Vardian Log #3: The Verdi Competition

--
"Track! Track! You're a Mundane. Track!"
	--Command given to Diavoli, a priest
--
Date: Spring & Summer 1199

The Players:

Angus of House Bonisagus			Magus		(Don)
Arathor of House Verditius			Magus
Demorar of House Gurnicus			Magus		(Billy)
Diavoli						Priest		(Phil)
Exigus of House Verditius			Magus
Ferramentum of House Verditius			Magus
Geoffrey of House Verditius			Magus		(Phil)
Imanitosi, Prima of House Verditius		Maga
Marcelo						Grog
Meles of House Criamon				Magus		(Dave)
Retistius of House Verditius			Magus
Salian of House Merinita			Magus
Sophia						Singer		(Eric)
Tiro of House Jerbiton				Magus		(Chris)

**
** From the Scattered Notes of Ferramentum

It seems that the years pass too quickly.  Once again, I was caught by
surprise by the Verditius contest.  Ah well, I have a good supply of magic
items that I have enchanted over the years, and I was able to select one
of my lesser ones to submit for this contest. At least I will not appear
weak in the eyes of the other Verditius, as I would if I had not submitted
anything.  I was overjoyed by the fact that I did not have to leave my
Covenant to go to Verdi.  Meles of Criamon was happy to go to the contest,
and present my item in my stead.  I believe that accepting the young magi
to our Covenant was the right choice.  Now, if only I could get Certus to
let me study that new fragment of the skull that he has gained...

**
** From Hermetic History by Custos Notitia of House Bonisagus
** included in a short section on the famous Covenants of the Order

In the Covenants of the Order of Hermes, there are many ways that status
are measured.  In Castle Rise, of the Transylvanian Tribunal, it depends
upon one's skill in Certamen, while in Doissetep it is gained through
rivalry and intrigue.  One may see the status of a Criamon of the Cave
of Twisting Shadows by divining how close to twilight he is, while the
status of a magi in a certain covenant in Venice is determined by monetary
worth.

However, of all of the Covenants in the order, it is Verdi, Domus Magnus
of House Verditius, that has the most unique way to determine the status
of a magus.  In Verdi, your status may be measured by how blackened the
ground around your lab is.

Everything about Verdi reflects the mentality of a bunch of laboratory
magi who occasionally make mistakes.  For example, it is located about
a day and a half east of Rome, which is close enough to get supplies,
and sell magical devices, but is far enough away that the city won't
be affected, even in the case of a horrendous accident by one of the
magi at Verdi. On the outside of Verdi itself is a solid stone wall which has
survived many an explosion, while on the inside are a large number of widely
seperated buildings.  No two magi's labs are within twenty feet of
each other, in order to prevent any one explosion from setting off ten
more.  

And, upon close inspection, it can indeed be found that the area of
ground around the laboratory of Imanitosi, the current Prima of
Verditius, is indeed the most darkened of any in the Covenant.

Every eighteen years, the Covenant of Verdi becomes an even more
perilous place, as Verditius magi from all over the Order come
together for a grand contest.  It is a contest in which magical
devices are compared to find the one which is the most useful, the
most interesting or the most efficient.  However, quite often,
political considerations are taken in to account, and lesser items
win.  In any case, it is a showcase for some of the best and brightest
of the house.  At the most recent contest, in 1181, the winning device
was a magical guard dog.  Now, the dog guards the entrance to Verdi,
and Retistius, the magi who created the device, has become a very well
known man.

**
** From the Diary of Aquilonius

I am pleased that things have been quiet in Vardian's Tomb since that
fiasco at that Covenant of Flambeau.  For nearly a season I was still
upset at Durus because of the way he lied to me while we were on that
trip, but I have since worked out my anger by creating a minor spell
which I call "Destroy the Mushrooms of Durus."  Now, it almost seems a
bit petty, but by casting the spell, I can kill mushrooms with a
simple touch.  And, I have scribed it into the Covenant spellbook so
that everyone may learn it.

When Meles announced that he was going to Verdi to present a magic item
for Ferramentum, I was tempted to go, because it would involve a trip
though both Rome, and the beautiful country to the southeast of it.
However, I eventually decided not to, because listening to Verditius
magi argue sounded quite boring.  From what Tiro has told me, I think
that I made the correct choice.

The contest was still a full season ahead, but Meles had to go to
Verdi at that time to get Ferramentum's vis detector entered into
the upcoming event.

The vis detector seemed quite a silly item itself.  Even I could have
produced it.  It was a stick, perhaps a foot long, that clicked
whenever vis was near, clicking quicker as it grew closer to vis.  I
expect that Ferramentum felt compelled as a Verditius magi to submit
something, but did not wish to waste too much of his valuable time or
vis to do it.

Setting off for Verdi, Meles found several people to accompany him.  I
suspect that Tiro went because he hoped to learn new gossip at Verdi,
while Demorar was hoping that he would be called upon to make some
decisions.  I believe that the singer Sophia went looking for some
entertainment to be provided at the huge contest.  The party was
rounded out by Diavoli, a priest who has recently arrived at the Tomb,
who apparently wished to see another Covenant of the order.  Marcelo
was the one who led the five of them to Verdi, for he had been to
Verdi many times before.

According to Tiro, it was at Verdi that the troubles began.  Meles
opened the box that held the vis detector, to present it to Imanitosi,
and found that the detector was gone.  In it's place was a simple
stick, that itself had no magical properties.  The party left
Imanitosi's hut a bit disturbed.  As they made their preparations to
trace their steps back, they heard a conversation that disturbed them
even more.

After their exit, another magus had gone to Imanitosi, to present his
magic item.  Shortly after he entered the hut, this magus, who they
later identified as Arathor of House Verditius, began to shout that
his vis detector had been stolen.

Tiro says that they were quick to confer with Arathor.  Being careful
not to reveal the fact that they had also been carrying a vis
detector, they soon learned that Arathor had spent the previous
evening in the same village that they had.  After politely excusing
themselves, they set out to the small village a day out of Rome where
they believed that both thefts had occured.

Soon, the feeling that something was wrong was confirmed.  According
to Tiro, when they were perhaps three-fourths of the way back to the
village, a subtle attack came from the woods.  Many Muto Mentem spells
were cast, causing the party of magi and companions to be quite
befuddled, even after they realized that they were under attack.  Tiro
says that the magi were literally tripping over each other trying to
find their attacker.  Apparently, as he got farther away, they even
attempted such ludicrous measures, as asking the Priest to track him.
For obvious reasons, the culprit got away from them.

Upon reaching the town, several Intellego spells were cast in the
house that Meles had slept in.  Tiro says that they were able to see
an image of a dark figure switching a stick for this vis detector, but
little more than that.  There seemed little doubt that it must have
been done by the same person who had just attacked them in the woods,
if they could only find him again.

As the magi walked around the town, Tiro said that it seemed that many
people had been affected by various Mentem spells.  Almost all of the
village folk seemed to have very strong and varying emotions.
However, before they could further investigate the problem, they were
again attacked by their nemesis.

Tiro said that when they first saw him, it was obvious why he had been
causing problems.  There was little doubt that he was a magus of
Faerie Blood.  A Merinita magi.  And, from what Tiro has told me, he
was also a little mad.  The faerie mage who would later call himself
Salian, began throwing spells at the magi, and again began to flee
from them.  

After a merry hunt, the magi finally chased him down.  Meles had
become quite irate by this time at the Merinita mage, and he had
thrown an offensive spell at the mage to stop him.  Apparently,
Salian had fallen to the ground after Meles' attack, but he was
not caught yet.  At once, he yelled out the need for a Certamen
to Meles.  Salian quickly bested Meles, who, by the conditions of
the Certamen, was forced to serve him for a season.

However, by this time, Demorar had decided that it was within his
right to pluck the information from Salian's mind as to where the
vis detector was.  He was successful, but Salian had apparently
realized it, and set off at once to recover the vis dectors
that he claimed he had "set free."

Fortunately for Meles, Salian for not exactly all together.  Demorar
had discovered that the vis detector had been buried under a tree,
and when they arrived in the section of woods where the tree was,
they discovered it easily.  Meanwhile, Salian was digging under
another tree, where he had become convinced that the vis detector
was.

And indeed, with Ferramentum's vis detector was another, which was
nearly identical.  Not even Meles could tell for sure which one
belonged to Ferramentum.  And, at this time, Arathor stomped in,
demanding his vis detector, and snatching up what seemed to be
the more nicely made one of the two.

And that, Tiro says, was more or less the end of the story.  Meles
finally brought the vis detector to Verdi, and got it officially
entered into the contest, and is even now there watching over it.
Sophia apparently is enjoying it at Verdi, for she is still there
as well.  Tiro says that he has spoken with Salian, and has taken
Meles' season of service so that Meles may stay with the item.  He
has just returned to the Covenant briefly, to tell us what is happening,
and will be beginning his service in a day or two.  Demorar and
Diavoli have both returned to the Covenant, having gotten their look
at Verdi.

It all sounds like it was quite exciting, but again I am pleased that
I did not go.  I am sure that staying here, studying in the Library,
has been much more profitable than chasing a Merinita magi halfway
across Italy.

**
** From the Diary of Aquilonius
 
In Rome above, Summer has come again.  All around, the land is more
beautiful and the people happier.  It sometimes is impossible to resist
the urge to go up there and mingle with the people of Rome instead of
studying my books, and working in my lab.  Terra Natus is quite correct.
If the Order does not gain good relations with the Mundanes, it will
fall.

With Summer has come the actual contest out at Verdi, and, not
surprisingly, several of the magi headed up there, interested in
mingling with the many Verditius gathered there.  Meles was still in
Verdi, as was the singer Sophia.  Demorar and Tiro, who had just
finished his season of service to Salian, both decided to return to
Verdi, apparently having enjoyed it during their previous trip.
Lastly, Geoffrey joined them on this little expedition.  He is a young
Verditius mage, and, although he had not had time to create anything
for this contest, he felt that it was his duty to go.

According to Tiro, the entire trip was quite comedic.  From what I have
seen, this is usually the result when you put more than twenty Hermetic
mages in one place.

One of the first things that the group from our Covenant learned was
that things were not well off in the village to the West of the Verdi,
where that had tracked their vis detector down in the previous season.
Apparently, due to problems that Salian had caused, the entire Village
was in an uproar over the threat that magicians represented.  Imanitosi
was quite pleased to see the magi from the Tomb, remembering that they
knew the village, and asked them to take care of the problem.

Fortunately, the majority of the magi there were Jerbiton allies, and
thus they agreed to deal with the villagers.  Unfortunately, their
methods were quite farcical.

Geoffrey and Meles came up with a great plan (or so they thought) in
which one of them would play an evil magi, and the other a magi from
Verdi.  They set up a large battle, with lots of fireworks, in which
the Verdi mage banished the foul black mage.  Not surprisingly, they
managed to raise the fears of the townsmen to an unprecedented level.
So much for Criamon and Verditius magi dealing with Mundanes.

Fortunately, Demorar and Tiro had much better sense.  They moved quietly
around the town, subtly changing the emotions of all the villagers.
Not my favored method of dealing with Mundanes, but it did work.

Upon returning to Verdi, things grew even more chaotic.  There were
hundreds of entries to the contest, of course, but less than a dozen
which were truly unique enough that they had a chance of winning.  
Tiro was kind enough to describe the items which he thought had a
chance of winning.  First, there were the two vis detectors, which
I suspect he mentioned simply to be polite.  Then, he spoke of
a rose shaped out of metal, which smelled, looked and felt like
the real thing, but never decayed.  Geoffrey's master was there,
and she had a perpetual motion machine entered into the contest.
Restius, attempting to once again win the contest, had a battalion
of mechanical mice entered.  They were trained to sing and dance
according to Tiro.  A few other odd items included a huge aqueduct,
which caused water to flow up, and a ring of invisibility, which
was apparently utterly invisible, and immaterial to anyone except
the holder.

The magic item that impressed me the most was a huge tapestry, which
you could concentrate upon, and have your thoughts made into pictures.
An interesting item, that I suspect took a lot of work.

And then, the sabotaging began.  Geoffrey was first made aware of it
when his master's perpetual motion machine stopped working.  She was
insistant that the magus who had created the aqueduct had done it,
and asked him to break it.  Geoffrey, with a little help and some
Muto Terram spells was able to warp the aqueduct so that the water
flowed down instead of up, making it a truly un-impressive magic item.

By this time, everything was in disorder.  I suspect that many of
the minor items got destroyed during those few days, but Tiro was
too intently watching what became of the truly impressive ones.
The man who had created the aqueduct had become sure that it was
Restius who had sabotaged his item, and one Certamen later, Restius
was forced to destroy his own creation.  He didn't try to resist,
or scream to Magvilus, which makes me think that he must have been
guilty of something. 

Quickly after this, order was finally restored, and the decision on
the winning magic item was made, and disaster struck again.  The magi
of Verditius were so determined that certain Magi didn't win, that the
winner was a mistake.  Exigus, creator of the "invisible ring", is now
acclaimed as the winner of the Verditius contest of 1199, at least by
those who can keep a straight face.

Tiro ended his story with a sly comment about the saneness of Salian,
the Faerie mage who had earlier given them problems.  Apparently, he
had still been under service to Salian during the contest, and had been
told to steal the most impressive item there.  On his way back, Tiro
gave Salian the invisible ring, explaining that it was immaterial to
everyone but the wearer.  Salian was apparently too proud to admit
that he could not feel it himself, and he gravely thanked Tiro for
the handful of air that he had been given.

After hearing Tiro's story, all I could think is that if I wanted to
see a bunch of magi bickering, I'd just head over to our council room.