and with work here and duties to the tribunal, I have not had a chance to slip away to Magvillus. Still, Stonehenge has come a long way, especially if you compare the state of our tribunal with Loch Leglean. I shall be returning there shortly before the coming tribunal, rest assured."
"I am not sure that one can apply the term 'Tribunal' to Loch Leglean in any but the loosest and broadest terms," Mnemosyne demurred. "I spent my own apprenticeship not so far from it's borders and my own parens had a number of things to say on the subject." She smiled wryly, then altered the topic, gesturing with admiration at Iudicium's writ, "A most venerable document, by all appearances. It could probably tell many an interesting tale if only it could speak, I dare say. For one, it speaks of your own deeds and history quite clearly. One could almost say it was antique." Mnemosyne touched the surface of the vellum lightly for a moment, frowning as if trying to recall something. Then she shrugged a little, dismissing it from her mind and smiled at the other Guernicus and carefully and respectfully rolled the document back up and returned it to her.
"Tell me, please," Mnemosyne asked. "Is there much work to do in the Tribunal these days for a young and eager Quaesitor?"
"There is plenty to be done, and we have more than enough Quaesitors here already to tend to those matters, but somehow little actually seems to be getting done. I recently wrote to Trutina of Burnham covenant to inquire as to why she has not been pursuing her duties since moving to Stonehenge, and to request a visit. She declined to offer any explanation, and refused my request - would you believe. If you happen to be in the area, then I would appreciate it if you would look in on the magi there and see what is amiss."
"Otherwise, I imagine that you have much to do before the tribunal. Let us talk again there at the meeting of Quaesitori, and you will have ample chance to learn about the troubles of the tribunal and the investigations ongoing."
"A good suggestion," Mnemosyne agreed. "I shall look forward to it with interest." A few more pleasantries were exchanged, but the meeting soon came to a conclusion.