Scene 1: Lost

Ernst, separated. Puts up Spirit Sight. Santiago puts up a Life effect to get heightened sense of smell to sniff out Makovsky. Instead he sniffs out Ernst and finds him. The two of them feel a Mind effect taking effect on them. Ernst immediately becomes suspicious of Santiago due to an idea planted in his brain, as does Santiago, but the compulsion does not force Santiago to behave differently. Matthieu uses a Prime effect to find his way. The ley lines are very powerful, and deep, and they go all the way around the world, underneath. These are unlike other ley lines in that they go underground. There is another powerful effect or entity approaching, and as Matthieu concentrates, he smells the scent of bitter almonds. (0 - 6)

Scene 2: Foundation

Maier is able to see that the money is invested in Prague for five years in the Jewish Quarter. And then the money is moved to Sweden in a hundred-year trust, a safe haven. Lorant figures it's untraceable using Jews, and that after the risk, it's put into a safe trust. (6 - 8)

Scene 3: Flames

"Gans." "Well. Is he your partner in this?" "Only insofar that he is the one who gave me the detailed information on the Empire in the next 10-20 years. He's been rewarded handsomely for it. But he knows nothing of Bensalem and what I am doing. It's surprising he hasn't told you or Lorant or any of the other members of the Consilium." "Neither did you." "Why would I want to cause a panic, what would that serve?" "It would also not help you serve yourself." "Point taken." "I'm not going to let you change the fate of Europe on a whim." "I'm not planning to. I'm planning to make myself safe. I can't change it. No one can. This future is written." "The future is never written." "When you get back to Prague, spend some time. Walk the city. You'll see what I'm talking about." "I certainly intend to." "There is no reason you and your cabal cannot profit from this and keep yourself safe. Profit in this case is keeping my life, limb, and liberty." "Are you going to cease what you're doing and return to Prague to face judgment?" "I'm going to finish what I'm doing so my family can remain protected. I'm more than happy to spend extra time to ensure you and your cabal are safe. All I ask is you don't take me back to Prague. I know you are all set for money personally, but you will need an escape route, and I know you can't go back to the Ottoman Empire. I don't know where you're going to go, but you're going to need gold and silver to survive it. I am being sincere with you, there is no safe haven." "The future is going to be what it is going to be. I will follow whatever Fate decides for me, and so will you." Swarm of Locusts. No Paradox. At first, nothing but the high-level Fate effect. But out of the Prague map, a couple of blind underground toads spontaneously generate from out of the stone. (8 - 15)

Scene 4: Mind

Ernst feels the impulse and the knowledge that Santiago is going to work with the Bensalemites. "Any idea where the others went?" "I just ran down the corridor and I was here and now you're here, and I don't know where anyone else went." Santiago uses Prime to see where the spell effect that tried to twist his mind came from. Ernst eyes him with Mage Sight. Santiago sees the effect on Ernst. "This is going to be a strange question, but… did you have any sudden notion or inclination right now?" "You're helping them." "Why exactly would I do that?" "Because you understand how wrong this is as much as I do." "So you're not helping them?" "Who them?" Ernst is silent. Santiago uses the rote to counterspell. (15 - 20)

Scene 5: Poison/Frogs/Plans

Matthieu creates a bubble of safe, breathable air around himself. The Cyanide Spirit comes bodily around the corner. He is materialized. His face is grinning wryly. "You got rid of my gift?" "I had to to be here." "Well, it didn't really have much of an effect did it. I'm here now. My goodness, is this a treasure beyond counting. Thank you. Thank you for bringing me here." "Well that was an unfortunate decision on their part, wasn't it." "I am so grateful to you. So when I am done killing everyone in this island, you will survive." "I think for that, I am due more of a gift than mere survival." "I don't agree," and he begins to back off. "I created the method by which you were embodied. This place is a beautiful abomination. It is answers without truth. It is fascinating." He stops. "What are you trying to say? I will hear you out." "If what interests you about this place is the knowledge, then the death of the people will do nothing to give you that." "You seem to forget I bridge two different worlds. I can speak with them in Twilight." "Speaking can give you concepts, but they fuel the technology with magic themselves." "What are you proposing I do?" "What does the death get you other than an opportunity to display your prowess." "It gives me a domain to rule and treasures to possess." "How empty." "You're trying to appeal to my will to power. I wish… I thought you knew me better than that." "I think you are mistaking my intentions." "Are you asking me to enslave them?" "This place is an abomination, but their deaths with be the death of their knowledge." "They have records." "They have a way of doing things that is only understandable in the implementation. I'm sure you've looked around." "Only in Twilight." "You know there are no ghosts here." "I had noticed that." "Two things: one, ask yourself what that means if you were to flood Twilight with their ghosts. Two, why?" All of a sudden, Matthieu realizes he is arguing with himself. "Salih, what is the point of this?" as he dodges the rapidly growing hordes of frogs. Salih notes the map. Lorant: "I think we should wait to see what the others are doing and ask them what we should do." "Would you want to talk to any of your associates to block this from happening?" "We could help them fail, or succeed, whatever needs to happen. I think we need to figure out what they discovered on their end. In the meantime… we should probably deal with that demon." Santiago clears the Mind effect, and they can hear frogs and sense Makovsky. Matthieu realizes he was under a Mind effect, and he can hear muttering. (20 - 35)

Scene 6: Flow

Makovsky is nonplussed. "Did you think this would stop me?" "I was hoping you'd come over to my side." Ernst draws his zweihander. "Oh lovely." S: "You really didn't think you could hide, did you?" Mak: "Tell them what I told you. Give me that much respect." He uses a mudra to signal to Matthieu, "this is for you a secret." S: "He is doing this for himself and not for or against the Emperor. Mak: "The Emperor is a dead man walking." E: "As are you?" M: "For yourself? Really?" Mak: "Yes." M: "Do you have any idea how disappointed I am?" Mak: "I have an associate with whom I have worked on a very very long term Time effect. I've been in the halls of power for a long time. When the Pope sent his agents a couple of years ago, this imbalance could not stand. I went to this time mage, and I went to find if I needed to leave. When the ritual was over -- it took days -- he told me every mage would be dead in as many as 20 or as few as 5. He said a war involving all states of Europe was coming. And that Rudolf would be one of the first casualties. I asked if this could be changed, he said no current timeline could be seen that would avoid it. Who is worse when it comes to Mages, Catholics of Protestants? To me, it's even money. If they find about us, both will persecute and burn us in the streets." "And with that information, this is the best you can do. I am disappointed, the Guardians are disappointed." "I can look after myself." "You are here in a seat of mystical power, and you are here to get gold." Mak laughs, "Well, when you put it like that." "Lazy. Really. This entire time, I've been saying you have to be up to something better." "Salih, use this information as you see fit." M: "Where's the money coming from?" "From the earth." "Where?" "I'm not going to tell you that." "If there is no timeline, when you pull the funds to yourself, you have to be changing it somehow." "You make a point, but it will only be ripples" E: "You understand your friends who mapped this out probably saw this as well." Mak: "No because of the ward." E: "Even I understand he'd never tell you it wouldn't work." Mak: "My success or failure is not central to his plans." "You're nothing. He is out of picture. You are allowed no gold, and possibly no life." "What crime have I committed? Have I committed a crime? Please tell me. Possibly the only thing is abandon my post. If that requires exile I will take it happily." Matthieu defers to Salih. Salih: "Perhaps. You'll face the Consilium for that." " I think I can handle that." "Do you agree to come back on your own?" "Sure. I've done what I needed to here." M: "I still can't believe this was the best you could come up with." Mak: "If I am going to deal with huge armies of humans, I will need the means to interfere with their plans. Armies, kings, princes, they only respond to mortal means. You know even me we cannot stand up to the mob." "I know better than most." "Let's go to the surface." Santiago looks at the ritual space. The effect is completed, but Santiago does not know where. He shares. Ernst asks Salih where the spot is. It's his new ancestral lands. Ernst says it could be changed. Mak says his brother's reputation is sterling. "Let us return and let the Consilium handle it." Mak returns of his free will. Master says, "That was quick. Well done. Do you plan to return?" S: "Immediately." Master is solicitous. S: "Can we return?" Master: "You'll need to find us." Message from Santiago.  (35 - 52)

Scene 7: Discussion

Before that, Salih says it was Gans. M: "Why did he go to Mak? What are his resources?" S: "I don't KNOW. These are all questions we'll need to answer when we get back to Prague. I don't know anything about Gans." "Lorant does." "That is why we will wait until we hand him over." "I would like to speak with Lorant about this beforehand. I like to have as much information as possible before moving forward." E: "We can't trust Makovsky alone. Gans wanted Makovsky out. M was always looking for the easy route to power." M: "I don't know if any of those things are true." E: "Maybe it was just my position." Salih eventually concedes. Santiago and Matthieu with Lorant. Santiago: "We captured Makovsky." Salih: "He surrendered." L: "Do you know what he came to do?" S: "Wealth and riches. We have a bigger problem. The person who set this all into motion was Gans." "Well, it seems we've found ourselves in the midst of an intra-Consilium conspiracy. I have no horse in this race, other than to protect you." "Did Gans come up?" "No, but my people did." S: "That's a connection to Gans right there." L: "Maybe Gans is doing this to embezzle." M: "Maybe he is trying to keep the Jews safe in the coming war." L: "Oho, what is this?" M: "Protestants and Catholics will be warring." L gives Telepathy to them. Europe in flames. E: "This is what someone wants to happen. This is by no means the endgame." Can we change it? Who's trying to make it happen? M reminds them that the Mages are supposed to die. E does not see correlation.

S: "If I discover these things and see the war, why would I keep this to myself? Why would I tell Makovsky." M: "Maybe he did this to protect the Jews of Prague." S doubts this. E: We need to get out of him, bring him back, and heal the damage. M: You're being shortsighted. If the truth is this is the future… E: We cannot change it. M: Makovsky did this selfishly. We are here in a seat of magical knowledge and power. E: I want to go home. L: Your writ was to get Makovsky. You are the Doorwarden, you bring him back. If anyone wants to stay, let him stay. Our cabal's purpose is to preserve and disseminate knowledge. M: Perhaps we can find a way to protect Mages' knowledge here. L: Or for our advantage. E: Do I hold the knowledge of Gans to myself or present it to the Consilium. S: I wish to confront Gans about why he kept it to himself and to Makovsky, and I want to confirm his visions. L: I would like to be there for that. S: I am not going to make assumptions. M: Before we bring Mak home, we should have our school written into his contracts. E: No! M: Listen. We can turn it into a haven for knowledge. E: Insane. L: Just an endowment. E: We cannot be linked to this in any way. S: I agree. L: We'll work on this from the Jewish angle. M: We have leverage over Makovsky. L: Salih comes back, Makovsky comes back later. E decides to come back too. S: 24 hours. L to E: What is the downside? Matthieu: they are experts at hiding an island. I need to know how to hide a school. L: Get books. M: Llull-Bruno machine. (0 - 26)

Scene 8: Return

L: Do we go to confront Gans? S: Yes, but first, Ernst, can you get copies of the contract? E: I can get that. Why? S: I want a good understanding of exactly what he set up and if there are any connections to Gans. E: I want to make a proposal, out of earshot to Matthieu. I can make the change to the contract that these funds go to Prague, and thence to us. S: Let's keep that in our pocket. I want him under the thumb of the Consilium before we make changes. L: We do not want to be seen as co-conspirators. Salih confers with Lorant. L does some research. He has spread the money around very carefully to everyone important and no trickery. Also, the 80/20 split. If they don't pay back, there's no recourse. E: no magic on it. S suspects that this is the result of a Fate effect. L: If he just wants to protect the Jews, what do we do about that? S: I have no problem with oppressed peoples protecting themselves. Part of the reason they have so many problems is their wealth. L: What if Gans isn't as loyal to the Emperor as you'd like him to be. S: I don't know. My biggest concern is the information he has and what he did with it. The politics bother me less than the personal. L: He is playing the kind of game I usually play. Which surprises me. S: I just want to understand. E: We have limited time before Makovsky arrives. Lorant Obfuscates the contract. Ernst puts up Spirit Sight, and Perfect Timing rote to give him the impression of ultra-competency. Salih puts up Fate Sight. (26 - 45)

Scene 9: Veil

Master of the Towers meets with Santiago. Contraband technology for weather instruments/longitude equipment. M: Your cabal got their target? S: They are still discussing it. M: You are not leaving it with them? S: I have no desire, there is nothing for me in Prague or indeed in Europe. M: How soon could you get to England? S: Six months, with the new equipment. M: I will give you instructions on who to meet and what to do. Once you have done this, I will need to get the information back. We may use an intermediary. I wish you good luck and thank you for agreeing to do this. S: An exchange of knowledge is always a good thing. M: I will be interested to see what you will find. S thinks he will need to smuggle himself in, coach him on the language and culture, etc.

Matthieu: a high-ranking official, top ranking to find out about the island and the cross-disciplinary study needed. "There's little problem in lending you this technology; the issue comes in actually implementing it. M: "We are not looking to hide it from other Awakened. The Sleepers should never find us. "In order for this to case, you're going to need Forces. It's absolutely essential." "How much?" "Disciple level." "How frequently will it need to be charged?" "Depends on Mana." A kit that will allow them to hide the building. Matthieu thinks he can break it down to use it further. Matthieu's roll to remember for the use of the Llull-Bruno Machine: using the L-B machine with a language they don't have a typeface for: it will need to be a manuscript.  (47 - 57)

Scene 10: Gans

"Gentlemen! Welcome! Come upstairs." "E: "It has been a while." They retire to the Arbor Vitae's chambers. What brings you here this evening? E defers to S. 

S: Makovsky has surrendered to us. G: Well done. I didn't know you'd been back. S: What concerns me is what he said about you. G: I have no secrets from you. S: How did you find out and why did you give the knowledge to Makovsky? You have been a trusted advisor for years now. I wish to understand, that is all. Gans puts up an effect. Mage Sight. G: If the two of you wish to peer deeper into my aura, he cringes and his nose begins to bleed. "Do it, quickly." It's a major geas. Salih sees Makovsky's signature in the effect. Gans willingly bound himself to this geas. Lorant: Aura Perception. Gans is enthralled to Makovsky, willingly. He cannot speak about it. Lorant wonders if he'd use Telepathy, but it is covered by the Geas. Salih says he will take care of this. Break the Chains. "I am very surprised you would do this to yourself." On his second attempt, there is Paradox, wounds. Gans is thrown back against the wall. His aura flickers, and he falls unconscious, but Ernst uses Perfect Timing to stabilize him and bring him back to consciousness. The geas is gone. 

Makovsky came to him first to find out the future of the Emperor. Gans went deep and was shocked, not for the Empire or the Emperor, but the Jews' sake. He took Makovsky aside, and said, I will save you and the Jews if you help me. Makovsky spoke of it! Salih thinks he was using Mind magic to distract the geas. "I was sure he would not betray, and that it was attached to him and his aura specifically." S: "We have the power undo his effects, we are not sure if he has the power to undo ours." G: "I've been duped, played for a fool." To Lorant "Would he have left our people to die?" L produces the contract. G: "Yes, but he didn't give me the details. But I assumed we could protect ourselves this way." S: "You would have been indebted to him, to produce for him." L: "For five years, then what you saw. What did you see." G: First the Emperor. Then the Protestant nobles conflict with the Catholics." S: "I need to deal with Makovsky before anything changes. I wish to return to you, perfect together we can untangle the threads. Will you help me?" G: "I will. I owe you that much for keeping these secrets." L can see he is sincere. L: "You were outmaneuvered by a much more skilled player." E: "Makovsky made it look like he was the one who was manipulated." S: "I am concerned that we might be." G: "What do you mean?" L: "Makovsky would have known the Consilium would've sent us." S: "He was surprised we found him." E: "He *showed* surprise that we found him. S ponders what led us to him in the first place: his disappearance joined with Santiago's disappearance, and earlier than that, the ritual. Did he manipulate us into bringing him back? E: We have to assume he has been manipulating us for much longer than that. L: We can just hand him to the Consilium and be done with it. S: Regardless of what he's done, this doesn't affect what Gans saw. L: When did you do this? G: Right around the time of Tycho's banquet. Salih, did he find out about Telluric currents from Gans? No. "He's still playing us." After we leave Gans, S tells E that Makovsky's ritual was not successful. "They'll find nothing there. I want Makovsky to still believe it. Only the three of us know." Now that we know Gans is not the mastermind. And once Makovsky finds out, he'll be out of play. There's no legal recourse and no divination the Consilium can do to find out what he did. E: Could they execute him? S: Unlikely. His crimes do not warrant it. E: This doesn't constitute, for lack of a better word, treasonous activity?" S: No. I know his goals now. (45 - 47, 57 - 81)

Scene 11: Trial

Matthieu meets with Makovsky. Discuss letting Makovsky believe he still has the goal. Lorant feeds the Emperor one more time. Lorant justifies this to everyone. Maybe this is one of the triggering events. Out of character, Bill says we have simply exchanged Makovsky for Lorant. 

The next day. Santiago creates a cloak of darkness. Salih does an oblation. Santiago imbues invisibility on the objects he received from the master of the tower. Matthieu also has a chest but this one he carries opely; it was a gift from the Bensalemites. Salih returns to Bensalem. Svador is coming with Santiago. Goodbyes. 

Lorant feeds the night before. During the portal, Makovsky notices something, and says, "You son of a…"

"Bitch!" as he appears in the Consilium chamber. The auras flare and the bounty is fulfilled. He goes down to his knees to the Consilium. Perun: "You have been brought back by an esteemed member of the AA. You are called forth to stand before your Consilium on charges of dereliction of duty." "I plead guilty." "Does anyone wish to testify?" Gans is quiet, pretending the geas is still there. Ernst steps forward. "Makovsky's dereliction of duty had implications far beyond what we were doing. He was using his power to manipulate all of us for his own personal gain. We did indeed find him in Bensalem…" "What is Bensalem?" "It'll be in the report," Salih says. "We do not know how to get back, as that was one of the agreements to get back. He was attempting to enrich himself. It was a selfish act, it put the city, the Empire and put us in danger." Does anyone else wish to provide testimony? M: "Wait. I think before any sentencing, you should ask him why he was the only one who should survive the oncoming war." Mumber rhubarb. Perun: "What war?" M: I think Herr M is more qualified. Makovsky stands up, spits forth, "You are not a Guardian. You cannot keep an oath and you cannot keep secrets. I hope that when you do take over, your throne turns to rust and ashes. I have nothing to say to this." Gans says, "I believe I can." Makovsky: "You swore!" Salih: "He is not your puppet anymore." Gans tells of the war. Makovsky is crushed. "Well, you have your scapegoat. "Exile, and a soul mark" "No!" "Until your natural death. To show all Mages you have been traitorous." It is an extreme punishment. S: "We'll give you news of Santiago's discoveries in our full report."

M: "Why didn't you tell them now, where we were?" S: "I wanted to think about it for a few days." M: "How unlike you." "There were many things we did not agree about. We have not had the chance to discuss it. I wanted to talk about what we present to the Council." "Is Makovsky going to access to all that money?" "No." "DId you change the deeds?" "No." "He does not know he was not successful." "I feel better now that I didn't agree to the 25%." "He tried to bribe you?" "No, I tried to extort him. 25% up front, and then 5% for the school in perpetuity. I have the ability to hide the school, from the Bensalemites." E: "I did not mention specifics, because I didn't want their practices to bleed over here, nor our practices to bleed over here." "I don't like them recycling Awakened souls." M: "Gentlemen I'm very impressed. Being measured and cautious in the distribution of knowledge." E: "What happens there could be worse than any war." S: "It could change the face of Awakened culture here." E: "Or unawakened." S: "I'm less concerned about that." M: "Will you tell the Consiulum we cannnot report the details." E: "We control the nformation." S: "Benalem is the legacy of Atlantis and I would not want to hide that. However…" M: "I believe we'd be more in trouble if we hid knowledge." E: "The more we tell them the more they will want to find it." S: "That is very difficult." M: "That is the Bensalemites' problem." S: "Santiago was the one who found them, and he should tell the Consilium as discoverer." M: "As Guardian of Prague, I could black out lines in the report." Could the New Atlantis be Matthieu's obfuscated report.  (81 - 128)

Scene 12: Emperor

Matthieu sees Maier. "He's full of vigor today. How was your trip?" "Productive." Maier tells about the torture demon, but now he is in quite vigorous spirits. "He wishes to wander the halls." Still dressing. "Doctor, your journey to Paris is at end. How was that great city?" "Wonderful, it was good to see my father." How are you?" "Maier and Kelemen were wonderful caretakers." He is way too energetic to have been given laudanum. Life Sight. (128 - 131)

Scene 13: Writ

Ernst puts his writ into play. Ludovic tells him about the contract. "What has happened?" E: "You should tell me." L: "Herr Kelemen. The Emperor's mood is changeable. Rumors had it he had a fit like he had that day with the bells. The court is worried about him." E: "They should be. In a sense it is not new." L: Today he had planned to visit the kunstkammer. (131 - 133)

Scene 14: Future

Salih to Gans, in the coffeeshop. "How are you feeling?" "For better or worse it's done. I am free of him, he is free of me. We did the right thing. Salih, how do we save all of us. I want to try to save as many as I can. Mages first, Jews second." S: "I do' tknow how to save anyone. All we can do now is cast our gaze forward and understand the threads that will bring it to fruition." "I tried! It's hard." "We can work together." "Two threads: papal representatives crossed with Protestant nobles. S says let's start there, let's find the threads within those groups and trace backwards. At some point there will be a singular event that rushes it forward, the solidified what is possible into what is definite. "Wouldn't be like a fire brigade putting out tiny fires? We'd only delay it." "This is far too massive and pervasive to change its course, but by throwing sticks in a river we might be able to make adjustments in the course of history." "What are you doing here, what is this?" Referring to the coffeeshop. "This is something I might help us in this endeavor." "I've come to truly love Prague. This is my attempt to understand the ebb and flow of its people. This will be a means to watch things."  (133 - 139)

Scene 15: Next

Matthieu: confront Lorant. set up security for school. Labyrinth setup (Star Palace). Blahel to move Salamander (Lorant with Salamander). Labyrinth to save Mage society, Venus figure to be center, soul stones? Death/Spirit?

Ernst: Meet up with the Emperor. Demon. Veles. Spirit Court for the spirits who are causing us problems?

Lorant: Opera. Hook Matthieu up to the L-B Machine, kicker for Shadow Cult. Star Palace. Demon.

Salih: Fate to rescue people from what is coming.