Vardian Log #24: The Missing Magus --- "If I had [consorted with demons], I would not be number six." --Tolas --- Season: Winter, 1204 Dramatis Personae: Anser of Bjornaer Magus Antony Grog Bartolus Boy Bran da Crustum of Flambeau Magus Calculus Rock Calios of Bonisagus Magus (Scott) Constantine of Tremere Magus Davan of Tremere Magus Demoror of Quaesitor Magus (Billy) Domita of Ex. Misc. Maga (DougL) Excubitor of Tremere Magus Father Dominick Diabolist Flamma of Flambeau Maga (Eric) Garvil of Tremere Magus Gotho Grog Inimicus of Tremere Magus Karantia Maga Marcelo Grog Marlon of Tremere Magus Martino Boy Paulo Companion (DougL) Rupes of Bjornaer Magus (Shannon) Taron of Bonisagus Elder Magus Tiana of Tremere Maga Tolas of Tremere Magus ** ** From the Chronicles of Salvadore, Autocrat of Vardian's Tomb Fortunatus opened the Council Meeting of Winter, 1204, with certain mundane concerns. He mentioned that the Cardinal-Bishop of Austia was in Rome, talking with pope Innocent the Third, and said that he had heard that he might be here to speak of the Order. Taron seemed unconcerned by this issue, and the meeting moved on to the matter of Marlon. Taron expressed concern over Marlon, who has not been around the Covenant for several seasons, and said that he thought that the younger magi should go and look for him. He told of a taron deck reading that he had done, and said that he had saw cups of poison and knives. Taron stated that he thought that Marlon might be at Postestas, a Covenant of Tremere on the Eastern coast of Italy, and said that he Marlon was probably there against his will. Finally, he said that his taron deck reading seemed to show that the devil might be involved with this matter. While the younger magi were beginning to make their plans, Demoror of Quaesitor suddenly stood up. Having successfully captured the attention of everyone at the table, he stated that he would not accept admittance to the elders because he had to maintain his neutrality. While everyone looked about in utter confusion, he sat back down. When discussion of Marlon was finally ended, and order returned to the Council chamber, a new maga was brought forth. She was named Domita of Ex. Misc., and shortly was granted admittance to the Covenant. At that time, yet another argument broke out between Flamma and Rupes, and another Certamen was fought for obscure reasons. As usual, Flamma won. Shortly thereafter, the Council meeting of Winter, 1204, was brought to an end. The entire Council meeting was observed by Anser of Bjornaer, Bran da Crustam of Flambeau and Excubitor of Tremere, the three worthy magi who have been residing at our Covenant for several months now. ** ** From Rupes' Book I have become too arrogant. For a short time, after I dropped my prophecy through Luigi's mirror, I had worried that the whole thing might be some demonic hoax, but when the three magi showed up, and began asking of the prophecy, I knew that all was going well. So, I quickly became complacent, sure that nothing could go wrong. I thought that I could simply wait until 1207, when the mantle of my House would be abruptly dropped upon my shoulders. All this time, I ignored the fact that Marlon, the third magus mentioned in my prophecy had been missing even before I had walked through the mirror. All this time, I ignored the fact that Marlon was missing still. Finally, Taron brought the matter up at the Winter council meeting. He suggested that we form an expedition to go retrieve him, and I was quick to agree to help, a bit afraid that I might already have ruined everything through my laziness. Flamma and I managed to get both Calios and Demoror to help on this expedition, and within the day we were heading for Postestas, where Taron believed Marlon to be. With us, we brought the warriors Antony, Gotho and Marcelo, worried that we might need them to fend off what had already taken one magus. Paulo joined us as well. He is a priest who has helped the Covenant before. Surprisingly, he proved to be useful. Most of the trip was uneventful. It was quite an uncomfortable trip, however, due to extremely cold weather. Still, we pressed on in our journey towards Postestas. It was a trip of nearly two weeks. Despite ill spirits and cold grogs, we eventually reached the Eastern coast of Italy, and began our search for Marlon in San Damiano, a village just to the South of the Covenant of Postestas. Spells that Demoror had cast indicated that Marlon was somewhere in this village. Shortly, we saw that those indications were true. While moving through the graveyard of the village church, we came upon an elegant tombstone engraved with the legend, "Marlon, son of Tremere." For a moment, I was beyond speech, as I saw my great plan crumbling about me. Numbly, I watched as Paulo went off to ask about having the body moved, and as Demoror began to cast spells. Several moments later, Demoror confirmed that the arcane connection that Taron had given us to Marlon's body did indeed match the body buried in the cold earth here. Paulo returned shortly after this, telling us that the badly burned body that was buried here had been brought to Father Dominick, the village priest, by an older woman in dark robes. She had called herself Melisende, but we quickly realized that that was not the woman's true name. When the priest had described this woman, he had painted a vivid picture of Karantia, member of both Vardian's Tomb and Postestas. As we began to raise the body, in preparation to move it, my wits began to return to me. Although it seemed that Marlon was dead, not all was lost. My prophecy had been intentionally vague concerning the Tremere, and he could be easily replaced by another of his house. It had become clear by that point that we would be heading next to Postestas, to further investigate the circumstances of Marlon's death, and this was ideal for me. I quickly decided that as soon as I reached Postestas, I would seek out Tolas, reputed to be the least Tremere at that Covenant. He would have everything to gain, and nothing to lose by joining me in my plan at the Tomb. As I made my plans, we finished exhuming Marlon's body, or at least what was reputed to be it, for it was burned beyond recognition. Demoror quickly ascertained that there was no magic left in the body. A missing finger showed us where Marlon's vis had apparently gone. It seemed that we would not profit from this search in the least. We were all a bit stunned with the apparent brutality of the entire affair, and so after the body had been raised, we all went off to the village inn to refresh our spirits, wishing to put off moving the body for a short time. I just stayed in the tavern long enough to grab a tankard of ale for Marcelo, who had volunteered to guard the body while we went off. Thus, I was back in the graveyard when Flamma went out of control. Quite unfortunate; she could have used a calming influence. >From what I have heard, she went over to speak with some foreigners who had been in the tavern. These Greeks began insulting her, and she became very angry, and plunged the whole village into darkness. While none but she could see, she nearly killed the Greek who had been insulting her, and then stomped off. Marcelo, Paulo and I decided to leave the village about this time, realizing that the response to Flamma's anger would not be a good one. We grabbed Marlon's body, and headed North, planning to meet the others on the road to Postestas. Demoror was the last to catch up with us. He said that he had spoke with the Greeks after Flamma had left and that they had said that they were the grogs of a wizards named Constantine, and that he would be very upset with Flamma. We all thought this an interesting fact, but as far as we have ever been able to determine, he had nothing to do with the whole Marlon mystery. As we walked North, Demoror crunched up Marlon's body into a little ball of flesh, to make it easier to carry. Some of the grogs became a bit ill at this. I simply took it as further proof that Demoror's recent Criamon ideas had affected him badly. After a short trip, we finally came to the Covenant of Postestas. It is as an interesting of a Covenant as our own, perched as it is on cliffs overlooking the Adriatic Sea. As we prepared to enter the Covenant, we noted a ship in the waters far below. We could just barely make out it's name, the Melisande. Calios mentioned that the boat belonged to Constantine. Apparently, it was his Covenant, as much as he truly had one. According to Calios, Constantine made his living as a merchant, and the Melisande helped him greatly in that. Even more puzzled than before, we entered Postestas, to question the members there. Truly, however, we did not believe that Karantia was responsible. She is much too intelligent to appear unobscured carrying the body of a magus, using the name of a ship docked by her Covenant as an alias. Remembering that Taron's reading had mentioned that the devil was at work here, we were even more sure that Karantia was not the true culprit in Marlon's death. Still, questioning the magi of Postestas seemed our only lead. The autocrat at Postestas was quick to give us rooms, but told us that we would not be able to question the magi until the next day. I gave the autocrat a special request to speak with Tolas, and then set back to wait patiently, as did most of the rest of our expedition. Calios, however, decided to teach us a lesson on the difficulties of impatience. >From what I heard, the Bonisagus wandered randomly around Postestas, insulting the grogs and magi of the Covenant. Through sheer luck, he beat Devan, the second member of the Covenant in a senseless Certamen. Finally, Tolas, the youngest member of the Covenant was called to humiliate the rogue Bonisagus. After Tolas beat Calios, extracting several seasons of service from him in the process, the Tremere and I went off to speak. I explained to him my prophecy, the part that a Tremere needed to play, and how it seemed that our Tremere had been killed. After careful consideration, he said that he would accompany me back to the Tomb. I was quite relieved; for a time, it had seemed that all of my careful planning would be destroyed. Now, once more I am confident that I may take the power that I am working towards. The next day, we were brought through Postestas' inner sanctum, into their council room. It is an impressive place, with high ceilings, and beautiful, stained glass. It is nearly the opposite of our own Council room, which is small and cramped in comparison. For the next several hours, Demoror sought to prove his utter lack of tact. He questioned all six members of Postestas intensively, hit them with several spells, and, in general, angered the whole Covenant. It seems that he is still a proper Quaesitor, despite his recent Criamon experiences. When we were done, we had learned that none in Postestas knew of Marlon's death, but then this was not a truly new revelation. However, we had learned one new fact. Inimicus had in his possession a pendant that we recognised as having belonged to Marlon. When we questioned him, he said that he had gotten it from Martino, a young boy who helped the village priest in San Damiano. So, after I collected Tolas, who would be returning with us to ask admittance to the Tomb, we set back towards San Damiano, to enquire with this Martino over the mysterious circumstances of Marlon's death. Everything else was almost anti-climatic. Demoror and I entered the church where we found Father Dominick. We quickly incapacitated him, and Demoror began to probe his mind. We soon learned that the priest was the source of all of our problems. It seems that this man was jealous of Father Albio, the priest of a nearby town. Due to this, and various heretical beliefs, he summoned a demon, and used it's powers to curse Father Albio. In return for this service, Father Dominick captured Marlon and held him captive while the demon came at intervals to drain his blood. Most surprising was the fact that Marlon was still alive, held below the Church. It seems that everything else, from the fake arcane connection, to the fake body, had been set to lead us astray. Indeed, we might have fallen for it if Taron had not warned us before hand that the devil had a hand in this whole scenerio. But, thanks to Taron's words, our eyes were open to deception. I slew the diabolist, and we quickly moved to the catacombs, where we found Marlon, just as Demoror had seen him, in Albio's mind. He appeared thin, weak, and lacking in some of his former liveliness. If this new depression continues, then I shall not regret bringing Tolas into my plan to replace him. After we freed Marlon from his bonds, we were forced to hide within the walls of the catacombs for a short bit, due to the discovery of the body of the priest, above us. Fortunately, by that evening we were able to escape. We met the other magi at the edge of the town, and soon returned to the Tomb, with Marlon, whom we had thought lost, returned to us. There is still the question of the demon which held him, but such beasts are the hearts of deception itself; he is probably beyond us forever. ** ** From Rupes' Book Tolas has been accepted as a member of the Tomb. Once again, everything seems to be right. In two and a half short years, I might just see the success of my plan. I have braved the very hands of the evil one thus far. What can stop me now?