Vardian Log #2: Vardian's Stand

Date: Fall, 1198

The Players:

Angus of House Bonisagus			Magus		(Don)
Apertus of House Flambeau			Magus, Vardian's Stand
Aquilonius of House Ex. Misc.			Magus		(Shannon)
Certus of House Bonisagus			Elder Magus
Durus of House Ex. Misc.			Magus		(Eric)
Fortunatus of House Jerbiton			Elder Magus
Karanta of House Flambeau			Magus, Vardian's Stand
Luigi						Grog
Marcelo						Grog
Paulo						Grog, Vardian's Stand
Redalpho					Cardinal
Tractare of House Tremere			Elder Magus

** From the Diary of Aquilonius
**

It is less than a week that I have been at this Covenant under Rome,
and already it seems much less unfriendly than I had hoped.  Ah well,
at least the labs are good, or at least mine will be again once they
get a grog to go up to Rome and buy me some new equipment.

My arrival at Vardian's Tomb, at least, was peaceful.  I was welcomed
into the Covenant, or at least accepted, by the eight elder magi,
even though I chose to sit on Fortunatus' side of the table.  At first,
they seemed to waive even any requirement of service or test, despite
the fact that other newly arrived magi had been forced to journey
both to the dangerous caverns below the Covenant, and to Rome.  I
was busy congratulating myself on arriving nearly a season after the
others, and thus avoiding the work that they had to go through, when
Fortunatus stopped by my new lab, and asked a favor of me.  It seemed
a little one.  A Cardinal by the name of Redalpho was supposedly
bringing the Covenant a piece of the Skull of Vardian which had been
unearthed, and a grog was accompanying him.  Quite simply, they
had not arrived yet, and Fortunatus was worried for the safety of
his friend.  I, of course, said I would help, and I would have even
if I were not under obligation to the Covenant.  As soon as Fortunatus
left, I went out, and beginning seeking help in this expedition.

After I gathered a few grogs, I went to see if any magi would like
to accompany me, and I was (then) presently surprised to learn that
both Durus (another Ex Misc) and Angus wanted to come along.  I did not
then realize that they were both simply using me, and cared little for
the safety of Redalpho, or the grog, but were simply worried about
increasing their status in the Covenant, just like most other magi.

** From the Accounts of Tractare
**

With much trepidation, today I called in a favor owed me by Durus
Sordes of House Ex. Misc.  Durus Sordes has now repaid his debt for
the large lab I gave him, but still owes me three favors, for challenging
Chavin, for speaking in his defense, and for taking him shopping in
Rome above... If Durus does manage to recover the alledged piece of
the skull, it should be well worth it.

** From Durus' Diary
**

Tractare asked me to find him a piece of bone, to repay his favors.
Mushrooms growing well this week.

** From the Journal of Certus
**

It is so wonderful to have young magi here to do my chores for me.  I
was able to send Angus out to collect that new piece of the skull that
that fool Fortunatus thinks I don't know about, so I can remain here
and study.  Perhaps I will even share some of my knowledge with Angus
in exchange for this deed.  Or perhaps not.

** From the Diary of Aquilonius
**

We asked two grogs, Luigi and Marcelo, to lead us in retracing the
path that Cardinal Redalpho and our grog should have taken into the
Covenant.  At first, everything seemed all right, until, after several
hours of travel, our grogs became confused.  At an intersection we had
come to, they insisted that there should only be two branches, and
instead there were five.

I began to cast Intellego Terram spells so that we could sense along
which paths humans had walked, and this did indeed show us the correct
route.  With much effort, we were able to follow the correct path,
even though every intersection had the wrong number of branchings.
From our research in the caverns the only cause that we can come up
with for this bizarre movement of the tunnels is the long ago
destruction of Vardian's Skull.  We hypothesize that the magic which
was released, which gives our Covenant it's aura, and the lake far
below it's vis, must also warp some of the caverns, causing them to be
constantly changing.

Finally, we discovered the fate of some of Cardinal Redalpho's party.
Buried under a cave-in, which totally blocked one passage was the
body of the grog who had been with the Cardinal.  I am ashamed to
say that I did not know his name then, and I still do not, but I
am sure that he was a brave soul, and has gone on to his own reward.
Of the Cardinal, there was no sign.

Once again, I began the exhausting job of tracking him with Intellego
Terram spells.  This time it was even harder, for there were two
paths, one on which he came, and one on which he left, and I could
not cast a powerful enough spell to differentiate between them.

Eventually, however, we did manage to arrive at the place where
the Cardinal had gone.  It was quite bizarre, for we were walking
in the corridoors, and suddenly, we arrived in a carefully carved
hallway, lined with torches which were lit with magical light.
At the end of the corridor was an archway with Hermetic Runes
carved on it.  We could see nothing but darkness through the center
of the arch.

After a number of experiments, including a Pilum of Flame cast through
the archway, we came to the decision that we didn't want to walk
through it, and chance disappearing like everything else had.  So,
the three of us began throwing Perdo Terram spells, to carve the archway
right out of the surrounding cave.

While we were doing this, a man rounded the corner and entered
our hallway.  He introduced himself as Apertus, follower of Flambeau.
He said that he was of the Covenant of Vardian's Stand, and asked us
to desist from removing his doorway.  We were, of course, quick to
comply (although Angus seemed to be quite enjoying himself).

Seemingly not surprised to see us, Apertus invited us in to his
Covenant.  Quickly, he said a series of words which I was unable
to catch, and the darkness lifted from the archway, and we entered
Vardian's Stand, not realising the false hospitality that we would
be shown.

Within the Covenant were two other people.  The first was Paulo, their
one grog, an old chap, and the second was Karanta of Flambeau, the
other magi of this Covenant.  Karanta did not seem surprised to see us
either, and soon we were being shown their Covenant.  Karanta quickly
brought us to their Council Room.  It was a circular room, with a
circular table in the middle, open in the middle and on one side.
Upon the ground in the center of the table was a ring of Intellego
runes, surrounding an area of what seemed to be natural cavern floor.
We soon learned that this constituted a powerful mystical artifact.

Karanta explained to us that this device allowed them to see the
future.  They could step into it, and by carefully focusing it, they
could see a specific place and time.  She said that she thought that
there was something that we should see.  All somewhat intrigued,
we entered the ring of Intellego runes.

As we did this, mist began to rise up about us.  Then, suddenly,
we were elsewhere.  Surrounding us was Fortunatus' lab.  It
was as clear as my lab is around me.  Luke and Fortunatus were
both dressed in grubby travelling clothes, which surprised us
all, for we had never seen them dressed in anything but the
finest garments that money could buy.  Speaking in a quick voice,
Fortunatus said, "There is no way to ward off this attack.  We
shall leave the Bonisagus to their fate," and then he pulled
a tapestry from the wall, revealing a secret door, and the two
of them quickly left through it.  Karanta, and the three of
us followed, utterly invisible to the Jerbiton ahead of us.
As we progressed down the secret corridor, Fortunatus suddenly
stopped, and moved aside a stone in one wall.  We could all
see through the peephole that he had revealed.

In front of us was the lab of Terra Natus.  On the floor of the lab
was Terra Natus.  Grogs were pulling swords out of his lifeless body.
Karanta motioned to us, and we moved effortlessly through the wall, to
follow the grogs away from their murder.  Soon, they arrived in the
Council Chamber.  Here, Certus, Chavin and Ferramentum were gathered.
In one corner of the room sat a mirror, which showed hordes of
marching skeletons.  Looking up, Certus acknowledged the grog's
presence.  The grog was quite to say "Terra Natus is dead."  The
Bonisagus seemed pleased with this news.  Ferramentem, at least,
thought that the Covenant would be overcome by the army of skeletons
that was approaching.  Chavin seemed unconcerned.  We listened for a
few minutes, and heard that skeletons, forming Vardian's Hordes, were
attacking the Covenant.  However, before we could study the situation
further, Karanta hurried us on again.

In a whirlwind, we visited first Durus' lab, then Tractare's, and
finally mine.  Durus' lab was quite empty, while Tractare's looked as
if it had been hastily packed.  My lab, being quite far away from the
center of the Covenant (they seem worried about my lab practices) had
already come under attack by the skeletons.  We arrived just in time
to see the illusion of the skeletons attacking and killing me.  Durus
became frantic to know where he was, and Karanta brought us to a far
away passage in the caverns.

In this passage were Durus and Tractare.  They were both quickly
running, although Durus was heavily weighted down with what looked to
be all of Tractare's equipment.  Tractare was shouting in a loud
voice, "Run faster, fool!  I hope you appreciate this favor that I am
doing in saving you," and Durus was quick to reply "While I am doing
you the favor of carrying your lab equipment, Tractare." 

And finally, the illusion faded away from about us.

As we recovered ourselves, Karanta was quick to tell us that this is
where are bickerings would lead us.

Now, I will admit that the Karanta seemed to have good motives, but I
suspect strongly that she is manipulating us.  My best guess would
be that what we were shown was but an illusion, although the device
did seem to be quite powerful, for Karanta knew much of our Covenant.

However, I was determined to not be taken by their lies and illusions.
I demanded to be given the Cardinal, who we had determined was in this
Covenant.  Karanta assured us that he was unharmed, and said that they
had recovered something of interest from him.  I was quick to quiet her,
not realizing that every magi around me knew of the skull fragment, and
I tried to follow her down a hallway to where it was kept.  Durus, however,
was following me, and I saw a problem.  At the time, I thought that
Durus was being altruistic, and wished to destroy the fragment, because
the magi here had said that it would only create dissension in our Covenant.

So, I challenged Durus to Certamen, with the conditions that the winner
would be allowed to go recover the piece of bone.

When I awoke, I learned that Durus had taken the piece of bone, and with
Karanta had gone out to the Caverns and buried it.  Karanta seemed pleased,
for she knew that the moving caves would soon bury the fragment forever.
I however, was becoming quite angry, and demanded that she take me to
it at once.  Looking apologetically to Durus, she took me, with Angus
in tow as well.  I soon realized that Angus too wished the fragment,
and he and I fought a Certamen for it.  He was beaten badly, and I should
have taken the skull fragment, ending the dissension in this manner.

Alas, it was not to be, for Durus, blatantly ignoring Angus' Certamen,
stole the skull fragment, and refused to give it back.  What was I
to do?  I could have burnt him where he stood, but if I had, I would
have broken the code worse than he had.

Karanta invited us to stay the night, and I accepted, despite the fact
that I no longer trusted them, and knew that she and Apertus were
manipulating us.  I was determined to retrieve my skull fragment 
before the evening was over.  Karanta seemed to know what I was thinking,
for she commented on the dissension that the fragment was already causing
before leaving us for the night.

Waiting until Durus was asleep, I cast a Rego Herbam spell, planning to
move the box containing the fragment from Durus' shirt to my own.
However, the peasant must have set up some powerful magical defenses,
for the next thing I knew, the wooden box had shattered, and the
fragments were flying straight at me.  Only with a quickly cast defensive
spell was I able to save myself.

Having woken, Durus looked at me, grabbed the fragment, and began to
run.  He managed to get a good lead on me, and I arrived outside the
Council room that we had been sleeping in just as Durus pronounced the
words Perdo Corporem, and the fragment of the Skull of Vardian was gone.

By this time, my anger had grown to an almost Berzerk rage, and I
grabbed our two grogs, rudely awaking them (for which I have since
apologized), and demanded that they return me at once to our Covenant.
We stomped out of the Covenant of Vardian's Stand in the middle of the
night, and I did not realize that Durus had tricked me.

As my anger cooled, I finally realized that perhaps Durus was not acting
as purely as I had thought.  I began to realize that with a little sleight
of hand, Durus could have hidden the fragment while mouting the syllables
Perdo Corporem.  This was the story that I had for Fortunatus after
an exhausting trip home.  On the whole trip, the caverns seemed to
actively resist our intrusion, twisting away from us, and making our
trip longer, but perhaps this was just an illusion, brought on from
lack of sleep and exhaustion.

After telling Fortunatus this story, I became quite angry again, and
stomped off to my lab, in a fit of fury blowing up my lab equipment.
Ah well, a grog shall repair that problem for me soon.  It turns out
that Durus had indeed swallowed the fragment of the skull, and he
eventually turned it over to Certus rather than Tractare, although
Tractare didn't seem to mind much.

The Cardinal was also returned safely.  He had apparently been
befuddled by the Stand magi for the duration (I am sure they simply
wished to attract us there.  Perhaps they even caused the cave-in).
He was given to the care of Angus and Durus just before they returned
to our Covenant.

** From the Accounts of Tractare
**

My latest investment seems to have worked out quite well.  Durus
returned to the Covenant after having swallowed the fragment, to
keep it away from that fool Aquilonius.  Both Certus and Fortunatus
were utterly at a loss to determine where the fragment had gone.
I was able to sell BOTH of them a favor, by telling them that Durus
had swallowed it.  An excellent investment indeed.  The three of
us were quick to go to the Council Room, where Durus had retreated
to, and we each demanded the fragment from him.  It would have been
beautiful if Durus had given me the fragment, for then I could have
extracted more favors, but Durus quite intelligently gave it to
Certus, after Certus threatened him with Wizard's War.  Ah well.
Perhaps I shall go see if there is anything I can do for Aquilonius.

** From the Diary of Aquilonius
**

It is good to know that at least some of the magi of this Covenant are
decent fellows.  Tractare just stopped by my lab, and after a little
discussion, I talked him into helping me move into a new lab, on the
other side of the Covenant.  Thus, we have already invalidated the
Flambeau's prediction, proving it an illusion.  I can't be killed in
my lab, if my lab is somewhere else now, can I?