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Ars Magica: Lumen Montis, A Covenant in the Alps [IC]
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<blockquote data-quote="Feir Fireb" data-source="post: 1480063" data-attributes="member: 14074"><p><strong>The implications of Karl</strong></p><p></p><p>As my sodales and fellow travellers took the opportunity to speak with those of our covenant who had remained at Lemannus, I approached Matteo to ask his opinion on the matter of Karl of Bjornaer.</p><p></p><p>Matteo was glad to speak to me, but bade me wait for a moment as he finished transcribing a paragraph of "The Nature of Water", in which he was deeply engaged. He explained with an eager blue glint from his sole eye that if he worked diligently, he might finish this copy much sooner than he'd first anticipated. But he was eager to hear news regarding first visit of the Magi of Lumen Montis to their new home.</p><p></p><p>Although he was quite pleased at the quality of the land and the great strength of the magical field, I did not linger on these long and moved quickly to the pressing point of our putative neighbor. At this he became clearly vexed, shifting his eye to a different corner of the room for each new point of the situation that he considered. With each new detail I provided, it seemed he asked for three more. But he laughed at the manner in which we found him, and again at the absurdity of making a strange Bjornaer magus a mighty primus after having put so much work into devising a charter that would grant us all equal rights and measures of security.</p><p></p><p>He struggled awhile to recall anything he might have heard of this Karl in his and his parens' correspondance. At first he approached the matter from the standpoint of hermetic law. He was visibly frustrated at the fact that Karl had established his sanctum there, seeing as hermetic law tends to be generous to individual magi on the matter of their sancta, though he rather doubted that Karl's claims beyond his sanctum would be enforceable over those of Lemannus, particularly if we moved in and established our own sancta as he did, with his approval or no. He attempted at length to determine in what ways Karl's claims might be invalidated, or at least weakened. [CP, please confirm: ] It seemed unlikely to him that Karl could lay claim to having a covenant of his own encompassing the whole valley, particularly given the Tribunal's general reluctance to establish new, unsponsored covenants. After putting forth a few considerations of his own, Matteo said that his parens Laurentius would be the real expert if he were willing and available. He also suggested a few legal matters that could provide additional leverage in bargaining for Karl's abdication, which he asserted would clearly be the best course of action assuming Karl's claims have any validity under hermetic law.</p><p></p><p>He grimaced at the thought of trading away the Libri Quaestionum upon which Fionuala and Marcus had worked so diligently this past month, though he found mere use of them unproblematic. Matteo was quite set against the trading of vis, of which we have very little and which we must eventually set to collect in anticipation of paying our obligation to Lemannus. He further emphasized the need to conserve our vis resources when I moved on to other suggestions that our travelling party had considered.</p><p></p><p>Matteo claimed that the stronger magical aura was worth bargaining for with use of Libri Quaestionum, or even spare copies of the texts themselves, for the extra vis that we might extract and for the chance to build laboratories within in the aura's influence. He suggested that if what we have proves inadequate, we might promise more to come in the near future, and that Karl might find long-term reading access to our Libri far more appealing than any advantage he might gain from sole ownership of the valley, or even of the high lake. But he further asserted that without knowing more about our opponent's skills, certamen now would be an exercise in abject foolishness. If Karl had been collecting vis from the stronger auras in the valley for some time, he might have a great store of vis to use in certamen. He might further have a Form specialization that would make him a formidable opponent as the challenged, even if he were not a terribly capable challenger.</p><p></p><p>If Tsaran, as good as he is for one as hermetically young as the rest of us, were to fail, we could in one fell swoop lose our claim to the land and any vis we might have expended in the duel. And if Tsaran were to win through expenditure of vis, we would spend what is currently our most precious resource, most difficult to replentish. But we might find it wise to have Tsaran carry vis and make it obvious that he is a Tremere and that we are willing to take certamen as a second recourse. This would lend strength to our negotiations, for he may be as unwilling to risk loss as we.</p><p></p><p>Matteo argued that given the choice between on one hand taking a terrible chance with the future of our covenant through certamen and on the other hand settling for a good but less-than-optimal location, we ought to settle for second-best and hope that the future brings favorable changes, either for a closer relationship with Karl or for Karl's abdication of his own choosing. Even if our bargaining is fruitless, we might be able to contest his claim on the rest of the valley merely by establishing ourselves, and if so we ought to. He asked me my opinion on Karl's temper and demeanor. I told him what I could, but said that Tsaran had spent more time speaking with him, and Matteo agreed that he would speak more closely with Tsaran on this matter.</p><p></p><p>But ultimately Matteo considered this to be an unwise time to be actively making new enemies, even of a lone hermit magus, unless we could do so decisively and with little cost to ourselves. Matteo severely doubted the wisdom of Tsaran or anyone else fighting a lone Wizard's War at the Lumen Montis' behest, whether with our open blessing or with such blessing concealed by punishment. The consequences could be almost as unpredictable as certamen, the means less honorable, and the stakes our very lives. He recommended that we only try either as a last resort, should Karl actively interfere with our attempts to make use of the valley.</p><p></p><p>Matteo then begged me to silence for a moment, at which I heard what sounded like a hymn in the distance. He noted that there was an unbearably cheerful Franciscan friar who by the name of Louis who frequented the covenant, and that Marie was trying to foist off on us, claiming that his singing, piety and incessant attempts at good deeds were disrupting Lemannus. He joked that perhaps Karl would be less inclined to view his sanctum as a valuable commodity if he were in earshot of another hermit's shrine, his research continually interrupted by matins and vespers. In any event, Matteo noted, Louis is a kindly fellow and has proven to be far less of a nuisance to us than Marie made of him.</p><p></p><p>Matteo considered awhile the possibility of accompanying the scouting party back to the valley in order to lead a new round of negotiations. Considering the legal issues at hand, he might well be best-suited to doing so and was as such willing to come along. But he was loathe to leave a thus-far exceptionally fruitful season of copying and stated that if he judged Tsaran or another hitherto copyist equally up to the task, he would instead equip that magus with such knowledge as might aid their bargaining. He complained that if "Wings of the Soaring Wind" weren't so dangerous, he might make the trip in a matter of hours, but as such he may have to delay its use until he can devise a protective item or spell.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Feir Fireb, post: 1480063, member: 14074"] [b]The implications of Karl[/b] As my sodales and fellow travellers took the opportunity to speak with those of our covenant who had remained at Lemannus, I approached Matteo to ask his opinion on the matter of Karl of Bjornaer. Matteo was glad to speak to me, but bade me wait for a moment as he finished transcribing a paragraph of "The Nature of Water", in which he was deeply engaged. He explained with an eager blue glint from his sole eye that if he worked diligently, he might finish this copy much sooner than he'd first anticipated. But he was eager to hear news regarding first visit of the Magi of Lumen Montis to their new home. Although he was quite pleased at the quality of the land and the great strength of the magical field, I did not linger on these long and moved quickly to the pressing point of our putative neighbor. At this he became clearly vexed, shifting his eye to a different corner of the room for each new point of the situation that he considered. With each new detail I provided, it seemed he asked for three more. But he laughed at the manner in which we found him, and again at the absurdity of making a strange Bjornaer magus a mighty primus after having put so much work into devising a charter that would grant us all equal rights and measures of security. He struggled awhile to recall anything he might have heard of this Karl in his and his parens' correspondance. At first he approached the matter from the standpoint of hermetic law. He was visibly frustrated at the fact that Karl had established his sanctum there, seeing as hermetic law tends to be generous to individual magi on the matter of their sancta, though he rather doubted that Karl's claims beyond his sanctum would be enforceable over those of Lemannus, particularly if we moved in and established our own sancta as he did, with his approval or no. He attempted at length to determine in what ways Karl's claims might be invalidated, or at least weakened. [CP, please confirm: ] It seemed unlikely to him that Karl could lay claim to having a covenant of his own encompassing the whole valley, particularly given the Tribunal's general reluctance to establish new, unsponsored covenants. After putting forth a few considerations of his own, Matteo said that his parens Laurentius would be the real expert if he were willing and available. He also suggested a few legal matters that could provide additional leverage in bargaining for Karl's abdication, which he asserted would clearly be the best course of action assuming Karl's claims have any validity under hermetic law. He grimaced at the thought of trading away the Libri Quaestionum upon which Fionuala and Marcus had worked so diligently this past month, though he found mere use of them unproblematic. Matteo was quite set against the trading of vis, of which we have very little and which we must eventually set to collect in anticipation of paying our obligation to Lemannus. He further emphasized the need to conserve our vis resources when I moved on to other suggestions that our travelling party had considered. Matteo claimed that the stronger magical aura was worth bargaining for with use of Libri Quaestionum, or even spare copies of the texts themselves, for the extra vis that we might extract and for the chance to build laboratories within in the aura's influence. He suggested that if what we have proves inadequate, we might promise more to come in the near future, and that Karl might find long-term reading access to our Libri far more appealing than any advantage he might gain from sole ownership of the valley, or even of the high lake. But he further asserted that without knowing more about our opponent's skills, certamen now would be an exercise in abject foolishness. If Karl had been collecting vis from the stronger auras in the valley for some time, he might have a great store of vis to use in certamen. He might further have a Form specialization that would make him a formidable opponent as the challenged, even if he were not a terribly capable challenger. If Tsaran, as good as he is for one as hermetically young as the rest of us, were to fail, we could in one fell swoop lose our claim to the land and any vis we might have expended in the duel. And if Tsaran were to win through expenditure of vis, we would spend what is currently our most precious resource, most difficult to replentish. But we might find it wise to have Tsaran carry vis and make it obvious that he is a Tremere and that we are willing to take certamen as a second recourse. This would lend strength to our negotiations, for he may be as unwilling to risk loss as we. Matteo argued that given the choice between on one hand taking a terrible chance with the future of our covenant through certamen and on the other hand settling for a good but less-than-optimal location, we ought to settle for second-best and hope that the future brings favorable changes, either for a closer relationship with Karl or for Karl's abdication of his own choosing. Even if our bargaining is fruitless, we might be able to contest his claim on the rest of the valley merely by establishing ourselves, and if so we ought to. He asked me my opinion on Karl's temper and demeanor. I told him what I could, but said that Tsaran had spent more time speaking with him, and Matteo agreed that he would speak more closely with Tsaran on this matter. But ultimately Matteo considered this to be an unwise time to be actively making new enemies, even of a lone hermit magus, unless we could do so decisively and with little cost to ourselves. Matteo severely doubted the wisdom of Tsaran or anyone else fighting a lone Wizard's War at the Lumen Montis' behest, whether with our open blessing or with such blessing concealed by punishment. The consequences could be almost as unpredictable as certamen, the means less honorable, and the stakes our very lives. He recommended that we only try either as a last resort, should Karl actively interfere with our attempts to make use of the valley. Matteo then begged me to silence for a moment, at which I heard what sounded like a hymn in the distance. He noted that there was an unbearably cheerful Franciscan friar who by the name of Louis who frequented the covenant, and that Marie was trying to foist off on us, claiming that his singing, piety and incessant attempts at good deeds were disrupting Lemannus. He joked that perhaps Karl would be less inclined to view his sanctum as a valuable commodity if he were in earshot of another hermit's shrine, his research continually interrupted by matins and vespers. In any event, Matteo noted, Louis is a kindly fellow and has proven to be far less of a nuisance to us than Marie made of him. Matteo considered awhile the possibility of accompanying the scouting party back to the valley in order to lead a new round of negotiations. Considering the legal issues at hand, he might well be best-suited to doing so and was as such willing to come along. But he was loathe to leave a thus-far exceptionally fruitful season of copying and stated that if he judged Tsaran or another hitherto copyist equally up to the task, he would instead equip that magus with such knowledge as might aid their bargaining. He complained that if "Wings of the Soaring Wind" weren't so dangerous, he might make the trip in a matter of hours, but as such he may have to delay its use until he can devise a protective item or spell. [/QUOTE]
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