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Chapter 5 |  |
Following the disgraceful episode at La Roche Caribet, Sir Jean called for his Priest, Père Vidal, and bade him complain to the Brothers at the Hermitage, that the Brothers should bring the Wrath of God upon the witches. Père Quietus, Superior of the Hermitage, knowing Père Vidal and his ways of greed and sloth, preferred to make a more informed judgment, and sought more information: he asked a visiting Friar, one Frère Joseph of Paris, to travel the area and make enquiries.Frère Joseph made his way to Plaintel, and to the court of Lady Marta. From Lady Marta he gained confirmation of the arrival of newcomers, and their settlement and peoples, and that they visited Plaintel to observer the Mass; and her opinion that they were neither sinister nor dangerous, but of seeming good character. The Lady gave permission to visit the clearing of the Rock, and the new settlement on her lands, and offered the hospitality of her hall and chapel. Frère Joseph revealed that it had been Père Vidal and Sir Jean de Ploeuc who had made the accusations to Père Quietus, of witchcraft that he had been sent to investigate, so that Lady Marta could enlighten Joseph as to the nature and character of those persons.
At Caribet, the grogs had responded to the attempted banditry by erecting palisades across the two entry roads into the clearing, while the magi continued to pace and peg out their grand designs for a tower. Realising the need for good stone, and perhaps for mundane craftsmen to erect it, they sent Speculor prospecting for stone, and Joach to Quintin for carpenters and stone-masons. Speculor soon returned with the news that under the surface soil there lay a great deal of hard stone
Joach, reaching Quintin, sought cover and lodging with performing Puppets at the tavern. There they were approached by a Merchant, Bertrand, and his young daughter. This merchant showed himself to be a carrier of goods as well as a trader, and agreed to visit to Covenant to see if he could arrange supplies of needed goods, subject to suitable (mundane) payment. He would also convey and forward letters offering employment to Carpenters and Masons, via other Merchant Traders.
The Grog Elli was guarding the new Palisade, when a barefoot cleric approached and asked for entry: Elli called for Jacques, fearing discovery of her Langue d'Oc heritage. Jacques, as Grog leader, welcomed the Cleric and his Mission. He confirmed that (the grogs) visited the Church at Plaintel, and suggested that there be some who would wish to offer confession to Joseph - wrongly since Joseph is no Priest but a Friar. As conversation with the Brother progressed, both Jacques and Jimena worked to steer him away from the tents wherein the magi worked, that the magi be not disturbed and that the Brother not discover the Magi and break the Code.
Maga Saskia observed the proceedings but, not speaking the vulgar tongue of this area, could not follow their conversation. She seemed satisfied to watch the antics of the grogs as they worked to divert the Cleric; these became more and more frantic as it became apparent that the keen-eyed Cleric had noticed their efforts at diversion, and was in turn attempting to side-step and reach those same tents. At this point, Magus Speculor being hungry and at a break in his work, emerged to seek food and to berate the cook for the lack of readiness. Since that Magus has the Blatant Gift, it was obvious that the Friar saw that this one bore the seeming of a Wizard. Pernelle, the scribe, emerged, having gone to summon Iuris Perita. Iuris Perita went to calm Speculor, that he should not threaten cooks with Face of the Corpulent Toad in front of Clergy, while her grog went to distract the Cleric.
The distraction was working to keep them apart, although the Cleric struggled to look beyond to observe the two magi, when the farce was completed by the untimely arrival of the Maga Speranda with her grogs and the fey grog Zane, back from prospecting for rocks and Vis. Fortunately, she did not join in to interfere with the situation but retired to rest in her tent, while one of the Spanish grogs (with badges of S. Iago de Compostella) went over to pay his respects to a man of the cloth. Meanwhile Maga Saskia went out and fetched in her Grog Beate, returning much the muddier for the process; her grog did little to settle the confusion, as the two sat off to the side, talking together in their barbaric private tongue.
The Quæsitor stepped in and took aside this Brother Joseph, torn by the needs of secrecy and the man's obvious perception of the situation. She settled for discussion of Philosophiæ and scholarship, and of bare-feet as "penance" (his penance, and her necessity), and of badges (the shell of S. Iago vs. the Sigilla of the order). Since the Friar was intent on Preaching he was invited to share supper with the grogs; Maga Speranda sat by him too, and spun a tale of scholarship and the Elements, and of the need for Isolation, which seemed to satisfy somewhat. However his keen eyes noticed her Sigilla too, and prompted further unwelcome questions regarding the organisation and affiliations of the covenant.
Frère Joseph left early next morning and returned to L'Hermitage and the Brother Superior. Père Quietus sent away for information on badges and orders of wizards and wizardry, while Joseph departed to call on Sir Jean de Ploeuc and his Churchman.
The Magi were left to contemplate the problems of Vulgar languages vs. the merits of the Latin tongue, and of the difficulty of interpreting the Code of the Order when Clergy come visiting. Magus Joach returned from his journey, having gone on to the City of St. Brieuc, with hopes but no word of Masons, but with Carpenters, two borthers called Sarzon. Perhaps soon the magi will have the beginnings of reasonable laboratories. On a more cheering front, they have found some local sources of Vis, needing only to debate its distribution within the Covenant.
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