Vardian Log #40: The Schizoid Man

Season: Fall, 1210

Dramatis Personae:

Acutus Gladius of Ex. Misc.			Magus		(DougO)
Angus of Bonisagus				Magus		(Don)
Arridere of Jerbiton				Magus		(Dave)
Bolo						Warrior
Calios of Bonisagus				Magus		(Scott)
Demoror of Quaesitor				Magus		(Billy)
Domita of Ex. Misc.				Maga		(DougL)
Dominick					Rich Guy
Durnk						Monk
Flamma Incindere of Tremere			Maga		(Eric)
Guido						Grog
Marcelo						Grog
Metonius					Magus
Samo						Grog
Servola						Autocrat	(Eric)
Stolatov of Jerbiton				Magus
Tolas of Tremere				Magus
Varanor						Wizard
Verdan of Bonisagus				The Green Mage	(Shannon)
Xenethon					Apprentice

**
** From the Chronicles of Salvadore

The next issue brought up at the Council Meeting of Fall, 1210 was the
upcoming fair, to be held during the next season.  After a bit of
discussion, Demoror of Quaesitor began to assign responsibilities to many
of the younger magi of the Tomb.  Acutus Gladius of Ex. Misc. shall be in
charge of making an easy entrance to the Tomb, and later sealing it up,
Angus of Bonisagus shall be in charge of gambling at the Fair, Arridere of
Jerbiton shall be in charge of assigning space at the Fair, Domita of Ex.
Misc. shall be in charge of trading at the Fair and Tolas of Tremere shall
be in charge of Certamen at the Fair.

When discussion of the Fair was completed, Luke of Jerbiton briefly
mentioned a new visitor to the Tomb.  He said that the ghost, Varanor, who
the younger magi had recently met near the Lake, had been brought up to
the Covenant, and was now working in one of the labs of the Tomb.  With no
further matters to discuss, the Council Meeting of Fall, 1210 was brought
to an end.

**
** From the Diary of Verdan of Bonisagus

It was during the season of Fall that Certus asked several of us to go
down to the Lake and collect our regular vis from that place.  Briefly, I
derided myself for not thinking to collect it when we had earlier
investigated Varanor and Varanor's Tomb, and then I told Certus that I
would, of course, go along and help.  With me went the magi Acutus, Calios
and Demoror, our autocrat, Servola, and the warriors Bolo, Guido, Marcelo
and Samo.

We had just gotten to the lake when we heard the clash of arms nearby.  At
once, I ran in the direction, afraid that someone would be hurt.
Unfortunately, I was correct.  Soon, we came upon a chaotic sight.  A
bunch of people were staggering around a large cavern.  The walls were
broken and malformed as if some spectacular spell had failed badly.  On
the floor were the smoldering remains of one of those damned lizards, and
the half eaten corpse of a poor grog.  I became even more confused when I
looked more closely at the people in the room.  Six of them seemed to be
exact duplicates of the same magus.

As we talked with the people in the room, the story of what had happened
slowly came out.  The two magi, Metonius and Stolatov, along with Durnk,
who was one of their Companions, Xenethon, who was Stolatov's apprentice,
and five grogs, had been looking for Fortunatus.  Apparently, they were
members of the Roman Tribunal who lived without a Covenant, as do many
magi in this Tribunal.  They had gotten lost while looking for the Tomb,
and ended up in this place.  Then, one of the lizards still wandering our
tunnels had attacked them.

The lizard killed one of their grogs, and then Stolatov tried to cast a
spell.  There was some type of explosion, as his spell went bad, and then,
there were ten of him, instead of one.  Fortunately, one of these
duplicates managed to kill the lizard before it was able to hurt any of
the other grogs.

It was quite clear that Stolatov had experienced a Twilight, and at once I
felt bad for him, due to my recent experience.  The other magi seemed to
have similar feelings, for we all tried to help the poor fellow.  With a
bit of magic, we learned that in some way, Stolatov's Twilight had
shattered his magical learnings.  Within each of the duplicates, there
seemed to be the essence of one of the Hermetic Forms.  Most disturbing
was the fact that there were only six duplicates here, and thus four of
the Arts were missing.

By pushing the bodies together, Xenethon managed to recombine the six
Stolatovs into one.  He then asked if we would help him discover the other
four.  I was a bit worried about getting back to my studying of Rego, but
I agreed to help for a short while.

Searching around the room a bit, we came upon some footprints, and began
to follow them.  However, they soon ended abruptly.  Calios cast a few
spells, and said that the magus we were tracking had never been there.  We
were puzzled a bit, but after a few more spells, we were able to determine
that Imagonem was missing from Stolatov's body.  Thus, the disappearing
footprints were explained.  Before we began once more tracking, we decided
to ascertain what else was missing, so there would be no more surprises.
Animal, Ignem and Terram were the other three parts missing from Stolatov.
Confident in this new information, we decided to once more set out after
the Imagonem fragment which had before confounded us.  However, when
Demoror cast a few spells, he learned that the Imagonem piece was already
well on it's way to the surface, further away than we magi of the Tomb
wanted to go.  With some more Intellego spells, we learned that both
Animal and Ignem were heading in that same direction.  Only the Terram
fragment was near.

We discovered the Terram fragment of Stolatov in an enormous Cavern,
surrounding by an orchestra of stone.  As he moved his arms, the rocks
would shift and turn, forming new rooms, passages and caves, and then
destroying them just as quickly.  For a bit, Demoror and Metonius tried to
get to him, but always the rocks moved up to block them.  Even when Acutus
and Calios, two magi of the earth, tried to help, it was not enough.

By then, we had decided that the Terram fragment was beyond our power to
regain, and that the others were further away then we wanted to travel, so
we promised that we would have one of our grogs help out Metonius until he
had managed to restore Stolatov, and then made preparations to leave.

After a quick trip back to the Lake, to get the Vis that we had gone down
there for, we returned to the Tomb.  After returning, we lent Marcelo to
Metonius, so that he could more easily finish his search.  I do hope that
they are successful.

**
** From the Diary of Verdan of Bonisagus

A few days after returning from the Lake, we began to hear rumors about
explosions and murders in Rome.  When we talked with Metonius, who had not
yet left the Covenant, he said all of those who were killed were old
enemies of Stolatov.  It was quite obvious that this was the fault of
Stolatov's missing Ignem fragment.  I felt quite bad for putting such
emphasis in my studies.  If I had not decided that Stolatov's friends
could take care of him on their own, these murders might not have occured.
I, of course, volunteered to go and do what I could, as did all of those
who had gone to the Lake, except Servola.  We were also joined by the
maga, Flamma, another master of flames.

By once more tracking the Ignem fragment, we were soon able to determine
his current location, in a town just a bit North of Rome.  According to
our spells, he was in a grainery there, and that is where we headed.
However, our attempt to capture him there was less than successful.  After
arguing with the owner, we decided to go in through the back, where we
knew the Ignem was hiding.  The confrontation was brief, and in the wake
of a huge explosion, the Ignem fled.  Even Bolo, with his magical Faerie
boots, was not able to catch him.

Fortunately, Metonius was able to suggest who Stolatov's next victim would
be, given his current location.  So, we headed over to the house of one
Dominick, a rich man who lived in this village.

Unfortunately, Dominick did not want to see us, and so we tried to force
entry, in order to speak with him.  In a short skirmish, Acutus was
wounded, but I was finally able to speak with Dominick.  I warned him that
Stolatov was trying to kill him.  No sooner had I said those words that I
noticed one of the rear doors beginning to smoke.

Pillaring flames filled the room, but due to my warning, poor Dominick was
only hurt.  Another melee ensued, as we tried to capture the Ignem
fragment, but we were finally successful.  It was brave Bolo who finally
managed to push together the Ignem fragment, and the rest of Stolatov,
leaving just one, where there had before been two.

Soon after, we returned to the Covenant, and once more offered to lend
Marcelo to Metonius, to discover the three missing pieces.  I was at
somewhat of a loss, for on the one hand, I wanted to finish my studies of
Rego, so I could teach an apprentice in that art, while on the other hand,
I did not want to responsible for the remaining fragments causing
destruction, as the Ignem fragment had.  Finally, I decided that neither
Animal, Imagonem or Terram would be quite as volatile as Ignem was, and
thus I have returned to my books.  I hope that it is the right decision.

**
** From the Diary of Verdan of Bonisagus

It seems that further attempts to recombine Solatov have been succesful.
Metonius was apparently able to capture both the Animal and the Imagonem
fragments with little trouble, and Fortunatus and Terra Natus helped to
capture the Terram fragment.

Still, Solatov has not entirely recovered.  He seems a bit mad, as Hadrian
is.  Hopefully, it shall soon go away.  Calios has taken Xenethon for his
apprentice in the meantime, which is extremely kind.  It is good that
Xenethon shall not go without a Master while his own recovers.