The Paper Chase Season: Spring, 1220 [From THE ROLLS OF DRAGON'S RISE]: Full Members: Demoror of Quaesitor Teacher (Billy) Flamma of Tremere Head Protector (Eric) Lysander of Jerbiton Chancellor (ChrisV) Malcolm of Jerbiton Lab Worker (Matt) Musculus of Quaesitor Protector (ChrisF) Nicholi of Jerbiton Teacher (John) Pumilio of Erimor Hunter (DaveP) Verdan of Bonisagus Lab Worker (Shannon) Members: Ahmed of Flambeau Hunter (Scott) Arturo of Mercere Protector (John) Mundane Leaders: Luigi, Iron Grog Grog Captain Guardian of Flamma Mundanes: Arthur, Silver Grog Guardian of Verdan Erberto Ship Captain Iago, Copper Grog Guardian of Tolas Nickoli Story Teller (Eric) Vicent of the Shield, Mercury Grog Guardian of Verdan Turati, Mercury Grog Guardian of Ahmed Others: Lucky Green Cat * * * [Dramatis Personae]: Aurileus of Quaesitor Magus Edward of Criamon Magus Goblin Magic Item Jonathon of Verditius Magus Otto Grog Reginald of Tytalus Magus Stephios of Tytalus Arch-Magus * * * [From THE SLIGHTLY SLOPPY LAB NOTES OF FLAMMA INCENDERE]: Had a little trouble understanding that darn Intellego book again, but these minor setbacks don't bother me as much as they once might have. The council meeting of Spring went as smoothly as all the others have gone and everyone still seems friendly. I can scarcely believe things continue to function better than I thought possible. Angus still seems restrained, the Criamon seem harmless and Ahmed is brighter and more cooperative than I could have hoped. However, Verdan obviously still needs work and after the meeting I am unsure that promoting Lysander was a wise decision. He necessitates some concern and study. Other than Lysander voting against me, the meeting went well. It started by promoting Musculus, Malcolm, Pumilio and Lysander (that ungrateful wretch) to full membership. Iago was also promoted due to lengthy experience and time served. He started at Vardian's tomb even before Tolas and I and has been loyal and brave the entire period. Demoror was assigned the making of a vis detector for his season of service and Ahmed continued to work through his associate status by making a ring enabling one to breathe water. It will be given to the ship captain Manual most likely. Lastly, we brought up the issue of the boots I wish to make. They will enable the wearer to transport themselves great distances if they have the arcane connection to the area they intend to visit. I plan to use the boots to travel to all the covenants of the Order to talk to as many magi as possible. On my short list of topics are how wonderful our new charter is, how wonderful Tolas and Myself are (and maybe Marlon if he cooperates), how magi should avoid contact with mundanes, and how great house Tremere is. That last topic should give my certamen some practice. It has grown rather rusty here in our friendly covenant. I will also take along my daughter Segunda. With any luck I will be able to find a nice young apprentice that takes a fancy to her and that she likes as well. As I previously mentioned only Lysander voted against making the boots. Obviously, he was threatened by having the boots available for covenant use after I finished using them. As his only useful ability is his spell of the same effect, the boots makes him superfluous. I look upon it as a means of forcing him to learn another useful spell or two. Anyway, the rest of us finally bullied him into voting for me so it would make the vote unanimous for the record. * * * [From THE SLIGHTLY SLOPPY LAB NOTES OF FLAMMA INCENDERE]: Summer's council meeting was rather dull. Nothing new came up and only two Magi decided to do their service at this time. Tolas mentioned we needed some more vis in our covenant stores so both Malcolm and Lysander were set to work churning out some vim for us. * * * [From THE DIARY OF VERDAN OF BONISAGUS]: Once again, one close to me has been led to his death through my actions. I hoped, and, when in the back room of my lab, away from the other magi, I even prayed that my sorrow and loss had been left behind me, in the catacombs beneath Rome. Still, I have been visited again by the spectre of mortality. It was the start of Summer, just a few days after the Council Meeting. As is my habit, I was studying down in the library through the night. The secrets of Animal were being opened to me, preparing me for my upcoming enchantment of Lucky. When I heard noises in the Council Room above me, I thought little of it. My biggest worry was that one of Flamma's children might have woken and been wandering around the tower. I asked Vicent to check out the noises and then returned to my book. The next thing I knew, I was being shaken awake. There were magi all around me, angry and agitated. As I slowly returned to consciousness, feeling numb and tired, I realized that something was very wrong. The library had been stripped clean of books. Not even the Animal books which had been piled around me remained. Even worse, I learned that my grog, Vicent, had been found up in the Council Room. He had been killed by bolts from a crossbow. Tolas was already sifting through the dust and casting Intellego spells. Shortly, he announced that our books were upon the island of Malta. After being allocated Arthur, formerly of the Magian Crusaders, as a replacement grog, I was ready to leave at once. Flamma, however, was insistant that we stay for tea, to remember our lost friend. I was reluctant to waste the time, but there was very little I could do. Very soon, Vicent will be avenged. I hope that I may kill his killers myself. * * * [From THE TEA NOTES OF FLAMMA INCENDERE]: There was an air of sorrow at tea today as we drank to the memory of Vicent of the Shield. Verdan seems unconsolable. Too many times, he has lost those closest to him. The grogs are all edgy and Luigi's best efforts are the only things keeping order in the covenant. I myself am deeply saddened by our loss. Vicent was one of those who had come to us from St. Nerius with the Bonisagus, Stagnum Os. Of the lot, he was the one who showed the most gentleness and promise. Tolas is sending for more information about his past to France. Hopefully, he does not have many close family members who will suffer upon news of this loss. * * * [From THE SLIGHTLY SLOPPY LAB NOTES OF FLAMMA INCENDERE]: I decided to lead the expedition to return our books. If other magi were involved I knew my cool head as Quaesitor would be required; if anything else, my Ignem magics would solve things cleanly. I decided to ask Ahmed to come along. He continues to impress me in his understanding of proper hierarchy and it can only be a few years before he to joins House Tremere and leaves the chaos of Flambeau behind. The last magi of our trio was Verdan. It seems his gentle nature has taken yet another blow and he continues to rant and rave about revenge for the death of Vicent. For once, the Green Mage is seeing red. * * * [From THE EPIC OF LUIGI]: It was another glorious day as I set off with my grogs and the magi for more adventure. According to the mighty magics of Tolas, the books the magi had lost resided on the isle of Malta. So, we headed off, on what was my first trip on our new ship, the Vicious Troubadour. I planned to carefully watch the captain Erberto to see if he was truly fit enough to work for my magi. When we came within sight of the island Verdan and Flamma attempted their magics again, but seemed frustated by failure. Shortly thereafter a few ships were noticed bearing down on us. These were warships of the Knights Templar, to whom Nickoli had mentioned the pope had bequeathed Malta. He had also mentioned some silly shrine to Saint Paul upon the isle. Recalling Flamma's opinions on the church as well as their usual reaction to magi, I suggested they head below deck while I handled things with the Templars. Fortunately, Becki had recently repainted the crosses upon my armor; they have always proved useful when talking to fools. I simply told those that approached us that we were stopping for supplies at the docks on route to trading elsewhere. The believed me and we sailed into their heavily fortified city. Since it was still light out the magi remained hidden below deck while I sent Erberto out for some supplies and maps for the magi. Later that evening, I watched as Verdan burned some odd smelling leaves while casting some spell. Soon, he had determined from the map the location of the missing library. The books were on or near a mountain named Rabat. Still, the magi urged caution so I volunteered to go with Erberto the next day into the city to gather information on Rabat. Erberto turned out to be a fine, worthy fellow. Despite the oppressive atmosphere of the place we managed a few drinks and obtained some information. Most interesting was the fact that the local sheep herders all believed the mountain next to Rabat to be haunted by demons. Mount Rabat, it seemed, only contained sheep. With that valuable knowledge in hand, we decided to set off to find books after darkness arrived. * * * [From FLAMMA'S HERMES' LAWS AND REGULATIONS NOTEBOOK]: The first incident worthy of note in this investigation occured just after we had slipped past the Templar's beach. Walking beneath the surface of the water to remain out of sight, we circled part of the island looking for easy access. The best location was blocked by hordes of pathetic templars. They were easily recognisable by their white surcoat and red crosses. For some reason, they chose that night for one of their almost continual, useless ceremonies at the shrine located on this beach. We simply passed it by and created stairs in the rock to get onto the main plateau further along. Mere seconds after I had given all the rest of the group my spell for seeing heat at night, a spell hit us. It was some type of watching spell and had clearly alerted someone to our presence. Verdan and Ahmed looked at me questioningly until I confirmed that if the watching spell had been cast by a member of the Order, the code had indeed been broken. If it hadn't been, I planned to soon smell again the sweet fragrance of charcoaled hedge wizard. Of course, if I can ever convince hedge wizards to join the order and obey its code strictly, then that is always the best method. Worried about the power of the caster of the watching spell I felt it prudent to withdraw to the security of my little box. I knew that neither Verdan nor Ahmed were as efficient as I if the threat facing us turned out to be a powerful magus or magi. Verdan complained loudly and in fact had the nerve to question my judgement and actually challenged me to Certamen. It seemed he wanted the protection of the amulet Tolas had let us borrow and that I was currently using. After I quickly beat him, I explained that if something was strong enough to take me out, no amulet would help him. Also, as Quasitor I had to ensure the code was adhered to in our investigation, and therefore felt it prudent to avoid the threat of mental magics. * * * [From THE EPIC OF LUIGI]: Shortly after Flamma entered her little box, I spotted something at the base of the mountain we were approaching. It was a small cave, and standing in the entrance was a small green goblin-like creature. We hurried up to it and Verdan greeted it. After some small talk, the goblin told us that there was stacks and stacks of books within the cave. Apparently, all the magics had worked and we had found the missing library. The creature let us enter the cave. Within we found our entire library, present and undamaged. According to Verdan, they were somehow waterproofed, much like we had been to avoid the Templars. After confirming the safety of the books, Verdan started casting some small magics on the goblin. He told Ahmed that the little thing was worth much vis. The goblin insisted it had nothing to do with the theft of the books and wasn't even created until after the books were in the cave. The magi were getting frustrated so I went out and exploded a sheep to impress the goblin. It seemed to work, as the goblin then divulged that it was in fact really just a magical amulet. It refused to give out more information, however, on who it belonged to or where that person was. It was at this point that Flamma appeared from her little box. She had finally gotten tired of waiting and seemed quite upset at the goblin's refusal to questions. She asked a few more and it replied simply by asking our names. I wisely declared that I was Lord Rupes of the Rupes valley, an old trick from the Tomb. Verdan very foolishly called himself Certus while Flamma did not change her name. She tried to trick it with a fake Certamen, but it was too stupid to fall for that. After even more tedious questioning, she discovered that the goblin-amulet had been found in a temple. We presumed the thieves to be there, where ever there was. All this time, Flamma grew more and more irritated. She had us place all the books in her little box and then told me to blow up the goblin. Verdan for some reason tried briefly to oppose that decision, but then thought better of it. So, I blew up in the cave, but it didn't affect the thing at all. The magi were all fed up and decided to return to the covenant, the books recovered. The last thing of note was that as we left I spotted some Templars practicing with crossbows. I talked with them for a bit (Very useful to have crosses painted on my armor, I believe I pointed out) but could gain no more information. Finally, I thanked them and told them of the creature in the cave. If they can't kill it either, at least it will irritate those fools as well. We boarded the ship safely and returned home. * * * [From THE SLIGHTLY SLOPPY LAB NOTES OF FLAMMA INCENDERE]: Dubius' Eyes of the Past revealed much to us. We were watching very carefully as the crime was relived before our eyes. First, we noticed the sudden appearance of two small red marks on Verdan's neck. He then collapsed upon the floor and lay still. The volumes of the library then began to move through the air as if carried by invisible men. They were placed into a large glowing ring that had appeared upon the desk and they dissappeared. This continued until all the books were gone. Then, just for a second, we saw a man with dark eyes and hair, a black cloak and chain armor. He stepped into the ring and they both vanished. The expenditure of vis for the spell was well worth it. With the villain's description in hand, we sent Arturo off with it, and all the information we had gathered. He is to visit Magvillus and Literatus as well as some of the other covenants. After Arturo left, we called an emergency council meeting. In it, we resolved to build some sort of magical protection for the library. I find it a real shame that we can't be open with our knowledge, but our recent experience shows this goal to be currently unrealistic. * * * [From FLAMMA'S HERMES' LAWS AND REGULATIONS HANDBOOK]: It was mid-season when the first reports on our investigation arrived. Of most interest was one Reginald of Tytalus who was looking for an ancient Atlantean temple whose name matched that of the cave goblin's description. Unfortunately, he did not match the description of the dark man we had seen stealing our books. It should be mentioned here that the theft of our library in itself is not a violation of the Code. I have classified it already as a low crime. As befits this type of crime, we will check first the motivations of the offender before declaring any retaliatory punishment. However, the scrying done upon us on Malta was indeed a direct violation of the Code of Hermes. If it turns out that Reginald is the offender then his punishments shall be grave indeed. The next phase of our investigation led us naturally to England and Burnham, Reginald's covenant. On this long trip, I again took Ahmed for further training. Verdan also insisted on coming along. It seems that time has not eased his need for revenge. The Arch-Mage Stephios of Tytalus is the leader of the Burhnam covenant, a rising power in the Stonehenge Tribunal. Some say his strength has taken Burnam close to the influence level of Blackthorn itself. Others say he is weak and all the strong posturing from Burhnam is but a farce. Stephios himself is a bit of a mystery. Most refer to him as Arch-Mage, but I have heard that he never truly defeated another and in fact lost his challenge attempt. I have also heard that he won it through deception. Fortunately, that issue is for the Arch-Magi to police, I am only interested in violations of the code. Even the mighty Arch-Magi must obey that above all else. My first impression of Stephios was a good one. It was a pity it did not last. He is an engaging speaker and has marvelous glittering eyes for such an old fellow. At first he was more than happy to answer our questions and we learned much of interest, including the fact that Reginald was a Seeker, and had left the covenant three years ago. We were also informed that the magical ring which had been used to steal our library, was probably the work of one Jonathon of Verditius who specializes in the magic of transportation. Our examination of Reginald's empty lab revealed naught but three magical swords hanging upon the wall. They had been made and protected by Jonathon. As I could see no immediate relevance to our investigation we let these be. I did, however, note these possessions, in case punative reimbursement is required. The unexpected arrival of Aurileus, a Quaesitor from House Tytalus, destroyed the friendly atmosphere I had so carefully been maintaining. She began demanding reasons for our presence at Burnham. I told her of the crimes against our covenant and our subsequent investigation and immediately returned her favor by demanding reasons for her presence. Stephios, it seems, had gotten wind of our investigation from friends and called in a House favor to bring Aurileus to Burnham as back-up for him. Greatly upset at both Stephios for his audacity and Aurileus for her complicity in not aiding, and possibly even hindering an offical Quaesitor's investigation, I compelled her to stay and required Stephios to submit to Frosty Breath of the Spoken Lie. He resisted at first but finally allowed me to cast the spell when I threatened full investigation of his covenant's actions by Magvillus. Casting the spell is often tiring for me, as I have always had trouble with my Intellego technique. In fact, it was only last year that I was even able to learn the spell, despite how important it is for a Quaesitor to possess. My questions to Stephios re-enforced the spell's helpfulness. I had no interest in facts beyond the current investigation and assured Stephios of this before I began my questioning. An aggravated Arch-Mage of Tytalus is most likely a fearsome thing, and I had no wish to pry further than was needed. My first few questions revealed that Stephios had no knowledge of what had happened at our covenant and that association with vampires had occurred at Burnham previously. This was important because of the wounds Verdan had received just before Vicent was killed. I noticed a grim silence overcome Verdan as this topic was covered. A few more careful questions revealed that Stephios was holding back information and had in fact purposefully misled us earlier. Reginald had left the covenant three years previously, but they kept him continually supplied from Burnham through a merchant named Lysander. Ahmed chuckled with glee behind me, for he has never truly accepted the Jerbiton in a friendly manner. Also, the whole reason for the grand deception was that Reginald was on the track of secrets of the Old Ones that might lead to the power to grant eternal life. I told him I had no interest in such things, and that no power was worth breaking the Code of Hermes. While I thought Stephios might deserve greater punishment, I assurred him he would be reprimanded by his tribunal for his hinderance of my investigation only to the extent of his current crimes. That brought me to Aurileus again. She comes from a smaller covenant in the Stonehenge Tribunal and claimed to know nothing of the situation. Frosty Breath bespake her veracity, so I settled on a lecture on proper Quaesitor technique and hierarchy. Perhaps next time, she will recall her oaths and think of the Order first and her silly House next. * * * [From FLAMMA'S TEA NOTES]: Ahmed was quite disappointed back at the covenant when we questioned Lysander about Reginald. While he had been supplying him, he had little further knowledge of the situation. We told him to look into it further and went back to enjoying our tea. * * * [From FLAMMA'S HERMES' LAWS AND REGULATIONS HANDBOOK]: The information Lysander provided led the three of us and our grogs back to the isle of Malta. The supplies had been brought to the mountain next to Rabat. It seems the demons that the natives worried about were Reginald and friends. We arrived and travelled the same way as before until we came to a small encampment guarded by several grogs. When requested to summon their master they went off and returned with Edward, a Criamon further gone than most. After a brief chat, we followed him into a deep cave in the mountainside. Within were Jonathon and Reginald, as well as a heavily armored grog named Otto. By this point, you should realise that the patience of any Quaesitor would have grown thin. I told them all to shut up, let me cast my magic and then answer my questions. Avoiding the sticky situation with the warding spell at first, I questioned them on the theft of our books. Jonathon admitted to lending the magical rings to a vampire, but insisted he had only sold minor magical items and therefore had broken neither the code or the Treaty of the Roman Tribunal. The vampire in question matched perfectly our description of the book thief. Further questions led to no useful results or revelations on their behavior. I then asked about the ownership of the little goblin that had been left to report on who found the books in the cave. Jonathon admitted ownership and I ranted a bit to him about restricting it from giving information to a Quaesitor and how it could be held against him at a Tribunal. Lastly, there was still the matter of their warding spell for me to vent my wrath upon. After a short lecture on the morality of associating with bloodsuckers, I let them have it with the code. They seemed vaguely repentant after I cited all the appropriate sections of the Code and its peripheral regulations. Ignorance was their defense. I then chided them further, for such aged men as these had no excuse for not knowing that what they had done was wrong. Ignorance is never a viable defense. Unfortunately, it seems they laid their wardings with no intention to violate the code and that should mitigate their punishment. I told them so and went off to write up the appropriate documents. * * * [From THE DIARY OF VERDAN OF BONISAGUS]: After Flamma had finished yelling about various violations of the code, all irrelevent when compared to the death of my grog, she went off to write up papers, inordinately pleased with herself. Afterwards, the three magi of Malta began to talk of their work upon the island. Reginald said that we were standing within the magical temple that he had been looking for. Indeed, he said they had already made some interesting discoveries within the place. Both Ahmed and I were eager to see the place when Reginald offered to show it to us. I was impressed as we walked through a huge temple, filled with stalactites. Pipes ran down the sides of the room, dripping some odd liquid into various cauldrons. Reginald said that the liquid was vis, being magically extracted. At the rear of the temple was a huge glowing ball. Reginald said it was a scrying sphere, and offered to let us use it. Eagerly, I stepped forward, putting my hands upon the globe. Carefully, I visualised the vampire that had killed my grog, and he appeared in front of me, in the glowing sphere. He was in a town house, in a nearby city upon Malta. I demanded vengeance, and Otto went off at once to gather templars to kill the vampire. When Otto returned, I asked eagerly if any crossbow men had been found when the vampire's estate was raided. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. At least, however, the vampire had been slain. If nothing else, the one who was ultimately responsible for Vicent's death was dead. I can take some comfort in that fact. I should note the one troubling aspect of the whole affair. When the vampire's body was returned to us, there was no vis within, though I am sure there should have been, for vampires are clearly magical creatures. I do not know what to make of that fact. We were also unable to call the vampire's ghost back from the beyond, which seems again to hint at some deception. There was nothing more to be done however, so I made the determination was the incident was done. I hope I was correct. After Ahmed had gazed into the scrying ball for a time, we both volunteered to stay and help the Seekers continue their work. They needed help to complete their excavation of the temple. After that, everything is somewhat unclear to me. I remember, several days later, finally uncovering a large room. Inside that room, there was a sarcophagus. Eagerly, we opened it up, hoping to find the secrets of the Old Ones within. Inside, there was an old body, and as we watched, it began to rise. Then, we were on a ship, several days later. We were heading back to Sardinia. The oddest thing about the trip was a huge package that Reginald had aboard the ship. Oddly, or so it seems now, I was not the least bit curious about what might be hidden in that package. Finally, we were let off in Cagliari, and Reginald's ship continued on it's way. * * * [From THE DIARY OF VERDAN OF BONISAGUS]: As I look back now, upon the notes that I wrote several months ago concerning the Seekers on Malta and the whole investigation of Vicent's death, everything seems so wrong. I'm not sure why I wrote some of the things I did. I can only think now that I must have been so upset over the death of Vicent that I could not see things clearly. Things are so much more obvious now. I should note that thoughts of the Seekers have been on constantly on my mind for the last few months. I am quite interested by the tales that I have heard of the powers that the Old Ones held. My recent experiences proved some of those tales right, I think. I have begun sending letters out, through Arturo, asking Seekers to come to Dragon's Rise. I hope some will listen to my letters and come to the covenant. Then, I can learn more of the secrets that they search for. Already, I have declared myself a Seeker.