1086

YEAR 1086

Scribed by Ruaridh

Spring 1086AD

A troubling season indeed. Jeanwas surprised by the rogue wizard Myrnyddawn a few hundred paces from thecovenant, and he was struck in the shoulder by an arrow. One of the grogsdrove the Welshman off, reporting that he assumed the form of an owl as hefled. Jean's wound appears severe; he can use his arm only with much difficulty,and we currently lack the magic to restore mobility to the joint. Despitethis setback, Jean ventured into Gloucester to meet with Baldwin, the Reeve,who professed sympathy for the covenant's financial distress and offered topurchase half of the iron mine from Sylvester. We accepted this offer, subjectto Sylvester's agreement, but I cannot help but think that the Reeve has someulterior purpose in mind.

The talking bear Idris and I encounteredseveral seasons ago was captured by one of the local knights, and it was displayedin a cage for passing visitors. Idris arranged for it to be released at night,and it duly escaped. We know little of this creature, but I suppose that itcannot hurt to keep on the good side of our neighbours, mundane or otherwise.Idris spent the rest of the season with the old woman, Deanne, who lives furtherinto the forest. She has taught him the rudiments of alchemy, a useful skillindeed.

Summer

Idris and I ventured north toCad Gadu for the Ex Miscellanea House meeting. I fully expected it to be arather loosely organised, informal affair, but I was nevertheless taken abackby just how shambolic proceedings were. Little noteworthy discussion tookplace owing to an argument between the Primus, Lexor, and Darius of SolisCastle, who had come to accompany Urien. The two engaged in Certamen, which,much to my surprise, Darius won, and Lexor subsequently challenged him toWizard's War. The readiness with which Darius accepted this challenge leadsme to believe that he planned the entire confrontation.

The meeting broke up shortly afterwards,but not before Lexor had levied a tax of two pawns of vis on every memberof the House. Before I left, I took the opportunity to examine Cad Gadu'smagical library. It was quite impressive, though not astoundingly so, witha large number of Herbam and Corporem texts. The spell library was more extensive,with row after row of valuable scrolls. Idris spent some time looking at thenon-Hermetic library, which he described as enormous. The one good thing tocome out of the meeting was that it gave us the opportunity to exchange magicaltexts with Erin of Scarfell, and we now possess several important works onIntellego, Aquam and Terram!

Back at Severn Temple, we sentour scribe, Pierre, to assist the Reeve in drawing up the book of taxes demandedby the King. We were shocked when we learned how much we will have to paythis year, some two hundred and eighty five pennies. Needless to say, thisis far more than we can afford.

Autumn

The decision to send Pierre toaid Baldwin proved to be a terrible mistake. The fool apparently got drunkin a tavern and spilled many of our secrets, including that we were Magi andthat we forged the deeds transferring ownership of the land from Radulfusto Jean. His confidant was a mysterious woman who disappeared the followingmorning, a fact that leads me to suspect the Reeve's hand in all of this.Three soldiers came to the covenant looking for Pierre, and we were forcedto hide him in my sanctum. The men wanted to search the entire covenant, somethingthat we obviously could not permit. A fight broke out, and two of the knightswere slain. I altered the memory of the third to make him think that he hadbeen ambushed by a Welsh raiding party, and we let him return to Gloucester.I am sure that we have not heard the last of this. Later in the season, aRedcap arrived with disturbing news: Lexor had been killed. Nostrius has orderedall Magi to attend the Tribunal meeting next year.

Winter

By far the worst season of ourshort time at Severn Temple! At times I felt sure that the covenant was lost,and, even now, I can scarcely believe our luck in avoiding destruction. Thingsstarted innocuously enough: Jean agreed to attempt to destroy the church bellin Lydney, and, suitably disguised, he made his way into the village. He intendedto use an Ignem spell to burn down the building, but, little known to us,Radulfus was lurking in the vicinity. As Jean cast the spell, Radulfus usedhis own power to augment the magic, and the church was destroyed in an awesomeburst of flame. It disturbs me that our aims coincided so closely with thoseof the demon in this regard.

Baldwin called Jean to Gloucesterto inspect the land deed forged by Pierre. Radulfus' signature had changedbeyond recognition, and it was clear to all that the document was a forgery.Jean, Baldwin and Vaesic went to see Earl Robert to sort the matter out, butRadulfus was also present, though shielded from the naked eye. I know notthe exact events that followed, but Radulfus caused the deeds to burst intoflames, much to the alarm of the Earl and his men. Jean was arrested and placedin the gaol awaiting his trial on charges of witchcraft. We were in a terriblesituation: if we rescued Jean, we would undoubtedly reveal our true nature,yet to leave him to his fate would damn us just as surely.

Desperate for learned council,we sent a message to Blackthorn requesting urgent aid. We were enormouslyfortunate that Lamark, follower of Jerbiton, agreed to help us. He arrangedfor Jean to be transferred to a larger cell, though the cost - five hundredpennies - was so high that I fear that we may have bankrupted ourselves inthe process. He then set about influencing public opinion, painting the pictureof Jean as a man falsely accused. Oscytel arranged for Sylvester to be slainlest he reveal what he knew about us. In the meantime, we made a thoroughsearch of the covenant, finding a secret chamber where Radulfus had formerlypractised his foul magics. We found an Infernal book amidst much diabolicparaphernalia; it contained what we suspect are the True Names of severaldemons, and Lamark reasoned that one must be that of the demon that possessedRadulfus.

Even Lamark's sterling effortswould likely have proved to little avail were it not for a piece of astoundinggood luck. Jean was due to be questioned under torture the following day,and he would surely been unable to hold his tongue for long. However, a formerpriest, clearly out of his wits, attacked a member of the Archbishop's staff,confessing to the crime of witchcraft. Jean was cleared of the charges againsthim and released. I must record that there appear many loose ends to thissaga, and I am not entirely sure that I understand quite how it was resolvedin our favour. Still, we must be grateful that, in this instance at least,fortune was on our side.