From: lwl@graphics.cis.upenn.edu (Lydia Leong)
Date: Fri, 19 May 1995 20:30:54 -0400
Paul scribbles:
"First, as to the question of service: Alanus, Vasha and Asid have not as
yet done their "service" to the covenant. Unless you wish to count for
Asid his first trip into Ragussa. Which brings up a definitional thing...
is 'service' going to be defined as losing a season? Or is it strictly
time spent in the service of the covenant."
For sort of "game" purposes, I find it somewhat more "fair" to say what I did in my earlier email, and which is implied by the charter -- it's a Season of service, or at least a substantial amount enough of time which results in study time.
i.e., Concilium magi are already bound by the terms of the Covenant Oath to defend the Concilium, and such. But that's different from actual service to the Covenant.
Having thought about the past of the Rock a bit (John, are you there?), the following occurs to me:
The magi who were at the Rock earlier actually did have to perform a substantial amount of "service" to make the place inhabitable; it easily explains why, for example, Arts for most of the magi are as low as they are (little to no useful study time).
Consider this not-unlikely scenario:
Tariq comes to the Rock, and swears off magic. Elijiah eventually shows up and persuades Tariq to stop sulking. At this point, grogs have to be recruited, the covenant house made inhabitable, and so forth. Andras shows up in 1320 and starts to do things like manufacture lab equipment for the magi. Cain shows up a year later. Tariq, Elijiah, and Cain probably spend quite a bit of time trying to find sources of vis, in those first few years -- can you imagine how much experimentation it must have taken to figure out when and how to club penguins? ;)
Furthermore, it's fairly likely that there wasn't much of an Arcane Library. Therefore, I imagine a fair amount of time was spent scribing books at low levels (and finding the silver to buy better ones), and perhaps copying spells. (I would guess that Cain also arrived at the Rock with very little in the way of more than bare-bones personal notes on magic, since his possessions were of course destroyed in the RedCairn incident and he hadn't any access to a magical laboratory between that time and his arrival at the Concilium.)
Paul shows up a year or two after Cain does, and he then becomes responsible for things like the casting of the Aegis of the Hearth. It's only at this point that vis extraction actually becomes necessary, I think, since according to Mike, before Paul turned up, the Concilium didn't have an Aegis (and if one wants to leave Elijiah out of it entirely, I'd think it'd be logical for Paul to have simply done the extraction for the necessary vis).
Alanus and Asid are relative newcomers to the Concilium -- Asid shows up at the beginning of 1324 and Alanus at the end of 1324. So we're really talking about having started play only a year after those two showed up.
My thought is that service to the Concilium has been a fact of life up until 1325 or so, when things finally got "stabilized" enough that the magi could turn most of their attention towards their studies.
That also explains why, for example, we have next to no vis in the Covenant storerooms, despite having been sitting on the Rock for the past couple of years -- we've finally figured out where to get it, and how to get it, a process that could easily have taken a number of Seasons of trial and error, particularly without adequate magical laboratories.
John, your thoughts on this bit of history? I'm not sure whether or not Tariq would have pushed for this sort of organization of labor; Cain would have, but Tariq is plenty capable of telling Cain to shut up. :)
Okay, let me try to sum up what was more or less decided tonight after Mike left and the session "officially" ended, after all the debate (some of this may be wrong, as I'm still somewhat fuzzy on what we did and didn't agree on):
Essentially, someone (Asid?) calls all the magi together except for Tariq, and the bunch of them basically plot to confront Tariq with a demand for equal-to-almost-equal voting rights. Cain disagrees with this; it remains to be seen whether he'll warn Tariq of this ahead of time. :)
Have I missed anything here? Everyone seems to feel fairly strongly about their varying positions on all of this, both from IC and OOC viewpoints.
Reading over what I've just written, I think I'm now babbling incoherently, so I thikn I'll go to bed now and try again tomorrow if everyone else has failed to comprehend. :P
-- Lydia
Like Tariq, I personally dislike politicking and conflict (maybe it's just my damn hippie parents). It's simpler when something comes up for me to say, "Hmm. How would Tariq feel about this..." rather than have my character's background decided by comittee. However, with that in mind, if we're retconning stuff, people can easily retcon whatever arguments their magi would have had to whatever 'life-shattering' decision he had to make. I'm not power-hungry, but I feel I can role-play one or two characters by myself. ;)
"... and Asid regards the Code as just something to be ignored whenever convenient ..."
Feh. If you swear an oath, you keep it. Asid should follow this most of all if he's any kind of Allah-fearing Muslim.
"... Essentially, someone (Asid?) calls all the magi together except for Tariq, and the bunch of them basically plot to confront Tariq with a demand for equal-to-almost-equal voting rights ..."
Tariq would probably be quite upset at people plotting behind his back, but would fault the machinations of all this agreeing and vowing. Again, Tariq is not a powermonger, but he still sees the covenant as 'his covenant' for whatever that's worth and as such doesn't want the flock ruling the shepherd, as it were.
Basically, Tariq's apparent change has two attributions:
RL -- I've been figuring out how I like to play him, and what his motivations
and responses make him do and say.
IC -- People change. Especially when they have to start going to Council
meetings, listening to arguments, and generally doing things they
didn't do previously.
To all --
I just wanted to let everyone know, if it wasn't apparent, that I as Storyguide felt *really*, *really* uncomfortable RPing Tariq at last night's session. It's too easy for me to rationalize my own motives as MetaAuthor for the Saga into legitimate justifications and behaviors for the Founder of the Concilium ... it's also way too easy for me, playing Tariq, to say or do things that get John, as a player, into realms and depths that he would have otherwise avoided.
This isn't meant *at all* as a gripe against John ... I just wanted people to know that I personally don't feel easy with RPing *any* of your magi characters ... grogs don't seem to bother me, for some reason. ;)
Maybe in the future we should avoid council meetings unless everyone's present ... or treat absent players as absent magi, even if we have to make up more-or-less-obviously artifical reasons for their absences.
-m.
Ok, I think there is a minor confusion here ... I do not think at any point we were trying to rewrite Concilium history by comitteee, what we were saying is that the form of the early covenant is a Troupe decision, and that a great many of us were under the impression that the troupe had agreed that Tariq would not have asked for anything more than an oath to the covenant along the lines of it being a place of refuge, and the obscuring of one's past, etc. What I personally was worried about, was the retconning in of an "organization" when there really wasn't any. And yes, John you should be able to come up with your own character's history and RP him any way you want, I don't think that is the issue. What is the issue is the more general situation of the covenant, which _is_ a troupe decision, or at least that is what I was led to believe.
"... Feh. If you swear an oath, you keep it. Asid should follow this most of all if he's any kind of Allah-fearing Muslim ..."
Again, none of you have any IC knowledge about this, and thus far he has followed his oath to the tee. The reason I brought it up last night was to illustrate a point in a discussion we were all having about the current situation with the Order of Hermes. Quite frankly, without there being a greater organization or some sort of ties ... there is no organization for Asid to be loyal to. As an apprentice he would have has no contact with the order, and in fact his parens was in many ways disaasatisfied with the order, and thus why he was at Asid's father's court, thus the whole idea of there being a concrete "order" is in the air to him.
"... Tariq would probably be quite upset at people plotting behind his back ..."
Ok, here the line between IC and OOC blurs. I was under the impression that last night was strictly OOC sharing of IC knowledge so that we might figure out as a troupe some things about the place we live. If we wanna do this as an IC act, Asid would see no reason to call all of the magi together except Tariq, that is impolitic and silly. If he wanted to do his politicing he would have talked to each person individually, including Tariq(though probably last) and brought the issue up at full council. Again, Asid is not making a power move here, he has no interest in ruling on a desolete rock in the midst of a sea of infidels. What he is trying to establish is a hierarchical order he can live with. The outlines of which he outlined last night. And point blank, the Rock is no longer strictly Tariq's. By accepting these new magi he has allowed them to make it their home as well, and to be entirely beholden to some sort of "father" figure in one's own home will be problematic at least to Asid. This is not saying that Asid does not appreciate what Tariq has done here, or that he feels Tariq should have no special say. But it is saying that he will not allow himself guest status on a place which is demanding the loyalties of the home. And I can see that if Tariq continues to see himself as strictly the "shepherd" instead of the first among equals there will always be problems. This might very well be something we want to RP out, I dunno.
Again, yes, things are coming to a head, the Concilium, like any organization, is having growing pains, and I think it will make good RP(and has already made for some). As a note about histories, and having them retconned in...I have my history fairly basically figured out. But, as it involves a little bit of political history, I am still researching it. If anyone has a question about Asid's history, feel free to ask, and I am almost positive I can tell you what happened, and absolutely positive I can make something up.
How is that for a drag?
Paul
Last night's discussion was entirely OOC, yes. But sometime during last night's discussion, it was mentioned that someone was planning to do that calling together of magi to discuss what to do -- it was suggested that this should be actually played out at some point in time (either as a general meeting of the other magi, or more likely quiet private chats, since I imagine that large gatherings of the magi of the Rock probably draw attention).
Going back to histories, by the way:
I'd actually like to know, just for general reference, the ways in which each of the magi came to the Rock, why they came to the Rock, what they asked for from Tariq (or what Tariq offered), and what they offered in return.
And oh yeah, Doug -- you have your character histories pretty much worked out, yah, at least for Paul/Amanda/Vastin? Please give me a timeline for them? :)
(I did some updating of the history pages last night.)
Cain's views, just for the record (I assume this discussion is eventually going to end up on the DeadWeb):
I finally got around to doing Personality Traits for Cain last night, and ended up giving him Honorable +1 (pays his debts), Loyalty to the Order of Hermes +1, Loyalty to the Concilium +2, Loyalty to Tariq +3 (in addition to Reclusive +3, from the -1 Flaw Reclusive -- though I've been avoiding rolling this, basically, Cain is pissed off any time he's disturbed from his studies, thus putting him into even more combative moods than usual when summoned to things like Council Meetings. It causes him to gratuitously insult people and cause trouble, just because he's annoyed -- between that and his Warped Magic, yes, he's in a foul mood most of the time).
Cain feels that he owes Tariq an enormous debt of honor -- coming to the Rock as a wizard with a dark past, little desire to speak of it, and very little to offer save for his magical skills, Cain feels that Tariq was extremely generous in taking him in. Cain regards what services he's done for the Rock thus far to be simply earning his keep (recall that Cain comes from a Winter Covenant where many, many services are typically demanded of junior magi, without much hope of immediate reward). Cain respects both Tariq's power and Tariq's ability to deal with the pressures of mundane living. He trusts that Tariq's judgements will generally be made for the good of the Concilium, whereas he believes that most of the other magi are essentially self-serving.
Cain sees Tariq as a sort of father-figure to the Concilium -- a family of magi who make decisions jointly, but who can be overruled by the patriarch. Tariq is the only magus to whom Cain is consistently polite and respectful, as well. He relies on Tariq for protection, _and_ Tariq is the only person who knows the true story of RedCairn. (Cain volunteered to tell him; Tariq didn't ask to be told -- this is a character point, though unfortunately the summary on the Deadweb says differently.) This is about as close as Cain gets to trusting anyone, and one of Tariq's decisions has yet to be detrimental for him, so he'll continue to support Tariq's full powers as Founder (unless Tariq voluntarily gives them up).
Cain also sees permanent power blocs within the Concilium to be dangerous things -- he particularly doesn't like the combination of Asid and Alanus. The exception to this is Paul, whom he regards as essentially harmless (though he has some concerns about the Inluminatus).
On the other hand, Cain believes firmly that each magus should be actively finding things they can do to improve the Concilium; since most magi live in a single Covenant throughout their adult lives, work done now results in a hundred years of comfort that can be devoted to study.
On a totally different topic: Mike, any House Rules on Twilight? Tariq and Cain now both have their first Twilight Points...
-- Lydia
Hi,
I was thinking about last Wednesday, the intervening posts, and a talk I had with Paul--and I thought I should get my thoughts down somewhere.
(1) Retconning and History.
Part of the problem right now is that we're all retconning our pasts -- and we've done so fairly independently of troupe input. Now, that's fine when Cain or Alanus or Asid or Vasha or Roberto or Tariq is setting up their own past prior to the Concilium, but it really messes things up when people retcon what happened at the Rock prior to the start of the game.
For instance, the moment in last week's council meeting when Tariq (as played by Mike) jumped up and down on Asid's back about lack of service. He had a point insofar as the year and a season of game play goes; however, Asid also has had a year and a half presence at the Rock prior to Autumn 1325--shouldn't we assume that he did something during that time, rather than just assume that no service has been done? Lydia retconned in Cain's service (which is fine), yet that means that Paul should have the same opportunity with his character. So, if he says "The Turb was an undisciplined mess until he showed up," and we agree with that, then Asid has done his service for the time being. Likewise, if Paul says that no, Asid has just been loafing around, then we can work that in. We just need to be careful that some characters don't obtain immediate IC benefits from OOC retconning.
Second, the good ole Oath. Lydia pretty much did this on her own and posted it for comment (which apparently most of us didn't give, so we're partially responsible for it). Nevertheless, the Oath as written contradicts every Troupe decision about the Concilium. The Rock is a place of refuge where questions about one's past are simply *not* asked (it's in Tariq's character not to do so, and most of us are more than happen to hide our secrets). Moroever, the Order has been destroyed to the best of everyone's knowledge at the start of game time. So why is there all the Hermetic info (house, parens, tribunal, Hermetic oath and code)? Partially b/c Lydia based her Oath very closely on the Mistridge Oath in the rulebook, and Mistridge is a Hermetic covenant. But that's not us: Tariq was trained by the Order, but he lived far away from its politics; Elijah is a Kabbalist with a Hermetic education. Neither of these guys is going to be very picky about one's Hermetic affiliations. Cain is, but he's also squirrely about having torched his covenant -- so he's not going to push the issue, esp. since he's the only really Hermeticized magus around. Paul is the Bonisagus's Bonisagus, so he's no threat--and he's also not really interested in anything but sanctuary and lab space. That leaves Alanus and Asid--both peripherally Hermetic. Only Cain has the RP background to care about their Hermetic backgrounds, and with the Order destroyed he probably isn't too picky just so long as they swear to defend the Rock as their own home and treat the others as family.
In fact, all of the Hermetic chapter-and-verse stuff is either retconning (BAD) or an IC plotline that emerges from the arrivals of Vasha and Girard and the encounter with the Terginum. It's at this point that Cain has an active, outgoing Hermetic colleague (since Paul A. is always in a book or his lab), and it's at this point that it becomes clear that the Order is going to come looking. So it's only at this point that Hermetic status and pedigree become issues, as well as Hermetic rules and laws. Alanus and Asid *never* would have sworn the Oath as it is currently written, so we need to revise it to reflect an obsession with sanctuary, security, and forgetting the past. Let the Hermetic material be an issue of debate, not a retcon.
As for Tariq's power, the discussion has not been about how John has played the character (we all like Tariq *and* you, John). It's about the power structure of the Rock -- does the Founder simply have veto power (even by his decision not to attend a meeting)? Tariq may be first among equals, but once we swore that Oath, the Rock became our home as well. Tariq can't kick a troublesome Magus off all by his lonesome anymore -- the full Council has to do that. Every Magus who took that Oath now has as much right to that Rock as anyone else. I.e., just as we give Tariq respect and a certain amount of power, so too should he have to reciprocate. I say this also b/c the Rock really has two Founders anyway -- even though Pete hasn't played Elijah, the history as written makes it clear that no Kabbalist means no return of Tariq to magic and no Concilium. So I think that Elijah should also have Founder status -- he just is never around long enough to take advantage of it.
I really think Bill/Vasha's weighted voting scheme makes sense: Tariq and Elijah as Founders have an extra vote (three), whereas the other Elder Magi only have two. But this charter battle is something that needs to be fought IC, not retconned in.
Again, I think most of the problems that emerged last week are simply due to a confusion on nearly everyone's part of the extent of personal retconning. If it only affects your character and is consistent with that entity's portrayal in game play, then go aheads by all means. If it affects the Troupe and the Rock, then we all have to agree with it.
Finally, an IC/OOC point. Our characters have *never* seen each other's sheets. No one knows that Alanus has a Perdo or Ignem deficiency; no one knows that Cain doesn't have a decent score in Herbam. These things haven't come up in play, and I'd imagine that in mundane covenant life, they never came up either. So I'd say that for Cain to challenge Alanus to a *Perdo* certamen would be sort of fishy -- why Perdo? It's not Cain's best Technique -- he'd only choose it if he knew of Alanus's deficiency, and that's not the case yet. In fact, I think we should probably all make a list of the outstanding features of our wizards' magic; that way we can establish what is known IC about each character. Virtues are a good guide here, as is concept. Tariq clearly controls the powers of the elements, Paul the force of magic itself. Cain can clearly do a little of everything (how well known is his Magic Addiction? it's a flaw that has shown up in game play). Alanus has a knack for animal magics, not to mention plant magic, and Asid always seems to know things. Finally, Vasha never stops talking about his wards, so we can all assume he's good in Rego. But those things are it -- they're all we know. Hey, just b/c Alanus hasn't used it, doesn't mean he lacks scores in certain Arts or in skills like Certamen, right?
RP things out. It's more interesting than retconning anyday!!
Rob
"... For instance, the moment in last week's council meeting when Tariq (as played by Mike) jumped up and down on Asid's back about lack of service ..."
I think the issue was more along the lines of, "What have you done for the Concilium lately?" The "earlier years" might be an issue as well, but even just looking at the recent stuff...
A full year and a half of game time has passed, recall, since the start of the Saga. Service to the Covenant has been, to my recollection, as follows:
"... So why is there all the Hermetic info (house, parens, tribunal, Hermetic oath and code)? ..."
Note that almost all of that Hermetic stuff is bracketed, indicating that it's not necessarily relevant to the magi, and thus optional.
Do note, by the way, that though it is based upon the 3rd edition oath, major sections of it have been chopped out (notably, the stuff about being fully Hermetically trained, never having consorted with this-that-and-the-other, etc.)
I'm still confused as to what part of the Covenant Oath wouldn't be agreed to by Alanus and Asid.
Breaking down the Oath, what you're swearing is this:
Regarding Tariq and Elijiah:
I don't think Elijiah should have Founder status, because of two things -- one, it's not really his Rock, and two, because he's basically a permanent NPC, since Pete is never going to rejoin the Troupe.
As for the general power structure of the Rock -- I'd still really like to hear what John has to say about it. My general impression is that this structure is a major part of his character conception, and I don't think the Troupe-as-committee should unwittingly stomp on it.
I think it's important to establish what the power structure has been like in the past, because it'll serve as the basis for the upcoming charter discussions (which should probably be done in-session IC at some point in time, or online, though it can't occur 'til Alanus gets back from his trip across the mountains).
A minor point regarding Certamen:
If Cain were to challenge Alanus to Certamen, he would choose Creo, Perdo, or Rego -- his three highest Techniques. Of the three, he is most likely to choose Perdo, given that his Penetration specialty is Perdo, which is useful for the coup de grace spell. (I'm going to finally get around to taking a season to invent the Burning Mark of Shame.) In Certamen with another Concilium magus (Asid, notably), he would be more reluctant to choose Perdo, given that it'd be also invitation for the other magus to use a Perdo spell on him as a finishing touch (Cain regards Alanus as too much of a wimp to use a finishing spell, though he might very well be wrong about this...)
If Cain were to be challenged to Certamen by anyone other than Tariq, he'd choose Ignem, since it's his Certamen specialty, and one of his highest Forms.
"... I think we should probably all make a list of the outstanding features of our wizards' magic; that way we can establish what is known IC about each character ..."
A good idea, and I'd like to see it taken a step further -- to a general "What do other people know about each of the Concilium inhabitants?" i.e., what part of the character histories are public (hey, folks, give me entries for the Sua Voluntate!), what are their general quirks, styles of living, and so forth? Personal habits, so to speak. Useful for color. (It might be useful to also summarize each character's attitudes towards certain things or people, if it hasn't already been obvious through play.)
"... Hey, just b/c Alanus hasn't used it, doesn't mean he lacks scores in certain Arts or in skills like Certamen, right? ..."
If Alanus knows Certamen, he's hiding it well. :) (Established in play: Alanus was apparently confused during Cain and Asid's duel. Of course, he could have been dissembling.)
-- Lydia
I don't want to get picky, Lydia, but is it fair to fault Asid for not having an adventure assigned to him by the Troupe (like Cain got the Florence expedition and Alanus the Hungarian one)? Certainly, Tariq's Vis Hunt counts, but I don't think it's fair to count the other two (esp. since there have only been five stories so far). Moreover, why shouldn't Asid's first journey to Ragusa count? It was about as subtle and effective as Cain's trip to Florence. ;)
"... Note that almost all of that Hermetic stuff is bracketed, indicating that it's not necessarily relevant to the magi, and thus optional ..."
Remove the bracketed stuff or put it in an appendix. It's confusing.
The ArM 3rd Oath is specifically that of Mistridge (which we're only told is "representative") during the height of the Order's power.
Why does the Oath make no reference to the destruction of the Order? I mean, IT IS GONE as far as the Concilium magi are concerned (most of whom were never terribly into Hermetic politics and culture in the first place). Also, what good is the peripheral code when you don't have the books containing its regulations?
"... Regarding Tariq and Elijiah: ..."
OOC, you're absolutely right. But IC it makes perfect sense--Elijah got Tariq to return to magic. Why wouldn't he be a founder? This is something we need to figure out with Mike.
Yes, John should certainly have major input on Tariq's history and personality, but the politics and structure of the covenant itself is and *must be* a troupe decision. The Concilium is *everyone*'s character -- and John, as much as I love and respect ya, you never paid any Virtue points to have ultimate rule and authority (not that you have or would have played Tariq in this manner). Besides, it's not as if we just guests here, capable of being thrown out at any time in a unilateral fashion. We're co-owners now -- our talents shore up Tariq's position just as his home provides us with a safer status.
Rob
"... I don't want to get picky, Lydia, but is it fair to fault Asid for not having an adventure assigned to him by the Troupe (like Cain got the Florence expedition and Alanus the Hungarian one)? ..."
Point there, but there's also the fact that Asid has yet to volunteer to do any general service (I think part of the point is, at least IC, that the other magi have volunteered to do specific things.)
"... Moreover, why shouldn't Asid's first journey to Ragusa count? ..."
It has to do with the time expended, actually -- we're talking about a Season of service, which should, I think, constitute at least enough time that it's a major effect on your studies (at least three weeks, say). All the other magi have lost all or most of a Season to work for the Covenant. That's what a Season of service means, after all. ;)
More commentary later.
-- Lydia
Ok, let me add a couple cents here: First, I think that most views have been fairly extensively showcased and argued, and we might have come to a point where we need more RP or info from other sources to come to any further conclusions. The one thing, I think we _do_ need to agree upon though as a troupe is the content of the oath.
Secondly, that being said, let me comment some :)
"... Point there, but there's also the fact that Asid has yet to volunteer to do any general service (I think part of the point is, at least IC, that the other magi have volunteered to do specific things.) ..."
Well this is not entirely true. Asid offered from the beginning to probe the nature of Girard's "heart stone" :) And on a more general note, he did offer to go to Hungary, which was going to lose him a season of study, and was told that he shouldn't go because he owed the covenant a season of service. Might just be me, but this seems to be circular logic :) Also, I might argue that since the end result of the Deadfire Saga is to relieve the Rock of the tithe to the Count, any mission undertaken under these auspices could very well be service. Sure, Asid has his own IC reasons for seeking the weapons, but this is merely a case where his interests and the expressed interests of the covenent coincide.
"... That's what a Season of service means, after all. ;) ..."
Ok, here we are getting into a slippery situation. First of all, it is my feeling that if service _were_ to be mentioned in a charter or among magi it would be in an abstract sense...and certainly not one defined as "seasons" or "three weeks". That is an insertion of a game mechanic into IC game play that I am not so sure I feel comfortable about. I mean, when I set out to Ragusa, who knew that it wouldn't take the rest of that season? If it had taken a season would that have counted as my service? And if it did, then why is three weeks an IC consideration, when I put myself in the same danger anyone else does when they adventure, and dedicated myself to solving the puzzle that was put before me.
I suppose the point I am making is that the definition of service, needs to be quite clearly defined, and I am sure that Asid will not agree with a definition of service being "3 weeks when you can't study". A service is just that, a task completed in the interests of the covenent...perhaps this definition will encourage other magi to be more efficient :)
Paul
The use of the word "Season" seems to be a valid IC time-unit, actually, within the Order; it seems to be in common usage in sample stuff provided.
Quotation from the Charter draft, which may make this discussion easier:
The Council of Elder Magi may define a certain number of tasks which must be performed each year, which are essential to the Covenant's continued prosperity. These tasks might include, but are not limited to, vis extraction, copying books or spells, and scribing knowledge of magical Arts.One could also say that at least one month of continual service is owed; in game-mechanic terms, this will become a Season anyway.All Magi owe the Covenant one Season of service per year. [etc.]
Effectively, what the Charter statement amounts to is that the magi can vote on whether or not something constitutes service.
The argument, by the way, was basically this: "While the Concilium has other needs, there is no need to send a second magus across the mountains."
-- Lydia