Vardian Log #45: Gate Escapes

Season: Winter, 1211

Dramatis Personae:

Angus of Bonisagus				Magus		(Don)
Demoror of Quaesitor				Magus		(Billy)
Domita of Ex. Misc.				Maga		(DougL)
Durus						Ghost
Giovanni					Grog
Guiseppe					Grog
Hammerstein of Mercere				Redcap
Katarina					Alchemist	(DougL)
Luigi						Grog
Pietro						Grog
Rogers of Ex. Misc.				Magus
Marco Paulo					Noble		(Shannon)
Samo						Grog
Turbator of Tremere				Magus
Turelli						Grog
Verdan of Bonisagus				Magus		(Shannon)
Victorio					Warrior		(Don)

**
** From the Personal Journals of Marco Paulo
** Late Fall, 1211

A moment of pleasant relaxation today was interrupted when I heard the
shouting of a huge crowd near my house.  Looking out my window, I saw a
redcap of the Order, fleeing from a Roman crowd.  Thinking quickly, I had
him circle around my house, and enter through the back, out of view of the
crowd.

As the redcap entered, he fell to the ground.  He seemed deeply tired, and
also had several bruises and cuts, showing that he might have just escaped
the crowd with his life.  I sent word to the Ravaging Boar, where grogs of
the Tomb often are, and soon one came, to take the unconscious redcap down
to the Tomb.

**
** From the Notes of Vincere, Personal Scribe to Arliandus

During the twelfth week of Fall, 1211, Angus of Bonisagus was admitted to
the outer sanctum of Magvillus.

Twelve years before, Angus had killed another magus, named Durus of Ex.
Misc.  Due to questions over the motives behind the death, the normal
sentence of death was waived, and the decision was made that Angus would
instead be forever haunted by the ghost of the magus who he had killed.

When Angus came to Magvillus in 1211, he told that the ghost of Durus had
been taken by a demon.  He went on to say that the only way to regain the
ghost seemed to be by bargaining with the demon.  So, he had come to
Magvillus to ask what should be done.

Angus was told that he had done the correct thing.  For a time, the
Quaesitors questioned him over his feelings concerning the death of Durus,
and it was discovered that Angus was truly repentant.  Thus, he was
released from the sentence placed on him twelve years before.  Before he
left, Angus asked us to send Quaesitors to Vardian's Tomb, to try and
recover Durus for him.

Several weeks after his audience, Angus sent word that Durus had suddenly
returned.  There are still many questions about Angus' demon that have not
been answered, and the matter does merit further investigation.  However,
due to other important matters, the decision was made to consider the case
closed.

**
** From the Diary of Verdan of Bonisagus

I had not been back from Literatus for more than a few hours when Demoror
came by my lab.  He started talking about wanting to probe my mind for
information on the Schism War almost as soon as he entered the room.  I
told him that I had already spoken with a Quaesitor about these matters at
Literatus, and that seemed to satisfy him.  I, however, am just dying to
know what is going on.

**
** From the Chronicles of Salvadore
** Winter, 1211

After Covenant matters were dealt with at the Council Meeting of Winter,
1211, discussion passed on to the matter of the redcap recently arrived at
the Tomb.  He is still unconscious, as he has been since Marco sent him to
the Tomb, and little has been learned concerning his origins.  The
decision was made that Demoror of Quaesitor would go to him, and look into
his mind, to discover any important messages that he might have been
carrying.

After the conversation about the redcap was completed, the floor was given
to Turbator of Tremere, a magus who had been waiting to speak with the
Covenant.  Turbator began to speak of Morwennon, the Covenant that he
hailed from.  He explained that it stood on the Greek peninsula, but at
the same time rested in another dimension, quite different from our own.
Five years ago, there had been an attack upon Morwennon, by the creatures
of that other Realm.  It had been succesfully repelled, but several of the
creatures had broken through to our world.

Ruinwre, the head of Morwennon, had decided to track the creatures down,
and that was why Turbator was now at the Tomb.  Already, he had killed
most of the beasts that had escaped, and now, he had determined that the
last two were within the caverns of the Tomb.  Turbator had come to the
Tomb to ask for help in slaying these last two beasts.  As several magi
volunteered to help in this mission, the Council Meeting was called to an
end.

**
** From the Diary of Verdan of Bonisagus

I wasn't too enthusiastic about wasting time hunting critters so soon
after my return from Literatus, but by Turbator's description, the escaped
beasts were eaters of human flesh.  Thus, I felt obliged to help before
any of our grogs were hurt.  I was able to convince both Angus and Domita
to help me.  As we were gathering grogs, Demoror ran off to talk with the
Mercere who had been recently brought to the Tomb.  We decided to wait for
his return, in case the Mercere's message had any bearing upon the beasts
that we were to hunt.

After a bit, Demoror returned carrying a box.  He said that the redcap had
been coming to the Covenant to deliver that box to Domita, and he handed
it to her.

**
** From the Epic of Luigi

After I gathered Giovanni, Guiseppe and Pietro to help the magi fight
those creatures that Turbator had described, we waited around a long time.
The magi wanted to learn what the redcap had been carrying, and so we were
much delayed, for Demoror was conducting the inquisition, and he is not
the swiftest of magi.  Finally, Demoror brought Domita a box.  She opened
it at once, and a pilum of flame shot forth.  Fortunately, the magus who
enchanted the box was as incompetant as all mages seem to be.  The pilum
missed Domita utterly, curving back to hit the box.

Inside the box were a bunch of eggs.  Domita played with them for a while,
before finally remembering that we were getting ready to leave for a
mission.  However, while Domita had been playing, Angus and Turbator had
gotten into a fracas.  They fought a Certamen, buring lots of magical
essence, before Angus finally fell down.

Several hours later, we were finally ready to go and hunt the creatures.
Turbator gave us a last description of them, saying that they were
humanoid, but tall and thin.  He also warned us that they could tunnel and
move very fast.  Then, he wished us luck, and bade that we make haste.
The magi all seemed quite surprised that Turbator was not going to help
them hunt the creatures.  It just says to me that Turbator is smarter than
most of the mages here at the Tomb.

**
** From the Diary of Verdan of Bonisagus

While we had waited for the results of Demoror's investigation, we had
come up with a plan to deal with the "Ghala."  Turbator had said that the
creatures were eaters of human flesh, and that they seemed to always be
about carrion, so we decided to use that to attract them.  Domita, Angus
and I went to my lab, and created a pile of flesh nearby it.  After
wafting the smells around for a while with Auram spells, we set down to
wait for the results.  Unfortunately, the Ghala were not what we
attracted.

While we were sitting, chatting, we suddenly heard a roar.  Then, one of
those damned green lizards was upon us (Hopefully, one of the last, for
the faeries could not have created too many more before we shut down their
machine).  The lizard leaped at Pietro, and before we could react, Pietro
was on the ground, his arm mangled terribly.  Pietro nearly died before I
was able to heal him with a spontaneous Corporem spell.  Angus was able to
kill the beast before it could hurt any more of our grogs.

As we recovered from the battle, an old magus and a black cat suddenly
wandered down the corridor.  Apparently, they had heard the sounds of our
battle.  The magus, one Rogers of Ex. Misc., seemed very confused, and
vaguely mumbled about looking for Vardian's Tomb.  We sent him with
Pietro, back to the Council Room.

After waiting for the rest of the day, we decided to head into my lab, so
we could continue our studies while we waited for the creatures to appear.

Three days later, Domita's eggs hatched, producing several little lizards.
I was a bit disconcerted when she decided to go off and care for them, for
I had been counting on her to help with the beasts.  Unfortunately, I was
unable to convince her to stay.

Several weeks later, we decided that the carrion was not going to attract
the Ghala, as we had hoped it would.  After we discovered claw marks in
the walls near my Cave, we collected Turelli, and decided to try and hunt
the creatures.  Unfortunately, the tracks were old, and we eventually lost
them.  In the next couple of days, Angus got bored, and headed back to his
own lab to study the art he was working on.

Thus, several days later, when I heard that Samo had been attacked, I was
forced to go after the creatures alone.  I was quite worried, for combat
has never been one of my strengths.  I got Victorio, to help the other
grogs in combat, and Katarina, to heal any who were wounded, and finally
decided that I was ready to face the Ghala.

After weeks of anticipation, I was terrified of the creatures.  Thus, when
Turelli turned a corner while tracking the beasts, and suddenly began to
scream, I was almost afraid to move.  As Turelli backed out, badly
wounded, and Luigi and Guiseppe ran forward, I forced myself to follow,
ready to test my magic against the Ghala.

Somehow, we survived.  Luigi seemed unconcerned with the beast that faced
him, and with flames and sword, Guiseppe and I were able to slay the
second one.  Finally, Luigi's fell as well, due to a fortunate bow shot
from Victorio.  All that was left was to collect the vis.

**
** From the Chronicles of Salvadore

Demoror of Quaesitor has reported that Hammerstein, the fallen redcap, has
finally regained conciousness.  He has brought two interesting bits of
news.  First, he mentioned that the new Domus Magnus of Flambeau, located
in Barcelona, had been destroyed, apparently by the same people who had
crushed Portaclera several seasons before.  Second, he reported that
Venales had reported troubles at their town house in Venice.  Apparently,
several of their grogs have gone missing.  Both events seem to point out
the increasing Mundane hatred of the Order.  The magi seemed very
concerned about the issue.

**
** From the Diary of Verdan of Bonisagus

Near the end of Winter, Calios announced his intention to leave the Tomb.
I was quite disturbed, for he said that he was leaving because Certus was
out only for his own good.  I tried to explain that Certus was doing his
best for the Covenant, and that we Bonisagus should stay together, but he
could not be convinced, and thus he has left.

**
** From the Chronicles of Salvadore

The magus, Rogers, who recently arrived in our Covenant, left for
Magvillus some time ago.  With him went Giovanni, to help lead the way.
Giovanni has not returned yet, and that disturbs me somewhat.  If he is
not back soon, I shall have to report the matter to Certus.

**
** From the Accounts of Tremere

When I learned that Turbitor's mission had ended when the last two
creatures were slain, I set out to talk with him at once.  I believe that
I have convinced him to stay at the Tomb rather than returning to
Morwennon.  Now, just as the Bonisagus faction has lost one member, I have
gained one.  With six Tremere at the Tomb, I believe we should be able to
wrest power from Certus soon.  The only thing that stands in my way is
this continued friendship of the Bonisagus and Jerbiton.  Surely, that
shall end soon now.