Council meeting.

(IC - All of this takes place inside the ward)

A council meeting is a daily event, held in the most central chamber of the central keep. It's the brain of the city, with major proclamations being decided by 11 of the city's most influencial citizens. You'd expect opulance, as most of the central portions of the city were reserved for the wealthy, but the actual chamber was fairly austere.

The central chamber was a large room with few furnishings, all ancient looking. A huge stone table took up the center. There were 11 much newer looking ornate wooden chairs seats, with three empty seats of a more plebian varety for pertenent witnesses. Each chair was plainly marked by the family crest or title of whoever sat in it. In the corner of the room were 4 guards, a few pages to run errands, and a sternographer.

The largest chair was reserved for Doge Maria-Anna Mongiello, an older figure in garments of silk. Her eyes were literal amethysts with a light glow - it was known she'd had them replaced when her vision began fading. She'd never actually been the guild master of the tailor/seamster guilds by law, but she'd been a judge at so many of her family's contests that there wasn't a guild in the city that respected their judgement.

Earnesto Lorenzi took another seat. He was the youngest, by far, on the council, but his family's previous generation had done quite well in furthering their interests. He wore more leather and fur on his outfit than the others, common among younger nobles who considered themselves slightly adventurous. In terms of pure wealth, the Lorenzi were probably the the wealthiest in the room. He was perhaps the least guarded of those on the council, either owing to his youth or his security in his seat. Or was he simply projecting this in the face of older more experienced faces?

Cicero Falcheetto was a man in his late middle age. His outfit was the most plain here, leather, without the fur of ernesto, and not a drop of color, though he did sport a few metalic bands here and there. Cicero sported a number of scars and wore an empty scabbard on his back - no one walked into the council chamber armed, but the man had a reputation for getting his hands dirty, and the scabbard sent a certain reminder.

Cosimo Del Shiavonne was another man in his late middle age, but rumor indicated he might be significantly older than he looked. He had, rather famously, left the university before completing his phyisicians degree to go treasure hunting, and returned 10 years later and been welcomed into the family with little fanfare. His choice on the the council to replace the previous Shiavonne had been something of a shock. He was tanned and well travelled, but wore modern Vissian fashions.

Finally, Carmine Zustignan took the last of the great houses seats. She was in her late 30's, and had heavily campaigned for additional imports of clockwork experts to expand her family's industry. It was unusual to have such an ambitious member of the Zustignans on the council, but she'd tempered her ambition while acting as her family's representative. Her silk outfits had many small charms and mechanical wonders acquired from years of study from abroad.

There were, of course, other council members in attendance, but few let their personality show through their duty. Fernando D'Aldez was the current mayor of the city, a guild member of the coupers, who had, through desperately pleading to all for good will, somehow managed to keep his seat for three years after his predecessor had mysteriously vanished (not the first in that position to do so).

Fernando appeared to be chairing the meeting that day "Very well then. The matter is adjourned. Next matter is a petition by a representative of the Barbaroman:, who wishes to address the council. He has stated that it's regarding a matter of safety to the city itself, a potential threat one of his associates have discovered."

The head of the local guard looked interested. "Really?"

Earnesto Lorenzi laughed "Anyone care to wager that this involves the word of thieves? 100 Cicari it does."

Carmine Zustignan spoke up "Point of order: Wagers in the council chambers are against our procedures."

Fernando jumped in: "Lady Carmine, I am certain this was meant in jest. Yes?"

Cosimo De Shiavonne interjected "Of course, he's probably not wrong. We should hear about this anyway, yes?"

There were general assent on the council, and Vasati and "the Messenger" were shown in.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:44, Mon 22 June 2020.

Ridolfo Barbaroman entered the council, wearing signfiiacntly finer clothes than he usually wore. There was no point in flaunting cash when you were trying to being a little incogntio, but this was the council: a degree of flash was expected. Vasati was as his side.


One of the guards escorted the two to the witness seats. A short formal exchange ocured between the mayor and the two witnesses. The various council members showed varying degrees of interest in the proceeding, though only Earnesto Lorenzi looked amused.

"I, Ridolfo Barbaroman claim the privileges, duties and rights of a noble heritage of the family, as accorded by ancient law. I claim to speak as the representative of my family on this day."

The mayor: "So noted, Noble Ridolfo of Barbaroman. You will be accorded the rights and privileges of nobility a member in good standing. Your associate?"

Rudolfo: "Is speaking in honor as a witness, and has my personal confidence. He has something very important to present to the council."

The mayor: "And how would your associate like to be addressed, and what is their title?"

Ridolfo looked to Vasati.

Vasati had chosen a noble bearing that day, with a finely trimmed goatee and thick bushy eyebrows.  His complexion could have been Vissian, but seemed cut with some other blood, a Reachman perhaps?  He had garbed himself in a vest of fine black silk, a stiff white shirt with a high collar that did most of the work to hide a twinned pair of golden necklaces heavy with gems.  It was an obvious display of wealth, to those with the eyes for such things, yet subtle enough to be considered tasteful.  He gave his usual flashing bow when he saw the other Divinities, his usual Sigils of power flashing at his open palms as he spread them wide at his sides.

"Ah, it makes my heart sing to see us all together again, my friends.  Well, almost all.  I thank you one and all for accompanying me today on this noble  task.  Today I mean to settle a debt for our dear friend, Signora Gaja.  In her travels about the country side, she has unfortunately picked up some rather powerful enemies.  Today I have an opportunity to remove one such player from the board, and I have chosen to do so.  In doing so, I will be doing a great service to Vincio Alla Sabia as well, removing a poisonous thorn that had been allowed to grow unchecked.  However, I think perhaps that the powers that be might not be so pleased with my fine work on the city's behalf, and thus I appreciate all of your presence here in order to prevent them from doing anything... hasty.  Particularly given the rather distasteful measures the city has seen fit to shroud over their seat of power."

And with a final grimace at the existence of the ward, he swept into the main Council Hall.

---

Vasati stepped forward with a flourishing bow at his introduction, just deep enough avoid being rude without giving too much deference.

"Spatiotemporalmancer Vasati, ever so temporary bearer of the Arch Key of Vincio Alla Sabia, here to return to the Council what is so rightfully theirs."

As he completed his bow, the heavier of the twinned chains fell free of his shirt and vest, revealing the Arch Key for all who knew it.  He rose with a shockingly composed expression upon his face, rather than the cutting grin he so very much wanted to indulge in, and somehow even managed to avoid making eye contact with Cicero.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:53, Mon 22 June 2020.

There is mostly silence from the council after the bow. The key seemed to move on it's own onto the table, sending out a clear tone that spread through the keep. Everyone at the table felt the resonance: even as mortals, they were technically attuned to the ward as council members.



Ernesto nodded sagely, and privately wondered what the fuck the Archkey was. Many of the ancient secrets of the council were mentioned little, and had little relevance tot he acts of the day. But her certainly felt the resonance of the key, as he was bound to the walls as a member of the council. "What...what was that?"

Cosimo Del Shiavonne frowned and wondered what in all creation a patiotemporalmancer was. What he actually asked was "I believe that we can all agree that this is the real article?"

Maria-Anne Mongiello's gaze went over the Key (and Vasati) looking at them with a compelte lack of emotion. The mechanical portions whired quietly as she focused. Vasati could feel this woman's gaze going over every thread on his outfit. "You DID verify it, though, Rudolfo?" She asked prefunctionarily.

The Messenger produced an envelope. "Of course, Doge." Technically speaking, he should have presented the supporting affidavit to the mayor who was legally running this meeting, but this had significantly gone above his pay grade.

Cicero Falchetto raised an eyebrow. "Well, well done. This council owes you a debt. That item has been missing for centuries. It is very, convenient that this was brought in now." He said simply.

Maria-Anne Mongiello's gaze shifted back to Cicero, and her head tilted slightly. For her, this was quite an exclamation of confusion.

"Eh, the Falchetto always see more enemies than opportunities. I see a few things have not changed." Said Earnesto Lorenzi.

Cicero remained impassive. It was not clear if he knew where the key came from, had any idea what was about to happen, or was just a cool in the face of ruin.

The mayor, surprisingly, was the one who broke the uncomfortable silence. "Council members, you will forgive me. I believe there is a very old standing order to reward the return of this item that takes precedence. We thank you for the return of this item. Record Keeper, could you please dig into the archives and recall the order and we will prepare a reward? I suspect we will have to upgrade the offer. I think we've changed currencies at least twice since we put that out."

Cicero did nod to that. "We must honor our debts."

Rudolfo bowed. "If it pleases the council, while I'm sure you will reward my associate handsomely, there is the matter of WHERE he got it that is pertinent to the council's interests.

While the archivist searches for the old council order, could he please go ahead?"

The Doge raised her lip. "Oh? You mean it wasn't plucked out of some pawn shop? Then by all means, continue. I believe the Barbaroman was speaking of a threat to the city?"

The Mayor gave a pleading look to the Doge.

Carmine Zustignan spoke and let him off the hook. "Point of order, Doge. With respect, the mayor is oficially chairing the meeting."

She gave a quiet, silent nod, and the mayor resumed his speech. He seemed warm and quite happy at the occasion, though it was hard to tell if it was he was genuinely pleased or if it was just because he was a good politician.

"As Mayor, I formally thank you for returning this item, Mr.. sory, Spatiotemporalmancer Vasati.

If you would be so kind, and noting that this interaction will be recorded for posterity and that lying to the council is a crime, please recount us how you managed to acquire this ancient symbol of our city."

He had an attentive audience. The Doge continued to study.. more like judge, him impassively. Cicero was quiet. The other council members seemed genuinely interested in what he had to say.

Claire stepped into the Council chamber alongside Vasati, but remained silent. This was his show.

Increase arrived alongside Claire but in similar fashion to Vasati had adopted a different set of garb to meet with the council. His nigh-perpetual cloak had been abandoned as had his heretical staff. In their place he wore a silken white shirt with slate gray waistcoat and matching slacks. Even his threadbare sandals were replaced with a set of black leather shoes. On the waistcoat was a small metal pin which bore the angel-eating-serpents that was his trademark. For most this would be the first time seeing Increase's face obscured. His black hair was short, almost wiry, and grayed prematurely with gray and ashen white. His eyes were a pale green that might have been beautiful in a less severe face. Finally his skin was a light brown, tanned from years of wandering.

He gave a none to Ernesto Lorenzi but made no comment, instead differing to his ally for the time being. If need be he could step in but he didn't imagine that he would need to. Still, the Archkey was a truly interesting artifact, one that he coveted to study. Although his desires were tempered by the circumstances and made alert by a sudden foreboding.

And what a show he made of it.

"Spatiotemporalmancer Vasati, yes.  A rare specialty, so I am not surprised that you haven't heard of it before.  I will not indulge in anything more than the briefest of descriptions, and that only to help you understand how these things have come to pass.  A Spatiotemporalmancer is one whose magic shapes space and time.  You can see how such a specialty might lead me to encountering something as attuned to the city as the Arch Key?"

He rose to his full height, seemingly larger than before.

"The matter of how I acquired it is a serious one, which is why I so urgently wished to bring both it and the Artifact in question before the Council.  My arcane specialty grants me control over my own positionality within space at any given point of time.  I knew that I would be returning to Vincio Alla Sabia, and I was also aware of the completeness of your wards.  Such a thing could be disastrous to me personally if I attempted to alter my own positionality, splitting me into a million individual pieces in a million different parts of the city in a rather permanent fashion.  So, before coming here, I performed a divination of your wards.  Not to probe them, but merely to understand their influence and their impact upon my own magic.  Let me say that they are most impressive, and that my ability to utilize my craft within them is essentially null.   Your wards are a thing of profound intricacy, and ground my Spatiotemporalmancy in every meaningful sense.  In layman's terms, it is not safe for me to.... ah how I hate this word... it is not safe for me personally to Teleport within your city.  As much as it pains me to say this, my magic is useless here.  However, as I was cataloging the scale of those factors, something drew my attention.  Something that contained the same essential essence of the city, yet was outside of the wards.  This made no sense, as my initial survey demonstrated that such a thing should be well within the city.  I probed it more, gaining a sense and a measure of it, trying to understand what this beacon was.  It resisted my attempts, which also made no sense.  I sensed the vault that it was kept in, which I should not have been able to do.  Yet its connection to the city allowed for such a thing to occur, it mapped the details of its surroundings upon my magic as it called to be returned home.  I was intensely curious, and so I... how to describe this... I reached out and took it."

He placed a hand over the Arch Key.

"The moment I held it, I understood exactly what it was.  Not because I am an expert on your city's history, but because my own specialty makes me extremely sensitive to the inner workings of such a thing.  I understand its capabilities, and the theories underlying the magic that shapes it.  Without even knowing the history, the security implications of such a thing were immediately apparent.  So I reached out to my contacts here within the city, and with considerable discretion hinted at what I had discovered without actually stating at what had transpired."

His gaze fell on Barbaroman.

"The full ramifications of what had occurred were made apparent to me in explicit detail, as well as just how dangerous this whole situation was.  I immediately implored my contacts to arrange this meeting, and they have done so.  For I know exactly from where I plucked the Arch Key out of space and time, and I understand now that it should never have been there.  I understand now just how dangerous the words I am about to utter are, and it gives me no joy to say them, but the sad truth is that the Arch Key was taken from the family vaults of House Falchetto."

There was brief muttering from Lorenzi about betting that Spatiotemporalmancer was a fancy word for "magic theif" but it was too quiet to be entered into the offical record. Most of the council did hear it, but the stakes were too high for them to comment.

During the first part, there was one brief interuption from Del Schavone, "Would the recorder please note that discussions of wards and this cities defenses are to be ex camera, and not a matter of public discussion."

The recorder noted a few redactions, and allowed Vasati to continue. It was the second part of the statement that shut the room down. The guards, who were very good at ignoring official council business, even looked more alert.

"Lies and slander." Said Cicero Falchetto. "This man is an outsider, not even a citizen of this city, worse a known sorcerer of unknown practices. This is beneath even your family's base honor, Barbaroman. I declare this a false statement and and move that it be stricken, and this liar be removed from the chambers, and Barbaroman censured for slander."

A brief silence ensued. No one was willing to second the motion out of hand.

Carmine Zustignan spoke up "Or, we could summon members of the guild of thought and verify these statements. Spatiotemporalmancer Vasati, we have several masers of the Guild of Thought who can verify your statements."

Cicero gave the council a glare that said "are you fucking kidding me?"

The Mayor looked like he wanted to throw himself out a window, and profoundly wished that the Doge had taken this mess over, but she remained impassive, giving no trace of emotion away with her mechanical eyes "This is a very serious allegation. Is House Barbaroman prepared to back this with his family's honor?

Cicero "Honor? This is a family that hires thieves for a living."

Lorenzi spoke up, in what was probably an attempt at.. sympathy? Giving Falchetto a way out? "You know, Cicero, if someone said we'd lost the Archkey in our vaults, I would check before I called the man a liar. This could have been inadvertent."

Cicero did not dignify that statement with a word.

The Messenger spoke up "My friend has been utterly forthright in returning this item. It is difficult to believe the ancient item was in the possession of the Falchetto, but it appears to be true.  If Spatiotemporalmancer Vasati is willing to back it with his, then yes, Barbaroman backs the accusation with it's honor."

The Mayor looked back to Vasati. "There are no less than four grand masters of thought outside from the Guild of Thought, the Church, House Del Schavone and House Zustignan. Would you be willing to stand in honor by your statement under their examination?"

"Of course!"

Vasati raised a single finger.

"I am not so foolish as to think you would take the word of an outsider on such a dastardly accusation.  What am I to do, describe the contents of their family vault as my proof?  Of course not.  I could have found the Arch Key anywhere, and then utilized my considerable talents to discover the lay out of their ancestral defenses.  Of course the Guild of Thought will be needed to verify the truth of what I claim."

He had been careful with his words, as none of what he had said was technically untrue.  It wasn't even a lie of omission, it was simply a mortal interpretation of his divinity.

"However, there must be some negotiation of terms before such a thing is conducted.  It is quite one thing to say 'here is an Archmagi of the Academy' she will verify the truth of your claim.  However, exactly how said Academician intends to verify such a thing must needs be discussed.  As a Guild, they have a prestigious reputation, and are capable of doing anything from probing deep memories to rendering their subjects mindless thralls.  Some aspect of the former is acceptable, once properly negotiated, the latter is not.  So in this, I would wish to hear what exactly it is you intend for the good Guild to accomplish, and how."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:50, Wed 24 June 2020.

Del Schavone spoke up "Even an archmage can't do that, and what would be the point? This will be a public trial in which you will be asked questions by the council, and the archmages would probe your thoughts as you recalled them. There is a also a technique in which a knowingly false statement will be revealed to be a lie, but that technique has limitations."

Cicero Falchetto spoke up "And the council will still believe this outsider over my family?"

There was silence.

After a moment, Carmine Zustignan spoke up "I'd be willing to investigate further, at the least. I think that if we find the thoughts of the outsider compelling."

The mayor spoke up "Of course, we cannot read a mind of the member of the council. It is against our charter"

Carmine spoke up looked up and spoke. "Verifications of truth are allowed for all accusations of treason.... and since this is the charter, we could always vote an exception if the other houses agree. I am not sure, but I believe that theft of the key may be considered treason." No one wanted to question the Zustignan representative on their knowledge of the law.

Lorenzi spoke "Plus, there is another possibility. We could send for an examination of the Falchetto crypt to see if it matches the descriptions given by the outsider. If it matches, I'd consider this more credible, personally."

Falchetto remained silent.

The Mayor spoke to Vasasti "So, would you be willing to testify publicly, with one or more archmages reviewing your thoughts as we questioned you? Only thoughts related to the questions will be probed."

Vasati was quiet a while, as if in deep contemplation.

"I am very much confident that I could describe the vault beneath the Falchetto family crypt to specifications that more than soothed your entirely understandable concerns."

He didn't shy away from allowing his gaze to fall on Cicero Falchetto then.

"I understood when I began this path that I would be testifying.  The terms you have stated are acceptable, when will we begin?  More importantly, what is to be done with me until then?  The reward, of course, but the sooner such a trail could occur the more pleased I think we all would be."

He looked then to the Messenger, raising one eyebrow as if to say "anything else?"

"Presumptuous. Again, you trust these outsiders over a family that has defended this city from a time when it was Patrian. This is not enough evidence for a trial. " Said Cicero.

The Doge studied him with her inscrutable eyes once more, and finally spoke up. "I agree. We don't have enough evidence for any kind of trial of a noble... so lets get some Archmages up here, and we will know for certain."

It was the closest Cicero came to flinching when she spoke.

There was no deliberation after that. Every other council member expressed some surprised at the Doge's statement. Even a few of the stoic and silent guards, known for tactfully ignoring council business, moved their heads fractionally.

There was a short vote to extend the council and commence with a formal inquiry immediately. Within the hour, no less than Three Archmages of Thought were there, and the mayor asked Vasati the questions with the understanding that each would get a picture of what Vasati was thinking when he answered the question.

"Where did you find the Key."
"What was the vault like it like?"
"How did you slip by the defenses?"
"Can you explain how you found the key?"

Cicero was still a council member, and he asked a few questions of his own.
"Who are you working for, really?"
"You and the other outsiders, do they plan on taking over or destroying the city?"
"Are you even human?"

OOC - Rather than ask each of these questions and have you answer, I've decided to just give them the questions that they will ask you. Basically, if this goes well, it'll be enough to convince the council that a trial is warranted against a council member. Just give a one line answer if you are going to answer truthfully, and maybe an idea of what goes through your head when you answer.

What they are doing is basically reading surface thoughts related to the question. It will be very difficult to come up with enough visual details to lie convincingly, though you could could do it. It's basically a -4 will saving throw to pull that off, or use of a perfect lying gift for the first three. Not that you have any reasons to lie.

After Cicero's 4th question, the council will shut him down as this is becoming too taxes on the Archmages, plus the council will start to make their displeasure known at this point.

Cicero's questions are very open ended, so I expect the post will take a bit of time. Feel free to ask any questions for clarification via PM.

Vasati met the mages with a fierce smile, amicable, yet with just a hint of something dangerous to it.

"Where did you find the Key."

"Within the family vault of House Falchetto, of course."

"What was the vault like it like?"

"Ah, that was interesting!   They had inscribed the words "BREAK ONLY IN THE EVENT WE ARE UTTERLY FUCKED" and "IF THIS LID IS AJAR AND YOUR LAST NAME ISN'T FALACHETTO, YOU ARE ALREADY DEAD." into it!  Delightfully crude, no?

"How did you slip by the defenses?"

"That is too complicated to explain.  I knew what they were, and so I went around them.  Though I think I rather upset the ancestral wraith on my way out."

"Can you explain how you found the key?"

"I am attuned to this city, and the key called to me when I went looking."

---

When Cicero began questioning him, he reacted not at all, keeping his gaze forward on the Archmagi as he had from the beginning.

"Who are you working for, really?"

"In this as in all things?  Myself.  The rest of the council and I might not always see eye to eye on everything, but what is good for Vincio Alla Sabia is good for me."

"You and the other outsiders, do they plan on taking over or destroying the city?"

"I would be very upset if anyone tried to destroy Vincio Alla Sabia, very upset indeed."

"Are you even human?"

Only then did Vasati turn, his eyes like thunder and the promise of lightning, boring into the man with the full weight of his still veiled true form.

"After the offense committed by you and your family, Council Member Cicero Falchetto?  I am the avenging spirit of Vincio Alla Sabia itself."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:43, Thu 02 July 2020.